Watari was shaking as he looked at the unconscious form of his best friend. Tsuzuki looked like he always did – just with an edge. A sharp, biting edge. An edge that was inhuman, that was more than just demonic, and he shivered again.
"He's still on full power," he whispered, head throbbing painfully and he knew it wasn't just from the magic he had just performed. All the pills in the world couldn't stop what would happen soon. He was down to the last five anyway. He swallowed them quickly.
Touda was sitting next to his shinigami master, exhausted like everyone, but there was determination in those golden eyes.
Watari knew this wasn't over. What he had seen and heard and touched in Mother told him that unless Tsuzuki took control of who he really was, he would forever be a victim. In his current state, a single trigger was enough to start this all anew.
"We have to protect him," he murmured.
"From what?"
Watari turned and smiled thinly at his lover. Relief rushed through him, quickly followed by so much worry and shared pain at the sight. Tatsumi looked groggy, his face and body covered in blood and so many healing wounds. It was a slow healing due to his excess use of his shinigami magic, and his body was struggling to heal. It would take a while and from the looks of it, Tatsumi was barely even conscious, but the simple fact that he was awake and mostly coherent gave Watari some relief.
"I'll explain it to you, after we get Tsuzuki back home."
"Where to at home?"
"The Palace of Candles."
Tatsumi blinked dazedly. "What?"
"Don't ask, please? Take Hisoka to the medical wing in Meifu, Touda and I will get Tsuzuki to the Palace. When I get back, we'll talk."
The Shadow Master was mystified, but he nodded. Watari read a million questions in the blue eyes that looked even more intense without the glasses as a small barrier, but he was thankful that Tatsumi was holding back.
Touda rose, Tsuzuki in his arms. Demonic power was wafting off the duo in waves and both Tatsumi and Watari winced. It was becoming more and more difficult to be around their friend and from the way Hisoka was moving restlessly, he felt the same.
"Go," Watari whispered to his lover.
Tatsumi briefly squeezed his shoulder, then picked up their unconscious empath and left for Meifu. He stumbled a little, but sheer willpower drove him on. Among them, he was best suited to be around Hisoka right now, who was probably wide open and his shields almost down. Tatsumi was the one person who was most in control of his emotions and therefore perfect to keep an eye on the youngest of the shinigami.
The blond turned to Touda. "Ready?"
"Yes," was the rumbled answer.
Watari initiated the jump back into Meifu and the hell serpent followed.
° ° °
They had brought Tsuzuki to the only place where he was safe, as well as to the only person who, aside from Touda, was currently able to stand being near the demonic aura the shinigami was radiating. Even while unconscious there was no mistaking what Tsuzuki was, Ryu thought with a faint frown. The darkness was alive, hissing and snapping and tickling his senses, and there was a faint sizzle everywhere.
Tsuzuki was a demon, hadn't reverted to his shinigami self, the gentle being that had such a terrible secret lying within him, and the demon was defending himself even in this state.
Watari had insisted that Tsuzuki had to remain inside the Palace of Candles and while Ryu had yet to get a straight answer out of the blond he suspected it wasn't a pretty one. It had something to do with Tsuzuki's continued safety, that he could only become his old self again without the danger of... what? Ryu didn't know who exactly was a danger for Tsuzuki, but his best guess, and possibly the only answer, was Enma-Daiou. He had known the Lord of Hades for over two thousand years. He was a cold-hearted bastard when it came to the survival of Meifu, and too much had happened to Tsuzuki and those around him for it not to be Enma.
Watari hadn't come inside the Palace with Touda. The scientist had been barely able to keep himself upright, let alone return to the Shokan Division without a major accident, and Ryu felt his worry increase. A lot had happened in the last hours and Tsuzuki's triggering was only the beginning of what would happen now.
°
He was only too right, as was proven to him a few minutes later. There was a spike of power and suddenly those amethyst eyes snapped open.
The aura flared.
The darkness rose.
It seemed to lick around the room, searching, then finding, and it gained strength.
And Ryu cried out as the seal broke, as his demonic side was freed, as his blood boiled with a power that was purely hellish in origin. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and his back exploded into fiery agony as his wings broke free. Claws instead of fingers, a scaly blue hide, red eyes that fizzed with power, and fangs that gnashed in agony of the transformation.
Not again, shot through his head, the thoughts mingled with the pain. Please, not again...
But it had happened again. He was his true self once more, and it hadn't been any more pleasant than before.
He panted harshly and raised his head, looking straight into the demonic eyes of Tsuzuki Asato. Nothing had physically changed about the man. He was still Tsuzuki, pale-skinned, dark-haired, his eyes just of a different color than a normal human's, and dressed in his black outfit.
But the aura... it was incredible. Ryu had never felt anything of the like. Never.
"Tsuzuki," he whispered.
The expression was inhumanly cold and it reminded him of looking into a similar face, narrow and beautiful, but reflecting the wisdom of the universe, the knowledge of Time.
Enma... he thought, horrified.
A third presence entered the room and Ryu discovered Touda, who stared wide-eyed at the scene of the two demons looking at one another.
"Shit!" the shikigami cursed.
Rather apt summary of the situation, Ryu thought and straightened, his wings rustling. The golden eyes were briefly on him, but Touda showed no reaction to the demonic appearance. He either knew or he refused to be shocked by such occurrences.
Tsuzuki ignored them both and started to walk toward the exit. There was a dark fire in his eyes, something that scared Ryu more than his brief visit in Hell had been able to. Whatever was going on in that mind of his, he was like an avenging angel on a mission.
"Close the doors!" Touda hissed and Ryu did, instructing the Palace to lock down. Not just the doors; completely.
Tsuzuki stopped and turned, looking at him. "Open the doors," he commanded calmly.
The voice made Ryu shiver.
"You can't leave," he argued, watching Touda slowly approach the dangerous creature the shinigami had become.
"I will go," was the simple reply.
"To do what?"
Keep him talking, Ryu thought frantically.
"I will make him suffer."
"Who are you talking about? Muraki is dead!"
"Enma-Daiou."
Oh double shit...
Touda had frozen, his face chalky in the light of the Palace. "Asato," he whispered.
Ryu had no idea if the bond between them was even working any more, but right now he hoped so.
"It's what he wants," the demon argued desperately. "You're playing by his rules!"
"Not any more. He dared to touch Hisoka. I cannot forgive that. Nor can I forgive the pain he spread before." The amethyst eyes flared. "You know that pain."
Ryu shivered a little. Yes, he did. Emotional pain. A lot of it.
"Tsuzuki, no," he whispered. "I can't let you go."
"You cannot stop me."
"I can try."
Who was he kidding? He might be a pure-blooded demon, unlike Tsuzuki, but his powers were no match for what Tsuzuki Asato had become. Tsuzuki wasn't simply a demon now; he wielded a power that had been... changed. He was a hybrid and should have watered-down blood. He should be weaker than the real thing. But he wasn't.
The moment those hard, emotionless eyes turned on him, he knew he had no chance. A snowball in Hell would have a higher survival rate. A pale hand rose and finger snapped.
He was flung through the air and crashed into a wall, groaning softly.
Damn.
Okay, off with the kiddy gloves. He could at least slow him down with his powers. Now that the seal was broken, now that he could give in to the blood rage and thirst, he would use whatever resources he had to make Tsuzuki stop. Or give Touda enough time to come up with a different plan.
Red eyes flared with demonic energy and he felt his body react to a power he had never truly wielded completely. But instinct and his birthright were enough. Instinct took over and he attacked.
It was foolish.
He was facing a being who held a power that would soon be equal to Enma-Daiou's and that fact was driven home immediately.
The fight was furious, vicious, neither demon giving much ground. Ryu might not have been born a demon and hadn't lived in his demonic form at all in the millennia he had been trapped here, but instinct did the work for him. Instinct and a soul that had been born in Hell.
Still, despite the fact that Tsuzuki was already weaker than before, had been struck down already, he was more than a match for him.
Ryu screamed in pain as shards pummeled his body, penetrated his armor, and finally tore apart a wing. He heard bone snap under the force and he was barely able to whimper before he was sent hurtling into the table and ended up against the wall once more.
Breathing hard, agony racing through him, he gazed at the slender form that hadn't even moved much. Tsuzuki's face was an emotionless mask as he regarded his 'work'. Finally he turned and approached the door.
Still walking. Slower, but walking. Bleeding, but upright.
Enma's name, what did it take to make him fall?
Ryu concentrated, felt the Palace respond, and the door began to barricade itself. Tsuzuki stopped and looked at the barrier. Then his eyes were on Ryu again.
"Fool," he whispered.
And the retaliation was terrible.
tbc...