The Boy and The Squirrel [Part Seven]

"Yikes!"

Trowa kissed his paws all over, thankful that the passing truck hadn't squashed it. Of course, if the truck did get past him, he'd be nothing more than flattened meat.

"How am I supposed to get to the other side?" he asked himself and watched the speeding cars pass by.

He noticed this time that he was able to converse even if the conversations were usually held with nobody but himself. At least he was able to control his actions better. Nevertheless, there was always the regret that he wasn't able to do so in the company of his blonde boy.

A loud honk snapped him out of his pessimistic thoughts as he looked forward to the dangerous road ahead of him. With three lanes going north and three lanes going south, he reckoned that the distance he would have to cover would be very difficult if not impossible to accomplish. He was too young to die and too sane to follow the example of the idiotic cat just ran like hell.

"Now let's see here," he said while trying to figure out the best solution to the problem.

He scratched his ear unconsciously and furrowed his forehead in deep concentration.

"Oh, look at that honey!" someone suddenly piped up. "That little thing is just so adorable, acting like he's actually thinking!"

Trowa turned his head toward the voice, annoyed at the interruption of his thoughts. Two humans were standing close to him with the female inviting her companion to take notice of the funny looking squirrel on the sidewalk.

"Isn't that the weirdest hair you've ever seen on a squirrel?" she continued.

Her companion merely shrugged and watched the traffic lights change color. When the lights finally turned green, the pair crossed, now unmindful of their small encounter.

"Now, why didn't I think of that?" Trowa asked himself and did as the pair had done, crossing the street with a lot more confidence.

He was proud of this new discovery and held his head up high. The experience with the circus obviously didn't do much to teach him about the city. He'd seen cars and huge vehicles pass by but never had the chance to visit the city. His time was used wisely, hanging out in the bathroom and practicing his facial muscles.

It was a little too late when he noticed a car coming toward him. When he saw the huge vehicle getting closer, he put his paws in the side of his face and screamed in terror. He then covered his eyes and prayed that his short life was not put to waste by various indecisions and false judgments. Seconds later, he felt a strong gush of wind and found himself located safely under the vehicle. He was shaking as he came out from between the now immobile tires and ran to the sidewalk. All he heard after were irritated comments from fellow pedestrians.

"Crazy old man," they said and he had no reason to argue with them.

He calmed down his nerves and decided to try it again. Watching out for crazy drivers, he did the same with the next few streets and was satisfied with the outcome.

He made sure to watch the people's movements and listen to their conversations if only to find clues to the location of his blonde boy. His blonde boy was supposed to be in school, he remembered, and that served as his first clue. It was a significant clue but it was also too broad to deduce anything from.

On the other hand, he also remembered that the boy had mentioned something about his school grounds being too quiet and separated from the rest of the world. His location was just not the place to begin the search. After all, his surroundings were too congested and too loud to be considered something that was separated from the rest of the world.

"You know what? I think that I'd like to move to the suburbs," a burly man said, handing the purchased hotdog to his customer.

Trowa took this time to stop his aimless wandering and listen in on the conversation.

"The city's just too loud for me. Besides, I'll be retiring soon. I'm sure that little house I've had my eye on three miles east wouldn't be a bad place to spend the rest of my life. My wife said that…"

Trowa's ears picked up the vital information and decided that it was his lucky day. He assumed that this 'suburb' the man mentioned was quiet enough and comparable enough to Quatre's description.

East, he remembered was where the sun rises. That wasn't too hard to locate since the sun was slowly setting to his left. All he had to do was to run in the opposite direction.

However, the concept of 'miles' was fairly new to him. It was too vague for the squirrel that had done very little traveling during his days in the circus. It was going to be tough to figure that out but the lack of knowledge did not put him down because after another few minutes of trying to figure out exactly what a 'mile' was, he decided to keep on going to the right until he saw something interesting.

So he continued to run, making sure that he crossed the streets on the designated walkways and stopped at the red lights. He noticed after a while that the streets were getting less crowded than before. He felt sure that he was going the right way.

A few more streets traveled rendered him too tired to go on. He stopped his run and sat on the lush grass that covered a front lawn of a nice, plain house.

"You know, my girl goes to that really prestigious school where all the rich folks have their children go."

His ears perked up again at the mention of the word 'school'.

"Isn't that a little too far from here?" her companion asked.

"Heavens, no! You're thinking about that other filthy place. My daughter goes to that school three streets down."

Trowa just about bolted for the direction when he realized that the woman had used the term 'daughter'. He was sure that Quatre was a boy and Quatre went to a school that housed only boys.

He became too agitated at the lack of pertinent information but forced himself to listen. Maybe the competing women would spill out something more relevant to his situation.

"Last I heard, that school was riddled with corruption. Hmph! At least my son is going to a better school. It's really quiet and very solitary. At least there, your daughter won't come running after him. No misguided ladies will be going after my boy."

"Bingo!" Trowa said and stepped closer to the women.

"Now, go ahead and tell me where it is," he said although he knew that the humans did not speak his language.

"I don't think that I've ever heard of such a place. I think you're lying."

"You're just jealous because my son won't date your girl. Frankly, I think that he's too good for her."

"Now, calm down ladies," Trowa said, steeping in between the two fuming women despite knowing that he was quite invisible to them at the moment. "Tell me where this 'boy' school is and we could all be happy," he added.

"Hah! I'm sure your boy's got his eye on her. He's just too spineless to admit it. Maybe he gets it from his mother."

"Why you witch!"

Trowa stepped aside in fear of his safety. The women were going to start an all-out fight and he just wasn't in the mood to get anywhere between the two.

"These grown women are just as bad as the kids!" Trowa said, resigned.

He knew for sure that he wouldn't get anything out of the two infuriated women.

The exhaustion of his recent journey suddenly became apparent to him upon sitting back down on the cool, damp grass. He felt his mouth go dry and immediately proceeded to the sprinklers close by. He tapped the uncooperative contraption and decided later that kicking the unresponsive object did not help to release the precious liquid that was stored within.

"Some cold water would be nice," he thought and headed toward an open window.

When he entered the room, he was delighted to see a tall glass of water on a table, too distracted to listen in on the conversation that was going on.

"I finally found out which school he goes to!" a girl told her friend in excitement.

Two girls were sitting on the bed, thoroughly engrossed on the topic being discussed.

"Are you sure his mother isn't lying?"

"Who cares? There's no harm in trying, right? I'm sure he'll be glad to see me again after so long."

"Your mother is going to ground you, you know."

"Whatever. So, will you come with me for a visit?"

"Sure. I want to see if this Heero is as great as you say he is."

Trowa gulped down too much water and almost chocked at the mention of the name 'Heero'. He felt a mind numbing fear pass through him as he remembered the events that took place just before his transformation.

"Dorothy, could we use your car? My mother's going to kill me if I even ask her to take us there."

"Of course, Miss Relena. We'll leave right away. You're mother's too busy arguing with Heero's mother. I'm sure they won't notice that you're gone."

Trowa thought it odd that someone would use the title Miss when talking to a friend but dismissed the thought. He had to focus on more important matters.

The young lady named Relena was delighted at the upcoming visit and Trowa was too. He danced around the table, spilling the water and breaking the glass in the process.

"Ah!" both ladies screamed in surprise as they watched the terrified Trowa run out the window.

He hid in the corner of the windowsill and remained there until it was time to go through with his plan.

This time, Trowa was sure that luck was on his side. Mother Nature would have been so proud if she saw him right now. He was succeeding in his new mission even without her help. Not only had he found the blonde boy's location, he also got himself a free ride.

A few minutes later, Trowa cursed his fate, as he held on tight to the back of a car. He was slipping off and this Dorothy person was quite the violent driver. Once inside, she stepped on the gas like there was no tomorrow and drove her huge golden car past stoplights and crossing pedestrians. He was glad that he wasn't one of the unfortunate pedestrians but he wasn't happy with the position he was in either.

"I am going to live through this. I am going to live through this," Trowa kept on repeating to himself and closed his eyes in fear of his life. Somehow, the thought of running for the next few hundred miles seemed like a better idea.

A thousand curses later, he found himself finally in the grounds of his blonde boy's school. Trowa put his paws over his rapidly beating heart and thanked Mother Nature that he didn't fall off the speeding vehicle. He knew that she was still helping him somehow. She was just subtler and less intrusive this time.

It was almost dark when they arrived and Trowa almost fainted when he stepped back down on the ground, seeing for the first time Quatre's so-called school. It was enormous and the dorms that housed the students were even bigger than the main building itself.

He kept up his pace with the two girls and made sure that he didn't loose them just yet. They were still useful to his cause and they were sure to lead him to the blonde boy. Running into Heero was just another one of those problems he had to deal with later. Besides, the ladies would be too busy distracting Heero for the other to even notice his presence.

When they arrived at the main entrance, Trowa left the girls to their own devices and decided to look through the windows instead. He didn't want to be spotted by the humans inside their haven, not being sure if they would welcome the furry animal or shun him from their presence.

A run through the windowsills proved to be harder than he thought and after an hour or so of searching, he still hadn't located his blonde boy. There seemed to be too many windows and too many unfamiliar faces that confused his overused mind.

Then, he came to a stop at the sound of a familiar voice and peered in to see the braided one conversing with another one of Quatre's friends.

"C'mon, let's go hang out at Quatre's room. He needs some cheering up," the braided one said.

"He's probably sleeping, Duo," answered his companion who was concentrated on reading a book.

Trowa remembered the faces of the two and matched their features to the friends named 'Duo' and 'Wufei'. Duo, he still had to get his revenge on and Wufei, he had to avoid. He looked away in shame and remembered the fury in the face of Wufei when they accidentally kissed. He was getting into trouble with Quatre's friends now that he thought about it.

"He sleeps too early! Plus, he probably needs company so let's go already," the braided one continued to whine.

Before the other could even answer, he pulled his friend up and headed to the direction Trowa knew had to be the room of his blonde boy.

He ran as fast as he could despite the obstacles in the way. He had a difficult time catching up with the two while running forward and checking their position through the window. Somehow, he knew that he would soon be rewarded with the excitement of meeting his blonde boy again.

"What the…?" he said after the two made another turn.

Trowa skidded to a halt when he saw the braided boy through the window, enjoying a huge sandwich while his now irate friend left for the other direction.

Trowa's eye twitched in anger. He'd been led to false directions all day and the braided one only made his search more difficult than it already was.

"Hello, Heero," he heard Relena say and automatically backed away. He noticed that the girls had accomplished their goal even before he had accomplished his. He thought that maybe he would ask for their help later.

"What do you want?" he heard Heero say and peered in to see the scowl on the other's face. He had the same dangerous look in him as he always had.

A surge of fear passed through him at the sight of Heero as he moved away from the window. He was going to get himself as far away from the feared boy as possible.

Knowing that he was in danger if he even came into contact with him, he jumped up to the next floor and looked through the next set of windows. It was already dark and he hadn't made any success. The clues that lay before him were very clear but hard to follow and he was getting too tired to go on.

Worn-out from the day's search, he stopped by a window of a darkened room and lay down on the cold concrete to get himself some well-deserved sleep. This time, the nightmares were eliminated from his mind as he dreamed of his short but reminiscent encounter with his blonde boy. He lay down and curled himself up, preserving the warmth that enveloped his tired body.

Moments later, he heard the door of the room open. Whoever came in proceeded directly to the bathroom. He heard the water running and teeth being brushed but decided to check on the person the following day.

He fell back into a satisfied slumber and was disturbed from it again when the window was opened. A pair of hands appeared from it and Trowa was carefully picked up from his position. The small creature was too tired to even care of what happened after.

Whoever had picked him up held a penetrating gaze on him before placing him in a soft, warm bed. He was covered in a thick blanket and not soon after was joined by a warm body that proved to be more comforting than the mattress. A familiar scent penetrated his nostrils and soon, he fell into a deep, lulling sleep by the soothing and familiar smell of his blonde boy.