Disclaimer-Same as always
Brothers and Sisters
Chapter 11
Days Go By
Dinner was an interesting affair right from the get-go. About 45 minutes after placing the call to a local Chinese place, Makoto and Trowa welcomed the delivery boy and his 8 bags of food with relief. The two of them had spent the last twenty minutes putting out the small crises that cropped up between the majority of the pairs.
Where else would the first crisis begin but in the library. Wufei had foolishly (at least in Ami's opinion) challenged the aforementioned senshi of ice to a game of chess. The crisis came when he actually beat her in their second round. This led to a moment of bewilderment on her part, smug conceit on his, then a thorough thwap on the head for him from Rei who had passed by and noticed just how smug he was being. Ami on the other hand, once she got over her shock, eyed him with a new light in her eye and promptly challenged him to a rematch. This became possibly the most heated chess rematch ever, with both groups eventually wandering in to support their preferred player.
Eventually wandering in, because each group was having their own difficulties. Hotaru and Duo had continued on with their tour of the house, eventually ending up just outside the library. Realizing just who was in the library, Duo decided to make one of the comments that he is best known for. "Jeez, who knew that Wu-man could be such a dog? I didn't realize he had a thing for chicks that 'punish' him."
Hotaru, being, of course, Wufei's younger sister and a good friend of Ami's, immediately took offence. "Excuse me?" she asked him with an incredulous look on her face, "Are you kidding me? What the hell are you trying to say about my older brother and one of my best friends? Is that supposed to be funny? Because it's not and I certainly did not find it in the least bit amusing." With that, she turned and stormed into the library leaving a slack-jawed Duo in her wake.
It took him all of about a minute to process her mini-tirade. Awww…shit, he thought, before steeling himself and following her into the library to face the wrath of the Chang siblings.
The third Chang sibling remained blissfully unaware of the conflict that was brewing amongst her family. Having successfully taken her brother down a notch after he beat Ami at chess, she had returned to the living room and to Heero. "So?" he asked as she settled down beside him on the couch.
"They're playing chess," she replied with a shrug, "Apparently he just beat Ami at a round, and he was gloating so I smacked him. He needed it. He seems to be calmer than he was earlier."
"Hn," was the only response she got.
She eyed him thoughtfully, "What exactly does that mean anyways? Hn? Is it a question? An 'I don't care'"
Heero looked up at her, his brow arched slightly in surprise. "No really, I want to know," she asked, leaning forward, an intent expression on her face.
"I…I…" he faltered, I'm not really sure myself.
"It's okay," Rei replied softly, "If you're not sure…or if you're not comfortable telling me. I was just curious."
How did she know? Heero thought to himself. He found himself edging closer to her, finding comfort in her presence. Everything about her had a soothing effect for him. Her voice, her personality, she was the complete opposite of almost every female he had ever met yet he couldn't quite categorize her. She was an enigma to him, a walking contradiction. Peaceful yet fierce. Mysterious yet open. Delicate yet iron-strong. He was drawn to her, and he was finding that he didn't want to fight that attraction.
Rei felt hyper-aware as she sat on the couch with Heero. She noticed when he began to come closer and did a little moving on her own. Ever since that moment on the balcony the previous evening, her thoughts had been clamoring around this Prussian-eyed man. The connection that had been sparked that night had been fanned into a flame when he had linked with her this morning. The memories of his past had stirred something in her and she found herself wanting to know more about him, wanting to know what kind of man that lost little boy had turned into.
Without realizing it, each had come within inches of each other, staring intently into the other's eyes as if trying to read what was going on in the other's head. Heero's hand came up slowly and brushed a strand of hair that had fallen into Rei's eyes. His hand lingered for a moment, then brushed against her cheek before coming to rest there. Rei brought her own hand up and first caressed his hand, then reached up to his cheek, bringing him closer until their foreheads touched. She grinned at him, then closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his in a feather light touch. Pulling back, she opened her eyes to judge his reaction. Heero stared at her intently. For a moment, she worried that she had done the completely wrong thing. Heero banished that thought when he pulled her back towards him and kissed her with a fierceness that she hadn't thought the unemotional man capable of. Wrapping her arms around his neck as his snaked around her waist, she returned the kiss with fervor. He responded, deepening the kiss, their tongues imitating a ritual as old as time. Oh God…I…I've never felt like this before.
Rei's eyes snapped open as that thought, which she was positive did not belong to her, strayed across her mind. Heero noticed her sudden change of attitude and pulled away confused. Rei scooted back against the armrest of the couch and looked at him with wide eyes. Ohshitohshitoshitohshitoshit, Rei thought to herself as Heero looked back at her, confusion clear in his eyes. Rei just continued to stare back at him.
"Rei," he ventured, "What is it?"
Rei opened her mouth to reply then shut it. Her mind was racing, trying to think of possible reasons why something like this would happen. Heero, his pride already stung, put on his cold demeanor and stood, "Fine, don't tell me. I'll just go check on how Wufei is faring."
Rei winced as he left. She was hurt that he had reverted into his "jerk" persona but she needed some time on her own to think. How could this have happened? How did I manage to bond myself to this person that I've known for less than a few days? And what am I going to do about it? Especially when he finds out?
Minako and Quatre fared the best out of all the groups. Quatre was so embarrassed by his thoughts about Minako that he could only manage monosyllabic answers to the multitude of questions that she asked as they toured the house. Minako, frustrated by his lack of response, simple began to chatter more and more, basically making their entire conversation one-sided. Eventually, Quatre steered them back to the library in an effort to redirect her intense focus away from him and his life.
"How's the game going?" Minako asked as she practically bounced into the room, Quatre trailing behind her, his face still a bright red. Hotaru looked up from her place in Ami's "cheering section" and smiled, "Quite well actually. They're tied one-all and now they're working on the deciding match. Which Ami will quite obviously win." With that final comment, she turned and glared at Duo, who had been trying to discreetly move closer to her. He eeped and returned to his original seat. Minako raised an eyebrow at his behavior and moved to sit on the Ami side. Quatre, eager to get some distance between him and Minako in order to let his face cool down, sat next to Duo on the Wufei side. Both players remained completely oblivious to their audience.
"You call that an offensive move? A two-year old could have done that," Wufei snorted.
"Well obviously you can only play against a two year old since that last move has left your queen vulnerable," Ami shot back.
Quatre leaned towards Duo. "Have they been like this the entire game?" he whispered.
Duo grinned, "Yup, it's pretty funny. Didn't know the Wu-man had it in him."
Quatre simply shook his head in defeat.
The door to the library slammed open and Heero stalked in. "Whoa," Duo remarked, "Is it just me or did the temperature just drop like a hundred degrees?"
Heero turned and gave Duo one of his trademark glares before dropping into one of the seats opposite of Quatre. "Sheesh," he whispered to his blonde friend, "You'd think it was my fault his panties are suddenly in a bunch."
"Duo," Quatre replied warningly.
"Hey Heero," Duo called out, ignoring Quatre, "I thought you were with Rei? Did you just ditch her or something?"
Heero's glare intensified, "Omae wa koruso."
"Ooooookaaaaay," Duo replied, "Gotcha…don't wanna talk about Rei…backing off now…I want my limbs to remain intact."
Heero just ignored him and appeared to focus all of his attention to the game. Minako and Hotaru watched this little exchange with great interest, noticing how when Rei entered just a few minutes later, Heero's eyes immediately flicked towards her, then away. Rei took a seat beside her sister as the other two girls gave each other significant looks.
The atmosphere in the library was tense when Makoto and Trowa entered the library, the former laughing and the latter with a small smile on his lips. Both stopped short as the tension permeated their awareness. Mako frowned, "Okay, what's going on in here?"
All parties looked up at her authoritative statement, some with relief, some with bewilderment, and some with downright hostility. "Well? I'm waiting?" she asked, Trowa silently backing her up with his own stoic expression and crossed arms.
"IT'S HIS FAULT"
"IT'S HER FAULT"
"HE/SHE STARTED IT"
"…"
"Hn"
"CHECKMATE!"
Makoto closed her eyes, It's gonna be one of those days.
So after something of a two-year (almost three) hiatus, I have returned! So this chapter might seem a little different from my others but ah well…yeah I got a little mushy but believe me, I don't write smut…don't think I can…but the relationships will be a little more mature (I'm 24 now for crying out loud…a little tongue action in the kissing is completely fine)…go to my page her to see the hapas…hope you like! Review! I need the validation!
