The Past Unburied
by icediamond
Chapter 1
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Neither Yami no Matsuei nor Harry Potter belong to me. If they did, I'd be way too rich to bother writing fanfiction. As it is, I'm broke from completing my Christmas shopping, so please don't sue me.
Warnings: Yaoi. Slash. M/m pairings, whatever you want to call them. Het pairing (but it's a cool, screwed up one, I promise!). Generous adjustment of universes to match. Hints of NCS (remembered) later on in the story.
Notes: I'd think I made this obvious but, just in case... "speech" 'thought'
The pairings are going to be: Tatsumi/Watari, Tsuzuki/Hisoka, and Lucius/Narcissa. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are definitely secondary characters in this fic though. I figure they have enough fanfics about them, while poor Tatsumi and Watari barely have any. For those of you wondering about the timeline, this takes place in 1999. A year after the manga for YnM, four years after Voldie's resurrection for HP.
A note on the crossover: HP doesn't really show up in the first chapter, and the Trio will never show up in the story at all. *waves Slytherin flag* This is more a take a few elements and a few, mostly minor, characters from HP. So, if you're looking for a story where Harry meets Hisoka, and they realize how much they have in common (locked up in small enclosed areas by their families during their childhood, strange powers that made their families hate them, powerful psychopath after them, some sort of link to said psychopath, etc.), as far as I'm aware, it doesn't exist. Sorry. Interesting concept, though...
____________________________________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~
Watari
~~~~~~
BOOM!
Watari carefully picked himself up off the floor, checking himself for injuries. "Too much sulfur..." he muttered to himself.
Having concluded his investigation for injuries, and finding none, he proceeded to brush the soot off his shoulders. He started to note down the ramifications of his latest experiment, when he felt 003 tug at a loose strand of golden hair.
"What is it?" he asked 003, looking up where he was diligently taking notes. A clock managed to catch his gaze for a moment, and Watari suddenly realised. "I'm late!" He was supposed to be in a staff meeting ten mintues ago. "Man, oh man..." he muttered, quickly walking towards the meeting room.
Tatsumi greeted him at the door with a raised eyebrow. "You're late," he said flatly.
"Sorry, sorry!" replied Watari, waving his hands around in the air as though their movements could somehow magically get Tatsumi off his back. "My experiment blew up, and I sorta lost track of time." As Tatsumi's eyebrow arched still further, Watari realized his mistake. "Don't worry! I managed to prevent any property damage this time!"
Tatsumi sighed, apparently resigned. "Well, that's something, I suppose."
Fortunately, Watari was spared from further interrogation by Hisoka dragging Puppy-Tsuzuki into the room. "Sorry we're late," Hisoka said, glaring at Tsuzuki, who looked pitifully back at him. "Wakaba-san brought sweets to the office."
"I see," said Tatsumi. "Thank you for your efforts in bringing him, Kurosaki-kun."
Watari could almost see Tatsumi's thought processes as he decided not to scold Tsuzuki, and suppressed a snicker. 'Tsuzuki really is way too good with those puppy eyes of his,' he thought silently. 'I wonder if he could teach me?' His thoughts began to drift to more than slightly naughty ways he could apply that knowledge on the hapless secretary. While Watari knew that he'd never be able to have a serious relationship with Tatsumi, only a blind man would deny that Tatsumi was HOT.
With that happy thought in mind, Watari started slightly as Konoe, who was already seated at the head of the table, coughed to draw their attention. "There's a new case in Kyoto that I'm going to need to assign all four of you on," he said.
Watari's eyes widened, safely hidden behind their concealing glasses. That was unusual. While he had been paired up with Hisoka and Tsuzuki once or twice before, very few cases needed four separate Shinigami assigned to them.
"Certain key people have been dying mysteriously in Kyoto." Konoe flicked a switch, and a slide show bagan to show on the far wall. "As you can see, there are no visible injuries. Upon being autopsied, it is univerally found that there is no apparent reason for them to have died. By default, they are being categorised as heart attacks, but we have reason to believe that there is something far more sinister going on behind this."
The slide changed to show a new figure. This... man, for lack of a better term, was corpse-white, his non-existent lips and triangular face reminding the viewer irresistably of an albino snake. His flat red eyes completed the impression. Cold and deadly, this was the face of a man who would wait for decades for his prey to make a single misstep, and then strike with unerring speed and accuracy.
Watari suppressed a gasp, but couldn't stop the blood from draining from his face. He recognised that man.
"His name is Lord Voldemort. He is an English wizard who was rapidly gaining in power in England and elsewhere seventeen years ago, when he suddenly disappeared, apparently dead. However, four years ago, he reappeared. So far, he seems to have been concentrating on regaining his lost power in England. However, we now suspect that he is attempting to branch into Japan, as he attempted twice before his first defeat" - here Watari winced almost imperceptibly - "as these newest deaths match his modus operandi."
Tatsumi asked calmly, "Could you please elaborate on what precisely his modus operandi is?"
"As far as I can. Unfortunately, we don't have a great deal of information on him. However, English magic differs greatly from ours. They use wands with Latin-derived incantations to perform magic. These deaths have been caused by the spell Avada Kedavra. While it is unlikely it can harm a shinigami, the effects of this spell on us are completely unknown. On a mortal, it results in an instantaneous and painless death."
"Lord Voldemort tends to gain power using terrorist tactics. He sends in his men to kill key figures to create the maximum amount of disorder. This creates a power vacuum, during which he may act as he pleases. It is highly unlikely that he is here in person for these killings. Most likely, he has sent an underling to test the waters, so to speak. Your job is to prevent this underling from succeeding, hopefully in such a manner that Lord Voldemort will lose interest. Do you understand?"
The four shinigami all nodded.
"Good. You will be starting the case tomorrow." At the tone of dismissal they heard in his voice, they all began to exit the room to prepare for their stay on Earth. Konoe's voice interrupted Watari as he was about to leave. "Oh, Watari-san, could you stay for a second? I want to talk to you alone."
Watari gave him a cheerful grin to mask his unease, and sat back down. "Ok!" he said, attempting to regain his usual verve. As the others left the room, Konoe took a deep breath.
"Are you going to be capable of handling this case?" he asked Watari. Watari could see the worry in his eyes, and was momentarily irritated at himself for not hiding his reactions better. 'Oh, like he wasn't going to worry about you anyways. It's his job to know the basics of our lives before we became shinigami, and he's hardly going to miss something as obvious as this,' he scolded himself mentally.
"After all, much of this is striking rather close to home, and you generally aren't really a field worker anyways..." Konoe continued.
Watari smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. Besides, I'd rather they have someone with them who knows something about their opponent."
"Are you going to tell them?" Konoe asked. Watari could tell that he was honestly curious as to the answer.
"Not if I can avoid it. Of course, I'm not sure how feasible that is, but I figure it's worth a shot," said Watari. He carefully kept his doubts from his eyes.
"I see..." Konoe seemed to be thinking of saying something else, but changed his mind. "Well, good luck! And if you happen to be able to obtain any Chocolate Frogs..."
Watari grinned. "I'll be sure to get some for you."
~~~~~~
Tatsumi
~~~~~~
Tatsumi walked slowly out of the meeting room, frowning. He turned as he heard someone calling his name and was presented with the frowning face of the youngest shinigami.
"Yes, Kurosaki-kun?" he asked.
"Do you have any idea what was wrong with Watari-san?" asked Hisoka. "He seemed to be acting rather... odd... during the meeting and his emotions were far stronger than what I would have expected."
"I was actually just considering that myself," Tatsumi responded. "Unfortunately, Watari-san is almost as good at concealing his emotions as Tsuzuki when he wants to." He paused for a moment. "I don't suppose you could tell me what precisely he was feeling during the meeting?"
Hisoka looked doubtful for a moment, probably trying to decide if it was ethical to invade their friend's privacy like that, but eventually worry overcame propriety, and he responded, "Mostly worried and surprised. A bit sad and, while there was a bit of anger there, it stayed pretty much underneath all his other emotions."
"I see. I would suggest that you and Tsuzuki-san keep a close eye on him this mission. I will do the same, of course."
Hisoka nodded. "I'll go tell Tsuzuki."
"Thank you," said Tatsumi. It was nice to leave managing Tsuzuki to someone else, though occasionally it made Tatsumi feel somewhat... nostalgic.
As Hisoka left to find his absent-minded partner, Watari came out of the meeting room. While he looked to be back to his normal cheerful self, Tatsumi knew that the blonde scientist was upset.
"Hello, Watari-san," said the secretary, matching his stride to Watari's.
"Tatsumi! I've been meaning to talk to you. Would you mind giving me a strand of your hair?"
Tatsumi blinked, momentarily disconcerted. "Why?"
Watari nodded enthusiastically. "An experiment, of course! I've been working on a potion that would increase shinigami's healing speed to twice the current speed. However, in order to accomplish this, I need multiple samples from various Shinigami, in order to do some preliminary testing."
At Tatsumi's side-long look, Watari grinned, obviously guessing his thoughts. "On a healing potion, since that affects our ability to heal, I want to make sure it at least won't interfere with anything important before finding test subjects."
Tatsumi couldn't quite decide whether to be pleased at the unusual caution Watari was displaying, or irritated at his admission that he was going to drug his coworkers. Finally he sighed. "Just don't poison the coffee, okay?"
Watari sighed. "Why does everyone always worry about me and the coffee?" At Tatsumi's pained look, he elabourated. "Well, nowadays, even if I'm just trying to get myself coffee, someone grabs me a cup, and escorts me away from the coffeepot. I'm not even allowed within ten feet of the coffepot!" Watari wailed.
'Thank God,' thought Tatsumi. "Well, considering the last potion you made was an aphrodesiac..."
"I didn't know! I didn't know!" wailed Watari. "It should have been my gender-switching potion! A way to revolutionize human relations! And instead, I get Tsuzuki and Terazuma kissing in the corner!" A wicked grin crept over his face as he said under his breath, "though the proceeds from the sale of the photoes I got from that kept me supplied with lab equipment for months."
"Useful," Tatsumi commented drily. "Especially after Terazuma-san wrecked your lab when he found out you were the one selling the photoes."
"Well, I had to keep myself entertained somehow," Watari said, innocence covering him like a polka-dotted shroud. He then irritably shook his hair back from his face. Tatsumi was momentarily lost in admiring the golden strands. 'I wonder what sort of shampoo he uses?'
Watari continued, "Anyways, I need to get back to my lab. I need to finish writing down notes for my last experiment before I forget. See ya!"
Watari waved and walked off towards his lab. As Tatsumi turned to head back to his office, he paused. 'Wait a second...' he thought to himself. Not once, during the entire conversation, had he had the chance to subtly pump Watari for information about their upcoming missions. 'It's almost as though he was attempting to avoid the subject...'
~~~~~~
Watari
~~~~~~
Watari strode to his lab quickly. He carefully closed the door behind him and locked it. He then leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He could feel the fine tremours shaking his body. "Shit shit shit shit," he muttered under his breath, so softly that even he could barely hear it. "Why the hell did they have to come now?"
003 chirped inqiringly. When Watari made no response., it burrowed into his lab coat. Watari's shivers began slowly to subside. "Thank you, 003," he said, affectionately stroking the tiny owl's head. The owl chirped cheerfully, and burrowed deeper.
Watari began to move over to the little bedroom off the main room of his lab, going his best not to disturb the contented owl in his coat. He went over to the bed, and moved it forward. Behind it was a little niche, barely large enough to contain the polished wooden box laying within. Watari removed the box, and opened it, revealing the object inside, lying nestled on a royal blue velvet lining. He carefully, almost reverently, removed it, and stowed the box back into its hiding place. He then examined the object carefully, lost in thought.
"Odd how circumstances change," he finally mused quietly. "I never really thought I'd ever need to use this again. Wistful thinking, I suppose."
He stayed in that position for a long time, before deftly storing the object somewhere on his person and standing up. He had plenty of work to do, and he wanted to get most of it done before tomorrow. He had the sinking feeling that tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day
Earth
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The four of them - Tatsumi, Watari, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka - were walking down a street in Kyoto. Watari cast a critical eye on Tsuzuki and Hisoka, attempting to discern any ill effects from being in the area which they had so carefully avoided since Tsuzuki almost died in Touda's black flames. However, even his most penetrating glance could discern no overt distress, so Watari relaxed - slightly. A thought struck him, and he moved over to Tatsumi's side.
"Oh, Tatsumi," Watari started. At Tatsumi's inquiring glance, he continued. "How are we starting this mission, anyways?" he asked. At Tatsumi's raised eyebrow, he continued defensively. "It's been a while since I've been on a mission, you know. I'm out of practice!"
Tatsumi sighed, hiding his amusement. "First I think we should investigate the people who have already been killed by Lord Voldemort. So we're all going to the first victim's house to talk to his wife."
"Got it!" Watari nodded enthusiastically, then dropped back to talk to Tsuzuki, carefully ignoring Tatsumi's searching look. He began to cheerfully babble with Tsuzuki about inane topics - the meaning of life, where to get the best sweets, and whether pink or purple is a better colour for a car. Hisoka and Tatsumi gave them identical pained looks.
Suddenly, the two of them were interrupted, as a woman approached them. She was tall, with icy blonde hair and a peculiarly ageless serenity. She could have been anywhere from twenty to eighty years of age. She walked directly up to Watari, and spoke quietly, but loud enough for all his companions to hear.
"If you will excuse me, I would like to know why someone who I saw die twenty years ago is walking around looking identical to the way he looked on the day he died."
To be continued....
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Note: I hope I did an adequate cliffhanger. Ok, ok, this chapter is mostly exposition. Boring exposition, at that. (Though I'm considering writing a sidestory about the aphrodesiac in the coffee). I promise it'll get better though.... I hope. If not, I freely give you my oh-so-gracious permission not to read it.
For terms of address, I am depending upon Theria-san's lovely translations to provide me the proper forms of address. However, in one or two cases, I'm can't seem to find someplace in the manga where the two relevant characters are conversing, so if you see a mistake, please tell me, and I will be eternally grateful. At least for the day. I'm doing my level best to avoid Japanese other than that, though. So far, I have managed to avoid using the word genki to describe Watari. I'm so proud of myself. Oh, in case anyone doesn't know, shinigami means god of death, and is the title used for all of their jobs.
Btw, I'm curious. How many people figured out what the 'mysterious' object behind Watari's bed is? I'm assuming its pretty obvious, but I don't know if people will actually realize what it is. I surely hope so. It seems excessively obvious to me, but then again, I'm the author.
by icediamond
Chapter 1
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Neither Yami no Matsuei nor Harry Potter belong to me. If they did, I'd be way too rich to bother writing fanfiction. As it is, I'm broke from completing my Christmas shopping, so please don't sue me.
Warnings: Yaoi. Slash. M/m pairings, whatever you want to call them. Het pairing (but it's a cool, screwed up one, I promise!). Generous adjustment of universes to match. Hints of NCS (remembered) later on in the story.
Notes: I'd think I made this obvious but, just in case... "speech" 'thought'
The pairings are going to be: Tatsumi/Watari, Tsuzuki/Hisoka, and Lucius/Narcissa. Tsuzuki and Hisoka are definitely secondary characters in this fic though. I figure they have enough fanfics about them, while poor Tatsumi and Watari barely have any. For those of you wondering about the timeline, this takes place in 1999. A year after the manga for YnM, four years after Voldie's resurrection for HP.
A note on the crossover: HP doesn't really show up in the first chapter, and the Trio will never show up in the story at all. *waves Slytherin flag* This is more a take a few elements and a few, mostly minor, characters from HP. So, if you're looking for a story where Harry meets Hisoka, and they realize how much they have in common (locked up in small enclosed areas by their families during their childhood, strange powers that made their families hate them, powerful psychopath after them, some sort of link to said psychopath, etc.), as far as I'm aware, it doesn't exist. Sorry. Interesting concept, though...
____________________________________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~
Watari
~~~~~~
BOOM!
Watari carefully picked himself up off the floor, checking himself for injuries. "Too much sulfur..." he muttered to himself.
Having concluded his investigation for injuries, and finding none, he proceeded to brush the soot off his shoulders. He started to note down the ramifications of his latest experiment, when he felt 003 tug at a loose strand of golden hair.
"What is it?" he asked 003, looking up where he was diligently taking notes. A clock managed to catch his gaze for a moment, and Watari suddenly realised. "I'm late!" He was supposed to be in a staff meeting ten mintues ago. "Man, oh man..." he muttered, quickly walking towards the meeting room.
Tatsumi greeted him at the door with a raised eyebrow. "You're late," he said flatly.
"Sorry, sorry!" replied Watari, waving his hands around in the air as though their movements could somehow magically get Tatsumi off his back. "My experiment blew up, and I sorta lost track of time." As Tatsumi's eyebrow arched still further, Watari realized his mistake. "Don't worry! I managed to prevent any property damage this time!"
Tatsumi sighed, apparently resigned. "Well, that's something, I suppose."
Fortunately, Watari was spared from further interrogation by Hisoka dragging Puppy-Tsuzuki into the room. "Sorry we're late," Hisoka said, glaring at Tsuzuki, who looked pitifully back at him. "Wakaba-san brought sweets to the office."
"I see," said Tatsumi. "Thank you for your efforts in bringing him, Kurosaki-kun."
Watari could almost see Tatsumi's thought processes as he decided not to scold Tsuzuki, and suppressed a snicker. 'Tsuzuki really is way too good with those puppy eyes of his,' he thought silently. 'I wonder if he could teach me?' His thoughts began to drift to more than slightly naughty ways he could apply that knowledge on the hapless secretary. While Watari knew that he'd never be able to have a serious relationship with Tatsumi, only a blind man would deny that Tatsumi was HOT.
With that happy thought in mind, Watari started slightly as Konoe, who was already seated at the head of the table, coughed to draw their attention. "There's a new case in Kyoto that I'm going to need to assign all four of you on," he said.
Watari's eyes widened, safely hidden behind their concealing glasses. That was unusual. While he had been paired up with Hisoka and Tsuzuki once or twice before, very few cases needed four separate Shinigami assigned to them.
"Certain key people have been dying mysteriously in Kyoto." Konoe flicked a switch, and a slide show bagan to show on the far wall. "As you can see, there are no visible injuries. Upon being autopsied, it is univerally found that there is no apparent reason for them to have died. By default, they are being categorised as heart attacks, but we have reason to believe that there is something far more sinister going on behind this."
The slide changed to show a new figure. This... man, for lack of a better term, was corpse-white, his non-existent lips and triangular face reminding the viewer irresistably of an albino snake. His flat red eyes completed the impression. Cold and deadly, this was the face of a man who would wait for decades for his prey to make a single misstep, and then strike with unerring speed and accuracy.
Watari suppressed a gasp, but couldn't stop the blood from draining from his face. He recognised that man.
"His name is Lord Voldemort. He is an English wizard who was rapidly gaining in power in England and elsewhere seventeen years ago, when he suddenly disappeared, apparently dead. However, four years ago, he reappeared. So far, he seems to have been concentrating on regaining his lost power in England. However, we now suspect that he is attempting to branch into Japan, as he attempted twice before his first defeat" - here Watari winced almost imperceptibly - "as these newest deaths match his modus operandi."
Tatsumi asked calmly, "Could you please elaborate on what precisely his modus operandi is?"
"As far as I can. Unfortunately, we don't have a great deal of information on him. However, English magic differs greatly from ours. They use wands with Latin-derived incantations to perform magic. These deaths have been caused by the spell Avada Kedavra. While it is unlikely it can harm a shinigami, the effects of this spell on us are completely unknown. On a mortal, it results in an instantaneous and painless death."
"Lord Voldemort tends to gain power using terrorist tactics. He sends in his men to kill key figures to create the maximum amount of disorder. This creates a power vacuum, during which he may act as he pleases. It is highly unlikely that he is here in person for these killings. Most likely, he has sent an underling to test the waters, so to speak. Your job is to prevent this underling from succeeding, hopefully in such a manner that Lord Voldemort will lose interest. Do you understand?"
The four shinigami all nodded.
"Good. You will be starting the case tomorrow." At the tone of dismissal they heard in his voice, they all began to exit the room to prepare for their stay on Earth. Konoe's voice interrupted Watari as he was about to leave. "Oh, Watari-san, could you stay for a second? I want to talk to you alone."
Watari gave him a cheerful grin to mask his unease, and sat back down. "Ok!" he said, attempting to regain his usual verve. As the others left the room, Konoe took a deep breath.
"Are you going to be capable of handling this case?" he asked Watari. Watari could see the worry in his eyes, and was momentarily irritated at himself for not hiding his reactions better. 'Oh, like he wasn't going to worry about you anyways. It's his job to know the basics of our lives before we became shinigami, and he's hardly going to miss something as obvious as this,' he scolded himself mentally.
"After all, much of this is striking rather close to home, and you generally aren't really a field worker anyways..." Konoe continued.
Watari smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. Besides, I'd rather they have someone with them who knows something about their opponent."
"Are you going to tell them?" Konoe asked. Watari could tell that he was honestly curious as to the answer.
"Not if I can avoid it. Of course, I'm not sure how feasible that is, but I figure it's worth a shot," said Watari. He carefully kept his doubts from his eyes.
"I see..." Konoe seemed to be thinking of saying something else, but changed his mind. "Well, good luck! And if you happen to be able to obtain any Chocolate Frogs..."
Watari grinned. "I'll be sure to get some for you."
~~~~~~
Tatsumi
~~~~~~
Tatsumi walked slowly out of the meeting room, frowning. He turned as he heard someone calling his name and was presented with the frowning face of the youngest shinigami.
"Yes, Kurosaki-kun?" he asked.
"Do you have any idea what was wrong with Watari-san?" asked Hisoka. "He seemed to be acting rather... odd... during the meeting and his emotions were far stronger than what I would have expected."
"I was actually just considering that myself," Tatsumi responded. "Unfortunately, Watari-san is almost as good at concealing his emotions as Tsuzuki when he wants to." He paused for a moment. "I don't suppose you could tell me what precisely he was feeling during the meeting?"
Hisoka looked doubtful for a moment, probably trying to decide if it was ethical to invade their friend's privacy like that, but eventually worry overcame propriety, and he responded, "Mostly worried and surprised. A bit sad and, while there was a bit of anger there, it stayed pretty much underneath all his other emotions."
"I see. I would suggest that you and Tsuzuki-san keep a close eye on him this mission. I will do the same, of course."
Hisoka nodded. "I'll go tell Tsuzuki."
"Thank you," said Tatsumi. It was nice to leave managing Tsuzuki to someone else, though occasionally it made Tatsumi feel somewhat... nostalgic.
As Hisoka left to find his absent-minded partner, Watari came out of the meeting room. While he looked to be back to his normal cheerful self, Tatsumi knew that the blonde scientist was upset.
"Hello, Watari-san," said the secretary, matching his stride to Watari's.
"Tatsumi! I've been meaning to talk to you. Would you mind giving me a strand of your hair?"
Tatsumi blinked, momentarily disconcerted. "Why?"
Watari nodded enthusiastically. "An experiment, of course! I've been working on a potion that would increase shinigami's healing speed to twice the current speed. However, in order to accomplish this, I need multiple samples from various Shinigami, in order to do some preliminary testing."
At Tatsumi's side-long look, Watari grinned, obviously guessing his thoughts. "On a healing potion, since that affects our ability to heal, I want to make sure it at least won't interfere with anything important before finding test subjects."
Tatsumi couldn't quite decide whether to be pleased at the unusual caution Watari was displaying, or irritated at his admission that he was going to drug his coworkers. Finally he sighed. "Just don't poison the coffee, okay?"
Watari sighed. "Why does everyone always worry about me and the coffee?" At Tatsumi's pained look, he elabourated. "Well, nowadays, even if I'm just trying to get myself coffee, someone grabs me a cup, and escorts me away from the coffeepot. I'm not even allowed within ten feet of the coffepot!" Watari wailed.
'Thank God,' thought Tatsumi. "Well, considering the last potion you made was an aphrodesiac..."
"I didn't know! I didn't know!" wailed Watari. "It should have been my gender-switching potion! A way to revolutionize human relations! And instead, I get Tsuzuki and Terazuma kissing in the corner!" A wicked grin crept over his face as he said under his breath, "though the proceeds from the sale of the photoes I got from that kept me supplied with lab equipment for months."
"Useful," Tatsumi commented drily. "Especially after Terazuma-san wrecked your lab when he found out you were the one selling the photoes."
"Well, I had to keep myself entertained somehow," Watari said, innocence covering him like a polka-dotted shroud. He then irritably shook his hair back from his face. Tatsumi was momentarily lost in admiring the golden strands. 'I wonder what sort of shampoo he uses?'
Watari continued, "Anyways, I need to get back to my lab. I need to finish writing down notes for my last experiment before I forget. See ya!"
Watari waved and walked off towards his lab. As Tatsumi turned to head back to his office, he paused. 'Wait a second...' he thought to himself. Not once, during the entire conversation, had he had the chance to subtly pump Watari for information about their upcoming missions. 'It's almost as though he was attempting to avoid the subject...'
~~~~~~
Watari
~~~~~~
Watari strode to his lab quickly. He carefully closed the door behind him and locked it. He then leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He could feel the fine tremours shaking his body. "Shit shit shit shit," he muttered under his breath, so softly that even he could barely hear it. "Why the hell did they have to come now?"
003 chirped inqiringly. When Watari made no response., it burrowed into his lab coat. Watari's shivers began slowly to subside. "Thank you, 003," he said, affectionately stroking the tiny owl's head. The owl chirped cheerfully, and burrowed deeper.
Watari began to move over to the little bedroom off the main room of his lab, going his best not to disturb the contented owl in his coat. He went over to the bed, and moved it forward. Behind it was a little niche, barely large enough to contain the polished wooden box laying within. Watari removed the box, and opened it, revealing the object inside, lying nestled on a royal blue velvet lining. He carefully, almost reverently, removed it, and stowed the box back into its hiding place. He then examined the object carefully, lost in thought.
"Odd how circumstances change," he finally mused quietly. "I never really thought I'd ever need to use this again. Wistful thinking, I suppose."
He stayed in that position for a long time, before deftly storing the object somewhere on his person and standing up. He had plenty of work to do, and he wanted to get most of it done before tomorrow. He had the sinking feeling that tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day
Earth
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The four of them - Tatsumi, Watari, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka - were walking down a street in Kyoto. Watari cast a critical eye on Tsuzuki and Hisoka, attempting to discern any ill effects from being in the area which they had so carefully avoided since Tsuzuki almost died in Touda's black flames. However, even his most penetrating glance could discern no overt distress, so Watari relaxed - slightly. A thought struck him, and he moved over to Tatsumi's side.
"Oh, Tatsumi," Watari started. At Tatsumi's inquiring glance, he continued. "How are we starting this mission, anyways?" he asked. At Tatsumi's raised eyebrow, he continued defensively. "It's been a while since I've been on a mission, you know. I'm out of practice!"
Tatsumi sighed, hiding his amusement. "First I think we should investigate the people who have already been killed by Lord Voldemort. So we're all going to the first victim's house to talk to his wife."
"Got it!" Watari nodded enthusiastically, then dropped back to talk to Tsuzuki, carefully ignoring Tatsumi's searching look. He began to cheerfully babble with Tsuzuki about inane topics - the meaning of life, where to get the best sweets, and whether pink or purple is a better colour for a car. Hisoka and Tatsumi gave them identical pained looks.
Suddenly, the two of them were interrupted, as a woman approached them. She was tall, with icy blonde hair and a peculiarly ageless serenity. She could have been anywhere from twenty to eighty years of age. She walked directly up to Watari, and spoke quietly, but loud enough for all his companions to hear.
"If you will excuse me, I would like to know why someone who I saw die twenty years ago is walking around looking identical to the way he looked on the day he died."
To be continued....
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Note: I hope I did an adequate cliffhanger. Ok, ok, this chapter is mostly exposition. Boring exposition, at that. (Though I'm considering writing a sidestory about the aphrodesiac in the coffee). I promise it'll get better though.... I hope. If not, I freely give you my oh-so-gracious permission not to read it.
For terms of address, I am depending upon Theria-san's lovely translations to provide me the proper forms of address. However, in one or two cases, I'm can't seem to find someplace in the manga where the two relevant characters are conversing, so if you see a mistake, please tell me, and I will be eternally grateful. At least for the day. I'm doing my level best to avoid Japanese other than that, though. So far, I have managed to avoid using the word genki to describe Watari. I'm so proud of myself. Oh, in case anyone doesn't know, shinigami means god of death, and is the title used for all of their jobs.
Btw, I'm curious. How many people figured out what the 'mysterious' object behind Watari's bed is? I'm assuming its pretty obvious, but I don't know if people will actually realize what it is. I surely hope so. It seems excessively obvious to me, but then again, I'm the author.