From Far Away
Part 19
Gasps of surprise were heard, followed by a loud thump. The man named
Alex turned his head to see a braided boy who had fallen from his
chair while his short haired companion widened his eyes. "Don't be too
surprised, boys. I'm the Shinigami but I have no desire to do
something bad." Alex turned back to the bandits who were now gazing at
him in fear. "Except for the ones who have bad intentions..."
Alex moved a step forward while the bandits moved a step backward.
"Leave now, or you won't leave at all and become my Perfect Soldier's
dinner." Needless to say, the bandits fled within seconds.
Duo watched open mouthed at the man named Alex and followed him with
his wide violet eyes. What the hell was this man talking about? His
Perfect Soldier? He saw the bar owner come to the man and give him
some money while thanking and bowing to the man gratefully.
"Hey handsome, how long you will sit on the floor like that?" Duo
turned his head to meet the speaker. It was a girl in dancer clothes
with long blonde hair and forked eyebrows. She was standing next to
him and looked at him seductively. "Here, let me help you." The girl
quickly grabbed his hand and hauled him up back onto his chair while
she sat next to him.
Duo noticed Heero frown at the girl and knew it wasn't wise to have
this girl around him any longer. "Thanks... uh..."
"My name is Dorothy." The girl leant forward and latched her hands
onto Duo's arm. "You're new around here, aren't you? I'm a pretty
resourceful bar girl here. I can tell you what you want to know.
Especially about Shinigami."
"Shinigami, is that man really Shinigami?" Duo couldn't help but to
feel curious about the fact. After all he was the true Shinigami and
now there was another man using that name.
"Of course! Alex came to our town two months ago when we were about to
be attacked by soldiers from OZ. He then stepped in front of the
troops and announced his identity. The troops quickly retreated after
that and never tried to disturb us again." Dorothy explained happily.
"So he helped you all." Duo mused and then remembered something. "Oh,
why did I see the owner give some money to him?"
"He needs it to feed his Perfect Soldier, of course. We all give him
money in a certain period so that his Perfect Soldier gets fed enough
and won't seek us to be its food."
Duo gulped. <<Are you really a human eater, Hee-chan?>>
Heero's reply was only a telepathic growl.
"Is the Perfect Soldier so scary? How big is it?" Duo asked in full
curiosity.
"I never saw it." Dorothy answered and trailed one hand up to Duo's
shoulder.
Duo quickly shoved her hand. "You never saw it? So who has seen it
then?"
"No one. Are you crazy?" Dorothy rolled her eyes. "Alex says if he
ever summons it, we all can be eaten by it."
"Oh, so it's Alex who told all of you that the Perfect Soldier eats
humans?" Duo blinked.
"Of course, he controls it after all. He is so cool and brave....."
Dorothy took Duo's chin. "But not as handsome as you. Say, how about
if we go to my room and have a further talk there?"
Heero growled. He had watched the girl's attitude towards Duo and felt
fire crackling inside him as the girl became bolder. He never felt
this jealous before, not even when Hilde approached Duo. But then he
realized that now his feelings and mind were different from that time.
Now he knew Duo was his as he was Duo's, no one else may touch his Duo
in intimate gestures. Heero realized he was now feeling possessive
over Duo. This girl had to stop pestering his Duo... Now!
Duo smelled something burning and looked at Dorothy whose expression
told him she too smelled the same thing. He was startled a second
later when he saw Dorothy jump and cry out loudly. "AHHH!!" Dorothy
stood up and turned around, reaching for her hair, and that was when
Duo realized her hair was eaten by fire. The poor girl ran like mad to
the pond in front of the bar.
"What was that?" Duo stared dumbfounded at the door where Dorothy had
disappeared. He turned to Heero and saw the boy smirk in satisfaction.
A light bulb went on in Duo's head. <<You burnt her hair? I can't
believe this.>>
<<I didn't like her touching you.>> Heero snorted.
Duo just stared at his lover and then smiled. <<Ah, my koi is
jealous.>>
Heero just looked away and stood up. <<Come on, let's find an inn.>>
Duo's smile became wider as he followed Heero outside, walking next to
him. <<What do you think about this Alex?>> He reached for Heero's
hand and walked hand in hand with the stoic boy.
<<Your impostor, what's else?>>
<<But isn't there any possibility he is the real Shinigami instead of
me?>>
<<Duo, if you aren't the Shinigami, you would have had the same fate
as J when you took me.>>
Duo shivered and tightened his grip on Heero as he remembered what
happened to the bastard when he tried to claim Heero. <<Okay, so he's
the impostor.>>
<<What are we going to do?>> They arrived at an inn and Heero asked
for the room while he kept talking with Duo using telepathy.
<<Nothing.>> Duo was amused as he watched Heero bargain their room's
price. This was one thing he had acknowledged since he had learned
Heero's language. The boy was very strict in using money. He almost
bargained for anything and usually won by using his death glare in the
end.
Satisfied with the price, Heero took the key from the innkeeper and
raised an eyebrow to Duo. <<Nothing?>>
<<Yup, as long as he didn't do any harm, why should we do something
about it? Moreover, he stopped the bandits from robbing the bar>> Duo
followed Heero to their signed room.
<<But he also took money from the bar owner.>> Heero opened the door.
After both of them walked in, he locked the door back.
<<Oh yeah. He's some kind of mercenary then, ne? Just like you.>> Duo
stretched and started changing his clothes to sleep.
<<I don't imposture to get money.>> Heero snorted and changed his
clothes as well.
<<Of course>> Duo rolled his eyes while pulling down his pants. Having
finished stripping himself, he grinned and hugged his lover, who had
finished stripping except for his spandex and was about to put on his
tank top.
<<Duo?>> Heero stopped his movement as he felt Duo's bare chest on his
own bare back.
<<Let's find out more about this Alex tomorrow. For now, I want to
enjoy my time with my koi>> Duo nibbled Heero's neck and maneuvered
them to the bed.
<<Ryoukai...>> Heero moaned at Duo's ministration and let his tank top
fall onto the floor. He felt Duo sit down, and then he got pulled down
to sit on his braided lover's lap.
"You're so cute when you're jealous, you know." Duo whispered near
Heero's ear before he searched for Heero's mouth.
"I'm not jealous." Heero mumbled before surrendering his mouth to be
devoured by Duo.
Duo smiled into the kiss. As always, Heero never withdrew from any
caress he gave. He kissed Heero's lips gently and then went over the
boy's face to land feather kisses on it, showering Heero with his
love. <<You don't need to be jealous. I won't love anyone else but
you, koi.>>
<<Aa...>> Heero moaned again and threw his head to lean on Duo's
shoulder while the braided youth sucked on his neck. Duo's hands
roamed over his body and then hooked his fingers into Heero's spandex,
pulling it down and stripping his short haired lover completely
<<You're more beautiful than her, Hee-chan.>> Duo ran his hands over
Heero's naked body and slowly caressed every inch of it until the
naked boy was reduced into a quivering mess on his lap. <<Mine.>>
<<Always, Duo. Always>> Heero gasped as his nipples became the
attention of Duo's fingers. He arched up, surrendering himself to the
torturing fingers. He could feel Duo's hard arousal pressed against
his back and wondered how long Duo could stand tormenting him with
that hard on. His own cock was twitching in need as Duo kept playing
with his nipples. Deciding he couldn't wait any longer and stand the
torment on his nipples, Heero reached blindly behind him and was
rewarded by a surprised gasp as his hand found Duo's erect cock.
Before Duo managed to get over his surprise, he felt Heero rise a
little, turn around on his lap, then sink down onto his cock, which
had been held still by the boy. He could feel Heero's passage sheath
him, still slick with his earlier penetration a few hours ago, easing
his way. However the virgin tightness he was enveloped in almost made
him come there and then. Trying to hold his release, Duo put his hands
on Heero's hips as the boy sank down deeper, sheathing him with his
warm cocoon. <<Heero! God, you feel so good.>>
<<Mine!>> Heero growled and felt his eyes water when his sphincter
gave out and accepted Duo's cock, but then the pain was quickly gone
as he smoothly sank down onto Duo's cock until his delicate bottom
touched Duo's thighs. Having Duo buried inside him to the hilt, Heero
let out a satisfied smile and rested his head on Duo's shoulder. He
moaned softly as he felt Duo twitch inside him.
Duo enveloped Heero in his embrace. <<It's so stupid of you not to
prepare yourself first, though I admit I like the tight feeling of it.
Your body is..was.. what the hell.. it's a virgin for God's sake!>>
Heero growled and pushed Duo to lie on the bed. <<I know what I'm
doing. Don't treat me like I'm made of glass just because I'm a
virgin.>> He lifted himself and then sat down, impaling himself onto
Duo's cock hard. <<Mine!>>
Duo moaned loudly but then Heero pasted his mouth on the braided boy's
lips, swallowing all sounds from Duo. Their tongues danced inside
Heero's mouth as the boy rode Duo wildly, impaling himself on Duo's
cock over and over until they reached their release at the same time.
Heero plopped down onto Duo and purred in contentment as he felt Duo
empty himself inside him. <<Mine...>> He nuzzled Duo's neck and bit
down on Duo's shoulder.
Duo jerked up. <<Whoa, you're really jealous of the girl, ne
Hee-chan?>>
<<Am not>> Heero growled while licking his bite mark on Duo. .
Duo just smiled and put his hands on Heero's waist, pulling the boy
off of his cock and gathering him into his embrace. They both soon
drifted off into slumber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Next morning
<<Well, looks like this is where he lives. I wonder why he chooses a
place on the edge of the city, far from neighborhood.>> Duo looked at
the small hut from behind the bushes. He had asked the bar owner about
Alex's place, not without trouble though. Duo wondered whether Dorothy
would still have any hair left if he had been one second late in
pushing the girl from him and grabbing his jealous koi out of the bar.
<<What will we do now?>> Heero asked from his crouching place beside
Duo, eyes still watching the hut.
<<Look, he's coming out>> Duo watched the man. He was still wearing the same outfit as yesterday
and doing some exercises in front of the hut.
He was surprised when he saw some children run out from the house and
latch themselves onto the man.
"Daddy, let's play."
"Daddy, I'm hungry."
<<one, two, three, four, five, six. Wow there are six of them.>> Duo
watched with his jaw dropping as Alex laughed and lifted up the
smallest child. <<He must be using the money to raise the children.
See, he's not a bad person, Heero.>>
There was no answer from Heero, making Duo turn to look at his lover.
Heero was looking at Alex and the children longingly, making Duo
remember his lover was never once treated so nicely like that by his
own father. Duo understood how badly Heero wanted to have someone to
care for and love him, like he used to feel before he met Sister Helen
and the other orphans. Emotions welled up inside Duo as he reached for
Heero and gathered the boy into his arms, hugging him tightly.
"Duo?" Heero whispered confusedly.
<<You have me, koi.>> Duo kissed Heero's forehead gently.
<<I love you
with all my heart.>>The braided boy felt Heero lean his head on his
shoulder
<<I love you too, Duo.>> Heero nuzzled Duo's neck, feeling so grateful
to have Duo at his side. He wasn't alone anymore. He had a person who
loved him and whom he loved back.
"Hello, what are you doing here?" Duo was surprised at the voice and
looked up to see Alex Mueller hover above him. "I'm sorry to surprise
you, but it looks like your friend isn't feeling well. Is he okay?"
Heero, who had pulled away from Duo, opened his mouth to answer but
Duo quickly put his hand on the boy's mouth, preventing him from
speaking, while Duo answered Alex. "Actually, he's a little tired. Can
we rest in your place for a while?"
"Why not? Follow me." Alex straightened up and walked toward his hut,
followed by the children.
<<I'm not tired>>
<<Your ass is tired after this morning exercise, Hee-chan.>>
<<.................for someone who doesn't lie, you're doing pretty
well............. ... but, my ass is not tired, it heals quickly,
remember?>>
<<Damn, I forget about it again....... Come on, tell me which part of
you is tired so I'm not lying>>
Heero snorted <<........ my head.>>
<<What??>>
<<My head is tired of your telepathic rambling.>>
<<Heeeeeeeeeeroooooo, you are mean!>> Duo pouted.
Alex of course couldn't hear the telepathic conversation, nor that he
could see the exchange expression since he had turned his back toward
the boys.
<<Just pretend to be sick, koi.>> Duo carried Heero in his arms and
followed Alex inside.
<<Duo, what do you want with him?>> Heero scowled but he did pretend
to be sick, leaning his head against Duo's shoulder.
<<I just want to know more about him. Looks like he is a good
person.>>
<<He can also be a bad person. You can get hurt if he plans to rob
your money.>>
<<Ah, but then I have my strong koi to save me, ne?>>
Heero scowled and refused to speak further. Duo just chuckled and then
pretended to be worried as he sat Heero on a chair.
"Here, drink this tea. It will help make you relax and erase some of
your tiredness." Alex offered a cup of hot tea to Heero.
"Thank you so much, Sir." Duo smiled and felt a tug on the braid. He
turned around and saw that one of the children had his braid in her
tiny hands. "Whoa, not the braid please. It's enough that I have Heero
tugging my braid everyday."
<<Hn.>> Heero snorted telepathically while sipping his tea.
<<Thank you, I know you love my hair, Hee-chan>> Duo scooped the child
up and gently tried to pull his braid from the child's grip but to no
avail.
"She likes you." Alex smiled as the little girl laughed happily and
swung Duo's braid.
"I can see that." Duo made a face. "Is she your child, Alex?"
"No, she is my sister, Marimeaya." Alex gestured to the other
children. "Our parents have died so I have to take care of them all.
Hey, how do you know my name?" Alex looked at Duo in surprise. "No
wait, I think I remember, you're the boys in the bar I met last night,
aren't you?"
Before Duo had time to answer, the door was slammed opened so hard
that it surprised the child in Duo's hands and she started crying.
"What the..." Alex stood up and saw several men standing at the door.
Except for the man, who stood in the middle, they were the same men
Alex threatened at the bar yesterday.
"Are you Alex Mueller, the Shinigami?" The new man walked forward. It
seemed he was the leader, and the others stepped aside. He was wearing
a warrior outfit as well, but he had no weapons in sight.
"Yes, I am. It's not polite to barge into someone else's house, you
know." Alex stood up, one hand on his whip. "You better not anger me."
The man just smirked and then frowned as the child in Duo's arms cried
louder. Alex saw it and gestured for the man to continue their
conversation outside of the house. The man nodded and walked out,
followed by the others.
"Please take care of the children, boys." Alex spoke to Duo and Heero
and then walked to follow the men.
Duo and Heero looked at each other.
<<Do you think he will be okay, Heero?>>
<<I don't know.>>
<<Better watch them, then>>gt;>>gt; Duo walked to the window, still holding Marimeaya, whose crying had
reduced into sobbing. Heero walked next to him after telling the other
children not to make any noise. Not that they would anyway, they were
too frightened to do anything else, except sit down and clutch onto
each other.
"So what's your business here?" Alex asked the man.
"My name is Trant, the leader of this group. You have stopped my men
yesterday on their way to collect money."
"I don't like your group's attitude, and you might want to apologize
now or I'll call my Perfect Soldier."
The other man just smirked. "That's if you are really the Shinigami."
Alex paled at the sentence, but he quickly masked it with a glare. "Of
course I am. I suggest you all leave now or you'll be my Perfect
Soldier's food."
"Oh really?" Trant looked at Alex. "Then can you explain why I heard
the news of the Perfect Soldier destroying Tsubarov's palace a few
days ago."
Alex turned more pale. "Wh..what?"
"I have asked the citizens here and they said you never left this town
in two months of your arrival, and you never summoned the Perfect
Soldier while you were here." Trant looked smug. "I think you're an
impostor."
"How... how dare you!" Alex stammered. "Leave now or I can't guarantee
the safety of your lives. I won't hesitate to call my Perfect
Soldier."
"If you can call it." Trant stepped forward, making Alex step back.
"Prove yourself as the Shinigami, Alex Mueller. Attack!"
Alex nervously grabbed his whip as some men charged forward. He
attacked one of the men, but the other man quickly cut his whip off.
Another man managed to approach Alex and swung his sword at him. "Die,
impostor!"
But before the man's sword managed to touch Alex, a staff hit the
attacker, causing him to back off. The other two men were surprised at
the intrusion and didn't see a sword slash their hands, disabling them
from holding their weapons. Alex blinked as he saw his guests standing
in front of him, staff and sword on their hands, fighting his
attackers. Within a minute, they managed to knock out all the men,
leaving Trant alone.
"What the..." Trant looked at Alex's rescuers. They were only two
boys. "How dare you interrupt me..."
"Of course. You're a bad guy here." Duo spoke up and pointed his staff
at Trant. "You already knew he was an impostor so why did you attack
him? Not to mention you were many and he was alone."
"The citizens don't know he's an impostor and if I kill him, this city
will succumb to me." Trant sneered and drew his sword. He charged
toward Duo but was surprised when the short haired boy came between
them and blocked him. He quickly stopped and backed away, looking very
angry. "How dare you! I'll see to it you die in pain!"
Trant knelt and touched the ground with one hand. "Come, my Taurus!"
The ground shook and the area, where Trant touched, opened and a giant
bull shaped stone came out of it.
A golem! Duo widened his eyes as the bull golem stood on its four legs
as high as him. It was really big!
"This golem is really strong. No one can beat it." Trant sneered at
Alex mockingly. "Oh, the Perfect Soldier surely can destroy it. Try
calling your Perfect Soldier, Alex, or you'll get crushed by my
Taurus." Trant laughed then watched as his creature charged forward.
The braided boy stepped out of the bull's way and pulled the impostor
with him but the short haired boy didn't move. He merely watched the
bull heading toward him, raising one hand toward the bull.
"You are either stupid or don't value your life, boy!" Trant laughed
but stopped suddenly as he saw the boy's hand glow brightly. The glow
turned into a ball and hit his Taurus, destroying it into tiny
particles.
Trant stood in surprise and shock. A boy could destroy his Taurus in
one single blow! It was impossible! He knelt and touched the ground
again, this time with both of his hands.
Heero watched impassively as two more Taurus golems came out from the
ground Trant touched. He lifted both of his hands and released his
Power, turning the golems into dust. "Omae o korosu." Heero sent his
Power to Trant, not giving the man any time to summon more golems.
Trant was out of the living the moment Heero's Power hit him.
"Well done, Hee-chan." Duo grinned from his place with Alex. <<I'll
give you a kiss as a reward later, koi.>>
<<Hn.>>
<<Oh do you want me to give something else, then? A part of me that
can be put inside you?>>
<<Baka...>>
Duo leered at Heero before turning to Alex for a more serious matter.
"Alex, why do you pretend to be Shinigami?"
Alex snapped from his shock of what happened in front of him. "Let's
talk inside, shall we?"
Duo nodded and followed Alex inside the house, while Heero took care
to remove the men, dead or unconscious, from the hut. Alex calmed the
children and asked them to go take a nap before sitting down on the
chair around the table and gesturing Duo to sit down at another chair
as well.
<<Duo?>>
<<Yes, Hee-chan?>>
<<I'll bring these men to the mayor to put them in the prison.>>
<<Okay, take care.>>
<<Ryokai.>>
Duo focused back at Alex, who was studying him. "What is it?"
"You had known I wasn't the Shinigami from the first time, hadn't
you?"
Duo nodded.
"How did you know?"
"Tell me why do you pretended to be him first."
"I did it because it's the fastest way to get money. I need it badly
for the children." Alex explained.
Duo nodded. "But it isn't a safe way, Alex. You need to find another
job."
"I know." Alex sighed. "I'm planning to stop this charade if I have
enough money to open an item shop in another city."
Duo just looked at the man, wheels turning in his mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can never thank you enough for this." Alex looked at Duo from his
seat on the cart.
Duo finished tying their horses to the cart and smiled to Alex. "It's
nothing. I just want to help the children, Alex. I don't want their
big brother getting caught. That leaves them with no one to take care
of them."
Alex smiled. "Thank you so much...."
"Duo." Duo smiled back." My name is Duo Maxwell. Here, take this
money. Use it to open the item store." He shoved the money pouch into
Alex's hand.
"Duo, I can't ever thank you enough for this."
"Just take care of Marimeaya and the others. That'll be enough for
me." Duo stepped back. "Go now, Alex."
"But what will your friend say later?" Alex still seemed to hesitate.
"This is his money and his horse too, right? He'll be angry if you
give them away without his permission."
"I don't mind." Came a voice from behind them.
<<You're eavesdropping on us, aren't you, koi?>>
<<Hn.>>
<<Thought so. How are the men?>>
<<In the prison now.>>
Duo just grinned as Heero stood next to him. "You heard Heero, Alex.
Go now, we'll take care of everything here."
"Thank you so much, Duo. And you too Heero. If not because of you,
Trant would've had my head by now." Alex looked at Heero. "I wish I
can be as strong as you. You destroyed the golems Trant said could
could only be destroyed by the Per......" Alex blinked. He looked at
Duo and then at Heero, and then back at Duo again. "So that's why you
knew I'm not the real Shinigami. You're the real...."
Duo just grinned and hit the horses hard enough to make them start
running, pulling the cart along. "Sayonara, Alex."
"Duo!" Alex was surprised and held the rein tightly, while looking
back to the two boys who had helped him.
Duo could hear Alex shout something between the sounds of the horses
and cart running on the ground, but he couldn't make a word of it.
<<Heero?>>
<<Hai?>>
<<You heard him, didn't you?>>
<<Aa..>>
<<What did he say?>>
<<Thank you so much, Shinigami and Perfect Soldier>>
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Capital of OZ
"Lord Treize, I have great news for you."
"And what may it be, Lady Une?"
"I have found the Shinigami and his Perfect Soldier."
|