Happy late Father's Day! I was suppose to post this yesterday, but I'm a slacker. n.n

Disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei is owned by Yoho Matsushita...lucky

Pairings: None. It's not suppose to be Tsuzuki/Hisoka, just our favorite chocolate-loving shinigami with a parental complex

Summery: The one thing Tsuzuki never thought he'd here Hisoka call him was dad, even if he was half asleep.

~Translations~

Meifu-Underworld

Chijou: World of the Living

EnmaCho-one of ten government bureaus that form JuOhCho

Shokan- a division in EnmaCho that deals with summoning the dead

Shinigami-god of death

Aa-yeah

Ja ne- see you later

Ne-Hey

Baka-idiot

Souka-I see

Arigato-Thank you

Urusai-shut up

Kachou-section chief

…

Yeah, so, here goes nothing...

…

The early morning sun hung up in the white-blue sky of Meifu and, despite it being the Underworld, it was a sunny place, the eternal Sakura trees blossoming indefinitely. In charge of judging the dead of their past deeds, was a bureaucratic organization called JuOhCho. In the mirror copy of a Tokyo government building was EnmaCho, the top bureau. On the first floor (where a special division, the Shokan, resided), the lounge was bright, even without the lights on, filled with sunlight filtering through the big glass windows.

The atmosphere was peaceful and placid, side for the loud screaming voices that could be heard in the other room. Not many of those residing in Meifu paid much attention to it, though, due to the simple fact that this was, indeed, a very common occurrence.

"Tsuzuki-san! You're paper work was due yesterday! Do I have to dock your pay again?"

A young adolescent, eternally sixteen, sat on a couch in the lounge, dark circles ringing his eyes that were trained on the book sitting in his hands. He easily ignored the sounds of Tatsumi chewing out his partner just down the hall, reminding Tsuzuki of his late paperwork. Technically, it was their late paperwork, but it really was the older's fault it wasn't done. They'd have to stay late working again.

"I swear, it'll be finished by tomorrow!" he heard his partner plead, no doubt resembling a puppy in his inu-chibi form. Hisoka sighed; how many times did he tell that idiot to not make promises he couldn't keep?

"Oh man, tomorrow's Father's Day," a man moaned as he plopped down on a chair next to the couch where the boy sat, seemingly ignorant of the loud squabble taking place between the budget-tight secretary and the money-wasting monkey.

"So?" replied the younger, not even sparing a glance up as he turned a page in the book.

"Always the same thing you say! And yet nothing changes!" Tatsumi yelled in the other room.

"Holidays are always busy days in Meifu," the man stated, dragging a hand through his long blonde hair. "Even though it's just mainly Christmas and Valentine's Day we have to worry about, Bon, all holidays are worse than normal days."

"What an excellent present for your father to die on Father's day," snorted Hisoka, his green orbs looking up at the taller man.

"It's a shame though, not many of us can celebrate holidays like this," replied the scientist.

"Hn, never celebrated it anyway," the teen said bluntly, looking back down at his book, acting like it was no big deal that his dad was a mean bastard toward him when he was alive. Watari felt a pang of sympathy when he remember the newest member in the EnnmaCho didn't exactly have the best relationship with his emotion-abusive father.

"You know, some of us still can, even after death," Watari shrugged. "Though all our family has either died and moved on, or still living, we find new attachments. You don't have to show how thankful you are to your biological father. Can't you think of someone who would love and protect you like his own son?"

Hisoka's expression was not affected, but a name bubbled to the surface of his mind instantly, as quickly as Tatsumi when seeing money in front of him. "Tsuzuki?"

"Now that you mention it…" Watari said as if it had been Hisoka's idea all along before he got up and walked over to the door. "Now if you'll be so kind as to excuse me, I have more experiments to test with 003." Said owl gave a hoot from where it perched on the scientist's shoulder, nearly completely obscured by his blonde locks.

"Take care not to blow anything up again," Hisoka murmured. "You wouldn't want to end up with a salary as microscopic as Tsuzuki's."

"Aa, by the way Bon, you should try getting somemore sleep, you look aweful. Ja ne!" Watari smiled, closing the door behind him with an audible click.

Hisoka had woken with another nightmare the night before and, as usual, wasn't able to get back to sleep. The teen sighed, dragging a pale hand through his wheat-colored hair as his thoughts turned over quickly to his partner. Tsuzuki, a father figure? Hisoka always pictured him as a brother (somehow younger and annoying but at the same time older and protective) or a mother hen. He snorted to himself thinking how his partner would react if he got him something for Mother's Day. The thought was instantly banished when he realized Tsuzuki would probably be ecstatic.

…

It was dark, the sun having long dropped beneath the horizon, relinquishing power to the moon that was waning. Barely anyone was left in the offices of EnmaCho. Then again, most people weren't procrastinating slackers like Asato Tsuzuki.

They had to work late tonight in the office they shared to finish up their paper work (which Hisoka always found himself stuck with most of the work) from their last case. Tsuzuki did feel bad, trying to dump all of the work on his teenaged partner on a daily basis, but that didn't mean he was euphoric about have to write out all these documents.

He rubbed his sore wrist, dropping his pen like it was a snake. "Hisoka…?"

"No, you can not a take a quick break to get something to eat, Tsuzuki," the teen replied, not looking up from his own paper, his pen sliding across the paper in elegant handwriting.

"Soooka, it's not fair that you're always reading my mind!" the older pouted, looking down at his own chicken-scratch penmanship.

"I didn't, idiot," the other replied coolly. "You're just predictable."

…

It was late in the night when the brunette felt like his hand was about to fall off. He glanced at the clock and felt his heartstrings pull with guilt when seeing the time. Kids like Hisoka should be in bed now, not caught up with boring work because of their juvenile partner tried to skip out on it for the past week.

"Ne, Hisoka, why don't you go home and I'll…" Tsuzuki trailed off as he looked over toward the younger's desk, craning his neck to see over the humongous stack of papers. Come to think of it, Hisoka hadn't made a sound in a while. Even the steady tap of his pen was silent. Tsuzuki's stark eyebrows furrowed when he saw the boy, sound asleep,his head lying on his left forearm like it was a pillow, his right hand still limply holding his pen.

Tsuzuki got up, hating having to wake him up. Hisoka never got enough sleep (and he'd been looking more tired that usual today). In his sleep, Hisoka looked so peaceful; all worry lines smoothed out and no cold composure hiding his face. Tsuzuki sighed, it didn't seem right that such a pure kid could have been abused the way Hisoka did. The child had never done anything wrong, yet he'd been so cruelly treated. Tsuzuki, deciding just to let the boy sleep, gingerly picked up the unnervingly-light teenager and carried the younger shinigami to the nearby office couch.

How peaceful, how innocent he looked. Tsuzuki watched as the boy's chest rose up and down with every breath. He absentmindedly brushed hair away from Hisoka's face, wonder what could happen if he took a picture for blackmail. He didn't have to wonder long, because he knew for sure that, though Saya and Yuma would be particularly thrilled, he would be dead (Again, that is).

…

The moon illuminated the virgin snow that fell silently from the night's sky that acted as a dark backdrop andagainst the soft ground. Sakura petals stood against the flurry, pale pink against chaste white, falling from the dark, almost black wood from the trees that were nearly dead, baring the last of their cherry blossoms. He knew that he was no longer in EnmaCho, where it was immortally spring. No, he was in Chijou, the living world.

He stumbled under the cherry tree, under the branches that cast dark, pointed shadows across his pale skin almost camouflaged completely against the white, snowy surroundings. Despite the snow making everything almost as bright as day, he felt darkness creep up. Alone in the cold world that surrounded him, suffocated him as shadows flickered in the corner of the vision. He stumbled on his boney legs, brushing against something even colder than the snow as he fell into the flurry, kicking up the white drift around him.

He looked up shakily as the snow settled, giving him a clear view of the dead woman, her long dark hair spilling all over her, mingling with the blood pooled around her. A shiver quaked down his spine as he realized this was the women he had killed that night. The wind suddenly picked up, obscuring his vision with a flurry of white and pink and beige.

After a few long, agonizing seconds filled with his own insane heartbeat, the snow and petals finally drifted back down and his ash-blonde fringe fell out of his eyes and sight. His eyes widened when instead of seeing the woman, there lay a younger girl, no older than him, her hair shorter and darker and blood oozing out of a bullet hole through her chest. He felt his heart skip a beat as he noted the wound he himself had caused.

"T-Tsubaki-hime…!"

The words were ripped out of his throat, escaping past his lips before he was conscious of what he uttered and his voice was lost in the howl of the wind. He gasped as he reared back onto his tailbone, his short fingernails digging past the soft snow and into the frozen soil beneath.

"Still putting that doll-like face of yours where it doesn't belong, eh bouya?" Hisoka froze with fear, the only thing keeping him from screaming as he felt hot breath against his neck was the fact his own breath was hitched in his throat. "I'll just have to teach you another lesson, don't I? " The words were whispered tauntingly, lips moving against his ringing ear, his heartbeat pounding so hard he barely heard.

Muraki was suddenly in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders and forcing his back to the snowy ground. Hisoka tried to wrestle away from the bigger man, but the snow seemed to freeze around him, holding him like cement. He lashed out unsuccessfully as he clenched his teeth and glared up at his captor with a mixture of fear and hate.

"Scream for me, my puppet," he whispered, his nails digging into Hisoka's soft flesh.

He cried out, suddenly realizing that hands gripping his shoulders were not the rough hold of Muraki's long fingers, but hands gently shaking him, trying to wake him from the nightmare. No nails were piercing his skin, and the only pain that came was from his pounding head and the scars crossing his body, probably red hot by now.

"'Soka…Hey, easy there, kid." The words were spoken soothingly with a voice warm and welcoming after hearing the cold cutting tone of the doctor. They hacked through the mist that still filled Hisoka's mind and the teen forced his emerald eyes to flicker hesitantly open, gazing up into his partner's concerned violet ones. "Having a nightmare?" he asked softly.

"Get off me," Hisoka muttered in embarrassment, still not fully awake as he tried to shove Tsuzuki away ineffectually.

"I heard you screaming," Tsuzuki breathed, the worry on his face so clear Hisoka didn't need to have empathy to comprehend his emotions. "Was it another bad dream?"

"I-I'm fine," he exhaled breathily.

The other grinned mutely through the dim office lights. Always smiling. "Ne, Hisoka," he whispered to the youth. "I don't need to be an empath to tell that you're lying."

"S-shut, baka," he murmured, fidgeting tiredly. "I can take care of myself. I'm n-"

"But that doesn't mean you have to do everything alone," he hushed him. "You have me, Hisoka."

Hisoka stopped squirming, looking up at his partner with large, emerald eyes. "Tsuzuki…" He closed his eyes and sighed, but they opened when he felt Tsuzuki's warm arms embrace him. Hisoka tensed as Tsuzuki's emotions surged around him, his first instinct to break away as quickly as possible; but Tsuzuki, anticipating this, held on tightly.

"Relax," he murmured softly in Hisoka's ear, and the wave of foreign yet comfortable emotions washed him with calm, caring feelings that lulled the Kurosaki. His tense muscles eased and he rested his head sleepily against Tsuzuki's shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed.

Tsuzuki decided to go back to work and let the boy rest, at least until he could take him home. But as he tried to pull away, he found Hisoka's nimble fingers digging into his jacket sleeves, the small hands clutching the dark fabric as if not wanting him to leave, even in his sleep.

Looking at the boy, Tsuzuki recalled that night in Kyoto when he tried to kill himself in that fire, an event he was deeply ashamed of. But he would never forget that promise they made then, in the middle of the chaotic burning building, flames and smoke dancing around them like a predator taunting its prey; and he knew Hisoka never made a promise he couldn't keep. Tsuzuki knew that when Hisoka had said that the violet-eyed man was where he belonged, he meant it. And he prayed Hisoka knew that he must remain alive no matter what, if not for himself than for Tsuzuki because he was the only thing that kept him sane.

And Tsuzuki would remain alive, too, just for his young partner. It was funny, they kept each other sane, yet drove each other insane. But Hisoka knew Tsuzuki would always be there for him, even if he tried to act like an adult, tried to do things on his own and hide his sadness.

When Tsuzuki finally finished the paperwork, he decided to wake up Hisoka and take the boy home.

"Ne, Hisoka," Tsuzuki said, gently shaking the child. "Soooka-chaaaan."

"Stop calling me that," he mumbled, mostly asleep.

"Come one, Hisoka, you can't fall asleep in the office! We have to get you home, kid."

"Five more minutes, dad," he murmured.

Tsuzuki stopped shaking the youth, his violet eyes widening before slowly closing, a small smile grazing his lips. Tsuzuki took his black tench coat and laid it over the kid, finding no better subsitution for a blanket, gently kissing Hisoka on the forehead before whispering good night.

…

The too small teen sighed…again. He found himself doing that a lot ever since he'd met Tsuzuki. He'd woken up today on the couch in the office, very embarrassed to find Tsuzuki's overly big coat on him while the man slept at his desk next to a finished pile of paperwork. Outside, the sky was dark. Because of Tsuzuki's last brawl with Terazuma in the library, they had to work extra late shifts some nights.

Hisoka really felt like he was the older most of the time, but he knew Tsuzuki wasn't just a goof. He showed Hisoka kindness that no one had before, not even his actual father. Speak of the devil, Tsuzuki burst through the door, making sure to close it because he knew how much his partner hated loud sounds from the others just outside the office. The man's amethyst eyes crinkled closed as he smiled warmly toward the other. "Hi 'Soka-chan," he said.

"Baka," replied the other coolly. "Don't call me that."

"You can be really insulting sometimes, Hisoka," the man pouted, now resembling an inu. Hisoka stared at him impassively; it was lost on even him how someone several decades older than him could be so much less mature and he had stopped bothering to wonder a long time ago. "And I brought you tea, too!"

Hisoka sighed, taking the offered cup, years of being taught manners in a stately old family forcing him to thank his partner as Tsuzuki sipped his own coffee. He knew the Kurosaki wouldn't like anything sweater than tea just as well as the teen knew the forever twenty-six-year-old put too much sugar in his coffee and would probably end up getting hyper.

"Tsuzuki." Said person looked back at the sound of the usual curt tone as Hisoka casually handed him a box.

"Huh, what's this?" he asked, removing the lid, his eyes widening as he saw the box of sweats inside; and it wasn't the cheap kind (the only ones he could afford), either. The brunette raised his eyebrows, the eyes under them wide and shining with overenthusiastic and unnecessary tears as his grin split across his face.

"Happy Father's Day," Hisoka said nonchalantly, not even glancing up from his paperwork.

"Hisoka…"

Said boy looked up and spared the older a rare, small smile. "Arigato Tsuzuki," he said a bit awkwardly, never one to really be able to express himself. "I owe you a lot more than a box of sweets. So I figured it was the least I can do. You could pull of being a father figure…if you squinted a bit and tilted your head..."

…And here comes the sugar high…

"Waaah! Soka-chan, I knew you loved me!" He squeezed the other in a tight hug, feeling how light Hisoka was as he swung him in a crazy half-twirl, so happy he didn't even register the normally stoic teen made a joke.

"Baka! Put me down!"

Tsuzuki complied laughing, but immediately grabbed the boy's wrist, and towing him toward the door. "Come on, Hisoka, let's celebrate with sake!" Tsuzuki declared, looking back and giving the other a knowing smirk. "But only juice for you."

"Urusai," he muttered, a blush bleeding into his pale cheeks as he recalled the first day they met when he drank alcohol and passed out.

Walking out of their office, they saw the building was almost empty at this late hour. Most sane people were at home, probably in bed. Hisoka wondered why he wasn't one of them. Oh yeah, he glared at his partner, who most defiantly was not sane.

"Tsuzuki! We still have paperwork to do! Konoe-kahou will kill us and cut your payment again and-!"

Any other comments were cut off with the door slamming shut with a thud echoing through the crisp air as the wind whipped through the branches of the cherry trees that cast deep shadows on the against the already dark night.

Hisoka sighed, this time one of anxiety. It had to be especially dark tonight, didn't it? Or was it just his imagination? He didn't care. All he knew was that it was dark and he hated the shadows that now obscured his vision. He really, really hated them.

The moon wasn't out; the night was mysterious and threatening and Hisoka couldn't see where he was. Terrifying things were always occurring in the dark, hiding in the shadows, lurking around as if it were a living thing spreading dreadful emotions only the empath could detect. It scared him and he felt his hands tighten into fists.

"Soka, everything alright?" Tsuzuki asked, feeling his partner stiffen.

"I told you before, I can't see well in the dark," he sighed.

"Souka..." he whispered. The teen jumped in surprise as he felt the older take Hisoka's small hand in his much bigger one.

"I said to stop treating me like-!"

"Don't worry, Hisoka, you can trust me," he smiled. He pulled the teen down the steps, his protest cut off as he added, "Besides, wouldn't want you running into a pole or something! Remember, I can see pretty well in the dark."

"Baka."

"Meanie."

…

Hope you liked n.n Please review! Flames will be used to ignite money in front of Tatsumi. Constructed criticism appreciated! Ja ne!