By: Naomi Maxwell
Disclaimer: don't own anyone. Naomi, however, is my own creation. So, ya gonna sue, ya gonna get nuttin'. Me broke.
Note: this is "NOT" a Duo/Hilde fic. I DON'T write those. Just so ya know.
Author's (other) note: this story is told from the POV of (story-currently) Naomi Barbea Ikkaku. She's a character I MADE UP (lawsuit people…), so I have every right to use her. BTW, she's, uh, me. Again, just so ya know.
I was sitting in a damp, smelly alley, recovering from a recent bounty hunter attack, when I heard people coming towards me. I immediately shrank back into the shadows, not really wanting to be seen. Heck, if you were an outlaw who was worth more than any lottery will ever accumulate to, and you were sitting in an alley wearing a ragged, blood-red kimono, your sword half out of it's tattered sheath, wouldn't you hide too? After I drew away from the light, a group of five boys passed. Two of them, a blond and a brunette with hair over his face, had their arms around each other, and a black-haired boy and a shorthaired brunette, while being less obvious, still showed signs of being "together". The last, a boy with an impossibly long chestnut braid, looked as if he was the loneliest person in the world. Nice try, kid, but I'm first place in that category, I thought, watching them go by. As fate would have it, just before they were out of sight, one of my wounds, the fresh one across my chest, starting burning as if it were on fire. I cried out as quietly as I could. But it was still heard. The braided boy stopped and turned. He walked back towards the alley, and I tried my hardest to stay out of his sight. But, try as I might, he still saw me. I closed my eyes and prepared to get hit. I never did. I carefully opened my eyes, expecting to be looking up the barrel of a gun. Instead of a gun, I saw the boy. He was staring at me, from a cautious distance, as if he wasn't sure about me. He slowly crept closer to me, crouching down, being careful of what he did. After deciding that I was alive and wasn't going to attack, he cleared his throat and asked,
"Hey, are you okay? Do you need help?"
I stared at him, incredulous. I cleared my throat and asked in a ragged voice,
"Y-you would help… me?"
Before he could answer, his friends turned around and saw him with me.
"Duo," the shorthaired brunette called, "What are you doing?"
Duo, I thought, So that's his name.
"Hey, guys, come here! Look at this!"
The other four came over to us, and gasped when they saw me.
"Maxwell, who is that?" the black-haired boy asked.
"Dunno, I'll ask." Duo turned to me, shifted position, and asked,
"Who are you?"
I looked at him, my expression covered with suspicion.
"If I told you, I would have to kill- ah!"
The chest wound I mentioned earlier simply burst open at this point. I put my arm over the gash, trying to hide it from the boys. Duo had already seen it, though, and he pulled my arm away. When he saw the blood on my arm, he gasped,
"What the?"
"Get away from me!" I demanded, jerking my arm back. He jumped, and the shorthaired brunette pulled out his gun. My eyes flashed scarlet, startling them.
"Get away from me or I will kill you all!"
The blond boy started to approach me but I jumped up to their left and drew my sword. The blood-encrusted blade made him step back several steps. It was either that or the fact that blood was running out of my wound like a river. They were just staring at me, probably out of shock that I wasn't in shock. I took that opportunity to escape. I jumped to their left, sprang off the wall, and onto the roof that was behind my original position. Before I landed, however, I felt a bullet go through my ankle. I fell onto the roof and rolled. I sprang up and kept running, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to get away. After about five jumps, though, I was getting tired. On my seventh jump, I didn't make it. I hit the wall of the building I was jumping towards, let out a pained cry, and fell to the pavement, unconscious.
"I still don't understand why you saved her, Duo. In fact, I say we kill her now and get it over with."
"Heero! Let's not be hasty!"
"Hasty? She tried to kill you. Unless you didn't see the blood-encrusted sword, Quatre."
"Trowa…"
"Yuy's right. We should kill her. It would save us quite a bit if trouble. However, look at her face. Don't you realize who she is, Duo?"
"Of course I do, Wufei! That's half the reason I didn't leave her in the alley to die."
"Who is she, then?"
"This woman is the most sought-after bounty-head: Naomi Barbea Ikkaku."
I tried to say something, but all that came out was a groan. I heard the sound of a gun being cocked, and of someone trying to calm the person with the gun. Eventually, the latter person walked over to where I was laying, and I realized that I was bound head and foot, but not gagged. I carefully opened my eyes, blinking to clear them. When they were clear, I saw the boy with the braid crouching in front of me. I cleared my throat and asked,
"Who… are you?"
My question startled him, but he calmed down and answered,
"Oh, name's Duo Maxwell. The sourpuss with the short brown hair, green tank top, and the gun is Heero Yuy, the one with the hair over his face is Trowa Barton, the blond is Quatre Winner, and the grumpy black-haired dude is Chang Wufei."
The last one, Wufei, turned his nose up when Duo addressed him as grumpy. That made me snort with laughter, which only infuriated him further.
"Don't mind him," Duo said casually, "he's always like that."
Wufei glared at Duo, but Duo didn't seem to notice. There was an uneasy feeling about all of them, and I had an idea it was me. So, to be sure…
"I see you know who I am," I observed.
That got a reaction. Imagine if there was a cat convention and a Doberman Pinscher walked in. That was the reaction I got. Heero did the gun thing again, Wufei drew a katana, and the others were just surprised. Wufei and Heero both glared at Duo, who shrugged. Heero glared at me, never taking his gun off of me.
"How much did you hear?" he demanded.
"Everything from, 'I still don't understand why you saved her, Duo.' "
Heero still glared at me, but I saw his arm relax a little on the gun. Just a little, though. I tried to roll onto my back, but couldn't; I was bound too tightly. However, I had been in tighter (pardon the pun) spots before, and I could easily get out of this one. My eyes unfocused for a moment, and my wrists and ankles slid through their restraints. I brought my wrists around to my front to rub them, and was immediately pinned by Wufei and Heero (who still had their weapons in their hands).
"Gerrof me!" I shouted. I used my psychic powers to throw them across the room, scaring them all.
"WHAT did I just say?" I demanded, standing up. Quatre and Trowa started to approach me, and I shot them a glance that told them to stay still or die. When the braided boy, Duo, started to approach me, however, there was something in him that startled me.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded in a powerful voice. I swear, that tone and the way he said it made me want to just quietly obey everything he said. I quietly sat down and gazed at the wall. I opened my mouth to apologize, but before I could, a sword cut right through my chest, at least halfway. I was thrown back against the wall, and I could feel that it had pierced a certain three vital organs in a certain chest area.
"Wufei!" Duo shouted.
"Hey, what's you name? Duo? Don't do anything too rash," I grunted, chuckling. I climbed up the wall and raised my head to look at Wufei with an ironic grin. My wound closed up, to their utter incredulity, and I cautiously stood up again. However, this time I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender so that Wufei wouldn't piledrive me again.
"Look, guys, I'm not going to hurt you now," I said.
Tch, yeah, like they believed that! Wufei gripped the hilt of his sword harder and Heero re-tightened his grip on his gun. I sighed, plopped back down on the bed, and looked towards the ceiling.
"What do I gotta do to make you believe me?"
I fiddled for a minute, then started idly singing, eyes still on the ceiling.
/Hashiite yuku
Kodomo tachi no
Hashagu warai koe ni
Hikari to kage
Toikakete mitaku naru
Midori no ha ni sukashite mita ano taiyo no saki ni
Nani ga aru to omoteita no darou
Emerald Green hana wo tsunda
Te no naka kara
Sora kaze tsuchi i to
Sugata wo kaete yuku
Sono utsuku shisa ni
Me wo hiraita
Mabushi sugiru basho de
Nekoronda sora ni
Toikakete 'ru/
When I was done, I noticed the silence was a bit awed, so I looked at the boys. They were all staring at me in an odd way, but at least Heero and Wufei had dropped their weapons.
"What?" I asked, amused. No one answered me for a few minutes, until Quatre finally spoke up.
"W-what was that?" he asked quietly. Reverently, almost.
"Huh?
Oh, that? That was just something learned a while ago in what
precious free time I have. It's called-"
"Emerald Green,"
Duo cut me off, "It's the end theme for .hackLegend of the
Twilight Bracelet."
"Yeah," I responded, raising my eyebrows," You watched that?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, I'm an otaku. Uhh," he tilted his head at me, "you know what that is, right?"
"Of course I do, Du-"
"Enough!" Wufei cried, cutting me off. I jerked my head over to him, eyes wide, surprised, and mouth open to say "-o". Now that I think about it, I'll bet that it was my expression that set him off. That and the fact that Duo and I were looking at him the same way. Either way, he just started to laugh, which set Heero off, which set Trowa off, then Quatre, then Duo, then myself. When everything finally calmed down, Quatre had fallen against Trowa, who had sat down in a chair, I was leaning against Duo's shoulder (he had fallen next to me), and Wufei and Heero were leaning up against each other.
"So," I chuckled, "I'm gonna guess that that doesn't happen very often. I mean, Wufei, Heero, Trowa, and Quatre laughing?"
"Nah," Duo said, still guffawing himself, "Quatre laughs a lot, almost as much as me. But you were right about Trowa, Heero, and Wufei, Naomi."
When he said my name, all the laughter died down. I pulled myself off of Duo and stared at the floor.
"Damn it," I whispered, "why does this always happen? Whenever anyone mentions my name, everyone always gets either melancholy or furious."
"Why?" Duo asked, scaring me and making me jump up. I stared angrily down at him.
"You should know why," I stated wrathfully.
"Huh? How should I know?" he asked, confused. I threw my hands up in frustration.
"
'How should I know?' asks the bounty hunter!
Boun-ty hun-ter! I know that's what you are, otherwise why would
you be interested in the price on my head!" He looked
confused, so I quoted him from earlier, " 'This woman is the most
sought-after bounty-head: Naomi Barbea Ikkaku.' Yeah, I heard that!
DAMN YOU ALL!" I screamed, rounding on the others to include
them in this. "ALL OF YOU MORTALS THINK OF ME EITHER AS A BOUNTY
HEAD OR, AS IT ALMOST ALWAYS IS WITH YOU MEN, AS
A, A, PLAYTHING! NONE OF YOU GET IT!" I started to cry. "YOU
HAVE NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF HELL I'VE BEEN THROUGH-"
"AND WHAT
KIND OF HELL HAVE YOU BEEN THROUGH!" Duo demanded,
cutting me off.
"NANI?" I demanded. My eyes glared burning crimson (literally) at him, yet he didn't back down.
"HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO TELL A 'MORTAL' ABOUT YOURSELF?"
"YEAH, AND IT WAS HELL! YOU HEAR ME? HELL! THEY WOULDN'T LISTEN!"
"What if one did?" he asked, quieter, calmer.
"I WOU- what?" I asked, flabbergasted. My eyes turned amber, their original color
"What if a mortal listened to you?" he asked gently. Now I was knocked through a loop. Someone wanted to listen to my story? I felt weak, so I sat back down on the bed. I stiffened when Duo moved closer to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
"What mortal would? And why would it matter?" I asked dejectedly.
"I'd listen, and I think it matters very much."
I glanced towards the others, uncomfortable telling this in front of more than one person. Duo must've sensed this, because he turned to the others and said quietly,
"Hey, you guys mind if we have a moment alone?"
They were hesitant, but Duo did something, and they left. When we were alone, I started to cry harder. Always full of surprises, Duo pulled me into his arms. I cried, just like that. He stroked my long white hair gently, soothingly. I wrapped my arms around him and decided then that is was very, very important for someone to know my story. Who better, then, than this mortal?
"This all may sound strange to you, but I swear everything I'm about to tell you is true. I wasn't born like you or the others were, I was artificially created in a scientific laboratory on a space colony. My creators designed me to be the ultimate weapon, knowing nothing but how to fight. Heh, I was wrong there. They actually designed me to also be a man's toy. Real sleaze balls, huh? Well, I rebelled, blew up their lab, and killed them. I escaped to Earth, hiding in the dense jungles on Pangea, and doing as I would. Let's skip ahead a few billion years, shall we? Humans walk the earth, and they've become civilized. I lived in Japan, in Kyoto, and for a while I blended in. one day I went to a sword smith's shop and bought his finest sword. Actually," I said, patting my sword beside us, "this is that sword. I'm sure you can guess what happened then. Yep, my genocide craze. That's been going on since then, and boy, has it been a blast. NOT! I discovered exactly how many ways there were to die firsthand. I've also discovered how horrible rape is."
"Then it was rape you were talking about earlier?" he asked. I nodded against his chest.
"Yeah, and I'd rather not talk about it. What I've said basically sums up my life until now: dodging bounty hunters and staying alive. Five years ago I decided to stop killing, but it wasn't that easy. Humans won't let me forget what I've done, so what can I do?"
Duo cradled me in his arms gently, as though I were crystal. A question wormed its way into my head, and, like a bad itch, wouldn't go away. So I asked it.
"Hey, Duo…"
"Yeah?" he answered softly.
"Why do you care about me?"
The question must've surprised him, because he jerked back and held me at arms length. He looked me up and down, as if… as if… well, I couldn't quite place it just then. He turned his face back to mine; his cobalt eyes were different then when I first saw them. When I first saw them, they where clouded over with worry. When we were laughing earlier, they sparkled with life and laughter, as mine never had. Now, his eyes expressed an expression I had only seen once, which was then followed by a look of pain as the man was shot in the back. But seeing it here on Duo's face, I now knew what it was. It was love.
"Naomi, have you ever loved someone? Ever?"
"Only once, but the man was killed instantly," I replied, curious if what I saw was really love.
"Well…" he looked hesitant, "times have changed. No one can kill me. Trust me, they've tried." He chuckled at some memory. I felt something like a flower bloom in my chest. I gasped and widened my eyes as I realized why it was so important that he know my story, and why he was looking me up and down.
"Duo," I intruded gently, "Just say it. But do it knowing you don't have to."
"Huh?" he jerked his head up to stare at me. I was shocked to see hurt and anguish starting to build in those beautiful cobalt pools. His golden-glowing chestnut hair was coming out of his braid, and I brushed it out of his face, bringing my face closer to his.
"You don't have to say it, because I love you too."
His
eyes were definitely a show to see. They lit up so fast that I was
almost blinded. However, I could hear the others coming back, so I
did what I needed to do. Quickly I pulled his willing head to mine,
and gasped as I felt him take charge and kiss me. He took
advantage of that, and quickly slipped his tongue into my mouth and
set to exploring. I moaned as I felt his talented tongue glide over
my teeth, meet my tongue, caressing it, tempting it. I accepted his
challenge and kissed back with all of my might, determined to show
that I was worthy for one such as he. We pulled apart just as the
footsteps stopped outside the door and someone turned the knob. When
the door opened, admitting the others, we both had our breath back
and were looking like we had just finished a conversation rather than
a kiss. Heero glanced between us, as if he suspected something, but I
certainly wasn't about to tell him what had just passed.
"Well,
Maxwell? Wufei asked, "Can she be trusted?"
Duo looked at me and gave me a smile. Not some fake smile, but one from his heart. His eyes, well, they were perfect cobalt pools. They seemed to say,
"Hi, I'm the God of Death. Wanna be my Goddess?"