Morning was an amusing affair.

 

Seated at a small table down in the hotel’s tearoom, Tatsumi cast an eye over a local newspaper while surreptitiously watching his groggy, partner attempt to pour coffee into a teacup. Tatsumi had been awake and mobile by five in the morning, as was his habit. Watari had hidden under the covers refusing to surface until Tatsumi had forcefully yanked the blankets off the bed threatening to up end the mattress if the scientist, didn’t fall out of bed on his own.

 

Once the younger Shinigami had gotten up and moving around the promise of fresh coffee had propelled Watari through his morning ritual. He’d even pulled himself together in time to walk down to the tearoom with Tatsumi and was falling on the coffeepot like a man starved.

 

“You realize that you wouldn’t be this tired if you went to bed at a reasonable hour instead of sitting up half the night clattering away at the computer.” Tatsumi admonished his partner.

 

Watari cast the older man a wry glance but otherwise looked as if he were going to refuse to engage Tatsumi in an early morning debate. Instead, he picked up his teacup and snitched a section of the paper from beneath Tatsumi’s elbow. Shaking it out, Watari turned his attention to the first article that caught his eye.

 

Tatsumi tsked softly and shook his head. “The younger generation these days.”

 

Watari took two sips off his coffee, eyes never leaving the paper as he shot back.

 

“Tatsumi, I understand that back in your day candles were expensive and hard to come by, the wheel had yet to be invented and you had to walk to school in the snow uphill both ways. However, some of us are used to the invention of electricity and we apply the technology accordingly.”

 

“You would do well, Watari-san, to show a modicum of respect for traditional approaches. There is a rhythm to life. Sleep at night, work during the day.” Tatsumi sat back. Crossing his arms over his chest he arranged his features in a stern expression, fighting the urge to grin as the younger man was drawn into the banter.

 

Watari flicked the paper and peered over the top of his glasses at his partner.

 

“There is a glaring hole in your theory, Tatsumi-san.”

 

“Indeed?”

 

“Mm.” Watari made a production out of refolding the newspaper before mirroring Tatsumi’s posture, long legs stretched out beneath the table.

 

“We’re dead.”

 

Tatsumi cast about for a fitting reply to Watari’s simple, logical statement but he quickly discarded any of the rejoinders that came immediately to mind. There was little chance he’d best Watari on the subject and the thought of encouraging the blonde man’s quirky humor made the Kagetsukai wince inwardly.

 

What the hell was I thinking? Tatsumi silently admonished himself then he winced once again as his mind quickly supplied the answer. That it’s nice to have someone to just talk to in the morning. That it’s nice to have Yutaka to talk to in the morning.

 

Clearing his throat, it was Tatsumi’s turn to admit defeat and withdraw from the field of verbal engagement.

 

“Did you check in with the Division?”

 

Watari wisely kept a straight face as Tatsumi changed the subject.

 

“Indeed I did. You will be happy to know that Terazuma and Wakaba are back from their most recent case with successful results. Tsuzuki and Terazuma entered into an altercation over… now what was it… oh yes a puff pastry filled with chocolate cream but the overall damage was minor, probably no more that $500.00. Which reminds me the betting pool on how long before Hisoka allows Tsuzuki ‘closer’ is now up around the $2000.00 mark. It seems ‘Kaba expanded the betting to some of the other divisions and the odds coming out of the Judicial Division are fantastic. I asked ‘Kaba to redistribute my entry fee to those odds. Oh and I downloaded the hospital database to the GuShoShin and asked them to run it through their system to see what patterns matched up.”

 

Tatsumi calmly sipped his coffee as he listened to Watari rattle on. At the last comment, the Secretary of the Shokan Division lowered his cup and cast a wry glance towards his partner.

 

“Well, that encompassed four minutes of my afterlife that I will never recover. I would remind you, Watari-san, not to waste long distance communication expenses on office gossip.” Tatsumi laced his words with his best command tone.

 

Watari responded with his best, yeah sure whatever, expression before executing a spine popping stretch and continuing.

 

“GuShoShin promised to get back to me tonight with the results of their research so I suppose until then we’d best use the old fashioned approach.”

 

“Footwork.”

 

“Your favorite, Tatsumi. An effective form of investigation involving no modern technology and best of all, it’s cheap.” The gentle twinkle in Watari’s amber eyes softened any hints of harshness in his words.

 

In all honesty, Tatsumi was not that big a fan of footwork. He often found himself badly out of step with the attitudes and culture of the day and he felt awkward when dealing with people. It had always been too tempting to lean on Tsuzuki and allow the violet-eyed Shinigami to work interviews, even though Tatsumi knew it was hard on Tsuzuki. It had often led to complications when the younger man became attached to the mortals involved in the case.

 

“Mm, yes well then…we’d best get started.” Tatsumi set his napkin neatly down on the table and stood up, firmly setting aside thoughts of the past.

 

Shrugging into his suit jacket he smoothed down his tie before buttoning the coat closed. Tatsumi had learned long ago that the best way to tackle an unpleasant situation was to face it directly. “As long as you’re just sitting there, Watari-san, please settle up the tab.”

 

Caught with his mouth full of coffee, Watari was unable to respond as Tatsumi smoothly stepped away from the table.

 

One pale eyebrow arched upwards and Watari felt an annoyed affection as he watched the Kagetsukai’s broad back disappear out of the tearoom.

 

Seiichirou, you, penny pinching, parsimonious, stingy, sneaky sonova…

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Meifu

 

“Damn it, Tsuzuki!!! You greedy, grubbing, muffin munching maniac!”

 

Hisoka pressed his hand to his ear as Terazuma’s furious shout echoed through the bullpen. Even though he’d been waiting for the explosion, it still made him cringe.

 

Across the room from where the youngest Shinigami and his partner sat, Terazuma’s pretty partner looked up from a file and blinked winsomely at the annoyed man.

 

“Hajime-chan, be nice. I brought those muffins in for everybody.”

 

“He ate the last chocolate muffin, Kannuki! That was my muffin, everybody knows the last chocolate muffin is mine.”

 

At that moment, the muffin maniac himself stepped out of the small break room and cut loose with an indelicate belch.

 

“Ahh, pardon me, feel better though. Hey there, Terazuma.”

 

Hisoka cringed at his partner’s tone. One drawback to being idle was it gave Tsuzuki too much time to think. As a result, his moods became dangerously unpredictable. It hadn’t been so bad when Terazuma and Wakaba were out but now that Tsuzuki’s favorite sparring partner was back, Tsuzuki had a viable target and there was no Tatsumi or Watari to balance the situation.

 

Slender fingers half covering his face, Hisoka watched as Terazuma charged up to Tsuzuki looking like he wanted to strike the slightly taller man.

 

“You deliberately provoking moron. I know Kannuki made you at least three chocolate muffins, why the hell did you have to go and eat mine?”

 

“Yours? I didn’t see your name on it Terazuma. I saw a thoughtfully provided, wonderfully prepared, by the way they were delicious Kannuki-san, plate of muffins and I enjoyed them, the way I’m certain your partner intended!”

 

“She intended for us to share those muffins, Tsuzuki. Not for you to gobble them all up like the selfish bastard you are!” In that instant, the altercation showed the potential to cross the line between the normally charged banter into a serious exchange of insults.

 

Hisoka quickly stood up. He knew that Tsuzuki was feeling worried and worst of all guilty that Tatsumi was out on a case, which should by the rules of the Shokan Division have been theirs. With no other direction in which to channel his frustration Tsuzuki was not above picking a fight, which would help confirm his own sense of worthlessness and numb the feelings of guilt.

 

While the exchanges were often heated, it was not usual for Terazuma to be deliberately hurtful in the taunts he tossed at Tsuzuki. Hisoka’s empathic connection to his partner quickly confirmed that Tsuzuki was skillfully manipulating the confrontation to give him exactly what the elder Shinigami sought, an escape from the demons plaguing him.

 

Taking a quick skipping step, Hisoka inserted himself between Terazuma and Tsuzuki before his partner could respond.

 

Also sensitive to the subtle shift in the tone of the confrontation, Wakaba slid in from the other direction, one of her pigtails swatting Hisoka in the ear as she faced down her own partner.

 

“Shut-up, Tsuzuki.”

 

“Hajime-chan, that’s enough!”

 

They spoke at the same time.

 

Hisoka frowned but snapped his teeth together, silent as Wakaba continued to scold her partner.

 

“You know I’ll make you some more muffins. There is no reason to be so mean to Tsuzuki-san.”

 

Hisoka forcefully caught his partner’s violet eyes. He didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t embarrass Tsuzuki in such a way, but his expression was clear.

 

I know what you’re doing and what’s more important; you know what you’re doing. Stop it.

 

Called on his behavior by Hisoka’s cold but not uncaring expression, Tsuzuki crossed his arms over his chest and took a step back. The sense of helpless frustration, knowing that Tatsumi was out in the field handling the Gray Knight in an effort to protect Tsuzuki was eating at him. Even though he had complete faith in Watari’s ability to partner with Tatsumi, Tsuzuki couldn’t help but feel as if he’d failed everybody once again.

 

And so what do I do? Go and pick a fight with Terazuma, upsetting both Kannuki-san and Hisoka. Brilliant Asato, you’re hurting so why not share the pain?

 

Sighing heavily, Tsuzuki reached up and pushed his fingers through his hair in an agitated motion. Taking a deep breath he pulled at his bangs but lifted his eyes to look at Terazuma directly.

 

“I… I apologize, Terazuma-san. I should have asked around before just taking the last muffin.”

 

Headstrong and hot-tempered Terazuma Hajime might be, but he was not stupid. While Tsuzuki was pulling together his apology, Terazuma studied the concern on his own partner’s sweet face. The genuine worry in Wakaba’s eyes made him step back and look at the situation with a clearer head.

 

Like all of Enma-Cho, Terazuma was not unaware of how high-strung Tsuzuki Asato could be. Recently the addition of Hisoka into the violet-eyed Guardian’s life had helped temper many of Tsuzuki’s self-destructive habits and it was easy to forget the emotional instability that could drive him. As they stood there just outside Tatsumi’s office, Terazuma also recalled that the Secretary was out in Nagasaki, investigating a Gray Knight with Watari Yutaka.

 

Oh, flog me. That’s got to be driving Tsuzuki nuttier than usual.

 

Clearing his throat, Terazuma looked down at the toe of his boots putting as much genuine sincerity into his voice as he could manage.

 

“I’m sorry I called you selfish.”

 

When he didn’t immediately continue, Wakaba’s delicate little foot landed smartly against his shin.

 

“Hey! Oh, well… yeah okay I’m also sorry I yelled at you about the muffins.” Terazuma glared, with a wounded expression at his beaming partner.

 

Hisoka listened to the apologies but he didn’t take his eyes off Tsuzuki. Though the older man had been trying his best to keep his concern to himself, Hisoka could feel it radiating off Tsuzuki in growing waves. The cacophony of self-flagellating emotions coming from his partner was making Hisoka feel deeply concerned about what might happen with Tatsumi and Watari. Despite everybody’s attempt to reassure the youngest member of the Shinigami family, Hisoka was beginning to feel the division-wide tension a Gray Knight could cause.

 

Seeing Hisoka’s unsettled expression, Tsuzuki reached out and laid a hand on the youth’s head, ruffling his hair. It was becoming a comforting habit and one Tsuzuki hoped Hisoka wouldn’t try to break him of anytime soon.

 

Hisoka ducked in natural adolescent protest, but he didn’t pull away.

 

Tsuzuki felt a genuine smile work it’s way onto his lips as he looked up towards Terazuma, intending to apologize once again. However, a fluttering in the doorway caught his eye and he turned to watch GuShoShin fly into the bullpen.

 

“Kannuki-san, I need your help on an identification for Tatsumi-san and Watari-san.”

 

When Tsuzuki went stock-still, Hisoka could have cheerfully killed the Librarian for his apparent lack of tact.

 

Damn it. He’d just calmed down!

 

“What are they needing help with?” Tsuzuki asked in a sharp tone before Wakaba could respond.

 

Hovering halfway to Wakaba’s desk GoShoShin seemed to recognize the faux pas he’d just made but Tsuzuki’s forbidding expression scuttled any chance of a graceful retreat. Though GoShoShin had come to the bullpen to talk to Wakaba he turned to face all four of the Shinigami gathered.

 

“Tatsumi-san and Watari-san believe they are dealing with a succubus-like creature, one who is draining the life energy of young people within the hospital, killing them. But they are uncertain what type of succubus they might be dealing with. Watari-san sent along the hospital’s database listing out people staying at the hospital within the time frame of the deaths. We’ve been studying it and doing a cross-reference but we can’t pin down any indicator of what they might be dealing with. Kannuki-san, as you’re something of the Division expert, I was hoping you could take a look at the information and give us your thoughts.”

 

“Sure!” Wakaba agreed cheerfully skipping back to her desk and clearing a space so the GoShoShin could reach her computer.

 

With one last concerned glance towards Tsuzuki, the Librarian flew over and settled on the desk. Sitting in front of the keyboard he quickly began to call the information up to Wakaba’s workstation. Tsuzuki moved to stand right over Wakaba’s shoulder, to the chagrin of Terazuma. Only an ice-cold glare from Hisoka kept Hajime from making any sort of comment.

 

For half an hour silence fell in the bullpen as Wakaba read through the information. Hisoka watched Tsuzuki’s profile, alarmed at the way the older man’s jaw clenched rhythmically.

 

I was kidding myself earlier. This Gray Knight is still affecting him. It doesn’t matter who works the case it touches us all.

 

By the time she was done reading through the facts, even the normally bright Wakaba was sobered.

 

“Well, I think they’re dealing with a Fenallatina Succubus.”

 

Wakaba looked from turkin to her fellow Shinigami, taking in their expectant expressions. Sitting forward, she tucked a foot under herself and hugged her knee in a girlish pose completely at odds with the words that came out of her mouth.

 

“A Fenallatina Succubus, known as a Fenalla, will enter into a bargain with a mortal woman to enhance the quality of that woman’s life in exchange for existence within the mortal world once again. A Fenalla has no corporal form of her own, she needs a mortal in order to feel and experience sensation. Fenallas are not categorized as evil per say but they will stop at nothing to fulfill the bargain, keep their host happy and continue to live. It’s not too different from Terazuma’s bond with his shikigami.”

 

“Why the deaths in this case?” Tsuzuki asked in a flat tone.

 

Wakaba shifted a little, not unaffected by the ferocity she could see burning in Tsuzuki’s eyes.

 

“Ah, well…I guess I’d have to agree with Watari’s note. I think the most likely suspect is Kelly Esoka. A Fenalla would be deeply affected by the plight of that young woman. Being that they were women in their mortal lives they would understand a mother’s desperate desire to remain with her child. I imagine that Kelly Esoka entered into a bargain with her Fenalla and the exchange is continued life, but Esoka-san is so damaged that the Fenalla is forced to draw energy from outside sources. Other lives in this instance.”

 

Hisoka ducked his head around Tsuzuki’s waist, balancing himself with a light hand on the older man’s hip as he read through the note Wakaba was quoting.

 

~GoShoShin, please pay attention to Kelly Esoka. I believe she may be our prime suspect. Not only does her medical history point to an abnormal extension of life but also she had a powerful effect on Tatsumi-san beyond what would be considered a normal Shinigami/Mortal interaction. Also, please confirm a suspicion of mine and pull records on the victims. Look for minor to major criminal infractions.~

 

Hisoka tapped the keyboard and scrolled further, reading the files that Watari had requested. Sure enough, as the scientist expected each one of the victims had a criminal record, ranging from minor drug charges to an involuntary manslaughter charge.

 

Beneath his fingers, Hisoka felt Tsuzuki twitch and he looked quickly over his shoulder confirming that his partner was reading right along with him. The youngest Shinigami winced as he felt the crushing weight of deep sorrow run through Tsuzuki.

 

Feeling Hisoka’s eyes on him, Tsuzuki forced himself to look down into his partner’s face. Reaching down Tsuzuki gently disengaged Hisoka’s hand from his hip and set it on the desktop. He rested his own fingers over Hisoka’s for a moment to let the youth know he wasn’t angry with him but he just couldn’t stand to hurt Hisoka with his emotions.

 

Turning away from the desk, Tsuzuki walked a few steps towards Tatsumi’s office, pausing to say over his shoulder.

 

“Kannuki-san, get your thoughts written up. GoShoShin, as soon as she has the report ready, get this information back to Watari… and Tatsumi immediately.”

 

“Yes, Tsuzuki-san.”

 

Nodding, Tsuzuki dug a small smile for his companions from deep within his heart then he turned and disappeared into Tatsumi’s office.

 

Hisoka stared at the closed door for a long minute. He knew that Tsuzuki wanted to be alone but ever since Kyoto, Hisoka found it increasingly difficult to abide by Tsuzuki’s wishes when the older man was in pain. Chewing on his lower lip pensively, Hisoka ducked his head and walked towards the closed office door. He raised his fist to knock, but instead lowered his hand to the knob and opened the door, slipping within the room.

 

Sunlight streamed in through the single window illuminating the room with morning’s soft glow. Hisoka didn’t see Tsuzuki at first and he felt a fission of fear race through his heart until he realized that Tsuzuki was sitting in Tatsumi’s high backed chair, facing the window. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the younger Shinigami walked up to the neatly organized desk. Picking a corner, he wiggled up onto the edge, turning to study his partner.

 

Tsuzuki sat sprawled in the chair. One long leg was kicked up over the opposite arm, and he leaned against the slight wing back, watching the morning sun cast it’s light through the trees.

 

Hisoka waited, and waited for Tsuzuki to say something but when it became apparent that the older man was lost in his thoughts, Hisoka plunged into the deep waters of Tsuzuki’s emotions.

 

“Will they be all right?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Tatsumi-san and Watari-san. Will they be all right?”

 

“A Fenalla is a lower level Meifu denizen. She isn’t a threat to Tatsumi or Watari.”

 

Hisoka licked his lips and leaned forward so he could see more of Tsuzuki’s face.

 

“That… that wasn’t what I was talking about Tsuzuki.”

 

“I know, Hisoka.” Tsuzuki’s voice dropped to a bare whisper. “I just don’t have an answer for what you are asking.”

 

Which is why you’re in here, sitting in Tatsumi-san’s chair, seeking the comfort of being as close to him as possible.

 

Hisoka blushed lightly, silently acknowledging the slight twinge of jealousy he’d first felt upon walking into Tatsumi’s office. He knew there was a deep past between Tsuzuki and Tatsumi and at times he felt as if he’d never be everything that his partner needed.

 

Deep in thought, Hisoka almost missed the movement when Tsuzuki shifted. Without taking his eyes off the window, Tsuzuki draped his arm across the side of the chair; palm turned up, held out towards his partner.

 

As Hisoka looked at the older man’s extended hand, he realized that for once Tsuzuki was reaching out to him. Not for Hisoka’s sake but out of Tsuzuki’s own need for comfort and support.

 

Scooting a little closer to the chair, Hisoka rested his own hand in Tsuzuki’s. He was slightly surprised when his partner threaded their fingers together, gripping Hisoka’s hand tightly, eyes never leaving the window.

 

“ ‘Taka will take care of him.” Tsuzuki spoke softly and even though he held his partner’s hand, Hisoka couldn’t tell which one of them Tsuzuki was trying to reassure.

 

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