by Rina K. Fenderson
2. The Other Side
"Should we start to worry now? Or wait another two days?" Watari Yutaka declared, propping a delicate hand under his chin, his blond hair cascading over his shoulders. His questioning glare was aimed at his chief, waiting for the man�s reply.
Konoe frowned at Watari�s comment, folding his arms upon the table and shaking his head. "I wasn�t surprising that he didn�t arrive at work the first day --Tsuzuki can be so careless and scatter-brained sometimes-- but now..."
"None of us thought anything of his absence at first," Tatsumi Seiichirou declared, readjusting his glasses slowly. He stood from his chair starting to pace around the large rectangular table in the sparsely decorated room. Four human forms and two floating chicken-like creatures occupied the room, all tense with worry for their co-worker and comrade. Tatsumi paused behind the chair of the only male who had not spoken, since the beginning of the meeting. He leaned on the back of the chair, not turning or looking at the young man in it. "Have you felt anything from him, Hisoka? I know you don�t normally look for others, but anything could help."
"No," Kurosaki Hisoka said abruptly, his green eyes trained passed all of them. "I haven�t felt anything." *but I�ve been trying,* the last thought, didn�t need to be spoke, they all knew the connection that was steadily growing between the partners. They knew Hisoka was as distressed as they were, whether he spoke such aloud or not.
"Watari, do some research on the ball and the building it was located in to see if he could have run into some trouble there," Konoe ordered, nodding to the blond as he stood bowing his head slightly toward Konoe, more serious than he tended to be. The chief�s eyes turned their attention to the others in the room. "The Gushoushin brothers will help you." The two white creatures exclaimed their agreement in unison, also very serious as they floated after the handsome scientist. "Tatsumi send out a warning to the other divisions and perhaps take a quick trip to Earth to see if you could come across him."
"Yes, Chief," Tatsumi replied standing straight, when addressed. He turned to leave, but his higher�s voice forced him to pause.
"Don�t be long though," Konoe was saying, out of the corner of his eyes he saw Hisoka pushing back his chair slowly, and standing languidly. "You are needed here much more than there."
"Yes, sir," Tatsumi replied, his eyes watching Hisoka instead of his Chief.
The young boy�s head was lowered, his honey blond hair falling over his forehead in gentle wisps, obscuring his green eyes so they merely peeked through the strands with striking flecks of emerald. "Chief," he said softly, his green eyes flickering up to the two of them, their color piercing. "May I have permission to go to earth and search for him?"
Konoe paused, staring at the young man, noting the trembling in his arms has he braced himself against the table. He glanced over at Tatsumi, who, with a hand hovering over his mouth to readjust his glasses, was frowning in concern. The chief, closed his wrinkled eyes and shook his head slightly. "Hisoka, you will remain here. More precisely in you room. You are not well enough to trail after a potentially dangerous situation."
Emerald flashed like fire, and his fists came down on the table top, vibrating all the way over to where Konoe still sat. His eyes widened at Hisoka�s reaction, then he frowned deeply at Hisoka�s words, "Tsuzuki was even worse off than I am, yet you still sent him to do this stupid lead and now he�s gotten himself into some sort of mess with...with..." Hisoka closed his eyes, his back arching over the table as his hands gripped the wood with pain, tears slipped from his eyes. He knew...he knew who had Tsuzuki...and if he had gone with Tsuzuki... "This wouldn�t be happening if I...If I..."
"Hisoka," Tatsumi said softly, touching the shoulder of the young boy, the orange fabric of his shirt soft to the touch. "Don�t worry. We will get him back. I will look to see if I can find him. If we still have nothing tomorrow, perhaps you can join me for a search."
Hisoka�s head bowed deeper, then he turned from Tatsumi, from Konoe, and walked to the door, pushing it open and walking out without another word to the two of them. All the while a deep dread swelled in the shadows of his heart.