Author's notes: Part 2 is finally here. ^_^;; This is more of a 'fluff' part than anything else. I've had some random Yami 'ideas' that never got turned into fics, so instead of ditching them all together, I thought they would work wonderfully in this fic.

The time lapse in this part is about 6 months. And this chapter is very bulky as well, well over about 2000 words more than the previous one.

Reviews are welcomes and critiques are encouraged. If you see anything wrong with the fic that I didn't catch or my beta reader didn't catch, feel free to tell me in a review or drop me an e-mail.

I want to thank Rinoa RedCloak for beta-ing this part for me. ^_^

Okay, that's enough pointless author notes. On with the fic. Enjoy, part 3 and the epilogue will be coming soon.

Part 2 - Relationship

When Hisoka opened his eyes the following day, he thought all of last night was just some bizarre dream. That Tsuzuki confessing his feelings and showing his heart to Hisoka was just some figment of his imagination. Or maybe it was something all together different?

It was when he felt not just a warm body but warm feelings near him that he realized that he wasn't dreaming. He couldn't decide which shocked him more, the events of the previous night, the fact that Tsuzuki cared about him on a deep level, or the fact that he spent an entire night on Tsuzuki's floor and realized that it was the best sleep he ever had as far back as he could remember, despite his back being sore.

It wasn't long before Tsuzuki opened his eyes. He stretched and was quite surprised that Hisoka stayed the entire night. He also felt guilty as there was a perfectly good bed and that Hisoka should have slept in it. It took a total of one minute to convince Tsuzuki that sleeping on the floor wasn't so bad and that he should stop berating himself before the childish man grinned sheepishly at him and thanked Hisoka for staying. Tsuzuki recommended that he should go home and change and get ready for work, which Hisoka agreed to.

It took Hisoka a little less than an hour to undress, shower, and redress for work. Hisoka was never really into fashion, only that he look presentable. He was surprised when he opened the door and saw Tsuzuki standing there, waiting for him with a genuine smile on his face.

And so began a new ritual that lasted for the first three months of what Hisoka liked to officially call their 'relationship'. Everyday, Tsuzuki would meet Hisoka just as he was about to leave the house and they would walk together to work. Sometimes, they would casually chat about current events. Sometimes, they would share events that happened in their personal lives. Other times, they spoke about work. And on other occasions, they didn't say anything at all, but just walked in silence.

There was the occasional physical contact, like a ghost-like brush of Tsuzuki's fingers across his own fingertips. Nothing was said out loud, but Hisoka knew what Tsuzuki 'said' when he displayed actions like that. There were times between them where actions spoke more than words could and Hisoka took it as a comfort.

The irony of this was that before, Hisoka couldn't stand being touched. Every time he was touched, even if was the lightest touch, he would always pick up the person's emotions, even if was just an accident. Most of the time, the emotions he picked up were negative or so strong to the point where he would pass out at the contact.

He absolutely abhorred it more than anything else because more than anything, he craved being touched, wanting human contact, but always deathly afraid of it and steering away from it. He also feared that people would reject him or think lowly of him, like his parents had.

With Tsuzuki now though, things were different. Unlike most people, Tsuzuki had shields around himself and shielded himself so well, that Hisoka would only feel powerful emotions if Tsuzuki felt them strongly. The emotions that Hisoka discovered when he went inside of Tsuzuki's heart seemed to come off in waves when Hisoka was around him and he felt them more strongly when Tsuzuki made skin contact with him.

There was still the thought that if Hisoka ended up getting too close to Tsuzuki though, he would see things that were unpleasant. He never was as close to anyone than with Tsuzuki and even now, he didn't know where they were going with this relationship that they seem to share.

But more than anything, he wanted to know the answer he was seeking and knew whole-heartedly that he would find it this time…

-

The overall air to the office area that Tsuzuki and Hisoka shared changed that next morning. There was less fighting between the pair. Hisoka seemed to have calmed down a bit and Tsuzuki seemed more focused as well and he was even doing paperwork, which surprised Tatsumi when he came by to greet the pair. Hisoka was quite amused by the look on Tatsumi's face when he walked in and saw Tsuzuki working. He let a smile slip by, which didn't go un-noticed by Tsuzuki, who teased Hisoka all morning about 'finally getting Soka-chan to smile!' This earned the older man a yell and a light slap on the head.

Everyone seemed to notice the change in both of them. No one said anything though, as everyone knew it was bound to have happened and were glad for the both of them anyways. Hisoka was able to pick all this up. It wasn't very hard not to, considering his empathic powers and how he sometimes heard the occasional whisper about them around corners. Sometimes he was quite tempted to yell and demand what they meant by that, but eventually, the temptation died down. If he sat and thought long and hard about it, he found the signs that were apparent. He knew Tsuzuki liked to tease him, but he never thought he was serious.

When lunchtime came around, Tsuzuki would offer to either go down to earth and find a nice restaurant to eat at or sometimes, Tsuzuki would bring in something he brought at a market place and share it with Hisoka. There was only one day when Tsuzuki offered Hisoka some food he cooked. It never happened again, as Hisoka had ended up in the medical ward for most of the day after trying out some of Tsuzuki's 'special' stew. They would eat inside their office space or go outside and eat if the day was pleasant enough.

They would then go back to work, whether it was simple paperwork, delivering a message to another co-worker, delivering reports to Tatsumi, or anything else that needed to be done. The same office routine, but with a different overall air around it.

One day though, Tsuzuki did something that surprised Hisoka.

Hisoka had just finished a report and he had to deliver it personally to Tatsumi. He had finished rather early and wanted nothing more now than to curl up with the book he left on his desk. When he returned to the office, however, the book was missing. He turned towards the direction of his partner's desk, about ready to ask him if he'd seen the book, and froze.

In all the time he knew Tsuzuki, he had never once seen him read something except when it was work related or sometimes, when they were on earth, the local paper. Tsuzuki had always said that he didn't care much for reading and preferred to do something else.

So imagine Hisoka's shock when he saw Tsuzuki actually reading the book that Hisoka borrowed.

"What are you doing?" Hisoka asked. Tsuzuki looked up from the page that he was on and blinked at Hisoka.

"What does it look like?" He replied with a grin.

"Didn't you tell me you didn't like to read outside of work?"

Tsuzuki put the book down and his eyes grew serious. "Yes. But then I noticed how much you like to read and I thought, 'Well, if I started to read what Hisoka reads, we would have something more to talk about!'"

"That's the most stupid reason I've ever heard for not liking to do something and doing it anyways." Hisoka told Tsuzuki truthfully.

"Maybe, but I like to know what you read. Not only to share similar interests, but to understand you more."

Hisoka had no real retort to that, so he let it slip. He expected Tsuzuki to ask him if he would do the same thing or even expected Hisoka to do that, but he never did. This puzzled Hisoka to no end and one day, he did ask about it.

"I'm not going to force you to do things you don't want to do," Tsuzuki answered and added, "I don't want you to expect that you HAVE to do what I always do. Just do what you think is comfortable."

Hisoka realized that Tsuzuki never really expected anything. He just seemed to take what he was offered and treasured it. 'Selfless, as always…'

After work, Tsuzuki would offer to take Hisoka out for dinner. The bill was usually split in half between the two. Then another ritual would happen, where Hisoka would ask 'would you like to come over for a little bit?' The purpose of inviting Tsuzuki over his house changed each night. Sometimes, it was for tea, sometimes, it was for dessert, other times, it was to discuss something about a case, and the list went on.

At first, usually Tsuzuki only stayed for an hour or so before leaving for home. But as the days went by, those visits got longer and longer. Sometimes, Hisoka would tell Tsuzuki that it was just too late for him to go back home and bring out a spare blanket from the closet. Tsuzuki would usually fall right to sleep, to Hisoka's relief, as he first thought that Tsuzuki would turn down his offer.

'There's something comforting about him staying over, even if we aren't in the same room…'

There were times that scared Hisoka, not because they were particularly frightening, but because he couldn't remember how the situation came to be. On some nights, he would wake up in his bed and felt a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, the presence of another body apparently pressed close to him. And he was quite sure that no one went to bed with him the previous night.

The first time this happened, it scared Hisoka so much, that he kicked the other person out of the bed, who landed with a 'thump' on the floor. When he found out who it was, he was relieved, but demanded an explanation from Tsuzuki.

"You were having a nightmare and I heard you crying in your sleep. So I thought to keep you company until you stopped," He explained and grinned sheepishly. "And um… I guess I accidentally fell asleep."

Hisoka hardly believed that it was an 'accident' that Tsuzuki fell asleep in his bed, but he didn't say anything. He knew his partner was only concerned about him. He knew that Tsuzuki didn't leave him alone again was to show that he cared. even as bizarre and strange it looked to a normal onlooker. Besides that, it felt rather nice to wake up being held Tsuzuki, which confused Hisoka to no end.

There were some times though, where Hisoka woke up and found himself sitting on one end of the couch with his partner's head in his lap. Just like him, Tsuzuki had nightmares of his own and he heard him crying in his sleep as well. So Hisoka would get up from his bed and sit with Tsuzuki. Hisoka wouldn't say anything at these times, all he would do is sit down, place his partner's head in his lap and run his fingers through his hair. That always had an effect on Tsuzuki, as he calmed down shortly after. It was like Tsuzuki knew that Hisoka was the one touching him, even though he was asleep.

He had to be very careful about this, because if Tsuzuki's emotions were too intense in the dream, there was always a chance that Hisoka would get pulled into the dream and he knew how Tsuzuki feels emotions so strongly. It was always the risk Hisoka was running. But in the end, he felt it was worth the risk. 'If I can make him feel a little better, relieve him of his pain even just a little bit, it's worth the risk…'

Tsuzuki had no idea that Hisoka did that when he was having a nightmare, as when he woke up the next day, Hisoka was no longer on the couch, but either back in his bed or getting ready for work and scolding Tsuzuki to stop sleeping in so late.

On days off, Tsuzuki would spend the entire day with Hisoka. On sunny days, they went shopping or went for walks. On rainy days, they stayed indoors or went to see a movie.

Usually, when Tsuzuki and Hisoka went shopping, they bought things for themselves. Or actually, Tsuzuki bought things for himself while Hisoka would buy the bare necessities. Sometimes, he would get some new clothes or sometimes, he would buy a book at the bookstore that caught his eye. But he spent his money wisely, preferring not to spend all his pay in one day.

There were times when Tsuzuki bought gifts for some of their co-workers. Sometimes, it was because it was a special occasion, like a birthday. Sometimes, it was for a holiday. And at rare times, it was just rather random.

And on this day, it happened to be one of those 'random' gift ideas.

On this day, the duo passed by a small toyshop that sold small and unusual gifts. Tsuzuki turned his head to the window while they walked by and he stopped short, calling for Hisoka to wait a moment and walked into the shop. Five minutes later, he came out of the shop holding a small yellow bag. Hisoka knew Tsuzuki was excited about whatever he just bought, but he tried to keep the excitement off his face and told Hisoka he was ready to go.

All throughout the walk to Hisoka's house, Hisoka could feel the excitement coming from Tsuzuki and it was starting to annoy him. He tried to sense what exactly Tsuzuki was thinking about, but it was as if Tsuzuki knew that Hisoka was going to try to attempt to read him, and kept his thoughts linger on the excitement over the item, but never revealing the item in question.

The moment they walked in the door, however, he spun around and glared at his partner, who managed to keep a straight face, despite the giddy feelings he was projecting.

"All right! What did you exactly buy in there?"

"Eh?" Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, trying to act and sound confused.

"Don't 'eh' me! You bought something and you've been thinking about it all the way here so loudly, that I could barely think straight. So what has you all excited?"

A smile crossed Tsuzuki's lips as he searched out for the small bag that he got from the toyshop. When he found it, he held it out to Hisoka.

"It's not much, but I thought you might like it."

"You bought me a toy???" Hisoka asked and wondered if he should be offended or if he should thank Tsuzuki, as he couldn't remember anyone just giving him a gift since he was a child.

"Open it!" He said and started to giggle in glee. As Hisoka opened the bag and took out the paper wrappings, he wondered if his partner had just gone insane.

Green eyes blinked at the contents in the bag.

"Well?" Tsuzuki asked and cocked his head to one side.

Hands dove into the bag and took out a small, white, fluffy teddy bear. On its back was a pair of wings. The bear had some glitter here and there upon its entire body and it sparkled when the light shone on it. The sewn eyes on it were quite unusual though, as they were a light green pair of beads.

"When I saw that in the back through the window, I had to get it." Tsuzuki explained to his stunned partner. "It reminded me of you. And, well, I know that sometimes, you might get lonely at night and might want something to cuddle with."

Tsuzuki got worried when Hisoka said nothing in reply. "I mean, I don't think you're a kid! I mean… I sometimes like to cuddle with something at night too, so I thought you might be the same way. And you won't be lonely either. I know I get lonely at night too sometimes, so I thought you might too, and… he can keep you company!" Tsuzuki's smile started to fade when he didn't hear an answer yet. He turned to his partner and looked at him, who was staring down at the small fluffy bear in his hands. "Hisoka?"

"You can be a real idiot sometimes…" Was the small whisper he managed to pick up from his partner. Hisoka looked up, a small smile settled on his lips. "A really big idiot…"

"I'm glad you like it." Tsuzuki answered with his own small smile.

-

Hisoka was surprised when he found himself enjoying the time he spent with Tsuzuki. At first, he thought that spending too much time with Tsuzuki would get on his nerves and that they would have to spend some 'time alone'. But it wasn't like that at all, and each day, he found he wanted to spend more and more time with him. Even if they didn't talk the entire day to each other, Hisoka knew he would still enjoy the company.

The routine continued like this for a total of three months when he noticed something. More and more, Hisoka noticed that Tsuzuki spent more time at his house that he couldn't remember when Tsuzuki went home, even if he still had his home. He brought up the issue to him one day.

"I noticed that too… It's like I live with you now!" He teased.

"You already do anyways," Hisoka pointed out, which Tsuzuki laughed at. Hisoka wasn't laughing or smiling though.

"I was only teasing you, Hisoka." Tsuzuki said, the grin on his face fading as he saw the expression. "It was a joke."

"I'm not kidding. Can you honestly remember the last time you spent a night at your house in the past month?" When Tsuzuki didn't have an answer, Hisoka continued. "So why not just make it official?"

"But your house is too small for both of us to live in," Tsuzuki teased again, not thinking that Hisoka was seriously thinking about this.

"I could move in with you then. I don't have a lot of things. Besides, I've been over your house and it's big enough for two people to live in."

Tsuzuki didn't expect Hisoka to even answer the taunt, let alone even suggest moving in with him. It took him by surprise. "Are you serious about this, Hisoka?"

A blush crept across pale cheeks. "Why are you asking stupid questions!?"

"Well… It's just that a few months ago, I could never see you suggesting something like this!"

"Dummy! I thought it would be easier on both of us if we lived in the same house instead of walking back and forth all over the place and paying for two places when we practically use only one house. But if you don't agree…"

"I didn't say I didn't agree! Hisoka~!" Tsuzuki shook his head and pouted. "I… just want to make sure you feel comfortable with the idea. And… well, we do spend a lot of time with each other, but moving in with me… Do you want to even do that or really, are you suggesting it just to 'save money'? If you're not comfortable with it…"

"If I didn't feel comfortable with it, I wouldn't have brought it up. If I didn't want it, I wouldn't have suggested it. Common sense, Tsuzuki."

"That's true…" Tsuzuki knew that there was something behind the façade Hisoka was showing to him right now. There were times he came off naïve and perhaps a bit slow, but he caught on to things, especially things that he considered important and Hisoka was up there along with sweets and cakes. But he didn't want to press it further, as most likely, he wouldn't get the reason behind it unless Hisoka was willing to tell him. He laughed to himself at how similar they seemed to be when it came to things like this.

"Are you sure? I don't mean to press it on, but I want to make sure you're absolutely okay with this…" A grin lit up Tsuzuki's face when Hisoka nodded his consent. "Okay! So let's make it official then!"

Hisoka nodded his head again as Tsuzuki draped his arm around Hisoka's shoulder. He mildly wondered if he made the right decision. But just sensing the excitement from the older man gave him the answer and he wondered how long it would take him to move all his things to Tsuzuki's house.

-

Apparently, the move didn't take as long as Hisoka thought and Tsuzuki was so excited over the idea that Hisoka was going to live with him, it gave him new found energy. It took a total of two days to move everything out of Hisoka's house, it was not as if he had much to move. It took about a week for everything to settle in, as Hisoka had to inform the landlord of his move and fill out some paperwork.

Tsuzuki's house consisted of one bedroom only, but it was big enough to drag another bed (Tsuzuki suggested that another bed wasn't necessary, but it only earned him a kick) and another small dresser in. The closet was separated into two halves to accommodate some of Hisoka's clothes that needed to be hung up on hangers. Hisoka didn't bring any other bedroom items, besides the small 'angel bear' that he received from Tsuzuki, which Tsuzuki placed along besides his own small collection of stuffed animals, surprising Hisoka, so that 'he won't get lonely.'

The bookshelf that Hisoka had was put out in the living room by the window along with a small chair he had. Tsuzuki picked that spot, as the window would provide Hisoka some light during the day when he wanted to read and the window was right near a garden that Tsuzuki tended to.

Hisoka had come over Tsuzuki's house a few times in the past, but it was usually for work related matters. He never really took notice of the house's surroundings. That was, until now.

Unlike his own house, Tsuzuki's house was lively and colorful. Pictures hung up on the walls, from simple wall scrolls to paintings to photographed pictures. Some of the photos looked extremely old, like an old black and white photograph of when Tsuzuki and Tatsumi were still partners. Some were recent, like a photo of Hisoka and Tsuzuki when they went to a festival a few months back, which Watari insisted on taking.

There was a TV and a blue couch in the middle of a room with a VCR player sitting on top of the TV. A shelf that contained several different types of VHS tapes stood less than a foot away from the TV. There was a computer off in another corner of the living room, which looked like it had never been touched (Hisoka knew Tsuzuki was never really good with computers, but kept one anyways incase he ever needed one).

A few scattered nitnacks sat on desks, little stands and tables. A few plants were scattered around, one plant hanging from the ceiling, one potted plant in the corner of the room, a vase of flowers sitting on the dining room table and another small stand…

They decided on splitting every bill in half, including the food bill. Hisoka was the one who would do the food shopping (He didn't want Tsuzuki to do it based on the fact that when Tsuzuki opened the refrigerator during his first stay there. Most of the food consisted of sweets, candies, cakes, and a variety of other 'snack foods'), as he would probably end up doing most of the cooking. They decided on splitting most of the household chores as well. It seemed like things were going to be all right, for the most part.

In the very beginning stages of this move, however, many doubts ran through Hisoka's mind. He felt nervous and uncomfortable for the first week, especially sharing a room with his partner. On case jobs, they almost always had separate rooms and had their own 'privacy'. They never had to share a bathroom, and they got dressed in private as well.

With them sharing a room, things were different…

Tsuzuki didn't mind if Hisoka saw him changing or getting dressed. He didn't feel uncomfortable at all. On the first day of Hisoka's stay, he came out with a towel draped around one shoulder and one wrapped around his waist. Hisoka had just woken up and looked towards the direction his partner was and felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he saw Tsuzuki unwrap the towel around his waist and sat down on the bed to get dressed.

"You could've waited till I was in the bathroom before getting dressed!" Hisoka yelled and turned his head to look at floor.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Shaking his head, he rushed to the small closet outside of the bedroom and grabbed two towels and slammed the bathroom door shut. Hisoka slumped by the door, trying very hard to calm his breathing down to a normal level. Of course, Tsuzuki was still oblivious to what happened and after he was dressed, he decided to wait for Hisoka to come out of the bathroom.

Waiting might have been a mistake as when Hisoka peeked out of the bathroom and saw Tsuzuki still standing there, not doing anything, his face turned red and he scowled.

"Why are you still standing there!?"

"Why are you getting so upset?"

"Haven't you ever heard of the word, 'privacy'?"

Tsuzuki frowned at the question. "But I don't have anything to hide from you. So why would I need to keep things 'private' when there's no need to?"

"Stupid…" Hisoka murmured and disappeared back into the bathroom. A few shuffling noises came from the bathroom and Hisoka poked his head out the door again and if the look on Hisoka's face could kill, Tsuzuki knew he would've been dead ten times over by now. "Why are you still standing out there!? Do you want us to be late for work?"

When Tsuzuki took a few steps toward the bathroom door, he noticed Hisoka started to shrink back towards the bathroom, as if he didn't want Tsuzuki to see him. Frowning a bit, he decided to take a chance and say something, even if it meant he was going to get slapped or yelled at. "Hisoka… You don't have to be ashamed around me, if that's what you feel…"

"What makes you think that!?"

He walked over to the bathroom door this time, which was promptly shut closed. The 'clicking' noise he heard informed him that the door was now locked and Hisoka was trying to avoid the subject.

"Am I right? Are you afraid what I'll say if I look at you? That I'll be disgusted or tease you?"

"Tatsumi-san is going to give you an earful if you don't stop dilly-dallying…"

"I don't care!" Tsuzuki shouted and stomped his foot. If Hisoka wanted to play the 'I'm-going-to-be-stubborn' game, then so could he. "If you think that, then you'll never feel comfortable living here with me! Besides that, me getting yelled at is a distant second place compared to something this important!" He sighed and calmed down a little bit, trying to put as much gentleness into his next words as possible. "Besides that, you have nothing to be ashamed about. I think…" Here, he hesitated, as he didn't know what the reaction his partner would be, but he decided to be honest and say it anyways. "I think… you're beautiful just the way you are…"

Tsuzuki sighed and decided that it was a lost cause after a minute had past and heard no reply from Hisoka. He turned and was about to walk away, but before he did, the door opened.

"I'm sorry…" Was the answer that came from the bathroom. Hisoka walked out, a towel covering his head, wearing a white robe that covered his entire body. His head was tilted towards the ground. "I just…"

A hand on his shoulder made him look up from the ground.

"Why are you apologizing?" Tsuzuki asked. "I understand how you feel. But I just want you to know that I would never tease you about how you look and that you shouldn't be ashamed at all of how you look."

"But…" Began a protest before it was silenced by a finger.

"I never thought that way about you. I always thought you had a fine body." The older man laughed as he watched pale cheeks taking on a pink glow. "Besides, what counts…" Here, he poked the upper center of Hisoka's chest. "…is right there."

"Tsuzuki…" Hisoka couldn't think of what to say in reply. Not because he was embarrassed but because of how open and honest his child-like partner could be sometimes. A chuckle passed by the older man's lips.

"So I take it that you running to the bathroom really fast before meant that you liked what you saw?"

A scowl and a slap later, Tsuzuki was rubbing his forehead outside the living room. Hisoka came stomping out of the bedroom, dressed for work, trying to hide his face from Tsuzuki.

"Wah! I was just teasing you! To lighten the mood!"

"Moron! Let's just go now!"

Tsuzuki rubbed his head one more time before he followed his partner out the door, glad to note that even if it was just for a moment, he gotten Hisoka to smile a third time within a few months without meaning to.

-

Eventually, word spread around that the two were now living together. It wasn't like they could hide the fact for very long, although Hisoka tried hard to. It lasted only a few days though, when Watari decided to pop in for a 'surprise' visit and saw Hisoka's things inside Tsuzuki's house. It didn't take a genius to figure it out and word slipped around and after the first week, everyone in the office knew about it, much to Hisoka's irritation.

As the days wore on and turned into weeks, Hisoka noticed a change in himself. Ever since Tsuzuki's confession, he found himself opening up more and more to his partner. He noticed that he didn't berate Tsuzuki like he would've normally done months ago and he knew he was slipping up with him as well, letting him get away with things that he normally never would. Like letting him have extra desserts after meals, letting himself be dragged off to many different places that his partner wanted to go to, or even doing something he would've never thought doing before.

Which led him to the current situation, him being dressed in old and worn clothing with a pair of garden gloves in hand. In fact, he wondered how he ended up in this situation to start with!

"You promised!" Tsuzuki reminded him.

"Promised?"

"To help me just once out in the garden! It's not so bad, and I think you'll like it! Besides, you need a little sun!"

"You just want me to lessen the work load on you…" Grumbled the young teen.

"Awww, don't pout, Hisoka." Tsuzuki said. He picked up a water can and opened the front door. "We have to go around the house to get to the garden. Have you ever been out there?"

"No, I've only seen in through the window…" Hisoka answered, letting Tsuzuki take the lead. He never really looked out the window to the garden though, as he usually read during the evening and night hours. He didn't think it was particularly important to know about something he didn't have any interest in.

"Well, you'll be in for a shock!"

"It's just a garden. I seriously doubt a bunch of plants will shock me …"

Tsuzuki chose to stop at that moment and turn around. Hisoka just barely stopped in time to avoid bumping into the older man. Confusion swept across Hisoka's face at seeing the serious expression that Tsuzuki was giving him.

"It's not 'just a garden', Hisoka. Plants feel, just like you and me. They grow, just like you and me." Here, Tsuzuki paused before looking up to the sky. "It takes a lot of work, taking care of plants and different sorts of fruits. But in the end, they reward you with a wonderful sight and something deliciously sweet…" He looked at Hisoka. "You'll see for yourself though. Come on."

Hisoka averted his eyes to the ground as he let Tsuzuki again lead him to his garden. He still didn't understand what the big deal about plants were. They were just plants, why would anyone want to stand around and admire them all day. It was just fruit too, that you could easily buy at any sort of market. Why would anyone want to go through all the trouble to grow food on their own? To him, a garden was more trouble than it was worth and that if he wanted to go admire plants, he'd take a nature walk in the woods.

It wasn't until Tsuzuki opened the door to his small garden and turned his eyes from the ground that he understood exactly why Tsuzuki kept a garden.

Every flower around him was in perfect bloom. It wasn't just the flowers that made it beautiful, but the way Tsuzuki had arranged and planted them showed as well. It looked like the flowers were carefully placed to each other, like how you find crayons in their box. Everywhere you looked in the garden, you could find at least several flowers blooming up at you from daisies to tulips to lilies to other flowers that Hisoka has never seen before.

Every plant seemed healthy and well taken care of. Nowhere did Hisoka see any sort of dead brown leaves or weathered greens. Some of the plants were just green. Some had their own flowers growing on them. Others were like vines, green with a yellowish tint to them that wove around the small fence to the garden, with white flowers blooming to life on them.

A small pond was off to the left center of the entire place. Normally, pond water tended to get murky after a while so you couldn't see the bottom of it. But it was obvious to Hisoka that Tsuzuki must have done something different, as he could see every rock and spot of Algae and even a few goldfish and angelfish that swam by (Which made Hisoka wonder where on earth he got the fish from).

Off to the furthest corners of the garden, there were two small trees. Hisoka squinted in the distance and noticed that both trees were starting to bear fruit. In the left corner was a peach tree. To the right was an apple tree. A few feet from both trees stood another part of the garden and Hisoka could make out a few melons growing from the ground along with a few other assorted fruits.

For a moment, Hisoka wondered if what he was seeing was just a figment of his imagination. It was so breath taking and at the same time, so full of life, that he was almost certain that the plants were calling out to him.

"Are you done gaping?"

Hisoka felt his cheeks flare up and shook his head. "It's just so… I mean… How…" He felt himself blush even more when he heard a small chuckle come from his partner.

"I told you, it takes a lot of work doing this. But in the end, don't you think it's worth it?" He asked, spreading his hand out to the garden.

'It's definitely worth it. But not because of what I see, but because of how much work I know you've put into it…' is what Hisoka wanted to say, but he kept silent and just nodded.

Tsuzuki dragged him towards the back and told him that today, they were going to care for fruits and perhaps pick a few of the melons that looked ripe enough to eat. He also instructed the 'do's and don't's of caring for the fruit. Simple basic things, like the importance of available sunlight and proper watering. Then there were advanced lessons like keeping bugs from ruining some of the fruit, the dangers of planting seeds too close to one another, the importance of keeping an eye out for newly grown plants, when to tell if a fruit is ripe or not and when you should harvest something or not, being on the lookout for weeds and telling the difference between a real weed and just a plant…

Hisoka learned a lot about gardening and taking care of fruit, but he learned something more important. Tsuzuki seemed totally devoted to this and honestly knew what he was doing, a side that Hisoka really never noticed to Tsuzuki before. Although his partner seemed irresponsible on the surface, just looking in the garden spoke different volumes that he was far from an irresponsible child that he seemed to show.

Hauling a watering can over back to his partner, he let a smile slip by him. Tsuzuki was willingly showing a side to himself, opening up to him, which meant a lot to Hisoka. Maybe he would come out to the garden more often.

-

Days turn into weeks, turning into months, slipping by into seasons and before Hisoka knew it, half a year had already past before that fateful day when Tsuzuki had made his confession to him. Both had seemed to change during that time, which seemed so short to him.

Presently, he was sitting by the window, gazing out into the garden Tsuzuki kept. Although he kept his hidden promise to come out to the garden more often, he couldn't stay out there for long periods of time, especially when it grew too hot outside.

So many times during these hot days, he would spend them indoors and sit down by the window and read. Today though, Hisoka couldn't concentrate on what was in front of him. He noticed the words on the pages, but for some reason, they didn't seem to 'click' inside his head. He closed the book and leaned back into his chair. He turned his head toward the window.

Tsuzuki was squatting down on the ground, digging at something in the ground. Occasionally, he would wipe the sweat that seeped across his forehead and went back to the task at hand. He didn't look up to the window and failed to notice the emerald eyes that followed his every movement.

Hisoka took notice of what his partner was wearing, a worn out short sleeved dress shirt that was smeared with dirt and a pair of brown shorts that were knee high. Then Hisoka started taking notice of other things, like the way Tsuzuki brushed his chocolate brown bangs away from his amethyst eyes when they got in the way, the way drops of sweat dripped down his face, the way his lips opened and closed, his pink tongue darting out to wet them occasionally…

It was then Tsuzuki finally took notice of his audience and turned to the window, smiling and waving at Hisoka. The reaction that Tsuzuki got was the one he expected. Hisoka's cheeks turning red and him turning away from the window. He chuckled to himself and went back to work.

Hisoka opened his book and tried to be a bit more productive than just gazing out the window, staring at his partner. But the harder he tried to concentrate on his book, the more distracted he felt. Frustrated, he threw the book on the floor, frowning in disgust. After a few minutes of glaring at the book, like it was the book's fault that he couldn't concentrate, his eyes again trailed back to the window and rested back on the same target as before.

Even when Tsuzuki rose up from his position on the ground, emerald eyes never failed to falter. For a second, the question, 'Why are you staring at him?' seemed to go through Hisoka's mind and it wasn't until Tsuzuki left the garden to go around to the front door to go back inside that Hisoka realized that he was just sitting at the window and staring. At Tsuzuki, of all things…

'Why am I staring at him?' Hisoka wondered. 'It's not like he's going to vanish or disappear. So why…?'

The more and more he questioned himself about the fact, the more perplexed Hisoka felt. And on top of it, his body was reacting differently too. His heart was beating a bit faster. He could feel himself blushing, but not out of embarrassment or shame like he normally felt when he was blushing.

But the oddest thing of all was his own feelings. Normally, he didn't like being touched by anyone, but right now, he desperately wanted to reach out and hold his partner's hand. Then there was a strange, aching need. As if he was really thirsty and desperately wanted some water. Only he wasn't thirsty for water, but…

A hand on his shoulder caught Hisoka by surprised and he felt himself jump a little in his chair. When he saw it was only Tsuzuki, he berated himself for being rather foolish. Who else would be in the house besides Tsuzuki?

"Hisoka, I called you about five times and you didn't answer."

"Sorry. I was… just thinking."

"About what?"

"It's nothing important," Hisoka brushed off and tilted his head a little. He noticed that Tsuzuki looked anxious, as if he wanted to ask for something. In fact, since Hisoka moved in, he noticed that Tsuzuki seemed more and more restless… sometimes as well. But every time he asked… "Do you want anything?"

After about a minute, "No…" before turning around and going back to the kitchen. "Sorry to bother you."

That seemed to always be the answer he got. And it always came out with a delay. There was one time where he was sure that Tsuzuki would tell him, in fact, he felt the determination that seemed to radiate around his partner that day. But after several minutes of silence, the determination dimmed out and he received the typical answer to his question.

Hisoka knew Tsuzuki was keeping something from him. He never pressed on the issue though, believing that Tsuzuki would tell him what he needed to know in his own time. Sadly, that belief seemed unlikely to come true, and perhaps it was about time to confront Tsuzuki about it.

What Hisoka did notice though, was that in every one of those incidents that it happened, Tsuzuki's feelings and thoughts were always the same. The feelings around him seemed to be a mixture of longing and want with fear and guilt. Hisoka couldn't understand the connection to these feelings at all, as it didn't make any rational sense to him. The longing and want seemed like that Tsuzuki wanted to ask Hisoka something, but fear and guilt kept him back, then again, he felt the desire come from him, a desperate sort of feeling…

Why didn't Tsuzuki come out and say it if he wanted to say it so desperately? Was he afraid of what Hisoka might say or do? Does he feel guilt about what he wants to say?

There seemed to be some tension around them at those times. Sure, Tsuzuki would seem like to slip back into habitual routines and pretend nothing ever happened, but Hisoka always took note of it and tucked every incident in the back of his head, trying to come to some sort of conclusion to this.

In actuality, though, things with Tsuzuki could never come to a straight conclusion until all the facts were laid out before Hisoka. And the way things were going now, more than likely, Hisoka would never get the last fact out until he took the next step. And quite frankly, he was getting sick of the tension that seemed to between them.

Up till now, their relationship seemed to be going so well and going for the best. Hisoka was not about to just let this tension to build up to when the truth finally did come out, that it would damage what they both had worked hard to build. He also felt that he was so close to the answer he needed, and firmly believed that perhaps the missing puzzle piece laid within what Tsuzuki wanted to say to him.

Taking a deep breath and calming himself, he got up from his seat and strolled into the kitchen, where his partner was cutting apart a few melons, probably to throw in the refrigerator for later. Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, and was about to ask what Hisoka wanted, but it was Hisoka who spoke first.

"Tsuzuki, we need to talk…"