The flu visited my house last week, so I'm afraid this is the result of many painkillers and antihistamines.
I'm looking forward to going back to caffeine.
Scene 7
After a full and busy day of running, visiting the zoo, running, getting ice cream, running, a very short and almost romantic dinner followed by some more running, Tsuzuki was more than ready for a good night's sleep. He decided that nothing was going to get him out of bed before noon.
Nothing turned out to be Hisoka's foot, which kicked him out of bed before 7am.
"Soka!"
"Your turn." Hisoka muttered groggily.
Tsuzuki realized that he could hear a tapping on the apartment door. For a moment he even considered answering it, but knowing who would be there, he instead opted to climb back into bed and wrap himself around his once again sleeping partner.
The tapping continued for a few minutes then stopped, and Tsuzuki found himself beginning to relax when he heard a muted 'click'.
The sound was enough to cause Hisoka to bolt upright. "Crap!" He swore, "They learned how to pick a lock after all!"
Tsuzuki blinked.
A door slammed.
"Hisoka?" His partner had disappeared.
Tsuzuki blinked again.
A large group of unwanted and unfit men were swarming around in his bedroom carrying cameras, lights and assorted doodads.
A short, squat bald man with no hair came to a stop directly in front of him, and Tsuzuki found himself eye to sign with THE DIRECTOR.
"Good morning Mr. Tsuzuki! We have to get an early start today, we didn't get much done yesterday!"
Tsuzuki hid under the covers, as you know, monsters can't get you if all of you is under the covers. (A/N This is a proven fact.)
THE DIRECTOR sighed. "C'mon Mr. Tsuzuki, if we get in a few hours of good film, we'll leave you alone for the rest of the day."
"Promise?" Came Tsuzuki's voice from under the mound of blankets.
"Yes, I promise." Said THE DIRECTOR crossing his fingers.
Tsuzuki peeked out from under the covers. "You really promise?"
THE DIRECTOR hid his crossed fingers behind his back. "Yes really."
Tsuzuki came out warily. He looked around and realized that his partner was still absent. "Where's Hisoka?" he asked.
"The boy? I have no idea, so long as he's not in the bathroom." Said THE DIRECTOR
(Two hours later)
Tatsumi Seiichiro was doing something he very rarely did. He was sleeping in.
He had spent the night before going over a multitude of reports that he had brought home from the office, and it wasn't until the small hours of the morning that he had finished with them. Especially since each of Tsuzuki's reports took about an hour to translate, his hand writing was worse than chicken scratch.
So when the phone rang a little after nine, Tatsumi was a very unhappy Tatsumi.
"Tatsumi desu." He answered glaring at the phone.
"Ah, Mr. Tatsumi…' THE DIRECOR, Tatsumi thought. He wondered if he could reach his magic across phone lines and throttle the man with his own shadow. "I need you to come over here now."
"Come over where?" Tatsumi made no effort to conceal his annoyance.
"I'm at Mr. Tsuzuki's place," THE DIRECTOR informed him. "He is refusing to co-operate with our filming schedule without the boy, but the boy is stubbornly refusing to co-operated period."
Apparently shadow magic couldn't span phone cords, the man was still talking.
"If you could come over and talk some sense into him…"
Tatsumi ground his teeth in frustration.
"We'll pay the same rates of course."
Visions of Yen danced in Tatsumi's head.
"I'll be right there."
(Another two hours later)
Watari Yutaka had popped a bowl of popcorn and was preparing to watch a week worth of his favorite soap opera that he had programmed to tape while he was at work. (Luckily, being a genius, he was able to figure out how to program a VCR)
He was deeply immersed in the complicated plot, Victoria McSnobbish had just told the man that she loved, Rodderick VanStuddly, that the baby she carried was a clone of the pastor's daughter and had been implanted by space aliens, so she absolutely could not marry him, unless he could prove that he was really dying of cancer for the seventh time, when the phone rang.
"Moshi Moshi !" Watari answered the phone.
For a moment there was silence, then "Watari?"
"Tsuzuki? Is that you?"
"Can you come over? Please?"
"What's wrong Tsuzuki?"
"It's Hisoka and Tatsumi, they…just, can you come over? I really need your help."
Watari looked longingly over at his soap, where Rodderick VanStuddly had just thrown Victoria McSnobbish across a bed and informed her that he was passionately in love with her sister's cat.
"I'll be right over."
XXX
The scene focused of a mound of blankets on a bed in a familiar room.
A pair of wide violet eyes peeked out focused on someone out of the scene. After a few moments, the lean form of Tsuzuki Asato emerged from the cocoon of blankets, and the man looked around.
"Where's Hisoka?" He asked
"The boy? I have no idea, so long as he's not in the bathroom." Said a high squeaky voice from off camera.
The camera swung around quickly to show that the bathroom door was open and the room was unoccupied. There was a collective sigh of relief from a dozen throats.
The scene shifted back to Tsuzuki as he climbed out of the bed, and the camera immediately zoomed in for a close up of the Shinigami who was clad only in a pair of white boxers.
Tsuzuki looked down. "Eeeep!" He grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around himself. "Would you people leave so I can get dressed!" Striding to the closet, he shot a nasty look over his shoulder at the camera. He reached the closet only to find the door locked. "What the…?"
"Is something wrong Mr. Tsuzuki?" Asked the high squeaky voice.
Tsuzuki jiggled the handle of the closet door. Then he paused for a moment and knocked. "Hisoka? Are you in there?"
"No." Came Hisoka's voice from inside the closet.
"Hisoka, come out of the closet!" Tsuzuki pleaded.
"No thank you. It's nice in here."
"You can't mean that!"
"Sure I can. And until a minute ago it was quiet too."
"Hisoka, please come out of the closet, you can't stay in there."
"Sure I can. I like it in here."
Tsuzuki looked to the side for help. The scene moved to show a short squat balding man wearing a red cap and a sign that read THE DIRECTOR.
THE DIRECTOR met Tsuzuki's beseeching gaze and shrugged. "I don't care if he stays in the closet."
There was a muffled cheer from the closet.
Tsuzuki stood for a moment looking thoughtful. Then he went back to the bed and crawled into it, covering himself completely with the blanket.
"Mr. Tsuzuki…" THE DIRECTOR began.
"G'way." Tsuzuki's voice came from under the mound of blankets. "My lover's in the closet and I'm not getting out of bed."
For fifteen minutes the scene focused on the pile of blankets on the rumpled bed before the scene faded.
"Well that's an interesting development." Commented the elegant man.
"Just wait." THE DIRECTOR told him. "It got worse."
The scene reappeared, and oddly enough it hadn't changed. The camera was still focused on the mound of blankets on the bed.
From out of sight there came voices.
"He's been under there how long?" The first voice was frosty and irritated.
The mound of blankets flinched.
"Almost two hours. After he said he was staying in bed he refused to talk to us." The high squeaky voice supplied.
"And Kurosaki-kun is in the closet."
"Well, yes, but we're more interested in Mr. Tsuzuki."
A tall dark haired man entered the scene, approaching the bed. Cobalt blue eyes flashed behind his glasses. "Tsuzuki! Come out of there."
Wide soulful violet eyes peeked out from under the blankets. "Tatsumi?" Tsuzuki questioned in a quavering voice.
The shadow master flinched. "Come out Tsuzuki." He said in a softer tone.
"Can you get my robe from the bathroom?" Tsuzuki asked.
Tatsumi turned and left the scene, reappearing a moment later with the requested garment. He passed to the arm that came out from under the blankets. The arm and the robe both disappeared into the pile. Then, after a flurry of movement under the covers, Tsuzuki emerged, but he remained sitting on the edge of the bed, looking extremely dejected.
"Hisoka won't come out of the closet." He told his superior.
Tatsumi sighed and the camera followed him as he went to the closet. He knocked on the door. "Kurosaki-kun, would you please come out of the closet."
"With all due respect Tatsumi-san, I would prefer to remain where I am." Hisoka's voice replied.
"Then may I come in and speak with you?" Tatsumi asked, looking mildly annoyed.
"By all means."
There was a click as the door was unlocked. Tatsumi opened it and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. There was another click as the door was once again locked.
The camera stayed focused on the door for several minutes, there was a low murmur of voices that the camera couldn't quite pick up. Then there was a rustling noise and the scene shifted back to Tsuzuki, who had left the bed and was approaching the closet again.
He knocked on the door. "Tatsumi? Hisoka? Are you guys coming out of the closet?"
"Actually, Tsuzuki," Tatsumi's voice came from the closet. "Kurosaki-kun is right. It's quite pleasant in here. Peaceful. I think I'll stay here for a bit."
TaaaaaTsuuuuuuumi! Come out of the closet! Please?" Tsuzuki pleaded.
"No."
"Hisoka?"
"I told you already, no."
Tsuzuki went and crawled back into the bed and under the covers.
The scene went dark, only to brighten on a new scene.
The scene showed the inside of a kitchen that was being explored and raided by the unmannered and untrained masses when a high squeaky cry was heard some distance away.
"Mr. Tsuzuki! You got up!"
The scene pivoted and bounced down a hallway and re-entered the bedroom where Tsuzuki was setting down a phone.
Tsuzuki looked up at the camera, looking incredibly tragic and put upon. There was an audible gulp from off camera and Tsuzuki sat down on the edge of the bed.
The camera remained on the unmoving man for several minutes until the doorbell rang. (A/N Why was THE DIRECTOR knocking when there was a doorbell? I have no idea!) Tsuzuki jumped up, hope dawning on his features and ran for the door, the camera followed.
A blonde man with concern in his amber eyes entered the apartment. Tsuzuki threw his arms around the new arrival.
"Tsuzuki! What's wrong?" Watari asked, returning the spontaneous hug.
"Tatsumi and Hisoka are in the closet and they won't come out!"
"Tatsumi and Hisoka are in the closet?" Watari raised his brows.
Tsuzuki nodded.
The blonde burst into laughter. "Okay, so let's get them to come out!"
Tsuzuki and Watari went into the bedroom, camera in tow. Watari went to the closet door and knocked. "Oi! Tatsumi? Hisoka? Are you guys in there?"
"No." Replied Hisoka's voice from inside the closet.
"Good." Said Watari. "Can you unlock the door?"
There was a click as the door was unlocked. "We're still not coming out." Hisoka's voice informed him.
"Why not?" Asked Watari. "It's not hard. Look." He opened the closet door and stepped inside. "I'm in the closet," He stepped out again. "I'm out of the closet. I'm in the closet, I'm out of the closet."
There was a snort that sounded remarkably like it had come from Tatsumi, and the door was pulled shut.
Tsuzuki looked crestfallen, but Watari just grinned at him and moved away from the closet.
"Hey look! Tatsumi's wallet!"
"Where!" Tatsumi burst out of the closet with the force of a missile. "Where's my wallet!" He took in Tsuzuki's shocked face and Watari's amused smirk, and realized that he'd been tricked. In a fit of pique, he decided he was going home. Nodding at his fellow Shinigami and trying to ignore the slight blush that he knew must be visible on his face, he took his leave.
"I can't believe it." Tsuzuki said in an awed voice. "You got Tatsumi to come out of the closet!"
"Yup. Ain't I great?" Watari said mischievously.
"What about Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked.
"He's a little harder, but I think I'm up to the task." Watari once again approached the closet door. "Hey Bon!"
"What is it?" Hisoka's voice sounded wary.
"Do you remember the last time Seya and Yuma visited?"
There was a pause. "Yes."
Watari pause dramatically. "I have pictures."
There was an intake of breath from the closet. "You don't!"
"Oh yes I do, and if you don't come out of the closet so will everyone else!"
Hisoka came out of the closet, glaring at Watari. "I want the pictures."
Watari grinned. "Okay."
Hisoka left the bedroom. Tsuzuki went over to Watari. "Pictures?" He asked.
"Don't worry Tsuzuki." Watari said grinning evilly. "I made copies."