Trowa turned on one of the flashlights and started to swing it around to see into the dark corners. He shone into one corner and Quatre gasped.
“What is it Q? What do you see?”
“Books.”
“Books! Just books. Man I thought you saw a ghost or something the way you gasped.”
Quatre just ignored Duo, grabbed Trowa's hand, and went towards the books. He looked at the books and frowned.
“Interesting. These books are all in English and they're fairy tales. Why would they be down in the basement?”
The others had gathered around Quatre looking at the find. Duo looked around the books and found a chest nearby with a box in front of it. He kneeled down, moved the box and opened the chest up. In there he found several photos, old photos.
“Hey Q, look at this. Some of these photos have to be at least a hundred years old.”
Quatre came over and kneeled next to Duo. Trowa stood over them with the flashlight so that they could see. Wufei and Sally were still looking through the books with their own flashlights. Duo and Quatre were looking through the photos when one caught their eye. The photo didn't look as old as the others but still had the old look to it. The man appeared to be Japanese and was wearing a business suit. A woman who seemed to be American was standing next to him smiling. She wore a simple white dress and held a small baby in her arms (1).
“Well I guess that's why there are English fairy tales down here. Apparently one of the wives a long time ago was American. These must have been hers.”
Duo would have said more about the photo, but stopped when he heard a low growl coming from behind him.
“Did you guys hear that?”
The others just nodded and slowly turned around. They didn't see a thing. Trowa, Wufei and Sally moved the flashlights around but they didn't see anything. Quatre and Duo sighed in relief. They decided to go look at the other side of the basement to see if they found anything else interesting.
Heero had heard the new people come down the stairs and turned off the sound. He could see them in the light. He watched from his corner as they started to look through his stuff. Heero was getting mad. This was his stuff and they weren't allowed to touch it. He was still scared of speaking to them so he just growled instead. They turned around when he did that and he was happy. They had stopped touching his stuff. Maybe now they would leave and bring him food. He frowned when he watched them go to the other side of the room. Heero didn't like his things being left out like that. So while they were busy he hurriedly went over to the books and photos and put them back where they belonged. He closed the chest but as he turned to go back to his corner he tripped over a box that he forgot had been moved.
The others jumped and turned around when they heard something fall. The three who had the flashlights shone the light where the commotion was. They saw a boy around their age laying on the ground.
Heero realizing that he had been seen and not wanting to get hurt again jumped up and ran to his corner. Hoping that they wouldn't follow.
Trowa followed the movement but the boy was too fast and lost him. They went to the side of the basement they saw the boy run in. Trowa and Wufei were in the lead while the other three were behind them. Trowa and Wufei felt that if this person was dangerous that they would fight the person off. While giving the other three time to get out. They flashed the light around the wall and eventually found the youth curled up in a corner. Duo and Quatre immediately moved around Trowa and Wufei to kneel next to the boy.
Heero was shaking. They had found him and now they were going to hurt him. He curled up tighter hoping to evade whatever they were going to do to him.
Duo and Quatre looked at each other at a loss. The boy looked incredibly scared and waiting to be hit. Duo backed away from the boy to let Quatre talk to him. Quatre by far was the most innocent looking of the group.
Quatre just kneeled beside the boy and said, “Hello.”
The boy just tensed and didn't answer.
“We aren't going to hurt you. We just want to know what your name is and why are you in the basement?”
Heero cautiously looked at the person who was talking to him. He could see the blond hair but nothing of the face. The face was still shadowed. He could see other forms around him but no faces. He cowered even more into the corner.
Quatre looked at the boy and wondered why he was still scared. He looked back at Duo for help. Duo who had been watching just motioned for Quatre to move back. He started to move towards the boy but the boy just curled up more. Then he realized that even though they could see him the boy couldn't see them.
“Hey Trowa hand me your flashlight.”
Trowa handed over his flashlight to Duo. Duo crawled forward then stopped a few inches from the boy. He took the flashlight and set it up so that it shone upwards and lighted the small area. Duo looked over the figure closely. The boy was wearing a green tank top and black spandex. He was laying on some covers that were haphazardly thrown on the floor. Kind of looked like a nest a bird would make. He could see some yellowing bruises on an arm and wondered how he got them. The boy looked really skinny in fact too skinny like he hadn't eaten in a few days. The boy faced away from him but he had short messy hair. It looked like it had been hacked off actually. Duo realized he was being too quiet and decided to speak.
“Hey there. My name is Duo Maxwell. We aren't going to hurt you. We want to help. So first why don't you tell us your name?”
Heero looked over at the new person talking to him. The person was a boy with brown hair and purple eyes. He didn't look scary and he said he wasn't going to hurt him. The other people never really talked to him before. He decided to answer these new people. Maybe they will give him food.
“They call me Demon.”
“Who are they?”
“The people who live upstairs. But I call myself Heero Yuy.”
“I like Heero better. Where did get that name?”
“From the books.”
“Oh cool. So you named yourself. I named my self too. Why are you in the basement Heero?”
“I live here.”
“Where did you live before?”
“I have always lived here.”
Duo looked saddened and angered when Heero said that. The people who live here must have kept him down in the basement for some reason. Heero had looked at the new person in wonder. He was actually talking to him and not hitting him. The voice sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. Heero shifted to feel more comfortable when he felt the radio dig into his back. Then it hit him the voice was the same one he loved on the radio. The one who went by the name of Death.
“Shinigami?”
“Huh? What's Shinigami?”
“It means God of Death. You say your name is Death.”
“Umm yeah but when did I say that?”
Heero's eyes lit up and quickly reached around and brought out the radio. He showed it to Duo. Duo looked at the radio in wonder and smiled.
“So you listen to the radio and that's how you know English.”
“Radio?”
“The thing in your hand.”
“Oh.”
Heero looked at the radio with newfound wonder. Heero never learned what the box was called but now he knew. While he was looking at the radio his stomach made a loud grumbling noise. Heero cringed at the noise and backed away from Duo.
“No, don't worry I'm not going to hurt you. Are you hungry?”
Heero nodded his head frantically. He really wanted to eat.
“Well come on I'll take you upstairs and we can eat.”
Heero looked shocked and shook his head no.
“Why not?”
“The people upstairs won't like it. They only feed me in here.”
“Don't worry Heero, they aren't here now. We won't tell them that you were upstairs. Okay?”
Heero hesitantly nodded and stood up. Duo reached out his hand and Heero took it. Heero felt much safer with Duo. They walked towards the other people and Heero inched closer to Duo.
“Shh… Heero they won't hurt you. I promise.”
Heero relaxed a little but not much. Duo just looked down at Heero and smiled. Duo looked at the others and motioned that they should go up before him and Heero. Duo and Heero slowly made their way up the stairs. When they got upstairs Heero looked at the door in fear. Still not sure if he should leave. Duo gently coaxed him out of the doorway and in to the kitchen.
Heero looked around in awe. This was the first time he had ever left his home in the basement. He was lead over to the table and seated in a chair. He was given some of the food, which he swallowed down as fast as he could.
“Slow down Heero. You don't want to get sick.”
Heero slowed down but still looked around. The girl with the dirty blonde hair in pigtails was walking towards him. He immediately dropped his food and huddled towards Duo. Duo looked down and wondered what was wrong with Heero. When he noticed Sally approaching.
“It's okay Heero. Let me introduce you to everyone. The blonde one is Quatre, the one with the weird bangs is Trowa, the Chinese one with the black hair is Wufei, and the girl coming closer to you is Sally. You have nothing to be afraid of they won't hurt you. Right Sally?”
“That's right. I won't hurt you. I just want to look at you and make sure you're okay. Is that okay with you?”
Heero nodded and fidgeted in his seat. He looked at everyone then back at Sally. Heero was nervous about them watching.
“Heero, would you feel better if everyone left except me?”
Heero nodded again. Sally gave them all a look. Duo just smiled at Heero and left with Trowa, Quatre and Wufei.
“Okay let's take your shirt off, okay?”
Outside the kitchen in the living room, Duo paced the floor. Trowa and Quatre were sitting on the couch and Wufei was sitting in the arm chair.
“Guys can we take him with us? The people here obviously don't care about him. He doesn't deserve to live like this.”
“It's an injustice that he lives like this. His family is an dishonorable one. He should come with us.”
“Let's ask him first okay guys? I mean he looked our age so it really is his own choice if he wishes to leave.”
“I agree with Quatre”
“You always agree with Quatre, Trowa. There hasn't been a time when I have seen you not agree.”
“You're just not invited at those times because I'm not into threesomes.”
Duo stopped pacing and gaped at Trowa. Quatre blushed bright red and slapped Trowa on the arm. Wufei just smirked at Trowa's weird sense of humor.
After they got over the shock, Duo asked, “Okay so it's decided. We'll ask if he wants to leave with us.”
The other three nodded in agreement. Just then Sally walked into the room looking angered and upset.
“Duo can I talk to you for a moment?”
TBC
(1) No not his mother. I will explain this later on. Probably next chapter.
Chapter 2
Chapter Index
Chapter 4