A certain noble sat contently in his library while reading his recent purchased book on vampires. He had always been fascinated by the humans' imagination. For him, humans imagined things like that because they themselves were not capable of becoming something they were not. And therefore, he felt compassionate for those creatures for having wishful thinking. But he himself had once been a wishful thinker and he no longer hoped for things like that because he could never be one.

He closed the book gently since he was a lover of books and walked towards the half opened window and peered outside. His gardener was as usual inspecting whether his flowers and bushes were infested by insects or not but what took his attention was an unfamiliar figure standing next to a roofless pillar near a thorn bush. It was a man with silver aura. He couldn't see everything of course since he was blind but as long as everything was alive, he could see their colours.

And this man's colour was quiet and at the same time, cruel. It was not an ordinary colour. It looked somewhat grey but he saw it was a different shade of grey.

Arrian drew in his breath hastily. "Silver…" he muttered. A hand touched his shoulder which made him almost attack the man behind him. "Relax, it's just me, Arrian," Tatsumi managed to get hold of blonde's sharp claws by his faithful shadows. "What's wrong?" he asked when he noticed the frantic look on Arrian's face. Arrian glanced back at the silver aura-ed stranger and found him to be missing. "Arrian, what's wrong?" the taller man asked again. The blonde's hand immediately changed into its original human form.

"He's here," the blonde answered. "Who?" Tatsumi asked, now advancing towards the window. "The demon who took the Sky away from us years ago…he was in my garden. But I couldn't trace his presence anymore. I don't know how he could get pass through the gateway without my knowledge," cold sweats had already formed on Arrian's face. He frantically searched for a place to sit and found one. "Okay…take a deep breath…huu…and release…haa…" he told himself.

Tatsumi eyed the surroundings but failed to see anything out of the ordinary. "Trace, my dear shadows," he stood in front of the window and commanded his own shadows. His shadows obeyed and began to spread out and mixed with others' shadows. "Nothing can escape my shadow," he added. Arrian nodded his head agreeably. "Hopefully Tsuzuki and Hisoka are safe," he said. Tatsumi reached for his cell phone and began to contact those in the human world.

………………………………………………………………………

"Tsuzuki."

Tsuzuki turned around to find Hisoka panting for air behind him. "Where are you taking…me? Could you slow down?" he continued while wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Ah, sorry! You should've told me earlier," Tsuzuki said and took them someplace to sit down. They were actually climbing along a path on a hill side. Even though it was cold, it was quite an exercise for Hisoka because he wasn't used to do exercise such as climbing hills. The only exercise he practiced was kendo.

"We need to go to a house just up there so we can be safe," said Tsuzuki, wiping Hisoka's face with his scarf. The blonde pulled away, feeling awkward to the physical contact and…affection. The brunette smiled at his action. "Safe? Are we in danger?" he asked. "Actually, yes. So, it's better if we reach there as soon as possible."

"Why are we in danger?" asked Hisoka, feeling curious. He didn't even budge from the rock where he sat. Tsuzuki looked at him sighed, knowing fully the boy won't move unless he gave a logical explanation. "I can't explain it to you now but when we get to the house, I'll tell you everything." The youth continued to stare at him. Then, he sensed that Tsuzuki was really going to tell him everything. He understood that the older man wasn't lying but hiding something. "Okay, if you say so."

So they continued to climb the hill which was becoming steeper as time went by. To Hisoka's relief, he saw a small building just ahead of them. "Is that the house?" he asked between his breaths. Tsuzuki nodded calmly while looking around. "Let's go inside. It's really cold here," he said. The blonde stared at him as if he was the idiotic person on earth. "Duh? We're on top of a hill in the middle of winter!" The brunette turned at him and chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry! I was thinking about something else." As Tsuzuki ushered the youth inside, he looked around feeling more anxious than ever. "Hey, Hisoka," he called.

Hisoka had already taken off his shoes when he turned around to find the brunette standing in middle of the doorway with his back facing him. "What?"

Tsuzuki remained silent for a while as his eyes continued to scan the parameter as if something was amiss. "Are you still wearing that scarf I gave to you last night?" he asked as silver vapours escaped from his lips. Hisoka tugged at the navy stripes scarf around his neck. "Yeah, I'm still wearing it…"

"Don't take it off!"

Hisoka's hand stopped halfway. "What's wrong? What is it?" he asked as he moved closer. Tsuzuki signaled him not to come closer as he continued to stand there. After a few awkward moments, the brunette finally exhaled in relief. He turned around and pushed the blonde back inside and locked the door. "There are bears here."

But what Hisoka wanted to know was why Tsuzuki eager not to let him take it off. Even after the fire was lit and the room was warm, Tsuzuki still didn't allow him to take it off. He glanced around the room and noticed the house was equipped with everything. As if it was a winter house. "Is this your house?" he asked finally soon after Tsuzuki served them hot coffee which were prepared by Keegan beforehand.

Hisoka noticed there was a distant look in Tsuzuki's eyes when he asked that. "Well, you can say that. Arrian gave it to me after the house was burnt down," he replied, sipping the hot drink. "But it's quite far from the town isn't it?" Tsuzuki looked up to meet his emerald eyes. For a second, Hisoka thought Tsuzuki was upset with that question but he sensed something else. "It's time for me to tell you why you are here." The blond almost forgotten about it. He pulled up his knees and sank further into the soft couch. "I'm ready."

"You are the Sky."

The swiftness and the spontaneous way Tsuzuki said it made Hisoka unable to react. There was a moment of silence surrounding them. "Were you sleeping? Did you hear me?" Tsuzuki added, waving a hand in front of his face. Hisoka grunted and slapped the hand away like a fly. "What am I supposed to do when you suddenly said that? And what's that supposed to mean?" the brunette leaned back and rubbed his neck. "Hm…okay. Let me put it this way. We living things live on earth, right?"

Hisoka was puzzled but nodded his head anyway. "We breathe air…everything breathes air. And what's the only thing that keeps the air from oozing out?" Tsuzuki asked him. Hisoka's eyebrows came together, feeling more perplexed than ever. "The sky, the ozone to be exact…"

"The sky," Tsuzuki emphasized the last word with a glint of joy in his eyes. "You are the sky, Hisoka!"

Hisoka glared at him. "Was that your way of flirting with me? That was such a lame pickup line, Tsuzuki."

Tsuzuki rolled back his eyes and restrained himself not to bawl. "Oh my God! How am I going to explain it to you!" he said, almost chuckling to himself. "What I mean is, you are the source of life, Hisoka. Without you everything will die. Try to remember the moments when the nature was one with you."

"That's irrational of…"

"Hisoka! Please, listen to me. You've got to believe me," Tsuzuki shifted forward on his couch. He was sitting across the youth. Hisoka tried to sense whether Tsuzuki was pulling his leg but somehow everything was so innocently true. Tsuzuki was telling him the truth. "How should I remember? I never paid any attention to what nature was doing." Tsuzuki looked at him, his eyes were smiling. "The nature always gives you a sign of what was coming next in your life. It helps you to sort things out."

Hisoka glanced sideways, trying to remember the times when it happened and surprisingly, he remembered few things related to what Tsuzuki was saying. "Ah!" he exclaimed as he turned to Tsuzuki. "I remember!"

"When I was first released…I mean…not being home-tutored anymore, I went to a junior high school near my home. Since I transferred there in the middle of term, I had no friends and obviously I was the easy target of bullying. But nobody bullied me. But one day, when I was on my way to the school, I heard a sound of falling water splashing. I thought someone threw the water out of a bucket or something but I saw no one. Instead, there was a pool of water in front of me. I remembered of thinking that it didn't rain the night before so how the puddle got there. When I reached the school, I felt something was wrong. I was about to enter my class when a teacher suddenly asked me to go with her to the staff room. A classmate of mine was hurrying behind me and when she opened the door and stepped in, a bucket of water fell on her."

"And there were times when I went out for grocery shopping or stuff, there would always be thunder in the sky and I would immediately be reminded that I forgot to turn off something in my apartment."

Tsuzuki nodded his head, seeing how Hisoka finally realized it. "And when I was feeling down one day because I forgot to make my lunch, I remember looking at the sky. It was so beautiful and the flowers were blooming beautifully too. I even cursed them. But then, I bumped into you."

"Oh! I remember. I gave you muffins!" Tsuzuki sat up straight, feeling bewildered himself. Hisoka nodded. "And at that certain night, there was a furious storm outside and…"

Tsuzuki knew exactly what happened that night. Hisoka's eyes moved as he tried to remember what happened on the night where his memories were altered by Reve. "I'm pretty sure something happened that night but now I can't remember," he said, looking straight into the dark lukewarm coffee. Tsuzuki gulped but managed a smile. "It's okay. You don't have to remember everything. As long as you know it happened."

Hisoka looked up at him. "So…what are trying to tell me actually? I am the sky? I don't get it."

Tsuzuki stared at him. "Listen very carefully. I am actually a Register, someone who protects the Sky which is now you…"

"Now? You mean there were others who were the…Sky?"

"Let me finish. Yes, before you there were other Skies. And there could only be one Sky at a time. At the present, it's unmistaken that you are the Sky now. And we Registers, yes, there are lots of them out there who pledged to protect you from any harm that comes in your way. So that you could be a pure and natural Sky, without the influences from others. The Sky's power is enormous. It can be something physical as well as something intangible."

"This is hard to believe but I know you're telling the truth…" Hisoka said with a confused look on his face. Or actually, he didn't know how to accept it. He had been despised by his parents since his birth and now, a man he barely knew told him that he was the essence of all life. He went silent as he tried to arrange his thoughts. Tsuzuki understood very well and patted his head. "Well, you're going to fine since you've realized it now."

The blonde rubbed his chin, as if something else was weighing on his mind. "You said that a Sky possesses enormous power, right? Before we reach this house, you said something about being safe. From my judgment, I suspect there are other people who are after…me. It's true, right Tsuzuki?"

Tsuzuki stared at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, it's everywhere. I saw it in the movies, dramas, news, books. When one party possesses a huge power, another would want it. So it's true?" Hisoka leaned forward. "Someone else is after me right now." Tsuzuki realized it was more like a statement rather than a question. Tsuzuki smiled and tugged at the scarf wrapped comfortably around Hisoka's neck. "That is why I want you to wear this scarf at all time. It has my power essence in it to protect others who try to take you away from noticing you."

He noticed the youth was about to ask something else. "You really have lots of questions. What is it?"

"Before me, there were other Skies. Who were they? Did they die?"

Tsuzuki almost laughed when he saw the keen face Hisoka was making. It appeared the blonde didn't even know he was making that face. "Actually, the two Skies before you were a panda and a dugong." He almost laughed again when he saw the puzzlement on the boy's face. "Animals?" Hisoka asked. He didn't expect that. "Yes. A Sky may take any form as long as it has a life. Even a tree! Unfortunately, we failed to protect those two, only those two. The panda died from deforestation and lack of food while the dugong was, well…a dugong is a really sensitive and gentle animal. Its habitation was lost and since it couldn't go anywhere else, it died there."

"We came too late when we came to realize they were the Sky. Somehow now, we don't want to repeat the same mistakes anymore," he said. "That's why I volunteered myself to find you…and sorry, I lost you once," he added, looking straight into the boy's eyes. Hisoka's heart almost melted when he sensed the truth in his voice and in those amethyst eyes. Tsuzuki suddenly raised a hand, indicating them to be quiet.

"Hm, looks like we have a visitor."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TBC! Sorry for the late update. I'm going to tell you that I'm going to sit for my final exam until early May so maybe I won't have time to write anything or update anything. So please be patient for this continuation. I really love this story too! I'll be back!! And please forgive me if some words I'm using are…weird and out-of-place. I'm reading social science right now even though I'm taking programming…yeah, mixed up words….