The lake had lost nothing of its beauty. It was a dark blue, calm water that reached peaceful depth where sunlight only rarely touched it. Like fingers the light stabbed through the surface, broken by molecules, thinning out until there was only twilight. Water plants reached up from the grounds, stretching toward the surface, their thin membrane leaves almost transparent where the sun touched them. Schools of glittery, silvery fish darted away as a newcomer entered their territory.

Sleek, athletic, with powerful strokes of arms and legs, the human form swam through the underwater world. Red eyes, barely discernible as such in these depths, took in the hidden beauty of the lake waters, followed the fish as they darted toward a bunch of plants, then angled sharply to the left and followed their unseen paths through this silent world.

Nothing disturbed him down here.

Nothing entered his mind but the calmness, the peace, the distance of everything. He was alone down here, and he preferred it to the bustle of the world outside.

Terazuma swam toward the ground, then let himself drift up again to breathe in air. Shinigami had abilities that went beyond that of a human and holding their breaths for a long time was part of it. Powerful strokes took him to the shore and when he came closer he discovered he had a visitor.

A well-known, very familiar visitor.

And his body tingled.

It had been close to three weeks by now. Three weeks since he had left GensouKai and Sohryu, three weeks since he had experienced the betrayal. Now, looking at the casually dressed man holding out a robe to him, Terazuma was surprised to feel little of the initial anger. There was a longing, mixed with wariness, and the need to understand.

Sohryu. The dragon. Tsuzuki's shikigami.

At the thought of his colleague the anger bubbled up.

Yes, his main problem was Tsuzuki's claim of possession on this man.

Terazuma slipped into the offered robe and wound it around his damp body. No words were lost as both men climbed the slight incline to a spot that had been their favorite meeting place for weeks.

They sat together, not looking at each other, gazing out over the lake. It was still warm, the breeze moving the leaves of the ancient trees around them, and despite his tension, Terazuma felt the relaxing atmosphere take effect. This was a place he remembered as nothing but peaceful, as a place of learning and relaxation, of calmness and quiet. Swimming had helped, too.

"Why did you come back?" Sohryu finally broke the silence.

"Wish I knew," he snarled.

Blue-gray eyes glanced at him and Terazuma had difficulty seeing the elaborately dressed being, the statesman, in the currently simply dressed man at his side. A man he had seen in all his glory, who had touched him so deeply, who had changed so much for him. For the better.

"What's your problem with me, Hajime? That I'm the leader of my people or that I'm Tsuzuki's?"

He huffed. "Do you know how it feels, Sohryu? To find out who you are? To find out the lies behind the pretty façade? You deceived me!" he spat. "You knew who I was! I told you my story! And you conveniently forgot to tell me the little fact that you're not only a God but also Tsuzuki's shikigami!"

Sohryu met the rage with his usual calm. Like he had met so many emotional outbreaks from Terazuma. "So the problem is Tsuzuki," he cut the rant down to the core.

"Of course he is the problem! He always was the problem! That no good, lazy moron!"

A tilt of the head. "Why do you dislike him so much that it cuts into your private life?"

Terazuma glared, feeling the old anger rise. "Because of what he is! How can you serve such a lazy ass? He has an incredible power at his disposal! He is one of the strongest shinigami I ever met! But what does he do with that power? Nothing! He could be in charge of Tokyo now, but he decides to spend his time eating sweets, taking care of a few easy cases in Kyushu, and bumbling around the office! His reports... don't get me started on that! And he has twelve Divine Commanders, four of them Gods... Tell me why he has such power and doesn't use it?"

There was a silence that stretched until Terazuma was about to launch into another rant, when Sohryu stilled him with a simple look.

"You have known Tsuzuki for close to three decades now. But still, you never got to know him, Hajime. You know little of his soul."

"I know he has power and is just too much of a coward to use it," he grumbled, chewing on an unlit cigarette.

"Have you ever felt that power?"

He huffed.

"You did once. In the library. We faced off against each other. Granted, it was me he called and I fought Kagankokushunkei, but we met that day. Our combined force leveled the new library building."

Terazuma looked away. He barely remembered that incident. The Black One had taken over and Wakaba had turned him back again. It had been embarrassing. Tsuzuki just sparked something inside him, a fury that couldn't be controlled. The man had such potential to do more... and he wasted it!

"Tsuzuki is strong. He conquered twelve of us," Sohryu went on. "I actually challenged him back then. I was furious at his audacity to master two gods, and I thought I could beat him. I nearly killed him and myself in turn. But he stood up against me, he remained standing, battered and broken and bleeding, he showed me what is inside that innocent form, that apparently gentle and child-like man. He beat a dragon, Terazuma, a God. He beat four of us."

He defiantly stared at the ground. Tsuzuki was a bumbling idiot, nothing more, nothing less!

"His power is lethal, Hajime. It can consume him. It eats away at his soul, wants to be unleashed, but he is afraid of killing people. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. And he could. He could level everything if he ever let go. He could destroy what we love and it would break him. There is a fragile balance inside him, maintained by a soul that is so much stronger than what you can see." Sohryu's voice was soft as he told him this. "I saw into that soul. I love that soul. I protect his innocence."

"He's an angel of death!" Terazuma growled. "His job is to take lives!"

"As is yours. Tell me, do you like it? I don't think so. All human life touches you. No shinigami is immune to it. Tsuzuki even more so. He's sensitive in a way that he built walls around him, that he lets you see what he's safe to project. We, his shikigami, have seen what lurks behind it. We see the contradiction he is, the riddle, the enigma, and we love him."

"Why are you telling me all of that?"

Sohryu smiled a little. "Because I want you to understand."

"I understand Tsuzuki very well, thank you!"

"No. You only touch the shields and you see what he wants you to see. You see a man who hasn't made an attempt to rise up the career ladder. You see a man who adores sweets, who acts like a child, like a puppy, and you wonder why he can command us shikigami. You do not see the person who died so long ago, that suffers, that tries to find stability. You do not see the darkness in him that threatens to devour him. You do not see the man who never lived, who only suffered, who continues to evade the people around him. You are challenged by him because the alpha inside you can feel the alpha hiding behind that soft façade. You can feel his challenge. And you react."

Sohryu sighed softly, sadness tingeing his voice.

"Just like me. I challenged what I saw and I failed to see beneath the surface. Appearances can be deceiving, Hajime. Tsuzuki is compassion and kindness and protection. He protects the souls he has to bring in, he protects his partners and friends. He protects them from others and from himself. You call it incompetence, slacking off, failure. I call it the greatest strength there is. Tsuzuki loves with all his heart, he would go through the fires of hell for his friends and colleagues, and he has.
Unconditionally. That is the man you need to find underneath all those layers."

Silence fell and Terazuma tried to wrap his mind around the words, around Tsuzuki. He knew little of his colleague, granted, but he had never tried to get to know him.

"I am his," Sohryu jolted him a little. "I am loyal to him, I love him. He is my friend. I will protect him, I will serve him, Hajime. But my bond to Tsuzuki has nothing to do with what I shared with you. Nothing at all."

He gritted his teeth. "Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because what difference does it make who I serve? What difference does it make who I am? I came to this place to relax, and I found you." Sohryu regarded him calmly. "I liked you from the beginning, Terazuma Hajime, and what we shared was wonderful. I found you a relaxing companion and I had hoped you felt the same. If you had truly wanted to know who I am, why didn't you ask more questions?" he wanted to know.

Terazuma bit his lower lip. Yes, why? Good question. "Dunno," he muttered.

"Because it doesn't matter."

"It does!"

"Because of Tsuzuki."

He met the blue-gray eyes, lost. "Yes... no... I don't know any more!"

"Why did you come back, Hajime?" Sohryu asked once more.

Silence. He watched the lake, wishing he could immerse himself in its calm waters forever.

"Why?" Sohryu whispered.

"I wanted to see you again," he murmured.

"Why?"

"I wanted answers."

"Why?"

He glared at the dragon. "Because! Stop asking stupid questions!"

"Stop behaving like a pouting child. You are worse than my own children!" Sohryu replied with a little sliver or sharpness.

Terazuma growled. "I'm not a kid!"

"Oh really? Then why do you behave like another boy took away your favorite toy?" There was a seductive glint all of a sudden and Terazuma cursed his body for the tingle it sent through him at the words. "Tsuzuki is not my lover. He is my master. I love him, I serve him, but I do not bed him. You, on the other hand..."

And then he was pushed back, a suddenly very aggressive Sohryu leaning over him.

"You," the shikigami whispered, "you, I bed."

Lips met in a less than tender kiss and Terazuma dug his hands into the lush hair, giving as good as he got as two men battled for dominance of the encounter. He felt the Black One stir, growl his approval, and he fought the tongue in his mouth, pushing back. When they finally separated, neither man a winner and neither a loser, Sohryu's face radiated sexual aggression. He licked his lips and Terazuma found himself growing harder still.

He had missed this. He needed this. It wasn't... no, it wasn't love. It was need. He wanted this man and knowing who he was had sent him into a spiral of anger and rage. Sohryu was Tsuzuki's, was his shikigami, but Terazuma wanted him, too. The alpha inside him laid a claim to this handsome man.

"Hajime," Sohryu murmured, fingers playing through his hair, caressing the tips of his ears, making him shudder.

Lips met again, gentler this time, the contact deeper. Sohryu blanketed his body, he felt the warmth all around him, the hard evidence of the shikigami's desire, and Terazuma's own hands wandered over the delightfully sinewy body, coming to rest on the curve of the hip, slipping closer to the tight cheeks of his behind.

"We can stay here," Sohryu breathed, one finger teasing his sensitive ear. "Or we can continue this on a nice, large bed..."

Now that ear was licked and his nerve endings were on fire, a prickling feeling spreading over his skin.

"Bed sounds nice," he managed, groaning as that wicked tongue licked over the tip, knowing very well what a hot spot it was. "Shii-it! Sohryu!"

Sohryu chuckled and left the tortured ear alone. He kissed him again, licking over his lips. The shikigami withdrew slowly, deliberately brushing over his body as he sat back. Terazuma felt shivers race through him at the sight. Desire boiled up inside of him as he looked at the man, a Sohryu so different from the regal, imposing ruler of GensouKai he had only once seen. The image had burned itself into his mind, looking at the representative of a realm, the serenity, the majestic power. Now it was just a simple man.

No, not simple. Very much a proud shikigami, powerful and striking in his appearance.

I missed you, he thought dimly. Even in my anger and disappointment, I missed you. And I want you so badly...

When Sohryu rose he followed, catching the taller man in his arms and demanding another kiss. Desire multiplied, taking his breath away. It quickly grew out of hand, both men stumbling back against the near-by tree. Terazuma's hands glided over the firm behind, catching a moan from the shikigami, and he smiled evilly.

"Hajime... stop..." Sohryu whispered.

"Or what?" he teased.

"Or we won't make it to bed..."

Terazuma ran a firm hand over the bulge at the front of the dark pants. His grin grew.

"Just to take the edge off," he whispered hoarsely, taking advantage of the turning tables.

The dragon gasped, head thrown back, as he deftly slipped into those pants. Sohryu didn't last long. Neither did Terazuma when those wicked hands of his lover retaliated.

They leaned against the tree, Terazuma blanketing the taller man, riding out the waves of the climax.

"Now... we can leave," Terazuma murmured, nibbling at an exposed collar bone.

"Devil," was the softly whispered reply.

A gentle kiss followed and Terazuma enjoyed the loving contact, letting it soothe his electrified nerves.

"I think we need a bath first," the shinigami remarked, smiling a little.

"Definitely. How about dinner?" Sohryu asked as they stripped and walked into the lake, both unconcerned with their mutual nudity.

"Is that a date?"

A wicked gleam. "It is."

Terazuma ran gentle fingers through the long hair he loved so much, water droplets clinging to the strands.

"A date, hm?" Something jittered through him.

A date...

It sounded... wonderful.

Sohryu pulled him close, water lapping against their bodies, and he kissed his lips, his jaw, his throat. Terazuma closed his eyes, arms wrapped around the other man, enjoying the sensation of holding him, of having him in his arms, of being with him.

The lion purred in delight, lazy, stretched out in his mind, eyes half closed in satisfaction. Its emotions were clear. It approved of what had happened, of what would happen throughout the night, and it was happy.

Terazuma smiled to himself. He would never have thought that it would be important for him that his shikigami felt happy. Now it was. Very much so.

tbc...