Chapter 4

The early morning light drew Hisoka from an uneasy sleep. Rousing quickly, he ducked into the bathroom and dressed. He found Tsuzuki asleep in one of the chairs at the kitchenette table and shook him awake.

"We need to talk," He said as he shook the elder shinigami into consciousness He shot an inscrutable look at the young woman who was once again laying curled up in the other twin bed.

Tsuzuki frowned, but after a large stretch and yawn followed him willingly enough out into the hall.

"It's about Rika…"

"You don't like her," Tsuzuki interrupted.

"No I don't," Hisoka confirmed.

"…and you're being glaringly obvious about it."

"What do you expect me to do Tsuzuki? Put on a big fake smile and lie through my teeth?" Hisoka shook his head. "There's something wrong about her." There was nothing about her behaviour that was wrong, but the more time he spent around her, the more certain he was, like listening to a piece of music that was just slightly out of syncopation; just… off.

Tsuzuki, however, didn't seem to agree and was shaking his own head. "There's nothing wrong with her, she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Yeah." Hisoka scowled. "Alone, behind a building in the middle of the afternoon when most people are at work. In a dead end ally at just the right time to run into a missing soul, a demon and two shinigami. That strikes me as being a whole honking bunch of coincidence right there."

"Just what are you trying to say?" Tsuzuki asked coldly.

Hisoka looked directly into Tsuzuki's eyes. "I'm saying we need to be careful. We need to keep our eyes open and not get attached."

Tsuzuki's eyes narrowed slightly at the emphasis Hisoka put on the word 'attached'.

"She…" Hisoka paused. He didn't know how to say it, so he took a deep breath and blurted it out. "She's not your sister Tsuzuki."

Tsuzuki jerked back as if Hisoka had slapped him. "I know that!"

"Do you?" Hisoka moved a step closer. " 'Cause the feelings I've been getting from you…"

"I know who she is danmit!" Tsuzuki flared angrily.

"You called her Ruka yesterday."

That stopped Tsuzuki's anger in its tracks. "I did?"

Hisoka nodded. "When you told everything would be okay. I just don't want you to get hurt…"

Tsuzuki thawed completely. "I know, I'm sorry, I'll be careful, I promise!"

Hisoka raised a brow sceptically, but his partner gave him a reassuring smile.

"We need to report in. Why don't you do that, and you can ask the Gushoshin to run Rika through their computers while you're at it. I'll stay here and keep and eye on her."

Hisoka hesitated.

Tsuzuki held up his hands in mock surrender. "I'll be good, I swear!"

Finally Hisoka nodded and disappeared back to Enma-Cho.

Tsuzuki went back into the hotel room, his eyes falling immediately on the girl laying curled into a ball in the centre of his bed. She looked vulnerable, and scared, and; Tsuzuki thought as he took a seat across from her on Hisoka's bed, lost.

Rika's eyes blinked open and her lips curved in a tremulous smile.

"Are you okay?" Tsuzuki asked solicitously.

"I think so," she said as she sat up, her gaze swept the room, the small smile disappearing. "Where's Hisoka?"

"Oh, he went to report in to our superior."

"He'll be back?" she asked, an odd wariness coming over her features.

"Yes, later, why?" Tsuzuki asked.

"It's nothing, it's just that he… well… never mind, I'm just being silly."

"No, what is it?" Tsuzuki asked encouragingly.

"It's just that he scares me."

"Scared? Of Hisoka?" Taken aback, Tsuzuki couldn't seem to fit the idea together. "Why?"

Rika lowered her eyes and fidgeted.

"Rika?"

She looked up and took a deep breath. "He wants me gone. I can see it every time he looks at me, and I can't help but wonder exactly what.." her voice lowered to a whisper, "…what he'd be willing to do to make me be gone."

Tsuzuki quickly got up and moved to sit beside her. Placing an arm around her shoulders, he squeezed reassuringly. "Hisoka wouldn't do anything to hurt you! We're both here to protect you! I know Hisoka seems cold, but that's because he's cautious…" Tsuzuki trailed off thinking about one of the points that Hisoka had brought up in the hall. "What were you doing in an ally way yesterday afternoon anyways?"

Rika smiled wanly and reached into a pocket, pulling out a small picture. "I was chasing this." She handed the picture to Tsuzuki. "It's a picture of my older brother. He raised me after our parents died, but last year he died in an apartment fire."

Tsuzuki studied the picture of the young man, he looked rather ordinary, but happy, smiling out of the photograph.

Rika reached out and took it back, holding it reverently. "I always have it on me, and when I took it out to look at yesterday afternoon, the wind caught it. I chased it behind the building, and had only just got it back when that odd man and the demon ran into the ally." She put the picture on a small chest of drawers beside the bed, propped against a lamp. "I really miss him," she said, her eyes shinning with unshed tears. " I couldn't let his picture be blown away, it's all I have left of him."

Tsuzuki reached out to the hurting girl and drew her into his arms, rocking her slightly and she took deep breaths and tried almost successfully not to cry. Finally she pulled back and gave him another tremulous smile.

"Thanks." She wiped her eyes and seemed calmer. "I'm sorry, it's just that everything is such a big mess!" She gestured around her vaguely, indicating the entire situation.

"We'll figure it out." Tsuzuki said, smiling warmly. "We always do, so don't worry about it, no one blames you."

"Hisoka does," Rika said, barely over a whisper.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Come in."

Hisoka hesitated for only a brief moment before opening the door of Tatsumi's office and letting himself in.

Although he respected the secretary greatly, he still found the man to be just a little intimidating.

"I've come to give our report…"

Tatsumi nodded, barely looking up from his paperwork; and Hisoka told him about Totohome, the demon, Rika, and her resemblance to Tsuzuki's long dead sister, and Tsuzuki's growing attachment. By the time he was finished, Tatsumi had abandoned his papers and was watching him intently, concern strong in those deep blue eyes.

"Would you prefer I re-assign the case?" he asked evenly.

Hisoka considered for a long moment; actually, he would like nothing better than for the case to be re-assigned, but he knew that Tsuzuki would be upset to be pulled out now. And they had talked, and Tsuzuki had promised to try harder to keep his distance, to be objective. "No," Hisoka said slowly, "not now anyway. If there's a problem later…"

"I'll keep the option available," Tatsumi assured him.

"Thank you."

"If that's everything you may return to work. Please keep me informed."

Nodding, Hisoka let himself out of the office and headed directly for the library. The Gushoshin greeted him warmly, in tandem, and he handed them a piece of paper with all the information he an Tsuzuki knew about Rika on it. "I need anything you can find on this girl."

Gushoshin looked over the paper. "There's not much to go on, but we'll get on it right away!"

His brother nodded enthusiastically. "We'll call you as soon as we've got something!"

With much thanking on his part, and bowing by the Gushoshins, Hisoka left the library and headed for the office he shared with Tsuzuki. He needed to clear away some papers, and he wanted to see if he could find anything similar to that dog-demon thing in the computer files.

It was several hours later that Hisoka switched off his computer, rubbing the back of his neck, and blinking after staring at the screen for so long. At least it hadn't been a total loss. He had found reference to the demon; a low level, servile type, almost always under the direction of a summoner or more powerful demon.

Perhaps Totohome had summoned the thing and it had turned on him. Low level it might be, but vicious and hard to control. He would have to go back to Totohome's house and look again. Collecting his notes into a folder, Hisoka headed back to Chijou.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hisoka threw the file folder onto the kitchenette table as he walked into the hotel room. He could hear running water, but it cut off abruptly and Rika came hurrying out of the bathroom. She came to a stop when she saw him.

"Oh. It's you," she said irritatedly, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, it's me," Hisoka confirmed blandly. "Where's Tsuzuki?"

Rika walked over to one of the beds and threw herself across it. "He went out to get us some dinner."

Hisoka sniffed.

Rika sat up suddenly, looking at him intently. "I don't know why you bothered to come back."

Hisoka raised a brow at her. "What?"

"I don't know why you came back," she re-iterated. "You are rather useless, you know."

"Useless?" Hisoka asked, incredulous.

"Yes, useless. Seriously, we've seen the demon twice; the first time you just stood there, and the second time…" she smirked, and scorn laced her voice, "…you had to call for help."

Hisoka felt his face reddening.

"If Tsuzuki hadn't had to go and save you, the demon wouldn't have had a chance to come after me. Honestly, I don't know why you're here!"

"I am here because shinigami work in pairs," Hisoka hissed through clenched teeth, advancing on her. "I am here to protect my partner. I am here…"

Suddenly Rika jerked up, her posture changing. She had drown up defensively, one hand outstretched as if to ward him off.

Hisoka stopped, confused.

"What is going on here?"

Hisoka closed his eyes in frustration. Because he was standing between Tsuzuki and their charge, Tsuzuki wasn't able to see the smug smirk still on the girl's face. He opened his eyes and glared at her.

"I said," Tsuzuki began to repeat, "what…

And Rika burst into tears.