Kyuuketsuki Duo: The TV Series Episode 19
Chains

"Duo?"

The boy in question barely acknowledged the blonde who called his name in concern. "Hm?" was all he said absently, his eyes scanning the crowd of students more intently than usual.

Quatre examined his friend critically, trying to figure out just what it was about him today that was setting off signals in his head. "You seem... intense. What are you looking for?"

"I don't know," Duo muttered, the phrase said almost as if to himself, with a dash of frustration. "Something. I can feel it, something's here. I just can't pin it down."

The spiritualist-in-training felt a tiny shiver run up his spine at the words. There were times when he thought that things were better when he didn't know what Duo was. Then, Duo would have cheerfully dismissed his concerns and smoothly redirected his attention, and the threat would be neutralized without it ever intruding upon his blissful sphere of ignorance. Any hints of the matter would have flown right over his head. A part of him, however, was glad that Duo wasn't keeping in him the dark anymore. Quatre had chosen his path. He had made the decision to follow his spiritualist heritage, and to develop the mysterious powers growing inside him, but he quite frankly wouldn't be able to fulfill that promise to himself if Duo chose not to allow it.

Nevertheless, Duo shook himself out of his half-trance and changed the subject with a laugh. "I probably just need more sleep or something!" But still, he had mentioned it in the first place. That was better than nothing.

*****

The next morning, Quatre was talking to Relena before class when the sun's early light glinted off of something and caught his eye. It looked vaguely familiar. "That bracelet, Relena...."

"Hm? Oh, this?" She fingered the intricate silver bracelet encircling her wrist. It seemed to be several chains braided or knotted in some complex fashion. "I'm a little embarrassed to admit to having one...."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Well, they're... oh, don't think me so shallow, Quatre, but they're... popular right now."

Quatre looked skeptically at her. Relena was a popular young lady in school. Then again, she had never really seemed to be one to follow the fads and trends that ran through teenage culture at times. "Oookay. Girls are weird, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," she replied smartly, before flashing an apologetic smile at him. "These bracelets have been spreading through the school like wildfire since last week."

"How do these things spread so quickly? I'd think it would take at least some time for a girl to rush out and buy one."

"Well, in this case, I heard there's a supplier on campus. I guess one of the girls is making them or something."

"You heard?"

"Yes, well, someone gave me this one. They're supposed to be like little charms. You know, wish for something, and it'll help make it come true? Well, the story with this is that if you give one of the bracelets to someone and spread the luck or something, then there's a better chance of your own wish coming true. Sort of like a chain letter, I suppose."

"Strange," Quatre said contemplatively. "It's an interesting design. May I see?"

She held out her wrist obligingly for him. A moment before his fingers brushed the chain, they abruptly changed direction and pulled back slightly with a start. "Is something wrong, Quatre?" Relena asked.

"Oh, um, static electricity, that's all," he replied hastily, glad that the teacher settled the class down at that moment and Relena turned back around in her seat. Yes, maybe that was what had caused that little jolt he had felt when he reached out to it. Nothing but a brief shock of some strangely hostile static electricity.

*****

"Where were you?" Wufei asked, his tone just this side of demanding. It was after school, and he had been waiting for the girl for several minutes now.

Meiran ignored the overtone, since it permeated nearly all of Wufei's speech. "Sorry, I was getting something for Quatre. Mind if we meet up with him a bit so I can get it to him?"

He huffed a bit, then set off without another word. Meiran interpreted it all as a grudging grunt of assent, and caught up to him, refusing to trail along in his wake like an obedient servant.

They caught up with Quatre and Trowa at a corner outside of school. "Hey, guys," Quatre greeted them.

"Hey," Meiran responded as they started walking. "Let me give you your thing now. I swear, Quatre, if you hadn't asked me to get one for you, I would never be caught dead with one of these things!"

"Thanks a lot, Meiran." He smiled at her. "I mean that."

"Sure, whatever. Just why did you want one of these things anyway?"

"What are you two talking about?" Wufei dema-- *ahem* inquired.

Meiran held up her left forearm and gave her wrist a flick. The light reflected off the silver chain resting there. After showing it to him, she worked at it with her other hand to undo the clasp. "I hope you don't mind I'm wearing it, Quatre. I didn't think you wanted me telling the silly girl that it was for you, and she wouldn't let me walk away without putting it on my wrist personally. Maybe it's part of that whole 'make a wish' thing."

She made a sound of frustration at the uncooperative bracelet and held her hand out to the blonde. "Help me with this," she requested imperiously, stopping. Quatre looked hesitant for a moment. "What? I won't bite." Wufei snorted.

"It's just...." Quatre sighed, and reached out tentatively to poke the silver chain, ignoring the funny looks the others were giving him. When nothing happened, he used both hands and fumbled with the clasp, but nevertheless tried to touch it as little as possible. Twenty seconds later, he was still having no luck getting it off.

"Oh, give me that," Wufei said irritably. He tried his hand at it as well, but he, too, had no luck. "Stupid thing," he muttered under his breath, glaring at the piece of metal that was laughing at their efforts. He bit back a startled curse when his fingers suddenly felt as if they had been bitten. Dropping the bracelet, they were all surprised when it unraveled spitefully and fell off of Meiran's wrist to land on the pavement. Even more startling was the small wisp of greenish energy that seemed to rise from the chains like smoke, to dissipate silently into the cool air.

They all stared at the broken bracelet for a little while, before Meiran asked calmly, "What did you want that for again?"

"Well," Quatre responded. "That, I suppose."

*****

Quatre fidgeted, waiting for Duo to get to his house. The others were already there. It was Friday afternoon, and Duo was supposed to be over to help him learn about his powers. He hoped that the news he had today for the still mysterious boy would help speed things along.

The moment the doorbell rang, he sprang up and out of his seat to answer it, and almost eagerly ushered the boy behind the door to where the others were in the living room. The weather was getting a little bit chilly for meeting in the backyard.

Duo looked at him with an upraised eyebrow as he sat himself down in one of the cushy chairs, something between a casual slump and an attentive ready position. "Something up?"

"We think we might have a lead on a Shinma for you," Quatre announced, having been elected spokesperson by the others. "It was when I was talking to Relena and noticed she had this bracelet, and it felt funny, so I asked Meiran to--" He trailed off, noticing Duo's distinct lack of enthusiasm.

Duo's expression didn't change as he looked steadily at the would-be spiritualist. "I asked you not to do that sort of thing, Quatre," he said evenly.

"Well, I just stumbled upon it," Quatre protested. "It's not like I went looking for trouble!"

"It could have been dangerous, Quatre. They don't like it when you go poking your nose in their affairs. It's my job, you should--"

"And that's why we're telling you about it now, rather than pursuing it ourselves!" He squirmed in his seat under the unnerving violet stare. "We agreed it was your job. But that doesn't mean that we can't help."

Duo sighed, releasing the blonde from his sights and sweeping his gaze over the rest of the gathered youths. Trowa was inscrutable as always. Meiran looked decently defiant. Apparently, she backed Quatre. Then his eyes fell upon Wufei, and he leveled an inquisitive look at the Chinese boy. The boy met the gaze calmly, and nodded his head almost imperceptibly. Duo would have guessed that Wufei was the first to go hunting Shinma, but he reconsidered, mulling over the alternatives. It was unlikely that the boy had learnt caution and wisdom. Wufei could be testing him, still trying to figure out his method of operation, wanting to see how he would react to the situation. Perhaps he didn't want to impinge upon what looked to be Quatre's lead, or Duo's duty. Maybe he just wasn't interested in vanquishing petty Shinma. At least Duo had been able to brief him on the various other realms. He hoped to convey more knowledge as time went by.

"You're not my little sidekick, Quatre," Duo stated solemnly, his gaze returning to its original position. "You're just someone I agreed to help out for a while. So long as we have that clear, okay?"

Quatre didn't look pleased, but nodded his head once anyway. There hadn't been any malice behind the words, or else he would have been a lot less pleased. As it was, he knew his place. He had just taken it upon himself to help, after all. Besides, the role of Duo's sidekick had already been filled by someone else, that tall, mysterious figure with a cold mask for a face. He hadn't put in an appearance since the first time he had shown himself to them.

Duo stared intently at him for a few moments more before he blinked, and his demeanor rearranged itself to something less intimidating. "So what were you chasing?" he asked, resignation creeping into his tone. He may not have liked the fact that they had gone investigating without his knowledge, but that didn't mean he was going to waste what they had found out.

"What do you think of this?" Keeping the pride out of his voice, Quatre unwrapped the white handkerchief on the coffee table in front of him.

Without moving out of his seat, Duo looked at it, saw a broken silver bracelet, then Looked at it with a flicker of his will. "Possibly carries a Shinma taint. If it did, then it was pretty weak, and left a day or two ago." He looked up to see Quatre nodding in agreement.

"That sounds about right. You probably don't pay much attention to girls' fashion, but these things have been spreading through the school for the last week."

"Do you normally pay attention to girls' fashion?" he asked amusedly.

Quatre stopped and almost blushed. "No, as a matter of fact, I do not. I just noticed Relena was wearing one, and I asked her about it."

"So you do pay attention to girls' fashion." A sound suspiciously close to a derisive snort came from Wufei's area.

"No, I just--! *sigh* Never mind. Anyway, I took a closer look at it and that's when it bit me."

"Bit, as in literally?"

"Oh, no, I just meant that it... well, you know." He gestured vaguely. "Zapped me, or something." He continued when Duo nodded his understanding. "So I thought that was weird, right? So I got Meiran to get one of those things for me...." He trailed off and looked at the girl in question, indicating she should pick up the thread of the story.

Meiran nodded. "There's a story that goes with the bracelets. It's supposed to help grant your heart's desire. More so, if you give one to someone else and 'spread the wealth', so to speak. I found a girl to give me one, but she wouldn't let me go without putting it on me personally. At the time, I thought she was just being weird, but in retrospect, it seems almost sinister. I mean, she was being irrationally stubborn about it.

"Anyway, I let her hook it on, just to get away from her, and when I got back to Quatre to give it to him, none of us could get it off. And finally, I guess Wufei glared it into pieces or something--"

"What?!" the boy protested indignantly.

"--'cuz it finally broke when he was trying to get it off me."

"And this strange energy seemed to rise from it," Quatre finished, picking up the thread of the tale. "That's when we decided that it seemed like we should look into it. So after some investigation we finally found the source of the distribution. It's actually one of those little shops in the northern district....Hmmm, maybe you know it, since you know those stores up there."

"I do?" Duo blinked.

"Well, yeah, since you live... you don't really live in the northern district, do you?" Quatre accused, finally realizing that maybe everything Duo had ever told them had been a lie, and not really liking the taste that suspicion left in his mouth.

Duo blinked again, this time guilelessly. "Of course I live in the northern part of town."

"But you...?"

Wufei cut in. "But you don't actually work in one of those stores, do you?" He had never quite bought into that theory, anyway.

"Who said I worked in one of those stores?" Duo asked.

"Well," Quatre started, a trifle flustered. "I just assumed, since you said you were from the northern side, and that's all that's up there... I thought you were a merchant's kid or something.... Only you said that you lived with a guardian, so I guess it would have been his shop...." A startled inhalation announced his epiphany. "A guardian! You mean you live with your partner. Heero, wasn't it?"

Duo's overly innocent blinking pretty much verified the statement.

"But, if not one of the shops, then...." His eyes widened. "That house! The one just north of town. You live in that house my nanny always warned me against!"

"You were warned to stay away?" Duo repeated, rather impressed and obscurely proud. Considering it hadn't even been his house, really, when Quatre had been little, it was rather inexplicable.

"So I guess... you weren't lying, were you?"

"I don't lie," Duo stated affirmatively, noting out of the corner of his eye that Wufei seemed particularly interested in his answer. "Bad guys lie, and I'm not a bad guy, so I don't lie. Simple as that."

"Oh." The thought reassured him.

"So where's this store?" Duo asked, getting back to the point.

"We can bring you there."

"No, you can tell me what store it is, so I can drop by by myself," he rejected the offer reasonably.

"Duo!" Quatre protested. "We put work into this. We have every right to be there."

"No," Duo countered pleasantly, despite the implacability painted on his face. "You don't."

"Duo," Wufei interrupted quietly, and Duo's attention turned to him. "I would be honored if you were to allow me to accompany you on this hunt."

Meiran bit off the protest that threatened to emerge from her lips, forcibly reminding herself of who and what Wufei was, and why he needed to do this. Far better that he do this with Duo by his side than by himself. She trusted Duo to keep him out of trouble.

Duo eyed Wufei speculatively. The words hadn't sounded too forced. That was a positive sign. "My hunt, my rules," he said finally, weighing the boy's intentions carefully. Wufei nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

"What?!" Quatre couldn't stop himself. "You're letting him help you out, but you're making me stay here? How am I ever supposed to learn how to fight these things if you keep shutting me out?"

Duo turned on him, his eyes sparking. "I'm not teaching you to be a super hero, Quatre! I'm not even teaching you so that you'll be a great spiritualist, so we can all fight together on the side of righteousness! I'm just teaching you so that you won't get yourself into trouble, or get yourself hurt. That's all. Your power is mostly defensive, anyway! Now, Wufei has a demon to fight. He needs the experience. Where's your excuse?"

Momentarily taken aback by the fire in Duo's speech, Quatre quickly rallied. "You don't have any demons to fight, Duo. Why are you doing this? Because it's a part of you."

"I didn't choose this job, Quatre. It chose me. I'm not proud of what I do. I'm not in this for the glory. Half the time, I don't even care what happens to the humans who have been possessed." He made a frustrated noise, ignoring the sharp look Wufei leveled at him. "You don't want this kind of life, Quatre. Trust me. You don't. You have a choice, here. You can walk away from this. Just learn to control what you've got, and you won't have to worry about this sort of thing anymore."

"I can't do that, Duo," he argued stubbornly. "It's too late for that. I can't walk away now, knowing that all this stuff is going on in the world, and knowing that I have the power to help fix it. You know me better than that."

The two played a glaring game for a bit before Duo's expression softened just a little around the edges. "Yes, I suppose I do," was all he would concede. "You'd do this with or without me, wouldn't you?"

"I'm not going to try to get myself killed, Duo. But I'm also not going to turn my back on someone who needs my help, if it's within my power to give it."

Exasperated, Duo exhaled into his bangs. Well, he and Heero had called it, hadn't they? He shouldn't have been surprised. Well, maybe only at the surprising backbone of steel that the little blonde showed now and then. "Well, it'll look funny if we all go into the store at once, agreed?"

Quatre grinned with a muted light at his victory.

*****

The store turned out to be nothing more than an open storefront, selling an array of little trinkets and ornaments, so it turned out that they were all able to go together to check out the source of the suspicious jewelry. Walking innocently down the street, they all stopped for Quatre and Meiran to examine the keychains on display, while Duo and Wufei made small talk with the shopkeeper about the tray of bracelets kept on the countertop close to the register.

"Hey, so is this where all the girls at school are getting these things?" Duo started.

"Hm?" The man at the register looked over to see what they were talking about. "Oh, yeah, those do seem to be rather popular around now, don't they? My dad makes them, so you won't find them anywhere else," he pitched proudly.

"Does he make them by hand?" Wufei inquired.

"Sure does. You can't get such quality workmanship out of a machine, you know."

"How does he keep up with demand?" Duo asked, gesturing at the scarcely populated tray. "It must take time to make something this nice."

"He's been working around the clock. Truth is, I'm kind of worried about him. He's in the back even now, making more. Ever since he came home one day, 'inspired', he said, he's been at it like a man possessed. He comes home late every night, and starts up again practically the moment he comes in in the morning. I wish he'd give it a rest, especially when he's doing such detailed work. That just adds more strain, you know? I mean, he used to be a fairly active man, but he hasn't worked out for ages. I don't care how popular they are right now. He doesn't even charge very much for them."

"Don't worry," Duo said reassuringly. "I'm sure they won't be popular for much longer. You know how these trends go. In one week, out the next." He grabbed Wufei's wrist and took a look at his watch, since he himself didn't wear one, and called over to Quatre and Meiran. "We better get going, guys."

"Come again," the shopkeeper said as they gathered and walked on.

*****

While they talked with the shopkeeper, another conversation was being carried out. ::Na, Heero?::

:: ? ::

::When did I become a babysitter for these guys?::

::... ::

Duo smiled to himself. He knew what Heero tactfully wasn't saying. 'I told you so,' wouldn't be too far off the mark here. Or even better, 'You brought this upon yourself, you know.' ::Ah, well. Consider it my good deed for the year.::

::You do a good deed with every Shinma you return.::

::Well, yeah,:: he conceded. ::But this way, when I leave, these guys will still be around, doing their own good. Besides, if I left them alone, they'd probably get themselves into even worse trouble than they could get into if I weren't sitting for them.::

::A little change in routine is good for you. Otherwise you might stagnate as I did and get careless.::

::I suppose it'll keep me on my toes, anyway, having to keep an eye out for them. We still gotta find some real info for Quatre, though. Spiritualism's all about that chanty, wardy type stuff. Even you don't know too much about that.::

::You said he told his father, right? Maybe he has something of the spiritualist woman that might help.::

::Yeah, good point. I'll bring it up. And Meiran knows a little, too, I believe....:: A mental sigh. ::If I ever start sounding like their mother, smack me, would you?::

::Absolutely.:: A gentle surge of warmth.

::Hey, you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Quatre for me, would you? I mean, during the confrontation. Wufei can move, I'm pretty sure, but Quatre's still a beginner.::

::Don't expect me to protect him instead of protecting you.::

::May I point out that I can handle myself pretty well? But fine. Just--::

::I'll try not to leave the boy in a compromising position.::

::Thanks. One less load off my mind.::

::...So when did I become a babysitter for these guys?::

Laughter the taste of fresh green apples filled the space between them.

*****

The man scurried his way down the street, hands shoved deeply into his pockets to shield them from the chill night air. It was late, later than he had really expected it to be, yet when he was working, he just lost all sense of time, and even reality. All he knew was that he sat down to work, and it seemed that only a blink of an eye later, the entire day had passed, and there would be a neat pile of finished bracelets by his side, a testament to the work that had been done, regardless of his memory of it.

An intense shiver worked its way down his spine when the light tinkle of bells filled the air. Normally, he felt he could take care of himself. He wasn't that old, after all. He was still healthy, and knew a thing or three about self-defense, but this, this was something else entirely, something he just felt he wouldn't be able to fight against, if it came to that. Frightened, the man stopped in his path and whipped his head around to search his surroundings. "Who's there?" he called out, his voice trembling.

The bells sounded once more, their fleeting overtones lingering past audibility until a thick silence fell over the deserted street once more. Then, a voice. "Begone, stray Shinma," it rang out, infused with a light, though distinct, power.

The man froze for a second, and then, his muscles untensed and he straightened out proudly, haughtily, clearly not the uneasy man that had been standing there moments before. He raised his head, revealing eyes that glowed too brightly emerald.

Before him, waiting calmly in the middle of the road, stood a young man clad entirely in black, his head cocked to one side as if waiting patiently for the man to make a move.

The man turned stiffly around to head back the way he had come, but found his path blocked yet again. Another young man, raven locks bound tightly behind his head, stood at loose attention in the street, his glare clearly saying that he would allow no passage.

"You've found a new partner, Guardian." The man's voice echoed strangely, mockingly between the buildings on either side of them. "Shall we see if he is as effective as the last?" Moving more swiftly than one might have predicted, the man flowed across the distance separating him from Wufei and attacked.

Wufei watched his approach with anticipation. Apparently the storeowner's workout had included some martial training. It had been quite a while since last he'd had a good hand-to-hand fight. Eyes narrowed in focus, he calmly dodged the blow aimed for his chin and struck out with his leg in a sweeping kick that did little to faze his possessed opponent.

"Now, Quatre," Duo said, his voice not raised, yet reaching the blonde's position on a nearby rooftop. "If you were a Shinma, where would you be hiding?"

Quatre started, riveted as he had been by the continuing fight between Wufei and the man. "How on earth am I--" He gasped as he felt a friendly presence give his senses a light nudge. Duo, he numbly identified, though he had no idea how. Who else would glow so brightly, even while deliberately muted, with hues of shimmering amethyst and painfully clear diamond dancing an intricate pattern, whose light left shadows of deep, regal violets and warm blacks blazing in its midst? In response to the polite request, he accepted the colors into his mind, and suddenly his vision seemed awash with life, and he understood what it was he was to be looking for. "The bracelet!"

"Indeed. The bracelet, Wufei," Duo suggested helpfully, his arms crossed loosely over his stomach as he withdrew the second sight from Quatre's mind.

The recession of the sight left Quatre feeling strangely empty, but the last thing he glimpsed before it faded entirely was a subtle shifting in Duo's aura. It was hard for him to put his finger on precisely, for it seemed to both lighten and darken, become harsher yet blurrier. It was only a hint of a beginning he saw, and it left him only curious to see the result. He made a note to himself to pester Duo to teach the sight to him.

Wufei's eyes sought the aforementioned piece of jewelry even as he moved like water around the man's strikes. There, upon the man's right wrist, was a thick weave of silver chains, much denser and more masculine than the delicate things he had been making for the schoolgirls. Patiently waiting for his opportunity, Wufei grabbed the man's right hand as he struck out with it and tried to break the clasp, but it survived, much like the bracelet Meiran had been coerced into wearing, and Wufei was forced to disentangle himself from the man. "How am I supposed to get that thing off him?!" he shouted the question at the serene guardian, his eyes never leaving his opponent.

"Just try it again," was the placid answer. Wufei made a small growling noise, but otherwise made no other complaint as he set about his task once more. Duo watched the exchange of blows intently, casually tossing up and then catching a small translucent globe in one of his hands. When Wufei initiated an open-handed strike at the bracelet, he simultaneously let loose the energy he had been playing with. The bullet struck the piece of jewelry the moment Wufei's hand hit on the other side, and it finally burst beneath the twin assault.

As Wufei was left to deal with the burden of a suddenly limp man in his arms, a dark green energy lifted from the broken chains with a low roar like a waterfall heard from a distance. It coagulated into a raggedy specter that drifted and waved about in otherwinds stirred by its own power.

"Shinma Catellim," Duo Named, and it recoiled. Its recovery time was swift, however, and it flapped, and from its depths came black chains that flew straight and true towards the guardian. He slipped through them easily, though, and fluidly dodged the next volley, but the volley after that managed to succeed. One chain wrapped itself tightly around the thigh of one leg. Another captured him around his waist, trapping an arm beneath its coils. The last would have been strangling the life out of him, had he not raised a hand in time to stop it from constricting completely around his neck. The Shinma tugged at the bonds, trying to drag its captive into itself, but Duo leaned all his weight back against it. He grunted lightly with the effort, but otherwise no concern showed through in his lightened eyes.

"Duo!" Quatre cried out, preparing himself to do something, anything to help his friend, but his fear was unfounded as a shadow swept across the scene and sliced its way through the dark bonds. Freed by his partner, Duo easily swept the remnants of the chains away with a flick of his power, a crackling violet lightning that traveled down the severed lengths of energy, to arc gracefully across the intervening distance and seize the stray before it could fully retract its power.

It screeched as it leapt towards the sky, the empty, starlit darkness luring it with promises of freedom, but such freedom became naught more than an illusion as the guardian and his guardian cast out their power in perfect harmony and ensnared it once more, their energies twining together into an indigo ribbon to bind it and fling it back to the earth.

"Return to the Dark, stray Shinma." As if the words were an incantation, a portal opened up above it, a swirling darkness that swallowed the stray whole and then disappeared with no more trace than the shiver it left in the human observers.

The two shadowclad looked at each other, communicating in a way beyond the understanding of those watching. A moment later, the tall one flickered into the space behind the blonde on the rooftop. Allowing him only enough time to recognize his presence, the masked hunter laid a cool hand upon his shoulder and brought him back to the ground level with a thought.

Quatre blinked the disorientation away. "Duo, that was--"

The Duo in question walked past him, to where Wufei squatted over the prone body of the store's owner. He studied the man with a critical eye before averting his gaze to where the broken silver bracelet lay upon the ground. Soon after, an otherworldly lavender blaze combusted its way into existence, its power somehow enough to reduce the metal to scant ashes.

He looked back at the man. "He'll be okay," he answered the unspoken question.

"What about the bracelets?" Quatre asked. "What did they do, anyway?"

"The stray was using it to feed off the girls," he answered distractedly. "Their vanity, their little hopes and tiny dreams. A clever scheme, really. I doubt the girls ever got their good luck, though."

"But now that it's gone, they'll just be regular old bracelets, right?"

"Yes. Next week, you won't even see them on campus anymore. You know the way of fads. Here today, gone tomorrow." He spoke as if contemplating a greater context, reflecting upon the fleeting nature of time itself as it ran its course.

"Duo... are you all right?"

Duo's dark companion drifted to his side, and laid his hands upon his partner's shoulders. Duo blinked several times, and then relaxed invisibly against the comfort being offered. "Oh. Yeah, Quatre," he answered in a more normal tone of voice. "I usually get a little spacy after this sort of thing. Never mind me."

"He says that like 'this sort of thing' happens every day," Quatre muttered to himself.

"It does."

*****

"So, when's your next hunt?"

"Quatre!"

TBC...

note to the reader: i'm going to apologize for the fact that this town seems to have an inordinately large number of shinma and things tripping around. i'm working with a closed environment here, what can i do? sorry. just... suspend your disbelief for a little while, please. kinda like wufei hiding a sword in his trenchcoat.

 

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