Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Our Version of RW with a Crossover Twist ❯ Decisions for the Future ( Chapter 18 )

A/N: Man this took a while. Sorry for the long wait.

Kathrine: Yeah, we had hoped to have it out yesterday but then decided to rewrite the entire last two parts. We think they work a little better now.

JC: Now this might come out seeming off, but we hope it doesn't.

Kathrine: No action, no blood, a really boring chapter. I didn't get to do anything.

JC: This next one will have some stuff in it though.

Kathrine: And we tried to keep this very down graded so FFNet won't get pissed at us.

JC: Look forward to seeing some personas return and Wufei losing his temper.

Disclaimer: Check earlier chapters.

Warnings: YAOI/Shounen Ai, YURI/Shoujo Ai, not too dark in this chapter, no editing so bad mistakes that Spell Check didn't catch and anything else we didn't mention.

Our Version of RW with a Crossover Twist

By JC and Kathrine

Chapter 18 - Decisions for the Future

Preventers Headquarters -

Duo

" Where is he?" the braided-brunette demanded. " Where's my Heero?!"

" Calm down Maxwell," Wufei sighed. " He's not really in the state of mind to have you go rushing to him."

" Why?" Duo asked. He'd just gotten to the scene of the mangled building and it seemed that the Preventers were trying to calm everyone down and assess the damage. Ambulances and EMT were everywhere on the block taking care of anyone that might have been injured in the assault. Quatre and Trowa were setting up small groups to do other jobs. Quatre was at that moment trying to find the cause of the attack, while Trowa was sending people out to look for anyone or anything that might be linked to it nearby. For all they knew a bomb could be waiting for the right time to go off.

" Well…" And Wufei was left with the job of explaining everything to a very worried and ready-to-kill Duo Maxwell.

" Wait a minute," dark violet eyes looked around. " Where is Seiji? Is he all right? Did they move him to another facility? Is Heero with him?"

Another hard spot to explain. How could the Chinese boy tell him that the blonde was missing and Heero wasn't saying where he might have gone? Things were just getting too complicated. What about the strange armor looking suits that Seiji and those others had been wearing? And those people who'd shown up, the ones working with the two that had caused the destruction of their headquarters? And what had become of that large dark-colored feline that had been there?

Duo surely wasn't taking his silence to well. " Wufei I'm going to count to the number five and if you don't tell me what's going on I'm gong to find one of the rookies here to scare it out of," the shorter boy warned. " And with how scared those guys are of the 'great gundam pilots', I don't think that will be too hard."

" Duo," a voice called him voice in a clipped, emotionless tone. He spun around and jumped at the person instantly, wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

" Heero! I was scared shitless!" he exclaimed. " Are you all right? Of course you're okay, but where's Seiji? Wu-man here won't tell me a damn thing!"

The older brunette gave him a stiff embrace before releasing him and leaving his hold. Duo gave him a confused look. He didn't understand why Heero was acting so different. " Heero?" he stared at him. " What's wrong? Is Seiji okay?"

" He's gone," his lover stated, not tone difference or sense of anything in his voice. " Seiji is gone."

" What?" Duo's eyes were wide. " What do you mean?" Heero didn't say anything, only stood as he was with not expression on his face.

" I have work to do," the brunette replied before turning around and heading towards where Sally Poe was sitting with another doctor, a ice pack on her brow.

" What the hell…?" Duo was watched him go. He's so cold now, so closed, like he was in the beginning, he thought.

" Come Maxwell," Wufei pulled him towards the building.

" What the hell happened?" the former gundam pilot demanded. " Why's he all Perfect soldier/Pilot 01? Where the hell did Seiji go?"

" Something happened, something that I can't really explain," the raven-haired boy told him. " The attack on the headquarters wasn't normal, they didn't use bombs, or guns. And they were here for anything usual."

" What did they use then?" he wanted to know. " Sticks and stones?"

" Swords and other ancient weaponry that is far out of date," he answered. " They showed up out of nowhere and just attacked."

" What were they here for?"

" Seiji," the other went on. " They came from Seiji's room and took him."

" Some group of psycho terrorists has Seiji?!" the brunette shouted in shock. " How in Sam Hell did you let that happen?!"

" If you would just calm down, shut up, and act like the professional Preventers agent that you are, you would know that they didn't!" It was obvious that Chang was losing his patience with his comrade and was on the verge of bringing physical harm to him.

Duo stared at him for a minute, seemingly shocked into silence, before saying, " Oh. Then what happened? Why can't I see him?"

" Because he ran off with some other people, we don't know where they've gone yet," the other boy answered. " We've been too busy assessing the damage done to the Preventers' Building and the surrounding area to look for him."

" He just ran off?" the brunette repeated. " But Seiji doesn't even like being around many other people, why would he run off with strangers? That is…unless they weren't strangers."

" It is possible that he knew them, but we don't know," Wufei agreed. " We just have to hope that someone will see them or they'll return on their own accord."

" Of course Blondie will!" Duo replied. " He waited eight years to be reunited with Heero, it's not likely that he'll just disappear and never come back." But then the thought entered his mind. When will he come back? What if he can't come back? What if something has happened to him?

" Have you discovered whether or not this has anything to do with the surveillance that Heero was doing or the informant that was killed?" he inquired.

Wufei shook his head in a negative. " That has been unknown," he explained. " It is possible seeing as they appear to be after the same target, but there was a slight difference."

" What?"

" It appeared that the man and woman who attacked the PB were after both Seiji ad Heero," he replied. " The woman spoke about some 'master' of there's that was going to take over the world and wanted to meet them." He still hadn't said anything about the strange armors or the large wild feline, but he wasn't sure whether or not Maxwell would believe him about it. It was far-fetched in his mind and he'd seen it for himself. He could only imagine what it would be like trying to explain it to someone else.

" I just hope that Seiji comes back soon," Duo finally let out a deep sigh. " Heero's gonna be a real pleasure to deal with right now and worrying about Blondie is only going to make it worse for him." He shook his head lightly, ruffling his bangs out of his eyes for a moment before giving Wufei a reassuring look. " Well, time to go to work and see what we can do around here, huh? No use just sitting about worrying yourself into gray hair and wrinkles."

" Indeed," the Chinese boy agreed with him as they went in search of Chief Une, who had only arrived minutes earlier to the scene. She'd come to Japan for Relena's return form outer space, and could only wonder what she felt about all of this.

She was nothing if not efficient and blunt with her work and would no doubt have as many Preventers needed trying to find out the 'who's and 'why's behind this attack. And then the landing of Relena's shuttle would no doubt cause many to have things to deal with. This is going to cause a lot of damn problems, Duo thought. And for some reason Seiji's stuck at the middle of it.

Warehouse -

" Why can't we get these damn things off?!" Shu ranted for the fifth time in the past two hours. It was no secret that he was impatient and the fact of hunger was beginning to get to him. He hated being stuck in a damp abandoned storage house with no food or anyway of getting some.

" Please calm down," Shin tried to reason with him.

" But I can't take just sitting here like this!" Shu punched his fist into the palm of his other hand. " For all we know those guys could be ready to strike when we least expect! Or they could be out causing trouble somewhere else!" He turned on his heel and punched he wall he'd been leaning against. The cement caved under the pressure instantly, forming a large indent bigger than the size of the metal-encased fist and leading cracks that stretched across the entire wall on part of the ceiling.

Shu's eyes were wide when he saw this, backing up instantly in shock. " Whoah…" he murmured. " I didn't know I could do that."

" The yoroi is enhancing your normal strength by at least a hundred times its usual capacity," Touma analyzed. " You could probably do a lot worse than that if you tried."

" Really?" Shu's eyes brightened a little.

" Don't you dare," Shin put a menacing finger in his face. " We're supposed to be finding away to takes these things off."

" They don't want to come off."

The three boys turned to look at Ryo as he sat cross-legged on the floor. " What do you mean?" Touma asked.

" Don't you feel it?" he inquired. " It's like they're a part of us now, like we're one instead of two. I can feel what it's feeling, like it's alive or something."

" I felt that too," shin agreed. " When we were on the street, I could feel what Suiko was feeling."

" Yeah," Shu nodded. " I guess I get what you're saying."

Touma closed his eyes and let the feelings of the Yoroi washed over him. He could feel excitement, contentment, curiosity...completeness. But he could also feel the apprehension and slight fear coming from the armor as well. It's IS like it's alive, he realized. " He's right," the blue-haired boy whispered. " Tenku doesn't want to let go. It's like it think it will get locked away again or something."

" But Kaosu said that we were bound to them for life," Shin reminded them. " He said that we couldn't lose them unless someone took them away."

" Who is Kaosu?" the one voice that had been silent the entire time finally made itself known. Touma turned around and stared at the blonde who was the farthest away from the group, leaning on against the wall. His pale lavender/blue eyes both staring at them waiting for answers.

" You mean you've never met him?" Shu's eyes were wide with confusion. " But how? He came to us when we found our Yoroi crystals? Why didn't he come to you?"

Ryo stood up and turned to Seiji so he could explain. " Kaosu is the guardian," he started. " He is the one given the duty of watching over the yoroi. He is the Ancient One who was present when our enemy last tried to take over the world."

" He's the one who watched over the yoroi until they were ready to come to us," Touma continued. " The yoroi choose their bearers, but he is the one who kept them from getting into the wrong hands until then."

" Then why have I yet to meet him?" Seiji inquired. Each boy gave him a look that said they didn't know. " And who is the enemy we must face?"

" Well…" Shin thought. " Kaosu has only showed himself to us in our dreams. He told us very little save that we were supposed to use the yoroi to defeat this emperor…"

" Arago," Ryo finished for him. " The guy's name is Arago and he's sorta like some demon or something that was banished into another world."

Seiji took in this information very seriously. " We are to go to war with him," he surmised. " And we must win."

" That's the bottom line," Shu shrugged. " And I guess those dudes from today are his head goons."

" How could ya tell?" Touma inquired sarcastically.

" What's that supposed to mean?" Shu cut his eyes at him.

Shin shook his head instantly and stood between the two friends. " C'mon," he pleaded. " Let's not start fighting. W have too many things that are more important that squabbling between ourselves."

" But then he should learn to watch what he says," Shu pointed.

" I don't have to watch anything," Touma retorted.

Seiji instantly blocked out their bickering voices, slowing his breath to a near irregular rate and allowing his heartbeat to do so as well. He'd been taught to do that so the enemy would believe he was unconscious, but he also used it to calm himself down. It was a way to let go of the outside world and concentrate on his inner self. By doing so he could find out answers to the questions he had.

He listened to his heartbeat slow and then pushed that out of his attention as well. He only needed to think of the Yoroi that he wore, Korin. He needed to understand it better. The others seemed to know about the yoroi and part of what they were up against, but never had he even heard about such things. Korin sympathized with his lack of knowledge, but still felt he could make his comprehend.

You must go, he spoke to the yoroi. I have no need of you right now. I shall call upon you when you are required. Korin didn't seem very pleased with this command, not wanting to relinquish itself. It had been locked away for far too long. It wanted the freedom that it gained by becoming one with its bearer, by merging with Seiji. But Seiji knew that its appearance would only hinder him in public and thus make all of his concealment training useless.

Leave, he repeated himself. Leave NOW! You shall not remain as so for long. You are needed for the battle at hand, but for now we must blend in. Korin still didn't seem to like this, but it was coming to understand the blonde's request. It knew that by remaining out in the open the enemy would be able to find it easier and so would others. Slowly, it began to diminish, to let go. The power was ebbing from within Seiji until it was completely concealed within him once again.

" You did it!" Touma exclaimed. " How did you do it?!"

Seiji opened his eyes to find that his was no longer wearing the dark green armor and a small green orb floated glowing in the air before him. He stood from his reclined position and took the crystal into his hand, the light immediately vanishing at his touch. He looked up and saw the amazed faces of the other four boys, each one waiting for an explanation.

" You must take control of the yoroi," he told them. " They are wary of confinement, but you must not use force. We are one, they will understand."

" How are we supposed to do that?" Shu asked. " We don't know what you did."

" I shall show you," Seiji replied. " And then we must find answers. Someone must know of this 'Kaosu' and this 'Arago'."

Forest -

Naaza

They had no idea what had gone wrong. The Gate had never been blocked before and they didn't know how to force it back open. Naaza sat beneath a tree, wearing merely his sub armor instead of the impressive body of his full yoroi. It was rather warm and a gentle breeze was running through the branches of the trees around them. He enjoyed the slight reprieve. It wasn't as if they weren't planning on doing away with the Youjakai in the first place.

" There must be something we can do to fix this!" Anubis frowned. " Do you know of anything Rajura?"

" Unfortunately, no," the white-haired warrior shook his head. " We must merely wait until it has been reopened from the other side."

Kayura sat beside Shuten, who had also shed his full yoroi, on the ground near the tree Naaza resided under and let out a deep sigh. " But what shall we do until then?" she asked the question that all of them had been wondering. " What will we do trapped in the Nigenkai that we truly don't know much about?"

" We've visited this place many times over the millennia," Shuten reminded them. " It is not as if we haven't study the changes that this world has undergone. Yes, practically everything is different from all those centuries ago, but we can deal with it."

Naaza decided to put in his own thoughts. " We must first make ourselves appear like the people of this time frame and the find a suitable place to take shelter in," he spoke. " It should not be hard to do so."

" Of course not," Rajura replied. " To disguise ourselves will be quite easy, but the subject of 'money' might be."

" Money?" Kayura gave him an understanding glance. " We have quite an extensive treasury at home, but I do not believe that will do us much good here. And if I do remember, money, wealth, and currency is what controls this world."

Naaza knew not what to say that might be of any help. He'd had the impression that they would merely sleep outdoors, but his assumption appeared wrong. Kayura for one certainly didn't seem ready to sleep on the ground whether in grass or dirt. He couldn't less about the whole matter, having spent the majority of his mortal years living in the forest outside his home village after being driven out. The thought brought back many painful memories that he didn't want to deal with.

Rajura

" Well, for now I can merely create us a place to dwell in," Rajura's voice broke into his reverie.

Anubis seemed doubtful. " Are you sure?" he asked. " The strain might be too much to uphold for so long."

" Not really," the master of deception replied offhandedly. " All I must do is remove a small amount of energy from each of you and that should be enough to hold the illusion together quite nicely for a week or so."

" Truly?" Kayura was always taken in by the extent of the power the yoroi wielded. At times it left her feeling displaced because she had not one of her own.

" Oh the weary faith of the young," Rajura sighed dramatically. " Just close your eyes and remain calm while I remove the energy required. Just let me do everything."

Each warrior didn't question his request, merely doing as told. They slowed their breathing, allowing themselves to slip into a near mediation-like state. Rajura was almost proud of how easily they did this, having spent the time since each new arrival training his younger brothers and sister. He stepped to each of them, placing an outstretched palm on their brows as he drained a moderate portion of their energy, not enough to cause fatigue but enough that his illusion would last for a while if needed.

He then backed away from them and slid his own eyes shut, imagining in his mind what it was he wished to create. His armor reacted instantly to his thoughts and small spindles of thin, nearly invisible thread spread out from it. To someone looking close enough they could have seemed very much like the silk that spiders wove their webs with. The threads extended themselves about a large radius, enveloping the Masho and surrounding forest.

Rajura felt his yoroi as it continued its work, forming the illusion as he wanted it, a suitable almost traditional home that still conformed to the era they were in. He created rooms, furniture, even special items and places that were very much like things they had while in the Youjakai. By the time he was finished everything was just as he had thought it to be and not one thing could be thought out of place.

They immediately felt the slight warm that came from a newly lit fire. Anubis was the first to open his eyes and couldn't help but marvel and the Gen Masho's genius perfection. He sat in a large cushioned armchair while Kayura and Shuten were lounging in a plush-looking black couch. Naaza sat with his legs propped up on a comfy loveseat that looked to make sitting their quite cozy for two people. The room itself was lit but another form of lighting rather that just the fire in the traditional fireplace. Rajura stood in the middle of the room beside a low table wooden table that seemed as if it had just been polished earlier that day.

" Where does the light come from?" Naaza asked.

" I created the illusion of the new form of power that the people this era have," Rajura explained. " It's called 'electricity' and everyone uses it. The world revolves around its use."

" Oh yes, I remember," Naaza recognized it.

" Each of us have our own room and the house itself has about three stories, like many in this era do," he went on. " There are three bathing chambers and the kitchen is just off of the dining hall." He pointed towards the left as he spoke.

" So the sleeping quarters are on the second floor?" Shuten inquired.

" Hai," the white-haired man confirmed. " But the final floor is beneath the ground. It is the training that we shall use when we can't use the outdoors."

" What if someone saw you create this house fit for a shogun?" Naaza pointed out the one flaw. Will they not find it odd that a house suddenly appeared out of nothing?"

Rajura gave him an affronted look. " Do not think that I have not thought of that," he frowned. " They will merely see the normal surrounding area. From what I saw this area is off limits to the public so that should ebb the curiosity."

" But what if something does happen?" Kayura seemed somewhat doubtful.

" Then we will deal with that when it comes," Shuten ended the discussion. " For now, I think we should go through this wonderful abode that our dear brother has worked so hard on for us." He stood up and walked behind the chair Anubis sat in. " Particularly the bedrooms."

" I agree," the blue-haired man smirked. " We should check out the bedrooms first."

" Tomorrow we must do a scouting of the area and then the city," Rajura told them. " We still have many things that need to be done, whether or not Arago has anything to do with it. We still need to find out more about the boys who have received the elemental yoroi."

" But tomorrow," Naaza wrapped his arms around his lover's waist. " Tonight we merely relax. I know you, Kayura, and Anubis should rest after that little incident."

" I still do not understand all that went on today," Kayura frowned thoughtfully. " Why did Kokuen-oh come to protect Korin and his brother?"

" That wretched beast was there?" Anubis' eyes cut into slits.

Rajura sighed but nodded, " Yes, but I believe he vanished when Korin and the others gained their yoroi."

" Both he and Byakuen have something to do with what is going on," Yami stated. " The question is, why?"

" Can we not wonder about all of this tonight?" Shuten gave his lover a pleading look that soon turned mischievous. " I have very more things that we can do before dawn." Anubis knew he could not deny his lover anything as he felt. His sub armor faded instantly and the kimono that had been beneath was easily breached by a searching hand.

" Your rooms are the ones on the left once you reached the top of the stares," Rajura motioned towards the polished sandalwood stairs with metal railing. " I made sure that the walls were extra soundproof should you decided to play."

" Arigato," Shuten couldn't help but smirk at that. He pulled Anubis to his feet and led him towards the stairs. " Now time for so real fun."

" I hope I didn't get a room near them," Kayura pulled the band from her hair and allowed it to drape around her like a long silky curtain. " I would like to sleep."

" Do not fear," Gen told her. " Your quarters are near ours to the right but closer to the stairs.

" Good," she smiled. But then her eyes gained a slight faraway look that showed she was thinking about something.

" What is on your mind Kay?" Naaza inquired. " You usually do not look so thoughtful."

" Oh just this peculiar woman I met today," she replied absently.

" What is so peculiar about a mortal?" Naaza asked.

" Just the fact that every other person who tried to defy us was male except her," she answered. She wasn't going to tell them that she had actually managed to knock her to the ground, whether off guard or not.

Naaza gave him a small smile. " Don't worry about it too much," he told her. " You probably won't ever see her again."

" For some reason I'm not too sure about that," the dark-haired woman thought under her breath and Rajura could only wonder what she meant by that.

Warehouse -

Touma

" Gods that took forever!" Shu let out a deep sigh of relief at finally being rid of his yoroi. " Now we just HAVE to get something to eat!"

" It's probably past nine o'clock now," Touma told him. " The shop is definitely closed."

" DAMN!" the ashen-haired boy let out a loud curse. " If I had known that we would be starved I would have stayed home!"

" You know that not true," Shin admonished him. But Shu's words alone caused Touma to stop and think.

" Oh you guys are in such deep shit," he realized with more than a little apprehension.

" Nani?" Ryo turned to him. " What are you talking about?"

" Obaasan Sanada is going to kill you, Shin's mother will ground him into the next Colony century, and I can only wonder what Mama Faun will do to Shu!" Touma pointed out their predicaments.

" Oh man," Shu groaned as he placed a hand to his brow as if he was ill. " Mama's gonna cut out my heart and then cut the rest of me up and serve it in her chow mein special!"

Ryo and Shin both looked worried at the prospects of what their families would do to them when they got home. They all knew that Touma wouldn't receive punishment because his father was never home to know whether or not his son stayed out late anyway. " Will you get in trouble?" the blue-haired boy turned to ask Seiji.

The blonde was silent for a moment thinking over the reasonable question. " I do not know," he replied honestly. " Nii-chan will remain at the Preventers Building to oversee damage control and Duo will undoubtedly be with him. Heero saw what happened today. He knows we left, but it is uncertain what he will do about it."

" It's obvious that we have to all go home," Ryo voiced the main point. " But how will we be able to hide this? I mean, all of this happened at the PREVENTERS Headquarters. They're gonna be looking for answers! What if they find out it was us?"

" But Seiji, do they knew it was you they were after?" Shin wondered. " What happened to start all of this?"

" I was unconscious due to testing that the doctor was performing to make sure I was adjusting to Earth's gravity and whether or not my immune system was functioning properly," the blonde easily lied about his reasons for being at the Preventers' Building. He knew from his yoroi that the other could not read into him like he could do to them. They didn't know anything and he was planning on keeping it that way.

" So they just attacked while you were out cold?" Shu frowned. " Man that's low. And now we've got the entire Preventers' unit out on us for them destroying part of the building!"

" You must return to you normal lives and act as if nothing has changed," Seiji told. " You are less likely to be suspected of anything. I am the only one they will look for."

" But we can't just leave you to take the wrap," Touma disagreed. " I'm sure someone saw what actually happened and their gonna wonder about that bright light you were shining and about all the others that were with you."

" That doesn't matter," he stated in an emotionless and non-argumentative tone. But the look in his eyes proved that he wouldn't be deterred either way. " I will merely have to create something to explain my actions and whereabouts. The energy will be ignored as some explosive reaction due to people incapability to accept things they cannot comprehend. Nothing will go wrong."

" Are you sure?" Shin didn't seem very convinced.

Seiji didn't answer the question directly, but stated, " It cannot go wrong if we are to face this enemy and win."

" But we need more information," Ryo pointed out. " Kaosu only shows up when he wants to and Seiji hasn't even seen him yet. We need to know more about the yoroi so that we aren't just fighting in the dark."

None of them knew what to say to that. It was true that they didn't know everything about their armors let alone the yoroi of their enemy. How were they going to fight when they didn't even know the whole story behind what was going on? A small memory came back to Seiji and he suddenly knew where they needed to go. A small replica of a no-datchi was in his mind.

" Yagyu," he said. " We must speak to Yagyu."

" You mean Professor Yagyu?" Shu raised a confused brow. " The mythology teacher?"

" He knows," Seiji nodded. " He will give us the answers that we seek."

A/N: See? We got Yagyu in here again. And we're doing something really special with him. Hehehee…

JC: And Seiji is going to get into deep trouble, just watch.

Kathrine: The Masho seem to be making themselves right at home. Can't always worry about fighting wars or you'll get wrinkles and look old. Bad thing for immortals.

JC: We hope you guys liked this. People were kinda lookin' for it.

Kathrine: And about the update once a week, we meant one STORY a week. It doesn't matter which one.

JC: Too many to just work with the same one every week.

Kathrine: Now we would love little suggestions or guesses about what people think will happen next.

JC: If we like 'em enough we might just use some. So please review and give us your opinion. And yes, we know this chapter could have been better but work with us.

Kathrine: We're doing what we can, when we can.