A/N: Well, well; here's the chappy. This chapter makes me a little nervous *insecure* Some mysteries are revealed, others ... not. All in due time, all in due time. There's a lot of crying in this chapter though... I also think it's quite long, for some reason.
Anyway,
Enjoy!
A SMILE UPON MY FACE
Aome slammed the door to the infirmary rather angrily. She didn't even need to use the door- she could have teleported inside- but she needed to let out some anger and the door looked guilty enough as to take it out on it.
Her partner, who'd apparently been sitting in the dark on one of the exam tables with a brooding air about him, jumped slightly at the noise. He gazed up at her and nodded sadly. There was no need to ask her why she was so mad.
"Well, at least now we know for certain that Kenji isn't the killer, ne?" She waved a hand in the air, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You were with him this whole time?" The pretence nurse asked detachedly.
"Yeah. I followed him around for a while, until he went back to his room. He's been there for the last three hours, just staring into nothingness. They boy is a freaking robot!"
"He's being controlled." the man said gravely. "It's not his fault. It is ours, for not busting that stupid demon before the school year started."
Aome didn't answer. She wanted to reassure him, tell him he was being too hard on himself, but the truth was she felt exactly the same. Instead, she just walked up to him and silently took a seat next to him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder in hopes to chase that haunted look away from his face.
If the matter hadn't been so serious, she would probably be biting his head off for being a self deprecating ass and venting a little in the process. She could not blame him this time, though.
"I guess..." she said after a while, "...that we'll have to try twice as hard. My momma always said that failure doesn't exist as long as you learn from your mistakes." She tried to do the 'look at the bright side' thing, but her voice didn't sound as convincing as she'd wished.
"I bet your momma never killed anyone with her mistakes, though." he spat bitterly, and his face showed that he immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."
Aome nodded in understanding.
"I know. I guess you're right though. But we didn't kill anyone. We're trying to help, remember? We're the good guys! Besides, most of the kids are going home now. If the killer stays here, it will be easy to catch him, and if not, we'll find him if he tries to pull another one, wherever he'll go."
"I think this does make things easier for us, huh? I'm not sure I can cope with the price we... those boys had to pay for it." He lowered his head, trying to hide the regret and worry that crept up to his face. Aome noticed though. "I don't think the killer's going anywhere, though. He has new... 'interests' here."
"Is this about that Tsuzuki kid?" she asked carefully.
She wasn't surprised at the shock on her partner's face after she said those words. What did surprise her was the small smile that followed. He nodded slowly and looked away.
"How much do you know?" the man asked gently.
"Well,..." She hesitated. Maybe it was better not to say everything she knew, since it had seemed that keeping his little 'secret' had given him comfort. But at the moment it only seemed to be torturing him and she knew he needed to talk or he'd be bitchy about it all week. "I know he was a shinigami in his past life, along his three friends; and that he was assigned to a case where you were involved when you were sixteen. Something about a demon and your weird eye. I also know that he was still a shinigami when you died, and that you almost quit after he passed on. I guess he meant a lot to you, huh?"
"Did you tell anyone he's here?"
He had obviously tried to sound straightforward and threatening, but Aome noticed the slight fear on her partner's voice.
"No way!" she almost shrieks. Then she lowered her eyes worriedly, just to diminish her worries a moment later. "I did ask the Gushoushin about you, and him, indirectly; I made it sound like I wanted to know more about you, though. I may be fond of gossiping, but not when it would hurt my interests."
"Your interests?" the man raised an eyebrow quizzically. "I thought you'd jump to the opportunity to get rid of me head first." he finished with a strained smile.
"Nah..." Aome tried to sound as detached as she could, but in truth, the last thing she wanted was for her partner to be suspended or fired. She was starting to really like the guy. "As grumpy an old man as you are, the rest of JuOhCho is a lot worse. At least you can play all that pretty music and you don't hurt my eyes when I look at you. I have a reputation to maintain, I can't be seen working with an ugly dork."
His eyes widened slightly.
"And I'm not one?"
"You're just a dork." she mocked.
He just laughed and played along, pretending to be offended.
"Why, thank you!"
"You're welcome. Now tell me, how important is he to you?" she didn't mind one bit the scold that her partner gave her. She knew very well that she was being nosy, but she just didn't care.
He eventually sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'So,' Aome thought amusedly, 'If I catch him in a sad mood, he'll spill the beans?' She decided to file up that bit of info for later.
"He's the reason I became a shinigami." he deadpanned. "To see him again. Though of course, if it hadn't been for my 'weird eye', as you put it, Enma wouldn't have taken me in. I... I was in love with him." he finished in a whisper, sounding a little too broken for Aome's comfort.
Last thing she wanted was to make him feel even worse. Still, her curiosity made it impossible to keep her mouth shut.
"Why the past tense?"
He smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
"Because I'm either over him, or in denial. Haven't decided yet." He shook his head and huffed. "I'm an idiot. I should have told someone he was here. He's still the same person, but he has no idea such a thing as a demon even exists! And now, because of me, the demon wants to go after him. I've put Tsuzuki in danger with my stupid high school crush."
"It's not your fault." Aome tried to sound as convincing as she could. Yes, she wasn't thrilled at the idea of him hiding vital information from her, but she could understand him this time. "If what I read about him is true, the demon would have recognised him sooner or later, anyway. At least you knew who he was. If I'd been alone, I'd never paid attention to any of them, since they had nothing to do with the case."
"Maybe you're right." he sighed, and it was obvious to her that he wasn't actually agreeing with her; just trying to convince himself of the fact. He reached out to grab the picture resting on his desk; the one with the little girl in it. "Let's hope we can catch him before he hurts Tsuzuki, though. I wish I could help him like he helped me." Taking the glass off, he took the picture out and retrieved another- smaller picture- from behind. The little girl was still there, but there were other five people around her. Most of them Aome didn't recognise, but they all looked like they were having a great time. He showed to her, pointing at the second person on the right. It was the same man from the files she'd checked, standing taller than the rest, with a goofy grin on his face and shimmery eyes filled with glee. "That's him." he declared, love and melancholy written all over his face.
"He's cute." she conceded. In fact, they all were.
"Yeah, that hasn't changed." he stared fondly at the picture, running his fingers through it.
She watched each face carefully, eager to find more about her partner through those people he seemed to love so much. She thought she could tell who was who now, since- thought their bodies had changed- there were some things about them that were the same.
The easiest were the long-haired, happy-looking guy with glasses and the stuffy, anal-retentive looking guy with glasses. The other two, standing at opposite ends of the picture, both wearing trench coats, one dark, the other light, were- as far as Aome was concerned- the most interesting.
The photograph had been coloured at some point, but now the colours had faded away leaving only shades of brown, which made it impossible to determine what colour where the two guys' hair. Besides, there was a little something known as hair-dye.
"I didn't know you had a twin. Which one is you? The bitchy looking one, or the flirt?"
He laughed earnestly for the first time that evening, and pointed to the one on the right. 'Ah, the flirt then.' she thought. He was clinging to Tsuzuki's arm suggestively; the space between them would have made a fly feel claustrophobic. And apparently, her partner's twin didn't like his behaviour one bit; he was glaring at them both hard enough to fry them on the spot.
"He's not my twin." he said, when he managed to get his laughter under control.
"What do you mean?!" Aome yelped, incredulous. "You are practically identical! There no way in hell you two are not related!!"
"We do look alike, ne? But no, I'm Minase and he was Kurosaki, no relation. Not even distant." He got a wistful expression and sighed melancholically. "He saved my life too, Hisoka. He was a good friend."
"That's Hisoka?" She blinked in surprise. "I found a few files about Tsuzuki's partner back then. This guy, Tsuzuki- did you know he used to put smily faces and little hearts on the reports?- he made it sound as if Hisoka was the cutest thing in the world. He looks kinda grouchy here, though."
Minase Hijiri laughed wholeheartedly and proceeded to tell Aome all about their little adventure a good 90 years before that day.
They probably should have been searching every last inch of the school for any trace of the demon. But they'd implicitly agreed that they both needed a little break to gather the courage for what they knew was coming.
Hijiri told her stories about the good ol' days, while Aome listened intently, inwardly wishing she could form such a bond with everyone at EnmaChou some day. They just spent a good part of an hour just talking in a strange kind of contentment and the illusion of peace.
*~~*
It's amazing how much you can discover about something you supposedly see everyday when you just stop and *look* at it. For one, Oriya had never noticed how his cellphone had all this different shades of gray; or how the third letter on the screen up to the right blinked a little every few seconds. He hadn't noticed that both curves on the three weren't exactly the same size, or just how heavy the phone was after you'd held it with one hand for over an hour.
He knew he should call his father, ask him to pick him up; but not only the prospect of going back to his father's wasn't appealing, he was torn about leaving Muraki until he was sure the white haired boy was safe and in one piece.
'Of course he's fine', Oriya thought with a sneer. 'Oh coincidence! Muraki disappears and there's another murder! Yeah, sure, maybe he was innocent. Why not?'
What the hell was he thinking, doing it in a building packed with cops?! He could only protect him so much! If they found him red handed, not all his father's connections could ever save him from jail!
But maybe that was exactly what Muraki wanted; to get caught. And maybe he was just getting in the way. Or maybe it was just no use trying to help him when he didn't even know where the fuck he was!
Well, maybe he wasn't quite ready to ring his dad, but he could start packing, couldn't he? If Muraki returned at that very moment, he probably would help him pack. It wasn't like Muraki gave a fuck about whether Oriya was alive or not. Oriya bitterly thought he wasn't even worth enough to his friend for him to be his next victim.
And go figure, that at the moment he put his suitcase on the bed and opened his drawers, Muraki walked through the door. There was no surprise in his appareance, he was wearing the same clothes from the day before and apparently, wherever he'd been didn't have combs at hand.
But as ruffled and,... well, dirty as he looked, there was an infuriatingly calm expression on his face. He rested his back to the now closed door and said nothing. No apologies, no excuses; nothing.
On the inside, Oriya was dancing in happiness and relief. On the outside though, he barely graced Muraki with a sideway glance and continued to pack in silence. The white haired boy stood staring at him for a good five minutes, never moving from his spot.
"Where are you supposed to be going?" Muraki finally asked, with a perfectly neutral tone.
Oriya took his time in folding the sweater he was packing and just when he was finished he glanced up at him.
"I'm surprised you don't know." he said a little sarcastically, so he paused, willing his tone not to betray his mood. "All the students are being sent home. The ones that have a home, that is."
"I see. Well, I guess that leaves me out, doesn't it?" the white haired boy was starting to sound amused. Oriya simply picked up a shirt and continued with his task. He wasn't up to his games today.
For another ten minutes Oriya packed and Muraki observed and not a word was exchanged between them. Oriya was trying hard to think of anything *but* Muraki though, because he feared if he let his thoughts run free he would end up beating the crap out of him.
So he took his anger out on the pants that wouldn't fold the right way, or the stupid wrinkled shirt and the idiotic socks that always seemed to loose their pairs. But the one that was annoying him the most was his hair. He angrily put it out of his face over and over, but it just kept falling in front of his eyes every time he'd bend to place something in the suitcase or to take something out of a drawer. That was a lot of times.
He franticly looked through his pockets to see if he had a band, and when he found one, he tried to put his now messy hair into a pony tail, but it was always either too tight or too loose and Oriya was starting to flip.
He never noticed movement on Muraki's part but, just as he was about to give up and fetch the nearest pair of scissors to chop it all out, two very familiar hands appeared on top of his own from behind.
"Stop it or you'll end up bald. Let me do it, ok?" gentle, soft fingers massaged his skull as Muraki combed his hair and, as angry as Oriya felt, he couldn't help leaning into the caress. "Aren't you going to ask me where I've been?" Muraki whispered softly into his ear, as he continued with his incredibly maddening ministrations.
Oriya let out a shaky breath, just barely able to contain himself from turning around and punching Muraki; or kissing him, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do the most.
"If you want to tell me, then you'll do it. If I ask you, and you don't want to, then you'll just lie. I'm sparing you the need to."
The white haired boy gave the finishing touches to Oriya's neat new ponny tail, but didn't retreat his hands. Instead, he begun massaging the other boy's neck soothingly. For his part, Oriya was having a hard time keeping his breathing at an unsuspicious pace.
"That's quite an opinion you have of me." Muraki said softly.
"If I'm wrong then tell me, where were you?"
The white haired boy snickered and placed a kiss on top of his head, making Oriya's heart leap to his throat.
"I never said your opinion of me wasn't justified. I was just commenting on it." The skilful hands moved from his neck to his shoulders and Oriya sighed in relief. Shoulders he could take, and it was relaxing him too.
Unwillingly, the dark haired boy started to lean back, until he found himself resting his back fully on the other's chest. As this new position made it impossible for Muraki to continue the massage, the older boy moved his arms to lock his friend in a tight embrace. "Ori-chan, can I ask you something?"
Eyelids starting to feel heavy- both from the emotional strain he'd gone through the past few days and the recent relief- Oriya let his eyes close and nodded lazily.
"Do you believe a person's destiny is something he can't fight against?"
The question took him by surprise. Oriya lifted his eyes- he wouldn't dare move and risk the embrace to end- and looked at Muraki with a baffled expression.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Muraki sighed, pulling Oriya even closer. The dark haired boy noticed, for the first time, that his friend's face was more expressive and alive than what it had been for days. His heart caught on his throat, realising that this might be his last chance to reach his friend's heart. "If someone is...evil, do you think they can change?"
No hesitation, not even a moment of consideration, and Oriya had untangled himself from Muraki's embrace and turned around to face his friend completely.
"You're not evil." Oriya surprised both Muraki and himself with the certainty of his tone. He hadn't even had to try to sound convincing. It was something he just knew. Just as he'd known Muraki was talking about himself.
Muraki gave him a rare, sad smile; not a hint of the amusement that had become so usual on the white haired boy's face.
"Oriya... Why?" the older boy placed a gentle hand on Oriya's cheek and gazed deeply into his friend's eyes. "Why do you trust me so much? When have I given you reasons to trust me?"
Unable to stop himself- not that he actually tried- Oriya encircled his friend's neck with his arms and hugged him tight, snorting slightly into his ear.
"I don't trust you. I know you too well; you're too unpredictable to be trusted. But..."
"Oh, there's a but?" Muraki asked with a hint of humour.
"Yes, Kazutaka. Of course there is." Oriya hugged Muraki tighter. "Bottom line is, I know you. Whatever you might do, or might have done already; it doesn't change the fact that you're not a bad person."
Muraki stepped back and looked at the window. Oriya could see defeat in his eyes, and he did not like it. Any other day at that hour, the sun would have been hitting his face. As it was, the sky was covered with clouds and just the faintest of gleams illuminated his skin, making it look paler than what it naturaly was.
"Evil is defined by the consequences of one's actions, Ori-chan." he said in a pained whisper.
Without another word, Muraki turned to leave. Desperate to keep him there a bit longer, Oriya jumped to grab his arm, almost making them both stumble.
"Then stop." he cried. 'Cried' being the key word here, since his tone had been rather calm- he was forcing it to be- but the tears had already started falling. "Stop and you won't have to worry about it any more. I can help you. Someone will help you."
Muraki didn't even look at him. He just shook his arm free and spoke with the same coldness from before.
"Help is not what I need right now."
"Please!!" Oriya just didn't care about looking desperate anymore. This was going all wrong. He, in a pathetic attempt to reach his friend, fell to his knees, tugging at Muraki's sleeve. "Please Kazutaka, don't leave. We can work something out. No one knows it was you, please!"
The white haired boy kneeled next to him, pulling him into yet another hug. Oriya thought detachedly that, in any other circumstance, he'd be in cloud nine by now.
"I'm sorry." Muraki whispered.
"Don't leave, I beg you!" Oriya sobbed into his shoulder. "I love you, I do! Please don't do this anymore."
Muraki kissed his cheek gently and ran a hand through his hair.
"You should finish packing." And with that, he was gone.
*~~*
Tsuzuki took long, lazy steps on his way to Watari's room. Though he was somewhat anxious to get there- being as his youngest friend always managed to cheer him up- there was a part of him that forced his feet to slow down as much as they could without making him stop altogether.
Hisoka would be there, and the green eyed boy was bound to find out something was wrong. Maybe talking would be good for him- that's what everyone kept telling him- but he did *not* feel like talking. He could only pray Hisoka would realise and leave the matter alone. Though, Hisoka seemed to be considered in that aspect, didn't he? There was no reason for him to assume this time would be any different.
Remembering the first impression he'd gotten from the boy, Tsuzuki smiled. His appearance was not of someone who could cause so much damage to your bones, yet Hisoka knew how to defend himself just fine and didn't have any problem in defending his friends either.
But Tsuzuki hadn't got the time to think he was frail before Hisoka proved him wrong. Considering the circumstances of their first meeting, Tsuzuki had actually been surprised to find that the guy twisting his arm so viciously wasn't a seven feet tall goon. So it sorta worked on the inverse.
Yet, after not even a week of knowing the boy, and though at first he'd thought Hisoka was moody and positively dangerous- he still stuck to the declaration that he was scary as hell- Tsuzuki had seen a side of Hisoka he wasn't sure the green eyed boy showed to everyone else.
Hisoka was understanding and sensitive of others' pain. 'He sure is sensitive!' Tsuzuki thought amusedly, recognising that his brain hadn't quite dealt with the fact that Hisoka was an empath yet.
It goes to show you to never judge a book by it's cover, ne?
Thinking about Hisoka was a lot more comforting than thinking about his current situation- a situation he couldn't even put into words in his own mind without starting to tear up again. But thinking about Hisoka's empathy suddenly brought back the memory of that morning two days ago, when he'd found the boy twisted in pain on the halls for no apparent reason.
Could that be related to the empathy? It would have made sense, if there had been an exterior factor to cause it, but the halls had been deserted. Yet...
Before his thoughts could actually take coherent form, he reached his destination. He didn't bother to knock; he just burst in his friends' room and the fake smile- so well rehearsed at this point in his life- was fast on his lips.
"Tari-chan, I come baring gifts!"
His blond friend was startled by such a struendous entrance, he realised, but he immediately greeted him with a smile. Tsuzuki stretched both his arms, presenting the bag of sweet goodies to his injured friend, and noticed the gleam in Watari's eyes when the blond realised what it was.
"Tsuzuki-chan! How did you know I needed sweets?!" the blond sang, delighted.
"'Tari-chan, you offend me." the amethyst eyed boy said in mock aggravation. "Are you insinuating I am not familiar with the healing quality of sugar?" He walked up to his friend's side and unceremoniously dropped himself on the bed, next to him.
The blond placed a hand to his chest and closed his eyes; the perfect image of constriction.
"I'm terribly sorry, my dear friend. I never intended to harm your reputation in such a...Oh, what the hell!" Watari snatched the bag from Tsuzuki's hands and dissolved into a fit of giggles that Tsuzuki was quick to imitate. "What did you bring? What did you bring!? Oh! Poky!"
Tsuzuki watched amused as Watari rummaged trough the bag while he munched down his poky happily. Eating sweets with Watari redefined the meaning of 'comfort food'. No matter what was going on with their lives, they could share a bag of sweets and it would all look better. It was so easy to feel better around Watari!
Little did he know that the other boy was thinking around the same lines.
"How's your leg, 'Tari?" he asked casually, grabbing a pastry himself before the blond finished the whole bunch.
"Ah," Watari swallowed hard, choking, and brushed Tsuzuki's concerns with a wave of his hand. "Better, better. It wasn't that bad really. It stings a little when I try to stand."
"You should rest. I'm sure it will be ok in the morning." Looking around, Tsuzuki realised that the causal of his hesitation to get there in the first place, wasn't there at all. "Where's 'Soka?"
The blond blinked confusedly.
"You didn't see him? He went looking for you."
"He did?" Tsuzuki couldn't help feeling curious about that.
"Yup. We were talking about 003 and suddenly he got this weird look on his face, said your name and burst out the room. I figured he wanted to see you." Watari frowned. "It was pretty rude of him, though. I tried to follow him but..." he motioned to his injured leg.
Tsuzuki smiled. He could hear the slight dejected tone Watari had used. It was no secret to him that his blond friend tended to be slightly jealous of his popularity. If only he could explain to him that most of the time the people that liked him were hentai freaks with one track minds!
"Maybe I should go look for him? I would hate for him to wait for a long time on my account. Maybe he wanted to tell me something important?"
Truth was, Tsuzuki had heard Hisoka mention that he could pick up residual emotions from places, even if there wasn't anyone there at the time. He didn't want Hisoka to worry.
"Oh," Watari lowered his eyes sadly. "Yeah, you should go."
"Hey!" Tsuzuki tried to cheer his friend up. "I'll just go fetch him and we can all eat sweets together. Shouldn't take long!"
The younger boy's face immediately lit up with one of those heart melting smiles.
"Yeah! That would be neat! I sure would feel a lot better with everyone in the same room tonight. You should go look for Tatsumi-san too, and we could have like a sleep over or something!"
Tsuzuki tried; he really did try to hide the pang of pain he felt at the mention of the blue eyed boy's name from showing, but even if the one in front of him hadn't been one of the people who knew him best in the whole world, they still would have realised.
So he lowered his eyes. Maybe that way he would be able to conceal it.
"I... yeah, sure..." he stammered, trying in vain to smile.
Watari straightened in his seat the best he could, worry immediately invading his features.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing, I just..."
A hand took hold of his own and Tsuzuki looked up to meet Watari's concerned gaze.
"Did you and Tatsumi had a fight?"
Tsuzuki sighed. 'Well,' he thought resignedly, 'so much for not wanting to talk. Guess it didn't take an empath after all.'
"We...We broke up." he managed to let out.
As reluctant as he was to talk about it, he was actually expecting Watari to lift his spirits. The blond always knew the right thing to say; how to see the good in every situation. He was expecting him to assure him it hadn't been his fault, that it wasn't all hopeless.
What he hadn't expected was the look of utter shock on the young boy's face. Nor how his eyes filled with tears. Less alone how Watari threw himself into his arms and dissolved into sobs.
"I'm so sorry!!!" the boy whimpered. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!"
Tsuzuki blinked in confusion as the slender form of his friend shook helplessly in his arms. When he finally reacted, he wrapped his arms tightly around him and tried to sooth him, not really knowing why he was crying in the first place.
Surely, as bad news as they were to all of them, the break up shouldn't have left him sobbing as hard as he, himself, had just a few minutes before!
*~~*
Hisoka opened his eyes slowly. They hurt; everything did. But specially the back of his head. He figured the rest of his body ached because the pain on his head was just too strong to be focused in such a small area.
He groaned and threw his head back. No, he wasn't blind, he decided; it was just that the place where he was in was in complete darkness. At least that was a relief. With the pain his eyes were in, he wouldn't have been surprised with the first outcome.
As groggy and numbed by the pain as he was, it took him a while to realise that the reason he couldn't lift his hands to rub his throbbing temples was that they were actually bound, and that's when he freaked out.
He let out a small whimper, feeling too weak to scream for help just yet. It wouldn't have made a difference. No one would have heard him anyway.
~Tsuzuku~
I think one or two things came up as abrupt in this chapter. But I honestly couldn't find a better way to do it. If I keep stretching things too long, I'll get side tracked, and we don't want that too happen. *completely ignores the fact that this fic was initially only nine chapters long* *shiver*
Now to the reviews. Last chapter wasn't a success, for some reason, lets hope it doesn't turn into a pattern. (I don't mean because of the number of reviews though, you guys still rock on that.)
LYK: I'm reviewing ch. 5 of your fic this instant. Sorry I took so long but you might have noticed I'm a bit 'absent' lately. Too much homework to surf the net. Glad you approve of the cutting bit. I wasn't sure about it because I was afraid people might get the wrong idea, but it didn't happen, so phew. I won't get into telling you how I know about it. Anyway, hugs friend, and talk to you as soon as I can!
LinaLau: Be afraid *mwuahaha* Be very afraid!!! *runs as people in white coats come for her* No, actually, there's a *big* surprise coming as far as Hisoka's situation is concerned. I won't spoil the surprise though.*laughs at Watari's bitchy hair* Hugs!
azdriel: Ah, si. Me lo imaginaba. La gente sin tarjeta de crédito esta condenada T.T- Detalles acerca de Muraki y Hisoka, mmm, no; todavía no *evil laugh*- Pero creo que va a valer la pena la espera. Creo. Ahora deberíamos formar un grupo de oración para que Clamp de una ves por todas lance el volumen 3 de LD. Se están tomando demasiado tiempo. Bueno, besos y abrazos!!
dodger-chan: Lol, you just want me to ignore everything but this fic, ne? Wish I could *sigh* I'm leaving a review anyway, but I had to tell you, the little ficcy you posted the other day was breathtaking. You are a *god*!! Seriously! That you are reviewing *me* is so... so weird!! Write more, I beg you!! *kneels down and begs*
Nsib: Contain those pervert thoughts, that's what *I'm* here for, heh, heh. Soon you'll find out anyway; though if you like your Muraki extremely psychotic you might be disappointed... or not... maybe. Hugs.
Schatten Wonderwolf: Oriya/Tatsumi? Tiene sentido, extrañamente. No que quiera publicitar mis fics, pero leíste 'Parallels...'? Creo que te interesaría...Yo que se. Y es cierto. A mi no me gusta como Tsuzuki se echa la culpa de hasta la lluvia, pero pensé que era lo que pasaría en esa situación. Aunque nadie estubo en desacuerdo conmigo, parece que a algunos no les gusto T.T Pero lamentablemente hay ciertas cosas que no puedo cambiar solo por que a los lectores no les gusto, o la historia se derrumbaría. Me entendés? Otras si, porque las criticas ayudan a que uno aprenda a escribir mejor. Ah, ni se por que te digo esto... estoy un poco sensible T.T Gracias por decir todas esas cosas lindas. 'The 'G'...' ya tiene nuevo capitulo tambien, pero no se si le habre dado los toques finales para cuando este esté arriba. Nos vemos prontito.
lyn: No te preocupes. No me tomo a mal que no te haya gustado el ultimo capitulo. Asusta un poquito, por que tengo miedo de arruinar todo. Ustedes han estado leyendo desde noviembre!! Seria una *enorme* perdida de tiempo si metiera la pata, creo. Con respecto a tu pregunta de que si era gusto personal mio las relaciones que planteo, si y no. Si, porque a pesar de que, por ejemplo, Tatsumi/Watari no es una pareja del canon, yo si veo cierta compatibilidad y cierto compañerismo hacia el final que podría, en un futuro, ser algo mas, pero esa es mi opinión. No, porque aunque Matsushita nunca aclara por completo cual es la relación de, por ejemplo, Tsuzuki y Hisoka, es mas que evidente que hay algo mas que amistad ahí. De ahí a que pasara algo entre ellos, eso no lo puedo saber. Pero si lo puedo inventar!! :D No te olvides que este fic, aunque es AU, de hecho pasa muchos años después del manga. Para cuando los muchachos reencarnaron, habían pasado muchas cosas. Por eso es que pensé que los 'intermedios' eran necesarios. Espero que eso responda tu pregunta. Y sos de las mías, Touya *drool*. El de Wish es Suiichirou, no? Y el demonio que es igual a el, que nunca me acuerdo como se llama. Cual es el de Clover que te gusta? Kazuhiko o Ran? Kazuhiko es el que estaba enamorado de la cantante, el que se parece a Clow. Ran es el que anda con Gigetsu, que se parece a una versión mas uke de Touya. Me parece que te tendría que haber contestado por mail ;; Puedo estar horas hablando de los chicos lindos de Clamp. Ah, Sei-chan, "Crees que soy sexy?" *faint*
xXLil Yu JahXx: I agree with you, but then we wouldn't have a fic!! Cliff hangers are good! *pets cliff hangers* Heh, heh, they keep you guys coming back for more!! *evil laugh*
Kyraille Fade: I'm sorry about the cutting part. I didn't mean to make you feel bad like that. But it's true. I, luckily, found a way to cope with all those 'scary' thoughts. I just write about it and get it out of my system. It doesn't make sense, but it's worked for me so far. You wouldn't believe the stuff I make some characters do in the fics I write and never post!! :D For some reason, you saying I'm the queen of suspense had me walking on pink coloured clouds for days! I wanna be like Agatha Christie some day... not in fame, mind you. Just quality *sigh* dreaming is still free. Rejoice, Tatariness ahead!!
kitsuneblood: You have to get in line to beat Hiyama, but yes, there's a horrible, horrible revenge planned for him. Just wait and enjoy!! lol, the sadism... I'm curious about why you liked Tatsumi getting beat up, though. Hugs.
Fahm: Sorry about Muraki's stupidity in this chapter, you'll see it has a reason soon enough. Don't worry. I'm also sorry you didn't like the chapter. I understand what you mean though, but I couldn't have done it any other way... I guess. Hmph. Tatsumi and Konoe? Ewww, no. I, sadly, am influenced by age at the time of pairing people up. I'm that shallow, I guess... And yes, though there's still quite a few chapters left, it's the beginning of the end. At least someone noticed!!
Kurikuri: Heh, heh, I'd like to meet your cousin! I know what you mean about Muraki. All I'm going to say is, I didn't make his character so deep just to throw him out as garbage. If I made him look sympathetic, there's a reason for that. Oh, hell, I think I spoiled the surprise. Ugh. Chocolate mountain? That has sparkled my insatiable curiosity... hugs!!
Ja Ne!!
Anyway,
Enjoy!
A SMILE UPON MY FACE
Aome slammed the door to the infirmary rather angrily. She didn't even need to use the door- she could have teleported inside- but she needed to let out some anger and the door looked guilty enough as to take it out on it.
Her partner, who'd apparently been sitting in the dark on one of the exam tables with a brooding air about him, jumped slightly at the noise. He gazed up at her and nodded sadly. There was no need to ask her why she was so mad.
"Well, at least now we know for certain that Kenji isn't the killer, ne?" She waved a hand in the air, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You were with him this whole time?" The pretence nurse asked detachedly.
"Yeah. I followed him around for a while, until he went back to his room. He's been there for the last three hours, just staring into nothingness. They boy is a freaking robot!"
"He's being controlled." the man said gravely. "It's not his fault. It is ours, for not busting that stupid demon before the school year started."
Aome didn't answer. She wanted to reassure him, tell him he was being too hard on himself, but the truth was she felt exactly the same. Instead, she just walked up to him and silently took a seat next to him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder in hopes to chase that haunted look away from his face.
If the matter hadn't been so serious, she would probably be biting his head off for being a self deprecating ass and venting a little in the process. She could not blame him this time, though.
"I guess..." she said after a while, "...that we'll have to try twice as hard. My momma always said that failure doesn't exist as long as you learn from your mistakes." She tried to do the 'look at the bright side' thing, but her voice didn't sound as convincing as she'd wished.
"I bet your momma never killed anyone with her mistakes, though." he spat bitterly, and his face showed that he immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."
Aome nodded in understanding.
"I know. I guess you're right though. But we didn't kill anyone. We're trying to help, remember? We're the good guys! Besides, most of the kids are going home now. If the killer stays here, it will be easy to catch him, and if not, we'll find him if he tries to pull another one, wherever he'll go."
"I think this does make things easier for us, huh? I'm not sure I can cope with the price we... those boys had to pay for it." He lowered his head, trying to hide the regret and worry that crept up to his face. Aome noticed though. "I don't think the killer's going anywhere, though. He has new... 'interests' here."
"Is this about that Tsuzuki kid?" she asked carefully.
She wasn't surprised at the shock on her partner's face after she said those words. What did surprise her was the small smile that followed. He nodded slowly and looked away.
"How much do you know?" the man asked gently.
"Well,..." She hesitated. Maybe it was better not to say everything she knew, since it had seemed that keeping his little 'secret' had given him comfort. But at the moment it only seemed to be torturing him and she knew he needed to talk or he'd be bitchy about it all week. "I know he was a shinigami in his past life, along his three friends; and that he was assigned to a case where you were involved when you were sixteen. Something about a demon and your weird eye. I also know that he was still a shinigami when you died, and that you almost quit after he passed on. I guess he meant a lot to you, huh?"
"Did you tell anyone he's here?"
He had obviously tried to sound straightforward and threatening, but Aome noticed the slight fear on her partner's voice.
"No way!" she almost shrieks. Then she lowered her eyes worriedly, just to diminish her worries a moment later. "I did ask the Gushoushin about you, and him, indirectly; I made it sound like I wanted to know more about you, though. I may be fond of gossiping, but not when it would hurt my interests."
"Your interests?" the man raised an eyebrow quizzically. "I thought you'd jump to the opportunity to get rid of me head first." he finished with a strained smile.
"Nah..." Aome tried to sound as detached as she could, but in truth, the last thing she wanted was for her partner to be suspended or fired. She was starting to really like the guy. "As grumpy an old man as you are, the rest of JuOhCho is a lot worse. At least you can play all that pretty music and you don't hurt my eyes when I look at you. I have a reputation to maintain, I can't be seen working with an ugly dork."
His eyes widened slightly.
"And I'm not one?"
"You're just a dork." she mocked.
He just laughed and played along, pretending to be offended.
"Why, thank you!"
"You're welcome. Now tell me, how important is he to you?" she didn't mind one bit the scold that her partner gave her. She knew very well that she was being nosy, but she just didn't care.
He eventually sighed and rubbed his eyes. 'So,' Aome thought amusedly, 'If I catch him in a sad mood, he'll spill the beans?' She decided to file up that bit of info for later.
"He's the reason I became a shinigami." he deadpanned. "To see him again. Though of course, if it hadn't been for my 'weird eye', as you put it, Enma wouldn't have taken me in. I... I was in love with him." he finished in a whisper, sounding a little too broken for Aome's comfort.
Last thing she wanted was to make him feel even worse. Still, her curiosity made it impossible to keep her mouth shut.
"Why the past tense?"
He smiled sheepishly and shrugged.
"Because I'm either over him, or in denial. Haven't decided yet." He shook his head and huffed. "I'm an idiot. I should have told someone he was here. He's still the same person, but he has no idea such a thing as a demon even exists! And now, because of me, the demon wants to go after him. I've put Tsuzuki in danger with my stupid high school crush."
"It's not your fault." Aome tried to sound as convincing as she could. Yes, she wasn't thrilled at the idea of him hiding vital information from her, but she could understand him this time. "If what I read about him is true, the demon would have recognised him sooner or later, anyway. At least you knew who he was. If I'd been alone, I'd never paid attention to any of them, since they had nothing to do with the case."
"Maybe you're right." he sighed, and it was obvious to her that he wasn't actually agreeing with her; just trying to convince himself of the fact. He reached out to grab the picture resting on his desk; the one with the little girl in it. "Let's hope we can catch him before he hurts Tsuzuki, though. I wish I could help him like he helped me." Taking the glass off, he took the picture out and retrieved another- smaller picture- from behind. The little girl was still there, but there were other five people around her. Most of them Aome didn't recognise, but they all looked like they were having a great time. He showed to her, pointing at the second person on the right. It was the same man from the files she'd checked, standing taller than the rest, with a goofy grin on his face and shimmery eyes filled with glee. "That's him." he declared, love and melancholy written all over his face.
"He's cute." she conceded. In fact, they all were.
"Yeah, that hasn't changed." he stared fondly at the picture, running his fingers through it.
She watched each face carefully, eager to find more about her partner through those people he seemed to love so much. She thought she could tell who was who now, since- thought their bodies had changed- there were some things about them that were the same.
The easiest were the long-haired, happy-looking guy with glasses and the stuffy, anal-retentive looking guy with glasses. The other two, standing at opposite ends of the picture, both wearing trench coats, one dark, the other light, were- as far as Aome was concerned- the most interesting.
The photograph had been coloured at some point, but now the colours had faded away leaving only shades of brown, which made it impossible to determine what colour where the two guys' hair. Besides, there was a little something known as hair-dye.
"I didn't know you had a twin. Which one is you? The bitchy looking one, or the flirt?"
He laughed earnestly for the first time that evening, and pointed to the one on the right. 'Ah, the flirt then.' she thought. He was clinging to Tsuzuki's arm suggestively; the space between them would have made a fly feel claustrophobic. And apparently, her partner's twin didn't like his behaviour one bit; he was glaring at them both hard enough to fry them on the spot.
"He's not my twin." he said, when he managed to get his laughter under control.
"What do you mean?!" Aome yelped, incredulous. "You are practically identical! There no way in hell you two are not related!!"
"We do look alike, ne? But no, I'm Minase and he was Kurosaki, no relation. Not even distant." He got a wistful expression and sighed melancholically. "He saved my life too, Hisoka. He was a good friend."
"That's Hisoka?" She blinked in surprise. "I found a few files about Tsuzuki's partner back then. This guy, Tsuzuki- did you know he used to put smily faces and little hearts on the reports?- he made it sound as if Hisoka was the cutest thing in the world. He looks kinda grouchy here, though."
Minase Hijiri laughed wholeheartedly and proceeded to tell Aome all about their little adventure a good 90 years before that day.
They probably should have been searching every last inch of the school for any trace of the demon. But they'd implicitly agreed that they both needed a little break to gather the courage for what they knew was coming.
Hijiri told her stories about the good ol' days, while Aome listened intently, inwardly wishing she could form such a bond with everyone at EnmaChou some day. They just spent a good part of an hour just talking in a strange kind of contentment and the illusion of peace.
*~~*
It's amazing how much you can discover about something you supposedly see everyday when you just stop and *look* at it. For one, Oriya had never noticed how his cellphone had all this different shades of gray; or how the third letter on the screen up to the right blinked a little every few seconds. He hadn't noticed that both curves on the three weren't exactly the same size, or just how heavy the phone was after you'd held it with one hand for over an hour.
He knew he should call his father, ask him to pick him up; but not only the prospect of going back to his father's wasn't appealing, he was torn about leaving Muraki until he was sure the white haired boy was safe and in one piece.
'Of course he's fine', Oriya thought with a sneer. 'Oh coincidence! Muraki disappears and there's another murder! Yeah, sure, maybe he was innocent. Why not?'
What the hell was he thinking, doing it in a building packed with cops?! He could only protect him so much! If they found him red handed, not all his father's connections could ever save him from jail!
But maybe that was exactly what Muraki wanted; to get caught. And maybe he was just getting in the way. Or maybe it was just no use trying to help him when he didn't even know where the fuck he was!
Well, maybe he wasn't quite ready to ring his dad, but he could start packing, couldn't he? If Muraki returned at that very moment, he probably would help him pack. It wasn't like Muraki gave a fuck about whether Oriya was alive or not. Oriya bitterly thought he wasn't even worth enough to his friend for him to be his next victim.
And go figure, that at the moment he put his suitcase on the bed and opened his drawers, Muraki walked through the door. There was no surprise in his appareance, he was wearing the same clothes from the day before and apparently, wherever he'd been didn't have combs at hand.
But as ruffled and,... well, dirty as he looked, there was an infuriatingly calm expression on his face. He rested his back to the now closed door and said nothing. No apologies, no excuses; nothing.
On the inside, Oriya was dancing in happiness and relief. On the outside though, he barely graced Muraki with a sideway glance and continued to pack in silence. The white haired boy stood staring at him for a good five minutes, never moving from his spot.
"Where are you supposed to be going?" Muraki finally asked, with a perfectly neutral tone.
Oriya took his time in folding the sweater he was packing and just when he was finished he glanced up at him.
"I'm surprised you don't know." he said a little sarcastically, so he paused, willing his tone not to betray his mood. "All the students are being sent home. The ones that have a home, that is."
"I see. Well, I guess that leaves me out, doesn't it?" the white haired boy was starting to sound amused. Oriya simply picked up a shirt and continued with his task. He wasn't up to his games today.
For another ten minutes Oriya packed and Muraki observed and not a word was exchanged between them. Oriya was trying hard to think of anything *but* Muraki though, because he feared if he let his thoughts run free he would end up beating the crap out of him.
So he took his anger out on the pants that wouldn't fold the right way, or the stupid wrinkled shirt and the idiotic socks that always seemed to loose their pairs. But the one that was annoying him the most was his hair. He angrily put it out of his face over and over, but it just kept falling in front of his eyes every time he'd bend to place something in the suitcase or to take something out of a drawer. That was a lot of times.
He franticly looked through his pockets to see if he had a band, and when he found one, he tried to put his now messy hair into a pony tail, but it was always either too tight or too loose and Oriya was starting to flip.
He never noticed movement on Muraki's part but, just as he was about to give up and fetch the nearest pair of scissors to chop it all out, two very familiar hands appeared on top of his own from behind.
"Stop it or you'll end up bald. Let me do it, ok?" gentle, soft fingers massaged his skull as Muraki combed his hair and, as angry as Oriya felt, he couldn't help leaning into the caress. "Aren't you going to ask me where I've been?" Muraki whispered softly into his ear, as he continued with his incredibly maddening ministrations.
Oriya let out a shaky breath, just barely able to contain himself from turning around and punching Muraki; or kissing him, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do the most.
"If you want to tell me, then you'll do it. If I ask you, and you don't want to, then you'll just lie. I'm sparing you the need to."
The white haired boy gave the finishing touches to Oriya's neat new ponny tail, but didn't retreat his hands. Instead, he begun massaging the other boy's neck soothingly. For his part, Oriya was having a hard time keeping his breathing at an unsuspicious pace.
"That's quite an opinion you have of me." Muraki said softly.
"If I'm wrong then tell me, where were you?"
The white haired boy snickered and placed a kiss on top of his head, making Oriya's heart leap to his throat.
"I never said your opinion of me wasn't justified. I was just commenting on it." The skilful hands moved from his neck to his shoulders and Oriya sighed in relief. Shoulders he could take, and it was relaxing him too.
Unwillingly, the dark haired boy started to lean back, until he found himself resting his back fully on the other's chest. As this new position made it impossible for Muraki to continue the massage, the older boy moved his arms to lock his friend in a tight embrace. "Ori-chan, can I ask you something?"
Eyelids starting to feel heavy- both from the emotional strain he'd gone through the past few days and the recent relief- Oriya let his eyes close and nodded lazily.
"Do you believe a person's destiny is something he can't fight against?"
The question took him by surprise. Oriya lifted his eyes- he wouldn't dare move and risk the embrace to end- and looked at Muraki with a baffled expression.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Muraki sighed, pulling Oriya even closer. The dark haired boy noticed, for the first time, that his friend's face was more expressive and alive than what it had been for days. His heart caught on his throat, realising that this might be his last chance to reach his friend's heart. "If someone is...evil, do you think they can change?"
No hesitation, not even a moment of consideration, and Oriya had untangled himself from Muraki's embrace and turned around to face his friend completely.
"You're not evil." Oriya surprised both Muraki and himself with the certainty of his tone. He hadn't even had to try to sound convincing. It was something he just knew. Just as he'd known Muraki was talking about himself.
Muraki gave him a rare, sad smile; not a hint of the amusement that had become so usual on the white haired boy's face.
"Oriya... Why?" the older boy placed a gentle hand on Oriya's cheek and gazed deeply into his friend's eyes. "Why do you trust me so much? When have I given you reasons to trust me?"
Unable to stop himself- not that he actually tried- Oriya encircled his friend's neck with his arms and hugged him tight, snorting slightly into his ear.
"I don't trust you. I know you too well; you're too unpredictable to be trusted. But..."
"Oh, there's a but?" Muraki asked with a hint of humour.
"Yes, Kazutaka. Of course there is." Oriya hugged Muraki tighter. "Bottom line is, I know you. Whatever you might do, or might have done already; it doesn't change the fact that you're not a bad person."
Muraki stepped back and looked at the window. Oriya could see defeat in his eyes, and he did not like it. Any other day at that hour, the sun would have been hitting his face. As it was, the sky was covered with clouds and just the faintest of gleams illuminated his skin, making it look paler than what it naturaly was.
"Evil is defined by the consequences of one's actions, Ori-chan." he said in a pained whisper.
Without another word, Muraki turned to leave. Desperate to keep him there a bit longer, Oriya jumped to grab his arm, almost making them both stumble.
"Then stop." he cried. 'Cried' being the key word here, since his tone had been rather calm- he was forcing it to be- but the tears had already started falling. "Stop and you won't have to worry about it any more. I can help you. Someone will help you."
Muraki didn't even look at him. He just shook his arm free and spoke with the same coldness from before.
"Help is not what I need right now."
"Please!!" Oriya just didn't care about looking desperate anymore. This was going all wrong. He, in a pathetic attempt to reach his friend, fell to his knees, tugging at Muraki's sleeve. "Please Kazutaka, don't leave. We can work something out. No one knows it was you, please!"
The white haired boy kneeled next to him, pulling him into yet another hug. Oriya thought detachedly that, in any other circumstance, he'd be in cloud nine by now.
"I'm sorry." Muraki whispered.
"Don't leave, I beg you!" Oriya sobbed into his shoulder. "I love you, I do! Please don't do this anymore."
Muraki kissed his cheek gently and ran a hand through his hair.
"You should finish packing." And with that, he was gone.
*~~*
Tsuzuki took long, lazy steps on his way to Watari's room. Though he was somewhat anxious to get there- being as his youngest friend always managed to cheer him up- there was a part of him that forced his feet to slow down as much as they could without making him stop altogether.
Hisoka would be there, and the green eyed boy was bound to find out something was wrong. Maybe talking would be good for him- that's what everyone kept telling him- but he did *not* feel like talking. He could only pray Hisoka would realise and leave the matter alone. Though, Hisoka seemed to be considered in that aspect, didn't he? There was no reason for him to assume this time would be any different.
Remembering the first impression he'd gotten from the boy, Tsuzuki smiled. His appearance was not of someone who could cause so much damage to your bones, yet Hisoka knew how to defend himself just fine and didn't have any problem in defending his friends either.
But Tsuzuki hadn't got the time to think he was frail before Hisoka proved him wrong. Considering the circumstances of their first meeting, Tsuzuki had actually been surprised to find that the guy twisting his arm so viciously wasn't a seven feet tall goon. So it sorta worked on the inverse.
Yet, after not even a week of knowing the boy, and though at first he'd thought Hisoka was moody and positively dangerous- he still stuck to the declaration that he was scary as hell- Tsuzuki had seen a side of Hisoka he wasn't sure the green eyed boy showed to everyone else.
Hisoka was understanding and sensitive of others' pain. 'He sure is sensitive!' Tsuzuki thought amusedly, recognising that his brain hadn't quite dealt with the fact that Hisoka was an empath yet.
It goes to show you to never judge a book by it's cover, ne?
Thinking about Hisoka was a lot more comforting than thinking about his current situation- a situation he couldn't even put into words in his own mind without starting to tear up again. But thinking about Hisoka's empathy suddenly brought back the memory of that morning two days ago, when he'd found the boy twisted in pain on the halls for no apparent reason.
Could that be related to the empathy? It would have made sense, if there had been an exterior factor to cause it, but the halls had been deserted. Yet...
Before his thoughts could actually take coherent form, he reached his destination. He didn't bother to knock; he just burst in his friends' room and the fake smile- so well rehearsed at this point in his life- was fast on his lips.
"Tari-chan, I come baring gifts!"
His blond friend was startled by such a struendous entrance, he realised, but he immediately greeted him with a smile. Tsuzuki stretched both his arms, presenting the bag of sweet goodies to his injured friend, and noticed the gleam in Watari's eyes when the blond realised what it was.
"Tsuzuki-chan! How did you know I needed sweets?!" the blond sang, delighted.
"'Tari-chan, you offend me." the amethyst eyed boy said in mock aggravation. "Are you insinuating I am not familiar with the healing quality of sugar?" He walked up to his friend's side and unceremoniously dropped himself on the bed, next to him.
The blond placed a hand to his chest and closed his eyes; the perfect image of constriction.
"I'm terribly sorry, my dear friend. I never intended to harm your reputation in such a...Oh, what the hell!" Watari snatched the bag from Tsuzuki's hands and dissolved into a fit of giggles that Tsuzuki was quick to imitate. "What did you bring? What did you bring!? Oh! Poky!"
Tsuzuki watched amused as Watari rummaged trough the bag while he munched down his poky happily. Eating sweets with Watari redefined the meaning of 'comfort food'. No matter what was going on with their lives, they could share a bag of sweets and it would all look better. It was so easy to feel better around Watari!
Little did he know that the other boy was thinking around the same lines.
"How's your leg, 'Tari?" he asked casually, grabbing a pastry himself before the blond finished the whole bunch.
"Ah," Watari swallowed hard, choking, and brushed Tsuzuki's concerns with a wave of his hand. "Better, better. It wasn't that bad really. It stings a little when I try to stand."
"You should rest. I'm sure it will be ok in the morning." Looking around, Tsuzuki realised that the causal of his hesitation to get there in the first place, wasn't there at all. "Where's 'Soka?"
The blond blinked confusedly.
"You didn't see him? He went looking for you."
"He did?" Tsuzuki couldn't help feeling curious about that.
"Yup. We were talking about 003 and suddenly he got this weird look on his face, said your name and burst out the room. I figured he wanted to see you." Watari frowned. "It was pretty rude of him, though. I tried to follow him but..." he motioned to his injured leg.
Tsuzuki smiled. He could hear the slight dejected tone Watari had used. It was no secret to him that his blond friend tended to be slightly jealous of his popularity. If only he could explain to him that most of the time the people that liked him were hentai freaks with one track minds!
"Maybe I should go look for him? I would hate for him to wait for a long time on my account. Maybe he wanted to tell me something important?"
Truth was, Tsuzuki had heard Hisoka mention that he could pick up residual emotions from places, even if there wasn't anyone there at the time. He didn't want Hisoka to worry.
"Oh," Watari lowered his eyes sadly. "Yeah, you should go."
"Hey!" Tsuzuki tried to cheer his friend up. "I'll just go fetch him and we can all eat sweets together. Shouldn't take long!"
The younger boy's face immediately lit up with one of those heart melting smiles.
"Yeah! That would be neat! I sure would feel a lot better with everyone in the same room tonight. You should go look for Tatsumi-san too, and we could have like a sleep over or something!"
Tsuzuki tried; he really did try to hide the pang of pain he felt at the mention of the blue eyed boy's name from showing, but even if the one in front of him hadn't been one of the people who knew him best in the whole world, they still would have realised.
So he lowered his eyes. Maybe that way he would be able to conceal it.
"I... yeah, sure..." he stammered, trying in vain to smile.
Watari straightened in his seat the best he could, worry immediately invading his features.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing, I just..."
A hand took hold of his own and Tsuzuki looked up to meet Watari's concerned gaze.
"Did you and Tatsumi had a fight?"
Tsuzuki sighed. 'Well,' he thought resignedly, 'so much for not wanting to talk. Guess it didn't take an empath after all.'
"We...We broke up." he managed to let out.
As reluctant as he was to talk about it, he was actually expecting Watari to lift his spirits. The blond always knew the right thing to say; how to see the good in every situation. He was expecting him to assure him it hadn't been his fault, that it wasn't all hopeless.
What he hadn't expected was the look of utter shock on the young boy's face. Nor how his eyes filled with tears. Less alone how Watari threw himself into his arms and dissolved into sobs.
"I'm so sorry!!!" the boy whimpered. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!"
Tsuzuki blinked in confusion as the slender form of his friend shook helplessly in his arms. When he finally reacted, he wrapped his arms tightly around him and tried to sooth him, not really knowing why he was crying in the first place.
Surely, as bad news as they were to all of them, the break up shouldn't have left him sobbing as hard as he, himself, had just a few minutes before!
*~~*
Hisoka opened his eyes slowly. They hurt; everything did. But specially the back of his head. He figured the rest of his body ached because the pain on his head was just too strong to be focused in such a small area.
He groaned and threw his head back. No, he wasn't blind, he decided; it was just that the place where he was in was in complete darkness. At least that was a relief. With the pain his eyes were in, he wouldn't have been surprised with the first outcome.
As groggy and numbed by the pain as he was, it took him a while to realise that the reason he couldn't lift his hands to rub his throbbing temples was that they were actually bound, and that's when he freaked out.
He let out a small whimper, feeling too weak to scream for help just yet. It wouldn't have made a difference. No one would have heard him anyway.
~Tsuzuku~
I think one or two things came up as abrupt in this chapter. But I honestly couldn't find a better way to do it. If I keep stretching things too long, I'll get side tracked, and we don't want that too happen. *completely ignores the fact that this fic was initially only nine chapters long* *shiver*
Now to the reviews. Last chapter wasn't a success, for some reason, lets hope it doesn't turn into a pattern. (I don't mean because of the number of reviews though, you guys still rock on that.)
LYK: I'm reviewing ch. 5 of your fic this instant. Sorry I took so long but you might have noticed I'm a bit 'absent' lately. Too much homework to surf the net. Glad you approve of the cutting bit. I wasn't sure about it because I was afraid people might get the wrong idea, but it didn't happen, so phew. I won't get into telling you how I know about it. Anyway, hugs friend, and talk to you as soon as I can!
LinaLau: Be afraid *mwuahaha* Be very afraid!!! *runs as people in white coats come for her* No, actually, there's a *big* surprise coming as far as Hisoka's situation is concerned. I won't spoil the surprise though.*laughs at Watari's bitchy hair* Hugs!
azdriel: Ah, si. Me lo imaginaba. La gente sin tarjeta de crédito esta condenada T.T- Detalles acerca de Muraki y Hisoka, mmm, no; todavía no *evil laugh*- Pero creo que va a valer la pena la espera. Creo. Ahora deberíamos formar un grupo de oración para que Clamp de una ves por todas lance el volumen 3 de LD. Se están tomando demasiado tiempo. Bueno, besos y abrazos!!
dodger-chan: Lol, you just want me to ignore everything but this fic, ne? Wish I could *sigh* I'm leaving a review anyway, but I had to tell you, the little ficcy you posted the other day was breathtaking. You are a *god*!! Seriously! That you are reviewing *me* is so... so weird!! Write more, I beg you!! *kneels down and begs*
Nsib: Contain those pervert thoughts, that's what *I'm* here for, heh, heh. Soon you'll find out anyway; though if you like your Muraki extremely psychotic you might be disappointed... or not... maybe. Hugs.
Schatten Wonderwolf: Oriya/Tatsumi? Tiene sentido, extrañamente. No que quiera publicitar mis fics, pero leíste 'Parallels...'? Creo que te interesaría...Yo que se. Y es cierto. A mi no me gusta como Tsuzuki se echa la culpa de hasta la lluvia, pero pensé que era lo que pasaría en esa situación. Aunque nadie estubo en desacuerdo conmigo, parece que a algunos no les gusto T.T Pero lamentablemente hay ciertas cosas que no puedo cambiar solo por que a los lectores no les gusto, o la historia se derrumbaría. Me entendés? Otras si, porque las criticas ayudan a que uno aprenda a escribir mejor. Ah, ni se por que te digo esto... estoy un poco sensible T.T Gracias por decir todas esas cosas lindas. 'The 'G'...' ya tiene nuevo capitulo tambien, pero no se si le habre dado los toques finales para cuando este esté arriba. Nos vemos prontito.
lyn: No te preocupes. No me tomo a mal que no te haya gustado el ultimo capitulo. Asusta un poquito, por que tengo miedo de arruinar todo. Ustedes han estado leyendo desde noviembre!! Seria una *enorme* perdida de tiempo si metiera la pata, creo. Con respecto a tu pregunta de que si era gusto personal mio las relaciones que planteo, si y no. Si, porque a pesar de que, por ejemplo, Tatsumi/Watari no es una pareja del canon, yo si veo cierta compatibilidad y cierto compañerismo hacia el final que podría, en un futuro, ser algo mas, pero esa es mi opinión. No, porque aunque Matsushita nunca aclara por completo cual es la relación de, por ejemplo, Tsuzuki y Hisoka, es mas que evidente que hay algo mas que amistad ahí. De ahí a que pasara algo entre ellos, eso no lo puedo saber. Pero si lo puedo inventar!! :D No te olvides que este fic, aunque es AU, de hecho pasa muchos años después del manga. Para cuando los muchachos reencarnaron, habían pasado muchas cosas. Por eso es que pensé que los 'intermedios' eran necesarios. Espero que eso responda tu pregunta. Y sos de las mías, Touya *drool*. El de Wish es Suiichirou, no? Y el demonio que es igual a el, que nunca me acuerdo como se llama. Cual es el de Clover que te gusta? Kazuhiko o Ran? Kazuhiko es el que estaba enamorado de la cantante, el que se parece a Clow. Ran es el que anda con Gigetsu, que se parece a una versión mas uke de Touya. Me parece que te tendría que haber contestado por mail ;; Puedo estar horas hablando de los chicos lindos de Clamp. Ah, Sei-chan, "Crees que soy sexy?" *faint*
xXLil Yu JahXx: I agree with you, but then we wouldn't have a fic!! Cliff hangers are good! *pets cliff hangers* Heh, heh, they keep you guys coming back for more!! *evil laugh*
Kyraille Fade: I'm sorry about the cutting part. I didn't mean to make you feel bad like that. But it's true. I, luckily, found a way to cope with all those 'scary' thoughts. I just write about it and get it out of my system. It doesn't make sense, but it's worked for me so far. You wouldn't believe the stuff I make some characters do in the fics I write and never post!! :D For some reason, you saying I'm the queen of suspense had me walking on pink coloured clouds for days! I wanna be like Agatha Christie some day... not in fame, mind you. Just quality *sigh* dreaming is still free. Rejoice, Tatariness ahead!!
kitsuneblood: You have to get in line to beat Hiyama, but yes, there's a horrible, horrible revenge planned for him. Just wait and enjoy!! lol, the sadism... I'm curious about why you liked Tatsumi getting beat up, though. Hugs.
Fahm: Sorry about Muraki's stupidity in this chapter, you'll see it has a reason soon enough. Don't worry. I'm also sorry you didn't like the chapter. I understand what you mean though, but I couldn't have done it any other way... I guess. Hmph. Tatsumi and Konoe? Ewww, no. I, sadly, am influenced by age at the time of pairing people up. I'm that shallow, I guess... And yes, though there's still quite a few chapters left, it's the beginning of the end. At least someone noticed!!
Kurikuri: Heh, heh, I'd like to meet your cousin! I know what you mean about Muraki. All I'm going to say is, I didn't make his character so deep just to throw him out as garbage. If I made him look sympathetic, there's a reason for that. Oh, hell, I think I spoiled the surprise. Ugh. Chocolate mountain? That has sparkled my insatiable curiosity... hugs!!
Ja Ne!!