Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Blood Pact ❯ Perfect Stranger ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Blood Pact
Disclaimer: don't own, not claiming to, not making money off this! so don't sue!
Pairings: OC¹x2, 3x4, 5xOC², ?x1, 1xOC¹/OC¹x1, 1x2, 1xOC¹x2/OC¹x1x2, 13x6/6x13
Genre: Fantasy, Horror?
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: severe violence and language, DARK, angst, abuse (child and non), NCS, OC, major (?) squick, shotacon, lots of death (non-GW chars.), yaoi, lemon, smidgen of humor (RARE), vampirism
Notes: sorry about this, I was just in a bad mood when I started this... ::sigh:: and I wanted something bloody... ::cough:: actually, I'd just finished watching "Braveheart," and this just...popped...out... ::blink::
Symbols: *emphasis* |thought| :telepathy: +emotions+ \flashback\ _other people's thoughts_
Chapter Randomness: BOOYA!! ::blink:: sorry. ::sweatdrop:: hm. this chapter's randomness is... CANDY TASTES GOOD! ::nod:: and go out and download "Fruits Candy" from Card Captor Sakura. oh. and would anyone care to translate this Japanese phrase into English for me? Akuma no Shiwazaka Kamiwazaka. it's from an anime called Hellsing, and I have NO idea what the hell it means. ::twitch::
Music for the Chapter: "Dream Disco (Master)" by 7.1, "Infinity" by In10s, "Raindrops" by In10s, "In My Head" by No Doubt


Chapter 1 - Perfect Stranger


A.K. 720 (After Korln)


The clang of metal on metal rang through the air, the only sound that could be heard. Dead bodies littered ground red with blood, most of them hacked to pieces and missing various vital or non-vital organs, all of which were strewn carelessly across the ground, some hearts still beating and pumping blood.

And amidst all the carnage, a single boy swung his sword and sliced the remaining person in half, easily as slicing bread. He straightened and looked around. The ground squished as he shifted, completely saturated with still warm and bubbling blood. His entire body was covered with blood. However, none of it was his.

He swept gold eyes, cold as ice and hard as diamond, across the field, gaze critical. He looked thoughtful for a moment, assessing his abilities and comparing them to the medium sized army he'd just slaughtered. |They were *not* worthy,| he thought disgustedly after a moment. |I've not even worked up a sweat!|[1]

Scowling, he lifted a hand to wipe his bloody forehead with, but when he saw the warm, fresh blood dripping off it, he licked his lips. |I need to feed soon,| he realized. Shrugging, he leaned his head back, mouth open, and raised his hand so the blood dripping off it fell into his mouth.[2]

:Kess?:

He looked up, slightly startled. :Ngral?[3]: he asked.

:Where are you?:

He sighed wearily. :Nowhere you should be, Thlayber,: he replied.

There was a mental snort. :That's what you *always* say!:

:Hn.:

:Kess!: his sister whined. :I'm an *adult*! I can do what I want! Now where are you and what are you doing?: Her tone had turned demanding.

Instead of replying, he pulled her into his mind and let her see through his eyes. He could feel her holding back vomit, before she left his mind hurriedly.

The twinge of guilt he felt was unexpected.

:Vlangr[4],: he sent guiltily.

:S'all right,: she replied instantly. :I should have known better than to ask.:

He frowned. :Hn.:

He felt her alarm. :Oh, I'm sorry, Kess! I didn't mean to insult you!:

:Hn. Mrlang norl lanngd nyka e[5],: he replied. :I'm going to Sl'rri[6]. You're coming with me.:

Thlayber didn't protest.



Duo sighed, gazing his window wistfully. Below him lay the beautiful city of Sl'rri, with its buildings of marble and granite. The sunlight made it glow brightly. Anyone who hadn't lived here their whole life would have been blinded. The roofs were made out of either polished slate or glazed sandstone, windows made out unbreakable panes of diamond or ruby or sapphire or emerald in any color of the rainbow. Just thin enough to be transparent.

He sighed heavily. Even as beautiful as it was, he didn't like to live here. He wasn't happy; as a prince, he wasn't allowed to mingle with most of the city, and the people he *could* mingle with were old, boring, or stuck-up beyond belief. He wasn't even allowed out of the palace without an escort.

Being a prince wasn't all it was made out to be.

Sure, he was rich. The only people with a larger treasury than his were his parents. Sure, he had escorts, but he couldn't do anything *fun*. Sure, he was pampered day and night, but it was extremely annoying, *not* flattering like most people thought.

Put bluntly, it sucked. He barely ever even saw his own parents.

Hearing laughter, he looked down. He felt a twinge of envy when he saw a group of children playing in the streets.

Frowning slightly, he debated sneaking outside. |Yes,| he decided. |I think I will.|



Kess frowned at the front of the line waiting to be admitted into the city of Sl'rri. The walls were about a hundred feet high and made completely of polished, seamless marble. The sun gleamed off it harshly, nearly blinding all humans outside it. But he and Thlayber, as vampires, weren't affected by it.

The entire wall, all around the huge city, was absolutely crawling with guards, all of them armed with powerful long-range crossbows. And the only entrance into the city was guarded, as well.

And the guards were taking a damned long time checking people.

He restrained the urge to growl with only the considerably force of his will. His left eye was starting to twitch, which, as humorous as it seemed to look, was a bad sign. *Very* bad. Thlayber was eyeing it nervously.

:Kess, *please* keep control of your temper,: Thlayber pleaded mentally.

He just snorted. :Slni,[7]: he grunted.

Finally, when after another ten minutes passed and the line hadn't moved an *inch*, his temper snapped. Growling savagely, he shoved his way through the line, throwing people out of his way when necessary, ignoring indignant shouts and curses tossed at him.

When he reached the front of the line, he grabbed the guard by his collar and slammed him into the wall, eyes abnormally pupil-less with a disturbing not there look to them. "If you don't hurry up," he hissed through clenched teeth, "you won't *live* to regret it." To emphasize his point, he bared his teeth, revealing a pair of razor-sharp, snow-white fangs.

The guard's eyes went wide, and he nodded vigorously, looking panicked. Kess let go of his collar and stepped back just as Thlayber appeared from the crowd.

She took one look at the guard and glared venomously at him. "What did you *do* to him?" she demanded angrily.

He didn't even bother to answer, just gave her a narrow eyed look and turned, walking through the gates. He didn't miss the way people were hurriedly moving away from him, or the guards watching him warily.

Glancing around, he absently memorized every nook and cranny for later use, noting all possible weapons, escape routes, or shields he might need at a future time.

The air was filled with the sound of people talking; they held conversations, yelled across the streets at each other as they argued over petty little things, bargained, even while at the same time, the shopkeepers and merchants hollered prices and merchandise at the top of their lungs. He winced slightly as the sounds assaulted his sensitive, delicately pointed ears.

|Damn city,| he muttered mentally, sweeping his icy gaze across the streets, looking for any possible signs of danger. |Louder than the Ten Hells and twice as useless.|

It had obviously been designed with only an attempt at beauty in mind; there was nothing in the way of protection from siege; the only thing in the entire city being the wall around it, as far as he could see. The streets were cobbled, pure granite with a thin, semi-transparent coating of gold, most of which had been picked off and probably hoarded into some thief's collection of valuables.

His eyes darted around, picking up every movement and assessing, seeing it for what it was; he missed nothing that happened around them. And even as he did that, he opened his mind to the ocean of minds around him, keeping alert for whatever might be a dangerous thought.

_Damn thief. Better stay away from my purse, or I'll sick Shia on him._

A mental snort of contempt was his silent reply to that. |Shia. One *hell* of a name for a pony...|

_My, that couple there looks quite rich... Likely won't miss a couple extra gold..._

He frowned at that one, but realized it wasn't directed at him and Thlayber.

_Are those...vampires? I should probably report that to the authorities..._

His eyes narrowed, and he turned towards the person whom that thought had originated from. He smirked as an idea popped into his head. :They're harmless...,: he hissed softly in the very deepest recesses of the man's subconscious. :Wouldn't hurt a fly... Not worth the trouble of reporting...:

The man blinked, apparently "realizing" something. _You know, I think I won't,_ the man mused.

His smirk grew minutely, and he continued walking silently. Suddenly, a thought set off the alarms in his head.

_Easy prey..._

Frowning, smirk fading, he turned to stare with narrowed eyes at the scene playing before him. A group of thugs hiding in shadows were watching a lone figure walking down the streets, dressed in a black cloak and seemingly oblivious to everything going on around him. He saw the gleam of steel as they pulled free their swords, and they dashed out and made a group, simultaneous swipe with the blades at the cloaked figure.

Who let out a surprised shriek.

Drawn for some odd reason, Kess was there in the blink of an eye, catching all five blades easily in the side of his arm, ignoring the stabbing pain as they sliced through his skin and bone, taking his lower arm clean off. Blood spurted all over the place as the severed limb fell to the ground in several different pieces, the crimson liquid pouring out of each of them, as well as his elbow. The liquid squirted all over the group of thugs, making them cringe and step backwards, cursing loudly.

Meanwhile, he mentally murmured into subconscious minds to ignore them, there was nothing wrong.

And then, he glanced coolly at his severed arm, which was still gushing blood that splattered over the granite cobblestones, seeping into the cracks between them and glazing them scarlet. His eyes froze over further, and he turned an ice-cold gaze to the men as they made to attack him. They froze in their tracks, weapons half drawn back for a killing blow.

And suddenly, in front of their eyes, his arm began to writhe in place, desolidifying until it resembled a mass of semi-solid, red tinted, flesh colored goo that twisted and turned in random directions. He gritted his teeth as the pain became nearly unbearable, eyes clenching shut, as a new arm broke through a thin layer of pinkish skin.

With a dark smirk, he bent his elbow, then his wrist, before flexing his hands and fingers, all of which were still covered in blood. He raised a cool eyebrow at the thugs in front of him, before dropping into a fighting stance. "Now," he murmured in his gravely voice. "Who would care to attack him?"

They all stared at him for a moment, eyes wide enough to show the whites all around, before turning tail and running. He nodded knowingly, having expected that, before half-turning in place to gaze at the person he'd rescued.

There was silence, and he Sensed a thick mixture of surprise, relief, and gratitude, all of which swirled together in a jumbled mess. He waited expectantly, knowing that eventually, they'd get over their surprise.

It took longer than he'd expected.

But a few minutes later, there was a shrill squeak, before the cloak hood fell to reveal a gaping mouth and saucer-wide amaryllis colored eyes.

Instantly, he was attracted to the boy in front of him, whose pale skin made it clear he rarely saw the light of day. A pair of large, doe-like amaryllis eyes that seemed to sparkle with a thousand emotions at once stared out at him from under a fall of chestnut colored bangs. The same chestnut hair, streaked through with gold and copper, was pulled back into a neat braid; he couldn't see exactly how long it was, since most of it was hidden inside the cloak, but he estimated it to reach about the boy's waist. His face was round, almost heart-shaped, and looked either fey or oddly feminine, with high, rosy cheeks and a cute, tip-tilted nose set above full, luscious red lips.

Finally, the boy snapped his mouth shut and stared at him for a moment longer, before stuttering out a thank you. He swallowed audibly, blinking rapidly.

Kess nodded, before turning and walking back towards where Thlayber was watching him worriedly.

"Kess?"

He merely glanced at her, not answering her question.

"Are you all right? Is your arm going to work?"

He nodded briefly, barely visible, before continuing to walk away, leaving the startled boy behind him.

|I wonder, though, why the Prince is wandering around by himself without an escort...|



"Well, the guy was strong, I have to admit..."

Trowa frowned, eyeing the Vadarin in front of him. :Wufei. *Please*. He didn't *do* anything,: he muttered mentally, glaring blackly at the ebony-eyed boy in front of him. :He just caught the stupid blades in his arm, got his arm chopped off, grew it back, and basically got the city dirty. That's *all.*:

Duo's eyes narrowed as he stared at his two personal servants. "Hmph. *All*?" he snapped. "Dammit Tro, 'Fei, he's the only reason I'm alive right now! Those guys would have...killed...me..." He blinked, the realization of how close he'd come to dying suddenly hitting him full force in the head, and he swayed slightly, feeling nauseous and faint at the same time.

Then he fell backwards, landing in a sprawled heap on his bed, passed out from shock.

"*Shit*!"

Wufei shook him awake as Trowa ran to get a bucket of ice cold water, before the brunette servant returned and calmly dumped the contents of the bucket over Duo's head. The Prince bolted upwards, eyes wide as he sputtered. "What the *hell* was that for?!"

"You fainted," was Trowa's simple reply.

Duo blinked. "Oh. Right..."

"So," Wufei started, staring straight at him. "You said this...'vampire' saved you. Don't you think you should tell your father and have him reward the...'vampire'?"

Duo frowned. "You don't believe me when I say he's a vampire."

Wufei licked his lips somewhat nervously. "Duo, it's not that I don't believe you *think* you saw one... But... Vampires haven't been...'seen' for thousands of years. And even then... There's no proof they were actual...'vampires'. They don't exist, Duo. That's all I'm saying."

His frown deepened. "So you think I'm crazy."

"Well..." Wufei blinked at him, apparently taken aback by his bluntness. "Not...exactly..."

He snorted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't bother to lie, 'Fei, I know you think I'm crazy," he snapped. "But I *saw* a vampire. Have you ever heard of anything *besides* a vampire who could regenerate?"

Wufei blinked at him again, startled at his irrefutable logic. "Uh... Well... No..."

But Trowa snorted, as if the answer to that was as obvious as the fact that the sun set in the west. :Just because no one has ever seen anything besides a "vampire" that can...regenerate, as you call it, doesn't mean there aren't races out there that can't,: he retorted.

Duo scowled, eyeing his friend blackly. "I never said it *did*!"

:But you were implying it.:

"Implying-" He laughed then, a sharp caw of disbelief. "Shakti[8], Trowa, you're one hell of a joker."

The green-eyed servant frowned at him, eyes narrowed. :I wasn't joking.:

Duo's scowl deepened. "You think I didn't *know* that?"

The Shidaarian shrugged calmly. :You never know.:

Violet eyes narrowed slightly, before the prince shrugged it off nonchalantly. "Whatever. You guys can go now," he said, changing the subject with the ease of long practice. "I need time to think."

They didn't move.

He frowned. "*By myself*!"

With synchronized sighs, the two boys turned and walked out of the room. Wufei glanced back once over his shoulder, almond-shaped, onyx eyes worried, before shaking his head and turning to the left.

Duo sat down, pinching the bridge of his nose, and frowned. Had that man *really* been a vampire? Or had he just *thought* he was, like Wufei said, and convinced himself that? He sighed, running a delicate hand over his chestnut hair, patting it down in place. There would be no chance for that now...

"The Crown Prince's only two friends are his servants," said a low, gravely voice, thick and rich with amusement. He jumped and whirled, eyes wide in panic. He could see no one... "How...*noble*."

Sarcasm was obviously favored by whoever was in his rooms.

"Ah, I'm hurt child, really I am," the mocking voice continued. Duo's eyes darted around the room, trying to pin-point the direction it was coming from. "I was *sure* you'd recognize me."

Duo whirled again, certain he was going to find someone behind him, but he frowned in alarm when he was met by empty air.

"Behind you, sweetheart."

He whirled again, and found himself face-to-face with the vampire who'd rescued him in the streets. "*Shit*!" He fell back a step, startled. How the hell had he gotten there so quickly?

A thick, shadowed eyebrow arched in reply to his exclamation. "No, sorry, you just missed him," the vampire said mock-sweetly. "I'm Kess, not Shit."

"How-" He paused, eyes narrowing. "How the *hell* did you get in here? And why couldn't I see you? *Why* are you here?"

Gold eyes danced in mocking amusement. A deep, rumbling chuckled shifted through the air, and the vampire through his head back and laughed loudly, showing off a pair of razor-sharp fangs and exposing his thick neck. "An elf indeed!" The darkly amused chuckle continued as the vampire smirked at him, lips pulled tightly back against his teeth. "Curious as cats, you elves are." Then he paused, and he pretended to think, high brow creasing. "Hm. Now which question to answer first...?"

Gold eyes, colder than the coldest ice, fixed sharply on him, causing him to jump in surprise. "Second question. I'm a vampire; we control and manipulate shadows. We can hide where ever there are shadows." His face, oddly shadowed, was grim and stony. "First question. Vampires can move between this Realm and the Shadow Realm to get places in the blink of an eye. I was here even before your servants got here." His smirk deepened. "Which, by the way, was an hour before you returned."

The smirk vanished, replaced by a thin, straight line. "Third question. I'm here because I, as knowledgeable as I am, had no idea as to why the Crown Prince was walking around in the city with no escort." He smirked again at the flash of outrage at how highly he seemed to think of himself. "Forgive me for being conceited, *Highness*-" emphasis on that word told him how little the vampire cared about his status, "-but we vampires have reason to be."

Up until that pointed, he had somehow managed to still be in shadow, although the spot he stood in was poured over with light from the huge window. Then, the shadow slowly seeped away, almost as if it was returning back into the vampire. And Duo gasped in surprise, not having been able to see his face before; his face had been completely in shadow in the streets because of the fact that the sun had been behind him.

A strong, roughly square face greeted him, with high cheekbones that translucent skin was pulled tightly over, a strong, stubborn chin, broad, high forehead, and a perfectly proportioned nose. His lips were thin, white to the point of being colorless. Blood red bangs fell around his face in an appealing way, the remainder of his hair pulled back into a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck, falling to the bottoms of his shoulder blades. Thick, blood-red eyebrows swept upwards like sharply-arched wings, forking at the ends. And resting under them was the pair of gold eyes he'd been able to see through the shadows. But they were odd, their structure different from that of an elf's or human's.

He realized what it was, suddenly. They were metallic; it was like he was looking into two, tiny mirrors crafted of pure, un-blemished gold. And they were slitted.

He swallowed, taking another nervous step back. Shit. Vampires weren't supposed to be attractive; they were supposed to be ancient, horribly mutilated things that would be attractive to none but another vampire. So why was this one just the opposite?

And he looked all of seventeen years, at most. Gods...

"Seventeen thousand," the vampire stated, a smirk on his face.

Blink. "What?"

A thick eyebrow lifted fractionally. "I'm seventeen thousand years old," was the repeated answer. "Seventeen millennia, one hundred and seventy centuries..." A slight shrug. "I'll gone on to days, if you'd like..."

He shook his head, startled, then his eyes widened as he realized something. "You were alive during the Changeling Wars!"

The vampire nodded slightly, smirk widening. "I was four hundred during those wars," he said. "And I witnessed all of that slaughter first hand..." He shivered, a glimmer of delight burning savagely in the icy eyes, and Duo swallowed in revulsion. He was *sick*... He shuddered as the still gleaming eyes fixed cruelly on his. "You should have heard them screaming. Smelled the blood, seen the gore, *felt* their agony."

Another shudder worked its way along the vampire's body as his eyes shivered. A blue tongue snaked out along the colorless lips. The gold eyes were still fixed on his face, the cruel smirk in them making Duo quake slightly in fear. "But then again..." A pause, filled with the vampire's amusement. "You probably would have been traumatized. Tell me, Duo, who do you think slaughtered most of those damned humans?" Gold eyes narrowed in dark amusement. "I butchered them like cattle, Duo. Ah, you should have seen the looks in their eyes when they saw me rip their hearts out."

Another sinister chuckle hung like lead in the air between them. "It was *quite* amusing."

Duo took a deep breath. "How... How did you know my name?"

Smirk. "Not answering that."And then, without a sound or a trace, the vampire vanished, shadows whirling up and around him, tightening, then disappearing. The only remnant of his existence was the smell of blood.



"Yes, Your Majesty."King Shi'narr gazed down at his son Duo's two servants, a frown creasing his forehead. "Let me see if I've gotten this straight. Duo goes out on his own again without permission, then gets attacked in the streets. But he claims he was saved by a vampire?" He raised a thick, bushy eyebrow at the two boys at his feet. Wufei looked up and nodded slightly.

"Yes, Your Maje-"

"I think someone's been a bad boy."

The three of them jumped, turning their heads sharply to the right side of the King's private Council Room.

"By the way," the voice continued, a smirk heard in the mocking tone of it. "You *must* tell the name of your interior decorator. The room looks simply *marvelous.*"

Suddenly, the shadows in one corner of the room vanished, revealing a tall, lithe form. The boy-for boy he was; he looked seventeen at most-was leaning up against the wall, one leg crossed casually over the over, arms crossed over a broad chest, head tilted downwards as if he was studying the floor. His eyes were hidden by the cascade of crimson hair falling in front of his face.

Shi'narr bristled. "Who the *hell* are you? How did you get in here? My guards-"

"Don't even know I'm in here," the boy interrupted smoothly, and looked up with a smirk on his face. Frigid, metallic gold eyes, so cold he shivered, pierced him to the bone and rooted him to his spot. "In fact, they don't even know I exist." He blinked and paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Well, except for the one at the outside gate I nearly strangled." He shrugged. "But whatever. That's beyond the point."

He grinned ferally, suddenly, showing off a pair of longer, sharply pointed fangs. "I'm Kess, by the way." His eyes narrowed wickedly, a sinister, smoldering gleam in them. "But *you*, however, can call me Sire." A sneer flittered across his thin, colorless lips. "Master is good, too, though."

He bristled even further, enraged that this puny teenager was convinced a *King* should be calling him Master. "I think not, child!" Shi'narr snarled, face turning red with fury. "I'm not calling some arrogant, pig-headed teenager 'Master'!"

Kess smirked, sinister laughter dancing in mocking eyes. "Now, now, Mister High-and-Mighty, who's the teenager in here?" he asked. "I see only two, and they are definitely the two children at your feet." His eyes shifted suddenly to said boys. "By the way, Wufei, Trowa, it's nice to know the Crown Prince's two best friends are spies of his father's. It makes me belief in this city's morality sky rocket." His eyes were filled with contempt. "You two are disgusting, just to let you know."

Wufei sucked in a sharp breath while Trowa hissed. "How did you know our names?" Wufei demanded, onyx eyes narrowed.

Shi'narr frowned, noticing something odd about the mysterious boy's eyes. Was it just him, or were they slanted oddly sharply...? More so than a humans or elf's. And they were metallic; he could just as well have had two pure gold mirrors instead of eyes.

"Kess" smirked, thin, colorless lips pulling tightly back against his teeth. "You'd be surprise what a vampire knows," he purred, voice low and dangerous.

Wufei snorted in disbelief. "Vampires don't exist," he retorted. "You're insane."

A thick scarlet eyebrow lifted coolly. "Just like your master Duo, hmm?"

The dark-skinned boy flushed and glared viciously at the gold-eyed figure standing before him. "You have no proof you're a vampire," he hissed.

A dark, sinister expression fitted itself on Kess's face. "Oh, child, you are so naïve," he murmured. "I have *plenty* of proof."

And suddenly, blood spurted everywhere as Kess arched his back sharply, hissing loudly. Shi'narr watched in awe as two pairs of huge, stark-black wings erupted from the boy's back, one pair that of a crow's, the other that of a dragon's. And then his eyes shifted sharply to Kess's mouth, and he felt his jaw drop open as the canines he'd noticed extended to the bottom of the now-obvious-vampire's chin.

And the gold eyes, now glowing slightly and quite obviously slitted, lifted sharply to his face.


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1. er...yeah. I know it sounds quite unlikely, but let's just say vampire's are...uh...nearly invincible and quite hard to tire out in a fight, now matter how poorly they do so.
2. ::wrinkles her nose:: yeah, I know. a little gross. but hey, it's cool. ^.^ (yes, I am aware I am mentally disturbed. anyone know a psychiatrist who could help...?)
3. ngral: (ZHRAWL) "what"
4. vlangr: (VLAWZH-r) "sorry" (the "r" is a seperate syllable)
origins- "vlarr" to feel; to bear, "angrial" sorrow; pity; regret
5. mrlang morl lanngd nyka e: (MER-lawzh MORL LAWNZH-d nyuh-KA ay) "don't worry about it". (lit.: "worry about that not at all") (d in "lanngd" a seperate syllable)
6. Sl'rri: (sluh-REE)
7. slni: (sluh-NEE) "yes"
8. shakti: (SHAWK-tee) "dammit"
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Daremyth: ::sweatdrop:: would believe me if I told I've been working on this chapter since quite possibly December 2000?

Kess: ::glare:: better believe it, people. she has.

Heero: ::frown:: where the hell am I?

Duo: ::snicker:: not in it yet, Hee-chan.

Daremyth: er... ::blink:: yeah. don't worry though, Heero. you'll be in it later...

Heero: ::glower:: in what chapter?

Daremyth: ::nervous sweat:: er... chapter... uh... twenty...?

Heero: WHAT?! ::twitch::

Daremyth: ::nervous laughter:: heh heh... ::eyes dart around, panicked:: er... uh.. feedback, please...?