Author's notes: Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the settings or canon characters, just the plot of this story, and all the wonderful OCs. :D yay.

Hmm, Literary Eagle, you may have a point there. –shudder- Leave it to Muraki to find a new way to torture someone. About the lullaby, thanks! I've never actually tried writing a lullaby before. I wrote it because I couldn't find an adequate poem to fit the mood. It was born out of frustration. :) Your review is much appreciated!

Hey, Experimental:3 The stage is set, which is always the weakest part of my writing. That and lack of plot ideas. Now comes my favorite part, watching the story unravel. Because whatever I originally intended for a story never happens, the story seems to take on a mind of its own and completely rewrite itself, which is probably good since my original intentions are never as good as the result. :) About the first POV, I completely agree. It's just taken me awhile to find the balance. Thanks for your review!

Everyone who's reading, thank you and enjoy!

Warning? Hmmm, well, creepiness counts, right? Tsuzuki also may seem OOC but he's not. Oh, and don't forget the Hisoka angst. :o Apparently this story loves angst of all forms.



" Until the night,
slowly ended,
It was you
I was embracing,
until I lose everything,
without noticing
in silence
I was being drowned.

"It's painful... "
If it had been
my former self,
my face
would've been distorted in agony

If it's now,
even this pain
remembers kindness.— "

-- Excerpt of Oasis by Gackt, translation from Mini-P, the best library of Gackt Lyrics Translations to date


The first thing Hisoka did when he got home was get out of the damnable clothes, the second thing was to turn the air-conditioner off, and the final thing to soak in the bath.

While he laid back in the scalding water he relaxed, running hands over the strange matrix his cursemarks had taken, less jagged and more curvilinear than its previous appearance. The alien color dull now had a venetian red hue, as if yellow had been dribbled onto and homogenized throughout the marks. Why did it change? He frowned because he never imagined that his empathy was tied to it.

It made sense though, but it caused Hisoka to feel ill. If his empathy was directly linked to his death-curse, than he really was linked irrevocably to Muraki at least until the doctor's death (he hoped). It had never made sense as to why the death-curse had remained with him even past his own death. He instinctively knew that without Muraki's death they would not disappear but nothing of why.

God, I'm dense. No wonder he kept mentioning our 'link'. What does he get from it?

Filled with a sense of dread, Hisoka spaced out concentrating, and the room melted away. He poked around, and noticed that he could actually touch the link between himself and the man he hated, when he usually was only able to sense it. Purposefully pressing his mind against it, he tried to understand what exactly Muraki gained from their link.

A tall man painted in white and silver accosted his vision. Muraki's expression looked pleasantly surprised. No matter if his body had shed its youth, he would always be 'boy' to me. Muraki thought offhandedly, and was heard by the bristling 'boy'.
'What do I get out of it, Boy-a?'
He repeated the exact thoughts that had crossed Hisoka's mind earlier, derailing his anger, and smirked when the boy realized how easily his anger washed away with fear, reaching forward to grab at him. 'Tormenting you of course.'

Wrenching his hand away, Hisoka fled trying to break contact with the link, but failed like a fly trapped in glue. Pulled forcefully into a dream-like state and becoming less ephemeral and more real, he felt a weight at his back pinning him in place. Something slimy and warm ran along his ear as the body behind him chuckled in amusement. 'You seem more aware than usual. Perhaps your cursed ability has matured like your body. Very typical of you, though, no control whatsoever..' Feeding from his emotions voraciously, he sighed softly, lips pressed to his ear as the boy's panic swelled higher and higher beneath him. 'So exquisite.'

Jerking upright, Hisoka shakily got out of the bath his arms aglow with a more reddish color. Right. No sleeping for me.

In his rush, he had completely forgotten to tell his partner where he had gone.


"Aww, why can't I pair up with Watari? Why the rookie?"

Tatsumi's glasses flashed as he adjusted them for the fourth time. "Because as I said, any other replacements from the Bureau are at this time indispensable. Imano Kachou has agreed to this pair-up since the more experienced half of her Shinigami team is incapacitated, and unable to complete the case. That logically leads to this partnering."

"Fine, just remember to pass out those fuda alright?" Stressed out, Tsuzuki stalked out.

Why did he leave without saying anything?

He had no luck making a fuda that could restrain Hisoka's ability so far, even reverse-engineering Hatakeyama's parting gift didn't help. Not that he thought it would. What troubled him was if Watari's theory was right… the dark-haired Shinigami couldn't agree more with his partner's train of thought. Until I either find a solution or his ability settles down, it'd be best to not see each other…

Though he agreed with it, that didn't mean that Tsuzuki liked it.

With a pinky in his ear, a yawning Kato met a cheerfully tense Tsuzuki as he left Tatsumi's office. Man, he needs to lighten up, I'm not exactly peachy working with him either. "Ah.. Hi Mr. Tsuzuki, we've met before. I'm Kato Sachiya. Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu." He bowed slightly a hand behind his head.

"Call me Tsuzuki, kid."

Kato bristled. "Don't call me kid! DAMNIT!" He howled at the ceiling, clenched hands raised.

Tsuzuki looked back, well, the entire office looked at him. Kato chuckled to himself nervously, waving them off. "I'm alright. Just prone to outbursts."

His temporary partner clucked his tongue like a mother. "Having tantrums at your age? Like a kid."

Kato's neck creaked turning to Tsuzuki, his eyes on fire. "You said it again."

"So? I'm only pointing out the weakness I see. If you can't handle it, tough. Kid."

The rookie bit down hard on his lip, frame shaking, but managed to restrain himself, asking instead 'What happened to Kurosaki-san?' politely, though his voice barely contained the anger from Tsuzuki's poking.

That made Tsuzuki pause. They were standing outside the Judgement Bureau in the courtyard, where the sakuras were in continual bloom. He had been so upset over Hisoka and getting this whelp in his stead that he had walked out without saying his usual farewells to his coworkers.
"He's sick."

"Sick? As shinigami, I thought we couldn't…" His voice trailed off at Tsuzuki's look.

"Our bodies may never be physically ill again, but there are worse things than mere physical sickness… we fall to spiritual disease and ruin. We fall to permanent death." He didn't expand on what he meant by death, the familiarity in his tone declaring all Kato needed to know.

A soft 'oh' sound came from him. "What's he afflicted with?"

Continuing their walk out JuuOhCho's protective area, Tsuzuki smiled cheerfully. "You know how to get to the mortal world right? We'll be investigating the last known sighting of one, Shidou Saki. Ah, Toyama, I love the sea!"

Sachiya looked at the back of his temporary partner's shoulders, and silently sympathized. It was hard to be attached to someone who, for whatever reason, may not be there the next day. Kato had almost lost Nui in the first week he transferred, and it affected him deeply. How long had Tsuzuki been partnered with that man?

"Hey, before that why don't we stop by a shop to grab something to eat?"

Not knowing any better, Kato blindly agreed.


Takahashi Haseo sighed dispiritedly. His wife was a git and he had no way of escaping her. She was always bossing him to do this or that, never letting him get a moment's rest!

"Give me a child," She asked.

"But sweetie, you're barren. I can't do anything about it."

He had tried cajoling her, but no, once she had her mind set there was no stopping her.

He may be an obstetrician but that meant nothing if the womb was unable to hold and nurture a fertilized egg without miscarriage. She was burdened by a disorder of the endocrine system and sometimes went without her menses for months on end, but her other symptoms often distressed her far more. The inability to lose weight or the acne on her face, when she was only shy of 20 years old, was justifiably the most prevalent topics of discourse with him when she was upset.

Now, she wanted to know where her baby was.

"Somewhere safe." He replied. Even after death, she was too troublesome. As per their agreement, the demon had promised him that it would take her lingering ghost away, her soul he supposed, in exchange for being allowed to experiment with its demon child charge.

I wonder if the old man is dead yet? It was Kan who had damned his soul to gain the body for the Shidou soul. Dabbling in black magic, he had been ecstatic at the proposition of keeping the demon child like a golem until the old man's death. Disgusting as he was, Takahashi went ahead with the deal, knowing the wiry elder had very little life in him.

His wife had been the vessel through which the child had been born, and when the pregnancy ended in her death, he went into hiding, shunning the friends and family by feigning grief. Her spirit however haunted him. He couldn't understand why! She had wanted the child, and he had granted her wish. Even if it was a sin against God, the thing he had helped bring into the world, she had gotten her wish.

Two sharp raps echoed through the house right as he left his room to get something to eat.

A knock? He thought to himself. At this hour?

Answering the door, he hadn't expected the colleague who stood outside to be there. "Muraki-senpai. What a pleasure to see you," he said numbly, without a hint of sincerity.

The man in white pursed his lips in the manner of a half-grin. "You seem well, Takahashi. I heard you were recently widowed…" Smirking malevolently at the look on his face, the doctor in white stepped in as he backpedaled. "I also heard a rumor you picked up a half-burned antique doll from the ruins of Shion University. They started rebuilding it, did you know?"

With a groan, the door shut, lock clicking.


"My Lord." Konoe kneeled before the screened dais where EnmaDaiOh sat on his throne. As a Shinigami he was sensitive to the mere presence of his God, the breather of life into the shell that contained his soul. Whatever Enma chose to incite, be it happiness or fear, His voice could do it alone. That was why He could not show his face. Simply two who were still around had seen it, and that knowledge belonged to the two oldest of the Bureau. His face was never shown because His Shinigami children were rendered to groveling worshipful beings incapable of independent thought in the face of their God. Only one did not react as such.

"I've heard news that Kurosaki's abilities have grown out-of-bounds."

"Yes, but not outside of manageable restraint."

"I cannot further emphasize that we cannot lose the connection to him. That is the only indication that his spirit roams in the mortal plane, alive or dead."

"I understand, my Lord. Kurosaki-kun has been taken away from Tsuzuki-san at the moment on temporary leave to prevent further deterioration."

"Good. But that alone will not stop the inevitable. A more pragmatic, permanent solution must be enforced. I will alert you to the details when I have decided." The shadow stated dismissively.

"Yes, my Lord." Chief Konoe left the room chilled to the bone. Keep Kurosaki separate from Tsuzuki? That bode ill news.


"Damn." Two hours after they left Meifu, Kato opened and turned his wallet upside-down shaking it for emphasis as they walked out of the pastry shop. "I hope you get over missing your partner soon. I don't have enough money to do that again." He had heard enough babbling from the more experienced Shinigami about his partner's preferences in food than he cared to remember.

Giddy from a sugar rush, Tsuzuki giggled. "But I looooove sweets! Especially apple pie!"

Kato's eyes twitched, then smacked a super-deformed Tsuzuki on the head with a paper fan. "GROW UP!"

"Wahhhhhh, Shade is meaaaaan."

Tapping the fan against his shoulder and looking smug because he had used his nickname, the rookie partner nodded. "When you gorge on crap food, I'll smack ya again! Healthy food, Tsuzuki-san, healthy!"

Reminded of Hisoka, the object of his lecturing sobered up. "Yea.."

Brushing his fingers on his camera case to make sure it was there, Sachiya breathed a sigh, tossing the fan away in the trash they walked past. "What is it with you? Why are you still depressed? I know I'm not him, but cheer up, old man. But, not this giddy stuff ok? I can see through it. I know what's fake from my photography training." Brushing his fingers through his hair, he frowned looking up at Tsuzuki, just shy of seven centimeters in height between them. "Geez, will it help if you fight with me again?" He wondered out loud.


I blinked. "Nah, thanks." I smiled at him warmed by his concern over someone he hardly knew. "Am I that obvious?"

His response was a snort and a guffaw. "If you were any more obvious, I'd expect you two to be snogging or something next time you see each other." Randomly he clapped his hands together, shuffling side to side, then stopped. "Now, let's get this case over so we can return to our respective partners, yeah?" He grinned energetically.

Speechless and stunned by his lack of concern over the fact that I loved a man, I blinked several times smile frozen on my face. This kid is either way too perceptive or it's a fluke. Fluke. If I was that obvious, Hisoka… wouldn't want to be around me right?

"Yea," I stated looking around. "It's around here somewhere—Ah! Here it is." We entered a building through its double doors and asked to book a room for the night, the one Shidou Saki had been in last. "I'm sorry, sir. It's been taken already. Also, that floor is reserved for monthly guests only. I'm terribly sorry."

Unexpectedly, Sachiya stepped up, and, waving me away, shamelessly flirted with her for a few minutes. I stepped back because I couldn't believe his arrogance. I waited for the guards to throw us out the building on our asses.

"The A/C's broken in that room anyway and won't be fixed until the day after tomorrow." She blushed when Sachiya grinned and blew her a kiss, and as he walked away he wiggled the key to a room at me.

"Ok. What was that?" I asked, not able to keep the incredulity out of my voice. I received a shrug.

"It's my talent as a photographer, I guess. Oh, I got the room down the hall from what we wanted for half of what the projected cost was going to be, so we can eat dinner!" Sachiya punched the air happily. "Sushi, tonight. Oh yeah!"

I shook my head in amazement as we stepped into the elevator side-by-side. Is that the power of a projector? He's not as useless as he looks. Then I mulled over how uptight I had been when Hisoka was taken from me, I mean, from the case, and how I took it out on the brat initially; I felt guilty about it.

"Tsuzuki-san."

"Ah, hai?" Surprised by his sudden mood change from hyperactive to dead seriousness, I looked around me for any threats, then beside me apprehensively.

Brandishing his camera, he stared at me intently leaning far into my personal space. "I want to take photographs of you!"

I raced out of the elevator as it dinged to the floor we wanted, brushing past people in the hallway. "Noooooo! Don't take my soul!"

"Come back here! No one believes in that superstition anymore!"


One chased the other until the chaser gave up, leaning against the wall out of breath, the runner far out of view.
"Damn, for an old man…" Sachiya, camera still in hand, glanced up at whoever had strolled to a halt. The terrified eyes of a preteen met his gaze, then just as suddenly took off in the opposite direction.

That looked like—!

Finding a solid burst of energy, his body having recovered, he chased his new victim. Except his eyes were midnight blue, not violet. He hardly had to wonder why the boy had grown so much in such a short amount of time. It was unnatural.

It was because he was a demon.

Even if a human soul occupied the body, a monster is a monster.


"Oh, Hisokaaa!" Ambling in uninvited, two girls, though young in appearance, were old enough to be his grandmothers. Saya looked around curiously, while Yuma muttered, 'Weird' aloud. The temperature was far above a comfortable level and was stifling for them being used to Hokkaido's cool, and the lights were all on. It was really strangely silent. Yuma walked over to the thermostat and clicked the air-conditioner on.

No wonder Tatsumi sent us to check on him. The quieter of the two thought.

"So much for raising hell and spoon-feeding him this, huh?"

"Agreed. Yuma, Talisman check!"

"Got it!" They showed each other the special fuda that Tatsumi had given to them created by Tsuzuki for each member of the Summoning division to suppress their emotions, and thus their thoughts. Apparently he had based it off of a paper charm the head of the Chuubu sector had lent him.

The two had barely the moment to enjoy their free time back in the Judgement Bureau, before they were notified about the current situation of Hisoka's ability and stature, and given the order to go check in on him.

As if they needed to be ordered.

Sitting their unusual gift of homemade o-bento down next to the entrance, they slid their shoes off padding right by a coat rack (for guests, Saya supposed). Moving into what could be called a 'quaint' kitchen, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Hearing water, Saya knocked on the door across from the 'kitchen' area. "Hisoka-chan?" Receiving no answer, they slid the door to the bathroom open. An office suit was abandoned on the floor and the light and exhaust fan was on; the faucet water running down the drain in the sink and bathwater in the tub, but no Hisoka. They turned it all off and uncorked the plug to let the bathtub empty out.

After checking the coat closet next door to the bathroom and finding a lone jacket and a pair of rain boots, but no Hisoka, they shut that door and moved down a step to his living room. Blankets were strewn haphazardly over the low table, and a box of crackers were upended on the floor. Passing it up, neither Saya nor Yuma had commentary for any of it; a feeling of foreboding hastened their search. They knocked on the door at the end of the hall.

With no answer, it was Yuma this time, who called out albeit loudly, 'Hisoka-chan, we're coming in to put you in a Pink House dress!' Pressing their ears to the door they heard classical music playing but they didn't hear anything else that might alert them to his presence. They slowly opened that door, a small cd player was on, playing what Saya recognized as 'Fur Elise', which was finishing its last notes. As the light trill of keys restarted that classical piece, the scene of an overlarge bed pressed to the wall met their eyes. The half of the sheets and covers were splayed out on the floor and a book was open pages down. No Hisoka.

That left the closet to check, if he wasn't there then he wasn't in the house.

Opening the door, to their relief they found a shaking Hisoka huddled, back to them and hands over his ears, and naked except for a towel draped over his lap that didn't cover his backside. It must have slipped from his waist when he had hidden himself there.

Breathing raggedly he leaned his forehead on the back wall shrouded by clothes hanging around him; his wet hair was plastered to his scalp. When one of them called out softly to him neither knew which did, he shrank pulling away from the wall, then turned to face them slowly, eyes rimmed red and wide. Opening his mouth he spoke, lips moving; he spoke in soft scared pants interspersed with pauses. His words were swallowed up by his panic and weren't even intelligible.

As one they grabbed the sheet and yanked it from its pile off the ground, the piano becoming playful at that exact moment, wrapping it around his shoulders. Saya removed the wet towel without the loss of his modesty, and then Yuma heaved him onto the bed. They plopped down next to him, and wrapped their arms around him, the more boisterous pressing his head to her bosom holding him securely, while the other rubbed his back softly, harmonizing in time to the music and creating a new song for him.

Warmth seeped back into his skin. It wasn't Tsuzuki (the breasts gave that away), but they were part of his 'family'. It was enough that he could trust them. Even if he only vaguely felt their nurturing impulse, he wasn't worried. They were his angels from the nightmare his reality had become.

Muscles relaxing, his eyes closed, blurry and sticky from being dried out.

Together, the Hokkaido girls calmed him down until, unbeknownst to their charge, he fell into a deep sleep as the sound of Beethoven played endlessly with Saya's humming.

TBC

A/N: I'm sorry if some people feel that Tsuzuki went OOC with Sachiya, but let me point out that in the manga, I noticed a trend with how he treated Asuka and Hisoka and applied it to rookies in general. Coupled with his stress with Hisoka this is what came out.

'Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu' means 'please take good care of me'; this is a very polite way of saying it. It's no wonder Sachiya gets mad at Tsuzuki for brushing him off.

I also note that my beta thinks there's alot of similiarity between Hisoka and Sachiya, but I don't see it. Only that Tsuzuki is forcing a resemblance on him. :)

Side note: I love Saya/Yuma.

Questions, comments? Let me hear from ya. :D