Chapter 3

The hotel room was small, featuring two single beds and a small kitchenette area with a battered table and two hard straight-back chairs. Both chairs were occupied by the shinigami as they watched their new charge sleep, her breath still occasionally hitching in sobs.

"Damn," Tsuzuki cursed, rubbing a hand over his forehead.

"Um, yeah," Hisoka agreed. "So just what the hell happened?"

Tsuzuki shrugged, looking tired. "I don't know. Totohome ran straight into her and poof! Gone."

"Do you think he could be possessing her? Or did he just leave?"

Tsuzuki quirked a brow at his empathic partner. "I'd think you'd have a better idea of that than I would."

Hisoka's gaze flicked back to the bed and its occupant. "I can't tell," he said, frowning slightly, "I can't sense much from her at all." The frown deepened. "With everything she's gone through this evening, she should be on the edge of a nervous breakdown, terrified and having screaming nightmares…"

Tsuzuki nodded, agreeing with this assessment.

"…but I'm getting less from her than I usually get from Tatsumi."

Tsuzuki watched as the girl took another shuddering breath in her sleep, she didn't seem calm. And Hisoka was right, for a long while after the demons disappearance, Rika had been panicky and clinging; but Hisoka had been unfazed by her near hysteria.

"I can't read her at all," Hisoka continued, still staring. "I can't tell if Totohome is possessing her or not. Can a soul hide inside another living person?" he asked, turning back to Tsuzuki.

Tsuzuki tilted his head looking thoughtful. "I suppose it's possible, I've never seen it though."

"So, maybe he's hiding from the demon inside her?"

"Which, of course, brings us to the big question." Tsuzuki sighed.

"Why is a demon hunting him in the first place?"

"Bingo."

Hisoka echoed Tsuzuki's sigh. "We're going to have to go back to the beginning, aren't we?"

Tsuzuki nodded, slumping dejectedly.

Hisoka mirrored Tsuzuki's dejection. They would have to go back to Totohome's home, but rather than just tracing the missing soul, this time they would have to dig into the man's life and past to find how the man had become the target of a demon. Then they would have to take care of said demon. Then they would have to find Totohome all over again. And just to add one more complication…

"We have to keep her safe." Tsuzuki finished Hisoka's unspoken thought. "If Totohome really is hiding insider her, or possessing her, that demon will be coming back."

The partners exchanged a glance, and then both turned back to watch the restless sleeper.

"She'll have to come with us."

XXXXXXXXXX

Hisoka scowled as he entered the black room.

The day had been feeling more and more surreal, and he was getting annoyed with all the unpleasant surprises that just kept cropping up.

The girl, Rika, had woken up several times during the night, each time afraid, and Tsuzuki would tell her she was safe, reassure her as she clung to him, and she would go back to sleep. The one time she'd awoken while Tsuzuki was asleep, Hisoka had gone to her side, to try to comfort her, and she had seemed grateful, but he knew he hadn't imagined the momentary annoyance that crossed her face when she saw him rather than his partner.

He could understand it, of course, Tsuzuki was older and looked like someone who could provide protection, and she'd already seen him fend off the demon once; meanwhile Hisoka himself appeared to be little more than a child.

He understood it, it didn't mean he had to like it.

Then there was the way the woman clung to Tsuzuki, occasionally shooting glances at him, Hisoka, that alternated between angry and unsure. Any time she had to talk to him, she kept it short, hurrying back to Tsuzuki as quick as she could, looking… Anxious? Hurt? He didn't know what to make of it.

Then there was the way Tsuzuki looked at her. Every time he did, Hisoka could feel the man's affection for her, and a wonder that bordered on awe. He didn't know what to make of that either, until his partner had slipped.

He had called Rika; Ruka.

The slip had sent his mind racing back to what Tsuzuki had said when he'd returned to the hotel two days earlier, disturbed and hiding any glimmer of emotion.

'I just saw someone I thought I knew.'

And for the first time Hisoka really looked at Rika.

Petite and slender, straight, even, delicate features, long dark hair, and dark eyes. But if those eyes had been a vivid shade of violet, she would have been a carbon copy of Tsuzuki in female form.

Hisoka didn't know much about his partner's sister. Tsuzuki rarely spoke about her, and when he did, it was painful. There was an ocean of guilt, anger, grief and self-hatred there, and it was enough to knock the empath flat.

What he did know though, was that Tsuzuki Ruka must have been an exceptionally wonderful person. The evidence was there in Tsuzuki's every thought, every action, every ideal, for hadn't his sister raised him to be the person he'd become? And if he'd needed any more proof, it was there in the fact that Tsuzuki had loved her, whole-heartedly.

There was no way this Rika person could ever measure up to Tsuzuki Ruka. There was something about her, something that was just so… so… off. It made him uneasy. He needed to get Tsuzuki alone as soon as possible so they could discuss it. So they could discuss what Rika was, and what she so obviously wasn't; preferably before Tsuzuki's feeling for the girl became any stronger.

Hisoka had reached this conclusion about the same time as they had reached Totohome's home. A small one story house, slightly larger than a closet, that he had inherited from a maternal uncle. They had visited the place earlier in the week, but then hey had been looking for the soul, not the history, and they had left quickly, following the traces of Totohome's presence.

But they weren't blind either, and Hisoka was sure, well, pretty sure anyways, that that door had not been there before, or the narrow stairway behind it, or the ugly room with no windows and black painted walls, or the ugly alter directly in front of him, stained with dark blotches of what could only be blood, or the big dog-like demon standing between him and the door.

Growling…

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsuzuki thought Rika had taken the news rather well. She had after all, been attacked by a demon and met the walking dead the day before; then upon waking, been told that she must temporarily abandon her normal life and stay with them for her own protection. She had been afraid, but not overly so, and had agreed to stay with minimal hassle.

"So, explain this to me one more time," she'd requested as they walked they walked down the street. "We have to go to this Totohome's house, why?"

"We need to find out how Totohome was connected to the demon…"

At the mention of the demon, Rika took hold of his arm, squeezing tightly looking for reassurance. Tsuzuki smiled down at her.

"…and hopefully we can find out what or who the demon is. It's hard to get rid of a demon if you don't know what you're dealing with." He felt her shiver. "Ruka, it's going to be okay." He patted her hand. "We'll keep you safe."

"I know you will." Rika smiled up at him, then looked back over her shoulder at Hisoka, and her smile faded somewhat.

As they made their way across the city, Tsuzuki became more aware of the bi-play taking place between Rika and his partner. When Rika looked at the younger shinigami, she faltered, looking confused and a little sad. She tried to talk to Hisoka several times, but returned quickly looking forlorn and maybe a little hurt.

Hisoka, on the other hand, had started that morning regarding Rika with confusion and unease. That was natural Tsuzuki supposed; being unable to sense Rika's emotions with his empathy was bound to unnerve him, but as the progressed, those looks had changed.

"I don't think your partner likes me." Rika told him in a small voice, looking rather like a kicked puppy.

"Oh, no!" Tsuzuki exclaimed, "I'm sure he likes you fine, he just…" Tsuzuki looked behind him and let the sentence trail off.

Hisoka was regarding Rika with the air of one in deep contemplation, and not particularly pleased with what he was contemplating.

Tsuzuki frowned slightly and turned back to Rika. "Hisoka's just a very serious person."

But Tsuzuki watched as Hisoka's eyes showed more and more suspicion when he looked at Rika, and Rika noticed. She became quieter and more melancholy as she walked by his side, her hand on his arm as if seeking protection from Hisoka's less than friendly glances.

Tsuzuki fought the urge to glare back at his partner. After all, Ruka had done nothing wrong, she hadn't asked to be dragged into this mess, and she was co-operating as much as she could. Rika was smart and personable and lively, and she didn't deserve the open distrust that Hisoka was now showing.

It was a relief when they finally reached Totohome's house.

They agreed to split up. Hisoka would check the back of the house (bedroom and bath), while he and Rika would take the front (kitchen and living area).

They had been searching for less than 20 minutes when Tsuzuki felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the number, it was Hisoka.

Tsuzuki frowned, Hisoka wouldn't use the phone unless something was wrong. If he had found something, he would have just called out. "Hisoka?" he answered in a whisper soft voice.

There was no reply from his partner. In fact, Tsuzuki was willing to bet that Hisoka didn't even have the phone to his ear. He didn't need to. Tsuzuki could hear the loud growling coming clear through the phone. Either Hisoka had set his phone on a running engine, or…

Swearing under his breath, Tsuzuki ended the call.

"Tsuzuki? What…" Rika began in a rather loud voice.

"Shhhhhhh!" Tsuzuki hissed at her. He caught a hold of her wrist and pulled her through the kitchen to a tiny pantry. "In here," he whispered, "don't move, and don't make a sound. I'll be back as soon as I can!"

Rika nodded, her dark eyes wide with fear. It gave Tsuzuki a pang to see it, Ruka had looked that way once…

He closed the pantry door and made his way to the back of the house as quickly and quietly as he could.

Entering the bedroom, Tsuzuki could see where Hisoka had begun his search, where he had ended, and why. Tsuzuki frowned in confusion as he move to the small door that he was sure hadn't been there the first time they'd been in the house.

But before he got to the door, there was a shout and a crash.

Caution abandoned in his concern for his partner, Tsuzuki ran through the door, down a set of stairs, and into a black room.

Hisoka was crouched near the center of the room, his phone in his left hand, still open. In his right hand he held a 'fuda. His hand was steady, and there was a shimmer of a barrier around him.

The demon was extricating itself from the remains of an alter, which it had crashed into after rebounding off of Hisoka's barrier. It had regained it's feet and shook itself, scattering debris around the room. The horned head turned and took in Hisoka, still protected under his barrier, his attention fully focused on it, and then Tsuzuki at the bottom of the stairs, 'fuda in hand. It gave a piercing shriek of a growl, and then charged at Tsuzuki, knocking him to the ground and flying up the stairs.

Hisoka immediately dropped his barrier and ran after it, pausing only briefly to grab Tsuzuki's arm and help the man to his feet.

"C'mon! We have to go after it!"

In the next instant there was a crash and Rika's screams echoed though the house.

The shinigami raced up the stairs and into the kitchen. The demon was at the pantry door, clawing at the wood and crashing it's body into it. The door was beginning to splinter under the assault.

"NO!" Tsuzuki yelled and threw his 'fuda.

The demon howled, and faster than a flash had crossed the kitchen and exploded out the front door.

Tsuzuki ran to the pantry and pulled open what was left of the door. In his fear over Rika, he didn't notice Hisoka following the demon out into the night.

Rika had squeezed herself into a corner of the pantry, under a shelf, but when she saw Tsuzuki, she threw herself at him gasping and crying. Tsuzuki wrapped his arms around her and began leading her to the door, surprised to see that Hisoka was waiting for them there. He shook his head as Tsuzuki approached.

"It's gone."

Tsuzuki looked out at the night fighting the growing frustration. Finally he sighed. "Let's get back to the hotel."