Author's notes: Things got a turn to the left... I'm rewriting some parts from here on and trying to add a bit more angst. Since I have many ideas boiling inside my head, I just *know* I'll miss something and leave some plot holes behind... Gomen, ne!

And it's not my intention to bastardize Heero in any way, but from here on some of you may think he'll need a good shake to put himself together... What can I say? Confused people tend to do or say stupid things and end up making the situation even worse. I take it from myself...

Duo was at his wit's end. For the past three weeks, the situation became almost unbearable. He now regretted telling his friends about himself. Their suspicions towards him for not telling everything would surely feel better than that weird emotional distance and, in Heero's case, mild animosity toward him after their disbelief vanished and they accepted what Duo told them as truth.

Quatre was the one whose attitude was the most like before. He treated Duo almost exactly the same way as always... gently, but firm. He would endure Duo's inane chatter, his lame jokes and his bubble-headed attitude, but somewhere deep inside him Duo had the feeling Quatre started to learn his true potential as an empath and started analyzing him. Duo recognized the feeling his uncle Yuusuke always described as 'making someone feel like a bug under the microscope' whenever he referred to Shizuru's abilities. It gave him the creeps.

Trowa would sneak glances at him whenever they were alone. Although his general behavior around Duo was quite similar as before, there was something different. Something Duo could not quite put his finger on, and he was feeling uncomfortable. The pilot of Heavyarms would seem as if to ask him something, then change his mind and leave. It got irritating.

Wufei became well-mannered. Too much, in fact. While Duo often thought Wufei could be a bit more civil when it came to other people, he was treating Duo with a level of reverence never seen before. 'Guess he believes all the things told in the legends are true...' Duo thought. While it was nice to see Wufei being polite to him, he knew it wasn't because the Chinese pilot thought better of him. It was just because of his newfound 'god-status'. To Wufei, all gods must be revered, even if they were loud-mouthed baka-gods like Maxwell. It got frustrating.

And Heero... that was the worst part. Duo's best friend's opinion was always very important to him, and the way Heero had been acting hurt him a lot. He never spoke a word to him since the day he learned the truth (not even when it was necessary; last mission's instructions were shared with him by Quatre) and acted like Duo had stabbed him on the back: sometimes glaring at him, sometimes giving him hurt glances when he thought Duo wasn't looking. And also messing with his stuff when he wasn't around. At first Duo didn't notice, but soon he found out some small slips on Heero's part. He was searching for the files. He never asked about them, but was frantically searching the house and even Deathscythe. It was infuriating.

One day Duo went shopping and returned earlier than expected. He found no sign of Heero in the room, but saw that he looked through his things again. Duo stalked out and caught Heero messing with his aibou. Probably searching in him again.

It was more than he could take.

With a snarl, he dashed forward. Heero noticed his approach, and turned to him. Duo's eyes were blazing with fury, and before he could think straight, he started screaming.

"Damn you, Heero! What do you think you're doing messing with my Gundam? If you want to go tinkering about, do it to your own!"

Heero ignored him and returned to their new house. Duo gaped for a moment, then resumed his fury full force. Following him, he grabbed he Japanese's arm just as they entered the front door. "You won't get out of this easily this time, Heero! I won't put up with this attitude of yours anymore!"

The other three pilots appeared in the doorway just as Heero shook Duo's hand off, crossed his arms and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Frustrated, Duo started pointing to each of his friends. "All of you! I'm tired of the way you've been giving me the cold shoulders! Quatre is trying to dissect me apart in little pieces, Trowa is trying to read my brain instead of asking me what he really wants to know, Wufei is treating me like a frigging I don't even know what and you haven't said a word to me, yet you keep searching through my stuff and now started messing with my Gundam! And don't you dare try to deny it!"

"I want that file."

"Fine! You want it? Take it! I don't care anymore!" Duo stormed to his room, grabbed the file and stormed back, hurling the folder in Heero's face. "Happy now?"

'It was in his room all along? How come I never found it before?' Tentatively at first, Heero opened his file. It wasn't very thick (come to think of it, his file was the thinnest of all), and had neat white pages with black printing in... "What is this language? I can't understand half of it."

Duo smirked. "Why Heero, can't you read your own mother language? It's Japanese!"

Heero glared. "No, it's not. Some characters here are Japanese, but the rest isn't."

Wufei approached the Japanese boy and peered over his shoulder. "That is Japanese, Heero. But it's a very archaic form of it. Must be at least a thousand years old."

Duo shrugged. "The three worlds aren't parallel dimensions. They have a touching point, and here on Earth that point is in Japan. Both Reikai and Makai's official human language is Japanese." With a tired sigh, he slumped on a chair. "Why are you all doing this to me? I... I thought you understood what I told you about me..."

The boys exchanged glances. Quatre approached him and said softly, "We did understand what you told us, Duo. But you have to agree with us it's not something you tell your companions everyday."

Duo gave him a hurt look. "I consider you as more than companions. I consider you as my friends. Enma knows I never had many... I... I just want to continue living as before. I may have never wanted my human life to be like this, piloting a Gundam and fighting a war, but I want to make the best of it."

Running a hand through his bangs, he sighed. "I should have never told you... I knew everything would change." He got up and turned to leave.

Heero snorted. "Nothing changed. But it could. You are a god. Why don't you use your powers and change things? You could save ourselves a lot of trouble." In a bitter tone, he added. "You could prevent any more of this. Why don't you stop playing rebel and give up pretending to be like us?"

Duo turned around, eyes alight with fury. With a small cry, he launched himself at Heero, and punched him squarely in the jaw. "Don't you dare take my actions lightly, Yuy! I'm exactly just like any other human in this world!" He got off Heero and watched as the Japanese boy got up. Fists clenched and trembling with rage, he took a few steps back. "I'm living every single moment of this life as any of you are. I'm not a god here, I'm just Duo. As a god I have no right to interfere with the flow of events, and as a human I have no right to use any of my powers."

Duo took in a steadying breath. "I never used my powers ever since I became human. And don't you think I never wanted to. Whenever I found myself sleeping on the sidewalks, with no food for Enma knows how long, I felt tempted. Tempted to use just a tiny bit, and make things a little better. And whenever a loved one died, I felt tempted to give up and return home, just to see them one more time. But I never did. It was my choice; I was a human now, and had to live and suffer as one. Just because I lived longer than any of you, it doesn't make my suffering any less painful. Don't you dare assume it's all a little game to me."

He swept his gaze across the room. None of the boys looked him in the eye. Looking at Heero's lean figure, he waited until the boy raised his head. "You say I'm not one of you Heero, but I'm more human than you could ever be... at least I acknowledge my feelings and follow them." Looking down, he unclenched one fist. Blood was trickling down the cuts on the palm of his hand, and he showed it to Heero. "And a god isn't that much different from a human. A god has feelings, make stupid mistakes and try to correct them, laughs and cries when is happy or sad. A god can be hurt. A god can bleed, Heero. And a god can die."

Duo turned and walked to the door. Before leaving the room, he turned back once more. "Just because my life expectancy is bigger than yours, we are not that different. A god is not immortal. I can return to the Reikai in the future and live more five thousand years, or I can get hit by a truck next corner and have it all finished there."

The soft 'click' of Duo's bedroom door closing echoed almost like a gunshot in the deafening silence of the room.

A soft knock on his door. Quatre opened his eyes and slowly got up; sleeping never was an option in the first place.

The reason of his rare bout of insomnia stood in front of his opened door, completely dressed. Quatre motioned for him to enter, and before closing the door he noticed there was light coming from another door, slightly ajar. Heero's.

Duo stood in the middle of the room, a thoughtful expression on his face. Quatre made him sit on the edge of the bed, before interrupting the silence. "Duo..."

The braided boy stopped him. "Don't say anything, Quatre."

"Demo..."

"I came to tell you I'm leaving."

Quatre's head snapped up. "Leaving? Where to?"

Duo shrugged. "I got a mission. Have to infiltrate a base and steal some files, nothing big. One of you is going with me in this one, just don't know who."

Quatre nodded. "When?"

"The mission? Next week. Me leaving? Now." Before Quatre could say anything, Duo raised his hand. "I got the info earlier than you guys and I'm going to do some scouting before going in. When my partner gets the instructions he'll meet me there." A pause. "In the meantime, I'll take some time to myself, and let you guys alone. I know you'll appreciate it."

When Duo reached the door and opened it, Quatre's voice stopped him. "Please don't get mad at us, Duo. Just give us some time."

Duo sighed. Although he was already out of Quatre's room, he didn't notice the shadow in the other lightened room. "I am giving you guys time, Quatre. But I don't know if just time is enough. I know you don't trust me anymore." After closing the door, he added, "I never knew if you really trusted me to begin with."

End Part 7

If I'm not mistaken, 'aibou' means 'partner' or something similar... that's how Duo calls Deathscythe in EW (at least I think so...).

Author's notes: please keep in mind that I have simply no idea how to write a decent action piece, and my first-aid knowledge is very limited (and the books on first-aid I read these past weeks didn't help me much either...), so if this sounds weird, gomen!

Part VIII

Duo was sulking. 'Of all the guys, why did it have to be Heero? I could spend some more time away from that psychotic, bastard and spandex-clad glaring stone...'

Coming back from a walk to find said glaring stone on the little one- room cabin he was hiding in wasn't what Duo could call a pleasant surprise. He was still hurt by Heero's attitude, although those few days away from anyone helped him clear his thoughts.

'I can't really blame any of the guys. Their concept of 'god' is different from reality, they think the gods are perfect, and everything that happens is because we want it... Yeah, right... If they knew half of the things otousan went through because things got out of control... Or if they knew what *I* went through every time I disobeyed Enma-Daioh and tried to help...'

Duo wasn't really looking forward to being alone with Heero, but they had a mission to accomplish. It seemed the same thought was crossing Heero's mind. They discussed their plans quickly, made necessary adjustments and calculations. After long hours and memorized plans, they called it a night.

Duo changed to sleep. No bed, just a pair of old mattresses laid on the floor; his near the 'kitchen', Heero's across the room. Reaching for his bag, Duo noticed for the first time the cream-colored folder on top of it. A folder bearing the seal of Reikai...

Heero's eyes were following Duo's movements. When the braided boy paused, he interrupted the silence. "I thought it would be better if I returned your folder."

Duo shrugged. "It's your file. So, found anything interesting in it?"

Silence. Then, "Why there's only my current life described in it?"

Duo looked surprised for a moment. "I don't know. Are you sure there's only one here?"

Heero narrowed his eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, Duo."

Duo gave him a dirty look. "I'm not playing dumb, Yuy. I got the files, but I never read them. I had no right to do it."

"So do it and tell me why."

Duo didn't really read Heero's file, just quickly scanned through some pages. Shrugging, he put the file aside. "Everything here looks normal. Perhaps the missing parts are the reason your file was in the 'incorrect' section."

Heero gave him a suspicious look, but made no comment. He laid down and turned his back to Duo. After a brief pause, Duo continued. "Heero... I know you think I'm just playing around... but believe me, I'm not. Reikai's job is to keep the balance between the three worlds... and only that. We're not allowed to interfere in each world's inner conflicts, and to me it became almost unbearable to just sit back and watch all this. That's one of the reasons I became human, and later accepted piloting a Gundam... It was the only way I could come and *do* something without breaking the laws." A small chuckle. "And even though we break almost every single law here in the Ningenkai, I'd never break one in the Reikai... I don't want to spend Enma knows how many centuries hanging upside down or worse... The Fates are very severe when it comes to punishing a god."

Getting no response, Duo gave Heero's back a long look, sighed and turned to his side, facing the wall. Although he didn't show it, what little he read in Heero's file confused him. 'Heero's a first- timer... No wonder he's so inexperienced when it comes to emotions or even life in general, and no wonder Kurama thought he was me. But posing as a first-timer would attract too much attention to me... I wonder how it happened; otousan said there were no more new souls... Damn! One's first incarnation is always scheduled to be very peaceful and happy, I don't think piloting Wing fits any of these requirements!'

He tried to forget his line of thought and concentrated in sleeping; they had a job to do next day, and needed their rest.

Slipping through the corridors and stealing the files was an easy task. Planting the bombs and wiring the rooms was even easier. Then why was he in this predicament?

'Because you're an idiot!' Duo thought to himself. Running like a bat out of hell, he dodged the flying bullets and made his way to the east gate, where his bike was hidden. But the sounds coming from that direction were not a good sign. Heero was too close for comfort. And if Heero was too close with that big, big Gundam of his... then Mobile Suits were bound to be too close, too.

'Just a little more, Duo... And when I get back, Heero will have a piece of my mind! Where did all that crap of 'following the plans' go? He was supposed to be on the other side of the base!'

There! Quickly climbing his bike, he gunned the engine and took off. Just some more seconds to get distant enough, then push the button and blow the--

Before he could think, a MS fell on the building, and exploded. The force of the explosion started a chain reaction, detonating the bombs before Duo could push the button, or had enough time to get a safe distance.

Heero cursed under his breath. Again. Things were not according to the plans, and he didn't like it.

Cutting through another MS, he assessed his situation. Just some more minutes, and Duo would be out of the compound. After blowing it up, he would return to the cabin, send the data to Quatre and leave to their rendezvous point. Then Heero wouldn't have to be alone with Duo anymore.

Thinking about Duo... what was all that crap last night about? Why was Duo trying to justify his actions to him? Why would Heero's opinion matter to Duo?

'It does.' a little voice told him. 'Don't you remember what that Kurama told you? He considers you as his friend. A friend's opinion is always important.'

"He doesn't need me as a friend. He's a god." Heero tended to speak out loud when he was alone. "A god doesn't need someone like me."

'Right now he said he was human. A human needs friends, you know that. And he said himself he wasn't different.'

"I can't."

'You know what you want. You just don't have the courage to admit--'

Before that little voice could say anything else, Heero's eyes widened. One of the MS fell on the building, right on the east gate - the gate Duo was supposed to escape through. It exploded, creating a chain reaction that started the bombs Duo planted inside the building. Started them earlier than expected... would Duo have managed to escape?

That small voice started whimpering inside his head 'not again, not again...'. Heero shook his head, trying to clear it out. Only when he spotted a small black dot speeding away did the voice stop... Duo had made it, barely.

Heero returned to the task at hand, and quickly finished his job. Leaving the place as fast as he could, he took an alternative route in case someone came and tried to follow him. He left Wing in its hiding place, some distance away from the cabin, then took the trail up. Duo would be already in the cabin, everything packed, and waiting for him. He was already readying himself for the lecture Duo was bound to give him on how he should have made sure to stay away from where Duo was supposed to be, or mock him for failing in 'following the plans'.

But he wasn't ready for what greeted him. Duo's bike wasn't hidden, as it would normally be; rather than that, it was fallen near the cabin, just like it crashed. The front door was open, and there was a dark trail from the bike to inside the cabin. A blood trail.

Heero quickly hid the bike; no one would come this far, but he wanted to be sure. Besides, it didn't look like he would go anywhere soon if his braided companion was injured. He entered the cabin and locked the door.

Sprawled on the very center of the cabin, facedown in a pool of his own blood, was an unconscious Duo. Heero put some water to boil, took his rather impressive first aid kit and some clean cloth, and turned to Duo.

He cut Duo's clothing with a small knife and got a good look at the damage. His left side was pretty damaged, with several cuts and metal shards imbibed in his flesh. His back was even worse. After quickly examining Duo and making sure there were no other serious injuries, he put the hot water in a bowl and washed his hands in it, hissing at the temperature. He took a pair of tweezers, washed them and started removing the shards; the bigger ones just with his hands, the smaller ones with the tweezers. Duo groaned and opened one violet eye.

Heero looked at him for a moment. "You have a lot of cuts and some metal shards in your upper body. Lost a lot of blood, too. Don't move."

Duo opened his other eye. "Bombs started earlier than expected. Got hit by flying debris." Wincing when Heero removed another shard, he closed his eyes.

"Don't close your eyes. Keep awake."

"It hurts."

"I know. I'm almost finished. Don't faint, you don't know if you'll wake up with all that blood loss."

"Heh. Told you gods can bleed ne, Heero? And gods can die, too. So tired..."

"Don't sleep!" Heero thought frantically for a moment. "Start talking... tell me more about your parents."

Duo made a coughing sound that was meant to be a chuckle, and started speaking with some difficulty. "The one time I want to keep my mouth shut you want me to keep talking... how ironic. I... already told you about otousan. He's the one who judges souls and heads the Tantei department. Since there aren't any Tantei in active duty, that's pretty much closed... Okaasan was one of otousan employees... When people die, a spirit guide goes fetch them and send them to the Reikai. Okaasan was one of them, until she got pregnant and it became too dangerous to fly around. She's not a goddess... that's one of the reasons I think Enma-Daioh doesn't... like her very much.

"He always wanted otousan to... marry Ashura's daughter and give him a more submissive daughter-in-law... not a fiery and strong-willed girl like okaasan. He was against the marriage... even after it happened, he only accepted her... even then, barely... when she announced she was pregnant and stopped flying."

A sharp intake of breath. Heero grunted an encouragement for him to continue. "Although Enma-Daioh is my grandfather, we don't... get along very well. He thinks I'm too brash to be a god... and I know he blames okaasan for that. After all, I took after her... including my personality. He also used to argue a lot with otousan about how to raise me... I bet he didn't learn about my fostering away until it was too late."

Heero finished with the tweezers. He put the cloth in the bowl, squeezed the excess water and started cleaning the cuts. Duo hissed at the contact. "What about the others? The youkai? How come a god is friends with demons?"

"Kurama... was a thief. Once he got caught and almost killed. He escaped to the Ningenkai and merged with a human, just like I did... When his human mother got sick, he joined Hiei and stole some things from the Reikai... to save her. They got caught by uncle Yuusuke and started working to otousan as probation... They became good friends since then."

Heero finished cleaning Duo's back and left side. "Can you move? We have to get you off this blood."

Duo nodded. Heero got a hold of Duo's right side, which was fairly uninjured, and managed to move Duo to his mattress. His front wasn't injured, since the blast caught him from behind, but he had blood all over his chest. Duo was too lightheaded to make a good job of cleaning himself, so Heero took the cloth from him.

It was nice to have someone taking care of him, Duo thought. Even though the situation wasn't all that nice. He didn't notice the Japanese boy wasn't really looking where he was putting that cloth on... until Heero squeezed it a bit too hard and warm water ran down, soaking the front of Duo's boxers. The braided boy gave a small squeak, and Heero quickly turned away to get the antiseptic. Then he went behind Duo.

"Who is this Yuusuke you talked about?"

Duo tried to ignore the sting of the antiseptic. "He was born as a human... and died out of schedule. Otousan resurrected him... on the condition he started working as a Tantei. Kurama's case was one of his first ones, and since then they worked together. After some time he died again... and then otousan discovered one of his ancestors was a youkai. His human half died for good, and his youkai blood took over. Now he's a full youkai... just like Kurama and Hiei."

Heero started wrapping the bandage around Duo's chest. Every time he reached in front of the American he could smell the blood on Duo's hair, and underneath it a sweet scent. 'Must be his shampoo.', he thought. He quickly finished bandaging Duo's chest and arm tightly, and got up. Looking around, he started cleaning the blood on the floor with the used cloth and water.

"Heero?" He turned around to see Duo blinking owlishly at him, in the same position he was left. "Can I go to sleep now?"

Heero helped him lay down and covered him with a thin blanket. After cleaning up, he booted his laptop and sent the data to Quatre, adding in they would be delayed by Duo's injuries.

The braided boy was already asleep. Heero took the opportunity to give him an antibiotic shot. Duo not even twitched at the needle, but after some time he started shivering a little. Weighing his options, Heero dragged his mattress next to Duo's, cleaned himself up and laid down next to him. His proximity would help with body temperature, he reasoned. Blood loss causes hypovolemia, and that led to hypothermia.

But he didn't dare get even an inch closer.

• Email Author
• On to Part 9
• Back to fic page