Lena: Ohayo, minna-san! Did you know this fic is actually for the purpose of entering a contest to see if anyone can write convincing Duo X Trowa work…

Duo: Mmph?

Trowa: (releasing him) Then we’re… ?

Lena: Ha~ai! (Hugs herself happily) Anywho, here are some warnings and disclaimers- obviously, this fic contains what people call shounen ai or yaoi, which means men lovin’ eachother.

Trowa, Duo, Wufei, Quatre and Heero: (nods nods) Amen!

Lena: And I also don’t own GW or anything else from Anime, for that matter. Plus, I’m really quite poor. But I do own this plot line and the following terms which I’ve used:

Almatomi- accent on the ‘i’ is a literal Spanish translation of ‘soul’ and the first person past tense conjugation of ‘to take’. In this universe it is used as a descriptive term for certain positions held by certaincharacters.
Almanade- pronounced all-mon-yah-day, accent on the third syllable. ‘soul’ and the third person present tense conjugation of the verb ‘to add’, means ‘protector of the new.’
Undia, Dodia, Tredia, Cuadia, Cindia, Sedia, Sidia- days of the week. Undia, Monday, etc…
Informela- accent on the ‘e’ is a combination of the word for shapeless in Spanish and an extra syllable I like,meaning shape shifter.
Buscari- accent on the ‘a’, used once or twice to meanhunter. Nochecornio - accent on the third syllable. This is a night unicorn. It’s kind of like a nightmare from Xanth, now that I think of it…and I don’t own Xanth either.

Lena: Now, if you all want to borrow any of this or post it on your sites or whatever, you’ll have to contact me first, and I assume the webperson will leave a link so you can do just that- here’s hoping y’all are friendly… Also, feedbackwould be welcome and-

Cast: Shaddap an’ post!

Lena: Eep! (posts)

As the light of dawn slowly crept into a brilliant display that was the sunrise, the almatomi wearily returned to his temporary home, riding atop his midnight black steed and trying not to fall asleep there. Sensing his rider’s near- unconscious state, the nochecornio sped its pace to reach their favorite resting-place more quickly. A clover filled field which rested near a spring- it made both so happy they could often forget that they were homeless, half-starved wrecks.

The position of almatomi didn’t grant any home to live in or fee to pay for one, and as a mere creature- one who could barely communicate with his own rider, at that- Shinigami had no way to make up for Duo’s shortcomings.

He lay down, and tilted his neck to the side, causing the thin, half-phased boy to slip off his back and onto the soft green leaves of clover. Shivering slightly in the cool wind of morning, the boy nuzzled up closer to his unicorn, circling his arms about the stallion’s neck. Together, they drifted off to sleep, content with each other and nothing else- if only because they had nothing else to be contentwith.

From across the field a woman watched, her friend close beside her. Glancing at her once to see the reaction, the boy concluded that they would be doing as he’d asked- tears were welling in her eyes at the beauty of the scene before them. Turning his sea-green gaze back to the couple cuddled up next to the stream, he found that tears came to him as well, even after seeing these two perform their job.

“We…we have room for them, don’t we?” The blond boy hid a smile and nodded, pretending not to notice the difficulty she was having forcing the words out.

“Then we have to…Quatre, how could I say no to this? That wasn’t fair!” Chuckling softly, he turned away from the brown haired boy and his unicorn, heading for their offices and the day’s duties. Resignedly, the taller blond woman followed him, crossing her arms over her chest to show herirritation.

“It was perfectly fair. It’s the first time I’ve gotten you to say ‘yes’ about anything!” To prove his point, the boy stuck out his tongue at her. Immediately, she grabbed it andheld on tight.

“Hleh nee heau!” Smiling, the woman led her brother by the tongue into the building they were the current occupants of. Only after closing the door did she release the poor boy, who glowered at her instead of continuing theirconversation.

“Heero!” She called. A gruff sound emanated from thekitchen.

“I convinced her,” Quatre explained, walking into the other room to escape his sister’s smug smile. Iria was often timestoo much.

“Hn,” Heero repeated, cracking a couple of eggs into the batter he was mixing. Looking on in interest, Quatre spoke further on the subject.

“He just looks so tired every morning, Heero, it’s really not fair. I’m glad Iria at least listened to me enough to go with me over there to watch.” The other boy finally turned his head enough to glare pointedly at the blond.

“I don’t care. I am not going to play nice with your new obsession, Quatre.” The other boy’s eyes widened visibly ashe paled just a bit.

“Heero, he’s not some obsession, and you have to be careful around almatomi, you know that.” The other boy snorted rudely and began beating the batter rapidly with his wooden spoon. Quatre watched him as he poured the batter into two separate bread pans and set them both in his oven to bake.

After wiping the flour from his hands, the dark haired boy glared menacingly at the blond one and took his mostresolute stance.

“I’m an informela, Quatre. I don’t play by the same rules you do.” As if to prove his point, the other melted into a blue eyed, pale gray cat and stalked out of the room, tail held high to show his irritation. Quatre watched, dejected and more worried than he had been before.

Sighing, he went his own way to find out what Iria wasdoing with herself now.

Duo stretched, yawning, and blinked blurry amethyst eyes open. Shinigami stared down at him and whinnied in a gentle, slightly amused way. Smiling, the boy sat up and hugged his precious friend, the only other thing he owned than what he wore- clothes and a gold pendant with the signs of the four elements melded onto it. A possible link to his parents, had he cared enough to follow it. Brushing the thoughts that entailed away from his mind, the boy spoke with hiscompanion.

“What day is it, Shinigami?” Touching his horn lightly to the boy’s forehead, the unicorn replied:

Dodia, no work today. The cheer could have come from either, but it was stronger for the fact that both agreedwith it.

Did you eat already? He made certain that his thoughts hada most wistful note.

Yes, you lazy thing. I brought you dinner. Sending laughter and all the love he felt for his mothering steed to the other, Duo asked another important question.

Is anyone going to be mad at you for bringing me dinner? Something that reminded him greatly of scolding came through in lashing thoughts from the black being, only succeeding inmaking him laugh.

I take it you’ve learned from your past experiences, then? With a unicorn-style ‘harrumph’ the unicorn closed theirconversation.

“That must be a yes,” Duo murmured, eyes shining with mischief. “So where’s my dinner?” As the black neck of Shinigami moved, two figures he recognized as possibly human came into his line of sight. Duo froze, clutching wildly for his companion’s mane to yank on it. A soft, friendly laugh came from the general direction of the silhouetted couple.

“Don’t be afraid of us, please. I’ve been begging my sister to let you come stay with us, and she’s finally agreed-“ One of the figures stepped forward and into a sudden stunning detail. He looked very kind, and very nice; Duo felt tension ease out of him at the mere sight of the other boy. “Please accept our hospitality, sir.”

Shinigami had by this time noticed the figures, and now he stood, turning to protect Duo should the need arise. The chestnut haired boy stood alongside the magnificent creature and patted the arcing neck reassuringly.

“I suppose we accept- but what’s the catch?” The blond boy in front of him giggled slightly and glanced back at the figure Duo could only assume was his sister.

“Well, you’ll have to deal with her on bad days…” Duo snickered as the girl struck her brother across the back.

“And our other roommate, who’s grumpy day in, day out.” Trading a confused but willing look with Shinigami, Duoshrugged in acceptance.

“How long can I stay?” The blond smiled happily at him.

“As long as you like. I’d love some cheerful company, and you seem pretty-“ The girl struck him again and he pouted.

“Cheerful.” Duo grinned and came to his rescue, throwing a companionable arm around his shoulders and putting up a hand to ward off any further blows the girl might have for herbrother.

“Then let’s go! Shinigami?” The unicorn whuffled and knelt before him, allowing his rider to mount easily. Duo patted the spot behind him with a meaningful glance at the blond. He carefully slipped on and took a loose hold of Duo’s waist to keep from falling. The girl led the way to their house, shaking her head and laughing at their new housemate’santics.

“Here we are!” She proclaimed, opening the door and entering the house without any further words of assistance or warning. Rolling his eyes, the other boy slipped off the unicorn and motioned for Duo to bring Shinigami around behind the house. Duo felt his own eyes widening at thesight before him.

“You can let him sleep here,” The blond explained, opening the door to a long empty stall. The black steed shook his head in protest, whinnying loudly. Duo shook his head aswell.

“He doesn’t like closed in spaces. He can’t stay there.” The blond placed his hands on his hips.

“Yes he can. The door is easy to open from inside and out, and should be especially so for a unicorn. If not every day, he can at least sleep in here when it’s stormy.” Again, rider and steed traded meaningful but not overly worriedglances, and Duo sighed.

“Okay, he says he’ll deal with it.” Slipping off the silky back of his dear friend, Duo whispered in the stallion’s ear. “And if you get worried about me, tap on a window until someone wakes up and gets me.” Obligingly, the unicorn entered the stall, settling on the freshly strewn hay- something that had obviously been thought of only recently.

After being led into the house, it occurred to Duo that no one had made introductions as of yet.

“Hey, who are you, anyway?” The blond boy smiled at him again, and took a seat on a couch.

“My name is Quatre. My sister is Iria, and the third housemate is-“ Something tapped his shoulder, and Duo turned to find a boy with dark brown hair and a fierce scowl behind him. There was something of death in the glassy blue eyes and despite his job as an almatomi, Duo felt a hint of fear creeping down his spine. He backed away from the other boy a step and glanced back at Quatre, who had dropped his head inhis hands.

“Heero Yuy. Who are you?” Turning back, Duo found that his voice was trying to hide from him. Coughing slightly to force it out of its little refuge, he smiled and announcedhis own name.

“Duo. Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet ya.” After giving him a look up and down, one eyebrow raised above the other, the boy snorted his disapproval and stalked out the door. Belatedly, Duo stuck his tongue out at the retreating figure. Quatre’s voice redirected his attention from theother boy.

“I’m sorry about Heero, he’s just-“

“Antisocial?” Duo ventured, smiling broadly to show that he didn’t care in the least. Quatre returned the smile, looking relieved. “Scary guy. Smelled like an informela?” Quatre blinked, looking stunned. “How…did you…” Duo grinned again, crossing his arms.

“Ha! You didn’t know almatomi could do that, did ya?”

Wordlessly, the other boy shook his head. “Well, we can. Now you know. What do you do for a living, Quatre? I mean, you’ve got a house on the edge of a forest- killer place, most of the people I’ve known would rather have this than the biggest palace in Hae Kai. And that is definitely saying something.” He paused to scrutinize the other boy, who looked like he was remembering something that had happened long ago. Quatre let go of a bitter laugh and closed hiseyes.

“For a living? I’m an almanade; I protect the newborn until they’ve developed the ability to think. As for the house, it’s been in the family a while.”

“You have a lot of siblings?” As if taking off a heavy cloak, Quatre suddenly became as cheerful as he had been before- but the chestnut haired boy recognized it as the same false cheerfulness he himself was so good at.

“I have a few sisters…” Duo gave him a chiding look andinquired archly,

“A few?” Quatre looked away, smiling slightly. “Be morespecific.”

“I have twenty-nine sisters.” Duo blinked, shook his head as if to clear it, and blinked again.

“You must be kidding me. Twenty-nine?” The blond smirked ever so slightly and nodded. Duo fell onto the couch beside him, laughing. It was, quite fortunately, the infectious kind, and the two boys soon found they were enjoying themselves immensely, Duo quickly forgetting his doubts about the blond boy’s character and Quatre quickly recovering from his momentary sadness earlier.

Their friendship proved to be the only thing either of them could really depend on through the next few months.

“Happy Birthday!” A brazenly cheerful voice penetrated the fog of sleep and stirred him from a rather nice dream that he no longer could place a finger on. Irritated, the dark haired boy opened his eyes and glared impotently at thefigure standing over him.

Duo. Of course. Much to his amusement, Heero closed his eyes again and turned over slightly, trying to get back to sleep. Oh, no, I don’t think so. Without a thought as to the consequences of his actions, Duo tipped the bucket he held, thoroughly soaking his comrade and the other two occupants of the house’s only bed. Three people spluttered incoherently and came to a sudden conscious state, glaring unerringly at the smiling braided boy who had jumped off of the bed and now stood at the foot of said resting-place.

“Oops?” He ventured, hiding his bucket Three darkly angry glares grew darker. Duo turned tail and ran for his life, followed closely by two angry siblings and a wolf with cobalt blue eyes. Maybe waking them up at midnight so I could give Heero his present wasn’t such a good idea, Duo reflected, making a beeline for the stall that Shinigami had come to accept as home, and ignoring completely the downpour that met him as he left the shelter of the house.

A scream penetrated the night air, and the three angry wet folk relaxed their anger as worry for their comradepenetrated their thoughts.

“Duo?” Quatre called, the first to exit the house. Duo was standing in front of the empty stall where Shinigami should have been, staring dejectedly at the open door and becoming thoroughly soaked by the rain. Heero, who remained a wolf, took a long sniff of the air, and growled before lunging into the forest, shaking some of the water from his coat.

Duo followed him immediately, without thinking once about the fact that he had angered Heero not ten minutes before, or that the wet wolf might not be able to track as well in the rain. Quatre and Iria exchanged worried looks and he nodded towards the house- she returned to watch their home while he followed the other, more impetuous members of their‘family’.

Duo was close behind Heero, and through no stint of the informela’s patience. As an almatomi, Duo had the ability to phase in and out of solidity. When phased to an almost ghostlike state, a single step served to get him in front of the wolf. After latching onto his tail with slightly more solid hands, Duo had no trouble keeping up. It was different for Quatre- he had to use his wings to catch up, fighting the torrential rain and gusty winds. And hoping that no one had noticed his inappropriate use of his powers.

They wove around the forest, deeper and deeper, until they started to slow. Heero came to a dead stop on the edge of a rising river, and quickly shifted to a more suitable form- but not quickly enough for Duo. The boy phased to a form solid enough not to be blown away by the wind and leapt over the river with an ordinary step, continuing on ahead of the others. Only a few leaping steps later, he found himself peering into a clearing from behind some foliage on the edge. He recognized at once what appeared to be the sleeping form of his Shinigami, well drenched by the rain.

Catching himself just barely before laughing out loud in relief, Duo watched as the other form in the clearing- that of a human hunter, as far as he could tell- moved towards Shinigami. He brushed his dripping bangs out of his eyes irritably, noting the acrobatic way that the hunter carried himself and the feeling of fear that was coming from the other man. Duo watched, intrigued, as the hunter approached the sleeping Shinigami, tentatively reaching out to touchthe horn.

And suddenly, as if caught up in terror, the hunter bolted out of the clearing, running as though he were chased by a pack of wolves. Duo watched him go, caught the glimmer of something dropping behind the man to land in the grassy mud, and went to pick it up, holding the thing out to the rain to get the mud off. It was silver pendant, a coin with the same elemental signs inscribed into it that were melded on top of his golden one. Duo blinked in surprise and looked after the hunter, wondering if the man had stolen it, bought it, or been given it before he could remember, as Duo had himself.

Preoccupied, he wandered over to Shinigami, still contemplating the silver coin he held in his hand. Finally, having come to the conclusion that he would not be able to figure out the significance of his find without help, the boy stuck the thing in his pocket and sat down next to his unicorn, the most beautiful nochecornio that had ever been born. He stroked the wet mane and turned to look Shinigamiin the eyes.

There was only blood where the eyes should have been, and the shaft of an arrow. Duo blinked, stunned beyond true thought. An arrow? But… After shaking the unicorn’s shoulder to see if he was hallucinating, Duo began to realize thetruth.

“Shinigami? You’re…you’re okay, right?” No answer.

“Shinigami?” It was a tiny whisper. Duo watched as more dark blood dripped down to the ground, mixing with the rain. Shivering convulsively, he touched the arrow, then gripped it and pulled it slowly out.

“You…you’re…” A swallow. He held a bloody arrow in his hands, and the suspicion came upon him that the hunter he had watched with such fascination had killed his beautifulShinigami.

“No… no…” Shinigami…he’s dead…

“KA HAO KUN EJ!” Like a shock wave, his curse whipped through the forest, covering the entire place, settling down with inexorable power that could only have ever come from a master almatomi. The volume of his scream didn’t matter in the thundering winds and rain, but the curse traveled as easily as it would have if he’d whispered the words; Quatre and Heero shuddered, realizing that a curse had been set, and hurried on to find out what had happened to Duo. Both felt the same dread of learning what the curse was for.

Duo collapsed over his unicorn, sobbing, aching to have Shinigami back, and abandoned all his feeling of hope and love, all the joy he had ever known, to weep for the greatest nochecornio that had ever been. And far off in the forest, heading back for the clearing though he didn’t realize it, was the terrified hunter who now knew that he had killed, of all things, a unicorn. One of those purest of creatures, and he had killed it. In all futility, he ran.