Life Changes: An RP with Jani and Rhea

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Rhea-sama

((OOC: If you can't figure out who is RPing who.....I pity you XDD
HINT--now which person here is the Watari fangirl...? XDD ))
Part One
Watari was walking along down the street, swinging his arms, a basket clutched in one hand, looking at various food vendors. Ah fresh fruits and veggies were the best things ever! Healthy too. (Not everyone was a sweet fiend like Tsuzuki! Well...Watari /did/ have a mean sweet tooth, but that didn't mean he excluded the other food groups too!)

The dark haired boy silently moved up the road. There was a lot going on here and many people were yelling out about having the best wares. He found himself admiring the wood of an old chest on a table, thinking that it would be beautiful in his room near his violin, but then, something crashed into him, knocking him to the ground in a rush of golden hair. He soon found himself laying beneath the sunshine form of...who was this? He looked so familiar, but Hijiri just couldn't place him.

Watari looked down at the mop of black hair. He extended an arm. "Woah sorry there kid.." Watari froze as he was hit with a case of double deja-vu. Damn! I'd forgotten that this kid really does look like Hisoka...if Hisoka ever cracked a smile anyways. He smiled quietly. "Hijiri Minase, right?"

Surprised, Hijiri hesitated for a moment. Who was this guy? and how did he know his name? He definitly looked familiar, but Hijiri just couldn't place him. Finally deciding that the bright smile seemed trustworthy, he reached out and took the offered hand.
   "Erm," he started, "yeah." On his feet once again, he looked the man over as he dusted himself off. He was tall and lean, with golden locks flowing down his back like curling rays of sun. He definitly knew this man. "I'm sorry," he said, "but for some reason, I just can't place you."

Watari's lips curved into a mysterious smile. "It's probably best that you don't. We didn't talk all that much anyways...But besides, who wouldn't know of the National Violin prodigy Hijiri Minase?" Somewhere internally Watari sighed. He hated having to lie, even by omission...but it was probably best that he kept this encounter brief, despite the fact that he was somewhat fond of the kid. People die if they get too involved with us after all...being a Shinigami is a lonely existence...

There was a sad pang to his voice that struck something within Hijiri. He knew that voice. It had spoken to him comfortingly before. Something told Hijiri that he HAD to remember who this man was, otherwise, he'd be very sorry.
   "Wait," he said, a name coming to him from the past, "Watari, right? You worked with Tsuzuki and Hisoka, right?"

Watari blinked, surprised, then he smiled again with a nod. "Right. You're sharper than most mortals. They try to forget us as quickly as possible if they do remember us usually...which isn't very often. Of course then there are the ones that we make sure never forget us..." The tone there was unintentionally dark, it spoke volumes about the job he was forced to preform, minds and lives he'd been made to shatter... He brushed it off with a light chuckle, "Sorry, I shouldn't say such things, and I should let you go on your way. Just forget you ever saw me again, okay Hijiri?"

The very idea made Hijiri's innards quiver in shock. He could NEVER forget them, or what they had done for him. Even though Watari hadn't caught his heart the way Tsuzuki had, he had still saved his life. Hijiri would be dead now if it weren't for him.
    "How can you possibly think that I could forget you?" he demanded, rather distraught, "you all saved my life. I consider you my best friends, FAMILY even. I HAVE nobody else. You guys at the judgement bearou(spelled wrong, I know) are all I have. What's wrong?" There was a look in Watari's eyes that made him think the man wanted to cry, but of course wouldn't. Whatever pain it was that Hijiri didn't know about would be left inside of him forever, as it had in the past.

Watari gaped at him in shock. ....Damn. I'm just a heartless little bitch aren't I? It had been a long time since someone had
twisted Watari's conscience quite so brutally. "...Sorry kid. I didn't mean that quite how it came out. Look, I'll buy you lunch okay? How about that. Will you forgive me if I do that?" Smile, smile, avert the awkward questions.

Looking at Watari with an odd frown, Hijiri almost stopped to wonder what was wrong with himself, but quickly realized that he was simply hoping to help out this man who had helped him. But he was a shinigami, was there any way that he could help him?
Sure, if he spent some time with him.
   "Lunch sounds good," he said hearing his stomach grumble. How long had it been since he'd eaten? "I accept," he said, bowing his head slightly to be polite.

Watari ruffled his hair. "Great! I was actually getting some ingredients--don't worry I'm a much better cook than Tsuzuki." He winked, knowing that the poor kid hadn't come away from his ordeal with Sagatanasu without being forced to down some of Tsuzuki's wretched cooking. Poor thing, as if he didn't have enough trauma at that point in his life to deal with.
Hijiri shrugged.
   "Lead the way," he said. On the way to Watari's apartment, Hijiri questioned the man on how the others were doing, curious about his friends.
    "How are Hisoka and Tsuzuki and all of the others?"

Watari smiled and gave him the run-down, leaving out some parts like Kyoto and the Kurosaki case he and Tatsumi went on... "Things don't change that much in the afterlife. The only difference I suppose is that Hisoka's a bit more relaxed than he used to be and he's not quite so cold or standoffish... He's learned how to limit and dampen his powers so he's more comfortable around people."

Listening to Watari, Hijiri found himself wistfully wishing to see everyone again.
    "That's good," he said sincerely, "I've been worried about him ever since then, but I'm glad to hear that he's doing better." They walked on until they found a large apartment building with about ten floors. He stopped to look up and study it (as he seems to have a strange habit of doing) causing Watari to stop as well. It wasn't a generously huge building, but it wasn't a terribly small building either. Looking at Watari, he saw the man jerk his head toward the building, silently saying "come on". He followed up two tall flights of stairs before pausing in front of a door with the number 5 hanging on it.
Looking around, Hijiri noted that the chaos seemed to express Watari quite well. Despite the fact that he didn't knew him well, he could see that things he'd seen at the buerau weren't just a job, they were his interests. He had beakers and wires and tools all over the place. On a desk in the farthest corner, papers were piled in a messy mountain that made Hijiri wonder how on earth they didn't scatter over the floor. Most things were covered on dust, proving more than words just how ofter Watari spent time in the lab. As he moved into the kitchen, following Watari, he saw that the stove was often used in the place of a bunsen burner as there were many things on it that he was sure were not for cooking food (unless you wanted to poison someone). He offered to assist Watari in moving these out of the way as he cooked.

Watari smiled at him and accepted his help, shooing away the penguin as it came waddling in. He pulled out a few clean beakers and a couple graduated cylinders. "This will be the best casserole and sauteed mushrooms ever!!" Though the kitchen was a little cramped, Watari somehow managed to maneuver around Hijiri, giving him firm but gentle directions and guidance, once in awhile correcting him on what he felt to be an inferior cooking technique.

To these corrections, Hijiri listened well. He wasn't that good of a cook, but felt that if he watched or helped someone else out, he might be able to do better and not strangle himself on his own dinner. He wasn't as bad as Tsuzuki(not that he thought ANYONE could doas bad a Tsuzuki), but he wasn't very good at it all the same. Hw welcomed Watari's advice and tried to take in all that the man was telling him and doing. Before they knew it, lunch was ready.

Watari and 003 cleared off the table, setting it with whatever was available, making for a very mis-matched dining set. Setting the casserole down, Watari took off his large pink oven mitts and sat down. "Let's dig in~!!" Interestingly enough, each of the birds was given a portion and a place to sit at the table. Hijiri's space was to the left of Watari's, the place of honor, as he was the guest.

For a few moments, Hijiri studied the birds, wondering if they really ate, but then the smell of the casserole filled his nostrils and his mouth began to water like the Niagra Falls. He looked at Watari, who grinned back at him. For a moment Hijiri wondered if the man had some unusual pre-meal tradition or not. He'd heard that catholics prayed to their god before eating. He didn't want to insult his friend, but he was very hungry. What to do?

Watari chuckled, "Maa.. you can just eat you know. It shouldn't taste bad." As if to prove his point Watari took a bite himself. "Mm~! Excellent! We make a great team Hijiri!"

Without waiting any longer, Hijiri dug into his plate ravenously. Watari was right, it was delicious. So delicious that he doubted that he even took a breath of air during that meal. All he'd had were those meager lunches that the school donated to the poor kids. They weren't enough to fill him, and often left him wishing for more. But this was the greatest meal he'd ever had, to his own belief. He even lost interest in the birds as he shoveled down the meal.

Watari stared at him critically. No kid his age should be that hungry. Even Mr. "No I'm not hungry-oh, whoops I collapsed again" Hisoka Kurosaki never displayed this sort of ravenous hunger.

"...What the hell do they feed you at that school?" If he sounded angry it wasn't Hijiri's fault, he was angry for the boy, not at him.

Suddenly realizing that he was acting more like a rabid beast that a boy, Hijiri stopped long enough to actually chew and swallow what he had in his mouth. He took a sip of the water Watari had set for him and the took a breath of air (you'd need one too if you were shoveling food in your mouth the way he was).
"You mean what kind of food?" he asked, "well, I know that it's a prominent school and all, but the food there seems to be rather...lower class. Sometimes the meat doesn't even seem like meat." Hijiri laughed. "Of course, you can't expect school food to come anywhere near this," he took another bite, "it's delicious." And once again he dug into his food, not allowing himself another word until his plate was empty. At that point, he sat and sipped his water, rather embarassed with himself.

Watari narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie to me. They don't feed you nearly enough do they?" He stared at the boy. "I should have noticed it. You show signs of lack of proper nutrition. Your skin is a bit ashen, lack of vitamin E and iron. Your eyes aren't nearly bright enough, you need more carrots..." Watari continued to tick off all the signs of substandard nutrition he saw. "....do your friends look like you? There should be some sort of government subsidy for this!!" Watari made a mental note to write a semi-anonymous angry letter to the school and the company that provided the food services.

Hijiri was surprised by this. He hadn't expected Watari to be able to see those things. But then he mentelly smacked himself. Of course he'd notice those things! He was a scientist and a shinigami! He opened his mouth to speak as Watari took a breath, and when he noticed, Watari allowed the boy his say.

   "It's not the school's fault," he said, "it's just that most kids have food when the go home too." He could feel the bile of regret traveling up his esophogus. "I don't have any parents to go to work for food or anything and I can't get a job because the school won't allow it. The school lunch is usually the only thing I get to eat on the weekdays."

Watari stared at him. Awww damnit. Now he had to do something about that. His sense of caring and justice wouldn't let him sit by and do nothing. "Well fine then. You can have lunch and dinner with me twice a week and we'll eat together on weekends. How about that? I can't just sit and let you starve."

Hijiri found his mouth falling open. Watari was so generous. Would he really feed him like that? It didn't seem right to just accept without doing something in return, but what could he possibly do? Watari was a SHINIGAMI. There ws no way a mere mortal like him could do anything.

    "I couldn't," he said, "that's too much. I haven't done anything for you in return."

Watari waved a hand. "Hey it's like you said. We're your family, and family takes care of each other." He smiled at the boy. "Besides, it would make Tsuzuki sad to know that you weren't doing well."
"Urk," Hijiri choked on his own voice at Watari's rebuttle. He was right, and Hijiri had dug himself a hole that he couldn't get out of. Watari was eyeing him in a way that said "you're pinned, kid." And he knew it. He sighed in resignation.

   "Fine," he said, "but I'll find a way to pay you back." He fought to keep the words 'whether you like it or not' out of the sentence so it wouldn't sound like a threat. An unseen clock bonged the time and Hijiri stood. "I really appreciate this," he said, "but I've got to go before I'm late for practice."
Watari waved at him. "Don't worry about it Hijiri. I'll swing by the academy this afternoon okay? We can talk things over then" Smile, smile, smile!

Hijiri found himself blushing at that ever-present smile. It make him want to smile as well, but as he left and that smile disappeared, he felt that his day was definitely going to go downhill.
Watari had no such premonitions and lazed about the house for the rest of the day, thinking maybe, just maybe he should clean it up...

Later that day, Hijiri was just leaving the school building when he heard the principal calling his name. He turned to greet the man with an unusually energetic smile.
"Hello," he said, bowing low to the vertically challenged man, "how are you today, sir?" Expecting the man's usual happy voice, he was surprised at what he heard.
"Troubled, young Minase, quite troubled. May I speak to you in my office?" Hijiri looked around, remembering what Watari had said earlier in the day. As promised, the man was waiting at the bottom of the steps, leaning against the giant stone lion that reared into the air there.

"Actually," he said to the man, "I'm meeting someone."

"This is VERY important," said the man, "please, Minase." Hijiri hesitated, but then asked the man to wait a moment. He hurried up to Watari.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but the principal has called me to his office. I hope you don't mind waiting a bit longer."

Watari smiled at him, waving a hand. "No prob! Don't go getting in trouble now on my account."

Thankful that Watari didn't mind, he hurried back up to the school and followed the principal into his office.

When he exited the school again, he felt as though someone had force-fed him some brazilian bullet ants and then punched him in the gut a couple of times. How could this have happened? After some thought, it came to him that it HAD to be Saionji. He was the only one who would do this to Hijiri. Seeing Watari looking away from him and out over the campus, he knew that he couldn't tell him. He'd tell Tsuzuki, and then...he didn't want to think about it. He had to hide this from his friend and be cheery. He went up to Watari, being as natural as he could and they headed off for the man's house.

Watari placed a salad and some beef soup in front of Hijiri when they got to his table. He observed the boy for a few moments with crossed arms before saying, "Alright, out with it. What happened? You're too quiet and I'm guessing the principal does not just call you into his office for kicks. So spill."

Being pulled violently from his thoughts, Hijiri looked up at the man. The stern look on his face was unusual but he could tell that he was very serious. He forced a small chuckle.
"It's nothing," he said, "the principal called me into his office to congradulate me on getting another solo, that's all. And I guess I overworked myself today. I'm very tired." Hoping that Watari would leave it at that, he stared down at his plate.

Watari frowned. "Hijiri...I'm not stupid you know. Don't lie to me and insult my intelligence. I am over fifty years old you know." He sighed, serving himself some soup grumbling about young people thinking they were craftier and more mysterious than they really were.... He didn't press the matter anymore vocally, but he kept throwing reproachful, disspointed glances at him until he would fess up.

Hijiri stared into his bowl for a while, unable to eat, but also unable to stop himself from thinking about how trying to lie to Watari was making him feel like scum. No, worse than scum. He closed his eyes, biting into his tongue until it bled. When the metallic taste filled his mouth, he finally exhaled.

"I can't live on campus anymore," he said quickly, "the school told me that the problems caused by Sai-er a kid at school-are making too much of a ruckus and they want me to leave. They can't force him to leave because his parents donate too much money to the school, so they took the easy way out and told me that I have to find another place to go. I'm sorry for not telling you, but..." his voice faded away as he ran out of air and he was almost afraid to inhale again as he waited for Watari to speak.

Watari blinked.. and then smiled suddenly. "Then live here. You have a bike or something right? It's not too far away from school, I hardly spend any time here as it is, and you'll have better food, and I'll be able to keep an eye on you from time to time. You'll be like my ward--or my son~!! <33 The joys of parenthood at last!!!" Watari seemed genuinely thrilled by the idea.

This was the last thing that Hijiri expected. His head came up so fast that the blood rolling over his tongue dripped from his mouth. He payed it no mind, only staring at Watari.

Watari continued babbling. "You know I do like infants and all, but I would never have the time to properly take care of one, so it's a good thing you're of an age you can take care of yourself and stuff, you're pretty independant already anyways. If I clean out the storage room and clear off the bed, you can move in there. When do you have to move out? If you have to leave tonight you can have my bed, though there might be a few owl feathers on there, those are easily taken care of..." On and on and on and on...wow.. he was... excited o.o

Flabbergasted, Hijiri interrupted him.

"Are you serious?" he asked, blood traveling down his chin to drip onto the table. Watari finally stopped and looked at him. "You would take me in? I'm really thankful that you-" he stopped, the blood becoming too much to speak through.

Watari frowned and went into the kitchen. He returned with a cup of salt water(1/4 teaspoon per cup) and a towel. He dabbed it in the water and wiped at the boy's chin. "Sure, why not? It's not like I don't know you. I told you before, you were right. We're family. And this place really should get more use than it does."
Hijiri suddenly felt his heart lighten and the knots in his stomach go away as Watari gently took him by the chin and cleaned him up. The whole time, he found himself thinking how lucky he was. This was the second time the shinigami-bringers of death!-had saved his butt. The first time, they saved his life from Sagatanasu, but now, he was being saved from being homeless as well. When all of the blood was gone, Hijiri watched Watari bring the cloth and glass back out to the kitchen.

When he came back in, Hijiri couldn't help himself. He threw his arms around the man in happiness, trying not to cry and failing terribly.

"Thank you," he whispered, "thank you so much."

Watari blushed a little. He was a bit flustered for a moment, but then he hugged the kid back, brushing a hand through his hair. "Aaah, don't worry about it. Truth be told it gets a bit lonely around here--no offense ladies," he added to his avian friends.

The next day, Hijiri stood in his new home beside Watari. somehow, knowing that he lived there made it feel different. Watari, standing right next to him was a comforting presence and he was glad to have him there. There wasn't any new furniture or anything to move in now that Hijiri was there. All he had was a few clothes and his violin. They were stored into two boxes where they would be staying until there was a place to put them.

Watari put a hand on the teen's head. "Welcome home, son."

Truth be told, Watari felt a little bit of a kindred spirit in Hijiri. He didn't have any family either, or memories of his. Hisoka had his family, estranged, dysfunct, bizzare, and unhealthy as it was, Tsuzuki had memories of his sister to hold onto, Tatsumi his mother.. and Watari...nothing. Just some vauge, hazy arguments about his hair that could have been held with just about anyone.

Sensing the mood in the room becoming serious, Hijiri turned to Watari.
"While I'm here," he said, "do you mind if I clean up the place in my free time?"
Watari blushed, embarrassed. "Please do! I'm just kinda sorry that you have to do that at all...Makes me feel kinda guilty." He sighed. "I just never have enough time to keep everything clean..."

Realizing that he had embarrassed his new roommate, Hijiri's face flushed.

"Oh" he said, "No. That's not what I mean. I...it's actually something I do a lot in my free time. I guess that it somehow relaxes me. I'm sorry if I insulted you. I really didn't mean anything by it." He bowed his head in shame.

Watari waved his hands, "Hey now, let's get one thing straight, nothing you say can bother me. I'm only embarrassing myself because I can't keep house, it has nothing to do with you..And if it helps you relax, then that's cool too. You're living here now, so you should have a say in how things are."

Hijiri couldn't keep the smile off of his face. For the first time in his life, he wasn't going to be alone. Thanks to Watari, thinks were actually looking up for him. He felt as though he could laugh in a way that he hadn't before. Off in the distance, there was the sound of a clock's gong and Hijiri bit Watari a short farewell that he was glad wouldn't last for long and hurried off for school.

when he got there, he found Saionji at the front gate, seemingly waiting for something. He went to walk by, ignoring the fact that there were multiple eyes glaring death at his back. before he could get too far, though, there was a sneering call to him from behind. Recognizing Saionji's rabid-dog voice, he ignored it, but then, a hand grabbed hold of Hijiri's shoulder and pulled him around to come face to face with what looked like a bulldog, but was actually human. The bulldog boy glared in his face for a moment before Saionji's voice called him away.

"This is Kasato," he said, "you might want to watch out for him, he doesn't like pleebes." And they laughed as a teacher walked down the stairs right between them.

Watari smiled as Hijiri went off to school, and then cursed as he was going to be late.

...Yup he was late. Tatsumi was going to kill him...he paused. Oops.. he really hadn't thought this through. He was so going to get pissed at Watari for taking in mortal...a mortal who knew what they were..and had already been exposed to danger on their behalf. Oh well.

To Watari's surprise though, Tatsumi sighed and looked a little bit sad..and a little bit like a migrane was coming."I can't stop you you know, and the kid does need a place to stay but.."

"But...?"

"You're going to have to protect him Watari. If someone like Muraki figures out how close we are to him, he could end up getting used. He could die and he's going to die someday anyways. He's going to grow up, grow old, and wither away like all people do. Are you sure you can handle that?"

Watari blinked at all this. ".....Yes. Well, by yes I mean 'no' but I can't just turn him away either. But if nothing else...it'll be nice to have a family for awhile...." Tatsumi looked a little pained, and like he was about to say something, but then he stopped. with a sigh, he pushed something across his desk at Watari.

"Here. I better not hear any horror stories from Minase about starvation or odd potions in his tea." Watari looked down at the slip of paper. Th-this was-!!

A raise! Watari hadn't gotten one of those in.. in.. ...had he ever gotten one!? He looked up at Tatsumi, speechless. The man frowned at him, trying desperately to hide the soft spot that had just been exposed. "Don't say anything. It's merely because you have to support two people now instead of one. ow go start earning your paycheck for a change. GAAH!" The man started blushing furiously as he was enveloped in a rib-cracking, exuberant hug.

"Thanks Tatsumi!!"

When Hijiri got home from school, he looked around the house to find that there was no place to do his homework. Watari had told him that they were going to do a little house cleaning once he was home from work, but he didn't honestly think that he'd survive in a chaotic place like this. His Cleaning side was starting to kick in (from what he guessed, he probably get it from the mother he'd never met) and he soon found himself going here and there, scrubbing this and cleaning that, going all over the place untill the house was nearly spotless. When he was done, he lay on his stomach on the floor, doing his homework. He never noticed himself getting tired until his head hit the book and his eyes were already closed.
Watari came home a little later than he expected (he'd stopped to get groceries). He was about to shout out a hearty "I'm HOooOoome" out of habit (not that he'd ever had anyone to come home to, apart from his birds), when he noticed the sleeping form on the floor. Setting the bags on the kitchen table, he crept over to the living room and tossed an afghan over the boy.
Smiling, he went back to the kitchen and put away the groceries, and started making dinner.
When Hijiri awoke, it was because Watari was shaking him gently and telling him it was dinner time. He sat up tiredly, stifling a yawn behind his hand just barely. Watari had made some sort of pasta for dinner tonight and it smelled delicious. Despite how hungry he was, he took his time eating, making sure not to re-open the hole in his tongue. After he was fully awake, he looked at Watari.

"How was your day today?" he asked curiously, as a parent might a child.

He smiled broadly. "Pretty good actually. Tatsumi-san says hello to you. Hisoka and Tsuzuki will be back from their case tomorrow I expect, so we'll probably all go out for dinner, if that's okay with you. And I got my first raise in about thirty years. Really, I should have picked up a cohabitant yeaaaars ago." He chuckled. "What about you? What's school like in this day and age?"

Hijiri chuckled at his thought on cohabitating and was overjoyed at the thought of being able to see the others again. He was so happy that he didn't even think about the threat that he'd recieved from the other boys at school.
"Same old," he said, "I don't think schools have changed since the stone ages. That's probably why they're all so boring."

Watari smiled wryly. "Haha, well said. Well, you might be the type who would enjoy the university better. Less bullshit, more substance, more thought provoking. Not to mention generally a higher caliber of people there than the schmucks and jerks in your schoolyards."

"There's a thought," said Hijiri, suddenly reminded of the bullies at his school, "luckily, there aren't many there who can stand up to me. They try, but more often than not, they fail." He chortled for a moment before taking another bite of his pasta. "By the way, I don't think you have to worry about cleaning the house."

Watari almost choked on his drink--dihydrogen monoxide. "Whaaaaaat!? You.. you cleaned it all up already?!?! No way!!!"

"Yep," said Hijiri in an interested voice, "I couldn't find a place to do my homework, so I started cleaning...and it really didn't end until I thought everything had a proper place. I guess that I have some OCD tendencies." He continued to eat his dinner.

Watari chuckled into a slice of garlic bread. Man.. the parallels between Hirjiri and Hisoka were uncanny sometimes. Granted, he knew they were each their own person, but still... He smiled. "Hisoka is going to be so annoyed when the waiter or waitress at the restaurant tomorrow night insinuates you guys are brothers."

Hijiri nodded, agreeing fully with what he said. Hisoka would probably hate just being AT a restaurant. Of course, if his powers had mellowed-as Watari had said-then he'd probably be much less cold than he used to be.
"So, what did they say when you told them that I was living with you?" he asked.

Watari smiled. "They don't know yet, they've been on a case the last couple of days. Hisoka will be politely bewildered for a moment before expressing some sort of guarded interest in your current welfare and Tsuzuki will be ecstatic and want to come and see you right away after work." No no, he wasn't psychic, he just knew them that well.
That sounded very accurate. Hijiri grinned sheepishly. "oh, yeah," he said, "you already said that, didn't you. Sorry, guess I'm just excited to see them. He took the last bite of his dinner and gulped down his water before standing up.

"Now I've just got to figure out these stupid math problems," he said with a grimace, "now that I live farther away from the school, it'll be harder to get help with it."
Watari coughed a little, "You know.. I am rather scholarly minded. I was actually going to be a math major before I switched over to engineering..." He smiled, one arm over the back of his chair.

Hijiri's eyes widened with new hope.

"Really?" he gasped out, "do you know anything about binomials, trinomials, and polynomials?"

Watari smiled, "Of course! That's the easy stuff. Wait until you hit calculus my boy, that will really make your head spin." Watari stood up, clearing the table. He'd get to the dishes later. "Let's start on those problems shall we?"

Hijiri cringed.

"Calculus?" he repeated following Watari to the sink, and handing the dish to him so he could rinse it off before placing it to the side, "man, now my head really hurts." Watari laughed and they went back to his books-which had been abandoned on the floor-and finished his homework. When Hijiri went to bed that night, he felt that nothing could bring him down.

Watari looked in on the boy before retiring to his own bed. It felt...nice. He smiled. He liked this. It was like having a brother, or a nephew.. who wasn't obnoxious. He went to bed himself, wondering what, if anything he should make for breakfast, wondering if just cereal or oatmeal was okay with Hijiri...
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kis4me · Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 19

oh, i love this! your watari is fantastic. any hijiri! he doesn't get nearly enough love! watari helping him with homework made my day Wink

Rhea-sama · Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:41 am Post subject: Enter: Yakuma kun.

((Yakuma: [url="http://www.scooter-moped.com/images/bt_deluxe_red.jpg"] WATARI! She's beautiful, she's perfect!!![/url] D": *cries oily tears of vehicular lust* Sorry.. I just wanted to make sure I didn't lose this one XD))

When he got up in the morning, he found that there was ample sun in the sky and birds were chirping. How could any day start off better than this? While he was buttoning his shirt, there was a knock at the door. It was Watari, asking if Oatmeal was okay for breakfast. Hijiri replied that anything was fine as long as Tsuzuki didn't make it. Watari went back into the kitchen, laughing the whole way. He exited his room to the sweet smell of apple cinnamon. It wasn't intoxicating, the way it would be with Tsuzuki, but It was just enough to tickle the senses and leave one wanting more.

Entering the kitchen, Hijiri was pleased to find two bowls of steaming oatmeal already there and Watari pouring two glasses of orange juice. This was wonderful. When the two were Seated at the table, Hijiri slowly put the food into his mouth, careful of his self inflicted wounds.

Watari, unfortunately, had to hurry on his way, so he couldn't afford a slow breakfast. He shoveled the sweetened substance into his mouth, walking around the kitchen as he did so. He got up and put something on the table by Hijiri's elbow. "'Ere. Your key. Don't forget to lock up the 'partment when you leave."

"Okay," said Hijiri, "thanks for breakfast and all." Watari nodded, unable to speak through his oatmeal. And when he left, Hijiri enjoyed the feeling of a full stomach in the morning as he walked to school.

Later that day, Hijiri walked home from school, exactly as he had the day before, unable to wait to see Tsuzuki again. When he got to the house, he was pleased to find that the mail has arrived. Most was for him from school, but there's one for Watari which he put on the counter. After doing that, he sat at the kitchen table and started his homework.

In the midst of doing his homework, Hijiri made a sandwitch and then made one for Watari. Afterward he practiced his violin until Watari got home.

Watari came home, dropped his coat on the peg, which promptly slid to the floor and walked over to a chair and slumped down in it. Ye gods he was tired. He looked around...It was so weird how everything was all clean!! A weary little smile made its way to his face however, as he listened to Hijiri play. That was something he could get used to rather quickly.

Faintly, Hijiri heard the front door open and close. Watari was home. He wanted to go out and greet him, but he also wanted to finish the song. He decided on the latter of the two. He figured that the man didn't need to be jumped on at all times of the day, no matter HOW greateful the boy was. So he stayed in his room and played a couple more songs.

Watari smiled happily, leg twitching and fingers drifting through the air in time to the music.

Lowering his violin, Hijiri realized that it'd been some time since he's heard noise from the next room over. Placing the instrument in its case gently, he made his way out of his room. There, he found Watari sound asleep in the overstuffed chair. He grinned to himself, thinking that it was comical how he twitched while he slept. He looked at the clock, seeing that they should probably get ready for dinner, he reached out and touched Watari's shoulder, gently trying to wake him. Of course, Watari's head turned, but nothing else happened. He put a little more force behind his hand, causing a lock of that golden sunshine hair to fall over his face. Hijiri gently pushed it out of the way. Finding it amazingly soft, he couldn't stop himself from running his fingers through the man's hair. It was silky and shimmered even in the shadows. Hijiri had never noticed before the way that his nose arched ever so slightly upward and how perfect his skin was. His lashes were long and would most likely be feminine on any other person. His glasses were slightly askew due to his positioning, but without them over his eyelids, Hijiri could see the soft skin protecting his eyes. Suddenly, he realized what he was doing. He pulled away from Watari, trying with all of his might to figure out what he was doing so close to the man. He shook his head.

"I'm ridiculous," he said to himself. Then he put his hand on Watari's shoulder again and gave him a firm shake. The man awoke quickly. "Hey," said Hijiri, "you'll get cramps in your neck if you sleep like that."

Watari started a little, "Hn!? Wha-who-whau..Not asleep! Not asleep! Dunno what you're talking about. Who's asleep?" He adjusted his glasses, staring up into bright green eyes. "Do you see anyone sleeping out here? No. Totally awake. Now...are you gonna get changed for dinner? I might have some old clothes in the closet that would fit you..."

Chuckling slightly, Hijiri watched Watari stand and go to the closet he'd mentioned. The man searched through the clothes or a few moments before choosing what he thought would fit Hijiri. Without questioning, Hijiri thanked Watari and went back to his room to change.

Watari smiled and went to his room, and changed into one of his nicer shirts, a light pink one with a v-neck, with loose strings in a faux lace-up top, and put on a pair of his leather pants. It looked strangely good on him. He went back out into the living room, "Yo Hiji-kun, you ready?"

Walking out of his room, Hijiri was wearing tight (but not too tight) black jeans. His turtle neck was black as well and it clung to him, accenting his every move. It was cold out, so he'd grabbed a black and red pleather jacket from the closet and threw that on.

"Yup," he said, "I'm ready when you are." Looking the older man over, he was surprised to see that he was wearing leather pants that fit him as well as the turtle neck fit him. As Watari turned to the door, Hijiri was embarrassed to realize that they did a very good job of revealing his pert rear end. He mentally shook himself, hoping Watari hadn't noticed. What the hell was he thinking?

((Link: *Since I suck so bad at describing vehicles..*))

Watari jangled his keys, blissfully (or perhaps willfully) unaware that his pants were rather tight and considered inappropriate for anywhere other than a rock concert. "Come on, we'll go to the parking lot out back. I don't get to ride my baby very often." He grabbed a black helmet with orange neon stripes and tossed it to Hijiri. He grabbed his own customized black, gold, and neon green helmet. "Hijiri, I'd like you to meet Yakuma-kun."

Curious, Hijiri followed Watari outside. There he found the most beautiful beast he'd ever seen. It was a neon green crotch rocket that glistened beneath the dying sunlight. Moving closer, Hijiri was dying to run his fingers over the smooth chrome, but knew it was taboo.

"This is YOURS?" he said, looking at Watari with eyes full of Awe.

Watari patted the motorbike fondly on the front fendor. "Yup. Got him after my last chopper got trashed. I gotta warn ya though, Yakuma-kun here is.. weeeeell... a little bit.. faster than most bikes." A feral girn lit up Watari's features. "Don't worry though, we're perfectly safe. I'm a much better engineer than I am alchemist." With that, he bound back his hair and jammed on his helmet, obscuring his face from view. He pulled on a jacket and sat himself down on his beloved bike. He gave Hijiri a thumbs up.

Hijiri pulled on his helmet as Watari got on the bike, then jumped on behind him. His heart jumped as he held on to Watari around the man's ribs. He'd only admired bikes like this from afar. He'd never been on one before. But he wasn't sure if his heart was leaping for the bike or from being so close to Watari.

Beneath his helmet, Watari was grinning like a crazy fucker. He hadn't missed that look. He'd seen it before. The one of a bike loving virgin. Well. Yakuma-kun had deflowered many a-non rider before. He loved taking people on their first bike rides. Now if only he could get Tatsumi on this thing... He inserted the key and revved the engine. At the same time, from an unseen speaker, music by some loud British invasion band started playing.

YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Change it had to come~! We knew it all along... We were liberated from the fold, that's all And the world looks just the same .. And history ain't changed..'Cause the banners, they are flown in the next war..

Watari hadn't been kidding. Yakuma was fast. Luaghing wildly and with The Who music blaring, Watari sped through the city streets, in a manner that the untrained eye would call haphazard.

As the bike took off, Hijiri's arms clamped around Watari's ribs in a vise-like grip. DAMN! He wasn't kidding when he said this thing was fast!!! He didn't know if he wanted to laugh out of pure thrill or cry from fear. Either way, he was sure that Watari was going to have bruised or broken ribs before this ride was over.

Watari's driving was another thing that scared him. Were they supposed to be all over the road like that? He felt that it was a good thing that there was nobody else on the road because if things were otherwise, they'd probably have hit an eighteen wheeler by now. The adrenalin rushing through him made his head spin and he closed his eyes in hopes that it would help get rid of the feeling.

The blond laughed and toned down his psycho driving, just a notch. He took a circuitous route to the restaurant, and then took another fifteen minutes trying to find a parking spot. So by the time they got to the restauraunt doors HIsoka and Tsuzuki were waiting for them.

Watari smiled at him as he took off his helmet, his own legs a little watery from the rush. "So, what'd you think?"

Getting off of the bike with legs made of jello was a difficult task. Watari had to help him so he wouldn’t fell over. His knees shook and his arms were sore from holding onto the man so tight. For a few moments, his body felt weak, yet at the same, he was exhilarated. His heart rushed and his breath was swift in his chest. He was unable to answer Watari for a time as he leaned against a building and took off his helmet. He still couldn’t speak, so he simply grinned his reply. That was the most amazing thing he’d ever been through, as far back as he could remember. It even beat the feeling he’d gotten when he’d won his violinist title. He handed Watari the helmet and watched him put it on the bike.
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Rhea-sama · Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:09 am Post subject: Dinner

[[DINER WITH HISOKA AND TSUZUKI WILL GO HERE LATER--once I get it all.. in the proper order and organized and everything XD]]

(Recap: They have fun, Watari reveals that Hisoka and Tsuzuki are dating. (Hisoka also calls Hijiri on his crush at a private moment.))
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Rhea-sama · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:07 pm Post subject:

[[ JANI WE MUST COMBINE FORCES

Hijiri gets sick--aw D': But Watari takes care of hum like SUPER MOTHER-NURSE HEN~!

Then Watari has to go away, so he gets Tats to take care of Hijri. Aw. He reads him a story. 'The Phantom Tollboth' which is one of Watari's favorite books...

Also, Watari forcably gives Hiji a stuffed animal that could be a goat or a cat. Something he aquired on a long ago case. ]]

Imma post what I have of this later
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Rhea-sama · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:36 pm Post subject: D'aaaaaaww

[[some sort of nightmareish thing here preceding this...]]

Watari squeezed him before repeating his order gently. "Sleep. Rest now." He laid the boy back down on the covers. "Just let you mind go.. Let sleep wash everything away." He rearranged the covers, continuing to mutter soothing things about sleep, conversely feeling all the more awake himself. Oh well. He had papers he could catch up on. He smiled as the boy had all but gone under. "Good night Hijiri."

Hijiri's eyes closed, but he forced out an answer before the darkness of sleep overtook him.

"G...night....Wa...ri.....nii.....-" his lightened breathing and relaed body told that he'd finally fallen back to sleep. But one thing caught Watari's attention. Most of Hijiri's body was relaxed, his head leaned onto Watari's arm and one of his arms hanging limply at his side. But his opposite hand clutched at Watari's shirt tightly.

He smiled at that, and squeezed the sleeping boy's hand lightly before making him let go. He wandered off into the kithcen and pulled out some paperwork, flling out forms with the light filtering in through the window. He wanted to be nearby in case Hijiri woke up again. However, halfway through the fifth form he had to rest his eyes, put his head down on his arm, only for a moment.. just a moment...

"Rise and shine, Waari-nii!" said Hijiri's voice the next morning, waking Watari with a laugh. He was wrpped in a blanket and sitting on the chair next to the man. When Watari didn't move at first, Hijiri began to poke him

Watari groaned and buried his face deeper in his arms. "I am going to be very annoyed with you if it is before eight o clock." Nevermind the fact that he had to be AT work at eight, not just GOING there. He frowned and then looked up, "'Choo doin' outta bed?" He rubbed at his eyes sleepily. (His glasses were still on his beside table in his room.)

"I don't care if you're annoyed with me," Hijiri answered, "Tatsumi called to say that you're late and that you'd better show up soon or else."

Watari blinked as his mind registered this. "....CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!" He got up and ran to his room in order to change, knocking over his chair in his haste.

A record 4 seconds later he streaked back out into the living room, in all sorts of dress/undress. Shirt barely around his shoulders, glasses askew, hairtie in his teeth, sock in hand, sock half pulled on, attempting to pull up his pants. He hopped around, frantically searching for his boots.

Hijiri laughed at this scene untill he cried. But as Watari was streaking toward the door, Hijiri stopped him.

"Wait," he said, "before you go, could you take this paper to look at it later once you get the chance, okay?"

Watari paused, in the middle of jamming his foot into his boot, he grabbed the paper, and then lunged over to reach his papers sitting on the kitchen table, almost falling on the boy, "Okay-ya-whoops-soory-I'll-look-at-it-gotta-go-I'll-call-the-school-on-my-way-okay? Byeeeee!" And the man was out through the door like a shot.. still.. finishing the finer details of getting dressed. There was an efeminite shriek outside. ("What!? I'm decent! I'm zipping up my fly as we speak!!")

Hijiri watched him go and then looked around the apartment. It wasn't very cleanly due to the fact that he'd been down and out for a couple of days. He closed the door an began to slowly walk around, picking things up as he went.

Around noon or eleven there was a knock at the door.

"Watari?" he said, "did you forget your keys?" He opened the door and stared out in surprise at who he found.

"Hi-Hisoka?"

The boy gave him a look before holding forth a bag. "Watari wanted me to give you this. Said to make sure that you ate it. He feels bad for not coming himself by the way." He rolled his eyes, "Not that he didn't say it a hundred times before he let me go." Really. He was an empath. He got it. He didn't need to be beaten over the head with it. "I can't tell if he's gotten more manic or more normal with you around." That harsh, impersonal tone. "He'll probably end up crashing in his lab. Some other sector is roping him in to help on a case of theirs, need him to do the tech stuff. Tsuzuki or Tatsumi might come again later tonight." He shifted, as though wanting to cut the conversation short. He could feel Hijiri's illness and it was making him uncomfortable. "Here. the sooner you eat, the sooner I can leave. I need to go back to work." He may have muttered something under his breath about a certain 'slacker.'

Hijiri saw his impatience amping.

"No need to stay if it'll just get in the way," he said. He didn't want to be a hindrance to the boy, even though his words and tone rather hurt, "thanks though. Um, could I ask you one thing?"

Hisoka shook his head. "No. Watari will kill me if I don't watch you eat." He sighed, one hand on his arm, half crossing his arms. "I can't really stop you go ahead and ask." Even though I already know what you're going to ask me..

Hijiri found himself ill at ease with the boy's eyes looking at him that way. They were so cold. Hijiri shook his head.

"Two things, actually," he said, motioning for Hisoka to come in, "first, I was wondering if Watari had read the paper I sent with him this morning. I don't know if you'd know or not, but I figure it's worth a try."

Hisoka blinked. A memory stirring. His mind had been wandering a little when Watari had een rambling at him. "Oh yeah.. it should be in the bag. Says he marked on it. 'Hope you don't mind.'"

Hijiri grinned in relief.

"So that means he'll come?" Hijiri said, hope rising in his voice.

Hisoka gave the boy one of his pattented 'Are you stupid?' looks. Duh. "Yeah.... At one AM after he wakes up from falling asleep at his microscope or his centerfuge or... electron scrambler or whatever." With enough guilt to wake the dead. "He's working on something pretty tough, so he probably won't crack it until after dinner time." His voice was finally a tad softer here, more reflective. He shrugged, returning to his original demeanor. "He misses you." Not that he'd said it in words... "He's afraid you'll drop down dead if he's not here."

Hijiri shook his head with a smile.

"No," he said," that's not what I mean. I was wondering if he was going to accept and come to my school."

Hisoka's brow wrinkled at that. "Um.. I think he said.. yes? I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Basically if he's not caught up in a case or something he said he'll come..." Whatever that means. "He didn't say what though." Those unused to Hisoka, would miss that carefully disguised question. He paused for a moment. Then he dropped his gaurd a little, only a little. "What was he agreeing to?"

Hijiri didn't even notice, paying attention to what was in the bag.

"Ooohh!! Yummy!!" he said, then to Hisoka, "oh, there's some thing going on at the school where we need to bring in parents or mentors." hijiri blushed suddenly. "Actually, we're supposed to bring in our whole family, but you guys at the bereau are the only family I've got, and I don't thin you'd all be able to get the day off." He blushed deeper, grinning at Hisoka sheepishly, glad that the other boy didn't seem angry with him anymore.

Ah, Hisoka reflected. That would explain the overpowering surge of pride and joy Watari had radiated. He relaxed another hair, realizing that he'd been being... cold again. Old habits die hard they say. He watched the boy eat for another moment. "....I can't believe you're actually eating something he prepared for you. Everyone else would think you were nuts." Hisoka paused again. "Can he actually cook? Watari just.. doesn't seem the type." He forwned lightly. Hisoka was just honestly curious now. Simply because the juxtaposition of Watari in a kitchen without it exploding seemed quite impossible to his mind.

Hijiri nodded and swallowed, suddenly realizing how hungry he was after having eaten so little in the past few days. He chewed and swallowed.

"Oh yes," said the boy, "He's not a virtuoso, mind you, but he's way better than Tsuzuki." He grinned at his almost twin, guessing correctly that he'd been through Tsuzuki's cooking as well. He was suddenly glad Hisoka hadn't brought up that Hijiri'd mentioned a second question, it suddenly seemed so stupid now. "Actually, he's teaching me a bit of cooking now. You should try some of it sometime." His smile and his speach showed his innocence all to clearly.

Hisoka frowned. "Ah, thanks but no thanks." He could feed himself thank you. He wasn't helpless! He shrugged and looked around the aprtment--which he had a sneaking suspicion was never so clean before the musician got here. (Well, aside from move-in day perhaps) "Sorry to sound so nosey. I just don't know that much about him. It's hard to understand him a lot."

"No," said Hijiri, "not at all." His smile would have been infectious had it been someone other than Hisoka there. It held hints of mischief in it, showing that the boy had been spending a lot of time with the blond scientist, but it also showed genuine pleasure at his company. He really didn't mind having someone there to talk to. "Actually, I'm pleased that you stopped by."

Hisoka shrugged indifferently. "Well whatever." He paused. "...It sucks to be alone when you're sick." And that's all he would say on the matter. He looked around the apartment again. How infuriating. It still didn't say much about Watari. How utterly like the scientist. It wasn't that Hisoka ...cared.. excactly. It was just that he was good at figuring people out via his empathy. It's just what he did. It was his 'schtick'. And it rankled him that he could never pin down anything about Watari. It was like a personal challenge to him.. to everyone really. But they never took it up because they were all decieved into thinking they knew Watari. (If he couldn't figure anything out about his coworker in the few years they'd worked together, how was he supposed to be able to figure out demons and suspects!) Maybe I shouldn't rely so heavily on my empathy. I should really study interrogation/investigative methods more thouroughly... Though he doubted he'd ever be good at them. Hisoka didn't have the people skills to pull them off. He didn't think he ever would either. He was frowning at the floor, totally absorbed in his thoughts.

Looking at Hisoka, Hijiri realized that the other boy was thinking deeply. He didn't want to pry or be a prig, or anything, but the look on Hisoka's face concerned him.

"Um...Hisoka-san?" he said, not realizing he'd ended with "-san", "are you okay? Am I annoying you? Did I say something to insult you? I'm sorry if I did, I tend to be really stupid sometimes. I'm really sor" and he went on with nervous ramblings, continuously switching between "Kurosaki-san" and "Hisoka-san". He didn't know why he did this, but he wasn't sure how to act around a boy his own age who was as serious as Hisoka was. He began to feel stupid just for being there to take up the other boys time.

Hisoka waved a hand. "Sorry. Nothing. Just.. thinking. 'Hisoka' is fine." I guess. Kurosaki-kun maybe.. but not by someone his own age.. and definitely not Kurasaki-san or "-sama." That was his father. He eyed the boy critically. "How do you do it? Get him to open up to you?" Probably in the same way Tsuzuki did things, that straightforward, free, friendly way. Being nosey and asking questions and showing concern. Urg. Maybe he couldn't do this after all. Sometimes, Hisoka hated having so much pride. It compromised some of his other values, such as minding his own bussiness. Then again, if that was all true, wouldn't Tsuzuki know the blond better than he claimed to? (Or.. not to as the case was.)

"How...?" he repeated, laughing slightly, "I have no idea what you're talking about. He's still a strange, mysterious....mystery...type...person...thing...."
Hijiri blushed decided that his bumbling was probably annoying. I must be feeling better, he thought, I'm blabbering like a foolish idiot, and fools don't get sick. He almost laughed at this last thought but decided that Hisoka would wonder about his sanity if he went from nervously bumbling one second to laughing histarically the next. He settled for shoving more food in his mouth. He then looked at Hisoka again, wondering about the boy. He was still looking at the floor, but not as focused this time. Hijiri wondered if he was doing something wrong, but then again, he didn't know this boy as well as he wished he could. He wanted to be good friends, but he knew that friends took time and getting to know to get that way. He didn't think Hisoka would want him to get-to-know him. When Hisoka looked at him again, he forced himself to stop choking and looked down at the table, forcefully chewing.

Hisoka shrugged again. "Well.. whatever. You still probably know him better than the rest of us." Except possibly Tatsumi or Konoe, but that was to be expected. He scuffed his shoe on the kitchen floor absently. "I should really go back. You...gonna be okay on your own?" He certainly looked..not as sick as Tatsumi and Tsuzuki and Watari had described.

Hijiri's blush continued and he felt like punching himself in the face. Stop blushing, you ignorant, good-for-nothing, sickening, idiotic----

"Yep," he said to Hisoka with a kind smile and a slightly tilted head, "I couldn't possibly take up more of your time. But that you for coming and spending time with me. I really appriciate it, even though I'm nowhere near as sick as I was before." He downed the last of what was in the bag and stood, ready to see Hisoka to the door. "You should come visit again sometime. Visitors are always welcome, and I'd like to get to know you better. I'd like to be friends." Hijiri's insides nearly froze up at his last words. Had he really just said that? They were friends already! They'd gone to dinner toghether with Tsuzuki and Watari! They were friends! Why did Hijiri just feel like a hindrance and a waste of time to the boy he was looking at? Why----?

He calmed himself in the moment it took to get to the door.

Hisoka paused and considered that. "That would.." What was the appropriate response to that? "Be.. nice I guess." He paused, "I mean.. " I've never really had a friend before..before Tsuzuki and the others... "Sure. Why not?" He did his best to sound indifferent and cool, hiding his momentary uncertainty. "I'm going back to work. I'll tell Watari you say 'hi' to him." And with that he exited the door. Pondering thoughtfully again.

As he watched Hisoka leave, Hijiri wondered why he was so uneasy around the other boy. There was absolutely no explination for it, but he was. He closed the door with a sigh, glad Hisoka had forgotten about the second question. There was no way Hijiri was good enough friends with Hisoka to ask if he could do anything for the boy concerning his relationship with Tsuzuki. That would be downright out of the question. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and was instantly sorry as a headache overtook him. He walked to his room, thinking that it was best that he slept some more.

Tatsumi came later that afternoon, but Hijiri didn't wake in the time he was there. He prepared the boy some soup, and left him a note, explaining Watari's whearabouts (still working) and some soup, kept pleasantly warm by a fuda. The book they had started was also next to the bowl, and somehow, Hijiri's school assignments had been delivered to him. It was nearing on seven o' clock and still no sign of Watari.

Hijiri awoke to silence and looked at the clock beside his bed. Almost 7:00. He yawned and stretched. Keeping a blanket around him and Kazusa at his side, he went into the kitchen to find warm soup and a note left by Tatsumi. Hijiri grimaced, wishing the man had at least woken him to tell him he'd been there. But he knew Tatsumi would probably not do that simply because getting his rest was what Hijiri needed to do. He ate all of the soup, finding it irresistably delicious and then rinsed the bowl out in the sink. After doing this, he walked into the living room and sat on the couch. He didn't turn on the TV (because he hated the thing) but he simply sat there, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. In the end, he fell asleep on the couch, drowning in the smell of Watari.

Watari opened the door around ten (ha! He was early! Truly, Watari was a genius~<3), looking tired and worn again. It had been a long day. And he felt guilty for not having had come home yet. "Hijiri?" He came in and dropped his coat on the floor. (Well, it slid off the hook quite readily) He yawned and cracked his back. Sighing as it did so. He called the boy's name again. "Hijiri Otouto-kun?"

Hijiri heard Watari open the door, but couldn't bring himself to move, he was just so comfy. The warmth of the couch was so inviting that he wanted to stay there longer. At the sound of Watari's tired voice, he opened his eyes and sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from them.

"Waari-nii?" he said through a yawn.

He came over to the couch and flopped down next to Hijiri. "Hey bro. How you doin? You seem better." He attacked him clinically again, hand feeling the glands at his throat, testing for fever. Hmm "You seem better. I think you're good to go to school tomorrow." He smiled. "Speaking of...what do you want me to say when I go?"

Hijiri was too tired to mind the checkup.

"Say?" he repeted, "um, actually, I'm not sure you're supposed to say anything." He grinned, knowing Watari would go overboard if he was supposed to make a speach of some kind. "I think you're just supposed to be there so I can tell about you." He could feel the sweatdrop roll down his temple as he imagined all of the girls in the school going crazy over the blond haired man. "Does Tatsumi mind?"

"I don't think so.. well.. I haven't told him yet, but he shouldn't. I can always use one of my sick days. No big deal." He paused. "Well that still leaves what you should say about me then." He grinned crookedly, "What do you want to paint me as Hijiri? I'd say go for the obvious and just say I'm a scientist and I do research but, you never know. Or say that I'm a private investigator, that's pretty close to what I do as well. Ooh~! Or we could always do the 'cool' approach and make up something." He smiled again, "I am your blank slate Hijiri, your canvas." He held his hands open, expressively.

Hijiri laughed.

"Don't worry," he said, "I know exactly what I'm going to say about you." There was a hint of a teasing threat to his tone, that and the knowledge that Watari wasn't going to know what the boy was going to say untill the next day. He grinned at the older man, the sight seeming rather like Watari himself.

Watari laughed. "'Alright then. Keep your secrets!' just don't say anything that'll get you put away in the insane asylum." He looked at the boy, pouting a little suddenly. "Really though, not even a hint? Not even a teensy, weensy little hint?" He laughed again suddenly. "If you have to make something up though, tell them I'm an aspiring rock star."

Hijiri laughed.

"'Aspiring rock star'?" he repeated, "no way. And no hints either. You'll see." He grinned and stood. "Have you had dinner yet? Or are you ready to just go to bed?"

Watari yawned. "I had a snack. I'm just gonna go to bed. Oh!" He snapped his fingers suddenly. "I need you to sign some stuff." He dug around in his pockets and fished outsome forms. "Two of these are so that I can be your guardian.. legally. Ah, the Ministry will take care of the paperwork, so long as we fill these out and this..." He took in a breath, suddenly serious. "This is.. the arrangment for my final affairs. My final, final affairs. It's kinda like a last Will and Testament, only..well I'm already dead y'know? This says.. if anything happens to me.. ever...and you're still alive, my stuff will become yours. All of it. Any money I have left, all my possessions--the cars will have to be restored to their original state.. um.. if they can do that--any living spaces I own. It'll be yours. And.. should you chose..you'll...know what happened. You can know everything that happened. It'll give you clearence to read my files and everything. All of them." Including confidential ones... He drew in a breath. "I.. understand if you don't want to do the guardian process and it.. takes awhile but.. I' m not letting you not do my Final Affairs. I don't have anyone else."

Hijiri was shocked into silence. He couldn't tell if he was happy or sad about this. The very thought of not being able to stay with Watari anymore made his heart twist painfully in his chest. But the fact that Watari even considered these things meant that Hijiri was important enough to him to actually sign everything over to him. He considered the boy family, just as Hijiri did to him. Tears of confused happiness and sadness collected at the corners of his eyes. Hijiri then threw a hug at the man, squeezing him tightly.

"I don't mind at all," he said, "just as long as you're not planning on disappearing anytime soon."

Watari hugged him back, "Oh gods no!" Was the immediate response. "This is all just.. in case. Tatsumi brought the paperwork over for me. He's smart like that." He beamed at the boy. "I'm not going anywhere, since I have someone to come home to." His lips quircked in a devious, black-humored grin, "It'll take more than hell to take me away from home." He paused, "Though beaurocracy might just manage it." He snickered, ah the evils of paperwork. You did not escape them, even in death.

Grinning, Hijiri found that he really enjoyed the way Watari had said it. The word home. It was no longer just a word to Hijiri anymore. It had actualy meaning. It meant Watari. It meant happiness. It meant everything to Hijiri, and he's give everything to keep life as it was now, even his own life. He squeezed Watari in a bearhug one last time, then looked at the papers. He frowned, suddenly realizing that his tear filled eyes couldn't see the paper. He faked a yawn.
"Could I sign it in the morning?" he asked, "I can't even see the paper right now, I'm so tired."

Watari got up lazily, also yawning. "Sure sure. Let's go to bed." He helped the boy up, knowing that he was probably still tired, though more from lack of activity for the past couple days than anything else. In a tired, contented daze, he led Hijiri to his room, before going off to his. He was alseep the moment his head touched the pillow.
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Rhea-sama · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:37 pm Post subject: Sharing and Caring <3

When Hijiri awoke the morning of the day Watari was to go to his school, he threw off the covers joyously. He's felt at full strength for the past few days thanks to Watari's careful nurturing and he was ready for anything. He walked out of the room, hoping Watari was still in the house.

There was a note on the kitchen table, along with some pancakes. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Hijiri! I'm a note on your breakfast! I will be there, I just needed to do some follow up on that thing I did last night for the Tokyo Shinigami. They're a LOT busier than the rest of us, so I wanted to give it to them ASAP. I've got the room number and everything, and I have a notion of where your classroom is. Be sure to let 003 out. Feel free to take her too. In fact, it's probably best if you do---if you can. She tends to get cranky with me if I leave her behind D:

Much loves and kisses! I'll be there at 10:00 sharp!

Watari-nii

Strange that he had put the arrival time a full hour before he had to be there. The forms were still on the coffee table as well.

Reading the note over once again, Hijiri looked at the kitchen table. There were pancakes piled up on a plate in front of him and they were still warm, curiously, he lifted the plate and found what he'd thought would be there, a fuda. He grinned at this and looked around to see if he could spot 003 anywhere.

The little bird was tapping impatiently at the kitchen window. Le me out you little @$#! (003 was not known for her ladylike qualities--especially this early in the morning)

Hijiri gently petted her for a moment and then opened the window. He watched her flutter out and then moved to down the pancakes before he left for school. They were delicious and Hijiri couldn't help but finish them all, despite the fact that he was only hungry enough to eat 3/4ths of the dish. He signed the papers quickly and as he left, he made sure that the door was closed and locked before looking around for 003. She fluttered over and landed on his head. He reached up and petted her, not minding her up there at all. In fact, he found her presence comforting and amusing.

"Do you like it up there?" he asked. She settled herself into his hair and he made his way to school. He could see people pointing at him and wondering to each other about the small bird on his head, but he didn't care, he'd come to be accustomed to 003's being there when he was with Watari. She'd never sat on his head for so long, but to him, it was simply a show of affection from her. He cringed slightly as she pulled some of his hair with her beak, but other than that, there were no problems.

Once he got to school, he found himself even more amused than before. As usual, Saionji was sitting at the stairs with his usual cronies, watching for Hijiri to show up. They spotted the bird and found something new to make fun of him about. Saionji immedietly walked out and sneered at the bird.

"What the hell is that thing?" he asked increduously, pointing up at the small bird. Hijiri didn't even flinch.

"'Thing'?" he said as he felt 003 tense in his hair, pulling some of it out, "she's not a 'thing' thanks very much. She's an owl."

"Well, what the hell are you doing with a fugly 'owl on your head, you pleeb?" Without warning, 003 zipped out of Hijiri's hair and dive bombed Saionji. The boy ducked, covering his head with his arms. 003 pulled up out of her dive, whirrling through the air and then flaring out her wings as she slowed, then aimed and divebombed him again. "Ouch!" cried Saionji as the small owl scraped his hand with her beak. "Call off your bird, Minase!!" Hijiri was practically rolling on the ground with laughter.

"What's wrong, Saionji, can't take on a creature one fiftieth your size?" he asked through his tears of glee. Then, the rather burly boy who Hijiri had just recently been introduced to began to walk forward. He wasn't that quick, Hijiri knew, but he loked like he could swallow 003 whole. That made Hijiri wory for the small bird. As she slowed down again, he snatched her out of the air and out of the reach of the burly boy. Saionji grimaced at Hijiri.

"Doing your fighting with small woodland creatures now?" he asked angrily. Hijiri was still grinning.

"Nah," he said, looking fondly down at the owl as he patted her head, "she does her own fighting, thanks. But it seems she does a hell of a good job of it, doesn't she?" His grin widened and he turned away to walk into the school, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and he was spun around to look directly into the face of the bulldog boy. His fist was raised behind him and in a split second, Hijiri was going to have his face flattened like one of the pancakes he had that morning. At the last moment though, he ducked, falling out of the way as the badly balanced boy hit the stairs with a smack. Hijiri lost grip of the small bird and she zoomed into the air like a rocket, coming down again on a boy behind Hijiri who was about to throw a punch. The boy grabbed his cheek as she scratched him with her little claws. Hijiri didn't like how this seemed to be turning into an all out brawl (but enjoyed how it seemed like 003 was winning) so he grabbed the small bird out of the air once again(despite her peep of displeasure) and looked squarely at Saionji with a menacing grin.

"That'll teach you to mess with the wildlife," he said before turning and making his way up the steps. He laughed and patted the birds feathers softly, now more fond of her than ever. She was nibbling at his hand in a way of saying "Let me go!!" He chuckled. "I'll let you go," he said, "but you have to promise to stay with me, okay?" She looked up at him with a glare even more menacing that the one Hijiri had given Saionji. But then, with a sigh, she nodded and Hijiri placed her back on his head, where she sat confortably.

When Hijiri walked into class, there were many people staring at him as he went and took his seat. A few friends came over.

"Um...Minase?" said one of his friends, "why do you have a bird on your head?" Hijiri grinned at them. He reached up and patted the bird.

"This is 003," he said to them, "she's one of my guardian's pets."

"And she's the one you're going to be telling us about today?" asked a girl. Hijiri laughed at this. They'd all suddenly turned downcast as they thought of not being able to meet Hijiri's new guardian. Hijiri shook his head slightly, causing 003 to pull some of his hair.

"Nah," he said, "don't worry, he's coming." They grinned, pleased. The bell then rang and they all went to their seats.

As the day went along, many people began to show up and none of them (as it seemed to Hijiri) were very interesting. They all wore suits and showed up in boring cars or something of the such. It all made Hijiri appriciate the fact that he lived with someone so interesting. Of course, it was almost time now to start and Watari hadn't shown up yet. He found himself staring out the window wistfully and pricking up his ears at the slightest sound of a motorcycle. He sighed when it was never Watari. It seemed that 003 had caught his nerves and she was pulling on a few strands of his hair in an attempt to relax.

Vrrrrrrrr A very familar engine sound could be heard. It was getting louder. And... yup. Faint music...(yet somehow every lyric audible...oh gods, how loud was Watari playing it?) Loooong liiive rock! I need it every night... The engine noise was louder. So was the music. Good thing the lyrics were all in english (There might be.. issues if someone had caught "someone takes his pants off and the rafters knock--"though Watari STILL didn't know what that meant, even to this day). Loooooong liiive rock! There was a neon green pinprick in the distance. The pinprick was growing larger and.. faster.. and...louder and.. 003 hopped once in excitment. A blur of neon green rushed past the window, causing them to rattle slightly in the wake of his speed--or maybe that was just the music doing it. LOOOOONG LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK------! Be it dead or alive!!!! The song transitioned into another one, but was cut off abrubtly.

There were sounds of footsteps in the hall presently, brisk footsteps, not quite running. Watari skid to a halt in front of the door, still in riding gear. He took off his gloves first and stuck them in the pocket of his--(PVC/shiny leather?)--long jacket before shucking that and throwing it over the back of an empty chair. Oh gods..

He was wearing.. leather.. pants. Again! Not quite as tight as before but really! At least he was still wearing his labcoat (slevees rolled up to the elbows), but --oh gods. (His boots were also "blindingly awesome")

Sleeveless, black, suede, top, with a lace-up v-neck--untied of course--revealing his tight black body suit underneath, complete with sleeves and ending in fingerless gloves.

His helmet was the last thing to go, with a slight shake of his head, revealing his long shock of blonde hair, barely restrained in a braid. He stared around the classroom with a grin a mile wide--before removing his clip on sunglasses. There.

He held up his hand in a wave, customary cheeky wink in place, and simply uttered. "Hi~!" 003 chirped happily after a moment and went to sit on his shoulder, comfortably sheltered underneath his hair. He reached up to stroke her belly once as he sat down--smiling across at Hijri.

There was a stunned---make that shocked silence. The teacher seemed to be trying to compose herself, unable to breathe for some reason.

Hijiri grinned as there was silence around him. He had to bite into his hand to keep from laughing out. Out of the corner of his eye, He saw Saionji staring at the man with a look on his face theat was undistinguishable from any emotion. There was no way to read it what-so-ever. As was the same with many of the others. Peering around, he saw many of the "dorky" kids with looks of awe in their eyes and the teacher had a look on her face like she either wanted Watari's bod, or wanted to kick his ass for appearing in such a fasion. After a few minutes of silence, (and Hijiri practically biting through his hand in attempting not to laugh) one of the parents at the back of the room cleared their throat.

"Sensei," he said, "uuuhhh, we should....continue class...yes?" The teacher nodded, clearing her throat as well and turning to look up at the clock.

"Yes," she said, "let's...urm..begin with our presentations."

Watari's entire body was quaking with silent laughter. He bit his lip extremely hard, and he prayed that no one noticed his cut continually healing. He winked again at some kid who was staring at him (Saionji--not that he knew him) particularly hard. He smiled kindly over at his 'nerdular kindred' and smilled oh-so-innocently at the adults who were looking at him in grouchy dissaproval. Screw the rules! Screw expectations! He was dead damnit, he could do whatever the hell he wanted. He decided against however, blowing a kiss at the teacher--maybe later. As he left. Yes. That would be best. >3 *Insert evil giggles here--but silent*

Yes. He'd done it all. On purpose.

Every. Last. Bloody. Detail.

..except for shaving the time so close, that had been partially Tatsumi's fault, but other than that, everything. He regained himself enough to sit attentively and watch everyone else's presentation.

Despite how boring things got after Watari showed up (the teacher was trying to make sure that Watari was one of the last to be presented) Hijiri still couldn't stop grinning. Everyone knew Watari was with him because every now and then, 003 would flutter between the two and Hijiri would pet her, too amused to do anything else. Saionji's parents moved to the front of the room and Hijiri suddenly almost felt sorry for the boy....almost. His parents were streight-laced and commanding. They were so boring that Hijiri not only caught Watari yawning, but also yawned quite a bit himself.

And finally Hijiri's name was up. Watari stood, his joints cracking and popping quietly. He got up and made his way to the front of the room, winking at the teacher as he did so. (A little flirting never hurt anyone--well...okay nevermind in his world it often led to pain so why not flirt when it was relatively harmless?! Apparently it's bad form to hit on female ambassador Peruvian "Deathsteppers." Who knew!?) He turned around and faced the front, customary, default Watari smile plastered to his face. Inside he was kinda nervous. Before he'd been able to take those stares because he hadn't given a damn about them but now...Hijiri was going to speak and he didn't know what the boy was going to say. He pet 003 absently, as she seemed to understand his need for support right now.

Leading Watari to the front of the class, Hijiri suddenly felt his nerves jangle like a loud cow bell. He ws used to playing the violin for people, not talking to them! He took a few calming breaths, also noticing that Watari seeked the attention of his loving 003 for support. Hijiri couldn't help but feel jealous a bit as he stood alone before the rest of his class. He waited for the murmurs to die down before he began. He grinned and took a breath. Follow the template. Your name, about you, the name of your guardian/whatever, about your guardian/whatever. Okay, I can do this. He took another deep breath.

Watari flashed him a furtive "V" for victory, before he started.

Hijiri took one last breath before starting.

"Hello," he said, "for those who don't know me, my name is Hijiri Minase-" a snort from the back of the class indicated what everyone was thinking. 'who the hell here doesn't know you?' Hijiri grinned before continuing,"-and most of you probably know me as the violin champion. But what you may not know about me is that not long ago, I lived alone on a single meal a day with nobody to watch over me. I got along on mostly the hope for tomorrow, thinking that one day, everything would get better. And then I met up with this man, Watari Yutaka. He was a very dear friend of a very dear friend, so through that mutual friend, we met." For a moment, Hijiri cursed how repetetive he was being, but he didn't want to lose the attention of the class, so he went on. "After a chance meeting, he and I had lunch and talked, getting to know each other and becoming very close friends." Ag! That word again! 'friends'!! He was starting to hate it!! That wasn't the word he wanted!! "Not too long after that, I was in some housing trouble and Watari offered to let me stay with him. At the time, he barely knew me, but he said that he couldn't let me stay on the street. Out of the kindness of his heart, he took me in, an almost complete stranger. At first, I thought like all of you are thinking now. He's outlandish, loud, and downright strange. But that's offset by how much he cares about what's going on around him.

"Watari here is fascinated by the puzzles of life. So much so that he's a scientist. He researches things that I'm sure many here have never heard of. I couldn't pronounce some of the compounds he gets into, so I can't get into that." Hijiri thought for a moment, before going on, taking a few breaths to calm himself again. "In his spare time (which he doesn't have much of), he tinkers with bikes and listens to music, mostly the Who. He's a good cook, and is rather untidy. What else can I say? He's.....Watari."Hijiri blushed and felt his nerves win over as he went silent. After a few moments, the teacher walked forward to save him.

"Are there any questions?" she asked.

Watari was grateful for the distraction. It took attention away from his overbright eyes (and DAMN how did the kid know him so well? Over half the people at the ministry couldn't have put together so long a speech.). A half dozen hands went up at once. Some questions were blurted out.

"How old are you?"

"Can I have your number?!"

"Are you really blond?"

"Are you single?"

"Wow, are you Japanese?"

"What's up with your clothes?

Watari smiled, answering some of the 'straight off' questions before going to those with their hands raised. "Ah, about me. I was born in Kyoto, raised in Osaka. I'm twenty-six, almost twenty-seven," liar his mind screamed. He blushed ever-so slightly at the next part. "Er, yes I've been single for some time, my favorite color is coral red, I wear these clothes because I like them (and the bodysuit helps with static shock) and if I gave anyone here my number I think their fathers would kill me." There was some laughter here.. and some further chagrin. There was a whine, which was ignored,
"You didn't say anything about your hair!"

Watari pointed to a hand at random. "You said you met Hijri by chance right, why'd you decide to take him in?" Watari blinked.

"Well it wasn't right away, but I couldn't just let him get thrown out on the streets now could I? That would be," his eyes flicked to the faculty members present without a skipping a beat, "heartless." He smiled disarmingly at the classroom.

Another hand, "What kind of bike was that you came in on?"

Watari smiled. "A Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R." The same boy the hand was attatched to asked another question,
"What got you into bikes?"

"I'm an engineer by trade, so I like that sort of thing, next question!"

"Are you happy with your decision?" There was a pause. Watari merely seemed.. collected, but the warmth was suddenly considerably lessened. He said simply,

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't, now would I?"

"Can you tell us more about your job specifically?" An adult this time.

"Well, I'm an engineer and I do research. My field of study also crosses over with chemistry and physics a lot."

"Isn't it unethical to keep wild animals as pets?" Watari laughed outright,

"Tell that to her. 003 isn't wild. She was being abused in a research lab I visited, I 'rescued' her so to speak. Bloody thing won't leave me alone." He smiled. Okaaay. A *little* bit of a lie, but far less complicated than the truth.

"What's your sign?"

"Chinese or western?"

"Umm either?"

"Sanke."

"Have you ever been in an explosion?" Watari laughed again,

"Many times." Someone else continued this vein,

"You ever fear for your life?" Watari shrugged,

"These things happen." Neither yea or nay. He smiled, "One last question make it good.

A mother raised her hand, apparently trying to forumalte a shrewd opinion of this very flippant man.

"Since Hijiri's there, what has changed for the better, and what for the worse?"

Watari blinked at that. "A lots better, I'm not gonna lie, and he said it, I'm terribly disorganized, and Hijiri's good about things like that. My apartment isn't empty, and I actually have another human being to talk to (sorry 003) "He pet the bird apologetically before going on, "I have somebody to take care of and.. vice versa. I have family." He paused, "Nothing bad so far, but I suppose I'll probably get sick more often." He chuckled, "Which isn't really a bad thing. More days off for me!"

Hijiri was glad to have the attention taken off of him for the time being. It gave him a moment to get rid of his red face. He didn't want Saionji or any of the others to see it as much as they already had, so he tried to force himself to blush, thus making it go away. Suddenly, the teacher spoke up again.

"Are there any questions for Hijiri?"

The kids all piped up at once again.

"Are you sure he's twenty six, he only looks 23-24 to me." (Damnit alright so I lied about my age.. a little.. damn.. baby face. I'm just.. uncomfortable with the idea of being so 'close in age to them.. 'is that so wrong?)

"Don't be stupid that'd make his sign all wrong."

"Shouldn't he be a sheep or something anyways?" Watari felt his palms go sweaty. Damnit! Why were girls so into that kind of thing!? I don't know these things! I'm a scientist damnit! A skeptic! I don't keep track!!

"Dude, where did he *FIND* you?"

"Have you ridden his bike? How fast does it go?"

"Can he help me with my science homework?"

"Hijiri, can I have your number? It's the same one, right?"

"Is he REALLY a scientist? He doens't look it."

"Does he play loud music all the time?"

Hijiri froze for a second, thinking.

"Umm, well....Yes, I'm sure of his age...'find'?" He flinched at the word but decided not to answer, "Yes, I've ridden Yakuma-kun-err...the bike....it goes really fast, but I've never measured..you'll have to ask Watari...He could help you with your science homework, but I don't think he will-" a collective moan, "-no, you can't have my number....Yes, he's really a scientist, he just...likes to dress that way.....no, he doesn't play loud music all the time, mostly on the bike..." He stopped as the teacher put out a hand to silence them.

"Are there any questions of Hijiri himself?" she asked with a frown.

There was a pause as the class looked at the teacher. 'What? Hijiri's here like, every day. I don't have to talk to him in front of you.' After a moment of teacherly death glare however, there were a couple more hands.

"Are you gonna get a pet?"

"How many hours a day do you spend with your violin?" (<--student trying to gauge how much more or less he/she should be practicing)

"Are you like.. legally under his care or what?"

"You should get an owl!" (<--not a question)

Yamashita piped up suddenly, still craning his head out the window, trying to look at the bike again, "Can you drive yet Minase, or do I still have to drag your butt everywhere?" (Cause if you can drive, GET US ON THAT BIKE!!)

Hijiri cursed the teacher. The others were right, but he figured that he'd humor her as well.

"Well, I haven't thought about pets, but we've got 003 already," he waved a hand at the owl, who flew over to him and landed on his shoulder, rubbing her head against his cheek. Hijiri saw Saionji grimace at the back of the room. He continued, "my violin? Isn't that way off topic? Um...yes, I'm legally under his care-" Hijiri grinned in pleasure at this one, looking at Watari, who was smiling as well, "-and no, Yamashita, I can't drive yet, so don't get your hopes up."

He patted 003 and retreated away from the teacher to go over to Watari as the bell rang.

Watari also felt like retreating, he went over to grab his jacket and helmet, putting one over his shoulder and the other under his arm. Okay toooo many people staring, even for me. And.. what!? What is it with you people and your fixation with my pants! They're just pants!!

When Hijiri went to Watari, he was glad it was all over with. He grinned at the man as he walked over. The teacher walked behind him to get to her desk, and Hijiri had no idea what happened next.

Watari made the most un-dig-ni-fied squeaking sound ever, and his head whipped around so fast, it was a miracle he didn't suffer from whiplash. The teacher, sneaky thing she was, was already sitting behind her desk prim and proper. She-demon!! .....!?!?! His mouth opened, and then clamped tight shut. He put on his long coat, trying to hide how flustered he was. Damn! It wasn't often people got the one-up on him. He shuffled out into the hallway. He was jamming on his gloves almost angrily. He whined in a low, wheedling voice to Hijiri when he came out. "Your teacher just grabbed my ass!" D:

Flirting was one thing. Invasion of his, admittedly freer-than-normal personal space was another. (He didn't like random strangers just touching him there! Jeez! He wasn't a ho!)

Hijiri's voice eluded him for a moment as he stood mouthing what Watari had just said. When it finally came back to him, he could only speak a single, solitary, and painfully high pitched syllable before he began to crack up like a rock through glass. He leaned on the wall, holding his ribs in hopes they wouldn't break. Tears fell from his eyes and he felt almost light headed as the wall's support no longer seemed to be helping. He almost slid to the floor in whoops of mirth. When he'd finally stopped, he looked at Watari with watering eyes.

Watari scowled at him, hands covering his buttocks as though for dear life. "It's not funny! Damnit Hijiri, have some random--ack!"

All of a sudden there were.... quite a few teens in the hall way as well. With some parents experssing guarded interest or 'concern.' (Concern being that 'Oh gods, Minase is being raised by a deviant and a madman!')

He was backed against a wall literally. Oh damn.. Tatsumi's gonna kill me. He blathered on though, in his friendly way, desperately hoping he didn't give away any ..details about his state of living. (Though being flustered and assaulted on all sides by questions from a dozen or so kids he probably let a few things.. slip. Not that they would notice.) With a last wave to Hijiri, and a fraternal squeeze to the shoulder, he finally managed to esacpe--leaving Hijiri to the hungry vultures--haha!

However, as he was about to slip on his helmet as he opened the door a voice stopped him.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Watari turned. It was one of the elder men.

"I don't.. think so?" But you do. Whoever, whatever you know that's dead, I was there.. The man continued on,

"Well I don't think it could be you. You'd have to be my age or older, but do you have any relatives? It's just.. your bike got me to thinking.. there were a few concerts that that band of yours, the Who held in Japan in the early seventies. I swear I saw someone who looks just like you staring up at Roger Daltrey in awe. You look kinda like him too... Maybe that's where." Watari struggeled to find his voice, and was surprised at how normal it sounded,

"Yes. Perhaps." The man finished his cigarette and then went to his car. Apparently unmindful of Watari's stare.

Shaking his head, the blond Shinigami hopped on his bike, jamming on his helmet. When he started up Yakuma, it was silent for a full five minutes.

In the middle of the group of people, Hijiri tried not to be the human juggernaut as he forced his way through.

"Sorry," he said, "but I've got to go." Finally devising a plan, he was able to force the kids away from him as they went to question the teacher about grabbing Watari's butt. He hurried outside to where he spotted Watari on Yakuma-kun. "Watari!!"

He paused, and looked at Hijiri uncomprehending for a moment. "Oh right! It's a half day! Um.. you're gonna have to come to work with me. Sorry, but I'm probably gonna get murdered. Oh.. Here" He gave Hijiri his helmet and put on a pair of goggles. "Hurry up please!" He was trying not to sound paniced. Tatsumi's scaaaaary when he's angry!

Hijiri was quick to listen, he didn't want the throng of people back there to realize he was gone before he had the chance to get away. He hopped on the bike just in time to see many students flood out of the school. He and Watari had been the first to leave, so most of the school saw Watari revving his engine. Glad that he'd thought to leave his violin at home that day, he wrapped his arms around Watari's waist and pulled the eye shield down as Watari got the bike to start moving. They sped off, leaving everyone behind them in a cloud of dust with their mouths hanging open. Yamashita clutched his hands together at the sight.

"I'm not sure shich one I love more," he said, "Minase-kun, or his guardian."

Needless to say, quite a few agreed. (Some more disturbed than others, now that the Pants and The One the Pants Were Attatched To, were gone.)
_________________

Rhea-sama

---

Watari blundered into the Summons Section, dragging Hijiri behind him "AAAAAAAAAAAH!! I'm so sorry I'm--"

"Late." A cold voice cut him off. Watari cringed. There was Tatsumi waiting for him. He smiled pleasantly. "Hello there Minase-kun, Watari" Cold eyes snapped back into place.

"Eep!" Watari started babbling, "Aaaaargh it wasn't my fault there were so many of them! Everyhere, and asking questions and and and--so many!"

"Watari-san, you mean to tell me...that you, a Shinigami," he stressed the word lightly, "Could not shake off a bunch of teenagers in order to get to your place of work at the agreed upon time?" Watari nodded, knowing just how lame it sounded. He pointed at Hijiri suddenly.

"Please don't punish me any further! His teacher grabbed my ass! It was terrible! The sanctity of my pants has been grossly compromised!" Tatsumi flushed oddly, having..looked down at the pants when they were brought to the forefront of the conversation.

"That is no excuse! Gods know that bike is fast enough, it should have gotten you here on time--and...WHY WEREN'T YOU WEARING A HELMET!?"

"I had to give mine to Hijiri." Tatsumi put a couple fingers to his temple.

"Minase-kun...Please leave. This is something that no one else should have to see..."

Watari whimpered "nooodon'tleeeeheheheavemeeee"

Hijiri wasn't sure what to do, the look on Tatsumi's face said go, but the way Watari had a grip on him said stay.

"Um, there really were a lot of people there," Hijiri offered, then looked at the floor, "I can't really say I helped by making him wait for me. I'm sorry. But if you want me to, I'll go." He walked away into Tsuzuki's office where there was a cry and the sound of one crunching Hijiri and he was huggled to death.

Watari wailed a loud "NoOOOOooOOOOooOOOOoooOOOOOOoooo--ouch!" As he was dragged off into Tatsumi's office.

The secretary grit his teeth, "Don't cry. You're half a century old!" Watari only sniffled at this. Tatusmi sighed. It was going to be a looooo------ong lecture. (As always.)

Hijiri meanwhile was in the midst of being crushed to death by Tsuzuki, who seemed to have company.When he finally let Hijiri go, He motioned to the two women there.

"Hijiri," he said, "this is Yuma and Saya."

One of them squealed. Possibly Saya. "Ooooooooooh-----! You look JUST LIKE OUR HI-CHAN!!!" The other one took up the cry and they began smothering him where Tsuzuki left off.

"Eeeeeeeeee he's sooooo cyoote! Yuma are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"DUH! Like totally!"

At the same time they pulled out matching catalouges,

"Da..da..da PINKHOUSE~!!"

Saya and Yuma's grins widened as they spoke over the boy's head. Arguing about which one he'd look good in, and what outfit would compliment this.. and what one would balance out Hisoaka's. Tsuzuki was.. Giving Hijiri a pained look. Sorry, if I help you, they'll find Hisoka--and he's SCARY when he's upset D:

Hijiri saw the look on his face and found himself panicing almost as much as when he'd been faced with Sagatanasu. Withiout warning, He threw himself away from them, running outof the room and diving under the nearest dek, which belonged to a young looking man with pointed ears and dark circles under his eyes. He was smoking a cigarette.

He backed away immediately, as though Hijiri were made of pure fire, "GAH~! DON'T TOUCH ME YOU LITTLE-- Oh wait.. you're not the kid. ....Who are you?"

Hijiri looked up at him from the ball he'd curled himself into. He pressed a finger to his lips.

"Don't let them find me," he whispered shakily.

"Them what the..?" He froze as Saya and Yuma came by. He growled threateningly, as usual.

"Terazuma-chan~! <33"

"Did you see a cute boy run be here?"

"Short, dark haired, looks like Hisoka..."

"Obviously a closet transvestite." Hajime felt an eyebrow twitch.

"No. Now get the fuck out." Needless to say, if they lingered in his office one moment more, a black furred red eyed winged canine/lion would be causing a LOT of property damage. They left.

Hijiri was too afraid to come out from under the desk at first.

"A-are they gone?" he whispered.

Terazuma went back to his mytery novel, "Yeah for now. Hide under Wakaba's desk why don't you?" He turned another page, painstakingly, as if the task was one of the twelve labors of Heracles.

"W-Wakaba?" Hijiri repeated, peeking out from under the desk slowly. Who was Wakaba?

Terazuma pointed at the desk next to his, "Wakaba. Head of sector four. My partner." There was a touch of a growl on that word. "Don't upset the computer cables."

Hijiri crawled quickly under the next desk, hoping to whatever diety was out there that he would be saved. Of course, had he not come with Watari, he'd probably have been molested by the people at school.

"Watari," he moaned quietly, "help me."

Watari had bigger problems than Saya and Yuma. Such as trying to save his paycheck and his neck! Waaaah! Watari thought he'd prefer another round with grabby teacher lady. At least he'd gotten some action out of the deal!!

Hijiri continued to hid under Wakaba-san's desk, glad that she didn't mind him there and waited untill he heard Watari's voice. It took a while, as you can imagine.

Watari was.. a little shell shocked, but mostly tired. He did have a small bruise on his cheek that was healing--evidence of his smart mouth. He wandered into his lab. Ignoring the stares his attire was getting.

He got out some HCl and Magnesium metal, putting them together and watching them fizz. He lit a wood splint of fire, and smiled at the resulting *POP!* when he put it in the mouth of the test tube. Ah. That always made him feel better <33

Hijiri was asleep under the desk for a while untill Wakaba accidentally kicked him. She apologized but he just shook his head.

"It's what I get for leaving Watari," he said. Then he listened closely to the area around him. There were no signs of the twin terrors anywhere. Perhaps they'd given up and were back in Tsuzuki's office. He slid out from under the desk and asked Wakaba where Watari's lab was. She directed him and he pulled himself up and hid from anyone who might be in the hallway using the doorframe. He cautiously peered out, looking both ways, but still saw nobody. Then he ran out and took off in the direction Wakaba-san had instructed. Soon, he found himself in front of a door that Wakaba had described. He knocked, hoping to almighty god that Watari was inside.

Hijiri ran to Watari, hugging him tightly.

Watari looked up, "Oh there you are Hijiri!" He smiled, "Ready to go home?" Argh, I need a drink. If only I wasn't escorting a minor.

"Am I!?" he said, "do you even need to ask?" Normally, Hijiri would have wanted to stay, but...no...that would be bad.

Watari raised a brow before laughing, "What happened to you?" Something pretty terrifying must've had to happen to get the boy wanting out of here so quick! He shook his head. "I'll have to tell you about both my run ins with Tatsumi later."

"Both?" repeated Hijiri, "you mean what I said didn't help at all?" Hijiri felt bad. All that and he hadn't even helped any. Next time, he was going to cling to Watari and not let go.

Watari waved a hand. "No no, let's hear your horror story first." He smiled. "It was okay really."

Hijiri gripped onto Watari's arm.

"They're harpies!" he wailed in displeasure, "They wouldn't stop pawing me!! They tried to put me in a dress!!"

Watari tried not to laugh. "You know your distress only encouroges them. Ah. I didn't realize they were here. They're not most of the time. Snowed up in Hokkaido usually." He gave the boy his helmet. "You won't see them too often. Never fear."

"You know them?" he said, "have they ever tried to dress you up? Or is it only me and Kuro--...no...Hosoka?" Hijiri couldn't imagine Watari being forced into a dress. And he didn't want to.

Watari laughed. "I did it once. Precisely once--of my own volition(though I may have been a little drunk at the time), and that seemed to satisfy them. Now I just have to deal with embarresing christmas presents from them, which I can donate to a shelter or something." He smiled. "I may have pride, but I have no shame."

Hijiri made a face.

"Your shamelessness has never been unnoticed," he said, "I assure you. But I have the feeling that they really would go out with me and Hisoka. That and I don't think I could face myself again if I ever wore the stuff they want to put me in." Hijiri shuddered.

Watari pat his head. "Don't worry, one day they'll find a weakness of Tatsumi's to explioit and desperately trying to get him into those things. To be honest, I don't know why they haven't just tried bribing him..Though I suppose the day they can afford that, I can blow up electron microscopes on a daily basis."

Hijiri's mouth dropped open at the thought. There was nothing he'd rather not happen. Tatsumi was a man of dignity. Wearing a dress HAD to be beneath him. He stared up at Watari.

Watari smiled a little sheepishly, "Sorry sorry. Guess I'm feeling a little vindictive." He laughed again, mostly at himself. "Sorry. Just .. in a really weird mood."

"What did Tatsumi do to you?" Hijiri asked, genuinely worried.

"Aah nothing that wasn't warrented. Remind me to take out a policy on 'Foot in Mouth' insurance with a side plan for 'Smart-assery.' Though I really think my Tatsumi translator is broken...I mean.. really.. really.. really broken. Because there is just no way.. he said.. what I think he said about my pants." This last part was mumbled quietly, more to himself than the to boy.

Hijiri laughed slightly at first, but then, when Watari got to the part about the pants....

"Waari-nii," he said, "do the world a favor and never wear those pants again. I think my entire school fell in love with you, I don't think you want Tatsumi going all...leather crazy on you or anything. Next thing you know, those two harpies will be trying to put you in something again."

Watari looked at his pants, rather shocked, "What!? What's wrong with my pants?" He pouted like a child. "And the entire school was NOT crushing on my pants."

Hijiri laughed. Even he knew what those pants could do to people. They were the ones Watari had worn the night they'd gone out to meet Tsuzuki and Hisoka. Those pants had made his hormones work overtime. That was for sure.

"I'm not sure," said Hijiri, "But I think that because of the pants, some people fell in love with what was under the pants." A slight grin worked its way across his face.

Watari looked at him, shock rampant across his face. His mouth floundered for a minute. Finally he let out an exasperated sigh--burrying his face in his hands, "That.. was awful. It's offcial. We're related." He looked up and started to chuckle despite himself.

Hijiri was confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Only I would say something as depraved as that." Watari graced him with his foxy grin.

Hijiri laughed.

"Are you sure?" he asked, a similar grin upon his own face, though he didn't seem to realize it.

Watari's grin widened. "Yes. Now stop taking after me. You're much too young."

Hijiri laughed.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," he said, "But can we go home now? I'm dead tired."

Watari nodded. "I think that's a fine idea. Lets go home, Otouto-kun."
Hijiri grinned at Watari, glad the man agreed.

"All I ask is that you keep those harpies away from me," he said.

Watari smiled. "Well you're relatively safe with me. Most residents of Meifu won't come near me for fear of.. experimentation." Watari shifted a little guiltily, "Really I don't do it that often!!" ..er..well it's just that..they're dead. They make great test subjects!

Hijiri could only grin. Please dont' let them eat me, he thought.

Watari checked each hall before rounding the corners, but Saya and Yuma were nowhere to be seen, he snapped on his googles as they entered the parking lot. He smiled as he got out his keys. "Your classmates are kinda weird. Weird, but nice I think." He paused and then looked at Hijiri carefully, "...Do you.. I mean...do you wish I was more.. 'normal?'" His goggles obsucred his eyes so his expression was hard to read.

Hijiri looked up at Watari in surprise.

"What?" he said, "of course not----?" He stopped, looking at Watari in concern. The older man was obviously thinking seriously. Where had that come from? Hijiri thought about his words very seriously for a moment, knowing that whatever they were, they would be very important to him. He looked at the floor to adjust his thoughts, then back up at Watari.

"My friends are cool," he said then, "In their own way. They aren't always right, but they're still learning. They're trying to find who they are still, just like me, and they're acting like each other to see if that's the way they want to be. I respect them because I know I'm the same way. But...I respect you even more. I respect you because you don't have to find yourself still. You know who you are and you're not trying to act like someone you're not. I respect you because you don't think you need to meet someone else's expectations to live your life right. That's why I love you, Waari-nii. You're the coolest guardian a person could have. ure, you're not always right, but I probably wouldn't like you so much if you were. So, don't jump to doubting yourself, okay? No matter what you do, you'll always be Waari-nii, and I'll always love you for it." He stopped there, looking at the floor and scratching his cheek as a blush crept its way across his face.

Watari stared at the boy, eyes still obscured by his riding glasses. Something in his heart twisted a little at his words however. ..Do I .. really 'know me?' He shook his head. And he still wondered, he liked their little.. family unit, but still. It was decidedly different. And seeing all those people with regular families and lives and lifestyles had reminded him of longings he'd forgotton he'd had. "Well I had just wondered.... nevermind I was just thinking. Waxing philosophic I guess." He smiled however, "Thanks Hijiri. hey, you wanna see if we can break the sound barrier on this thing or what?!" Erk.. he looked.. overly enthusiastic here.

Hijiri froze for a second, feeling that all was not well, but then decided that there was really nothing he could do about it unless Watari brought up whatever it was that was bothering him. It was depressing, but the man had said it himself when Hijiri'd asked for help with Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

To Watari's last sentance, he shivered, but grinned.

"Only if you promise to keep us in one piece on the way to wherever we're going," he said, laughing and hoping that his worries would not show through the manufactured grin.

Watari smiled, revving up his bike. Whether he had been joking about the speed of sound thing remained to be seen

Hijiri clung to Watari as the bike moved. He really hoped Watari had been kidding, but his heart worried about something else. Watari wasn't okay now. He didn't sem to want to talk to Hijiri about whetever was botheringhim, and Hijiri had no right to just butt in and be nosey about the other man's thoughts. Instead he simply squeezed Watari, wishing for something in Watari to understand that Hijiri wanted to help him and would do anything to do so.

Watari bit his lip as the wind cut against his face. He felt.. bad. Why should he feel bad? He was just.. thinking, and he didn't want Hijiri to worry (that was his job) the kid had enough on his plate without shouldering the burdens of someone thirty-odd years dead! So why did he feel so bad about doing what he always did? Namely, keep his problems to himself.

Once they got home, Hijiri found himself drained. Between school, Running away from the two harpies, emotionally draining himself about Watari on the way home, there was nothing left of him. He was surprised that Watari didn't have to drag him up the stairs to the apartment.

Watari grumbled under his breath, wondering when the developers (if ever) were going to put in an elevator. When he unlocked the door, he threw aside his goggles, vowing to get them later, and then went to make a pot of tea. Semi-Moody/Mood-swingful contemplation always requires tea.

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