MERCY OR MIRTH?
[SUBTITLE: "Oh Yoshimi, but you won't let those robots eat me!" ...I need sleep]

Chapter One: Nightlife Wanderings
Written by Holli. Editing by MorningStar.
(WARNINGS: Pretty much PG. Nothing really bad...yet. Just some really stupid concepts on Holli's part. Expect the rating to probably increase in future chapters; Tsuzuki & Hisoka pairing)

It is said that one of the greatest gifts in the world is mercy and the kindness that comes from it.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka's last mission had turned out to be quite easy. The person they had been seeking had just been a confused old woman who had not realized she had died . . . and once she knew, she merely had laughed and slapped her forehead. If anything, the case had been almost ridiculously silly.

Tatsumi and the rest of the Shokan division had greatly overestimated the difficulty of the case. So, as expected, Tsuzuki insisted they stay the extra day designated for their case in the remote, but not incredibly small town in their shinigami district.

And that was why they had gone out to eat. And that's why Hisoka had to drag Tsuzuki's butt back to the hotel after he decided to drink any alcohol in sight at the restaurant's bar. Luckily for Hisoka, Tsuzuki was still just barely coherent enough to still carry most of his weight in his stupor . . . until they were in the hotel elevator.

"And . . . I decided then . . . that duck I saw probably had the power . . . equal to . . . Shiva. Or an anti-Christ. Uhhh . . . just pick which ever one is your religious preference."

"Tsuzuki . . . shut-up. Now."

The teen felt himself almost fall over with the weight of his older partner leaning down on him, getting heavier and heavier. The smell of alcohol was pungent, but Hisoka soon blushed as he realized his face had ended up pressed against Tsuzuki's bare chest, since the older man's shirt had become halfway undone at some point in his intoxicated escapade.

Hisoka pulled his face clear and blushed even deeper red as he noticed the only other occupant of the elevator, was a young man in his early twenties, apparently back from a casual party, in a disheveled black t-shirt, dark blue jeans and black converse shoes. The young man blushed and tried to not stare when he saw that Hisoka had noticed him, by pretending that he was trying to push his red hair out of his eyes. Hisoka grumbled and wondered if the guy was embarrassed for him or for himself for seeing such a stupid situation.

Hisoka quickly pushed Tsuzuki out of the elevator and towards their room, which was part dragging, part shoving, and part kicking him when he actually walked. The man in the elevator stuck his head out into the hall and peered at them. "Your friend is pretty smashed, isn't he? Is he going to be okay? Do you need some help?"

The young shinigami could feel the veins in his head contracting and constricting with aggravation. With Tsuzuki so sloshed, he wanted to get him back to their room as soon as possible, before someone actually believed his babbling about ducks . . . or anything Tsuzuki might end up saying about their actual statuses of shinigami.

"N-no thanks!" Hisoka waved a dismissing hand without even looking back and swiped his keycard through the lock on their door. With a deafening thud, Tsuzuki hit the floor stomach first as Hisoka shoved him through the doorway. Hisoka gave up even trying to move his partner to his bed and propped him up on his side, leaning against it.

"There, if you puke, you won't choke on it at least . . . not that it really matters with us both being dead . . . ."

Tsuzuki's forehead was ceased in pain, but his face relaxed as soon as Hisoka brushed some hair out of his eyes. A goofy grin crossed his face, and Hisoka could feel the older man's love for him radiating. He blushed and was glad that Tsuzuki was unconscious so he couldn't say anything that would embarrass him more. He sighed and picked up a book he had been reading earlier, and sat in a recliner near Tsuzuki.

As he read it by the light of the standing lamp in the room, Tsuzuki started to mumble in his sleep. Hisoka felt his heart speed when he heard Tsuzuki whimper and laugh after mumbling his name, his grin still plastered to his face. Then his partner started to snore uproariously.

The teenager had as much as he could take of embarrassment and noise. He sat his book on the nearby nightstand and headed to the bathroom to get a different shirt. Pulling on a sky-blue short-sleeved one, he then quickly grabbed the cheap black jacket he had brought on the trip. Heading out the door, he turned around and checked on his partner one last time. He was hugging a pillow that had been near him, still mumbling the younger shinigami's name. Hisoka's mouth tightened into an embarrassed frown, and he walked out closing the door swiftly, but quietly, behind him.

"He can sleep that off . . . I need a break and some fresh air. He'll be fine . . . that moron."

One o'clock in the morning left very few places open to explore in a small town. There were mostly just convenience stores, bars, and some porn stores and a few run-down love motels and strip joints that were sad excuses for a red-light district. Hisoka knew that only those places would be open that late at night, and he wanted to stay clear of the red-light district and the bars. The last thing he needed was to handle more idiots, so the number of places he could visit was cut by more than half.

Hisoka realized he had been wandering around since eleven-thirty, and knew it was time for him to head back to the hotel. Hopefully Tsuzuki had sobered up enough to clean himself up and finally go to bed, and he really, really hoped that the room had stayed vomit free in his absence. Some people may find drunken people funny, but Hisoka did not. It's never amusing if you're the one that has to handle those intoxicated people.

The teenager started to cross town, cutting across blocks, but not trying to jump fences or trespass if he could help it. Finally traveling clear of uptown, Hisoka entered downtown where the hotel he and Tsuzuki were roomed at. He hadn't traveled back the same way, but knew he was headed the right direction; the hotel building was sadly one of the tallest downtown, and it was still a small distance off, but clearly visible. Hisoka sighed. He hadn't realized that he had wandered that far off. The town was small, but it was very spread out.

Hisoka didn't know what to think of his current surroundings. He stood on the sidewalk and studied what seemed the religious block, full of Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and even a Christian Church apparently built during the brief popularity of Christianity in Japan. The teenager really wondered how the church had survived through the Christian eradications when Japan isolated itself from the West, and also the destruction of World War II.

The young shinigami sighed and started walking again. As he walked by the church . . . he felt apprehensive. Peering up at the steeple, he looked his way down and around, but saw nothing peculiar. He was just about to start going again, when he heard music . . . from inside the church.

Hisoka let out a huff. If it was a stranded ghost, it was in their district, and it was his job to investigate. Finding it odd for the church's sidedoor to be unlocked at such an early hour, Hisoka snuck inside. He couldn't help being a little creeped out, thanks to Tsuzuki insisting he watch some American and European horror films with him one weekend . . . plus he had not had good experiences when he had been near or inside a church before.

"Of course. It had to be an organ."

Hisoka crept around some wooden benches and headed towards the music. Even though he was a shinigami, he still had trouble seeing in the dark. Making himself invisible, he edged his way up towards the altar of the church. Whoever was playing the organ was clearly very good. The song was creepy but apparently not one meant to be played entirely on organ.

Hisoka crept forward . . . and felt himself fall forward! What the hell did he just trip on?! A red CD walkman . . . ?

With a resounding thud that echoed throughout the church, Hisoka quickly looked up to see what he was up against, with no time to grimace at the brief pain in his right elbow. The music had immediately stopped. He tried to make his breathing a little more quiet, and cursed himself for being so clumsy and stupid. But as he looked up, he was startled to see a pair of inquisitive brown eyes peering over the organ at him, wide-eyed.

It was a young girl, mid-teens or slightly older, with very neatly trimmed black hair that didn't quite reach her shoulders, short in the back, long in the front, and stylized to slightly curl in. Unlike her conservative surroundings, her outfit was anything but, with mid-riff spaghetti strapped black top, black leather belt, and slightly flared black pants with embroidered red lotus patterns. Hisoka didn't know if she was a normal human or what . . . his empathy wasn't kicking in . . . but he knew a kick from the black very narrow high-heeled boots that barely peered below the train of the girl's pants would definitely hurt. However, he wore a look of determination, since the young shinigami was already on one knee and ready for anything.

"Woah . . . are you all right, man?"

Hisoka blinked. The girl seemed pretty concerned, seemingly forgetting that she was in a building late at night that she wasn't suppose to be occupying. Hisoka stood up and nodded a yes. Well . . . she seemed like a normal girl, even if her clothes were a bit outlandish and looked like they were the devil child of 70s fashion cuts and a goth blowout sale. She was either avoiding her home this late at night or had decided to make an odd pit-stop on the way to or from a party, if her outfit was any indication. But Hisoka kept his distance. He knew appearances were deceiving; he himself was a good example.

The two teenagers stared at each other for awhile. Hisoka stood grim faced and on guard, and the girl just stared. She crinkled the bridge of her nose in a snort and took the initiative to talk.

"What are you doing here so late at night? Or rather, so early in the morning?"

Hisoka felt himself caught off guard. He should be asking her that! But, he quickly rolled thoughts through his brain to come up with a normal sounding reason to have stumbled in the church. Unlike his partner, he was good at doing this, and quickly answered.

"Nothing much. I was just wandering home from a party and wanted to know what the noise was . . . there had to be a way in if someone was playing the organ . . . why are you in here?"

The girl snorted once again. "Well, playing the Beatles' song, Elanor Rigby. No one plays Beatles music anymore, except in karaoke booths, so I decided to fix that by playing it myself, since I can play just about anything that is a keyboard."

"The Beatles?"

The girl stared at Hisoka and then busted out laughing. "Yeah, they're an old British band that really revolutionized the pop music industry in the sixties . . . they were even popular here in Japan. I'm not sure, but I think they were even banned from our country for awhile because of the uproar they caused by their swarms of fans on a tour." The girl gave Hisoka an inquisitive look. "You seemed like the sheltered type. I'm surprised you'd be out partying."

The young man gave her an indignant look. "I just started going out partying." Hisoka frowned and decided to use his age appearance to back that up. "I'm only sixteen . . . my parents will kill me for getting back this late. I really shouldn't be in here and you either. I don't want to get blamed for vandalism. Please tell me you're heading out of here."

The girl stood up and lazily sat in a pew near where Hisoka was standing. "Sure, I will in a little bit . . . I just want to sit, especially since my heels were killing me. Don't worry, I have no intention to do anything illegal beyond just trespassing. Hell, I'll even lock that forgotten door myself on the way out."

Hisoka grimaced. He knew he had to stay to make sure of that . . . and hopefully his empathy would kick back in soon . . . why it hadn't been working, he didn't know. He just had to make sure that she was just an ordinary girl. His frown grew wider. Who knew how long he would be here? And it wasn't like he could tell her why he was staying . . . if he asked much more, he was pretty sure she would refuse to leave for the rest of the evening, since she seemed to have a mischievous personality. It reminded him of Tsuzuki far more than he wanted.

"Sticking around? Well, in that case, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Himawari Jihiko. Why not try sitting?" The girl gave a slight bow of the head from her slouched and unladylike position.

The young shinigami quickly was flustered as he realized how rude he had been (even if he wasn't letting it show), but the circumstances for them meeting had been odd. "Kurosaki Hisoka." He gave a slight bow and decided to sit a small distance further down the pew from Jihiko.

"You said you were sixteen. Wow, you really are out late. With the way you act you seem older. Plus, you seem too serious."

Hisoka frowned. If she only knew . . . and he knew he wasn't exactly a beam of sunshine. "I'm told that often."

"Oh. Can I call you Hisoka? You can call me Jihiko."

"I suppose. But we just met."

"Eh . . . just do whatever you feel comfortable with then, Hisoka."

It was quiet for a spell, but Jihiko decided to pipe up again. Hisoka didn't think the girl was annoying, but he did want to get back to the hotel before daybreak.

"Well, don't get antsy. I'll get out of here soon. What possessed such a serious guy like yourself to break curfew?"

Hisoka decided to tell some half-truths instead of being creative. "My parents aren't so bad, but my older brother is a complete moron. I needed some space and time for myself. He gets really drunk at parties and I had to take him home earlier. My parents don't know I left again, and they probably won't since my brother is snoring in our room. Anyway, he's a complete idiot. I'm the responsible one."

"What's your brother's name?"

"T--Asato." Hisoka blushed. Why was he blushing? He could say his partner's given name, couldn't he? He was glad that the light wasn't very bright in the church, because Jihiko hadn't seemed to have noticed.

"Wow. Sounds like you hate his guts. Guess you don't though, right? He is your brother after all and you were out partying with him."

Hisoka blushed. "Yeah, I do care about him. I just get annoyed sometimes when he's excessively stupid."

Jihiko laughed. "He must be a silly person. Serious people like yourself get annoyed by carefree people ten times more than others."

"You're insightful."

"Nah. It's just common sense and logic. I'm out here just because I can be. I'm eighteen and going to college in the fall, so my parents know that I'm pretty free to do whatever I want since they have no legal hold on me anymore, except for helping me out with money and just plain being my parents. They know they won't be able to keep an eye on me as soon as I'm out living on a college campus somewhere, so they decided to ease up on me now rather than later. They trust me, so it's cool. And . . . I'm just trying to forget other things."

Hisoka peered at the forlorn face of the otherwise wide-eyed girl as she fidgeted with the dark red oval shaped gem in her thick black threaded necklace. Hisoka stared at the gem since she was messing with it and he didn't want to be rude and stare at her sad expression . . . he had never seen a gem like it before, intense even for its dark color. Just what was she trying to forget? Hisoka felt bad, but knew she would probably handle it. She seemed to be the type who could handle situations, good or bad, if her reaction to not panic when he showed up was any indication. But hee just couldn't get involved in other peoples' lives for no reason like his partner, so he left her to her thoughts.

The young man's thoughts were interrupted as Jihiko tried to change the subject by bringing up Hisoka's 'brother' again.

"So, your brother is an idiot. How so?"

Hisoka sighed. "He's a grown man, but eats sweets like a little kid. He always gets involved in other peoples' problems when he shouldn't and he thinks anything bad that happens is his fault. It takes a lot of smacking and talking to convince him otherwise."

"Hmmm . . . silly and serious. He's an interesting brother. Sounds like you're a little bit like him though. You didn't have to come in to see what was going on in here. I think if something really bad was happening, you'd try to help a person in need too."

He was like Tsuzuki? Hisoka frowned. He hoped not. As much as he loved Tsuzuki, he didn't want to be lumped into the category of morons. But in a way, it was a little flattering . . . Tsuzuki had his good points too, otherwise Hisoka knew he wouldn't have fallen in love with the shinigami.

"Yeah . . . I would. I guess. But, my brother is just excessive about it. He helps complete strangers even."

"You're jealous?"

Hisoka stared at Jihiko. What was up with this girl who was asking such personal information of him? "No! Why would I be jealous of an idiot?!"

Jihiko laughed. "I was like that with someone I knew once. I just couldn't believe they could care that much about other people . . . people they didn't know too, just like your brother. I thought I was jealous of their ability to genuinely care . . . and made me feel bad about myself because I didn't feel for others the same way. It was jealousy a little bit. . . but then I realized that it was just stubborn love I had for this person. My special person . . . just so warm. Caring and loving. As soon as I figured it out, I felt myself free to act and feel the same way."

"You're a serious person? You have to be kidding me."

Jihiko laughed and twirled a lock of hair in her right hand. "Looks are deceiving. I'm more serious than what I want to be. I think you really love your brother. It sounds like you do. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be concerned with him being a moron."

Hisoka felt himself blush. He knew he loved Tsuzuki, but he didn't want other people to notice. It was too personal.

"In any case, I really wish he would grow up a little bit. You know, mentally. He's serious, but doesn't act his age when he isn't being serious. I really feel like our ages are switched."

The girl grinned at Hisoka. "You really feel like you should be the older brother, eh?"

Hisoka sighed and put his hands behind his head and leaned back a little. "Yeah. Not only is that annoying, but he treats me like a little kid when he acts like one himself. He doesn't talk down to me, but sometimes he doesn't believe me when I say I can handle things."

"Hee, hee, brother knows best."

"Yeah, right. I know he was my age at one point, but he really does seem to have forgotten. If I was older and he was younger, I think it would really put things in clear perspective for him."

"For you too though, right?"

"I guess."

Jihiko stretched and pulled a PuffyAmiYumi CD out of her walkman and put a Flaming Lips CD in. Hisoka noticed that she was becoming sad again as she methodically went about things. But, then she grinned. "Well, I think I'll be like my loved one and do you a favor too. I think I should."

"A favor?"

"Yep. Don't worry about it." She laughed and got up, locked the side door she and Hisoka had come through, and headed towards the front doors. Hisoka couldn't see her sad face, but could see her heavy body language.

"Jihiko-san, are you all right?"

Jihiko pushed one of the double doors open and turned and gave a sad look back at Hisoka. Suddenly lightening flashed across the moon and star filled sky even though it had seemed clear and uncloudy. Startled, Hisoka looked to Jihiko, but her face was now brightened. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry. If you worry too much, you'll become like your brother."

"Hardly."

Jihiko laughed and opened up a red umbrella she had clipped to her jeans as it started to rain. "Better hurry back home. It doesn't look like it'll let up anytime soon."

Hisoka stumbled back into the hotel room, finding Tsuzuki as he had left him on the floor. Sighing, the young man didn't even bother changing into pajamas, and instead just stayed in his shirt (thankfully dry under his jacket) and wore his boxers. With a mighty grunt, he pulled his partner up into their bed. Tomorrow was going to be bad. They didn't have to be back in the office, but they did have to be out of the hotel in the morning. Great. One sleep-deprived teen and a hung-over idiot. Just great.

"Mmmm . . . Hisoka."

The older shinigami snuggled Hisoka in his arms and was soon quiet again, thankfully minus his loud snoring. Hisoka sighed. It was Tsuzuki's cuddle grip of doom. He knew he would be staying there for the rest of the night unless he really struggled. Well, he wasn't uncomfortable. He breathed in his partner's scent and sighed. He really was the baby of the two of them.

The teenager arose the next morning and stretched. Without even peering at his partner, he pulled free and headed towards the bathroom, hitting his head on a nearby floor lamp. After a quiet curse, he was rubbing sleep from his eyes as he stepped into the bathroom. He ran hot water that steamed up the entire bathroom and cleaned his face. He peered in the mirror to see just how bloodshot his eyes were that morning after having a pretty small amount sleep.

His eyes were relatively clear. Well, that wasn't so bad. Hisoka scrutinized his reflection. Something seemed . . . off. Hisoka's eyes widened and he tried to clear the mirror of the condensation by wiping it with his hands. It more or less helped, and Hisoka gaped at himself.

Hisoka was no longer a teenager. He was a fully grown adult . . . his hair a slight bit longer, a full grown body with fully developed muscles that were stretching his t-shirt. His boxers were too small. He was taller . . . even taller than his partner. No wonder he had hit his head on that lamp. But . . . just what had caused this?! Hisoka always wanted to have an adult body to match his real age better . . . but he hadn't ever heard of shinigami able to do this just because they wanted it so! What had caused it?!

Stumbling on legs he wasn't use to, Hisoka ran back to the bedroom to wake his partner, trying not to panic.

"TSUZUKI!!! WAKE UP! Something's wrong!!!"

"Owww . . . my head, oh my head.... Five more minutes . . . ."

"TSUZUKI!!! GET UP NOW!!!!"

"Hisoka, have a heart!" The whiny voice coming from the well covered body was starting to annoy Hisoka to no end. As Tsuzuki tightened the covers around himself, Hisoka was finally fed up and yanked the covers off.

Hisoka's shout was caught in his throat. His partner . . . he had shrank. He had frickin' shrank! "Tsu-tsuzuki?!"

Still incoherent and hung-over, the violet eyes cracked open and peered up at Hisoka. "Just what is wrong? My head feels like a hippo stepped on it, and your yelling isn't helping...please let me sleep...."

It WAS Tsuzuki. What the hell was going on?! Tsuzuki hadn't shrunk . . . he looked like a teenager now! Willowy and almost slight, the body curled on the bed was seeking any warmth that could still be on the mattress. Hisoka's mouth dropped open. Just what had happened last night as they had slept?! They had actually switched ages?!

TO BE CONTINUED . . . .