Authors' Notes or commentary (whatever you wanna call it):
BuddhaFrog: My phone won't work! My mom bought a new house and I can't call her cause my phone won't work! *she says as she shakes the phone up and down* Oh, yeah, the story wait a minute! *sighs and slumps down into a chair, giving up on phone* So, nothing really happens in this first chapter . . . it is just plot, help along, whatever you call that (setup). Well, there's some cuddling, Yay cuddle! BUT, I would appreciate it, if our readers, if we have any readers, which I know we have a couple b/c we've gotten a little bit of feed back. I love those readers, I LOOOVVVEEE those readers! Anyhow, I appreciate those readers who give us feedback, and I'm gonna cry, cause nobody loves us. I'm gonna think we're perfect b/c nobody send us anything! Nothing, no one telling us we suck, no one sending anything to tell us we suck, no one telling us we're awesome! We're just posting on the web for nobody! And yes, I did slip into a southern accent, but I don't care! I feel unloved, and I'm gonna cry, and if BuddhaFrog gets mad and cries you people don't get no chocolate! An' yes, Ah know Ah talk to much. An' why the hell ain't muh phone workin'. Look Ah have a signal! Luv an' Peace!
MorningStar: *o.O, looks at BuddhaFrog like she's lost her mind* Oooookay, welll, yeah. So she's kinda, ummm, crazy. But we all knew that, we love her anyway! Okay, so this story took a long time to write, b/c we had to do a lot of research, plus the fact that we also have a million other things to do. But we love our readers and we wanted to get this up as soon as possible, so I sat down and FINALLY finished it!! YAY!! Okay, we'll, not the whole story, just the first chapter. Anyway, this one is going to be longer than the "Affinity" duo. A LOT longer! It takes place about a year after after the "Affinity" story. Well, as always, we hope you enjoy reading, this. Please, read and review, we do want to hear from our readers. As we said, just review us to tell us we suck if that's what you think, or tell us we're doing great. Whatever we don't care, so long as we get SOMETHING! Okay, here's a little hint as to what's going to happen in the next chapter; Tsuzuki and Hisoka uncover interesting facts about the case . . . Detective Hatoyama isn't what she appears to be . . . The demon's plot is hinted at! HAHAHA, I'm evil! For our Fanficiton.net fans out there; yes, I did take the second chapter of "Affinity" off the website, b/c it just didn't make sense to have the first part of both chapters when you don't know what's going on with the second chapter without the end of the first, so if you want to finish the story you have to go to our YnM shrine. Sorry, but Fanfiction.net's rules about NC-17 ratings kinda prevent us from posting the whole story:D Let's see anything else . . . Oh, yes, this story I rated R, b/c in the future more will happen to make it R. Well, that's about it for now. DAMN MURAKI!!
Holli: Wah...no porno this time...:( LOL, that's all right, their story this time around is in-ter-esting! So my kitty Gizmo got fixed this past Thursday (10/16/03). Brought him home this past Friday...he never flinched! Bouncing 'round the house like a maniac, like nothing happened! WELL...he don't miss his balls, do he? I went to my friend Zach's home this past weekend...yay for eating chili with people I don't know...YAY!!! Oh well, this weekend I got Japanese version Yu Yu Hakusho manga, vol. 15 & 16 for six dollars! ^_^ And the album Dummy by Portishead...I still have yet to listen to it, but I already know I love the Roads song. *gee!* ^_^
Demon Life
Chapter One: Next Victims Found
He ran down the alleyway. His breath was torn from his lungs in painful gasps. He didn't know what the hell was chasing him. He chanced a glance behind him. A flash of wings, blood red. Long white hair. He pumped his legs harder, desperate. He felt his heart beating in his chest, harder, harder, he couldn't go on. He stumbled. Fangs bit. Claws swiped. Darkness.
In The Castle of Candles a flame was snuffed as if by some invisible wind. Strangely, that same candle relit itself only moments later. The flame was dimmer, smaller, but there.
Chief Konoe stared at the empty chair that *should* have held Tsuzuki. He looked back up at Hisoka, "He's your partner. Where the hell is he?!"
Hisoka stared at the chief incredulously, "How would I know? I may be his partner, but I don't know where he is every minute of the day!"
Just then, the door burst open and a whirlwind entered.
"Tsuzuki! Where the HELL have you been?!" Chief Konoe bellowed, but as soon as he said this he saw *exactly* where Tsuzuki had been. The violet-eyed man placed three small boxes with steaming apple pies in them down in front of him as he took his seat next to Hisoka. "What the hell are those?"
Tsuzuki stared adoringly at the mini pies in front of him, "Apple pies! Fresh from the oven. I found a little shop in Kyoto that bakes them fresh *every* morning!"
Suddenly the pies that had been right in front of him were gone. Tsuzuki looked up frantically to find all three boxes in Tatsumi's hands. "Really, Tsuzuki-san? *Three* apple pies? Are you really going to eat these all by yourself?"
Tsuzuki whimpered, "Tatsumi-san, please give those back! Please!"
"Were you planning on eating these in front of us?"
"N-no, I was going to wait until after the meeting," Tsuzuki was on his knees in front of Tatsumi, his hands clasped in front of him, his eyes big and round like a puppy-dog's.
"Oh, so you were just going to tease us with the smell throughout the meeting, without offering any to us? I don't think that's very nice of you, Tsuzuki-san."
Tatsumi handed Chief Konoe the boxes, Tsuzuki never took his eyes off the pies. Chief Konoe took them from Tatsumi, "You know, now that Tatsumi mentions it, I think I'm getting rather hungry, myself. Anyone else feeling hungry?"
Hands raised all around the table. Chief Konoe looked down at Tsuzuki, "Why don't you go get a knife and plates and forks for everyone?"
"B-but. . ."
"GO!"
Tsuzuki stood up and dragged his feet out of the meeting room to find what the chief had asked for. When he returned, it took only a few brief moments, and a couple of cuts before every single one of the pies was cut and served around the table. Gushoushin, Hisoka, Tatsumi, Watari, and Chief Konoe ate their pieces in relish. Tsuzuki stared at his small half piece of pie, depressed. He had meant to save those pies for just him and Hisoka to share at home, and maybe after the pies were gone . . .
"Ouch! What'd you do that for?" Tsuzuki yelped to Hisoka.
"Keep your mind off of *that* please," Hisoka growled quietly. "Just eat your pie."
"It's so small, though." Tsuzuki speared the small half pie and stuffed it in his mouth.
"Now that we have all had dessert, let's get on with the meeting," Chief Konoe said, putting down his fork. "Gushoushin, would you please?"
Gushoushin turned off the lights and started running the projector. The bird's high pitched, squeaky voice pierced the room, "The Count has told us that in the past month ten candles have gone out and then relit themselves only moments later. The strange thing is that the flames don't burn brightly when they relight, they are small and weak, as if the person returns only half alive."
"Are the deaths reported or are they brought back before anyone realizes they are dead?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki stared blankly at the screen, his mind wandering aimlessly.
*I hate meetings. They're so boring. Hisoka looks so cute when he's focused on something. I wish we could go home so he could focus on me. I can't believe they ate my pies! I was saving those! I had plans for those pies! I was going to share them with Hisoka, and afterwards. . . I could lick the crumbs and sticky-sweet filling off his lips. I could taste the apple-pie in his mouth. I could. . . OUCH!!!*
Tsuzuki glanced down at a furious and blazing red Hisoka. Emerald eyes glared into repentant, yet mischievous, amethyst ones.
Gushoushin, completely oblivious to what was going on with the two men, answered Hisoka's question, "The bodies are found and the deaths are reported as murders. However, no mark has been found and no traces of poison have been found on, or in, any of the bodies. The only conclusion the coroners have been able to come to is that the victims' hearts just stopped for unknown reasons."
"What about when they come back to life? Do they just get up and walk out of the hospitals? How do they act? Do they realize they were dead? What about the families, police, and doctors?" Watari piped in.
"We don't know much about how they act after they are reanimated, or what they think. We do know that the hospitals just claim the victims were misdiagnosed. . ."
"How do you *misdiagnose* death?" Hisoka asked incredulously.
Gushoushin shrugged, "That is just what the hospitals claim. As far as we know the victims don't realize they were ever dead. The families believe it to be a miracle, and the police still treat it the cases as murders, even though they don't have any evidence to support their theory. The only thing they do have is that every victim was found with a similar expression of fear on their faces."
"Is there any common factor linking the victims?"
"All the deaths happened within a five mile radius of each other. The victims all have two common links. One, they all had something tragic happen to them in their life, and two, all of them had unusually strong spiritual energy."
"Who could be killing all these people without poison and without leaving any mark?" Watari asked.
"Well, the murders themselves aren't our problem, the human police can handle that. We have to find the person or thing responsible for bringing them back," Tatsumi said, pushing his glasses up.
"Could it be a necromancer?" Hisoka asked.
"No. Necromancers do not bring someone back halfway. They only bring back a ghost of the person, a memory of what that person was. Necromancers can't truly bring a person back to life," Gushoushin said.
"What about someone like Muraki?"
"No, Muraki brought the person's entire spirit back, he just kept them under hypnotic control. Whatever, or whoever, is doing this doesn't want the whole spirit back."
"Are we even sure they *are* murders?" Hisoka asked.
"We are almost positive that they are murders. However, to make sure, you and Tsuzuki will have to do a little investigating into the murders as well. Sorry, Tatsumi, but those are orders directly from the Count. Your main goal is, of course, to find out who, or what, is bringing the spirits back, but to find that out, you must find out how they are murdered."
"What's the difference between someone who is half-alive and someone who is fully alive?" Tsuzuki asked.
"The main difference, from what we can tell, is that a person who is only half-alive is controlled by some outside force. For instance, with Muraki, he brought the whole spirit back and the person could function without his constant guide and supervision. At the same time Muraki had the ability to control the person whenever he wanted too. We *believe* that with someone who is only half-alive the person, or thing, who brought them back must keep some sort of observance or guide on them at all times."
Tsuzuki glanced out the window at the gently falling sakura petals. *It's such a pretty day, and, yet, I'm stuck in this stupid meeting! I wish they would get this meeting over with! Maybe I could go back to that little shop and get some more apple-pies. Hmmm, I wonder if they would have anymore? I hope they aren't sold out. Then Hisoka and I could eat those ones. Hmmm, maybe while I'm at the shop I could buy some chocolate sauce. . . Mmmmmm, that would be fun. Hisoka covered in warm chocolate sauce. I could. . . OUCH!*
Hisoka's quick kick to Tsuzuki's leg brought the older Shinigami back the meeting. He looked at his partner, who was making a point of *not* looking at him.
Gushoushin turned the projector off and the lights in the room came up, "That's about all the information we have right now."
"When do you want us to leave?" Tsuzuki stood and stretched.
"Immediately," Chief Konoe said as he, too, stood up.
"We expect this case to take about two or three weeks, so I have arranged for you and Tsuzuki to be staying in a hotel near the center of where the attacks have been taking place," Tatsumi handed an envelope to Hisoka, "Here is the hotel name, a map of where the attacks have been, and a budget. Kurosaki-kun, keep Tsuzuki-san's sweet tooth under control. I'm not going to send you two any extra money."
"Tatsuuumiii, that's not fair! Why are you giving Hisoka all that? You think I can't handle it?" Tsuzuki whined.
Tatsumi glared at Tsuzuki, "I'm giving it to Kurosaki-kun because I know *he* will actually pay attention to the budget."
"But if we have a budget I won't be able to eat dessert!"
Tatsumi glared at Tsuzuki until the violet-eyed man looked away in defeat. Tatsumi turned back to Hisoka, "Good luck you two. Try to solve it as soon as possible, maybe we can save some money." Tatsumi left the meeting room to organize his papers.
Hisoka looked at Tsuzuki, the envelope in his hand, "We better get ready. I want to leave as soon as possible."
Tsuzuki brightened suddenly and he skipped out the door. Watari wondered what had made the dark-haired Shinigami so happy, but stopped when he looked at Hisoka. The wheat-haired teen was a furious shade of red and he was glaring daggers at his partner's retreating back. Watari smiled, "Are you *sure* you can handle Tsuzuki's sweet-tooth, Bon?"
Hisoka's face got darker, "I can handle him. If it's up to me, he won't be getting any sweets while we're there."
Watari chuckled and tickled 003's chin, "Good luck then. With both the case and controlling Tsuzuki."
Hisoka walked out of the meeting room, glaring down at his feet. *Idiot Tsuzuki and his perverted thoughts. Why do they have to be so damned loud?*
Three hours later the two Shinigami walked into the lobby of the hotel they would be staying at while working on this case.
"Stay here, I'll go check us in," Hisoka glared at a still smiling Tsuzuki.
Tsuzuki watched Hisoka walk to the counter and talk to the clerk. *He's so graceful, and the great thing is that he is totally unaware of it. If I say something he just blushes and calls me an idiot. I still can't believe he loves me. I can't wait until we get into the hotel room . . .*
Hisoka whirled around and stared daggers at the older Shinigami, his face bright red. Tsuzuki ducked his head and tried to concentrate on anything except his beautiful partner. He looked around the lobby, his violet eyes landing on a sign advertising free buffets for all meals for guests. *Free meals! That means free dessert! Yay! That means I can eat all the sweets I want without going over the budget! Thank you, Tatsumi. A private hotel room for me and Hisoka and all the desserts I could eat every meal, this case is going to be fun. I wonder why Hisoka is taking so long? He usually takes only a few minutes. I wonder if we'll have time to eat before we investigate? Hmmm, maybe we'll even have time to go up to the room and . . .*
"Ouch!" Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, "What'd you hit me for?"
The green-eyed Shinigami glared at his partner, "Baka. Can't you keep your thoughts off of that for even five minutes?"
Tsuzuki grinned, "Not when I have something so delicious to think about."
Hisoka growled and his cheeks burned red, "Shut up and come on. I want to start investigating."
The two Shinigami stared at the sprawling city beneath them.
"Where should we start?" Hisoka asked floating next to Tsuzuki.
"We could either start with the sites where the bodies were found or we could talk to the people who were killed," Tsuzuki was all business now that they were on the job.
"Let's check out some of the murder sites first," Hisoka looked at the map he held in his hand. "The first one took place here, near the market."
"Let's go then." The two Shinigami shimmered and disappeared.
They stood in an alley that looked out at the hustle and bustle of the Nagasaki market at mid-day. There was still police tape cordoning off the alley from the public. Tsuzuki glanced at his partner. Hisoka was breathing heavily and staring straight ahead.
"'Soka? 'Soka, are you alright?" Tsuzuki placed a hand on his partner's arm; the teen was shaking all over.
"They were afraid. No, terrified. The feeling, it's . . . I'm surprised you can't feel it. It's overwhelming. Tsuzuki, they were so very afraid. Something's chasing them, something horrible. No, no, I don't want to die, please, leave me alone!" Hisoka fell against the wall, wrapped his arms around his knees, and started to rock back and forth, tears streaming down his pale face.
Tsuzuki ran to him and enfolded the teen in his arms, "'Soka, come on, 'Soka, listen to my voice. Those aren't your emotions. Come on, Koibito. Shhh, it's okay, nothing is chasing you. There is nothing there. 'Soka."
Hisoka stared into amethyst eyes, drinking in the love and worry that he felt emanating from Tsuzuki. These emotions were fresh, and stronger than the fear that seemed to be soaked into the very bricks of the buildings around him. He focused on those emotions radiating like the sun's rays from Tsuzuki and slowly his breathing calmed and he was able to raise his shields against those horribly vivid scenes.
Hisoka stood up and looked around the alley, Tsuzuki scrambled up and looked at his partner, "Are you okay now, 'Soka?"
"Hai. I just wasn't expecting the emotions to be this strong. Thank you, Tsuzuki," Hisoka glanced up at his lover and smiled shyly.
Tsuzuki smiled back, leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly over Hisoka's. "That is what partners are for, Koibito. Now, what did you sense?"
Hisoka looked around the alley, "Whoever it was, they really were murdered. They were chased here by something. Whatever that something was, it attacked them. I don't know why the coroner's report didn't show the marks, but. . . this feeling is real."
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Tsuzuki and Hisoka whirled around and stared at the woman standing in the entrance to the alley-way.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka glanced at each other. No one was supposed to be able to see them while they were in spirit-mode. Tsuzuki glanced around the alley just to make sure there were no others.
"Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! The only two people in here. This is a restricted area!" the woman advanced towards the two Shinigami. She was about as tall as Tsuzuki, had long *white* hair that flowed straight down her back to her knees, she had long limbs and walked with an almost ethereal grace. Her eyes, a vivid mint green, were flashing dangerously, and her thick, blood red lips were pursed. She had on a tight black tank top stretched over her chest, tight jeans over wide hips, and calf high brown boots. She also had a gun holster, complete with gun, strapped over her shirt.
Tsuzuki stood there with his mouth open and a panicked look on his face. Hisoka took on the air of someone used to giving orders, "My name is Officer Kurosaki Hisoka. This is my partner Detective Tsuzuki Asato. We are here investigating the recent murders. What are you doing here?"
"I'm Detective Hatoyama Kimiko. I've been working this case since the very beginning, and I wasn't informed that I would be receiving any help on this case! I want to see both your badges."
Hisoka stared calmly at the woman, "Show us yours first."
Detective Hatoyama pulled out a slim black leather wallet and flipped it open, revealing police badge and her identification as a police officer for the city of Nagasaki. She flipped the wallet closed again and glared at the two Shinigami, "There. Now let me see your badges."
It was Hisoka's turn to look lost. Tsuzuki snapped into action; he started searching through his pockets, presumably for the badge Detective Hatoyama had asked for. Hisoka took Tsuzuki's lead and started to search through his own pockets.
Hisoka glared at Tsuzuki, "Baka, why didn't you remind me to grab my badge?! Don't tell me you forgot yours, too?!"
Tsuzuki hung his head and glanced up at Detective Hatoyama, "It seems that my partner and I left our badges at our hotel room. Officer Kurosaki is a rookie, he's only been on the force for a month now, so him forgetting his badge is excusable. As for me. . . well, I have no excuse other than sheer forgetfulness. If you would be patient with us, we could go back to our hotel room and retrieve them."
The female detective glared suspiciously at the two, "Very well, but I am going to accompany you. I don't want any baka reporters mucking up my case."
Tsuzuki nodded his head and led the way out of the alley and into the busy marketplace. The detective fell into step beside Hisoka.
"How old are you?" she asked as they weaved their way through the crowd.
"Why?" Hisoka didn't want to talk to this woman. In fact, he wanted to get as far away from her as possible. There was just something about her that didn't feel right to the young Shinigami.
"You look too young to be a police officer. In fact, if had to guess your age, I'd say you were barely even sixteen."
"You'd be wrong," Hisoka walked a little faster, passing Tsuzuki, and took over leading them through the crowd.
The white-haired woman looked quizzically at Tsuzuki, "What's wrong with him?"
Tsuzuki shrugged, "He's a little sensitive about his appearance. He gets made fun of a lot by our co-workers about how he looks so young."
"So how old is he really?"
"Twenty-three."
"Hmm, wonder why he looks so young."
Tsuzuki didn't answer the woman as he stared sadly at Hisoka's back.
Hisoka weaved through the crowd, trying to pin point what it was about the woman that didn't sit right with him. A wave of sadness coming from Tsuzuki hit him and Hisoka wondered what the two of them were talking about that had Tsuzuki feeling so down. Suddenly he knew what it was about the woman that had him so on edge. He couldn't feel her emotions. Sure there had been times before where he had met people who could shield themselves, but Hisoka had always been able to pick up at least a faint trace of what that person was feeling. With the detective it was as if she didn't have any emotions at all, and it unnerved the young empath.
Hisoka turned into the hotel and walked towards the elevators. He punched the button just as Tsuzuki and the detective caught up to him and the three waited in silence for the elevator. When the doors slid open Hisoka walked in and immediately leaned against one corner folded his arms over his chest and stared at the floor. Tsuzuki and the detective exchanged small talk as the elevator made its slow way up to their room on the twenty-sixth floor.
"Kurosaki-san?" Hisoka glanced up at Detective Hatoyama, and raised an eyebrow, "Why did you become a police officer?"
Hisoka lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug then bent his head back down and closed his eyes, stopping any further questions the detective might have had.
Hatoyama turned to Tsuzuki, "Your partner's not very sociable, is he?"
Hisoka's head shot up as he got a brief, but intense, flash of lust radiating from the detective, so quick in fact, that Hisoka wasn't even sure he had felt it at all. He stared at the woman across the elevator from him. Hatoyama was staring intently at Tsuzuki, her green eyes revealing nothing but slight annoyance. Hisoka gave a mental shrug and shut his eyes again; maybe he had just imagined the whole thing.
"It's not his fault. He had a pretty rough life," Tsuzuki said in response to Hatoyama's earlier comment.
"You don't have to tell her everything, baka!" Hisoka stalked out of the elevator as the doors slid open on their floor. He stormed down the hallway, when he reached their door he turned around and glared at Hatoyama, "I need to speak to my partner, *alone!*"
He grabbed Tsuzuki and yanked him into the hotel room, slamming the door in the detective's face behind him.
"'Soka?! What's wrong?" Tsuzuki looked worriedly at his partner. Hisoka seemed more agitated and annoyed than usual.
The wheat-haired teen paced the floor, "Where the *hell* are we going to get a pair of police badges?!"
Tsuzuki shrugged, "I thought you knew since you came up with the idea."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?! You weren't coming up with anything!"
"Maybe Tatsumi or Chief Konoe have a pair of badges," Tsuzuki offered helpfully.
Hisoka glared at the violet-eyed man, "I'm sure they will just *happen* to have a couple of police badges lying around."
"It's worth a shot."
"Fine, I'll go see. What are we going to do with Detective Hotyama? How are you going to explain my disappearance?"
Tsuzuki smiled, "Easy. You had to use the restroom."
Hisoka shrugged and disappeared. Tsuzuki went to the bathroom and shut the door, then let the detective into the hotel room.
"Where is your partner?" she said as she walked into the room.
"He's in the bathroom," Tsuzuki said then motioned at one of the desk chairs, "Would you like to sit down?"
Detective Hatoyama looked around the room and her eyes landed on the king size bed, "Do you two have separate rooms?"
"No."
"Then, why is there only one bed?"
"We're on a *very* tight budget," Tsuzuki looked down at the desk, his eyes gone round and puppyish, "There isn't even enough for me to get dessert after every meal."
Detective Hatoyama raised her eyebrows at that, "Hai, well, your badges?"
"Uh, hai!" Tsuzuki stood up and went over to the suitcase lying on top of the bed. He flipped open the lid and started to rifle through the contents. *Hurry up Hisoka!*
Hisoka ran through the halls to the chief's office. He burst through the door, "We . . . need . . . police badges!"
Chief Konoe looked up in surprise, "Why would I have police badges? And what do you need them for anyway?" But the wheat-haired teen was already gone. He ran down the hallway and flung open the door to Tatsumi's office.
"Tatsumi! Do you have police badges?!" Hisoka yelled.
Tatsumi's eyebrows shot up and he adjusted his glasses, "Why?"
"Ran into a detective. Couldn't think of anything else to tell her. She wants to see our badges. In a hurry!"
Tatsumi opened the top drawer of his desk and reluctantly pulled out two official looking police badges. *Shit. Watari was looking forward to using these tonight. Oh, well, we can always play later.* He placed the badges on the desk, "I want these back as soon as possible."
Hisoka grabbed the badges and teleported out of there. He didn't even take the time to wonder why exactly Tatsumi had a pair of police badges in his desk drawer.
*Hisoka where are you?!* Tsuzuki glanced at Hatoyama looming over him like Tatsumi. As if his thoughts were audible, the bathroom door opened and Hisoka stepped out.
"You won't find them in there," the teen said, holding up the badges.
"Why were they in the bathroom?" Detective Hatoyama grabbed them from Hisoka and started examining them.
"We put them in there so we wouldn't forget them before we left," Tsuzuki said.
"That worked out, didn't it?" she said handing the badges back to Hisoka. "Well, you two seem to check out okay. I still want to know why I wasn't informed I would be receiving any help on this case."
"We can't tell you that. We just go where we're told," Hisoka said slumped into a chair.
Tsuzuki started leading the woman towards the door, "Well, now that you've seen our badges, it was nice meeting you, but we have a lot of work to do. Bye."
Hisoka glared at the woman. There it was again, that brief wave of intense lust. Now he knew he wasn't imagining things, and the feeling was definitely coming from Detective Hatoyama Kimiko. What was worse, was the feeling was aimed toward Tsuzuki.
Tsuzuki closed the door and turned towards his partner, "What's wrong?"
Hisoka glanced up, surprised, at Tsuzuki, "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Hisoka. There's no way I could be your partner for three years, your lover for over a year, without being able to sense when something is troubling you!"
"I thought I was supposed to be the empath," the young Shinigami sighed, "I don't like her."
"That was obvious," Tsuzuki sat in the chair next to Hisoka.
Hisoka looked into amethyst eyes, "I couldn't feel her."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure. With most people, I can sense all of their emotions, even those who have the ability to shield themselves I can get at least a trace of what they are feeling. With her . . . I don't know, it's almost like she isn't even there. There's nothing, no emotions at all, except, very briefly, twice, I felt lust emanating from her. And it was directed towards you."
Tsuzuki gathered Hisoka into his arms and rested his chin on top of the teen's head, "'Soka, koibito, are you jealous?"
"Baka, of course not. I just don't like the way she is," Hisoka wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki's waist, leaning his head against the older man's chest.
"Well, it's not like we'll have to really deal with her a lot anyway. So, you can just forget about her."
Hisoka shook his head, he didn't think they had seen the last of the detective, "This is her case Tsuzuki. How are we supposed to avoid her? She can see us when we're in spirit mode, so it's not like we can hide from her as we can with other mortals."
"We'll just have to make sure to solve this case quickly then, won't we?" Tsuzuki made to stand up, but Hisoka wouldn't move.
"I don't want to go out again. Please, can we just stay here? All that fear . . . I-I don't want to feel that again, not so soon."
Tsuzuki wrapped his arms tighter around Hisoka, "Of course we can stay here. We'll start again tomorrow morning."
The two of them sat like that, enfolded in each other's arms. Tsuzuki felt his legs going numb, he stirred, "'Soka? Um, I can't feel my legs. Could we, um, could we move to the bed?"
Hisoka lifted his head, nearly clipping Tsuzuki's nose, and stared into the older Shinigami's eyes. Tsuzuki saw the suspicion and smiled, he gave into temptation and lightly kissed Hisoka's sweet lips, "Koibito, we won't do anything if you don't want to. I am happy just holding you."
Hisoka nodded, a blush suffusing his cheeks. He slid off of Tsuzuki's lap and walked over to the bed. Tsuzuki threw the suitcase onto the floor and the two climbed beneath the covers. Hisoka lay on his side, placed his head on the crook of Tsuzuki's neck, and flung one arm around his lover. Tsuzuki enfolded the teen in his arms and lay his head on top of Hisoka's. In a matter of moments the two were sound asleep.
Blood red wings beat the night air. Fangs flashed as an evil grin spread across effeminate features. Glacier blue eyes shone with lust and greed. *I have found my next target.*
BuddhaFrog: My phone won't work! My mom bought a new house and I can't call her cause my phone won't work! *she says as she shakes the phone up and down* Oh, yeah, the story wait a minute! *sighs and slumps down into a chair, giving up on phone* So, nothing really happens in this first chapter . . . it is just plot, help along, whatever you call that (setup). Well, there's some cuddling, Yay cuddle! BUT, I would appreciate it, if our readers, if we have any readers, which I know we have a couple b/c we've gotten a little bit of feed back. I love those readers, I LOOOVVVEEE those readers! Anyhow, I appreciate those readers who give us feedback, and I'm gonna cry, cause nobody loves us. I'm gonna think we're perfect b/c nobody send us anything! Nothing, no one telling us we suck, no one sending anything to tell us we suck, no one telling us we're awesome! We're just posting on the web for nobody! And yes, I did slip into a southern accent, but I don't care! I feel unloved, and I'm gonna cry, and if BuddhaFrog gets mad and cries you people don't get no chocolate! An' yes, Ah know Ah talk to much. An' why the hell ain't muh phone workin'. Look Ah have a signal! Luv an' Peace!
MorningStar: *o.O, looks at BuddhaFrog like she's lost her mind* Oooookay, welll, yeah. So she's kinda, ummm, crazy. But we all knew that, we love her anyway! Okay, so this story took a long time to write, b/c we had to do a lot of research, plus the fact that we also have a million other things to do. But we love our readers and we wanted to get this up as soon as possible, so I sat down and FINALLY finished it!! YAY!! Okay, we'll, not the whole story, just the first chapter. Anyway, this one is going to be longer than the "Affinity" duo. A LOT longer! It takes place about a year after after the "Affinity" story. Well, as always, we hope you enjoy reading, this. Please, read and review, we do want to hear from our readers. As we said, just review us to tell us we suck if that's what you think, or tell us we're doing great. Whatever we don't care, so long as we get SOMETHING! Okay, here's a little hint as to what's going to happen in the next chapter; Tsuzuki and Hisoka uncover interesting facts about the case . . . Detective Hatoyama isn't what she appears to be . . . The demon's plot is hinted at! HAHAHA, I'm evil! For our Fanficiton.net fans out there; yes, I did take the second chapter of "Affinity" off the website, b/c it just didn't make sense to have the first part of both chapters when you don't know what's going on with the second chapter without the end of the first, so if you want to finish the story you have to go to our YnM shrine. Sorry, but Fanfiction.net's rules about NC-17 ratings kinda prevent us from posting the whole story:D Let's see anything else . . . Oh, yes, this story I rated R, b/c in the future more will happen to make it R. Well, that's about it for now. DAMN MURAKI!!
Holli: Wah...no porno this time...:( LOL, that's all right, their story this time around is in-ter-esting! So my kitty Gizmo got fixed this past Thursday (10/16/03). Brought him home this past Friday...he never flinched! Bouncing 'round the house like a maniac, like nothing happened! WELL...he don't miss his balls, do he? I went to my friend Zach's home this past weekend...yay for eating chili with people I don't know...YAY!!! Oh well, this weekend I got Japanese version Yu Yu Hakusho manga, vol. 15 & 16 for six dollars! ^_^ And the album Dummy by Portishead...I still have yet to listen to it, but I already know I love the Roads song. *gee!* ^_^
Demon Life
Chapter One: Next Victims Found
He ran down the alleyway. His breath was torn from his lungs in painful gasps. He didn't know what the hell was chasing him. He chanced a glance behind him. A flash of wings, blood red. Long white hair. He pumped his legs harder, desperate. He felt his heart beating in his chest, harder, harder, he couldn't go on. He stumbled. Fangs bit. Claws swiped. Darkness.
In The Castle of Candles a flame was snuffed as if by some invisible wind. Strangely, that same candle relit itself only moments later. The flame was dimmer, smaller, but there.
Chief Konoe stared at the empty chair that *should* have held Tsuzuki. He looked back up at Hisoka, "He's your partner. Where the hell is he?!"
Hisoka stared at the chief incredulously, "How would I know? I may be his partner, but I don't know where he is every minute of the day!"
Just then, the door burst open and a whirlwind entered.
"Tsuzuki! Where the HELL have you been?!" Chief Konoe bellowed, but as soon as he said this he saw *exactly* where Tsuzuki had been. The violet-eyed man placed three small boxes with steaming apple pies in them down in front of him as he took his seat next to Hisoka. "What the hell are those?"
Tsuzuki stared adoringly at the mini pies in front of him, "Apple pies! Fresh from the oven. I found a little shop in Kyoto that bakes them fresh *every* morning!"
Suddenly the pies that had been right in front of him were gone. Tsuzuki looked up frantically to find all three boxes in Tatsumi's hands. "Really, Tsuzuki-san? *Three* apple pies? Are you really going to eat these all by yourself?"
Tsuzuki whimpered, "Tatsumi-san, please give those back! Please!"
"Were you planning on eating these in front of us?"
"N-no, I was going to wait until after the meeting," Tsuzuki was on his knees in front of Tatsumi, his hands clasped in front of him, his eyes big and round like a puppy-dog's.
"Oh, so you were just going to tease us with the smell throughout the meeting, without offering any to us? I don't think that's very nice of you, Tsuzuki-san."
Tatsumi handed Chief Konoe the boxes, Tsuzuki never took his eyes off the pies. Chief Konoe took them from Tatsumi, "You know, now that Tatsumi mentions it, I think I'm getting rather hungry, myself. Anyone else feeling hungry?"
Hands raised all around the table. Chief Konoe looked down at Tsuzuki, "Why don't you go get a knife and plates and forks for everyone?"
"B-but. . ."
"GO!"
Tsuzuki stood up and dragged his feet out of the meeting room to find what the chief had asked for. When he returned, it took only a few brief moments, and a couple of cuts before every single one of the pies was cut and served around the table. Gushoushin, Hisoka, Tatsumi, Watari, and Chief Konoe ate their pieces in relish. Tsuzuki stared at his small half piece of pie, depressed. He had meant to save those pies for just him and Hisoka to share at home, and maybe after the pies were gone . . .
"Ouch! What'd you do that for?" Tsuzuki yelped to Hisoka.
"Keep your mind off of *that* please," Hisoka growled quietly. "Just eat your pie."
"It's so small, though." Tsuzuki speared the small half pie and stuffed it in his mouth.
"Now that we have all had dessert, let's get on with the meeting," Chief Konoe said, putting down his fork. "Gushoushin, would you please?"
Gushoushin turned off the lights and started running the projector. The bird's high pitched, squeaky voice pierced the room, "The Count has told us that in the past month ten candles have gone out and then relit themselves only moments later. The strange thing is that the flames don't burn brightly when they relight, they are small and weak, as if the person returns only half alive."
"Are the deaths reported or are they brought back before anyone realizes they are dead?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki stared blankly at the screen, his mind wandering aimlessly.
*I hate meetings. They're so boring. Hisoka looks so cute when he's focused on something. I wish we could go home so he could focus on me. I can't believe they ate my pies! I was saving those! I had plans for those pies! I was going to share them with Hisoka, and afterwards. . . I could lick the crumbs and sticky-sweet filling off his lips. I could taste the apple-pie in his mouth. I could. . . OUCH!!!*
Tsuzuki glanced down at a furious and blazing red Hisoka. Emerald eyes glared into repentant, yet mischievous, amethyst ones.
Gushoushin, completely oblivious to what was going on with the two men, answered Hisoka's question, "The bodies are found and the deaths are reported as murders. However, no mark has been found and no traces of poison have been found on, or in, any of the bodies. The only conclusion the coroners have been able to come to is that the victims' hearts just stopped for unknown reasons."
"What about when they come back to life? Do they just get up and walk out of the hospitals? How do they act? Do they realize they were dead? What about the families, police, and doctors?" Watari piped in.
"We don't know much about how they act after they are reanimated, or what they think. We do know that the hospitals just claim the victims were misdiagnosed. . ."
"How do you *misdiagnose* death?" Hisoka asked incredulously.
Gushoushin shrugged, "That is just what the hospitals claim. As far as we know the victims don't realize they were ever dead. The families believe it to be a miracle, and the police still treat it the cases as murders, even though they don't have any evidence to support their theory. The only thing they do have is that every victim was found with a similar expression of fear on their faces."
"Is there any common factor linking the victims?"
"All the deaths happened within a five mile radius of each other. The victims all have two common links. One, they all had something tragic happen to them in their life, and two, all of them had unusually strong spiritual energy."
"Who could be killing all these people without poison and without leaving any mark?" Watari asked.
"Well, the murders themselves aren't our problem, the human police can handle that. We have to find the person or thing responsible for bringing them back," Tatsumi said, pushing his glasses up.
"Could it be a necromancer?" Hisoka asked.
"No. Necromancers do not bring someone back halfway. They only bring back a ghost of the person, a memory of what that person was. Necromancers can't truly bring a person back to life," Gushoushin said.
"What about someone like Muraki?"
"No, Muraki brought the person's entire spirit back, he just kept them under hypnotic control. Whatever, or whoever, is doing this doesn't want the whole spirit back."
"Are we even sure they *are* murders?" Hisoka asked.
"We are almost positive that they are murders. However, to make sure, you and Tsuzuki will have to do a little investigating into the murders as well. Sorry, Tatsumi, but those are orders directly from the Count. Your main goal is, of course, to find out who, or what, is bringing the spirits back, but to find that out, you must find out how they are murdered."
"What's the difference between someone who is half-alive and someone who is fully alive?" Tsuzuki asked.
"The main difference, from what we can tell, is that a person who is only half-alive is controlled by some outside force. For instance, with Muraki, he brought the whole spirit back and the person could function without his constant guide and supervision. At the same time Muraki had the ability to control the person whenever he wanted too. We *believe* that with someone who is only half-alive the person, or thing, who brought them back must keep some sort of observance or guide on them at all times."
Tsuzuki glanced out the window at the gently falling sakura petals. *It's such a pretty day, and, yet, I'm stuck in this stupid meeting! I wish they would get this meeting over with! Maybe I could go back to that little shop and get some more apple-pies. Hmmm, I wonder if they would have anymore? I hope they aren't sold out. Then Hisoka and I could eat those ones. Hmmm, maybe while I'm at the shop I could buy some chocolate sauce. . . Mmmmmm, that would be fun. Hisoka covered in warm chocolate sauce. I could. . . OUCH!*
Hisoka's quick kick to Tsuzuki's leg brought the older Shinigami back the meeting. He looked at his partner, who was making a point of *not* looking at him.
Gushoushin turned the projector off and the lights in the room came up, "That's about all the information we have right now."
"When do you want us to leave?" Tsuzuki stood and stretched.
"Immediately," Chief Konoe said as he, too, stood up.
"We expect this case to take about two or three weeks, so I have arranged for you and Tsuzuki to be staying in a hotel near the center of where the attacks have been taking place," Tatsumi handed an envelope to Hisoka, "Here is the hotel name, a map of where the attacks have been, and a budget. Kurosaki-kun, keep Tsuzuki-san's sweet tooth under control. I'm not going to send you two any extra money."
"Tatsuuumiii, that's not fair! Why are you giving Hisoka all that? You think I can't handle it?" Tsuzuki whined.
Tatsumi glared at Tsuzuki, "I'm giving it to Kurosaki-kun because I know *he* will actually pay attention to the budget."
"But if we have a budget I won't be able to eat dessert!"
Tatsumi glared at Tsuzuki until the violet-eyed man looked away in defeat. Tatsumi turned back to Hisoka, "Good luck you two. Try to solve it as soon as possible, maybe we can save some money." Tatsumi left the meeting room to organize his papers.
Hisoka looked at Tsuzuki, the envelope in his hand, "We better get ready. I want to leave as soon as possible."
Tsuzuki brightened suddenly and he skipped out the door. Watari wondered what had made the dark-haired Shinigami so happy, but stopped when he looked at Hisoka. The wheat-haired teen was a furious shade of red and he was glaring daggers at his partner's retreating back. Watari smiled, "Are you *sure* you can handle Tsuzuki's sweet-tooth, Bon?"
Hisoka's face got darker, "I can handle him. If it's up to me, he won't be getting any sweets while we're there."
Watari chuckled and tickled 003's chin, "Good luck then. With both the case and controlling Tsuzuki."
Hisoka walked out of the meeting room, glaring down at his feet. *Idiot Tsuzuki and his perverted thoughts. Why do they have to be so damned loud?*
Three hours later the two Shinigami walked into the lobby of the hotel they would be staying at while working on this case.
"Stay here, I'll go check us in," Hisoka glared at a still smiling Tsuzuki.
Tsuzuki watched Hisoka walk to the counter and talk to the clerk. *He's so graceful, and the great thing is that he is totally unaware of it. If I say something he just blushes and calls me an idiot. I still can't believe he loves me. I can't wait until we get into the hotel room . . .*
Hisoka whirled around and stared daggers at the older Shinigami, his face bright red. Tsuzuki ducked his head and tried to concentrate on anything except his beautiful partner. He looked around the lobby, his violet eyes landing on a sign advertising free buffets for all meals for guests. *Free meals! That means free dessert! Yay! That means I can eat all the sweets I want without going over the budget! Thank you, Tatsumi. A private hotel room for me and Hisoka and all the desserts I could eat every meal, this case is going to be fun. I wonder why Hisoka is taking so long? He usually takes only a few minutes. I wonder if we'll have time to eat before we investigate? Hmmm, maybe we'll even have time to go up to the room and . . .*
"Ouch!" Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, "What'd you hit me for?"
The green-eyed Shinigami glared at his partner, "Baka. Can't you keep your thoughts off of that for even five minutes?"
Tsuzuki grinned, "Not when I have something so delicious to think about."
Hisoka growled and his cheeks burned red, "Shut up and come on. I want to start investigating."
The two Shinigami stared at the sprawling city beneath them.
"Where should we start?" Hisoka asked floating next to Tsuzuki.
"We could either start with the sites where the bodies were found or we could talk to the people who were killed," Tsuzuki was all business now that they were on the job.
"Let's check out some of the murder sites first," Hisoka looked at the map he held in his hand. "The first one took place here, near the market."
"Let's go then." The two Shinigami shimmered and disappeared.
They stood in an alley that looked out at the hustle and bustle of the Nagasaki market at mid-day. There was still police tape cordoning off the alley from the public. Tsuzuki glanced at his partner. Hisoka was breathing heavily and staring straight ahead.
"'Soka? 'Soka, are you alright?" Tsuzuki placed a hand on his partner's arm; the teen was shaking all over.
"They were afraid. No, terrified. The feeling, it's . . . I'm surprised you can't feel it. It's overwhelming. Tsuzuki, they were so very afraid. Something's chasing them, something horrible. No, no, I don't want to die, please, leave me alone!" Hisoka fell against the wall, wrapped his arms around his knees, and started to rock back and forth, tears streaming down his pale face.
Tsuzuki ran to him and enfolded the teen in his arms, "'Soka, come on, 'Soka, listen to my voice. Those aren't your emotions. Come on, Koibito. Shhh, it's okay, nothing is chasing you. There is nothing there. 'Soka."
Hisoka stared into amethyst eyes, drinking in the love and worry that he felt emanating from Tsuzuki. These emotions were fresh, and stronger than the fear that seemed to be soaked into the very bricks of the buildings around him. He focused on those emotions radiating like the sun's rays from Tsuzuki and slowly his breathing calmed and he was able to raise his shields against those horribly vivid scenes.
Hisoka stood up and looked around the alley, Tsuzuki scrambled up and looked at his partner, "Are you okay now, 'Soka?"
"Hai. I just wasn't expecting the emotions to be this strong. Thank you, Tsuzuki," Hisoka glanced up at his lover and smiled shyly.
Tsuzuki smiled back, leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly over Hisoka's. "That is what partners are for, Koibito. Now, what did you sense?"
Hisoka looked around the alley, "Whoever it was, they really were murdered. They were chased here by something. Whatever that something was, it attacked them. I don't know why the coroner's report didn't show the marks, but. . . this feeling is real."
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Tsuzuki and Hisoka whirled around and stared at the woman standing in the entrance to the alley-way.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka glanced at each other. No one was supposed to be able to see them while they were in spirit-mode. Tsuzuki glanced around the alley just to make sure there were no others.
"Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! The only two people in here. This is a restricted area!" the woman advanced towards the two Shinigami. She was about as tall as Tsuzuki, had long *white* hair that flowed straight down her back to her knees, she had long limbs and walked with an almost ethereal grace. Her eyes, a vivid mint green, were flashing dangerously, and her thick, blood red lips were pursed. She had on a tight black tank top stretched over her chest, tight jeans over wide hips, and calf high brown boots. She also had a gun holster, complete with gun, strapped over her shirt.
Tsuzuki stood there with his mouth open and a panicked look on his face. Hisoka took on the air of someone used to giving orders, "My name is Officer Kurosaki Hisoka. This is my partner Detective Tsuzuki Asato. We are here investigating the recent murders. What are you doing here?"
"I'm Detective Hatoyama Kimiko. I've been working this case since the very beginning, and I wasn't informed that I would be receiving any help on this case! I want to see both your badges."
Hisoka stared calmly at the woman, "Show us yours first."
Detective Hatoyama pulled out a slim black leather wallet and flipped it open, revealing police badge and her identification as a police officer for the city of Nagasaki. She flipped the wallet closed again and glared at the two Shinigami, "There. Now let me see your badges."
It was Hisoka's turn to look lost. Tsuzuki snapped into action; he started searching through his pockets, presumably for the badge Detective Hatoyama had asked for. Hisoka took Tsuzuki's lead and started to search through his own pockets.
Hisoka glared at Tsuzuki, "Baka, why didn't you remind me to grab my badge?! Don't tell me you forgot yours, too?!"
Tsuzuki hung his head and glanced up at Detective Hatoyama, "It seems that my partner and I left our badges at our hotel room. Officer Kurosaki is a rookie, he's only been on the force for a month now, so him forgetting his badge is excusable. As for me. . . well, I have no excuse other than sheer forgetfulness. If you would be patient with us, we could go back to our hotel room and retrieve them."
The female detective glared suspiciously at the two, "Very well, but I am going to accompany you. I don't want any baka reporters mucking up my case."
Tsuzuki nodded his head and led the way out of the alley and into the busy marketplace. The detective fell into step beside Hisoka.
"How old are you?" she asked as they weaved their way through the crowd.
"Why?" Hisoka didn't want to talk to this woman. In fact, he wanted to get as far away from her as possible. There was just something about her that didn't feel right to the young Shinigami.
"You look too young to be a police officer. In fact, if had to guess your age, I'd say you were barely even sixteen."
"You'd be wrong," Hisoka walked a little faster, passing Tsuzuki, and took over leading them through the crowd.
The white-haired woman looked quizzically at Tsuzuki, "What's wrong with him?"
Tsuzuki shrugged, "He's a little sensitive about his appearance. He gets made fun of a lot by our co-workers about how he looks so young."
"So how old is he really?"
"Twenty-three."
"Hmm, wonder why he looks so young."
Tsuzuki didn't answer the woman as he stared sadly at Hisoka's back.
Hisoka weaved through the crowd, trying to pin point what it was about the woman that didn't sit right with him. A wave of sadness coming from Tsuzuki hit him and Hisoka wondered what the two of them were talking about that had Tsuzuki feeling so down. Suddenly he knew what it was about the woman that had him so on edge. He couldn't feel her emotions. Sure there had been times before where he had met people who could shield themselves, but Hisoka had always been able to pick up at least a faint trace of what that person was feeling. With the detective it was as if she didn't have any emotions at all, and it unnerved the young empath.
Hisoka turned into the hotel and walked towards the elevators. He punched the button just as Tsuzuki and the detective caught up to him and the three waited in silence for the elevator. When the doors slid open Hisoka walked in and immediately leaned against one corner folded his arms over his chest and stared at the floor. Tsuzuki and the detective exchanged small talk as the elevator made its slow way up to their room on the twenty-sixth floor.
"Kurosaki-san?" Hisoka glanced up at Detective Hatoyama, and raised an eyebrow, "Why did you become a police officer?"
Hisoka lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug then bent his head back down and closed his eyes, stopping any further questions the detective might have had.
Hatoyama turned to Tsuzuki, "Your partner's not very sociable, is he?"
Hisoka's head shot up as he got a brief, but intense, flash of lust radiating from the detective, so quick in fact, that Hisoka wasn't even sure he had felt it at all. He stared at the woman across the elevator from him. Hatoyama was staring intently at Tsuzuki, her green eyes revealing nothing but slight annoyance. Hisoka gave a mental shrug and shut his eyes again; maybe he had just imagined the whole thing.
"It's not his fault. He had a pretty rough life," Tsuzuki said in response to Hatoyama's earlier comment.
"You don't have to tell her everything, baka!" Hisoka stalked out of the elevator as the doors slid open on their floor. He stormed down the hallway, when he reached their door he turned around and glared at Hatoyama, "I need to speak to my partner, *alone!*"
He grabbed Tsuzuki and yanked him into the hotel room, slamming the door in the detective's face behind him.
"'Soka?! What's wrong?" Tsuzuki looked worriedly at his partner. Hisoka seemed more agitated and annoyed than usual.
The wheat-haired teen paced the floor, "Where the *hell* are we going to get a pair of police badges?!"
Tsuzuki shrugged, "I thought you knew since you came up with the idea."
"Well, what was I supposed to do?! You weren't coming up with anything!"
"Maybe Tatsumi or Chief Konoe have a pair of badges," Tsuzuki offered helpfully.
Hisoka glared at the violet-eyed man, "I'm sure they will just *happen* to have a couple of police badges lying around."
"It's worth a shot."
"Fine, I'll go see. What are we going to do with Detective Hotyama? How are you going to explain my disappearance?"
Tsuzuki smiled, "Easy. You had to use the restroom."
Hisoka shrugged and disappeared. Tsuzuki went to the bathroom and shut the door, then let the detective into the hotel room.
"Where is your partner?" she said as she walked into the room.
"He's in the bathroom," Tsuzuki said then motioned at one of the desk chairs, "Would you like to sit down?"
Detective Hatoyama looked around the room and her eyes landed on the king size bed, "Do you two have separate rooms?"
"No."
"Then, why is there only one bed?"
"We're on a *very* tight budget," Tsuzuki looked down at the desk, his eyes gone round and puppyish, "There isn't even enough for me to get dessert after every meal."
Detective Hatoyama raised her eyebrows at that, "Hai, well, your badges?"
"Uh, hai!" Tsuzuki stood up and went over to the suitcase lying on top of the bed. He flipped open the lid and started to rifle through the contents. *Hurry up Hisoka!*
Hisoka ran through the halls to the chief's office. He burst through the door, "We . . . need . . . police badges!"
Chief Konoe looked up in surprise, "Why would I have police badges? And what do you need them for anyway?" But the wheat-haired teen was already gone. He ran down the hallway and flung open the door to Tatsumi's office.
"Tatsumi! Do you have police badges?!" Hisoka yelled.
Tatsumi's eyebrows shot up and he adjusted his glasses, "Why?"
"Ran into a detective. Couldn't think of anything else to tell her. She wants to see our badges. In a hurry!"
Tatsumi opened the top drawer of his desk and reluctantly pulled out two official looking police badges. *Shit. Watari was looking forward to using these tonight. Oh, well, we can always play later.* He placed the badges on the desk, "I want these back as soon as possible."
Hisoka grabbed the badges and teleported out of there. He didn't even take the time to wonder why exactly Tatsumi had a pair of police badges in his desk drawer.
*Hisoka where are you?!* Tsuzuki glanced at Hatoyama looming over him like Tatsumi. As if his thoughts were audible, the bathroom door opened and Hisoka stepped out.
"You won't find them in there," the teen said, holding up the badges.
"Why were they in the bathroom?" Detective Hatoyama grabbed them from Hisoka and started examining them.
"We put them in there so we wouldn't forget them before we left," Tsuzuki said.
"That worked out, didn't it?" she said handing the badges back to Hisoka. "Well, you two seem to check out okay. I still want to know why I wasn't informed I would be receiving any help on this case."
"We can't tell you that. We just go where we're told," Hisoka said slumped into a chair.
Tsuzuki started leading the woman towards the door, "Well, now that you've seen our badges, it was nice meeting you, but we have a lot of work to do. Bye."
Hisoka glared at the woman. There it was again, that brief wave of intense lust. Now he knew he wasn't imagining things, and the feeling was definitely coming from Detective Hatoyama Kimiko. What was worse, was the feeling was aimed toward Tsuzuki.
Tsuzuki closed the door and turned towards his partner, "What's wrong?"
Hisoka glanced up, surprised, at Tsuzuki, "What do you mean?"
"Come on, Hisoka. There's no way I could be your partner for three years, your lover for over a year, without being able to sense when something is troubling you!"
"I thought I was supposed to be the empath," the young Shinigami sighed, "I don't like her."
"That was obvious," Tsuzuki sat in the chair next to Hisoka.
Hisoka looked into amethyst eyes, "I couldn't feel her."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure. With most people, I can sense all of their emotions, even those who have the ability to shield themselves I can get at least a trace of what they are feeling. With her . . . I don't know, it's almost like she isn't even there. There's nothing, no emotions at all, except, very briefly, twice, I felt lust emanating from her. And it was directed towards you."
Tsuzuki gathered Hisoka into his arms and rested his chin on top of the teen's head, "'Soka, koibito, are you jealous?"
"Baka, of course not. I just don't like the way she is," Hisoka wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki's waist, leaning his head against the older man's chest.
"Well, it's not like we'll have to really deal with her a lot anyway. So, you can just forget about her."
Hisoka shook his head, he didn't think they had seen the last of the detective, "This is her case Tsuzuki. How are we supposed to avoid her? She can see us when we're in spirit mode, so it's not like we can hide from her as we can with other mortals."
"We'll just have to make sure to solve this case quickly then, won't we?" Tsuzuki made to stand up, but Hisoka wouldn't move.
"I don't want to go out again. Please, can we just stay here? All that fear . . . I-I don't want to feel that again, not so soon."
Tsuzuki wrapped his arms tighter around Hisoka, "Of course we can stay here. We'll start again tomorrow morning."
The two of them sat like that, enfolded in each other's arms. Tsuzuki felt his legs going numb, he stirred, "'Soka? Um, I can't feel my legs. Could we, um, could we move to the bed?"
Hisoka lifted his head, nearly clipping Tsuzuki's nose, and stared into the older Shinigami's eyes. Tsuzuki saw the suspicion and smiled, he gave into temptation and lightly kissed Hisoka's sweet lips, "Koibito, we won't do anything if you don't want to. I am happy just holding you."
Hisoka nodded, a blush suffusing his cheeks. He slid off of Tsuzuki's lap and walked over to the bed. Tsuzuki threw the suitcase onto the floor and the two climbed beneath the covers. Hisoka lay on his side, placed his head on the crook of Tsuzuki's neck, and flung one arm around his lover. Tsuzuki enfolded the teen in his arms and lay his head on top of Hisoka's. In a matter of moments the two were sound asleep.
Blood red wings beat the night air. Fangs flashed as an evil grin spread across effeminate features. Glacier blue eyes shone with lust and greed. *I have found my next target.*