Kyuuketsuki Duo: The TV Series Episode 13
Bad Religion -- Part 7

Duo sat cross-legged on the meditation beanbag with his eyes closed, his mind far away from the rest of his body. Beside him, physically and otherwise, was Heero's steady presence, ready to offer support and strength on the upcoming hunt.

Duo accepted the assistance gladly, and handed his partner a little part of himself to hold on to as he cast his mind out into the otherscape. He started out with a light scan of the ether, since he had no real idea of what he was looking for, centering on his general area. If something was stirring up trouble for him, it was most likely somewhere relatively close by. Studying the general energy flows of the area, however, he saw nothing particularly out of the ordinary. The power lines moved smoothly through the land, uninterrupted by any significant disturbances besides the usual culprits of the hospital, the electric company, and the slums in the distance.

He deepened his investigation. He first sought out the presence of any demons that may have been lurking in the area, but his search came up empty. Next, he looked very briefly for any elementals or other denizens of the otherrealms, for they had almost no influence in the earth realm, before turning his attention to the Shinma. As always, they were everywhere, but casual inspection showed nothing out of the ordinary, either. Still, he took careful note of each one, and absently categorized them all in his head for later analysis. Many of them were mostly harmless, just skimming off the top of humanity's excesses, and those he typically ignored in favor of larger, more dangerous prey.

With a frown, he turned his attention to the vibes given off by the mass of humanity, trying to study the patterns for any buried veins of discontent, gathering pools of anger, or other signs of meddling, but still, he found nothing wrong. Then he took a closer look at the hospital, electric company, and slums, just in case they were hiding something, but once again, there was nothing special to see. Frustrated, he recalled his power to himself and opened his eyes with a sigh. "Well, that was useless," he announced.

"He hides his tracks well," Heero agreed.

"And he has no base of operation, that I can determine. And no corrupted humans, that I can tell, either. Either he's just that smooth, or Dorothy's just playing tricks on us." His face screwed up into an angry pout.

"That's not her style," Heero reasoned, taking up the end of Duo's braid and giving it a gentle tug. "We can probably assume that our enemy is Shinma. He used Shinma as diversion --"

"Maybe," Duo pointed out.

"-- and they are much more inconspicuous than a demon would be in this realm." He began idly toying with the fine silky strands of the guardian's hair. "Perhaps there is no direct influence over the humans because he needs none. Perhaps he wins them over with words alone."

"Words of what?" Duo burst out. "I didn't see bunches of people thinking nasty unwholesome thoughts about me, or about anyone! Unless he's preaching love or something, something should have come up."

"Enough." He emphasized the word with another light tug on his lover's braid. "If one method turns up fruitless, then we must turn to the next."

Duo blinked. "What? There's a plan B?"

Heero gave him a steady look. "There's always a plan B."

Duo sighed. "Okay, fine. Ummm, how's about we go rough up some strays? Maybe they'll know something."

"That's better." He stood, lifting his partner to his feet and pressing his lips briefly to his forehead. "Let's go."

*****

Quatre spent the rest of the afternoon disturbed by the amazing allegations that Wufei had leveled against their friend. The more time he had to think about them, the more he began to doubt them, and by the time he went to sleep that night, he had fairly convinced himself that it couldn't possibly be true, to the point where he was considering calling Wufei and telling him that he had changed his mind about going to the meeting with the cult's leader. His opinion changed by the next morning.

Quatre woke with terrible misgivings. All night, his rest had been plagued by vague half-dreams and foggy visions that left him only fleeting impressions that failed to be entirely banished by the morning's warm light. The images had all been filled with a darkness that he had never imagined, one that was terrifyingly alive and maliciously aware. He was very certain he had caught glimpses of Duo in the midst of the darkness, yet something in his gut told him that he was trapped amongst the malignant shadows, not one of them.

The dreams ended up strengthening his resolve. He knew he had to go to the meeting that night, and meet the man known as Reverend Darcy, but he would not go there to fight the man's supposed demon. Duo was his friend, otherworldly or not, and something deep within him that resonated strongly with his heart told him that Duo deserved his support.

Recently, his own strange gifts had seemed to be strengthening as well. He didn't know where they came from; indeed, sometimes they seemed to exist just to cause him trouble with his father. He had never really given it much thought before, just accepted it as part of his natural being, but the transpiring events, plus the thought he had been devoting it regarding his father's odd aversion to anything mystical, caused him to suddenly consider it in a new light.

He could see and sense things at times. He knew that Meiran had a strong, bright aura, and a powerful spiritual presence. He knew now that Wufei, too, had dealings with the supernatural, and he had implied that he had some control over the energy flowing through the world as well. And there had always been something unique about Trowa's presence that had set him apart from the rest of the people Quatre had met. It was that which had drawn his attention to the silent boy in the first place. And yet their natures were not brought into question. How then, in good conscience, could he question Duo, who had never given him reason to doubt before?

Duo needed someone to be on his side in the upcoming conflict, for somehow he knew beyond doubt that there would indeed be an open conflict. Quatre was volunteering for the position.

*****

The swirling bluish glow dissipated, returning its burden to the Dark. Duo straightened from his defensive crouch and tossed his hair back over his shoulder. "Well, that's another one, and we're still no closer, are we?"

His partner materialized from the shadows beside him. No words needed to be said. This was already the third stray they had returned. Each one they had uncovered, they had taken the time to try to question, but naturally enough, all had proven unwilling to say anything to the guardian.

"Okay.... Maybe there's something else we've got to be doing here," Duo sighed, leaning against his partner's side. "I'd like to think that maybe it all just means that it's not that urgent a problem yet, but.... This last one was actually sent to us, right?" More or less, anyway. It had seemed surprised to be discovered, yet just an hour previous it had been brought to Duo's senses by a rather conspicuous surge of otherplanar energy. A few of the other strays prior to his hearing from Dorothy had also caught their attention by some bit of uncharacteristic sloppiness, each time just a little bit different. Logic would dictate that someone was identifying local strays for him and basically shooting up signal flares near them.

"I've been trying to find connections between them all," Heero added his own penny or two to the pot. "Nature, affiliation, area, victims."

"Lemme guess. Nothing?"

Heero nodded his affirmative. "They all appear to have been chosen randomly."

"Well, sucks to be them, I guess. You'd think that the local Shinma would be unhappy with someone revealing them to me."

"Even if they were unhappy with it, they're still not likely to go running to you for help. You are the guardian, after all."

"I am the guardian, after all," Duo echoed wearily. "Do you think there'd be anyone around who would know that wouldn't feel threatened by my very existence?"

Heero put his arm around the smaller boy and tried to cheer him up in his own strange Heero way. "There are many who would kill to have that power."

Duo grimaced. "There are many who would kill me to have that power. And troublesome as it is, I'd rather me be wielding it than any of them."

Heero gave him a mental hug. "Why don't we go find a succubus or something?"

Duo blinked and raised his head from Heero's shoulder. "I think I missed something there. We're stuck, so you want to go have sex?"

Heero gave him a look that said very firmly, 'you know that's not what I meant.' Duo blinked innocently back at him, clearly saying, 'if you don't want me to misunderstand you, then why don't you communicate a little more clearly?'

"You generally leave their kind alone, since they pose no particular threat to humanity. Perhaps if you visited one of them, she might be willing to talk to you."

"Hmmm," Duo considered, swishing the thought around carefully in his head. "The idea has some merit. Especially the sex part." He grinned at his guardian as he danced lightly away from him, cheered by the possibility of finding a lead and eager to be doing anything remotely useful about his problem.

As he slipped into the shadows and headed for where he knew there to be what he was looking for, his partner threw a thought at him. ::As long as it's with me.::

*****

They met at Wufei's house. Trowa hadn't officially been invited, but maybe it was just sort of understood. In any case, he showed up at the appointed time, coincidentally meeting Quatre on their doorstep.

"We're not discussing this anymore!" Meiran's voice drifted through the closed front door, and Quatre grimaced at his companion. Didn't they ever stop?

"That's right," Wufei agreed, a little too calmly, as he opened the door to let them in. "You're not going. End of discussion."

"Oooh!" she growled at him. "I am going, whether you like it or not, Wufei. Duo's my friend, too!"

"He is not your friend! He is a demon who must be --"

"That has yet to be determined, Wufei," Quatre cut in sharply.

Wufei paused mid-tirade to look at the blonde. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"I never had the thoughts to begin with," he responded calmly, trying to ignore the somewhat aggressive auras rolling off the two. "We don't know anything for certain, yet, and I'm unwilling to condemn him until then. Until we find out for sure, he's going to remain my friend."

"But you are still going to the meeting tonight?" Wufei's tone carried a light challenge.

"We don't know anything for certain, yet," he repeated firmly. "But I fully intend to find out what's going on....Besides," he added softly, his troubled eyes going a little distant as he fingered the cool charm in his pocket. "Something's going to happen tonight. Something big. I just know it."

Wufei's eyes hardened and he turned to Meiran. "You're not going," he reiterated forcefully.

Her fists clenched at her side. "You heard him. Something's going to happen tonight. I'm going to be there."

"All the more reason for you to stay here," Wufei tried vainly to reason.

She sputtered for a moment in anger. "Excuse me? I think not! I can take of myself, if that's what you're worried about. If there's going to be trouble, I should be there!"

"This is serious, Meiran! How am I supposed to protect you..." He bit off the rest of his words fiercely, and Quatre could see that he was angry at himself for letting himself slip, and at her, for her obstinacy, but he was too proud to take the words back. Instead, Wufei raised his chin stubbornly at her and tried to glare her into submission.

Quatre took advantage of Meiran's momentary shock at his words to intercede. "Wufei, we'll all be going there together. There'll be four of us to protect each other, more if we can trust Darcy and his followers. I don't think anything will happen that we won't be able to handle, so long as we stick together."

Wufei kept his eyes on Meiran for a long while before he finally nodded reluctantly. Although she had 'won' this argument, Meiran still felt as if she had lost. What would it take for her to finally win Wufei's confidence in her?

"Let's go," Quatre's voice cut into her thoughts. "It's getting late."

"Give me a moment," Wufei requested quietly, finally taking his eyes from Meiran to flicker briefly at Quatre, before heading up the stairs.

Meiran watched him go with hard eyes and a smoldering anger. Quatre sensed it and turned to her. "He only wants to keep you safe, you know."

She carefully unclenched her jaw and took a deep, meditative breath to calm herself. "I know. It's because of... what happened. He feels guilty. And Father, too."

Quatre looked at her quizzically. "Your father feels guilty?"

She shook her head. "No. Well, sort of. I mean he wants to protect me, too. You know how Father's always away on business. He always felt bad about leaving me home alone, even if I proved to him over and over again that I could take care of myself. He doesn't think I know, but he asked Wufei to watch out for me whenever he's gone." She sighed wearily. "I guess Wufei just takes that responsibility very seriously."

He patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. "Your father just worries about you, that's all. He loves you, so he wants to protect you."

She rolled her eyes at him. "And that's why he keeps trying to smother me?"

Quatre smiled. "I know, it sounds weird. But I'm sure that's it. Don't hate them because they love you."

She sighed again. He was probably right. "Do you think that's why your own father drives you nuts?"

Quatre blinked in surprise. He had never thought about it that way, actually, but he was spared from having to answer when Wufei came back down the stairs. The only difference Quatre could see was that he was wearing a long coat now, but somehow, he seemed more collected than before. "Let's go," the boy said curtly as he passed them, and they followed him silently.

TBC...

 

To The Next Chapter

To The Previous Chapter

Back to Jei's Fanfictions Page

Back to Guests Fanfictions Page

Back to Main Page