Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Shinigami Zutto ❯ Relevations ( Chapter 5 )

So, so sorry for the delay! I have an excuse, however; I've been ill. It sucks. I hate being ill. Beta'd by Atalanta Yuy - kudo's to her!!

Quatre groaned as he swam slowly back into consciousness. There was a familiar smell in the air… a smell that evoked back memories… and he could feel bands of cool metal around his wrist and ankle.

Opening his eyes he squinted in the bright light. Before him was an operating table, with restraints built in around the edges. He managed to match the smell - a mix of chemicals, old blood and fear. His ankle was chained to a ring at floor level, and his wrist to another that kept it at about the height of his waist. If he sat it would be over his head, but it could be worse, he mused. He could have both hands chained above his head.

A groan to his left made him look sideways. Hisoka was slumped against the wall, his eyes moving swiftly behind closed lids as he fought his way back to consciousness.

“'Soka?” Quatre croaked, his mouth tasting disgusting. His vision was slightly blurry as well, and he recognized the symptoms of being drugged. He supposed that Hisoka felt much worse; he hadn't had the training of a Gundam Pilot.

“….Hai?” the teen muttered weakly.

“Daijoubu ka?” Quatre asked, figuring that Japanese would probably get through to him quicker while he was still groggy.

“…Daijoubu.”

“Sou da.”

“…Quatre-sama?”

“Hai?”

“Doko desu?”

“Abunai, Hisoka-kun. Akunin.”

“…Shimatta. Muraki-san?”

“Shirimasen.”

“Wakata.” *translation at end.

The former pilot snapped his head up quickly as the door opened, its slow creak sending shivers down his spine. Every sense he had screamed `danger!' A figure dressed all in white strode into the room. Hisoka let out a terrified whimper and shrank back against the wall. Quatre could feel fear rolling off him in waves.

“Ah, Quatre Winner and Kurosaki Hisoka. I see that you are awake.”

“What do you want with us?” Quatre asked.

“From you? Nothing really. I'm quite glad to have my little doll back, however. I will enjoy seeing if the changes Tsuzuki-san has painstakingly wrought upon him can be undone.”

“Hisoka is not a doll!”

“Temper, temper, Mr. Winner. Please keep calm. I will enjoy studying you also, from what I know of you, you have a rather… unique background. I will enjoy studying you also.”

“You don't know what you are getting into. The others will come for us.”

Muraki laughed, the sound sending a shiver down Quatre's spine. The fear from Hisoka increased. “Why, Mr. Winner, I am counting on that. I do hope that Tsuzuki-san will be among them, I will so enjoy meeting with him again.

“You're sick, Muraki,” Hisoka hissed. “Leave Tsuzuki alone! He never did anything to you and yet you continuously torture him!”

“Of course I do. He is so beautiful with that shining brown hair and those lovely violet eyes - eyes that no human being has, no matter how much you insist he is human.”

“Actually, you're wrong there,” Quatre interrupted.

“What?”

“I knew a human with purple eyes. His name was Duo Maxwell. He was fully human - we have the DNA to prove it. So there you have it; another human with purple eyes.”

Muraki snorted and swept out of the room. A few seconds later, the lights turned out. The smell of disinfectant was suddenly more pronounced. Some machinery was humming nearby, in another room.

“Quatre?” Hisoka's tentative voice broke through the darkness. Quatre felt the shards of fear slice through him, a mix of remembrance, apprehension and foreboding.

“Don't worry, I'm still here.”

“Um… don't you think it strange that both Duo Maxwell and Tsuzuki have the same colour eyes?”

“It is rather odd, I agree,” Quatre said calmly, keeping a tight reign on his emotions.

“Did… I know that dreams can be shared. Last night, I had a dream that was not my own.”

“Really? I did too.”

“In this dream, there was a battle, and someone with purple eyes and long brown hair. Was that what you dreamed?”

“Yes, among other things. I couldn't identify the dreamer… I would have guessed Trowa, only the boy with the braid was Duo, and so that cockpit was Deathscythe's. I don't think that Duo ever let anyone else pilot his Gundam.”

“That dream… it was Tsuzuki's.”

“How do you know?”

“I've walked his dreams before, and it had his signature.”

“But that would mean…”

“Hai.”

“That's impossible!”

“That's what I thought at first. But Maxwell vanished, right? Pretty much straight after the wars?”

“Right.”

“Muraki's Grandfather kept Tsuzuki captive for eight years before Tsuzuki managed to end his life. He's been a Shinigami for more than 70.”

“I suppose… wow. He looks totally different… without his braid, that is,” Quatre mused, trying to realign the facts in his mind, now that Hisoka had confirmed his suspicions.

“I guess the scientist cut it off.”

“It did take a lot of looking after,” the blond said with a grin of remembrance. The first time he had spent time with Duo, when they had hidden in the desert, he had introduced the L2 street rat to conditioner. His reaction had been… amusing. At first he had regarded Quatre suspiciously, cautiously taking the bottle like it a stick of dynamite and sniffing it. Then a slow grin had spread across his features, immediately eclipsed by a look of worry.

Hey, Quatre, are you sure? This smells really nice… I bet it's expensive. You don't have to waste it on- on me.

Quatre's own reply echoed in his ears. Why not? It's not like I can spend money on much else at the moment! Why not spend it on a friend?

A friend?

Yes, a friend.

Duo's face had been incredulous, and he had almost suffocated Quatre in a hug. The blond, not seeing quite what the big deal was, had shoved him away playfully and mock ordered him to bathe before he did that again… He had realized later how much that gesture had meant to Duo, but the pilot had been gone by the time Quatre took a trip to L2 - to look for him, in fact - and had seen with his own eyes the conditions that Duo had grown up in. That was the real reason for the orphanages…

“This would explain why he didn't want to come to Sanq. I guess that Relena Peacecraft and Mariamaia Barton would maybe recognize him,” Hisoka said, breaking his train of thought and cutting short his trip down memory lane.

“It does make sense. Oh… whatever are we going to say to the others?”

“Don't tell them.”

“What? We've got to!”

“No. Tsuzuki chose to keep this quiet. It's only because of our abilities that we found out. If he wanted it known, he would have said anything. The others have got to either figure it out on their own, or wait for him to tell them himself.”

“Ok. He always was good at running and hiding.”

“What?” Hisoka asked, straining to see Quatre in the darkness.

“It was his motto. `I may run and I may hide but I never tell a lie!' he stuck to it too.”

“So… if we asked him straight out he'd tell us the truth?”

“Anything that he told us would be the truth, but he's also very good at avoiding the subject. He may also be treating his life as Tsuzuki as an undercover role. If we were undercover, he had to lie to people. He'd always stick to the truth as closely as possible, but he'd make up stuff if he had to,” Quatre explained.

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind, it's a long story.”

“We have time. We're chained up in the dark for god's sake,” Hisoka pointed out, tugging at his chains.

“Ok. Like… if he was boarding a shuttle in a hurry because he was being followed, he'd spout out this whole long epic about his bike running out of gas or the traffic being really bad. Stuff that has happened to him in the past, but hadn't actually happened that time. He just wouldn't mention that the time he got trapped in a lift or the time his best friend took a tumble out of a window actually happened months before.”

“Who fell out a window?”

“Uh, Heero, technically. Actually, they blasted a hole in the side of a building, which happened to be on the edge of a cliff, and jumped out. Heero didn't open his parachute until it was a bit too late to do any good.”

“Which floor?”

“The 30th.”

“Man! Is that how he died?”

“What? No… he came out of it with a busted leg and some bruises. That was all. It was right at the beginning of the war.”

“Oh my god…”

“They called him the `Perfect Soldier'. It was an appropriate name.”

There was silence in the room for a few minutes, then Hisoka admitted quietly. “I'm scared.”

“Don't worry, Hisoka,” Quatre said reassuringly. “They'll come rescue us. I hope Tsuzuki lets enough of Duo out to convince the others that he'd be the best for a stealthy infiltration.”

“Huh?”

“Duo was our stealth and demolitions expert.”

“What were you?”

“Strategy.”

“Heero?”

“He was the leader. Wufei excelled in hand to hand combat, and Trowa could drive anything. He was an exceptionally good mechanic, plus he was an acrobat, of sorts. He can walk along telephone wires, that sort of thing. Duo could too, but Trowa can back flip on a tightrope.”

“Wow.”

“He used the circus as a cover during the war.”

“Quatre?”

“Yes?”

“Don't stop talking, please. It… the dark seems more scary when you stop.”

“Ok. Um… I'll tell you about the maguanac family then, shall I?”

“Ok.”

“Well, I first met up with them when they hijacked the shuttle I was on…”

*

While Quatre talked himself hoarse in an attempt to keep both Hisoka and himself calm, the others were working themselves up to the point when tension headaches seemed a real danger.

“They should be back by now. Has Quatre still not answered his mobile?” Wufei asked.

“No. I'll try again,” Trowa said calmly.

“Heero, what about the tracking devices?”

“They're being blocked. All I can get is static.”

“Damn. What was the last thing we got?” Wufei asked, sitting on the edge of the desk and rubbing his forehead.

Heero played back the tape and frowned, listening intently on his headphones. “Scuffle…some swearing, `the little bugger is heavier than he looks' in a male voice, speaking English, a door opening.”

“I think we should get Merian and Tsuzuki back up here.”

“Agreed. Trowa?”

“On it. Hello, is this the Dojo area? Yes… do you have a petite Chinese woman and a fairly tall brown haired man down there? … Good. Can you tell them that they are needed back up at the office, urgently. … Thank you. … Really? Oh. … Good bye.”

“Well?”

“They'll be back up here soon. Tsuzuki is the best shot with a gun the guy has ever seen. Apparently rivals you, Heero.”

Heero ran a hand through his messy hair. “Tsuzuki is turning out to be quite a mystery. I wouldn't mind knowing more about the guy. Anyone else notice how he walks almost silently if he's not thinking about it?”

“Yeah. He's also constantly on alert around us, even when he's kidding around.”

“When he called me `Fei-Fei' yesterday, he looked rather guilty, and as if he hadn't meant to say it and was wondering if I would take offense.”

“Hm. He looked shocked, like it had slipped out automatically,” Trowa said. “Kinda like your face back after the war when you would say things like `mission accepted' without realizing it.”

“Hm. Strange. Maybe he had a friend with a similar name, and that was their nickname,” Wufei reasoned.

“Maybe. After all, he couldn't be someone you know. I don't think anyone ever calls you `Fei-Fei',” Heero said thoughtfully.

“I think Duo might have, once or twice, way back during the war.”

“Oh yeah, when you guys were going stir crazy in that Oz cell and I was playing undercover agent?”

“That would be when. Shutting us up in a cell with Maxwell was cruel and unusual punishment. Do you know how annoying 02 can be when he's bored?”

“I don't think I've ever had the misfortune to find out.”

The door opened, causing three heads to snap around. Tsuzuki and Merian walked in, looking worried.

“What's going on?” Tsuzuki asked.

“Quatre isn't answering his cell, all the transmitters can pick up is static, and the last thing picked up was a struggle, cursing and a door opening.

“Fuck!” Tsuzuki was immediately all business, hammering questions at the dumbfounded pilots as he pulled his usual trench coat over his workout clothes and started to rummage frantically through his briefcase, pulling out Fuda cards with one hand and his laptop with the other. He immediately booted the machine up and waited impatiently for it to load.

“Um… what are you doing?” Merian asked tentatively. There was a light of… something… shining in the Shinigami's unusual eyes. The other pilots recognized it as something they had seen regularly on the battlefield.

“Contacting GuShoShin.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Duo asked scornfully as he tapped in his password. “Hisoka has been captured, I need to go after him. They need to know or there will be triple the paperwork once we get back…”

He turned his attention to the monitor and started tapping furiously. He kept one ear on the conversation that was going on around him, but the e-mail and wondering about Hisoka took up most of his concentration. Had his partner had his gun on him?

“Tsuzuki… do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“Inform.” Duo almost smiled. Heero had reverted to `mission mode'. Good, having the
Perfect Soldier by his side would make things easier.

“Use a spell to find where Hisoka is being held. Meanwhile, go to the mall where they were last seen. Pity it was both of them - Hisoka can track spiritual residue and I'm guessing Quatre can too. Try to see if I can play and beat whatever sick game Muraki is playing this time. Maybe play along, but not if it's poker.”

“What?!” Wufei exclaimed. That comment had been strangely out of context.

“Only Hisoka can beat Muraki at poker. Long story, but I have no intention of being the `prize' this time.”

A key was hit viscously, and the laptop was quickly shut down.

“All right, I'm going. Who will be my backup? Heero is a first choice, for obvious reasons.”

“Ninmu Ryokai.”

“Got your gun?”

“Zutto.”

“Hai. Iko!”

“Wakata.”

Merian stared at the door swinging closed behind them. They had moved in tandem, both understanding each other instinctively… as had Wufei. Merian recognized the signs; her husband was reacting the way he had in the war, and she guessed that Heero was too. But Tsuzuki? And what had he meant, `for obvious reasons'? They had never met before!

Wufei squeezed her hand. “Lets try to see if we can get a lead.”

“Ok.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Don't die on me, ok?”

“…what? Wufei-”

“This Muraki is dangerous,” onyx eyes searched her own, a shadow of pain dimming their brightness. “I've lost you once before. I appreciate you now, the second time will probably kill me.”

Merian nodded, and gave in to the impulse to hug him. “I'll be careful. And I know that you will be fighting at my side this time.”

“Zutto.”

 

TBC

 

Hey, incase someone hasn't looked it up, Zutto means `always' or `eternally'. I didn't mean to use it as much here as I have… It was supposed to just refer to Duo. *sighs* Oh well, it fits I guess!

 

Quatre and Hisoka's conversation:

Yes?

Are you all right?

I'm ok.

Ok.

Master Quatre?

Yes?

Where are we?

It's dangerous, Hisoka. Bad Person.

Damn it. Muraki?

I don't know.

I understand..