(A/N: Yay! I love my reviewers! You're all so nice! You even remember my b-day and send me piccys! Which is a real spirit lifter when you're sick! And to show my appreciatioon, here's the next chappie! Enjoy!)
Wufei sat in front of Mimiru fidgeting every so often as she switched out applicators.
The Sugino Quints, minus one, sat around the kitchen table, waiting to leave for school as Mimiru and Duo, looking happier than he had in a long time, prepped Pilot's 1, 3-5 for school.
"Sorry I'm not the God O' Makeup my sibs are." She sighed, pausing a moment or two to cough into her elbow, "I usually have a makeup artist do my mine for me, soooo…yeah."
As she reached for a lipgloss pencil, Wufei's face creased into a frown.
"How come you're the only one of them acting normally?" He groused, "You guys took Midol, right? Then why are they-!"
Mimiru's hand clamped around Wufei's chin and the hand holding the lipgloss came dangerously close to his left eye.
"DON'T generalize." She smirked, "Just cuz I take it, doesn't mean THEY do. They don't want to form a dependency on it, so they don't take Midol, get it?"
Wufei squeaked and nodded as a far too happy Duo set to work bobbypinning the black wig to his head.
"AI YO!"(1) Wufei hissed, twisting in Mimiru's grip to glare at Duo, "I swear if you pierce my scalp one-more-time-!"
"Shut up and pucker, Chun-Li." Mimiru commanded, forcing Wufei's head back and pressing the lipgloss to his lips harder than necessary.
Ignoring the Shenlong pilot's squeals of protest, Mimiru finished up and moved on to Quatre, who thankfully was the last one. Heero and Trowa, having very masculine jawlines, had been up first.
Not surprisingly, Quatre held very still and did exactly as he was told, unlike the rebellious Wufei, making it so Mimiru was far gentler with him than she had been with the Dragon Clan survivor.
Duo, just to be vindictive, made a great production of meticulously pinning the wig to Quatre's head with slow, kind hands, drawing the most venomous of glares from Wufei.
"Waaaaah…make him stop." Quatre sobbed internally under Wufei's poisonous stare which Mimiru, in her virus ridden state, was completely oblivious to (either that, or she just doesn't care; you decide)
Trowa and Heero shared a look and nodded.
Trowa withdrew three concealed throwing blades from within his school uniform top while Heero extracted his trusty Haskell 45 Auto Pistol from a thigh holster hidden beneath his skirt (which thankfully knee length) and advanced on Wufei.
"Done." Duo said with a satisfied smirk as Wufei was hauled off by Trowa and Heero at gunpoint, "Have a good day Q, ya heart breaker."
Quatre glowered at Duo as he rose to his feet, giving the regulation skirt he wore a self-conscious tug as he went.
"Don't worry too much Winner." Mimiru said, coughing into her elbow as she walked the group to the door, "Maxwell isn't getting off easy. Milliardo's coming over today for another practice session."
"Whuh-what?" Duo stammered as Wufei suddenly became far more complacent, "Y-you're…you're joking, right?"
"Like fun I am." Mimiru snorted, massaging the swollen glands in her throat, "He'll be here within the hour."
A sadistic smirk flitted across Heero's Covergirl coated lips as Duo went white with horror.
"HEY, DIPWADS!" Michiru growled, looking ready to blow, "Are we GOIN' or WHAT?"
"I'm sorry." Mikura sniffed, looking like she would start bawling at any second, "I-I'm always holding us up."
"Like a great plague, I shall sweep across this land." Misaki mumbled, thumbing Michiru's discarded butter knife.
Why am I doing this again? Mitsuki typed, giving a quiet sigh, It looks like it's gonna rain anyway.
"It appears…we are all on even footing now, Duo." Trowa said with a wry smile as Wufei extracted the butter knife from Misaki's grip.
"Good luck Maxwell." Heero said as Michiru grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out the door, swearing under her breath the entire way.
"You'll need it." Quatre said with a far too happy smile as he led Mitsuki out, left arm wrapped around her shoulders as he pushed her along with his right.
"Huh-HEY! WAIT!" Duo cried as they shuffled out the door
"Have fun with Peacecraft." Wufei smirked scathingly dragging Misaki along, "Give him my 'warmest' regards."
"AK!" Duo sputtered as the door shut behind them with an echoing -THM- leaving just him and his recovering charge in the house.
"What are you waiting around for?" Mimiru snorted, coughing into her elbow again, "Go get changed."
"B-but, but, but-!" Duo cried in protest, looking ready for a long heated argument.
-DINNNNNNNNDONNNNNNNNNNN-
"Now." Mimiru said, a poisonous smile taking over her face as she went to answer the door.
"HEEP!" Duo chuckled nervously, booking up the stairs to do what he was told.
Rule Number One When Dealing With Hormonal Women: When They're On Rag, Don't Pose Too Many Complaints.
"This a disaster." Noin moaned, massaging her left temple with her hand, inspecting the daily reports filed by the Five Pilots.
"Even with their presence, the situation hasn't changed in the slightest." Noin sighed, lowering the paperwork onto her desk, "Ugh…what a nightmare."
-KNOK-KNOK-
"Mm? Come in." Noin said absently, continuing to read the reports, "The door's open."
The mechanical hydraulics systems that powered the door fired into action as the visitor enter the room.
"Oh, Sally. Hey." Noin said sheepishly, looking unbelievably frazzled as she paused to greet her guest.
"Did I come at a bad time?" Sally chuckled, noting the disarray that had once been the Lieutenant's desk.
"No…no. I need a break anyway." Noin sighed, rising from her office chair.
"Apparently." Sally snickered as they left Noin's workspace, "Your office looks like it's a battle scarred war survivor."
"…shut up." Noin grumped as the pair entered the Mess Hall and strode towards the coffee maker, "Things have gotten unbelievable lately."
"Do tell." Sally said, quirking an eyebrow as she waited for her paper cup to fill.
"Well you know about the whole situation with Sugino Hatake and his family right?" Noin asked, lifting her cup to her lips as she and Sally looked for a table.
"Of course." Sally smirked, "Gossip travels, even in a base this size."
Sally paused and stared at the dark brown liquid she held between her hands.
"Are the rumors true?" She muttered, "About Hatake? Is he really-?"
"Mm." Noin nodded, taking a deep swig of her coffee, "He's being cared for at our headquarters on the Moon. For safety's sake and all."
"I see." Sally murmured, face creasing with concern, "The poor man."
"Things cannot continue as they are."
Both women spun around, almost scalding themselves with the searing hot liquid they held.
"D-Doctor J? Master O." Noin murmured, obviously surprised at their sudden appearance at the Preventer's Japan Base.
"Professor G? Doctor S. Instructor H. What are you all doing here?" Sally asked warily, letting her hand lazily drift to the concealed pistol in her jacket.
"No need to fret ladies." Professor G chuckled, "We mean no harm."
"Huh." Noin snorted, sardonically,"We'll see about that."
"We are simply concerned for the safety of our boys." Doctor S said with a smile.
"Is that really so hard to believe?" Master O asked.
"To be frank?" Noin and Sally said in unison, "YES."
"Honestly Maxwell, are you even trying?" Milliardo snickered cynically after Duo had face planted for the umpteenth time.
"WOULD I BE HERE IF I WASN'T TRYING DAMNIT?" Duo screeched, glaring ferociously at the older man.
Today, Milliardo had decided to take the training up a notch and have Duo and himself perform the Pasa Doble as a whole, with both the female and male footwork.
Milliardo having worked with Mimiru earlier, already knew the female footwork and was taking her place until he felt Duo was up to par.
However, Duo far from being comfortable with "dancing with a dude" as he so eloquently put it, was being unbelievably difficult and ended up blocking out all he had already been taught and tripping over his own feet.
"Yes, I do." Milliardo sneered as Duo pulled himself to his feet, "In fact, I know you'd be here."
"Oh?" Duo snorted derisively, inspecting himself for bruises, "And why is that pray tell?"
"Because I could always just give Lucreizia a call." Milliardo said tauntingly, unsheathing a cellphone from his back pocket.
"YOU ASSHOLE!" Duo yelled, "I can DO my damn JOB!"
Mimiru, who had been watching from a corner the entire, quirked her eyebrow in Duo's direction after this little outburst.
An avalanche of cold cascaded down the Deathscythe pilot's spine as he turned to find himself under Mimiru's critical, artic, hormone-charged (the Midol's wearing off) gaze.
"Uh…uh-um…l-let's run through…that one again, kay?" Duo stuttered, looking straight into Mimiru's icy, hazel green eyes with fear gripping his heart.
Now, in his head, he knew he didn't have much to fear from the short, skinny little teenager, with no combat training under her belt to speak of.
But there was something about her at the moment that truly terrified him.
It was totally irrational.
I mean really, what could this short, currently sick, teenager, do to him? A trained combat specialist/Gundam Pilot?
"Well?" Mimiru drawled, narrowing her eyes slightly and lowering the corners of her mouth into a frown, "What are you waiting for…Maxwell?"
"Y-yes ma'am." Duo squeaked, the ice cold thrills of fear gushing down his spine.
"We're back." Quatre called, dragging the dark cloud of gloom that was Mitsuki behind him.
"Nu Ren! Zhen Ma Fan!"(2) Wufei panted, trying not to reminisce on the destruction Misaki wrought during lunch with the school's ride-on floor waxer (3).
"WHO THE FUCK CARES?" Michiru snarled, Heero following a few steps behind her for safety's sake, "Th' whole shitty world SUCKS no matter WHERE ya go!"
Trowa said nothing, but led his sobbing charge by the hand, looking unbelievably frazzled.
She had cried in English when the teacher had called on her, cried in P.E. when she was the second to last one picked for dodgeball, Hell, she had cried during lunch when she realized she hadn't gotten a pudding snack.
"Huh-hey."
They G-Boy's eyes turned to the living room where Duo lay sluggishly, looking as though the effort of lifting his own head might kill him.
"What happened to you?" Quatre cried, looking alarmed.
"…do you really need to ask." Duo mumbled, not opening his eyes.
"I suppose not." Trowa smirked tiredly.
"Mimi made snacks." Duo muttered, summoning up the strength to point to the kitchen, "She labeled'em too. Not sure why."
The G-Boy's exchanged confused looks as the Sugino's went for the snacks: Brownies that had names written on them in icing.
They were amazed that only two minutes after imbibing the snacks, all four girls immediately returned to their normal selves.
"Y-Y-Yuy-san?" Michiru stammered, coloring nervously at his cold stare, "Wh-whatever is th-th-the matter?"
"Hey Wufei…wow, you look awful dude." Misaki grinned, "Somebody needs a hug!" she cried glomping Pilot 5 and making him shout loudly at the UPC (4)
"Hey Trowa, can you help me with my math homework?" Mikura asked the now wide eyed Pilot 3, "I hate math."
Quatre, are you cooking dinner again? Mitsuki asked the gaping blonde, Last night's dinner was sooooo yummy!
Rule Number Two When Dealing With Hormonal Women: When On The Rag, Chocolate Is A Miracle Worker…Especially When It's Laced With Midol, Courtesy Of Mimiru.
Heero, out of his feminine garb, sat in front of his laptop in Michiru's room.
Michiru herself was working on improving the Sugino Estate's security system on her own laptop, the schematics of a rather threatening Doomsday looking device on the screen.
Heero paid this little mind as he was slightly surprised to see an email from Noin.
He clicked on the link as brought up the message, which read as follows:
Dear Pilots 1-5,
You're assistance in the Sugino Case has been greatly appreciated.
However, since the situation has yet to improve, we are imposing immediate relocation orders.
You Pilots and the Sugino Quints, shall be transferred to the Preventer's Base in Japan.
The schooling situation for the girls shall not change unless the immediate threat increases.
A transporter, piloted by Sally Po, shall arrive at 5:OO P.M.
Tell the Sugino's to bring only the essentials as the rest shall be provided for them.
Sincerely,
Baronette Lucreizia Noin
(A/N: The Sugino's are relocated and...SAY WHAT? Oh...my god. The Doctor's did WHAT? To find out, R&R!)
(1) "AI YO!" - a Chinese exclamation of pain
(2) "Nu Ren! Zhen Ma Fan!" -"Women!What a bother!"
(3) Ride On Floor Waxer- my school has one, and seriously dudes and dudettes, it looks like sucha trip! Just once, I wanna steal it and ride it through the halls! It looks like a zamboni, only it waxes floors! I know it sounds stupid, but...I wanna ride on it!
(4) UPC - Unwanted Physical Contact