Finally! A day that I can update on time! -looks around suspiciously.- Something bad is going to happen, isn't it? Anyways, the muse is currently in a comatose like sleeping state after too many New Year's and Christmas parties. I may have to take him to the hospital, if I remember. Anyways, here are the shout outs from the last chapter. (I forgot to put them down on the last one. Bad Chrono!)
To laustic, CrazyYnMLoverxD, Kaouri18, and Sasskitten: Thank you all very much! I guess I don't have to tell you all this, but the new chapter is up (duh) and I look forward to your reviews. Hope you like it!
To jennamarie: I thought that the situation was way too serious so I thought to myself: "Hmm, what's the one thing Hisoka can beat Tsuzuki with that'll make everything funny?" and the Muse commented that it should be a pillow, so I totally went with it.
As for Hisoka's powers going nuts while he was sleeping... Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. Must incoporate into storyline. Unfortunately, the chapters that I have gotten finished haven't exactly had a chance for the flaunting of supernatural abilities, but I will get to that. I love to show off strong characters too much to not do that. So be patient, you'll get that one.
And how the other shinigami will react... Well, you'll have to wait for this and the next two chapters to find that out. After that, that's when things start to pick up. Plus, there will be an unexpected move involved... But you'll find out about that later. -listens to the collective shrieks of fangirls- I'm glad you'll be here for the long haul, and I look forward to your review.
To ShadowInTheDarknes: No problem. I love reviews, and I have no problem giving you guys the heads-up if you don't find out about new chapters on your own. You guys are what keep me going, and since you are all looking forward to a new chapter, I drag my lazy butt out of bed and slog through the day to get to you.
And I agree with you, Hisoka needs a hug. In about... one or two chapters, you'll be getting that. The next few chapters entail Hisoka's return to the Judgement Bureau, so I didn't have much time for mushy stuff. As for the second comment... well, I'll be getting around to that too. Be patient. I need a little time to pull the two together and time to arrange the chaos of the deadly "totally cliched return case that you will find out about later". Things take time, and it looks like this one will have a LOT of chapters. Of course, I couldn't be happier, but with you guys it may be a different story.
And now that Hisoka is back, all of you will get to see what happens. Also, this chapter is kinda special. It was supposed to be divided into two chapters, but as a special treat I combined two of them. Makes things move faster, you know? So without further adieu, here's chapter four!
Chapter Four
Hisoka was a little nervous. The silence of the house had woken him up the next morning. He'd become accustomed to waking to the sounds of the city, cursing the sounds of traffic with enough ferocity to make a sailor turn green with envy.
Consequently, when he woke up in the morning, he had jumped out of bed half expecting that the world had ended, then nearly freaked out when he realized that he was back in his old room and had ran into the wall when he had jumped out of bed.
Then he had remembered the events of the previous day. Even though his memory was a little hazy, the results were basically the same. He was back at Meifu, and would probably be heading to work since Tsuzuki would make certain that he didn't leave and could now track his telepathic powers as well as his regular magic.
He couldn't say he was relieved at the prospect.
Hisoka padded across the cold hardwood floor to the closet, which was basically filled with nothing but jeans and long and short sleeved shirts. He shrugged into a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black shirt. He hadn't particularly cared what he had worn in the mortal world because no one else had, but he wore the shirt so that no one would ask stupid questions about the bandages or his curse marks should they decide to flare up.
He had never blabbed to any of the shinigami about his rape, and he wasn't intending to. And although he had a bit of a suspicion that Tsuzuki knew something, he had figured that Tsuzuki only knew of how Muraki had killed and cursed him. Still, he had often noticed that the elder shinigami did seem a little overprotective of him.
Too lazy to comb his hair, he raked his fingers through it to get rid of the bed head, tied it back in a loose ponytail, and hurriedly brushed his teeth before stopping in the doorway. As Tsuzuki's deep snores radiated out from the guest bedroom, he felt a little tension ease out of him. Waking him was one problem he could avoid this morning.
He slipped out into the hall and past his closed door. With uncanny abruptness, the snores stopped. Cursing under his breath Hisoka hurried down the first few stairs. Tsuzuki's door creaked open, followed by the padding of bare feet on hardwood. Don't stop, he warned himself, and don't turn around. Then he stopped and, of course, turned around.
Tsuzuki stood at the top of the stairs looking exhausted enough to tumble down them at the slightest touch. His black hair was an unruly mess, rumbled and plastered down by sweaty sleep and his amethyst eyes were half lidded, struggling to focus. He was dressed only in a pair of black silk pajama pants decorated with the kanji for "slacker" that Hisoka had bought him as a joke at Christmas one year. With a yawn, he stretched and rolled his shoulders, rippling muscles down his chest as Hisoka caught a few blurred memories from him.
"You have a rough night guarding my escape routes?" Hisoka asked, raising an eyebrow at his partner.
Tsuzuki only shrugged. It appeared that he had busied himself the previous night guarding Hisoka's possible escape venues should he regain consciousness and decide to leave again. As if Hisoka would ever be cowardly enough to sneak off into the night, especially considering he had been so tired he could barely move! Ok, he had done it before, but that wasn't the point.
"How 'bout some company for breakfast?" Tsuzuki asked.
"No."
There was another drowsy shrug of his shoulders. Let a few more hours pass and he'd never take that rebuff without a fight. Hell, in a few hours he wouldn't even bother asking if he could join Hisoka. The empath started back down the stairs. He got exactly three steps before Tsuzuki jolted awake, trotted down the stairs after him, and grabbed his elbow.
"Let me get your breakfast," he said. "I'll meet you in the dining room. I want to talk to you."
"I don't feel like talking, Tsuzuki." Now that he was rested, Hisoka wasn't even sure he had wanted to come back to the Judgment Bureau to begin with. He didn't want to deal with annoying questions, and though that sounded really ungrateful, he was a lot harder than before after being away so long.
"Give me five minutes."
Before Hisoka could answer, he'd jogged up the stairs and vanished into the guest room. Hisoka would have gone after him, but that would have meant following him into the guest room reserved for Tsuzuki, and considering his partner's cleanliness habits, that was definitely not a good idea.
As Hisoka padded into his kitchen, he was expecting a horrible mess of spoiled food and dust. It seemed that his bedroom wasn't the only place unchanged: the kitchen was stocked with some of his favorite foods, and there wasn't a speck of dust to be found.
"I see you've been keeping yourself busy." He said as he sensed Tsuzuki standing behind him in the doorway.
His partner shrugged. "I figured that you'd be mad at me if you came back to a kitchen filled with rotten food. So I kept it clean when I wasn't busy looking for you, so your house would be livable when you came back."
You didn't even know if I was coming back, Hisoka thought with a little ray of warmth as he walked through the door to the dining room and sat down with a bowl of chopped fruit and a cup of coffee in front of him. His five years away had done nothing to help with his sweet tooth, which Tsuzuki had undoubtedly expected. Speaking of which…
Hisoka raised an eyebrow as he saw a large bag of assorted sweets on top of the fridge. "Let me guess: trying to keep Konoe from finding your stash, so it's taken up residence at my house?"
Tsuzuki didn't reply as his arm reached over Hisoka's shoulder, snatched up a slice of banana, and downed it in one gulp. When Hisoka glared at him, he only gave him a disarming "just trying to help" shrug. His fingers darted out to grab another slice of banana out of Hisoka's bowl. Grabbing his fork, the empath slapped the back of his hand hard enough to make his partner yelp.
He then sipped at his coffee and proceeded to ignore him. Tsuzuki turned the chair next to him backwards and straddled it, now dressed in his usual work attire of a white shirt, black pants, and a matching tie.
The quiet might have lasted longer if the doorbell hadn't shattered the silence. Tsuzuki ran to answer it, and then came back with Yutaka Watari, Meifu's resident mad scientist, with 003 on his shoulder. He was talking to Tsuzuki and for the moment hadn't noticed the house's other occupant.
"So anyways, Tsuzuki, I really think you need a break from your "Hisoka" hunting. Take a little vacation, get some sun-" He froze and stared between Tsuzuki and Hisoka, the latter sitting at the table with a fork sticking out of his mouth and the former grinning like an idiot.
There was a long silence. The blonde scientist was so surprised that he took off his glasses and wiped them clean before he spoke. "Bon, you're back… WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
Hisoka yelped in surprise as said blonde scientist tackled him, sending him flying clean out of his chair as Watari gripped him in a bear hug that left him breathless as his ribs were pressed.
"Do you have any idea how much everyone has been missing you? You have to tell me everything that's happened to you! Oh, and I have to do some tests to make sure you're really Hisoka and not some weird pod person!"
"Uh, Watari, if you keep it up Hisoka may not live long enough for those tests," Tsuzuki said. He was standing to the side watching the spectacle with his arms folded and a big grin on his face. Watari grinned back at him before releasing Hisoka, who sank to the floor and rubbed his aching ribs. He glared at Tsuzuki, who was once again trying to eat his food, before smacking him in the back of the head.
"Keep your fingers out of my bowl." He said, pointing to the fridge. "Your food is in there. There should be enough for both of you."
003 was the first to fly through the door. When Watari went to follow, Tsuzuki grabbed his arm. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to. Watari nodded and went to fill two plates of whatever suited him and Tsuzuki, while Tsuzuki took the seat next to Hisoka.
"Bully," the empath muttered darkly.
Watari came back into the room with a plate piled so high with pre-made pancakes that Hisoka expected them to slide off any moment, especially since he was only holding it (and the empty plate below it, presumably for Tsuzuki,) in one hand. The other was busily forking a pancake into his mouth. He dropped the empty plate in front of Tsuzuki, filled it up with three pancakes, and allowed the other shinigami to dig in. Hisoka sat and ate his bowl in silence.
Finally, uncomfortable with the silence, Watari leaned back in his chair and sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Tatsumi's gonna be pissed, you know. I hope you have a lot of money on you, Bon, because I can see a pay docking in your immediate future."
"I'm well aware of that." The empath replied from across the table. Sighing, he stood up and cleared the table. "Might as well get over it. It's time to go to work."
The ministry office hadn't changed much. Not that Hisoka would have expected it, seeing as how everyone there resided in the netherworld and dead people aren't renowned for change. It still disturbed him a little, though. Almost like he hadn't left at all…
Watari and Tsuzuki were behind him, no doubt to make certain he wouldn't turn tail at the last minute, both chattering amiably, something about pie… Hisoka let their words go in one ear and out the other, passing through as white noise. His entire attention was on the confrontation ahead.
Now that he was back, odds were that everyone would probably being asking him questions such as what he had been doing for the last five years; questions he had no intention or desire to answer. He was still a little nervous about his own emotions. If they got a little out of control, who knew what his powers could lead to? He shook his head fiercely, reminding himself not to think about it.
Not to mention that his empathy had made a surprising come-back since his arrival home. Back in the mortal realm it had been on standby: shifting through emotions and little blurbs of thought seamlessly like a well-tuned machine. But for once he was actually paying attention to it, and the amount of work it required after so long nearly made him nauseous.
They managed to make it to the office he shared with Tsuzuki without any problems. The hallways were deserted. Watari had caused this personally by running madly through the halls screaming that he had a new potion and required a guinea pig. He claimed that it was true, but Hisoka could tell that Watari had done it to give the empath a little closure before everyone figured out that he was back. He was grateful for it.
He took a seat down in his office chair and propped his feet on the corner of his desk before folding his arms behind his head, something that would have been very out of character for him five years ago. This was made painfully obvious as Tsuzuki did a double-take, blinking with a concerned expression on his face.
"You okay?" He asked, blinking his amethyst eyes owlishly.
"I'm fine." Hisoka replied tersely before eye-balling a stack of paper on his desk. "You sure no one knew I was coming back? Because those papers state otherwise. Unless the "paperwork monster" decided to take a crap on my desk."
Tsuzuki blinked in surprise, before he burst out laughing. It seemed Hisoka still was still as verbally blunt as ever. Some things hadn't changed. The mirth died out a moment before Tsuzuki replied back.
"Actually, um… that's all my work." This time it was Hisoka who blinked in surprise before his partner shrugged his shoulders and continued. "I kinda got into the habit of working at your desk. Mine is flooded with mismatched papers and stuff, and made it hard to clear my head, so I usually did my work over there."
"I see." The empath replied coolly as his emerald-eyed gaze shifted to the work. "You spelled "incapacitated" wrong."
"I did?" Tsuzuki walked over to stand beside him and gaze down at the word Hisoka was indicating. "Well, I guess I did." He gave a little laugh.
Hisoka groaned. "Baka. Try spelling big words right the next time you decide to use them."
They were interrupted as the door swung open, accompanied by a chorus of fangirl shrieks. Hisoka turned pale. "Oh man…"
The next instant he was tackled by at least two hundred pounds of Saya and Yuma, each having grabbed him around the neck with a grip that any construction worker would be proud of. The room was soon filled with screams of "Hisoka's back! Hisoka's back!" as the girls jumped up and down with glee, dragging the poor empath into the air with them.
"Well, if no one knew you were back before, they probably do now." Tsuzuki said, standing to the side as he shook his head at his partner's predicament.
"Tell me about it." Hisoka groaned.
The day had barely begun, and yet already Tatsumi was sensing something amiss.
First of all, Watari had run through the halls screaming about a new potion, when as far as Tatsumi could tell he had actually gone home that night and therefore had no time to create a new concoction/bane-of-his-co-workers'-existence.
The second was that Tsuzuki was acting a little more hyper than usual. But not the "I'm-trying-not-to-act-sad hyper", more like the "I'm-dying-trying-to-keep-this-secret-from-you" hyper. He hadn't even gone to the vending machines for a sugary snack yet!
Plus, he wasn't following his usual trend of heading out to look for Hisoka for the first time in five years. And he wasn't letting anyone near his office, which was unusual in itself, but Watari was helping him, and they both acted with the overzealous attitudes of two bodyguards protecting a president, or a king.
And Tatsumi was determined to get to the bottom of it, one way or another.
"Do you really think we should be doing this? I mean, everyone is bound to get suspicious eventually. They'll find out sooner or later." Hisoka stated bluntly. He was in the same position he had been when he had first walked into the office, except that he had finished up the rest of Tsuzuki's paperwork an hour or so previously. Saya and Yuma were sitting off to the side in the "Harpy Zone" since Hisoka had gotten tired of them trying to glomp him constantly. Luckily, they were both being relatively quiet.
"Well, it is your first day back, and emotions are bound to be high. I just don't want you to get overwhelmed." Tsuzuki replied from where he was eating a large slice of double chocolate cake. He had taken a break from guard duty while Watari caused mayhem on the residents of Meifu in his stead.
Hisoka frowned sourly. "I'm not gonna get "overwhelmed", Tsuzuki. I can handle other people's emotions just fine."
"Not according to your dizzy spell before Saya and Yuma were banished to the "Harpy Zone"." Tsuzuki pointed out, gesturing toward his partner with his fork. Hisoka blanched in surprise. He wasn't sure which annoyed him more; the fact that his partner had just trumped him, or the fact that he was actually right for once.
"Yeah, 'Soka," Saya replied cheerfully before Yuma finished the comment for her. "We wouldn't want you passing out on your first day back. You know, we should celebrate this occasion. We got a new Pink House catalogue and-"
The words were interrupted by Hisoka throwing projectiles their way and causing quite a bit of noise while he was at it. The result: the two girls and Tsuzuki, who somehow got in the way, ending up with red handprints on their faces.
They would have gotten worse, but Hisoka wasn't a big enough dirt bag to punch a girl. If he did that, he would never stop getting hell from the other shinigami, and besides, he was still too proud. That was his Kurosaki side coming out in him, that irritating connection to his family that refused to die.
"Well, I'll be damned." A rough voice said in the doorway.
Hisoka whirled to see Hajime Terazuma and Kannuki Wakaba, the resident shinigami of Chuugoku. Terazuma's trademark cigarette was drooping out of his mouth, and his ebony-black hair just barely covered his pointed ears, while Wakaba was bright and sunny as usual. "So you're really back, kid."
"That's good! We were all really worried! I'll have to make a cake to celebrate." Wakaba put in, smiling at Hisoka.
"Tatsumi will have an ulcer when he realizes you're back at work." Terazuma muttered with sadistic glee as he started to head out the door.
"Terazuma! Don't tell!" Saya and Yuma nearly tackled Terazuma, who was forced to duck behind Wakaba and use her as a very unfortunate human shield, though he was careful to avoid contact with her as well as with Saya and Yuma. The room was now filled with Wakaba's screams of "Hajime!" while Terazuma used his "if they touch me, I'll transform!" excuse.
Watari moved sheepishly from behind them, twiddling his thumbs as Tsuzuki glared at him. "Sorry… they sorta made me let them in…"
"We all know we can't rely on Watari when the going gets rough." Hisoka said from the desk.
Tsuzuki tried in vain to get the others to quiet down, but to no avail. It was only when Hisoka threatened to not only touch Terazuma (thus causing a transformation), and leave for Chijou once again did the room go still. Terazuma let Wakaba down and approached the desk as he let a new cigarette and looked the empath over. "Damn, kid. What happened to you?"
"What do you mean?" Hisoka asked as he raised an eyebrow at the older Shinigami, while his mind did a flip-flop. Damn. Can he tell?
"Your aura, you chi, is a lot fiercer than it used to be. Plus, even while sitting, you've got the kind of posture that reminds me the most of a resting tiger, that kind of "I'm-resting-but-if-you-get-close-I'll-rip-your-arm-off" feeling." Terazuma walked around Hisoka's chair in a circle, careful not to get too close.
"Now let's take a look at some of the other facts I've noticed. You're doing your damned hardest to mask your aura, which is a good try even though it still manages to bleed through with your best efforts. I find this interesting; especially since five years ago your best efforts masked your aura with little difficulty. That means that you got a wicked power boost while your weren't here."
Tsuzuki breathed in sharply as he realized that Terazuma was right. Hisoka's aura was stronger.
Terazuma continued his summation.
"You're not wearing gloves, and I can see the new scars on your hands plain as day, which means either you've reverted to masochism and have been punching a brick wall 24/7 for the last five years, or you've been doing some serious fighting, since shinigami healing skills would normally take care of that. Not to mention that you carry yourself someone used to being feared or ignored, even when you try to act like nothing's changed about you. Anyone with an ounce of perception isn't fooled by the tough way you stand."
"Your hair is longer, which is something I'm familiar with myself. You typically see it in people that are workaholics and have no time to worry about hair. Plus, you've got split ends, which means you haven't exactly been taking good care of it. And we all know that before you left, not only did you take good care of your hair, but you actually cut it regularly."
"Not to mention, behind those eyes, I can tell that you're both happy and worried about being back here. I think that you're happy to be back where people except you, but you're worried about something, and it's not about you because like that idiot baka Tsuzuki over there, you don't care about yourself. So I pose to you this question: what is it?" Terazuma fixed Hisoka in a steady gaze as he twirled his cigarette between his thumb and index finger
Hisoka gave Terazuma a peeved glare. "What are you, freakin' Sherlock Holmes?"
Terazuma grinned. "Well, I was a detective in life. I just don't take as long to get to the truth."
"Very funny."
Terazuma paused and took a long drag of his cigarette. "Warped humor aside, you didn't answer my question. Why are you so worried about coming back?"
Hisoka closed one eye, though the other watched the elder shinigami warily. "Not telling. It's none of your business anyway."
Tsuzuki winced, knowing that a Terazuma rant was on its way. The Chuugoku Shinigami was not known for any patience.
However, Tsuzuki was surprised when Terazuma turned away from Hisoka and walked toward his desk. "Whatever. Your life in the past five years is your own business, though I expect that Tatsumi will want an explanation when he realizes that you're back."
Subtly, Terazuma moved his hand until it came into contact with Tsuzuki's empty coffee cup. "What are you-" Tsuzuki realized what he was up to in a flash, but it was too late. Terazuma whirled and let the cup fly, right toward Hisoka!
In a split-second, Hisoka's hand came up. The cup remained suspended in the air a foot away from his face.
There was an audible gasp from everyone except Tsuzuki and Terazuma, since Tsuzuki already knew of Hisoka's new ability and Terazuma had obviously anticipated this. Hisoka slid his legs off the desk and snagged the cup out of the air, before slamming it onto the desk, hard. Everyone winced at the sudden sound, the only indication of how furious the emerald-eyed empath was. As usual, Hisoka's face betrayed nothing.
A moment passed, and then another, before Saya and Yuma broke the silence. "Hisoka, what's that thing coming out of your sleeve?"
Hisoka glanced down to see an unraveled bit of bandage peeking out from under his right shirt sleeve. The top of it was white, but the bottom was stained with crimson. Damn!
"Hisoka?"
Hisoka jerked his head up to find Tsuzuki looming over him. The overprotective feelings he sometimes felt from his partner were surging and making him feel uncomfortable. "What? It's nothing." He rolled his sleeve up and rewrapped the loose bandage, ignoring the stares coming from his co-workers.
"Bon, did you hurt your arm or something?" Watari asked skittishly, sensing the empath's irritability rising rapidly.
Hisoka growled angrily as he glared at the others. "I'm fine, okay? I just got used to wearing bandages so I wouldn't have to explain to some curious mortal why it is I can heal only seconds after getting a cut! My arms get banged up a lot, okay?!'
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as Hisoka finished his one-shot tirade.
Tsuzuki was the one to break the silence. "Then why are you so upset if you aren't hurt?"
Hisoka sucked in his breath sharply as he realized that Tsuzuki was right. "I told you, its none of your business."
"Yes, but why you have been gone for five years and skipped work is my business, Kurosaki."
Hisoka sighed tiredly as he heard the icy voice coming from the doorway. "Hi, Tatsumi."
Well, there ya go. Two chapters in one conveniant package! It was either that, or the next one would be too short, and I wanted to cut down on too many chapters so I could hold you guys's attention, so here you have it. Plus, I couldn't resist putting Tsuzuki in there shirtless... -drools- Now that I think about that, I wonder why I didn't make Hisoka freak about that... Too late. And even Hisoka has to admit that the idea of shirtless Tsuzuki is totally hot...
So, I have to go. I look forward to reviews. See ya!
