A/N: I made a mistake...gomen, but green isn't Medori, it's *Midori*. So I changed it in both chappies. Forgive me?
Anyway, here's the chappy. Again I had to cut it feeling like I should have writen more. But I guess I'm up to that point where all the chapters are very entwined. I hope you're still hooked on this and I hope you forgive my little venture into het with the first lines. But it's just Terazuma is the cutest and I just read a few chapters from the GenSouKai arch and had to add the only straight couple in Meifu (lol ^.^)
Again, links to fanart but not mine this time. Lina and Lyn made some beautiful fanart for me and I want you all to see!!! Go see, now!!
Here're the links:
http://www.geocities.com/evolution2476/asumflina.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/evolution2476/asumflyn.jpg
Honest, go see them cuz they're the cutest!! ^-^
Enjoy!!
A SMILE UPON MY FACE
"Hold still, will you?" Wakaba ran a finger gingerly over the white tape to smoother it and stared at the black and blue face of her boyfriend, admiring the newly applied bandage with a sort of motherly pride. "There." She smiled tenderly and ran a hand through his hair. "All better now."
As answer, all she got was a low grunt. Terazuma shifted on a big, puffy leather chair in the waiting room to Principal Konoe's office, unable to find a comfortable position because of his injuries.
"I wanna go home." He whined, but his bruised jaw made it sound muffled and barely comprehensible; the air coming from the space where two of his teeth used to be making a small whistling sound.
"Hajime-chan," Wakaba started, always with a sweet smile, though Terazuma backed away a little in his seat at the underlying annoyance in her features. You'd think after being beaten up as brutally as he had, he wouldn't coward away from his petite girlfriend. "I told you. We just have to wait for a little longer. The cops should be out any minute now."
"Stupid cops." he grumbled and winced at the pain that it caused. Wakaba looked up in surprise at his words. Pigs would be flying before Terazuma had a bad opinion of the police force in general. "Did you see? They didn't even secure the area!"
Individuals, on the other hand...
Wakaba smiled sadly and softly patted his shoulder.
"Next year, Hajime-chan; next year. Though suddenly," she frowned. "I'm not so exited about you being a cop. Look at what happened to you and you're just a security guard!!" The last came out more as a plea than a statement.
Terazuma shrugged as much as he could.
"I can take care of myself just fine."
"Yeah, right! If a student can do this to you, what will a criminal do?!" Wakaba cried, shaking his shoulders a little too forcefully for his state.
"No," he batted her hands away and shook his head, deep in thought. "That was no student. I don't care what those stupid cops think."
"What makes you say that?" the girl asked, a little disbelieving.
"It's just a gut feeling I have. None of those prissy boys could have done this; never mind the murder. It was too messy for them. This was... something else."
The suspicious tone Terazuma used, plus his serious expression and the emphasis on the word 'something', instead of 'someone', made Wakaba laugh out loud.
"Hajime-chan, seriously! You're going to tell me aliens did it?!"
Terazuma grunted.
"That's not what I said." he glared at her, but she couldn't stop chuckling. "Fine, you laugh! But my gut is usually right on these things."
"Ne, Hajime chan," she teased. "maybe you'll make a lot more money when you get your promotion to detective for catching all those mean E.T's; and you could even work for the government later on!"
"Yeah, go on, tease me. Shows how much faith you have in me." he said pitifully.
He inwardly smirked, seeing as his little hurt act started to work. Wakaba's features softened and she looked at him all tender and apologetic.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I know how good you are at this stuff. You're a natural. I just thought it was funny the way you'd said it. Forgive me?" Terazuma played his act a little longer and reluctantly nodded as she ran a hand through his hair soothingly. "Next year you'll go to the academy and graduate at the top of your class. You'll see." she continued and Terazuma's mood started to lift. "You'll make a great cop one day. Maybe in a year or two we could start thinking about settling down? Buy a house, you...you know..." she blushed as little pink hearts started dancing around her head, her eyes all big and shimmery and Terazuma knew she was daydreaming about white picket fences and German Shepards and little Hajimes and Wakabas running around the back yard.
Terazuma shook his head. It was his time to tease.
"After the way you were flirting with that asshole? Na-ah!" he would have crossed his arms over his chest, if the latter hadn't been as sore as it was.
"What?!" his cute little girlfriend transformed into a fearful monster in a matter of seconds, but this time Terazuma didn't back away. "Who was I flirting with?! Who, eh? Eh?!"
"That stupid nurse, that's who!"
"Midori-chan? Midori-chan?!" Wakaba was beet red with fury at this point. "After the nice way he treated you and how kind he was?! How can you say such a thing?!"
"Kind my ass!! All the while he was making eyes at you!! And what's with the chan, eh? You've just met the guy!! Seriously, Wakaba..." somehow he'd forgotten he was supposed to be teasing, the jealousy getting the better of him, and he raised his voice. "And it's not the first time either!! You flirt with anything wearing pants!!"
Wakaba stood up, fuming, with her little hands in little tight fists at her side.
"Why, Hajime-chan; if I'm such a flirt, go find yourself another girlfriend to drive you home!!"
She stomped out of the waiting area, her footsteps making the building tremble. Terazuma blinked a few times at her retreating form before rolling his eyes.
"Wakaba-chan!..." he called after her, but she didn't stop. He tried to stand up but the pain in his torso prevented him from doing it unaided. "Kannuki...Sweetie! I'm sorry!!" he winced, having overdone it with all the talking and moving around, and slumped back in his seat, grumbling a bit. "Me and my big *ow*, mouth... Stupid nurse."
---------------------------
Hisoka found himself standing in the middle of a Sakura forest, all in full bloom and bathing the chilly air with their aroma. He was aware of it being a dream; he was still aware of the world outside the illusion, which was highly unusual in itself.
It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, really, but time and dreams have never gotten along well.
He'd always hated those trees. No particular reason for it; just one of those irrational dislikes; things that get under your skin and give you goose bumps; like test tubes, reports, chickens wearing clothes...
Anyway; these trees were nothing like those horrid things planted on his father's land. They breathed life; the petals floating in the air seemed to glisten with some sort of inner light that made Hisoka want to reach out and touch them. No matter how many would fall from their branches, the trees would always remain pink and fresh.
They felt like eternity and safety; the air smelled like home in a way his own house never had.
Yet they filled him with regret for some reason. Regret and longing. Not for the place, but something he knew he should be able to find there. He searched with his eyes for it; he remembered what it was, but couldn't name it. He just knew it was there and he should be looking for it; so he did.
Just before the world started catching up with him and his dreamscape begun to dissolve, he saw it. A shadow standing under the largest and oldest of the trees with their back to him, waiting. Hisoka desperately stretched his arms to reach whoever that person was. They were waiting for him, he realised; and he'd made them wait for so long...
But inevitably the figure dissolved with the rest of that heavenly place, leaving only darkness.
------------------------
Tsuzuki was sitting next to a sleeping Hisoka, periodically brushing the strands of hair that insisted on falling over his eyes. It wasn't so much a show of affection, but a ritual to keep himself calmed. He figured Tatsumi and Midori-san were still talking behind him, but he couldn't focus on them.
A thousand thoughts were running through his head at a million miles per hour, leaving him dazed and confused.
He hadn't even dared ask who had died, fearing he knew the poor kid. To die so young in such a horrible way...
He didn't know why but, he felt responsible. It was like death and misery followed him around wherever he'd go, affecting everyone around him and shattering his world over and over again.
To say he felt like bad luck would have been the understatement of the millennium. Everything he touched withered and died. 'Just look at the facts!' he thought, running a hand through his hair anxiously.
It wasn't like the school was known for being a dangerous place. In fact, it was supposed to be one of the safest of it's kind. Principal Konoe had been really kind to him; pulled more than one string for him to be able to remain at the school after his poor academic performance the year before, even when he had a 'scholarship'. And this place had become his home after he'd thought he'd never felt like that for any place again.
Now there was rape and murder?! He was sure more than one father would decide to take their kids to another school. And he didn't even want to think about the consequences Konoe-san would have to face because of it.
Muraki had decided to be his friend and look what had happened to him. Ruka had loved him and taken care of him when no one else wanted to, and now she was dead; her death not being one of the most pleasant out there. Even Hisoka, who'd just known him for a day and didn't even like him, had fallen under the 'Tsuzuki curse' , as he called it.
Was it being selfish to insist on having people around him? What if Tatsumi or Watari were next? 'Maybe I should just disappear,' he thought, sighing as an attempt of relieving the growing pressure on his chest.
He knew his thoughts didn't really make sense. He'd done nothing to cause any of those things- or most, anyway. But he couldn't shake the feeling that it all had something to do with him. Everything bad eventually had something to do with him.
A small whimper from the boy in front of him brought him back to reality.
"No...wait..." Hisoka mumbled sleepily, obviously distressed and Tsuzuki stiffened, not knowing what to do. "Wait, please...don't...don't go, I...I miss you..."
Tsuzuki blushed a bright red at hearing the intimate tone of the sleeping boy, forgetting all about his previous trail of thought.
An hour of watching Hisoka sleep and the amethyst eyed boy couldn't bring himself to be afraid of him any longer. All his assumptions at the boy being uberly kawaii and much like a puppy were confirmed after guarding his sleep. 'Well,...' he thought amusedly, 'Maybe not a puppy. More like a kitten, I'd say.'
For a moment, his mind took him back to the whole 'scratching Hisoka's ears' dilemma, but the green eyed boy stirred again, preventing him from another guilt trip- and why not, a few scratches from those cute little kitty paws.
He poked the slim shoulder with one finger and big curious eyes wide open, a few times before Hisoka frowned and batted his hand away as you would a fly.
Before he could attempt another poking round, a shadow fell over the exam table from over his head. Tsuzuki frowned, deep in thought. Had he been in the infirmary for so long that the sun was at the other side of the building? Or maybe it was going to rain?
He turned his head to look at the window, but a big, white mass was blocking his view. He blinked a few times and followed the white wall with his eyes upwards, only to be met by a pair of gleaming purple lenses and a smirk.
"Waaaaaah!!!" He bolted from his seat, falling backwards towards the bed. With amazing speed and foresight, he made a swift manoeuvre and prevented the otherwise inevitable fall on top of Hisoka. Tsuzuki froze, one arm at each side of the young boy's waist and his faces inches away. Panicking both from the man hovering over him and the fact that he'd landed on top of a very dangerous sleeping boy, he held his breath. 'Very...still...I have to...don't move...' he thought incoherently.
With every muscle in his body tense beyond belief, Tsuzuki slowly rose from the bed, arching his back into the most awkward position to avoid standing too close to the smirking man behind him. He fearfully kept his eyes on Hisoka and sighed in relief seeing the boy's sleep hadn't been disturbed.
"Are you ok, Tsuzuki-chan?" Midori-san asked, obviously amused, and Tsuzuki turned to find the man smiling widely.
Tsuzuki's eyes travelled around the room, looking for Tatsumi and coming empty handed. With his heart still beating at a thousand miles per hour, his mind came up with all kinds of ridiculous reasons for his boyfriend's absence. Well, who could blame him, really? Midori-san *had* looked like a praying mantis a moment before.
"What? Where? Tatsumi?" he mumbled incoherently.
Midori-san's smile widened.
"He just left." Tsuzuki's heart fell. Tatsumi had left him there without a word? Then again, maybe he wasn't worth even that. Midori-san must have noticed the change in his expression; the older man placed a hand on his shoulder and his smile turned more sincere. "You seemed so deep in thought, he didn't want to disturb you. He said he was going to look for one of his friends?"
"Watari!" He gasped. Of course! So deep he'd been in his own self-loathing that he'd forgotten his blond friend was out there somewhere with a killer walking around; now that he'd realised, it didn't do much good to help him out of the self-loathing mode, though; it just gave him one more reason to feel like crap.
-----------------------------
Watari was frightened. He wasn't sure if it was because everyone was leaving the classroom after the teacher had gone through the list and there was still no sign of any of his friends, or because that meant he was left to go back to his room on his own.
He didn't want to leave the classroom either way; 003 poked her head from her hiding place and nudged him as soon as the last of the students were out the door, but Watari shrugged.
"I'm gonna wait a little longer." he whispered, patting his friend's head. "I'm sure Tsuzuki just got lost and Tatsumi is busy. Hisoka is probably still in the bathroom and Ori-chan and Muraki probably just decided to skip school." He nodded, trying to convince himself that his theory was sound.
003 made a little disbelieving sound, but Watari ignored her.
Sure, there was a killer loose somewhere around the school; but what were the odds of him catching one of his friends out of a thousand something students?
The same he'd had of catching the guy that died, a part of his brain told him.
Statistics were stupid little things anyway. Besides, if good ol' lady luck had any say in the matter, it would probably be him the one to go. Think about it; the ones that die young usually aren't those who've lived a lot. Usually they are those who haven't even started living. Wouldn't his be a nice obituary?
'Well', he thought humorously, though nonetheless nervous, 'at least I wouldn't die a virgin?'
Though surely the guy who'd died hadn't thought the same thing, and Watari felt bad for his inner joke; even when no one had heard it.
Death didn't scare him, really. It was the way to go what worried him. Or at least it did now, that it was a matter of consideration. That and thinking how much he'd miss his friends. And when he was scared, the best way he could think of to relieve himself was humour; as twisted as it might have been.
This time it did little for him, though. Gathering his courage, and after ten minutes of waiting in an empty classroom, Watari stepped into the hallway. Any other day it would have been packed with students cheering at the day off; but at the moment the hall was deserted, sans one or two small groups of kids already heading to their rooms or the cafeteria.
The teacher had been perfectly clear. No student should wonder alone until the police had more information. And even in groups they'd been told to stay in a safe environment.
Watari cursed under his breath and 003 squeaked in agreement.
With careful footsteps, he walked through the main hall, almost glued to the wall praying he wasn't making much noise. Even 003, who'd usually come out of her hiding after class, just poked her head out from his pocket hesitantly.
He reached the doors but, instead of just crossing them, he peered outside to make sure there was no one around. The problem was, there was someone. Hiyama-kun, to be precise, standing without any apparent preoccupation; laughing with a few friends at something stupid, for sure.
Watari frowned. Should he venture himself into the dangers of the halls again to take another rout or should he risk walking past the bully? To be or not to be, that was most certainly the question, if you thought about it.
Before he had time to decide- it wasn't that it was immediate, he'd just stood there for about ten minutes without knowing what to do- he felt a hand gripping his shoulder and Watari was sure he'd tasted his own heart for a moment or two.
"Holy Mary mother of god and every saint in heaven!!" He yelped, fumbling forward and crawling into a tinny ball on the floor. "Please don't kill me!!"
It was Hiyama & Co. laughing their asses off at him what made him open one fearful eye and gaze at his presumed attacker. His attacker was certainly handsome, he thought dazedly; he had the most beautiful blue eyes and they were focused on him with a startled look.
"Watari?" Tatsumi asked, his brows knitted in a frown.
It might have been the adrenaline rush, but at the sight of Tatsumi standing there, all in one piece; but Watari could only think of doing one thing...Ok, 'think' may be the wrong choice for words.
The blond jumped from his spot on the floor and wrapped his arms tightly around the taller boy's shoulders.
"You're ok!! You're ok!! I thought you were laying somewhere with a hole on you stomach!!" he cried, rather loudly by the way.
With his face buried on Tatsumi's neck as it was, he couldn't see the other boy blushing furiously, or the way his blue eyes had widened with shock. He did feel Tatsumi's muscles stiffening and the small, awkward pat the other boy gave to his back.
That was enough to bring him back to his senses. He pulled back fast, feeling all his blood rushing to his face. Now he'd done it! He'd given Hiyama-kun enough to tease him for two life times and he'd made an ass of himself in front of Tatsumi. Would it really be too hard to find a hole to throw himself into?
Tatsumi was watching him with that strange look in his eyes again, a hand still placed gingerly on his back, keeping him in place. It was a surreal moment; for Watari at least. He'd have chopped his arm off just to eliminate the mere inches that kept him from the other boy's face and kiss Tatsumi silly.
But again, it was Hiyama and his friends, making chicken noises as well as the sporadic 'fag' yelled at him that brought him back from his delusion.
"Gomen...You, ...you startled me." Watari said letting out a nervous laugh and stepping back as much as he could, trying to hide the shakes of his hands and purposely ignoring 003's annoyed smirk as she fixed his ruffled feathers, flew from his pocket and perched on his shoulder; surely deeming it a safer place.
He also tried to ignore the bullies, but apparently Tatsumi had a harder time at it; the older boy wasn't even looking at him or attempting to answer. He just glared at the bullies in a way that would have been anyone's death sentence, should looks had been able to kill.
Watari gently took his friend's arm and started leading him torth the opposite direction. He really didn't want Tatsumi getting into a brawl because of him; and that was what would happen if he didn't take the blue eyed boy away from there as fast as he could.
"Ne, Tatsumi, what are you doing here?" he asked with a smile- a fake one if there's ever been one- trying to make his friend divert his eyes from the laughing hyenas outside.
Eventually Tatsumi must have realised that he couldn't turn his head anymore to keep the bullies in sight- he wasn't an owl, after all- and faced forward with a sigh.
"I came looking for you. Apparently, I did the right thing."
There was a slight scolding tone in his voice and Watari looked down, ashamed. He hated being such a wimp. 'Just you wait!' he said to himself, 'Once I gain a few inches and a few pounds no one's gonna mess with me again!
On the outside, all he could manage was, "I'm sorry."
Tatsumi looked at him in surprise before smiling one of those rare, warmth filling smiles of his. Startling Watari out of his wits, the blue eyed boy wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close in what could have passed as a reassuring hug.
"It's not your fault, you lunatic."
Watari figured, if the killer were to catch him at that very moment and repeat his previous actions, instead of guts he'd find a big mass of boiling liquid jello. Probably strawberry jello, too.
--------------------------
It was no problem to sneak through the crowd of cops rushing from one end of the hall to the other. Some uniformed men were leaning over the covered corpse, some taking pictures, some scanning from evidence.
She knew they'd come empty handed. This wasn't a matter for the human world; but she still had to make a few inquiries. Her partner was busy playing doctor with all those cute kids, so it was up to her to do the dirty work.
Fishing for her pocket mirror, Yuki Aome checked her appearance. Well, Midori Aome, if the plan was going to work. If it had been up to her, she'd looked for a much better fake name; something with class. Not something so obvious.
But then again, it wasn't up to her. The git was her superior. Seriously, just because you've been dead for only a few months didn't mean people should be able to push you around!
"Miss, you shouldn't be here." A stern voice told her from behind. Mustering all her charm, she turned around making her dress and hair wave around her the way her momma had taught her and smiled brightly.
"I'm sorry, I seem to be lost." She said, the perfect representation of innocence and inwardly smirked at the blush that spread on the rough cop's cheeks. "I'm looking for my Onii-chan. He's the nurse here?"
"Ah...yes, I'll walk you to the infirmary miss..."
"Midori Aome, but you can call me Aome." She let the man take her arm and pulled her hair to the side so that the man had a flash of her swam like neck.
"Nice to meet you, Aome. I'm Detective Maki Kuno," he said with a grin that told Aome he was sure he'd sleep in a warm bed that night. "just Kuno for you, though."
Men; so easy!
"Kuno, what a nice name! Say, Kuno; what's all this about?" she waved her hand towards the crime scene, feigning ignorance and curiosity.
The man hesitated, but not for long, as she knew it would happen.
"Well, if you can keep a secret..."
~Tsuzuku~
God! It is so hard to come up with random names for unimportant passing characters!! T.T
Now for the reviews *-*:
Lina: Two words, 'paint brush'; the most primitive and annoyingly frustrating of graphic tools for your comp. I don't have money for watercolours *whimper*. But yay, you liked it? And well, given YNM's nature, I figure that, as long as I have an interesting plot, in order to stay in character, I *have* to be all fangirly and stuff. Matsushita-sensei was, anyway (for what I'll love her forever (as I'll love you should you draw Tsu-chan with an apron *.*))
LYK: Midori san was supposed to be hot so, lol, good. I read your story, don't know if you got the review, but please continue it? And I'm not about to tell you who did it!! But just cuz Kazu-chan didn't do *this* don't think he'll be all good and stuff. *chuckles*
dodger-chan: I just read your fic!! Leaving a review right as I'm posting this. That was so sad and good and sad and *sniff*. Anyway, to answer your question, I always try to update on the same day so, if you check every week at the same time you'll find a new chappy.
Mel-chan: You'd think that someone who sings wouldn't smoke, right? Of course I'm not a singer, but I did went to the conservatory (violin, piano and flute, never finished either); on the aptitude test they took me, the teacher actually gaped at me and said...'you're studying singing, right?' , when I told him I wasn't and he found out I smoked he almost whacks me in the head. And what's a ricola cough drop? Thanks for saying all those nice things about the story and you can babble all you want, I love it!!
Loki'sRose: Don't say it!! If you think you know who he is, you keep it to yourself! It's not really that important but, *mumbles* well, the characters don't know and...well, I'm telling the story from the characters' point of view. Maybe I'm just being silly. Aaaanyway. I'm not sure if I should count Muraki either!! Waaah! Plot is twisty, ne? Have to be careful not to make it TOO complicated. Huggles!!
Kyraille Faye: See? There's Tatariness here, see? *points at Tatariness* But...there wasn't Oriya...Waah!! People didn't cut my head off because of Midori san, so I guess he was ok? Lets see what happens with Aome; though she's a girl so maybe people will stop reading altogether. Thanks for all the nice things you said about the other two ficcies too! Huggles you too!
A special hug to Lyn, Julewooster and sheilkuroi for their nice, off ff.net comments and to Walkerminion, Loki's rose, Kurai, Kyraille Faye, Schatten Wolfendorf, Literary Eagle, Kawaii Lil' Lia, not so innocent bystander, Kara Angitia and LinaLau for reviewing my other fics.
I may turn Hokori into a multi-part in the future, but definitively *not* while I'm writing this. I'm not suicidal, after all.
Ja ne!
Anyway, here's the chappy. Again I had to cut it feeling like I should have writen more. But I guess I'm up to that point where all the chapters are very entwined. I hope you're still hooked on this and I hope you forgive my little venture into het with the first lines. But it's just Terazuma is the cutest and I just read a few chapters from the GenSouKai arch and had to add the only straight couple in Meifu (lol ^.^)
Again, links to fanart but not mine this time. Lina and Lyn made some beautiful fanart for me and I want you all to see!!! Go see, now!!
Here're the links:
http://www.geocities.com/evolution2476/asumflina.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/evolution2476/asumflyn.jpg
Honest, go see them cuz they're the cutest!! ^-^
Enjoy!!
A SMILE UPON MY FACE
"Hold still, will you?" Wakaba ran a finger gingerly over the white tape to smoother it and stared at the black and blue face of her boyfriend, admiring the newly applied bandage with a sort of motherly pride. "There." She smiled tenderly and ran a hand through his hair. "All better now."
As answer, all she got was a low grunt. Terazuma shifted on a big, puffy leather chair in the waiting room to Principal Konoe's office, unable to find a comfortable position because of his injuries.
"I wanna go home." He whined, but his bruised jaw made it sound muffled and barely comprehensible; the air coming from the space where two of his teeth used to be making a small whistling sound.
"Hajime-chan," Wakaba started, always with a sweet smile, though Terazuma backed away a little in his seat at the underlying annoyance in her features. You'd think after being beaten up as brutally as he had, he wouldn't coward away from his petite girlfriend. "I told you. We just have to wait for a little longer. The cops should be out any minute now."
"Stupid cops." he grumbled and winced at the pain that it caused. Wakaba looked up in surprise at his words. Pigs would be flying before Terazuma had a bad opinion of the police force in general. "Did you see? They didn't even secure the area!"
Individuals, on the other hand...
Wakaba smiled sadly and softly patted his shoulder.
"Next year, Hajime-chan; next year. Though suddenly," she frowned. "I'm not so exited about you being a cop. Look at what happened to you and you're just a security guard!!" The last came out more as a plea than a statement.
Terazuma shrugged as much as he could.
"I can take care of myself just fine."
"Yeah, right! If a student can do this to you, what will a criminal do?!" Wakaba cried, shaking his shoulders a little too forcefully for his state.
"No," he batted her hands away and shook his head, deep in thought. "That was no student. I don't care what those stupid cops think."
"What makes you say that?" the girl asked, a little disbelieving.
"It's just a gut feeling I have. None of those prissy boys could have done this; never mind the murder. It was too messy for them. This was... something else."
The suspicious tone Terazuma used, plus his serious expression and the emphasis on the word 'something', instead of 'someone', made Wakaba laugh out loud.
"Hajime-chan, seriously! You're going to tell me aliens did it?!"
Terazuma grunted.
"That's not what I said." he glared at her, but she couldn't stop chuckling. "Fine, you laugh! But my gut is usually right on these things."
"Ne, Hajime chan," she teased. "maybe you'll make a lot more money when you get your promotion to detective for catching all those mean E.T's; and you could even work for the government later on!"
"Yeah, go on, tease me. Shows how much faith you have in me." he said pitifully.
He inwardly smirked, seeing as his little hurt act started to work. Wakaba's features softened and she looked at him all tender and apologetic.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I know how good you are at this stuff. You're a natural. I just thought it was funny the way you'd said it. Forgive me?" Terazuma played his act a little longer and reluctantly nodded as she ran a hand through his hair soothingly. "Next year you'll go to the academy and graduate at the top of your class. You'll see." she continued and Terazuma's mood started to lift. "You'll make a great cop one day. Maybe in a year or two we could start thinking about settling down? Buy a house, you...you know..." she blushed as little pink hearts started dancing around her head, her eyes all big and shimmery and Terazuma knew she was daydreaming about white picket fences and German Shepards and little Hajimes and Wakabas running around the back yard.
Terazuma shook his head. It was his time to tease.
"After the way you were flirting with that asshole? Na-ah!" he would have crossed his arms over his chest, if the latter hadn't been as sore as it was.
"What?!" his cute little girlfriend transformed into a fearful monster in a matter of seconds, but this time Terazuma didn't back away. "Who was I flirting with?! Who, eh? Eh?!"
"That stupid nurse, that's who!"
"Midori-chan? Midori-chan?!" Wakaba was beet red with fury at this point. "After the nice way he treated you and how kind he was?! How can you say such a thing?!"
"Kind my ass!! All the while he was making eyes at you!! And what's with the chan, eh? You've just met the guy!! Seriously, Wakaba..." somehow he'd forgotten he was supposed to be teasing, the jealousy getting the better of him, and he raised his voice. "And it's not the first time either!! You flirt with anything wearing pants!!"
Wakaba stood up, fuming, with her little hands in little tight fists at her side.
"Why, Hajime-chan; if I'm such a flirt, go find yourself another girlfriend to drive you home!!"
She stomped out of the waiting area, her footsteps making the building tremble. Terazuma blinked a few times at her retreating form before rolling his eyes.
"Wakaba-chan!..." he called after her, but she didn't stop. He tried to stand up but the pain in his torso prevented him from doing it unaided. "Kannuki...Sweetie! I'm sorry!!" he winced, having overdone it with all the talking and moving around, and slumped back in his seat, grumbling a bit. "Me and my big *ow*, mouth... Stupid nurse."
---------------------------
Hisoka found himself standing in the middle of a Sakura forest, all in full bloom and bathing the chilly air with their aroma. He was aware of it being a dream; he was still aware of the world outside the illusion, which was highly unusual in itself.
It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, really, but time and dreams have never gotten along well.
He'd always hated those trees. No particular reason for it; just one of those irrational dislikes; things that get under your skin and give you goose bumps; like test tubes, reports, chickens wearing clothes...
Anyway; these trees were nothing like those horrid things planted on his father's land. They breathed life; the petals floating in the air seemed to glisten with some sort of inner light that made Hisoka want to reach out and touch them. No matter how many would fall from their branches, the trees would always remain pink and fresh.
They felt like eternity and safety; the air smelled like home in a way his own house never had.
Yet they filled him with regret for some reason. Regret and longing. Not for the place, but something he knew he should be able to find there. He searched with his eyes for it; he remembered what it was, but couldn't name it. He just knew it was there and he should be looking for it; so he did.
Just before the world started catching up with him and his dreamscape begun to dissolve, he saw it. A shadow standing under the largest and oldest of the trees with their back to him, waiting. Hisoka desperately stretched his arms to reach whoever that person was. They were waiting for him, he realised; and he'd made them wait for so long...
But inevitably the figure dissolved with the rest of that heavenly place, leaving only darkness.
------------------------
Tsuzuki was sitting next to a sleeping Hisoka, periodically brushing the strands of hair that insisted on falling over his eyes. It wasn't so much a show of affection, but a ritual to keep himself calmed. He figured Tatsumi and Midori-san were still talking behind him, but he couldn't focus on them.
A thousand thoughts were running through his head at a million miles per hour, leaving him dazed and confused.
He hadn't even dared ask who had died, fearing he knew the poor kid. To die so young in such a horrible way...
He didn't know why but, he felt responsible. It was like death and misery followed him around wherever he'd go, affecting everyone around him and shattering his world over and over again.
To say he felt like bad luck would have been the understatement of the millennium. Everything he touched withered and died. 'Just look at the facts!' he thought, running a hand through his hair anxiously.
It wasn't like the school was known for being a dangerous place. In fact, it was supposed to be one of the safest of it's kind. Principal Konoe had been really kind to him; pulled more than one string for him to be able to remain at the school after his poor academic performance the year before, even when he had a 'scholarship'. And this place had become his home after he'd thought he'd never felt like that for any place again.
Now there was rape and murder?! He was sure more than one father would decide to take their kids to another school. And he didn't even want to think about the consequences Konoe-san would have to face because of it.
Muraki had decided to be his friend and look what had happened to him. Ruka had loved him and taken care of him when no one else wanted to, and now she was dead; her death not being one of the most pleasant out there. Even Hisoka, who'd just known him for a day and didn't even like him, had fallen under the 'Tsuzuki curse' , as he called it.
Was it being selfish to insist on having people around him? What if Tatsumi or Watari were next? 'Maybe I should just disappear,' he thought, sighing as an attempt of relieving the growing pressure on his chest.
He knew his thoughts didn't really make sense. He'd done nothing to cause any of those things- or most, anyway. But he couldn't shake the feeling that it all had something to do with him. Everything bad eventually had something to do with him.
A small whimper from the boy in front of him brought him back to reality.
"No...wait..." Hisoka mumbled sleepily, obviously distressed and Tsuzuki stiffened, not knowing what to do. "Wait, please...don't...don't go, I...I miss you..."
Tsuzuki blushed a bright red at hearing the intimate tone of the sleeping boy, forgetting all about his previous trail of thought.
An hour of watching Hisoka sleep and the amethyst eyed boy couldn't bring himself to be afraid of him any longer. All his assumptions at the boy being uberly kawaii and much like a puppy were confirmed after guarding his sleep. 'Well,...' he thought amusedly, 'Maybe not a puppy. More like a kitten, I'd say.'
For a moment, his mind took him back to the whole 'scratching Hisoka's ears' dilemma, but the green eyed boy stirred again, preventing him from another guilt trip- and why not, a few scratches from those cute little kitty paws.
He poked the slim shoulder with one finger and big curious eyes wide open, a few times before Hisoka frowned and batted his hand away as you would a fly.
Before he could attempt another poking round, a shadow fell over the exam table from over his head. Tsuzuki frowned, deep in thought. Had he been in the infirmary for so long that the sun was at the other side of the building? Or maybe it was going to rain?
He turned his head to look at the window, but a big, white mass was blocking his view. He blinked a few times and followed the white wall with his eyes upwards, only to be met by a pair of gleaming purple lenses and a smirk.
"Waaaaaah!!!" He bolted from his seat, falling backwards towards the bed. With amazing speed and foresight, he made a swift manoeuvre and prevented the otherwise inevitable fall on top of Hisoka. Tsuzuki froze, one arm at each side of the young boy's waist and his faces inches away. Panicking both from the man hovering over him and the fact that he'd landed on top of a very dangerous sleeping boy, he held his breath. 'Very...still...I have to...don't move...' he thought incoherently.
With every muscle in his body tense beyond belief, Tsuzuki slowly rose from the bed, arching his back into the most awkward position to avoid standing too close to the smirking man behind him. He fearfully kept his eyes on Hisoka and sighed in relief seeing the boy's sleep hadn't been disturbed.
"Are you ok, Tsuzuki-chan?" Midori-san asked, obviously amused, and Tsuzuki turned to find the man smiling widely.
Tsuzuki's eyes travelled around the room, looking for Tatsumi and coming empty handed. With his heart still beating at a thousand miles per hour, his mind came up with all kinds of ridiculous reasons for his boyfriend's absence. Well, who could blame him, really? Midori-san *had* looked like a praying mantis a moment before.
"What? Where? Tatsumi?" he mumbled incoherently.
Midori-san's smile widened.
"He just left." Tsuzuki's heart fell. Tatsumi had left him there without a word? Then again, maybe he wasn't worth even that. Midori-san must have noticed the change in his expression; the older man placed a hand on his shoulder and his smile turned more sincere. "You seemed so deep in thought, he didn't want to disturb you. He said he was going to look for one of his friends?"
"Watari!" He gasped. Of course! So deep he'd been in his own self-loathing that he'd forgotten his blond friend was out there somewhere with a killer walking around; now that he'd realised, it didn't do much good to help him out of the self-loathing mode, though; it just gave him one more reason to feel like crap.
-----------------------------
Watari was frightened. He wasn't sure if it was because everyone was leaving the classroom after the teacher had gone through the list and there was still no sign of any of his friends, or because that meant he was left to go back to his room on his own.
He didn't want to leave the classroom either way; 003 poked her head from her hiding place and nudged him as soon as the last of the students were out the door, but Watari shrugged.
"I'm gonna wait a little longer." he whispered, patting his friend's head. "I'm sure Tsuzuki just got lost and Tatsumi is busy. Hisoka is probably still in the bathroom and Ori-chan and Muraki probably just decided to skip school." He nodded, trying to convince himself that his theory was sound.
003 made a little disbelieving sound, but Watari ignored her.
Sure, there was a killer loose somewhere around the school; but what were the odds of him catching one of his friends out of a thousand something students?
The same he'd had of catching the guy that died, a part of his brain told him.
Statistics were stupid little things anyway. Besides, if good ol' lady luck had any say in the matter, it would probably be him the one to go. Think about it; the ones that die young usually aren't those who've lived a lot. Usually they are those who haven't even started living. Wouldn't his be a nice obituary?
'Well', he thought humorously, though nonetheless nervous, 'at least I wouldn't die a virgin?'
Though surely the guy who'd died hadn't thought the same thing, and Watari felt bad for his inner joke; even when no one had heard it.
Death didn't scare him, really. It was the way to go what worried him. Or at least it did now, that it was a matter of consideration. That and thinking how much he'd miss his friends. And when he was scared, the best way he could think of to relieve himself was humour; as twisted as it might have been.
This time it did little for him, though. Gathering his courage, and after ten minutes of waiting in an empty classroom, Watari stepped into the hallway. Any other day it would have been packed with students cheering at the day off; but at the moment the hall was deserted, sans one or two small groups of kids already heading to their rooms or the cafeteria.
The teacher had been perfectly clear. No student should wonder alone until the police had more information. And even in groups they'd been told to stay in a safe environment.
Watari cursed under his breath and 003 squeaked in agreement.
With careful footsteps, he walked through the main hall, almost glued to the wall praying he wasn't making much noise. Even 003, who'd usually come out of her hiding after class, just poked her head out from his pocket hesitantly.
He reached the doors but, instead of just crossing them, he peered outside to make sure there was no one around. The problem was, there was someone. Hiyama-kun, to be precise, standing without any apparent preoccupation; laughing with a few friends at something stupid, for sure.
Watari frowned. Should he venture himself into the dangers of the halls again to take another rout or should he risk walking past the bully? To be or not to be, that was most certainly the question, if you thought about it.
Before he had time to decide- it wasn't that it was immediate, he'd just stood there for about ten minutes without knowing what to do- he felt a hand gripping his shoulder and Watari was sure he'd tasted his own heart for a moment or two.
"Holy Mary mother of god and every saint in heaven!!" He yelped, fumbling forward and crawling into a tinny ball on the floor. "Please don't kill me!!"
It was Hiyama & Co. laughing their asses off at him what made him open one fearful eye and gaze at his presumed attacker. His attacker was certainly handsome, he thought dazedly; he had the most beautiful blue eyes and they were focused on him with a startled look.
"Watari?" Tatsumi asked, his brows knitted in a frown.
It might have been the adrenaline rush, but at the sight of Tatsumi standing there, all in one piece; but Watari could only think of doing one thing...Ok, 'think' may be the wrong choice for words.
The blond jumped from his spot on the floor and wrapped his arms tightly around the taller boy's shoulders.
"You're ok!! You're ok!! I thought you were laying somewhere with a hole on you stomach!!" he cried, rather loudly by the way.
With his face buried on Tatsumi's neck as it was, he couldn't see the other boy blushing furiously, or the way his blue eyes had widened with shock. He did feel Tatsumi's muscles stiffening and the small, awkward pat the other boy gave to his back.
That was enough to bring him back to his senses. He pulled back fast, feeling all his blood rushing to his face. Now he'd done it! He'd given Hiyama-kun enough to tease him for two life times and he'd made an ass of himself in front of Tatsumi. Would it really be too hard to find a hole to throw himself into?
Tatsumi was watching him with that strange look in his eyes again, a hand still placed gingerly on his back, keeping him in place. It was a surreal moment; for Watari at least. He'd have chopped his arm off just to eliminate the mere inches that kept him from the other boy's face and kiss Tatsumi silly.
But again, it was Hiyama and his friends, making chicken noises as well as the sporadic 'fag' yelled at him that brought him back from his delusion.
"Gomen...You, ...you startled me." Watari said letting out a nervous laugh and stepping back as much as he could, trying to hide the shakes of his hands and purposely ignoring 003's annoyed smirk as she fixed his ruffled feathers, flew from his pocket and perched on his shoulder; surely deeming it a safer place.
He also tried to ignore the bullies, but apparently Tatsumi had a harder time at it; the older boy wasn't even looking at him or attempting to answer. He just glared at the bullies in a way that would have been anyone's death sentence, should looks had been able to kill.
Watari gently took his friend's arm and started leading him torth the opposite direction. He really didn't want Tatsumi getting into a brawl because of him; and that was what would happen if he didn't take the blue eyed boy away from there as fast as he could.
"Ne, Tatsumi, what are you doing here?" he asked with a smile- a fake one if there's ever been one- trying to make his friend divert his eyes from the laughing hyenas outside.
Eventually Tatsumi must have realised that he couldn't turn his head anymore to keep the bullies in sight- he wasn't an owl, after all- and faced forward with a sigh.
"I came looking for you. Apparently, I did the right thing."
There was a slight scolding tone in his voice and Watari looked down, ashamed. He hated being such a wimp. 'Just you wait!' he said to himself, 'Once I gain a few inches and a few pounds no one's gonna mess with me again!
On the outside, all he could manage was, "I'm sorry."
Tatsumi looked at him in surprise before smiling one of those rare, warmth filling smiles of his. Startling Watari out of his wits, the blue eyed boy wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close in what could have passed as a reassuring hug.
"It's not your fault, you lunatic."
Watari figured, if the killer were to catch him at that very moment and repeat his previous actions, instead of guts he'd find a big mass of boiling liquid jello. Probably strawberry jello, too.
--------------------------
It was no problem to sneak through the crowd of cops rushing from one end of the hall to the other. Some uniformed men were leaning over the covered corpse, some taking pictures, some scanning from evidence.
She knew they'd come empty handed. This wasn't a matter for the human world; but she still had to make a few inquiries. Her partner was busy playing doctor with all those cute kids, so it was up to her to do the dirty work.
Fishing for her pocket mirror, Yuki Aome checked her appearance. Well, Midori Aome, if the plan was going to work. If it had been up to her, she'd looked for a much better fake name; something with class. Not something so obvious.
But then again, it wasn't up to her. The git was her superior. Seriously, just because you've been dead for only a few months didn't mean people should be able to push you around!
"Miss, you shouldn't be here." A stern voice told her from behind. Mustering all her charm, she turned around making her dress and hair wave around her the way her momma had taught her and smiled brightly.
"I'm sorry, I seem to be lost." She said, the perfect representation of innocence and inwardly smirked at the blush that spread on the rough cop's cheeks. "I'm looking for my Onii-chan. He's the nurse here?"
"Ah...yes, I'll walk you to the infirmary miss..."
"Midori Aome, but you can call me Aome." She let the man take her arm and pulled her hair to the side so that the man had a flash of her swam like neck.
"Nice to meet you, Aome. I'm Detective Maki Kuno," he said with a grin that told Aome he was sure he'd sleep in a warm bed that night. "just Kuno for you, though."
Men; so easy!
"Kuno, what a nice name! Say, Kuno; what's all this about?" she waved her hand towards the crime scene, feigning ignorance and curiosity.
The man hesitated, but not for long, as she knew it would happen.
"Well, if you can keep a secret..."
~Tsuzuku~
God! It is so hard to come up with random names for unimportant passing characters!! T.T
Now for the reviews *-*:
Lina: Two words, 'paint brush'; the most primitive and annoyingly frustrating of graphic tools for your comp. I don't have money for watercolours *whimper*. But yay, you liked it? And well, given YNM's nature, I figure that, as long as I have an interesting plot, in order to stay in character, I *have* to be all fangirly and stuff. Matsushita-sensei was, anyway (for what I'll love her forever (as I'll love you should you draw Tsu-chan with an apron *.*))
LYK: Midori san was supposed to be hot so, lol, good. I read your story, don't know if you got the review, but please continue it? And I'm not about to tell you who did it!! But just cuz Kazu-chan didn't do *this* don't think he'll be all good and stuff. *chuckles*
dodger-chan: I just read your fic!! Leaving a review right as I'm posting this. That was so sad and good and sad and *sniff*. Anyway, to answer your question, I always try to update on the same day so, if you check every week at the same time you'll find a new chappy.
Mel-chan: You'd think that someone who sings wouldn't smoke, right? Of course I'm not a singer, but I did went to the conservatory (violin, piano and flute, never finished either); on the aptitude test they took me, the teacher actually gaped at me and said...'you're studying singing, right?' , when I told him I wasn't and he found out I smoked he almost whacks me in the head. And what's a ricola cough drop? Thanks for saying all those nice things about the story and you can babble all you want, I love it!!
Loki'sRose: Don't say it!! If you think you know who he is, you keep it to yourself! It's not really that important but, *mumbles* well, the characters don't know and...well, I'm telling the story from the characters' point of view. Maybe I'm just being silly. Aaaanyway. I'm not sure if I should count Muraki either!! Waaah! Plot is twisty, ne? Have to be careful not to make it TOO complicated. Huggles!!
Kyraille Faye: See? There's Tatariness here, see? *points at Tatariness* But...there wasn't Oriya...Waah!! People didn't cut my head off because of Midori san, so I guess he was ok? Lets see what happens with Aome; though she's a girl so maybe people will stop reading altogether. Thanks for all the nice things you said about the other two ficcies too! Huggles you too!
A special hug to Lyn, Julewooster and sheilkuroi for their nice, off ff.net comments and to Walkerminion, Loki's rose, Kurai, Kyraille Faye, Schatten Wolfendorf, Literary Eagle, Kawaii Lil' Lia, not so innocent bystander, Kara Angitia and LinaLau for reviewing my other fics.
I may turn Hokori into a multi-part in the future, but definitively *not* while I'm writing this. I'm not suicidal, after all.
Ja ne!