Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Reflection ❯ Dangers of the Mind ( Chapter 20 )

Aya: WOW!! 25 reviews!! 25!! I shall cry now! *weeps in happiness*

Duo: Oh…my…god…

Kurama: *rolls eyes*

Quatre: I feel so weak in this story….

Kurama: *pats Quatre's back* Don't. It's not your fault you suffered major emotional damage….

Quatre: But so did you and Duo, and you two turned out strong and twisted!!

Duo: Can we highlight `twisted'?

DISCLAIMER: Aya does not own Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho, or any other merchandise mentioned in this fanfic.

 

 

Dangers of the Mind:

 

Duo closed the door to Kurama's room quietly. He had just checked on Quatre. Luckily, his fever had gone down, but he was still asleep. He walked back into the kitchen, and poured himself some coffee. He sat at the table, staring at the brownish-tan liquid in his mug.

 

Why is this happening? he wondered. It was true, he and Kurama never really got along. They were opposites, and most of the time resented each other. The only reason they weren't trying to kill each other was because they had no one else to run to. All they had was each other. For the longest of time, that's all they had. But that's what growing up on L-2 does to people. It takes everything away, leaving the thing you are most curious about. Leaving what you most fear.

 

//Flashback//

 

The air...it was thick with smoke. Rubble was all about, and small fires were everywhere. A lone boy was hovering over a figure on the ground. The figure was wearing what resembled a nun's outfit, except the top garment was gone, letting blonde, curly locks fall around her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, and a little blood streamed from her mouth. It was obvious she was dead.

 

The boy was a foot away from her, dirty and partly scratched up. He had long, chestnut hair that fell loosely around his small frame. He was huddled to himself, and staring at the corpse with blank, violet eyes. His head snapped up when he heard footsteps. The footsteps stopped, and to the side of him stood a boy his age. The boy had flaming red hair that flowed around him, and he wore torn jeans and a ripped red shirt.

 

The red-head boy glanced down at the corpse, then at the boy. A few minutes passed by in silence. The chestnut-haired boy was surprised that he found the live company...comforting. "Aren't you going to bury her?" the red-head asked. The chestnut boy blinked, and then shook his head. Another silence. "I'll help you bury her." he said at last. "I'm not burying her." the boy said. The red-head studied the corpse. "So you're just going to let some stray mutt eat her?" the red-head asked. The boy shrugged.

 

"Then I'll bury her." the red-head said, walking towards the corpse. The boy blinked. "Why? You don't even know her." the boy stated. The red-head shrugged. "Just because I don't know her, doesn't mean she wasn't someone. And everyone should have a decent burial." he said. He stopped, and looked at the chestnut boy carefully. Then he held out his hand. "Come on." he said. The boy stared at his hand, then up into those emerald eyes. "I'm Duo. Duo...Maxwell." the boy said, grabbing the hand. "I'm Kurama Minamino."

 

//End Flashback//

 

Duo broke out of his reverie when the door opened. Silent footsteps fell, and closed in on him. He looked up to see Kurama. He wasn't breathing hard, he wasn't sweating. That's what he hated about Kurama, he could never look...human. "Well?" Duo asked, finally breaking the silence. Kurama slid into a chair silently. He looked back up at Duo. "I just scratched him up a bit. However, they've planted a tracking device on Quatre." Kurama said.

 

Duo jumped up. "Idiot! Why didn't you say so sooner?!" Duo yelled, rushing towards Kurama's room. Kurama stopped him just outside the door. "Just wait. I have an idea." he said calmly. "Do you want them to find us?!" Duo yelled. Kurama smirked. "Not exactly. Just find the device, but don't break it. Yet." Kurama said.

 

"So what exactly is this plan of yours?" Duo asked. He knew better than to doubt his 'friend'. "A little mind game. We'll lure them into downtown, but break the device before they can locate our house. It will leave them stranded." Kurama said, searching through Quatre's soaked clothes. He pulled out a tiny, button-like object. "Then, when they've realized they're lost, you come in. Act like you haven't seen Quatre or I. Let them explain their side of the situation to you. Mess with their minds a bit." Kurama said.

 

"Then?" Duo asked. Kurama's smirk turned crueler. "Leave them. Let's see if they can survive." Kurama said. Duo smirked. Kurama threw him the button-sized transmitter. Duo easily caught it between his fingers, then crushed it. "Game on."

 

 

"Why did you stop?!" Cathy asked Heero. Heero was typing away, agitated. "Dammit! The signal is gone! The transmitter must have been destroyed!" he said. "Kurama." Hiei stated, and everyone nodded. "The damn bastard is too smart for his own good." Cathy cursed.

 

"Now what?" Botan asked. "I guess we go home." Koenma said. They looked around. "We're lost, aren't we?" Keiko deadpanned. Heero sweatdropped. "Possibly." he said. Everyone whapped him in the head. "Why don't you just say 'yes'?!!" Yusuke yelled. "Yusuke?" a voice behind him asked, confused. They all turned to see Duo. "Duo?!!" Yusuke yelled in disbelief. Duo raised an eyebrow.

 

"Why are all of you here? With teachers, no less? What, you didn't bring kitty along?" Duo asked playfully, putting on his maniac grin. "Kitty? You mean you don't know what's going on?!" Botan gasped. "Going on? What?" Duo asked, in confusion. "We were at the dance, waiting for the three of you to show up. Then Dorothy comes up, kisses Trowa, Quatre walks in on time to see, he runs out, then Kurama comes in later and nearly kills Trowa!" Yusuke said, franticly.

 

Duo sweatdropped. "Fox, huh? Yeah, I guess he DOES get carried away at times. He's just protective." Duo said, smiling. "This isn't funny, Duo, it's serious! Quatre is in tears, and Kurama's gone PSYCHO!" Keiko said. Duo nodded seriously. "So, that doesn't explain what you're doing here." Duo pointed out. "Heero put a tracking device on Quatre, and we were following it until, we guess, Kurama destroyed it." Zechs said.

 

"Isn't that illegal?" Duo asked Hero skeptically. "Hn." he grunted. Duo rolled his eyes. "Riight." he mumbled. "What are you doing here?" Botan asked. Duo grinned. "I live around here." he said. Everyone stared at him, mouth agape. "What? You didn't really think two boys from L-2 really have all that fancy stuff you guys have, did you? I mean, come on. I can barely afford food." he said.

 

"Oh. S-Sorry." Cathy said. "S'okay." Duo said. "Anyway, how about I show you to foxy's house? Kitten is probably there." Duo said. They nodded eagerly. "Okay, then, follow me." he said, beginning to walk away. They trailed after him. Then, in the next minute, he was gone. "Duo?!" Yusuke yelled. "Come on, I'm waitin'!!" Duo yelled, just a little farther, near an alleyway.

 

They ran over to him, but by the time they got to him, he had reappeared 50 feet away. "Hurry it up, guys!" he yelled, grinning. They followed, but every time they were within 5 feet, he reappeared somewhere else. "We can hardly keep up!" Yusuke said, dashing after Duo. They finally reached a street, with five houses. Duo stood in the center of the road, smirking. "Is Kurama's house one of these?" Cathy asked, as they looked at the houses.

 

They didn't get a response. "Duo...?" Heero asked, as they turned to look at their braided friend. He was still smirking at them. He walked towards Heero. "I have something of yours, Hee-chan." he said, holding out his palm. In it were the pieces of the transmitter. They stared at him in shock and confusion. "The transmitter..." Heero said, trailing off.

 

They looked up at Duo. "So, you...YOU'RE the one that broke it?!" Botan gasped. "Bingo." Duo said, dropping the pieces to the ground. He laughed coldly. "You didn't really think I would be left out, did you?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "I mean, come on. Fox and I LIVE together. I was there when we found poor kitty soaked and crying." he said.

 

His mocking eyes turned into a cold glare. "You didn't really think you'd get away with it, did you?" he asked coldly. "So why did you lead us here?" Zechs asked. Duo smiled, in a mocking sort of way. "To play, of course." he said. They stared at him in horror. "You think this is a game?!!" Trowa shouted. Duo shrugged. "That's all life is, Trowa. A cruel joke played on those not FORTUNATE enough." he said, bitterly.

 

"But what would you know, right? While you were playing with action figures or watching your favorite T.V. show, Kurama and I were running around on the colony streets, selling our own BODIES just to have enough food to eat." he spat. "While you were being spoiled by the love of your family, Kurama and I had to bury ours' in the trash-filled dirt, with only ugly rocks that could be marked as tombstones!" he said. They stared at him. "You were...?" Heero choked out.

 

Duo looked up at them tears in his eyes. "Why couldn't we be fortunate, like all of you? What did we do to deserve all that death? All that pain? We were so young, and we couldn't even keep our INNOCENCE. Why?!" he yelled. "Why did the Maxwell Church have to burn down, just so the government could feel secure?! Why didn't that same government help Kurama's mom, so he didn't have to kill her just to survive?! Why did we have to kill so many people just to live on that worthless piece of floating debris?!" he started yelling, tears streaming down his face.

 

"Duo!!" Heero yelled, holding him in a hug. Duo was sobbing, thrashing around. "Don't touch me!!" he kept yelling. "It's okay, Duo! You're not on L-2 anymore!!" Heero said. Duo's thrashing settled a bit, but he was still sobbing. "How come Solo had to die? How come Kuronue had to die? How come EVERYONE had to die? Is that all Kurama and I are? Messenger's of death? Do all we bring is pain? Is that it? If that's so true..." he said, pushing Heero away and backing up a bit.

 

He ripped of his wristbands to reveal scars all over his wrists. "...then I don't want to live! Not on that colony, not on this earth! It's all the same! Just greedy people! That's all there are! To hell with anyone who gets in the way of their ambitions!" Duo said. "Duo..." Botan whimpered. He had stopped crying, and was holding himself. "He's all I had left. Kurama was all I had left. We don't even like each other, but that's all we had. Each other. Nothing else." he said.

 

"Duo..." Heero said, approaching him calmly. Then, to everyone's astonishment, Duo looked back up, grinning like usual. "KIDDING!!" he yelled happily. Everyone did an anime fall. "You had a freakin' emotional breakdown over NOTHING?!!!!!" Yusuke yelled. Duo laughed. "Settle down, guys. Jeez, high-class kids are SO high-strung!" Duo said, waving it off.

 

"Show us to Kurama's house before we kill you." Cathy growled. Duo laughed again. Then glanced back at them. "Actually, I wasn't kidding about the whole 'Trowa-is-going-to-pay-and-to-hell-with-anyone-who-helps-him' ploy." Duo said. They all looked at Duo like he had lost his mind. Which he had.

 

Duo pulled out two daggers. "Now it's my turn to have some fun. Let's play..." Duo said, before reappearing next to Trowa, slicing him in the cheek. "TAG, YOU'RE IT!!" he said, before disappearing and reappearing farther away. "Have fun, guys!! Try not to get mugged!" Duo said, flicking them off. "Oh, and by the way, none of those houses are Kurama's! I just led you here because it's home to the druggies! Later! Or not!" Duo added evilly, before disappearing.

 

*~~~~*

 

Quatre's eyes fluttered open. It was dark, except for a sliver of light that escaped into the room from the hallway. Where...am I? he wondered. He sat up groggily. "R....Rashid?" he called out. There was no reply, but he heard the footsteps of someone approaching. The door opened, and the person clicked the light on. There stood Kurama. "Kurama?" he asked, still in a state of grogginess.

 

"You should rest. You were running a fever awhile ago." Kurama scolded gently. Quatre blinked. "What am I doing here--" he cut himself off, the memories flooding back into perspective. "Oh." he mumbled, looking down at the bed covers. Kurama sat down next to him. "Are you alright?" Kurama asked gently. No response. "Quatre?" he inquired. "I'm sorry." Quatre said, finally speaking. Kurama raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry you saw me like that. I-It's just that...” He said, beginning to sob silently.

 

Kurama held him, and let the little blonde cry. The front door opened, and was slammed shut. Duo walked into the room briskly. "So you're up." he stated simply. Quatre nodded, wiping excess tears from his eyes. "Wh...What happened to Trowa? Do you know?" Quatre asked. It was silent.

 

"Don't worry about it." Kurama said, standing up. Quatre snapped. "Don't worry about it? Don't worry about it?!! I can't do anything BUT worry about it!! And do you know why?!! Because when I DON'T worry about it, I end up doing something stupid, like having sex with a boyfriend that kisses a girl WAY prettier than I'll ever be!! Not only that, but I have to keep YOU TWO from KILLING anyone because you both are so fucking TWISTED that I can't let you out of my sight in fear you'll do something RASH to 'PROTECT' me!!!" he yelled.

 

Kurama and Duo stared at him in evident surprise. Quatre caught himself, and his eyes widened slightly. "I'm sorry! I...didn't mean to.....I'm sorry." he said. Kurama shook his head. "It's alright." he said calmly. Quatre sniffled. "It's just that....when I was young, my mother died protecting me. I told Trowa she died giving birth to me, but that was a lie. She was shot. I was only 4, and I was the only one that saw she was hurt. I never made a sound or move, so when someone finally realized she had been hurt, it was too late."

 

Quatre finished up with a slight sob. Kurama and Duo stared at him wordlessly, emotionlessly. Comfort was something alien to them. But something pulled on Duo's heart. He glanced at Kurama. I suppose one of us should seem human... he thought dryly. He touched Quatre lightly on the shoulder, but immediately snapped his arm back. This tense atmosphere, the situation, all of it was very painful. It was bringing up discomfort for both him and Kurama.

 

"This is not good." Duo stated simply. Kurama nodded. Quatre looked at his friends in confusion. "Quatre..." with that simple name, his head snapped to the red-head. He bit back a gasp. Kurama didn't look...right. Then again, did Kurama EVER look right? But his eyes...they were so empty. It was like staring into an emerald void. "Can we trust you?" Kurama asked. If this had been earlier in the year, when they were all laughs and smiles, he would have laughed. But right now, those four words were meaningful. He could have cried.

 

"For what it's worth, I doubt you two can ever trust anyone completely." Quatre bit out. Kurama and Duo shared a glance. "But yes, you can." Quatre finished. Kurama nodded. "Then in exchange for your past, we give you ours."

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*

 

Quatre stared in shock at his two friends. They didn't look at him; they looked at the wall or floor. “So that's why…” he choked out. Kurama nodded. “Allah…” he got out of his dry throat. New tears threatened to leak out from his already red eyes.

 

“I'm…so sorry…” Quatre said, choking back a sob. Duo shook his head. “Don't be. It wasn't your fault. It was no one's fault but the ones involved.” Duo said. “Why….did you tell me…?” Quatre asked, trying his very hardest not to cry.

 

They were silent for a moment. “Do you remember when we first met? Do you know why we chose to sit by you?” Kurama asked. Quatre shook his head. “Because of your eyes, Quatre.” Kurama said.

 

“They held…so much inner pain. Like ours. And even though we can't trust anyone completely, maybe…” Kurama trailed off. “Maybe we could trust you. Someone who went through their own personal hell, and came out close to sane.” Duo finished. “The truth is…we just wanted something stable to hang on to. Something stable enough to hold on to when we fall. And that was you.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Aya: Please review. Flames or praise is accepted. Just don't be too harsh if u flame! *cower*

Duo: *rolls eyes*

Kurama: I don't think she's going to put anymore extras. But she promised she'd do BLOOPERS AND OUTTAKES in the final page!!!

Duo: …and an epilogue.

Aya: Shaddup. The both of you!