We are now in the double digits of this story! I never thought that would happen; motivation is not my friend. ANYWAY

CHAPTER TEN

Tsuzuki braced himself by clutching the side of the toilet as he tried not to gag. His efforts failed him, resulting in Tsuzuki vomiting into the toilet. He didn't understand; he was dead so how could he vomit? As soon as he entered their hotel room he became dizzy which escalated into a strange spinning feeling in his stomach. He then found himself in the bathroom throwing his guts up; and that was three hours ago. Tsuzuki feels the wave of vomit subside so he wipes his mouth with toilet paper, throws it into the toilet, flushes, and leans against the bathroom wall. He rests his forehead on the tile and was glad; it was cold. Tsuzuki bolts up quickly when he hears a voice but soon regrets it; he weakly crawls back to the toilet who has become his friend. Once done he re-leans against the wall faintly listening to the voice that has entered his ears. Slowly scanning down he realizes forty minutes have passed; he must have dozed off. Footsteps force Tsuzuki to glance at the door way where a figure soon appears. Focusing he sees a man in a brown business suit, short brown hair, and blue eyes protected by glasses. A weak smile crosses Tsuzuki's face.

"Tatsumi," Tsuzuki manages to say. Tatsumi quickly goes to the weakened shinigami and kneels before him.

"Tell me what happened Tsuzuki," he softly demands; worry in his voice. Tsuzuki shakes his head.

"I...I'm not sure... Tatsumi something is wrong with me." Tsuzuki struggles to keep his eyes open. Tatsumi grabs a rag, gets it wet, wrings it out, and gently dabs Tsuzuki's face.

"You can tell me in a moment, but let's get you into bed." Tatsumi helps Tsuzuki to his feet and walks him to the bed. Slowly Tsuzuki is sat down and he takes in breaths. After a while he explains to Tatsumi what he's been dealing with. The other shinigami nods before excusing himself into the other room. A few moments pass but feel like an hour to Tsuzuki which makes him panic; why? He was confused by his own body and now feelings.

"Tatsumi," he calls. He gets no response, "Tatsumi?" Tsuzuki starts to panic even more. "Tatsumi?!" He pushes himself off the bed only to have his legs collapse under him. Tsuzuki scoots back and bumps into the bed. A cool hand touches his check causing him to jump.

"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka questions looking in his eyes. Tsuzuki smiles at his partner letting tears leave his eyes. Hisoka froze, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Hisoka...I... We are dead right?"

"...Yes Tsuzuki we are."

"Can we get sick? I mean horribly sick?" Hisoka ponders Tsuzuki's question.

"Kurosaki could you come here for a moment." Hisoka looks over his shoulder to see a worried Tatsumi. Hisoka sighs before walking to him; the disappear in the room's kitchen. Tsuzuki watches them leave before looking in front of him which is when he saw Misuzu. He blinks for a moment not sure if she was real. She kneels in front of him and extends her hand. Tsuzuki flinches and smacks her hand away. She blinks but never looks away from him. Hurt crossed Tsuzuki's face as he realized what he did. Misuzu holds her breath before trying to extend her hand again. Tsuzuki sat there wondering what she would do. To his surprise she wipes tears away. Instead of feeling pain from her touch like he usually does, Tsuzuki felt a strange wave of relief that eased his sick nauseated self. A sigh leaves his mouth before glomping her like a child; arms wrapped around her clinging to her back, face buried in her chest. Misuzu's face was extremely red as she planted her palms on his shoulders. However she calmed herself down when she noticed her "sensei" was sobbing. Scanning the room for Hisoka she decides to hold him back and gently rubs his head when she was sure Hisoka wasn't there. Hearing footsteps she looks to her right.

"He tackled me," she stated to Hisoka, never once letting go.

"...Yeah."

"What is wrong with him?" Misuzu asks.

"That is an excellent question." Tatsumi answers walking back in. Misuzu looked him up and down; this wasn't the time but he was hot. Tatsumi also looked Misuzu over but for a different reason; a female version of Muraki only with purple eyes.

"Kazutaka this is Tatsumi. He is also a shinigami... Tatsumi is there anyway we could find out?"

"We would have to take him back to the ministry... However we can do that tomorrow. Right now he needs to rest. We will watch him over the night but for the moment I want to know everything that has happened so far." Hisoka nods. Misuzu scans down and notices Tsuzuki is asleep. Tatsumi releases Misuzu of caretaker and places Tsuzuki in the bed.

Sayori struggles to keep up with Muraki as they walk. She sourly stares at Misuzu's voodoo doll to Muraki's side. He had taken it right after he kissed her cheek. He didn't trust her at all. She quickly adverts her eyes when he places the doll into his pocket. Sayori begins to speak but is hushed by Muraki with his finger to his lips. She didn't want to walk in silence. Two hours pass with no conversation; Muraki finally stops but he is standing in front of a house. Sayori was thankful it was night. Muraki touches what seems to be a wire fence causing it to spark and then dissolve. Both stroll into the house. Sayori looks around noticing the house hadn't been lived in for some time. It also hadn't been cleaned in a long time either. Dust layered the walls, a couch was turned on its side, a TV had been smashed in, a coffee table was split into, and glass littered the floor. Muraki ignored all that and made his way into the small kitchen. Following close behind, Sayori watched him descend stairs. She debated following him or not, yet she defeated the idea to stay put. She took steps two at a time before finding her master. He was kneeling over something, a wicked grin on his face. His fingers glided over the object he was looking at.

"Master...What is that?" Muraki glanced towards Sayori once her question left her lips; she gulped.

"This will help bring Misuzu to me." He stands and crosses to his servant. Muraki lifts her wrist and slides a bracelet on. "Wear this when ever Misuzu is near you."

"What will a bracelet do?" Sayori rudely doubted glaring at the thing.

"You will know in good time. Now return upstairs, there is something else I need here." She was going to protest but zipped upstairs when Muraki glared. Muraki walks along the wall tapping his finger. Soon he smiled and pushed against a board. It feel in and showed a room, a rather small room. Glancing down Muraki saw huge bolts and locks on the outside of the door. An eyebrow raises as he picks up a lock.

"How precious. Locking your own child away and for what exactly?" He chucks the lock and continues into the room. Something catches his attention which makes him bounce over to it. "Mr. Tsuzuki I will bring your whole world to a halt." Muraki soon lets laughter fill that tiny room. Laying in his clenched hand was a key; a key in the shape of a terrified Tsuzuki.