Authors' note: Tenkuu is female in our AU. Don't ask Lara why, but she said whenever she reads Tenkuu's parts in the manga, she hears a female voice. No male would talk that way to Touda <g>
 
 
 
 

The palace of the Protector of the West lay silent in the early evening sun. The bustle of servants was mainly concentrated in the official areas where high-level shikigami, other Divine Commanders, might visit, and even there it had died down. It was evening, the office hours had passed, and there was no imminent crisis.
The inner sanctum had always been a place of peace, not to be disturbed except for the most dire of reasons, and Byakko's major domus enforced that unspoken rule. He knew his master needed his quiet time, to reflect, to regenerate his powers, and to simply enjoy time with his partner.

Byakko let his red eyes wander over the topography in front of him. Hard planes, smooth valleys, sun-kissed ripples of pecs and abs. Dark hair, still growing out, tickling broad shoulders, a sharp-angled face that could be completely indifferent or incredibly gentle in its facial expressions. Golden eyes, currently hidden behind closed lids, that he couldn't get enough of.

Touda, his lover, the fire serpent shikigami. Feared, hated and respected. He was a fierce warrior with an attitude and a temper. He was powerful, in either serpent or human form. He was a Divine Commander, had been a field general once, and the pardon had reinstated him.

Byakko knew that Touda couldn't care less whether or not he had servants, a palace or followers. He wasn't a war general any more. His reestablished position only spoke of his status, not his political power. Sohryu employed his knowledge, but Touda refused to be anyone's lackey.

Well, the white tiger mused with a smile as his eyes kept running over the nicely exposed body, Touda was and always had been special.

Their relationship was as intense as it was unusual. Byakko had been warned of the traitor, the temperamental serpent, and he had listened. But he had made up his own mind about Touda. He had fought for him, he had defended him, he had stood up for his choice, and he had been proven right.

Touda was no cold-blooded killer. The truth had finally been revealed, the truth about the fateful day that the black serpent had lost his reason and killed so many people.

The white tiger crawled over to his lover and placed a kiss onto the broad, defined chest. There was a pleased rumble and golden eyes opened a slit, Touda's lips turning into a smile. Byakko grinned and kissed him again – again on the chest, this time close to a peaking nipple. His tongue flickered over the tiny pebble and Touda's eyes clouded a little.

"You're back early," the fire serpent said softly.

"It was such a nice day, I thought I could cut business short," was the reply.

Byakko ran teasing finger tips over the definitely interested nipple and Touda twitched.

"And since I've got to leave for patrol again soon, I thought we could spend some quality time together."

"You thought, hm?"

"Yep." He flicked at the nipple and Touda caught his hands, pulling him abruptly forward.

Lips crushed on Touda's and he moaned in appreciation.

"Good idea," Touda breathed before he flipped them around in one smooth move.

Oh yeah, was Byakko's lust-filled reply in his mind.

° ° °

It started out as a normal day in Meifu, in the science lab of Watari Yutaka – until the moment he switched on his computer and started his morning routine of going through his email and newsgroups. As of late, there had been little glitches in the system, which he had fixed or had believed to be fixed. One morning he had been unable to get a connection to the Meifu server, then one of his programs had refused to open, and then his files from one folder had gone missing or had turned up in fragments.

Watari had fixed it all. He knew computers and he was the resident nerd – among other things. He had run anti-virus programs, turning up a few tiny bugs, and he had updated a few of his shields and firewalls. So, technically, everything should be fine.

He was proven wrong.

It happened from one moment to another.

The screen started to quiver, then twisted and turned like a vortex. Data streams scrolled past, windows opened and closed abruptly, and Watari gave a yell of surprise.

"Ah, hell!"

He typed quickly, but the situation just turned worse. Watari snarled a curse and finally did the only thing he could to stop the sudden attack: he pulled the plug.

"Damnit! I thought I had a firewall for something like that!"

This was worse than before, but still not too bad. At least the damage had been shown to him and he had had time to react. Still, it meant he would have to go through his hard drive, remove the bug, and then check into the main system to see if something had been transferred past the powerful anti-virus shields, the firewall, the blocks, the filters and the authorization window.

Shoving back a stubborn strand of hair, Watari unplugged several cables and pulled his computer out from under the table. He glared at the tower and began to unscrew the casing, then removed the hard drive. Golden eyes narrowed at the innocent piece of hardware.

"Let's hook you up somewhere safe and dig in," he murmured.

The risk of hooking his own terminal up to the network was too great. He would use an isolated station to comb through the data and find where the thing had come from. It was the first really bad bug he had caught in a while. The moment he had the invader he could find out what it was, where it had come from, and how to remove it.

So much for a quiet day.

Watari grinned. Well, sometimes he could get a kick out of a normal day as well. And this was right up his alley.

° ° °

Touda had slowly settled into his role as Sohryu's Commander again. True, he had held the position as a Divine Commander by title, even after his prison time, but aside from a title there had been no duties. No one had trusted the traitor.

Now he was back and he had responsibilities. Lots of them. Touda had started with catching up on the events of the last five hundred years, especially when it came to politics. He didn't like them, but he had to know. It was vital, especially since he was completely loyal to Sohryu and aside from knowing some basics, he had paid little attention to his friend's decisions.

It took time.

And effort.

And sometimes it bored him to death.

Byakko helped as much as he could, but he had his own duties and lately that had meant patrolling his quarter of GensouKai. He had been locked up in GensouKai center for too long. The tiger needed the space, the freedom, and the shikigami living in the West had to see their Protector was still there.

Touda coughed slightly, downing a cool drink thirstily. He had no idea what could be wrong, only that he felt as if he could topple over and sleep for three days in a row. He had started to feel strange a few days ago. There had been dizziness, a scratchy throat, now and then a little headache, but he had blamed spending hours in dusty archives for it. He was reading more than in the last years!

But it had not let up, not even when he had spent a day just to himself, enjoying the silence of nature, the peace of being by himself. The headaches had increased, the scratchy throat worsened.

Damn.

"Touda? You okay?" Byakko asked, worry clear in his voice. "You don't look so hot."

"Thank you very much," Touda answered dryly, "that's exactly what I long to hear from my lover."

Especially since his lover had just returned from a week at the outmost borders of his quarter.

Byakko didn't get the chance to reply when someone knocked at the door. Both men turned as one of the servants entered, bowing respectfully.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Lord Byakko, but Commander Touda's presence is required at the residence," his major domus announced quietly.

Touda suppressed the urge to cough again, watching Byakko roll his eyes.

"What does he want this time?" the tiger muttered, and Touda couldn't help smile.

"That's my job, Byakko," he said, placing a chaste kiss on his lover's lips. "He has the right to call on me any time he needs me."

"I know, I know. It's just... I mean, you aren't feeling well..."

Touda smiled at his lover. "I'm fine. It's just a little cold."

Byakko looked unhappy, but he didn't try to stop him again. Touda left just a little while later, on his way to the main palace to help Sohryu with whatever he needed.

° ° °

After the pardon, before he had been reinstated, Touda had been the one shikigami everyone turned to when it came to computer matters. The visor was part of a neural network that ran through GensouKai, the energy lines that were vital to all living things, and he could interface with them with ease. His mind quickly worked through numbers and letters and mathematical calculations, sifting files and data blocks, finding what was needed faster than any of the servants using the terminals everywhere. It was a knack, a talent, and he had used it often before.

Today was no different. He no longer wore the original visor, the control device, but had to use the interface mechanism supplied by the servants. It looked no different from what had covered his eyes for so long, but it felt different. It didn't encroach on his powers, it didn't make him deaf and blind.

Touda suppressed a sneeze and pushed up the tinted visor, feeling more tired than ever. Never had interfacing with the neural network been that straining. He rubbed his burning eyes and walked over to the small terminal that allowed outside access. He picked up some of the prints, going over what he had selected and what Sohryu needed.

He blinked at the tiny little numbers and letters, trying his best to prevent those darn things from slipping all over the paper, but they seemed to have a mind of their own. His vision stayed blurry and his ears seemed to be stuffed with cotton.

What was wrong with him? Sure, shikigami could get colds. Byakko himself had been sick before, but it usually wasn't that intense, that... strongly affecting everything he did. Touda had never been sick before in his life.

A hand landed on his shoulder and when he looked up he saw a pair of concerned blue-gray eyes. Sohryu seemed to say something to him, but he couldn't hear a single word through the rush of blood in his ears – and then even that faded away as his world turned black.

* * *

Sohryu had walked into the computer room to check on Touda's progress. He could have sent a servant, but he wanted to spend some time away from the office, from his work, and the underground room deep in the bowels of Tenkuu was an ideal hiding place for a while. It also gave him the chance to talk to Touda outside official meetings.

When he saw Touda, all alarms went off inside Sohryu's mind. The black shikigami was pale, seemed a bit disoriented, and there were fine tremors running through the tall frame. He was leaning heavily against the terminal, clutching a print, and the golden eyes appeared glazed.

The dragon placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Touda? Are you okay?"

Those glazed eyes – feverish, if Sohryu was any judge – gazed at him, unable to focus.

"Touda?!"

And then the serpent collapsed. It happened fast, like all strings that held him upright, had been cut. His knees buckled, his eyes closed, and Sohryu was just fast enough to keep him from hitting his head on the terminal as he fell.

"Touda!"

Something rumbled through the stone walls around him. Tenkuu shifted, her whole concentration suddenly in that small basement room. It was like an oppressive force that now washed over Sohryu.

"Tenkuu, call for help! I need medical assistance!" Sohryu barked.

"Kochin is on her way down," the palace rumbled.

"Where is Rikugo?" the dragon demanded.

"One of my servants is calling for him. Kochin was closer."

Sohryu nodded, but not pleased. Despite his differences with the earth dragon, the representative of the Emperor knew that Rikugo was the strongest healer. Unlike Kochin, he could influence a person's energy, aura and even his soul. His healing worked on the deepest level. Rikugo rarely used that method, but he could. And looking at Touda now, feeling the unnatural warmth of the man in his arms, Sohryu knew he might need it. Touda was a fire shikigami, but it didn't mean he was normally burning hot. His body temperature was as normal as anyone's.

°

"Tatsumi, I don't know about this... this... "

Tatsumi Seiichiro watched with growing confusion as Tsuzuki hesitated in the middle of his speech, and then turned ghostly pale all of a sudden.

"Tsuzuki? Are you okay?"

Violet clouded eyes looked at him and then they rolled back into his head. Tatsumi reacted just in time to catch the unconscious body of his colleague before he could collapse onto the ground.

He was yelling for assistance seconds later.

° ° °

Kochin arrived a few minutes after Tenkuu's call. The musician and healer knelt wordlessly next to her leader and the sick man in his arms. She held out one hand, leaving it hovering over Touda's fever-hot face. A startled exclamation came from her and she withdrew his hand.

"What?" Sohryu barked.

"I don't know," Kochin replied, the normally so calm and collected voice uneven. "I can feel a great disruption in his physical form."

Sohryu was close to snapping at the shikigami. Of course there was a disruption! Touda was burning with fever, had just broken down like struck by lightning, but he swallowed his comment.

"He was never sick before in his life," Sohryu murmured.

Kochin tilted her head. "I know. I can only tell you that it feels... painful for a healer of my level. I'd like to ask Rikugo for a second opinion. His healing power runs deeper; he can Look at Touda. I could only assist him with physical wounds, but this feels... spiritual, in a way."

Sohryu grit his teeth, but he waited, gazing at the unconscious man. He felt the heat radiating off Touda, seeping through his clothes. When Rikugo finally hurried into the room, Sohryu's anger was boiling.

"Where were you?" he demanded.

The onyx eyes were cold as they met his blue-gray ones. "I am here. Isn't that enough?"

Kochin rose gracefully, aware of the tension between the two powerful shikigami.

Rikugo looked over Touda and suddenly the cold tension was replaced by worry.

"Tenkuu, I need some servants down here. We have to transfer Touda to another room, into a bed, where I can start treating him."

"Understood," the palace rumbled.

Sohryu shot him another look. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know yet, but I won't treat him in these dungeons."

Sohryu was close to exploding, but he reigned himself in and waited until servants had finally done what Rikugo wanted them to do. Then his reptilian eyes fixed on the astrologer like daggers.

"What is wrong with Touda?" he snarled.

Rikugo, all eyes open, turned to his leader. "I don't know, Sohryu. I need to analyze it, find out more."

"Then do it!"

The astrologer met the angry, worried eyes, then just nodded.

° ° °

Tsuzuki lay unconscious in one of the beds of the medical wing. His black coat, the jacket and the tie had been removed, just like the shoes. He looked pale, but there were no physical wounds.

Watari sighed and put away his instruments, then shook his head. He drew the blanket over the unresponsive form and left the room, facing the waiting assembly of a worried Tatsumi and more than worried Hisoka.

"There's nothing physically wrong with him," Watari told the assembled men, looking confused, even disturbed. "He's completely fine. There's no explanation for his loss of consciousness."

Hisoka, face closed off, looked past the blond shinigami and toward the door that led into the medical room.

"Anything you can feel?" Watari asked hopefully.

"I haven't tried," Hisoka answered slowly.

"Uh... could you...?" the scientist asked carefully.

Hisoka was silent for a moment, then nodded jerkily.

Watari beamed, but there was a cautious note to it. "Pull away before it overwhelms you, okay? Just... well, see if there's something..."

Another nod, then Hisoka walked into the room.

Tsuzuki looked like he was sleeping, Stripped down, he was the picture of innocence. The relaxed features reminded Hisoka of the times he had watched his lover sleep, when he had studied the youngish features of a man who hid so much behind the façade that was the opposite of who he was. There had been times he had played with the dark strands of Tsuzuki's hair, had enjoyed the simple presence of his lover.

Hisoka swallowed, aware of Tatsumi and Watari close by, of their presence, but he tried to tune them out. His eyes were on his lover, the man who had so surprisingly broken down right in the middle of a briefing with Tatsumi.

He had been fine this morning. He had been fine last night. They had spent the evening together, going to a small park concert that had lasted till midnight. It had been a nice evening, full of warmth and fun and just them among the many living souls, enjoying themselves. Tsuzuki had stayed at Hisoka's place, they had slept in the same bed, kissing and caressing each other, dozing off. Nothing else had happened and it was what Hisoka loved so much about this relationship. No pressure, no demands, just what they both felt at ease with.

Now Tsuzuki lay in the hospital and no one knew why.

Hisoka steadied himself, evening out his breathing, preparing himself for the whatever he might encounter. His empathy had gotten better in the last years. He was in control of the shields, he no longer fell victim to sudden bursts, but it was still a difficult ability to have. He could still be overwhelmed if things got out of hand, though he knew Tsuzuki fairly well. He knew what lurked inside this wonderful man and he had touched and seen it often enough.

Opening up to the consciousness and soul of his lover, Hisoka closed his eyes and started to concentrate on the emotions coming in. Skimming over the surface thoughts, diving deeper, into the mind of a man he had come to appreciate, to love, to need so much, Hisoka followed an invisible pull. There was nothing harmful. No dark presence, no evil aura, no signs of a demonic influence. He encountered memories of last night and had to smile at their silky, warm caress, at their happiness. Tsuzuki, for all his danger and power, was such a child sometimes, could enjoy himself in the simplest of situations or be happy about menial things.

It was what had attracted Hisoka. It was what made him happy in turn.

Looking at the spot that he had soon realized was the bond with Touda, Hisoka frowned. Something was not right. Something was... trickling through... was coming into

Tsuzuki's mind. He approached --

-- and screamed.

"Hisoka!"

There was a voice, Watari's voice, and someone touched him. Hisoka cried out, defenses flaring, and there was a yell of pain and surprise, then the touch was gone.

Curling up, the young shinigami was panting heavily, trying to bring up his shields, ignore the raw feel of his mind, as the horror set in.

"Touda..." he whispered.

There was another presence, cool and controlled and not touching him.

"Hisoka?"

Tatsumi. So very much in control. So very soothing for the upset empath.

"It's Touda. Something happened to Touda," Hisoka stammered.

Stunned silence greeted his announcement and he looked up, his sight still a bit blurry but clearing. Tatsumi was kneeling before him, looking shocked. Watari was behind him, rubbing a burned looking hand that was already healing.

Must have hit him with my power, Hisoka thought dimly, feeling sorry for the blond.

"Touda...?" Watari finally asked. "But... he wasn't in a fight, right?"

"No... it's something different. He's not okay and whatever it is..." Hisoka steadied himself more. "Whatever it is, it went through the bond between them."

And it was bad. Touda had apparently no shields left and every little trickle had come through without a buffer. Hisoka knew about buffers; he was an empath. Tsuzuki's mind was connected to Touda's and whatever happened between them was for both like being empathic to the other. Tsuzuki had natural shields which he had trained and the same went for Touda. They were rarely completely open, but a shock to the system, like pain, could destroy the natural barriers of one side. For those signals coming from Touda to flood Tsuzuki so completely, it must have come abruptly, with incredible strength, and in mass.

There was a soft, hooting noise from 003 and the little owl looked deeply disturbed, as much as owls could.

"We have to know what happened to his shikigami," Tatsumi decided, rising to his feet.

"I'm on it," Watari announced. "I'll get Terazuma. He can go and pay them a visit."

The Shadow Master nodded. He helped Hisoka to his feet, the younger shinigami still swaying on his feet.

"Hisoka..."

"I'm staying here," he said firmly, daring Tatsumi to tell him otherwise.

A little smile crossed the secretary's face. "I'd ask nothing less of you."

Hisoka walked over to his lover's bed and reached for the lax hand closest to him. He stroked over it, feeling its life and warmth, the soft emotions still wafting on the surface. Whatever was happening to Touda, it hadn't spread out yet. As long as he didn't go too deep, he would be fine.

° ° °

Touda was drifting in and out of conscious, mostly lucid, but there were moment when he couldn't tell Rikugo his name. His skin was burning hot to the touch, his body was sweating, his black hair slicked back, the high cheekbones all the more prominent now.

Rikugo had spent a long time Looking at his patient and what he Saw disturbed him greatly. Something was raging through Touda, destroying him, multiplying by the hour. It was definitely viral, living off its host, but where had it come from? Shikigami rarely fell ill and if at all, they had a cold, which could easily be battled by the shikigami's immune system. Touda's immune system was losing.

Badly.

Kochin had tried healing songs, a wide variety of them, to help him with his task, but nothing had happened. Kochin was a healer of a completely different category than Rikugo. She worked over time, with non-invasive methods, and her songs triggered the body of the patient to start healing. Touda's body hadn't accepted the outside influence and his energy levels were on a downward curve. Rikugo had turned to a more invasive method.

The astrologer's powers were immense. He could infuse energy into another shikigami and start a healing process. His energy would jump-start the sick shikigami's immune system, sometimes assist for as long as was needed, and finally withdraw. Rikugo rarely had to truly exert that ability due a shikigami's own healing powers. Normally, as had been the case not so long ago with Touda, he had cleaned and closed physical injuries and the patient had done the rest. Only when the energy lines were disrupted did he have to use that method.

In Touda's case, Rikugo knew it would take a while. The damage was extensive and Touda, while fighting, was growing weaker.

Throughout that time, Byakko had arrived, pale, worried, eyes wide, and he had been with Touda ever since. He had quietly sat, waiting for Rikugo to finish his examinations, and when the astrologer had, he had taken one of the lax hands and curled his fingers around it.

Rikugo had spent more time going through his findings, checking and double-checking them, and finally he had come to the only decision he could make in this case. He rose from the bed, each movement heavy.

"Tenkuu," he said quietly, aware that the Palace could hear him.

"Yes?"

"Close down the outside doors. I'm calling a quarantine."

There was an almost audible shift in the ancient walls. Byakko looked up, shock on his young face.

"Rikugo? What is wrong?" the Wind God asked.

"Touda contracted a virus and if it is contagious, we need to quarantine him. And us, so to speak. No one leaves or enters without my permission. I don't know where he was infected or how long the incubation period was. It's too dangerous to let people come and go, and maybe spread the infection."

"I understand," Tenkuu said.

There was a low rumble as more walls shifted.

Rikugo stood still for a few seconds, then turned back to his patient. Quarantine was a safety precaution, keeping Touda from spreading the infection any further, but he had been in contact with several people. Byakko was here, as was Kochin, who was currently resting in another room, but there were still Sohryu, the servants, maybe more...

It was impossible to call a quarantine for all of GensouKai center yet, but he knew that if more shikigami fell ill, things would change.

Right now he had one patient that needed his help.

So he began.

* * *
Terazuma had no idea what he had expected, but he knew it shouldn't have been something good or easy. Tsuzuki's collapse was nothing to take lightly. Shinigami didn't just break down. Especially this shinigami. He had gotten to know the man behind the child-like façade and he knew there was a core of steel, something that reflected Touda in every single way. Now whatever had happened to the black serpent had reflected back on Tsuzuki, and that was more than bad.

Tatsumi had called him into his office and detailed the situation to him, and Terazuma had voluntarily accepted the task to use the Key to go into GensouKai and get an explanation. Upon arrival, Terazuma immediately headed over to the main palace, Sohryu's palace. If there was something seriously wrong – and there had to be – this was the place to start asking questions and demanding answers.

He was met by the usual flurry of activity, some of the regular servants greeting him, but there was a dullness to their smiles and greetings that alerted Terazuma to the wrongness of it all.

"Where's Sohryu?" he asked one of the assistants he knew.

"He's not here," was the reply. "There was an emergency."

"Let me guess. Touda?"

The assistant's eyes widened. "You know?"

"Kinda. Where is he?"

"His private quarters."

Terazuma turned on his heels, almost jogging over to the innermost sanctum. What he found when he entered the familiar central structure was a very deserted main room, a few servants milling around, and one of the assistants looking worriedly toward the door leading into the inner chambers.

"Lord Terazuma!" the woman exclaimed and Terazuma winced a little at the title.

"What happened, Zan?" he asked.

"Commander Touda is sick! He collapsed! It's so terrible... no one knows what's going on!"

Terazuma nodded to himself. "I need to talk to Sohryu."

Zan wrung her hands. "Please do so. I have orders not to let anyone disturb him, but you are Lord Sohryu's partner..."

Terazuma gave her a little smile. "I'll handle him. Thank you, Zan."

He walked past the woman and into the private area of the palace where no one but the personal assistant and few select servants were allowed to be.

The Black One moved uneasily, aware of the tension around them, and Terazuma could almost feel the worry permeating the air. It grew in strength as he entered the inner residence and nearly ran into Sohryu. His lover and partner looked bad. Worry lines were carved into his face, his blue-gray eyes were hooded, the hair undone and falling in heavy waves down his back. When he looked at Terazuma, those tired eyes widened and he stopped abruptly.

"Hajime?"

Damn, and he sounded bad, too.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find out why Tsuzuki's lying in the hospital, unconscious."

Sohryu paled. "W-what?"

"Tsuzuki broke down a few hours ago. Physically he's fine," Terazuma explained, "but Hisoka says he felt something coming from Touda, something bad, and it affected Tsuzuki. He's out like a light and he hasn't woken since."

Sohryu rubbed one temple as if he was feeling a headache coming. He probably was.

"Sohryu?" Terazuma asked softly. "What's going on?"

Exhaustion briefly flitted over the dragon's features. "I don't know," he answered. "Rikugo's with Touda. He collapsed in the computer room, feverish, sick... and all we can tell is that something's raging through him. It's fast, extensive, and makes him sick."

"Sounds like a virus."

"Yes, it does, but none of us ever contracted one like that. All of us feel fine. Byakko once had a cold, but this is different."

Sohryu walked toward a couch and sat down. Terazuma did the same.

"Rikugo says it's eating away at his life force. Kochin's healing songs can't even ease the fever a bit. Rikugo's the only one who can do something, but it's not much..."

A slight shudder ran through the tall frame and Terazuma reached out, grasping one hand. His lover squeezed it gently, smiling a little.

"They are so much connected," Sohryu murmured. "They are one on so many levels. All things reflect on the other."

Terazuma knew what the dragon was talking about. Tsuzuki's power was balanced and anchored by Touda, and Touda's fierceness was gentled by his master's calming influence. Both had only profited from the forced bond by Enma-Daiou, but it also had drawbacks.

Like now.

"Maybe we can help?" he offered.

Sohryu's expression was wry. "How?"

"You say shikigami can't get sick that easily, and if they do, it's never worse than a little cold. Touda wasn't hurt lately, so what could be the reason?"

"We don't know."

Terazuma smiled a little. "We can try to find out what happened. This concerns us as well. I consider Tsuzuki more than a colleague now; he's a friend."

A tired nod. "You can try to help."

"We will."

Terazuma hoped it wasn't just an empty promise. Too much was at stake; two lives so intricately interwoven that one's pain and illness reflected on the other.

He leaned forward and kissed Sohryu gently, affectionately, relaying so much that he felt with the simple gesture. His lover answered the contact, hands gliding over Terazuma's arms, around his back, one stroking over his hair. Sohryu briefly hugged him, held on tight, trembling with the tension. Then he drew back.

"I need to go back," he murmured.

Terazuma stroked over the full, blue hair, smiling gently. "I know. I'll tell the others what's going on. We will find a cure, Sohryu. We will."

He truly prayed they did.

°

Sohryu watched his lover go and finally turned back to his office. It was where his personal assistant already expected him. The man looked rather nervous, which was rare enough. He had been working for Sohryu long enough to change from groveling to respectful assistance.

"My Lord Sohryu? I have word from Lord Rikugo. He... called a quarantine and Commander Tenkuu has effectively closed down. No one is allowed to come or go."

Sohryu stared at the man in shock. "What?" he demanded.

"One of Tenkuu's servants reported to me just now..."

Sohryu whirled around and stalked off, leaving his palace and heading over to the Palace shikigami.

° ° °

Rikugo infused some of his energy into the feverish serpent and let his hand rest on the broad chest, feeling the uneasy way the lungs struggled for air.

Touda was getting worse.

Each energy infusion helped, but the virus was so incredibly strong... it overpowered the astrologer's energy and multiplied even more.

By now, Touda's conscious moments had dwindled to a few rare occasions, and he wasn't clear-headed any more. He was whimpering, crying, then fighting invisible forces, or lying completely still. It was getting to Byakko, who was trying to so hard to keep the other man awake and his senses working, but things weren't looking good.

Rikugo had to use a different tactic, he had to enable Touda's immune system to get past first base and win the first fights. And he had to work in two alternating phases.

Rikugo steadied himself, reaching deep inside his own self, drawing out energy, then he began feeding it into his patient. It was risky because it was now depleting him of his core energy, but he had to try.

For Touda.

For Tsuzuki.

For all of them.

If Touda lost and... died, they would lose their master, too.

I won't let that happen! he thought with determination. Never!

"Rikugo?" came a deep rumble.

"Yes?" he answered distractedly.

"Sohryu has just left after demanding entry," Tenkuu informed him calmly.

The astrologer looked up and smiled dimly. "I suspect he wasn't happy?"

"No, he wasn't, but he has to respect your call as the healer in charge of medical emergencies on this."

It was the one case when Rikugo could overrule Sohryu; the one and only case. It had never happened before. Now he had pulled rank, so to speak, and the dragon was probably fuming.

"I explained it to him," Tenkuu went on. "I think he understands, but he doesn't like it."

"He never likes being told that he can't do something," Rikugo muttered, then concentrated on his patient again.

There was a soft hum echoing through the massive Palace, then even that was lost in the silence that descended.

° ° °

Terazuma had brought back the news and it had stunned everyone. Watari shook his head.

"They think he has a virus? But... how? Shikigami have the same healing powers we have and all I ever heard of them getting was a cold. A devil can poison them, but a virus?" He tapped a finger against his chin. "Was he injured?"

"No. They can't explain it."

"So the virus couldn't have come from the outside?"

"Rikugo doesn't think so. At least not through an open wound."

Watari frowned. "I need data, guys. Terazuma, can you get me Touda's medical data?"

The possessed man shrugged. "Sure. I can ask."

"You have an idea?" Tatsumi wanted to know.

"Nope, but I want to look into this. Maybe it's airborne or was in the water or the food. Who knows?"

Terazuma prepared to leave again. The Black One almost sent a sigh at having to jump again, but the lion didn't complain. It was more action than he usually got.

"Hold on, Terazuma. I'll give you a list as to what I need. C'mon." Watari grabbed him and pulled the former detective along.
 
 

Two hours later he was on his way, a catalog of questions and a long list with him.

°

Sohryu didn't know what worried him more – Touda or Tsuzuki. The news that his master had broken down at the same moment as the black serpent was... shocking. He would have suspected maybe a shock to his system, a flash of pain, a headache, because that was what Touda had told him were the usual symptoms should one of the bonded partners experience something unusual, especially pain. But a breakdown coupled with sudden loss of consciousness?

He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

All of Tsuzuki's shikigami were worried by the news, but none could truly help. Touda was the reason their master was comatose and without the black serpent improving, nothing would change for Tsuzuki either. It was a vicious circle.

"Father?"

He looked up and met the blue eyes of his son. Kijin, like everyone, was worried and it showed in his whole demeanor. A shadow had fallen over GensouKai's most powerful shikigami, including the two youngest.

"Yes?"

"Tenkou is asleep now, but she was asking for both Touda and Tsuzuki."

"I know," the dragon murmured. "I know. There has been no change for the better."

The teenager looked grave.

"You should get some rest as well, father."

Sohryu smiled darkly. "I will, Kijin."

Kijin gave him a long look, then nodded and left. Sohryu turned back to his musings, but there was no real improvement in his thoughts.

Finally he rose and left the palace, walking out into the dusk of the approaching night. He needed the air to clear his head, and he wanted to be alone.

I can't lose you, Tsuzuki.

* * *

The night passed without any mentionable changes or incidents. Rikugo sat vigil over Touda, working in shifts with Kochin, while Sohryu spent the time in deep contemplation outside the palace, sitting at the lake that was nothing but an inky spot in the middle of nowhere at the moment. Moonlight, broken by clouds passing over the sickle, barely reflected in the hidden place. Usually the lake gave him the peace of mind he needed to think things through, but not this time.

Sohryu knew this situation was deadly serious, for Touda and for their master. He couldn't imagine losing the young man who had bested him so long ago. He couldn't imagine not feeling his presence in GensouKai, not touching him not seeing him smile. Tsuzuki meant so much to so many. Sohryu doubted the shinigami was even aware of his importance. If he was, he probably didn't acknowledge it to himself out loud.

It was in the morning hours when he returned that one of his servants hurried toward the God, clutching a scroll. Sohryu didn't have to ask where it came from. It bore the seal of their Emperor. So he accepted the scroll and the servant left.

Walking into his chambers, the scroll in hand, Sohryu discovered he had someone waiting for him. Genbu, Protector of the North, and Suzaku, the Protector of the South, and like him one of Tsuzuki's shikigami. Genbu gazed serenely at him from under bushy eyebrows.

"I see the Emperor has called," Genbu remarked, walking after Tsuzuki as the dragon strode toward his desk.

"Yes. Is there something I can do for you?"

Genbu smiled. "No. We just wanted to see if you needed help from us. With Byakko spending most of his time with Touda, things are a bit disorderly, I believe."

Sohryu snorted, breaking the imperial seal. "I can manage, thank you."

Suzaku was just about to say something, but she stopped when Sohryu stared at the scroll, eyes widening.

"Sohryu?"

°

The dragon sat down heavily, eyes distant, face a mask. Suzaku looked at her fellow God, then at Genbu, who was gazing at the dragon with the same quizzical expression.

"Sohryu?" she asked again.

Their leader appeared pale, shocked, as if whatever he had just heard behind these closed doors had shook up his world, maybe even worse.

"What's wrong?" Genbu wanted to know.

"This is much worse than it looks," Sohryu answered softly. "Much. I need to call a council of the twelve." He smiled wryly for a moment. "Well, eleven."

That alone told Suzaku how serious it was.

"I'll inform the others," Genbu just said and walked off, faster than anyone would have believed the small man was capable off.

° ° °

It couldn't be called a true, classical council meeting, due to the fact that it wasn't held in the council chamber and that four members weren't able to be present in person. Sitting on the hastily delivered chairs in the large yard of Tenkuu, the Divine Commanders looked at their leader as Sohryu prepared to inform them of something that would change everything.

Tenkuu would relay his words to the quarantined shikigami inside the building, in turn telling Sohryu if either of the three had something to say.

Sohryu looked at the assembled Divine Commanders.

 "I called you here because of recent information concerning our latest crisis. There is more to this than the danger Touda  and with him Tsuzuki are in. We all are in danger, but not just the twelve of us. I'm talking about the whole of GensouKai – and more."

Murmurs could be heard.

"You know we are all connected. All life in GensouKai is connected to this realm. We live and breathe together, and death hurts us all to a degree. Touda's illness has an effect on the twelve of us, as well as Tsuzuki, who shares a bond with him. Should Touda die, Tsuzuki will probably not survive the backlash."

More murmurs rose. They all knew that, they all feared it. Deep within them was the need to protect their master and currently there was nothing they could do.

"But Tsuzuki's death would have an even greater effect than simply freeing us from a master we love. We grew through him, our powers developed. All of us can feel it. The four Gods who protect GensouKai reached a power level that we never even considered possible. Our power is reflected in the stability of this realm. Our power made it possible to balance our home within the digital world, to overcome the difficult times with the worm holes, and to continue as strongly as before."

Sohryu looked at them all, noted the first uneasy looks and growing realization.

"Should Tsuzuki die, the power he has deep inside him, the power that sustains us and through us our home, will disappear. Instability will be the result. GensouKai would separate completely from Meifu, close all Gates, destroy them, and become adrift. We would be lost."

"No..." Suzaku whispered, aghast. "It can't be!"

"But it is. Enma-Daiou apparently knew what Tsuzuki's existence as a shinigami could be, what it could create. His step to make our master one of the angels of death had been planned. It was around the time the first problems in GensouKai appeared, when we first considered moving our world. Shortly after we four Gods became his shikigami, we moved GensouKai into the digital realm. Ever since then, we grew. With each Divine Commander joining us as servants of our master, we became stronger. The last step and the completion of this process was the connection between Touda and Tsuzuki, sealing a pact no one knew about – except Enma-Daiou and the Emperor."

Sohryu inhaled deeply, noting the silent horror and amazement in the faces of the others.

"It's a network that stands and falls with our master. Tsuzuki is the life blood and back bone of GensouKai, and with it even of Meifu and the world of the living. He is our source of power, our strength, our weakness."

The silence was deafening.

"What will we do now?" Tenkuu rumbled, the deep voice echoing within her walls of the yard.

"We can't do anything at the moment. I wanted you to know what we are facing."

"If we can't find a cure for Touda, he will die, taking Tsuzuki with him, and as an aftereffect GensouKai will become unstable," Rikugo's words relayed by Tenkuu.

"Yes, exactly. With GensouKai adrift, Meifu loses us as its allies. The instability will spread. Enma-Daiou's realm is the buffer and catalyst for Hell and Heaven as well, not to mention the world of the living. Should Meifu fall in chaos because we lose our shinigami partners, the angels of death have a much harder time operating and working their cases, and Hell might gain a temporary advantage, which Heaven needs to compensate for. It's all a precarious balance and Tsuzuki is its central point, its pivotal point. We can only hope that there is a way to heal Touda," Sohryu explained levelly.

There was nothing else they could do but trust in Meifu to find a solution because their own healing capabilities were reaching their limit.

If GensouKai went down, so would Meifu. And with it the world of the living. And in the end, maybe even Heaven and Hell. They were all connected, they all lived off the other.

Sohryu closed his eyes, feeling the weight of his responsibility more than ever.

* * *
Tatsumi looked grimly around the conference room where Konoe had called in a crisis meeting. He would have expected other division heads to be here, but Konoe had voted to keep matters quiet for now. What happened in the Shokan Division, stayed within the Shokan Division. Apparently Enma-Daiou agreed with him. Tatsumi didn't have to understand, just follow orders, but he knew that if things got any worse there would be no more hiding the facts.

"Enma-Daiou is doing what he can to stabilize Meifu, but the problem is GensouKai," Konoe told him. He had been in a meeting with the Lord of Hades the whole day. "It has started to drift away, slowly but steadily. For now there is no danger, but we are facing a crisis of unknown proportions. I know Tsuzuki's condition is worsening."

Yes, things had gotten a lot worse.  As of this morning Watari had to hook Tsuzuki up to life support. Tatsumi briefly closed his eyes. He had been with his lover when the alarms had gone off. Now Tsuzuki was on a ventilator and fed by an intravenous needle. A shinigami was immortal, but no one had ever taken a bond to a shikigami into account who was apparently dying.

"We can't do anything but hope and pray that he continues fighting," Konoe went on. "I talked to Watari and he told me he's still sifting through all kinds of data from Touda and Terazuma is bringing back the latest of results."

Tatsumi nodded. "Shouldn't we tell the other divisions?"

"Enma said he'd inform everyone in time."

When would that be? When no one could enter GensouKai any more?

It wasn't Tatsumi's place to criticize, but he found that currently Enma was making the wrong decisions. GensouKai had already started to become adrift. Not much longer and other shinigami who had shikigami serving them would notice. As would the shikigami.

But he kept his mouth shut.

° ° °

Hours passed and the day turned from night to day to another night. Nothing changed, nothing happened, except for the ever-present fear of the future rising.

Kochin had little to do inside Tenkuu other than to watch over her friends and fellow shikigami, assist Rikugo and pray. She did that a lot.

The musician stood in the doorframe, looking down on the fragile looking body in the bed. Whatever held Touda in its lethal grip was working inside his body, making the serpent look pale despite the fever that was eating away at him. Rikugo was doing his best, and he had by now taken to using his other ability to counter-act the progression of the virus.

Rikugo could stop time, create a sub-space bubble of no-time around a person or an object, but he couldn't uphold it indefinitely. The magic was intense and meant to be used for brief intervals and while the dragon was powerful, had grown throughout the time he had served Tsuzuki, there was a limit. There was always a limit.

The astrologer had started to work both the healing and the sub-space no-time alternatively. He stopped time for as long as he could, then counter-acted the virus the moment it was out of the timeless space. The healing energy was swallowed like water in the desert. It drained the astrologer, that much was obvious, but Rikugo didn't give up, and it was the only thing keeping the serpent alive. Touda's unconsciousness was as deep as a coma now and he wasn't reacting to stimuli anymore.

It was only a question of time.

Kochin sighed softly, her eyes resting on the other person currently watching over Touda. Byakko hadn't slept properly since the whole dilemma had started and it showed. Face pale and hollow, dark shadows under huge red eyes which looked dull with exhaustion. The tiger was worrying for his lover's life.

"Byakko," Kochin said softly, noticing the way the young shikigami lifted his head tiredly as if he hadn't really heard her. "You need rest."

Byakko shook his head slowly. "I'll stay."

"Byakko..."

"I'll stay."

"Byakko, you need..."

"No! Can't you see?" Huge red eyes regarded her. "I won't leave him. I can't leave him, he needs me... everybody always left him... "

Kochin quickly embraced the shaking form as the young man broke down in her arms sobbing, hot tears soaking her sleeve. She couldn't care less. The musician held Byakko, stroking his back every now and then.

If Touda died, Byakko would be lost.

As would their master – and GensouKai.

° ° °

Watari had jumped at all the new data discs Terazuma had brought back like a predator on prey. He had plugged everything out of the startled shinigami's grasp and shut the door of his lab behind him.

He wasn't really a doctor, just a mechanical engineer, but in his life as a shinigami he had acquired a lot of skills and had looked into a lot of different professions. So he knew about biology, chemistry and medical sciences. What he didn't know was looked up on his computer.

Entering the data into his machine, Watari waited for the first results. It would take a while. Then the updates would be added, which came on a regular basis since Terazuma was going back and forth. If Touda was human he would have asked for blood samples, would have done cultures and whatnot, but he was a magical being and they didn't fall under the category of normal medicine. Even their colds were... magical in origin. Nothing was like with humans; medication wouldn't work.

He swiveled to the coffee machine and grabbed the freshly made pot to get himself a mug, then started to pour over the prints Terazuma had brought back. There was little Watari could do for real. The important things were on the discs, the updates now running through the computer.

° ° °

Night had fallen once again. It didn't bring with it the peace and quiet of before. It was just an absence of light; nothing else had changed. Servants, quarantined inside the massive building that was their Lord, were awake, hurrying through the corridors, either trying to keep busy or on their way to follow an order.

Rikugo sat beside his patient, all eyes open, scanning Touda for the life lines, the energy lines, that ran through all living beings. He found them blackened, burned and charred, withered and brittle. Some still pulsed weakly with life, but others were in the danger of dying off, taking the stricken shikigami with them step by step.

The astrologer reached out and concentrated, his normal eyes now closed while the other four eyes remained open. He channeled some of his own energy into Touda, giving the life lines a jolt, regenerating them, even if it helped for just a moment. Rikugo encased him in a bubble of no-time, creating the vital sub-space, but it was getting harder and harder to keep it lasting for more than an hour by now. Soon it would be down to under one and then...

Sitting back, he regarded the other shikigami, sadness in his eyes.

"What's happening to you, Touda?" he murmured.

It was getting worse by the hour and Touda was not only losing life energy but also weight. His body was burning up whatever it didn't need right now, and soon it would start to conserve energy by shutting down organs. Liver, kidneys... lungs, the heart... and finally there would be the slow starvation of the brain. Rikugo was counteracting that shutdown procedure, keeping Touda functioning, but it took more and more of his own energy to do so.

He wasn't just worried about Touda any more. There was also Byakko. The tiger had had his first breakdown already, crying himself into sleep, exhausted and at the end of his emotional rope. He was currently curled up on a futon rolled out beside the bed Touda lay on. Due to the frequent application of the no-time bubble, Byakko was as close as he could without interrupting with the life-preserving treatments. Kochin had placed the Wind God onto it after Byakko had collapsed, looking sad and so very exhausted herself.

The crisis was getting to all of them and it didn't look like there was any kind of solution coming any time soon.

Rikugo sighed and felt his own exhaustion beg for relief. He couldn't give in to sleep, though.

He was needed. Touda needed him.

* * *
Tenkuu was a silent, watchful presence, everywhere at once. Her servants were taking care of the Palace as usual, doing their job even though the quarantine weighed heavily on all of them. She was proud of her servants and they were completely loyal to her. Matters were still handled professionally.

Touda was not improving and Tenkuu had kept herself present in the room where the fire shikigami was fighting to live. The Palace's feelings about Touda were split. One side of her hated him for what he had done, for killing thousands, for taking lives and leaving widows, widowers and orphans – or taking whole families. Another side now knew the truth and it was trying to adjust to the new facts.

She sighed softly, the sigh translating into a minute shiver of the ancient stones. Tenkuu still didn't feel very good about one thing – that Touda was so closely, intimately linked to their master. Touda was a lethal creature, dangerous and able to take down all of them should he ever lose it again. Tenkuu, while she loved Tsuzuki and knew he was powerful, doubted that the young shinigami would be able to truly keep him in check should he ever completely flip once more.

He was a killer, a murderer. Tenkuu had accused him of being unable to differentiate between friend or foe when in battle rage, and she knew it was right. It was what had made him go berserk and kill thousands of souls.

Touda had never denied it.

She believed that eliminating him would save them all in the future from what Tenkuu was convinced was only a matter of time until he lost control once more. The visor, while not to her complete satisfaction, had been a measure of control. Now it was gone.

He had once almost killed Tsuzuki while wearing it in the past – though Tenkuu knew that it had been by Tsuzuki's orders. Still... like Suzaku she had been furious when she had heard about it. Touda had been her prisoner, had been meant to serve his life sentence, which meant eternity, and not ever be freed.

Tsuzuki had freed him.

Tsuzuki was his master, like he was for all of them.

Tsuzuki was the only one Touda was completely, unshakably loyal, too.

‘I will never betray him.' The words echoed through the Palace's mind. ‘Never. Even if all of you are my enemies. I live by his will.'

His words had been serious, true... deep. Touda wasn't lying. He didn't talk much, but he wasn't lying.

Both were now connected, both were dependent on each other... and the serpent loved him. There was no denying the protectiveness, the fierce way he defended the shinigami. They would all die for Tsuzuki...

There was no reason to think he would ever hurt him, but currently he was. Touda was dying and taking Tsuzuki with him. He was comatose, he was weakening, and Rikugo couldn't stop the downhill process.

The serpent was killing their master; not through force, but because of some kind of infection...

° ° °

Byakko was a constant in the room now, never leaving it any longer than a call of nature took. He sat with his unconscious lover, talked to him, touched him, did everything to get a reaction, but that had long since been fruitless. Touda was comatose.

There was a brief surge of energy and Byakko looked over to the opposite side of the bed. Rikugo hadn't moved in a long time. His hands either rested on Touda's chest or the arm closest to him, frequently injecting energy into the feverish, sick man. Each time it was more. Small amounts, growing larger and larger, and by now it was enough to have Byakko worried for Rikugo as well.

Water in a hot desert, someone had said. Whatever Rikugo did, Touda soaked in the energy and soon needed more because it was evaporating faster and faster. The blond shikigami looked bad, had started to look bad a few hours ago. His skin was paler than normal, the tendons standing out against his neck whenever the energy was injected, and his usually blood red, second eyes had taken on a glazed, dull sheen.

"Rikugo," Byakko murmured. "Stop doing this."

Onyx eyes opened, just as dull as the second set. "I can't, Byakko," was the raspy answer. "If I stop, he will die for sure. I can't let that happen as long as there's a chance."

The tiger understood. He didn't want Touda to die. The very thought had him close to hysterics and a nervous breakdown, but Rikugo was committing suicide in steps.

Still, he relented, kept his quiet, and sat guard over two now.

° ° °

Tatsumi walked into the lab, carrying a sandwich and a piece of apple pie. Watari was whirling around his lab, sliding over the slick floor with his chair as he rolled from one table to the other, typing, reading, pulling print-outs from his printer. Tatsumi watched his lover, blond hair slightly undone, glasses perched haphazardly on his nose, and he smiled.

Watari in action.

As he closed the door, his lover looked up, beaming at him.

"Hey! Right on time!"

"Really?"

Tatsumi held out the sandwich and Watari grabbed it as he rolled past, taking a bite.

"Yesh," he mumbled around the lettuce and ham, with a hint of tomato. He waved Tatsumi over. "The results should be ready just about – now."

Watari glanced at his computer screen where the results of his analysis were starting to display and started to read. Tatsumi watched breathlessly how his lover scanned the results and then stopped, blinking in obvious confusion and disbelief. The sandwich was placed onto the plate, forgotten.

"'Taka?" he queried.

"This is... nearly impossible," he croaked, staring at the monitor, "but, well, given the fact that GensouKai is part of a virtual reality...

"What is it?"

"It's a computer virus."

"What?" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"Yes, I know! It's the same virus that infected my computer! I recognize the algorithms!"

"Are you sure?"

Watari gave him an offended look. "Seii, I didn't hear this. Of course I'm sure! A virus is made up out of replication strings. This baby here has them by the ton! Viruses reproduce. They enter a host, latch onto a cell, and they make more of themselves. It's their whole purpose in life – more and more and more.

"How is that possible?" Tatsumi demanded. "Touda's a shikigami and your computer is a machine!"

"The only explanation I can think of is the internet connection I had with Touda throughout the creation of Terazuma's dimension device. That was when I caught mine, maybe it got transmitted to Touda that way."

"But Touda is... "

"...a shikigami, I know." Watari shrugged. "GensouKai is a virtual world inside the Net, so it's possible that a virus gets through. Touda's a regular, maybe the only one, going in so deep, becoming part of that network. He might have caught in that way. If I had a better explanation I'd give it – but these don't lie." He pointed toward the screen. "It's the same virus. All the algorithms are the same. And I think we could very well presume it's following the same rules."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning – the virus that contaminated my computer started out by simply duplicating itself, causing some minor irritations like screwing up my monitor display. If I hadn't stopped it, it would have spread to the CPU itself, contaminating and destroying sector by sector."

Tatsumi felt his mind firing up. "Touda has contracted a computer virus and it's destroying him layer by layer?"

"Yes!"

"Can we counter it somehow?"

Watari grinned triumphantly. "Yep! All I have to do is change some algorithms in my anti-virus and voila!"

"Do it."

"On it, Seii."

And Watari was, typing madly away.

* * *

Sohryu had become the leader he was. Terazuma could see the changes in his lover, the changes almost palpable to the shinigami. Gone was the happy relaxed man he had shared a bed with only... days before? When had that been? Touda had collapsed, and Tsuzuki with him due to the unique bond they were sharing, and it troubled both GensouKai and Meifu. It troubled Tsuzuki's shikigami in a special, two-fold way – there were the shikigami worried for their master, and at the same time praying for the life of a friend, of two friends, and, in Byakko's case, a lover.

Terazuma didn't know how deep the relation between Sohryu and Touda went, but from what he had learned in the past it had gone deep.
But somehow he got the impression that there was something else Sohryu was concerned about, something that affected his role as leader of GensouKai.

"When did you last sleep?" he asked his lover, running a gentle hand over the robe-clad back.

Sohryu sighed and briefly leaned into the touch. "I don't know," he replied honestly.

"Maybe you should give it a try?"

A wry smile. "It's not like I find much sleep, Hajime. Whenever I close my eyes I see Touda, burning up with this virus."

"You can't help him by destroying yourself."

Terazuma was just about to reply when the door was opened and a soldier entered. He was a messenger, carrying a scroll.

The soldier bowed deeply and handed Sohryu the script roll. The dragon acknowledged it with a nod and Terazuma watched as his lover unrolled it and started reading. And paled.

"Sohryu?" Terazuma asked, suddenly deeply worried.

There was a lump of foreboding forming in his stomach that only deepened when he saw Sohryu close his eyes briefly, fingers clench around the paper in his hand.

"Sohryu? What happened?"

The dragon looked up and Terazuma swallowed – it was no longer his lover he was facing. This was the Protector of the East, the Azure Dragon.

"You have to pack whatever things you have here. You will leave GensouKai within the hour," he said tonelessly.

"Sohryu?" Terazuma was speechless with shock.

"This isn't to be discussed." Sohryu turned to leave, his back rigid with tension. "I'm sorry, Hajime," he whispered, almost too low for him to hear – and then he was alone.

Terazuma stood thunderstruck.

°

GensouKai was one of five worlds. There were Heaven and Hell, of course, the two opposing sides. There was the world of the living where the souls both realms fought about came from. Then there was Meifu, the home of the angels of death who worked for the Lord of Hades to retrieve lost souls, and it was where they were judged to be sent to their final destination – Heaven or Hell. And then there was GensouKai, the dream world, home of the shikigami, ruled by the Golden Emperor.

All worlds were closed off against each other, except the world of the living, which could be entered easily enough. Demons, angels, shinigami and with them their shikigami could manifest there. All worlds drifted in Limbo, sometimes coming close to each other, but collisions didn't happen. There were Gates into the four that were closed-off, four exactly from Meifu into GensouKai. They were guarded by priestesses and no unauthorized access was allowed or tolerated.

Political relationships connected Heaven, Hell, Meifu and GensouKai and while humans believed there was an eternal fight between Good and Bad, it was more like a political stage where demons and devils tried to bargain for souls with their owners, shinigami fought to rescue lost souls and bring them to Hades to be judged. The Lords of each realm interacted on a regular basis and while their employees, minions, subjects and servants fought each other, the powerful beings battled it out in the world of bureaucracy.

GensouKai, the GensouKai of today, was a virtual world. Decades ago, when the realm had started to become unstable, when humanity had had no more room for them, the shikigami had moved their world into the Net. They had done the only thing they could with the growing instability of their home – go somewhere else and severe all connections, allow only four Gates to remain working.

The choice hadn't been made lightly. It was the growing technology and science that had forced them to step back and back and back until they were with their backs against the wall, and now it had proven to be the only refuge anyone could think of. It had been a hard time and it hadn't helped improve Sohryu's opinion of humanity.

The Emperor's order to move the whole of GensouKai had taken them all by surprise, had shocked the most powerful beings in this world, but they had followed the order. Technology was their enemy, but technology was also their savior. It was so laughable.

The world of dreams, the world of illusions, existed in electronic minds, and while little had changed, it had been too much in Sohryu's opinion. It had taken him too long to accept that this meant their survival and he had changed. Colder, walling himself off from others, hating humans, distrusting the whole lot, he knew he hadn't made the best decisions back then, but he had seen it through.

Someone had pulled him out of this. Someone whose insistent warm presence had been with him ever since the fateful day Sohryu had made the mistake to challenge a shinigami out of the anger that had developed and resided in him because of too many events. He had lost to Tsuzuki Asato, but he had won so much more. And Tsuzuki had worn away his defenses. The ‘puny human' he had lost to had proven to be his lifeline and savior in the time to come.

Now the most precious life was fading, together with Touda, and things were culminating.

Sohryu slowly walked toward the throne room, trying to grasp the depths of the orders he had received. Though he was the leader of GensouKai there still was the Emperor above him. True, he seldom interfered with what Sohryu decided was best for GensouKai – but when he did, it usually meant there was something really bad going on. And now, in a situation like the current – Touda ill and probably dying, taking Tsuzuki with him – an order like this... it made his stomach knot and twist.

And not only because it meant he presumably wouldn't see his lover again.

Because the Emperor had ordered all shinigami to leave GensouKai immediately,  had ordered Sohryu to close down all four Gates and lock them. This action would result in the only connection the endangered GensouKai had to any of the other worlds to be severed. They would become adrift again – and there was no telling what would happen then.

° ° °

The result of Sohryu's order couldn't be missed. Not only Terazuma had been told to leave, but every other shinigami as well. There was confusion spreading in Meifu, but requests to talk to the representative of the Golden Emperor were turned down.

"What is going on?" Tatsumi murmured, standing in his office, staring out of the window. "What the hell is going on?"

Had it already come this far?

GensouKai had closed down. There was no getting in. Wakaba had tried opening a Gate, but she was denied, as were all other priests. She was unable to contact the Tengu, which had never happened before. All key strokes to get into the virtual world were returned as ‘unknown command' and Wakaba was close to crying.

Shinigami demanded to know what was going on and Tatsumi expected Enma-Daiou to finally reveal what was happening to the other divisions. But no explanations came. Only a select few knew the truth and they had been told not to talk about it.

Things were getting worse.

There was a knock on the door and Watari's blond head appeared in the crack.

"I got it!"

Tatsumi blinked. "You have an anti-virus?"

"Yep!"

"Will it work?"

A grimace. "I couldn't go and try it on another shikigami, Seii. We have only one patient," Watari scolded him.

"Point taken. But we have a problem."

"I heard. Sohryu closed down GensouKai."

"Yes. We can't go there to get the anti-virus to Touda."

Watari smiled slyly. "We can't, but I know someone who can. Terazuma Hajime."

Tatsumi was thunderstruck. "Terazuma?"

"Sure! He doesn't use a regular Gate and Sohryu can't control it. His Key will open a wormhole into GensouKai." Watari's smile dimmed a little. "The problem is we don't know how far Sohryu has removed the realm already by severing all connections. It might be either too late to jump there, or Terazuma might not get back."

Tatsumi sank back in his chair, exhaling sharply. "Damn..." He rubbed his forehead.

"But he's our only chance, Seii. Our truly only one. We have to ask him."

"I know."

And he made the call.

° ° °

Terazuma listened to Watari's explanations, to his only solution and he realized the dangers.

"I sent a probe across," the blond explained. "GensouKai is still within your reach. The Black One can easily compensate for the growing distance, but... I can't insure you can return."

"It might be one way, hm?" Terazuma muttered.

"Yes," Tatsumi said calmly. "Most likely you will be stuck in GensouKai. If the anti-virus doesn't work, the realm will be lost to us, with everyone inside."

"I understand."

He did. And he knew he was their only chance. It was a strange feeling, but sitting here, in Meifu, separated from his lover and aware that he might never see him again, this choice was the better. At least he could spend his life time with Sohryu, should GensouKai survive the separation. If not, he would perish with him. It was preferable to becoming... a widower.

The thought made him smile darkly.

But he also did it for Tsuzuki, who lay comatose in the medical wing. There had been no chance in his condition to the better. Like Touda he was dying.

Terazuma turned to Watari.

"Give me the anti-virus. I'll do it."

The scientist's expression was solemn as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver disc. He handed it over to Terazuma.

"Good luck," he said softly.

* * *
The jump was like stepping into a vortex that pulled him apart. Terazuma felt his shikigami fight against the pull of Meifu and lunged toward GensouKai that was as far away from their home realm as was just possible for Kagankogushunkei to reach.

Terazuma stumbled and gasped for air as he finally reached solid ground, feeling cold, shaky and momentarily blinded by the sun that shone brightly in the familiar sky. With a hiss, he straightened and forced his body under his command.

The Black One curled up, still shaken by the jump, and he sent a silent thanks toward his shikigami.

Well done, cat. You did it.

And hopefully the anti-virus was what they needed.

Looking around, he got his bearings, then set of toward Sohryu's palace. He was sure someone had picked up his arrival and would come to see what had happened.

Until then he would make his way to GensouKai's center.

° ° °

Sohryu was livid – and that was a mild word for it. The dragon's eyes were on fire as he looked at the shinigami who had managed to get into his realm despite closing the Gates.

"What are you doing here?" he thundered.

Terazuma met the rage calmly. Just looking at the pale, haggard form told him how close to the edge his lover was. Like death warmed over, he thought, pained. Oh, Sohryu...

Whatever kept him functioning, it was nothing more than willpower. Sheer willpower.

"Watari knows what's happening to Touda and he thinks he can stop it."

"He thinks?"

Terazuma held up the silver disc, encased in a slim case. "Touda contracted a computer virus not unlike the one that Watari's computer had. This is the anti-virus, fit for a shikigami."

"Touda is not a computer!" Sohryu snapped.

"No, he isn't, but you live in a virtual world and Touda works with the main system quite often. Watari got his virus from interacting with GensouKai throughout the construction of the Key. He believes that wherever it came from, it also got through your firewalls and into Touda. He's using the visor to enter the virtual world of the database, right? He was easy prey."

Sohryu glared at him, then snatched the disc from Terazuma's fingers.

"You're welcome," the shinigami muttered.

The expression in his lover's eyes told him that their ‘discussion' wasn't over yet.

° ° °

Tenkuu had had no other choice than to let their leader enter, despite his quarantine orders, but the possibility of a cure could not be ignored. Sohryu had strode through the corridors until he had been met by Kochin, who would take care to deliver the hoped-for cure.

There was no time to analyze the anti-virus, though she did her best. Since Rikugo was by now non-stop supplying their dying friend with life energy, the job had fallen to her. She had briefly run it through the main computer. It looked safe enough to use.

"How can we administer this?" she asked.

Rikugo's onyx eyes blinked several times, as if he tried to clear his thoughts.

"It's an algorithm," he whispered, voice barely above a whisper. "Touda must have been infected while using the visor, interfacing with the network. We need the visor, hook it up to one of the terminals, then use the same path of entry the virus did."

Tenkuu rumbled softly. "Hold on."

And then everything shifted. Kochin gave a gasp of surprise as the whole room they were in was lowered into the very basement where all the computer machinery resided.

"Thank you, Tenkuu," she called and hurried over to the interface terminal where the visor in question lay.

Kochin had never done this before and she followed Tenkuu's instructions as to how to hook the dying serpent up. She then entered the algorithm into the system.

Kochin kept her fingers crossed and prayed to the Powers that this would help. If not... they were lost. Forever. Touda's death and the resulting death of Tsuzuki Asato would undo what balance and stability had been reached in the past decades.

Holding her breath, she hit the ‘Enter' key. Then her dark eyes fell on Rikugo. The astrologer looked terrible; even worse than Sohryu. He had lost weight and he was fading along with Touda.

"Rikugo," she whispered, touching his blond head. "I injected the anti-virus."

"Yes," he rasped. "I know."

And he wouldn't stop until he felt the anti-dote kick in.

She stroked over his head once more, nodding. The musician glanced at the second watcher. Byakko, exhausted, pale, close to a complete breakdown as well, just shot her a hopeful look. She smiled calmly. The young God hadn't left his partner for a minute.

So many depended on Touda's survival – many individuals and in the end a whole realm as well.

° ° °

Sohryu had delivered the anti-virus and then turned on his heels, striding out the Palace to deal with one certain person, a shinigami by the name of Terazuma Hajime. Temper boiling, anger rising with every step, he didn't even try to rein in his emotions. On top of what had happened to Touda, to Tsuzuki and what was going to happen to his home realm, he now had to deal with the presence of Terazuma here.

Here, where everything was coming down around them. Here, where there would soon be only death.

His lover was still back at his palace, watching the bustle of servants in the main room from a hidden corner. When the dragon entered, the servants bowing as he passed, the red eyes met blue-gray ones that could have been made of ice. Whatever his personal servants might have wanted to bring to his attention, no one approached Sohryu as he crossed the room and disappeared inside his private office, his lover following him silently.

As the door closed behind them, Sohryu turned.

"I delivered the anti-virus to Rikugo," he said calmly.

"Great. So... any news?"

"No. It will take a while. That means we have time... Now we talk."

Terazuma leaned back, shrugging. "About what?"

"You coming back, for example?"

Another shrug. "I had a delivery to make."

 "There was a reason why I closed down GensouKai!" Sohryu snarled.

"And there's a reason why I came back. It was the only way to get the anti-dote to Touda."

Sohryu growled softly. "We don't know if it will work! You were taking a foolish risk, Hajime!"

"No, I was doing all I could to save lives, you stubborn dragon! Would you have wanted us to sit tight and mourn over what might have been?" Terazuma snapped, anger now rising. "Watari had a possible anti-dote and it had to be tried!"

"So if it fails, you just go back and try again? Not damned likely!"

"Maybe not, but maybe I can! Maybe my shikigami hasn't reached the limit yet!"

Reptilian eyes flared. "He has!" was the hiss. "GensouKai is too far from your home to ever reach it. You are effectively trapped."

"So what?" Terazuma demanded.

Sohryu stared at him. "Don't you understand? You will be here forever! Trapped!"

"And don't you understand that maybe it was my choice?!"

"To die?"

"Is that all you can think of?" Terazuma yelled, red eyes bright with fury. "Dying? Death? The end? Don't you have a little hope, or faith in Watari? The anti-virus might work! We can save Touda and Tsuzuki! Do you want your friend and also your master to die?"

Sohryu snarled again, advancing on Terazuma like an avenging angel.

"I would never want to harm Tsuzuki!" he whispered harshly. "Never!"

"Then why do you act like you have already given up instead of doing everything in your power to help him live?" Terazuma shot back.

A tremor went through the tall frame and suddenly a fist connected with the wall next to Terazuma.

"I have not given up, shinigami," Sohryu answered roughly, just barely holding on to his temper. "I will never give up on Tsuzuki, or on Touda. He is my master. He means the world to me. Don't accuse me of cowardice concerning him!"

Terazuma got right into his face, voice soft, level, cold. "Then stop accusing me of the same, dragon!"

Sohryu glared at him, then finally moved away, each step measured.

"What now?" Terazuma demanded as the shikigami wordlessly walked to the office door, apparently leaving.

"I can hardly send you back," was the cold reply. "You will stay here."

"Thank you very much." Terazuma put enough acid into his voice to etch through steel with ease. "I'll try to enjoy myself."

Sohryu stiffened, then just resumed his way and slammed the door shut after himself as he left the office. His temper was flaring, his aura was snapping and crackling around him, and the servants scurried out of the way, looking at their master with frightened eyes.

He didn't care one little bit.

* * *
 

It took twenty-four hours for the anti-dote to show the first signs of working. Kochin was still there, keeping an eye on not only Touda but Rikugo as well. She watched as the astrologer sighed softly, pulling away from Touda. Black eyes, unfocused and clouded, blinked several times, then closed and the tall form collapsed.

Kochin hurried over to her fellow Divine Commander, then called for the servants.

° ° °

Terazuma hadn't left his lover alone, even though their fight had truly brought out the worst in him. He had wanted to turn around and leave the obstinate, stubborn and pissed off dragon, feeling angry himself. But the anger had evaporated almost right afterwards by the sheer exhaustion he read in his lover's eyes.

So he had stayed.

And he had kept himself updated through Sohryu's servants that came and went, bringing news of the fire serpent's condition. He couldn't get Sohryu to rest, despite the blatant need the dragon radiated by now.

"You'll be trapped here forever," Sohryu said softly, repeating his earlier argument, but the tone of voice was much softer.

"And I'll be spending the rest of my life with the person I love." Terazuma smiled at the pale dragon. "I can't imagine being in Meifu, knowing you're out there somewhere, unreachable, adrift in GensouKai... I'd rather be here, away from the others, than without you, Sohryu."

"GensouKai, as you know it, won't survive the new separation. The last time we were able to save ourselves by moving into this virtual world. But not again."

Terazuma close the distance and placed a finger on the familiar lips. "I know. But I'm here because Touda needed this chance, the anti-dote Watari developed. And I'm here because I love you. Accept it."

Sohryu smiled a little, tiredness in his every move. "Thank you, Hajime."

There was a knock and then a servant entered, bowing deeply.

"My Lord Sohryu. I bring news from Commander Touda. Lady Kochin asked me to tell you that the anti-dote is working."

A breath whistled out of Sohryu's lungs and his eyes widened. "He's healing?" he demanded.

"Yes, my Lord."

Terazuma was close enough to feel the tremors racing through the tall man. The servant retreated and it was moments after the doors closed that the Protector of the East suddenly swayed.

"He's healing," Sohryu repeated, stunned. "Hajime, he's healing!"

Terazuma grinned. "I heard it. It's the best I've heard in days!"

He slung his arms around his lover and that was the moment the full weight of the dragon collapsed into his arms.

"Sohryu!"

Unconsciousness had claimed the dragon and Terazuma lowered him to the ground, calling for the servants.

° ° °

Rikugo woke to the sensation of lying flat on his back. He blinked, his eyes burning, eye lids heavy, and his vision was far from clear. It was like a fog wavering in front of his eyes. His body felt heavy, weak, and he seemed to be shivering.

A thought flashed through his mind.

Touda!

Rikugo managed to turn his head and found he lay on a bed in the room next to where Touda was. The wide doors were open and he could see the serpent shikigami from here.

Why was he here?

What was he doing in bed?

Touda needed him!

The astrologer pushed himself up. The world lurched around him, nausea rose and he swallowed reflexively to stop from throwing up. Everything blurred and he had to hold onto the mattress to keep from falling over.

He could do this, he told himself. He had a patient to take care of.
 
 

Sohryu had slept for most of the day, and had finally woken to his lover sitting with him on the broad bed, smiling as blue-gray eyes blinked open. Terazuma had forced a large breakfast into him and Sohryu had to confess that he had felt better since... well, since the whole mess had started. A soft, gentle session of kisses and touches had followed, and Sohryu hadn't really been up to much more.

It had taken a while to get out of bed anyway, even if nothing had happened.

His personal assistant had brought him up to speed as to what had occurred while he had slept and Sohryu was pleased to hear that Touda was truly healing. At the current speed it would take a while, but he was on his way to recovery.

Rikugo's breakdown had not been unexpected. The astrologer had completely depleted himself, but Sohryu was sure the other dragon would be up and about by now. Dragons were fast to recover and as long as there were no deep wounds or poison, their own healing powers were enough to counter such situations.

Sohryu walked into the room where Touda was sleeping peacefully, Byakko curled up at his side, to the sight of Rikugo clinging to the wall and trying to walk toward the bed.

"Rikugo!" he exclaimed.

The blond head came up, dazed, onyx eyes trying to focus on him, and Sohryu was shocked by the sickly pallor of the shikigami. Rikugo looked nowhere close to recovered or healed!

"Rikugo?"

"Have to... Touda..." Rikugo whispered.

"Touda's fine," the dragon answered, striding over to the other man.

Rikugo trembled badly. His hair was mostly undone, falling over his back in white-blond waves. He was dressed in simple pants and a shirt, showing his slender form more clearly than the layers of robes.

"But..."

"The anti-virus worked. He's getting better."

Rikugo's eyes were widening. "He... is..?"

"Yes."

Sohryu was just fast enough to grab the collapsing body. Rikugo felt incredibly light and fragile in his arms, shaken by tremors, and his skin was cold and clammy to the touch. A moan escaped the astrologer and his hands clenched into Sohryu's far from representative robes, eyes screwed shut, simply trying to breathe.

The dragon looked down on the blond, truly realizing how much Rikugo had really put into keeping Touda alive. All his energy had been expended; all of it, not just the healing energies. He had poured his life into Touda in small doses, weakening himself to a level that had nearly killed him. At the moment he was weaker than a new born. His body was trying to work through the energy loss but it was too much to counter immediately.

Soft steps announced a visitor and Sohryu looked up, right into the faceless darkness that was Taimo's face. Serenity flowed off the shikigami and despite the missing face Sohryu thought he detected a worried frown.

"He depleted himself," Taimo said, voice soft and calm, but the underlying worry was there.

Sohryu nodded, still holding the semi-conscious astrologer.

"I can offer to unravel his energy lines," Taimo went on. "But it won't be easy and it won't happen overnight."

Sohryu was aware of that. Taimo had guiding powers, but unlike Rikugo, who used them actively to counter a virus or worse, Taimo could only touch the energy lines that joined all life forms to the fabric of this realm. It was also a drawback because whatever darkness touched the energy, it would flood Taimo as well. He could give Rikugo a little push into the right direction and it was probably all the other shikigami needed.

"It's better than nothing," the dragon replied and hoisted up the shaking man.

He carried him over to the other bed once more and placed him onto the mattress. Rikugo just whimpered softly, eyes still closed, and he curled up almost instinctively.

Taimo sat down and withdrew his hands from the folds of his white robe, reaching for Rikugo's chest. Sohryu stood back, watching, worried just like everyone else. He might not like Rikugo for his constant opposition, but that had changed lately. He had come to accept the astrologer's role in his life, in GensouKai's life, and he knew he needed him as his opponent just as he needed Tsuzuki and Terazuma and his children...

Rikugo gave a breathy moan as Taimo began to scan the abused body and mind.

"He is very weak, Sohryu," the faceless shikigami whispered. "His channeling power is non-existent. I'm amazed he even made it so far."

Sohryu nodded to himself. The astrologer had sacrificed almost everything.

"It will take time," Taimo repeated.

"He'll get whatever I can give," the dragon answered softly.

Eyes on the haggard, lined face, noting shadows so deep that it looked like his eyes had been bruised, Sohryu swore to himself that when they were past this, he would change a lot. He had started to change already, mostly toward Touda and Byakko, as well as their master, but now was the time to put whatever had been between him and Rikugo behind them. Tsuzuki had once told him that he needed the opposition, that it made him what he was, that it gave him the necessary jolt to live.

It was true.

He needed Rikugo. Not as an enemy, but as an ally who saw what Sohryu didn't, who pushed him further than the dragon would normally go, who opened his eyes to things he had mistaken for something else.

I don't need to abuse you, Sohryu thought sadly. I don't need you as a punching bag. I know that you're serious about what you say and do concerning me, and I always saw it as a personal attack.

He sighed softly.

Changes were in order.

In the light of the intricate network that connected them all... they were more important than ever.

° ° °

It was like waking up after sleeping very deeply. There was confusion, the sensation of missing things and unable to remember why. Amethyst eyes blinked once-twice, then the dazed expression tried to clear. Lungs inflated, but not under his own account.

Another blink.

The non-human eyes gazed at the tube leading from a machine to him, wondering what was going on.

As he moved, an alarm went off and someone burst into the room.

"Tsuzuki!"

The excited voice belonged to his best friend and Watari leaned over him, beaming at the prone man.

"You're awake! It worked!"

What had worked?

"Wait. I'll remove the ventilator. This won't be nice while I'm pulling it out, but you can breathe on your own now."

The ventilator was off fifteen minutes later and Watari had been right. It hadn't been nice. Tsuzuki's throat felt sore and dry.

"Here. Small sips."

A glass was held against his lips and a bit of wonderfully cool water trickled down his abused throat.

"Thanks," Tsuzuki answered, his voice scratchy. "What... happened?"

A sigh. "Let me check you first, okay. Then I'll get Tatsumi and we can talk."

°

Tsuzuki lay propped up in the hospital bed, feeling sleepy, tired, but not too bad considering he had spent the last week in a coma and had nearly died. Hisoka was with him, curled up against his side in the wide bed, snuggled close under the covers. Tsuzuki's right hand was resting on the younger shinigami, now and then stroking over the slender body.

Hisoka had come to see him two hours after the ventilator had been removed, a few minutes after Tatsumi had briefed him on what had happened. Tsuzuki had been shocked, had tried to reach for his shikigami, but Touda was like a leaden weight; unresponsive.

Few words had been lost, but the emotions running between them had been deep. The kiss had spoken more than any words anyway and Hisoka had just climbed into the bed, seeking nearness, and Tsuzuki had pulled him to him.

There was a shift coming from the unresponsive form and Tsuzuki turned toward the bond.

::Touda?':: he whispered.

Another shift and the dark ball uncurled. A soft moan echoed through the shared realm.

Tsuzuki reached out. ::Touda::

He touched the inky black presence and smiled when the shikigami reacted instinctively.

::Tsuzuki?':: came the soft question.

::Yes, I'm here::

The presence flowed openly around him, enveloped him, and Tsuzuki sank into the other mind, very much at ease with the intimate connection. Touda was incredibly weak and Tsuzuki sent warmth.

::What happened?':: the shikigami murmured.

::You caught a virus. A computer virus:: Tsuzuki replied, then opened up and let the information Tatsumi had shared with him seep into his bonded friend.

To the outside, he appeared to be sleeping, but inside two souls lay close together, closer than anyone else could be, while their lovers curled up close on each man's side, simply happy that he was alive and getting well.

* * *

Rikugo had recovered, but it had taken a while for him to be strong enough to take care of himself. Genbu had been the one who had taken him in, had arranged for the servants to take care of their lord, and after a week the astrologer was finally strong enough to stay awake for more than an hour and truly understand what was going on around him, though his powers were far from back what they had been. It would take more time and a lot more patience for him to be able to use his abilities again.

It was due to his weakness that he didn't feel the approach of the highest of the four Gods. When he turned away from his study of a chart, his way to keep himself occupied, he nearly had the shock of his lifetime.

What little power he had flared, but it was laughably weak.

"I apologize for coming unannounced," the sky dragon said softly.

Rikugo calmed himself, drawing a deep breath. He gathered his thin shields and readied himself for whatever came now. Sohryu's visits never held any social value.

"What do you want?"

Blue-gray eyes studied him and Rikugo felt himself bristle.

"We need to talk," Sohryu finally answered.

"I don't think so," the astrologer replied and turned, walking away, cursing his took weak body.
 
 

Sohryu had been slightly shocked to see how bad Rikugo still looked. The proud Commander was thin, pale, the long hair not in his usual braid. It was simply bound back in a pony tail. That the earth dragon hadn't felt his approach confirmed Sohryu's suspicion that the other's powers were still too weak, and he was rather vulnerable at the moment. It explained why he didn't leave his palace and if at all, only ventured as far as Genbu's realm. It was where he felt safe –
and Sohryu was a dangerous intruder into that safety.

"Rikugo," he called softly, following the other.

The slender shoulders stiffened.

"Please hear me out."

Onyx eyes met his blue-gray ones. He could read the reply in there. It wasn't like Rikugo had enough leverage, power-wise, to throw Sohryu out. And if push came to shove, Sohryu was still his superior.

"Then talk," was the flat reply.

The dragon smiled a little and walked over to the seating arrangement, making an inviting gesture. Rikugo hesitated, then followed slowly.

Sohryu had thought long and hard about how to start this conversation, how to bring across what he felt, what he needed Rikugo to know, and how to mend a relationship that had never run on an even keel ever since Sohryu's rise to leadership, the representative of the Emperor.

So he began, his words soft, measured, his eyes holding the ones of his political opponent, of a man who had nearly died trying to save Touda...

° °°

The bond was like a leaky sieve, a large net that didn't hold much back. Both Tsuzuki and Touda were clearly aware of their other half's thoughts and emotions and both tried their best to work on the most rudimentary shields. Since both were confined to the hospital, nothing much exciting happened, but brief surges of emotions when their lovers came by translated immediately.

Still, they were sleeping more than being awake and too weak to do more than eat when they were conscious. Self-repair had begun and with each day, Touda grew stronger, and with him Tsuzuki.

Shields were getting better by the day and Tsuzuki was allowed to leave the medical wing after another two days, with serious orders to take it easy.

::How's Rikugo?':: Tsuzuki asked.

He was back home, in his own four walls, and while he was too weak to do much, he could at least take care of the basics – and there was always Hisoka who had effectively moved in for the time. Not that they didn't spend time at each other's apartment anyway.

::Recovering:: was the calm answer. //His energy levels are almost back to normal and he's his usual self// A chuckle was added to the last statement.

::Good to hear:: Tsuzuki said, stretching lazily on the couch.

Light was falling through the large window front and played over his casually dressed form. There were rare times when Tsuzuki didn't wear his trademark shirt white and black suit with a long, flowing equally black coat. Right now, the black jeans and white t-shirt were a variation of it.

::Tell him to take it easy, okay::

Touda flowed around him like an inky, silky piece of the void himself, but so warm and gentle, it was like a lover's caress.

::I will. Take your own advice, Tsuzuki. Rest and get well::

He smiled and hugged his shikigami. ::I will::

The connection was closed and Tsuzuki blinked, getting back to reality. He looked into a pair of green eyes in a young face that currently gave nothing away. Hisoka regarded him calmly, probably very much aware of his conversation with Touda. He had told Tsuzuki once that he could feel the connection, could feel Touda's presence whenever the fire serpent came to the forefront. In the beginning it had hurt, but by now it was as much part of Tsuzuki as was everything else.

"Hey," Tsuzuki said, smiling softly.

He held out one hand and Hisoka took it, letting himself get pulled to his lover's side. Their lips met and Tsuzuki kissed him questioningly.

"You okay?" he asked as they separated.

"Yes. Getting better each day. So's Touda. He says Rikugo's okay, too." Happiness swung in his voice.

Still, the expression in the young face was slightly worried.

"Hisoka?" Tsuzuki stroked over the smooth skin of one cheek. "Something wrong?"

"Touda contracted a computer virus," the young shinigami said, sitting back, facing Tsuzuki who now pushed himself up in a cross-legged position as well.

"Yes?"

"It's a virus that he received from his interface with the Meifu main computer system because he helped Watari build the Key. The virus that came from Watari's system didn't affect Watari's computer any more than just a few glitches, but it nearly killed Touda."

"Touda's not a computer," Tsuzuki argued. "He just became part of it for the work he did."

"Yes, he did. So why did it almost kill Touda but Watari's computer just glitched on a harmless level? Watari told me that the virus wouldn't have done nearly as much damage as it did in Touda. He's analyzing it at the moment."

Tsuzuki frowned. "You think it was intentional?"

Hisoka sighed. "Maybe. Something about this is so wrong, Asato. So very, very wrong. The virus came from Meifu and attacked Touda. Why? Watari's system is the best and he doesn't know how the bug could have gotten in. Why attack Touda? Why not anyone else?"

Tsuzuki was silent, thoughtfully gazing at the other shinigami. "I don't know, Hisoka."

Hisoka ran a hand through his long strands. "It doesn't feel right," he murmured.

Tsuzuki pulled him into a gentle embrace. He trusted Hisoka's feelings – not just because he was empath but because the younger man was usually right. Right now, though, he didn't have the mental strength to think about this.

::We'll look into this:: Touda whispered.

::Later:: was the murmured answer.

When they were all more rested.

°

Their love-making had been slow and intense, both surrendering to their emotions, to their partners, to themselves. Hisoka had moved with his lover, had moaned softly as Tsuzuki had entered him slowly, deeply, had lovingly kissed and nipped at him, his hands so incredibly gentle. Climax had been a long, deep rush and Hisoka had clung to the taller man, had felt the power the slender form harbored, had dug his fingers into the deceptively frail and vulnerable form.

"I love you," Tsuzuki whispered as he cradled the younger man close, running his fingers through the tousled hair, over the hot skin.

"Love you so much." He buried his head against the softness.

Hisoka gazed at his lover, smiling gently, his face, usually so emotionless, warm and loving in its expression.

"I love you, too."

And they needed each other. Hisoka knew he was sharing this special person with a lot of people, first of all Touda, then the other shikigami serving their shinigami master, and even a whole realm. But he found he didn't care because Tsuzuki was his lover, his partner, and it meant more to him than a lot of things.

He felt safe, protected, loved.

He felt warm.

Tsuzuki snuggled closer, pulling a blanket around them. He was drifting off to sleep and Hisoka's own body and mind surrendered to the pleasant exhaustion as well.

°

In GensouKai, Byakko lay curled up around his lover, too. Touda was sleeping, exhausted from their love-making, and Byakko couldn't suppress the still continuing feeling of happiness. Purring, tail wrapped around them both, he reveled in the warmth of their shared body heat.

* * *
Moments like these were rare.

Introspective little potholes in time.

He didn't really think of much, but his mind still worked, it still turned into a carrousel of thoughts that began to siphon out, turn into more solid ponderings, and in the end he sat somewhere remote, somewhere he felt safe, somewhere he could be alone, and he thought about his life.

His life had followed a pattern for the last seventy-odd years, for the time he had worked as an angel of death. There had been cases, there had been battles, there had been tears and pain and despair. All of that had changed all of a sudden, from one day to the next, and the beginning had been made with the appearance of one man: Muraki.

He smiled a little.

His bane, his tormentor, the man who had shattered shields and breezed through barricades, who had taken what he wanted from an immortal, very powerful being who had been unable to fight back.

Muraki had frozen him in his tracks, had paralyzed his mind, and he had used him for his purposes.

He had nearly been his death.

He had nearly killed himself because of that man.

But Muraki had also launched the first little pebble of change, the pebble that had kicked off an avalanche that was still continuing. He had pulled him out of a stupor, out of his structured life after death, and he had again and again taken a stab at his potential.

Tsuzuki Asato closed his eyes and sighed softly.

Maybe I should thank him, he thought darkly. Maybe I should just find out where he disappeared to and tell him how much good he did in the end, at least for me.

A mass-murdering psychopath without a conscience, without morals, without scruples – and he had given Tsuzuki his first look at what he could be. He had taunted him with his knowledge about Tsuzuki's past, about his genealogy, and he had made the shinigami think. Because of Muraki he had sought the confrontation with Enma, had wanted to know the truth about himself, and Enma had freed the darkness that was his innate power.

His powers had been triggered. He had been bonded and anchored to Touda. Because he had the four Gods as his shikigami, they had grown in power, had been able to stabilize GensouKai in the digital world, had taken control of the wormholes. Because he had twelve Divine Commanders, GensouKai had prospered.

And Tsuzuki Asato was the most important factor in the existence of their worlds.

He sighed.

Great.

He had never wanted to be special, but now he was even more so than before.

Tsuzuki raked a hand through his hair. I don't want to be special, he thought.

But there was nothing he could change about it.

There was a little shift inside him and he felt his other half come closer. The bond to one of the most dangerous shikigami was a miracle for Tsuzuki. He loved them all, all his twelve Divine Commanders, but only one had the power to counter-weigh what the shinigami had inherited from his demonic side.

Only one.

Touda.

The fire shikigami radiated a question and Tsuzuki smiled.

::I'm okay:: he murmured.

Touda stroked over his presence, wrapped himself comfortingly around his soul, and Tsuzuki sank into the safety his friend represented.

The bond had only been the first step. Many more had followed and lately there had been so much, he had begun to think more about his role in all of this.
Enma-Daiou had unleashed the darkness with a plan. He always had plans.

But what plan? Why Tsuzuki? Only because he was half demon? Or because he had had a power in his lifetime that he now also possessed in his death?

Tsuzuki sighed softly.

Why was he thinking about this now? Maybe because things had culminated and he needed to straighten everything out. Maybe because his mind was catching up on his emotions. Maybe just because there was nothing else that kept him busy after the stress of the last days.

Tsuzuki had sought out one of the peaceful, remote places within GensouKai center. It was a little rough spot in the middle of a landscaped world. Rocks, gnarled trees, sand and wild flowers, dark green grass growing in patches among the rocky ground. He loved the dream realm for its quietness, for the way he could be alone here, that the shikigami knew when he didn't need companionship. No one had greeted him when he had come here, but Tsuzuki knew his twelve were very much aware of his presence.

There were soft steps, a little crackle of pebbles under heavy, booted feet, and Tsuzuki felt the presence of the one who was closer to him than anyone else could ever hope to be.

Touda sat down, a black form against the lighter background, golden eyes looking calmly at him.

Well, eleven knew when to leave him alone while the twelfth just had to scan the bond and find out when companionship was truly needed. After hours of contemplating his life and the revelations about his true importance, Touda had finally made the decision that Tsuzuki needed him in person, not just through a mind-bond.

"Touda?" Tsuzuki asked softly after a long while of mutual and comfortable silence.

"Yes?"

"Do you sometimes regret it?"

Dark brows dipped a little. "Regret what?"

Tsuzuki looked at his shikigami. "Becoming my shikigami."

"No," was the simple and immediate answer.

"You never had a choice."

"I had."

The shinigami frowned.

"When you walked into my prison cell I had a choice: be with you or stay in that cell. I chose to be with you."

"You didn't know me," Tsuzuki said softly. "You had no idea who your pledged your loyalty to. I could have been an abusive master. I could have been... weak. I sometimes wonder if you had only made the choice because it meant your freedom, but you weren't free even then. The visor..."

Touda reached over and touched the pale face, turning Tsuzuki's head to look him in the eyes.

"Asato," he said softly. "I knew you the moment you walked into that cell. My chains broke, my life came back. I felt you and I responded with such an intensity it broke through the stupor, the pain of my existence. I looked into your eyes and I knew it had to be you." He smiled tenderly and stroked over one cheek. "All they did to me couldn't make me revise my wishes. I wanted to be yours."

"Touda..." Tsuzuki stammered, feeling something inside of him shiver with warmth.

"We reflect each other, Asato. I know that now. We were made from the same darkness. We are so very much like the other, and still we're not completely alike. I need your innocence; I need your weaknesses. Just like you need mine."

Tsuzuki shivered more and Touda drew him close, embracing him gently.

::I needed you and still do:: the fire serpent whispered. ::You're not a burden::

Tsuzuki froze. "I..."

Touda chuckled. "I felt your emotions." He sat back and held the violet eyes. "You are what I want. You are what I need. I'll take all the good things and the bad things with it. And," Touda added softly, "I should be the one to ask for your acceptance. My pain has been yours too often. I hurt you."

Tsuzuki shook his head. "No. Don't apologize for that. It's okay," he stammered, shaking his head again. "It's okay..."

"But it's not. I don't want to cause you pain."

Tsuzuki rested his head against the broad, muscular shoulders and sighed. "We both had no choice, but I think you got the worst out of it," he murmured.

Touda stroked over his back. "I disagree. What we both got was only good. The drawbacks don't outnumber the wonderful times."

Tsuzuki was silent for a long time, just resting against the much stronger form, feeling the closeness, the warmth. Touda's chin lay against his head, his arms were around him, and Tsuzuki felt safe.

"Touda?" he asked after a while.

"Yes?"

"If we had met otherwise... would you have taken my challenge?"

Touda chuckled a little. "Would you have challenged me?"

Tsuzuki straightened, meeting the golden gaze. "I don't know. I mean, some of the challenges were accidental. Sohryu was the one who challenged me... Genbu... I didn't even know it was a challenge until it was over. At the time I had eleven shikigami. I don't think I would have challenged you."

Touda leaned forward, two fingers under Tsuzuki's chin, and placed a close-mouthed kiss on his master's lips. Tsuzuki felt light embarrassment color his cheeks.

"I would have been proud to be you shikigami, Tsuzuki Asato, with a challenge or without it. Even bound to you by the pardon, with the visor, I knew I would have been yours."

Tsuzuki smiled a little, sinking into Touda's embrace again.

"Now I'm not just someone with twelve shikigami any more," he murmured. "Now I'm the one whose life means also the life of GensouKai, Meifu, Hell and the world of the living. I don't want to be special, Touda."

"You were always special, Asato. To us, at least. You're special to Tatsumi, to Hisoka..." Strong hands caressed him. "To many people."

"But my life or death never meant such consequences." Tsuzuki drew a shuddering breath.

"None of us have any intention of letting you die, no matter what. I'll always do whatever is necessary to defend you." Touda hesitated and Tsuzuki felt old memories touch his shikigami, felt the link echo with them. Just once Touda had been ready to end his master's life. Just once.

"Not your fault," he soothed the fire serpent. //Back then neither of us knew. Now we do. I don't fault you for it. I wanted to die and you were following my orders.//

Touda tightened his hug briefly. //I would refuse to do so in the future// he murmured, voice rough.

Tsuzuki ran calming hands over the strong form. "I won't ask it of you ever again," he promised firmly.

Silence descended and Tsuzuki lay in the warm embrace, enjoyed the company despite the fact that he had come here to be alone, to think.

Moments like these were rare.

He smiled a little.

Yes, they were. Moments like being with his shikigami, just for the sense of comfort and not because there was a fight, a crisis or something wrong. Not all of them were touchy-feely, and many would claim Touda was one of those, but Tsuzuki knew otherwise. There was an attraction between them that ran deeper than love, was much more intimate than sex, and both knew it. There had been few opportunities to express this connection before the bond, but now, with the mind-link, the soul-bond, it had opened up possibilities.

Tsuzuki closed his eyes, feeling hard muscles relax under him, felt Touda's mind flow all around him like a protective, silky veil.

Moments like these were treasured.

::I might have to thank Muraki one day:: he murmured sleepily.

Touda blinked. ::You do?'::

A lazy smile. ::He initiated all of this. The pain and anger and hurt... all of those negative emotions, all that fear, it turned into this. Not all of it is good, but most of it. Because of him I went to Enma-Daiou and Enma released the darkness, which brought me you. And because of him I have Hisoka. We finally cleared your name and Sohryu has found his peace with history::/ Tsuzuki smiled more. ::He's much better at handling stress, he's more... relaxed. You two are friends again, too.::

Touda chuckled. ::In a way::

::And you have Byakko. I'm so happy for the both of you::

The fire shikigami was silent for a while, then pressed a little kiss on Tsuzuki's tousled head. ::Thank you::

° ° °

Terazuma glanced at the man at his side, taking in the sinewy form, utterly naked, lying like a great cat next to him. Those fascinating eyes were watching him, half-lidded, looking satisfied. Terazuma was breathing hard, his heart hammering in his chest, his body aching from the violent release in so many places... from several climaxes, actually. He closed his eyes, a soft moan escaping his lips as a strong, gentle hand stroked over his sweat-slick skin, drawing teasing patterns over his stomach.

"You're gonna be the death of me," he breathed.

"You're already dead," Sohryu rumbled and smiled.

Terazuma chuckled. "Details."

Warm lips descended on his, kissing him gently, languidly, and Terazuma reached up to bury his fingers into the mane of silky hair.

It felt so good. So incredibly good. Terazuma would never have thought that there was such a feeling, such total bliss that had nothing to do with the sex as such but the lessening tension inside him. The Black One was calm, quiet, sated.

The gentle strokes and caresses lulled him into a doze and he felt Sohryu's warmth next to him, holding him, kissing him. He must have drifted off because when he woke again it was already getting dark. He was wrapped up in the silky blankets and Sohryu sat next to him, still gloriously naked, the setting sun streaming through the open windows bathing him in a beautiful light.

Terazuma sat up and the shikigami looked at him, smiling.

"Awake?" he teased.

"You wore me out," he grumbled.

Sohryu drew a gentle hand over his cheek and kissed him. "I was planning to. How do you feel?"

"Tired, achy, but good."

The beautiful eyes lit up with satisfaction. "Good." Another kiss, this one longer. "I need to go. Briefing."

Terazuma knew that. His lover was still the representative of the Emperor and life in GensouKai went on, now more than ever. An incredible truth had been revealed and things would never be the same. Sohryu would have his hands full, now that the Gates were open once more and the shinigami knew what had almost happened to their shikigami friends and partners.

"I'll see you later," Sohryu promised as he rose, giving the shinigami a very nice view of the toned body.

"I'll be here," Terazuma answered.

And he would be.

° °°

In his lab in Meifu, Watari Yutaka fired up his computer and began his work on decoding the algorithm of the virus that had attacked and nearly killed Touda. He accessed his folder and stopped.

Watari stared at the empty folder.

"What the..." he murmured.

He quickly called up the search program and began to look for the missing file.

No result.

"Impossible!"

"What is?" a voice asked and he turned to meet Tatsumi's blue eyes.

"The virus is gone."

"Well, I hope so."

"No, I mean the copy of it I stored on a safe hard drive! It's gone!"

"The computer virus is gone? How?"

"I don't know!"

"Could you have deleted it?"

Watari gave him an outraged look. "No!"

Tatsumi held up his hands. "Easy, Taka. Does anyone have access to your computer?"

"No, it's password-guarded."

Watari turned to his machine and began typing away. Something scrolled up.

"See? No one accessed my terminal but me ever!"

Tatsumi frowned, then nodded slowly. "So...?"

"I'm looking into it, Seii, but I swear to you that I didn't delete it!"

The older shinigami squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "I believe you. Keep me updated."

A nod. "Of course."

Another squeeze and then Tatsumi was gone again.

°

It was well after office hours when Watari sat back in his chair and stared at the result from his ceaseless search into how the computer virus copy could have been erased.

"No way..." he whispered.

But the words said it all.

‘Authorized Internal Access'.

Someone with the correct codes had gotten into his files – from the inside! Someone who could freely move inside the main computer, who didn't have to hack, who didn't have to circumvent security.

Someone with a clearance that overrode everyone else.

Watari switched off the computer, mind whirling.

Someone...

... who didn't want them to know where the virus had come from, where the deliberate attack on Touda had originated.

Someone in Meifu's upper hierarchy.

Watari left the lab like in a trance.

There was only one person he could think of, but it was in total contradiction to what he believed. Why destroy Touda after forcing the bond with Tsuzuki? Why use a computer virus? Why risk so much?

Because there was no evidence, the scientist in him answered. All you have is an authorized access to your files and that's no real proof. It could have been a system check... anything...

But Watari knew enough about the mother computer to exclude that. He knew a whole lot more than most people would ever do about the network inside Meifu.

Because once, a lifetime ago, he had been part of it.

He left the Judicial building, lost in thought, his feet taking him away from the towering building.

Why?

Why do this?

Why risk it all?

He had no answers to those questions, but he wouldn't stop digging. He wouldn't stop looking.

Something was going on here and it wasn't good.
 

~fin~
to be continued in Bete Noir and Phoenix