Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Magic Knight Rayearth. They belong to Bandai and CLAMP, respectively.
World 2 World
Chapter VI: The Assassin
"Have you seen the library?" Fuu panted as she nearly ran up to the group gathered in the drawing room. "It's magnificently huge—larger than the one at my school!"
"And there's a kendo-house outside!" Hikaru added, clapping her hands in unbridled excitement as she pointed through the glass doors.
"Oh!" Fuu exclaimed as she moved next to the redhead. "An archery field!"
"You promised to teach me archery! Then we can practice kendo after!" Hikaru offered, eyes lighting up at her own plans.
"And we will be able to avoid Umi!" Fuu added as she quickly followed the other girl outside.
Before they could ask Fuu what she meant, Umi strut into the room wearing tight blue shorts and a tank top. Rapier in hand, she elegantly swept the weapon as a challenge to the occupants of the room.
"Are you ready to face defeat?" she challenged, glaring straight at Heero. The others seemed to shrink away from her.
Heero narrowed his eyes and stood up from his seat on the couch, following her out of the room. He was surprised the girl could fence, and she had made an elegant sweep nonetheless. This could prove to be fun.
The rest of the group followed the two into the fencing room, where they dressed in body suits. Heero then moved to the sword stands and picked out a rapier, testing its weight and balance. Satisfied, he walked to the center of the mats where Umi awaited him.
Smirking, Heero pushed the helmet on his head, and Umi followed suit. The two stood in ready position, both watching the other from behind their covers.
Both of them moved at the same time and struck each other, their swords clashing together in defense. Heero, stronger than Umi, pushed her back a little, so she pulled back quickly. Taking the chance, Heero struck at her again, but Umi managed to parry the blow. For the first five minutes, Heero forced her backwards and sideways toward a corner, and all Umi could do was parry and dodge his attacks. When he finally backed her into the corner, Heero aimed at her chest, only to be deflected by Umi's rapier, thus his hit the wall.
"You're holding back," she accused, panting as she kept her sword in front of her. She was more than capable of holding her on, especially in fencing. And she refused to have him dance around her like she was some fragile thing.
Heero smirked, not making much of an effort to release his sword from the wall. "Don't want to hurt your pretty face."
Umi hissed at him and ducked from under his arms. Just as she thrust toward his side from the back, Heero pulled his rapier free and parried her attack. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled back and attacked again, trying to corner him like he did her. However, he simply sidestepped her and swiped at her side. She moved aside, but he managed to swipe a few short strands of her hair.
Umi blinked and tried to stare back at her damaged hair. Shocked that he had managed to harm her—sort of—she glared at him only to see him smirking, a strand of her hair at the end of his sword.
Umi's eyes narrowed in rage as she roared and charged at Heero, feigning to aim for his right side, only to thrust toward his left at the last minute. Heero almost didn't catch her move, but luckily he was able to move his rapier in time, barely deflecting her blow. As she continued to charge, Heero was mildly shocked at her sudden display of skill, and only managed to parry her thrusts. After a few seconds of contemplation, Heero responded and threw in some of his own thrusts while still blocking hers. They continued to thrust and parry at each other, neither backing off nor advancing in their attacks, still testing each other.
Well into the match, Hikaru and Fuu burst through the doors, distracting Umi momentarily into glancing their way. That one second was all Heero needed to swipe Umi's rapier away, knock her to the ground, and point his end of the rapier at her in victory.
"You must never be distracted during a fight," Heero reprimanded, "or it could cost you your life."
Heero withdrew his weapon and offered her a hand, which she grudgingly took. He had to admit, if those two had not barged in, she might have lasted a little longer against him. She was probably the second best fencing partner he'd had, but never better than him. Only one person had ever defeated him in a fencing match.
Hikaru looked at the two in disappointment. "We missed the fight? And Umi lost? Aw."
"I lost!" Umi wailed, the implications finally settling into her mind. "I have never lost! Not once! And now I lost to him!"
For dramatic effect, Umi collapsed to her knees and pointed an accusing finger at Heero as if he had just told her that he accidentally ran over her dog. He merely smirked again, causing her to fume at his arrogance. He shouldn't be allowed to gloat, although if she had won, she would have rubbed the fact into his face for the next year.
"Do not worry, Umi-chan," Hikaru chirped. "It's not a real defeat. You were distracted, so you still had a chance to win."
Heero snorted.
Umi glared at him, then promptly threw her rapier at him. However, he simply moved to the side and caught the sword by the handle.
"I demand a rematch!" Umi demanded, hands coming to rest on her hips. She needed to prove that she could defeat him in something. First he proved to be her equal in volleyball, but then he went and bested her in fencing!
Heero removed his helmet and shrugged out of his suit.
"Are you listening to me? I said I want a rematch!"
Heero nodded as she placed the rapier back on its stand. Without another word, he walked to the door with a towel around his neck.
"What kind of reply is that? Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Umi shouted as she quickly stripped and stalked him to the entrance.
"Shower. Did you want to join me?"
Umi gaped at him, face aflame in anger and embarrassment, and mouth opening and closing stupidly. The nerve of him!
"Didn't know you were so kinky."
Heero quickly slammed the door shut behind him and heard something embed itself into the wooden surface followed by a string of curses.
While the others were out and about the colony in the afternoon, the three magic knights took full advantage of all the recreational activities available in Quatre's house—from the kendo house and archery field to the mini-theatre and the Olympic-sized swimming pool. Nevertheless, they still found time to gather on the patio and talk about the recent events.
"So you had a dream, Umi-chan?"
"Hikaru-san also had dreams during her time in Cephiro."
"I suppose it could be connected to the Heaven's Tear then," Umi said, turning the jewel between her fingers.
"And it also helped you this morning in fighting those things?"
"Yeah," Umi answered the redhead. "But I wonder why. Maybe those suits were sent by the people that were in my dream."
"But what can we do? We don't even really know this world, so how are we supposed to find the enemy?"
"Well, I'm sure my jewel will help us out, Hikaru."
"Perhaps we were sent here to investigate this enemy?"
"Are you saying Mokona sent us here to fight this enemy, Fuu?"
"I'm not sure if Mokona-san sent us here. But that cat was definitely from Cephiro."
"True," Hikaru replied, frowning. "But we don't have any powers here. How can we fight the enemy?"
"Maybe my jewel sent us here?"
"You mean as part of that test thing, Umi-chan?"
"I guess. Maybe it can give us our powers too."
"Perhaps if you made a wish for your power, Umi-san?"
Umi nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating. After awhile, she opened them.
"I don't feel anything."
"Let me try," Hikaru offered and held out a hand as she mentally conjured her flames. Nothing happened.
"Stupid jewel expects us to fight a Cephiro creature without powers," Umi cursed at the object in her hand.
"Quatre-sama says the Preventers are very capable of dealing with threats."
"I don't think they're equipped to deal with magical cats."
"So pessimistic, Umi-san."
"And since when are you so optimistic?"
"Umi-san, you must learn to relax and enjoy the simple luxuries of life."
Umi stopped her glaring of the jewel and turned to look at her blonde friend. Of course, the wind knight was holding a book, thoroughly entranced by the summary on the back of The Gundam Pilots.
"Fuu, have you been listening to anything in the last five minutes?"
"Of course, Umi-san."
"How can you read and listen at the same time?"
Fuu shrugged and instead said, "You should really read this, Umi-san. Although there's very little information available, it's still very interesting."
Umi sighed and lay her head on her arms, resting on the table. She couldn't believe that Fuu of all people wasn't too worried about all this. She was supposed to be the selfish one that didn't care about what happened, and Fuu was the one who was supposed to be logical and worry about everything.
"The chocolate here tastes different, but better."
Umi stared passively at Hikaru and her box of chocolates. It seems the fire knight was exactly the same though.
"Sally and Wufei are coming up immediately to help look into the matter," Noin announced as she stabbed at a carrot on her plate.
"It wouldn't hurt to have extra security, either," Milliardo added.
"Wufei and Sally are coming with the new security system soon," Quatre informed them.
"Until then, I'm sure three ex-Gundam pilots in the house are enough to keep anyone out," Dorothy said, swirling her glass.
"Do we know anything at all yet? The Earth and colonial alliances are starting to point fingers again."
"Nothing yet, Relena," Noin told her future sister-in-law. "We can't even find a single trace of any stray mobile suit units or any shady organizations. It's as if they just appeared out of nowhere."
"We do know for certain that they originate from the colonies according to the information gathered in the attack early this morning," Milliardo continued. "We are not certain which colony, although we don't think it's in L4."
"Heero thinks the new organization might be based in L1," Quatre said.
"Lady Une's already there so she's looking into the matter herself," Milliardo replied. "She'll update us if she finds anything."
"Why not have Heero go investigate as well?" Dorothy questioned as she set her water glass down.
"Lady Une wants him here in case another assassination is attempted, especially since we're not certain who they are targeting," Noin answered.
"Is there anyway to identify the organization?" Fuu chirped in.
"Actually, from the parts we salvaged of the destroyed mobile suits, their symbol seems to be some kind of animal," Noin answered. "We couldn't really tell since the emblem was nearly melted away with the rest of the armor."
"The lab is analyzing all the parts. We'll know if they find any possible matches," Heero finally spoke up.
"Hikaru, you sure eat a lot for such a small girl," Dorothy moved off the subject as she stared at the petite redhead. "I think you'd give Duo a run for his money when it comes to eating."
"She only eats a lot when it's sushi and sashimi," Umi replied, rolling her eyes as Hikaru nodded in agreement after unsuccessfully trying to talk with a stuffed mouth.
"I knew you liked sushi, Hikaru-san, so I asked the chef to especially make a Japanese meal tonight for you," Quatre told them, beaming at the shorter girl.
"Really? Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome," Dorothy quickly snapped as she saw that Hikaru was about to crush her boyfriend in a hug.
"How can you eat so much raw seafood and stay so healthy?" Umi moaned as she watched Hikaru stuff another large piece of wasabi-dipped salmon into her mouth.
"It's quite good," Noin said as she picked out a tuna for herself. "You should try some."
"No thanks," Umi shook her head.
"I dare you."
Umi stared as a fair-sized piece of yellowtail landed on her plate. She glanced up at the smirking face of Heero seated across from her. Then she turned her eyes back onto the offending object on her plate. She didn't want to back down from the challenge, but she wasn't one to eat raw food either.
"It tastes very good with wasabi and soy sauce," Hikaru offered, handing her friend a small saucer.
"Fine," Umi conceded as she picked up the fish with her chopsticks. Gulping, she drowned the piece in the wasabi and soy sauce mix and then brought it up to her mouth. Wrinkling her nose and taking a deep breath, Umi closed her eyes and stuffed the raw fish into her mouth. Barely chewing, she immediately swallowed and popped her tear-filled eyes open.
"Can't handle it?" Heero taunted, sipping his glass arrogantly.
"Hikaru, how can you handle so much wasabi?" Umi asked as she grabbed her glass of water and quickly downed it, ignoring the irritating young man across from her.
"It's not that much," Hikaru defended.
"Too much for you?" Heero continued, smirking haughtily.
Umi smiled sweetly, causing his smirk to falter slightly. The next moment, she stomped her heels on his shoes—hard. Heero pulled his foot away, wincing slightly with pain but still able to keep a steady glare on the smirking girl before him. Growling mentally, he picked up his uninjured foot and kicked softly but hard enough to elicit a yelp from his attacker.
"Umi! Are you all right?" Quatre asked as he glanced at the grimacing girl.
"Fine," Umi replied as she bent down to rub her sore calf.
"That wasn't very nice of you, Heero," Quatre reprimanded as he shook his head at his comrade.
Dorothy's face broke into a sinister grin. "I would have expected more of you, Heero-kun—such display of immaturity. I think Duo's rubbing off on you."
Umi snuggled into the blue satin sheets, smiling languidly at the comfort. Finally, after less than five hours of sleep within the last 48 hours, she could get her much needed rest. Sighing satisfactorily, her eyelids drifted shut as she felt the clouds of sleep envelop her mind.
"Umi-chan?"
Umi scrunched her face up as she heard a distant calling of her name. She ignored it, but then something pulsed in the back of her mind and she grudgingly brought herself out of her slumber.
"Umi-chan."
Umi groaned inwardly and pried her eyes open. Rubbing her squinting eyes, she looked towards her slightly open door to see Hikaru poking her head in.
"Yes, Hikaru?"
"I can't sleep."
Umi sighed and wanted to just tell the girl to go bother Fuu. Instead, she pushed herself up and motioned for her friend to come. Hikaru happily obliged and crept in, situating herself on the foot of Umi's bed.
"What's wrong, Hikaru? Are you not comfortable? Homesick? Nightmares?"
"I have a bad feeling."
Umi immediately woke up, knowing that Hikaru's instincts for danger have never been wrong. She glanced at her dresser and her eyes caught the slightly glowing Heaven's Tear. Picking the jewel up, she held it up for Hikaru to see.
"Do you think it has something to do with that cat? Maybe the attack today?"
"I'm not sure, Umi-chan. But I feel as if we're not alone."
"Well, we are in a house with many other people."
"No, it feels more like an intruder."
"Are you saying someone managed to break in?"
"I'm not sure," Hikaru whispered, hands clutching at the sheets. "I'm sorry."
Umi shook her head and gave the smaller girl a reassuring smile. "There's nothing for you to be sorry for. Come now, let's wake Fuu—she'll know what to do."
The got off the bed and headed quietly towards the door. As Umi opened the door, she saw somebody pressed up against the now-empty space. The figure, dressed in black from head to toe, looked surprised at his sudden loss of balance. But he quickly steadied himself and jumped back when the two girls released out blood-curling screams. Panicking, the figure reached behind his back and brought forth a gun, pointing it at the frightened girls.
Before any of the three could process what happened, Umi's hand instinctively reached out and swatted the attacker's hand up, knocking the gun away and releasing a stray bullet into the ceiling. As he fell on both knees in an effort to retrieve his weapon, Hikaru pounced on the assailant and grasped his arm, only to bite down as he tried to pry her off. The attacker hissed and quickly reached his other hand down to his leg, but Umi reacted and stepped on his fingers.
The mysterious reached out his injured fingers and managed to seize a fistful of blue hair, tugging Umi towards him and drawing a cry of pain from the girl. Drops of blood splattered onto her face and she gasped in shock as the man released his grip, dropping to the ground.
"Umi! Hikaru!"
Umi panted as she tried to wipe away the blood smeared across her face, vaguely aware of someone calling to her and the kneeling girl next to her. Hikaru stared in shock at the dead body before them, unaware of the blood splattered across her pajamas.
"Heero!" Noin reprimanded as she and the others approached the two girls. "You should not have done that!"
"You're bleeding!" Quatre exclaimed as he knelt between the two.
"It's not their blood," Heero answered as he knelt beside them, examining the dead man. He reached out and pulled the bloody mask off.
"Who is that?" Milliardo asked as he stood behind them, trying to shield his sister from the sight.
"Probably a hired assassin," Quatre answered, still trying to check the girls for injuries despite Umi's continuous swatting away his hands.
"He's using an M-24," Heero reported as he nodded at the weapon next to the man's hand. "Only twenty-four of these were produced in the last year. We should be able to trace it, then find out who hired the assassin."
"I don't understand how he got past security," Noin inquired, frowning.
"Only those in the household and a select number of the Preventers know any of the access codes," Quatre told them.
"Then we have a mole," Milliardo concluded, already walking away with a communicator in hand. "I'll inform Lady Une immediately."
"Hikaru-san! Umi-san! Are you two all right?" Fuu cried as she ran up to them, Dorothy right behind her.
"We're fine, Fuu," Umi replied as she slowly stood up, glancing down at her blood-stained night gown.
"Did you do this, Hikaru?"
Hikaru looked down at the bloodied arm Quatre was examining.
"I think I did. I'm sorry."
Quatre shook his head with a smile. "Don't be sorry, Hikaru-san. You did very well in defending yourself."
Hikaru sighed and averted her attention from the corpse. Umi glanced at Fuu, feeling sorry for the young girl for having to go through yet another experience such as this.
"Now we know that someone is most certainly after Relena or Quatre," Noin deducted. "We need to heighten the security around the two."
"Must be from the same organization that sent the mobile suits," Dorothy added.
"Heero, please reprogram the security system as you see fit," Quatre informed his friend.
Heero gave him a curt nod, but never taking his eyes off the body. He had a feeling that he should know something, but he couldn't focus on what exactly his mind was trying to tell him. But the dull pulsing soon faded and he pushed the thought away to dissect at another time—when he wasn't so tired.
"He was discovered and disposed of."
"I know."
A figure sat in a dark room illuminated only by two candles at the corners and the small screen on the desk.
"What?"
"He was not supposed to succeed."
"Then what should I do?"
"Nothing. Stay in your position until I inform you otherwise."
"As you command."
"Dismissed."
The officer on the screen saluted and the screen dimmed, shrouding the room in darkness. A small shadow appeared on the desk next to the figure sitting in the chair.
What a waste of such an asset.
"Hn."
Very well.
"I wonder if he still remembers me. Does he think about me as much as I think about him?"
What do you wish to do?
"Make him suffer. Hurt him like how he hurt me."
Then what is your next move?
"I think I'll help refresh his memory a little."
The figure smirked, gazing at the outline of a flower in a thin vase on the desk. Slender fingers reached out to brush the yellow petals in a loving gesture.
"I will make sure that you never forget me."
Author's Notes:
The plot thickens—another assassination attempt and another dialogue by these mysterious characters. Who can they be? Who are they after? Why are they trying to disrupt the peace yet again? And next time, when Taylor reappears, how does Heero handle the competition?
No fluff in this chapter. A short and not so well-written fencing scene in the beginning (must ask my good friend more about fencing—maybe I'll have her rewrite the scene for me). Perhaps if I ever get over my laziness, I shall go learn fencing and come back to rewrite that part. Hehe.
After rewriting this chapter, I'd say it's much better—not as much useless stuff. Confused at the end? I was. I'm not sure how it turned into that, but still, much better than before. I applaud myself. Kidding. Anyways, hope you enjoyed a non-fluffy chapter!
