Categories > Anime/Manga > Gundam Wing > Akuryou
-=-=-=-
Duo shifted on the hard, wooden bench, once again trying (and failing) to find a position that relieved the numbness in his nether regions. After only half an hour, he was truly considering letting his yami loose on the stupid piece of crap. He restrained himself, however. Doing so would probably scare away his newfound demolitions buddy, and the L2 pilot didn't want to do that. Non-pilot friends were rare, especially ones that shared your interests.
/I like him, too./ Shin said quietly from his soul room.
Duo frowned at his yami's unwonted seriousness. Why do I feel a 'but' coming on? Shin, what's wrong?
/I'm... not sure. It's just that, well... he feels familiar. This entire place does. And I don't know why./
Familiar? What do you mean? We've never been here before.
/I know. It's... kinda like that mission we had in Egypt with Q-ball. The one where I kept recognizing landmarks./
I still don't know how you could tell the difference between two sand dunes.
/Came in handy when we crashed, though, didn't it?/
Duo snorted. True enough, I suppose. Recalling the reason for their conversation, he sobered. Do you think there might be a problem?
Shin shook his head. /No, not yet, at least. Just... be careful around him. Please?/
His hikari's eyes widened. You, telling me to be careful? Excuse me for a second, I've got to go book our skiing trip to Hell.
/Oh, shut-/
"Mr. Shiraga, Mr. Maxwell. Principal Teinousha will see you now."
Duo rose, groaning at the stiffness in his legs. He and Bakura shared a wince of discomfort, before following the secretary through the door.
-=-=-=-
Principal Teinousha was a large, rather portly gentleman, with a red face and a condescending smile that showed he was well pleased with his place in the world. Right now, however, he was frowning at the two boys sitting before him, a look of disappointment clear on his pudgy features.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Shiraga. I understand that it is the two of you that we have to thank for the excitement this morning. I hope you realize that that little stunt of yours could have seriously injured or even killed some of your fellow students? And the /cost/! Do you have any idea what it will take to replace all that equipment? I have half a mind to-"
"Actually, sir, that wasn't exactly our fault," Duo broke in with a smile from his seat next to the former spirit. "Y'see, absolutely nothing would have happened if the teacher hadn't dropped that test tube, and-"
"Be that as it may, Mr. Maxwell, you should not under any circumstances have been creating potentially hazardous compounds without permission and strict supervision!" He paused, taking a deep breath as he glanced down and shuffled a few papers. "Now, as to your punishments. We understand that this is your first year at our fine facility, and that moving to a new school can be a bit upsetting, so we have decided to be lenient. This once only. Both of you will be temporarily suspended; three days, I believe will be sufficient. Now, I will have Ms. Sanji," he nodded to the secretary, "call your parents and have them pick you up."
"Don't have any."
The principal looked up. "Pardon?"
Duo frowned at him. "Parents. Don't have any, never have."
"And mine have been dead for years," Bakura chimed in. "So you would have some difficulty in trying to contact them." He cocked his head to the side. "Unless you happen to own an Ouija board?"
"Well, I- no- we-," Teinousha spluttered awkwardly. Taking a deep breath, he continued, nonplussed. "We'll just have to call your guardians, then. I presume you have some?" He raised an eyebrow, looking relieved when Bakura nodded.
Then Duo shook his head, smirking. "Ward of the Colonies, sir. I'm out here staying with friends."
"I... I see. Are any of these friends adults?" He received another headshake.
Bakura was about to offer the other boy a ride when Duo apparently took pity on the flummoxed administrator. "Don't worry, sir, I'm sure I can get home without any trouble. Would it help if I promised not to accidentally blow anything else up?" Seeing the torn look on the man's face, seemingly between his duty and the longing to get them out of his hair, Duo scowled. "I always keep my promises, sir. Always."
Bakura narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, remembering the way the American had introduced himself earlier. He couldn't help but wonder how that had come about, but he could sense there was no point in asking. At least, not yet.
"Well, I suppose I can trust you to return home safely. However, if I hear anything, anything at all about you causing trouble again, you will be out of this school before you can say 'boom'. Is that clear, Mr. Maxwell?"
"Yes, sir," Duo replied calmly. Bakura was sure he was the only one who saw the mocking light in his eyes.
"All right, then. If you will be on your way, Mr. Maxwell. And Mr. Shiraga, if you will accompany Ms. Sanji?"
Wincing at his impending doom, Bakura walked out of the office, nodding gratefully at Duo's sympathetic glance as the teen fled the building.
-=-=-=-
An hour later Duo was still trying to find his way through the maze of streets known as Domino City. He paused, leaning against the wall of an apartment building to catch his breath.
/Y'know,/ Shin commented, looking out at the street through Duo's eyes, /I can't help but think we've been here before./
That's because we have. /Three times/.
/Oh. Maybe we should ask for directions?/
Shin. We're teenage Gundam pilots, the super-terrorists of the skies, the scourge of the space ways. We do /not need directions./
/'Pride goeth before the fall.'/ Shin grimaced at his hikari's flinch. /I'm sorry, Duo, I didn't mean-/
I know. Duo cut him off. Look, let's just get home, all right? He started walking again.
/I think it's that way./
Duo looked down the alley his yami was pointing at. Filthy, damp, and full of shadows. Basically, your average big-city alleyway. Y'sure?
/No, but it goes in the right direction, at least./
He sighed, and against his better judgement strode in.
-=-=-=-
Shin glanced around, troubled. The alley had turned out to be longer than they thought it was, and the yami could swear he felt someone watching. He knew he wasn't alone, either, feeling how skittish his hikari was.
Suddenly a drawling voice came from behind them. "Well, well, what do we have here?"
Duo didn't flinch, having been subconsciously expecting something to happen for quite some time. "Someone you really oughtn't mess with," he said, turning. "In the interests of your own health, of course."
Standing behind him were five men, the apparent spokesman seemingly disappointed at his lack of reaction.
"Waddaya know, it don't just look pretty, it talks!" he blustered, trying to save face. "Got a good tongue to it, too. Talkin' all fancy like that." He glanced past Duo, and the pair realized more goons must have moved in behind them. "Let's have some fun with 'im, shall we?"
Duo pulled his knife as the thugs advanced. Shin? Any suggestions?
/Kill them?/
Sounds good to me.
With this, Duo rushed the closest goon in front of him, bringing up his knife in a backhand slash that took it through the man's throat. Averting his eyes from the sudden spray of blood, he spun, ducking under a second's arms and thrusting the blade between his ribs.
He attempted to twist away and take out a third, but was halted as the knife grated harshly and stuck.
Oh, shit!
Weaponless, Duo didn't stand a chance as the thugs closed in, enraged at the deaths of their companions. Shin was forced to watch helplessly as first one, then more began to pummel his hikari, though not without taking damage as Duo fought back with hands, feet and teeth.
Snapping, Shin tried to wrest control of their body, hoping to spare his partner at least some of the pain. He crashed back into his soul room as Duo threw him out, refusing to let him be hurt.
The yami knew that if the beating wasn't stopped, then Duo would die. His partner, the other half of his soul, would die. Shin couldn't allow that, so he turned to the last chance he had. He sent a plea towards the odd, golden scepter that Duo had found all those years ago in that shop on L2, the scepter that had, as far as they could determine, created him. He called to it, begging it for aid from where it hung, shrunken and hidden around his light's neck.
There was no answer, and he almost collapsed in despair, tears streaming down his face. Hearing Duo cry out in pain, he screamed.
/HELP ME SAVE HIM, DAMN IT!!/
And the Rod awoke.
Shin cried out as he felt power flood through him, filling him like water fills a cup, until all he could feel was the power. Then it was too much. The power began to overflow, and something inside of him tore.
-=-=-=-
The men were crammed together, each trying to land a blow on the brat who had dared to kill two of their number. They didn't care that he had been unconscious for over a minute, of course. Just so long as they could literally get their vengeful kicks in.
They did notice, however, when a flare of light bright as a flashbulb came from around the brat's neck. They noticed the answering light that came from behind them, and that lasted much longer.
And when they turned, they most definitely noticed the boy behind them, the boy with glowing red eyes and fangs, the boy who otherwise looked just like the one they were beating up.
Shin looked at them and smiled. This was going to be fun.
No one hurt his hikari.
-=-=-=-
The first thing Duo noticed was the smell, the sharp, coppery tang of blood, so thick he could practically taste it. In fact- he worked his tongue around his mouth- he could taste it. Yuck.
Warily, Duo opened his eyes and had to suppress a wave of nausea at what he saw. He had been right about the blood; everything in his (admittedly limited) line of sight was covered in it. That included the arm lying on the ground in front of him, the index finger on its hand still twitching fitfully.
Retching, the braided teen tried to get up, tried being the operative word. He collapsed back to the ground, narrowly missing the severed limb.
-blood was everywhere, turning the nice white walls of the home into an abattoir. Beneath him, lying on the saturated carpet was the head of a young boy, forcefully torn from its owner's shoulders, forever gazing upwards in a silent scream.
Three more bodies lay further in the room, nearly unrecognizable beneath their crimson coating, but he knew what they were- a man, a woman, and another small child.
Stunned, he glanced up and stopped, transfixed, gazing into a mirror hanging on the wall. A stunted ten-year-old stared back, eyes wide and blank, their violet color even more pronounced than usual. The rest of his face was lost in a gory mask.
You, who are... you're Death. You're Shinigami...
"Duo? Duo, are you all right?"
Duo shook himself, throwing off the remains of the flashback. "Yeah, Shin, I'm... well, I hurt too much to be fine, but..." He stopped, eyes widening. Slowly, he turned, and looked up, up into a pair of scarlet eyes.
"Shin?!"
Duo shifted on the hard, wooden bench, once again trying (and failing) to find a position that relieved the numbness in his nether regions. After only half an hour, he was truly considering letting his yami loose on the stupid piece of crap. He restrained himself, however. Doing so would probably scare away his newfound demolitions buddy, and the L2 pilot didn't want to do that. Non-pilot friends were rare, especially ones that shared your interests.
/I like him, too./ Shin said quietly from his soul room.
Duo frowned at his yami's unwonted seriousness. Why do I feel a 'but' coming on? Shin, what's wrong?
/I'm... not sure. It's just that, well... he feels familiar. This entire place does. And I don't know why./
Familiar? What do you mean? We've never been here before.
/I know. It's... kinda like that mission we had in Egypt with Q-ball. The one where I kept recognizing landmarks./
I still don't know how you could tell the difference between two sand dunes.
/Came in handy when we crashed, though, didn't it?/
Duo snorted. True enough, I suppose. Recalling the reason for their conversation, he sobered. Do you think there might be a problem?
Shin shook his head. /No, not yet, at least. Just... be careful around him. Please?/
His hikari's eyes widened. You, telling me to be careful? Excuse me for a second, I've got to go book our skiing trip to Hell.
/Oh, shut-/
"Mr. Shiraga, Mr. Maxwell. Principal Teinousha will see you now."
Duo rose, groaning at the stiffness in his legs. He and Bakura shared a wince of discomfort, before following the secretary through the door.
-=-=-=-
Principal Teinousha was a large, rather portly gentleman, with a red face and a condescending smile that showed he was well pleased with his place in the world. Right now, however, he was frowning at the two boys sitting before him, a look of disappointment clear on his pudgy features.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Shiraga. I understand that it is the two of you that we have to thank for the excitement this morning. I hope you realize that that little stunt of yours could have seriously injured or even killed some of your fellow students? And the /cost/! Do you have any idea what it will take to replace all that equipment? I have half a mind to-"
"Actually, sir, that wasn't exactly our fault," Duo broke in with a smile from his seat next to the former spirit. "Y'see, absolutely nothing would have happened if the teacher hadn't dropped that test tube, and-"
"Be that as it may, Mr. Maxwell, you should not under any circumstances have been creating potentially hazardous compounds without permission and strict supervision!" He paused, taking a deep breath as he glanced down and shuffled a few papers. "Now, as to your punishments. We understand that this is your first year at our fine facility, and that moving to a new school can be a bit upsetting, so we have decided to be lenient. This once only. Both of you will be temporarily suspended; three days, I believe will be sufficient. Now, I will have Ms. Sanji," he nodded to the secretary, "call your parents and have them pick you up."
"Don't have any."
The principal looked up. "Pardon?"
Duo frowned at him. "Parents. Don't have any, never have."
"And mine have been dead for years," Bakura chimed in. "So you would have some difficulty in trying to contact them." He cocked his head to the side. "Unless you happen to own an Ouija board?"
"Well, I- no- we-," Teinousha spluttered awkwardly. Taking a deep breath, he continued, nonplussed. "We'll just have to call your guardians, then. I presume you have some?" He raised an eyebrow, looking relieved when Bakura nodded.
Then Duo shook his head, smirking. "Ward of the Colonies, sir. I'm out here staying with friends."
"I... I see. Are any of these friends adults?" He received another headshake.
Bakura was about to offer the other boy a ride when Duo apparently took pity on the flummoxed administrator. "Don't worry, sir, I'm sure I can get home without any trouble. Would it help if I promised not to accidentally blow anything else up?" Seeing the torn look on the man's face, seemingly between his duty and the longing to get them out of his hair, Duo scowled. "I always keep my promises, sir. Always."
Bakura narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, remembering the way the American had introduced himself earlier. He couldn't help but wonder how that had come about, but he could sense there was no point in asking. At least, not yet.
"Well, I suppose I can trust you to return home safely. However, if I hear anything, anything at all about you causing trouble again, you will be out of this school before you can say 'boom'. Is that clear, Mr. Maxwell?"
"Yes, sir," Duo replied calmly. Bakura was sure he was the only one who saw the mocking light in his eyes.
"All right, then. If you will be on your way, Mr. Maxwell. And Mr. Shiraga, if you will accompany Ms. Sanji?"
Wincing at his impending doom, Bakura walked out of the office, nodding gratefully at Duo's sympathetic glance as the teen fled the building.
-=-=-=-
An hour later Duo was still trying to find his way through the maze of streets known as Domino City. He paused, leaning against the wall of an apartment building to catch his breath.
/Y'know,/ Shin commented, looking out at the street through Duo's eyes, /I can't help but think we've been here before./
That's because we have. /Three times/.
/Oh. Maybe we should ask for directions?/
Shin. We're teenage Gundam pilots, the super-terrorists of the skies, the scourge of the space ways. We do /not need directions./
/'Pride goeth before the fall.'/ Shin grimaced at his hikari's flinch. /I'm sorry, Duo, I didn't mean-/
I know. Duo cut him off. Look, let's just get home, all right? He started walking again.
/I think it's that way./
Duo looked down the alley his yami was pointing at. Filthy, damp, and full of shadows. Basically, your average big-city alleyway. Y'sure?
/No, but it goes in the right direction, at least./
He sighed, and against his better judgement strode in.
-=-=-=-
Shin glanced around, troubled. The alley had turned out to be longer than they thought it was, and the yami could swear he felt someone watching. He knew he wasn't alone, either, feeling how skittish his hikari was.
Suddenly a drawling voice came from behind them. "Well, well, what do we have here?"
Duo didn't flinch, having been subconsciously expecting something to happen for quite some time. "Someone you really oughtn't mess with," he said, turning. "In the interests of your own health, of course."
Standing behind him were five men, the apparent spokesman seemingly disappointed at his lack of reaction.
"Waddaya know, it don't just look pretty, it talks!" he blustered, trying to save face. "Got a good tongue to it, too. Talkin' all fancy like that." He glanced past Duo, and the pair realized more goons must have moved in behind them. "Let's have some fun with 'im, shall we?"
Duo pulled his knife as the thugs advanced. Shin? Any suggestions?
/Kill them?/
Sounds good to me.
With this, Duo rushed the closest goon in front of him, bringing up his knife in a backhand slash that took it through the man's throat. Averting his eyes from the sudden spray of blood, he spun, ducking under a second's arms and thrusting the blade between his ribs.
He attempted to twist away and take out a third, but was halted as the knife grated harshly and stuck.
Oh, shit!
Weaponless, Duo didn't stand a chance as the thugs closed in, enraged at the deaths of their companions. Shin was forced to watch helplessly as first one, then more began to pummel his hikari, though not without taking damage as Duo fought back with hands, feet and teeth.
Snapping, Shin tried to wrest control of their body, hoping to spare his partner at least some of the pain. He crashed back into his soul room as Duo threw him out, refusing to let him be hurt.
The yami knew that if the beating wasn't stopped, then Duo would die. His partner, the other half of his soul, would die. Shin couldn't allow that, so he turned to the last chance he had. He sent a plea towards the odd, golden scepter that Duo had found all those years ago in that shop on L2, the scepter that had, as far as they could determine, created him. He called to it, begging it for aid from where it hung, shrunken and hidden around his light's neck.
There was no answer, and he almost collapsed in despair, tears streaming down his face. Hearing Duo cry out in pain, he screamed.
/HELP ME SAVE HIM, DAMN IT!!/
And the Rod awoke.
Shin cried out as he felt power flood through him, filling him like water fills a cup, until all he could feel was the power. Then it was too much. The power began to overflow, and something inside of him tore.
-=-=-=-
The men were crammed together, each trying to land a blow on the brat who had dared to kill two of their number. They didn't care that he had been unconscious for over a minute, of course. Just so long as they could literally get their vengeful kicks in.
They did notice, however, when a flare of light bright as a flashbulb came from around the brat's neck. They noticed the answering light that came from behind them, and that lasted much longer.
And when they turned, they most definitely noticed the boy behind them, the boy with glowing red eyes and fangs, the boy who otherwise looked just like the one they were beating up.
Shin looked at them and smiled. This was going to be fun.
No one hurt his hikari.
-=-=-=-
The first thing Duo noticed was the smell, the sharp, coppery tang of blood, so thick he could practically taste it. In fact- he worked his tongue around his mouth- he could taste it. Yuck.
Warily, Duo opened his eyes and had to suppress a wave of nausea at what he saw. He had been right about the blood; everything in his (admittedly limited) line of sight was covered in it. That included the arm lying on the ground in front of him, the index finger on its hand still twitching fitfully.
Retching, the braided teen tried to get up, tried being the operative word. He collapsed back to the ground, narrowly missing the severed limb.
-blood was everywhere, turning the nice white walls of the home into an abattoir. Beneath him, lying on the saturated carpet was the head of a young boy, forcefully torn from its owner's shoulders, forever gazing upwards in a silent scream.
Three more bodies lay further in the room, nearly unrecognizable beneath their crimson coating, but he knew what they were- a man, a woman, and another small child.
Stunned, he glanced up and stopped, transfixed, gazing into a mirror hanging on the wall. A stunted ten-year-old stared back, eyes wide and blank, their violet color even more pronounced than usual. The rest of his face was lost in a gory mask.
You, who are... you're Death. You're Shinigami...
"Duo? Duo, are you all right?"
Duo shook himself, throwing off the remains of the flashback. "Yeah, Shin, I'm... well, I hurt too much to be fine, but..." He stopped, eyes widening. Slowly, he turned, and looked up, up into a pair of scarlet eyes.
"Shin?!"
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