Evanescent Days: Track 02

Taking Over Me v.1.5

Yami No Matsuei Alterverse

by Daemonchan

Related Tracks: 01

:warning: SPOILERS! AU - 3 years following Kyoto. Immediately following Everybody's Fool. Manga and anime based. Translations from theria(dot)net.

:author's note: What I know of the Makai I've made up from bits and pieces of anime, namely Yu Yu Hakusho and YnM. Hell and Makai are two VERY distinct places. And it gets worse from here on in... Oh, and I'm REALLY making this up as I go along...

:disclaimer: nothing in this fic but the storyline is mine. Lyrics borrowed from Evanescence and characters from Matsushita-sensei.

akai tsuki-red moon

:thanks:

:lyrics:

-Yatonokami-

Impressions and telepathic thought

- - - - -

"Did you retrieve it?"

"Hai. But it is weak and fading fast."

A thoughtful pause. "Put it with his candle. He can sustain two flames for a time."

"Not long though." Worry tinged the voice. "It will weaken him...there may be other..."

A deep sigh whispered across the gentle flames. One candle flickered fitfully before it was moved into the vicinity of another, brighter flame. The two tipped together and the weaker candle flared again.

"His soul has been saved."

"Thank you, Hakushaku. His part in this must be preserved. For sake of the Chijou, Meifu, and the Makai."

The Earl nodded gently, invisible eyes trained on the two candles before him. "For Tsuzuki and Hisoka."

- - - - -

:but who can decide what they dream?
and dream i do...:

It was dark, wherever he was. Dark and almost cold. He felt the rough scratch of a cheap blanket across his shoulders...bare shoulders, and the thin cotton of pants. His feet were uncovered and the tile of the floor was ice beneath his toes.

He knew he was in the room without windows, with the surety one has only in dreams. He was put in here from time to time, when the moonlight was too much to bear. His handlers still bore the scars of his scratching and biting that last time the full moon had come into the rectangle of his window. His sickness hadn't eaten away at his primal terror of

white...it was all white...no...

The moon...akai tsuki...

Is this me?

He sat huddled in his meager protection, knowing there was only so much fight left...already his heart and soul were being eaten away...

"Kami-sama, no!" Tsuzuki screamed into the emptiness of his bedroom. His hand pressed tightly to his chest as if to keep his heart from beating itself through his ribs. He spared a glance for the clock, groaning as it mocked him with an hour that was well before dawn and only about an hour after he'd finally succumbed to sleep.

He also knew he wouldn't be going back to sleep either.

Insomnia had been haunting since returning to Meifu...without rescuing his partner's body. For all any one knew, Hisoka's soul had been snuffed out, found neither in Heaven nor Hell. Tsuzuki still held out hope, refusing to give up on Hisoka. He had even tried to pry information from Hakushaku, only wanting to know if the young shinigami's flame had gone out. The Earl had rebuffed his advances, finally setting Watson at the door to keep him away.

Hisoka's body was now somewhere in Japan, possessed by the centuries old spirit that had haunted the Kurosaki family, the Yatonokami. So far, no one in the Shokan had been able to track it; it was able to mask its demonic aura. They could only wait until it tried to use its powers...and then pray they weren't too late.

Tatsumi had ordered Tsuzuki out of the Division for at least a day, quite possibly to save the others from nightmares about the shell the amethyst eyed shinigami had become. He barely ate, or drank, even with Wakaba creating hundreds of different tempting snacks. Pale and gaunt, he sat at his desk, just staring at the seat that used to be occupied by his partner.

Kami...I miss you...

Yes, he missed the acerbic comments about his work ethic, his whining, the addiction to sweets. Tsuzuki would have given every candy in his drawer to hear just one 'shut up baka' in the other shinigami's timeless teenaged tenor.

Nothing for it then. Better just get up. Make some tea to curb the pangs in his stomach...he certainly didn't feel like making food. He pulled himself from bed with an effort, not even pausing for the dizziness to fade. His work clothes had become his bed clothes, and these ones had seen the office three days in a row. Watari had commented about his being a little ripe and something about his clothes being able to take themselves to work and probably do his job too.

Oh, yeah, he'd been banished to take a shower and change. Mustn't forget that.

He made his way towards the small kitchen, shedding his jacket and tie, managing to remove his shoes while he moved. He was hopping on one foot to take off a sock when he saw something in the corner of his eye.

He looked up, hoping to catch it again. He had a mirror in the hallway, and had flashed by it.

No, there was some...one else...

:you saw me mourning my love for you
and touched my hand:

There, in the mirror.

It was Hisoka looking back out of the silvered glass, like a translucent image projected over Tsuzuki.

Tsuzuki felt himself cry then, releasing the horrible tension that had gathered in his stomach like lead. The half image continued to glare back him, familiar emerald eyes boring almost hatefully into Tsuzuki's own.

"Hisoka, I failed you...Please forgive me."

Touching the mirror, Hisoka copied the motion, and their hands met on the glass. An electric tingle traveled the length of Tsuzuki's arm, and he closed his eyes with the familiar warmth in his mind.

You're out there, somewhere. Your soul is still there...

Tearing himself from the mirror, Tsuzuki couldn't keep back a hysterical laugh. Everyone had assured him...there was no possible way for Hisoka's soul to have survived the terrible spell that took his body. There was no trace of him, on Chijou or Meifu.

He was falling then, sliding down the wall opposite the mirror that had somehow become shattered, cradling the hand that had become cut. The tears wouldn't stop then, and he pulled his knees to his chest, remaining so until Tatsumi found him the next morning, still crying Hisoka's name.