Mechanics of Relationships:

Sorrow and Anger

Hiiro x Duo

 

Tawnya Kisaragi

 

For each of the Gundam pilots, the fight stopped at a different point.  For Quatre, it was when Wufei finally managed to restrain Trowa.  For Wufei, it was the particularly hard punch Hiiro sent into Trowa’s face.  For Hiiro, it was finally seeing Quatre’s pleas getting through the impenetrable red fog that seemed to surround the Heavyarms pilot’s brain.

But for Trowa, it had been the look of absolute horror and pain on Duo’s face before he fainted that stopped the fight.  Something inside of his mind finally clicked and slid into place, releasing the rage and restoring the normal cool demeanor to its rightful place.  When questioned about it later, the green-eyed pilot would only shrug and walk away, his only claim being that he didn’t understand either.

Thanks to Quatre, Hiiro managed to catch Duo before he hit the tiled floor.  After a short eternity which actually only consisted of a few minutes, the braided Shinigami pilot opened his somewhat dazed violet eyes.  He instantly became concerned with a small, bleeding cut above the Wing Zero pilot’s left eye and a rapidly swelling bruise on his cheek.   They were kicked out by hospital security shortly there after for fighting.

Quatre was released later that same week with standing orders not to get himself blown up again.

 

*          *          *

 

“Duo?”

“Hm.  Yes, koi?”

“What happened that day in Quatre’s hospital room?  Why did you pass out?”

Duo blinked and forced his mind to come back out of the realm of dreams.  He lifted his head so that he could look into the eyes of his lover.

“What brought this on?  That was over a month ago, Hiiro.”

“Curiosity.”

“Curiosity killed the Gundam pilot, remember?”

“Being overly curious killed the Gundam pilot,” Hiiro amended.  “One has to be curious in order to gain the proper information.”

“Well, geez.  When you say it like that…”  Duo sighed.  “You want the honest answer or the fluke?”

“I thought Duo Maxwell never lied.”

“I don’t lie.  Lying involves making up a false reality.  I bend the truth.  It’s like I don’t steal either.  I just permanently borrow from those who can afford it.”

“Hn.  The honest answer, kudasai.”

“The honest answer?  I don’t know, Hiiro.  I don’t remember.  One moment, I’m watching you and Woofie try and jump Tro.  Then the next thing I know, I’m sprawled out on the floor with you leaning over me while blood’s running down your face.  Everything in between is a total zero.  I guess the hospital atmosphere and the lack of sleep finally got to me.  I mean, I was pretty high strung at the time.  It sounds pretty logical and all.”

“But you don’t believe that.”

“No.  I’ve lived through worse, Hii-chan, and never batted an eye.  I may dislike hospitals, but that’s no excuse for passing out on my part.”

Hiiro was silent for a moment.  “Then what was the fluke?”

“The fluke would have been that, somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind, your fight with Trowa reminded me of a fight I had been through before.  One that was of my own causing.  And in that fight, I lost someone I cared about.  Combined with the stress of being in the hospital and having Trowa out to kill me, I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you and my mind said, ‘Okay, enough of this fun, I’ll see you lunatics later’ and left.”

“And which answer do you like the best?  The fluke or the speculation?”

“The fluke, without a doubt.”

“Then why is it a fluke?”

“…You know what?  That’s a very good question, koi.  And one that would be better saved for the morning.  And don’t start by telling me it *is* morning because I am well aware of the fact that it is three o’clock in the friggen morning.  And I’m actually talking about *after* the sun rises.  Not at the God-awful hours you, Tro and Wufei seem to get up at.”

With a chuckle, Hiiro pulled Duo into a tighter embrace.  “I think I could manage to not get up at the ‘God-awful hour’ you were speaking of for a while.  Why get up if you’re not with me?”

He received a glare from his partner.  “Hiiro Yui, if you even think about getting me up with you at that time in the morning, you are going to be the deadest man alive on the face of the Earth.  Ya got me?”

“Certainly you wouldn’t kill your own lover, would you?”

“Well, okay.  Maybe not kill.  But seriously maim and torture anyways.  Wake me up at an unbelievable hour in the morning and try your luck, zero-one.  It may take me two hours, a cold shower, and three cups of black coffee to get my ass moving in the morning, but I am still a good shot when it counts.”

“What makes you think there’s going to be a gun near you to shoot me with?”

“Who ever said I was going to use a gun?  I’ll have you know that I was the champion pillow thrower at the church.  I can nail anyone with a bed pillow from a hundred paces and a couch pillow from two.  And trust me, not even you can move fast enough to get out of range before I come swinging at cha.”

“Aa.”

They lay in silence for a moment.

“Saa, Hiiro?”

“Hn.”

“You know what you said that morning when Wufei called to tell us Q-chan woke up?”

“I don’t know, Duo.  I said a lot of things that morning.”

“Well, you said that you would never let anyone hurt me again.”

“Saa.  What about it?”

“…Did you mean it?”

Now it was Hiiro’s turn to glare at his partner.  “Of course I meant it.  I wouldn’t have said anything unless I did.”  His fist rapped on Duo’s head a few times.  “Hasn’t the fact that I don’t usually say anything that’s not to the point been drilled into your skull yet?”

“Itai, Hii-chan.  Don’t hit so hard!”  Duo rubbed the sore spot on top of his head gingerly.  “And yes, that fact that you don’t talk unless it’s something important and imperative has been drilled into my head.  But that doesn’t change the fact that after a person’s use to having others turn their backs on them at any given moment, their not gonna take another person’s word at face value.  Their gonna second-guess and make sure their own tail’s covered before trying something like that.  It’s something you learn real fast on the streets, Hiiro.  Actions speak louder than words and talk is cheap.”

His face softened.  “It’s not that I don’t want to believe you, Hiiro.  And it’s not that I don’t trust you.  But old habits die hard.  We’re still in the middle of the war.  There’s still gonna be a ton of things ahead of us, both good and bad.  It’s kinda hard to figure out who’s on what side now.  It doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

Hiiro gently cupped Duo’s face in his hands.  “I promise you, I will protect you.  No matter what the cost.”

“You shouldn’t say things like that, Hii-chan.  They have a nasty habit of coming back to bite you if you’re not careful.”

“I don’t care.  You’re too important to let go.  I’m not going to lose you.”

“You can never lose me.  I’m always going to be with you to talk you off the ledge you seem to take you life on.”

They settled down again, each comfortable in the other’s embrace.  Hiiro waited until Duo’s breathing and heartbeat had evened out before bending down to kiss the top of his head.  The braided boy sighed and snuggled closer.

“I love you, Hiiro…” he whispered.

-Ai shiteru, koi,- Hiiro replied silently in the back of his mind before closing his eyes and joining his love in the realm of dreams.

 

 

~*~  OWARI  ~*~

TK’01