He didn't need this.

He -- didn't -- need -- this!

He was perfectly fine. Always had been, currently was, and always would be!

The tall, dark-haired man stalked across the impeccable lawn, ignoring the beautiful, landscaped trees and bushes, glaring at whatever got in his way.

He didn't need a vacation! He was fine! And he especially didn't need a vacation in this place!

Glaring at the sky he wondered how he could get home without his partner noticing, without his baby-sitter noticing...

Weeks in this rotten, damned place. Time to 'unwind', as his partner had put it.

He was unwound, darnit!

What he needed was less of Tsuzuki Asato! The man drove him nuts. He was a constant nuisance, a source of anger and dismay. Why did he have twelve shikigami at his command when he chose to wile away his days in the office, eating sweets and making others do his reports? Why had no one ever downgraded him from angel of death to whatever he might possibly be capable of? Because one thing was for sure, Tsuzuki was no worker. He was a lazy moron with half a brain and way too much leniency.

Red eyes glared on.

He had never liked the man and he wouldn't start doing so ever. Tsuzuki was a thorn, a shame of the department. How could Enma-Daiou ever have chosen this... this moron? This dim-witted idiot?

"Okay, here we are."

He looked at the palace in front of him and huffed. Oh hell, his youth hostel, right?

Terazuma Hajime was not in a good mood. He rarely was anyway, but today his mood had taken a dive for the worst. Endless days in GensouKai. Endless days surrounded by shikigami. And that was supposed to help him with his so-called problems?

He had no problems, thank you very much! Aside from a way too cheerful partner and an incapable colleague.

His baby-sitter, to top it all of, was a shikigami in the service of his despised colleague. Byakko had greeted him, smiling brightly, radiating unrestrained energy and life. Shit, he hated cheerful people!

Terazuma grunted something in reply to Byakko's announcement.

Weeks.

He could do a few weeks among shikigami. He didn't have to talk to them, he didn't have to even like them... he could do this.

° ° °

Terazuma was frustrated.

One day in GensouKai had started to wear him thin. Thinner than usual, that is. The Black One was growling at him, close to the surface like he only was on rainy days, and it was getting harder and harder to push away the anger and helplessness and frustration.

Why was he here?

Because Wakaba thought it would help him get in touch with his shikigami. Because things had gotten out of hand, transformations had multiplied, and Terazuma had developed a chain-smoking habit. Every little thing irked him. Everything was too much.

And the pressure of the Black One inside him grew.

The shikigami lion reacted to his rising stress level, wanted to get out and protect him from an invisible enemy that couldn't be fought by brute force, and Terazuma felt his strength wane.

After a particularly nasty encounter with Tsuzuki which had ended with him transforming, Tatsumi had had enough. He had forced the vacation on Terazuma, with Konoe agreeing to it, and Wakaba had happily helped. All his protests that he was needed, that there might be cases to handle, had been deflected. If there were too many cases for all the remaining seventeen shinigami to handle, Terazuma would be called back. But only then. Not any sooner.

Of course, Tsuzuki was involved in a way. He knew close to all shikigami in GensouKai center and Terazuma had been given a baby-sitter while he was here. Terazuma was to stay with Byakko and find a way to unwind.

He snorted.

Right!

Partners, he mused grumpily, who needed them? Not that he didn’t need Wakaba, she was the one pulling him back when the Black One took over. He hated that, hated that he needed someone... and of course the impossibility to touch people, to be touched. He had no idea what triggered his shikigami that way, why the black lion felt the urge to protect him when a woman came near... but it was frustrating!

Okay, so he could be touched by a man, but Terazuma Hajime didn’t feel attracted to guys, uh-hn, no way! Especially not to a certain violet eyed colleague who drove him to insanity with his incompetence... he growled at the very thought and threw himself under a tree near a quiet little lake.

Damn shikigami! Who needed them anyway?

He hadn't wanted the lion. He had never wanted a shikigami. Becoming stronger through a shikigami wasn't true strength; he would never rely on such an addition to his own magic as a shinigami. But he had been forced to join with the parasite and had had to live with the fallout ever since.

Tsuzuki had twelve of them, non-parasitic, and what did that say about his strength? Overcompensation or what?

Another snort.

Staring off into space Terazuma cooled down a little, allowing his thoughts to stray, and closed his eyes, enjoying the warm summer breeze that ruffled his hair.

Something splashed.

Opening his eyes Terazuma's breath caught in his throat for a second when he watched an apparition step out of the water of the lake. Tall and slender, yet with well defined muscles, the long blue hair glistening in the afternoon sun the man shrugged off some droplets before he stepped toward a robe that had been draped over a nearby bush. Intense blue-gray eyes regarded him, and Terazuma blushed, suddenly realizing that he was staring at the naked man.

Sliding into his robe the man watched him curiously before he sat down just beside him. Terazuma felt the heat rise in his face again and looked away, everywhere but into the man's face.

"So, you found my hiding place," the man said in a pleasantly rich baritone voice that, in addition to the proximity, made Terazuma shudder a little.

"Sorry," he mumbled, fishing for his cigarettes and lighting a new one.

"Don't be," the man answered levelly. "It's rare that I have such nice company."

Terazuma coughed.

The stranger regarded him thoughtfully. "You shouldn't smoke, especially not when carrying a shikigami. But I suppose you know that already."

"Yeah, I know that," was the dismissive answer and Terazuma defiantly took another drag from his cigarette.

Of course he knew his shikigami didn't like smokes. Ever since he had gotten that damned lion his senses had become sharper than normal people's. But he suppressed them. He didn't need those advantages to work his job. In the process, he had alienated himself from the shikigami he carried and his colleagues.

Who needed them anyway?

Terazuma shot the stranger a dark look. Thank you for reminding me!

"How come you're carrying a parasite shikigami? That costs lots of energy and isn't always harmless."

"I wasn't asked," Terazuma growled.

No, he hadn't been asked. He hadn't been told what would happen. He had had no idea. As for the energy... well, he managed.

Again he was given a strange look. "Kagankokushunkei," he murmured. "Odd."

Terazuma stared at him, the cigarette almost dropping from his open mouth. "You know his name?" he blurted.

That got him a smile. "Of course. I can feel his presence, his aura. There aren't that many parasitic types in GensouKai with that strength. I just can't place you, shinigami. News of such a union travels fast, especially when a parasite is involved."

"I didn't choose that cat!" Terazuma spat. "I inherited him and now he's making my life a living hell-- for all eternity, because unfortunately I'm a shinigami! I can't die. And I can't get rid of him either!"

Another long look, then the stranger nodded. "That sounds as if you have a problem."

"You have no idea..."

"Why did you inherit him?"

He refused to answer.

"Parasites are by nature very protective of their hosts and for them to jump to another, the prior host must have either died or been ascended."

Why couldn't the guy shut up? Terazuma raged silently.

"Usually, when an ascension happens the shikigami is set free in GensouKai. Since that didn't happen with you that makes me consider another option. His first host died."

"I didn't kill him!" Terazuma snarled, "if that's what you want to know! I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time! I was stupid! I was conned into this and now I can't back out again!"

He erupted from his place and shot the shikigami a dark glare for bringing up that particular topic, for even asking him about his shikigami, for simply existing.

And then he turned on his heels and left without so much as a good-bye.

Anger and rage boiled through him and the Black One moved restlessly. Terazuma gnashed his teeth, started to walk more briskly, until he finally broke into a run.

He ran for a long time, finally out of breath, his mind blank and still upset.

It wasn't until sunset that he returned to the palace. And it wasn't until the very early morning hours that he found a measure of rest.

tbc...