Thanks to our ever-loyal reviewers, Sparda and Shichan, and our new reviewer IchigoPocky! Mmm... strawberry pocky...
Oh, and apologies for the delay in updates. Four papers due in four days is a bad thing. Next chapter should be out sooner.
Kazoku
by ReySolo and Tori Sakana
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Chapter 12 (In which Sifir passes a test)
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Heero continued quietly along the corridor, keeping Ven and Juuni close behind him. Suddenly a door opened up ahead, and four people in uniform exited. He shoved his kids as quietly as he could behind the closest corner, then realized the four were walking the other way down the hall. Keeping himself mostly hidden behind the corner, he kept an eye on them, attempting to see what was in that room. However, he could determine nothing from his vantage point.
Still, his instincts were telling him there was something important about that room. Once the four who had exited had turned another corner and he deemed them out of hearing range, he motioned for Juuni and Ven to follow him and remain very quiet. He stopped outside the door that had recently closed and listened.
An unfamiliar voice. "If it helps, he said he loved you before I blew his brains out."
Heero felt a small hand grip his tightly, and looked down into Ven's wide eyes. He wanted to offer reassurance, but he felt just as concerned about the statement as his son looked. Who…? he asked himself, not knowing if he wanted the answer. He continued listening to the voices behind the door.
A familiar voice spoke this time, but with unfamiliar venom. "You killed my father."
Heero felt his heart skip a beat. No… Duo… Masaka... [1] In his shock caused by those four words, he didn't hear the gasp from Ven, didn't see Juuni slap a hand to her mouth, didn't see both sets of horrified eyes pleading with him for denial.
Didn't hear the next words from the voice behind the door.
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"Omae o korosu."
"Good."
Sifir froze. The pleasure he heard in that statement set off warning bells, halting the waves of rage and determination he'd been feeling seconds earlier.
He wants me to kill him. And I… I want to, he realized. I need to avenge Dad. Don't I? It's what Tousan would do, right?
He heard his father's words from just that morning… "Whatever your training involves, today or any other time, don't act against your morals. Don't allow harm to come to others, unless it is absolutely your only way out."
My life isn't in danger. But Dad is… Before he could bring himself to finish that thought, he had another realization.
"Prove it," Sifir said aloud.
The man before him, who had looked entirely too cheerful up until now, frowned slightly and drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "What?"
"Prove to me that you killed my father," the boy stated with more calm than he was feeling. The man's reaction was leading him to believe he was onto something.
Recovering quickly, the man smiled once more. "I had figured I'd save you the torment of seeing his dead body. Trust me, it isn't pleasant." Despite his grin, there was something dark and disturbed in the man's gaze.
Peripherally, Sifir saw that Dr. White was confused by what he was doing. Not quite certain himself, Sifir still found himself unable to let go of this new hope. It wasn't much of one, but… he knew he couldn't just kill this man in cold blood, especially not if he had no proof that he was even guilty. "Show me," he stated.
The man was silent for a moment. While the smile was still present, Sifir sensed that the man was thinking furiously. "The body has probably already been disposed of."
By the hesitation and the excuse, the boy was fairly certain now that the man was bluffing. "How?" he questioned.
"Buried," the man replied slightly more quickly.
"In the hour or so since I've seen him you killed him and buried him?"
"We're very efficient." The man smirked.
Sifir had yet to be convinced. "Dig him up." He forced the horrible imagery that statement gave him back into his mind, telling himself the man was bluffing anyway.
There was another pause. Dr. White, who had been watching the boy's near-interrogation of the self-confident man, wondered who would win. Sifir thought far more quickly on his feet than a boy his age should be capable of doing. She realized that she herself had no actual proof that Maxwell was dead, and was starting to question what she'd been told.
"No."
"What?" Sifir asked, confused.
"No. If I just don't feel like shoveling dirt out of a grave, what do you plan to do with me?" The man smirked, "Kill me?"
Sifir blinked.
[2]
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Heero's initial shock and denial soon led to anger. He was about to burst into the room and rip the throat out of the man who had murdered his partner, when his soldier side kicked in again. Don't take action until you know the situation, he told himself. He realized he had not been paying attention to anything said since Sifir's "You killed my father."
He listened once again, hearing his youngest question the whereabouts of his father's body. What is he doing? Heero wondered.
"If I just don't feel like shoveling dirt out of a grave, what do you plan to do with me? Kill me?"
Heero was confused. Why would Sifir be in the position to control his captors? And his son was certainly not going to kill someone.
His eyes widened as he heard the clicking of a gun being cocked.
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Sifir thought quickly, not wanting to lose the control he had gained over the conversation. He had convinced himself he couldn't kill the man for revenge; he certainly couldn't threaten to do so to get proof, or the man would call his own bluff.
He couldn't kill the man. Shooting him in the shoulder would undoubtedly persuade him to cooperate. And Sifir did know from his earlier testing that he was a good enough shot to wound without killing.
Despite his determination, his hands were trembling as he cocked the gun, preparing to fire a weapon a living being for the first time in his life.
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"Sifir! Stop!" Heero kicked the door in, gun ready just in case the situation was different than he'd determined.
Sifir's head whipped around to face the door. Somehow, he prevented his finger from tightening on the trigger in surprise. Arm with the gun dropping forgotten to his side, he stared in shock. "Tousan?" His voice was small and childlike once again.
Heero wanted to race to his son and check him over, but the soldier in him kept him just inside the door, gun trained on the unknown man and woman in the room. "Sifir, are you all right?"
Instead of answering, Sifir ran to his Japanese father, wrapping his arms around his tousan's legs. His small form began to shake as he buried his head into the fabric of the pants.
Allowing his left hand to fall to the boy's head, Heero attempted to comfort the boy as best he could without lowering his weapon from the other man and woman. Both were staring at him in shock; neither was armed.
He heard small footsteps behind him, and knew Ven and Juuni were hesitantly entering. Figuring they were safer in here than alone in the corridor, he instructed them, "Come in and close the door."
Sifir looked up to see the newcomers. He slowly detached himself from his tousan as his sister and brother approached.
"Sifir!" Juuni cried, and wrapped her arms around her still-trembling younger brother. "You're okay!"
Ven silently pulled both his younger siblings into a hug, but looked up questioningly at his tousan.
Heero looked at his three children comforting one another, then turned to the man he had heard through the door. "Where is Duo Maxwell?" he demanded.
The man appeared to have gotten over his shock, and was back to being smug. "In an unmarked grave out back. Didn't you hear through the door?"
Not deeming that answer worth a response, Heero turned to the woman. "Where is Duo Maxwell?"
She looked at him seriously. "I don't know. They told me they killed him; now I'm not sure."
He studied her for a moment, then nodded. "I believe you." He looked around the room for something to tie up the two. Finding nothing with a cursory glance, he ordered, "Turn around, both of you."
The man snorted. "So you can knock us out? I'd rather you shoot me in front of your kids. Teach them the harsh realities of life."
Without a look back at his children, Heero walked right up to the man, raised his gun, and slammed it down hard into the side of the man's neck. The man dropped to the floor, out cold.
As Heero turned to the woman, he heard a quiet voice from behind him. "Don't hurt her."
He looked back toward his youngest son, startled.
"Please, Tousan?" Sifir begged. His older siblings looked at him, then at their tousan.
Heero looked back at the woman, who met his eyes.
"Take me with you," she offered.
"Why?" he asked without inflection. He was curious as to what her motivations were, what loyalties to this organization she had.
"I can help you search for Maxwell, help you get out of here," she suggested.
"Why?" Heero asked again.
She sighed, looking over toward his children—toward Sifir. There was a look of fondness in her eyes. "He doesn't belong here. He's just a boy. He shouldn't be forced to become a weapon, a killer; he should have a normal childhood with loving parents and siblings." She gave Heero a sad smile. "I had my reasons for being a part of this group, but I disagree with a lot of their methods lately. I can't stay here any longer. I want to help Sifir escape."
After listening to her story, Heero looked back at his son. "Sifir?"
"I believe her, Tousan. Dr. White was mostly nice to me." He paused, meeting his tousan's eyes with complete seriousness. "I trust her."
Nodding, Heero turned back to the woman. "Okay, you can come with us." At her slight smile, he added severely, "I do not trust you. You are with us only because Sifir has faith in you, and because I believe you may be useful." He lowered his voice so the children couldn't hear, "If you betray us, I will kill you."
Dr. White swallowed, but nodded solemnly. "Understood."
He turned back to his kids. "Ready to go find your dad?"
All three broke into smiles. "Yeah!" Juuni cried.
Heero gave a small smile, then lead his entourage out of the room, in search of their final missing family member.
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Cautiously making his way down the corridor, Duo began thinking about forming a plan. Just sneaking around trying to evade capture wasn't turning out to be the best strategy.
Soon, he came upon a door labeled "Security."
Any ordinary sane human being would be wary of such a room. Any ordinary sane human being would either move past the room as soon as possible, or find a different way around entirely.
Duo Maxwell was not any ordinary sane human being.
Grinning, he crept up to the door and listened carefully. Strangely hearing nothing, he cautiously opened the door a crack and peeked inside. There didn't appear to be anyone inside. He entered the room, shutting the door behind him.
The first thing he noticed was an array of screens, apparently depicting recordings of activities in various rooms of the building. He stepped forward to look more closely at the screens, when he tripped on something. Startled, he looked down at the either unconscious or dead body of one of the guards. What the…?
Movement on one of the screens caught his eye, and Duo looked up just in time to see an unfamiliar Japanese man being knocked out by a very familiar Japanese man.
"My Heero to the rescue…" Duo stated to himself happily, noting his kids were apparently now in the safe hands of their tousan.
"Guess I shouldn't kill you right away, then."
Duo whirled around. There stood Dr. Wong, gun aimed directly at Duo's chest.
Only one thought came to the braided boy's mind:
"Shit."
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TBC
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[1] "Masaka" = "Impossible"
[2] First section ever that shows Sifir's thoughts at all. Weird, huh? I don't know that boy enough to know what he's thinking… And Tori and I created him!
Coauthor Rant: Buwahaha! Just when you thought it was safe to read the next part, another cliffhanger! Ha ha! Sorry for the long wait last time, folks, but we came down with a case of ADD - Approaching Deadline Disorder. Too many projects and papers due to even breathe. (And before you ask, I'm still alive because I have evolved beyond the need for any pathetic gases). But it did make our updates late. The picture is still where it was - colored but unshaded - but it will be done soon, I promise! A Nexus update is coming soon too, for those of you who care. In other news, I have a bug bite on my hand. It itches.
That's all for now! Tune in next week for another Tale of Interest!