Disclaimer-i do not own any of the characters to Yami no Matseui

Chapter 18: Count Down

"What the hell is that," said Muraki. He and Watari looked at the screen closely trying to figure out exactly what the gray thing was.

"I have never seen anything like this before." The blonde carefully maneuvered the camera around the thing but no matter which way he turned the camera all they could see was that.

"In all my years as a doctor, I have never come upon anything remotely like this." Muraki looked from his husband back to the screen.

"Is it . . . moving?" Watari frowned as he stared at the screen. "It almost looks as though its breathing." He removed his glasses to clean them and then put them back on his nose.

Muraki pulled his chair a little closer and squinted his eyes to look at the screen. Sure enough, it was moving as though it was breathing. "You're right," said Muraki.

"This is too weird for words," said Watari as he gently guided the camera over the top of the mysterious object. They continued to watch as the thing exhaled and inhaled.

"You think maybe we should operate to see if this is doing anything to the baby?"

"That wouldn't be such a good ideal," came a deep voice behind them.

Both Watari and Muraki turned to see lord Enma standing in the doorway. "Lord Enma," they said standing and bowing to the masked man.

He walked into the room staring down at the unconscious Tsuzuki. "If you operate, you will hurt the baby." He placed one hand on Tsuzuki pudgy stomach. His hand glided over the shinigami's stomach feeling the life inside.

"How do you know?" asked Watari.

"Do you know what that thing is?" asked Muraki.

"It is a birth sack," said Enma.

"A birth sack?" Watari asked turning his attention to the Lord of Hades. "What is it and why does Tsuzuki have one?"

"And why is it that we can only see the sack and not the baby?" asked Muraki. "Is the baby all right inside that thing?"

"Of course the baby is all right. As to what the sack is. You might say the sack is like the placenta inside a female. Blood, nutrients and oxygen are diffuse through the birth sack membrane and into the baby's bloodstream by way of the umbilical cord," said Enma. "And the reason why you can't see the baby is because it is a sack. It is stronger than its female counterpart, the placenta. Remember, Tsuzuki isn't female and he isn't human."

"I see," said Muraki breathing a sigh of relief. "I was afraid that it was something that was harming the baby. Thank you for putting my mind at easy. I don't know what I would have done if something were to happen to our child or to my Tsuzuki."

"You have nothing to worry about?" Enma stared down at Tsuzuki and gently raked his fingers through the brunette's hair. "You will have yourself a happy, healthy baby."

Watari and Muraki watched curiously as lord Enma stroked Tsuzuki's hair like that of a loving father. Enma looked up to see the two men staring at him with curiosity breaming in their eyes. At least Watari had curiosity in his eyes. Muraki's eyes were filled with jealously. The silver hair man did not want anyone touching his Tsuzuki in that manner.

Enma quickly removed his hand and lowered it to his side. "Well, if you will excuse me, I have some work to do." The tall man turned and walked calmly out of the room.

"Is it me or did he . . ." Watari started to say but Muraki cut him off.

"He did."

"Wow. You don't think he has a thing for Tsuzuki?"

Muraki turned around to glare murderously at the blonde.

"I was only joking," said Watari laughing. He turned back to the monitor and turned it off. while Muraki gently pulled the camera out of Tsuzuki's mouth.

Watari picked up his stethoscope and placed it on Tsuzuki's stomach "Well, the baby's heartbeat is strong." Then he frowned.

"What's wrong?" asked Muraki.

"I'm hearing a faint echo of a heartbeat." He removed the stethoscope. "It's probably Tsuzuki's heart I'm hearing. This equipment is old." He hung the instrument around his neck in disgust. "That tight wad Tatsumi refuses to put in a request to get me new equipment. Anyway, just keep him on the diet and exercise program and everything should be all right."

"Should be all right?" Muraki arched a silver brow.

"Well, this is the first time in history a man is about to give birth," said the blonde. "I can only treat him as I would a pregnant female."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to take him home and then I will be back." Muraki lifted his husband into his arms and was surrounded by a flurry of white feathers. Then they disappeared.

xxxxx

Raylene leaned against the wall inside the abandon warehouse watching as the monstrous left and right head of the dog demon chewed on the bones of a few humans the devil had captured and brought to it while the middle head kept a careful watch on the devil.

"How are you doing?" asked the devil.

"Much better," said the middle head glaring down at the devil with its glowing red eyes. "All I need are the souls of a few children and my strength will be back to its full capacity."

"That's good to hear because it is time to prepare to release the master."

"At last, I was beginning to get tired of waiting. How many days before the gates appear?"

"Eight days," said Raylene smiling. "Hopefully by the time we release the master, Damien and Damia will appear at last." The devil smirked as he folded his arms across his chest. "So, out of the dragon twins, which is the most skilled with the sword?"

The demon narrowed its eyes at him but decided to tell him anyway. "Well, they both are experts but the one that is the most aggressive is Damia. That bitch becomes bloodthirsty especially when they come upon a devil that is skilled with a sword or if it is an Original, like me."

"I see." Raylene snapped out of his thoughts to look up at the three headed dog. "Well, devour as many children as you can while I make sure they come."

"You never said what you were going to do in order to get the dragon twins to come after us," said the demon. "I doubt if they are going to come because of some missing children. When I fought them, they didn't care who was killed as long as they completed their mission."

"They will come. As I have told you, they aren't as you remember them to be. But I have something else in mind that will ensure that they come."

"And that is?"

"No, it's a surprise," the devil said smiling. He pushed himself from the wall and walked out leaving the demon puzzled as to what he was going to do.

xxxxx

It was dark in the room the child sat in. The only light, a dim glow, was coming from an oval-shaped object.'What are you doing, Damien?' asked a female voice from the dark.

'I'm protecting my little sister,' said the small child witih large white wings on his back. He had his ear resting against the oval shaped object smiling. 'I can hear her. She wants to come out and play with me.'

'It's not time yet,' said a deep male voice. 'You are six now. By the time she is ready to come out, you will be ten.'

'You hear that sister. You only have four more years to go before you can come out.'

'So, your father said you wanted to name your sister,' said the female.

'Yes, I want to name her after me. I will call her Damia.'

'Damia. That's a nice name, son," said teh male.

'I can't wait until you come out and you get older,' said the boy. 'You and I will have so much fun together, Damia.

xxxxx

Muraki awakened from his sleep staring into the angry violet eyes of his husband. His partner sat on the other side of the desk smirking at the doctor. Hisoka stood in the corner watching as his partner grabbed his husband by the collar shaking him.

'Wake up, you cheater!" The angry shinigami pulled Muraki from the chair shaking him violently.

"Beloved, I don't know what you are talking about?" Muraki asked straightening his glasses back on his face and trying to pry the brunette's hands away from his collar.

"Don't beloved me, you two-timing jerk. Who the hell is Damia?"

Muraki stared at Tsuzuki in shock. "How . . . how did you know that name?"

"I can't help but to know it you were calling out her name," Tsuzuki said shaking the silver hair man crying. "I love you Damia. I can't wait until you come out! Are you trying to make a fool out of me?" He stopped shaking him and buried his face against Muraki's chest sobbing loudly.

"It's not what you think." Muraki sat Tsuzuki down in a chair.

"I don't know." Watari scratched the side of his nose looking up at the ceiling. Then he glanced at his partner out of the corner of his eye. "Calling out a woman's name and telling her you love them can only mean one thing."

Muraki growled at his partner. "You're not making things any better, partner."

"I would like to hear this explanation also," said Hisoka walking over to his partner and taking a seat beside him.

Muraki sighed lowering his head and shaking it. "To begin with, I have always had these dreams even when I was young. At first, it was like watching television. I would always see these two people, Damia and Damien. They were sister and brother, I believe and they were angels."

The three men looked at him shocked. "Angels," said Hisoka.

"Well, they had large white wings but no halos. So, I'm guessing that they are angels. Anyway, as I said, at first it was like I was watching them but as of late I seem to be seeing everything through the eyes of Damien."

"Are you saying that you are able to enter the dreams of people and see through that person's eyes?" said Watari fascinated.

"Yes and no. While I am able to enter dreams, it is always only the dream of this person called Damien," said Muraki. "And I don't know why I am able to do this." He said before Watari could ask him why.

"So, this Damia person isn't someone you are thinking about having an affair with," Tsuzuki asked sniffling.

"Of course not." Muraki got down on one knee and took one of Tsuzuki's hand into his hand while he raised his other hand to wipe the tears away from those pretty violet eyes he love so much. "Not only would I have your friends trying to hang me, I am positive Alicia will fry me as well." He smiled at his husband and kissed the back of his hand. "You know that you are the only one for me."

"Damia and Damien. And you say they are angels?" said Watari. Muraki nodded his head. "I'll have to look into this later but for now we have a meeting with the chief and Tatsumi.

xxxxx

As they made their way into the conference room Tatsumi arched a brow at Tsuzuki. "Tsuzuki, you know you are not included in this mission," said the secretary.

"I know but it can't hurt just for me to hear what this case is about," said the violet eye shinigami.

"It's all right Tatsumi," said Chief Konoe. "Let's just get started with the meeting."

"Right." Tatsumi picked up the files and passed a copy around to everyone. "Well, we received this case from the count. As you know it is the holiday seasons and some people become depressed and well, some end their lives. But there is a difference this year. The number of deaths has been on the rise since the beginning of the month."

"I don't see how that falls into our jurisdiction?" asked Tsuzuki.

"The souls of these people have gone missing," said Chief Konoe looking grim. "Normally when a person dies, his or her spirts comes here to be judged. But according to the report from the Hall of Candles, these souls just wink out of existence."

"What!" the men said shocked.

"That's not possible," said Watari.

"Oh it is quite possible," said the older Gushoshin. He flew into the conference room placing a slide projector in the center of the table. "I think I may have found the culprit. Just give me a minute to set up."

"Anyway, the reason why it was important to take this case was because the majority of the missing souls are those of children," said Tatsumi.

"Oh my god," said Tsuzuki horrified and rested his hands protectively over his stomach. "Children?"

"Yes, and if it goes uncheck, it could reach epidemic proportion," said the chief. "The majority of the children coming up missing are in Tokyo."

"What!" said Watari shocked. "That's in our district." He glanced over at his partner. He smiled as he saw the sliver hair blonde trying to comfort his upset husband.

"But sir, how are we going to do this," said Hisoka. "As you can see, Tsuzuki is in no shape to go on such a mission."

"We know. That is why Lord Enma has asked the help of someone special to help out on this case," said Tatsumi.

"Oh, and who is that?" asked Muraki.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Ah, what perfect timing," said the chief. The door slowly opened to reveal . . .

"Howdy boys, did you miss me?" said Alicia in a sultry voice standing in the doorway smirking at them.

"Alicia," said Muraki getting to his feet. Alicia rushed into the room and hugged her brother. "When did you get back?"

"Just now," said Alicia. "The old man called me and told me that lord Enma himself, asked for my help on this case."

"Why is that?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe because he knows that you men won't be able to handle this job without the help of a beautiful, intelligent, strong woman." She smiled poking her tongue out at him.

"If that's so than where is this woman you speak of," smirked Muraki.

"Jerk." She nudged him playfully in the side.

The chief cleared his throat to break up the siblings antics. "It's because one of the children's father was able to save him from being taken by whatever was kidnaping the children," said the chief. "And according to his description, they were black phantom like creatures with wings."

"That sounds like those creatures I fought when I first met that devil, Raylene," said Alicia deep in thought as she tapped a finger against her lips. "So, he thinks this devil is behind this?"

"It's a possibility," said Tatsumi.

"I'm ready," said Gushoshin.

"Good," said the chief. "Now, I have asked Gushoshin to check the database to see if he could come upon any demon or devil that is able to destroy a soul."

"Destroy a soul." Alicia looked at the elderly man shocked.

"I'll tell you about it later," said Muraki sitting down and Alicia sat down beside him.

"I believe that who you are looking for is . . ." As the picture of the demon Gushoshin believe is causing the trouble appeared on the screen. Both Muraki and Alicia sat as though turned to stone as they glared at the picture of a black three head dog with six pairs of leathery wings.

They bolted from their seats knocking the chairs over. "Ragnor!" they snarled in rage.

Hisoka screamed in pain as he fell to the floor clutching his head and curling up into a fetal position. Before anyone could move, a powerful burst of power was felt. They turned to Muraki and his sister in utter shock. Their eyes glowed white as a violent mass of power swirled around the room yanking everyone from their seats and slamming them against the wall. The paper from the files and the chairs swirled around the room like a tornado. The table slowly rose upward and shattered into a million pieces.

Tatsumi quickly called up his shadows just in time to catch a hold of Tsuzuki before he hit the wall. Everyone watched in shock as they could see the dark outline of something transparent forming on their backs.

If Tatsumi didn't know any better, he would swear that those were . . . wings.

"We have to stop them before they destroy the building," yelled Tsuzuki over the rippling serge of their powers. Tatsumi used his shadows like a shield protecting him and Tsuzuki from the raging power and the flying debris. They slowly made their way forward until they stood before their loved ones.

"Kai! You have to snap out of it!" yelled Tsuzuki grabbing Muraki by the shoulders shaking him. Tsuzuki gasped as the pupils of Muraki's one silver eye was serpent like and his mechanical eye glowed a crimson color. It has been a long while since Tsuzuki was frightened by that false eye but looking at it now reminded him of why it had always frighten him. An icy shiver trickled down his spine. Snapping out of his shock, he tried again to get through to his enraged husband. "Please, Kai! I love you." He pulled Muraki's head down and planted his lips against those of his husband.

"Alicia!" Tatsumi cradled her cheeks in his hand. "Please come back to me. I need you, my love." He pressed his lips against hers in a gentle passionate kiss.

Suddenly the violent swirl of power began to settle as Watari, Chief Konoe, Hisoka and the Gushoshin slid down the wall to fall to the floor. The paper drifted silently down to the floor while the chairs fell with a loud crash.

Hisoka was lying on the floor still in a fetal position and breathed a sigh of relief as the raking pain in his brain ceased. Watari crawled over to the teen to check on him. "Are you okay, Hisoka?"

"Yeah," the teenager said sitting up and looking at the others. "Is everyone else okay?"

He looked over at the chief as he lifted the elder Gushoshin in his arms. "Yeah, everyone is all right," said Watari looking over at the two silver hair siblings. "What in the hell just happened?"

As Tsuzuki and Tatsumi pulled away both Kazutaka and Alicia stood there with their eyes closed. Slowly, they opened their eyes to stare into the shocked faces of everyone. Both frowned in puzzlement.

"What in the world happened here?" asked Alicia frowning at the destruction in the room.

"You mean you don't remember?" asked Hisoka.

"Remember what?" asked Muraki.

But before anyone could say anything, there was a voice coming from behind them. Everyone turned to see Raylene standing against the door.

"No no no no no no no!" shouted the devil slamming his fist against the door. "No, they were almost awakened until you two stopped them. Dammit! I was so hoping to meet the dragon twins."

"Raylene! What in the hell are you doing here?" demanded Alicia angrily. "Did you do this?" She gestured around the room.

The devil said nothing but glared at Tatsumi and Tsuzuki. "You. It's all your fault." Suddenly glowing green spheres appeared around both Tsuzuki and Tatsumi. Both men beat against their prison.

"Tatsumi Tsuzuki!" yelled Alicia and Kazutaka. They reached out touching the glowing spheres. There was a serge of power that went through their bodies like electricity and sent them flying across the room slamming them against the wall knocking them unconscious.

"No, Kai!" yelled Tsuzuki beating against the sphere.

"Alicia!" yelled Tatsumi also beating against his green prison. Both Tatsumi and Tsuzuki had tried to use their powers to get out but the power of the devil was too strong for them. They were trapped.

"When they awaken, tell them I will be waiting for them in Tokyo with their other halves," said Raylene laughing manically as he, Tatsumi and Tsuzuki disappeared.

xxxxx

"Are they all right, Watari?" Chief Konoe asked Watari. "They have been out of it for three days."

"Except for a few bumps and bruises, they are fine," said the blonde. "I have no idea why they haven't awakened yet."

"When they do wake up and find out that Raylene has taken Tsuzuki and Tatsumi," said Hisoka. "They are going on a rampage."

"Yes, I am worried about that also," said the chief. "I'm still quite shaken from that serge of power that came from both of them when they saw that picture of Ragnor."

"Me too." Watari looked up at the chief. "How is it that they knew the name of Ragnor? According to the data on him, he is one of the Originals."

"The Originals?" Hisoka looked at the men frowning. "What does that suppose to mean?"

"It means that this demon is one of those that were here before the universe came into being," said Chief Konoe. "And they are extremely powerful. Demons like Sagatanus are like flies compared to them. All demons of today are descendants of the Originals."

"If they are stronger than Sagatanus than how are we suppose to fight something like that?"

"Yes, how do we indeed." The chief looked down at the two unconscious figures lying on the beds.

"What are we going to do about them?" asked Watari gesturing to Muraki and Alicia. "When they do finally wake up, how are we suppose to stop them from going berserk."

"There's nothing we can do until they awaken," sighed the chief rubbing his forehead. He could feel a migraine coming on. "I have to go make my report to Lord Enma on the search. Contact me immediately when they wake up."

"We will," said Hisoka. The elder man turned and walked out of the room.

"What's going to happen to Tsuzuki and Mr. Tatsumi if we aren't able to find them?"

"I don't know," sighed the blonde closing his eyes and shaking his head sadly. "This is such a mess." Then his eyes snapped opened as he looked up at the teenager. "Hisoka, I wanted to ask you about what happened in the conference room when they began emitting that strong power. But with the kidnaping of Tatsumi and Tsuzuki, it sort of slipped my mind in all the commotion. What happened to you in there?"

The teenager shivered as he remembered the enormous amount of power and rage coming from them. His mind was almost ripped apart from the intensity. "All I can tell you is that it was like sharp metal claws raking through my brain. I have never felt such power or so much hatred coming from anyone, living or dead." Then he turned to face Watari. "Did you see what was forming on their backs?"

"It looked like . . . wings."

"Yeah, they looked like that to me also," said Hisoka. "Whatever it was, I have a feeling that they are the only ones that will be able to save Tsuzuki and Mr. Tatsumi."