Magic Castle by Gaki

Ahh, since there were a couple who wanted me to write the next part of this fic, I gave in. ^^v

And yes ^^;; I did make up that silly princess fairy tale. ^^; It's horrible, I know XD but I needed a fairy tale for Tsuzuki to tell and well, I made one up XDD

Oh yea, and I used Mother instead of 'Okaasama' because adding that in didn't seem to fit. Plus Mother is as respectful as 'Okaasama'.

Okay, without delaying you all any longer. Here's the next part! And I'm not sure if there'll be a Chapter 3 or not but I'll think about it ^^v

It's going to snow. The man beside him thought as he picked up his pace, in a hurry to go home to a warm house with a fireplace where he can sit down in a couch with his wife and kids.

He stopped in his tracks, leaning his head back to watch the thick grey clouds above. It's going to snow. The women holding tightly onto her daughter's hand thought as she pulled her coat tighter around herself to keep her soft round body warm from the cold weather. The little girl giggled in delight. It's going to snow! He stood there in the mist of the crowded streets, his jacket not even thick enough to keep him warm and yet he didn't care. He continued to look up at the sky as if daring the snow to come falling down in all it's glory. As if daring to see if the people around him - It's going to snow. It's going to snow! - were correct.

He looked away, continuing on his way, his jacket still partly open revealing a sweater underneath. There was a strange comfort he took in cold weather like this. He could spend his time at home, wrapped up in a warm blanket with a cup of hot chocolate in hand. He didn't drink the hot chocolate, it was just something about the warm smell of the melted chocolate that soothed him. Made he feel at ease and relaxed. It was like being pulled into a warm comforting hug that smelled of spices that played with his senses and made him wanted to fall asleep while sitting beside the window.

Of course, it was also this kind of weather that made him brood even more. Turning his face down, making sure not to bump into any of the passing crowd around him, Hisoka made his way out of the sidewalk and towards a nearby park. He watched his snow covered boots as cement slowly turned to wet dirt and grass. Crunch, crunch, CRACK. He'd step on something, probably an acorn nut or maybe a lose batch of dirt. Certainly nothing important that needed to be looked over. People stepped on things when they walk. It was just the way things were. Raising his head, he found that he'd made his way back to the same bench from a few days before.

The same bench he'd sat in when Tsuzuki had told him the story about the foolish princess.

Making his way slowly towards the bench, he cringed a bit when he felt wetness soak through his jeans as he sat down. Glancing sideways at the spot where the older shinigami had sat in, he frowned. He still didn't know why Tsuzuki had told him that story. Didn't know why Tsuzuki would bother sharing something that he obviously treasured to someone like him. It wasn't as if he didn't read fairy tales, it was just he never had a fairy tale being told to him before.

Mother had said that telling him stories about princesses and princes weren't worth his time. He was the next in the Kurosaki line, it didn't seem fit to tell him stories he didn't need to know. Fairy tales that would only make him sit far off in a corner and day dream. He didn't have a normal childhood, right from the start. His Father, even though he was affectionate at times, seemed to hold back. It was as if there was a wall around him that he couldn't get through. He was allowed to look, to watch and be awed.

But he was never allowed to touch.

His Mother. His Mother was a different story. She would hold him, she would smile and she would bring him warm tea to drink in the cold mornings. He remembered her smiles. He loved it, when she smiled. She would look like a princess, he thought, from a fairy tale he'd hear from the village children as they'd run by the gates. Her eyes would sparkle, just slightly and her lips were pressed together gently, curved upwards at the corner. It was a polite smile.

"Mother?" He had to make sure he didn't speak too loudly or too quietly. It wasn't proper for the heir of the Kurosaki line to look and sound weak. He walked slowly, remembering her soft words, not scolding, just telling him, and teaching him, the proper way for a man to walk around. Head held high- "Not too high, Hisoka, you don't want to look condescending." - shoulders held back and his spine straight. "Mother?"

She was sitting in the tea room, her fan in hand. It was in the middle of summer, he hated the heat. It made him feel sleepy and tired all the time. He didn't like sleeping too much, he wanted to stay awake and watch his father and mother and listen to the children beyond the gates. He wanted to play with them, surely it would be so fun if he could just play with them once, but his Mother had said no and that was that. Walking up slowly to her side, he sat down; legs tucked in neatly underneath him and turned towards her, his eyes wide and imploring.

"Mother?"

"Hm?" She said. Her voice was soft. He loved listening to her voice; especially when she would hum softly to him at night. He loved falling asleep with his Mother humming something he couldn't make out but was beautiful anyway because it was from his Mother and anything from his Mother was wonderful. "What is it?"

He resisted the urge to gnaw on his lower lip; it wasn't a proper thing to do. It showed your weakness. It wasn't something a Kurosaki would do. "Mother," he started, moving slightly closer to her, resting his small hands on her lap, "tell me about the Princess of Bamboos?"

The hand holding the fan and waving it slowly back and forth stopped moving. His Mother turned her head and gazed down at him, and even though her eyes were gentle and soft, he could feel disapproval in them. He lowered his head, pulling his hands away and resting them instead on his own lap. "I heard the children outside the gates talking about the Princess of Bamboos."

He looked up at her from under his hair to find that she was still looking at him. The hand holding the fan went back to waving it slowly back at forth as her lips pressed together in a gentle smile. She raised her other hand, the one resting in her lap and touched his cheek softly.

"They are nothing but foolish stories, Hisoka. They are not worth your time."

And so he didn't ask her to tell him about Tanabata, the two lovers torn apart by the gods and were only able to meet once a year, or about Momotaro, the boy who was born from a peach, or about The Crab and the Monkey.

And it was a smile he treasured more than anything.

He treasured it because after a certain time, she never smiled at him ever again. He didn't know why, but his Mother started to grow further and further away from him. The smiles faded, the warm arms that would wrap around him became empty spaces and the warm tea stopped coming. And it all happened when the voices started coming. Softly at first, like a ghost of a whisper. Then slowly, ever so slowly, they would become louder.

At first, he thought they were his own voices but after a short time he knew they didn't belong to him. And he became frightened as any child would when they hear voices not their own in their head. He became frightened and he asked, he asked questions.

"Why do I hear voices in my head?"

But nobody would answer him. Instead they would stare and turn away, whispering amongst themselves even as they were whispering in their heads about him. And he was left standing there in the dark with shadows all around him whispering about him and he could hear everything. Everything that left the lips of the shadows was loud and hurtful in his ears. He couldn't run to his Mother because she was no longer there.

"Your Mother isn't feeling well, Hisoka. Leave her alone for now."

And so he would go to his Father. He would ask his Father and sometimes his Father would answer and sometimes his Father wouldn't. But it was better than nothing. Even if his Father never looked at him in the face.

He was standing in the empty room with his Father sitting in front of him. He was staring at his Father's back. Tall and strong, even in the way he sat he could tell his Father was a proud man. But his back looked so straight that it seemed as if it would break apart any minute. Any minute now. So he stood there in the semi dark room, staring at his Father's back and he was trying to find the right words to ask a question and wonder if his Father would answer or if he was going to be ignored again.

"They say I'm different." He began. "'m not normal. That I'm strange." It was a statement. A statement that was a question at the same time.

There was a silence. It always took time for his Father to answer. His words were never rushed when he spoke and when he spoke his voice demanded attention. Such a strong man his Father was. He wanted to be just like his Father. Just like his Father…

"Yes," Muttered the deep voice that made him feel small. "you are different."

He lowered his head, staring down at his bare feet.

"You are different. You are strange, Hisoka."

And he wanted to be just like his Father…

"Hisoka! There you are!"

He didn't have to turn and look to find out who it was. It was Tsuzuki, who else would go looking for him in this kind of weather? Only an idiot would. He wanted to glare. So he did.

Tsuzuki came running up to him, his face flushed a bright pink color, and a thick warm looking scarf was thrown carelessly around his neck as he grinned down at Hisoka.

Only an idiot like Tsuzuki could grin at a glare from Hisoka.

"I couldn't find you at your house and went around looking for you. I didn't think you'd go to the park." Tsuzuki casually sat himself right next to Hisoka, as if it was something he was supposed to do. If Hisoka was sitting in a chair, then Tsuzuki would take up space in the one next to it. If Hisoka decided to stand, then Tsuzuki would stand beside him.

He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, that it was comforting. To see someone so comfortable around him that they would sit right next to him without wanting to flinch away. But his expression remained the same. A glare, a questioning glare that asked, "Here I am. What do you want? Idiot." The last part was a written all over his face. It was a word that would so easily escape his lips whenever he thought about the older man that he started to wonder if he still thought of Tsuzuki as an idiot.

Still smiling, Tsuzuki came up close to Hisoka, leaning over the younger boy, his hand moving to his trench coat. "I have something for you," he said, his voice slightly teasing. Saying, "Ask me what it is! Ask me, Hisoka!"

So Hisoka sighed, glad that the cold weather had already made his cheeks red but he hoped Tsuzuki wouldn't notice his blushing nonetheless. "What is it?"

Tsuzuki's grin widen, if it were possible. Pulling his hand from his coat, Tsuzuki produced a soft looking plush bear wearing a rich deep color red Santa suit. The little red Santa hat was sewed into the side, covering one ear while leaving the other naked. In the bear's right hand, clutched tightly in the paw and super glued to the paw itself was a dark velvet bag that was tied around the top by a golden colored string. The words Merry Christmas! was hand sewed into place on the belly of the bag as a few presents were also super glued to its side, showing that the bear was carrying far too many presents.

"For you."

Surprise wasn't the correct word to describe the look on Hisoka's face. Shocked wasn't quite it either. It was someone between Touched and Startled. The look on his face asked loudly, "You brought this for me? You ran all the way here, in the cold weather, from my house where you couldn't find me to Enma knows where and finally here to give me this bear?" And the look on Tsuzuki's smiling face was far too easy to read. It was the look that he always gave Hisoka whenever he did something for him, whether or not he was asked to. "For you."

It was strange that sometimes they didn't need to speak to understand each other.

Lifting his hand slowly, Hisoka reached out and took the bear from Tsuzuki's gloved hand. His face was burning hot, from embarrassment and something more. Unable to look at Tsuzuki in the eye anymore, he held the bear in his lap, his fingers touching the face, then the hat and then tugging at the glued presents. He didn't need to say "Thank you." to Tsuzuki. It was already written in his body language. The way his tensed shoulders relaxed, the way his brows were no longer touching or arched, the way the corner of his mouth was now smooth. His entire body whispered a soft "Thank you." and that was all Tsuzuki needed.

They sat in a comfortable silence for awhile. Hisoka still unable to raise his head to look at Tsuzuki and Tsuzuki unable to take the stupid grin off his face. He looked as if he'd won a grand prize. It's going to snow soon. An old man passing by thought as he looked up towards the pregnant clouds. Hisoka raised his head slightly and watched as the old man coughed into his gloved hands and pulled his jacket closer to his frail body. He shivered a little, just a little bit as he bit the inside of his cheek.

"Cold?" Asked the voice at his side.

He shook his head. "Not really."

Again came the comfortable silence. Glancing at Tsuzuki from underneath his hair at the corner of his eyes, Hisoka muttered quietly. "Tsuzuki."

Turning his smiling eyes away from the children playing snowballs, Tsuzuki looked back at Hisoka. "Hm?"

Looking down at the bear, still unable to look directly into Tsuzuki's eyes, Hisoka felt his face burn hotter. "That," he started then his voice cracked. Blushing even more, he waited awhile before starting again. "That fairy tale, about the princess, you told me yesterday."

Tsuzuki grinned, enjoying, but keeping the thoughts to himself, seeing Hisoka stumble over his words for once. "What about it?"

"When you asked me, if I'd push people away if they," Hisoka continued, poking the bear's beady black eye, "asked for my hand."

"Mmhmm." Really, Hisoka can be so cute sometimes. He grinned even wider.

"Well," Hisoka went on, ignoring his burning face and ears. "if… If someone tried to win your hand, would you push them away?"

Hisoka's body tensed up instantly, as if it took all his will power to ask that one simple question Tsuzuki so easily asked him with a smiling face. Watching his younger partner squirm for a few more minutes, Tsuzuki sat straight up. He couldn't stop grinning, it was just so easy to smile around Hisoka. Even if all he did was glare. Even if all he did was call him an idiot. Pressing a finger to his lips, Tsuzuki pretended to think.

Finding the bear more than interesting now, Hisoka tugged at the string, as if wondering if he could open it and look inside like a greedy little child. He didn't notice Tsuzuki taking his scarf off from around his neck. He didn't notice Tsuzuki moving slightly closer until he felt hands on his shoulder, turning him around to face the older shinigami. He raised his head, looking into Tsuzuki's eyes for the first time since he'd received the bear. Violet sparkled with amusement down at him as Tsuzuki wrapped the scarf around his neck.

It was soft; like holding a new born puppy against your face and letting it nuzzle into your neck as you closed your eyes and fought against the feeling of wanting to sleep. Tsuzuki continued to smile, although this time it was softer, a gentle look spreading itself on his face as he sat back and took in the image of Hisoka wrapped up in his scarf. And the scarf smelled nicely of Tsuzuki. And Tsuzuki smelled wonderfully of sweets. Of apple pies, cinnamon and chocolate cakes. Of soft powered sugar and sweet sticky buns and cheesecake. Hisoka fought against the sudden urge to close his eyes and breathed in the smell.

It comforted him. Like the smell of hot chocolate, Tsuzuki's scent comforted him in ways he didn't understand. It made him want to curl up with a book in his lap and just fall asleep without reading a single page of it. They fell into another silence. Tsuzuki hadn't told him his answer, Hisoka knew. But in another way, he did. He answered it when he took off his scarf and wrapped it around Hisoka's neck. He answered it when he sat back and smiled that smile only Tsuzuki could smile. And Hisoka continued to play with the bear, still unable to look into warm violets as he played the answer over and over again in his head.

"It's going to snow," Tsuzuki whispered softly.

And it began to snow.

"If someone tried to win your hand, would you push them away?"

No.