Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. They belong to the wonderful people at Sunrise and Bandai. How I'd love to be a long-lost heir...
Pairing: None right now. But there will be in the future!
Warnings: Uh...smoking? Lol. Future Slash. Yaoi. M/M.
Title: First Day
Author's Note: This wonderful little fic occurred to me one night as I was lying in bed, pondering what would happen if I inserted the Gundam Pilots and characters into a "real life" situation. This fic will have mature and adult themes in it at times. It will deal with a lot of issues that occur in everyday life, as well as trying to stay true to the series. I hope you all enjoy it. It takes me awhile to write each chapter so be patient.
Special Thanks: To Rina for her WONDERFUL beta-ing. As well as to Jenn for her support and beta-ing as well. I never would've gotten this far without you two.
"And now, we present this class's valedictorian, Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner," Principal Jacobs said into the microphone. She stepped aside as a teenage boy of medium height and build walked over to the podium. He was wearing the long black gown and cap of a graduate. He moved the tassel out of his face and smiled at the applauding crowd.
"Thank-you Principal Jacobs," he said, smiling at her. He then turned his eyes back on the gathered crowd of parents, friends, and other family members that have come to celebrate the Graduation of the Class of a.c. 198. He cleared his voice, shuffling the papers in front of him and then smiled out at the crowd.
"High school is a time when teens find themselves. Where we develop our own tastes, personalities, and interests. Where we are molded into what we will become in the future. It's about love, life, and loss. About mistakes and consequences. And most importantly it's about compromising..."
Trowa Barton's eyes narrowed as he approached the large brick building. The gates were open and students milled about, checking room numbers and schedules from the large cardboard posters tacked to the walls, and finding friends to discuss summer vacation, what classes they had this year, who with, and what teachers were the hardest. He shifted his backpack and glanced at one of the signs on the fence surrounding the school grounds.
No smoking is allowed on or around school grounds.
He rolled his eyes, not that anyone could notice, and took one last drag of his cigarette, before dropping it onto the sidewalk and grinding it out. There was a line of kids at each of the posters that gave out home room numbers and he sighed, heading over to the nearest one.
Every year, same old shit, he thought, glancing at the large posterboard and locating his name. Barton, Trowa ... 280. He broke away from the mob and walked across the courtyard, trying to find someplace less claustrophobic than the rest of the grounds.
He finally settled on the bleachers by the track and climbed up to the middle, sitting with his bag at his feet. He glanced around cautiously, looking for teachers, security guards, or other various school administrators before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He sighed, closing his eyes and letting the shade provided by one of the trees shadow him from the sun. He was starting tenth grade this year, a sophomore. Almost an upper clansmen. He couldn't care less about that though.
Distantly he heard the bell ring and he dropped the cigarette onto the ground scuffing it out with his shoe. He descended the bleachers and approached the brick building again, smirking as he saw the freshmen hurrying to classes as fast as they could. It seemed all people did was rush. It didn't matter how fast you went though, you always met the same end sooner or later.
He turned a corner and had to quickly side step as another boy almost crashed into him. "Oh I'm sorry! Do forgive me...I should really watch where I'm going," the blonde exclaimed, smiling at Trowa.
His eyes narrowed. "You should," he replied. He started to continue down the hallway when the blonde boy appeared next to him again.
"Wait...Do you know where room 282 is?" he asked.
Trowa sighed. "Yeah, it's next to my room," he replied.
"Great...uh..mind if I walk with you?" Trowa glanced at him, raising an eyebrow before giving a small shrug and continuing on through the press of students. "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, what's yours?"
"Trowa." He paused in front of his home room. "Yours is the next room on the right," he replied, entering.
"Great! See you later Trowa. Thanks again!" Quatre called.
"Was that a freshman I saw you walking with earlier?" Trowa shrugged as he stretched out a bit under the tree. "I can't believe the great Trowa Barton would deal with one of their kind. Especially one as preppy as him. Now, if it was someone like him, I could understand why..."
Trowa glanced over to see who Celia was referring to and his eyes narrowed as the heat waves blurred his vision. "Who?" he asked.
"The guy with the brown hair. Short. Sitting in the alcove over there," she replied. His eyes narrowed some more as he spotted the boy Celia was talking about. He had a laptop opened on his lap and was busy typing something, a bottle of water next to him.
"You always were after the quiet ones," he muttered. She smiled at him, brushing back her blonde, fuchsia-tipped hair, crossing her fishnet covered legs.
"Yeah, well, you got away from me," she replied, smiling a bit. He looked away from her face, finding the boy she liked again.
"Have you talked to him?" he asked, watching as another freshman, this one had a long braid, playing "football" with some of the other students. He threw the ball and his receiver missed the catch. It passed through his arms, headed straight for the boy. He heard Celia's sharp intake of breath as the boy calmly raised his hand, catching the football effortlessly, never once taking his eyes off the laptop in front of him.
"Did you see that?" she asked. Even her monotone voice had an edge to it as her eyes danced behind her sunglasses. He gave a small nod as he watched the boy hurl it back to the one with the braid so that he had to take a few steps back when he caught it. "He's better than I thought..." she whispered.
Trowa shifted a little, refusing to agree to her statement. He took another drag from his cigarette, flicking some of the ashes off. He couldn't help but watch the boy curiously. He seemed completely engrossed in his work, whatever it was, yet aware of everything around him at the same time.
"I'm going to introduce myself to him," Celia said suddenly. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Oh stop it. I just want to know his name," she snapped. He watched her get up and walk across the courtyard till she was standing in front of him. She said a few things but the boy didn't even bother to look up, just continued to type away. She glanced back at Trowa who pretended he wasn't watching before looking at the boy again, asking her question again.
His eyes narrowed as he glanced up and Trowa caught sight of dark, cobalt blue eyes. Slowly the eyes moved from Celia to Trowa himself and Trowa glanced away quickly. Those eyes seemed to have the effect of analyzing everything, seeing straight through a person's soul. He glanced up when Celia returned and she huffed, sitting down next to him again.
"He won't answer me! All he said was 'hn' and nothing else!" she exclaimed looking exasperated. Trowa shook his head, standing as the bell ended, noticing that the boy had disappeared.
He slung his backpack over a shoulder, making sure his laptop was secure before starting out of the school grounds. He turned at the gate, heading towards the bus stop, already mentally scanning the list in his head. School - check. Homework - check. Dinner... he hesitated on that thought then shoved away the gnawing feeling in his stomach, check. Work - in a few minutes.
A bus pulled up and he walked on, showing his bus pass before making his way down the aisle to a seat near the middle. He opened his laptop again, searching through random files, trying to erase the boredom raging inside him. And the memory of those eyes. He closed his own, swallowing as a picture of them flashed through his mind once again. He didn't understand it. Why his mind kept going back to the boy he'd seen at lunch. He reached up, absentmindedly running a hand through his chocolate brown hair, losing himself in the mindless and endless depths of the internet.
The bus screeched to a stop and he jolted, planting his feet on the ground to keep from falling forward with the inertia. Slowly he got up, closing the laptop and made his way to the front of the bus, senses on alert as he got off. The bus had dropped him off in front of an old brick restaurant. A faded wooden sign was set in brick, ivy twining around it, crumbling the red brick. The name Hiroko was printed on it. The brown haired boy sighed as a light drizzle began to fall and he quickened his pace, trying to get inside before the downpour. Entering the restaurant he let a quick smile grace his passive face as he smelled the traditional Japanese-restaurant smells.
"Hey Heero, how was school?" a guy dressed in the black pants and white shirt of a waiter asked.
"Fine," Heero replied. "I'll change then start my shift," he added. The guy nodded.
"You started highschool this year, didn't you?" he asked when Heero returned five minutes later.
"Uh-huh. Why?" he asked.
"Just wondering..." he trailed off as a group of kids from the high school entered. "Hello, my name is Gavin," he greeted the one in front.
Heero glanced at the teens, already cataloguing their faces into his memory in case he needed to serve them. He paused as he recognized one of the faces - the guy who had thrown the football at him during lunch. The teen seemed to have made the same deduction because he grinned widely, pausing in the rebraiding of his hair.
"Hey! You're the one who caught that ball that Tor missed!" he exclaimed loudly. Heero's eyes narrowed and the boy grinned wider. "You going to try out for the team? Because I mean, you seriously should! You'd be amazing!"
Gavin looked sympathetically at Heero and led the group of teens away. "By the way, I'm Duo!" the boy called back over his shoulder.Heero rolled his eyes as he followed the teens, pulling out an order sheet and pen as he walked.
"I'm Heero, your server. Can I get you some drinks?" he asked once they were seated at a large booth in back.
"Tequila," the one called Duo said. Heero raised an eyebrow at him and Duo grinned a bit. "Okay, how bout uh...a root beer?" Heero nodded, writing down the order as the other teens all agreed on different beverages.
They made an interesting bunch, he mused as he returned with the drinks. Duo was of average height, with a long chestnut braid that hung down his back and bright eyes. Obviously the most social of the four. Then there was the one to his right, he thought his name was Chris, who was broad shouldered and a dark blonde. His eyes were harsh when he looked at Heero, his tone callous, a typical higher-up customer. The black haired one across from Duo had to be over six feet tall and he grinned at everything said. Another comedian. And lastly, a girl with short black hair and a pink beret-looking hat. Artistic?
"Figured out what you want?"
"Yeah, we're all set. The extra-jumbo mixed sushi platter, white rice, two plates of chicken teriyaki, and two plates of yakitori," the black haired boy replied.
"Right. All sharing?" At their nods he flipped the leather book closed. "Food'll be ready soon," he replied, turning toward the kitchen.
As Heero set out the plates of food about thirty-five minutes later he paused as he caught Duo's eye. "How long you working?" he asked.
"Why?"
"Just wondered if you wanted to join us when you got off, hang out and stuff," he said, smiling. Heero's eyes shifted to the others at the table and he gave a barely perceptible shake of the head, dark bangs covering dark eyes.
"I'm busy." He slipped away, talking to Gavin up front while they ate and yelled back and forth, only returning an hour later with the bill and leaving it on the table for them to debate over.
He was leaning against the wall, talking with Gavin when the others left. The girl and dark blonde stopped talking when they spotted him and his eyes narrowed. Gavin glanced over at them, smiling brightly.
"I hope your meal was pleasurable. Please come again," he called to them.
"Don't worry man. It was the best Jap food I've ever had!" Duo exclaimed. He wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Isn't that right Hil?" he asked.
"Wonderful," she replied. Gavin grinned at her but she was fiddling around in her purse for car keys.
"You sure you aren't coming?" Duo asked, looking at Heero. He nodded curtly, eyes straying to the wood-and-glass doors that a couple was making their way slowly toward. Duo shrugged, turning to his group. "I call shot gun," he exclaimed loudly. They argued seating arrangements the entire way out.
Heero sighed, leaning back against the brick wall again as Gavin instructed the couple to a table. It was Felicity's unit, he wouldn't have to worry about customers for awhile. "They go to school with you?" Gavin asked when he returned.
"Yeah."
"Friends of yours?"
"No. The braided one threw a football at me today." He ignored Gavin's perplexed look, instead looking at the aquariums filled with tropical fish and flanked by potted bamboo plants that twisted and looped within themselves. There was a steady drizzle falling outside and he regretted not bringing the umbrella this morning. Maybe it would stop by the time he finished his shift in an hour and a half...
"You taking off?" Gavin asked at the end of their shift.
"Yeah."
"Want to come over?" he asked, smiling. "The guys and I were thinking of making a...public announcement...against the beef plant on the edge of town," he said.
"No thanks. I have a lot to do, maybe next time," Heero replied. He discarded his apron on his way out of the kitchen, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on as he picked up his backpack. Gavin shrugged as he followed Heero to the bus stop. "You don't have to wait. The weather's miserable and you should get home."
"No problem. Your all alone out here anyway. The bus shouldn't be that long, right? So what if I'm five or ten minutes later getting home?" he asked, smiling. "It just means a few less minutes to do homework before our announcement," he added.
"Suit yourself," Heero muttered as he saw the bus approaching from down the street.
"I will. Anyway, if you want to join us, it's at eleven-thirty tonight. You know the place right?" He paused long enough for Heero's nod. "Just give me a call if you can make it. See ya," he called as Heero boarded the bus.
It was a fifteen minute ride to his stop during which he finished filling out the forms from school. He got off the bus, walking down the streets until he came to a shabby looking apartment building of decaying red brick. He pulled out a key and entered the building, climbing up the three flights of stairs to the apartment he shared with his mother and younger sister.
"Heero, is that you?" his mother called when he entered the apartment.
"Yes," he replied. He glanced up and saw his mother leaning against the door frame, smiling thinly at him. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and she had a worn, slightly threadbare sweater pulled tight across her slender form.
"How was school? And work?"
"Fine. How was your day?" he asked.
"Good. I have some left overs saved in case your hungry..." He shook his head, declining politely and handed her the forms that she needed to sign, kissing her cheek as he went to his room. He closed his door quietly, knowing that loud noises sometimes startled his mother and padded across the worn carpet.
He slid a hand under his pillow, running callused fingertips over the glossy picture he had hidden as he lay sprawled across his bed. He could hear giggles from the bathroom where his mother was currently bathing Tama. He refused to think about anything pertaining to the days events. After all, it had just been another day and a another school year. He got up after awhile, changing into a pair of sweat pants before collapsing onto the bed again.
The giggles continued and he smiled a bit, looking out the window at the night sky. It seemed endless, stretching above him, stars glittering brightly in the velvet blackness, but he knew it was only an illusion made by the colonies to make them feel at home. As if they were on Earth. But still, the effect was humbling at times. This was one of them.
"Heero!"
He laughed a bit as the three-year-old bundle of energy threw herself on him and he sat up, tickling her into another mass of childish giggles. "Hello Tama, have a good day?" he asked. She nodded, still grinning. Black hair was tousled and wet, sticking to her pale cheeks and hung in her eyes, hiding the dark blue he knew was there.
"Read me a story Heero?" she pleaded. He nodded, picking her up and carrying her into her room, ignoring his mother's look of happiness. Tucking her into the big-girl bed they had found for her a few months ago at a yard sale, he picked up a Dr. Seuss book and glanced at the cover.
"The Cat In The Hat," he read quietly to her. She smiled, her eyes already beginning to fight to stay open.
Wufei was not having a good day. Then again, the first day of school was never exactly a "good day" for anyone. Especially him. Breaking in new teachers always took awhile. They always misjudged him and his fellow students, well, there was reason for them but not for him.
He had always enjoyed learning everything he could. Inside and outside of school. So it only stood to reason that there was an actual reason why he was in advanced classes. And why he still knew more than the other students. But he was always willing to learn, as long as it was useful.
"Mr. Chang, if you continue to persist in this matter, I will have no choice but to issue you a detention. And you wouldn't want to start the school year off with one of those, now, would you?" his Geometry teacher, Mr. Wilkins said.
Wufei's eyes narrowed in on the teacher. That was another thing he hated. Having teachers talk down on you. Like you weren't smart enough to figure out what they were talking about when they talked normally. "I'm only correcting an error that you made," he told him.
Mr. Wilkins sighed audibly as the class watched the exchange that had been going on for the past twenty minutes with vague, nervous interest. "Mr. Chang, I'm sorry, but I am issuing a detention which you'll have to serve after class on Wednesday." The teacher made his way over to his desk and pulled out a new detention slip, the first of the year, filling it out and handing it to Wufei to sign.
The Chinese boy glared but decided to drop the matter...for now. After all, if the man wanted to continue to live on in ignorance, who was he to stop him? He shoved the paper into his bag as the bell rang and stormed out of class. The other kids waited until he left before filing out as well, they'd gone to middle school with him for the most part, they knew to avoid him.
He sat down in his World History class the next hour, stretching his legs out under the desk and withdrawing a novel from his backpack and idly flipping through it. He had already read it three times, but it was good. A war novel, a justified war novel. The bell rang as the teacher entered the room, smiling brightly at all of the eager faces he imagined he saw.
"Good day class, I trust that you have all had a wonderful break and are ready to start the new year off fresh? Good," he replied to the unanswered question. "Let's start off with class introductions? I'll go first, then we'll go in alphabetical order!"
"My name is James Halsey. You can call me Mr. Halsey. I was born in Dover, England and when I was seven, we moved up here to the colonies..." He continued on for about five minutes, giving the highlights of his life. Commenting on his wife and daughters, his favorite sports teams, and his expectations of the upcoming school year. And then he started in on the students, reading off his roster and mispronouncing most of the names in the process.
"Wufei Chang?" he asked after a blonde girl named Dorothy Catalonia sat down. Wufei's eyes narrowed a bit. He didn't like getting up in front of people, especially when most of the class was maturely and mentally lower then him. "Wufei Chang, are you present?"
He stood up slowly, with the ease of a feline, surveying the others arrogantly. "My name is Wufei Chang, I moved here in sixth grade. I have always lived in the colonies." He sat down, making sure to stare everyone who dared to look at him down, judging their worth.
"Very...uh...nice Wufei. But what about activities? Hobbies?" the teacher prodded. He got no response so with a sigh, he leaned back in his chair, calling on the next student.
There were twenty-five students in Mr. Halsey's World History class. Wufei was fifth on his list, Quatre Winner was the twenty-fourth. The twenty-three names before him were torturously slow. It seemed that each student tried to cram in as much history about themselves as possible. Especially the girls. Wufei's was the shortest by far.
When Mr. Halsey called his name Quatre winced. He didn't hate public speaking, but he didn't relish it either. He stood slowly, looking around at the sea of faces, mostly pale from the lack of real sunlight. He fit in perfectly with his pale hair, fair skin, and light eyes.
"My name is Quatre Raberba Winner and I just transferred here from the Earth a few weeks ago. I am the only boy, and the youngest in my family," he said carefully.
"What about hobbies?"
"I enjoy the violin and piano. Any instrument really..." he said slowly. He had to be careful when he talked about himself. Couldn't leak out to much information about his family. Once people knew, they usually looked at him strangely.
"Thank you Quatre. Now...last and certainly not least, Jessica Winston?" A girl with long hair stood up, smiling nervously at the crowd as she began to tell about herself.
Wufei looked over his shoulder when he felt the tap. His black eyes narrowed when he saw the blonde haired boy from his third hour class. "What?" he demanded, closing the book he'd been reading.
Quatre looked down at the cover of the book. "War and Peace?" he asked, mildly surprised.
"It's good," Wufei replied. "Was there something you wanted?"
"No...uh...I was just wondering, if I could sit with you?" Quatre asked nervously. He took a slight step back as he felt waves of distrust and annoyance rolling off of Wufei, directed at him.
"You are weak. You let people's opinions affect you. People like you make me hate the world and mankind." Quatre shook his head, turning to go, leaving the black-haired youth under the tree he was reading by. "Wait. Sit. Your from Earth?"
Quatre smiled, sitting next to him. "Yes, Arabia," he replied.
Wufei leaned forward, setting the book aside as he picked at his noodles with two thin wooden chopsticks. "What's it like?"
"Sandy. Lots of sand. And hot, the sun always shines and glares off the sand," he replied, leaning back on the cool grass. "I miss it. You could always see the sun, a real sun. And a real night's sky..." he sighed wistfully, twirling a stick between his fingers.
"Only lived in Arabia?"
"No. I was born on L4, but I moved to Arabia shortly after..." Wufei raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed. "After my mother died in childbirth. Father took my sisters and I down to the house he had in Arabia. Well, the younger ones. The older ones stayed to look after the business on L4, they're still there I believe," he commented.
"Oh." Wufei glanced around at the courtyard, watching as a group of idiots played football in the cramped space. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. Quatre shrugged a bit, treading carefully. He didn't need to tell this guy everything, but he felt like he could become a friend, and he really wanted a friend right now...
Wufei wandered around town for awhile after school. He thought about returning to the small condo that he and his father lived in, but wasn't to enthusiastic about it. For one, he knew the detention would aggravate him, and for another, he just wasn't in the mood to be alone for the five hours his father would be at work.
He paused, looking at a poster stapled to a telephone post. It was old and slightly faded, the colors beginning to fade and blend together because of the rain. It was advertising a local circus, half off on Monday and Wednesday nights. He shrugged a bit, tightening his grip on his jacket as he made his way toward the circus grounds.
Even through the poor weather conditions there was a line of people at the ticket booths and he had to wait a few minutes. He spent the time looking around at the different cages behind the wooden fence. The ground was hard brown dry dirt quickly turning to wet mud puddles. Brightly colored tents and banners looked out of place against the dim, grey sky as a drizzle continued to fall. He handed his money to a woman in her mid-forties with to much make up on before entering the grounds and wandering around on the crushed gravel in order to try and stop the inevitable mud pit.
There was a group on it's way to the big tent and he made his way there, following a mother and her three young children inside. He found a seat in back, towards the middle, and relaxed against the bleachers, watching the ring master enter the middle circle and tell everyone to take their seats. There was some shoving and yells, but eventually it quieted and the ring master stepped up onto a large blue cube, grinning at them all, tipping his top-hat at them and twirling his moustache with a gloved hand.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Tonight I bring to you daring stunts, mystifying magic, hilarious clowns, terrifying beasts, juggling elephants, and a mind-numbing performance that will have you on the...edge of your seats," he roared, sweeping his arm outwards.
Behind the scenes Trowa sighed, running a hand through his bangs as he picked up the half mask. He was the last show, the finale. The show that would have them all coming back for more, according to the Manager anyway. He looked out at the cages positioned under tarps and tents. The lions roared, pacing their cage, tails flicking this way and that as the wind shifted, letting in a mist of water.
"Hey Trowa, don't catch cold, alright?"
He smiled faintly as he felt the warm arm wrap around his bare shoulders. "I won't Cathy, don't worry," he replied, smiling at her. She nodded, ruffling his hair and walked over to the back of the ring, peeking around the curtains to watch the acrobats perform.
He stood suddenly, making his way out into the rain and over to the lion cages, gently rubbing the ears of one of the males. The leader of the pride. He smiled as the feline began to pour and Cathy smiled as she turned and saw him crouching down, level with the great cat's head.
They were called an hour later, and took their places. Trowa with his back to the large wooden target, dead center on it, where the bulls-eye was, Catherine about fifteen feet away. She bowed once to the crowd, pulling out a set of six daggers, each shining in the bright spotlights, each sharpened to a perfect point. She pulled back her arm, taking aim, and let the first one fly. It landed neatly next to his left temple to the gasps from the audience.
Each knife followed suit, one next to his right temple, another his right shoulder, then left shoulder, right thigh, then left thigh. Not once did he blink, not once did he wince. He just let them come and slide in smoothly next to him, not worried about the danger, trusting completely in Cathy's aim, which wasn't always a good thing. Once during the performance he had glanced into the crowd and seen the Chinese boy from his fitness class. Funny, he'd never figured him as the type to visit circuses...
Author's Note: That's it for Chapter One. Kinda long, right? 8½ pages and everything. Lol. I promise the rest of the chapters will be shorter if I can make them. I swear. I've started writing chapter two, so it should be out soon if you all want it. Review and let me know, alright? Your Review counts!
Starr