MorningStar: Hey FF.NET peeps! Special commentary just for you! I apologize
profusely for taking so long to get such a short chapter posted! *Bows
deeply to all her fans* Thank for being so patient with me! And thanks to
all who have reviewed. Holli and BuddhaFrog's commentary will come later if
you want to read it. Just a warning, this is all storyline and plot, not
much happens. Gomen. Now, on to the story!!!
Disclaimer: Don' own, don' sue. Just borrowing:D ****************************************************************
Chapter 2
The Investigation Begins
Light lanced through the window and into the hotel room on the twenty-sixth floor. Golden fingers stretched across the carpet onto the queen sized bed and wrapped around the two sleeping figures curled peacefully together. Violet eyes fluttered open and flickered questioningly over the room. Recognition slowly dawned in those amethyst depths and a small groan escaped from parted lips.
Tsuzuki buried his head between the pillow and Hisoka's hair, denying the morning light that had disturbed his sleep. He tightened his arm around his young lover and inhaled the sweet, yet masculine, scent of Hisoka's hair. The teen groaned and stretched his limbs.
"Tsuzuki, what time is it?" Hisoka mumbled as he snuggled deeper into the warm body behind him.
Tsuzuki groaned as he looked at the clock by the bedside, "Almost seven."
Hisoka tried to sit up, but was restricted by the arm wrapped tightly around his waist. "Tsuzuki, you baka, let me go. We have to start working. The sooner we get this case done the better."
"Ah, come on, 'Soka. We can stay in bed a *little* longer, ne?" Tsuzuki nuzzled the teen's neck.
"Tsuzuki, if we get up now we can go down for breakfast. Remember, it's all you can eat," Hisoka craned his neck, effectively stopping the nuzzling while trying to look at his partner. Violet eyes stared, unfocused, at the wall directly in front of them. Tsuzuki looked as if he were trying to make one of the most important decisions of his life. *All-you-can-eat breakfast . . . Staying in bed with Hisoka . . . All-you-can-eat breakfast . . . Staying in bed with Hisoka . . . Ahhh, it's such a hard decision!!! Why can't I have both?!*
Hisoka took the decision away from his lover as he was finally able to slip out of bed, Tsuzuki having loosened his hold while trying to decide what he wanted to do. The teen turned around and glared at the dark-haired Shinigami, "Now, get out of bed and get ready. We still have a case to solve."
Tsuzuki crossed his arms and pouted, "Not fair! You said I could choose!"
"No I didn't, I just said that if you got up now we could down for breakfast!" Hisoka was already in the process of getting dressed. He pulled his pajama top over his head and turned to grab a clean shirt out of his suit case. Tsuzuki sat in bed, watching as his partner got dressed. The golden morning light caressed the smooth, pale skin, giving the teen an almost angelic glow.
Tsuzuki's breath was taken away. No matter how many times he had seen his lover's body, it never failed to reveal something new. Whether it was a scar he hadn't seen before, the way a certain muscle moved under certain conditions, or even just the way the light caused the shadows to move over the teen's curves, there were always new things to learn about his lover's body. It was worth allowing Hisoka to get out of bed if this was the kind of view he was given.
Tsuzuki was startled from his reverie as something was thrown into his face. He pulled a pair of black slacks off his head and pouted at his partner, puppy-ears lying flat and fluffy tail drooping, "What'd I do?"
"Would you stop staring at me and get dressed? If you don't hurry you won't have a chance to eat breakfast, and then I will have to listen to you complain about your stomach all day," Hisoka glared at Tsuzuki, his hands on his hips. Even though the words sounded harsh, there was an undertone of affection beneath the harshness. Hisoka knew Tsuzuki loved him, as much as he loved the older man, so he didn't mind his lover's stares, so long as they were alone, but they had a job to do, and he didn't want to take any longer than was absolutely necessary.
He didn't like Detective Hatoyama, and not just because of those brief flashes of lust he felt aimed towards Tsuzuki. There was just something about the woman that didn't sit right with the young empath.
Tsuzuki grinned and jumped out of the bed and quickly pulled his pants on. He flew through the rest of his preparations to get ready then stood excitedly by the door, waiting for Hisoka. The teen shook his head as he continued with his own preparations, brushing his teeth and running a comb through his unruly hair. When he was done he grabbed the fake badges and the case information that Tatsumi had given him and the two Shinigami made their way downstairs.
Violet eyes grew wide and starry, as a big puppy tail wagged excitedly, and ears pricked up. The buffet where the breakfast was spread out was overflowing with all sorts of food, many of which contained far more sugar than any one breakfast pastry should. Tsuzuki yipped in delight and attacked the buffet, grabbing a plate and piling it with as many donuts, pancakes with plenty of chocolate syrup, and whipped cream as possible. Hisoka watched his partner nearly empty the buffet before he made himself a small bowl of cereal and joined Tsuzuki at the table.
The two ate in relative silence, the only sounds were the small noises of appreciation Tsuzuki made as he devoured his breakfast. Hisoka watched his partner tear through two more plates before he sat back and sighed, contented. He smiled briefly at Hisoka before suddenly turning serious, "'Soka, do you think you are okay to continue with the investigation today?"
Hisoka glared at his partner, but it didn't hold much heat, Tsuzuki was only looking out for him, "I'm fine. I just wasn't prepared yesterday. I wasn't expecting the fear to be that strong. Today I will be more careful."
Tsuzuki looked carefully at the teen, but decided not to argue, so he nodded instead, "Alright then, where do we start today? Do you want to go back to the alley? Or should we try somewhere else first? Or do you want to start interviewing the victims?"
Hisoka picked up the case papers and stared at them, "Let's try a few more of the murder sites, starting with the alleyway, and then move on to the victims."
Tsuzuki stood up and shrugged into his trench coat, "Alright, then. The sooner we get going the sooner we can be done with this case, and the sooner those souls can finally be at peace."
Hisoka nodded and stood, following his partner out of the hotel. Hisoka hesitated briefly, almost unnoticeably, at the entrance to the alleyway before striding in purposefully. Tsuzuki noticed the hesitation and hoped that his partner would be prepared this time. He hadn't liked seeing the look of utter terror on Hisoka's face yesterday, and he didn't ever want to see it again.
*I will do everything in my power to prevent that look from 'ever' appearing on Hisoka's face again!* The silent promise was made with every ounce of love that Tsuzuki held in his body for his small lover.
Hisoka threw up barrier after barrier, but still the intense fear that seemed to saturate this place slammed against his shields. He turned to Tsuzuki, his face tense with the effort of keeping so many shields in place against the onslaught, "Whatever it was that followed the victim here, it scared the shit out of him. I can't get a clear feeling of what it was. Even though the fear is still intense in this place, most of the residual memories and emotions have faded."
"Then we shouldn't waste any more time here. Let's go somewhere else," Tsuzuki replied as he floated into the air and out of the alley, "Do you think the next site will hold anything?"
"There's only one way to find out," Hisoka followed his partner, "The murders took place only a few days apart. I don't know if the next site will be of anymore help than this one was, but we have to check them all, just to be sure."
"Fine, but if you start to feel tired or you can't handle it, we're stopping for the day. Understand?"
"I don't need you to look out for me. I can take care of myself," having to deal with all of the emotions in the alley had really put Hisoka on edge, making his voice rougher than he had intended.
Tsuzuki smiled over his shoulder at his young partner, unfazed by Hisoka's rough manner, "But I like to look out for you!"
Hisoka ignored his partner until they were only a few feet away from their destination, "There, behind that church."
The two Shinigami landed lightly on the spongy grass behind the small church. Tsuzuki looked around them, the place seemed so peaceful, so quiet, it was hard to imagine that a murder had taken place here. But the tension that was clearly shown around Hisoka's eyes and mouth proved that the teen was having a hard time keeping his shields up.
"Anything?" Tsuzuki asked as he walked around, trying to find any *physical* clue as to what had happened here.
Hisoka stood still, focusing on keeping his shields in place, while at the same time trying to sense what had caused the intense fear in this victim, "I can't sense anything different here, just intense fear. It's been too long since the murder for me to pick up any images that might have been left."
Tsuzuki stood up from the base of the tree he had been examining, and dusted off his pants, "Then, let's continue on to the next site. I can't find anything physical either."
The three sites the two went visited, gave them the same results. Tsuzuki walked around looking for any clue as to *who* or *what* could have caused the victims' deaths, and Hisoka used his empathic abilities to try and gain an image of the attacker. Neither of them came up with anything new.
After working for five hours straight without coming up with anything new, Tsuzuki begged Hisoka to go back to the hotel for a quick lunch. When they arrived, Tsuzuki once again attacked the buffet table with as much vigor as someone who had been starved for most of their life, while Hisoka helped himself to a small sandwich and a bowl of vegetable beef stew. Tsuzuki sat down at the table, a huge grin splitting his face, and his proverbial puppy- tail wagging incessantly.
He glanced from his plate, overloaded with food, to Hisoka's meager lunch, "What's wrong, 'Soka? Aren't you hungry?"
The teen glanced up at his lover, shrugged, and grunted a response that could have been, "Not really."
Tsuzuki decided that Hisoka had been through enough today, the teen didn't need for him to badger him about his lunch. The two ate in silence, both of their minds filled with their own thoughts. Hisoka couldn't stop thinking about all the murder scenes they had been to today neither could he stop trying to figure out what could possibly cause such fear in any human.
Tsuzuki's thoughts were mainly filled with the food he was eating and what the next step in their investigation would be. He didn't want to take Hisoka to anymore of the crime scenes today; this morning had put enough of a strain on his young lover. Tsuzuki also knew that the next five sites they had to visit would be even harder on the poor empath. The murders had been committed more recently, and would therefore contain more of the raw emotions. Tsuzuki did not want to expose his lover to that kind of strain so soon. The only problem was convincing Hisoka of this without hurting the young man's pride, after all, if Hisoka thought Tsuzuki was babying him, he would only push himself that much harder.
Tsuzuki looked up from his empty plate to his partner, who was staring absentmindedly at his own empty bowl, "'Soka?"
Hisoka, startled from his thoughts, glanced up at the violet-eyed man, "Yeah?"
"'Soka, I think that we should start interviewing the victims after lunch. We haven't been able to find anything from the sites so far. Why don't we try talking to a few of the victims, doctors, and family members? I mean, maybe you can get an idea from them what attacked them."
Hisoka stared hard at his partner. Tsuzuki was worried about him, the teen could tell that much even without his empathic powers. He wouldn't let the older man see, but he was extremely tired and drained from the strain of keeping his shields up for so long. It was almost too much for him to even keep the basic shield he had up now, to prevent everyone's emotions from around them projecting straight into him.
Hisoka realized he hadn't answered Tsuzuki, but had been staring at his partner for almost two minutes now without blinking, a slight blush suffused his cheeks and he ducked his head in embarrassment, "Whatever."
Tsuzuki opened his mouth to further argue about why they shouldn't continue with the murder sites before realizing that Hisoka had basically agreed with him. He stared for a second at the young Shinigami before closing his mouth and then saying, "Um, okay then. Who should we interview first?"
Hisoka picked up the case papers and glanced over them, "The first victim's name is Kakinomoto Hisato. It would probably be best to start with him. Let's go."
The two stood up from their chairs and walked out of the hotel once more. Hisoka led the way through the crowded streets. True they could have flown to their destination, but flying took energy, and that was one thing the teen did not have an abundance of right now. Tsuzuki knew Hisoka was most likely exhausted from this morning, but he also knew that if he said anything, Hisoka would just snap at him and insist on continuing, so he just kept his mouth shut and walked quietly behind his lover.
Disclaimer: Don' own, don' sue. Just borrowing:D ****************************************************************
Chapter 2
The Investigation Begins
Light lanced through the window and into the hotel room on the twenty-sixth floor. Golden fingers stretched across the carpet onto the queen sized bed and wrapped around the two sleeping figures curled peacefully together. Violet eyes fluttered open and flickered questioningly over the room. Recognition slowly dawned in those amethyst depths and a small groan escaped from parted lips.
Tsuzuki buried his head between the pillow and Hisoka's hair, denying the morning light that had disturbed his sleep. He tightened his arm around his young lover and inhaled the sweet, yet masculine, scent of Hisoka's hair. The teen groaned and stretched his limbs.
"Tsuzuki, what time is it?" Hisoka mumbled as he snuggled deeper into the warm body behind him.
Tsuzuki groaned as he looked at the clock by the bedside, "Almost seven."
Hisoka tried to sit up, but was restricted by the arm wrapped tightly around his waist. "Tsuzuki, you baka, let me go. We have to start working. The sooner we get this case done the better."
"Ah, come on, 'Soka. We can stay in bed a *little* longer, ne?" Tsuzuki nuzzled the teen's neck.
"Tsuzuki, if we get up now we can go down for breakfast. Remember, it's all you can eat," Hisoka craned his neck, effectively stopping the nuzzling while trying to look at his partner. Violet eyes stared, unfocused, at the wall directly in front of them. Tsuzuki looked as if he were trying to make one of the most important decisions of his life. *All-you-can-eat breakfast . . . Staying in bed with Hisoka . . . All-you-can-eat breakfast . . . Staying in bed with Hisoka . . . Ahhh, it's such a hard decision!!! Why can't I have both?!*
Hisoka took the decision away from his lover as he was finally able to slip out of bed, Tsuzuki having loosened his hold while trying to decide what he wanted to do. The teen turned around and glared at the dark-haired Shinigami, "Now, get out of bed and get ready. We still have a case to solve."
Tsuzuki crossed his arms and pouted, "Not fair! You said I could choose!"
"No I didn't, I just said that if you got up now we could down for breakfast!" Hisoka was already in the process of getting dressed. He pulled his pajama top over his head and turned to grab a clean shirt out of his suit case. Tsuzuki sat in bed, watching as his partner got dressed. The golden morning light caressed the smooth, pale skin, giving the teen an almost angelic glow.
Tsuzuki's breath was taken away. No matter how many times he had seen his lover's body, it never failed to reveal something new. Whether it was a scar he hadn't seen before, the way a certain muscle moved under certain conditions, or even just the way the light caused the shadows to move over the teen's curves, there were always new things to learn about his lover's body. It was worth allowing Hisoka to get out of bed if this was the kind of view he was given.
Tsuzuki was startled from his reverie as something was thrown into his face. He pulled a pair of black slacks off his head and pouted at his partner, puppy-ears lying flat and fluffy tail drooping, "What'd I do?"
"Would you stop staring at me and get dressed? If you don't hurry you won't have a chance to eat breakfast, and then I will have to listen to you complain about your stomach all day," Hisoka glared at Tsuzuki, his hands on his hips. Even though the words sounded harsh, there was an undertone of affection beneath the harshness. Hisoka knew Tsuzuki loved him, as much as he loved the older man, so he didn't mind his lover's stares, so long as they were alone, but they had a job to do, and he didn't want to take any longer than was absolutely necessary.
He didn't like Detective Hatoyama, and not just because of those brief flashes of lust he felt aimed towards Tsuzuki. There was just something about the woman that didn't sit right with the young empath.
Tsuzuki grinned and jumped out of the bed and quickly pulled his pants on. He flew through the rest of his preparations to get ready then stood excitedly by the door, waiting for Hisoka. The teen shook his head as he continued with his own preparations, brushing his teeth and running a comb through his unruly hair. When he was done he grabbed the fake badges and the case information that Tatsumi had given him and the two Shinigami made their way downstairs.
Violet eyes grew wide and starry, as a big puppy tail wagged excitedly, and ears pricked up. The buffet where the breakfast was spread out was overflowing with all sorts of food, many of which contained far more sugar than any one breakfast pastry should. Tsuzuki yipped in delight and attacked the buffet, grabbing a plate and piling it with as many donuts, pancakes with plenty of chocolate syrup, and whipped cream as possible. Hisoka watched his partner nearly empty the buffet before he made himself a small bowl of cereal and joined Tsuzuki at the table.
The two ate in relative silence, the only sounds were the small noises of appreciation Tsuzuki made as he devoured his breakfast. Hisoka watched his partner tear through two more plates before he sat back and sighed, contented. He smiled briefly at Hisoka before suddenly turning serious, "'Soka, do you think you are okay to continue with the investigation today?"
Hisoka glared at his partner, but it didn't hold much heat, Tsuzuki was only looking out for him, "I'm fine. I just wasn't prepared yesterday. I wasn't expecting the fear to be that strong. Today I will be more careful."
Tsuzuki looked carefully at the teen, but decided not to argue, so he nodded instead, "Alright then, where do we start today? Do you want to go back to the alley? Or should we try somewhere else first? Or do you want to start interviewing the victims?"
Hisoka picked up the case papers and stared at them, "Let's try a few more of the murder sites, starting with the alleyway, and then move on to the victims."
Tsuzuki stood up and shrugged into his trench coat, "Alright, then. The sooner we get going the sooner we can be done with this case, and the sooner those souls can finally be at peace."
Hisoka nodded and stood, following his partner out of the hotel. Hisoka hesitated briefly, almost unnoticeably, at the entrance to the alleyway before striding in purposefully. Tsuzuki noticed the hesitation and hoped that his partner would be prepared this time. He hadn't liked seeing the look of utter terror on Hisoka's face yesterday, and he didn't ever want to see it again.
*I will do everything in my power to prevent that look from 'ever' appearing on Hisoka's face again!* The silent promise was made with every ounce of love that Tsuzuki held in his body for his small lover.
Hisoka threw up barrier after barrier, but still the intense fear that seemed to saturate this place slammed against his shields. He turned to Tsuzuki, his face tense with the effort of keeping so many shields in place against the onslaught, "Whatever it was that followed the victim here, it scared the shit out of him. I can't get a clear feeling of what it was. Even though the fear is still intense in this place, most of the residual memories and emotions have faded."
"Then we shouldn't waste any more time here. Let's go somewhere else," Tsuzuki replied as he floated into the air and out of the alley, "Do you think the next site will hold anything?"
"There's only one way to find out," Hisoka followed his partner, "The murders took place only a few days apart. I don't know if the next site will be of anymore help than this one was, but we have to check them all, just to be sure."
"Fine, but if you start to feel tired or you can't handle it, we're stopping for the day. Understand?"
"I don't need you to look out for me. I can take care of myself," having to deal with all of the emotions in the alley had really put Hisoka on edge, making his voice rougher than he had intended.
Tsuzuki smiled over his shoulder at his young partner, unfazed by Hisoka's rough manner, "But I like to look out for you!"
Hisoka ignored his partner until they were only a few feet away from their destination, "There, behind that church."
The two Shinigami landed lightly on the spongy grass behind the small church. Tsuzuki looked around them, the place seemed so peaceful, so quiet, it was hard to imagine that a murder had taken place here. But the tension that was clearly shown around Hisoka's eyes and mouth proved that the teen was having a hard time keeping his shields up.
"Anything?" Tsuzuki asked as he walked around, trying to find any *physical* clue as to what had happened here.
Hisoka stood still, focusing on keeping his shields in place, while at the same time trying to sense what had caused the intense fear in this victim, "I can't sense anything different here, just intense fear. It's been too long since the murder for me to pick up any images that might have been left."
Tsuzuki stood up from the base of the tree he had been examining, and dusted off his pants, "Then, let's continue on to the next site. I can't find anything physical either."
The three sites the two went visited, gave them the same results. Tsuzuki walked around looking for any clue as to *who* or *what* could have caused the victims' deaths, and Hisoka used his empathic abilities to try and gain an image of the attacker. Neither of them came up with anything new.
After working for five hours straight without coming up with anything new, Tsuzuki begged Hisoka to go back to the hotel for a quick lunch. When they arrived, Tsuzuki once again attacked the buffet table with as much vigor as someone who had been starved for most of their life, while Hisoka helped himself to a small sandwich and a bowl of vegetable beef stew. Tsuzuki sat down at the table, a huge grin splitting his face, and his proverbial puppy- tail wagging incessantly.
He glanced from his plate, overloaded with food, to Hisoka's meager lunch, "What's wrong, 'Soka? Aren't you hungry?"
The teen glanced up at his lover, shrugged, and grunted a response that could have been, "Not really."
Tsuzuki decided that Hisoka had been through enough today, the teen didn't need for him to badger him about his lunch. The two ate in silence, both of their minds filled with their own thoughts. Hisoka couldn't stop thinking about all the murder scenes they had been to today neither could he stop trying to figure out what could possibly cause such fear in any human.
Tsuzuki's thoughts were mainly filled with the food he was eating and what the next step in their investigation would be. He didn't want to take Hisoka to anymore of the crime scenes today; this morning had put enough of a strain on his young lover. Tsuzuki also knew that the next five sites they had to visit would be even harder on the poor empath. The murders had been committed more recently, and would therefore contain more of the raw emotions. Tsuzuki did not want to expose his lover to that kind of strain so soon. The only problem was convincing Hisoka of this without hurting the young man's pride, after all, if Hisoka thought Tsuzuki was babying him, he would only push himself that much harder.
Tsuzuki looked up from his empty plate to his partner, who was staring absentmindedly at his own empty bowl, "'Soka?"
Hisoka, startled from his thoughts, glanced up at the violet-eyed man, "Yeah?"
"'Soka, I think that we should start interviewing the victims after lunch. We haven't been able to find anything from the sites so far. Why don't we try talking to a few of the victims, doctors, and family members? I mean, maybe you can get an idea from them what attacked them."
Hisoka stared hard at his partner. Tsuzuki was worried about him, the teen could tell that much even without his empathic powers. He wouldn't let the older man see, but he was extremely tired and drained from the strain of keeping his shields up for so long. It was almost too much for him to even keep the basic shield he had up now, to prevent everyone's emotions from around them projecting straight into him.
Hisoka realized he hadn't answered Tsuzuki, but had been staring at his partner for almost two minutes now without blinking, a slight blush suffused his cheeks and he ducked his head in embarrassment, "Whatever."
Tsuzuki opened his mouth to further argue about why they shouldn't continue with the murder sites before realizing that Hisoka had basically agreed with him. He stared for a second at the young Shinigami before closing his mouth and then saying, "Um, okay then. Who should we interview first?"
Hisoka picked up the case papers and glanced over them, "The first victim's name is Kakinomoto Hisato. It would probably be best to start with him. Let's go."
The two stood up from their chairs and walked out of the hotel once more. Hisoka led the way through the crowded streets. True they could have flown to their destination, but flying took energy, and that was one thing the teen did not have an abundance of right now. Tsuzuki knew Hisoka was most likely exhausted from this morning, but he also knew that if he said anything, Hisoka would just snap at him and insist on continuing, so he just kept his mouth shut and walked quietly behind his lover.