Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei © Yoko Matsushita
Notes: This is my first fanfic, so be easy on me. This is a slash! It IS Tatari and HisokaXTsuzuki. When these pairings will be noted...? I have no clue. I'm just an elected official. XD
Chapter 1: Groups and Mischief
Well, it was another fine day in purgatory. Here, we see the Judgment Bureau. The sakura trees are in full bloom, and there is a gentle breeze to the east. Ahhh...a wonderful day indeed...
...Well, almost...
(Cue explosion here)
A funnel of smoke pours from the northern window: a.k.a. Yukata Watari's lab. The infamous 24-year-old ran out of his laboratory, hair aflame and screaming. "PUT IT OUT! SOMEBODY GET SMOKEY-KUN OR SOMETHING!"
Tsuzuki rushed into the lab, looking desperately for water of some sort; his murasaki irises settle on one of Watari's lite blue potions. He grabbed it swiftly, throwing the vial to his friend. "Here! This should help!"
Right when the potion hit Watari, which he tried to shield himself pathetically, the flames grew ten-fold. "THAT POTION IS ANOTHER FORM OF GASOLINE, YOU NUMBSKULL!" Before Tsuzuki could attempt something else and Watari could yell anymore, Hisoka walked in with a rather large bucket full of water, drenching the tow shinigami.
"..." He stared at the two for a moment. "...You know, I'm too tired to deal with your guy's crap...It's seven thirty, for crying out loud...You BOTH woke me up..."
Both shinigami stared at Hisoka for a moment, then flashed their usual cheesy smiles. "Gomen! We'll try and be more careful next time!" They then continued to clean the water mess, Hisoka watching them like a hawk.
Soon later, Konoe's secretary, Seiichiro Tatsumi, walked in. AS he did, he stared at the sight of two shinigami on hands and knees, soaking wet, and the youngest member standing before them in his bed clothes. There was a long, awkward silence.
"...It's not what you think..." Watari managed to mutter.
"I don't want to know what happened here," Tatsumi muttered, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. "But Konoe wants you all to meet in the breifing room." He left.
Hisoka followed after. Hmmm...Wonder what Tatsumi thought was going on...Screw it, I don't feel like mind probing... He was followed by the other two.
Konoe was at the front of the briefing room when the four shinigami entered. He saw the three enter and smiled grimily. "Well, good to see you all. Glad you're up so early."
Hisoka groaned, giving an evil glare toward Tsuzuki and Watari; at this, Tsuzuki cowered behind Watari, whimpering. "I wouldn't be awake right now if it wasn't for those two dunces over there..." They could all tell Hisoka was extremely annoyed.
Tsuzuki pointed at Watari childishly. "Hey, don't blame me because Mr. Pyro over here made himself into a walking campfire!"
Watari pouted in a perfect child-like way. "Well, if that's how you're going to talk, then I won't let you have a drink of IT!-once I've made it." He stuck his tongue out at his sempai.
"Alright, pay attention. Focus. We need to be in top condition for this assignment," Chief Konoe snapped.
"Hai, Hai...So, what are we doing: solving a murder? Killing a horrible demon? Getting pizza...?" Tsuzuki asked without a delicate care.
"No, this is much more difficult..." All the shinigami leaned in to listen, eyes somewhat wide.
Watari spoke first. "...It can't be that horrible!...Could it?" he asked in a somewhat scared tone.
Konoe's eyes grew dim. "Yes, it is. You'll be..." As Konoe paused, they all leaned closer to hear. "You'll be going...to a meeting."
"..." All of the shinigami sat in silence for a moment, and then fell out of their chairs, yelling in unison. "IT THAT IT!" Tsuzuki spoke first after the chorus of shouts. "You got us worried because we had to go to a stupid freakin' meeting!"
"This isn't just a meeting, Tsuzuki. This so called 'meeting' will determine if the Judgement Bureau will continue to exist..." Konoe's head bowed. He then picked a slide reel button on the table and pressed it. The room went dark and a projection appeared before them: it was a photo shot of what appeared to be some kind of police force. There were a total of sixty-five regular soldiers in the back, what appeared to be four unique soldiers in the front, and one long caped, unique armor wearing man standing in the front. Everyone was wearing full body armor suits so no one could identify their faces, and all the suits had the initials 'S.E' on the front of the vests. All the shinigami saw this with a sense of fear and confusion.
"So, who are these guys?" Watari asked, breaking the eerie silence that filled the room. "And why are they all wearing those SWAT looking uniforms...?"
"Glad you asked, Watari. It seems these people are some new organization that also does similar assignments to ours."
"So, what are these people, and why are you so frightened?" Hisoka asked, hopping this wouldn't take long.
"Another excellent question, Kurosaki. This organization calls themselves the 'Spectral Eliminators', and the reason I fear them so is because they posses something rather unique that could easily destroy most of the shinigami." Konoe looked back at the screen, pointing at one of the regular soldier's arms. "Look here." Upon the trio's inspection, they found and identical thing: there were flamethrower-cannons attached to their arms.
"What's so special about that?" Watari yelled, feeling somewhat full of pride. "I could create something like that if I wanted to!" (Cue Konoe throwing projection reel button at Watari's head.) "OW! What was that for!" He rubbed his head, whimpering slightly.
"You idiot! Look more closely..."
He looked closer, only to discover that the flamethrowers were filled with a black flame—the black flames of Touda!
Tsuzuki and hisoka noticed this and it raised their alarm considerably. "H-how did they at-tain that fire...?" Tsuzuki exclaimed, his voice shaking.
"I've got no idea, Tsuzuki; all I know is that if every single one of those soldiers have one, then it's best if we do as they say," Konoe replied.
Hisoka looked confused for a moment, exclaiming, "Hey, wait a minute, 'did as they say'? You mean to tell me that they told us that they wanted to have a meeting with us?"
Once again, Konoe held his head down. "Yes; it seems that these mortals know a lot about the judgement Bureau and what we do. A bit too much. Other than that, I know nothing."
"Well, we'll just have to go to the meeting and see what this is all about..." Tsuzuki muttered seriously, heading out the door.
"Ano, Tsuzuki..." Hisoka turned quickly, but by the time Hisoka spoke, Tsuzuki was already gone. A worried look crossed the younger's features. Man...I've never seen him this way...Hope he's alright...
When the sixteen-year-old entered his and Tsuzuki's room, he saw Tsuzuki was donning his usual overcoat and tie. He then hesitantly walked over, touching Tsuzuki's arm gently. "Daijoubu ka?" he asked testily.
"Those soldiers...the black flame they had...I don't know what these guys are intending to do, but we have to be on good measures with them, at least...for now..." He struggled with his tie for a moment.
Rolling his eyes, Hisoka stepped forward, half-dressed, and fixed Tsuzuki's tie. "Well, we can't be on good terms if we look like a bunch of slobs, ne?"
Tsuzuki observed Hisoka for a moment, his cheeks slowly reddening. "Uhh, i-iie, we can't seem like sl-slobs..." He chuckled nervously. The older then left.
Hisoka watched him curiously. Hmm? What's he so nervous about? The sixteen-year-old shrugged and followed after, pulling an orange shirt over his head.
Before they had left, Konoe had told them that the meeting was being held in the Hall of Candles. They soon entered the grand doors; although 'somebody' was sensing Tsuzuki was coming, and the first thing that Tsuzuki and the others spotted when they entered was a pair of floating gloves and the half broken mask—Yup, it's the Count! The Count stared at Tsuzuki...Tsuzuki stared at the Count...
"Well, well, well, I see you've come back to repay your debts to me," The Count remarked slyly.
"You know, Count, there is something I 'want'," Tsuzuki muttered in the most sexy voice he could through out, walking over to the Count, standing only inches from the invisible man.
"...Hmm? Nani desu ka?"
Grabbing at the edge of the Count's mask, as though threatening to rip it off, the experienced Shinigami growled, "I want you to stop acting so superficial all the time! Especially at a time like this! Where's the meeting being held?"
Caught off guard by Tsuzuki's strange behavior, the Count replied nervously, "I-it's being held in m-my office..."
Tsuzuki released the mask, muttering over his shoulder to Watari and Hisoka, "Come on guys, like Konoe said, we need to be in top condition for this meeting."
Watari and Hisoka ran after Tsuzuki as the older walked up the staircase; Hisoka ran a bit quicker to talk to Tsuzuki. "Oi, Tsuzuki, tell me what's wrong... I've never seen you act this way before..." The 16 year old conveyed his worry.
At first, Tsuzuki didn't respond, but then muttered, "I'll tell you later. Right now, I've just got a bad feeling." They soon made it outside the Count's door, Tsuzuki doing the honors.
They walked slowly through the door, welcomed to the sight of 3 armed Spectral Eliminators: regular soldiers, and 5 unique soldiers at the edge of the room. When the Eliminators heard the door open, they all immediately turned to the source. Once they realized who it was, they returned to their previous tasks. One unique, cape-wearing soldier walked over, speaking in a deep voice. "Ahhh, you three have arrived. Please, sit down." The 3 shinigami looked oddly at each other, but did as they were told, the other soldiers closing the doors behind them. "Very pleased to meet you three. I heard you are the Judgment Bureau's best agents." He noticed Watari's irked expression out of the corner of his eye. "Are you okay? You seem...troubled..."
Watari looked around strangely, almost hesitant to what he was about to say. "Well, not to be rude or anything, but..." The young scientist took a deep breath. "We're-surrounded-by-guys-who-look-like-they-could-respond-to-a-nuclear-bomb-threat-and-the-creepy-voice-you're-talking-in-doesn't-help-much-either!" He managed to get this all out in one breath. Then Watari noticed that the man was suddenly inches from him.
"Are you scared?"
Watari froze, replying nervously, "Y...Y-Yeah..." When the man rose his fist in the air, and swung it down, Watari let out a petrified scream. But just before Tsuzuki and Hisoka could react, the man unclenched his fist, and gently tapped Watari on the shoulder. Realizing he wasn't injured, Watari sat down, embarrassed and confused. Hisoka rubbed his temples and Tsuzuki snickered.
The man laughed heartily. "It seems I scared you good!" After a moment more of laughter, the man looked to Watari. "I'm sorry, I had to do that. It's just that I like to have a good laugh every once in a while. But you are right, I should elaborate. We're all wearing this body armor and have weird voices is only a matter of identity." Seeing that the shinigami were confused, he continued. "The suits are so no one can see us, and the voice changer is so no one will recognize our voices. Now that those two questions are out of the way, it's time to introduce ourselves." He held his hand in the air. "You may call me Bernhart, and we are the Spectral Eliminators," he exclaimed proudly. "But before you start firing random questions, I'll explain a little bit more about ourselves. We are an organization dedicated to the eradication of harmful paranormal beings. We came here to see if we could perhaps a sort of pact with you...An agreement, if you will."
"What kind of agreement?" Tsuzuki inquired.
"Well, you see, we know who you are, as well as what you do here," Bernhart replied. "Your organization here seems to be the only paranormal anomaly we've found that takes care of those other hazardous spirits."
Tsuzuki was silent for a moment. "...Go on..."
Bernhart cleared his throat. "Well, we were hoping that we could have an alliance with your organization. The people in this organization all have their reasons for being here, and you don't seem like the horrible spirits that most humans speak of."
The room was silent for a moment, when Tsuzuki went into negotiator mode. "Well, you can join us, but you must answer some of my questions."
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
Tsuzuki cleared his throat. "Those soldiers-what are those things on their arms, and what's the black looking flame inside the container?"
"Ahhh, the standard issue S.E.1 flame unit. It's a special weapon that we found could destroy most spirits. The flame? Not even we know about it, but we found it the effects and potential. It was actually harvested at Shion University after it was discovered that there was illegal genetic cloning going on."
The three shinigami shivered, remembering exactly what Bernhart was referring to. Tsuzuki continued. "Before we agree-Who are those four behind you? Why don't they have the canons?"
"These four? They are my special units and body guards." Bernhart stood up, adding a final thing. "Okay, now that we've got the important stuff out of the way, do we have a deal? We've okayed this with your 'King', so all we need is the top agent's permission." He held his hand to Tsuzuki, which Tsuzuki took in agreement.
"Alright then, we'll help you guys out." Tsuzuki was not as tense as earlier, see as this was easier than anticipated.
Under the helmet, Bernhart was smiling. "Excellent! Any other questions will be answered on a need-to-know basis. But there is one thing..."Tsuzuki looked confused, but allowed bernhart to continue. "This soldier will be watching what goes on around here, and will keep daily contact with me. It's nothing personal; I just want to make sure I made a friend in this...not a foe." Bernhart gathered all his other soldiers. "You all seem like good people; I hope all the rumors about you shinigami are in fact false.
The shinigami stood in silence once more...until Watari broke the awkward silence. "How the hell does that guy know so freakin' much about us! I'm actually completely confused!"
Hisoka had some comments as well. "Yeah. He knew a lot, and he's not even dead. We should really be careful." The two were only slightly aware of the soldier that had been left with them.
The soldier spoke in the exact same voice as their leader. "...you know, it's not nice to talk about people behind their back..." Watari again freaked out and spun around. "So, are you guys gonna take me to this bureau of yours or not?" they asked.
Hisoka and Tsuzuki exchanged glances, but it was Hisoka who responded. "Sure. C'mon. Tsuzuki, c'mon." The young teen walked out.
As they left the Hall of Candles, Hisoka got an odd feeling; the soldier was staring at him, and it was making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. "Ummm...you okay...? Can I help you with something?" he asked after a while, being slightly bothered by it.
The soldier was silent, but walked around Hisoka, observing him. They then focused on his butt. The younger sensed this and immediately spun around. "Tell me something," the soldier muttered, "When a person dies, do they become drop-dead gorgeous?"
Hisoka looked confused, not to mention slightly disturbed, by the question. "Um...no..."
The soldier then stopped, and walked normally again. "Oh, okay. I just thought they did because you look WAY too pretty and cute to be a normal boy." They then turned and faced Tsuzuki. "You agree with me, don't you?" they asked.
Hisoka stopped in his track, turning to hear Tsuzuki's response. Tsuzuki stammered for a moment, caught off guard by the question. A tender pink grazed his cheeks. "Uh...I...I guess so..."
The younger then bolted over and smacked him over the head. "That was a rhetorical question! You weren't supposed to answer!" Hisoka's face was also a bit red.
The soldier noticed, and decided to state the obvious: "Wow, seems you two get along real well!"
Hisoka turned a cherry red, turning on his heel and stomping off, yelling over his shoulder. "Heh, yeah, right! Me? Get along with THAT drooling idiot!"
Tsuzuki didn't run after him, but instead, smiled softly. Once they had arrived in the building, the soldier looked around curiously. "So this is it? It looks like a regular office building."
"There's really not a whole lot of frills to the place," Tsuzuki said with a chuckle. "Were you expecting some kind of arcane palace?"
"Actually, i kinda was," the soldier stated truthfully. They followed Tsuzuki to the room where the two partners slept. "Oh yeah! I forgot to ask! Could I possibly sleep in your guy's room? I really don't know where else to sleep, and you two seem to be my best connection to this place."
TSuzuki looked up and smiled. "Uhh, sure! You can sleep in our room if you'd like-you'll have to sleep on the floor though."
The soldier walked in and sat on Tsuzuki's bed. "That's alright. I'm used to it." They laughed for a moment. "Oh, could I do something real quickly?"
"Um, sure. What is it?"
"Well, I'm not supposed to turn off my voice changer or take off my helmet while I'm on duty, but if I do, promise not to tell?" Tsuzuki nodded. Right when he did, the soldier flipped a switch in the back of the helmet. The soldier spoke, but the voice was a whole different sound than before. It was soft...almost sexy. "Ahhh...It'll be good to get this damn helmet off!" They then reached inside the back of the helmet, throwing out what looked like a hair-pin. The older shinigami was surprised by the voice, but nothing could prepare him for the helmet to slide off and reveal a beautiful young woman with sky blue eyes and long, crimson hair. The soldier noticed Tsuzuki's stare, and immediately commented on it. "What? It's like you've never seen a girl before."
Hisoka then walked in, noticed the mysterious girl. "So you're the soldier?"
"Heh, yup. It seems I've been found out! Oh well!" She threw herself back onto the bed.
Tsuzuki shook his head roughly to clear his head. "By the way, I was going to ask you. What's your name? And why are you in the special forces?"
The girl stood up and walked over to him. "I'm not really supposed to tell anyone...but..." She put her hand on his face, rubbing his cheek seductively. "Seeing as you're so pretty, I guess I could tell you..."
Hisoka smacked Tsuzuki over the head, noticing a blush on the older's cheeks. "ITAI! What was that for, Hisoka!"
Hisoka's face was red, due to anger or jealousy, no one but Hisoka knew. "I see you're enjoying yourself! Somebody has to smack some sense into you! Otherwise, you'd probably drool all over the carpet!" The younger then walked out, arms crossed. Tsuzuki just stared after him, rubbing his head.
"He likes you, doesn't he?" The woman asked.
"Yeah, he does..."
She then looked at Tsuzuki. "But what about you? Do you like him?"
The older's face turned a delicate shade of scarlet. "Uhh...y-yeah. I like him as a partner..."
The woman smirked. "Oh, cut the crap. You like him so much more than a partner. More than a friend, even."
The blush deepened. "I g-g-g...guess so."
The woman's smile increased, and she finally answered Tsuzuki's question from before. "Nohma. They call me Nohma Senzou; you'll find out later what exactly it is I can do." She started walking to the door. "Well, it was good meeting you, Tsuzuki-San. I'm gonna go check this place out. Later!" She waved and ran off.
Tsuzuki watched her leave. My...she's pretty when she smiles... Shaking his head, Tsuzuki headed to the shower. Opening the door, he discovered a nearly naked Nohma.
The female noticed, and slowly grabbed a towel. "Oh, hi Tsuzuki. What are you doing here?"
"I-I-I was going t-t-to take a sh-sh-shower..."
The woman walked over, smiling. "Well, silly, you should have told me."
Can we say walking in at the wrong moment? This is exactly the scene Hisoka walked in on. He then turned quickly on his heel and ran out before Tsuzuki could stop him. Tsuzuki just sighed and got in the shower. Once the door was shut, the soldier smirked to herself. "Hmm...it's soooo obvious that those two have EXTREME feelings for one another... they just need a little help..."
Tsuzuki took his shower in utter peace. But one thought wouldn't stop crossing his mind: Gosh...Hisoka seemed angry... Maybe later I should talk to him... Soon after, he heard the door open, and click shut. "Oi! I'm taking a shower in here!" The figure continued to the curtain, flinging it open. Tsuzuki plastered himself against the bathroom wall. "AHHHH!" He blinked confusedly for a moment. "Wha-? HIsoka! What the hell! I'm taking a shower!"
"I know..." Hisoka's voice was calm as he stepped in the shower with the older.
The more elite shinigami turned red, realizing that Hisoka too was naked. "Hi-hi-hisoka! Y-y-you're not wearing a-a-any clothes!"
Hisoka's arms wrapped around Tsuzuki's neck. "I know that too..." He stared deeply into Tsuzuki's violet orbs, pressing himself up to the older's body.
"Wh-wh-what are you doing...?"
Hisoka didn't reply; instead, he pulled Tsuzuki into a soft lip-lock. The older fought it for a moment, but soon allowed himself to be taken in by the feelings swelling up inside him. However, fate had other plans. The sixteen year old's eyes snapped open, and, not only did he gasp in shock at what he was doing, but her flattened himself up against the wall. Tsuzuki blinked at Hisoka, while the younger sat on the floor, fingertips pressed to his lips. He curled his legs up to his chest, covering himself. "Wha-...what's going on...?"
"Well, uh..." Tsuzuki was totally confused. "Uh...I was taking a shower, and you came in and...kissed...me..."
Crimson spread on the other's cheeks. "I don't remember doing any of that!"
The twenty-six year old looked even more befuddled. Shaking his head, he grabbed his partner's hand. "C'mon, I'll help you up." Before the other could respond, or argue, Tsuzuki had already pulled him up. However, seeing as the younger shinigami wasn't exactly prepared, he fell into Tsuzuki, wrapping his arms around the older to prevent himself from falling. Both of them turned pink. An unknown feeling of comfort coursed through Hisoka for a moment. But before he could truly embrace Tsuzuki like he so desperately wanted to, thoughts of the nefarious Muraki plagued his mind. He suddenly pushed Tsuzuki away, running out of the bathroom in a sense of utter confusion and pain.(A/n: Wow, Hisoka running thought the hallways naked. XD) Tsuzuki heard the door slam, and he began to worry. He didn't know what had just happened, and he had seen Hisoka's curse marks begin to raise up in his pale flesh when he ran. Sighing, he covered himself with a towel, and, walking to his and Hisoka's room, he saw Nohma peeking around the corner, He pointed a finger at her as she tried to duck away. "You know I can see you... What are you doing?"
The young woman came out, smiling. "Nothing. Just heard what was going on in the bathroom." She giggled.
"Did you have something to do with this?"
"Maaaaybeee..."
Tsuzuki then assumed that in this case, and maybe was a yes. "How could you have done anything? I mean the only way you could is if you had..." He stopped, eyes widening.
"Mind control!" Nohma finished in a sing-song voice. She then continued. "I only did it because you two would make a cute couple if you tried. If things went the way they currently were, hell would freeze over. So, I decided too...speed things up, as it were." She winked. "If you need help with anything else, let me know!" She ran off, leaving Tsuzuki to ponder.
"Great," Tsuzuki grumbled. "This new girl is a REAL match maker...And to make things worse, I don't think Hisoka will never speak to me again after THAT little episode..."
END! So, tell me what you think! I know there wasn't any TsuzukiXHisoka WILLINGLY, and Tatari will make an appearance later. My Beta will be providing that... ; Reviewers will given plushies, and flames will be used in the Hall of Candles or to help Watari with his experiments. (Yatta!)
Translations or clarifications:
sakura: cherry blossoms
Smokey-kun: This is Watari's reference to Smokey the Bear.
Gomen: sorry
It: the sex-change potion
sempai: superior
Hai: yes
Touda: one of Tsuzuki's twelve shikigami; perhaps the most powerful and dangerous
Ano: um
Daijoubu ka: Are you okay?
Ne:in this sense, right?
Iie: no
Nani Desu ka: IN this instance, What is it?
San: respective suffix
Oi: Hey