Can I Keep You?
Part Six
''Relena,'' Hilde began, biting her fingernails
before examining her work, ''How long have you lived in Yuy Estate?''
''About three days now, why?'' Relena asked her new friend. She, Duo, and Hilde were sitting outside the school on a low brick wall near the library. Duo was lying on the near-by picnic table, with one arm casually hung over his eyes to blot out the sun that was filtering through the tree's leaves. Hilde, however, sat next to Relena on the wall, one hand holding herself right, the other a cigarette in.
''Just wondering… I'm glad you don't mind me smoking, I'm trying to quit''—
''But she's not doing so well,'' Duo grinned from the picnic table. An open algebra book rested on his stomach.
''If I was, would I be smoking right now?'' Hilde snapped.
Relena smiled, and then checked her watch. ''I've got — Er, some work to do in the library. D'you know if they have records of people who used to go to this school or that lived in Friendly?''
''They should,'' Duo replied. ''Why?''
''Research,'' Relena simply said. Duo and Hilde said nothing as she picked up her bags and placed her math book in.
''Relena, right?'' a voice above them asked. Looking up, Relena saw the blond boy in her first class, and the one who apologized for Dorothy when they were on the bikes.
''Yes. You are…?'' Relena asked.
''Quatre Winner, pleased to meet you,'' he smiled, a brilliant one that made Hilde sway on the wall. She flicked some ashes off her cigarette and took a long drag before blowing it out, and peering at Quatre under her dark blue locks.
''Nice to meet you,'' Relena smiled pleasantly, and took Quatre's hand he held out.
''Anyway, Relena,'' Quatre began. ''You know the party is at your place but, um… I was wondering, would you be my date?''
Duo choked on the gummi bear he was eating, and Hilde choked on her cigarette smoke. Both broke out in coughs. Somewhere, in between, Relena heard, ''don't…in league…Dorothy.'' She wasn't sure if she imagined it or not, but she took the message for granted.
''Quatre, I would like to go with you, but please give me some time to think about it,'' Relena stated, thinking that was a good choice of words.
''Fair enough,'' Quatre nodded, somewhat somberly. ''Goodbye then.''
The three watched him walk away, and after a few yards, he disappeared around the school corner.
''You were going?'' Duo finally regained his voice.
''Yes; see you,'' Relena smiled, and took off in the same direction Quatre went, but she turned before he did and went back into the school.
Relena got lost twice already, and Heero was not helping at all. One part that Relena wanted to find the library was to find out more about Heero and his past, hoping it would help him in some way. The other was part annoyance, as Heero didn't have a memory and got lost after two turns.
''Relena, is it? No, you're going the wrong way, again!'' Heero snapped, pointing down another corridor.
''Shut up, Heero! I know where I'm going and the library is this way,'' she snapped back at him, and he muttered something incoherent.
Rolling her eyes, she turned to him, glanced both ways up and down the deserted hall, and sighed, ''Listen, Heero, I know you're trying to help, but I should do this on my own. Okay? Just, just let me do this and you can go back home and do what you want. I'll be fine, okay? Good, go.''
Heero stared at her for a moment, but sighed and muttered, ''it's your death-wish with my Uncles.'' Before fading away and disappeared altogether.
Sighing with relief, Relena turned two more halls before she found the library, in the complete opposite direction Heero was dragging her to.
She went right in, and marched up to the librarian's desk.
''May I help you?'' he asked in a sharp tone. Relena winced. She once had a rude teacher like this a long time ago in New York, and he hated her.
''Yes,'' Relena began, keeping her voice down, ''I was wondering if you have any information on past residents of Friendly.''
''How old?'' he asked again, in the same sharp tone, but his brown eyes were less icy.
''Um, I really don't know… I'm uh,'' Relena racked her brain, and came up with the excuse, ''I'm doing a project on old folklore of Friendly, Maine, and I'm interested in the family of the Yuy Estate.''
''Yuy Estate?'' now the librarian looked interested himself. ''Sure, well, gosh, no one in this school has ever asked about Yuy Estate's past residents! The whole volume?''
''Yes please,'' Relena smiled. Off to a good start, she thought smugly, and then followed the librarian to the back of the library.
''This is what I call the Catacombs of Friendly's Library,'' he called over his shoulder off-handedly.
''How so?'' Relena asked, interested. This was fun, she concluded, and there was no way she was going to miss an opportunity of asking questions.
''Why? Because no one, and I mean no one, comes back here unless they're me, the janitors, or a history teacher. And they don't even like it back here.'' He answered. They turned another corner and Relena stopped short. There was piles and piles of old newspapers littering the ground.
''Wow,'' she breathed. The room was a simple gray, concrete box, with a high arch doorway to come in and out of, but the desk in the center of the room, with a typewriter, and a photo-copier in the far corner was not what caught her attention. It was the amount of paper that was yellow, gray, and a fresh print color, that was on the ground, the desk, the drawers of the desk, the file cabinets around the room, the swivel chair, the shelves above the door.
''Quite a site, isn't it?'' he simpered. ''Anyway, you see that one pile there? In the far back corner with the paper weight on it? That's the Yuy corner. Birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, land claims, report cards, newspaper clippings. Anything to everything on paper is there. Any questions, call for Otto, and I'll be here.'' He was then gone in a blur of dust he blew off of a photo-copier.
''Great. I'll be here for a while,'' she murmured, and settled down on the ground, Indian style beside the Yuy pile. ''A long while.''
Finally, by a near five, Relena had been through half the pile, and photo-copied a good twenty pages she would need for her task.
If I could have one wish, she thought sadly as she leafed through the article about Heero's mother's death, it would be for Heero to have his memory back, and if they wouldn't work, it would be for him to join his parents.
''Still working?'' Otto's voice asked from above her.
''Yes and no. I know what time period I want now, and I got most articles I need. I think I can go from this room, but I was wondering if you have any books on ghosts.'' Relena asked finally, standing from the dusty ground.
''On ghosts? Hmm… I think I have three that would suit you best. What time period did you say?'' Otto asked, stroking his stubby beard thoughtfully.
''The 1800's. From the time Odin Yuy was born to the his death, just after his son's,'' Relena stated a-matter-of-factly.
''Yes…'' Otto said softly and sadly. ''Odin Yuy was a very fair man, liked by all. His son, from what my Grandparents said when they lived here, was that he was well liked, but very distant. His mother's death was a great loss for him. Her disease was quite quick and shocking.''
''Poor guy… I know how that feels,'' Relena nodded glumly. Loosing her step-sister, whom she thought of a mother-figure since her parents died in a car crash when she was a baby, was like Heero's coldness times three on her.
Otto nodded. ''He was quite sad, poor lad. Anyway, after he was around fourteen, maybe fifthteen? He caught pneumonia. Couldn't be cured. Died a few days later. His father was now distraught and hung himself in the study.''
''What about the Uncles?'' Relena suddenly asked. ''Treize, Trowa, and WuFei?''
Otto frowned before his face split into a huge smile. ''Those three were bullies, but also pranksters. They were Heero's mother's only family since her parents drowned in a boating accident off the coast of Newfoundland. They stayed at the Yuy Estate until her death when Heero was young. Odin didn't like them much because they played jokes all the time on the house-workers and were out buying drinks all the time.''
''Well, I can say that they weren't the nicest bunch you could've met,'' Relena blurted out before she knew what she was saying, ''but once you know them, they do get nice.''
Otto frowned a for a second, but ignored her remark. ''They moved out once Heero died — Odin partly blamed them, you see, they were taking care of him when he got sick, but the most blame was on himself that he wasn't there for his son.''
''How sad!'' Relena exclaimed.
Otto nodded. ''Yes…well, it's nearly six. You should be going, Relena. These are the books I got for you on ghosts.''
''Thanks,'' Relena replied and took the three, heavy-bound books. She then left the library and went into the cool, fading light of October.
Only when she past a bench far away from the school did she check the books Otto gave her. She nearly laughed aloud when she saw one title, Millardo Darlian's Guide to Dealing With Ghosts. How ironic, Relena thought, I always knew Millardo's books and job was nutty, but now I'm reading it to help Heero!
A bubble of laughter escaped, but she fought down the rest when she began walking again. At least she had a way to help Heero now, and with a plan.
A/N: Hi everyone, pardon the lateness (three tests coming up, must study to not fail science). Anyway. I wrote that Relena's last name in part 5 was Peacecraft, but then realized a little too late that it was Darlian in all the others. So, excuse me on that. Also, I know this is a short segment, but I'm working on a lot of un-posted stories and I'm also beta-reading my friend's story, A Twist To Every Story. I'm also helping her on it, so since that is a long-three part series (I hope -- I can't stand to edit anymore) I'm devoting my time to that.
For anyone interested, her FF name is CajinKari.
Oh, and thank you to everyone who told me in the reviews that it's not asparagus, but abestos. Let's just say that someone had asparagus for lunch at one point and placed in it a pop can, then placed a burner under it, waiting for it to explode. It then splattered on the walls. And became crusty because it was behind the stage wall, where no one went unless there was a play. And everyone got sick because of ... um... some gas... yeah... and they had to close off the gym. That's it. Yeah. Okay. So, um, please review?
OH! And I found a muse! I think... he's so small I can loose him easily too. And I dunno where he is right now, but as soon as I find him, I'll tell you guys, k?? Heheeh...
PLEASE REVIEW!