Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei or it's character's in any way, shape, or form (but I wish I did!) I do however, own my own characters, so no stealing! Or face the wrath of Hisoka-chan!
Hisoka: Why does it always have to be me?
theCatandtheCow: Becauause! You're soo cute! -glomps-
Tsuzuki: Yaya! Lets all glomp 'Soka-chan! -glomps too-
Hisoka: GET OFF ME!
theCatandtheCow: On with the story! Heheh...
Chapter 1: Sowing the seeds
Blood red moon hanging above his head. Sakura petals dancing around his limp, broken form. Sobs penetrated the silent night. It didn't matter, no one would hear him. Opening frightened emerald optics, he was met with the sight he dreaded to see. A man drenched in blood, his own blood, licking at it and grinning demonically. The face was lowered to his. He stared at the eyes. Where he had expected to see silver, he saw violet…
The scene melted away, his screams burning on though, searing his throat. Heat overwhelmed him as did panic, and he was all too aware of this next portion of his dream.
Dull violet optics stared at him, not really seeing him. The black flames curled around him, eating away at his flesh. He called out desperately, but the eyes just turned away, looking back up at the giant snake about him, the source of all this chaos. He was going to die.
No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No!
Scratching desperately at the force that held him back, tears blinded him. He screamed in a mixture of fury, fear, and need.
"Tsuzuki!"
Wide awake and panting heavily, luminated emerald optics darted to his wrists. They were fine now, yet a thin line where they had healed quickly could be seen. Desperate for air, yet disturbed by the contents of the dream caused him to wrap his arms around his lithe form. Steadily rocking back and forth, a wave of nausea washed over him due to the onslaught of emotions he had felt emit from the dream.
Scared. Alone. Dark. Pain. Fire. Burning. Smoke. Drowning. Silver. Red. Moon. Sakura. Violet. Green. Black. White. Kill. Scared.
Shaking the thought away, he began to breath more evenly and calmly. Familiar surroundings brought peace back to him, though it wasn't enough to send him off to sleep. With that thought in mind, he glanced at the clock at his bedside. It was four in the morning. Still three hours before he began getting ready for work. Until then, he would read. Unfortunately, images from his nightmare flooded back to him, keeping him from turning on the light to read by. Baka… he berated himself for being so pathetic, but still made no attempt to turn on the light.
Hisoka Kurosaki appeared to be an average sixteen year old boy with sun-kissed locks and long bangs that fell into bright green eyes that seemed cold and distant. He had a feminine-like structure, pale, lithe, and young. He wore usual attire, an orange sweater, jeans, and a matching jean jacket. However, he was not average. He was dead.
He had become a Shinigami, a guardian of death, in the afterlife to gain revenge upon his murderer. He had been raped, cursed, and murdered in one night, but it took three years to fully accomplish. This left him cold and untrusting and way too serious for someone his age. Actually, he wasn't even sixteen, he just looked that part. In reality he was eighteen. Even with being dead, he couldn't be an average, dead sixteen/eighteen year old boy either. He had be an empath too.
Being an empath meant that he could feel others' emotions and have them mingle with his own. He found this annoying, but occasionally saddening or comforting or painful. Being an empath had ruined his life. His parents had practically disowned him, keeping him alive only to take on the Kurosaki Clan's curse. He was forced to live in a dark, damp cell all alone and cold and hungry. His empathy always forced him to be alone, even now when he was surrounded by others who cared about him. He couldn't understand how anyone could care about him, yet the people in Meifu did, especially his partner.
So, all-in-all, Hisoka Kurosaki was your average, feminine-looking, dead, sixteen year old who was really eighteen, empathetic boy.
It was just another way for saying he was a freak and that he hated himself for it all. He would never voice this aloud though, that would mean risking getting the complete wave of sympathy, worry, and concern from his idiotic excuse for a partner, Tsuzuki Asato.
Speaking of which, Hisoka suddenly dreaded going into work. Every since Kyoto, things had been awkward for everyone. He didn't need his empathy to notice the tension that hovered over them all. Tatsumi had eased up on paperwork a bit and wasn't as strict with Tsuzuki, Watari was careful about what he said and wasn't always pleading for guinea pigs for his sex-changing potion, Terazuma wasn't picking as many fights, Wakaba was always leaving treats for Tsuzuki and sometimes for Hisoka as well, Chief Konoe hadn't sent them on a case in two months, and Saya and Yuma were keeping their distance.
This bothered Hisoka greatly, but not as much as his partner's latest behavior pattern. Tsuzuki would enter the office cheerfully as usual, but as the day dragged on his mask would slip and his shield would falter. This resulted in Hisoka either shivering or becoming surly. Tsuzuki would apologize over and over again, but didn't seem to mean it much. Then he would smile so fakely, Hisoka would feel his heart drop at the sight of such a pathetic act. The man rarely said a word to him, only when they were desperate for conversation.
Frowning at his reenactment of the day when it hadn't even started, he teleported to his office. Stepping within the building, he felt all shields raise. He groaned, it would be a long day...
Tsuzuki sighed with relief as the glare sent his way moved on to the paper in front of him. The green-eyed Shinigami had seemed on edge all morning, tense and tired, but every time he asked, all he received was a famous death glare and silence. He sighed, Hisoka didn't trust him. It was as simple as that.
Sometimes he wondered if what he said in Kyoto had actually occurred, but the occasional glances of worry from the entire Shokan division said enough. Even Hisoka looked afraid and worried sometimes. He smiled sadly to himself when he recalled a time where the boy had fallen asleep at his desk. Tsuzuki had left briefly for a snack in the break room. He had returned to find a wide-eyed, shaking Hisoka.
He thought I'd left him. he had told himself as his partner began scolding him for getting more food when they needed to finish the paperwork. What he's really saying is, 'Don't you dare leave me again, don't even think about it. Baka.' Tsuzuki had added the last part for old times sake. He really missed that.
"Baka."
Coming out of his reverie, Tsuzuki blinked at Hisoka who was now staring at him intently. Unsure of what he had done wrong, the violet-eyed man tilted his head to the side in question.
"Hmph." Hisoka shook his head, then elaborated. "What's amusing you so much that you feel like crying? Don't tell me it's because I'm not calling you 'baka' because I just did."
Tsuzuki struggled for a response, damn his partner's empathy, "Umm, well, I was… I was just thinking of how cute you looked, 'Soka."
Now I'm gonna get it! he thought, bracing himself for the impact that never came. Puzzled by this, he took in Hisoka's expression. The boy was blushing furiously, whether out of anger or embarrassment he didn't know, but the glare in his eyes was enough to tell Tsuzuki otherwise.
"Don't call me that!" he growled bitterly, "And I'm not cute!"
"But 'Soka-chan, you're incredibly cute!" Tsuzuki emphasized, enjoying making Hisoka blush. It was really quite adorable.
Okay, now he was caught off-guard. A large book was hurled at him, giving him a large bump on his head and a chibi-inu look of complete sadness. Hisoka was at a loss for words, though that wasn't unusual, as he continued on his paperwork.
Tsuzuki however, was not. "Awww! 'Soka-chan is so mean to me! He's cold and bitter and a meanie! I try saying something nice, and what do I get? A book thrown at me! A very heavy book! Waaah! I feel so unloved! Why does my partner have to be such a meanie? Why?"
Somewhere during his rant, Tsuzuki had said something that struck a cord in Hisoka's mind. The boy froze, his face void of any expression, but his mind was racing. Tsuzuki took note of this and watched his younger partner spring up from his desk.
"I'm not a meanie. Stop saying that." he scowled, but it looked forced, not like his normal surly expression.
Tsuzuki continued, "But you are! You threw a book at me and called me stupid! Such a meanie!"
"Stop it, I said!" Hisoka was now shouting, looking thoroughly upset. Tsuzuki stopped his ranting and simply stared at the blonde in wonder. He could faintly make out a tremble in his pale lips, but teeth firmly bit down upon his lower lip. His emerald eyes averted, staring at the ground. His fists clenched.
"Hisoka," Tsuzuki started, rising from his seat as well, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, I'm sorry."
"You always say that…" his voice cracked, he was trying to be quiet.
Silence met his weak statement, while anxiety and various bitter emotions hung in the air. Tsuzuki had opened his mouth to reply, but nothing emerged. He wasn't exactly sure how to deal with this. He had pushed Hisoka too far again, he should've learned by now that Kyoto's events still deeply affected the boy and anything that was remotely related to questioning their partnership left him speechless and shaken.
"Ah…" sound finally spurted from the older of the two, "Hisoka…"
"What?" the boy spat back defiantly, raising his gaze to Tsuzuki's, anger flashing in their emerald depths as well as fear.
Staring for a moment, Tsuzuki allowed a sad smile to appear on his face, "You really are cute."
Silence enveloped them again, finally penetrated by Hisoka, "Baka."
"I'm sorry." somehow, Tsuzuki had edged himself closer to his partner so that he was directly in front of him. "I'm really sorry, please? Forgive me?"
Hisoka remained emotionless and replied monotonously, "You're forgiven."
"Sankyuu!"
Hisoka expected a glomp to accompany the reply, but none was received. Arching an eyebrow in Tsuzuki's direction, the amethyst-eyed man simply shrugged it off and turned to go back to his desk. In doing so, he came face to face with Tatsumi.
"Oh! Tatsumi!" Tsuzuki beamed happily at the appearance of his friend.
He smiled slightly in reply, then a stern look replaced it, "Ah, hello Tsuzuki-san, Kurosaki-kun. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"
Hisoka blushed at the comment, then opened his mouth to reply, but Tsuzuki beat him to it. "Ne, Tatsumi. We were just talking, nothing important."
"That's good, but you should be focusing on your paperwork." Tatsumi spoke sternly, but ceased to when he noticed Hisoka cringe. "But, that will have to wait for now. You two have a case."
It would be hard to tell which of the two was funnier to look at, for both had gone unnaturally pale and jaws opened in disbelief.
A/N: Yeah, end of chapter 1. Like I said earlier, reviews are appreciated, but no flames please. Also, if you have any suggestions, questions, etc... please do not hesitate to email me or say so in the review. Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think! R&R and you get cookies!