Awesome, you guys actually listened to me and reviewed! Keep it up, and I'll be a very happy author. Let's see...what did I want to say? The chapters are short, but try to understand. Sometimes, there's a point in the story that you just have to end a chapter at, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense or would ruin the suspense. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, so let's get to the reviews:

AngstnoKami - Some of those answers can be found in this chapter. And for those that can't, well...eventually. Heh heh.

libby - But if he was gone now, what would poor little me write about? I suppose I could do a background fic on the bunny pictures Watari drew... But somehow I don't think anyone would like that.

miko - Ah, that's okay. I'm just glad you reviewed this time. I'm glad you like it!

Schatten Wolfendorf - I know, I'm a cruel, heartless bitch who tortures small animals. Well, only this once. When I was younger, I had such a hard time writing things where animals got hurt. In fact, I usually don't do that even now, but it just seemed to right for this fic. I'm glad it managed to get a reaction, just as I had hoped.

lethaL-Grace - Ya know, I agree about the mental rape thing. I'm not very good at writing physical action scenes, and I generally much prefer psychological torment. I guess I just wanted to do something a bit different than what I usually write, thus all the physical trauma. Have to get practice somehow! And as for your question, you know I can't answer that and ruin the suspense. Though I am tempted to...

Kata - (is crushed under weight of massive review) That's probably why Watari's doing it, because he knows he usually couldn't get away with it. Heh, what fun would I be if I didn't have the demon try and rape him? I mean, sure, there are other things I could do...bashed skull, dismemberment...but that's no fun. We sick, twisted bitches have to have our fun, ne. LOL. Kata, your reviews always make me smile.

JoniQuest - I would include Tatsumi's POV, but I think that would get pretty confusing. Wah, I love the website! So much stuff already...! I'm honored to be a part of it!

Chapter 4

"Do you want something to drink?" Wakaba asked. Watari looked up and shook his head weakly.

"Why won't they let me examine her?" he asked. The girl sat down next to him and sighed.

"We're all in agreement that it's best if the Gushoushin take care of her, since you're so upset right now."

He nodded, ending the conversation. Wakaba sat beside him for a minute more, then left. Tsuzuki took her place, wrapping an arm around his friend. The blonde shrugged him off, afraid that he would start sobbing if given any comfort.

"Where's Bon?" he asked.

"Still in the office... There were too many strong emotions for him to follow when you screamed. Did...did the demon do this?" Tsuzuki ventured.

Watari slumped over slightly. The events replayed in his mind like a bad dream. He could see himself lying on the floor, the demon hovering above him. He could see 003 attack the demon, then...he saw the hand reach up, grabbing the small owl. In the present, Watari winced, mentally skipping over the next part. He saw himself turn around and scream at the demon. He saw...

"Tsuzuki," he said softly. The other man looked at him expectantly. "After...after he...hurt her, I think..." He took a shuddering breath. "After, the look on his face...he went so pale. It was like...like...Seii was there." He sighed, wrapping his arms around his middle. "Does that help any?" he asked.

Tsuzuki smiled weakly, taking the blonde's hand and squeezing it.

"Yeah. I'll tell Hisoka and we'll come up with something. Any idea where the demon is right now?"

Watari shook his head. Tsuzuki stood, giving his friend one last, quick hug before leaving the infirmary.

Hisoka sat at his desk, resting his head heavily on the wooden top. He closed his eyes, trying to keep himself calm. The door creaked open, soft footsteps nearing him.

"Hey, you okay now 'Soka?"

The boy looked up wearily into the kind eyes of his partner.

"...What happened, exactly?" he asked, although he already had an idea.

Tsuzuki looked away, wringing his hands together.

"The demon hurt 003...really badly."

"Did he kill her?" Hisoka asked bluntly.

The older man shook his head.

"Fortunately for the demon, no. But she's in pretty bad shape right now. Oh, that reminds me. Watari said that right after it happened, he thinks...Tatsumi kinda peeked out past the demon, ya know?"

Hisoka bit his fingernail in contemplation.

"So...he thinks that Tatsumi-san's will temporarily overpowered the demon?"

Tsuzuki scratched his head.

"Uh, I guess that's what he meant."

The blonde frowned, mentally scanning everything they had gone over in the meeting.

"Then...when the demon upset Watari-san so badly, it got a strong enough reaction from Tatsumi-san that he forced his way to the surface..."

"Hm? So what does that mean?"

Hisoka sighed, giving his partner a long-suffering look.

"If I'm correct...it means that if we can cause a severe enough emotional reaction from Tatsumi-san, he may be able to cast the demon out himself."

"But how do we do that? I mean, it took something this bad to get him to show up for even a second!"

"I know that," Hisoka growled in irritation. "I'm trying to figure it out, okay?"

Tsuzuki pouted, giving the boy a sad look.

"I'm sorry, 'Soka. I just don't want to see that bastard hurt anyone else... He's already come after me and Watari, and I'm afraid he's going to try to hurt you next," he admitted softly. Hisoka stared at him in unguarded surprise.

"...Tsuzuki...I'll be fine. I can take care of myself," he mumbled, hiding the faint blush on his face. His partner smiled, but the worry in his eyes remained.

Watari sat nursing a warm cup of coffee, staring at 003's bandaged form. He sighed, forcing himself to look away. 'You're going to pay for this, demon. I don't care what I have to do, but nobody fucks with my baby. You have no idea what you're getting into. Just...have to figure out how to keep from hurting Seii.' He stood, walking over to the infirmary computer. Logging on, he accessed the database and began searching. 'Shadows...what opposes shadows?' His first thought was light, but he quickly dismissed it. 'No, light creates shadows and can only defeat them in...darkness. There we go, darkness. Darkness destroys shadows...I think. Well, at least I hope that's how it works. Makes sense to me...' He sat back, trying to relax the tense muscles in his shoulders and back. 'Guess I should talk to Tsuzuki and Bon about this... If we're gonna do something, we need to do it soon. I just wish we could figure out where he is right now...'

An hour later found Tsuzuki, Watari, and Hisoka gathered in the lab. The three men sipped coffee as they discussed possible solutions.

"I see where you're going with that idea, Watari, but...what kind of darkness could we use? I mean, it'd have to be something pretty powerful, ya know?"

The scientist nodded.

"Yeah, I can't figure that out, either. Shit, we could just force the demon out!"

Hisoka looked up as Tsuzuki prepared to argue.

"I was thinking that as well," the boy said quietly. "If we can find some way to get Tatsumi-san to force his way to the surface, the demon would have no choice but to leave the host. Then we could attack the demon and destroy him."

"But how are we supposed to force him out? We'd have to...I dunno...kill Watari to do that!" Tsuzuki exclaimed. Hisoka tilted his head, thinking.

"We can do that," he said. The other men turned to stare at him.

"It's just like when we tricked Saagatanasu. We made him think he had killed Hijiri. If we can make Tatsumi-san think the demon killed Watari-san, that should be enough to drive the demon out. We just have to make it convincing, without actually killing Watari-san."

"Well, I don't mind if I have to get hurt to pull it off. The biggest problem is going to be faking death when we can't predict what the demon's going to do. It has to look like the demon killed me, right? That's gonna be tough. Maybe I can come up with some sort of potion..." Watari started.

"Uh, why don't we just stick to ketchup for fake blood or something," Tsuzuki interjected frantically.

"Plus, we don't even know when he'll show up again," Hisoka added with a frown.

Watari sighed.

"Well, our plan has a lot of holes in it. But I'm serious about making a potion. If I can come up with something that can help us pull off the illusion of death..."

"As long as I don't have to drink it," Tsuzuki mumbled.

Tatsumi-kage stood in the shadows, watching one of the Shinigami as he headed home. The demon smirked.

"Perhaps it's time to make this...more interesting," he said. He followed his prey, careful to stay far enough back as to avoid detection. He waited until the Shinigami was inside the building before ascending the stairs. 'This one should be fairly simple to destroy,' the demon thought. 'In fact, I hope he doesn't bore me.' When he reached the apartment, Tatsumi-kage teleported inside.

Hisoka entered his apartment wearily, exhausted from the happenings of the previous few days. He shrugged off his coat and flung it on the couch. Grabbing a change of clothes from his bedroom, he headed to the bathroom for a well-deserved shower. 'As soon as I'm clean, I think I need some coffee,' he decided as he turned the water on, waiting for it to reach an agreeable temperature. Stripping, he stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain in place. 'It's been a month now...has anything really changed? I let him kiss me once or twice... I hope that's enough. It's not that I don't want to...kiss him...but...' He sighed, his shoulders slumping. In an instant, his eyes became alert, his muscles tense. 'I sense something...it feels like...Tatsumi-san, but it's not!' Leaving the shower running, he stepped out quietly, running the towel distractedly over his body once and throwing on his underwear and pants. 'He's definitely here...' Hisoka glanced around the bathroom quickly, determining that besides a toilet plunger, there was nothing that could double as a weapon. He took up post by the door, locking it. He felt the presence more strongly and froze.

"Did you truly believe that locking the door would keep me out?"

Hisoka jerked around, only to have a hand slam into him, gripping his throat firmly.

"I hope you don't think Tatsumi is going to save you from me," the demon said.

The boy struggled slightly, but was having trouble breathing.

"When I'm finished with you, your friends won't have the will to fight anymore," Tatsumi-kage purred.