Acherontia Atropos: Part 1

I let out a soft sigh and stared at the tattered manga in my hands.

It was a historical one this time, about a legendary sword guy

that swore off killing. Interesting stuff.

Not that I could concentrate on it. Hell no. How could anyone

concentrate on anything when the object of all their lusts,

embarrassing dreams and dirty thoughts was sitting not five feet

away, clad only in a pair of thin cotton boxers. My life is just

too damn hard sometimes - I should get put up for sainthood when I

die.

The room was completely silent except for the steady clacking of

the keys of Heero's laptop. I and the other pilots had been to a

lot of schools before in our travels, but this one took the cake

as far as cheap, tiny rooms went. It was definitely something

smaller than a breadbox. The two narrow beds in the room were

practically side-by-side, and this time around, we had to share a

desk. The bathroom, well, I didn't know what to compare it with.

If I wanted to take my life into my hands and attempt to dry off

in the bathroom and away from Mr. Perfect Soldier, I had to get

into the shower to do it, or else risk falling over the toilet.

About the only thing this prison cell of a dorm room had going for

it was the fact that it was clean, new, and had some kick-ass

wiring for my stereo system.

Not that Heero ever let me turn the stereo ON when he was in the

room.

With another sigh, I put the manga on my face and let my eyes go

unfocused. Heero just kept typing away, completely oblivious. Damn

him. The silence stretched out longer and longer - funny how I

hadn't noticed it until I thought about it - until I just couldn't

take any more.

"Hey, Heero."

No answer.

"Heero!"

"Yes?"

Hot dog. A response, and only on the second try. I was in business.

I pulled the manga from my face, hoping that there weren't smears

of ink on my nose, and sat up. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Information on this school."

I waited, just to see if he would elaborate on his own. No luck.

"What kind of info?"

Heero swiveled in his chair and fixed me with one of his glares.

It was the kind of look you'd get from a wolf right before it

decided if you were threat or food. A normal person would have

gotten the hint and left him the hell alone. After dealing with

him on a personal level for over a year, though, I'd gained some

immunity. "Well?" I grinned at him.

Heero snorted and turned his attention back to the laptop. The

clicking started back up. "Nothing of interest," was his only

comment.

"Come on, Damnit, tell me! It's not nice to tease!" I jumped off

of my bed and tried to look over his shoulder. For once, he let me,

which made today something to mark down on the calendar. Some

girl's school file was on the screen; picture, class schedule,

pertinent information, uniform size, the whole shebang. "Why Heero,

I never figured you for the voyeuristic type..."

He ignored me. Just peachy. I leaned over his shoulder to take a

better look at the file. Heero'd gotten a lot easier with casual

touching ever since his - damn, I never knew what to call it -

brush with death. So friendly touching was okay now. Most of the

time. Anyway - the file. It belongs to one Kishiro Ayako.

Ayako. Something about the name struck me as familiar. For a long

moment, I just leaned against Heero, thinking. Oh yeah, Ayako was

one of the girls in my class - good ol' grade eleven, class four.

Quiet, unobtrusive, kept to herself and didn't hang all over me

like most of the other girls, which was probably why I'd never

noticed her much. I was too busy flirting with her friends. Me, an

attention whore? Naw.

Something niggled in the back of my mind about her. "Hey, she

wasn't in class today, right? Why are you looking at her file?" It

took me a couple minutes longer to realize it, but she hadn't been

in class yesterday, either. As little as I knew about her, she

didn't quite strike me as the type to just ditch class. The only

reason I even thought of it was a combination of luck and a well-

trained memory; the teacher hadn't remarked on her absence either

day. Kind of sad when not even the adult supervision notices that

you're gone.

Heero still hadn't answered me. I could feel warmth rising from

his body in waves, and it felt nice to be so close to him. Ain't

it great how I like torturing myself? A half-hearted wave of

suspicion formed in my brain. "You didn't do anything to her,

right?"

Heero snorted, again. Who says he doesn't have a sense of humor.

"No," he said flatly. "I saw she was missing, just like you. Her

dorm room has been cleaned out."

"Changing schools?" That was a perfectly good explanation. People

normally didn't to it midway through a term, but hey, if we could

do it so could she.

"No transfer order or explanation. Parents have been contacted,

and they don't know anything about it. This has been reported to

the police, but quietly."

"Shit." Without think about it, I put a hand on his shoulder.

There was something, almost like a jolt of what I'd felt a year

ago when Heero'd come back from the dead. I snatched my hand away

and sat back down on my bed, trying to keep my breathing at a

normal level. Heero just looked at me from over his shoulder for a

moment. Damn him and his lack of facial expressions. "So are we

looking at a kidnapping?"

"We aren't looking at anything," Heero stated. One key clicked,

and the girl's file disappeared off the screen. Boom, gone. "I was

curious."

"Just curious."

"Yes. If this is a crime, it's not our job to deal with it. We

have other matters to attend."

I shook my head, "Yeah, our job, right." I lay back on my bed for

a moment. The manga scattered all over the blanket were square

bumps along my back. "So she just disappeared. No struggle or

anything. Room packed up neat as you please, ready for a new

student."

"That is not our concern."

He sounded so goddamn dispassionate. It hurt, and I couldn't even

begin to explain why. I wondered if he'd sound just like that and

say the same things if I disappeared. It wasn't fair of me to

think that of him, but as long as I'd been around Heero, I still

hadn't the foggiest about how his mind worked. There had to be

someone real under there, right?

I growled at myself and rolled out of bed, standing to go to the

door. I ended up almost nose-to-nose with Heero. He'd gotten up

out of his chair, and I'd been so stuck on my own thoughts that I

hadn't even heard him. Crap.

For a long, long moment I found myself staring into those

beautiful blue eyes of his. I felt like I was drowning in them.

All I wanted to do, right then, was reach out and touch him. What

came next, well, use your imagination.

I could still hear that dispassionate voice talking about the

missing girl, though, like he was observing that it was supposed

to rain tomorrow, or that we were out of shoe polish. Suddenly, I

just wanted to yell, or hit him, or do something, anything that

would get a reaction.

Instead, I grabbed my jacket and shoved past him, brushing against

him a lot more than I really wanted to right then. "I'm going for

a walk. I'll be back in a while." The door shut firmly behind me,

cutting off anything that he might have said. Not that I really

thought he was going to say anything.

"Damnit," I muttered as I slouched down the hall. It was dark, no

one was up, and I didn't have to worry about anyone seeing me

looking abnormally pissed off. Further down the hall, a door

opened, and yellow, buttery light spilled out across the floor. It

definitely didn't go with my mood. I made myself smile, though, in

case the room's occupant saw me.

It was Wufei, the one guy I could never bluff. I grinned at him

anyway, hoping that the expression reached my eyes.

Wufei opened his door a little wider and leaned against the frame.

It looked like he'd just gotten out of the shower - his hair was

not in the usual ponytail, and tracks of water glistened on his

chest. He was wearing a set of loose white pants - wearing them

quite well, I might add.

Wufei was great, probably the best friend I had. He was the one

that cajoled, threatened, and talked me into promising to stay

alive no matter what a year ago. Other than a little casual noting

of how great his bod looked at times, he'd stayed strictly in the

category of friend and nothing more, which was a relief to me. I

didn't need another man complicating my life. One was enough for

me, thank you very much.

"Duo," he said quietly.

I stopped in front of him, not stepping in the pool of light. Kind

of like that little game some kids still played - not stepping on

the cracks in the sidewalk. Yeah. Or maybe I just felt better

being in the dark. "Yeah, man?"

"I heard a noise. It must have been your door. What are you doing

out here?"

Direct as always. "Going for a walk."

Wufei raised an eyebrow. "In the middle of the night."

"Yeah. In the middle of the night. I didn't feel like being

trapped in my room any more," /with him/. I didn't have to finish

the thought aloud. We both knew who I was running from. Yeah,

running. No better word for it.

"You should just try talking to him, Duo."

"We've been over this before, Wu. Not going to happen, because in

some ways I'm just your run of the mill fluffy wuss. Besides, I

don't think you want to have to pick up the pieces again."

"True," Wufei smiled slyly. "I've had enough of your belly aching

to last a lifetime. I don't need any more."

"Jerk," I grinned at him. "Look, I'm just going to take a walk.

I've done it before. I'll be careful. Death's honor."

Wufei nodded, "If you need to talk about it..."

"I know where to find your room. It's all good." I grinned at him

and then started walking again, cutting right through the pool of

light on the floor. See? Easy.

"Without a doubt." I heard Wufei shut the door behind me.

A couple doors later I was out of the school and slouching my way

down the street. Sometimes I wished Wufei hadn't turned into such

a good friend. He made me want to talk to him about stuff I was

personally not ready to deal with - not that I'd EVER be ready.

The good thing about him was he knew when it was important to push,

and when he should just leave me the hell alone. He'd definitely

made the right choice this time around.

It was a nice night out, just edging its way toward spring - so,

nippy enough that I needed the jacket, but not could enough to

drive me indoors any time soon. I was skinny, okay? Getting cold

easily went with the territory. I really wondered how Heero did it,

sometimes, sticking with spandex even in the middle of winter. It

made certain parts of my anatomy cringe just thinking about it.

Damn. I had to stop thinking about Heero. I needed to relax, or

else I'd never be able to get to sleep.

The sky was totally clear, that special clarity you see only in

the last few days of winter when spring's wrestling the year from

its cold grip. I could see the stars like they went on forever,

tiny little ice shards on blacktop. The moon was waving, about

five or six days from full. It went with the rest of the night

decor; some atmospheric trick had colored it a cool, soothing blue.

I was starting to like the night more and more. When I was little,

I didn't like it very much - not many kids do. I hated the dreams

the most; they didn't bother me any more, though, because after

dealing with them for years, nightmares start to lose their shock

value. It wasn't just that, though. I'd been feeling more and more

comfortable in the darkness, which was just as well. I was out

walking most nights, trying to figure out where the hell my life

was trying to go. Kiss or kill Heero, shit like that.

Just walking was making me feel a lot better. I hated being

trapped in that tiny room. Hyperactive, me? Or maybe just a little

claustrophobic. Being trapped in an enclosed space while piloting

was a little different from being trapped in an enclosed space

when I wasn't doing much of anything. Maybe it was a control issue.

Besides, Deathscythe was...himself. It's hard to feel

claustrophobic when you feel like you're riding in the embrace of

an old friend. Never mind the fact that you're killing people and

blowing shit up at the same time. Details, details.

I was rapidly approaching the line of trees that marked the edge

of the school grounds. They lined the fence along the teacher's

parking lot I was walking through. Occasionally, my foot kicked up

a bunch of soggy leaves, sending them scuffling along the pavement.

Time to turn around. I wasn't upset enough to take the trek

through the woods to one of the crappy little bars; being on the

ass edge of Tokyo wasn't doing a lot for my social life. No, I was

only mildly annoyed, so I decided to turn around just as the

skeletal shadows of the trees reached their fingers up to touch

the moon.

Four things happened in quick succession. The little gold cross

that I always wore around my neck suddenly lit up like a halogen

lamp, blinding me.

I said, "What the hell?" mostly because I wasn't used to jewelry

acting like that.

There was a very soft sound, like a breath of wind moving the

leaves, except there wasn't even a breeze. I started to turn

around, but slowly, way too slowly.

Something big, heavy, and very fast that smelled a little bit like

snakes and a lot like blood hit me from behind and took me down to

the ground, doing its level best to grind my head into the

pavement.

I tried to struggle against the thing on my back. Whatever the

hell it was, it was stronger than anything had a right to be, even

stronger than Heero when he's having a bad day. Nothing I tried

moved the thing even the tiniest bit, and I knew I was no wuss.

After about the third time my head got slammed into the pavement,

I gave up struggling since it wasn't doing shit for me anyway, and

just started screaming. I learned a long time ago that screaming

is what you do when you're up to your neck in bad pucky and you

don't have anything better to do with yourself. This situation

definitely qualified.

I couldn't fight the thing, and after my head contacted the ground

for the fourth time, sparks started dancing in front of my eyes.

The sound of blood rushing through my veins got so loud I couldn't

even hear myself any more.

Just another normal night on the town.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a pale face

with eyes glowing like blue flamed. I'd never been so afraid in my

entire life. The thing - I didn't know what else to call it -

looked down at me with those scary eyes and hissed. There were no

other words to describe it. It hissed, like a pissed of cat or

snake, and I caught a glimpse of teeth that would have been more

at home in the mouth of a cobra than a human.

A sharp blast of sound broke through the roaring in my ears. The

creature's head just exploded. Its weight was abruptly gone from

my back, and I dimly heard a second blast. Somehow, I lurched to

my feet. I was spattered with blood, both mine and the thing's;

there was warmth on my face and neck, rapidly cooling in the

chilly air. My clothing was ripped to; things were a lot more

ventilated than they used to be.

At least I think that's how it went. At that time, I wasn't

thinking all that clearly. My mind was sounding out one high, thin

note of pure fear. When I got to my feet, I just there, swaying

like a drunkard with blood and thicker things sliding slowly down

my face. My vision was fading in and out, but I thought I saw a

woman in the light of my cross that was barely taller than me. She

stood with a shotgun in her hands like she knew how to use it, her

mouth moving like she was trying to say something, but I couldn't

hear a thing.

Somewhere along the line, my hair had come partially out of its

braid, and I picked something out of one of the loose waves that

looked suspiciously like a piece of bone, right before I collapsed

to my knees and everything went mercifully black.