Masquerade
A Here is Greenwood / Yami no Matsuei Cross-over
by Karma
Notes and disclaimers: Both published in Hana to Yume comics by their respective authors, whose names I can't recall right now. Neither are mine. The fic is based on the anime of both: in Greenwood, it takes place right after the Misako ghost incident of episode 4 with the assumption that Mitsuru is still dorm prez. In Yami, it takes place right after the Devil's Trill Arc.
To Greenwood fans: Quick, short intro of Yami: basically, there are these people that died, but their connection to the world of the living is so strong that they choose not to move on. These people are called the Shinigami, because they guide the souls of the dead. They also do a bit of spiritual detective work regarding mass murders and people that live too long.
Some OOC, wanna-be angst but too mild to be called angst, and shonen ai. I revised this fic so many times that I have a completely different version somewhere that is a lot...weirder. I still don't know if I like this version more or not, but finals and the deadline...maybe some other day I'll revise it.
Special thanks to Imo-girl and Kojiki-chan of the MASML for all your help!
Shinobu looked at the crowd around his friend and gave a mental sigh.
It had started off as a relatively normal week at Ryokuto Academy. The day had been bright and clear. Students had been bustling to and from classes, talking and laughing with each other.
Now, however, one particular group of friends was surrounded an injured companion. This, too, was not uncommon, although it was not a daily occurrence either.
The dark blonde slapped his hand against his forehead. "Someone please tell me again what happened to Hasukawa?"
Something bad as usual. Poor Hasukawa, thought Shinobu sympathetically.
The being spoken of was on the floor, clutching his nose in pain while it bled profusely. "Why am I so unlucky?" he wailed.
Their longhaired friend spoke. "Suka-chan and I were heading towards class when someone opened the door really fast and slammed it into his nose."
"Why me?" The redhead on the floor asked pitifully.
"Where's the person who did this?" asked Shinobu calmly, his metallic gray eyes as unperturbed as ever. Calmly, the leader of the group handed the victim a handkerchief, which the latter gladly accepted.
"Saa," Shun, Hasukawa Kazuya's longhaired best friend, answered. "He took off." The former leaned over and helped his friend up, supporting him with his shoulder. "Let's go see your older brother, Suka-chan."
"Bud I hade seeing him," complained Kazuya, holding his nose painfully.
Mitsuru, the blonde, shook his head. "Shun's right. Let's go see your brother."
"I think I got him," Shun said. "You guys should go to class. I'll take care of him."
Mitsuru exchanged glances with Shinobu. Calmly, the silver-haired boy nodded, once.
"Nah, we'll go with you two," Mitsuru decided, his magenta violet eyes worried. Besides, Shinobu doesn't feel like going to class today, so we might as well skip it.
And so the no-brand heroes headed to the school's infirmary.
"I don't want to see Kazuhiro right now," the redhead mumbled mournfully to himself as he leaned against his friend's shoulder. "All Hiro-ani's going to do is hand me a towel and then laugh in my face. Then he'll talk about Sumire-chan to get my nose to bleed even more. I'm so unlucky. Why, I wish someone else worked in the infirmary, anyone but my own family."
Shun knocked. "We're coming in! Injured person!"
Deciding that that was a good enough salutation, Mitsuru opened the door and stepped aside for Shun and Hasukawa to go in. He and Shinobu followed soon after.
Suka looked up, expecting to see his brother's unwelcome face, only to meet eyes of amethyst.
Amethyst, not blue.
Shinobu blinked.
"Irrashai!" greeted the amethyst-eyed man cheerfully. "Ah, that looks painful!" he said to the stunned group. He stood up and drew the curtains to the nearest bed aside quickly, his chocolate-brown hair swaying with the movement. "Quick, let's get him to bed."
He's...
Shun helped his friend to the bed, while the latter sputtered. "Wh-wh-wh-where's Hiro-ani?"
The new nurse smiled apologetically. "Hasukawa-sensei has called in sick. Don't worry; I'll take care of you. You can call me Tsuzuki-sensei." He walked over to the medicine cabinet, and floundered about as he looked through all the bottles of medicine.
Strange.
Shun sighed. "At least the replacement nurse could have been a cute girl. But he's still male at an all male school..." he whispered to Suka.
"Let's see...bleeding nose...bleeding nose...hmmm...I don't see anything listed there. Hmm..." The nurse scratched his head in puzzlement.
Not dead...not a ghost...
"Are you sure you're qualified for this job?" Mitsuru asked skeptically.
Tsuzuki shrugged helplessly. "I'm not very good at it," he admitted.
Kazuya groaned. "Why me?"
Shun patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.
But not alive, either. Shinobu watched the new infirmary nurse. Something's very strange about him.
After the disaster in the morning and what few classes there were in the afternoon, Shinobu retired to the retreat of his room. Hesitantly, he paused before opening the door, steeling himself to wipe the grin off his face.
Every so often, it happened. Whenever he had a lousy day, whenever classes were too dull, whenever he felt like he could not tolerate anybody's presence any longer- he would think about Mitsuru and look forward to seeing him.
The thought of Mitsuru always made him smile.
And of course, a smile to be seen upon Tezuka Shinobu's face? Never!
So here he was now, smiling like an idiot, the mask briefly off his face. It always surprised him that after all these years, only one person could break it so easily. Calming himself down, he wiped off the smile and regained his usual, calm and unaffected countenance.
Masks. He had met them all wearing a mask, and now it was too difficult to drop, to show them that he had other sides of him that nobody knew about. A façade, a fake air of superiority that he held, and had been holding, ever since his childhood. It had pissed off his older sister and everyone else, and he had learned that keeping his emotions hidden away kept him from being vulnerable.
It was easier to pretend you were somebody that you were not. Perhaps, then, you could become who you were pretending to be.
So he always treated everyone that he met the same way. Indifferent, uncaring, and cold. He weeded through friends that meant nothing to him, through people that only tried to use him, through acquaintances that annoyed him. And after a while, it became easier to simply put on his mask, and move on with life.
Shinobu had never expected to find someone that he could call "friend."
But at Ryokuto Academy, he had found one. An ex-gang leader, his roommate, and now his best friend, the handsome Ikeda Mitsuru. And because Mitsuru, Shinobu made more of an effort to get to know some of the others at their school.
And so now they had their own little clique set up, didn't they? Shinobu, Mitsuru, Shun, and Suka. The four no-brand heroes of Greenwood.
He found people that he enjoyed spending time with. People he could actually could call friends.
And he knew that part of it was because of his roommate.
But now...
Now...I'm trapped in my own work.
Because now he had developed a mild crush on his roommate. Which, of course, he had no intention whatsoever of acting on. It had been hard enough for him to accept Mitsuru as a friend, to admit someone past his defenses and into his life. He wasn't even sure if he wanted Mitsuru as a lover.
Yes, I am attracted to him, Shinobu reflected mentally. But that doesn't mean I'll do anything about it.
What stopped him was a fear. He had presented himself to his friends at Greenwood in one way, and he did not wish to change what they already thought of him. After all...what if...?
What if they like the Shinobu wearing the mask more than the Shinobu without it?
What if Mitsuru wouldn't enjoy learning the truth about his roommate?
Too risky.
Giving a mental sigh, he steeled himself. With his beautiful face now as calm as ever, he opened the door.
There was a pause as he registered what he saw before him.
"What," Shinobu stated coolly when he entered the room, "is THAT?"
Mitsuru looked around and followed his gaze.
"What is what? Oh, that. That's a saxophone. Brass instrument. Usually used to play jazz."
"You don't play a saxophone," Shinobu reminded him gently. "You play a trombone."
"I know. But I couldn't resist. I found it in the dorm lady's basement when I was helping her move some boxes this morning. She didn't know what it was either, so she said I could have it."
"Ah."
A pause. Don't tell me he's...
"What are you doing?" Shinobu asked calmly, refusing to sound alarmed.
Mitsuru put the reed in his mouth. "I'm going to play it."
"Here?"
"Yes."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am."
"No."
"Yes."
"NO."
"Please, Shinobu? It's so shiny. I have to try!" Pleading magenta eyes met dispassionate dark silver.
He's so adorable sometimes. Finally, Shinobu acquiesced. "Fine. But not while I'm in the room."
He headed for the door, and was surprised when Mitsuru didn't try to stop him from leaving. I guess he really does want to play it. He snuffed out the small feeling of hurt that he had been experiencing from this action and forced himself to move on.
Just as he opened the door to exit the room, Misako entered in cheerfully, ready for another good day of haunting. It had only been a week since she had kissed Mitsuru through Kone the cat, and even less since she had brought over her other girlfriends to haunt the dorms.
Ah. Just a normal week at Greenwood.
The silver-haired resident of Room 211 nodded pleasantly at her, and hoped that his roommate got his just desserts.
He's watching Mitsuru again, Shinobu observed with a slight feeling of irritation.
It was the new boy again. For the last week, ever since his appearance at Ryokuto Academy, the newbie had done nothing but fall short of stalking Ikeda Mitsuru. He was always sitting at a table near theirs during mealtimes, always watching Mitsuru during class, and even went so far as to attend band practice sessions under the premise that he was considering joining, although he clearly had no intention of ever doing so.
And he was watching Mitsuru again, his clear emerald-green eyes watching Shinobu's roommate. His face, as usual, was expressionless- he never had a smile or anything of the like upon his pretty, pale countenance.
Expressionless...like me.
A mask of indifference, one that revealed nothing of the owner's thoughts and feelings.
But at least I'm Mitsuru's roommate, he thought defensively. I'm allowed to be near him. This kid doesn't even try to talk to him!
Something else about the new boy also always bothered Shinobu. It came from his instinct, an offset of his mild psychic powers. Like how he could tell when a ghost was in the dorm, what people were thinking, and what not. The new boy wasn't a ghost, but something about him was...strange. Like with the substitute dorm nurse.
The school council president wondered why his best friend never mentioned the new kid. Surely Mitsuru would have noticed by now that there was a creep who virtually stalked him. Still, his roommate never mentioned it, and being someone that never pointed out obvious facts, Shinobu kept his observations to himself.
He wasn't one who was likely to speak about his emotions or to discuss his thoughts.
It was difficult for him to act out of his expected character. Shinobu had set up a carefully designed act, and he played it everyday of his life. As with everything else, he excelled at his act and managed to trick everybody.
In the beginning, he had designed it because of Nagisa, his older sister. She had used to bully him at every moment in his childhood, from pushing him into the pond to breaking all of his toys. Admittedly, her actions had upset him at first. But then he discovered how much she enjoyed watching him miserable, and he decided to get back at her in another way.
He would become someone that couldn't be touched.
Tezuka Shinobu acted perfect, and so everyone thought that he was perfect.
Nothing had upset Nagisa more, so he kept it up...
And he had been keeping this act up for so long that it had become a second nature to him. The facial expression. The calculated, calm, and cold gaze. The complexity of each word he chose to speak, making sure that he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.
So as much as he wanted to pull Mitsuru aside and demand to know whom the new boy was and why he was stalking Mitsuru, Shinobu couldn't.
He simply couldn't.
So Shinobu contented himself with waiting for someone else to point it out. It was not as if the stalker was dangerous in any sort of way; Shinobu sensed no malicious intent from him.
It still irked him though, to know that someone else found Mitsuru just as captivating as he did.
Well, it's only natural that others find Mitsuru attractive, right? After all-what's there about him to dislike?
But a boy? I thought I was the only boy attracted to him.
Ha. What a silly thought. As if...
Oh well. He may have crush on Mitsuru, but he still hasn't made any effort to talk to him. So I'm still closer to Mitsuru...
Best friends, not lovers... but still close.
"Mitsuru-sempai-has that guy ever talked to you?" Shun asked one night. The four best friends were rounded up and hanging around Room 210.
Mitsuru blinked, his clear magenta eyes showing surprise. "Who?"
Hasukawa's eyes widened. "Sempai- didn't you ever notice him? That new kid! Kurosaki Hisoka!" The redhead waved his arms in excitement. "He's always watching you! Always ending up in the same room as us, except in the dorms! I don't even have classes with you, sempai, but when we walked you to class, he was there!"
Shun grinned, shuddering dramatically. "How creepy! You're being stalked by a boy!"
Mitsuru frowned. "I notice him around, but I usually ignore him. I tried approaching him once, but he just blew me off. Very hard to get to know. Like Shinobu," he said, this last comment with a jerk of his hand in his roommate's direction. "Only worse. Shinobu is relatively approachable; this kid is just a-social. So I just ignore him. It's a small school, maybe you guys are just imagining things."
The residents of room 210 both shook their heads simultaneously.
Hard to get to know, eh? I suppose I am.
"Nope, we're not imagining a thing!" Shun bellowed.
After all...I don't make friends as easily as Mitsuru does. Enemies are easier. Safer. You know where an enemy stands and what they think of you. What they think doesn't matter. All you have to do is stay out of trouble, and you're fine.
But friends... friends are different. Being a friend requires something of you, and I'm usually too selfish to give that up.
Not like him.
A friend's trouble becomes your own. And what a friend thinks of you does matter.
"Shun's right! He's always there!" Suka agreed. "Don't you agree, Shinobu-sempai?"
Everyone stared at the leader of the group. Shinobu's judgment was considered the best of the lot.
Silence, as the question settled into his mind. The school council president waited for a dramatic pause, and then spoke in his usual, smooth voice. "He is around a lot, Mitsuru. And ever since he showed up, I haven't seen Misako around much."
"That's just cuz she said that she found someone else just as handsome," Mitsuru said with a shrug. "So now I don't have to worry about her haunting me!" He concluded with an obviously relieved tone of voice.
Shinobu's lips twitched downwards into the slightest frown. So you would rather be stalked by a boy than haunted by a girl-ghost?
Mitsuru shrugged, and finished the beer that he had been drinking. "Ah well. Anyway, I have to go practice my brass for the next band practice. Later, minna." He crushed his can in one hand and exited the room.
Shun and Hasukawa both groaned and pulled out earmuffs.
The boy with long hair looked at their next-door neighbor as he adjusted the earmuffs. "How can you stand it, Shinobu-sempai? He's bad enough next door, I can't imagine how awful it would be if we slept in the same room as him!"
Hasukawa agreed. "Sempai, where did he pick that up again? Ever since he got his new instrument, all he ever does is play it RIGHT NEXT DOOR! I mean before, he was considerate enough to play only in class, but ever since he got this one..." The redhead paused for a breath of air. "What was wrong with his old instrument? Why is he playing this one?"
"It's because..."
"It's because?"
"He thought this one was shinier," said Shinobu in his usual serious voice, while he thought over the question.
Mitsuru had been playing that instrument in every moment of free time that he got. Rather than studying or hanging out, he always went back to Room 211 and blared up the music.
It wouldn't have been so bad if he played well. But despite the fact that he was a relatively decent player in the band, by himself, in his room, he was awful. Perhaps it was because he had NO practice WHATSOEVER in playing a saxophone. He was good with a trombone, but he did not know how to play a saxophone.
It made no sense.
And it was quite a hassle. Everyday, when Shinobu came back, he listened to tasteless music before he entered the room. Painfully lousy music played by a musician who was not at all familiar with the instrument that he was playing. Loud, obnoxious noises made by a jazz instrument. Mitsuru so far had the decency to stop playing whenever Shinobu entered the room; but the latter knew that that was the only time when the dark blonde stopped. He received enough complaint notices from the other residents to know that Mitsuru now played constantly.
"Sempai!" Shun snapped, irritated. "As his roommate, it's your responsibility to tell him what an ass he's making of himself! He's got to stop! This has gone on long enough!"
Hasukawa nodded in self-righteousness. "Shun's right, sempai. Please...for the sake of everyone's auditory senses in the dorms... Make him stop! He'll listen to you!"
Shinobu watched his other friends, unblinking.
"C'mon sempai, there's no reason for you not to!" Shun gave him a pleading look.
"Maybe we should just take bets on who will beat Mitsuru out of it first," he said, his face almost smiling. Shun and Suka were so much fun to tease.
Shun made a sound of disgust. "I mean, I asked him to stop and he said he'll try to play quieter. HOW CAN YOU PLAY A SAXOPHONE ANY QUIETER THAN IT ALREADY ISN'T?" The effeminate boy wailed.
"Well, I suppose we'll see," said Shinobu, and he left the room on the perfect cue, making his exit as dramatic as ever.
The silver-haired boy stifled another useless sigh. This week at Greenwood's been strange. First the saxophone. Then Kurosaki Hisoka is STILL stalking my roommate. Not to mention the new male nurse. Hasukawa Kazuhiro hasn't come back yet, and Suka refuses to call home to find out why. If Shinobu hadn't been a resident of Greenwood for so long, he would have found the entire situation peculiar. And...
And I've been more contemplative as usual. Ever since Misako had kissed Mitsuru, I haven't been able to stop thinking about him as somebody more than a friend.
He couldn't stop wondering what it would be like to kiss his best friend.
Just to see.
He recalled that one moment in time, one heartbeat in time when everyone had looked at him and expected him to kiss Mitsuru to rid Greenwood of the haunting girl-ghost, Misako. Before then, he had never thought of Mitsuru as anything more than a friend, but at that moment in time, when everyone had demanded him to do it, he had felt a rush of emotions never experienced before.
It had...frightened him. To usually feel so little, and then be flooded with mixed, contradictory feelings. Like the desire to suddenly actually want to kiss Mitsuru, a realization that the idea appealed to him, a sudden feeling of self-hatred for thinking such, confusion, fear, and then panic.
None of which, had shown up on his face. His mask was perfect.
But he had vehemently refused, and now he regretted his decision more than ever.
Because he now couldn't stop thinking about Mitsuru. And while this action cheered him up on depressing days, it also disturbed him. That damn Misako...
Yes, it's been a strange week at Greenwood. Then again, it always is. That's what makes it so much fun at times. Being that he was a resident of Ryokurin Hall for so long, however, Shinobu could pass it off as simply as another oddity at his school. It would warrant investigation later, but for now, he would store it as something that simply happened at his school, until something else occurred.
It was not really that much of a problem. Kurosaki never went so far as to appear in their room. And the one time that Mitsuru had dared to play his saxophone while Shinobu was in the room with him, he had received a heavy manga in the face as punishment.
While heading to class, Shinobu spotted the quasi-stalker on campus. Kurosaki walked briskly down the hall and headed for the first floor.
But Mitsuru's class is upstairs right now.
Looking around, Shinobu checked once more that yes, indeed, Mitsuru was nowhere to be seen. Now curious to see where Kurosaki went on his own, Shinobu moved to follow him carefully.
Left.
Down the hall.
To the door on the right.
Shinobu stopped in front of the door, and looked at the sign above.
It read: Nurse's Office.
He sensed it, once more: they were neither alive nor dead. Something else...Kurosaki Hisoka and Tsuzuki-sensei are both something else. He leaned to the side and tried to listen to what was going on, but the door shut firmly in its place and muffled the noises. Normal people would have had difficulty figuring out what was going on, but Shinobu, after carefully listening to the sounds and syllables of what was being spoken, could figure out part of what they said:
The nurse spoke first. "HISOKA! You came to visit me!"
Just 'Hisoka'? That's a rather familiar address.
"Bakayarou! Don't touch me!"
Shinobu's eyes widened slightly. Well... they have that kind of a relationship? Again, demonstrating the qualities of male nurses at all-male high schools?
"Gomen, gomen...I just got so excited after seeing you for so long..." The intonation of the nurse's voice indicated that he was now pleading or sad. "I haven't seen you around much."
"Well, I've been following Ikeda Mitsuru." Kurosaki's voice was slightly apologetic. "Don't look at me like that."
A pause. Then the nurse spoke in a much more serious voice: "Well?"
"He definitely has it," Kurosaki's voice held a slight trace of dislike. "I can hear him playing it every day. It's awful."
Hey! thought Shinobu defensively, though he knew it was true.
"I see. Well, I suppose we better go talk to him about it."
Hisoka was now muttering something.
"What was that, Hisoka?"
"I can't believe Chief and Tatsumi-san sent us on such a stupid mission."
Silence.
"It was..." Tsuzuki's voice held a slight amount of anguish. "It was because of what I did to the buildings...after I got possessed by Saaga..."
Now Kurosaki's voice sounded softer, and it was harder to overhear. Shinobu strained to listen.
"You know that that wasn't your fault. And I think they sent us on such a simple mission because they wanted us to relax."
"Arigatou, Hisoka. Anyway, we should get the saxophone back and then get rid of Misako."
"I think we should get rid of Misako first," said Hisoka in a pained voice. "I can't stand her hanging around my room anymore. The other ghosts were so much easier to help move on, but she refuses to. You take care of her, I'll get the saxophone from Ikeda."
"Hai!"
I guess I should get going... Shinobu thought when he heard Kurosaki's footsteps head for the door. Thinking quickly, he knocked on the door.
The stalker opened it, letting him in.
"Dewa, mata ne, Sensei," said Kurosaki, his voice showing none of the signs of familiarity that had been exposed earlier. He nodded politely at Shinobu and left.
The fake nurse waved after him and then turned his attention to the school council president. "Yes?"
"I have a headache," he lied. And so much more...
What the hell are they?
"Kurosaki-san!" Misako the ghost glomped Hisoka on his way down the hall. Thankfully, however, she was still as intangible as ever and went right through him.
"What are you doing out of the dorms?
"I came to visit Tsuzuki-san!" She smiled cheerfully. "Let's go together!"
Maybe we can get rid of her together. "Fine," said the Shinigami.
Shinigami. They were guides to the souls of the dead, bringing them back to where they belonged: Meifu, the land of the dead. Working for the summoning division of Enma, one of the Ten Kings of Hell, the Shinigami also handled investigations regarding demons, murders, and the like. Their last case had taken them to a school where a boy had been in possession of a cursed violin, and in the middle of an unwanted contract with a demon from the Makai. Things got messier when the demon possessed Tsuzuki, and used the older Shinigami's powers to destroy half of the Enma-cho.
Yes, this case was relatively simple in comparison. Chief had wanted them to take an easy, light-hearted case after the psychological trauma that Tsuzuki had suffered from the last, and so they were sent to handle a simple "copycat" case. Some demon had cursed a saxophone that made the user want to do nothing else but play bad music. Each time the musician played it, their thoughts were consumed a little more by it, making them want to play it constantly.
It had to be one of the stupidest cases that he had ever been sent on, but Hisoka complied without much resistance. Tsuzuki could use a break.
The empath walked back into the nurse's office and shut the door after the student council president left.
Tezuka Shinobu... From most people, by just being near them, Hisoka could guess at their current state of mind. He was an empath, and other people's emotions flowed through him against his will. With the student council president, however... Shinobu was someone who deliberately hid his feelings well. It was...strange to see a human make such an effort, and to be so difficult to read, but such was the case of the latter.
Shinobu was a bit of a mystery. When he had first met the eyes of dark grey-eyed boy, Hisoka had been worried for a moment that his disguise as a student was uncovered. The other boy, apparently, had some kind of psychic gift.
Ah well. The person he was more concerned with was Shinobu's roommate, Ikeda Mitsuru. He was the one in possession of the saxophone, moreover, he was the one that Misako was haunting and was the reason she didn't want to leave. And Tsuzuki could never turn down someone who could fake tears well, so they still had not gotten rid of her.
"Hi Tsuzuki-san!" The ghost gave the older Shinigami a ghost of a kiss on the seat.
They launched into a round of endless chatter until Hisoka, getting impatient, cleared his throat.
Tsuzuki got the hint and looked at the ghost. "Misako-chan, you already kissed him before, ne? So why don't you let me help you move on now...guide you to the spirit world?"
"Iyada!" She cried, giving him a pitiful look. "Onegai, Tsuzuki-san, don't make me go!"
Tsuzuki sighed. I can't do it... "You... don't want to leave," he said, after a pause. He looked at his partner, giving him a sad, pleading look. Don't make me do it...
Hisoka sighed. He turned to Misako, addressing her. "All right. What will it take to make you leave?"
She smiled. "I want to kiss Ikeda-kun on the lips. In a human body."
"Then it's solved!" Tsuzuki declared. "You can possess one of us and then go kiss him! We're already dead so our connection to the spirit world is strong." He hesitated, and then a shadow crossed over his face briefly.
"No." Hisoka stated, flatly. "Tsuzuki is definitely not going to be possessed again." Not to mention that everyone will think he's some kind of pervert. "And I'm not going to go kiss a stranger that I don't even know."
"Ah...but I want to kiss a handsome boy...I've never had a boyfriend." The ghost looked sad for a moment, and then brightened. "I know! Can I possess you and kiss Tsuzuki? He's just as good-looking."
A faint blush came to Hisoka's face while Tsuzuki just blinked in surprise.
Amethyst eyes met green, and Hisoka panicked, feeling emotions swirling in and out of him, and being unable to identify whose was whose.
"I'll kiss Ikeda!" With that, he bolted out of the room.
Cheering, Misako floated quickly after him.
Tsuzuki sighed.
The course of his action was clear: he had to separate Mitsuru from the saxophone.
Shinobu didn't know why those people infiltrated an all-boys' school to steal a musical instrument, but that was of unimportance. Stranger things have been done for stupider reasons.
What he was worried about was what they might do to get it. If Kurosaki was willing to resort to stalking...what if Mitsuru didn't give them the saxophone? What extremes would they be willing to take?
Mitsuru's in class right now, so I'll just head back to the room, steal it, and toss it out the window or something.
Retracing his footsteps, Shinobu quickly left the campus and headed back for Ryokurin Hall.
When he arrived in his room, his eyes met quite a scene.
Mitsuru was hugging his saxophone.
The violet-eyed resident of Room 211 looked up at his roommate's entrance in surprise. "Shinobu, aren't you supposed to be in class?"
Calmly, Shinobu shed his school coat and hung it in his wardrobe.
"Aren't you?"
"Well...I suppose..." Mitsuru smiled at the shiny brass in his arms. "But I thought I'd come back and play it a bit more since it wouldn't disturb anybody because here. Right now, everyone's in class." He hugged his saxophone to his chest protectively. "I mean, I would have brought it to band practice, but the sensei thought that I wasn't any good at it. Can you believe that? He wants me to go back to the trombone! I'm seriously contemplating quitting."
Shinobu frowned.
I can't believe I never realized before how different Mitsuru has been acting ever since he got that stupid instrument. I stopped noticing how he was now, and kept getting lost in thought, thinking about Misako kissing him, rather than noticing his current state. Mentally berating himself for being so remiss, Shinobu crossed to the other side of his room and sat by his desk near window. He turned and faced his roommate.
"Mitsuru."
"Hmm?"
"May I see your saxophone?"
Mitsuru looked hesitantly at Shinobu. "I...don't...really like the idea of anybody touching it." Realizing how ridiculous he sounded, he reluctantly handed his roommate the instrument.
Shinobu examined the shiny brass instrument. It was a pretty shade of gold, and he could feel it calling to him. He was tempted to play it, but he resisted because he knew even less about playing saxophones than his roommate. Gathering his will power, he looked at it with a critical eye.
"Mitsuru, this thing is haunted," he noted with realization, wondering why he hadn't noticed before. Because when I first came in, he was holding it and I got more interested in watching his face than watching the instrument.
His best friend chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous. There's no such thing as a haunted instrument..." his voice trailed off as he realized that he used to have the same thought regarding haunted dorms. He looked at his roommate strangely, and then motioned his arms in an attempt to get it back. "Give it back."
Shinobu swiftly moved the instrument out of his friend's reach. "You don't play it well anyway."
Mitsuru stepped back, stunned. "I don't play it well? Well, look who's talking! I bet you can't play any instrument at all!"
Shinobu refused to take the bait. He simply watched his roommate, not saying anything. A part of him, the part of him that was the closest to the reality of the mask, watched Mitsuru detachedly and with a critical eye. Look how he's reacting. Interesting.
Mitsuru stood up and lunged forward in an attempt to grab it. Shinobu ducked to the side, and Mitsuru slipped, knocking his head into his roommate's desk.
"Ow." The blonde stood up, angrily. "Shinobu, you jerk, GIVE IT BACK!" He shouted, this time attempting to tackle the other boy.
They collided into each other, and the saxophone rolled twice across the carpeted floor.
Shinobu had never been so close to Mitsuru. The dark magenta eyes, the silky dark blonde hair, the soft skin, the strong arms... If Mitsuru wasn't so angry with him, he might have had a Hasukawan moment where his nose would bleed profusely. Luckily, this did not happen for two reasons. The first was Shinobu's impenetrable mask. The second was the fact that Mitsuru looked angry enough to tear him up into bits.
Over a saxophone? He's this mad over a saxophone? Uncertain of how to react in such an awkward position, Shinobu did what he did best: looked cool and did nothing.
Mitsuru panted slightly from the exertion, realized that he had his best friend pinned to the floor in a very compromising situation, and pulled back quickly, flushing with anger and embarrassment.
Shinobu sat up calmly, refusing to let anything show how strongly the other's boy presence had affected him.
The blonde boy growled at him angrily. "You always do what you want! Why can't I do that same? What, were you going to make me stop playing the saxophone?"
The silver-haired boy replied back in his usual calm manner: "I wouldn't really call it playing. And yes, I was going to take it away from you. The-"
Mitsuru interrupted him in an angry tone. "You always get away with everything! So perfect! So cold! So uncaring! Do you even give a shit about other people? You're the most selfish bastard I've ever met!"
The words cut into Shinobu's heart and chilling his soul. Is this what he really thinks of me? An automatic reaction to such a situation, his mask hardened onto his face even more and stood firm.
"You're so indifferent!
The words struck him like a blow to the chest. Shinobu felt trapped and helpless while Mitsuru continued the heated verbal onslaught.
Expressing his hatred for me...
"You don't love anyone but yourself!"
Shinobu's last barrier, the mask, was all that there was left. Nothing showed upon his countenance. It was as it had always been, a protective shield over his heart. His vulnerability.
"All you ever do is manipulate me and everyone else to reach your goals! You'll stop at nothing! And sometimes..."
He felt himself steeling at the words, reeling from each blow.
"I REALLY HATE YOU!"
Shinobu felt something within him shatter. His last defense.
His roommate stopped suddenly, realizing that he had gone too far. Mitsuru stopped and went pale, all the anger draining out of his face. "Shinobu..."
Shinobu blinked, his vision slightly blurry. Something warm and wet slid down his cheek. Nothing else upon his face betrayed the slightest trace of his emotions.
He looked like a crying statue, immobile in features except for the tears that slid down his unruffled face.
Tears.
"Shin..." Mitsuru whispered, aghast.
After all these years...tears...I haven't cried since elementary school.
The one who could make him smile was also the one who could make him cry.
Gathering the shreds of his dignity and feeling completely defeated, Shinobu calmly wiped the few tears on his face away and forced himself to stop any others from leaking. His face, as always, was cold and cool, although his eyes were slightly redder than usual. Forcing his voice to remain level, he spoke in his usual, cool and collected voice, though it sounded slightly scratchier than normal. "Are you quite finished?"
"Shinobu...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean-"
"You made your opinions perfectly clear, and meant every word you said," Shinobu said calmly.
"I..."
The silver-haired boy stood up and walked over to the saxophone. Deftly, he picked it up with one hand and tossed it to his roommate, who caught it in surprise.
"If you want it so badly, you can keep it," said the student council president. "You really are bad at playing it, though. You only know how to play the trombone."
"Shinobu..."
Shinobu continued, as if he couldn't hear his friend. "And it really is possessed or something. It has a rather bad aura and your stalker was following you around because he wanted it. Oh, and by the way, your stalker is weird. He's not a corpse or a ghost, but at the same time, he's not alive either," he rambled, his mind switching to fleeing mode. He had to get the last word and leave. Now.
Get out, recuperate elsewhere, and return later, when stronger. Don't show any emotion; don't let him see how much he's hurt you. Mourn for what was never there later. For now just focus on leaving with your dignity.
"Not to mention the fact that Shun and everyone else had been begging me to stop you from increasing the noise pollution every day with your horrid music."
It was a mistake to make friends. They left you so open to attack.
He headed for the door.
"Shinobu, wait..."
His hand touched the cold metal doorknob and he turned it.
Something strong caught his arm.
"Shinobu..."
Shinobu turned and gave his best friend one of his trademark glares that spoke so much louder than words.
Mitsuru cringed, but did not let go. I never meant to hurt you so, he wanted to say. I never realized how easy you were to hurt, that you felt pain just like the rest of us. But the words did not leave his mouth. So he stood there, looking like an idiot, his hand on his friend's arm.
"Let go of me," stated Shinobu flatly. Let go of me before I break apart before your eyes.
Someone down the hall shouted in surprise.
Curious, Shun and his roommate both poked their heads out of their door and turned towards the direction of the noise. There, their eyes met a curious sight.
Bonda, the resident cult leader, had the new kid pressed up against the wall.
"Join our club," said Bonda, his wide eyes bulging with conviction, "And come to our room of worship."
The younger Shinigami panicked. Raw terror filled him. The cult leader's strong convictions and emotions flowed through his body against his will, and he definitely didn't like it. He had run into the latter by accident while fleeing his last uncomfortable situation, and now regretted his hasty actions.
Bonda took a step closer, invading his personal space.
"I'm already dead!" Hisoka yelped. "I don't believe in God!"
The confusion increased twice-fold when Misako and the new nurse suddenly made their appearance.
"Kurosaki-san! What are you doing? Can I possess you now? Ikeda's room is so close!" Misako asked cheerfully. She floated next to him, and looked at his harasser. "Hello."
The cult leader stepped back, stricken at Hisoka's blasphemous words. He ignored Misako's ghostly presence in denial, as always. In a daze, he started to walk towards the wall. Skillfully, Tsuzuki turned him aside and set him walking down the hall instead.
Hasukawa gawked at the spectacle, while Shun found the whole thing strange. "What's the substitute nurse doing here?"
Misako waved at the residents of Room 210 and then dove into Hisoka's body.
Hasukawa and Shun clung to each other in horror.
"She's finally possessing people!" Hasukawa squealed.
Shun frowned suddenly, his attention elsewhere. He took off his earmuffs and listened more carefully. Yes, there was definitely someone shouting. Nudging his roommate and ignoring the events in the hall for a second, he looked at Suka.
"Suka-chan, do you hear something?"
The walls in between rooms were thin.
Hasukawa frowned as well, ignoring the sight of Misako checking out her new body. In the background, she did a little jig in Hisoka's body, while Tsuzuki watched on and clapped enthusiastically.
"Yeah. Sounds like sempai-tachi are having a fight."
With a jerk of his arm, Shinobu broke free of Mitsuru. He gave his friend a cold smile and reached for the door.
Someone knocked loudly, startling them both.
The moment between them was broken.
Automatically, the mask went back up and without another word Shinobu walked over to the door and opened it, revealing their younger neighbors.
"Shinobu-sempai? Mitsuru-sempai? We heard some noises and wanted to check on how things were going..." said Shun, startled by the tense atmosphere that he felt between them. Never, in all of his time at Greenwood, had he ever seen any indications that Mitsuru and Shinobu had had a fight.
Shinobu crossed his arms. "Mitsuru refuses to leave his beloved saxophone," he said, his voice dripping with poisonous sarcasm.
"Demo, sempai, you're really noisy!" Suka wailed.
Shun, meanwhile, eyed both Shinobu and Mitsuru worriedly. He had never seen them argue like that before, and was worried. They were refusing to look at each other. Something was different about Shinobu, too, though he couldn't pinpoint it exactly.
"I am not noisy!" Mitsuru shouted defensively. "I LOVE playing the saxophone and no one is taking it away from me!" He hugged his beloved instrument tightly to his chest.
"But you suck!" Hasukawa argued back. "We could get everyone in the dorm to sign a petition testifying it! Go back to playing the trombone!"
"Ano...Shinobu-sempai...you ok?" Shun asked worriedly. He had never seen Shinobu like this. The latter's face was still as calm as ever, though his body was stiff. Shun was not a psychic like his friend, but he could sense that the upperclassman was upset.
"I'll leave you two to get rid of it," Shinobu said dismissively. He looked pointedly at Shun and Hasukawa, who were blocking his way to the door. Instantly, they moved into the room and out of his path.
Something flickered into Mitsuru's eyes. "Wait. Shinobu, I'm sorry..." He caught his friend's arm again. "Wait..."
Shinobu gave him another one of his pointed looks. "Let go of me."
"Wah Shinobu-sempai, are you actually going to go off to sulk?" Hasukawa asked, amazed. He clamped his hands over his mouth instantly when he realized what he had just said. The redhead hadn't meant to say it, but he'd never seen Shinobu walk away from a problem before. The student council president gave him a cold look. Hasukawa shrank back. "I'm s-s-sorry..." the redhead sputtered.
I'm slipping, Shinobu thought silently. Forcing himself to calm down, he took two deep breaths before he regained his composure completely.
There was an awkward moment of silence while no one moved.
Finally, Mitsuru looked at his saxophone and then at all of his friends. "Do I really play that badly?" he asked in a soft voice.
Shun and Suka both nodded immediately.
Shinobu looked at him. "What do you think?"
"Ano..." A new voice broke in.
Everyone looked at the door. The speaker was the stalker.
So he finally had the guts to come and face Mitsuru himself, Shinobu thought. What lousy timing.
Kurosaki looked at them all shyly. "May I come in?"
Surprised, the Greenwood cast moved aside, giving him space to enter.
"Ano..." the newcomer said softly, blushing slightly. " Ikeda-san?" He smiled gently, a look seen almost never on his face, and with a pain Shinobu realized that the other boy was very good-looking.
Mitsuru reluctantly stepped forward.
"Yes?" He said plainly, giving the visitor a strange look.
Kurosaki took one step forward, brought his arms around Mitsuru's neck, and pulled him in for a deep, passionate kiss.
Suka had a nosebleed.
Shun gaped in shock. "Mitsuru got kissed by a boy!"
Ghost. He's being possessed by a ghost, Shinobu thought numbly. Still, he could not deny the angry feeling of jealousy that coursed through his body, and it took every ounce of the control that he learned throughout his years not to tear off their guest and shove him out of the room.
Too many emotions for one day.
Instead of acting out on his impulse, the student council president spoke deceptively calmly. Inside, he trembled with anger. "Misako-san, that's enough. Why don't you leave poor Kurosaki's body now and be on your way?"
Stiffly, Mitsuru caught Hisoka's arms and pushed himself away from the other boy, still slightly stunned. Then with a yelp, he leaped automatically behind Shinobu for cover.
"Shinobu! Save me!"
Shinobu crossed his arms and looked at the new boy. "Misako-san. Why did you do this?"
Kurosaki's body stuck his tongue out at him. "I had to possess his body because you wouldn't let me possess yours!" She complained in Hisoka's voice.
"But you already kissed Mitsuru through Kone," Shinobu pointed out reasonably. Briefly, he relished the feeling of protecting Mitsuru from danger.
"Well," the green-eyed boy looked down, flushing slightly. "I wanted a REAL kiss! From another person! On the lips!"
Shinobu gave her a withering look that made Hisoka cringe.
"All right. Well, you've had your fun. Go along your way then."
Kurosaki sighed, and Misako stepped out of his body.
The ghost-girl grinned at the boy that had lent her his body. "Thank you, Kurosaki-san."
Hisoka panted slightly, nodded tiredly, and then looked at her. His face was flushed. He opened his mouth to speak, but another voice beat him to it.
"Yatta! Now will you keep your promise and go on? I'll help you," said the new school nurse entering the room.
Baka. Why are you letting everyone know how strange you are? Hisoka gave his partner a warning look.
Misako cheered. "I kissed Ikeda-san!" She danced in the air in celebration.
That was the last straw. Shinobu had had enough. Firmly, he closed the door, making sure that no more unwanted guests would come in. "That's enough," he said in a deadly quiet voice that held a tone of finality. "Everyone be quiet and we'll react to this logically."
Surprised, everybody else in the room froze.
Seizing control of the situation, Shinobu calmly handed a grateful Hasukawa a tissue.
"Now," he looked at Tsuzuki and his partner. "What are you two? Zombies? I know you're not dead but you're not alive either."
"Uh...we're...uh..." Tsuzuki fumbled in speech. "A replacement nurse and a student?"
"Cut the crap. Only an idiot would think that you were a real nurse."
Hasukawa protested with a small "hey!" while Mitsuru, still behind Shinobu, frowned. Shinobu's acting strange.
I'm losing it...control, control, control...the mask, the act, don't forget. Polite. Be polite. It was all the events of the day...they had finally caught up with him and seeing Misako dance about kissing Mitsuru had made his blood boil over.
Hisoka watched Shinobu. For a moment the Shinigami studied the human, sensing him. After a pause, he nodded to himself, acknowledging to himself that right now was no time to mess with the other boy. He's serious. He knows there's something strange about us. We can't fool him. "We're not human. We're Shinigami."
"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki exclaimed.
"We help souls move on, although our main mission here was to get the saxophone. It's cursed."
"And you were just helping Misako as a side favor." Shinobu stated. It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes."
"And that's why you were stalking Mitsuru."
"Yes."
"So you're not attracted to him."
"No."
Shinobu nodded, satisfied. The saxophone...that's the reason Mitsuru said all those things.
They're accepting this really well, thought Hisoka. This dorm is just full of weirdos.
"All right. So assuming Misako passes on tonight and Mitsuru gives you back his saxophone, when will you leave?"
"Tomorrow."
"And Hasukawa-sensei will be back."
"Yes."
"Well then," Shinobu said, crossing the room and picking the instrument off the floor that Mitsuru had dropped in surprise at the kiss. "I'm sorry, Kurosaki. But Mitsuru has already slobbered all over the mouthpiece. I'm afraid the saxophone belongs to him now."
He moved back over and handed it back to a startled Mitsuru.
After a moment of hesitation, Mitsuru quickly gave it to Hisoka. "I'm glad to be rid of it," he declared. He glanced at Shinobu and then looked back at Hisoka. "It's brought me nothing but trouble."
Shinobu gave his friend a small look of approval.
Shun snickered. "Plus you're terrible at playing it." Mitsuru glared in response.
"Ok, then, I guess that's all..." Tsuzuki laughed nervously. The silver-haired boy was frightening. He reminded Tsuzuki of a much colder and scarier version of Tatsumi. "I guess we'll be on our way then." He coughed politely, and then looked at Misako. "Ready to go?"
"Sayonara, Mitsuru-san! Can I have a good-bye kiss?" Misako asked.
Mitsuru was about to reply, but Shinobu cut in tersely. "You've already had two."
"That's true." She grinned and looked at the school substitute nurse. "Shall we go?"
Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka. The blonde boy nodded, and the three of them exited the scene.
Shun sighed. The excitement of the day was starting to catch up. "Shinobu-sempai, you're as cool as ever," he noted wryly. I guess we better get going...give Shinobu and Mitsuru a chance to talk. "Ja ne." He tugged on his roommate's free arm -poor Hasukawa was still stopping his nosebleed with his other arm- and they left.
Shinobu shut the door firmly and crossed the room to sit down by his desk.
"Shinobu..."
He looked at Mitsuru questioningly.
"Are you still mad?"
Shinobu assessed his feelings for a moment. "No, not at you. It was the saxophone, so I don't blame you." He lowered his voice. "Unless you meant what you said."
His best friend shook his head vehemently. "No."
Shinobu relaxed. "Then don't worry." Deciding that he had done enough friendship-testing-fighting-etc for the day and just wanting to pretend that things were the way they were before, Shinobu pulled out his math workbook and began to do problems, as if nothing had happened.
"Shinobu..."
"What?"
"...I'm sorry I made you cry..." When the words slipped out of his mouth, Mitsuru knew immediately that he had said a very stupid thing.
Shinobu tensed. There was a long moment of silence. Finally, he looked at Mitsuru, his face still calm, but displaying a slight trace of emotion. "It's okay." Another pause. "I forgive you." Shinobu turned his head back to his desk, not wanting his roommate to see how vulnerable he felt.
"You looked like a crying statue."
Shinobu's pencil snapped in his hand. "Do we have to talk about this?" He asked, his voice harsh.
Something touched his shoulder, and he stiffened in surprise.
Mitsuru.
The blonde boy bent low, and gave his friend and awkward hug from the back.
"Shinobu, I'm sorry about what I said earlier," he whispered softly.
"I told you already, you're forgiven," said Shinobu uncomfortably. His heart began to beat faster, because Mitsuru was so near and touchy.
"But I'm glad that I got to see you cry. It told me something that I wasn't sure about for a while."
"What's that?"
"That you do have emotions. Sometimes I knew you were just acting that you didn't, other times I wasn't so sure." His arms tightened around his friend. "You don't always have to pretend that you don't have any, you know. No one will think less of you if you acted like yourself."
"Saa..."
"Least of all people, me. Shinobu, you know that all of us will always like you for who you are, no matter what."
Shinobu fell silent. After a moment, he leaned back, enveloping himself deeper into the embrace.
"...thanks."
"You know what else today reminded me of?"
"What?"
"Shin...suki da ze."
And the mask broke. A secret happiness rose within Shinobu, like an internal shy smile.
Shinobu smiled, a genuine smile that held no pretense, no smugness, and no superiority. He leaned back into the hug, tilted his head up so that their faces touched each other, cheek-to-cheek, and then placed a warm hand over Mitsuru's right arm.
"Ore mo."
owari
suki like; hence "suki da ze" is informal for "i like you"
"ore mo" "me too"
other short expressions:
"saa" an expression, sort of like our "well..." or "who knows...?", "iyada" "no, don't" that kind of a neg expression, "onegai" "please", "yatta" exclamation, used like our "all right!" "ja ne" is an informal good bye, like "see ya"
it's been a while since i've taken japanese 101, so apologies to anyone picky about romanized spellings.