Mystery Illness

Author: Trans

Pairing: WatarixTatsumi

Warning: Not really sure yet. Yaoi of course, and hopefully some hanky-panky at some point. A tad of angst never hurts…

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei  although I DO have my very own Watari plushie.

AN: angst?

Chapter 5

"Watari." A strong hand rested on his shoulder. He was shaking he realized, as those fingers shifted over the fabric of his coat. Watari's fingers tightened on the windowsill, cheek frozen to its side. He blinked against the rain coming through the open window, the cold drops hiding his own frustrated tears. It was the only way he could cry; for no one to see. His face and hands were numb with cold--hair and clothes so heavy with water he thought his spine might snap. "Watari come away."

"No," Watari rasped, his throat raw from shouting her name through empty rooms and over the rage of the storm outside. Under Tatsumi's hand, his shoulder's slumped. "I don't understand." He couldn't feel her. Not at all. 003 was gone…

"Come on. You need to dry off." A powerful grip pulled his upper arm, drawing him back from the still open window. He stumbled back to Tatsumi's side, drops of water falling from the hem of his coat, and onto the floor tiles. He ignored his shivering, eyes narrowing when Tatsumi made to lower the window pane.

"Leave it open. Please…if she comes back…" Tatsumi paused, and Watari thought he would tell him about budgets, and the costs of floor cleaning. That those blue eyes might harden and he'd give him that exasperated look he often did after lab accidents. Watari was prepared, but all he got was a smile and a nod. Lowering the pane so that just enough room was left for a bird 003's size to come in, Tatsumi waved his hand, shadows fixing themselves to keep the rain from coming in.

The sound of the storm outside was cut away, leaving the light drum on the windows and the dripping from Watari's coat. "Come on," Tatsumi said gently, guiding him to the back room.

Watari felt blank. It was like his thoughts kept piling into each other, and he didn't know what to say or do. 003 was gone. She had been sick, he'd left her, and now she was gone. Could she have tried to follow him…? But the window. The window was too heavy; who could've opened the window? "Tatsumi?" He said imploringly, lost.

"Get out of this, and I'll bring some towels," Tatsumi said brushing the sleeve of his coat. He stepped out of the room, leaving Watari to stand there. Shaking fingers fumbled with the buttons, but he felt distracted, nerves on edge. He cursed as he made little head-way, a warm hand covering his.

Glancing up through the hair clinging to his face, he met sympathetic eyes. "Its ok. We'll figure it out," Tatsumi assured, quickly undoing the buttons so Watari could shrug out of the jacket. Draping a towel over his shoulders, Tatsumi let him try to dry his hair. Luckily, his knee-length jacket had kept his most of his pants and shirt dry. The shivering wouldn't stop though. This wasn't good. There was no way this could be good.

Knees bending against his will, Watari slumped back onto his dismembered bed (from his wild search earlier). "Who would take her? How…?" He rubbed the towel harder into his scalp. "And in this weather…she was already sick! I shouldn't have left her alone!"

"Watari-san." The honorific was back, and Watari only now noticed that it had been absent in the hectic rush of the last minutes. Tatsumi sat down stiffly besides him. "You left her in this room so she could rest correct? And the window was shut?" Watari nodded, head bowed. Tatsumi sighed, "Then it isn't your fault." Resting a hand on his shoulder, so Watari would finally look up, Tatsumi asked steadfastly, "Now how do you purpose we go about trying to find her? I will use what ever resources we have available to help."

Watari swallowed. Yes, he was acting irrationally. If she was missing then he needed to get her back as soon as possible. They wouldn't have much time…if…they just had to get her back. It wouldn't be very useful if he just sat here feeling sorry for himself. 003 had been kidnapped! "Yes, you're right!"

Watari shook his hair out of his face. "We'll need to send out a memo in case anyone sees her. If they saw her."

"Of course. I'll handle that. Do you have any idea why someone would want 003?" Tatsumi asked, his tone business, but his gaze still soft. Watari noticed that he'd removed his glasses to dry them off, and his eyes were wide and blue, much more open than he imagined he'd ever see them.

Watari paused. "No," he said trying to convince himself, "I don't know why anyone would take her…she. I need her back. I don't know what I'll do without her," Watari said his voice trailing off.

"Very well. I'll send the memo, and I suggest that you ask Kurosaki-kun to take a look around. He might be able to pick up on something." Tatsumi stood up, straightening his suit, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Watari said, trying to meet his eyes, "After the memo, you'll come back right? I know you have work to do…but you'll stop in right?" Watari hoped that he didn't sound too desperate.

"Of course…I'll return to check up on the situation." Tatsumi frowned. "I'll send for Kurosaki-kun. Tsuzuki-san can clean things up for you."

"Yes…" Reaching out to momentary hold the other's wrist, Watari gave him a brief but sincere smile, "Thank you Tatsumi."

(((insert break)))

Tatsumi wasn't sure what to make of the last hour. Watari had looked much better, and his mood was almost back to its normal self, that is, until he mentioned 003. Returning to the lab to find her missing was an unexpected development. Strangely (because Watari was known to be forgetful sometimes) he did believe that Watari hadn't left the window open. He hated rainy weather, and usually shut in his lab in attempts to protect his hair.

That left the question of who would have opened it. His lab wasn't on the ground floor, and usually Watari made a habit of locking his lab when he wasn't in. Tatsumi tried to think back to whether Watari had unlocked the door when they'd gotten back. He couldn't remember.

Regardless, 003 was missing, and Watari was a mess. It wasn't a situation Tatsumi was accustomed to. Watari was notorious for his logical thinking in any situation. He had the tendency to make jokes at even the most grisly of scenes. The complete shift in personality had caused some panic in the stoic secretary himself. But if he could just be calm, then he could hopefully direct the scientist to do the same. It had worked to a degree. Although clearly upset, Watari had regained some sense of reason.

It could just be that some inconsiderate employee (of whom Tatsumi would have the pleasure of a long 'discussion' and wage cut) had opened the window. The memo would help inform everyone, and perhaps bring the culprit forward. In the meantime, they could commit to a search. Tsuzuki was quite adept with his tracking birds…although that wasn't Tatsumi's expertise, and he wasn't sure if it worked with animals.

No, shadows were, and as Tatsumi walked swiftly back to his office they twitched in the corners, ready to be commanded. Truthfully he did feel agitated. He didn't feel right about leaving Watari alone. However he knew he would be the most help if he could coordinate things for him. Sending out an order, the shadows slipped away to search the building. It would be smart to rule that out first.

The main office space was a bit noisier now, probably taking advantage of his absence through lunch. Spying the two Shinigami in the opposite corner, he called evenly, "Tsuzuki-san, Kurosaki-san, if I could see you in my office please." Not bothering to slow down, he walked into his office and sat down. He was just beginning to type up the memo when the two walked in. Actually it would be more accurate to say Hisoka walked, dragging a whining Tsuzuki in. He obviously thought he was about to be punished for something.

"Yes sir?" Hisoka asked, sending a glare to his cowering partner.

"We have a bit of a situation. 003 has gone missing, and Watari is in a right state. I would like you two to stay with him." Typing without looking at the screen (a talent Tatsumi had acquired in order to multi-task and save time), he continued the conversation. He looked specifically at Hisoka. "Perhaps you could see if you feel anything."

Tsuzuki relaxed, deciding he wasn't going to get yelled at, and asked confused, "She's missing? Did he look around, because last time she disappeared it was because he'd accidentally locked her in the chemical supply cabinet."

Tatsumi pinched the bridge of his nose in a small sign of frustration. "No, she has been ill as of late. The window was open, and Watari is genuinely worried. If you would please help him in searching." He gave a fixed look towards Tsuzuki. "And since the window was open, there is a bit of a mess, so if you could please help him clean that up." Glancing quickly to check over the memo he'd just typed, short and to the point, he deemed it good enough, and sent it out to everyone's e-mail. When they didn't move out right away, he added, "that's all. I'll be there myself in a bit. I'll need to talk to the chief briefly."

((page break)))

His fingers were still numb as he switched on his computer in auto-pilot. His mind was racing, causing it to be slightly out of connection with the rest of his body. Theories and what-ifs took up residence between his ears, plugging out any outside influence. That was why he didn't notice when Hisoka and Tsuzuki arrived at first.

"Watari?" Tsuzuki asked from the door, eyeing the mess of a lab with all its cupboards thrown open.

Turning his chair around so he could see them, he attempted a smile. It didn't work quite as he hoped, but at least they walked the rest of the way into his lab. Hisoka had his brow furrowed as if thinking hard. "Tatsumi said you wanted me to look around?" He asked.

"Maybe you could see if you get anything off the window. Maybe you could detect who opened it," Watari said softly. Tsuzuki frowned and walked up to his desk chair.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a worrying tone. "Tatsumi said she was sick…"

Swallowing Watari took a deep breath. "Yeah, I suppose I shouldn't have left her alone. But she was sleeping before lunch…I didn't think something like this would happen."

Watari watched as Hisoka stepped around the deep puddle in front of the window to examine it. "Are these…Tatsumi's shadows?" he queried brushing his fingers through the narrow gap between the window and the jam.

Watari nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to leave the window open in case she came back, but the floor was getting wet so…" He shifted agitated in his seat.

Hisoka closed his eyes, fingers tracing over the window sill and its lock. He frowned. "I don't sense anything unusual. I couldn't tell you who opened it, but they weren't feeling any malice about it."

"Who would want 003?" Tsuzuki pointed out, "It was probably just left open accidentally by someone, and she flew out for a bit," he continued hopefully.

Watari shook his head sharply. "No, I didn't leave it open, and I'd locked the door. She was too sick to fly. Someone took her!" He bowed his head, trying not to show how upset he felt. It must seem ridiculous to them that he'd be crying over an owl, but to him 003 was much more than that. "She isn't here," he whispered, "I can't feel her at all. Someone took her..."

"We'll find her Watari." Tsuzuki put a hand on his shoulder, but its grip wasn't as firm as Tatsumi's and Watari couldn't help but feel even more alone. Tsuzuki was his friend, as was Hisoka, but all the small attempts to comfort him in the world couldn't make him feel any better about 003 missing.

She'd been taken, that much he was sure, and he was starting to think that her illness wasn't a coincidence either. Had something been going on right under his nose? What were the chances that she'd contract a mystery illness, and then only days after turn up missing? Someone had opened the window, and someone had taken her. Even with his distress, he couldn't feel the regular presence of his feathered-friend, and he knew she wasn't in Meifu anymore.

Someone knew his secret.

"Watari-san, you don't have any idea why someone would take her?" Hisoka asked slowly, and Watari had the suspicion that he could sense some of the emotions turning in his head.

"No. Not yet. I thought I might go back through my log of the last few weeks and try to see if their was anything I missed." Perhaps he could find a clue, something that would point to a culprit.

"WATARI!" Wakaba skidded into the room, her curls even more frayed looking around her head; the weather on full on attack. "Are you ok?" She asked giving him a flying hug.

"Wakaba?" he stammered a bit stunned.

"I got the memo and I came right away!" She straightened herself, tugging uselessly at her hair to come away from her eyes. "We want to help!"

Watari looked behind her and back. "We?"

Wakaba's two-tone eyes narrowed, and she whirled around giving an angry look at the empty doorway. "Hajime! You said you would help."

Grumbling, the other Shinigami walked in, his cigarette already half-way done. A replacement was waiting behind one of his pointed ears. Tsuzuki's eyes narrowed, but he held his tongue, apparently more concerned with his friend. Obviously if Tatsumi sent out a memo, and with how Watari was acting, this was very serious.

Watari smiled a little more genuinely now. He had friends. He wasn't alone, and he prayed that 003 would come back to him safely. "What a mess!" Wakaba exclaimed finally taking a look around. Watari blink sheepishly. It wasn't often that he was caught on this end of the Shinigami care boat. That usually fell to Tsuzuki, or against his wishes, Hisoka. "Where's the mop?"

"Linen cabinet…" he pointed, "Its alright. I can clean up on my own."

"Don't be silly Watari!" Wakaba chimed, "We're here to help after all."

AN: First of all, the whole typing without looking at your hands or the screen, and holding a conversation at the same time, is one of my trademarks. I figure if I can do it, then someone as hardcore as Tatsumi could too.

As for how the story is doing…sorry if not much happened in this chapter. I'll try to move it along, and weasel in some more tatari. I just figured you guys would be happy with an update. The problem is that I don't have a lot of time to work on my stories at the moment, and while my other fic, The Sun Will Rise has like ten chapters done ahead, this one is being posted as I finish every chapter. A delay in writing with this fic means a delay in posting. Sorry.

P.S. if you see an error, let me know where it is so I can fix it.