Author's note: my thanks to:

Starza: ah...not the spork! x_X ::hides:: anywho, here's more...keep that spork at bay xD
seiichi: i'm glad that you like angst, it's one of my favorite categories
Katsue, LinkisMine, Gnine: thank you for reading, please enjoy!! ^_____^
Fanny_chan, klyukaizer: thank you! here you go, no more cliffhanger anymore!
Elle-FaTe2x1: ah, tsuzukixhisoka...don't you love it? xD
aelaishia: yay! this is my first time writing a yami fanfic on my own, so i'm never sure whether the chara's sound right or not...but thanks! ^_^
Sakura-chan: well, if this made you cry, then later chapters will really get you going ^^;;
Lexa: you really like it that much? o_O wow, thank you so very much! ^_^ i've never had anyone tell me that before...

Thank you guys for reading, and for the people that just started it now, or those that read and didn't review or something...arigatou gozaimasu minna! ^___^

For those of you that have read the translations/the manga for volume 8 of ynm, I hope I'm not boring you with the inserted translations...I just needed to make it sound like the actual story before I warp the plot... Just please bare with me, this is quite possibly the last chapter with the translations, and if not the last, then chapter 4 will have the last of then... Again, if this annoys you, I'm sorry... ::bows and shuffles off to a dark corner::

Of Paper Flowers and Purple Skies: Chapter 3

"Finally opened your eyes, Tsuzuki?" Watari beamed down at him.

Tsuzuki lay there for a moment, looking up at Watari, trying to go through the last things he remembered in his head. Muraki. Tohda. Hisoka. Still, none of it made sense, and it faded in and out a lot.

"...ah..." was the only reply that Tsuzuki could dredge up to answer Watari.

"Don't worry, Tsuzuki. This is Enmacho's health facility." Ah, so that's where he was. Yet why? He had tried so hard to make sure that everything would work...why was he still there?

Tsuzuki stared blankly at the ceiling. It had something to do with Hisoka, he knew that. Almost everything he could think of had to do with Hisoka.
Watari, upon getting no response, is puzzled slightly. "What's this? Has he fallen back into his own subconscious world again?" he asked, turning to Hisoka.

Hisoka had been sitting there quietly, pretending to read, but he was actually reading into Tsuzuki's mind instead on the pages of the book. And yet, he was coming up to be strangely empty-handed.

Everything that he could sense from Tsuzuki told him that he was awake. It also told him that he was confused. But aside from that, everything that Hisoka knew of and associated with Tsuzuki had disappeared, as if it had never been there at all, and that was more than just a little frightening to him.

"...no... he's just confused," Hisoka managed to say, trying to focus his thoughts on more positive things. "He can't comprehend why he's here," Hisoka added, knowing that even he himself had had to think for a while before realizing exactly what had happened.

Watari felt the sudden urge to slap Tsuzuki around to try and knock some sense into him, but he realized sadly that however helpful it would be for his own anger, it would do nothing for Tsuzuki.

Walking around to the side of the bed, he waved his hands in front of Tsuzuki's eyes, trying to get his attention. "Hey, Tsuzuki... You were rescued. Look, the boy's safe too. Tatsumi used his 'shadow' and saved you."

Tsuzuki tried to pull his head into the present and succeeded to a degree.

"Tatsumi...saved...?" Why would Tatsumi do something like that...? Surely Tatsumi, out of all of them, would be the one who had let him carry out his wishes.

"You two were taken up within the 'shadow'. The shadow dimension is 100% impervious to all creatures from the living and the spirit world," came a voice from the door. Turning to look at Tatsumi, Watari wondered why he had come. He should be working, or at least that's what he always did, working from dawn to midnight, never on vacation, except for emergency. Sometimes he wondered why Tatsumi was so dedicated to his work, but then he thought about his own work as a scientist and smiled. Never mind that, he thought, and turned to the secretary, scratching his head.

"Why'd you come, Tatsumi?" he asked, honestly wanting to know why the secretary had left his office to come here now, in the middle of the day.

"Only to check up on their conditions," Tatsumi answered quickly, before Watari could suspect anything. "Watari-san, would you please hurry and present your report on this case."

Watari slumped. He should have known better than that. Even though it was obvious of the secretary's feelings towards Tsuzuki, he still always had another excuse to be near the amethyst eyed man as to not seem suspicious.
"Right, right," he said, although his voice was far from enthusiastic. He should be celebrating the perfection of a new potion, not sitting down and writing a case report.

Tsuzuki still can't really comprehend and put everything together."--Tatsumi...that guy...? Muraki...what happened...?" he asked, sitting up.
Watari and Tatsumi were equally shocked at this question, only the secretary's stoic demeanor keeps the worst of it at bay as he can only gape at Tsuzuki.

"Tsuzuki...That---" Watari began, yet Tatsumi abruptly cut him off.

"All matters relating to this case are currently still under investigation. I think I can tell you of the result tomorrow," he said calmly. Gently pushing Tsuzuki back to lie down, he pulled the blankets up to cover him.

"At any rate, right now...your health is what is important. Go to sleep, without thinking about anything..."

Though Tsuzuki had been asleep for a week or so, he still found himself tired again, not really having noticed the bandage on his head before now. He managed a small "un..." before falling asleep again.

Tatsumi sighed, and took his glasses off, gently polishing them with his shirt. "I was going to ask him about conclusion reports, but I doubt that that would have done anything to help him..." he said.

Watari sighed. The last thing that Tsuzuki needed now was stress.

"Please. That would only make him worse. Go back to work, you," he said, pushing Tatsumi toward the door. As soon as he had left, Watari leaned back against the closed door. That experience had been really trying on his emotions; Tsuzuki was acting so unlike himself. Watari didn't know the whole story, or really even most of it. Hisoka was the only one who really witnessed Tsuzuki in his...element, yet even he didn't know everything. Only Kanoe-kachou did, and judging by his relationship with Tsuzuki (despite the outward appearances) he wasn't about to tell anyone.

Watari shook his head, and went about his business, trying not to think about anything involving depression and his work partners.

Hisoka had been sitting there listening the whole time. The emptiness that was coming from Tsuzuki was unnerving, and he didn't know how to deal with it. Sitting back, he tried to read, but found himself unable to do so at all. So he just sat there, pretending to read, while his mind raced, yet didn't think of anything at all. He fell asleep after a while of that, with only one thought accomplished with all of that thinking.

Something wasn't right with Tsuzuki.

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Needless to say, rumors of what had happened with the two shinigami (especially with Tsuzuki), spread like wildfires. Yet the rumors that were circulating couldn't be further from the truth. Nearly everyone there in the Shokan bureau came by in order to catch a glimpse of the poor man, although most of the time it was when he was asleep. Tatsumi trued his best to keep them away though, for not only was it annoying to both him and Watari, not to mention stressful on Tsuzuki, but it was also interfering with Hisoka's recovery process, to have all those emotions floating around. Hisoka was grateful when most of the employees listened to the secretary's threatened budget cuts.

________________________________________________________________

"I just heard about it, Tsuzuki-san!! That you got hurt really bad at work!!" Wakaba's voice was laced with concern.

Tsuzuki looked up from the coffee he was drinking to see her. It was strange to him, working around 70 years in an office with only coffee supplied as a drink had made him addicted...although the immense amounts of sugar that he heaped on it probably did nothing but encourage that addiction. Needless to say, he really didn't wake up until that first cup of coffee in the morning.

"Ah...Wakaba-chan," he said, acknowledging her presence in the infirmary.

"Does it hurt? Are you all right?" she spouted. He had been there for a pretty long time, she figured that he had been near death when he had first been taken back.

"Fine, I'm fine...they said that I can leave soon...maybe tomorrow." Hisoka, watching on, felt a flicker of something at these words. He knew that Tsuzuki was lying. Just because they are dismissing his from the infirmary, that didn't mean that he's fine. Physically yes, but...

He silently watched the exchange between Wakaba and Tsuzuki, before breaking in.

"What about your work?" he asked, relatively curious as to why and how Wakaba had managed to sneak by Watari to get into the infirmary.

"Oh, we just stepped out to drop by," she said with a smile. Hisoka couldn't help but notice the "we", and was beginning to think that Wakaba was becoming schizophrenic, when she called out.

"HEY THERE!!" she screamed at the door, and a shadow materialized in the window. "Come in here already, Hajime-chan!!"

And sure enough, Terazuma reluctantly came in, with a lit cigarette and all. Oh yes, Watari would definitely not be happy if he knew about that.

Hisoka continued to drift in and out of their conversation, involved in the plot of his current read, yet unconsciously keeping an eye on Tsuzuki.

"But it's good that the injury wasn't too bad," Wakaba said, suddenly serious and almost awkward.

"Un... Sorry for worrying you..." he said quietly, and Hisoka could almost hear the strain coming from keeping his voice cheerful.

"It would have been better if you finally kicked the bucket for good," came an emotionless voice.

"HAJIME-CHAN!!!"

Hisoka could almost feel what very little happiness Tsuzuki had gained silently die out with those words. There was almost a physical pain coming from him, and Hisoka wasn't really even close to him at the moment, having gotten up and moved around a while ago. And it hurt. It hurt that Tsuzuki was sitting right there, smiling on the outside, but screaming in agony within.

"Tsuzuki...can--" began Hisoka, but he was interrupted by a new voice.

"My. How lively it is here," Gushoshin said, as he flew into the room.

"Gushoshin-chan," Wakaba chirruped.

"Hello everyone. I was wondering whether Hisoka-san had been released...I brought a book."

"Ah, thanks," Hisoka said, forcing himself to respond.

As Gushoshin was leaving, two overly genki blondes bounced into the room. Watari must've been asleep on guard or something.

"HI~SO~KA~KU~N!" they squeaked at him. "We've come all the way from snowy Hokkaido to visit you, Hisoka darling!!" Yuma said brightly.

"We've even brought a present, honey," added Saya, much to Hisoka's demise. "The newest Pink House dress!"

Tsuzuki forced a smile at their antics.

"Hi Yuma. Saya. I'm sorry that you came all this way, but would all of you mind leaving? I'm still tired, and Watari says that the more you sleep, the faster you'll get out, ne?" he said, trying to look convincing.

'It's too bad that I'm an empath and I know him,' thought Hisoka, 'or I might actually believe him...'

Wakaba blinked for a second. She was enjoying her time here; she didn't want to go back to work, but knew that she had to eventually. 'Oh well, better now than never...' she thought.

"All right, everyone should leave now," she said, ushering Yuma, Saya, and Terazuma out the door with relative ease. "We do want him to get better, now don't we?"

Having gotten them to leave, Wakaba's smile disappeared as she turned to go as well, when Tsuzuki spoke up.

"Thank you, Wakaba-chan," he said, smiling tiredly at her.

She turned and smiled back to him. "No problem," she said. Pausing for a few moments in the doorway, suspended between leaving and staying, she turned to him again.

"Feel better, Tsuzuki-san..." she said, trailing off, before leaving, shutting the infirmary door quietly behind her.

Tsuzuki sat, looking at the closed door, before lying down, turning away from Hisoka.

Hisoka, meanwhile, was deep in thought. As much as Tsuzuki tried to pretend, it would only be a matter of time before things would begin to boil down. Wakaba had noticed that something was different, it was seen in her protectiveness of him, as had Terazuma, after the comment that should've started an argument.

It was only a matter of time before everyone in the entire office knew that he wasn't all right; everyone except for Tsuzuki.


End of Chapter 3


A.N: well, you know what to do! The only thing that is keeping this story going is the fact that people are enjoying it, so I need to know your opinion on it. So review, onegai shimasu, and tell me what you think! ::bows humbly::

(murasaki: you need to get a life...)

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