Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ How Long Love? ❯ Loss ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Cousin D 
D loses the thing most important to him.
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 03.10.2003 | Updated On: 08.09.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Work In Progress
D loses the thing most important to him.
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama / Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 03.10.2003 | Updated On: 08.09.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Work In Progress
Note: This is a shonen-ai (a very soft yaoi).
Petshop of Horrors crossover Star Trek the Next Generation
HOW LONG LOVE?
Chapter 1: The end
D-
We sell love, hope, dreams, and happiness. Why can't I buy my own happiness?
It was December 14, 1999 at three o'clock in the afternoon when my beloved was murdered.
For less than twenty-two dollars he was shot point blank in the chest and left to bleed to death on the floor of my petshop.
It was my fault.
"Leon, may I ask a favor." D said, walking into the Petshop's kitchen where Leon was standing at the stove, doing his best not to burn the rice for dinner. It was an amusing, warm domestic scene and D had despaired of ever seeing Leon like this. "I need to go out for just a little while, would you watch the shop for me?"
Leon looked over his shoulder and scowled as he grumbled irritably, "You know, D, I AM on vacation. I don't want to work." Even as he said this, he turned back to the stove. "Where's Chris, anyway? I thought he was gonna eat lunch with us."
'Hee, hee. That's Leon. He refuses to move in with me, yet he acted like we are were married half the time and sleeps on my sofa many nights. Oh! I shouldn't think like that! Leon would have a fit if he knew I thought of him in such a way, not to mention what Sofu would do!'
Their relationship, as strange as it was, had come a long way since the first day they'd met. D had never felt as content as he had lately. As much as Leon tried to hide it, he really was a very kind person.
"Chris is out at the playground. Do not worry, I sent Tet-chan with him to protect him." Tet-chan was D's sweet little Tou-Tetsu (Imagine a sheep with a man's face, talons, BIG teeth, and a very nasty disposition) and a very good guardian for Leon's young brother. Tet-chan was not only a fiercely loyal and devoted to keeping nine-year-old Chris out of mischief, but he was one of D's most cherished pets. Not everyone could say that they have a Tou-Tetsu, after all. You could say that he was the pride of my collection. "He promised to be back in time for lunch." Well, Tet-chan promised to have Chris back, anyway.
Pon-chan, the dear young raccoon, was sitting on the kitchen counter next to Leon while he cooked. She was such a cute little thing, long blonde curls and a dimpled smile. If only Leon could see D's darling little pets as D saw them. Leon saw only a small raccoon sitting on the counter next to the stove where D and Chris saw the little girl with blonde curls, dressed in a pink, lacy dress.
"That's great. I think this is almost done." Leon looked at Pon-chan with a slight frown. "Get down, Pon-chan." He said, picking her up and setting her down on the floor. "You're going to get burnt sitting so close to the stove. D, you shouldn't let your pets run free, you know. Pon-chan's just a baby. She doesn't know to stay away from fire."
Pon-chan looked slightly insulted and planted her little hands on her hips. "I'm not a baby, Count!" She insisted cutely. Leon couldn't hear her words and just went on cooking. Leon knew, or at least suspected, that there was something 'different' about D and his petshop, but he didn't know what, exactly. Leon was one of those amazing people who could ignore what he didn't understand and since he didn't understand certain facts about the petshop, he just overlooked them and went on with life. "I'm big enough to keep away from fire."
"Now, now." D petted Pon-chan's hair, soothingly. "Our Leon is just trying to keep you safe, you know."
Pon-chan sulked, but nuzzled against D's hand as he'd expected her to. "I know, I know." She scowled at Leon with irritation. "I wish he'd just open his eyes!"
D resisted a smile. If, one day, Leon ever did open his eyes and see what had been going on under his nose all this time, he'd probably be very angry. Perhaps it was better that Leon live in ignorance. "Be a good dear and go play." D told Pon-chan just before he smelled what Leon was cooking in the pan next to the rice. It nearly sent D's stomach heaving. "Leon, what...what are you..." D stepped closer to the stove and saw with horror what Leon was cooking to go with the rice. "LEON!!!"
"What?!" Leon shouted back, defensively.
"You killed that fish!" D yelled, picking up a plate from the table and threw it at Leon. That murderer! All humans were the same! "How could you?!" D searched frantically for something else to throw at Leon. Something that would hurt. Badly.
Leon dodged the thrown plate, only just, and immediately went onto the defensive, using a sauce pan lid as a shield. "Christ, D!" He yelled. "Knock it off. You don't have to eat it, it's for me and Chris. He's a growing boy and needs meat, you said so yourself."
D didn't throw the chair at Leon and was very proud of himself.
"Very well." D set the chair back down and took a deep breath. "For Chris I'll over look the murder of that poor, helpless, innocent, child which you murdered without a single remorseful thought."
"You know," Leon grunted, turning back to his cooking. "For someone who wanted a favor when he walked in, you sure are pushing your luck."
A favor? Oh, yes. "Now, Leon," I said, putting on my most pleasant smile and moving to stand next to him. "You wouldn't hold my sensibilities against me."
"Wanna bet?"
D leaned his head against Leon's shoulder and Leon froze, his eyes going wide. 'He's so cute when he's afraid!' D just loved the wide eyed look that over came Leon when he was thrown into a situation he didn't know how to deal with. It was hard to resist teasing Leon. "Please? I just want to go down to the tailor. I commissioned a new outfit and it should be ready today. It will only take about twenty minutes."
Leon cautiously turned his head and looked down at D, still nervous that D was leaning against him. He began inching away from D to a more comfortable distance, but D couldn't resist the temptation and slipped his arm though Leon's. 'I can smell his sweat. Deep and musky, what a lovely smell.'
D stepped closer to Leon, making him back up so far that he backed into a wall and had no further space to run. Leon stared down at D, still holding a wooden spoon in one hand and his mouth having fallen open. He looked...delicious. So sweet and tempting. Without really thinking of the consequences, D reached up and stroked Leon's cheek, running his fingernails down Leon's delicate skin.
'Leon often compares me to a china doll, but he's the one who is so fragile and breakable, surreally beautiful with his dark tanned skin and fair hair.'
"Don't you want me to look pretty, Leon? I need my new outfit. It's just for a few minutes. Please?" Again D ran his fingernails down Leon's freshly shaven cheek, just admiring the so human body.
"You have got to be the vainest guy I've ever met, D." Leon said, swallowing hard and giving an obviously forced laugh. What he was thinking at that moment, D had no idea, though he could make a pretty good guess from the blush on Leon's cheeks.
D moved away, giving Leon room to catch his breath and relax. It is perhaps fortunate that Leon was so reluctant to respond to D's flirting. 'If he stays away from me, I won't have to be hurt. Sofu tells me to stay away from Leon. Sofu says that Leon will hurt me and perhaps he is correct. I do not think Leon would hurt me willingly. But...in the end...'
Q-chan kreeled loudly, flying into the kitchen and landing on D's shoulder, a constant reminder not to get to close to Leon. Q-chan's talons dug into D shoulder and D petted him to soothe him. "Hush, Q-chan." D muttered, though he was careful to keep his tone respectful. Q-chan's current state might be cute and almost comical, but it wouldn't be prudent to offend him. "I don't know why you think I'm vain, Leon. I just want to look nice. If you'd take my advice about your appearance you could..."
"Look like a prettied up girl? Start wearing a dress to work and go shopping for perfume?" Leon interrupted with a crude laugh, no doubt to reassure himself. "Thanks but no thanks. I'd like to look like a man, if it's all the same to you."
'Hrumph! My chegeosms' are not dresses and he KNOWS that!' Now that his good mood was gone, D huffed and tried to speak as politely as he could. "Will you mind the petshop for me, please?" Leon made it so hard to have good manners; he could be so aggravating and he doesn't even try! Insulting and irritating and childish and rude were only a few of his unfortunate traits.
It was the please that got him, it worked every time, and, as D had expected, Leon crumbled. Leon grumbled, as he turned back to the stove, "All right, but don't be long. I don't intent to sell anything, not a single one of your damned pets. I'm gonna tell everyone to come back later and YOU can go over contracts with them."
While out shopping, D was suddenly given a look into Leon's mind. Right in the middle of the sidewalk, D froze, his newly bought chegeosm falling to the ground when he realized what he was seeing. A wash of cold fear spread through his body and D saw the events unfold at his petshop as if he were watching two scenes at once, the market around him and the front room of the petshop. Like a window opening, D saw though Leon's eyes for the first time and it wasn't a pleasant look. Somehow, D saw and heard everything as if he were looking through Leon's mind and he could even hear what Leon was thinking.
'Oh, shit.' Leon thought when the gun wielding child walked in. Leon was trying to get Pon-chan to eat when the boy wearing a ski mask entered and aimed his gun at Leon. 'Oh, God! Oh, God!' Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Pon-chan run away into the back room. 'At least he won't hurt the pets. Please, let them stay out back. Don't let Chris come home. He's supposed to be home any minute, for once, please let Chris be late. D! D can't come back, he'll get killed!'
Foolish, foolish Leon! D began running back to the Petshop, even as Leon's thoughts and vision overlapped his own, making it hard for D to make his way. 'No mere human can kill me and I won't allow one to hurt Leon, either.'
"Put the gun down." Leon said, his voice far calmer than his panicked thoughts. 'Put it down, put it down, put it down, put it down!' Leon reached slowly to his back where he kept his gun hidden under his usual baggy T-shirt. 'Don't make me shoot you, kid. You can't be more than fifteen, don't make me kill you. I don't want to have any more nightmares.'
D wanted to yell at Leon to kill this human who dared to threaten his life. Don't hesitate, the Earth is covered in billions, trillions of humans. One less would hardly matter.
"Just hand over the money." The thief demanded, his gun steady as a rock. "And put your hands up where I can see them."
Leon did as he was told and D was thankful that Leon wasn't going to try any heroics. "There's only a few bucks, kid. It's not worth the time in jail when they catch you."
The thief didn't move. "Just get the money."
D could feel Leon start to get angry, but he was smarter than everyone thought he was. Leon went to the locked drawer where he knew D kept the money. 'I just want this guy to get out of here. God, make him leave before anyone gets hurt.' Leon was afraid, so horribly afraid. 'I don't want to die. I have to protect Chris and D. I have to make sure Chris gets better and D needs me. I know he does.'
D never would have guessed that Leon spoke to his god so often. 'I have to go faster! I have to get there!'
D continued to watch, though Leon's eyes, as a small white fox crept out of the back room. 'Damn! Ten-chan!' Leon thought, trying to hurry to get the lock undone with his now shaking hands. 'Come on! Open, damn it!'
Pon-chan was frightened, watching from the doorway of the back room, but Ten-chan loved danger and he easily snuck up on the thief. My sweet Ten-chan with his wicked laugh thought he could protect the Petshop for me.
Ten-chan wasn't alone. All of my dear pets would willingly die to protect our home. Behind Ten-chan I could see Leon watching the cats and dogs silently trying to get closer to our home's invader. Several of my braver birds, the fighting cocks and the hawks, my lizards and my even one of my timid swans followed Ten-chan.
It might have worked, too. It almost worked. Ten-chan was only inches away from pouncing on the thief when disaster struck. The door slammed open and our beloved little Chris ran in, completely unaware of what was going on.
"Chris! Get out!" Leon screamed.
The startled thief swung around and fired without thinking, catching Chris in the arm.
Even as Chris fell to the floor, Leon tackled the thief furiously. 'My brother!' Leon thought. 'He killed my brother!' Tears were streaming from Leon's eyes while he struggled with the thief. 'Chris!'
'Oh, Chris.' D felt myself starting to cry along with Leon. Sweet Chris who hadn't spoken in so long because of the cruel words of his family. Chris was as much a part of D's family as he was Leon's and D love him dearly. 'I will do anything to save our little Chris just as I know Leon will kill the man who shot his brother.'
AS they struggled for the gun, the thief was lucky and another shot rang out.
Leon jerked away from the thief with a gasp.
Pain! D felt Leon's pain rip though his own chest and he can't help but stagger, almost falling from the shock. It's only a phantom pain of what Leon's feeling, though and D quickly regained his feet and was running, nearly flying down the street again.
Blinking down at himself, Leon stared at the growing red stain that spread like a flower blossoming across his chest. Leon's mind numbed and he was suddenly unaware of anything other than the feeling of lightheadedness and the diminishing pain.
Leon didn't acknowledge the thief trying to escape. It was a useless attempt, anyway. Tet-chan, enraged that his charge, Chris, had been shot, stood in the doorway in his human shape. He'd obviously been only a few steps behind Chris and too late to save him. Tet-chan looked like a young teenager in baggy silk trousers and a brightly colored vest, with long auburn hair and inhuman eyes. Tet-chan looked from Chris, who moaned in pain on the floor, then up to Leon, and finally to the thief; his eyes filled with rage.
Tet-chan threw himself at the thief with as much strength as he had in his small body. He snarled and bit deeply, his fangs sinking into the boy's chest and blood flew everywhere. The other pets weren't far behind, showing their human forms for anyone to see. The fighting cocks, each with their two curved knives, but most with nothing but their natural weapons.
The thief was ripped into pieces within seconds by my dear pets. He'd managed to get off one shot, catching Ten-chan in the arm, but that was it. The pets, never to let fresh meat go to waste, began to eat the remains of the invader.
Leon saw, but he said nothing as it happened. He fell, sliding to the floor when his legs gave out, with his back against a wall. For the first time, he saw. He understood. Leon knew what had been happening under his nose all this time.
'The pets...they...' D could feel Leon's thoughts fading, his body weakening. 'They...I never guessed.'
D arrived in time to see Tet-chan holding Chris, cuddling him as a nanny would hold her wounded baby. There was nothing left of the thief but a faint stain on the floor and the pets, still in their human forms, waited for D tensely. They'd tried to help Leon, but it was to late.
Leon was barely alive when D found him, still leaning against the wall, unable to move. Less than twenty minutes had passed since D had left him alone in the Petshop and there he was, with blood pooled around his still body and staring up at my ceiling. Leon was still wearing his cooking apron, the one that said, KISS THE COOK, and had a picture of a big red lipstick kiss. So tacky and tasteless that it was just his style.
"D." Leon looked up at D with blood drizzling out of the corner of his mouth. "D. A...thief...here..."
It was such a pitiful effort to even speak that D was heartbroken to even look at Leon. He didn't waste a moment before he ran to Leon and knelt by his side. "Hush." D couldn't quite manage a smile and felt his eyes burning. Kami did not cry easily and D felt a distant horror that he cried now. He shouldn't be showing such emotions, such terrible displays of weakness. "My Leon, you've been hurt. You must lay still." D ran his fingers through Leon's hair and wished desperately that there was something he could do to stop what was inevitable. There was no hope. Even as he leaned over Leon and spoke comforting words, D could feel the life being drained from Leon and spilling onto the floor.
"Chris?"
Though in pain, Chris was alive and would, physically, recover. His little face, no longer looking as innocent as he had just a few minutes ago, was staring with a wide-open mouth. He was breathing hard and his fingers clutched onto Tet-chan's arm. Leaning against Tet-chan's chest, Chris let himself be held in his friend's safe arms. Chris watched with his teary, confused eyes fixed on Leon. The person Chris saw as the bravest, strongest, most heroic person in the whole world, was Leon and the thought that Leon was dying was almost crippling for little Chris.
"Chris is fine, Leon. He will live." Live, yes, but what about the boy's mind? Chris' wound would heal, but there would be other damage to be nurtured and mended.
Leon made a movement that might have been a nod. "Good. D?"
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid." Leon's voice was raspy and soft as he gasped out the words.
"Why?" With all of D's power over life, even he could not stop this. D stroked Leon's hair again and took as much of the pain from Leon as he possibly could so that his end would at least be peaceful. "There is nothing to be afraid of. You will have an adventure, a grand adventure. I have never been where you are going. I..." D choked and struggled to speak. He had to be strong for Leon's sake. "I wish I could go with you." That would never happen. Kami did not die as humans did and they certainly did not share the same fate after death. "I want to go with you."
Leon let out one tear, as his eyes grew misty. "I don't want to die, D. I don't want to leave you."
"You will always be in my heart, my love." It was the first time D had ever said it, verbalized what he'd felt. Too late. D's hands were starting to shake as he felt Leon's life ending. Time was running out so quickly and D could feel it as surely as any human could feel sand slip though their fingers.
One of Leon's big hands slowly reached up and came to rest on D's. "Chris...D, take care of Chris. I never...was a very good brother for him."
"Chris will never want for anything, my Leon." D promised. "He will be my beloved brother as he is yours."
Leon managed to focus his eyes on D. "Smile, D. I...I want to see you smile."
"I do not believe I can." 'How can I smile?! I can not even stop myself from crying! He can not ask that of me!'
"Please..."
For him, D forced a smile and Leon sighed, closing his eyes. "Just wanted to see you smile again." With that, Leon's eyes closed and his body went limp in D's arms. His spirit fled, leaving nothing behind but the empty shell.
He was gone.
Chris clutched onto Tet-chan's vest before throwing back his head in a silent wail. Chris hadn't spoken in so long and now this newest trauma was likely to destroy him. Tet-chan held onto Chris, rocking him back and forth with a gentleness even D didn't know he had.
All around them, D's pets made up for Chris' lack of voice and burst into cries of rage and grief that shook the very Earth. Their cries were deafening and echoed by the hundreds of pets that had not come out of the back room.
D bent forward and lay his forehead on Leon's. Leon was so cold already.
'It's all my fault. I should die for what I've let happen to Leon.' Leon was the best of all humans, of all creatures that have walked the face of this planet! He'd died for money. For worthless pieces of paper that had no real meaning. There was no reason for his death. No reason at all.
The cries of the grief stricken pets stopped so abruptly that it made D look up to see what had silenced them.
"Do you see, my little one? Do you see what this human has done to you?" Sofu stood before D looking down from under his hooded cloak. He bent down and put his hand on D's head, as he used to when D had been a child. "How weakened you are because of one death." His voice was filled with pity for D, not for Leon who'd lost his life or for Chris who'd lost the most important person in his life. "You should have run from this human. How terrible it is that our family is so cursed with love for humans. First your papa and now you."
"I am not my papa, Sofu." D told him firmly. "I will not lose myself."
"And what shall you do, my grandson? Will you let his spirit go? Will you lose yourself in grief and remorse? Humans are as beautiful as any animal on this world, but they are by far the most dangerous. They lure us to them with their fragility and their capacity for evil as well as good. Like moths to flame, we can not resist them."
"I tried to resist him, Sofu. I truly did."
A shriek caught my attention and I looked up to see one of my pets. A most rare and wondrous creature, as remarkable as the ki-rin. The phoenix, with its plumage of fire, soared toward us, circled over Leon only once before it flew out the door and was gone.
"It is decided." Sofu said with dreadful finality in his voice. "For love of you, the phoenix has chosen to revive your Leon. But you will wait."
"How long, Sofu?"
He didn't answer. Perhaps he was just lost in his own memories. "We can not resist them long. Your Leon, your papa's love, and my own dearest Alex." I could hear the pain in his voice, even after all this time since Alex had died. "We are cursed to live while our beloved's die. They are mortal. Nothing more and even we can not change them." Sofu sighed and shook his head. "How I wish we could change them...or ourselves." With that, he was gone. Simply vanished.
I was left with Tet-chan trying to comfort Chris, Pon-chan looking after Ten-chan, and Leon was dead. But not forever. I can find comfort in that, at least.
He will return.
To be continued...
Petshop of Horrors crossover Star Trek the Next Generation
HOW LONG LOVE?
Chapter 1: The end
D-
We sell love, hope, dreams, and happiness. Why can't I buy my own happiness?
It was December 14, 1999 at three o'clock in the afternoon when my beloved was murdered.
For less than twenty-two dollars he was shot point blank in the chest and left to bleed to death on the floor of my petshop.
It was my fault.
"Leon, may I ask a favor." D said, walking into the Petshop's kitchen where Leon was standing at the stove, doing his best not to burn the rice for dinner. It was an amusing, warm domestic scene and D had despaired of ever seeing Leon like this. "I need to go out for just a little while, would you watch the shop for me?"
Leon looked over his shoulder and scowled as he grumbled irritably, "You know, D, I AM on vacation. I don't want to work." Even as he said this, he turned back to the stove. "Where's Chris, anyway? I thought he was gonna eat lunch with us."
'Hee, hee. That's Leon. He refuses to move in with me, yet he acted like we are were married half the time and sleeps on my sofa many nights. Oh! I shouldn't think like that! Leon would have a fit if he knew I thought of him in such a way, not to mention what Sofu would do!'
Their relationship, as strange as it was, had come a long way since the first day they'd met. D had never felt as content as he had lately. As much as Leon tried to hide it, he really was a very kind person.
"Chris is out at the playground. Do not worry, I sent Tet-chan with him to protect him." Tet-chan was D's sweet little Tou-Tetsu (Imagine a sheep with a man's face, talons, BIG teeth, and a very nasty disposition) and a very good guardian for Leon's young brother. Tet-chan was not only a fiercely loyal and devoted to keeping nine-year-old Chris out of mischief, but he was one of D's most cherished pets. Not everyone could say that they have a Tou-Tetsu, after all. You could say that he was the pride of my collection. "He promised to be back in time for lunch." Well, Tet-chan promised to have Chris back, anyway.
Pon-chan, the dear young raccoon, was sitting on the kitchen counter next to Leon while he cooked. She was such a cute little thing, long blonde curls and a dimpled smile. If only Leon could see D's darling little pets as D saw them. Leon saw only a small raccoon sitting on the counter next to the stove where D and Chris saw the little girl with blonde curls, dressed in a pink, lacy dress.
"That's great. I think this is almost done." Leon looked at Pon-chan with a slight frown. "Get down, Pon-chan." He said, picking her up and setting her down on the floor. "You're going to get burnt sitting so close to the stove. D, you shouldn't let your pets run free, you know. Pon-chan's just a baby. She doesn't know to stay away from fire."
Pon-chan looked slightly insulted and planted her little hands on her hips. "I'm not a baby, Count!" She insisted cutely. Leon couldn't hear her words and just went on cooking. Leon knew, or at least suspected, that there was something 'different' about D and his petshop, but he didn't know what, exactly. Leon was one of those amazing people who could ignore what he didn't understand and since he didn't understand certain facts about the petshop, he just overlooked them and went on with life. "I'm big enough to keep away from fire."
"Now, now." D petted Pon-chan's hair, soothingly. "Our Leon is just trying to keep you safe, you know."
Pon-chan sulked, but nuzzled against D's hand as he'd expected her to. "I know, I know." She scowled at Leon with irritation. "I wish he'd just open his eyes!"
D resisted a smile. If, one day, Leon ever did open his eyes and see what had been going on under his nose all this time, he'd probably be very angry. Perhaps it was better that Leon live in ignorance. "Be a good dear and go play." D told Pon-chan just before he smelled what Leon was cooking in the pan next to the rice. It nearly sent D's stomach heaving. "Leon, what...what are you..." D stepped closer to the stove and saw with horror what Leon was cooking to go with the rice. "LEON!!!"
"What?!" Leon shouted back, defensively.
"You killed that fish!" D yelled, picking up a plate from the table and threw it at Leon. That murderer! All humans were the same! "How could you?!" D searched frantically for something else to throw at Leon. Something that would hurt. Badly.
Leon dodged the thrown plate, only just, and immediately went onto the defensive, using a sauce pan lid as a shield. "Christ, D!" He yelled. "Knock it off. You don't have to eat it, it's for me and Chris. He's a growing boy and needs meat, you said so yourself."
D didn't throw the chair at Leon and was very proud of himself.
"Very well." D set the chair back down and took a deep breath. "For Chris I'll over look the murder of that poor, helpless, innocent, child which you murdered without a single remorseful thought."
"You know," Leon grunted, turning back to his cooking. "For someone who wanted a favor when he walked in, you sure are pushing your luck."
A favor? Oh, yes. "Now, Leon," I said, putting on my most pleasant smile and moving to stand next to him. "You wouldn't hold my sensibilities against me."
"Wanna bet?"
D leaned his head against Leon's shoulder and Leon froze, his eyes going wide. 'He's so cute when he's afraid!' D just loved the wide eyed look that over came Leon when he was thrown into a situation he didn't know how to deal with. It was hard to resist teasing Leon. "Please? I just want to go down to the tailor. I commissioned a new outfit and it should be ready today. It will only take about twenty minutes."
Leon cautiously turned his head and looked down at D, still nervous that D was leaning against him. He began inching away from D to a more comfortable distance, but D couldn't resist the temptation and slipped his arm though Leon's. 'I can smell his sweat. Deep and musky, what a lovely smell.'
D stepped closer to Leon, making him back up so far that he backed into a wall and had no further space to run. Leon stared down at D, still holding a wooden spoon in one hand and his mouth having fallen open. He looked...delicious. So sweet and tempting. Without really thinking of the consequences, D reached up and stroked Leon's cheek, running his fingernails down Leon's delicate skin.
'Leon often compares me to a china doll, but he's the one who is so fragile and breakable, surreally beautiful with his dark tanned skin and fair hair.'
"Don't you want me to look pretty, Leon? I need my new outfit. It's just for a few minutes. Please?" Again D ran his fingernails down Leon's freshly shaven cheek, just admiring the so human body.
"You have got to be the vainest guy I've ever met, D." Leon said, swallowing hard and giving an obviously forced laugh. What he was thinking at that moment, D had no idea, though he could make a pretty good guess from the blush on Leon's cheeks.
D moved away, giving Leon room to catch his breath and relax. It is perhaps fortunate that Leon was so reluctant to respond to D's flirting. 'If he stays away from me, I won't have to be hurt. Sofu tells me to stay away from Leon. Sofu says that Leon will hurt me and perhaps he is correct. I do not think Leon would hurt me willingly. But...in the end...'
Q-chan kreeled loudly, flying into the kitchen and landing on D's shoulder, a constant reminder not to get to close to Leon. Q-chan's talons dug into D shoulder and D petted him to soothe him. "Hush, Q-chan." D muttered, though he was careful to keep his tone respectful. Q-chan's current state might be cute and almost comical, but it wouldn't be prudent to offend him. "I don't know why you think I'm vain, Leon. I just want to look nice. If you'd take my advice about your appearance you could..."
"Look like a prettied up girl? Start wearing a dress to work and go shopping for perfume?" Leon interrupted with a crude laugh, no doubt to reassure himself. "Thanks but no thanks. I'd like to look like a man, if it's all the same to you."
'Hrumph! My chegeosms' are not dresses and he KNOWS that!' Now that his good mood was gone, D huffed and tried to speak as politely as he could. "Will you mind the petshop for me, please?" Leon made it so hard to have good manners; he could be so aggravating and he doesn't even try! Insulting and irritating and childish and rude were only a few of his unfortunate traits.
It was the please that got him, it worked every time, and, as D had expected, Leon crumbled. Leon grumbled, as he turned back to the stove, "All right, but don't be long. I don't intent to sell anything, not a single one of your damned pets. I'm gonna tell everyone to come back later and YOU can go over contracts with them."
While out shopping, D was suddenly given a look into Leon's mind. Right in the middle of the sidewalk, D froze, his newly bought chegeosm falling to the ground when he realized what he was seeing. A wash of cold fear spread through his body and D saw the events unfold at his petshop as if he were watching two scenes at once, the market around him and the front room of the petshop. Like a window opening, D saw though Leon's eyes for the first time and it wasn't a pleasant look. Somehow, D saw and heard everything as if he were looking through Leon's mind and he could even hear what Leon was thinking.
'Oh, shit.' Leon thought when the gun wielding child walked in. Leon was trying to get Pon-chan to eat when the boy wearing a ski mask entered and aimed his gun at Leon. 'Oh, God! Oh, God!' Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Pon-chan run away into the back room. 'At least he won't hurt the pets. Please, let them stay out back. Don't let Chris come home. He's supposed to be home any minute, for once, please let Chris be late. D! D can't come back, he'll get killed!'
Foolish, foolish Leon! D began running back to the Petshop, even as Leon's thoughts and vision overlapped his own, making it hard for D to make his way. 'No mere human can kill me and I won't allow one to hurt Leon, either.'
"Put the gun down." Leon said, his voice far calmer than his panicked thoughts. 'Put it down, put it down, put it down, put it down!' Leon reached slowly to his back where he kept his gun hidden under his usual baggy T-shirt. 'Don't make me shoot you, kid. You can't be more than fifteen, don't make me kill you. I don't want to have any more nightmares.'
D wanted to yell at Leon to kill this human who dared to threaten his life. Don't hesitate, the Earth is covered in billions, trillions of humans. One less would hardly matter.
"Just hand over the money." The thief demanded, his gun steady as a rock. "And put your hands up where I can see them."
Leon did as he was told and D was thankful that Leon wasn't going to try any heroics. "There's only a few bucks, kid. It's not worth the time in jail when they catch you."
The thief didn't move. "Just get the money."
D could feel Leon start to get angry, but he was smarter than everyone thought he was. Leon went to the locked drawer where he knew D kept the money. 'I just want this guy to get out of here. God, make him leave before anyone gets hurt.' Leon was afraid, so horribly afraid. 'I don't want to die. I have to protect Chris and D. I have to make sure Chris gets better and D needs me. I know he does.'
D never would have guessed that Leon spoke to his god so often. 'I have to go faster! I have to get there!'
D continued to watch, though Leon's eyes, as a small white fox crept out of the back room. 'Damn! Ten-chan!' Leon thought, trying to hurry to get the lock undone with his now shaking hands. 'Come on! Open, damn it!'
Pon-chan was frightened, watching from the doorway of the back room, but Ten-chan loved danger and he easily snuck up on the thief. My sweet Ten-chan with his wicked laugh thought he could protect the Petshop for me.
Ten-chan wasn't alone. All of my dear pets would willingly die to protect our home. Behind Ten-chan I could see Leon watching the cats and dogs silently trying to get closer to our home's invader. Several of my braver birds, the fighting cocks and the hawks, my lizards and my even one of my timid swans followed Ten-chan.
It might have worked, too. It almost worked. Ten-chan was only inches away from pouncing on the thief when disaster struck. The door slammed open and our beloved little Chris ran in, completely unaware of what was going on.
"Chris! Get out!" Leon screamed.
The startled thief swung around and fired without thinking, catching Chris in the arm.
Even as Chris fell to the floor, Leon tackled the thief furiously. 'My brother!' Leon thought. 'He killed my brother!' Tears were streaming from Leon's eyes while he struggled with the thief. 'Chris!'
'Oh, Chris.' D felt myself starting to cry along with Leon. Sweet Chris who hadn't spoken in so long because of the cruel words of his family. Chris was as much a part of D's family as he was Leon's and D love him dearly. 'I will do anything to save our little Chris just as I know Leon will kill the man who shot his brother.'
AS they struggled for the gun, the thief was lucky and another shot rang out.
Leon jerked away from the thief with a gasp.
Pain! D felt Leon's pain rip though his own chest and he can't help but stagger, almost falling from the shock. It's only a phantom pain of what Leon's feeling, though and D quickly regained his feet and was running, nearly flying down the street again.
Blinking down at himself, Leon stared at the growing red stain that spread like a flower blossoming across his chest. Leon's mind numbed and he was suddenly unaware of anything other than the feeling of lightheadedness and the diminishing pain.
Leon didn't acknowledge the thief trying to escape. It was a useless attempt, anyway. Tet-chan, enraged that his charge, Chris, had been shot, stood in the doorway in his human shape. He'd obviously been only a few steps behind Chris and too late to save him. Tet-chan looked like a young teenager in baggy silk trousers and a brightly colored vest, with long auburn hair and inhuman eyes. Tet-chan looked from Chris, who moaned in pain on the floor, then up to Leon, and finally to the thief; his eyes filled with rage.
Tet-chan threw himself at the thief with as much strength as he had in his small body. He snarled and bit deeply, his fangs sinking into the boy's chest and blood flew everywhere. The other pets weren't far behind, showing their human forms for anyone to see. The fighting cocks, each with their two curved knives, but most with nothing but their natural weapons.
The thief was ripped into pieces within seconds by my dear pets. He'd managed to get off one shot, catching Ten-chan in the arm, but that was it. The pets, never to let fresh meat go to waste, began to eat the remains of the invader.
Leon saw, but he said nothing as it happened. He fell, sliding to the floor when his legs gave out, with his back against a wall. For the first time, he saw. He understood. Leon knew what had been happening under his nose all this time.
'The pets...they...' D could feel Leon's thoughts fading, his body weakening. 'They...I never guessed.'
D arrived in time to see Tet-chan holding Chris, cuddling him as a nanny would hold her wounded baby. There was nothing left of the thief but a faint stain on the floor and the pets, still in their human forms, waited for D tensely. They'd tried to help Leon, but it was to late.
Leon was barely alive when D found him, still leaning against the wall, unable to move. Less than twenty minutes had passed since D had left him alone in the Petshop and there he was, with blood pooled around his still body and staring up at my ceiling. Leon was still wearing his cooking apron, the one that said, KISS THE COOK, and had a picture of a big red lipstick kiss. So tacky and tasteless that it was just his style.
"D." Leon looked up at D with blood drizzling out of the corner of his mouth. "D. A...thief...here..."
It was such a pitiful effort to even speak that D was heartbroken to even look at Leon. He didn't waste a moment before he ran to Leon and knelt by his side. "Hush." D couldn't quite manage a smile and felt his eyes burning. Kami did not cry easily and D felt a distant horror that he cried now. He shouldn't be showing such emotions, such terrible displays of weakness. "My Leon, you've been hurt. You must lay still." D ran his fingers through Leon's hair and wished desperately that there was something he could do to stop what was inevitable. There was no hope. Even as he leaned over Leon and spoke comforting words, D could feel the life being drained from Leon and spilling onto the floor.
"Chris?"
Though in pain, Chris was alive and would, physically, recover. His little face, no longer looking as innocent as he had just a few minutes ago, was staring with a wide-open mouth. He was breathing hard and his fingers clutched onto Tet-chan's arm. Leaning against Tet-chan's chest, Chris let himself be held in his friend's safe arms. Chris watched with his teary, confused eyes fixed on Leon. The person Chris saw as the bravest, strongest, most heroic person in the whole world, was Leon and the thought that Leon was dying was almost crippling for little Chris.
"Chris is fine, Leon. He will live." Live, yes, but what about the boy's mind? Chris' wound would heal, but there would be other damage to be nurtured and mended.
Leon made a movement that might have been a nod. "Good. D?"
"Yes?"
"I'm afraid." Leon's voice was raspy and soft as he gasped out the words.
"Why?" With all of D's power over life, even he could not stop this. D stroked Leon's hair again and took as much of the pain from Leon as he possibly could so that his end would at least be peaceful. "There is nothing to be afraid of. You will have an adventure, a grand adventure. I have never been where you are going. I..." D choked and struggled to speak. He had to be strong for Leon's sake. "I wish I could go with you." That would never happen. Kami did not die as humans did and they certainly did not share the same fate after death. "I want to go with you."
Leon let out one tear, as his eyes grew misty. "I don't want to die, D. I don't want to leave you."
"You will always be in my heart, my love." It was the first time D had ever said it, verbalized what he'd felt. Too late. D's hands were starting to shake as he felt Leon's life ending. Time was running out so quickly and D could feel it as surely as any human could feel sand slip though their fingers.
One of Leon's big hands slowly reached up and came to rest on D's. "Chris...D, take care of Chris. I never...was a very good brother for him."
"Chris will never want for anything, my Leon." D promised. "He will be my beloved brother as he is yours."
Leon managed to focus his eyes on D. "Smile, D. I...I want to see you smile."
"I do not believe I can." 'How can I smile?! I can not even stop myself from crying! He can not ask that of me!'
"Please..."
For him, D forced a smile and Leon sighed, closing his eyes. "Just wanted to see you smile again." With that, Leon's eyes closed and his body went limp in D's arms. His spirit fled, leaving nothing behind but the empty shell.
He was gone.
Chris clutched onto Tet-chan's vest before throwing back his head in a silent wail. Chris hadn't spoken in so long and now this newest trauma was likely to destroy him. Tet-chan held onto Chris, rocking him back and forth with a gentleness even D didn't know he had.
All around them, D's pets made up for Chris' lack of voice and burst into cries of rage and grief that shook the very Earth. Their cries were deafening and echoed by the hundreds of pets that had not come out of the back room.
D bent forward and lay his forehead on Leon's. Leon was so cold already.
'It's all my fault. I should die for what I've let happen to Leon.' Leon was the best of all humans, of all creatures that have walked the face of this planet! He'd died for money. For worthless pieces of paper that had no real meaning. There was no reason for his death. No reason at all.
The cries of the grief stricken pets stopped so abruptly that it made D look up to see what had silenced them.
"Do you see, my little one? Do you see what this human has done to you?" Sofu stood before D looking down from under his hooded cloak. He bent down and put his hand on D's head, as he used to when D had been a child. "How weakened you are because of one death." His voice was filled with pity for D, not for Leon who'd lost his life or for Chris who'd lost the most important person in his life. "You should have run from this human. How terrible it is that our family is so cursed with love for humans. First your papa and now you."
"I am not my papa, Sofu." D told him firmly. "I will not lose myself."
"And what shall you do, my grandson? Will you let his spirit go? Will you lose yourself in grief and remorse? Humans are as beautiful as any animal on this world, but they are by far the most dangerous. They lure us to them with their fragility and their capacity for evil as well as good. Like moths to flame, we can not resist them."
"I tried to resist him, Sofu. I truly did."
A shriek caught my attention and I looked up to see one of my pets. A most rare and wondrous creature, as remarkable as the ki-rin. The phoenix, with its plumage of fire, soared toward us, circled over Leon only once before it flew out the door and was gone.
"It is decided." Sofu said with dreadful finality in his voice. "For love of you, the phoenix has chosen to revive your Leon. But you will wait."
"How long, Sofu?"
He didn't answer. Perhaps he was just lost in his own memories. "We can not resist them long. Your Leon, your papa's love, and my own dearest Alex." I could hear the pain in his voice, even after all this time since Alex had died. "We are cursed to live while our beloved's die. They are mortal. Nothing more and even we can not change them." Sofu sighed and shook his head. "How I wish we could change them...or ourselves." With that, he was gone. Simply vanished.
I was left with Tet-chan trying to comfort Chris, Pon-chan looking after Ten-chan, and Leon was dead. But not forever. I can find comfort in that, at least.
He will return.
To be continued...