Welcome to chapter seven and… I'm sorry!

Oh my, what was I thinking? Mitsuki isn't really that way, she just is in love. What can you do when your heart and mind are conflicting? As for Hisoka, if you have somebody around you with strong emotions, you can't help but be swept away.

A question in a recent review was why "puppet" was "poppet" in chapter six. I apologize for the confusion. It is a British term for darling, small child, doll, or puppet.

Hmm… Fluffy? I appreciate all your reviews, however, there's times when I'm confused. Ice-of-spades, by "fluffy" do you mean making them all, weeeeeeeeee love love love weeeeeeeee? That'd be rather out of character, eh? At least for Kurosaki "Hissy fit" Hisoka. XD Now that they aren't fluffy, I hope they don't end up being. (stares off into distance thinking about Tsuzuki and Hisoka dressed up as sheep.) But thank you! I'm glad you think of me so highly. I hope I live up to your expectations.

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Chapter Seven: An Overflowing Feeling

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"Hisoka's been gone for a long time…" Tsuzuki thought at he gazed at the clock. The students were at their music class, so the room was empty. "Maybe I'll go down and see what's wrong…" Tsuzuki picked up his keys and locked the room on the way out. He walked down the long hallways and made the decent to the first floor. During classes, not even teachers were roaming the halls, so it was completely silent.

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Muraki laid Hisoka on one of the beds and sat next to him. "When I saw you the other night I was surprised you hadn't died yet. You are stronger than I thought." Muraki leaned down and ran a hand across Hisoka's form. "But you body has gotten much weaker, I see. You won't last long now. Perhaps in that time we can have another sensual night." He leaned his face down to Hisoka's neck. As he did, he heard the infirmary door fly open.

"Hisoka? Hisoka, where are you?" Tsuzuki looked around until his eyes dropped on the shadow coming towards him from behind the room separation curtain.

"Are you his teacher?" Muraki pulled back the curtain and smiled. "One Tsuzuki-san?"

"Y-yes…" Tsuzuki looked the man in white over then clapped his hands together. "You're from the restaurant!"

"I am flattered you remember me, Tsuzuki-san." Muraki looked over Tsuzuki. His body was a masterpiece, perfect in every way.

"Uh…. Yeah? So, is Hisoka… kun here?" Tsuzuki took a few steps back away from the man closely coming towards him.

"He is." Muraki pulled back the curtain to reveal Hisoka passed out on the bed. Tsuzuki ran to Hisoka's bedside. "After I put the bandage on his finger, he passed out."

"Don't you usually call the teacher if something like this happens?" Tsuzuki snapped. He caressed Hisoka's hair.

"I am afraid I am only substituting for the regular nurse, so I did not know school protocol." Muraki walked over to the bed. "My name is Doctor Muraki Kazutaka. I am here while the nurse is on maternity leave, but I usually work out of Tokyo. It is my pleasure to meet you."

"Ah… um… I'm Tsuzuki Asato." Tsuzuki didn't like how the man was smiling at him. It was a lustful look that creeped him out.

"Tsu… zuki…" Hisoka moaned and opened his eyes. The first sight he saw was Muraki standing over him. He gasped and quickly rolled to the side Tsuzuki was on.

Muraki reached a hand out to Hisoka's face and placed it over his eyes. "This school is poorly equipped. The first lights a student sees when waking up are far too bright." He smirked.

Tsuzuki pulled Muraki's hand from Hisoka's face and looked into the boys fear ridden eyes. "Hisoka? Are you okay?"

Hisoka blinked. "I…" He shook his head and looked at Muraki. "I think so…"

"Let's go back to class, okay?" Tsuzuki helped Hisoka out of the bed. He shot a glare at Muraki. He didn't know why, but he didn't trust this man. "Thank you for your help, doctor."

Muraki smirked as Tsuzuki and Hisoka walked from the infirmary. He turned and gazed out the window, the sun reflecting off of him in an almost metallic way.

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"So, don't forget your history test tomorrow. It's a big test, so study hard." Tsuzuki smiled and waved as the students filed out.

"Um…" Mitsuki watched Hisoka gather his books and put them in his bag. "Kurosaki-kun?"

Hisoka placed the bag over his shoulder and stood up. "Yes?"

"Um… I… I noticed you have trouble in history… Well, since tomorrow's test is important, we should make a study group." Mistuki blushed and looked down at her shoes. "All of my friends live on the other side of town or in the city, so it's an inconvenience to get together to study, but you live at the Sunset Apartment building, right? That's on the way to my house."

"Study group?" Hisoka looked over Mitsuki at Tsuzuki. He was talking to a group of male students.

"We could walk together to your apartment and study for a while." Mitsuki kept her eyes locked on her shoes.

"I wouldn't want to bother you on my behalf…" Hisoka looked at Mitsuki. He couldn't see her face, but he could feel her embarrassment.

"It wouldn't bother me at all!" She looked up and stepped forward. She locked eyes with Hisoka. "It would help us both! I really would like to help you… I don't want you to fail and I have to study anyways and I'm really good at history and…"

"Okay!" Hisoka was pushed against the wall. She had been walking forward the entire time. "I could use some help… Let's go." He slid around her and walked towards the door.

"Oh, Hisoka-kun." Tsuzuki waved to him. Hisoka walked over and he leaned down and whispered in his ear. "I have a meeting so I won't be home for about two hours. Go ahead and eat, we go out after meetings."

"Okay…" Hisoka frowned. He turned back towards the door.

Mistuki was waiting outside the door for him. She smiled. "Is anything wrong?"

"Oh… no, not really." Hisoka and Mistuki walked side by side through the school gate.

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Neither Hisoka nor Mitsuki said a word for over half the walk. Finally, Hisoka turned to her. "Sensei said that he won't be back for two hours, so you don't have to worry about him watching us."

"Wh… watching us?" Mitsuki blushed.

"Studying. Whenever I study he is peeking over my shoulder. It's annoying." Hisoka didn't think twice about his wording. Mitsuki's embarrassment confused him.

"Ah…" She pulled on a piece of her hair and looked down at her shoes. "What's it like… living with sensei?"

"He's always eating, never cares that the television is too loud, and snores loud enough to wake up the entire building." Hisoka said flatly. Although he sounded annoyed, Mitsuki noticed he was smiling. "He's worse than a small child."

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"Here we are." Hisoka pushed open the door and walked inside. Mitsuki followed and promptly removed her shoes.

"Wow…" Mitsuki was already exploring while Hisoka was removing his shoes. "It's so big for an apartment!" Her eyes stopped on the large balcony. "Oh, my! I love balconies! There must be at least three bedrooms in an apartment this big."

"Really, it's just a few large rooms. It wasn't meant for more than one person." Hisoka tried to get off the bedroom count subject. "We can just study out here in the den." Hisoka plopped onto the floor.

Mitsuki stopped dashing around the apartment and turned to him. "I'm… I'm sorry, but I have to use the bathroom first."

"What?" Hisoka lost his breath. He jumped up and turned to face her. "How about we go get some dinner?"

"Uh…?" Mitsuki blinked. "I guess, but I don't think I can walk much farther without using a bathroom first."

Hisoka cursed under his breath. The only bathroom was accessed by going through the bedroom. He just hoped she wouldn't put two and two together. "It's… through here…" He slowly walked to the bedroom and opened the door.

"Oh, my… I don't know if I feel right going through sensei's bedroom." Mitsuki blushed. "What about the guest bathroom?"

"There isn't one. It wasn't made for guests either. It's basically just a bachelor pad." Hisoka sighed. "But if you don't feel right going through his bedroom, why don't we just go out to eat?"

She turned and looked into the room again. Her eyes caught on the nightstand on the right side. There was a picture frame however she couldn't see the entire image. All she could see what Hisoka smiling as she had never seen. "I'm fine. It's no big deal." She smiled and walked into the bathroom.

Hisoka watched her close the door. He quickly darted around the room hiding clothes and other items that may show that this was his bedroom as well. As he stuffed clothes into the closet, Mitsuki came out of the bathroom. She stared down at him. "I, uh, just didn't want to subject you to Tsuzuki's underwear." He jumped up and walked out of the room.

Mitsuki giggled but, stopped as she recalled what he said. "He called him Tsuzuki…" She looked over at the picture she had noticed before. It was a Polaroid of Hisoka, Tsuzuki, and a blond woman in a fancy restaurant. Tsuzuki had an arm wrapped around both of them. She slowly walked into the den. Hisoka had his books laid out on the floor but, he was not near them. "Kurosaki-kun?"

"I'm making dinner. It's oden." Hisoka chopped vegetables and threw them into a pot.

"Please, allow me to help." Mitsuki walked up next to him. She felt her heart beat faster. Hisoka moved to the side and began adding spices to the pot. Mitsuki picked up the knife and began chopping the vegetables. "You seem so quiet. It's almost like you are always deep in the thought."

Hisoka didn't respond.

"I used to be very quiet, too. When I met Yui-chan, she told me that I can't go through life worrying what others think about me. She told me that I had to express myself, or nobody would take me seriously." She put down the knife and looked up at Hisoka. He was focused on his oden. "It took a while but, slowly, slowly I became stronger. I still have a lot to learn… however, I know that if I keep working, someday I can be someone I'm proud of."

"You don't have to impress people to be proud of yourself." Hisoka said flatly. He put the last of the vegetables in the pot and covered it. "Yui-san is trying to help you but, you have to decide for yourself whether her version of help is actually help." He looked down at her with his usual expressionless face. "Only you can decide what's right for you. Listening to somebody else will turn you into somebody you aren't, Mitsuki-san"

Mitsuki felt her entire face turn red. She knew what she had to do. "Kurosaki-kun… Can I call you Hisoka-kun?"

"That's fine." Hisoka stirred the contents of the pot.

"And… can you call me… Aki…" She smiled and closed her eyes.

"That's fine, Aki-san." Hisoka turned to her. "The stew will take a little while to simmer. Shall we start studying?"

As he began to move around her to leave the kitchen, Mitsuki pushed herself in front of him and stood on her toes. She placed her lips to his and wrapped her arms around his neck. Hisoka stood stunned for a moment. Her memories flowed into his mind but, her emotions were stronger and overtook his body. He placed his arms around her waist.