Two:
No matter how many times he
had scrubbed himself while taking a shower over the past few days, getting rid
of Duo’s touch and scent from his body had been next to impossible. Heero had
noticed that Duo’s brand of ‘healing’ had also caused the cut beneath his jaw
to become nearly invisible. Of course, remembering those lips upon his skin only
sent his cheeks and his entire body flushing with heat but it was quickly
masked with welcome anger at the remark that Duo had made soon after.
/“Your blood is not worth being stained on Reiki.”/
That son of a bitch!
“Nice to see you too, Yuy,”
Kazuya stated lightly as he held up his folder away from the fist that had
pounded the table. “You let him get away, didn’t you?” he observed dryly.
Flustered a little at being
caught off guard, Heero shook his head rapidly, smiling wanly as he met the
sharp gaze of his superior officer. “No…no sir…”
“Your gun wasn’t found and
you applied for another one, right?” Kazuya continued relentlessly. “You never
did give us a concrete reason for its sudden disappearance, did you, Yuy?”
It was taking all of his
effort to keep his gaze trained on Kazuya’s cool brown ones, but Heero managed
somehow. “As I stated in the report, sir, I was accosted by a gang without my
knowledge…”
“As a police officer, isn’t
it your duty to be aware of your surroundings at all times, Yuy?”
“Yes, sir. I know…”
“Then it was rather pathetic
of you to allow a bunch of high school kids to take away your gun from you,
isn’t it? The next thing you know they’ll be stealing your badge!”
Heero could feel his cheeks
darkening as Kazuya deliberately raised his voice causing the other officers to
snicker or laugh softly at his observations. Heero knew he wasn’t that popular
and hadn’t gone out of his way to make a lot of friends in the precinct, but he
would be damned if he was going to be made into a laughing stock by this
stuck-up asshole.
“I realize I was at fault,
sir,” he replied coolly with as much politeness as he could muster. “I will be
more careful next time…”
“If there will be a next time, Yuy,” Kazuya retorted with a
smirk. “Word has it that Zeman’s not very pleased with your ‘heroics’. Maybe
you’ll finally be sent to the division you are most needed in…day patrol.”
Kazuya’s mocking laughter
echoed within Heero’s head like an incessant drum roll. He cursed softly and
tried to focus his attention on the computer screen before him, telling himself
that the other snickers were not directed towards him as well. He allowed
himself to daydream about the positive reactions he would receive the day he
did bring Duo to justice. Then he would have the last laugh and possibly have
Zeman fire Kazuya and his sidekick Mitsuomi.
Yeah, so why didn’t you let Zeman know that you had
seen him? A voice taunted within his
mind.
Oh, and I guess I should just say that I saw a guy
with long hair and violet eyes and he goes by the name of Duo. Yeah, way to go,
Detective Heero Yuy, that’s definitely a lot to go by.
He sighed softly and tapped
his pen restlessly upon the desk. He had tried to look up all individuals who
go by the name of ‘Duo’ and had given up on that after seeing only three such
names show up in the records. Two were deceased and the only survivor belonged
to a hardware store within the city limits. Besides, the name ‘Duo’ could only
be a nickname and if that was the case, Heero knew that he had his work cut out
for him.
What about the katana?
His brows furrowed into a
light frown as he found himself scribbling out the words ‘Reiki’ on his
notepad. But…what did it mean? Was Reiki just a nickname he had given to the
sword as well? That seemed highly unlikely, considering how much contempt Duo
had expressed in his voice when speaking about Heero’s blood staining it.
Whatever the case may be, this Reiki was quite an important piece of evidence
and if he could get some background on the weapon, it would, perhaps, shed more
light on why Duo insisted on using it.
Divine Angel of Justice, hmm? Heero thought with a rueful smile as he got to his
feet and shrugged into his jacket. We’ll
have to see about that, won’t we?
__
The rains had finally stopped
sometime earlier in the week but it still didn’t stop gray clouds from hovering
over the city like an ominous omen. The latest killings had put the city in a
state of extreme caution and anyone could sense the uneasiness and tension in
the air. At least in the daytime, things were a bit manageable, but at night…it
was a whole other story all together. Many nightclubs were beginning to close a
bit earlier than normal and most of the well-known gangs had been put on high
alert and for good reason too. No one wanted to be on the next hit list of the
mysterious murderer.
“Hey, Mister Toudou,” Heero
greeted amiably as he picked up the usual morning paper and a cup of steaming
hot coffee from the vendor behind the stand. It was no surprise to see the
headline ‘Six Found Decapitated in City Limits – Manhunt Continues’ blaring
from most of the magazines and newspapers and for a brief moment, Heero felt a
bit smug at having met the man behind them
face-to-face…even though it
wasn’t in the way he would have liked.
He cursed at the memory of
Duo’s lips upon his and resisted the urge to caress them again gently. He had
found himself doing that a lot lately and he hated himself for being powerless
to resist it. With more vehemence than necessary, Heero flipped a page over to
read more into the story when something blue and red flashed before his eyes.
He blinked and lowered the paper quickly, staring ahead as if wondering if he
was actually seeing things or not. But there was no denying the shocking hair
color of the boy standing before him on the sidewalk.
Ren!
In the daylight, the boy
looked like any other teenager heading off to school. He was dressed in a pair
of black pants and a white dress-shirt that was not tucked in. A black backpack
hung over his left shoulder and as the lights changed to green; he shifted it
to his right and began to cross the street casually. Heero’s first instinct had
been to call out his name, but he had a feeling that it would be best to tail
the younger guy for a while. If he was lucky, Ren would lead him right to Duo’s
hideout.
Feeling his heart pounding
hard within his chest, Heero patted his pocket gently and confirming that his
new weapon was intact, he began to walk after the unsuspecting teen at a rather
safe distance. He glanced at his watch for a moment, aware that he still had to
be back at the station in less than an hour. Hopefully, this ‘chase’ wouldn’t
take too long.
However, and much to Heero’s
chagrin, Ren seemed like he had no plans to rush off to any place in
particular. He made several stops at a candy store, a gaming store and even had
the time to stop at an arcade. Heero watched as the boy talked with a few of
his peers before making a sudden detour off the main road and into an alley. Heero
waited for a few minutes before heading in the same direction. Assuming the
alley would lead him through another set of abandoned buildings, he was
surprised to find himself between even more shops and residential homes. A few
children, dirty and dressed in nothing more than rags peered at him through
windows and corners with curiosity. It was as if they had never seen any other
human being, besides the ones they were forced to live with everyday, coming
down this path before.
Christ! He had no idea there
were slums like this in the city. The air was putrid with rotten and overripe
fruit and boiled vegetables – a smell that churned Heero’s stomach with each
step he took. He could still see Ren walking ahead of him but suddenly a ball
came bouncing out of nowhere causing Heero to step back to prevent it from
hitting him.
“Sorry, mister,” came the
soft whimper as the owner of the ball, a small boy of eight or nine, picked it
up and disappeared into another building.
Heero lifted his head to
continue his search and cursed softly as Ren’s telltale hair was no longer to
be seen. In that brief instant, he had lost the only link to Duo.
“Fuck!” He ran restless
fingers through his hair and decided he would have to end his pursuit for the
day. At least he had an idea of where to search for now and he would continue
when his shift was over.
__
Within the building, the
young boy held the ball within his hands and eyed the man standing before him.
“Did I do good, Duo?” he
asked shyly.
He was rewarded with a wide
grin and a ruffle of his dirty blond locks before feeling the cold coin pressed
within his palm.
“You did great, Sammy,” Duo
praised as his eyes continued to watch the retreating figure of the police
officer. “You did great.”
__
“Reiki?”
“Yes, Reiki,” Heero repeated
as he reluctantly accepted the heavy box, nearly buckling under its weight as
he staggered towards the garage to dump it on the ground unceremoniously.
“Damn it, be careful, Heero! Those
contain fragile items!” The dark-haired man jumped out of the truck and walked
towards the box with a look of concern on his features. He opened it up slowly
and eyed its contents, ignoring the glare of impatience he was beginning to
receive from his guest. “You’re lucky nothing’s broken…”
“Are you going to help me out
here, Wufei?” Heero interrupted. “I need to know…”
“Look, Heero,” Wufei Chang
replied with a wave of his hand and a light frown of consternation on his
features. “There are a million and one katanas out there with different names,
makes and histories behind them. Now, if I was to sit down to analyze every
single one that has crossed my path since the day I was born, we would never
finish this case of yours.”
“So in other words, ‘Reiki’
rings no bell?”
“None whatsoever…hand me that
box next to you.”
Heero did as he was told,
albeit mechanically, for his mind was still filled with a million and one
questions which needed to be answered soon or he was sure he’d go mad.
“It was very long,” he
continued quietly as if speaking more to himself than to his friend of over
five years. “I mean, it didn’t look like something anyone could just handle
easily. He must be an expert…”
“No kidding,” Wufei commented
dryly as he placed yet another box above another. “A guy that can take off six
heads in the space of five minutes without taking a breather? Now, that’s talent my friend.”
“Killing people isn’t a
talent, Wufei,” Heero said flatly. “That’s murder.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” The
Chinese man shrugged lightly and straightened up. He stretched his arms over
his head, revealing a lithe body that showed that he was quite fit and
disciplined. “Perhaps he sees himself as an arm of justice…”
“There’s that word again,”
Heero cried out with a shake of his head. “Zeman said the same thing - that Duo
might be…”
“Duo?”
Heero felt his cheeks flush
at the slip. “Eh…well…”
“Wait a second,” Wufei folded
his arms before his chest and eyed his police friend with a small and wry grin.
“You and this Duo person had that close of an encounter and you didn’t tell
your boss?”
“What the hell am I supposed
to say?” Heero defended himself quickly. He was unaware he was beginning to
speak in a harsh whisper as he stepped closer to his friend. “I can’t just tell
them that I let Duo slip from my grasp.” Neither
can I tell them that he made me come in my pants. “And besides, I don’t
really have much to convict him or anything. He might not even be the one for
all we know.”
“Sure. Right,” Wufei
snickered and turned away to continue with his task of removing the boxes from
the truck. “Don’t let me get in the way of your investigation, buddy, but just
know that you are treading on dangerous ground if you are hoarding information
from your superior officers.”
An image of Kazuya’s smirking
visage filled Heero’s mind and he growled softly. “Don’t I know it.”
“I’ll help you with the
katana,” Wufei said after a few minutes of back breaking work. “If I can get
myself organized tonight, I will take a look through my files to find out what
I can come up with.”
“Thanks,” Heero replied with
a smile of absolute gratitude. “I know this isn’t the way you planned to begin
your new life here in suburbia.” He eyed the quiet street warily, noticing that
only a few lights were on in some of the houses.
“It’s the only thing I can
find that’s close to the university,” Wufei said with a light shrug as he
kicked a small box towards the garage. “Apartments are way too expensive for
me. I’m just a professor for crying out loud.”
Heero laughed softly. “The
youngest one I know.”
“And the smartest one too,”
the dark-haired man added with a smirk. “Now, let’s finish this stuff and go
grab a few beers, okay?”
“Now that’s the best thing
I’ve heard you say all day.”
__
A week went by and Heero grew
incredibly frustrated. Not only had Duo’s rampage stopped but Zeman had decided
to load him up with paperwork, forcing him to remain behind his desk.
It now seemed that all plans
to discover Duo’s hideout would have to wait for a few more days.
__
Friday night and the city was
relatively back to normal. Although many nightclubs were still wary about
remaining open too late, they were spurred by the continuous influx of
customers and party revelers that still patronized their business.
Alex Conseco also known as Big
Daddy was the proud owner of the hottest strip joint in the city. His hefty six
foot, three hundred pound frame was enough to send most of his competition
running for the hills. He was always dressed in black, his head clean shaven
with a rather strange black tattoo etched upon it. Dark glasses covered his
eyes at all times and his silk black goatee was a trademark to his
larger-than-life persona. Expensive necklaces and rings, worth millions,
adorned his fat neck, chubby fingers and wrists. He made no apologies for his
lifestyle – where women, booze and drugs took top priority. Tonight, his club
‘The Cheetah’, was swinging with a few celebrities making their appearances. He
stepped out of the black limousine flanked by two scantily-clad women who made
it known that they were his ‘bitches’ for the night. Camera flashbulbs and
lights went crazy as the paparazzi noticed his arrival. He grinned and waved,
showing pearly whites to the screaming crowd of onlookers. Tonight was the big
one and he was going to make at least five million in cash with all the illegal
dealings that awaited him inside.
But first, he had to obey
nature’s call. After all, filling oneself with expensive bottles of vodka and
whiskey was enough to make one’s bladder cry out for help. Excusing himself
from the ladies and the throng of fans that had come up to talk to him, he made
his way towards the restroom – his private
restroom of course.
He gave a curt nod to the
bodyguard standing at the top of the stairs, whistling beneath his breath as he
stepped into the elevator that would take him to the second floor. He dabbed
his face with a silk handkerchief, already sweating from the short climb up the
stairs.
“Gotta get a quick fix,” he
muttered to himself as he reached into his pocket for the small black pill box.
He popped two white pills into his mouth, nodding softly to himself as he
chewed quickly. The rush would begin in a few seconds – that heady sensation of
being taken for the ride of your life would settle in and he would become the
king of his domain again.
As the elevator doors opened,
Big Daddy was so busy stuffing the pill box back into his jacket that he failed
to notice the staggering figure moving towards him until the dull thud of the
body falling to the floor had him lifting his head in alarm. For a moment, he
was unsure of what his eyes were seeing, but as the dark pool of blood began to
spread all over the carpet, it dawned on him that one of his trusted bodyguards
had been killed.
“Fuck! Fuck!” He muttered as
he began to punch the buttons to take him back to ground level again. His eyes
were wide with fear and panic, realizing that whoever the killer was, he or she
had had no problems finding their way up here without rousing suspicion. He
could hear the steady footsteps approaching and try as he might, he just
couldn’t seem to find the right buttons to push. Of course, it didn’t help that
the dead body lying on the floor was in the way of the doors closing
completely.
The footsteps stopped and Big
Daddy held his breath, now remembering that he did have a method of defending himself in times like these. He
reached into his back pocket to bring out the small hand gun. Being in this
kind of business meant risking your neck a lot of times and today would be no
different. He was going to pump the asshole’s body full of lead if he dared
make one move towards him. Cold sweat poured down his face in torrents, his
hands trembling slightly on the gun as he tried to control his rapidly beating
heart. He could feel something damp between his legs and he didn’t need to look
to know that he had relieved himself in fear.
“Wha…what’s that matter,
huh?” he suddenly cried out as the silence became too much for him to bear.
“Come on over here and get some! Come’re
you son-of-a-bitch!”
He took a frantic step
forward and fired – once, twice, but he still wasn’t fast enough. For a moment,
all he could make out of his attacker was a dizzying blur of brown hair, wild
violet eyes and the gleam of a deadly blade before the cool steel made quick
work of his neck, effectively cutting off his scream of terror. Dark red blood,
almost black, splattered against the plain walls and upon the killer’s face
like morbid markings of the damned. He stared dispassionately at the head which
now lay at an angle on the floor for a long minute before taking another step
forward.
“Retribution for watching her
die and doing nothing to stop it,” the man muttered softly as he pierced the
katana into what was once Big Daddy’s heart before walking out of the elevator
with slow but measured steps.
The sirens were beginning to
go off and he could hear the sounds of running footsteps coming up the stairs.
Hardly waiting to see the newcomers, he leapt out of the narrow window and
landed on the ground with a soft grunt before disappearing into the shadows of
the night like he belonged.
As usual, he had left nothing
at the crime scene but a lingering smell of victory.