Shinigami - The God of Death Part 2
"I am Shinigami."
I cough and just look at him, not sure what to say. Here in front of me sat my childhood friend, the one who'd raised me when I was an orphan, before the Maxwell church had taken me in. Solo was the whole reason I'd named myself Duo, pledging to live on in his place after he'd died. I'd never thought, in all my wildest dreams, that I'd ever see him again. But here he is, sitting right in front of me.
Not only that but he's calling himself Shinigami, the god of death. My childhood best friend is Death. And somehow I not that surprised now that I think about it, after all, stranger things have happened. Right? I hug my knees tightly, feeling suddenly cold.
"So why are you here, Solo?"
"I'm here because you said you don't want to die. Why Duo? What do you have in life that is worth living for?"
I open my mouth to answer but he quickly holds up his hand, silencing me.
"Think first, old friend. I'm here to possibly give you another chance, but I honestly need to know, why do you want to live again?"
I close my mouth and furrow my eyebrows in thought. One reason above all that I want to live? Why? I wasn't really needed, I mean I the wars were over and even my gundam had been destroyed. I certainly didn't live for my job at the Preventers; I mean who would really say that the whole reason they dragged their lazy ass out of bed every morning was to work in a stuffy office with broken air conditioning? Not me, that's for sure.
The guys would miss me, sure, but I didn't really live for them. We were just good friends, pulled together by our mutual experiences during the wars. It was a solid friendship but none of us really lived for each other. Well... no I was wrong. I didn't live for Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Hilde or Relena. But there was some one I did live for.
"Heero," I say softly. "I want to live for Heero."
At that Solo raised an eyebrow. "Him? But why? I don't understand. After seeing everything he's done to you... Duo he even shot at you! Why would you want to live for him?"
I shrug. "It's hard to explain. No matter how much of an asshole he may be I can't imagine existing, or not existing for that matter, without him."
Solo glances away, his eyes glazing over slightly as he stares off into the darkness. "But what's the point of loving someone when they don't return it?"
"I can't explain it. Yeah sure he may be cold and distant most of the time but I would give up everything to be with him again, even if it was just to see him turn away from me and say good bye." I glance off to the darkness and smirk at that thought.
"You love-sick fool," Solo scoffs.
"Yep. And you know what? I don't care because I love him." I lean back on the thin air and stretch out, a lazy yet happy smile on my face.
Solo turns to face me. "But does he love you?"
I open one eye and look up at him. "Not sure."
Solo nods slowly. "Does he know you?"
I sit up and open my other eye. "What do you mean?"
"I mean... would he be able to tell it was truly you?"
I frown. "I've worked and lived with the guy for two years or so now. He knows who I am, heck he even remembered my name when we met the second time and used it as his own code name, which I still can't figure out. Why? What's this all about?"
"Because there is a way for you to get another chance, Duo. But not many can do it."
My eyes widen. "You mean I can live again? I can see Heero again?"
He nods once more. "But it's all up to him. Do you have faith that he knows you?"
I nod eagerly, not caring. I just want to see Heero again; I don't care what it takes!
"Then give me your hand."
I place my hand in Solo's and he pulls me forward, capturing my lips with his. My eyes widen in surprise as his arms wrap around me and he kisses me deeply. I start to resist but my body isn't responding and my head is beginning to feel hazy. I blink and struggle to hold my eyes open as Solo pulls away. With gentile hands he holds me against his chest.
"What... what's happening?" I murmur softly as all feeling seeps out of my body.
"Shh, don't worry Duo. Just sleep."
My eyes drift shut and the darkness swallows me.
~*~
I blink open my eyes after that and find myself sitting in the passenger seat of my jeep, and it looks as good as new. I blink again and rub my eyes, not believing what I'm seeing! I am honestly sitting in my jeep and it is in perfect condition, not a single scratch on it, just like the day I bought it. The jeep is sitting on the shoulder of the road, just as if I'd pulled off to the side to take a break from a long drive. It was as if I'd never crashed into that tree.
"What the hell?" I mutter quietly, and I get another shock. My voice... it isn't my voice!
Instead my voice chuckles beside me and my head whirls in confusion. Turning my head to face the driver's side seat I give a small cry of surprise and horror. Sitting beside me is... me! It's me, an exact replica right down to the violet eyes and braided hair. The other me chuckles again, his eyes bright with laughter.
"Don't look so surprised, Duo. Haven't you ever seen your own reflection in the mirror before?"
"What the hell is going on?!" I cry out in frustration.
The other Duo just simply gestures toward the jeep's rearview mirror.
I suppress a shudder and glance up at the mirror to find myself staring into a reflection of emerald green eyes and bushy red hair. "No way..." I murmur quietly, confirming my suspicions. I not only look like Solo but I am speaking in his voice. "We switched bodies?"
"Well, no, not exactly. See Shinigami doesn't really have a body, he just exists. We, more of, changed consciousness. I got your body and you got, well, my position."
I growl and lunge for myself, or him, in anger. Arg, this is confusing! But my fist meets with nothing; it only goes through his head as if nothing was there. I pull my hand back and just stare at it in wonder. As an experiment I try to touch the dashboard but once again my hand goes right through it, I turn back to Solo, who is in my body, and glare.
"What did you do to me?" I demand.
"You are now Shinigami, the god of death. And I am Duo Maxwell." He tugs on the priest's outfit he's wearing to emphasize his point.
My eyes narrow. "You bastard," I hiss. "You know this isn't what I meant!"
"Hey! Hey, hold on a second! I haven't finished explaining yet. Now hold tight and let me explain this little game."
I don't like how he said the word 'game' but I force myself to calm down. Better to let him explain and then I'd really have a reason to be pissed.
"See, here's how this works. I'm you, but only for a little bit. Heero has one week to discover that I'm not really you, then you get your body and your life back."
"And if he doesn't?" I growl.
Solo shrugs. "Then you remain Shinigami, until Heero dies and you can make him the same offer. How do you think I became Shinigami?" Solo's eyes narrow significantly. "When I died he made me the same offer, and it all depended on you. You had a week to discover that I hadn't really died and then I would have had my life back. But no, you just walked away and went to live at that church, completely forgetting about me!"
"I... I didn't forget about you!" I protest, but I couldn't help but feel guilty. "Solo, you died in my arms, remember? Of course I thought you were dead!"
He just glares at me angrily. 'But you saw me, didn't you?!" He balls his hands into fists and spits at me angrily. "You saw me after that and you never even considered the possibili-"
"You were dead!" I counter loudly. "You died in my arms and yes, I did see you but I knew you were dead, that it couldn't be you. I just thought I was going crazy because of how much I missed you."
"That's no excuse!"
I flinch and look away from him, my voice dropping to a quiet whisper. "Then you tell me what is an excuse. I was seven years old, I thought I was going crazy. I had to concentrate on surviving, on finding food and money, I couldn't let myself think you were still alive. I had to concentrate on living myself." I close my eyes and try to push away the memories, but he's right. I vividly remember seeing him the week after he died. At first it had really scared me and I thought he was haunting me. To a seven-year-old the thought of being haunted was terrifying and I spent most of the nights crying myself to sleep because I was so scared.
After a few days of being scared I decided I'd just been seeing things, so I started ignoring him every time I saw him smiling at me. Then, he'd just disappeared. At the time it had just confirmed my suspicions that I'd just imagined it. But now...
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." I whisper miserably.
"That's not good enough!" he yells back. "Do you know what it's like to be trapped as Shinigami?! I could see the entire world, but never be a part of it. I could see everyone but I couldn't touch anyone and they couldn't see me. I couldn't speak to them, I just had to sit there and watch, no one even knew I was there! Its pure torture Duo, it hurts like hell! And it hurt even worse to watch your life, to watch you living so happily and me, I couldn't do a damn thing!"
"Solo, I... I don't know what to say. I didn't know."
For a moment his anger seems to melt away and he just looks at me, a small smirk on his face. "Well," he says in a soft voice. "You'll know now, won't you?"
I swallow, a lump growing in my throat. It suddenly dawns on me that I am completely helpless and he could do whatever he wanted to.
Solo just grins. "It's all up to Heero now. But see, unlike last time, I have the advantage. They don't know you're dead and I've spent the last eight or so years watching you. I know everything about you, know how to be you in every situation. I know how to be you without flaw. There is just no way he'll figure it out, especially not in a week. This time I'll win and you'll be trapped."
"Solo! Don't do this!"
"It's already done, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Clocks ticking, Duo. Or should I call you Shinigami?" He chuckles and turns the key in the jeep, starting the engine. As he presses on the gas he reaches over and gives me a shove, pushing me out through the passenger side door.
I tumble onto the side of the road and just sit there in shock, tangled in the black cloak. I just stare as he drives away back toward the house I shared with the guys. I had one week, one week of pure torture to watch Heero try and figure out that that Duo wasn't me. And if he didn't I'd be stuck in this form until he died. It was a pretty hopeless situation except for one small factor.
Not only could Solo see me, but he could also touch me. There just had to be some way to use that to my advantage.
TBC...
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