Title: "Gifts - Chap. 1: Free Me"
Author: J.J.
Warning: It's an AU and it's BASED ON THE MANGA... it contains not too descriptive rape, some OOC, some use of Japanese words (the Dictionary is at the bottom), a bit of sappiness, some spoilers...
Notes: This work is based on the manga. It makes perfect sense if you haven't read it but you will find things going differently from the anime... oh well since this is an AU and things will go differently from the manga too it shouldn't be a problem.
About the characters... Tsuzuki's character is based on the first volume of the YnM Manga and that's why he's more serious. If you get the 1st volume of the manga you'll see a more adult looking Tsuzuki than in the rest of the series. As for Hisoka... He's purposely partially different from the original.
Inspiration came from the YnM manga and a lovely pic from Akane available at her 'Cursed Moons' Web (The pic is the one called 'TsuHi-raburabu')
Warning over notes: This fic is filled with notes. You will find them at the bottom. Each time you see a number between brackets it means there's a note connected to the word/sentence that preceded it. Many of them explain references to other series, to YnM manga only or YnM anime only facts for who didn't get to read the manga or see the anime, explain apparently illogical things or warn you there's an explanation for illogical facts but that you'll get it later. However I suggest you to read the notes AFTER you finished the fic unless the word/sentence connected to the note is really troublesome for you to understand. Anyway the fic should be still understandable without the notes. Notes are merely extra explanations for who wants to know more or search for spoilers.
Disclaimer:
"Yami no Matsuei" belong to Matsushita Yoko. I'm merely using her characters because I love them... especially Touda, Tsuzuki and Hisoka...
Ehy, do I own something here? Oh yes, I own the plot and a sensible heart which would surely break if you give me harsh reviews... so please be honest but nice ok?
Thanks: To Lothlorien for betaing this! Thank you a lot!
Summary: Alternate version of the 'Nagasaki Arc' Manga version. What if Muraki managed to break Hisoka and Enma planned Tsuzuki & Hisoka's partnership?
"Signor Capitano mi liberi le mani
non ho fatto mai del male a nessuno
sono piegato di fronte a questa vita
io sono, sono un prigioniero
e poi non vede, non vede la mia pena
non capisce i miei pensieri
non vede come viviamo
non vede che non amiamo.

Signor Capitano dove sono le risposte
alle tante lettere spedite
e poi mi dica, mi dica dove siamo
e che stiamo ancora aspettando...
non vede come viviamo,
non vede cosa facciamo
non vede non crede...

Liberatemi, liberatemi
dalla noia e dalla confusione,
liberatemi, liberatemi
le mie mani devono applaudire
liberatemi, liberatemi
dalle mille più di mille paure."
("Captain free my hands
I've never hurt anyone
I'm bent in front of this life
I'm, I'm a prisoner
And don't you see, don't you see my pain?
don't you understand my thoughts
don't you see how we live
don't you see we don't love.

Captain where are the answers
To the many sent letters
And then you tell me, you tell me where we are
And that we're still waiting...
Don't you see how we live,
Don't you see what we do
Don't you see don't you believe...

Free me, free me
From boredom and confusion,
Free me, free me
my hands must clap
Free me, free me
From the thousand and more fears.")
(Biagio Antonacci - "Liberatemi")

Two weeks later - First district Shinkou-Cho

He stared at the report with empty eyes. He hadn't figured afterlife would be like this. He hadn't figure afterlife would be. He had hoped, once dead, he would be nonexistent - instead... instead he was still forced to take care of the menial tasks like sleeping (little, very little, almost never), eating (even less), bathing (a lot, every chance he got), working and other irrelevant things (like throwing up, avoiding people and such). At least he was away from HIM. Three years had been bad enough. They even caused him to miss his family. Their hate was preferable to the things NUSHI-SAMA did to him. Sitting on the basement floor was preferable to being bound to a dirty bed while NUSHI-SAMA...

He jumped back as a hand was waved in front of him and stared at the newcomer with the scared look of a trapped animal. The young woman(1) (he didn't know her name, probably they had been introduced but he just couldn't make the effort to remember people) announced that Enma DaiOh-sama (with a lot of emphasis over the name) wanted to see him. She seemed happy to announce this, feelings streaming from her like vapour from a boiling pot. The boy muttered something in reply, something she didn't understand but took as an agreement, and so, mercifully, she left him alone, her happiness still echoing through his body due to that cursed 'gift' of his that people called empathy and that caused him to be labeled 'Bakemono' by his parents. He sat down again tiredly. All he wanted from Enma DaiOh-sama was release, nothing more - but the ruler of Meifu had already refused him this small concession, insisting on offering him a job he wasn't interested in. He didn't want to return to ChiJou, to return to HIS same plane of existence, to HIS same country, no matter what. He sighed, then buried his head in his hands. All he wanted was to be free. All he wanted was...


... Of no interest for Enma DaiOh-sama who was just allowing himself a satisfied little smirk before his new visitor was introduced. He looked at the newcomer, pleased, admiring his tall figure as the man walked with long strides towards him, reached a proper distance and then bowed, not too deeply but enough to be judged proper, then stood at attention, waiting for orders.

"Tsuzuki," Enma greeted pleasantly. There was something about Tsuzuki Asato that was capable of attracting the sexual interest of males and females alike. It was his 'gift', a 'gift' that was more cause of trouble and unwanted attention than anything else. People often joked about it but there were few who saw him and didn't feel the need to stalk him as well. Enma wasn't an exception.

"Enma DaiOh-sama," the man replied in a formal, cold tone that only few knew him capable to use.

"That cold expression doesn't suit that beautiful face of yours," the ruler of Meifu commented, frowning. Tsuzuki's unnaturally coloured eyes hardened marginally, their purple shade becoming deeper, darker, yet he stood still, as if he was unaffected by his master's words. Enma smiled, apparently pleased, but in truth slightly disappointed by the lack of reaction. In his own opinion, Tsuzuki was beautiful when he was furious but the man had long ago learnt to bear all his taunts with a stoic expression, as if he didn't really care. In truth, Tsuzuki had merely understood what Enma wanted from him, and in his apparent apathy, there was all his rebellion to bowing to the man's wishes, rebellion he couldn't show in any other way.

"What do you wish from me, Enma DaiOh-sama?" Tsuzuki asked simply.

"So eager to obey to my commands, are you Tsuzuki? Don't you want to allow me to enjoy your company for a while? Maybe I could even offer you one of those pies you're so fond of," Enma teased.

"I thank you for your offer, DaiOh-sama, but I'm 'temporally' stuffed," he answered tonelessly, his 'temporally' including all the time Tsuzuki was going to spend in Enma's presence and nothing more.(2)

"I see. Too bad. I'm sorry you enjoy HakuShaku's attentions more than mine." Tsuzuki didn't say anything. It was no secret that HakuShaku-sama, the keeper of the 'Rousoku no Yakata' (or the 'Castle of Candles' if you prefer), stalked him. Tsuzuki, very reluctantly, 'allowed him', in exchange for favours now and then. He doubted HakuShaku-sama could find himself in serious trouble for the small help he offered him.(3) Enma frowned, than smiled again charmingly. "I've good news for you. You're going to get a new partner. One you will like, this time." Tsuzuki curved his eyebrow slightly in a tiny manifestation of lack of belief, but Enma didn't notice it, or pretended not to. "So, I expect you to not lose him too." He continued glaring at him.

"I'll do what you wish, Enma DaiOh-sama, but of course, I can't answer for my 'partner'." There was a tiny streak of self-satisfaction in Tsuzuki's words. He had never refused a partner. No, his way to free himself from unwanted partners was to persuade them to leave him. It wasn't that he didn't want a partner. It was that in around 70 years of service, he had learned the best way to keep his co-workers safe was to keep them as far away from him as possible. So, in the same way he knew how to accentuate the nice side of his personality that made him so loved by friends, he also knew how to bring out the other side that persuaded his partners to leave.

"Your partner will be d-e-l-i-g-h-t-e-d to work with you, Tsuzuki," Enma assured him, not sounding persuasive at all. It sounded more like he was saying that his partner had no choice in the matter. Tsuzuki frowned, openly this time. He didn't like this.

"Won't a partner be a problem for my work?" He wasn't, of course, referring to his low paid work as a Shinigami, but instead to all the secret business he had to deal with under the direct orders of Enma DaiOh-sama himself.

"Such dedication to your work is admirable, Tsuzuki. To think I've tons of report from the Shokan-ka secretary criticizing your lack of it," Enma said, in a tone laced heavily with irony. Tsuzuki didn't bother to acknowledge it. "Don't worry, Tsuzuki, I'm sure you will find a solution. Your partner is very precious to me, and who can guard this little jewel better than my right hand man?" That was it. Enma needed a bodyguard for this newcomer. Poor soul.

"May I ask DaiOh-sama what's so precious about this new underling?" he asked, not sounding too interested. He knew he would likely find out soon even if Enma denied him the answer.

"He's an empath. Enma-Cho hasn't had an empath Shinigami in... too long. Besides, he will be a good match for you. He has all you lack. Great defence and potential healing powers. I'm afraid he still has to be trained to use them, but that's a problem you can easily solve." Tsuzuki closed his eyes momentarily. So the newcomer had the power to save people while he only had the ability to destroy them. Maybe he shouldn't pity him but be envious instead - but envy just wasn't his thing.

"And I should like an empath, who won't have a single problem in finding out all I do, why?" he asked with suppressed sarcasm. Enma surely couldn't expect he would enjoy having around someone who could tell what was in his mind all the time.

"Empathy, Tsuzuki, isn't the same as telepathy, so your thoughts will be perfectly safe and only your feelings exposed, but I'm sure you'll be able to guard the ones you don't want to show,"(4) Enma informed him with open mockery. After all, Tsuzuki had already dealt with these sort of problems before. Not even the man's twelve Shikigami were able to tell what was in their master's mind.(5) "As for why you should like him... let's see... your partner is a boy, a cute one because I never employ ugly people(6)... with several issues about hospitals... labeled a bakemono all his life due to his power... silent and without friends... oh, and yes, he's only sixteen." Tsuzuki's eyes widened. "I see this rings a bell. Yes, Tsuzuki, he's only two years younger. So, you still think you won't absolutely adore my gift for you?" Enma asked, talking about the boy as if he was a thing.

"I will do as you order me to, Enma DaiOh-sama, of course." Tsuzuki replied, avoiding answering the question.

"You'd better keep your eyes on him as well. The boy is... well; let's say it's not sure where his loyalty lies. He was involved in a mess too large for his young mind. I would be really sorry if I had to dispose of him because he proved to be a problem." Bodyguard and spy. Well, that was why Shinigami were paired. To keep an eye on each other. He just had never been warned to keep an eye on a partner by the ruler of Meifu himself. He could deal with it. He wouldn't allow Enma to dispose of the poor boy, of course, but this could be also be used to free him from this partner before he ended up as some of his previous ones.

"I will do it, Enma DaiOh-sama," he replied simply. "I'll be introduced to him... when?"

"I figure your 'Kacho', Konoe is already waiting for you to show up to introduce you. I guess you'll be able to make up a reasonable explanation for your lateness at work which will not involve this meeting, won't you?" Enma inquired, amused. His previous right hand man had been funny, but Tsuzuki topped him by quite a bit.(7) No one would expect that the apparently harmless, constantly starved, forever late and never too bright Shinigami assigned to the Kyushu territory, a territory no one wanted, could be involved in Enma DaiOh's secret schemes. Not even Konoe, even if the man did have some suspicions.

"I will do as you wish, DaiOh-sama," Tsuzuki replied, bowing before Enma's outstretched arm managed to brush his face and leaving in the same controlled but quick pace with which he entered. Once left alone, Enma smiled to himself. Every man had a price. He was sure he had just found the one for Tsuzuki's loyalty.

"You won't get rid of your new partner, Tsuzuki. Consider it a present from me. A little pet to persuade you to accept to stay chained at my leash. I know you wish to leave and your Shikigami's affection isn't enough to keep you here anymore. Your now dead Sempai warned me. There's only so much you can stand." Enma's fingers slid on the table. "Yet I know you were never able to abandon those who depend on you, and trust me, your new partner will depend on you a lot. There's a purpose for which I made him live those three years of torture, instructed Konoe to not train him and gave him a weak physical body. The boy will never be allowed to get strong enough to guard himself, I will make sure of it. And you, Tsuzuki, will have to forever take care of him, as well as realizing my plans, of course."

To be continued...

JJ's Notes:

1. Yes, the young woman is Akamine Chizuru. In the manga it's said that Hisoka had worked at ShinKou-Cho, but when he returned there in Vol. 6 it seemed he didn't know anyone there (it's just my impression). I figure it could have happened he met Chizuru but simply didn't pay her enough attention to remember her later.

2. Oh... Ehm... I admit the idea Tsuzuki would not accept food offered by a person he dislikes came from the anime... in the manga when Muraki offered Tsuzuki some food, it is simply not shown if he ate it or not. I don't think he did but it could be just me.

3. In the manga it's said that HakuShaku often prolonged lives due to Tsuzuki's requests. Tsuzuki offered to pay for it. HakuShaku would like him to pay with his body. Tsuzuki is clearly annoyed by the man's requests and sometimes beats him around but in the end he visits him and eats what he is offered.

4. Hisoka is always labeled as an 'Empath'. However, Empathy is only the ability to perceive other people's feelings but not thoughts (that's Telepathy). Empathy also shouldn't be able to extract lingering feelings from objects (that's Psychometry). In the manga and in the anime Hisoka uses them all even if they all ended up as extra abilities of his Empathy. In this fic, Hisoka will be an Empath with latent Psychometry abilities (but since he can't control his Empathy yet, he has no idea how to use them). As for Telepathy... he doesn't have it. He will be able however to 'translate' emotions to simple sentences (feelings of happiness can be translated to an 'I'm happy'). He would also be extremely sensitive to pick up sentences transmitted by a Telepath, even one with very low Telepathic powers.

5. I'm supposing there's some sort of weak Telepathic or Empathic connection between a master and his Shikigami.

6. No idea if Enma selects only gorgeous looking people but all the Shinigami showed so far are cool except, well, Konoe and the other sections chiefs... I suppose that Enma made exceptions for them because the old look suited section chiefs better but this is just my idea.

7. Enma's idea of fun is distorted, I know.

JJ's Extra Notes:
The whole discussion between Enma and Tsuzuki was inspired by two sentences in Vol. 1.
One is the one said by Muraki about Tsuzuki: 'He's famous in the underworld. Enma DaiOh's right hand man even'. When I read it I wondered if it could be that Tsuzuki was something more than a simple Shinigami and maybe Muraki was referring to the fact he did some secret extra work under the direct orders of Enma himself. The manga never showed it but there's still the chance...
The second is when Tsuzuki said that Hisoka is 'a very special charge left in his care by Kacho'... and we all know Konoe gets direct orders from Enma. It was probably a joke, but still... it was inspiring! Plus there's the fact that they asked Hisoka twice if he wanted to be a Shinigami and Tsuzuki also implied that he was introduced in the Shokan-Ka 'by Kacho's connection' as if he had facilitations to become a Shinigami...
All this talking made me think there could have been something behind Konoe's insistence that Hisoka joins the Shokan-ka... of course that's just me. Feel free to have different opinions.

Dictionary:
-sama: "Lord" or "Lady"
Bakemono: Monster
ChiJou: Land of the Living
Cho: Office
DaiOh: "Great King". Enma's title
Enma: "Demon of Darkness". Ruler of the Land of Dead
Enma-Cho: "Office Enma". In the 5th district of JuOhCho. It's ruled by Enma himself and controls only Tokyo's territory. It hosts the Shokan-ka
HakuShaku: "Earl". Master of the Rousoku no Yakata, he controls humans' life span
JuOhCho: "Ten Kings Office". Meifu's bureaucratic organization ruled by Enma. It's in charge of judging the deceased in Japan
Kacho: "Section Chief". Konoe's title
Meifu: Land of the Dead
Nushi: "Master" or "Owner" or "Lover"
Rousoku no Yakata: "Castle of Candles". Where the candles representing human lives are held
Shinigami: "God of Death" or "Death God". Nickname for the Shokan-ka workers
ShinKou-Cho: "Office ShinKou". In the 1st district of JuOhCho. It controls Okinawa's territory
Shokan-Ka: "Summoning Division". Division in Enma-Cho that deals with summoning the dead to appear at court. It enters in action only when the souls of the dead don't go spontaneously to Meifu


Replies to reviews:

To Everyone who reviewed: Thank you! You're a great encouragement for me!

To Meritite: As I've already said in my bio and in my reply to your review to 'Somewhere I belong - Prologue' (I don't know if you've read it, anyway it's at the botton of 'Somewhere I belong - Chap. 1') English isn't my language. I always do my best but I'd be more surprised if you told me I didn't do errors than that I've done them. Next time you noticed I've made an error please tell me where.
As for the whole 1996 thing... I know in the original manga Hisoka didn't remember what Muraki did to him. In this AU, however, Muraki didn't just abuse him, curse him, erase his memories and leave. In this AU Muraki kept him (Poor Hisoka...) even if he didn't inform Hisoka that it was his curse that was causing his sickness. As a consequence of all this, once dead Hisoka couldn't care less to track down Muraki. All he wants is to be as far as possible from him. This of course affects his connection with ChiJou.
As for note 3... note 3 specifically talks of what happened after the 'Nagasaki Arc' not during it. AFTER the 'Nagasaki Arc' both Hisoka and Tsuzuki believed Muraki was dead. This wouldn't affect Tsuzuki's connection with ChiJou, but if Hisoka was connected to ChiJou only due to an unfinished business with Muraki, with his death, his connection would be gone as well and yet he could keep being a Shinigami. Since this fic supposes Hisoka has no business he wishes to finish with Muraki, this Hisoka also has no connection with ChiJou. I hope this explains why note 3 isn't false and irrelevant.

To Emelyn C. Greiser: Glad you like this!

To DarkSapphireDragon: The main pairing is Tsuzuki/Hisoka. However, you can see Enma is 'interested' in Tsuzuki and Muraki is 'interested' in both of them. I don't know if there are similar 'remakes of the Nagasaki Arc', even if I know fics that talk about Muraki keeping Hisoka or wandering around during Hisoka's last 3 years (but the ones I know cover only the 3 years before his death and do not move to the 'Nagasaki Arc'). I hope my attempt will turn out to be a good fic!

To tenshiamanda: First of all a big thank you for always reviewing my works! You've no idea how happy you make me! I hope you will like this fic as well!

To Amy Levi: I'm happy you like the plot idea. The main pairing will be Tsuzuki/Hisoka, don't worry. As for Chizuru... since Hisoka worked in ShiKou-Cho I suppose he could have met her but never really knew her (see note 1). Anyway, as far as this fic is concerned should Hisoka return back to ShinKou-Cho he wouldn't remember her and she wouldn't remember him (Hisoka wasn't exactly social and anyway he was in ShinKou-Cho only for a short time).


In the Next Chapter:
Tsuzuki and Hisoka will FINALLY meet. Will it be love at first sight or hate at first glance?
Don't grumble silently, please let me know what you're thinking of this!
Send me your comments!