NOTE! This is not Beta-ed!!! Since I got a several private emails
concerning if I am still continuing this fic… well, the answer is YES! And
to prove it.. this is the un-beta-ed version…… The beta one should come
out soon! ^_____^ ;;;;; but until then.. please forgive my bad
grammar…..
Title: Rivals 10/?
Author: Canisa
Pairing: various for now (6+1, Noin+6, 5+2, 3+4/4+3, R+1), but leading to 1+2/2+1, my favorite paring! ^__^
Warning : shounen-ai, AU (no gundam!!!) a bit angst.
If you want it, please let me know and you will receive it ^_^
Note: The story is inspired from Adachi's "Rough" Actually, I am going to follow some plot line ^__^ Gundam Wing characters were not created by me. I am only writing this fic for my own enjoyment
Quick Summary
Heero had been sending postcard with threats to Duo Maxwell for the past 10 years because Duo's grandfather had indirectly caused his grandfather's death. The two ended up in the same high school and in the same extra curricular activity (well, almost). Heero was the diving team captain while Duo was the swimming team captain.
Though Duo felt that Heero was attractive, the tension between the two increased as days went by. The situation complicated further when Heero, after finding a picture of Duo and himself when they were 4 years old, saved Duo from Alex Mueller. While Heero was in the coma, the forgotten memory of his childhood surfaced….
Previous.
Alone, lying on the hospital bed, restricted by bandages and IV-tubes, Heero Yuy, for the first time since he was admitted into the hospital, opened his eyes.
"Baka." Heero Yuy said quietly as he stared at nothing but the whiteness of the ceiling above him.
Chapter 10 --- Duo Maxton ---
The poor hospital security did not know how to handle this situation. He looked down helplessly at the sobbing boy on the floor. He had not meant to stop the boy from running in the hospital by making him cry. Despite his intimidating looks, the hospital security was actually a softy in his heart. He peered at the boy and caught a few words mixed between sobs. The hospital security recognized the familiar guilt from the boy's heart- shaped face.
The security guy scratched his head lightly and sighed. Things like this happened often in the hospital. This kid's father might be sick. His mother might be dying so the kid felt guilty for it. Maybe he regretted that he had never cherished the moment he had with them. Maybe he regretted that he had never told whoever it was that was sick that he loved him. .
Suddenly realizing he was still twisting the boy's fragile arm, the security guy released it immediately. He hesitated before he finally kneeled down next to the boy. He watched the tears trickled down the red cheek. He sighed again. "Kid, nothing is too late." He said softly, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder to give him a comforting pat.
But the kind gesture elicited nothing from the still crying boy. Just as the hospital security decided to give it another try, another voice beat him to the chase.
"Duo Maxwell." The voice was stern and cold. "If Heero knew you were this weak, he would never have taken the beating for you."
The hospital security widened his eyes as he watched an elegant man, probably in his early 20's, standing in front of the boy and him. He winced as he heard the callous words. But the words had effects on the boy for he felt the boy's body trembled. The hospital security stood up and backed away one step quickly.
"Go to hell, Milliard!" Duo shouted back with the same intensity of venom. He got up from the floor and glared at the tall man He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. "You didn't have to watch them……. You didn't have to watch them beat him like a sack of punching bag… you didn't have to hear the sound of his bone……." The boy choked. He bit down his lips and willed the tears to stay in his eyes. He took in a deep breath before he shouted again. "Don't tell me I am weak. Milliard. You know nothing about me."
Milliard Peacecraft narrowed his eyes. He took a few quick steps toward the boy and grabbed onto his collar. "It is you who tries to run away." He brought the boy's face inches closer as he pulled on the collar. "Heero is in that room because of you. He took the beating because of you. But he is strong and the wounds on his body will heal. But, You, on the other hand, are a complete coward. You cannot even accept the responsibility of the cause of his injuries. You cannot face the fact that he did it because of you. You think if you run away from here and not having to see him in those bandages and IV's, you are free of guilt? You think if you run away from here, the fact that they had beat Heero up would vanish? Duo Maxwell, either you are a complete idiot or you are a coward!"
"Easy for you to say." Duo smirked bitterly. "How the fuck am I supposed to face him when it was me who put him in here?" Duo jerked away from Milliard's grasp. "I think the last thing Heero want is seeing my face! I am not running away. I am just saving him the trouble of seeing this useless, worthless face."
"Don't presume you know what Heero thinks." Anger flickered in Milliard's cold blue eyes as he voiced words slowly and deliberately. "You think a person like Heero, who notices almost no one, would suddenly subject himself to some treacherous torture in order to save some random person?" Milliard ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to calm himself down. "If the situation had reversed. If Heero were the one who was held captive. Would you take the beatings for him? If you were on that hospital bed, would you hate Heero for it?"
"I……" Duo tumbled back a few steps. Words were stuck in the back of his throat.
"For years, I had feelings for Heero and I had made every effort to squash it down to non-existence. As the only son from the Peacecraft family, I cannot be allowed to have a homosexual relationship." Milliard softened his voice as he saw Duo was finally catching up to his words. "He was always by my side that I had foolishly thought being a friend to him was enough. So I accepted my fate without even fighting. It was not until that day, when I saw you walking down the street next to him, did I snap… that I realized that I could not let him slip through my fingers like this. That I could not just go on with my life without ever letting him know how I truly feel. I don't know whether I should thank you or hate you for it. But at that split moment, I felt jealousy and I realized what it is he whom I truly want. And it was you who drove me to come in terms with my feeling. To be true to myself, I have decided to fight my destiny and to compete with you." Milliard paused, watching Duo's expression.
Jaw opened, Duo looked into the blue eyes of Milliard. He hesitated.
Milliard smirked. "I had managed to beat you in swimming. And… well….even though, right now you seemed to be in the lead but if you don't act fast, I will take away Heero as well." He spun around. He started to walk away from the chestnut-haired boy. "I already told him how I felt and he had not rejected me yet."
Duo watched the blonde hair trailed behind the man's long slender body. He bit down his lips and clenched his fists tight.
"And here I was worrying that it was going to be a close match between you and me. I believe I overestimated you. You cannot be my rival." Milliard said evenly without looking back at Duo.
Widening his eyes, Duo suddenly understood the man's true intention. The corner of his mouth lifted as he relaxed his muscles and fists. "I will beat you." Duo declared. The words traveled loud and clear to the end of the hall.
Milliard allowed his smile to escape briefly before tossing back a carefree glance over his shoulder. "In what? Swimming? From your performance at the regional's, I can hardly agree with you."
"Just watch me, Milliard." Duo grinned back. "I will beat you in both." The guilt had erased itself from the once tearful heart-shaped face.
Milliard offered no words as he turned his head, but a smile lingered as he continued to pace toward the exit, leaving the boy behind.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
San Francisco was as beautiful as Noin had heard from her friends. Only 1 week and she had already fallen in love with the city for her life in the new city had been nothing but boring. She had taken up a job as a financial analyst in a big company situated on the busy Market Street. Her supervisor was demanding but reasonable, and her colleagues were intelligent to converse with. She had worked hard to abandon her old self, trying to start a whole new chapter in her life. The only thing that she could not erase was her habit of going to a café.
It was something she could not let go so easily. The atmosphere in the café always reminded her of Milliard. The calm and quietness had always been Milliard's favorite.
Today was no different. She sat by the window of a café that was decorated in a way very similar to the one back in Boston. A fresh flower was on her table, sending her waves of comforting fragrance. Rays of sunshine filtered into the window, diminishing the delicate light emitted from the small blue candle. A novel opened in front of her as she enjoyed her light lunch.
Noin bathed in the calmness and quietness she craved before a soft female voice interrupted.
"Noin. It's been so long. How are you?"
The blue haired woman lifted her head from the book and for a second was stunned as she found herself stared into the familiar crystal clear blue eyes.
"May I?" The girl, standing before her with a pale blue dress, asked.
Noin nodded as she quickly pulled a chair next to her out. "I thought you were in London……" She waved for her waitress but her eyes still stayed with her unexpected visitor.
The girl smiled. She pushed back her shoulder-length blonde hair behind her ears before she elegantly took her seat. As the waitress arrived, she ordered a cup of coffee. "And I though you were in Boston with my brother. How is my brother? Is he still doing swimming?" She placed her hands neatly on her lap.
"Yes, he is." Noin calmly took a sip of her tea, suddenly feeling the tightness in her chest.
The girl only smiled the way a politician would do.
Feeling unease by the silence, Noin asked. "So why are you in California? School is over?"
"I came here, looking for you." The visitor watched the woman in front her with a pair of keen eyes a girl her age should not have.
Noin shifted her feet nervously under the table. She strained a smile.
The waitress chose the right moment to show up with a cup of coffee.
"Thank you." The visitor nodded at the waitress lightly before she elegantly picked up the coffee and brought it to her lips. "It smells wonderful."
"Yes. This café serves best coffee."
The visitor saw through the nervousness of the blue-haired woman. She chuckled. "So the rumor is true." She took a sip of her coffee.
Noin pretended a confused look. "Rumor?"
".. that my brother broke up with you in order to pursuit Heero." The visitor gave another smile. Her golden hair shined brilliantly under the California sunshine.
"Relena, I….."
"Noin…." Not waiting for her to finish, Relena shifted her body closer as she elegantly took up Noin's hands. "Let's go back to Boston." She made a statement.
"Boston?" Noin widened her eyes.
"Yes." Relena nodded. She reached into her purse and showed up a flight ticket. "I have already taken the liberty to book the tickets."
"Why?"
"So you can be with my brother again."
Noin almost knocked over the tea on her table. "But he……"
"He is confused." Relena quietly interrupted as she slid the ticket into Noin's hand. With one of her delicate hands still covering Noin's, she flashed her smile again. "He had forgotten that Heero and I are to be married."
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Alone, Meiran Lin walked down the street with her book-bag hung across her shoulder. A frown marred her beautiful face as she crumbled a piece of paper in her fist.
She had never thought her boyfriend could be such a worthless coward like this.
Still grabbing the paper in her hand, she hissed internally.
No. Not boyfriend anymore. 'EX'- boyfriend.
She opened the messed up paper in her hand again only to crumbled it once more, wishing the paper was her boyfrie… no EX-boyfriend.
She just simply could not believe it. The guy had the nerve to tell her that it was over between them, but did not have the guts to tell it in her face. Instead, the bastard had written a note, and slipped it into her locker.
Meiran buried her face in her hand as she cursed softly.
A NOTE!? Had she been nothing to him? He could not even give her some dignity by telling her face-to-face?
Anger surged through her body and she threw the crumbled ball of paper hard and far away.
The ball of paper rolled and disappeared into a dark alley off the street.
Meiran watched the paper rolled and sighed. She pressed her lips hard and clenched her fists. She made a decision.
She turned into the alley, looking for the paper.
But instead, she came just in time to see a boy of her age swung a fist aiming toward the chin of another taller boy.
In a slow motion, she saw the fist made the contact in perfect precision, successfully knocking the tall boy over. Crimson blood, splattering out of the fallen man's mouth, landed on the walls, the ground and her nice white shirt.
The time seemed to freeze as Meiran looked down on her once spotless shirt. With disbelief in her brown eyes, she directed her attention to the two guys who were fighting in front of her.
Meiran did not scream out of fear. "What the hell are you doing?" Instead, she spoke evenly, punctuating the words clearly.
A boy ,whom Meiran recognized as a Chinese like herself, answered her. His fist did not loose contact with his victim. "Woman, this is none of your business."
Meiran did not like the haughtiness of the tone. She eyed the defenseless guy on the ground, who looked like he was hit by a train. "I don't think so." Meiran looked steadily at the boy. "If I walk away, then there is no justice."
"Justice?" The Chinese boy kicked the fallen man's chest. "Woman, you know nothing about justice." He yelled impatiently.
Meiran narrowed her eyes. "It is you who don't know justice. An honorable man does not take his frustration on a defenseless man."
The Chinese boy laughed. "Just get out of here, woman. I don't have time to explain to you." He picked up the guy's collar roughly and slammed him into the wall. "Besides, there is nothing you can do."
Meiran ran her fingers through her short silky black hair and took a deep breath. She flung her book-bag on the ground and took a front-stance position as she brought her fists in front of her body. "Try me."
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Duo Maxwell stood in front of the special care room's door. One hand rested on the handle. The determination and courage he possessed only moments ago suddenly dissipated. He felt more nervous now than his first swimming competition.
"You can go in." A nurse walked by and smiled. "The visiting hour is not due until 7."
The surprise only lasted a fraction of a second before Duo returned a friendly smile. "Oh, yeah. Thanks." He opened the door under the watch of the nurse and slid into the room, closing the door behind him. When he turned around from the door to face the patient, Duo almost felt his heart skipped a beat.
He did not expect the patient to be awake.
"Er….." Duo cleared his throat nervously. "So how's it going, Heero?" Duo took a deep breath as he anchored himself by the door, his body rigid.
Heero only watched him with his bottomless blue eyes. His head slightly turned toward him while the rest of his body was hidden beneath the white sheet.
Still standing by the door, Duo swallowed uneasily. His fingers dug into his palm as he frantically tried to find subjects to fill in the silence. "You know, Odin has been worried sick about you. I swear he is so afraid that he is going to loose his champion diver! Tsk, all the guy cares about is beating Epyon High! Sally is much cooler though. You should have seen her running the show all by herself! I personally think she should be the coach. I mean, she is better looking, more popular and more sensitive to us! When you were not in school earlier, she actually baked brownies for us! My God! She baked awesome brownies! I mean it was late in the afternoon and I doubt she baked it during school…. So it must've been hours.. but it still has all the moist and stuff. And it's not too sweet but just the right taste and….."
"Duo." Heero finally spoke, pronouncing his name in his usual calm voice.
Duo winced internally as the tone reminded him of that awful night when the Japanese boy had told him, 'Duo, I did not lie'.
Willing himself to forget, the long-haired man strained a smile. "What's up?"
Heero stared at Duo's face a few seconds before he spoke again. "Your hair…."
The strained smile fell off his face as Duo self-consciously touched his hair. "Oh… you can't really tell right? Just a few strands got chopped off. No biggies. My mother did a pretty darn job of making my hair look even."
Heero returned his stare into the ceiling. "Good." He whispered.
Duo felt his chest tightened. Control lost, he practically ran to the bed and sat down next to Heero. He touched Heero's face hesitantly. "Oh God, Heero….." Duo whispered as he took a close look of Heero's covered injuries. "I am so sorry….. It was all my fault." Duo trailed his fingers on the bandage on Heero's head. "I let this happened to you… I let those bastards….."
Heero closed his eyes as he felt the closeness of Duo. He felt the warmth even through the thick bandage. "Baka."
Duo stiffed and frowned. "It is you, who are the idiot." He abruptly stood up. "I already told you I hated you. You should have take the hint and got out of there……" Duo clenched his fists, uncontrollable anger rolled out of his tongue without thinking. "Then you wouldn't have to get hurt. And I wouldn't have to feel guilty about all this. And we could go mocking each other like we used to. You could be fooling me with one of your dirty tricks and I could be plotting some revenge for paybacks… Things would have been like it used to….."
"I cannot play tricks on someone after he gets beaten up like a flatten pancake." Heero suddenly interrupted. His face was so serious that it was hard to tell if he just told a joke or made a statement.
Anger forgotten, Duo let his jaw hanging, words unable to form in his head. He stared at Heero's face, unable to decipher. After the stun wore off, Duo finally managed to counterattack. "You don't think I can take care of those whossies?"
"No."
"Hey man," Duo could not believed it. Was this guy trying to put him down or was he teasing him? "Don't make me hurt you and put you in the hospital to prove my point." Duo decided to try. He pretended a threatening fist.
"Get in line. I am already in the hospital."
Duo stared at Heero in total disbelief.
Heero ignored the stare and propped himself against the bed. He inspected his wounded body for the first time. "Nothing serious. It will just take a couple days."
"Heero, normal people take weeks… maybe months to heal wounds like that!" Duo exclaimed.
"You, maybe. This is nothing to me." Heero picked up his chart by the table and started to read the doctor's notes and observations.
"Are you even human?" Duo shook his head as he took a seat on the bed again, next to Heero. "So what did the doctors say? Let me see the thing."
"You won't be able to read it." Heero said without lifting his head to look at the long-haired man.
"What," Duo raised his eyebrow. "You want to insult my intelligence now?" Duo snatched the chart away from Heero and started to scan through the pages. "My gosh! Who wrote this thing? Is this even English? It looked like a three-year-old's finger-painting. This guy's handwriting sucked! Look at this. Is that his signature? It looked like he was trying to draw a worm!"
Heero smirked. Before he could say anything back to Duo, the door to his room suddenly swung opened.
A couple in their late 40's walked in. The man was of Caucasian origin, standing at least 6 feet tall. He was dressed in a very nicely fitted suit. His light brown hair brushed back neatly and his stern blue eyes focused onto Heero. The woman, on the other hand, was Japanese, although she had dyed her long straight hair slightly dark red. Her petite size was a big contrast to the man accompanying her but her eyes were as equally stern as the man.
Heero erased his smirk as he focused his attention to his new visitors.
Duo stood up by the bed quickly. He had already guessed the identity of the new comers.
"How are you feeling, Heero." The man spoke first as he and the woman walked toward Heero.
"Fine. Father." Heero replied and Duo was surprised to hear the coldness in Heero's voice.
"I heard you were in a fight?" The woman showed her concern as well.
"Yes, Mother."
The woman frowned. "Why?"
Heero made no comment.
Knowing her son's stubbornness, the woman sighed. And for the first time, she noticed Duo's presence. "Who might this be, Heero?"
Sensing the attention had shifted toward him, Duo extended his hand nervously and smiled. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Yuy, my name is Duo. Duo Max..…"
"Maxton." Heero suddenly interrupted calmly, his face expressionless. "His name is Duo Maxton. He is from my school."
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Title: Rivals 10/?
Author: Canisa
Pairing: various for now (6+1, Noin+6, 5+2, 3+4/4+3, R+1), but leading to 1+2/2+1, my favorite paring! ^__^
Warning : shounen-ai, AU (no gundam!!!) a bit angst.
If you want it, please let me know and you will receive it ^_^
Note: The story is inspired from Adachi's "Rough" Actually, I am going to follow some plot line ^__^ Gundam Wing characters were not created by me. I am only writing this fic for my own enjoyment
Quick Summary
Heero had been sending postcard with threats to Duo Maxwell for the past 10 years because Duo's grandfather had indirectly caused his grandfather's death. The two ended up in the same high school and in the same extra curricular activity (well, almost). Heero was the diving team captain while Duo was the swimming team captain.
Though Duo felt that Heero was attractive, the tension between the two increased as days went by. The situation complicated further when Heero, after finding a picture of Duo and himself when they were 4 years old, saved Duo from Alex Mueller. While Heero was in the coma, the forgotten memory of his childhood surfaced….
Previous.
Alone, lying on the hospital bed, restricted by bandages and IV-tubes, Heero Yuy, for the first time since he was admitted into the hospital, opened his eyes.
"Baka." Heero Yuy said quietly as he stared at nothing but the whiteness of the ceiling above him.
Chapter 10 --- Duo Maxton ---
The poor hospital security did not know how to handle this situation. He looked down helplessly at the sobbing boy on the floor. He had not meant to stop the boy from running in the hospital by making him cry. Despite his intimidating looks, the hospital security was actually a softy in his heart. He peered at the boy and caught a few words mixed between sobs. The hospital security recognized the familiar guilt from the boy's heart- shaped face.
The security guy scratched his head lightly and sighed. Things like this happened often in the hospital. This kid's father might be sick. His mother might be dying so the kid felt guilty for it. Maybe he regretted that he had never cherished the moment he had with them. Maybe he regretted that he had never told whoever it was that was sick that he loved him. .
Suddenly realizing he was still twisting the boy's fragile arm, the security guy released it immediately. He hesitated before he finally kneeled down next to the boy. He watched the tears trickled down the red cheek. He sighed again. "Kid, nothing is too late." He said softly, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder to give him a comforting pat.
But the kind gesture elicited nothing from the still crying boy. Just as the hospital security decided to give it another try, another voice beat him to the chase.
"Duo Maxwell." The voice was stern and cold. "If Heero knew you were this weak, he would never have taken the beating for you."
The hospital security widened his eyes as he watched an elegant man, probably in his early 20's, standing in front of the boy and him. He winced as he heard the callous words. But the words had effects on the boy for he felt the boy's body trembled. The hospital security stood up and backed away one step quickly.
"Go to hell, Milliard!" Duo shouted back with the same intensity of venom. He got up from the floor and glared at the tall man He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. "You didn't have to watch them……. You didn't have to watch them beat him like a sack of punching bag… you didn't have to hear the sound of his bone……." The boy choked. He bit down his lips and willed the tears to stay in his eyes. He took in a deep breath before he shouted again. "Don't tell me I am weak. Milliard. You know nothing about me."
Milliard Peacecraft narrowed his eyes. He took a few quick steps toward the boy and grabbed onto his collar. "It is you who tries to run away." He brought the boy's face inches closer as he pulled on the collar. "Heero is in that room because of you. He took the beating because of you. But he is strong and the wounds on his body will heal. But, You, on the other hand, are a complete coward. You cannot even accept the responsibility of the cause of his injuries. You cannot face the fact that he did it because of you. You think if you run away from here and not having to see him in those bandages and IV's, you are free of guilt? You think if you run away from here, the fact that they had beat Heero up would vanish? Duo Maxwell, either you are a complete idiot or you are a coward!"
"Easy for you to say." Duo smirked bitterly. "How the fuck am I supposed to face him when it was me who put him in here?" Duo jerked away from Milliard's grasp. "I think the last thing Heero want is seeing my face! I am not running away. I am just saving him the trouble of seeing this useless, worthless face."
"Don't presume you know what Heero thinks." Anger flickered in Milliard's cold blue eyes as he voiced words slowly and deliberately. "You think a person like Heero, who notices almost no one, would suddenly subject himself to some treacherous torture in order to save some random person?" Milliard ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to calm himself down. "If the situation had reversed. If Heero were the one who was held captive. Would you take the beatings for him? If you were on that hospital bed, would you hate Heero for it?"
"I……" Duo tumbled back a few steps. Words were stuck in the back of his throat.
"For years, I had feelings for Heero and I had made every effort to squash it down to non-existence. As the only son from the Peacecraft family, I cannot be allowed to have a homosexual relationship." Milliard softened his voice as he saw Duo was finally catching up to his words. "He was always by my side that I had foolishly thought being a friend to him was enough. So I accepted my fate without even fighting. It was not until that day, when I saw you walking down the street next to him, did I snap… that I realized that I could not let him slip through my fingers like this. That I could not just go on with my life without ever letting him know how I truly feel. I don't know whether I should thank you or hate you for it. But at that split moment, I felt jealousy and I realized what it is he whom I truly want. And it was you who drove me to come in terms with my feeling. To be true to myself, I have decided to fight my destiny and to compete with you." Milliard paused, watching Duo's expression.
Jaw opened, Duo looked into the blue eyes of Milliard. He hesitated.
Milliard smirked. "I had managed to beat you in swimming. And… well….even though, right now you seemed to be in the lead but if you don't act fast, I will take away Heero as well." He spun around. He started to walk away from the chestnut-haired boy. "I already told him how I felt and he had not rejected me yet."
Duo watched the blonde hair trailed behind the man's long slender body. He bit down his lips and clenched his fists tight.
"And here I was worrying that it was going to be a close match between you and me. I believe I overestimated you. You cannot be my rival." Milliard said evenly without looking back at Duo.
Widening his eyes, Duo suddenly understood the man's true intention. The corner of his mouth lifted as he relaxed his muscles and fists. "I will beat you." Duo declared. The words traveled loud and clear to the end of the hall.
Milliard allowed his smile to escape briefly before tossing back a carefree glance over his shoulder. "In what? Swimming? From your performance at the regional's, I can hardly agree with you."
"Just watch me, Milliard." Duo grinned back. "I will beat you in both." The guilt had erased itself from the once tearful heart-shaped face.
Milliard offered no words as he turned his head, but a smile lingered as he continued to pace toward the exit, leaving the boy behind.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
San Francisco was as beautiful as Noin had heard from her friends. Only 1 week and she had already fallen in love with the city for her life in the new city had been nothing but boring. She had taken up a job as a financial analyst in a big company situated on the busy Market Street. Her supervisor was demanding but reasonable, and her colleagues were intelligent to converse with. She had worked hard to abandon her old self, trying to start a whole new chapter in her life. The only thing that she could not erase was her habit of going to a café.
It was something she could not let go so easily. The atmosphere in the café always reminded her of Milliard. The calm and quietness had always been Milliard's favorite.
Today was no different. She sat by the window of a café that was decorated in a way very similar to the one back in Boston. A fresh flower was on her table, sending her waves of comforting fragrance. Rays of sunshine filtered into the window, diminishing the delicate light emitted from the small blue candle. A novel opened in front of her as she enjoyed her light lunch.
Noin bathed in the calmness and quietness she craved before a soft female voice interrupted.
"Noin. It's been so long. How are you?"
The blue haired woman lifted her head from the book and for a second was stunned as she found herself stared into the familiar crystal clear blue eyes.
"May I?" The girl, standing before her with a pale blue dress, asked.
Noin nodded as she quickly pulled a chair next to her out. "I thought you were in London……" She waved for her waitress but her eyes still stayed with her unexpected visitor.
The girl smiled. She pushed back her shoulder-length blonde hair behind her ears before she elegantly took her seat. As the waitress arrived, she ordered a cup of coffee. "And I though you were in Boston with my brother. How is my brother? Is he still doing swimming?" She placed her hands neatly on her lap.
"Yes, he is." Noin calmly took a sip of her tea, suddenly feeling the tightness in her chest.
The girl only smiled the way a politician would do.
Feeling unease by the silence, Noin asked. "So why are you in California? School is over?"
"I came here, looking for you." The visitor watched the woman in front her with a pair of keen eyes a girl her age should not have.
Noin shifted her feet nervously under the table. She strained a smile.
The waitress chose the right moment to show up with a cup of coffee.
"Thank you." The visitor nodded at the waitress lightly before she elegantly picked up the coffee and brought it to her lips. "It smells wonderful."
"Yes. This café serves best coffee."
The visitor saw through the nervousness of the blue-haired woman. She chuckled. "So the rumor is true." She took a sip of her coffee.
Noin pretended a confused look. "Rumor?"
".. that my brother broke up with you in order to pursuit Heero." The visitor gave another smile. Her golden hair shined brilliantly under the California sunshine.
"Relena, I….."
"Noin…." Not waiting for her to finish, Relena shifted her body closer as she elegantly took up Noin's hands. "Let's go back to Boston." She made a statement.
"Boston?" Noin widened her eyes.
"Yes." Relena nodded. She reached into her purse and showed up a flight ticket. "I have already taken the liberty to book the tickets."
"Why?"
"So you can be with my brother again."
Noin almost knocked over the tea on her table. "But he……"
"He is confused." Relena quietly interrupted as she slid the ticket into Noin's hand. With one of her delicate hands still covering Noin's, she flashed her smile again. "He had forgotten that Heero and I are to be married."
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Alone, Meiran Lin walked down the street with her book-bag hung across her shoulder. A frown marred her beautiful face as she crumbled a piece of paper in her fist.
She had never thought her boyfriend could be such a worthless coward like this.
Still grabbing the paper in her hand, she hissed internally.
No. Not boyfriend anymore. 'EX'- boyfriend.
She opened the messed up paper in her hand again only to crumbled it once more, wishing the paper was her boyfrie… no EX-boyfriend.
She just simply could not believe it. The guy had the nerve to tell her that it was over between them, but did not have the guts to tell it in her face. Instead, the bastard had written a note, and slipped it into her locker.
Meiran buried her face in her hand as she cursed softly.
A NOTE!? Had she been nothing to him? He could not even give her some dignity by telling her face-to-face?
Anger surged through her body and she threw the crumbled ball of paper hard and far away.
The ball of paper rolled and disappeared into a dark alley off the street.
Meiran watched the paper rolled and sighed. She pressed her lips hard and clenched her fists. She made a decision.
She turned into the alley, looking for the paper.
But instead, she came just in time to see a boy of her age swung a fist aiming toward the chin of another taller boy.
In a slow motion, she saw the fist made the contact in perfect precision, successfully knocking the tall boy over. Crimson blood, splattering out of the fallen man's mouth, landed on the walls, the ground and her nice white shirt.
The time seemed to freeze as Meiran looked down on her once spotless shirt. With disbelief in her brown eyes, she directed her attention to the two guys who were fighting in front of her.
Meiran did not scream out of fear. "What the hell are you doing?" Instead, she spoke evenly, punctuating the words clearly.
A boy ,whom Meiran recognized as a Chinese like herself, answered her. His fist did not loose contact with his victim. "Woman, this is none of your business."
Meiran did not like the haughtiness of the tone. She eyed the defenseless guy on the ground, who looked like he was hit by a train. "I don't think so." Meiran looked steadily at the boy. "If I walk away, then there is no justice."
"Justice?" The Chinese boy kicked the fallen man's chest. "Woman, you know nothing about justice." He yelled impatiently.
Meiran narrowed her eyes. "It is you who don't know justice. An honorable man does not take his frustration on a defenseless man."
The Chinese boy laughed. "Just get out of here, woman. I don't have time to explain to you." He picked up the guy's collar roughly and slammed him into the wall. "Besides, there is nothing you can do."
Meiran ran her fingers through her short silky black hair and took a deep breath. She flung her book-bag on the ground and took a front-stance position as she brought her fists in front of her body. "Try me."
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Duo Maxwell stood in front of the special care room's door. One hand rested on the handle. The determination and courage he possessed only moments ago suddenly dissipated. He felt more nervous now than his first swimming competition.
"You can go in." A nurse walked by and smiled. "The visiting hour is not due until 7."
The surprise only lasted a fraction of a second before Duo returned a friendly smile. "Oh, yeah. Thanks." He opened the door under the watch of the nurse and slid into the room, closing the door behind him. When he turned around from the door to face the patient, Duo almost felt his heart skipped a beat.
He did not expect the patient to be awake.
"Er….." Duo cleared his throat nervously. "So how's it going, Heero?" Duo took a deep breath as he anchored himself by the door, his body rigid.
Heero only watched him with his bottomless blue eyes. His head slightly turned toward him while the rest of his body was hidden beneath the white sheet.
Still standing by the door, Duo swallowed uneasily. His fingers dug into his palm as he frantically tried to find subjects to fill in the silence. "You know, Odin has been worried sick about you. I swear he is so afraid that he is going to loose his champion diver! Tsk, all the guy cares about is beating Epyon High! Sally is much cooler though. You should have seen her running the show all by herself! I personally think she should be the coach. I mean, she is better looking, more popular and more sensitive to us! When you were not in school earlier, she actually baked brownies for us! My God! She baked awesome brownies! I mean it was late in the afternoon and I doubt she baked it during school…. So it must've been hours.. but it still has all the moist and stuff. And it's not too sweet but just the right taste and….."
"Duo." Heero finally spoke, pronouncing his name in his usual calm voice.
Duo winced internally as the tone reminded him of that awful night when the Japanese boy had told him, 'Duo, I did not lie'.
Willing himself to forget, the long-haired man strained a smile. "What's up?"
Heero stared at Duo's face a few seconds before he spoke again. "Your hair…."
The strained smile fell off his face as Duo self-consciously touched his hair. "Oh… you can't really tell right? Just a few strands got chopped off. No biggies. My mother did a pretty darn job of making my hair look even."
Heero returned his stare into the ceiling. "Good." He whispered.
Duo felt his chest tightened. Control lost, he practically ran to the bed and sat down next to Heero. He touched Heero's face hesitantly. "Oh God, Heero….." Duo whispered as he took a close look of Heero's covered injuries. "I am so sorry….. It was all my fault." Duo trailed his fingers on the bandage on Heero's head. "I let this happened to you… I let those bastards….."
Heero closed his eyes as he felt the closeness of Duo. He felt the warmth even through the thick bandage. "Baka."
Duo stiffed and frowned. "It is you, who are the idiot." He abruptly stood up. "I already told you I hated you. You should have take the hint and got out of there……" Duo clenched his fists, uncontrollable anger rolled out of his tongue without thinking. "Then you wouldn't have to get hurt. And I wouldn't have to feel guilty about all this. And we could go mocking each other like we used to. You could be fooling me with one of your dirty tricks and I could be plotting some revenge for paybacks… Things would have been like it used to….."
"I cannot play tricks on someone after he gets beaten up like a flatten pancake." Heero suddenly interrupted. His face was so serious that it was hard to tell if he just told a joke or made a statement.
Anger forgotten, Duo let his jaw hanging, words unable to form in his head. He stared at Heero's face, unable to decipher. After the stun wore off, Duo finally managed to counterattack. "You don't think I can take care of those whossies?"
"No."
"Hey man," Duo could not believed it. Was this guy trying to put him down or was he teasing him? "Don't make me hurt you and put you in the hospital to prove my point." Duo decided to try. He pretended a threatening fist.
"Get in line. I am already in the hospital."
Duo stared at Heero in total disbelief.
Heero ignored the stare and propped himself against the bed. He inspected his wounded body for the first time. "Nothing serious. It will just take a couple days."
"Heero, normal people take weeks… maybe months to heal wounds like that!" Duo exclaimed.
"You, maybe. This is nothing to me." Heero picked up his chart by the table and started to read the doctor's notes and observations.
"Are you even human?" Duo shook his head as he took a seat on the bed again, next to Heero. "So what did the doctors say? Let me see the thing."
"You won't be able to read it." Heero said without lifting his head to look at the long-haired man.
"What," Duo raised his eyebrow. "You want to insult my intelligence now?" Duo snatched the chart away from Heero and started to scan through the pages. "My gosh! Who wrote this thing? Is this even English? It looked like a three-year-old's finger-painting. This guy's handwriting sucked! Look at this. Is that his signature? It looked like he was trying to draw a worm!"
Heero smirked. Before he could say anything back to Duo, the door to his room suddenly swung opened.
A couple in their late 40's walked in. The man was of Caucasian origin, standing at least 6 feet tall. He was dressed in a very nicely fitted suit. His light brown hair brushed back neatly and his stern blue eyes focused onto Heero. The woman, on the other hand, was Japanese, although she had dyed her long straight hair slightly dark red. Her petite size was a big contrast to the man accompanying her but her eyes were as equally stern as the man.
Heero erased his smirk as he focused his attention to his new visitors.
Duo stood up by the bed quickly. He had already guessed the identity of the new comers.
"How are you feeling, Heero." The man spoke first as he and the woman walked toward Heero.
"Fine. Father." Heero replied and Duo was surprised to hear the coldness in Heero's voice.
"I heard you were in a fight?" The woman showed her concern as well.
"Yes, Mother."
The woman frowned. "Why?"
Heero made no comment.
Knowing her son's stubbornness, the woman sighed. And for the first time, she noticed Duo's presence. "Who might this be, Heero?"
Sensing the attention had shifted toward him, Duo extended his hand nervously and smiled. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Yuy, my name is Duo. Duo Max..…"
"Maxton." Heero suddenly interrupted calmly, his face expressionless. "His name is Duo Maxton. He is from my school."
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