Disclaimer: I don't own Yami no Matsuei. It belongs to its owner, Yoko Matsushita. Please don't sue me. I'm a poor college student!

Free talk: I apologize for the long wait. Here is the next chapter. Oh, warning. There are OCs here, but no 'character x OC' pairings. And hetero romance. XD Still Tsuzuki x Hisoka or Muraki x Hisoka. XD

Special thanks to: SapphireDragon: Thanks for the advice. It really helped me, although I haven't applied it here yet!

Dazzle1: Yes, more will be revealed this chapter! Thank you!

Chiharu Ylliana: Uhm, are you the same Chiharu in the YnM ML and in the Weiâ Kreuz Triad RPG? Thanks for the review!

xXLil Yu JahXx: Hey! Long time no see! ::laugh:: Anyway, thank you!

Ethereal-tenshi: Scary? Really? Well, YnM's a bit like that...scary. I think some people forget the mystery aspect of YnM and focus too much on the guys and the shonen-ai-ness of YnM. Not that it's a bad thing, mind!

Chapter II: Purple Promises

"–we might have to ask around about the girls and–TSUZUKI! Are you even listening, baka?"

"Hai, haaaai!" Tsuzuki never took his eyes from the pastry display in front of him. There were cakes, tortes, pies, and cookies of all kinds and flavors. His purple eyes sparkled and his mouth drooled at the sight. He did a few mental calculations, trying to figure out if their allowance would 'allow' him to buy–

"Pay attention!" Hisoka swatted Tsuzuki on the head with his cap. Hisoka glared at his partner, who turned teary puppy-dog eyes on him and whined on how cruel he was.

"Stop that! We have work to do." Hisoka shoved the report into his partner's face.

Tsuzuki pouted, but he took the report. He flipped through it, having memorized the information earlier (although he didn't show it). There were five profiles in the report. All the victims had been young women, around the age of sixteen to their early twenties, pretty and promising. They were all killed in this area, in this small quiet town. "Well, I guess we should ask around."

"That was what I had suggested earlier, Tsuzuki," Hisoka said in a cold voice, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits of jade. "You weren't listening at all."

Tsuzuki let out a nervous laugh. "Is that so? Ahahaha, Hisoka-chan is so smart." He looked around. It was early morning, the sun blessing the earth with gentle rays. They were in the town's marketplace, with people milling around the shops and stalls, buying, selling, or simply strolling around, laughing and talking as they did.

It was odd, but Tsuzuki couldn't sense any tension. After all, five girls have been killed. He had expected the villagers to be, at least, nervous. "Do you think you should scan the area? I mean," Tsuzuki paused, "if it isn't too much to you. I know you don't like crowds and–"

"I've already scanned the area while you were busy drooling over sweets," Hisoka cut in.

Tsuzuki gave his blonde partner an odd look. "What's with you today, Hisoka? You're more standoffish than usual. What did I do?"

"I'm not being more standoffish than usual. It's just that..." Hisoka let his voice trail off. How could he explain to Tsuzuki that this town made him uneasy? When he scanned the area, he felt nothing out of the ordinary–no fear, anxieties, or even wariness.

"It's just that what?" Tsuzuki prompted.

"It is too...calm," Hisoka finally said, looking around. "Didn't you notice?"

Tsuzuki nodded. "It is weird. It's like we're in the wrong town. If this had been a big town, I wouldn't be surprised if people...are so...uncaring, but this place is small..."

Hisoka grunted. "At least that tells us something is wrong with this place. We should get to the hotel, then go to the victims' houses."

"Yeah." Tsuzuki then began walking. He didn't get far, as something hurled itself at him, and knocked him to the ground.

"OHMIGOD! I'm sorr–dammit, I mean, GOMENASAI!" The first words sounded foreign to Tsuzuki English, it must be English, Tsuzuki thought as he groaned to himself. A foreigner. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring at a girl with long, silver-blonde hair with a pair of violet eyes. Tsuzuki's eyes widened, and he gasped.

The girl didn't seem to hear his gasp. "Gomenasai, gomenasai! Daijoubu desu ka?" she asked, speaking in flawless Japanese. The girl leaned closer, peering at him, checking for injuries. She also didn't seem to be aware of their awkward position, with her hovering over his sprawled body, her face inches away from his.

Tsuzuki froze, not knowing what to do. Violet eyes. The girl had violet eyes. He had never seen anyone with violet eyes. He blinked.

Then he found himself staring at a pair of yellow, feline eyes instead. What the–

"Ariel!" the girl said, sounding exasperated. She shooed the black cat that stood on Tsuzuki's chest, the cat mewling almost angrily. "Get off him!" The cat flicked a glance at her, then at Tsuzuki. With a flick of its long tail, it jumped off Tsuzuki's chest.

Hisoka's voice brought him back to reality. "Tsuzuki? Are you all right?"

"Ha-Hai," Tsuzuki muttered. "I'm okay," he said to the girl.

The girl then got up, dusted herself, and then held out her hand for Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki hesitated for a moment, then took her hand. With a grunt and a sharp pull, Tsuzuki was back on his feet.

"I'm terribly sorry," the girl said, a sheepish smile on her lips. She bent down and scooped out the black cat, which snuggled close to her. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That's all right," Tsuzuki managed to say, laughing. The cat looked at him again, and hissed.

"Stop that!" the girl said to the cat. "I'm sorry, my cat's terribly possessive of me. He doesn't like people getting too close." She eyed Hisoka, and then she glanced back at Tsuzuki. She smiled again. "As an apology, would be okay if I treat you for some cakes?"

"Ah, so you're a foreign exchange student, ne?" Tsuzuki asked in a muffled voice as he ate another mouthful of apple pie. Beside him, Hisoka sat quietly, eyes trained discreetly on the girl.

The blonde girl nodded. "Hai! I study at the nearby performing arts school. I'm from the United States. My name's Sophia Sabrina Stanton." She laughed as Tsuzuki stumbled over pronouncing her name. "I know my name's hard to pronounce, so you can call me Sou-chan. My classmates call me that, anyways!" She leaned forward. "And what are your names?" she asked, looking at them straight in the eye.

Hisoka was a bit taken aback by the girl's forwardness. Then he remembered the girl was a gaijin, and an American to boot. Then he recalled the collision between the girl and Tsuzuki. Why did Tsuzuki react that way towards the girl? His partner looked dazed as he stared at her. He couldn't ask Tsuzuki yet, though. He was too preoccupied with the girl.

He was so deep into his thoughts that Hisoka vaguely heard Tsuzuki introduce himself and it wasn't until he felt the girl's gaze on him that he mumbled, "Kurosaki Hisoka."

"You have such nice names," the girl remarked. The black cat on her lap just 'meowed' in response. Then she glanced at her watch. "I should be going. I still have some acting classes." The girl frowned. "Ukyo-sensei hasn't been around for a few days, though. Maybe she won't be present today."

Tsuzuki then remembered their mission. "Ah, Sou-chan. I wanted to ask...about something. We're private detectives, you see, and we're investigating something."

The girl's eyes widened with excitement. "Really? Sure, ask away!"

"Have you noticed anything strange lately?" Tsuzuki asked intently.

The girl appeared to think for a moment. "Well, not really...except some of my classmates haven't been attending classes, and they've always been present, well, most of the time..."

"Who are these classmates?" Hisoka asked.

She mentioned all five girls in the list. "They're my classmate in one class or the other," she explained. "They're Theater majors. Some Japanese, others gaijin like me."

"Have you told the police about it? I mean, they're missing..."

Shaking her head, she replied, "They aren't really missing...they're just not...present. They've done this before...and nobody's that worried about them being gone for a while..." She glanced at her watch again. "I should really be going. I have to go to school." She stood up, picked up her cat, and placed some money on the table. "I'll see you around. Ja!" Before any Shinigami could say anything, the girl had left, dashing through the pastry shop's door.

Tsuzuki stared after the girl. Hisoka frowned. He could feel the older man's bewilderment radiating from him. "What's wrong, Tsuzuki?" he asked.

Tsuzuki turned to him, eyes closed, then he opened his eyes. "She has violet eyes, Hisoka. I've never see anyone with the same eye color as mine."

T.B.C.

Free talk, part 2: Yes! I've posted the second part. If you're asking what role the girl will play, it's a secret and NO, she will not be paired up with any YnM character. She has a purpose here other than to be like that.

Lack of shonen-ai: I'm sorry...I can't imagine writing YnM without a plot of sorts, or any mystery at all. So there will be shonen-ai, but that will be quite later.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka: A bit of tension there, hey? I love it when they have these little spats.

Next Chapter: Can you say...Muraki? Can you say...harassment? Can you say...lime? Wahahahaha!