When the Sakura Stops Falling – chapter 4

The weeks following the funeral had passed by in a blur while at the same time passing agonisingly slowly for Dr. Muraki due to his bereavement because of which he had been granted leave from his position at the hospital in Tokyo for as long as he needed. At the time accepting the offer had seemed like a good idea, but now the doctor wasn't so sure. With each passing day he felt the hole in his life left by his fiancées passing all the more, each day he waited by the phone hoping for the promised phone call. Every time a phone would ring he would eagerly drop whatever he was doing to rush to answer it, checking the caller ID in hopes it would be his beloved shinigami. His heart sinking in his chest when he discovered it wasn't. As consequence he'd taken to simply answering the phone without looking in a vain attempt to starve off the impending disappointment which was becoming a far too familiar acquaintance in his life. It did not help, but he was far to stubborn to admit to the painful thoughts that maybe just maybe Tsuzuki had been lying, that perhaps this was the amethyst eyed death god's way of avenging himself. By using the man's feelings for him as a weapon, he had been pondering these possibilities whilst sitting in the dark most nights. Even the expensive wines he was so fond of had begun to lose their allure, he couldn't stop thinking about Ukyou. How he had failed her. He hadn't meant for anything to actually befall the woman, he'd genuinely thought he would be keeping her safe from harm by staying away. Feeling anxious he lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply, feeling the familiar sting of the tobacco smoke as it filled his lungs savouring it for a few seconds before skilfully exhaling it in an almost perfect smoke ring. He watched the ring of smoke dissipate and sighed to himself, Ukyou had always been impressed by the smoke rings. Growling to himself out of annoyance he stubbed the not even half burnt tobacco tube out in the nearest ashtray and rose from his chair before storming out of the living room seeking solace in his study. Hoping to lose himself in the files and papers left behind by both his father and his grandfather who had both been doctors before him. He'd just slammed the door to the large room shut behind him when the landline began to ring, looked at the clock and scowled when he saw that it was past ten o'clock in the evening. Who could possibly be calling at this time of night? The pale sorcerer stared at the phone accusingly, as if it had been apart of some secret conspiracy against him before deciding to answer it.

"The Muraki residence, Kazutaka Muraki speaking. To whom am I speaking?" he answered stiffly but managed to keep the annoyance and frustration out of his voice for which he was glad. He waited a few moments for the caller to respond but he didn't get a reply. "Oriya? Is that you?" he enquired. True enough his friend had not been on speaking terms with him for the past few weeks so it wouldn't be a huge surprise if the other man was ringing to try and reconcile their differences. It wouldn't be the first time they'd made up by telephone either, in fact he could think of plenty of times throughout their long friendship where they had called each other up to apologise. Both men far too proud to do it in person for fear of looking weak in the eyes of others. When he still gained no response he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, an unconscious habit for when he was evaluating a situation. If it was indeed Oriya then he would have said something or hung up by now which meant that the caller had to be somebody else who had managed to get his number, but the only person he had knowingly given his phone number to was Tsuzuki. "Tsuzuki-san if you're there you can talk to me I can hardly to anything to you over the phone line. There is no need to be so shy." His tone was hopeful, the idea it could be some unknown person worried him slightly. Unfortunately his third line of enquiry was met with the phone being hung up; he looked at the hand set sadly. Yes he was a patient man, he'd wait if he had to but he didn't know how long he could cope with the waiting. Subconsciously he reached into his trouser pocket for his wallet and the copy of the photograph it contained.

ooOOoo

Back in Meifu Watari and Tsuzuki had returned safely from their trip to Kyoto yesterday to find that Hisoka had been looking all over the ministry of Hades for him. The shinigami teen had demanded an explanation of where he had disappeared to and the brunette was at a loss for what he could tell his partner. The three of them had been stood in of the main corridors while Asato as floundered for an explanation he'd almost given in and told the truth when Watari jumped in to his rescue. The blonde engineer turned mad scientist instantly getting the younger blondes full attention with his bouncy and eager demeanour. If truth be told the excuse that he came up with wasn't exactly the best cover story in the world, its main genius lay in that if anyone else had said it to Hisoka he wouldn't of believed a word of it.

Now both the genki blonde with his constant avian companion 003 and the sweet loving shikigami master were sitting in the latter's rented room staring at the piece of paper he'd been given in Kyoto and the small business card he had been given back at the Nagasaki hospital. The business card only contained Muraki's name, job title and a cell phone number, in comparison to the written note which contained the same number along with what appeared to a house number. Underneath in the wakadanna's neat handwriting were two addresses labelled respectively as Muraki: Home, and Muraki: Work. Taking the business owner at his word Tsuzuki and Watari had gone to the hospital first thing that morning to try as Oriya had put it, make an appointment. Only to be told that Muraki was still on compassionate leave after the death of his long term fiancée, the news had been like a hammer blow to the purple eyed man. As was typical of him he was starting to feel responsible for how the savage doctor was feeling, after all he had been one who had retrieved her soul. It had been him who had taken by the hand and led her to the judgement bureau all the time listening to her talking about how she worried how her beloved Kazu-kun would cope without her. Especially if Oriya stopped talking to him permanently and he patiently listened to her praise of his abilities as a doctor all the time having to hold his tongue. He couldn't stand hearing how noble the man was, how selfless he was with his time or how he was especially good with children. All he could think about was Hisoka and the encounter the emerald eyed boy had been unfortunate to have with the silver blonde man when he was just thirteen.

It had been at his friend's encouragement that he had decided it was about time he made that call to the pale man. If he was to try and help the other find some sort of redemption he had to keep to his word, which was the whole point wasn't it? He truly believed that every person could be redeemed no matter how evil they were or had been if only they were prepared to work for it. So he had called his heart thumping in his chest with ever ring and then the rings had stopped and that silky voice that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end whenever he heard it had come through the receiver and he had frozen completely. It had sounded so easy when Watari had suggested it, just ring him up and arrange to meet him that had been the plan. Instead he'd gotten tongue tied and left the person he had called hanging on the line for several minutes before chickening out and hanging up the phone. He looked across the table struggling to meet the amber eyes which were looking at him kindly with understanding.

"Maybe you should visit his house instead Tsu? It'll be hard for him not to know it's you when you're standing on his door step!" was the next suggestion. The small owl known as 003 gave a quiet hoot as if he was agreeing, the other occupant of the room however simply sighed. Continuing to fiddle with the business card once again turning it around and around by its corners looking deep in thought. The movement stilled after a few painfully long minutes followed by a louder sigh and the creaking of the chair as the older shinigami got to his feet and began pacing back and forth. The bespectacled blonde and his feather friend watching in wonderment at what was going through the others mind, but not knowing how to ask. There was thing however which was plain to see etched onto the brunette's face, the fact that turning up at the doctor's home seemed to fill him with dread. Which considering the doctor's track record for trying to seduce him at every opportunity was hardly surprising in itself, especially when the man had such difficulty accepting himself it was near impossible for him to accept the silver blondes sexual advances. Beginning to feel like he had said something wrong Watari picked up the telephone from where it currently lay abandoned, and came up with another idea. "Or I could call him for you? I've never had a conversation with a serial killer before you know. It would be a new experience for me." He was about to hit redial when Tsuzuki practically leapt at him and snatched the phone away from him in a mad panic.

"No! Don't do that he's a very busy man we can't keep ringing him up at all hours of the day and night, what he's got an early start at work…" he trailed off when he realised what he was saying. Since when did he care about inconveniencing a man like Kazutaka Muraki of all people? Purple eyes fell to the phone now cradled in his hands and he glared at it, when he'd been alive they hadn't of had phones. When he had died he wasn't really away of their existence either and if truth be known he wasn't even sure he liked the invention. No matter what you were doing or what time it was anybody who had the appropriate number could just invade your privacy, besides it wasn't his house and he didn't want to run up the phone bill of the elderly couple whom he rented his room from it wouldn't leave a good impression. Especially with Tatsumi always finding excuses to dock his wages he doubt he'd be able to afford to pay them back for a huge bill. The sudden warmth of a hand being placed over his own brought him out of his internal monologue and he looked at his friend who was looking at him with concern in his normally jovial gaze.

"Tsu you did tell him you would contact him, he's probably wondering why you haven't been in touch yet. You know I normally wouldn't defend a man like that…" He scrunched up his expression as he tried to come up with a suitable word, "I want to say something nice but I really can't so let's just pretend I did ok? Now where was I, hmm, ah yes? I wouldn't normally say this sort of thing, but you shouldn't have told him you would get in touch if you had no intention of doing so. Honestly it's not a very nice thing to do getting somebody's hopes up like that even if he is a criminal master mind." The long haired man's tone was stern but not unkind. "I agreed to help you with this because you convinced me you thought you could get the guy to redeem himself, and you know what they say in for a penny in for a pound. You are going to go round to that man's house tomorrow Asato Tsuzuki even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming and you are going to apologise for making him wait so long. Do I make myself clear?" Watari had begun wagging his finger in his friend's direction for full effect during his lecture while the brunette simply stared at the table. There was silence and for a minute nothing stirred and then there was a small nod of acknowledgement and Watari let go of his colleague's hand with a wide smile on his face. Having already bounced back to his usual happy go lucky self. "Now it's getting awfully late so I should be going home now, don't worry bout Bon I'll keep him out of your hair. You just worry bout keeping that perverted doctor out of your pants ok?" with that last cheeky comment the blonde half walked have bounced to the front door leaving an blushing brunette in his wake, he gave a wave and a suggestive wink as he opened the kitchen door to make his way down the hallway and out through the front door.

Poor Tsuzuki hadn't known what to say in response to that last remark and decided to just try to forget about it and worry about in the morning. With that settled in his mind he followed his friend out of the small kitchen instead going to the stairs where he would go to his room and gladly retire to his comfortable bed for the night. Becoming more and more convinced he was going to live to regret his decision, but knowing that Watari was right. He'd started this and he had to see it to the end, even if it killed him a second time. After all if his soul was worth redeeming in the eyes of everyone at the Judgement Bureau then surely Muraki's soul was worth it to? It was with these thoughts whirling around and around in his head that he clambered between the covers of his futon and tried to get some sleep. Tossing and turning several times until he managed to get into a comfortable position and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.