Chapter 2

Another day, another headache.

Hisoka sighed and rubbed his head in frustration. They were getting no where. The hospital was big and full and teeming with emotion. The only thing he could say for sure was that Totohome's soul had been there, and probably fairly recently, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to sense it at all. Determining if it was still in the loud and noisy building would be like reaching into a swimming pool full of pudding and pulling out the lone grain of rice.

Food analogies.

Hisoka shook his head in mock despair. He was using food analogies. You knew you were spending too much time with Tsuzuki when…

Oddly enough, that thought made him feel slightly better about the whole situation.

The hospital cafeteria was large and fairly empty at the moment, lunch well past, and still a bit too early for dinner. This made it a good place to sit and think for a moment.

He had wandered through most of the hospital without learning anything new. Paying special attention to the exits hadn't revealed anything either, no sense of Totohome leaving the premises. He was totally out of ideas. It was unlikely that their missing soul would just show itself.

His cell phone rang.

"The soul just showed itself!" Tsuzuki informed him hurriedly, "but there's something wrong, people are panicking in the main lobby!"

"I'll meet you there!" Hisoka told him and hung up. 'Great,' he thought as he ran through the hallways, 'panicking crowd vs. empath; guess who's gonna win.'

A tingling across his senses alerted him as he rushed into the lobby and skidded to a stop, so he was not fully surprised to see Tsuzuki standing in the middle of the open area with an ofuda held in one outstretched hand. Nor was he exactly surprised to see the large demon just inside the double front doors of the hospital.

The thing was vaguely canine, like a large mutant pit-bull.

A large, bald mutant pit-bull that stood nearly as high as he did, with horns, glowing red eyes, nastily long claws, bulking muscles, and a mouth that spread from ear to ear full of razor sharp teeth.

What was surprising was that the demon was only paying minimal attention to his partner. It was aware of the man, obviously, it would have to be blind to miss him, but for the most part the beast seemed to be focused on the huddled figure of a man across the lobby; their missing soul.

Of course, these were only the main players; although most people had already fled the lobby, a woman prayed quietly near the elevators crouched over a sobbing child, a pair of men stood against the wall pale and shaking, a terrified nurse ducked behind the information desk…

"Stand aside!"

Hisoka whirled, and then jumped to the side just in time to avoid being run over by a trio of security guards coming up behind him, fast. They tore into the lobby and stopped short, one fell on his butt in his attempt to back pedal, nearly landing on Hisoka's feet.

"What the…"

"Oh my g…"

"Holy shit!"

All three pulled their guns.

"Wait! Stop!" Tsuzuki cried as all three opened fire.

The gunfire was deafening as it echoed and reverberated through the lobby. People screamed and Hisoka's hands flew up to cover his ears as a large front window shattered and glass crashed to the floor.

Tsuzuki flung his 'fuda, but missed as the demon surged forward at lightning speed towards the security guards.

And Hisoka, who was still clutching his head.

"NO!"

Hisoka fumbling in his pocket for one of his own 'fuda, and cursing his lack of foresight in not already having one in his hand, barely heard Tsuzuki's shout. Before the echo of it had died away, the first security guard was dead; and the fear, screaming pain panic terror in the room had increased exponentially. Hisoka pulled his 'fuda free as the second guard stopped screaming, the noise ending in a gurgle, and Tsuzuki moved to intercept the demon.

Then their missing soul made his move. Totohome flew across the lobby and out of the hospital doors, a blur of motion noticed only by the shinigami and the demon.

The demon spun, carnage forgotten, and sped after the fleeing soul. Tsuzuki moved to follow, but hesitated.

"Go!" Hisoka commanded.

Tsuzuki went.

Hisoka shook his head in an attempt to clear it. His ears were ringing and his headache was a thousand times worse than it had been. Less than five minutes had passed since he entered the lobby, maybe 15 seconds since the first gunshot was fired.

Passing the one remaining guard who stood frozen and wide-eyed amongst the remains of his companions, Hisoka hurried after his partner.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsuzuki sped after the demon as fast as his feet could move. Totohome had made a break for it, but Tsuzuki was sure that the spirit could not escape the demon without help. Why the demon had appeared was beyond him, there had been nothing in he case file to suggest anything about this level of complication.

Almost loosing sight of the demon as it whipped around a corner, Tsuzuki found he had a little more speed in him and tore after it. He couldn't afford to loose it. Although they could find it again, Hisoka would be able to follow a demon's trail as it the thing had left a dotted line behind it, there was no telling how much misery it could cause in that much time.

A sudden scream ripped through the afternoon, high pitched and echoing; 'a woman's scream' Tsuzuki thought as he threw himself around the next corner into a narrow passageway between buildings. Ahead of him he could see the demon pursuing the fleeing soul, both heading directly for a young woman who stood frozen in fear.

Tsuzuki pulled another 'fuda from his coat as he ran, but he was still too far back to interfere as the young woman threw her arms up to protect herself and screamed again.

The soul ran straight into her and vanished.

The impact knocked her over and her scream cut off as she hit the ground. She looked up to find the dog-like demon looming over her, growling. Her mouth dropped open, but this time no sound emerged.

Tsuzuki was finally close enough and let his 'fuda fly. It landed on the demons back and the creature let out a howl of pain, spinning back to face him. It bared it's teeth, spittle dripping from it's muzzle to sizzle and smoke on the ground. Tsuzuki stepped back as the demon advanced, throwing a second 'fuda, this one causing the demon to twitch and seize as the power of the charm tore through it.

Tsuzuki felt a figure slip past him, but kept his attention on the beast that was quickly recovering. He didn't need to see him to know that it was Hisoka slipping by him while the demon was distracted, so he was not surprised when he heard Hisoka's voice low and soothing.

"Come with me, we'll get you out of here."

There was a pause, and then Tsuzuki saw movement out of the corner of his eye; Hisoka helping the woman to her feet.

Unfortunately, the demon noticed too. It's large head turned towards the movement, a menacing growl growing loud in it's throat. Then it lunged at the woman and Hisoka.

Tsuzuki moved between them and the demon as he threw a third 'fuda. The demon howled again and dropped to the ground. Tsuzuki drew his final 'fuda from his coat, but the demon didn't advance. It got to it's feet, still growling, and slowly retreated, fading out of sight.

"It's you!"

Tsuzuki spun at the feminine gasp behind him and for the first time actually looked at the young woman now clinging to Hisoka's arm. His jaw dropped.

"It's you!" she repeated. "I met you yesterday at the coffee shop…"

And she promptly burst into tears.