Saturday, May 12, 2007
Belladonna - Chapter Three
Series: GundamW, Sailormoon
Genre: Crossover, Romance, Supernatural
Main Pairing: Duo/Usagi/Hiiro
Word Count: 2,066
'I'm not going crazy -- she is
real.'The mere thought was a relief. Despite Duo's reassurances, he'd had his doubts that his nebulous claim on sanity was still valid. After all, sanity and Duo Maxwell were barely acquainted, much less close friends, for the other man to tell if Hiiro himself was sane. The past few days had seemed like a hallucination -- or maybe a really weird, somewhat bad dream -- but at least he hadn't lost his mind.
That was also a relief.
And he was staring. Apparently only Duo had noticed it so far, if the concerned expression on his friend's face was any indication, but he might want to knock it off before it got him in more trouble than it already had.
Duo's hand brushed his, and it was both a question ("Are you all right?") and a prompt ("Say something."), neither of which he could really ignore. Like he could ignore the American for very long anyway... "Pleased to meet you," he finally choked out, half-remembered manners lessons asserting themselves.
He felt more than heard Duo heave out a heavy sigh. When he half-glanced over out of the corner of his eye, though, a huge smile -- almost definitely fake, as much as Duo ever lied about anything -- was plastered across his face. The sigh probably came from his proving yet again that he had the social skills of a Mobile Doll, and the smile most likely meant Duo was about to take matters into his own hands. A gregarious "And so am I," complete with a half-step forward and friendly extended hand, confirmed his theory. Sometimes predicting Duo wasn't as hard as it may at first seem, if one knew the man as long as he had. "Duo Maxwell."
That smile was designed, he'd long decided, to put people on their ease. It seemed to be doing its job in spades on Ririna's new friend. A faint flush stained her cheeks, and a nervous grin covered her lips -- and somehow the thought occurred that this might be how he looked when Duo flirted with him. "M-my name's Usagi." Her expression grew into a thousand kilowatt smile that threatened to bowl him over.
Somehow, in some deep, hidden part of himself, maybe even perhaps the part responsible for these dreams, something told him he was in trouble if -- no,
when, it provided -- they ever ganged up on him.
* * *
"I've missed you, Hiiro."
He was only half-listening to whatever Ririna was talking about. It was late, it had been a strange day, he was tired -- and he was accepting that as why he felt like his mind was straying into unfamiliar territory. It was stupid to worry about his partner now, with the wars over, but he was far from comfortable with this strange new situation they'd found themselves caught in. And Duo was alone in the next room with the so-called angel he'd been seeing his dreams as of late. At least Duo could defend himself if the situation ended up calling for it -- and at least he lacked Quatre's odd qualms about hitting a female. If something happened, Duo was much better equipped to handle it than Ririna and her bodyguards, Preventers though they might be. There was really no reason at all to worry. None whatsoever. So why was he still... concerned?
"Hiiro?"
At the faint distress he could pick up in Ririna's voice, he redirected his attentions back from his tired thoughts to the Vice-Foreign Minister. "What?"
"Have you heard a word I said?" Time spent around Duo allowed him to hear the teasing in her voice when only a year ago he would have taken her words literally, and so he waited till she decided to continue speaking. "It just seems strange, all these odd things happening lately."
This time alarms went off in his mind, and for a long second, all he could think was
'Nothing more weird. Please, no more weird. The last thing either Duo or I need is more weird.' "What kind of odd things?"
"See? I knew you weren't listening." But she was smiling and continuing to speak without any further joking. "It's strange -- I know I keep saying that, but it's the best word for the situation. In the last few weeks, things have been happening. Really, really odd things, and they've all been since I brought Usagi home."
In the last few weeks? So, perhaps, right around the same time he'd started dreaming and Duo had started moving things with his mind? "Ririna, what exactly has been happening?" To his own ears, his voice sounded nervous, maybe even stressed; something gave him the distinct feeling that he sounded absolutely normal to anyone listening.
She glanced to the side, staring out the window at the storm still raging beyond the glass. "It's hard to put into words. Things...
happen around Usagi, things that I can't explain. Like earlier, I was worried about the two of you out there in this mess, and I accidentally said that I wished you were here already, and then you were here. People keep making these idle wishes around her -- and they keep coming true!" She'd begun her words calmly and rationally enough, but by the end, she was nearly shrieking, like it was all catching up with her. Finally she took a deep breath and began again. "Usagi is a dear friend, but Hiiro, this is just unnerving."
Suddenly he had the very distinct wish that he was with Duo and the so-called angel, Usagi. He had no idea what to say to his friend right now. What did one normally say in situations like this? Not 'situations like this' with the odd occurrences of course, but 'situations like this' with an upset friend. Surely there had to be something. "Duo and I will figure out what's going on. That's why we came here." Maybe that would be good enough for now.
"You heard about all this?" Well, at least it was good enough to distract her from the previous topic.
He shrugged and hedged out a "We knew something was going on here." It was close enough to the truth that even Duo might have said it..
"It couldn't have just been a social visit, could it?" There was uncharacteristic bitterness in her voice, not a lot, but enough to snag his attention, enough to make him notice it. "You can't come to see me unless there's trouble. I wish--"
He wasn't too sure on the range of this Usagi's abilities -- if that was indeed what they were, since they matched the description of nothing he'd ever heard of before, even with all the research he'd been doing the last few weeks -- but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially in a case like this. He leaned forward quickly and put a silencing hand over her mouth. Less than a second later, her hand covered his, apparently reaching the same conclusion, if the wide-eyed panic on her face was any indication. "You probably shouldn't do that, Ririna, if wishes
do tend to come true around this girl."
She nodded enthusiastically and drew their hands away from her mouth before speaking. "I know, Hiiro. Believe me, I know." She sighed. "But it's like that story, with the monkey's paw. You just have to keep making wishes, and so few of them turn out right. I might have just as easily accidentally wished you and Duo to Siberia as to here." She was still a bit hysterical then, but maybe she'd wind down soon. He didn't think shaking her till she snapped out of it would go over well. "I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from wishing one of these days. Do you--"
Abruptly she cut herself off, and he frowned. "Do I what?"
She was hesitantly silent for several long minutes. "Is there any way you and Duo can take her with you when you leave again?" At least she accepted that they were leaving this time. There wouldn't be a scene as there might have been years ago. But what was she thinking with this? "It's not fair of me to use Usagi like this. It's not fair of me to ask you to do what I can't either, but there's not way around it that I can see. If anyone can resist this, it's you, Hiiro."
The faith she had in him was touching and it worked into their plans ideally, maybe better than he'd dared hope, but...
* * *
So maybe the Hiiro in the dreams
his Hiiro kept having had the right idea, thinking of this girl as an angel. She certainly fit the classical definition of one, as well as having the temperament generally assigned to celestial beings. She was all smiles and honest joy, though something told him it was at least in part due to having someone other than just Ririna pay attention to her.
If there was an evil bone in her body, he'd give up flirting with Hiiro for a month. Okay, no, not a month. Maybe a week. Two days might be a more believable span, but still... Okay, maybe she wasn't bad, just going on a gut feeling, but that didn't mean her talent -- or whatever about her had grabbed the attention of Hiiro's abilities -- wasn't dangerous. It also didn't mean that people couldn't use her for their own purposes, if she had a talent or not; even he could see just how potent a figurehead she could be, maybe even more so than Ririna. She was beautiful, radiated purity -- and best of all, she had no idea who she was. The possibilities were, well, in a word, sickening.
And on a completely different note, he didn't think he knew anyone, male or female, who blushed as prettily. Hiiro might flush more often and more easily, and he adored that about the man, but he'd yet to make it look nearly this adorable. Even better, no matter what he may say that might turn her face whatever shade of red, she had ready either a quick rejoinder or a smiling laugh.
He had no way of know what -- if anything -- Ririna might have told her about the war, since it was easy to tell she didn't remember it (
'Was she even in this century for it?', his mind questioned, and right now, he had no answer). Therefore, he made sure not to mention it directly, but instead work his stories around it, maybe embellishing things here and there to make for a better story, but let it not be said that he'd lied to make a pretty girl laugh, because he hadn't. Enough time spent trying to coax a smile out of his taciturn partner had made spinning war stories more humorously easier, and getting Usagi to laugh at the discovery of a decapitated and stripped-bare Shinigami was definitely an amusing prospect for him as well.
How were they going to breach the subject of her coming with them -- or at least sticking with them long enough to figure out what about her was so important to these dreams Hiiro kept having -- was going to be an interesting thing to figure out. History wasn't exactly his strongest subject, but he was pretty sure even people in the late twentieth century weren't trusting enough to go off with a couple of strangers, even if they were friends of a friend of hers. And kidnapping wasn't a good idea: for one, it had been years since he'd had to kidnap someone, so he might be a bit rusty; and for a second, there was always the possibility that her abilities -- if she indeed
had any, and this wasn't just some fluke... not that Hiiro had flukes -- might be hazardous to his continued lifespan.
It was somewhat telling that, as the door opened to readmit a somber-looking Hiiro and Ririna, Usagi's laughter took a moment to peter out: she was self-conscious, at least a bit, then. And the smile faded from her face as the silence stretched. Of course, then again, he could feel his own doing the same.
Ririna finally broke the tableau with a heavy sigh. "Usagi, we need to talk."
posted by Apollymi @ 9:39 PM
Name: Apollymi
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