Me: -beaming with pride- Hi guys, I'm back and better than ever!

Muse: Not really.

Me: Well, better meaning that I'm finally back on track and only slightly struggling with this fic. Though the first part is a little choppy, since I started writing it almost directly after the last chapter and was still coming out of my slump. I have a lot of things to thank for this, such as: A few CDs I got, such as Crossfade's Falling away, Disturbed's Believe, and Fuel's Devils and Angels. Awesome cds, all of them, and a special aknowledgment goes to my stepdad for finally getting me an itunes account. Another important booster was Tinkerbell-Green-Leaf's Kurosaki Horror Picture Show. That fic had me laughing so hard I thought my ribs would crack. Seriously, go read it now.

And last, but sure as hell not least, I have you guys to thank for getting me back on track. Since the last sucky chapter, I've had more people subscribing and reviewing than ever before. It's a serious morale booster, and I can't thank you guys enough for it, though I may be selfish enough to ask some of those subscribers to drop a review. -hinthint- I mean, 36 of you have me on alert. Wow, that's a lotta pressure, but I don't mind one bit.

So here's Once Bitten, Chapter Ten!


Chapter Ten

One second Hisoka had been in front of him, the next thing Tsuzuki knew his partner was being pitched across the room, only to smash through another crate and come to a rest half under a pile of debris. A dark mass stood in the boy's place, red eyes glaring fiercely out of the gloom created by the dust stirred up by its entrance. It growled menacingly at Tsuzuki, putting one paw forward as it licked its chops hungrily.

Tsuzuki responded with a hastily thrown fuda. The beast dodged to one side, but the force of the blast generated by Tsuzuki's spell threw it off balance. It gave Tsuzuki enough time to sprint to where his partner lay.

The boy's eyes were clouded by pain, teeth gritted as he tried to remain in that odd half state between being awake and unconscious. Blood dripped from a cut on his brow and his thin chest heaved, trying to breath under the oppressive weight of the debris. Yellow and purple bruises were beginning to form on his neck, and claw marks raked across his chest from where the creature had caught him.

Across the room, the dark beast growled as it regained its footing. It sprang forward, only to smack against the shield Tsuzuki had formed around them. It shook its head, as if to clear it, before beginning to stalk the edge of the protective shield, red eyes gazing hungrily at the forms that shimmered within.

Tsuzuki glared at him, silently brooding that he was unable to go on the offensive while within the circle. He was brought back to the present as Hisoka's hand reached out and grasped his trench coat. Gritting his teeth from the effort, the teen managed to sit up despite the wreckage that had been covering him.

The beast snarled as Hisoka stood uneasily, holding on to Tsuzuki's arm for support. Those snarls turned into yelps of surprise as Hisoka sent a wave of wreckage smashing through the barrier. A two foot piece of plywood hit it clearly in the shoulder, sending a spray of black blood onto the floor.

Hisoka's face remained passive as he stepped forward, eyes flashing dangerously as he eyed his enemy. The beast, now foaming at the mouth, gave a loud snap at the boy. Hisoka merely replied by sending more wreckage hurtling at it.

It went wrong this time. The creature crashed through the nearest crate, avoiding the projectiles by mere inches. Tsuzuki reached for another fuda, eying the area around them for any sign of movement. "Hisoka--."

The massive shape hurtled past him, and in the split second Tsuzuki realized that it was a wolf, a gigantic black wolf. That thought was banished as the wolf smacked into Hisoka again. Blood splattered, and both combatants howled in pain.

Tsuzuki saw Hisoka's eyes widen a fraction of an inch. "You child killing bastard!"

A psychic backlash followed a split-second later, knocking the wolf away. Hisoka's face was livid with rage, white-hot fury coursing through his veins as the barrage of attacks continued to rain down on the beast. Tsuzuki made a mental note to never piss his partner off, at least not that badly.

As quickly as it had come, the wolf backed away. Before Tsuzuki could do anything, there was a shimmer of black shadows, and it was gone.

Immediately, the atmosphere lost the eerie quality that had signaled the beast's presence. Tsuzuki pocketed his fuda, instantly moving to his partner's side. The boy had a pretty nasty gash on his side, and his hand clasped a shard of wood that was covered in black blood. He was still standing, but silent and unresponsive.

"Hisoka," Tsuzuki touched his shoulder, but the boy quickly slapped it away. Now that he was closer he could see that the boy was shaking, and his breathing was harsh and heavy. "Hisoka, let me help you."

"I'm fine," The boy replied through gritted teeth. "It's just a bad reaction."

"To what?"

"That thing's emotions," Hisoka replied simply, sitting to lean against wall, one leg drawn up against his chest. "I'm not sure what the hell it was, but it was smart. It felt things, it could strategize, learn quickly from experience... I've never felt anything like that before."

"Maybe Watari will know something about it," Tsuzuki said, looking around at the damage wrought in the warehouse. He winced, hoping they would get out before anyone found them here. It was a murder scene, after all. Being found here would not bode well.

"At least you didn't level the whole building," Hisoka said, knowing full well what his partner was thinking.

"Yeah," Tsuzuki replied, still too deep in thought. He snapped out of it as his mind processed the implications of that comment. "Hey, why is it always my fault that a building gets destroyed?"

"Let's see, we have the library, twice, the university in Kyoto, and what about that other warehouse during our first case?"

"Ok, I get the point," Tsuzuki grumbled. "I cause a lot of destruction."

He grinned wickedly. "But what about that time when you touched Terazuma and made him transform and wreak havoc at the archery tournament? And that warehouse incident is split between us, since technically we were synchronized."

When Hisoka didn't answer, Tsuzuki was worried that he had gone too far. But when he crouched down next to his partner, he realized that he was asleep. It wasn't until he looked him over did he realize why.

The gash in his side had healed along with the claw marks across his chest, though blown had blown a ragged hole through his jacket and orange shirt, something Tsuzuki knew that Hisoka would be pissed over. But what caught his eye was the blood still dripping onto the floor.

'But his healing powers should have...' Tsuzuki's thoughts trailed off as he saw the wound.

By doctor's standards, it was a massive injury: thin, but clearly very deep; a long cut going from the back of his arm right below the elbow, arching around to his wrist and just barely missing several vital arteries. The wound continued to bleed, refusing to heal, as a sick red aura encompassed most of his arm, pulsating like some sick imitation of a heart. Looking at it felt... wrong.

A few shreds of cloth were clinging stubbornly to the injury, and Tsuzuki realized with a jolt that they were the remainders of the boy's bandages. What disturbed him even more was how the blood continued to drip from the cut at a frightening rate. It wasn't so much quick as it was steady, a constant stream of liquid flowing into the already large blood pool on the floor.

"What the... oh damn!" Grabbing the boy as quickly as possible, Tsuzuki teleported to the Judgment Bureau.


His head hurt like hell.

That was the first thing Hisoka noticed as he slowly opened his eyes. He knew he was dreaming; the entire scenery around him had that ethereal quality that, to his experience, reality utterly lacked.

'Well, except for that one dream.' He winced at the unwanted thought, trying to push it away as he observed his surroundings.

If possible, this was the only area that nearly eclipsed the Sakura Grove as his least favorite place on Earth. He could hear the steady beating and whirring of the machines, see the early morning fog ghosting across the window. He couldn't find the energy to lift his head, or to even care.

A joyless laugh forced itself from his throat, harsh and cynical. 'Of all the memories to relive...'

He knew it was just his mind's natural reaction to emotional overload. In fact, he found it divinely ironic that it had been the hospital, his deathbed, that had given him the most peace in his entire existent, mainly because he was so inwardly focused during those three years that he just plain didn't give a shit.

Hisoka chuckled darkly at the feelings that seeped into his mind. He would need an hour or two to sort through them all, to distinguish himself from what he felt. But right now...

He felt like drowning.


Tsuzuki glanced up from his seat in the infirmary beside his partner, as a familiar blonde scientist walked in. "What's the deal, Watari?"

Watari sighed, brushing unruly bangs back from his eyes as he leaned against the desk. "Other than nearly having five heart attacks in the span of an hour? Not much to be said, other than that."

"You mean you don't have any idea what's wrong with Hisoka?" Tsuzuki looked miserable.

"Oh, I know what's wrong with him. What I don't know is how or why," Watari replied.

"I'm not a genius, Watari. Just tell me what's wrong with my partner, already. And stop being a smartass," Tsuzuki grumbled bad-naturedly. He wasn't usually in bad moods over anything, but it was a proven fact at the Judgment Bureau that when something was wrong with Hisoka, Tsuzuki was about as cheerful as a thunderstorm.

"As you no-doubt already figured out, the wound won't heal." Watari grimaced at the annoyed look Tsuzuki shot him. "And trying to implode my face won't help Tsuzuki, so you might as well give up now."

Tsuzuki sighed as he tried to get his emotions under control. After all, it wasn't Watari's fault that Hisoka was in the infirmary, and the doctor was working late just to look after him. "Is there anything you can tell me?"

"Well, if it helps any, he'll probably be out for a few hours." At Tsuzuki's surprised glance, Watari elaborated. "You said that he went berserk after feeling the wolf's emotions, right? Well not only did that put a huge strain on him mentally, but overusing his gift over exhausted him."

"Great," Tsuzuki stated, shoving his papers to one side and sitting back in his chair. His shoulders drooped and Watari noted that he was talking in an extremely flat tone.

"Cheer up, Tsuzuki," Watari said, clapping his coworker on the shoulder. "If anything, this gives us time to research why Bon's wound is like this. Then we can focus on fixing it."

Tsuzuki smiled lightly. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am."


"He's late," One of the shadows growled from where it lay on top of a dumpster. "He should have met us half an hour ago."

"Calm yourself, brother," Another shadow said from its seat next to the dumpster, peering towards the mouth of the alley as it picked a few fleas free from its midnight pelt. "We can't all be punctual. Sometimes things don't go according to plan."

"That's exactly why I told you that I should have handled it. Why send a simpering idiot to do a job you can do yourself?"

At the sound of that voice, cold and full of authority, both wolves turned their heads and perked up their ears, red eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness as they focused on the woman leaning against the alley wall opposite of them. Dark clothing did little to mask the bright glow of blonde hair and shimmering red eyes, lit in brief flickers by streetlights and passing cars.

"A leader cannot simply abandon duty to rush off in some menial task," The wolf sitting beside the dumpster replied. "It is only when an underling fails that the alpha steps in, to demonstrate its strength and set an example for the pack's weaklings to follow."

"Why don't you shift to wolf form, sister?" The one on top of the dumpster suggested. Its red eyes glimmered in faint amusement as a white tipped ear twitched back and forth. "You look tense. It definitely can't be comfortable; having to be stuck wearing that stupid two-leg disguise longer than is necessary."

"I'm fine," She snapped back. "Just because you two are older than me doesn't mean that you have to baby me all the time. I'm the alpha now, and I'm tired of being the runt of the litter."

The black wolf tensed, halting its search for the fleas that constantly plagued it in this infernal city that they had chosen to call home. "He's here."

Sure enough, a figure appeared at the mouth of the alley. A red baseball cap hid black hair and yellow eyes from sight as he quickly paced towards them, ill-fitting sweats snagged from a clothesline on the way threatening to slip free from those bony shoulders. He halted and knelt on his knees, paying homage to his superiors before he drew closer.

"About time," The blonde leader said disdainfully as she eyed the crimson stains that marked his shoulder and upper arm. "Please tell me you gave as good as you got this time."

"Yep," The newcomer grinned maliciously, even though the others viewed his expression as stupid and under-polished. Underlings should never be allowed glee. They got too cocky that way. "I gave him a nice gash on his side and a good clawing across his chest. Don't know why the stubborn bastard won't die, though."

The woman remained unimpressed as he plunked down next to the dumpster, backing a respectful distance away when her brothers simultaneously snarled at him. "What about the old wound? The one on his arm?"

"It's still there," Her subordinate replied as he shifted to wolf form and began licking his wounds. "Even though he should have bled to death a long time ago."

The leader made a disgusted sound in her throat. "Shit, Kai. It's bad enough that the police are catching on. With those powers of his, the kid could easily become a problem for us."

The dark wolf made a low chuckle in its throat as it glanced towards its sister. "Maybe Kai has something of substance for us? Something that could help us turn the tide, perhaps?"

Kai straightened himself, trying to look important. "Well, at one point he ended up lowering his shields."

"So what?" The woman snapped.

"Well, he may have seen inside my head, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know that I looked into his," Kai gave a feral grin. "I think I may have found a weakness."


Me: So there we have it. Things are staring to heat up in the story, though even more questions are popping up than being answered. Plus, I did spend a little more time with the wolves than anything else in this chapter.

Muse: Just stop putting yourself down and enjoy it. You did good this time and actually updated, for once.

Me: Thanks Muse! That said, I hope to see you guys, all of you, in the next chapter. I'll be seein' ya!