God, the monster that is chapter five is finally here. It took me forever to write this. Thanks to all who reviewed chapter 4, sent nice emails and basically are still following this story. You are the reason I still have breath to go on.

Interesting note, I think Watari might have slipped one of his potions into my drink or something. I keep putting him center stage here.

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The Trial – Chapter Five

Aspirin was an ingenious invention yet still not quite there. Watari made a mental note to do some research on the drug later on to see if he could increase its effects. For now, however, he had to make do with the original formula as he walked around Tatsumi's office passing pills to different individuals in need. There would be plenty of time for pleasant lab work later. His main duty now was playing doctor to the whole office and handing out pills to a crew of traumatized coworkers. There were quite a few of them too so the bottle was getting rapidly empty.

They had all gathered in Tatsumi's office. Not just because it was the most organized office in Enmacho with the largest number of comfortable furniture, but because Tatsumi himself had retreated there. Even beaten and hurt the secretary was a beacon of strength for the rest of them, the crutch they could lean on when things got too rough. It didn't matter that Tatsumi himself was lying on a couch with his head covered by his arm. Everyone who had experienced the horrible proceedings that afternoon had followed him to the room, even Konoe-kacho who was supposedly still in charge. Perhaps it was out of a false sense of protection too. The secretary had been the only one to stand up against the fearsome Isorou and it only made sense that the weaker ones would reflexively seek the shelter of his wings.

Watari looked around to see if everyone was served their painkillers. He had been smart enough to run to the lab and get them before rushing to Tatsumi's office, initially only to give some to the secretary who seemed to have been done for badly by the prosecutor. He hadn't expected to face a crowd of needy people. Wakaba was there, sitting on an easy chair holding her not-quite-healed ankle in her hand with Terazuma fuming over her head. He, of course, was pissed because he couldn't do anything to help her without risking to unleash his inner beast. Hisoka was sitting on the floor in a corner and leaning against the wall. The GuShoShins were watching over him (Watari had left the boy in their care before going after the aspirin) And Konoe was behind the desk, wearing the same shocked look he had during the trial and now seemingly trying to uncover the hidden mysteries of Tatsumi's desk top by outstaring it. Tatsumi himself was lying flat on his couch, one arm flung over his eyes, the other dangling from the side of the seat. He wasn't in a good mood at all. Watari hesitated a bit before approaching him with a glass of water and two little white pills.

"Tatsumi-san, I've got some medicine here… you wanna take them?"

The man didn't respond, didn't even acknowledge his presence. Well, that wasn't entirely unexpected. Watari rolled his eyes and quietly placed the water and the pills on a small table next to the couch. He then walked over to Hisoka who was curled up onto himself on the floor. The elder GuShoShin was quietly talking to him but the boy was so pale and out of it, the scientist doubted he heard a word. Poor Hisoka, he thought. This must be especially painful for him. With his strong empathy, he would not only have to endure his own grief, but also feel the thoughts and worries of the rest of the office. Sadly there wasn't anything Watari could do for him. Konoe had made the right decision to keep him away from the others and maybe that was what Watari should do too even though, looking at the small figure huddled by the wall, it seemed almost impossible. And what if it was the wrong choice? What if sharing his pain with the others was actually good for the empath? Konoe certainly wasn't objecting to the boy being in the room and Watari who didn't claim to be an expert in empath psychology didn't know any better so he decided to let it be.

Speaking of the chief, the blond turned and looked at him sitting at the desk. Konoe seemed to be completely absorbed in his own world. He was looking at the desktop but occasionally made abrupt hand movements and muttered something under his breath like he was berating himself. Watari looked down at the last of the aspirin pills left in his bottle and shook his head. It wouldn't help to drug up the chief any more; he already looked quite stoned.

His eyes traveled to the window and the darkening sky outside. There was someone else...someone out there that needed the painkillers badly. Watari's chest tightened at the thought. How much pain must he be in right now? How frightened must he be after the way he was treated by those bastards? He remembered, with painful clarity, the poles and the barbed wire that had curled around Tsuzuki's body making him grit his teeth to suppress his scream. He remembered crimson stains on white, crisp cloth before he had to drag Hisoka away lest the boy did something to make things worse. Poor Tsuzuki, how he must have felt. Watari wasn't even sure his friend was aware of anything. And they had left him there. Cold, lonely and in pain. Was that really the right thing to do?

He heard a moan form behind and looked over his shoulder. He saw Hisoka hugging himself tightly and the elder GuShoShin looking up at him with daggers in his eyes. 'Oh crap!' he thought, realizing what he'd done. Hisoka was a powerful empath and in a situation like this, when their thoughts and feelings were so in sync, Watari's moping had seeped out into him to make his own pain ten times worse. He said a quiet 'oops' and reminded himself to be more careful around the empath and have a better reign over his emotions. In any case, it was time to check on another patient.

Watari crouched down next to Hisoka and lifted the boy's chin. Jadeite eyes opened to regard him with a tired, almost resigned, expression. The blond boy had dark circles under his eyes and lines of pain were etched into his face. His look was pained and the tears still had to dry on his flushed cheeks. Had he been weeping all this time? Watari straightened and walked to the water cooler in one corner of the office to get him some water. Returning to the boy's side, he handed him a cup. Hisoka looked at it for a while before visibly pushing himself to take it. He sipped a little bit as if obliged, then put the cup aside folding into himself once again.

"Hisoka!" Watari called gently.

"Leave me alone, please," the boy replied.

"You will get a backache if you keep sitting in that position for long."

"Yeah," the boy smirked, "and I bet Tsuzuki gets one too if he keeps *his* position out there for too long. But I forget, starving to death and bleeding dry will finish him sooner anyway. Then again, who cares about that, ne?"

Everyone except Tatsumi looked at them. Watari bit his lip. Not that he hadn't seen it coming. Sooner or later someone would have brought up the subject on everyone's mind. Hisoka's words had broken the string that had kept the shaky silence intact and now, Watari knew, what would follow was nothing short of a flood.

Wakaba spoke first.

"Poor, Tsuzuki-kun. He looked so lonely and scared when we left him. I think what we did was mean, wasn't it?

"We couldn't have done anything." Terazuma countered sourly.

Wakaba looked up at him. "But we could have talked to Isurou-sama. I'm sure if we'd reasoned with him-"

"Hah, reasoned with that evil son of a hellfire demon? I'm certain he would've taken a delighted in making more barbed wire scarecrows in front of the office..."

"Terazuma-san!!" Wakaba scolded, steeling glances toward Hisoka and Tatsumi who could obviously hear every word.

"Please, let's not worsen the nerves," one of the GuShoShin pleaded, "I'm sure Konoe-sama has a plan to rescue Tsuzuki-san. Don't you, Konoe-sama?" All heads turned to the chief expectantly.

Konoe looked up as if waking up from a dream. He gaped around for a few seconds before realizing he was expected to speak. Rubbing his forehead he said, "Aa? Well, to tell the truth, I am as shocked as you are. I never thought it would come to this. We...we weren't even supposed to have a court. Enma-sama told me that he was sending a representative to discuss the matter of the disturbance of the spirits. I never thought they would be so angry with us that they would –"

"They have no right."

The remark came from the couch. Tatsumi sat up, running a hand through his hair before looking up at the others. The sight of his blood-shot eyes took everyone by surprise. "They have no right." He repeated under his breath before abruptly standing up and starting to walk towards the door like a robot that had just been switched on. Everyone looked in alarm as the secretary, who had been completely uninvolved a minute ago, strode with determined, hurried steps as if going after a thief that had just exited the room.

Watari gave himself a mental shove and ran after him. He caught him in the hall, right as he stepped outside, and grabbed his arm from behind.

"Tatsumi-san, where're you going?"

Tatsumi was angry, yet he wasn't sure whom exactly he was angry with. He yanked his arm out of Watari's grasp and said, " I have to see someone."

'Gods, not that again.' Images of Tatsumi's fight with Isorou danced in Watari's head. He shook it rapidly trying to dispel them and thought about what to do next.

Tatsumi was walking again. Watari jumped and grabbed his arm once more, the only thing he could think of without having to shoot his brains out.

"Tatsumi-san, wait for God's sake. Who do you want to see?" Watari's worried voice finally cut through Tatsumi's cobwebbed mind and he turned to look at the scientist. His eyes, however, were blazing.

"Do I have to explain myself to you?" The tone was nothing like the Tatsumi they all knew. True the real Tatsumi had had his pissy moments sometimes, but nothing like this cold, unsettling attitude he was showing right now. Watari looked back at the others who had gathered by the door. Real Tatsumi or whacked, the secretary was a scary sight to behold when ticked off. Seeing that he would not likely get any help from the crowd, he gathered all his wits and turned back to face the man. "You are not going to end up injured again." He said as he rattled the bottle of aspirin in his hand trying to pull something out of his genki reserves to lighten the mood. " I haven't left enough of these to heal your butt if Isorou ends up kicking it again. I suggest you follow the advice that says prevention over cure" He winked, not exactly sure what he was doing but knowing that he was sick and tired of being afraid.

He succeeded and Tatsumi didn't kill him. He just looked to the side and said, "I'm not going to see Isorou." almost spitting out the name.

Watari's ears perked up."Then who-"

"EnmaDiao."

"Whaaaa!" All who were listening either went chibi, twitched or popped googly eyes.

Once again, Watari was the one to recover first. He decided it was high time he smacked some sense into his suddenly-gone-coo coo friend. "Are you out of your mind?" he asked. "You think EnmaDiao is the school principle you can run to and cry about a nose-bleed you got from a bully?"

Tatsumi turned slowly to him, perfectly showing that he was not at all amused by his humor. " I know he is the only person who can help Tsuzuki-san. And that is enough for me."

"But Enma-sama only speaks with kacho, and only with appointment." GuShosShin whined from the door in an attempt to be helpful.

 "I don't care," Tatsumi said without taking his eyes off Watari.

Watari huffed. "Don't you get it? You *can't*go to EnmaDiao. It is not possible. He-hmmpf..."

His collar was seized by two strong hands and he was shoved against the wall in the next second.

"Didn't you hear what I said Watari Yutaka? I said: I. Don't. Care." Tatsumi's eyes flashed mad as he pressed Watari further into the wall.

"Stop it. Stop it right now."

They both turned to see Hisoka charging at them and grabbing Tatsumi's sleeve in an effort to pry it away from Watari's coat. Both men looked at him in shock and he immediately let go, backing off in the middle of the hall and gaping at them with wide, anguished eyes. He screamed, "Stop it. It hurts. You are making it hurt more." Tatsumi's hands immediately fell from Watari's coat and he looked guiltily at the boy. Slowly he walked toward him, intent on giving him comfort. He had barely touched the boy when Hisoka immediately jumped and slapped his outstretched hand. The empath backed against the wall, keeping accusing eyes on the secretary and struggling to get enough air into his lungs to speak." Y- you. Don't touch me. Your thoughts...Y-you think too much. It...it hurts." Tatsumi was speechless. Without thinking he reached to touch Hisoka again. The boy shrieked. "I said stay back. Didn't you hear me? Stop it, please, stop it. It hurts me. Stop yelling h-his na-me in m-my head."  He bent over and grabbed his head, crying hysterically as he repeated over and over again. "Tsuzuki..."

Tatsumi understood. His walls were non-existent and he hadn't even noticed it. Poor Hisoka. He turned to the GuShoShin with a serious expression on his face. "Take him out. Get him to a place where he can rest and be away from people." He concentrated as hard as he could and succeeded in bringing up his shields partially. Then he turned to Hisoka. "Kurosaki-kun," he said. "I am very sorry about this. Please go with the GuShoShin and get some rest." Hisoka nodded and flinched when he saw Tatsumi reaching for him again. Tatsumi's eyes darkened and he let his hand fall to his side. He watched the librarians escort the troubled boy outside, then turned and shot a brief look at Watari before starting to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Watari yelled from behind him. He clenched his fist into a ball and restrained himself from attacking the scientist.

"To see someone."

"Who?"

He had to finish this right now or it would never end. He turned.

"Enma is unreachable? That's fine. But there is another powerful being who cares for Tsuzuki-san as much as I do. I will talk to him."

"The Earl..." Wakaba said with an invisible light bulb popping over her head.

"You still need an appointment. They won't let you in like this." Watari insisted.

"I will break down the door if need be."

"The Earl will kill you for that."

Tatsumi was already by the door at this point. He didn't respond.

Watari felt frustration rise inside him like a well. Tsuzuki was bound and in pain and Hisoka was a total mess. He didn't want to see Tatsumi break apart too. He too was all for saving his purple-eyed friend but didn't think Tatsumi was in any shape to do that.

He decided to try out his last shot.

"They will make you pay for the damage. They will make you pay it out of your own pocket."

Tatsumi stopped. Watari held his breath. Had it worked? Slowly the secretary turned, his hand on the door handle and his posture more confident than ever.

"You know what Watari-san? Sometimes I think you are a bit thick in the head. I can't believe you haven't yet realized what is important and what is not?"

Watari tried to say something but words were rapidly failing him. Tatsumi had that look in his eyes again. He heard the secretary fill the silence before his efforts to speak got him anywhere. "Tsuzuki-san is hurt. You hear that, Watari? That is all that matters right now. Repeat that to yourself a million times before you speak again." And with that he left, crushing all of Watari's hopes of saving his sanity and his hide.

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Pain. That was all that filled his world. Pain and a bone-deep tiredness that gnawed at his being.

How long had he been there? He had lost track of time, only remembering that it was still light when they had dragged him outside and that sometime after, it had gotten dark. Darkness engulfed him, seeped into him, made him feel lost. He knew he was completely alone. Even his ethereal guards were gone, drifted most likely to a more comfortable place where ghosts went for sleep. He was the only one here, a speck in the universe of darkness with only pain as his companion.

His knees were cramping from staying in a kneeling position for so long. His arms were hurting too, being stretched out and held to his sides to suffer the weight of his upper body. He had to make sure he kept a balance between hanging from his arms and resting on his knees so that neither would have to bear too much weight for too long. It wasn't an easy task, especially with the cord running over his body and digging its cruel, spiky teeth into his flesh. Tsuzuki had experienced many injuries throughout his life, both as a shinigami and a mortal. Yet nothing compared to the incredible agony he was feeling right now. Isorou must have put a curse on the wire, he thought, because he could feel the strands tightening around his limbs ever so often as if they were alive. Like the thorny tentacles of a demon squeezing his wounds to suck as much of his blood as it was possible. And what's worse, his shinigami body was working on overdrive trying to heal the pinpricks that were kept open by the barbs, adding to his pain with the constant battle waging between his healing powers and the viciously digging spikes.

And through it all, he was alone.

Maybe it was better this way, he thought as he lifted his eyes to the sky. He had seen how the others had worried about him. He winced when Isorou had cuffed Hisoka on the head. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to them to hurt on his account. He was the guilty one and the only one who had to suffer the consequences. They were just too kind and caring and they ended up getting hurt because of him. He remembered Tatsumi who had stood up against Isorou and taken his blows. Poor Tatsumi. Tsuzuki only hoped that he was fine and that his injuries weren't too bad. He gasped as his knees gave way a little and the pricks went deeper into his arms. A fresh wave of pain washed over his body and his eyes filled with tears. Instinctively, he tried to reach with his hand to wipe them away only to be reminded that his hands were tied. He let his head fall forward and watched as the tears dripped onto the ground, creating small blotched on the fresh earth. How long has it been? It wasn't the first time that he'd done this, letting his tears fall to the ground so that they won't stain his cheeks. He didn't want the other to see him crying. In fact, he didn't want them to see him at all even though the loneliness was threatening to crush him. 

Still, his mind kept going back to them. What was Hisoka doing right now? I hope they are keeping him as far away from that man as possible. I don't want him to hurt Hisoka again. He's already suffered enough at Muraki's hand; he doesn't deserve any more pain. Hope his curse marks don't bother him too much tonight. That would be very bad cause I won't be there to help him. I wonder if Tatsumi would try to confront Isorou again. I wish he wouldn't. They are both very powerful, and I know what Tatsumi's like when he gets angry. And Isorou would definitely hurt him, judging by what he did before. I think he enjoys it too. Why does he hate us so much? He looked like he really wanted to close down the whole division. What a horrible thing, and it would've been all my fault. I still can't believe Tatsumi told me to be quiet after that. Did he really expect me to sit there and watch while Isorou made everyone lose all they had? I couldn't do that. I disobeyed Tatsumi-san and I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I'm such a bad subordinate but I couldn't keep still when he was threatening to take it out on the others. It wasn't their fault, why should they have to pay for it, especially after I made sure that no one else would get involved, not even the shikigamis.

'Demonic powers. You are the demon shinigami. Now I remember.'

The demon shinigami. Isorou's words had struck Tsuzuki deeper and more cruelly than any blows ever could.

Tsuzuki bit his lip. How had Isorou known? Was his reputation that far reaching? It must have been something inside him. Something that made people see right through his carefully woven visage. That evil thing he desperately tried to hide but lurked its head whenever it got the chance to remind him what a contemptible creature he was. The thought caused Tsuzuki's body to shudder and the spikes drew fresh blood from his wounds. He welcomed the pain this time. Let is wash over me, let it consume me, pierce me with its claws and break me with its coils. It's all a creature like me deserves. A creature so vile and unwanted that he had to be put on display when paying for his sins so that everyone would see where he really belonged.

"He is brooding again."

The voice came from somewhere close by. Tsuzuki lifted his head and peered around to see who was speaking but there was no one there. He decided that it must have been part of his imagination.

"I bet he's wondering who screwed him over like this."

Again. A different one, and coming from a slightly different angle. He was sure he had *heard* it this time but still couldn't figure out where it had come from. He straightened a bit and listened more carefully.

"Nah, I'm sure he's blaming himself. That's how this one is."

It came from above his head. Tsuzuki turned his neck as best as he could and looked up. The sky was slowly getting lighter and he could see the top of the two poles that made up the pillars of his scaffold. He saw two small birds sitting on the tip of each pole. They were owls. Tsuzuki wasn't sure what to make of it. Could normal owls talk? He had seen 003 utter some words here and there, but who knew what sort of weird experiments Watari did on that poor thing? Could these too be a pair of Watari's guinea pigs?

"He doesn't know why he's here," the bird sitting on the right said. With the sky getting brighter he could see that it was a white owl.

"Yeah, I know," the bird on the left - a brownish owl with patchy black feathers on its chest - said. "If he did, he might have thought twice before getting himself into trouble."

"He did kill the spirit, you know. I saw it with my own eyes."

"True, but he wasn't responsible for the summoning."

Tsuzuki's neck began to ache and he was forced to drop his head. In that position, he no longer could see the birds but he could hear every word they said. He still couldn't figure out why they were there.

"You mean he wasn't the one who awakened the spirit from its slumber?"

"Nope, that was entirely someone else's fault."

"Do you know who?"

"Yeah, 'course I do."

"Oh great, tell me."

Sound of feathers ruffling. The other bird was taking her sweet time, not caring that her white feathered companion and the subject of their conversation were both waiting for her to spill the beans.

"Well, it's not for no reason they call me the Gossip Queen."

"Oh, come on sister, spit it out. We…I'm dying to know."

"Ok. Here it goes. Remember those children at the hospital?"

"Uh-huh. The ones that that guy/girl shinigami team brought with them?"

"Exactly. Those. Now one of them was this nosy little girl who couldn't stay in her room."

"Uh-huh. Keep going."

"Soooo, one day, when the shinigamis weren't watching, the nosy little girl wandered off on her own and came to the library."

"JuOhCho's main library?"

"Exactly the one. It was lunchtime so no one was really around to see her. She hopped around happily, poking her nose here and there and before she knew, she was in the forbidden part of the library."

"Ohhh, you mean the part where they keep the death list?"

"Yeah, but there are many other interesting things in that section. They basically keep everything that shouldn't be viewed by prying eyes there."

"Really, like what?"

"Well, there is this book about evil spells that is said to be made by one of the demons of hell. It contains a bunch of spells you need to summon a bunch of demons and evil spirits and such. Only, since these spells are written by a hell's spawn, they are all evil in themselves. What's even worse, the book looks exactly like a children's book, like those they sell in bookstores that are full of rhymes. It even has a red-pink cover and a bow tied around it. Deceptively cute and alluring."

"And let me guess, our little explorer got her hands on this book."

"First thing she picked up. And she's so eager to see what's inside she doesn't even give it a second thought. Now this is a grade-schooler we're talking about so don't expect her reading abilities to go through the roof. She basically picked up the easiest rhyme she could find and started reading it."

"Aww, how bad. And say, that was the spell to summon the Sleeping Spirit, wasn't it?"

"Wrong. There are no spells to summon those creatures.  It must'a been a random spell to summon some kind of demon I guess. The trick was the speed and concentration she used to read it. Real conjurers always speak the spells fast; they never stumble over words or repeat them more than once because of not getting the pronunciation right. It wouldn't help to summon a demon that way. In fact all it does is to screw up the stream of spiritual vibes that flow between the living world and the world of the dead. Same vibes that are picked up by our Sleeping Spirits."

"Wow, you sure know a lot about this stuff."

"Well, I've been around."

"So you say when she read the spell, she awakened the spirit."

"Right, but not just that. She also imprinted herself with the mark of the demon she was trying to conjure. That always happens when you speak an evil spell but fail to actually do it. You carry the mark of the demon until it really shows up."

"Ahh, so that's why the awakened spirit was chasing after the children. It was drawn by the evil spell and was then hunting the source of it."

"Bingo. Aren't we so obvious...I mean, smart?" A low chuckle and more ruffling of feathers.

Tsuzuki listened silently. He didn't know what to make of all this. There was in fact a rumor in Meifu that birds that flew around knew everything. But this bird seemingly knew A LOT, and she certainly enjoyed spilling it all about her.

"So who's fault was it in the end? I'm sure they couldn't have prosecuted the child."

"No. But in the hierarchy of the guilties, our guy here was the last person to be picked at. If nothing else, they should have at least put that girl and guy shinigami on trial along with him. They were the ones who should have kept an eye on their daycare flock and they weren't. I think that at the time, the girl was occupied with nursing her injured foot while the guy was somewhere outside smoking. They were guilty of letting that child stray off."

"And the librarians?"

"Second guilty party. They had to watch for trespassers in the library but they were not even there. If these people had done their jobs right there wouldn't have been an attack in the first place and Tsuzuki here wouldn't have had to take extreme measures to save innocent lives."

Finally Tsuzuki decided to take another look at his chatty spectators to make sure they were real and not part of a pain-induced dream. It was already twilight and there was enough light for him to see clearly around. As soon as he lifted his head he saw someone walking up the hill towards him. His body tensed in recognition. At the same time, he heard the voice of the chatting birds in the back of his head.

"So Tsuzuki here is really innocent. He wasn't responsible for disturbing the spirit's sleep. And if the spirit hadn't awakened in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"Exactly, he is suffering other people's punishment. He might even die going through it. But now at least, he knows it was not his fault."

"Not his fault."

"Not his fault."

"He is innocent."

"Innocent."

"And now he knows..."

"..."

"Ohayo Gozaimas, Asato."

Tsuzuki lifted tired eyes toward the man looming over him. Isorou was as immaculate in the morning as he had been yesterday, wearing a silver-gray suit and his hair combed to the sides, accentuating the white at his ears and working to intensify his hawk like features. He leaned down slightly, looking Tsuzuki directly in the face, and the first rays of the rising sun fell on his face.

It was too much of an effort to keep his head up so with a sigh, Tsuzuki closed his eyes and dropped his head.

"Did you have a pleasant night, Asato?"

Isorou didn't seem to get a blow off when it came. Tsuzuki kept his silence but soon felt the prickly wire tighten around his body. It knocked the breath out of him and made him gasp in pain. Looked like Isorou didn't *appreciate* a blow off either.

"Well, Did you?" he asked again.

"Yes, thank you very much." Tsuzuki said from between clenched teeth.

"Very good. It is only going to get better, you know."

"I'm really looking forward to it."

He felt fingers under his chin lifting his face up. He was too tired and weak to resist so he found himself staring into frosty gray eyes.

"You are acting brave, little shinigami. But I want to see how you fare a week from now when all your pride and energy has seeped out of you for pain and despair to take its place. You will go mad from it. You will break under the strain. Believe me, it will happen. It has happened before."

Tsuzuki only stared at him with hate-filled eyes.

"However, you can prevent it." The hand under his chin slowly slid over his jaw, stroking there like it was trying to tempt him.

"You admitted being guilty a little too soon. It seemed a bit strange. Are you sure you didn't have anything more to tell me?"

The captive only blinked, amazing purple eyes still watching without words.

"Are you sure there's no one else who should be in your place? No other guilty parties I should know of?"

No answer. Isorou knelt down next to the shinigami, catching his dipping head with his fingers and pressing it up again. He saw the purple eyes close; sweat dripping from the side of the shinigami's face. He smiled malevolently.

"You don't have to take this alone, Asato. I know you weren't the only one responsible and you know it too. All you have to do is tell me who else and they will take your place in a snap. It's that easy."

Tsuzuki had started trembling. Isorou could see the effect of his words and his closeness on the bound man and grabbed the opportunity to press on.

"I'll even cut you a deal. If you reveal to me who else was responsible, I'll let you go and promise to be lenient with them. How is that, hm? Do you want that?"

Tsuzuki opened his eyes and, with great effort, turned his head to the other man and said, "No."

Isorou's brows knotted. "Why?"

 "Because...it will make you happy."

Isorou abruptly pulled his hand away causing Tsuzuki's head to fall forward with a jolt. Anger radiated from every pore of the prosecutor's being and only with great effort was he able to keep himself from lashing at the bound man. The time would come, he thought to himself. He would show this wayward angel what it meant to resist him. He would make sure every second of his ordeal was as painful as it could possibly be. He would make him break, fold and go down and make sure that when that time came, he was there to witness his fall.

He stood up and left, sparing his ward no other glance. Tsuzuki's only reaction was to take a deep breath and sag in relief. His mind was racing a hundred miles an hour wondering about the surrealism of it all and praying for an end before it all came to a crashing halt by inconceivable pain that turned his thoughts and prayers into a wreckage of chaotic snapshots.

TBC

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Oooooh, what's gonna happen next? Review and you shall find out. Hehe, that's lame, I know. But seriously, it takes so long to write these that I won't have any incentive to go through it if I get no reviews. So please be kind and spend a few minutes to tell me what you thought. Anyway, sorry this got a little too wordy at points. I can't help myself when I'm writing angsty stuff. And I know the conversation between the two birds sounded a bit corny but there are a lot of things happening in this story and, believe me, they all happen for a reason.