Daughter of The Darkness
by Kaz
standard disclaimer applied
warnings: Mu x Tsu, some angst, dark, supernatural, PG-13 to R
notes: BIG thanks to Tiggy for beta effort!
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Part 5
Tsuzuki didn't know how far he'd run from the hotel. He hadn't brought his jacket with him and now he was shivering. He'd forgotten that Tokyo could be so cold at night. It hadn't been that long since he was last here, helping some shinigami from the fifth block, but now he'd forgotten almost everything about the place. Maybe it was because this was where he was born. A place he wanted to forget...
Monster!
He shook his head, closing his eyes as he tried to get rid of the memories that flashed across his vision. After all this time, he still remembered what they called him, the accusing way they looked at him.
Murderer!
Monster!
"Tsuzuki!"
Amethyst eyes snapped open as he heard the call. Someone was calling his name. Someone... And he gasped in surprise as someone wrapped their arms around his body from behind. He felt the warmth spread through his body like sunlight in the rain. Slender fingers tangled at his waist, not wanting to let go. Tsuzuki touched those loving fingers and caressed them before entwining them with his own. His mouth curved into a smile as his heart started to melt. His eyes were burning but he knew that he shouldn't cry.
"I'm sorry..." He felt Hisoka's muffled voice behind him, his lips brushing Tsuzuki's shirt. "I'm so sorry... Tsuzuki..."
Tsuzuki opened his mouth, but something caught in his throat. He wouldn't be able to talk without crying. And then, Hisoka let him go. The violet-eyed shinigami turned to face his partner, Hisoka's eyes shining under the beautiful moon above. He looked like an angel.
"I..." Tsuzuki covered his mouth with his hand, not looking at the other's face as he spoke. "I shouldn't have run..."
Hisoka lifted his hand to caress one cheek, gently brushing away the bangs that covered Tsuzuki's violet eyes. "It's okay to cry, Tsuzuki. You're human too, right? Besides..." He didn't get the chance to finish speaking as Tsuzuki buried his face on his shoulder and started to shake.
Tsuzuki felt Hisoka's arms return to protect him from the cold, holding him. He felt so stupid, so weak; he couldn't protect anyone in his life. He was always like this, needing someone to hold him tight, reassure him that everything was okay, that he wasn't alone. Tatsumi always did the job for him, comforting him like a father, a brother. And now he had Hisoka, a partner he thought of as family, a new family.
Otousan...!
He pulled back almost abruptly, turning to look where the voice had come from. Someone was calling him. He remembered the sweet, adorable face and the loving, childish voice that he heard constantly in his dream. It sounded so... familiar. That girl... That girl he'd met this afternoon felt so much like the girl in his dream.
Himeko, that was her name. But it wasn't possible...
But when he looked in the direction of the voice, he could only see darkness. He could only hear the sound of the wind that echoed in his ears. He felt that sudden chill again all over his body and he shivered. Hisoka touched his arms lightly, his eyes questioning. "Tsuzuki?"
Tsuzuki wiped the traces of tears from his cheeks; he hadn't even realized he was crying. "I'm okay. I thought I heard..." He closed his mouth reluctantly. Maybe it wouldn't be a good thing to tell Hisoka about his delusions. "I'm okay..."
"You're lying." Hisoka made a face. "...I'm an empath, remember?"
"Aa," Tsuzuki chuckled and then, "I forgot. I just thought that someone was calling me. But there's no one there..." he finally said. He saw Hisoka nod and the faintest smile crossed his face.
"Let's go back. Watari-san and Gushoushin must be worried..."
Tsuzuki nodded and followed the boy back to their hotel. But his mind wasn't exactly keeping track. He kept thinking about that faint call. Was it just his imagination? Or was it real? Why did he kept thinking about that dream of his? A dream about a little girl, and someone... Someone... he couldn't remember... Oh, how he wanted to remember who that someone really was...
~*~*~*
Muraki Kazutaka could only stare at the blank white ceiling of his room as he opened his eyes. Someone had been calling his name in his dream. It was the same dream as the last, the sea, the sky, the warmth... Damn it, why couldn't he remember the details when he woke up?!
Kazutaka... Kazutaka... Come play with us!
Otousama!
He shook his head and pushed the blanket off his feet, still remembering the dream as he walked to the bathroom and prepared for a bath. The sound of the water disturbed him once more, awakening the feeling of yearning inside him. What a fool... emotions only belonged to weak humans. He wasn't going to get carried away with those kind of unnecessary feelings, not after what he'd been through.
And then he remembered that girl again.
That girl had called him otousama last night. But who the hell was she?! How could she possibly know about him?
I've known about you since I was carried to this world, sensei...
What did she mean by that? That girl must've been responsible for all the murders in town, the ones that the shinigami were investigating. Shinigami. Tsuzuki. That girl had the same violet eyes as the shinigami. But she also had the color of his hair. Both colors were uncommon for humans, the colors of the descendants of the darkness, yet the girl had both.
That strange feeling when he saw the girl's face under the moonlight that night... He saw Tsuzuki there, reflected in the girl's eyes as he stared into the violet depths. He saw Tsuzuki's smile in the girl's laughter. Tsuzuki's eyes... her eyes... Violet was all he could see…
The girl had called him otousama, as if she knew him, or more precisely, knew his dream. That little girl who called him otousama in the dream. And, the murders had started at the same time as his dreams. That girl did indeed know about the dream, and also about him... But how? Why had she showed up now?
The little girl... The little girl he and Tsuzuki had met yesterday also had the same eye color and hair. But they couldn't be the same person, could they? Could that girl named Himeko be the same teenage girl he met last night? Was she doing this by herself or was there someone else behind it all? A puppeteer who controlled the marionette with long, invisible strings? Just the way he had done so often...
Maybe he should share the information with the shinigami. But that would ruin his fun... He smirked, thinking about a certain shinigami with violet eyes. Maybe he would continue the research on the girl alone and then take action before the shinigami did. That would be more than fun...
~*~*~*
He could still see the white cloud that hung gracefully above the deep blue sea. He remembered the birds singing their song as they flew past him, the feeling of the warm white sand under his feet as he walked along the beach.
Asato... Someone held him from behind, pulling him closer until he could hear the heart beating steadily under the white cotton shirt. He remembered entwining his hand with that someone's, smiling as he leaned back and snuggled into the comforting warmth. He closed his eyes, lolling his head with the sweet call of sleep, feeling his beloved kissing his neck gently. And then small fingers touched his, pulling him from that embrace.
Otousan, let's play in the water!
He smiled, looking back at his lover and then down to the little girl. The strong arms let him go, one last kiss placed on his temple. The little girl looked delightful, taking both their hands and walking them to the water.
Ne, ne, otousan, otousama, can we come here again soon?
Tsuzuki smiled, patting the girl's hair lovingly. Of course, Himeko... Right, Kazutaka?
~*~*~*
Tsuzuki tried to ignore the light of the sun slanting across the room from the hotel window. He stretched and yawned, until his hand suddenly touched someone else's body beside him in the bed. His eyes snapped open, gasping as he saw the person he had shared a bed with last night.
"HI-HISOKA?! What are you doing here?!!" He sat up on the bed, struggling with his legs wrapped in the thick blanket.
The small figure stirred beside him. Long eyelashes fluttered and then green eyes lazily gazed over at him. "Do you have to shout so loud?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"D-D-Demo..." Tsuzuki eeped as Watari entered the room with a newspaper in his hand, "Watari, this isn't what you think...!!"
Watari's eyes narrowed. "Not what I what?" He thought for a long minute and then, "..bwahahahah... Tsuzukiiiii...!! You don't think that I think... You don't... bwahahahaha..."
"Baka." Hisoka threw the violet-eyed shinigami a glare and then climbed out of the bed.
"Huh?!" Tsuzuki blushed furiously. "Y-You mean..."
Hisoka's glare increased a notch. "We're sharing the bed because the other one was taken by Gushoushin and Watari, remember? You baka..."
Watari's laughter couldn't be any louder; he almost fell to the floor as he saw the expression on Tsuzuki's face. Hisoka shook his head and glared even more dangerously over at his partner before walking to Watari's side and taking the newspaper from his hands.
Tsuzuki was still blushing as he rushed towards Watari, jumping on the amber-eyed shinigami to stop him laughing at him. Hisoka sat on the chair with the newspaper in his hands and started browsing the news. Gushoushin joined him reading the column and together they gasped as they read the criminal column. The bird started to rattle in panic.
"Oh no! What should we do?! What will EnMaDaioh-sama say?!"
Tsuzuki and Watari stopped struggling and turned to the boy, eyes wide. "What is it, Bon?"
Hisoka stood up, his eyes deadly. "There's been another murder. Last night."
"You mean..." Watari booted up his laptop, contacting Tatsumi and asking for more details on the murder. "Nothing. They can't get us any more information yet on last night's case..."
Tsuzuki bit his bottom lip hard and then turned towards Hisoka, who was reading the news article more thoroughly. "Watari, we have to go there soon... Hisoka..."
The youth nodded and walked to the bathroom. Tsuzuki followed him with his eyes until he disappeared behind the door, and then turned to Watari, his expression serious now. "Did Tatsumi say anything about silver hair this time, Watari?"
The longhaired shinigami shook his head. "No; there was nothing like that. This is getting weird... but you did say that you saw Muraki yesterday, right?"
"Yes. Isn't that why Hisoka and I are in charge of this case instead of the shinigami from the fifth block? Because EnMaCho suspected the culprit had some relationship to Muraki?"
Watari nodded, and then sighed before he continued. "The victim was killed in a park near the hospital where Muraki works."
"What?!" The violet eyes couldn't get any wider. Tsuzuki clenched his fists, biting his bottom lip hard. "Muraki?!"
"Maybe, somehow..." Watari swallowed hard as he saw Tsuzuki's expression. "Somehow, Muraki did have something to do with all these murders... Tsuzuki..."
Hisoka came out of the bathroom, his eyes burning with anger as heard the last sentence. "Tsuzuki, go get ready..."
"Hisoka..." But the boy didn't turn at his call.
~*~*~*
Muraki read the names on the computer screen. He sighed heavily and lit his next cigarette. He was checking the list of murder victims from the last few months. There were more than ten people who had probably been the girl's victims. He'd never had the chance to see the previous victims, but last night, after the girl left him, he'd done some checking over the fresh body and found one important key that could give him the reason why the girl had been killing people.
Just like him, she took people's spiritual energy.
But what for? To have eternal life? Maybe, but somehow Muraki wasn't convinced. The girl felt as if she had a strong energy, but at the same time, so weak. She depended on the energy that she took from her victims. As if she was taking the energy to survive... To live... She needed the energy just the way humans need food. That meant that the girl was merely... a doll? But whose doll was she? And why did she have violet eyes and silver hair? What kind of power was behind her?!
"Kobayashi Masaki." He read the last victim's name and blinked at the photograph displayed there. Why did this person look so familiar? He hadn't recognized him when he examined the body last night, probably because it was dark, although the moon shone beautifully. But as he saw this Kobayashi's face on the screen now...
He accessed the hospital's archive and typed his password. He keyed the name into the search column and waited as the computer loaded the data. His eyebrows drew together as he saw what the computer had processed. There were only three people called Kobayashi Masaki ever treated there, two of them more than five years ago. But the last patient named Kobayashi Masaki...
He was just released from the hospital two weeks ago and had to return for a check every three days.
And he was killed last night after he saw his doctor at the hospital. This hospital, Muraki noted. No wonder he felt like he knew him from somewhere. Doctor Miyagi was Kobayashi's doctor and he'd consulted Muraki about Kobayashi's condition. That was just three weeks ago and he had a very sharp memory. He couldn't be mistaken. This was the same Kobayashi Masaki.
Muraki went back to the list of victims and typed another name into the hospital search page. This one was a woman who was murdered a month ago. Smirking to himself, he browsed through the search results. She was one of the hospital's patients too. It had been more than two years ago and no one had bothered to check that far back, but she was there, just like Kobayashi.
He'd finally found a pattern.
A knock on his door startled him and he closed the windows as he leaned back in his chair. "Come in." He wasn't expecting the person who was standing by his door. "Ukyou?"
The woman chuckled and sat on the seat in front Muraki's desk, smiling cheerfully as she saw the expression on her fiancé's face. "I surprised you, didn't I, Kazutaka?"
"Yes, yes, you did indeed, Ukyou..." Muraki smiled and stood up, walking to her side. "How did you get here? A chauffeur drove you here, I hope." He punctuated the last words with concern.
Ukyou smiled, flipping her long hair and stood up before him. "Actually, I took a taxi," she winked. "I thought we could have lunch together and you can drive me home afterwards..."
Muraki sighed inwardly but still smiled sweetly at the young woman, taking her hand in his and placing a kiss upon it. "I always have time for you..." he said softly, "...It's almost eleven; if we leave now we can still make a reservation at Alfred's place."
Ukyou made a face. "We can just call and do just that."
"But that wouldn't be fun, would it?" Muraki smiled, his eyes turning to slits under the glasses he wore. He reached for his coat and put it on. "Let's go then."
"Always excitement with you, Kazutaka..." The woman chuckled and slipped her hand through Muraki's arm, walking beside him. "But is it okay for you to leave the hospital now?"
The silver haired man shrugged. "I'm not on shift until this afternoon. I just came here to use the computer and check a few things."
"Aah... always the mysterious one too..." His fiancée giggled and shifted closer as they walked to the elevator.
They waited for the elevator to reach their floor. It wasn't very long before one of the cars stopped; Muraki pushed his glasses further up his nose. Why did he suddenly have a bad feeling about this? He felt Ukyou move even closer, smiling as she looked up and met his eyes.
The elevator door slid open and he turned from her, only to find a pair of amethyst eyes looking back at him and then at Ukyou. His mouth opened and closed, but Muraki couldn't hear any words from those sweet, tempting lips. Smiling, he decided to make the first move.
"Well, well, what a pleasant surprise, Tsuzuki-san."
-tbc-
*sigh* one more chapter done. Although this fic is not as successful as the other one, but I still had the obligation to finish this *raises eyebrows* Thank you Literary Eagle for your support since the first fic I posted here. Ha! You didn't think I notice that huh? ^__^ Thank you! *hugs*