Sick Zero

Ever since Zero 'accepted' Kai fully, he hadn't been a bundle of sunshine.

Well, it's not to say that he had ever been a bundle of sunshine, but he was worse now.

"He looks like he gave away his daughter or something," whispered Edward.

Akira and Yume nodded while Lucka ignored everything.

"Well, considering that he stayed over at her house for the past two nights, I am sure it really is like giving away the bride you know," Akira responded.

"Oh come on," Yume objected, "It's Lianne, you know? The one person that he's been so protective over. The one he's been treating like a little sister. The one that .."

"Fine, fine!" Akira hissed, rolling his eyes, "We get it!"

"She's coming," Lucka said, finally looking up from whatever he was looking at.

The rest looked at him in puzzlement.

"Who's coming?"

"I called her," Lucka went on, looking back down to his book, "So shut up already."

Akira, Edward, and Yume looked at each other, their faces in complete confusion. Who the-?

Then, a young woman with a round, baby face, and her straight, black hair tied in a ponytail came into view. She looked nervously into the room, her hands clutching her handbag in a vice grip as if consumed by terror.

"It's-!" Edward was going to shout, when Akira covered his mouth quickly and pressed him down onto the floor.

Or rather, tried to.

Except for Lucka, they hunched down to hide while peeking at the nervous young woman at the door.

Zero, as usual, did not raise his head even though he was aware someone had come in. As he was the leader aka head, his desk faced the doorway directly and it served two purposes.

One: no one dared to walk in unless they had an official purpose.

Just seeing that stoic figure at the desk, glaring at the paper on it or something made people just steer away from the doorway.

Two: Zero had the vantage point of seeing, and knowing, anyone who entered or left the room. Essentially, it was to keep an eye out on the Diamond Team.

So Akira couldn't go out to flirt, Edward couldn't go out to look for gadgets (or parts for his gadgets), Lucka couldn't go out to rescue abandoned kittens or puppies, and Yume … well, he was the restless type that would explore often (and not come back).

"Why are we hiding?!" mumbled Edward through the hand that was over his mouth.

No one answered him, to his chagrin.

So he resigned himself to watching as Lily looked about the room and noting that there was no one around (Lucka was hidden by the computer in front of him), she entered the office hesitatingly.

She was still wondering why she was here.

When she got the call from Lucka, she had answered immediately upon his call for help. He had told her that Zero was sick, but refusing to take time off. So he had sounded so desperate and pleaded her, asking her to come and talk to Zero.

To persuade him to rest and get well.

Lily had no idea why she said yes.

Or why Zero would even listen to her.

She was just so worried that she said 'yes' immediately and rushed over.

Now, though …

Seeing Zero just sitting there working, she thought she had been played.

He did not look sick at all!

Or was he?

What was she doing here anyway?

What could she do?

Still, despite her uncertainty and fear, one thing drove her forward.

The thought that Zero was sick.

In fact, she could see how rigid his shoulders were as he slumped over the desk, and she suspected that he must have dark circles under his eyes.

Was he pushing himself?

Lily went up to the desk and Zero, realising someone was standing there, growled as he whipped his head up.

Only to see Lily there, causing his eyes to go as big as saucers and he actually jerked back in his seat.

Edward couldn't help the giggle that escaped his lips and everyone froze when Zero's cold eyes landed on them.

"You fool!" hissed Akira, backing away from Edward.

Yume didn't wait at all and stood up, dashing to the exit, followed closely by Akira, and the slow-poke Edward. Lucka had already left the moment Lily passed by his desk, an act that saved him from a little bit of torment that the three stooges were just about to get.

Lily watched in fascination as Zero picked up some pencils on the desk and threw it.

What she didn't see were the three silver needles that were shot out from a hidden compartment within his sleeve when he flicked his wrist to throw the pencils. She turned her head, to see that the pencils hit the back of the head of three guys, who then shouted a bit in pain as they disappeared.

Edward, Akira, and Yume were limping as they ran out, and stopped when they saw Lucka, leaning on the wall. He had this lazy smile on his face and with a raise of his eyebrow, he said, "You guys never learn, do you?"

"It's HIS fault!!" Akira said, pointing at Edward, "If he hadn't giggled…"

"Like I said, you guys never learn, do you?" Lucka repeated, laughing softly.

He came close to them and took out the needles that were embedded in them. Once taken out, the pain in their legs subsided.

Lucka was the only one that could remove the needles safely, as any wrong movements would only result in either the pain getting worse, or they could be temporarily paralyzed.

Kyle had taught all of them the acupuncture points (or pressure points, as per what Kyle liked to refer to it) but it was only Zero and Lucka that managed to learn it properly.

There were just too many points to learn, plus, the intricacies of it all gave the rest a headache. Thus, they decided not to pursue the knowledge while Zero and Lucka devoured it.

Zero and Lucka learned it well and used it for two different perspectives.

Zero, to attack and Lucka, to heal.

With Zero, it became his trump card. Knowing where the points are and coupled with his amazing accuracy in his throws, it left him almost unbeatable in fights. Almost, because he never could beat Kyle even when he tried using it.

As for Lucka, being the medic of the team, knowing where to press to slow down blood flow or numb the pain was an additional bonus.

Of course, he could also cause pain but he was not as skilled as Zero or Sir. They could just use a silver needle and hit the required nerve point. A point that was smaller than a thumbprint.

Sir could even press those points in rapid succession.

While he could only carefully locate the points and slowly insert the needles or use the necessary pressure.

"You're lucky he wasn't that annoyed with you," Lucka said as he examined the needles, "These are not the poisoned ones."

The needles that were poisoned had a gold tip, so it made it easier for Zero to identify them. In truth, it wasn't really poison that he used, but 'incapacitating agents'; that is, drugs that would cause temporary mental or physical disabilities.

They just called it 'poison' as 'incapacitating agents' was such a mouthful.

Zero would use these gold-tip needles to cause pain and suffering while he did some interrogation. Or when he's just annoyed with someone and not angry enough to go all out and slice them up.

The three looked at Lucka who then kept the needles.

Lucka looked back at the three stooges and thought to himself that they'd get back to their old ways soon enough.

It was just too fascinating to ignore, after all.

Zero and Lily.

Or rather, Zero when he's with Lily.

Lucka grinned, thinking back on the day Sir had renewed his wedding vows. Zero was the one that had caught the garter. Looks like that 'old wives tale' wasn't such a tale after all.