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DISCLAIMER::: Refer to prior chapters

PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'll love you forever if you review!! Reviewing is the BEST thing you can do to keep me writing this!! Even if all you say is "update" or something, though I prefer something a bit more…detailed, I'll STILL be ecstatically happy!


Chapter 6: Three Weeks Later

Entry #862: He works all day, comes home, makes dinner, eats, does the dishes, and locks himself in his room. That's it. For two and a half weeks. It makes me feel so alone… At least my apartment is cold; I can wear long sleeves and not be dying. He has no idea--I think I told you earlier how stealth and sneaky I can be. I haven't kept a single one of his dinners down, not that they aren't good but… It's a good thing I have an unlimited hot water limit, or else he would never have a hot shower. Or I'd take up cold showers. I would deserve it after all. Tonight he told me to get a job… He gave me a lot of applications, which was why he was late. I kind of thought he wouldn't be back, but as usual I was stupidly wrong. I'm always wrong. I'm so stupid. Ha ha… at least I don't have to act cheerful and shit for more than dinnertime. At first I tried to bother him when he locked himself in his room, but now I've just given up. I'd rather sit in the shower with a knife… It's a little dull, but I deserve that too. For being such a screw up. When I left the reunion, everyone was glaring at me, even him. They all hate me… Ha ha… look, there's tearstains on the pages… I don't want to die, but gad, it hurts. You're so silent, now I'm wishing you'd answer me… (end journal entry)

Heero brought his laptop into the living room; he couldn't stand locking himself up anymore. Heero felt Duo stare at him and met the violet eyes. "Tomorrow's my day off. We need to get more food."

"I know!! We've been out of chocolate for two days, I don't know if I could live a third without it!" Duo fell to the floor, mock-choking without his prized chocolate.

"Hn."

"It's not that bad, you should try it sometime. Though you'd have to buy your own bag of chocolate. Not touching mine. N'uh." Duo leapt up from the floor and hooked up his game cube, after which he complained. "I really need to get Soul Calibur II." Two weeks before Heero had discovered Duo's unemployment, and had wanted to correct that fact since then, but the American was lazy, and kept putting off filling out the stack of applications Heero had brought him.

Heero's mind flew, and saw his chance. "If you get a job, I'll get you your game."

Duo's jaw dropped, his character fell off a cliff, and Duo stared at Heero. "As soon as someone accepts me?"

Heero nodded, and Duo grabbed a pen and sat down in front of the coffee table with the stack of applications and rapidly filled them out. Heero shook his head slightly and inserted a tiny microphone into his ear so he could listen to his CD. The Japanese man watched the American from the corner of his eye, though he never skipped a beat in his typing. He's so thin. He eats a lot though, I don't want to even think about what kind of metabolism he has… Heero's gaze moved to the long braid that was trailing down Duo's back to twist across the floor. …So beautiful… Heero's eyes widened slightly. Heero Yuy, what are you thinking… The same soft voice, which had whispered before, murmured, He's beautiful.

Heero kept his eyes firmly off the small American, he could just barely hear Duo's pen quickly writing onto the fifteen different applications he had given him.

Heero woke Duo up at eight a.m., which was much earlier than the braided ex-pilot was accustomed to, but nonetheless, Heero had him eating breakfast and out the door less than an hour later. The first stop Heero made was an electronics store for some new computers parts. While Duo was turning in an application and speaking in hushed voices with the manager, Heero quickly bought his items, including Soul Calibur II, though he kept the latter well hidden. Duo bounced up to Heero and the pair left the store to head to the next place Duo had an application for.

After the applications were turned in, Heero parked his cheap blue compact car in front of a pizza parlour after Duo's numerous requests for that, opposed to the small Japanese restaurant Heero had found earlier in the week. Heero mentally shrugged. The Japanese restaurant was more of a dinner type thing than lunch anyway.

"So what kind of pizza do you like, Heero?" Duo asked, grinning as he gazed over the three pages of pizza combinations.

Heero shrugged. "Cheese is all right, I suppose."

"Oh, come on! You have to like something just a bit!" Duo rolled his eyes and flipped his braid around like a child.

"Just pick something out."

"I always get the same thing! So, it's your turn!" Duo glared in mock anger.

"The only pizza I've ever had has been what you ordered." Heero shrugged again.

Duo stared, and then stared some more. "Whoa, buddy… That's just sad! Okay, uhmm… we're going to try… pineapple and ham. That's pretty good. Damn, Heero, I can't believe you've never had pizza any other time!"

He didn't call me Hee-chan. Heero thought, almost sadly.

Duo set the telephone down carefully, and then pounced on Heero, ignoring the fact Heero was in the middle of cooking chicken for dinner. "I got the job, I got the job!"

Heero nodded and pried the American off of him; the close proximity of Duo's body made Heero more than a little uncomfortable as unwanted images flew briefly across his mind. With a slight blush gracing Heero's cheeks, he put the chicken into the oven and set the table while Duo played yet another one of his infamous game cube games. Heero slipped into his bedroom and returned to the kitchen after placing a small, wrapped package on Duo's plate. After setting the food on the table, Heero called Duo in for dinner.

Duo stared at the package, to Heero, then to the package again before ripping off the simple blue and white striped paper off. "SOUL CALIBUR II!!!"

Heero found Duo hugging him for the second time that night; this time he had to force himself to pry the shorter man off of him. Stop acting like this Heero! Carefully keeping his breathing from becoming short breaths like it wanted to do, Heero ordered. "Duo, eat your dinner."

Duo quickly ate his dinner before taking his shower. Heero frowned. I would've thought he would head straight to the game… Heero sighed and slowly finished eating his dinner before locking himself up in his room. Heero pulled out his wallet, and from it pulled five crinkled, worn photographs. One contained all five pilots, all wearing at least the tiniest of smiles; it had been taken just after the Eve War. The second contained the five pilots, Sally, Dorothy, Catherine, Hilde, Relena, Noin and Zechs. Everyone was dressed up for Zechs' wedding. Only Heero and Wufei weren't smiling. The last three were of Duo; asleep in one, waving up from under a car he was working on in another, and in the last he was looking at the camera from the corner of his eye with a sly grin on his face. Heero left the last picture out as he typed up yet another chapter to his story.


::Replies to Reviews::

Nikkler::: aww..i forgive ya! I feel bad for Duo too… but it has to get a lot worse before it can get better..poor Du-man.. L -huggles-

Randompancake::: pickles and peanut butter…olives and peanut butter… sardines and peanut butter….. oh the horrors!!! I've never had any of those myself…I only like the pb out of those 4 things.

Yasei Raiden::: I don't like pickles… ick. Hmm..the smell of gunpowder, eh? That's actually…really cool!! I feel bad for Duo too, because normally his apartment isn't that bad..or at least it didn't used to be that bad. You'll just have to read to find out everything! Glad you liked it!! PS I sign things with the "" too!! That's too cool!!

Ahanchan::: Yeah…Duo has a lot of problems.. it's really sad. You'll just have to wait and see about Heero and Duo's secrets!! Heero might even have a few of his own (aka foreshadow)

Priscel::: It's okay, just as long as you still like this!! I LOVE mindless rambling!! It's the greatest!! (I do it ALL The time!!) anyway… yeah…I'm TRYING to remember to update this…but I keep forgetting because I'm so busy with a million and ten different things :S

Princess2000204::: yeah.. I FINALLY updated. Yeash. Took me long enough, eh?

Dagger Maxwell::: I'm pretty sure I already added you when my e-mail alerted me you reviewed, but I'm going to go make sure RIGHT now. Ooo…good thing I did!! See, I added you to the contact list but not the actual group!! I'm glad you love the story!! You'll get an update tonight (with any luck…if I don't fall asleep at my desk here)

I'm pretty sure I already added you when my e-mail alerted me you reviewed, but I'm going to go make sure RIGHT now. Ooo…good thing I did!! See, I added you to the contact but not the actual group!! I'm glad you love the story!! You'll get an update tonight (with any luck…if I don't fall asleep at my desk here)

Kichiko::: bloody brilliant, eh? That's one of my FAVOURITE sayings!! I'm glad you like what I'm doing with them! Sometimes I can't explain things exactly how I want to either, but kudos to you!

Heero2001::: Duo do something nice for Heero, huh? Hm…we'll just have to see! Heero's an interesting cookie, but so is Duo, in the end. However, question, why should Duo do something nice for Heero? I may have forgotten something important.. hmm…

Chamaeleon::: I'm doing great, huh? Yay!! I'll try to keep it coming then!!