Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei. Edit: I do not own East of Eden.

Shout-outs:

AnimeAngelRin: Nope, the sequel has started immediately.

Pumpkin-Pie 4ever aka Lynn: I love your loyalty, girly. Get ready for lots more suspense. Suspense/Mystery is a genre I'm experimenting in. Hope it works out! P.S. There's a spell-check for the review box.

elirian: Yeah, even I was surprised with how quickly I got the sequel started. But there's nothing wrong with using momentum, is there?

Unclear Destiny: Welcome! (Gives Newbie Glomp) I don't remember seeing you before. I hope you've checked out the prequel to this story, otherwise you'll get very, very, confused. Thank you very much, and I looked forward to seeing you again!

Eternity's Heir: Welcome back, oh ye of the cool name!

Aacire: (Last chapter of Second Death) Hope you like the sequel!

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: George needs some discipline. (Glares at him, and then swoons at his utter cuteness). Well, this story might be a little confusing. I'm drawing heavily on Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, and Shinto mythology. But all will eventually be explained, either in the text or in Side Notes.

Muraki was in chapter 4, remember? I'd re-read that chapter, as it's going to be very important, as well as chapter 10.

Kotaro is the blonde one, and he's OMGTEHKEWLIES (Goes Squealy Fangirl). Too bad I've also decided that he's gay. (And so completely twincesty with Kojiro. I've seen spoiler images for Volume 12 over at theria and yes, there's something suspicious going on there.)

Side Note #1: Yes, I did research and you can plant certain things in August. Funny things—I looked up flower symbolism on a lark, and for two of the three flowers mentioned in this chapter, snapdragon means "presumption", which I think Tsuzuki has a bit of, and coreopsis means "always cheerful", which is what he pretends to be. And about Cynoglossum officinale (hound's tongue, gypsyflower)—it's violet in color, known for clinging, considered a weed in the US, and is generally misunderstood as a plant.

Side Note #2: Agraphobia is the fear of sexual abuse.

Side Note #3: I've decided that there are two ways to "pass on". One way is to "ascend", which means to attend your trial and be judged for Heaven or Hell. The other way is to "go to your second death", which is what Tsuzuki attempted to do in Kyoto, and this means that you allow your soul and body to be disintegrated into atoms and emotions that no longer make up yourself. (Chemistry student can't break Law of Conservation of Matter.)

Side Note #4: Hisoka may seem OOC in his relationship with Tsubaki in this chapter, too open with her. But I think what happened between them on the Queen Camellia—"almost dating", and the manner of her death—has made Hisoka forfeit his right to be closed-off, emotions-wise, to her. And what's more, I'm contemplating writing an essay on how Tsubaki is the female version of Tsuzuki (therefore conclusively rendering Hisoka as bisexual—or pansexual! Hey, we need more of us!), making it plausible that he could talk to her more readily than to most people. Oh, and their conversation will be important, AEK (wink), for plot, parallelism, and angst.

Side Note #5: What Konoe does with Hisoka in this chapter is completely different than what he does in the manga, but let's just overlook that, okay? It's a completely different plotline with extremely different circumstances, so I think it's understandable.

Failed Exorcisms

"Oops."

"What did you destroy now, Tsuzuki?" Hisoka called, half-bored, from the porch. The week they had spent in Chijou had been spent by their landlords in investing in a porch swing, which the newlyweds were making frequent use of now that they had returned home.

"I accidentally snapped a stem in half," Tsuzuki called back. Tsuzuki had had run of the garden practically since moving into the rented house, and over time the whole of the lawn had been transformed into a carpet of colors and scents courtesy of the flowers he diligently tended to.

"You do realize that you can't pronounce half of what you're planting, right?"

"That's why I call it "snapdragon" instead of antir—…ant—…"

"Antirrhinum?" Hisoka offered.

"Yeah, that." Tsuzuki could feel Hisoka's eyes rolling at his back. "Well, I think "snapdragon" is more eye-catching than the scientific name."

"Yeah, but is "tick-seed" more attractive than "coreopsis"?" Hisoka responded.

"Is this some subtle way of telling me you think I'm a cr-p gardener?"

"No, it's some unsubtle way of putting one over on you," Hisoka countered, leaning back into the cushions of the porch swing.

"Liar," Tsuzuki teased, and Hisoka rolled his eyes.

"Okay, if you want to play that game, I think it's weird that you like gardening as a hobby, considering that most of what you eat has been manufactured a thousand times over."

"That's why I grow flowers, not food."

"Still. And where did you pick up gardening, of all things?"

"Ruka and I used to have to help planting, because we weren't exactly rich enough to buy food." Tsuzuki sat back, sucking on his bottom lip, recalling endless, scorching days in the sun when Ruka, sweat running down her face and barely standing, had to scold him into working when exhaustion made his knees fold. "I got so sick of planting rice," he said with a sad sort of smile. "But I did like it when it was finally harvested and we got paid for it. I felt like I was actually doing something helpful for my family. And I liked the fact that I was actually giving life to something. So after I died…I dunno, I guess I couldn't just leave it alone. But I vowed that I would never plant food again. So I just picked up flowers one day, and you can see the result before you." He gestured to the sea of blooms he had planted earlier in the summer. "I didn't bore you, did I?" he asked, looking back.

"No," Hisoka said slowly. And after a pause, "I like the cynoglossum."

"You mean the hound's tongue?"

"No, I mean the cynoglossum. Or the gypsyflower, if you have to call it something else."

Tsuzuki looked toward the small bush of course-appearing flowers. "Really? I heard that most people hate them, because they cling to clothes and sheep's wool and stuff."

"I like the color."

Tsuzuki looked back at the bush. The shade of violet of the petals was an almost exact match to his eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched and he smiled giddily.

"And what are you doing back there?" he called, grinning.

"Knitting a sweater," was the sarcastic reply.

"Hisoka…"

"Reading, something you rarely do."

"You're awfully rude to your spouse, for someone who's only been married two weeks." Tsuzuki turned around, pulling off his gloves and dropping them. "Now, what are you reading?"

"East of Eden." Tsuzuki cocked his head, confused. "Eden as in the actual religious place and not the Christian section of Gensoukai," Hisoka explained impatiently as Tsuzuki trudged up the porch stairs and flopped down beside him on the swing. "It's hard to explain. I'll just say it's about brotherly jealousy and leave it at that."

"No, no, tell me more," Tsuzuki insisted.

"Fine, well, at this point in the story, this character Cal was rejected by his father, so in a fit of rage he told his twin Aron that their mother, who Aron thought was dead, is really a prostitute who abandoned the family." Tsuzuki blinked. "And Aron is so anal-retentive that he can't deal with it, so he runs off to enlist in the army and gets killed."

"What do you read?"

"So Cal hates himself and wants to leave, but his servant Lee makes him go talk to this girl Abra, who used to like Aron, but who's really in love with Cal."

Tsuzuki took the edges of the book, and Hisoka released it into his husband's hands.

"Got out the back way," she said.

"They'll find you gone."

"I don't care."

"You don't?"

"No."

Cal said, "Abra, I've killed my brother and my father is paralyzed because of me."

She took his arm and clung to it with both hands.

Cal said, "Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you."

"Abra, my mother was a whore."

"I know. You told me. My father is a thief."

"I've got her blood, Abra. Don't you understand?"

"I've got his," she said.

Tsuzuki skipped ahead through two paragraphs of descriptions and was about to tackle the next set of dialogue when he heard Hisoka snort. "What?"

"You're actually reading," Hisoka replied with a small, wicked smile. "And, you're reading out loud."

Tsuzuki promptly closed the book with a world-weary sigh, and unceremoniously hit the top of Hisoka's head with it.

"Don't do that," Hisoka said, glaring at him.

"If you get to make fun of me, I get some form of revenge. Only fair," Tsuzuki retorted, grinning.

Hisoka glared at him and snatched the book back, burying himself in it.

"Come on, you can't get sulky about that," Tsuzuki hounded a silent, punishing Hisoka. Making a noise like an impatient, ignored puppy, Tsuzuki snatched the book from Hisoka's hands and set it aside.

"I am going to break your fingers if you ever do that again," Hisoka said plainly.

"No you're not," Tsuzuki said, slyly sliding his arm between the cushion and Hisoka's back, and then quickly yanking Hisoka into a bear-like embrace, deliberately transferring his weight unto him. "You love me too much."

"Tsuzuki, I can't support us bo—!" Hisoka was cut off as his balanced deserted him and he wound up on his back, thankfully avoiding falling off the swing but effectively trapped underneath Tsuzuki.

"I win!" Tsuzuki grinned with mischief and triumph, squirming slightly to make sure Hisoka's hands were pinned down by his knees. Hisoka glared icily, promising in his face awful things to come. Tsuzuki took the hint, grinned, and then leaned down to kiss him. A second of alarm was followed by a grudging acquiescence, and Tsuzuki laughed in his throat as he let go.

"This looks very wrong, Tsuzuki," Hisoka informed him.

"Our landlords are out."

Hisoka scoffed and looked away, glaring huffily at the general vicinity.

"Argh, you're so moody," Tsuzuki bemoaned teasingly, pushing himself off Hisoka's hands to lie down on top of his husband. Hisoka's eyes looked black to glower at him, and Tsuzuki chuckled at the pout and kissed Hisoka's cheek. Hisoka's eyes were clear, quelling any panic in Tsuzuki for his psychological state. Over the course of their honeymoon they had made love every night, and each night had Tsuzuki's heart constantly in his throat, as his agraphobic husband had suffered intermittent relapses that desperately frightened them both. The setbacks seemed to diminish as the week went on, but on the last day something had happened that triggered a near-seizure for Hisoka. He had been angry with himself when he regained his senses, but Tsuzuki was fine with the progress. You couldn't erase 7 years in 7 days.

Tsuzuki snuggled closer to Hisoka contentedly, toying with his hair. Hisoka sighed in defeat and relaxed, allowing himself the rare indulgence of actually enjoying bodily contact. It was easy to go to sleep like this, wrapped up in warmth without the nagging dread that a night terror forcing wakefulness would rip your REM cycles apart. Actually, at the moment, sleep felt like a good idea…

"Hisoka-san!"

Of course.

"Tsuzuki, get off me!" Hisoka muttered fiercely.

"Who's—Eileen?" Tsuzuki squinted through the heavy August heat to catch sight of a Chinese girl with long blue hair standing at the end of their walk, red-faced and breathing heavily. "Eileen?" he called out to her.

Eileen had enough grace to flush for interrupting the moment she could tell they were pulling themselves out of. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, bowing, "but I need Hisoka-san."

"What's the matter?" Hisoka asked, sitting up properly as Tsuzuki did likewise.

"It's Camille," Eileen yelled, and Hisoka could see her frantic nerves as well as feel them. "She's in the Infirmary at Juohcho."

"What? Why?" Hisoka swung his legs over the edge of the swing, fully awake.

"Please, there's something wrong with her mind and Watari-sensei hadn't figured it out yet when I left, and I remembered that you can read minds and…just, just please come with me!" Eileen shouted, her legs shaking as worried tears stung her eyes. "Please, she's been acting weird for days and—"

"Eileen, Eileen, calm down," Tsuzuki urged soothingly, both he and Hisoka now next to her. "It's okay, we're going."

Each time Tsubaki fell ill her skin took on a shade turning more and more porcelain in likeness, Hisoka noted. But no company would ever make a doll with Tsubaki's expression on its painted face, not unless they were particularly sadistic towards children.

Watari had disappeared from the room with a backward glance and greeting when they arrived, shouting something about running a blood test, and leaving the three of them once again helpless to offer any kind of aid for the fallen princess.

"Now, what did you mean by "acting weird"?" Hisoka asked slowly. Eileen was hunched over in a chair, sipping water Tsuzuki had gotten for her out of a paper cup to keep her mind focused on one thing.

"I mean…I've been visiting with her this week," Eileen said, trying to control her voice. "Part of our deal, right? But ever since I got there…it's like she's back on that ship. The second day I was there, she scolded me for "disappearing" on her. I thought she was just a little disoriented—she hadn't gotten much sleep—but then…last night I woke up to find her walking around the house with this…this look in her eyes that scared the cr-p out of me. They weren't her eyes. Then this morning she dropped a laundry basket and screamed that there was someone inside it, and when I came in to see what was wrong she had a knife in her hand. She…she looked like she was going to stab me with it!"

The paper cup crunched in her hand, water spilling all over the floor. Tsuzuki's hand descended on her shoulder to keep her from lurching forward.

"And then…and then I just starting yelling her name and her eyes changed…they looked normal but so…so terrified…and she asked me to shoot her! Shoot her…" A sob cut off her words and she buried her face in her hands.

Hisoka's face blanched. Blood-drained skin, wide and dying eyes, two bullet holes, a body drowning in water…

"Hisoka!"

Hisoka felt Tsuzuki catch him by the arm before he saw it. He looked blankly up at his husband, questioning. "Your eyes were glazed," Tsuzuki informed him worriedly.

"Sorry." Hisoka covered his eyes and then moved his hand to push his bangs off his face. "I was just…remembering…how she died."

"Oh, hey, you're all still here!"

Eileen, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka all looked up simultaneously. Watari was standing in the open doorway, a clipboard in hand.

"But why are you all here?" Watari followed up.

"I brought Hisoka so he could see what was wrong with her mind," Eileen said through her sniffling.

"And I just kinda tagged along," Tsuzuki offered, embarrassed.

"Then I assume I can let them in on confidence, Eileen-san?" Watari asked. Eileen nodded. "Okay, good." Watari stepped inside the room and shut the door behind him. "Now, I did just what I said I was going to do when you barged in: run blood tests on her. Her heart is working just fine, but I found something interesting in her bloodstream. Some sort of hallucinogen."

"It wouldn't happen to be peyote, would it?" Hisoka asked, his mouth full of vitriol.

"Highly developed almost to the point of obscurity, but there's nothing Mother Computer can't decipher. Yes, you're exactly right, Hisoka."

"Peyote…that's what that b-st-rd was using to control her, right?" Eileen demanded, eyes gleaming with unresolved fury.

"Yes, and it's pumping directly into her brain," Watari said, frowning. "But it's odd. She's been dead for over two years. She should have already been affected by this, if it was administered to her pre-mortem."

"No," Hisoka asserted. "It's Maria all over again. Our "dear" doctor is using Tsubaki-hime as a puppet."

"That f-ck-ng son of a b-tch!" Eileen screeched, her face a bright red flame as she jumped to her feet.

"Eileen-san, calm down," Watari urged. "Bon, it's not likely, but it's possible that this is random. Drugs are unpredictable."

"No, I'm positive that—"

A soft groan interrupted all of them. In a flash Eileen was at the slowly waking Tsubaki's side, clutching her hand.

"I gave her some medication to counteract the peyote," Watari reassured the stricken Hisoka and Tsuzuki. "She should be lucid."

"Peyote…?" Tsubaki whispered, squinting at the bright ceiling of the Infirmary. She sat up straight, holding her head. "Eileen, what am I…?"

"Shh, shh, Camille-dono," Eileen assured, gently pushing Tsubaki back onto the bed. "You're fine. I took you to the Infirmary."

Tsubaki frowned, her eyes confused. "What…? Why am I here?"

"Eileen says you've been acting strangely," Hisoka answered, moving to stand next to her on the other side of the bed.

"Hisoka!" Tsubaki yelped, surprised. "Why are you—?"

"Eileen told us that you've been having hallucinations about the Queen Camellia," Hisoka continued, steady but kind.

"You thought we were still 11 years old a couple days ago," Eileen explained gently to Tsubaki's bewildered face. "And yesterday you were sleepwalking. And today…today, you panicked over a hamper, and you had a knife in your hands."

Tsubaki covered her mouth. "Did I…?"

"No, you didn't hurt Eileen," Hisoka said. "But she says that you regained your consciousness before passing out and asked her to…to shoot you."

"I…" Tsubaki drew her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. "Oh, no…it is just like the ship."

"Watari found peyote in your blood," Tsuzuki took over, seeing the sick-looking faces of both Eileen and Hisoka. "You remember…that's what Muraki was using to control you."

Tsubaki's head snapped up, her eyes wide and horrified. "He's…he's not…he can't be controlling me!" She collapsed against Hisoka, grabbing his sleeve desperately. "Please, Hisoka, he can't be controlling me! It's just the drug…it's reacting on its own…please, Hisoka, that has to be it!"

Hisoka winced as four mutilated bodies flashed in front of his mind's eye. "There's only one way to be sure, Tsubaki-hime," he muttered, grimacing as he snatched up her hand.

"That's reckless!" Watari and Tsuzuki yelled in one voice, and no sooner had the words left their mouths that Hisoka threw down Tsubaki's hand like a burning ember, yelps of pain ripping from both their mouths. Hisoka staggered back and Tsuzuki caught him before he could trip over his own feet.

Tsubaki gave off a startled "Oh!" and both Tsuzuki and Hisoka looked for the cause of Tsubaki's cry. In the process of catching him, Tsuzuki had accidentally pushed Hisoka's sleeve above his wrist, and slowly, red color was surfacing in the form of ancient letters on Hisoka's skin.

Hisoka yanked his sleeve over his hand quickly. Tsubaki looked ready to exclaim over what she had seen but the pleading look in Tsuzuki's eyes quelled her.

"Camille-dono, are you okay?" Eileen asked, thankfully oblivious.

"Yeah, I'm…just startled," Tsubaki said, truthfully.

"Bon, is it him?" Watari asked, also fortunately not at the vantage point to witness the curse marks.

"Yep," Hisoka said, the taste of bile coating his tongue. "That d-mn doctor's behind it."

"When I said we'd be connected to him forever…I didn't know it meant literally."

Humorless irony laced Tsubaki's words, face, and demeanor. Under the pretense of finding out more without having everyone else's psyches interrupting the search, Watari, Tsuzuki, and Eileen had been ushered out of the room.

"I always knew it meant literally," Hisoka said, pulling up his sleeve to stare at it again.

"Have you always…?"

"Since I first met him," Hisoka said. "They're d-mned convenient sometimes, they let me know when he's off stalking a new victim," he spat.

"So…he's got your skin…and my blood…and Eileen's heart…"

"And I'd lay odds he wants Tsuzuki's mind," Hisoka said bitterly. "Jeez, if he wants a body he should just go procreate."

Tsubaki laughed, but mirth died in her throat as tears were conceived in her eyes. "I can't go through this again, Hisoka. I can't kill people again."

"I know."

"I think that's why I asked Eileen to shoot me."

Hisoka stopped pacing with a sudden jerk.

Tsubaki bunched the bed sheets in her hand and stared at the mattress. "I shouldn't be here. I told her how dangerous it would be to forget what had happened. And now we can't." Her hands suddenly seized, pulling at the sheets so hard they almost threatened to pull apart. "And if he's manipulating me into going insane, how long will it be until he forces me to kill her? And I can't just leave Japan, distance has no effect on him. I'll have to…"

Hisoka stared at her, juxtaposing brown hair and purple eyes on her in spite of himself. Even their names were similar…and the odd serenity in their eyes when they embraced destruction…

"Tsubaki-hime, you are not going to ascend or go to your second death!" he yelled at her, suddenly furious, and she snapped her head up to look at him with surprised eyes. "You'd be letting that b-st-rd win if you gave up."

"Hisoka…"

"You've finally got it, haven't you?" he interrupted angrily. "You and Eileen are back together. You've got her back after 9 years. How do you think she'll feel if she walks in and finds that you passed on? Do you really think that'll make her happy? Do you really think that'll keep her alive? D-mn it, Tsubaki-hime, if given half the chance, she'll probably follow you!"

"Hisoka!" Tsubaki grabbed both his arms, staring up at him with frightened eyes. He had barely noticed that she had left the bed to go to him.

"Please, please calm down," she importuned, shaking him with every word. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't mention it again," she apologized, letting go of him as he stabilized and sitting back down on the bed. "But…what are my options, besides…?"

"You are going to stay here and let Watari look after you. I am going to find Muraki and shove his head up his a-s."

Tsubaki gave a short laugh through her nose and wiped her eyes with the back of her index fingers. Hisoka nodded and turned to go.

"Hisoka…I'm sorry for reminding you," Tsubaki whispered, her voice staying Hisoka's hand at the doorknob. "It's painful for you to think about it, isn't it?"

"Don't belittle yourself," Hisoka commanded, not looking back at her. "Kyoto is something he and I live with every day. I am concerned about you as a friend, you know."

"I know," Tsubaki said, smiling weakly at his back. "But…I must have reminded you at least somewhat."

"Jeez, you're just like him," Hisoka muttered, more to himself than to her. "Listen, don't even think about this anymore. I'll know if you are. Now, I'll send Watari and Eileen back in. They're dying to get back in here; I feel it. Don't drink anything Watari gives you unless you saw where it came from." Tsubaki raised her eyebrows. "Trust me."

Hisoka turned the doorknob. "Stop trying to listen in," he scolded as he open the door. "I can tell if you're eavesdropping and besides, you can't hear anything coherently."

Watari made a face and Eileen simply ignored him, sprinting faithfully to Tsubaki's side.

"Hey, I told them, so don't blame me," Tsuzuki said, who was standing off to the side, leaning against the wall. Hisoka cocked an eyebrow at him unbelievingly.

"Why do I get the feeling you just had better intuition about when I would open the door? Oh, yes, it's because I can feel you."

"Hajime, it's worrying me!"

"Wakaba, the twins are probably just being lazy."

"They're Shiki, Hajime! They come when I summon them! Stop letting your jealousy get in the way here!"

"I'm not jealous!"

"Um…what's the matter, Wakaba?"

Terazuma and Wakaba snapped out of their bickering at the sound of Tsuzuki's voice. They had been completely ignorant of their audience since walking into the hallway. Wakaba looked red-faced and flustered, eyes bright, and Terazuma angry and unnerved.

"It's Kotaro and Kojiro," Wakaba explained anxiously. "I plugged in the coordinates for the Suzaku Gates on the computer, they didn't show up."

"Oh, sh-t, that's bad," Tsuzuki muttered worriedly.

"Why?" Hisoka asked, looking up at his husband.

"For a Shiki to be summoned, they have to be able to rip open a portal to get to their master. If you summon a Shiki and they don't show up, it means something's wrong on their end. So, either one or both of the twins are injured or…or dead. Or, something's happening in Gensoukai to keep them from leaving," Tsuzuki added swiftly.

"And without them, I can't open the Suzaku Gates to get into Gensoukai and see what's wrong!" Wakaba yelled fearfully.

"What about one of the other Gates?" Hisoka asked.

"I'm the only Gatekeeper in Japan," Wakaba explained. "The others are in China, Mongolia, and Korea."

"Can we summon another Shiki and follow their portal into Gensoukai?" Hisoka questioned.

"Shinigami need to go through a Gate, Tsuzuki explained, as Wakaba hiccupped tearfully. "I can probably summon Byakko and ask him what's wrong," Tsuzuki offered kindly, putting his hands on Wakaba's shoulders to steady her.

"Yeah, before you do that, Tsuzuki, I've got a call for you."

"Konoe-kachou!" Tsuzuki yelped, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"The Chief always works on Sundays. Not that you lazy good-for-nothings would know," Konoe grumbled. "Listen, there was a murder in Okinawa."

"Chizuru can't take it?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Don't interrupt. Chizuru's already found the soul and brought it to Meifu. But she says she's got something there that's "of interest" to you. Found by the body. Chizuru's on the line in my office, you should get it now."

Tsuzuki was getting a nauseous feeling in his stomach. Hisoka felt it as well, taking Tsuzuki's arm to keep his mind focused.

"We'll get right on it," Hisoka assured Konoe, half-dragging Tsuzuki from the hallway.

"Wait, Kurosaki," Konoe said. "I've got something to tell you, too. Come with me."

"Tsuzuki, you're okay?" Hisoka asked, letting go of his husband's arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, you go with Konoe-kachou."

Hisoka disappeared around a corner and Tsuzuki breathed deeply to calm himself as he walked towards Konoe's office like a convict on Death Row walks to the electric chair. The phone was lying on Konoe's desk and Tsuzuki picked it up tentatively, as if it might explode.

"Hello, Chizuru?"

"Tsuzuki, hey!" Chizuru responded. "How are you? How's Hisoka?"

"We're fine, but things have been…shaky at the office."

"That sucks. You're married for two weeks and already work's getting in the way. Rika and I have to deal with it all the time."

"Well, that and that Taira guy."

"Um…not anymore."

"Pardon?"

"Konoe didn't tell you? Taira's the one who was murdered."

"No sh-t," Tsuzuki muttered, flabbergasted. "How? Who did it?"

Chizuru paused uncomfortably over the phone. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Tsuzuki. I think I know who killed him."

"You think it's Muraki," Tsuzuki said flatly.

"Yeah. The police reports say the cause of death is poisoning from wine he was drinking."

"Did he have his heart ripped out?" Tsuzuki asked dully, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," Chizuru answered. "And there was something else. He left a note and a Tarot card on the body."

"What was written on the card?" Tsuzuki asked. "And what was the Tarot card?"

"The card was addressed directly to you," Chizuru said. "And it said something about how "it begins again" and that he's "coming for you". The Tarot card was the Queen of Swords, and it was reversed. I looked it up on the computer, and this basically says bad luck through treachery, spite, malice, and manipulation. And since it's the "Queen", that can mean it's coming from a woman."

'Tsubaki,' Tsuzuki suddenly thought. 'She hasn't…Muraki hasn't already made her—!'

"Tsuzuki?"

"Yeah, that's Muraki."

"I went to investigate myself, because Muraki's name was on the list at the Taira Hotel. But he's disappeared."

"Yeah, he's definitely not in Okinawa anymore," Tsuzuki said.

"I just want to put you and Hisoka on your guards. He's bound to try and do something on your end."

"Thanks, Chizuru. You can't even begin to imagine how grateful I am that you warned us."

"Believe me, it's definitely not a problem."

"'Bye, Chizuru. And thanks so much, again."

"Good luck."

Tsuzuki hung up the phone, trying desperately to keep from punching a hole through Konoe's desk.

"Someone else," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Another one murdered. What are you trying to accomplish, you sick b-st-rd? Why do you want me so bad, to kill hundreds of people just to get to me?"

"They've got to be sh-tting me!"

Tsuzuki's head snapped up at the sound of Hisoka's enraged voice. Turning from the desk, he jogged towards the door and threw it open.

"Hisoka?"

Hisoka's face was a dark red blaze.

"They want me to go to Kamakura. My b-st-rd father's exceeded his lifespan."