SHOUNEN AI!!! TATSUMI X TSUZUKI!!
CHAPTER WARNINGS: OOC
Dear Readers,
People have been criticizing my writing BIG TIME recently. That's kind of a good thing. When I first started writing all I got was praise. I think that if I had received this bad of criticism earlier, I would have stopped writing. I'm glad that I'm getting it now rather than then. THANKS FOR WAITING PEOPLE!! Constructive criticism is a good thing, but please let me know if you liked my fics, rather than simply pointing out my errors. Thank you so much!!
Sincerely,
Lady Hiten
REPONSE TO REVIEWS:
~~ To everyone: WAAH!! Be nice! I'm only in eighth grade!! My grammar isn't all that great. ^_^
~~ Meritite:
Thank you so much for reviewing my fic!
Thanks for telling me what 'Bon' meant. I bought the DVD two days after you told me that and Watari kept saying it over and over. HE HAS A NAME WATARI!!! Jeez, some adults! (
As for the happy bunny reference, I have no idea what possessed me to put that in there.
About them telling Tsuzuki about his cooking: I wanted Tsuzuki to get a clue about his cooking. The truth hurts, but if he knows he sucks, then he can improve his skills and become a good cook. That way, no one will have to pretend to like his cooking, because they actually will. (
What I meant by "good torture fics" is all out angst and death (of Tsuzuki). There are tons of fics that have romantic angst and are well written, but I want to read a horrifically bloody/gory fic, and I have yet to come across one. If you know of one, please don't hesitate to tell me about it!
As for not following the plot, I try to have a lighter moment in all of my fics, and the beginning of this one will have an impact on the later chapters. I didn't want to start it out as angst; I wanted it to get people interested first.
Also, I do think that Hakushaku is serious about Tsuzuki, but I think his feelings are driven more from lust over Tsuzuki's appearance than the guy's personality. That's just my opinion anyway.
Once again, thank you for the review! I don't get enough constructive criticism. You helped me a lot!
Wowie that was a loooong reply. (
~~ Rika:
There IS shounen ai in it, just not so much in the first chapter. Thanks for the review!
~~ Tessa :
Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you agree with me about Tsuzuki torture fics. I'm sadistic. :D
**
Thank you all, my darling reviewers!! The fic will have PLENTY of angst, don't worry!
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RING!!!! RING!!!! RING!!!! RI-
Watari grabbed the phone and held it to his face. "'Lo?" he asked tiredly.
"Watari?" Hisoka's voice said in surprise on the other end. "What are you doing there?"
"Doing where? .....Oh yeah......I stayed over to help Tsuzuki learn to cook," Watari grumbled. "What do you want?"
"You're late for work," Hisoka said. Even without empathy, Watari could feel the annoyance of the boy.
"Work?" Watari asked, his mind not yet functioning properly.
"Yeeaah," Hisoka said slowly. "Work. The building where you and Tsuzuki blow things up while the rest of us file paper work."
Watari lay for a moment in silence. "Oh yeah....................HOLY---!!!"
"You had better get here soon," Hisoka said. "Tsuzuki has paperwork piling up."
"Yeah, sure bon!!" Watari said. "Gotta go, bye!!"
Quickly he slammed the phone down onto the receiver and raced up over to Tsuzuki's room.
"WAKE UP!!!" Watari shouted. He grabbed one of Tsuzuki's pillows and slammed it hard on his face. "O-*slam*-HAI-*slam*-YO!!!"
"Nrrg," Tsuzuki groaned and opened his violet eyes. "Wha--?"
"We're late for work."
In a flash, Tsuzuki leapt out of bed and dashed for the bathroom. In seconds Watari heard shower water running, so he decided to get their clothes ready.
The two made it out of the apartment in twenty minutes and ran quickly to the Shogun division.
*
Various employees stilled in their work as they heard the two men argue, and saw them run through the halls towards Kanoe's office.
"It's your fault we're late!!"
"You're the one who made me cook all night!!"
"If you didn't SUCK this wouldn't have happened!!"
"I don't suck!"
"Do too!!"
"I do not!!"
Finally the two arrived and flung Kanoe's door open.
"Sorry we're so late," Tsuzuki said and bowed slightly.
'No surprise here,' Kanoe thought. He nodded, before he spoke to Tsuzuki. "While you were gone, Hisoka has decided that the two of you will complete your mission to get rid of the demon right before lunch -which is now."
"Why in the morning, Kacho?" Tsuzuki asked, breathing deeply as he tried to catch his breath.
"I want to get it over with," Hisoka said and came up behind them, glaring irefully at the two tardy men. "Why were you so late?"
"Watari made me stay up late cooking," Tsuzuki said and pointed accusingly at the scientist.
"It was well worth it!!" Watari said, forgetting his fatigue. "He made some lasagna last night, AND IT WAS GOOD!!!"
"What?!" Kanoe exclaimed.
"It was really good!!" Watari said and grinned. "We're going to win crab tonight!!"
"YAY!!" Tsuzuki cried.
Hisoka and Kanoe starred as the two –fully grown- men forgot about their argument, gripped hands and danced around the office.
"Well..........." Hisoka cleared his throat and the two ceased rejoicing. "Tsuzuki, I want to leave in about twenty minutes. Say hi to Tatsumi, and let's go."
"Ok," Tsuzuki said and nodded happily.
He and Watari skipped down the hallways, no longer yelling at each other, but singing praises to crab and Lady Luck.
"We're going to get crab! We're going to get crab!" they sang.
"Dullards," Hisoka muttered and sweat-dropped. He turned to Kanoe and asked, "Do you have any specifics on the demon?"
"It appears to be a basilisk," Kanoe said. "It hasn't bitten anyone, so we don't know whether or not it is poisonous. Be on your guard, just in case. It' very weak when it comes to magic, but her physical size makes up for it."
"Fine," Hisoka said and bowed his head. "We'll be back in a while, I guess."
"Good luck," Kanoe said. Before closing the door, Hisoka thought he heard him say; "You'll need it."
*
Tatsumi cringed as he heard two ear-splitting voices chanting noisily in the hallway. He sighed deeply when he noticed they were heading towards him.
"Tatsu~~~mii~~~~i!!!" Tsuzuki called and ran up to his friend.
"Yes, Tsuzuki-san?" Tatsumi asked and tried to keep any trace of annoyance out of his voice.
"We're gonna win!!" Watari and Tsuzuki said. Both leaned up to him and grinned –in chibi mode. "You're gonna have to buy us crab!!!"
"We'll see," Tatsumi said and smirked.
The chibis danced around Tatsumi for a few minutes before Watari –now fully sized and serious- turned to leave.
"I'm sorry my visit is so short, Tatsumi, but I have to go," Watari said and waved. "I have to complete my sex changing potion. You'll try it once its done, won't you Tsuzuki?"
"NO!!" Tsuzuki said and shuddered.
"Spoil sport!" Watari called before he zipped around a corner.
"So, Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi asked, getting the attention of the violet eyed man. "You and Kurosaki have a mission to complete. Are you making him wait for you?"
"He gave me twenty minutes, half of which are gone," Tsuzuki said when he looked at his watch. "I came to say good morning to you."
"Good morning," Tatsumi said.
"Good morning," Tsuzuki beamed. He then bowed to Tatsumi and waved. "Well, I should get going. Hisoka will murder me if I'm late –so to speak anyway. Talk to you later! Bye Tatsumi!!!"
"Goodbye, Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi called back and smiled. His smile soon vanished.
A strange chill shot through Tatsumi's spine when he saw his friend walking away. Although Tatsumi tried to brush the feeling aside, his efforts were futile, and the feeling intensified. Something was going to happen, something horrible if he let his friend leave. 'Don't go,' he thought urgently. Before he even knew it, he called for him to stop.
"Wait! Tsuzuki-san!"
Tsuzuki turned back to his former partner studied him quizzically. "What is it, Tatsumi?" he asked.
"N-nothing," Tatsumi said. Eyes still wide, he tore his gaze from Tsuzuki and starred at the floor. 'What was that, just now?'
"Tatsumi? Something wrong?" Tsuzuki asked, concern evident in his eyes. He took a step towards his quivering friend, and brought a hand up to reach out for his ex-partner.
Tatsumi raised his head and smiled gently at him. "Nothing at all, Tsuzuki- san." He gently brushed Tsuzuki's hand away and broadened his smile. "Go ahead and meet with Kurosaki. Give him my regards."
"Ok," Tsuzuki said slowly. He studied Tatsumi a moment longer. Then, realizing that he was going to receive no explanation, he turned and left.
As Tsuzuki walked away once again, Tatsumi got the same chilled feeling. He resisted the urge to call out for his comrade, and allowed him to leave.
"What's going on?" Tatsumi asked himself once Tsuzuki was out of sight. "That feeling of dread......What was it? An omen, perhaps?"
Shaking his head, he brushed the matter aside and walked towards Kanoe's office.
"Nonsense. Nothing bad can happen so close to home."
***
"Let's get going, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said once Tsuzuki appeared. "After this you can cook whatever poison you want us to eat for dinner."
"Hisoka~~a!!!" Tsuzuki whined and trailed after the younger shinigami. "For one so young, you sure are mean!!"
After a moment he asked, "So what did Kanoe say about the demon?"
"That it's a basilisk, and he's waiting for someone," Hisoka said apathetically.
"So that's why it's so close to Enmacho," Tsuzuki said in wonder. He chuckled and said, "I hope we're not the ones its after. That would suck!"
The two walked quietly outside passed the forest of flourishing Sakura trees to the edge of Meifu. The air was warm, and the day was sunny. It was a shame to be working on such a day.
"All we have to do is destroy the demon, right?" Tsuzuki asked quietly. "You sure that's it? No souls to take?"
"That's it," Hisoka said, catching the older man's plight. "And with your shikagami, it should be over with quickly." He felt Tsuzuki smile.
"That's great!"
*
Shortly thereafter, they reached the barrier between Enmacho and Kyuushuu[1].
"So where does it usually appear?" Tsuzuki asked and peered around. "Just outside the barrier, right?"
"Yes, or close to it, anyway," Hisoka said and walked around the area. They were in an alley in Tokyo's downtown district. "Let's go to the park."
"Ok," Tsuzuki said. "Can we get something to eat first? Some pie maybe?"
"No," Hisoka grumbled. "We'll eat AFTER we vanquish the demon.[2]"
"You sound like a witch when you say it like that," Tsuzuki mumbled. He smirked, but his grin disappeared when Hisoka glared at him.
"Whatever," Hisoka said. "Just follow me. We'll head to the park, so if the basilisk does show, we won't be around many people."
"But why wouldn't there be many people in the park?" Tsuzuki asked as they walked down the street. "It's a beautiful place to be."
"Of course," Hisoka said sarcastically, "there's plenty of people at the end of the park closest to the woods, in the middle of the school and work day."
"Oh," Tsuzuki said and scratched his cheek in shame. He smiled though, and replied, "Right."
"Just keep up," Hisoka sighed in annoyance and quickened his pace.
The two reached the woods without incident. The area before the woods was bright and cheery, but the woods itself was darkly shadowed.
"The demon should be around here," Hisoka said, "if anywhere. I don't think it would be foolish enough to attack a shinigami in the streets."
"Sure......Hisoka," Tsuzuki said slowly as he starred at a particularly dark clump of leaves in the treetops. 'Something's up there,' he thought. A bird twittered in the distance and crickets chirped, and all seemed normal. 'Maybe it's nothing.' Ignoring it, Tsuzuki continued after Hisoka.
"Tsuzuki, I really think that you should be careful. You can be pretty destructive –"
Tsuzuki's attention was immediately diverted when he was struck on the head with a blunt, coiled object. He jumped in surprise and looked down to see a small snake on the ground.
"What the?"
"–and you know that Tatsumi will fire you if you mess up again," Hisoka said before he noticed that Tsuzuki had stopped. He turned and looked back at his partner. "What is it?"
"Oh," Tsuzuki said and looked down. The snake was gone. "I just saw a snake just now and it surpri–"
"TSUZUKI!!" Hisoka cried suddenly. "LOOK OUT!!"
Tsuzuki looked up in time to see an enormous serpentine demon falling from the treetops directly onto of him.
*
Hisoka starred in shock as the largest snake he had ever seen fell on to his partner. The snake was black with cunning yellow eyes, and a glowing green symbol on its forehead. [3]
"Tsuzuki!!" Hisoka cried and dashed closer. "That's the basilisk!!"
"Yeah!!" Tsuzuki called back sharply. "I realized that!!"
The serpent was slithering on the ground, wrapping its scaly body around Tsuzuki as the shinigami desperately grabbed for his fudas. Before he could select one, the basilisk tightened its hold on Tsuzuki and squeezed him. The fudas fell from Tsuzuki's hands as the serpent began to crush his immortal body.
"AH!!" Tsuzuki gasped as the demon compress itself like a vice on his body. "Hisoka!! Use your fuda magic!!"
"Which one?!" Hisoka called. 'THINK HISOKA!!,' he thought. 'What works best on a snake?'
"How the hell should I–" Tsuzuki's words were cut short as the snake squeezed him even tighter, crushing his lungs and knocking the wind out of him. "Hur............ry!!" he choked. The winding body of the reptile twisted his own body as it tried to suffocate him.
Quick as lightening, the snake wheeled its massive head around and pierced Tsuzuki's right shoulder with its mammoth fangs, causing him to scream in pain and fury. The symbol on the snake's forehead glowed brightly, and its eyes turned red as a liquid dripped from its fangs into the shinigami's body.
"AAAH!!" Tsuzuki shrieked. White-hot pain shot quickly from the wound as venom made its way into his broken flesh. Violent agony shot all throughout his body, making his nauseous. At first he could hear Hisoka shrieking, but the sound died away. His vision turned vague, and his hearing disappeared as he felt himself begin to loose consciousness. Every cell in his body was burning as if he were inside the center of an inferno. The aching sensation blocked all other senses, so all he felt was pain. 'Dear Enma, it hurts so much!!' he thought. The pain vanished as quickly as it had come and turned to a sharp sting. Though his senses were slowly returning, all he could hear was a faint rustling, and see a white haze, which would every so often change into the forest scene before him, but then would turn back to white. [4]
The snake held on a moment longer then pulled his teeth from the Shinigami's shoulder. The gaping wounds spilled tremendous amounts of blood onto the shinigami's shirt and onto the ground, and seemed to satisfy the evil beast.
"TSUZUKI!!" Devastated by the sight before him, Hisoka whipped out the first Fuda he could find and shouted the incantation. "I summon the Holy Fire!!"
Red-orange flames burst forth from the fuda and spun wildly at the basilisk. It reached it in seconds and burned the monster quickly, covering its body with a hellish inferno before sending it to Hades. The snake tried to resist the shinigami magic and lashed about wildly. It thrashed wildly, and sent Tsuzuki's slamming into a faraway tree with a sickening snap. The beast slammed around, twisting in agony as the fire burned through its skin and charred its insides. With a final shriek, the serpent collapsed into a pile of scalding ashes.
Hisoka sighed in relief. 'That demon wasn't very strong spiritually, or it could have survived my fire.'
The young shinigami's attention was quickly diverted when he heard a groan. He looked to see Tsuzuki lying on the ground on the base of the tree, his arm wrapped around his ribs.
"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka yelled and ran up to him, He winced and kneeled before him, eyes guilty, and concerned. "Can you hear me? How badly are you hurt?"
"N-not too bad," Tsuzuki answered once he had regained his senses. He winced, then said, "Nothing broken, I think."
"Liar! You broke a rib! God, look at this gash," Hisoka said and ignored him. He looked at Tsuzuki's ripped shirt and peered at the darkened skin beneath. "If you were human, you'd have a bruise on your chest for months!!"
"Lucky for me I'm not," Tsuzuki said and chuckled softly. "Can we go get some pie now?" he asked quietly, so softly that the words were almost unheard.
"We should go home and get you rested up," Hisoka said and gave him a half smile. "Later, I'll buy you a whole pie for yourself."
"Sounds good," Tsuzuki said and tried to stand –only to sink back down to his knees.
"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked in alarm.
"Dizzy," Tsuzuki muttered and hung his head. "I fell sort of weak."
"What else did that damned snake do to you?" Hisoka asked. "If he–" He paused when he noticed that Tsuzuki was starring straight ahead of him. "Tsuzuki, can you hear me?"
Tsuzuki moaned loudly and fell forwards into Hisoka's arms.
"Tsu-!! Damn!!" Hisoka glared at the smoldering pile of ashes and asked. "What the hell did you do to him? I wish you weren't dead, if only so I could kill you again!!"
Still grumbling about the accursed snake, Hisoka hoisted Tsuzuki as best he could onto his shoulders and hauled him back to Enmacho.
***
Tsuzuki woke in a hospital bed, lights turned off, and alone. His chest was sore and he had bandages all across his bust and shoulder. The blinds were open and it was evening outside. The sky was turning dark blue, and the first few stars were twinkling in the heavens. He lay in silence, not moving, his mind slow, before he sluggishly rose to a sit. For a moment, the dizziness came back again, but was gone quickly, and didn't return.
"Tsuzuki-san?" Tatsumi called from the door. "How are you feeling?"
"Huh? Oh, hey Tatsumi!" Tsuzuki called. He smiled at his friend and thought, 'He's always here when I wake up.' "I'm feeling a lot better!"
"That's good," Tatsumi said and walked over to him. "We were very worried about you."
"Oh," Tsuzuki uttered softly. 'I didn't mean to worry you.'
As if reading his mind, Tatsumi sat next to him and spoke softly, "Now, don't you dare feel guilty, Tsuzuki-san."
Tsuzuki chuckled softly then smiled. "I won't. By the way, Tatsumi, what time is it?"
"It's about a quarter passed five."
It was five fifteen.
IT WAS FIVE FIFTEEN!!
"Only forty five minutes to get dinner ready!!" Tsuzuki yelled and leaped out of the bed. "I gotta go, Tatsumi!! Come to Watari's at six."
Quickly, Tsuzuki grabbed his coat and dashed out of the clinic towards Watari's home. Halfway there, he [5] remembered he could fly, so he rose hastily into the air and made a beeline for the scientist's home. He reached it quickly, and rang the bell.
"Hold up!" Watari called from inside. He opened the door and smiled in surprise. "Tsuzuki! I thought you'd be resting some more!" He bounced out of the way and let Tsuzuki in. "Bon told us that you basilisk took a lot out of you. Are you still up to cooking tonight?"
Tsuzuki nodded. Watari grinned and raced to a doorway at the end of the hall.
"Kitchen's over here!"
Tsuzuki followed the now singing scientist to his kitchen. It was a nice, but not elegant room, with many cupboards and fine, turquoise tiles on the counters. There was a medium sized fridge and a large stove. On the counters was a row of food ingredients.
"Alright," Watari said. "See? I have all of our ingredients set out –you know, just in case you did decide to show up. Are we all set for teriyaki chicken with parmesan noodles?[6]"
"Sounds like a plan," Tsuzuki said and glanced over the ingredients.
"Tsuzuki, grab a pot from the top shelf," Watari said and pointed to a cabinet behind him. "I'm going to double check the recipe"
"Sure, Watari," Tsuzuki said and opened the cupboard. "The big one?"
"Yeah," Watari said and turned to watch him.
His golden eyes narrowed at the sight before him. Tsuzuki reached up gingerly and gripped the big saucepan on the top shelf. He winced when his right hand closed on the metal, and all but groaned when he had to lift the pot. What unnerved him most perhaps was that on the right shoulder of Tsuzuki's tuxedo jacket was a dark patch of a red that was seeping into the black material–blood.
"Tsuzuki," Watari said, studying his friend gravely, "are you alright?"
Tsuzuki flashed him his trademark smile and answered, "Yeah! I'm fine, Watari!" Eagerly, he turned away from Watari and pretended to be busy with measurements.
Not buying it, Watari monitored his behavior the rest of the time they were cooking.
*** [6:04p.m. Meifu]
"Everybody, dig in!!" Tsuzuki said and presented his wonderful looking meal.
"Everything smells as it should," Tatsumi said and peered over the 'food'. "Nothing's moving, so we know it's not alive............Good job, Tsuzuki. You've finally mastered appearance." Tsuzuki beamed. "However," Tsuzuki's grin faded, "we have yet to find out about taste." Tsuzuki gulped.
"It'll be great!" Watari said and hung his arm around Tsuzuki. "I tried it myself before you all got here. It's delish!"
Tsuzuki smiled in gratitude then turned his gaze to Hisoka and Tatsumi. "You'll like it, I know you will!"
"Yeah.......Right," Hisoka said and poked the chicken with his chopsticks.
"Let's just wait and see," Tatsumi said and poured tea for everyone.
Once Tatsumi and Hisoka were seated, Tsuzuki and Watari dished the food, and held hands. The held their breath in nervous anticipation and bit their lips.
Slowly, Tatsumi filled his fork with noodles and sniffed it. "If I am poisoned, I will expect to be compensated."
"Just try it!" Tsuzuki practically yelled.
"As you wish," Tatsumi said. He cautiously raised the fork to his lips and took the first bite. Tsuzuki held his breath as he waited for the verdict. He put on a stoic face and chewed the food with careful consideration. He swallowed just as Tsuzuki began to turn blue from lack of oxygen.
"Well?" Watari asked eagerly.
Tatsumi regarded him sternly and replied, ".........................Not bad."
"YEEEEEEESSS!!!!!" Tsuzuki cried and leapt into the air. "WHOOHOO!!!!"
Watari soon joined him and the two men danced together –in a very undignified manner- around the secretary of Hades.
"You really liked it?! You're not lying or anything, it was good?" Tsuzuki asked repeatedly.
"Tsuzuki, sit down," an annoyed Hisoka grumbled loudly.
"It's fine, Tsuzuki," Tatsumi said and nodded. "For you this meal is five star cooking."
"F-five star?" Tsuzuki –who was now running around as an inu chibi- began to sob great tears of joy. "He actually likes it!!"
"SIT!!" Hisoka screamed. Tsuzuki obliged. "Now, lets eat."
So, they did. Watari and Tsuzuki spent most of the meal discussing where they were going to buy the crab –only the best places, of course-, while Hisoka and Tatsumi munched contentedly on Tsuzuki's most edible meal yet. Before the meal was consumed, Hisoka grabbed a bag that he had brought and pulled out a large apple pie, bought specifically for Tsuzuki.
"Wow!!" Tsuzuki squealed and dug into the pie.
"I promised, right?" Hisoka said and smiled at the inu chibi.
"'Fanks 'Soka!!" Tsuzuki said with a mouthful of the gooey snack. It was eaten in mere moments.
"Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi said in slight annoyance once the pie was gone, "you've gotten pie all over your face."
The shadow master pulled out his handkerchief and leaned over to Tsuzuki. Hisoka regarded the gesture with ire, and glared darkly at Tatsumi, though only Watari noticed. Gently, Tatsumi wiped Tsuzuki's face clean and smiled at him with loving blue eyes.
"Take better care," he said, "of your body I mean.[7]"
Tsuzuki smiled at him brightly and replied, "Sure thing, Tatsumi!"
Then, Tatsumi and Tsuzuki's eyes met for a brief, but passionate moment. Tatsumi and Tsuzuki froze and gazed at each other intently; blue orbs completely focused on amethyst eyes. Their smiles faded, and both put on a serious, yet loving face, and leaned a little closer to each other.
"Tsuzuki, could show me which ingredients you used for the chicken?" Hisoka asked, deliberately trying to steal Tsuzuki's attention form the secretary. "I can't seem to figure out what is in it."
Tatsumi leaned away quickly, blushed, and coughed into a handkerchief. Tsuzuki pretended to not have noticed anything, and blushed faintly before turning his attention to his partner.
"Um, sure, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said quickly. "The contents are in the kitchen."
"Help me up?" Hisoka requested once Tsuzuki stood.
Reluctant and almost hesitantly, Tsuzuki approached Hisoka. He held out his left hand, and held offered it to Hisoka. Hisoka however, grabbed his right arm, and pulled himself up.
"GYA!" Tsuzuki and Hisoka cried out. Hisoka cried out from the pain Tsuzuki had been hiding, and Tsuzuki cringed from the physical pain Hisoka's weight had caused. Tsuzuki fell backwards into the wall, and Hisoka fell onto his butt on the floor. Tatsumi, in a flash, had an arm around Tsuzuki's back and was holding Tsuzuki's hand, stabilizing his balance.
"Hisoka, Tsuzuki! Are you alright?!" Tatsumi asked.
"I'm alright." Hisoka winced and looked up at Tsuzuki. 'Such pain!!' Hisoka thought. 'His shoulder is almost causing him to cry, but he hides it so well!!' He looked at Watari, and found that the blond scientist was frowning.
"I'm fine, Tatsumi," Tsuzuki said shakily. No one believed him. His left eye was scrunched tight, and he was sweating from the agony he had just endured. What's more, the blood on his jacket was becoming visible to all that looked carefully enough.
"Tsuzuki," Watari said, pretending that he hadn't noticed. The tall man turned, so Watari continued. "We've run out of sake. Will you go to Kyuushuu and buy some more? I'll even give you money for more pie, if you want."
"Sure," Tsuzuki said, putting on a cheerful face, despite the pain he was still experiencing.
"Here you go," Watari said and handed him a hand full of money. "Buy the expensive stuff."
"All right, Watari," Tsuzuki said and flew out the door, eager to escape from the scene he had just created. 'I should have held it in. I don't want to worry them,' he thought to himself as the night sky lifted his hair.
He ran passed the housing district in Enmacho and was nearing the borders of Kyushu when a movement caught his eye...................
*
"That should send him away for at least half an hour," Watari sighed. "No doubt, he won't hurry back."
"Watari-san," Hisoka said and starred solemnly at the scientists. "Explain."
Watari regarded Hisoka and Tatsumi gravely and sat down. "He's hurt," he said simply. He reached under the table and pulled out an unopened bottle of sake. A little drink always helped when explaining things........ "I sent him away, as you know, to tell you about this."
Tatsumi met his gaze, a silent demand for him to continue.
"He could hardly lift a saucepan for me with his right arm today, and he has been favoring it with most care. He refused to take off his jacket tonight, even though the stove had made the room unbearably hot. I saw blood on it, earlier tonight."
"His shoulder was bitten today by the basilisk," Hisoka said quietly. "After it was defeated, he said he was feeling weak and passed out."
"How serious was the wound?" Tatsumi inquired. His brows were furrowed as he took in every offered detail.
"It was deep, but it should have been nearly healed by now," Hisoka said worriedly. "Or at least not be bleeding or hurting him."
'All this was happening and we didn't even notice.' "I'll try to find out what's happening," Tatsumi volunteered.
"No, I'll do it," Hisoka argued. "I'm his partner."
"Better let Tatsumi do it," Watari interjected. "You must have noticed how Tsuzuki likes to keep things from you. That is because he feels like he would be bothering you, and has no desire to be yelled at. With Tatsumi, it's different. Tatsumi is his best friend, and he is more comfortable dealing with personal problems with him."
Hisoka glared at the ground, jealousy written all over his face. 'He'd tell Tatsumi, but not me? Am I that cruel to him that he would turn to someone else? Why Tatsumi? Why the greedy shadow master?'
"Don't get me wrong," Watari said, sensing the boy's train of thought. "It's not that he doesn't trust or like you, it's just that your friendship with Tsuzuki is umm..........different than Tatsumi's." Hisoka glared.
"I will inform you of the situation as soon as I discover it, Kurosaki- kun," Tatsumi said and bowed. 'You are my friend, Kurosaki-kun. Please do not sacrifice that needlessly, with things like jealousy.'
"......Thank you, Tatsumi-san," Hisoka said and smiled. 'You're right. I can't let jealousy stand in the way of my friendship.'
CRASH!!!
The three men looked over to the doorway where Tsuzuki had crash-landed in a massive heap of black clothing. That is, black, red stained clothing.
"Tsuzuki!?" Watari cried and rushed to him. "Tsuzuki, are you alright? What the hell happened?! I thought you were leaving!"
"Wa.........tari," Tsuzuki whimpered and coughed. He tried to rise, but fell back to the floor before he had even gotten to his knees.
[8]"Asato!" Tatsumi yelled and pulled him into his arms. "What happened?"
"D-demon........ It's still out there," Tsuzuki whispered and coughed violently. "A demon........in Meifu."
"In Meifu?!" Hisoka asked in disbelief.
As soon as the words escaped his lips, the glass of the living room window shattered, and a demon lunged in the room directly at Tsuzuki.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Whoohoo! A cliffhanger!
So? Do you like it? I hope you all do!! ^_^ From here on, there is VERY little humor –if any. There is HEAVY angst to come, but the last (VERY last) part of the fic will be humorous. I hope you all enjoy reading this fic. Good bye for now, my darlings!
[1] I forgot the place where Enmacho meets Kyuushuu, so I'm going to say a building in Tokyo. That's where I think it is, and if I'm wrong, please tell me.
[2] A friend of mine, "Papa Smurf", got me hooked on Charmed. Damn you, Trey!! ^_^ So anyway, after I wrote that sentence I kept thinking of Hisoka, Tsuzuki and Tatsumi using the "Power of Three" spell on Sargantanas. Lol. That's creepy.
Hisoka: If you start calling me "Piper Kurosaki" or "Hisoka Hallowell" I'll kill you.
Hiten: Be nice Hisoka-Kun!! At least I'm not killing you in this fic!! Not like I can, anyway. You being dead and all.
Hisoka: What you do is worse!! First, you [Censored To Prevent Spoilers] and then you [insert annoying bleeping] and last, but CERTAINLY not least, you [Boy, this is annoying. Am I building up the suspense?]
Hiten: *has big puppy eyes and has flattened her Youko ears against her head* Y-y-you yelled at me................*cries* I need a hug.
Tsuzuki: *appears*
Hiten: YAY!!! *glomp*
[3] I don't like snakes. However, this one is pretty cool sounding. *glares darkly* as long as you ignore the fact that he hurt Tsuzuki. *Scene is changed to show a large, black, terrified and crying snake roasting on a stick over a fire with me in the background* *pelts it with random marshmallows* ROAST THE SNAKE!! ROAT THE SNAKE!!
[4] I collapsed a little while ago, and this is sort of what it was like. It was at Disney Land, and I passed out while standing in line. Everything turned white, but every few seconds I would see a flash of a line with a bunch of people and worried faces and flashing lights before it would turn white again. Then I woke and found myself in a chair with a bunch of people swarming around me. This is what I was trying to describe. If you've ever passed out before, you'll know what I'm talking about.
[5] Halfway there, he (and the author) remembered he could fly. :P
[6] That is why I want right now, but I'm stuck with Macaroni & Cheese. Mmm, dried, cardboard, noodles with cheese that I don't want to think about what its made of.........YUM!
[7] Quote Trowa Barton, from Gundam Wing in DVD number 3, episode 13(ish), first half of the episode. ^_^ Fan? ME? No way!
[8] I realize that in Japan, it is proper to call people by they're last names, as they do quite often in YnM. However, since Tatsumi and Tsuzuki are so close, and since in this fic Tatsumi loves Tsuzuki, Tatsumi slips up sometimes and calls him by his given name, Asato. I stuck that in here for romantic reasons.
CHAPTER WARNINGS: OOC
Dear Readers,
People have been criticizing my writing BIG TIME recently. That's kind of a good thing. When I first started writing all I got was praise. I think that if I had received this bad of criticism earlier, I would have stopped writing. I'm glad that I'm getting it now rather than then. THANKS FOR WAITING PEOPLE!! Constructive criticism is a good thing, but please let me know if you liked my fics, rather than simply pointing out my errors. Thank you so much!!
Sincerely,
Lady Hiten
REPONSE TO REVIEWS:
~~ To everyone: WAAH!! Be nice! I'm only in eighth grade!! My grammar isn't all that great. ^_^
~~ Meritite:
Thank you so much for reviewing my fic!
Thanks for telling me what 'Bon' meant. I bought the DVD two days after you told me that and Watari kept saying it over and over. HE HAS A NAME WATARI!!! Jeez, some adults! (
As for the happy bunny reference, I have no idea what possessed me to put that in there.
About them telling Tsuzuki about his cooking: I wanted Tsuzuki to get a clue about his cooking. The truth hurts, but if he knows he sucks, then he can improve his skills and become a good cook. That way, no one will have to pretend to like his cooking, because they actually will. (
What I meant by "good torture fics" is all out angst and death (of Tsuzuki). There are tons of fics that have romantic angst and are well written, but I want to read a horrifically bloody/gory fic, and I have yet to come across one. If you know of one, please don't hesitate to tell me about it!
As for not following the plot, I try to have a lighter moment in all of my fics, and the beginning of this one will have an impact on the later chapters. I didn't want to start it out as angst; I wanted it to get people interested first.
Also, I do think that Hakushaku is serious about Tsuzuki, but I think his feelings are driven more from lust over Tsuzuki's appearance than the guy's personality. That's just my opinion anyway.
Once again, thank you for the review! I don't get enough constructive criticism. You helped me a lot!
Wowie that was a loooong reply. (
~~ Rika:
There IS shounen ai in it, just not so much in the first chapter. Thanks for the review!
~~ Tessa :
Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you agree with me about Tsuzuki torture fics. I'm sadistic. :D
**
Thank you all, my darling reviewers!! The fic will have PLENTY of angst, don't worry!
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RING!!!! RING!!!! RING!!!! RI-
Watari grabbed the phone and held it to his face. "'Lo?" he asked tiredly.
"Watari?" Hisoka's voice said in surprise on the other end. "What are you doing there?"
"Doing where? .....Oh yeah......I stayed over to help Tsuzuki learn to cook," Watari grumbled. "What do you want?"
"You're late for work," Hisoka said. Even without empathy, Watari could feel the annoyance of the boy.
"Work?" Watari asked, his mind not yet functioning properly.
"Yeeaah," Hisoka said slowly. "Work. The building where you and Tsuzuki blow things up while the rest of us file paper work."
Watari lay for a moment in silence. "Oh yeah....................HOLY---!!!"
"You had better get here soon," Hisoka said. "Tsuzuki has paperwork piling up."
"Yeah, sure bon!!" Watari said. "Gotta go, bye!!"
Quickly he slammed the phone down onto the receiver and raced up over to Tsuzuki's room.
"WAKE UP!!!" Watari shouted. He grabbed one of Tsuzuki's pillows and slammed it hard on his face. "O-*slam*-HAI-*slam*-YO!!!"
"Nrrg," Tsuzuki groaned and opened his violet eyes. "Wha--?"
"We're late for work."
In a flash, Tsuzuki leapt out of bed and dashed for the bathroom. In seconds Watari heard shower water running, so he decided to get their clothes ready.
The two made it out of the apartment in twenty minutes and ran quickly to the Shogun division.
*
Various employees stilled in their work as they heard the two men argue, and saw them run through the halls towards Kanoe's office.
"It's your fault we're late!!"
"You're the one who made me cook all night!!"
"If you didn't SUCK this wouldn't have happened!!"
"I don't suck!"
"Do too!!"
"I do not!!"
Finally the two arrived and flung Kanoe's door open.
"Sorry we're so late," Tsuzuki said and bowed slightly.
'No surprise here,' Kanoe thought. He nodded, before he spoke to Tsuzuki. "While you were gone, Hisoka has decided that the two of you will complete your mission to get rid of the demon right before lunch -which is now."
"Why in the morning, Kacho?" Tsuzuki asked, breathing deeply as he tried to catch his breath.
"I want to get it over with," Hisoka said and came up behind them, glaring irefully at the two tardy men. "Why were you so late?"
"Watari made me stay up late cooking," Tsuzuki said and pointed accusingly at the scientist.
"It was well worth it!!" Watari said, forgetting his fatigue. "He made some lasagna last night, AND IT WAS GOOD!!!"
"What?!" Kanoe exclaimed.
"It was really good!!" Watari said and grinned. "We're going to win crab tonight!!"
"YAY!!" Tsuzuki cried.
Hisoka and Kanoe starred as the two –fully grown- men forgot about their argument, gripped hands and danced around the office.
"Well..........." Hisoka cleared his throat and the two ceased rejoicing. "Tsuzuki, I want to leave in about twenty minutes. Say hi to Tatsumi, and let's go."
"Ok," Tsuzuki said and nodded happily.
He and Watari skipped down the hallways, no longer yelling at each other, but singing praises to crab and Lady Luck.
"We're going to get crab! We're going to get crab!" they sang.
"Dullards," Hisoka muttered and sweat-dropped. He turned to Kanoe and asked, "Do you have any specifics on the demon?"
"It appears to be a basilisk," Kanoe said. "It hasn't bitten anyone, so we don't know whether or not it is poisonous. Be on your guard, just in case. It' very weak when it comes to magic, but her physical size makes up for it."
"Fine," Hisoka said and bowed his head. "We'll be back in a while, I guess."
"Good luck," Kanoe said. Before closing the door, Hisoka thought he heard him say; "You'll need it."
*
Tatsumi cringed as he heard two ear-splitting voices chanting noisily in the hallway. He sighed deeply when he noticed they were heading towards him.
"Tatsu~~~mii~~~~i!!!" Tsuzuki called and ran up to his friend.
"Yes, Tsuzuki-san?" Tatsumi asked and tried to keep any trace of annoyance out of his voice.
"We're gonna win!!" Watari and Tsuzuki said. Both leaned up to him and grinned –in chibi mode. "You're gonna have to buy us crab!!!"
"We'll see," Tatsumi said and smirked.
The chibis danced around Tatsumi for a few minutes before Watari –now fully sized and serious- turned to leave.
"I'm sorry my visit is so short, Tatsumi, but I have to go," Watari said and waved. "I have to complete my sex changing potion. You'll try it once its done, won't you Tsuzuki?"
"NO!!" Tsuzuki said and shuddered.
"Spoil sport!" Watari called before he zipped around a corner.
"So, Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi asked, getting the attention of the violet eyed man. "You and Kurosaki have a mission to complete. Are you making him wait for you?"
"He gave me twenty minutes, half of which are gone," Tsuzuki said when he looked at his watch. "I came to say good morning to you."
"Good morning," Tatsumi said.
"Good morning," Tsuzuki beamed. He then bowed to Tatsumi and waved. "Well, I should get going. Hisoka will murder me if I'm late –so to speak anyway. Talk to you later! Bye Tatsumi!!!"
"Goodbye, Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi called back and smiled. His smile soon vanished.
A strange chill shot through Tatsumi's spine when he saw his friend walking away. Although Tatsumi tried to brush the feeling aside, his efforts were futile, and the feeling intensified. Something was going to happen, something horrible if he let his friend leave. 'Don't go,' he thought urgently. Before he even knew it, he called for him to stop.
"Wait! Tsuzuki-san!"
Tsuzuki turned back to his former partner studied him quizzically. "What is it, Tatsumi?" he asked.
"N-nothing," Tatsumi said. Eyes still wide, he tore his gaze from Tsuzuki and starred at the floor. 'What was that, just now?'
"Tatsumi? Something wrong?" Tsuzuki asked, concern evident in his eyes. He took a step towards his quivering friend, and brought a hand up to reach out for his ex-partner.
Tatsumi raised his head and smiled gently at him. "Nothing at all, Tsuzuki- san." He gently brushed Tsuzuki's hand away and broadened his smile. "Go ahead and meet with Kurosaki. Give him my regards."
"Ok," Tsuzuki said slowly. He studied Tatsumi a moment longer. Then, realizing that he was going to receive no explanation, he turned and left.
As Tsuzuki walked away once again, Tatsumi got the same chilled feeling. He resisted the urge to call out for his comrade, and allowed him to leave.
"What's going on?" Tatsumi asked himself once Tsuzuki was out of sight. "That feeling of dread......What was it? An omen, perhaps?"
Shaking his head, he brushed the matter aside and walked towards Kanoe's office.
"Nonsense. Nothing bad can happen so close to home."
***
"Let's get going, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said once Tsuzuki appeared. "After this you can cook whatever poison you want us to eat for dinner."
"Hisoka~~a!!!" Tsuzuki whined and trailed after the younger shinigami. "For one so young, you sure are mean!!"
After a moment he asked, "So what did Kanoe say about the demon?"
"That it's a basilisk, and he's waiting for someone," Hisoka said apathetically.
"So that's why it's so close to Enmacho," Tsuzuki said in wonder. He chuckled and said, "I hope we're not the ones its after. That would suck!"
The two walked quietly outside passed the forest of flourishing Sakura trees to the edge of Meifu. The air was warm, and the day was sunny. It was a shame to be working on such a day.
"All we have to do is destroy the demon, right?" Tsuzuki asked quietly. "You sure that's it? No souls to take?"
"That's it," Hisoka said, catching the older man's plight. "And with your shikagami, it should be over with quickly." He felt Tsuzuki smile.
"That's great!"
*
Shortly thereafter, they reached the barrier between Enmacho and Kyuushuu[1].
"So where does it usually appear?" Tsuzuki asked and peered around. "Just outside the barrier, right?"
"Yes, or close to it, anyway," Hisoka said and walked around the area. They were in an alley in Tokyo's downtown district. "Let's go to the park."
"Ok," Tsuzuki said. "Can we get something to eat first? Some pie maybe?"
"No," Hisoka grumbled. "We'll eat AFTER we vanquish the demon.[2]"
"You sound like a witch when you say it like that," Tsuzuki mumbled. He smirked, but his grin disappeared when Hisoka glared at him.
"Whatever," Hisoka said. "Just follow me. We'll head to the park, so if the basilisk does show, we won't be around many people."
"But why wouldn't there be many people in the park?" Tsuzuki asked as they walked down the street. "It's a beautiful place to be."
"Of course," Hisoka said sarcastically, "there's plenty of people at the end of the park closest to the woods, in the middle of the school and work day."
"Oh," Tsuzuki said and scratched his cheek in shame. He smiled though, and replied, "Right."
"Just keep up," Hisoka sighed in annoyance and quickened his pace.
The two reached the woods without incident. The area before the woods was bright and cheery, but the woods itself was darkly shadowed.
"The demon should be around here," Hisoka said, "if anywhere. I don't think it would be foolish enough to attack a shinigami in the streets."
"Sure......Hisoka," Tsuzuki said slowly as he starred at a particularly dark clump of leaves in the treetops. 'Something's up there,' he thought. A bird twittered in the distance and crickets chirped, and all seemed normal. 'Maybe it's nothing.' Ignoring it, Tsuzuki continued after Hisoka.
"Tsuzuki, I really think that you should be careful. You can be pretty destructive –"
Tsuzuki's attention was immediately diverted when he was struck on the head with a blunt, coiled object. He jumped in surprise and looked down to see a small snake on the ground.
"What the?"
"–and you know that Tatsumi will fire you if you mess up again," Hisoka said before he noticed that Tsuzuki had stopped. He turned and looked back at his partner. "What is it?"
"Oh," Tsuzuki said and looked down. The snake was gone. "I just saw a snake just now and it surpri–"
"TSUZUKI!!" Hisoka cried suddenly. "LOOK OUT!!"
Tsuzuki looked up in time to see an enormous serpentine demon falling from the treetops directly onto of him.
*
Hisoka starred in shock as the largest snake he had ever seen fell on to his partner. The snake was black with cunning yellow eyes, and a glowing green symbol on its forehead. [3]
"Tsuzuki!!" Hisoka cried and dashed closer. "That's the basilisk!!"
"Yeah!!" Tsuzuki called back sharply. "I realized that!!"
The serpent was slithering on the ground, wrapping its scaly body around Tsuzuki as the shinigami desperately grabbed for his fudas. Before he could select one, the basilisk tightened its hold on Tsuzuki and squeezed him. The fudas fell from Tsuzuki's hands as the serpent began to crush his immortal body.
"AH!!" Tsuzuki gasped as the demon compress itself like a vice on his body. "Hisoka!! Use your fuda magic!!"
"Which one?!" Hisoka called. 'THINK HISOKA!!,' he thought. 'What works best on a snake?'
"How the hell should I–" Tsuzuki's words were cut short as the snake squeezed him even tighter, crushing his lungs and knocking the wind out of him. "Hur............ry!!" he choked. The winding body of the reptile twisted his own body as it tried to suffocate him.
Quick as lightening, the snake wheeled its massive head around and pierced Tsuzuki's right shoulder with its mammoth fangs, causing him to scream in pain and fury. The symbol on the snake's forehead glowed brightly, and its eyes turned red as a liquid dripped from its fangs into the shinigami's body.
"AAAH!!" Tsuzuki shrieked. White-hot pain shot quickly from the wound as venom made its way into his broken flesh. Violent agony shot all throughout his body, making his nauseous. At first he could hear Hisoka shrieking, but the sound died away. His vision turned vague, and his hearing disappeared as he felt himself begin to loose consciousness. Every cell in his body was burning as if he were inside the center of an inferno. The aching sensation blocked all other senses, so all he felt was pain. 'Dear Enma, it hurts so much!!' he thought. The pain vanished as quickly as it had come and turned to a sharp sting. Though his senses were slowly returning, all he could hear was a faint rustling, and see a white haze, which would every so often change into the forest scene before him, but then would turn back to white. [4]
The snake held on a moment longer then pulled his teeth from the Shinigami's shoulder. The gaping wounds spilled tremendous amounts of blood onto the shinigami's shirt and onto the ground, and seemed to satisfy the evil beast.
"TSUZUKI!!" Devastated by the sight before him, Hisoka whipped out the first Fuda he could find and shouted the incantation. "I summon the Holy Fire!!"
Red-orange flames burst forth from the fuda and spun wildly at the basilisk. It reached it in seconds and burned the monster quickly, covering its body with a hellish inferno before sending it to Hades. The snake tried to resist the shinigami magic and lashed about wildly. It thrashed wildly, and sent Tsuzuki's slamming into a faraway tree with a sickening snap. The beast slammed around, twisting in agony as the fire burned through its skin and charred its insides. With a final shriek, the serpent collapsed into a pile of scalding ashes.
Hisoka sighed in relief. 'That demon wasn't very strong spiritually, or it could have survived my fire.'
The young shinigami's attention was quickly diverted when he heard a groan. He looked to see Tsuzuki lying on the ground on the base of the tree, his arm wrapped around his ribs.
"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka yelled and ran up to him, He winced and kneeled before him, eyes guilty, and concerned. "Can you hear me? How badly are you hurt?"
"N-not too bad," Tsuzuki answered once he had regained his senses. He winced, then said, "Nothing broken, I think."
"Liar! You broke a rib! God, look at this gash," Hisoka said and ignored him. He looked at Tsuzuki's ripped shirt and peered at the darkened skin beneath. "If you were human, you'd have a bruise on your chest for months!!"
"Lucky for me I'm not," Tsuzuki said and chuckled softly. "Can we go get some pie now?" he asked quietly, so softly that the words were almost unheard.
"We should go home and get you rested up," Hisoka said and gave him a half smile. "Later, I'll buy you a whole pie for yourself."
"Sounds good," Tsuzuki said and tried to stand –only to sink back down to his knees.
"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked in alarm.
"Dizzy," Tsuzuki muttered and hung his head. "I fell sort of weak."
"What else did that damned snake do to you?" Hisoka asked. "If he–" He paused when he noticed that Tsuzuki was starring straight ahead of him. "Tsuzuki, can you hear me?"
Tsuzuki moaned loudly and fell forwards into Hisoka's arms.
"Tsu-!! Damn!!" Hisoka glared at the smoldering pile of ashes and asked. "What the hell did you do to him? I wish you weren't dead, if only so I could kill you again!!"
Still grumbling about the accursed snake, Hisoka hoisted Tsuzuki as best he could onto his shoulders and hauled him back to Enmacho.
***
Tsuzuki woke in a hospital bed, lights turned off, and alone. His chest was sore and he had bandages all across his bust and shoulder. The blinds were open and it was evening outside. The sky was turning dark blue, and the first few stars were twinkling in the heavens. He lay in silence, not moving, his mind slow, before he sluggishly rose to a sit. For a moment, the dizziness came back again, but was gone quickly, and didn't return.
"Tsuzuki-san?" Tatsumi called from the door. "How are you feeling?"
"Huh? Oh, hey Tatsumi!" Tsuzuki called. He smiled at his friend and thought, 'He's always here when I wake up.' "I'm feeling a lot better!"
"That's good," Tatsumi said and walked over to him. "We were very worried about you."
"Oh," Tsuzuki uttered softly. 'I didn't mean to worry you.'
As if reading his mind, Tatsumi sat next to him and spoke softly, "Now, don't you dare feel guilty, Tsuzuki-san."
Tsuzuki chuckled softly then smiled. "I won't. By the way, Tatsumi, what time is it?"
"It's about a quarter passed five."
It was five fifteen.
IT WAS FIVE FIFTEEN!!
"Only forty five minutes to get dinner ready!!" Tsuzuki yelled and leaped out of the bed. "I gotta go, Tatsumi!! Come to Watari's at six."
Quickly, Tsuzuki grabbed his coat and dashed out of the clinic towards Watari's home. Halfway there, he [5] remembered he could fly, so he rose hastily into the air and made a beeline for the scientist's home. He reached it quickly, and rang the bell.
"Hold up!" Watari called from inside. He opened the door and smiled in surprise. "Tsuzuki! I thought you'd be resting some more!" He bounced out of the way and let Tsuzuki in. "Bon told us that you basilisk took a lot out of you. Are you still up to cooking tonight?"
Tsuzuki nodded. Watari grinned and raced to a doorway at the end of the hall.
"Kitchen's over here!"
Tsuzuki followed the now singing scientist to his kitchen. It was a nice, but not elegant room, with many cupboards and fine, turquoise tiles on the counters. There was a medium sized fridge and a large stove. On the counters was a row of food ingredients.
"Alright," Watari said. "See? I have all of our ingredients set out –you know, just in case you did decide to show up. Are we all set for teriyaki chicken with parmesan noodles?[6]"
"Sounds like a plan," Tsuzuki said and glanced over the ingredients.
"Tsuzuki, grab a pot from the top shelf," Watari said and pointed to a cabinet behind him. "I'm going to double check the recipe"
"Sure, Watari," Tsuzuki said and opened the cupboard. "The big one?"
"Yeah," Watari said and turned to watch him.
His golden eyes narrowed at the sight before him. Tsuzuki reached up gingerly and gripped the big saucepan on the top shelf. He winced when his right hand closed on the metal, and all but groaned when he had to lift the pot. What unnerved him most perhaps was that on the right shoulder of Tsuzuki's tuxedo jacket was a dark patch of a red that was seeping into the black material–blood.
"Tsuzuki," Watari said, studying his friend gravely, "are you alright?"
Tsuzuki flashed him his trademark smile and answered, "Yeah! I'm fine, Watari!" Eagerly, he turned away from Watari and pretended to be busy with measurements.
Not buying it, Watari monitored his behavior the rest of the time they were cooking.
*** [6:04p.m. Meifu]
"Everybody, dig in!!" Tsuzuki said and presented his wonderful looking meal.
"Everything smells as it should," Tatsumi said and peered over the 'food'. "Nothing's moving, so we know it's not alive............Good job, Tsuzuki. You've finally mastered appearance." Tsuzuki beamed. "However," Tsuzuki's grin faded, "we have yet to find out about taste." Tsuzuki gulped.
"It'll be great!" Watari said and hung his arm around Tsuzuki. "I tried it myself before you all got here. It's delish!"
Tsuzuki smiled in gratitude then turned his gaze to Hisoka and Tatsumi. "You'll like it, I know you will!"
"Yeah.......Right," Hisoka said and poked the chicken with his chopsticks.
"Let's just wait and see," Tatsumi said and poured tea for everyone.
Once Tatsumi and Hisoka were seated, Tsuzuki and Watari dished the food, and held hands. The held their breath in nervous anticipation and bit their lips.
Slowly, Tatsumi filled his fork with noodles and sniffed it. "If I am poisoned, I will expect to be compensated."
"Just try it!" Tsuzuki practically yelled.
"As you wish," Tatsumi said. He cautiously raised the fork to his lips and took the first bite. Tsuzuki held his breath as he waited for the verdict. He put on a stoic face and chewed the food with careful consideration. He swallowed just as Tsuzuki began to turn blue from lack of oxygen.
"Well?" Watari asked eagerly.
Tatsumi regarded him sternly and replied, ".........................Not bad."
"YEEEEEEESSS!!!!!" Tsuzuki cried and leapt into the air. "WHOOHOO!!!!"
Watari soon joined him and the two men danced together –in a very undignified manner- around the secretary of Hades.
"You really liked it?! You're not lying or anything, it was good?" Tsuzuki asked repeatedly.
"Tsuzuki, sit down," an annoyed Hisoka grumbled loudly.
"It's fine, Tsuzuki," Tatsumi said and nodded. "For you this meal is five star cooking."
"F-five star?" Tsuzuki –who was now running around as an inu chibi- began to sob great tears of joy. "He actually likes it!!"
"SIT!!" Hisoka screamed. Tsuzuki obliged. "Now, lets eat."
So, they did. Watari and Tsuzuki spent most of the meal discussing where they were going to buy the crab –only the best places, of course-, while Hisoka and Tatsumi munched contentedly on Tsuzuki's most edible meal yet. Before the meal was consumed, Hisoka grabbed a bag that he had brought and pulled out a large apple pie, bought specifically for Tsuzuki.
"Wow!!" Tsuzuki squealed and dug into the pie.
"I promised, right?" Hisoka said and smiled at the inu chibi.
"'Fanks 'Soka!!" Tsuzuki said with a mouthful of the gooey snack. It was eaten in mere moments.
"Tsuzuki-san," Tatsumi said in slight annoyance once the pie was gone, "you've gotten pie all over your face."
The shadow master pulled out his handkerchief and leaned over to Tsuzuki. Hisoka regarded the gesture with ire, and glared darkly at Tatsumi, though only Watari noticed. Gently, Tatsumi wiped Tsuzuki's face clean and smiled at him with loving blue eyes.
"Take better care," he said, "of your body I mean.[7]"
Tsuzuki smiled at him brightly and replied, "Sure thing, Tatsumi!"
Then, Tatsumi and Tsuzuki's eyes met for a brief, but passionate moment. Tatsumi and Tsuzuki froze and gazed at each other intently; blue orbs completely focused on amethyst eyes. Their smiles faded, and both put on a serious, yet loving face, and leaned a little closer to each other.
"Tsuzuki, could show me which ingredients you used for the chicken?" Hisoka asked, deliberately trying to steal Tsuzuki's attention form the secretary. "I can't seem to figure out what is in it."
Tatsumi leaned away quickly, blushed, and coughed into a handkerchief. Tsuzuki pretended to not have noticed anything, and blushed faintly before turning his attention to his partner.
"Um, sure, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said quickly. "The contents are in the kitchen."
"Help me up?" Hisoka requested once Tsuzuki stood.
Reluctant and almost hesitantly, Tsuzuki approached Hisoka. He held out his left hand, and held offered it to Hisoka. Hisoka however, grabbed his right arm, and pulled himself up.
"GYA!" Tsuzuki and Hisoka cried out. Hisoka cried out from the pain Tsuzuki had been hiding, and Tsuzuki cringed from the physical pain Hisoka's weight had caused. Tsuzuki fell backwards into the wall, and Hisoka fell onto his butt on the floor. Tatsumi, in a flash, had an arm around Tsuzuki's back and was holding Tsuzuki's hand, stabilizing his balance.
"Hisoka, Tsuzuki! Are you alright?!" Tatsumi asked.
"I'm alright." Hisoka winced and looked up at Tsuzuki. 'Such pain!!' Hisoka thought. 'His shoulder is almost causing him to cry, but he hides it so well!!' He looked at Watari, and found that the blond scientist was frowning.
"I'm fine, Tatsumi," Tsuzuki said shakily. No one believed him. His left eye was scrunched tight, and he was sweating from the agony he had just endured. What's more, the blood on his jacket was becoming visible to all that looked carefully enough.
"Tsuzuki," Watari said, pretending that he hadn't noticed. The tall man turned, so Watari continued. "We've run out of sake. Will you go to Kyuushuu and buy some more? I'll even give you money for more pie, if you want."
"Sure," Tsuzuki said, putting on a cheerful face, despite the pain he was still experiencing.
"Here you go," Watari said and handed him a hand full of money. "Buy the expensive stuff."
"All right, Watari," Tsuzuki said and flew out the door, eager to escape from the scene he had just created. 'I should have held it in. I don't want to worry them,' he thought to himself as the night sky lifted his hair.
He ran passed the housing district in Enmacho and was nearing the borders of Kyushu when a movement caught his eye...................
*
"That should send him away for at least half an hour," Watari sighed. "No doubt, he won't hurry back."
"Watari-san," Hisoka said and starred solemnly at the scientists. "Explain."
Watari regarded Hisoka and Tatsumi gravely and sat down. "He's hurt," he said simply. He reached under the table and pulled out an unopened bottle of sake. A little drink always helped when explaining things........ "I sent him away, as you know, to tell you about this."
Tatsumi met his gaze, a silent demand for him to continue.
"He could hardly lift a saucepan for me with his right arm today, and he has been favoring it with most care. He refused to take off his jacket tonight, even though the stove had made the room unbearably hot. I saw blood on it, earlier tonight."
"His shoulder was bitten today by the basilisk," Hisoka said quietly. "After it was defeated, he said he was feeling weak and passed out."
"How serious was the wound?" Tatsumi inquired. His brows were furrowed as he took in every offered detail.
"It was deep, but it should have been nearly healed by now," Hisoka said worriedly. "Or at least not be bleeding or hurting him."
'All this was happening and we didn't even notice.' "I'll try to find out what's happening," Tatsumi volunteered.
"No, I'll do it," Hisoka argued. "I'm his partner."
"Better let Tatsumi do it," Watari interjected. "You must have noticed how Tsuzuki likes to keep things from you. That is because he feels like he would be bothering you, and has no desire to be yelled at. With Tatsumi, it's different. Tatsumi is his best friend, and he is more comfortable dealing with personal problems with him."
Hisoka glared at the ground, jealousy written all over his face. 'He'd tell Tatsumi, but not me? Am I that cruel to him that he would turn to someone else? Why Tatsumi? Why the greedy shadow master?'
"Don't get me wrong," Watari said, sensing the boy's train of thought. "It's not that he doesn't trust or like you, it's just that your friendship with Tsuzuki is umm..........different than Tatsumi's." Hisoka glared.
"I will inform you of the situation as soon as I discover it, Kurosaki- kun," Tatsumi said and bowed. 'You are my friend, Kurosaki-kun. Please do not sacrifice that needlessly, with things like jealousy.'
"......Thank you, Tatsumi-san," Hisoka said and smiled. 'You're right. I can't let jealousy stand in the way of my friendship.'
CRASH!!!
The three men looked over to the doorway where Tsuzuki had crash-landed in a massive heap of black clothing. That is, black, red stained clothing.
"Tsuzuki!?" Watari cried and rushed to him. "Tsuzuki, are you alright? What the hell happened?! I thought you were leaving!"
"Wa.........tari," Tsuzuki whimpered and coughed. He tried to rise, but fell back to the floor before he had even gotten to his knees.
[8]"Asato!" Tatsumi yelled and pulled him into his arms. "What happened?"
"D-demon........ It's still out there," Tsuzuki whispered and coughed violently. "A demon........in Meifu."
"In Meifu?!" Hisoka asked in disbelief.
As soon as the words escaped his lips, the glass of the living room window shattered, and a demon lunged in the room directly at Tsuzuki.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Whoohoo! A cliffhanger!
So? Do you like it? I hope you all do!! ^_^ From here on, there is VERY little humor –if any. There is HEAVY angst to come, but the last (VERY last) part of the fic will be humorous. I hope you all enjoy reading this fic. Good bye for now, my darlings!
[1] I forgot the place where Enmacho meets Kyuushuu, so I'm going to say a building in Tokyo. That's where I think it is, and if I'm wrong, please tell me.
[2] A friend of mine, "Papa Smurf", got me hooked on Charmed. Damn you, Trey!! ^_^ So anyway, after I wrote that sentence I kept thinking of Hisoka, Tsuzuki and Tatsumi using the "Power of Three" spell on Sargantanas. Lol. That's creepy.
Hisoka: If you start calling me "Piper Kurosaki" or "Hisoka Hallowell" I'll kill you.
Hiten: Be nice Hisoka-Kun!! At least I'm not killing you in this fic!! Not like I can, anyway. You being dead and all.
Hisoka: What you do is worse!! First, you [Censored To Prevent Spoilers] and then you [insert annoying bleeping] and last, but CERTAINLY not least, you [Boy, this is annoying. Am I building up the suspense?]
Hiten: *has big puppy eyes and has flattened her Youko ears against her head* Y-y-you yelled at me................*cries* I need a hug.
Tsuzuki: *appears*
Hiten: YAY!!! *glomp*
[3] I don't like snakes. However, this one is pretty cool sounding. *glares darkly* as long as you ignore the fact that he hurt Tsuzuki. *Scene is changed to show a large, black, terrified and crying snake roasting on a stick over a fire with me in the background* *pelts it with random marshmallows* ROAST THE SNAKE!! ROAT THE SNAKE!!
[4] I collapsed a little while ago, and this is sort of what it was like. It was at Disney Land, and I passed out while standing in line. Everything turned white, but every few seconds I would see a flash of a line with a bunch of people and worried faces and flashing lights before it would turn white again. Then I woke and found myself in a chair with a bunch of people swarming around me. This is what I was trying to describe. If you've ever passed out before, you'll know what I'm talking about.
[5] Halfway there, he (and the author) remembered he could fly. :P
[6] That is why I want right now, but I'm stuck with Macaroni & Cheese. Mmm, dried, cardboard, noodles with cheese that I don't want to think about what its made of.........YUM!
[7] Quote Trowa Barton, from Gundam Wing in DVD number 3, episode 13(ish), first half of the episode. ^_^ Fan? ME? No way!
[8] I realize that in Japan, it is proper to call people by they're last names, as they do quite often in YnM. However, since Tatsumi and Tsuzuki are so close, and since in this fic Tatsumi loves Tsuzuki, Tatsumi slips up sometimes and calls him by his given name, Asato. I stuck that in here for romantic reasons.