Burning the Cypress Tree
By Nezumi
Chapter One: Pick-pocket
The first time he saw her it was from afar. She stood out like the sore
thumb she in the Sank Kingdom. After all, you didn't see people with the
eyes of a golden dragon, hair as dark as midnight, and attitude to match
a kamikaze pilot everyday in a school full of noble ranking pricks. But then
he was gone again on a mission of an objective that wished to remain anonymous.
He hadn't remembered her, seeing no need for it; she was just another girl.
The next time he saw her, she was threatening him, indirectly. In fact, a normal person wouldn't have noticed their money was being taken from them, but he was 'The Perfect Soldier'. How could he forget? It had been drilled into his so many painstaking times, not just in the war either. It had been impressed upon him very early in his life that he had the ability to be a perfect soldier and was expected to fulfill that duty.
He turned around drearily to stare at her, considering he was not too thrilled about being robbed. He could hardly pay his rent as it was, and he was sure being pickpocket wouldn't help. Her eyes grew wide in surprise for a moment; then, like a person with common sense did when they were caught, turned and ran like the Devil himself was after her. The dark Indigo hair had long past been neglected, he noted to himself silently, as she glanced back to check his following distance. He placed her face. He knew her. No one could forget those golden eyes.
She was running against the flow of Japan's crowds, clearing an easy path for him to follow. The normal people of the world watched the chase, stunned. Could anybody run that fast without being a god? Glancing behind her, she yelled curse, and did something unnatural. Jumping onto the hood of a car as if it were like jumping up onto a curb, she disappeared on the other side and he pursued. "Why won't you stop chasing me?" she hissed irately to herself more than to him, leaping onto the roof of a truck and swinging to a pole above a shop, his money was stuffed hastily into her back pocket. Growling she mumbled, "This'll lose 'im."
Once she swung onto the roof of the building, she let out a breath. Swirling around, she fully expected to see him on the ground, breathless, wondering where she had gone. But she caught her breath, she was eye to eye with Heero Yuy the Second. Her hand with the money clasped inside went to throw it off the building, but he grabbed it instead of letting such a thing happen. That was hard earned-- well, plundered money from hacking. "Pick pocketing people?" he asked with the gun smack dab in the middle of her forehead.
Her surprisingly calm gold eyes were almost startling, "Look down," she demanded and he glanced an eye down. A gun was pressed against his gut. "You just stole my gun," she said monotonously, her eyebrow cocked in obvious amusement that he had been able to complete such a task.
"You attempted to steal my cash," he replied blankly.
"Fuck you," she said suddenly punching him with unexpected force and kicked the gun out of his hand. With in the matter of a millisecond, she stuffed one gun in the front of her jeans, the other in the back, and dropped off the roof.
"Hn," Heero said to no one. But who else was there to talk to in this world? Not even Duo knew what it was like to have so many chemicals in your body that you weren't human... He didn't know what it was like to be conscious of being superior to all humans. No one did. Heero was alone. Completely alone.
.*.
Plopping down on the couch of an apartment building, Heero Yuy former pilot of Wing Zero, flipped on the television. Nothing ever seemed to happen anymore, all the excitement of life had ended.
"Police are looking for..." He switched the channel. He didn't need to hear about all these goddamn politics. He heard enough about it from Relena whenever he popped in. He had fought their wars, he didn't need to hear about their new problems. He didn't want it. Any of it.
"Tonight this outcast and escapee of the Universal Security System's Class 4 Prison is suspected..." He pushed another button.
"The Preventor's most wanted criminal for the year is..." Heero sighed deciding it was useless. What else could he do anyway? He had three channels and all three had the news on. The only thing that interested him about this criminal of what she'd done to get in so deep with the Preventors. Sally, Wufei, and Lady Une kept security in this galaxy tight. Real tight. She was good to have escaped Class 4... He decided to keep watching. "...no one is quite sure of her real name, but she goes by the name Smoke. Her eyes are gold and she has dark blue hair. She's robbed the most securest of banks in the Colonies and Earth..." Yup, that was it. Be as general as you can...
There was a ring at the door and, sighing, Heero opened it. "Barf's Automotive, you wanted us to knockdown your... Heero?!"
"What?" he demanded jerking open the door the entire way as a gun dropped from the position pointing to his head. "Why is everybody trying to rob me today?" he asked Duo unamused at his friend's little antic.
"Hey, man, how's it going? I was beginning to think me 'n the guys wouldn't see ya again," Duo stuck his hand out in, as he always was toward Heero, a friendly gesture.
"And I thought my day was at its abysmal low," Heero muttered, letting Duo enter the new place he called home.
"Nice pad, mine's even more of a dump if that's any comfort," Duo's head darted around, observing what he could. Unlike Heero he did not have a computer, but then again, what good was a computer hacker without a computer? Then again, Duo was in the mechanic business so he had a few computers, but not a personal one-- just stuff for putting an illegal MS together or something. Kicking some empty wired shells off the couch that could easily pass for bombs, he made room for his former comrade to sit down. "So that's probably what you use the kitchen for huh? Bombs?" Duo asked grinning.
"Yeah," Heero said without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Duo gulped. He really shouldn't have asked.
"Would you care what Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei are up to?" Duo asked dubiously waiting to be thrown out when he got too annoying. Heero had a habit of doing that to him. But, personally, Duo didn't care. After all, Heero's only problem was that he didn't fit in, but who really did? So what Heero really was different, no one could tell unless you knew how he acted.
But to Duo's surprise, Heero did reply, and it wasn't negative. "Yes."
"Oh," Duo sat upright from being sprawled on the couch looking at Heero's cracking ceiling. "Quatre's fixing up L4 Cluster, Wufei's working for Preventors, and Trowa's still clowning around with Catherine. What's really rich is I heard Quatre's got himself a chick... sorta... Somebody from Ruzzoi. Ya ever been?"
"No," Heero stated flatly. He'd heard about the Ruzzoi Kingdom and he intended to avoid it and its inhabitants for as long as possible. It surprised him Quatre would actually sit at the same table as someone from there. "Still pranking people?" He leaned back in his chair more at ease than usual. Today was just a plain tough day, and somewhat amusing... not that there was anything in life to be amused about anymore.
Duo just shrugged, as if it was nothing, "I gotta get my entertainment somehow huh?" In fact, it was one of the only things that seemed to amuse him anymore... and get him enough money to live. Entertainment of quality was impossible to find in this solar system and so was work for a forgotten soldier. He supposed Heero was having an even harder time. At least Duo had been slightly educated outside of the hardships of war.
"Do you remember any chick with gold eyes from school," Heero inquired of the other pilot. "Or am I just crazy?"
"Yes for both questions. Well," Duo scratched his head. "She was registered as Smoke, but that wasn't her real name. You could so tell; she was there for a couple months I think. Always got in trouble. I saw her in detention a lot. She always had a pissy attitude for a pacifist and blew my attempts to be friendly off numerous times; if you cared." Heero snorted Duo was always friendly towards girls, the ladies man... Or so he liked to think of himself as... "But you are crazy too. Plus, she couldn't get out of prison. She's in Class 4 Plus-- I guarantee it, that chick was nuttier than a fruitcake."
Kinda like us, Heero though calculating, "No, she's a fugitive and half mad from starvation," Heero said sitting forward in his chair again, squinting as his chocolate brown hair fell into his face, trying to figure the day out. It wasn't like him to try and figure things out that had almost nothing to do with him, but her eyes were haunting. It wasn't the gold. It was the monotony they existed in. "She tried to jack my money today."
"You're kidding me."
"No."
.-*-.
A.N. Review, please, please, please! You like the story line so far? And the new character! And yes, this will be a Mary Sue major because new characters are better if they challenge the old ones. ^.^
History Lesson: *so all you newbies compared to ME don't freak out about this fic*: My original s/n was Kayura and/or Kayura Yuy. I posted loads and loads of fanfics here and other places before you probably ever watched Gundam Wing... As in I loved Gundam Wing BEFORE they put it on Cartoon Network and edited the good stuff out. . I went through anime crisis 6 months to a year ago and deleted every anime thing I'd written off this site and others. *It was the whole teenage phase about fitting in... they suck.* So! At any rate, I'm editing but not all of this stuff might be as accurate as I know now. 'kay? But comment anyway, because I loved getting bitched at! ^.- And I can fix it later after posting. ^___^ Just don't call me a newbie or you will know why my nickname is Lady Kayura. *laughs evilly* The possessed Lady Kayura. ^.^
P.S. Okay, I don't care what ff.net says, I'm putting this on here
anyway: CHALLENGE! *yay!* I challenge you peeps to write a romance fic w/
Heero and Lady Une. It shouldn't be that hard... I'm working on one right
now! But yes, e-mail me your
