**WARNING: ANIME AND MANGA SPOILERS.**

Disclaimer: I own a blender but not Yami no Matusuei. I wouldn't mind trading though. :)
Fic Comments: This story was written for a prompt requested by general zargon.

This was her prompt: "What Byakko and Suzaku thought of Hisoka when they saw him the first time Tsuzuki summoned them when Hisoka was there, and their feelings after Hisoka saved Tsuzuki's life in Kyoto."

Then and Now
By EggDropSoup

Business in the Imaginary World had been chaotic as of late. The fluctuations and irregular wormholes that seemed to be popping up were worrisome to the gate guardians because they had never happened before. Souryuu had left in order to gather intelligence about this weird phenomenon and hopefully come up with a resolution to reverse or end the existence of the wormholes altogether.

Being gate guardians, themselves, Byakko and Suzaku had to wait for his return. They did so in the secret control room within Tenkuu's palace walls, passing the time with a game of chess.

"Tsuzuki's new partner, have you met him yet?" Byakko asked out of curiosity, waiting for Suzaku to finish her turn. Souryuu had announced that Tsuzuki had acquired a new partner a few days ago and the other members of the twelve had mixed feelings in regards to the boy named Kurosaki Hisoka. But Byakko had his own ideas as to what kind of person his master had been matched up with.

The Phoenix God sat up straighter in her chair, "Only for a moment when Tsuzuki called for me in his fight with the dragon in Nagasaki." She eyed the chess pieces in front of her. "From what I've seen, he's young and inexperienced. He has yet to prove himself useful. Until then, I will only honor my bond with Tsuzuki if he requires it of me, but otherwise I think he'll be gone soon enough-just like the others."

Byakko watched her carefully, his tail twitching at his side, "There's something different about this one though."

Suzaku looked up long enough to frown at him. "Don't be silly, Byakko. When Tsuzuki summoned me, I could feel how frustrated he was with the boy. Unless this Kurosaki changes his tune, their partnership will be doomed. Rikugo even said that it was a bad match." She turned her attention back to the game, picking up one of her knights and moving it forward.

"That's terribly unfair, Nee-san," Byakko gently reprimanded, smiling when she gave him a disgusted face. He reached over, moving his bishop further up the board, and advanced on her knight.

"How is that unfair? I'm being fairly generous to even acknowledge him as Tsuzuki's partner at this point. What number is this one again? Twenty? Fourty?"

Byakko stopped, blinked at her, and then turned his head to the large elaborately decorated tally board that hung on the wall behind them. "Number thirty-eight."

Suzaku snorted, moved her queen back two squares before knocking over his rook. "Maybe this time will be the charm." Her sarcastic tone didn't match the amused expression on her face; it came out more forceful and scathing. She pushed the fallen chess piece to the side so that it could join the other game spoils she had collected.

He gave a placid shrug. "What if he turns out to be?"

Her dark eyes snapped up at him. "Impossible."

"The winds are changing, Suzaku," Byakko said plainly, raising an eyebrow, but was otherwise unaffected by her sharp retort. "I think he just may be the one who will stay."

"You're being too idealistic."

"Maybe," he conceded, his bright red eyes sparkling with something she couldn't define. "Are you afraid I might be right?"

She scoffed at him, crossing her arms haughtily, and shook her hair back. "It sounds like you're trying to bargain with me, Byakko."

He smiled before leaning in closer over the chess table. "Would you be interested?"

Suzaku contemplated for a second before consenting, weighing her options out. "Alright. I wager that the brat doesn't last after their assignment. The moment their business in Nagasaki is over, he will have already left."

"And I wager he will stay," Byakko told her steadily.

Suzaku smiled at him smugly, inclining forward in her seat and resting her chin on the fold of her hand. "What do you suppose we decide on for the prize?"

That was easy. "Whoever wins will get to be the first one to greet Tsuzuki the next time he returns to Gensoukai-without interruptions."

"Is that so?" She asked, with she feinted disinterest, sinking furher back into her chair. "Well, I guess you better take advantage of the time he calls on you in the human world, Byakko, because when Tsuzuki comes back to Gensoukai he'll be all mine."

Byakko had just returned from the human world.

Tsuzuki had summoned him as part of the plan to trap and destroy Sagatanus, and it seemed to have worked. The tiger God couldn't feel any lingering demonic presence after it had vanished, but something was making him feel rather uneasy.

He shrugged it off as mild paranoia. There wasn't anything he could do about it now that he was back in the Imaginary World, he'd just have to be careful and be ready in case Tsuzuki called on him again.

He stretched his arms overhead, considering as he made his way back to the Tenkuu palace. He'd have to report these developments to Souryuu just to be safe.

His mind drifted to Tsuzuki's partner, now that he finally had a chance to see the boy in person…well, in his animal form anyway.

The kid was definitely cute and strong willed. He didn't get to see his master and the boy interact, but from the tension in Kurosaki Hisoka's shoulders, Byakko could tell that the kid was really worried that Tsuzuki may have gotten seriously injured when Sagantanasu had bitten him.

He seemed capable from what he could tell, protecting the girl while Tsuzuki fought off the demon. Tsuzuki and the others had to have trusted him to do that much, especially when Sagantanasu was after Kazusa's life.

'It would be nice if Tsuzuki could learn to trust him more,' he thought mildly. The boy still had a long way to go in order to be considered Tsuzuki's equal, but it was nice to see the difference in boy's present attitude compared to what he heard of Suzaku's experience. The Kyushu partners' indifferences and hostility seemed to have cooled down into a mutual respect.

It would seem that the air around those two were constantly changing and Byakko hoped that they would continue to grow closer. Little by little.

Tsuzuki was here. He could feel it, even as the wind roared in his ears. He wasn't sure why Tsuzuki had come to the Imaginary World, but if he was here than maybe Hisoka had come with him.

Hisoka Kurosaki had always had the confidence of the West Gate's Guardian behind him, even before they had first met in battle against Sagantanasu.

Byakko had felt strongly that Hisoka wouldn't follow the same path as Tsuzuki's other partners and he'd been right. Hisoka had stayed, had fought for Tsuzuki and had brought him back when no one else could.

In his mind, Hisoka had proven himself numerous times of being suitable enough to stand by Tsuzuki's side. Even if the other members of the twelve's concerns and Rikugo's fortunes told otherwise, Byakko still believed in his instincts- first and foremost.

Hisoka was the one that Tsuzuki had been waiting so long for.

He jogged around the Tenkuu palace excitedly, coming up past the lush gardens toward the front steps and stopped when he saw a familiar blonde head.

Hisoka looked to be wandering around aimlessly, a map in one hand-given to him by Rikugo no doubt- and the other held up to his brow as he looked about.

He didn't know why Hisoka was without Tsuzuki- braving the expanses of Tenkuu's palace by himself- but as far as he was concerned, the chance encounter had just made his searching job even easier.

Where Hisoka was, Tsuzuki would eventually go.

His tail twitched eagerly behind him as he stepped closer, mildly wondering if Hisoka would recognize him in his human form.

He smirked mischievously. Only one way to find out.

Grinning wildly, he ran toward the oblivious boy, charging forward and pouncing right on top of him.

Suzaku, Guardian of the South, was irritated but for her master's happiness she could be lenient over losing the bet. However, just because Byakko could be the first to greet Tsuzuki didn't mean that she had to be happy about it.

So there she was, hiding behind a tree and grumpily keeping vigilance in case Byakko got overly rowdy with her Tsuzuki. She was sure that the tiger god would forget that even though their master was a Shinigami, he was still human and could be easily hurt or killed-regardless of his quick healing abilities.

She glanced closer, watching them interact as Byakko explained to Hisoka how Shikigami could appear in their human forms in the Imaginary World.

She thought back to the first time she'd met Tsuzuki's partner-the overzealous and angry boy who obsessively sought out revenge. He was still brash, hiding his insecurity behind anger that he would direct at Tsuzuki every now and then.

Except, the insults Hisoka would spurn on his partner now no longer contained any ruthless bite. And sometimes, Suzaku would catch Hisoka looking at Tsuzuki with a strange expression on his face. Almost like he wanted desperately to declare something to Tsuzuki but would either lose his nerve or become distracted.

She had never liked humans much and had considered them all selfish and highly vindictive but Tsuzuki had changed that when she met him-gaining her love and trust- and even though Hisoka, himself, didn't see it-he had also been changed by Tsuzuki.

Suzaku had been surprised when she had lost her bet with Byakko, the boy staying on as Tsuzuki's partner longer than she had expected. What surprised her more though was the revelation of the extreme sacrifice Hisoka had made to save Tsuzuki-diving deep within the flames of the Tern Snake.

She still wasn't sure of what she thought of him yet but one thing that was certain was that Hisoka meant a lot to Tsuzuki-the boy was important enough for him to continue existing. And what was important to Tsuzuki was important to her, even if she still felt uneasy about Tsuzuki's decision to bring Hisoka to the Imaginary World.

The boy had gained her respect in ways that no other mortal before Tsuzuki had. So she promised to herself that she would do as Tsuzuki wished and protect the boy if he were ever in trouble.

Deciding that Byakko had had enough time to greet Tsuzuki, she pushed away from the tree she was hiding behind and made her way over to welcome them. But before she could call out to Tsuzuki excitedly, she noticed the black leather clad figure standing next to them.

"Touda," she snarled angrily, seeing red as one hand clenched at her side-shaking with fury- while the other summoned her long sword. "This time I'll really mess him up."

End.

Author's Note: This was a prompt thanks general zargon. The instances that I wrote about (the first time both Shikigami were summoned with Hisoka around and their first impressions) are clearly based on the anime. If you remember, in the manga:

Volume 1 is where we first see Tsuzuki summon Suzaku. Her first time being summoned at all in Volume 1 is also the first time she's summoned around Hisoka. That scene is the showdown with Muraki-where Hisoka and Tsuzuki synch and Tsuzuki uses their combined powers to summon Suzaku; yada, yada, yada.

Volume 2 is where we first see Tsuzuki summon Byakko; Hisoka is not in that scene. (In the next chapter, Hisoka says he had a prior engagement that day and tells Hijiri that he's sorry he wasn't able to help out with taking care of Sagatanasu) Byakko's first time being summoned around Hisoka was when Sagatanasu had possessed Tsuzuki and was wreaking havoc in Meifu. Talk about first impressions.

In the anime, Suzaku's first time being summoned around Hisoka was when they were in that storage facility, tailing Maria Wong and got attacked by a dragon. Byakko's fist time being summoned around Hisoka in the anime was when they did that trap for Sagatanasu.

So I decided to go with the anime references instead of the manga. Just thought I'd let people know of the differences in case they were wondering or if there's other fans who are just as obsessed and were worried I fudged up with the accuracy of the initial story. :) I checked it several times to make sure.

Anyway, sorry for this ubber long author's note. Hope you all enjoyed the story!