Four:

Wufei Chang might have only been a measly professor of Mythology at the local university, but there was no denying his family’s rich and almost royal heritage. It was evident in the simple but elegant decor that graced his new living quarters. From the inexpensive oriental rugs to his prized collection of Chinese and Japanese weapons, ranging from simple wakizashi to more elaborate and rather elegant tai-chi swords - broadswords and a few katana filled a small room that he had dedicated specifically for their display. Adjacent to his sword room, was a small office or personal den where he stored all his books, documents and paraphernalia regarding his teachings and obsession with the marital arts.

It was in here that Heero found his friend, having let himself into the house with a spare key specifically made for him. Stepping carefully over rolls of parchment and opened books, Heero walked up to the small desk which was laden with even more drawings, books and images of several katana – the likes of which Heero had never seen before.

“So? What did you find?” he finally asked when Wufei made no attempt to recognize his presence. Instead, the dark-haired man stabbed a finger upon the page of the large book he had been reading diligently.

“See that?”

“It’s all in Chinese, Wufei. I’m not that good at reading…”

“Reiki!” Wufei interrupted impatiently. “Reiki simply means spiritual energy, Heero. Even you should have known that.”

“It’s been a while since my last visit to my home country,” Heero began in defense. “How am I supposed to remember all of that…?”

“Doesn’t matter now,” the professor shook his head rapidly. “Get me some tea, will you? I already had a pot brewing in the kitchen and when you get back we’ll go over this stuff.”

He opened up his mouth to tell the Chinese man that he wasn’t his maid, but decided to shut up for now. He did need Wufei’s help and would have to obey his friend’s demands for the meantime. He walked into the kitchen, wincing as he noticed that the kettle of hot water had become tepid. How long had Wufei been studying in there? He had a feeling the teacher had not left that room in quite some time. Deciding to reheat the water, Heero’s glance darted towards the sword room again.

He could still remember how cool, calm and collected Duo had looked with that long weapon by his side.

/A man able to slice off six heads in the space of five minutes…now that’s talent./

Talent, huh? Heero gave a light snort and pushed himself away from the counter. In mere seconds, he found himself staring at the array of katanas displayed in their stands or scabbards against the red wall. None seemed to be as long as Reiki, but there was one that was close enough. Just as suddenly a cold chill crept into the room causing Heero to shiver in response.

Take it.

“Huh?” He spun around quickly, wondering if Wufei had walked up to whisper the words behind him, but to his surprise Heero could still see the professor buried within his books in the den. It didn’t seem like Wufei had even budged from the chair at all.

Shaking his head rapidly, deciding that all the excitement of the day was finally getting to him, Heero took a step to leave the suddenly claustrophobic room, when a loud and rather piercing ‘riin’ sound had him slapping his hands over his ears.

“Argh!”

“What? What is, Heero?” Wufei asked in concern as he got off his chair quickly and all but dashed into the sword room. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Can’t…can’t you hear it?” Heero wheezed, feeling as if his head was going to explode if the noise didn’t stop soon. Beads of cold sweat dotted his brows and he fell to his knees in agony. “Make it stop…for the love of all things right and just, Wufei…make it stop!”

A thousand and one voices buzzing in his head – a mingled mass of thoughts and cries from warriors past – images of bloodbaths and brave samurai wielding their katanas like the gods of death flashed through his mind over and over again. He was going to go insane! He was…

Reiki!

The very sword of the devil itself seemed to surface from the growing pile of dead bodies and as it gleamed within the darkness, Heero swore he could hear Duo’s derisive laughter echoing in his mind.

Take it. Take it! Take it if you dare!

Heero could barely hear Wufei’s desperate cries; neither could he feel the pain of his head hitting the floor as he immediately collapsed in a dead faint.

__

Duo felt the sword thrum in his hands and he narrowed his eyes in slight confusion.

“Reiki…why…?” he muttered softly into the wind. It was impossible for anyone to be a match for his katana. Reiki was the strongest and deadliest there ever was and there was no equal…there had never been a companion!

But there was no denying the ‘excitement’ within the weapon which now throbbed with life in his hands and it was all he could do to hold on to it.

“So you think we have found a worthy opponent, Reiki?” he asked with a small smirk coming to his handsome features. His answer came in the form of dark and ominous shadows surrounding his being and as he closed his eyes to concentrate on the next mission assigned to him, Duo longed for the battle his master so eagerly anticipated.

__

Heero groaned and opened his eyes slowly, barely able to see much before him. His vision seemed glazed and if it wasn’t for the sound of someone fidgeting with cups and a spoon beside him, Heero was sure he was dead and had gone to heaven…or possibly hell. Heaven had no room for the likes of him.

At least the damned noise had stopped.

“So, you’re finally awake,” Wufei observed dryly as he held up a cup of tea. “Ready for this now?”

Heero tried to sit up with some effort. His head still throbbed although it wasn’t as bad as before. He was lying on a futon in the middle of Wufei’s living room – apparently his friend hadn’t gotten around to working on his bedroom yet. “What…what happened?” he asked thickly, accepting the cup of tea gratefully.

“You ask me,” Wufei replied, taking a sip and staring at his friend with renewed interest. “You went into my sword room and decided to go crazy.”

“Hey, I didn’t…”

“Incredible, I’ll admit,” Wufei continued as if Heero hadn’t said a word. “It’s been a long time since I’ve ever had a sword call out to its owner.”

“Say…what?” And why did his mouth feel like it was stuffed with cotton balls?

“I’m saying, your sword has called out to you, Heero Yuy,” Wufei explained with a smile filled with undeniable pleasure. “I knew there was a reason I got that sword from Master Lin.” He reached behind his back to bring it forward, smirking as he noticed Heero’s flinch. “Don’t worry, it’s in its sheath…but it’s clear you can’t really control it yet.”

“Look…look…this is all…” Heero shook his head rapidly, trying to make sense of everything happening at the moment. “All this talk about talking swords and being the owner…I don’t even like Kendo!”

“What difference does that make?” Wufei asked with a raised brow. “There’s a reason you were chosen to wield Satsuma. I’m not sure why it would choose a relative moron like you, but unfortunately that’s your destiny.”

Heero smiled wanly. “Right. Thanks for the lecture but I really have to get going now. I have a long day tomorrow as well…” He tried to rise to his feet, but was stopped by Wufei’s words.

“Reiki is no ordinary sword,” he began calmly as he placed Satsuma down on the floor to take another sip of his tea. “It was created by the same sword smith for Satsuma – Masakyo Satsuma in the Showa era. Actually, the eighth Shogun, Yoshimune did praise Masakyo as the greatest sword smith in the country at the time. However, Reiki was also created as a companion piece to Satsuma. But, unlike Satsuma who had been taken by the Shogun to use in battle – no one really knows how Reiki got ‘lost’ during the wars. Then strange tales of a legendary sword which had the capability of sucking the power out of its wielder began to surface as the years went by.”

“Sucks…the power?”

Wufei nodded solemnly. “Yes. The power of Reiki will leave behind nothing of the loser in the battle between itself and its owner. It’s a constant struggle for whoever carries Reiki. Will he or she be able to control himself or will he or she allow the sword to consume their soul completely until there is nothing left but a monstrous creature that’s neither human nor…beast?”

Heero sank to the ground heavily, his headache beginning again as he tried to still his thudding heart. “Are…are you trying to tell me that Reiki…might…might be using Duo? Or even controlling him or worse yet…it’s…it’s…”

“Killing him, yes,” Wufei finished quietly. He sighed softly and placed his cup down, picking up Satsuma to caress the brown leather cord wrap that covered it’s hilt. “According to my readings, the famous Takayanagi Family was last left in charge of Reiki. Of course the family was destroyed from the inside out by rebellious factions within the 12 Founding Families of the Martial Arts and bits and pieces of their legacy found their way all over the world. Who knows how Duo got his hands upon the sword, but whatever the case may be…you’ve got to stop him, Heero.”

“Me…me?!” Heero was already shaking his head vehemently. “Look, police work I can deal with. Waving a katana around is a whole other matter altogether.”

“I can teach you how to use it, Heero,” Wufei insisted. His dark eyes were firm and relentless. “Would you rather see Duo continue on his killing spree even though we are lucky he’s taking out the garbage of the city?”

“He’s a murderer!” Heero cried out desperately. “I can’t…!”

“Then release him from his prison, Heero!”

“No…no!” He was holding his head between his hands, moaning the words over and over again as if hoping that the entire scene would disappear and he would be back in his apartment – alone with nothing but his thoughts.

But a firm hand upon his jaw forced his shimmering blue depths to meet the annoyed ones of his friend’s. “No what, Heero? No, you can’t step up and do a task assigned to you? No that you wish to continue living in the shadows of those two bastards you keep bitching about? No, that you’d rather continue on this wild goose chase as more and more bodies pile up making Reiki the bloodthirsty weapon it is? No, as you watch a man almost like you slowly crumple away into nothing because he’s too foolish to realize what’s happening to him?! If you can say yes to all of that, then walk out of my house Heero Yuy and never look back, got it? The Heero I know would never be this cowardly about anything goddamn it! So if you know where the fuck the real Heero Yuy is, I want him back and soon!”

He was released with a light snort of derision, watching as Wufei rose to his feet to leave the room. The subsequent slam of the door to his den sealed the deal and Heero groaned in misery as he fell back to the futon in exhaustion.

The Real Heero Yuy.

Just where was he anyway?

He had grown up an ordinary kid in an ordinary home outside the city limits. His mother had been a beautiful Japanese woman – the foreigner, his father a member of the city with a great job as a clerk at some financial institute. They hadn’t been poor but neither had they been rich. He was a smart enough student and had been loved by both parents even though his father had the tendency to work late a lot.

When had he decided he wanted to become a police officer? Ah yes…it would have to be the day he had found his mother bleeding to death in the middle of the kitchen. He must have been nine at the time and had just come home from school to witness the bloody sight. She had been shot by robbers and the police had not come to the crime scene on time. He had stayed with her, watching her die, swearing to himself that he would become the best cop in the world and would never let another innocent person slip away so easily. Hardly unexpected, his father had become a shadow of his former self after his mom’s passing. He drank too much and chained smoked to the point that Heero could literally smell the cigarettes within the pores of his flesh. By his seventeenth year, his father had finally given in to cancer – something that was inevitable anyway.

He had had to fend for himself from that day on, working twice as hard to graduate from high school and to gain admittance into a local community college that accepted his above average scores. He could fight when provoked and had always been known as a hot-head most of the time. His mother had assumed that teaching him Kendo would help, but he had hated it for some reason and now…

He slid a glance at the innocuous sword in its simple but rather worn brown leather sheath and groaned in dismay.

/It’s killing him. Reiki…is killing him and he doesn’t even know it./

Duo…what the hell are you doing?

It was faint – barely audible but Heero could hear it all the same. He sat up slowly, eyes widening as it seemed like Satsuma was literally beginning to tremble within its sheath.

/Its companion piece is Reiki. They were created together./

So if one sword was being used…the other could sense it, couldn’t it? Did this mean that Duo was at it again? He could feel his heartbeat quickening, his mouth becoming dry as he stole a quick glance at the closed door to Wufei’s den.

Don’t do something foolish now, the sensible voice within his mind warned. You heard what Wufei said. You aren’t strong enough to deal with the sword yet!

Heero licked his lips and swallowed tightly, feeling another light sheen of sweat break out on his brow. I’m not going to open it…I just want to…know…where Duo is…I need to speak to him.

Yeah, right, like the sword’s going to give you directions? Get real, Heero? That’s just an old man’s tale!

But explain all those voices! Why did I hear them? It was as if I could hear everything…see everything!

The sword gave a violent shake and before he could control himself, Heero reached out to grasp it within his hand. It felt warm to the touch and for a brief moment, he felt some indescribable sure of energy flow through his body.

Don’t do it, Heero! The voice warned shrilly, but his stubborn nature sprang forth and he rose to his feet slowly.

“I can’t sit here and pretend there’s nothing happening. I know it’s going to hurt a bit and I might end up dying tonight…but it’s a fucking sacrifice I’m willing to take.” He stood before Wufei’s door and whispered softly. “I will become the Heero you once knew, my friend and I promise I’ll be back soon…but if I don’t…”

He gritted his teeth and spun on his heels, refusing to finish the sentence and made his way out of the house without looking back. It was only right that he should think of himself as a walking corpse for he knew that he was about to face an opponent who wouldn’t hesitate to extinguish his life in a heartbeat. Once outside, he pushed the hilt of Satsuma upwards from its sheath and taking a much needed deep breath, he whispered softly into the darkness.

“Take me to him, Satsuma.”

__

“Argh! Let me go, you assholes!”

“Aww, come on, babe! Give us a little will ya?”

“Don’t touch me! Eeeew! Cut it out! Help! I’m gonna…mmphfff!”

They dragged her into the shadows, her muffled cries getting lost amongst their loud guffaws and taunts. Tears of shame and humiliation spilled down her cheeks as her dress was ripped. There were hands all over her, touching, probing - wet tongues slobbering all over her flesh. Oh, god, she was going to die!

“What the fuck…hey! What are you…? FUCK! IT’S HIM, GUYS! IT’S THE KATANA GUY!”

The Katana guy?

Her attackers’ hasty footsteps were music to her ears. Their desperate pleas to be spared echoed and bounced off the walls of the alley as they sped off into the night. She tried to sit up; holding up the remaining tatters of what was once a rather expensive red evening dress, only to blink slowly at the hand that was offered to her.

She stared at the strong palm for a moment, before lifting her gaze to meet the smiling visage of the handsome young man. His long hair was tied in a rough ponytail behind him and his violet eyes seemed to shimmer with warmth – a welcome sight from all the leery looks she had gotten earlier. She noticed the long ‘thing’- which looked eerily like a sword - he carried across his back and as she slipped her hand into his larger and warmer ones, she was sure she had fallen in love with him.

“You weren’t hurt, were you, miss?” he asked softly, concerned eyes roaming over her body quickly.

“No…no, I’m fine…you came just in time,” she stammered breathlessly. He was shrugging out of his jacket and with a small bow of apology, he draped it over her shoulders.

“I’m sorry it’s not much,” he said with a sheepish smile. “But at least you are covered. You had better get back home, lady. This isn’t a nice neighborhood to hang out.”

“Thank…thank you,” she whispered as she allowed herself to be lead towards a bus stop. She felt protected in his presence and wished that he would never leave her side, but as she lifted her head to thank him again, she found herself staring at nothing.

“Mis…mister?” She spun around quickly, darting furtive glances for the mysterious man who had rescued her. “Damn it…all the good ones just don’t stick around for too long, do they?” She would have gone looking for him, but the bus had finally come to a stop and she had no other option but to step into it. But as she closed her eyes and inhaled the masculine scent of the warm jacket around her, she knew she would never forget him for as long as she lived.

Duo watched her departure with a rueful smile before rising to his feet to survey the city lights below him. It was always fun to watch the people from the rooftops – to see just how small humans really could be in the grand scheme of things. Just why in the hell had he shown her his face this evening? So yes, she had almost looked like his mother but it still didn’t ease the pain of losing her to that bastard Big Daddy. At least the fat asshole had gotten what he deserved.

He stiffened as he felt the other presence but relaxed almost immediately.

“Figured you’d find me eventually,” he said quietly, a smirk coming to his features as he felt the sword tremble within its sheath on his back. “So I see you have Reiki’s companion?”

He finally spun around slowly to face the brown-haired man, who was holding Satsuma in his hands. Heero’s stance was awful and he seemed to be trembling, but Duo knew a worthy opponent when he saw one and tonight, the young officer would just have to suffice as a suitable distraction. Of course, admiring Heero’s physique and good looks would have to take a back seat for a while and Duo figured it was a real pity he wouldn’t have the chance to taste those lips again. Goodness knows he hadn’t stopped thinking about them.

But first things first.

In a swift motion, he unsheathed Reiki and held it before him, grinning with pleasure as the gleam from the sword’s blade flashed beneath the moonlight.

“It’s time to see what Satsuma’s made of, isn’t it?” Duo teased in a low voice filled with raw passion and excitement. “Prepare for your death, officer!”

And with a speed, nearly impossible for the human eye and mind to comprehend, Duo leapt towards Heero with every intention of piercing Reiki’s blade right through his heart.

TBC…