This is another fairly short chapter, gomen. Hopefully the next one will be longer, but no promises.

We are getting close to the end, another two or three chapters should finish it.

I hope people out there are actually enjoying this, and thanks to those who review to let me know they are.

Happy New Year!

Chapter 11

"He what?"

"He went to Chiju to look for Muraki. He said he had to stop him from doing anything else to hurt Bon."

"And you didn't stop him!"

"I tried!" Watari cried, frustration creeping into his voice. "I tried but he wasn't listening to me!"

"I apologize." Tatsumi said trying to calm the agitated blonde. "That was unfair. I know you couldn't have stopped him if he was truly determined."

Watari let out a bitter laugh. "I really did try."

XXX

Tsuzuki walked into the lobby of yet another hospital. He knew that Muraki had a practice in Tokyo, and it seemed to him that his best way of finding the man was through his work. This was the forth hospital he'd been to in the last hour, but luck was with him.

"Hai, we have a Dr. Muraki Kazutata on staff here. He's not in right now, but he will be tomorrow." The pretty nurse informed him.

"He's looking for Muraki Sensei?" Another nurse asked.

"Yes I am." Tsuzuki answered for her.

The second nurse gave him a sweet smile. "If you want to see him, you'll have to come in early in the morning. Muraki Sensei has cancelled all of his afternoon appointments. Apparently there is an urgent problem with one of his patients and he has to go to Nagasaki for a few days to take care of it."

Tsuzuki offered the nurses his thanks and left the hospital frowning. Muraki was going to Nagasaki? Why? Well at least he knew where to find the man. Tomorrow he would return and follow him. He wouldn't let Muraki kill anyone else. He wouldn't let him hurt Hisoka again.

XXX

Hisoka opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the infirmary, again. That was no big surprise, but the sight of Hijiri dozing lightly in a chair beside his bed was. Very carefully and quietly he climbed out of the bed and without disturbing the other boy, he slipped out of the room.

He made his way to Watari's lab and peeked inside, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw the scientist was not there. He went inside and closed the door behind him.

Moving to the back of the lab Hisoka started opening cupboards at random. He finally found one with dozens of vials inside and started going through them.

It took him almost ten minutes to find the one he was looking for. He had no idea what was in it, but Watari had once told him it was toxic. That was good enough for him. Pocketing the vial Hisoka left the lab.

Still avoiding being seen, Hisoka made his way to the office he shared with Tsuzuki. Grabbing a pen and paper he took a seat at his desk. It took him nearly half an hour and many tries to put the words he wanted to say on paper. In the end the note was so simple, but it was right.

Hisoka left Enma-cho like a thief in the night, no explanations, and no goodbyes.

XXX

Tatsumi and Watari were once again in the break room nursing coffees when Tsuzuki came into the room. Both men looked up expectantly.

"Well?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm sorry Tatsumi," Tsuzuki began. "I know I should have waited, but…"

Tatsumi wave his hand dismissively. "Not that, did you find Muraki?"

Tsuzuki took a seat at the table. "No, but I found out where he's going to be tomorrow. He has appointments in the morning, and he's going to Nagasaki in the afternoon."

"Um hum, so what are you planning?"

"I'm going to follow him."

"Alone?" Tatsumi raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to confront him, I'm just going to watch. If I need backup I'll let you know."

"And what do I tell Bon when he wakes up?" Asked Watari. "I don't think I'll be able to keep him in bed if he knows you're on Chiju chasing after Muraki." The scientist sighed. "My track record of getting you guys to stay put is not phenomenal."

Tsuzuki gave him a small grin. "Tell him the truth,"

"I'd have to. He's an empath. He'd know if I was lying."

"And then sit on him."

Tatsumi snorted at that. "I'm sure that would go over well."

Watari's eyes widened. "He'd massacre me!"

"Nah," Tsuzuki reassured him. "You'd just have to dodge glares for a while."

"A year at least." Tatsumi interjected with a quirk of his lips.

"He's gone." Hijiri announced from the doorway.

"Who's gone?" Tsuzuki asked before the words had even registered.

No one answered. No one needed to.

The three men jumped to their feet and raced to the infirmary. Just as Hijiri had said, Hisoka was gone.

"What happened?" Watari asked nobody in particular.

"I don't know." Came Hijiri's voice from behind them. The trio turned to face him.

"I must have fallen asleep. I'm so sorry."

Watari went to the boy and placed a comforting arm around his shoulders. "It's okay, it's not your fault." Watari gave him a gentle squeeze. "On the upside, Hisoka's awake, that's something to be thankful for."

Tatsumi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Now we just need to know where he is."

XXX

After making a brief stop Hisoka went back to his apartment and collected what money he had set aside for emergencies. He was glad he didn't spend much and he had saved quite a bit. Grabbing some clean clothes, he teleported to Chiju.

It took him a long while to find a hotel room that suited him. Quiet, out of the way and the people running it didn't question a sixteen year old boy staying alone.

While it would have been easier to stay in Meifu, Hisoka was pretty sure that Watari would not let him be left alone for any period of time, and he didn't think any of his co-workers would let him run off to meet Muraki alone if he explained the situation to them. He wanted to though. He knew they would try to help him, but there were two lives on the line. Until he knew what Muraki had done with the children, he would give the man what he wanted.

Hisoka curled up on a small bed in a cheap room and tried to get to sleep. He felt very alone.

He wished Tsuzuki was there.

XXX

After several hours of fruitless searching the three Shinigami converged in the break room.

"Nothing." Tatsumi reported.

Tsuzuki shook his head looking completely discouraged.

Watari sighed. "He's not anywhere in Meifu. So he must have gone to Chiju."

"But why?" Tsuzuki asked.

"We won't know that until we can ask him." Tatsumi rubbed his temples. "Alright, there's not much we can do at the moment. I suggest we get some sleep and in the morning Tsuzuki can start trailing Muraki. At lease then we'll know one place Kurosaki-kun isn't. Watari, you and I can continue to search for him from here."

Tsuzuki frowned, "I think we should keep looking, Hisoka could be in trouble, he could need us…"

Watari took Tsuzuki's and started leading him out of the room. "Bon will be alright," He said, praying it was true, "And you need to get some rest if you're going to be tailing Muraki all day tomorrow. C'mon, you can use one of the beds in the infirmary." He offered a small grin. "Keep Hijiri-kun company for a while."

Tsuzuki hesitated as if he was going to protest again, but Watari gave him a little tug and he went.

Tatsumi watched them leave and then headed towards his office. He didn't really intend to sleep. One of his colleagues was missing, and he fully intended to keep searching until he was found.

XXX

It had been a long and exhausting day.

Tsuzuki leaned against a tree. He had a good vantage point from where he stood. He was almost completely out of sight, but he could watch what the doctor was doing. Tsuzuki was not thrilled to be back in Nagasaki at this particular place. Hisoka's blood had soaked the ground here, and he had waited at that railing for Muraki's call. In fact there was a figure there now, in the exact spot where he had stood.

Muraki approached the slight figure looking out at the vista before him. He leaned in close and said something to the figure, who turned around.

It was Hisoka.

Tsuzuki felt his jaw drop. What was his partner doing here?

The doctor had apparently said something else because Hisoka nodded. Muraki placed his hand on the small of the boy's back and together they headed away from the outlook.

Tsuzuki was sure he was going into shock. Muraki had touched Hisoka and he had not seemed to be angry or afraid. He had not so much as flinched, and now he was willingly accompying the man to god knows where.

He realized that the pair was almost out of sight and hurried to catch up.

He wondered if Hisoka knew he was there.