1998
Duo's head snapped up in surprise. At the same time, bright light flooded the room as someone switched on the room's fluorescent lights. Beside the now-open door, a tall man leaned nonchalantly against the jamb. He was slightly past middle-aged, judging from the streaks of white that interrupted the glossy darkness of his hair. The man smirked as he straightened up and walked towards Duo.
Dressed in a smoking jacket, Duo immediately recognised the man from his very recent foray into the school's information system.
Ramzei Olafson III.
Otherwise known as the principal whose office he was in.
Duo tried to bite back a curse but failed. The softly uttered profanity spilled out automatically, bringing a sarcastic chuckle from the advancing man.
"Students of this school were never taught such language, Mr. Maxwell. Obviously," the man sneered, "you are not from this school. Are you?" The question came out as a hiss. At the same instant, the man pulled out a revolver from one of his jacket's pockets, pointing it at the defiant-looking boy behind the desk.
The next few minutes were a blur for the longhaired Shinigami pilot. As soon as Olafson pulled out the gun, Duo ducked behind the monitor and swiped it away with his arm, hurling it towards the man with all the force he could muster. Grabbing his own handgun from its usual hidden spot - safely tucked away in his waistband - Duo jumped onto the desk and scrambled over it to the other side.
Olafson tried to avoid the flying monitor, bringing up his arms to shield his face from the unexpected projectile. However, the monitor hit him head on, bringing a pained yelp from the man as he stumbled backwards.
"Aargh! You bloody - " Olafson grunted as Duo slammed into him in a full body tackle, sending the older man sprawling across the floor. Hardly stopping to draw breath, the boy scrambled to his feet, eyes quickly searching out for Olafson's weapon.
There!
Duo swiftly kicked the handgun out of the man's reach, nicking Olafson's hand at the same time - much to the man's dismay as he howled with pain. Not that Duo - "Oh Shit!" he hissed - had it any easier as he belatedly realised that he had kicked at the gun with his right leg, sending fresh pain shooting up his tortured ankle. Wincing slightly, Duo raised his arm to deliver a quick backhanded chop to the man's head - he couldn't risk shooting the man; the gunshot might bring more reinforcements. Besides, shooting an unarmed man was so uncool! - when Olafson suddenly twisted and lunged at his legs with a scissor-like movement, trapping the boy's legs between his own. Olafson pulled, bracing his upper body on his elbows.
Duo went down with a startled gasp, falling backwards - Thank God for the carpet, he groaned - onto the floor. He pin-wheeled, barely bracing his fall with a hastily extended arm. His breath whooshed out of him as he landed painfully on his lower back, the jarring in his sacrum travelling quickly up his spine as his arm folded under him. Before Duo could regain his breath, he felt the man scrambling over his legs in an effort to pin him down.
"K'so! Nanda tou!" Duo growled, ignoring the throbbing of his ankle and back as he reached forward to throw the bulkier man off him.
Olafson managed to straddle Duo's thighs before the boy started bucking. His lips pulled back into a twisted sneer, Olafson struck out at the boy as he pushed the boy's torso down with his other arm.
For one millisecond, Duo froze. The man's weight on his body; the man's hands on him brought back flashes of a past memory - one he'd rather forget. Sensing the slight decrease in the boy's struggles, Olafson struck, clipping Duo on the jaw.
Duo screamed.
Olafson's eyes widened in shocked surprise. He didn't hit him that hard, surely? In fact, he'd been rather off target. A proper punch would have sent the boy into oblivion, not make him...scream? A soft thud reverberated in Olafson's head as something slammed into his face, sending him hurtling backwards. Vaguely, he felt his face become wet as something warm bathed his skin. He heard a strange, yet familiar sound in the distance - a bang? - and then, nothing.
Duo stared at the still body with wild eyes. His hand shook as he tightened his grip on his gun, vaguely registering that he was hyperventilating. Cold sweat ran down his temple, seeping into the collar of his shirt. Absently, the boy wiped at his face with the back of his free hand as he shakily got to his feet. The sharp, bitter smell of gunpowder teased at his nose and Duo could almost taste it on his tongue. Mixed with the sweet, heavy smell of blood. The gun suddenly felt very heavy in his hand. When did he pull the trigger? He hadn't realised - didn't mean to - but he had and he did.
The boy looked down, thankfully noting that he was not too drenched with the dead man's blood. There was probably a lot though, he realised - though the black material of his clothes would not show it up. Slowly, Duo walked over to the corpse - Olafson had to be dead. No one could take a bullet between the eyes at point blank range and live, surely. Not even Heero - and nudged it with the tip of one booted foot. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Duo wondered why his ankle didn't hurt anymore. Hell, he didn't even feel anything! It was like he was floating...
Olafson didn't move, staring at him with empty, dead eyes. Of course, Duo chuckled - Why did he feel like crying? - inwardly. Olafson was dead.
Crouching down, Duo double-checked. No pulse.
"Heh!"
Olafson looked so funny, staring at him with two empty eyes and another 'eye' in between. Duo giggled. Why did this strike him as being so hilarious? Duo chuckled again, covering his eyes with his hand as he tried to regain some semblance of self-control. His hand came away wet. What? He was - ?!?
A loud gasp from the door made Duo snap his head up, his inane chuckling immediately gone.
Oh damn!
In the doorway stood a slight, trembling figure of a woman. Wrapped in a dressing gown, the school nurse stared at Duo with wide, confused eyes. Her hands covered her mouth and her gaze darted between the prone body on the floor and the pale face of the boy crouching beside him.
Duo almost jumped to his feet, automatically aiming his gun at the panicked woman. His trigger finger started to squeeze - All who see me must die! - but something held him back. Confused, Duo stared back beseechingly at the nurse, silently begging her to run. Don't make me kill you. Please...
The woman gave a startled cry when she saw what Duo intended to do. Then, her pretty eyes rolled back and she swooned, falling silently to the floor.
"Eh?" Duo cocked his head in surprise. He'd expected the woman to scream, to freeze or just to make a run for it. He never expected her to faint.
Which was what he felt close to doing, ironically. Vaguely, Duo realised that he felt cold - although he seemed to be sweating a lot - and that his skin was clammy. Not good, he thought. He was going into shock. Why the Hell was he going into shock? What the Hell is wrong with me? Duo screamed to himself. The loud tattoo of footsteps coming towards the room tore him away from his inner self. Frantically, Duo looked around the room. There was no other exit other than the door. How the Hell was he going to get out of - ?
Duo's eyes caught the flutter of drapes. The window!
Without further ado, the longhaired boy sprinted towards the opening - grabbing his haversack and secreting his gun once more - and prepared to jump out.
"Ah shitshitshit!" Duo cursed as he surveyed the long drop to the ground. Peering forlornly into the dark, he could make out no trellis, ledges or nearby branches that would have eased his journey to the ground. In the background, the sound of footsteps became louder - he could hear voices as well, now. Why me, he moaned inwardly. Again, the braided boy eyed the ground, gulping. "Baka ne," he muttered. There was no other choice.
Duo heaved a deep breath, cursed and jumped.
Again Heero sent his confirmatory signal. It remained unanswered. Damn! Something was wrong! Something had to be wrong!
Duo had signalled him to begin uploading, and Heero had acknowledged. It was standard procedure. And yet Duo had not acknowledged the Japanese boy's last messages. Heero threw a quick glance at the clock on the wall. It was past two in the morning. If he waited any longer for Duo's signal, he would be behind schedule. With an irritated exhalation of breath, Heero quickly and expertly closed down all connections, erasing whatever links he had with the OZ facility. It was time to go, and the sooner the better.
Frowning, Heero grabbed at his jacket - it would be cold outside - and haversack, carrying it in one hand as he slipped on the denim jacket. He had a bit more than an hour to make it to the rendezvous point. They had agreed earlier to make it somewhere far enough so as to be clear of possible OZ patrols. Although it would be slightly inconvenient for Heero as he had to travel on foot, their earlier recon surveys had identified a relatively safe and easy route from the facility to the spot where he was scheduled to meet Duo. Hefting the haversack onto his back, Heero grunted. If he met Duo...
Duo grunted, hissing in pain as he landed on the hard turf. Vaguely, he felt something snap but the sensation was fleeting and strangely subdued. Thank God for small mercies, the braided boy grimaced as he scampered across the school grounds under the cover of scattered trees and bushes, hiding from the moonlight. The breeze felt cool on his skin. Duo shivered. Too cold, he observed absently.
Behind him, Duo could hear agitated voices as his handiwork was discovered. Failing to suppress a self-satisfied smirk, the boy continued to make his way to the motorcycle hidden in the woods. Just as he neared the borders of the school grounds, the building behind him erupted in a flurry of activity as spotlights were switched on and the sounds of loud voices carried in the night breeze.
"Shit!" Duo cursed softly as he risked a momentary glance behind him. Thankfully the spotlights were stationary and he was no longer in their range. But by the sound of the voices, he guessed that the game was up and that the school authorities had finally figured out where he went.
Suddenly a different sound filled the night air - a sound that made Duo's blood run cold.
Howling.
Duo froze in his tracks for a tense moment before the realisation hit him like a falling mobile suit. "Fuckin' shit! Damn OZ hounds! Damn ..." Duo expressed his entire repertoire of choice curses as he increased his speed as much as his throbbing leg allowed him.
"When were dogs a part of a boarding school's ensemble?" Duo muttered angrily.
When the school's funded by OZ, a small voice within him volunteered.
Shimata! They were probably using hunting dogs, Duo realised. Probably kept for those hoity-toity fox- hunts that aristocrats seemed to enjoy so much. Only now the prey was no fox, but one damned baka who lost control of himself, Duo rebuked himself. Stupid fool, he scolded silently as he quickly slipped past hedges that seemed to enjoy inflicting small, barely-felt scratches on the exposed skin of his arms and hands.
"If I had the time, I'd shoot myself and save Heero the trouble when he finds out about this..."
After what seemed like a painfully endless journey through the less-than-dense woods, the camouflaged motorcycle was a welcome sight. Duo could hardly hold back a sigh of relief as he pulled away the foliage used to hide the vehicle. Strapping the haversack on the pillion seat, the longhaired boy eased himself into the saddle, kick-starting the motorbike and gunning the throttle in one continuous movement.
The wheels sprayed dirt and grass as Duo made his getaway.
End Part Five
Shirin
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