HOROSCOPE

Prologue: Orphans of War

"Did you hear? There are new students coming today."

"I heard they're orphans from the war."

"Again? I wish they wouldn't. They're so….dirty."

Heero stood a few feet away from the gossiping students, his face doing nothing to betray the thoughts rolling through his head. Spoiled brats, he thought with disgust.

It wasn't the first time the school had accepted students that were left with nothing from the repercussions of war. Heero himself had once been held in contempt for being one of the dirty, parentless children the school had taken in. However, the rumors were instantly quelled when they learned of his guardian, Odin Lowe, who was supposedly away fighting in the war.

Unlike the other students that flitted about the halls, Heero didn't come from prestigious and noble backgrounds. His 'family' had been a working-class commoner. Odin was a musician turned mercenary turned soldier who had been living in the Colonies with Heero until nine years ago. They weren't related by blood, but Odin and Heero regarded each other as nothing less than family.

When Heero turned thirteen, he was enrolled in the Earth Sphere's St. Gabriel Academy that educated students until the end of their secondary level careers. Technically, they could not afford to pay for the ridiculously steep tuition to keep his son enrolled in the school, but the salary from Odin's meager position as a freelance mercenary, his left over money from his musical performances, and Heero's own natural intelligence and skills had helped considerably.

But the cost of living was still unimaginably high.

It was short of a miracle that Heero survived as long as he did in the high society scene. The cost of books, his uniform, the dorm then pile on the two-thousand-dollar-per-semester tuition, Heero was certain even his gift of astuteness wouldn't keep him in the school for long.

And that was almost the case when one of installments of the tuition payments was a few weeks late in Heero's first year. Heero was threatened with being removed from the dorms, and with no place to stay with Odin gone.

That was when he met Quatre. The blond had been one of the few people brave enough to approach him. The boy was all smiles from what Heero had seen before when he bothered to take note of the other. Heero tried his best, even at the tender age of thirteen, to keep his personal life just what it was. Personal: No one else's business or concern. But the blue-eyed blond was not easily dissuaded when the brunette easily snubbed his efforts to get to know him.

"I heard you're related to Odin Lowe," the gentle boy began one of this several attempts at drawing Heero into conversing with him. "I've been to one of his performances before when my family visited the L1 Colony. He's very talented."

Heero rewarded his efforts with a grunt and a lovely view of his back as he walked away.

The blond tried numerous other times to engage the other boy until finally, Heero conceded and let the other into his world. It had taken a considerable amount of patience on Heero's part to learn to accept someone like Quatre into his life, but he found it to be worth it-for several reasons.

Quatre, or more known as Quatre Raberba Winner, was the son of CEO of Winner Enterprises. The company had great influence on the Colonies and soon, was able to spread its power to Earth Sphere. Despite being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Quatre was the image of kindness and charity. He couldn't look away when he saw someone in front of him who obviously in need of help.

And he knew he wanted to help Heero the moment the other agreed to be his friend.

It took a bit of effort on Quatre's part to get his father to grant his wish to aid his new companion. His father didn't see the benefit of paying for Quatre's new friend, but the blond was adamant about getting his way. After all, he was the Winner's youngest child and only son. How could he say no? After some 'negotiating' and a near filibuster on Heero's behalf, Quatre had his father paying the missed bill and covering the rest of Heero's living expenses.

To say Heero was surprised was an understatement.

Regardless, he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude toward the Winner heir and was determined to pay the boy back somehow. Quatre had laughed at Heero's resolve to repay the blond, and simply dismissed the notion with a simple "That's what friends are for, Heero."

Friends. Heero tried out the word and decided, for Quatre, he could like it.

Heero moved from his spot against the wall, finally tired of listening to the irritating chatter. He made his way down the hall, intent on finding the previously thought of friend, until he was stopped by the familiar, high-pitch shrill of his name.

"Heeeeeeroooooo!" Relena Darlian called as she came bounding down the corridor towards Heero, her strawberry blond hair bouncing around her. She stopped as soon as she reached the other and grabbed his hand. She struggled to catch her breath.

"Relena," was all Heero bothered to say to acknowledge the girl. Soon after he had befriended Quatre, Relena had seen it as an open opportunity to push her way into Heero's life as well.

Unlike Quatre, Relena was the stereotype prim and proper, high-class girl. Relena acted like a princess, believing that the entire world revolved around her. Okay, she was a princess, but that was not the point.

Relena was the youngest child of the former King Peacecraft of the Sanq Kingdom along with her older brother Milliardo.

After the assassination of her parents, Relena had been adopted by the Darlian family, continuing her life in lavished surroundings, while her brother disappeared from the public eye. Relena didn't remember Milliardo very well or her life at the Sanq Kingdom, so she was unbothered by their disappearance.

Regardless of her kingdom being destroyed, Relena still deemed herself a princess. And as a princess, Relena expected to get everything she wanted-right now, that happened to be Heero Yuy's unyielding affection. She had tried, almost as many times as Quatre to talk to him, to convince the former Colonist to be her boyfriend.

He politely declined each time, but the entire school knew that there was no way that anything could escape Relena once she was determined enough to pursue it and pretty much considered the two to be a couple. Quatre had mentioned one day they would be cute together if Relena wasn't so overbearing with her feelings. Heero simply grumbled in response at the notion that had Quatre giggling at behind his hands.

"I saw the new students," she finally said after she regained her normal breathing patterns. She continued even after Heero showed no interest in hearing more. "It's a boy and a girl."

"I'm looking for Quatre," Heero said, completely unconcerned with the new students.

"Don't you want to meet them?" Relena pressed, ignoring the other's obvious disinterest.

"No," replied Heero flatly. His annoyance beginning to seep into his voice. Something Quatre also forgot to consider when suggesting a relationship.

"Why not? I'm sure that they're-"

"I don't want to meet them," Heero snapped quietly, cutting off the girl.

Heero jerked his hand out of her loose grasp and returned it to his side, effectively knocking her off balance. He had to suppress a tiny smirk that threatened to form at seeing the bothersome girl teetering on her feet.

Deciding that he'd wasted enough time entertaining the princess, he continued on his small sojourn to find his blond friend. To his surprise, he found his friend crouching low to the wall with a few other students at his side. They were all trying to covertly peer around wall, obviously attempting to study what was on the other side.

Curiosity wasn't normally something Heero Yuy would indulge himself in, but he did want to know why his friend was bent low spying with a small group of girls.

"Quatre what are you doing?" Heero asked slowly after a beat, deciding that he really did want to know what the blond was up to.

Quatre jumped at the unexpected sound of his friend's voice, consequently startling the girls that were crouched next to him.

"H-Heero!" he sputtered in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," was the simple answer. "What are you doing?"

Quatre blushed at being caught doing something clearly questionable. It wasn't like the blond to invade someone else's privacy. And considering he had been found hiding behind a wall, it was safe to say that was exactly what he was doing.

"The new students are talking with the Dean," Quatre supplied when he realized his friend wasn't upset with him, standing so that the brunette wasn't looking down at him. Heero could look rather intimidating without trying.

The students again? Heero groaned inwardly. First Relena, now Quatre. He supposed they must be something interesting if the young Winner reduced himself to sneaking peeks at them. Though, he couldn't fault his friend for behaving the way he was. After all, Quatre had an impressive twenty-nine sisters. Something things were bound to rub off on the sole boy.

The sounds of the girls 'eeping" and scrambling into an upright position was indication enough the objects of their curious stares had turned towards them. Not wanting to be caught displaying distasteful manners, the girls quickly feigned conversation and Quatre shifted nervously, not sure what to do. Heero, unbothered by the prospect of being seen, simply watched as the dean and the two students entered into his direct line of vision.

Both the students were brunettes, each with a shade progressively lighter than Heero's. The taller one was a solemn looking male, a caramel fringe of hair concealing one eye. The only visible eye was a deep olive colour, gazing intently forward as he glided across the floor. His build was tall and lean. He had the shape and light stride that clearly marked him as someone with some sort of acrobatic background.

The other was much less graceful in appearance. Unlike the boy walking beside them, the other student had an infectious bounce to her step. Her face was round, traces of baby fat still left behind on the slightly plumped cheeks. Her mauve eyes glinted behind messy chocolate bangs. Behind them, a long, neatly gathered braid swished along with the established pace.

Heero's eyes narrowed. It wasn't until the trio was closer did Heero notice a severe flaw in the information Relena had shared with him. Upon closer inspection, the cobalt-eyed boy realized this 'she' he was appraising was actually, a he.

Relena needs to get her eyes checked, Heero decided to himself. Then again, until the boy had gotten closer to him, he had seen the feminine qualities. But the fact that both the students were wearing the boy's uniforms left Heero questioning Relena's common sense. It wasn't like she hadn't seen long haired boys. Her estranged brother himself kept his hair long.

The Dean stopped when he noticed the strange gathering of students standing around in an odd place in the halls. He was going to question them to see if they were up to no good, when he noticed Quatre among them.

"Ah, Mr. Winner!" The round man greeted jovially. "What a pleasure to see you."

"Hello Dean Zwolf," Quatre responded with equal mirth. "How are you today? I haven't seen you since the luncheon the past week."

"Good, good." The man chuckled heartily, causing his considerable belly to ripple underneath his suit. "I've been busy you know. Mostly now with the incoming students."

He gestured towards the two at his side. It was then that Heero noticed the boys taking in their appearances carefully, almost as if sizing them up.

They probably have heard how this school tends to welcome war orphans, he mused silently.

Quatre seemed undaunted, or oblivious, to the vigilant watch he was under. He smiled warmly at the two, extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Quatre Raberba Winner."

The taller said nothing. He was proving to be even quieter and unapproachable as Heero had been, not even making a noise in response. The braided boy, however, demonstrated himself to be very outgoing and took Quatre's offered and in a firm, and slightly brain-rattling, hand shake.

"The name's Duo! Duo Maxwell! Nice to meet'cha!" he practically shouted, continuing to jerk the other's hand up and down. Heero almost laughed at the comical expression his friend was making as the powerful hand shake was making him visibly dizzy.

Duo let him go with a short bark of laughter, clapping the blond playfully on the back.

"You're okay, Kid!" Duo decided, a wide smile breaking out on his face. Quatre shook his head to clear his slight distorted vision before smiling back at the brunette. His attitude certainly was contagious.

"Trowa," was all the other said, not keen on shaking hands if that was how it was going to be done.

Heero figured from their starkly contrasting personalities that the two did not know each other previously, but just happened to be brought to the schools attention nearly simultaneously. Trowa seemed more quiet and introverted like himself, while Duo, at first glance, seemed to be a perpetual ball of energy.

Quatre smiled at Trowa, pleased that Trowa settled on permitting the blond to at least become acquainted with him. The Dean beamed at the students willful openness with Quatre. An idea struck him and he patted Quatre similarly, albeit notably softer than Duo had, on the back.

"Why don't you and Mr. Yuy show them around, Mr. Winner, hmm?" The Dean suggested.

Quatre smiled happily at the notion and Heero almost looked mortified. He'd purposefully kept silent during the entire exchange, hoping only Quatre would go noticed by the two. Not that he was concerned with Trowa, but Duo-

As if sensing his discomfort, Duo turned in his direction to locate this 'Mr. Yuy.' The violet eyed boy's grin only widened as he confirmed in his mind the Heero was the one in question. The glint in his eye grew and Heero decided that that glint was dangerous.

Heero inwardly groaned when he heard Quatre quickly agree to the Dean's proposal. He felt a small knot form uncomfortably in his stomach. He knew then that his personal space was about to shrink and his unexpected circle of friends was about to grow.

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