sweetdeath | [004 | text, Japanese]

You mean the doors to that place where time keeps looping? They're open? Wow, now those people can get out! I hope they're all okay...

You're one of them, right? Are you alright?

I was directed to an apartment building on Horton street by someone. Should I meet you there?

[And work time, bb! I'll be back tonight!]

--Er. At the high school, I mean.

Yeah, I'm fine... what do you mean, time looping?

Do you know the way? I've been here long enough to pick up on at least some of the directions. I could meet you over at the apartments if that's easier!

It's just two blocks down and one block over, Tsuzuki.

In that case, I'll meet you out front.

Discedo didn't look much better in daylight, really. The cemetery was still creepy, the church was still disturbing, the streets were mostly deserted, and the entire place was oddly quiet - well, save for the skittering of monsters just beyond his peripheral vision.

At least it wasn't a long walk. He was stiff in every joint after sleeping sitting-up against a wall in a vacant room of the apartment building, and that hadn't helped his mood any.

Coming to... Marshall street, he supposed it was, he was able to add another decent thing to his day. Tsuzuki was easy to spot, standing outside the building he supposed was the high school with his hands in his pockets.

Hisoka unconsciously mirrored the gesture while crossing the street, his expression neutral as he walked up to his partner. "Hey."

Tsuzuki had been spending the wait thinking: between chips, repeated days, powers going haywire, and having offered to join the police force, there was a lot to think about. He'd have to go talk to them in person one of these days - soon, probably, but not before he'd helped Hisoka settle in. In the meantime, it was just nice to be outside. The city was a silent tragedy, with its empty broken buildings standing mute along each street, but the sun was warm.

He'd always been good at finding silver linings.

The familiar voice drew his attention away from the sunlight, and he turned, a bright smile spreading over his face. His hands slipped out of his pockets and then hovered by his side; he was half-tempted to hurl himself at his partner for a hug, glad simply to see Hisoka again, but the memory of last night's conversation stopped him. He'd been too smothering, hadn't he? Made Hisoka feel his strength wasn't enough. Even if his partner was standing there, hale and very much in one piece, some little selfish voice within him wailed at the thought that Hisoka could very easily not have been.

Well, he wasn't going to start the argument again. Brightening his smile, he tossed back the same offhanded, "Hey."

That's good, then! You know, time looping! When time keeps repeating itself. That is what happened, right?

It'd make sense. I... well, I lost a couple of days in there somewhere, but I only remember things happening once.

...Somehow, he'd been expecting more than that, and prodding Tsuzuki's mind gave him no answers. In fact, it seemed to his sixth sense that the man wasn't even standing there at all.

Hisoka could only imagine how upset Tsuzuki must have been to put his walls up that high.

He crossed his arms and tried to look like he got more sleep than he actually did. "I told you I was fine."

Hmmm, that's strange. I heard some people remembering there was a time loop thing going on...Oh well. The important thing is you all got out safely.

It felt mechanical, and it still wasn't the hug the selfish voice was pining for, but Tsuzuki stepped forward anyway and ruffled his partner's hair.

"Yeah," he said. "It's good to see you, Hisoka."

It really was. He found himself relaxing a little, the feel of the soft strands convincing more of his mind that Hisoka really was here, and fine, and in one piece. He hadn't even been worried about that until yesterday night, but the fear had set its taproot deep in the last ten hours.

He hoped Hisoka wasn't paying too much attention to his feelings.

Now I feel left out! Oh, and I don't think we've met, miss - Tsuzuki Asato, and you?

That's right, I'm sorry! I keep forgetting my manners nowadays. I'm Gracia. It's very nice to meet you, Tsuzuki!

Are you from the future of Japan?

Nice to meet you too!

That's a very good question. I'm from... uh, if you really are from the past, telling you the year won't do any good, will it? When are you from?

I think it was 1600 when I was taken away to be here.

Hisoka was barely listening, noticing more the gesture and the lack of the wave of... affection that usually came with it. He tilted his head away, uncrossing his arms and about to bat the hand away - if there was something this wrong with the situation and Tsuzuki wasn't letting on what it was, they should really talk--

And it occurred to him.

He'd tried to use a few spells the night before, just to see if what Tsuzuki had said was true, with little success, and his thumb had scabbed over where he'd bit it, but it hadn't even crossed his mind that that could have been affected.

Instead of batting Tsuzuki's hand away, he instead grabbed the older man's wrist with both hands and stared in a cold sort of dread when he realized that he felt nothing from the contact.

Tsuzuki stared, confused, at his partner's bowed head. One heartbeat, two, three - suddenly realization struck, and he reached out to pull Hisoka into a hug. Of course. They couldn't fly, and they couldn't heal, or summon, or cast spells: of course Hisoka couldn't feel his emotions. It's okay, he thought better of saying (Hisoka really would have smacked him).

"Your empathy's been suppressed?" he asked aloud, a moment late. It was going to be hard even for him to get used to this.

Four hundred years in the past, then. You know the Western calendar? I'm from 1997.

Tsuzuki was not helping the disorientation at all, and he struggled away and tried to shake himself back to composure. "I'm fine," he snapped, messing with his shirt and trying to sort his thoughts.

But now that he realized why the city felt so quiet, organizing his thoughts was like trying to alphabetize two books on an empty bookshelf.

He crossed his arms and tried to look stoic. "I should've thought of it earlier."

Wow. That means you know lots of new things, right? How is the future of Japan at that time? Is there still fighting?

Stepping back, and slipping his hands back into his pockets, Tsuzuki offered a sympathetic smile. "It took me a few days to get used to. ...What happened to your thumb?" The scab was clearly visible against the pale skin. Severe injury it wasn't, but it must have happened yesterday sometime. It was odd enough to see the unhealed mark on Hisoka's hand - and a little chilling. All these monsters, no magic, and here their injuries would not heal.

No, not inside Japan. Things have changed a lot just in my lifetime - there are computers everywhere now, and cars, and trains that can take you practically from Kyushuu to Hokkaido in a day.

[004 | text, Japanese]

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