Roleplaying
by Leareth
Chapter Four
If there was one thing he wanted at the moment, thought Hisoka, it was a drink. A nice, stiff shot of alcohol, something to knock him out so he wouldn't have to deal with this whole mess. Either that, or a big mallet to whack everyone over the head with. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting any of them.
Hisoka sighed, closing his eyes and counting to ten (twice) for patience before stepping out onto the path to make his way back to the car. There was a familiar hated figure waiting for him, and the boy-shinigami couldn't prevent himself from jumping before he remembered the situation.
"My apologies," said 'Muraki'. The man had a scowl on his face. "I found the company in the car rather trying and decided to wait for you out here."
Hisoka told his heart to stop racing and began walking again. "It's all right, you just startled me. I'll feel much better when we get things back to normal, though."
"Popular opinion. Are you sure the Gushoushin will help?" asked 'Muraki', following him.
Hisoka shrugged. "Well, this whole mess started with that case you and I did with Tsuzuki a few days ago and that weird kid we met. He's definitely not what we thought he was, and the Gushoushin ought to have some information on powers like that."
"True." They were halfway down the path now, and the two of them slowed when they saw the lighted car and the two figures talking inside. "I appreciate you doing this, Kurosaki-kun," 'Muraki' said quietly.
Hisoka blinked. "Huh?"
'Muraki' stopped walking and looked at him with a slight smile. "Back then in Tsuzuki-san's apartment. I wasn't exactly ... helpful."
"Oh." Hisoka shrugged, grateful that it was night so the other man couldn't see him blush. Since the adults had been either a) traumatised, b) untrustworthy, c) homicidal, or d) too amused to help, it had fallen to Hisoka by default to take control of the situation. It hadn't exactly been an envious task. If he wasn't hiding Tsuzuki from 'Tatsumi', he was keeping 'Muraki' from tearing 'Tatsumi' apart. If he wasn't preventing a duel to the death he had to defuse Oriya's snide comments before they set off any major explosions. That was on top of his personal angst of having the man he most respected and the man he most hated in each other's body. It was kind of disturbing having a polite conversation with a face he wanted to rip off. "It's nothing. And I know how you feel. Not in the empathic sense; if Tsuzuki had been hurt ..."
'Muraki' shook his head. "The difference is that you managed to think clearly despite everything. I didn't – or rather," he added, looking away. "I couldn't.
Hisoka didn't respond, unsure of what to say. Tatsumi's impressive capacity for rational thinking always seem to depreciate rather rapidly whenever Tsuzuki was involved. Being so used to seeing Tatsumi in a leadership position Hisoka had felt extremely uncomfortable at taking that role himself.
'Muraki' sighed. He turned around to stare with narrowed eyes at the single lighted window above them on the fourth floor. "I do hope you're correct about leaving Tsuzuki-san in his dubious care, though."
Hisoka smiled a little. His first order of business had been to get Tsuzuki out of the field. It didn't take much empathy to know that Tsuzuki had been badly shocked and was going to be about as much help as a drunk puppy. Certainly his presence meant that 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki' weren't going to be thinking clearly. In the end, after a lot of shouting and to his surprise, support from Oriya in the form of not-so subtle katana polishing, Hisoka had managed to get everyone into Tatsumi's car (the doctor had used it for the date, and to say that the secretary was displeased was an understatement) and get them moving to drop Tsuzuki off. "Don't worry," he said, starting to walk again to the car. "I'm sure Watari-san will take care of him."
'Muraki' scowled as he fell into pace beside Hisoka. "He'd better if he wants to get that research grant."
Hisoka wisely decided that this wasn't the time to tell 'Muraki' that 'Tatsumi' had already authorised the grant in question.
* * *
Watari stared. His golden eyes roved Tsuzuki up and down, and with each sweep his look got darker. "Hisoka-kun was kinda vague on what happened," he said in a deceptively casual voice. "Would you care to explain?"
Tsuzuki, wrapped in a blanket and sitting on Watari's chemical-stained couch with a steaming mug in his hand, looked uncomfortably at his feet. "Uh, nothing ..."
Watari rolled his eyes as a sleepy 003 tried to snooze on his shoulder. "Tsuzuki. Hisoka-kun dumped you on my doorstep in the middle of the night. Your face is flushed. You're shivering. That isn't 'nothing'."
Tsuzuki looked even more uncomfortable. "Uh ..."
Watari's eyes narrowed. "You did go out on a dinner date with Tatsumi, right?"
"Yeah ..."
"So what happened?"
"Uh ..." Tsuzuki shifted a little and the blanket fell open. Watari blinked as he realised that Tsuzuki's shirt was completely undone. Then his eyes bugged out.
"TSUZUKI?!"
Tsuzuki hurriedly pulled the blanket back over his shoulders. "Ah, Watari, I can explain–"
The scientist wasn't listening. "What did he do to you, Tsuzuki?!" Without warning he whipped the blanket off Tsuzuki and started zipping about his friend with a stethoscope as 003 flapped frantically about. "Are you ok?! 'Course you're not, what a dumb question. Need counselling or anything? What about a doctor? Waah, Tsuzuki, what did that monster of a shadow-master do to you?"
Tsuzuki sweatdropped. "It's not what you think! Really!"
"Oh?" Watari sat down on his coffee table in front of Tsuzuki and folded his arms. With an indignant squawk, 003 settled on his shoulder again. "Then what is it?"
"Um, well ..." Tsuzuki started fiddling with the mug. "We went out for dinner and I ate really messily and got stuff on my shirt and then we went for a walk in the park and it was cold and something happened so then Tatsumi took me home and he tried to help me get cleaned up except we kinda had an accident and my shirt came undone and Tatsumi kinda fell on me on the bed and since he's heavier than me I got bruised and—" He broke off as he realised that Watari was giving him a Look. "You're not buying this, are you."
Watari shook his head slowly. Then he sighed. "Tsuzuki, I'm not stupid. I know something happened, but since you're covering for Tatsumi I won't push. Just as long as you're all right." He looked pointedly at Tsuzuki's dishevelled state. "You are all right, aren't you?"
Tsuzuki looked into his mug of hot chocolate and didn't answer. Watari tapped his fingers. If his friend wasn't going to say anything, there was very little point pushing. If he did, Watari would most likely end up with a very teary or frightened Tsuzuki, and that wasn't a good idea since Hisoka wasn't around. Plus the fact that Tatsumi would absolutely kill him. Figuratively speaking, of course.
"Hey, Tsuzuki."
Tsuzuki blinked at him. Watari grinned. "If we're having a slumber party, we'd better do it properly!"
Tsuzuki blinked again. "Huh?"
Watari dashed into his kitchen, sending 003 flying again, and started rummaging around. "Chocolate, sake, ice-cream, cookies, cake, pop-corn, turn on the TV and shove in a movie and let's have some fun!"
Tsuzuki cheered.
* * *
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock ...
Before tonight, Hisoka had always found the muted ticking of clocks soothing. Now, they sounded like the ticks of a clockwork toy someone was winding up and up to the point where the toy would break. It hadn't yet. 'Yet' being the key word.
Beside him, Oriya sat – lounged, rather – in one of the common room chairs, arms folded and eyes closed as if he were taking a nap. Hisoka envied the man's ability to take things easy, especially in this situation. 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki' sat on opposite sides of the room as far away from each other as possible, arms folded in almost identical positions doing their best not to pretend the other didn't exist. At least it was a change from yelling and shouting, however, Hisoka knew that it couldn't last for long and was nervously waiting for the bomb to drop.
... tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock ...
Still no one spoke. Hisoka fervently wished the Gushoushin would hurry up with their research so they could get out and get this whole mess cleaned up and he could help Tsuzuki. Until 'Muraki' and 'Tatsumi' were restored to normal all of them had to cooperate. Together. That meant not killing each other. Unfortunately, 'Tatsumi' seemed to get a huge kick out of baiting 'Muraki' and every time the shadows twitched Oriya would get his katana out. Someone had to go along to prevent any bloodshed, that someone being Hisoka.
... tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock ...
How much longer did they have to wait?
... tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick ...
As if sensing the state of Hisoka's nerves, Oriya opened his eyes and glanced at him, one eyebrow raised. Hisoka looked away. Oriya glanced around the room and smirked.
"Wow, the tension's so thick I could cut it with a blunt katana," he said loudly. Hisoka jumped. 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki' looked at him, one curious the other wary. Oriya grinned. "Of course, I don't have a blunt katana."
Silence. Everyone stared. Oriya flashed them all a smile, then turned to Hisoka. "You were much more talkative last time," he said conversationally. "What happened, cat got your tongue? Or maybe you only talk with a sword in your hand."
Hisoka blinked at him, too surprised to say anything. Oriya rolled his eyes and gave up.
The clock continued ticking. The tension in the room crept up another few notches.
... tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock ...
Hisoka's palms were sweaty, and he surreptitiously wiped them on his jeans, wishing for something, anything to break the tension before he screamed.
... tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick ...
And he wanted to kill the clock.
... tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock ...
Someone moved. 'Tatsumi'. There was an evil smirk on his face that Hisoka did not like at all. "Well," said 'Tatsumi' offhandedly to the other side of the room. "I see you haven't gotten anywhere with Tsuzuki-san."
Hisoka winced – did 'Muraki' twitch? 'Tatsumi' chuckled darkly. "I must say that I'm quite disappointed in you," he continued. "I would have thought that after our little chat you would have some idea of what to do."
There was no doubt about it; 'Muraki' definitely twitched this time. Twice. It wasn't a good sign. 'Tatsumi' either didn't see the twitch or didn't care. He kept talking.
"Seduction isn't that hard, you know. All it takes is some nice presents, passionate talking, an intimate little date and touching, and go from there. You're going to have to initiate it all, though. Tsuzuki-san is the type who likes to be overwhelmed."
It was rather disconcerting to see a Tatsumi-death-glare on Muraki's face. On the other hand, seeing an evil Muraki-smirk on Tatsumi's face wasn't as bad as Hisoka had imagined. Hisoka didn't know whether that fact should alarm him or not. Beside him, Oriya said nothing, obviously amused. Still 'Tatsumi' continued.
"Always go for his face first. Just touch it lightly, stroke his cheek with your fingers. He'll freeze when you do that, so you have time to get closer. Better wrap an arm around his waist – low down, of course – because he's likely to be in need of support, especially when you start kissing down his neck. After that ..."
Hisoka was sickened; he could feel his ears burning whether from anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell. He didn't dare look at 'Muraki'. Strangely enough, it was Oriya who spoke up first.
"Muraki." The name was bit out, every syllable sharp, and Oriya cast a pointed look at the shadow-master who was obviously about to snap. "Shut up."
'Tatsumi' ignored him. "Oh, and do remember that he's very sensitive, so be gentle when you—"
There was a loud crack as the shadowed clock next to 'Tatsumi' suddenly burst. It fell to the ground in a storm of springs and one last tock. 'Tatsumi' glanced at it, then back at 'Muraki' with an innocent expression. "Why, Tatsumi-san, I'm only trying to help you."
Oriya rolled his eyes. "What, like last time?"
Hisoka frowned. "Last time?"
If 'Muraki's eyes had been daggers, 'Tatsumi' would have been a pin-cushion. "I should have killed you," he hissed.
"But you didn't." 'Tatsumi' leered. "You were rather occupied at the time, Mr. I'd-Do-Anything-To-Protect-Tsuzuki-san."
Hisoka blinked. His eyes widened. He stared at 'Muraki'. Surely Tatsumi hadn't—?
Oriya glanced at him. "Hey, kid, you okay? You look like you've swallowed a fish."
'Muraki' seethed. 'Tatsumi' laughed. "And of course, you can't kill me now, not while I'm in your body. I'm sure you'd like it back, if for no other reason than I'm sure Tsuzuki-san wouldn't like a third party in bed—"
A shadow leapt up from the floor to strike at 'Tatsumi's face. Before it made contact, however, Oriya drew his katana and held it out between the two would-be combatants. The shadow sullenly retreated. The sword-master glared at his friend. "If you provoke him again, I'm not patching you up," he growled.
Hisoka lifted an eyebrow. "Again?" he asked pointedly.
Oriya looked at him. "What, didn't you know?" he said. "Your shadow-master came looking for Muraki some weeks ago to rip his head off for what he did to your friend. He would have done a really good job too, if it wasn't for the fact that he seems to have a slight instability when it comes to Purple-Eyes." Offside, 'Tatsumi' smirked, and Oriya shot him another glare. "I still haven't forgiven you for abandoning me yet."
Hisoka stared, stunned. Suddenly Tatsumi's 'business trip' and his strange behaviour all those weeks ago made sense. It also disturbed him. Obviously Tatsumi had gone after Muraki to kill him. He hadn't succeeded, for one simple reason – or maybe not so simple. Hisoka wasn't sure of the specifics of what went on in Tatsumi's head regarding Tsuzuki but they were awfully tangled, even if the overall tapestry was clear. To think that Muraki had survived against Tatsumi by playing with those threads ... Hisoka decided not to think about it.
"When this is over, I look forward to our next meeting," hissed 'Muraki'. "I can guarantee that you will not walk away from it."
"How entertaining," retorted 'Tatsumi'. "Why don't you bring Tsuzuki-san as well so I demonstrate how you're supposed to—"
'Muraki' leapt up from his chair; Hisoka quickly moved to restrain him while Oriya turned to berate a smirking 'Tatsumi' to stop playing around and keep his mind on the matter at hand. What with all the shouting and yelling going on, it was a wonder that the knocking on the door was even heard.
"Quiet!" Hisoka let go of 'Muraki's coat and stood up on tiptoe to look through the door's cloudy window. "Gushoushin's back – Oriya-san, get the others out of sight."
Oriya tipped Hisoka a salute and waved his katana at 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki'. "All right, you heard the kid, get moving, you can continue squabbling over Purple-Eyes later."
'Tatsumi' opened the room's other door and bowed mockingly to 'Muraki'. "After you."
'Muraki' twitched, but Oriya's insistent katana-prodding prevented any retaliation and the three of them left. Hisoka sighed in relief and opened the door to let Gushoushin inside. Both of them.
"We found what you're looking for, Hisoka-san!" Gushoushin Younger chirped. Its brother floated in behind with a file. They looked about the common room. "Eh? Only Hisoka-san here? We thought we heard loud noises."
Hisoka tried to look as casual as possible. "No, it's just me."
The twin shikigami looked curiously at Hisoka. "But we heard people shouting –"
"You must have been hearing things," said Hisoka firmly. "It's the middle of the night, who else would be here at this hour?"
The chickens glanced at each other then shrugged dismissively. Hisoka sighed in relief. "Uh, you said that you found it?"
"Ah, yes!" Gushoushin Elder brought out the file and opened it. "The person you inquired about is a strange entity. His soul is long overdue to die, about two hundred years, in fact."
"Two hundred –" Hisoka stared. "What the hell did Tsuzuki and I meet?"
Gushoushin Elder frowned, a strange expression on a chicken. "You and Tsuzuki-san came into contact with a 'body-snatcher' by the name of Satoshi," it said. "When the time comes for his body to die, he takes over another body. It's similar to possession, except he forces the original soul out so he alone is in control."
So that was what the kid had meant when he said he wanted Tsuzuki. "How come this wasn't reported before?" Hisoka demanded.
The Gushoushin looked at each other. "Aha, we're not sure," the younger of them admitted. "It's a very uncommon event, and what with Tsuzuki-san destroying the library ..."
"I understand." Hisoka sighed. "Well, we need to do something about this Satoshi now. Do you have any clue of where to find him?"
Gushoushin Elder turned to the last page of the report. "As a matter of fact, he is at this moment in a police station in Nagasaki. It would seem that he was arrested for drug possession."
* * *
The advantage of being a shinigami was that you didn't have to use a key to get into places. After sending the policemen on duty to dreamland Hisoka let the others inside the station and all four of them made their way to the cellblocks. As they did Hisoka grew more and more apprehensive. Muraki had been looking for this Satoshi as well. What on earth did the doctor want with a body-snatcher? Whatever the reason, it couldn't be good. Were they playing directly into Muraki's hands by bringing him here?
Hisoka chewed his lip. Unfortunately, they had little choice. They absolutely had to get Tatsumi and Muraki back to normal. If Muraki was going to pull something all they could do was be prepared to counter it. Hopefully with Tatsumi there it wouldn't be too hard.
"Here," said Hisoka softly, peering through the bars of the fourth cell. Whether by luck or coincidence, it was the only one occupied.
Oriya came up and squinted through the darkness. "That's the person responsible for this mess?" he said sceptically.
Hisoka sweatdropped as 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki' joined them. He had to admit that Satoshi didn't really look like he could cause any more trouble than stealing a car for a joyride.
"What are we waiting for," growled 'Muraki'. "Wake him up and let's get this done and over with."
"Tired of me already?" asked 'Tatsumi'.
'Muraki' chose to ignore that. Using the keys they had appropriated from the now-sleeping guard, he unlocked the cell. Then he stood over the sleeping young man who was sprawled on his back, an arm flung over his face, snoring. Then he smirked and gestured.
"WAH!"
Hisoka sighed as the shadows rudely tumbled Satoshi onto the floor with a yell. Offside, Oriya rolled his eyes. Satoshi grimaced as he rubbed his head and sat up a little. He squinted sleepily at the four of them. "Hey," Satoshi said blearily to 'Tatsumi'. "You my lawyer?"
'Tatsumi' smiled enigmatically. Before he could answer, Hisoka stepped in. "Excuse me," he said, "you're Satoshi, right?"
It was hard to see in the light, but the kid's face seemed to pale. "What are you talking about?" he said lightly. "My name's Daisuke. Dunno any Satoshis ..." Suddenly he frowned at Hisoka. "Wait a sec, don't I know you?"
Hisoka raised an eyebrow at him. Satoshi – or Daisuke, as he seemed to be calling himself – sat up a little straighter and looked at the rest of them. His eyes widened, and he definitely paled this time. "You guys ..."
"Good, you remember," said 'Muraki'. He was beginning to look irritated. "Now you can fix things up."
Daisuke blinked. "Huh?"
Hisoka knelt down beside him so they were seeing eye to eye. "That time we met, you tried to do something to Tsuzuki," he said as calmly as possible. He hadn't forgotten what had happened that night, not when he had a whole stack of bales dumped on his head and Tsuzuki nearly hurt.
"Is that the pretty Nii-san's name?" asked Daisuke. "Where is he?"
'Tatsumi' chuckled from offside. "I would think that Tsuzuki-san would be asleep by now. He's had quite a tiring night."
Daisuke gave him a knowing look. "Ah, so you are getting some after all. You done it on a desk yet?"
"You tried to do something to Tsuzuki," repeated Hisoka patiently, trying to ignore the death-glares 'Muraki' was giving and 'Tatsumi's smirking, "and it went wrong." He locked Daisuke's gaze, trying to get a sense of him through his empathy. The snowstorm impression he had told Tsuzuki about was still there, barely contained. "You tried to steal his body, didn't you."
Satoshi's eyes narrowed. He glanced at the four of them, the drug-haze that had been in his eyes wiped away as if it had never existed. "You guys aren't normal, are you," he said, evading the question.
"How observant of you," said 'Muraki' sarcastically. "To cut a long story short, your little spell has caused a more than a few problems for me, and I would like it fixed. Now."
Satoshi glared. "I don't like your attitude, Mister. You were much more polite last time. And what happened to the roses?"
Oriya gave 'Tatsumi' a Look. "Don't tell me ..." he said. Tatsumi smirked, and the sword-master gave a long suffering sigh.
"Look," said Hisoka, his patience rapidly disappearing. "Your spell did something weird. It made those two—" here he gestured to 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki' "—switch bodies, and we need you to fix it."
Satoshi glanced at 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki'. He frowned, concentrating. Then he blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked harder. "Wait a sec …" Suddenly he started laughing. "You mean to say that the guy in the Versace suit and the guy with the roses got switched? Man, that's funny!"
Oriya rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say." Idly he took his katana from his waist and slung it over his shoulder. The audible click as he did so immediately caught everyone's attention. Satoshi took one look at it and stopped laughing. "Now if you don't mind," continued Oriya conversationally into the silence, "I would like things back to normal."
Satoshi folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "And what do I get out of it?"
"We don't kill you," said 'Muraki' flatly. "Even if you are two hundred years overdue for it."
"And what gives you the right to decide?"
"Shinigami rights, kid," said Oriya, nodding towards Hisoka.
Satoshi stared at Hisoka. "You have got to be kidding me." Suddenly his eyes narrowed. There was a glint. "Does this mean you live forever?"
Hisoka blinked. "Well, uh, it's a little more complicated than that. But technically, yes."
"Is that so." Suddenly Satoshi got to his feet with a grin. "all right, I'll help you."
Hisoka looked at him suspiciously. So did everyone else. Voluntary help is always distrusted. "Really?"
"Sure!" Going over to 'Muraki' and 'Tatsumi', Satoshi grabbed them both by their sleeves and made them stand against the opposite wall. 'Muraki' looked a little put out at being manhandled but didn't protest, probably consoling himself with thoughts of normalcy. "Now you two stay there …" He came back over to Hisoka and Oriya. "And you two stay with me."
Oriya's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"You don't want to get caught up in it and end up switched with one of them, do you. This is going to be tricky enough in such an enclosed space," replied Satoshi. He gave a glance at Hisoka. "Come on, pretty boy, I won't dump the wall on your head this time."
Hisoka twitched. "Don't call me that." Still, he went to stand just behind Satoshi, Oriya flanking him on the other side watching with great interest. Opposite them, 'Tatsumi' and 'Muraki' were glaring at each other.
"After this, I believe I owe you another broken arm," said 'Muraki' coldly.
"Either that, or something to thank me for getting you somewhere since you don't have the guts yourself," 'Tatsumi' retorted.
"Make that both arms."
"And Tsuzuki-san tied up in a big red ribbon."
"What about a gravestone?"
Hisoka rolled his eyes. There was a greenish light glowing to his side, and he turned slightly. Satoshi was grinning as magic flickered eerily about him, a dull throbbing sound reverberating through the floor.
"Quite frankly, I see no reason for you to be so upset. Tsuzuki-san had fun for most of the night."
"Your idea of fun or his?!"
"Yours, I would imagine."
"... What are you talking about?"
The light was blinding now, enough to reflect off the dull cell walls and make Hisoka throw up an arm to shield his eyes. Unfortunately he couldn't close his ears, and even if he could he couldn't make the heart-beat noise go away. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, wanting it to stop.
"You're an intelligent man, I shouldn't need to explain myself."
"If I find out that you did anything else to him this evening then I'll—"
"Don't be so hasty to jump to conclusions. All I did was –"
Even with Hisoka's eyes closed, the world turned white. 'Muraki' and 'Tatsumi's strange conversation was drowned out, or cut off, he couldn't tell which. The cell seemed to lurch a little, there was a ringing in his ears, Hisoka clenched his teeth—
"Your turn."
Hisoka forced his eyes open. On the opposite side of the cell, Muraki and Tatsumi looked a little groggy. He immediately forgot about them as he saw that he was enclosed in a small sphere of greenish light. He tried to move an arm, and realised he couldn't. Just outside the sphere, Satoshi was grinning.
"I really would prefer it to be the pretty purple-eyed Nii-chan, but if he's not here you're the next best thing," the kid said off-handedly. He reached out an arm to touch the edge of the sphere, which rippled, and Hisoka felt the hairs on his neck stand up. His eyes darted around the cell – he couldn't expect any help from Muraki, nor Oriya, and Tatsumi was still too shaky from being put back to come to his rescue—
"Why d'ya think I agreed so easily?" asked Satoshi. He pushed his hand into the sphere and Hisoka felt his own hand go numb. "I have to get something out of this for myself." He stuck in his whole arm, and Hisoka couldn't feel his own arm anymore. Panic began to grip him, he had no idea how to counter this sort of magic and there was no one to help him—
Anger flared, not just at Satoshi but at himself as well. What had he told Konoe when he had been sent out on assignment alone? He could take care of himself. If Satoshi wanted to shove his soul out, then he was going to have to fight for it. Even as he watched the other kid slowly step into the sphere, Hisoka was concentrating. He could feel his mind losing contact with parts of his body; he held onto it, his sense of himself and pushed back. Satoshi's eyes widened. Hisoka almost smiled a little, and closed his eyes, hands raised in the prayer position Tsuzuki had taught him.
Empathy is a power of the soul, of the heart, and it is with that with which it draws strength. Hisoka had plenty of it, just how much even he wasn't sure of yet. All he had to do was hold onto himself and shove the invader out.
He did so. Rather spectacularly.
There was an explosive ripple, a screech not unlike a crazed bird, then silence.
Hisoka opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Oriya standing over the unconscious figure of Satoshi, katana drawn. The man scowled down at the kid, then looked up at Hisoka.
"I was going to slash him, but I suppose you did fine by yourself." He sighed and put the katana back in its sheath. "You ok?" he said to Hisoka.
Hisoka blinked at him. "Uh, yeah," he said warily, not sure what to think of Oriya's concern.
"Good. Don't want you to get yourself hurt before we have our next fight." He turned away to look at their companions. "Are they back to normal?"
Hisoka glanced over. Muraki and Tatsumi were gazing warily at each other, any hint of weakness gone.
"Oi." The two men looked at Oriya, who had one eyebrow raised. "Well?"
Muraki smirked and ran a hand through his silvery hair. "I'm better looking."
Tatsumi glared blue daggers at the doctor. "Whatever you choose to believe, you one-eyed freak."
Hisoka sighed in relief. There was a movement at the corner of his eye. Satoshi sat up very slowly, holding a hand to his head. Oriya's eyes narrowed and he laid a hand on his katana-hilt. Shaking his head, Satoshi looked up. His eyes burned at Hisoka.
"You little brat, that hurt!" Suddenly he got up and pointed a finger at the boy-shinigami. "Kid, you are so going down!"
Hisoka tensed, remembering the power bolts Satoshi had flung at him and Tsuzuki back in the warehouse, ready to dodge.
Nothing happened.
Satoshi blinked. He stared at Hisoka just standing there. Then his gold-contacted lenses eyes narrowed, and he tried again.
Nothing.
Satoshi stared at Hisoka, face pale. "What did you do to me?!"
Muraki was also glaring at Hisoka. "Yes, brat. What did you do to him?"
Tatsumi came forward and stood over Satoshi, studying him. Then he smirked. "It seems, Kurosaki-kun, that whatever you did to counter his magic, it was rather overboard."
"Huh?"
"He doesn't have any magical ability anymore," said Muraki distastefully, quick on the uptake. "He's no use to me now."
"I did that?" Hisoka's eyes widened until the point they began to bulge. "You mean he can't pass his soul onto other bodies anymore?"
"Doesn't look like it," said Tatsumi.
Satoshi had gone as white as Muraki. "Y-you mean," he stumbled out, "you mean I'm going to be stuck like ... like ... like this?" He gestured frantically at himself, a seventeen year old boy dosed on drugs and clad in clubbing gear.
Oriya shrugged. "At least you're alive."
"But, but—" Satoshi began to look panicked. "This means I'll get old and die!"
"What's wrong with that?" asked Hisoka. "It happens to everyone."
"You're one to talk!" shot back Satoshi, his voice almost a scream.
Hisoka gave the kid a flat stare. "I'm dead. I got killed." He steadfastly kept himself from looking at Muraki. "You don't want that."
"But, but—" Satoshi looked frantically from Hisoka to Muraki, then to Oriya and Tatsumi, then back to Hisoka. "But what am I going to do? I dropped out of school, I don't have a job, I ran away from home, what the hell am I going to do??"
Tatsumi put a hand on Hisoka's shoulder and began to guide him out. "Grow up."
There was no answer. Satoshi sat on the bed, staring at the ground as the enormity of realisation sank in. In silence, the four of them left.
* * *
They told the officers inside to wake up once they were safely away. The streets were quiet and deserted, no surprise at this early hour of the morning. Hisoka couldn't wait to get home where he could throw himself to sleep and forget the whole crazy night.
It was over. The four of them stood facing each other, Tatsumi and Hisoka to Muraki and Oriya, unsure of how to end this strange truce.
"Well, we'd better be getting home," said Muraki amiably. He gave Tatsumi a smirk. "I enjoyed myself, did you?"
Tatsumi glared. "I still owe you a beating."
Muraki gazed at him coolly. "I didn't do anything to him if that's what you're worried about," he said. Before the shinigami could answer, he turned to leave. Oriya tipped Hisoka a wave before following his friend.
Hisoka watched them go, feeling very drained. It had been a long night, and watching Muraki walk away when he wanted to kill him ... he really needed a drink. A whole bottle of wine was sounding very attractive. With any luck, it would wipe the whole memory of this night away and he wouldn't have to remember Muraki nearly getting Tsuzuki again, wouldn't have to remember unconsciously destroying Satoshi's powers, wouldn't have to remember helping Muraki, wouldn't have to think about what extent Tatsumi would go to for Tsuzuki ...
Speaking of which—
Hisoka looked up at Tatsumi. "Is there something I should know about?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
Tatsumi twitched. "No."
Hisoka just looked at him. Obviously Tatsumi wasn't going to be forthcoming. He yawned. "Come on, let's go home."
Chapter Three Epilogue