Greetings! Stick with me, minna, the rest of the chapters should appear within a few hours! =^_^=

Disclaimer #1: I don't own GW...*cries*...but if I DID own it, things would be SO different, but then again if "ifs and buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all weigh 300 pounds, so there. =P

Disclaimer #2: I was an English major, so when I write, I write wordy. You have been warned. =P

Disclaimer #3 (last one, I promise): This is a very confusing story. Gomen nasai. Don't get lost. =^_~=

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Hours might have passed before the pair came to their senses. The absence of any clocks in the study room made it impossible to tell, and their internal clocks were certainly well off-kilter.

Relena came to slowly, with more than a slight headache. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and stopped. Something wasn't quite right...her blue cardigan was gone. So was the off-white blouse she had been wearing underneath it. In it's place was what looked like a rumpled black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. What kind of sick joke was this? Did Duo undress her while she was unconscious and...no, that was absurd.

Wincing against the pain, her hand flew to her forehead. She felt her bangs falling all over the place. My hair's a mess now. Running shaky fingers through her bangs to smooth them out, her hand stopped at the base of her neck where the hair seemed to be tangled. She ran a hand down her tresses--they were in a braid. Sitting up quickly, she pulled her hair over her shoulder and looked at it. A long, thick, chestnut brown braid.

Frantic, she stumbled to her feet and looked around the room, her horrified eyes landing on the only other person there...herself. Leaning back in a chair, with both feet kicked up on the table, was the body of Relena Peacecraft, smirking. Relena looked down at herself and saw a thin, boyish body clad in the usual black outfit Duo always wore.

She looked up, trembling. "...what did you DO to me??" she cried. The sound of Duo's voice coming from her own mouth startled her even more, and she leaned heavily on the table to stop herself from falling over in shock.

Duo smiled sweetly at her, twirling one of her honey-blonde locks of hair around his finger. "Relax, 'Lena, it's all part of the plan. Didn't I say you had to trust me?" He got up and walked over to her. He didn't seem as disconcerted as she was, at seeing himself across the table. Putting an arm around her...or rather, his own shaking shoulders, he leaned close to her ear and whispered comfortingly. "It's alright, it's not permanent. You'll get used to it in a little while, ok?"

I don't WANT to get USED to it!! she wanted to shout, but her stomach was turning over and over so badly, she thought she might upchuck if she opened her mouth to speak.

"Why don't we get a coffee or something, huh? Give your nerves a chance to settle," Duo said cheerily, picking up Relena's purse and slinging it over his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Relena nodded numbly, just wanting to get out of that room. Taking her arm, he tore the paper off the window and opened the door, stepping out into a perfectly normal and quiet library, eerily unaware that anything paranormal had just taken place within it's walls. They made a painfully slow trip to the coffee house in the lobby. Duo bought the coffee, with the money in Relena's purse, smiling at the way the server called him "Miss" when she announced the total.

No one looked at them strangely at all, convincing him that the transference had been absolutely seamless. What a ridiculous thing it was...Duo in Relena's body, and Relena in Duo's body. He held back a laugh every time he thought about it. Taking cautious sips from his coffee, he tried to reassure her that this was totally necessary to change Heero's behaviour.

"See, what you need," he began, "is someone to make him realize what he's been missing all this time. Someone to show him, y'know...what you're really like when you're not queen of the universe. That sort of thing." He saw no immediate reaction from her. The violet eyes were staring blankly forward, the coffee was untouched. "And maybe, after awhile, he'll get to appreciate the real you. But first we gotta get his attention, and let's face it, unless you're giving a speech about world peace, you're not that fascinating to be around." He regretted those words slightly, as soon as they were spoken, but he believed it was true. Relena had a tendency to be a drab little fluffy teddy bear, who was either clingy and suffocating, or stiff and starchy, depending on the situation.

"So you're going to get Heero's attention for me." she said, after a long, uncomfortable silence.

Duo paused, thinking. "Yeah....yeah, I guess I am." She didn't need to know why or how, he just promised her that after spending some time in her body, Heero would be looking at her in an entirely new light.

**********

The clock in the coffee house indicated that the whole strange affair took less than an hour, although it felt more like a day and a half, with a few stiff drinks apiece thrown in for effect. Once Relena's stomach had settled down, they traded class schedules and locker combinations, so they could continue on as "normal" without drawing suspicion. Duo even warned her about the biology professor that hated him with such a passion that he was in danger of failing, joking that spending a few days in his body, she might be able to bring his average up.

Having missed pretty much the entire afternoon's classes anyway, they called it a day, and agreed that to avoid putting Wufei's highly spiritual nerves on edge, they should both stay in Relena's room. Straws would be drawn to decide who would collect Duo's things from the other dorm. A comical argument ensued over which of them should sleep on the sofa, but in the end, Duo insisted on taking it himself. Relena practically fell on the bed and was asleep almost instantly. Duo looked down at his sleeping self, and the reality of what he had achieved hit him for the first time. Among the myriad of things Shinigami had taught him, there was the ability to swap the souls of two mortal bodies. At the time, he couldn't think of a practical application for it, but still, he thought, there was almost nothing practical about this.

3:45. Heero would be getting out of his last class and going to his extra-credit advanced computer programming session, which he really didn't need, and only signed up for so he could hack the school's systems from a different terminal every day. Kept things interesting.

Duo looked through Relena's closet for something less...less...This has got to be the most boring...Nothing she had looked as if it would set Heero on fire, or even make his little finger slightly toasty. Still carrying her purse, he slipped out and locked the door behind him. Calculating how much time he probably had until Heero went home for dinner, he dashed out to the bus for a last-minute shopping trip.

On the way to the mall, looking at Relena's reflection in the window, guilt began giving him short slaps to the face. He admitted to himself the real reason why he had switched bodies with her--he was going to seduce Heero. Somehow it didn't matter anymore if Heero didn't recognize him, if he really believed he was holding Relena, so long as Duo was the one to experience it, not her. It had been the most obvious reason for Heero's refusal; he was straight. He must be. Neither of them could help that. How it was all going to feel in the body of a woman was something he hadn't had time to contemplate...

He flew through the stores with a typically male attitude towards shopping for clothes: get the job done, then get the heck out of there. A few swipes of Relena's credit card later, he was carrying her drab, frumpy outfit in a shopping bag, and wearing the latest couture from the designers at Maison Maxwell. He studied the effect in the full-length mirror of a very classy shop.

A rayon skirt, navy with lilies printed on it, ending just above the knee...a clingy rose-coloured top with a sweetheart neckline...matching hose and blue flat shoes (he wasn't ready to risk his neck with heels quite yet), and little pearl earrings. He hated every last bit of it. But the sales lady kept insisting it looked SO good on "madam"...who was he to argue? He would wear the ghastly concoction on one condition: he had to fix something that didn't look quite right.

Handing his parcels over to the attendant, he swiftly gathered up Relena's soft golden tresses and weaved them deftly into a braid. A new attendant, younger than the first, was at his side in a flash with a hair scrunchie the exact same colour at the clingy top. Duo looked at it oddly, then took it. Snapping it in place, he swung his new ornament back and forth behind him like a pendulum, finally pleased with the overall effect.

His last stop was the drug store; wandering up and down the aisles, he told himself he really didn't want to see what he was looking for. Stopping next to the pertinent section, he pretended to be looking at the rack of cough drops, throwing furtive sideways glances at the goods for sale a few inches to the left. He really didn't wish Relena any serious harm, and he certainly didn't relish the thought of little tiny Heeros and Relenas running around nine months from now, but he couldn't bring himself to look at what was offered. He could feel himself breaking into a cold sweat every time another customer walked by. Instantly formulating "Plan B", he left the aisles and walked to the back of the store, to the pharmaceuticals dispensary. His fingers and toes went numb as he felt his mouth opening and heard Relena's timid voice ask for a package of little white pills, which was handed over promptly by the kindly old pharmacist, wearing a tender, fatherly smile. Duo paid in cash; if this showed up on Relena's monthly credit card statement, he was gonna die.

All the way back to campus, a little voice was pestering him, shouting that this was about to be, bar none, the most despicable thing he has ever done to a friend. Two friends. Duo told the little voice to shut the hell up.

**********

The advanced computer programming professor kept one eye on Heero Yuy as always, and as always, he was unable to catch him doing anything suspect on the school terminals. It was quite exasperating to know in his gut that his prize student was wandering around all kinds of electronic restricted areas, but he could prove nothing. Heero was that good. Whatever tensions arose between them in class, the gray-haired professor couldn't help but be humbled by his very presence.

Another uneventful class went by, and the professor had to let Heero leave peacefully once again, for lack of evidence. The Perfect Soldier picked up his books and walked out, as coldly emotionless as when he had walked in. Today, however, there was an unusual surprise waiting just outside the computer lab door.

"Heero..." a sweet voice sang.

Anyone who had studied Heero since childhood would clearly see that he was startled by this; the average person wouldn't notice much of a difference. He turned quite calmly to see...what appeared to be Relena, but dressed...differently.

He looked at her for a long time, taking in the apparent changes, the clothes, the braid, the smirk...he offhandedly wondered if she had been drinking on campus, which was against the rules. Remembering the rule she kept breaking over and over to bring him food, he thought perhaps she wasn't pure as the driven snow after all. "Hn."

How original, Duo thought. Instantly, his arm was around Heero's waist, steering him down the hall towards the dorm. "Surprised to see me?"

"Not really," Heero said, flatly. "I know you're always around."

Duo laughed. It sounded nice in Relena's voice. If she wasn't such a cold fish around the people she loved, he thought, she could be a real live wire. All she really needs is to let go once in a while...

Spontaneity took over, and they walked the long route back to the dorm. Heero's class finished at 5:00. By 8:30 they still hadn't found their way back. They meandered around the campus, stopping to look at nearly everything; a pond with ducks in it, a street vendor selling ice cream, a group of students cramming for a sociology final, and a game of girls-on-boys basketball, loser buys dinner. All the while, they talked. REALLY talked, like best friends should. Quite often, Duo would almost catch himself doing or saying something that might make Heero suspicious. Above all else, the guise of Relena had to be upheld, or the whole plan would fall apart. Thankfully, Heero seemed to be buying it; not once during the evening did he accuse Duo of stealing Relena's body for immoral purposes. But then, it wasn't the sort of thing you'd expect, even on his worst day.

It wasn't until well after eleven that they found themselves at the dorm entrance. Heero paused, as if waiting for something. Duo puzzled over why they didn't just go right in, and then it dawned on him, girls weren't allowed here after a certain time...for the life of him he couldn't remember what time that was, but the way Heero stood there made him think it was already long past.

"I've got to be up early tomorrow," Heero said cautiously.

"Oh." A disappointing end to a perfect evening. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." He had no idea which of the odd couple would be seeing him tomorrow, himself or Relena, but it sounded like a reasonable thing to say.

Heero didn't move for another moment or two; Duo wondered if there was anything else he forgot to say that people normally say when saying good night...of course, "good night" itself was the obvious choice. Then the daring part of him theorized that Heero was actually standing there being a gentleman, and hadn't necessarily seized up and frozen in place. Duo crept forward and put a hand on Heero's shoulder. Oh geez...my legs are going numb...Holding his breath, he leaned forward and kissed Heero on the cheek, gently. Standing back, he exhaled shakily. "Good night," he whispered.

Heero's expression was surprisingly docile. "Oyasuminasai," he replied. Turning on his heel, he retreated to the inner recesses of the dormitory, none the wiser.

Duo leaned back against the brick wall, trembling all over. I did it...it wasn't much, but I did it... Waves of exhilaration carried him back to Relena's room on a cloud.


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Waiii! Did I confuse anybody royally? =@_@= hehehe