Wheeeee! Okay, quick comment on my next time from last time: the classroom thing? I decided to save it for later. Sorry. A better version came to mind, and they have to be back at the office for it.

Another quick comment: I was originally going to post this on Friday, but I decided to post it today (Jan. 10) because…IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! XD So for my birthday, I'm giving you a present.

laustic: yeah, I seem to be torturing my own characters a lot lately. Maybe I've become a sadist…nah! I'm a democrat all the way. Yay, I was hoping they'd be seen as sweet! I'm getting better at this romance thing.

Kouri18: I toyed with the idea of Neina trying to keep them apart at first…but it just didn't strike me as something she'd do. So she's actually going to try and play matchmaker later. You'll see, heeheehee. Oh, I'm really glad you like Shadow! He's one of my fav. OCs.

DesertQueen: Yay for hyperness! If it weren't for that, I'd never get anything done. I liked writing the skeleton thing. It seems like something that would happen to Tsuzuki, ne?

Disclaimer: I disclaim it.

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The next day was cold and dark. The sun tried valiantly shine down from behind its cloud barrier but was thoroughly thwarted.

Hisoka tapped gently on the door, opening it with the extra key even when he didn't get an answer. "Neina? It's time to go." He frowned in concern when he recognized the large lump beneath the covers on the hotel bed to be his mother. "Neina? C'mon, we'll be late."

There was silence for a few moments before the covers shifted a tiny bit. "I'm not feeling very well, Hisoka. Could…you and Tsuzuki handled today by yourselves? I'll be fine by tomorrow, promise."

To say Hisoka was surprised would be an understatement. He stared at the lump, which had shifted to now once again reside deep inside the covers, wondering if this was some sort of prank. "You…you sure? I mean, you take this sort of job really seriously, I thought—"

"I'm just really tired. A day of rest and I'll be fine, trust me. You don't have to worry so much." He frowned, but for once not from the implication that he was worried. It was from the forced levity in her tone, all too familiar after listening to Tsuzuki so often after particularly bad missions.

"Alright. We'll be back after school's out to let you know if we found anything new. Get some rest." One pale hand ventured courageously from her self spun cocoon and waved goodbye awkwardly.

He paused, still concerned. "Do you still want to search tonight? Searching the grounds is a big job for just two of us."

The blob of blankets shifted again. "Sure, okay. I'll bundle up and I should be fine. See you then."

After closing the door and making his way downstairs where Tsuzuki waited, he found he was no less worried. The taller brunette looked around in confusion when he walked up. "Okay, I see you, but where's…?"

"She's not coming today, not until tonight. She says she's not feeling well."

"What? Should we pick up some medicine?"

"She said she just needed some rest."

"Oh. Well, alright, I guess." They walked out, ready to diverge a ways down and arrive at school via different entrances so no one would suspect something was up. Usually they walked in silence, but even the older male could feel a small bit of tension in the air this morning from his partner. Even that little bit made him want to somehow lighten the mood. "You know," Tsuzuki mused with a small grin on his face, "they say egg sake is good for a cold."

Hisoka glared at him. "You just want an excuse to get liquor."

Tsuzuki put a hand over his heart as if wounded. "Certainly not! I'm just worried about her. She's doesn't seem the time to get sick."

"I know." That's what has me worried.

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Neina arrived at school after sundown, trying her best to smile and seem like her old self. "Okay, same plan as last time. I'll take the outside, you take the inside and we'll meet up at around eleven-ish."

"Okay…"

"What? Why are you two looking at me like that?"

Tsuzuki and Hisoka exchanged glances, with Tsuzuki giving him the 'she's your mom' look. Grunting, Hisoka took the initiative and stepped forward.

"Neina, is everything okay? You seem kind of out of it."

She blinked but ultimately but her best smile on for a front. "I'm fine! I'm feeling tons better, honest! It was just a minor chill that's all." They both frowned and Neina twitched, unhappy with the corner she was being forced into. There was only one way out, that she saw: put the attention on them. Leaning in right next to Hisoka's ear, she whispered suggestively, "Besides, I thought you two would like me to be away…give you some alone time."

Hisoka flushed to the roots of his hair and Tsuzuki tensed, head going between them in confusion. Neina laughed and ran off before they could recover.

"I think she's feeling better now," Hisoka muttered sourly. If she can tease me, she must be feeling better. I hope.

Neina was still laughing around the corner as she pushed out into the night. But the laughter died into silence as she stepped into the cool darkness. The clouds still had not dissipated and neither had they allowed their seams to split and spill their burden. A storm was coming, she could feel it in the air, but it was hard to gauge when.

Neina walked her rounds, searching with all six of her senses. Every so often she felt something at the barriers of her awareness, that unfamiliar presence she sensed before, yet was unable to get a fix on it even when she pursued. Whatever it was, it was fast.

Near the end of her time she climbed back to the top of the roof and gazed off into the distance as her mind veered off into the thoughts she had tried to forbid herself.

I wonder where Shadow is. He's doing what I told him to, I suppose. She sighed and pressed her head against the cool metal of the fence. God, I was such a bitch! I wouldn't be surprised if he's just trying to avoid a psycho, bi-polar crazy chick like me.

I do that a lot. Or at least I did, when I was younger. I just pushed everyone away. I thought it was better to be alone that to feel those attachments severed cruelly. But I hated it…I was so alone. I was drowning in alone, choking on it.

"I don't want to be alone…" she whispered harshly. The sound of something rustling behind her made her gasp. Whirling, she looked about wildly. "Shadow?" There was nothing there and she relaxed, scorning herself for feeling disappointed.

She gasped again as the unfamiliar presence not only brushed her awareness but entered it. Before she could turn, a hand dropped to Neina's shoulder and she screamed as pain coursed through her in pulsing hot waves. It clouded her mind for only a second, and then she slammed her elbow back into her assailant's sternum. Whoever, or whatever, it was it grunted and let go, staggering back.

Growling in indignation at having been caught off guard Neina summoned her swords and spun around to slash at whatever it was. A black mass, undulating and indefinable, flew back and landed on the ground.

"You aren't getting away!" She jumped and landed, racing after it.

"Neina?" She paused as she rounded the courtyard. Hisoka and Tsuzuki were coming out from the building, looking at her in alarm. The black mass doubled back and sprang for them, but Tsuzuki was between it and Hisoka in a second. Catching it, he flung it away.

"Is that what we've been looking for?!"

"I don't know, but it attacked me! Don't let it get—" the mass suddenly took off faster than a bolt of lightening across the field out of sight. "—away." She whined in frustration and put her weapons away.

"Tsuzuki, are you alright?" Hisoka asked.

"Yeah, just a few scratches. It was kind of like catching a wild cat in mid flight," he laughed.

"It's not funny! What if you'd been hurt?"

He tilted his head, examining his smaller partner carefully before pulling him into a one armed hug. "Remember what I said before?" I'll protect you, Hisoka. With my life.

Blushing, the blond pushed him away with a muttered "Baka." Neina watched all of this with dull eyes, feeling a twinge of jealousy, until he turned to her.

"Are you okay, Neina? You said it attacked you."

Snapping back to reality, she put a hand to her shoulder and felt around. "Meh, I don't think it didn't anything damaging. It just kind of touched my shoulder and made me burn like hell for a few seconds, before I got it in the ribs.

"I couldn't tell what it was. I don't know if I've ever encountered it before," she replied in a monotone of voice.

Hisoka frowned and took a step forward. "You sure you're okay? You sound a little…"

"I'm fine. But I'm tired again and I think I'm not as better as I thought. Let's get back, I'll rest and feel better again in the morning."

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Neina didn't feel any better the next day. Oh, she looked better, and her smile was the tiniest bit more convincing, but it was after Tsuzuki saw her eyes red and puffy that he insisted she rest a while longer. Hisoka had agreed, sidetracking the argument he could feel brewing. Neina still put up a fight but ultimately agreed when they said she just had to rest during the day and could come and search that night with them.

Hisoka's second period was a 'study' period allotted to all students to read or work on homework or receive tutoring. Most used it for a greater purpose—goofing off and gossiping. Though he did want to read the book he'd brought with him, he knew that without his outgoing 'sister' around, it fell upon him to collect information.

"Hey. Mind if I sit with you?" he asked, trying not to sound either too bored, too annoyed, or too much like the social outcast he knew he was. The group was obviously surprised but nodded. It consisted of three girls and four boys, all of whom he had identified over the past few days as the most talkative and up to date members of his class.

"This is a new one, Kurosaki-kun. We're used to you're sister coming over. Where is she?"

"Not that we don't like you," one of the girls quickly consoled, sending the boy an angry glare.

"She's not feeling well so she's staying in bed today again."

There was a small awkward pause before one of the men cleared his throat. "Uh, does that happen often?"

Hisoka arched his eyebrows at the odd question but played it off with a shrug. "Not so much with her, but we're both kind of susceptible to colds and stuff. Bad immune system." Ah, yes. This explains why I'm so good at lying. Got it from her.

"Oh," they laughed, sounding relieved.

"Are you all okay? You seem kind of nervous when one, and especially both of us are around." It kind of radiates off of you. They all looked down, shifting uncomfortably. "Did we offend you some how?"

"No, it's not you," a girl said.

"Then what?"

More worried glances were exchanged before one of them sighed in exasperation. "Geez, you all are so superstitious. I'll tell him." He leaned in with the smile of one who loves to hear his own voice. "You see, we have this little belief about twins in these parts."

Finally! This could explain everything. "What about twins?"

"You see, along time ago, even before the Meiji Era, there was a village up here. And it that village lived twin sisters who were…" he grinned and made a motion with his hands that had the girls rolling their eyes. "They were sought after day and night by men. Now, one sister liked all this attention, but she was a bit of a shrew. Had the men licking her boots—"

"Wouldn't they be sandals if it was before the Meiji?"

"Who's telling the story?! Geez. As I was saying, she had them whipped and wrapped around her little finger. The other sister was kinder, gentler, and overall the polar opposite. After a while, she was the favorite of the two and was even more sought after.

"This didn't sit well with her sister of course. Especially when the guy she really liked was drawn to her."

"This sounds like a bad fairy tale. Let me guess, the kind sister and the guy run-off together and her sister turns into a hag and swears revenge?"

The boy was silent before a grin spread across his face. "Nope. One day while they were out doing laundry the evil sister bashed the good one over the head with a rock. Every time I've heard it told she says something like 'Now I'm the only one!' or whatever. Anyway, she basically drowns her sister in the water and lets the river carry her body away. Not exactly the bed time story you thought it was going to be, huh Jr.?"

The blonde glared. "I don't see what that has to do with us."

"Well," one of the girls took over, glaring the boy into silence, "It's said that with her last breath, the good twin warned her that the spirits of good and evil would not let her go unpunished. A few days later, she was found to have been dragged away to the underworld by demons.

"Now, it's said any twins who come here are immediately cursed and the more evil of the two will be killed."

"Is that why so many have been turning up dead here lately?"

There was a shocked silence, everyone staring at him with mouths wide open. "Who told you about that?"

"I heard it around. Why? It isn't like it's a secret or something."

The shifted uncomfortably. "We just don't like to talk about it. They were our friends, you know? They were just unfortunate accidents."

Unfortunate accidents happening to only people who have a twin every time? I'll give Muraki my right eye before I believe that. Going over what he remembered from the photos, he realized something strange. None of the victims had been killed in the same matter. One was a rotted corpse, but another had been burned. Even another had apparently been bitten by some wild creature. Is there no pattern besides the twin thing?

"Kurosaki-kun? You okay?" He snapped back to reality and nodded. "Hey, don't let it irk you. There's no such things as curses."

Unconsiously he ran a hand over his arm, where he knew the marks were running invisible beneath the thin cotton shirt. "Yeah…right."

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After school Hisoka met up with Tsuzuki in his classroom. The school was emptying out, the weekend having finally arrived. He did a quick summary of the twins' legend and Tsuzuki frowned.

"Hn. I heard a similar legend from the teachers. Something doesn't seem right here. You're right about the photos; the causes of death aren't consistent enough with that kind of curse. And if they were dragged down to hell, we shouldn't be finding bodies in the first place."

"I know. But it doesn't get us much farther than we were to begin with."

The both sighed. The sat thinking for several minutes before Hisoka's phone went off. "Hello? Watari?"

"Bon! Finally, I've been trying to reach you two for days. Recharge this phone every once in a while, Dammit!" Hisoka unconsciously glared at his partner, whose job it was to keep the phone charged, but continued listening. "We found another pattern in the murders. Two actually."

"Really? Great!"

"Yeah. First of all, the murders are always on school grounds after dark. Usually around midnight."

Hisoka's hand scrabbled over the desk until he came up with a pen and piece of paper. "School grounds…around midnight. Got it."

"And it's always the elder twin."

"Huh?"

"The older one. It's always the older twin that's killed, even if their only older by half a minute."

The older one… "Okay, got it. Thanks Watari. You want to talk to Tsuzuki?"

"Tell him hi for me, but I've got a few things over the fire back in the lab."

"Right. Bye." He clicked the phone off and explained everything to his partner.

"Well, that's at least a little more information. Maybe we can prevent more murders now."

He nodded but frowned in thought. Which one of us did Neina say was older?

"Let's head back. Neina might want some company after being cooped up all day."

"Yeah, alright."

They left and flew discreetly into town. They had left the window to their room open to avoid anyone being suspicious of their sudden appearance in town. Immediately after landing Hisoka went out into the hall and around the corner to Neina's room. Rapping on the door once more, he sighed when he once again was greeted by no response.

Neina, what's wrong with you? You've never been this out of it before now. What happened last night that made you so upset? "Neina, I'm coming in. Neina?" He ingnored the do not disturb sign and pushed open the door, expecting to see the lump in the bed from this morning. But there was no lump, only an unmade bed and an open window.

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Neina sighed as she flew leisurely through the sky. Her day had alternated through revolutions of guilt, depression, anger, determination to make it better to the point where she was almost back to herself, and then guilt. Again. It was during one of her determined edging into guilt bouts that she decided it was stupid to stay in bed all day and so she had promptly headed out in the direction of the school to meet up with the others. Subconsciously her plan was to throw herself into her work until she forgot all about Shadow. The night prior she had secretly hoped that he would show up at her window or she would wake up to find a flower on her pillow. But there was nothing. It seemed he was intent on keeping her request and staying away.

So absorbed in her thoughts was she that she yelped when her phone went off. Stopping mid-flight, she dug into her pocket and pulled it out, frowning pensively at the many buttons. Okay…how did Hisoka say this works? The green one? She punched the button and put it to her ear. "Um, hello?"

"Where the hell are you?!" She had to pull the phone away the screech was so loud.

"H-Hisoka?" She landed and began trekking the path towards the school.

"Answer the question," he growled.

"Uh, I'm heading over to the school, like we agreed. Why, where are you?"

There was a pause and she could vaguely hear her son and his partner arguing. "Neina, which one of us is older?"

"Come again?"

"Which one of us did you say was older when you were talking to the class?" he asked hurriedly.

"I said I was. Why, did you want to be older?"

"Stay there and don't move! Don't go to the school, we'll be right there."

"I thought you were at the school! What the hell is going on, huh?"

"Watari found some other patterns when he was going over the files. Do you know anything that attacks only the older twin around midnight?"

"Only the older twin…around midnight? That's a new one on me. So that's why you want me to come back?"

"Yes! Now move it!"

"Okay, okay, I'll come back. Was there anything else?"

"That's all Watari had to say."

"Right, I'm heading back then. You know, you've turned into quite a worrywart, Soka-chan." She laughed, not being able to help it when she heard his spluttering protests on the other end. She clicked the phone off and stowed it away. But I'm glad you worry about me. Cause then I don't feel so lonely. Turning she readied to launch off into the sky.

She gasped as she felt something like a heavy blanket of power roll over her, closing her eyes and trying to breathe through the suppressing feeling.

"Looks like that advice was too late little miss."

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Muwahahahahaha! Cliffhanger!!! Sorry, couldn't resist. I'll be working on the next one now, don't hurt me!

R-E-V-E-I-W!!! Please? I'll love you.

And SUGGEST STUFF for vignettes, situations, even story arches. All shall be considered, can't guarantee all will be used, and due credit will be given, promise. PM me if you want it private, but specify that if you don't want everyone to know