Hi! I worked my butt off to get this chapter done before I went away. It jumps back and forth quite a bit, so I hope it's not too confusing.

Thank to reviewers, readers and everyone! Merry Christmas!

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Emerald green eyes opened to a room tinted red by twilight.

Hisoka rolled over forcefully in the bed and collided with something warm, and that something warm was bumped off the bed and collided with the floor.

"Ouff!"

Amethyst eyes flew open in shock and confusion. Tsuzuki found himself flat on his back on the hard floor trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him.

A blonde head peered over the edge of the bed

"Tsuzuki! Get up! We have to go."

"Go? Go where?" Tsuzuki wheezed. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head "Ouch!"

In a flurry of motion Hisoka extracted himself from the bed and grabbed his partner, hauling him to his feet.

"We have to go now!" He was pulling at Tsuzuki's shirt dragging him towards the door. "Do you know where we can find Hijiri?"

"Hijiri? Hisoka what…"

"There's no time! Do you know where to find Hijiri? Yes or no."

"Well yes, of course but why…"

"Muraki saw him in a park. He's picked him as his next victim." He was yanking even harder on the shirt, "Tsuzuki please."

Tsuzuki finally caught Hisoka's panic and the two shinigami hurried from the room.

They went straight to Tatsumi's office and knocked on the door. When they received no answer, Hisoka tried the knob. The door was open, but the secretary was absent.

"Hijiri was still living in the same apartment last time I checked." Tsuzuki informed the younger man as they walked briskly down the hallway away from Tatsumi's office. "I can head down there now, He should be home at this time of night. You stay here and get a hold of Tatsumi, let him know what's happening."

Hisoka frowned. "No, you can't go by yourself. Shinigami are supposed to travel in pairs, I should go with you."

Tsuzuki shook his head. "You can't. Someone has to be here to let the others know what's going on." Hisoka looked like he was going to say something else, but Tsuzuki went on. "Besides, if Muraki pulls you into his vision again you won't be in a position to defend yourself."

Hisoka glared, he didn't want to admit it, but he knew his partner was right.

"I want you to stay here where you won't be hurt."

A bitter smile formed on Hisoka's lips. Staying in Meifu would not keep him from being hurt. Definitely not.

XXX

Tsuzuki materialized on Chiju right before Hijiri's door and rang the bell. It was getting late and he hoped he wasn't waking the boy up. The door opened and Tsuzuki found himself looking into green eyes that lit up with surprise and pleasure at the sight of him. For a fleeting moment he wished he could bring that expression to another set of green eyes.

"Tsuzuki! What are you…..Oh wow!" Hijiri stepped forwards and threw his arms around the older man's neck. "It's so good to see you!"

"Hello Hijiri." Tsuzuki said returning the hug.

Hijiri caught the serious note in Tsuzuki's voice. He pulled back. "I take it that this is not a social call."

Tsuzuki shook his head. "Come inside." Hijiri led the way into his apartment. Tsuzuki pulled the door shut behind him and took the seat that Hijiri gestured to. "Where's Hisoka."

"He's still is Meifu. Hijiri, did you see a man dressed in white today? With platinum hair?"

Hijiri started. "Actually, I did. I nearly killed myself tripping over a broken lace, so I stopped to fix my shoe. When I looked up that man was standing there staring at me like I had two heads. When I asked him if I could help him, he growled at me. I decided to get out of there before he got any weirder."

Tsuzuki nodded. "His name is Muraki Kazutaka. Hisoka and I have had run ins with him before. He is a murderer and he has targeted you as his next victim."

"Why?" Hijiri asked.

"Probably because of your resemblance to Hisoka."

"My resemblance….but why would that make me his target?"

"That man, he, well he's the one who killed Hisoka."

"Oh." Hijiri looked away for a moment.

"Hijiri, I would like you to come back to Meifu with me for a while. Muraki is very dangerous and we don't know everything he is capable of."

"I can't" Hijiri looked back up at Tsuzuki, his eyes wide. "I have a rehearsal first thing in the morning and tomorrow evening I'm performing in a charity concert. There's no way I can back out!"

Tsuzuki sighed. Hadn't they done this before? "Alright. But I'm staying right here with you. We know that Muraki is looking for you."

Hijiri nodded and grinned. "My couch is yours."

XXX

Tatsumi arrived at work early, as usual. He stopped at the break room and put on a pot of coffee. He walked down to the infirmary to peek in at Tsuzuki and Hisoka while he waited for it to brew. The infirmary was empty.

Back in the break room, Tatsumi poured himself a cup of the fresh coffee as he wondered where the pair had disappeared to. It was too early in the morning for Tsuzuki to even be up, let alone out and about.

Entering his office he set his coffee down on his desk, sat down and picked up a stack of papers. He looked up reaching for the coffee cup, but his hand stilled when his gaze fell upon his couch.

Tatsumi got up from his desk and crossed the room. He knelt down beside the couch and gently brushed a strand of blonde hair away from closed eyes.

Hisoka was curled up on his couch, fast asleep. For a moment Tatsumi was tempted to just let him sleep, he knew the boy needed it, but his presence in his office brought up too many questions. The main one being where was Tsuzuki? Tatsumi couldn't think of anything that would have dragged the man away from his partner after the events of the day before.

Gently he shook Hisoka. "Kurosaki-kun? Wake up."

Hisoka blinked sleepily, "Tat-Tatsumi-san? What?" Then Hisoka's brain kicked in and his eyes widened. "I fell asleep!"

"You probably needed it. Where's Tsuzuki?"

Hisoka sat up. "He's on Chiju with Hijiri."

"Hijiri? Mianse Hijiri?"

"Hai. Muraki saw him and…."

"Isn't he the one who looks like you?"

"He's next Tatsumi-san, Muraki's going to kill him next and Tsuzuki went to protect him. I tried to contact you, but I couldn't find you. I couldn't get a hold of Watari-san either. And I didn't know how to contact Kanoe after hours."

"You mean Tsuzuki's on Chiju alone?"

"Hai."

"Alright." Tatsumi said standing up. "I'll go and let Kanoe know what's going on, and then I'll head down to Chiju to join Tsuzuki. You will need to inform Watari of the situation when he arrives."

XXX

Tsuzuki sat in the large almost empty concert hall. He leaned back in his seat and let out a huge yawn. He hadn't got a lot of sleep during the night. He kept expecting someone to show up, Muraki, Tatsumi, Watari, anyone, but noone had and Tsuzuki had fallen into a deep sleep sometime around dawn. Hijiri had shaken him awake early with dire threats of missing breakfast to go to the rehearsal.

Tsuzuki had thought of leaving a note for whoever came to back him up, but thought better of it. If he put their location in a note he may just as well write 'come and get us' on the door.

His eyes drifted to the stage where Hijiri was rehearsing his piece for the concert. Tsuzuki smiled. With his violin tucked under his chin and his body swaying gracefully in time to the music Hijiri looked almost angelic. Tsuzuki's smile widened, but he was no Hisoka.

XXX

Tatsumi stood at the door of Hijiri's apartment, knocking for a second time he waited patiently. Meeting with Kanoe had taken longer than he anticipated and now Tatsumi felt pressed for time. After a few minutes without an answer Tatsumi tried the door. The knob turned smoothly and the door swung inwards. Tatsumi's eyes widened in horror. Hijiri's apartment looked as if a cyclone had hit it.

"Tsuzuki-san? Mianse-kun?"

The apartment felt empty, and a quick look around assured him that those he sought were not there. The sheer violence inflicted on the apartment worried him. In the center of the mess there was a piece of paper lying on the floor. Tatsumi picked it up and looked at it, then folded it and put it in his pocket.

He needed to report back to Enmacho, to see if Tsuzuki had reported in.

He left the apartment saying a quick prayer to Enma-Dia-Oh that Tsuzuki and Hijiri had not been there when Muraki had arrived.

XXX

Tsuzuki stood in the green room of the concert hall with Hijiri.

"So the rehearsal is finished. Shall we get going?"

"Sorry Tsuzuki, I can't. I have to help set up for the concert."

"Hijiri…."

"Tsuzuki, this is a charity concert. They are making no money on this. All the work is being done by the performers who have volunteered their time."

Tsuzuki sighed heavily. Part of him knew he should report to Meifu, but a larger part of him was unwilling to leave Hijiri alone for any amount of time.

XXX

"Why hasn't that dufus reported in?" Watari ranted as he paced the length of his lab. He flashed a quick look at Hisoka who sat curled up in a nearby chair. "Bon, you okay?"

Hisoka looked up briefly and after a moment shrugged.

Watari frowned. He didn't like the way that Hisoka seemed to be withdrawing from the people around him. He could be wrong, but he still wanted a verbal response. "Say something."

"I've been better." Hisoka said, keeping his eyes downcast. Watari rewarded his effort with a small smile. He'd take what he could get.

He was about to attempt to elicit more speech from the sullen youth when Tatsumi came into the room, alone.

"Where's Tsuzuki?" Watari demanded.

"I don't know. Neither he nor Mianse-kun were at the apartment when I got there, and the apartment has been vandalized."

Watari drew in his breath sharply.

"They're okay." Hisoka said softly from were he sat. "If Muraki had them, I'd have had a front row view."

Tatsumi walked over to Hisoka. "Kurosaki-kun, I think the best way for us to find Tsuzuki-san is for you to come to Chiju with me and track him with your empathy." Hisoka nodded.

Watari was shaking his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Tatsumi asked.

"All of the visions Bon's had he's had while here in Meifu. If he were to have one while on Chiju, the proximity to Muraki would probably make the experience much more intense."

"It doesn't matter." Hisoka said. "If Muraki knows where Hijiri's apartment is, he'll be watching it for their return. We have to find them before they go back there."

"And if we don't find them?" Watari asked.

"Then at least we know where they'll be this evening." Tatsumi pulled a paper from his pocket and handed it to Watari. It was an invitation to a charity concert featuring a solo performance by Mianse Hijiri.

XXX

The trio spent most of the day staking out Hijiri's apartment. Hisoka's empathy would tell them if Tsuzuki and Hijiri were coming before Muraki would have a chance to know.

"The concert should be starting about now. We better get going. It's probably safe to assume that there already there." Tatsumi started off at brisk walk. Watari and Hisoka followed, but having the shortest legs, Hisoka soon found himself falling behind.

Hisoka stopped walking as a sharp pain lanced across his back. His head throbbed and the world blurred. 'Watari was right about it being more intense' he thought. He gripped his head in his hands and tried to stay on his feet. Another reality swam into existence around him, overlapping the reality around him.

Watari noticed that Hisoka was lagging behind and turned to see what was keeping the boy turned back. He saw Hisoka stagger and moved to help him.

"Tatsumi, wait a minute!"

Tatsumi looked over his shoulder and saw the difficulty the youth was having and came back. "Kurosaki-kun, what do you see?"

Wide vacant green eyes slowly rose to look at Tatsumi.

"There are people dressed up in formal clothes……"

"He must be at the concert." Watari summarized.

Tatsumi nodded. "Can you walk Kurosaki-kun?"

Hisoka didn't answer, but started to put one foot in front of the other. With Watari one side of him and Tatsumi on the other helping to guide him, the three found a secluded place from which to teleport to the concert hall.

They arrived still some distance away, there were too many people around for them to arrive closer and Hisoka was having problems concentrating on what was around him.

Tatsumi looked over his companions. "Watari-san, you stay here with Kurosaki-kun. I'm going to go inside and look for Tsuzuki."

"But…" Watari began, but Tatsumi cut him off.

"It seems to be formal dress." Tatsumi gestured to the elegantly dressed people entering the hall. "I'm the only one of us that they may allow inside." He turned and headed for the entrance. After a lengthy conversation with a doorman, he went inside.

Watari led Hisoka back between two buildings so they were out of sight. The time passed slowly until Watari's attention was once again claimed by the youth beside him.

"Bon!"

Hisoka had begun to shake as if he were about to fly apart. He opened his mouth and said one word, his voice filled with dread.

"Tsuzuki….."

XXX

The growing crowd in the concert hall worried Tsuzuki. The event co-coordinator had come and swept the young man away to meet some of the sponsors before the concert began. Although Tsuzuki had tried to stay with him, they had been separated by the crush of people. He tried to make his way to Hijiri, but bodies kept getting in his way and obscuring his view of the youth. Tsuzuki cursed under his breath. He wanted nothing more than this to be over, and the two of them safely back in Meifu.

Tsuzuki struggled between men in tuxedos and ladies in long gowns, looking very much out of place in his long trenchcoat. He finally got to the spot where he had last seen Hijiri, but the boy was no longer there. He looked around, frantic for Hijiri's safety when a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Tsuzuki……"