Title: Killing Me Softly

Author: ThisbeCeyx (formerly known as yukie-chan)

Rating: PG (ratings will go up as the story progresses)

Genre: AU, Romance, Drama, Angst

Pairings: Tatsoka, Tatsu, Ori/his (other pairings will be decided on the future chapers)

Warnings: If you don't like Tatsoka, please don't read. I don't want to be getting reviews complaining about the main pairing. This is my current obsession so, live with it.

Summary: AU. Hisoka is a courtesan and a fire dancer under Oriya's supervision in Hagi. Tatsumi goes to the annual festival to follow up his investments on the said entertainment business with Tsuzuki. The story starts from there.

Important Note: Oriya would be referring to Hisoka as 'Blanche' for reasons that would be revealed as you read on with this chapter. Enjoy.


The night was still and quiet. It had been quite rude of such a prominent figure to walk out in a festivity as commemorative as this. But Tatsumi needed to escape the delirious dance of flames. And besides, the alcohol was already getting to him. He was quite a drinker himself, though never the one to openly admit it. But tonight… it was different… He was intoxicated from something that he couldn't quite decipher.

He had left his rather unsanitary partner in the comfort room after giving off a spectacular fountain of puke, much to the curses he received from the other participants. He took off his glasses and closed his eyes momentarily before opening them again, a blurred vision of the cherry grove.

Another jeering from the crowd in the not so distant tent jostled him from his moment of relaxation. Hesitantly, he put on his glasses, his vision, a perfect 10-10. But he made no move to return to the stage of attraction which was probably, as Tatsumi thought, "another rough innuendo dance made to attract more income. And more income means less production from his investments which is to say is roughly about five hundred thousand yen with a percentage of which is to…"

He sighed. He needn't have to think of those sort of calculations right now. Though it was not to mention that he actually liked counting off debts and investments… His life of insurance policies and his accounting skills truly made him live his life to the fullest.

A silent, almost hesitant chuckle came from the standoffish man who in turn had lifted his hand to muffle his second of amusement. Regaining his composure, Tatsumi ran a hand to flatten the creases on his white polo before heading back to his much dreaded moment of inspection.


"And may I present you…," came the deep voice of the master of the troupe, Mibu Oriya. He had a slightly messy hair, probably because of the mass of dark locks that tangled in the band that held his kitsune mask. "Our business' blossoming beauty and pride… Blanche!"

The crowd clapped and some of them even stood up, their faces beet red from the excessive bottles of sake served during the dance. A muffled voice came from a man who had just lost his balance as a group of men immediately stood up and caught him off guard.

Inu-Tsuzuki held his head with both of his hands or rather… paws, cursing some few men who were at fault for his fall. He walked away from the seemingly busy bullies, his amethyst eyes still piercing his uncaring offenders when suddenly he collided with someone again, pulling along a part of the person's dress.

There was big thud and his face was burning red with anger. He closed his eyes for a while, preparing himself for a violent duel with the unlucky individual. His imaginary tail froze erect on his back and ears perked up. He even curled his strong fists… er, paws… and clenched the arm of his would-be foe and opened his eyes.

There were angry screams in the background and even a group of people heading towards them but he was dumbstruck. Emerald eyes were looking straight at him and a spark of anger visible in his light hues. His cherub cheeks was ivory, lightly brushed with pink and lips that were glossed and painted red… Wait, was it painted red or was it natural, he found himself wondering.

Tsuzuki was lost in his own imaginings for quite a while and his mind spaced out to Mars. Well, who wouldn't be?

This was the messenger of seduction who played with fire a few moments ago…

A matured voice addressed him in the background as a calloused hand reached out to his right shoulder. He immediately lost touch with velvet as he was pulled roughly to his feet. His amethyst eyes soon drifted from the wheat-haired boy to the stranger.

The man's eyes lingered on him a moment longer and sized him up before stopping to gaze at his breast pocket. A look of amusement… or was that recognition of some sort that replaced his angry burning orbs? A smirk appeared on the black-haired man's face before loosening his grip on Tsuzuki's creased shirt. "So, been very excited to claim your prize that you went to get him yourself, sir?"

All confused Tsuzuki could do was nod his head in approval, quite unsure of the man's rather outrageous shift of mood. A sigh of relief came from his dry lips as Oriya, he now recognized in full limelight, completely released him. The crowd also seemed to settle down as well, much to his surprise.

His attention was drawn to the Master once again as he extended his hand proudly to his own sweaty ones. He shook hands with Oriya whatsoever as the lovely boy stood quietly on his side.

"Our troupe is greatly honored to have you here, Sir Tatsumi Seiichirou. Your investments and trust in our talents have been of a great inspiration to all of us here," the black haired man stopped, noticing that Tsuzuki was rather saying something that looked urgent but took no importance of it.

He continued, "So, it is in our great pride to offer you…" He made a gesture to Hisoka to step closer to Tsuzuki, who in turn was finding his black leather shoes very interesting.

"The beauty of heaven and hell itself… The replica of Snow White, herself…"

At this remark, the amethyst-eyed man looked up, surprised. It was by that time then that the offering leaned in and sent him to euphoria.

There was another outburst from the crowd but then, everything disappeared. He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of herb oils and blossom extracts from ivory skin. He leaned in for more contact, to feel soft petals and taste the god's sweet nectar but the boy pulled away.

Not too obviously but still, he pulled away. Of course, the audience haven't really paid that much attention to care but he felt Hisoka's resistance to the kiss.

The said boy looked away but brushed his hand against his, finally entwining them together before leading him to the crimson tent, a lot similar to where the dancers retreated to after the show.


"Do you think that it was wise, Master? He did provided us all the capital we needed to stay in business," came a coarse voice from a man who was probably in his late 40's. He was busily calculating all the money they had earned in the performance but instead of making those numbers add up more quickly and accurately, he had succumbed to using the traditional pen and paper to do the math.

The busily calculating gent was addressing his boss who in turn was holding an old Victorian doll, a faint smile on his dry lips. At first, the underling thought that the master didn't hear what he had asked or rather had chosen to ignore it when the latter spoke up, a calm voice emanating from such a domineering figure, "Why do you ask, Toroshi? Is it because of your curiosity or your doubt for my verdict?"

Oriya brushed his calloused hands on porcelain cheeks, small cracks coming through with age. The doll's hair was still perfectly kept in its primary style, curled tresses matched with perfect green eyes. On the other hand, the defendant immediately dropped his pen and quivered under his master's presence. One would know of Oriya's fury if one had spent half of his life serving his brethren.

And, unfortunately for him, he had.

With closed eyes, the black-haired man chuckled, his chin resting on his left hand while the other clutched the aged doll delicately. "But, I do not mind you asking, surely it would have intrigued anyone in the troupe anyway," he opened his eyes and lingered his gaze on his disciple.

He asked, "Have you heard of the tale of Snow White?"

Though Toroshi had slightly calmed, he shifted uncomfortably against those powerful eyes that watched its prey, "Yes, I have, Master."

"Skin as white as snow… Lips as red as blood… Hair as black as the night… It was perfect to describe the boy. Though his hair is rather in a lighter hue, why not replace it with his heart? Heart as black as the night… Don't you think that it absolutely fits him well? After all, he did try to kill me and him before and not to mention he kills for me as well…" Oriya smirked. He was a devil in pursuit of painting an angel with black wings.

"Such was his purity… He was called Blanche… 'White' in French… It parallels his raven soul…"


Chestnut hair ruffled on the night's cold breeze as Tatsumi's eyes wandered aimlessly for his companion who wouldn't have gotten too far in his drunken state. But he feared that the older man might have gotten himself into another brawl with a local Towner.

The show had probably just finished as he noticed people were already going home and he was left with a stage with a few forgotten foils of junk food at his feet. The place was in total disarray and Tatsumi was about to go mad in this particular state of disorderliness if not for a young man who was busily in pursuit of the run away rice packs, urged by the windy night.

He closed his eyes for a while as he wiped his perfectly rimmed glasses. His spectacles had gone all the way to his nose as he was wiping his forehead in annoyance when suddenly in fright of the dirty fluttering Wasabi flavored chips foil that threatened to stick into his creaseless pants if he did not move, his glasses fell on the ground. Such were the day's misfortunes, he found himself mentally thinking.

Tatsumi walked his way to an unsuspecting crimson tent, thinking that if Tsuzuki had fallen unconscious, he would probably be accommodated by his collaborator. He walked in careful but sure steps, inching his way in silence as he called out politely, "Excuse me, I am looking for a drunken friend. I was wondering if probably he may have made his way here unconsciously."

A slight sound of slow hesitant but slow footsteps was heard inside the tent. Tatsumi was surprised by the fammilar voice he heard before seeing his much missed partner.

"Ne, Tatsumi! I'm being seduced by that boy from the dance earlier! And what's more, they think that I'm you! They were planning to offer Blanche to you as a tribute to the gratitude they owe you!" Tsuzuki's voice was hushed and whispering but he had a big smile pasted on his face.

The younger man made no move to register was his partner had just said so, unconvinced, Tsuzuki led him inside the tent.


Author's Notes: Don't you just love coincidences! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter with Tatsumi's insatiable need for order. Thanks to all the reviews and I appreciate any insights that you might want to share. Amazingly, I was able to come with a chapter, only days after I've posted the first one… People who knew me from my past fics would probably be surprised…

Replies to reviews:

To Vain - Thank you very much for adding me in your Favorite Stories list! And yeah… I'm a rabid 'In The Ashes Of Jericho' fan.

To Weird Aly Evil - Ah, yes… I remember you reviewing with a couple of the fics I wrote… I'm sorry. I guess its just that I've lost motivation in continuing some of them but no fear! I'm planning to revise Lovely Ice and Sweet Adversary soon… just have to find a beta.

To My Bloody Hell, SKaddicted, Melrose Stonehaven - A longer chapter for you guys!

To Fairren - Fire dancing is a common practice in Turkish cults even before the 20th century. I can't explain the exact practice because fire dancing has a lot of other beautiful arts that goes with the simple flicker of a wrist. Some of them are used in performances to add more passion to the dance.

To Neru - Glad you think so too!

To Black Angel of Destruction - Thank you very much for the compliment! And I'm your fan too! You're quite a writer and I'm waiting for the next installment of 'Alternate Universe'.

To Chibi Rinku - Nuuuu… Me don't like monkeys…

To beautifulelf1 - Thank you very much for the compliment! Its good to hear that from a writer that I really admire. Now, don't hit me, please?


Reviews and constructive criticisms appreciated. Flames will be given to Hisoka to practice for his next fire dance. Thank you for reading!