HOROSCOPE
Chapter Three: Security
Duo trudged back into St. Gabriel Academy early Monday morning. His feet were seemingly made of lead as he groaned loudly with every dragging step he took. The brunette never felt so entirely worn out in his life. His legs were sore, but felt like they were hallow and filled with jelly at the same time. Despite all his pain, he couldn't help but smile.
The weekend with the Winners and the rest of his new friends had been amazing, and certainly eventful. Quatre had been concerned that he had not planned enough activities for his friends to be thoroughly entertained. As it turned out, the Winner Heir arranged too many things for the mini-vacation.
Duo had been determined to do everything on the blond's list however, despite how impossible the time table appeared.
"There's no way we can do all of this," Wufei argued, looking at the hastily scribbled schedule that Duo and Quatre had devised before dinner Friday evening. "It's just too much."
"Nonsense," the American argued back, appraising his work happily. "I bet we can get this all done by Saturday afternoon."
Needless to say, a little over half of the list remained incomplete. The quintet managed to visit the local shopping outlets, the aquarium, the amusement park and a small arcade.
Duo spied the arcade tucked away in a small, slightly run down part in the down town district of the city. He spotted a set of first-person shooter games and immediately challenged Heero to a game. The cobalt-eyed boy accepted, after much taunting from the other.
"You're on, Maxwell."
Quatre, Trowa and Wufei were more interested in the nature park that was located in the space adjacent to the small arcade. The blond found a nice place to sit in the shade beneath a healthy grove of large adult oak trees. Wufei broke a branch off from one of the trees and swung it around idly as he watched the two brunettes jostling and shoving each other immaturely as they played.
Well, Duo was shoving playfully and Heero was growling. It was obvious he took the game very seriously.
Heero easily wiped the floor with Duo in their shooting contest, having had prior training on hand guns. It was simple: take your mark, and fire. It was only a matter of minutes before Duo cursed as a bloody 'game over' appeared on his half of the screen. Immediately, the long haired boy shoved a hand into his pants pocket and crammed more coins into the machine.
"Hey Trowa," Duo grumbled in greeting when he saw the familiar brunette. "How's it hangin'?"
A few students were looking their way, huddled together tightly in small clusters. Trowa shrugged in response, causing Duo to sigh and muss up his hair with his fingers. During their short holiday, the taller boy had become slightly more chatty and open, but only if Quatre had somehow pulled the quieter teen out of his shell and into a conversation. It was wishful thinking hoping that the other would act the same with so many people around and without the Winner heir's prodding.
"Wow, look at that shark!" Quatre gasped excitedly as a large tiger-shark swam past with it jaws wide open, exposing its long rows of sharp teeth. "Have you ever seen anything with teeth like that before, Trowa?"
The taller shook his head.
"No. This is the first time, but I've seen a lion's teeth before," he answered softly, watching as a ray floated down closer to the bottom of the tank.
Quatre nearly bounced at the response before pulling Trowa towards more of the bigger sharks.
A couple of girls stared at Duo, who shot them a puzzled look when they immediately turned to something in their hands and began talking in hushed voices. The brunette shrugged and continued on his way down the hall with Trowa.
Girls were strange anyway.
After much coaxing from Quatre after Duo's fifth consecutive loss, the group decided to return to the Winner Estate for lunch. They were once again enthusiastically greeted by Sandrock, who bounded out into the yard and licked Duo excitedly. The girls were away on their own outings, leaving only Fyra, Iria and Rashid in the house.
Lunch was set out extravagantly on the table. There were plates filled with different meats and vegetables and platters with deliciously ripe fruits. Duo's eyes practically bugged out at the spread and immediately dug in, the others eating more slowly.
The pair made their way down the hall, heading towards where Heero and Quatre were known to loiter and chat before class. Trowa's brow creased as he noticed more and more students staring at them as they walked. After the time that they had been there, he didn't think that they would still be such a novelty. And it wasn't like their other brunette and blond friends were with him to drawn attention their way either, being as they were rather plain on their own.
Wait…the olive eyed teen thought pensively. They're only staring at Duo.
Sunday came too quickly for the boys as they began preparing for their return to St. Gabriel on Monday. Duo attempted to rouse the other boys into going out again, but they would have none of it. Heero wasn't interested in going back in town so soon, Wufei's head was pounding from Heero and Duo's constant bickering, and Quatre's skin was pink and irritated from getting into the wrong sort of plants when he visiting the nature park. Trowa was the only one that had no problem with the long haired boy's suggestion, but he was disinclined to go wandering off without Quatre.
"But what about the amusement park?" Duo asked, watching one of Quatre's sisters rub aloe lotion on the blond's infected arms.
"We can go next time," Quatre promised, fighting off the urge to scratch at the horribly itchy blotches on his skin.
Duo looked put out for a second, but was quickly appeased when he noticed a shiny white gaming system stationed in front of the television in the room.
"Hey, Quatre! What's that?"
"Oh you want to play?"
After five minutes of explaining how to use the two controllers, Duo was swinging his arms around wildly has he happily played which ever game was left in the console. Wufei made the unfortunate mistake of getting to close to the American as he played, earning a quick hit to the nose.
"Oh, man! Sorry, Wufei!"
Duo seemed unaware as he continued to bounce down the hall. He finally spotted a familiar head of blond hair at the end of the hall and he called out.
"Quatre!" Duo waved his hands to get the other's attention. "Hey, Quatre! Over here!"
Quatre, Duo learned, loved being away from his house. More often than once, the others were treated to a clash between Winner Senior and his heir.
"Quatre and his father don't really get along," Wufei had warned Trowa and Duo as they unpacked their bags in Quatre's room. "So don't be surprised."
But Duo was surprised when he saw how hostilely and standoffish the normally timid blond became when his father was in the room.
"You should come home on more weekends," Fyra insisted, watching his son dig around in the cabinets for tea. "You don't spend enough time with your family."
"Maybe I do come home more often and you're just never here to notice," Quatre argued, taking the tea and leaving the room without another word to his father.
The blue eyed Arabian never went out of his way to start an argument with his father, but it seemed that they disagreed on almost everything. There was one particular incident on Sunday, when everyone was winding down, that Fyra Winner sought out his son and began to discuss future business matters. Quatre became irritated instantly and began to distance himself from the older man.
"Duo!" Quatre rushed over immediately, and grabbed onto the brunette's shoulders, startling him. "Duo, everyone is talking about you."
The American's braid swished to the side as he tilted his head in confusion. He hadn't seen Quatre this worked up before. His skin was still tinted pink from the plants, but now his cheeks were dusted darkly with a rosy hue of flush.
"So?" the colonist asked with no real concern. "They were always talking, Q. What's so different about it now?" Duo didn't voice that he thought that the school would have moved onto some more interesting type of gossip by now.
"It is different," Quatre insisted. His eyes were wide with worry. "They've been talking since we got back. Something must have happened while we were gone during the liberty. I've been asked a lot of weird questions too. I don't know what's going on."
"I think I could help there," Wufei's voice came from behind Trowa. The Asian teen walked up, a print-sized flyer in his hands. "These were taped in the dormitories this morning. You wouldn't have seen them since I was the only one who came back on Sunday."
Wufei held the flyer out to Duo, who snatched it out of his hands immediately when he caught sight of the heading. Quatre read over his shoulder worriedly and Trowa gave them room to fuss as Wufei watched their expressions carefully. The flyer was actually a newspaper clipping from A.C.188 and a more recent photo of Duo and Heero sitting at a table in the cafeteria.
MAXWELL CHURCH MASSACRE: Church in Colony L2 Destroyed by Alliance troops. One child survives.
The Maxwell Church was destroyed this weekend after suspicion of their involvement with the Alliance Military. OZ soldiers were spotted entering and exiting the church; wounded and armed alike. Sources say that the priest of the church, Father Maxwell, was possibly a spy for the Alliance. The Alliance denies this accusation as an orphan residing in the church, Duo, was caught stealing food from their supply house with other war orphans.
The actual cause for Alliance destroying, and slaughtering the inhabitants of the church still remain unknown at this time, but there was a report of a stolen mobile suit unit just moments prior to the attack. Only three bodies were recovered from the ruins, all being abandoned OZ soldiers too wounded to be treated. Nearby, there was a makeshift grave where investigators discovered the bodies of Father Maxwell and the Sister Helen.
The body of the orphan allegedly living at the church was never recovered. Investigators found no evidence of-
Duo couldn't read anymore. The edges of the flyer creased in his hands as his body shook. His vision became clouded as tears began to collect in his eyes.
"Duo?" Quatre asked softly, placing a comforting hand on the American's shoulder. The brunette flinched away from the touch harshly and tore the paper in his hands into tiny shreds.
"This is bullshit!" Duo raged, flinging the ruined scraps of paper into the air. "Who would dig up something like this? It doesn't matter anymore!"
The Winner heir gave his friend a sympathetic look, having read most of the article before the L2 colonist had a chance to destroy it.
"I'm sure that it's just a misunderstanding," Quatre tried to reason. "They could have—Duo!"
The American stormed off. Wufei held Quatre back from pursuing the brunette, shaking his head solemnly. Blue eyes locked with hard black and Wufei silently conveyed his message.
Duo needs to figure this out on his own.
The students were being annoying, Heero decided as he stepped out of a stall in the boy's lavatory. He went to the sink to wash his hands and splashed some of the cool water onto his face. Ever since they all began to mill out of the dormitories this morning, they had been talking nonstop. The Japanese teen didn't bother to listen to what they were talking about, having never found what they had to say of any interest to him before.
His mind began to wander back to the weekend he just spent with Quatre and the others at the Winner Estate. A smile threatened to tug at his lips as he remembered Duo running around the aquarium with a completely childish look plastered over his face. The American had looked three years younger than he was with his face pressed against the polished glass, making bizarre faces at the aquatic life in the tanks.
Duo leaned over the edge of the tank, watching the hermit crabs scuttle around in their odd shells. The brunette was flanked on either side by Quatre and Wufei. There were smaller children, who were visiting the aquarium with their parents, hanging onto the guard rail across from the teens to peer into the water.
Tiny hands reached into the tank excitedly, trying to grab for one of the small crabs. The boy leaned into far and threw his hands down wildly to stop himself from falling. His palms slapped harshly against the water. Wufei jumped back quickly as a large wave of water surged up from the sudden impact.
Duo didn't notice, too absorbed in watching the crabs fight over a brightly coloured shell. Quatre squealed as he was pulled back by Trowa, just in time to see Duo become completely drenched in the tank water. The brunette stepped from the tank and looked down to examine his suddenly soaked clothes.
"What the hell just happened?" Duo sputtered, shaking some of the water from his sleeves. Heero and Wufei naturally took the opportunity to point and laugh at the dripping American.
Duo sneezed periodically for the rest of the afternoon.
Duo was still troublesome, Heero confirmed as he gazed at his reflection staring back at him in the mirror, but he wasn't much of an obligation anymore. Not that Heero ever felt that he was obligated to do anything. Quatre bringing him into the fold was the first step, and somehow the rambunctious American was able to wheedle his way into Heero's good graces.
It was an amazing feat, really.
Duo wasn't immune to Heero's natural coldness like Quatre was, however. The Japanese teen was sure there would always be the teeth grinding and fist clenching moments with the long haired boy. It was a given. They were polar opposites in every way from the way they acted to even their own appearances. But Heero couldn't help but notice the intersting turn their—was it friendship?—was taking.
Wiping his hands off on a clean cloth he kept in his blazer, he exited the bathroom and was hit hard by something. The force was enough to knock him down, sending him crashing to the floor. The Japanese boy groaned and rubbed his head before rounding onto the person who ran into him.
"Watch where you're going you...!" Heero blinked. "Duo?"
Violet eyes blinked back tears. His eyes were red and puffy from the salty tears irritating the sensitive area. The American sniffed noisily and swiped his sleeve across his face, clearing away the evidence of his crying from his face.
"I'm sorry, Heero," Duo mumbled uncharacteristically softly, pushing himself back up to his feet. "I wasn't watching where I was going."
Heero felt a strange twinge run through his body. Seeing the other like that, tear tracks staining his face and his nose red from crying, made him inexplicably angry. Sad didn't work on Duo. The moisture leaking from the American's eyes looked unnatural. He was supposed to be annoyingly happy and energetic always.
"What happened?" Heero asked firmly. He tried to look into the other's eyes, but Duo kept looking away stubbornly.
"Nothing…" Duo answered, rubbing at his face again.
"I may run and hide, but I'll never tell a lie!"
"Duo."
"It's nothing, Heero."
A group of students were standing near a classroom door, talking animatedly amongst themselves, when they spied Duo stomping loudly down the hallway. They held one of the flyers between them and immediately began to stare at the angry American.
"What!" Duo barked in frustration when he noticed their eyes on them.
One of the girls shrunk back in fear, but the others continued to watch Duo with the same contempt and disgust in their eyes.
"This was probably all your fault," a boy sneered, thrusting the flyer forward. "This was you, wasn't it? You ran away like a coward."
"Duo Maxwell, huh?" The other girl piped in. "How arrogant, stealing the name of such an honorable priest. You don't deserve his name."
Duo bit his lip, his teeth bared as he struggled to resist flying forward and decking the other boys in the face.
"Oh Duo, you did it again!" Sister Helen shouted in exasperation as she tried to reign in the struggling eight year old.
"I-It was their fault…theirs!"Duo sobbed, throwing his arms around in an attempt to loosen the nun's hold on him.
"How can you say that, when it was you that sent the other kids to the hospital?"
"Yeah…but…" Duo mumbled and looked away.
Sister Helen dropped down onto her knees so she was eye level with the young boy and held gently onto the front of his clothes. His cheeks, which he inflated in irritation, were flushed and puffy from the struggle. She looked into his violet eyes that were on the brink of shedding tears. Her expression of anger softened into concern.
"Duo, what…did they say to you?"
It was just like his old school on the Colony. No one wanted him there, and no one wanted him here either. He clenched his fist tightly until his knuckles turned white.
The other teens didn't seem concerned, continuing to taunt the other and laughing. They insulted him just as the other kids from L2 had. The scars began to reopen as the group closed in, digging into his oldest wounds left behind from his past.
Duo raised his hand to strike, but was surprised when a larger hand enclosed itself around his cocked fist.
"What seems to be the problem here?" A smooth tenor voice cut in.
The students stopped their teasing and stared up at the tall man towering over them behind Duo. The man was long and lean with straight platinum blond hair that cascaded fluidly down his broad shoulders. His eyes were piercing and icy as he stared intently at the students before him with a 'no nonsense' look about them.
"N-Nothing…" one of the boys stammered, backing away from Duo now out of fear of the blond man.
"Then why don't you run along to class, before you're late."
They nodded and ran off quickly down the hall, not even taking the time to note if their classes were down that wing. The man turned to address Duo, but blinked in confusion when he saw the brunette was already gone.
Dorothy Catalonia sat with Relena in the cafeteria, sipping delicately at her usual cup of morning tea. Breakfast was set out in front of the girls, but neither seemed interested. Dorothy watched as Relena fretted quietly to herself. The Vice Minister's daughter had wanted to invite Heero to spend the weekend liberty with her and her family on their yacht, but the stoic brunette was nowhere to be found. Relena asked around if anyone knew where Heero went off to and was distressed to learn that he and his new merry troupe of misfit friends would be spending the weekend with the Winner's.
The former princess raved to Dorothy for seemingly hours, complaining about how Quatre always got to Heero first and that the new kids had no right to suddenly start hogging her crush. Relena's nails were worn down from all of her frustrated chewing, forcing her to get three different manicures during the weekend to repair the damage.
"I don't understand," Relena sighed, poking at her scrambled eggs forlornly. "Once upon a time, Heero was interested in me. At least I thought he was."
"Don't worry, Miss Relena," Dorothy smiled, the expression looking eerie with her features. "I'm sure everything will work out fine."
"You think so, Dorothy?" Relena asked hopefully.
Dorothy looked down at the flyer sitting in her lap. She folded it and slipped it into her blazer, her icy eyes dancing happily.
"I know so."
Duo sat on one of the toilet seats in the stalls, his face covered with toilet tissue. Heero had dragged the protesting boy with him into the bathroom and practically threw him into the nearest stall. Cobalt eyes stared down at the seated brunette as he cleaned up his face. Heero didn't believe Duo for a second when he said nothing was wrong.
"Want to try again?" Heero demanded with his arms crossed.
Duo looked up at Heero and glared from behind his wad of tissues. He removed them with a snort and tossed it down between his legs and into the toilet.
"No, I don't," Duo snapped. He was about to continue and yell at the boy standing above him when he noticed the other's eyes.
They were angry, of course, burning with the fire that Heero possessed as he seethed at usually nothing in particular. Duo was used to this look, and the Japanese boy's other trademark apathetic expression that he normally wore. But if was different this time. There was just anger swimming around in those enigmatic blue pools. There was determination and….concern?
It felt like something clicking into place.
Duo softened his gaze until the frustration he was planning on shooting at Heero bubbled away into practically nothing. He sniffed again and his lips turned into a small smile.
"Just some kids being stupid," Duo insisted. He reached over and yanked more toilet tissue from the holder to blow his nose. "I overreacted. Really."
A fine brow arched as Heero tried to decide if Duo's latest statement was trustworthy. The Japanese teen grunted before exiting Duo's stall. It wasn't his business. Why was he reacting this way?
It's because he's you're friend, some unknown voice claimed in his mind, pretending to be his own thoughts. Heero would never think of something so blatantly sappy.
"Quatre is rubbing off on me," Heero muttered to himself as he walked back over to the sinks and once again washed his face. He didn't hear Duo come to stand behind him, so he was reasonably startled when a pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around his middle and Duo's cheek pressed against his back.
"Thank you, Heero," Duo whispered, offering the stiff teen a gentle squeeze.
Heero was rendered speechless. He felt awkward in the embrace, not sure if he should remain still or shove the other boy off of his body. His mind was screaming at him that this wasn't normal. Boys don't hug each other, they punch each other.
But it feels so nice, another part of him screamed just as loudly. Having the American's arms so securely around him, his warm breath heating up his skin through the layers of his uniform, was a comforting feeling. Heero felt as if he could relax and simply melt away into the other's arms.
Was it friendship? Heero asked himself again as he felt his body swelling with a foreign emotion. His mind was once again at war with itself. His fingers twitched at his sides and his mind tried to decided either to make him push Duo away or pull him into a deeper embrace.
His cheeks began to flush as he realized his appreciation for Duo's sudden affection was also being to be felt elsewhere. Quickly, the Japanese boy rearranged himself, and after a bit of a struggle, was able to wriggle his way out of the braided boy's hold.
"That's enough," Heero said, moving awkwardly to hide his blush and the other predicament from the American as he regained his personal space. "You're going to miss your first class."
"Shit!" Duo shouted suddenly, scrambling to get to the door. "I have art first! Wufei warned me Mr. Khushrenada really strict about tardiness!"
In a blur of brown and blue, Duo was gone; leaving Heero to sink to the floor, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"Damn it," Heero muttered, running his fingers through his hair.
What is wrong with me?
Quatre tapped his pencil nervously against his sketch book and he watched the door intently, waiting for it to open and for Duo to come bursting through. The Arabian hadn't seen the brunette since his outburst in the hall and he was worried that something might be wrong. His mind wandered to the article, the gaps in Duo's past filled ever-so-slightly. Had Duo really lived through something as awful as that? How did he manage to remain so positive?
Just as Quatre was hoping, his thoughts were broken when Duo came tumbling into the room, his uniform slightly out of place from running so quickly down the hallway.
"Ah, Mr. Maxwell," Mr. Khushrenada greeted as he watched his student pick himself up off the floor. "So good of you to join us. Please take a seat and Mr. Marquis will be sure to catch you up on what you've missed."
Mr. Marquis? That's right. He said we'd have a student teacher. Duo nodded and scurried over to his place next to Quatre, who was relieved to see his friend was looking mostly back to normal.
"We meet again."
Duo nearly jumped out of his skin at the familiar voice.
"Y-You!" Duo gasped intelligently. "You're the man from the hallway! Um…Thanks." The man nodded and offered his hand to Duo, which the American took and shook dutifully.
"I'm Zechs Marquis," he introduced. "I will be student teaching here with Mr. Khushrenada for the remainder of the year."
Mr. Marquis quickly explained to Duo what the rest of the class was doing and let the brunette set off to work. The blond man was very similar to Mr. Khushrenada, Duo noted. His mannerisms were just as serious as the other teachers, but they lacked the warmth and humor the other man possessed, but was still able to engage the rest of the class in whatever he was saying. Duo found him easier on the eyes than Mr. Khushrenada, but thought he was less comfortable speaking to Mr. Marquis.
It's probably because of how young he is, Duo reasoned when he noticed the age difference between the two men.
The hour ticked by quickly. Eyes continued to travel in Duo's direction, everyone in the school having read the distributed flyer by now, but no one bothered to say anything. A crumbled note was aimed Duo's way from one of the boys across the table, but it was easily intercepted by Mr. Marquis who unfolded the note and gave the sender a stern glare.
"That's all class," Mr. Khushrenada announced once the bell sounded. The students began to pack up their things and file out. "Oh, not you, Mr. Maxwell. We need to talk."
Quatre signaled that he would be waiting outside as Mr. Khushrenada turned on Duo. The lecture was brief, stressing the importance of punctuality and the disruption that lateness causes the rest of the class. The brunette hung his head, but was pleased when the artist said he would only be giving him a warning this time.
"Mr. Marquis was kind enough to vouch for you and informed me that you had a bit of trouble before class," Mr. Khushrenada said with a smile on his face. "But don't let it happen again."
Duo smiled at the blond teacher, noting to himself that he would need to thank him again later. The brunette nodded to Mr. Khushrenada before heading out the door where Quatre was waiting. A few students were out in the halls, some filing into the classroom that the two had just occupied.
"Are you okay, Duo?" Quatre asked. Between Mr. Khushrenada and Mr. Marquis, it was almost impossible to get in a conversation during the class.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Duo assured, his usual smile back on his face. Quatre looked at the brunette critically. "I was just a little shocked to see that, you know? That was eight years ago, so I didn't think I would hear about it again. It's fine really."
Quatre nodded. He offered his American friend a small smile and rubbed his shoulder gently. "Okay. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to come find me."
"You know I will!"
Lunch doesn't come fast enough, Duo decided as he shoveled some food onto his plate from the buffet table. His appetite wasn't as large as usual, but he didn't want to rouse more suspicion from his friends. Quatre had been watching him like a hawk during their art class, and Heero had actually almost taken it easy on the American in their fencing lesson.
Duo sauntered over to the usual table and blinked when he saw only Quatre and Heero sitting there. "Where's Trowa and Wufei?"
Heero shrugged and spooned some soup into his mouth quietly. The Japanese boy was still slightly shaken from the incident earlier in the bathroom. He could still feel the warmth of the other's arms against his stomach and the heat from his breath lingered in the fibers of his uniform. He shivered slightly, sloshing around the soup he held in his spoon.
Duo failed to notice Heero's discomfort and he slowly tucked into his own meal.
"I don't know where Trowa is," Quatre answered solemnly. He didn't have the tall teen in any of his classes until the last slot of the day. "I think I saw Wufei heading to the art room. Maybe he had something he needed to finish for Mr. Khushrenada? Oh, and I saw Mr. Khushrenada in the office. He said that you left your sketch book."
The three ate their lunch quietly, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. When there were fifteen minutes left for lunch, Quatre stood to excuse himself, saying he was going to look for Trowa. Duo picked at his food for a while longer before standing as well.
"I'm going to go get my book," Duo said as he cleared away his mess from the table. "I'll see you later, Heero."
Heero gave the other a curt nod and watched as he exited the cafeteria.
Relena spied Heero suddenly alone, and jumped on the chance. She made her way over to the brunette's table and invited herself to sit down. Heero didn't seem to notice the girl's presence, his mind too focused on the bubbly American now missing from the table.
"Come and have lunch with me, Chang."
Wufei was seated in the art room. His face was resting in one hand as the other tapped impatiently at the dark wood desk, waiting for the other to arrive.
He invites me to eat with him, and then doesn't show, Wufei grumbled to himself as he stared longingly at the lunch be brought with him. His stomach grumbled with him, voicing its complaints of not being fed yet.
"You look like a spoiled puppy," Zechs mocked as he stepped into the room, the heels of his boots clicking loudly on the floor in the silent room.
Wufei spared the other man only a glare.
Zechs Marquis was a long-time friend of Treize Khushrenada prior to becoming a student teacher in his charge. They went way back, Treize claimed when he introduced the blond man to Wufei's class. Wufei saw the older man as nothing but a nuisance. He wore an arrogant smirk on his face and he threaded through the students' desks, pointing out problems with their works and giving them tips.
Most of the girls in the class swooned when the alluring blond leaned over the shoulders and pointed his enticingly longer fingers at their drawings and whispered praise in their ears. More times than the Chinese boy could count, he had to drown out the annoying sounds of girls giggling and hands flapping as they hurried to fan themselves off less they faint from all the blood rushing to their cheeks.
"He's so dreamy!"
"Oh, I wonder if he's single?"
"I hope so! I've always wanted blond babies!"
"Did you need something?" Wufei retorted coolly. He reached under the desk and into his bag and pulled out a pad of drawing paper. He planned to sketch in order to distract himself from the teacher.
"I just wanted to talk," Zechs said, coming to sit on the desk. "Mr. Khushrenada has told me about you. He speaks very fondly of you, you know. Being his 'star pupil'," Zechs sighed dramatically.
Wufei didn't respond and continued to furiously scribble. Zechs, seemingly unsatisfied with the result, decided to probe further.
"I haven't seen you work yet, of course," he continued. "But it must be something worth noting if it's gotten Treize that hot and bothered over it."
Wufei choked. He began to cough as he tried to clear his throat so he could breath properly again.
What did he say! Wufei shrieked mentally.
"E -Excuse me?" The dark haired boy sputtered, finally unblocking his air way. "I think I misunderstood you."
"You might have, but you probably didn't," Zechs said and stood. "He's in the office speaking with the principal. Treize, I mean—if you're waiting for him."
With that, Zechs sauntered out, leaving a very shocked and very annoyed Wufei in his wake.
Quatre wandered around the campus grounds, searching for the tall olive-eyed teen. He checked Trowa's previous classes, courtesy of the office secretary, who simply loved Quatre, the bathrooms, the bleachers, the basketball court, and the garden in the court yard. The Arabian was about to give up until he walked pass one of gymnasium storage rooms and noticed a light shining underneath the door.
Curiously, the blond walked over and pulled the door open.
Well he found Trowa. And what a sight he was greeted with.
The tall European was suspended from the higher of the two double bars, flipping and twisting himself gracefully in the air. He flipped himself quickly and supported his entire weight on his hand clenching the bar, his feet pointed upwards towards the ceiling. A small bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face as he forced himself to remain upright.
Trowa released his tight grip and swung his legs inward so they rested just above the bar and spun so he was hanging upside down from the bar. His green eye blinked when he caught sight of the awed blond gaping at him from the doorway. He dropped down to the ground immediately, sticking the landing flawlessly.
"Quatre."
"That was amazing, Trowa!" Quatre applauded. Hearing his name from the quiet boy tore him from the trance he was drawn in from seeing the other gliding through the air. "I didn't know you did gymnastics. You must have practiced a long time to become that good."
Trowa nodded and moved to stand in front of his shorter blond friend. He was surprised that the other was able to track him down. If it had been anyone besides Quatre, Trowa would have found the situation very frightening and concerning. But on the blond, he decided, it was cute.
"Is this where you've been disappearing to?" The Arabian asked. Trowa nodded.
"I used to perform," he said quietly, accepting the towel that Quatre handed him from the shelf. He dabbed the perspiration from his face.
Quatre chatted excitedly about Trowa's hidden talent, praising and complimenting the other boy constantly. His blue eyes were bright with mirth as he beamed up at his taller friend. He bounced on the balls of his feet, looking half his age.
"Have you ever entered a competition? Do you want to? I bet you'd win. What about—" Quatre fired off questions a mile a minute.
The tall European brought the towel up to his face to hide his mouth, and the small smile that formed. He reached out and ruffled the soft crown of blond hair on the other's head. Quatre's smile faded slightly as he looked adorably puzzled at Trowa. He blinked.
Cute.
Duo walked quickly down the hallway, heading towards the art room. He already had his plan of attack: Thank Mr. Marquis for getting him off the hook with Mr. Khushrenada and then retrieve his sketch book. There weren't many students lingering around the halls during the lunch hour, giving Duo an uninterrupted journey to his destination.
When the brunette arrived at the room, the door was ajar. He walked up to the door and peeked inside, noticing the only two occupants of the room. Mr. Khushrenada and Wufei were seated at the formers desk, a small spread of food laid out on the dark wood. The Chinese teen was smiling as he ate, talking lightly with the teacher at his side.
They were sitting very close, their thighs grazing each other underneath the concealment of the desk. Mr. Khushrenada was leaning against the back of his chair casually and laughed at something that the student said.
Duo was debating whether or not he should make his presence know, when someone cleared their throat loudly behind him. The American started and wheeled around to see Mr. Marquis standing behind him with Duo's missing sketch book outstretched in his hand.
"Forget something, Mr. Maxwell?" Mr. Marquis said with one fine eyebrow arched inquisitively. The man leaned over the boy and pulled the door closed.
Duo chuckled nervously and stepped away from the older man, his back hitting slightly against the newly closed door. He reached forward and took the book, holding it out protectively in front of himself to create a boundary between himself and the student teacher.
"Uh, yeah thanks," Duo said and slipped underneath the man's arms and back into open space. "And thanks for telling Mr. Khushrenada about before and stuff…" He trailed off awkwardly.
"It was no problem, Duo," Mr. Marquis assured, removing his hand from the door knob. "It's sad, but children are often the most cruel among human beings. Try not to make a habit out of it."
I definitely won't, Duo thought as he walked away with sketch book in hand.
He practically ran down the hallway to get as far away from Zechs Marquis as he possibly could.
Relena was all but glowing as she strolled down the hall with Heero at her side. After a lot of poking and shouting, the strawberry blond was finally able to get the brunette to take notice of her in the final class they happened to share. She proceeded to ask the other how his weekend was, despite the fact that she already knew how he had spent it.
The pair talked for a while. Well, Relena talked and Heero mostly appeared to be listening. His mind was preoccupied elsewhere as he tried to sort his jumbled thoughts running around, untamed, in his head. Like a gentleman, Heero offered to escort the girl to her next class. Not bothering to tell the other there was no next class, Relena nearly jumped at the idea and snaked her arm around Heero's and rested her head against his shoulder.
It felt warm too, but it wasn't the same.
"Walk me to my dorm?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes at the boy hooked to her arm.
"Why not?"
The former princess lips threatened to split with how widely she smiled at the response. She was going to walk as slow as she could, to make this precious moment last.
Finally. Heero all to myself!
They parted ways just outside the entrance to the girls' dormitory. Relena stood up on her toes and planted a quick kiss to Heero's cheek.
"Good night, Heero," she purred as she skipped inside the building, not noticing the brunette immediately wiping the kiss from his skin.
Heero smirked as he brought his hand down, his fingers spreading feather-light touches against the smooth expanse of soft skin. The chest tightened as the boy beneath him sucked in a sharp breath. The Japanese boy's smirk grew and dragged the tip of his finger agonizingly slow across a deliciously pink nipple.
"Ahhh…"
Heero leaned down and ran his tongue along the hardening nub, his hands coming up to pinch the neglected one between his fingers. He sucked on the sensitive skin and grazed his teeth gently against the nipple, eliciting a moan from his partner.
"H-Heero…" the other moaned wantonly.
Their bodies slid together perfectly, the thin layer of sweat causing their skin move without resistance. Heero pulled the other up into a searing open mouth kiss. Their tongues clashed immediately, both delving deeply. A thin trail of saliva ran down the boy's mouth.
Chocolate colored hair tumbled down around them, curtaining the two lovers into their own world. Nothing else existed, save them. Suddenly, Heero found himself pressed on his back against sheets. Pearly white teeth flashed dangerously above the Japanese teen.
He pulled Heero closer, moaning loudly when their straining erections brushed together, uninhibited by clothing.
Soon, the sound of flesh slapping together and the boys' pants and moans were the only sounds resonating loudly in the room.
"Nnngh…"
The room became unbearably hot. The scent of sex and the musk of sweat mixed dangerously, Heero becoming drunk off of the intoxicating aroma. Their bodies reacted as one, gasping together and moaning together, each burst and shiver of pleasure shared equally. They were both teetering on the edge of completion. Hips thrust almost painfully together causing bright lights to flash behind Heero's closed eye lids.
Someone cried out and Heero's stomach was splattered with warmth. Cobalt eyes fluttered open and looked up into lust-filled violet eyes.
"Oh God, Heero."
A star burst of color exploded behind Heero's eyes, making him suddenly aware only of the body pressed so tightly close to his, and the waves of ecstasy flowing through his body.
"D—"
Everything was dark.
つづく
Author's Remarks: I am so sorry for the-oh wow!-eight month wait for this update. My month off for my birthday continued into me becoming sick, getting distracted by games, and many other things that I don't even remember anymore because it's been so long. This chapter was very difficult for me to write. I started work on it in April, but because of the previous chapter being cut off, I had to merge the last part into the new chapter, which was hard. I tried several times over the last few months to get past the awkward 600 word mark that I stopped at, but it just wasn't working. Getting past three chapters has always been a personal issue with myself when writing, so I'm so glad to have finally beaten it! I don't know how, but I managed to complete almost this entire chapter during my philosophy class yesterday!
The plot is thickening now! So far, the developing romance between Duo and Heero has been rather one-sided, so we'll see what Duo has to say about these turn of events in the next chapters. Which I hope won't be so difficult as this one. Oh, and the little teaser at the end was a combination of me trying to make up for the long wait and my need to get some loving into this story!
Also, does anyone know how to include page breaks? I just noticed today that the website ate them. :I
Thanks for reading!