Disclaimer: Not mine.
Back :3 More insight on Hiiro/Duo relationship … that's about it. xD; Not too displeasing of a chapter, in my most humble opinion, but far from brilliant. --; Enjoy? :3
Chapter 3: That Particular Incident
It was hard to say whose reputation suffered more.
Hiiro, of course, had the advantage of time, for most of his life had been spent studying at St. Gabriel's and its divisions. But only after that particular incident did it become painfully obvious that his good name at the school that has been acquainted with him since kindergarten was unbearably tenuous, based on intimidation, mystery, and, most importantly, money. And this lifelong house of cards built on the fragility of paper money was not enduring enough to withstand that particular incident without damage.
Said damage was far from extreme, of course. After all, he was still the Hiiro Yui and girls still swooned at the sight of him. And still not one dared to refer to that particular incident in bold, open terms if only because facing Hiiro Yui would be as safe as braving an avalanche, with anger of the same temperature.
But the wound was too close for comfort, the reaction of St. Gabriel's to that particular incident was much too similar to Rei's ill-adapted use of The Emperor's New Clothes. And at the bottom of all this, was a child, a girl hardly older than himself, so short that she could pass for a fifth grader. Further, this girl was of no reputation, no wealth, no beauty, no status, no talent, no – no nothing. This was a girl he wouldn't even look at in passing!
Still, with no small degree of satisfaction, he noted that she had suffered also, if not as extremely, for the disapprobation of St. Gabriel's horde of fangirls was counterbalanced by the rest of St. Gabriel's regard and admiration.
It couldn't be helped. Centuries of experience had led to the acknowledgement and cliché that the higher you are, the harder you fall. And Usagi's status was hardly half a foot off the ground.
That didn't mean he didn't bristle at the whispered ridicule of his fellow students, and that most certainly didn't mean he wasn't going to do something about it.
…………………
It was early enough in the morning that there were fairly few people in the courtyard, most cramming in last minute studying or copying homework. It didn't become too clear how quickly news spread around St. Gabriel's until they walked past the school's imposing front doors and stepped onto the marble of the hallway.
Only then was it unmistakable how much that particular incident had been discussed the day before as the usual deferential lowering of eyes and stepping aside to allow room for the foursome to pass was replaced with unabashed stares at Hiiro Yui.
By the time they started up the stairs, Hiiro was the only one of the four not trying to suppress snickering.
Rei fought a hard-won battle against smiling and shot him a grave look. "What can you expect? St. Gabriel's is a society of bored, rich kids."
Hiiro didn't spare her a glance.
"Look at it this way – at least now fewer people are deathly afraid of you," Trowa offered, biting back a small smile. "And you are by no means a pariah."
Duo shook his head and laughed outright. "No, no, Trowa, you're going about it all wrong. Those are the things Hiiro wants. You're just dampening his mood."
"Face it, Hiiro, Usagi is the celebrity of the moment. St. Gabriel's no longer revolves around you."
"No, Rei, St. Gabriel's doesn't revolve around me, it revolves around you." He didn't even turn around, hardly spoke loudly enough for her to hear.
She rolled her eyes. "But that doesn't mean you didn't imagine that it revolved around you. I know you, Hiiro. I know all your idiosyncrasies and fallacies. I know how you are more than fully aware of your so-called perfection and how your ego has swelled to the size of-"
He abruptly turned around and she started, staring up with black-violet ferocity. His expression, however, was so blank that she didn't know if he was going to hit her or laugh at her.
She knew Duo and Trowa were just behind her, tense and watching, gauging, for Hiiro's possible fit of rage.
Eyes coated with a skim of ice and voice delicately soft, she spoke first, "What, Hiiro? I'm not afraid of you."
He blinked. "I'm thirsty."
She started and watched him numbly as he headed for the vending machine. The breath she hadn't realized she was holding finally released itself, her fists unclenched, and she earnestly tried to still her thundering heart. From the way Hiiro paused to glance back at her and smirk triumphantly, she knew that he too believed actions to speak more loudly than words.
With the bottle of frigid water in hand, he walked on, and, reluctantly, she followed.
Trowa glanced toward Duo to catch him making a face at Hiiro's retreating form.
"Hiiro can be such a freak sometimes."
The taller of the two nodded and suppressed a smile. "Agreed."
…………………
For one, brief, brilliant moment, she had thought that, miraculously, Hiiro had taken it upon himself to apologize to Usagi. That horribly short moment of shining euphoria was rudely cracked by the deluge of cold, bottled water on Usagi's head.
"Miracles don't happen…" she bemoaned quietly, too stunned to move as Usagi simply closed her eyes and took a deep breathe, bearing the act of retribution with silent forbearance.
"Especially not with people like Hiiro," Trowa added, a pained expression on his face despite his disregard for Usagi.
In utter silence, the three plus Hiiro watched as Usagi calmly wringed out her wet pigtails. Even Rei, with her partiality to her childhood friend, couldn't delude herself into thinking Hiiro was staying to see if Usagi was okay. It was apparent he wasn't leaving until he got what he came for – shame, fear, and repentance.
With her hair as dry as it was going to get, Usagi turned back to her half-opened locker and gently closed it before facing Hiiro again, looking up at him with disinterest.
In one, swift motion, she punched him in the jaw.
Before any of them could react, she was gone, stomping down the hall and turning the corner.
"You're lucky that it's so early there weren't people to witness this," Trowa remarked quietly after the obligatory moment of silence.
Duo snorted. "Yeah, or this would have been known as that other particular incident."
Rei sauntered up to him and eyed his jaw, sincerely hoping for a severe bruise. "Well, Hiiro, what do you have to say for yourself?"
He glanced down at the empty bottle in his hand and, with a slight air of disappointment, replied, "I wish I'd bought tea."
She snatched the bottle from his hand and stomped off after Usagi but stopped, turned abruptly and, in a moment of frustration, aimed the bottle at his head.
It angered but didn't surprise her that he caught it in one hand and raised an eyebrow at her.
She turned on her heel and turned the corner.
After a moment of staring after her with some hint of regret, he turned back to his audience of two. With hardly a glance and no words at all, Trowa brushed past him and followed Rei.
He eyed Duo warily. "This never happened."
The braided teen mock bowed and extended his arm with an exaggerated flourish. "Though you might lack it, I still have a vestige of respectability and fraternal loyalty in me."
…………………
Hiiro Yui's cruelty was no novelty to her.
Usagi sighed and seated herself in an isolated corner of the library.
She knew as well as anybody that though Hiiro acted indifferent to the admiration of his peers, there was nobody else as acutely aware of his own distinguishing attributes. And there was nobody else as proud and vain about them either, she was sure.
Hiiro Yui was no stranger to his own status and had never bothered to hide behind the mask of modesty, as far as she knew after transferring to St. Gabriel's abruptly in the middle of the last school year.
In short, Hiiro Yui bowed to no one. Not even to Rei, and especially not to a nobody like Usagi Tsukino.
"Usagi?"
She jumped at the sound of her name and looked up to lock eyes with an apprehensive Rei.
"You didn't cry … did you?" she asked hesitatingly, timidly taking the seat opposite of her. Usagi was struck by this side of her – Rei Hino had certainly never been described as timid.
"No, of course not. Not when Hiiro Yui demands tears." She smiled sarcastically.
Rei looked relieved and settled in her seat. "Good."
Minutes ticked by as Usagi stared out the window and Rei silently observed her.
Trowa was not completely inaccurate in his less-than-flattering description of her physical attributes. It was true that Usagi had almost no figure, true that Usagi was nothing compared to most of the girls she had known and associated with. But there was a certain air of dignity in Usagi's pert nose, a taste of elegance in her long, if light, eyelashes, a hint of sweetness in her small mouth, a spark of wit in her blue-gray eyes.
Usagi, Rei felt assured, was in no danger of being called ugly, but at the same time, she was also despairingly far from being called gorgeous. But with makeup, perhaps…
"Rei, tell me, why does Hiiro hate Duo so much?"
The ebony-haired girl started and blinked. "I can't say I know the whole story…"
Usagi conjured up a look of interest but this wasn't the question she had intended to ask. She didn't want to know about Hiiro Yui, she wanted to know about Duo Yui and just how he was acquainted with Usagi Hino. However, a query about the former was as close as she dared to get to the latter.
"I know that Duo once lived in a semi-official orphanage so destitute that most of the children ran wild in the streets as thieves. That is as much as Duo ever tells me. But you can imagine how that would wound Hiiro's pride – being pampered as a child and then suddenly related to a boy of no status or wealth. And then there was that other incident…" she trailed off and looked uncertain, eyeing Usagi as if gauging her trustworthiness.
"I once dated Hiiro."
Usagi started. The revelation was so abrupt that she barely bit back a loud cry of astonishment in the quiet library. "You? Date him?"
"He's really not as bad as you think," Rei defended quickly, eyes briefly flashing with irritation. "He's kind enough around Trowa and me … just not so much amongst people he hardly knows."
Usagi made a face. "That explains his behavior to me, but what about Duo? Certainly a brother qualifies as a person he knows?"
Rei took a deep breath and folded her hands in front of her. "I didn't get introduced to Duo until after I started dating Hiiro … and … my preference for one brother led to my break-up with the other."
Usagi stared.
"That injury was much too intense for Hiiro's pride. His already deep dislike for Duo intensified." She paused and thought for a moment. "I don't flatter myself into thinking that that's the only reason … but I don't know the rest of it and whether or not you'll know entirely depends on either Hiiro or Duo."
"B-but … surely even His Majesty can't hold a grudge against his own brother for so long!" the blonde exclaimed, half in astonishment, half in disgust.
Rei pursed her lips. "That's the thing. The resentment has lasted for over a year. And I want you to stay away from Hiiro for a few days. I'll talk to him."
Usagi smiled to herself. With no small amount of care and tenderness, those words were uttered, and Rei gazed at her so intently this moment, so determined to insure her safety, that Usagi almost confessed her identity right then and there.
But reason kept her in check. However, her heart was not unmoved. And so, she promised herself, she will make friends with the girl that kept her from living with her father, with the girl that said father would always love more.
"Ah, that's the bell." Rei stood and beamed down at her. "Walk to first period with me?"
She grinned and consented in return.
Only upon exiting the library did something hit her – Rei had mentioned that Duo had suffered Hiiro's extreme hatred after the love triangle fiasco the year before … but it was obvious that Rei herself suffered no such aftereffects. Hiiro, Trowa, and she remained the triumvirate of St. Gabriel's.
Was it then possible that Hiiro chose to continue his affections for Rei?
Was it then equally possible that even at this moment, Hiiro Yui harbored feelings for an indifferent Rei Hino?
Usagi bit her lip uneasily. The idea warranted some rigorous contemplation.
…………………
Oh goodness. xD; Can you keep track of it all? The realities? The hypotheses? Does Hiiro still love Rei? O.o; Does Trowa? Does Rei still love Duo? Did Duo ever love her back? Does Duo love Usagi? Does Hiiro? Where is Quatre? And Wufei? And etc? xDxD; Yes. I leave you with those thoughts. ; We shall see Thank you for reading :3 Yours, Angel.
Ja Rule: Yesyes, I support and back Duo in saying that Hiiro sometimes can be such a freak. xD;
Koldy: Lol … such brevity is amusing. xD; Especially during the period of simple facial expressions…! O.o;; They made me laugh. xD;
Key1: Hiiro=semi-freak at the moment. xDxD; Yay I hope your opinion holds true until chapter forty-whatever. xD;
Usagi Asia Maxwell: O.O;;; That's drastic. --; But you're the best judge of its necessity. :3 As for your summer reading … I'd like to point out with some surprise that I finished The Poisonwood Bible hardly a week before you did. O.O;; Coincidence? Perhaps. xD;; And … what exactly is key club? O.O;; Please enlighten me. xD; I wish you luck with your future writing. :3
Sailor Grape: I admit to cruelty … lol … but I'm surely not as cruel as Hiiro … right? …o.o;;; Right?? xD; I love how you phrased it – how Hiiro embraces his egotism. xD; It's startlingly accurate. :3 And I believe this chapter actually answers two of your questions/wishes … O.O;; Yes, I'm shocked also. xD;; Thankyouthankyou! You flatter me so … xD;;
Ceso: Lol … is it a pretty picture? xD; Minako will show up … quite a bit later though … sorrysorry!!! It's just that … she isn't exactly there yet … y'know? xD;
Yami: Thank you ; I'll supply the twists if you'll supply the comments. :3 Lol.
Sere Star: Lol … it reminds you of Leave Me Breathless? I'd be much less surprised if you told me it reminded you of Hanging By a Moment since both this fic and that are based on the same storyline. ; But I can't say I'm not blushing. xD;; And I can't say whether or not it's Hiiro/Usagi … for suspense purposes. xD;; Let's just say there's a much greater possibility of it than say … Usagi/Rei. Kidding!!! My strange sense of humor. --;
LunarPrincess: Rei/Trowa … I never really took a liking to it until after I started writing of it. O.O;; And it was either going to be Rei/Trowa or Rei/Duo … and yet, it might be both. xD;; The joy. Lol … and I wanted to make Duo more serious "bishounen" material. xD;; Instead of the random American that hits on every girl he sees. xDxD;; Not that the latter is any less lovable. ; As for Hiiro … it's always difficult for me to write him as soft … because I've read tootoo many times fics with Hiiro thinking "why am I feeling this way?" etc … --; No offense!!! It just … pains me. xD;; But it's also quite difficult for me to transition from horrible!Hiiro to I-think-I'm-in-love!Hiiro. xD;; A fault, I'm sure. :x As for Usagi's similarity to Relena … I agree completely. xD;; That is why I have trouble with Relena-bashing … it seems to be treachery to Usagi's character. =.=; Not to mention you can't just hate a person with so little care. --; If that makes sense. xD; Ahh!! OOC-ness … xD;; It's been a long time since I've seen Sailor Moon … but the acute memory of cringing at Usagi's dubbed anime persona remains fresh in my mind. xD;; I don't think I've ever written Usagi like that, whether it fitted the fic or not. xD;; In retrospection, it seems as if, at least in GW/SM, Usagi's personality has been warped in everybody's minds … of course, people tell me that the manga Usagi is much more mature … but still, I'm sure she'd be shocked to find herself portrayed thus. xD;; I really don't know what to do with OOC-ness … so I'm not doing anything … lol. xD;; But to me, she still remains Usagi, in essence. xD;; Thank you for your support and time! 3
Datajana: Lol … you flatter me. xD;; It only seems like more than three because if I chopped it up to the average length of a chapter around here, it'd be five or six. xD;; See? Lol … but still, the flattery does not go by unappreciated. xD;; Summer vacation … will be busy. xD;; But I hope I'll enjoy it. ;
Zanrui: Thank you! ; Yes, I didn't mention I was almost/kinda/sorta/fairly satisfied with the previous chapter … xD;;; But upon rereading in order to refresh for this chapter … it still seems horribly sophomoric … ;-; But well. xD;; And I didn't quite understand what I was trying to get at in Hiiro's personality until you and Sailor Grape mentioned it – the utter lack of notice of his pride/narcissism and the possible approval of it. xD;; As for dandelions … lol – they remind me of childhood. ::gets teary-eyed:: xDxD;;
Lilaclight: Lol … I'll explain the Usagi/Duo relationship sooner or later … o.o;; Most, if not everybody will be introduced … though the main characters will remain Usagi, Duo, Hiiro, Trowa, Rei … but, surprisingly, Quatre is extraordinarily important to the plot … despite not showing up for the next fifteen or so chapters. xD;; I'd say Quatre is more important than Trowa … but that has no meaning right now. ; Thank you very much. ;
Black Aura-Sama: Naruto ice cream? O.o;; Whenwhen? Wherewhere? Tell me, please! xDxD;; recent Naruto fanatic. xD;; And nothing terrible is going to happen. --; In my opinion. Possibly cruel … but not terrible. xD;; Lol … and I don't understand why the birthday/present/Tokyo thing was funny … but am grateful that you find humor in any of it. xDxD;; Thank you :3 King Hiiro is flailing… xD;;
Riru-chan: Lol … thank you. ; Though I wouldn't go as far as brilliant … xD; Maybe tolerable. xDxD;;
Alexz: Thank you! :D Here's more. ;
Airlady: Thank you! ; And it seems such a surprise that Duo knows something … xD;; Kidding. ;
Lavenderdream: Lol … thank you. :D What a relief … ; I hope this chapter further clarified on some things. xD;;
Kazumi Tachikawa: Lol … thank you. xD;; But might I direct you to Hikari-chan's Hanging By a Moment? O.o;; After you read it, that will be by far the best MG parody you've ever ready. xD;;
Concrete Tenshi: Thank you. ; This chapter is only about half a page longer but … so? xD;;
Lady Lydia: More than one person falls for Usagi. :3 That's all I'm saying. xD;;
