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[BLANKET NOTE:] After losing all my fics, I recently scoured every disk I'd ever burnt that may have had ANYTHING I'd previously written. Instead of only posting a few of my fics, I'm considering posting everything I write. Most of which are crossovers. I'm sorry if it takes me even longer to update my stuff, but a loss of seven thousand words for Rivaled Love, four thousand for Vacation Blues and over seventeen thousand in total for my other current chapters on and is just too depressing to put into words.

Not to mention the fact that I lost all my research stuff, all the stats, character notes, bios, observations and snippets have all gone, as well as the fic guidelines I was using.

I've also lost over 157 new fics which had between one and four chapters written, and another dozen story arcs which I had held back from posting until they were complete. One for Yu-Gi-Oh, one for Beyblade and one for Yami no Matsuei being the worst casualties...they were almost completed.

I apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

Hugs,

~Shi-koi~

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Intervention

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By Shi-koi

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Series: Yami no Matsuei / Stargate

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Watari x Tsuzuki, Muraki x Hisoka, Muraki x Tsuzuki. Tatsumi x Hisoka. Some previous Tatsumi x Tsuzuki.

Status: In-Progress

Warnings: Crossover, angst, non-con, yaoi, rape, blackmail, violence, bloodplay, bondage, H/C.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

Summary: Muraki has stepped up things a notch, involving outside partners. On his trail, Tsuzuki, Hisoka, Tatsumi and Watari must cross the ocean to America to stop the bloodshed. On the way, they stumble across an even greater menace.

Notes:

- Meifu is actually like a mirror image of Earth, like looking at your reflection in water. I say 'going down to Earth' because that's what it looks like they do in the anime
- Japanese introduce themselves with their last names first, ie, John Doe would be Doe John.
- When Tsuzuki talks to people, he does use -san a lot, as it's only polite, but he usually doesn't add any sufix onto Hisoka's name. No -chan, -kun, -san etc... which is understandable given how close they are as friends. (And in some of my fics, koibitos)

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Chapter One

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~*~*~

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It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Tsuzuki stared at the blood on his hands, the red liquid slowly dripping onto the body at his feet.

"Hisoka..."

Dull green eyes stared up blankly at him, the slim pale body lifeless and still.

"HISOKA!"

Tsuzuki woke up with a strangled gasp, tears falling onto the sheets.

"A dream. Just a dream." He whispered to himself. But somehow he couldn't banish the image of his forever-sixteen year old partner's dead body from his mind. The dreams had come often in recent times, even though Muraki was supposedly dead. Tsuzuki knew different. The curse marks the doctor had carved on Hisoka's body still lit up on occasion, a blood-red warning to be extra vigilant.

Pushing back the sheets, Tsuzuki grabbed his robe and tied it around his waist, padding silently to the shower. He knew he would get no more sleep that night. He stopped to stare at the mirror in the bathroom, haunted violet eyes stared back. His mahogany-dark hair was damp with sweat, plastering it to the sides of his face, his skin paler than was normal for the Shinigami.

Turning away from the image, Tsuzuki stepped into the shower, letting the warm jet of water soothe away his fears. There was nothing he could do tonight, and he was safe in Meifu, the Land of the Dead. No-one living could enter without being brought up by a Shinigami.

Tsuzuki dressed in his usual dark suit, hanging his long overcoat on his arm. The weather never changed in Meifu, it was eternally spring, so he would not need it unless he went down to Earth. He put on his watch, the one with the thick strap to hide the numerous self-inflicted scars on his right wrist, made when he was still alive, and tied his shoes, leaving his apartment and locking the door behind him.

The walk helped clear his mind. The early dawn rays peaceful. His watch read 6am, work wouldn't start for another three hours, but he would make an exception today.

A small smile tugged at his full lips. Wouldn't that shock Tatsumi. The secretary would probably have a heart attack of Tsuzuki showed up early. He was known as one of the laziest Shinigami currently in existence. It wasn't true, but Tsuzuki had learned early on how to cultivate the image. It was useful to have people underestimate him. Only a scant few knew the true extent of Tsuzuki's power. And what a power it was. He could easily wipe out half of the other Shinigami with a single blow, and he had twelve Shikigami, Gods really, at his beck and call. Completely unheard of. No-one really believed it was true, but then again, he'd only ever been partnered with one or two people, including Tatsumi himself during his seventy-year term as a Shinigami, a God, or Angel, depending how you looked at it, of Death.

Not every person who died became a Shinigami, and those who did normally had massive trauma linked to their lives, and their death. But in every case, the Shinigami were all people who's name had appeared in the kiseki (Book of the Dead) but whose souls had refused to move on.

But then, Tsuzuki had alway been...odd. His life, and death at the age of 26 had been one long journey of despair. Outcast in his village due to his strange amethyst eyes, eyes that they said were such that no human would own, only demons, beaten, stoned, cut, bruised, even as a tiny child had taught Tsuzuki of the harsher side of life. He ended up trying to commit suicide at the age of 18, only he couldn't die. His body healed itself with inhuman speed. He stopped eating, stopped drinking, stopped even sleeping and ended up as the personal patient of the first Muraki-sensei (Dr Muraki), now deceased from old age.

It had taken eight long years for Tsuzuki Asato to die. Eight years of lying in that white hospital bed, hidden away in the doctor's care, in his home, eight years without sustenance and healing from his almost constant attempts at suicide, before his body finally gave in and died.

Tsuzuki purposely cut off his depressing train of thought, deciding instead to fly down to Earth to visit his favourite cake shop. They wouldn't be open to the public, but they knew Tsuzuki, and his massive sweet tooth, well enough to allow him in early. In a flash, Tsuzuki was gone.

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~*~*~

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Hades Agency,
Meifu.

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Tsuzuki happily munched on the cinnamon roll he'd bought from Earth. It was so fresh it was still hot. Tsuzuki savoured it since Tatsumi usually found some way to confiscate whatever treats he brought into the office with him. He finished the roll, licking of the powdery sugar from his fingers and throwing the square tan box in the bin, a sated and cheerful smile across his face. He drew the line at whistling.

Knowing that he had a briefing later on that morning with Hisoka, Tatsumi and Watari, Tsuzuki stopped in his office, the one shared with his partner, Hisoka, to grab a pile of long-due paperwork, settling in the empty briefing room. With the door shut, and the blind down, as was usual, Tsuzuki knew it was extremely unlikely he would be disturbed.

Tsuzuki was actually quite good at paperwork, he just didn't like it. Tatsumi would lecture him about proper order, and the need to keep things properly archived, Hisoka would glare at him in such a way as to make Tsuzuki feel like a heel, and Watari, well Watari would just give him a look and sigh, before changing the subject. As a result, he had masses and masses of writing ahead of him.

Unwrapping a round red lollipop, Tsuzuki stuck it in his mouth as he read, filling in spaces and writing out mission reports and case notes.

Time crept by.

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"Ne...Watari-san, have you seen Tsuzuki anywhere?"

The amber-eyed golden blonde shinigami looked up from his papers and experiment. His owl, 003 perched on his shoulder. Watari pushed up his gold-frame glasses, scratching the side of his head in thought. "Sorry bon," he said with a small smile, "I've been in here all morning."

Hisoka sighed in defeat. "It's almost time for the briefing and Tsuzuki hasn't turned up for work yet. He's never this late."

Watari glanced up at the clock. 10:24 am. "The meeting still doesn't begin for another six minutes bon, give him time."

"Work starts at nine." The smaller blonde said flatly. His green eyes angry.

The tall shinigami shrugged. "Tsuzuki hasn't been himself lately. Cut him some slack, ne? I know you're worried about him-"

"I'm not worried!" Hisoka yelped, his cheeks flushing a bright red.

Watari ducked his head over his experiment to hide the broad smile inching it's way across his face. "As you say, bon."

Hisoka turned on his heels and stalked in embarrassed anger out of the Lab. "I'm not worried...really..."

"No sign of him, Kurosaki-kun?" A velvet-smooth voice asked.

"Ta-Tatsumi-san!" Hisoka jumped. He shook his head. "No. No-one's seen him."

The tall brunette shinigami secretary pushed up his glasses, cobalt-blue eyes looking concerned. "I see. The meeting will go ahead as planned, Kurosaki-kun. I'll send someone out to Tsuzuki-san's apartment."

"Thank you." Hisoka said quietly.

Tatsumi bestowed a knowing, but soft smile on the youngest shinigami. He had long since given up rights to the beautiful violet-eyed shinigami, but that didn't mean he didn't still care. Hisoka was almost as scarred as his partner, and together they healed each other. Tatsumi nodded to Hisoka then left, the petite blonde left alone in the hallway.

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Tsuzuki put aside the last report, leaning his head to rest on his hands, his elbows skewed on the table-top. He didn't bother to look up as the door swung open and his partner walked in, flanked by Tatsumi and Watari. He didn't respond when he heard the sharp gasp, not wanting to see the accusing look that he knew would be in Hisoka's eyes.

"T-tsuzuki?"

Plastering a smile on his face Tsuzuki turned to Watari. "Aa?"

"How long have you been in here?"

Tsuzuki gave a pointed look at the quite considerable pile of finished paperwork in front of him. "Long enough." He said, his smile turning somewhat rueful.

Tatsumi's eyes slitted. "I arrived at seven. I know everyone who arrived since then. How long have you been in here?"

The two shinigami stared at each other, Tatsumi's gaze even. Tsuzuki looked away first. "Six-thirty." He said finally.

"Aaah? But you never get here before nine, at the earliest!" Hisoka accused him.

Watari frowned. He had become one of the closest to Tsuzuki, since Hisoka's empathy was sometimes more of a burden when it came to meaningful conversation, and the weight of previous history between Tatsumi and Tsuzuki made for some stilted and tense silences. Their friendship was firm and deep, but there was too much between them for them to be able to interact on a more personal level.

"Daijoubu Tsuzuki?" Watari asked, coming to sit beside the brunette. 003 hooted from his perch on the blonde shinigami's shoulder.

"Aa. Daijoubu Watari-san." Tsuzuki said softly.

Tatsumi sighed, pushing his clear glasses back up in a well practiced and obviously routine movement. Using the better part of caution, which tended to be wise when dealing with a shinigami as high-strung as Tsuzuki, Tatsumi changed the subject to the reason for the meeting. He picked up the remote for the slides by the door, turning the light off and pulling the blinds closed.

"As you know, there has been some talk of a case spanning several branches of our shokan. Correlations were spotted when someone input a search during one of the murder cases. The results were then compiled and passed onto each branch involved. As a result, we have more data to work with, bringing up a surprising number of strange similarities. Similarities which led to you three, and myself being asked to deal with this specifically by EnmaDaiOh."

Three pairs of eyes stared at the elder shinigami in shock. The God of the Underworld asking for them specifically?

Clicking the button, Tatsumi brought up a series of images of bloody scenes. "In each case shown here, a number of organs were missing from the bodies. From what was left, we were able to determine that each of them were in perfect health. There was none of the degeneration associated with their age. Each cell in their body was perfectly formed, even healthier, I'd say, than a baby's. Something which should be impossible unless they had the same healing capabilities of a Shinigami."

"Each victim," and this time Tatsumi looked at Tsuzuki and Watari, "was between the ages of twenty and thirty-five. However, they spanned both rich and poor. It seems as though whomever is committing these acts has no regard for their victims status. Each one of them was seeing a different doctor and was on varying medication, some as simple as anti-biotics. The only overall similarity is their ages and sex. The victims were all male."

The tall shinigami leveled each of them with a stare. "There's more." he said, obviously not liking what he was going to say.

"The murders originated here in Japan, but have since spread across to the ocean to the Amerika. The Amerika-jin shinigami have requested our expertise. Combining that with EnmaDaiOh's request means that we will have no other course of action than to go to Amerika."

Hisoka leant forward. His keen green eyes contemplative and assessing. "What is it you're not telling us?"

Taking off his glasses, Tatsumi pressed the button to turn the screen off, placing the remote on the table. "Very astute, Kurosaki-kun. The person thought to be the murderer is-"

"Muraki." Hisoka said flatly, having put the pieces together. "That's why EnmaDaiOh asked for us, and why the Americans are so insistent that we help them."

Tatsumi nodded. "Muraki is too clever for them. They are unaccustomed to dealing with such a dangerous person. We have each survived numerous confrontations with Muraki and have come out reasonably unscathed."

Watari snorted, rolling his eyes expressively at that. "If by unscathed you mean bon's first death, or his constant stalking of Tsuzuki, or even the fact that both Tsuzuki and bon almost died, them I s'pose you could say that."

"Watari-san!" Tsuzuki gasped, horrified that Watari could bring up the cause of Hisoka's death. Raped by Muraki when he was thirteen, then placed under a death curse took three long years or agonising pain to complete it's job had given Hisoka a deeper insight into the mad doctor; as well as a healthy fear of him and his abilities.

Hisoka shrugged. "If it's really Muraki, then we have no choice."

Tsuzuki nodded in agreement. His determination evident in the rarely seen ice in his dark violet eyes. "Hai. Muraki should not be allowed to continue his work."

"When do we leave?" This came from Watari, the blonde shinigami rapidly making plans in his head.

"Tomorrow morning. We use today to pack for an extended stay and to brush up on the case notes. We will have one of the choppers ready for our use. Pack light." That was aimed at Watari, who just grinned and winked. He didn't tend to pack a lot of clothes, but much of his 'useful' experiments usually seemed to find their way into his belongings. Tatsumi put his glasses back on. "Read over the notes then do whatever you need to to prepare. We will probably be on Earth for six to nine weeks. Be prepared."

"Hai." Came the chorus of three voices.

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Hisoka left first, a brown folder of case notes under his arm, Tatsumi left next, heading for his office. His set of note waiting for him. Watari stayed, his topaz eyes intent on Tsuzuki.

"You aren't okay." Watari said lightly, leaning back in his chair to get a good look at the other shinigami.

Tsuzuki coloured. "Ne, Watari-san, I said I was fine."

Watari leant forward, reaching out to grasp Tsuzuki's chin. He pulled up his head to look the other male in the face. His eyes caught the dark circles under his eyes, which even his extraordinary healing hadn't been able to completely banish. His indigo eyes were haunted and grim, the smile that was Tsuzuki's trademark was forced and false. "Liar." He said, his long fingers tightening.

Tsuzuki pulled himself away.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Watari asked.

A short nod was his answer, Tsuzuki refusing to look him in the eyes.

"Nightmares?"

A long pause, then another nod.

"Asato," Watari began, and this brought up Tsuzuki's head, his eyes wide from the other's use of his first name, "what is bothering you? Please, let me help?" Watari pleaded.

Tsuzuki refused to answer.

"Fine. But this isn't over." Watari said, standing up from his chair. He left the room quietly, the door shutting with a small click.

Tsuzuki dropped his head into his hands, a soft sob escaping from his lips.

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Tbc...

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[Edit: V.2 - 8th April, 2004]

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