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"Shinigami’s Lot "Written By: t-shirt Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Written for
pleasure not profit. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU/High School Gang War, Violence, blood,
fighting, violent NCS (rape), language, Bastardized Hiiro (in the
beginning), Evil Dr. J, Evil Relena, Prejudice, angst, OOC, Duo POV,
humor believe it or not! and I'm told this one will give you a freakishly
dark case of the warm fuzzies before its all over. >;^/ Pairings: 2+Hilde, 2+Solo, 2+4, 2+5, 1+3, Rx1
(unrequited), Mx5 (also unrequited), 5x13, 6x9, 3x4, SoloxCatherine,
and yes! 1X2!!!! YeeAAaay! Summary: A small town harbors big trouble as rival
factions face off in a war seemingly bred of predjudice and ill content.
While Hiiro's White Wing Gang tries to banish the gay community Duo
does his best to protect those that have come to be known as 'Shinigami's
Lot'. However, dark secrets and misunderstandings lead them on an
inevitable path back to one another as old feelings refuse to fade
and they discover a love that will ultimately survive. "Shinigami’s Lot "
Chapter 2 Hilde whooped and tossed Duo’s braid so it wrapped twice around his neck as they made their way up the sidewalk outside Alliance Air Field. They’d been to the airport dozens of times but they’d never been inside the hangers before; having only come to watch the air shows from afar like the rest of the patrons. The field was always strewn with antique planes as well as some newer models but all the good stuff was kept in the hangers out of sight of the public. Most people only got to see these machines in action high above the field. Of course, Duo had studied them. He had studied each and every one until he knew them inside and out but he’d never actually gotten to touch them before and his heart beat quickly with anticipation as they neared the front office.
“Duo!” a familiar voice called as they walked through the door. The braided boy smiled in welcome as a taut looking young Chinese boy approached. “Hey Fei,” he greeted his long time friend.
“WU Fei,” the boy corrected with a handshake. “What brings you out so early?”
“We’ve been invited to tour the hanger!” Hilde bubbled excitedly.
Wufei scowled at the girl as best he could with a smirk on his face. “Who are you touring with?” Wufei asked. “I’ll see if I can...”
“Duo!” a bright voice called from the office door. “Hilde, Solo,” Quatre greeted them in turn. “I’m glad you all made it. Hello, Wufei, how are you?”
“Fine, thank you Mr. Winner. Am I to understand you’re taking this gaggle on a tour of the hanger then?” he asked skeptically.
“Wufei, please,” the blond replied in a huff. “Call me Quatre. Mr. Winner is my father, and as a matter of fact, yes. We’re just about ready to begin if you’ll excuse us.”
“Of course,” Wufei replied as Quatre offered his arm to Hilde.
Wufei raised an eyebrow at Duo when he smiled and informed him, “I call him Quatre,” before he moved to follow with a coy grin. “Cya later, Chang baby.”
Wufei grimaced and growled low to himself, “Now it’s ‘Chang baby’?”
Quatre led the small group to the hanger where Duo and his friends took great delight in the opportunity to sit in every seat, climb in every hole and inspect every engine they could get near. Duo explained the more complex theories that had been debated in modern flight and how they were worked out in great detail to anyone that would listen, adding his own comments on how the apparatus might be improved upon.
He was explaining to Hilde how his theories on hyper thermal drives might be used to increase efficiency the cooling system on the F1 X20 Fighter jet when his musings were cut short by a cold wind that sounded remarkably like Hiiro Yui.
“Fairies don’t need planes to fly,” came the eerie drone from ten feet below where Duo was currently bent over an engine with Hilde. “What’re you doing here, pretty boy?”
Duo clenched his teeth and readied his remark, but he never got a chance to speak it as Quatre jumped from the planes cockpit and beat him to the punch.
“He’s my guest,” he said flatly.
Trowa stood with the stoic leader of White Wing, his eyes narrowing to slits when confronted by his cousin’s mild resolve. Hiiro smirked, his ability to stand perfectly still unnerving the blond, though he held his ground admirably.
“I see,” he said coolly. “Your father must be so very proud.”
Quatre leveled his own glare on the boy, but this time Duo was the one to meet the challenge. “Don’t you ever get tired of your own bullshit Yui?” he asked, a bright smile playing on his lips as he descended the scaffold to face his nemesis.
“No more than you tire of your scratching post, kitten,” Hiiro retorted.
Duo tossed the rag he was using to clean under his nails on the floor and marched purposefully straight at the impudent Japanese boy.
“Duo!” Quatre barked, moving to intercept. However, he found he could just barely hold back the braided teen’s blind determination.
“Let him come,” Hiiro ordered coldly. “I haven’t bitch-slapped anyone in days. It’ll be fun.”
Quatre was summarily tossed aside, a quick clicking sound telling him Duo’s knife was no longer in its sheath as he quickly advanced on his foe. A moment later, all motion stopped as the braided boy found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol that Hiiro had seemingly pulled from nowhere and thrust into his face.
“Hiiro!” Quatre shouted. “Put that away! What are you doing with a handgun on airport property?! That’s a federal offense!”
“Is there a problem here?” A deep base voice permeated the scene as a huge, dark man stepped into the light, his mere presence casting a shadow over the quarreling boys.
“No... no problem,” Hiiro replied, dropping his gun and stowing it way. “These ladies were just leaving.”
“Rashid,” Quatre breathed in relief. “I’m afraid this boy has broken a federal law by bringing a handgun on the property. Please inform the authorities...”
“Why wouldn’t I have a side arm?” Hiiro asked casually. “I am a member of airport security, after all. It would be difficult to do my job with out the proper equipment, don’t you think, Rashid?”
“What?” the blond asked in disbelief. “You’re security here?”
“Yes,” Rashid confirmed. “Mr. Yui has been with us for some time. He’s proven a valuable asset… up till now,” the big man added as he leveled his dark gaze on the blue eyed boy.
“I see,” Quatre conceded. “Very well. However, Mr. Yui,” he added in a cold businessman’s tone. “If I ever see you pull that thing on someone like that again, you won’t be a part of this security team for long. Are we clear?”
“He attacked me,” Hiiro stated simply.
“You provoked him,” Quatre insisted.
“He needs no provoking. It’s in his nature.”
“Why are you so cruel to him!?” the blond growled suddenly, his frustration with the entire affair clear in his voice.
Hiiro turned to leave, but he shot back over his shoulder, “He can leave anytime he likes.”
“This is my town too, Yui! I ain’t goin’ nowhere!” Duo yelled after him.
Trowa held his ground for a moment, his eyes boring into the young blond before he took a step closer to him. He spoke cautiously so that only Quatre could hear. “You’re playing with fire.. Stay away from him if you value your skin,” then he too turned and left.
Duo’s knife had done its disappearing act again before he turned back to his friends. “Man, he is such a fucking jerk!”
Solo dropped from his perch on the wing and moved next to his friend as he geared up for a long-winded rant. “I just don’t get it ya know!? Why the hell does he hafta be such a fuck! We don’t do shit to him or his, but they gotta hunt us down like we’re some kinda fucking animals!” The braided boy was getting really wound up; Solo had seen it before, so he stayed close, waiting for the ball to drop. “I mean it man! Don’t look at me like that! We are what we fuckin’ are! It’s not like we can change just ‘cuz he doesn’t fucking like it! Why the hell can’t he see that, huh?”
Solo advanced, holding his arms out to his friend. “Duo,” he said softly.
“Naw man! It ain’t right! Ya know? Sometimes… sometimes I just wanna hunt him down and cut his fucking heart out just to see if he fucking has one!”
Solo took another step toward his hysterical friend only to be pushed back as Duo shoved him away. “Why Solo? Why does he... why can’t he… just…”
Duo fell into his friend’s arms, his energy spent for the moment as his mind realized there just weren’t any fast answers to his questions. Blind hatred wasn’t something anyone could explain away easily. “Gods Solo,” Duo whispered tiredly into his friends shoulder. “What’d I do that was so bad?”
“It’s not your fault,” Solo told him as he held him close. “It’s his problem, not yours man. Let it go.”
“Duo?” Quatre said softly, his hand coming to rest on the braided boy’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Duo pushed his friend away with a grateful smile and nodded. “Yeah, Q-tip, I’m good. Sorry ‘bout that. Guess he just got to me a little.”
Quatre’s left brow rose at the new nickname but he didn’t mention it. “It’s ok,” he soothed. “He seems to know all the right buttons to push, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah… you could say that,” Duo admitted. “Listen you guys, go on ahead. I’m gonna clean up a bit. I’ll catch up when I’m done.”
Quatre tossed Rashid a quick glance that was quickly acknowledged before agreeing and escorting the others to the next part of the hanger.
Duo was aware of his rather large shadow, but considering the fact that Hiiro was wandering around somewhere with a loaded gun he let it go and just went to the restroom. He felt a lot better once he’d washed his face and cooled off and hurried to catch up to his friends.
The rest of their visit was pleasant, if not a bit subdued. They watched the air show together, where Duo took every opportunity to introduce Quatre to people from his Lot. He made a rather large spectacle of it when he introduced the blond to a young man by the name of Alex, who wore the remnants of what looked like a nasty black eye. Alex took an instant shine to the Winner heir even though Quatre seemed more embarrassed by the attention than anything else.
The blond managed to shake off Alex’s attentions by inviting his three friends for a look at the control tower where they could see the action from high above the field. Duo said it was the best show he’d ever seen and thanked his new friend about a hundred times through the evening before they finally said goodnight and went their separate ways.
Duo’s Mother was already in bed when he came home. A note lay on the counter saying she’d left some food on a plate in the fridge if he was hungry; a small heart was scribbled in the lower left hand corner by way of an apology for their argument that morning. She’d been doing that since he was a small child when she’d discovered how embarrassed he got over people apologizing to him. The system seemed to still work as he smiled at it before tossing it in the can and heading to his room.
His floor had been cleaned of the broken glass and his window had a board nailed in it as a temporary fix until the glass could be repaired. He made a mental note to thank their neighbor Howard, who also happened to be the aviation coach and one of Duo’s best friends, for helping out.
He pulled off his clothes and flopped down on his bed, the day’s events spinning through his mind until they finally stilled and he found himself staring into the memory of dark blue eyes. Eyes hardened by a hatred he simply could not understand.
He pushed the image away and concentrated on the wonderful experience his new friend had bestowed on him as he drifted off to sleep.
-~-
“Martin stop” Duo said again, his patience wearing thin. “I mean it! Quit it! I do not kiss on the first damn date!”
“Come on Duo, it’s just a goodnight kiss. Didn’t you have a good time?” Martin reasoned.
“Having a good time has nothing to do with it,” Duo insisted.
“Come on baby,” Martin cooed, moving across the bench seat of the car. He’d brought Duo home ten minutes ago but refused to let him go without a good night kiss.
Duo was about ready to give in just to shut him up so he could go inside without a scene. “Ok fine,” he finally conceded. “One kiss. Then you have to go.”
“Sure baby, whatever you say,” Martin agreed, moving closer. Duo had reservations about dating someone so much older than himself, but Martin had been so persistent he’d finally given in and let him take him to dinner.
The older boy pulled him close and pressed his lips to Duo’s mouth. The next instant the teenager was being all but molested as Martin tried to force entry with his tongue, pushing him down in the seat.
“Martin!” he growled. “Stop it!”
“Don’t be such a tease,” Martin complained, trying to take Duo’s mouth once again.
The car door suddenly snapped open so hard it bent back on its hinges and Martin was unceremoniously snatched from his place on top of Duo and slung halfway across the street.
“Hiiro!” Duo shouted, crawling from the car as his friend advanced on his date.
“What the hell were you doing to him!?” Hiiro demanded.
“N… nothing... just a... a goodnight kiss, that’s all, man!” Martin explained, trying to get to his feet.
Hiiro stopped as Duo came abreast with him in the street. “Wait,” the braided boy panted. “Don’t hurt him! I can explain!”
Hiiro’s eyes narrowed but he stopped his advance and Duo gasped taken aback by how cold and empty his eyes had suddenly become.
“Hiiro he’s was just… I mean he’s a jerk yeah but...”
“He was kissing you,” Hiiro stated, not taking his eyes off the frightened young man in the street.
“Hey man, if he’s yours, it’s not a problem” Martin offered. “I’ll just get the hell outta your way and not bother him again.”
“What do you mean bother him?” Hiiro said coolly.
“You know… I won’t go out with him anymore.”
Duo cringed. This was not how he wanted to tell his best friend he was gay. “Hiiro I…”
The icy stare he suddenly received shut him up real quick, his heart breaking as he realized something very bad was happening between them.
Hiiro held his gaze for a moment, long enough to confirm what he knew to be true before he closed the distance between himself and Martin and commenced to beating him to a pulp.
Duo did everything he could to stop him, taking several punches himself in the process, but Hiiro was enraged. It was only the braided boys’ desperate cries that stopped him from beating the boy to death. He left him lying in a puddle of blood on the cold, hard asphalt and turned his bitter wrath on his battered, hysterical friend.
“Get out,” he said in an icy tone that sent a shiver down Duo’s spine. “Get out of my sight,” he went on stepping closer to the rattled boy. Duo’s heart shattered further with each and every step. Every word cut into his chest like a cold knife. “Get out of my town,” Hiiro went on, stepping up in front of him and slapping him so hard he fell to his knees.
Duo didn’t fight back; he was in too much shock. He just couldn’t believe what was happening as he was pulled up by the front of his shirt, his best friends’ enraged visage spitting its angry words in his face. “Get out of my life!” Hiiro shouted an inch from his nose before tossing him to the pavement once again and walking away.
He tossed over his shoulder as he disappeared, “You’re not welcome here, freak. Leave while you still have legs to walk on.”
Duo watched him disappear down the street. He sat there stunned for awhile though he wasn’t sure how long before his mind came around enough to hobble in the house and call for an ambulance.
He hadn’t told the police what had really happened, letting them believe it was some old lover that had beat Martin. He just still couldn’t believe it had been Hiiro; his best friend since the third grade. How could have done this? Why? It just didn’t make any sense.
Suddenly Hiiro was standing in front of him, his face contorted with rage as he raised a pistol, aimed it at Duo’s forehead and fired.
-~-
Duo shot up out of bed so hard he fell out. He scrambled around in his sheets for a minute before he realized he was in his bedroom and not on a blood stained street.
Snatching up the nearest stuffed animal, a large black panther, he hugged it tight and rocked himself on the floor for awhile wondering again how he could have been so wrong; what he’d done to deserve his fate and if he’d ever stop loving Hiiro Yui.
**
The following Thursday came soon enough and Duo found himself back at school. He’d been on campus briefly each morning as he still got up to walk with Hilde; he just couldn’t take the chance that his absence might invoke an attack on her. Quatre had collected his lessons for him so he hadn’t fallen behind so things were moving along pretty much as if nothing had happened. Until lunch. They sat together as they usually did at their usual table in their usual way when something most unusual happened. Alex Baker came to sit at their table squeezing in beside Quatre with a huge smile. Duo had the decency to look chagrin as Quatre rolled his eyes.
“How are you, Quatre?” the boy beamed at the blond; his bright brown eyes shining with purpose as he reached over and opened Quatre’s milk carton for him.
“Umm… fine, thank you,” Quatre responded, moving his milk to the other side of his tray.
The boy went on to question him about his opinion of the school, his classes and the town in general before Quatre’s spirits sagged to an all time low and he began sending some very specific signals to Duo for help. Such as making a motion like he was slitting his own throat when the boy wasn’t looking. Alex seemed oblivious to the quiet snickers that kept floating around their table and moved on to his final objective.
“There’s a swap meet at the Civic Center this Saturday if you’d like to go. It’ll be a lot of fun since it’s mostly to do with model planes and the like. You like that kind of stuff right?”
Quatre smiled and kicked Duo under the table. Duo spit his milk on his tray as his shin exploded in pain giving his blond friend a look that might freeze a lesser man in his tracks. He rose to the occasion just the same, seeing as how it really was his fault Quatre was forced to endure this.
“I’m afraid we already have plans,” Duo said absently brushing the milk off his shirt.
Alex looked crestfallen. “You… two together?” he asked shyly.
Duo nodded not really paying attention before stealing Quatre’s napkin to clean himself off.
“Why don’t’cha just share him,” a snide voice said from the neighboring table.
“Yeah, isn’t that the kinda shit your kind gets off on?” another chimed in.
Duo lifted his eyes to see who it was this time. Charlie and Mark. They were usually much too cowardly to make a scene. It was Trowa’s presence at their table that had bolstered their nerve.
“I might get off on busting your chops if you keep running your fucking mouth,” Duo said evenly dropping the napkin on his tray.
“Make sure ya wash your hands first. I don’t want some faggots’ cum touching me.” Charlie snickered.
Duo’s stared, shocked that the idiot could possibly have said that out loud and meant it to demean ‘his’ group of friends. Even Trowa rolled his eyes.
“Aww, don’t be like that fella’s” Duo chided them. “Just ‘cause the gal’s wont have ya doesn’t mean ya gotta go changing your side of the fence.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?!” Mark flustered.
“You boys shouldn’t be flirtin’ with us like that ya know? Might be bad for your rep.” the braided boy went on.
“We ain’t flirtin, you… you fag’s! You take that back!” Charlie growled, trying his best to sound intimidating as fear cracked his voice.
“No take backs, ladies. What’ya think this is? Grade school?” Duo grinned.
“You’re gonna pay for that you stupid… fag!” Mark spat as he got up and left with Charlie in tow.
Duo grinned and looked Trowa dead in the eye. The boys emerald gaze never faltered or changed, leaving him as unreadable and silent as ever until Duo finally had to look away so as not to seem distracted but he kept an eye on him just the same. Quatre stood to leave, saying his goodbyes early as he had a music lesson to attend before their next class. Duo didn’t notice for a few minutes, but when he looked up, Trowa had disappeared without a trace and the braided boy’s spider sense kicked into overdrive.
“Where’d Trowa go?” he asked, suddenly looking around the room and not finding the tall boy.
“I… don’t know,” Hilde admitted, looking around herself.
“Quatre,” Duo breathed and was on his feet and out the door before the rest of them could blink.
Quatre crossed the lawn on his way to the auditorium, his violin case in hand as two very familiar and unwelcome faces rounded a corner in front of him.
Charlie sneered and leaned against the wall while Mark punched his palm and grinned evilly at the young blond.
“Where ya goin’ faggot?” Mark questioned.
Quatre laid the antique Stradivarius carefully on the sidewalk out of the way and took his stance.
“Your friend thinks he’s real smart, don’t he?” Charlie asked.
Quatre remained silent and still.
The two boys advanced, one on either side of the blond until they had him reasonably surrounded.
“Lets see if he’s such a smart ass when he’s cleaning his boyfriend here up off the sidewalk,” Mark grinned.
Charlie suddenly threw a punch at Quatre’s head, which he grabbed, yanked and used as momentum to sink his elbow in the boy’s ribs. Marks face twisted as he entered the fray with a shout trying to knock the young blond over with a body tackle that Quatre turned into throwing him head long into his companion. He was just feeling like patting himself on the back when his world exploded in stars. Someone had hit him hard in the back of the head. His vision blurred but he couldn’t tell if he’d ever seen this boy before.
“You got him Carl! Hold him still!”
Carl did just that while Charlie and Mark began their brutal assault. He’d taken several hits to the abdomen and face before a dead monotone simply said, “Stop”.
“Hey man!” Charlie panted. “We caught this little faggot alone. Thought we’d teach his boyfriend a lesson. You wanna hit, Trowa?”
“Yeah, Trowa! You haven’t taken any of ‘em down in a month! Have a shot!”
Quatre fought to free himself. His vision had cleared for the most part and for the first time since this had started he was very scared. These boys were just pulling schoolyard pranks. Trowa had been known to put people in the hospital. He stilled as the green-eyed boy came to a stop in front of him raising his eyes to look into the bottomless eyes of the silent boy he’d never understood. Eyes he’d once fantasized might one day see him as more than just a friend now narrowed in preparation for his defeat.
Trowa coiled his fist ready to strike as Quatre closed his eyes and prepared for the worse. A moment later the blond was free of his captors’ clutches. When he looked back, Carl was sprawled out on the sidewalk knocked out cold. Quatre spun back around to face his would be savior in wide-eyed shock. Trowa favored him with the tiniest of grins before he turned to the other two gaping boys.
“This ones under my protection,” he told them smoothly. “Don’t bother him again.”
Charlie and Mark nodded dumbly, their eyes falling on Carl’s unconscious form before scampering off down the hall and disappearing.
Trowa turned back to his distressed cousin slowly taking in the damage for a moment before he spoke. “I warned you,” he told him.
Quatre nodded and straightened his clothes. “Thanks,” he offered softly not really knowing what else to say.
Trowa said nothing, did nothing but stand and stare at him with that damn blank expression.
He was still staring when Duo rounded the corner and came barreling down the hall. “Get away from him!” he shouted. “Leave him alone!” he yelled as he came to halt between Quatre and the tall, green-eyed Wing Lieutenant.
Trowa didn’t bat an eye. As a matter of fact he seemed to be looking right through the braided boy at the young blond behind him.
“Duo” Quatre interjected. “Its ok, he’s not trying to hurt me.”
“Bullshit!” Duo spat refusing to yield.
“Duo, he saved me from getting beat up,” Quatre explained calmly.
“What?” Duo asked disbelievingly. “Why the hell would you do that?” he shot at Trowa.
“That’s none of your damn business,” Trowa stated in his even tone.
“What the fuck are you up to?” Duo demanded.
“Nothing I do is of any concern of yours,” Trowa retorted as he turned to leave.
Duo watched him go but didn’t stand down until he was completely out of sight. Then he turned to his friend to assess the damage.
“You ok?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Quatre sighed. “Hurt my pride more than anything, really. I didn’t see the third guy.”
“Fuckers!” the braided boy growled, brushing his friend’s back off.
“Trowa told them to leave me alone.”
Duo stopped dead still. “Quatre, I have no clue what that guy’s up to, but don’t trust him. He just about put Solo in the hospital last month. He’s bad news for guys like us.”
“Well,” the blond countered. “We are related, in kind of a round about way. Maybe he’s just protecting the family.”
“I don’t know,” Duo returned. “Just be careful and watch your back. Something’s not right about this. He’s been Hiiro’s second for the past year. He backs him up in everything he does. I can’t imagine him going against anything Hiiro says, and believe me, Hiiro won’t give two shits in a hole who your family is if he takes a notion to target you. He’s ruthless, Quatre. Be careful.”
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