Whoo! so, i finally got around to typing up the first chapter of this fic. long, huh? i'll try to make the next chapters shorter XD
anyways, as you can see, this is indeed a gundam wing fic. i've been working on it off and on at school since i'm keeping it stricly to my notebook... anyways, there are a ton of OCs here, infact, Duo is the only cannon character. and i'm also basing the school and several of the teachers off of my own life. :3
and a short summarry for this chapter: it's basically Duo's first day. introduces you to everybody and everything. next chapter will be the next day, and so on. i promise it'll get better.
anyway, thanks! please review!
Ethereal Life
Chapter 1
Monday: Hell
Duo sat in the cramped desk, fiddling with the end of his braid. He stared blankly at his pencil, his mind in a completely different world; the world of his Gundam, and the colonies.
"Mr. Maxwell!" came the sharp voice of his first period teacher, "get to work! I know this is your first day, but this is English class, not your free period."
Duo's head snapped up, shocked at suddenly being pulled back into reality. His violet eyes met with the pale blue ones of his teacher, Ms. Evans. The former pilot instantly frowned. Oh how he hated this new life.
"Just because you are new to this school, doesn't give you the excuse to not work," she went on, causing a few of the students to chuckle.
Duo, feeling defiant, laced his voice with sarcasm as he spoke, even though every word was true, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but the truth is, I've spent the last few years working a really dangerous job, so I haven't had time to read 'Lord of the Flies'." He smiled slyly.
Now the whole class had its eyes trained on Ms. Evans and the braided boy in the third row from the window.
"Don't lie, young man. Your record specifically says that you just transferred from an American school in the colonies, and you were a perfect student. You should be at the same level as everyone else here," said the English teacher, slightly annoyed but keeping her cool.
Duo continued to smirk at the teacher, still holding his braid. Why did Dr. G have to send him to this terrible place? Why couldn't he just stay in the colonies?
"Who said I was lying?" he said sarcastically, his voice tinted slightly with an angered sorrow.
This made Ms. Evans almost flinch. In all her years of teaching, she had never heard a student use a tone like that. There was something very wrong with this boy. She sighed, "Mr. Maxwell… Duo, I'd like you to stay after class."
Duo frowned, his eyes darkening. "Why?"
"Because I'm the teacher and I said so."
"That's not a valid reason, Ma'am. I don't see why I should stay after class. I didn't do anything wrong. Maybe there's something wrong with you?" mocked Duo, clearly faking innocence.
The whole class laughed.
This was getting absolutely ridiculous. Ms. Evans was angry. "Everyone, quiet! Mr. Maxwell, in the hall, NOW."
Duo grinned, rising from his seat. He walked to the door, whispering "Whatever you say" as he passed the exasperated teacher. This could get very fun; making the lives of his teachers a living hell. Hey, he was a Shinigami after all.
Ms. Evans could barely keep her frustration in check. What was with this kid?! He acted like an adult, but couldn't be more than sixteen! And what was even worse, she could clearly sense that there was something more to this boy, something horrible that she could hardly comprehend.
"Ms. Evans, are you ok?" asked the girl in the front seat, the girl known as 'teacher's pet'.
The English teacher pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm fine. Just please, everyone get back to work."
-
Outside in the hall, Duo sat on the floor by the door, smirking to himself. He looked out the window across from him, watching as clouds blew by. He couldn't help but wonder how Heero had managed to transfer from school to school and not go insane. School was definitely a terrible place.
While Duo was lost in his musings, he didn't even hear the door beside him creak open. He almost jumped as Ms. Evans spoke, but managed to catch himself.
"Mr. Maxwell, you may come in now," she said with absolutely no emotion.
Duo frowned and rose to his feet. He stepped past the teacher and into the classroom. He knew everyone's eyes were on him, but he didn't care. He walked straight to his desk and sat down.
In the next moment, the bell signaling the end of class rang. All the students rose, rushing from the room. Duo remained where he was, however, knowing full well of his impending doom.
Ms. Evans sat at her desk. "Duo, would you please come here?"
Silently, Duo got up and walked to the English teacher's desk. He kept a straight face, even though he would much rather be scowling.
"Duo…" she started, looking into the former pilot's violet eyes. "I know this is your first day here and that you're nervous, but you still need to do your work. I'm letting you off with a warning for today, but next time you mouth off I'm going to have to give you a referral. Do you understand?"
Duo opened his mouth to speak, "Yes, but—"
Ms. Evans held up a finger, "No buts."
The teacher got up, walking around her desk to stand next to the teen, "Duo, if you ever need anything, I'm here to help. Now get your stuff and go to your next class, and don't be late, ok?"
Duo nodded and walked back to his desk. He grabbed the large black backpack and headed to the door. As he was leaving, he turned back to see Ms. Evans staring absently ahead in wonder.
Walking down the hall, Duo pulled out his schedule. Gym class next. The former pilot headed outside to the lunch area. The gym shouldn't be too hard to find, in fact he could see the large building right past the outdoor lockers.
Following the other boys, Duo entered the locker room. Not knowing what locker was his, he walked into the small office overlooking the area. At a desk in the tiny room, sat who Duo supposed was the P.E. teacher.
"Ah, you must be Duo Maxwell. I'm Mr. Carter, nice to meet you," said the teacher. The middle-aged man flipped through a binder on his desk, finally pulling out a small sheet of paper. He handed it to Duo, "Here's your locker number and combination. Your roll-call number is twenty-three, by the way. And you'll be participating in P.E. today, alright?"
Duo nodded, "Thanks."
As the former pilot turned to leave, Mr. Carter looked at him skeptically, wondering why in the world the boy had a three foot-long braid.
Duo found his locker, squeezing past the other boys to the middle of the isle. Pulling out a heap of clothes from his backpack, he changed into the gray and red uniform. After slipping on the pair of sneakers Hilde had forced him to buy months ago, Duo followed everyone out to the blacktop.
There, everyone seemed to be standing on numbers painted on the ground. Right, roll-call. Duo found his number and waited as Mr. Carter walked by.
"Ok, class," started the gym teacher loudly, forcing the chattering sophomores to quiet down. "Everyone, head out to the field; today we're gonna play flag-football!"
Duo began to walk out towards the field, trying to think of a way to mess up this class as well. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything except to start a fight, which was definitely out of the question. The former pilot decided, as much as he hated to, that he'd play nice for gym class. With luck, he might even have some fun, but that was highly unlikely.
As Duo and the other students gathered around the edge of the large expanse of grass, Mr. Carter called for everyone's attention again with a squeak from his whistle.
"Today, we're not gonna play in groups, we're gonna go by roll-call numbers. Odds get the yellow flags, Evens you get the red." He kicked at an old box at his feet; that up until now had gone unnoticed.
One of the girls spoke up from the back, "Why can't we play boys-against-girls?" there were a handful of "Yeah"s from the other students.
Mr. Carter seemed to get this question a lot, as his answer seemed a tad overused, "We will another time, Ms. Brooks. Now, Yellows, I want you over there, by the fence. Reds are over here."
Duo couldn't help but sigh. At this school he was just one of the other idiots, nothing special. As he slipped on the belt with two little yellow flags he wondered, 'Is this how the rest of my life will be? How can all those other kids be content with a life like this?'
Before he knew it, the former pilot was at the far end of the field with the other half of the class. He was snapped back into reality by the voice of someone whispering behind him.
"That new kid, yeah, the one with the braid… He's so weird! I bet he does drugs, yeah, that's it. I bet he's gonna totally suck at football too," the girl's hurried whispers were followed by a muffled sound of disgust.
Defiance sparked in Duo's chest again. Just because of what that girl said, he was actually going to play. He was going to show them that he wasn't just another idiot and that he was something special.
Duo's eyes narrowed as he looked out at the field. In the middle, between the two teams, the football lay on the ground. He could see the boys on the opposite team waiting anxiously for the game to begin.
For a split second, the largest teen on the other side locked eyes with Duo, glaring dangerously. The former pilot felt his body tense at the murderous intent.
However, after the shortest of moments, Mr. Carter blew his whistle, starting the game.
Duo let his body fall into stealth mode as he raced forward. The former pilot almost had the ball, when out of nowhere; the glaring boy from the other team grabbed it.
The large teen shoved Duo to the ground, ramming into the smaller sophomore's shoulder. Subconsciously, the former pilot took note of how he was careful to make the collision look completely accidental.
Duo lay in the grass for a few moments, dazed; his right shoulder was throbbing painfully. Distantly, he heard Mr. Carter's whistle blow and people gather around him. The former pilot pushed himself up into a sitting position, forcing himself to ignore the burning in his shoulder.
Mr. Carter knelt down in front of the braided teen, "You alright, Duo?"
The former pilot rose to his feet. "Yeah," he nodded, rolling his shoulder. Duo smiled, even though anger and frustration were running through his veins.
Mr. Carter looked at Duo skeptically. The teacher then turned, blowing his whistle at the boy from the other team. "Dugan, go back to your side. Everyone, we're restarting!" he called.
It was then that Duo noticed that the teen who had shoved him, Dugan, was still at the other end of the field. The larger sophomore smirked at the former pilot, as if to say "I'm gonna kill you as soon as I get the chance." His malicious intent seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else.
As Duo walked back to his team's side of the field, Dugan passed him. The larger sophomore bumped into Duo, turning to glare at the former pilot.
"Watch it," growled Dugan, "Or someone's gonna beat the crap outta your braided hide."
Duo glared daggers at the larger sophomore, unknowingly hastening his inevitable doom.
As everyone gathered at their ends of the field, the former pilot took a position near the front of his team. He was determined to get the ball before Dugan this time.
As the skree of Mr. Carter's whistle rent through the air, Duo sped towards the ball.
It wasn't until the former pilot has the football in his arms, that he saw Dugan lumbering towards him. Duo barely dodged the larger teen's arm, ducking under him.
The former pilot raced to the other end of the field, weaving through the Red team.
"Hey! Over Here!" the call caused Duo to glance up, coming to a halt.
He saw a girl with a yellow belt just past the opposing team. She was waving her arms at Duo, motioning for him to toss her the ball.
Nodding, Duo launched the football into the air. Only a split second later, a Red yanked off one of his flags.
Realizing that he had reacted too late, the Red cussed and threw the yellow banner to the ground.
Duo ran for the end of the field, pushing past the last bit of the other team. He motioned for the girl, who was narrowly avoiding loosing her flags, to toss him the ball.
The girl smiled and threw the football to the former pilot.
Duo leapt into the air, catching it with ease.
"…Aaand TOUCH DOWN!!!"
Mr. Carter's cry was followed by the shrill blow of his whistle.
The girl ran up to Duo, holding up her hand to give him a high-five.
Duo smiled, returning the gesture.
"You're awesome!" she said, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, I'm Dianne, by the way. Dianne Roth."
"And I'm Duo Maxwell," he smiled.
Dianne raised an eyebrow, "Well I've never met anyone with that name before…"
A smirk crept onto the former pilot's face, "You took the words right out of my mouth."
"Heeey," she poked him in the stomach.
Mr. Carter's whistle blew again, "Everyone, back to your sides! Quickly!"
Duo and Dianne jogged back to the Yellow's side of the field.
The game began again, with Duo racing for the ball. Only now, more kids from the yellow team helped the former pilot score.
After about five more rounds, the 'ten-minute' bell rang and everyone began to head to the locker rooms.
"That sure was fun!" grinned Dianne as the two walked off the field.
Duo smiled a genuine smile, having actually enjoyed this class. "You got that right. Who knew, this school might not be that bad after all."
"Well, I wouldn't say that just yet. The day's not even half over," she scowled slightly.
"Hn?" Duo wasn't expecting Dianne's dark tone. Hell, she could probably pull off being one of those 'Goths' if she tried to.
She shook her head, "You'll find out soon enough." Her tone became sarcastic again, "Well, I don't think I'm aloud in the boys' locker room. Meet ya' at the numbers!"
Duo hadn't even noticed that they were at the locker rooms already. He went in to go change as Dianne walked to the girls' lockers.
-
Duo shoved his P.E. clothes into the tiny locker. He buttoned up the shirt of his Priest's uniform and fixed his collar. He kicked at his locker, slamming it shut. He picked up his black backpack, placing it on the bench.
The former pilot glanced around inconspicuously before opening said pack. He reached in, feeling around for something. He mentally nodded as his fingers reached the familiar cold metal of his gun. Duo knew it wasn't wise to keep the weapon with him on campus, but he'd rather have it and get in trouble. It could mean fatal if he ended up in a situation where he needed the gun, but didn't have it; especially if it meant getting caught by OZ or not.
Duo shook his head, forcing himself to remain focused. He zipped up the backpack and exited the locker room, heading towards the roll call numbers.
Not seeing Dianne, the former pilot went to wait on his number.
Suddenly, Duo felt a tug on his braid. "What the—" he whirled around, scowling. Nobody touched his braid and got away with their lives.
The former pilot stopped short, seeing Dianne standing behind him. She smiled.
"'Ello. Was that an 'I hate school' glare?" she laughed.
Duo relaxed, not realizing that his body had gone rigid. "Sorry, I'm just not used to people sneaking up behind me… it usually doesn't end well when that happens…"
Dianne raised an eyebrow at him again, smiling. "If you keep talking like that, I might start thinkin' you're dangerous or somethin'! If I didn't know any better, I might say you brought a weapon to school, maybe even a gun… " she looked up at him with false skepticism.
Duo laughed, doing his best to sound lighthearted and not divulge the truth. The girl had absolutely no idea that she had just hit the nail on the head.
She poked him again.
The former pilot poked back. He smiled at Dianne, taking in her appearance for the first time.
She had straight black hair that just barely brushed her shoulders and deep, blue eyes. She wore a tight black t-shirt with some sort of band logo printed on the front; it looked like it had been around awhile. Dianne also wore a short, pleated skirt. That was black as well. She had a pair of onyx combat boots that went all the way up to her knees.
"You know," Duo said, "for someone so nice, you sure do wear a lot of black."
"Why, thank you," Dianne grinned, curtseying. "And I could say the same about you… what are you wearing anyways? A priest's outfit?" she raised an eyebrow at him again.
Duo nodded, "Yeah, it—"
But he was cut off by Mr. Carter's whistle, "Class, on your numbers! When the bell rings, nobody's leavin' till everybody is on their numbers!" he looked over the large group of sophomores, "Ms. Brooks, your classmates would appreciate it if you stop talking long enough to hear me and do what I say."
There was a slight chuckle among the students as April Brooks huffed and stomped to her surrogate desk.
Only a few seconds later, the sad excuse for a bell echoed through the high school campus, coming from the multiple ancient intercoms.
Duo pulled his schedule out from his pocket, walking over to Dianne. She looked over at the paper, leaning over his arm as they walked.
"Oooh, so what do you have next? I've got Spanish."
Duo searched for his next class, "Um, I have history in room E7; any idea where that is?"
The shorter girl stood on her toes, "Oh, the E wing is over there," she pointed to the building facing the field they had been playing on only moments ago. "Just walk around there a bit, and I'm sure you'll find it… So what do you have fourth period?"
"Math in I3"
Dianne made a face of disgust, "That sucks… I had her last year. Mrs. Fisher is a pretty nasty teacher. Ok, so that's in the main building, but you can get to it from the other side, see?" she pointed around the school's oldest complex. "We have English in there, but on the other side."
Now it was Duo's turn to raise the eyebrow, "We have English together?"
Dianne nodded, "Yup. I sit diagonal from you; but I guess you wouldn't notice, bein' sent out in the hall and all…"
"Ha, ha," the former pilot laughed sarcastically. "Well I better get to class, as much as I don't want to. See ya later, Dianne."
"Bye!" as he began to walk away, she called out to him, "Hey, Duo! Meet me by the locker cages after fourth period, 'kay?!"
"Sure," replied the braided teen as Dianne ambled off.
Duo stopped for a second, taking in this part of the campus. From where he stood, he could see doors leading into the main building, 'That must be where math is.' There was also a long string of classrooms stretching from the front complex all the way to four rows of even more rooms. Dianne had disappeared down one of those. Behind him, across a short expanse of trampled grass and cement, there was a much newer building full of classes. That was where Duo was headed.
The former pilot hurried to his history class; even though his internal clock told him that passing-period wasn't nearly over yet.
As he entered the classroom, Duo went straight to the teacher's desk. An older man sat at said specialized table; he looked up at the former pilot over a thick pair of glasses.
"Yes?" said the teacher.
"Um, I'm new…" mumbled Duo. His anger towards the school and his new life was somewhat subdued after gym class, but that could easily change.
The teacher stood, "Oh, right. And I take it you're Duo Maxwell?"
He nodded.
The teacher outstretched his hand, smiling, "I'm Mr. Reynolds."
Duo shook hands with the teacher, grinning as well. The smile didn't reach his violet eyes, however.
"Ok, so your desk is…" Mr. Reynolds scanned the classroom, "in the back corner over there."
Without another word, Duo sauntered over to his desk. Dropping his backpack, he sat down heavily in the cold seat.
A few moments later, the bell rang. Mr. Reynolds got up, walking to his podium at the front of the room.
"Good morning class. Everyone turn to page two-hundred and fifty-three," he opened his own book. "Who remembers one of the ways the industrial revolution was spread?"
Duo mentally groaned as several students anxiously raised their hands.
"Yes, Justin?"
A tall boy a few rows over answered, his voice mirroring a toothy grin.
The former pilot leaned over his desk, struggling to drone out the sound of his classmates reading from the textbook. He was somewhat amazed at how kids could stand doing such tedious work every day. And yet, they could probably never imagine the freedom, and terror, that Duo had experienced in his life.
About halfway through the period, Mr. Reynolds handed out a worksheet for everyone to do.
As the paper flopped onto Duo's desk, the teen simply ignored it, yet again refusing to work. The former pilot figured if he got expelled, or even suspended, then he wouldn't have to go to school anymore. Little did he know, however, that one way or another, he'd be stuck in school until he graduated.
A few moments went by and Mr. Reynolds began to walk around the room, making sure everyone was doing the worksheet. When he passed Duo's row, he stopped and came over to the former pilot's desk.
"Is there any reason why you're not working, Duo?" the teacher asked kindly.
Now was Duo's chance. He looked up at Mr. Reynolds, once again smiling with that mock innocence. The teen made a point to talk loud enough for the whole class to hear, "Actually, yes. I'm not doing my work because I don't understand why we're learning about such pointless things. What we should be learning about is the war between Earth and the Colonies, not how they built a train. And there's really no point in learning all this shit, since everybody here is just going to forget it after the test." Duo continued to smile slyly.
Several students gasped. Who was this kid? Nobody questioned why they were forced to learn what they did, but someone finally asked. And all the students knew, Duo Maxwell would be punished for his bravery.
"Honestly," the former pilot continued, "the only event that really matters right now is the war. What lead up to it? Why are we fighting? What are the Alliance and Romefeller doing to stop the killing?" Duo had crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking nonchalant. "If you ask me, those two are just makin' it all worse. All the colonies will be destroyed by the time they end the fighting."
Mr. Reynolds was appalled, how could someone so young understand so much about the war? Even he didn't know that much… "Mr. Maxwell, I'm sorry our curriculum doesn't meet your expectations, but this is what the state says I must teach. And as a student, it is your duty to participate and to learn. Do you understand? If you don't, I will have to give you a referral, and I'm sure your parents will not like to hear that. Now please, do your work."
Duo turned away, his eyes darkening. "My parents are dead," he whispered.
The first crack in an almost perfect façade.
"What was that?" asked Mr. Reynolds, doubting if he heard the former pilot correctly. He hoped he didn't.
"My parents, my family, everyone close to me died because of this damn war…" Duo's tone remained quiet.
The history teacher became consumed by guilt, "I-I'm terribly sorry..."
"Forget it." the former pilot's tone had snapped from sad to angry in a split second. Duo grit his teeth, grabbing a pencil from his backpack. Ignoring the stares from the other students, he began to scribble down answers onto his worksheet. He already knew them anyway.
Feeling out of place, Mr. Reynolds walked back to his desk. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Duo, but the sophomore had outright questioned his authority.
Mr. Reynolds sat down in his plush chair, unable to get the braided teen's words out of his head.
"…everyone close to me died because of this damn war…"
For the rest of the class, several students were whispering to each other. But Duo managed to drone out the constant chatter and push down his emotions by focusing on his paper. If he thought he had been angry with his new life before, he was definitely pissed now. These people were embarrassingly ignorant of the war. They wouldn't know who it was if Zechs himself slapped them in the face.
As the former pilot scribbled down answers, a nearby conversation sparked his attention.
"Oh my god, how does that kid know so much about the war? He just gives me the creeps!"
"Seriously! And listen to this; he's from the colonies, right? Well, I heard that he's really a spy for the rebels!"
"No way! So do you think, like, he's got all kinds of spy stuff with him?"
Duo barely stifled a dark chuckle.
"Probably… he definitely looks like a spy though. I bet he's like super strong too. He could probably kill you with one hit," the girl punched the air in front of her, as if to kill it in one blow.
"If he's a spy, though, then why is he here? There's absolutely nothin' but a Starbucks in this town."
"I don't know… oh wait! My dad said something about OZ, or something, having a secret base up in the hills! That's got to be why!"
Duo clenched his fists. If the little tip was true, then the Shinigami would be paying that base a visit, soon.
"And did you hear what he said a few minutes ago?" the girl's voice suddenly became serious.
"What?"
"He said that his family all died… I feel kinda bad for him…"
"Yeah… you're right. I could never imagine loosing my mom and dad… especially like that."
Thankfully, the bell rang before the girls could get into more detail in their conversation.
Duo shoved his paper into his backpack and stood. He grabbed the black pack and squeezed past the other students, making his way out the door and into the cool fall morning.
-
Duo was in a sour mood as he sat in his math class. Mrs. Fisher had given him a seat in the very front; he instantly hated her. The braided teen watched, bored, as the teacher gave notes using the class's SmartBoard, a giant interactive computer screen.
"Why are you not taking notes?"
Duo didn't even realize that Mrs. Fisher was standing in front of his desk, looking utterly annoyed.
"Huh?" he stammered for a second, earning a suppressed chuckle from the other students. "Oh, right. I already know this. It's as easy as '2 plus 2'." He smiled that sly 'I'm better than you' grin yet again.
"Fine," she unconsciously pushed up her glasses with one finger. Duo couldn't help think for a second, that if his teacher had been blonde, she would've looked like Lady Une's twin. "If you say it's so easy, then why don't you do the first example problem?" she barked, roughly handing him the fake pen that went to the SmartBoard. Yep, definitely Une's twin.
Silently, Duo rose and stepped to the interactive screen. He quickly read over the problem and began to scrawl down the answer. Even though it was the complex formula of calculating possible outcomes, it didn't take long for him to figure it out in his mind's eye. Hey, he was a Gundam pilot after all, finding probabilities was vital to what he did out there.
In just under a minute, Duo was back in his seat, grinning coyly.
"That's exactly what I got," gawked a girl a few moments later.
To all the other occupants of the room, it had looked like the former pilot had simply written down a random set of numbers.
Mrs. Fisher was shocked, "Good job…" After that, she began to explain the problem, clarifying Duo's answer.
Finally, the end of class came and everyone rushed out the door to lunch. Duo, however, was stopped before he could make it out.
"Duo, could you come here please?" asked Mrs. Fisher. Yet again, her tone reminded him of Lady Une.
Holding his backpack by the strap, he walked up to the teacher's desk. "What is it?" he asked. His tone contained his usual optimism, but it was tinted slightly by annoyance.
She looked up at him through oval glasses, "How were you able to answer that problem so quickly? I know for a fact that they haven't taught this subject in the colonies yet," her amazement was clear.
Duo made the annoyance in his tone obvious, "I'm just good at that kind of stuff. I have… had to be," his tone darkened for a moment, briefly remembering the fact that he had been removed from his duty as a Gundam pilot.
"Oh," Mrs. Fisher looked down at her desk. She didn't like Duo's saddened voice; it didn't seem to fit him. "You may go."
With that said, the former pilot slung his backpack over his shoulder and left; he had to meet Dianne at the lockers.
-
Exiting the bustling hallway, Duo made his way through the crowded courtyard.
Out of nowhere, the former pilot suddenly felt a powerful force slam into the side of his head. He stumbled, barely keeping himself standing as stars danced across his vision. Instinctively, he spun around and clenched his fists, ready to pummel whoever dared attack him.
Duo came to a sudden halt, only seeing a jumble of students on their way to lunch. The braided teen sighed, putting a hand to his now throbbing head. He turned, continuing on his way to the lockers.
-
Meanwhile, Dugan and two other boys blended into the crowd, completely inconspicuous. They were laughing with a malicious intent,
"And that is only the first of what is to come," snickered Dugan.
"Yeah, that freak Maxwell's goin' down," agreed one of the others.
-
Duo finally made it to the lockers; he looked around for Dianne. Spotting the girl, he put on his smiling façade and walked over to her. She grinned upon seeing him.
Even though he wasn't in the best of moods, the braided teen couldn't help but chuckle as he noticed the smudges of purple paint on her cheek and nose.
"What?" she asked, quirking her eyebrow yet again, "Is there paint on my face, again?!"
Duo continued to chuckle, his dark mood lifting, "Hello to you too. And yes, there is; here and here," he pointed on his face to show her where the paint was.
She let out a bit of an exasperated sigh and began to furiously rub her nose, trying to rid it of the colorful substance. After a few moments, she finally managed to get it all off. "Always. I always get paint on my face in art class…" she shook her head. "So anyways, let's go get lunch." Dianne motioned for Duo to follow her as she began to head over to the cafeteria.
-
Duo and Dianne sat at a sunny table with their lunch. They were now in the large area between the rows of classrooms and the history building.
The former pilot took a bite of his pizza, nearly gagging. "Bleh! This is almost as bad as Heero's cooking!"
Dianne burst out laughing, "I know huh? …Wait, who's Heero?" the Japanese name felt strange on her tongue.
Duo chuckled as well, "He's a guy I used to work with. Very dedicated to what we did. I'd say one of the only reasons you could tell he wasn't some robot was that he burned everything he tried to cook." Duo smiled at the memory of the 'perfect soldier' nearly setting the safe house kitchen on fire.
Dianne giggled, "Sounds like a cool guy. Is he cute?"
Duo looked at the girl like she was crazy.
She laughed again, blushing lightly, "Oh right. You wouldn't pay attention to that stuff, now would you?"
"No, not really," he laughed.
"So what exactly did you do up in the colonies anyway?" she leaned forward a bit.
Duo took a second to think this over; he couldn't exactly tell her that he was a Gundam pilot… but he had to say something. "Well for a while I was living with my girlfriend. She owns a scrap yard and we worked there together…" his voice faded out. "But enough about me, tell me somethin' about you."
Dianne looked at him skeptically for a moment. He was hiding something from her, and she wanted to know what it was, but that would have to wait.
"Well," she said around a mouthful of pizza, "I live with my mom… but she's never home cuz of her job… I only get to see her for a few days out of the month. It's been like this since I was about thirteen; pretty sucky, huh?"
Duo shook his head, "At least you have a mom. I've been an orphan on the street for as long as I can remember…"
Dianne gasped. She could clearly sense that their conversation was taking a turn for the worst and instantly changed the subject. "So anyways, since you're new, you don't know anything about this school, am I right?"
He nodded.
"Alright, so for starters, I'll tell you about status here. You see, all us students belong in a sort of monarchy. But the thing is, all the teachers are oblivious to it. They don't even notice when a kid is being bullied right in front of 'em. See those kids over there?" Dianne nodded past Duo, towards the only shaded table, in the corner by the music room. "All of them pretty much control the school. With them at the top, there's all the druggies next, then the football team and other sports, then the average kids, and finally, the nerds and wierdos like us."
"Damn… and none of the adults notice?" these 'student rankings' amazed Duo. He would've never thought that kids, other than the Gundam pilots, could be so cruel.
"Nope, they could care less. Anyways, all of us who aren't at the top pretty much all live in fear of our 'rulers.' You never know when they're gonna get ya."
"Jeez… who are these kids anyway?"
Dianne chuckled, "Well, at the very top, there's Dugan Berry and his girlfriend, April Brooks. You should know Dugan by now."
"Yeah sure do," Duo unconsciously rubbed his shoulder, even though it no longer hurt. "And April Brooks too, she sure is a snob…" like Relena, he thought.
Dianne gave him a funny look then began to giggle.
"What?" he asked, laughing too.
"Who says 'snob'?! Ha, ha I've never heard someone say that with a straight face before!" she continued to laugh.
Suddenly, Dianne's eyes widened, "Duo! Look out!" she cried, all humor lost from her voice.
At that instant, the former pilot sensed a now familiar malicious intent directly behind him. He ducked down as fast as his trained reflexes would allow. A fraction of a moment later, Duo felt a powerful fist swoop over him. He instantly knew who it was who had hit him in the head earlier.
"Well, well, well, look at what we have here, the nerd and the freak."
Duo jumped to his feet, facing Dugan. "And look who we have here, the bully who can't stand the thought of someone stronger and more popular than himself," he mocked. Even though he was almost a foot shorter, the former pilot glared up at Dugan, amethyst eyes blazing.
"And who might this stronger person be?" growled the bully.
"Me," was all Duo said.
Dugan laughed; it sounded like a dying animal. "Oh, so the freak thinks he's better than me, huh?"
"I believe that's what I just said," the former pilot continued to glare at the bully, his eyes conveying multiple emotions; none of which could be deciphered by the larger sophomore.
"Fine," an almost feral grin spread across Dugan's pimpled face. "We'll see if it's true. Tomorrow after school, out by the abandoned classrooms. Be there, or I will put an end to you." With that said, Dugan turned on his heel, making his way back to the 'royalty' table.
Dianne, who hadn't said a word the entire time, finally spoke, "Duo… Duo you're insane!! He's gonna kill you!" she jumped up, running around the table to hug him tightly.
Duo hesitated for a second before wrapping his arms around her, his smile back in its place. "Don't worry, Dianne. I'll beat him. I'll beat him and then we'll take his place at the top of the school."
Dianne looked up at him, cobalt eyes watering, "Duo Maxwell, you are the craziest person I ever met."
He laughed, "Thank you."
-
Duo and Dianne were back at their table.
"Right, so you need to know the rest about the 'royalty,'" Dianne said, crossing her arms. "Well, Dugan has two minions that serve underneath him. They're almost as strong as he is, and the three are deadly when they come at you all at once."
"Huh, well that's usually the case. And bad guys like that never play fair." Duo commented.
Dianne nodded, "Exactly. Their names are Lewis Michaels and Julian Howard. Lewis is the carrot-top," she nodded towards the shady table again.
From where he sat, Duo could see a tall boy with a shock of red hair. There was another teen with spiky brown and bleached-blonde hair as well. Both minions were quite tall, but still shorter than Dugan.
"And finally," said Dianne, calling back Duo's attention. "There's April's followers. Since April is the most preppy and conceited bitch in existence, she's got two followers; who just so happen to date Julian and Lewis. So the blonde one over there is Ashlee Conrad, and the brunette is Kimberly Brown. If you call her anything but 'Kimberly' she'll have Julian beat you into next week… at least that's what I heard," she shrugged. "Anyway, those two are just as preppy as April. If I were you, I'd do my best to avoid them all."
Duo couldn't help but shake his head. The braided teen opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he might've said was droned out by the sudden ringing of the bell.
Duo groaned, "Isn't school over yet?"
Dianne gave him an encouraging smile, "Only two more classes! And trust me, it'll go fast… alright, so I got history now… bye!" she grabbed her backpack and waved, heading to her class.
Duo smiled, grabbing his bag. He pulled out his schedule. Now he had to go be a 'teacher's aide' for some PE teacher. He began to walk towards the gym, making his way past hundreds of other students.
Not knowing exactly where to go, Duo went back to the boy's locker room, to Mr. Carter's office.
"Back again, Duo?" the PE teacher asked.
"Yeah… um, I'm supposed to TA for" he glanced at his schedule, "Someone named Alberrs."
"Oh, she's a freshman PE teacher. She'll be in the gym."
"Ok, thanks," said Duo.
"And you can leave your stuff in here if you want," offered Mr. Carter.
The former pilot nodded, dropping his backpack in the corner. He was hoping with all he had that the teacher wouldn't look inside it.
Duo then made his way into the gym. He waited there for a few moments.
Without warning, several students poured into the building. All of them, boys and girls, went to stand on roll-call numbers printed on the floor.
A young woman, a few years older than Noin, walked into the gym as well. Duo stepped up to her.
"Are you Ms. Alberrs?" asked Duo.
"Yes," She nodded, taking note of the teen's long braid. She instantly thought badly of him. "But you can call me Ms. A, and I take it you're Duo Maxwell?" for some reason, she had expected the former pilot to be more… average looking. To her, Duo looked like a trouble maker, like the kind of kid who wouldn't hesitate to get into fights or play cruel pranks on all his teachers. And she was somewhat right.
"That's me alright," Ms. A looked nice enough to Duo, and at the moment, he honestly didn't mind helping out, "Is there anything you need me to do?"
She was surprised by the tone of his voice, as it did not sound mocking of cruel like she had expected. "Oh, if you could take roll, that would be wonderful." Miss A handed him her clipboard. "Just put an X by their name if they're not here."
As Duo took roll, he absently began to wonder about making plans for after school. He definitely wanted to do a recon of the school campus, but that would have to wait until later in the day. He could always start researching that tip he got about the OZ base up in the hills. The sooner he blew them to hell, the better.
After roll-call, Ms, A instructed the other students to do a series of warm-up stretches. Many of the students complained about how many jumping jacks or push-ups they had to do. Duo couldn't help but chuckle, he was lucky if he had to do five times as much when he was training to be a Gundam pilot.
After several minutes, Ms. A then led the students out to the tennis courts. Duo had to carry the bag stuffed with rackets.
The braided teen managed to get out of work for the rest of the class. He simply had to endure the suspicious looks the teacher kept throwing at him.
Keeping up his smiling and joking façade, Duo went to lean against the fence next to Ms. A. he crossed his arms, grinning at the teacher, "So…"
"Yes?" she turned to face him, glaring slightly. Even though he was acting nice, she couldn't help but expect him to turn on everyone without warning.
Duo sighed, crossing his arms, "Earth sure is nice, don't ya think?" he could tell that the teacher didn't like him, but he was going to be nice anyway; especially if it was annoying to her. As long as he wasn't going to have to do any real work, the former pilot was going to enjoy this class.
Ms. A went back to watching the other students, "I guess so. Life must be al lot different up in the colonies."
Duo's grin widened, "Yeah, well the weather's always the same, that's for sure."
Ms. A didn't reply, instead she opened the binder she held, and started to mark on a piece of paper, constantly glancing at her class.
"Fine then," Duo mumbled, staring up at nothing.
The rest of the class went by in silence between the two. This, however, gave Duo a chance to get a bit more familiar with his surroundings.
He mentally inspected the neighborhood surrounding the school, the soldier in him on high alert. Eventually, he concluded that it was normal enough, at the moment.
Finally, it was time for everyone to head in. Duo walked back to the locker room.
As he followed the other boys into the building, the former pilot entered Mr. Carter's office. He went to his backpack, glad to find it exactly as he had left it.
Duo then sauntered out to the gym, where Ms. A's class was gathering. The teacher managed to toss him one last suspecting glare before the bell rang and he rushed out of the building.
As Duo merged with the group of passing students, he yanked out his crumpled schedule yet again.
Biology in G-3
The former pilot was glad, however, because this was his last class for the day.
Duo headed for the lunch area. He had managed to get a glance at a campus map in the hall earlier, so he knew where he was headed. The braided teen's next class was in the long strip of rooms facing the lunch courtyard.
Duo made it to his Biology class without much trouble. As he walked in, he was surprised to see Dianne sitting alone in the back. She didn't notice him.
Following his routine of the day, Duo went to the teacher's desk.
"Can I help you?" asked the biology teacher. The man was leaning back in his chair, feet up on the desk.
Duo nodded, smirking, "Yeah, I'm Duo Maxwell, I'm new."
The teacher leaned forward, feet going to the floor. "Oh right, right. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand and Duo shook it. "I'm Mr. Johnson," continued the teacher, "sit wherever you like."
Duo nodded and made his way to the back of the class. The former pilot smiled, now seeing that Dianne had her nose in a book.
Quietly, duo walked up behind her, and covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?" he said, his wide grin evident in his voice.
"Ah!" Dianne jumped slightly in surprise; she put her hands over Duo's, taking them from her eyes. She turned, "Duo! Hi! I can't believe we have Bio together!"
The former pilot took the seat next to her, grinning from ear to ear.
As the bell rang, a worksheet was passed out to everyone in the class.
Dianne groaned, "Not more work!"
Duo chuckled, "I know, huh?" he flipped the page over, quickly reading over all the questions. Photosynthesis. He had learned this back when he had to go to school on L-2.
Dianne dropped off from her stool, "I'm gonna go get a book."
While she was gone, Duo took out his pencil and began working. The worksheet was easy and only took him a few moments.
"You're done already?!" exclaimed Dianne. She was just barely halfway done when he had finished.
"Yeah… it was really easy," he said slowly, as if to point out the obvious.
"Ha, says you," she retorted, turning back to her work.
Pushing his work to the edge of the table, Duo crossed his arms, leaning over said surface. He began to daydream of ways to blow up that OZ base.
A little while later, Duo found a hand waving in his face, calling for his attention. Blinking, he quickly sat up, turning to Dianne, "W-what?"
She chuckled quietly, "You zoned out for like half the period!"
Duo ran a hand through his unruly bangs, "Sorry… that happens to me sometimes."
She giggled again, "So… do you, like, get a ride home, or walk?"
He smiled, "I gotta walk. What about you?"
"Walk," she nodded, "I live over on Valley Street."
Duo quirked an eyebrow, "Isn't that right by H Street?"
"Yeah," Dianne confirmed, "my house is right on the corner of Valley and H."
He smiled, "Well I guess we live by each other, then."
"Really?!" she said, smiling excitedly.
Duo nodded, "Yep. I'm the first one in the apartment complex there." The former pilot honestly didn't see anything wrong with telling her where he lived. He knew he could trust her. Heero, however, would definitely give him one of his rare lectures if he ever found out.
As quiet and stoic as Heero seemed to be, he had the capability of being even louder than Duo at times. And of course, the braided teen had experienced quite a few of these outbursts. Heero had blown up at him for almost half an hour after he had been captured by OZ. and the Wing Zero pilot had practically exploded at Duo once when the American wouldn't stop annoying him for a whole day.
Dianne waved her hand in front of Duo's face yet again. His eyes had gone dark and distant, as if he was staring at some distant memory.
"Hey..,! What's with all the spacing out? You ok?" she asked, slightly worried.
Duo quickly pushed his carefree, smiling façade back into place, "Yeah, I'm great. I was just thinkin' about somethin'…"
"Oh…" Dianne had the strangest feeling that the former pilot was not telling her everything.
After a few quiet moments, the bell rang, and the two followed the other students out of the classroom.
Duo and Dianne began walking towards home.
"Yes! It's finally over!" exclaimed Duo enthusiastically.
Dianne laughed, "Yes, but don't forget to do all your homework!"
The braided teen smiled deviously, "No way."
She smirked, "Fine then, but don't come crying to me when you get detention for a week."
It wasn't long until the two teens were almost home, going their separate ways.
Duo waved to Dianne, watching her enter her house on the corner. He then continued to make his way down the street, finally stopping as he reached his tiny apartment.
Soldier instincts forcing him to be alert, Duo glanced around, looking for anything suspicious before entering his home. He closed the door behind him, locking it. Finally, he relaxed.
Duo dropped his bag on the floor and kicked off his shoes. He then walked through the small living room to his bedroom. He sat at his computer desk and booted up his laptop.
Duo then began hacking into the OZ website. He ran a search for any of their bases near where he was. After only a few moments of searching, the braided teen found it.
That girl had been right; there was an OZ base in the hills outside of town.
Duo looked at the clock, contemplating whether or not he should infiltrate the base today. He eventually decided to wait until later that week, so he could prepare.
Since the OZ base was far enough from town, Duo could set off a bomb in the facility without the civilians nearby getting hurt. It would be easy.
Duo already had all the components to cook up the bomb he would need.
The braided teen sighed, leaning back in his chair. He then shut down his computer.
Duo stood, walking out of the room. He was going to do a recon of his neighborhood and school.
He opened up his black backpack, taking the handgun from inside it. He also took out a holster that went under his shirt, unnoticeable. Once he was situated, Duo left the little apartment.
-
The late autumn sun was already beginning to set when Duo returned home.
After locking the door and returning his gun to his backpack, Duo slouched onto the old sofa in his living room. He sat there for a few moments, letting himself relax as much as possible.
Heaving a sigh, Duo rose and made his way back to his bedroom. Grabbing a pair of sweats, he headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Less than half an hour later, Duo was back on the couch, running a brush through his damp hair. Eventually his hair was dry enough to twist into the usual braid.
-
Finally, Duo's first day in this new life came to an end, as he lie in bed, gazing out the window at the night sky, he desperately wished to be back in his Gundam, getting revenge against those who had made his life turn out the way it had.
um, so i'll try to update this as soon as possible, but dont expect anything for a while. although, i'm pretty anxious to work on chapter two, so i might work on it a little more than usual. thanks everyone!