Alternate Universe

Response to annonymous reviewers:

Xelena: Well, here's part 7. You'll find out who wins!

Kyoto Arc: Part 7

"Hisoka-kun, are you sure about this?" Maria asked a bit worried. She hoped that Tsuzuki and Muraki didn't follow them then they'd know what's really going on. They were meeting Tatsumi at the designated place he assigned them.

"I'm sure. Besides, don't you want payback? It's not everyday you see Muraki outwardly be scared. Trust me, the only thing that would get that reaction out of him is being Watari's guinea pig. Tsuzuki's just there because it's amusing," Hisoka answered. Oh yeah, he was enjoying this way too much. Maria made a mental note not to get on his bad side. She thought she probably made about one thousand reminders of that. She was just exaggerating.

Maria scanned around and spotted the Kagetsukai standing about twenty feet from them. She quickly took Hisoka's hand and dragged him towards Tatsumi. They were out of breath by the time they reached him. After all, they were a little late.

"It's past twenty minutes for our scheduled meeting time," Tatsumi said. They could see the wheels spinning as they work to calculate deductions from their pay.

"Sorry Tatsumi-san, but Muraki and Tsuzuki asked too many questions," Maria explained.

"That fine. I guess dealing with those two would cause some of their habits to rub off. If my hunch were right, their deductions would transfer to you. Let's go."

The Kagetsukai is a saint.

-X-

Surprisingly, Tsuzuki and Muraki were walking in compatible silence. Something that hasn't happened very often, that's for sure. Earlier they had decided on a temporary truce so they could solve the case and win the bet. There was a bit of fight on which route to take but that was about it. They had decided to take a different approach and agree on the path that they both didn't agree on.

It seemed to be right, since that was where Hisoka and Maria were heading off earlier. But they didn't need to know that.

Actually, this was the first instance, since Muraki's final days as being considered alive; they actually were in a compatible companionship.

They stayed silent throughout the rest of the walk.

-X-

Meanwhile…

Maria dodged a fireball that missed her by an inch. Her defensive shields weren't strong enough. Hisoka wasn't faring good either, he had been hit with a mental psychic blast earlier as the three of them entered. Tatsumi was doing his best to cover them both with his shadows.

If only she could suck the blood off their enemy, who was being a pain in the ass by the way. How she wished Muraki or Tsuzuki were here. After all, they are the two strongest shinigamis that she had seen in her afterlife.

What over looked that fact was that this was a bet, and there was no way in the seven hells was she going to lose it. She needed to find someway to get close and claim that blood. She looked at Tatsumi who was protecting Hisoka from an oncoming fireball.

Distractions… She thought to herself.

Unnoticeably, she blended into the air. The invisibility perks do come in handy at times. She used her vampire invisibility since anything will just past her. It really did come in handy when being attacked but she couldn't attack back using the form. Luckily no level of magic or sense could sense or see her at all.

She was so close. She only needed a few more steps. As if hunting, she gently padded softly in her shields… waited… then lunged. She quickly turned visible and took a hunting bite on her prey's neck. She kept feasting, as his blood was appealing to her. She could drink this for a lifetime.

Maria didn't take notice of the fires slowly going out. Nor did she notice Tatsumi and Hisoka calling her name. All she could fathom was how good the blood tasted and how it was the first of its kind. She greedily devoured it.

Seconds later, she was pulled away. She glared, intimidating, at her pursuers. She seemed to calm down when she spotted Hisoka. She glanced back at her prey that was profusely wasting his blood. She wanted to go back and drink it up.

"Maria, it's over," Tatsumi said.

Hisoka sensed her anxiousness. He could tell that she still wanted that blood. Her feelings were overwhelming him that he could taste it. Dammit. He turned Maria around to face him to shake some sense into her.

"Tatsumi-san, can you clear out the mess?" Hisoka asked patiently. He just hoped Tatsumi got the idea. Luckily the secretary didn't question and set about. Tatsumi took a worried glance at them briefly before continuing to use his shadows to get rid of evidence. Oh, and calculate how much this was going to cost for repairs.

Meanwhile, Hisoka took Maria outside to try and get her to calm down. And the blood craving he's been feeling too. Seems like Watari has to brew some sort of remedy that Maria had in her file that stated she needed to take incase of any blood hunger. To Maria, for some reason, criminals' blood tasted so much better. They don't know why. Shrugging those thoughts off, he embraced Maria to help her calm down. He transferred some feelings of calm through her.

It was then he spotted Tsuzuki and Muraki running towards them.

Damn they must've seen the fire.

-X-

During Muraki and Tsuzuki's companionable walk, they couldn't find anything. Not even one single damn clue! They were rather surprised they haven't blamed it on either one of them yet and got into a huge fight. Apparently they were probably caught up in trying to figure out if they lost the bet what would Maria and Hisoka plan to do? It was a fear worse than another death.

After all, they already knew Hisoka would do something sinister, Maria would probably add to it, which wasn't a good thing. Especially for them.

They both glanced around and finally saw something that caught their attention. Smoke was coming from a building up ahead. It could be a start, since they felt some evil energy or rather energy that could be used against them. They quickly ran in that direction, since they also felt Maria and Hisoka's presence.

It was such a long way that they were almost out of breath by the time they would reach the place. Unfortunately, the smoke had already gone out and everything seemed calm as the building failed to collapse. Such was the strength of buildings these days. They slowed down for a little bit until they realized that someone could still be injured or something. So they sped it up, not realizing that they could just teleport there. But hey! We all have our non-thinking-wise-strategy moments.

They can't help it!

Anyways, when they reached the building, they found it in tact with a few burns here and there. It looked like it was still good for a bit of reconstruction. But they wondered who caused the fire. Looking around they spotted Hisoka comforting Maria on the bench near the side of the building. Tsuzuki was worried since Maria never got like this unless…

He knew he should've warned JuOhCho that Maria had episodes when she drank blood. From the looks of Hisoka's stained shirt and the blood on Maria's hand, was proof of it. He must've stopped her before she could finish. Tsuzuki thought. But Hisoka was smart to do that before Maria got into it. If she did, then she'd want more and it'd be a while before it was satisfied. They lost a bit of China's population because of it. But it didn't matter now. At least he hoped Maria was okay.

Alongside him, Muraki kept thinking about what happened. He already drew a complete conclusion in his head. He had his suspicions, but he knew Maria was something of a dead vampire. It's weird but it's true. At least the two were alright, nothing to worry about.

"Glad you two could make it." Tatsumi startled them. They wondered when the Kagetsukai appeared behind them. They backed away as they noticed the gleam in his eyes. He looked scarier with his glasses on. "Since you failed to solve the case, you can help by cleaning it up."

The two immediately high-tailed it to the site. Tatsumi was that intimidating.

-X-

Hisoka wondered how Maria was so depressed just because she didn't drain all the blood. Hisoka did realize it had gone to waste but… He knew he had to stop Maria from continuing. It was just an instinct of hers.

"Thanks Hisoka-kun," Maria stated still hugging his waist and her head resting on his chest. Hisoka continued stroking her hair. He didn't mind.

"Anytime," he responded. "We should be getting back before Tatsumi sends the other two to get us."

"Hmmm…" Maria murmured. "Before we leave," she leaned closely to his neck, "can I have a taste?"

"NO!"

TBC---------------

BLK Angel of Destruction: There's part 7! It probably would've been funnier to let Muraki and Tsuzuki win. But instead I didn't. But I will when I post the next chapter! It's going to be a 'what if' Muraki and Tsuzuki won. There's still just one more part left and it's all going to be finished. We just have to wait to see what Maria and Hisoka plan for them… Thanks for your reviews! I really appreciate them!

Review! No Flames! C+C accepted!