Author's notes: I made this chapter in conjunction with the next one to see if it improves my flow. Much hate for Muraki as usual. XD;
Hi ya laustic! The details were fun to write! Thanks for reviewing. :)
Hello Literary Eagle. I liked the fight scene too. :D Muraki v. Tatsumi: Battle of the Ultra-Semes.
Yo, Chris... Savic!.. n. or whatever your name is XD .. I.. uh. I don't know when I'll have time to write the idea for the story you threw at me. Thanks for the in-depth constructive criticism. I agree with the Japanese titles, though the formality will remain. You flatter me too much I'm afraid. ;) Noooo, you've ousted my LJ name! For shame. XD
Hey Experimental. I'm glad somebody noticed that! XD 'Archduke' is the official title, I just assume that it doesn't matter male or female really, though in this characterization of Ashtaroth she prefers being called 'Lady'. haha I myself prefer different insights into fight scenes. :D ... I hope the climax doesn't end in epic failure though. XD;; Treading carefully through this part. I hate disappointments after such a long period of rising action.
Thanks for reading, and only 2-3 more chapters to go! Wheeee :D
Oops, almost forgot the song clip. Haha.
"You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn't want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn't wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults"
--excerpt from "Mistaken for Strangers" by The National
Looking past the couch where two people were guarding the door in all their frilly-aproned culinary splendor, Hisoka was on a mission that only a certain kind of crazy could drive him to great lengths to carry out.
He was going to sneak out of his house.
His cursemarks had itched persistently over the past half day as they shrunk to a less pronounced, more harmless-looking design. He had only realized two hours ago that they were scarring over. He needed to get out.
"Hey, Saya Say 'ahhhh' for me."
"Ahhhh..."
He had just made it past the bathroom door across from the kitchen sink when they simultaneously turned pinning him in place with equally heated looks, Yuma with her spoon upraised and Saya with her hands on her hips.
"Now, Hisoka. You should be in bed..." Saya started, when Yuma interrupted with a rough stroke of her spoon.
"Tiptoeing past us, ain't gonna work buddy! Not since we've prepared you a four-course dinner." She playfully batted her eyes at him. Even without the ability to, he could practically read the domestic contentment wafting off of her, which promised swift retribution if he did not comply.
"How do you feel about a spinach salad with Italian dressing, a side of steamed asparagus and carrots, followed by braised sardines in sushi rice, and then sliced rabbit-eared green apples?"
He swallowed feeling trapped, knowing their homely violence consisted of a multi-colored poofy dress and pink hair dye if he answered incorrectly.
"Ahh… That sounds good." He swallowed nervously, even though it was the complete truth. They had determined his food preferences in a matter of days. Despite his much larger size, they could effortlessly off-balance him to knock him down and sit to keep him pinned. Last time he had been stubborn they had fork-fed him. He'd rather not have that humiliation a second time.
"Aww, Hisoka-kun is being such a good boy!" Saya beamed at him quite pleased, while his face twitched at the insult and bad memory association. Noticing his look, she faltered concerned. Yuma noticed Saya's hesitation and grinned broadly. He knew a change of tactics always followed that expression.
"Now, now, Hisoka! You're still a growing bo—"
"Don't call me that!" They had argued several times, but he'd rather not explain all the nitty-gritty details of his past to them.
"But, just because you look full grown doesn't mean you are, I know a hungry bo—"
His mouth flapped open. "I'm not—!"
"Yu-chan." They both fell silent instantly, looking towards the interrupter.
Her spoon-baton stopped its waving motion as Yuma gave Saya a curious look of unease. Her partner was clutching her hands together over her waist with a pained expression.
"Saya…?" She quickly turned the stove off, shifting the pan with the sardines to a cool element, and set the spoon aside, pulling her into a comfortable hug.
"You didn't see that?" Her whisper sounded haunted, but Hisoka heard and his stomach clenched.
"See what? Oh, Saya." She tenderly brought her head closer into her throat as her partner shuddered unpleasantly from what Hisoka couldn't tell as long as they held those 'can't-pry' charms. He felt that he was peeping on a private moment between them and turned away.
His doorbell ringing startled only him it seemed. He quickly stepped down into the stone-floored foyer as the Hokkaido girls remained embraced murmuring to one another, and opened the door just to see who it was. It was an odd, edgy feeling, this not knowing. He knew it had to be one of his coworkers though, since he could feel the neighbors around his house regardless of the space between his and theirs. He had had to learn some control in order to block their day-to-day dreams, thoughts, and miseries out of his mind. Needless to say, he hadn't slept as well or as much as his 'caretakers' wanted.
A cheerful 'Hello, Hisoka-kun!' blasted at him, and he blinked at the plastic covered hangers that were shoved towards him by Wakaba. "Saya and Yuma asked me to pick these up from the dry cleaners today! Now," and before her shoulder could shove her way inside Hisoka opened the door for her, "How are you feeling?"
"He's doing a lot better since we've begun his retraining." Saya stated with a calm smile, all signs of panic gone.
Closing the door, Hisoka sighed, hanging the clothes on the bar over his bathroom door. He wouldn't be leaving apparently until midnight, or maybe not at all if he was unlucky.
"His health maintenance skills were atrocious! If you had only seen his fridge when we first came in, I could have sworn he lived off of coffee and tea!"
"And raisins." Saya added with a lifted finger, placing the food that Yuma had cooked just ten minutes ago on his plates in cute swirly designs.
"Oh!" Wakaba's eyebrows raised in shock as her expression overall expressed sympathy. "That's terrible!"
"Exactly! No wonder he was grouchy all the time, what with low blood sugar and inconsistent meal times!"
"So, in essence, you're attempting to capture the elusive smiling Hisoka-kun!" Wakaba summarized a small grin brimming on her face.
Palming his forehead, Hisoka rubbed his face in exasperation. This could go on for awhile if he didn't break up their feel-good far-fetched fantasies. He paused realizing this was the distraction he had been looking for.
"Well, how should I put it… If the foundation's shaky, the loft could never really be stable, right Yuma?"
"Yes!"
"I'm so glad to hear that Hisoka-kun's wellbeing is being properly managed."
Lunging for the door, the object of the conversation opened it and flung himself out into the late afternoon sun.
"Where the hell're you going Hisoka!!"
In reflex Yuma ran after him having sensed his escape, but he teleported before she could grab him.
Standing in the doorway Saya looked very concerned for him, while a startled Wakaba held a hand up to her mouth surprised by Hisoka's quick movement.
"I can't believe he just did that. How rude! Saya, store the food! We're hunting him down and bringing him back."
"Alriiight." Saya undulated cheerfully dumping the careful presentation from the plate into a black-lacquered bento box that was quickly growing cold.
Leaning back against the wooden paneling of the man-made onsen, Tsuzuki heaved a great sigh of relief. They had gotten there with no new murders to add to a long list of 'missing' people. Sinking lower into the warmth, he cracked an eye open, when Sachiya walked into the room and rinsed off quickly before stepping in.
"Restless?"
"Something like that."
Tsuzuki noticed the camera bag Sachiya placed on top of his folded bathrobe on the ledge as he climbed in. "You can't bear to part from that, can you?"
Kato sighed. "It's special to me, ok?"
Nibbling on his thumb in thought, Tsuzuki shifted. "So what killed you?"
"Why do I get the feeling that if I asked you, you wouldn't answer me?"
"I starved to death."
The rookie winced, flinching. "Ow. Damnit, that was a rhetorical question." He thought for a few minutes about how to best simplify his own death, as the man across from him waited patiently. "Well… My best friend got jealous of my success and it drove him crazy. He strangled me to death."
"Ah." Tsuzuki's face grew withdrawn and sad in sympathy. He was a little too distant though because he was suddenly blinking a reddish-green afterimage from his eyes. Looking up, Kato's camera went off again, and Tsuzuki rubbed at his eyes, standing up somewhat angry at his rude picture taking. "Knock it off, kid!"
There was another flash. "Make me." With a laugh, Shade walked backwards across the floor slipping his bathrobe on one-handed and camerabag strap over his shoulder, camera at ready and glossy photographs pressed to it with the same hand.
"You cheeky punk!" Stepping out of the onsen and wrapping a towel around his waist, Tsuzuki stopped suddenly. Sensing something wrong, he dove for the rookie. "Shade! Get down!"
Something large, black and winged shattered through the windows and through the wall across from them. There was a scream before they could untangle themselves from under the debris and they saw a leg hanging by muscle and tendon from the beak of the monster. "I, Hidouzaki, will challenge Tsuzuki." Then, it cawed which caused the leg to flop and fall with a thump. Red sunlight from the sunset was streaming in like blood hanging in the dust.
Immodest, Tsuzuki already had clasped his hands before the challenge had even been issued, finishing the summons of a little used Shikigami he had. "The binding chains, the dark mask of haunting. Come out, Daimou!"
A cloak of darkness swamped the room. "Ensnare!"
The crow flapped and flapped with no success, getting tied down by something of nothing. It cried out angrily trying to break into freedom, but the more struggle it gave, the tighter and more complex the knots became.
Gritting his teeth in concentration, Tsuzuki strained to hold the powerful demon in place, hoping Nui was on her way to separate their summons from the beast. Daimou was mentally exhausting to summon from the amount of concentration he had to put forth for it.
Shade meanwhile had no idea what had happened to the demon, looking around the wreckage of the room and seeing Tsuzuki standing with hands outstretched and eyebrows furrowed. "What just happened?"
When Tsuzuki didn't answer, Kato asked again. And again, just in time for Nui to run in in a loosely-tied bed kimono.
"Move it, Sachi!" In offensive stance, she held several fudas out chanting, releasing one at a time as she activated them. Floating before her, the final one joined the rest. With a broad sweeping circle of her fingers they flew around the area the demon had just been and snapped to the walls, ceiling, and the ground creating a dome. Tsuzuki evenly asked in a strained voice. "Is it ready?"
"Yes, Zukin."
"Release." A loud snap occurred and the demon was suddenly there again as Tsuzuki took his fuda papers from Nui to weave strength into the barrier she had placed.
"Holy shit. Did I just see dimensional magic?" Sachiya said outloud to no one.
As Nui and Tsuzuki chanted in sync, the demon raged and struggled, before shrinking to its human avatar with deep black-blue irises.
"Two against one? That's hardly sportsmanship, Halfing." It snarled furious.
The rookie blinked and stared at Tsuzuki and then at the demon, and back again, but for once kept his mouth shut. Nui showed no surprise, feeding the barrier with a constant stream of energy.
Tsuzuki had gone cold and still, but he wouldn't show weakness to the demon. They liked weaknesses. "Demons don't care about fair play. Saki Shidou you are summoned to JuuOhCho for Judgment."
"Hmph. How unfortunate." Power surged from the boy and licked along the barrier searching and finding its weakness. Pressing the raw chaotic energy into the small cracks of barrier, Hidouzaki burned out the cores of the spell and a vile string of incomprehensible sounds were uttered from his lips. The barrier collapsed backlashing its residual energy in an abnormal way as the entire inn seemed to shake chunks of roof from the folding walls. The demon smiled pleasantly.
Having assumed the backlash would be more explosive, Sachiya had jumped out of the inn and was now peering over the porch into the now open-to-air onsen room, curiosity and concern overcoming self-preservation.
The demon stepped towards Tsuzuki, eyeing his bare flesh as a tongue unconsciously wet his lips. "How do you intend to take me? I've nullified the effects of magic within two hundred meters of this place."
"That may be," Nui responded lighters open and outstretched, "but we can still fight."
Hidouzaki sneered at her laughing lightly as the oldest active Shinigami stood there, mind racing over his alternatives. It meant that the magic-focuses he had used to direct his wildly uncontrollable inborn ability were all but useless. It would be ok, if no one he cared about were around him. "Nui." His voice demanded obedience. Understanding his command, Nui didn't lower her weapons but made her way towards the exit. If he could protect her, he would be okay.
Without warning, the demon slammed into her effortlessly, punching a hole into her chest. Tasting her heartblood on his hands, Hidouzaki thrust his hand into her skull through her fearful face smashing the delicate material and smiled pleasantly even as he licked the gore from his fingers. Tsuzuki's horror and shock froze his legs in place as his pulse raced at the smell of a fresh kill and the sight of a dead child. He remembered retrieving her when her body had wasted away from the poison in it. There had been too many children's souls he had had to recover during the Minamata sickness.
Holding the quickly drying hand out, the demon gave a lazy smile of relaxation only satisfaction could bring. "Shall we devour her together? I can smell your eagerness to feast." Exposing sharp teeth, Hidouzaki's nostrils flared chuckling. "And I smell your fear. Do you forfeit?"
Something snapped in Tsuzuki and rage poured into and through him. Raw energy escaped from him in wild purple bolts, grounding in the environment around him and ripping through the remaining walls, springing forward and everywhere in between as he attacked the demon barehanded.
Hidouzaki sidestepped and dodged his punches, laughing. "All that power and no control. I see why you hide behind your summons, Halfling." The demon was toying with him, and Tsuzuki knew it. If he ran outside the proximal zone that was effectively non-magic, it would leave Nui—no, her name was Io, he recalled—to the demon. He could only fight and hope to distract the demon from her.
Indecisive over what he should do, Sachiya clutched his camera to his chest, and tried not to look at the corpse of a young child dressed in a miniaturized version of Nui's kimono. He knew she was illusionist, but it was still shocking to realize what she had been hiding. Even when she had been buried she had managed to keep the façade up when he helped her out.
There was a clash of power in front of him, and Tsuzuki went flying across the remainder of the room slamming through the wall into the darkening lobby, as the demon casually followed him not bothering to transform. Gripping the camera until his knuckles were showing white, Sachiya jumped up into the room running to check on his partner, whose body and face were still caved in, though the bleeding had reversed. "Of course her heart wouldn't be beating yet", he quietly admonished to himself removing the automatic fingers to her neck.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath to settle his nerves. Quickly he readjusted his camera replacing the film cartridge with a specially made one and steeled himself, hiding behind a chunk of the roof that had caved in. Tsuzuki was losing and badly.
Raising the camera and aiming at the demon's back through the viewport, Shade evened his breathing as his shaky hands stilled.
He had only one mission.
Having delivered Hisoka his suits, Wakaba entered the infirmary checking on her partner. His contract had been weakened from the fight with Muraki, so until his energy centers healed up, he was under house arrest to prevent any damages that might occur if his Shikigami took over. She could only seal it so many times a day after all.
He watched her enter. "I need a fuckin' cigarette. He's been itching me all day for 'em."
"Hm." She opened the window letting the rapidly cooling breeze in as it fluttered through her hair and skirt and leaned into it. "Hajime-chan can smoke like this."
Terazuma snorted lightly sitting in the bed closest to said window. "If I wanted Tatsumi to yell about a backdraft."
They shared quietness each contemplating troubling things. Finally, she turned leaning against the windowsill, hand keeping her steady. "I have a bad feeling, Hajime."
Her partner said nothing understanding her anxiety, but offered no empty promises.
"It feels like that night years ago. I keep wanting to tell myself that I'm imagining things, but experience has proven me wrong every time."
"At least I know you're safe." His voice was gruff, but she knew it was his way of consoling her.
"I'm glad you're safe, too, Hajime." She smiled worriedly, eyes slipping back to the sakura trees outside.
"Come in!"
Hisoka burst through the door, like a wild rabbit finding refuge in its hole after being chased by two feisty bloodhounds. Breathing heavily, he turned to lean his head on the closed door. There was somebody in the room without the anti-empathy charm on them.
"Is there something wrong, Bon?"
He ignored the question as he turned and focused on the woman. She had recently been injured in a fight only a day old, and she had won at the cost of her leg. Other miscellaneous things passively seeped into his head like scenes of her badmouthing Shinigami to her colleagues for being full of themselves, and how his coworkers had humbled her from the fight. Her name was Araki Hana and she was currently thinking of how attractive he was.
Frowning Hisoka concentrated on the details of the fight. Images of unknown techniques and strange magic came to his foremind and as he prodded more, mindnumbing fear of a prostrate man of silver in blood-stained white with a face twisted in rage had simply wrapped his hand around her ankle to curse her came to him. Visibly flinching, Hisoka growled, rounding on Watari. "Why the hell were you guys fighting Muraki?!"
"Enma-sama's orders. Muraki was to be retrieved and we were successful at the loss of movement for her left leg and energy-vascular damage to Terazuma."
Watching Watari's calm gesture, Hisoka saw the bizarre contraption that the resident scientist had attached to Araki's knee like a mechanical cast, and looked at her. Before the uncomfortable silence carried on too long, Watari interrupted it with a cough. "Kurosaki Hisoka, this is Araki Hana, a Demon Exorcist."
"Pleased to meet you." She said politely. At least she was honest expressing herself, he thought. Conflicting inner and outer sides of people were enough to make him nauseous.
"Same to you." Then he turned to Watari. "Look, I need to talk to you. I didn't get away from my jailers just to chat."
Watari hesitated looking towards Araki, who had stood and bowed slightly. "I'll excuse myself." Once she shut the door behind her and the empath felt her leave, Hisoka exposed his forearms holding them out to him. "What do you think?"
Inhaling an 'oooo' as Watari adjusted his glasses. "They look in the process of healing. Seeing as how I've never heard of a curse passing on through death, I've no idea what it means, Bon."
"Is Muraki dead?"
The scientist inhaled a sigh, a finger to his lips. "I wonder about that…but no, he was still alive before Tatsumi took him away."
"…" Hisoka narrowed his eyes. "In what state?"
"Imagine a demonslayer sword tearing through someone's lower back."
She certainly did 'win'. A lightheaded Hisoka thought as supported himself against his wall holding his head.
"Bon, your markings were changing well before he was captured, so I don't think the scabbing has much to do with that. Has your ability been...er.. expanding more?"
"I know that it's been changing! And, yes, if it weren't for the charms Tsuzuki made I would probably be seeing more about you guys than I ever wanted to." At that the thought of that, Hisoka tasted bile in his mouth. He did not wish to feel the deepest insecurities or desires of any of his coworkers, but if his tele-empathy 'expanded' anymore than it was at already, he wouldn't be able to work any longer. Even charms had limits and burned out. Hisoka moved his hand to his forehead feeling drained from having to wrestle words from others instead of simply reading them. "What does my ability expanding have to do with anything?"
"That's the unintended side-effect of the aging potion. I have an antidote to reverse the effects of your physical growth and it will stunt any further psychic growth, but I'm afraid it won't reverse any new development that you've notice with your ability. I've also fine-tuned the antidote so it won't turn you the opposite gender."
"… Do you have it now?"
"I haven't distilled enough for a full dose yet, which was why I was waiting to tell you, but it should halt the psychic growth you're experiencing at least." Standing up and walking across the room, Watari scrimmaged through beakers and flasks and finally picked up a test tube from the rack in front of him and took his glasses off checking the liquid's color in the light. "This is it." Smiling he handed it to Hisoka.
At that moment, the door slammed open, and Yuma pounced on Hisoka.
"Ohhh Hisoka!"
Falling face first, the fragile tube slipped from between his clumsy fingers and fractured upon impact to the ground. Hisoka grunted out a noise that sounded awfully like a curse. He was furious. "Get. Off."
The more boisterous one of the Hokkaido pair removed herself silently.
Gritting his teeth, Hisoka sat up. "When will a full dose be ready?" When the scientist didn't respond, he looked up angrily about to retort.
"Bon…" The look he received was serious, and he turned to look back at Yuma who was staring blankly ahead, just in time to see Saya step in with a hop in her gait.
"Oh look he's here, Yuma. I guess it's time for Operation Feed Hisoka then! Right?"
When there was no response, the bento fell from her suddenly limp fingers and fell open spilling its contents as she quickly stepped in the space between them. "Yuma? Yuma, what's wrong?!" As she wrapped tentative arms around her partner, Saya's hand shakily went to Yuma's face. "Yuma??"
She didn't know what to do, and looked to Watari for an explanation who looked at Hisoka.
"Bon."
Hisoka was staring in horrified fascination at what was going on. Surely, it wasn't his fault.
"Bon. Oh for— Saya where is her charm?"
"It's right here." Pulling the paper bracelet off her partner's wrist, she looked at Hisoka but said nothing as she stepped back holding the charm in a death grip.
Even with it gone, Hisoka didn't feel her normally strong presence. It was faint, like she had fallen asleep standing up. Hesitantly, he touched the back of her hand and stepped into her active but unconscious mind. Watari's lab faded from around him as he focused on her, prodding the prone form in front of him in her unnaturally vacant mindscape. "Hey, wake up."
"I'm up!!" He jerked back as she suddenly sat up. The background flooded with the color of memories and moods in a distracting manner. Waving her index finger at him as she brushed down her slacks, she berated him, tsking. "Stop being rude, and stay out of a girl's head, will ya?" He felt her shove and he overloaded.
Looking through the bamboo screen, the god's silhouette shifted to the side before resuming an unnatural stillness. "I agree to your terms. My entourage will transport you back to the living realm."
Completely healed by means only a god could provide, two silver eyes were matched in their reserved contentment as he sat up under his own power, all damage to his spine repaired. He was glad that his myopia was only minor. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you." Standing, he followed his assigned escort quietly through the estranged atmosphere. While a mortal would be foolish in agreeing to terms placed by Death himself, Muraki hadn't been so foolish to refuse.
It seemed that he would be given a chance to exact a revenge he had yearned to fulfill at the price of being saved from hell upon death, natural or otherwise. Who would have refused that?
When Hisoka found himself on his back in a cot, he was very disoriented and cold. Surprised that the Hokkaido pair weren't suddenly in his face, he tried to lift himself up on a shaky hand, but his muscles wouldn't obey and so he rolled a bit on his side.
Don't feel good.
Watari hunched over him checking his pupils and pulse, then smiled a smile devoid of humor.
"I'm sorry about that Bon, but you need some rest. You've become a telepath."
Hisoka never had a moment to react as his joints seized up and his back bowed in a sudden onslaught of pain. His curse flickered to life burning a deep burgundy cracked with gold. It hurts!! He swallowed down air as he struggled to breathe he felt drained and exhausted regardless of the rest he had taken.
I'm sorry, Hisoka.
He forced himself to bend even as he felt Watari press hands against him. "Bon! Lay back down!"
"No! NO!" He shook his head sluggishly, legs stuttering across the floor as he leaned tiredly on the black-top counter crowded with beakers in front of him. "Tsuzuki needs me!" He didn't know how it happened or why, he only knew that his partner would die if he didn't go to him now.
The scientist got the hint and backed off. "Where is he?"
Shaking his head, he didn't answer as he stubbornly ran at an erratic pace out of the building to teleport. Watari had followed but hadn't touched him even when he had the reach to. He stared vacantly out at the sakura trees.
"… Bon." A gust of late summer wind blew across tugging at his hair and coat as his lips curled happily. "Go get him, tiger."
TBC.