Author: J.J.
Warning: It's an AU. It contains some Japanese words (the Dictionary is at the bottom), not too descriptive rape and probably some OOC...
To the 2, 3 people who are reading this fic and want more... work keeps me quite busy. I almost never know if I've time to write or when I've time to write. Please be patient. I've almost everything planned out. I just need time to write it.
Notes: I've been inspired by what Hisoka thought in Vol. 3: 'No one... saved me... But maybe Tsuzuki... If you had been there... you would save me...'.
Warning over notes: This fic is filled with notes. You will find them at the bottom. Each time you see a number between brackets it means there's a note connected to the word/sentence that preceded it. Many of them explain references to other series, to YnM manga only or YnM anime only facts for who didn't get to read the manga or see the anime, explain apparently illogical things or warn you there's an explanation for illogical facts but that you'll get it later. However I suggest you to read the notes AFTER you finished the fic unless the word/sentence connected to the note is really troublesome for you to understand. Anyway the fic should be still understandable without the notes. Notes are merely extra explanations for who wants to know more or search for spoilers.
Disclaimer:
"Yami no Matsuei" belong to Matsushita Yoko. I'm merely using her characters because I love them... especially Touda, Tsuzuki and Hisoka...
Ehy, Do I own something here? Oh yes, I own the plot and a sensible heart which would surely break if you give me harsh reviews... so please be honest but nice ok?
Thanks: To Larania Drake for betaing this! Thank you a lot!
Summary: 1993. Kamakura. A certain silver haired psycho was feeding himself with a poor woman's energy when the Kurosaki's heir spotted him. He had a plan for the boy but someone else was there and decided to interfere...
"They dedicate their lives
To running all of his
He tries to please them all
This bitter man he is
Throughout his life the same
He's battled constantly
This fight he cannot win
A tired man they see no longer cares
The old man then prepares
To die regretfully
That old man here is me
What I've felt
What I've known
Never shined through in what I've shown
Never be
Never see
Won't see what might have been."
(Metallica - "The Unforgiven")
The man, mercifully finally alone, panted, as he laid sprawled on the Futon, gritting his teeth to avoid moaning in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut as he gulped. He was Kurosaki Nagare, the 'Ichizoku no Chou', Head of the Clan, descendant of the great hero Kurosaki Ren. He had to endure this torment; he had to for the well being of the people of the village. Crying would do no good to him. If his brother could only know that that was the position he envied him so much! Laying on a Futon, submitted to the luxury of...
He was a strong man. He had to be. He had no choice about it. His ancestors would be ashamed of him if he started bawling like a child for the curse they all endured. He forced his body to move as he attempted to sit. Time was making him growing increasingly cold and bitter. Why he had to endure all this? What did he do so terribly wrong to deserve this? Why his father had to hate him so much? He could understand the man favoured his brother, everyone would favour his brother to him but still... still...
And as if this wasn't enough he even lost his child and the woman he loved. What did he gain from his 'oh so glorious' title of head of the Kurosaki clan?(1) An ancient mansion that couldn't even be renovated due to its historic relevance. A woman who was the mirror copy of the one he loved and yet so different, just a painful memory of what he couldn't have back.(2) A son, Hisoka, who looked so much like him, both in appearance and in behaviour, cursed with a dark power(3) which made him unfit to be the new head, a son he barely knew and understand and that, all in all was unable to love due to what happened to his firstborn and to the child striking resemblance to the child he had been(4)... when? It seemed so long ago and yet it couldn't be since he was only 33. Then he had an older brother, an older brother who despised him because he took the place he wanted. And all that terrible torment and shame to endure each night till morning... It came to think it wasn't dawn yet and still IT had hurriedly retreated in whatever place IT resided as if something had disturbed (scared) IT. He quietly rewrapped some of the loose bandages that covered those horrible scales, which had started to appear on his body, and then covered himself up better in his kimono as if nothing had happened. If his personal Akuma had better things to do than torment him he wasn't going to be disappointed. He was going to enjoy whose few hours of sleep before dawn would come...
Noise coming from outside his room shattered his dream of a quiet sleep. Tasuke(5), one of his oldest servants, sounding both apologetic and hesitant required his presence, apparently for something regarding his son and some intruders. Had they mercifully killed the boy so he wouldn't be forced to submit to his same fate, or deal with that cursed power of his? He stood, straightened his back and followed the servant trying to find a sense in the man's rambling and failing.
As afraid of the boy's dark power as the servant was, yet the man seemed to still take at heart the destiny of his young successor and distress made difficult for him to formulate coherent sentences. Well, it was fairly comprehensible. Should his son die there would be no heir and so who IT would visit when he, the last head, would finally die?
He was surprised to see almost all his servants assembled in front of the door and even more to see them cringe as a young, foreign, determined voice demanded they do something. The crew opened as he came closer so he could finally see who raised such a fuss. They didn't look to be such terrible threat. They were just two dark haired young men. One was dressed in black clothes and in his arms, wrapped in a black coat, lay his son, disturbingly pale even in the dim light of the hallway and apparently unconscious. One step back stood the other man, who was wearing a jacket and was maybe one or two years older and a bit taller. He looked bored and uncaring as if the whole thing didn't matter to him and yet he was somewhat alert, wary of anyone who came close to his companion and ready to react should someone pose a threat for the man he was with; as a silent bodyguard. The attention of the two turned to him, as they understood he was the master of the house. The man in black, while holding his son with a care nobody used with the cursed boy, explained him they heard someone screaming, went to check and found a man... hurting the boy. The man escaped and they went to the first house they saw in search of help. The man also added that who attacked his son was probably the murder of the woman they found laying close to where the whole thing happened. Nagare internally sighed; this, to him, meant only more problems and more shame carried by his heir to the Kurosaki's good name. Calmly he told the servants to take the boy where he belonged, which they knew, didn't meant the boy's bedroom but a dark room in the basement where he usually confined his son every time he did something improper (and where he too had been confined when he had been younger) and to prepare rooms for the two men who took care to take back his disobedient heir. He was about to leave when one of the two foreigners asked him to stop. More like ordered, really. It had been ages since the last time someone ordered him around, more precisely from his father's death. He glared coldly at the two foreigners and noticed they hadn't given the boy to the servant who came to get him and who was now looking at him troubled. The dark clothed one was glaring back and something instinctive inside him was telling him LOUDLY he would do better not to cross this man.
"Aren't you going to call for a doctor?" he demanded. "The boy is... that man... he had hurt him," the man finished with as much tact as he could. It was the delicate way to say his son had been raped. He frowned. It wasn't what he wished the boy to experience, especially at such a young age but... it was in his destiny anyway. Now, or in years to come, what difference would it make?
"We're not going to disturb Hazama Sensei(6) for this. My son should have known better than to go out in the middle of the night." More important... he couldn't allow the people from the village know the Kurosaki heir had lost his honour. That wasn't something two foreigners would understand. His tone was meant to be definitive but the man apparently refused to acknowledge it.
"What's that supposed to mean: 'You're not going to disturb the doctor for this'? Are you insane? Do you realize what that fucking pedophile did to your child? Do you know how horrible is it?" There was incredulity in the man's voice as he spoke as if he couldn't believe Nagare being so amazingly dense, as well as a cold rage, which persuaded some servants to take a step back. Nagare didn't pay it attention.
"Better than you will ever know," he replied bitterly, thinking to all the night HE had been the one shamed and never been visited by a doctor or taken care of after.
"Don't bet on it," the man answered darkly, as he tightened his hold around the boy in an almost protective manner. His reply startled Nagare who stared at those deep eyes reading clearly the disappointment for his behaviour written in capital letters. He fought the urge to back away sensing he had somehow... failed. It was a weird trip back to his childhood; to the time when he cringed under his father's severe gaze. Somehow he had always managed to disappoint him no matter how hard he tried.
"Danna-sama... what are we supposed to do?" one of the servant asked him, taking his mind away from his memories and back to the present situation.
"Don't try anything funny if you want to see tomorrow," the man's companion suggested speaking for the first time before he could formulate an answer, and he said it in such a calm, confident way the threat sounded 10 times more effective. The servants looked back at him, confused and scared, waiting for instructions. He stared at the strangers feeling strangely unsure as well. Why those two men could affect them all so much? It was the dark clothed man who took control of the situation.
"Fine, that's it," he said in a calm, formal tone under which still lingered anger. "I'll take care of your son since you obviously don't plan to do it, so let us in, please," saying so he made a couple of steps toward him.(7) His companion tensed, ready for an attack and so did his servants. He stared first at the man and then at his son who looked so small and young in that stranger's arms. Come to think, he couldn't remember the boy being held by anyone after he had learned how to walk. The Kurosaki heir didn't need to be spoiled and when the boy's... abnormality was discovered, no one wanted to be close to him nor the boy allowed someone to do so, no matter if he was awake or asleep. Maybe it was that what persuaded him. The fact that Hisoka was allowing the man to hold him.
"Miya(8). Take them to the guest room," he ordered, moving away to let them pass. Miya, a young maid with short hair and round face, almost jumped hearing her name then hurried to obey, inviting the duo to follow her. He heard Tasuke asking him if he believed this was a wise choice but he had no answer to offer to the old servant beside: "They helped my heir, didn't they? We can't refuse them hospitality."
He met the black clothed man's eyes before turning away. They were of a strange variety of deep blue(9). Differently from his companion who was glaring suspiciously at everyone, he was looking straight at him as if the man was trying to understand him, sort him out. He felt bitterness rising in him as he remembered himself. No one else except Kasane had ever tried or wanted to do so and, after instructing the servant to not inform the mistress about what happened, hurried to leave.
If Nagare had hoped to find peace back in his room he had been severely disappointed. All he could do was sitting as still as he could to keep himself from starting to walk in circle like a caged animal, a behaviour completely improper for the head of the family. He closed his eyes and remembered pausing, before coming here, as the blue-eyed man had thanked him for allowing them to stay before following Miya inside. He hadn't replied. He shouldn't have allowed such weird, disrespectful strangers inside his house. He shouldn't have showed such weakness . Yet... it puzzled him, how the man had intrigued him, how, for a second, he had wished so madly for his comprehension and approval as he had when he had been a child in front of his father. He had always felt resigned to his fate, used to it, hopelessly chained to it. Why he felt like those foreigners could change this? He frowned. He knew he wouldn't find the answer in his room so he decided to go searching for it.
Meanwhile, Miya had showed the room to their two new guests and was standing in the middle of it unsure about what to do after. They were Hisoka-sama's saviours but they also challenged Danna-sama and she...
"Miya-san, isn't it?" the one carrying Hisoka-sama asked. She nodded shyly. Now that she could give them a good look under the full light of the lamp she realized they were both quite gorgeous looking if a bit odd. It had to be because they probably came from some big city, maybe the capital itself. "Would you please get us a Futon? The child needs to be laid down," the man continued, flashing her a warm, kind smile. She blushed profusely and promptly but clumsily complied, blushing even more when the other man, after catching the glance his companion gave to him, silently helped her to prepare it. As the Futon was ready the man laid Hisoka-sama down on it with extreme care. The child moaned pitifully and the man gently caressed his cheek in attempt to soothe him. Miya blinked, in that state Hisoka-sama seemed so defenseless she was almost forgetting he was cursed. Her musing was interrupted when the man spoke again. "Miya-san? Miya-san, I'm sorry to bother you but I need some warm water and a cloth to clean him up and... Don't you have a med kit or something? And I guess he'll need clean clothes also. His are..." the man trailed off and gritted his teeth as his mind went back to what that man did to the child. Miya smiled sympathetically and promised she would get everything and carry it back to them. She paused at the door, unsure if she could let Hisoka-sama alone with two strangers when the man spoke again. "Miya-san? What's the child's name? In all the fuss before I didn't get it."
"His name?" It was a perfectly normal request and yet it sounded weird to her. No one really paid much interest to the Kurosaki heir unless it was in avoiding him. "He's named Hisoka. Kurosaki Hisoka."
The man smiled kindly at the sleeping child, brushing away some strands of the boy's honey blond hair(10) from the child's forehead.
"Hisoka," he repeated. "Don't worry, Hisoka, now you're safe. No one will ever hurt you again," he said to the sleeping child. Miya smiled again, strangely reassured and left.
When Nagare entered in the guest room he saw the two foreigners had freed themselves of their jackets. The man who had carried his son had loosened his tie, folded the cuffs of his shirt to just below his elbows and unlatched two of its buttons. There were some bloodstains on the shirt probably caused by the fact he had been the one who carried the bleeding boy. The other man was wearing a sleeveless shirt and... well a strap around his neck and one around his upper left arm under which he could see glimpses of what he believed was a tattoo of some sort. Definitely weird but what was even weirder were the eyes of the two. In the pale light of the entrance (and probably also due to his increasing bad sign) he had mistook them for having respectively blue and brown eyes. Now he could see the eyes of the man who had carried his son were purple while the other's eyes were red. Both pairs were almost unnaturally bright and yet beautiful in their own abnormality, like they were amethysts and rubies. Plus, the one wearing a belt around his neck had dark purple shades in his hair while the other's hair was thankfully a normal dark brown.
Now he realized why his maids were all betting the two strangers were some sorts of rock singers. No respectable person in Kamakura would be caught with such weird coloured contact lenses and painted hair. Not mentioning the belts...
His ancestors were probably all turning in their graves at the thought he allowed such people to enter in their 'oh so respectable' house. He decided he didn't care. What was done was done.
"... Kurosaki-san... isn't it?" the brown haired one asked with a bit of hesitancy as if he wasn't sure he got the name right. He nodded, his gaze falling on his son. They had laid the boy, now wrapped only in his Yukata, on a Futon, the dark coat now between him and the bed. He looked quite pale and he was moaning pitifully. Nagare wondered if he also looked like that after each night meeting with... he felt nauseous but forced himself not to show his weakness.
"He hadn't woken up yet," the amethyst-eyed man said, smiling at him sympathetically, probably believing his distress was due to what happened to his son. He wished he could say it was. He wished he could be more concerned for his only child than for the good name of his house. He couldn't. The house had become his obsession. All he could do to prove his father he deserved his affection was to take care of it. Even if he hated it. He was trapped in a circle, the same circle in which he was trapping his son. He clenched his fists. He didn't want it so why was he playing along with his father's plans? While he was lost in his musing the brown haired man wet a cloth, opened the boy's Yukata and started to methodically wash him from any trace of dirt, blood or... other things. It was then he noticed the blood on his son's chest was smeared to form an inscription of some sort.
"What are those... signs?" he asked. "Some sort of... rape ritual?"(11) He hadn't expected to receive an answer and was surprised when the man gave him one.
"A Juso." Nagare blinked. "A curse. They're curse marks written with blood to make them more effective," the man explained sensing his confusion.
"Another curse," Nagare muttered, "As if the boy wasn't cursed enough already." He noticed the glare the man gave him and turned away his eyes. Foreigners couldn't possibly understand. The boy had to take his place as clan head. He couldn't have any sort of weakness or abnormality or... or he would end up like his namesake, he knew Iwao would make sure of that... and he wasn't sure he knew how to stop his brother.
"I'll see if it can be undone but I can't assure you of good results," the man told him, brushing gently his son's hair. He looked straight at the man, his eyes widening in surprise. He saw him placing some clean water in a basin and then adding to it some white crystals, salt of some sort maybe? He wet in it a new cloth and used it to clean up the signs on the boy's chest with extreme care, a line at time, very slowly and precisely as if following a ritual. Nagare blinked as he watched, it couldn't be- but to him it looked like each line glowed for a second before being washed away by the man.
"How... how is it possible?" he murmured not even sure if he was referring to the glowing, to the erasing part or to the fact the man knew how to destroy the curse.
"If the curse isn't active it can be kinda... erased as long as I wash away it in the reverse way compared to how it was written," the man explained as he continued his work methodically. "We only have to hope that guy didn't manage to active it all..."(12) His words sounded doubtful as he worked with agonizing slowness and accurate precision, pausing to look at the signs after each line had been erased as if checking he was doing the work the right way. So far it seemed he was.
"Who're you?" Nagare asked him all of sudden as the man paused for the nth time to check how the work progressed.
"Eh?" The man turned to him, startled, blinking whose unusual coloured and yet so vividly expressive eyes. "Oh, forgive me, we forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we?" he continued with an almost ludicrous, guilty expression, which was in sharp contrast with the serious, firm ones he showed before. "I'm Tsuzuki Asato and he's Touda(13). Pleased to meet you," he explained smiling friendly. He had a very friendly, yet charming, smile. The sort of smile that can light up the darkest of the days. On the contrary, the one named Touda didn't even bother to look friendly or pay him attention. He just stubbornly glared at the floor, his arms crossed on his chest. Evidently he wasn't pleased about how things were going. Nagare didn't mind.
"No, I mean, how do you know about curses and how to unmade them," he clarified. The man looked embarrassed.
"Oh... ehm... let's say I'm kinda an Onmyouji(14)..." he stammered returning back at his work.
"Kind of?" Nagare eyebrows lowered. He wasn't sure if he wanted to risk his heir in the hands of some Jujutsu amateur.
"That's the easiest way to explain it. Don't worry, I know my work," he assured him. He worked smoothly for half an hour then frowned looking at the last signs. "It's gonna be complicated from now on. I don't think those will come off. They're too definite compared to the others. They're probably active."
"So what now?" Nagare inquired looking at him curiously. The whole thing felt weird, absurd, like he was watching some movie and not just witnessing a Jushi practicing in his house on his son.
"If they're active this is gonna stung and it'll probably temporally woke him up no matter how exhausted he is. If that's the case I'll give you the name of some Juso expert(15). It'll be better if a professional tampers with it."
"I was under the belief YOU were the professional," Nagare remarked. The man didn't take it as an insult.
"I'm professional enough but Jujutsu is... well... a wide thing to study," he explained gently as if he was talking to a child. "I've not great specific, detailed knowledge over every sort of Juso. I won't try on a child something when I'm not sure it's the best for him."
"And what you did so far... was the best?"
"The sooner he'll get rid of this the better. Juso tend to have nasty side effects. Now please be silent. This is gonna be more complicated."
The man smoothed gently the boy's hair before starting again to wash sign after sign. Nagare watched him silently. So far everything seemed to work well. Only the last bunch of signs remained and, as the man said, they were unusually clear and well defined for being only signs drawn with blood. As the man had expected, as soon as he tried erasing one, Hisoka bolted up screaming. Nagare jumped at the sound but the scream didn't last long. The boy slumped in the arms of the man who saved him, his green eyes once so bright now glazed and threatening to close back again. Tsuzuki-san held gently the boy, making sure he was comfortable, rubbing his back and murmuring soothing words till Hisoka returned back to his exhausted sleep. When he was sure the boy was asleep again Tsuzuki laid him back down against the mattress.
"I'll end with washing him with normal water and I'll change him if you don't mind," he said quietly. He looked... sad. Nagare wondered why, since the boy's well being was clearly not Tsuzuki-san's problem. He didn't even know the boy. It hit him how someone could care for a perfect stranger. In his family no one even cared for the most closed relatives... of course if you excluded how his father had worshipped Iwao but that was another story.
"The servants can take care of it," he offered as he stood.
"I don't mind doing it," the man assured him. "That's all I can do for him right now," he murmured. Nagare simply nodded. Should he be the one who took care of the boy like that? Would he be the one, had the boy been normal, been the son of his first wife? Would he be able to, had his life been a normal one and not the one of the head of the Kurosaki family? Did he deserve anything that had happened to him since he was no different from his own father? He had no idea. He paused before leaving, turning to look at the man taking care of his son.
"Whatever you could need, it doesn't matter what it is, ask the servants and they will give it to you," he said hurriedly before exiting, without even giving the man a chance to answer. It was all he was capable of.
After giving the last orders Kurosaki Nagare headed back to his room.
3:30. Too late in his book to try to get some sleep. Too early to get up either. So, with nothing better to do, he started thinking to how his life was going. He never really paused to think at it before, persuaded there was nothing he could do to change things and repeating to himself that things were going the exact way they were supposed to go, so he had no right to complain. Now, after meeting the two strangers... he wondered. He'd been taught caring and affection were something you had to deserve, something he would never get because he was the second born, because he never was very expressive, because Iwao was already just so special he would never be able to top or at least compare to him. Yet today he saw a man, a perfect stranger probably a dozen of years younger than him, helping his son out of a potentially dangerous situation and... taking care of him without even knowing him, expecting something in return or being forced by the situation. Tsuzuki-san had just seen the boy in trouble and had... took the child at heart, even if he knew he was cursed, shamed and disgraced. Would his life have been different had someone took care of him as well, comforted him and protected him? Nagare smiled a bittersweet smile. He was thinking like a scared, little child. Yet he couldn't help but wonder...
Tsuzuki sighed. There was nothing else he could do for the child. He had cleaned him, took care of his injuries, changed him in a clean Yukata and put him back to bed. He also had washed away the signs of the active Juso. There was no need for the child to see what had been done to him and... well an expert knew how to force them to show up again if necessary. He smoothed those honey blond hair again as he noticed those young features scrunching up in pain. The gentle gesture must have helped a bit, as Hisoka seemed to relax back again.
"You didn't get much affection in your life, did you?" he mused. "Too bad cause you're really a cutie..."
"I doubt he'll appreciate you saying so, since his look is probably what got him in that trouble," his companion stated coldly. He was in a bad mood, Tsuzuki could clearly tell. He sighed. He was too exhausted to keep up a discussion. He swore to himself once he was back home he was going to start a full immersion in his Juso book. Dispelling that one had been pure hell. Not mentioning the short exchanging of spells he had with Hisoka's attacker and the scene he witnessed... that poor woman laying on the ground like a broken doll... all that blood... the sign of the abused child sobbing like he too had sobbed and Ruka's words(16) coming back to his mind as clear as they would as if she had been present... He felt a hand on his upper arm and shook his head to fight back the waves of nausea that had came back to plague him. He turned to meet red eyes, now filled with concern and weakly smiled back. "Are you well?" the other simply asked, temporally forgetting his bad mood to this more pressing matter.
"Yeah, don't worry. Just tired," he said pushing away from his forehead his dark brown, rebellious hair. It had been too much all at once and he knew he would never get used to the smell or the sign of blood ever again...(17) The other snorted. He clearly wasn't going to buy it but thankfully was allowing him to drop the subject. "What's wrong, Touda?" he asked as the man left his side to sit back against the wall. He should have asked a Futon for Touda too. One of them could use some sleep.
"You really had to save this child also, hadn't you?" the other answered glaring at him, back in his bad mood. "You must have a thing for saving children..." He never really understood why Tsuzuki felt like it was his duty to take care of everyone else's business, he just accepted it as a side of the man but this didn't mean he was going to enjoy babysitting every soul Tsuzuki happened to meet. Especially when that meant Tsuzuki was going to put himself in trouble.
"Back to this, are we?" Tsuzuki replied and there was mild amusement in his voice. "I also have a 'thing' for taking care of grumpy men..." Touda snorted pretending the matter didn't regard him. "Beside this will teach you to not argue with people while we're on a train," the man ended up with mocking seriousness.
"He woke me up," he remarked defensively in a low grumble as if this explained it all.
"Couldn't you just have turned on the other side and back to sleep? You really had to smack him up to the ceiling?" Embarrassed silence followed. Beside Tsuzuki, Touda had never got used to let others come close to him when he was sleeping. It was stupid because very few people here in ChiJou could represent a danger to him but his instinct always kicked in before his common sense. Sensing his embarrassment Tsuzuki switched topic. "Tatsumi is going to eat us alive for not being back to Tokyo in time," he said with a sad resigned tone.
"Wanna me to eat him first? That I could do very easily." The offer more than helpful sounded wistful. Touda and Tatsumi had never got along right from day one and when Tatsumi broke his partnership with Tsuzuki things only became worse.
"I'll prefer no, thank you," he said rolling his eyes. First thing in the morning he had to phone Kobayashi(18) and tell him to explain to Tatsumi why he wouldn't be in office. Then he'll ask him to ask Watari, since Kobayashi and computers where somehow incompatible, to give him the list of the best Juso experts. Of course he knew some but when you can get access to the list of the best ones why not to use it? Then they've to find a place where they can eat something, possibly something sweet, get to the station, buy the tickets and hope they hadn't to wait much for the first train for Tokyo. "Do we have money enough for two tickets for Tokyo?" he asked to his companion. He had never been good to keep track of all their expenses therefore he left almost all the money in Touda's hands. Anyway it wasn't like he didn't know ways to get the man to buy him what he wanted.
"Probably. If you don't overspend it all in desserts." Tsuzuki groaned.
"You know dessert is absolutely the most important meal of the day, don't you?"(19) he remarked glaring. The other shrugged.
"You can get all the desserts you want after we left this cursed place." Tsuzuki sat near him learning a bit against his shoulder.
"You feel it too?" he asked.
"To what exactly are you referring? The presence of some earth bound Yurei in the nearby pond or the lingering scent of some water Bakemono on our houseguest?(20) And trust me, you don't want to know how he knew what his son is going through right now." Tsuzuki frowned.
"It's like... this place is filled with... YouKi but not only. I don't really like the feeling I get here Touda. It felt like my home but without Ruka in it," he admitted.
"We'll leave tomorrow early," the other assured him.
"Do you think it's fair to abandon those people? Hisoka's merely a child and I don't think Kurosaki-san is that bad, after all, and the servants..."
"Tsuzuki!" Touda interrupted him. "Don't even start. It's their problem and they will deal with it. We aren't even welcomed and we're waited at Tokyo. You want to keep Kobayashi as a partner, don't you?" Tsuzuki nodded. "Then you'll better not leave him all to himself. That guy looks barely able to recognize his own shoes. I don't want to know what he'll do if they send him on a case alone." Not that Touda really care if Kobayashi ended up in a million of pieces or more it was just he knew Tsuzuki would feel as if he was the one guilty for it even if he was on the other side of the world.
"I know, I know. It's just..." He rubbed his cheek against Touda's shoulder as a pet in search of attentions. Touda groaned but shifted so the man could rest more comfortably against him. "I feel like I'm abandoning them." Touda snorted.
"You're too soft. Try to get some sleep. We've to be up early tomorrow," he said closing his eyes. Tsuzuki straightened and moved back near to the child. Touda opened his eyes and frowned. "Tsuzuki. Get some sleep. Now," he ordered in a commanding tone. Half of the time that tone got Tsuzuki to obey.
"Tomorrow," Tsuzuki answered back with a tone that didn't leave space to discussion. "I'll sleep tomorrow during the travel back to Tokyo. Tonight I'll take care of Hisoka. It's all I can do for him." It made him feel miserable to just look at the child and knowing, after all that little boy went through, no one cared enough to stay with him for the night. It reminded him of long, empty lonely days and nights in which all he could do was staring at the window waiting for someone to put him out of his misery. It was something a child that young shouldn't ever experience.
"Do as you prefer," Touda grumbled, crossing his arms behind his head and closing back his eyes. He hated when Tsuzuki was like that. It wasn't his fault if no one cared for the child, it wasn't his fault what that pedophile did and yet here he was dealing with all that as if it was his specific responsibility. Okay, so he probably was still free and alive because the man was done like that and hadn't abandoned him at the first sign of trouble but this didn't mean he had to enjoy when Tsuzuki reserved the same attentions he gave to him for other people who were probably going to betray his trust first chance they get.
"Touda... do you want to lean on me? I'm more comfortable than a wall, you know..." All he got as an answer was a snort. Some people were just too proud to accept help. Tsuzuki smiled anyway. "Hey, Touda?"
"What now?" it was the irritate answer.
"I'm glad you're here with me. I would feel lost and miserable if I was here all alone," he said in a low tone without looking back at him.
"I know," the other answered after a moment of silence. "Scoot over. If you're going to be my pillow you'll better be a comfortable one." Tsuzuki smiled as he changed his position so the other could lean against him. It was really easy to get Touda to do something as long as one knew the right button to push. "And wipe that self-satisfied smirk from your face. I'm merely playing along because one of us will have to be well rested and fully functional tomorrow when we're going to leave." Tsuzuki suppressed a chuckle as he smoothed the man's hair gently the same way he did with the child.
"I know, I know," he assured him. Touda merely snorted. He didn't really mean to go along with Tsuzuki's idea but he knew the man depended a lot on physical contact and he was already too stressed to leave him deal with all that had happened alone. Beside, he really made a comfortable pillow and Tsuzuki's hand as he smoothed his hair... He didn't even realize he was falling asleep. Tsuzuki smiled at the sign his expression turning worried as he looked back at the child. A side of him refused to abandon the child there, in that cold house. Something was telling him that guy would return back to finish what he started. He went back to their meeting frowning. He had been a stupid to throw himself head down in a fight with another Jushi without even pausing to think at the consequences. Yet, when he saw the man holding the knife high over the kid a flash of what had already happened in the past came to his mind and he just... couldn't help it. His memories, after seeing that, were blurry, confused. He knew he used some spells but couldn't remember which ones, and knew the man answered with some of his own. He didn't remember how he got the man to leave the child or when. He couldn't remember what the man told him but he was sure he had spoken. He was mostly... in automatic. He had been able to use spells because he knew them from childhood and could recite them without even thinking. He knew some side of his mind must have realized his adversary was powerful. He knew he was going to be an easy target anyway in that state of mind and probably, hadn't Touda be there as well, he would be as dead as that poor girl. Not that he would have minded, there had been a time in his life he had almost begged for death and he still wasn't exactly sure why he was going on, but his death would have caused Touda to end up all alone and he had promised him he wouldn't abandon him. He only wondered if one day he would manage to... stop his past from dragging him toward insanity or if he would give it up as a lost cause. The child whimpered catching his full attention. He sighed as he returned to caress the boy's hair soothing him. He was a real jerk sitting there worrying about himself when that poor child...
He closed his eyes for a second in exhaustion. He couldn't abandon the child like that so he'd better start to think about something to help him out. Touda was likely not going to be pleased but... but he couldn't, wouldn't abandon the child like he had been. He wouldn't abandon someone ever again he decided as he rested one hand over Touda's head and with the other held Hisoka's. He smiled then. It could be he didn't belong to that world but at least he too had a reason to live, protect the people he cared about and as he remembered himself that, spending the rest of the night awake guarding Touda and Hisoka's sleep didn't seem so bad. In fact, weird enough, it was like guarding his family's sleep.
JJ's Notes:
1. Nagare always showed a lot of respect for his ancestors in the manga... but he didn't seem too happy of his position as head (and who can blame him for that?).
2. I think Nagare loved Kasane and that the main reason he married Rui was because she looked like her. I also think after loosing Kasane and the baby and meeting Yatonokami Nagare found 'difficult' to get attached to someone else as he was with Kasane.
3. Hisoka's parents never took well Hisoka's empathy and considered him a Bakemono or a cursed child due to it. They also hid him in the basement every time they believed he was using it.
4. Hisoka looks a lot like Nagare when he was young (See YnM Chap. 74) however I think there are some differences in their behaviour (it's just Nagare who didn't notice them). Even if in the manga Hisoka says he hated his father I don't think Nagare hates him back even if I seriously doubt he loved him. All in all I think he simply had no idea what to do with him.
5. Tasuke is one of Nagare's servants in the manga too. He's the one who saw him going to Iwao with a small blade and the one who went with Tatsumi and Miya to search for him later.
6. Hazama Rinko was the Kurosaki's family doctor in the manga too. She died a month before the 'Tsuzuki & Hisoka's Shikigami Series'.
7. Yes, Tsuzuki is deliberately very impolite behaving that way with Nagare but he was quite upset...
8. Miya is the 'most famous' maid in the Kurosaki house since she gets a lot of light in all the 'Tsuzuki & Hisoka's Shikigami series'. She seems nice and caring. I've no idea if she was working for the Kurosaki in 1993 but I think so.
9. Tsuzuki with blue eyes? Well... people apparently never paid much attention to Tsuzuki's unusual eyes colour in the manga. I figure they either didn't realize it was purple due to bad illumination (and the closest normal colour I could think was blue) or believed he was wearing coloured contact lenses. Nagare's eye sight is getting bad. In the dim light he mistook Tsuzuki's eyes for blue and when he got to give them a good look he simply assumed he was wearing coloured lenses. I don't think the Kamakura people would have allowed a guy with abnormal eye colour to enter in their village if they believed the colour was natural, not mentioning entering in the Kurosaki house...
10. About the hair colour... Since in the various pics about Hisoka and Tsuzuki are used various shades for their hair colour I state now that in this fic Hisoka's hair will be honey blond. The same goes for Nagare and Iwao. Tsuzuki's are a dark brown.
11. I may be wrong but the signs on Hisoka's body don't look like... readable kanji... the same goes for the writing over some of the Fuda used in the manga. So in this fic whatever spell, curse, Fuda or such will be written in magic runes (unless specified differently) and therefore normal people will not be able to read them. That's why, to Nagare, the writing on Hisoka's body had no sense.
12. No idea how a Juso works (especially the one Muraki used on Hisoka) and how to dispel it. In some fantasy books it's mentioned you can deactivate a spell doing a reverse version of the process used to create it so I figured it can work with Hisoka's curse as well. Of course this doesn't apply if the curse had been activate. You DON'T tamper with an active spell in the same way you don't attempt to disassemble an engine while it's working. Oh, and if you're wondering about why Tsuzuki has some knowledge about Juso... I supposed they're a branch of Jujutsu. Tsuzuki doesn't use them but had some Juso knowledge because he needs to know them to be able to deal with them. As for why it can be that only part of the Juso is active... I suppose since the curse Muraki put on Hisoka is quite complex and had various effects it isn't just a single curse but more a 'series of curses' or, if you prefer, a 'list of actions the curse had to do'. He activated each part of the curse once he had done writing it. Since he didn't finished writing it he didn't manage to active it all.
13. Touda is one of Tsuzuki's twelve Shikigami. Tsuzuki summoned him in the 'Kyoto Chapter' to kill himself. As all the Shikigami he has two forms, one of a flying snake (the one showed in the 'Kyoto Chapter') and one human looking. So, what's Touda doing in Kamakura with Tsuzuki? It'll be explained later. Why he's in his human form? Nobody said Shikigami can't use that form in ChiJou, Caesar used both his two forms while he was in Okinawa (see Vol. 6) and no, I don't think Caesar had a third who's human looking. Where his visor went? It'll be explained. Oh and yes, in this fic he's a Shikigami. I didn't turn him into a human. Why he had red eyes? In a coloured pic Matsushita-san gave him red eyes. Plus all the Shikigami who appeared in coloured pics had red eyes so I figure red eyes are a Shikigami's characteristic. Why he had black hair with purple shades? Almost everyone in and out of Japan thinks he has black hair. Point is Matsushita-san in a coloured pic gave him purple hair. Since I'm not sure if that is his definitive hair colour (She did 2 pics of Kurikara one with red and one with black hair, and various pic of Tsuzuki with black, brown and even blue hair) I opted for a solution that mixed both possibilities.
14. Onmyouji are Onmyoudo practicing. Onmyoudo is based upon the Chinese arts of astrology, divination and Taoist magic and also represents a mystical way of living in harmony with the forces of nature. Onmyouji can invoke and channel power from natural elements and spirits, into talismans (like Fuda). They are both magician (they can draw power from nature) and sorcerer (they can draw power from deities and spirits (including plants and animals)), they're skilled in the disciplines of astrology and fortune telling and they can also summon Shikigami.
15. The expert people Tsuzuki talks about aren't evil guys, just people who studied Juso for knowledge purpose.
16. Ruka was Tsuzuki's sister. She's mentioned in the manga but never showed. All the info the manga gave us are she taught Tsuzuki how to dance a waltz and how to cook. When Tsuzuki saw the murdered woman he remembered something his sister told him.
17. In Vol. 1 and 7 the sign and the smell of blood shocks Tsuzuki quite a bit. I conserved his 'aversion' for blood in this fic even if I made up his own reason for it.
18. Kobayashi was one of Tsuzuki's partners. He got a mention in the first story in Volume 1, 'Two On The Opposite Coast Of The River'. Right now he is Tsuzuki's partner.
19. Tsuzuki said something similar in the 1st episode of the 'Nagasaki Chapter' Anime version.
20. I figured since Shikigami are part animals they have better senses than normal humans. That's why Touda can pick up the Yatonokami's scent on Nagare. Plus both he and Tsuzuki have a strong Reikan (spirit sense or ability to detect spirits or supernatural things) so they perceive there's something not normal there.
JJ's Extra Notes:
No, I didn't plan for Kurosaki Nagare to get such a big part in this chap. He simply... took all that space without asking. Must come with being the head of the house... Oh, and please remember we're in 1993 (the 'Tsuzuki & Hisoka's Shikigami Series' takes place in 1999 in the manga) so Nagare's health and eye sign aren't as messed up as in the manga...
SPOILER WARNING - Information about Hisoka's family from the 'Tsuzuki & Hisoka's Shikigami Series'.
For who had no idea about how Hisoka's family is in the manga and want to know how much of it I made up and how much Matsushita created...
'Centuries ago Kurosaki Ren defeated the local monster God Yatonokami. Yatonokami, before its death, managed to curse Ren's family. If the Kurosaki don't bear the curse it will get loose on the people of the village or so it's said. Due to this the Kurosaki are extremely powerful in their village but their head is also tormented by Yatonokami each night and has short lifespan. The previous head, apparently, favoured his older son, Iwao, so, to avoid him to be victim of the curse, left the title to his second son, Nagare. Iwao didn't take it well. Nagare became the head at 18 and marries Kasane, a local girl. She gave him a daughter whom she named Hisoka but Iwao killed the baby because the heir must be a MALE firstborn. Kasane turned insane, killed herself and her ghost infested the local pond. Nagare married Rui, Kasane's younger twin sister who gave birth to the Hisoka we all know and love.'
That's what Matsushita created. I will keep this background but I also will give my personal interpretation of the characters' motivations and feeling since the manga is a bit vague about them.
SPOILER WARNING - Information about Touda from the 'Kyoto Chapter' & 'Tsuzuki & Hisoka's Shikigami Series'.
For who had no idea about who Touda exactly is in the manga and want to know how much of it I made up and how much Matsushita created...
'Touda is a Fire Shikigami, Summoning type (since Shikigami live in the digital space, in order to appear in the three-dimensional world, a long summoning chant is needed to change them into a physical living form. In order to stabilize those forms, a very strong spiritual power is demanded). Touda is one of the twelve ShinSho (Divine Commanders) who're the strongest among the Shikigami. He has two forms, one is a Flying Snake, and the other is of a male human. Even if in the manga his hair looks black, in a coloured pic it was a dark purple and he had red eyes (Matsushita-san, so far, always draw the Shikigami with red eyes). He seems to like to wear various straps around his body (he always has one around his neck) and, when his hair was long, he had some round ornaments in them. He controls the 'JiGoku no Kuro no Honoo' (Black fire of hell) that is so hot that can kill even a Shinigami. He wears some sort of hand guards (claws). He also has a tattoo, which looks like a stylised flower, on his left upper arm. Not much is known about his past. After Kurikara's rebellion and following defeat he helped the other ShinSho to built the Kekkai (shield) inside which Kurikara was trapped. He did the dirty work for the KouTei KouRyu (the highest authority between the Shikigami) but during the last war he was accused to attack both friends and foes (when it's possible he was only following the KouTei KouRyu's orders) and for this condemned to eternal imprisonment inside Tenku-Kyuu. Abandoned by the KouTei KouRyu (and due to this he now hates him which a passion) he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a dark prison in Tenku-Kyuu's basement. Ages after his imprisonment Tsuzuki found Touda and decided to free him making him his Shikigami. Even if Touda was allowed to leave his prison a controlling device was 'installed on him' (apparently it's the visor he wore strapped around his head). Another condition of his release was probably to cut his hair, which before was quite long, since in some Shikigami spiritual energy is stored in the hair (therefore long hair makes you more powerful). It could be he got his tattoo after his imprisonment (kinda like a mark of the fact he was a criminal) because in a pic which show him before his imprisonment he didn't have it and he actually always keeps it covered. It could also be that his tattoo was a sign of his loyalty to the KouTei KouRyu and, after being abandoned by him, he prefers to keep it hidden. Due to the fact Tsuzuki freed him Touda is very loyal to him to the point he said 'he lives by his will' and would do everything he says, included helping him to kill himself. Anyway he has no problem in kicking Tsuzuki around and calling him names even if Tsuzuki doesn't seem to mind.
That's what Matsushita created. Since this is an AU I will however only use part of this background.
Dictionary:
-sama: "Lord" or "Lady"
-san: "Mr." or "Mrs."
Akuma: Demon
Bakemono: Monster
ChiJou: Land of the living
Danna: Master (of the house)
Fuda: Short for 'Ujikofuda' ("Charm for Shrine Visitors"). Rectangular paper "charm" used to cast some spells
Futon: Bed in Japanese Style
Ichizoku no Chou: Head of the Clan
JiGoku no Kuro no Honoo: Black Fire of Hell
Jujutsu: Magic Art
Jushi: Magic User
Juso: Curse
Kanji: Japanese Signs
Kekkai: Shield
KouTei KouRyu: "Golden Emperor Golden Dragon". The highest authority in GenSoKai
Onmyoudo: "Way of Yin and Yang". Yin and Yang are the male and female forces underlying the movement and changes of nature. Onmyoudo is based upon the Chinese arts of astrology, divination and Taoist magic and also represents a mystical way of living in harmony with the forces of nature
Onmyouji: "Person who practices Onmyoudo". Basically a magician, sorcerer, diviner and astrologer
Reikan: Spirit Sense
Sensei: "Doctor" or "Teacher"
Shikigami: "Ceremonial God". In YnM they are summoned creatures with two forms (usually one is animal looking while the other is human looking) that live in GenSoKai. In Japanese myth they're summoned creature that attends an Onmyouji
ShinSho: Divine Commander
Tenku-Kyuu: "Sky Palace". Tenku's title
YouKi: "YouKai Energy" or "YouKai Aura"
Yatonokami: "God of the Night Sword". Monster who cursed the Kurosaki family
Yukata: Summer Informal Kimono
YouKai: "Monster Ghost" or "Bewitching Apparition"
Yurei: "Ghost" or "Spirit of the Dead"
Replies to reviews:
To Everyone who reviewed: Thank you! You're a great encouragement for me!
To Meritite: The weird use of words is due to the fact I'm not an English speaker... I try to not make mistakes, I use a spell check and read each chap many times but errors seems always to find their own way to escape to me... sorry about this.
Anyway... "assist" was supposed to be "witness" and "hanger" was supposed to be "anger". Thanks for pointing them to me.
As for the footnotes... they could be read without problems after the end of the chap (I'm sorry, I didn't think to tell it in the header because I normally always read them after I finished the fic or the chap... You can blame my teacher for it...).
I know manga-related notes can be annoying (as the anime related notes as well), it's just that I know of many people who hadn't read the manga or saw the anime. Probably for who know both it may be boring to read them but it should make things easier for who hadn't the chance.
To Larania Drake: Thanks again for your help!
To Tenshiamanda: As for why Tsuzuki was around... it'll be explained in the next chap!
Send me your comments!