Daiki, Part 3

by Geri (geri-chan@excite.com)

My homepage: http://www.oocities.org/geris_petshop_fics/index.html

Rating: R (actually, mostly PG-13, but R for one steamy scene in Part 1, and for Leon's bad language throughout)

Pairing: Leon/D

Author's note: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Matsuri Akino and Yumiko Kawahara; lyrics for "New World Man" are by Rush. No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.

Sequel to: This can be considered a continuation of my earlier series of stories (Revenge, The Day After, Spirits, Blodeuedd), but it can stand on its own as my version of what happens after Book 10.

SPOILER WARNING: Contains spoilers for Book 10 and the Shin Petshop of Horrors series currently running in Japan.

Summary: A crossover between Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino and Dolls by Yumiko Kawahara. D and Leon adjust to their new life together, and D's grandfather pays them a visit.
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Leon and D returned to L.A. and set up house in D's old shop. The F.B.I. did indeed have a few questions for the Count, but they were a mere formality. Leon had already testified during the initial investigation that D's father was the sole culprit behind the explosion, and that Count D had not had any foreknowledge of his father's plans. Of course, D had kidnapped Agent Howell, but since Howell was dead and no one else knew about it, Leon saw no need to bring up that little matter. The F.B.I. were not too pleased that D had left the country without talking to them, but D had retained a fast-talking lawyer (with an office in Chinatown, of course) who pointed out that D had committed no crimes, and said that the Count had been emotionally traumatized by his father's death, and ashamed that his father had harmed innocent people, and so had left the country to escape these painful memories--which wasn't really that far off from the truth. And a few of D's friends in high places quietly instructed the F.B.I. to release him, and they let him go with only a perfunctory interview and reprimand.

Leon returned to his old job as a homicide detective; Jill was delighted to have him back, and even more delighted to learn that he and the Count had become fathers. Leon passed out chocolate cigars at the office, and the Chief shook his hand and congratulated him, looking a little bemused.

"So are you gonna marry your China doll?" one of the other detectives sneered.

"Well, for now we're going to live in sin, since same-sex marriages aren't legal in California yet," Leon replied calmly, although he would have loved to punch that jerk in the nose. Still, he knew he'd have to deal with some flack from the other officers, since it would be impossible to hide his relationship with D now that they had a son, not to mention the fact that everyone knew he'd quit his job to go chasing after the Count. And Leon couldn't afford to lose his job by beating up another cop now that he had a child to support. "But tell you what, O'Malley," Leon said cheerfully. "If we ever do decide to tie the knot, you can be a bridesmaid."

The other cops burst into laughter as O'Malley's face turned red. "Yeah, O'Malley," one of them teased, "you'd look really pretty in pink!"

"Okay, that's enough," the Chief said briskly, before a fight could break out. "Get back to work, all of you!"

But surprisingly, O'Malley seemed to be in the minority. A few of the male cops did make snide remarks about Leon and D, but most of them seemed to wish him well. It seemed that D had managed to ingratiate himself with more of the department than Leon had realized; he wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or chagrined about that.

"Hey Leon," Jill said, grinning at him and nudging him in the side with her elbow. "If you and D ever get married, you'd better make me the maid of honor!"

"Of course, Jill," Leon laughed. "I'm sure you look much better in a dress than O'Malley!"

Jill fell in love with little Daiki on the spot, and dropped by the shop often to see him--in fact, Leon jokingly complained that she only came to visit the baby, not him or D.

"He's so adorable," Jill cooed, cradling Daiki in her arms. "Let me know when you need someone to baby-sit, Leon; I'll be happy to do it. You like spending time with Aunt Jill, don't you, Daiki?"

Jill's fiance Terry laughed good-naturedly. "Your son has stolen my fiancee's heart," he said ruefully. He was a Chinese-American detective who worked in Vice and spent a lot of time in Chinatown, and he seemed to understand, in the same way that everyone else in Chinatown did, that the Count and his shop were something out of the ordinary, although he never spoke of it openly. But he treated the Count with respect, was friendly to Leon, and seemed at ease in the petshop.

"Women are fickle," Leon told Terry.

"You just ignore Daddy and Uncle Terry," Jill said to Daiki. "They don't know what they're talking about."

Leon and Terry just grinned at each other. "Want a beer?" Leon offered.

"Sure," Terry said. D sighed a little, but did not object. D and Leon were learning to live with each other's idiosyncrasies--which meant that D let Leon keep beer in the fridge, and Leon tolerated vegetarian meals. Jill and D retreated into the shop to play with Daiki, leaving Leon and Terry alone in the lobby.

"You seem pretty okay with all this," Leon said hesitantly, gesturing vaguely around the shop as he handed a can of beer to Terry.

Terry seemed to understand what he meant. "I've heard some unsavory rumors about the Count, but I trust Jill's judgment," he said gravely. "I can't believe that she would ever give her trust to someone who was unworthy of it." He smiled. "And I know that you used to think of the Count as a suspect, Leon, but obviously you must have changed your mind about him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Leon laughed.

"And as for you and the Count being a couple..." Terry shrugged. "A lot of cops are homophobic, but I never saw why it should be such a big deal. The way I look at it, the more gay guys there are, the less competition there is for all the single women out there." Leon laughed and Terry grinned. "Of course, none of that matters now that I've got Jill."

"That's good," Leon said, "because you know she'd bust your balls if she caught you fooling around. Literally."

"Don't I know it!" Terry said fervently, and they both laughed.

Terry was pretty open-minded, but he was still a guy's guy. Leon loved D, and Jill was his best friend, but it was nice to have a guy buddy to have a few beers and watch the game with. So Jill and Terry spent a lot of time at the shop, just two couples hanging out with each other, and Leon grinned as he thought to himself how domesticated he'd become.
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Still, D and Leon were not used to living with other people, and learning to tolerate each other's annoying habits took some adjustment and tried their patience at times...

A little sigh of irritation escaped D's lips as he took a sip of tea and tried to tune out the loud music blasting in the background. He would have ordered Leon to turn it off on the grounds that it might make the baby cry, except that Daiki never cried when Leon played his hard rock CDs. In fact, if anything, he seemed to enjoy it, and the music would--well, not precisely soothe the baby, but cheer him up when he was fussy. He would laugh and wave his arms and bounce in time to the music, and Leon would say proudly, "That's my boy!" D sighed again; Daiki had apparently inherited more of Leon's traits than just his blond hair. He wondered how many other of Leon's bad habits their son would eventually develop.

There was only so much that D could take, though, and he had drawn the line at Leon's Megadeth and Metallica CDs, and told him to put on something a little more melodic, because it was giving him a headache. Leon had pretended to pout for a bit, then put a new CD in his portable boom box, saying cheerfully, "Here, this might be more your speed--a band called Rush. They're intellectual rockers."

"That sounds like an oxymoron," D had muttered sarcastically, but the music was less grating than that of most of the other heavy metal bands that Leon liked, although D still preferred classical and instrumental music. But despite his annoyance, D couldn't help but smile as he watched Leon dancing around the lobby with Daiki in his arms, singing along enthusiastically (if slightly out of tune) with the CD as Daiki laughed and clapped his hands:

He's a rebel and a runner
He's a signal turning green
He's a restless young romantic
Wants to run the big machine

He's got a problem with his poisons
But you know he'll find a cure
He's cleaning up his systems
To keep his nature pure

Learning to match the beat of the Old World Man
Learning to catch the heat of the Third World Man

He's got to make his own mistakes
And learn to mend the mess he makes
He's old enough to know what's right
But young enough not to choose it
He's noble enough to win the world
But weak enough to lose it
He's a New World Man...

As D paid closer attention to the lyrics, he found them surprisingly apt. They seemed to capture the contradictory nature of humanity--the same contradictions embodied within Leon himself. For all his brashness and arrogance and prejudice, there was a kind of nobility in the young detective. He had a sense of honor: he would risk his life to carry out his duties and protect the people in his care. And at times, Leon had surprised D with his compassion, which emerged at the most unexpected times, as when he had tracked down Sonia, the young girl who had kidnapped Chris and D, seeking vengeance on Leon for killing her boyfriend in a shootout. He had stood before her, not with anger in his eyes, but sorrow and compassion, and said, "I'm the one you hate, right? Leave everyone else out of this. Pull the trigger. You do that, and all this ends now." And then she had lowered the gun when D had told her that she was pregnant and for the child's sake, she should not become a murderer. But even if he had not intervened, he wasn't sure if she would really have shot Leon, because she had already been hesitating, doubt and confusion in her eyes as tears ran down her face. And while he had once thought the detective callous, D now knew that each life that Leon took haunted him, including Sonia's boyfriend Ray, even though he had killed those men in self-defense.

D smiled tenderly at his lover and son, and for the first time, he felt a spark of hope for humanity, that they might outgrow their weakness and mature into the nobility that as yet, for the most part, remained untapped potential beneath the surface. The odds were much more likely that mankind would destroy themselves, but still...if that brash, stubborn, arrogant American detective could begin to change and mature, then perhaps the rest of humanity could do likewise, with time. Then he laughed out loud at the absurdity of having been so moved by lyrics written by one of Leon's noisy rock bands.

"See, Papa likes the music, too," Leon told Daiki. "At least...I think he does."

"I am not sure if I like it," D replied, "but I do find the song to be quite thought-provoking."

Leon just grinned at him smugly, then went back warbling in an off-key pitch, "I'm a New World Man..."

D winced slightly, thinking to himself that while Leon was a very good detective, he was a very bad singer. But since Daiki and Leon seemed to be enjoying themselves, D decided not to spoil their fun, and kept that observation to himself.
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Leon had to make a few adjustments, too--and giving up smoking was one of them. "I will not tolerate that filthy habit in my home!" D said adamantly. "Especially now that we have a child! Do you have any idea of the dangers of secondhand smoke--?"

"Okay, okay!" Leon said, interrupting his tirade. "Jeez, it's not like I was planning to smoke around the kid!"

"You will not smoke at all!" D shouted. "Your human lifespan is short enough without you trying to shorten it further by polluting your lungs with that garbage!"

"Take it easy, D," Leon said gently, suddenly understanding the real reason behind the Count's demand. He placed his hands on D's shoulders and said, "I'll give up smoking, I promise. Not just in the shop, but give it up entirely--starting now, cold turkey."

"Thank you, Leon," D sighed in relief, leaning against Leon's chest, and Leon folded his arms around his lover and held him tightly. He threw his cigarettes into the trash that day, and he never touched another one again. It wasn't easy; he was irritable and bad-tempered for the next few weeks (or, as Jill dryly put it, more bad-tempered than usual). He chewed a lot of gum, although that didn't really ease his craving, and he snapped a lot at D, who was uncharacteristically tolerant and let it slide for the most part, since he was happy that Leon was giving up smoking. He even tried to help Leon with herbal teas that were supposed to be soothing and relaxing, although those were about as effective as the gum. Jill suggested that he try "the patch," but Leon felt that if he was going to kick the nicotine habit, he would rather just kick it all at once than try to wean himself off of it.

Of course there were times when he was tempted to cheat, particularly after a frustrating day at work, when they were unable to crack a case, or worse, had to let a suspect walk due to lack of evidence. But whenever he was just about ready to break down and run out for a pack of smokes, he would think of D, who had come to love and trust him, despite his hatred for humanity, and who was willing to be estranged from his grandfather for Leon's sake. And he would think of Daiki, the beautiful son that they had created together. He knew what it was like to grow up without a father, and he didn't want Daiki to go through that if there was anything he could do to prevent it. Leon couldn't do anything about the dangerous nature of his job, but he could do his best to stay healthy for the sake of his family.

And when he thought of that, he would remember why he was doing this, and although his cravings did not go away, they would become marginally easier to bear, just enough for him to stick to his resolve and not break his promise.
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Leon did, however, still have the occasional bacon cheeseburger for lunch when he was away from the petshop. A man had to have a few vices, he rationalized, and besides, he was eating a lot of healthy vegetarian crap at home, so having a greasy burger once in awhile should be okay, so long as he didn't do it all the time.

"Hey, it's the Count that you have to convince, not me," Jill told him, swiping one of his fries. They'd taken Daiki out to the park to play while D was dealing with a customer (Leon tried not to think too much about what the Count was selling to the poor chump), and stopped by a burger joint for lunch afterwards. Jill had ordered a salad, but kept snitching french fries from Leon's plate.

"Why don't you just get an order of fries for yourself?" Leon complained.

"I don't want a whole order of fries," Jill replied. "Just a few of yours." She added with a mischievous grin, "Besides, consider this my price for not squealing on you to D."

"Cops aren't supposed to take bribes," Leon grumbled, but he shoved the french fries closer towards her. Daiki began making hungry noises, so Leon lifted him out of his stroller and grabbed his bottle. "You ready for lunch, too, little guy?" he asked. "Listen, don't tell Papa that Daddy had a bacon cheeseburger, okay? It's a secret, just between you and me and Aunt Jill."

Daiki just giggled happily.
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One evening, Leon and D had left Daiki in the care of the pets while they had a little private time for themselves, when suddenly they heard an uproar from the front of the shop. They rushed out to find a cloaked figure standing in the middle of the lobby, confronting the crowd of animals. Tet-chan cradled Daiki in his arms protectively, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl, while the other pets had taken up defensive positions around him. Lupin was tense, ears laid back as he growled softly, exposing his long, sharp fangs, and for once he really did look like a wolf instead of an oversized puppy dog. Even Pon-chan stood glaring defiantly at the eldest D with her little hands clenched into fists.

"Grandfather!" D cried.

"Hello, Q-chan," Leon said with a humorless smile, clutching his gun, which he had instinctively grabbed when he'd heard the commotion. He lowered the gun, the safety still on, but he kept it in his hand and did not put it away. Despite D's assurances to the contrary, he still wasn't sure that Grandpa D wouldn't harm their child.

"As insolent as ever, Detective," the cloaked figure said in a voice of cool sarcasm that was so like Leon's D, except that it lacked the faint hint of affection that always colored D's voice.

"You, know, I really liked you a lot better when you were that cute little babbit thing," Leon retorted.

"Enough, you two!" D snapped. "Grandfather, what do you want?"

"Tell your little army to stand down, child," the eldest D said in smooth and dulcet tones, again disturbingly similar to D's voice. "I have only come to see my great-grandson. I give you my word that I intend no harm to the child." He held out his arms, and Tet-chan hesitated, looking towards D and Leon for guidance.

"Don't hand him over!" Leon said sharply, and the Tou-Tet instantly pulled Daiki closer to his chest without any of the grumbling or arguing that he usually indulged in with the detective.

"You dare doubt my sworn word?" D's grandfather asked in a cold and dangerous voice.

"Leon, unlike humans, my kind never break our promises," D said, sounding a little offended. "Once given, our word is sacred."

"It's not that I doubt his word, D," Leon said, watching the cloaked figure carefully, gun still in hand. "But I know from your contracts with your customers how easily your kind can work around a few loopholes. Grandpa didn't say that he wouldn't harm Daiki, only that he doesn't 'intend' to--which leaves him an out if something happens to make him change his mind." He turned to address the eldest D directly. "Give me your word that you will DO no harm to Daiki, and I'll let you say hello to your great-grandson."

"Well, well," the other D said, his lips curving into an amused smile. "You are smarter than you look, Detective. Very well, I give you my word that I will not harm your son. Oh, and if you must address me, I would prefer 'Sofu D' to 'Q-chan' or--" His upper lip curled in disdain. "--'Grandpa'."

"Very well, Sofu D," Leon said, and nodded at Tet-chan, who reluctantly handed Daiki over to Sofu. Leon stuck his gun into the waistband of his jeans but continued watching D's grandfather very carefully.

"Well, he definitely has the human's stamp upon him," Sofu D said disapprovingly, lightly touching a finger to the baby's blond curls, then he looked into Daiki's golden eyes. "But at least he has yours as well, Grandchild." To Daiki, he murmured, "I wonder what you see with those golden eyes of yours, little one?"

"I cannot be sure, since Daiki is not yet old enough to talk," D said hesitantly. "But I believe that he can see the animals in their human forms. He responds to them as if they were people."

"Well, that is to be expected, of course," Sofu replied. "He is healthy?"

"He appears to be quite hale and hearty," D said. "Perhaps he has inherited the Detective's strong constitution." D smiled at Leon. "After all, Leon has thus far survived being stabbed and shot at, not to mention all the toxins--caffeine, nicotine, and cholesterol--that he used to pour into his body."

"Oh yeah, and a diet of pure sugar is really healthy--for a hummingbird," Leon retorted.

Sofu D gave the two of them an annoyed look. "Well, the child seems healthy enough," he conceded grudgingly.

"Seriously, Grandfather," D said, looking more solemn now. "I truly do believe it might be the addition of the human blood that you so despise that makes Daiki healthier than I was as a child." To Leon he said, "I was supposed to be a genetic duplicate of my father, but as you can see, I am not an exact duplicate, and was born with a few imperfections." He lifted his hand to his face, indicating his purple eye.

"I don't consider that an imperfection, D," Leon said with a tender smile. "In fact, I think it makes you look even more beautiful." Sofu D rolled his eyes in disgust, and Leon cheerfully ignored him.

D smiled back at Leon and said, "Thank you, my dear detective, but there are other imperfections that are more than merely cosmetic. Unlike Daiki, I was weak and sickly as a child. Father labored extensively to create medicines to help me." D grimaced. "Perhaps he labored a little too hard...Xiao Mei was not really my sister, Leon. My father created her to be an organ donor to me--not that I would ever have accepted such a gift; the idea is abhorrent to me. And worse, although he could have kept her in blissful ignorance, he chose to raise her to be aware of her intended fate, to believe that it was her duty to give her life up for me."

"She was the orangutan that the animals killed, wasn't she?" Leon asked quietly.

D nodded miserably. "Yes, but they were only trying to protect me. She grew angry when I tried to reject the 'gift' of her life, and attacked me, thinking that she might be able to take my place in Father's affections if I were gone."

Leon sighed sadly. "I didn't really know what happened, but I thought it was something like that." He turned to Sofu D. "You know, I never got good grades in science, and I don't know a whole lot about genetics, but I know that inbreeding results in greater chances of defects in the offspring."

"Indeed, it is clear that you do not know much, Detective Orcot," Sofu said coldly. "The manner in which we reproduce is closer to cloning, as I believe my son told you. There is no actual 'breeding' involved, at least in the sense of two parents combining their genetic material."

"Yeah, but isn't there a similar problem with cloning, too?" Leon objected. "I remember reading an article in the paper about that cloned sheep, Dolly. It said that the clone might have more health problems than the original parent, and that an animal cloned from a clone might have even more problems. It's like making a xerox copy, isn't it? You can make a copy of a copy of a copy, but each copy is a little more smudged and blurry than the last one."

Sofu D snorted and looked cross but said nothing, which Leon figured must mean that he was right. D said, "He has a point, Grandfather, although I do not care to be referred to as defective or a bad copy." He shot a brief glare in Leon's direction.

"I didn't mean it that way, D," Leon said, grinning sheepishly.

D smiled a little, indicating that he wasn't really angry at Leon. "But you cannot deny, Grandfather, that I am, physically at least, flawed in comparison to you and Father." Sofu nodded reluctantly. "In the very distant past, before our race was annihilated, our children used to be born in the normal fashion, from a mother and a father. Perhaps an infusion of fresh blood is what is required to strengthen our line."

"But the blood of a human?" his grandfather protested.

"Why not?" D asked, with an ironic smile. "Have they not proven to be strong and resilient, thus far impossible to wipe out despite Father's best efforts? Who knows what might result from a combination of our blood and theirs?"

"Hmph!" Sofu snorted, indeed sounding like a crotchety old grandfather in spite of his beautiful, youthful face. "So what will you grow up to be, child?" he asked Daiki. "A demigod or a monster? Or just another worthless human?" Daiki just stared up at his great-grandfather solemnly with his golden eyes.

"It's not your problem," Leon growled, taking the baby from Sofu. "It's too late to complain about human blood mixing with yours; Daiki already exists, and we can't undo that even if we wanted to. Which we don't."

"He is a miracle, Grandfather," D said earnestly. "A gift I had never dreamed I would receive, for which I will be forever grateful."

Sofu still looked skeptical, but Leon repeated firmly, "It's not your problem. D and I will raise him. And you still have an heir born in the traditional manner to take over the family business someday."

"Yes, that is true," Sofu said, looking slightly mollified.

D's normally cool and serene face suddenly looked anxious and distraught. "How is Fa...?" he started to ask, then his voice trailed off. "I do not know what to call him," he whispered.

Leon slipped an arm around D's shoulders, and several of the pets, including Tet-chan, began to wind themselves around D's legs, trying to comfort him. "How is the little D doing, Sofu?" Leon asked.

Sofu's expression softened as he gazed at his grandson, and he said in a much kinder voice, "Think of him as a younger brother, Grandson. He has no memory of his previous life."

"So he has a chance to start over with a clean slate," Leon murmured.

D leaned into Leon's embrace and smiled, although tears filled his eyes. "A clean slate...I am glad. Perhaps he will be happier this time around. Is he doing well, Grandfather?"

Sofu gazed at Leon for a long moment before answering. It was a measuring stare, the way Leon might size up a potential witness or suspect, but it was not hostile, and for the first time, there was no scorn in Sofu's eyes, and maybe even a little respect. Then he turned back to his grandson and said, "Yes, he is doing well. He is very healthy and seems quite happy. He follows me around, trying to help as I look after the animals in my care. I will not make the same mistakes that I did the first time around."

"I am glad, Grandfather," D said, brushing the tears from his eyes.

"Well then, I will leave Daiki in your care," Sofu said, calling his great-grandson by name for the first time. "And perhaps in a few years, I will stop by again to see if he is showing any potential."

"Don't strain yourself," Leon muttered under his breath. He thought that Sofu was about to leave when the eldest D sat himself down on the couch, uninvited.

"Where are your manners, Grandson?" he asked coolly. "Are you not going to offer me tea?"

"Of course, Grandfather; I apologize for my rudeness," D immediately replied. "Tet-chan, could you please prepare some tea for us?"

"Oh, and I don't suppose..." Sofu hesitated, before finishing with a sheepish smile, "...that you might, perhaps, have a few strawberries on hand?"

D laughed and said, "Please bring us some strawberries in cream as well, Tet-chan."

"Don't want to be called 'Q-chan,' huh?" Leon said, grinning.

"Do not push your luck, human," Sofu said, glaring at him, but he still looked a trifle embarrassed.

"Kyu!" Daiki gurgled happily, and Leon and D both laughed and beamed at him proudly.

"I had thought that there was more kami in him than human, but now I fear that he favors the human parent," Sofu said, more to himself to than to D, and sighed resignedly.
 

Chapter 4

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