by Empath no Tenshi
“Ayase!” In the middle of the corpses I could easily spot Ayase. Thank goodness he’s still alive. Well, he’s unconscious but he’s still breathing. Hisoka examines the body of a woman lying next to Ayase, her clothes stained with blood all over. He checks her pulse but after a minute he looks at me and sadly shakes his head. The other bodies are swimming in pools of blood and are undoubtedly dead as well.
“We’re the only ones here now. I can’t sense any other presence aside from ours. Tsuzuki… I think we’re too late.” I hate to admit it but Hisoka’s right. Damn it all. Whoever did this got away this time. But I swear… I swear I’ll find that culprit and make him pay.
“But we can still save him.” He gestures to Ayase. Right. No use being frustrated over this when there’s nothing I can do about it now.
So I pull out a fuda and shape it into a messenger. It’s the white bird I always use to send messages to EnmaCho or to find people. I remember using this once when we were aboard Queen Camellia and didn’t have any other means of communication working.
“I requested for reinforcements. Other shinigami will be here n just a few moments. For now, we need to take Ayase to Watari.”
Hisoka obediently nods. He holds on to me and together, we teleport back to Meifu.
~)-0-(~
Luckily, Watari was still in his lab when we came back. Now he’s tending to Ayase while Hisoka and I wait here on a cushioned bench outside the infirmary. Hisoka leans to me and breathes out an exhausted sigh.
“Go home and rest.” I say while I run my fingers through his hair. He still had a slight fever this afternoon and I doubt what happened tonight helped him feel any better. But he shakes his head. “No… don’t want to. Not while you’re here and we’ve still got work to do.”
That’s my partner. Always stubborn. He’s dedicated to work, I know, but sometimes he just pushes himself too much. He’ll keep on working even though he barely has any energy left.
“Fine, but you should at least take a nap. There are still empty beds at the infirmary. You can sleep there. I’ll just let you know if something comes up, okay?”
He looks up at me and smiles wanly.
“Tsuzuki… I’m okay. Really. Besides…” He wraps his arms around my waist and snuggles closer. “I’d prefer to take a nap right here with you… because I want to make sure that you… don’t… go hard on yourself… over this…” He says in between yawns. His eyes droop and he soon falls asleep.
“How can I say no when you’re being cute like this…”
And I kiss his forehead, whispering ‘goodnight’.
~)-0-(~
“zuki… Tsuzuki…”
Someone’s shaking my shoulder.
“Tsuzuki… wake up…”
I don’t want to. I feel so comfortable. No. I don’t want to wake up.
“There’s a caramel-coated muffin with chocolate filling waiting for you.”
“Huh!? Where???”
Watari beams at me. Darn it, he tricked me!
“I knew that’d wake you up.” He laughs. “Hey listen… As much as I hate to disturb your really sweet position…” He smirks. And that’s when I feel Hisoka’s arms still around me but now mine are also wrapped around him. “You’ll both get cramps if you stay there any longer.”
I reluctantly peel Hisoka’s arms off, but gentle enough not to wake him up. I lift him up and lay him down on a bed beside Ayase’s. Ayase is still asleep too. After fixing Hisoka’s blanket, then Ayase’s, I softly close the door then go back out to Watari.
From Watari’s huge eye bags I can tell that he stayed up all night. Maybe he did a search. “Anything?” He looks at me curiously. “I mean, about the case.”
“Oh. Nope, nothing.” He sighs. “I can’t begin a search yet. We have no lead. I have no idea where to start.”
Too bad. “But what were you doing all night?”
“For Bon… I was trying to look up some ways to dampen his empathy a bit. I mean, after his empathy made his mind crash like that, he’s still very sensitive to emotions. And Tsuzuki…” He looks straight into my eyes. “I know I don’t need to say this… but be careful not to let very strong feelings get to him and more importantly, to spark a strong emotion in him. In other words, don’t ever do anything to hurt him.” He holds my shoulder and gives me a friendly smile. “I trust you won’t anyway… it’s just… if Bon ever experiences an intense emotion in him… I’m afraid his loss of memory might become irreversible. And that’s the least that can happen.”
“Thanks Watari. I’ll take note of that.” He really cares a lot about Hisoka. Well, he’s been Hisoka’s ‘personal doctor’ for as long as I can remember so I’m not surprised.
“Are you still going to sleep?” He asks with that seemingly innocent smile again. “No… I’m not sleepy anymore.”
“That’s great! Can you help me then?” Why do I have this feeling that I should have slept instead… “What about?”
“Remember that empty office across the infirmary? I asked Kachou’s permission if I could transfer there. I just thought that since I’m also the doctor it would be more convenient if my office were nearer to the infirmary.” He chirps happily then takes me to his lab. Well, I’d be happy to help him with anything as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with his lab nor his not-too-safe experiments.
“So let me guess, you want me to help you transfer your stuff?” He nods, grinning from ear to ear. I was afraid he would.
“Bingo!”
“WHAT? All these? Watari you’ve got to be kidding! It’ll take us years!” Yes, even if there are two of us.
“No, no… not all. Tatsumi agreed with Kachou to make it my office, not my lab. He said the infirmary is a place of recovery and if I transfer the lab near there, whoever’s in the infirmary will be at risk of being killed. Really, he talks like he doesn’t trust me at all!” Watari waves his hands in the air exasperatedly.
I won’t say this out loud, but I second Tatsumi’s decision. Kami-sama knows how many times he makes that deadly bomb of a lab explode everyday.
“Anyway, the only thing I want to move right now is the pc. And I need your help to carry its parts and set it up. Once it’s done we can begin the investigation.” He unplugs the system unit and begins to detach some of the chords. “But we also need Ayase’s help on this. We must know from him who killed those people first before we can begin the search. It’s hard to trace without a lead.” Then he hands the monitor to me. “That is, of course, assuming he is just a witness.”
“What do you mean?” His last sentence takes me by surprise.
“Tsuzuki, those bodies were found dead and Ayase was there. Even though he was unconscious, don’t you think it’s strange that he didn’t even have a single scratch on his body? You can’t deny the possibility that he is also a suspect.” Watari tells me without even looking as he continues to dismantle his computer set.
“Watari, don’t say that. Please.” It’s not right to distrust Ayase, he’s been through so much. “Just right before the night of the murder, he told me that there really were people after him. It’s true. I personally encountered them. And I’m guessing the people responsible for the murder were also the ones who had him kidnapped.”
“Okay, I believe you. But what’s bothering me is why everyone around Ayase was killed but he was unharmed. And besides, if they really were after him, why did they leave him there? They should have taken him by the time you arrived, isn’t that right?”
“That’s right…” That never crossed my mind but now, I think what Watari is saying makes sense.
“Oh well…” Watari’s seriousness fades and his cheerfulness returns. “No use trying to crack our heads if we can’t come up with any answers yet. Let’s just wait for Ayase to wake up then we can ask him all these questions.”
“Okay, but give him a break first before questioning him okay?” I know we need to finish our job and solve this case and whatever but Ayase also needs to rest.
“Hai hai.”
~)-0-(~
It’s amazing how Watari can memorize all those connections. I mean, he plugs so many chords into their different sockets without even bothering to use a manual or anything. Well, he has been using computers for as far back as I can remember but if it was me, I’d still be relying on all those instructions and guides to set this thing up. And even then there would still be no guarantee that I’d do it correctly. But Watari seems so confident so maybe he’s sure of what he’s doing.
“That about does it.” He beams widely after connecting plugging the pc. “Now let’s see if it works.”
And after switching the device on the printer promptly goes boom.
“Watari… why don’t you use the manual…” I suggest before even thanking whatever force kept us alive after the explosion.
“Why didn’t I think about that?” Watari laughs. “But I was sure I did it right…” he puts a hand in his chin.
“Watari!”
“All right all right! Geez…” And he rummages around his boxes to find the said manual.
Watari hands the toasted printer to me. I was just about to give it a decent burial when someone knocks. “I’ll get it.”
When I open the door I nearly jump in surprise.
“Good Morning, Tsuzuki-san.” Ayase greets me with a faint smile.
“What are you doing out of bed!? You should be resting right now.” I mean, you don’t just expect someone who nearly became a murder victim just last night be up and about the next morning.
“Can… can I ask for a glass of water?” He timidly speaks in a low voice.
“Yes yes… of course. Wait right here.” I might as well get breakfast for us too.
So the break room it is. Oh goody! We’re having sandwiches this morning. It’s a nice change because we’ve been having donuts for the past months. Hisoka will like this. He doesn’t like donuts too much. Says they’re too sweet. I don’t understand why sweet things don’t appeal to him anyway. Oh, right. Correction, food in general doesn’t interest him. I’ll get one for him too anyway, and two others for Watari and Ayase. Speaking of Ayase… now where’s that water dispenser.
After filling the glass with cold water, I head back to Watari’s new office. “Here.” I hand each of them a sandwich.
“Thanks!” Watari cheerfully accepts his, but Ayase declines. “I’ll just have the water. Thanks.” He then takes the glass that’s now damp from the coolness of the liquid it holds. He steps out of the lab, but halfway to the room across the sound of shattered glass that fell into the marble floor echoes through the hallway.
“Ayase! Are you okay?”
“He kneels down and picks up the broken pieces. “Sorry. I… I felt dizzy for a moment. Don’t worry I’ll clean this up.”
“Let me help.” Then I kneel beside him but he gently pries my hand away. “No please… let me do it. Don’t make me feel any more useless than I was last night…” He conveys with sadness in his eyes almost too painful to look at. What happened must still be so fresh in his mind.
“Okay. I’ll just get you another glass then.” If that’s what makes him feel any better.
“Watari, I’ll be back in a moment.” Watari waves his hand from inside to let me know I heard him before I make my way to the break room for the second time.
~)-0-(~
This time, I make sure that I get a styro cup used for coffee instead. Tatsumi will kill me if I risk another glass. That would entail additional costs for the break room expenses. And of course that would also mean my paycheck being gone for good. What’s this? This glass tray was empty when I came here just a while ago. Better leave before someone sees me stealing another handful of mint balls.
Wait a minute… I can hear voices coming from the hallway. Sounds like a heated argument. My steps hasten into a full run when I recognize one of them as Hisoka’s.
“Let me go! Let me do this!” That’s Ayase.
“No! Killing yourself won’t solve anything!” And that’s Hisoka.
What did he just say?
I hurry up the stairs, taking two steps at a time then when I reach the landing I see Hisoka tightly grasping Ayase’s wrists, keeping his hands away from each other.
“It’s none of your business!” Ayase struggles. “I said LET ME GO!!!”
The moment Ayase yells Hisoka collapses.
“Hisoka!” I feel myself running like I’ve never done my entire existence. But I’m glad I caught Hisoka before his head hit the floor.
“What happened here?” Watari asks from behind me.
“Emotional outburst…” The word merely goes out of my mouth as I pick Hisoka up.
A shard of glass that Ayase was holding slips from his hand- which I just notice bleeding- and clatters on the hard floor. “Wha… what happened to him?” Ayase asks, looking so lost.
“I’ll explain everything later. For now, please let Watari bandage your hands.” Then I walk away and take my unconscious partner back to the infirmary.
Gently lay him down. As I pull the blanket over him Watari comes in with Ayase. Ayase come over to my side at once. “Is he okay?” He anxiously asks.
“Don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine.” And I lay a hand on Ayase’s shoulder to reassure him.
“What happened to him?” he inquisitively looks up at me.
“He’s an empath.” Watari explains.
“Empath?” Ayase questioningly echoes.
“Other’s people’s emotions tend to rush inside of him against his will.” Watari adds.
“He could easily synchronize with other people’s minds… and get dragged in.” I recall out loud. That was how Hisoka described it when I first found out about his power.
Ayase’s eyes slowly widen in realization. “I… I’m so sorry…”
“It wasn’t your fault. You’ve been through so much last night. So it’s just normal that you’re emotionally unstable right now.” The pain he’s feeling must’ve been that intense to knock Hisoka out like that.
“Tell me honestly, Ayase… You were planning to kill yourself, weren’t you?” He looks down, making his hair cover his face.
“Ayase, killing yourself won’t make things any better.”
He suddenly looks up at me. “How would you know!?” He asks at me heatedly, glaring at me.
“Because I’ve done that and I’ve succeeded.”
~)-0-(~