Surprise, surprise

[edge_of_honor]

Characters: Miles Edgeworth and Hisoka Kurosaki
Content: Two old comrades touch base and inform the other about what's been going on in their corner of Reial
Setting: Upper deck of the Convoy; later on, Edgeworth's quarters
Time: After Hisoka and Souji land, before the drinking begins
Warnings: Possible mentions of traumatic events

Comments

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka found a great deal to do after Edgeworth left. He explored as much of the ship as he could, partly because his experience in the family business had left him with an abiding interest in ship design, and partly because he had promised Kaoru a description when he returned to Serenity. At some time during that afternoon, he went up to the Convoy's upper deck and took a long look at what was left of the Hegua Lake Basin. Then he got drunk with Ichigo.

Much later, he ended up back at Edgeworths's door. He'd remembered that the Commander still wanted to know how Hisoka's investigation of Muraki had turned out, and he couldn't be sure they'd have time to talk about it the next day. He pushed the door open gently and found himself sinking onto the bunk, wafted there by the spring winds, as it were...and a little help from a lot of sake. Good thing, to have a place to land! The rectangle of the neatly-made up bed was a most wonderful landing strip.

One hand came lightly to rest on his chest, the other fell to his side. Drinking had flushed his face slightly and left it faintly beaded with moisture. His jean jacket was still on, but it was unbuttoned, and the sleeve cuffs were unsnapped and rolled up to the elbow. The left forearm was taped with gauze, as that one had been deeply scored by satyr claws. So had his right thigh, but the bandage didn't show under his jeans. His eyelashes lowered, slowly, until they veiled the green orbs of his eyes entirely.

He fell asleep, a small smile on his face.

[edge_of_honor]

Hisoka wasn't the only one who had imbibed that evening. After his reconciliation with Souji, Edgeworth had shared a drink with the boy. Or two. Or maybe more than that. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't enough to hinder the trip back to his quarters. All he needed to do was sleep it off and he'd be right as rain.

However, when he stumbled into his room and towards his cot, he realized one problem: somebody was all ready there. He jerked back with a stifled yelp and panic nearly overtook him. Just who in their right mind would-

"Feel free to make yourself comfortable here" echoed a voice from the corner of his memory. He glanced over the figure in the darkness, and it certainly resembled Kurosaki. Damn it, when he said he could make himself comfortable, he didn't mean this comfortable! Edgeworth gritted his teeth and prodded the younger man's shoulder. Hopefully he wasn't a heavy sleeper.

[son_of_the_lake]

"Hmm," said Hisoka, lazily. He opened his eyes.

He had slept deeply, and - despite the alchohol - refreshingly. He had been dreaming about the lake, and he could see Edgeworth's face very well because his pupils were dilated like a cat's, or rather, a merman's. "Hello, sir," he said, as though there were nothing strange about this situation.

[edge_of_honor]

Ah, good, he was waking up. Edgeworth opened his mouth to speak but hesitated once Hisoka opened his eyes. He couldn't help but notice how the light glinted against them and how his pupils slitted in the darkness. It was so strange...

Edgeworth closed his mouth and shook his head. He needed to focus.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his words slightly slurred.

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka came to full awareness of time. He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked at his watch anyway. "I thought we were going to have a second conversation. I came back here about four hours ago, and...I fell asleep. Sorry, sir."

He swung his feet over the edge of the bunk and sat up, looking around for a light switch.

[edge_of_honor]

Oh, yes, talk. That was right, they were supposed to talk again. How did he forget about that?

As for Hisoka's search, there was a small gaslamp on a table next to the cot. Edgeworth slowly meandered towards the cot and muttered something about matches along the way.

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka noticed the gaslamp, reached into his jacket pocket and removed a packet of matches. He lit the lamp, and it's yellow light danced briefly and then steadied. Hisoka's eyes adjusted, the pupils slowly rounding back into human shape.

"You look tired, sir," he said, "Maybe we should talk tomorrow?"

[edge_of_honor]

"I'm fine," he murmured, right before he sat down on the cot with all of his weight.

...maybe he had given himself too much credit. Edgeworth ran his hair through his bangs and waited patiently for the room to stop spinning.

"We can talk now or later," he said, his words clearer than before. "Whatever you wish."

[son_of_the_lake]

"If you're sure," said Hisoka, with a straight face. He had felt that thump as Edgeworth sat down.

"You wanted to know about Muraki, I think? Well, that won't take long. When I was in Bydan, I was looking for people who had seen him with Karen Carpenter, the girl I saw him kill. I didn't find any, but I did find people who saw him a year later with a young man named Asato Tsuzuki, from Berum. He was one of the missing persons whom my father's contact in the Bydan Police Department came up with. When I met Muraki in the Bydan Forest, he described a beautiful man with black hair and violet eyes, whom he had kidnapped and brought to his underground laboratory in the woods. He didn't reveal the man's name. But nobody else of that description turned up in the system. I went back to the site of the burned-out lab, later. And I found this..."

Hisoka reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver heart-shaped locket. He fingered it absently, and then offered it to Edgeworth. "Look at the surfaces," he said.

On one face, the name Ruka is inscribed. On the other side, Asato.

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth listened as attentively to Hisoka as he could, and while there was a latent, lingering anger and disgust towards Muraki on principle, his demeanor was neutral for the most part. His hand may have tensed ever so slightly when Hisoka mentioned the laboratory and its captive, but that was all. A cool head was as essential now as it ever was.

Then Hisoka gave him the locket. He glanced over it, back to front, and his stomach fell when he saw the name Asato. Edgeworth looked back up at him, and asked, "What does this mean, exactly?"

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka explained, "Ruka is Asato's sister. He had the locket made for her by a silversmith, as a gift, for their fourteenth birthday. They were twins, not identical, of course. But as close as identical twins often are. I don't know their whole story, but apparently he had a hard time getting from adolescence to adulthood. He was a summoner, and had other magical skills, and such people don't always have an easy time of it. Anyway, Ruka gave Asato the locket to keep, to remind him that whatever happened, there was one person in the world who loved him and would go on loving him, no matter what."

"I know this because she told me, in person. I found her in Berum, where she had returned to live after her brother's disappearance. She identified the locket. If you look at the edges, you'll notice that the surname, Tsuzuki, is also engraved around it, only it's in very light, serpentine letters, and you can't distinguish them from that twined leaf pattern unless you look closely."

Hisoka turned his eyes away, and then downwards. He clasped his hands loosely together, resting his forearms lightly on his knees. "There wasn't anything else she could have identified. The forensic expert who combed through the debris left in the destroyed lab found human remains, but..." Hisoka shook his head. "Well, anyway, the only reason the locket was not melted by the blaze was because at some point, Tsuzuki stuffed it in his shoe and kicked it behind a cabinet, before he summoned his magical ally. Even then, I had to clean a layer of burned leather and soot off it to determine what it was."

He looked up, and turned his face towards Edgeworth. There was a kind of triumph in his eyes, a bittersweet one, a long-awaited and never-hoped-for triumph. "The silversmith identified it as his work. And he remembered the customer very well." Pause. "My father overheard a part of what Muraki was describing to me, and he put it in writing, along with everything he knew or suspected about Muraki but didn't allow himself to know at the time Muraki was his physician. And I wrote up my deposition, too, of course. There is now a warrent for Muraki's arrest, if he ever sets foot in Bydan again. And the authorities say that if other Vohemaro cities agree, that warrent will be good for anywhere in Vohemar."

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth remained silent while Hisoka gave his explanation. After all, what could he say? It was best to wait patiently while he recounted the facts.

The tale was a solemn one. He glanced down at the locket when prompted, but not to confirm the name. Instead, it was a form of remembrance, a silent ode to a man he had never met but nonetheless came to an undeserved fate. When he looked up back up, though, his head heavy with alcohol and exhaustion, the first thing he noticed was Hisoka's intense gaze. It took him a moment to register what, exactly, that look meant, but he realized it soon enough. He felt the rush of victory alongside him, and with a weary smile on his face, said, "And he won't be able to bother anyone ever again."

[son_of_the_lake]

"Yes," said Hisoka, "although that's provided he actually surfaces in Vohemar." He was silent for a moment. "I think he disappeared in Antrim. Just never got back on the Amestris. So, unless his ghosts carried him off to hell, he's probably somewhere in Ivona at the moment. In case he's smart enough never to set foot west of the mountains again, I've been thinking of ways to get the Ivonian authorites to honor the warrent, as well. But that's for another day." He sighed, but it was not an unhappy sigh.

He turned to Edgeworth. "This is much, much more than I ever expected to achieve. Thank you, because as I said, you had a part in this. It's your justice, too."

He looked at Edgeworth for a moment, and then said, quietly, "I have a question I'd like to ask you."

[edge_of_honor]

Were his own circumstances not so dire, Edgeworth would have offered his assistance in an instant. As it stood, though, what little allies he still had contact with were busy with other matters. Perhaps, when things settled down, he could point him their way.

As for his "victory", though...well, Edgeworth wasn't so sure about that. As far as he was concerned, Hisoka was the one who deserved all the credit. He did, however, take comfort in the fact that justice had been done, if only in Vohemar. The smile crept back on his face, but faded once Hisoka spoke again. Edgeworth furrowed his brow and looked back up at him.

"What is it?"

[son_of_the_lake]

"Don't look so worried," said Hisoka, softly. He hadn't meant to drive the smile from the man's face. But then he couldn't think of any reason why Edgeworth shouldn't be worried, because he was about to ask a question that would likely have repercussions, whatever the answer, and Edgeworth was bound to be as aware of that as Hisoka was.

"I realize this is an awkward time to ask. I wouldn't normally bring up such a subject at a time like this. But we really have very little time. I'll be going back to Serenity in a few days, a few weeks at most, and I don't know when we'll see one another again."

He took a deep breath, and spoke (diving headfirst off Bydan's stone bridge):

"I want you. Do you want me? If the answer is no, than we need never speak of it again. You'll find I can deliver on that promise. And if you want to think about it, that's fine. I'll say no more about it tonight."

He sat still, his hand resting on his own knee, not more than a few inches from Edgeworth's. But he did not move his fingers. He had enough awareness to know that as much as he wanted to bridge the gap between them with a simple touch of his hand, a touch would not carry as much weight as his words.

[edge_of_honor]

Hisoka's words sent a catastrophic chain reaction through Edgeworth's psyche. Like a fuse overblown from too much input, the confession made something inside Edgeworth's brain fizzle and snap. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and a raw, noisy panic blared through his head like warning klaxons. The numb shock of disbelief forced his distress into an iron wall, and he stared at Hisoka, wide eyed and slack jawed while his emotions waged war with one another.

"How..." A million questions ran through his brain, and he managed to force out, "How long?"