I would like to thank these people for their wonderful reviews: Angel313-a little longer than soon, but sooner than some of my other updates; Joy-hnnn…I see your point, and it makes it really hard for me to remember what I originally wanted to say there; Nyneve- I like your reviews—they mal e me laugh! And as you can see, it is Duo and Makoto, and yes, I did indeed forget Michiru's last name—thank's for the help =) Erinimation-limited2-nothing—hnn back at you; Tenshi-hotaru—I totally agree, they should, but then what would I have to write about. Besides, the girls know absolutely nothing compared to the guys. Minnieshon—the sad thing is, I like math. But yes, while taking it, Calculus was totally crazy and evil; GracedAngel1854; Pyro Kitty Cat; John Steppenwolf—you weren't wrong, the girls really didn't find out much. Nobody believes they are the Gundam Pilots, all they really now is that Relena likes to say that, probably because (according to Andante) Relena likes to make herself more important.
THANKS AGAIN!
I don't own 'em only the story!
In From The Cold
Chapter 10: The Date(s)
By: AutumnHime
Indigo eyes crashed with forest as Duo and Makoto studied one another over the typical white and red checked tablecloth, a basket of breadsticks and a candle in a wine bottle holder between them.
"So what are you going to order, Duo?" Makoto asked, sipping her iced tea. She felt slightly uncomfortable. A date with a hot guy was good and all, but how do entice him to give up information?
Duo studied the menu carefully. "I don't know…maybe the pasta primavera with a Caesar salad or maybe fettuccini alfredo with chicken and tiramisu for dessert, so many choices, how does one decided." He glanced up, his eyes highlighted by the humor in them. "How about you, Makoto? What are you going to get?"
Makoto twirled a strand of hair around her index finger. "Probably the spaghetti with meatballs and a house salad on the side." The waiter meandered back to their table, and both placed their orders, Duo deciding to have the Fettuccini Alfredo with chicken.
Duo then pounced on Makoto. "Out of curiosity, did you have a reason for inviting me to dinner?"
Makoto swallowed hard and nearly choked on the breadstick she had been munching on. "What, I can't ask a cute guy on a date without getting the third degree?"
Duo noted her reaction, and with the intelligence he normally let fade into the background, filed it away. He responded easily to the question, widening his eyes in an exaggeratedly shocked manner, and made his voice slightly more aggressive. "What, I merely rate cute? And here I thought I was hot. There goes my ego." The smile he flashed her took away any remorse she might have been feeling for her remark. "And no, you can't ask a cute guy you've seen crossdressing on a date without getting the third degree."
Makoto laughed and leaned in slightly. "I was wondering about that. Want to tell me why you decided to come to school dressed like a girl?"
Duo paused as their food was placed in front of them. He smiled at the waitress, enjoying the blush his smile caused, and then watched her walk away. His smile increased as she turned around and smiled shyly before ducking behind a set of swinging doors.
Makoto watched the interaction with both amusement and a bit of jealousy. Although why I'm jealous, I have no idea. It's not like I've known this guy for more than a few days. She repeated her question when Duo turned back to her. "So why did you decide to come to school dressed like a girl?"
"Would you believe me if I told you it was a joke?" He asked, forking up some fettuccini alfredo.
Makoto nodded. "Probably."
"How about if I told you it was a joke played on me to get back at me for playing a joke on my friends?" Duo expounded, looking at Makoto coyly through his eyelashes.
Makoto's eyes shimmered with laughter. "What did you do to them?"
"Let's just say those costumes they wore on Halloween weren't there idea, and that in order to get them there I had to take their favorite items." Duo buried his face in his hands. "I'm so ashamed of myself." He parted his hands a little to look at Makoto's face.
"Give it up, Duo. You aren't fooling me. You would probably do it all over again."
"Quite right. So, in return for answering your question, you have to answer one of mine." Duo informed her, playing with the end of his braid.
Makoto thought about this for a second, and then nodded. "Fair enough. Shoot."
Duo, being Duo, couldn't resist. He formed a gun with his hands. "Bang."
Makoto giggled, and waited for his question.
"So here goes. Are you here for any specific reason?"
Makoto stiffened slightly, then relaxed. "We're here for the very specific reason of learning and education."
Duo again noticed her reaction and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, fair enough. Your turn."
Makoto tapped her chin, trying to figure out how to word her question. "Hmmm…why did your friends leave in the middle of class yesterday?"
"We had something very important to do. Heero'd left something at home and it took all of us to get it, of course." In reality, Dr. J had been alerting Heero to a report of some really strange machine that used harmonics and sonic waves to destroy things. He'd wanted all the Gundams to see it in case anything else like it came up, so they'd all gone.
The strange thing was that the scene hadn't seemed to operate on any normal mechanics, it operated on something totally different.
Makoto smiled, just enough to let Duo know that she knew that he was lying. "Of course. What's your next question?"
"Why are you all so protective of Usagi?" Duo leaned in closer, eyes intent upon Makoto's.
Makoto's eyes widened briefly. She hadn't expected that. "We're protective of Usagi because she's a friend, and she's Usagi. My turn. What do you know about Heero?"
Duo thought for a moment. "Heero's a good guy. He's a little cold, a little tense, but underneath his three miles of ice exterior beats a heart of gold. He was an orphan and like the rest of us, had a," Duo paused and grinned but his eyes darkened, "relatively small part in the war. We were mainly assigned to protect Relena Peacecraft, who somehow developed an obsessive crush on Heero. Other than that, we're friends and if you take his laptop away from him, you may very well find yourself hanging over some cliffs holding onto a fraying rope. My question now. Would you like some tiramisu, or are you stuffed?"
Makoto laughed. "I'm stuffed, but help yourself, if you want some. I am, after all paying. Let's see, what else can I ask you? How did you and the others meet?"
Duo held off answering, ordering his slice of tiramisu. He took a long draught of his Dr. Pepper and pondered for a second. "Heero and I met when I tried to steal something extremely valuable of Heero's. He had the parts that I needed to fix something of mine. That's also when we met Relena. As for the rest of us, we just met because of common causes and kamikazes. Enough about my past, what did you do during the war?"
Makoto hesitated. "I wasn't affected to badly by the war. My parents and Rei's were killed, Mina's had gone off to fight, and Ami's mother is a doctor, so she was kept busy at the hospital. Both of Serena's parents stayed though. They acted a lot like surrogate parents for us. And we were very very lucky, we had each other. But you might say we too formed a special task force, and helped keep order in and around Tokyo."
"Sounds like we had similar experiences, huh? I was orphaned as well. I…" Duo stopped, not believing that he had almost willingly revealed the traumatic story leading up to his role in the war.
Makoto spoke. "You…"
Duo stood. "I think we should go." He tugged her up to a standing position
Makoto didn't resist. She had a lot to think about, and knew that she couldn't let anything she felt get in the way of her Hime's safety. "Alright." She paid the bill, dropped some dollars on the table, and walked out of the building with Duo on her heels.
Outside, they paused awkwardly. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school, Makoto."
Makoto nodded. "Bye, Duo."
The two brunettes, one green-eyed, the other with indigo orbs parted ways, the reluctance to do so almost visible.
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Two groups of people looked up as two different figures walked in through two different doors.
"How did it go?" One group asked, making room for their friend to sit down.
Accusing gazes greeted the other figure. "Where were you?" And Duo began to explain all he had learned.
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So did you like it, hate it, wish it had more action, what?
Oh, and get this, I wrote the next to last chappie and am working on the last one, but still have to get from point a to point b…this might be a case of working backwards =)
AutumnHime