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Tsuzuki was awake before Hisoka, and dressed carefully, trying not to disturb the sleeping figure on the cot in the middle of the room. As he neared the door, he looked back at a face he'd always found especially endearing in sleep. All the hard lines brought by sadness and weariness were faded, his mouth slightly open and his expression peaceful. Tsuzuki gave in to his longing to touch him, sweeping the hair gently from the boy's forehead.

"Tsuzuki," Hisoka murmured in his sleep. Tsuzuki smiled gently, feeling as if his heart were swelling.

He walked into the tiny hallway between the two bedrooms and stopped upon hearing the conversation drifting in from the front room.

"Do you think they're lovers?" he heard Hy ask, receiving no reply.

"Don't give me that look. I ain't got nothing against it, I was just wondering is all," Hy said plaintively. Tsuzuki got the impression that the youth was used to these nearly one-sided conversations.

"Well, anyway, I think the kid at least likes the older one. You could see it in the way he looked at him when the other guy wasn't looking. I never seen guys look at each other like that," Hy said, again met with silence.

"You've known people like that, so I thought you'd have picked up on something is all," the boy added with defeat, finally getting an irritated sigh from his companion.

"It's none of our business, Hy. I never took you for such a romantic," Jarrett replied at last, a slight tone of amusement coming through his grumbled words. This time, Hy was the silent half of the conversation.

"I knew of men who loved one another in the war, yes. That doesn't make me an expert. Why are you so interested anyway?" Jarrett asked. Tsuzuki could hear plates being laid out, and realized he'd been so absorbed in the conversation that he'd even gone without noticing the aroma of food.

"I dunno," Hy said, sounding a bit sulky. Tsuzuki took a deep breath and made his presence known, his mind still occupied by Hy's observation of Hisoka's behavior.

"Hey, sleepyhead! Your partner still sleeping?" Hy asked, smoothly recovering as if he hadn't been talking about them just a moment before.

*

"All right. Here's what we know," said a woman from the U.S. division office with a yawn. She looked to be in her late twenties, with blonde hair pulled back into a sloppy bun, and had been introduced to them as Josephine.
"Four graves in an approximate ten mile radius have been found disrupted, the bodies gone. You should find information on the locations of the cemeteries in your paperwork." She said, using the computer she sat at to project enlarged photographs of the crime scenes.

"How do we know it's not just graverobbers?" Tsuzuki asked in confusion. The blonde gave him a heavy lidded glance.

"If you'd read through the case file, you'd know that the graves appear to have been dug from the inside, not the surface. Furthermore, there have been witnesses who've come forward, claiming to see two of the deceased persons walking around. Jarrett and Hy have made inquiries, and from their reports there appears to be no reason to doubt that these four individuals were indeed dead," Josephine said curtly. Hy gave Tsuzuki a sympathetic smile.

"Here are the missing persons," Josephine said, bringing up photographs of each person in turn. "Anna LaRue, aged sixteen, died of a mysterious illness. Beauchamp Greenwood, aged nineteen, also of unknown illness. Then there's Timothy Jones, twenty-one, and Daniel O' Brian, eighteen. All four seem to have wasted away in the prime of health, and their doctors have no idea why they fell ill so suddenly. That, and their relatively young ages are the only connections we have other than such close locations." Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, who had paled considerably.

*


"That boy's been cursed, I tell you. Caught the attention of the wrong sort somehow. It happens, you know. Had a cousin out towards Metarie told me about it when I was a girl. Folks' son goes missing after he's dead, and they find him a month later, working as a slave to some hoodoo witch. Not alive, mind you, but walking the earth, just as plain as you and me, with the soul sucked clean out of him," Marie Fontaine said, a morbid sort of gleam lighting her aged face.

"Where did you see him?" Hisoka asked, his expression unreadable.

"Saw him clear as day, walking the street in New Orleans. Got a sister out there trying to clean up the mess that hurricane left her house in, and I saw him in the Quarter. Told her that was the O' Brian boy that died last month. She said I was crazy, but it's true," the elderly woman said, shaking her head and petting a large orange cat that curled upon the afghan laid across her thin legs.

"Was there anyone with him?" Tsuzuki asked, looking up from the milk and cookies she'd provided. She nodded.

"Yep, and that was the part that was most suspicious of all. He was being guided around like a blind man by this fella all dressed in white," she said.

"Thank you for your help," Tsuzuki said, as he and Hisoka got up to go rather abruptly.

"Hang on a second. You've been inhaling my cookies, so I'll pack you some to go. Lord knows I don't need them. Ain't got any damn teeth to chew them with anymore," she muttered, rising slowly from her seat and tottering into the kitchen. Tsuzuki turned to his partner.

"You okay, Hisoka?" he asked with concern. Hisoka nodded moodily, not meeting his eyes.

"Let's get back to the cabin and contact Tatsumi to let him know we're going to the city. And he'd better book us a hotel with air-conditioning," Hisoka said, trying to force a smile, a gesture requiring an amount of will that did not go unnoticed by Tsuzuki. Marie returned to the living room.

"You boys are so nice. I hope you'll come to see me again," Marie said, handing Tsuzuki a bag of cookies. The two shinigami exchanged a sad, knowing glance before saying their goodbyes.

*

The four men met at a sidewalk cafe near the French Market as soon as they arrived in New Orleans.

"Man, you two lucked out. Our witness liked to have threatened to shoot us when we couldn't provide credentials," Hy said, shaking his bushy topknot.

"We finally got the information from him, however. He saw the Greenwood boy while he was delivering relief packages to the city. He was with a young woman," Jarrett said before sipping his thick chickory coffee.

"A young woman?" Tsuzuki asked with surprise, wiping the powdered sugar from his beignet off of his chin with a napkin.

"Yeah, he said she was dressed like a hippie," Hy said with a laugh. "She's probably a fortune teller or something."

"That really doesn't narrow it down much on the girl. That Muraki guy sounds distinctive enough though," Jarrett said. Hisoka stared at his untouched plate of doughy sweets, which Tsuzuki was beginning to eye.

"It's not that difficult to find someone who wants to be found," Hisoka said. "What else have you found out?"

"He saw them at dusk, near St. Louis two," Hy said.

"Saint Louis two?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Cemetery," Jarrett said. "Maybe we should split up and ask around some of the shops. If this lady is a fortune teller or something similar, she probably has a business open somewhere. We can meet back here just before evening and check out the cemetery." Tsuzuki and Hisoka agreed to the plan, gathering some basic information on where to start their search of the Quarter.

They moved silently through the crowd, unseen by most unless they wished to be noticed. The heat was heavy and humid, and the sidewalks packed with street performers and tourists. There seemed to be countless little shops offering tarot readings and gris-gris bags, and the pair felt a little overwhelmed in choosing where to begin.

Several hours later, they still hadn't uncovered anything useful. The people they had encountered ranged from tight lipped and suspicious to the completely clueless.

"All right, Hisoka. One more place, and then we're eating," Tsuzuki said. Hisoka opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off. "Don't deny that you're in need of a rest. It won't make things go any faster if you collapse in the street."

"Fine," Hisoka muttered in consent, as the bell above the door of the shop jingled at their entry.

"Well hello there," a voice called from behind a beaded curtain. A beautiful woman emerged, her dark complexion and brightly colored clothing enchanting to behold. She smiled brightly and shook Tsuzuki's hand.

"I am Cassandra. You've come a very long way, haven't you? You're looking for someone," she said, looking deeply into his eyes. Tsuzuki laughed.

"You're pretty good! Did you hear that Hisoka?" Tsuzuki said. The young man shrugged noncommittally.

"Hisoka," she said. "You're from Japan, correct?" Tsuzuki nodded enthusiastically.

"Well done again. We've come to ask if you've seen any of the people in these photographs," Tsuzuki said, handing them to her. She tucked a lock of curly black hair behind her ear, her earring dangling back and forth as she looked thoughtfully at each picture.

"My shop is very popular. I do not recognize anyone, and my memory is good. Perhaps I should get your number in case one of them shows up," she said. Tsuzuki gave her the number of the cell phone they had been provided with before they left.

"Well, that was a bust," Tsuzuki said, digging into a desert smothered with pralines and caramel. Hisoka ate his po boy sandwich, saying nothing, and staring out of the window with a distracted look. Tsuzuki reached across the table, wiping a bit of mustard from the boy's mouth with his thumb, remembering the icing he'd licked from that very spot just a few days ago with a sigh. He expected Hisoka to stiffen, but instead he actually seemed to incline his head slightly towards Tsuzuki's touch, his eyes questioning.

"There you guys are!" Tsuzuki heard a voice call behind him, reluctantly dropping his hand and turning around to see Hy and Jarrett enter the restaurant.

"No need to go cemetery hopping tonight, boys. We got a bonafide lead," the boy said, falling into the chair beside Hisoka with a grin.

"We talked to a woman who's seen Muraki at the market every morning for a week. I say we turn in early and head out there tomorrow bright and early," Jarrett said. Tsuzuki readily agreed, eventually convincing Hisoka to go the hotel with him.


"Well, Tatsumi met us half way, it seems. It's a nice hotel, but we're still sharing a room," Tsuzuki said, throwing himself back on the bed with a tired groan. Hisoka looked at the other bed irritably, only removing his shoes before sliding beneath the covers and turning out the light. Tsuzuki listened to his partner's breathing for a while in the darkness before attempting to speak to him.

"Hisoka?" he asked, receiving a grunt in reply. Tsuzuki continued to speak.

"That expression on your face, before the others came in -- I -- I was just wondering if maybe you still --"

"I was just surprised, that's all," Hisoka said softly. Tsuzuki turned towards him on the bed, making out his huddled form in the dim light.

"Surprised?" Tsuzuki asked. Hisoka released a heavy sigh.

"Surprised that you still wanted to touch me, after -- after," Hisoka stammered, his voice becoming a choked sob. Tsuzuki sat upright, flinging his legs off the bed and going to Hisoka's side.

"How could you think that I wouldn't want to touch you?" Tsuzuki said, his voice cracking with emotion as he slid beneath the covers, pulling the quivering boy to him.

"You were -- Oh, God, the look on your face when you saw --," Hisoka cried in an agonized voice. Tsuzuki gently hushed him, turning the younger man to face him.

"You were disgusted. I know you were," Hisoka whispered, burying his face into Tsuzuki's chest. Tsuzuki fought back his own tears, overcome with shame.

"So you've thought, all this time, that I had rejected you?" Tsuzuki asked. Hisoka nodded, sniffling.

"Oh, Hisoka," Tsuzuki murmured, placing his hand beneath the young man's chin and carefully forcing him to look up. He placed his lips softly against Hisoka's.

Tsuzuki slowly deepened the kiss, pulling the boy's body to him in a fierce embrace. Hisoka looked at him in wonder as they pulled apart slightly.

"I was never disgusted by you. Never you. I was upset, and angry, and I just felt so helpless. I didn't know how to comfort you, and I couldn't go back and protect you from all the horrible things that you've been through, and it just overwhelmed me," Tsuzuki whispered, nuzzling into Hisoka's hair and rubbing his back soothingly. He planted small kisses, working his way down to the boy's neck, nibbling gently at the tender flesh, and pulling and the collar of Hisoka's shirt in an effort to reveal more soft skin. Hisoka panted and moaned at the attentions, before pushing Tsuzuki away.

"I -- I can't do this right now. Please," Hisoka begged. Tsuzuki relented, looking into his partner's face.

"I need more time. I don't want his mark there when we --" Hisoka said uneasily. Tsuzuki nodded and pulled the boy back into his arms.

"It's okay, Hisoka. I understand. Everything's going to be okay now," Tsuzuki said quietly.