Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei

Shout-outs: It looks like you guys really enjoyed Eileen having bricks in her purse. I swear I did not mean to lift that from 101 Dalmatians. It really did just coincide. Oh, and I'll give major props and schnoogleglomps to anyone who can tell me what movie "Take your filthy hands off her, you ugly animal!" comes from ("her" should actually read "me" for the original quote).

Kiko812: (Promises new chapter)

Eternity's Heir: Having Nagare and Tsubaki in a confrontation is so unusual. That's a fight you think should happen, but never will.

And I love Yoshiro too. He's such a sweetie.

AnimeAngelRin: You're right. The more I think on it, the more odd it seems to me that he went there first. Oh well. Call it another anomaly or something. Maybe George has a long-lost cousin.

laustic: I'm afraid Nagare's regret is a little more selfish than that. I'm sorry to lead you in that direction; I meant him to say it as a way of goading Hisoka.

Chrono21: Yes, T/S had a kid, and out of wedlock, too. Just couldn't keep their hands off each other. I figured out a place to put Byakko in the next chapter.

Phaerie-Mage1313: I'm so glad I'm done with chemistry. Anyway. Thank you for the compliment. I hope you did well on your audition.

Amethyst-eyed Koneko: Easy, girl. Cleansing breaths. (Passes out sedatives)

The reason I always find it hard to imagine Hisoka around kids is because he's just so impatient. It takes a lot to put up with little kids. Also, he does seem to enjoy his solitude and quiet, which, as is common knowledge, little kids have no concept of. (It's the same thing with Tatsumi, actually.) It's a good thing I didn't write Yoshiro to be a screaming little brat, then.

Hehe, Terazuma and Wakaba are total bunny rabbits. They spent years not being able to even hold hands, so wouldn't you think they'd be total animals once Kuro said "Okay, you can touch now."? And of course Tatsumi and Kaneko have a kid. You get to meet her this chapter, as well as the Terazuma kids. I actually contemplated giving T/K twins, but I decided there are already five children in the picture, no need to add more. I've learned the hard way that if you have too many characters, it gets out of hand.

Hisoka-Kurosaki-138: (Basks in the lovely praise) Thank you!

Kaouri18: Glad you're enjoying this! I have an awful feeling that this one isn't going to be anywhere near as good as the last two, but I hope it's a fun ride nonetheless.

CrazyYnMLoverxD: (Glomps Newbie)

Side Note #1: Just to make sure this is clear: Meifu knows about Hisoka being abused by his parents. Konoe knew in volume 9 of the manga, so I'm assuming it's on record and anyone can see it. (Only a handful knows how he died, and only Tsuzuki knows that he was raped the first time; anyone who was in Hell knows about the second rape.)

Side Note #2: The Kasane-Rui-Nagare story has been reconstructed. In this version, Rui was Nagare's first and only wife, and Hisoka their first child. Kasane was Rui's fraternal twin, and she did allegedly drown in the lake. I say allegedly because…well, that's a spoiler.

Off-Topic Rambling #1: Yay, new songs for the YnM jukebox! I got Tori Amos' "Little Earthquakes" CD for Christmas.

Girl: And in the shadow she crawls/Clutching her faded photograph/My image under her thumb/Yes, with a message for my heart … She's been everybody else's girl/Maybe one day she'll be her own … And in the doorway they stay/And laugh as violins fill with water/Screams from the bluebells can't/Make them go away … And in the mist there she rides/And castles are burning in my heart … I'm calling my baby (NOTES: Obviously TsuLeen, from Eileen's POV.)

Precious Things: So I ran faster/But it caught me here/Yes, my loyalties turn like my ankle/In the seventh grade/Running after Billy/Running after the rain/These precious things/Let them bleed/Let them wash away/These precious things/Let them break their hold over me/He said "You're really an ugly girl/But I like the way you play"/And I died/But I thanked him/Can you believe that?/Sick, sick/Holding onto his picture/Dressing up every day (NOTES: A Tsubaki song, reflecting on Muraki and the Queen Camellia.)

Winter: I hear a voice/"You must learn to stand up/For yourself, 'cause I can't always be around"/He says/"When you gonna make up your mind?/When you gonna love you as much as I do?" … Years go by and I'm here still waiting … But I only can see myself/Skating around the truth, who I am (NOTES: Tsuzuki reflecting on his and Tatsumi's failed relationship.)

China: You're right next to me/But I need an airplane/I can feel the distance/As you breathe/Sometimes/I think you want me to touch you/How can I/When you build the Great Wall around you?/In your eyes/I saw a future together/But you just look away … I think that you can hear me/Funny how the distance/Learns to grow (NOTES: Tatsumi's version of "Winter".)

Me and a Gun: It was me/And a gun/And a man/On my back/And I sang/"Holy, holy"/As he buttoned/Down his pants/You can laugh/It's kinda funny/Things you think/At times like these/Like "I haven't seen Barbados/So I must get out of this" … Tell me what's right/Is it my right/To be on my stomach? (NOTES: A Hisoka song, obviously. I see him babbling insanely at his parents in the hospital with this song.)

Off-Topic Rambling #2: Okay, so I'm driving to work today (1/9/07), and on the radio comes this song "Everything You Want", and I remember that I read a YnM fanfic with that song in it. So I've got the show on my mind, and then the next song is "Ain't No Other Man" by Christina Aguilera. So I get a vision of Watari singing "Ain't No Other Man". That songfic seriously needs to be written.

Off-Topic Rambling #3: In four days, it'll be the one-year mark of this trilogy! I can barely believe it's been a year already. Happy birthday to this project!

Off-Topic Rambling #4: Sorry for the delay. I finally got my own computer for Christmas, and then I type this chapter on it. So I go to post it and guess what? My ether card isn't working. I have to get a whole new one. I put off posting this, hoping I'd get it soon, but it's been almost a month and I don't want to leave you dangling anymore. Hell, I finished chapter four already! So this went back on my parent's computer. Well, hopefully I haven't lost my touch and you enjoy the chapter despite the long wait.

Informative

"If you stand in the road, buddy, you're gonna get run over."

Nagare snapped around. With his son and his husband protecting Yoshiro, there was no point in him trying to take him again, and in any case, he figured he had better find that invisible masked man to find out just what the hell he was supposed to do. Re-kidnapping his second son on a whim had been a rather uncharacteristic move. But Meifu streets were confusing, and the sun was beginning to set on his wandering.

"Daddy, Daddy, you're not a'pposed to talked to strangers!" a small girl with long purple hair and small blue eyes chided who obviously must be her father.

"No, you're not supposed to talk to strangers, Ayame," Terazuma said, taking his daughter's hand.

"My name is Kurosaki Nagare."

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Terazuma sucked on his cigarette and then threw it away, evidently just remembering that Wakaba had forbidden him to smoke around Ayame and Daichi, and Ayame was a champion tattletale.

"Well, I'm not a stranger anymore," Nagare reasoned. "Though you two still are."

"Um, um, I'm Terazuma Ayame!" the little girl spoke up. "I'm four!" She held up four fingers for emphasis. "And I have a little brother! He's—!"

"Ayame, hush," Terazuma ordered. Ayame obediently fell silent. "I'm Terazuma Hajime," he said to Nagare.

"Daddy!" Ayame yelled suddenly, tugging at her father's hand. "He's a Kurosaki! Like-like-like Hisoka-san!"

"Yeah, I noticed," Terazuma said, frowning. "You look like the kid, too. You related?"

"I'm his father." The words left a bitter taste in his mouth, the same as if Hisoka had been there to answer the question with "I'm his son".

"Excuse me!" Ayame piped up, raising her hand. "You're a bad man!" she stated matter-of-factly, pointing at Nagare. "Yoshiro-kun telled me so."

"Yeah, I know about you, too," Terazuma said, frown turning into a glare. "That was a real sh-tty thing to do."

"Terazuma Hajime, what did I tell you about swearing front of Ayame? She's impressionable at this age! Hi, nice to meet you."

Nagare blinked at the sudden appearance of a disheveled red-haired woman carrying a younger, male version of Ayame.

"What took you?" Terazuma asked, glancing at his wife.

"At the last possible moment, Kyoko decided it was a good time to try braiding Daichi's hair."

"That kid's a menace," Terazuma growled, thinking of the hyperactive Tatsumi girl.

"She's a four-year-old, Hajime, of course she's going to be a menace. Ayame is, too, when you're not around. Hi, sorry about this, sir. I'm Terazuma Wakaba. Again, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand.

"Pleasure," Nagare answered, shaking her hand.

"Mommy, Mommy, he's Hisoka-san's daddy!" Ayame yelled, pulling on her mother's skirt. "He's a bad man."

Wakaba's face changed and she deftly but abruptly pulled her hand away. Semi-consciously she tightened her hold on her son. "Is that true?"

"Unfortunately."

"Let me just say this, sir," Wakaba said, setting her mouth on a thin line. "There are plenty of things I'd like to say to you, but as I'm with two small children at the moment, I can't."

"I realize it's en vogue to hate me just now," Nagare said, somehow managing to be humorless and amused at the same time. "But you can get rid of me sooner if you point me in the direction of that Count…thing so I can find out how to get the hell out of here."

"I'll thank you not to use foul language in front of my kids," Wakaba said coldly. "But then, you don't care about your own children, so why should you care about mine?"

"Wakaba, here, you take Ayame and Daichi home," Terazuma suggested, steering Ayame towards her mother. Wakaba took her daughter's hand and protectively held Ayame against her leg, stabbing Nagare to death with her eyes. "I guess I'll just take him to Juohcho and let them deal with it."

"You kick his butt if he gives you any trouble," Wakaba said righteously, kissing her husband. "Come on, you two." She power-walked away, her grip on her children strong.

"Your wife is quite…decisive."

"Yeah, and I'm in agreement with her, so don't give me any crap, okay?" Terazuma whipped out a cigarette and a lighter as soon as Wakaba was out of sight. "All right, so you're looking for a way to get your business done and pass on, right?" he asked, eyeing Nagare.

"That's correct," Nagare said, content in the knowledge that in all likelihood he and Terazuma were at least equally matched.

"You already met the Count? And he just cut you loose? Probably did it on purpose, the son of a b-tch. I don't understand that guy. All right, come with me."

"Now, Kyoko, what did I say about trying to braid Daichi's hair?"

"Daichi-kun is s'cure in his masc'lin'y," Kyoko answered, pushing the bangs of her brown hair out of her amber eyes. "So's I shouldn' try to make him a girl."

"You know, Seiichirou, it's quite possible that Daichi might turn out like me," Kaneko said amusedly, picking up her four-year-old daughter and setting her on the counter next to an unlit Bunsen burner.

"We don't need to find out if a two-year-old is a transsexual," Tatsumi said flatly.

"Mommy, what's a transsex'al?" Kyoko asked.

"Well, Mommy's a transsexual."

"Daichi-kun's not my mommy!" Kyoko said indignantly.

"Hey. Tatsumi. One of you."

The family of three all glanced at the door.

"Terazuma," Tatsumi said, clearing his throat.

"You know where the Count is? Watson said he isn't in the Hall of Candles."

"He said he was going to go inspect the Gates." Contrary to predictions of a slow reconstruction, within weeks of being destroyed Hell had rebuilt itself, though now it was merely the home of damned souls watched over by volunteer saints. The days of the monarchy were a distant, horrific memory.

"Sh-t. What am I gonna do with this guy, then? I don't have a place to put him."

"Don't swear in front of Kyoko. Who are you talking about?"

"Tatsumi family, let me introduce you to the one and only Kurosaki Nagare," Terazuma said, stepping out of the way to allow them full view.

"K-Kurosaki Nagare?" Tatsumi repeated.

"Yep," Terazuma said, putting out his cigarette on the doorjamb. "You didn't get the memo?"

"I heard that he died from Konoe, but I figured he would go to Hell immediately," Tatsumi said, composure resurfacing and bringing with it thinly veiled anger.

"Go to Hell, go to Hell!" Kyoko offered in sing-song.

"Kyoko, sweetie, let Daddy tell him that," Kaneko said, eyeing Nagare acidly.

"I have business to attend to here," Nagare snapped. "If the Count's not here, then get me your next high-up. Believe me, I've no burning desire to be in your company, either."

"Want me to get Konoe?" Terazuma asked, lighting up another cigarette.

"Don't smoke around my chemicals unless you want this place to go Chernobyl," Kaneko warned.

"Yes, go get Konoe, thank you," Tatsumi said, glaring eyes fixed on Nagare.

"Hello?" Hisoka said into the receiver. "Oh, Konoe…oh, you're sh-tting me. Why the hell do we have to…? This'd better be good, if I have to see that man again. Once per decade is more than enough…all right, fine. But I'm sending that man to Hell if he starts screwing with us."

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Get Yoshiro's shoes on. We'll let Kaneko look after him. We have to go to Juohcho."

"So, let's review what we know," Konoe said, rubbing his temples at the scene before him. The stale air, still reeking of the cigarette Terazuma had been smoking before he had departed, was heavy and full of electricity. Tsuzuki and Hisoka sat at on end of the room, seemingly prepared to spit poison at Nagare, who sat nonchalantly on the other side.

"You," Konoe continued, pointing at Nagare, "were murdered last night by your elder brother, Iwao."

"Yes."

"Earlier that night, there was an incident at Kokakuro. A demon who survived Hell appeared, split Kushinada's soul, and took her evil half with him."

"What are you talking about?" Nagare asked. "What does the queen of Hell have to do with this?"

"A few years ago we went to war with Hell and completely destroyed it," Konoe explained. "Kushinada's memory was erased and she was allowed to live in Chijou. A demon who survived the eradication found her last night and ripped her soul in half. The demon queen went with him, and the normal person is recovering topside."

"That's…mildly unbelievable," Nagare remarked blandly.

"What's unbelievable is that you still think you're king of the hill, here," Hisoka said darkly.

"Please settle this after the meeting," Konoe said, silently cheering Hisoka. "Nagare-san, we think there's a correlation between your murder and the soul-splitting. Kushinada's entire family was killed in Hell, and she's most likely seeking an eye for an eye. That's why you were murdered. They apparently don't know of your family's…mutual disownment."

"Understatement of the century," Hisoka muttered.

"That unfortunately bodes ill for your wife," Konoe continued. "Rui, her name is?—will be in grave danger."

"That's not a problem," Nagare said.

"Oh, I know you couldn't give a sh-t about me," Hisoka growled, "but now her?"

"You never did know when to shut your mouth," Nagare said coolly.

"You son of a—"

"Keep this civil, please!" Konoe interrupted. "Nagare-san, why is this not a problem?"

"My wife is protected by the spirit of her dead sister, Kasane," Nagare said. "Since that sorceress drowned in the lake, absolutely no harm has been able to befall Rui."

"Are you certain about this?"

"Rui fell off the second story landing and came out completely unscathed."

"That can be attributed to any number of—"

"She fell through a window."

"Well—"

"And landed in a pool of water that had not been there before."

"I remember that," Hisoka cut in. "I was, like, three and a half. I was playing by the lake, and I saw the water turn green and start rippling."

"Kasane was skilled in magic using water. She put a protective spell around Rui before she died. Nothing except natural causes is going to kill my wife. Kushinada will find that out soon enough."

"In any case, we have to put all of Meifu on watch immediately," Konoe said. "Half of Meifu participated in the war, and now there are a bunch of children around. Once they realize Rui's no good—"

"They'll come here next," Tsuzuki filled in.

"Damn it, I thought we were through with this sh-t!" Hisoka yelled, jumping to his feet.

"I'll call a meeting tomorrow," Konoe said. "They would've come here anyway; they won't rest until they've done the same to us that we did to them. We probably have until they attack Rui; they'll be wanting to get us all in the same place to get rid of us at one time."

"Hisoka, I'm going to go get Yoshiro," Tsuzuki said, sudden fear welling up in his stomach. "Tell me if they say anything else important."

"Hell, that's pretty much all we can say for right now," Konoe said even as Tsuzuki near sprinted out the door for his brother-in-law. "The only thing left we can do now is figure out what we're doing with you." He nodded at Nagare.

Hisoka stopped on his way out the door and glanced back in disgust. "I don't care what you do with him, as long as you keep him the hell away from my family." He exited, slamming the door behind him.

Konoe looked at Nagare, who shrugged offhandedly.

"Okay, Nagare," Konoe said slowly. "Now, you're planning on staying in Meifu, right?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Nagare shrugged again. "I want to get revenge on my murderer, of course."

"Huh. That's funny."

"Pardon?"

"That's the same exact reason your son stayed here."

"Really."

"'Course, that changed. Wonder if you'll end up the same way. Anyway. There's a place for you at the other end of town. I'll show you there in a few minutes. Oh, and you'll report back here tomorrow at ten AM."

"Excuse me?"

"All Shinigami are trained to use magic, regardless of whether they work for Juohcho or not. We need knowledgeable recruits in case someone passes on, you know. Plus, it looks like you're going to need whatever defense you can have. Demons aren't pushovers."

"Thanks for the concern."

"My concern is for your sons, my employees, and the children living here," Konoe said. "The more damage you do to the demons, the less damage we take. Nagare-san," he smiled, "don't suffer under the illusion that anyone gives a damn about you here."

"Are we done with the middle-school bantering?" Nagare asked uninterestedly.

"Quite."