In death...

[An X and Yami no Matsuei Crossover fic]

Disclaimer: Got the dreams thing from Samurai Deeper Kyo... Other than that, standard disclaimers apply...

Chapter 6

Subaru did not know when he had stopped dreaming. The easy answer would be when Seishirou died. But that would be oversimplifying the matter. Because in truth, he knew it was long before that, during those nine long years in which they had tirelessly stalked each other, and yet meticulously avoided confrontation.

When the Bet had been revealed and he had emerged living, he had hidden Within himself and dreamed. Dreamed that it was all a dream.

But always, he woke up.

And always, he went back to his dreams.

Even when Hokuto had died, though he had woken a little, he continued to believe that someday, with time, things would be fine between them.

All the while trying to psych himself into hating him.

He was a hypocrite.

Eventually, his dreams were extinguished by reality, and by the time he met Seishirou again atop Nanako Sun Building, he just wanted recognition from the person whom he thought viewed him as a thing. Even if he had to die to gain it.

In a way, Seishirou's death was the cruelest thing he ever did to Subaru. Because he gave him a glimmer of hope that things might have worked out between them. Only to take it away with death.

Yet now Seishirou appeared to be perfectly fine and alive. This reality did not altogether seem real. Had he started dreaming again? He did not know. Yet one thing was certain. Even in dreams, Seishirou was not what he wished he could be.

This is hopeless, Subaru thought, trying to turn his thoughts to something else.

'Will you at least come look even if you don't want to help?' Hisoka complained irritatedly to Tsuzuki. It had been two days with absolutely no leads and his eyes were stinging after staring at the computer for such a long time. This was unusual since the Shinigami usually did not get sent into the field until at least some information had been collected. No matter. The Gushoushin would send him the information once they got it. All he was doing was whiling away time and wasting the electricity of the cheap hotel they were staying in. He threw another look at Tsuzuki, who was lying ever so contentedly on his bed and decided to take his lead and relax. It was not like his was making any progress anyway.

'You know something, Tsuzuki?' Hisoka climbed into bed next to Tsuzuki, even though he had one of his own at the other side of the room.

'What?' Tsuzuki scooted over a little to make space for the boy.

'Maybe you're not so stupid after all.'

'Haha... It took you that long to notice eh?'

This was contentment. Simply enjoying each other's company. Nothing else was needed. Just being close to each other was enough for them. It was not romantic, just a sort of comfort between friends. It might grow into something else, or it might not. Hisoka was not sure what he wanted. He admitted that he might feel a bit more for the veteran Shinigami than friends should. But he had not taken action because he was not sure Tsuzuki returned his feelings and he was loath to scare Tsuzuki and make him fall apart again.

After Kyoto, it had taken months before Tsuzuki could smile again. And it had been even longer before he could smile genuinely again. Tsuzuki was still recovering, despite his attempts to hide it, and Hisoka could only hope that time really did heal all wounds. Besides, it was not over. Hisoka knew that, because the scars still existed. He knew that Tsuzuki knew it too, and was simply waiting till he would have to come face to face with it again. For now though, in the calm before the storm, they wanted to forget about the incident and enjoy the time of peace. Bridges would be burnt when they came to it. There was no need to stay stagnant in their pain when all they would be doing was wear themselves out before the battle even started. Hisoka was glad. For now, this was enough.

It was not time yet.

'Hisoka,' Tsuzuki started.

'Hmmm...?' Hisoka asked, distracted by his thoughts.

'Has Sakurazuka-san returned to the hotel yet? It's been a day since he went out.'

'Not that I know of.' Hisoka was irritated by the mood being broken by the topic of the Sakurazuka, 'He's probably out doing what he used to do. I doubt he's in any danger.'

Despite Tsuzuki's numerous lectures to not form any prejudgments about their new partner, Hisoka could not help having misgivings about him. He was the Sakurazukamori and to top that off, an Angel in the recent battle of the Apocalypse. Besides, rumour had it that he had lied to someone who loved him deeply and destroyed that person totally in the process. This combination was not one that brought trust. Besides, he reminded Hisoka too much of a certain silver-haired monster he did not even want to name.

'Hisoka... You have to stop saying such things about him.' Tsuzuki reprimanded, 'Kanoe-Kachou would never allow someone who could compromise the Ju-Oh-Cho to become a Shinigami. You are unduly worried, really.'

'Oh yeah? Then in that case why couldn't Sakurazuka-san have paired up with one of the Gushoushin like other Shinigami without partners? Why did it have to be us? Because Kanoe-Kachou is unsure of the loyalty of Sakurazuka-san himself. He needed someone powerful enough to control him if he went out of line. That is why you got elected.'

'Maybe. But the fact that he was allowed in in the first place shows that he has some credit. We should try and accept him instead of rejecting him. That would just give him the incentive to go out of line. Besides, I believe that he is more than what he seems. If you look past that cold smile of his, you can tell he is trying to hide his pain. Besides, he hasn't harmed us yet, so far so good right? Give him a chance.' Tsuzuki morphed into his pointy-eared and furry-tailed equivalent and turned the notch of his puppy dog eyes to the maximum. 'Hmmm?'

Hisoka sighed. No one could resist the puppy dog Tsuzuki. Not even Tatsumi, who was all work and seriousness.

'Alright...'

Tsuzuki broke into a big grin and Hisoka had to smile. This Shinigami was too cute for his own good.

A few hours later, when Hisoka was once again in front of the computer destroying his eyes and Tsuzuki was dozing, Seishirou finally returned to the hotel. Once he entered his partners' shared room, he was greeted by two waves. Tsuzuki's concern and Hisoka's suspicion. However, this time the suspicion had less of an edge to it. Tsuzuki had probably been talking to the boy again. Frankly, he was quite surprised Tsuzuki had been so ready to accept him. He was not exactly the kind of person you wanted to be your best friend and the amethyst-eyed Shinigami had not had the best of times with the likes of him. Seishirou suspected that behind that genki smile, that was a whole lot of perception that surpassed even the empath. He would have to be careful around him, in case he discovered too much.

In any case, Seishirou was really in no mood to ponder this or appreciate his concern. Hence, he simply told them he had run into a spot of trouble, was as fine as Shinigami could get and would go back to his room to rest now.

Alone again in his suite, Seishirou lies back on the bed and thought about the events of the day. One thing was certain: he was not ready to confess his feelings to Subaru yet. Accepting it was one thing. Actually saying it out was quite another. Besides, he had to get a few other things straightened out first, like just how much he felt for Subaru. He knew it was special and was unlike anything he felt before. But he still did not know how far it went. He did not want to give Subaru false hope.

It was all perfectly reasonable. He could not have said anything to Subaru today. Despite the reasoning, he could not help feeling he was simply making excuses to put off the inevitable.

Besides, even if you could not tell him you loved him, you did not have to treat him like that.

Never mind that. Subaru was still as predictable as always and it gave him no little pleasure to know that he still had an effect on the onmyouji. Perhaps he would play a bit. After all, though he was starting to have some emotions, he was still Sakurazuka Seishirou.

This morning, the corpse of a young woman was discovered in the abandoned Saint Peter Cathedral. She was discovered by the caretaker of the property who had gone to do cleaning. Upon entering the church, he saw the victim lying nude in a pool of blood. There were many cuts on the body and there were also marks of strangulation. She has been identified as Akagi Miko, a civil servant at the Capitol. Investigations are still pending as to the motive of the murder but the police stated that they have cause to believe that this is probably a sexual act......

A picture of the victim was shown.

Watching the news from two different places, Subaru and Seishirou said the same thing.

'Damn.'

A/N: Hehx... hope this was slightly longer... i dun really do long chapters well.. oh wells... anw kinda stuck at the next chapter cos i really suck at action scenes and still need to work out the finer pts of Muraki's plan... Yup i write with no planing whatsoever... bah... So review pls??? i really need them... onegai???? :D