Nami-chan notes: This time, the notes are at the top, as they were supposed to be. I don't even have any clue how it became footnotes, anyway. Dedicated to the people who reviewed my first two YnM fanfics. Note to Kelly-san, if ever you're reading this: Please don't put '-san'. I'll feel old. And I don't write long fics, despite my intentions to do so (a CCS/YnM fic is in my head and I haven't tried to write it down). I tend to lose sight of the point of the story when I don't write the whole plot line first.

 Oh, and to yukie-san, I never expected to write this, I've also been avoiding writing romance, but what the heck. This will be stupid, despite what you seem to think otherwise. Shall I apologize now?    

Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei doesn't belong to Inami. Inami's too young to have enough money to buy it, anyway.

Warnings as well: Shounen-ai fluff. Male+male pairings. Now that I think about it, why would anyone be interested in YnM if they can't take shounen-ai? Oh, this is also my first try for such kinds of relationships.

This case was simple: protect a young child from his overprotective deceased mother-turned yuurei who thinks that it's best to drive away people from her child to protect him. Her husband was also included in that list of people. They were trying to send her on and leave the child to his father.

Hisoka was also to guard the child while Tsuzuki kept an eye on the yuurei, which was why here he was now, holding onto little Kayama Makoto's hand as they went for ice cream. Thankfully, Makoto's father trusted the 'new babysitter' enough to leave him in his care to go to a meeting.

They were in the park now, a nice, small place where children could play and have small picnics. There weren't many people around that wouldn't strain his empathy, Hisoka was thankful for.

"Ne, ne, Hii-chan," he felt a tug at his hand and he looked down, trying to soften his expression for the child who had taken the nickname Tsuzuki supplied for him.

The young brunet looked up at him with wide, black eyes, nervously clinging to his sleeve. The child was, Hisoka admitted, cute. That was, if 'cute' was in his vocabulary. "Hii-chan, may I sit over there? I'm tired." He said, pointing towards a bench. "I can go there while you go and get ice cream."

Hisoka frowned. "I don't think I should leave you alone…"

"Don't worry!" Came the enthusiastic reply. "I won't leave, I promise!"

"But Makoto…" he began, but Makoto had given him puppy dog looks that rivaled Tsuzuki's. But it was capable of something Tsuzuki's puppy act couldn't do. He sighed dramatically and urged him to go on. "Keep your promise, okay?"

The child jumped up with glee and ran towards the bench and sat obediently, watching him with wide eyes.

Certain that he was comfortable, Hisoka chuckled under his breath and felt a smile tugging at his lips as he turned and walked towards the ice cream stall. The child was sweet, matching his partner's exuberance and temperament. It was hard not to like him.

He, despite his intentions not to, had started to mingle with people since he had became a Shinigami and met Tsuzuki.  It would probably because of Tsuzuki's influence - the man stuck to him like melted plastic - with unbendable habits, ever-changing masks, and irritating him with a flourish. With him always following him like a puppy loyal to it's master - pun intended - it would be impossible for him not to catch any of his quirks, even with his encyclopedia-thick resolve of not having any friendly relationship with anyone. A resolve that was breaking page by page.

…All because of a certain amethyst-eyed Shinigami.

He never expected to end up like this. Especially not because of Tsuzuki Asato. He had thought that it would be the same, how people would treat him, the same hatred to the demon child who could see other's feelings. He had thought that it would be best to push them away, push them far away and keep them from entering his shell. Keep them from coming in and hurting him again, stepping onto the shards of his life and damaging them beyond repair. …He was mistaken.

His afterlife was something he had not expected. Instead of them hating him and spiting him, they had merely accepted him with open arms, all in their own way. Tatsumi with his polite inquiries of work, even with the setback of his inability to show his feelings, and urging him to do things that he thought would benefit him and help him, if he did not understand how it would help him or not. Watari with his usually sunny disposition, always there with some contraption or other, innocent curiosity and sly machinations, willing to pull you out of trouble or get you into it. Wakaba with inquiries of his health and asking if he needed anything to eat. Terazuma with his normal trepidation of anything remotely feminine but tries to get along with him. Konoe-Kachou with awkward signs of fatherly concern, like how he was doing and if he was fine with his partner. And his partner…

Hisoka stopped in front of the ice cream stand and ordered one for Makoto.

Tsuzuki is an idiot with love for sweets that would make anyone with diabetic have heart failure just by looking at the written list of sugar he consumes everyday alone. A bottomless pit that could eat anything with a pint of sugar and forces it down one's throat. A sugar-propelled idiot who can't cook even if his life and everyone else's in the world were at stake. A nut who gave his heart out to the world despite being always shunned by others and had it broken into many shards each time.

"Look, Hisoka! I made a flower origami! It's for you!"

 

An idiot who went out in the rain just to go to his house and show him something he made.

"Hey, Hisoka? Are you alright? You're pale…"

An idiot who cared for him like no one else in his lifetime did, looking out for his health more than anything else.

"Hold my hand - I can see in the dark."

An idiot who reached out for him when he was losing hope when he himself was falling.

" Don't worry. I'm here now; Muraki won't touch you again, even in dreams. Not when I'm here."

An idiot who protects others.

"Hiidooiiii, 'Soka! C'mon! Just try the cinnamon bun - it's good!"

An idiot who kept on returning to him when he pushed him away.

"Someday, Hisoka, I'll make you smile."

The only person who tried to break through his shields, looking for the child yearning for care, love, and attention. The only one…

"I...just want to die now… It's enough, Hisoka... I've lived for far too long... I'm... tired…"

The only one…

"I'm not going back…! I… don't want to be… alone… I decided a long time ago… that my place to return to is here…by your side only…"

The only one who Hisoka…

"Can I stay with you…?"

The only one who evoked such emotions from him…

"Excuse me, sir? Your ice cream…"

Hisoka blinked, and started out of his reverie. He blushed at the smile the vendor gave him and took the cone, dropping the right amount on the table and muttered an apology, spinning on his heel to return to Makoto. And immediately froze, a sudden wave of nausea overcoming him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head in attempts to get rid of the dark wisp that swam in his vision. After a second, it had gone and left him pushing it to the back of his head along with the stray thoughts of Kyoto and the fire. He was certain that he did not need to relieve the memory of it, nor did he need to further justify any of the confusing feelings he did not need relinquish or disturb. Tsuzuki had no problems doing that.

Sighing, he walked back to the bench he had left Makoto on and was startled to see that the child was not where he had left him, where he had promised to wait for him. He felt the feeling of dread filling him as he searched for any sign of him and saw none.

Hopefully the he had not wandered off too far; it was horrifying to imagine what would happen if the yuurei had located him again. If he had -

"SOMEONE HELP THAT CHILD!!!"

He jumped slightly at the high-pitched shriek from his left, and his gaze tore towards that direction. The cold confectionary slipped from pale fingers and landed on the ground with an unhealthy squelch, forgotten as the owner raced towards the growing scene.

Emerald green eyes widened in abject horror as he took in the situation at the intersection near the park. He had found Makoto, true, but in circumstances that wasn't reassuring in any measure. The child was standing in the middle of the road, staring at the car racing towards him. The driver was frantically trying to stop the car but Hisoka knew at one glance that with the speed it ran and how small the child was, it would still have any chance to change the inevitable that was waiting to happen.

Without any second hesitation, he bolted towards the younger boy, ignoring the shocked gasps and shouts the rest of the crowd exclaimed, focusing only in saving Makoto. He did not know if Shinigami would get killed because of things like this - well, maybe this was one way to find out. He did not want Makoto to die, no; he was too young.

In a fleeting second he saw shocked amethyst eyes boring in his own and he met it without flinching. He moved his arm towards the child and pushed him in that direction. Makoto would be safe with Tsuzuki, that much he knew.

Because he himself was safe in Tsuzuki's arms.

Turning his head slightly, he caught the flash of the car's hood and felt hot, searing pain around his waist and blacked out.

Nami-chan notes: Yep. Done. That was stupid. Really, really stupid. I don't think there would be anything after this though… I mean, I could leave it at that…

*Raises eyebrow* Do you really think that? I'm not that morbid. That wasn't even half of my fluff potential. More fluff in the second, next, and last chapter. Angst for Tsuzuki though… Yep, I'm evil. I'm leaving with a cliffhanger. Drives Mel-chan and Hitode-chan nuts but hey, I like the look on their faces.

Ironically, it's still raining and I'm still nursing a cup of tea. I think this is becoming a habit… Say, can anyone tell me what 'pwp' means? It's been bothering me as well…