Chapter 13.

Neither Heero nor Wufei noticed anything different as they walked into there hired motel room, they spoke little as Wufei was musing over the research Heero had presented him; while Heero was puzzling over the feeling he had experienced in the room.

Neither of them noticed a pair of glowing violet eyes that had watched them from across the road with an evil smirk glinting in the darkness.

Stepping away from the road and back to his car, Duo looked at his hand held computer briefly before disconnecting the link it had to Heero's computer and climbing into the car.

Although they had only been lovers for a few years, they had been partners in war for much longer than that and Duo had picked up on a few of Heero's ways. Heero had installed a back door to his computer for pilot use during the war, and had always kept one. Duo had found this back door one night and set up a small program -hiding it as a card game in the background soft wear- it was a backdoor for his personal use.

Heero kept a schedule on his computer some of it was in certain codes because he didn't trust his passwords completely, but it was a good way to see what he had been doing from day to day for the past several years. It was a good alibi and timekeeper.

It also included future events, for instance which flight he would be taking, where it would be going, the company he rented a car with.

Heero was even good enough to have downloaded a map to the Sohma estate with brief notes underneath.

It had been no trouble to organize the fastest vehicle Preventor's had to offer as the guy in charge of Transport had all but shoved the keys at him when he'd gone down to his office. Admitted the two hour flight had calmed and focused his thoughts, and once his hand held had been within wireless range of Heero's laptop, he'd gotten the rest of the details his quiet invasion over the internet had been unable to find.

Though his disorganization was usually his down fall, Duo could happily say that, despite being in the Preventor's records he was not listed as alive or existing anywhere in any computer system. He was a living ghost and Heero's constant need to detail everything he did for future reference or reflection had proved useful.

Following the map, evening starting to appear as he did, he drew up to the summerhouse as the sun was starting to set. Smiling to himself as he briefly glanced in awe at the beautiful display the sun was making he sighed before turning his attention and revived anger on the house.

Using his skills to the best of his advantage he was able to follow their trails in the neatly raked gravel and into the house.

Taking note of all he saw, he recalled the data he had downloaded from Heero's computer about a family named The Sohma's. It included family tree's with marks made on it in different colors for different reasons, it wasn't hard to miss the part that was labeled 'Move to Colony' followed by another family tree, more colored marks and then Wufei at the very bottom of it.

Duo had taken a moment of silence when he saw the name 'Mirrim' joined to Wufei's and then a small 'd.' labeled next to it. He had had his suspicions but so far in there time together it was never asked upon, recalling back he had realized that Wufei knew nothing of the Maxwell Church Incident.

Following their footprints through the dust, careful to only treat where they had, he followed Wufei's tracks before he came across Heero's meeting up with them and had backtracked to where Heero's had broke off and followed his. Finding the floorboard had been easier for him that Heero, it was obvious to a thief's eye.

Circling the house once more, it was in the last room Wufei had been in before they had turned to leave that something caught Duo's eyes in the growing gloom. It was something he had never really grasped how people didn't always notice the things he did, like how many magpies were in the tree outside while still able to keep track of the mission briefing inside the room. He'd managed to summarize that it was from his days of living hand to mouth and hunting rats for basic food when there was none other; hell, he'd eaten cockroaches before now, you only had to pluck off the bad bits like the head and egg sacks.

But it was a small, slide back panel that inside showed a small shrine, dust was thick but preserving and a much-faded picture showed a ginger haired lady with a large smile and a cigarette in between her fingers. There were two ribbons in front of the picture, shifting them with a finger revealed they had once been a bright yellow.

There was another two pictures on the shelf below, one of a group of three, a grey haired boy, a ginger haired boy and a smiling brown haired girl; the same girl appeared in another photo next to it, with the ginger haired lady. He assumed that the ginger one was a mother or at least mother figure while the boys were close friends, judging by the positions of them all.

Smiling slightly at the devotion the young girl seemed to have shown for her mother and friends he sent a small prayer to Shinigami for there peace before turning. It was only a last blaze of sunset light that let his spot the small book on the bottom of the hidden compartment. It had glinted off a small lock that held the book tightly shut, lifting it up and out, something told him it was important.

He had never doubted the voice that whispered to him occasionally because it was usually better in the long run, the only time he had ever regretted following it was getting mixed up with G but in a way he had been grateful it had been him piloting his old buddy. Not a little ass wipe of a rookie who had no skill as a pilot, let along the ability to make Deathscythe truly come alive on the battlefield.

Picking it up and slipping in inside his coat he shut the sliding panel and made his way back to his car and to the homely B&B he was staying in right then. Clicking open the little book, he frowned at the small Japanese figures, being in china he was confused before he started to read.

"Hi! My names Tohru Honda, and right now I'm living in a tent…"

"Sounds like my kinda girl," he murmured as he settled himself in to read.

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