Author's Note: To any who may be concerned about this fic being completed: Don't worry. I will certainly finish it. I know I'm an infrequent updater, and I apologize to any who may be waiting. I'm actually considering a sequel, but I'll get into that more near the end of this one, as I'd like feedback about it if I do decide to try it. Thank you to those who reviewed last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one. The pace should start to pick up more from here on out.

The ringing of a telephone was what brought Tsuzuki out of his slumber. For a brief moment, he was confused as to where he was and what was going on. Oh, that's right, Hisoka's house. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized it was an hour after they were supposed to have shown up for work. The person calling, then, must be Tatsumi, wondering where the two of them are. With a yawn, Tsuzuki got up from the couch and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Tsuzuki-san?" Tatsumi's voice came from the phone, surprise in his tone. "What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Hisoka's not feeling well. Sorry, I forgot to call earlier and let you know. I was hoping I could stay here and take care of him. You know how he is, he might ignore it and just end up worse if he's left alone." There was a bit of truth to that. Hisoka had a tendency to push himself to his limit, sometimes passed that. Besides, Hisoka wasn't one to play hooky, so Tsuzuki was sure Tatsumi would believe him.

There was a sigh. "Alright. Make sure he gets enough rest. But next time, do remember to call out of work first."

"I will. See you tomorrow."

"Was that Tatsumi?" Hisoka's weary voice sounded from the doorway.

Tsuzuki turned around to see his partner leaning up against the wall, hair disheveled and looking like he could fall back asleep at any moment.

"Yeah, he was wondering why we weren't at work. I...uh...forgot to call him earlier."

"Does he want us at work?"

"Nah, I told him you weren't feeling good and he said I can stay here to take care of you."

Hisoka huffed and looked away, cheeks turning pink. "I don't need you to take care of me. I'm not a kid, I can take care of myself."

Tsuzuki smiled. "Perhaps, but I'm going to stay anyway. Besides, you need somebody around in case something happens. Watari told me to keep an eye on you."

"I was fine all night, I don't think anything is going to happen."

"Go back to bed, you look tired. I'll get breakfast."

Hisoka suddenly looked alarmed. If Tsuzuki cooked, then he'd really be sick. "No, that's okay, you don't have to cook."

"Nah, I'm going to go out and get something. Can I use your shower?"

Oh, he wasn't going to cook. Good. That meant he could rest more without worrying about his kitchen exploding or being forced to eat some inedible concoction that Tsuzuki had come up with. "Go ahead...I'm going back to bed." The younger Shinigami mumbled before shuffling back to his room.

"Alright, I'm gonna get a change of clothes and I'll come back here before I go get breakfast."

"Whatever." Hisoka crawled back into bed and slipped under the blankets. Why didn't Tsuzuki just use his own shower if he was going back to get clothes anyway? His partner was so weird sometimes. Hisoka didn't feel like arguing, however, nor did he really care who's shower he used. All he wanted to do right now was sleep. Within seconds, he was once again fast asleep.

When he woke back up, Tsuzuki was apparently walking in the door. He heard the sound of a paper bag being put down on the kitchen table, followed by Tsuzuki's humming and footsteps. A moment later, he poked his head into Hisoka's room.

"Soka? You awake?"

"Mmm." He rubbed his eyes and sat up. Tsuzuki looked rather happy, for whatever reason. Probably because he got the day out of work. Whatever the reason, hopefully it was genuine.

"Good. I got breakfast, come eat."

After stretching, Hisoka slunk out of bed. He wanted to take a shower first, but he knew Tsuzuki was expecting him to eat before his food got cold. Tsuzuki had already seen him like this anyway, so he supposed he could take one after.

Tsuzuki set the table for the two of them. He had gotten steamed rice and broiled salmon for the two of them. There was enough there for what Hisoka believed could be three or four people, but he was sure there wouldn't be any leftovers. "Take what you want, I'll eat the rest."

"Of course you will, you're like a human garbage disposal when it comes to food." Hisoka said as he sat down. It was odd having Tsuzuki do all of this for him as if it was completely natural, yet it wasn't so bad. He supposed he could let it go just this once.

"Well, I can't let all that good food go to waste!" Tsuzuki sat down opposite Hisoka, waiting for his partner to take what he wanted before filling his plate. He couldn't help but smile. It was nice, being able to have breakfast together like this. It wasn't as if they hadn't shared mornings together before, but that was always in a hotel when they were on a case, never at Hisoka's house. He enjoyed just spending time like this with his partner. It was a nice break, a sense of peace in the midst of the chaos. Hisoka continued to be the anchor that kept Tsuzuki sane. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Still a little tired, but fine otherwise."

"Good. Umm...about what happened..."

Hisoka stopped eating and glared at Tsuzuki. He was getting really sick of Tsuzuki constantly blaming himself. "Don't. It's my fault she got to me. It was foolish to attack her out of anger like that."

"I know, I know, but I feel bad for dragging you out with me like that..."

"About that... Tsuzuki, maybe we shouldn't do this anymore. The Shinigami will handle it, and, sooner or later, Ashitarote is going to have to do something about this mess or there are going to be a lot of problems."

"But...Hisoka, I can't do that. The demon that attacked us is dead, she won't be able to kill somebody else before the other Shinigami find her. We can still prevent deaths until this is settled. Besides...I'm not sure it will be settled until I settle it."

Hisoka shook his head. "They'll have to settle it. This won't be allowed to stand much longer. They are disobeying laws by attacking humans, it's not going to keep working. They will be stopped, and they won't be able to pursue you anymore. It's not all left up to you."

Tsuzuki sighed. "I...guess so."

As much as Hisoka wanted to help him, he was starting to get a headache. Would nothing he'd say or do get through to the man? "Stop dwelling on it so much. It's not doing you any good. It will get solved. There's only so much the two of us can do." Hisoka wondered how long he would last against the king of demons if Kurikara helped him fight. Kurikara was one of the most powerful Shikigami in all of Gensoukai, after all, so surely he had a chance of winning. Maybe he could burn Ashitarote to a crisp for putting Tsuzuki through all of this. And then inject him with poison. Maybe cut off a limb or two. Or more, depending on how many limbs he had. He could write his own book called 101 Ways to Torture a Demon, all of the methods tested and certified by the author himself. Yes, that sounded good.

"I guess you're right." Tsuzuki said before taking a bite out if his salmon. "Oh, this is really good."

Hisoka shook his head as his partner proceeded to stuff his face. "You have rice stuck to your lip."

Tsuzuki stopped eating for a moment to lick the grain of rice from his lip, then continued shoveling in his breakfast.

"You're hopeless." The younger Shinigami said with a slight smirk, more amused at this point than annoyed

"You ate everything." Tsuzuki commented as Hisoka finished the last of the food in his plate, happy to see he was eating well. "Good, then you really are feeling better."

Hisoka gave a nod. "I guess I was hungry. What about you?" His expression became more serious as he looked up at Tsuzuki, trying to read the man. There did seem to be an air of contentment around him, but he wanted to be sure it wasn't just a ruse.

"Me? I'm fine."

The answer was one the empath had expected, though he wasn't going to just leave it at that. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about me, worry about you. I don't plan on doing anything today anyway. I just want today to be relaxing. I know you have recovered, but you could still use the rest." As much as he wanted to get back to solving this nightmare of a case, he knew rushing back in would only make things worse. Seeing Hisoka suffer through so much pain as he had the previous night had forced Tsuzuki to stop and think. While he did still plan to do something about this mess, he knew making a move now would only worsen the situation. He couldn't put Hisoka in danger like that. Perhaps it was selfish, to temporarily abandon the innocent people that could be harmed at any moment in favor of Hisoka, but he wasn't going to do anything that would prevent his partner from being fully rested and healthy. Besides, like Hisoka had said, other Shinigami were working on the case. They would be able to protect the people. Tsuzuki just hoped today would be an uneventful one.

"Tch." The younger man scoffed as Tsuzuki told him to only worry about himself. Talk about being a hypocrite. He didn't say anything about it, however. At least Tsuzuki didn't seem to be planning on doing anything else today. He stood up and placed his dishes in the sink. "I'm going to take a shower. Do whatever you want, just try not to burn my house down."

"Hey." Tsuzuki said through a mouthful of food. He watched Hisoka walk out of the room and sighed. Why did things have to get so complicated? He knew that soon, he was going to have to finally end all of this. The question was: How? How could he do it without hurting Hisoka? It felt like no matter what choice he made, it would be the wrong one. He was either putting Hisoka in danger by continuing on with the case, or annoying and upsetting him by worrying about it when he couldn't do anything. What was the best path to take, the best choice that would allow him to protect not only the humans in the living world, but his partner as well?

One option came to mind: leaving. He could break the partnership and work elsewhere. Then, he wouldn't be able to put Hisoka into danger. He wouldn't be able to hurt him, not physically, not emotionally. But would he be able to go through with that? The thought of breaking their partnership hurt. He didn't know what he'd do without Hisoka. And how would Hisoka feel about it? How upset would he be? But if, in the end, it was what was best for Hisoka...

Tsuzuki shook his head. He couldn't keep thinking about that, there had to be other ways. It was a good thing Hisoka was in another room. The last thing he needed was for the empath to pick up on such thoughts.

After cleaning up his spot, Tsuzuki looked down at the dirty dishes in the sink. There weren't many of them, but they were still there. Normally, he would simply ignore it until the sink was full, but this wasn't his house. Maybe he should do Hisoka the favor and wash them. Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

Without giving it another thought, Tsuzuki filled the sink with water and got to cleaning the dishes.

When Hisoka got out of the shower to find Tsuzuki still in his kitchen, he grew a little worried. "Tsuzuki, what are you doing?"

The older man turned around to see Hisoka now fully dressed, hair still wet, standing in the doorway and suspiciously watching his every move. "Oh, I was just washing your dishes."

"You were...washing my dishes?" Hisoka looked thoroughly confused. Since when did Tsuzuki voluntarily clean? "Why?"

Tsuzuki shrugged. "I thought I'd do you the favor."

"Oh...thanks..."

"You're welcome!"

There was a moment of awkward silence as Hisoka tried to think of what he was supposed to do next. The only time he spent mornings with Tsuzuki was when they were on a case. As it was right now, they had nothing to do. He was taking the day out of work because he'd been called out, and it felt odd staying home now that he felt fine. He thought about sending his partner home, but Tsuzuki had already made it quite clear that he had no intentions of leaving after Watari had told him to keep an eye on him. Well, there was no harm in letting him stay, as long as he didn't start whining that he was bored. "Umm...I think I'm going to read something for a bit. You can watch TV if you'd like."

Tsuzuki had decided to take him up on that offer, and the next hour was spent just like that. The two didn't converse, though they didn't really feel the need to, and Tsuzuki didn't want to interrupt Hisoka's reading. The only sound that came from Hisoka was a yawn. Despite having slept in, he was feeling tired again. It didn't seem anything odd, however, since he had expended quite a bit of energy the previous day, and sitting around reading did sometimes make him feel tired.

When it hit lunch time, he felt even more tired than he had before. He yawned and stretched, trying to shake if off. Perhaps getting up and doing something would help. He decided to make some sandwiches for himself and Tsuzuki. Despite his attempts to keep himself awake, he continued to feel drowsy.

"You seem awful tired today." Tsuzuki said with a slight frown as Hisoka yawned yet again after finishing a sandwich.

"Probably just from the battle yesterday and sitting around so much today."

"Maybe you should take a nap."

As much as he wanted to say he didn't need one, a nap was starting to sound very appealing. Perhaps he would lay down, just for a little while. "Maybe... Are you going to stay?"

"I planned to."

"I'm fine, you don't have to stay. You can go home if you want."

"I still want to stay, just in case. I don't want anything to happen when I'm away."

Hisoka sighed. "Fine, whatever. Make sure I get up in an hour then? I don't want to oversleep."

"Will do."

With that, Hisoka trudged back off to bed. He set his alarm clock to go off within an hour, just in case Tsuzuki lost track of time. Snuggling into the blankets, Hisoka closed his eyes and dozed off.

An hour later, Tsuzuki glanced up at the clock. Realizing the time, he got up from the couch and headed into Hisoka's room. His alarm clock was already going off, but his partner didn't even seem to notice. "Hisoka?"

When he didn't get a response, Tsuzuki walked over to the bed, turned off the alarm clock, and gently shook Hisoka. "Hey, Hisoka, it's been an hour. You wanted me to wake you up." Still no response. Since when did Hisoka sleep so heavily, and in the middle of the afternoon, no less? "Hisoka, wake up!" The continued lack of response was beginning to worry the older man. While it wasn't unusual for Hisoka to be tired, for him to be this tired even after sleeping in and relaxing all day was a little alarming, not to mention he normally would have woken up by now.

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki spoke louder, shaking him a little harder. Finally, he heard a low groan as Hisoka slowly turned to face him.

"Tsuzuki?"

"Hey, you're finally awake. You wouldn't wake up. Are you okay?"

"Fine...just...tired."

Tsuzuki frowned. "Still? Are you sure you're alright?" He held his hand to Hisoka's forehead, wondering if perhaps he had a fever. It was unusual for a Shinigami to be sick, but it was possible, especially since Hisoka was a bit more frail than most Shinigami. Poison was one of those possibilities. Instead of finding a fever, however, he found Hisoka to be unusually cold.

"Your head is a little cold..."

Hisoka held his blankets tightly against him. "I feel cold. Did you turn on the air conditioner or something?"

"No... Is there anything else bothering you?"

"No." Hisoka visibly shuddered, then curled up to try to keep himself warm. "Can you get me another blanket?"

The elder Shinigami was growing increasingly worried. Something definitely wasn't right. It didn't make sense for Hisoka to be so tired and cold. He grabbed another blanket from Hisoka's closet and draped it over him, watching as his partner clutched them as if desperate to warm up.

"I'm calling Watari. Something is wrong."

There was a protest from Hisoka, but Tsuzuki ignored it. After a few rings, Watari picked up his phone. Once informed of the situation, he promised to head over as soon as possible. Hanging up the phone, Tsuzuki walked back into Hisoka's room and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Watari said he'd be right over."

"He doesn't need to come. I said I'm fine."

Looking at Hisoka's face, Tsuzuki could see he was far from fine. "No, you aren't. Hisoka, your lips are turning blue." Now he was getting scared. Lifting the blankets, Tsuzuki slid under them.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Hisoka asked as his partner sat next to him and pulled him closer.

The smaller man's skin was cold to the touch. "You're freezing." He pulled Hisoka against him and closed his hands around his partner's, trying to help warm him up. "This isn't normal. Don't tell me you're fine. My god, why are you so cold?"

"I don't know." Hisoka muttered, giving up on protesting and instead trying to seek warmth from Tsuzuki. "I'm just...so tired...and so cold..."

Tsuzuki began rubbing Hisoka's arms, trying anything he could to warm up the freezing Shinigami. "Try to stay awake until Watari gets here. Please, Hisoka, keep your eyes open." He could hear the fear in his own voice, and he knew Hisoka could sense it. He was afraid of Hisoka falling back asleep, not knowing what was wrong with him and fearing it might be even harder to wake him up from it this time. It took a lot to kill a Shinigami, but they weren't invincible. Even if Hisoka would fully recover, Tsuzuki had to do his best to help him, to save him from as much suffering as possible.

He felt Hisoka shudder violently. He had to find something else to help warm him up. "Do you have a heater of some sort somewhere?"

"In the closet..." Hisoka reluctantly let Tsuzuki go as his partner got up to get the space heater. Once it was plugged in and set up, Tsuzuki got back in bed and once again pulled Hisoka into his lap.

"Is that any better?"

"A little..." Hisoka was trying his best not to seem scared, but he could tell Tsuzuki knew he was. He didn't know what was going on or why. It reminded him too much of all those sleepless nights just before his death, all the days he suffered through after being cursed by Muraki. He remembered feeling cold then too, cold and oh so tired. Eventually, he couldn't fight it any longer, and he succumbed to sleep. But Shinigami couldn't die so easily, right? Why then, did his body seem to be giving out on him?

He didn't want to die. Not now, not when he had something to live for, someone to live for. Who knew what stupid things Tsuzuki would do if left by himself?

"Tsuzuki..." He tried pulling himself closer, though that proved to be impossible, as Tsuzuki was already holding him as close to his body as he could. Head against his chest, he could hear Tsuzuki's rapid heartbeat- he was scared too. It was clear his partner was trying hard to stay calm.

"I'm here. Just hold on, Watari's on his way."

A couple of minutes later, they heard Hisoka's door open, followed by, "Sorry I'm late! What's going on?"

Tsuzuki glanced up at Watari before looking back down at his partner. "I-I don't know. Hisoka said he was tired and took a nap. When I came to wake him up like he asked, he took a while to wake up, and he's freezing. I've been trying to warm him up, but..."

Watari sat on the opposite side of the bed and took hold of one of Hisoka's wrists. "Damn, he is cold. His pulse seems weaker than it should be... Was he cold this morning?"

"He was fine. Well, he was tired at first, but, after what happened, I thought that was normal. It wasn't until this afternoon that he got tired again, and he seemed fine all night."

Watari appeared deep in thought. "That poison may have done more damage than we thought. There may still be some in his body. That, or the damage had already been done by the time we got to him. Either way, it seems to have exhausted him. It's likely that he's cold because all of his remaining energy is being spent on keeping his vitals going. His whole body can't keep itself warm." At this, Hisoka looked at Watari with fearful eyes. He gave Hisoka a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, bon, you'll recover. You can't get rid of us that easily." Looking back at Tsuzuki, he continued, "He should be alright if he rests. Being a Shinigami, his body should be able to fully recover with enough sleep. I'm going to bring him back with me though to monitor him and give him anything else he might need. You're more than welcome to come with me, of course. In fact, I encourage it."

Tsuzuki nodded and unplugged the heater. With that, Watari brought them to his lab where he set Hisoka up with a comfortable bed and warm blankets. He hooked the young Shinigami up to a machine to monitor him.

"Alright, Hisoka. Close your eyes and rest now, you'll be alright. I promise." Watari said, giving him an assenting nod.

Before closing his eyes, Hisoka half-consciously reached for Tsuzuki's hand. The older man grasped his hand, giving it a squeeze. "You've been through a lot, just relax now. Watari will make sure everything will be alright." He smiled and brushed Hisoka's bangs out of his eyes. Hisoka gave a hint of a grin in return before letting his eyes close, instantly falling asleep.

Watari watched the two, smiling to himself. "He's grown quite fond of you."

Tsuzuki sighed. "I just wish I did a better job of protecting him."

"We're Shinigami, Tsuzuki. We get hurt on the job sometimes. Hisoka's not a newbie anymore, he can handle himself. There's nothing wrong with wanting to protect him or comforting him when he needs it, but you can't save him from everything."

"But, seeing him like this..."

"I know, I don't like it either. This is a more severe case, but he'll pull through. Stuff happens, it's not always on you to protect everyone. I know you want to- I want to protect my friends too, but sometimes we just can't. Don't forget that he wants to protect you too. Come on, cheer up! He'll be fine. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to him. Now relax. You are welcome to stay here with me if it makes you feel better."

"I think I will...thank you, Watari."

Watari smiled. "Don't mention it." He gave Tsuzuki a clap on the back before doing a more thorough examination of Hisoka.

With the excitement over, Tsuzuki took the time to relax a little. He watched Watari, helping out where possible. Once they were sure nothing more would happen to Hisoka, Watari got them dinner. Afterwards, Watari set up a couple sleeping areas for himself and Tsuzuki. Both planned to sleep in the lab with Hisoka overnight to keep an eye on him. Before calling it a night, Watari checked on the youngest Shinigami one more time.

"He seems stable now." Watari said with a smile. "His temperature's slowly returning to normal and his body seems to be gaining strength back. It'll still be a bit before he'll even wake up, but he'll make a full recovery soon enough."

The news was relieving. Tsuzuki just hoped it remained that way. "Alright. Thank you, Watari."

"Stop thanking me, there's no need. Anyway, I'm gonna turn in for the night. We'll be alerted if anything goes awry with Hisoka, so you can rest too. Do get some sleep, hm? 'Night, Tsuzuki!"

"Goodnight, Watari."

Tsuzuki remained awake even after Watari had fallen asleep. Almost losing Hisoka for the second time in the past 24 hours...it was too much. Even if what Watari said was true, that he couldn't always protect everyone, surely he could do better than he had been doing. But what was he supposed to do? With a heavy sigh, he leaned on one of Watari's desks, elbows propped up and holding up his head. A pile of papers laid nearby. With no real reason, he read over them, wondering if it was something about one of Watari's latest crazy inventions. What he instead found was the latest report from the Shinigami about the case.

Three more humans had been killed. Three. Killed, because the demons were looking for him. Tsuzuki stared at the papers, not wanting to believe it. Perhaps this was an old one? No, it had been printed out shortly before Tsuzuki had called about Hisoka. Then, this was recent. It was another three humans killed, on top of the ones that had already died.

He couldn't take it anymore. Too many people were suffering all because of him. He had to do something...there had to be something more he could do!

His thoughts once again wandered to leaving. But, transferring wouldn't solve the issues because of the case. Who was to say the demons wouldn't continue to seek out Hisoka in order to lure Tsuzuki in? He had to get to the bottom of this.

He had to confront Ashitarote himself.

The thought itself was scary. Going into the demon realm to confront the King of Demons himself, the possibility of having to confront that he himself wasn't fully human, it was terrifying. He didn't want it, he didn't want it at all, but it wasn't as bad as seeing anymore humans die, not as bad as seeing Hisoka suffer.

What would happen once he got to the demon realm, he didn't know, but he had to try. And he had to go alone. This was something he had to do himself. If he took anybody else with him, they would only be hurt. Perhaps...perhaps he would have to finally take up the position he held in the demon realm. If he held the position, there would be no more need to fight for it. There would be no need for the demons to invade the human realm looking for him. Maybe this was the answer he was looking for, the only real way to solve this.

Tsuzuki looked to Hisoka, who was sleeping peacefully. There was no hint of pain on his face. He was in a very deep sleep, no nightmares to disturb him. He knew he'd miss Hisoka. He'd miss everyone, but his partner he'd miss the most. He didn't want to leave, but now was not the time to be selfish. It was for the good of everyone else, for the good of the living, for the good of those he held dear, for the good of Hisoka. They wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Even if Hisoka missed him, he would get a new partner, a more competent one. Somebody more worthy.

He had to do this, and he had to do it now, while he still had the opportunity to sneak away unnoticed. He felt he couldn't just go without leaving anything behind, however. After all, if he just vanished, the others would come looking for him. This time, he couldn't have anybody follow. He likely wouldn't be coming back, as he would either have to take up his position in the demon realm, or would be killed there. He wouldn't tell them where he was going or why, just that he was going, and not to try to look for him. A final apology, and a goodbye to the one person who'd made him feel completely accepted.

Grabbing some piece of scrap paper from the trash, Tsuzuki quickly scribbled down a note and left it on a desk near Hisoka. Whether or not he'd be the first to see it, it didn't matter too much. He'd get the message either way.

Stepping away, he watched Hisoka for a few moments longer. He had to blink away the tears that were stinging his eyes and wipe away those that had already leaked onto his cheeks. "I'm sorry... Goodbye, Hisoka."

With his message left behind, Tsuzuki warped himself to the realm of the living. Getting to the demon realm should be easy enough if he could find the two demons from before that had made an offer to him previously. The problem was actually finding them. Then again, perhaps he didn't have to. He just had to get them to find him, like he had before.

"I'm here!" He yelled out, hoping a demon would hear him. "Come get me!" For several seconds, there was no response. "I'm ready!" He yelled louder, voice echoing in the quiet darkness.

"Ah, Tsuzuki Asato." A feminine voice called out about a minute later. "Were you calling for us?"

Tsuzuki turned around to see just who he was looking for: the fallen angel and nogitsune.

"I sensed your presence and heard your call." The notgitusne mentally transmitted.

"Yes...I called for you. I want you to take me to the demon realm. I want to see Lord Ashitarote."