Summary, Warnings and Disclaimer: Why do I even bother to write these? Oh, yeah, the nickname for Duo and Shin comes courtesy of Crimson89.
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/…/ Duo and Shin
[…] Ryou and Bakura
{…} Yugi and Yami
One is a hikari, two is a yami.
::…:: flashback
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"There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes his whole universe for a vast practical joke."
-Herman Melville, "Moby Dick"
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Duo couldn't stop smiling as he watched the face of his newest friend. At first it had merely been the sheer delight of meeting a fellow…what did you call people like them, anyway? Bisoular?
Whatever. At any rate, the reason now for his poorly-concealed hilarity was the look of absolute shock being directed his way by the albino. Not to mention the expressions of everyone else, including the shell-shocked trio who had come to a stop in front of their table.
"W-what…" Bakura stammered, having apparently regained the ability to form coherent thoughts. "What did you say?"
Duo rolled his eyes in momentary irritation. "I said, you're. Like. Me." He frowned. "I could have sworn I was speaking clearly."
"Duo!" He glanced over at Wufei, surprised, and saw amusement in the boy's dark eyes. "Give them some time to adjust."
The American blinked, before smirking as he recalled his previous words. "But what's there to adjust to?"
"The fact that you're an Itemholder, maybe?" Bakura suggested, still a bit dazed.
"Itemholder?" Duo perked up. "Is that what we're called, then? I was just wondering about that."
"Speaking of which, where's yours?" the second albino asked, glancing around and fingering the golden ornament around his neck.
"Where's what? Duo, what the fuck is going on?!" Quatre cried, exasperated.
The braided boy's eyes widened. "Quatre! You swore!" he yelped, looking stunned.
The blonde flushed in embarrassment. "I-…" Then he frowned. "Duo, stop trying to change the subject. I want to know what you're talking about, and who they are!" He gestured towards the three newcomers.
For the first time Duo seemed uncomfortable. "Um, well, you see…"
"This isn't the best place for that," Heero interrupted curtly, looking around at the café. "Too public."
"I agree," the older girl said calmly. "Is there any place we can discuss this privately? Where we live is out, since it's on the other side of town, and I somehow doubt you wish to wait that long for answers."
Heero, Duo and Wufei exchanged uncertain glances as the other two pilots watched in confusion. "Well…we have a place, about half an hour from here. Would that work?" The American ignored the obvious (obvious to a Gundam pilot, at least) expressions of shock on the others' faces as he offered complete strangers their hideout, and the Perfect Soldier didn't protest.
"On one condition," the Yugi look-alike spoke up for the first time, eyes narrowed. "Are you dark, or light?"
Duo frowned. "You realize I cannot answer that without knowing if we mean the same thing."
"Are his eyes red?"
"Yes…" he eyed him warily, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
The boy nodded. "Then you are the hikari."
Duo blinked at him. "You use yami and hikari, too?"
About to respond, the tri-haired boy was cut off as Quatre finally exploded. "Enough! We are going to go back to the house, and you-" he glared at the three, "-are going to explain."
Leaning as far back as he could and almost getting an elbow in the ribs from Heero for it, the braided boy nodded, a bit shaken. "Yes, Quatre. Do you have transportation?" he asked, turning towards the strangers.
"We'll be fine," Bakura said, rising. "So, we just follow you in?"
* * * * * (a/n: *collapses in relief* Thank God. I have never had so much trouble writing one scene before.)
Relena sighed as they at last pulled off onto a private road, and mourned that her beautiful limo wouldn't arrive for yet another day. Her 'chauffeur', while admirable in her taste in clothes (even if that particular shade of pink didn't quite go with her complexion), had talked almost non-stop about some boys she'd seen in the spaceport. As if she'd be interested in some second-rate boytoys when she could have him… Smiling softly, she had almost drifted off into her own little fantasy world when abruptly she heard the girl say something familiar.
"- and there was another one, with this absolutely gorgeous braid, and-"
The Prime Minister sat up. "What was that?!"
Saseko looked back at her, startled. "One of the boys I saw had this beautiful chestnut braid, that's all."
Her mind raced. Maxwell… "Was there another boy with him, with blue eyes and adorably messy brown hair?"
The girl thought, an apparently painful process from her expression. "Well, I wasn't really close enough to see their eyes, but I think one of them had hair like that, yeah." She looked at her passenger anxiously. "Is something wrong, Miss P- Relena?"
Relena smiled at her reassuringly. "No, no. Nothing's wrong." She leaned back, sending a beauteous look skywards. "In fact, everything's just perfect."
* * * * * (a/n: *shudders, looking wide-eyed* that was disturbingly easy to write…)
The ride back to the safehouse was full of tension. Once it was made clear that none of the three pilots were going to say anything, Quatre settled down into a sullen silence, staring out the window. Up in the passenger seat, Duo sat with his eyes closed as he tried once again to break through the mindblock his yami had set up to keep his 'welcoming party' a surprise.
The American mentally cursed all pranks, past and present, to oblivion as the barrier once again bounced him painfully back into his skull. Finally giving up, he sighed and let his attention return to the car's occupants.
Turning his head slightly, Duo blinked as he saw his partner glaring at the review mirror. "Heero? What is it?"
"Nandemono."
The hikari arched a brow. "Heero, you're giving an inanimate object your best copyrighted Death Glare. I highly doubt it's nothing."
Heero's eyes flickered over, softening almost imperceptibly as they saw the genuine concern on his face. "…This is the first time I've ever let myself be followed."
After a moment of staring, Duo's lips twitched, but fortunately for his health he remained silent. Behind him, Quatre and Trowa exchanged puzzled glances. Since when did Duo not take the chance to crack a joke?
The sun was setting by the time they pulled into the safehouse's driveway, lengthening shadows and casting a crimson light over the landscape.
Duo almost snarled when Shin at last noticed their arrival. //Duo?! What the hell are you doing back so early?! I'm not ready!//
/Change of plans. We're not alone./
//…?//
/You'll see./
Shin sighed into his mind. //But…we have ta do something! I mean, this is too good an opportunity ta waste!//
/True… Tell you what, grab a camera and-/ A tiny smirk crept onto his face unnoticed as Duo outlined the plan.
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Wufei climbed out of the car, stretching muscles cramped by the half-hour ride. About to turn and go into the house, he paused as Maxwe- no, Duo now- drifted over to his side.
"The plans have changed a bit," he murmured, low enough that no one else could hear. "Shin didn't have time to get everything ready, so we're improvising. Did you bring a camera?"
"Yes." The Chinese boy frowned cautiously, wondering what the Demonic Duo had come up with.
Duo nodded. "Good. Get it out. The more records we have of this, the harder they'll be to destroy." He started to walk towards the car of strangers that had just pulled in. "And don't be alarmed."
Don't be… Wufei grimaced slightly, knowing he shouldn't have gone along with this, but still finding it too tempting to ignore. Sighing, he dug in his pocket for the miniature camera as he listened to the American invite the newcomers inside.
Winner and Barton stood by the front entrance, waiting impatiently for Yuy to unlock the door. Duo led the newcomers over, and Wufei joined them as the door was opened with a metallic jingle.
Beyond, the setting sun cast the hall into blood-red shadows, yielding the stairs to a deepening darkness that was almost… alive, almost hungry. Wufei eyed the swirling darkness warily as one hand brought up the camera just in time.
Winner gasped and stumbled backwards into Barton, who was reaching for a thankfully nonexistent gun. Wufei could understand their reaction, as two glowing eyes, crimson as the sky outside, glared out from the gloom, and the fading sunlight glinted off razor-sharp fangs. Slowly, the eyes advanced, and shadows twisted around a figure that gradually came clear.
In the dead silence that followed his arrival, Shinigami Takai Maxwell raised the old-fashioned camera he held in one hand up to his eyes and smirked.
"Say cheese!"
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nandemono- nothing.
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A/N: Gomen, gomen, I'm sorry this took forever. It wasn't entirely my fault, though! If I'd had my way, you would have had this two weeks ago, but alas, it was not to be. You see, my parents are divorced, with joint custody. I wrote this on my father's computer, which is Internet-incapable, and attempted to transfer it via floppy to my mother's computer, which is. Whereupon I discovered that there was a virus on said disk, and I would not be returning to my father's for two weeks because he'd decided to go hunting. I'm not sure who's more annoyed by this point, me or you.
So, was the final (well, second to final) introduction alright? It seems a bit corny to me, but that could just be because I've been running it over and over in my mind for the past few weeks.
On a more positive note, during my, er…absence I've finally worked out where this thing will be going. It should end up at about 25 chapters long, maybe 30. We'll see.
Is anyone interested in doing fanart for this? I'll make a website if you send it to me.
Oh, and next chapter will be the long-awaited explanation of why the hell Yugi and Co. are still alive.
Review Responses:
Thx to: Crysania Fay, gundam06serenity, insanechildfanfic, Kaori, Lady Phoenix Slytherin, nobody important, Triste Nanashi, and yamiangie.
Crimson89: *cringes* I'm sorry, you ask me not to disappear and I do it anyway. I deserve whatever you do to punish me. *sniffles* I'm sooorrrrryy…
The friendship slut…where do you pull all these nicknames from, anyway? I want to go there.
About Shin-darling…I honestly don't know. I figure he'll either end up with Bakura or Wufei, I've had arguments sent for both sides. Any opinions?
And I'm sorry again…
Dreamweaver: Eep! *runs and hides*
Hikaru: I've been putting in little bits of 1+2 since the beginning. I figured even if it didn't win, I could pass it off as their being friends. Now I'll start being a little more obvious.
kyoudragon: Well, what do you know…a kindred soul! MATH SUCKS!!!!
Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. And high school sucks, too.
Oh, and thanks!
Mithros: *grins* And this cliffie's even worse.
Ran Mouri: Really? *grins* Thank your friend for me, will ya?
So what is your favorite pairing? 5+2?
Sailor Bluestar: ^_~ Yep, that is a scary thought, just…a very attractive one. That might just be my love of mayhem talking, though.
Shinimegami-Rin: Akuryou actually means 'evil spirit', at least according to a vocab sheet a friend lent me.
Shino Ryu: *blinks*…Hey! I was not scared! Just…cautious. Yeah, cautious.
Star Lin: Yeah…If I wasn't so leery of this thing deciding to die on me because I insulted it, I'd say computers sucked. Particularly when they're not available.
Y401-F4N: Y'know, that actually might work…I'll have to think about it. About Saseko, I mean.
And I'm sorry I didn't respond to your e-mail. I wasn't allowed to check it until recently.
Zephyr_Gundam: O_O Sorry, that one was just a little too scary…
Sure! I presume you mean Shin, right? Cuz for any of the others you don't have to ask.
I'm sorry I'm not writing more in the responses, but I want to get this out.