My second Yami No Matsuei fic! The last one was dorky TsuRaki slashness…XD ish. I've just loved the idea of poor Tsuzuki ending up young and awkward Hisoka older and such…I dunno. Sounds like a plan. XD Enjoy!~

"Hisoka, move!" Tsuzuki shoved his partner out of the way just as the creature they were currently fighting slashed at him. The violet-eyed Shinigami gritted his teeth against the pain as his blood pooled against his shirt.

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka scrambled to his feet and quickly cast a spell, but it seemed not to affect the creature at all.

They had been seeing more such creatures lately, and they might have suspected Muraki behind it if he hadn't been gone for nearly four months. He was still alive, that much they knew because Hisoka's curse marks remained…but Muraki had to be in critical condition even if he had managed to somehow survive Touda's black flames.

Tsuzuki didn't need to resort to calling on a Shikigami for this, he tossed a bespelling parchment into the air and cast his own spell and this time, the creature burst apart as flames overtook the parchment. He clutched his side for a moment as he turned to face Hisoka as his face sagged in relief. "Hisoka…are you alright?" he queried before his eyes widened slightly as he found himself faced by a glaring Hisoka.

"Why did you…why did you do that? I had it handled!" Hisoka hissed.

Tsuzuki blinked. "Eh…what?"

"Don't play dumb. You pushed me out of the way. Again. You keep getting hurt because of me, because you try to protect me…that's not your job, you're a Shinigami, not my personal protector." Hisoka's glare kept strong.

Tsuzuki eyed his young partner a moment before he smiled and ruffled Hisoka's hair. "Aww, Hisoka, we're partners. It is my job, and I'd do it even if-"

Hisoka batted his hand away. "Stop treating me like a kid, Tsuzuki! Even if we're partners…I'm not your responsibility! You just…don't get it." he pulled away and shook his head. "Never mind…I'm going home."

"Ah, Hisoka, wait-"

But he was already gone, and Tsuzuki's expression fell. Was it so wrong of him to protect Hisoka? Why couldn't he understand that he wasn't patronizing the other, he simply didn't wish to lose Hisoka…he never wanted to lose someone he loved, not ever again…and certainly not because of his own failures…

…..

One Week Later

Tsuzuki sat at his desk as he tapped a pencil idly against the table. He had plenty of work to do, but his mind was elsewhere. The first two days after the incident, Hisoka had managed to completely avoid him, and now three days after that…he had barely seen the other. Was Hisoka that mad that Tsuzuki had helped him, or was it something else? He wasn't going to apologize for saving the other, damnit, but…he couldn't go on this way. And if they were given a case anytime soon, the hostility in their relationship wouldn't help matters at all…

"Something on your mind, Tsuzuki?"

Tsuzuki jumped and shot his gaze up at the brown-haired secretary at his side. He hadn't even noticed Tatsumi come in. "Ahhh, Tatsumi…nothing at all." he smiled. "Just…doing my work, of course!" he saluted and then made a show of focusing on the papers before him.

Tatsumi's lips thinned a bit before he said. "Kurosaki had been conspicuously absent from your side the past few days…did you get into a fight?"

"That's not-"

"A fight between partners affects the efficiency of the work place. Therefore, it is very much my business." Tatsumi said sternly.

Tsuzuki glowered lightly before he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "He almost got hit…I pushed him out of the way…it upset him more than usual…he thinks I'm treating him like a kid, he just…he's so stubborn." Tsuzuki pouted.

"Sounds like a certain other Shinigami I know." Tatsumi noted and Tsuzuki huffed. "I understand your reasons, Tsuzuki, but have you considered that in a way…you are patronizing him?" Tsuzuki seemed about to protest and he held up a hand. "You don't do it intentionally, but it is a habit of yours. Your protection he sees as your lack of respect for his strength, it angers him that he can't reciprocate." Hisoka had been training to increase his skills to be able to be Tsuzuki's match as a partner and Tatsumi knew that it was a source of disappointment to Hisoka to feel as though he were failing in that way, that he couldn't protect Tsuzuki as he wished to. That he couldn't be as strong.

"Well what am I supposed to do, let him get cut open? I can't do that, Tatsumi." Tsuzuki sighed as he rubbed his face exasperatedly.

"I didn't say that…per se. But if you keep protecting him, he'll never learn to be stronger on his own. And he's going to get more and more angry when you interfere…and in turn, the efficiency of your work will suffer…and then you'll answer to me." Tatsumi said darkly.

Tsuzuki irked and then rose. "I'll go talk to him…thanks, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi's faint smile spoke volumes as he murmured. "My pleasure."

Not ten minutes later, Tsuzuki found his way to Hisoka who had taken up residence in the smaller office next door. He knocked twice before he entered with a bright smile. "Hey, Hisoka, wanna go grab some lunch with me? There's this yummy new place in Osaka…"

"No thank you." was Hisoka's curt reply.

Tsuzuki blinked and then tried again. "Well…we can go where you want then~ What are you in the mood for? Fish? Something spicy? Ooh, how about something sweet for once?" Tsuzuki rallied off happily until Hisoka slammed a hand down on the table.

"No. I don't want anything, I don't want to go to lunch with you, now please leave." Hisoka's temper was barely controlled in his voice and Tsuzuki was truly perplexed. What could Hisoka possibly be so upset with him about, what had been the catalyst for this aggressive behavior?

Hisoka could see the hurt in his partner's eyes, Hell, he could feel it a bit even…but he couldn't let that bother him. He had to make Tsuzuki understand, to see that Hisoka wasn't just some kid he'd been saddled with for a partner…he was Hisoka Kurosaki, future top-ranking Shinigami, someday…he would be Tsuzuki's equal…in the meanwhile, there had certainly been a catalyst in the form of two temporary workers who had come into the Summons Department for a few days, and been rather mouthy about Tsuzuki…

"So have you heard? It's been almost a year and Tsuzuki's had the same partner, it must be some kind of record." the female giggled while her male counterpart scoffed.

"Nah, it's just cause it's a kid. They knew no one'd want Tsuzuki so they saddled him with some brat who didn't know any better…you almost gotta feel bad for Tsuzuki though, having a kid for a partner must be a real handicap. Especially since they say Tsuzuki's the really clingy type. His other partners kept leaving, but at least they weren't kids, you know what I mean? They were real partners."

Hisoka Kurosaki had heard every word and it sickened him. How many Shinigami thought that way, how many saw Hisoka as a 'kid' that Tsuzuki had been stuck with? And just how much ridicule was Tsuzuki receiving behind his back from idiots like these? They didn't know Tsuzuki at all. But worse still, to be thought of that way…with how Tsuzuki acted, could it be that in some way…he felt the same? Had he stayed from Touda's flames just because he felt that he had to stick around to protect the 'kid'?

Hisoka's thoughts had been such since the incident and things like Tsuzuki defending him that he would have normally accepted had seemed like yet another sign of patronization on Tsuzuki's part. And how he treated him…it was true, wasn't it?

Tsuzuki eyed his partner for a long moment before he sighed. "Hisoka…this doesn't do any good…we're partners…will you at least tell me why you're so mad at me?"

"If you have to ask, then it's not worth my breath." Hisoka replied simply.

Tsuzuki scowled faintly at that as he began to grow a bit annoyed. "I do have to ask, because as near as I can tell, I didn't do anything wrong, Hisoka."

"If that's what you think then why are you here? You have nothing to apologize for, right?" Hisoka kept his gaze away from Tsuzuki as he forced a sarcastic tone.

Tsuzuki was silent a moment before he spoke. "Because you're my partner, and I don't want to keep fighting with you, Hisoka. You should know better by now-"

"That's just it! Tsuzuki, you…will you just go?" Hisoka knew that he was hurting his partner but there wasn't much that he could do about it. He was, in truth, angry at himself and so he was taking it out on Tsuzuki.

After a long moment of silence, Tsuzuki said softly. "If you need anything, you know where to find me, alright, Hisoka?" with that, Tsuzuki quietly left the room, and left Hisoka to his own idle thoughts and doubts.

Hisoka watched the other leave and had the urge to call him back, to take Tsuzuki's comforts, but he couldn't…not until he'd proven to the other that he was a worthy partner, until he found something that would make him as he wished to be, that is, worthy of Tsuzuki…

More than anything, he wanted to be worthy of the man who'd given him back a life, even in his death…

(Ugh…*half asleep* Hopefully this was alright XD And now, nighty night! XD)