Instances of Life – Chapter 1
By Mizuno Mouri
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine, never will be. I only use the guys for the purpose of writing. So don't sue, it's really not worth it. I only take claim to the original characters that I have created for the purpose of this story. Ha.
Dedicated to Elphaba
Things use to be a lot different but now they're not. I was once a straight A student. Honor roll, academic recognition, and picture perfect in every way. Of course you know that didn't last for very long, nothing ever does. Times change, people change, I changed, and most would say it was not for the better.
You might say it started after I broke up with my first love and first heartbreak. His name was Heero Yuy and he was beautiful to me, inside and out. Sure he was a bit unstable at times but between me and my other friends we learned to cope with it and help him through his problems and our own. We were strong together. I never guess that he would leave me though. Break my heart in two and go to Trowa.
Yes, Trowa, the tall, strong, silent guy that everyone pinned after but never got. That's who he went running too after he broke me. Sad to say Tro and me haven't talked since and neither have Heero and me. I can't face either one of them anymore. Too many memories, too many broken chances that could've been, but I really should move on to brighter things (if there are such things).
You see I was the perfect child, obedient, mature, and well to do about the world. I knew how bad drugs were, what sex was, and not to talk to strangers. And in all of this, my parents prepping me for the world, I grew up too much. I expected too much out of life and in return I got a pile of shit. My parents always believed in me and told me "You'll do perfect son. Just keep on going we'll always believe in you." They told me that a week before they kicked me out of the house and told me to get out. They didn't want a failure for a son.
I think trying too hard is what got me in the end. Trying to be the perfect kid and do everything that all expected from me. I did this and that, behaved, never stepped out of the lines and finally I just snapped. I gave up. I stopped believing in the good things, stopped believing that everything would be okay, that I would make it in the end. Bull shit, that's what it is, a bunch of bull shit. I don't care anymore! I don't… really I don't.
Yet… why does it still bother me? That I didn't try hard enough to accomplish all the things that were expected of me? I'm suppose to be tough, to be hardened, but I'm not. I'm soft like jello but I bounce back just as quick. Who cares anyway? I'm homeless, lost, and lonely. School's my only sanctuary. I can go there and be myself, and no one can tell the difference. People avoid me for the most part anyway. They don't like looking into the face of reality. Burst their bubbles will I? You'd better believe it. I'm not a ray of sunshine; I'm hell on wheels.
~
"MAXWELL!" Duo looked up suddenly, stirred from his thoughts. Mrs. Prescott, the ever-present English teacher from the pits of the deepest abyss, gave Duo her most evil glare, again. Shaking his head he sighed a bit and shrugged his shoulders. Looking up to the front of the class he gave her a faint smile.
"Sorry Mrs. P didn't mean to zone out." Duo sank back into his chair, third row, and last seat. It was all the way in the back. Just the place he liked it because he could see everything that was going on and no one would be able to look at him without him noticing.
"Maxwell, I suggest that if you expect to pass this class
this year, you'll start paying attention better," There was a slight
mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Duo could see the next comment coming, "and
perhaps turning in your papers with higher scores than that of a 50 might get you
a passing grade." Within the next few moments the class erupted into a roaring
fit of laughter and it was all because of Duo, who just sat there in his seat
and stared blankly at them all. He grinned slightly; according to most he was
the class joke. He barely skimmed passing and as always, yet he took the
advance courses that were offered. For the one reason that he could.
"Yes'um." Duo spoke softly giving Mrs. Prescott a slim smile. Glancing over to the clock Duo sighed. 'Twenty more minutes before this class is over.' He smiled at that thought. After that he had lunch and then he could leave to go to work. One thing though, he had no idea where he was to go after that
"Okay students. Class is over for today. I'll be expecting a three-page report on my desk by Monday. Oh and Maxwell…" Mrs. Prescott looked over to Duo with that same look, again.
"Hai?"
"What?" She blinked at him.' Stupid!' Duo nearly smacked his forehead. Of course he knew Mrs. Prescott couldn't speak Japanese but he spoken anyway
"Yes, I mean."
"That's a six page report for you. Single-spaced and size 10 font and yes I will get the computer instructor to make sure it's size ten." Duo winced as his thoughts of spending the weekend settling his problems went down the drain. 'Here I come library.' He thought a bit darkly.
The bell rang immediately after that and the room quickly emptied, as always. Slowly slinking his way out of his seat, Duo instantly felt a hand fall down upon his shoulder. Turning around Duo looked back to see that it was Mrs. Prescott. He sighed; there was that look of concern that all teachers get on their faces sometime or another for their students.
"Duo why are you doing this? I remember when you had perfect grades. What happened?" Gently squeezing Duo's shoulder she gave him another worried look.
"Life happened." Duo muttered under his breath and quickly departed leaving Mrs. Prescott to wonder about what he could have possibly have meant.
Chomp. Chew. Gulp. Swallow. In four simple movements of his mouth and throat, Duo had put away his sandwich and the majority of his chips. Duo sighed and packed away what was left of his sandwich and looked about the cafeteria. It was time to go.
"Work soon." He muttered softly and stood up moving what was left of his lunch back into his bag. Duo moved about the cafeteria grounds with slight displeasure. School was one of the only places he had left to hide, and even now it was losing its appeal to him. 'Losing faith is such a bitch.' He thought grimly and completed his trek across the halls and to the front doors. Never missing a beat of his footsteps into freedom. Gladly he stepped out into the air outside the school building.
Yet in stepping into freedom it bit him right in the face.
"Damn winter!" Duo grumbled and pulled his coat in around him more. Pulling at the end of his braid, he wrapped it around his neck as a scarf. A soft chuckle came from his throat, who would insult his braid now? It had more than just one purpose. Slowly he ran his hands up and down his arms to warm himself up a bit more. He grunted softly, he had to by the thin trench! 'No I couldn't buy the one with lining!' He berated himself once more and walked off the campus. Moving about into the city streets he rotated his neck, trying to lose some of the tension that he felt there. Maybe that tension would be gone if the future looked a little bit brighter, but right now it was bleak and rocky.
Duo paused for the moment on a sidewalk. 'Fifteen minutes left before I'm due at work... better get a move on.' He grimaced slightly as he picked up his pace and walked into the void business district. It was almost empty around this time, completely void of all people because they were off eating lunch at some well to do place. Yet, that wasn't what caused him to grimace. The fact that there had been a rumor going around his job that the next person in late would be eighty-sixed and he didn't want it to be him. From working one moment to fired the next. 'Such is life...' He thought with a dark chuckle to himself but that chuckle soon turned into a deep cough.
"K'so!" Duo swore quickly through clenched teeth.
Being sick was one thing that he did not want to be nor did he need to be with
all that was going about now. A slight rumble echoed through his tummy and he
winced once more but kept on walking. 'You're not getting enough to eat
Duo...' He chided himself but with five dollars on person and only a
hundred in the bank, there wasn't much to go on.
Before another coughed racked Duo's body a small droplet of water of hit his
nose, quickly followed by another one and another. 'Oh goody... rain.'
He snickered softly as he pulled his cap put of his bag and walked on. Soon
enough he walked into the doors of his job. 'How unfortunate...' He thought
with a dark chuckle escaping his lips.
"Oi! Duo mi amigo!" Looking up suddenly Duo caught sight of Skye at the register and waved back with a small smile on his face. She simply shook her head. Of course she knew all about what was going on with Duo. There was a thin smile appearing on Duo's features as he quickly gave a quick look over of Skye. She was 17 with one hell of a bite. He knew from personal experience that the small woman would cut you down to size within moments of even showing a bit of an ego.
"What's up, Skye?" Duo quipped. Skye simply smiled
a small grin and pushed a strand of brown away from her face.
"Nuthin' much. Be careful though, Boss Man is on a rampage in the office." Sighing after that she gestured to the office. "He's been in there all day and with the DM and it hasn't been pretty." Duo gave her a nod of his head and walked passed the register and into the office. Looking at the clock he smiled, only a minute late. 'No damage there...'
"DUO!" 'Nevermind...' Duo turned around quickly to see his boss Don. Big man, big ego, bad temper.
"Yes Boss Man?" Duo spoke softly; Boss man was something that only he and Skye called the guy. It was kind of a title they had given him.
"You're late! You're suppose to be here and four not four o' one," he gave Duo a wicked glare, "you're fired!"
'What the fuck?' Shaking his head quickly Duo put his best smirk on his face and looked at Don.
"Fine. I'm outta here." Turning around quickly Duo stormed out of the office. 'There went my job and cash flow.' Not paying attention he ran right into Skye, who happen to have heard the whole thing and looked like she was about to blow.
"Bloody hell? Boss Man?" She took one look at Duo and then one look at Don. She pouted and her face turned a brighter red. "What are you thinking?! You fire him for being a minute late and you don't fire that other jerk Jimmy for stiffing you on a shift? You... you bastard!" Duo blinked, no he didn't see that coming. She never insulted him before.
"Skye, hey chicka, don't get yourself fired..." Duo put an hand on her shoulder but it was too late.
"Fired? She's not fired! She's barred! Get out of my store! In fact the both of you are! Get lost! I never want to see you here again!" Done blew up at the both of them, glaring both of them down. Duo was speechless, that was a bit different. Well, not really.
"Thank You!" Skye spoke up quickly. Moving behind Don, she grabbed her backpack and looked up to Duo. "Well let's go Duo. You heard the man we've been barred and legally that give him to right to call the cops on us for being in this building." She gave Duo a flashing smile and grabbed his arm to pull him out of the store.
"But...?"
"Just be quiet Duo, will ya?" Skye covered Duo's mouth with her hand and shook her head. "Neither one of us need this crap anymore than the next person. We've got enough troubles of our own." They both stepped outside and into the continually falling rain. A small flicker of a glare passed over Duo's face.
"Damnit! It's still raining." He said with a gruff grunt. Skye looked up to him with a smile on her face.
"The world is crying for us." She said with a soft chuckle and a wink at Duo. "By the way Duo..." She stopped for a moment on the street where they were standing and caught his arm in her hand. Duo stopped and turned to face her. 'Please don't ask...'
"What? Is there something on my back or something like that?" Duo quickly turned about looking over his clothing to see if there was anything there, of course he was feigning it but that was the point.
"Duo! No you don't and you know it. What I want to know is if you've settled all that out yet and got a place to stay yet?" She gave him an earnest concerned look and crossed her arms waiting for answer. Duo gulped and sighed a bit before pulling his cap over his eyes some. 'Rule One. Never Lie to Skye.' A cough racked his body and he closed his eyes for a moment. A small tapping could be heard. "Well, Duo?" Skye said with an irritable tone. Duo finally looked to her.
"No. I've got no place yet. I'm saving all my money to get an apartment but I've not got enough yet." He looked at her still as another cough surged through his body. Skye's shoulders sunk and a sigh escaped her lips.
"Thought as much. You're coming home with me," Duo opened his mouth to protest but Skye spoke up before he could say a world, "now listen I know you don't want 'charity' but this isn't charity. This is a gift from one friend to another and besides I've been looking for another person to share the apartment with. Kat will be please I've got another person to room. It's a large flat and it's empty without three people living in it." She said quite quickly, eyeing Duo and daring him to tell her no. Duo sighed and stared blankly at the ground.
"A'ight. How much is the rent going to be?" He looked up to her with a smile on his face for a change. Perhaps things were getting a bit brighter that is until he started to have a coughing fit.
"Duo? Oi, Duo? You okay?" Skye moved over to him quickly and patted his back as he continued to cough.
"Fine," his voice came out as a hoarse whisper, "like I said how much is rent?" He looked up to her. Skye just stood there, hands on her hips and a pout on her face.
"Damnit Duo, you're sick! Sheesh! Rent's free, Duo. After my parents died they left the place to me, it's all mine. All you've got to worry about is bills and that's about 250 a month. We can sort it all out later. I'm taking you home and you're going to bed! Now you've got more stuff than what's in your backpack so where's the rest of it?" Moving beside Duo, Skye pulled at his arm. There was a major height difference between the two. A small five foot to a five foot eight. There was a weak smile on her lips that meant she was only trying to be comforting.
"It's at my parent's house. They agreed to hold onto it until I got a place to stay. I guess I'll go get it now then..." Duo stood back up fully and looked at Skye his cobalt eyes flickering slightly in the darkening light.
"No. You. My apartment. Bed. Now." She crossed her arms once more and glared at him.
" 'Kay... you don't have to be a bitch about it." Duo grumbled and flicked his braid over his shoulder.
"That's Miss Bitch to you. My bike's over there." She gestured to the parked motorcycle on the curb. "I've got an extra helmet, I just hope you don't mind close quarters because I drive it and only me." She pulled him towards the bike and smirked slightly. It was a statement of fact not an option.
"All hail Skye the motorcycle freak." Duo cracked a small smile at her not really being pulled but letting her take him along. It was nice to have someone worrying about him just because. Skye tried to hide the fact that she was hiding her laughter. "And you'd better not forget it." She moved to the bike and grabbed a helmet. Tossing over to Duo she climbed on herself and placed her bag on the side of the bike. She put her own helmet on and turned to Duo.
"Come on... I don't bite... well not that hard anyway." She gave him another childish smile as Duo climbed in place behind her. He too also put his bag to the side and slipped the helmet over his head. "How far to your apartment?"
"About fifteen minutes." She said quickly dropping her foot and starting up the motorcycle with a speed demon light in her eyes. "By the way Duo."
"Hai?" He placed his head on her shoulder and looked at her. She giggled like a mad man and started to rev up the motorcycle.
"Well, Duo, I've got two speeds. Stopped and..." She paused for a moment and stared at the road before them.
"And...?"
"Wide open!" She practically blurted it out and no sooner than doing so the motorcycle was kicked off and they were going down the road at break neck speeds. Duo's arms instantly twisted around Skye's waist to keep him from being thrown off. Skye meanwhile was laughing like a banshee.
"Skyeeeeee!" He screamed at her in annoyance. "Warn me before you do something like that!" He growled but all Skye did was chuckle and drive off down the road.
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tbc...