The Angels Above Us
Part One

* * *

Heero Yuy tried to stuff his things in his backpack as quickly as he could. He really didn't want to stay in the school longer than he had to be. Unfortunately, today he had clean-up duty, and it happened to coincide with the boys' basketball practice. He practically ran through the halls and schoolyards, going as fast as an eight-year-old could while carrying a bag full of books. He was maybe half way there, and could even see the school gate in front of him, when a hand closed around his arm and he was suddenly jerked back.

Heero landed in the dirt, staring up through his unruly bangs at his tormenters. There were two of them today, scowling down at him, still in their basketball uniforms. They must have been two grades higher than him; due to the school's unfortunate gym schedule, however, he had to see them every day. And though they usually left him alone in the locker rooms, after school was an entirely different story.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in."

"Let me go," he said, though his voice sounded small and feeble even in his head. He knew they wouldn't let him go, not until they had their fun at any rate.

"I don't think so, fag." The boy holding him jerked him to his feet before pushing him backwards. Heero tried to gain his balance, but it was no use. He crashed into the wall, his head banging into it with a dull crack. His vision swam. "You don't think we'd let the little gay boy off so easily, do you?"

Heero closed his eyes as the older boy raised his fist, cringing when it came down hard on his stomach. All the air was knocked out on him even as he prepared for the next blow. Strangely, it didn't come.

Heero looked up, surprised to see his bully's wrist held in the grasp of another boy.

"What the hell are you doing?" Duo Maxwell was scowling at the bully. Duo Maxwell. The star player on the basketball team.

"Duo, hey, we were just taking care of the queer over there. He deserves it, man."

"Scram." Duo tossed the guy's arm back, causing him to stumble into the ground. "You shouldn't pick on younger kids like that."

The other bully stooped to help his friend up, looking at Duo with obvious reverence in his eyes. "Sure thing, Duo. We won't pick on him again. See you next practice!"

Duo snickered as the two ran off, then kneeled in front of Heero. He brushed Heero's bangs back, probably checking for injuries, but the smaller boy couldn't help but blush at the action. Duo smiled, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, and started to check the rest of him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Heero nodded as Duo continued his inspection.

Duo grabbed Heero's hands in his, pulling him up. "What's your name?"

"Heero Yuy."

"Well, Heero." Duo smiled, and Heero couldn't help but smile back a little bit. No one had ever been nice to him, and he couldn't believe Duo Maxwell of all people was actually talking to him. "I guess I'll see you around school."

But the next year, Duo had left for middle school. And a year after that, talk said that the American boy had moved to another part of Japan.

* * *

Eight years later

The class in room 210B at St. Emilion High quieted as their teacher walked in, rushing to take their seats as they broke up their conversations. They watched, interested, as a young boy walked in behind her. The girls examined the new meat while the boys sized up the potential competition, all of them wondering how the new kid would fit into the social hierarchy of their school.

"Class." The teacher made a token attempt to get their attention, though in truth they were already curious and listening. "Please welcome our new student, Heero Yuy. I'm sure all of you will help him get adjusted. Heero?"

Heero smirked as he felt on all the eyes in the classroom on him. He knew he made an interesting picture. His unruly chocolate hair hung rebelliously around his head, dyed with large streaks of dark blue near the front. It shadowed his vibrant Prussian blue eyes, barely covering the multiple loops that ran up and down his ears. He was wearing a metallic long sleeved green shirt, so dark it was almost brown, and tight enough so that you could see the outlines of his nipple rings. His black pants were somewhat baggy, bunching up over his black doc martins. Black fingerless gloves adorned his hands, which were currently fixed around his messenger bag.

"Konnichiwa." He couldn't stop smirking. The girls were all practically swooning out of their seats. The teacher instructed him to take a seat, and he did so, feeling all the female eyes in the classroom tracking his movements. Once the class ended the girls wasted no time in swarming around him. He entertained them, making idle conversation, though they did most of the talking. Inside, though, he was frowning. They were so obnoxious.

"Yuy-san, since you're new you'll need some one to take you around town."

"Akio-chan, I'm sure he'd prefer for me to take him out."

Heero outwardly smiled. "I'd love to get to know all of you, of course."

Soon enough the crowd around him disbanded as they remembered they had classes to go to, and Heero thanked his luck that he was able to walk to his next class alone. He had stopped by his locker to get books for his next class when something moving in the hallway aught his eye; it was a long chestnut brown braid, and it had just disappeared around the corner.

Face lighting up, Heero grabbed his bag and rushed to catch up with the object of his attention. He rounded the corner to find himself in a deserted hallway. It ran along the outside of the school, and light poured into the corridor through the huge glass windows that lined its edges. There was no mistaking now who the braid belonged to.

"Duo!"

The older boy turned around, and Heero looked him over even as he ran to catch up. He had always found Duo attractive, but the eighteen-year-old boy was vastly different from the ten-year-old Heero had first met.

As could be expected, Duo was taller, topping Heero by more than a head. His athletic prowess was evident in his build, lean yet muscled at the same time, speaking of a strength greater than the normal high school senior's. He was perfect. Heero noted the other boy's simple outfit: sneakers, jeans, and a loose t-shirt, a varsity jacket hanging off his shoulders.

Heero knocked Duo back a few steps as he ran into him, wrapping his arms around the American's waist and resting a face on that strong chest. "Duo, I'm so glad I ran into you."

Duo had tensed up as soon as this boy had wrapped him up in a hug, and now fidgeted uncomfortably. He was sure he had an absolutely bewildered expression on his face, until the small boy looked up and he found himself staring into a pair of elated Prussian blue eyes. Much to Duo's comfort, the boy let go of him.

The Japanese boy blushed in embarrassment at how forward he had been. Still, he was happy to see the only person who had been nice to him when he was younger. "You don't remember me?"

Duo watched as the boy fidgeted with his bag strap, obviously nervous. There was something familiar about him, and as soon as Duo placed it he smiled at the happy boy. "Sure I do. Heero, right?"

Heero broke out into a grin. "Yeah."

"What are you doing in Tokyo, kid?" Duo ruffled his hair a little, eyeing the blue streaks, and Heero blushed even more.

"I moved." Heero stepped forward, wrapping both his arms around Duo's left one, intertwining their fingers as he smiled up at the other boy. Duo frowned down at him, then smiled apologetically when the situation became clear in his mind.

"Look, kid, I'm glad to see you, but..." Duo reached with his right arm to gently pry Heero off of him. "I'm just not that way, you know?"

Duo had accentuated the words "that way", and Heero knew right away what he was talking about. He chuckled nervously. "Oh. Of course, I know."

"I hope I haven't given you the wrong impression, I didn't mean to lead you on or-"

"No, no." Heero interrupted quickly, not wanting to be any further embarrassed than he already was. "You haven't. I was just... excited, to see some one I knew."

Duo nodded, holding out his hand. "Friends?"

"Yeah." Heero slid his fingers around Duo's smooth palm, shaking once. "Friends."

"Duo!"

Heero looked up at the female voice, wanting to see who had called out to his longstanding crush. It was no doubt a cheerleader, all light blond hair and pink lipstick. Duo waved at the girl, starting to walk towards her.

"Look, that's my girlfriend Dorothy, I've gotta go. Don't be a stranger, okay?"

Heero could only nod as Duo walked away, looking at Dorothy with ill-concealed resentment. He stumbled his way through the halls, already late to wherever it was he was supposed to be. Despite the fact that every one should have been in a class, the hallways were still fairly occupied. Jocks and bubbly girls stood leaning against lockers or by water fountains. Heero hated them. They were exactly the kind of people who had made fun of him as a youth. They would get their retribution, though, Heero Yuy would see to that.

* * *

Duo made his way into the cafeteria, the other students instinctually forming a path for him. Soon he had grabbed his lunch from the line and sat comfortably with Dorothy and his friends. The girl was applying more lipstick, a paltry salad laid out in front of her.

"Duo, did you check out the new student?" One of the younger boys started to update Duo on what had no doubt been the recent topic of the conversation. "He was in my first period class... all the girls were going crazy for him. Must be the bad boy image."

"Wasn't he the boy you were talking to before, Duo?"

Duo nodded at his girlfriend. "We went to elementary school together."

"I can't blame those girls. The guy's a hottie." Dorothy stopped in the middle of applying her make up to grin and winked at Duo. "But he's not as drop dead gorgeous as you."

Duo sniffed at the compliment, turning back to his friend Quatre.

"He's awfully pretty for a boy."

"Look who's talking." Walker, who was probably Duo's closest friend, chuckled at Quatre's indignant expression. "Still, I wouldn't mind giving him a ride."

Duo nearly choked on his sandwich, and Dorothy, concern written all over her face, started slapping him on the back. "Excuse me?"

Walker laughed at Duo's reaction. "Well, yeah, I bet he'd be a hellcat in bed."

"Since when were you into guys?" Zechs Marquise raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"I'm not." Walker shrugged. "I'm just not averse to having a good time."

Walker and Zechs were staring at another part of the cafeteria, and Duo followed their lines of sight to see what they were looking at. Heero had come into the dining area, followed by a few girls. He was walking with a confidence Duo knew he didn't have as an eight-year-old, and was smirking with an arrogance that had been lacking in their recent reunion. He wondered what was behind the boy's mercurial personality changes. Heero happened to look up then, holding Duo's eye contact for maybe a second before quickly looking away.

Even Duo had to admit. The boy was beautiful.

* * *

Heero looked down at his schedule. He only had one more class left, and it was science. It was his best subject, and he had actually excelled so much in the field that he was now in a college level course. Out of all his classes, this was the only one that he had a remote chance of being with Duo in. He turned the handle to open the door, almost smiling when he saw Duo already sitting at one of the tables. He walked up to the seat next to him.

"Cam I sit here?"

"Umm..." Duo shifted in his chair. Dorothy usually sat with him in this class. "Sure. Go ahead."

Speaking of Dorothy, the blond girl walked in just a second later. She stared at Heero, then at Duo, a confused expression on her face. Duo just shrugged. Now indignant, she went to sit next to her friend Relena, right in front of Duo. As soon as Heero left to do something she turned around, platinum hair flying out behind her.

"Why is he sitting with you? I sit with you!"

Duo blinked at the way his girlfriend was acting. "Chill, Dorothy. He's new, he doesn't have any friends. Do you expect me not to help him out?"

Dorothy's anger melted away as quickly as it had come. "Of course not. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be such a bitch about the whole thing. Sorry."

Dorothy turned around as Heero came back into the classroom from wherever he had been. Heero was actually a little pleased to see that Dorothy had been upset. He liked to see her agitated. He knew the only reason he didn't like her was because she was dating Duo, but he couldn't help it.

The class itself was boring. The teacher lectured almost the whole time, Heero dutifully taking notes as Duo did the same. The big surprise came at the end, though, when the teacher announced that they would have to work on a research paper, due in one month and totaling twenty pages. Every one in the class groaned, but Heero couldn't have been happier. It was a two person paper.

"Duo." Heero turned to the other boy hastily so that Dorothy didn't get a chance to ask him. "Would you work with me?"

Duo turned to look at Dorothy, but saw she was already asking Relena. "Sure."

Heero smiled as they made plans to get together. Then they both packed up and headed out, Duo taking Dorothy's hand in his as they left down the hall. Heero stared after them a little before some one tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to see the girl that was sitting in front of him during science. Relena.

"Hey, Heero." Relena blushed as she addressed him, batting her eyelashes coyly.

"Hi." Heero smirked, leaning forward a little to convey interest.

"Oh... umm... I was wondering if you'd want to go out for pizza some time. You know, like a date."

Heero inwardly sighed even as he nodded, putting a lascivious grin on his face. "Sure. How does tonight sound? Around eight?"

Relena smiled happily. "Sure!"

Heero took down her address, then made his way outside. He was just in time to see Duo drive off with Dorothy in the passenger seat of his black bmw. Sighing, he walked towards the courtyard of the school, which he guessed would be relatively empty.

The courtyard was just a small area in the middle of the school buildings, framed with short trees and green lawns. The paths and center area were paved in small, gray stones. Standing in the very middle of the court was a very unattractive statue of the school's founder.

Heero made sure everything was empty before making his way towards a bench. Sitting down, he raffled through his bag before bringing out a small, black cell phone. He dialed his own number, watching the text that slowly appeared after that. He didn't have to wait long before the message indicating his success appeared.



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