The Imaginings of a Feeble Mind

Disclaimer: I don’t own them, I just never see enough of this pairing in the written world so I play with them for a few hours each night and make them do evil..ungodly things to each other. –giggles- Enjoy.
// = denotes thoughts


The night was a restless one, Touda’s mind playing the slight glint of darkness over and over again, trying to figure out just what he had seen. The sun had risen during his ponderings and he let the smaller man out of his grasp to give a languid stretch under the covers, letting his eyes clench tightly as it refreshed his entire body. He gently threw back the covers and halted after rising from the comfortable furniture, listening for the man’s soft snores, assuring himself that the shinigami still slept deeply. He had done this many a time and wandered to the small kitchen to set coffee on, it’s percolations breaking the endless silence the apartment held.

He could feel the other man’s mind within his own even in his thorough sleep, it’s peaceful yellow colour calming the snake’s still on edge nerves. He sat down heavily on the overstuffed couch and crossed his arms over his chest, awaiting the coffee to finish before he’d take it in to wake the man. //It’s probably nothing. He has been free of those thoughts for so long, why would he think of them again now?// He snorted softly and headed back to the kitchen, easily finding a sturdy mug and the sugar, heavily sweetening the dark brew before taking it in to his slowly waking lover.

A set of still sleepy purple eyes peeked over the edge of the thick comforter, the brow above them furrowed slightly as he yawned beneath it. His arms came up next as he stretched, the covers flipping down a bit and a small smile curling his lips as he spotted the creature at the end of the bed. He stayed lying down as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a shikigami to be standing in his bedroom, holding a steaming mug of coffee.

“Touda? What’re you doing here this early in the morning? Usually it’s not until after dark that you come by.”

He sat up and draped the blankets across his lower body, grinning adorably at the snake.

“I have been here since last night.”

Tsuzuki blinked and then smiled again, pushing the covers aside to stand up, ignorant of his nudity as he reached for the coffee, lifting it to his lips and blowing on it lightly before sipping at it and nodding his approval.

“I had tea and a bath last night. I obviously woke up in bed so I must have gotten in afterwards. When would you have shown up?”

The shikigami allowed him to taste it and nodded as it was satisfactory to the man, easily lowering his large form onto the bed and turning slightly to face him.

“I came when I felt you in danger, Tsuzuki. It’s nothing I wouldn’t have done at any given moment for you.”

“Oh. Well, what was it you came about? I haven’t got work today so we can do whatever you li…”

Tsuzuki’s words were cut off as he gripped the coffee cup as tightly as he could, the porcelain shattering with a loud crack and its contents splashing over his hand and chest. The hot liquid was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his head, both hands quickly moving to his temples, his mouth open and eyes wide as the constricting pain throbbed inside. His knees buckled and he came close to collapsing, were it not for his lover catching him and holding him upright, his movements like a blur of black in the bright room.

“Tsuzuki!”
Touda mentally cursed himself as he called the man’s name and held him, wincing slightly as the pain slowly ebbed within his own skull. It was the same dark presence he had felt the night before, only brighter, its colour slowly taking over whatever calm yellow had resided there beforehand.

“You must fight this! I don’t exactly know what it is but it was there last night! Please Tsuzuki!”

He barely heard the snake’s voice as he cringed from the pain, his fingernails digging into his scalp hard enough to draw blood, tiny rivulets of it sliding down his cheeks and slipping between his fingers. He heard a voice inside again, that sweet childlike voice that had so tortured him in previous years, one he thought he had ridded himself of since coming to Meifu. It ridiculed him as he whimpered pathetically.

Touda however, knew the voice, having heard it only once before, on the day his master had come for him in Tenkuu, his dark mind searching through Tsuzuki’s before he agreed to be his servant. He had wanted to know the extent of the man’s powers before joining with him and the high, lilting voice had told him what a monster he had for a master. The shikigami brushed it off as a hallucination at the time, or even possibly a figment of Tsuzuki’s mind. This time though, it occupied a much more sinister space in Touda’s book, a place reserved for occurrences that warranted reconsideration.

He gently picked the shinigami up and laid him back down on the bed, keeping the covers off in case he rolled too much and ran a large hand through the man’s hair, trying to soothe him as well as he could. The shuddering slowed to nearly a halt, but never actually stopped, the colour rising back into the man’s mind cooling to a sort of subtle blue, a colour more suited to a cowering child, a frightened shade that didn’t ease Touda’s wariness but made him feel a bit better about the other’s condition.

“I must take you back with me for SohRyu to examine. He would know what it is we are dealing with here.”

He chuffed softly and left the man to gather up a long yukata, dressing him quickly and lifting him bodily, a portal instantly appearing behind him. He stepped in and cuddled the warm body to his chest, nervous about the dragon’s reaction to seeing their master in such a state. The trip took less than a second and he was standing in the front entryway of Tenkuu, his feet quickly carrying him to the large double doors of the guardian’s chambers. He had no free hands to knock but improvised anyways, certain that they wouldn’t be alone once he was heard.

“SohRyu! I have no time for formalities! Tsuzuki is with me and he is injured!”

His deep voice carried through the palace, the walls rumbling back at him and even shifting slightly as the building voiced its displeasure the only way it knew how. Touda wobbled momentarily as the floor moved beneath him, then immediately settling as the oaken doors opened to reveal a regal, blue haired man. He was dressed formally as always, his flowing garments covering as much skin as possible. He blinked at the snake before frowning and glaring, his icy eyes shining menacingly.

Had Touda not been a shikigami as well, he wouldn’t have heard the nearly inaudible growl the dragon gave, his spiritual colour moving from his normal blue to a dangerous shade of red, no doubt feeling as if Touda had something to do with their master’s current state. His voice was angry and clipped as he waved the other man inside, his normally calm demeanor broken momentarily as he heard the commotion of other shikigami coming towards his quarters, Tenkuu no doubt having notified them of Tsuzuki’s presence.

“Inside. Now. I’d rather the others didn’t have to take part in this.”

The snake nodded and followed his age old companion, the doors oddly enough closing on their own, a feat of privacy given by the palace itself, having seen the way its resident master lay limply in the snake’s arms. Papers were strewn everywhere as usual, various books and binders open to different pages, showing that the Eastern guardian had been hard at work when he was interrupted, a cause no one would frown down on Touda for. He was ushered to the long sleeping bench the dragon used on long nights, fresh linens covering it and a thick stack of pillows at one end.

Touda placed the man down gently, unsure of what else to do now that he was in the company of SohRyu, moving to stand back as he clenched his fists at his sides and looked to the other shikigami, watching him walk back from the other room with a deep bowl of steaming water and a soft cloth. He plunked it down on the floor beside the bench and kneeled alongside it, dipping the cloth in and wringing it out enough to place it on Tsuzuki’s forehead, tearing a rather loud moan from the man’s lips. Touda flinched and curled one side of his lips up, a sharp, stabbing pain in his right temple forcing him to grit his teeth.

SohRyu turned his head in an instant, curious as to why the snake felt the other man’s pain and not himself, but secretly knowing the cause of it. It was something he had vaguely heard of from the golden emperor, a passing mention of the shinigami’s mindset as he had become the man’s servant. A darkness within himself that no one had ever dared release since his incident in Kyoto. Even the slight mishap with Suzaku and the death of Mariko hadn’t brought forth his immense power.

“You know what it is too, don’t you Touda? I felt it the moment you came in. The pain you feel is weak compared to what Tsuzuki is feeling as of this moment. He’s probably been having incredible nightmares the last few weeks, or even months. I believe this is what the Emperor had referred to as Tsumibito.”

He breathed deeply and lowered his head, afraid of the rest of the explanation.

“The Sinner, Touda. Tsuzuki has let his mind deteriorate to the point where Tsumibito has had a chance to seep back in…”


A/N Oookkk….lemme explain. I’m kinda making Tsuzuki’s past up as I go, simply because I know very little about it, and I’ve had the idea of Tsumibito running around in my head for months. It’ll be explained in the next chappie so don’t worry! Just remember to give me lots of those stretchy reviews. Touda needs a new pair of…everything! –grin-