Closed Doors
By Leareth
Part One
Tatsumi was giving that look again, Hisoka noted. He wasn't being obvious, but considering the friendly and cheery atmosphere at the moment, the secretary's silence stood out like a transformed Terazuma at a party.
It was lunch break for the Shokan Division, and so everyone had crowded into the temporary hospital to visit Tsuzuki. Hisoka, as usual, sat in the chair by Tsuzuki's side, not saying much save for what his characteristic moodiness allowed, while Watari was happily telling Tsuzuki about his latest experiment, a description illustrated as best as he could with hands and 003. At the end of the bed Wakaba ignored Terazuma's off-side glowering and was cutting up a cake for the group saving the largest piece for the patient. Saya and Yuma were fighting over who got to feed Tsuzuki much to Hisoka's relief. Spoiling the still hospital-confined shinigami had driven any ideas of dressing Hisoka up to look like a wedding cake out of their heads, for the moment anyway. Even the Gushoushin brothers were here, taking advantage of the invalid Tsuzuki to lecture him on the problems of destructive behaviour. Tsuzuki took it all in stride. He was much more interested in the cake Wakaba was holding.
Hisoka drifted out of the flow of chatter around the bed and risked another look at Tatsumi. The tall shinigami stood right next to the door, lurking. There was no other way to describe it. He had his arms folded across his chest and was leaning against the doorframe staring at Tsuzuki. The look he was giving was disconcerting. It wasn't the 'Tsuzuki-san, you've put our budget in the red again' look, it wasn't the 'Tsuzuki-san, eat properly, you're making a mess' look, it wasn't the 'Tsuzuki-san, you're so cute to tease' look, it wasn't even the soft, gentle smile Hisoka had caught Tatsumi giving Tsuzuki when he thought no one was looking. Hisoka had never seen this expression on the secretary's face before. It was unreadable for most part except for those piercing blue eyes. They were cloudy behind their glasses, almost haunted. Yet still they fixed on Tsuzuki with the intensity of a sun to the exclusion of everyone else in the room.
"My relationship with Tsuzuki-san . . . does it bother you?"
Cake was offered; Hisoka absently took the plate. Well of course their relationship bothered him! Not jealousy, far from it, he cared too much for his friends to be troubled by something so petty, it was the fact that whatever lay between the two from all those decades ago was still there like a pebble in a shoe, and just as painful. Oh, things had improved since that incident with the Earl's storybook, yes, but it seemed to Hisoka more of a step in the right direction than anything conclusive. Then there had been that mess in Kyoto, and Tsuzuki's nightmares afterwards. They hadn't helped at all. And then Tatsumi had taken that strange business trip he seemed to hate talking about . . .
Actually, now that Hisoka thought about it while eating cake, Tatsumi's strange behaviour dated from when he had returned from that trip.
Tsuzuki laughed at something Yuma said, and Hisoka noticed that Tatsumi seemed to smile a little. But he still refused to come any closer. In fact, he had been outright avoiding Tsuzuki as of late. Still loath to leave Tsuzuki alone at night, Hisoka and Watari had been taking shifts to watch over their friend. Only him and Watari. Hisoka had thought that Tatsumi would be more than willing to help but when they had informed the secretary of the idea, Tatsumi had flatly refused and gave no reason why. Hisoka had been too stunned to argue; Watari on the other hand couldn't believe his ears, and watching the blond scientist get that angry had been something of a privilege. But Tatsumi had been impossible to move, and so therefore Hisoka and Watari had to share watch between themselves. They had been doing so for over a week, and Hisoka for his part was finding the lack of sleep very exhausting.
However, though Tatsumi would have nothing to do with watching over Tsuzuki he still came to visit, but only at lunch break when everyone else came as well. As far as Hisoka knew, the secretary hadn't paid Tsuzuki a single personal visit at all since that business trip more than a week ago, and Tsuzuki was starting to worry. The secretary always seemed to have some excuse not to go. Hisoka had always known that Tatsumi was something of a workaholic, but really . . . things were going a bit far. It was beginning to irritate him, because he knew there was some other reason that Tatsumi was going out of his way to avoid Tsuzuki, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. There was no way Hisoka was going to ask, though. Tatsumi wasn't exactly the easiest of people to talk to, and that was an understatement.
"There's still cake left over, who hasn't had some?" asked Wakaba. Six shinigami and two Gushoushin waved cake-laden forks at her. She beamed, then realised there was someone else.
"Tatsumi-san, come and have some cake!"
Hisoka watched Tatsumi carefully. The tall shinigami seemed to start at being addressed, as if only just realising that there were other people in the room, but he regained control so quickly Hisoka doubted anyone apart from him noticed. "Ah, no thank you, Wakaba-san. I'm not hungry."
Saya and Yuma blinked, then pouted. "What do you mean, 'not hungry'?" Saya demanded. "How can you not want cake? Especially chocolate cake!"
"Yeah, Tatsumi!" Watari waved his fork around as if he were baiting some bird to come get it. "It's chocolate cake! Wakaba-chan's chocolate cake at that!"
Tatsumi smiled and shook his head. Hisoka wondered if anyone considered that the shinigami was shaking his head because it was a convenient way to avoid eye contact.
"Tatsumi."
Hisoka watched Tatsumi stiffen. He didn't know if Tsuzuki noticed.
"The cake's delicious, Tatsumi!" said Tsuzuki cheerfully. His face was covered in chocolate and he was smiling as if it was Christmas. "You've got to try it! Look, I made everyone save a big piece for you."
Hisoka waited, expecting Tatsumi to say something about bad table manners and come over to wipe Tsuzuki's face clean.
Tatsumi adjusted his glasses, avoiding everyone's gaze. "No thank you, Tsuzuki-san. I'm not hungry."
Accepting cake would mean going over towards the bed where Tsuzuki was.
"Aw, come on, Tatsumi. Please?"
Something flickered in Tatsumi's eyes before he turned away. Hisoka's green eyes widened as his empathic abilities sensed a very strange reading from the shinigami, like a sudden cold wind in the night . . .
"I said, I'm not hungry," replied Tatsumi a little sharply. For a second his eyes fixed on Hisoka, and the boy-shinigami turned red as he realised that his observations had been discovered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Abruptly, he turned on his heel and quickly left the room.
Seven shinigami and three birds stared after him.
"Well, really!" said Saya indignantly.
"Poor Tatsumi works too hard," commented Yuma.
"Probably had some accounts to slash," Terazuma growled, more interested in eating the food that Wakaba was giving him.
"Not our library funding!" wailed the Gushoushin.
Hisoka kept silent, trying to place what it was he had sensed from the shadow-master. Not annoyance, not worry, but . . . fear?
The empath blinked. Twice. Fear was one of the last things he expected from Tatsumi. Certainly not fear of Tsuzuki. Actually, no, Tatsumi wasn't afraid of Tsuzuki exactly, but the amethyst-eyed shinigami was a major part of what was wrong with Tatsumi for sure.
He glanced at his partner. Tsuzuki's usual smile was gone and the rest of the cake lay forgotten on his lap. His eyes were hurt as he stared at the door.
On the other side of the bed, Watari followed Tsuzuki's unhappy gaze to the door through which Tatsumi had left. The scientist's face darkened, and he shot a glare in Tatsumi's general direction.
"What the hell is the matter with him?" he muttered.
Behold, the Void @ http://doki3.net/void/
