Title; The Rose

Rating; Still M (again, still for later chapters. Though Hisoka is violent in this one...)

Disclaimer; Ah, yes, see it? Recognize it? Not mine; rub it in my face, why don't you. And Matsushita-sensei, from all of your fans, come off the bleedin' hiatus! Okay!

Author's Note; Man, last chapter was hard to write. I can't do Tatsumi well; the guy's too stuffy. Bleh. This chapter is Hisoka. Yay, I get to write as 'Soka-chan…. Oh, damnit. -runs away from pissed off Hisoka-

-five minutes later- -mumble grumble- Little brat.… It's a nickname, for crying out loud! Back on track (I'm a tad out of it today, if you can't tell, my fine friends,) Hisoka's easier for me to write for some reason (I don't question why I can write the psycho flaming gay guy, and Mister Anger Management, I just don't want to know,) so this character should turn out more fun than the last. With Tsusoka references galore. Yay shounen-ai! What happens when Hisoka can't deal with Tatsumi and Watari's perspective shielding and over reaction? It's driving his empathy up a wall and his temper through the roof, of course. …Poor, poor, Tsuzuki. We knew him well, and lov-- well, put up with him, anyway. Last note, the quote for this chapter… I'm not sure why, but it seemed to fit bother Tsuzuki and Hisoka's relationship, but even more so Watari and Tatsumi. Does anyone else get that, or am I nuts? (I am anyway, but…)

"Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life. And thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine."

-Thomas Jefferson

The dinner last night had been a pleasant turn of events. Exhibiting self-control which Hisoka would not have expected from the older man, Tsuzuki managed to show at least some traces of maturity, and had accepted the restaurant chosen for him without complaint. Despite the lack of chocolate slathered…things.

But he'd had a cinnamon sugared doughnut produced for him during the walk home, so maybe that had something to do with it.

The next day at work he had been Tsuzuki, though. His personality every bit as inane, chattering, and…full of child-like wonder as it always was. While his attention span, or lack there of, usually irritated Hisoka, he could deal with it. Earlier on in their partnership Hisoka just scowled and ignored, and snapped, acting generally brusque as he wanted to.

Several years later, he learned to deal with it better, and manage to get the paperwork (or at least his half-- he still refused to do Tsuzuki's, partner or no,) done while looking like he was listening and picking up enough facts to repeat it back if he was ever questioned. Ordinarily, Hisoka would be doing that.

But Tsuzuki was hurt and pouting, Hisoka was suffering from a very bad headache, and he blamed the entire thing on two people in the office. One of whom was projecting loud enough that Hisoka's well practiced shields were shaking, and the other was attempting to shield and instead projecting far too much desperation, while keeping everything else hidden. Except for confusion. For some reason, there was a lot of that.

And Hisoka swore by every god, Shikigami, and anything else considered a damned deity, if they didn't start showing some control, he was going to beat their brains in and not feel once damned ounce of guilt.

Okay, well, maybe a little guilt, but that was just because Tsuzuki was over in the corner of their office, actually working (or looking like he was,) and shooting pitiful, sad, puppy dog eyes at the back of Hisoka's head. Anyone who got those eyes felt at least a little guilty. Even if they weren't part of the argument/situation and had no idea what was going on, there was guilt.

There was silence, save for Tsuzuki's sniffled whimpers and the clack of Hisoka's fingers against the keyboard; the former of which was making the younger boy's eyebrow twitch dangerously. A particularly high pitched whimper later, and it was beyond eyebrow twitches.

"Will you stop that?" Hisoka snapped, turning around to face his partner with a murderous expression. Anyone, with any intelligence at all, would have stopped. Fortunately for Tsuzuki, he may have been crazy, he may have been asinine, but he was not stupid.

Neither was he a genius, because though the crying had ceased, he muttered, "But Hisoka…." Drawing out the last word longer than was necessary, Tsuzuki didn't seem to know what to add beyond that, as he fell silent.

There were a few moments during which Hisoka felt guilty. Sure, Tsuzuki was the most irritating thing this side of small children's shows, but snapping at him because he was having a bad day probably wasn't the best way to deal with things. Hisoka stared at the screen before his eyes, and sighed. The tapping of his fingers on his keyboard had died away, and Hisoka muttered, "…I just have a headache today." Which was as close to an apology as he could bring himself, and certainly meant something if he was giving Tsuzuki a reason why he needed quiet, and admitting something was wrong.

Hisoka regretted it almost immediately. Tsuzuki was sitting on his desk as he had been before, with that look on his face and his hand pressed against Hisoka's forehead. That look was the worried look. The look that was only for Hisoka, and used far too often for the younger Shinigami's taste. "You do? Why didn't you say something earlier?" Tsuzuki shifted his hand slightly, those violet eyes of his managing to somehow be both caring and omniscient at once, though he chose wisely not to comment on the pale blush that raced across his partner's face. His hand slipped down to the boy's upper chest before pulling away. "You don't have a fever."

"Idiot," Hisoka hissed, batting at the hand as it pulled away. "Of course I don't! It's not that I'm sick." He paused a few moments, controlling the rush of blood to his face and tempering his empathy, which had skyrocketed. After dealing purely with Tatsumi and Watari, Tsuzuki's caring, concern, and similar warm feelings had been too quick a contrast. Though certainly not a bad one.

Once emotions were under control (such tricky things, those damn emotions,) Hisoka proceeded to explain the situation, or what little he knew of it, to Tsuzuki. The basis was, Watari was upset, Tatsumi was, too, and hiding it badly, Hisoka was getting both, he was pissed, and now his head hurt.

Which Tsuzuki fully understood to mean that Hisoka was about as volatile as nitroglycerin during an earthquake. For a moment, the man considered the situation, and came up with the most obvious solution. One, to both stop the emotions, or at least find out what was going on, (gossip was interesting and Wakaba loved it,) and two, get him out of work for a good half an hour or so. "Well, why don't we just ask them what's going on?" He smiled, tilted his head slightly to the side, so disarming, that smile. His words suggested that this was the most obvious solution in the world.

Hisoka blinked. And again. And a third time, just for good measure, giving his partner a look that clearly questioned whatever sanity Tsuzuki might have left. "But…" he trailed off, as if this should have been obvious. Too many years as a loner had instilled in him a strong sense of privacy, and a respect for other's privacy. "It's none of our business."

"Yes, it is," Tsuzuki argued. "They're our friends, aren't they? And we're trying to help. So, it's technically not prying or anything." Hisoka's expression still read the response of, 'Yes, it is,' so Tsuzuki added, "And if we do, you won't have a headache, so I won't be distracted, and I'll do my half of the paperwork."

Hisoka's expression shifted to one of disdainful disbelief. "You're distracted by a pushpin. You never do you're work."

"Aw… 'Soka-chan--"

"Do not call me that!" An open hand made contact with the back of Tsuzuki's head, and a fearsome glare was sent at him, making the older man cringe and duck, spouting off apologies and looking generally pathetic. In a cute sort of way.

-------

Ten minutes later, much whining, and even more planning, they had reached a decision. Or rather, Hisoka had given up and let Tsuzuki explain his plan, and had agreed to it (under the promise of finished paperwork, no more whining, and no fighting with Terazuma for a week and a half.) The latter promise would probably last about five days, but it had been worth a try.

Tsuzuki had made it abundantly clear; Hisoka would go and speak with Watari, and he would go and speak with Tatsumi. Hisoka understood the logic in this, if only because Tatsumi and he had history, and the secretary had always held a soft spot for his old partner. He'd therefore, be more likely to speak with Tsuzuki. Hisoka had been sent to Watari simply because Watari had taken a liking to Hisoka, and Tsuzuki was gullible. Whatever else could be said for the scientist, he was a good actor when he wanted to be. No matter what was projected, no one was happy all the time.

So now Hisoka was walking down the halls of the Summons Department towards the lab area, a place usually avoided due to obviously dangerous goings on in the general vicinity. However, Tsuzuki had given him that look, so, here he was. Because, really, though Hisoka would never admit it, and would fight tooth and nail against it, there was nothing one could do against that look.

Watari's lab especially should have been labeled with something along the lines of, 'Enter at your own risk.' Combine that with an upset Watari and far too many unstable substances for the empath's taste, and it was a recipe for disaster. Hisoka paused in front of the door, stalling for what precious few seconds he could, and knocked.

There was a few seconds silence, some scuffling, and the clink of glass from the other side of the door, all muffled by the heavy door that lay in between them. Hisoka sighed softly, and raised his fist to knock again, when a small explosion sounded, followed by indignant squawking (no doubt from Watari's birds,) and soft mumbling.

Hisoka opened the door, and staggered back a few steps. The combination of both smoke from the miniature explosion and Watari's extreme emotions hit the boy, one after another, and it took him a moment to collect himself before entering the lab, coughing. "W-Watari-san?"

The scientist shoved open a window, clearing the room of most of the smoke, looking half out of his head, and still muttering to himself. His eyes were not on Hisoka, but rather a green-ish…kinda…looking concoction that rested on the table.

"Watari-san." Hisoka spoke louder this time, and was rewarded when Watari glanced over at him, looking surprised before his smile was once more affixed on his warm face.

"Bon! I'm sorry, I didn't see you." He dusted off his lab jacket in a rough sort of way, and tucked back a few strands of blonde hair that had escaped from his plaited hair. "I get so wrapped up I don't think I'd notice anything, really." The older man laughed, and took a seat, and finally focused his eyes on Hisoka. "So what can I do ya for, bon? I don't think you're on a case, but maybe I was supposed to be looking up something for you. Was I? I have to check my records, I just was working on--"

"Watari-san!" Hisoka refrained from twitching with admirable self control. Really, the guy was as bad as Tsuzuki on a sugar high, and he didn't need accelerants to do it. "That's not why I'm here, Watari-san." Hisoka took a seat, though it hadn't been offered. Most likely Watari had either been too absent-minded, or else not looking to prolong whatever conversation Hisoka had wanted to have. "You know why I'm here."

Watari's eyes grew serious for a moment, and his smile twitched, but it was only for a moment. "Nope, sorry. You're the empath, remember? Not me." He motioned 003 down from her roost near the ceiling, and the bird hooted softly. "Oh, come on; it wasn't that bad. Besides, the smoke will just rise up there." The bird shifted, hunkered down, before conceding defeat and flying over to Hisoka. Apparently, despite his temper, the boy was considered safer than the mad scientist.

Hisoka allowed the owl to curl up against him, and absently offered her a finger to nuzzle against. "Fine," he said, then added, bluntly, "What's wrong, then? You've been acting strangely all day." Well, stranger than usual.

Watari raised his eyebrow, looking at him in an odd way, as if worried about his sanity. Looks that the mad scientist usually only received, never gave. "What do you mean? I'm fine." He grinned, as if to prove the point, and added, "Why do you ask? It seems like a bolt from the blue."

"Like you said; I'm an empath. Between you and Tatsumi-san, you're both giving me a headache." Hisoka did not miss the way Watari's expression shifted, so, so subtly, at the mention of his superior's name. "Has it got something to do with him?"

Watari paused before he asked, "Do you know what today is?"

It took Hisoka a moment to follow the swift and rather transparent change of topic, and he was nearly twitching. No, Watari was not as bad as Tsuzuki. He was worse. Unable to quell his sarcasm, he asked, "The anniversary of the first time you blew up your lab?"

"Um…." Watari thought for a moment, tilting his head slightly. "No, that's in October." He grinned, disarmingly, and stood, moving towards a wide spread pile of papers, notes, that had managed to fly across the table (whether before or during the explosion was anybody's guess.)

Though Hisoka waited a few more seconds, Watari did not add to his previous statement, nor answer his own question. "So," he asked, attempting to keep his voice level. "What is it, then?"

"Huh?" Watari looked up from a handful of papers. "What?"

"What is today? I asked what today was." Hisoka pulled the small owl from his shoulder, as 003 had become far too interested in chewing on his collar, and he liked this shirt.

Watari paused, then shrugged. "I forget. Hey, bon, do you want to help with an experiment? I was working on something new when you came in, and--"

Hisoka had begun rubbing steady fingers against his temples, in a calming way, before he glanced up at the man. "No, Watari-san. Stop changing the subject. I asked you what was wrong." Though he was being brusque, it was only too clear he was actually worried about the older man.

Watari sighed, shuffling his notes into a semi-neat pile, and clipping them together before tossing them in a lackadaisical way onto his computer desk. "I'll have to type those up later…." With absent fingers he pulled the ribbon from his hair, and ran long fingers through the strands, unraveling the heavy curls that had woven around each other. He sighed, again, before dropping into his seat, and finally really looking at Hisoka. The smile on his face was smaller, more sad, but also genuine. And so achingly sad. "Yeah, bon, there's something wrong. And even though you're pretty astute, I'm not sure you'd completely understand this." Noting that Hisoka's eyes had narrowed, and correctly interpreting it, he laughed, and added, "It's not because you're younger. It'd because I don't think you've ever been in this situation."

Hisoka stroked the tiny owl that had slid down to his lap, watching her amber eyes slide slowly closed and her body curl up in a comfortable sort of way. "How would you know that I'm not familiar with the situation if you don't ask?"

"Because, bon, I'm willing to take the wager that you haven't," Watari commented, with a wry laugh. "Besides, I really don't feel like talking about it, anyway." He offered that smile again as consolation.

It was like running in circles, and even then never knowing where you're going. Trying to get information out of Watari was difficult, especially for Hisoka, who had never been all that much of a conversationalist. Hesitantly, he lowered his shields a little, reaching forward to try and understand what was going through Watari's mind. He picked up a few things, what had been more strongly projected, before a burst of excitement, so strong and so sudden it wiped out everything else, emerged, and Hisoka was forced to retreat, closing himself off with a wince. It hadn't been bad, just so unexpected, and too much of it….

"It's done!" Watari jumped over to his strange green looking concoction. "Perfect. It will just have to work this time, I know it will." He picked it up, placing a rubber stopper on the top, and scrawling something haphazardly across the front. He put it back down, then glanced over at Hisoka and smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that, bon. I was waiting for that to have a reaction. I wasn't trying to cut you off there."

Hisoka glanced at the liquid suspiciously. The color had not changed, nor, it seemed, had the consistency, or anything else the boy could see. He turned that over in his mind, before realizing the scientist had done that on purpose. The surprise at that thought must have registered on his face, because Watari had the oddest little smile on his face when he sat down once more.

It was maddening, as if Watari was playing with him, and he had half a mind to leave, but he could already feel Tsuzuki's disappointment, and see his face when Hisoka told him, no, he hadn't found out. It was time to play a guessing game. "Judging by the fact that both you and Tatsumi are acting weird, on the same day, something happened between you two, right?" Hisoka watched, feeling accomplished when he saw the older man's gaze flicker away from his for barely a second. "Over what? Work, funds?"

Watari merely looked at him over the rims of his glasses, his elbows on the lab table, fingers interlaced and head resting on his fingers. "No, bon. We didn't argue. And it wasn't about work." When he offered no more than that, Hisoka frowned.

"Well, then, what was it? It seems like you argued."

"Sometimes, things are more subtle, and more delicate, and they can seem like arguments," Watari offered, in a passive sort of way.

Hisoka dropped his head, his gaze sliding once more to the owl in his lap, now curled against his palm, and happily dozing. The tips of his fingers traced along her silken wings, and he looked back up at his friend. "I don't quite understand."

Watari smiled, not in a condescending manner, but more comforting. "Everyone says I do experiments, bon. That's not it. Experiments are in a controlled environment, where the whole point is to prove a thesis or hypothesis which is already believed or known to be true." If he noted Hisoka's questioning look (as if daring him to try to change the subject again,) Watari did not respond to it. "When you mix two dissimilar variables, the results will usually take to one extreme or the other. Either they will be compatible, or, most likely, they'll blow up in your face. Last night, I attempted to make a variable which was unstable on its own, and one which I knew to have better reaction with another variable meet." He was quiet for a moment, his eyes on Hisoka's, trying to make the boy understand. "It failed."

Hisoka looked thoroughly confused before he managed to piece it together in his mind. Two variables, Watari and Tatsumi. The scientist must've had a negative reaction from the older secretary. "It exploded?"

"No, there was no reaction." Watari's smile was so sad once more, and when he stood, with a lithe stretch, his motions seemed more lethargic than ever. "Answer your questions, bon?"

"Not really; I asked if you were all right." Hisoka took the hint and stood, none the less, removing the small owl from his lab and resting her on the table before her owner. 003 opened her eyes, blinked, obviously confused at the change of scenery. However, she flew up, and as if sensing the troubled feelings of her owner, attempted to burrow into his collar.

Watari chuckled, and lifted the lapel of the lab coat, allowing 003 to hide under it and peaceably close her eyes. "Well, I will be. Same thing, right?" He smiled, and pulled a ribbon from his pocket, an amber to match his eyes, and threaded it through his heavy locks. He wrestled with the curls for a moment, before sighing and settling for just pulling them back into a tail, rather than anything fancy. Some days the hair was a bit much to deal with.

Hisoka paused, unsure of how to reply to Watari's words. "I dunno if it is or not."

"Welcome to my confusion." Watari yawned, and cast the boy a wearied smile. "Well, I have to get back to work, or Tatsumi will come in and yell about productivity. Or at least he would if he wasn't avoiding me like the bubonic plague." He shrugged, tilting his hands out as if to say, 'Ah, well.'

Hisoka nodded, and waved as he passed through the door. Shutting it behind him, he did not see Watari's ironic smile, nor hear his muttered, "I knew it was a bad idea to put an empath on staff."

The halls were never quite bustling in the ministry, although there were always the occasional staff who avoided paperwork, Tatsumi's anger, or Watari's love of explosions simply by avoiding those specific wings of the office altogether. Hisoka passed by them with little more than a nod, though he did offer Kannuki the tiniest hint of a smile for her bright greeting.

Tsuzuki waited for him, standing so near to the door of their office that Hisoka had to avoid braining him with the door (which had started to look very appealing when he started yammering and asking questions a mile a minute,) as he walked in. "Tsuzuki." Hisoka cut across the older man's words. "Slow down, or don't say it." His glare, though, belied the anger in his words, as it was nowhere near as fierce as his expression could have been.

Tsuzuki pointedly took a deep breath, and remained quiet for a few seconds, before raising his eyebrows at his younger partner, as if to both prove the point that he could be quiet, and ask if he could speak now. When he took Hisoka's rolled eyes as a yes, he started again. "So what happened? What did Watari say? Does it have to do with Tatsumi?"

Hisoka answered in a rather to the point matter which he noticed made his partner frown. Hisoka didn't like to gossip; Tsuzuki loved gossip, and he knew he could use it on Wakaba-chan to get treats whenever he wanted. "I went to his lab, asked him what was wrong, was led on a wild goose chase for about ten minutes while he progressively blew things up, got off topic, asked if I wanted to help his experiments, and used my own empathy against me." The boy shot his partner an annoyed look when the older man stifled his laughter. "Something funny?"

"Yeah, well, Watari's a lot smarter than people give him credit for. He really gets stuff." Tsuzuki grinned, adding, "Sorry, he just probably knew why you were there. Anyway, go ahead."

"Fine. He told me that he had a confrontation with Tatsumi-san and it ended badly."

When Hisoka did not add more than that, Tsuzuki gave his partner a curious look. "Was that all he said?"

Hisoka shrugged. "The gist of it."

Shaking his head, Tsuzuki said, "There's more to it than that, Hisoka. What were his exact words?"

"I can't give it to you exactly; it was out of context and he was using metaphors," Hisoka replied, sounding a tad exasperated. "I dunno. Something about mixing two unlike variables, himself and Tatsumi-san, I assume, and how the reaction was negative. It was something about how nothing happened. It was kind of confusing."

Tsuzuki for a moment looked at his partner as if fearing for his sanity. "Wait, you mean he finally told Tatsumi-san how he felt, and the reaction was bad?" He nodded, half to himself. "That makes sense."

Hisoka managed to stay out of office gossip, very well, too, despite having Tsuzuki for his partner. However, he was not stupid, and not noticing Watari and Tatsumi's feelings would have been the equivalent of not noticing being hit of the head with a rather large stick. "Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, you sent me to find out so you could talk to Tatsumi. Now go, and we can get this idea of yours over with. You still have work from three cases ago piled up."

"Aw…but 'Soka…." Tsuzuki looked at him piteously, working the puppy-dog look for all he could.

Hisoka glared, and pointed. "Go. You're the one who wanted to do this. It was your idea."

"All right, 'Soka," Tsuzuki said, noting how his partner's eyes narrowed at the nickname. He grinned added, "Don't miss me too much!" And swiftly closed the door to the office behind him, as a book flew against it. Too bad; he'd really wanted to see the blush on Hisoka's face when he'd said that. Smiling, though his next confrontation would be so much harder, Tsuzuki headed down to Tatsumi's office, unable to keep his chuckles silent at the thought of his younger partner's expression.

A/N; 'Nother chapter done. I only got one review for the last one, and that hurt a bit. -sniff- Yeah, just ignore me…. Anyway, I'd really appreciate if you would review, please. Please, please! Seriously, I'm not above begging. Even if it's to say, "I didn't really like this, you should do this instead." That's fine. I know the last chapter was introspective, so it's not of as much interest, but I had to get across Tatsumi-san's feelings before I continued. This chapter was a lot more fun; Anger Management boy is always fun to write. Next time, Tsuzuki and Tatsumi's chapter. Yay! And I suck at writing both of them…damn.

Eternalsailorsolarwind- Thank you for your review, so much. Yeah, introspective is hard to write for me, and I'm so, so glad that you thought it turned out well. I didn't want Tatsumi to come out as over done, but basically? Our favorite secretary is flustered over his feelings and confused, so he's trying to distance himself, but ends up only hurting poor Watari-sama and himself. Silly Shadow Master, the scientist is for you! Yes, Watari's basically suffering. Like that old quote, "The opposite of love is not hate but indifference." Wonder if Tatsumi-san's ever heard that? If he had, he might understand that while he's trying not to hurt Watari, he actually is. Poor, poor, confused Tatsumi.