Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A Thief in One Life, A Thief in the Next ❯ Duo ( Chapter 17 )

A/N: Okay, I know I said that I wouldn’t be updating until December, but I hit a block on my NaNo novel this evening and since I had most of this chapter already written anyway, I figured that I might as well finish it. So here it is, and a bit longer than usual too.

“A Thief in One Life, A Thief in the Next”

Chapter Seventeen

Duo

The only thing Heero knew about his next actions was that he was running. Hallways and stairs blurred past him almost as fast as the pounding of his heart. He couldn’t think, couldn’t breath, couldn’t believe…

This entire time, it had been him. He’d been right there, reaching and touching, but at the same time unreachable and untouchable.

How could he have not noticed? The clues had been scattered everywhere. The speed that Quatre had trusted him, his coffee recipe, his brother’s name, the fucking fox plushy he always slept with!

His frantic feet carried Heero into the garden, the site of a large pond barely registering in his mind in time to keep him from literally running into it. The pilot’s strength at last failed him and Heero fell to his knees, staring blankly at the reflection of the moon on still water.

Duo was- Kuronue was- They were-

His mind still refused to acknowledge that the two who had broken through his shield were in fact only one.

A silver shape breaking through the surrounding foliage interrupted Heero from his hyperventilating. Nine tails moved independently of each other behind it, and the human man recognized the golden eyes watching him from the fox’s silver face.

“Kurama, what am I supposed to do?” he asked, voice quavering as the kitsune padded silently to him, sitting only a foot away. “Duo-”

He broke off as Kurama’s form grew, shifting into the seven-foot tall man he was more familiar with seeing.

“You realized,” the thief said softly, glancing briefly at Heero before turning his gaze to look over the water. “He was frightened of this, you know. Tell me, what was the last piece?”

“He started to braid his hair,” Heero whispered. Clawless fingers dug into the grass beneath his hands. Slowly, his mind began to catch up to his senses. “He was frightened? Why?”

“I suspect it was because now he knows that if he’d messed things up before, he won’t get another chance,” Kurama said. He slowly eased himself down onto the stomach, legs swinging idly, much like his tails. “By now, I’m sure you’ve realized that my brother loves you.”

“The marriage proposal sort of tipped me off,” the younger man said dryly. Clarity began to return to his mind, but the whole night still held a dream-like quality. “How long has he been gone from Makai?”

“Several hundred years.”

Blue eyes shot wide. “What?”

“Three hundred and seven years ago, Youko Kuronue was killed during the heist,” Kurama said, golden eyes closing to hide the pain inflicted by the memory. “I’m sure that you noticed his pendant. We were fleeing with our target, a mirror that had some special significance, I can’t remember what, when the chain broke. He was stabbed through with several bamboo spears when he flew back to retrieve it. My brother died telling me to run. My younger brother.”

Heero remained silent for a moment, waiting until the kitsune had reopened his eyes. “Then how… how is he alive again? How did he become Duo?”

The thief’s smile returned. “As I said to Botan before you woke up after our arrival in Makai, self-resurrection seems to run in the family. I don’t know the exact details of the how; it will probably be different with the species in addition to the fact that he did not move directly from one body to the next. Within the night of my first death, I was already rooted into the body of a human embryo, one that had yet to gain a soul of its own. My brother actually was escorted to the afterlife by a ferrier, again, Botan, and he spent nearly three hundred years there before returning to the Ningenkai. As you can see, the situations were very different. But I can guarantee you that he is the same person who shot you a few years ago.”

Blue glared at laughing gold. “Who told you?”

“Koenma.”

Damn. He couldn’t kill him then.

“Now, the question I have for you is this,” Kurama said, suddenly turning serious once again. “Do you love him?”

The pilot’s whispered reply was so soft that the movement of the grass threatened to drown it out.

“Yes.”

“Then tell him.” Nodding in approval, Kurama stood before slipping back into the brush, leaving behind no more traces than moonlight in his wake. A few last words drifted back to Heero. “His rooms are in the west wing tower, as high as you can go on the stairs.”

It was still some time before Heero rose from the grass, but, when he did, it was with one destination in mind.

The west wing tower was also the second highest. Although Heero was sure that J never thought his pilot would be climbing towers in the demon world, his training was certainly coming in handy going up the hundreds of steps lining the inside, the windows on each flight giving Heero a view point that was higher and higher. At long last, he reached a point where there were two options for a walker. One was the ladder leading to a trap door above his head. The other was a richly decorated door. Swallowing, he pushed it open.

Inside, the chimera was curled into a tight ball, arms wrapped tightly around a pillow. Pulling his tunic off and dumping in on the foot of the bed, Heero crawled up onto the mattress, lying down next to Kuronue. As though sensing the heat of another body, the demon let go of the pillow and rolled over to wrap his arms around Heero, holding him tightly and gently at once. Freeing an arm to grab hold of the shoved-off blanket, Heero dragged it over the two of them, closing his eyes for what promised to be one of his best nights for a long time.

Kuronue’s internal clock woke him just before breakfast the next morning. The body in his arms felt wrong, far too small to be Kurama, but not small enough to be either the kitsune’s human form or his mate. Sniffing cautiously, violet eyes shot up as he jerked back, waking Wing’s pilot. “Heero? How’d you get in my be-”

A hand shot forward to cover his mouth as a pair of blue eyes locked onto his. The soft expression in them was shocking, but not as shocking as Heero’s next words. “Dou, do you ever shut up?”

If possible, the chimera’s eyes widened further as the human took his hand away, sitting up on the bed. “You know? Did someone tell you or-”

“I figured it out,” Heero said, interrupting. “Kurama helped explain some things for me, that’s all. Now I know what Quatre was keeping from us.”

“It wasn’t his fault, I asked him to keep it a secret,” Kuronue said, defending the small blond. “Cat’s really perceptive, and I hadn’t gotten used to being the old me yet right when we got here. If you’d been awake, you’d probably have caught onto it right away. You’re not mad?”

The Japanese man shook his head. “Do any of the others know?”

“Not yet, though you’ll probably want to tell them now,” the youkai said with a heavy sigh.

“No.”

Kuronue’s head shot up. “Huh? You don’t?”

A strange smile grew onto Heero’s face. “I still owe Wufei back for a couple of things, and Trowa will understand. For now, we’ll wait, Kuronue.”

Smiling, Kuronue took Heero’s hands in his own. “Thank you, but please, call me Duo when we’re in private. It’s really who I am now. Besides, I like the sound of it when you say my name.”

“Then it’s settled, Duo,” Heero said, surprising his companion with a kiss on his cheek. “Now, go back to sleep. We can eat breakfast later.”

“Whatever you say,” Kuronue said, touching his face where Heero’s lips had, still in shock. Did it mean that…? A glance down at the body curled up next to him broke his concentration. He’d think about it later.

The others were just about to leave the dining hall when Kuronue and Heero entered together, the chimera’s arm wrapped around Heero’s waist. Wufei nearly choked at the sight while Quatre searched Heero’s eyes, his worried expression turning into a grin when the former soldier smiled, nodding to the blonde’s silent question. Kurama, on the other hand, looked incredibly smug, so smug that Hiei was tempted to drag him somewhere private in order to wipe the look from his face.

Breaking away from the human, Kuronue ran over to Kurama, seizing his hands and jumping up and down in joy, wings flapping happily. “He accepted, he accepted! Thank you so much! He accepted!”

“Accepted what?” Wufei asked once he was able to breath again.

Kuronue spun to face the Chinese man, his fanged grin particularly malicious. “My marriage proposal.”

Those three simple words were enough to send him back into choking fits, and were even enough to shock Trowa into nearly falling out of his chair.

“Try not to kill them before the ceremony,” Heero said with a chuckle as he wrapped an arm back around the chimera possessively.

Glancing between his younger brother and the coffee maker, Kurama wasn’t sure whether or not it’d be safe to give Kuronue any coffee when he was already hyper enough.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Quatre said, recognizing the expression on the kitsune’s face. “It isn’t safe to get between him and coffee.”

“But is it any safer to let him near it?” Kurama asked the blond quietly, trying not to catch Kuronue’s attention.

“Now that I’m not sure of,” he replied with a wry smile.

Their debate was ended quickly as the newly engaged pair beelined toward said machine, finishing off the pot between the two of them.

“So, who wears the dress?” Trowa asked, his one visible eyebrow raised.

“If Duo were here, I do believe he’d be yelling about how the world must be ending,” Heero quipped, sending an amused glance toward his equally amused fiancé, who was biting back a laugh. “You made a joke.”

“You know, Kuronue, it’s too bad that neither of you are kitsune,” Kurama commented, winking in Hiei’s direction. “Our mating ceremonies have the most fascinating dress codes.”

“Butt naked, bride, groom, and guests,” Kuronue informed the humans, smirking.

“I wish you’d been there to see Kazuma’s face,” the thief king said with a laugh. “I think it was the only time he ever tried to avoid Yukina when he had a chance to see her. That and when she was in heat. So, I take it you’ll be having two ceremonies.”

“Of course,” Kuronue said, nodding. “We will be going back some day, after all, and it’d be nice for people to recognize it as official.”

“By people you mean humans,” Trowa guessed.

“Yes,” Heero replied. Both he and Kuronue took a seat at the counter, human leaning contentedly against the chimera.

“So, there’s one more thing we need to figure out,” Wufei said, his smirk almost malicious.

“And what would that be?” Kuronue asked, tilting his head to the side.

“What are we going to tell Relena?”