The palace had repaired itself to its former splendor and Ryu was silently relieved to have the last signs removed. A hell serpent crashing into his halls had really left him with quite a lot of destruction to deal with. What he couldn't just as easily repair was the damage done to the shinigami and shikigami souls so very closely connected to it all.
And it was far from over.
For the healing to begin, old wounds had opened and the moment Watari walked into the palace, his face so uncharacteristically serious, Ryu knew it wasn't over.
Far from it.
Ryu had taken to wearing the mask non-stop again, only taking it off when he was in bed with Rikugo at night. He was glad for it because Watari was accompanied by Tatsumi, who had no idea what was behind the mask. It also gave the demon a measure of safety, a place to hide in plain sight, so to speak, and distance. There was also the fact that Hisoka had never seen him either.
"I need to talk to everyone," Watari requested when they had entered.
"They are all in the winter garden," Ryu replied carefully. "Shall I have Watson add another two cups?"
It was so hard to play his role after the events, but he struggled for normality. He had to be the Count, difficult as it was.
"No. I'd like you to be there, too, Count. This concerns us all." Watari fought briefly with himself. "I know the truth."
Ryu froze, glad for the mask, then nodded woodenly. "Come," he murmured.
°
The truth.
He had expected a lot, but not this.
Ryu had known that Tsuzuki was important. Heck, he had been singularly important for him in the past seventy-odd years. Tsuzuki had been his life-line so often, he had stopped counting.
But this...
This was...
Ryu was glad for Rikugo's presence, despite the shock the shikigami was under, too.
The most frightening moment for the demon was when Watari revealed the fact that Hell had been interested in Tsuzuki, too. The moment Tsuzuki killed Sargatanas, he had become the Commander of the Dragon Army, the second highest being in all Hell, only answering to Astaroth, the Lord of Hell. The other devils had wanted to kill him, hadn't wanted to be commanded by a human being.
So Enma had to be faster. Faster than Astaroth, faster than the pissed off devils, faster than anyone.
He had managed to get a respite from Hell and had quickly bonded Tsuzuki to Touda, making it impossible for Hell to get their claws on him.
When Watari finally ended his narration of what he had seen and heard inside Mother, shocked silence descended. All eyes were on the slender, pale man with the wide open violet eyes. Tsuzuki was visibly trying to digest the truth and failing.
Touda made a step toward him.
"No!" Tsuzuki cried and the serpent stopped, frozen. "No! Don't touch me!"
Touda stumbled back, one hand coming to press against his forehead, and Hisoka balled his hands into fists.
Then Tsuzuki was out the door and running into the garden.
Watari shivered. Tatsumi drew him close, whispering something softly Ryu didn't understand.
"I'll go after him," Hisoka announced quietly, nodding at Touda in silent understanding that one was needed to physically follow. It couldn't be someone Tsuzuki had the power of a master over, even if Touda could be disobedient and stubborn enough to break through.
Not this time, though.
° ° °
Tsuzuki had walked aimlessly through the maze around the Palace of Candles and had finally ended up at one of the fountains. There were many here and he had never taken his time to look at them all. Now he gazed at the playful water fountains, listened to the soft gurgle and splashes while his mind was far from calm or playful.
It had all been planned.
By Enma-Daiou.
Enma had been the driving force behind this all. Everything!
Tsuzuki felt something sizzle inside him.
He was a half demon, with very powerful demonic blood. He had never been asked if he wanted to live like this. He had killed himself to end it all but hadn't died; he had become a shinigami. His so-called life went on. Enma had snatched him away before Hell could lay a claim on him. Even though Tsuzuki had wanted to die, he had had unresolved business he had never thought about. It was what had stopped his soul from giving in, from giving up.
Seventy years of a rather uneventful afterlife. He had kept a low profile, had been a simple employee without much responsibility. He had had a lot of partners, but they had never stayed for a very long tike. Many had made careers. Others had simply decided they couldn't work with him.
With Hisoka, things had changed.
And his life had started to go a different pace.
He had been possessed by a devil who he had then killed and he had become the second most highest of them all. Despite the fact that the devils had stopped hunting him, he still was their commander.
He had never lost a thought about it ever since.
Maybe he should have.
Then Muraki had nearly driven him to death and he had wanted to die again, only to be saved by Hisoka.
And he had survived.
With more power, more abilities, and an ever-wavering control over this incredible darkness inside him.
Until Enma had put a stop to this time-bomb. He had forced the bond between Tsuzuki and Touda, stabilizing his prize shinigami, only to continue his manipulations.
Every move had only sped up the process, the development, until it had climaxed in this.
All this pain... because of his birth!
Tsuzuki cried out his pain, arms wrapped around his middle as if in pain, and he bent over. Tears ran freely down his cheeks, but no sob came over his lips.
No! No, no, no!
His fault.
All because of him.
He was the cause of this. He... he alone!
His mother had been raped by a demon and she had become pregnant with a child that should have been impossible to conceive. Humans and demons weren't compatible. The few ever born had either died immediately after birth or within the first weeks due to being so badly deformed.
Not him.
He had survived.
He hadn't been deformed, just different. Violet eyes...
Demonic eyes.
Tsuzuki fell to his knees, still hunched over, his stomach hurting as badly as his mind.
His fault... his fault...
"It's not your fault, you idiot!"
The sharp voice cut into his thoughts and he raised his head, looking into hard green eyes.
Hisoka's face was unrelenting as he stood in front of his kneeling partner.
"This wasn't your fault. Nothing was," he stated emotionlessly. "Don't start about killing yourself either. It won't work. You have a dozen people and five worlds that need you."
"Hisoka..:" he whispered brokenly.
The younger shinigami moved closer, still so very hard. "Stop it!" he commanded.
"But it was my fault..."
"You are such a moron! Haven't you learned anything? Nothing of this is your fault! And it's certainly not your fault that you were born!"
Tsuzuki swallowed. He was probably radiating his emotions. "I know..."
"That's not what I feel!"
"My mother..."
"Was raped," the younger shinigami said ruthlessly. "She didn't want to, but she was. Someone took her by force and it was a demon. You were the result of that union."
Tsuzuki evaded the hard, green eyes.
"You were a child, Tsuzuki! You were innocent!"
"I was different."
Hisoka sank down on his knees before him and grabbed the pale, tear-streaked face. "You were never a freak. Just like I was never a freak. We are different, you and I. Like Watari and Tatsumi were different, like Terazuma and Wakaba. We became shinigami because of it."
"Enma chose me."
"He manipulated you, he made you what you are, and I, for my part, can only say that I love what you are. We all do. You won twelve shikigami who are devoted to you, you have friends who need you, and you won against Enma-Daiou himself!"
Tsuzuki stared at the fountain not far away. "I'm so tired of this, Hisoka. I want this to end."
"It won't end if you kill yourself."
"I wasn't."
"Don't lie to the empath, idiot. I know you too well. I know what's going on in that mind of yours." Hisoka tapped a finger against the pale forehead.
Tsuzuki smiled sadly. "No one knows me better."
"And no one but me or Touda can kick your ass the way it should be done!"
Tsuzuki sighed and settled down, knees drawn up to his chest. "It was so easy. Everything was so easy before... before it all started to happen."
"Before I came along?"
Tsuzuki shrugged, then shook his head. "No. I was lonely. I worked alone and never had a lot of longer partnerships. You changed that, Hisoka. I liked working with you and you didn't want to leave."
Hisoka allowed himself a little smile and Tsuzuki mirrored it, though the pain and fear was still there.
"But after... after Sargatanas... the possession changed it all. I knew what I had become because of his death and I think part of him was the first trigger for the darkness."
"Fool," Hisoka chastised him. "The devil couldn't trigger what you had already. It's your heritage. Like mine is what I cursed in the beginning."
"But after that... everyone looked at me differently. I had been possessed, nearly destroyed the Enma-Cho, and Enma himself... he pardoned me."
"And today we know why."
Tsuzuki swallowed. "Yes."
"And you overcame it all. You won, Tsuzuki. You made a difference for a lot of people."
Tsuzuki screwed his eyes shut. "I hurt many more."
Hisoka growled angrily. "Will you stop looking for reasons to feel guilty already?" he exploded and it was one of the more prominent emotional outbursts.
Tsuzuki blinked in shock. "Hisoka...?"
"Without you, I would be dead," he stated bluntly. "Without you, Watari would have lost his soul to a devil. Tatsumi might be dead, too. You saved Byakko and Touda and Sohryu, you helped Terazuma and Ryu, you did everything to help! You are not to blame!"
Tsuzuki opened his mouth to argue, but Hisoka's sealed it. The kiss was hard and demanding and bruising in force, and Tsuzuki automatically held on to the more slender form, falling back. Hisoka settled over him, still kissing, still holding him tightly, and Tsuzuki felt a little sob rise in his throat. The tears had dried up, but the pain was still vibrating through him.
"Idiot," Hisoka just whispered against his lips again. "Idiot... I love you... we all love you... we all need you... not as Enma, not as a demon, but as you."
"Hisoka..."
"I. Love. You," Hisoka repeated. "And I need you. And I want you to be here, with me. And I want you to stop being such a brain-dead moron! You have a power inside you that rivals Enma-Daiou's, but you are still Tsuzuki Asato! And I love that man! I won't lose you and I'll follow you to hell again if I have to. I did it before and I will do it again!"
Tsuzuki looked at him, eyes wide, feeling something flicker through him. Far away he sensed Touda's presence and he smiled shakily.
"I love you, too," he murmured.
"Will you stop it now?" Hisoka asked, voice harder again.
Tsuzuki chuckled. "I need time to deal with this."
"You'll have it, but not right now. You have a responsibility, Asato."
Tsuzuki closed his eyes again and Hisoka held him.
"I'll be there with you," he promised. "You're not alone."
"Thank you."
"Let's go back. There's a whole bunch of people who are going through the same and Sohryu still doesn't know about what happened. Watari needs to tell the Council."
Tsuzuki nodded. "Okay." He drew Hisoka into a kiss. "I love you. I don't deserve you. And I won't ever leave you alone either."
Hisoka swallowed, eyes reflecting so many emotions, but he voiced none of them. He just shot Tsuzuki a scowl. The older shinigami smiled more.
"Love you," he repeated.
"Idiot," was Hisoka's reply as he pulled him along.
It felt safe like this. Too much would still try to shatter their confidence, their trust and their love.
° ° °
Rikugo was thunderstruck.
Watari's words still rang in his ears. His knees were weak, his hands were shaking, and he felt someone curl his fingers around his, squeezing. Black eyes looked at the man behind the mask who stood beside him. Ryu's expression wasn't hidden from him, even behind the mask, and his lover was just as shocked.
And shock was really too mild a word for it.
Watari's revelations had turned his world upside done. The impact of what the shinigami had dropped on them was still creating shockwaves and it was far from over.
The Emperor was dead; had died centuries ago.
They had lived a lie.
Everything had been a lie.
"The others have to know," Rikugo whispered.
Watari nodded, visibly steeling himself. He would have to be the one to tell the truth again, in front of the Council, and Rikugo didn't envy him.
Sohryu... Sohryu would... He actually had no idea how the powerful dragon would react. The last time someone had claimed that the Emperor was no longer, he had been banished after a terrible, all-destroying war. Kurikara had suffered for telling the truth.
How had the dragon known?
Rikugo swallowed hard, forcing himself to be his usual, calm and collected self.
A hand stroked briefly over his back and he shot his lover a smile.
It was when Tsuzuki came back, looking more in control of himself, that Rikugo looked at Touda. The fire serpent was unreadable. He might as well have been wearing his visor; his eyes were completely cold.
The astrologer turned to Ryu. "I have to go."
"I understand. Go."
"Will you be okay?"
"Yes. Go."
He waited for Touda, who was softly talking to their master, his face suddenly so soft, his eyes warmer, and his touch gentle. Tsuzuki was leaning into that touch, eyes closed, clearly communicating with the black shikigami. Then he suddenly flung his arms around Touda, hugging him tightly. The hug was returned with the same ferocity. When Tsuzuki turned to look at his second shikigami here, Rikugo felt his heart constrict. He wanted to stay, talk to his master, reassure him that nothing had changed, but no words left his lips.
Tsuzuki embraced him the same way he had Touda.
"Take care of Sohryu for me," he whispered roughly.
Because he had to stay here, safe and protected from Enma. While Rikugo wanted to take him along, have Tsuzuki among the twelve to protect him, he knew even GensouKai wasn't safe. Not as long as no new Emperor could stop Enma from entering.
"I will. You have my oath."
"Thank you."
He cupped the pale cheeks that showed traces of dried tears. Rikugo smiled, then let go and joined Touda and Watari. Tatsumi stood stoically outside the triangle.
"Aren't you coming along?" Rikugo wanted to know.
"No. I will deal with the Shokan Division and Konoe," was the level answer.
The astrologer nodded his understanding. "We will protect him."
"I know." Blue eyes met black ones. "Thank you. And good luck."
And then they jumped into GensouKai, Watari between them.
tbc...