Kyuuketsuki Duo: The TV Series Episode 4
Enter the Dragons Flipside
"Ready to go yet?"
Duo, lying on his stomach on the bed and idly swinging his feet back and forth in the air, glanced up briefly from the book he was reading. "No. Give me a minute." His eyes returned to the page.
Heero peered over his shoulder and examined the text. "That's not your homework," he observed.
"Nope. Finished that a while ago. This is much more interesting." It was the book of his ancestors, the one they had found when they had first cleaned the whole house up. Every once in a while, Duo would take the book out and read another account of one of the past guardians of the West.
"Who is it this time?"
"This is..." Duo flipped over a few pages and did a few calculations. "Six generations ago. Great-someodd granddad wrote down a recipe for a delicious sounding soup."
Heero raised an eyebrow. "You don't eat, Duo," he pointed out.
"But that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate a fine soup when I see one," Duo returned logically. "Besides, I could eat, if I felt like it."
"As could I. But we don't."
"Well, maybe just for that, we should." Duo stuck his tongue out at his guardian.
"You'd make a soup just to be contrary?"
"Yes."
Heero didn't see any point in continuing the conversation, after that. Duo was Duo, and that was that. He sighed, and sat down on the floor next to the bed, compulsively straightening up the stack of homework that was scattered over the floor. Most of Duo's teachers, fortunately enough, gave out a list of assignments at the beginning of the unit, so Duo could work ahead a lot, freeing up a good deal of his evenings for performing his duty. The more time they had, the farther they could roam and monitor the currents for Shinma activity. Of course, not all of Duo's spare time went into doing homework.
Heero took another glance at the book, and saw that Duo was still absorbed in the fascinating tale of soup, so he resignedly picked up one of the school books and began to read.
*****
The businessman was on his way home from work when the area around him wavered and he found himself in a foreign landscape. It had been a highly profitable day, and with the successful closing of the hostile takeover deal, he had had a glass of sherry in gloating celebration before starting the short walk home, but that wouldn't have been enough to induce the vision of bleak, dead trees against a blood red sky.
A ringing of light bells filled the air. The confused man in the gray suit turned around to see a young man, clad in black, with pale amethyst eyes gazing calmly at him.
"Who are you?" the businessman demanded irritably, clutching his briefcase tightly to his chest in defense. The boy said nothing, just continued to look at him and through him with a peculiar simmering intensity that unnerved him, just as much as his question being ignored irked him. "Are you here to mug me?"
The boy laughed, a short burst of amusement that made the middle-aged man take a step back from him. "Enough," the mysterious boy asserted. The man froze in his tracks as a chill breeze sprang up. "Shinma. Come out, come out, wherever you are," the boy sang teasingly.
The man looked around him apprehensively, as if expecting something to respond to the boy's call, but when nothing happened, he turned back angrily towards him. "Look, kid," he began crossly. "I don't know what kind of stunt you're trying to pull here, but it won't work. I'll have you know --" He paused mid-sentence, suddenly stopped by the prickling of all the hairs at the back of his neck and a tingling across his skin. He looked down at his hands. A yellow vapor was rising off them. "What the --?"
He thrust them out in front of him, as far away from his body as possible, dropping the briefcase. Its paper contents spilled to the floor and scattered in the unnatural breeze. The sulphurous-looking cloud began to emerge from the rest of him as well, pulling itself forward from his skin. Panicking, he stumbled back a few steps, and he came away clean, landing on his rear end and leaving behind the yellow cloud that was quickly coalescing into a taller and gaunt humanoid creature. Its skin covered a smooth and featureless body that stalked its way towards the boy with the long reddish-brown braid.
"Shinma Arquato," the boy greeted amiably. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The creature didn't answer, but then again, it had no mouth, so perhaps that wasn't surprising. It jumped high into the depthless sky and hurled razor sharp shards of something at the boy in black, but he easily evaded them with a simple leap, to where he ended hovering in the air.
The businessman had seen everything he wanted to see. He didn't know where he was or what was happening, but enough was enough. He scrambled to his feet and turned tail and ran away from the two otherworldly beings doing battle. He was only running deeper into the bizarre landscape, but all he really wanted was just to get away from where he was now. He had only travelled half a dozen yards when his back was suddenly filled with several intense pains, and then he didn't have to worry about where he was going anymore.
*****
Duo dodged the first and second volley of splintered power easily with a simple leap, and faced off with the Shinma in the featureless sky.
::Hey, Heero?::
::Yes?:: Heero materialized on the other side of the stray.
::Can we return strays just because they're ugly?:: The stray flew at him in a charge, and Duo ducked under him, putting him and Heero on the same side, facing it.
::Excuse me?::
::Well, look at it! That yellow is so tacky!::
Heero kept his sigh to himself. The guardian was just in one of his moods, and in times like these, sometimes it was just best to play along. It may have been a side effect of his blood, or his power, or the way it had been released, or his humanity, or anything really, but it happened that the guardian was a very mercurial creature, and one just had to deal with it. But Heero was a very adaptable sort of person, so it was okay. Luckily, when Duo was feeling a little out of sorts, it usually wasn't enough to affect his performance. ::Would you prefer that he dress in black?::
::Black is so much cooler. But then again, I guess everyone is usually black. Okay, I changed my mind. Yellow is a welcome change of pace. But it's still ugly.:: The stray threw another set of edged projectiles in their direction, and Duo cleared out to the right, Heero to the left. There was a strangled cry from below, and they looked down to see the businessman sprawled out face down on the ground in a slowly spreading pool of blood, his back pierced by several of the sickly yellow shards.
Duo turned back to the Shinma, a miffed expression on his face as he crossed his arms in irritation. "Oh, pooh. Now why'd you have to go and do a thing like that?" he asked it.
It tried sending a miniature whirlwind of the physical manifestations of its power towards the guardian, but Duo deftly blinked out of where he had been and to a position behind it. This was his world, a place in the place between places, and it sang in his blood as part of his heritage. There was little he couldn't do here, when he set his mind to it.
Heero threw some bindings on the creature, deep sapphire blue rings that circled it and held it screeching silently in place as the guardian summoned the portal to the Dark without ceremony and whisked it away.
They settled to the ground. "Now that blue you had there, on the other hand," Duo started whimsically, as he glided gracefully to his partner. "That blue is a very nice blue. I could drown in that blue. A very beautiful blue indeed." Having reached his companion, Duo reached up and removed Heero's mask, and gazed deeply into Heero's prussian eyes. "Hmm mmm," he sighed in satisfaction. "I like that blue." As he gave his companion a lingering kiss, their surroundings slowly faded, and they were returned to the dark alley where they had first started.
Heero caught the guardian's wandering hands in his own and returned them to his side, gently curbing the mood before it got out of control. "And what about you, Duo? You wear black all the time."
Duo pouted cutely at him, entwining his fingers with Heero's. "But I have an image to maintain. Dark and mysterious, prowler of the night." He swung their arms out in an expansive gesture. "Keeper of the shadows. You know. All that."
"But you're a good guy, Duo," the hunter reminded him. "Shouldn't you be clad in white? Symbolizing purity and goodness, a protector and guardian of humanity against the darkness?"
"Hmpf. Now you sound like my English teacher. I've always thought of white as the color of death."
"Not innocence?"
"They're one and the same, Heero," he purred softly. Duo's hooded eyes were dark again, but no less chilling in the night as he held Heero's gaze soberly. "Because innocence always dies."
A breath later, he abruptly pushed himself away from his partner and gestured widely to the buildings around them. "And this gray! Look at all this gray! The buildings, the sky, the people, everything!" He spun in a circle, his outstretched arms catching everything in their motion. "All gray and colorless, gray and bland, gray and lifeless, gray and dull," he concluded, with a damning finality. He pointed to the dead businessman, and went over to nudge him with the tip of one of his black boots. "Look, he even wears a gray suit."
Heero drifted silently to his partner's side, not entirely worried, but still a little concerned. He knew Duo didn't like it either when he got all dark and depressing, but that was only afterwards. When he was in the middle of it, anything could happen. Outside the alley, life went on, perfectly oblivious to the happenings in the shadows.
"But look at the pretty red, Heero," the guardian continued, almost as if musing to himself as he stared fixedly at the puddle of blood, a splash of bright crimson against the colorless pavement. "Now that's color. That's life."
Heero was horribly certain that there was a brief, fleeting moment, during which the idea almost occurred to the guardian to paint the walls of the city scarlet with human lifeblood, but the moment passed, and Duo's mood abruptly shifted again. The braided boy dropped smoothly to a crouch next to the body, passing his hands over the man's wounds, and Heero began to breathe easily once more. The shards that had been embedded in the wounds dissolved at the guardian's touch.
Duo flipped the body over with a small heave and began rummaging through the man's pockets.
"Are you looking for something, Duo?" Heero inquired, wanting to re-establish contact with his partner.
"Hmm....," Duo's hands continued to wander. "Here we go!" He triumphantly held up the man's wallet before getting up and flipping through its contents.
Heero's brow clouded in mild confusion. "What are you doing?"
"Taking his wallet," was the calm reply.
"...You're robbing his corpse?" Heero's voice was slightly incredulous. Duo wouldn't sink that low.
"Not at all. I'm just taking his wallet to make it look like a mugging gone wrong. Easier for the cops to rationalize away than unexplained murder." He smiled beatifically up at his partner, satisfied with the cash inside and tucking the wallet away in his pocket. "Can't leave too many unexplained bodies lying around, you know. And I guess I could do something silly like throw it in the river, but what good would that do? Besides, someone might find it one day, and then where would we be?"
Heero blinked at him.
"Hey, even I need money sometimes."
Heero blinked again. "I suppose...."
Duo bounced up to him and draped his arms loosely over his lover's shoulders and around his neck. "Feel like soup tonight?"
*****
Great-someodd granddad's soup was as good as advertised.
*****
Something shattered, and it began. A terrible howl of triumph made him shiver in his sleep. Panic. Fear. Flight. Betrayal. Pain. Death. Each new image sent another small stab through the guardian's spirit, and finally with a gasp he awoke, still smelling the smoke that clouded the heavy night air.
Arms tightened comfortingly around his midsection, and he didn't need to turn and look to know that Heero was looking at him with concerned eyes. It wasn't the first time he had experienced a vision in his sleep, nor was it the worst, but Heero disliked it every time, for there was little he could do for his charge but hold him and hope that little bit of reassurance might reach the guardian in his dreamstate. The visions rarely released him until they were done with him.
Duo closed his eyes and burrowed back into the protective circle of Heero's arms, the warmth found there chasing away his chill. "Did you feel it?" he whispered.
Heero murmured a positive answer. Perhaps halfway through the dream, a faint tremor had run through the othercurrents, tasting ancient and fresh, of humans and demons and doom. He had traced it to a source some distance away to the northwest, and told the guardian so.
"We should probably check it out," Duo spoke reluctantly. "Even if it's over."
If Heero could have disagreed, he would have, and encouraged his partner to stay. But he didn't. The disturbance may not have been Shinma related, but it could still have a possible impact on their work, and no matter their personal preferences, they were always conscientious about their work. They got out of bed silently, called clothing from the shadows, and slipped through the darkness.
*****
The estate was ruined, but over the flames and the debris, Duo saw it as it once was, echoes of warriors and guardians standing proudly in the halls of their family as they went about their business. They found old wards scattered all over the estate, all broken, and three shrines that each once contained a part of a binding. They, too, were shattered.
A demon had certainly passed through here, freed from the restraints that bound it -- the air reeked of burning resentment and gleeful retribution -- but its trail, having woven a path of destruction across the estate, dashed off into one of the still burning buildings. Reflected within the flickering flames, there was a vision of a fearsome monster hurling its power without precision at a small spelled mirror. The mirror crumbled, and with it, so did the wards holding the demon in this realm. It was pulled back to the nether realms, dissipating and wavering as if only from the heat until it was gone.
Duo caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and would have dismissed it as another shadow of the past had Heero not noticed it also. It was a boy, and beyond the tangled, shoulder length hair, his bruised appearance and soiled clothing, Duo noticed the dark flame burning a hole in his soul.
Duo felt a moment of kinship with the boy. He, too, was a survivor, the only one left alive amongst the ruins of a home. He watched in sad silence as the boy moved with stiff determination, as the quiet anger and shame began to work its way through his heart, and he turned to his companion with heavy resignation.
"Come on, Heero. There's nothing left for us to do here."
They faded into the night as the sirens began to ring in the distance.
*****
"Meiran's seemed kinda distracted lately," Duo observed to Quatre, before their history class. It was partly idle conversation, but also partly motivated by the fact that Duo knew that Quatre might know, by virtue of his latent gift. He was an excellent source of information.
Quatre nodded in agreement. "You think so too? She's been...," he shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, edgy. And sad, too. I asked her if there was something the matter, and she just said it was a family thing. I didn't want to pry any further."
"I think she mentioned her father being out of town for a little while," Duo added.
"Hmm... She usually likes it when her father's out of town, even if it's a little more lonely in the house. Gives her a little more freedom."
"Hmm," Duo agreed.
Class began.
*****
Class ended, and they were dismissed for lunch. Duo hadn't had the opportunity to speak with Meiran during their Latin class, but he had noticed that she had seemed slightly nervous. Duo, Trowa, and Quatre met up at their usual haunt, under the big tree in the corner of the field, and from there, they could see Meiran approaching, a strange boy at her side.
"Hmm," muttered Quatre. "I don't remember ever seeing that boy around before."
"The guy with Meiran?" Duo asked.
"He's new," Trowa inserted quietly. "He was introduced in my math class today."
Duo automatically reached out with his power, curious to get a better look at the new student.
"It looks like Meiran knows him from somewhere," the blonde observed. "They seem rather familiar with each other."
Duo pulled his power back rather suddenly, and made sure it was tucked away soundly again before catching Heero's attention.
:: ? ::
::That guy,:: Duo indicated with a mental gesture, hoping Heero would say that he'd never seen the guy before.
Heero Looked where indicated. ::Hn. Fancy seeing him again.::
'Damn,' Duo thought to himself.
*****
I stayed in step alongside Meiran, trying to shove the image of a lost little puppy trailing along behind her out of my mind. It may have been my first day in a new place, but that meant nothing. I still had my pride. It was about all that was left me.
Her friends were seated on the grass beneath a sprawling tree in the corner, on a slight elevation overlooking the rest of the field. I wondered briefly if she had any female friends, but I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. She had always hung around the boys when she had lived next to us, and she was constantly trying to prove herself worthy of our company. In many respects, she succeeded admirably, even if she tried too hard sometimes. In other ways, she failed miserably.
The blonde was named Quatre. I automatically evaluated him with a trained eye. My first impression was that he looked soft, in heart and in body, but I had to remind myself that he was not a warrior, and to judge others by such criteria was unreasonable. It was allowed that he be soft and kind-hearted and innocent, for his kind would never need fight, and indeed, was not suited to do so. He had a healer's soul.
His friend was called Trowa. That one was quiet, an observer that, for some reason, made me wary. For a brief moment, I thought I caught a look in his eye that reminded me too much of my mother's eyes, after her chi had been drained by the demon. Empty.
The last was watching the introductions with a piercing, critical eye. Duo, he introduced himself. His intense regard evaporated instantly when I turned towards him, to be replaced by a good cheer and warm friendliness that beckoned me. Despite the animated extroversion and image of carefree youth he projected, I felt as if he was privy to something huge that none of us could see, even though it was right in front of our eyes. He somehow managed to sparkle just a little too much.
Was I jumping at shadows? Perhaps. But when one had seen what I had in the shadows, perhaps I had every right to. There were demons among us, and evil creatures of the darkness. These people knew nothing of them, but I did, far too well. They were nothing but sadistic parasites, a cursed blight on humanity whose pleasure lay in stirring up trouble, and they needed to be excised. As part of my training for my eventual confrontation with my own demon, I had devoted myself to that end.
TBC...
i don't know what it is about wufei that makes me want to write first person....
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