Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Purrfect Houseguest ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

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The Purrfect Houseguest

Part 9

:::Begin Flashback:::

It was about a quarter after five, when the Khushrenada's black limousine pulled up in front of a large mansion. Several other guests had already arrived and were slowly making their way into the house.

Treize opened the door for his mother and politely offered her his arm for support, as she climbed out of the car. Rebecca Khushrenada was dressed in a long, cream colored evening gown, complimented by a wide diamond choker and a pair of patching earrings, while both her husband and her son wore their blue dress uniforms.

Treize was watching as yet another limousine arrived, wondering how big this party was going to be, when a tap on the shoulder got his attention.

"What's with the dark face, Treize?" His father asked. "This isn't a funeral. You could at least pretend that you are happy to be here."

"But I'm not. Why did I have to come anyway?"

"Because your uncle invited the whole family and the last time I checked you were still part of it. Besides, you haven't attended any family gatherings for quite a while, you will have fun talking and playing with your cousins."

"Your father is right, dear," his mother added. "You can't spend every weekend with your nose buried in your books."

"It's called studying, Mother. They actually make us do that in school," Treize replied cheekily.

The duchess shook her finger at him warningly, mirth sparkling in her eyes. "Don't you get smart with me, young man. Or I swear I'll give you a big hug in front of the whole family."

"You wouldn't!" Treize gasped in horror. He could not think of anything more embarrassing for a thirteen year old boy than being hugged by his own mother in front of his relatives.

"Just try me." She winked at him before taking her husband's arm, allowing him to lead her into the house.

###

Duke Dermail, the host of this large and extravagant party, was not only Treize's great uncle; he was also the longtime leader of Romefeller, an organization of almost secret society status. Although most of Romefeller's members were incredible rich, not wealth but 'blue blood' was the main requirement to join the organization. Anybody who did not come from a long line of nobility was not even considered for membership. One could say that Romefeller still lived in their own little, aristocratic world, just like they did a hundred years ago. Because of their power and their wealth they often considered themselves above the law, and in many cases they really were.

The duke welcomed his guests at the entrance, and after a short and informal greeting led them into the drawing room for pre-dinner conversations and cocktails.

Treize, who remained dutifully at his parent's side, stared sullenly into his glass of cider and tried hard to stifle a bored yawn. Just when he thought things could not get any worse, he noticed Baron Korsakov, his least favorite uncle and his son Nikolai, a smug and ill-mannered youth, come across the room, straight toward them. Nikolai was little over a year older than he, and as long as Treize could remember, his cousin had always acted as though he was god's gift to the world. It must have been quite a blow to his ego, and his parent's egos as well, when he failed the entry exam for the St. Petersburg Military Academy, not once, but three times. Treize would be lying if he said that it didn't please him to no end. There was little love lost between him and his cousin. In fact, the two of them had developed a strong and mutual dislike of one another.  

Treize groaned inwardly, and wondered if he could still get away when he excused himself now. But it was already too late.

The Baron, who was only slightly more tolerable than his son, flashed him a smile that was as false as his pearly white teeth. "Look Nikolai, it's your cousin Treize. Doesn't he look charming in his uniform? There is nothing more heartwarming than a son trying to copy his father, isn't there?"

Somehow Treize managed to return the smile. "Well, thank you for the compliment, but I assure you I'm not copying anybody, Sir. I have been attending SPMA since last fall."

"Is that so? I didn't know you turned fourteen already," his uncle replied.

"He hasn't," Konstantin Khushrenada confirmed, not without a certain amount of pride. "Treize took the exam early, and is one of the youngest cadets who ever attended the academy."

"Oh really?" Now, Baron Korsakov seemed to have trouble to hold on to his smile. "Well congratulations then."  

"Thank you, Sir!" Treize gave his uncle a polite nod and exchanged an icy glare with his cousin.

"So, Nikolai, I've heard you are attending Hargrave Military Academy now?" his father added. "I'm sure that's a very fine school too."

"Yes, it is," the baron replied, somewhat stiffly. "And we are quite happy with our choice, aren't we Nikolai? - And now if you would excuse us, there are a few more people we would like to talk to. I'm sure we will meet up again later."

Shortly after Korsakov and his son had left Treize's father excused himself and went off to talk to some of his acquaintances.

"Treize, why don't you go too and mingle a little," Rebecca suggested.

"Do I have to?"

"No, you don't have to. I just thought you might enjoy it."

"Not really."

"Well then, would you like to accompany me onto the patio to get some fresh air?" she asked. "It's awfully hot and muggy in here."

"It would be my pleasure, ma'am," he replied with a smirk and a deep bow.

###

Treize and his mother stayed on the patio until one of the servants informed them that dinner was about to be served.

When entering the dining room Treize realized much to his dismay that his family was seated at the same table as the Korsakovs.

"So," his aunt asked, as they settled down at the table. "What do you suppose the "after-dinner surprise" will be, that the duke mentioned on the invitation?"

"I'm not sure, but it has to be something important considering how secretive he is about it. He wouldn't even tell me when I asked, and I'm supposedly his favorite nephew," Konstantin laughed.

As soon as the guests had taken their seats the servants began to serve the dinner, starting with a seafood salad, and a creamy asparagus soup.

Treize kept his eyes down on his plate, only looking up a couple of times to exchange cold glares with his cousin.

About halfway through dinner, his uncle looked up from his medallions of veal and asked, "So! Young Treize, will you be joining us for the hunt tomorrow?"

"Hunt," Treize tried hard to fight off an involuntary expression of disgust. "Please forgive my directness, but taking some poor animals that grew up in cages and never learned to fear humans, sticking them into a fifty acre enclosure and slaughtering them, is not what I would consider hunting, Sir. So no, I'm afraid I'll pass."

"Treize," his father snapped. "Apologize at once."

"You want me to apologize for speaking the truth, Father?"

"Perhaps Cousin Treize is just worried that his marksmanship won't measure up to the rest of the hunt." Nikolai remarked. An ugly smile had spread across his features.

Treize gave his cousin an icy look, fighting the urge to grab him by his overstuffed collar and wipe that smile off his face. "At least my marksmanship was good enough to allow me to pass the entry test for the St. Petersburg Military Academy," he replied bitingly.

Nikolai turned bright red.

"Treize, that's quite enough," Konstantin Khushrenada glared at his son. "You are excused from the table."

I never wanted to be here at the first place. Treize put his napkin down and rose. "Excuse me." He gave his mother and his aunt a polite nod and walked away.

I suppose I would have been better of spending the weekend at the academy, he thought angrily, as he left the dining room. He wanted to go somewhere where he could be alone and sulk at his hearts desire, so he decided to take a nice, long ride. It was summer after all, and the sun wouldn't set for another hour or so.

His great-uncle, an avid horse lover, owned more than two dozen of the finest mounts. Behind the mansion, not far off the main road were two stables, well actually three, but only two off them housed horses. The third building, standing somewhat apart from the others, had been restructured years earlier. Although nobody, not even the servants, were allowed near it, Treize remembered sneaking onto it once when he was little. On the inside it didn't look much like a stable anymore. The stalls had been replaced with large solid cages making it look more like an animal house in a zoo.

As Treize walked into the stable he found Franz, his uncle's head trainer, and a young stable boy, probably not much older than he, feeding the horses. Franz, who had knows Treize since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, gave him a friendly nod. "Master Treize, what a surprised. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Can you have a horse readied for me; I would like to take a ride."

"Of course, Sir," he turned toward the stable boy and ordered him to saddle a mount by the name of Majeed. "Taking a ride at this time," he then asked Treize. "I thought everybody was sitting down for dinner right now?"

"They are," Treize confirmed with a hint of sarcasm. "However, my presence, or more precisely my opinion was not welcome at the table."

###

Treize had left the stables behind him and was just about to turn into one of the smaller roads leading into the woods, when he noticed a Gentec truck coming up the main road. Assuming that the truck was delivering the prey for tomorrows hunt, the youth scowled.
Poor creature; bred and raised only to be killed, just so that some of those so called "gentlemen" within Romefeller could boast about hunting and shooting a wolf, tiger or grizzly, even though most of those animals didn't even exist anymore in the wild. Treize gave a disgusted huff and spurred on his mount.

A good half an hour later, after he had worn out the horse and himself, he headed back home. By the time they reached the stable the sun was just about to set. He dismounted and handed his mount off to the stable boy.

"Did you have a pleasant ride, Sir?"

"I did, thank you for asking," He gave the boy a friendly nod before he turned away. When he passed the building that used to be the third stable, Treize noticed with surprise that its main door stood open. Instantly his curiosity was roused. He was well aware that nobody was supposed to enter that building without his uncle's permission. But then again, an open door was pretty much the same as an open invitation, he decided.

When he cautiously entered the old stable Treize noticed that one of the cages had been unlocked. His expression darkened instantly when he recognized his cousin Nikolai standing near the door, just inside that cage. "What are you doing?" Treize barked at him. "We are not even supposed to be in here."

Nikolai turned his head and snorted sarcastically. "Keep your pants on, Treize. Come here and take a look if you dare. I think I found our little 'after dinner surprise'."

Treize swallowed a biting remark. When he stepped closer his yaw almost dropped. He had expected to see some kind of rare animal, an ocelot or wild cat perhaps, but he wasn't prepared to find a neko. He had heard of them before, seen pictures, but never in a million years would he have thought he would ever seen a real living and breathing neko. It was still a child… or was it called a cub; Treize wasn't sure, probably six or seven years old, with curly silvery-white hair and crystal blue eyes.

The little neko boy stood with it back pressed against one of the walls, eyes wide with panic. It looked like he had backed away from Nikolai, until the wall stopped him.

Treize's eyes narrowed. "Leave him be. Don't you see that you are frightening him?"

His cousin gave another snort. "Relax; will you. I just want to take a better look at him."
As he stepped closer, the neko ducked his head, laid his ears back and hissed at him. Nikolai just laughed. "You are a feisty little creature aren't you? Seems like they haven't taught you any manners yet."

"Leave him be," Treize repeated, a little more forceful this time.

"Or what?" the older youth mocked. "You're going to ran to your daddy and tell on me?" He reached out, and suddenly the neko lurched forward. Nikolai yelped as he jerked back his hand. "That vicious little beast just bit me." Before Treize could do anything his cousin slapped the neko across the face, hard enough to send him flying into the corner where he hit the wall with a sickening thump.

"You bastard." With two large steps Treize was next to his cousin, and slammed his fist into the older youth's face, knocking him off his feet.

Nikolai cried out, pressing his hand over his bleeding nose, as he stared up at Treize in disbelieve and not without a certain amount of fear.

"Get up and get out of here now," the tawny-haired boy hissed. "Or I swear I'll break more than just your nose."

Quickly Nikolai scrambled t his feet and retreated. Once he reached the door however he felt safe enough to turn around and glare at his cousin. "I swear; you are going to regret this, Treize."

Treize only shrugged. He couldn't care less at the moment. He slowly walked over to where the little neko lay crumbled on the floor. When he crouched down next to the figure he could hear a quiet and very low growl.

Treize smiled a little, somewhat relieved that the neko was awake. "You really are feisty, aren't you? But don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you," he spoke quietly. "I just want to see if you are alright."

The little neko carefully raised his head, looking at him with pure amazement in his eyes. Treize's smile widened a little, but then he noticed a little trickle of blood dribble down near the boy's left temple. "You are bleeding." He pulled a pristine white handkerchief from the pocket. When he reached out to dab away the blood, the neko recoiled. "It's alright," Treize assured him. "I'm just want to wipe away the blood so that I can see how badly you are hurt. May I?"

The neko gave a silent and somewhat timid nod.

"I'm Treize Khushrenada, by the way," the youth said, as he carefully cleaned away the blood. "Do you have a name too?"

"Zechs!"

"Zechs?" he echoed. "That's your name?"

The neko nodded again.

 "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The voice startled Treize. When he turned around he saw a tall, dark-haired man standing in the door to Zechs' cage. The man looked at him sternly.

"I'm Treize Khushrenada," Treize introduced himself as he rose. "Duke Dermail is my great-uncle. And who are you, Sir?"

"You shouldn't be here," the man replied, ignoring his question.

"I know," Treize confirmed. "I was just…Zechs got hurt, I just wanted to make sure that he was alright."

"Hurt?" the man asked as he walked over to the neko. "What did you do this time, Zechs? Can't I leave you alone for even five minutes without you getting yourself in trouble?" He sighed as he squatted down, raised Zechs' chin and examined the small cut. "It doesn't look too bad, but I'll have to clean it." He ruffled the neko's hair playfully as he rose to his feet. "I'll have to get a medical kit from the car. I'll right back. You'd better leave now," he told Treize.

The tawny-haired youth nodded, but just as he was about to walk away he felt something tugging on his pants. Surprised he glanced down and found Zechs looking back at him, pleadingly. I think he wants me to stay, he thought amazed. He doesn't want to be alone Not that I blame him.
"Can I stay with him," he asked, "Until you get back?"

The man hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded. "Fine, but I'll have to lock the door."

"That's alright," Treize agreed. He settled down on the ground next to the little neko. "Who was that?" he asked, gesturing in the direction the man had left.

"Marcus?" Zechs asked. "He takes care of me."

"I see. Do you like him?"

"He is nice."

"How old are you, Zechs, do you know?"

The neko held up seven fingers. "Seven." Suddenly he reached for Treize's left hand. It looked like the older boy's wristwatch had caught his attention.

"You like my watch?" Treize laughed. It was an expensive gold watch, which his mother had given him for his 13th birthday. He opened the clasp that held the wristband together and slipped the watch off. He was planning to hand it to Zechs, so that the neko could have a better look, but Marcus voice stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if that watch means anything to you?"

Treize looked at the man, who had just returned with a small first aid kit, questioningly.

"Zechs likes to take things apart to see what makes them tick," Marcus explained with a mirthful smile. "Unfortunately putting them back together is a lot harder than taking them apart, right Zechs?"

The neko gave them an almost sheepish grin.

The man knelt down next to Zechs and opened the medical kit. Treize was just about to ask if there was anything he could do to help, when he heard his father call for him. There was something in the duke's voice that told him that this time he was in real big trouble.

:::end Flashback:::

I suppose, in some strange and twisted way, I should be thanking my cousin for what happened that evening, Treize thought with a hint of bitterness. Because it was the last push I needed to convince me that I did not want to become like the rest of my family; that I did not want to grow up and raise a family in the same way I had been raised.

As the tawny haired man replaced the damp, cool cloth on Zechs' fever heated forehead he intentionally brushed his knuckled over the neko's ears. He smiled softly when the silver haired creature purred at the slight touch.

Later Treize had learned that Nikolai had been right about one thing, though.  Zechs was indeed the so called "after dinner surprise" everybody had been talking about. Duke Dermail had invited a scientist from Gentec, the leader of a secret project that had been founded by Romefeller for more than a decade. Young Zechs was the result of that project; the only successfully cloned neko that had not died within a few month of its birth. He was supposed to be showed off later that evening, to quiet those skeptics who had started to question the wisdom of spending so much money on a seemingly ineffective project.

After the incident Treize couldn't stop himself from thinking about the neko with the sad blue eyes. He was heartbroken when he later learned from his great-uncle that Zechs had died. But as time went on he thought less and less about their chance encounter until it almost slipped his mind completely. Two years later, after his father died in an accident, Treize left the military academy, and with his mother's blessings, transferred to a boarding school in Switzerland. When he turned eighteen he dropped the title, which he had inherited after his father's dead. As far as he was concerned, Duke Treize Khushrenada did not exist anymore.
It was also in Switzerland where he met Leia for the first time. He had been on a ski vacation with friends, showing off on the slopes to impress some ladies, when he broke his leg and ended up in a hospital where she worked as a nurse. They fell in love, married less than a year later, when Leia found out that she was pregnant, and the rest…well, the rest is history as they say.

The roar of a motorcycle engine ripped Treize from his memories. Wufei is here, finally! He rose from edge of the bed and walked out of the room to go downstairs and greet his lover.

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T.B.C.

Author's Note:  Okay, that's it. I hope you enjoy the little flashback into Treize's youth and his meeting with Zechs.

Somebody who reviewed this story mentioned that the characters are somewhat OOC. I totally agree. Part of a person's personality is formed by environment and upbringing. If you take a look at this 13 year old Treize I think you will find that he is more IC with the Treize we know from GW, and if he had stayed with his family and followed in his father's footsteps he probably would have turned out very much like the GW Treize. However since he didn't, I don't think it's very surprising that his personality as an adult turned out somewhat different.