Disclaimer: Yeah. I don't own Yami no Matsuei.

Whatever It Takes

-

"Whatever it takes, baby,

I'm gonna be there.

Whatever it takes, baby,

You've got to know.

Whatever it takes to be true to you,

Baby, I'll do it

Somehow..."

-

"Hisoka, close your eyes. What do you feel from me?"

"I... I don't know. It hurts, and it's strong, an undercurrent of something that clenches my heart and makes me weak..."

"Hisoka, he said I'm not human..."

"Tsuzuki, stop! Stop it!" Hisoka ran to Tsuzuki, knowing that he'd done so before, and soothed him, and held Tsuzuki's head in his lap.

But this time Tsuzuki turned away, without even a glance backward. "Tsuzuki?" Hisoka called, reaching out as if expecting Tsuzuki to turn and come back. But there was no answer. Tsuzuki's form continued to retreat.

"Feel it. I know it's painful..."

Hisoka gasped and grabbed his chest...

Hisoka fell to the ground in pain. There was that sadness again, that heart-wrenching, soul-twisting sadness...

"It's my depression..."

"Depression?" he asked. "I've never felt sadness so strongly before."

"That's why it's labeled depression. It's stronger than sadness. It eats the soul."

There was fire rising around him, a screeching of flames that weren't of the mortal plane. Tsuzuki walked forward, unerringly into the thick of the fire.

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka screamed, chasing after him, arm thrown over his face to protect him from the flames and the heat. The flames grew up above him. The roar around him rose until the world trembled around him. Hisoka saw nothing but that ever smaller figure, entering the flames... leaving him behind...

"There was an intense urge to die..."

Tsuzuki's body completely entered the fire, and his... spirit... started waning, just as it had the night Muraki had taken him away. Tsuzuki was dying...

"Tsuzuki, no!" Hisoka pushed against the flames in front of him, blocking him from Tsuzuki. The flames seemed to have minds of their own, blocking him from Tsuzuki. He couldn't reach Tsuzuki. He couldn't reach him! He was slipping further and further away...

"Tsuzuki!"

Hisoka shot up from the bed, reaching out before his consciousness fully returned. The darkness was a huge difference from the bright light of the flames that had been everywhere... not only in his dreams. His breath was too quick, his eyes still wide and feverish, his body slick with sweat. He took a short moment to calm himself, taking a few deep breaths and hugging himself for warmth. Then, as he always did, he checked Tsuzuki to see if he heard.

The two of them had continued working as partners, always the same as it had been since the beginning. It was frustrating and upsetting and... comforting, all in one. But Hisoka had been having nightmares since that night, and he was sometimes in the same room as Tsuzuki. He had learned to keep silent, but he always checked to be certain. He didn't want Tsuzuki to know. He wasn't ready to leave himself that vulnerable... and he didn't want Tsuzuki blaming himself.

He sighed. He was only averaging about four hours a night – enough to work on, but not enough for him to get any actual rest. And it was starting to show.

But at least it was better now. Before, he couldn't get more than an hour. It was his hope that he was getting better that kept him silent, as well.

The fact that it had already been three months was ignored.

He looked around the small, cheap motel room they were staying in, waiting for more news about just what the hell the two of them were looking for. A young girl's soul had been lost before managing to make its way to the Underworld. Hisoka and Tsuzuki had been sent out to Karatsuo, a small city in Kyuushu, Tsuzuki's "turf". Hisoka supposed that, as Tsuzuki's partner, Kyuushu was his district, as well.

Tsuzuki still slept, and Hisoka took the chance to quietly leave the room. He grabbed his shinai on his way out, intent on getting some practice on his swordsmanship. Ever since that duel with Oriya, he'd been concentrating even more on his martial arts and kendo. He had spent so much time battling Oriya that he had almost lost his chance to save Tsuzuki. He couldn't allow that to happen again.

Hisoka made his way down the old, musty hallway, padding silently in his stockinged feet – it was nearing winter, and the cheap hotel's heat was practically nonexistent – until he found himself in what he loosely termed a courtyard, with small, ragged bushes that hadn't been trimmed in years and grass that was both long and dead in various places. The courtyard still had that musty, smoky odor, but it was a bit more vague than earlier and easier to ignore.

He positioned himself in one of the areas where the grass was brown and wilted, placing his shinai down beside him and meditating for a few minutes. It wasn't particularly what he wanted to do most times, but it helped soothe him, and his dreams needed to be addressed, though he knew from experience that the dreams would continue, anyway.

He recognized the fragments of memory and wanted to push them away, but he had to admit to himself that he had learned a bit about the emotions he Felt when she had begun coming around. He remembered sitting in that cold basement at home, the bars erected around him, and he remembered her entering when no one else cared to. She had learned about his ability to feel other people's emotions and had helped him understand just what it was he was Feeling. But that all changed later...

He pulled his thoughts away from her, from what had occurred four years before his death, and struggled to gain that meditative calm. He continued trying for another minute.

His heart bumped painfully then, as the dream came rushing back to him, how he had rushed into the flames of the Serpent and had been unable to get to Tsuzuki in time. It was too similar to that night, too close to reality to sit well with him. His screams had been unanswered, his calls unheard. Tsuzuki hadn't even looked back.

In frustration – he knew enough about emotions to know that there was more than frustration, but he didn't dare address those – he rose up and grabbed his shinai. In short, somehow precise jerks, he moved through his warm-ups. He placed the shinai against his back and rolled his hips, somehow all without even noticing what he was doing.

Tsuzuki had come back. Tsuzuki had returned. Tsuzuki had fully recovered and was sleeping right upstairs, snoring a bit and probably dreaming of sweets or something equally innocuous. The Serpent had not taken him.

So why was he still filled with terror?

Yes, it was terror. He recognized it from when she had been around, when she had made herself feel that emotion so that he could Feel it and be able to recognize it. He knew now what it had cost her to pull that emotion up. It was... he felt helpless. He hated feeling helpless. Hated it with everything in him. Muraki had shown him terror for the first time. He hated Muraki for that, as well as everything else. The only other person to bring that emotion to him was... Tsuzuki. But Hisoka didn't hate him.

Hisoka didn't know, didn't recognize the emotions that came up when it pertained to Tsuzuki.

Hisoka shot forward as if to attack, chopping his shinai in a downward arc, as if to hit an enemy in the men, or head. He repeated the shomen uchi until he saw the gray of pre-dawn ascending through the small courtyard. He stopped, his chest heaving from the exertion, and watched the sun begin his ascent. The courtyard looked even more raggedy with the light to banish the dark shadows. There were pieces of trash littered everywhere; a Budweiser beer bottle was glinting in the sun's light, half-hidden beneath one of the untrimmed bushes. It was a sorry-looking place, with hardly any true color. There were no flowers, but there were plenty of weeds, some sticking up even past the grass. Dandelions were wilting, due either to the cold or the poor environment. The place was shabby, at best.

There were footsteps from the direction of the motel. Hisoka knew who it was before the visitor made a huge yawn and said sleepily, "'Morning, Hisoka."

Hisoka turned to Tsuzuki, taking in his tousled hair and the way the sunrise glittered on it. Tsuzuki was more the type to sleep in. He wondered if Tsuzuki had had a bad night. His heart thumped oddly again, and Hisoka couldn't tell what his feelings were. He pushed them aside and walked over to meet Tsuzuki halfway. "Come on. Let's get dressed and get something to eat."

Tsuzuki perked up considerably at that. Hisoka almost smiled, but he didn't know why he would, so he didn't. He began to walk to their room, which thankfully at least had a shower stall, albeit a musty, dirty, moldy, tiny one, and gently placed his shinai in the corner. He left Tsuzuki to get dressed (while singing/humming, of course) while he took a VERY quick shower.

When he came out, Tsuzuki was humming a tune he didn't recognize and wearing his usual, including the ever-present trenchcoat. Hisoka suddenly wondered if he was trying to hide, and if so, from what. He mentally shrugged and ignored the pang that shot through him when Tsuzuki discreetly turned his head and started rummaging through the nightstand drawer. Hisoka knew damn well there was nothing in there but the complimentary Bible that's in every motel room.

He quickly got dressed in his more conservative jeans and shirt, choosing a loose shirt because he felt a bit of a need to cover himself up at the moment. He didn't understand it and he didn't have the patience to question it.

When he was done, Tsuzuki turned back around and smiled at him. "Ready?"

Hisoka let out an aggravated brush of air, even though he didn't think he was aggravated. "Yeah."

They made their way out of the motel and into the morning light. Dawn had barely broken through, so the sky was still tinged orange and pink and violet. The town was only just waking up. Thankfully, Tsuzuki only thought that Hisoka was getting up early every morning to practice kendo, and Hisoka wasn't about to tell Tsuzuki otherwise. Tsuzuki usually just let him go on and just came to fetch him when he woke up – which was never this early. Hisoka didn't like the feeling of worry that tossed itself around in his gut. He wanted to ask, but wasn't sure how to go about it. If Tsuzuki had had a nightmare and didn't tell Hisoka, then that would hurt him... a lot. So he didn't ask.

Their breakfast was at a small cafe with a waitress that had frizzy hair and an obsession with bubblegum. Tsuzuki got into an easy banter with the woman that never failed to leave Hisoka in awe of the man... and to feel a little more out of place.

Tsuzuki bought an omelotte and pancakes and hash browns and bacon and, of course, a complimentary dessert, and was still done a tiny bit before Hisoka finished his french toast and biscuit. Hisoka was the type to eat slowly, while Tsuzuki sort of shoveled things in. Hisoka, as usual, gave Tsuzuki his napkin and pointed to a spot on his face. Tsuzuki dutifully rubbed the syrup off.

When they returned to the motel, it was to find that there was nothing new on the case and could they just look around for a sign of the girl?

"How can we find her if we don't even know what we're looking for?" Tsuzuki complained exactly two minutes after receiving the orders. They were walking down the street, more exercising than searching, and Tsuzuki already looked bored. Hisoka knew that would lead to either a hunger pang or a conversation he'd rather avoid. And though he agreed that their search was fairly pointless, he didn't want to find out what Tsuzuki would say this time. Last time, Tsuzuki had asked about any relationships that Hisoka might have been in, or who he'd want to be with in a relationship. Hisoka had almost died, if heat strokes could be brought on by blushes. Hisoka'd never had a relationship, but the image of Tsuzuki had come up when asked who he'd like to be with. Hisoka had managed to get out of answering the question only because he was so red that Tsuzuki had busted up laughing.

Their wandering led to nothing, as usual. They meandered through the city, getting lost more than once, until finally dinnertime came and Tsuzuki demanded a meal. Right on time, of course; seventeen minutes after six is too long a wait for Tsuzuki when it came to food.

They found the same diner they were at that morning – named "Granny's Kitchen" - and were about to enter when they heard a woman begin yelling, and a kid moaning. They looked at each other and raced off at once toward the sound of the cries.

People were giving the mother and child a wide berth, looking disgusted or upset but doing nothing to stop the woman's raging. The child, a boy around five years old, was kneeling on the ground, arms over his head. The woman was screaming at him, throwing her purse at the kid. Hisoka's eyes blazed with anger. No, fury. He was furious. He knew only too well what world the child would grow up in. Tsuzuki-

He turned to Tsuzuki. His eyes were a bit glazed, a bit distant. Without thinking, his heart suddenly going double-time, he reached for Tsuzuki's hand.

Tsuzuki jerked as if shocked, then looked down at Hisoka in confusion. "Hisoka?"

"Come on!" Hisoka said urgently, pulling on Tsuzuki's hand. "We've got to-"

But when Hisoka turned back to the woman, it was he who stopped cold. She had stopped screaming, had stopped moving – there was a little girl before her, shimmering in the evening light. She held her arms out, and her face was a mask of determination, even while translucent tears ran down her cheeks. There was something ethereal about her, even beyond her transparency. Hisoka couldn't place the sacrosanctness, but her will was strong enough to project itself beyond normal light.

Hisoka couldn't move for the shock taking over his entire body. The mother was staring through the girl to the boy lying on the sidewalk before her. She quickly picked up the boy by grabbing his wrist and roughly lifting him. She marched quickly down the street, and other pedestrians gave her a wide berth. The boy stumbled, unable to keep up with the woman.

People began walking through the girl, but Hisoka could still see her, clear as day. She was young, no older than nine or ten, her hair bright blond and her eyes a large, luminescent blue, like cobalt or the sky that one moment before it became completely black. She seemed to be pleading with him...

A pain struck him, fueled by the high-strung emotions of a lost, scared... dead... little girl.

There were images filled with fear, sights of a woman with dirty blond hair and eyes cold and cruel – a mother not unlike his own – slashing and screaming, a brutal hand, a sharp pain. A baby brother, unwanted, unable to be properly cared for on top of everything else. And a pledge to a crying child, even while on the verge of death – a pledge to protect, to save, no matter what. A coldness so complete – a coldness he understood, a coldness he had welcomed – and a burning need to uphold the vow to the one person who had ever loved her.

"AAH!!" He heard another cry, this time from somewhere closer, and a ringing grew in his ears until he couldn't hear anything else but a faint buzz... a faint buzz that sounded like his name and Felt like fear... a kinder fear... It was concern, and it was for him. The feelings... it was like with Tsubaki...

"Tsuzuki..." He had to impart this... "the girl..." He tried to point, to even see enough to tell where she was, but he couldn't see... He felt his fingers and toes tingle, felt his head seem to tilt... felt Tsuzuki grab him suddenly... felt nothing at all.

He awoke slowly, still reeling from what he had heard and seen. The girl's thoughts were so strong, like they were his own. He understood the girl's fear, her fortitude, strength, and courage. And he was certain she was the one they had been searching for. The one who had refused to allow her soul to be taken to the Underworld.

"Hisoka, you're awake! Are you all right?" Hisoka turned to see Tsuzuki coming towards him. They were back in the motel room, and it was dark outside of the musty window. Hisoka had tried to open that window the day before and had only succeeded in almost breaking it. "Hisoka?"

He turned back to Tsuzuki. "Did you see her?"

Tsuzuki's brow furrowed. "The woman? Yes, I saw her. I'm worried about that kid-"

Hisoka shook his head adamantly and instantly regretted it. His head rang. He kept the pain off of his face, but couldn't get rid of the frustration that tinged his tone. "No! The girl... the little girl!"

Tsuzuki shook his head. "There was no girl. There was a young boy, but-"

"She was there! A ghost! She..." Hisoka stopped and thought. They were both Shinigamis... Tsuzuki should have seen her, too. That girl... there had been something peculiar about her, beyond her... state. Beyond her being a ghost. He couldn't place it. Perhaps it was her blond hair, long and flowing beneath her bonnet, or maybe her eyes...

Bonnet?

"She was a little American girl with a small pink and white bonnet on her head," Hisoka spoke, stopping Tsuzuki from again asking him if he was all right. "She was a ghost. I think she's the one we're looking for."

Tsuzuki's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Frustration again. "Of course!" He got up from the bed and moved toward the door, intent on finding the girl again. He had to get in touch with GuShoShin. Maybe he could help shed some light on what was going on.

"Wait!" Tsuzuki came after him and placed himself in front of Hisoka, effectively stopping him. Hisoka again noticed Tsuzuki's reluctance to touch him. He knew why, as well. It made him feel... cold, somehow. "Hisoka, what happened back there? You passed out in the middle of the street!"

Hisoka was reminded of their first day together, when he had gotten drunk on Tsuzuki's sake. He had passed out suddenly then, too. And Tsuzuki had taken him back to the hotel and cared for him then, as well. Hisoka was surprised Tsuzuki even dared to touch him to get him back here.

"I Felt her... her sorrow, her fear... the emotions were festering ones, ones that Felt... old... almost deeper than time."

"Hmm..." Tsuzuki considered that. "That would make sense, if she were a ghost. The question is: why did only you see her? I didn't... did the woman or kid?"

Hisoka shook his head. "I don't think so. When the woman grabbed the boy, her hand went right through the girl, and the mother didn't seem to notice. The same thing is true for the kid when he was pulled through her."

Tsuzuki chewed on that, too. "You said she was an American?"

Hisoka thought about it, then admitted, "she could have been from Europe. I just got the feeling that she was an American." After all, he thought silently to himself, he had met an American before.

"But I thought our girl was born and bred in Kyuushu."

"It's not impossible to have Americans here," Hisoka reminded, a bit harsher than was necessary. "She may have been born in this area. We need to ask GuShoShin." Hisoka stepped forward once more, intent on doing just that.

"Wait; it's getting late. Why don't we contact him tomorrow?"

Hisoka turned to argue, but was faced with Tsuzuki's hopeful puppy-dog eyes that were oddly... drooping. Hisoka remembered that Tsuzuki had woken up early, and had probably not gone to sleep yet. Hisoka had long gotten used to not getting much sleep, but Tsuzuki hadn't. Hisoka gave a frustrated sigh and went toward his bed. "Fine."

"Yay!" Tsuzuki clapped his hands together. "Thank you, Hisoka! We can get GuShoShin first thing tomorrow morning... after breakfast."

Hisoka laid down and turned his back on Tsuzuki to hide what he feared might be a grin. "Whatever."

With a happy little noise, Tsuzuki settled into his own bed. Hisoka only fell asleep after hearing the soothing sound of Tsuzuki's soft snores.

He was walking away again, entering the fire without a look behind to see Hisoka's desperate face. "Tsuzuki, wait! Don't go..." He tried to follow, but the fire was everywhere, burning into his lungs, filling the path Tsuzuki had just taken. Tsuzuki was lost in the flames, and the Feel of him was disappearing. Again. And even though a small part of him thought this was a dream, the fear and terror were too real to ignore. There was a voice screaming inside of him - "no, no, please don't leave me, please don't abandon me here all alone!" - and it was overpowering his body. He felt his entire being begin to shake.

He ran toward the flames, trying to reach what was already long gone... what he could Feel was already long gone...

"It's stronger than sadness. It eats the soul."

"Tsuzuki!" Hisoka cried out, then coughed as smoke filled his lungs. "Tsuzuki!"

He shot up from the bed and swallowed back his scream. He looked over to Tsuzuki's bed, only sighing in relief after he listened for Tsuzuki's telltale snore. Only then did he allow himself a moment to shiver in the chill created by his cooling sweat... and the thrice-damned non-existent heater.

Hisoka got up and used the tiny, nasty little restroom, then grabbed his shinai and made his way down to the courtyard, assuming his place from the morning before. He sat and allowed himself a moment of meditation, in which he thought of the girl, Tsuzuki, his nightmare, and Tsuzuki again before giving up in disgust.

His warm-ups included thoughts of breakfast and Tsuzuki's face when he gets the dessert, then the ghost and her tear-stained cheeks, before he finally began attacking the air with a viciousness that would have made Hitler proud.

What could he do to help that little girl? She was already dead. If he took her to the Underworld, she would be unable to keep her promise. If he tried to get involved in the crisis, he would seem a complete fool and will have solved nothing but to make the mother angrier. Yes. He knew from experience that being confronted only made cruel parents crueler. What could he do to help her?

And why had she looked directly at him? How had she known that he could see her, when not even Tsuzuki could? Why had she pleaded with him – because he was certain that such was what she had done – and just what was she pleading him to do? He didn't understand her message! And just what the hell could he do to help her when she disappeared on him, anyway?

And exactly why hadn't Tsuzuki been able to see her? He was the greater Shinigami, not Hisoka. Unless it had something to do with Hisoka's ability to Sense things.

That thought made Hisoka stop in the middle of a shomen uchi. If such was the case, then... what the hell did that mean? The only thing truly left of that girl was her emotions? Was that it? What the hell?

Hisoka resumed his practicing and also consciously switched his thoughts...

And started thinking about Tsuzuki. He almost growled in frustration.

That damn nightmare. It plagued him. Every night, he witnessed Tsuzuki's retreat, his withdrawal and, finally, after being unable to save him, his death. Even though he was awake now and knew that Tsuzuki was fine, he still felt that gut-wrenching... feeling... like something truly was screaming and trying to release itself from inside him. Fear. It was a fear that shook his very soul.

His next few movements were so powerful he was gasping for breath.

He ended up stopping a bit before dawn, feeling a tiredness that was an ever-increasing poison in his system. How many more times would he see Tsuzuki leave him? Just like her, in the end. Just like her; he'll be left all alone, just like before...

His heart triphammered in his chest.

These dreams... these damn dreams... he couldn't get them out of his head! They consumed his thoughts, until all he could think about was...

That night. The fire. Tsuzuki's dead eyes...

Hisoka placed his shinai down with a trembling hand. He gently placed himself in the meditative position and desperately blanked his mind. It lasted less than ten seconds.

Tsuzuki. Damn the man for constantly invading his thoughts. He was like an addiction. Tsuzuki was a type of nicotine. And Hisoka was hooked.

He settled himself enough to admit a couple of things. He had been taught the basics of human emotion by Serendipity Channery. He had learned fear, anger, sadness, depression, and a few others by Feeling them. Serendipity had explained many others. Ones that he'd never felt or Felt, ones he never thought he would. But...

Dammit, just thinking about Serendipity brought on a mesh of emotions. And while he was having a hard time cataloging it all, he was irritated, knowing she would be listing them, just as she always did.

"What you feel is probably closer to bitterness, anger, and mistrust. Those, in the correct amounts, can fuel you. Do you understand the difference?"

He took a moment to Feel his own emotions and was disturbed by what he found. "Yes, I understand. But how do you?"

She turned to him and looked into his eyes. She rarely did that, which meant that what she wanted to pass along was important. "I've studied my emotions, Hisoka. Not knowing was painful, confusing. Focusing them made things easier for me and made them easier to control. It helped me understand myself, and it made others easier to read. You didn't trust me at all when we first met, after I forced my way into this room. In fact, you hated me, just as you hate your parents. You blame the world for your misfortune. I understand that, and, in a way, I envy it. Hating oneself hurts far worse. And now you understand that, as well."

Hisoka nodded. "There was an intense urge to--"

"Hisoka! Good morning!"

Hisoka turned with a jerk, staring at Tsuzuki as he made his way over to Hisoka's dead-grass plain within the sea of foot-high weeds that seemed to be multiplying daily. It was dawn already, and, just like yesterday, Tsuzuki was up way earlier than usual. Hisoka quickly stood, flustered, and glared at Tsuzuki. "What are you doing up so early?"

Tsuzuki looked surprised, but then only smiled. "I thought you could use some company."

Hisoka almost snapped at him, but he restrained himself. It was true. He would like some company. So why did Tsuzuki's friendship hurt him? His heart hurt again. This wasn't depression. It was something else... something somehow even stronger. What the hell was this feeling inside of him?!

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki bent down and picked up his shinai, holding out the hilt for Hisoka to take. Hisoka didn't want to take it. He was afraid his hand would shake. But take it he did, quickly and cruelly, snatching it out of Tsuzuki's hand before he could see that his wasn't at all steady. Hisoka brought his head down, already guilty for the harsh action. He needed to concentrate on something else. Anything else. Now.

"Well, since you're up, we might as well get something to eat and contact GuShoShin," he said finally. He walked back to the motel, knowing that, just as the three other days they'd been here, the manager wouldn't be up for quite some time yet. "You coming?" He called back, and looked back to see Tsuzuki coming up behind him. He shouldn't have looked back; Tsuzuki seemed to be smiling, but it was a mask for... Hisoka tried desperately to shift through the barriers Tsuzuki had erected after finding out Hisoka's abilities... confusion... and sadness. Dammit!

He continued into the motel and toward their room. Tsuzuki followed like a puppy at his heels. He had to say something... Tsuzuki's sadness elicited his own. "Hey, and, um... thank you... for joining me."

Tsuzuki made a happy sound (still similar to a puppy) and cheered. "Hey, no problem, Hisoka!" Then he contradicted himself with a huge yawn.

Hisoka gnawed on his lower lip for a short second – when did he start doing that? - and finished with, "but you should get your rest."

"But you don't need it, Hisoka," Tsuzuki pointed out, and Hisoka wanted to scream. Of course I do! I'm so tired I hardly feel tired any more!

His response was, "you need more than I do." Which was true enough, he supposed. Tsuzuki very much liked his sleep. For Hisoka, sleep had only been a short reprieve from the pain, and was always interrupted by spasms of white hot agony. Unconsciousness had been his true savior in those days.

"Oh." Tsuzuki seemed to truly be considering that. "How much sleep do you usually need?"

What a random question. "I don't know," he answered roughly. How long had it been since he'd had a decent night sleep? He was so weary... but he knew that sleep brought the dream, and he couldn't stand seeing it happen... but his body needed some rest, after all...

"Well, how much sleep do you average a night?"

That wasn't something he wanted to admit. How much did he used to get? God... what he wouldn't give for a night of rest without having to see Tsuzuki...

He forced his thoughts away from the dreams with every ounce of control he had. "About six or seven hours," he said finally, digging around the truth. He liked to get eight hours, but didn't know how much sleep Tsuzuki averaged.

Tsuzuki made a little sound of... what was that, acceptance? Agreement? Maybe just a sound. "I see. I am more of a nine-hour kind of guy."

Hisoka let the conversation drop there and went to get his shower.

After Tsuzuki had enjoyed both a peach cobbler and a lemon meringue pie (how could he like both?), Hisoka and Tsuzuki had made a quick stop in the Judgment Bureau's library to get in touch with GuShoShin.

"What? A blond ghost?" GuShoShin was surprised. "But the girl we're looking for is dark-haired and dark-skinned, with brown eyes. Here." GuShoShin gave Hisoka a printed-out picture of a girl with laughing brown eyes and black hair that fell down just a bit past her shoulders. Her skin was well-tanned, her body a bit lean, but that was most likely because she was a bit tall for her age. This was certainly not the girl he had seen.

Hisoka gave the picture to Tsuzuki – more of a formality than anything, since Tsuzuki had been looking at the picture over Hisoka's shoulder – and turned back to GuShoShin. "Then what did I see?"

"Hmm..." GuShoShin thought for a moment. Hisoka waited impatiently. "Well..." GuShoShin shrugged. "I have no idea."

Hisoka made a frustrated growl. "Then what the hell was she?"

GuShoShin was more than ready to speculate. "It could have been a ghost, or an illusion, or a trick of the light on your eyes, or even a projection of your own abilities. Maybe you were feeling a strong emotion and it manifested itself into-"

"No," Hisoka argued quickly. "She's real. She had memories and emotions of her own." And a strong will to protect that I've only felt for Tsuzuki.

GuShoShin grunted, then went silent for a moment. "Well, then, it seems we have an even bigger problem than we might have first anticipated."