Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Empathy ❯ Capture ( Chapter 1 )

   Hisoka placed the decorations on the cake with exquisite care. It was February 24th, Tsuzuki's birthday, and despite Hisoka's complaints about his "infantile" behavior, he felt obliged to indulge Tsuzuki in his sweet tooth. He hoped no one else would be at Tsuzuki's apartment when he brought over the cake. He would never live it down if Tatsumi or Watari saw the stoic Hisoka bringing a cake for the partner he had labeled "a useless baka." Not to mention…other reasons, that Hisoka was still not capable of admitting to himself.
        Hisoka sighed as he squeezed the icing tube in frustration. He liked to be with Tsuzuki, and he enjoyed it even more when no one was there cataloguing his actions. Tsuzuki made Hisoka feel more open with himself, and Hisoka trusted him far more than anyone else he had ever met in his entire life-and afterlife. He was still confused, though, at what exactly he wanted from Tsuzuki-or what Tsuzuki might want from him.
        The shutter on his apartment window banged suddenly, and Hisoka started, dropping the tube of icing he had been holding. It fell to the floor with an audible thud, spraying his shoes and the floor with dark purple icing. Hisoka cursed in annoyance at his own clumsiness, and bent to pick it up-when a familiar, chilling voice made him freeze in disbelief.
        "Isn't that sweet? My puppet has made a cake." Muraki laughed, knowing what the effect of his very presence would be on Hisoka. Hisoka whirled, backing up against the wall in terror, all thoughts of Tsuzuki and his cake abandoned. He stared at Muraki with eyes as big as saucers, too stunned to think of any reason why he would be here, in his home. Memories of what Muraki had done to him, his murder, began to flash through his mind and panicked him, and his panic was offset by Muraki's cold, demonic emotionlessness. Muraki smiled.
        Can't you calm yourself? I'm not afraid." His smile turned into a maniacal grin, and he reached up to touch Hisoka's face, holding him in thrall. "Could you make me afraid?" Hisoka tried to turn, to run, or grab for a fuda, even though he knew it was pointless, and was too shocked to notice Muraki's other hand incanting the spell that would knock him out and bind him.

        Tsuzuki whistled happily. Today was his birthday, and he knew Hisoka would be here soon with some form of sweet, whether bought or handmade. He weathered Hisoka's constant insults with nothing but smiles and good grace, knowing that the boy was too innocent to actually try to hurt him. Innocent but not fragile, he mused, his thoughts wandering to his favorite subject. Hisoka always refused to look at anyone, as if afraid that doing so would betray his inner secrets. The few times that he had made eye contact with Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki had been ecstatic, certain that Hisoka would tell him how much he needed him, and how much he wanted him…and then it would lead to other things.
        Tsuzuki shook his head, clearing it of such thoughts. In reality, Hisoka was far to withdrawn to ever say anything like that. Whenever he had looked at him, his eyes had been full of trust, and some other inexplicable emotion that Tsuzuki could not trace. Tsuzuki trusted to fate, though, that someday Hisoka would sort everything out and come to him for something other than comfort.
        Tsuzuki checked his watch, noting that it was later than he had thought. He had sent Tatsumi and Watari away, insisting that they boy would never show up if they hung around. Now, though, he wished he hadn't. He felt lonely, and debated going to see Hisoka at his apartment instead of waiting for him. He decided to stay home, though, musing with humor that if he showed up at Hisoka's, he would only look desperate for candy. He sipped quietly at the wine that Watari had given him; a wine which he had promised would be the strongest and purest vintage the underworld could come up with. Apparently Watari had not been exaggerating, as Tsuzuki fell into a drunken sleep in his chair.

        The next day, Watari hummed in his lab, working on a new explosive that, he hoped, would render Shikigami temporarily paralyzed, and thus leave the one that had summoned them open to attack. He didn't exactly have a purpose for it, but.it exploded, right? That was reason enough.
        He winced when he heard a loud crash coming from Tatsumi's office. He put his beaker down, hoping that the sound waves had not diluted the mixture, and stepped into the hall, wondering what had happened. There stood a very mischievous looking Tsuzuki, who was absentmindedly throwing Tatsumi's papers all over the place. Tatsumi appeared soon after, shouting at the top of his lungs for Tsuzuki to stop.
        "What in hell are you doing!?" He screamed, his normally expressionless face a very interesting shade of red. Watari giggled at the site, and Tatsumi shot him a withering glare before turning back to Tsuzuki.
        "I wanted to talk to you, and you weren't here, so I thought that if I made noise you would come.and you did!" Tsuzuki smiled engagingly at the enraged shadow master, perfectly apologetic and seemingly ignorant of the nuisance he had made of himself.
        Tatsumi narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth as if to say something, but faced with Tsuzuki's vomit inducing cutness, just rolled his eyes in exasperation. "All right, what is it?"
        Tsuzuki's expression changed to one of barely concealed anxiety. "Did you send Hisoka somewhere?'Cause I haven't seen him and I called him but he didn't answer and he didn't even visit yesterday." His tone changed from anxious to melancholy as he narrated the last part of his message.
        Watari's eyebrows shot up. He knew, from very clandestine sources, that Hisoka had been planning to visit Tsuzuki yesterday, and that he had been planning to make him a cake. Something must have happened to keep him from coming-The same something that was making him late for work for the first time since he had been employed here.
        Tatsumi began to look worried as well. "You mean he's not with you? I thought that…." his sentence was interrupted as Tsuzuki, now frantic, began begging.
        "Will you let me off from work to find him!? I have to find him! He could be hurt or sick or drunk or…." He trailed off as his imagination began conjuring less easily solved scenarios. He turned puppy eyes on Tatsumi, who looked grim.
        "Go visit his apartment. If he's not there, come back here. He might just be really late." From his tone, Watari could tell that Tatsumi was worried, but was trying to hide it.
        Tsuzuki immediately grabbed his coat, ready to go. Watari flew after him, grabbing his arm.
        "Wait! I want to find Hisoka too!" Tsuzuki simply nodded, too worried to argue, and the two teleported immediately to the mortal world, outside of Hisoka's apartment building, their Shinigami powers making any passersby think that they had always been there. Tsuzuki flew up the concrete steps to Hisoka's apartment, and began rapping on the door loudly enough to wake everyone in the whole complex.
        "Hisoka?! 'Soka chan, are you there?" When he received no response, he turned worried eyes to Watari, who expertly picked the lock with a bobby pin. Tsuzuki rushed inside, his eyes scanning the room wildly.
        At first glance, nothing was out of place. The apartment was impeccably neat, as usual, with every object in its logical spot. But it was quiet, and something felt wrong. Watari's scientific mind picked out that the shower had not been used that morning, as there was no humidity in the air, at about the same time that Tsuzuki found the single red rose planted in the cake that had been intended for him.
        "Muraki!"