Title: "Gifts - Chap. 7: Funeral Song"
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?
"I've failed you again
'Cause I let you stay
I used to pretend
That I felt ok

Just one big lie
Such a perfect illusion
I made you mine
Just to hurt you once again

I died in my dreams
What's that supposed to mean?
Got lost in the fire
I died in my dreams
Reaching out for your hand
My fatal desire"
(Rasmus - "Funeral Song")

He'd done it again. He'd failed the one he cared for.

'You should also take care to not lose someone important to you again...'

Those words echoed in his head. Muraki had warned him. The man somehow knew what had happened to him in the past and had warned him. Not to help him, but merely to rub in his failure. Muraki had painted the ceiling in blood. Hisoka's blood. Was Hisoka all right? He cursed himself, cursed Enma DaiOh, and cursed Muraki as well, and then tried to gain control of his own emotions once again. Cursing wouldn't help, but until his Tsukaima(1) was back there wasn't much he could do. He only half listened as Maria blamed herself, and tried his best to reassure her it wasn't her fault. If there was anyone to blame, it was he. He had known the boy was defenceless, he had been aware that Hisoka's empathy was more a burden to him than anything else, he had understood that Hisoka's secret fear was that the one who'd hurt him was around here, he had guessed Enma's interest in this case was due to the fact that there was more than met the eyes, he had realized Muraki was insane, he'd just... just... he... he'd been stupid, and now Hisoka was going to pay for his distraction. He had never wanted it.

It was then that his Tsukaima, a white, dove-shaped magic creature, flew back into the room and rested gracefully on his fingers, cooing at him. He smiled at the bird as if it was really a living being and not a magical artifact. Thank Kami-sama, he finally had a lead to Hisoka. His little bird-friend had done a good job. He was about to follow the white creature when Maria gripped his coat, pleading him to take her too because she was worried for Hisoka as well. Tsuzuki looked back at her. He had never been good in refusing anything to a girl. Maybe because in each girl he saw the image of his long dead sister and... He forced back those overwhelming feelings that threatened to drown him every time he thought back to Ruka(2). It wasn't time to drown in memories, guilt, longing, hopeless love, and sadness. He returned his gaze to Maria, knowing he was about to give up when he saw the girl paling. She was also feeling dizzy. Tsuzuki looked at her sadly. He knew what was happening. Disconnected from Muraki's power by his Fuda, she was starting to get weak. Soon she would return to being a corpse. He couldn't help but be sad at the thought. Maria understood what was happening as well. She gave him a sad smile.

"On second thoughts, I guess I can't come with you now, can I?" she said, trying to sound cheerful, but failing. Life was unfair. Now that she wanted to live, it had to remind her of the fact she wasn't alive anymore. Tsuzuki shook his head, smiling gently at her, sadness quite clear in his kind amethyst eyes. Such an unusual colour... she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before... oh well, now it didn't matter anymore. She sat on the couch, still smiling at him. "I guess... I'll wait for you here like a good girl then," she suggested in an even more forced, cheerful tone.

"I'll be back soon to take you," Tsuzuki assured her. He wouldn't need to, really. Soon her Reikon would leave her body and move spontaneously towards Meifu, while her corpse would likely rot in few minutes, but you couldn't just expect Tsuzuki to say that to her. They smiled again at each other in that forced cheerfulness, and for a moment Tsuzuki found himself unable to leave her. He knew what it meant to die alone and... he also knew how Maria had felt when she had died for the first time. He closed his eyes. He wasn't good at abandoning people. He didn't want to leave Maria alone, but he couldn't help her. Hisoka needed him, and even if he felt guilty at the thought of leaving her alone, his whole being was screaming that he had to go to Hisoka and that he was only wasting his time standing there with that soon to be corpse. She seemed to understand it as well.

"You have to go then," she murmured sadly. He nodded.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, before turning hurriedly and almost escaping from the window, and from the sight of the dying girl that was awakening so many memories in his mind. Ruka... He forced them back again. He would never ever get used to death, but he had no time to think about it right now. Hisoka. He had to save the youth. That was his top priority, the only thing that really mattered.

Maria followed the running Shinigami with her eyes but he was soon out of her sight.

"You're too kind for your own good, Tsuzuki-san..." she stated, smiling bitterly to herself. "Had I met you before..." She shook her head, remembering how differently Tsuzuki-san looked at her from how he looked at Hisoka-san. "I guess it wouldn't have mattered. You were kind to me, but I'm not important to you, not like..." Strength failed her as her body slumped against the couch and her eyes turned glassy. "Hurry, Tsuzuki-san. Hurry to save Hisoka-san before it's too la..." Her head rolled on her left side, her lips still open in her parting breath. Her body and her Reikon weren't connected anymore, and once her Reikon started moving spontaneously towards Meifu, like a leaf dragged by a river, what once were her mortal remains started to decay, ruining the beautiful shell that once had been Maria Won's body.(3)


It hurt. One would think that after being abused so many times it should hurt less, and yet to him it still hurt as much, if not more. It hurt. He wanted Tsuzuki, someone, everyone, to save him. He wanted... He dreamed an impossible dream, and he knew it.(4)

As usual, his empathy was driving him nuts. It happened every time he was in a state of panic. His empathy somehow reached unbelievable levels, filling him with every foreign emotion it could pick. HE found it amusing. HE. NUSHI-SAMA. HIS OWNER, HIS MASTER, HIS TORTURER. THE MAN who kidnapped him when he was thirteen because he saw HIM killing a woman. THE MAN who took him away from his house. THE MAN who abused him shamelessly for three years until he mercifully died. THE MAN who had allowed others to use him as they pleased. THE MAN who had beaten him like an animal. THE MAN who had enjoyed studying him and his empathy like a bug under the microscope.

He whimpered as HE moved inside him again. He wanted to at least be able to ignore HIS feelings, but he couldn't. They were filling him as usual, as well as the feelings of everyone nearby. He had no idea why his empathy had to get so out of control around HIM. The explanation was simple, in fact. In a desperate wish for help, his empathy was frantically seeking it in everyone else's emotions. Too bad it never found it. HE slammed his head violently back against the wall. He whimpered, but he knew better than to try to oppose resistance. 'Tsuzuki...' he thought, 'Please...' But he was so lost in the pain he had no idea what he was pleading about.

NUSHI-SAMA left him and stood, straightening HIS immaculate clothes carefully. They always carried a scent of musk and medicine, a scent that, after so many years of abuse, now always caused Hisoka's stomach to turn. The boy tried to curl up, to hide himself in the only piece of clothing the man hadn't ripped off of him - his torn shirt - but it just couldn't provide him with enough warmth, or enough cover. NUSHI-SAMA nudged him with one of HIS toes, forcing him to turn on his back. Hisoka knew better than to resist, even if he kept his head turned, tears leaking from his eyes, trying to escape HIS gaze. He wanted Tsuzuki, needed Tsuzuki, longed for Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki...

He hadn't realized his lips were moving on their own accord, mouthing the name without daring to make a sound. HE, however, noticed, and looked at him with an annoyed expression.

"What are you doing, Nyngyou? Thinking about Tsuzuki-san? I have to admit I'm surprised that you became a Shinigami, but I'm even more surprised he kept you around him. He's famous, you know? He has an amazing power; no other Shinigami has ever reached his level. He even rules twelve Shikigami, and he's rumoured to be Enma DaiOh's right hand man. Deep down, everyone in Meifu fears him, and that's why he could never keep a partner for long. Add to this that beautiful, charming look of his and those enticing purple eyes..." Muraki smirked for a second, as if savouring the memory, his feelings causing Hisoka to shudder in revulsion. "I'm surprised he's hanging around with a sorry excuse of a Shinigami like you. A boy so ruined, so cursed and so pathetically weak no one would keep you around. No one but me. Here's the only place you can return to. If I don't throw you away like the garbage you are, that is." He enjoyed the miserable whimper the boy let out at his words. Human nature was so cruel to push the boy towards his torturer, because the man also provided him with acceptance. It amused Muraki to no end, and filled him with a dark humour that pushed him to hurt the boy even more in an attempt to exorcize the ghosts of his own past when his mother... "Probably," he continued in a taunting tone, "he merely allowed you to stay with him in hope to lure me."

Hisoka squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the new wave of tears. It couldn't be true! It couldn't be! Tsuzuki... Tsuzuki... He wouldn't... Tsuzuki...

The breaking of a window startled them both, rudely interrupting their discussion and thoughts. Hisoka didn't dare look at the source of the noise, but simply curled up hurriedly, hiding his head under his arms.

"Yo, Sensei. Is the check-up over?" a voice asked, trembling with suppressed anger. He knew the owner of that voice. He knew him. He knew him. He knew his warmest and his darkest emotions but it couldn't be him, it couldn't be...

"Why, are you ill, Tsuzuki-san?" NUSHI-SAMA asked. Tsuzuki? Tsuzuki was there? Tsuzuki! Was he really Tsuzuki? He forced himself to raise his head and to look at the man who had just entered.

"Tsuzuki!" he exclaimed, feeling the desperate need to cry. "You... you... Why did you come! This is a trap!" Tsuzuki looked down at him. There was no trace of the happy, childish facade he showed when he was around the others. Hisoka lowered his head in shame, remembering his own state.

"... Did you really think I could leave you here?" Tsuzuki merely asked, and he sounded... hurt. Hisoka sobbed, his shoulders trembling slightly. Tsuzuki... Tsuzuki should have left him there... everyone else would have... no one ever came for him before... so Tsuzuki... Tsuzuki...

"Did you really come to take the boy back?" Muraki asked, lifting a delicate silver eyebrow. He knew Tsuzuki-san was rumoured to be very kind and soft-hearted, he saw personally how he had wasted his time waiting to know how a passing little girl, who had happened to faint near him, was, and yet he found it oddly ironic. How much of a caring fool could he be? Going straight into a trap for such a miserable creature like his doll? Didn't he realize people around him were just cruel, and would repay his kindness with hate and false accusations? Hadn't he, in his almost 100 years of life, learnt anything? Hadn't he too been hurt, unfairly accused, mistreated, and abused, as Muraki had been? Hadn't he too longed for revenge?

"Yes, I came to take him back," Tsuzuki-san replied to his question, in a cold, nearly hissing voice, his fury almost palpable, "Because whatever examination you're planning is going to be troubling."

Beautiful. Tsuzuki-san was beautiful as he was glaring at him, his amazing power surrounding him like a halo. Muraki could sense the mortal threat the man represented, but more than anything else he was captured by the man's beauty, by those eyes of a bloodthirsty beast fixed on him, threatening to burn a hole in his chest with their mere glare. It was beautiful, really, almost intoxicating, and Muraki would always remember it, always long for it. He offered Tsuzuki-san one of his most charming smiles, unafraid.

"Tsuzuki-san, do you know exactly what this boy is?" he asked, his voice soft and sensual even as he talked of such a trivial matter like his doll. "He's nothing more than a doll, a plaything, a cursed child that not even his parents wanted. I admit he's mildly pretty and a talented whore - as many other men can confirm, as well - but nothing more," he reported with a shrug, in a casual discursive tone, as if he was talking about garbage and not about a living being. Hisoka listened to him, curled up on himself on the floor, wishing he could just die again, and this time, get the oblivion he had so longed for. Sobs were shaking his small frame as a sense of hopelessness possessed him. He was... he was... he was nothing more than a... And Tsuzuki now knew, Tsuzuki had heard and surely he wouldn't ever keep... No one would keep him... No one... Tsuzuki... Tsuzuki...

Tsuzuki looked down at Hisoka's trembling form, his frown deepening. How could this man, this doctor, cause so much pain, be so... He turned his glare to Muraki, and if looks could kill, the man would have met a very painful death right then.

"Hisoka," Tsuzuki called. "Come here."

Hisoka blinked, not sure he had heard right, then, shyly, dared to look up at Tsuzuki. The man had reached out a hand towards him, a gesture that implied clearly that he expected Hisoka would get up and reach for it, even if his eyes weren't leaving NUSHI-SAMA, and they looked as ferocious as the ones of a dangerous predator. It was weird, but he wasn't scared by them - on the contrary, he felt nearly... protected. Safe.

"Come," Tsuzuki repeated. There was no anger, no disgust in the man's feelings for him. They still projected the same affection, the same care they had right from day one, and this made him want to cry, even harder than he had before, even if for a completely different reason. All the anger, all the disgust Tsuzuki felt was directed toward NUSHI-SAMA, who was now smiling mockingly at Tsuzuki. HE didn't think he would manage to find the strength to move and go to Tsuzuki, nor that he would have dared to try it.

Tsuzuki. The only one who had stood beside him when he was feeling sick. Tsuzuki. The only one who had cared for him to the point that he came straight into a trap to save him. Tsuzuki. He wanted to go to Tsuzuki. Stubbornly, he clenched his fists, and using a strength he didn't know he possessed, he managed to drag himself up and to run to Tsuzuki. Run. Such a big word. But he was moving, and for a moment, HE didn't notice it, busy as HE was in a staring contest with Tsuzuki, so sure he wouldn't have dared to try to move without HIS permission. Hisoka didn't care about his permission, or of the consequences of his disobedience anymore. All he wanted was to be with Tsuzuki. Nothing else mattered.

Unluckily, it didn't take much for HIM to notice his little act of rebellion and to react, but by then, Tsuzuki had already moved and pushed Hisoka to the ground, out of the way of the spell HE threw at them. They landed on the floor, hard, and Tsuzuki quickly rolled them out of the way of the second spell, then answered the attack with one of his own. Hisoka felt the tension between Tsuzuki and NUSHI-SAMA rise. They were both very powerful. It wasn't going to be an easy battle. It didn't matter to him. As long as he could hide in Tsuzuki's arms, the world around him didn't exist.

"What the hell do you want from us, Muraki! Why did you use Maria and Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked, still kneeling, holding Hisoka protectively against his chest. The boy was clinging to him, apparently unable to do anything else. He wasn't even crying or trembling anymore. Tsuzuki hoped he wasn't going into shock, and his worry for Hisoka was only increasing his anger towards Muraki.

"You don't get it?" Muraki asked in an amused tone, smiling almost innocently. "It is all for you," he said, in what looked like a purr. "If there is a problem with the deaths, JuOhCho will react. KyuShu is your zone. They will send you to deal with it," Muraki explained in the almost patient tone he would have used with a child.

Tsuzuki's eyes hardened. A tiny part of him groaned in annoyance. Great, so now he had another stalker to add to his list. The rest of him just felt guilty, and Hisoka gulped, almost drowning in the intensity of the wave of guilt he felt from Tsuzuki, as if he really believed it was his fault if NUSHI-SAMA had created a vampire and kidnapped Hisoka. He clung to Tsuzuki harder, wanting so badly to be able to comfort him, but not knowing how. He had never been comforted, and he had no idea how to do it.

NUSHI-SAMA continued talking, telling Tsuzuki his own sob story about his inborn ability to absorb other people's energy and how it pained him to be a doctor. Hisoka didn't listen. He didn't care. He had already looked more than enough times into HIS darkness, into HIS madness. However, Tsuzuki did. Tsuzuki could feel pity for someone like NUSHI-SAMA too. Oh, he wasn't forgiving HIM for what he'd done, he was merely... 'understanding'. And when HE said HE had lured Tsuzuki there because he was the most powerful and HE wanted that power for himself, Tsuzuki hesitated for a second. He didn't want all his power, he didn't want his life. Yet he knew he couldn't allow Muraki to have his power either. A man who had used Maria, sacrificed so many people, and did what he'd done to Hisoka. No, he would never allow Muraki to get what he wanted.

"WE aren't tools to soothe your wounds!" he replied angrily. "Muraki, I won't let you get away with this!" he stated, and as he did so, the area before them exploded. It didn't help much since Muraki was now protected by a Kekkai.

"You have no right to lecture me, ne, Tsuzuki-san?" the man answered, in a taunting, mocking voice. "How many have you killed, how many did you use in name of Enma DaiOh-sama?"

Tsuzuki winced inside. It was true. He was no better than Muraki, and yet he still couldn't allow the man to get away with what he was doing. Noticing Tsuzuki's hesitation, Muraki wasted no time, and summoned one of the Magami(5) under his control, a yellowish monster with several heads that Muraki called Shoki.

Too late, Tsuzuki realized what he was doing, and moved to get away from the thunder one of the three heads of the creature threw in his direction. Holding Hisoka was reducing his capability of movement, but he knew he couldn't let go of the youth. Hisoka had no way to defend himself, he was hurt and scared, and anyway, whatever Kekkai he could build in three seconds wouldn't last long against the creature's strength. Simple Fuda spells couldn't do much against a Magami that powerful... he had to summon one of his Shiki... but Muraki's 'pet' wasn't giving him the time to say the spell. Things turned worse when the Magami managed to trip him up, dragging Hisoka to the ground as well. It was time to make an important decision, and the most logical one involved getting up fast to avoid the incoming blow, and abandon Hisoka to his destiny. Alone he could face Muraki much more easily.

Tsuzuki didn't care about logic. He was going to protect Hisoka, he decided, as he shielded the boy with his own body. He clenched his teeth and didn't scream when the thunder hit him hard. It didn't kill him, he was a strong Shinigami and could take worse hits, but it was enough to knock him out, unable to move, slumping over Hisoka. Muraki frowned. He didn't like how Tsuzuki-san had protected that unworthy boy. He knew, he had always known, that Tsuzuki-san had a weakness for those who were helpless but still... it bugged him, not being at the centre of the man's thoughts. He didn't like that, he didn't want to be ignored ever again.

"Tsuzuki?" the boy, or rather, his doll, called weakly. "Tsuzuki, open your eyes! Tsuzuki!" his doll screamed, panicking and hugging the man almost desperately. Stupid boy. He had been nothing else but a nuisance to Tsuzuki-san, and now he also pretended to order the unconscious man around?

"See, Nyngyou? That's happened to him because he tried to protect something as worthless as a disobedient doll like you," he taunted cruelly. The boy had ruined his battle with Tsuzuki-san. He should have gotten rid of him as soon as Tsuzuki-san had joined them. Besides, it bugged him how his doll had disobeyed him. A puppet couldn't escape the control of his puppet master. "It's all your fault, you know. Had you stayed put on the floor Tsuzuki-san wouldn't have been hurt. Even better, had he never come here to save your worthless life, he..."

"Shut up!" Hisoka interrupted him. Muraki blinked. It was the first time his doll had dared to talk back at him in that tone. "Shut up!" Hisoka repeated, his eyes shining in anger. "Tsuzuki is stronger than that! He's the best in all of Meifu, and he would never care about you because you mean nothing to him!" he exclaimed without even knowing what he was saying. He had picked up Muraki's feelings for the man, of course, and had felt strangely... jealous?... angry?... possessive?... but... but it had been an unconscious reaction, one he hadn't been aware of. All he had wanted was to hurt Muraki for hurting Tsuzuki, but he didn't exactly know how to do it. "Tsuzuki... Tsuzuki..." his initial ardor was leaving him, making space for his growing fear and guilt. It had been his fault, he knew it. He would do everything he could to help Tsuzuki, he would give his own life to help him, but truth be told he was merely a child with no Jujutsu knowledge. They'd told him he had potential, but no one had ever tried to teach him how to use that potential. Frustration at being helpless outmatched his fear as he desperately wished he could do something, anything to save Tsuzuki. At least he had to save Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki had been the only one who cared for him. He wouldn't let NUSHI-SAMA hurt him, no matter what. Muraki smirked. The boy couldn't, and wouldn't pose a threat to him. He was going to get what he wanted and teach his doll obedience again before getting rid of him.

"Silly Nyngyou. I will tear apart his body before your eyes. I'd like to see you trembling in fear as you did during our three years of living together!" Muraki told him mockingly. Hisoka tightened his hold around Tsuzuki, refusing to let go or to be intimidated. No. He wouldn't allow NUSHI-SAMA to touch Tsuzuki. He would die first. Possibly dragging NUSHI-SAMA with him again.

To be continued...

JJ's Notes:

1. No, Tsuzuki's cute white bird isn't a Shiki. Tsukaima are created with a spell, which usually involved using a Fuda as well, while Shikigami in YnM are living beings residing in GenSoKai that are summoned by a spell. I know that in 'X/1999' the ones Subaru and Seishiro used are called Shiki as well, but in YnM it seems there's a difference between Tsukaima and Shikigami and I stick to it.

2. Ruka is Tsuzuki's sister. She's mentioned in the manga but not much info is given about her.

3. Why Maria's body deteriorated so fast? Well, once the spell that was keeping her 'alive' stopped working, her body returned to its original state. I don't know what is the exact state of a corpse after a month, but her body, due to Muraki's spell, had also been exposed to an unprotected atmosphere and the spell also 'consumed' it. As for why her Reikon now moved directly to Meifu... Reikon that don't have ties to ChiJou are supposed to do so naturally. Muraki had tied her Reikon to her body with that spell. Tsuzuki had nullified Muraki's spell. For a while she had been sustained by the power she had collected previously but once she had finished it and her body started to die again there were no more ties. Oh, yes, I know in the manga it didn't happen so fast... but I wanted her out of the picture ok? Please forgive me for this.

4. Why is Muraki abusing Hisoka when he never did it in the manga, except for that one time when Hisoka was alive? Well, in this AU he did it for the three years before Hisoka's death. It's just habit to him, a way to pass time. No romantic feelings involved. And yes, this is sick, but Muraki is insane after all...

5. Magami is written with the kanji 'Ma': 'demon' (it's the one you find also in the word 'Akuma') and 'Kami': 'God' (it's the one you find also in the word 'Shikigami'). I'm not sure if it's the canon term used for Muraki's summoned creatures but they apparently aren't Shikigami and the Italian version of the manga called them 'Demon Gods' so I will use this term to call them. And no this 'Magami' has nothing to do with the 'Magami' family you see in 'X/1999'. They're written with different kanji even if they're translitterated with the same word.

JJ's Extra Notes:
Originally Maria's 'death' shouldn't have been put here. She should have just felt weak and that was going to be all. I didn't want her to go with Tsuzuki. Ok, so in the manga she freed Hisoka from his bond but besides this it was pretty useless and risky to drag her along to that place. My only explanation about why Tsuzuki did it in the manga is that he just 'can't say no to girls'. I know it seems bad that he wastes his time being with her when Hisoka is in danger, but well... Tsuzuki is a nice and caring person and she's dying... sort of... and the two had much in common like being both suicidal, alone, and used by someone else more powerful. I just couldn't see him leaving her alone that easily. If it makes you feel better, no, he wasn't romantically involved with her even if Maria kind of had a crush on him.
To be honest in the fist volume of the manga, Muraki didn't care for Tsuzuki that much, and Matsushita-sensei hadn't thought yet at his past but well... I added anyway that Muraki found Tsuzuki fascinating, even if it is based solely on Tsuzuki's looks... and I made him bitter about his past...
If I can complain it had been complicated to deal with Muraki, because in the 'Nagasaki Arc' manga version his characterization is different from the rest of the manga. I had to modify his behaviour so that it would match the one in volume 1 as well as the one he kept in the following volumes... I'm not very satisfied with the result.
I'd like to point out that I think 'Funeral Song' is perfectly fitting for the 'Kyoto Arc' but if I have to be honest I think the whole Rasmus album 'Dead Letters' is a perfect background for YnM so...
The 'Nagasaki Arc' manga version is quite different from the anime one. Since Viz recently printed the first YnM volume I guess now there are many more people knowing this. Anyway... for those who want the basic differences...
In the manga after Muraki kidnapped Hisoka, Tsuzuki stared at the wall wondering if Hisoka was well. Maria joined him and tried to take responsibility for what had happened but Tsuzuki reassured her. Meanwhile, Muraki, after having some fun stabbing Hisoka (who was bound to a column with a Kekkai made with women's hair) with a knife, commented that the boy was already healing. He also informed Hisoka that he was the bait to lure Tsuzuki, and that they met previously under a Sakura. Back at the studio Tsuzuki's Tsukaima returned. Tsuzuki was about to leave when Maria managed to persuade him to take her too. At the same time Muraki made Hisoka remember their first meeting and how he had abused and cursed him. He'd have liked to do more but Tsuzuki came in, crashing through a window. Hisoka told him it was a trap. Tsuzuki asked him if he really thought he would abandon him. Muraki informed Tsuzuki all he did was to lure Tsuzuki. Plus he also said that he had the power to absorb other people's energy and that the loss of many patients drove him insane making him wish for Tsuzuki's power. The two started fighting. Maria freed Hisoka but the Kekkai Tsuzuki put around them wasn't strong enough to stand the power emanated during the battle so the Kekkai broke down. To save Hisoka and Maria from Muraki's Shoki, Tsuzuki is hit. Muraki informed Hisoka he planned to murder Tsuzuki in front of him. Muraki and Hisoka started talking.
So no, in the manga there's no date between Muraki and Tsuzuki, GuShoShin didn't show up and Muraki didn't use bats. He also made no attempt to flirt with Tsuzuki or inform him about what he did in the past to Hisoka. Also, Hisoka had never been about to die of blood loss (even if Tsuzuki had been worried about it).

Dictionary:
-sama: "Lord" or "Lady"
-san: "Mr." or "Mrs."
ChiJou: Land of the Living
DaiOh: "Great King". Enma's title
Enma: "Demon of Darkness". Ruler of the Land of Dead
Fuda: Short for 'Ujikofuda' ("Charm for Shrine Visitors"). Rectangular paper "charm" used to cast some spells
GenSoKai: "Illusory World". It's where Shikigami reside and it's a mirror copy of ChiJou located in JuOhCho network
Jujutsu: Magic Art
JuOhCho: "Ten Kings Office". Meifu's bureaucratic organization ruled by Enma. It's in charge of judging the deceased in Japan
Kami: God
Kekkai: Shield
Magami: "Demon God". Summoned evil creatures
Meifu: Land of the Dead
Nushi: "Master" or "Owner" or "Lover"
Nyngyou: Doll
Reikon: Soul
Sensei: Doctor
Shiki: Short for 'Shikigami'
Shikigami: "Ceremonial God". Summoned creatures with two forms (usually one is animal looking while the other is human looking) that live in GenSoKai
Shinigami: "God of death" or "Death God". Nickname for the Shokan-ka workers
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
Tsukaima: "Familiar Magic" or "Messenger Magic" or "Useable Magic". A summoned creature created with a Fuda specifically for a determinate purpose (pursuing targets, carrying messages, attacking enemies, spying)


Replies to reviews:

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

To Mitts: I'm glad you like how 'Gifts' is developing! The fic is Tsuzuki/Hisoka centered but Watari will surely have also a role in it... as for Tatsumi... he might make an apparence, I'm not too sure about this (to be honest he should have showed up in one of the previous chapters but then that part was cut).

To kaori-chan: Here's more! I hope you will like this chap also!

To Alanna Evelyn: blush Thank you!

To DarkSapphireDragon: I'm trying to update as fast as possible... sadly work didn't give me much time... Thanks for always reviewing!


In the Next Chapter:
Will Muraki kill both Tsuzuki and Hisoka or will they manage to escape him?
Don't grumble silently, please let me know what you're thinking of this!
Send me your comments!