He sat there in the middle of the darkness. Kneeling reverently not knowing what to do. How old was he? Kurosaki Hisoka couldn't have been older than ten at the time.

Locked down deep in the bowls of his ancient family estate, he waited. Waited for someone to come and tell him that his punishment was over with. Tell him that he could see his mother, his father and the servants again.

Out of all of them, he would have to like his father the best. He was a rather nice man, until the rest of the family would pressure him into doing things. Then he just buckled and did as told. It was sad really, how the head of the family couldn't even stand up for his own beliefs.

A rustling sound came from the side. Hisoka closed his eyes as the sound of something slithering came closer to him. He told them about this apparition that shows itself to him when he's alone, but they said he just had a wild imagination.

"You know you should run away from home," a lisped voice whispered into his ear.

He remained silent.

"Did you know that they are afraid of what you might become?"

Hisoka nodded absently.

"Do you know why?"

He shook his head as a large snake coiled around him. It's dragon like head rested in his lap. Little Hisoka shuddered a little but tried to calm his fears. In response the creature chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you," the snake dragon nuzzled his small hands. "I'm here to warn you about your lineage."

"Lineage?" Hisoka asked placing a hand on the scaly head.

"Yessss, your ancestors were very prideful. They cared for nothing but themselves. So take heed in what I say. You should leave here soon as you can and stay clear of open spaces."

The young boy only blinked, he didn't know what to make of what this thing was trying to say. How could he just run away? Where would he go? He only stroked the snake dragon's head as it purred with a low, gravely growl.

Hisoka woke up at his desk and found Tsuzuki looking at him with an innocent expression. The youth sat up as he rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, I must have drifted off," Hisoka said.

"That's okay," Tsuzuki smiled. "You know you really need to relax more often. Rest up when you can, keeps ya in good health."

"Nn," Hisoka nodded.

His partner went back to work leaving Hisoka in silence. He has had that dream several times now but he can't remember if it was reality, or just a strange dream.

"Hey, Tsuzuki?"

"Hm?" the shinigami didn't look up from his paper work.

"How do you depict reality from a dream?"

Amethyst eyes looked up. That was a strange question to ask, but still Tsuzuki gave the question some thought. There were different ways of telling a dream from reality. Then again there were those dreams that people get that seem just as real as reality.

"Well, from what I can tell," Tsuzuki looked up at the ceiling as he folded his arms. "A dream usually has something farfetched involved. Like me getting my bonus, or Lord Enma paying us a visit in this office. Reality is usually cruel, cold and unfeeling."

Hisoka looked down at his hands, boy did he know that one.

"But then again," Tsuzuki continued. "It can be kind and generous at the same time. I would like to say that there is a fine line between the two but there isn't. You know, this could be a dream right now and we may never know. Because when we wake up we may forget all about it."

The green eyed youth blinked, he had no idea that his partner could be so philosophical. He was really giving this question a lot of thought. That was one of the things that he liked about his partner. He could ask anything in the world and the guy would really, truthfully think about it.

"Well maybe you should tell me about this dream that you're obviously pondering over. It may help."

Hisoka nodded then proceeded to tell him everything. He was a little worried that Tsuzuki might think that he was crazy, but by the serious look on his partner's face and the feelings that he got... Tsuzuki wasn't even going to think such a thing. After the story was told, the amethyst eyed man leaned back in his chair. Hisoka only looked down at his unfinished paper work as he waited for an answer to this query of his.

"I would," Tsuzuki spoke up getting the youth's attention. "I would like to say that this was all a dream..."

"But?"

"But I think it really did happen."

ENDE or not? E-mail me and tell me if you want this to be continued.