I haven't had Internet connection. That's my excuse. This chapter is mainly Hisoka-centric, but I did sprinkle a bit of Tsuzuki in there for good measure.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei, nor will claim ownership to the characters there of. The plot is of my own design and I shall punish myself for any faulty character development.

Starflyer1

Just Beyond the Door

May 8th, 19XX, 9:23a.m.

It was the darkness that had brought them a sort of peace; a solitude where they could each put themselves back together. Now it had been stripped away, and they could both see the damage: the damage that had been done to themselves, and to each other. After all, it wasn't everyday the person they were after chose to end their lives willingly, let alone in such a manor.

Hisoka stood solemnly by the window, the long red curtains almost hiding him from the view of Tsuzuki who sat on one of the single beds in the hotel room behind him. He could hardly look at him, not yet. Not when he was this confused. Of course, mumbling to oneself always helped with confusion, right?

"Did life really mean that little to him? I just don't…"

Tsuzuki leaned back against the headboard, his eyes lingering on the form of Hisoka, who'd been there for quite some time now. The clock ticked on steadily to 9:30am. A breakfast menu lay open on the empty bed, a fact Hisoka had decided to forget until he was able to put himself back together again.

"Hisoka, are you all-"

"Yes."

"Are your shields back?"

"What do you think?"

That was never a good way to start off a morning, snapping at Tsuzuki. He could picture the hurt look on his partners face at his tone. The boy suppressed a sigh and leaned his forehead against the window. God this was stupid. It was practically against his morals to let someone like that tear down his shields that much. That bothered him, and there was no way he'd let Tsuzuki see that.

"We should probably work on the case. Why don't you come over here Hisoka?"

The view outside seemed much more interesting than the aspect of staring at a depressed partner, or worse, a partner trying NOT to look depressed. The view was rather nice. It over looked the park they'd been in last night where the boy had…

"Hisoka?"

"What?"

He felt, rather than heard Tsuzuki's form walking towards him. Was that fear he felt leaking from him? Regret? Guilt? An acute case of depression was the last thing he needed this morning.

"We should work on the case Hisoka, it bothers you, doesn't it."

Hisoka turned towards his partner before Tsukuzi even had a chance to put a hand on his shoulder. Then, pulling the curtains shut behind him, he stared Tsuzuki sharply in the eyes and pointed him back in the direction of the bed. Tsuzuki, however, remained where he was. Okay, this called for method two.

"You want to talk about the case when we've only had about two hours of sleep between us? Okay, fine. Lets start with the only known fact we have; the boy died."

Why did he say that? God, he was a sadist today, wasn't he? He shook his head in apology, and led Tsuzuki back to the bed. It was obvious he, himself wasn't the only one broken up over the botched case. The silence waited, yet the floor seemed safer to look at than Tsuzuki. If only he hadn't been so weak.

"This should have been easy. Find the boy, and take him back to Meifu."

Tsuzuki placed a hand on Hisoka's shoulder for comfort. It was a gesture of comfort, or to suggest that he felt some sympathy for him. Unfortunately, sympathy wasn't the only thing that leaked into the Empath's body. Hisoka turned towards Tsuzuki and stared at him in confusion. The hand was removed.

"Do you think we should still go to the boy's family today as we'd planned?"

Hisoka hesitated, and nodded.

"There may be more to this, don't you think?"

"You don't trust them 'Soka?"

Damn… little… pet name. Hisoka frowned severely, then recovered.

"As much as I'd like to say we're done with this case, I think we have a lot more poking around to do. Konoe didn't give us a lot before we came down, so maybe we should report back to him."

Tsuzuki slowly nodded, then sat down on the bed and reached underneath for a few papers. Hisoka almost winced, catching himself at the last moment. Damn, he was trying to hard to cover himself. It was almost too painful to watch. He settled for spacing out, he always did his best thinking when he was trying to ignore reality.

"Sorry Hisoka, I'll try not to let it bother me. It's just that… he was only 15. Why would he just…"

Tsuzuki's comment brought him back.

"He was sick, right?"

"Konoe didn't mention that… how did you?"

Hisoka blinked, startled with his own realization. He reached up and rubbed the side of his head. No doubt he'd have a headache later with all that happened last night. He caught a questioning look from Tsuzuki and waved it away. Seconds later a bottle of Tylenol was tossed in his lap. Hisoka looked up as Tsuzuki smiled broadly.

"I guess he just looked weak to me. I'm surprised you didn't see it."

Hisoka pondered the bottle, than set it aside on the bed and nodded a brief thanks. The pills would most certainly come in handy later.

"I saw it, but there was just so much blood…"

Hisoka leaned closer to his partner. A smile appeared on Tsuzuki's face as he shook his head and placed the sheets of paper between them on the bed.

"Never mind."

Hisoka nodded, then stared down at the papers. It wasn't a wall, but it may as well been one. He reached for one of the papers, one of many in the small stack. His hand brushed over the words on it; the boy's information. Little help it had been.

Tsuzuki snuck a look at his watch and pulled Hisoka down onto the bed beside him. The long forgotten Breakfast menu was in his hands a moment later along with a smug grin.

"How about this, I'll go and talk with the boy's parents since you seem a bit out of sorts today-"

"Idiot, I can still-"

"You go back to Meifu and speak with Konoe and try to get any other information on the case."

Hisoka stared at him, surprised at the sudden turn of events. Here he was thinking HE would have to delegate the responsibilities, or at least be the one to deal with the matters here on Earth. He watched his partner stand and stride across the room, pulling out that insanely huge coat from a closet.

"Hurry up and get ready Hisoka, I'll start ordering breakfast!"

He nodded, then, automatically moved back to the window. What was with him and the damn window? Maybe he really was a sadist today. From behind him, the door opened.

"I'll be right down."

"Take your time."

"Tsuzuki… thanks."

There was silence, but one could hardly call it awkward. The door closed a moment later, and Hisoka was alone with his thoughts. Now he could get himself back together, now he could focus and… heh, there were still visible bloodstains on the concrete.

"God, I hate this place."

Thanks to all reviewers! I'm still getting going on this little project,and job-hunting down here in California. Starflyer1 is the name I'm more familiar with,despite theextra '1' in the pennamefor this account. I've done more story work, so the second chapter shouldn't be too long in coming! Thanks all!