Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Shinigami Zutto ❯ Plots on the vid ( Chapter 2 )

Ok, if anyone wants explanations of either the GW background or the YnM background, tell me in a review or something and I'll add a summary next chapter. I don't want to confuse anyone, ne? (btw: Seki Toshihiko voiced both Duo and Watari. Would have been more fun if it was Duo and Tsuzuki, but you can't have everything. And in my parallels thing, Watari reminds Tsuzuki if himself how he used to be)

Ohh, better explain the parallels thing.

Hisoka - Heero (they even like the same insult! Hisoka is always calling Tsuzuki a baka!)

Tatsumi - Trowa (Smooth, powerful, calm and compassionate. Oh, and quiet and to the point)

Gushoshin - Quatre (Mother hen-ish, cute `n' fluffy, good at research and strategy)

Watari - `old' Duo, or Duo's mask.

Obviously they're not the same, but they remind Tsuzuki/Duo of the other… if that makes sense?

I don't own Yami no Matsuei or Gundam Wing. Plotline is mine all mine!

 

 

The door to his apartment clicked shut behind him; he was safe. Tsuzuki looked around his apartment and sighed. Old habits did die hard - every exit was clear, every seat arranged so that it was possible to see the door - either by facing it or through the mirror over the mantelpiece. There were several items in the room that could be used as weapons, the secret cache of ammunition and explosives in the base of the sofa not included.

Shaking his head at his own paranoia, the ex-pilot headed for his computer. He had purposely not kept a track of them, but he had a sneaking feeling that eventually he would have to go to Sanq, or L2 or L4, or Arabia, and he'd better have some idea of what he was getting into.

Relena was still alive, at the grand old age of 95. All of his comrades had died in their 60's and 70's, as a result of all the drugs they had been forced to take and the harsh conditions they had had to endure. Mariamaia was also alive, co-regenting with Relena, who had adopted her. Lady Une, her principle guardian had died during a Preventers case only a decade or so after Duo had vanished.

A bit of searching uncovered the startling information that Heero never had married Relena.

“Heh, guess sharing a bed with me really did corrupt the poor guy,” Duo muttered to himself. “Though its not like we ever did much beyond casual fucking occasionally and comforting when the other needed it. Ok, Q and Tro…”

He grinned to himself, startled, when an image search for his two friends turned up a scene in a church. “Looks like they got married. Good. Wish I could have been there.” Although… he narrowed his eyes at the picture. Wufei was holding something long and thin, with a curving blade on top and a violet ribbon wound around the handle.

“Well, I'll be damned!”

Shaking his head, he shut down the computer and headed for bed. Flinging his clothes on a chair, he walked into the bathroom in his boxers and reached for the toothpaste. Toothpaste was something he always appreciated, seeing as he had had to spend so much of his life without it. Even aeroplane toothpaste or the hospital toothpaste that always tasted of medicine was better than no toothpaste at all. After he rinsed his mouth out, he turned off the lights and made a quick check of the apartment, making sure that everything was locked and the alarm system he had installed was active. If anything came through the outside walls, he would know about it. The incidents with Muraki had only cemented his certainty that the security system was necessary. Sure, Muraki was a good wizard, but Duo doubted that he was a match for a Gundam Pilot's expertise.

The sheets were cold against his bare skin and he shivered, wishing for his braid to help warm him up. But his braid was gone, cut off by that damn ancestor of Muraki's. But more than his braid, he wished for Heero. Although `ice prince' was a fitting nickname for 01, Heero was actually one of the warmest people Duo knew. It was like the soldier had a miniature furnace inside him.

`Damn, why am I dwelling so much on the past! I've managed to almost successfully forget about it most years! And now, one mention of Sanq and I fall to pieces! I've got a new life now, I don't need the others. I have new friends. And now I am GOING to SLEEP! No more commemorating! And I don't care that I missed the wedding!'

Satisfied that he had chastised himself enough, Tsuzuki rolled over and dropped into sleep. Or rather, tried to.

 

*

 

Meanwhile, in the Sanq branch of the Ministry of Hades (JuOhCho)…

 

“Guys? Guys! Got a reply back from Japan. Apparently their top Shinigami is being difficult, but the Boss thinks he can work him round.”

“Good, we need expertise for this assignment, and I've heard that the guy is good.”

“He should be, hasn't he been doing it for 60 years?”

“70.”

“See, we're amateurs in comparison.”

“I still can't believe that we never realised that we were both still doing the same job. We might never had met if you hadn't called for outside aid, Heero.”

“Hn.”

“Still as talkative as ever, Yuy,” Wufei commented. “Hey, Quatre, what about Trowa? Is he your partner?”

“Yes, he's coming tomorrow. He had some paperwork to do.”

“Ah, the dreaded paperwork.”

“Seeing as we're on the subject, it is really nice to have the opportunity to get to know you, Merian.”

“Thank you. Likewise.”

“I nearly had a heart attack when I walked into the Chinese branch and she was standing in the front entrance, tapping her foot,” Wufei reminisced with a grin.

Quatre sipped at the cup of tea he had collected on his way back to Heero's office. “Strange, isn't it, that four out of five pilots, plus one extra, are all Shinigami, and yet the one who called himself Shinigami isn't here.”

“Are you talking about 02?” Merian asked.

“Yes. I keep on forgetting that you don't know everything,” Quatre said apologetically. “Duo disappeared about six months after the Mariamaia coup, hasn't been seen since.”

“So he may still be alive,” Merian said logically.

Wufei ran his fingers through her hair. “That's the most likely possibility. Oi, Heero, are you going to tear yourself away from the screen and be sociable?”

“Hn. Someone was searching for us a few hours ago, in the news articles. Image search too. But they're pretty good at covering their tracks. The only thing I managed to pin down is that they're working from Japan.”

“Maybe it's their top Shinigami.”

“Maybe.”

Quatre sat himself down on the corner of Heero's desk. “Heero, how vital is this Shinigami to the success of the mission? What exactly does this case contain anyway?”

Heero turned serious blue eyes to the other Shinigami in the room. “Alright. There has been a series of murders in the capital. Relena is not in danger, but Mariamaia's granddaughter might be. The victims are all young, and so far the only connection is that they have the same blood group and they have had a body part removed. There appears to be no pattern to the parts removed. The murder, whoever they are, has so far proved impossible to find or track. So I scouted around some.

“In Japan, they had a similar case. They caught the man responsible, but he somehow managed to escape Touda.”

“He escaped the fires of hell?” Quatre exclaimed.

“The Shinigami managed to escape with some help from his partner. It is his partner, Kurosaki Hisoka, who claims that Muraki Kazutaka is still alive. The Shinigami, Tsuzuki Asato, backs him up.”

“How does this Kurosaki know?” Merian asked.

“I don't know. We could ask… I can probably call him on the vidphone, although he'll be off duty now, or he should be.”

“I got a contact number for his partner from Chief Konoe over there when he said that… Tsuzuki? Was being difficult. I guess we could try that.”

“Ok, lets do it.”

 

After a bit of manoeuvring, all four managed to get into a position where they could see the screen and still breathe. Then Heero punched in the number and there was a breathless silence as they waited for someone to pick up.

“Moshi Moshi. Dare desu ka?” A young man with piercing green eyes asked. Quatre jumped slightly. This kid sounded remarkably similar to Heero at the beginning of the war!

“Sanq Enmacho. Kurosaki-san?”

“Hai.”

“Good. Yuy, Heero. With me are Chang Wufei and Chang Merian from China and Winner-Barton Quatre from L4. His partner, Winner-Barton Trowa will be arriving tomorrow. Have you been informed of the case we are trying to solve.”

“Only that it is in Sanq, and that Tsuzuki doesn't want to take it, although he says that I may go if I want.”

Quatre was amazed at how calm the boy was. His green eyes were so knowing, and yet from the look of him he couldn't be more than 16! Although, the blond reminded himself, that meant nothing. They had all reverted back to looking as if they were 21 once they died, although Merian looked younger. He still wasn't sure why and he didn't like to ask

“Do you want to?”

“It depends.”

“Kurosaki-san, could you please tell us how you know that Muraki is alive,” Quatre asked.

For the first time, the slim teen seemed disturbed. He swallowed, and looked around nervously. “Is this vital?” he asked.

“The case bears some startling parallels to the case in Kyoto. And if we have proof that Muraki is still alive, he would be our main suspect, and we would have some idea of how to draw him out. Or we could figure out how to draw him out,” Wufei said.

Hisoka nodded. “Ok.”

The quartet watched as the Shinigami rolled back the sleeve of the blue sweatshirt he was wearing, to reveal a strange pattern. Due to the quality of the vid screen, they couldn't figure out if it was a tattoo or a series of scars.

“Muraki killed me,” Hisoka admitted quietly. “I saw one of his murders. He, uh, took away my memory of that night after cursing me. Everyone thought I died of an illness, and incurable illness, but it was the curse. I became a Shinigami to find out who killed me. So far we have brushed with Muraki three times, and each time he has managed to escape. This is the physical evidence of the curse. If Muraki was dead, it would have faded.”

“Thank you, Kurosaki-san.”

Those startling green eyes eyed the group carefully. “Muraki's possible presence changes everything. We will come, if I have to drag Tsuzuki kicking and screaming. But I suspect that I won't have to. Muraki is obsessed with my partner, for reasons that you will have to hear from Tsuzuki, as I only really know what I pick up. We will be with you in a few days.”

“Wait! What do you mean, pick up?” Quatre asked.

“I am an empath.”

“Oh, me too!” Quatre said excitedly. “Maybe we will be able to work together to help figure out something.”

“All right,” Hisoka paused, as if considering what to say. “Have some cakes ready.”

“What?” Heero asked.

“Have some cakes ready for Tsuzuki. You might find him more willing to co-operate.”

With those last cryptic words, Hisoka cut the link, leaving the four in Sanq with a screen full of static.

“Well, that was informative,” Quatre commented, standing up and stretching the kinks out of his back. “Anyone for dinner? Heero, where's the nearest restaurant? Come on, I'm starving!”

 

*

 

Hisoka looked up as Tsuzuki bounced into the office. Tsuzuki was a morning person, once he was up and dressed. Before coffee, he was alert, but serious, as Hisoka had discovered after the case in Kyoto. He had also discovered that Tsuzuki was the lightest sleeper that he had ever seen, and automatically reached for something under his pillow when he woke.

“Morning, Hisoka!”

“Morning. We're going to Sanq.”

Tsuzuki's mood immediately dropped. “No. I told you, I don't work there.”

“There's an extremely high probability that Muraki's got something to do with this case.”

Tsuzuki's violet eyes were unreadable as he nodded and turned to leave the office. “I'll tell Konoe we're leaving. You get the plane tickets. I'll meet you out front with your baggage in an hour and a half. Do we know how long this case will last?”

“Until the murderer is caught.”

“Ok. You can fill me in on the rest on the plane.”

It was almost surreal how Tsuzuki changed from a happy-go-lucky baka to a focused, serious Shinigami, Hisoka thought as he booked their tickets to Sanq for a flight at 1pm. Next he headed to the conference room, searching for Tatsumi. If the secretary didn't know that they were going, they wouldn't get the money they needed, after all.

“Ohaiyo, Tatsumi-san. Tsuzuki and I are off to Sanq after all.”

“How did you get him to change his mind?”

“Muraki could be there.”

“Ah. All right, I want you to check in every day. Muraki is dangerous.”

“They already have people there from China and the colonies, so I think we will be well protected.”

“Still, I want you to check in. Here's a cash card, try not to spend too much, but if Tsuzuki needs comforting, go all out. We both know how Muraki affects him.”

“Arigato, Tatsumi-san. That's very kinda of you.”

“Keeping Tsuzuki sane is not counted as a wasteful expenditure. Have a nice flight.”

“Keep the office together in our absence.”

“Don't worry, I'm sire Watari will keep us entertained. Now, go pack.”

“Sayonara.”

 

I have the series on DVD, but I've only read a few of the manga. I know that some things, particularly Tsuzuki's past, are more unclear there. I will mostly be following the TV series timelines and relationships between characters, ok?