Chapter One

Despite everything, all the trials and tribulations that the JuOhCho department was faced with, from employees possessed by demon lords, to border-lined sociopath doctors invading and destroying their lives, there was one constant that would never change, not for a million years, not even when eternity itself ended.

Tsuzuki Asato, when presented with the joy of cinnamon buns, apple pie, and brownies, would never show up to a meeting on time.

Tatsumi Seiichirou glanced down at his watch, and as if not quite believing the indicated time, looked up at the clock above the white board in the meeting room. Confirming that they were both identical, and Tsuzuki was indeed fifteen minutes late to the meeting, he sighed slightly, a sound barely noticeable to the other patrons of the room. Ordinarily, he would have sent someone out to find Tsuzuki, possibly gone after him on his own... but given the circumstances of the past month, he supposed he could find it in his infinite kindness to forgive him this once.

This once.

It was when he was prepared to give up and begin the meeting without Tsuzuki that the offending Shinigami appeared, clutching a bag containing his beloved cinnamon buns as though he fully expected someone to snatch them right out from beneath him. It would not have been the first time, anyway.

He glanced around the room, and realizing that everyone had been waiting for him, flashed a sheepish smile.

"Um... there was a sale down on Chijou," he tried to explain, but Tatsumi did not want to hear a word of it. With a single glance, he commanded Tsuzuki to his chair, and the latter plopped down glumly beside Hisoka, not quite relishing in his treasure so much any longer.

Hisoka glanced over at him, in a manner that looked disdainful to all but the practiced observer. That observer might have noticed the hint of affection beneath the contempt, or perhaps the concern under the exasperation. But it would take a lot of effort to unearth it, and most people would never see it. Hisoka took great pains to keep his reputation as an ice block. He wasn't quite sure why he did, but it was a habit he didn't think he would ever shake.

Still, he couldn't hold back the wave of relief that Tsuzuki was back to acting normal. It seemed like years ago that they had arrived back from Kyoto, even though it had only been a week. Having Tsuzuki skip out on a meeting for sugar, just like he always did, was deeply comforting in a way that unsettled Hisoka slightly. He didn't want to care that Tsuzuki was back to normal, but he did.

He jerked back to attention as Tatsumi cleared his throat to start the meeting.

"While you two were otherwise occupied," Tatsumi can, neatly side-stepping the matter that both had been out of commission for a week now -- a sort of unspoken vacation between Konoe and the Earl, "there were a number of deaths in Fukuoka in your Kyushu region. Five total, all teenagers. They were murdered, presumably by the same person.

"We did some research, and found that all five attended the same school," Tatsumi continued. "And, on further investigation, we found there was a teacher there that was listed in the Kiseki but not yet had died."

"So you think they're connected," Tsuzuki concluded. As dense-minded as he could be at times, when it came to his assignments, he was a dedicated worker. He just simply tended to be very easily distracted by sugary things...

"Most likely," Tatsumi replied. He handed a folder containing information on the case to Tsuzuki. "That is what you two need to find out."

Hisoka looked disgruntled, waiting for someone to suggest that he go undercover as a student. That was quite possibly his least favorite part about being a Shinigami (encounters with Muraki notwithstanding). He always felt like he had to do the homework in case the teacher called on him, yet never actually got any grades for it. Somehow, it seemed terribly unfair.

Much to his surprise, a few moments passed and nobody suggested it. He stood up. "All right, let's go," he said, wasting no time on further discussion.

Tsuzuki blinked wide-eyed up at him. "But I haven't gotten to eat my cinnamon buns..."

Hisoka rolled his eyes. "You can eat while you walk, can't you?" He gave Tsuzuki a stern look, then tilted his head slightly to indicate Tatsumi, implying that Tatsumi would be likely to simply take away the cinnamon buns if he thought that eating them would delay their departure.

"Oh." Catching his meaning immediately, Tsuzuki leaped up, his bag of cinnamon buns still pressed firmly to his chest, and skittered out of the room. Tatsumi looked for moment like he was about to roll his eyes, but instead, a slight inkling of a smile appeared on his face.

"Take good care to watch over him, Kurosaki-kun," he said. "He may be acting like this, but he hasn't begun to forget what happened."

Hisoka raised an eyebrow at Tatsumi. "You say that like I may have begun to forget myself," he muttered, underneath his breath so Tatsumi wouldn't hear. Out loud, all he said was, "Hai," before he followed Tsuzuki out of the room. He caught up with Tsuzuki in the hall, where he was munching on his treats. "Come on," he said, sounding more irritated than he really was.

Tsuzuki paused in his movement to take an enormous bite of a gooey, sticky cinnamon bun. "Na, Hisoka, you look sorta mad."

"I'm not mad," Hisoka said immediately, though he still sounded annoyed. "And even if I was, it's no big deal. We have work to do."

Deciding that it would be better to let it drop than to press the issue, quite likely something that would only succeed in further irking Hisoka, Tsuzuki shrugged his shoulders and did not bother to respond. He had learned quickly that trying to push Hisoka would only make him draw further and further away, and sometimes, if he felt threatened, in pain. Tsuzuki still remembered 'fondly' what had happened the last time Hisoka had felt threatened by him.

One of the more convenient features of being a Shinigami was instant transportation to any given place. It was literally in the blink of an eye that Tsuzuki and Hisoka stood on a street corner of Fukuoka, surrounded by voices and the sounds of passing traffic Somehow during the process of the transfer, Tsuzuki had lost his bag of cinnamon buns. He spent a moment or two looking around him, fully expecting them to up and reappear, and when they did not, he let out a dramatic sigh.

"Oh well," he said, his disappointment fading away into a smile, "we can just splurge on dessert later."

Hisoka snorted. "Aa, that'd go over real well with Tatsumi." He took their expense booklet out of the pocket of his jeans jacket and tapped Tsuzuki on the nose with it. "We'll both get yelled at if you screw up, so we're sticking to the book this time." He had no real expectations that this would happen; it never did. In fact, Tatsumi rarely yelled at them anymore unless they exceeded their expenses by an unearthly amount. He, like everyone else, had gotten used to Tsuzuki.

Tsuzuki's disappointment returned at those words. "But Tatsumi purposefully cuts out just enough money to get dessert!" he complained. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he kicked dejectedly at the ground before beginning to walk down the busy sidewalk. "He just doesn't like me..."

Hisoka just rolled his eyes and followed him along. "Tatsumi-san cuts out the money because he knows you'll go over the budget anyway, and figures he might as well try to cut down the damage. Do you even know where you're going?"

"To a school," Tsuzuki declared, refraining from commenting that he was very impressed that Hisoka had become a scholar of Tatsumi Seiichirou's behavioral patterns.

Hisoka gave him a withering look and did not even deign to comment on this statement of the obvious. He simply set off in the opposite direction with a slight sigh.

"Hey!" Tsuzuki exclaimed, though it did take him a moment to realize Hisoka was not tagging along behind him. He whirled around and hastened his steps to catch up with him. "Do you even know where we're going?"

"Yes," Hisoka said patiently. "We've been to this town before. The high school is this way. I don't know where you thought you were going."

Tsuzuki glanced longingly over his shoulder at the candy shop he had been intending to go into. He should have known it was a blind hope to think that Hisoka would forget where they were going. He always seemed to be able to remember every little thing, no matter the significance.

"When were we here before?" Tsuzuki asked, scratching at the back of his head thoughtfully.

"About nine months ago," Hisoka said. "Just a standard case. We weren't here very long, so I'm not surprised that you don't remember it." Though from what he recalled, Tsuzuki had certainly liked the candy shop, and he had seemed to remember that quite well.

Tsuzuki did not respond immediately, instead trying to remember the case. When someone had been a Shinigami as long as he had, it became harder to discern one case from another, unless something had stood out about them. He would not easily forget his first case with Hisoka, nor with Tatsumi for that matter, and never what had happened in Kyoto.

"Oh, I remember now," he said suddenly, brightly. "Suicide case. An easy one."

Hisoka nodded. He didn't remark that he didn't know how Tsuzuki could sound so cheerful about it. It was part of the job. If you didn't accept what being a Shinigami meant, you went insane. And that meant not being upset over little things like suicide. You saved emotion for the big things, like Muraki.

Really, he thought irritably, that was half Tsuzuki's problem. He didn't know when to not let things effect him. Little things like Maria and Kazusa. He should have let them go. But the deaths of the innocents always weighed on him more than anything else, any other facet of the job.

"Aa," he finally said, and did not say anything more.

"It was sad," Tsuzuki said somewhat abruptly, causing Hisoka to look at him in confusion before he realized that he was still thinking about the case from the months before.

Most suicide cases involved teenagers, most that were suffering from depression, low self-esteem, or a number of other adolescent troubles. The fact that they were so young was what kept them bound to the living world. This case had been unique in that it was a middle-aged woman.

She had been having a long, bitter divorce with her husband. They argued for months over who would receive custody of their two daughters. In the end, she had won the right to her children, but her joy did not last for long. One weekend the girls had been spending with their father, all three had died in a car accident. They were struck by a drunk driver.

The woman had sunk into depression and in the end, killed herself. Tsuzuki remembered that they had found her spirit at the grave of her two daughters…

"Ah, anyway," he said quickly, all traces of sadness disappearing in a bright smile, "how do you think we should do this one?"

Hisoka muttered something about how he had to do all the work and all the thinking, which was no more true than it was fair. Then again, that was why he hadn't said it out loud. "Well, we may as well go over to the school and see if we can find this teacher," he said with a sigh. "And if nothing obvious presents itself, maybe try to interview the families or friends of the victims." That promised to be a good time.

Tsuzuki opened up the folder Tatsumi had given him, eyes running briefly over the text. He lifted up the front page, describing the nature of the investigation, to find a profile on the man that Tatsumi and the chief seemed to suspect to be their culprit.

"Nobuo Ukyou," he murmured, reading the name of the accused teacher. Thirty-nine years of age, scheduled to die at thirty-nine due to an accident a construction site. He apparently was intended to have the misfortune of wandering under a steel beam just as the wires snapped.

"Well, if that isn't a pleasant way to go," Tsuzuki said quietly, a little bewildered. "Looks like his time was up about three months ago, but according to this, he's still teaching at the school."

He handed the folder to Hisoka. "The five murdered are in there too," he said.

Hisoka opened the folder and studied the sheets of paper as he walked, a skill which he had mastered which bewildered Tsuzuki. There were brief details given on each death, but it was only a sketchy report and couldn't be considered reliable. He sighed and closed it, tucking it underneath his arm. "All right, let's see. Maybe he'll be wearing a sign that says 'evil' and we won't have to investigate anything."

"We should be so lucky," Tsuzuki said, grinning slightly.

Suddenly, he whirled around on Hisoka. "Na, na, does this mean I get to see you in a school uniform? You're always so cute when you do." He beamed.

Hisoka scowled, a scowl deep enough to stop a charging rhinoceros in its tracks and which had no effect on his partner whatsoever. "I'm not going undercover unless I absolutely have to," he said, annoyed. "And if I do, you're going to do my homework for me!"

Tsuzuki blinked wide-eyed at him. "But the courses are so ha~rd," he complained. "I grew up in the Meiji era, we didn't have stuff like that!"

"You can learn," Hisoka said complacently. "But this shouldn't be too hard. I mean, we have a suspect, so there's no real reason that I would have to go undercover, ne?" He gave Tsuzuki a look with a hard glint in his eye, daring Tsuzuki to make another comment about school uniforms, cuteness, and Hisoka's involvement therewith.

Tsuzuki did not read the look as well as he could have, as he sprouted puppy ears and a tail purely for the sake of drooping his ears sadly and walking with the tail between his legs. "That's no fun…"

Hisoka didn't reply. He simply stalked towards the school without saying another word.

"But you know," Tsuzuki began, trailing after him, "it might be easier to get this guy off his guard if you were one of his students..."

Hisoka let out a heavy sigh. He knew that Tsuzuki was right, and his own reluctance to go undercover was only going to make their mission more difficult. He didn't want to say anything; it was just that being a student again would remind him so much of what had happened in Kyoto . . .

He shook himself slightly, trying to gather his thoughts. Tsuzuki was right; but he was still hoping that it wouldn't be necessary. "Well, maybe you should try talking to him directly, and if you don't get anything, I'll do that," he said, hoping he sounded reasonable. "You can ask if he knew the students who died and maybe he'll give something away." He found himself hoping that the school uniforms didn't have ties. He hated wearing ties, and Tsuzuki always wanted to help him with it when he did.

"Oka~y," Tsuzuki said. "We'll say… we're thinking of enrolling you there, but we're worried about the number of murders. How's that?"

Hisoka rolled his eyes. "Subtle," he remarked. "Very subtle."

"You know anything better?"

There was a long pause in which Hisoka tried, quite desperately, to think of something better and couldn't. "No," he finally admitted. "But he's going to want to know why we came to him specifically. We don't even know if he had these kids in classes."

"Um."

Tsuzuki paused. Hisoka had a point there. Their excuse was definitely lacking, but since neither of them could come up with anything else…

He took the folder from Hisoka and looked back to the man's profile. "Ah! He teaches music." He beamed at Hisoka. "We can talk to the principal, say we really need to get you into a good music class because… you're uh… a prodigy or something." Tsuzuki nodded solemnly, pleased with his plan, and completely unconcerned with the fact a truck could drive through the holes in it.

"And if he wants a demonstration of my newfound musical skills?" Hisoka asked dryly. "I suppose we could just call up Hijiri and get him a wig . . ."

"Well, what else then?"

Hisoka sighed and gave it some serious thought, seeing that he couldn't count on Tsuzuki for anything at least slightly useful. There simply had to be a better way to do this. He flipped through the folder as they walked, then said suddenly, "Oh, look at this . . . Ukyou-san was the last person to see one of the students before she died. Maybe you could go in as a detective and question him about it that way?"

Leave it to Hisoka to come to a brilliant conclusion like that one, Tsuzuki thought with an inward grin. He supposed that was why they were partners. Hisoka was the brains, and he was… well, he wasn't quite sure what he was, but nine times out of ten, it wasn't the brains.

"Okay," he said agreeably. Posing as a detective was something he was actually quite good at. He had the appearance that most people assigned to people in law enforcement, cliché as that appearance was. But it was true most people never thought twice when they saw someone wearing a black suit and trench coat claiming to be with the police. They just assumed it was true.

"But you know," he continued, as they walked into the school courtyard, "Tatsumi and Konoe-kachou would probably say it would be better to go about it from all angles…"

Hisoka folded his arms. "What are you getting at?"

Tsuzuki smiled sheepishly. "Just that it might be a good idea for you to pose as a student still."

Hisoka looked prepared to wallop him one to the head, and so Tsuzuki skittered out of the way to avoid impending doom.

"I'll go talk to him," he said quickly, flashing a smile at Hisoka. "I'll try not take long."

He knew Hisoka would have preferred to go along with him, but considering Hisoka was physically only sixteen and looked like any other ordinary high school student, it wouldn't have been one of their brighter ideas to try and pass him off as a junior detective or something like it. No more than Tsuzuki's faulty plan would have been a brilliant idea.

Classes had already ended for the day and most of the teachers seemed to be packing up for the day. Tsuzuki located the office and found a young girl, still in her early twenties, seated at the receptionist's desk.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he began, showing her a disarming smile, "but I'm looking for Nobuo Ukyou-sensei."

She looked up at him, and apparently not expecting to see someone quite like him standing before her, blushed faintly. "Nobuo-sensei should be in his classroom," she said. "Room 203, on the second floor. I could should you, if you'd like."

Tsuzuki shook his head. "That's all right, I'm sure I can find my way. Thanks."

He did even manage find his own way, though he did have two moments in which he went down the wrong hallways, and another in which he mistook the janitor's closet for a classroom. He never had been very directionally inclined…

A glance in the room confirmed that Nobuo was still in his classroom, seated at the desk and apparently grading papers. Tsuzuki knocked lightly on the door before stepping inside.

"Nobuo-sensei? I have a few questions for you."

Tsuzuki looked him over. He was a middle-aged man, with thinning black hair streaked with gray, showing his age. The lines beneath his eyes and around his mouth were more prominent than was natural for a man of his age, as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. His clothing was somewhat tattered, and he seemed on edge. When Tsuzuki had opened the door, he had nearly leapt ten feet from his chair. His general appearance failed to give Tsuzuki the impression he was innocent…

"What can I do for you?" he asked. He clasped his hands together on top of the desk and looked up at Tsuzuki with a controlled calm.

"I'm with the police," Tsuzuki said, hoping the teacher didn't have the sense to ask him for a badge. "I'm just going around asking people about the murders that have been happening here. I heard you were the last to see the most recent girl murdered."

Tsuzuki thought he saw the slightest twitch in Nobuo's hand, but his outward demeanor did not change.

"I thought as much. Though…" He frowned slightly. "The police were just here yesterday."

"Ah, I'm from another section," Tsuzuki replied, trying to come up with some kind of alibi. "They call me in when things get a little out of hand." He smiled in a way he hoped was disarming.

Nobuo nodded. "The girl that died was in my class. She had stayed after that afternoon for tutoring. She left around five, and I heard in the morning she had been killed."

"Was she acting any differently than normal?"

Nobuo shook his head. "No. It just happened."

The way he spoke… his tone of voice and his answers were so controlled, Tsuzuki could not help but think that Tatsumi and the chief had been right in suspecting him. He was not telling the whole truth, that much he could tell just by looking at him and listening to him. But he had not been trained to judge people by their emotions. That was Hisoka's territory.

"Is that all you can tell me?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I'm not sure what else you want from me," Nobuo replied. "That's all I know."

Tsuzuki frowned. "Aa. I'm sorry to waste your time then."

Nobuo did not offer a word of parting as Tsuzuki slipped out of the room.

Shaking his head, Tsuzuki started down the stairs to rejoin Hisoka. His partner wasn't going to like it, but it looked like he was going to have to pose as a student after all. Talking to Nobuo was useless. Hisoka would be able to do far more.

He found Hisoka waiting in the courtyard, leaning up against a wall and looking bored out of his mind. Tsuzuki trotted over to him.

"Sorry," he said immediately, smiling a little. He wasn't sure why he was apologizing… he simply felt obligated to.

"Don't apologize," Hisoka immediately snapped. "All you did was run off and ditch me. What did Nobuo-san say?"

Tsuzuki looked even more embarrassed at those words. "Sorry," he repeated. He scratched at the back of his head. "He didn't really say much of anything, but I know he was hiding something…"

"You're still apologizing," Hisoka said, his tone stiff and displeased. He sat waiting for Tsuzuki to suggest he go undercover; he certainly wasn't about to bring it up himself after kicking up such a fuss about it.

Tsuzuki pretended that his shoes were very interesting. "So… um… if you went undercover, then you could probably… you know, get a better feeling of him…"

"I know," Hisoka snapped. "Which means I'll have to take music classes, and I have no natural talent whatsoever. I can't play any instruments, and that means I'm going to have to sing." He gave Tsuzuki an aggrieved face. "I can't sing!"

Tsuzuki offered him a smile. "Think of it this way. If you mess up, you know you won't be going to school there anymore after a week."

He put his hands into his pockets and began strolling away.

"Now, let's go get that dessert!"

"That's comforting," Hisoka mumbled under his breath. "You're not the one who's going to have to make a fool of himself in front of other people." He noted that Tsuzuki was still walking away and stood up, fuming. "Hey, wait for me, idiot!"

"I'm going to have some apple pie with ice cream," Tsuzuki declared, slowing down to allow Hisoka to catch up with him. "And oooh, maybe some brownie fudge sundae, and strawberry shortcake!"

Hisoka sighed.

* * *