Twisting Destinies


Chapter Three


by Zanzou Youko


Disclaimer: At this point, I don't have enough money to buy an expensive doujinshi, let alone buy the series from the artist. ....though I can dream...


Warnings/Notes: Oooh yeah, this is Alternate Universe. A lot. And muchly. And TWT. (Timeline? What timeline?). And it has... a NOT evil Muraki! That's right... he isn't the big bad in this! AHAHAHAH! *ahem* Also, eventual TxH. Though Hisoka isn't in the chapter. He'll be back one day!


Notes: It's very uncommon for people to lock their doors when they leave a place. There's a /very/ low crime rate in Japan. I guy I knew left his wallet on a restaurant table, and came back a few hours later– all his money, cards, and various stuffs was still there. ^__^


Oh.. And see the gorgeous fanart that D-chan did for waaay later in the fic.! XD I don't think it really has spoilers, though. ^___^ She roxx0rz. *glomps the Dchan* And if that link didn't work (which is seems it didn't..) try from my main page. :D


******


Tsuzuki walked down the halls to his first class of the day, looking straight ahead, but not really seeing the people who moved to swerve around him.


He had not really seen anyone for quite a long time.


Tsuzuki didn't smile anymore. But noone really noticed. People hadn't seen him for just as long, if not longer.

~*~*~

Pausing, Tsuzuki looked up from his math text and gazed out the small window to his left. The sakura trees we wilted, leaves pushing through past the dying blossoms. Whenever the flowers were in bloom, he felt a mixture of anticipation and dread. The delicate blossoms appeared in the spring, revered by all who saw them for such a short time, before they fell and were forgotten. So it seemed to happen with his roommates. [1]


He would be assigned another one soon. The administration always made a new attempt at the beginning of the term. It was as thought they believed that this one would last– even though, for every year he had come here, whoever was assigned to be his roommate would be gone within in a month. He figured that by now it must be some sort of running bet within the school– to see how long the latest one would last.


Hoping to delay the eventual meeting with whoever would be making the attempt this year, Tsuzuki pushed back his chair, and moved to go out into the hall. As the sixteen year old approached his dresser, he glanced at the picture so reverently placed on his dresser. Not wanting to reveal so much of himself to a possibly unfavourable personality, he pocketed the small frame and continued on his way, making sure to lock the door behind him.


Some of the people who had stayed with him thought he was paranoid. In truth, he was just practical. He'd had enough of people going through his things– though he had learned that he couldn't assume he had privacy in a locked room. The last one, Kazuo, had taught him that. Of course, his roommate would have a key. If he didn't, it wasn't Tsuzuki's problem.


~*~*~


People were starring again. Muraki scowled at them, then glanced at the long haired teen walking beside him. He frowned, looking down the hallway to his own newly assigned room. Oriya was walking with his head lowered in thought, attempting to ignore the looks that had followed them both from the secretary's office. Rumours always seemed to precede them. Though for once, the rumours had not been about their relationship (though they would begin soon enough, Muraki supposed), but about their families.


The rumours involving Oriya were common enough– his mother had disappeared when he was young, leaving an ailing father to take care of their only son. Soon after, he had passed away, leaving Oriya with a brothel he could not legally run, with many years of schooling left to be completed. It was decided by Oriya's uncle that the boy would finish his schooling, and then take his place as the head of the family. Sometimes, though it was rare, people speculated about what had happened to his mother– though it was made sure that any rumours were squashed before they could get out of hand.


The things that were said about the Muraki clan, however, were not so easily covered up. The spark for the rumours was an event much recent. The previous month, shortly after the summer vacation began, his mother and father had been murdered. He had arrived home, slightly later than he would have hoped, to find his parents murdered. Through a lengthily process, the teen's grandfather had made to decision to send the silver haired teen to his brother's current school.


When this was announced, Oriya had, not quite so surprisingly, demanded to be transferred as well. Rather than fight about transferring the brunette to a well respected private school, his uncle had agreed.


When they had arrived, Muraki's older brother had already informed the student body that their mother had snapped, and killed her husband. He said that both he and his brother would likely already be dead, if not for the fact that they had not been there at the time.


Of course, very few people said anything like that to the younger son's face. Some thought that Muraki had killed his parents, and merely covered it up. Whether or not rumours like that had been purposefully bred by his bother, the silver haired boy would likely never know. He had his own theories, but was quite unwilling to share the details with anyone. Oriya knew only the smallest of details, but he was content for the moment. What he knew so far painted a picture was unwilling, perhaps unable, to accept.


As they entered Muraki's room, Oriya took a moment to reflect over the fact that the influence– or fear– of the Muraki family had obviously reached even here. Kazutaka had a room to himself, even though he had not requested one. As they began to unpack his friend's things, Oriya felt relieved he would not be alone when he went to his room. When the secretary had seen his forms, she had given a sympathetic wince, and said, "That's quite some luck you have there. First roommate you get Tsuzuki Asato. You'll be in room 147 with him." She had then shooed them out of her office.


Finished with Kazutaka's merger belongings, the pair turned toward the door, Oriya grabbing his suitcase as he passed through the doorway. The hallway was nearly deserted. Most of the students would be acquainting themselves with their dorm-mates, and getting unpacked. By the time Oriya finished unpacking, most of the students would have gone down to dinner.


It was something of a relief to the brunette– he'd had enough of the people at this school already. He had suspected their actions before they had arrived.


During the few times that Saki could return home from school, he had been exposed to a side of Saki he would never have believed possible had he not seen it himself. The elder Muraki brother seemed to change completely when alone with Oriya– gone was the kind, courteous, dutiful son, and in his place was someone who seemed to take perverse pleasure in torturing him. Thus far, they had not been alone long enough for their arguments to go beyond heated words, Saki stopping immediately at the barest hints of someone else approaching. More often than not it was Kazutaka, who, while not seeing Saki's actions himself, saw the after effects in Oriya.


Now that they were at the same school, Oriya couldn't help but assume that Saki would have more opportunities. He could only hope that whoever this Tsuzuki-san was, he wouldn't be the type to leave the rooms at all hours of the day– and night, if he could manage it. If that was the case, it would be far too easy for Saki to corner him and given the opportunity, Oriya was sure Saki would go through with some of his various threats.


As they turned a corner, following their maps to where his room was located, the brunette felt his heart sink at the sight of his room. The door to his room was closed– not the sort of welcome most hoped for– and when Kazutaka tried to knob he found it locked.


He resisted the urge to band his head on a conveniently placed wall. Just because the was locked, it did not necessarily mean that Tsuzuki was out and about. While the chances that his roommate had not arrived at the school yet were slim, it was still a possibility, one which Oriya refused to rule out until faced with undeniable proof. After he fumbled with the keys in his pocket for a moment, he stepped into his new room, dropping his suitcase and turning to relock the door as his friend stepped in behind him. The room was sparse– two beds, two dressers, one desk facing the solitary window, and a closet.


Dragging his suitcase to the bed on the left, he glanced at the silver haired boy who was studying his room with a critical eye. He leaned against the desk, and once finished with his sweep of the room, turned to Oriya with a bored glint in his eye.


"So," Kazutaka drawled, eyeing the long haired boy as he continued with his packing, "what do you want to do now?"


~*~*~

Breath hitching, Tsuzuki made his way down the hall, glad for once of his schoolmates usual irritating habit of "getting to know one another" when the rooms were assigned. For himself, that usually led to all sorts of uncomfortable questions on the part of his dorm-mate, and stony silence from himself. Raising his head enough to see the room number in front of him, he was grateful he was just a few turns away from his own room. Often when Saki managed to catch up with him, he was in a remote area of the school and had to transverse painfully long stretches of ground to get back to the relative safety of his room.


Unlike previous years, Saki was in a different dorm that he was. While he would hopefully encounter the other boy less now, Tsuzuki was quite sure the intensity of their fights would escalate. These fights were one of the reasons he was considered such an outcast. When he had first explained what happened to cause him the various bruises on his face, people had merely given him strange looks, and asked if he had hit his head at some point during the scuffle. He was quite sure noone believed his claims. Saki was, after all, the perfect student, the perfect friend.


Saki, upon hearing what was being said about him, had mused on how the younger boy was likely taking part in some of his family's illicit dealings. At first, people had been horrified at the mere thought– a criminal going to their school? Saki had jumped at this.


"This school," he had explained, "is reserved for very influential families. The tuition was enough to convinces most families that another school would be a suitable choice. The entrance exams get rid of almost all the rest. But I've heard people say that the reason that most common way to get a child into the school was if their family knew someone on the board of directors. I've also heard people say that without the board's direct approval, that no one got in. How then, could a boy who's family had no political connections to speak of, had never even been heard of, convince them to let their child in?"


That little speech has destroyed any chances Tsuzuki had of fitting in at the school. After hearing of these 'facts', the student body had muttered between themselves all sorts of theories pertaining to his family. One of the things that helped fuel the rumours was the fact that he rarely, if ever, went home on the holidays. As much as he would liked to have denied it, the brunette had seen his sister only a handful of times since he had been enrolled in the school, a point which she gently reminded him of in all of her letters.


Tsuzuki could have blamed his situation on Ruka. She had taken the job that had forced them apart. But every time he thought of her, all he could bring up was a faint longing. She had done what she had to in order to survive. She had given him a chance at an education most people could only dream of.


The worst thing, Tsuzuki mused, leaning against the wall next to his room and scrambling for his keys through slightly swollen fingers, is that noone sees it as strange when Saki says things about me. Saki has them dancing on the palm of his hand.


As he pushed open the door and stepped through, he jerked his head up at the sound of someone shifting on one of the beds. Facing away from him on one of the beds, dressed all in white, was his roommate. Short silver hair gleamed in the light, a drastic contrast to the black uniform he wore. As the brunette stepped over the threshold, the boy's head tilted in his direction, before bending down back to his original position. He was glad when the other offered nothing but silence as a greeting. People blaming him for telling the truth was something he got sick of very easily.


~*~*~

Eyes opening the sound of someone outside the door, Muraki glanced down at the boy sprawled on the floor at his feet. Oriya had one hand flung over his face, hair loose and becoming progressively more tangled as he moved. One orb had drifted open at the sound at the door, then closed again, waiting.


The door opened, closed and was locked, but still the silence continued. Muraki gave a small internal sigh, and poked the brunette at his feet with a toe. Dragging his brown eyes open and offering him a dark glare in return for his troubles, Oriya finally sighed and sat up.


Smirking, Muraki turned to view the other occupant. Taking in the site, he couldn't help but take a moment to appreciate the boy– Tsuzuki Asato's– beauty. Though standing stiffly, hand pressed against his ribs, cradling his hard around something, the barest hint of bruises beginning to form on his face, with a form obviously slender, even beneath the formless school uniform. Frowning, he turned his head toward Oriya , keeping one eye on the boy standing just inside the room. He has looked startled upon seeing the long haired boy, eyes flickering between the two of them, obviously wondering which was his roommate, any silently asking why the other was there.


Oriya frowned, then began to explain, "My name is Mibu Oriya. This is my friend Muraki Kazutaka. He was just helping me unpack."


Upon hearing Muraki's name, the boys eyes narrowed, an expression of distasted on his face, noting the utter lack of clothes left in Oriya's still open suitcase.


Hoping to intervene, or at least avoid the topic of why he was in Oriya's room, Muraki spoke up, "Not to be rude, but how did you get those bruises?", waving a hand at Tsuzuki's face, he chose to ignore the fact that the other was boy was quite obviously favouring his right leg, and where his arm was continually protecting his ribs.


"You mean your brother didn't gloat at you?" spoken so softly, Muraki got the impression that this was an automatic response, said many times, but likely never taken seriously.


He knew Saki very well; likely better than even Oriya realised he did. Sensing his friend's tension beside him, Muraki smiled. "My brother," he intoned, "doesn't gloat. If he did, that would ruin his image."


As the boy still crouched by the bed clenched his hands in fists, Tsuzuki wondered if he should have been more surprised that they both seemed to already know what he had been unable to convince anyone of in five years. He should have thought of it before though; if anyone would see the hidden sides of the elder Muraki brother than this, the boy who had grown up seeing his every mood shift and change.


He opened his hand, pieces of glass sticking into his palm. Ruka smiled out at him, face surrounded by the broken shards of the picture frame, as real to him as anything could ever be.


He smiled.


~*~*~


[1] Ah yes... sakura blossom metaphors. Hope mine didn't make you cringe in it's cliche-ness. ^^;;;


Did you like? C&C, Please!


And now... for the omake. Different style, even!

~~~~~~


Konoe stared at the two chibis in front of him. They both seemed ridiculously young for this... and yet, here they were. "So, you two are the new shinigami?" saying it almost seemed to make worse, he winced internally.


Peering out from behind he older boy, Hisoka spoke. "That's right. I'm chibi!hisoka, all the cuteness, none of the snark. This is my... well. I met him once. He's asato-niichan." Saying this, the boy quieted, hand tangled in the sleeve of the other boy's shirt.


The boy, Asato, coughed and tried to pry his hand away. "I'm bitchy!tsuzuki. I got the snark, cause it had to go somewhere."


The chief stared, then rubbed at his forehead. "You're both a little young for this, don't you think?"


Tsuzuki-who's-name-was-also-Asato looked offended, but it was Hisoka that spoke, "We wouldn't normally be tied to the earth, that's true. In fact , we aren't tied to it. We're tied to the author." He glanced to the corner, trying to look subtle about it.


Konoe blinked. "Ummm... right. Let's get off the topic of authors. There was a guy I dealt with once that swore the narrator was after him." (AN: If you know the anime, you get a cookie!)


Hisoka dragged his eyes away from where the corner the author was most definitely not hiding in., and focussed on the conversation that was progressing without him.


"How did you two end up dead, anyway?" Watari asked from where he conveniently popped into existence, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.


Figuring it wouldn't do to hold the readers in suspense, Tsuzuki answered simply. "My roommate went crazy from the sexual tension surrounding him and Oriya, and killed us both. Though why he knew about Hisoka I'm not sure."


Hisoka said nothing for a moment, as he was busily entranced in the fanart the author wasn't corrupting his young mind with the not-shonen ai-manga-he-might-have-starred-in-in-another-world. There was noone in the corner, after all. As Zanzou-who-wasn't got to the part involving Hakushaku-sama, the blond couldn't help but ask. "Anou... Kachou.... what kind of place IS this? All these perverts..."


Konoe didn't want to know why an empty corner was telling their new employee about the various less-than-homely people in Meifu. He just wasn't.

~~~

In case you don't get it... Hisoka can "see" me, just like he sees the ghost people in the manga. Cause it's late, I haven't eaten, and.... I say so. ^^;; Sorry if it's not funny. Haven't been feeling amusing lately.


This omake was based off May guessing at what would happen after ch1. She said " .... Muraki kills them both resulting in the chibi adventures of Asato and 'soka in Yami-land?" So I tried.


Got any omake ideas? Tell me!