Me: -nearly crying- I am so sorry, guys! It took me such a long time to update. I can explain! You see, I got grounded for six months, then got sent to my Grandma's for a month and she still gets her internet through the phoneline, and then i had to redo this chapter like five thousand times and I'm still not happy with it! -sobs-

Muse: Breathe, Chrono! Breathe!

Me: And to top it off, I had to break a few promises I made. This chapter was really tough on me, and I don't think the next one's gonna get any better. But hopefully I will get it up before five months have passed. This one is like four straight pages of fluff. I'm SORRY!!!

Chapter Nine

Tsuzuki was the first one to awaken the next morning, shaking his head lightly as he glanced at the digital clock that blinked annoyingly at him, informing him that it was currently the ungodly hours in between five and eight in the morning. Luckily, he had managed to wake up five minutes before the alarm was scheduled to go off, so he reached over to the nightstand to shut it off.

As Tsuzuki moved his arm, something stirred in his grip, momentarily startling him as he glanced down to see a mop of ash-blonde hair.

He smiled as Hisoka unconsciously shifted closer, recalling the boy's cute habit of heat-seeking, which he had discovered during one of their earlier cases when Tatsumi had decided to showcase his administrative skills and book them a hotel room with only one bed.

Tsuzuki knew that he would have to awaken Hisoka eventually, but he couldn't bring himself to do so just yet. Moments like this with Hisoka were few and far between. It was a very rare night indeed that the boy slept without nightmares, so Tsuzuki learned to cherish them well.

He gently brushed the bangs away from Hisoka's eyes, carefully observing the angelic face that looked so peaceful in sleep. The boy was so much more relaxed than Tsuzuki had ever seen when awake. Tsuzuki would sneak into Hisoka's room at night just to gaze on his face, until he began to feel like a stalker and slipped out.

There was another reason for this as well. Hisoka's nightmares were so frequent these days that, unless they were particularly vicious, Tsuzuki wouldn't know that they had occurred at all if it hadn't been for the exhaustion that doggedly followed his partner after each episode. He knew that Hisoka could feel emotions while asleep, so he made certain to project as many comforting feelings his way as possible.

As a small bonus, when his emotions failed to stave off the nightmares, Tsuzuki was always there to wake the boy up as quickly as possible. He would always say things like he heard the racket from down the hall or something similar, and Hisoka was always too shaken to catch his lies.

Still, it put Tsuzuki at ease to know that as long as he stood guard over the boy, he'd make certain that the bastard doctor was thwarted, even if only in Hisoka's dreams.

As if on cue, Hisoka let out a small whimper, face scrunching up in denial as he attempted to press himself closer to Tsuzuki's body.

Tsuzuki sighed in patience, shifting carefully until Hisoka's head was resting on his chest. One of the tricks he'd learned on the rare occasions that he couldn't wake the boy up was that Hisoka always seemed to calm down if he could hear Tsuzuki's heartbeat. The boy sighed in his sleep as his face returned to the calm state it had been originally.

Of course, Tsuzuki was always back in his own bed by the time Hisoka woke up in the morning. Hisoka didn't need to know everything, though Tsuzuki was always tempted to find out how flustered the boy would be if he woke up sleeping on Tsuzuki's chest. The older shinigami grinned wickedly at the thought and made a mental note to find out one day.

Tsuzuki remained the way he was for a while, silently enjoying the quiet of the night and having Hisoka so close to him. He scowled lightly as he recalled the case they were on. Tsuzuki didn't believe in coincidence, and the fact that these murders had started up after Hisoka left the town was too close for comfort. He ran his fingers through Hisoka's hair, silently vowing to keep a close eye on him for the remainder of the mission.

The murders were enough to invoke Tsuzuki's anger, but if they hurt Hisoka...

"Gods have mercy on them if they even dare to touch him," Tsuzuki whispered softly. "Because I certainly won't."

He was brought back to present as Hisoka made a small noise of discontent. Tsuzuki froze, waiting until the boy had stopped fidgeting before he even dared to breathe. He lightly blew the bangs out of the boy's eyes. Hisoka grumbled something unrecognizable before rolling on his side away from Tsuzuki. The boy was positioned on his right arm (which was starting to go numb) but Tsuzuki wasn't complaining.

He glanced at the digital clock that was flashing annoyingly once again, cutting through his night vision painfully. He sighed at how quickly time flew, seeing as it was already six a.m. Knowing he was going to regret it, he gently reached out and shook Hisoka's shoulder. Emerald eyes flickered open, unfocused, to gaze at him as Hisoka twisted around to look at Tsuzuki.

"Sorry for waking you up, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said quietly. "But it's around the time we agreed on."

It took the empath a moment or two to register what he was saying, or why he was so close to Tsuzuki. When he finally did, the telltale blush swept across Hisoka's face as he jumped back with a sharp yelp. Tsuzuki bit back a laugh as he grabbed Hisoka's upper arms.

"Careful, you'll fall," He cautioned, pulling the empath back onto the cot. Hisoka blinked a moment before sitting up and throwing his legs over the edge of the bed, frowning at the mess of twisted sheets kicked onto the floor before turning back to his partner.

'What the-,' Hisoka had enough time to think before the memories of the previous evening invaded his mind.

"What's wrong? Did you forget whose bed you were taking over, this time?" Tsuzuki asked, winking at the blonde.

"B-baka!" Hisoka sputtered as he quickly grabbed the laptop they had been provided and sat on the floor. Even in the dim light, Tsuzuki could tell that the boy's face was beet red. He wondered how Hisoka would react if he knew how many other times he had ended up snoozing on his partner's chest, and chuckled at the thought.

Hisoka was typing furiously on the computer, sifting through the ministry's case files to check for any updates on their mission. Tsuzuki's face softened as he watched his partner automatically shift into the serious "adult" face he always wore when he was working. Hisoka was just as good an actor as Tsuzuki, even if the act was just habit.

"But joking aside," Tsuzuki said, a little more serious this time. "I'm glad you didn't have nightmares. Did you have a good night's sleep?"

Hisoka gulped, still blushing furiously as he tried to avoid his partner's probing gaze. However, Tsuzuki wasn't going to let him drop the subject.

"Come on. I know you didn't have nightmares, and you couldn't have been cold, all snuggled up to me like you were." Hisoka forced himself to glance up at Tsuzuki, but what he had meant to be a warning glare just ended up being liquefied by Tsuzuki's warm smile. Geez, the older shinigami could make him blush more in one morning than he normally would all day.

Tsuzuki grinned at his flustered partner. "So?"

"...Yeah..."

"Yeah what?"

"You know damn well what," Hisoka growled angrily as he brought down his fingers with excessive force on the keyboard.

"Well 'yeah' can mean a lot of things," Tsuzuki said, preparing to launch into a long list. "For example, you could have meant-."

"Alright. I had a good night's sleep." Hisoka sighed in defeat. Tsuzuki reached over and ruffled the youth's hair affectionately.

"Good."

"So this is stop one on the Hyuga Horror Show?" Tsuzuki asked as he looked at the abandoned warehouse in front of the pair.

"Yeah. The first victim, 22 year-old Karin Otanashi was attacked while here. The wounds were obviously cause by a double-edged knife, since it managed to slice in a completely different direction on the victim without halt or even slowing down." Hisoka replied, silently staring up at the warehouse.

Tsuzuki shivered at Hisoka's summation of the victim's death. "You know, it really creeps me out that you can read that stuff like it's nothing, 'Soka."

Hisoka ignored him and instead checked the front entrance to the abandoned building. Not surprisingly; it was covered in police tape and dead bolted. Hisoka wouldn't have been surprised if the door was being monitored by police, and didn't particularly relish the thought of another visit with Sgt. Shinomori.

"Spirit form?" Tsuzuki asked quietly as his partner turned back to him. Hisoka nodded as the two shifted into their intangible bodies, proceeding to move through the walls completely unseen by nearby mortals.

"You know," Tsuzuki started as they returned to human form on the other side. "Seventy years on the job, but I can never get used to the fact that I'm walking through walls."

Once again, Hisoka offered no reply as he closed his eyes, casting out his empathy to check for any other presence in the building. Tsuzuki immediately recognized his partner's "work face" and knew that any other attempts at conversation would have to wait till later. Hisoka's eyes snapped open.

"Something's here," he murmured softly to Tsuzuki. I can't make out if it's a spell or our culprit, but either way it can't be good."

Tsuzuki nodded as he drew a fuda from the inside of his trench coat. The two slowly began to move through the warehouse, keeping a wary eye out for anything that might be lurking around the corner. There were huge crates stacked all around them, and Tsuzuki was beginning to feel a growing sense of claustrophobia. It was only the thought that Hisoka was close by that kept him from freaking out completely.

Both froze instantly as a chill rushed passed them. "What the hell was that?"

"Come on," Hisoka urged. "There's only one way to find out."

No sooner had he taken two steps, before something huge slammed through the wooden crates and rammed straight into him.

So yeah. That's where we stop. Like i said, I didn't enjoy this chapter, but hopefully once I get past this slow part and get into the parts I'm really excited about, then I'll be able to get my head back in the game. Anyone who comes back... I love you. -walks away muttering- I am not worthy...