BLACKBIRD'S CRY
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CHAPTER SIX
He had expected a lowly demon or two, wandering the grounds for the chance to sneak up on the prized politician princess - not to hear Kagome's scream erupt into the night.
His feet became glued to the spot he was standing in, an inner conflict arising as he debated on whether to run to Kagome's aid or continue on with patrolling the grounds. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily in defeat, turning sharply on his heals as he became unglued, bolting off in the direction of Kagome's scream.
After she closed the well on him, nearly 700 years ago, he swore to himself that if she ever came back, if he ever saw her again, he'd never go running to her rescue. Yet, here he was. Minutes from discovering that she was alive, however that happened, and he was running with all the speed he could muster to save her. He wasn't even sure she was in danger, she could've screamed for a number of different things. Still, he rushed to her side.
Inuyasha's jaw dropped open at the sight he found back in the meeting hall. Kagome lay unmoving on the floor, a booted foot that belonged to someone he didn't know placed somewhat possessively on her chest. He felt a wave of worry, panic, and despair wash over him.
No, some inner voice deep within cried out, She just came back...she can't leave again! He forced that voice back, tearing his gaze from Kagome's form to scan the rest of the room.
Colonel Heero Yuy lay a few feet away from Kagome, closer to the door. It seemed as if the Colonel had ran back in. Though, he appeared to be uninjured. Had he fainted at the sight of this...man? No. Inuyasha had seen Heero Yuy stare down a bear youkai. Some strange man clad in black couldn't scare Lady Une's top soldier.
He'd see to the Colonel later, he was alive and his top priority was Kagome.
Making sure that Heero was out good and cold, he allowed the glamour that he had perfected over the many years since he'd discovered this handy trick drop, revealing the hanyou that he was. He unsheathed the Tetsusaiga, only able to use it when in his true form and not shielded by his human blood. "Get away from her," he breathed, stepping towards the man.
The man turned to Inuyasha, smiling at him in a way that struck an odd sense of familiarity, though the hanyou couldn't figure out what exactly.
Much to his surprise, the man removed his foot, stepping away from Kagome and to the window he came through. "Now is not the time, nor the place," he said simply, then jumped out the window, fading into the darkness of night.
Normally, Inuyasha would've followed, but he couldn't leave without knowing if she was alive or not. He returned his father's fang to it's sheath, putting the glamour back in place in case Heero decided to wake up. Kneeling next to Kagome, he pressed two fingers to her neck.
He sighed heavily. She has a pulse.
Kagome stirred at his touch, one hand moving to rub at her left temple. The other was placed on top of Inuyasha's hand, which still lingered at her neck, afraid that if he removed his fingers, her pulse would die. Her eyes opened and he found himself staring into a pair of bright blue eyes that squinted at him in confusion.
"W-what happened?" She asked, frowning when he jerked his hand out from underneath hers. He jumped to his feet, not even bothering to help her up. Instead, he moved over to stare at Heero Yuy's unconscious form.
"Some man," Inuyasha answered, not looking at her. "More than likely, he was after Miss Relena. You two just happened to get in his way." At that last sentence, he stared down at Heero in confusion.
Kagome managed to bring herself to her feet and moved over to Inuyasha, blinking at his confusion that was adding to hers. "What?"
"This is Colonel Heero Yuy."
"I know that. I do listen to Dorothy's gossip."
He rolled his eyes at her, "He's Miss Relena's personal bodyguard. No one's ever gotten past him and lived, let alone injured him. Yet, he's passed out cold. I'm just wondering what did this."
Kagome shrugged. "Like I'd know. This place is as foreign to me as my era was to you." She smiled at him, but he didn't return it.
"Feh," was the answer she got. "Leave things that happened 700 years ago in the past. They have no relevance to the current era." He knew she was frowning, maybe even getting teary-eyed, but he didn't turn to see. Instead, he headed for the door, stepping casually over Heero's form.
"Where are you going?"
"To wake up Dr. Po."
Sally Po groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head to drown out the rapping at her door. The one night she wasn't off on a mission with WuFei or sewing up one of the Pilot's reckless wounds, someone dared to disallow her sleep. She'd kill them.
"I'm coming!" she shouted in annoyance in the direction of the door, rolling out of bed. Once she located her slippers, she moved to the door, pulling it open. She had expected Quatre, maybe Duo - not Devlin Talen.
She blinked, "Uh...Detective. Can I help you?"
"Colonel Heero Yuy is passed out in the meeting hall and the miko, Kagome Higurashi, was attacked." Inuyasha stepped back from the door, turning to head down the hallway in the direction opposite the meeting hall. "Thought you'd want to know."
Sally swore as Devlin left, darting back in her room to dig for her cell phone, which was somewhere in the pocket of her Preventers jacket. Upon locating it, she dialed-up WuFei. "Meet me in the meeting hall near Une's office. Bring Maxwell."
Heero Yuy sent his best death glare towards his braided baka of a best friend, causing the pilot to jump and take a step back. "I do not faint," the Perfect Soldier stated, averting his gaze to where Kagome stood, giving WuFei and Sally her account of what happened. Oddly, he didn't hear her tell them anything about having an argument with Devlin Talen. Were they arguing? Heero was sure he heard them yelling prior to asking them to leave.
"What, did you just randomly decide the floor looked nice and cozy and laid down to take a nap?" Duo asked, sarcastically. "C'mon, Heero, you're only human."
Heero huffed, standing. "If I'm not needed any longer," he directed at Sally, who turned to him, "I'm going to go check on Relena."
Sally nodded at him and waved towards the door, signaling that it was alright for him to leave. He didn't know why he asked permission to leave. Manners were developing, and he was beginning to develop a slight hatred for them.
He left and made his way to where Relena's room was while they were staying at Headquarters, glad that Duo had decided to stay behind. His head was pounding, despite what he had told Sally, and Duo's persistent talking only made it worse. This was weakness - the Perfect Soldier had no weakness.
"Relena, it's me." He knocked lightly on her door, not at all surprised when she opened the door to find her fully dressed and fully awake at this time of night.
She was on the phone with someone, probably a conference call, and simply stepped aside, motioning for him to come in. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He leaned his back against it, folding his arms, watching Relena as she moved back to her desk and scribble some notes down on a pad of paper.
"Uh huh," she said into the phone, "yes. I understand completely. I'll see to it that they know of your needs. I assure you, I will aid you in making this treaty work." She said good-bye to whoever was on the receiving end of that call and set the phone down.
"Business?" He inquired.
The politician princess sighed, leaning her head on one propped up arm. "As usual. I'm always willing to help, but sometimes I wish they'd call in favors from the other diplomats to work out their problems."
"Hn."
Relena looked up, her eyes falling on the soldier that leaned against the door to her office that doubled as her temporary residence while at Preventer Headquarters for long periods of time. "Something's wrong."
Heero's jaw clentched. How did she always know? Yes, there was something wrong. But, how to tell her that he believed he was starting to experience side effects from his many years of working with the Zero System? And more importantly, why tell her? Though he may be her bodyguard, she was not his boss. She did not give him orders, give him missions. He did not need to answer to her, nor give her explanation. To anything.
Yet, something urged him to tell her. "I'm going crazy."
Her ocean blue eyes blinked in his direction, before she leaned back in her over stuffed chair, eyeing him with an amused grin on her face. "Why Heero, are you trying to be funny?"
His eyes opened and he tried not to glare at her. He dropped his barrier for just a moment, telling her the truth rather than remaining silent, and she thought he was joking. Heero pushed himself off the door, turning to leave, but stopped when she suddenly appeared at his side.
Relena removed his hand from the doorknob, lookind up at his stoic features. "You're serious." It wasn't a question - she knew then that he wasn't lying. Though, she didn't understand. Heero Yuy was...the Perfect Soldier. Perfect. Insanity was not something she would ever assosiate him with. "How?"
On instinct, he pulled away from her, moving over to sit down at the couch in the far corner, opposite her desk. He looked down. Why was he always honest with her? He owed her nothing. "Zero."
She moved to the couch, sitting down next to him. She opened her mouth and closed it, unsure of what to say. Heero honestly believed he was going crazy. How was she supposed to react to that? Finally, she found words. "How do you know?"
He brought his head up, turning to look at her. "Hn?"
"How do you know...that you're going...crazy?" She stared at him for a moment, then turned away, shaking her head. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything." Relena moved to stand, but Heero caught her arm.
"I can feel things, before they happen. Dorothy's assistant, Kagome Higurashi, was attacked earlier. I knew she was about to be attacked - I felt it, Relena. And it's not the first time. The Zero System made Quatre loose his mind during the war...perhaps now is the time I lost mine."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Gundam wing is © Yoshiyuki Tomino. Inuyasha is © Rumiko Takahashi.
02.09.2005