Welcome Back! Before I get the ball rolling I need to cover a few things.
Somehow I seem to have lost my footnote on Chapter 3, so here is my lost acknowlegment. The biting photocopier and Terazuma's problems with it I borrowed (with permission) from another fic called 'Copy Woes' by Kyra Rivers.
If you have not read it, go now. Read it. It's hilarious. Then come back. Don't forget to come back.
Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! I love reviews! They make life worth living!
Disclaimers: I keep forgetting these things. I own nothing. I never will. Not Yami, not even the M&M's.
Chapter 4
Hisoka woke up and stretched his arms above his head. A glance at the clock on his bedside table told him that it was 7:25. He grinned to himself, his alarm would go off in five minutes. He reached over and flicked the alarm off. Getting out of bed, he grabbed his robe and headed to the kitchen. He put a pot of water on to boil, and went through his cupboards looking for pancake mix. Tsuzuki liked pancakes, and they were easy to make. Setting the mix on the counter Hisoka made tea then went to take a quick shower before cooking breakfast.
Feeling more awake and refreshed after his shower, Hisoka headed back to the kitchen, knocking on the door of the spare room on his way by. It wasn't enough to wake up his partner, but he'd go back after the pancakes were ready, if the smell of cooking food wasn't enough by itself.
It was.
Tsuzuki came into the kitchen just as Hisoka was placing a tall stack of pancakes on the table. Running his hands through his sleep tousled hair. Wearing only boxers and a white t-shirt he looked the very picture of 'just rolled out of bed.' Hisoka had to work to keep the smile off his face.
"Ohyio 'Soka-chan." Tsuzuki greeted him. He sat at the table and eyed the heaping plate hungrily as Hisoka poured them each a glass of orange juice.
"Dig in!"
XXX
Tsuzuki went to get dressed, after inhaling enough pancakes to feed a small army, while Hisoka cleaned up the kitchen. Together, they left for work walking in comfortable silence.
"Ne, Hisoka?" Silence was not Tsuzuki's forte, comfortable or not.
"Eh?"
"How are you feeling this morning, really?" The last couple of days Hisoka had been acting…..off. He seemed….nicer, and it was actually making Tsuzuki kind of nervous.
"I'm feeling pretty good." Hisoka said, giving his companion a warm smile. Tsuzuki blinked, Hisoka smiling? Was the world coming to an end? Hisoka smiled even wider at his partner's expression and the slight shock he could feel coming from him.
But he did feel good, better than he could remember feeling in ages. It had been three days since he was released from the infirmary, and he had had no nightmare since. Not even dreams that he could remember. The first night he had slept 12 hours straight through, an absolute first for Hisoka. Although he had not slept quite that long the next two nights, he had still got full nights sleep. He felt rested and relaxed. It was amazing, get some good sleep and your whole outlook changed. Tsuzuki seemed less annoying, Watari's potions seemed less life-threatening, and when Saya and Yuma had visited their office yesterday afternoon, he hadn't felt the usual urge to throttle them both to death on sight. Even his empathy seemed to have smoothed out, becoming more focused and controllable.
Hisoka felt good.
XXX
Tatsumi felt wretched.
For the last three days he had been holed up in his office going through police reports from all over Japan. He didn't know exactly what he was looking for, just something about Hisoka's nightmare had truly disturbed him. Granted the youth had a lot of hang-ups, but being a killer wasn't one of them.
After long days of searching, he had found a police report from Miyazaki that raised alarms in his mind. Gyuhyi Aya, 23, had been found dead of multiple stab wound to the throat and chest. The murder weapon appeared to be a narrow blade. There were no suspects, no motive and no witnesses. The time of death put her murder at approximately the same time as Hisoka had been dreaming. The victim had been on her way home from a party. Though she had said goodbye to her friends, no one had actually seen her leave. While the police were still investigating, without any leads it was apparent this would soon be a cold case. Tatsumi pulled up a picture of the dead girl, and printed it out. He needed to talk to Hisoka, he needed to find out if his suspicions were founded.
XXX
Hisoka and Tsuzuki spent the morning filling out reports, rather Hisoka filled out reports and Tsuzuki doodled while surreptitiously working his way through a large bag of M&Ms.
"Hey!" Watari's blond head popped through the door. "Oh! M&Ms! Can I have some?"
Tsuzuki grinned and held out the bag. Watari bounced over and helped himself to a handful. Tossing a few of the treats into his mouth he turned to face Hisoka. "Oi Bon, could you come down to the lab for a bit?"
"What for?" Tsuzuki asked.
Watari grinned evilly "He's going to be my latest experiment!" He cackled.
Tsuzuki bounded out of his chair and ran to his partner and threw himself on him. "You can't have him!" Tsuzuki cried, waving the bag of M&Ms around like a weapon.
WHACK.
"Ow!"
"Oh! 'Soka-chan, I'm so sorry!"
Hisoka rubbed his head where the bag of M&M's had made contact. He pushed Tsuzuki off of him and stood up. "Baka!" He muttered.
"'Soka? I'm sorry, are you okay?" Tsuzuki sat on the floor where he landed, tears welled in his eyes.
Hisoka sighed. "I'm fine." He offered his hand to the older man and helped him back to his feet. "Let me go see what Watari wants, and then we can go out for lunch."
"Really?" Tsuzuki threw his arms around around him. "'Sank you!"
"Your treat."
Watari watched the whole scene with amusement. When Tsuzuki finally released his partner he headed for the door. "Come on Bon, Time waits for no man!"
Hisoka shook his head and followed Watari out of the room.
Tsuzuki returned to his desk, the semi-lethal M&Ms safely contained in his lap and resumed the high pressure job of pretending to look busy. He worked diligently at his task for about 20 minutes when there was a soft knock on the door and another head popped into the room.
"Hello Tsuzuki-san, is Kurosaki-kun in? I need to speak with him."
"Ah, no. Watari came by a while ago and asked him to go to the lab. Why, is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure, but I hope not." With that Tatsumi continued towards Watari's lab, leaving Tsuzuki at his desk with confusion and worry apparent on his face.
XXX
"Alright Bon. Strip."
"What!"
"Take your shirt off. I want to take a look at your back."
Hisoka scowled at the scientist as he complied. Watari was immediately behind him, squatting down to look at the marks closely. For fifteen minutes Hisoka endured being poked and prodded while Watari scribbled down notes.
"Well, what do you think, dose it look any better?"
"I really can't say. They look about the same as the last time I saw them. There's no visible improvement, but it's only been three days. These marks still might heal, but it will happen very slowly. Do they hurt at all?"
"Um, no not really."
"Okay then. I guess I'm done for the moment, I know where to find you if I want you. So you better run along, unless I'm mistaken you have a date!"
Hisoka turned a brilliant shade of red as every drop of blood in his body found its way to his face. "No! It's not like that!"
But Watari just laughed. Muttering dire threats under his breath, Hisoka left to collect his partner for lunch. After all he thought with a quick grin, he had a date.
XXX
Tatsumi entered the lab carefully, eyeing his surroundings wary of anything that could go 'boom'. Watari was sitting at his computer, entering data from a set of notes on the table beside him. He seemed to be alone.
"Watari-san, have you seen Kurosaki-kun?"
Watari turned in his chair and looked up at the other man, brushing long blond strands out of his face. "Aa, he was here, but he left just a few minutes ago, he and Tsuzuki were going out for lunch, why, is something wrong?"
Tatsumi sighed and ran his finger through his own dark hair. "I don't know. The day that Tsuzuki brought Kurosaki-kun back from Chiju, he had a nightmare, I couldn't wake him. When he finally awoke, he was badly shaken. It was disturbing. Now I think I may have evidence that it was more than just a dream."
Amber eyes narrowed as he regarded the secretary. "Have a seat. I think we should compare notes."
XXX
"Hey Hisoka, did you see Tatsumi? He was looking for you."
"Really, did he say what he wanted?"
"No, but he seemed upset."
"Well, I'll look for him when we get back."
XXX
Hisoka was on his way back to the office that he and Tsuzuki shared. Having returned a stack of books to the library, he was now ready to leave for the day. Although he had not yet run into Tatsumi, he had no real desire to hang around after hours to find out what the man had wanted. He was more preoccupied wondering what he was going to make for dinner. He supposed he'd better think of something or else Tsuzuki might try his hand in the kitchen again. The thought made Hisoka stomach hurt.
He was mentally taking inventory of his fridge and cupboards when he felt a tingle across his back and the world around him blurred. It didn't go away, he was still aware, but it was if the reality around him had gone translucent and he could he could see another reality through it. Hisoka closed his eyes, the world he knew disappeared. The other reality remained.
"No, no, no, no, no……….."
"Are you ready to play?"
He was waking towards a bench, there was someone sitting there. From the back he could see a slender form, short spiky black hair. This person was totally unaware of his approach. Already he could feel the hard handle of the dagger in his right hand. He could feel the wind blowing softly through his hair and he could feel his lips were twisted up in a mockery of a smile. Once again he had no control.
'No, no, no, no, no, no………'
His mind kept up the litany of denial as he pulled his right hand from his pocket. He felt the sudden shock and fear from the figure on the bench as he pressed the tip of the dagger against the back of the exposed neck. Before the figure could make a move to get away, he wrapped his left hand around the vulnerable neck.
'No, no, no, no, no, no…….'
A face turned towards him. Large grey feminine eyes stared up at him wide with panic. High cheek bones, a delicate mouth. She couldn't have been more than eighteen. He felt the smile on his face widen. Fighting for control, fighting for any way to stop this. He heard a voice calling him as he pressed the knife forward into flesh.
He opened his eyes. Vertigo washed over him. He could see Tatsumi leaning over him, his mouth moving, but he could still see and feel the other reality, feel blood pouring over his hands, feel the pain and fear of the young woman who was now dying.
Then it stopped.
XXX
Tatsumi was beginning to feel like a stalker. He had been following Hisoka around all day, missing him by a few minutes each time. Wakaba had told him she had seen the boy heading for the library, but once again Tatsumi had been too late to catch him. He quickly headed back towards Hisoka and Tsuzuki's office hoping to catch the pair before they left for the day.
He turned a corner and saw Hisoka sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, his arms wrapped around himself defensively. He hurried over to the youth and touched his shoulder. There was no response. Hisoka's eyes were closed and his lips were moving, Tatsumi leaned in close.
"No, no, no, no, no, no………."
"Kurosaki-kun, can you hear me?" Tatsumi shook his shoulder, "Kurosaki-kun, wake up. Look at me."
Hisoka's eyes opened. Unfocused green eyes stared straight ahead. After a few moments he shuttered, then buried his face in his hands.