Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei
Side Note: Well, here it is, the prologue to "Second Death". Oddly enough, this isn't what the original prologue was supposed to be. However, the first version has no actual beginning, and really doesn't make sense. Also, I've kept that one private for so long that it's almost like betraying my own secret to post it. Plus, I wrote that…must've been two years ago, as I started "Second Death" in January 2006. This is a brand new idea I've been chewing on for about a month or so. Not enough time to make it "my little secret", so I'm willing to share with all of you (though this one does share some dialogue/elements of the first).
Also, this story does not lead off "Dreams". That's an entirely separate endeavor. One could say that it's a companion to "Three AM", though (do you remember that, old fans? My first YnM story ever. I'm still immensely proud of that little drabble. Even if there IS one annoying typo I need to fix).
Righty. So this will be three chapters long.
Story Information #1: 39 degrees Celsius is equivalent to 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit, and 37.8 C is equal to 100 F. 37 C is equal to 98.6 F, ergo the perfect temperature. A body temperature of over 40 C (104 F) is life-threatening. Okinawa usually enjoys between 20—29 C (68—84.2 F) weather. The year-round average temperature in Hisoka's native Kanagawa Prefecture is 15.8 C (60.4 F). The average temperature in Tokyo (I'm assuming Hisoka and Tsuzuki live in Parallel-Tokyo, given their proximity to the Ministry) in June is 20.8 C (69.4 F), so Hisoka would already be struggling to withstand the heat. So let's say that when T/H/S/Y visited Okinawa, it was 24.5 C (76.1 F). A couple equations later…let's say that in this story it's 25.2 C (77.3 F). Where I live that's considered a perfect day, but I suppose Japan is naturally colder.
Story Information #2: Yes, I am teaching you what to do if someone suffers from heat exhaustion. Except the most important thing, which is to immediately call the local emergency number.
Nightmares
It was hot.
Tsuzuki sat up, panting, leaning his head against the wall as he half-wildly, completely gracelessly kicked the bed sheets off of himself. The humidity was doing its best to win the title of "unbearable". Even Touda's fire wasn't this intolerably humid. That fire was dry, the kind of heat that made you feel completely suspended in space, with nothing at all surrounding you, as—
He screwed his eyes up and shook his head, trying to toss out the nightmare that had awoken him. It had only been half a year since Kyoto and reliving that period of temporary insanity—temporary, yeah—wasn't exactly conducive to recovery. Especially when he not only had his own mental health to worry about, but that of his partner-turned-boyfriend. Especially when the romance aspect of their relationship started on such a shaky premise as shy mutual attraction and a promise to have lives outside of obsessing over a serial murderer.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead and relaxed against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. Not that the past six or so months had been teeth-gnashing awful, but progress was slow, almost ridiculously so. It had taken two weeks to get Hisoka to hold hands with him in public, and another three to get him to do it in private. And the uphill battle of finally being able to kiss without Hisoka trying to bite him…well, no one could say that Tsuzuki, for all his laziness elsewhere, hadn't earned it. Doing romantic things on purpose wasn't Hisoka's strong suit. Not surprising, as Saya and Yuma had, obviously unaware of the repercussions, informed Hisoka that romance led to sex. And in Hisoka's mind, sex was violence spelled differently, as Tsuzuki often noted bitterly when after what felt like a paradisiacal half hour of sitting together with Hisoka halfway in his lap, Hisoka would suddenly start shaking and then get up and leave, not even bothering to make an excuse.
Doing romantic things by instinct was a different story. Tsuzuki did appreciate the fact that Hisoka intuitively trusted him enough to know he could appear in the middle of what Tsuzuki called "the ungodly hours" after a nightmare and fall asleep kneeling on the floor with his head against the mattress. But he also wondered if Hisoka knew and trusted, or simply wasn't aware, that Tsuzuki would get on the floor as well and cuddle up to him. Saya and Yuma were entirely correct; in contrast to the hard personality Hisoka had shown at first and still reverted to from time to time, his hair and skin were as soft as a freshly groomed Persian cat's, ideal for snuggling next to.
Tsuzuki wiped more sweat off his forehead and tried to lean his neck against the coolness of his wall. Half-blindly he groped for the portable electric fan he had placed on his windowsill. Finally, a knife cutting through the thick mass of heat. It was enough to make one pass out…
'Oh, shit.'
Tsuzuki scrambled out of bed, nearly falling to the floor as he did. If he himself, who registered temperature normally, felt this weak, then Hisoka, who had actually fainted in Okinawa on what Chizuru had considered a normal day…
He tripped toward the dresser and hastily threw a shirt on over the pair of shorts he had already been wearing. A knot of horrible anticipation was forming in his stomach as he teleported from his bedroom to Hisoka's.
The smell he caught a whiff of made Tsuzuki turn around immediately, covering his mouth and nose to block out what he could. The stench of vomit and sweat combined with the wet air and stifling heat was almost as unendurable as the heat.
A phlegm-filled cough and a choked inhalation drew Tsuzuki's eyes back. A pool of sweat in the vague shape of Hisoka's body surrounded the blond. A misshapen mass of puke trailed down the pillow from beside Hisoka's mouth.
And worst of all, Tsuzuki saw as he bit down on his lip to keep it from shaking, intricate markings as red as blood covered Hisoka's bare torso and back.
"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki went forward, trying not to breathe in. "Hisoka, it's me. It's Tsuzuki. Can you hear me?"
A shuddery exhale and distracted blink was his reply.
"Hisoka, try to talk to me," Tsuzuki said, trying to steady his voice. "What happened?"
"H-…heat," Hisoka forced out of his throat, squinting his eyes shut. "Air…broke. N-nightmare."
Tsuzuki slipped his hand under Hisoka's sweat-soaked bangs. Hotter than the air around them.
"Hisoka? I have no idea where anything of yours that might help is, so I'm going to take you back home with me, okay?"
Hisoka opened his mouth, to protest or acquiesce Tsuzuki never knew, as any reply was replaced by a harsh cough accompanied by vomit-tinged spit. Unhesitant, Tsuzuki wiped it away with his finger and then the pillowcase.
Hisoka flinched as Tsuzuki's arms slipped under him and subconsciously he began to curl up in a defensive porcupine-like stance. Tsuzuki hastily picked Hisoka up before he could fully coil and teleported away from the bedroom.
Upon touching down in his bathroom Tsuzuki heard Hisoka gag. He instantly dropped to his knees and held Hisoka's head over the toilet bowl as he emptied out another round of his stomach.
"Can you support yourself?" Tsuzuki asked gently, letting Hisoka kneel as well, and Hisoka nodded torturously, gasping for air. He retched again, though this time, only thick saliva was the end result. "Okay, just…stay right there. Keep throwing up if you need to."
Tsuzuki turned towards the bathtub and turned on the cold water, with some difficulty due to his shaking hands. With even more trouble he managed to loosen the hot water knob. He had seen the effects of freezing water on heat exhaustion before—Wakaba had once been the victim, and after spending a handful of minutes in ice-cold water her skin had begun turning blue.
He heard a soft sound and turned around to see that Hisoka had slipped down the side of the toilet, resting his head against the ceramic, eyes closed. His skinny torso rose and fell, painfully visible, with every breath.
"Are you…finished?" Tsuzuki asked, as delicately as possible.
"I…I think so," Hisoka answered quietly.
Tsuzuki stood and opened the cabinet above his sink, extracting a thermometer. He knelt again, offering the glass-encased mercury towards Hisoka's face.
Hisoka made a noise of refusal and turned his head away.
"Hisoka, you're running a fever. I need to see how bad it is."
"No."
"Hisoka, don't be stubborn!" Tsuzuki yelled, frustration almost giving way to hostility. "I have to see how sick you are!"
"I don't want anything in my mouth!" Hisoka shot back, managing forcefulness through his weakness.
Any anger within Tsuzuki quickly drained as Hisoka turned his head away, eyes squinted shut, curse marks still bright red against his damp, ashen skin.
"Hisoka, I…" Tsuzuki hesitated, and then cupped his hand under Hisoka's chin, fingers controlling Hisoka's jaw. As he turned Hisoka's face back a small, wild sob escaped from the shaking blond. Hisoka bit his lip; too late to stop tears from lining the rims of his eyes.
"Hisoka, it's okay," Tsuzuki said softly, wiping the tears away only for them to be replaced. "It's fine. It's just me and it's only a…only a thermometer, not…please, Hisoka. You're sick. I need to know how bad."
Hisoka shook his head. "Nothing…nothing in my mouth or…"
"Hisoka." Still grasping the small glass tube between his fingers, Tsuzuki placed both hands against the sides of Hisoka's face. "Hisoka, I need to take care of you. Please, please let me."
Hisoka shivered as his terrified eyes locked with Tsuzuki's earnest ones. He swallowed, his mouth slightly opening involuntarily.
"Hisoka?"
He inhaled shakily and then opened his mouth wider.
"Good," Tsuzuki said in a sigh of relief, sliding the thermometer under Hisoka's tongue. "Don't move it, okay?" he added as Hisoka's mouth shut slowly, reluctantly. He quickly kissed the top of Hisoka's head and turned around to shut off the faucet. His hand dipped into the water. It was a decent temperature; somewhat cold to him but probably perfect for Hisoka. He turned back to flush the toilet, mentally hoping that he wouldn't have to take the plunger to it later.
"How long?" Hisoka asked, trying not to move his mouth.
"About two and a half more minutes," Tsuzuki answered apologetically. "It sucks waiting, I know."
"Mm," Hisoka answered noncommittally, lowering his eyes. Tsuzuki finally managed to sit instead of kneel next to his boyfriend, avoiding all contact that could add his own body heat to Hisoka's except for placing his hand on Hisoka's shoulder.
"Okay, let me see it," Tsuzuki said after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, and pulled the thermometer out of the visibly grateful Hisoka's mouth. "Thirty-nine degrees," he read. Not as bad as he had feared. "I probably will be able to take care of this by myself. But if it gets any higher I'll have to take you to Watari."
"Hm," was the short reply from Hisoka's throat.
"Now, we've gotta get you cooled down," Tsuzuki continued, pressing the back of his hand against Hisoka's neck, who shivered at what felt like ice on his hot skin. "Come on, I'll help you." Tsuzuki stood and offered his hand. Hisoka reached to accept, but as realization hit both of them he hastily retracted his hand as well as drew his legs up against his chest.
"Hisoka…"
"No."
"Hisoka, if you get much hotter, you're going to have a stroke!" Tsuzuki said, a hint of panic entering his voice.
Hisoka shook his head and buried his face in his knees.
"Hisoka, please."
"No!" Hisoka shouted, looking up for a split second before hiding his face again and covering his head.
Tsuzuki started and then faltered. He sucked in his lip and bit down on it, hard, trying to muster up enough nerve to do what he was increasingly aware he had to.
"Hisoka, please don't hate me for this."
His hand descended quickly and took hold of Hisoka's wrist, and he pulled the smaller Shinigami to his feet before he could think and therefore lose his courage. The rush of blood momentarily put Hisoka's center of balance off-kilter, long enough for Tsuzuki to trap him against himself with one arm while the other descended to pull off the only clothes Hisoka had on.
"Let go of me," Hisoka breathed.
"I can't."
"Let me go!"
Tsuzuki winced and paled as he felt teeth sink into his arm and Hisoka's small, trembling body try to push away. He redoubled his grip as Hisoka's clothes hit the floor and his free arm slipped around the small of Hisoka's back. With a nervous jerk he half-pulled, half-dragged Hisoka a foot across the floor and into the water.
The instant he let go of Hisoka a splash of water assaulted his eyes and he felt damp skin brush against him. Half-blinded, Tsuzuki managed to catch Hisoka by the shoulders and pin him back against the side of the bathtub.
"Hisoka, stop, please, you're going to have a seizure!" Tsuzuki yelped, blinking water out of his eyes and not realizing he'd added his own water, as Hisoka struggled to free himself. "Hisoka, come on, wake up, he's…he's not here, and you're just…Hisoka, please, calm down!"
Hisoka's back arched and fell and his head snapped to the side. His eyes opened, terrified and confused. Thin wet paths trailed down his face as he gasped, trying to get air flowing normally through is lungs.
"I'm sorry," Tsuzuki said in a rush. "I'm sorry that it's a thousand degrees out and you're sick and you can barely shut your eyes without getting those nightmares and I just…I just…" He raked his fingers down his face. "I'm sorry I scared you."
A breath quickly turned into choke and Hisoka leaned over the edge of the tub, gagging. Without thinking Tsuzuki put one hand on his back and another on his collar, supporting him.
"False alarm," Hisoka said weakly after a few moments of silence, and straightened up only to lean back against the bathtub.
"I…I'm…water. Let me get you some water."
Tsuzuki stood up hastily, almost clumsily, and tripped out the door, shutting the door behind him. His nerves were beginning to fail him.
"Water. I'm getting water," he reminded himself, shakily walking towards his kitchen.
The glass was lucky not to shatter in Tsuzuki's hand when he finally returned to the bathroom after managing to spill water all over the kitchen counter as he poured it. Hisoka was curled up in a tight ball, face hidden in his knees, seemingly unaware of Tsuzuki's return even as he knelt down beside the bathtub.
With growing trepidation Tsuzuki reached out and tapped Hisoka's shoulder. Hisoka gave an audible shudder and his head snapped up, surprised and fearful.
"Water," Tsuzuki said, hard put to articulate anything else, offering the glass. "Drink it. You need to cool down."
Hisoka regarded the glass suspiciously, before snatching it away from Tsuzuki. The glass almost slipped from his hand and Tsuzuki grabbed it out of mid-air just as Hisoka did. Hisoka flinched at the touch and his fingers went rigid, refusing to either claim or relinquish the glass as his own. After a few moments of absolute silence Tsuzuki guided the glass to Hisoka's lips and tilted it up, effectively forcing water into Hisoka's mouth. Hisoka managed to swallow and exhale shakily.
"You should…you need to lie down," Tsuzuki said cautiously. "In the water. It'll cool you down faster."
Hisoka stared at him, and Tsuzuki was taken aback at the almost angry look on Hisoka's face. Hisoka's eyes moved and focused on something else. What that something else was, Tsuzuki figured out when Hisoka viciously yanked one of the shower's sliding doors shut.
"Hisoka?" No answer. "I'll…I'll get you some more water."
It became methodical: Tsuzuki would fetch a glass of water, pull back the sliding door, almost force-feed it to Hisoka, and then repeat the process after Hisoka had shut the door again. It was nigh unto two hours since the start of this process when Hisoka finally interrupted it.
"I'm cold."
Tsuzuki was halfway into putting the glass of water in Hisoka's hand. His free hand took one of Hisoka's and wrapped it around the cup, and with his newly liberated hand he felt Hisoka's forehead. It was cooler than before, though still not normal.
"You think you can stand up?" Tsuzuki asked.
"Yes," Hisoka said laconically. Tsuzuki stood and turned to grab a towel hanging from a metal rod on his wall, and heard the rippling of water and the sliding of the door. He turned back to find himself once again shut away from his partner.
"Hisoka? Here." Tsuzuki opened the door a few inches and offered the towel within. Hisoka took it from him, and Tsuzuki waited a few seconds before pulling the door open all the way. Hisoka stood silently, the navy blue of the towel making his already white skin more pallid than usual.
Tsuzuki offered his hand. Hisoka stared at the proffered appendage for a few moments before hesitantly taking it.
As he stepped out of the bathtub he slipped, falling forward into Tsuzuki's chest. He floundered, trying to stand up, but before he could steady himself he was swept up off both feet, which now hung in the air as Tsuzuki cradled him more securely. Sooner than he could think to struggle Tsuzuki had trapped his arms and legs once again.
Heat and humidity assaulted him for another time as Tsuzuki bore him out of the bathroom, but welcome relief came in the form of the electric fan as they entered the bedroom. Tsuzuki put his small burden down on his bed and held him there.
"Tsuzuki!"
"I want to see what your temperature is, again," Tsuzuki said, looking directly into Hisoka's eyes. "So just lie down and wait for me to come back, okay?" he added, praying Hisoka was not yet well enough to teleport away.
He walked quicker than he normally did to the bathroom, snatched the thermometer from where he had left it, and returned in time to see Hisoka hurry up in pulling the light cotton sheets over his shoulders and adjust the towel he still kept around him.
"Here," Tsuzuki said, once more kneeling and offering the small cylinder. Hisoka hesitated, and then took the thermometer into his mouth and shifted it to its proper place. Tsuzuki got up to shut his door, before sitting on the floor where Hisoka usually would whenever a nightmare sent him to Tsuzuki.
"Thirty-seven point eight," Tsuzuki announced after three minutes of waiting. "That's good. That's excellent. You're going to get better really quickly now."
No answer.
"Jeez, you need sleep," Tsuzuki said, looking into Hisoka's near-bloodshot eyes.
"But—!"
"Shh," Tsuzuki said, relief allowing him to be comforting. His hand brushed Hisoka's face, and gently but forcibly shut his eyelids. "If you…if you have a nightmare…I'll be right here," he said, resolve in his voice. "I'll stay right here and make sure to wake you up if you have a nightmare again, okay?"
Hisoka pulled deeper into the bed sheets, tightening the cloth around his body. He tucked his head as far into his collarbone as he could, and kept his eyes shut.
Tsuzuki felt Hisoka twitch once as he once again felt Hisoka's forehead. He wasn't sure if Hisoka had managed to fall asleep or was simply faking it when he tiredly let his own hand fall away, fingers tracing down Hisoka's cheek.