Warnings: Manga/anime spoilers.
Beta: None for this one.
Time frame: I wanna say that the time frame for this one is between the end of the Nagasaki Ark and before the beginning of the Devil's Trill Ark. Sometime around there.

Dedicated to: Happy Birthday general zargon! Hope your birthday is as full of fluff as you deserve! And if not…Well, here's some fluff right now! 8D lol

New Beginnings
by EggDropSoup

It hadn't been a week since they'd gotten back from their assignment in Nagasaki and Tatsumi was already putting the Kyushu partners back to work by making them attend the monthly staff meeting. Whoever said "I'll get all the rest I need when I'm dead" was wrong, Tsuzuki mused, accepting one of the pamphlets that was being passed around. He hadn't remembered getting any rest in the last 100 years.

He cast his eyes disinterestedly at the projector screen before him, mostly tuning out the Chief's narrative on demonic possession as he handed the extra ones to his partner sitting beside him.

Hisoka took the pamphlets, but not without jerking them out of his hands. The action caused Tsuzuki to give him a side-long glance and he watched with keen interest as Hisoka handed them slowly and carefully to Wakaba, even giving her a polite nod when she said "Thank you."

Tsuzuki smiled at that. Well, what do you know? Hisoka could play nice after all.

The blond seemed to notice he was staring because all of a sudden Hisoka snapped his head in his direction and mouthed an expectant, "What?"

Tsuzuki lifted a hand up, waving it off as nothing and tried not to let his smile morph into a grin at the withering look the blond sent his way before turning to face the front again.

Really, Hisoka was just too easy to get a reaction out of. Not that he purposefully tried to- he wasn't a fan of getting kicked in the shin, but there was just something about the way Hisoka got riled up so easily that left Tsuzuki amused.

He had been surprised when the blond had announced that he'd be staying on as a shinigami, and even more surprised when Hisoka told him he'd still stick around as his partner. It had left him completely touched. So much so that he didn't say anything about the tough-guy act Hisoka took on to make it all seem like it wasn't a big deal. He knew it had to have been, for Hisoka to change his mind.

Tsuzuki had to admit that he felt endeared to the kid after that, that he was someone Hisoka wanted to continue to stand by-even if it was just for now. It was the closest thing to acceptance that he'd received from someone in a very long time.

He wasn't alone anymore. And the realization in that caused the joy in his heart to swell, making him forget all about paying attention to the Chief's presentation. All that he cared about in that moment was how both he and Hisoka were steadily becoming closer.

But Tsuzuki, in his musings, didn't realize that he'd let his face give his feelings away. Not until Hisoka had cornered him in the hallway after the meeting let out.

"What did you do?" the blond demanded, eyes narrowed, and looming over him with his hands planted squarely on his hips.

"Huh?" the brunet blinked at him, expression startled. "I didn't do anything."

"Liar," Hisoka accused, leaned back and crossed his arms hotly. He no longer needed to use his body to intimidate the brunet, not when those sharp eyes of his were enough to keep Tsuzuki pinned in place. "I know you did something. You were grinning to yourself the entire meeting. Come on, fess up. Otherwise I'll be really mad when Tatsumi comes over to our desk saying he's cut our expenses budget again."

Comprehension flashed in those purple eyes and Tsuzuki turned his face away, hesitating. "Well, I was thinking…"

"You? 'Thinking'?" Hisoka interrupted with a loud snort. "That's rich."

"Hey!" the brunet yelled with a quick laugh, reached over to ruffle at the bond's hair -as was his habit lately- but Hisoka swatted the hand away. "I've been known to have moments of genius every once and a while."

Hisoka sent him an arch look, interest piqued. "Oh? That must have been before we were partners. I don't remember witnessing any of those 'moments.'"

Tsuzuki pouted, stared at Hisoka with thinly veiled exasperation. Really, young people nowadays were all so quick to put in their own two-cents. "Anyways," he drawled out, retracting back to what he was saying earlier, "I was thinking about how far we'd come as partners. And I just wanted to say thank you, you know?"

Genuine confusion came over the blond and his eyebrows drew together. "What are you talking about? I've just been doing the same as I've always done."

"No," Tsuzuki shook his head, managing a quick, thin smile. "You weren't obligated to stay on after Nagasaki, so I really wanted you to know how much I appreciate your sticking by me."

Hisoka felt the creeping heat spreading to his face and neck. "I-It was nothing." He ducked his head, let the blond hair fall into his eyes. Really, it wasn't. In fact his reasons for staying weren't as pure as Tsuzuki was trying to make them out to be. The events in Nagasaki had awoken a strange emotion inside him that he thought he'd never be able to feel for anyone. And now that he had a taste, knew what it felt like for someone to love him- he just couldn't walk away from it.

Tsuzuki pressed his lips together pensively, as if thinking that Hisoka was selling himself short. "Well, still. Thank you for not giving up on us. It means a lot that you've opened up to me so much."

The blotchy patches of red on his face grew darker and he jerked his head up. "St-stupid! Don't say such embarrassing things!" he proclaimed before abruptly storming off.

He made a good show of it too- stomping at the pavement with more force than necessary, but when Hisoka noticed Tsuzuki hadn't followed after him immediately, he stopped and turned back with an expectant look on his face. "Well? Aren't you coming? We've still got work to do, you know?" He tapped his foot. Once. Twice.

To any other observer, Hisoka's behavior would have seemed over-the-top and bratty, but Tsuzuki had come to know better. He knew that the true reason Hisoka acted out was to keep others at a distance.

And who could blame the kid? He certainly didn't, not after Gushoshin had confided in him about Hisoka's past. The realization that had come over him that day had made him reevaluate the way he acted toward the blond and it, in turn, had been a key turning point in their partnership.

Knowing all these things made it easier for Tsuzuki to take his partner's quirks in stride. In the beginning, it was very hard to not be petty back to the blond when he'd say something rude or annoying- especially when Hisoka seemed to act civilly with everyone else except for him.

But with every smile and encouraging word, he saw a little sliver of Hisoka's cold mask slip away. And there were even moments, like now, when he could catch Hisoka off guard and see the young man's true colors. Like the way Hisoka always looked so lost when shown genuine affection or kindness.

It made Tsuzuki want to coddle him all the more. To show Hisoka that not everyone he met would turn on him or cast him away- and that he could have a friend, a confident, someone he could trust for always.

"Sorry," he said indulgently, eyes softening as he scrambled after him to catch up.

Hisoka waited until Tsuzuki was a few steps away before turning on his heel and starting off for the office again. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

Tsuzuki just continued to smile, dogging his partner's steps silently, knowing that the insults and jabs the blond said weren't meant to be as harsh as they appeared.

And that was okay, if anything Tsuzuki had learned the art of patience long ago and he could continue to wait a little longer until the last bit of Hisoka's mask fell away for good.

The door to his heart was already open and it'd stay that way until Hisoka decided to walk on through it. Judging by the flustered blush on the disgruntled blond's cheeks, it wouldn't be very long.

End.

AN: Hisoka's so tsundere in this one-shot. He's got that pigtail-pulling-syndrome going on. Tsk. Tsk. And Tsuzuki, why are you such a masochist? Just taking it all in stride…*sigh*

When I wrote the line: "Tsuzuki pressed his lips together pensively, as if thinking that Hisoka was selling himself short." I couldn't help but laugh and think, "But Tsuzuki…he is short!" I know, I know…so not funny. I'm terribly lame.