Shinigami's Gem
AN: I updated quickly- go me! And it's all thanks to those wonderful reviewers **hint hint** I haven't really got much to say now except- exams and revision suck! But you guys probably already know that… ah well… Let's go to see some people you want to read about!
Chapter 4
"Heeeeerrrrrro!" The young Prince rolled his eyes as the dreaded voice resounded around the palace garden once more. Wufei, standing beside him, wore a matching glare.
Relena had far from given up on chasing Heero. The subtle hints hadn't worked and neither did the more obvious ones, like saying 'Relena go away'. Both of them had told her innumerable times that she just wasn't welcome, but she didn't notice, or didn't care. Either way it seemed as though they were stuck with each other until Heero killed her, Wufei decided. Unless, of course, he beat his friend to it.
Relena's insistence on Heero being available 24 hours a day had meant that Heero had been unable to leave the palace for a week. Only Wufei could tell that he was frantic with worry over Duo's reaction to this. His eyes always showed more than he thought, even if Wufei was the only one who could recognise it.
He didn't blame him either, they both knew how it could be construed : Heero kissing Duo one minute then ignoring him the next. It was not good, and Wufei was slightly uncomfortable with the fact that Solo might be hunting them down at this very moment, and couldn't see a little thing like treason stopping him.
The gangleader had taken him aside near the beginning of their visits to the outside world and told him in no uncertain terms that if they hurt Duo he would track them down and kill them. He'd gone into great detail, enough to make even the Chinese dragon wince. However, he could see that behind that aggressive exterior was yet another heart that Duo had touched and he could understand that. If anyone ever hurt Duo, Wufei himself would be waiting in line to beat the crap out of them. Justice needed to be served.
He wasn't sure how it was, but the idiotic, braided thief wormed his way under people's skin, even if he was one of the most annoying people in the world Wufei even found himself missing the arguments about his name. Life just wasn't the same without a teasing voice calling him Wu-wu-chan.
Heero's emotions were 10 times worse. He had to use all his training in etiquette and control to quash his murderous rage as a pink nightmare flying glomped him. It took a moment for him to realise that crushing the life out of her would not provide good diplomatic relations with her country. There was still a part of his brain yelling at him that she was standing between him and Duo, and the threat must be eliminated.
An entirely separate part of his mind was screaming at him that Duo must hate him right now. That he must seem like a cruel heartless beast, which, despite palace rumours to the contrary, he wasn't. His façade was just that- a façade: one that he erected so much for dealing with dignitaries and airheaded Princesses that it had grown difficult to break down, taking firm foundation in his soul.
But he wasn't sure about that anymore. What if he was the cruel heartless bastard everyone said he was. He should at least try to get word to Duo…
That was it! He had to give Duo a message. Not that he was sure Duo would listen to a message from him. If their positions were reversed he probably wouldn't listen. But, decision made, he felt better, and began to go about implementing his plan.
First thing- prying Relena off him. Far more difficult than it seemed. If Heero hadn't known that she could trace her lineage back 'through 50 generations of Kings' he would have been sure there was some limpet blood in her. Come to think of it, there might be, in one of the back alleys of their family orchard. He smirked at the idea.
"Princess," He said formally, unable to bring himself to speak her real name, "Wufei and I must talk privately. I'm sure you understand." He added the last bit deliberately, to make her seem unreasonable if she declined.
"Of course, Heero" she replied, having no problem using his name. She curtsied deeply, a flash of anger in her eyes the only outward sign she realised he wasn't doing something palace related. As she went away Wufei turned to him.
"What did you want? Or was it just an excuse to get rid of her?" he had taken to calling Relena her, with a venomous tone to his voice, and the disgusted flick of his eyes at her departing back showed his disrespect for her.
"Both," Heero said simply. He looked a lot happier now she was gone, but, Wufei noticed, it seemed more than that.
"I need to send Duo a message." Ah, that was it. Wufei though for a millisecond then chose the only thing he could possibly say.
"What?"
****
Duo Maxwell was royally pissed. He had been stood up by the most gorgeous guy he had ever laid eyes on after a kiss that had, literally, taken his breath away. Now the bugger hadn't even contacted him. Trust him to fall for another bastard. He had a terrible habit of choosing exactly the wrong guy.
Of course it didn't help that Solo had been right all along, as usual. But this had felt different. He hadn't felt used this time. He had felt as though they were both just as into it. Shows just how gullible he was!
He'd avoided the gang the last week, not wanting the jokes, innuendoes, 'I-told-you-so's and sympathy. He wasn't in a sociable mood.
A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him back into reality. He twirled around, his braid flying around, fully intending to smack whomever it was. This intention did not change when he saw who it was. However, his assailant caught his arm easily.
"Wufei," Duo said, his voice a harsh monotone. Wufei blinked. Duo was seriously pissed off if he wasn't even using a stupid nickname. "Here to do Heero's dirty work? Well, you know what, it's too late, I already got the idea…"
"Max…"
"He just wanted to see how easy I was? That's it isn't it, a fucking game! What was the bet? Which one of you would get me first Chang? Was that it? Well, newsflash…"
"Max…"
"…I'm not a fucking whore, I am not about to sell my body to either of you bast…"
"DUO!" the dragon roared, grabbing the young man's shoulders.
"What?" he asked sullenly, not wanting to give up the argument that fast.
"That's what I'm here to tell you…" Wufei explained, calm once more. "Heero didn't mean to stand you…" Duo laughed derisively.
"Oh I get it now Chang!" he crowed, "You're here to make excuses for that son of a bitch," Wufei winced at the unwitting insult to the late queen, "aren't you? Well just go back and tell him something from me… I ain't no casual screw. I ain't gonna say 'aww what the hell' and just let it go! Y'unnerstand?"
"Duo, just listen a minute," Wufei released the violet eyed boy's shoulder, but kept him within reach. This was one conversation Shinigami wasn't going to run away from. "You've guessed, I'm sure, that Heero and I aren't quite what we pretend to be." Duo scoffed.
"True. You're both stuck up rich gits." He said with a shrug. "What the hell does that have to do with me? Gonna offer to pay me now?"
Wufei's calm exterior changed to one of outrage.
"Injustice!" he cried, glaring at the boy in front of him. "We would never dream of it!" It was entirely true. He hadn't even thought about such an occurrence. He knew Duo wasn't a prostitute, he may not have honest pay, but he wasn't a prostitute.
Not, he reminded himself hastily, that there was anything wrong with prostitutes. During his time in the lower city he had learnt that many were very honourable people, starving , desperate for money, and they only had one thing to sell- themselves.
"Heero is…" how to phrase it, "trapped within the house," he'd almost said palace then. He had to take this one step at a time. "He's under constant surveillance." Duo' face grew slightly less angry, though suspicion remained in his eyes.
"Then why didn't he send a message before now?" he demanded, glaring back at Wufei.
"I honestly don't think it occurred to him," the Princes bodyguard admitted, it was a question he had asked himself. Duo mulled it over. "He's never done this before. He's confused." Duo chuckled.
"Me neither, and I'm terrified." He said in complete honesty.
"So Wu, was that all he wanted you to tell me?" he asked, his easygoing manner back in place, along with the customary nickname.
Wufei didn't even comment. They had come too close to losing their friendship for him to jeopardise it now. Besides, he'd never admit it, but he kind of liked that nickname.
****
"Solo?" a low voice inquired curiously. The red head looked up to find the blond he had been so suspicious of before, standing over him.
Zechs had taken a while to solidify his plan, but now he was ready to put it into action. He had come looking for the young man, knowing this could mean life and death for him and many other people. It was dangerous, but sometimes Relena was just plain wrong.
"Who are you? What do you want?" two very good questions. Only one of which Zechs intended to answer. He was risking enough by just being here, he didn't need to give away his identity as well.
"I'm nobody, and I'm here to warn you." He replied, eyes looking around from behind the mask.
"Nobody rarely wears boots like those," Solo pointed out, making Zechs smile. He was sharp: a good sign.
"It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is that Lord Khushrenada, head of internal security, wants you; his troops are at present searching for you."
Solo nodded, aware that the mysterious stranger had not finished talking, and sceptical about the veracity of his claim.
"You are a hunted man, Mr Solo."
"And what does Lord Khushrenada want with me?" Solo asked sarcastically, the head of internal security was famous in both the upper and lower cities for his ruthlessness but it was highly unlikely he would ever deign to spend time on a street rat like himself.
"Duo."
Solo blinked at the unexpected mention of his friend.
"Yeah right," he said, getting up, "Like I'm gonna believe that!"
The redheaded thief left the tavern, not drunk, but in the vicinity of mildly tipsy.
Four men trailed him down the street, passing through the shadows, silent as the grave.
It didn't take long for them to catch him in a small deserted place. He put up a good fight, but was overwhelmed by sheer numbers as the figures called in reinforcements.
The last thing that crossed Solo's mind was 'guess that blond son of a bitch was right after all.'
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TBC
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DD wishes it to be known that when random japanese words appear at the bottom of a fic she is meant to be beta-ing and it is not clear that they are supposed to be there, she will panic before ceasing to function entirely.
If you want more clarification, talk to 'Ana. **grin**
Oh, and **waves pompoms** Review! Because Ana likes reviews!
Too right I do… and talking about reviews:
Thank yous:
Shinimikra: I did start to read your stories, honest, just got caught up in the wonderful world of Homework! L . Plus, is there anything that could be considered a lemon in them? Coz I kinda gave up lemons for lent L and… I'M SUFFERING! Thanks for the suggestions though… I will look over it again.
Xpockynomikox: have another chapter, and thanks for the praise.
Rena Lupin: yep… definitely uncool! But there is a whole lot more to Zechs than we currently know… but you're just going to have to wait and see about that. That's one of the extra plotlines my muses decided to put in.
Shadowclone: Messy messy messy…. I think I said this to you before, but, where would the fun be in an unmessy story? ~ ^
KittyKat: be proud I'm updating really really soon. Would have been sooner, but due to the unpleasant and horrible thing called revision and parents running concurrently with my beta reader being ill I couldn't do it faster!
DarkPhoenix365: Uh… maybe you should have anger management classes… but then again, if you want to do that to Relena I can't really fault you… But as for what happens with her… you are just gonna have to wait and see I'm afraid. But don't worry… I'm pretty sure she's not gonna get Heero… although, with my muses like they are… O.o;; who knows!
Gundam06serenity: I updated I updated **hides behind head muse** please don't hurt me…