The High School Years 2/?
By: Hotaru
@~@~@~@~@~@ means with Quatre
+~+~+~+~+~+~+~ means with Wufei
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Quatre sat on his bed, thinking about the auburn haired boy. /Trowa…he wanted to get to know me but he left before we could talk. And how could he know so much about me? I suppose he could have got into the computer system some how and looked up my name…/ "Quatre! Are you finished with your homework yet?" Quatre's father said, interrupting his son's train of thought. "Huh? Oh, no I was just taking a break." Quatre replied, although his mind was else where.
"You're not going to get any where in life by taking a break. Come on now, back to work." His father ordered before closing Quatre's door. Sighing, Quatre opened his books and tried not to think of Trowa. However, his mind kept wandering to the mysterious boy.
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While in a coffee shop, Wufei met up with a boy he knew from school, Heero Yuy. "So why are you wandering around in this neighborhood Wufei?" Heero asked, holding his coffee cup to his lips. "I'm not to enthusiastic to get home to the wrath of my parents." Wufei replied, sipping at his tea. Heero raised an eye brow over Wufei's right shoulder. "Hey Wufei, Duo Maxwell is looking at you." He whispered. Wufei sunk into his chair. "What do you mean? He's here?" he asked weakly.
Heero nodded and said, "What's so wrong about him being here?" Wufei shook his head quickly and smiled slightly. "Nothing. He just..tackled me after school today and I looked like a total moron cause he broke my stupid glasses." He said quietly, reaching for his tea. "Oh, well, he's coming this way." Heero said, trying not to smile. It's not every day that the most popular guy in school talked to such 'un-popular' people as Heero and Wufei were.
"Hey! It's you again." Duo said, pulling up a chair. Wufei nodded slightly and took a very long sip of tea. "I hope you're not mad about your glasses. I'll pay to have them fixed if it's a problem." He said, resting his elbows on the table. Wufei took a breath and said, "It's not so much the glasses as it is my parents. They whine and bitch every time I need something repaired or sharpened." Duo's violet eyes widened slightly. "Sharpened?" he inquired. "Yeah, my katana's. They need to be sharpened regularly." Wufei said. Duo became very intrigued about his new young friend.
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Finally, Quatre closed his books for the night and fell onto his bed. "Oh gods I hate homework." He muttered into his pillow. Then, his phone rang. Quatre made a mad dash for the phone in his room, eager to answer it before his father. "Hello?" he said breathelssly, with a sigh of relief that his father didn't get to it first.
"Hello Quatre, remember me?" a semi-familiar voice said.
"A name would help." Quatre offered, as he sat on the floor and leaned his back on the wall. "It's Trowa." Was the reply he got. "Oh, hello Trowa. How can I help you?" Quatre asked, checking for foot shadows by the door. "Um, about today, I'm sorry. I was being too forward and I didn't mean to frighten you." Trowa said quietly. Quatre shook off his nervousness with a slight laugh. "It's okay," he began, "I just want to know how you know so much about me."
He could hear Trowa's faint laughter in the background. "I asked around. You're quite the popular one you know." He said as-a-matter-of-factly. Quatre's eyes widened. "Me? I don't think so…" he said doubtfully. "Well, everyone I asked knew something about you. I just find it interesting that a boy as quiet as you could be so popular." Trowa replied. Quatre eyed the door and saw what was probably his father's shadow. "Uh, thanks. And what about question three?" Quatre said loudly. "What? What are you talking about?" Trowa asked, very confused.
Once the shadow left, Quatre sighed and said, "Sorry about that—my dad is always breathing down my neck about homework and studying. Gods it's so annoying." Trowa laughed quietly. "I don't know how you feel. My parents died a long time ago in a plane crash. I was seven." He said so low Quatre had to press the phone against his ear to hear him. "Oh, I'm so sorry." He breathed. "Hn, don't worry about it. I live with my sister Catherine now. We take care of each other." Trowa replied.
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Wufei and Duo continued to talk, but Heero had to go home a short while later. "So, you're parents let you use swords?" Duo asked incredously. "Katana's," Wufei corrected, "It's all part of my martial arts training. My dad teaches me all the time. Unfortuanatly I don't get away unharmed." Duo smirked and said, "What has he done to you?" Wufei took a deep 'thinking' breath and said, "Well, when we don't use the katana's, he pulls muscles, twists ankles, dislocates shoulders…"
Duo's mouth dropped open as he winced in 'pain'. "And when we do use the katana's, he's pretty careful not to cut my throat or wrists but it's all part of the training. Once he cut the side of my neck and they raced me to the hospital to stick me up." Wufei said, smiling slightly. Duo tilted his head to examine Wufei's neck for a scar. In turn, the Chinese craned his neck, giving Duo and excellent view of the scarred flesh. "Ouch. That looks painful." He muttered, rubbing his own neck. Wufei shrugged and replied, "It didn't hurt actually. The katana was so sharp that I didn't even notice I was cut until my shirt went from white to red."
Duo laughed and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Hey, won't your parents be mad if your late?" he asked. Wufei banged his head on the table. "Ah crap. My punishment for lateness and bad grades is an hour long of training torture!" he moaned, gathering his things. Duo stood up and stretched his arms. "I'll tell 'em it was my fault for babbling to you for so long." He said winking. Wufei felt a blush creep onto his cheeks. /Oh gods…does Duo like me? I sure hope so!/ "They won't believe you. My mom'll say 'Oh it's your fault? Okay, goodbye.' And my dad'll say that you should train instead. I'll still have to do it any way."
Duo smirked and put his hands behind his head, Duo Maxwell style. (Hey wait…) "Eh, it's worth a shot. I'd like to take on your old man. See how long he can last against me!" duo said sarcastically. Wufei smiled and replied, "You could beat him in base ball, but not martial arts. It's his life. He's always in the dojo training. He even sleeps there!" Duo chuckled softly as they arrived at Wufei's house. "Well, it was nice gettin' to know ya better Wufei. See ya later." Duo said. "Yeah, same here." Wufei replied as he opened his front door slowly.
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"Chang Wufei! You are fighting with your fist and not with your soul!" Wufei's father Chen shouted as his fist connected with Wufei's chin. /Fuck…that's gonna hurt come morning./ "Get up! Now! Fight like a man!" Chen shouted, kicking at Wufei's head, which was blocked. Wufei kicked at Chen, who grabbed Wufei's foot. Wufei then backflipped, tossing Chen over his head and into a wall. "That's better my son. You may go." Chen said as he bowed to his son. Wufei took a hot shower, as hot as he could take without burning his flesh. He cried. Cried for the pain he felt and the training he had to go through all because of 'ritual family tradition'.
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Quatre and Trowa's phone conversation ended abruptley when Quatre's father Niice barged into his room. "D-Dad!!" Quatre exclaimed, trying to hide the phone. "Who are you talking with?" Niice demanded. "It's a friend from school—he needed help with homework." Quatre said quickly, and closely to the phone so Trowa would understand what was going on. Niice grabbed the phone and slammed it into the reciever. "Quatre, you know that you should be doing homework or studying. You've breaked long enough!" he said.
/I can't take much more of this./ "But father—" he protested. Niice shook his head and said, "No more phone calls, television or anything until you finish all your homework, do your studying and finish any projects." Once he was out of the room, Quatre fell onto his bed and cried. /He pushed me around like I'm some irresponsible kid! And why the fuck do I have to study all the time! It's not fair…my life sucks./
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Wufei's parents were waiting in the living room. "Chang Wufei! Do you know how late you are?" His mother screeched.. Wufei shook his head and said, "No but I—" His mother jumped up from the couch and interrupted him. "No buts youngman! You are grounded, and you're father is increasing the intensity of your training!" Wufei groaned inwardly and headed to get changed for his beating, ahem, training. Chen met him outside the dojo in their back yard. "Hello father." Wufei mumbled. "Hn. I should have gotten that hello hours ago—Chang, where were you?" Chen asked with his arms crossed across his chest.
"I was studying with a friend." Wufei replied, sensing his father would ask about his glasses. "And where are your glasses? Can't you not see?" Wufei groaned again and said, "I have a head ache. Can we get this over with?" Chen shook his head in disbelief.
Hotaru