Being the Chief of the Shokan Division automatically meant reporting to Enma-Daiou in person. It was something Tatsumi could have done without, but his training in his early childhood, the training any nobleman received, gave him the necessary distance. He could meet with the Lord of Hades, knowing what he had done, looking at the man who was responsible for so much pain, and not move a muscle or let his voice carry across his distaste for this being.
Enma was still their Lord and would remain it, and they would all have to work with it. There was hardly any change in routine for the eighteen shinigami working in the Shokan Division. Well, seventeen. Tatsumi was now the Chief and a new position had become available. The screening process would take a while. He already had applicants from other departments.
There was also an open place concerning a secretary and for now, Hisoka was almost by accident doing the work. He was good with paperwork, as he had proven in the past, and he did it with silent efficiency. Tatsumi was impressed. What had stuck was as brief moment with Tsuzuki, who had come in late one evening, the first week he had been back working cases. It was a lot later than he usually stayed.
"What can I do for you?" Tatsumi had asked, surprised to see his friend.
Tsuzuki was notorious when it came to avoiding overtime and paperwork. Things were changing, but Tatsumi doubted that ever would.
"Uh, can I talk to you?"
"Sure."
Tsuzuki closed the door and sat down, looking a bit uneasy.
"What's wrong?" Tatsumi asked, feeling a sliver of worry.
"It's about Hisoka. We talked and he mentioned that he likes working with you, as your assistant, and I know you're looking for a new secretary..."
"Yes, that's true. He has a gift."
Tsuzuki bit his lower lip, looking so much like the young man he had been before the whole mess. Yes, he was powerful. Yes, he was by now more balanced. Yes, he was next in line for Enma-Daiou's position. But he was still Tsuzuki Asato and he was struggling for normalcy.
"I'd be the last not to recommend him taking the job," Tsuzuki ploughed ahead. "It would be great for him, but... but I don't want to lose him as my partner. And even if I have to... if you break us up... I don't want someone else, Tatsumi. I can't work with anyone else."
Those eyes were huge, filled with emotions that broke Tatsumi's heart, and he walked around the desk.
"Tsuzuki... I'd never break you up."
"But if he takes over as a secretary..."
"You have the quietest sector out of everyone. Kyushu is dead quiet, so to speak. The last years were an exception. I think that we can juggle Hisoka's work here and with you, if he wants the job. I'd never risk anyone's sanity by giving him to you as a partner," he added with a fine smile.
Tsuzuki gave him a mock-affronted look, but the smile was a bit watery. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. And while things around here will change now that I'm in charge, others will remain the same. Like partnerships."
Tsuzuki hugged him, surprising the Shadow Master with his fierceness. This had really been sitting on him.
"That was all?" he asked, smiling a little.
"Yes. I thought I... I'd talk to you. You know..."
"Yes, I know."
So strong, Tatsumi mused. So independent and powerful and finally stable and balanced, but still unsure. Tsuzuki loved Hisoka, would do everything for him, but he was scared to ever lose him.
Not if I can help it, the Shadow Master thought. Muraki was finally out of the picture and Enma-Daiou wouldn't dare touch them. Everything else was hardly a problem for a shinigami, aside from a devil attack here or there.
"Can I invite you for a drink?" Tatsumi asked.
Tsuzuki smiled. "Sure. I'm hungry, too."
"I figured."
"Are you buying?" came the sly question.
Tatsumi chuckled as he grabbed his coat. "Yes. Today I'm buying."
They left the mostly dark office building together, Tatsumi glancing at his friend now and then, smiling at the relief in those violet eyes, the joy, the happiness, the simple enjoyment of life as such.
You've grown so much. You're no longer who I broke off my partnership with. I'm happy, Tsuzuki. So very happy. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do, to hurt you by taking away what you needed, but today I think it was the best decision. For both of us.
Those emotion-filled eyes suddenly met his and Tsuzuki smiled warmly, as if he was aware of his thoughts.
Maybe he was.
They had known each other long enough by now.
° ° °
Tatsumi walked into the Palace of Candles, a man on a mission. Ever since the revelation as to who the Count was and what his status would be from now on, he had felt slightly apprehensive coming here, and he had secretly dreaded the approaching Autumn Festival of the Maple Leaves. The Count always invited the Shokan Division for the Cherry Blossom and the Maple Leaves Festivals.
When the day of the festival came and went, without an invitation, the Shadow Master frowned in confusion. It was unlike the Count not to have them over. The man delighted in parties and company.
"He's probably feeling unwell," Watari said vaguely. "I mean... it's the first time in two millennia that he's truly free..."
Two millennia. It boggled the mind. Tatsumi was astounded, scared, apprehensive, curious and just about ready to go over to the Palace to talk to someone who he had only looked down upon in all his time in Meifu. He and the Count had never been eye to eye, both of noble descent. Tatsumi had argued that the man was a pervert, of weak nobility, and implying some more very personal things. The Count had retaliated in kind, calling him a spoiled brat with no clear lineage, implying some things of his own as to where Tatsumi might have come from.
Well, now he was here.
The Palace was quiet, there was no sign of possible preparations for a party, and aside from Watson, who had appeared like out of nowhere, no soul had come to greet him.
"May I assist you?" the gnome asked.
"I'm here to see the Count."
"His lordship is busy."
Tatsumi frowned. "Then I'll wait until he is done."
"It might take a while."
"My schedule is free."
"Very well." And with that, Watson was gone again.
Tatsumi walked through the massive place, finally ending up in a room that led right out into the open, overlooking the garden. Everything was silent.
"I didn't expect to see you," a voice startled him and Tatsumi turned.
There was no one.
"Count?" he asked.
"I am busy, Shadow Master. It would be better to come back another day."
Tatsumi frowned. "You're not too busy to kick me out in person, I take it," he taunted.
"It's always a pleasure to show you the door," came the too sweet reply.
"Since you cannot hire more servants who can take your sense of perversion, some things have to be done by weak nobles themselves."
A chuckle floated through the room. "Have you come here to insult me?"
"I came to inquire as to why you neglected to invite the Shokan Division."
There was a moment of silence and Tatsumi thought he saw movement in a corner of the room, hidden in shadows. It would be no problem at all to remove those bothersome shadows; it was his ability. But he played along for now.
"Invite you?"
"The Autumn Festival of the Maple Leaves."
Now there was more movement and the Count stepped out into the open. A half mask, two gloves... invisible. Tatsumi felt confused. According to Watari, the punishment had been lifted. He didn't feel any kind of demonic influence either.
"I forgot," the Count just answered airily. "Now if you'd be so kind to remove yourself. I'm busy."
"Coward," the Shadow Master only said.
The invisible figure seemed to freeze, then the mask turned toward him. "What did you say?"
"I called you a coward, Count. As Section Chief of the Shokan Division I was informed by Enma-Daiou himself of the changes in this realm. I know who and what you are, Count. I knew you were of weak noble blood and a coward, but I never took you for such an extreme coward."
Silence descended and Tatsumi's hard, blue eyes glared at the half mask.
"I think you should leave," the Count only answered.
"I didn't come here for idle conversation or a cup of tea," Tatsumi drove on. "I am the Section Chief now, Konoe's successor. As such, we will work closely together, and your new elevated status means changes. You are no longer a prisoner, nor are you required to hide from us."
The Count regarded him for along time. "Why are you so intent to look behind a mask you accepted for all your time here? I'm not an animal in a zoo to be gawked at."
The Shadow Master approached the other man, the demon, he reminded himself.
"This is a matter of trust. Of working on equal terms and on common ground. Watari saw you. Tsuzuki knows you more than probably anyone, and I don't want to even think about what you did to him."
He felt the Count bristle. "How dare you imply..." he started, voice a soft hiss.
"I'm implying nothing. Tsuzuki is a strong person, and we all know just how strong. I'm also aware how fiercely you protected him against Enma-Daiou. I want to get to know that person."
"You ask for more than you can handle."
"Watari could handle working with you, a demon, and I know how badly he was scared of them after Baal tried to claim his soul." Tatsumi gazed at the half mask. "Do you intend to hide behind your fear?"
One hand rose to the mask, resting lightly on the ancient device. Tatsumi tensed.
And then, for the first time, he looked into the face of the man he had despised as a fellow noble man, the man who he had verbally fought with whenever they had met. The Count was a beautiful man; not just handsome, beautiful. His hair was pitch-black, tousled like Tsuzuki's, and the face with the high cheekbones spoke of noble descent. Everything about him was like sculptured, highly attractive, and the eyes were blood-red beacons of his nature. Raven-wing eyebrows curved over them, and the ears showed a tiny pointed edge. Tatsumi felt the aura expand slightly, just enough for him to feel it, then it was wrapped more tightly around the slender form.
Demonic.
Controlled, but demonic.
His defenses flared, he felt the shadows twitch, and he clamped down on his instinctual reaction to lash out and fight a foe.
A sad smile crossed the exquisite features of a young man who didn't fit the image he had created in his mind for the Count.
"I think you should leave now," the man said.
He turned, mask in hand, and was about to leave when the shadows quivered again.
"Your manners leave room for desire, as well as your ability to host a guest," Tatsumi called, fighting with himself not to just follow the suggestion to go.
The Count stopped.
"And a host should introduce himself to a guest!"
The handsome man turned back to him, one eyebrow twitching in a quizzical expression. Tatsumi knew that his lover had worked with this man, that Tsuzuki trusted him, that so much had happened here, had changed their relationship with the Count. He would get past his own apprehension, his prejudice, and he would find a way to deal with the news that a powerful employee of Enma-Daiou was actually a demon.
"My name, Shadow Master, is Ryu. I had a full name and a title once, but it was erased from the books. It will never be mine again, even after my release from this eternal punishment. I bear no name but the one I remember from my childhood. I was of noble descent once, but that is a life that I won't go back to. It's my past and that is history. It bears no resemblance of today. I am a demon, a creature of Hell. Nothing more."
Tatsumi looked into the bright red eyes, took in the so perfect appearance. He read a pain in that face that he only knew too well. Shinigami weren't known for their happy pasts. Neither was this man.
"You are wrong," he finally said. "You are more. And I think that the past should remain the past. This world has suffered from the past. We need to overcome our own chains and move forward." He chose his next words carefully. "Should you decide to ever host a guest again, let me know."
And he walked toward the exit of the room.
"Tatsumi," he heard a calm voice and stopped. "I would be honored to invite the new Chief of the Shokan Division."
Blue eyes met red ones and Ryu smiled slowly.
"Would you care for a cup of tea?"
Tatsumi inclined his head. "It would be my pleasure."
Ryu still held the mask, then carefully placed it onto the small side table. He appeared slightly unsure, but Tatsumi overlooked it. He had nothing scheduled for today, as he had told Watson, and he would take whatever time it needed to get to know this person.
tbc...