Disclaimer: I do not and will never own YnM, all the characters are the sole property of Yoko Matsushita. I'm merely borrowing them.

Tsuzuki's turn is finally here! I found that his side of the story was a lot harder to write than Hisoka's. Anyways, I always wondered why Tsuzuki was called Tsuzuki and not Asato so this chapter is based on that . . . As always please review!

Pieces of Me

Chapter 6: Call Me Tsuzuki

By: LadyYuina

A boy breathed in heavily as he struggled to keep running.

"That's right, run on home!" shouted a boy as he threw a rock at the boy ahead of him. It hit him squarely in the back of the head.

"You freak! You don't belong in our school!"

"Never come back, okay!"

The brunette haired boy clamped his hands to either side of his ears and tried to block out the shouts by his fellow classmates. They stopped chasing him when he neared his home; to others they thought it was unholy ground. Unsafe to tread in fear that they were to be killed somehow . . .

"Oh Asato, you're home," his sister said. She frowned when she saw the haggard appearance of her younger brother. "What's the matter?"

"Don't call me that, Ruka. I hate that," the boy argued. "Everyone at school thinks it's evil."

"Nonsense!" Ruka replied. "Asato is a beautiful name," coming towards her brother she added, "I think it's prettier than mine."

Asato blushed but it was not from embarrassment, it was out of anger. "I hate the name Asato, just call me Tsuzuki, okay?"

"But . . ."

"Ruka, please." He wearily sat down in one of the worn down chairs in the kitchen.

Changing the subject, she cheerfully asked, "how was your day at school?"

"Horrible." Does she really need to ask me this? Can't she tell that I'm as miserable as one can be!

"There must have been something fun you did today," Ruka reasoned. Moving over to the oven she pulled out a apple pie she was baking. "Want some?"

Momentarily forgetting about the previous harassment that assaulted him, he chirped, "yes please!"

His sister giggled. "You can never pass up sweets can you, huh?"

"I love apple pie, you make the best ones! Why do you think they always sell?" Tsuzuki beamed. He eagerly took out plates from the low shelf that they had alongside with forks and napkins. Once seated and eating, Tsuzuki asked, "tell me, what was mom like?"

Chuckling, Ruka said, "I've told you many times."

"I'm never tired of hearing it!"

"Okay, well, she was beautiful that was for sure. She had long brown hair and the most gorgeous eyes. That's what caught our father's gaze, she always told me how he loved her eyes. She said he said they reminded him of the sea whenever he looked into them."

"Ruka . . ."

"Hm?" She daintily took a bite of her apple pie before looking at her brother.

"Who am I?"

"Ah . . . Tsuzuki! What are you saying? You are who you are, you're Tsuzuki Asato."

"I've given it a lot of thought. I really want to know who I am. Is Tsuzuki Asato even my real name?" His eyes took on a deep amethyst color that blended well with his dark brunette hair. His sister was at a loss for words. Finishing the last portion of his apple pie he rose slowly from his seat to walk to the sink and place his fork and plate down.

"I'm sorry, Asato-"

"It's Tsuzuki!" he snapped.

"-Tsuzuki, but your name is as it stands. You shouldn't question it."

Tsuzuki was on the verge of crying; he could still hear his classmates shouting insults at him inside his mind. "You know why I'm questioning my identity. You know, Ruka."

"That-"

"It has everything to do with it . . . my eyes. They're not normal. You, mother and father all have beautiful blue and brown eyes but mine are violet."

"Tsuzuki . . . now that you're old enough to understand I think your eye color is a birth defect."

"No it's not!" There is no way that can be true . . .

Ruka cringed at those three spoken words, she hated seeing her brother being so pessimistic. "The doctors didn't really have an explanation for it."

Footsteps were heard as the front door opened and closed. Tsuzuki's father walked into the kitchen looking extremely tired.

"Welcome home, father!" Ruka faked a smile; it was somewhat pained but she managed to pull it off. "Care to have some apple pie?"

"No, I just want to go to sleep. Work was tiring today; had to haul a heavier load than usual," he explained.

"I see. Want a bath before you go to sleep then?"

"That'd be nice."

Tsuzuki noted that his voice sounded strained but he said nothing of it. "Hey dad," Tsuzuki greeted.

"Hey son, how was your day?"

"Fine," Tsuzuki lied. His sister eyed him for a moment and smiled. Tsuzuki knew better than to put more worries on his father since he had enough to worry about. "But can I stay home tomorrow? I don't feel so well." Ruka threw him a glare which he gladly ignored.

"Hmmm, your forehead doesn't feel warm," his father noted, as he placed a calloused hand there.

"I just feel nauseous that's all. I don't want to throw up in school."

"Don't worry about it Asato, you'll feel better tomorrow."

"Dad . . . can you call me Tsuzuki instead?" How will he accept this?

"But that's our last name, you don't want to be known by our family name."

Maybe I shouldn't word it this way but . . . "I hate the name Asato, it's tainted." . . . I feel this is the only way I know how to express it . . .

A sigh escaped from his father's lips and Tsuzuki flapped a hand over his mouth. He had gone too far, now his father knew how his day actually went. "Kids pestering you again?" he asked.

"No." I must become a good liar!

"You don't need to lie to me, you're not a good liar you know?"

"Ruka always says that too . . ." Tsuzuki added. "I'm not a bad liar, I'm sure of it!"

A deep chuckle emerged from his father. "You're just like your mother; she was the same way."

"Father! Your bath is ready!" Ruka called.

"Be there in a minute!"

As his father started to walk towards the bath, Tsuzuki reminded him, "call me Tsuzuki . . ."

"Haha, sure thing Asato."

"Tsuzuki! I said Tsuzuki!"

The next day at school Tsuzuki was cornered at recess.

"Hand over your lunch money and we won't hurt you," a boy warned.

"I don't have any money."

"Don't lie to us, you freak. You obviously have money now had it over!" another hissed.

"I already-"

"Children!" They all turned around to see their teacher, Miss Misagi.

"Teacher!" they cried. "Asato tried to sell something to us! It looked like some sort of white powder!"

"Run along now, I'll deal with this," she told them.

"You're so in trouble, Asato!" they hollered at the brunette haired boy.

Miss Misagi made her way towards Tsuzuki. He gentle eyes serenely roved over him. "Are you all right?" Tsuzuki nodded. "Good." She turned her head to the direction of the boys who were watching and then back. "I'm sorry the students here are giving you a hard time."

"It's something that I'm used to. People have mistreated me all my life," he admitted. It's not far . . . why does it have to be this way? Why can't I lead a normal life like the other kids?

"Asato, you shouldn't let others bully you. You are a victim to no one."

"Miss Misagi, please call me Tsuzuki instead. I know it sounds strange but I don't like my given name."

"Oh Asato, you shouldn't hate your first name. You should cherish it, it defines you."

"But the others told me it is tainted because it was given to a freak. Funaki Asato thinks so too. He doesn't like being called Asato anymore; everyone calls him Funaki." A tear trickled down his left cheek.

"You're not a freak and yes, I've noticed the sudden change by your fellow classmates calling him that but I still call him Asato. He hasn't asked me to call him Funaki."

"If you called me Tsuzuki you can tell us apart more easily. It's not like I'm not already different though."

Placing a caressing touch to his left cheek, she said, "Asato, we are all different, no two people are exactly the same, not even twins."

"I'm . . ." Tears were freely flowing down his cheeks now. "I'm not human, am I?"

"Shhhh, of course you are," Miss Misagi cooed. "You have eyes, ears, a nose, an mouth just like anyone else."

Tearing his gaze from her gentle eyes he stared at the boys far off in the distance. Realizing that he was staring at them they threw him dirty looks and mouthed the word freak over and over . . .

"I just want to disappear; just go away. Then no one will have to make fun of me anymore," Tsuzuki whispered. "No one will have to see my eyes again."

"Is this about your eyes?" she asked, sounding really surprised. Tsuzuki nodded his head in agreement. "Don't worry about your eyes, we're all unique in some way."

"My eyes are not unique, they're not normal. Nobody can have purple eyes, that's unheard of."

"They are too, Asa- I mean Tsuzuki."

"Miss Misagi?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." he bolted off into a run and ran out of the schoolyard. She watched him go. At least she understands me . . .

"Freak!" a kid called after his retreating form.

"Masato!" Miss Misagi reprimanded. "My office now! Kishin, Ryo, Hironobu, you three too!" She briefly looked out at the exit way Tsuzuki had taken before walking towards her office . . . Somehow, she knew Tsuzuki would manage through all this. She knew he was strong, far stronger than she could ever imagine.