Summary: It's been years since Tsuzuki killed Sargantanas and Fuokaroru, the demon who wanted to kill Tsuzuki in order to gain Sargantanas' position. However, new, mysterious deaths in Kyushu lead Tsuzuki and Hisoka to believe the battle is far from over. The pair now have to fight for their lives as well as the lives of numerous others while trying to solve a case that may force Tsuzuki to confront his past.

Author's Note: Inspiration for this fic was somewhat random, I don't even remember how the idea came to me, but I wanted to write a story that dealt with the demons attacking Tsuzuki in order to usurp his position that he obtained by killing Sargantanas. While this is addressed in the St. Michael's arc, I'm sure Fuokaroru isn't the only demon that would try to earn this position. I also wanted to delve into Tsuzuki's past, since it's only touched upon in the manga, so that is also going to be incorporated into this fic. Anyhow, enough of my babbling, onto the story!

"Tsuzuki-san, Kurosaki-kun, the Chief would like to see you both."

Tsuzuki wasted no time in dropping his pen and turning away from his paperwork. "Good, my hand was starting to cramp from all that writing."

Hisoka rolled his eyes. "Please. You did half the amount I did and you don't hear me complaining." After finishing the paper he was working on, he put his pen down and followed his partner to the meeting room.

"We have a case for you two." Konoe said as the pair took their seats. The lights were turned off as the projector was turned on. Tsuzuki gasped and covered his mouth in horror and disgust at the pictures covering the screen. A few featured bodies that were torn to shreds, one of them was a skeleton with only some bits of flesh hanging off the bones, and a few still had their faces, though were quite damaged.

"There has been a large number of strange deaths in Kyushu. The causes of these deaths are unknown. There also seems to be no sort of pattern"

Watari nodded in agreement and looked down at a clipboard in his hands. "The victims were killed at various times of the day and on various days of the week. They are all different ages, ranging from young children to the elderly. Both males and females have been killed from all different areas of Kyushu, people of all different backgrounds...in other words, these killings all seem to be completely at random. If it was a serial killer, we'd expect a pattern of some sort, a signature to look for, but I couldn't find anything. The only thing is that they all appear to have been very violent deaths. But, even then, some bodies are more damaged than others."

"We also have a report of somebody who was nearly killed twice and wound up hospitalized with severe wounds the second time. He is currently recovering from the last attack." Konoe said, and handed a file to Tsuzuki after turning the lights back on.

Tsuzuki's eyes widened as he looked at a name on one of the papers, disbelieving what it said. "Minase Hijiri?!"

Hisoka leaned over to Tsuzuki to look at the file in his hands. "Hijiri? We had that case with him a few years ago." He looked up at Konoe. "Was his attacker the same as our other victims?"

"It's not certain, though it is likely. The only reason he is still alive is due to the fact he has bodyguards."

"He must have become quite the popular violinist." Tsuzuki said, reading over the report. Had this information not come paired with news of Hijiri being hospitalized for a near-fatal attack, Tsuzuki would have been more happy for him. "According to this, both times he had been found after wandering around without a bodyguard. The first time he was found still standing, but the second time he was found on the ground, torn up and barely alive." Tsuzuki frowned at the horrendous image that formed in his mind.

"Did they see his attacker?" Hisoka asked.

"Umm...doesn't appear so. They have no clue what happened. Even after searching the area immediately following the attack, they found nothing."

Konoe began pacing back and forth in front of Tsuzuki and Hisoka. "Even if these attacks are not linked, they are both in your area, so they both require your investigation. You may want to talk to Minase and see what he has to say. I'm sure he'll have no problem talking to you about it. If there is a connection, he might be able to help."

Tsuzuki put the paperwork back into the manilla folder and got to his feet. "Got it. We'll leave right away."

"Good luck."

"Minase-san? You have visitors."

"Visitors?" Hijiri sat up slowly, trying not to agitate his injuries, curious as to who his visitors could be. He hadn't been expecting anybody.

"You should stay laying down. Don't want you to hurt yourself." A familiar voice called from behind the nurse. As she stepped aside, Hijiri's eyes widened.

"You're...Tsuzuki! And Hisoka! Ah!" Hijiri clenched his teeth as pain shot through his left side from sudden movement.

"Hey, be careful!" Tsuzuki said, walking over to Hijiri's bedside, Hisoka trailing behind him. "Long time no see, Hijiri. I'm surprised you still remember us."

As the pain subsided, Hijiri relaxed and found a comfortable sitting position. "Like I could forget you. What are you doing here? Wait, let me guess, you're here to find out what happened."

Tsuzuki's smile slowly fell. He wished they were meeting under better circumstances, and he didn't really like having to come question Hijiri when poor kid was stuck in a hospital bed. He was almost completely covered in bandages. One of his eyes- the one that was transplanted, in fact- was covered, presumably because he had been scratched across it. Tsuzuki hoped that didn't mean he'd lost sight in that eye. Despite all of this, Hijiri still appeared cheerful. His stubbornness and determination was apparently helping to lead him to a good recovery.

"Unfortunately." Tsuzuki turned around to see if the nurse was still there. Seeing she wasn't, Tsuzuki continued in a lower voice, "New cases. I'm sure you've heard about all the strange deaths occurring."

Hijiri gave a small nod. "Yeah. Apparently, I was supposed to be one of them."

"So you think your attacker is the same one that killed those other people?"

"Probably. It makes sense. Why don't you guys take a seat and have a snack? I have plenty of food, more than I'm gonna eat." He motioned to the table by his bed, which was covered in boxes, all containing goodies given to him by fans. "Go ahead, Tsuzuki, I know you want some."

"Really? Thank you, Hijiri!" Tsuzuki turned to the boxes and began looking for which pastry he wanted. It was a hard decision, since all of them looked delicious.

"Having any, Hisoka?" The violinist asked after the younger Shinigami didn't move.

Hisoka shook his head. "No, thanks."

Hijiri smiled. "Same old Tsuzuki and Hisoka. I know you guys aren't here for a good reason, but it's still nice to see you again. I never forgot what you guys did for me, and I've made sure to play my violin to my absolute best."

"So we've heard." Tsuzuki said with a smile. "You're really famous now, eh?"

Hijiri shrugged, a movement he immediately regretted, though he didn't show he was in pain. "Guess you could say that. It gets rather bothersome though. Especially now that I was attacked, being anywhere without somebody guarding me is impossible. It drives me nuts. They almost didn't even let me keep the food, wondering if somebody poisoned it. I eventually convinced them that they were being ridiculous, but they still didn't give it to me until they'd tested it."

"And they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when you got attacked?" Hisoka asked.

"No. I don't even really know what happened. Whatever it was got me without me seeing. I just remember something attacked me from behind, and this horrid feeling, similar to how I felt when Sargantanas was after me."

Tsuzuki stopped eating his pastry mid-bite. "Sargantanas? How so?"

"I can't explain it. It was just...this dark, depressing feeling. For a brief moment, it just felt like there was no hope in the world. I was going to die, and there was nothing that could be done. I couldn't move either, so whatever it was paralyzed me so I couldn't fight back."

Hisoka looked to Tsuzuki. "Demons?"

"Sounds it...but I've never heard of demons attacking as such a large scale before and seemingly unprovoked."

"They're demons. Do they need a reason?"

"Even demons have laws to follow, Hisoka. Otherwise, there'd be chaos all the time with the demon world and the human world fighting, and if that happened Meifu would have to get involved as well. We have to find out just what's going on with the demon world."

"Do you think..." Hisoka hesitated a moment, trying to find the right way to word his sentence. He didn't want to make it sound like it was Tsuzuki's fault for the attacks. In no way would he ever mean that, but Tsuzuki had a tendency to blame things on himself and be harsh on himself even if it wasn't his fault and out of his control. "Do you think it has to do with Sargantanas? You know, since Hijiri was attacked. It was a couple years ago but...why else would Hijiri be targeted twice?"

Tsuzuki stared out the window. It made sense. The demons had been after him before too, back when they had the case at St. Michael's. Him killing Sargantanas had officially given him the demon's position, and many other demons sought after it. If they killed him, they would take over, and Sargantanas had been a top-rank demon. It could all very well be a plan to lure Tsuzuki out. All these people could be dying just because the demons wanted him...

Catching Hisoka's gaze, Tsuzuki quickly pushed those thoughts aside. "It could. I'm sure that's caused problems in the demon realm." He turned to Hijiri. "You're going to hate me for saying this, but make sure you stay around your guards after you get released from here. If it is demons, chances are you'll be attacked again, and I'd hate for that to happen."

"Ugh, I hate being around bodyguards all the time!"

"Please, Hijiri."

Hijiri sighed. "Alright, fine. I'm sure I'll be under really tight security now anyway."

Tsuzuki gave a small smile and got to his feet. "Well, we should get going. Be careful. We'll try to see you again sometime before we leave back to Meifu, though we might have to stop by again anyway. See you later, Hijiri!"

"I will. Bye Tsuzuki, bye Hisoka!"

"Bye, Hijiri."

"Sargantanas, huh?" Tsuzuki said as he and Hisoka left the hospital. "That means they still haven't been able to fill his position...there are still demons who want to kill me to get it, and they're attacking to lure me out..."

Hisoka frowned. He knew what Tsuzuki was thinking about. Even though he knew it wasn't his fault, he would blame himself anyway. If Tsuzuki even dared to consider giving in to end it...

"Tsuzuki, come with me."

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"I want to talk to you."

Hisoka knew that if he didn't confront Tsuzuki, it would never be discussed, and it would only get worse. Before they even started this case, he was going to make sure they were on the same page. Nip the problem in the bud, so to speak. That was one thing he'd learned to do after Kyoto. At first, he'd been afraid to bring anything up, not wanting to push Tsuzuki back into depression, but soon realized that doing so would only cause repeats of the problems that caused his depression to begin with. He'd started bringing things up much quicker when he thought there was a problem, and it worked. Tsuzuki talked to him more readily, and Hisoka found it left his partner more happy. Hisoka, too, was opening up more, finding it more and more easy to ask Tsuzuki for help and comfort when he needed it. They were steadily climbing up from the fall, and it was apparent in their attitudes. They were helping each other stay happy, and when one of them was happy, the both of them were happy.

"Sit." Hisoka commanded after finding a deserted bench.

Tsuzuki did as he was told. "What's wrong?"

Hisoka sat down next to his partner, watching him with a stern gaze. "If this does have to do with Sargantanas and the demons are targeting you...I want to make sure you're going to fight back."

"Of course I'm going to fight back. I can't just let them run around killing people."

"And you won't blame yourself for any of it."

Tsuzuki went silent as he realized where this conversation was going. Hisoka had picked up on his thoughts earlier, and he was calling him out on it. It was hard to hide things from an empath. "I didn't say-"

"I know you didn't, but I want to make sure you understand this before we start this case." When Tsuzuki didn't say anything, Hisoka continued, "Tsuzuki, talk to me. How long have we been partners for?"

"About five years?" Tsuzuki sighed, understanding Hisoka's point. If they had been partners for that long and still couldn't confide in each other, there was a problem. Especially now, with such a potentially dangerous case, they needed to be able to perfectly understand each other so that they could work together well. "I know it's not directly my fault, but...I still can't help but feel responsible for the lives of all those people. I mean, it's because the demons want me that they are attacking."

"But think about it. It would be the same no matter who defeated Sargantanas. If it had been Tatsumi, they'd be after him."

"But it's always me! It's like no matter what I do, anybody who's connected to me in some way gets hurt!"

"And who was responsible for most of that? Muraki. He's the reason those people died. Not you. Why was it you who defeated Sargantanas? Because you are the most powerful Shinigami among us, and don't you dare say you aren't. I don't want you to blame yourself for anything that has happened or will happen on this case. Don't keep anything bottled up either. I don't care what it's about, if you need to talk about something, then tell me. Nothing's worse than knowing something is wrong but not being able to help. I'm not your partner for nothing. Understand?"

Tsuzuki nodded. "I understand. Thanks, Hisoka."

"Good. So...what next?"

"Well, if it is me they're after, we have to let them know I'm here. Since the attacks are all random, there's no one set place to wait for them to attack..." Tsuzuki frowned. "At least before, it was concentrated into one area. It has to be more than one demon that's in on this. The demon realm might be having some big problems right now."

"Well, if you're out in the open, they're bound to spot you. Especially if we stick around Hijiri. I doubt they are going to just leave him alone, they are going to keep trying to kill him until they succeed or find you."

"You're probably right. We'll stick around this area for now then, and once Hijiri is released from the hospital, we'll move too. Heh, he'd be mad if he realized we were guarding him again."

Hisoka shrugged. "He wouldn't be that upset. There are always guards near him now anyway, I'm sure he'd much rather have you around than them. He likes you, you saved his life. That happens when you protect people." If Tsuzuki hadn't figured that out by now, then he was more dense than Hisoka thought.

"I guess you're right."

"You guess? I'm always right." Hisoka teased.

Tsuzuki smirked. "Always, huh? Alright then, answer me this: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

Hisoka stared blankly. "...What?"

"How many licks does it take to get passed all the hard candy casing and reach the soft chewy center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"

"How am I supposed to know that?! You're the one that eats lollipops, not me!"

"But I thought you were always right?"

"I am, but that's not something I would know!"

Tsuzuki signed. "Alas, the world still may never know." Reaching over, Tsuzuki pulled Hisoka into a headlock and gave him a noogie. "Not even the all-knowing Hisoka Kurosaki knows!"

"Tsuzuki! Cut it out!" Hisoka said, trying to squirm out of Tsuzuki's grasp.

Tsuzuki laughed and let Hisoka go. "Alright, alright." He sighed, "I wish we had some leads to go by. If only we had a connection to the demon world..."

"Isn't there somebody in Meifu who can help us?"

"You'd think there would be. I guess we could ask Watari to do some research for us, though I don't know what he'll be able to find out on such little information."

Hisoka sat back and thought. There had to be something they could use. He'd read books on mythology and demonology from all kinds of cultures, perhaps they could find something in books. Though the books in the living world had no real proof of the existence of demons, some of them were surprisingly accurate. Granted, he knew little about the demon world, his only knowledge coming from what happened with Sargantanas and at St. Michael's, but, being a Shinigami now, he could guess that some of the stories weren't that farfetched. This incident couldn't be the first in history, either. There had to be a record of a similar event.

"We should check out some books. This can't be the first time something like this has happened. Whether anyone knew exactly what was going on or not, it's a start. I could contact the Gushoshin and ask them to find information for us."

"Good idea! I'm not sure what we'll find, but it's worth a shot."

"Let's head back to the hotel so I can e-mail them." Hisoka stood up and began walking, letting Tsuzuki fall into step beside him. "Do you remember hearing anything about demons attacking before?"

"No, not really. There haven't really been any attacks from demons since I've become a Shinigami. Getting into and leaving the demon realm is apparently really difficult. Most lesser demons can't get through the barrier separating the worlds, and Shinigami don't know how to break through either." Thinking about it now, Tsuzuki realized he knew a lot less about the demon world than he thought. He was pretty good when it came to battling them (physically, at least), but he knew little about the workings of the demon realm. While a demon coming to the living world to attack humans wasn't totally uncommon, it didn't happen as often as one might think. He had only had a handful of cases that involved demons, and he was the oldest Shinigami in the department, apart from Chief Konoe.

Hisoka frowned. "That doesn't help."

"You do a lot of reading, you haven't read anything about it before?"

"No. Just myths and stories about them. I haven't come across any official documents or anything, but that's why I'm asking the Gushoshin, they might have something somewhere that's not on library shelves."

Once they got back to their room, Hisoka booted up their laptop and began typing out an e-mail to the Gushoshin twins explaining their situation and their request for any kinds of documents about demons that would help them. Tsuzuki, meanwhile, made himself comfortable on the bed and started reading the newspaper, checking for any suspicious incidents that might have related to their case. Skimming through it, he couldn't find anything that he didn't already know about. Since he couldn't find anything useful, he pushed the paper aside, grabbed the remote and turned on the television. There wasn't anything relevant on at the moment, but he decided to leave it on in case something did happen.

Tsuzuki sighed and pulled out the case folder. He flipped through the files, searching for something he might have missed before. There was nothing there that proved his and Hisoka's theory true or false. As things stood, it seemed like the demons were trying to lure Tsuzuki out. If that was true though, they would probably find out soon. The demons were sure to attack him as soon as they got the chance. The sooner, the better. He didn't want more innocents to be killed.

"Tsuzuki! Hey, Tsuzuki!"

Tsuzuki looked up at Hisoka when he finally realized he was being called.

"Look at the T.V.!"

Putting the folder aside, Tsuzuki looked up at the television, which he had been too caught up in his thoughts to pay any attention to.

"The police are currently trying to apprehend the man, it's reported that he shot four people, and it's currently unknown if any are dead. From what I can gather it was a completely random attack from a seemingly peaceful man-"

Before the reporter got to say anything else, a man raced up to her, grabbed the microphone and pushed her to the ground.

"This is for you, Tsuzuki! I know you're there! Come out! Come out so I can kill you!"

Just then, the man was tackled by a police officer. The camera moved back as the two struggled on the ground. The man managed to grapple the officer's gun from him, held it to his own head, and pulled the trigger.

Tsuzuki stared at the screen in horror, no longer really hearing anything that was being said. They already knew he was here, and they were resorting to drastic measures to lure him out. At least one man was now dead, 4 or more injured. There was no question about it anymore, the demons wanted Tsuzuki. This entire case was to lure him out. That man had been possessed, though by which demon Tsuzuki didn't know. All that he knew was he had to get there before any more innocents were killed. The demon clearly wasn't a patient one.

Without any other warning, Tsuzuki jumped up from the bed, ready to rush to the scene. He didn't become aware of Hisoka until the younger Shinigami yanked him back by his wrist.

"Hold on!"

"I can't wait, I have to go now! I have to get there before anybody else is hurt!"

"At least wait for me!"

Hisoka left everything as it was, grabbed his jacket and followed Tsuzuki out the door, barely able to keep up with his taller partner as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him to meet the demon that had called him out.

The area was still full of people when they got there. An ambulance was just driving off, presumably with somebody inside. Two bodies were laying on the ground, covered with a large cloth. People were being ushered away by police, though the crowd was still large. Tsuzuki turned and ran to a more secluded area, finally stopping in a nearby alleyway.

"I'm here! Come out!"

Not a second after Tsuzuki had called out the demon, Hisoka's head erupted in pain. He tried not to collapse as the pain intensified. Tsuzuki's voice sounded muffled as he yelled Hisoka's name. The hand that grabbed the back of Hisoka's head, however, was not Tsuzuki's, and the Shinigami responded by sending a powerful blast of energy back at the hand's source. There was a roar as the hand fell back, and the pain began to recede. Hisoka turned around to see what looked like a regular human, though Hisoka knew better. The man was possessed.

The man looked at his arms, which were both bleeding from Hisoka's attack. "Hmph. Human bodies are so frail."

"Let him go." Tsuzuki growled.

The man gave a sinister grin. "I can't do that. You see, I can't stay in the human world without a host. Fortunately, humans are very easy to take control of."

"In that case..." Tsuzuki pulled an ofuda out of his pocket. "I'll just have to force you out."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man held a knife to his own throat. "Try it, and I'll kill him."

Tsuzuki froze. "Bastard."

"Do it, Tsuzuki." Hisoka said.

"But...he'll kill that man!"

"What's one life compared to all the other lives that will suffer if you don't catch him now?!"

Tsuzuki stared at Hisoka, unbelieving of what he had just heard. Sure, Hisoka could be cold sometimes, but he wasn't that cold. "But, Hisoka-"

"Do it, or I will."

The man laughed. "I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a Shinigami. But, tell me, Tsuzuki, will you really allow him to let this man die?"

Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, torn between what to do. "I...I don't..."

Hisoka grabbed Tsuzuki's wrist, trying to make physical contact while trying to appear to be angry with him. "Do it. Now." Trust me.

Though he still didn't know what Hisoka's plan was, he did know that Hisoka had a plan, and it just required Tsuzuki to do what he said. All Tsuzuki had to do was trust him.

"I guess...you're right."

The man looked taken back. "Do you realize what you are saying? This man will die!"

"I've killed before. What's one more sin on my list?"

Tsuzuki held out the ofuda and began chanting the spell. The demon yelled for him to stop, but to no avail. Finally, as Tsuzuki began to cast the spell, the demon made the man slit his neck. As the spell hit, the demon was expelled from the human. Hisoka caught the man before he hit the ground and carefully laid him down as the demon screamed and dissipated into the air.

"Is he...?"

Hisoka shook his head. "The demon didn't have time to cut deep enough." He held his hands near the man's neck and began healing the wound. "That's what I was hoping for. The demon was hoping you wouldn't want to harm the man, and thus submit to him. When you decided to exorcise him anyway, he didn't know what to do, and if I could heal the man before he died, we'd win."

"Ah. So that's what you meant. How did you do that, by the way?"

"Do what?"

"When you grabbed my wrist, you told me to trust you, but you never spoke it."

"You heard me?"

Tsuzuki nodded.

"I don't know...I was just trying to get you to understand what I meant. It was a strange idea, but I thought since physical contact helps to channel other's emotions into me, maybe I could reverse it to channel my thoughts to you, kind of like our first case, when you asked to synch with me."

Tsuzuki thought about it for a moment. It made sense, though when they synched back then, it had been with intent on both sides. If that is what had happened this time, it had come without Tsuzuki even trying. "Well, that would come in handy if you can do it again."

Their conversation was interrupted as the man began to stir. Hisoka moved back, watching as the man sat up.

"Where...am I? What happened?" He looked from Hisoka to Tsuzuki and back. "Who are you two?"

"We found you unconscious, so we were checking to see if you're alright." Hisoka said.

"What happened?" Tsuzuki asked.

The man stared at the ground, trying to remember what happened. "I was...at a crime scene. Some man went crazy and started shooting people. The police came and...that's all I remember. The rest is blank. I don't know how I got here."

"Are you feeling alright now?"

"Other than the memory loss, yeah." The man got to his feet, still looking a bit dazed, but trying not to act it. "I guess I'll get going then. Uh...thanks for the help."

Tsuzuki watched as the man left. The demon was gone now, but was that the only one? How many more were after him and willing to do something so drastic to get his attention? He hoped there wouldn't be many, or that that one was the only one. The only problem was, if that demon really had been the only one, surely the king of the demon world would have done something about it. Acts such as that were forbidden, as far as Tsuzuki knew. If they weren't, then surely more demons would attack more regularly. Were there a lot more, then, conspiring together, making it difficult for the demon world to find out who was doing it?

"Hey! Is everything alright over here?" A woman's voice suddenly said, breaking Tsuzuki out of his thoughts.

Standing at the end of the alleyway was one of the most gorgeous women Tsuzuki had ever seen. She had long, auburn hair that reached her waist. As she got closer, he could tell that her eyes were a light green. Her walk was elegant, and her figure was nicely proportioned. She was the type of girl that caught the eyes of many men, especially the perverted ones, which made Tsuzuki wonder why she'd walk into an alleyway by herself and over to two men she didn't even know.

"Everything is fine." Hisoka said.

"Oh...I heard some screaming and wanted to make sure everything was okay, especially after what just happened."

Hisoka raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think wandering into an alley by yourself when you know something is wrong is a stupid thing to do?"

"Hisoka!"

"It's true and you know it." Hisoka said, glancing over at Tsuzuki.

The woman's laugh was hypnotizing. "Oh, it's okay. I know it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to know if I needed to get anybody help. I'd hate for there to be more victims. Besides, I know how to take care of myself."

"Well, everything is alright, so don't worry about it!" Tsuzuki said with a smile. "We should probably get out of this alley though, it'll look suspicious."

"Are you two from around here?" The woman asked as she walked with Tsuzuki and Hisoka out of the alleyway.

"No. We're on vacation!"

"Really? Do you have some free time this evening?"

"Uh...we-"

Hisoka interrupted Tsuzuki, "We're busy."

"Aw, not even time for dinner? I was hoping...somebody could provide me with company, at least for a little while. I've been horribly lonely ever since..." She stopped talking and walking, causing Tsuzuki to stop as well, and, in turn, Hisoka.

"Ever since what?"

"Ever since my boyfriend died. He was killed about a month ago. The police believe it was a murder, but there are no clues as to who did it or why."

Tsuzuki frowned. Was her boyfriend killed by a demon? Maybe they could get information from her. Plus, she seemed awfully nice, and he had no real reason to turn her down. It was only dinner, and they probably would have gone out to eat anyway, so it wasn't like he could get in trouble for getting involved with the living. "We can join you for dinner if you'd like, though we can't stick around for long."

The woman smiled. "Great! Meet me here at 5:30? Oh, my name is Miyako, by the way. Kuroki Miyako."

"Tsuzuki Asato. And this is my par-er...brother, Kurosaki Hisoka."

"Nice to meet you." Miyako said. "I'll see you later then!"

"Bye!" Tsuzuki waved as Miyako walked away. As soon as she was gone, Hisoka jabbed Tsuzuki in the side with his elbow. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"For agreeing to meet her for dinner."

Tsuzuki pouted. "What's wrong with it? Her boyfriend may have been killed by demons, we could get information from her."

"You'd understand if you could sense her emotions. She wanted you, Tsuzuki."

"Aw, you're just jealous that I got the attention of a pretty woman!"

Hisoka glared. "I'm most certainly not jealous of that sort of attention. She may have acted sweet and innocent, but she was lusting after you so much it was giving me a headache just being near her. There's something...off about her. You're better to just blow dinner with her off. We'll go somewhere else."

"That would be mean! Besides, I can't help it if my charm turns women on."

Thoroughly annoyed, Hisoka whacked Tsuzuki on the back of his head. "Tsuzuki! Stop joking around, I'm serious! Something about her creeps me out, and you shouldn't get involved with her at all! We have more important things to be worrying about!"

"It's just dinner, we're going to eat anyway. It's not like I'll ever see her again, it's just a simple dinner."

Hisoka shook his head. Tsuzuki just didn't get it. His partner couldn't feel other's emotions like he could. There was something wrong with Miyako, and it wasn't just the disturbing way she wanted Tsuzuki. It felt like there was something dark mixed in with her emotions, something that warned Hisoka to stay far away from her. But, of course, Tsuzuki just had to accept her offer.

"Fine. But I'm going with you. I don't trust her at all. Don't let her take advantage of you, Tsuzuki. I warned you, so don't come crying to me if something goes wrong."