Name: Danger of Caring
Author: Andro
Pairings: Tatsumi+Watari, Tsuzuki+Hisoka, ect.
Warnings: Shounen-Ai, a few OCs, mild violence/horror. The whole enchilada. p=
Disclaimer: Not mine. Simple, no?
Author Notes: *covers her face* I can't believe it's been so long since I updated... Argh. .-.; ANYWAY. Much love towards Julie and Beth and the rest for having the patience to deal with me. [And this fic.]
My darling website is Cerulean.Illuminati-X.net All my YnM fics are there, including one ficclet that won't be posted here, and... well, other fanfics, from Harry Potter, to Angel Sanctuary to Kingdom Hearts. Plus two 'rant' journals pretty much by yours truly, an archive of icons and... well. just a bunch of stuff. @_@;
Onwards!
*~*~*~
"What did you think of him?"
Tsuzuki glanced up, having lost himself in thought while staring at the dull cement.
"Who?"
Green eyes gave him a vaguely irritated glance, before sliding away to stare at the street across.
"Hikaru."
"Oh," A tiny, sheepish smile turned up the corners of the older man's lips, and he leaned back with a long sigh, crossing his arms.
"Well...." The words trailed off into a hesitant pause as the shinigami tried to carefully construct a valid point of view on the teenager he'd met earlier. It was too bad that Hisoka hadn't gotten to meet him, it would have probably been quite helpful if they could have gotten a psychic reading. Oh, well.. no matter.. he'd given them their first clue.
"I think he's very sick. I don't think he'll die soon though, he just has a very weak constitution. If you're thinking that he *might* have a hand in these murders, I don't think so. Too weak." He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, nearly hitting an old man walking down the sidewalk.
"Sorry."
Hisoka made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a muffled snort, and pushed strands of his hair back with an impatient flick of his fingers.
"I wasn't really considering that option, although it bears thought. You can never be too sure." He added grimly, thoughts turning dark and treacherous as they wandered over past cases... then he shook his head quickly and shifted forward as the red light shinned and the cars stopped obediently.
"What else? Nothing?"
Tsuzuki followed along, crossing the street with his hands tucked inside his pockets.
"I don't know... I didn't talk to him much, you know. He seems like a normal person. There was nothing really strange or spectacular about him at all. How about his mother?"
They reached the other corner, and paused to gaze up at the high building in front of them. Tokyo's east library wasn't the largest, or the prettiest one in the city, but it was big enough to make people stop and look occasionally.
"She's ashamed of Hikaru." Hisoka announced coolly, shaking off the feeling of awe and walking through the doors. He continued on before Tsuzuki could get a word in.
"From what I talked with her, it seems that Hikaru tends to get sick a lot and miss school, and according to her, photography isn't a proper hobby. I didn't really sense anything too horrible from her, just... that." He seemed vaguely uncomfortable before brushing the feeling away. The situation with the human boy reminded him a little too much of his own life when alive.
"I see...." Tactfully, Tsuzuki changed the subject.
"Okay, we're here at the East Library. Since this is the closest library to Sogetsu's home, we can only assume that this was the one he visited the most... if not, we'll have to visit the other ones too. Blegh. More work." Tsuzuki added with an emphasis, and heard a quietly murmured 'Idiot' from his companion before Hisoka moved on towards the help desk. Tsuzuki only grinned at his back and followed with an easy gait.
It was fortunate that a volunteer helper was manning the said station, she was practically squeaking at the sight of two good looking guys. At the mention of Sogetsu's name, she revealed that she too, knew him.
// It looks like *everyone* knows him, \\ Tsuzuki thought with some dry amusement, planting his hands over the counter and leaning on them.
"Really? Let me guess, you go to the same high school?"
The girl nodded quickly, short black hair moving with her actions.
"Yes! I have one class with him.... and, well. who doesn't know him?" She added with a friendly smile.
"It seems that he's very popular..." Tsuzuki glanced at the pristine name tag clipped on to her gray blouse.
"Sayeka?"
"Uh-huh. He's just so nice, everyone loves him." Sayeka answered with another energetic nod.
"So you want me to pull up Sogetsu's reading records? Do you want me to print out a copy of them too?" She glanced at Hisoka, who had remained silent all the time and offered him a smile. It faded a bit when he only looked back at her with some measure of awkwardness.
Tsuzuki distracted her with another of his own brilliant smiles.
"If you could, it would be most helpful."
"Sure! Okay, give me a minute... or... two... or three.." Sayeka disappeared briefly, kneeling down to look at something, then stood up and flicked her fingers rapidly over the keys of her keyboard.
What she was doing, Tsuzuki honestly had no idea. He'd never been too fond of computers... in fact, they tended to self self-destruct around him, much to Tatsumi's chagrin. Ah, well, it wasn't his fault. Computers didn't even exist when he'd been alive.
Sayeka once more knelt down, and then disappeared into a door off to the side, and Tsuzuki took the opportunity to speak with his partner again.
"What if it's not Sogetsu?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... what if it's not?" Tsuzuki shrugged.
"There's always a possibility, right?"
Hisoka nodded faintly.
"Yes... although..." He faded out momentarily.
"Although, the hate in the house must have been building up for quite some time... years. It doesn't help that he's disappeared."
"Could a ghost have done it?"
"What?"
Tsuzuki looked at him somberly.
"A ghost. It's possible, right?"
"Well..." Hisoka drawled slowly.
"I suppose so. It might have lived in the house without anyone knowing... it could be the ghost of Sogetsu's mother, even, but what about the fact that the other ghosts have vanished? Not just that, but any and all trace of them ever existing spiritually is gone too. It's almost as if someone took a vacuums and sucked it all up."
Tsuzuki had to crack a smile at that image, and tapped his fingers impatiently against his forearm, trying to think.
"No, wait, wasn't it mentioned in the meeting that the ghost of his mother had moved on? It can't be that then."
Hisoka shrugged.
"It all points to Sogetsu... the question is, what are we going to do when we find him?"
"We'll figure out something." Tsuzuki murmured firmly, and looked up with a cheerful grin on his face as Sayeka made the stage once more, a long piece of paper in her hand. She looked a little harried, but triumphant.
"That took a while, I'm very sorry. I had to look through the other library's files too. It seems that he's been *everywhere*. No wonder he's so smart." She complained, handing them the slip. It was over a foot long, and from one glance, Tsuzuki measured that at least a hundred books had been checked out. Date out, date in, titles, author names and late penalties were included. Perfect.
He glanced up, and smiled at the teenage girl again.
"Thank you Sayeka, you've been most helpful."
She nodded, and smiled softly.
"Just find sempai[1], okay?"
*~*~*~
Hitomi Fukisaki had been having the oddest feeling in the back of her neck ever since she'd risen up earlier in the day.
She shrugged it off as a subconscious worry to the fact that she was getting married in a little over a month, and smiled approvingly at the sales girl as she pointed out a blue china pattern.
"Thank you, that's perfect. You have everything written down?"
"Yes, one hundred of these plates, a hundred fifty glasses, and corresponding silverware, oui?" She rattled off professionally, not even needed to look at the pad of paper that she held between her hands.
She was practically glowing, thinking of the sale she was making. The commission that she was going to make was going to make her a very wealthy woman... for a while anyway, until she spent it all on E.
"That's right. I'm sure you have it all under control." Hitomi tried to smile back, but it felt grotesque on her face.
"I'll call tomorrow to see how you're doing, have a nice day." Waving at the attractive blonde French girl, Hitomi escaped from the pretty, high class store and walked out into the throng of mall goers.
The sun shinned down through the giant skylights on the high ceilings, and people chattered comfortable with each other, walking in pairs and trios. Brightly gaudy displays offered the best goods the stores had to offer, and mannequins with blank eyes stared back at her when she looked at them.
The shopping bags she already carried felt heavy in her grasp, and she hurried on through the crowds, eager to get to her car and drive back to her place.
Outside, it was a little cloudy, faintly warning of possible rain coming later that tonight if they continued to gather. It would do the plants good if it rained, Hitomi thought, and hurried over the hot pavement. People still walked around her, some heading into the building, some walking out to their cars like she was. None of them paid her any mind, but she couldn't get the feeling that someone was paying intense attention to her every move.
It was not a comforting sensation.
Dropping off her bags in the trunk of her car, the young woman shut it with more force than necessary, earning her a few startled stares from others around her. She blushed, but paid them no mind, reaching inside her left pockets for keys. To busy herself from dark, needless thoughts, she counted off the things she needed to do before next Thursday.
// Check up on Sogetsu and Kizuki, pick up Ayeka from her computer seminar...\\ Hitomi slid into her car and shut the door, turning on the engine. // Make sure Seishirou got the shots from the vet, call the store to see how they're doing...\\ The car pulled out of the parking lot, and her fingers thrummed nervously against the covered steering wheel, making dull thumping sounds.
// Watch that special on Egypt tomorrow, call Setsuna to ask about what bridesmaid color we should use... \\ The car smoothly slid into the traffic lane, engine purring softly. Eventually, the young Japanese woman relaxed, her shoulders pulled down from their high, tense positions. Probably just some creep had been staring at her at the mall.
Brushing off the feeling with a vague shake of her head, Hitomi reached for the collection of CD cases that she had piled up on the passenger seat. With a quick, ingenious flick of her fingers, she managed to open and draw out the gleaming compact disk.
Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, Hitomi waited until a red light flashed on to stop the car, and then inserted the CD, pressing a few buttons until the upbeat rhythm of Nana Katase's "Fantasy" began to drift from the speakers.
// I love this song. \\ She thought contentedly, nodding her head, a small smile on her face.
Inside her left pocket, her cell phone came to life with a snap, vibrating madly against her hip.
"Wonder who it is..." Tugging the small apparatus free, Hitomi glanced at the liquid screen, brown eyes softening at the name displayed. She pressed the 'Receive' button and pressed the bright green cell phone to her ear.
"Kazuhiro?"
"Hey." Her fiancé's rich, soft voice filled the line, and her smile grew.
"What's up?"
"Just checking to see if you were all right."
"Of course. Why shouldn't I be?"
A brief silence.
"No reason."
Another silence.
"I miss you."
Hitomi quirked up an eyebrow. Well. That was unusual.
"I miss you too. How about I pick you up for dinner and we stuff ourselves silly?"
"Only if we don't visit that cursed American place again."
Hitomi nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her.
"Agreed."
The red light turned to green, and Hitomi reacted, pressing down on the pedal, gliding gracefully out into the street.
"I love you." Kazuhiro said.
The violent sound of metal screeching filled his ears.
*~*~*~*~
Sulking wasn't at all like Yutaka Watari.
So, he had decided that he didn't want to, and was instead looking through files of old cases for any clues for the Mizuro case file. He was surprised at how far back the records went... until he reminded himself that death had always existed, they weren't just some normal business company.
So far, even though he had gone back several decades, he'd found absolutely nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
But, it was better than worrying about whether Tatsumi hated him or not.
Or, well, hated was a rather strong word, maybe just highly disliked.
Holding back a yawn, the golden eyed scientist leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and rubbing at taut neck muscles. He really had to set up some sort of search engine for the files sooner or later, it would save upon hours and hours of research.
//Then again, maybe I could just memorize all the thousands of files word per word and be done with it.\\ He thought wryly, and glanced around with an absent gesture, noticing that yet again, Kizuki was missing. Obviously, he wasn't very good company. Or, then again, she just might have gotten hungry, he realized upon glancing at the clock.
If he became any more absorbed in his work, he was going to turn out like Tatsumi.
A slight smile touched his lips, and Watari prepared to go in a hunt for his protégé and a good sized late lunch when his computer beeped alarmingly.
Frowning, the scientist brought up the file he'd been sent, and read the title.
"From Yue Chihiro, information on the death of Hitomi Fukisaki, age twenty three, died... today? Why does that name sound familiar? And why would Yue send me this...?" He wondered out loud to the empty room, double clicking the link. Yue Chihiro was a colleague that he met briefly when cross examining cases. Yue was one of the shinigami that kept track of who died and reported whether the soul arrived or not.
"Perhaps it's another case." Watari murmured quietly under his breath, watching the screen impatiently as the document took its sweet time in bring up the contents.
He skimmed through the report, but froze midway through and forced himself to start reading from the beginning.
*~*~*~
"You know, I'm starting to wonder what sort of people decide what books go into a library and so on." Tsuzuki commented to his partner, watching Hisoka lift himself on the tips of his toes to reach a particularly high book. Once he saw that Hisoka had grabbed it and was fine, he turned his attention back to his own volume, fingers tracing the worn covers.
They hadn't exactly found copies of the Necromicon in Sogetsu's reading materials, but the teenager sure as hell hadn't been interested in any Pokemon comic books either.
"They don't really believe all this, so they don't care." Hisoka answered finally, setting down a thick stack of books and picking up the list the girl from earlier had given them. He went through the books again. Some were standard things, from a self help book on cooking, to a book on advanced Trigonometry. Although, at least half of them were specifically oriented towards different religions, books written by critics condemning what they called 'witchcraft', books of wicca.... they practically had the whole section on the occult sprawled over their table. And that was just what Sogetsu had rented out in that particular library, and had bothered to return
. Tsuzuki tapped his fingers against the hard wooden surface, short nails clicking.
"Yeah. In any case... Sogetsu obviously isn't as perfect as he's lead other people to believe, but... all of this isn't real," He gestured with a broad wave of his hand towards their collection.
"It might allude to the real way to do these things, but this is like telling someone to bake a cake and tell them that they'll need eggs." His stomach grumbled quietly, and he brightened up.
"Speaking of cakes! I saw this great little pl-" Tsuzuki began enthusiastically, then stopped as his cell phone gave a shrill ring. He pulled out the noisy phone out of his pocket and silently bowed to the people he'd disturbed before flipping it open and moving out of hearing range.
"Hello?"
"It's Watari, I think you better go visit Makino Point, a few blocks away from the Tokyo West Mall."
Tsuzuki quirked up an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Sogetsu's cousin is dead. Same pattern as Sakura and Katsu it seems, although we haven't checked everything yet."
"Damn... all right, thanks. Wait-how's Kizuki holding up?"
A vaguely sheepish silence filled the line.
"I'm... thinking good. She tends to wander off and amuses herself while I'm working."
Tsuzuki felt mildly alarmed.
"You don't know where she is?"
"Well... no, but I'm sure she's fine. I think she knows this place better than I do. Besides, what could happen to her here?"
*~*~*~
Hikaru sat up in bed, and shifted until his back was comfortably pressed against the raised pillows. His gaze was fixed on the view his window offered him, as the setting sun shone over the city. It was too sad that there were very few trees in Tokyo, but the buildings had a sort of beauty to them as well. It just wasn't the same though.
The teenager sneezed, and rubbed his nose ruefully. He felt a lot better, but was still obviously sick.
Tossing off his bed covers, he rose to his feet and wandered out into the hall, his stomach announcing quite loudly that it wanted nourishment. He'd probably be able to go back to school by the next day.
"Mom?" Hikaru glanced down the hallway that led to his mother's room, but heard nothing. // Probably out shopping... she probably left while I was sleeping. \\
Moving ahead, he walked out into the living room and picked up the remote control, turning on the news. Dropping it back on the low table, Hikaru ventured out into the kitchen, picking up a glass and filling it with water. He would have preferred milk, but that wouldn't have helped his sinus problem at all.
Shuffling back out into the living room, Hikaru sank into one of the large, Western styled couches with an audibly relieved sigh, the material molding to his shape.
The commercials on TV were silly at best, and he felt too many brain cells dying by paying too much attention to it, so instead he thought about how much homework he probably had piled up. Then the late afternoon news began showing. After the major headlines, a story about a woman who had suddenly lost control of her car began to air.
// How sad. \\
*~*~*~
Tatsumi was having a hard time concentrating.
In five hours, he had done about half of the usual work he did on a normal day.
His head hurt.
Pulling his glasses from his face, the secretary rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the aching tension building up. Maybe he needed a vacation.
"Annou...." A light, hesitant voice reached his ears, and Tatsumi turned to the source, used to it.
"Yes?" He inquired calmly, eyeing the stuffed bunny the child seemed to be stubborn on dragging around everywhere. Wasn't she too old to be playing with a toy like that?
// Some sort of reaction to victim stress I suppose...\\
Kizuki fidgeted, and her dress whispered. Since she'd actually let Watari stuff her into one of the dresses he seemed to have for some reason or other, she had ribbons hanging from all over the place. Kizuki was betting against herself that she was going to accidentally step on one of the ribbons and fall down.
Tomoki was tucked firmly under her left arm, and she clutched at something sharply with her right.
"Annou... " She started again.
"You seemed upset that Watari cut his hair, so..." Kizuki trailed off, and quickly rushed to the secretary, dumping something into his lap and practically ran out of the room.
Briefly wary, Tatsumi looked down and was startled to find a long lock of golden hair laying peacefully on his thigh.
"Oi! Tatsumiiiiiiii, have you seen Kizuki?" Watari stuck his head into inside the other man's office, and blinked blandly as Tatsumi reacted like he'd been hit with burning coals. He brushed something off his suit with a guilty look on his face, and Watari looked at him with arched eyebrows.
"Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine." Tatsumi replied firmly, picking up his glasses.
"She was just here a few seconds ago."
"Ahah! Thought I heard her voice." Nodding to himself, the scientist began to retreat out into the hall when he pushed his head back inside.
"Oy, Tatsumi, eat something will you? You look as pale as a ghost... erm. No pun intended." Waving his hand cheerfully, Watari turned into the corner, glancing in one direction, and then another. He decided to go left, and walked ahead, running a hand through his hair. It had grown a few inches, now brushing comfortably around his shoulders. In a day or two, it would be back to normal length, and he was grateful. It was weird to not have his 'normal' hair... although, he had to admit, it wasn't really *bad*....
*~*~*~
The rain clouds Tsuzuki had noticed earlier had gathered together, and a faint drizzle was descending over the city. Slow and weak at first, it stubbornly continued until everything was soaked and turned the city into a gray world.
Hisoka stood with his arms crossed against his chest, blue jacket waving a little with the breeze that was beginning to pick up. Both of them were under the protection of Tsuzuki's umbrella, but it wasn't going to do them anymore good if the winds kept persisting.
Across from them, the police was finishing picking up the mess that the triple car pile up had made, caused by Hitomi Fukisaki losing control of her car for unknown reasons. The official reports mentioned a fainting spell, but the shinigami felt sure that it was something else. Her Uncle and Aunt had died the same way. For some odd reason they'd lost control of their cars.
Tsuzuki tried to be cheerful.
"You know, maybe we've been looking at this all wrong, and it's the cars that have a grudge against the family."
Green eyes peered at him below a golden fringe, and Hisoka did not look amused. Instead, he looked back at the carnage of metal and gestured. "Nothing. She died, but there's no feeling of death at all." He announced flatly.
"It's unnerving."
Tsuzuki nodded, and stood silently for a long time, trying to look for the next possibility.
"What do we do now? We can't wait for... Sogetsu to strike. Even if we do, it doesn't seem to help at all."
"But we have something that he wants."
"Kizuki." Tsuzuki nodded.
"Although, he might not really go after her."
"He will." Hisoka answered tonelessly.
"Hitomi was just... a filler, for whatever he's doing, but what he really wants is Kizuki. He might kill off other distanced relatives in the meanwhile, but Kizuki is the prize, for some reason or another."
*~*~*~
1. Sempai: Typically used for someone that's older/and or in a higher position than you. Say Sayeka's in tenth grade, and Sogetsu's in 11th, so he's her 'sempai'.
Author: Andro
Pairings: Tatsumi+Watari, Tsuzuki+Hisoka, ect.
Warnings: Shounen-Ai, a few OCs, mild violence/horror. The whole enchilada. p=
Disclaimer: Not mine. Simple, no?
Author Notes: *covers her face* I can't believe it's been so long since I updated... Argh. .-.; ANYWAY. Much love towards Julie and Beth and the rest for having the patience to deal with me. [And this fic.]
My darling website is Cerulean.Illuminati-X.net All my YnM fics are there, including one ficclet that won't be posted here, and... well, other fanfics, from Harry Potter, to Angel Sanctuary to Kingdom Hearts. Plus two 'rant' journals pretty much by yours truly, an archive of icons and... well. just a bunch of stuff. @_@;
Onwards!
*~*~*~
"What did you think of him?"
Tsuzuki glanced up, having lost himself in thought while staring at the dull cement.
"Who?"
Green eyes gave him a vaguely irritated glance, before sliding away to stare at the street across.
"Hikaru."
"Oh," A tiny, sheepish smile turned up the corners of the older man's lips, and he leaned back with a long sigh, crossing his arms.
"Well...." The words trailed off into a hesitant pause as the shinigami tried to carefully construct a valid point of view on the teenager he'd met earlier. It was too bad that Hisoka hadn't gotten to meet him, it would have probably been quite helpful if they could have gotten a psychic reading. Oh, well.. no matter.. he'd given them their first clue.
"I think he's very sick. I don't think he'll die soon though, he just has a very weak constitution. If you're thinking that he *might* have a hand in these murders, I don't think so. Too weak." He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, nearly hitting an old man walking down the sidewalk.
"Sorry."
Hisoka made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a muffled snort, and pushed strands of his hair back with an impatient flick of his fingers.
"I wasn't really considering that option, although it bears thought. You can never be too sure." He added grimly, thoughts turning dark and treacherous as they wandered over past cases... then he shook his head quickly and shifted forward as the red light shinned and the cars stopped obediently.
"What else? Nothing?"
Tsuzuki followed along, crossing the street with his hands tucked inside his pockets.
"I don't know... I didn't talk to him much, you know. He seems like a normal person. There was nothing really strange or spectacular about him at all. How about his mother?"
They reached the other corner, and paused to gaze up at the high building in front of them. Tokyo's east library wasn't the largest, or the prettiest one in the city, but it was big enough to make people stop and look occasionally.
"She's ashamed of Hikaru." Hisoka announced coolly, shaking off the feeling of awe and walking through the doors. He continued on before Tsuzuki could get a word in.
"From what I talked with her, it seems that Hikaru tends to get sick a lot and miss school, and according to her, photography isn't a proper hobby. I didn't really sense anything too horrible from her, just... that." He seemed vaguely uncomfortable before brushing the feeling away. The situation with the human boy reminded him a little too much of his own life when alive.
"I see...." Tactfully, Tsuzuki changed the subject.
"Okay, we're here at the East Library. Since this is the closest library to Sogetsu's home, we can only assume that this was the one he visited the most... if not, we'll have to visit the other ones too. Blegh. More work." Tsuzuki added with an emphasis, and heard a quietly murmured 'Idiot' from his companion before Hisoka moved on towards the help desk. Tsuzuki only grinned at his back and followed with an easy gait.
It was fortunate that a volunteer helper was manning the said station, she was practically squeaking at the sight of two good looking guys. At the mention of Sogetsu's name, she revealed that she too, knew him.
// It looks like *everyone* knows him, \\ Tsuzuki thought with some dry amusement, planting his hands over the counter and leaning on them.
"Really? Let me guess, you go to the same high school?"
The girl nodded quickly, short black hair moving with her actions.
"Yes! I have one class with him.... and, well. who doesn't know him?" She added with a friendly smile.
"It seems that he's very popular..." Tsuzuki glanced at the pristine name tag clipped on to her gray blouse.
"Sayeka?"
"Uh-huh. He's just so nice, everyone loves him." Sayeka answered with another energetic nod.
"So you want me to pull up Sogetsu's reading records? Do you want me to print out a copy of them too?" She glanced at Hisoka, who had remained silent all the time and offered him a smile. It faded a bit when he only looked back at her with some measure of awkwardness.
Tsuzuki distracted her with another of his own brilliant smiles.
"If you could, it would be most helpful."
"Sure! Okay, give me a minute... or... two... or three.." Sayeka disappeared briefly, kneeling down to look at something, then stood up and flicked her fingers rapidly over the keys of her keyboard.
What she was doing, Tsuzuki honestly had no idea. He'd never been too fond of computers... in fact, they tended to self self-destruct around him, much to Tatsumi's chagrin. Ah, well, it wasn't his fault. Computers didn't even exist when he'd been alive.
Sayeka once more knelt down, and then disappeared into a door off to the side, and Tsuzuki took the opportunity to speak with his partner again.
"What if it's not Sogetsu?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... what if it's not?" Tsuzuki shrugged.
"There's always a possibility, right?"
Hisoka nodded faintly.
"Yes... although..." He faded out momentarily.
"Although, the hate in the house must have been building up for quite some time... years. It doesn't help that he's disappeared."
"Could a ghost have done it?"
"What?"
Tsuzuki looked at him somberly.
"A ghost. It's possible, right?"
"Well..." Hisoka drawled slowly.
"I suppose so. It might have lived in the house without anyone knowing... it could be the ghost of Sogetsu's mother, even, but what about the fact that the other ghosts have vanished? Not just that, but any and all trace of them ever existing spiritually is gone too. It's almost as if someone took a vacuums and sucked it all up."
Tsuzuki had to crack a smile at that image, and tapped his fingers impatiently against his forearm, trying to think.
"No, wait, wasn't it mentioned in the meeting that the ghost of his mother had moved on? It can't be that then."
Hisoka shrugged.
"It all points to Sogetsu... the question is, what are we going to do when we find him?"
"We'll figure out something." Tsuzuki murmured firmly, and looked up with a cheerful grin on his face as Sayeka made the stage once more, a long piece of paper in her hand. She looked a little harried, but triumphant.
"That took a while, I'm very sorry. I had to look through the other library's files too. It seems that he's been *everywhere*. No wonder he's so smart." She complained, handing them the slip. It was over a foot long, and from one glance, Tsuzuki measured that at least a hundred books had been checked out. Date out, date in, titles, author names and late penalties were included. Perfect.
He glanced up, and smiled at the teenage girl again.
"Thank you Sayeka, you've been most helpful."
She nodded, and smiled softly.
"Just find sempai[1], okay?"
*~*~*~
Hitomi Fukisaki had been having the oddest feeling in the back of her neck ever since she'd risen up earlier in the day.
She shrugged it off as a subconscious worry to the fact that she was getting married in a little over a month, and smiled approvingly at the sales girl as she pointed out a blue china pattern.
"Thank you, that's perfect. You have everything written down?"
"Yes, one hundred of these plates, a hundred fifty glasses, and corresponding silverware, oui?" She rattled off professionally, not even needed to look at the pad of paper that she held between her hands.
She was practically glowing, thinking of the sale she was making. The commission that she was going to make was going to make her a very wealthy woman... for a while anyway, until she spent it all on E.
"That's right. I'm sure you have it all under control." Hitomi tried to smile back, but it felt grotesque on her face.
"I'll call tomorrow to see how you're doing, have a nice day." Waving at the attractive blonde French girl, Hitomi escaped from the pretty, high class store and walked out into the throng of mall goers.
The sun shinned down through the giant skylights on the high ceilings, and people chattered comfortable with each other, walking in pairs and trios. Brightly gaudy displays offered the best goods the stores had to offer, and mannequins with blank eyes stared back at her when she looked at them.
The shopping bags she already carried felt heavy in her grasp, and she hurried on through the crowds, eager to get to her car and drive back to her place.
Outside, it was a little cloudy, faintly warning of possible rain coming later that tonight if they continued to gather. It would do the plants good if it rained, Hitomi thought, and hurried over the hot pavement. People still walked around her, some heading into the building, some walking out to their cars like she was. None of them paid her any mind, but she couldn't get the feeling that someone was paying intense attention to her every move.
It was not a comforting sensation.
Dropping off her bags in the trunk of her car, the young woman shut it with more force than necessary, earning her a few startled stares from others around her. She blushed, but paid them no mind, reaching inside her left pockets for keys. To busy herself from dark, needless thoughts, she counted off the things she needed to do before next Thursday.
// Check up on Sogetsu and Kizuki, pick up Ayeka from her computer seminar...\\ Hitomi slid into her car and shut the door, turning on the engine. // Make sure Seishirou got the shots from the vet, call the store to see how they're doing...\\ The car pulled out of the parking lot, and her fingers thrummed nervously against the covered steering wheel, making dull thumping sounds.
// Watch that special on Egypt tomorrow, call Setsuna to ask about what bridesmaid color we should use... \\ The car smoothly slid into the traffic lane, engine purring softly. Eventually, the young Japanese woman relaxed, her shoulders pulled down from their high, tense positions. Probably just some creep had been staring at her at the mall.
Brushing off the feeling with a vague shake of her head, Hitomi reached for the collection of CD cases that she had piled up on the passenger seat. With a quick, ingenious flick of her fingers, she managed to open and draw out the gleaming compact disk.
Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, Hitomi waited until a red light flashed on to stop the car, and then inserted the CD, pressing a few buttons until the upbeat rhythm of Nana Katase's "Fantasy" began to drift from the speakers.
// I love this song. \\ She thought contentedly, nodding her head, a small smile on her face.
Inside her left pocket, her cell phone came to life with a snap, vibrating madly against her hip.
"Wonder who it is..." Tugging the small apparatus free, Hitomi glanced at the liquid screen, brown eyes softening at the name displayed. She pressed the 'Receive' button and pressed the bright green cell phone to her ear.
"Kazuhiro?"
"Hey." Her fiancé's rich, soft voice filled the line, and her smile grew.
"What's up?"
"Just checking to see if you were all right."
"Of course. Why shouldn't I be?"
A brief silence.
"No reason."
Another silence.
"I miss you."
Hitomi quirked up an eyebrow. Well. That was unusual.
"I miss you too. How about I pick you up for dinner and we stuff ourselves silly?"
"Only if we don't visit that cursed American place again."
Hitomi nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her.
"Agreed."
The red light turned to green, and Hitomi reacted, pressing down on the pedal, gliding gracefully out into the street.
"I love you." Kazuhiro said.
The violent sound of metal screeching filled his ears.
*~*~*~*~
Sulking wasn't at all like Yutaka Watari.
So, he had decided that he didn't want to, and was instead looking through files of old cases for any clues for the Mizuro case file. He was surprised at how far back the records went... until he reminded himself that death had always existed, they weren't just some normal business company.
So far, even though he had gone back several decades, he'd found absolutely nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
But, it was better than worrying about whether Tatsumi hated him or not.
Or, well, hated was a rather strong word, maybe just highly disliked.
Holding back a yawn, the golden eyed scientist leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and rubbing at taut neck muscles. He really had to set up some sort of search engine for the files sooner or later, it would save upon hours and hours of research.
//Then again, maybe I could just memorize all the thousands of files word per word and be done with it.\\ He thought wryly, and glanced around with an absent gesture, noticing that yet again, Kizuki was missing. Obviously, he wasn't very good company. Or, then again, she just might have gotten hungry, he realized upon glancing at the clock.
If he became any more absorbed in his work, he was going to turn out like Tatsumi.
A slight smile touched his lips, and Watari prepared to go in a hunt for his protégé and a good sized late lunch when his computer beeped alarmingly.
Frowning, the scientist brought up the file he'd been sent, and read the title.
"From Yue Chihiro, information on the death of Hitomi Fukisaki, age twenty three, died... today? Why does that name sound familiar? And why would Yue send me this...?" He wondered out loud to the empty room, double clicking the link. Yue Chihiro was a colleague that he met briefly when cross examining cases. Yue was one of the shinigami that kept track of who died and reported whether the soul arrived or not.
"Perhaps it's another case." Watari murmured quietly under his breath, watching the screen impatiently as the document took its sweet time in bring up the contents.
He skimmed through the report, but froze midway through and forced himself to start reading from the beginning.
*~*~*~
"You know, I'm starting to wonder what sort of people decide what books go into a library and so on." Tsuzuki commented to his partner, watching Hisoka lift himself on the tips of his toes to reach a particularly high book. Once he saw that Hisoka had grabbed it and was fine, he turned his attention back to his own volume, fingers tracing the worn covers.
They hadn't exactly found copies of the Necromicon in Sogetsu's reading materials, but the teenager sure as hell hadn't been interested in any Pokemon comic books either.
"They don't really believe all this, so they don't care." Hisoka answered finally, setting down a thick stack of books and picking up the list the girl from earlier had given them. He went through the books again. Some were standard things, from a self help book on cooking, to a book on advanced Trigonometry. Although, at least half of them were specifically oriented towards different religions, books written by critics condemning what they called 'witchcraft', books of wicca.... they practically had the whole section on the occult sprawled over their table. And that was just what Sogetsu had rented out in that particular library, and had bothered to return
. Tsuzuki tapped his fingers against the hard wooden surface, short nails clicking.
"Yeah. In any case... Sogetsu obviously isn't as perfect as he's lead other people to believe, but... all of this isn't real," He gestured with a broad wave of his hand towards their collection.
"It might allude to the real way to do these things, but this is like telling someone to bake a cake and tell them that they'll need eggs." His stomach grumbled quietly, and he brightened up.
"Speaking of cakes! I saw this great little pl-" Tsuzuki began enthusiastically, then stopped as his cell phone gave a shrill ring. He pulled out the noisy phone out of his pocket and silently bowed to the people he'd disturbed before flipping it open and moving out of hearing range.
"Hello?"
"It's Watari, I think you better go visit Makino Point, a few blocks away from the Tokyo West Mall."
Tsuzuki quirked up an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Sogetsu's cousin is dead. Same pattern as Sakura and Katsu it seems, although we haven't checked everything yet."
"Damn... all right, thanks. Wait-how's Kizuki holding up?"
A vaguely sheepish silence filled the line.
"I'm... thinking good. She tends to wander off and amuses herself while I'm working."
Tsuzuki felt mildly alarmed.
"You don't know where she is?"
"Well... no, but I'm sure she's fine. I think she knows this place better than I do. Besides, what could happen to her here?"
*~*~*~
Hikaru sat up in bed, and shifted until his back was comfortably pressed against the raised pillows. His gaze was fixed on the view his window offered him, as the setting sun shone over the city. It was too sad that there were very few trees in Tokyo, but the buildings had a sort of beauty to them as well. It just wasn't the same though.
The teenager sneezed, and rubbed his nose ruefully. He felt a lot better, but was still obviously sick.
Tossing off his bed covers, he rose to his feet and wandered out into the hall, his stomach announcing quite loudly that it wanted nourishment. He'd probably be able to go back to school by the next day.
"Mom?" Hikaru glanced down the hallway that led to his mother's room, but heard nothing. // Probably out shopping... she probably left while I was sleeping. \\
Moving ahead, he walked out into the living room and picked up the remote control, turning on the news. Dropping it back on the low table, Hikaru ventured out into the kitchen, picking up a glass and filling it with water. He would have preferred milk, but that wouldn't have helped his sinus problem at all.
Shuffling back out into the living room, Hikaru sank into one of the large, Western styled couches with an audibly relieved sigh, the material molding to his shape.
The commercials on TV were silly at best, and he felt too many brain cells dying by paying too much attention to it, so instead he thought about how much homework he probably had piled up. Then the late afternoon news began showing. After the major headlines, a story about a woman who had suddenly lost control of her car began to air.
// How sad. \\
*~*~*~
Tatsumi was having a hard time concentrating.
In five hours, he had done about half of the usual work he did on a normal day.
His head hurt.
Pulling his glasses from his face, the secretary rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the aching tension building up. Maybe he needed a vacation.
"Annou...." A light, hesitant voice reached his ears, and Tatsumi turned to the source, used to it.
"Yes?" He inquired calmly, eyeing the stuffed bunny the child seemed to be stubborn on dragging around everywhere. Wasn't she too old to be playing with a toy like that?
// Some sort of reaction to victim stress I suppose...\\
Kizuki fidgeted, and her dress whispered. Since she'd actually let Watari stuff her into one of the dresses he seemed to have for some reason or other, she had ribbons hanging from all over the place. Kizuki was betting against herself that she was going to accidentally step on one of the ribbons and fall down.
Tomoki was tucked firmly under her left arm, and she clutched at something sharply with her right.
"Annou... " She started again.
"You seemed upset that Watari cut his hair, so..." Kizuki trailed off, and quickly rushed to the secretary, dumping something into his lap and practically ran out of the room.
Briefly wary, Tatsumi looked down and was startled to find a long lock of golden hair laying peacefully on his thigh.
"Oi! Tatsumiiiiiiii, have you seen Kizuki?" Watari stuck his head into inside the other man's office, and blinked blandly as Tatsumi reacted like he'd been hit with burning coals. He brushed something off his suit with a guilty look on his face, and Watari looked at him with arched eyebrows.
"Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine." Tatsumi replied firmly, picking up his glasses.
"She was just here a few seconds ago."
"Ahah! Thought I heard her voice." Nodding to himself, the scientist began to retreat out into the hall when he pushed his head back inside.
"Oy, Tatsumi, eat something will you? You look as pale as a ghost... erm. No pun intended." Waving his hand cheerfully, Watari turned into the corner, glancing in one direction, and then another. He decided to go left, and walked ahead, running a hand through his hair. It had grown a few inches, now brushing comfortably around his shoulders. In a day or two, it would be back to normal length, and he was grateful. It was weird to not have his 'normal' hair... although, he had to admit, it wasn't really *bad*....
*~*~*~
The rain clouds Tsuzuki had noticed earlier had gathered together, and a faint drizzle was descending over the city. Slow and weak at first, it stubbornly continued until everything was soaked and turned the city into a gray world.
Hisoka stood with his arms crossed against his chest, blue jacket waving a little with the breeze that was beginning to pick up. Both of them were under the protection of Tsuzuki's umbrella, but it wasn't going to do them anymore good if the winds kept persisting.
Across from them, the police was finishing picking up the mess that the triple car pile up had made, caused by Hitomi Fukisaki losing control of her car for unknown reasons. The official reports mentioned a fainting spell, but the shinigami felt sure that it was something else. Her Uncle and Aunt had died the same way. For some odd reason they'd lost control of their cars.
Tsuzuki tried to be cheerful.
"You know, maybe we've been looking at this all wrong, and it's the cars that have a grudge against the family."
Green eyes peered at him below a golden fringe, and Hisoka did not look amused. Instead, he looked back at the carnage of metal and gestured. "Nothing. She died, but there's no feeling of death at all." He announced flatly.
"It's unnerving."
Tsuzuki nodded, and stood silently for a long time, trying to look for the next possibility.
"What do we do now? We can't wait for... Sogetsu to strike. Even if we do, it doesn't seem to help at all."
"But we have something that he wants."
"Kizuki." Tsuzuki nodded.
"Although, he might not really go after her."
"He will." Hisoka answered tonelessly.
"Hitomi was just... a filler, for whatever he's doing, but what he really wants is Kizuki. He might kill off other distanced relatives in the meanwhile, but Kizuki is the prize, for some reason or another."
*~*~*~
1. Sempai: Typically used for someone that's older/and or in a higher position than you. Say Sayeka's in tenth grade, and Sogetsu's in 11th, so he's her 'sempai'.