Author's Note: If you haven't read the first four parts of "Lost in Jade," go do that now. "Black Dove" is a companion fic and should always be read SECOND for any given pair of days. Though chances are that won't be much of a problem while I'm still updating. ¬_¬
Warnings: Angst, TsuxTouda, liberal abuse of characterization - I couldn't help it. I haven't read GenSouKai Arc, so this could all be horribly wrong, but...it seemed to fit? Well, it fit what I needed at any rate.... If I've totally ruined things . . . gomennasai.
Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei is the property of Matsushita Yoko - I'm just borrowing a few things. The plot is all mine though...as far as I know, anyway. Well, okay, so the inspiration to actually go TsuxTouda came from reading comments from people at S-C.net's forum. I can be so easily influenced. v_v
Language Note: shikai no hakaisha: destroyer of worlds
I. The Seventh Day
A week. An entire week since his partner had vanished, and they were no closer to finding Hisoka than they had been when he first went missing.
"This is intolerable. This is insane. This is . . . this is . . . AHHHH! I'm going to KILL Muraki!!"
Tsuzuki Asato was obviously losing his grip. Not that anyone could really blame him. The Kagami case was supposed to be a fairly simple retrieval. They should have been on their way back to Meifu that Sunday, the case closed. Instead, the case had been set aside because his partner was suddenly just . . . gone. Despite every effort, they still hadn't found more than a trace of Hisoka. Each such trace had lead him in a different direction and while Tsuzuki had already confronted the doctor a half-dozen times in his wild chases from one end of the 2nd Block to the other, he had yet to find his partner. He'd even tried a tracking dove, but she still hadn't come back. The other shinigami were keeping an eye open in their districts, but that hadn't been very helpful either.
"Tsuzuki-san, try to stay calm. . . ."
"Stay calm? Tatsumi, that . . . that maniac has had Hisoka for an entire WEEK now! And you expect me to stay CALM?!?!?!?"
"He takes Bon because it makes you act irrationally. Predictably, but irrationally," Watari interjected. "You're doing exactly what he wants you to do, Tsuzuki - running all over Kyuushuu, following Muraki like . . . like. . . ."
"Like a dog follows his master."
Tsuzuki's mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. He couldn't believe that Tatsumi had just called him Muraki's lap dog! From the shocked look on Watari's and Wakaba's faces, they couldn't believe it either.
"Tatsumi-san, don't you think that was a little mean?" Wakaba asked quietly.
"Watari-san is right; as long as you do what he expects, Tsuzuki-san, Muraki will keep running you in circles. Without your tracking bird, we must find a new method of finding Kurosaki-kun."
Tsuzuki was about to argue more when a tiny white dove flapped into the briefing room and all but collapsed on his shoulder.
"You were saying, Tatsumi-san?" Watari smirked.
"That's not his bird," the secretary replied coolly.
"Eh? Anou . . . she does look a little smaller than your usual birds. . . ."
"He's right," Tsuzuki sighed in defeat. "She's not mine. But . . . if she's not mine . . . then she must be Hisoka's!"
"Demo, Tsuzuki-san, why would he need to track you? And wouldn't she have gone back to him then?"
"Aa, but summoned birds can do much, much more than just track a person, Wakaba-chan," he explained with a wink and a grin. "Demo . . . there's no note. What could be your mission, hmm, little one?"
The white dove weakly nuzzled his finger before poking her head under one wing and falling asleep. It was such strange behavior that Tsuzuki couldn't help but watch her, fascinated. It wasn't until Watari carefully scooped her off his shoulder and set her next to 003 that he realized Tatsumi had been trying to get his attention.
"Tsuzuki, it is time," he said quietly. "Summon SohRyu-sama. I only hope he can help us. . . ."
"Demo, summon him outside, ne?" Watari teased lightly, but the seriousness in his eyes gave away his concern. Tsuzuki smiled faintly, then ran outside to the stand of sakura in front of Juuohcho. Tatsumi had only asked for SohRyu, but he had other plans.
"I bow before the twelve gods who watch over me. Keeper of stars, reader of fate. Appear before me RIKUGOU!"
"Ah, Tsuzuki-sensei, too kind," the astrologer shikigami said with a warm smile, bowing.
"I have my ulterior motives," he replied with a wink, pausing momentarily to watch Rikugou stare in wonder at the sakura dappled in the warm light of the sunset. One might almost think the astrologer had never seen such things before. While such could hardly be said to be true, Tsuzuki did have to admit that he rarely summoned the shikigami; perhaps it was simple fascination with the worlds beyond GenSouKai.
"I humbly pray to the twelve gods who bow before me. Blue light, frozen armor, icy wrath. Lord of the East, I seek your aid. Come before me SOHRYU!"
The blue dragon of the East appeared in a blast of frozen wind, then shifted abruptly to his human form, bowing his head ever so slightly in deference to Tsuzuki's power. Though he had commanded SohRyu's loyalty for many years, the dragon lord's acknowledgment of that fact always made him blush.
"Anou," he said, scratching the back of his neck, "Tatsumi-san asked me to summon you, SohRyu-sama. Would you tell him that I'll be in in a minute?"
"But of course," the blue-haired warrior murmured, entering Juuohcho with a very wide-eyed Rikugou in tow. Tsuzuki watched them leaving, waiting until he was certain they couldn't hear him before offering one last prayer: "I call upon the twelve gods who protect me. Black flame rise at the serpant's command. Appear before me TOUDA!"
The translucent image of a black serpent appeared in an equally false pillar of black flames, images that flickered and vanished as Touda knelt before his master with a bowed head.
"I am yours to command, master," he intoned as he always did when summoned in human form, a ritual show of submission that failed to appear at all humble. But at that moment, Tsuzuki didn't care about tradition or ritual or Touda's loyalties. Hauling Touda to his feet, he kissed the man sharply, a desperate act of possession. It didn't last and before Touda had a chance to react, Tsuzuki had already released him, turning away from the other man. He had never done that before and now that he had, he could not for the life (or second-life) of him figure out why he'd done it.
"Tsuzuki-sama. . . ."
"No, forget it, you're right, I'm sorry."
"Are you sending me back to GenSouKai then, sensei?"
"I . . . leave that to you. Go if you wish. Or stay, if that is what you want."
"Then . . . I will stay until you order me to leave, sensei," he said quietly. Tsuzuki nodded, still not meeting Touda's visored gaze as he walked back into the building. He paused at the door to the Shokan Division's briefing room - SohRyu would not be happy - then gathered his strength and strode into the room. As expected, a dark cloud seemed to suddenly appear around SohRyu as the dragon lord caught sight of Touda.
"What is he doing here?"
"I summoned him, of course," Tsuzuki replied, immediately regretting his glib response as SohRyu glowered at him. He stumbled backwards into Touda's solid presence, momentarily thankful for the shikigami's stubborn refusal to back down before the dragon lord since it was all that had kept him from landing in an ungraceful heap on the floor. The steadying hand at his elbow, however, was more than he had expected. The gesture did not, unfortunately, go unnoticed by SohRyu.
"So now you bother to care for our master?"
"SohRyu-sama," Rikugou murmured placatingly from his seat beside the now standing Celestial Guardian of the East.
"I have always served him as he wished," Touda replied in icy tones. The rebuke in the snake shikigami's tone was no less present for all that he did not actually put it into words; that the other shikigami had no call to question him because they did not like their master's choice, however fleeting it had turned out to be.
"Get out of my sight, shikai no hakaisha," the dragon lord rumbled, clearly expecting to be obeyed.
"He stays," Tsuzuki said firmly, even though he wasn't entirely sure why. The death-glare SohRyu turned on him for daring to contradict him almost sent him into hiding, but he stood firm. Just this once, he wasn't going to let the dragon god overrule him, for Touda's sake. For a moment, he wasn't sure that he could outlast SohRyu, then the dragon lord's eyes closed and he bowed his head.
"As you wish," the shikigami murmured in barely audible tones, sinking into his seat once more.
"Now that we are all here," Tatsumi said after another moment of uneasy silence, "perhaps we could begin. Tsuzuki-san?"
"Anou . . . gomen," he mumbled, sitting at the opposite end of the table from his own shikigami, Touda taking the seat beside him. "Where should I start?"
"The beginning is often good," SohRyu rumbled dryly, obviously still not pleased about Touda's presence.
"Aa, SohRyu-sama!" Rikugou cried out, daring to swat at one arm. "Stop being so unpleasant. Tsuzuki-sensei is having enough trouble as it is with his partner missing and Muraki-san being the kidnapper."
"How did you. . . ?"
"What? The boy is missing??"
"Hai. That's why I was asked to summon you, SohRyu-sama. It's been a week now an-"
"A week?!?" the blue-haired warrior yelled as he surged to his feet. "That madman has held that boy for an entire week and you're only NOW asking for my aid? Tsuzuki Asato, I have known you to do a great many foolish, thoughtless things, but this. . . . Where is your brain, boy! You should have informed us immediately! We knew you were upset, but this . . . Asato, you should have trusted me!"
Tsuzuki sat in wide-eyed shock; he had not anticipated SohRyu becoming angry about the kidnaping, and certainly not at the fact that he hadn't been told sooner. If anything, he had thought the dragon lord didn't care for his newest partner. The thought that the powerful shikigami would be able - or even want - to help him find Hisoka had simply never occurred to him. Fresh guilt welled up at his own negilence; how much had Hisoka suffered because he hadn't sought SohRyu's aid sooner?
Under the cover of the tabletop, Touda discreetly rested a hand on his leg just above the knee. The soothing motion of the shikigami's fingers rhythmically digging into his thigh brushed aside the gnawing worry that everyone in the room was angry with him, blaming him for not acting sooner. He drew from Touda's strength, grateful that he had insisted that the shikigami be allowed to stay. He would have to thank Touda later, though he half suspected the other man would brush it off as doing nothing more than was required.
"Enough, SohRyu-sama," Touda murmured, surprising the rest of the room by speaking at all. "Yelling only makes him feel even more guilty and does not bring the boy back. He heaps enough guilt upon his head without you adding to it, jiisan. You don't know that he even knows where his partner is being held."
Shocked silence greeted Touda's words; it was quite likely the most he had ever said at one time to anyone save Tsuzuki himself. And probably the most respect he had ever shown SohRyu.
"Finding Bon is the problem," Watari sighed, gesturing to the tiny dove nestled against 003. "Tsuzuki's tracking bird still hasn't returned. We believe this one is from Bon, but we have no way of knowing for sure or even why she's here."
"Suzaku would be the better choice to read the bird's heart."
"But she does not have your wisdom, SohRyu-sama," Watari replied simply.
"True. And what do you mean his bird hasn't returned?"
"Just what he said. She hasn't returned. She still lives . . . somewhere. I've chased Muraki from one end of the 2nd Block to the other, and I still haven't found more than a trace of Hisoka. I don't understand it. How can mine have not found him if his could find me?"
"Let's find out, shall we?"
With infinite care, SohRyu scooped up the tiny dove with both hands. She awoke immediately, fluttering against his hands weakly for a moment before settling, apparently resigned to being held. Tsuzuki watched the celestial guardian with the bird, surprised to realize that Touda's hand was still on his leg. Leaning back to drop his hands into his lap, he then covered Touda's hand with one of his own, silently thanking the shikigami for his support. A final squeeze and the hand withdrew.
"She was sent to find you and bring you back to Kurosaki-kun," SohRyu said suddenly, "but she's lost his trace. She can't even revert back to him."
"How . . . how is that possible?"
"It shouldn't be," Rikugou said with a frown, "but it fits. The stellar oracle said the results were unclear and would tell me nothing useful of where Hisoka-san was being held. As if it couldn't get a clear reading on him."
"So that's how you knew," SohRyu mused. "Clearly, his magic has been almost completely neutralized, or else he would have returned by now. But no known fuda barrier could continue to block your bird, Tsuzuki, while allowing this one to escape. . . ."
"What if it isn't a traditional barrier?" Watari asked, matching Rikugou's thoughtful frown with one of his own.
"What are you proposing?"
"Well, the birds track us by our auras; losing the trace would suggest that there's been a significant disruption in the aura, yes?"
"Correct."
"So what if Bon's magic is being neutralized by something other than a barrier?"
"Like what?" Tsuzuki asked, his worry increasing yet again as he thought of the implications. "Muraki's already cursed him once. He can't do it again . . . can he?"
"Anou . . . Bon won't let me study the curse fully, but I do know it's largely dormant. A skilled practioner could fit one more spell on him, though probably not more than that. But Muraki would only need one to bottle up Bon's magic."
"One curse could block his ability to return to Meifu, eliminate his defense, disrupt his aura, hold him captive . . . and yet still allow him to summon a tracking dove? That . . . doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense, Watari."
"Anou, summoned creatures are not my area, Tsuzuki, you know that. When did you teach Hisoka the fuda to summon one, anyway? I didn't realize he had trained his powers enough to work at such a high level of magic."
"I haven't yet; there hasn't been the time and learning summoning takes so long. . . . I just gave him a few special ofuda and the activation char- . . . oh. . . ."
"So with the right activation charm, even someone without magic could summon one of your birds?"
"Hai. It . . . seemed like a good quick fix, until I had the time to teach him. . . ."
"Well," Rikugou chuckled, "it looks like it's a good thing you hadn't gotten around to teaching him yet, sensei. Otherwise we wouldn't even have the bird."
"Rikugou-san," Tatsumi suddenly interjected, "you said the stellar oracle would tell you nothing 'useful' about Kurosaki-kun's location. What would it tell you?"
"Well, that he was safe, to start. I cannot say with certainty, but I don't believe he is currently in Muraki's possession."
"That's ridiculous!" Tsuzuki declared in frustration. "If Muraki wasn't holding him, then he'd be back!"
"Aa, Tsuzuki-sensei, you forget . . . if his magic has been nullified through the means of a curse, then it wouldn't matter if Muraki was holding him or not."
"He's got a point. Muraki could have even released him if he discovered that you couldn't find him anymore. If Bon's no good as bait. . . ."
"You must understand, sensei, that the oracle has a peculiar way of working. It doesn't use words to speak to me as I am now speaking to you, but rather a combination of words, images, and impressions. I know that he's safe, so I am assuming he is not under Muraki's direct power. I saw an image of gardens, but there was no context - at this time of year, they could have been almost anywhere. A sense of power, safety, peace, goodwill . . . someone is looking after him, but the who remains shrouded in mystery. An image of a sword, but it could mean any of a number of things. The oracle tells me much, but the value of those whispers. . . ."
Rikugou trailed off with a helpless shrug. Keenly feeling his own frustration, Tsuzuki sighed and collapsed back into his chair once more.
"So . . . what do we do? If his magic is nullified and his aura disrupted . . . how do we find him?"
Rikugou and SohRyu exchanged a quick glance, the astrologer nodding at some unspoken comment.
"Give us two days, sensei," Rikugou said with a genuinely warm smile. "We should at least have a true lead on him by then."
"Two days? You . . . you want me to wait two more days?"
"Anou . . . I sympathize, sensei, truly," the astrologer shikigami murmured. "I promise you, we will do everything we can to bring him back as swiftly as possible. He is safe, of that much I can assure you. Ignore Muraki-san. In fact, stay here in Meifu. It's not like there's anything else you can do just yet."
"But. . . ."
"You'll know if there's anything any of you can do to assist us," SohRyu intoned with finality. "Now, if you'll excuse us. . . ."
The dismissal in the dragon shikigami's tone was quite clear. When neither he nor Rikugou made any move to leave, instead remaining seated and watching the shinigami with pointed and amused gazes respectively, Tatsumi coughed and proceeded to herd Watari out of the room. Tsuzuki was about to follow when he heard a soft cough from SohRyu.
"Touda, stay a moment. . . ."
It was a request he had never thought to hear from the disapproving dragon lord and it froze Tsuzuki in his tracks. He could tell from the look on SohRyu's face that, whatever he meant to say to Touda, he wouldn't speak until Tsuzuki actually left the room. That worried him; it was no secret that the guardian of the east did not like the snake shikigami. Indeed, the dislike was quite mutual.
"Would it help if I promised I won't allow them to kill each other, Tsuzuki-sensei?" Rikugou joked.
"It might," he replied with a grin of his own.
"Tsuzuki. . . ."
"Hai, hai, I'm going," he sighed, quickly retreating to the office he usually shared with Hisoka. He hated feeling so helpless, but . . . there was really nothing left for him to do. He was simply going to have to trust his shikigami.
