Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei is not mine. :P

You're Not Alone

He simply sat and let them touch him as they saw fit.

He was starting to recognize them – not by sight, but by Feel. One always screamed, one was always cold, one was trapped on her last thought – not fair – and one was focused on the pain she felt in her last moments. Then there was the one that was afraid to die, then Lisa and Serendipity. Yes, he recognized them all now. He just couldn't make himself care.

That wasn't... quite fair. He cared, he supposed. Or at least he would, if he hadn't... if Tsuzuki...

No, dammit, that hadn't been Tsuzuki. It was just that stupid fucking nightmare, mixing in his horrors from that night with the painful memory of Muraki... he shuddered, but not from the Feel of the cold girl, still trying futilely to make him hear her. That night with Muraki was one he wished he could forget again.

Muraki hadn't stepped in again. He'd gotten little sleep, no food, no water. His body felt like lead. How much longer before Muraki lost his patience and upped the stakes? It couldn't be much more now. It was only a matter of time.

"Tsuzuki..." he whispered, and curled up on himself. He didn't even know if he wanted to be saved anymore.

Unsurprisingly, the door whooshed open a few hours later.

Hisoka looked up, hardly caring to bother, to see Muraki striding serenely toward him. His scars started to burn.

"It seems we must up the stakes," Muraki said.

Up the stakes? "How?" he asked dumbly.

"Well, now, obviously the girls don't have the power I'd desired. And of course I can't let you go until I know they can. I've brought a friend for you for that very purpose."

Hisoka jerked. Another victim? He surged to his feet, fury giving him power. "What do you mean?"

"I must have left out an important piece of the equation, and I believe I now know what it was."

Muraki seemed wholly unconcerned. How had he managed to get another victim with Tsuzuki and Tatsumi around? But of course they must not be watching for that too carefully... Hisoka clenched his teeth together. In looking for him, the victim had been caught? But maybe they'd seen Muraki catch the girl and had wanted him to lead them to his hideout. He would hold out for that possibility. "And what do you suppose is missing?"

Muraki chuckled. "Well, I must say it was foolish to overlook – you came out looking for one little girl, yet I had needed to lure you all out here after having killed several. I had forgotten to keep the soul."

Hisoka stilled.

"Ah, yes, that was it." And Muraki stuck his hand in his pocket. Hisoka knew what it was before the man even pulled it out – he braced himself. He would evade as long as possible. Buy some time. It was all he could do. "Good. I was afraid I'd made a mistake."

"She's already dead?" he gasped. Then there was no way Tsuzuki and Tatsumi had caught him. But how was that? They must have... he frowned. "How...?"

"Oh, my dear little doll." Muraki smiled at him, a smile so bright it was chilling. "Of course I'd secreted away a few, just in case. Just like I did you."

Hisoka shuddered.

"So, let's see what happens, shall we? I'm afraid we'll have to have you leave this room. We don't want any distractions, do we?"

He backed up. It was almost as if... but of course Muraki had planned for this. Have a few test subjects ready, then have some extras on stand-by to be able to quickly continue collecting data. It was coldly calculating. It suited Muraki too well.

"No!" he shouted.

Again, Serendipity's silvery form shot out in front of him. Muraki stepped right through her, unfaltering, as if she didn't exist at all. He reached out for Hisoka, hand white and beckoning. Hisoka jumped away from it, glaring.

"The end result is inevitable," Muraki told him, as if he didn't know. "Trying to buy time is useless, as well. They won't find you. Not until I want you to be found."

Hisoka didn't like the tone in Muraki's voice when he said that. "What will this accomplish for you?!" he snapped, scuttling over to the corner furthest from the madman. "Only I can be affected by these souls." If they could be called souls. "Do you really want my body?" Tsuzuki had managed to relate a bit of information after he'd recovered. He'd said Muraki had wanted to use his body as a replacement for someone else.

"You are closer to his old size," Muraki murmured, "but no. I have other plans."

Other plans? What other plans? What other plans could there possibly be?! "There are no other plans! I'm the only one-"

Muraki tsked and moved closer. He didn't seem to walk quickly, but suddenly he was only a couple of steps away. Hisoka belatedly realized he'd trapped himself in. "That's a bad habit, you know. Thinking you're somehow more special than anyone else."

Hisoka's fists clenched. If he tried to run, Muraki would catch him. There wasn't enough space to run away. Did that mean fight? But that was useless, too. "That doesn't change the fact that Tsuzuki couldn't be hurt by Amara."

"No. But he can be hurt by you, can't he?"

Hisoka froze. Of course Muraki took the chance to lunge, to grab him and pull his arm out and plunge the needle in. He writhed in Muraki's grasp, but it was as useful as his screaming. The fire swept him up and knocked him out.

Tsuzuki paced like a caged tiger, lethal and agitated and pissed. But unlike the tiger, he was terrified. There was no news; as far as he knew, Hisoka was already dead – permanently dead.

What could Muraki want? How had the man found them? What was he doing to Hisoka? Always the questions would circle each other in his mind, and always they would halt on that last one. Images would flash through his mind, dire endings that he couldn't bear to imagine. Then he would shake his head and begin again, trying to find an answer, trying to know. Wishing Hisoka was beside him.

"Tsuzuki..." Tatsumi stood still, as helpless as he.

"Tell me how you found me," Tsuzuki pleaded, not for the first time. "Tell me how you tracked me down."

"We found Oriya," Tatsumi said, also not for the first time. "This time Muraki's working alone. We've already got the twins searching the library information on the town for any likely spot Muraki may be hiding. As soon as they've finished, we can move. But not until then, Tsuzuki."

"What if we're too late?" A fear he'd been too afraid to express, words he thought blasphemy to string together.

"We won't be," Tatsumi stated firmly. "Kurosaki is strong." Familiar words, but not reassuring. "He'll live, if only because the two of you promised."

Tsuzuki held onto that as if it were his last hope. He was terrified it was.

He'd hardly felt the heat of the Serpent's fire when a voice screaming at him woke him up. His eyes snapped open. Immediately after his heart jumped in his chest.

Muraki certainly had moved him since he'd been unconscious. He'd been in a large room with no windows, but now he was in a much smaller room, still windowless, with what looked to be several consoles situated around his holding cell.

But his holding cell wasn't normal – what about this fiasco was? He thought it more a scene from a bad science fiction movie. Soon, he thought, liquid would be seeping in from cracks under the floor, and he would be immersed, left in a coma-like state for a couple of centuries. For the cell was more of a tube, a clear tube that trapped him within a small little area. If he moved as far back as he could, he still wouldn't be able to stretch his arms out all the way in front of him. Muraki was conspicuously absent.

But just as he thought that, a door opposite his tube opened and Muraki entered. He smiled when he saw Hisoka's eyes open. Hisoka surged to his feet and glared. "Good, you're awake. You can hear her, correct?"

Hisoka frowned. "What?"

"No?" Muraki frowned, then shrugged. "Ah, well. Back to the drawing board, as they say." He made to leave.

"Hold on." He pushed forward, as much as he could in the cramped space. "You're going to kill another girl, right? I won't let you!"

Muraki smirked. "And what, pray tell, are you going to do? That little tube is as enforced as the room I placed you in, though you never made the effort to attempt to break out. I placed wards all over this place. I would never be so careless as to let you escape."

"Like you did with Tsuzuki," Hisoka shouted, furious. Muraki paused then, a significant pause that raised Hisoka's hackles. When Muraki turned his head to look at him, his eyes were coldly murderous. Just as they'd been when Hisoka had first seen him.

"Yes. Like I had with Tsuzuki. But you helped him then, didn't you?" Hisoka fought down a shiver. Muraki was calm, but Hisoka could easily Feel the hatred and madness roiling off him in waves. He'd stepped into dangerous ground.

Muraki left without another word.

He breathed out a quick sigh of relief, then looked around. If he could find a way to leave, to escape... his odd prison seemed airtight, but there had to be a weakness somewhere. If he could find it, he could escape and he and Tsuzuki could figure out a way to destroy this place. Then Muraki's plans, whatever they were, would never come to fruition.

The consoles were the key. He looked at them and scowled. He didn't understand what any of the knobs and switches were for, but he was sure destroying them would trigger something. He just had to find some crack in the seals Muraki had made and–

He gasped and ducked, smacking his elbow into the tube in the process. Above him, a shining form glittered. It flowed like water, rushed towards him. But it was certainly not water...

His mind finally processed what he was seeing. He stared in horror at... the ghost.

Pieces were missing; an ear, a foot. Her ring and pinky fingers on her right hand. But for the most part, she was whole. Her hair was long and red and curled; her clothes a simple, almost plain white skirt and vest. A light blue top peeked out from underneath. Her eyes, dark grey, stared sadly at him.

"Is it true that you can see me?" the girl asked him.

His eyes widened even further. There was no way. In so short a time, with nothing more than a perfunctory knowledge of what he'd needed to do... Muraki had done this? How?!

"You can hear me?" she whispered.

He stayed a very careful distance away from her. If Muraki had told this girl about his ability to Feel her presence, what else had he told her? "Yes," he answered her finally. She couldn't be any more than thirteen years old. He scowled at that; Muraki must have a thing for little kids.

"He said he'd killed me." He hissed. "Why?"

He shook his head. Big gray eyes pleaded with him to explain, but he had no answers. Who could explain the thoughts of a psychopath? "I don't know."

She floated down a bit more, reached out her deformed, half-there hand towards his face. "Can I really live again if I take your body?"

He tensed like a bowstring. "It doesn't quite work like that. You would have to kill me."

She flinched away from him at that. Hisoka felt the faint stirrings of relief; of course this girl couldn't take his soul. She hadn't gone through centuries of tragedy. She hadn't become desperate.

"What do I do?" she asked him.

He didn't know that, either. "You can still leave this place. Move on."

But she'd begun shaking her head before he'd even finished. "My brother needs me. I promised I would live for him."

This time it was Hisoka to flinch. Live for him? He couldn't help but think of Tsuzuki. "I have someone who made the same promise. Someone very important to me."

She kept a careful distance. "I can't break my promise. If I do, he might... if he blames himself..."

Hisoka Felt her pain, her anguish. He could easily understand; he himself was in a similar situation. The only difference was that it wasn't too late for him. It was for her. "I understand. But I can't let you kill me." He carefully stood straight, making sure they didn't touch. "I can't let you take me away from him."

She stared wide-eyed at him. "But what about my brother?"

His hands fisted. "You understand the importance of keeping this promise. He didn't reciprocate the promise; he doesn't need just you to continue living. But you needed him. You did your best to keep your promise. He still has you. His job is stay alive for you to live in him. It was your job to fight to stay alive. You both kept your promises. Now you need to let me keep my promise. I need to keep living."

The girl's image blurred and trembled for a moment. "But Ryan..."

Her emotions, just like Amara's, were so strong they almost bowled him over. He grit his teeth against the Feel of it. Muraki had done well. He had to escape now. "Trust his strength."

His words reminded him of what he had to do. He began searching the tube for weaknesses, for openings. He was infinitely careful still not to touch the girl floating partly above him. Her dress, however, billowed out so much it was almost impossible. Finally he gave up and turned back to her. "Can you move away? I have to-"

"Little Marie." Hisoka's head snapped forward, his arms dropping guiltily to his side. Muraki didn't even bother to glance at him. "If you ever want to leave this place, you will do as I say."

Marie shrank away from him, floating through the tube and almost through the wall behind it.

"Take his body and destroy his soul. If you don't, I will find your brother and kill him, as well." Then Muraki turned to him. "I told you I did not want your body. However, when your soul is eaten away, I can use this little girl and bring Saki back."

Hisoka glared at Muraki, his scars glowing and burning. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

Muraki held out his hand. "I have a theory. If your soul is weakened, can it be switched out with a stronger soul? Then I could keep you safely near me until I'm ready, until I manage to extract Saki's soul without harming his physical body. Then I can simply use any body – my dear Tsuzuki's, for instance – and force the two of you inside. No matter who wins, your ability should be available. And surely, knowing you, you would never willingly destroy my dear Tsuzuki's soul, but Saki won't have any such qualms. And then I can bring Saki back." His eyes grew wide, impossibly wide, and a smile like a serpent's wound up his face. Hisoka shuddered at the Feel of the man's madness.

"You can't!" the girl shouted from behind him, not yet used to the idea of not being heard. Hisoka winced at the sound and Feel of her desperation. He was being pulled by extremes. He felt about to snap. "Don't hurt him! He's done nothing!"

She whooshed forward and tried to grab Muraki's arm. Her malformed hand slipped right through him, and she seemed to stumble in the air. Muraki turned and left the room.

Her dedication to her brother was so very much like Amara's. He knew already that she would make her decision. But still he had to try. "You'll be a murderer, Marie."

She turned to him. "No! You'll only be weakened, like he said. You'll still be alive."

"But you'll still have stolen my body from me!" He had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. And her damn fear and terror and utter hopelessness was sapping the very last of his waning strength. "You still won't see Ryan! You still won't be able to go to him! Muraki will keep you here; it'll change nothing!"

"I can't let Ryan die!" she cried.

And there was nothing to say to that.

"I... I don't really know what to do," she murmured, gliding up next to him. He pressed himself into the glass – plastic? – behind him, but he couldn't escape and they both knew it. His fingers pressed into the tube. Tsuzuki... He had to escape, to make it out of there and reassure Tsuzuki, who had to be terrified for him and blaming himself for Hisoka's capture, just as he had last time. He had to...

"I'm sorry if this hurts more than it should."

She touched him, and like an electric current her emotions slammed into him, as overwhelming as Amara's had been, tinged with a despair that was agonizing in its newness. He screamed at it, at the purity of her fear as it rushed in and ensnared his limbs.

No! Tsuzuki...

He managed to cling to consciousness as Marie entered his body; a cold that froze every particle of his body, every tissue, every cell, chilling parts of him he'd never been aware of before, his nerves, his blood, his organs. He choked on the feel of it, unable to draw breath. His heart froze, unmoving. His hand tried to move, to clutch at it, but it, too, was locked into place. With a sick twist in his gut, he slumped into darkness.

"Tsuzuki!"

Tsuzuki stood and turned as Tatsumi re-entered the room. "So? They know?"

"They have an idea," Tatsumi hedged, holding a sheet of paper in his hand.

"Where?" Tsuzuki demanded. He moved forward, practically vibrating in his anxiety.

"Tsuzuki, there's only a fifty-three percent chance that-"

But Tsuzuki ripped the paper out of Tatsumi's hand and scanned it. "The abandoned SM building?" he stated quizzically, then murmured the address. "All right. Let's go."

"Tsuzuki, the chances-"

"Then let's go to every single place, starting from the top," Tsuzuki hissed. He glared at Tatsumi. "We have to do something. I can't just sit here anymore."

Tatsumi sighed, closed his eyes... and nodded. "I understand."

Tsuzuki managed a smile. He pushed past Tatsumi and left the room, following the hallway to the door without fully noticing what he was doing. It had been far too long. How long? Two days, three? His hands shook at the thought. Hisoka could be... no. He wouldn't let himself think about that. He couldn't. They had to get there in time. Any other option was...