Boys Don't Cry
by Leareth
Chapter Two
Tatsumi Seiichiro was the kind of man who was either admired or envied for his talent of never putting a foot wrong and economical approach to life. He liked control and stability, which was a rarity considering his job. One quickly learned to expect the unexpected; logic did not apply to one who moved between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. However, Tatsumi had always managed to deal with the unpredictability of being a shinigami by careful planning, clear thinking and, most importantly, his confidence in his own abilities.
With the introduction of a certain amethyst-eyed variable into his life, though, everything had been turned on its figurative head.
"Hey, Tatsumi, where're we going?" the variable asked inquiringly.
Tatsumi didn't answer. The air of self-confidence with which he was walking down the corridor masked something quite the contrary within himself. Beside him, Tsuzuki scampered like an errant child, trying to shove an arm through his coat-sleeve at the same time, and Tatsumi increased his pace slightly. He really wanted to get away from the other man. Not that he was going to abandon Tsuzuki and leave him behind – irresponsibility was not a word in Tatsumi's vocabulary – but he really needed space to think. Alone. Without Tsuzuki.
Especially without Tsuzuki.
"Hey, don't go so fast!"
Several nearby shinigami looked up from their work as the pair passed by; seeing Tatsumi they quickly pretended to be industrious. However, not even the fear of having the most daunting shinigami coming down on them like a tonne of bricks could keep them from staring as they saw just who Tatsumi had trailing in his wake.
"Oh, look, there's cake in the common room! Let's get something to eat, Tatsumi! Please?"
Tatsumi walked straight past the common room door without a single glance inside, inwardly wincing and trying to think up ways to make Konoe suffer as the shinigami inside gawked at them. Tsuzuki on the other hand slowed, eyes focusing on the plate of cakes in the middle of the table. Realising that he had just walked the last few meters alone, Tatsumi glanced back. Tsuzuki was about to give into temptation.
Roasting Kacho over hot coals sounded good, Tatsumi decided.
With an impatient sigh, he retraced his steps just as Tsuzuki as about to dash inside. The young shinigami came to an abrupt stop as Tatsumi took a firm hold of his arm.
"We are here to work, not eat, Tsuzuki-san," said Tatsumi as patiently as possible. "Come along now."
Tsuzuki pouted as he was dragged away. "Aw~w, but Tatsumi~i ..."
Tatsumi had never owned a dog before, but now he knew what it was like. "Come," he said in a voice that brooked no argument, tugging on the leash of Tsuzuki's arm. The two of them made a ridiculous picture, everyone was staring, and Tatsumi knew it. With as much dignity as possible, the taller shinigami hauled Tsuzuki away and shut the common room door behind him, but even though he could no longer see his colleagues' smirks and dropped jaws, he could still hear them.
"Oh my – did you see that?!"
"Tsuzuki gets Tatsumi as his partner?"
"The expression on Tatsumi's face – he looked like he wanted to kill someone!"
"At least it's not us. Poor Tsuzuki!"
"Isn't it 'poor Tatsumi', having to play babysitter to the walking stomach?"
Babysitter ... Tatsumi gritted his teeth. He detested looking ridiculous.
"Hey, I've five hundred yen that says Tsuzuki will make Tatsumi blow up in the next twenty-four hours."
"Huh. I'll put five hundred down on the next hour."
"But how the hell did Tsuzuki manage to get Tatsumi to agree to be his partner?"
That's what I'd like to know, thought Tatsumi as he finally dragged his partner out of hearing range.
He had no idea what Tsuzuki had done to him back in the briefing room, but whatever it was, he was definitely not comfortable with it. Persuading Tatsumi to do something he was adamantly opposed to usually involved a lot of shouting, begging, arguing, negotiation, plus outright bribery (Tatsumi's weakness for money was department legend; unfortunately no one had the financial resources to take advantage of it). And yet with just one unhappy face, Tsuzuki had managed to get Tatsumi to give in. How had he done that?
Such beautiful, sad eyes the young man had. There was something about them that echoed within Tatsumi ...
Tatsumi forced himself to think about something else.
By now they had come to the main hallway of the JuOhCho, a high-ceiling affair whose main source of light was the patterned sky-light at the top of the stairs. A thick carpet covered the floor, muffling their footsteps. Unfortunately, by the time Tatsumi and Tsuzuki had descended the stairs to the lower levels, the sky-light was no longer of any use. With the combination of dim light, thick carpet, and the way Tsuzuki was pouting over the cake not really looking where he was going, Tatsumi should have expected what happened next.
"WAH!"
Tatsumi blinked as his companion tripped and made the rest of the descent in a most undignified tumble, coming to a stop at the bottom of the staircase.
"Tsuzuki-san? Are you all right?"
The other shinigami stared up into the darkness of the ceiling with swirly eyes. Tatsumi wasn't the type who'd roll his eyes, so he settled for a How Do I Get Into These Situations sigh.
"Tsuzuki-san, do get up," he said, carefully coming down the stairs but not offering a hand to help.
Tsuzuki's eyes kept going around in circles. Tatsumi shrugged his shoulders and stepped over the prone figure of his partner, heading for the door. Immediately Tsuzuki sprang to his feet. "Hey, hey, wait up!" he yelled, panicked.
Tatsumi continued walking for a few moments, listening as the harried footsteps behind him came closer. Then, just as Tsuzuki slowed, he turned slightly, looking over his shoulder down at the younger man. He did not smile.
"Don't get left behind."
Tsuzuki stopped and blinked. When Tatsumi kept looking at him with cool blue eyes, he began to shift uncomfortably. "I won't, Tatsumi," he said, smiling at the other man in an attempt to lighten the situation.
Tatsumi turned to face Tsuzuki completely. "I don't think you quite understand the situation, Tsuzuki-san." He held up the case file. "This is work. We have a task to complete. There is no room for play or joking around of any sort. And there is one thing that must be made clear between us."
Tatsumi paused slightly as Tsuzuki looked up at him in the mute expectation of one who doesn't know if he wants to hear what he has to hear, then continued. "This is a partnership. I will work with you because I have to. Quite frankly, I do not appreciate having to waste my time looking after a newbie. And given your already colourful reputation, I dislike this task even more."
Those amethyst eyes again ... Tatsumi forced himself to stare at the wall, not knowing why he was loathe to look the man in the face as he continued. "To put it succinctly, it is highly possible that we shall go our separate ways after this case has been completed. In the meantime, I expect you to follow my lead and not get into trouble. Is that understood?"
A brief silence, then a very subdued, "Yes, Tatsumi."
Tatsumi made himself look at Tsuzuki again. For the first time, the young shinigami looked as if he was taking the situation seriously.
But Tsuzuki's sad face ... what was it that touched Tatsumi so?
He tried to put it out of his mind. No distractions. No weaknesses.
"Now then, shall we go, Tsuzuki-san?"
* * *
"Oh, so it's Nagoya!"
Tatsumi fought the impulse to sigh. "Yes, it's Nagoya," he replied with as much patience as possible, readjusting his glasses.
The two of them had arrived without any problems. Travelling between Meifu and the living world was enjoyable if one liked flying, and Tatsumi did it like it. He wasn't the sentimental type, but there was something about the weightlessness and the wind on his face that always made any situation seem better, no matter what it was.
The feeling disappeared pretty much the moment he and Tsuzuki had alighted in an out-of the way alley.
"So, where do we start?" asked Tsuzuki. He jumped as he trod on something that yowled. A mangy cat dashed out from the pile of rubbish it was scrounging in and disappeared as fast as it could, obviously terrified of the two well-dressed men who had dropped out of the sky. Tatsumi ignored it.
"At the beginning, of course," he replied absently. Careful not to step on any of the questionable puddles, Tatsumi made his way to the entry of the alley-way, looking for street-signs. "First, we are going to find the deceased's former place of residence."
Tsuzuki followed behind, making a face as rainwater dripped on him from above. "Sounds straight forward enough. What's the address?"
Tatsumi handed him the case file, automatically searching the area for any mortals. Shinigami could pass perfectly as normal humans, but that wasn't his concern. As he saw more and more of the area they had dropped into, it became clear that men dressed in the western suits he and Tsuzuki wore would attract no small amount of attention. This was a working-class district, where the silhouettes of the textile factories lurked above the rooftops. On the street, women went about their daily business as the repeated cries of market sellers floated on the air. A pair of children ran by directly in front of the alley the two shinigami were sheltering in, attention completely on their game. They giggled cheerfully; the sound immediately brought Tsuzuki's smile to Tatsumi's mind.
"All right, so we're trying to find a Nagumo Shigeru," mused Tsuzuki. There was something that sounded like concentration in his voice; Tatsumi glanced at his new partner with some surprise. "He was a worker in one of the factories, but had an accident with one of the machines and ..." Tsuzuki trailed off, probably because he had come to the part of the report that described how the man had died. At least it had been quick, if a little messy.
Watching his partner's less-than-comfortable reaction to the death report, Tatsumi wondered how and why Tsuzuki had died before he was even thirty. Not that he could talk; Tatsumi was only twenty-nine when he died, but that wasn't the point. He certainly wasn't going to ask to satisfy his curiosity, though. Each shinigami had his own personal reasons for becoming a god of death, and it was an unspoken rule that no one talked about them. Guilt and revenge were some of the more usual reasons, but Tsuzuki seemed far too cheerful for any of that.
"Anyway," the younger shinigami continued, just a shade too quickly, "that all happened over two weeks ago but he's not in Meifu yet. I guess we find him. Right?" Tsuzuki looked up at Tatsumi as if looking for confirmation.
Tatsumi nodded, already focusing on the job at hand and putting distractions out of his mind. "We shall go and speak to his wife first," he explained, wondering how the two of them were going to go around in full view with the least amount of attention. Businessmen, or government officials would be the best roles.
"Why?" asked Tsuzuki.
"If a person hasn't turned up in Meifu, it's usually because he or she is lingering in the mortal world for some reason," Tatsumi explained. "Most of the time it's an emotional attachment. A wife would be the logical place to start."
"Right! Let's go!" Tsuzuki closed the file with a snap and began walking out of the alley. He was stopped as Tatsumi grabbed his collar and pulled him back.
"Wait." Blue eyes looked Tsuzuki down. "Have you thought about what you are going to do?"
"Eh?" Tsuzuki looked at the street just beyond and the people milling about. "We go find Nagumo's wife. What's there to think about?"
Tatsumi sighed, just audibly. "We are in a working class district, and dressed like this we are going to attract a certain amount of attention. Don't you think that we should find some reasonable excuse for being here?"
Tsuzuki looked confused. "Huh?"
"I hardly think that telling inquisitive people that we are shinigami is the most intelligent thing to do."
"Oh. I didn't think of that."
"I can tell." Tatsumi sighed again. "Just follow my lead, Tsuzuki-san." Letting go of Tsuzuki's arm, he exited the alley right into a bustling market. The immediate area around him fell from everyday chatter to curious murmurings at his sudden appearance; Tatsumi ignored it.
"Right with you!" said Tsuzuki cheerfully, hurrying after him. He immediately slowed as he spotted a sweet stall. "Wait a sec, this is the marketplace; maybe we can pick up something to eat."
Tatsumi twitched. "Tsuzuki-san—"
Tsuzuki didn't hear him. "Hey, what's that over there?" he exclaimed.
"Tsuzuki-san—"
"I'll just take a look—"
"TSUZUKI-SAN!"
The people of the Nagoya marketplace had something interesting to talk about that day. None of them had ever seen a well-dressed young man being hauled off by the scruff of his neck before.
* * *
Up in Meifu ...
"Oi."
"What?"
"You owe me five hundred yen."
"Why?"
"Tsuzuki made Tatsumi blow up. It's only been forty minutes."
* * *
A question to a passer-by got them to the right street, and a few minutes walk got them to the right apartment, which turned out a set of rooms above a shop. Tatsumi and Tsuzuki ascended the narrow stairs carefully, and paused on the landing outside the door. Tsuzuki immediately raised a hand to knock, but Tatsumi stopped him.
"What powers do you have, Tsuzuki-san?" asked Tatsumi.
Tsuzuki blinked those large eyes at him. "Huh?"
Tatsumi glanced at the door as if trying to see through it. "I was wondering what you were capable of that could be of help in this case."
The younger shinigami shrugged. "The only things I can do are ofuda spells and exorcisms and shikigami summoning."
"The only things you can do?" Tatsumi looked at his partner. "How many shikigami?"
"Uh ..." Tsuzuki frowned and began to tick off fingers, counting under his breath. Tatsumi's eyebrows winched up slightly as he caught a few of the names Tsuzuki was listing. Byakko, Suzaku, Touda ...
"Twelve," said Tsuzuki at last.
Tatsumi kept his face expressionless as he turned back to the door. Twelve shikigami, and not just any shikigami either. There were some very impressive names Tsuzuki had mentioned. Maybe there was more to this happy-go-lucky walking stomach than met the eye. Something to think about, thought Tatsumi. He knocked.
"Um, Tatsumi?"
"Yes, Tsuzuki-san?"
"I was wondering ... are you a scary person?"
"Why do you ask?"
" Because," Tsuzuki sounded hesitant. "Whenever people at Meifu talk about you they always sound nervous."
Tatsumi strangled a smile that threatened to rise. He was quite aware of his reputation around the JuOhCho, and did nothing to dissuade it; in fact he went out of his way to reinforce it. It was rather fun watching people quaking in their shoes whenever they had to face him after some accident or misdemeanour.
"Ah, Tatsumi."
"What is it?"
"You're looking scary."
Tatsumi quickly schooled his features into their usual business-like expression. He could hear someone coming to answer the door. "No, I'm not," he said.
Tsuzuki wasn't stupid. "You did! You ARE scary!"
Tatsumi rolled his eyes and turned. "Tsuzuki-san—"
The younger shinigami backed away with a wide-eyed expression of fright that may or may not have been faked. "Please don't hurt me!" he begged, cringing like a kicked puppy.
"Tsuzuki-san—" began Tatsumi, taking a step towards him. The young man was making a ridiculous scene; thank goodness there wasn't anyone present to—
"What is going on here?" asked a voice from the opened door.
—see them.
Actually, judging from the look on the young lady's face, it wasn't so much ridiculous as it was shocking.
"What did you do to him!" Tatsumi started as the woman dashed from the doorway to intersperse herself between him and the still-cringing Tsuzuki. She shot him a glare that had as much nervousness as bravado in it, before turning to Tsuzuki. "Are you all right?" she asked worriedly. "Did the bad man hurt you?"
Bad man? Tatsumi blinked. Wait a second, does she mean me?
"Don't worry, Onii-san," she continued reassuringly. Tsuzuki looked up at his unexpected ally, confused, which earned Tatsumi another glare from the young lady's dark brown eyes. "I'll call the police!"
Police? "Wait a moment, ma'am, there's no need for such action," said Tatsumi hastily. "You see, my partner and I were—"
"Yes, call the police!" Tsuzuki shot a reproachful look at Tatsumi and tugged the hem of the young lady's skirt. "Tatsumi is scaring me!"
"Tsuzuki-san—"
"Wah, scary face!"
"Tsuzuki-san—"
"Really scary face!"
"Tsuzuki-san—"
"STOP IT!"
Tatsumi and Tsuzuki both froze. Japanese ladies normally didn't shout at the tops of their voices. Nor did they glare at unknown men and tap a foot waiting for an explanation.
"Would you two gentlemen mind telling me what is going on?" the young lady asked, lifting one delicate eyebrow.
* * *
It took several minutes of fast-talking to convince the young lady, who looked as if she was going to call the authorities anyway to get rid of them, that they were there on business, and were looking for the widow of Nagumo Shigeru. Which, as it turned out, was the young lady's sister. After apologising profusely for her mistake, she introduced herself as Maya, and invited them in for tea. Tatsumi accepted in terms of furthering the investigation, but then again, he wasn't one to turn down free refreshment either.
"So where is your sister?" asked Tatsumi once the initial small-talk was over.
Maya glanced up at the question, then quickly lowered her eyes to the teapot. "Nee-chan is out at the market at the moment," she said, busying herself with the tea. "What is it you wish to speak to her about?"
Tatsumi raised an eyebrow at the young woman's behaviour. Seated beside him, Tsuzuki was eating as many of the rice-ball snacks as propriety allowed. Tatsumi had tried to glare at him a few times, but since the younger shinigami was too focused on food to notice, made a mental vow to tell him off once they left. "We've come to talk to your sister about her late husband—"
The effect was immediate. Maya immediately put down the tea-pot, her dark brown eyes skittering between the two men before flicking towards a closed door on the side of the room. "Shh!" she said hastily. "Not a word about Nagumo-san, please!"
The two men blinked. "Uh, why not?" asked Tsuzuki.
"Because—" Maya broke off, summoning a bit more composure before continuing. "Because it's a very delicate subject at the moment." She looked at the two men pointedly. "I'm sure I do not need to explain."
Tatsumi frowned. There was something more going on here; he could sense it. "We understand, of course," he replied, "but—"
The door on the side of the room opened. The shinigami looked up to see a young woman a little older than Maya standing with one hand on the doorframe looking at them. The room from whence she had come was bright with afternoon light, but Tatsumi noticed that there were screens in front of the window.
"Maya-chan?" the woman asked. Her eyes were a dark brown that was too similar to Maya's not to give the suggestion of familial relations. Their loveliness, however, was marred by a hazy dreaminess that put Tatsumi immediately on his guard. He saw Maya's face freeze at her appearance.
"I heard voices," the woman continued. "Men's voices ..." She trailed off as she saw Tatsumi and Tsuzuki, and her placid face suddenly became animated. "Is Shigeru-san home?"
Tatsumi and Tsuzuki blinked.
"Kasumi nee-chan!" Maya quickly rose to her feet and hastened to take her sister's arm. "What are you doing out here? I told you to stay in your room and rest."
Kasumi didn't seem to hear her, or notice the firm hand on her arm insistently tugging her back to the room. "Are you Shigeru-san's friends?" she asked, looking directly at Tatsumi and Tsuzuki. "He's not home at the moment, but after dinner he will—"
"Nee-chan." Maya's voice was gentle, but her expression was quite different. "I told you, Nagumo-san had to travel away for work. Now please, go back and rest. You're still sick."
"I am not sick, Maya-chan," Kasumi retorted. She stepped forward into the room, then knelt and bowed in front of the startled Tsuzuki. "You must be Shigeru-san's friend," she said earnestly. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm not sure when Shigeru-san will be back, but if you're willing to wait ..."
Tsuzuki floundered. "I, ah, I mean, Nagumo is ..." He trailed off, looking wildly from Tatsumi to Maya for support.
"Kasumi-san," began Tatsumi carefully. "We've come to express our condol—"
"No!" exclaimed Maya and Tsuzuki at the same time. They looked at each other, surprised, before Maya continued. "What the gentleman means to say is that he is sorry that he cannot stay for dinner."
"Yes, that's what Tatsumi meant," said Tsuzuki. Tatsumi was surprised when the younger shinigami shot him a warning look. "Now, uh, Maya-chan says that you're sick, perhaps you had better take your sister's advice and rest."
Kasumi looked disappointed, and the dreamy look had come back. She allowed herself to be led away by her sister, who handed her a cup of tea. Kasumi drank it absently, then, without another word, retreated back to the room. Maya took the cup back and accompanied her sister to the door, still smiling.
When the door was closed, the smile disappeared.
Tatsumi and Tsuzuki looked at her questioningly.
Finally, she sighed. "I gave Kasumi-chan her medicine, although she doesn't know it," she said, coming to sit at the table again. She poured more tea; probably, Tatsumi thought, as an excuse not to look at them. "She'll be asleep for a while. There's not much else I can do."
Tatsumi accepted his tea. "Your sister, I take it, believes that her husband is still alive?"
Maya nodded, her shoulders drooping. Suddenly she looked very tired.
"Why would she think that?" asked Tsuzuki, eyes wide.
"If it hurts Kasumi-san too much to accept her husband's death, then it would seem that she has forced herself not to accept it." Tatsumi took a look at the nearest photograph, and the blissfully happy couple smiling at him from it. "Have you taken her to see a doctor?" he asked Maya.
The woman nodded. "I've taken her to many doctors. All of them had their own ... remedies for 'curing' Nee-chan. In the end, I decided to look after her myself. It's not that bad, actually. The owner of the shop downstairs is a cousin of ours. He takes care of us and in return I help out in the shop. And apart from that one fact regarding Nagumo-san, Kasumi-chan is really all right. Besides," Maya added, a sad smile on her face. "This way, Kasumi-chan is happy."
Tatsumi refrained from commenting. Personally, he thought the truth was best, if harsh, in this type of situation, but it was none of his business.
"Kasumi-chan must love her husband very much," said Tsuzuki softly.
Tatsumi glanced at him. The younger shinigami's face was wistful. Maya sighed. "Yes, Kasumi-chan does love Nagumo-san very much. And he adored her. They were so happy together those few months before the accident, and seeing Nee-chan happy made me happy. When news of Nagumo-san's death came ..." She trailed off and shook her head. "Kasumi-chan looked so empty. She wouldn't speak to me; all she did was stare into space. I was so scared that she would stay like that forever. But then one morning she started going about the apartment as if nothing had happened. I thought she had recovered until she said off-handedly that she had to wash Nagumo-san's clothes for work tomorrow. I was going to tell her that Nagumo-san was dead, but Kasumi-chan looked so happy! I couldn't bear to tell her, so in my stupidity I said that he had gone travelling."
Maya heaved a deep breath. Her eyes traveled to the door of the room where Kasumi slept. "Now she waits for him to return. She's been waiting for over a week in front of the window that looks over the road. And every day she insists on making dinner for him. She lives as if he's still alive." Maya closed her eyes. "Sometimes I could almost believe it, the way Nee-chan acts. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I can hear the two of them talking in their room again. Once I even got up to check. But when I opened the door all I saw was Nee-chan sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face." Suddenly Maya's hands clenched into fists. "I know that I have to tell her someday, I know that she can't go on like this and be kept in the apartment forever, but I can't! I don't want to make her sad, she was so happy with him, if I tell her the truth then ..."
Tatsumi did his best to remain impassive during this tale; his connection with these people was tenuous, and merely a business one at that. It would do no good to become entangled with them, no matter how sympathetic the situation was.
Unfortunately, Tsuzuki was not so controlled.
"It's alright, Maya-chan," the young man said. He reached over and clasped the startled young woman's hands. "You've done very well. You're very good at making your sister happy."
Maya stared at Tsuzuki for a moment, then quickly shifted into a blushing smile. Tatsumi inwardly groaned. Tsuzuki-san, this is really not necessary ...
"I'm so sorry to hear about your sister and her husband," continued Tsuzuki earnestly. "If there's anything I can do to help ..."
Tatsumi stared at his partner. "Tsuzu—"
"Thank you," said Maya softly. "Thank you very much."
Her honest gratitude at the younger shinigami's kindness brought a smile to Tsuzuki's face. It was an unaffected smile, almost innocent in its simplicity, and as beautiful as sunlight from a cloud.
Tatsumi watched his younger partner silently. And wondered at his growing unease.
Chapter One Chapter Three