Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Whispers in the Dark ❯ Calm Before the Storm ( Prologue )

Hisoka fiddled with his teacup as his thoughts raced through the events that had passed in Kyoto. Tsuzuki was up and out of his hospital bed. In fact, he as back at work along side Hisoka, his ever-present sweet tooth and carefree mask firmly in place. Hisoka knew those smiles and jokes were false. You couldn't fool the green-eyed empath, especially since he spent so much time with Tsuzuki, both before and after the Kyoto incident. He knew the others had seen the change in those eyes. Tsuzuki wasn't the same, and probably never would be, but no one brought it up. Hisoka knew it was because they were afraid. They were afraid to give up the image they had of Tsuzuki. Surely, Tsuzuki was still blaming himself for everything.

 

The two Shinigami had recently come back from a job, and an easy one at that. A young girl's soul had gotten turned around on its journey to the afterlife. She had been easy enough to find. The girl, realizing she didn't know where to go, had returned to a park she had frequented with her family. Hisoka had tried his best to console the girl, and explain to her that she must leave with them, but he was far from good with children, and he had very little patience. Just as the cloud of frustration crept into his emerald green eyes, Tsuzuki had stepped in, speaking softly and offering a warm smile. The girl had given in; the blonde couldn't imagine she'd do otherwise when faced with those warm and generous violet orbs. He had insisted they celebrate the speed of their work with sugary sweets, of course, which Hisoka had objected to. His arguments were only half-hearted, and in the end, Tsuzuki had won out.

 

The rippling of his tea had proven to be hypnotic as Hisoka gazed intently into his cup. A flash of memory seemed to shimmer on the surface and echo through his heart.

 

||Hisoka threw himself into Tsuzuki's arms as the fire licked at their clothes. Those violet eyes were so blank and lifeless. He couldn't bear to look at them as hot tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Tsuzuki! Tsuzuki, you have to snap out of it! You have to live! Please! If only for me, you have to live! Live for me, Tsuzuki!”||

 

Why had he said such a thing? What had he meant by such a thing? Did he want Tsuzuki to live for him because he was his partner, his friend? Or was there something else? The empath was always working so hard to keep the emotions that whirled through is mind at bay, but he had never stopped to sort out whose feelings were whose. What feelings were his? Hisoka sighed as the warm breeze of Meifu slipped through his hair, throwing the blonde locks about lightly.

 

“…Don't you think so, Hisoka?” The rich voice of Watari snapped Hisoka's mind back to the present, where he sat at a small round glass table under the cherry blossoms with Tatsumi, Watari, and Tsuzuki.

 

“Wha… What?” Hisoka blinked, trying desperately to remember what they had been talking about.

 

Tatsumi, who had been coaxed away from his desk to join the others for lunch, arched a dark brown eyebrow. It was unlike Hisoka to daze like that. Perhaps he wasn't feeling well?

 

“I said, it's been ungodly quiet, don't you think so, Hisoka?” Watari repeated.

“Oh. Oh, yes. Though, I've heard that such quiet happens around here every so often. Is that true?” Hisoka pulled himself right back into the conversation, saving his thoughts for when he was home.

 

“Only when there's about to be trouble. The quiet had always been the calm before the storm,” Tatsumi added.

 

The conversation fell silent. They all knew that Muraki had survived the fire that ripped through his lab, although it seemed an impossible feat. The dim glow and throb of those horrific scars had been proof of that. Hisoka was not yet free of his murderer. If the silence was the calm before the storm, then they knew the storm's creator would be Muraki.

 

~*~*~

 

Duo reached his hands up clasped them together before tilting them backwards, effectively stretching his achy back. A pop or two was heard as his vertebrae cracked, relieving some of the tension that had been building up all month. Duo sighed as he lowered his arms back down to his keyboard, the sleeves of his Preventers' uniform rolled up to just above the elbow. His fingers were held, suspended over the keyboard as he let out another sigh, angling it to blow his now too long bangs away from his eyes as he glanced across the office. His eyes narrowed as an endless clicking of keys continued on. `I swear, he'd keep typing on even if the building was burning and collapsing around him. God forbid he gets his damn mission statements in two seconds late,' Duo thought as he let his soft glare rest on his partner, Heero Yuy.

 

“Heero, why don't we go take a break. We've been hitting this case non-stop for a month. We haven't gotten anywhere…”

 

“Go ahead. Take a break,” was Heero's clipped reply. He obviously wasn't going to join Duo. Heero scowled at his pristine flat panel monitor as he hacked through files and organization mainframes, try to do something, anything that would help them close this case.

 

Duo sighed, “Ya know, even you need to take a break every so often. Refuel the machine, ne?” A signature `Hn' was Heero's only reply.

 

“Fine, be a workaholic bastard. I'm going to get a soda and something to eat,” Duo muttered, though Heero heard it quite clearly, as he stood, kicked the wheeled chair back, and shuffled out of the room. He made sure the door was shut, letting any passers by know not to bother the inhabitants of that particular office. `The psycho would probably shoot the first person to enter that room with any agenda that didn't deal with the current case we're running.'

 

Boots scuffed the cream colored expensively tiled floors as he made his way down a flight of stairs to the lounge. Duo found his thoughts wandering. It had been eight years since the ends of the Eve Wars. They had all matured physically, being adults in mind long before the wars. The five Gundam pilots were all 24 and had found their little niches in life. Quatre was a politician, not surprisingly, and Trowa had returned to the L3 circus that had become his home. Wufei, Heero, and Duo has all chosen to be a part of the Preventers, though at different times and for different reasons. Wufei had joined immediately after the last Eve War, most likely to make up for his actions, though none of the other pilots blamed him for the decision he had made. Heero had been Relena's head of security for three years until he found her staff adequately trained. He must have found being a bodyguard to be dull, because Duo could tell that he was thrilled to be back in the field, deep in the action.

 

Duo had only joined the Preventers three years ago. He had vowed to do something good in the memory of Father Maxwell and Sister Helen before settling into a routine lifestyle. He had kept that vow, overseeing the rebuilding of the Maxwell Church and Orphanage. The Sweepers had helped salvage what was left of the ruins, using as much original materials as possible. Many people had given money to found the project, including Quatre, who was responsible for over half of the funding. The act had touched Duo and had sparked the government to give a contribution as well. Relena had also given money, to not only the Church, but the L2 Shelters as well.

 

Duo sighed, being the only one wandering around the break room at this time of day left the room ghastly quiet. He hated the quiet. It left him alone with his thoughts. He took to his old habit of fingering his cross as he stared at the vending machines. His mind wandered to the current mission and his partner. They had been sent undercover three times to gather information on a huge gun smuggling and drug ring on Earth, but they had gotten little to nothing and what they had gotten only proved to be confusing and had them asking even more questions. If Duo had believed in demons he would have pegged one to be involved in this whole thing.

 

An arm reached over Duo's shoulder, slipping creds into the vending machine and pressing the button for its desired snack. Duo's eyes flashed wide and he whipped to the side; spinning around, gun half out of its holster. The other Preventers had all learned never to sneak up on an Ex-Gundam pilot, even now, after eight years. Duo had his gun drawn and set between the intruder's eyes in a fraction of a second, but slowly he lowered his weapon. The “intruder” was the new on-site doctor, Muraki. Duo sighed, closing his eyes in relief as he holstered the gun.

 

“Gees, man! Give a guy a heart attack, why don't cha!”

 

A smile slinked across Dr. Muraki's face, “Sorry, Agent Maxwell. I called your name, but you seemed to be lost in thought. Your case got you stressed? Too much stress isn't healthy, you know, even for a guy like you.”

 

“A guy like me, eh?” Duo smiled, “Then you know you shouldn't sneak up on a guy like me. I have a reputation as the stealthy Shinigami, ya know.”

 

“I've heard,” Muraki smirked, `With those violet eyes and chestnut hair, I could surely believe he were Tsuzuki himself reborn.'