"MAC! Mac, wake up! Today's the day!" somebody pounded on the door and yelled.

Mac groaned and pulled herself out of bed. She dragged herself over to the door and opened it. "What?" she asked.

"Today is the day! Today we begin our training! Aren't you excited?" Mac looked at the overly cheerful face.

"Sam, it's only six thirty. I'm not excited until at least eight." Mac said.

"Well, not anymore! We have to be downstairs in ten minutes for breakfast." Sam said.

Mac groaned again and shut the door in Sam's face. She had to get dressed. She mumbled as she pulled on her jeans and sweatshirt. She quickly ran a brush through her short hair. She walked out the door to find Sam sitting across the hall on a bench. He smiled at her as she came out.

"Hi Mac. Are you more awake now?" he asked.

"I would have been more awake if I could have taken a shower." Mac grumbled.

"I thought you took one last night!" Sam exclaimed.

"I did, but I still would have woken up sooner." Mac said. Sam laughed. They made their way to the cafeteria and sat down to eat. Mac only grabbed a small something because she wasn't a breakfast eater, but Sam on the other hand, had gotten almost everything there. They ate quickly so they could go to the classes.

"Where do we go first?" Mac asked as they walked out of the cafeteria.

"We go to the gym." Sam said. "I'm glad we both got Heero."

"Yeah, well, I heard he's tough." Mac said.

"Well, then we got to be tough to." Sam said, opening the door. They walked in the gym. A bunch of boys were already fooling around.

"Hey! Look! It's the baby!" a boy yelled. All heads turned towards Sam and Mac. Mac glared at them all. One boy stepped up.

"Hey, baby, can you keep up with the big boys?" he asked mockingly.

"You wanna see me?" she asked, voice low and dangerous. The boy looked at all his friends for support.

"Ohhhhh, tough guy." he said. Mac was about to step forward to punch him, when she remembered Milliardo's warning and how Noin backed him up.

"You're not worth my time." Mac said. She was about to walk past him, when he attempted to punch her in the stomach. She grabbed his hand and twisted. He howled in pain and she just kept twisting for a few more seconds and then gave an extra hard twist and said, "Don't try it again, tough guy."

She shoved him away. He stumbled backwards, holding his wrist. Sam smiled and ran up to Mac.

"That was some show," he said.

"I wasn't looking for a show. I was just stopping him from punching me." Mac said. She and Sam sat down as Heero came walking through the door.

"All right, trainees. Sit down over here." Heero said, pointing to the floor in front of him. Everybody came and sat down in front of him. "I'm Heero Yuy, your trainer. I want you to know I'm tough. I push you. I won't stand for lack of effort. You are in my group because you were in the top of the test. Most likely, we will lose half of you by the second week from behavior to lack of effort. Not all of you will make it. If you don't or won't, we will boot you. Now, let's start with a few laps around the gym." Heero finished and the group got up and started jogging around the gym. Heero stood in the middle so he could make sure everyone was running.

"Wow, barely two minutes into class, and we're already running." Sam said.

"I'm not surprised." Mac said. Sam just shrugged and they continued running in silence.

"All right, everyone. Come sit down." Heero said. Everyone came and sat down again. "Now, I'm going to test your abilities. I don't know your work habits, so I need to learn them. I'll go in alphabetical order. Starting with Andrew." A boy with dark brown hair got up and followed Heero over to the equipment.

Sam and Mac started talking about nothing in particular to pass the time. Heero called out names to test. Sam went fourth. When he came back, he was sweating.

"What did you have to do?" Mac asked him.

"I had to do push ups, sit ups, lift weights, and more." Sam said. Mac nodded. She still was waking up.

"Mac." Heero called. Mac got up and walked over to him. "Do as many push ups as you can or until I stop you." As Mac started doing push ups, Heero looked at her. "I saw how you handled Joe earlier." Mac grunted in response. "Good choice." Heero said.

Heero stopped her after awhile and had her do other exercises. "Can you fence?" Heero asked. Mac nodded. "Good. I'll have you fence with me soon. Can you do any martial arts?" Mac's eyes lit up.

"Yes." she said. Heero put on big mitts that looked a little like huge baseball mitts.

"I want you to punch and kick these mitts. Don't try to hit me, try to hit the mitts." Heero said. Mac crouched and did some of her favorite moves. When she finished, Heero nodded. "Good." he said. "Good job, Mac." Heero leaned over to her. "Especially for a girl."

Mac's eyes went wide. Before she could ask how he knew or reply at all, he called for the next boy. She numbly walked back over to Sam and sat.

"What's the matter with you? You look like you saw a ghost. Heero didn't push you that hard, did he?" Sam asked. Mac shook her head.

"I have to go see someone," was all she said. Sam just looked at her as she got up. The bell rang.

"Class dismissed. Tomorrow I will test the rest of you and the ones I already did will be working on something." Heero said. Mac walked out of the room. She started walking towards the office.

"Hey! Mac, where're you going? The cafeteria is this way." Sam called.

"I need to go see my brother!" Mac yelled as she walked into the office. "General Sally?" Mac asked the lady at the desk.

"Yes." Sally looked up. "Mac is it?"

"Yeah, is my brother here?" she asked. Sally pointed towards the mini kitchen in the office. Mac flashed Sally a smile and walked in there.

"Duo!" Mac said. Duo turned around from his position crouching in the doorway of the fridge. He had some food in each hand and food all over his mouth. He swallowed what he had in his mouth.

"Hey lil sis!" he said. She glared at him.

"Duo Maxwell, I can't believe you can't keep that overly loud, large mouth shut!" Mac said to him.

"What do you mean?" Duo asked. She glared more.

"How the hell does Heero know that I'm a girl?" she hissed.

"He was in the corner while you were confessing. Don't blame me! He was the one who sneaked in." Duo said. Mac still was glaring at her piggish big brother.

"And you, the Shinigami, couldn't tell that he was there?" she demanded. Duo shrugged, stuffing a chicken leg in his mouth.

"He's the Perfect Soldier. I can't detect him." Duo said, through a mouth full of chicken. Mac sighed dramatically.

"I can't get through to an animal!" she cried as she turned around and walked out the door.

"How'd it go?" Sally asked Mac.

"I found out that I don't have a brother." Mac said. Sally raised an eyebrow. "I have a pig!" Mac exclaimed. Sally threw her head back and laughed.

Mac could hear Sally laughing all the way down the hall. She turned into the cafeteria and got her food. She found Sam and sat down with him.

"Where do we go next?" she asked.

"I go to the hangar to learn about mobile suits. I don't know where you go." Sam said. Mac fished around in her pocket. She picked out her schedule.

"I go." she made a face. "I go to Duo and Heero for extra training."

"Why don't you go to mobile suits?" Sam asked.

"Because I can already operate one." Mac said. Sam grumbled about not wanting to go. The bell rang again and the two picked up their things and went to each of their classes.

Mac went out into the field in back. She saw two figures talking. Well, one was talking and the other one was trying to ignore the other. Mac smiled. That was Duo and Heero. Duo turned around to see Mac. He waved fervently.

"HI MACKEY!" he yelled. Mac rolled her eyes. Duo trotted up to her. "Hi Mac!" he said again.

"Don't EVER call me Macky." Mac said. Duo laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders. They walked over to Heero together.

Mac glared at Heero. "Are you going to tell?" she asked, coldly.

"Maybe." he said, just as cold as Mac.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Maybe." he repeated. Mac glared more at him. He turned on Death Glare TM and she didn't even flinch.

"Whoa! Let's break up this little love fest!" Duo said, stepping between them. "Mac, Heero won't tell. He's one for secrets too. Heero, Mac will give you no reason to tell. Now, lets get going on the training."

Mac and Heero broke their gaze and followed Duo.

"Mac, I want you to fight me." Duo said. Mac looked at him like he had grown two heads. "No, I mean like, we'll fight with the rules. I want to see your abilities."

"Okay." Mac said. She and Duo went into a fighting crouch. She let Duo throw the first punch. She caught it and twisted him over her hip. He landed on his feet. She watched his torso. She remembered Milliardo telling her that she could always tell the next move by the movements in the chest.

Duo's left side moved just a little bit. Mac took this sign and when Duo threw the punch, she ducked and went on the floor and swept his feet out from under him. Duo stayed down.

"I can't believe I fell for that one." Duo said. "That's Heero's trademark move, and I fell for it." Duo got up. "You're pretty good." Duo said.

"Thank you." Mac said, her face spreading into an evil grin. "Now, just remember that next time you feel like you want to pick on your baby sister."



"So, how was your day?" Sam asked Mac later that day.

"It was good. I like my schedule. Breakfast, Heero's training, lunch, extra training, free time, dinner, free time, bed." Mac said.

"So, do you want to go to the pool afterwards?" Sam asked.

"Sam, I told you, I don't do swimming." Mac said.

"I know, but you should face your fears. I could teach you. I promise, I won't make fun of you." Sam said. Mac sighed.

"I'll come to the pool, but I won't get in." Mac said.

"Okay, just wear your bathing suit." Sam said.

"Oh, no. No bathing suit." Mac said.

"Come on! I won't make you get in, just so that you can get the feel of it." Sam said.

"No, I might dip my feet in, but I won't get in." Mac said.

"Well, I suppose that's as far as I'm going to get you for now." Sam said.

"Glad you noticed." Mac said. They got up and went to go get ready. Mac went into her room and got on the computer. She had a few emails.

Mac:

How's everything? Does your brother know yet? I really think you should tell him. He probably will make you tell everyone, but that's not bad. Didn't Sally say that next year they were going to let girls in? Well, why not a year early? You know your stuff. You don't need to be hiding behind a mask. Just don't tell them about the presents. I just don't want that out yet. Duo's going to be so happy about that.

Love you!

Noin

Mac replied and sent it. She read her other mail, just junk mail. Then she got a book and changed into shorts. She walked out the door. She knocked on Sam's door.

"It's open!" Sam yelled from inside. Mac opened the door and walked in. Sam was in his bathing suit and getting his towel. Mac blushed when she saw him. He wasn't wearing a shirt obviously.

'I hate it when I blush.' She thought.

"Ready?" he asked. Mac nodded. They walked out towards the pool.

"Hey Sam?" Mac asked.

"What?" he asked.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"I just turned 20." he answered. "Why?"

"Oh, just asking." Mac said. They went into the poolroom and saw it was just a little crowded. Mac found an empty chair and pulled it up to the pool edge. She dipped her feet in the cool water.

Sam jumped in right by her and splashed her.

"SAM!" she yelped. He laughed maniacally. She stuck her tongue out at him, and then opened her book.

As she started to read, she felt a big splash aimed at her. She looked up ready to yell at Sam, but it wasn't Sam. It was that Joe kid from that morning.

"Hey. Well, what do you know? It's the little baby boy!" Joe said.

"Oh, get a life." Mac said.

"Excuse me?" he asked. "Wanna come in here to my face and say that?"

"No, but if you're looking for a fight, you can come to me." Mac said, calmly. Joe started toward her, and Sam came up to him.

"Leave him alone." Sam said. Joe looked at Sam.

Just then, Wufei came in. "All right weaklings! No fighting on my shift!" he said. The boys backed away from each other, glaring.

Mac went back to her reading. Joe passed her later.

"I'll get you." he threatened. "I'll get you in the pool, where you obviously don't want to be."

Mac just glared at him. "Whatever." she said. She had just made her first enemy.