Chapter 1
By Tenshi no Mugen and Tenshi no Kurai
It is a crisp morning in California. Almost too early to really be annoyed. Unless, of course, your name is Heero Yuy.
"Heero, I still don't see why we have to disguise ourselves as girls and stay in the girls dorm. They have boys boarding in the upper east wing and from what I've heard they see just as much of the target as the girls do," complained Duo.
Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei muttered their agreement. "The braided baka has a point, for once in his miserable existence," grunted Wufei, looking ready to puke just for agreeing with Duo.
"Not to seem pessimistic, but I don't think having us dressed as girls is going to work. For one, our appearance is not remotely feminine. Not to mention our mannerisms are almost irreversibly masculine," remarked Quatre.
Heero stopped staring out of the plane's window long enough to give Duo a death glare for starting the conversation. Just when Duo was about to add something more Heero cut him off. "Cease and desist," was all he said, but his tone of voice ended all chatter.
In Heero's mind, however, he was doing much the same thing to himself. 'How could I even think of accepting this mission? Especially after I knew the parameters. I must have self-destructed one too many times...' he thought.
When the doctors told him about the next mission it had already been a month since their last one and he was going stir crazy. The only thing on his mind at that point was getting a mission or jumping from his third story window. (A.N. Not that it would kill him or anything)
Finally, the silence was broken by the crackling intercom. "Hello, this is your captain speaking. We will be arriving at our destination right on schedule. The forecast for Los Angeles is 68 °F, slightly cloudy, with small showers on the outskirts."
The plane once again lapsed into silence as it prepared to land in the airport closest to their final destination. The silence between them was not broken until they were off the plane and had all of their luggage.
"Sorry, Heero," Duo said as Quatre hailed a taxi, "I know it's not your fault we were ordered to act like girls." He shifted, uncomfortably passing his duffel bag from shoulder to shoulder.
Heero's only response was to give him an appraising look and a 'hn' to show he heard. When the cab pulled up, Duo wisely decided to stay as far away from Heero as he could. It was better to avoid the gun happy soldier until he was stable, unless one wanted to die prematurely.
"Saint Benedictine's Boarding School, please," Quatre asked the driver, politely. The driver looked astonished, then laughed. "What's funny?" Quatre asked, curiously.
"Sorry, mate. It's just that you five don't look like the type to be going to an expensive school like that. What, did your parents send you to learn manners or somethin'?" the cabbie asked in Australian accent as he pulled into traffic.
Duo grinned. "Our parents said we were acting too tomboy-ish or somethin' stupid like that." That earned a look from the cabbie. Duo kept going warming up to the charade, "Yeah, they said something along the lines of 'girls of stature should act according to their post.'"
The cabbie grinned. "Can't imagine why," he snorted. He turned down a road that lead to a mansion that nearly rivaled Quatre's.
"That's Saint Benedictine's? It's huge!" exclaimed Duo. The cabbie chuckled, "That's what I said when I first came here." He pulled up in front of the North Wing entrance.
As the boys piled out dragging bags the driver handed them a card with his number and working hours on it. "You girls give me a call if you need a ride into the city or something," he said. Then he got in his van and drove off.
The boys watched him leave. Duo gave the card another glance before putting it in his bag. 'This could come in handy later...' he thought.
"Oh, my goodness gracious!" came a high pitched exclamation from behind them. All five boys turned around to see what the big deal was. Before them stood a plump middle-aged lady with too much make-up and a bad hairdo.
"So you young ladies are my newest boarders. I understand now what your guardians meant by 'tomboys to the point of being boys'. Well, I must warn you that will be changed during your stay here," said the lady.
Wufei was the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to comment. "Humph. Yeah right, onna," he snorted, rolling his eyes.
The lady turned, sharply, to face him with a glare on her face that rivaled some of his own. "My name is Ms. Hirano, girl. That is the only thing you are allowed to call me," she hissed. Wufei's only response was to glare right back at her.
"Whoa," Duo whispered to Quatre, "Glad I'm not the one on the other end of Wu-man's death glare. He looks ready to exact revenge on her for calling him a girl."
"Duo, to her Wufei is a girl," Quatre whispered back. Duo gave him a disbelieving glance before turning back to the action. Which had ended with Wufei grudgingly apologizing. Ms. Hirano motioned for them to follow her inside.
"Now, the wing that we are in is the North Wing. It houses the Cafeteria, the Library and the Grand Foyer," Ms. Hirano explained as she walked briskly past the aforementioned areas. Then they came to a stop at crossroad of sorts.
"To your left is the East Wing. On the top floors of the East Wing is the boys dormitory. It is strictly forbidden for any girl to be up there unless the have a teacher with them or a note signed by a teacher on their person. The bottom floor is the indoor gymnasium for fencing, wrestling, and other suitable sports, " she said. Her hands were flopping about like dead pigeons in emphasis to her words.
"Behind me is the South Wing. At the ground level is the indoor swimming pool. On the upper floors are the classrooms," she explained briefly.
"And, finally, on your right is the West Wing, which is your dormitory. No boys are allowed in the girls' dormitories. Ever. Not with a note, not with a teacher, no matter what. And aside from the Dean of girls you are the only ones with keys to your rooms," she finished, handing each of them a key with either the number 479 or 481 on it. "I trust you can find the rooms yourselves," she sneered and walked off.
"That lady's a bitch," grumbled Duo, shouldering his duffel bag. "It is injustice that a woman like that is given power," Wufei added. They made their way up the stairs with the rest of the pilots until they reached the fourth floor.
There was almost nothing out of the ordinary about their hallway, except the black girl banging on the door opposite Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei's. Heero eyed the girl as the others hurried into their rooms.
Just as he turned to go into the room he and Duo were sharing, a rubber band came sailing across the hall and hit Heero in the head. He immediately turned around to see who the aggressor was.
Behind him, he saw a girl standing in the doorway that the black girl had been banging on. She had purple-streaked brown hair, which was pulled back into a loose ponytail that reached past her butt. Said girl was also making an attempt to smother her outburst of laughter. Her mirth-filled blue-green eyes making contact with his.
The black girl, who was now standing next to her, was not as amused as her companion was. In fact, she was giving the girl a glare that made Heero proud. "Baka yarou!" she yelled, smacking her upside the head.
Heero couldn't help but snort a little as they basically went through the same arguments he and Duo went through. He only managed to catch a few phrases, though because they were speaking so fast. They were saying something about a 'hentai retard' and 'crazy sibling'.
The black girl finally noticed Heero was still watching their little dispute. She stopped berating the 'baka' and came over seemingly to apologize.
"Good afternoon, miss. Please excuse my friend's aim-," she began when she was interrupted by 'baka', who seemed pissed at being insulted. "Yuriko! It is not my fault. You were the one who ducked!" the brunette growled, clenching her fists in anger. Just then Duo decided to poke his head out of the room to see what the hell his roommate was doing out in the hall for so long.
Duo grinned flirtatiously at the girls. "Hey, Heero. Who're the bab- oof! Damn, that hurt ya know!" Duo complained, rubbing his stomach, which had been none too graciously elbowed by Heero.
The 'baka' grinned at the cute violet-eyed girl she saw before her. "You actually let her get away with that?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
Duo grimaced as he rubbed has sore abdomen. "If I don't let her get away with it then she'll pull her gun out and try to kill me. By the way my name is Duo. What are yours?" he said, gesturing to them both.
The girl Duo had been talking to pointed at the black girl beside her, who was looking at Heero curiously. "The person who is spacing out at my right is Yuriko," she said, keeping her face straight.
At the sound of her name, Yuriko looked away from Heero and nodded her head at Duo. "Yeah, that's me," she confirmed. Her black hair with crimson streaks running through it at odd intervals was braided and pulled back into ponytail.
"And I'm Kimaru, also known as the Mistress of Shinigami!" She struck a pose by holding a peace sign in front of her and putting one hand on her hip.
Duo promptly face faulted. Heero looked at him and snorted in what could almost be amusement. Yuriko just sighed and shook her head, "Damn, Kimaru! Do you always have to do that to the newcomers?"
Kimaru grinned and nodded before winking at Duo. "Fuck yeah!" she exclaimed brightly. Then she looked curiously at the boys' clothes, which consisted of baggy jeans and tank tops that showed off their fake cleavage. "Why are you dressed like guys?"
This elicited another face fault from Duo and a deadpan look from Heero. "Why does it matter?" Heero asked suspiciously, to which Kimaru only shrugged.
Heero could hear Yuriko mutter, "This is why you don't have many friends, bird brain."
Duo grinned at Yuriko's gibe, though if Kimaru heard it she pretended not to notice. "Well, my nickname is Shinigami," Duo laughed, his falsetto just barely staving off suspicion.
Kimaru scoffed. "You think you're Shinigami? The God of Death?" She rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease! Gimme a break!" "Of that Kit-Kat bar!" Yuriko added in quickly.
Duo's grin widened. "You like that song too, Yuriko? We'll have to get together to sing it sometime." He turned his attention back to Kimaru. "Well, babe, I'll bet you anything I'm the infamous Shinigami. Wanna try me?"
Kimaru raised her eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving look. "Is that a challenge? You're on!" They began a staring contest that didn't look like it would end any time soon.
Yuriko and Heero exchanged looks. "It looks like its gonna be one hell of a long year, eh Heero?"
Heero nodded. "Hai," he agreed, glancing back at Kimaru and Duo, whose eyes were now watering from keeping them open for so long.
Yuriko looked back at Heero and noticed that he had a glitter speck on the side of his face. "Hold on a sec." She reached up to brush it away.
Heero's reflexes kicked in and before she could react, he had her arm twisted painfully behind her back. Yuriko gasped in surprise.
Kimaru and Duo heard a sharp intake of breath and turned to see Yuriko in an alarming situation. Instead of wincing in pain though, Yuriko had an evil looking smirk on her face. A second and a fucking cool move later, she had Heero on the floor, pinned under her foot.
Duo and Kimaru walked over to Heero, who was laying completely still, a shocked look on his face. Kimaru misinterpreted the look as embarrassment and grinned. "Well, at least no one is out here to see you like this!"
Then, as if the gods of irony had been listening, Wufei stuck his head out of his room. "What the hell?" At which point Quatre and Trowa also decided they wanted to know what was going on and followed Wufei out into the hall.
"Heero?" Quatre said slowly, his blue eyes widening as he surveyed the scene before him. "Duo, what happened here?" He frowned slightly as Kimaru began laugh at Heero's expense once more.
Yuriko her foot still on Heero, smiled and waved at him. "Hey there, new students! What's up?" She pulled her 'rebel' shirt down a little farther over her jeans as it had hiked up when she waved. Kimaru who had just stopped laughing at Heero also straightened her shirt over her jeans.(A.N. In case you were wondering, Kimaru's shirt says 'I used to be schizophrenic, but we're okay now')
Wufei frowned at the two girls before he began yelling in the general direction of Duo. "Maxwell, what the hell happened? Why is Yuy on the floor, and why is that onna standing on hi--" Trowa stepped on his foot before he could continue. ".her." Wufei finished, glaring at Trowa, who shrugged indifferently.
Kimaru raised her eyebrows. "Onna? Did you just call her woman in Japanese?" Wufei narrowed his eyes at her. "You know Japanese?"
"Oh, yes!" Yuriko said brightly. She was now sitting on Heero's stomach, much to his dismay. "We make it our business to know these things."
Heero glared daggers at the back of her head. "Get. Off," he growled, forgetting the high falsetto. Yuriko gave him a funny look.
Kimaru bent down to look at his face. "Heero, let me give you some advice. Never, under any circumstance, give Yuriko a chance to get back at you in some way, 'cause she will. Believe me I found out the hard way."
She patted his head then ruffled his already messy hair. "By the way, you sound like a guy when your angry, did you know?"
Duo, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei exchanged looks. Kimaru straightened and went to stand by Duo's side, a silly grin on her face. "Hey, do you wanna know a secret?"
Duo's eyes light up at the prospect of learning something no one else knew. "Sure!" "Come closer," Kimaru said. He leaned in closer.
"YOU'RE IT!" she yelled, shoving him into Wufei, who side-stepped and let him fall to the ground. Duo mock-glared at her and cried, "You are so gonna get it, Kimaru!"
"Just you wait and catch me, you Shinigami wanna be!" she taunted him, sticking her tongue out. Duo flipped to his feet and began to chase her around Yuriko and Heero, who had just gotten up off of the floor, and the other pilots.
Then an idea hit Kimaru. "Hey! Meet us in the cafeteria in twenty minutes. Bye!" she yelled to Yuriko before running at top speed down the hallway, Duo in hot pursuit, leaving the rest of them speechless. Well, except for Yuriko, who was once again muttering, "Yup. One very long year."
When he recovered, Quatre turned to Yuriko and asked, "Does she do that often?" This earned a deadpan look from everyone but Heero.
Yuriko shook her head. "No, but she is very protective of who thinks they are Shinigami." She brought her finger up to her chin in thought. "You'd think that by now she would have figured out that 'Mistress of Shinigami' means that she is the illicit lover of the God of Death." She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. The important thing is that Duo might not come back in one piece, depending on what kind of mood Kima-chan is in."
Quatre blinked, confused. "Why do you say that?" Yuriko smiled. "She's taking him the long way to the Arena," she replied, "And I think Duo is gonna die. so, who's hungry?" she grinned.
The guys scoffed. "You think highly of your friend's skills," Trowa remarked. (A.N. Oh, my Shinigami, Trowa actually spoke!) Yuriko smiled at him. "Oh, I don't think that highly of her. I'm the best in the school. If she applied herself, she'd almost be as good as me."
"Just how good are you onna?" Wufei asked suspiciously. "Pretty damn," she responded nonchalantly. Wufei sneered in disbelief to which Yuriko countered with a glare.
"If that's a challenge," she began, her voice gaining a sharp edge to it, "I'll take you on today at the Arena and show you just how good I am."
Wufei returned her glare, full force. "Challenge accepted, onna." Yuriko grinned excitedly and clapped her hands together in joy. "Great! I haven't been challenged in so long! You guys can come, too, if you want." she said to Quatre, Trowa and Heero.
Heero shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hn." Quatre, however, smiled apologetically and glanced sideways at Trowa. "I think Trowa and I are going to pass. You can fill us in on the details when you get back."
Yuriko shrugged. "Suit yourselves, but you'll be missing one hell of a show!"
Wufei turned Yuriko as Quatre and Trowa headed into their room. "Where to now, onna?" "To my room," she said, pointing to the door across the hall from where they were standing.
Wufei's narrowed his eyes into thin slits. "And why would we want to do that?" Yuriko ignored him. Instead, she looked at Heero. "Coming?" Without waiting for them to respond she walked into her room.
Wufei sent a questioning look at Heero, who just gave a slight shrug. So, without a word the two pilots followed her into her room.
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Original Chapter 1 Authoress' notes
Cliffie, Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Phew! I'm glad I got that out of my system. Well, a new school year a new story. Dark Angel and I are having so much fun writing this! I'll try to update weekly if I can. Questions? Flames? Comments? Give us a shout (otherwise known as a review) and we'll correct if we can! Ja Ne
Dream Angel
PS I don't own any of the Gundam Wing characters, so please don't sue. Please?