Title: Maybe She Was God
Author: GrapeSmshr
Rated: PG-13
Updated on: June 8, 2007
Disclaimer: As much as I wish it were so, these charas don't belong to me.
A/N: Look at that, took me less than a year to update! Bonus star to me, right? Just keep that in mind as you read this chapter… I'm anticipating some adverse reactions… But I won't say any more. Just read on (and enjoy--maybe).
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Chapter 49: Fall
He didn't know how long he had been standing in her room. It could have been twenty seconds or even twenty minutes. But Hiiro was rooted to the spot, frozen by Usagi's outburst and the stinging truth. He couldn't lie to himself. He was scared.
And now he just stupidly alienated the one person whom he actually wanted to be around. The best course of action at this point was to apologize, to plead his case. Maybe she wouldn't be too angry with him. She was aware of his personality and the way he interacted with other people, as in he usually ignored or threatened them. So obviously these intense feelings he was having toward her would cause him to--for lack of a better phrase--freak out.
Maybe by now the guys have calmed her down some. With slight hope and much trepidation, Hiiro made his way downstairs. He was surprised to find the guys waiting for him--without Usagi.
"So, how is she?" Duo asked immediately, standing up.
If she wasn't here, then where was she?
He didn't have long to ponder the answer because the front door burst open at that moment, followed by a shout of, "Where the hell is everyone?!"
The all scrambled out of the room, stopping short when they ran into Milliardo, who had an unconscious Usagi cradled in his arms.
The lightning count fixed them with a steely gaze. "Can someone tell me why Usagi was lying unconscious in the middle of the road?" he asked with a deadly calm. When no one answered or dared to move, he shouted, "Is this how you guard her? Out of my way!" He shoved past the guys and delicately laid Usagi on the sofa.
Quatre hurried to her side. He checked her pulse, drawing in a sharp breath and removing his fingers to take a closer look at her neck. "Puncture mark," he reported to the others with a grim frown.
"Not again," Duo muttered, stricken with the turn of events. How much more could the poor woman take? How much more could they take? And why was she out in the street, especially with on one knowing she was out there? He turned an accusatory glare at Hiiro. "Why was she alone?"
Hiiro knew the real question. What did you do to her? But he'd be damned if he told the others about the conversation he had shared with Usagi. All eyes were on him now. Giving away nothing, he asked Quatre, "How is she?"
Giving him a scrutinizing look, Quatre finally turned away as he said, "I'm not sure. We should get her checked out."
"You heard him!" Wufei barked, already heading out the door.
They all filed silently out, Usagi being held protectively by Milliardo.
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Eyes opened slowly, only to screw shut at the bright light. There was a dull pain in her head; it felt like it had been there for days. She swallowed thickly, almost gagging at the stale, bitter taste in the back of her throat.
Deciding to brave the light, she opened her eyes slowly and scanned the room. There really weren't any clues to explain where she was. The nondescript furnishings looked like they could belong to any guest bedroom. The only thing out of place was a heart monitor and IV stand. For the first time she noticed a needle taped into the back of her hand. She swiftly pulled it out, wincing only slightly as it ripped from her flesh.
Almost immediately a doctor entered the room. He took one glance at her hand and rushed over, gently cleaning her marred flesh with a damp cloth. "This IV needs to stay in so it can flush out the toxins in your body," he told her kindly. "May I put it back in?" After a moment's hesitation she nodded, and he carefully replaced the needle. "All done." He gave her an encouraging smile.
Well, since she had his attention… "Water?" she croaked out, voice raw.
The doctor handed her a cup from the bedside table. "Better?" he asked as she slowly sipped the water.
"Yes, thank you," she replied as she passed the cup back.
"You should get some rest now. I'll come in and check on you later." He consulted her chart briefly before leaving.
She settled back against the pillows, eyes closing heavily. The mention of rest really did sound like a good idea… She was exhausted…
A moment later she was dozing, clutching her blanket tightly. "Hiiro," she murmured before succumbing completely to sleep.
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Hiiro jumped out of his chair. "I'm going to see her," he announced with finality.
"But the doctor said she was resting," Duo protested.
"I don't care. It's been hours." He took off down the hall.
Duo went to stop him, but a hand on his arm made him pause. He questioningly turned to Trowa, who shook his head. With a deep sigh, Duo sat back down in his chair.
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Standing outside the door, Hiiro contemplated whether or not to go in. She probably didn't want to see him at all, not after what he had said to her. But it had to be said. As much as he hated those words as they left his mouth, he didn't regret it. The only thing he regretted was being inadvertently responsible for hurting Usagi. He was the reason she was in the hospital.
But he knew Usagi well enough to know that she wouldn't blame him, at least after a while. If she could forgive him for shooting her, then she would be fine about this.
He hoped.
He slowly pushed the door open and entered the room. Usagi was propped up against some pillows, her eyes closed. There was a small bandage on her neck and an IV in her hand; otherwise he would not have been able to tell that anything was wrong.
Approaching her bed, he half-expected her to say his name before she even opened her eyes, like she did the last time she was hospitalized. But her eyes remained closed. He hesitantly reached out and took her hand, softly running his fingers over her skin, being careful not to jar the IV.
Slowly Usagi's eyes opened. She blinked sleepily at Hiiro, giving him a tired smile. "Hi," she said when he made no move to speak first.
"Hi," he echoed, still waiting for some sort of reaction from her. Did she really forgive him so readily? He was somewhat surprised that she wasn't just ignoring his presence. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better. I've been worse." She gave a tiny giggle that erupted into a coughing fit. After a moment it subsided, and she gratefully took the glass of water offered to her.
"Look, Usagi, about earlier…" Hiiro started. What was there to say? He meant his words. The current situation just reinforced that. If they were to stay together, someone would use him against her or vice versa. It was just too risky.
And he wasn't about to risk everything.
"What about earlier?"
He stared at her in disbelief. "Well, I know you were upset about what I said… about how we can't be together. But it really is for the best."
She stared at him long and hard before finally saying, "I agree."
Did he hear her correctly? "You agree?"
"Well, yes. I mean, look at what happened to me. Do you think I enjoy these little hospital visits? I would really prefer to be home, with you guys. So, no hard feelings." She reached over and hugged him briefly. "Now, how soon can I get out of here?"
"Umm… I'll go check." Hiiro left the room, sparing her one last glance, but she had already turned away from the door. Did she suffer some kind of mental trauma? He wasn't expecting her to act so nonchalant about it all. Hell, she agreed with him! He guessed he should be thankful that she didn't want to cause a scene. But a part of him was disappointed and almost hurt that she didn't put up any sort of fight.
With a weary sigh, Hiiro went in search of her doctor.
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Tossing the wrench onto his worktable, Wufei couldn't help but pause from updating his Gundam to watch the drama unfold around him. It appeared the other three had similar thoughts, as they had all cast their attention on the blonde, who was currently unabashedly flirting with the Shinigami pilot.
Wufei glanced around at the others. Trowa was stoic as always, but a raised eyebrow indicated his concern. Quatre was wringing his hands together nervously, unsure if he should step in or let the scene play out. And Hiiro… Hiiro looked as if he were about to take the drill in his hand and punch a hole through Duo's eye. Not that Wufei could blame him. For Duo to humor the woman would have been bad enough. But for him to return the actions was downright cruel to his supposed best friend.
It was still unclear to Wufei—and all the others—just what happened to Usagi after she had been released from the hospital the week before. The first few days she refused to leave her room, not even to eat. That right there alarmed the guys. Then, when she finally did leaver her room, everything was normal for a couple of days. And then it was like Usagi's personality took on a completely opposite side, whish made them wonder if she had been drugged. But the doctors hadn't found anything...
When they asked about her friends, she would shrug and say that it was safer for them to keep their distance for now, at least until they had more information.
And then, all of a sudden she had permanently attached herself to Duo.
Now, Duo was no idiot, despite what his roommates thought. He immediately tried to keep his distance from her. She was persistent, though. And although Hiiro would turn his patented death-glare on high, he never said anything. With his last hope of resistance fading, poor Duo fell prey to her pursuit. Had they done anything past flirting, Wufei didn't think so… but it was only a matter of time. He himself only saw Usagi as a friend, but if she happened to set her sights on him, Wufei knew he would be powerless to resist. He felt for Duo, he really did.
But would he ever admit it? No way. He decided to just stand back and wait to see what would happen.
"Oh, come on, Duo," Usagi was saying, one hand resting on his arm. "It'll be fun."
"Hehe… umm... I don't know…" Duo scratched his head nervously as he glanced at a glowering Hiiro.
"Please?" Usagi batted her eyelashes at him.
He knew he had already lost. Sighing, he relented, "Ok… You go on. I'll be up there in a minute."
"Thanks, Duo!" She hugged him enthusiastically before grabbing onto the suspended cable and rising up toward Deathscythe Hell.
Taking a deep breath, Duo walked over to Hiiro. "Look, I know what you're thinking," Duo started but was firmly cut off as Hiiro's glare intensified.
"If you knew what I was thinking, then you would know that I don't care," Hiiro responded icily.
"But—I know you care—"
"My point exactly."
Duo was unsure of what to say at this point. He really had no intention of going after Usagi or allowing the woman to start anything with him. Although, in a way, he supposed she already did. He really wasn't looking forward to the wrath of Hiiro, which was inevitable at this point.
What had transpired between Hiiro and Usagi that day was still a mystery, but it didn't take a genius to guess fairly accurately. Usagi wore her heart on her sleeve, and it was obvious to Duo that she was in love with Hiiro. Of this he was certain; he had a knack for reading people's emotions.
And even though nobody would ever believe him, he could read Hiiro probably better than Quatre could using his empathic skills. It came with years of hanging around the self-designated loner, watching his every move, every facial expression (mostly anger- and irritation-based), and listening to his every word. Of course, at the time Duo was only looking for more ways to annoy the man.
But Duo could tell that underneath the very thick layers of anger, Hiiro was hurt—by Duo, by Usagi, and by himself. As this was something that had never happened before, Duo wanted nothing more than to remedy the situation—fast.
Mustering up his courage, Duo tried again. "Hiiro, whatever happened—between you two on—that day, it's fixable. Usagi, she's just acting out right now. I don't know why, but she is. I think both of you need to just take some time and reevaluate everything."
Hiiro's expression had grown darker and darker with each word that left Duo's big mouth. It must be nice for the man to think he knew everything—and that it could all be fixed so easily. Funny how Duo's flirting conveniently fit into the 'fixed' category. If he really wanted to admit it, which he didn't, he knew that Duo was unintentionally hurting him. But Hiiro was in no mood to placate the practically begging man. It was so much easier for him to remain angry.
"Let me get this straight," Hiiro began, voice sharp as a steel blade. "You want me to think things over, to just take some time and figure out what the hell happened to make everything so screwed up?" He had grown louder and louder until he was practically shouting.
"Yes! Yes!" Duo nodded vigorously. "I think it would help!"
Hiiro stepped closer to the braided man and said with venomous finality, "The only thing that would help now is a miracle."
They were interrupted by a distant shout. "Hey, guys! Stop fighting!" Usagi called down from the cockpit of Deathscythe. "Whatever it is, can't it wait?"
"Hold on a sec, Usagi!" Duo answered, keeping his attention on Hiiro. "Look, it's been a long day. Why don't we put this discussion on hold for now?"
"As far as I'm concerned, this discussion can be on hold permanently," Hiiro replied acidly before stalking off.
"Hiiro, wait! Don't leave things like this!"
"Duo, let him go. Come up here with me!" Usagi shouted, fully stepping out of the cockpit.
That grabbed Hiiro's attention. He turned around and yelled at her, "That's right! Get back to your fun! Pretend like there's no problem here!"
"Last time I checked, Hiiro Yuy, you were the one with the problem!" she screamed back, hands on her hips.
"Seriously, guys—"
"Stay out of it, Duo!" Usagi yelled.
Now Duo was starting to become angry himself. "Hey! You're the one that dragged me into this bizarre love triangle!"
At this point the other three had walked over to the shouting group. "Can we please discuss this calmly, on the ground?" Quatre pleaded as he stared up at Usagi. All of this arguing was making him nervous and giving him a migraine.
"Fine. Then maybe Hiiro can see how he's being unreasonable!" Usagi screamed the last word.
"Unreasonable? Come down here and say that to my face!"
"Ok, I will!" Usagi grabbed the cable and stepped into the stirrup, but in her anger her foot slipped, and all of a sudden she was falling.
All the guys could do was watch in horror as she plummeted closer and closer to the ground, her piercing scream echoing throughout the hangar.
They all jumped when her body hit the floor with a sickening crack.
At first they all just stood there, unable to move. Then Trowa ran over to where she had fallen, immediately wishing he hadn't. She was lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood, her legs and torso twisted at unnatural angles. But the worst part was her face; her eyes were wide with terror, mouth open in a silent scream.
"I can't feel her," Quatre whispered as he sank to the concrete floor in agony. "She's dead."
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…should I be running for my life now? Uhh… hehe… I've been wanting to write this chapter for the longest time. I'm glad I finally got around to it! Although I'm probly the only one to think so, huh? Ehh, well. Please tell me what you think! I'm sure you have a lot to say… And if you're going to tell me that the ending was somewhat abrupt, I planned it that way purposely. So there.
Until next chapter, then. Peace out!
