I’m going to kill him… again…and again just for good measure!

 

Tatsumi Seiichirou thought to himself as his gregarious partner paused once again to chat with a couple of nurses. They had solidified into human form in an empty room on the hospital’s first floor and had been working their way through the hospital, ward by ward. At each ward, Watari had paused for a few minutes to talk to the nurses, cheerfully flirting with them regardless of gender and appearing to do little more than collect appreciative looks and the odd phone number.

 

Tatsumi was ready to throttle the man.

 

It’s like that damn sightseeing habit of his, only… worse.

 

Tatsumi lowered his hand from where he’d been shifting his glasses, and caught sight of one of the nurses giving him a speculative look. Returning her bright smile with a reserved nod of his head, Tatsumi turned his back on the pretty woman and walked away from the nurses’ station. If Watari wanted to stand around and waste time all day, Tatsumi was done waiting patiently on the sidelines. He was going to get some work done.

 

Work, you blonde baka, what I’m supposedly signing your paycheck for you to be doing.

 

Tatsumi shot the thought back over his shoulder, despite the fact that Watari was oblivious to the sentiment.

 

Momentarily distracted by thinking of ways to dock Watari’s pay, Tatsumi didn’t sense the young woman, walking with an IV stand, coming around the corner. The Guardian was practically on top of her before he alerted to her presence.

 

Giving a startled yelp, the frail lady fell back a step, her bare feet tangling with the metal stabilizers of the stand and she would have fallen had it not been for the Shinigami’s preternatural speed.

 

Reaching out with both hands, Tatsumi caught her under her elbows, carefully steadying her frail form.

 

“Sumimasen!” He exclaimed.

 

Catching at his forearms, the woman regained her balance and looked up at him with bright cornflower blue eyes. Blue eyes, which were startling against beautiful blue black hair and porcelain white skin.

 

“Oof. Ah… Sumimasen?” Though her hair gave her an Asian appearance, her accent marked her as American and by her tone Tatsumi could tell she didn’t understand what he’d just said.

 

“ ‘Pardon me’ “ Tatsumi supplied with a little smile.

 

“Oh! Right, you know you’d think after six months I’d remember that but I just… mind like a steel sieve you see.” She chattered on brightly, as if the close call had never happened.

 

As the woman continued to talk, Tatsumi studied her. Frowning as his senses alerted to her energy signature. He could feel that the flame of her candle was flickering towards being extinguished and he felt a certain sorrow. She was so young.

 

So young…and also staring at me… oh Hades, what did I miss?

 

Tatsumi blinked at her and she smiled warmly at him.

 

“My name is Kelly Esoka.” A frail hand was held out towards the Shinigami, the delicate lines of the IV drip dangling from her paper-thin skin.

 

Tatsumi was almost afraid to shake her hand for fear that he’d break something. Taking the fragile appendage in his own he closed his fingers carefully around Kelly’s hand, surprised when she was able to give him a good grip right back.

 

“Tatsumi Seiichirou.”

 

“Ah, right… so that means you’re… Seii…no Tat… no Seii.” For the first time she looked flustered as she tried to grasp which was his given name and which was his surname.

 

Smiling gently, Tatsumi released her hand and straightened the matter out for her.

 

“Tatsumi is my surname, Seiichirou is my given name.” The experienced field agent in him cringed at the fact that he’d just used his real name but honestly, after 100 years it was unlikely he’d come across anyone who would remember that Tatsumi Seiichirou was supposed to be dead.

 

“Ah! Well then, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tatsumi-san.” The brightness was back, lighting up her washed out features and making her eyes sparkle.

 

Once again, Tatsumi felt himself responding to Kelly Esoka’s effervescent manner. He recognized that she was one of those bright spirits who drew people to her.

 

“I am certain the pleasure is mine, Esoka-san.”

 

“Are you here visiting?”

 

“Ah…yes.”

 

“Who?”

 

Tatsumi swallowed. This was part of the job he had never felt totally comfortable with, the subterfuge.

 

“Mm, a cousin.” Not an out and out lie. If they were after a succubus, they were after another supernatural creature so that could count as a cousin, of sorts.

 

“That’s kind of you.” Kelly’s smile lit up her eyes. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer, Tatsumi-san. You have a wonderful day.”

 

With another bright wave, Kelly moved around him and continued her progress up the hall. For a moment, Tatsumi turned and followed her with his eyes. She moved as if she were in considerable discomfort, yet she seemed to have a smile and a laugh for everyone she passed. As she turned a corner, Tatsumi’s eye caught the direction sign she passed under.

 

‘Nursery.’

 

Tatsumi frowned and started forward as if to follow Kelly Esoka, only to plow headlong, into Watari, who came barreling around the corner. The result, a classic case of irresistible force colliding with immovable object.

 

“Ooof!”

 

“Umph.”

 

Tatumi’s frown deepened and he reached up to adjust his glasses.

 

“Watari-san…” The elder Shinigami began in a stern tone but he might as well have saved his energy, his younger partner merely rocked on the balls of his feet and smiled at him.

 

“There you are Tatsumi! I’d wondered where you’d gotten too. Listen, I think I’ve got an idea…”

 

“You think?” Tatsumi muttered peevishly under his breath.

 

As expected, Watari completely ignored him and simply continued to talk. Laying light fingers under Tatsumi’s elbow, the scientist turned the taller man around and propelled him down the hallway, away from the Nursery Ward and Kelly Esoka.

 

~~~~Later That Night~~~~

 

They stayed at the hospital until the nurses firmly escorted them out the doors and it was well after dark before they checked into the hotel. Like the rest of the denizens of Enma-Cho, Watari was used to the dives that Tatsumi invariable booked them into so, it was a pleasant surprise to discover that Tatsumi had chosen a hotel that at least boasted indoor plumbing. The room was minuscule, with two twin beds separated by a shared nightstand, a low table, a chair, narrow alcoves for storing clothes and the simple bathroom. Still, it was a definite step up from some of the places Watari had stayed while on a case.

 

Watari commandeered the shower first, claiming that it took his hair longer to dry. As neither of them had had anything to eat all day, and mortal bodies were problematic in their need for sustenance, this left Tatsumi the task of ordering up room service. Sitting down on the thin bed, Tatsumi sought to find a comfortable position for his long legs as he dialed up the hotel’s kitchen. Listing down a quick order of various items that he knew would suit both his own and Watari’s tastes, Tatsumi shrugged out of his suit coat, loosened his tie and undid the top buttons of his shirt.

 

“Yes, that will be all, thank you. Yes, charge it to the room.”

 

As Tatsumi hung up the phone, he heard the shower shut off. Chuckling, he listened to Watari bump around in the small bathroom. Sometimes Tatsumi envied Hisoka his smaller stature, he knew that if Watari was having a hard time in the cramped bathroom, Tatsumi was going to have to be creative about his use of space. Watari was nearly the same height as the Kagesukai, though not quite as broad in the shoulders

 

Ah well, I got a good rate.

 

Tatsumi shook himself from his thoughts, grabbing a towel and his nightclothes as Watari surfaced. His partner was dressed in comfortable looking linen slacks with a warm house robe belted loosely at his waist.

 

“Tag, you’re it.”

 

Watari murmured from somewhere within the folds of the towel he had wrapped around his head. The younger man was bent slightly at the waist, vigorously drying his hair.

 

“Arigato, Watari.”

 

Tatsumi levered himself off his bed intending on stepping around Watari towards the bathroom.

 

Even though the towel blinded him, Watari straightened and moved instinctively to the side as Tatsumi moved past him. However, due to the small confines of the room, the two men couldn’t help brushing against each other. For a split second, Tatsumi’s world was engulfed by the fresh scent of cedarwood and sage, a soothing blend that he’d come to associate with Watari.

 

In that same second, though he couldn’t see his partner, Watari was equally aware of the warmth and reassuring solidity of Tatsumi’s body.

 

Then, by unspoken consent, they wiggled past each other. Watari headed on towards his own bed and Tatsumi continued into the bathroom neither commenting on the incident.

 

Enjoying a thorough shower, Tatsumi stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms, the towel still wrapped around his neck. Just inside the door a tray of covered dishes sat waiting. Looking around, Tatsumi quirked an eyebrow at finding Watari sitting cross legged at the table, working on his laptop. It didn’t look as if the younger Guardian had done anything more than bring the cart of food into the room.

 

Tatsumi, used to Tsuzuki’s habits, was surprised to find that not so much as a dim sum had been disturbed.

 

“Watari.” Tatsumi spoke as he walked on into the small but serviceable room.

 

“Hmmm?” Watari didn’t look up from the screen of his computer. Coming to stand just in front of the other man, Tatsumi could see the bright blue monitor reflected in Watari’s wire rimmed glasses.

 

“Do you want something to eat? I imagine it’s getting cold.”

 

“Mm… in a minute, I just want to double check this.” The younger Shinigami had a slight frown between his eyebrows, something obviously holding his attention.

 

Shrugging, Tatsumi stepped over to the cart that sat just inside the door and made a plate from the dishes he’d ordered. Walking back into the main section of the room, the Kagetsukai sat down on one of the beds and began to eat.

 

A companionable silence fell in the room. The only sound came from Watari’s fingers, on the computer keys and some music emanating from the standard issue alarm clock radio that sat on the nightstand perched between the beds. As he ate, Tatsumi found the quiet peaceful, completely at odds with the tense silences that would fall around Tsuzuki.

 

With Tsuzuki, silence was often a harbinger of some mad fit or another. As much as Tatsumi gripped about his ex-partner’s habits, he secretly embraced the exuberant chattering, Tsuzuki as noise and motion were indicators to his mood. It was when Tsuzuki fell into that awful stillness that Tatsumi knew true icy fear for his old friend’s sanity.

 

“Hm.”

 

The quiet noise and the cessation of typing drew Tatsumi out of his thoughts and he looked up and over towards where Watari was working.

 

“Yes?” Tatsumi prompted.

 

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just running a cross-reference on the murder and the patient lists, looking for any patients who had been admitted in the proper time frame and who were still in hospital. Thought it might at least give us a starting point. It’s not as long as I feared it would be.”

 

Tatsumi blinked, his chopsticks pausing in the act of spearing a snow pea as his mind processed everything Watari just said.

 

“Watari, did you hack into the hospital database?”

 

“Wha? Oh, well… no… yes… sorta.”

 

“Sorta?” Tatsumi set his plate off to the side and stood up, crossing to sit on the chair Watari was using as a backrest looking over the other man’s shoulder.

 

Sure enough, there on the screen was the Kazucota Hospital database.

 

Reaching up to shift his glasses, Tatsumi exhaled a deep breath.

 

“Do I even want to know how?”

 

"Mmm?" Watari punched a couple of keys and then looked over his shoulder. He did a bit of a double take, startled at finding Tatsumi so close. Turning back to the computer Watari tamped down on the jolt of awareness that momentarily scattered his concentration. The younger Guardian firmly reined his thoughts away from the thrill he felt at the nearness of his partner and focused his mind back on the details of the case.

 

"I used one of the nurse's access codes."

 

Tatsumi blinked and looked down at the man seated in front of him. His concentration skipped a track as the light from the lamps caught in the highlights in Watari's freshly washed hair.

 

For a brief second in time, Tatsumi was cast back to his childhood when his mother used to wash her hair and leave it to air dry. He could remember how for a brief period of time, it would become the texture of cool silk, still slightly damp but no longer clumped together, full of the rich scent of shampoo. Tatsumi knew, without needing to touch, that Watari’s hair was at that stage in it’s drying and for a moment, the urge to run his fingers through that living fire was nearly overwhelming.

 

“So, I just talked to a couple of them, picked up a couple of names, a few bits of personal information and extrapolated the rest!”

 

It took Tatsumi a moment to clear the cobwebs from his thoughts and focus on what Watari was saying. As he fought to rid himself of the intense urge to touch the younger man, Tatsumi let what Watari was telling him sink in. The other man hadn’t been wasting time the way Tatsumi had thought. Watari had simply been approaching information gathering from a different direction.

 

And a frightening sneaky way at that. I keep forgetting that Yutaka is an accomplished field operative in his own right. Compared to Tsuzuki and I he’s still so young but in many ways he’s the wisest of us all. How did you learn to balance your emotions with your practicality ‘Taka?

 

“What have you found of interest?” Tatsumi laid his arms across his knees, leaning forward to read the list of names scrolling on the screen.

 

“A couple of people jump out at me. I think I’m going to try to talk to th…”

 

“Wait!” Tatsumi interrupted his partner, reaching past Watari to hit a key on the computer and stop the scrolling.

 

“Hm?” Watari blinked up at Tatsumi, trying to ignore the way the older man’s bare arm rested along his shoulder, pinning down his hair as his partner opened one of the files.

 

“This name, Kelly Esoka. I met this woman today.” A sudden chill was working its way down Tatsumi’s spine, making him grateful for the comforting touch of Watari’s heavy silk robe, infused with the warmth of the younger man’s body. Lost in speculation, the intimacy of their position didn’t faze the older Shinigami as he read the dire facts of Kelly Esoka’s medical history.

 

“Total irreversible kidney failure brought on by a pregnancy complicated by diabetes and the strain of the natural birth of a healthy baby boy. Damn it, she is dying.” The last was whispered softly, but Tatsumi’s words carried easily to his partner’s ears.

 

“Dying, good gracious by the looks of these lab reports she should be dead.” Watari pointed out not unkindly.

 

“What?” Tatsumi frowned fiercely at the younger man, but Watari was focused on the numbers flashing across the screen.

 

“These lab reports indicate total kidney shut down and dialysis is failing as well. The build up of toxins in her body is causing her other organs to shut down. At the very least this woman should be in a coma… and you’re saying you met her?”

 

Watari turned his head and looked at Tatsumi, his elegant brows drawn tightly together. The movement caused a few strands of the blonde Guardian’s hair to fall across Tatsumi’s arm.

 

Cool silk, just like I remember.

 

The thought flashed across Tatsumi’s mind, making him aware of how close he was to Watari but the intensity of their conversation overrode any awkwardness.

 

“Yes, walking… walking to the nursery. She was very frail and I could sense her last days upon her but… Watari, she was shinning with a spirit so bright, how could her flame be so close to flickering out?”

 

Gearing up to ask Tatsumi another question, Watari paused in mid-breath and stared at his partner, studying the older man’s features. A shadow danced across the scientist’s handsome face and his eyes darkened a little with repressed sorrow.

 

“You mean her flame is flickering out, how can she be so full of life.” Watari’s voice was low, soft as he gently but firmly corrected Tatsumi.

 

Despite the kindness, Tatsumi reared back as if Watari had physically struck him. Lips pressed hard together, the Kagetsukai stood up and stepped away from the other man, walking over towards the window that dominated the outer wall of their hotel room.

 

“Of course, Watari-san. That is what I meant.” Tatsumi’s voice was tight and distant.

 

Tatsumi kept his back to his partner, staring out at the night-shrouded landscape of a small garden that spread out beneath their window. He could see Watari watching him in the reflection thrown by the glass of the window.

 

Sapphire blue caught and held amber brown on the battlefield of transparent glass. The silence that fell in the room was anything but companionable as two very strong wills clashed.

 

Watari turned away first but Tatsumi was forced to recognize the victory as a hollow one. Frowning with even greater ferocity at his own reflection the older man rested his forehead against the glass, whispering softly.

 

“Damn it.”

 

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