A/N: Argh! The case that'll be the focus of the plot is starting! I'm sooooo nervous! What if it's crap? What if all of you hate it and refuse to read it anymore and my story gets relegated to the back pages of FF.net?????? *Cough* Ah, panic attack over. *Bows* Ohayo, minna-san. Today I will possibly upload 2 chapters as it's Eid-ul-Fitri (it's a celebration for those who don't know, Ice-Phoenix should know since you're Singaporean ^0^) & I refuse to go to anybody's house! Haha! So I'm alone with my computer and a hentai imagination! Ahh. . . . the possibilities are endless. Twylise-san: Thanks, I like Kyo too *giggles crazily*, btw, I read your fic 'Twists' and . . . mou, I don't even know why you're reading mine. . . . you're a way better writer than I am. . . . thanks anyway! ^ . ^
A/N 2: I hate Las Ketchup.
Warning: Major Angst! (I hope) Major Trouble! Traps! Kyo-Torture! (Mwahahaha!)
Pairings: As usual, plus, a further look into that missing somebody from Kyo's life *wipes tears*
Disclaimer: *Double yawn* Oh yeah, the song is Kelly Rowland's (Destiny's Child) "Stole". It's a great song! Get it! In a way, it's even better than "Dilemma". So don't sue me!
CHAPTER FIVE: Mind Games
"Mary's got the same-size hands as Marilyn Monroe,
She put her fingers in the imprints at Mann's Chinese Theater show,
She could've been a movie star,
Never got the chance to go that far,
Her life was stole,
Oh, now we'll never know . . . ."
It didn't take long for Watari to join them after they called him up. He now sat on the couch beside Kyo and perused the note thoughtfully, chewing on his lower lip. To say that they were disturbed by it was the least he could say. They were more like freaked out.
Tatsumi was about to wear a track in the carpet from his restless pacing back and forth. Tsuzuki was just lying on the bed, his back against the headboard and he was cuddling Hisoka close to him. All of them kept their silence.
Watari finally looked up and addressed Hisoka, "And you couldn't feel anything from the note?"
Hisoka sighed. They had been over this dozens of times already. "No," he repeated again dully. "I couldn't feel any sort of residual emotion from the note. It's blank. It's like it wasn't even written by a human."
"Hmm," Watari chewed his lip again. "I'll run some tests on it then, see if I can get anything like fingerprints or whatever."
"What about the shop?" Kyo asked. "Are we still going to do it now or . . . ."
Tatsumi stopped his 150th. lap around the room to stare thoughtfully at Kyo. "First, since the killer has proven he has the ability to track us down, we all agree that changing motels would just be a waste of time?" he paused until everyone nodded in assent and went on. "But, we'll still take precautions. Anytime anyone of us is in the room, I want barriers to be put up and no one is to go anywhere alone. As for the shop, we'll go tonight. In case something goes wrong, the less witnesses or casualties, the better. So get some rest, everyone."
With that, Watari stood up and moved to the adjoining room they had gotten after Watari arrived. What with the additional Shinigami and the equipment he brought, the room was getting pretty crowded. So instead of the couch, Kyo would be sharing the next room with Watari. "I think I'll go help Watari," Kyo announced and went to follow the blond-haired scientist. Anything would be better than just sitting around doing nothing, Kyo reasoned. Even if he didn't get much sleep last night (as usual), he was too buzzed with adrenaline and nervous energy to try and get some anyway.
I wonder if psychopaths/killer/dark magicians surf the 'net too, Kyo wondered idly.
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(A couple of hours later, mid-afternoon)
Kyo yawned and stretched himself lazily, wincing as several joints popped in protest. He had been hunched over the spare laptop Watari brought for the last few hours, surfing through old case files, searching for clues. So far, nothing. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and wondered why is it that Shinigamis, having rapid healing powers, can get tired as normal people do too.
Gee, it could be due to the fact that you haven't been sleeping right for months, the voice in the back of his head piped up cheerfully. Oh shut up, Kyo thought to himself. He glanced over to his left at Watari who had also been typing away at his computer, his fingers dancing with delightful speed over the keyboard. The scientist seemed to be able to operate tirelessly on just his genkiness it seemed. He can't remember if the blond had even stopped to take a coffee break that morning. He himself had drunk 3 cups at least.
"And I got my bladder to prove it," Kyo muttered to himself sourly. Just as he was about to open his mouth to needle Watari, the scientist himself suddenly stopped, and stretched, flexing his fingers.
"This case," Watari paused for a more dramatic effect, "has got to be one of the most toughest and best case so far!"
Kyo rolled his eyes.
"Scientifically speaking of course," Watari hastened to assure his partner.
"Yes, I find it intellectually stimulating the fact that there's somebody out there who's trying to summon us with a dark spell and do God-knows-what to us." Kyo deadpanned.
Sweatdrop. "Ah, Kyo-san! One must always find the joy in even the littlest things, you know . . . ."
"Tell that to my stomach," Kyo groaned, rubbing the aforementioned part of his body sympathetically. "I'm hungry. Can we *please* got get lunch?"
"What about the others? Shall we get them to come along?" Watari asked, closing down his laptop and trying to put some semblance of order to the stacks of yellow notepaper filled with his scrawling. At last he gave up and decided that as long as he can find what he's looking for, what does it matter?
Kyo sighed disconsolately. "Tatsumi went back to Meifu to try get some answers from Kacho. Tsuzuki and Hisoka went out for lunch ages ago," he reminded his partner.
"Aa! Soka? Well, let's go then! I know a great place not far from here that makes the best ramen . . . ."
Smiling, Kyo followed the still-babbling scientist out of the room and locked the doors behind them.
* * *
They took their time as they made their way to the roadside stall that Watari claimed has the best ramen in Kyoto. Walking together, they made quite a pair, the golden-haired chattering scientist, who, for once was wearing normal shirt, jacket and slacks instead of his habitual white lab coat, and Kyo, similarly attired but with his ever present black baseball cap on his head.
"Why do you keep on wearing that cap whenever we go out?" Watari asked curiously. They were passing through some of the busier districts of downtown Kyoto, moving easily through the crowd of Saturday-morning shoppers with their various errands. "I hardly ever see you take it off outside the office."
Kyo waited until they had crossed a busy junction before answering. "I used to come here a lot, before I died. And since I died recently, you can imagine the shock it would cause if people recognized me," he said, smiling.
Watari gave him a glance. Sure enough, the cap would ensure that nobody would at least immediately recognize him as it was one of those caps with the curled brims pulled low over his eyes. God knows that his eyes alone would have been a (ahem) dead giveaway.
"So which places do you go to when you come here?"
Kyo shrugged. "I liked visiting the temples and the Zen gardens. It's peaceful."
"Aa, I know what you mean!" Watari nodded enthusiastically. "I've always loved the small temples that not a lot of tourists go to and . . . ." It took several moments for Watari to realize that his partner was no longer walking beside him. Looking back, he saw the boy standing at the last corner, staring fixedly into the glass-fronted interior of a small cafe.
He walked over to him and noticed Kyo holding himself rigidly, his fists clenched. Alarmed, he wondered if someone had recognized the boy after all. "Kyo? Is everything okay? Did you see somebody?" he tugged at the sleeve of Kyo's jacket but the boy didn't even look at him. He kept on staring inside the shop and Watari, following his gaze, saw the man.
He looked to be in his late twenties, probably 27 or 28 years old. All Watari could see was his left side as the man sat at a little table by himself, facing the opposite wall, a cup of coffee in his hand and reading a newspaper. Confused, Watari looked closely at the man. Could it be the killer? Nah, he dismissed the thought. From all accounts, he felt quite ordinary. Not even a hint of menace in his aura.
The man continued drinking his coffee and reading his paper, oblivious to the attention. From the sunlight streaming into the shop, Watari could make out that the man was quite tall, judging by the way he sat, probably a few inches taller than Kyo who was over 5' 8", with soft-looking brown hair, delicate hands (probably an artist or a medical practitioner, Watari thought) and was wearing glasses. All in all, quite ordinary. Probably good-looking, if he could ever catch a glimpse of his full profile, but ordinary in all other senses.
He turned to Kyo and was about to ask him again what's wrong when he quickly shut his mouth.
Tears were streaming silently down Kyo's suddenly pale face. Somehow in the last minute, a fine trembling took over his body as he continued to stare helplessly at the unidentified man inside the cafe.
"C'mon," Watari said softly. "Let's get away from here." He took Kyo's unresisting hand and tugged him away from the place and down into a dark alley. Moments later, they disappeared from view.
And inside the cafe, the man suddenly looked up from his paper, wondering at the feeling of somebody staring at him. Shrugging it off as a moment of fancy, he went back to his coffee.
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Kyo didn't seem to notice or care where Watari was taking him. They appeared a few heartbeats later in a small park, filled with sakura trees. Watari took him away from the public footpaths, deep into the grove of trees and finally sat them down under the shade of an ancient sakura, it's gnarled trunk providing a comfortable back rest, its branches giving shade from the summer sun.
Watari sat back quietly, content to let Kyo take his own time. It wasn't long before Kyo was in his arms, crying brokenly into his chest, his trembling grown worse. Kyo's hands were clutching the lapels of his jacket like a lifeline as Watari took off his cap and stroked his hair reassuringly, all the while murmuring soft, empty words of comfort.
It seemed like a painful eternity before Kyo finally stopped crying, hiccupping slightly. Thankfully, his trembling too had subsided and he pulled away from Watari, giving a watery smile of thanks as Watari handed him a handkerchief. "Gomen, I didn't mean to go crazy on you like that," he apologized. "Look at me," he laughed bitterly. "18 years old and crying like a baby," a disgusted note in his voice.
Watari shook his head. "Iye, it's okay. Besides, if we don't cry now and then, all of us would end up crazy. Tears heal, you know."
Sigh. "Aa, I know" Kyo replied softly, leaning back against the tree. "But it doesn't take the scars away."
There wasn't much Watari could say to that however, so he kept quiet. They sat there like that for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts until Watari finally broke the silence. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Kyo drew up his knees and hugged himself, a protective gesture. Unknowingly even to himself, his hands clenched again in remembrance. For a moment there, Watari thought that Kyo was going to deflect the question away again, like he always did whenever someone tried to find out about his past, but then, Kyo finally spoke up.
"He was, no," Kyo frowned down at his knees. "He *is* my everything. He's my family, my best friend, my . . . ." Kyo stopped himself and a slight blush stained his cheeks.
"Lover?"
Kyo gave him a startled look and he was rewarded with another blush. "Aa, is it, is that . . ." again, Kyo hesitated and Watari supplied him with the answer.
"What? Weird?"
Kyo nodded.
"You *have* noticed how close Tsuzuki and Hisoka can get don't you? After that, I can't really get that weirded out you know." Watari smiled indulgently. Kyo was quite cute when he blushed like that. For once, he really looked as young as his age, like a little brother, it seemed to Watari.
"Old habits die hard," Kyo explained. "Some people still can't really accept that sort of thing, even now. You know, isn't it funny that most of the guys in our office like other guys? What are the chances of those happening on earth you think?"
"It was pretty obvious from the start that Tsuzuki and Hisoka liked each other," Watari agreed. "It just took them a long time to finally come out and say it."
"Like you and Tatsumi."
"Like me an-WHAT????" It was Watari's turn to blush and his face was a fire-engine red. He continued to choke and splutter until he noticed the small smile playing on Kyo's lips. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "You are not," he declared, "going to do THAT evasion trick again."
Kyo laughed. "Didn't really think it would work this time anyway."
"So tell me about him," Watari offered. "I'd love to hear about the kind of guy who can make my partner blush like that."
Kyo gave him a grateful look and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I was a junior in high school then. That same year, our school got a new doctor. The old one was transferred to a different school." There was a faraway look in his eyes as he remembered back those days. Days when he was still alive.
"My friend, Hikaru, dragged me to the clinic to take a look at the new doctor whom she claimed was a, and I quote, a 'hottie'. His name was Matsumada Takashi. We became fast friends and it wasn't long before we started to spend a lot of time with him.
He was a nice guy, more than that, and the three of us would always hang out together. In school, weekends . . ." He trailed off.
"How long did it take you to realize that you love him? Or vice versa?"
Kyo blushed again and hung his head, "It took me nearly a year," he confessed.
"What on earth took you so long?" Watari demanded, incredulous.
"I was already in love with him before the end of the year!" Kyo protested defensively. "The rest of the time," here, Kyo grimaced slightly, "I spent it being confused."
"About what? Whether he loved you or not?" Watari guessed.
"Well, that. And . . ."
"Out with it boy."
"Well, I was straight!" Watari nearly laughed at the exasperated look on Kyo's face. However, he decided wisely that it might be a bad idea. Kyo noticed his suppressed laughter though and rolled his eyes.
"Just because I fell in love with a guy doesn't mean I'm gay you know. Or a bisexual," he added.
Watari raised an eyebrow. "It's true," Kyo insisted. "I liked girls. I still do. I never even liked a guy before. Or after. Believe me, I tried." Kyo assured him. "But then, I realized that it doesn't matter whom I love or how he looks like or what sex he is. I just love him and that's it."
"So what made you realized it anyway in the end?"
Kyo snorted with laughter, "I saw him and Hikaru kissing one day and before I realized it, I was running away like a scared rabbit. Taka saw me though and chased after me. We shouted, and I finally blurted out why I why I was so upset. Because I love him."
"What did he say then?" Watari was fascinated. This was almost as good as reading a romance novel.
"He said thank god, and if I had taken any longer to tell him that, he was seriously considering kidnapping me and eloping straight off."
Watari couldn't help himself. He finally broke down in gales of laughter, nearly lying on the ground as he clutched his aching side. Kyo just grinned and let Watari's mirth run its course.
Still giggling, Watari wiped his eyes. "You must have been pretty happy then."
"Aa, I was. It was easier for Taka to know he loved me though."
"Why's that?"
"He's been gay for as long as he could remember."
Watari giggled again and a thought struck him. "What about Hikaru? You said they were kissing."
Kyo sighed, a small smile on his face. "Apparently, Hikaru-chan finally got fed-up with the both of us and tried to force us to come face-to-face with our feelings. She hoped that by making me jealous, I'd finally admit my feelings to Taka."
"Which you did, so I'd say she did you a pretty big favour then."
"Yeah."
"So what happened then?"
A pause. "Six months later, I died."
Watari mentally cursed himself for his stupidity. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories."
Kyo shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's what on my mind most of the time anyway."
They lapsed into silence once again, letting the cool breeze that sprung up to caress them and brush away any lingering pain. Kyo had to admit to himself that it felt good to finally share with somebody a little bit of the hurt he felt. It still didn't come close as to having Taka back again but it was a start.
"You still want to get some ramen?"
Kyo looked up to see Watari standing over him, the lowering sun shining a halo around his blond locks. "It'll be my treat."
Kyo smiled. "I'd love to."
________________________________________________________________________
Night had fallen by the time they made their way to the suspected shop. Even without knowing of its reputation, it was pretty obvious that this was that part of Kyoto that the tourists didn't get to see. Or even the usual residents either. The one dingy street they came to which housed the shop they were looking for was filled with other shops, either run down and boarded up or just closed for the night, selling what only a select few would want or even dream of buying. Death seemed to be a major business on this street.
They passed broken bottles of beer littering the road and garbage that spilled out of trash cans ravaged by packs of wild dogs. Those beasts however, took one sniff of the Shinigamis and slunk away quietly. Dumb animals they may be but even these dumb animals could recognize death. They were not to be chosen as prey.
A few feet away from the shop, recognizable by the symbols painted on its wooden signboard, corresponding with the symbol they found, all five of them went into invisible mode with Watari staying outside to guard.
"Can you feel anything?" Tsuzuki asked Tatsumi quietly. Out of the four of them, Tatsumi was the one with the strongest reikan and should be able to sense anything spiritual inside. The secretary shook his head and gave a questioning look at Hisoka who in turn shook his head in the negative either.
"All right then, let's go. But remember, be careful." Tatsumi squared his shoulders resolutely and lead the way in, easily passing through the doors in his immaterialized state. Soon, all four of them were standing in the darkened interior of the shop, breathing quietly. Not a thing moved, not even a whisper of sound reached their ears, their eyes straining to see in the darkness.
"Did anyone remember to bring a light?" Kyo asked. A second later, a small flame appeared, made by Tsuzuki from a fire ofuda. That small ball of flame burned steadily, hovering above the ofuda that gave birth to it, and shed just enough light for them to see by.
All they saw were wooden shelves, running from floor to ceiling and packed with cobwebs and nothing else. The counter running across the breadth of the room was also covered with dust, cobwebs and showed gaping holes, made by who knows what.
"Doesn't look like it's been used for ages," Tatsumi started and that was when the ceiling dropped down on them.
The last thing the secretary remembered before he lost consciousness was the look of panic in Kyo's eyes.
________________________________________________________________________
Somebody groaned. Tatsumi wondered who it was until he realized that it was himself who groaned. Blinking, he tried to stand only to find himself jammed up, back against a wall and his knees pressed against his chest.
The reason for this rather awkward position was explained a few moments later as Tsuzuki coughed and again produced that magical ball of flame.
They were in a box. Or a damn small room. The other three was also jammed up in the same position, all of them facing each other, in a square. There was barely enough space for them to even fidget, with the ceiling only a few inches above their heads. What Tatsumi could make of the walls was that they were utterly black, not even reflecting the light from Tsuzuki's ofuda.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked.
Grunts of assent came from Hisoka who was in front of him, Tsuzuki who was on his left, but none from Kyo, on his right. The boy who also had his knees pressed uncomfortably close was hugging himself, his head bowed. "Kyo?" Tatsumi asked, his voice sharp with concern. "Are you alright?" Briefly, he remembered again the look of panic in the boy's eyes before they passed out.
Kyo lifted his head and Tatsumi was shocked to see that his face was white as paper, his pale eyes large with fright. The boy had started to shiver so hard, Tatsumi could feel his body vibrating with the close contact.
"What's wrong?" Tatsumi asked again and reached out to touch him, to check for injuries. But the boy shrank away from his hand.
"I'm, I'm alright," he gasped out.
"Like hell you are," It was Hisoka. "Tell us what's wrong or I'll knock you on the head again."
Kyo smiled rather weakly at that and took a deep breath. He couldn't seem to breathe properly, no matter how hard he tried. But that was probably because he was scared out of his mind, Kyo thought to himself, suddenly experiencing the sudden urge to giggle uncontrollably. Oh great, I'm getting hysterical, he realized dimly.
"I'm . . . .uh," his voice was barely a whisper but considering the close proximity they were to each other, everyone had no trouble hearing him. "I'm rather claustrophobic," he finished.
The other three blinked in surprise but it was Hisoka who first reached out to him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, despite Kyo trying to shrink away from him, his shivering growing worse.
"It's all right," Hisoka crooned softly, trying to project an aura of calmness through the swirling, confusing mass of emotions that was Kyo. Despite his fear, Kyo was keeping a rather tight hold on his emotional shield and with a start, Hisoka realized that Kyo was doing it for him, not wanting the overload the boy's emphatic ability. From the corner of his eye, he could see Tatsumi again reaching out to Kyo but he shook his head sharply. Any more close contact and Kyo was likely to fall apart.
"Listen to me," Hisoka said firmly. "It's going to be alright. We'll get out of here soon, don't worry."
But Kyo's body was now starting to jerk slightly and his voice was starting to break. "Yes, get out of here. That would be nice. In fact, that would be really good. Can we go now 'cause I'm not feeling so well and I would really like to get out of here so can we please please please get-Ouch!" Kyo glared at Hisoka. "What the hell did you pinch me so hard for?"
"Because you were hyperventilating," he replied, with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh," Kyo said, faintly. "Thanks," The jerking had stop now but he was still shivering. "Right." The glazed look of fear was dimmer now in his eyes and he clenched his hands, trying to control the shivering. "So how do we get out of here?"
Tsuzuki smiled at his brave attempt to master his fear and quickly spoke up, trying to distract Kyo. "What do you guys remember before passing out?"
Tatsumi frowned. "I seem to remember the ceiling coming down on us."
"And the walls moving in," Hisoka added thoughtfully, his hand still squeezing reassuringly Kyo's shoulder.
"Great," Kyo muttered.
"Aa," Tsuzuki nodded. "And the floor moving up too. So what does that mean?"
They kept quiet for a moment, lost in thought, until Kyo broke the silence, his voice rather husky but better controlled now. "That means that it wasn't the room itself that moved. It was a magical trap."
"You're right," Tatsumi nodded. "It was probably triggered when we came in the shop. But what kind of trap is it?"
Again they fell into silence and again Kyo broke it, but this time, asking a rather surprising question. "Do you guys notice it's not getting hot in here?"
The three of them started in surprise. "Yeah," Hisoka nodded. "It's quite cool, but what does it mean?"
"I'm pretty sure there are no holes anywhere in this trap, at least on my side." The others nodded to confirm the same for their side too after a moment of checking. "But considering that this "room" is pretty small, and that there's four of us, plus a fire, we should have been running low on oxygen so this "room" should have gotten hotter right?" Kyo asked.
"Yeah, you're right!" Tsuzuki said, excited now. "But that means . . . .erm, what does it mean anyway?" Tsuzuki asked, now deflated.
"Hold on for a minute." Kyo closed his eyes and with a little difficulty, unclenched his hands from their death grip on his knees and folded them into a prayer position. He muttered something under his breath, too soft for them to hear properly but a few seconds later, a cool wind blew through, rifling their hair and bringing with it a scent of dust.
Kyo opened his eyes and grinned somewhat shakily at them. "This trap isn't real!"
"Huh? What do you mean? It feels pretty solid to me," with that, Tsuzuki banged his fist against a wall, producing a dull thump.
Kyo shook his head. "It's an illusion. A pretty good one, but still an illusion. That's why the wind I called up could pass through. This isn't real."
"Okay," Hisoka said slowly. "Now we know it isn't real, what do we do? Repeat to ourselves that it isn't real and clicked our heels together three times?" Hisoka couldn't resist saying that but Kyo just grinned at him.
"All we have to do, is to destroy the source of the illusion."
"But what, or where is the source?" Tatsumi asked. "I can't feel anything with my reikan."
"That's because the trap is made of shadows," Kyo replied.
Tatsumi could have kicked himself, if there had been enough room to do it. Of course! The shop had been full of shadows when they entered so he didn't pay any attention to it. He had been so focused on how to get out of the trap, he hadn't even considered *what* the trap is actually. The Kagetsukai smiled in thanks at Kyo.
Without further ado, Tatsumi closed his eyes and searched inwardly for that focus which he used to master shadows. Instantly, it came to him, and he placed his hands on the floor at both sides of him and concentrated.
And concentrated some more. Beads of sweat started to trickle down his forehead. This trap was almost too much. Even though it was made of shadows, as Kyo had said, there was such a large concentration of it that he felt almost overwhelmed. A most infuriating feeling for a Shadow Master.
Slowly though, he could feel the shadows giving way. And not long after, he felt it thinning under his hands. He felt a surge of triumph and pulled some more. Almost, he seemed to hear, or rather, feel a snap in the fabric of the shadows and the whole trap collapsed around them.
And all four of them fell unceremoniously to the *real* floor of the shop they had entered with a crash. Apparently, the trap had been suspended more than a few feet of the floor. A second later, Watari materialized inside, alerted by the crash.
"What happened? Oops, sorry Kyo! Didn't mean to step on you like that!" Kyo waved aside his apology. "Are you guys alright?" The scientist-cum-resident doctor hurriedly made his rounds, checking for any injuries. Tsuzuki and Hisoka were alright, nursing only some scratches and bruises which were quickly fading but Tatsumi continued to lie there on the floor on his back, for once, not caring that his suit was getting dirty.
He was so tired, he could have slept right there and then but the look of concern on Watari's face as he checked Tatsumi over made him decide that it wasn't such a good idea. He really didn't want to make the blond-haired man any more worried than he already was.
"I'm alright." He smiled a little tired smile. "Just exhausted. You should check on Kyo, he was rather . . . distraught."
"If you're sure you're alright. . . ." Watari said, clearly reluctant to leave his side.
Tatsumi felt more than a little bit touched at his concern but he nodded, gesturing weakly at Kyo. "Go on."
"Aa, alright." Watari got up and made his way to Kyo who had curled himself up into a little ball by the shop's dusty front window. At first, Watari thought he had hurt himself pretty bad, judging by the shaking, but as he knelt down, concerned, in front of the boy, he noticed with a start of surprise that the normally cheerful, ever-pleasant boy was swearing sulfurously under his breath.
In several languages it seemed.
"Are you alright Kyo?" he asked, a bit taken aback at how fluently he was doing his cursing, switching effortlessly from one language to the next until it seemed he was almost singing his swearing.
Kyo nodded furiously and continued to swear.
A little bit nonplussed, Watari made his way over to Tsuzuki and Hisoka, asking them what happened.
Tsuzuki eyed Kyo, who was still swearing and explained as best as he could. "We were trapped. In a really, really small room." Watari still looked confused. "Kyo turned out to be claustrophobic."
"Ah," Watari exclaimed delicately. That would explain the swearing then. But what about Tatsumi?
"Kyo found out then that the trap was made of shadows. A lot of shadows. So Tatsumi got into action."
Ah, that would explain the exhaustion. He was about to say something further when out of nowhere, a piece of paper suddenly appeared in thin air and floated down to his hand. He grabbed it by reflex and stared at it in surprise and slowly dawning fear.
"You guys, we have another note," he said.
Tatsumi managed to pull himself into a sitting position, helped by Tsuzuki who had hurried over and Kyo finally stopped swearing.
"What does it say?" Tatsumi could have berated himself for that quiver of exhaustion in his voice but he simply did not have the energy to do it.
Watari cleared his throat a few times and began to read aloud;
"Konbanwa, Shinigamis. My, what a marvelous show you've put on!
I honestly didn't expect you people to have figured out my trap so
soon. . . . I wonder where I went wrong? Congratulations anyway.
Truly you Shinigamis have proven to be quite enjoyable participants
in my little game. I'm simply *trembling* with delight! Shall
we play some more then? Here's a little clue to help you start
the next game."
There was a little map drawn on the note, with an 'X' marking a spot on the outskirts of Kyoto, a little secluded area in the middle of some woods, if Watari remembered correctly.
"Well," Tatsumi said grimly, "If he wants a game, he's getting one."
~to be continued~
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A/N: Wahahahaha! How was it? I had a tear in my eye when Kyo saw Takashi again . . . *sniff*. So as usual, please review! I probably will be uploading another chapter later tonight! I'm getting quite excited by how things are progressing. Oh yes, IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING!:
I'll be starting on some lemony bits soon and I want to ask everybody's opinion. It will be my first attempt at it so I need some help. Would you guys like a *ahem* full-bodied and graphic lemon (tastefully done of course, I shudder reading the REALLY graphic kinds) or would you people just want some HINTS of lemony bits?? Please tell me when you're reviewing this chapter and I'll follow the majority! Ja ne!