Roleplaying

by Leareth

Subtitle: 'A Gentlemanly Conversation Take II'. An accident that under any other circumstance would be most amusing puts Tsuzuki in grave danger, and Hisoka must team up with the most unlikely and undesirable allies to rescue him. Set after Closed Doors.

2. Chapter One

Roleplaying
By Leareth

Chapter One

Hisoka looked searchingly into the shadows of the warehouse. There wasn't much to see, just the usual empty crates and bales that they had been walking about in for the last half an hour. "Nothing here," he called out.

Tsuzuki appeared from behind a stack of boxes and sighed. "Not a peep out of this end. Can't we go home?" he said plaintively, idly kicking loose bits of concrete.

"Don't do that, Tsuzuki-san," said another voice disapprovingly. Tatsumi stepped from the very back of the warehouse. The expression on his face told Hisoka that the secretary hadn't had any luck either. "You'll scuff your shoes."

Tsuzuki immediately stopped. "Sorry," he said with an embarrassed smile. He kept it until Tatsumi finally capitulated with a smile of his own.

Hisoka watched them for a moment, satisfied, before resuming his search. Things had quickly returned to normal after Tsuzuki's discharge from the hospital over a fortnight ago, with one minor difference. Tatsumi was still his usual controlling, tight-fisted self, but Hisoka, and probably Watari as well, had noticed a little softening in his attitude as of late. Especially when it came to Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki, too, seemed more at ease with his old partner. Hisoka thought it was good for both of them – and about time as well. It was good for everyone. 'Life' in Meifu had settled down, run on as normal (saving the occasional disagreement between friends) and everyone actually had a break.

Peace and relaxation could only last so long, though, for the Shokan Division, and so it was that the three of them were scrabbling around in a warehouse, tipped off by the Gushoushin that they should find – what?

Hisoka frowned as he poked his head into yet another boring storeroom. "Tatsumi-san, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Use your discretion," the reply floated back. "Anything out of place, anything out of the ordinary." Tatsumi's voice became louder as he stepped into the room behind Hisoka. Outside, Tsuzuki was curiously poking about in a crate. "All Gushoushin was able to say was that there were several reports of people dying around this area yet apparently their bodies were still alive."

Hisoka blinked. "That doesn't make sense. Are we looking for zombies or something?"

"Zombies? Wa~ah, scary!"

Hisoka was suddenly knocked over as a Tsuzuki-puppy crashed into the room and glomped him. "Gerrof!" he yelled.

Off-side, Tatsumi sighed. "Tsuzuki-san, you're making enough noise to wake the dead."

The comment only caused Tsuzuki to cling even harder to Hisoka. The boy-shinigami rolled his eyes. "So how come you're here with us, Tatsumi-san?" he asked, ignoring the puppy-tail swishing by his ear.

"Prevention of property damage. We have enough repair bills as it is."

Tsuzuki whimpered. Hisoka looked at him, then looked at Tatsumi. He believed Tatsumi's excuse about as much as he believed that Watari would succeed in his sex-changing potion.

Finally shaking Tsuzuki loose, who went and latched onto Tatsumi for reassurance about the zombies, Hisoka wandered off to the corner and looked up. There was a skylight there, framing a few stars against the midnight blue.

A few stars, and the shadow of a man's head and shoulders.

Hisoka frowned. "Hey," he called out to the other two shinigami. "There's someone up there."

Tsuzuki blinked. Tatsumi came over to stand next to Hisoka and look up. "Where?"

Hisoka pointed above. "There."

Immediately there was a scrabbling sound from the skylight and the shadow disappeared. Tatsumi's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. There was the sound of footsteps on the roof, running quickly away from the skylight in a diagonal direction. Just when the footsteps reached the wall of the room the three shinigami were in, Tatsumi gestured.

The roof collapsed. There was a yell. Lots of metal and bricks fell down. Hisoka, having had an idea of what Tatsumi was going to do, already had his shield up; a few meters away, Tsuzuki yelped and hastily did the same.

"Geez, Tatsumi, and you said you were here with us to prevent property damage!"

Tatsumi smirked. "This place is abandoned," he called out above the crashes. "We won't owe anyone anything."

Hisoka sighed. The dust had settled, and the three of them walked over to see who or what Tatsumi had caught. They blinked.

In the middle of the rubble a young man lay sprawled on his back. A very young man. Seventeen years old, jailbait material along the lines of Hisoka young man, with black hair and brown eyes. Well, his eyes would be brown if it weren't for the fact that they were dilated and swirly at the moment, and the fact that he had gold-colored contact lenses. His hair wasn't black either, at least not at the moment. The only reason they knew it was black was because of the black roots in the copper-dyed hair. In the usual tradition of adolescent-Japanese, he had tight black pants, a tight mesh-woven shirt, a black silver-studded collar, and laced-up black boots. Platform black boots.

Tsuzuki was the first to speak. "Ano, Tatsumi …" he said slowly, "you just caught a kid." Tatsumi rolled his eyes.

Hisoka inspected him. "He looks like he's on a high," he commented.

By now, the kid had regained some semblance of a cognitive state. He sat up and rubbed his messily styled hair.

"Was that an earthquake?" he slurred. Shakily he looked up. He saw Hisoka. He saw Tatsumi. He saw Tsuzuki. He stared. Then he shook his head and stared some more.

"Hey man," he said to Tsuzuki. His voice was a bit more high-pitched than they had expected with a Kansai accent. "You've got pretty eyes."

Tsuzuki blinked. "Huh?"

Hisoka stared at the kid. "You can see us?"

"Sure!" Somehow the kid managed to get to his feet. "I can see all of ya. I can see the Nii-san with the purple eyes, Mr. Glasses in the Versace suit who looks like he hasn't gotten any –"

"Why you little –!"

" – and I can definitely see you. Pretty boy."

Hisoka twitched. "Look who's talking!"

The kid ignored him and the infuriated glare Tatsumi was giving and sauntered over to Tsuzuki. His platform boots made him about half a head taller than Hisoka, so he could easily look closely into Tsuzuki's eyes.

"Wow," he breathed. "They're real."

Tsuzuki blinked. "Eh?"

"Yeah," the kid said slowly, as if making a decision. He smiled. "You're next."

Tsuzuki blinked again in utter consternation. So did Hisoka. Behind them, Tatsumi twitched.

"Excuse me," the secretary bit out. "Please step away from my co-worker."

The kid raised an eyebrow at Tatsumi. "Your co-worker?"

Hisoka decided, more for the sake of the kid's health than anything else, to change the subject. "Wait a sec, you said that you can see us, right?"

The kid gave Hisoka a withering 'Do I have to repeat myself?' look. The three shinigami stared.

"Don't tell me we have to take him back with us," said Tsuzuki, pained.

"He's probably going to die from a drug overdose," muttered Tatsumi disgustedly.

The kid blinked. "Huh?"

Unexpectedly, there was the sound of footsteps in the corridor. Slow, casual steps, like an approaching menace.

"Well, isn't this a nice party. I'm hurt that I wasn't invited."

Muraki stepped into the room.

The three shinigami froze. Hisoka's eyes widened. Tsuzuki looked like a deer caught in headlights. Tatsumi's face was hard, and the shadows around them began to stir. The kid blinked. Muraki smirked.

Strangely enough, it was Tsuzuki who found his tongue first. "What are you doing here?" he whispered.

The sensei turned to him with a suggestive twinkle in his eye and whipped out a rose from somewhere. Tsuzuki immediately backed away in fear, and Hisoka could sense memories that Tsuzuki had finally put away surfacing again. Hisoka's hands clenched into fists in simmering but impotent anger.

Had Tatsumi's eyes been daggers, Muraki would be dead several times over by now. "If you know what's good for you, you'll cease your harassment of Tsuzuki-san immediately and leave," he bit out, every word dripping threat.

Muraki shook his head with a dark smile. "Oh, I don't think so. I want to pick up what I came for."

Tsuzuki turned pale and edged further away. Muraki chuckled, twirling the rose between his fingers. "Actually, believe it or not, Tsuzuki-san, I wasn't actively searching for you. You're an unexpected bonus. No, I came for him."

He pointed the rose at the kid.

Hisoka's eyes bugged out. "What the hell do you want with him?" he demanded. Muraki being Muraki, an answer immediately provided itself to Hisoka and he turned bright red. "If you're going to –"

Muraki turned and looked at Hisoka as if he were a fly. "Still making a nuisance of yourself, boy?" he asked disdainfully. "Before you all start jumping to erroneous conclusions, I want him for the same reason I suspect the JuOhCho does." He smirked. "Though I didn't quite expect him to be so alluring."

Hisoka resisted an urge to be sick. The kid looked at all of them, bewildered. There was a long, tense silence.

Muraki sighed. "This is certainly a cold reception. At the very least, I expected something better from you, Tsuzuki-san. After all, we did –"

A shadow suddenly leapt up from the floor at Muraki's face. The doctor immediately dodged, then turned to face his attacker with a sigh.

"Tatsumi-san, I thought we've gone through this already." He raised one eyebrow suggestively. "I take it you haven't gotten anywhere?"

Tatsumi ignored the comment, though Hisoka was sure he could hear teeth grinding. "You're still walking. It offends me." Behind him, Tsuzuki was staring at Muraki with wide, frightened eyes. Tatsumi raised a hand threateningly and the shadows curled around it. "Kurosaki-kun, get Tsuzuki-san out of here."

The kid kept twisting his head to look at everyone. "What the hell?"

Hisoka grabbed Tsuzuki's hand and pulled him away. Being caught at Ground Zero between the shadow-master and the psycho doctor wasn't going to be good for their health. Seeing the gawking kid, he took hold of his arm. As he made contact, Hisoka froze.

The kid looked quizzically down at the hand on his arm, then at Hisoka. "What's with you?"

Hisoka shook his head free of the strange reading. This kid was definitely not what he seemed, but if he got killed in the crossfire that was about to start they wouldn't be able to find out what. He began to run, pulling Tsuzuki and the kid. Tatsumi and Muraki were facing off and it looked bad. "Come on!"

* * * * * * *

Tatsumi didn't bother to turn and make sure the others were out of the way. He trusted that Kurosaki-kun would take care of everything and keep himself and Tsuzuki safe. Besides, he had a beating to administer.

Opposite him, Muraki smiled. "Tsuzuki-san's looking better. Has he been sleeping well?" Tatsumi ignored him and twined a shadow about his fingers. Strangulation sounded good. Muraki smirked and continued. "I assume so. One wonders why …" He raised one eyebrow at the shinigami. "Have you been tiring him out?"

Tatsumi lifted his head. His eyes were burning.

"I warned you."

The shadows on the floor exploded out. Muraki laughed and leapt out of reach, snapping his fingers as he did so. A three-headed hydra manifested itself and reared up, spitting out a gout of flame as it did so. Tatsumi smirked as he deflected the blast into the wall where it exploded.

He was going to enjoy this.

* * * * * * *

Hisoka yanked Tsuzuki and the kid (who kept looking back to gawk) behind the dubious shelter of some crates as debris came flying towards them. He ignored the kid; Tsuzuki was moving woodenly as if in a daze. Hisoka made him sit on the floor and shook him. "Tsuzuki?" he said worriedly. Damnit, if Tsuzuki were to relapse into those nightmares he and Tatsumi had just exorcised … "Tsuzuki!"

Thankfully, consciousness returned quickly to the amethyst eyes. Tsuzuki jumped as Hisoka laid a hand on his shoulder, then let out a shuddering sigh. "I'm alright, Hisoka."

"You sure?" Hisoka knelt beside his partner, taking hold of his shoulders and looking straight at him. The emotions roiling beneath his hands were shaken and unsettled, but centred. It said more than Tsuzuki's reassuring smile ever could, and Hisoka sighed in relief.

"Whoa …" The two shinigami turned to see the kid standing watching the various explosions and monsters and shadows at the end of the warehouse (the walls had collapsed). "This is better than any anime!"

Hisoka and Tsuzuki sweatdropped. The kid turned and flashed them a grin and a peace sign. There was a dull boom.

"Oi," cautioned Hisoka as the kid started to step out from behind their shelter. "Don't go out there; you'll get hurt." Beside him, Tsuzuki muttered something about property damage and hypocrisy.

"So?" The kid inched out further, watching in fascination as the shadow nearest to him warped and twisted. "Dying's no prob with you two here. Though I'm more inclined to go with Nii-san than you. You're a cute kid and all, but seriously, what are you, sixteen? Been there, done that. Sick of being jailbait. Nah. I think Nii-san will do very well this time."

Hisoka and Tsuzuki stared. The flames cast a flickering light that danced demonically on the kid's face. "Who are you?" Hisoka demanded.

The kid slowly turned to face them. He smiled. Evilly.

That was all the warning Hisoka and Tsuzuki got before the kid flung a sizzling power bolt at them.

* * * * * * *

If there was one thing he was going to do tonight, Tatsumi swore to himself silently, he was going to rip Muraki's tongue out. After trading blows and reducing the immediate area around them to rubble the doctor had started talking again, and it was really getting on his nerves.

"Nasty, very nasty," said Muraki, shaking his head as he nudged the battered corpse of one of his summoned monsters with his foot. "You're definitely trying to kill me this time."

"How observant of you," replied Tatsumi. "Though I do hope you'll put up more of a fight than before."

Muraki chuckled. "If I recall correctly, last time you were rather . . . incensed. It was quite fun." He raised a suggestive eyebrow at the shinigami. "Shall we continue from where we left off?" In answer, a shadow lashed out at the doctor, cutting into his arm. Muraki looked disdainfully at the blood staining his white coat. "I take it no. Is it because you've been getting what you want? No wonder Tsuzuki-san looks happy."

Tatsumi simply gave Muraki a look of coldest ice. "You don't understand anything, do you."

"What is there to understand?" Muraki leered. "Tell me, Tatsumi-san, does he still cry when you –"

Another shadow, another laugh. Tatsumi gritted his teeth as Muraki dodged and stepped up his attacks. Anger is most welcome ally.

* * * * * * *

"Look out!" Tsuzuki shoved Hisoka down and threw himself on top of him as the crates blew up and wooden splinters flew everywhere. The air crackled and Hisoka's hair stood up as another bolt came flying. Tsuzuki scrambled to his feet and grabbed Hisoka's shirt, hauling him away as the kid fired off more shots and diving behind a tall stack of bales.

"Aw, c'mon, Nii-san," they heard the kid call out. "I don't wanna hurt ya. And I promise I'll take care of the pretty boy."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka stared at each other. "What's with this guy?" Tsuzuki asked.

Hisoka tried to peek out but jerked his head back as floor concrete shattered barely a foot away. Off in the distance, they could hear more explosions and crashes as Tatsumi and Muraki fought it out. "I'm not sure," said Hisoka. "He felt . . . cold. No, that's not quite it. Like . . ." He trailed off, trying to put what he had sensed into words. "Like a snowstorm. Powerful, cold, and never staying still. Am I making sense?" he asked, feeling stupid.

Tsuzuki smiled at him. "You always make sense, Hisoka."

Hisoka looked away, faintly pink. "The idiot's getting smarter."

Another explosion interrupted them; whether due to another attack from the strange 'kid' or the more dangerous battle further away Tsuzuki and Hisoka couldn't tell. They got their answer as the kid, platform boots and all, walked around the stack to face them. His grinning face was lit up by the bluish-white energy crackling about his upraised hand.

"Ok, now I know why he can see us," muttered Hisoka.

The kid leered. "Hide 'n seek's over. C'mon, Nii-san, just give in."

Tsuzuki's eyes were wary as he and Hisoka stood up in defensive positions. "What do you want?"

The kid gave a cheesy smile. "Your body."

If it wasn't for the fact that Tsuzuki had been through a similar scenario before he would have fallen over and started twitching. As it was, he just twitched. Hisoka raised an eyebrow. Seeing their expressions, the kid laughed. "No, no, not in that way. Though you are pretty enough to take to bed," he added thoughtfully, ignoring the way Tsuzuki was spluttering. "Nah, I just want your body cause it's nice. I want to use it."

The two shinigami blinked. "Huh?"

In answer, the kid threw a power bolt. Caught by surprise, Tsuzuki got knocked into the adjacent wall.

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka managed to see his partner sit up and rub his head before his attention was called away.

"I don't know what's going on with Mr. Glasses and the rose guy back there," said the kid conversationally, "but I don't really care. I'm just bored and feel like a change."

Hisoka's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

The kid lifted his hand higher. The glowing nimbus about his fingers hummed dangerously. "Live fast. Die young. Find a good looking body."

He shot a bolt at Hisoka. Anticipating the attack, Hisoka had his shield up in front of him. What he hadn't been anticipating was that the kid had aimed above him.

"HISOKA!" yelled Tsuzuki. Too late; the pile of bales Hisoka had his back against wobbled, then toppled. The boy-shinigami was lost to sight as they crashed about and on top of him.

"That's gotta hurt. Pity, he was cute," Ignoring his handiwork, he turned and smirked at the furious look on Tsuzuki's face. "Your turn."

Tsuzuki seethed, trying to judge whether Hisoka was safe and sound without success. As if he didn't have enough to worry about already; the far end of the warehouse was glowing a dull orange now with flames and he hoped that Tatsumi was doing all right against Muraki.

Muraki . . .

He quickly shoved the memories away. It was past, he had dealt with them, Hisoka, Watari and Tatsumi had helped him, it was over.

Besides, he had much more immediate things to worry about. He eyed the kid in front of him warily. The kid smirked, then raised his hands.

Tsuzuki stared as a greenish light began to flicker about the kid's body, pulsating with a muted sound as if it had a heartbeat. It quickly grew in intensity and size until Tsuzuki had to put a hand in front of his eyes.

"Don't worry, Nii-san," he heard the kid say darkly. "This won't hurt a bit."

The throbbing sound seemed to double, as if it had developed an echo that was just out of synch. It grew faster and faster until it was racing. Tsuzuki forced himself to look up just in time to see a coruscating ball of spell-energy shooting directly towards him.

Tsuzuki didn't hesitate. If there was one thing about himself that he had full confidence in, it was his powers. He drew three ofuda out of his sleeve, his face hard. Whoever this kid was, he had hurt Hisoka, and that meant he was going down.

He flung the ofuda into the path of the spell. The kid's eyes widened as he realised that his intended target had teeth.

"Oh, shit."

That was all he could say before the two spells collided. However, instead of an impressive explosion as expected, Tsuzuki's ofuda sent the kid's spell hurtling off towards the back of the warehouse. Then it exploded. Most impressively – and dangerously. The shockwave rumbled through the floor.

Tsuzuki ran over to where Hisoka was groggily rubbing his head and helped him to his feet as the roof above them began to let out some very unhealthy noises. "You okay?" he demanded.

The boy-shinigami winced a little as he touched a tender part of his scalp, but apart from that easily stood up. "I'll manage."

Offside, the kid was staring in absolute disbelief at the destruction his spell had done. "Wow," he commented. "That's the first time it's ever done that."

Hisoka blinked as he followed the kid's gaze. "Uh, Tsuzuki . . ." he said slowly. "Just where did you deflect that spell?"

"Huh?" One arm around Hisoka, Tsuzuki turned to look. Only then did he realise that the sounds of fighting from that end of the warehouse had stopped, leaving only the crackling of flames. He turned pale.

"Tatsumi?"

More flames.

"TATSUMI!" Forgetting about the kid, Tsuzuki dashed off towards the fire, Hisoka hard on his heels. Above them, the roof began to drop bits and pieces of itself. They ran faster until they were forced to stop and look.

The place was a mess, which was putting it mildly. There was burning debris everywhere and what walls that were left standing had angry holes in them. Hisoka wondered just how much of the destruction was caused by Tsuzuki, and how much were Tatsumi and Muraki's. He decided he didn't want to know.

Tsuzuki ignored the dangers and frantically began searching for his friend. Hisoka took the other direction. "Tatsumi-san!"

"Tatsumi! TATSUMI!"

It was Hisoka who spotted the motionless brown-suited form near the back of the room. "Over here!" he shouted, running towards Tatsumi. The shinigami lay on his side, eyes closed. His glasses glinted a few feet away. Even further away in the shadows lay a body dressed in bloodstained white. Muraki.

"Tatsumi!" Tsuzuki finally arrived, kneeling beside his friend and turning him over. Hisoka didn't need empathy to read how distressed his partner was. "Oi, Tatsumi, say something!"

No answer. Hisoka checked for a pulse – probably needlessly, as shinigami they couldn't be killed that easily. "It's okay, he's just unconscious," he said reassuringly. Tsuzuki didn't seem to hear him and Hisoka made a mental note to yell at his partner if he started on a guilt-trip. Suddenly he remembered something. "Where's the kid?"

Tsuzuki draped Tatsumi's arm over his shoulders and stood up, not an easy task seeing as Tatsumi was half a head taller than him. "I don't care, we'll deal with him later," he said tersely. "We need to get Tatsumi back home."

Hisoka retrieved the glasses and took Tatsumi's other arm. If it was difficult for Tsuzuki, it was even more difficult for him. Somehow between them they managed to lift the unconscious shinigami. They had just made their way to the nearest exit – a gaping hole in the exterior wall that looked as if it had been made by a huge knife – before Hisoka paused. He wasn't sure what made him look back, but he did.

"What about Muraki?" he asked slowly, gazing at the other body through the flames. The doctor looked dead, but seeing as Muraki was supposed to have died three times beforehand he wasn't betting on it.

Tsuzuki's eyes were cold, and he kept looking forward. "Leave him."

Hisoka didn't argue. The warehouse was big and well built, and the fire had only just started. If someone came to save Muraki in time, he was saved. If not . . . well, the shinigami weren't going to be particularly unhappy about it.

* * * * * * *

The first thing that Tatsumi became aware of as he slowly climbed back to consciousness was pain. It wasn't bad, just a lot of soreness around his chest, but pain was still pain and it was annoying.

He seemed to be lying on a bed. Next question; where was the bed? The last thing he remembered was breaking off as he was about to punch Muraki in the face and looking up to see something coming straight at him. Putting that together with the bed, and he concluded that he had been knocked unconscious, then Tsuzuki and Hisoka had picked him up and taken him home, or to the hospital. Since the room he was in was rather quiet, Tatsumi decided that he was at home.

He wondered how long he had been knocked out for. If his body was still injured, it couldn't have been a long time. Yet if he was in his bed, at home, in Meifu, he had been out for quite a while. And if his body was still hurting, that meant he must have been injured more than he first thought. If he had been injured that badly, then why wasn't he in the hospital?

Something wasn't making sense. Tatsumi decided to get up and find out. He opened his eyes. He found himself looking at the ceiling.

It was a completely foreign ceiling.

Carefully, he sat up. The room he was in wasn't his room, nor was it any room he knew. The décor was completely traditional Japanese, tatami mats and all. The screen doors were open revealing a garden in the same style. He had to squint a little; he didn't have his glasses on. And there was something else wrong with his vision . . .

"About time you woke up."

Tatsumi froze. That voice . . .

Slowly, he turned around. He froze. The person sitting behind him lifted an eyebrow.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" asked Oriya Mibu. "Aren't you going to thank me?"

Tatsumi stared. Then his brain started working again.

"You!!" He scrambled out of the bed – futon – and to his feet. Oriya looked startled. "What am I doing here?" Tatsumi demanded. "What's going on?"

Oriya blinked. "What do you mean, 'what am I doing here'?" he asked. "Isn't it obvious?"

Tatsumi glared. "No."

Oriya took the pipe he was smoking out of his mouth and gave him a Look. "Y'know, usually when someone rescues you from a burning warehouse and bandages you up you're supposed to be grateful."

Tatsumi's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? Where's Tsuzuki-san?"

The sword-master glared. "Are you still going on about Purple-Eyes?" he said in exasperation. "Fine. If you really must know, I don't know where he is. I assume he and his friends went home. Happy?"

Tatsumi stared. Tsuzuki-san and Kurosaki-kun had gone back to Meifu and left him? "You're lying."

The exasperated look became even more exasperated. "You know I never lie to you. Personally I think you'd ought to be thankful they just left. Considering what you've done to them I wouldn't have been surprised to find you gutted instead of knocked out."

"What I've done to them?!" Tatsumi glared and pushed hair out of his eyes. It was much longer than what he was used to wearing. "Don't you mean what your perverted friend has done?!"

Oriya stopped. He stared. Suddenly he grabbed the sheathed katana lying beside him and whipped it out, pointing the tip at Tatsumi's throat.

"Alright," Oriya bit out. "Who are you and what have you done with Muraki?"

Tatsumi tried not to flinch. Having a sword-point just underneath your chin is always disconcerting. "What do you mean, 'who am I'?" he retorted. "You've met me before, you know damned well who I am."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." The sword-tip pressed closer. "Where's Muraki?!"

"Why are you asking me? He can be dead for all I care! I swear, the next time I see that hentai's face I'll –"

Oriya stared. Something in the man's eyes made Tatsumi fall silent. Suddenly, the katana was lowered and sheathed. Oriya grabbed Tatsumi's arm and dragged him to where a mirror was hanging on the wall. Tatsumi spluttered.

"Get your hands off of me you –"

Oriya shoved him in front of the mirror. His face was unreadable, and he spoke one word.

"Look."

Tatsumi glared at him, about to shout something about being ordered about, when he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror.

He stared in shock.

Muraki's face stared back at him.

It took a moment for Tatsumi to find his voice. Then,

"WHAT THE HELL?!?"

* * * * * * *

"I think he's waking up."

"About time."

"Tatsumi?"

Something wasn't right.

"Tatsumi, you okay?"

Something definitely wasn't right.

"Stop bugging him, you stupid puppy."

"Sorry. Tatsumi?"

Slowly, Muraki opened his eyes. He blinked as he saw his company. The Brat, the crazy blond shinigami and Tsuzuki sighed in relief.

"Finally." Tsuzuki smiled at him. "You're okay."

Muraki stared. The sight of Tsuzuki actually smiling at him was amazing. Plus it gave him even more sex appeal.

The smile was also the first thing that confirmed for Muraki that things weren't quite what he expected.

"What, no hello?" Muraki turned his head – he was in what was apparently a hospital bed – to find the blond shinigami glaring at him. "You've had us worried sick, y'know."

"Leave him be, Watari-san," said the Brat. "Are you alright, Tatsumi-san?"

Muraki mechanically nodded. Hair fell into his eyes in a different way then he was used to; he lifted a hand then paused. His hair was light brown.

"Tatsumi?" Before Muraki could react, Tsuzuki leaned over and placed a hand on his forehead with a concerned expression. "Are you alright?"

Muraki didn't answer. He was having too much fun looking down the open collar of Tsuzuki's shirt.

At the end of the bed, the Brat glanced at the clock. "It's getting to the end of break, we'd better head back before Konoe-san sends someone to look for us."

"Oops, yeah, he was saying something about a meeting." The blond shinigami stood up and gestured to Tsuzuki. "Oi, Tsuzuki, let's go, you can coddle Tatsumi later."

Tsuzuki looked away from Muraki's eyes, mouth open in protest, then he saw the Brat giving him a Look. "Fine, fine, I'm coming." He moved away from Muraki and joined the others at the door before turning back with a wave and a smile. "I'll bring some cake back for you, Tatsumi!"

Muraki could only nod at this. Things were beginning to make sense, as strange as it were.

The Brat, the blond shinigami, and Tsuzuki left. They shut the door behind them.

Slowly, Muraki eased himself out of bed. This was definitely a hospital of some sort, and as a hospital doctor he knew the general layout. He made his way to where the equipment was kept. He found a mirror and lifted it to see his face.

Rather, Tatsumi's face.

Muraki gazed into the mirror for a long time. Then he put it down. His blue eyes turned to the door through which Tsuzuki had gone.

He smirked.

"This will be . . . fun."

Behold, the Void @