The Past Unburied
by icediamond
Chapter 3
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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.
What has happened so far: Watari, Tatsumi, Hisoka and Tsuzuki were assigned to a new case: to stop Lord Voldemort from expanding into Japan. Watari is disturbed and hiding something. The gang are now about to attend a party which Watari's sister-in-law says will be helpful to the case...
(God, that feels awkward.)
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~~~~~~
Watari
~~~~~~
Watari followed Tatsumi in presenting his invitation to the usher standing at the door, and was immediately let in. He looked around, concealing his nervousness. 'Damn, this is nice!' he thought with a silent whistle.
Elegant crystal chandeliers cast golden light on elegantly dressed men and women who were mingling with the restrained politeness of a truly high-class party. Watari estimated that the combined value of the jewelry in the room could buy a medium-size country in Africa, with enough left over to buy that country a well-equipped army. Watari felt almost underdressed in his tuxedo that he had managed to scrounge up from somewhere. Of course, it was purple. He felt like he was in some Sailor Moon show. 'If I feel the urge to start making speeches about love, I am so out of here,' he thought irritably.
Hisoka joined him briefly. "Tatsumi says to stop standing there are, and start mingling."
"Okay, okay." Sigh.
Hisoka looked at him for a second. "You okay?"
Watari waved his hand dismissively, pasting a smile on his face. "Yeah, sure. Formal parties just make me nervous."
"If you say so..." Hisoka saw Tsuzuki about to dive head-first into the buffet, and rushed off to stop him.
Watari wandered through the party. Long-forgotten instincts enabled him to mingle and chat politely with his mind elsewhere. 'God, this is boring,' he thought with an inward sigh. He was beginning to wonder if Narcissa had simply been yanking their chain. He then began to wonder just how the phrase yanking their chain came into existence. Maybe when people were put on the rack, and the rack was elongated, they pulled on a chain to lengthen it. He certainly could sympathize with them at the moment. Suddenly, a infuriatingly calm, and oh-so-familiar voice came from behind him.
"Hello, Yutaka."
Watari felt the familiar mask of eccentricity slip over him, as his instincts shrilled danger alarms. "Lucius! What a surprise! I hope that the little potion I left in your liquor cabinet didn't cause you any trouble."
Lucius' face went momentarily blank. "Potion?"
"Yes! I substituted one of my amazing concoctions for your bottle of whiskey. I even managed to make it taste the same! My newest creation at the time, my Impotency Potion!"
Watari saw Lucius' lips shape "So that's why..." without making a sound.
Watari suppressed a snicker.
Lucius' eyes narrowed. "If you're done, would you care to move someplace private? I presume you have no desire for anyone to hear the rest of our conversation."
"On one condition," Watari said, smiling.
"What?" Lucius asked warily.
"You tell me how long the impotency potion lasted, and what happened to cause it to wear off."
Lucius almost choked.
"It's important for science!" Watari protested innocently. "After all, the only other person I ever tested it on was Evan Rosier, and his wife told me she couldn't tell the difference!"
Lucius eyed the one man he had never quite been able to predict warily. "Will you come with me to speak in private if I do so?"
"Sure!" said Watari. He was, oddly enough, feeling more relaxed than he had since he had found out that Voldemort was attempting to take over Japan. He figured it was sheer panic combined with the opportunity to piss off Lucius once more.
"Fine. It lasted a few months, until Narcissa's full-blooded Veela cousin came to visit."
"Reasonable enough," Watari shrugged, suppressing firmly his desire to snicker at tbe look of discomfort on Lucius' face. "Once it wore off, I'm assuming that there were no further difficulties?"
Lucius gave him a death-glare. "There were not," he bit off, clenching his jaw. "Now, shall we go?"
"Certainly," said Watari courteously.
Lucius stalked off, and Watari followed.
As they entered an elegantly-decorated room, which had some of the thickest shields Watari could remember sensing outside of Malfoy Manor, he felt much of the humour of their public conversation die. For a moment, he just looked at the brother he hadn't seen for twenty years. Still tall and arrogant, his blond hair as yet showed no signs of gray, and his gray eyes looked as piercing as ever. Seeing him standing there in his ridiculously expensive Armani suit, Watari was rudely reminded of everything he had struggled so hard to forget. "I see you're doing as well as expected," said Watari.
"Really. A shame I can't say the same of you." Lucius smiled, showing a tinge of real amusement. "I mean, really. A purple tuxedo?"
"I felt like being a prince and rescuing airheaded clutzes," responded Watari dryly. He was rewarded with seeing a flicker of confusion in Lucius' eyes. He loved throwing pop culture references at Lucius.
"Did you. I suppose princes must have abominable taste?"
"Of course," said Watari. "After all, what else are princes for but to do ridiculous things in such a way as to make them seem wonderful?"
"Somehow, Yutaka, I don't think that your wearing a tuxedo will convince anyone it's wonderful."
Watari shrugged. "Probably not."
Watari saw Lucius abruptly tire of their game. "I will admit, I was somewhat surprised when Narcissa told me that she met you today. Still fighting our Lord?"
Watari's voice chilled, abruptly losing all vestige of humour. He was pissed. "Voldemort," he said the name deliberately, watching Lucius' slight flinch, "is not my Lord. I acknowledge no psychotic terrorist as my Master." Watari paused, and added, "Especially not if he's such a flaming idiot as to require his followers to get a tattoo."
"Regardless of the fact, you swore loyalty to our Lord, and then betrayed him... traitor."
"Damn right I did," snapped Watari. "Oaths made under duress are nonbinding, and don't think I was stupid enough to think that I would get out of there alive if I didn't swear."
"I take it you still intend on preventing me from completing the mission our Lord assigned to me?" There was an unmistakeable note of danger in Lucius' voice, his hand lingering on his belt, next to his wand.
Watari drew the object that he had withdrawn from its long-time hiding place several days ago, feeling the reassuring weight of his wand in his had once more. "I do."
Lucius struck. "Adflicto affligo."
Watari nimbly dodged, and retaliated with a curse of his own. "Debilito."
Watari quickly fell into the familiar pattern of curse and counter curse. As the room lost its elegance as rebounded spells destroyed it, he vaguely hoped that Tatsumi wouldn't be too upset about the property damage. They continued to fight. As time ticked by, their curses became more damaging, more lethal, until finally...
Lucius paused, panting slightly. Blood soaked his hair from a glancing hit from a previous curse of Watari's, but he had managed to avoid any serious damage. Watari, on the other hand, was a mess. Rapidly healing burns crawled up one side of his face, a cut on his side still bled sluggishly, and a grey fog covered his eyes. Most disturbing, however, was the way that the flesh on his left arm was rotting off.
"Crucio!" shouted Lucius. His eyes were filled with triumph as Watari was finally just slightly too slow, and the curse hit him full on. Watari collapsed bonelessly onto the floor.
Watari suppressed the mindless screaming he wanted to indulge in, dredging up old pain-control techniques he had learned in long ago days. He managed to drag himself over to a wall, and leaned against it, staring at Lucius with hard eyes. "What..." he rasped, attempting to gain control of his voice. "...do you want..."
"You to misdirect your coworkers in the investigation," said Lucius calmly.
"Fuck off..." Watari mumbled. His eyes began to fall closed, as he felt his strength in his fight against the curse begin to wane.
"Failing that, for you to die."
"I'm... already dead... remember...?" Watari smirked, faking confidence.
"I'm sure there's a way to make that more permanent. I'll simply have to experiment for a bit."
Lucius raised his wand once more, as Watari closed his eyes, unable to do any more to resist.
Bang! The door to the room smashed open, and Tatsumi, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka skidded in, ready for action. They stopped in shock at the scene before them.
Lucius looked disappointed. "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to continue just now. I will see you later, little brother. Finite Incantum."
Watari let out a shuddering sigh of relief as he was released from Crucio.
Lucius continued with a smirk, "Have fun with your investigation. Apparate!"
With that, he disappeared.
~~~~~~
Tatsumi
Five minutes ago
~~~~~~
Narcissa came gliding up to Tatsumi, who had just managed to escape from an overaged dowager intent on having him meet her daughter. "Hello, Tatsumi-san, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. A pleasure to see you again." He quickly disposed of the pleasantries. "May I ask why you recommended that we come to this party to gether information for our case? I must admit that this seems quite innocuous so far."
Narcissa ignored his question, and smiled. "Have you seen Yutaka lately?"
With that, she adeptly blended into the crowd once more. This time, Tatsumi didn't even bother trying to find her again. All of his long-developed instincts were screaming that Watari was in danger.
He quickly located Tsuzuki and Hisoka, both of them who had been monopolized by a young aristocratic gaijin man. He quickly went over to them.
"Have you seen Watari-san?" he asked the two of them.
The two of them jumped. "He was over there the last time I looked for him," said Tsuzuki, pointing at the far wall.
Hisoka paused for a second, then paled. "I can't feel him anymore."
The young man interjected, "There is a room in the back that is heavily shielded. My father probably took him there. Go to that exit" - pointing at a door partially hidden by a draped curtain - "follow the hallway until you reach a door carved with dragons, and go in there."
At the clearly shown startlement in everyone's face, the young man grinned. "My father ordered me to distract you while he talked to Yutaka. I can't disobey him there without facing some pretty...severe...consequences. But, he didn't tell me anything about not telling you where he took Yutaka, and I thus have no obligation to do so."
"Pretty sophisticated logic for an nineteen year old," said Tatsumi skeptically.
An unreadable expression flashed over the man's face. "He" - nodding towards Hisoka - "reminds me of someone. I can't help him, so I'm helping you instead."
Hisoka looked like he didn't quite know how to answer that, so Tsuzuki took over for him. "Thank you," he said, for once looking serious. "If your information is true, we owe you a debt. Might we ask your name?"
"I'm Draco Malfoy, but don't worry about any sort of debt," the young man waved off any gratitude. Looking pointedly at his watch, he added, "You better get going. It's been a while."
Tatsumi nodded, and the three of them rushed off, Hisoka still looking vaguely startled.
A few minutes later, they were at the door. The three of them rushed in as Tatsumi kicked down the door. They stopped dead.
Tatsumi felt his blood turn to ice as he saw the blond scientist, leaning against the wall. He looked like a breathing corpse, and the only thing that reassured him was the knowledge of just how hard shinigami were to kill. He heard the other man in the room, who looked uncannily like Watari, say, "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to continue just now. I will see you later, little brother. Finite Incantum. Have fun with your investigation. Apparate!" With that, the other man disappeared.
Tatsumi thought he was about to pass out from shock. Little brother?! Watari had an elder brother?! Who he had apparently just been fighting?! WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON HERE?!
Tatsumi deliberately shoved aside his shock, and joined Tsuzuki and Hisoka in kneeling next to Watari. "How badly injured are you?"
Watari responded slowly, "Give me a few minutes. I know the countercurses for most of these, and then all I need to do is whip up a potion for the aftereffects, and I'll be set."
"Countercurse...?" Tatsumi's voice trailed off as Watari began to mutter under his breath, and his injuries began to visibly disappear. The process of healing his rotting arm seemed painfully slow, taking almost five minutes, but finally, unblemished flesh was left. Still, Watari's hands trembled.
Tsuzuki chirped, "I didn't know you knew that sort of magic."
Watari's normally cheerful smile seemed more like a grimace at the moment. "It's not exactly something I tell anyone."
Before the newly-revealed wizard could continue, Tatsumi scooped him up in his arms. "Hey!" protested Watari weakly.
"You still need to make yourself that potion, and I doubt you're in any state to bring yourself back to Meifu by yourself. You should conserve your strength," said Tatsumi briskly, firmly stopping himself from blushing. Watari felt...right...in his arms.
Watari, apparently too tired to argue at the moment, weakly agreed. A few seconds later, they were back in Watari's lab. Tatsumi trusted that Tsuzuki and Hisoka could take care of whatever was necessary before going back to the hotel.
003 immediately flew over to them, chirping in irritation at having been left behind, then in concern at seeing its master's state. It fluttered around Watari worriedly. Tatsumi carefully put Watari on the floor, still unobtrusively ready to support him should he prove to need it. The scientist didn't seem to notice as he quickly and skillfully mixed things Tatsumi didn't recognize. He moved almost as if in a trance, only breaking it as the potion turned a pale blue.
The moment it did so, Watari gulped it down, almost swaying with relief and suddenly-realized exhaustion as the effects hit him. Tatsumi saw him sway, and immediately picked him up again. "Where's the bed in here, anyways?"
Watari waved vaguely in the direction of his tiny bedroom. "Over there."
Tatsumi carried him over into his bedroom, and laid him gently on the bed. Somewhere along the way, Watari had fallen asleep. Tatsumi carefully removed the outer layer of the tuxedo, leaving Watari still dressed in a shirt and pants. He didn't have the nerve to undress Watari any further. 003 snuggled on top of Watari as Tatsumi carefully tucked Watari into the covers, and then just sat there for a very long time.
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Notes: Well, this one's up really early. Ah, the wonders of being home sick from school for two days. I still feel like crap, but I guess that means I should distract myself by writing. Not like there's much else to do when sick anyways. I suppose I should do my English homework, but fortunately, I really don't care.
In case anyone wonders, yes, I am a Harry/Draco fan. And I came up with the Tsuzuki/Hisoka sideplot! I'm overcome with joy. Expect for those two to begin to play a role in the story in the next couple chapters. It does mean I'll be needing to add another viewpoint to the story, though. Sorry, I was trying to keep it to Watari and Tatsumi.
For those of you who usually hate crossovers, first off, I'm flattered that you're making an exception. Secondly, believe me, I sympathize with you. I'm a crossover fan who gave up on reading crossovers a couple of years ago because I realized that ninety-nine percent of all crossovers frankly sucked. My personal theory is that people become so locked up in throwing the characters together, they forget little things such as plot or spelling. Or characterization, for that matter. One thing no one has ever complained about is my spelling. My various psychoses, yes. But not my spelling. (I'm joking here people. You can stop running and screaming.) Actually, the best line a psychiatrist ever gave me was 'You're normal for your culture as long as your culture consists of your family.' I interpret that to mean I'm screwed up, but so's my family, so that's ok. Not the most reassuring thing I've ever heard. Sorry, felt like rambling.
By the way, if there's anyone willing to beta-read for me, please e-mail me. My occasional beta-reader will only read HP non-slash, so I'm writing this with no beta-reader and it's making me nervous. Thanks.
Response to Reviews:
DD - Somehow, I really can't imagine Muraki ever being anyone's sidekick. Now, ally on the other hand...
Morien Alexander - You know, I hadn't even thought of Harry's reaction before I read that. Now, I'm tentatively planning on including it in future chapters. Congratulations! And thank you for the compliments.
free4ever - sorry, I couldn't manage to write any Tsuzuki stuff in. I find him incredibly hard to write. But I did have fun with the Lucius/Watari scene. :)
Clea - Harry really should have been in Slytherin shouldn't he? Oh well, now everyone has to satisfy themselves with fanfiction. Personally, my favorites are where he comes to peace with his Slytherin side. If you ever want to read an absolutely great fic with that, read Mirror of Maybe by Midnight Blue. It's Harry/Severus, a concept which scares the crap out of me, but she actually manages to make it work. And thank you for the compliments. It really is amazing how well the two series work together, isn't it? I researched it for a week, trying to prove to myself that it wouldn't work, but the timeline works so bloody well together, it's a miracle. Did you know that Hisoka and Harry were born in the same year?
Draconsis - Thank you. And I would try for long chapters, but then I tend to get distracted, which is probably a bad thing. I'm already generally reading another couple fics simultaneously as I write this. I have no attention span.
Ysabet - One of my favorite YnM authors likes my fic! Yay! Actually, your two Watari fics I keep rereading when I need inspiration. And sorry, no 003 in the party, but you're almost right with the wand! I figure it's rowan, with a phoenix tail-feather. I'm not sure why rowan though. I seem to remember it as being a fairly magical sort of wood in some mythologies, though. Maybe Celtic? I can't quite remember. Oh well.
Next chapter: Watari explains himself. We find out about his past.
by icediamond
Chapter 3
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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.
What has happened so far: Watari, Tatsumi, Hisoka and Tsuzuki were assigned to a new case: to stop Lord Voldemort from expanding into Japan. Watari is disturbed and hiding something. The gang are now about to attend a party which Watari's sister-in-law says will be helpful to the case...
(God, that feels awkward.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~
Watari
~~~~~~
Watari followed Tatsumi in presenting his invitation to the usher standing at the door, and was immediately let in. He looked around, concealing his nervousness. 'Damn, this is nice!' he thought with a silent whistle.
Elegant crystal chandeliers cast golden light on elegantly dressed men and women who were mingling with the restrained politeness of a truly high-class party. Watari estimated that the combined value of the jewelry in the room could buy a medium-size country in Africa, with enough left over to buy that country a well-equipped army. Watari felt almost underdressed in his tuxedo that he had managed to scrounge up from somewhere. Of course, it was purple. He felt like he was in some Sailor Moon show. 'If I feel the urge to start making speeches about love, I am so out of here,' he thought irritably.
Hisoka joined him briefly. "Tatsumi says to stop standing there are, and start mingling."
"Okay, okay." Sigh.
Hisoka looked at him for a second. "You okay?"
Watari waved his hand dismissively, pasting a smile on his face. "Yeah, sure. Formal parties just make me nervous."
"If you say so..." Hisoka saw Tsuzuki about to dive head-first into the buffet, and rushed off to stop him.
Watari wandered through the party. Long-forgotten instincts enabled him to mingle and chat politely with his mind elsewhere. 'God, this is boring,' he thought with an inward sigh. He was beginning to wonder if Narcissa had simply been yanking their chain. He then began to wonder just how the phrase yanking their chain came into existence. Maybe when people were put on the rack, and the rack was elongated, they pulled on a chain to lengthen it. He certainly could sympathize with them at the moment. Suddenly, a infuriatingly calm, and oh-so-familiar voice came from behind him.
"Hello, Yutaka."
Watari felt the familiar mask of eccentricity slip over him, as his instincts shrilled danger alarms. "Lucius! What a surprise! I hope that the little potion I left in your liquor cabinet didn't cause you any trouble."
Lucius' face went momentarily blank. "Potion?"
"Yes! I substituted one of my amazing concoctions for your bottle of whiskey. I even managed to make it taste the same! My newest creation at the time, my Impotency Potion!"
Watari saw Lucius' lips shape "So that's why..." without making a sound.
Watari suppressed a snicker.
Lucius' eyes narrowed. "If you're done, would you care to move someplace private? I presume you have no desire for anyone to hear the rest of our conversation."
"On one condition," Watari said, smiling.
"What?" Lucius asked warily.
"You tell me how long the impotency potion lasted, and what happened to cause it to wear off."
Lucius almost choked.
"It's important for science!" Watari protested innocently. "After all, the only other person I ever tested it on was Evan Rosier, and his wife told me she couldn't tell the difference!"
Lucius eyed the one man he had never quite been able to predict warily. "Will you come with me to speak in private if I do so?"
"Sure!" said Watari. He was, oddly enough, feeling more relaxed than he had since he had found out that Voldemort was attempting to take over Japan. He figured it was sheer panic combined with the opportunity to piss off Lucius once more.
"Fine. It lasted a few months, until Narcissa's full-blooded Veela cousin came to visit."
"Reasonable enough," Watari shrugged, suppressing firmly his desire to snicker at tbe look of discomfort on Lucius' face. "Once it wore off, I'm assuming that there were no further difficulties?"
Lucius gave him a death-glare. "There were not," he bit off, clenching his jaw. "Now, shall we go?"
"Certainly," said Watari courteously.
Lucius stalked off, and Watari followed.
As they entered an elegantly-decorated room, which had some of the thickest shields Watari could remember sensing outside of Malfoy Manor, he felt much of the humour of their public conversation die. For a moment, he just looked at the brother he hadn't seen for twenty years. Still tall and arrogant, his blond hair as yet showed no signs of gray, and his gray eyes looked as piercing as ever. Seeing him standing there in his ridiculously expensive Armani suit, Watari was rudely reminded of everything he had struggled so hard to forget. "I see you're doing as well as expected," said Watari.
"Really. A shame I can't say the same of you." Lucius smiled, showing a tinge of real amusement. "I mean, really. A purple tuxedo?"
"I felt like being a prince and rescuing airheaded clutzes," responded Watari dryly. He was rewarded with seeing a flicker of confusion in Lucius' eyes. He loved throwing pop culture references at Lucius.
"Did you. I suppose princes must have abominable taste?"
"Of course," said Watari. "After all, what else are princes for but to do ridiculous things in such a way as to make them seem wonderful?"
"Somehow, Yutaka, I don't think that your wearing a tuxedo will convince anyone it's wonderful."
Watari shrugged. "Probably not."
Watari saw Lucius abruptly tire of their game. "I will admit, I was somewhat surprised when Narcissa told me that she met you today. Still fighting our Lord?"
Watari's voice chilled, abruptly losing all vestige of humour. He was pissed. "Voldemort," he said the name deliberately, watching Lucius' slight flinch, "is not my Lord. I acknowledge no psychotic terrorist as my Master." Watari paused, and added, "Especially not if he's such a flaming idiot as to require his followers to get a tattoo."
"Regardless of the fact, you swore loyalty to our Lord, and then betrayed him... traitor."
"Damn right I did," snapped Watari. "Oaths made under duress are nonbinding, and don't think I was stupid enough to think that I would get out of there alive if I didn't swear."
"I take it you still intend on preventing me from completing the mission our Lord assigned to me?" There was an unmistakeable note of danger in Lucius' voice, his hand lingering on his belt, next to his wand.
Watari drew the object that he had withdrawn from its long-time hiding place several days ago, feeling the reassuring weight of his wand in his had once more. "I do."
Lucius struck. "Adflicto affligo."
Watari nimbly dodged, and retaliated with a curse of his own. "Debilito."
Watari quickly fell into the familiar pattern of curse and counter curse. As the room lost its elegance as rebounded spells destroyed it, he vaguely hoped that Tatsumi wouldn't be too upset about the property damage. They continued to fight. As time ticked by, their curses became more damaging, more lethal, until finally...
Lucius paused, panting slightly. Blood soaked his hair from a glancing hit from a previous curse of Watari's, but he had managed to avoid any serious damage. Watari, on the other hand, was a mess. Rapidly healing burns crawled up one side of his face, a cut on his side still bled sluggishly, and a grey fog covered his eyes. Most disturbing, however, was the way that the flesh on his left arm was rotting off.
"Crucio!" shouted Lucius. His eyes were filled with triumph as Watari was finally just slightly too slow, and the curse hit him full on. Watari collapsed bonelessly onto the floor.
Watari suppressed the mindless screaming he wanted to indulge in, dredging up old pain-control techniques he had learned in long ago days. He managed to drag himself over to a wall, and leaned against it, staring at Lucius with hard eyes. "What..." he rasped, attempting to gain control of his voice. "...do you want..."
"You to misdirect your coworkers in the investigation," said Lucius calmly.
"Fuck off..." Watari mumbled. His eyes began to fall closed, as he felt his strength in his fight against the curse begin to wane.
"Failing that, for you to die."
"I'm... already dead... remember...?" Watari smirked, faking confidence.
"I'm sure there's a way to make that more permanent. I'll simply have to experiment for a bit."
Lucius raised his wand once more, as Watari closed his eyes, unable to do any more to resist.
Bang! The door to the room smashed open, and Tatsumi, Tsuzuki, and Hisoka skidded in, ready for action. They stopped in shock at the scene before them.
Lucius looked disappointed. "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to continue just now. I will see you later, little brother. Finite Incantum."
Watari let out a shuddering sigh of relief as he was released from Crucio.
Lucius continued with a smirk, "Have fun with your investigation. Apparate!"
With that, he disappeared.
~~~~~~
Tatsumi
Five minutes ago
~~~~~~
Narcissa came gliding up to Tatsumi, who had just managed to escape from an overaged dowager intent on having him meet her daughter. "Hello, Tatsumi-san, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. A pleasure to see you again." He quickly disposed of the pleasantries. "May I ask why you recommended that we come to this party to gether information for our case? I must admit that this seems quite innocuous so far."
Narcissa ignored his question, and smiled. "Have you seen Yutaka lately?"
With that, she adeptly blended into the crowd once more. This time, Tatsumi didn't even bother trying to find her again. All of his long-developed instincts were screaming that Watari was in danger.
He quickly located Tsuzuki and Hisoka, both of them who had been monopolized by a young aristocratic gaijin man. He quickly went over to them.
"Have you seen Watari-san?" he asked the two of them.
The two of them jumped. "He was over there the last time I looked for him," said Tsuzuki, pointing at the far wall.
Hisoka paused for a second, then paled. "I can't feel him anymore."
The young man interjected, "There is a room in the back that is heavily shielded. My father probably took him there. Go to that exit" - pointing at a door partially hidden by a draped curtain - "follow the hallway until you reach a door carved with dragons, and go in there."
At the clearly shown startlement in everyone's face, the young man grinned. "My father ordered me to distract you while he talked to Yutaka. I can't disobey him there without facing some pretty...severe...consequences. But, he didn't tell me anything about not telling you where he took Yutaka, and I thus have no obligation to do so."
"Pretty sophisticated logic for an nineteen year old," said Tatsumi skeptically.
An unreadable expression flashed over the man's face. "He" - nodding towards Hisoka - "reminds me of someone. I can't help him, so I'm helping you instead."
Hisoka looked like he didn't quite know how to answer that, so Tsuzuki took over for him. "Thank you," he said, for once looking serious. "If your information is true, we owe you a debt. Might we ask your name?"
"I'm Draco Malfoy, but don't worry about any sort of debt," the young man waved off any gratitude. Looking pointedly at his watch, he added, "You better get going. It's been a while."
Tatsumi nodded, and the three of them rushed off, Hisoka still looking vaguely startled.
A few minutes later, they were at the door. The three of them rushed in as Tatsumi kicked down the door. They stopped dead.
Tatsumi felt his blood turn to ice as he saw the blond scientist, leaning against the wall. He looked like a breathing corpse, and the only thing that reassured him was the knowledge of just how hard shinigami were to kill. He heard the other man in the room, who looked uncannily like Watari, say, "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to continue just now. I will see you later, little brother. Finite Incantum. Have fun with your investigation. Apparate!" With that, the other man disappeared.
Tatsumi thought he was about to pass out from shock. Little brother?! Watari had an elder brother?! Who he had apparently just been fighting?! WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON HERE?!
Tatsumi deliberately shoved aside his shock, and joined Tsuzuki and Hisoka in kneeling next to Watari. "How badly injured are you?"
Watari responded slowly, "Give me a few minutes. I know the countercurses for most of these, and then all I need to do is whip up a potion for the aftereffects, and I'll be set."
"Countercurse...?" Tatsumi's voice trailed off as Watari began to mutter under his breath, and his injuries began to visibly disappear. The process of healing his rotting arm seemed painfully slow, taking almost five minutes, but finally, unblemished flesh was left. Still, Watari's hands trembled.
Tsuzuki chirped, "I didn't know you knew that sort of magic."
Watari's normally cheerful smile seemed more like a grimace at the moment. "It's not exactly something I tell anyone."
Before the newly-revealed wizard could continue, Tatsumi scooped him up in his arms. "Hey!" protested Watari weakly.
"You still need to make yourself that potion, and I doubt you're in any state to bring yourself back to Meifu by yourself. You should conserve your strength," said Tatsumi briskly, firmly stopping himself from blushing. Watari felt...right...in his arms.
Watari, apparently too tired to argue at the moment, weakly agreed. A few seconds later, they were back in Watari's lab. Tatsumi trusted that Tsuzuki and Hisoka could take care of whatever was necessary before going back to the hotel.
003 immediately flew over to them, chirping in irritation at having been left behind, then in concern at seeing its master's state. It fluttered around Watari worriedly. Tatsumi carefully put Watari on the floor, still unobtrusively ready to support him should he prove to need it. The scientist didn't seem to notice as he quickly and skillfully mixed things Tatsumi didn't recognize. He moved almost as if in a trance, only breaking it as the potion turned a pale blue.
The moment it did so, Watari gulped it down, almost swaying with relief and suddenly-realized exhaustion as the effects hit him. Tatsumi saw him sway, and immediately picked him up again. "Where's the bed in here, anyways?"
Watari waved vaguely in the direction of his tiny bedroom. "Over there."
Tatsumi carried him over into his bedroom, and laid him gently on the bed. Somewhere along the way, Watari had fallen asleep. Tatsumi carefully removed the outer layer of the tuxedo, leaving Watari still dressed in a shirt and pants. He didn't have the nerve to undress Watari any further. 003 snuggled on top of Watari as Tatsumi carefully tucked Watari into the covers, and then just sat there for a very long time.
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Notes: Well, this one's up really early. Ah, the wonders of being home sick from school for two days. I still feel like crap, but I guess that means I should distract myself by writing. Not like there's much else to do when sick anyways. I suppose I should do my English homework, but fortunately, I really don't care.
In case anyone wonders, yes, I am a Harry/Draco fan. And I came up with the Tsuzuki/Hisoka sideplot! I'm overcome with joy. Expect for those two to begin to play a role in the story in the next couple chapters. It does mean I'll be needing to add another viewpoint to the story, though. Sorry, I was trying to keep it to Watari and Tatsumi.
For those of you who usually hate crossovers, first off, I'm flattered that you're making an exception. Secondly, believe me, I sympathize with you. I'm a crossover fan who gave up on reading crossovers a couple of years ago because I realized that ninety-nine percent of all crossovers frankly sucked. My personal theory is that people become so locked up in throwing the characters together, they forget little things such as plot or spelling. Or characterization, for that matter. One thing no one has ever complained about is my spelling. My various psychoses, yes. But not my spelling. (I'm joking here people. You can stop running and screaming.) Actually, the best line a psychiatrist ever gave me was 'You're normal for your culture as long as your culture consists of your family.' I interpret that to mean I'm screwed up, but so's my family, so that's ok. Not the most reassuring thing I've ever heard. Sorry, felt like rambling.
By the way, if there's anyone willing to beta-read for me, please e-mail me. My occasional beta-reader will only read HP non-slash, so I'm writing this with no beta-reader and it's making me nervous. Thanks.
Response to Reviews:
DD - Somehow, I really can't imagine Muraki ever being anyone's sidekick. Now, ally on the other hand...
Morien Alexander - You know, I hadn't even thought of Harry's reaction before I read that. Now, I'm tentatively planning on including it in future chapters. Congratulations! And thank you for the compliments.
free4ever - sorry, I couldn't manage to write any Tsuzuki stuff in. I find him incredibly hard to write. But I did have fun with the Lucius/Watari scene. :)
Clea - Harry really should have been in Slytherin shouldn't he? Oh well, now everyone has to satisfy themselves with fanfiction. Personally, my favorites are where he comes to peace with his Slytherin side. If you ever want to read an absolutely great fic with that, read Mirror of Maybe by Midnight Blue. It's Harry/Severus, a concept which scares the crap out of me, but she actually manages to make it work. And thank you for the compliments. It really is amazing how well the two series work together, isn't it? I researched it for a week, trying to prove to myself that it wouldn't work, but the timeline works so bloody well together, it's a miracle. Did you know that Hisoka and Harry were born in the same year?
Draconsis - Thank you. And I would try for long chapters, but then I tend to get distracted, which is probably a bad thing. I'm already generally reading another couple fics simultaneously as I write this. I have no attention span.
Ysabet - One of my favorite YnM authors likes my fic! Yay! Actually, your two Watari fics I keep rereading when I need inspiration. And sorry, no 003 in the party, but you're almost right with the wand! I figure it's rowan, with a phoenix tail-feather. I'm not sure why rowan though. I seem to remember it as being a fairly magical sort of wood in some mythologies, though. Maybe Celtic? I can't quite remember. Oh well.
Next chapter: Watari explains himself. We find out about his past.