Title: Melding

Summary: Where Tsuzuki is clingy, Hisoka plays DDR, and it's all a lot more normal than it seems. (Tsusoka hints)

Notes: Yet another challenge fanfic, and this one was the ever difficult one of "Hisoka plays DDR." Which is a mind-boggling concept, but Ryver-chan insisted I take it, and it was fairly challenging. (I trashed four or five ideas before finally selecting this one.) And surprisingly, it's not as humorous as it really should be (because seriously, Hisoka. Playing DDR. WTF.) But it's sweet and chock full of Tsuzuki and Hisoka fun, so it works. I hope it's enjoyable!

Warnings: DDR. And really, nothing else is worth warning about. Cos if the DDR doesn't squick you, you are clearly either insane or one of those people who decide that when dubbing anime with gay couples in them, you must make the couples cousins to explain how "close" they are. Because cousins sleep naked together all the time, and incest totally isn't more taboo than homosexuality.Nope. Not at all.

Disclaimer: If I owned Yami no Matsuei, Hisoka would not be tucking his jeans into his shoes. Because that's horrifying. …actually, let's be honest: if I owned Yami no Matsuei, Hisoka would not be wearing clothes. At all.

Melding

Tsuzuki was clingy.

It wasn't usually a problem, because Hisoka spent the better part of every day with the man. And while there were days when Hisoka could barely stand to spend more than a workday with his ebullient partner, Tsuzuki was usually fine with that and didn't push.

But this didn't change the fact that Tsuzuki liked to spend most of his day with Hisoka, no matter what they decided to do. Hisoka didn't mind, because if they were working time seemed to speed up anyway. But it always intensified after battles, especially if Hisoka got hurt. Recently, Hisoka had been knocked down a stairway while fighting a demon and had cracked his head on the stone steps. For the two hours that he was unconscious and a full day afterward, Tsuzuki refused to be more than a few feet from Hisoka.

This had grated a bit on Hisoka's nerves, but he had been dizzy for most of it and was oddly grateful for the company.

But still. Tsuzuki was clingy.

Hisoka knew this. He was well aware that it was probably very bad psychologically for Tsuzuki to be so dependent on him. To spend roughly eight to ten hours a day with another person, constantly, discounting all their cases where they spent the entire weekend together. And it wasn't as if it didn't get irritating sometimes. Certainly, when it was just a little too early and Tsuzuki was much too hyper, Hisoka contemplated bashing Tsuzuki over the head with a chair just for some silence. He never did, however, though once it was only because Terezuma would have taken too much pleasure from the sight and Hisoka's loyalties were to Tsuzuki, no matter how irritating he was being.

But even though Hisoka sometimes chafed under Tsuzuki near constant presence, it didn't not bother him overmuch. It was almost comforting, once Hisoka had established familiarity with Meifu. The afterlife was so different from his real life that Hisoka had trouble readjusting at first; suddenly, people were talking with him instead of ignoring him fearfully, asking about his opinions and observations. They were concerned if he was late or listless, and not just the concern that was laced with shades of irritation. And Tsuzuki was always there, joking and prodding and caring, always looking out for Hisoka in his own strange way.

So really, once Hisoka had adjusted to life in Meifu, he realized that he didn't mind Tsuzuki's dependence too much. Really, it made it easier for him, too; whenever Tsuzuki lapsed into depression, Hisoka would notice and casually remind him that, oh, they were going out to lunch today or say, didn't you mention going to that new movie on Chijou? It wasn't hard to distract Tsuzuki from his thoughts, and Hisoka was very good at deftly maneuvering his schedule so that he could make sure to be there for Tsuzuki. Just like Tsuzuki was there for him.

This was why, when Hisoka noticed the telltale signs that Tsuzuki was brooding, he latched onto the previous night's conversation without hesitation.

"Didn't you say something about a video game last night?"

Tsuzuki looked up, clearly surprised to see Hisoka. The work day was over, and since there weren't any new cases until tomorrow, the two of them were packing up to leave. Apparently, Tsuzuki had expected Hisoka to dash out of the office as soon as he was packed up, especially considering how antsy Hisoka had seemed after lunch. In reality, though, Hisoka was worried about Tsuzuki; the older man had been acting oddly subdued since their case yesterday, when he had been forced to separate a little sister from her older brother. The tiny girl's cries of "Aniki!" had made even Hisoka wince, and had affected Tsuzuki horribly. Hisoka had noticed, despite all of Tsuzuki attempts to appear fine, and did not like it when Tsuzuki was left to brood.

"Eh?" Tsuzuki asked, blinking wide purple eyes at him.

Hisoka sighed. "Last night. You said something about a video game."

"DDR?" Tsuzuki's smile didn't reach his eyes, but the effort was there, at least. "Yeah, Watari says it's a lot of fun! I haven't tried it yet, but a lot of people really like it -- and it's dancing--"

"Dancing?" Hisoka repeated. Oh, yeah, the conversation was coming back now. He had been too focused on writing up a progress report to really pay attention to Tsuzuki's inane chatter last night, but somewhere in a dim part of his memory, it was logged.

"Un," Tsuzuki said, grabbing his suit jacket from the back of his chair. Tugging it on, he asked, "Why are you asking about it now?"

Because you're too caught up in depressing thoughts, Hisoka wanted to say, but didn't. Instead, he shrugged and said, "Well, we could check it out if you wanted."

"Really?" Tsuzuki paused in the middle of slipping his arm through a sleeve, clearly surprised. "But -- last night -- you said it sounded dumb --"

Hisoka remembered that, too.

"Hn," Hisoka replied, giving a half-shoulder shrug as he opened the door. "It does sound dumb."

"But--"

"Do you want to go or not?" Hisoka hated eating his words, but with Tsuzuki it was always a little bit easier, because Tsuzuki understood that Hisoka would never do anything out of pity. Though to be quite honest, Hisoka wasn't exactly sure why he was offering to go check out a stupid video game either, other than to distract his partner. Because Tsuzuki wants to, whispered treacherously in his mind, but Hisoka pushed that aside and settled on the explanation that Tsuzuki's brooding was distracting and not conducive to work.

Besides, if he didn't hang out with Tsuzuki tonight, Hisoka would wind up spending the night at home alone. Granted, he did have books to read and some laundry he could do, but Tsuzuki was more important than books and Hisoka wasn't quite sure how that had happened.

"Sure," Tsuzuki said, and this time his smile reached his eyes.

Instantly, all of Hisoka's reservations on doing this vanished. He could stand checking out a video game if it meant that Tsuzuki would fill out his little shell and stop giving him echoes of smiles.

It was when they got to Chijou that Hisoka realized his first mistake. Because Hisoka had not expected to actually be playing the video game.

And certainly not dancing to it.

"Are you joking?" Hisoka hissed in his most dangerous if-you-aren't-kidding-I'm-going-to-be-pissed voice. Tsuzuki stared back at him innocently, looking nothing like the powerful 70-years dead shinigami that he was supposed to be. Truthfully, he didn't look like much other than a college student with too much time on his hands, especially since he had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"No, of course not, Hisoka!" Tsuzuki laughed, and Hisoka felt a momentary lapse in his fury as he saw that Tsuzuki was no longer brooding. The anger returned as soon as Tsuzuki continued with, "The point of DDR is to dance along with the music and hit the steps that it tells you on the screen." He pointed at a pair of junior high boys who were playing it just then. "See?"

Oh, Hisoka saw all right. He could see sweat dripping on their foreheads, their faces flushed and breathing short and quick. He could see the people around them, watching as they danced, reacting to every success and mistake. He could see the way that the two boys were put on display for everyone to notice, even those who didn't even know who they were.

In short, Hisoka could see that DDR was something that he would not like at all.

"C'mon," Tsuzuki said, lightly touching Hisoka's shoulder and directing him toward the station. "Let's play a game."

"No," Hisoka replied shortly.

Tsuzuki pouted, and a glimmer of disappointment echoed through Hisoka before Tsuzuki's hand left his shoulder. But Tsuzuki was nothing if not persistent and continued, "Please, Hisoka? It won't be any fun if I have to do it alone, especially since I'm not very good at dancing--"

"That's a lie," Hisoka replied shortly. "You're great at dancing." They never talked about Tsuzuki's escapade as the dance partner of a dying woman, but that didn't mean Hisoka had forgotten how graceful Tsuzuki had looked on the dance floor.

"Not this kind of dancing," Tsuzuki insisted, snatching up Hisoka's hand before Hisoka could pull away. Instantly, Tsuzuki's emotions were stronger, though Tsuzuki was clearly still shielding a lot, because it wasn't too much of a shock. But Hisoka could feel the strong desire to play the game, tangled neatly with a similar desire for Hisoka to join him. There was also an echoing layer of affection underneath it all, which made Hisoka want to blush. People weren't supposed to care about him, and certainly not with the childlike simplicity that Tsuzuki did.

"Please, Hisoka?"

And suddenly, Hisoka's logic was working against him. Because quite frankly, he had been the one to suggest coming, and it was rather rude of him to accompany Tsuzuki and then not join him. And Tsuzuki's hand was still on his own, which Hisoka only noticed when he pulled it away irritably, mumbling a response under his breath.

"What?" Tsuzuki asked, tilting his head lower to hear him.

"I said fine," Hisoka said again. Tsuzuki's reaction made him extremely glad that he had pulled his hand away, especially if he could feel the resulting glee from two feet away. "Just one song, though; I don't want to--" act like an idiot was on the tip of his tongue, but he quickly amended, "--monopolize the game."

"Sure, that's fine!" Tsuzuki said, clearly too excited by Hisoka's agreement to notice much else.

They made their way over to the machine easily; now that the two boys were finished, the crowd had diminished and a father was dancing with his five-year-old daughter, teasing her gently as she stumbled on the keyboard. They were most certainly not as skillful as the boys, which was why many of the onlookers -- who had drifted over to see the display as the boys danced -- had walked away.

Thankfully. Hisoka was not up for being a spectacle, certainly not while playing a stupid video game in the middle of an arcade. (Which, he noted as an afterthought, was too loud and too dark and there was just a little too much pent-up energy for this small a space. And the boy at the first person shooter game smelled.)

The father and daughter finished quickly, and Tsuzuki -- who was always gentlemanly, a fact that surprised Hisoka tremendously when he first saw the man assist an old woman across the street -- kindly helped the little girl down from the game pad. Tsuzuki exchanged some polite words with the father, meaningless polite chatter that would be forgotten in a few minutes. But Hisoka was grateful that Tsuzuki was there to make the small talk; it wasn't necessary, but it was easier to transition if one exchanged a few lines about their surroundings and a happy smile. And Hisoka wasn't much for smiling.

It took a few moments for Tsuzuki to set the game up, which was exactly enough time for Hisoka to rethink playing this game precisely three times, before ultimately coming to the conclusion that he had got himself into the mess in the first place. He was just glad that very few people were watching.

"Now, from what Watari told me," Tsuzuki said, gazing at the instruction screen with narrowed eyes, "I think you're supposed to follow the little arrows and copy the movements. Like if it points right on the screen, you hit the right pad, and if it points up, you--"

"I understand," Hisoka said. It wasn't really that complicated of a game, from what Hisoka could tell. He didn't quite understand it's alleged popularity, if the purpose was only to mimic the pattern on the screen.

"Great!" Tsuzuki said with a smile, the bright screen illuminating his violet eyes in the darkness. "I'm going to set it on 'Light' so it's not too difficult. New games are always so weird..."

"I guess so," Hisoka replied. He hadn't ever played a video game before in the first place, though he did sometimes watch as Tsuzuki played some. A lot of times, Hisoka would make the two of them dinner and Tsuzuki would play some kind of fighting game while they waited, so that Hisoka wouldn't get too distracted from the kitchen. It was fun to watch, sometimes, but only when the game had a plot. The first person shooter games always bored Hisoka.

"Okay, then," Tsuzuki said, pressing the start button and stepping onto his own pad. He turned to Hisoka and flashed him a cheeky grin, saying, "Good luck!"

"Whatever," Hisoka muttered, rolling his eyes. He half-smiled when Tsuzuki turned away, though he was careful not to let Tsuzuki see.

An upbeat techno song began, and the screen suddenly began to scroll arrows upward. It took Hisoka a few moments to get into pattern of it, tapping his foot to the pad when the arrow hit the set row of arrows on the top. Thankfully, the pattern matched the beat or Hisoka would not have been able to get the timing right, though he still didn't catch all of the arrows. Tsuzuki, who was better at dancing to begin with, was having a better time of it, enough to shoot Hisoka an excited grin after the first few rows.

The dance slowly got faster, and Hisoka began to realize just how much of a challenge it could be. He wasn't hitting every arrow by a long shot, which was partially due to lack of coordination and partially because the steps were coming too fast. But if Tsuzuki was able to stick with it, Hisoka thought that he should too, a thought which made him focus and think solely on matching his footsteps with the pattern on the screen.

In the back of his mind, Hisoka thought that this would be good spot for some kind of hidden talent to emerge, but as it was, movies weren't real life and Hisoka still missed more than half of the arrows. But he was trying.

The song ended surprisingly quickly, by which time Hisoka was sweaty and breathing a little hard. Tsuzuki had collapsed beside him, laughing and wiping his arm on his forehead. Their scores came up on the screen: two red "F"s with a list of statistics beside it and, sighting the scoreboard, Tsuzuki laughed even harder.

"Ahh, that was fun," Tsuzuki gasped, getting up from the pad and settling his hands on his hips. "We should do that again--"

"No," Hisoka replied, more by instinct that anything else.

"--sometime," Tsuzuki finished, winking at Hisoka. "That was so exhausting!"

Hisoka gave him an incredulous look.

Tsuzuki coughed. "There are people waiting," he explained with an abashed grin, pointing at the side. There were a few people standing there, all of them teenagers in school uniforms.

One of them clapped cheerfully, saying, "Good job, you two!"

Hisoka blushed brightly, but Tsuzuki simply draped an arm over Hisoka's shoulders -- ignoring Hisoka's sudden bristling and the startled glance Hisoka shot him -- and said, "It's our first time! This game is a lot of fun, don't you think?"

"Yep," the girl replied, pulling her long hair into a ponytail. "My turn!" Tsuzuki gallantly gestured her in and practically pulled Hisoka off the mat. A good thing, too, because Hisoka was still fretting over the fact that Tsuzuki was so carelessly touching him.

He didn't really mind, really. It was a comforting weight on his shoulders, solid but not forceful, and Hisoka was a little embarrassed by how he wasn't really angry about it. Disconcerted, yes, but Tsuzuki's casual touching had finally reached a point where it was accepted, if not anticipated.

Still, there was Meifu and there was Chijou. And there were about fifty too many onlookers for Hisoka to feel comfortable with Tsuzuki's arm around his shoulders. He shrugged as a hint, which Tsuzuki thankfully took.

"That was fun," Tsuzuki said, taking his arm from Hisoka's shoulders and sticking his hands in his pockets instead. "Thanks for coming with me -- I've always wanted to try that!"

"Sure," Hisoka replied as they left the noisy arcade. It was growing dark outside and the streets were cool, perfect for an evening stroll. They walked in silence for awhile, aimlessly, because they could have transported back to Meifu at any time. But it was a nice night and neither of them were too eager to get back to their homes.

Hisoka wasn't exactly sure why, either. At eight that morning, Tsuzuki had greeted him with an offer of bagels, an extra order in a bag otherwise full of sweet pastries. At lunch, they had sat under the sakura trees and chatted (napped, in Tsuzuki's case, but only for about ten minutes while Hisoka read), and otherwise spent the entire day together since then. By all means, Hisoka should be sick of Tsuzuki by now.

"Do you want to get something to eat, Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked, looking down at him. The fading light shadowed his face in tints of orange and pink, and he looked very warm despite the cool air. "I know there's a good soba stand around here, or we could stop and get stew -- I think I ate stew here once --"

Hisoka simply agreed, "That sounds fine," and went back to gazing at the sky. The cool blue melded with the warm pink so seamlessly it was staggering, a beautiful mix of two very different colors.

And really, when he thought about it, Hisoka was rarely ever sick of Tsuzuki at all. Even if he was clingy. Somewhere along the line, Hisoka had gotten so used to Tsuzuki's presence that he preferred for the man to be there, walking steadily beside him and touching him so casually on the arm. He didn't mind it when Tsuzuki asked him, faintly pleading, to come and eat dinner with him, or help him in the garden, or play stupid dancing video games with him.

Because quite frankly, Hisoka was clingy, too. And he liked it that way.

They walked on in the fading light of the sunset, the blue and pink melding to make a deep blue-violet. Hisoka didn't think he had ever seen such a pretty color.