Gundam Babylon
A Gundam Wing / Tokyo Babylon crossover
Part 4: Operation Necklace
By Beth 

Rating: G to PG-13 now, later R (for violence)
Pairing: Heero + Duo, Seishirou + Subaru

WARNING: Shounen-ai ahead
DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing owned by Bandai, Tokyo Babylon and CLAMP Campus Detectives (CLAMP Gakuen Tantei Dan) owned by CLAMP. This is an unauthorized not-for-profit work inspired and using elements of both for purposes of personal and shared entertainment. Some of the best mangaka get their start in doujinshi... I'm trying to see if the same goes for writers ^_^

Mini-dictionary:
kaichou - chairman
shinai - bamboo practice sword

When Quatre and Trowa arrived on campus they were immediately accosted by an uncharacteristically serious Akira.

"Kaichou wants to see you immediately," he informed them.

The ex-pilots shared a blank look and followed the boy into the maze of the main building's basement. They were taken several levels underground. The walls of the corridors were damp and adorned with a tangle of pipes and cables, all of them glistening in the light of Akira's torchlight.

"If this is another hare-brained scheme of Nokoru-kun's..." Quatre muttered to himself. Akira hissed at him to be quiet.

Then arrived at a large double door that opened silently as soon as they stopped before it. The large room was mostly dark, with the only light coming from a lamp above a table strewn with maps of the campus. Four figures hovered around the table while the fifth one paced along the border of shadows and light.

"So we have determined the route that the victim had taken on the day of the incident," the pacing figure stated, oblivious to the newcomers behind its back. "The only course of action left to us is to search this territory with the greatest zeal, leaving not a single stone unturned." The man gestured dramatically with something that could have been a pencil or a closed fan. "I beseech you, men-"

A loud "Ahem!" escaped from one of the shorter figures.

"-and ladies," the speaker continued smoothly, "to exercise the greatest effort now. Our honor depends upon your ability to recover the object and punish the perpetrator, if such one can be found. I hereby pronounce the status of Operation Necklace as active!"

"Operation Necklace?" Quatre asked incredulously.

The mysterious figure yelped in surprise and whirled around. While doing so, he stumbled over the table and crashed to the floor. Everyone hurried to help him.

"Clumsy me," Nokoru grinned sheepishly as Suoh dragged him to his feet. "Anyway, Quatre-kun, what do you think of the plans?" He gestured to the papers on the table.

Trowa was already leafing through them, and the Arabian joined him, then startled when he recognized the handwriting. "Wufei? He's in on this?"

"Of course I am, Winner," the Chinese boy said from the shadows. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Actually Suoh-sempai insisted that at least one sane person drafted the plans," Akira explained.

"So I'm not sane?" This came from the same figure who had interrupted Nokoru's speech earlier.

Trowa shot an enquiring look at his blond friend.

"Please forgive me," Quatre said. "Trowa Barton, meet Utako and Nagisa."

"Hi!" Utako grinned at the quiet boy. Nagisa just smiled politely and nodded.

"This," Quatre returned his attention to the plans, "is quite good... except for this, this, this and this." He snatched a pencil from the table and implemented his changes. "I see you've already checked out the offices and dormitory, which leaves the park, the cafeteria and the gym. We can begin immediately."

"Not quite," Suoh remarked. "I think you'd better change first."

Quatre was puzzled. "Why? I thought street clothes were allowed on campus?"

"Street clothes, yes. You look like something out of one of Hokuto Sumeragi's fashion catalogues."

Trowa glared at the snickering Wufei, but realized that it was hard to look threatening in a half-open jungle-pattern velvet shirt.

"03, this is 04," Quatre whispered into his cellphone as he skulked around the park. "I am in position and executing the search. Agent Chief and Agent N are with me."

Agent Chief, formerly known as Nokoru, literally bounced with excitement, though careful not to dislodge his enormous sunglasses. Nagisa aka Agent N was more subdued, and currently searching for tracks in the grass.

"Understood," Trowa's voice drifted through the link. "Barton out."

"Relena came through here from the subway station," Quatre continued after replacing his cellphone. "I suggest we start from this end, then progress towards the school."

"And look for clues," Nokoru grinned. This was going to be so much fun...

"Barton out," Trowa finished and shut off his own cellphone. He turned to Akira. "Any luck?"

The black-haired boy was currently inspecting the underside of a cafeteria table, so Utako answered for him: "Not yet."

Wufei and Suoh shut the door to the gym after them and sighed with relief. They had the place to themselves. The Chinese boy silently thanked the gods that though his ploy to extricate both of them from Nokoru's investigation had not escaped Quatre, the Arabian had done nothing to interfere with it.

"I hope you were not mistaken when you assessed Quatre's competence," Suoh said. "I don't want anything to happen to Kaichou."

"Relax," Wufei advised. "Quatre was a Gundam pilot. He can take care of himself and civilians alike."

Suoh regarded him warily, then approached the sword display and picked up a shinai. "Do you fence?" he asked.

Wufei walked to his own locker and took out his katana. "Yes. But I prefer real weapons."

Suoh nodded and chose a straight sword instead. They took the ceremonial kendo stances and bowed to each other.

Agents 04, N and Chief were at a loss. They had all but combed the grass in all places that Relena could remember visiting on Thursday. Finally Nokoru noticed movement in the treetops.

"A magpie nest!" he cried. "Of course!"

He set off to climb the tree, but was halted by a hesitant Quatre.

"Are you sure you'll manage?" the Arabian asked.

"No problem! I'm not as clumsy as I used to be."

"I sure hope so..." Quatre muttered, remembering a certain football game that had ended with two broken fingers, one sprained ankle and a concussion - all of them to the kaichou. Nagisa just shook her head, and they both stood back as Nokoru nimbly climbed up to the suspect nest. He sat with his back against the tree trunk and gently browsed through the offended nestlings. At last he shook his head.

"I don't think it's-"

"Caw! Caw! CAW!!" A furious blur of black and white approached the nest at breakneck speed. The magpie attacked the blond intruder with its beak and wings, and all the boy could do was to cover his head.

"Oi, magpie-san! Watch it! Oh, not the hair!!" Nokoru was all but screeching.

"Imonoyama-sempai!" Nagisa called out. "You must get away from the nest!"

"Easier... said... than... done!" he gasped.

He was already balanced precariously on the branch when a second ball of feathered fury joined the fray. Frantic corvid cries filled the air, and the blond boy flailed around for anything to hold on to. His hands closed on empty air.

"Nokoru!!" Quatre cried.

The kaichou landed on the ground with a decidedly ungraceful thud. The ex-pilot was by his side in the next moment, checking him for injuries.

"Just a bump on your head," he finally decided.

"It feels like I've been hit by a brick," Nokoru complained quietly. "But at least I guess we can count the magpies out."

"Why did you suspect them anyway?" Quatre asked.

"Just a hunch!" the other blonde grinned. "I guess my intuition is not working today."

Meanwhile Akira was gingerly inspecting the contents of a fridge that looked as if it could very well have been built - and stocked for the first and only time - under the shogunate.

"The necklace can't be there!" Utako protested.

"It might have fallen somewhere," Akira remarked. "And I didn't even know the cafeteria had black truffles!"

"Akira-kun, you're-!" The girl stomped her foot.

"The word is 'airhead'," Trowa supplied from his position on the floor. "Where does this cable go?"

Utako could not help but think that her companions were not too concentrated on finding Relena's bauble.

"I think-" Akira joined the ex-pilot in the maze of cables that was the stockroom floor "-that it should go in here..."

He carelessly put his finger on the uninsulated socket. He had forgotten that his hand was still damp from touching the mysterious wares in the antique refrigerator.

The lights went out with a sizzle. In the darkness silence reigned for a few minutes, then a muted moan echoed through the chamber.

"Akira-kun, are you alright?" Utako whispered urgently.

"I- I think so." The black-haired boy's voice was trembling. "Where's the light switch?"

"Here." Trowa turned said switch on, flooding the room with a harsh white luminance that revealed a frazzled Akira with black hair standing on ends in a close approximation of a dandelion clock.

The sound of clashing metal filled the gym. Both opponents were breathing a bit faster than usual, but otherwise unaffected by their match.

Then Wufei's tactic changed. He doubled his assault, backing Suoh into a corner. The blue-haired boy felt the wall behind his back.

"Playing for keeps now?" he asked, unperturbed.

"Maybe."

Suoh jumped about six feet into the air, then planted a foot against the wall and pushed himself away, turning a somersault in mid-air and landing behind Wufei. Completing the movement, he attacked without pausing, aiming his sword at his adversary's throat.

The Chinese boy's katana was there to meet it.

The ex-pilot's dark eyes regarded him with renewed curiosity and respect as he parried and returned the slash. "You're a ninja," he stated.

"Yes."

Wufei smiled slightly. "Good. It will be an honor to defeat you."

"Don't-" Suoh drove his elbow into the other boy's side while ducking his blade "-be too sure about it!"

"As Maxwell says," Wufei pinned Suoh's sword to the ground with his foot, then turned the force of the blue-haired boy's kick into a graceful roll. "Let the best man win." He stood up again, katana at the ready.

The first group kept walking through the park. Nokoru was still rubbing his injured head while Quatre put his tactical sense to the problem at hand.

"We've eliminated the probability of the necklace being lost on campus. Therefore it's either been stolen or taken by someone," he mused aloud.

"What is the difference, Quatre-sempai?" Nagisa asked.

"Someone might have taken it after Relena dropped it, maybe a small child who did not know what it was doing-"

"A small girl with a liking for beauty, who only wanted to have something pretty of her own!" Nokoru continued.

"And it would have to be a girl that passes through here often," Quatre completed.

Just then they saw a child - a little blonde girl - sitting under a tree.

Nokoru turned to his fellow agents. "Do you think-?"

"Do you know who she is?" Quatre asked.

"Kotori Monou," Nokoru and Nagisa chorused. The boy continued: "She's seven years old and in the second grade of CLAMP elementary school. She lives in the Togakushi Shrine in Tokyo with her parents and older brother. Her father is the priest of the shrine. She likes birds and pretty things, and she is often shy but very kind."

"Kaichou, you still know everything about every female on campus!" Quatre laughed.

Nagisa approached the child. "Hello, Kotori-chan."

"Nagisa-san, hello!" The blonde girl smiled sweetly.

"This is Quatre Winner. He wants to ask you some questions."

Quatre shot the black-haired girl a dirty look. "Hello. Were you here on Thursday afternoon?"

"Yes..."

"Have you seen a necklace someone lost?"

"Necklace?"

"Yes, a silver necklace with a single emerald. Did you see it?"

"I..."

"Did you pick it up?" Any of the Gundam pilots would have recognized the 'on-duty' look on the Arabian's face. Then they would look for Zero-system antidotes...

"I-I..." Kotori stuttered.

"Are you sure?"

The girl was close to tears now. Nokoru approached the two in order to temper Quatre's interrogation, but only succeeded in intercepting a rock heading towards the ex-pilot. He went down, clutching his head once again.

"Kaichou!!" Quatre and Nagisa called out.

A maniacal laughter echoed through the park. They turned to see a boy of about Kotori's age, with a delicate face dominated by large violet eyes. A dramatic wind blew through his dark hair.

"Kamui-chan!" Kotori exclaimed.

"You've made Kotori-chan cry!" Kamui yelled. "You'll suffer!"

Quatre chuckled at the child's seriousness. As it turned out, it hadn't been exactly the smartest move possible. The small boy shouted something and pointed his hands at the amused Arabian. Quatre was knocked backwards by a wave of black energy, landing in a heap on top Nokoru. The last thing he heard before fading out was Kamui's mad cackle.

"Are you sure we should be here?" Utako moved a bit closer to Akira, who was still twitching from his earlier electrifying experience.

Trowa indicated that this was the only part of the cafeteria they had not searched yet. He looked at home on the edge of the roof, in contrast to the shivering girl. Surprisingly, Akira moved almost as surely as the tall ex-pilot, walking along the sheer drop with ease.

"I wonder how Kaichou's doing," he mused. "He's probably found the necklace by now. He always solves his cases."

"You solve mysteries too, Akira-kun," Utako pointed out.

"Not nearly as often- AARGH!"

A brick gave way under his foot and the black-haired boy would have fallen from the roof. Trowa caught his hand at the last moment, but even the ex-pilot's long limbs did not allow him to reach for any solid handhold with his other arm. Utako grabbed at both of them but the trio kept slipping over the edge, inevitably getting closer to the chasm.

Fortunately the drop was but ten feet, further softened by thick bushes growing by the wall of the cafeteria. Softened, that is, for Utako and Akira, whose impact was not with the ground, but with Trowa. The tall boy had the misfortune of ending up at the bottom of the pile.

The two Japanese got up immediately, but the ex-pilot was dazed and bleeding from about two dozen small cuts. "Roses..." he muttered as he pushed himself up.

He blinked. A pair of pink eyes blinked back at him. The rabbit was large and white. Something silver and green glittered around its neck.

Then the animal bounced away. Trowa looked up at the other two.

"Did you see that...?"

Two seconds later they were hot on the rabbit's tail.

Wufei's cellphone rang, causing him to falter mid-swing. He fished it out, cursing quietly, while Suoh put his sword back on the rack.

"Chang."

"Barton here. We're following a suspected perpetrator. We'll be coming through the nearest path east of your location in about three minutes. See you there."

"Copy. Chang out."

The phone hit the wall with a thud.

"We'd better get going," Wufei sighed. "I wonder where Heero and Duo are. They should have been back by now."

Notes:
Football mentioned is the European version (whaddya mean, soccer?? That's football!!)
Suoh and Wufei's fight influenced by the fantastic movie "Crouching tiger, hidden dragon", innumerable Kurosawa movies and Rurouni Kenshin. I'm on an overdose of Oriental swordfighting...
Kamui and Kotori from CLAMP's X/1999. And yes, Kamui cackles - as in "MWAHAHAHA!!!" I don't like Kamui-chan much... methinks he's too much like Yours Truly *sigh* The only reason I don't blow people up is because I can't do so with a thought and plastique's expensive

In the next chapter: Where are Duo and Heero? The place looks romantic - but is it love or blood in the air? Find out in the next installment of Gundam Babylon, "Playing with sakura"!