A/N - I am sorry about the very, very long waits between chapters. I will try to do better. *Bows head in shame*

Chapter 11

Murata Rika was sitting quietly on the bed when Tsuzuki emerged from the bathroom. She watched him cross the room to the small kitchenette area with brisk strides, and fought to hold back her smile.

Anger showed plain through every line of his body, and she couldn't have been more pleased.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan, with a few little hitches; the partner, for one. The boy was gone for now, but Rika was sure he would be coming back before too long, the empath had proved to be remarkably tenacious.

It would have been nice, she thought reflectively, if Tsuzuki Asato had fallen at her feet the moment he saw her. It had taken a lot of time and effort to have this body sculpted into a near-replica of the shinigami's long dead sister. The expression on his face that first day in the café let her know it had all been worth it; but he had run.

Perhaps if he hadn't she would not now have the boy to deal with. If she could have, she would have killed him already. Unfortunately, she was sure that was a move that would backfire badly; they were too emotionally invested in each other, and if Tsuzuki's partner died, by any means, Tsuzuki would mourn him, taking his attention away from her and possibly causing him to heed what the boy had been saying all along. The kid was too quick for her own good!

He had already discovered Murata Rika's history, and he knew about the plastic surgeries, and with him following her the night before, she was lucky the dumb shit hadn't put 2 and 2 together already!

Luckily, she had a plan to deal with Mr. Nosey-Empath. There was some risk, of course, but if she was successful, it might just be enough to break Tsuzuki Asato…

And then she would kill him.

XXX

Tsuzuki came out of the bathroom running a hand through his hair. He was still angry, but more in control. He was ready to face Hisoka again, and try to make the kid see reason.

But Hisoka wasn't there.

Rika was sitting on the bed, staring blankly across the room, apparently lost in her own thoughts; but otherwise the room was empty.

"Where's Hisoka?"

Rika jumped at the sound of his voice, then turned to stare at him with wide eyes. "He left," she said softly. "He was really mad, and he left." Tears welled up in her dark eyes. "This is all my fault, isn't it?"

"No!" Tsuzuki moved to the bed and sat down beside her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Of course not! But…" he trailed off, if Hisoka went back to Meifu, he would be asking Tatsumi to re-assign the case. They would be arriving soon to tell him he had to go, to leave Rika unprotected in the hands of others who wouldn't, or couldn't care for her the way that he himself could. "…I think it's time we left."

"Oh," Rika looked up at him and gave him a small watery smile. "Okay, Just the two of us, right?"

Just the two of us, right Asato?

Tsuzuki but his arm around her and pulled her to lean against him, resting his cheek against the top of her head.

"Just the two of us."

XXX

Hisoka sprinted through the halls of Enma-cho and burst into Tatsumi's office. It was empty, the secretary was still in his meeting.

If Hisoka had any idea of how to, he would gladly have interrupted the meeting to drag Tatsumi out and risked Enma-Daio's wrath, but he didn't know where the meetings were held, and he knew that Tatsumi would not have his cell phone on while in a meeting with one of the 12 kings.

Hisoka looked around the office a little desperately, and then rushed over to the desk. Grabbing a pen and loose sheet of paper, he wrote out a fast note.

Rika a demon… Tsuzuki in danger… am going NOW… join me as soon as possible…

He didn't know why Rika wanted his partner so badly, but it was obvious she did; and Tsuzuki was totally unaware of the danger he was in.

She was using Tsuzuki's memories of someone he love to manipulate him…

Hisoka's hand clenched into fists at his sides as he hurried out of Tatsumi's office.

She was going to pay…

XXX

It had taken very little time to gather their things.

Rika had nothing beyond her purse, and everything Tsuzuki deemed important he tossed into an overnight bag and threw over his shoulder. All in all, they were heading out the door half an hour after Hisoka had departed.

"Where are we going?" Rika asked, tucking her hand into Tsuzuki's.

He smiled down at her. "We'll move around for today, and find a small motel to check into when it starts getting late."

"And that will keep us safe?" Rika asked as they walked along at a brisk pace away from the hotel.

"Well, it will make it harder for other shinigami to track us."

"What about Hisoka?"

Tsuzuki frowned. "Hisoka will still be able to find me eventually, but it will take him longer if we keep moving, and if I stay relatively calm."

Rika nodded, then shook her head and stopped walking.

Tsuzuki stopped too, looking at her in puzzlement. "Rika?"

"I've put you through so much trouble!" Rika exclaimed softly with her head bowed. "And if you stay with me now, you'll get in more trouble!" She looked up, tears trickling down her cheeks. "You should go back. I'll be fine."

"Rika, no…"

But Rika had already turned and hurried down another street, away from him.

"Rika! Wait!" Tsuzuki started after her at a jog. He was surprised at how fast Rika seemed to be moving, after 3 blocks he hadn't caught up to her, but she didn't seem to be running, only waking at a quick march.

He was even more surprised when the large dog-like demon burst out of the shadow of a large hedge at the girl.

It seemed that Rika had not been moving as fast as she could; when the demon appeared, she gave a shriek and sprinted across the road away from the thing. She headed for the nearest building, a large recreation centre, with the demon in hot pursuit.

Tsuzuki took off after both of them at full speed.

XXX

Time was the key now, and she was running out of it.

As soon as Rika ran through the doors leading into the complex and was out of Tsuzuki's sight, she sped up even more, her body protesting as she forced more from it than a normal human was capable of.

Rika had been to this complex a few times with Totohome, it housed an Olympic size swimming pool, two ice rinks, and one extremely large arena; and each had it's own announcer's booth. She had to make it to the booth for the arena, then back to the arena itself before her demon led Tsuzuki to the booth.

Her demon would keep Tsuzuki distracted while she set the stage, she just needed time! The brat had returned, Rika scowled as she ran up the stairs to the second floor, she could feel him searching for them, casting out with his power. She could hide herself from him, but she couldn't hide Tsuzuki. Hisoka would find them, and if he found them before she was ready, she could loose this game.

Ahead of her she saw a door marked 'Employees Only'.

This was it.