Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction ❯ Shinigami Zutto ❯ Rescued ( Chapter 9 )

Dark Devotions - oh, not offended; I can't speak a word of mandarin. That's just what the website I lifted the phrases off of said.

If anyone does see any problems with the translations, please point them out, and if they are garishly obvious (as in, they will bug me if they are not changed) I will fix the problem. ^_^ V

Loving all the feedback, guys! Thanks a million!

x

Heero came in to the room right behind Tsuzuki, his dark blue eyes taking in the scene. He had been too far away to hear whatever Muraki had said to Hisoka, but he heard Tsuzuki's reply.

"Damn right I do, motherfucker."

Heero decided not to wonder what Muraki had said... the two men did know each other after all. He was more interested in the table that Quatre was strapped to. The blond was twitching and moaning, covered in electrodes and surrounded by humming machinery. The blond was not fully conscious, which was probably a good thing. Hisoka was chained to the nearby wall, in a position that was not too uncomfortable, even if it did restrict his movements.

Muraki had been standing over Hisoka, but he had turned at Tsuzuki's voice. He smiled. That smile was one of the freakiest things Heero had ever seen. It was on par with Quatre's Zero laugh. The blue-eyed Shinigami shuddered, and unconsciously lapsed into a fighting stance, reaching for the gun that was in the back of his waistband.

"Why, Tsuzuki-san, fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing to them, Muraki?" Tsuzuki hissed.

"Hm? My pretty doll and this exquisite ex-pilot? Nothing permanent."

Hisoka moaned and reached out a hand to Tsuzuki. Heero stepped up to the other man and breathed in his ear;

"Distract him, I'll see what I can do."

Tsuzuki nodded, and stepped closer to Muraki. "Do I have to call my Shikigami to make my point or will you let them go easily? Either way, this little experiment is over!"

"Tsuzuki-san, Tsuzuki-san. I'm not hurting the little blond... much. And don't touch those machines!" he suddenly snapped, spinning around and pinning Heero with a silver stare. "I took his mind back into the past. Talking with a Gundam pilot was intriguing... if you can call it talking. Turn off those machines and you will leave him brain dead."

Heero shot Tsuzuki a despairing look. The violet eyed Shinigami shook his head.

"However....that will not stop me!!" Muraki cackled, black whips of ethereal energy beginning to twist around him. Tsuzuki quickly got into a casting stance and started to mutter. Heero watched closely, lip reading. He had never seen anything like this before...

"I call to you and beseech you, the 12 gods that protect me..."

A loud crash from Muraki's side of the lab tore Heero's attention away. Muraki was now flanked by three shadowhounds, their teeth glinting in the harsh sterile light.

"SUZAKU!" Tsuzuki shouted, and Heero instinctively ducked as licking tendrils of flame scorched through the air.

The battle that followed was fast and furious, and Heero spent most of the first few minutes staring at the fiery phoenix-like God that had appeared in the middle of the lab. It had one wing curved protectively around Tsuzuki, until the violet-eyed Shinigami had set up a shield. He set another up around Quatre and Heero, while Hisoka managed to create one for himself.

A moan from the bed turned Heero's attention away from the raging battle, and he was able to mostly ignore the flashes of light as Muraki and Tsuzuki sent fuda darts at each other while their summonings waged war.

Quatre's eyes had opened, and he blinked up at Heero. “Heero? What are you doing here?”

“What year is it?”

“Huh?”

“Muraki said something about sending your mind back into the past.”

Quatre looked confused, but told Heero the correct year. With a sigh of relief, Heero set to ripping all of the electrodes off of Quatre's pale skin.

“You need to eat,” he told the blond absently. “Hisoka too, I suspect.”

“We can eat when we get out of here!” Hisoka cried from the other side of the table. “Could you please get me out of these?”

“Are they gundanium?” Heero asked as he helped Quatre sit up. The blond swayed alarmingly.

“Of course not. That would be overkill.”

“Not for me. Let me in your shield and I'll break the chains.”

Hisoka closed his eyes and gestured with his free hand. The shield shimmered slightly, then melded with the one Tsuzuki had thrown over the other two ex-pilots. Hisoka's bright green eyes opened with a look of terrible pain and strain in them. Heero was impressed - from what he knew about magic, melding like that needed incredible trust between the partners and was very difficult and exhausting.

“Ok,” he choked. “Go for it.”

Heero dashed over to him and wasted no time in bending the steel chains so that Hisoka was left with a shackle on his wrist and another around his ankle.

“Wouldn't it be easier to just tear them out of the wall?” he asked.

“Then you would clank. Very bad for stealthy getaways.”

Hisoka blinked at him, but then nodded. “I keep on forgetting that you're all terrorist soldiers,” he commented. “You see so normal.”

“None of us are normal,” Quatre said, risking getting onto his feet. He swayed a little, but managed to stay upright. “Ok, Hisoka, we need to get out of here and let Heero help Tsuzuki. I think I'm the more disorientated, can you help me?”

“Wakatta.”

Heero saw the pair safely to the door, guarding them from the flames licking around the lab. The flames wouldn't really injure them - Heero was sure that Tsuzuki's Shinigami wouldn't actually hurt them - but in their weakened state, he didn't want to take any chances. Once he had seen them safely into the corridor, he told them the way out and dived back into the lab to help his partner.

 

*

 

Wufei and Trowa burst through the main doors of the opera house at a full out run. They quickly found the stairs and hammered down them. Three flights later, Trowa, who was in the lead, ran smack into Quatre and Hisoka, almost knocking them over. Luckily Wufei saw and managed to stop in time, otherwise all four would have found themselves on the floor.

“Quatre!” Trowa gasped breathlessly, burying his husband in a tight hug.

Wufei looked around, and focused on Hisoka. “Where are Heero and Tsuzuki?”

“Fighting Muraki in the lab. Last door on the left. Hurry. I'll sort things out here.”

“Don't separate them.”

Hisoka gave him a withering look. “What do you think I am, stupid? Go help Tsuzuki and Heero, you baka.”

Wufei didn't even spare the time to reply as he practically flew down the corridor, drawing his sword on the way.

 

The lab was filled with flames. Heero had a gun on a horrible drooling beast with long fangs and wings like a bat. Tsuzuki was battling with Muraki while a phoenix - Suzaku, Wufei recognized - fought against three other beasts.

Wufei quickly got into a summoning stance and began to mutter the summoning incantation. Once it was complete, he tilted his head to look at the ceiling and called loudly:

“NATAKU!”

The long, sinuous form of the legendary Dragon erupted into the room, green scales glinting in the light of the flames. Suzaku screeched a greeting, and Tsuzuki whipped his head around.

“Wufei! `Bout time!” he called, turning back to Muraki and tossing a strip of paper covered in kanji towards the evil doctor. Wufei watched with interest as the man was tossed back into the wall behind him, leaving a sizeable crater.

It did not take long, with the extra backup, for the beasts to dissolve back into smoke. The three Shinigami cornered Muraki against a wall.

“Muraki. We should kill you now.”

“Ah, but my dear Tsuzuki-san, you wouldn't do that. You hate killing.”

“That won't stop me.”

“You will merely kill yourself out of guilt.”

Tsuzuki tensed up, his eyes blazing dark purple. “I have killed before, even if I regret it,” he hissed. “My life has been filled with death and I have always been Shinigami. And I will never hesitate to kill fucking scum like you.”

“Ah, but you yourself are equally guilty. You have tortured. I heard what you said when you entered.”

“That may be so, but I am making up for it now. And it was necessary. There is peace now, no-one has to kill or maim or torture, yet you do it. There is no forgiveness for you. You will be judged,” Tsuzuki said, his voice like ice. The words had the feel of ritual around them, and Muraki's form was surrounded by white smoke. Wufei watched as Tsuzuki crossed his wrists over his chest, holding a fuda strip between thumb and forefinger on each hand.

“Muraki Kazutaka, go to be judged.”

 

*

Hisoka stared at the two embracing men in mild shock. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen such a blatant display of affection. Trowa was curled around his smaller husband protectively, but he was the one crying into soft blond hair, while Quatre soothingly rubbed his back, whispering something into his ear in a language that Hisoka didn't understand.

“È giusto, amore, io sono benissimo, esso è giusto, esso è giusto, io sono qui, io sono sicuro...”

Hisoka didn't really want to break them up, but the sound of something smashing from inside the lab, followed by an angry scream gave him the incentive to tap the pair on the shoulder.

“We should move out,” he said quietly.

Trowa nodded, and pulled away slightly, leaving a supporting arm around Quatre's waist. Slowly the trio climbed the stairs and settled themselves in some old chairs in the foyer. Quatre and Hisoka were exhausted by the climb.

The two empaths were desperately thirsty, but there was no way for them to get a drink. Trowa offered to quickly go and get them something, and after a quick discussion they decided that that was the best plan.
They wouldn't be able to travel under their own power otherwise.

Once Trowa had gone, Quatre turned to the young Shinigami with a warm smile. “We're out! See, I told you that they would rescue us.”

“Are you sure that Tsuzuki is your missing pilot? I don't want you getting your hopes up in case we are wrong.”

“Ah, but I am 99.9% sure that I am not. Whatever Muraki did, I can now remember how Duo felt much more clearly. When he came in, before I was fully conscious, I thought he was Duo. Well, he is, but you know what I mean.”

“Hai. So this is real? Are you going to tell him that you know?”

“Yes, I'll have to. It's not fair, and besides, I want to hug him and tell him to keep in touch a bit better next time.”

“Well, in his defense, he couldn't contact you when he was dead and you alive, and I expect that he avoided thinking of you after a while - it must have been painful. So maybe he didn't know that you were Shinigami like he was, and he avoided Sanq, L4 and Arabia in case you saw him and recognized him, or maybe just to avoid the memories, so he never knew.”

“That's right, Hisoka. I always knew you were a clever kid.”
“Baka, don't call me- Tsuzuki?”

The tall Shinigami stepped out of the stairwell, staring at the pair. “Wufei and Heero are examining the lab. So, you figured it out, Quatre?”

“Yes…” Hisoka felt a burst of sadness pulse from the blond empath at the admission. The next thing he knew, Quatre was running over to Tsuzuki, tears running down his cheeks. “Oh, Duo! I've missed you so much!!”

“Likewise, Cat,” Duo said. “Missed ya like hell.”

Hisoka noticed an accent to his words that hadn't been there before. Quatre was sobbing into his partner's neck, so Hisoka decided to slip outside and wait for Trowa, leaving the reunited pair alone.

 

*

 

“Why didn't you say something?” Quatre sobbed. Duo closed his eyes, letting the guilt flow through him.

“Fear.”

“Fear of what?!”

“I didn't die straight away. I was tortured for eight years by Muraki's Grandfather. I… it warped my perceptions, maybe. I kept on tellin' myself that you guys would come 'n' save me, but you never did… and then I killed myself and became a Shinigami. After all, I called myself `Shinigami' before, didn't I? Death will always have somethin' on me, whether I'm a God or a Guardian. So I couldn't contact you, like `Soka said. I was dead. And it was such a fucking stupid way to die.”

“Suicide? Stupid?”

“I always figured I'd go out either kickin' butt or by Heero's hand. Maybe self-destruct and take `Scythe with me.”

“Oh, Duo…”

“Cat, you can't tell the others. I have to be Tsuzuki now. Hell, I am Tsuzuki now. I've… I've been more Duo this week than I have for sixty years, but I have a new life.”

“But, Duo, what about Heero?”

Duo closed his eyes against the tears. Oh Shit…

Any time before what had happened that morning, and he would have said `he's forgotten me, and good riddance too'. But after the proof he had received… well. He couldn't just walk away again, could he? Heero still thought of him, maybe even still loved him.

“Cat?”

“Yeah?”

“Did Heero ever get with anyone else?”

“No. He… we tried, we tried so hard, but he said that he didn't want anyone but you, and always hoped that one say you'd come back.”

“Oh, kami-sama, I would have if I could…” Duo moaned.

“He threw himself into his work, and it was like he died inside for a while after… after you were captured. It was so hard to get through to him, like back at the start of the first war. But after a while… he sort of woke up again. I asked him about it, he said that you would want him to live. He kept on celebrating the birthday you picked too…”

“Fuck. I had no idea.”

“How could you? You were dead!” Quatre protested, wiping his tears away angrily.

Loud footsteps up the stairs broke them apart, and set them frantically rubbing at their eyes as they moved towards the door, blotting away moisture. Luckily, Trowa chose that moment to walk back in, holding an energy drink and some bottles of water. He handed the water to Duo and the energy drink to Quatre.

“Here you go, love,” He whispered, enfolding the shorter blond in his arms.

Duo rolled his eyes and moved over to the stairwell to pass Heero a bottle. Wufei was halfway up the flight behind him, so Duo tossed the bottle down, calling “catch!” as he did so. Wufei's head snapped up and his lightening reflexes enabled him to catch the bottle before it hit him on the head rather than afterwards.

“Kisama,” he muttered absently as he twisted off the cap and took a long drink. I contacted Merian. She's sending some kind of transport around - we figured that Kurosaki and Winner would not want to walk.”

Tsuzuki nodded. “Good thinking. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go check on `Soka.”

 

Tsuzuki found his partner sitting on the steps outside, sipping at the energy drink Trowa had brought him.

“So, it's true, you were a Gundam pilot,” Hisoka said quietly.

“Yes,” Tsuzuki said quietly. He could tell that something was bothering his young partner, but he had no idea what it was.

“That explains a few things.”

“I expect it does.”

“Are you going to stay here?”

“What?”

Hisoka turned anguished green eyes towards his partner. “Are you going to stay here with them? Am I going to loose my partner?”

“Hisoka… why would you think that?”

“You fought beside them. They understand you. One of them would make a much better partner than I would. You'd get along much better-”

Tsuzuki's quiet laugh cut him off and he stared at the older Shinigami curiously.

“Understand me? Hell, they never did.”

“But… I thought…”

“We all wore masks during the war. We had our fighting personas. Heero's was the `Perfect Soldier', Trowa had `The Mercenary' Quatre's was `Desert Prince' and Wufei had `The Dragon'. Mine, ironically, was `Shinigami'. But while they had one mask, I had two. I had the `Joker'. And that's who they knew, mainly. `Perfect Soldier' works well with `Shinigami', yes. But neither of us are our masks anymore. We were during this mission, out of necessity, and we got the jobs done. But for everyday, the masks are pointless.”

“So none of them know you?” Hisoka asked, sipping at the drink and trying to wrap his mind around the concepts Tsuzuki was casually explaining.

“No. Well, Heero started to get to know the `real' Duo after the war, the second one, but then Muraki Senior captured me and that kinda went down the drain.”

“What do you mean?” Hisoka asked curiously.

Duo shot his young partner an appraising look, then grinned in remembrance.

“Heero an' me useta be lovers.”

Hisoka blushed crimson. Duo winked at him, and then the slightly (but only slightly) more somber and serious persona of Tsuzuki surfaced. Pure relief washed over Hisoka's features as the other Gundam Pilots pushed open the doors and offered him an out. Tsuzuki chuckled to himself as they rose to their feet. He helped his partner down the driveway to the road, where they found a large car waiting for them.

The ride home was fairly quiet. Quatre curled up in Trowa's arms and Hisoka fell asleep on Tsuzuki's shoulder.

Tsuzuki frowned as something occurred to him. Gently, so as not to wake the exhausted teen, he pushed up Hisoka's sleeve, feeling Wufei's puzzled gaze - Heero was up front with the driver. A relieved smile crossed his features as he saw the marks of the curse already beginning to fade.

 

*

 

Wufei studied Tsuzuki's face with interest. That smile seemed vaguely familiar…

He pulled the end of his braid over his shoulder and toyed with the end, a habit he had picked up post-humorously from Maxwell. Strange how that braided baka had affected his life. Wufei had never regretted growing out his hair in Maxwell's memory, even if it was a pain to take care of. His wasn't nearly as long as Duo's had been though.

Not for the first time, the Chinese Shinigami wondered what had become of the cheerful American he had learned to call `friend'.

 

(Little did he know, said American was grinning happily less than three feet away, minus his distinctive braid.)

 

- all of the magic is mostly made up. Suzaku is one of Tsuzuki's Shikigami, and does appear as a phoenix, and Tsuzuki can do Fuda magic, but fuda darts I kinda made up. Also, Hisoka was learning magic in the series - didn't want to let Tsuzuki down - so I think him making his own shield is not too far fetched. As for the Shadowhounds… well, I have no idea what they were called in the series, but they were made out of black ethereal stuff, had large teeth and bat wings.

 

Spanish:

È giusto, amore, io sono benissimo, esso è giusto, esso è giusto, io sono qui, io sono sicuro... - It's ok, love, I'm fine, It's ok, it's ok, I'm here, I'm safe…

Japanese”

Kami-sama - God.

Kisama - really rude form of `you'. Used kinda like `asshole' or `bastard' would be.