Tatsumi Seiichiro gazed at his lover of so many years. The truth of the events was just now settling in, told to him by Watari in a soft, even voice as the scientist related his findings inside the Mother computer. His voice never wavered, was slightly more flat than normal, and he wouldn't meet Tatsumi's eyes.

Shock was too mild a word for what coursed through the Shadow Master.

"Enma... is behind all this?" he whispered.

Watari nodded. "Yes. Right from the beginning."

Tatsumi swallowed hard.

This was all their Lord's doing. Everything, from Tsuzuki's first day in Meifu to today, all had been because Enma had needed him. What Watari had revealed was shocking and horrifying and Tatsumi had been reeling with it ever since.

And not only was all of this one grand scheme of their Lord, he had also found out another truth about his lover. Watari Yutaka had been, was still, one of the Five Generals. He was the Chief Researcher of the Mother program.

His Yutaka.

One of the most secretive of shinigami that existed. One of the most highly acclaimed ones. Those five that had created the super-computer known as Mother.

"I want the others to know," Watari said softly. "Not just the two of us. Tsuzuki and Hisoka, too. The Council in GensouKai, too."

"But Enma..."

"Won't do anything right now."

"We are nothing but his servants, Taka!" Tatsumi argued. "He can get rid of us easily!"

"He would have to get rid of the whole of GensouKai, too."

"They don't know yet!"

"Seii, he tried to kill Touda to break the bond, he tried a virus, he tried to upset the balance by attempting to murder some of the others, and he used Terazuma... it's no longer a secret. I might be the only one right now who knows everything, but the others suspect. They would find the truth even without us. And then there's Tsuzuki... Don't underestimate what he touched and can remember of it.

Enma-Daiou he would find a new way, Tatsumi thought fearfully. He didn't want to think of Tsuzuki, what his friend had looked like when the powers had been completely unleashed.

That had been Enma's plan from the beginning?

Tatsumi gathered his lower into his arms, felt the thin body stiffen briefly, then relax into his hold.

"The moment we know Tsuzuki is fine, we'll go to the Palace," the Shadow Master murmured.

"We should go now. Enma... Enma knows that I know. Tsuzuki is only safe as long as the Count can withstand Enma."

And how can he? Tatsumi wondered. Why is the Palace safe? Why does it seem to be the only place Enma has to respect to be neutral territory of sorts?

"We will," he finally said. "Taka... if I ask you about the Mother project... and you... will you answer?"

Amber eyes regarded him solemnly. And there was a deep pain in them, a physical pain, that manifested in the steep line between Watari's eyes, too. His lover was suffering from a headache.

Shinigami rarely got headaches. Healing powers took care of physical discomfort.

"Yes." Watari just smiled wryly.

Tatsumi had expected all kinds of answers, but not such a straight-forward one.

"Seii, I love you," Watari added as he took in his surprise. "And you know everything else already. You know about Yuki and the devil and... and everything."

"I never knew you were one of the Five."

Watari drew slightly away. "It wasn't a time I wanted to remember."

"Why not?" he asked quietly. "Unlimited resources, a top notch lab, all the funds you can think of... everything a scientist can dream of."

Watari smiled derisively, one hand rubbing over his forehead and then massaging his temples. "At the time the offer was made I was in seventh heaven, Seii, you can believe me. I was young, eager, overflowing with ideas..."

"And that's different from today how?" Tatsumi teased, squeezing one too cold hand.

He was given a warm smile. "Today, Seii, today I know there is more. Today I'm a man who has lived, who had his ups and downs, who loves and cries and laughs and hates... and who has you."

Tatsumi felt a faint blush creep over his cheeks.

"Back then I was idealistic. I believed what they told me. I wanted so badly to make up for the blunder I had thought had been my death in the world of the living. I understood their dilemma with the computer, with storage and run-time and speed and everything. It was like something I had always dreamed of. Kazei Reina was the Chief Researcher then. I was so in awe of her.

I want you to succeed me. You have the capacity.

It had been her words. Her words exactly.

She had tested him, she had watched him, and she had seen his potential. He had been promised everything, and in the end, he had taken Kazei's place.

"So I took her place and she... left. I don't know what happened to her. I think she ascended. She was one of the first, she was old, and she was brilliant, Seii. She was my mentor and she was my idol. I took her place and worked in her honor, in her name, and Mother was everything I could ever dream of."

Watari touched his temples with tentative fingers.

"I was part of Mother. I was Mother's extension. We were one throughout her creation and when I gave her life... it was incredible. I had never done something on such a scale before, but I went and did it. And it worked. I was my greatest achievement."

Tatsumi watched the thin face pale even more. Watari was trembling slightly.

"And it was the end of everything else. I had been part of Mother and they had stripped my brain of everything useful. I was like an empty shell and still they offered me to connect myself to the computer, to take a peek, to see if I could bear it. I left then, Seii. I couldn't bear it, the connection, touching that vast intellect that knew everything, from the first death to the first human being, to the first Lord of Meifu. Everything was in there."

"But now you touched it," Tatsumi said softly.

"Not that. I was inside Mother, she protected me, but she let me go wherever I pleased. And I saw it all."

Tatsumi reached out and took one of the hands massaging the temples. "You are in pain," he stated.

Watari smiled tearfully. "It was to be expected. My mind has trouble disconnecting from the system as it did. It's like ripping a piece of hardware from a running computer. It will show failure and signs of malfunction."

"You're not a piece of hardware."

"I was, Seii. I was. Nothing but an extension, sometimes even the carrier of software, too." He hunched over. "It hurts. It will continue hurting for a while."

"How long?"

"Till the nanites figure out that there won't be a reconnect to the Mother computer."

Tatsumi froze. "N-nanites?" he stuttered.

The smile was barely even there and the amber eyes filled with unshed tears. "One of the perks of becoming Mother's extension. Nanites. Tiny machines dormant inside me... and able to configure the access into the main system with ease. They remain active for a while after the disconnection because I might just reconnect again. It's what causes the headaches... and the eyes. I'm just hyperactive, in a way. My mind's firing up, remains fired up, and it's... it's hell..."

Tatsumi swallowed. The eyes... Watari had had golden eyes with vertical slits for a while, but lately it had lessened, the eyes turning more human in appearance.

"Oh Taka," he breathed.

Watari flung his arms around his lover and held on tight, shaking hard. No tears left his eyes, but he might as well have been crying. Tatsumi just held him back, arms wrapped around the slender form.

"I wish I could go back to being ignorant of it all," Watari whispered desperately. "Everything will change. Everything will be different. Heaven and Hell and GensouKai will need to know about the death of the Emperor, about Enma's role, about... about why this happened."

"I know," Tatsumi murmured. "You told me and I will be there when you tell the others."

Watari made a hiccupping sound. "I'm afraid, Seii. I'm so scared of what's to come after this. Enma... he tried to silence us once before. What if..."

Tatsumi silenced him with a gentle kiss. "I'll protect you with my life, Watari Yutaka. We all will. And I doubt Enma will do anything any more."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's a feeling. Like you said, things have changed and are still changing." Tatsumi rose and pulled the blond with him. "And we'll make sure that the truth gets out."
003, who had been completely silent so far, hooted loudly in agreement. She fluttered over to her master and rubbed her tiny head against Watari's pale cheek.

° ° °

Hisoka couldn't remember much of the first day of their forced refuge in the Palace of Candles, only dropping dead into the pillows, falling asleep after his empathic barriers had been destroyed and his mind pummeled into oblivion. He had slept for a long time, had had breakfast with the others, Tsuzuki's guardians, and then slept some more.

This time outside, in the garden, sitting in the shade of a tree, and with Tsuzuki holding him.

Time flies, he thought. He had never really noticed how quickly it had become dark again.

Now, feeling more awake and with a lo more shields protecting his sensitive mind, Hisoka stood in front of the full-length mirror, gazing at his nude image. Green eyes looked back, no emotions in them, nor were there any on his face. Light brown hair fell into those stoic eyes.

He wasn't very tall, had never been. Even as a child he had been smaller than the rest of the children in his village. Not that he had had a lot of contact with them anyway. He had been the unwanted child. His parents had seen an aberration in him. He had had powers that had scared everyone. He had been an empath and still was. He could sense emotions in others and when his shields were down they would take him over, make him run in synchrony with the other person. He would feel the same love and hatred, anger and joy. He would lose himself in that person.

Shields had been non-existent as a child. He had only learned them after his death. Before that he had dealt with the overpowering emotions by drawing away from people. He had shied from contact. He had wanted to be alone.

Until Tsuzuki Asato.

Their work partnership had had a very rocky start and Hisoka had no idea why Tsuzuki had persisted in wanting to be his friend. Maybe because he had been just as lonely and lost, had seen himself in Hisoka. It had been a strange first few cases, and Hisoka had been constantly surprised by what Tsuzuki did, by how he acted, what peeked through that innocent and child-like façade, and he had found the true Asato underneath.

It was the man he had fallen in love with.,

He had fought that emotion long and hard, and he knew he had hurt Tsuzuki even more by his rejection. It was a rejection Tsuzuki hadn't understood because he hadn't known about the tender emotions running through Hisoka's body and mind whenever he looked at his older partner.

Today they were more than work partners and a lot more than mere lovers. Lovers, in Hisoka's mind, spoke of brief liaisons, not the soul-deep bond between them, the intense emotions they felt when they were together, just the two of them. Hisoka was no longer afraid to lose himself in Tsuzuki. He wanted to be part of this man, fought to show what he felt, but years of conditioning normally thwarted those plans. He wasn't the one for romance, sweet-talk and love-sick smiles and expressions. He could speak the words, but not always.

Tsuzuki made up for that. Hisoka knew his partner understood, that he knew and felt it, that he was aware of Hisoka's slow progress, and he had never ever mentioned it. Hisoka was in awe of this man. For his understanding, for his gentleness, his empathy without being an empath, and for his incredible powers.

Hisoka had envied him those powers in the beginning. He had watched Tsuzuki fight with the shikigami at his command, had been shocked to know he had twelve altogether, and he had wanted to be Tsuzuki's equal. In fights Hisoka was the weak link, had to be protected, had no shikigami to call upon, and he had finally argued long and hard enough to go into GensouKai to claim his own.

It had ended in pain.

Hisoka wrapped his arms around his stomach, feeling the familiar pang of guilt at Rico's death. At Koujiro's injuries. At everything that had happened. Just because he had been such a fool to think he could ever be strong enough to win a shikigami who was so strong that not even Tsuzuki had thought about winning him. Kurikara was a fire dragon, he was the strongest of them all, aside from Sohryu, and he had no equal.

That was the past. Hisoka needed no shikigami. He knew that now. It was still a secret wish, but no longer consumed him so badly. He knew he was Tsuzuki's equal and he loved him.

And now he was free.

Slender fingers traced over his pale skin, up and down his arm, then across his chest.

The curse was gone.

Carved into his body by Muraki, the curse had died with him. It had killed him as a human, slowly and painfully, making him sick and weak, and finally it had taken his last breath.

Because he had witnessed a murder.

Because he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Muraki had haunted him ever since. Through the curse, through the memories of a sixteen year old boy who had suffered for years until he had died, and through his sudden reappearance in his undead life.

Now the doctor was dead, killed by Tsuzuki, and Hisoka was free.

A dark shadow appeared behind him and Hisoka was suddenly embraced warmly, pulled against the fully clothed form of his partner. Tsuzuki felt cool, like he had been outside, which he had probably been. He liked to sit in the garden or even on the roof of the building, lost in his thoughts but never alone. Someone was always with him. His hair was tousled as always, the violet eyes calm and so balanced, Hisoka latched onto that stability.

"Hey," Tsuzuki murmured and placed a little kiss against his neck.

Hisoka closed his eyes, resting fully against the man he loved so deeply, and his fingers dug into the arms slung around his body.

"Hisoka?" There was a sliver of worry in his voice.

Hisoka smiled faintly. Leave it to Tsuzuki. After everything he went through, after the pain and near-destruction of what made him what he was, he still worried about others.

Only you, he thought.

"I'm fine," he answered softly.

"You sure?"

Hisoka met the worried gaze through the mirror and smiled more. "Yes. The curse is gone and you're back."

Tsuzuki swallowed, emotions flitting over his features. Finally he closed his eyes and buried his face against Hisoka's neck. A tremor raced through him.

"I'm so sorry for what happened, Hisoka," he murmured, holding on more tightly.

"It wasn't your fault."

"I hurt you. I hurt so many people. I..."

"No one blames you, Asato," Hisoka whispered and turned into the loosening embrace. He framed the pale face with shaky hands and met the tear-filled eyes.

So different to the creature he had faced and brought down. So different. He had lashed out at this incredible mind he had felt so often before, to stop him, to give Touda a chance to latch onto his master's mind and act as the buffer he was. Hisoka had felt the true darkness for the first time and it was scary, terrifying, a complete horror, but deep inside it was Tsuzuki and would always be. He was of demonic heritage, it was him.

"I did this because I love you. I touched this darkness because I wanted you back. If someone has to apologize, it's me. I hurt you."

"No," Tsuzuki murmured.

"And you didn't hurt me either. It was Muraki who killed me over and over again. It was Muraki who triggered you."

Tsuzuki was silent, gazing into his eyes, and Hisoka felt a niggle of emotions leap from his partner into him.

"Tsuzuki...?"

"He was a pawn," the older shinigami finally said softly. "He asked me to kill him, to free him. I remember it all and I remember understanding, believing, seeing..."

Hisoka's hands clenched into the dark suit. He felt no guilt from Tsuzuki, something he would have expected. He was so calm, so at peace, though the active volcano that was the darkness sizzled underneath that stability.

"You remember it all," Hisoka whispered, resting his head against he shirt-clad chest.

"Yes," was the soft reply. "I can remember it all."

They stood together, in each other's arms, and Hisoka soaked up the calmness that had settled over Tsuzuki's soul. It was strange that here, in a place where there had been nightmares before, where the master of the palace had more or less stalked the older shinigami to have him pay his debts with his body, Tsuzuki was totally at peace.

Hisoka had stopped pondering the enigma that was Tsuzuki, and he had forced himself to stop thinking about the Count. Something had happened between the two men, a long time ago, around the time Rikugo had spent days upon days, even weeks in Meifu. Hisoka was aware of a relationship between the shikigami and the keeper of the candles, but in the wake of this relationship, Tsuzuki had made a discovery that had bound him closer to the Count than ever before while also freeing him.

Still thinking about it, he chastised himself.

Closing his eyes, aware that he completely naked and Tsuzuki fully clothed, he just enjoyed the presence of his partner and lover.

tbc...