Dark Adaptation

by Hickok

NEW CONTENT ADDED! Bound to the eternal contract, can a life of sin be so easily shed? Muraki has all that he desires, yet so much remains unanswered. What manner of darkness unfurled between the walls of Muraki manor? Muraki x Tsuzuki and Oriya x Watari

22. Muraki: And so the Farce Rolls

Dark Adaptation

Disclaimer: This disclaimer thing is stupid. Honestly. You guys know very well that Descendants of Darkness does not belong me, so stop making me repeat myself! I sound like a broken record! I don't own Descendants of Darkness – I don't own Descendants of Darkness – I don't own Descendants of Darkness- STOP IT!! I can't say it any more! It's driving me nuts! (Falls to the floor, twitching and drooling)

A/N: Well, folks I have some very important plotline developments to establish, so if I could have your attention for just a moment before you dive headlong into the next chapter, I would really appreciate it!

Readers: (All scroll down and start reading)

NaPap: … I SAID I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT! (Has another nervous breakdown) Listen to what people have to say, dammit! I'm the author and I demand respect!

Muraki: (Pokes NaPap with stick)

NaPap: THAT'S NOT RESPECT!

Oriya: Oh shut up and say what you wanted to say. I'm sure a couple of people are reading this.

NaPap: Yes well for those of you that are, I just wanted to establish a timeline change! I will write this in bold so you can all take special note of it! (Clears throat) Ahem. In chapter 14 I originally made it so that only a week had passed between events. To make this clearer, Muraki was treating his patient in Sakaki for a week and Watari had been investigating in the Kokakuro for one week. I have now changed that space of time to TWO WEEKS rather than ONE WEEK.

Tsuzuki: … Why?

NaPap: It allows for a more realistic depth of feeling. I will need to go back over the past couple of chapters and change it when I've got the chance but if you readers do happen to go back, anywhere where I make reference to the one week, mentally replace it with two weeks.

Watari: Geez… You mean it's taking me a fortnight to figure anything out?

NaPap: You got it, Sweetcheeks!

Watari: … Well I feel sheepish.

NaPap: Oh! And on a more personal note-

Muraki: No one cares that you got your car fixed.

NaPap: (Bottom lip trembles) I care.

Saki: Hey, can we just get on with this chapter already? This one's my favorite!

Muraki: (Suspicious) … Why?

Saki: (Mysteriously) You'll see…

NaPap: Well MuTsu fans, here's a bit o' bait ta keep you hooked! Hope you enjoy the update and sorry that it took so long! Normally, I will post the next chapter if I have the one following it already written in advance but the lemon is taking even longer than I expected!

Watari: (Shivers) Oooh, that sounds good!

Oriya: (Visualizes) Indeed…

Muraki

So traumatized was Mr. Tsuzuki was by his experiences into the bathroom and beyond, the he actually placed himself entirely in my care, devoting the entirety of his attention to relaying the sequence of events. I only half listened, working my contented way through the tasks I was confronted with. As Tsuzuki talked, his voice low and emotionally bruised, I encouraged him to lay down on his stomach on the floor, taking the time to appreciate the occasional peek of his firm round buttocks from beneath the white towel he had previously fixed about his waist. He told me of the genuine horrors his soul had been confronted with, the image of his sister appearing from within the mirror and the obscure poetry Mr. Watari had suggested been written by me. I nodded, mildly interested in what he was saying, my attention mostly concerned by the slow but incidentally arousing task of prying out the slivers of glass imbedded in the skin of Mr. Tsuzuki's back with a pair of tweezers. Every piece removed caused a small trail of blood to creep down along the line of the Guardians toned back, seeping into the crevice of his spine and swimming in to stain the small droplets of water still clinging the small hairs of his skin. I noticed with some satisfaction the barred hitching of Tsuzuki's breath as I slowly unwound the towel from about his waist, gazing appreciatively at the various cuts and scratches adorning the pale, rounded globes. The guardian hesitated only briefly in his recapitulation and then plunged directly back into it, voice wincing on the rare occasion that one of my extrications caused him pain. I heard the whole grisly story of the corpses, the demon Mitkiel and his plan to exact vengeance upon the guardians of death. I listened to it all and heard nothing. My eyes caught and held the sensual sight of each small cut healing. Not even when he spoke of being confronted with the image of myself as a child did it deter my attentions. I finished my task of brief medical attentions and tenderly patted the guardians backside, delighting in the succinct shriek of concern I elicited from my beloved. I dried his damp body, rubbed down his soaking head of hair and carried his shaking body back to the bedroom, seating him down on the side of the freshly pressed sheets. I took a moment to enjoy the view, Tsuzuki was clearly too distressed by his wanderings to concern himself with modesty. It was all too tempting. I restrained myself from reaching out and caressing him, delicious though the urge was. His skin was firm and delighting to my senses… He continued to talk as I searched through his bedside cabinet, retrieving the snuggest fitting pair of boxer shorts I could find. I held Tsuzuki by the ankles, fitting each foot down through the respective legs of his underwear and then lifting his bottom in order to slide them up over his hips. I'll admit, I was enjoying myself. I'd just finished getting him dressed in the most sensible pair of pajama's I could find, when his cheeks suddenly swelled. I quickly bent his head over the side of the bed but nothing came up. Perhaps he hadn't much left in his stomach. I'd seen an empty bottle of vodka in the trash.

"I've seen some awful things in my time as a Guardian but… oh my God…" He dipped his forehead down so low that it scraped against his knees. "I think… I think I did something terrible here in Tokyo over 70 years ago. But… Muraki, I can't remember! Can I trust my memories?"

I couldn't satisfactorily answer this. How could I judge the memories of others, when my own were so difficult to verify? I found this a most unsettling conversation to be having, especially after the passion we had only just shared. In all sincerity, I was exceptionally tired. I had driven all night to get here and had not yet been home, not even to change, rest or unpack. I was sleep deprived and weak from starving my supernatural abilities. Having fed from Tsuzuki I was beginning to feel stronger but I still required sleep.

Failing to receive an answer to his previous question, Mr. Tsuzuki took on an entirely separate approach to gaining my opinion. He leaned down and rested his hands on my shoulders, staring directly into my eyes.

"Muraki, just promise me that tomorrow… you'll find somewhere else to be, okay?" The genuine concern in his voice momentarily threw me. "What's your normal routine?"

I took a brief review of my schedule for the following day. "8:30 am I start my shift at the hospital and I go right through until 7:30 pm. Then I would head home."

Mr. Tsuzuki gripped my shirt tightly, bringing his face down even closer to my own. "Don't go to the hospital. Take the day off and go out of town. I'll call you when things have settled down a bit but until then, I think it's safest that you lay low for a while."

"Taking a personal day is not a simple state of affairs for a doctor, Mr. Tsuzuki." I chuckled, climbing to my feet and sliding open the cabinet drawers one at a time. "There's a process to it. Papers to file, suitable excuses to make, a replacement surgeon would need to be notified and then there's the scheduling nightmare of rearranging their own routine – do you have any candles?"

"No." The guardian said impatiently, staggering up and moving to my side, clenching my sleeve between his fingers. "Look, it can't be that hard getting a day off. Just do what I do and tell them you're sick! Tell them you've got food poisoning, tell them you've got Asian bird flu, just feed them something so they'll let you stay away!" He was starting to sound hysterical and I think he realized this. He took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down and gently clutched my arms. "Muraki… if the others found you in this weak state there's no telling what they might do."

I pulled him down to sit beside me on the bed, nursing his hands between my own. "Why this sudden shift in your manner towards me, Mr. Tsuzuki? You didn't hit your head in the bathroom did you?"

"No!" The guardian snapped indignantly. He looked as petulant as a lovely person could. "It's just… that things are different now, y'know?"

"Yes, of course they are, darling." I patted the slender length of his bare leg, reaching over with my spare hand to yank the bedside drawer open. "Now are you sure you don't have any candles? Sandalwood perhaps? The scent promotes a soothing atmosphere."

"Well I would need to crank up about ten of those." Mr. Tsuzuki muttered. I couldn't help but notice that he had taken to holding my hand and following its movement up and down his leg. He was starting to reciprocate my affections and indeed encourage them. Whatever he had encountered in that Dark Realm was doing a world of wonder for our situation. "Muraki… you don't believe a word I've said about that other place, do you?"

"Well, in all fairness, Mr. Tsuzuki; something similar happened to me at the cinema in Tokyo." I took advantage of the guardians' dramatically relaxed morals and inched closer to him, using the hand on his leg to encourage both of them to fall across my lap. I was even more surprised when Mr. Tsuzuki inched his bottom closer, angling his bent knees so that his slender feet aligned down the side of my thigh. I pushed my luck further and ran my fingers down past his knee, tucking them just underneath the leg of his khaki shorts and patting his tender skin affectionately. "Someone I knew -a long time ago- appeared to me from out of the mirror and grasped my wrist. I witnessed a vision, something I felt to be an attempt at deluding my confidence in my memories. But it lasted barely a minute, not an hour as you say. And I did not witness any manner of events to the degree that you and Mr. Watari did."

Mr. Tsuzuki inched closer and rested his head against my shoulder, pale fingers falling across my chest. It was so far removed of his character that I entertained the fleeting suspicion that his soul had been traded for another more dissolute personality. But that which he spoke of next gave me an entirely new level of reason to consider this dramatic alteration of his until now unshakable morals.

"When I was there in that dark space, I saw… a you that wasn't you."

I felt my eyebrows furrow and I distended an uncertain resonance, allowing him to continue without interruption of my spoken voice.

"This you… he said that he was the best part of you and that the reason you are the way you are here, is because something terrible happened to you many years ago. Because of these marks on your body… he- the other you- said that it tore your innocence away." I actually felt him laugh against my chest and it was a somewhat cheerful, yet similarly abashed admission. "And you know; I actually kissed that half of you."

My one superior eye widened significantly. "To think you would behave so decadently with the half of me that can benefit nothing from your attentions." I was actually a little affronted by this confession.

The guardian looked up at me, lavender eyes narrowed very faintly, a minor indication of his exasperation at my manner.

"Muraki… there's no need for that attitude. Seeing that other half of you… it made me realize something." He dipped his chin and slid the side of his face against my neck, bringing his arm up to wrap about my neck. He was very nearly perched upon my lap now and the most unexpected aspect of this arrangement was that he appeared sincerely content in being where he was. "That you have done terrible things that can never be forgiven. But you can be excused on account that you are a victim, Muraki. And you … you really have loved me. Ever since you found that picture as a boy, you loved me." I gazed down upon his smiling face; his long lashes lanced shut against the swell of his cheeks. "You may have lied and killed and bullied me from Hell to high water but you never lied about your feelings for me."

I slid my arm around his shoulders and pulled him in tight, tucking my chin over the crown of his head, bringing my own eyes to a close. Darkness meandered in but I did not lose sense of anything, not like I had those previous times in which I had casually allowed the shadows to occupy my mind and thoughts. This was a peaceful blindness, a willing surrender.

"Mr. Tsuzuki…"

"Muraki, I'm going to put on a movie." The guardian pulled himself away gently, using my shoulder to push himself to his feet. "I… I need to take my mind off of the things I saw tonight. But first, I wanna call Watari and see if he's okay."

I stood up, brushing the wrinkles out of my pant material. "Well then, I suppose I should be on my way. Thankyou again for your warm hospitality, Mr. Tsuzuki."

I made to move past him but he reached out to me and placed his hand upon my arm, halting my exit.

"You can… you can stay… if you want." He didn't smile, didn't meet my eyes. He was still ashamed and that would perhaps never change. "I just don't feel like… being alone. Not after all this."

I had to consciously relax my features to hold back the smile that was threatening to break through. Mr. Tsuzuki was likely to retreat from me, should I have made my pleasure at his submission obvious. Subtlety was hardly in my nature and I'm sure I have already mentioned this but behaving in such an overtly benign fashion was the most assured approach to conveying the both of us to a place of much anticipated carnal delights. The trouble was, my patience (not to mention my libido) was beginning to run exceptionally thin. Diet soda thin. Skim milk thin. And it wasn't as though I was able to vent my internal frustrations in a satisfying slaughter, such as I may once have done. Perhaps I could get into an argument with Oriya about something inconsequential that would ultimately terminate in him screaming at me in Spanish (A second language somehow instilled within him during high school) and beating the phone against the cabinet upon which it was set. I am rephrasing of course the most violent and passionate conversation we had ever embarked upon and I was immensely proud of stirring such an emotional response from him, over the seemingly inconsequential topic that had been his girlfriend at the time.

Oriya hated being dictated to regarding his love life. I suppose that deep down he realizes of course, that he is prone to dating, how does one politely say duds?

Oriya

One politely refrains from saying it. It'll save me the trouble of dislocating my arms in the effort to bring my fists down over ones cranium.

Muraki

My, what a remarkable display of petulancy. I simply must commend you on such a mature response my friend… by moving this portion of the story along. And I must insist that you desist in your attempts to rip your wrists free from those cuffs before you do yourself considerable injury.

Since then, I had often hoped to inspire the same degree of passion from Oriya (A good verbal spar always did wonders for improving my mood, whenever sex or violence were unavailable to me) and I could only come close by speaking candidly of the company he currently kept. Desiring an outlet that night and having none of my usual options to fall back on, I offered to make a phone call to Kokakuro to check on Mr. Watari's condition and to additionally drive Oriya up the wall.

Instead of phoning the front desk (it was especially late after all) I put the call directly through to Oriya's private line. The phone itself was situated by his bedside. It would have trilled directly in his ear, no doubt giving him a rather unpleasant wake up sensation. Being the astute fellow he is, only one solid ring was emitted before he picked up and then immediately brought the receiver back down, counter attacking with a decidedly rude dial tone. I redialed the number and this time, Oriya must have bothered to check caller ID (he possibly did so during the first call but had hung up on me just to be vindictive). Don't be offended, dear friend. I was ignorant of Mr. Watari's delicate constitution at the time, I tell this as it appeared to me at the moment.

"You'd better have a damn good reason for calling this time of night." Oriya's deep groggy voice was not amused, to say the least. "And if this is concerning your successful acquisition of your Potpourri eyed squeak toys butt, then I'll be hanging up so damn hard it's going to break your ear drums wide open."

"Oi… that's my pal you're talkin' 'bout there…" Mr. Watari was apparently close at hand. Close enough that his voice was distinctively clear down the line, so that possibly implied that he was concernedly close to Oriya. Too close for my comfort, especially at this time of night.

"Oriya, is Mr. Watari sleeping in your bed?" I queried, sounding decidedly like a severe father who had just found his teenage son in a compromising situation. I knew Oriya hated when I treated him in this fashion. The only thing he hated more was my dictating his love life and making a reference to his lack of extended education. If I could have brought them all into the conversation it would be a hatrick. "After your self righteous dictations regarding my choice of evening companion at Kokakuro, you turn about and do the exact same thing! 'It's a brothel! Buy a woman! A woman!'" I had of course been referring to the incident in Kyoto when Oriya had gone consistently brutish after discovering that I had brought Mr. Tsuzuki back to my stay room. My head still throbbed occasionally from where he had planted his big Kyoto feet against my skull. Ah, that Oriya. Ever the hypocrite.

Shut up. It's true.

"He had an accident, so I decided it would be best that he stay with me for the remainder of the night." Oriya growled back defensively. I could already hear the weariness vanishing from his voice. "And am I somehow obliged to explain myself to you?"

"Well, excuse me for taking an interest in my friends relationships." I quaffed, making sure he fully registered the offended tenor to my voice. "But just out of curiosity, what sort of accident are we speaking of here? Is it perhaps that manner of incident that could perhaps be better remedied by a fresh set of sheets and a carton of pull ups?"

"Muraki… get your trap shut 'fore I come over there and… slap the taste right out your mouth." I didn't realize exactly how much Mr. Watari was privy to in our conversation but it was apparently every sound syllable. They were very close. I heard Oriya shush him before turning his attention back to me.

"Look, this is hardly the time for a chin wag Muraki, so is there something I can help you with?" He sounded reluctant and I could very well imagine him wincing inwardly as he opened the floodgate. "And keep your smart comments to a minimum, if you please. Yutaka's very unwell and we have both had a tiresome evening."

"I'll bet." It was out of my mouth before I could think to stop myself and I very nearly incurred the wrath of Oriya's abrupt termination for the second time that night. "I apologize. It must be reflex thing with me. Regarding this phone call, I am sincerely sorry for disturbing you at such an hour but something rather troublesome occurred and Mr. Tsuzuki requires an audience with your Mr. Watari."

"Can't it wait until morning?" Oriya was not usually so puerile, thus I wagered that the situation leading to his accountable weariness must have been more severe then he was letting on. Perhaps there was more validity to what Tsuzuki spoke of then I had allowed myself to accept.

Mr. Watari interrupted him and his voice was even groggier with the craggy weight of his fatigue. "Oriya… it's okay I wanna… wanna speak with him… too. K? You can… put 'im on…" His accent was even sloppier than usual and the majority of his sentence was slurred. Something was certainly not right there. I assumed he was drunk or something to that affect and from what you have told me since Mr. Watari, I was not entirely incorrect either. Yes, I did not miss that you were drugged and next time, you should say no. Choose life, my boy. Find a natural high instead.

I was merely jesting, there's no need to look so angry. Moving right along.

Oriya didn't question Mr. Watari for reconsideration because this would have taken greater effort in repeating his intentions. He is not a wasteful man, Oriya Mibu and I'm sure he understood very well that the blond needed to save what strength he had.

"I'll put the phone on speaker. That way you can just talk and not have to worry where the receiver is." Oriya set about making this arrangement and I opted to do the same, gratified and almost a little surprised to find that Mr. Tsuzuki's phone was capable of performing such a function. I ushered the guardian in close and he perched on the counter stool, dipping his head in as close to the phone as possible. He didn't seem to understand the simplicity in using the speakerphone because he shouted just about every word.

"Are you okay, Watari?!" He bellowed directly into the speaker. I could just see Oriya twitching on the far side of the line and then I realized that this would be the first time he would be hearing the voice of my beloved. It was something of a defining moment but neither man took it for the honor that it deserved.

"Naw, it's fine now, Tsuzuki. What about you, man? You make it out okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's okay now! I'm so glad you're all right!" Tsuzuki sounded rather teary and after hearing what he and Mr. Watari had actually endured in that other place, I can't say I'm at all surprised. "Watari, I thought I should tell you, since it seems to concern your current investigation; Muraki and I were in the Tokyo cinema going on a week back. We were attacked by one of Mitkiel's demons; Balban the Daemon of Delusion."

"Balban?" I sensed the recognition in the scientists' voice. "According to Ichibana… that's… one of the names on the sigil… But why would he involve you guys…?"

"I think the more important question is, what should we do about Mitkiel?" Tsuzuki said, scratching his head distractedly. His eyes were falling shut with the weight of approaching sleep. "Do you think we should report what happened tonight to the Ministry?"

The blond hefted a deep sigh, extinguishing a great degree of his lethargy in that one exhalation.

"If Mitkiel is in some way… responsible for the murders here… it will fall under my responsibilities in this… investigation. I'll get Gushoushin… to file a report to the Summons Section. Konoe might confer with you… but unless it happens again, you should probably leave it up… to me…"

"What are you talking about?" This was Oriya. "Did something else happen tonight? Something concerning the girls?"

"Oriya… I'll clue ya in… tomorrow. Please?" He was very tired, I could tell. Oriya knew this because he stayed silent and did not press the issue, though it clearly weighed on his mind. He cared for those women in his employ, as though they were children, rather than glorified prostitutes. That he had not yet determined beyond reasonable doubt who was responsible for their deaths, it must have been driving his heart crazy.

Tsuzuki was quiet for a moment and then he leant extra close, raising his voice to its broadcasting volume. "Mr. Mibu? I'm Asato Tsuzuki."

"That much I figured." Was the terse, though not discourteous reply. Tsuzuki chuckled, able to interpret the subtlety that was always present in Oriya's speech and sense the good humor underlying. That's how I chose to construe it, anyway. Not that he giggled like a schoolgirl.

"You have a really nice voice," the guardian observed, his own voice becoming a tad dreamier then I liked. I suppose my expression faithfully relayed my thoughts on the matter because one brief glance at my face was enough to shake Tsuzuki back to reality. His eyes widened and he very nearly slipped from his counter stool. "Um… anyway. Please take good care of Watari for me, Mr. Mibu. He's kind of hopeless if left to his own devices. And I mean that with the utmost respect and affection."

"Yeah… well. When I tell you to go get stuffed… know that I mean that with the utmost… respect… and affection." Put upon though he was, you couldn't say Mr. Watari wasn't quick witted. I could hear Oriya chortling from that side of the line. He must have been fairly smitten because I couldn't say with certainty what other person was capable of eliciting such a positive reaction from the duplicitous old fart. And Oriya, I mean that with the utmost respect and affection.

"Mr. Tsuzuki, you can place your trust in me." Oriya assured and I was forced to smack Mr. Tsuzuki's arm as that wistful expression stole over his features again. He looked at me startled, not realizing he had been losing himself to Oriya's unintentional charms.

"Tsuzuki, we'll talk tomorrow. I'll give ya a call, k?" Mr. Watari's voice was progressively becoming more somnolent by the moment and I could tell how taxing this had all been on him. Whatever this might be satisfactorily defined as. "G'night. Glad you're safe."

"Yeah. You too, man." Tsuzuki ran a hand across his forehead, clearly relieved that his friend was safe for the time being. The effect that this affirmation had on him was dramatic. The color reentered his face, animating his previously lax features. "Good night. Sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Mibu."

Oriya assured him that his concern was nothing he need apologize for and Mr. Tsuzuki once again got that contented expression on his face, so I decided that was the choice moment to annul the conversation. My goodbye may have been a little brusque but at least I bothered to finalize my conversation before knocking down the button on the machine, terminating the call. Mr. Tsuzuki didn't notice this so much; he was simply overwhelmed in his relief.

"Thank God for that…" He whispered, clutching the fabric of his sleep shirt between his fists and shutting his eyes, taking a controlled breath in order to release the tension clearly built up within his body. "Whatever happens now… at least I can relax until then. Now I know Watari is safe."

"And will remain so." I guaranteed, pulling distractedly at a loose thread sticking up from the arm of Tsuzuki's sofa. Bits of foam and fabric were bursting free from a variety of tears, rendered ill upon the furniture due to the course of age. Either interior decorating was the bottom of his list of priorities, or his pay cheque had been even more modest then I had been led to believe. "Oriya is a very strong and protective man. Should he take someone under his wing, you can rest assured that they will be the most protected person in the entire world. Now," I established, patting the space beside me as lavishly as one might divest an elegant gesture upon such an undeserving source. "Enough about them. You have had an upsetting experience tonight. Why don't we put that movie on and you can set your mind at rest."

The guardian smiled and gave an indulging shrug. "Yeah, I'm not used to working it as much as I have tonight. Time to just-" He swayed his arms out before himself. "-switch off and veg out."

I allowed myself that luxury and stretched my arms out along the top of the sofa, chancing the most appropriate seductive smile I was capable of. I'm sure it still appeared leering by Mr. Tsuzuki's account. "By all means, do."

The guardian blushed slightly as he made his embarrassed way over to crouch down before the television cabinet. He was truly delightful when discomfited. I watched with affection as he fossicked through his collection of videotapes, tossing each rejected article in a messy pile off to the side. I maintained a polite smile at the title he finally approved; an old Charlie Chaplin film. I reminded myself of just how old Tsuzuki truly was and that he would be more inclined to favor a movie of such nature. I suppose he figured that this was a treat for me also; as I was granted permission to bring my arm about his shoulder once he had started the tape and settled down on the couch beside me. He sat tight against my side but didn't curl his legs up, leaving them hanging over the edge of the couch, hands folded in his lap as though he might jump up at any moment. I couldn't say that this looked very relaxed to me but perhaps he felt more comfortable sitting away from me, rather than close. I allowed for it, because that was what he wanted. And for the time being at least, that was all that mattered.

We sat through the movie, Mr. Tsuzuki pointing out his favorite scenes to me and providing a running commentary of the time he had first seen the movie in the 1920's. The film was black and white and entirely silent, the majority of humor centered on the bodacious body language of the actor. It wasn't necessarily something I could bring myself to enjoy but it made Mr. Tsuzuki happy and kept his mind far removed from those horrific images he had been confronted with. Halfway into the movie, he was actually smiling and he brought his legs up to curl beneath his body, tentatively resting one arm around my middle.

"Hey Muraki…" He suddenly piped up, voice timidly approaching my attention. "I was just wondering… have you… have you ever been in a serious relationship… with a man before?"

I considered my words carefully before I spoke them. "I have never loved a man, if that is what you mean. But then again, I have never truly loved a woman either. Only you-" I ran my fingers up the line of his chin, lifting it slightly. "-have ever been in my heart. But that is to be expected, Mr. Tsuzuki. You are exceptional."

The guardian seemed satisfied by my response. He moved closer, resting his cheek against my chest. "Forty years back, that was when I experienced forbidden love for the first time." He flashed me a look that I could only describe as coy. "He was a member of the Containment Section of the Judgment Bureau; immortals primarily responsible for dealing with any supernatural exploits that threatens to disrupt normal human activity. For a short period of time we were partnered together. He was my second partner." He held up two fingers and examined them with something of a bitter air, before dropping them back down against the wall of my chest. "His name was Orakiku but I used to just call him Aki for short. Being with him kind of made me feel like I was in a high school relationship, though I have no prior knowledge to compare this to of course. He was tall and he had messy sort of hair and when you first met him, you thought he was kind of shy. But once you got to know him, you realized what a quietly confident person he was." He nuzzled up against me, eyes shut in order to return upon that memory. "I guess you can tell, we never actually eh, did it. He only ever tried to touch me once down there and I totally freaked out. I still don't know why… I guess I was kind of scared because I was falling in love with him and the idea of giving myself over entirely well… it's scary."

He looked up imploringly at me. "You know what I'm saying? I've held myself back for so long that now… I'm scared of letting go of it. You understand?"

I nodded. "I understand." Yes, I understood but I wasn't happy about it.

The movie ended and Tsuzuki shifted to the edge of the couch, stretching his arms up high above his head, groaning with the effort.

"Ah… I love that movie. Always makes me feel better." He looked back at me, his expression no longer serene but alternatively shifted into the gear of caution that was his cruising speed in my presence. The trauma of his experience had finally worn off and it would seem he was coming to his senses, which was thoroughly disappointing. It was as though he were shaking free the effects of hypnotism, falling out of a lulling trance that kept him docile and receptive to my attentions. "I'm uh… I'm gonna go… use the toilet. Would you mind switching the VCR off? And the T.V?"

I waved an obliging hand. "It's no bother to me, Mr. Tsuzuki." I assured, using that same hand to help push the Guardian to his feet. My feeding that night had instilled additional strength within my body, such to the degree that I very nearly pitched Mr. Tsuzuki face first into the coffee table. He shot me a filthy look over his shoulder as he stumbled toward the bathroom and I couldn't contain the dissatisfied sigh that ejected from my lips. It had been nice while it lasted…

"Be careful in there." I advised as I knelt before the television, popping out the video and placing it back inside its' plastic cover. Late night news was on but I had no particular yearning to touch on the real world right then. The problems of others seemed thoroughly inconsequential, more so than they usually did.

Attaining my desire with Mr. Tsuzuki was taking far longer than I had hoped. I needed to make some sort of formidable breakthrough in our relationship. We were moving in baby steps, when we should have been taking long, determined strides. No… baby steps gave our situation far too much credibility. Ours was an immensely progress retarded baby, that when forced to move only crawled languidly onward and stopped to examine every shiny object along the way.

I had known Mr. Tsuzuki for the greater part of a year and though he had justifiable reasons to be refuting my advances, I couldn't help but find it severely distressing that after only one week Oriya was sharing the same bed with his guardian of death.

If only Mr. Tsuzuki were as easy as Yutaka Watari.

You know that one is true.

There was only one course of remedy for this and it was vital that I implemented it right away.

Being the charitable person I was, I made sure to switch off all the lights in the kitchen, sitting area and hallway before making my way into Mr. Tsuzuki's bedroom. Without giving myself time to reconsider the possible consequences of such a bold action, I went ahead with removing my shoes and trousers and climbed beneath the newly made sheets of Mr. Tsuzuki's bed. My glasses still rested on the bedside, so I was all settled in for the night.

Mr. Tsuzuki trotted in a minute later, humming thoughtfully to himself and combing his unruly hair back out of his eyes. His foremost response to my smiling presence propped against the pillows was to stare at me with gaping eyes.

"I said you could stay for the movie!" He finally ejaculated; slamming both clenched fists down the line of his sides in the manner of a spoilt child.

I lifted my head and stared at him from over the rise of the sheets. "Yes. And as a result I am now far too tired to drive. I assume you are a kind enough host to allow me to spend the night?"

The guardians' cheeks flushed a most comely cherry pink and he spent an entire minute bumbling over his words, spluttering and carrying on. I used the delay to rid myself of my shirt, dropping it into an untidy bundle on the floor. This only further escalated Mr. Tsuzuki's discomfort. His blush was now spreading downward beneath his chin and onto his neck.

"You can't-! I mean, this is – I don't-" He gave his head a determined shake as though to clear it and then spun about, putting his back to me and speaking to the far wall instead. "Okay well… considering what happened tonight… maybe it's not such a bad idea that you… stay. But!" He leveled a pointed finger at me over his shoulder. "You are not sleeping in the same place that I am."

I took a moment to run this through my mind. "Very well," I said, tucking the blankets tighter about myself and nestling in as deeply as possible. "I must say, that's terribly gracious of you, Mr. Tsuzuki."

"Gracious?" He inquired of the wall, cocking his head to the side in that uniquely adorable canine manner.

"To offer to sleep on the couch." I smiled provocatively at him, the effort not going to waste as he turned just in time to catch my expression. His cheeks were now flushing with a newly instigated emotion.

"Excuse me but I don't recall ever making such a promise! You were the one who turned up uninvited tonight, so it's your butt on the couch!"

The couch. The couch. The last time that I had ever slept on a couch had been in University after a heavy night of drinking. But that had been a little over ten years ago. My back certainly wasn't what it used to be. Not to mention the whole idea of spending the night on that weathered piece of almost furniture seemed just a little on the nose to a man who owned a luxurious King sized bed.

"That's a little less than hospitable." I stated, making no move to remove myself from my comfortable place of rest. Even Mr. Tsuzuki's bed was a little smaller then I might normally consider agreeable but the charm wasn't in the size of the mattress but how it would require the two of us to sleep practically atop one another.

Tsuzuki perched his hands atop his slender hips. "Too bad. My apartment, my rules. Don't like it, go home to your four-poster bed. Sleep in the car for all I care."

I resigned myself to the inevitable; that I would not be permitted to share the company of my beloved beneath the sheets that I had placed upon the bed in the first place. I had no choice but to respect his wishes if I hoped to garner his trust in the near foreseeable future. So it was with great reluctance, that I pried my weary, aching body out of the warm nook I had created for myself and slouched for the bedroom door where Tsuzuki stood waiting, head inclined towards the ceiling in that typical expression of haughty disinterest that any man might alternatively recognize in a woman. Not easily defined, it can be most sufficiently interpreted to mean 'I'm-not-talking-to-you'. Usually employed when the person doing it is in a position to be authoritative. It was not an expression Mr. Tsuzuki had ever employed with me before now and I found myself suddenly concerned that I was giving him too great of control over our relationship. There is a term for this… 'being whipped'. It seemed very appropriate to me and I felt decidedly less masculine as a result of it.

I stopped beside Mr. Tsuzuki and smiled down at him with a cryptic expression that I knew he would find difficult to define. I wanted to disturb him a little, shake up his escalating confidence in dealing with me.

"Goodnight, Mr. Tsuzuki." I grabbed him impulsively by the shoulders and pulled him taught against the rigid line of my body, ignoring his gasped exclamation as I brought my mouth down roughly against his. His muffled indignations eventually relaxed, as did his body posture and he briefly returned my kiss, bringing his hand to rest along the side of my neck, following my release of his arms. Just before he grew too comfortable with it, I pulled my mouth free, eliciting a startled yelp from the guardian at the abruptness of my closure. He gazed after me with thirsting eyes as I squeezed past him to enter the hallway, his hand squeezing my wrist for just a moment.

"Night." He stated firmly, forcing the gentle tone from his voice so that he sounded harsh and detached instead. I heard the door click shut behind me, more tender than his voice had been.

I made up the couch with spare sheets from the closest and tried to set my mind to rest. It wasn't easy, especially with the object of my desires residing mere meters from where my own head lay and me unable to do a thing about it. The silence I did appreciate and it provided me the opportunity to consider a few matters with greater ease. I spent an indecently sustained period of time mulling over the possibility of progressing on toward a truly intimate relationship with Mr. Tsuzuki. He had confessed to me that the idea of making love was of some concern to him and had all but insinuated that he might not be ready for some time but in all selfishness, I was hanging from the edge of my constraints by one bare fingertip. Perhaps when things had settled down a little, I could sit him down and have a frank discussion regarding the possibility of initiating a sex life between the two of us. The sooner the better. Then, once I had attained my desire, I could return to my comfortable routine, in which I needn't concern myself with taking Mr. Tsuzuki's delicate constitution into consideration. Where I could behave violently and take what I wanted.

Once Tsuzuki had willingly submitted to me, nothing following that surrender would matter. After that, I would take him whenever the need stole over me. But not until he first submitted because that was true power. That was winning. And the only way I could ever be free of that insipid desire for him, my only true weakness, was for him to relinquish himself unto me entirely. To stop running. To give up.

To watch him destroy himself by his desire for the one who had taken all and everything of so many people.

A matter such as this could not be rushed but how I longed for it. I ached for the freedom I would gain once the act was complete. And I ached with such weak sincerity for the wanton desire of Tsuzuki's sinewy body beneath my own, that one insatiable moment in which I would bring my passion to its glorious fruition and break inside of him, to touch that place that none other had ever gained the rights unto.

What a cruel punishment love is. That I could only but submit to Mr. Tsuzuki's will and withhold my own wants and needs until such a time that I was permitted to indulge in them.

These thoughts kept my mind busy but after some time I found myself drifting away against the lumpy throw pillow I had propped beneath my temple, only to divulge in dark dreams. It seemed as though I had barely sunk a foot beneath the waves of unconscious slumber, when grasping fingers plunged beneath the surface and dragged me upward into the waking air. I groaned disapprovingly, attempting to swat the persistent interruption aside but sleep fled from whomever had disturbed it, the most easily frightened of all the bodily sensations. I had never been a particularly deep sleeper. I perhaps have mentioned this previously but due to my lifestyle, it had been a requirement that I learned to sleep with one eye open. (Literally, that is. My mechanical eye requires no moisture, so I am able to sleep with the lid peeled back, if I feel it necessary to remain vigilant during the night). I grumbled disgustedly as I opened my one true eye, sweeping back my hair so that I could see what had woken me up.

Mr. Tsuzuki jerked back from the sight of my mechanical eye, glowing red in the darkness of the living room. He quickly regained control of his nerves and tightened his hands around the sheet he'd wrapped about his body, making him resemble a small child who had come running to the bedside of their sleeping parent after a bad dream had woken them. He even had a soft toy under one arm, though where he had acquired such an article I cannot even imagine.

Tsuzuki

Uh, they were Kazusa's leftovers. … Really.

…

… Stop looking at me!

Muraki

Yes well, moving right along…

"Is something the matter, Mr. Tsuzuki?" I enquired. I half expected him to ask me to get up and prepare him a glass of water. Or get me to change his sheets again.

The guardian looked downright embarrassed by seeking me out. He stared down at the floor as though it were the most fascinating enigma he had ever come across. He scuffed his bare feet across the carpet and squeezed the stuffed bear against his chest so tight I feared for the poor faux animals safety.

"Can't sleep…" He finally muttered, sounding far put upon for the indecency of insomnia and a mind that was working at a far greater capacity than anyone had come to expect of it.

I nodded, pondering the fastest method in which to resolve this and still rack in a few solid hours sleep.

"Still can't get those thoughts out of your head?" I asked, sitting up a little and prying my head out of the indent I had since made in the throw pillow. I could already feel my neck cramping in the uncomfortable position it had been tilted at. "Just… try to relax, Mr. Tsuzuki. Think of something that cheers you up. Think of your dear speech impaired friend Charlie Chaplin. Think of-"

He must have already run through my offer of brilliant suggestions and found each one to be less effective then the one before it because the next second, I found the guardians long, beautiful hand wrapping around my own and divesting an encouraging tug upon it. I looked up into his face, attempting to breach his eye contact but he was having none of it. His attention was directed downwards.

"Mr. Tsuzuki… would you like me to…?" I didn't finish my question for fear of further embarrassing him. It was relatively clear what he wanted and his childlike demeanor inadvertently touched me. With a satisfied sigh, I extricated myself from my makeshift bed and allowed myself to be led back along the dark hallway and into the closed confines of the guardians closet like bedroom. Bringing the sheet back on top of himself, Mr. Tsuzuki stretched out across the once white mattress, scooting over just enough to imply that I might fill that space should I desire to do so. I doubted he would ever be capable of confessing his true feelings, to me at least. But perhaps it would do for now.

I set myself down alongside him, pulling the number of since twisted sheets into place atop our bodies. Glancing down, I could see the guardians beautiful eyes wide open against the impending darkness and his expression did not change from this troubled tone when I chanced unspoken permission to bring my arm around his middle, curling my legs up beneath the line of his curved body. Mr. Tsuzuki rested one arm beneath his pillow, fingertips bent slightly down towards the flat of his palm. The other arm he tentatively rested atop mine, pressing his fingers down between the gaps of my own.

I pressed a kiss beneath his hairline and whispered softly into his ear. "Go to sleep now."

I heard his lips part wetly in the dark. "Muraki… thankyou."

"For what?" I asked, instructing both my eyes to shut. The bed was small but it was certainly a great deal more comfortable than the couch. Not to mention the additional bonus of Mr. Tsuzuki's presence. I felt very contented and sleep pulled more insistently on me then ever.

"For just… waiting."

I couldn't help but smirk a little at this. 'Thanks for waiting,' indeed. Oh, if only you realize what a trial you've been Mr. Tsuzuki! I forced myself to stay awake until the sound of the guardians breathing leveled off. It did not take long. Evidently, I made him feel safe and I suppose you could ask for no greater protector, then your former most formidable enemy, could you not? Only then, did I permit that fey mistress sleep to have her way with me and I surrendered to her dark arms to wander the pathways of the night, void of one discernable image to take with myself to the waking hour.

XxXxXxXxXx

I got up very early the next morning, which was the norm for me anyway. Mr. Tsuzuki was fast asleep, emotionally drained by his experiences the night before and I had not the heart to wake him. His alarm was set for 7:00 am and his intended arrival time at the Ministry was 8:30 and since the sun itself had only started its' weary climb above the hills, I estimated that there was plenty of time for him to rest. Never mind how weary his mind was, my feeding was likely to have physically drained him also and it was necessary for him to 'recharge' in a sense. The more sleep he got, the better.

I was tempted to remain by his side for longer but the morning required greater attention from me than usual and I had not a second to waste. Extricating myself from the guardians' warm side, I gingerly left the comfort of the bed and made my cautious way over towards the corner of the room, where I had noticed a messily compiled lump of clothing belonging formally to myself. I had leant them to Mr. Tsuzuki the night of our most unfortunate date at the cinema. It would do for the time being, at least until I could change back in the comfort of my own home. I slipped into the tight trousers and buttoned the shirt up around my torso, slipping on my glasses out of habit. I could hear rain softly falling from outside and when I peeked through the gap in the curtains; an overcast sky was there to greet me. It had been some time since Tokyo had seen rain and though it offered not the most pleasant of days, I suppose I did enjoy the irony of it.

Mr. Tsuzuki snuffled and rolled over to face the side of the bed in which I had been previously residing. His nose twitched and he smacked his lips a bit, before finally becoming settled again. Then he resumed snoring.

Tsuzuki

I do not snore! Cute guys like me do not snore!

Muraki

I apologize for shattering your delusion Mr. Tsuzuki but you are a rather vocal sleeping companion. Now, don't pout like that. You look ever so adorable when you sulk, Mr. Tsuzuki, have I ever told you that? Yes, I'm sure I have. Countless times in fact. Let that be on the record then; just so we're clear that I am not remiss of the obvious.

Now, where was I? Ah yes, having assured myself that the sweet-natured guardian would not be arising for some time, I set about undertaking my morning errands. First, I brushed my teeth. Personal hygiene is a must, especially for a doctor. Having no other alternative I used Mr. Tsuzuki's toothbrush and there was something terribly intimate in that, though I didn't stint on it for long. Following this, I refolded the sheets I had made short use of during the night and put them away within the storage cabinet. Then I removed some choice garments from Mr. Tsuzuki's closet, in preparation for his day ahead. They were decidedly wrinkled, so I took it upon myself to iron them, not surprised to find that the iron and ironing board were both distinctly dusty. Having set Mr. Tsuzuki's immediate chores to rights, I set about correcting my own agenda and made a call into the hospital and managed to negotiate a personal day at the very last minute. I claimed family tragedy, something that I look back at now and find delightfully ironic. In consideration of the conspiring events, of course.

I made a number of additional phone calls. I managed to rustle up a repairman who was willing to drop by in the later part of the evening to replace the sheet glass of the shower that had been damaged the night before. I also contacted my antiques scout and asked that he might keep an eye out for a handsome full-length mirror that might compliment the face of a creature aesthetically pleasing enough for me to fall in love with. No expense spared.

My errands having been completed, I allowed myself the liberty of a cup of coffee. Mocha, typically enough. That Asato… chocolate obsessed would be too light a classification to adequately describe him, that is for certain!

I had just set myself down at the kitchen isle and was sipping my coffee whilst reviewing the previous days newspaper, when my cell phone rang from its nighttime roost on the living room table. I dismounted the counter stool and darted for the table, hoping to cease the infernal droning before it awakened Mr. Tsuzuki from his sound slumber. It was fortunate the man was such a deep sleeper, the ring tone being loud enough to wake the dead; if you'll excuse the terrible pun.

I snatched the phone up and slammed the receive button, halting the incessant thing mid-ring. I pushed it against my ear, swishing my excessively long bangs aside to keep them from obstructing communication.

"Kazutaka Muraki speaking," I answered, my voice still groggy with sleep. I cleared my throat, though didn't bother repeating myself.

"Didn't wake you, did I?" Came the smooth, slightly haughty voice from the speaker. I suppressed a groan, recognizing who it was immediately. One of my least favorite people, one with whom I had long maintained a hearty grudge.

Asuoko Mibu, one of Oriya's two younger sisters. The eldest twin, to be precise. A well-known and popular singer/actress, who remained just obscure enough to keep her face out of the majority of tabloids. Her most recent role was as the lead female character in some television thriller series. Something or rather from the darkness, I can't recall the exact title. She was only a bare inch shorter than I, with the same waist length dark hair as Oriya, though her generous feminine proportions and magnificently toned body provided that she was a beauty without equal. (Dismissing her twin and two brothers naturally. The Mibu clan is a pricelessly exquisite family, though I think that is quite obvious by this stage. And yes, you had best be flattered Oriya.) That was how she appeared to the rest of the world at least. To those of us who had grown up with her and knew her best, Asuoko was only years removed from her involvement in a duplicitous street gang, where she had become idiotically involved with the abusive male head, who had left her pregnant and half dead by the riverside of her hometown Himeji. As a result of this former treatment, she was now a tough as nails, conceited lesbian, living with her long time girlfriend and five year old son.

We had never gotten along; she and I. We'd had our differences. And I might have inadvertently slipped and made a less then polite interpretation of her sexuality once or twice. This could very well have been the key source of the animosity, though who's to tell now?

"Miss Mibu. What can I do for you?" I asked, polite as ever. Perhaps she noticed my brusque tone but chose to dismiss it. Whatever she had called me about had to have been important, otherwise she would not have brought herself to do it.

"Muraki, I've had a feeling concerning Ukyou." She said it lightly but I caught her meaning. All the Mibu clan possessed some manner of a 'disability' though Oriya's was the more pronounced of all the siblings. Asuoko's particular gift was the ability to sense the distance disturbances of her kin; in so saying, she was able to recognize a dangerous signature encroaching upon family members. This could have been real physical danger or something as cryptic as emotional or mental turmoil. The Mibu's certainly stand-alone when it comes to obscure nitpicky abilities. "I have spoken with her in the past week and I know the two of you have broken off your engagement."

"Much to your delight, I'm sure." I stated, perhaps a little more tart in my tone then I needed be. The Mibu and Sakagumi families were closely related; Oriya, Asuoko, Chiemi and Kenji Mibu were first cousins of Ukyou. Her father was the sister of the Mibu siblings' mother. Asuoko in particular had cared very much for Ukyou, who had often depended on the strong-minded Mibu daughter for sound advice or a shoulder to lean on during the tough times. I shouldn't have been surprised that I was hearing from Asuoko about this now. She had never approved of me, her ability allowing her to sense the peculiarities of my essence. Though she had no knowledge of my more deviant exploits, she sensed that I was not one who should be so easily trusted. She had made it perfectly clear that she had never been happy that Ukyou and I had been engaged. I'm sure the news of our annulment thrilled Asuoko to no end, though she hid her emotions remarkably well.

"Any matter that brings Ukyou to tears is no cause for me to celebrate." She stated, her voice characteristically hard. I heard a lot of Oriya in her when she spoke in such a tone. "You truly are a cold bastard, aren't you?"

"Did you call just to lecture me about that?" I was feeling tired all over again and the lure of Mr. Tsuzuki's warm bed had increased twofold. "If that's the case then do me a favor and spare me your sermon, Miss Mibu. I have my reasons."

"I'm sure you do." She was cross as usual and kept no barbs hidden. "Listen, that's not the reason I have called you. I would only speak to you of circumstances of the utmost importance, you know that. And Ukyou has been terribly upset as of late but that's not reason enough to disturb you. I called her yesterday and she didn't pick up the phone. Today was the same. Ordinarily I wouldn't concern myself over something so trivial but I have sensed something highly irregular in Ukyou's wavelength. That's the reason why I am so concerned you see. My ability has not led me false before."

"You believe something's wrong." I stated, believing this to be something of a rhetorical gesture. But Asuoko seemed unusually serious and she did not pull me up on my needless declaration.

"I believe so. And loath as I am to request help from one with whom I share so minimal rapport; I have little choice right now then to plead assistance from you. Would you be a dear and go to see Ukyou?"

Ukyou was currently living in the city of Nagoya, the capital of the Aichi prefecture. This was somewhat out of the way for me, though to be fair it was about equal driving distance from Himeji, as it was Tokyo.

"This isn't something you can do yourself?" I asked, trying sincerely not to appear rude. I had certainly softened quite a bit since I had intimately familiarized myself with Mr. Tsuzuki. Perhaps the absorption of his essence had left a residual trace of his own temperate personality within my own. There was no harm to this of course; though I could only hope it wouldn't affect my diet. Sweet food was the last thing that my sensitive stomach needed.

"You know that I would but I have my hands full watching Noni and Hana." Noni was Asuoko's illegitimate son; Hana was the daughter of her female partner. "Nanami has work of her own today and I already promised our nurse time off, you see. Additionally, I wish to spend time with the children… they are expecting my company."

"Have you spoken with Oriya of your 'feeling'?" I asked. Out of the four siblings it was Asuoko and Oriya who were closest; they were the only two who engaged in alternative sexual practices and though their parents were very accepting (almost ridiculously so) their Grandparents were a lot more strict and the pair had been forced to keep quiet about their true intentions for years. They'd spent a lot of time confiding in one another and it had established quiet a firm bond between them, though they lived considerably far apart.

"No, I didn't speak with brother. He has enough on his plate at the moment and he would worry."

She was not wrong in saying so. Oriya and Asuoko both felt very protective over Ukyou; the girl having been sick and weakly since she had been very small and requiring a great deal of attention. Over the years her condition had worsened and despite my efforts, I had been unable to find a suitable cure for her condition. Ukyou… she had her good days and her bad days. At first I assumed that Asuoko's 'feeling' was attributed perhaps to one of Ukyou's turns.

"She hasn't been well lately." Asuoko continued, sounding somewhat hassled now. I could hear the sounds of the children running about boisterously in the background. "She doesn't seem like herself either. She's even grown her hair out and you know how accustomed she's been to wearing it short. Ever since we were children… Well anyway, I would appreciate you taking the time. I think it would do her good to see you. She still has very strong feelings for you, for whatever the reason."

"Please. You mustn't be so generous in your praise." I said, fighting back the weariness that had suddenly assailed my body. The idea of speaking with Ukyou made me feel tired all over again. "Look, if it will give you peace of mind, I shall go and call on her. Would you like me to contact you afterwards?"

"If you would be so inclined." I think she meant for this to be a biting remarked aimed at me, but her tone was far too concerned to effectively pull it off. "I'd like to know that she is all right."

I sighed, wriggling my mechanical eye in the socket. It was a little stiffer than normal that morning.

"I'll be sure to do that, Miss Mibu. I will speak with you then."

We ended the conversation and I returned to my dramatically cooling cup of coffee, sipping from it whilst contemplating the possibility of how the day might unfold. Conveniently enough I had found a way of removing myself from the city at a time in which I needed to be absent. I could only hope that Mr. Tsuzuki was able to compose himself capably in my absence. Faking emotion was certainly not his strong point.

As though awakened by my thoughts, the guardian himself saw fit to rouse himself and came shuffling out of the hallway, eyes half lidded and hair a tousled mess. At first he jumped upon sighting me but then seemed to recall that I was here of his own consent and relaxed again, emitting a loud, indulging yawn.

"Good morning." I told him, registering the affection in my voice as I spoke. "I trust you slept well once I had you in my arms? Right Mr. Tsuzuki?"

He blushed faintly at my reminder of his actions the previous night. He had been so adorable with that needy expression looking down upon me, that blanket wadded tightly about his slender body… how could I be expected to avoid such a delicious topic?

"It was fine after that. Thanks." It was gracious for him, so I accepted it for the minimal gesture that it was. Mr. Tsuzuki stepped into the kitchenette and made himself a cup of coffee with the leftover water that I had previously boiled. There were bags under his eyes, though they hardly served to render him unseemly. He appeared more human if anything. "When things at the Bureau have cooled off a bit, I think I'll bring the information I've found out about to their attentions. It might just be enough to get them to-"

"To what?" I asked, meaning for it to sound impartial. It came out sharp and challenging instead.

Mr. Tsuzuki lowered his eyes a little, leaning back against the sink and dipping his face down towards his steaming mug. His eyes were as misty as the fog that lifted from the hot beverage.

"To… see you differently." He finished lamely, taking an inadvisably heady sip from his coffee and burning his tongue as a result. I scoffed at his attitude, disliking it immensely that he now viewed me as being some sort of pathetic victim, rather than a complete and whole person. It annoyed me, though I cannot explain exactly why.

"Mr. Tsuzuki, I am not a victim. What you saw last night… was deception and should be left at that. To think more on it is ridiculous. Not to mention an utter waste of time." I flipped the page of the newspaper, briefly glancing over an article detailing soil erosion in Uchiko.

The guardians' eyes narrowed considerably and he took his weight back off of the cabinet, daring me to meet his gaze. I did so. I found his expression to be hardly intimidating, I'm sorry to say.

"God dammit! I know I'm uneducated and I know I'm unworldly but I'm not stupid or unread, Muraki! I wish people would realize this! I'm not being naïve in believing what I saw last night to be true, am I?"

I smiled without humor. "Do you require an honest answer? Or do you simply wish for me to say whatever it is that you want to hear?"

He growled audibly. "Be honest with me. I deserve that much, right?"

"Well sure. I can offer you that." I closed the newspaper completely and lifted my mug with both hands, holding it up just beneath my chin and gently blowing the heat from the surface of the liquid. "Mr. Tsuzuki, deception is the greater part of a demons artillery. You offer them that trust in what they show you and you supply them with the ammunition necessary to continue feeding that weapon. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"

"Yes." He looked adorably annoyed by my reasoning and I couldn't help but love him all the more for it. "You're saying that I was being tricked and I fell for it. Hook line and sinker."

I smiled heartily at him, raising my cup in a friendly gesture. "Darling, there is no shame in that. These demons… it is what they do and believe me; I understand demonic behavior patterns all too intimately."

The guardian looked at me challengingly. "I can prove it was real! Watari was there too! I can get him to vouch for me-"

"Then you can prove that you are both gullible fools." I supplied, setting down the cup and easing my rear off of the counter stool, so that I could join Mr. Tsuzuki in the kitchen. I smiled; leaning down to pinch his chin beneath my forefinger and thumb. "But at least you have the benefit of being a beautiful fool."

He stared up at me defiantly and I was grateful for the return of that friction between us. It was worlds better then being pitied by a creature who himself was so pitiable.

"That mark we saw there… Watari saw the same sigil at Kokakuro. Even if we were being fooled by delusions, there has got to be some connection to the murders. And so… I'll keep my hopes up that something can be done to end this shame. If that makes me a gullible fool then so be it."

End this shame… Well, I supposed that I deserved that. After everything that I had done, I surely couldn't have expected Mr. Tsuzuki to have been proud of being my lover, could I? That was too much. It was enough that he had consigned himself to this arrangement.

I managed to scrape up a smile, hoping that it did not appear as fake as it actually was. "If that will make you content, then I encourage you to do so." I bent forward and placed a kiss into the tangled mess of the guardians' bangs, squeezing his upper arms gently as I did. It would be a relief when I could finally annul this farce and return to my more genuine show of affection; being something of a forceful manner, if I had to describe it. "Now, let me make you some breakfast. You can't fight evil on an empty stomach you know."

"Muraki…" He drawled scoldingly, though I saw a smile brush across his face. The mere mention of food was enough to change the conversation toward a more lighthearted tone. "You don't have to make breakfast for me. I can get something at the Cinnabon on my way to work."

"Don't be silly, we have plenty of time before you're due in." I gestured at the wall clock with my spare hand, using the other to open the refrigerator. I ducked my head inside, searching for anything I could use and managed to rustle up a carton of eggs, some bacon bits and additional strips, a sprig of spring onion, a couple of salami sticks, a packet of grated cheese, a two liter carton of milk and one near salvageable tomato. I placed everything on the kitchen bench and looked it over with a critical eye, finally concluding that it would do just fine for an informal, impromptu breakfast.

Despite Mr. Tsuzuki's earlier reluctance, I could see that he was quickly becoming intrigued by what I was doing. He took up my previous perch on the counter stool and leant his chin on his hands, the puppy ears and tail integrated into his human form appearing as a means of representing his delight.

"So… whatcha gonna make?" He inquired, the large bushy tail swaying back and forth in gradually increasing gusto. He was trying not to appear too interested but his canine qualities betrayed him as usual. I smiled patiently as I rummaged through the cabinet of the kitchen isle, finally emerging with a bowl suitable for stirring and a number of small frying pans.

"I thought I would prepare something of a traditional English breakfast. Let's see… I can make you my famous omelet recipe, with your choice of either scrambled or fried eggs with additional fried tomato on the side." I explained, finding a whisk in the sink cabinet and a few egg rings. Mr. Tsuzuki was near salivating by the prospect of such a modest meal. (Modest to me at least)

"Um… could you do… scrambled and fried eggs?" He asked, pushing his current egg situation for all that it was worth. I checked the number of eggs in the carton and then, just to be safe, held them up to my ear and gave them a shake to ensure that they weren't rotten. When dealing with someone like Mr. Tsuzuki, common sense could not be underestimated.

"It looks like there are enough eggs for both." I conceded, smiling at the guardians uplifted expression, that he quickly attempted to extinguish before I could catch sight of it. "Why don't you just relax and switch the television on? News should be on, right now. We should see what the rest of the world is up to, don't you agree?"

It was a comfortable affair, I must admit. Much preferred to that lonely dinner I had prepared for Mr. Tsuzuki only a week prior to our breakfast together. As I bustled about the tiny kitchen, chopping up the ingredients for the omelet, mixing the milk and cheese into the egg mixture for the scrambled eggs, Mr. Tsuzuki stretched out on the worn couch with his cup of coffee and switched on the television. As the news trotted out its various accounts of the latest events that were considered of some interest to us, Tsuzuki and I discussed what was shown to us with frank sincerity. He was greatly concerned by the war in Iraq. He didn't care much for the annual Cherry Blossom update because it only reminded him of the upcoming party some fellow employee of the Bureau was likely to be throwing. Tsuzuki enjoyed the drinking and socializing aspect of the office enkai but disliked the unwanted advances he received from the host. A man after my own heart, it would seem.

As I prepared the omelets and fried up the remaining eggs, we advanced onto the topic of the upcoming Uwajima cultural festival. Every year it took place in the forest area surrounding Uwajima castle and you could be guaranteed a most entertaining display, should you find yourself in that particular region. There was dancing and drum music and each social caste was represented by a group of men and women from each particular status, all celebrating and serenading one another in whatever manner was most appropriate to them. I had attended once, when I had been a much younger man. In college and still in love with life. Long before I had been soured by the harsh reality of it.

"I'd really love to go." Tsuzuki sighed, his eyes gazing longingly at the images of the previous years revelers living it up outside of Uwajima castle. A group of small children ran in front of the camera, all sporting deer antlers, representing the wildlife of the surrounding forest. "I haven't made it to a cultural festival in a long time, not for years now, work being what it is. I swear, it's like Enma is purposefully trying to make our afterlives less interesting. Take this apartment complex for example."

"What's so terrible about it?" I asked, with purposeful ignorance as I set the guardians plate of food down before his suddenly thrilled expression. Looking around, I could certainly understand Mr. Tsuzuki's thoughts on the matter.

"Oh, it's not so bad I suppose… but back before Kyoto, all us Summons Sections guys, were allowed to live on our own, wherever we wanted in Tokyo. Just so long as we were careful 'bout our conduct and whatnot." Tsuzuki sniffed and picked up the fork that I had left beside his plate, nursing it between his thumb and finger whilst he finished speaking. "I was lodging with this elderly couple, just a couple of blocks down from here. The rent was real cheap and my landlady was always happy to feed me any leftover food she happened to make. And my room had large windows on the second floor, so I could see the Sakura branches. Though they did kind of look like scary witches hands when the lighting was just right…" He chuckled at this fond memory and jabbed his fork forward in representation of the aforementioned Sakura branches. "But… after what happened in Kyoto, Enma decided that it was too dangerous for us Guardians to be living all higgledy-piggeldy and that it might be safer for the employees as a whole to reside under the same roof. That way we would all be close at hand, should one of us require immediate assistance."

His eyes were very sad and his transpiring words bitter. "What he meant though… was that everyone would be close enough to stop me, should I have another turn."

I couldn't pretend to be apologetic, when my heart wasn't truly in it. I felt regret for causing someone I cared for an inconvenience and discomfort but it just wasn't a great enough expression of the emotion to bother mentioning. To attempt so, would have simply been insulting.

"I have caused you a terrible disservice. I'm sorry for that." I told him, picking up my own knife and fork and working to divide the omelet into suitable eating quarters. "Perhaps in the future, your employer will allow you to return to your previous living conditions."

"I somehow doubt that." The guardian muttered, taking an overzealous forkful of scrambled eggs and shoving them messily into his mouth. A pleasantly surprised expression quickly took authority over his face, his former woes being forgotten in favor of fully experiencing the flavor of the food. "Muraki!" He exclaimed, once he had imbibed the fluffy eggs. "That was… that was really good!"

I snorted disdainfully, spooning some of my own omelet between my lips. "You have tasted my cooking before, Mr. Tsuzuki. Why do my efforts surprise you now?"

The guardian shrugged, already concentrated on the sampling of his omelet. "I don't know! I guess I never knew scrambled eggs could taste that good!" He took a piece of omelet between his teeth and chewed thoughtfully, his eyes lighting up in approval. "And this… this is wonderful!"

"Well, I am rather fond of omelet's myself, so I am prone to giving them just that extra bit of attention." I informed him, secretly flattered by his approval. Though of course, why shouldn't he have enjoyed my cooking? It was not as though I was lacking in that department.

The guardian was interrupted in whatever he had chosen to say next by an invasive banging from the vicinity of the front door. Our heads jerked simultaneously towards the disturbance, a stray flap of egg white hanging limp from Mr. Tsuzuki's slightly awning lips.

I frowned, setting down my fork. "Who on earth could be calling at such an hour?" I complained softly, though Mr. Tsuzuki still determined this detrimental enough to shush me.

"Shh! You're not supposed to be here, remember?"

A string of renewed knocking followed the previous burst, more insistent in the manner of which they were applied to the wooden surface. They were accompanied this time by a voice I found irritably familiar.

"Tsuzuki?! Wake up, you idiot! We have to get going!"

I saw the blood literally drain from Mr. Tsuzuki's face, the egg dropping free from his mouth at last, falling with a wet dissonance to the curl of his plate. I felt a rather contrary smile form scripture across the lower portion of my face.

"Well, well, the boy decided to join us for breakfast." My eyebrows furrowed slightly, contorting the center of my face as a result of the divergent emotions meeting halfway. "Isn't that just lovely?"

Mr. Tsuzuki apparently found it about as lovely as I did but for very alternative reasons. "Oh shit." Was his eloquent retort. He was on his feet in seconds, sweeping what was left of his breakfast into the bin, pointedly ignoring my offended expression. After all the effort I had gone to, honestly! "Ah… Hisoka! What are you doing here so early? We don't need to be at the office for an hour or so!"

The boy was silent from behind the door and when next he spoke, it was with mellowed exasperation. "You forgot, didn't you? Yesterday you nagged and nagged and nagged me to get up extra especial early this morning, so we could drop by the Cinnabon on the way to work. You said they had some deal on..."

Tsuzuki laughed in what I suppose was a guilty manner, still rushing about in a frenzied panic.

"Sorry Hisoka! I guess it did slip my mind… listen, why don't we just forget about it today? You can go back to bed, get an extra kip before we head in?"

The boy was evidently not going to fall for this one either. "Tsuzuki! I've already completely woken up, gotten dressed and hurled myself all the way up the stairs just to wake you up! You're not getting out of it just because you forgot, not after the Hell I've gone through already!" There was another bang to the door. "And why are we having this conversation through the door? Let me in already!"

"Such a demanding young man." I murmured to myself, standing quite contently behind Mr. Tsuzuki's panic-stricken visage, picking at what was left of my breakfast with cavalier diffidence. The guardian spun about, bringing his anxiety wrought eyes to rest on me.

"Muraki, for Gods sake! Get in the closet and hide or something!" He hissed at me, turning around to direct his voice back towards the door. "No point, Hisoka! The place is a real mess! Just give me a moment to get changed andI'llbeoutthereandwe'llheadoffthankssomuchdoll bye now!"

Before I could so much as remark on this peculiar exchange, the guardian had both hands pressed against my chest and he was shoving me out of the line of the doorway, reversing me bodily up the hallway and back towards the bedroom.

"Mr. Tsuzuki… you're being so direct." I dropped the plate onto the bedside table and used my now free arms to wrap about the guardians slender waist. He let out a deceptively girlish shriek as I pulled him backwards onto the bed, bringing his body down atop mine. "My, I would never have picked you for entertaining this manner of fetish. We should be quick however, if we don't want your little partner to become impatient." I raised my teeth to the lobe of Mr. Tsuzuki's ear, tugging it gently before bringing my lips succulently about the juicy nub of flesh. The guardian froze momentarily and then forced a perfunctory flailing of his limbs.

"Cut that out! I have to get changed, don't start this nonsense now!" He pushed himself free of me and flung open his closet with overzealous bravado. The sliding door cracked the aligning wall, sending up a small cloud of plaster residue. Mr. Tsuzuki paid no attention to this, shuffling through his extensive supply of outfits. I jest, of course. It was the accustomed black suit that emerged from the depths of his similarly drab ensemble. Before he had a chance to change, I whipped his current selection out of his hands and put them aside, gesturing to the folded garments I had set on his vanity shelf.

"Mr. Tsuzuki, I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty and ironed one of your suits for you." I held up the neatly pressed garments for his inspection. "Ah, and I thought that this tie would best compliment your eye color as well as flatter the suit." I draped a black silk tie that I had unearthed from the depths of his bedside drawer over the shirtfront. The guardian subjected the clothing to a suspicious stare and seemed to come to the conclusion that I had no ill intent in mind with this gesture.

"Thanks." He muttered, taking the articles from my possession and tossing them haphazardly onto the rumpled covers of his bed. I stepped up behind the beautiful creature, lowering my hands down towards his waist and grabbing the base of his sleep shirt.

"Let me help you with that," I offered generously, pulling the shirt upwards before Mr. Tsuzuki could adjust his arms to the correct position for disrobement. He grunted with annoyance and brought his arms up, complaining the whole while as I pulled the garment free and tossed it to the side. I plucked the neatly ironed work shirt from the bed and tugged it down over one of Mr. Tsuzuki's arms, as though I were dressing a child. The guardian chose not to appreciate my efforts and struggled to free himself from me.

"Muraki! I'm not so old that I need you to help me change, get offa me!" He shook his arm free of my hold and worked to bring his hand out through the sleeve. I used this distraction to button up the front of his shirt. Rather than hurling his continued objections at me, the guardian suddenly broke out into a throaty string of giggles. "Cut that out! I can do that myself!"

I felt a smile twinge at my features as I slid the final button into place and started to work on the zipper of Mr. Tsuzuki's pants, popping the button free in order to slide the khaki shorts down his long, smooth legs. I knelt before him, setting my hands on either side of his boxer shorts and met the guardians' eyes with my own.

"All I need is a minute, Mr. Tsuzuki." I brought the thin pale undergarment down his waist and pulled it to a crumpled mess on the floor around his feet. He stared down at me with widening eyes and took a step away, pressing the backs of his thighs against the bed.

"Muraki… Muraki I don't have a minute."

I drew back my lips in a visual promise of sorts, running my fingernails up over the guardians taught thigh, pulling back the hem of the shirt in order to expose the delicious length of his deceptively anticipatory manhood. The sight of it was more than enough to cause a stirring between my thighs and I felt myself growing hard. I was primarily aroused by the idea of performing this act, with that benighted boy tapping his foot impatiently in the hallway, unaware of what I was subjecting his trusted partner to only meters from beneath his nose. I had waited so long for this moment. To taste him, touch him, subject him to mine own desires as well as his own…

"Doesn't that fact make this all the more exciting?" I whispered into his doubtful features, trailing my fingers back and sliding them into the cleft of his buttocks, clenching once or twice to increase the sensation. Mr. Tsuzuki moaned out loud and then clamped his lips together tightly, no doubt concerned about the boy beyond the door.

"Muraki… we can't do it here… Hisoka… he'll hear us!"

"Ho, the vocal sort are we?" I used the strength of my arms to adjust the angle of Tsuzuki's body, forcing his pelvis forward with a few skillful ministrations of my fingers. "Mr. Tsuzuki… there are many things I want to do to you. I want to hear you cry out, to see you fling your head back upon your neck, to see your body tense and contort… I want to make you feel warm and loved, to have that part of me that you have received from no other…"

"Muraki…" The guardians voice was a low moan and though he tried to express disapproval, everything from the angle of his head, to the swelling red organ between his legs, betrayed his true desires. "Do you think this is funny…?"

"Funny?" I smiled in perhaps what could be interpreted as a most uncouth gesture. "Of course I find this funny, Mr. Tsuzuki. To think after all this time… I could bring you to this place…" I slunk my hand up into the depths of the guardians loins, delighting in the choked moan that erupted from the depths of his throat as I wrapped my hand around that increasingly stiffening organ, squeezing the cup of my fist down to the very tip, watching the head redden under my attentions. A drop of pre-cup dripped free, dampening the palm of my hand slightly. I worked my palms and fingers up and down, delving my thumb into the dripping tip, registering the escalating tightness of my own trouser front as Mr. Tsuzuki's panting breaths amplified in fervor and intensity. His knees were starting to quaver, so I forced him to sit on the bed, bringing my free hand beneath his body and cupping his testicles, distributing an even clench upon the sacks. Mr. Tsuzuki's head fell back, his mouth gaping at the undeserving ceiling that stared down upon him with the apathy of an inanimate object. The guardian had never been touched this way by anyone besides himself, he had confessed this only the previous night. These sensations were all unknown to him, unfamiliar and experienced with the full extremity of pleasure only available to one when they possess no prior familiarity with sexual attentions.

"Muraki… ah…" His long eyelashes fluttered, fingers pressing down into the mattress, scrunching the already rumpled sheets. "Ah… ah…"

I lowered my face and ran my tongue up the line of Tsuzuki's thigh, chuckling softly as I came upon a sensitive patch of skin that caused the guardians body to momentarily spasm. I placed my front teeth about the swelling head of Mr. Tsuzuki's erection, holding it steady with just the smallest application of pressure whilst I swished the tip of my tongue around the weeping slit, pushing the center of my tongue down to cover it, just long enough to taste the juices of his lust. Mr. Tsuzuki hissed between his teeth as I lapped the head of his erection, using my fingers to stroke the length of his penis that my mouth was currently not attending to. My knees were starting to ache from kneeling and the heat from between my legs was growing increasingly more urgent to release. I forced myself to ignore it, directing all my attention towards providing my lover with the most exquisite treatment I could offer. As Tsuzuki's upper body tilted backward towards the bed, I slid my hand further along his erection in mimicry of the movement, pushing my lips down to pull only a slight portion of the guardians' succulent length into my mouth. I moaned softly to myself as the salty taste of man invaded my senses, adjusting my lower jaw to lull the taught penis into a lullaby of motion. Tsuzuki had just buried his fingers into the strands of my hair and was starting to rotate his hips against my face, when we both distinctly heard the sound of the front door opening and then being thrown back into the frame with fierce gusto. The guardians' body went taught with a whole new sensation. Apparently the boy had an extra key. Why Mr. Tsuzuki had felt compelled to allow him the liberty to invade his privacy whenever the urge took him, I don't know. He was certainly regretting it now, that's for certain.

"Hisoka!" He gasped, voice stricken. I responded by taking the entire length of him into my mouth and sucking hard. Tsuzuki groaned in the depths of his throat, arching his back dramatically from the surface of the bed. "Ungh! M-Muraki… stop! He'll see us!"

I could hear the boys footsteps make their irritable path past the kitchen. He would be at the head of the hallway now. His proximity only served to excite me further and I bent my upper body down over the guardians' pelvis, sucking with increasing passion. Tsuzuki curled his legs up, attempting to push me away half-heartedly. I brought my hands underneath his bare buttocks, massaging the flesh with passing grasps and strokes. I could feel his body tightening up beneath me and knew that it wouldn't be long until the guardian surrendered himself to me for the second time in two days.

The boys' footsteps were getting closer and I could feel the tension of the situation escalate my pulse several degrees. I would have to bring Mr. Tsuzuki to completion before the nosy youth stuck his head in, or else the game was over. In order to prompt the impending orgasm, I brought my fingers into the crevice of the guardians' buttocks and hurriedly speared one finger into the velvety softness of his sacred space. He was so tight… I could only imagine what it would be like to have penetrated him with my true desire. The very prospect made me shiver with anticipation.

I wriggled my finger deep down until the knuckle was only submerged, poking around for that place that I knew would bring him that degree of pleasure he had experienced the night before. I lapped the base of Mr. Tsuzuki's penis as I dove my second finger within, prodding carefully about. The boy must have just about been at the door now. Tsuzuki's beautiful features were threshed with panic and I was able to bear witness to the dramatic shifting of this splendid visage, as I brushed upon that bundle of nerves inside his body, causing a wave of motion to cascade along the quivering lines of the guardians anatomy, thrashing the interior of my mouth with the shudders of his pelvis, shooting his dark seed into the depths of my waiting and eager throat.

His taste was breathtaking. Luscious, spiced with the hint of male tang and a deeper concentrated essence that brought with it, bare hints of the inscrutable power resting dormant within the depths of his body. I drank in as much of him as I could, squeezing the base of his now flaccid penis to drain the tender organ of whatever essence it meant to keep from me. I desired every spare inch of it and the few tantalizing drops I forced from the very tip, were the absolute sweetest of all.

I had no time to taunt Mr. Tsuzuki for his surrender to me, the boy was at that moment mere seconds away from entering the room, never mind whether his partner was modest or not. I flashed the guardian a dark smile, giving him only enough time to see me lick my lips clean of the residual sperm that permeated the curves of my mouth and then I was stepping neatly backwards, pulling the closet doors shut behind me at the very same instant that the boy ceremoniously thrust open the corresponding door to the bedroom. I could have laughed out loud for the sheer artistry of it all.

Mr. Tsuzuki didn't have a great deal of options available to him but responded quite well, considering the state that I had left him in. He pulled the sheet off of the bed and wrapped it around his waist like some bizarre high waisted skirt, managing to contort his contented expression into something suitably maligned as the discourteous brat stepped within the boundaries of the bedroom.

"Hisoka! Come on, I'm changing here!" I'm not sure why my Tsuzuki would have deemed this a normality of expression; here in Japan the naked body does not possess the attached stigma of modesty or even shame that it does in Western societies. Perhaps the younger generations maintain a mounting skepticism in the suitability of flouting ones flesh about in the company of others but it is generally an accepted norm of practice and certainly not a facet that one should feel embarrassed about. Being an older gentleman, I assumed that Mr. Tsuzuki was particularly carefree about such things and I'm certain that the Kurosaki boy understood this just as well as I did. His sudden bashfulness really made no sense and only managed to look incremental and only towards himself.

The boy was in limbo; (once again, excuse the unintentional pun) one foot in the door, the rest of his body thrust out into the hallway. He stared at Mr. Tsuzuki, expression highly perturbed.

"Since when have you cared about flashing your skin about, you stupid old man?" The boy was just as observant as I had gathered. He raised an eyebrow curiously at Mr. Tsuzuki's current ensemble but wisely chose not to comment on it. "Seriously, would you hurry up, though? You've kept me waiting long enough already. Just pull something on and let's go."

Tsuzuki flashed a hassled smile and waved a high lightly at the boys' impatient features. I was able to observe all this through the slats of the closet door, in case you were wondering how I was privy to any of it.

"Right, right. I'll be along just as soon as I find some underpants! Just wait for me in the sitting room, okay?"

The boy muttered a curt complaint and stepped back out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. "Fine. Just hurry up. Mr. Tatsumi called that staff meeting this morning and I don't want to turn up late again."

As soon as he had left the immediate vicinity, Mr. Tsuzuki crossed to the closet and flung the door open, dropping the sheet about his waist in the process. I glanced along the line of his exposed body, with an approving lift of my left hand eyebrow.

"Oh my. I've never seen curtains parted on such a… pleasing view."

The guardian glared at me, slapping the side of my face smartly with the flat of his hand. It hardly stung a jot and the action was not callous in the slightest. Rather… it appeared to be affectionate, for lack of a better word.

"Pervert. I'm gonna put a restraining order out against you." Tsuzuki huffed sticking his nose in the air. I smiled to myself, watching as he went about dressing himself with reckless finesse, such was the mans indisputable charm. He was positively incapable of composing his attire in an orderly fashion and what I had just subjected him to, certainly hadn't helped matters. I could still see his body trembling slightly. Still, at least he had been permitted his release. My own trousers remained unreasonably tight. "Since I'm going to that much trouble, might as well get one out against the Count too…"

I laughed softly to myself, stepped out of the closet (stop chortling Mr. Watari, we're not in primary school) and set to work tucking the guardians' shirt into his pants and righting the buttons on his jacket, that he had distractedly jammed through the incorrectly corresponding holes.

"Well, Mr. Tsuzuki. Though you may prefer my 'light' half, I sincerely doubt that he is capable of doing half the things that I am." I winked slyly, bringing a light blush to the guardians already rosy cheeks. He tried to brush his embarrassment aside.

"You know… I had a dream some time ago, that you managed to bring yourself to my room back in the place I was staying at before." He knotted his tie so messily that I had little choice but to undo it and restart from scratch. "You leant over my bed, held out a rose, ran your hand up my leg… and asked me to marry you."

"What a lovely dream." I expressed favorably, bringing the flawless knot in the tie up to rest securely beneath the collar of Mr. Tsuzuki's shirt. He was already looking considerably neater than on any other occasion that I had come into contact with him. Excluding that night at the cinema when he had gone far and beyond himself.

The guardian snorted quite rudely. "Dream?! More like a friggin' nightmare! You started molesting me, right there on my futon and then Tatsumi burst through the door and I thought he was going to save me from you! But then he- then he-" The guardian sniffled as though suddenly confusing reality with unconscious dabbling. "He… he stabbed me with this giant acupuncture needle! And there was this big deep narrative type voice that was telling good children not to try this at home… it was really weird." He frowned thoughtfully. "He stabbed my butt too! I remember it went really numb in my dream and I got all helpless and weak… and you totally took advantage of me and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it! What you did to me just then… you did in my dream too."

I smiled at his flushed expression. "I suppose I can see why that would have disturbed you at that time, Mr. Tsuzuki."

The guardian gave an embarrassed smile in return to my previous gesture. "Truth is… I found it kind of sexy. Y'know… scary… I hated Tatsumi for some time after that too… but being all weak and helpless, not able to do a thing but just give in to you and enjoy it… even when I tried to stop you… it just made you more passionate."

"Mr. Tsuzuki… that's true life." I said. His knees were still a little wobbly and I helped lead him over to the vanity, where I picked up what appeared to be a rarely touched comb and a jar of never used styling gel. "Are you sure you're not mistaking your dream with reality?"

Mr. Tsuzuki just laughed a little, watching with great attention as I swept his bangs back neatly out of his face and used the gel to comb a number of distinctive controlled waves throughout his hair. He appeared to be a very sophisticated businessman by the time I was finished with him.

"Thanks for… ironing my clothes and… making breakfast." The guardians' cheeks went red again and I thought him all the more lovely for it. "The um… you know… that was nice too." He rolled his shoulders a little, swishing his head from side to side. "I feel tingly all over… and like I really want to go back to bed."

"I wish we could." I confessed, lowering my hands and pressing them about the guardians' slender upper arms, divesting a soft kiss upon his mouth. He hesitated a moment and I realized why after the act was completed; his taste was still upon my tongue and he wasn't sure how to behave when I had just imbibed his essence. I stroked his cheek a little and gave his bottom a reassuring pat.

"Be on your way then. Don't want the boy becoming too surly now, do we? I'll lock up after I make the bed and do your dishes for you."

Mr. Tsuzuki thought about this for a moment and came to the conclusion that he could allow me to extend this generous offer because he nodded without instigating an argument against my extended stay. Within the apartment, anyway.

"Muraki… did you manage to get the day off of work? Do you have somewhere to go?"

I told him about my requested visit to see Ukyou out of town and assured him that I could find accommodation outside of Tokyo if worse came to worse. Satisfied that I would be safely out of summoning shot for some time, Mr. Tsuzuki divested a sort of touching squeeze to my arm before bidding me a somewhat churlish farewell, completely at odds with his tender motives. He and the boy left to whatever business was required of them at the bakery and I did those jobs that I promised, ensuring that I locked the door to Mr. Tsuzuki's apartment before making my very careful exit from the Sakura Zensen and one block down the road to where I had parked my car for the night. I had not incurred the wrath of a parking ticket, which buoyed my spirits slightly and it was with a light heart and a delicious aftertaste upon my tongue, that I made my way further out from the city central, to where the Muraki mansion awaited the return of its current master. On the way I happened to spot a flower vender, setting up for early morning business and I stopped to buy a bouquet of orchids, intending for them to be a gift to dear Ukyou once I had arrived in Nagoya.

The estate was especially quiet when I navigated the car back towards the main compound. Rather then going through the additional fuss of entering the garage, I alternatively chose to park the Lotus out by the grand front doors, deciding that I would only be stopping by long enough to drop in my luggage from my trip to Saiki and change my clothing into something more suitable. The car engine chugged to a gradual purr and then deceased instantly as I turned the key about in the ignition. Normally I would have one of the servants, or even Sakaki himself assist me in the task of negotiating my luggage up the interior stairwell and into my room but it was far too early to expect any of them to be present on the grounds and fortunately, I had not packed a lot for my two week stay in Saiki. I brought everything to my room with no great dilemma and chose a casual shirt, scarf and untailored slacks to wear for my visit to Nagoya. Once I had changed. I phoned Sakaki to let him know that I would be going out of town for the day. He was due in to instruct the help at 9:30 and I felt that he could address the guardians safely should they poke their heads in at whatever time they deemed suitable to end my reign of terror. Sakaki was incredibly loyal though I chose in this case not to inform him of where I would heading. Devoted though he was, one couldn't be too careful when dealing with the guardians of death. They were an exceptionally sneaky lot.

As I made my way out through the foyer, I chanced upon a lone individual standing by the entranceway doors. I naturally presumed that this was one of the lodgers, though their presence here was unusual in its own right. I allowed lodgers to stay in the guest wing of the mansion (converted from the hospital my grandfather had established in the left division) but it was a rare occurrence that I should encounter them. The guest wing was on the far side of the compound. A lodger would have to go far out of their way to happen upon the main building.

"Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, straightening my tie. I racked my memory for the name of this particular tenant but it slipped evasively through my mental probes. I must confess, I hadn't gone to a great deal of effort to become familiarly acquainted with my presiding boarders. "It's terribly early. Is there a problem in the guest wing?"

This man, who appeared to be an older gentleman, smiled courteously at me and bowed his head. He was as tall as I was, dressed in a navy blue coat and as he stooped forward he swept his hat before him, (one of those suave numbers, most commonly associated with detectives from the 1920's) revealing a full head wavy head of shaggy dark blond hair. The individual strands liberally shone in the light from the window arching the grand doorway.

"Not at all." He said and I was even more astounded that I could be remiss of someone with such a remarkably deep voice. "I heard your car enter the compound and I was concerned as to who might be visiting at such an hour. Terribly sorry to have disturbed you."

I finished tightening the knot in my tie and soothed out the front of my neatly pressed jacket. "It's no trouble, Mr.…?" I waved my hand in a circle, encouraging him to prompt the extension of his title.

"Haruhi. Okiko Haruhi." He said, sweeping his hat back upon the crown of his head and making his way across the linoleum to join me. I noticed he walked with quite an exaggerated limp that seemed to have nothing to do with his legs. "Does the young master have some business requiring his attendance at such an hour?"

I nodded empathically, brushing past the strange gentleman and twisting the doorknob, expecting it to be unlocked, since the lodger could only have entered through the front access. I found it locked instead. Most peculiar.

"Well, you be sure to drive carefully. Such nasty weather." He spoke in such a cavalier manner you might have thought that he had missed my subtle rebuff. I didn't wish to express my escalating concern of this peculiar man but the longer I remained within his presence, the less capable I became of effectively containing my calm. I could feel a tightening sensation in my chest, indicating a rapid increase in anxiety and I was baffled that I could not effectively establish the root of this sudden apprehension.

I consciously relaxed the muscles of my hand, forcing back the quavers that were starting to take control and unlocked the front door, easing the left hand side open and allowing a cold rush of morning air to seep through the gap. I looked back over my shoulder at the lodger, at his unchanging expression. He was smiling… his lips quirked up into something of a self-satisfied little smirk. And something about that expression was familiar… I reached back through the throngs of my memories but nothing became clear. I could not slip that thread through the eye of the needle.

Not yet.

"I'll be sure to be careful." I said, flinging the trailing end of the scarf over one shoulder, so that it settled between the curves of my shoulder blades. "Good day to you, Mr. Haruhi."

The lodger dipped his head courteously but that smile failed to match the false show of affability. It was not so much a pretence to express a favorable disposition but more so a manner of allusion, to tempt my mind to thread that connection. This man, this Okiko Haruhi, wanted me to snap to the reality presented underneath my very nose. But I had not the knowledge to ascertain just who he was and what exactly he had been and would be responsible for.

"And to you," I saw his eyes alight and connect with my own, just as I pulled the door shut on that disturbing, provoking expression frozen in perpetual motion upon his worn features.

As I made my way along the interstate highway, I got to thinking about those days back in highschool, when everything had been an easy errand and my friends were people I could depend upon with honest to goodness sincerity. I'd had four close confidants. We were insatiably loyal to one another, our little quartet. Ukyou and I had been in the same year and coming from quite well to do families, we had been acquainted for a number of years prior to our attending the same educational institute together. It only seemed natural that we would have grown to depend on one another for companionship during the high school years. Ukyou and Oriya were cousins and he watched out for her but they had not been particularly close before Saki come into the picture. He enrolled in the same high school as me, naturally and for some reason or another became fast friends with Oriya. They were thick as thieves the pair of them and Saki eventually dragged me into the group, with Ukyou accompanying me of course and after that the four of us were inseparable. It wasn't until after Saki's death that Oriya and I became particularly devoted. Truth be told, Oriya had always been so serious, I felt as though he'd never particularly favored one brother over the other. Ukyou had made her feelings known of course. She had fallen for Saki. He had been such a charismatic fellow to others. Cheerful, polite, peppy, energetic, affectionate… he just seemed to be one of those boys that instantly attract all the attention. Perhaps I favored him that. I was certainly envious of it but I don't recall Saki ever flaunting it about, or indeed rubbing my nose in it. He was so oblivious in fact that there came a time in which the appeal wore off and the other students began to consider him just as strange as the rest of us.

Oriya was never singled out as a target (granted he was so big, even then, that everyone was too afraid to try) but he was the subject of many a vicious conversation and rumor. He'd always found it difficult to concentrate in class because of his ability. People fidgeting all the time, shifting around, talking, concentrating and during an exam when the stress levels were at maximum they would alternatively affect Oriya and he would often take a turn and have to be excused from the examination room in order to calm down, away from the other students. His reflexive ability meant that he was so attune to the conditions of other people's bodies that he couldn't safely concentrate on any of his own work because he was being constantly bombarded with the physical processes of everyone around him. It was this steady barrage that eventually led to him building up a sort of mediocre immunity and he developed a weak system of combating those processes, when they became too much. Sadly it meant that his mind was divided much of the time, the effort of holding the processes of the others at bay was mentally exhausting and he could appear quite slow as a result.

The other students had been particularly wary of me, being a quiet, studious sort, so Oriya and I were sort of in the same boat, regarding popularity status. Ukyou and Saki were responsible for keeping us firmly institutionalized amongst our classmates. That was at least, until my mother had passed away and I was free from her oppressive influence. It gave me a chance to experience life without the bridal, to live and learn just what people expected and desired of me. Then of course I learnt not to care and that the only perception of myself that was important was my own. It seemed like a very long time ago, that boy that I had been. I didn't even think of myself as Kazutaka anymore, though it had been my chosen name. Two of the people I hated most in the world had addressed me by that title and I thought it best to leave that name behind with them. It best rot beneath the ground, just so as those memories did.

Every time I thought of Ukyou, I couldn't help but flash back to high school, those times long before my mind had become corrupted by the harsh realities of life and death. She was an innocence I could always depend on to cast a bright light on even those days and times I would otherwise have held no compassion for. I would always bear that affection for her, even if I could not love her like I had once hoped to.

Yes, I had used her to cast a positive aspect of normality open myself. And that is terrible of me, I know. But behaving in that manner, I honestly did not think that it would matter in the long run. And not because I am a cold man, not because her presence in my life meant nothing to me. But because I was sure that in time, in the due passing of the days, the months, the years and the decades that spanned the length of our time together, I was sure that I would grow to love her. That it would be learned unto me by my shear determination to reward her for keeping my head above water during high school, when I was such a small and powerless creature. But adoration, affection, love, whatever you call it in your own definition of the sensation, perceive it as you will but understand we all do that this emotion is not forced, nor chosen to belong to any one person. You direct it unintentionally. And yet, in that vein a part of you makes that decision of whom that desire shall belong to. It is the same as governing the manner in which we shape our very being. Who we are and whom we love, those are two facets that cannot be forced by our mindset. We naturally concede to the true nature of our inner yearning.

Ukyou meant worlds to me and I thought that if I could just fall in love with her, if I could do that much for her, then I could save her. When the fire had overwhelmed me in the basement of the Kyoto University, I begged her forgiveness because I felt that I was conceding to death, having ultimately failed my one sincere duty. To fall in love with her. To thank her in kind of everything she provided me, in the very worst days of my life. But I couldn't do it. No more than I could change who I was.

There was something particularly devastating in admitting this to myself, to realize just how weak my motives had been all along. I could have cut Ukyou free years ago and allowed her to go on with her life. I had made a prisoner of her by leading her on with my false intentions, regardless of how noble I had initially perceived them to be.

She deserved the truth. I would speak of that to her on that visit. And give her the thanks that she deserved. A spoken gesture of gratitude for my dear friend, who gave me a loving smile that kept my heart and soul alive.

Ukyou's house was situated in a quiet neighborhood that suited her meek personality down to the ground. Here she remained undisturbed by the hustle of modern activity, perfectly content to live out her days in pursuit of her artistic passions. I indicated my intentions, though mine was the solitary car on the lone stretch of road and turned up into the long driveway, noting absently the amount of flowers having fallen from the surrounding trees, coating the bitumen in a thick carpet. Mine was clearly the first car that had been along in the last couple of days. I wasn't greatly concerned by this. Ukyou often got tied up in her work and was prone to spending days to a week shut up within the beautiful house, tinkering away on her current project, lost to the world around her. As a gesture of good will (owing perhaps some to my sense of nostalgia as I had been driving) I decided that I would run some errands for her, if indeed her attention had been currently occupied the past few days. No doubt she would be running low on essentials, such as milk, coffee and sugar. In the more communal days of our relationship, I had discovered she was always tiresomely low on these two basics; being prone to drinking gratuitous amounts of coffee. Not that I am one to talk mind but I am fortunate in that I have Sakaki at my disposal and a such I am never left wanting for a constant influx of the most exotic and delicious coffee blends available.

I eased the car gently along the driveway and parked behind the garage, unable to help but notice that the sliding door had been left wide open, as though Ukyou were about to head out. And no wonder. By this stage, she had almost certainly run out of coffee. Perhaps it would have been more meaningful should I have bought her a pot of Wedgwood Original Blend instead of flowers? Honestly, the amount of money I have wasted on flowers only to have them shoved back in my face, simply astonishes me. (Not referring to anyone specifically, Mr. Tsuzuki.) I suppose people prefer more practical gifts, then the aesthetically pleasing proportions of the rose that inevitably wilt before their eyes. Whatever the case, I could only imagine how it would look approaching Ukyou with a bouquet of flowers; she would interpret it as a method to win back her affections, which of course was not my intentions at all. It was fortunate that I had alternatively chosen to present orchids instead of roses. The symbolism might not be misconstrued that way.

Still, I wished I had thought of that coffee idea sooner.

I approached the front door and assailed the steps, ducking my head to avoid the potted flower arrangement Ukyou had been proud enough to decoratively hang from the archway. The plants inside looked a mite dry, which struck me as unusual. Ukyou was an extremely attentive woman, regarding all manner of things. She took pride in maintaining the upkeep of her beautiful house; it was one of her guilty pleasures, not unlike my collection of porcelain dolls. I could not see into the living area from where I was standing and the blinds were drawn, providing an additional barrier to my sight. If Ukyou had been planning on going out, she would have opened the curtains by now, in order to let the sunlight in. She may have been in the habit of transforming into a hermit on occasion but she had never been a sit in the dark sort of recluse. Sunlight and fresh air were especially necessary to keep her strength up.

The subtle peculiarities had not been lost on me. Before addressing Ukyou's presence within the house, I had already become concerned. I found myself sincerely hoping that she had met a young man and was perhaps still sleeping off the after effects. This was of no concern to my feelings of course and I would be relieved as such, to know that she was fine. But this was a fleeting straw of hope at best. I knew Ukyou too well to know that it was not in her nature to shack up with a gentleman when she was in such a vulnerable mood. Her nature was to run to either Asuoko or Oriya for a frank discussion and a cup of tea. Throwing herself into a passionate tryst of passion was certainly not her style. In fact, I doubted she would have considered it, even fleetingly.

Still, Ukyou had not been behaving in her usual manner during our last meeting. Who knew what to expect anymore?

Putting my concerns on hold, I propped the neatly wrapped bouquet in my left arm and rapped the knuckle of my right hand smartly against the wooden door. I knocked three times, alternating to my fist when the first summons failed to rouse the intended occupant. There was silence to greet my arrival and the house was void of suitable response. I tucked my lower lip back between my teeth and compressed it thoughtfully. Again, this was unlike Ukyou. She was always prompt in answering the door, regardless of how angry or upset she may have been with the visitor. Besides which, she had no idea that it was I who was calling on her, so it was unreasonable that she would ignore company.

I had always trusted Asuoko Mibu's intuition but I had hoped in this particular circumstance, the 'feeling' she had sensed, had been nothing but emotional turmoil on Ukyou's part. This could not account for the silence that I had encountered.

I reached out with my mind, using what little power I possessed to 'sense' a presence, should one have resided within the evidence. I was gratified when I felt a beating heart within the walls and immediately berated myself for becoming paranoid. Ukyou was no doubt tending to something, perhaps even presently occupied in the powder room. I decided to let my presence be known regardless, though a gentleman best not hurry a lady.

This time I rang the doorbell, a mere brief burst to alert her to my attendance. "Ukyou! It's Kazutaka, my dear. Come let me in when you have the chance, please?"

I waited a further minute without receiving validation that my call had been adhered to. I drummed my fingers impatiently against the wrapping of the bouquet and leaned slightly to the side, attempting to see through the gap in the curtains shielding the living room. It was dark inside and none of the interior lights had been switched on. I happened to glance down at my feet, (boredom directs your attention to the oddest places) and I happened upon two rolled newspapers, respectively sporting today's and yesterdays dates. I felt a chill creep up my spine. Reclusive as Ukyou became sometimes, she never went a day without tuning into the news, whether it be televised or printed. Something was desperately wrong here and I could no longer fool myself otherwise.

Fortunately, I was still in possession of Ukyou's spare key. I had intended to return it to her the night she had visited me in Tokyo, though she had been in such a terrible mood, I thought that best left for another day, when the finalities of our annulment were less painful. Now I was grateful for that delay. Placing the flowers down on the stoop, I fished the silver key from the chain and slid it into the lock, twisting it sidelong in order to push back the tumbler. A metallic click alerted me to a successful infiltration and I pocketed the key chain, before twisting open the doorknob and stepping into the front foyer, retrieving my bouquet before I shut the door behind me. If indeed I had made a mistake and Ukyou was about to embark on a deserved tirade of how I had invaded her privacy, the flowers would come to positive effect. Needless to say, they became of inconsequential concern once I was inside and the full effect of the houses eerie nature settled upon me.

As a man formally entrenched in the business of ending the lives of others, I was not entirely compatible with the atmosphere currently seeping the very air I was drinking in. I couldn't put my finger on what it was exactly. The house appeared normal, comparatively speaking. I ducked my head into the living room. The television was off and nothing appeared to be out of place, apart from the still drawn curtains. The kitchen too was immaculate. Ukyou had cleaned up all the dishes and put everything away. The Venetian blinds were drawn across the bay windows, leaving only streaks of yellow to sear diligently against the counter top. I checked in the fridge and oven, not sure what I expected to find. Perhaps I can blame such efforts on the reading of one too many American novels; Dean Koontz to that effect.

I entered the passageway, moving carefully, all too knowledgeable of how men like I functioned and how we might have dealt with an intruder that stumbled upon something they were not supposed to see. I actively shook aside my long bangs, exposing my mechanical eye to the darkness, searing through it and deeply invading the shadowed corners, searching for any movement that was out of place. I happened upon the laundry first and I quickly ducked inside, pulling my back tight against the wall. There was nothing to be found in the washing machine or the number of baskets scattered about. I stepped outside and continued onward a few feet and that is when the smell finally hit me.

Pungent. Repulsive. A sensory memory, all too familiar. Blood. And sweat. And semen.

Only a number of places awaited my inspection but I already knew my final tragic destination. Ukyou's bedroom stood at the end of the hallway, the door left open a mere gap, inviting me onward with suggestive coyness. I was not a coward and I have been a terrible person for such a long time that I am not frightened by the thought of what any other maniac might perpetuate upon me. Nevertheless, an unfamiliar sensation sat gnawing in the depths of my gut, as though insects were attempting to devour me from the inside out. I knew, even as I approached that doorway that it was not my room that lay beyond. It was not my bed, upon which Saki had stolen my innocence and any chance I had of leaving a normal life.

It was not. But it had been purposefully intending to remind me of the sordid events of my past. Just as I'm sure your humiliation at the hands of those bewitched men in the alleyway, only served as a reminder of what was done unto you, Mr. Watari. That is the way we have been punished for our misdemeanors, whether our cruel acts can be justified by calling them revenge or by admitting to our lust for carnage.

I didn't edge open the door with cautious pretence. This was not a horror movie, nor a soap opera. This was real life and I was not a hesitant man, afraid of what my eyes might fall upon. I swung it open forcefully, slamming my hand on the light switch as I did. The room was flooded and I could bear witness to the completeness of this tableau of degradation laid out before me.

The orchids fell from my hands and dropped to the floor in silence. My hands had never been that weak before. Nor too had my heart. My eyes sincerely widened and though I did not gasp or scream my shock, my body expressed in solid rigidity the trauma this scene bestowed upon me.

Ukyou was lying on her back on the bed, arms and legs akimbo. Though she had clearly not left the house in the last two days, I could tell even from where I was standing, that she had not been dead long. Her skin was only starting to discolor. Her head was tossed back against the bedsheets, exposing the deep and brutal slice slammed deep into her throat. She had been wearing a light and feminine dress, nothing fancy, just something she liked to wear about the house when going about her own carefree business. I thought back to the day when I had first seen her wearing that dress. I had come over to prepare her dinner and we had gone walking out through the woods behind her house with a glass of wine in hand, her arm looped through mine. She had been telling me about the latest painting she had been working on and how sincerely happy her laughter had been, how innocent her expression and that smile… this memory, far removed from this day, this harsh reality. Now Ukyou's body had been rendered into its own nightmarish canvas of blood and twisted posture. She had no underwear on and I could see that she had been raped, judging from the mess that had been made of her thighs and vaginal cavity. Her face was only slightly twisted, dignified in expression, even in her own death.

The white sheet upon which she lay… I presumed at first that the red upon it was the blood from her own wounds but when I looked closer, I realized that it was actually a symbol. A glaring red sigil, with four distinctively separate demonic references. Because of Ukyou's positioning, I could not read it and found that it was the least of my concerns of that moment.

I moved into the room and approached the bed. I could feel a foreign sensation burning my true eye and let out a startled cry when I felt a tear fall from my lashes. I pulled it aside with my fingers, staring at it, mortified. I hadn't shed sincere tears in a great many years now. But I could feel the emotion welling up. The anger… the sorrow. Ukyou was no longer my fiancée but she was still my childhood friend and I had known her longest of anyone. Not even Oriya had presence in my life the way this woman had.

And someone… someone had dared to devastate her… her!

It became clearer to me; the closer I brought myself to that bed. Not all of that red was blood. A great deal of it…

… were rose petals.

The back of my neck prickled as I raised my eyes towards the wall above the bed, almost expecting to see what naturally awaited my attendance. Carved into the plaster, each letter a foot high at least, was the provocative words; "To see you dead, upon a bed of roses." Next to the words, imbedded deeply into the wall, was a large, typically bloodstained cleaver.

The handle was still quivering.

"Dear God," I whispered, hating the tremor in my voice but unable to exorcise it. It was taking all my willpower to keep my tears at bay, vulnerable such as I had become. To think that such a ruthlessly cumbersome weapon had been employed against this sweet and harmless young woman… "Ukyou… why you…?"

Something came crashing into the room behind me and I instinctively spun about, putting my back to the devastating remains of my former fiancée. I blinked through one blurry eye at the figure who was now standing in the doorway. I could hear their harsh panting and then a high-pitched cry of alarm as whoever it was, saw what lay rendered behind me.

"Kazutaka!" The person called and I was immediately shocked to be addressed as such. What manner of familiarity did this individual feel that they had with me? "…I'm… I'm too late…"

My eyes finally cleared and I could see who it was standing there. I felt my features twist with anger.

"You!" I snarled and I could not recall the last time I had even spoken with such fury in my tone. "Still alive after all, are you?"

The boy – Pandora – wasn't only alive, but seemed to be in good health. He was wearing a casual pair of jeans and baggy t-shirt, both of which flouted his slender yet pleasing figure. Currently of which was pressed into the doorframe, fingernails clenching into the wood hard enough to splinter it and one hand covering his mouth. There were tears streaming down his face.

"No, no, no, no, no… not Ukyou…" He moaned, sinking down onto his knees and slamming his head against the floor with such violence I was sure he would have cracked his skull open. He clenched his fists and roared furiously, venting some hidden frustration. "This has got to end! Forgive me Kazutaka… I really can't protect anyone… I've tried so hard…"

I pointed a finger back over my shoulder, keeping my voice level and as impassive as it was possible. "Are you… responsible in some way for this… boy?"

His head jerked up and his eyes met mine with such haste, that his innocence seemed only natural. "No! How could you think that? Why is that always the way with you? To doubt and doubt and doubt and never think that anyone else could have been responsible?"

This didn't seem to be entirely about Ukyou and I was starting to get incredibly fed up with everything that had happened over the past fortnight. No… never mind those fourteen days. My entire life had been an entire sequence of never answered questions, mysteries and complex analogies. I was a tired man and weary most of all of taking a non-violent approach to everything. Mr. Tsuzuki had been threatened, Ukyou was now dead and who was to say that what came next would not be so terrible?

The boy was right; it would end now. So long as I had the will to throw that spanner in the works.

"Then who is to blame for this, boy?" I turned my back to him (unadvisable, unless you are someone as devoutly self-confident as I) and reached over Ukyou's forever resting head to wrench the cleaver from the wall. Nothing mattered then, only taking some decisive action towards resolving this unforgivable act of insult towards me. The blade came unstuck with the entire force of my shoulder and the boy, registering my next move, starting powering his rear end backwards into the hallway, scuttling along the floor like a crab. I was so emotional I did not stop to consider how utterly obtuse my actions were. I was caught up in my momentary madness and it swept me along on a pure wave of irresponsibility, ruled by indulgence and instinct.

None of which, could predict a positive outcome.

"Don't you move boy!" I roared at him, slamming the cleaver blade violently through the doorframe, leaving a thick vertical slice in its' wake. Woodchips flew into the air and the child shielded his face as though this might have afforded him some manner of protection. After what I had been witness to, I doubted there was any number of deed done unto him that he could not heal from. Case in point, I stepped between his sprawled legs and swung the cleaver blade sideways, smashing the boys cheek with the flat end. The opposing side of his face hit the wall and he cried out pitifully, pulling himself into a curled position and bringing his arms up over his head, forming a sort of protective cocoon against me.

"Why are you doing this to me?" He squalled pathetically, reminding me ever so much of that infantile Hisoka Kurosaki on the night he had afforded such ill luck to have stumbled across me at one of my feedings. "I haven't done anything to you!"

The blood was rushing between my ears and I could not afford him mercy in my current lunatic state. I reached down between those slender arms and fished my hand into his head of dirty blond hair, wrenching him up on his knees. His eyelashes were wet with tears, both cheeks already bruising from my first strike. He was sincerely lovely to gaze upon. Such a beautiful creature… it was no wonder the demons favored him within their bedchamber.

"Who… has done this?" I said, enunciating each word carefully so that the boy would understand how serious I was. For insurance, I pressed the cleaver blade into the boys round cheek, gradually applying pressure and then wiggling the blade a little deeper until clots of blood oozed down his face. He sobbed, gripping the wooden handle but making no real concerted effort to redirect my fevered attentions.

"It's the Shukusatsu!" He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to block out the pain. I flinched in recognition at that word. "You gave… a portion of it to that Hisoka but… you unknowingly gave another branch to… to Ukyou. It's supposed to be the mark of Mitkiel… he leaves it upon those that he intends to punish for the sins they have committed but- but something's gone wrong! Now it's being used by someone else… someone who means to point the finger of blame towards my master! My master who for once is innocent!"

"And this 'someone' is compelled to return upon those it has marked, is that it? Does it kill only those who bear this mark?" I pulled the cleaver away from the boys face and instead pulled him down on his hands and knees. His gasp of relief quickly turned into a shriek of fear as I pinned his right hand down by the wrist, splaying his individual fingers out. I positioned the cleaver down over his thumb. "Now you tell me quick and you tell me honestly, boy. Or I'll sever each one and then make you sit and watch as I sew them back on!"

Pandora sobbed helplessly, his face upright but clenched tightly with fear and grief. Tears were pooling from the end of his chin and dripping in generous dollops down onto the carpet.

"The Shukusatsu is passed on by shared sexual contact. It moves like the AIDS virus and everyone who wears it he will revist upon them, to end their life! So that Mitkiel's name is stained! And those whose lives are not ended by him, are culled by Mitkiel's servants otherwise they become… something like you!"

"Something like me?" I pressed down hard on his hand and pushed the blade violently against the boys thumb. "And what exactly is 'like me?' Start being more specific."

"Please… don't…" The boy was trembling all over and he was watching his hand as though it were his purse about to be snatched from his hip. "Mitkiel has four servants, including me. We have been sent in his stead, to try and protect those that wear his corrupted mark! Their names – you want their names, right? –" He had assumed so, because I had started to dig the blade into the knuckle of his thumb. Sweat was now pouring down the back of his neck. "I'll tell you – the first was previously assigned the post of Hells Executioner. Best remembered as the Cutthroat Devil of the Fourth Hour in the Order of the Nine. Eurynomous."

My knowledge of the hierarchy of demons was nowhere near as advanced as perhaps some people had been led to suspect. In all honesty, I'd never had much interest for the creatures of the Other place, unless of course they were of some use to me. What little I had learnt during my research, told me that the highest demonic class structure consisted of 9 castes, each one designated a ranking by hour. There were nine hours total in which these demons powers were at their maximum capacity, especially if the demon of that hour conducted their business during that allotted time space.

These were the devils, the highest ranking demons, promoted and empowered by the reigning kings of Hell. Out of the nine chosen, the first was the son of Satan himself, the Second Ashtirote – Great ruler of the Netherworld, the third known only as the Nameless Demon-God; whom had now stepped from the shadows and identified himself as Mitkiel. The other six I had no prior knowledge of and I am therefore unable to ascribe the concerning titles.

What I did know was that only demons of this caliber were suited to being addressed by any concerning title. So that could only mean that this Eurynomous was of equal stature to that of Ashtirote and Mitkiel themselves. Which certainly did not bode well for anyone intending to confront them.

"Eurynomous, then. Who else?"

The boy nodded, bottom lip quivering. "The second apostle the student and fiancée of the executioner – Mara the Bloodbath. Then comes Balban: The Daemon of Delusion. I believe the two of you have already met. Then finally in the lower right hand – the betrayer. He that once served Mitkiel, now wishes to usurp his throne and gain his title as the Demon-God of Punishment."

"Yes, very good but he who?" I brought the cleaver up and pressed it into the boys opposing cheek. "I require a name, boy. Don't get cryptic with me."

He started crying in earnest and I lost my patience, pushing him down onto his back and bringing my spare fist down repeatedly into his face and neck, wanting to shatter him apart. I forced myself to hold the cleaver at bay, not wanting to injure him beyond repair but requiring some method to vent my fury. I continued to beat that child until he was black and blue, both eyes swollen and nose a bloodied mess but try as I might, none of the wounds remained. They healed before my very eyes, just as a Guardian of Death only even more effectively than even my beloved Tsuzuki was capable of.

"I can't say his name! His name is taboo and I dare not speak it, lest my tongue be split in two!" Pandora screamed over my violent barrage of strikes. His arms were up, providing insubstantial cushions to the occasionally more languid of my attacks. "Don't think that I don't hate what's happened here too, Kazutaka! You weren't the only one who cared about Ukyou!"

"You!" I snatched him up by his shirtfront and hauled him before my most likely crazed expression. "How could you possibly judge a matter such as this?! You … you don't even know who Ukyou was!"

He continued to sob but his voice was growing in confidence and his eyes were bolder. "Of course I knew… of course I knew! The one who did this – the cleaver."

"Yes. I am holding a cleaver. I'm glad we're clear on that." I said, holding the bloodstained weapon up high, just to reaffirm that it was a brutal kitchen appliance, capable of exacting terrible damage upon the boy if he continued to be smart. He shook his teary, now only slightly rosy face.

"No. The one who's doing this – the fourth apostle. But he's no longer governed by Mitkiel. He goes by instruction of his own madness. He is one who wants to see not just the sinners but everyone punished! But there are those that he desires by his own sinister nature… those that deserve not punishment but whom he takes regardless. That cleaver in your hand – he uses that to make them be still. You can usually tell the ones he has touched – because they have a mark, behind their ear." He gently tilted his head forward and grazed his nail along behind the shell of his ear. "Just here. He presses the blade there and tells them to be still. He leaves a cut there. Sometimes, the entire ear is cut away because he loses control when he… when he hurts them… And that is from where the Shukusatsu usually extends, once he has come inside of your body."

I took a couple of deep breaths. I could feel my usual cold composure returning, having exacted my pent up emotions on the boy. I suppose it is the same principle most people would apply to a stress ball. He gazed up upon me, his face suddenly sympathetic.

"Don't you get it, even now, Kazutaka? With all the evidence before you? The words above the bed, look." I directed my attention once more to that stimulating phrase carved above the headboard in a means to insult my ancient memories. I jerked a little as I felt Pandora's warm hand come up and cup my cheek. "What has been done to Ukyou here today… was done to you, sixteen years ago."

My face was frozen in severe mortification and I felt the memory of that dreadful night come stealing through my mind, every last forsaken sensation and word. I snatched the boy about the wrist and threw him away with me, relinquishing all my strength in this one task. He hit the floor with a satisfying crunch and rolled down the hallway, submerging himself back within the bedroom. He hustled to his feet as I came stalking after him.

"Be silent of that!" I snapped, advancing each step that he retreated. "My memories don't play me false, boy. I am not a gullible fool like the man that I love. I know of what became of me and who perpetrated that heinous act upon my innocent body! It was that man! SAKI SHIDOU!! Everything that ever resulted came about because of him!"

"NO!" Pandora screamed back at me, with equal if not greater passion. I found myself alternatively retreating from him as he stormed at me, his hands raised and slightly curled as though demonstrating internal frustration. "Saki Shidou never put a foot wrong! He worked hard for you! All his money, he put towards buying your horrible mother her drugs, just so that she wouldn't stitch your arms up whenever you got a cut or messed up your 'perfection' in some way! Saki's mother and guardian died and he was stuck in a children's home until your fathers' guilt got the best of him and only deigned to take him in. Saki loved his half-brother. He loved his friends, Ukyou and Oriya. He would have died for them! Any one of them!"

I felt my face bloat with fury at this blind dictation. "How dare you speak to me of things beyond your understanding, you facetious brat!"

"One of your eyes may be false but your memory surely can not be as fabricated as that hunk of metal in your socket!" The boys' temper had cooled and his posture relaxed completely, features slumping in representation of a weary, defeatist sort of manner. He sighed deeply, declining his head and nursing one arm favorably, eyes now directed towards the carpet. "Don't blame Saki Shidou any longer, Kazutaka! He never smiled that day! That was an image that your weak heart gave birth to, to protect your credibility for everything that was done beyond that one moment." He rapped his chest with the flat of his hand, face brimming with powerful emotions. I opened my mouth to rebut but he beat me to it, talking so loudly and quickly that I could not hope to be legible above him. "Hear me out! The fourth apostle, Kazutaka… I cannot tell you his name but I can say that which he comes upon us. A creature of fabrication. Of not the one guise but any of that which he feels appropriate given the situation. A mimic. A mimic, Kazutaka. The fourth apostle… he is a collector of innocence. He steals virginity from those that possess it and accumulates pleasure from deriving them of that pride. He especially covets those that are young and beautiful or those of intense sexual experience but of late, he has turned his eye on one virgin who has only ripened by remaining so for such a great deal of time. That is the danger that your lover, Asato Tsuzuki is in. The Fourth means to take his innocence…."

"You know this for fact?" I asked, feeling the handle of the cleaver loosen in my grip. I tightened my fingers about it, not wanting to slice my own toes off due to my own waning attention span. The boy nodded in response to my question.

"Beyond reasonable doubt. So if you wish to enact revenge for what has been done unto Ukyou this day, you need only await his arrival upon your doorstep. He will come for Asato Tsuzuki. To covet his innocence just as he coveted yours, in exchange for the culling of your infected parents, both touched by the Shukusatsu, born down to them from its' very first victim forty-two years ago"

"But… Saki… it was Saki who made the mark…" I insisted, wondering even as I spoke these words, just who I was trying to convince with them. "It was him… he stood over me with that sword in his hand. He cut my cheek open!"

"Wake up Kazutaka!" Pandora said, though he spoke without the malice one might normally enforce upon such words. His eyes met mine again and he smiled, sincerely. Softly and as innocently as he had been that first night I had seen him at Tokyo cinema. "The Fourth servant- he fooled you! He turned your eye of suspicion on your brother and to your brother he did the same! You suspected one another of the crime that neither one was guilty of! When you confronted Saki, he figured you gone mad and he defended himself! He cut your cheek – in self defense – he raised the sword a second time and for that he suffered the consequences intended for him all along!"

"That's wrong…" I said. "Wrong…" But by his will or perhaps being confronted by an alternative view of that day, a vision appeared before my very eyes. Just as it had that day in the Tokyo bathroom it came upon me and forced upon my mind something either entirely fabricated in order to manipulate me or to beg the truth of me.

The vision revealed that day again. Saki Shidou standing over Kazutaka Muraki's splayed body, the faint shine of blood leaking from a slice on his left cheek. His eyes fearful as he stared up at his older half-brother. The brother born of his father's infidelity.

There were words there. His brother was speaking…

"Ridiculous!" I wanted to scream. "This never happened! This never took place ever! What a lie you force upon me!"

"This has to end now, Kazutaka." The older boy said, the three-foot katana in his hand pointed directly at the silver haired boys face. But it was not held with confidence. The blade trembled along with the fingers that held it. "I won't wait around another day, biding my time until you decide to make your move."

"Saki?" The younger boys voice trembled. "Were… you the one who… killed them?"

Why did I ask that? I knew by then that he had killed them. He had told me the night before.

Saki was smiling… smiling down at him.

… but…

…no…

… not a smile… a… grimace… his eyes were wide, they did not match the expression that I had in my memory. They were protruding, set back hard against his lids.

His breathing was… harsh.

"Stop it Kazutaka. You stop that right now, do you hear me?"

He never said that.

"I'm sorry but this is what you deserve for all that you've done to me! Done to us!"

All I ever did was hesitate in accepting you! How was that deserving of what you did to me? To our family

"Y-you… bastard!!"

Saki's eyes were dead set in his head, his lips curled back in determination. He raised the sword.

Muraki could see the servant approaching. He had a shotgun in his hand. He kept his frightened expression, widened his eyes. Looked so helpless that…

… that what…?

What had I been trying to do…?

"I'm sorry." Saki said as the muscles in his arm tensed. He made a move as though to bring the sword down. A shot rang out. The air was filled with the overwhelming stench of gunpowder. Blood blossomed in the upper corner of Saki's back like a flower and he collapsed on top of Muraki's trembling body like a lonely puppet whose strings had been viciously cut.

"Saki…"

I brought my face down toward the floor and someone was screaming over and over again and that someone was me. Sixteen years of pursuing a dead man who had not been guilty in the first place? I couldn't allow such a notion to become reality! It would mean… it would mean I had wasted my life! My entire life!

Saki was guilty. He had killed them both, both of them dead by his hands. That was the only truth I could accept. Anything else… no, there was no alternative.

Mr. Tsuzuki… how I wished I was your victim then. I felt no shame in desiring the responsibility of all my evil to be stripped from me in that very moment. To be rendered a helpless creature, who knew no better then what he had spent sixteen years doing and loving and feeling.

"No… it was Saki… it was Saki who made me…"

Pandora was standing before the open doorway. I could only see his legs; I had no idea what expression he now wore. But his voice registered pity and lord how I despised him for that insult.

"Saki was played a fool, just as you were." The boy said in that soft temperate tone. "He could never have killed your parents. Even when he thought you were a murderer, he couldn't bring himself to drop that blade. He was happy and he was in love with life. His parents – the ones you asked him about, you know, before he came to live with you? They were good to him. They gave him a soft heart. He might have fought with you from time to time but that didn't mean he didn't love you."

"Shut up!" I pressed my hands down over my ears, trying to block out his words. He was reconstructing someone in a positive light, someone that had to stay the way I remembered him. A bad person. The one responsible for turning me into the creature I was now. "Don't feed me any more of your lies!"

"And you know, that's why you killed that Hisoka Kurosaki so violently. That's why you gave him part of the Shukusatsu because it was like getting back at Saki for what you thought he did." Pandora's voice was getting louder and more excited as though he were figuring this nonsense out as he stood there. "Because Hisoka – and Saki – look a lot alike, ne? They both have dirty blond hair and the same slender shape. They have the same face, similar voices even. And even our names – Saki – Kurosaki. I can see how you made the connection!" He knelt down, wrapping his arms around his knees and trying to see into my eyes. "It doesn't matter though, Kazutaka. I forgive you. Even if nobody else does. It wasn't your fault what was done to us."

I was getting a very nasty feeling and I looked up into that boys face, I felt my scalp prickle as I truly took him in, comprehending only that physical representation and ignoring the personality that was so different.

Dirty blond hair…

… slender figure…

… those petite features…

… that smile and those tiny pupils…

… only one person, who had ever only addressed me as Kazutaka, regardless of how impromptu our introduction and the minimal time of our acquaintanceship.

As though registering what I was doing, the boy turned his back to me and tugged his t-shirt up until it rested over the curve of his neck. The entire length of his back was exposed to me, including the mottled circle of scar tissue adorning his left shoulder like some grisly flower arrangement.

The boy that I had spent sixteen years attempting to bring back to life, all so that I might slay him with my own two hands –

-had never truly died in the first place.

"You see, Saki Shidou couldn't have raped you on that bed of roses." The boy raised himself back upon his long limber legs and turned about, framed by the shattered arch of the doorway. Now that my mind could comprehend him, I couldn't avoid how much he resembled that same Saki Shidou I had met that one day all those years ago, in a world that seemed so far removed from this one.

A pleasure, Kazutaka.

"Because demons require their pet to be a virgin upon acquisition, Kazutaka. And thus I died as one." He smiled at me and I felt my already razed nerves splinter.

"Go home to Mitkiel, Pet." I accentuated the words as I rose to my feet, judging the weight of the cleaver in my hand as I watched the boys smile fall from his face. "And tell him that my mind is not easily fooled by his tricks. I know very well what you are trying to do and I will not fall for it. Saki Shidou destroyed my family sixteen years ago and my resolve will not be weakened by anything he attempts to throw at me."

"Kazutaka…" The boy whined and his expression dramatically shifted as I reared back my arm and hurled the cleaver at him with all the resolve I could muster. The sharp blade sliced through the air so quickly it made an audible whistle, which I was hoping to hear extinguished with a fleshy 'thunk' as it imbedded itself between the putrid doppelgangers eyes. The boy was not as slow as he was ineffective however and my vision was suddenly obscured by a cloud of pure white, almost translucent feathers that puffed outwards from where he had been standing. At first I thought he had counterattacked with a pillow and then realized that it was simply teleportation refuse. My mind briefly flashed back to the fire at Kyoto University. Something, surrounded by white feathers, had pulled me out of the fire, just before it had engulfed my weak body completely.

I had no time to further stint on that, which I suppose was a blessing, considering that further deliberation might ultimately affect my steady mindset and threaten my sanity. Or what little was left of it, if one must get technical. The method that allowed me to annul my train of thought could have been better however.

I did indeed hear that fleshy 'thunk' heralding the unification of blade and flesh, of which I was quite satisfied with. When the feathers cleared however, I was confronted with perhaps the third most devastating shock I'd been witness to that day.

Asato Tsuzuki stared down at the cleaver protruding from his chest with something of an aghast expression. It was only then, at that moment, that I considered how everything must have appeared from his point of view.

Kazutaka Muraki in the same bedroom as murdered, former fiancée. Currently in the midst of throwing the murder weapon about with considerable girlish glee. Hands' sporting a great number of scrapes and bruises from beating a conspicuously absent conspiring boy in the face.

Why Mr. Tsuzuki had chosen to appear at Ukyou's establishment right at that moment, I cannot say. Where the other Guardians were, I also cannot say. How I was going to explain this one cannot be said. What I could say and did say, was this:

"Oh shit."

Eloquent, no. But be reasonable. What more could you say?

- EC -

NaPap: Well, that's another long chapter out of the way! Things are starting to clear up a bit now, aren't they?

Tsuzuki: … No. I still have no idea what's going on! Who's the bad guy in this?! If it isn't Mitkiel, then why did he suck us into that Otherworld and sic his gang of demented babies onto us?

NaPap: Tsuzuki, I don't want to ruin the surprise! … But just to ruin the surprise, did you happen to notice that Pandora said the real baddie is a mimic?

Tsuzuki: Yes…

NaPap: Did it perhaps occur to you that maybe the real baddie was emulating Mitkiel?

Tsuzuki: … But… the real Mitkiel still made Pandora his pet, right?

NaPap: Yes and that was mean but that doesn't necessarily make him the villain of the piece.

Saki: Though it really should.

Muraki: I don't believe any of that rubbish! Saki was at fault! He's the bad guy, him! Him! (Points at Saki with a shaky finger)

Saki: But aren't you glad that you know the truth, brother? Now we can be a family again! Gimme cuddles! (Glomphs Muraki sweetly)

Muraki: (Cries) NOOOO! Get offa me!

Watari: Yay! This stupid chapter is over! Now, onto the best chapter in all of Dark Adaptation history!

Count: At long last, a certifiable lemon scene in this good for nothing cock-tease of a fanfic!

NaPap: Ah, you know me so well, Count. (Waves to readers) Please review dear readers and I'll work hard to finish off the next chapter! And what can you expect to see in the next update? Well, Oriya's here to tell you! Take it away, Oriya!

Oriya: (Clears his throat) Next time in Dark Adaptation, Watari determines the true identity of the murderer and finds out that Seki is still alive. Of equal importance, we finally do it, which means some of the readers will be substantially more happy than usual.

Muraki: I'm not happy!

NaPap: You're not a reader and I don't particularly care if the OriTari lemon makes you happy or not. Your time will come, Muraki. And when it does, Tsuzuki will come too.

Tsuzuki: (Dumb expression as he tries to figure this out)

NaPap: Oh and before we bid you farewell, here are the reviewer reviews for chapter 21 that I'm not able to respond to because the reviewers are anonymous. I just thought I'd post them down here because you guys deserve to be thanked too!

Chazmy:

Muraki: You've gone too far this time, NaPap! Now you're causing your readers to spontaneously wet themselves! (Points to Chazmy's squishy chair)

NaPap: Gee… I feel awful bad about the state of your chair Chazmy… not to mention your pants… but I guess that just goes to show how much you enjoyed chapter 21, ne?

Watari: And you ruined her mouse by making her drool all over it! … Hey, that probably explains why mine never works… Mystery solved.

Oriya: Yes dear, all well and fascinating. (Helps Chazmy mop up her drool) How many times did you actually end up reading that chapter, my dear? Did you end up drooling and wetting yourself each time? Things could take some time to clean up if that's the case!

Watari: Don't worry, Chazmy! We've brought you provisions for the next update! (Hands over a lifetime supply of towels, buckets and pull ups) There ya go! That way you can drool and wet yourself to your hearts desire and your floor and mouse will be none the messier for it!

Tsuzuki: Hope you liked the update too Chazmy! Kind of embarrassing for me but I still hope it was nice for you to read. You didn't wet yourself reading that did you? (Looks very concerned)

Muraki: I guess we'll find out soon enough. (Walks in carrying a mop)

NaPap: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much, Chazmy! Now I'm really looking forward to presenting the lemon to you, seeing how eager you were at having those two just in the shower together!

Watari: It's going to be marvelously splendiferously smexy! You'll see Chazmy!

NaPap: Thanks for reading, love! I hope to hear from you soon! Get that mouse checked out in the meantime, eh? (Huggle)

Saraphita:

Watari: (Gets cuddled) Yeah! Poor little me! It's a good thing I've got Oriya around to take care of me, huh? (Nods in agreement) He certainly is a very fine gentleman!

Oriya: Well… thankyou for saying so Miss Saraphita. (Returns hug gingerly) I just do what I feel needs to be done. I'm not sure that makes me a gentleman but I'm flattered you see it in such a positive light.

NaPap: I'm not sure if the fic is getting more interesting or not Saraphita! I do know that it's getting more confusing! And I'm actually quite amazed that you're keeping up with all the random twists I've thrown into the mix! It certainly strains my itty bitty brain to say the least…

Watari: (Huggles Saraphita again) I can't wait for the lemon either! It's gonna be so good! I'm gonna love that Oriya and snuggle him and kissle him and-

Muraki: What on earth is a 'kissle'?

Watari: Something you'll never get from Tsuzuki, meanie doctor.

Ichibana: Awesome! I'm being acknowledged by a reader! (Laughs and pats his stomach) Thanks for congratulating me, though I didn't exactly go to a great deal of effort to get this way.

NaPap: I guess it is sort of cute and weird at the same time, eh Saraphita? And I'm sure glad you're enjoying the revelations because there was another big one in this chapter, as you may have noticed! I just keep laying 'em on thick, don't I?

Muraki: Yes. And I think it's mighty time you stopped! Less revelations more fornication!

Watari: For once, I ain't arguing with the Mad-Eye. Let's get ourselves some bone fide A-C-T-I-O-N! I gotta lot hormones to work off!

NaPap: And don't you worry about me, Saraphita! I been done taking good care of myself, ya hear? Hope ya enjoyed the update and don't you worry little lady; that lemon scene is well on its' way to an Internet near you!

Watari: HELL YEAH!

Death sown:

NaPap: You really were involved in this fic, weren't you? Two hours sitting in front of the computer without moving… geez, your bladder must have been full!

Tsuzuki: And English is not your original language, huh? That must have made things a little more difficult for you, huh?

Watari: We're so glad to hear you're enjoying it! Even if it has worked on you like some crazy addiction.

NaPap: (Laughs) Yeah, sometimes I wish that I was continuing on from where the real Descendants of Darkness left off, just because of the effort I've been putting into this fic! But that's Yoto Matsushita's privilege as the author of this fantastic series. I'm just happy to know that readers like you feel that I portray the characters realistically and faithfully. That honestly makes all the long hours worthwhile.

Watari: And one of your favorite pairings is Oriya/Watari? Yay, we've hooked another one!

Oriya: Join the club. Fans like you are so hard to find. You tend to lean a little to the side of… well… non-existent.

Muraki: Non-existent except for NaPap.

NaPap: I'm the club in and of itself. And of course it's wonderful that you favor the Muraki/Tsuzuki pairing too! That's always a joy to hear! Nice to know that you agree with me about Muraki's behavior… I thought it might be a tad unrealistic if he just suddenly warped into a goody two-shoes. So he's still got the same mind-set, he's just not killing at the moment.

Muraki: Nope. I'm just trying to be a sweet, sweet lover… if Mr. Tsuzuki will ever let me.

Tsuzuki: (Dramatically) NEVER!

NaPap: In a few updates. (Continues reading review) I'm also like that I didn't have it so Oriya was in love with Muraki. That name schtick was so old and overused! Can't he just be the guys' friend? Can't his loyalty be based on a deep and profound friendship? I'm sincerely loyal to my friends and that doesn't mean I want to get in their pants!

Muraki: Yes it does.

Tsuzuki: Bad example, using yourself there, NaPap.

NaPap: Shut up! (Hugs Death Sown) Now, now… I'm sure your days are much better than that! But if you're having a bad day today, I do hope that this update cheers you up and makes everything seem better. And boys? She says she likes you all. Equally.

All: (Stare at each other)

Tsuzuki: Well obviously I'm the favorite.

Watari: Bullshit! Why would she like you the most, when I'm so genki and cute?

Muraki: I'm evil and dashing. I've got it made. Clearly I would be her number one choice.

Watari: You suck, Muraki!

(All three start fighting amongst themselves)

Oriya: (Blinks) Well… let's just say I'm the favorite for now, eh? (Gives Death Sown a little hug) Next week it can be one of the other boys. If one of them ever wins this fight.

NaPap: Thanks for the great long review, Death Sown! Hope to hear from you again soon!

Well, that's it for the anonymous reviewer reviews, so that's my cue to hit the road! (Waves to readers) See you next time everyone! Take care crossing the road, don't eat chocolate after midnight and don't forget to wash behind your ears lest a potato grow there! Adios!