Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / GetBackers Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Consequences of our past ❯ Chapter 25 ( Chapter 26 )

 

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Chapter 25

 

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Dinner was a light meal of soup, salad and sandwiches. Even so, a green tinge began to color the empath's cheeks as he reluctantly approached the table.

 

Always eager to eat, Duo dived in, easily scoffing half a sandwich in one bite. “This is great!” He announced after downing a coke that was sitting on ice. “Oi, `Ro! They even made your favorite!”

 

“Baka.” The Japanese teen smirked as he thwacked the excited teen over the head. “Manners please.”

 

“Sorry.” The braided whirlwind grinned cheekily, swallowing his mouthful. “I haven't eaten since this morning on the shuttle.”

 

“You actually ate flight food?” Wu Fei raised an eyebrow, surprised that his finicky friend would stoop so low.

 

“Of course not.” Duo snorted. “Hilde packed a lunch for us before we took off. We were planning on eating at Relena's-” The braided teen looked confused as he interrupted himself, “Why does that girl keep inviting us over?”

 

“I think the better question is, `Why do we keep accepting them?'.” Trowa smirked, before turning a concerned look to the quiet blonde who was staring at the empty plate before him like it was going to lunge forward and bite him. “Quatre?”

 

Startled, the empath jumped in his seat. “I'm sorry?”

 

“Aren't you going to eat?”

 

“I'm afraid I don't have much of an appetite.” Quatre grimaced, discretely covering his nose with his hand to ward off as much of the smells as politely possible.

 

Hiiro frowned as he recalled the conversation he had with Rashid. “You need to have something. You'll need all the nutrients and the strength they'll provide you when the Hunters attack.”

 

“I'm fine, really.” Their friend insisted.

 

“Q, we'd feel better if you ate something.” Duo pressed. “It doesn't have to be much.”

 

The blonde groaned, “Please don't try and guilt me into it. The Maganacs are always pulling that stunt.”

 

“Does it work?” Wu Fei asked amused.

 

“Please don't make me...” Quatre whispered, tears brimming in his eyes.

 

“But it's your favorite!” Trowa pointed out. “And it is light… won't you have just a little?”

 

Cornered from all sides, the teen relented and allowed a small serving to be placed in front of him. However, his friends' triumph was short lived when after mere three or four bites, Quatre made a mad dash to the nearest bathroom, followed closely by the banged pilot. The violent sounds of retching caused the rest of them to lose their appetites.

 

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Entering the bathroom, Trowa knelt beside the heaving boy and began to rub his back soothingly. Quatre's thin frame trembled under the exertion of his vomiting and the sobs that accompanied it.

 

After several painful moments, the empath sagged unconsciously forward, his energy spent. If it hadn't been for the former acrobat's quick reflexes, the blonde surely would have cracked his head on the toilet. “Easy, Love.” Emerald eyes sighed worriedly. “It's alright…”

 

“Here.” Wu Fei whispered, offering a glass of water and a cold cloth.

 

“Thanks.” Trowa sighed again, flushing the mess and closing the lid before rousing his former lover enough to wash out his mouth and wipe his face.

 

“We should put him to bed.” The Chinese teen suggested.

 

“I don't want to leave him alone.” The banged teen stated.

 

“Agreed. We could stay with him and take turns taking watch.”

 

Nodding, 03 allowed 05 to lift 04 into his arms and followed them upstairs to where the bedrooms lay. Taking off his shoes and belt, Trowa climbed onto the large bed first before helping Wu Fei remove Quatre's messed up clothes and getting the blonde into his pajamas. Each pilot was saddened by extreme thinness that was revealed to them. They couldn't begin to calculate the amount of weight lost in a mere three weeks, nor the reason behind it.

 

Once they deemed the boy comfortable, they tucked the smaller teen in between them and dimmed the lights just as a gentle knock sounded at their door.

 

“Enter.” Wu Fei called in a hushed tone.

 

Silently, the door opened admitting 01 and 02 inside. “Now that too cute for words.” Duo smiled warmly at the picture the three on the bed made. “I feel a Kodiak moment.”

 

“Baka.” Chang snorted.

 

“How is he?” Hiiro asked.

 

“Sleeping.” Trowa replied, brushing stray strands away from the blonde's face.

 

“Good.” The braided teen nodded. “Now finish filling us in.”

 

Wu Fei took a deep breath, raising the blankets around his former lover a bit higher. “We spent hours slinking around that dump, keeping to shadows and jumping at every sound we didn't recognize. Schuldig kept in touch with us when he felt safe enough to do so, alerting us to their progress and any hang-ups that he could sense. We had almost made it when what we were running from caught up to us...”

 

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“DOWN!” Quatre cried out, just as a shadow passed over his group followed by four more. “Damn.” The empath swore, jumping to his feet once more. “Talia.”

 

“You seem surprised? It's good to see you again, Precious.” A dark-haired young woman purred in an Ukrainian accent. “And you have playthings for me this time?” She batted her long eyelashes at Ginji while she licked her lips seductively. “How thoughtful!”

 

“Gomenasai, Talia. I was under the impression that you were dead.” Quatre glared, standing directly between the woman and Wu Fei. “I guess I'll have to find a stronger stake, ne? Or maybe you don't have a heart to drive one through!?”

 

Talia looked mildly amused. “You say the funniest things, Little Heart.”

 

“Don't call me that.” The blonde snapped, his hand discretely moving towards his hidden weapons. Behind him, he could feel Ginji's power starting to build to that of the Lightening Emperor's level as well as Wu Fei's strength watching his back.

 

One of the other Hunters burst out in a mocking laughter, “THIS is the Little Heart?” Drawing their attention to a lanky teenager- maybe a year or so younger than the pilots. “You've got to be kidding me!”

 

“Shut up, Wraith.” Another of the party rolled her eyes. “If you understood who this was, then you wouldn't be so quick to ridicule.”

 

“Says you.” The boy snorted. “I see nothing special about `im.” He pulled out black blades from wispy black air. “ `Cept maybe a little target practice.”

 

“Imbecile.” The girl snorted disgustedly.

 

“X, Wraith, Stop it.” Their leader warned.

 

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Azure eyes studied the group without taking his attention off of the vampire. This wasn't her usual gang of murderers. They screamed of disorder and distrust. It offered a sense of reassurance that maybe they weren't as dangerous as the harden killers Quatre was used to contending with.

 

Besides the boy with the death-swords and the girl that had spoken up (but had yet to divulge her power) were two other newtypes. Shrouded in cloaks, they seemed more patient than the two teens that were bickering between themselves- However, they didn't seem the type to attack without specific orders to.

 

//No…// the hollow voice in his head adamantly disagreed. //Don't let your guard down! It's a farce! Talia wouldn't Hunt with anyone that was not proficient. These _kids_ are lethal.//

 

/I know./ Quatre assured the Zero system. /But they can't kill me./

 

//They can kill your pathetic friends.//

 

“She wouldn't dare.” The empath growled.

 

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“What was that, Little Heart?” The vampire cooed, bringing the blonde out of his internal conversation. “I couldn't hear you over the pounding pulse of power your tantalizing friends send off.” She shuddered, “Delightful.”

 

“I was just amused by your babysitting detail. Or is it that you're training replacements in your old age.” The blonde quirked an eyebrow towards his nemesis. “Esselte doesn't believe in eternal beauty?”

 

The woman's eyes narrowed. “No, Little Heart, the Elders just figured that only a minimum amount of force was required to bring you down. After all, they would prefer you alive.” She snapped her fingers drawing the other two newtypes into attention. “Permit me to introduce you to Hava...” She nodded to one of the hooded attendants, who began to remove their cloak to reveal a young woman.

 

Her blue-violet hair spilled down her back in a thick, tightly braided rope, while loose strands sheltered her face. Hava's eyes were a glassy yellow with black reptilian slits for her iris. Her clothes barely left anything to the imagination as they scantily covered her ample bosom and crisscrossed down her pale skin to meld into form fitting leather pants.

 

The empath felt Wu Fei's alarm before he noticed the black mamba that had laced itself around her wrist. Ginji's electricity resonated in time to his quickened breaths, growing in intensity as his anxiety escalated.

 

“And my final member, I believe you are quite familiar with, Little Heart.”

Talia's predatory grin grew as their final team member stepped forward and removed his hood.

 

Quatre's blood ran cold.

 

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To be continued…