Hello. The name's Miaka Kennyuuki and this is my first Petshop of Horrors fanfiction. And since I am unsure of my talents in this quarter, I have crossed it with Gundam Wing. This will, hopefully, be the only time I do this. PSoH is my current obsession and I don't want to screw it up. Tell me what you think, k?
Kisses to you all.
Miaka-sama
Title: Chainlinked
Genre: Romance/Horror
Rating: For now, PG-13, or T. Later will become M.
Warning: Lotsa yaoi up in this biatch, peeps. Don't like, not my problem. Go have hetero sex or something and leave the rest of us in peace. Not that I don't like hetero sex.../winks at all the hot guys out there/
Summary: Leon's cousin Duo is depressed, and he decides to get him a pet. Despite his misgivings, he takes young Duo to the only petshop he knows. But no one could have foreseen the startling chain of events that would occur from the fateful purchase, or the interconnecting chain flowing through L.A...and ending at Count D's petshop.
Note: I have only read up to Vol.10, part 1: Departure. So everything after those events are made up. Also, I decided to set this before Chris enters the story. And there shouldn't be too many spoilers because I can't remember specific details anyway.
Okay, here goes!
Chapter One: Loss
Leon weaved through the crowd of well-wishers, grimacing each time one offered their condolences, wincing when one patted him on the back. He knew they all didn't care. They were all here for the main event. The reading of the will.
Leon's aunt Rayna1 Orcot had been a wealthy lady, and her husband Richard Maxwell hadn't been bad off either. Both were wonderful people, and a credit to the Orcot family tree. Their sudden death in a car accident had hit the more caring members of the family hard. But alas, there would always be selfish gold-diggers waiting for their next victim. it sickened Leon to see so many at Aunt Rayna's funeral.
But what broke his heart the most was Jozef2 Maxwell - nicknamed "Duo" by some of the family - , his newly orphaned cousin. Duo was only 17 years old, and had already lost his older brother Solo in a violent crime some eight years before. Solo had been killed by a burglar discovered robbing their Rochester, NY residence. After that sad occasion, the Maxwell's had moved to L.A. to be closer to other Orcots and give Duo someone to take his mind off his brother's death. The loss of his parents would devistate him if not break him completely.
Leon scanned the room carefully, searching for his elusive cousin. He didn't see him anywhere. Suddenly, an idea came to him. When he was a bit younger, and Duo had only been around for a little while, the young Maxwell would hide everytime some Orcot's came to visit and give their condolences. When Leon's family came, he would always hide in the basement. It was Duo's haven from everything.
Making his way into the kitchen, pushing aside false family, he opened the basement door and peered down the long stairwell. He jumped as a hand touched his shoulder a bit too intimately to be proper. He spun around and was met with the painted face of his distant cousin, Relena Peacecraft. She too was an Orcot on her mother's side. Though Marian3 Orcot had died not long after marrying Richard Peacecraft III and having Relena. What was with Orcot females and guys named Richard?
Relena came to Orcot funerals like they were wedding receptions, to see who died and what she could get out of it. She also, unfortunately, had developed a liking to Leon over the years of seeing him at family funerals.
"Leon, darling, whatever are you doing over here?" she asked, laughing her high, annoying laugh directly into his ear. Leon cringed and tried to inch away. "You haven't even greeted me properly yet."
"Hello, Relena," he said, kissing her cheek quickly, then pulling away before she could start clinging to him as she'd embarassingly done at his uncle Otto's funeral two years ago. "I was just going down to the cellar to grab more wine for the guests. Gran can't do everything, you know." He spoke of the matriach of the Orcot family, one of the only pure, original Polish Orcots left, Alka Celestyn4 Orcot.
"Grandmother Orcot will be just fine. She should be used to burden. She's Polish," Relena said haughtily. Leon grimaced. Relena had grown up with her European father, and had horrible views of the family she considered below her.
"As are you, Relena," he muttered. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get that wine." Pulling away from her, he entered the dark stairwell leading down to the basement and slammed the door behind him. Breathing deeply, he pushed away his rage. He had to remember Gran Alka's words. Wy jesteście szybcy gniew, Lew. Nie pozwala to rządzić wami. (You are quick to anger, Lion. Do not allow it to rule you. )
Scanning the darkness, Leon descended the stares. "Jozef?" he called, trying out the boy's given name first. No answer. He moved further into the black room. "Duo?" A squeak emitted from the darkness, and Leon's ear immediately twitched, trying to pinpoint the sound. Above all else he was a detective, and he'd found enough frightened children not wanting to be found in pitch black darkness to be able to locate the origin of the sound.
"Duo? Come on, kid, everyone's looking for you up stairs," he called. Another squeak rose from the darkness, this time angry. And suddenly, Leon was hit with a memory. It was five years ago, when Duo was only 12. He was a rebellious boy at the time, and quick to anger, much like Leon. When family came to visit, to offer their condolences for the Maxwells' loss, Duo would hide in the basement, in the very back. He was also asthmatic, and very stubborn. If he was angry when he came down to the basement, he would absolutely refuse to come upstairs for his medication.
Leon snapped himself out of the memory and hurried to the back of the basement. As he passed he flipped a switch on the wall, flooding the basement with light. Duo liked darkness a little too much for a teenager. He spotted the teen sprawled across a cot close to the floor, but only glanced at him before hurrying to the wall beside the cot and counting bricks. After an especially disturbing incident a while back, Leon had made a hollow in the wall left inhalers matching Duo's prescription inside, periodically switching them out whenever he came to visit to keep them fresh. It was denting his paycheck every once in a while, but it was definitely for a good cause.
Grabbing one of the inhalers, Leon stood and moved over to the bed. He stopped for a moment, taking in the thin form of the cousin he hadn't seen in almost two years. Duo had filled out a bit since he was fifteen. He now had a few muscles in his thin arms and long legs, and though he was still skinny, his shoulders were wider. He had the pixie-like features of his mother, making him more beautiful than handsome, and his American father's cobalt blue eyes. He'd begun growing out his richly colored chestnut hair when his brother died, and all three feet where currently snaking around his thin body.
Shaking his head, Leon moved forward. Duo's eyes were glazed over, and he was taking in short, hurried breaths. He was suffering from oxygen deprivation! Eyes widening, Leon rushed forward, lifted Duo into his arms, stuck the inhaler in his mouth, and pressed it, sending a blast of the asthma medication into the boy's system. Duo gasped loudly, then began coughing. Leon straightened him out so that the air could go easily in and out of his lungs.
When the coughing had mostly subsided, he returned the inhaler to Duo's lips. "Again," he murmured. Duo nodded, and he pressed the button. Another breath of the medication entered Duo's lungs and he sucked in life-giving air, breathing freely and clearly. Sighing, he slumped against Leon and buried his face in the blond's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Leon," he muttered, sitting up.
"S'okay, kid. As long as you're alright," Leon said, ruffling Duo's hair. "Whadyya doin' down here, anyway? Everyone's waiting for you upstairs."
Duo laughed bitterly. "No they aren't. Their only after mum's money." He turned to Leon, an adoring look in his eyes. "But you came to see me, right?"
"Który jest prawo, Jozef5," Leon said, ina fair imitation of Gran Alka. Duo wrinkled his nose.
"Saa, Leon, that was almost too good an imitation," he whined. Leon laughed, amused by his cousin's antics. But he was confused by Duo's use of Japanese. He knew what the braided boy had meant, courtesy of Count D, but when did Duo learn Japanese.
"Kiedy zrobił wy uczycie się Japończyk?" Leon asked, unconsciously still speaking in Polish.
"Leon!" Duo whined, smacking the blond lightly. Leon blushed. Oops?
"Sorry, Duo. I meant, when did you learn Japanese? I don't remember you taking any lessons or anything," he said.
Duo grinned. "That's cuz I didn't. I just got into it, reading manga and watching anime and stuff."
"Manga is...books, and anime is, like, TV and stuff, right?" Leon said, trying to remember his short conversations with D on the subject.
"Yeah!" Duo said, smiling. "I didn't think you'd know what I was talking about. Who've you been hangin' with?"
At this Leon blushed. "Oh, just some guy. He speaks Chinese and Japanese, so..." Here Leon shrugged. Duo nudged him.
"I get the feeling there's more to that, but I'll leave it alone for now," he said. Suddenly, all the life went out of him. "I've gotta go back upstairs." He turned to Leon and fluttered his eyelashes cutely. "Come wif me?"
Leon grinned and ruffled Duo's hair. "Of course, squirt!"
"Leon!"
"Ah, tam wy jesteście, Jozef6," called Gran Alka, smiling at her young great grandson. She was a small woman, but was anything but weak. She had held the Orcot's together, and God willing, she would keep doing so for years to come. Gran Alka pulled Duo to her and squeezed the life out of him. She then spotted Leon. "Oh, Aurek7, mój mały lew, dają mnie pocałunek!8." She pulled him close and kissed him soundly on both cheeks.Leon blushed at the use of his first name.Leon was hismiddle name."Jak są moi przystojni chłopcy?9"
"My jesteśmy dobrze, babcia10," Leon and Duo chorused. Gran Alka smiled and nodded. She gestured to two seats in the living room where the rest of the family waited. They sat, and Gran Alka waved her hand for the lawyer in the corner to begin. Off to the side, Relena stood with her bodyguard, Dorothy Catalonia, anticipation an unholy gleam in her eyes.
"Okay, all of you are Orcots some way or another, right?" the lawyer asked. Everyone nodded. "Good. Alright, the will says I have to read this to you, so here goes:
My dear family,
If you are hearing this, Richard and I have gone from this
world. I only hope that my Jozef is still with you. If nothing
else, I am sure that God will watch over him and give him
a good life, as I am sure He has allowed Solo into Heaven.
My Will will be executed as read by our lawyer, Robin Greene.
Gran, he is not Polish, but he has a good heart.
I love you all,
Może Bóg zegarek nad wami.11
"Alright," Mr.Greene began. "Mrs. Orcot-Maxwell wanted her will executed thus." He flipped some papers. "To Gran Alka, all the love in the world, and $100, 000 to fix up your house."
Gran Alka's eyes teared up. Her house, the place where she had raised her children, was to be restored to its former beauty. It wasn't like she couldn't pay for it herself, but this was Rayna's way of making sure she did. "Dziękują, Rayna12," she murmured.
The lawyer continued. "To my wonderful nephew, Leon, I leave $10,000,000, so that he may give his future children a good life. This money is to be put into a trust until he has those children or reaches the age of 35." Leon's eyes widened. Ten million dollars? Why would Aunt Rayna give him that? It was an unbelievable amount of money.
"I leave $50,000 to Uncle Jakub, so that he may send his dear son Klaude to college. And finally..." The rest of the family looked at the lawyer in confusion, but then their eyes gleamed at the thought that they were the final ones. Relena's smirk turned decidedly evil. Duo would not get anything.
"And finally, to my son, Jozef "Duo" Maxwell, my light, my pride, the one God shall add, I bequeath to you, the remainder of my money and this estate, which amounts to $82,900,000, including assets," Mr. Greene finished.
Before Duo could properly react, Relena stood quickly. "What! Why should that little rat get everything, and I receive nothing!" she demanded heatedly. Duo blushed and looked down. The lawyer looked shocked.Leon stood, angry.
"Sit down, Relena," he snapped. Relena sat. "Now listen, all of you. If you didn't receive anything from Aunt Rayna, there was probably a good reason. Don't act like children scrambling after the last bone."
"You only say that because Rayna left you money!" cried one of Leon's more American cousins three times removed, Jerod Orcot.
"No, I only say this because I love Aunt Rayna and I don't think we honor her memory by fighting at her funeral reception!" Leon said, voice hard and cold. The Orcots looked down, properly chastised. Everyone but Relena.
"Uh, there is a codicil," piped up the frightened Mr. Greene. All the Orcots turned to him. He quickly pulled it out of his stack of papers. "It states that Jozef Maxwell is hereby placed under the guardianship of his Babcia Alka, and will be the executor of his estates. The only exception to this is that if Jozef wishes to spend his remaining months with his cousin Aurek Leon Orcot, then he may. Babcia Alka will remain the executor of the estate, and Jozef will be allowed access to his accounts at the age of 30, unless he fathers a child before that time. A legitimate child, of course." The Orcots nodded, as if to say, "Of course."
Duo's eyes widened and he couldn't help but grin. He turned to Gran Alka. "Wy poznajecie kocham was, babcia, ale13..." He turned to Leon. "Do you mind, Leon?"
Leon grinned. "Kid, L.A. ain't ready for you." Some of the Orcots chuckled dispondently, not really caring about Duo's happiness.
In the back of the Orcot crowd, Relena stood with her bodyguard, Dorothy Catalonia, and carefully plotted an unplanned trip to L.A.
Well, that's the end of the first chapter. What did you think? Good, bad? There was no D in it, but I guarantee there will be plenty of him next chapter. Thanks for reading! See ya next time!
Miaka
Here are the translations of the Polish used. Btw, if its wrong, blame internet Polish translators!
1 Rayna - means queen
2 Jozef - means God shall add.
3 Marian - means bitter, as in a bitterly wanted child.
4 Alka Celestyn - means brilliant/noble one of Heaven.
5 Który jest prawo - means "That's right"
6 tam wy jesteście - means "There you are"
7 Aurek -means golden-haired
8 mój mały lew, dają mnie pocałunek - means "my little lion, give me a kiss"
9 Jak są moi przystojni chłopcy - means "How are my handsome boys"
10 My jesteśmy dobrze, babcia - means "We are fine, Grandmother"
11 Może Bóg zegarek nad wami - means "May God watch over you"
12 Dziękują - means "Thank you"
13 Wy poznajecie kocham was, babcia, ale... - means "You know I love you, Grandmother, but..."