BACK TO SCHOOL !
Author's Notes
Note that I don't own ANY of the characters throughout the fanfic. * sob *
Don't flame me for any pairings and there's no yaoi for you people out there ! 0_0'
***
The 5 boys gathered in their kitchen and sat down in their usual places around the table as Quatre handed out leaflets of their upcoming vacation. Duo couldn't help but notice the fact that they were no longer discussing grave matters like a life-and-death mission or details like how to infiltrate an enemy building or scale some impossibly narrow air duct to place a bug.
" … so I've gotten Rashid to pre-book The Imperial Resort for the time period from 12th ~ 29th June. I will be expecting a lot of other guests to arrive in their own time as well. We should be the first few to reach there. "
" Are we taking over the whole area ? "
" Yes Wufei, I've gotten Rashid to see to that. It would be much more safer to have other non-related guests out of the way. If there should be ANYONE at all who aren't in our group during this time, we can safely assume he or she is an intruder. "
[ So I guess our survival instincts had not left us at all ]
Duo smiled to himself as he remained uncannily quiet throughout the informal briefing. No one was exceptionally happy nor visibly excited but it would have been queer if any of them were, with the exception of him that is.
" So .. any questions ? "
At this point, 8 pairs of eyes automatically landed on the ex-Death of God who looked back in surprise.
" What ?! "
" Nothing, it's just that … you've been very quiet … "
" Are you sick ? "
" Did you not do well for the last paper ? "
Duo sweat-dropped as Quatre and Wufei started piling questions on him.
[ Is it really so weird that I remain silent for a while ? ]
" I studied for the papers … all of them ! AND I'm not sick, thank you very much. "
Duo muttered as he resumed his attention to the leaflet. Quatre smiled while Wufei smirked victoriously, glad that he had a chance to poke fun at the American boy who fancied tormenting him all the time. Heero quietly looked at the leaflet again and scoured through the details, automatically entering the details into his brain. Just as the other boys would do later, he would burn it so that there would be no chances for anyone to get hold of their vacation plans.
" All right then ! I'll be letting Dorothy know of our plans and all of you will let your own guests know accordingly as well. Let me know who you're bringing along by tomorrow and … err … no surprises please … "
This was directed at Duo again who looked up adamantly and passed a Is-This-Bash-Up-Duo-Day look at Quatre. As all of them slowly disbanded and walked back to their rooms, Heero stayed behind and switched on the stove. As he watched the paper burn slowly from the blue flames, he wondered whether Quatre informed Relena about their plans.
[ Uh .. why do I even bother about her .. ]
There was 1 more week before they were scheduled to leave for this mysterious place which Quatre would be providing private transport. The exams had just finished 1 day ago and there was nothing else he could busy himself with. As Heero switched on his laptop and waited for it to boot up, he laid back slowly onto his chair and let his mind wander aimlessly. He caught sight of himself in the full-length mirror on the wall and took the opportunity to scruntinise himself.
[ I've not really changed much at all, haven't I ? ]
He knew Professor J would be on his case again if he had asked the same question outloud. He had been really caring for a change and taught him a lot of other lessons which humans had always taken for granted. The regret in Professor J's eyes were really obvious whenever they came to sensitive subjects and Heero was really surprised when he first saw it. He had never expected that Professor J was feeling THAT guilty about him. Initially, he loathed being forced to absorb all these ' useless ' emotions and had ran away from the laboratory many times to escape from Professor J's new training. He was not strapped to any machines and tested anymore, but simply having these face-to-face talks with him. Books were pushed into his hands and he had to read them, almost to his initial disgust at first. His trusty revolver was kept away and deactivated because Professor J had claimed that his new training required no ammunition …
" … it only requires your heart, Heero. "
Of course, Heero almost laughed out bitterly at such a sentence .. AND coming out from the same man who built the destructive machines called Mobile Suit Gundams and was the direct cause of what Heero had turned out to be. However, whether it was by coincidence or another of Professor J's neat tricks, a diary had found itself into Heero's stack of books to be read one day. As he opened the dusty cover, he almost died when the picture pasted on the front page was the little girl walking her dog whom he had accidentally killed in one of his missions. Almost immediately, he found himself shaking uncontrollably, his eyes still focusing on the picture .. refusing to let go. With some difficulty, he turned the pages and read what the little girl had written throughout her short life. Towards the latest few entries prior to her sudden departure, he realised that she had written about HIM in it .. stating that she felt sorry for the " Onii-san " she met when she was walking " Inu-chan " and hoping that she had gladden his heart by handling him a flower. She wrote on how lost his eyes had looked back then and prayed that he would find salvation and answers to his questions one day. Heero felt his heart froze for a while, and then a great wave of guilt washed upon him and he dropped the diary to the floor before he himself crashed along with it. Lying there on his back motionlessly, he wondered why he was feeling this way. Surely he did not feel the same for the countless other soldiers he had killed all through his life ? So what was biting into him ? Why did she hurt him so ?
" Heero, do you feel sad ? "
Professor J's calm voice floated into the room as Heero hurtled up in no time.
" That's because like every human .. you have a heart too. "
" So ? "
" You can lie to the whole world, including me .. but you can never lie to yourself. Heero, it's time to move on. "
With such innuendo, Professor J left him again to his own world and Heero slowly sat down beside the opened diary.
[ Time to move on ? ]
As he read through the last page, she had written that she prayed that the war would soon be over and that everyone would be happy again, to pick up the pieces and move on. She wrote that she hoped the surviving soldiers involved would be brave enough to heal the emotional scars while in battle and to live on happily, knowing that war would not return again if everyone was contented with life. She wrote of how she believed firmly in Lady Relena's words and that she hoped to see a peaceful world as she had imagined as she listened to Lady Relena's soothing words via the radio broadcast.
[ Relena ]
Heero had not seen her for almost 2 years now and there were not much news about her now that peace had returned. Sometimes he would see her face on television when she appeared for the occasional international conferences and he did not like what he saw. Relena looked tired and dull, having lost her initial sparkle and the firey determination he had seen in her. A surprising change in his lifestyle came when he returned to his room one night after helping out the local Council with the blueprint of the new machinery to be built in the industrial area of the town.
" Heero, how was your day ? "
" Fine, the blueprint was accepted. "
" Heero, would you like to accept a new mission ? "
" … … "
Heero had honestly jumped when he heard the word again. For the past 2 years, Professor J had not spoken anything close to missions or war or ammunition to him and hearing it again was a sudden blow … a blow to hurtle him back to his past.
" Don't worry Heero, it's got nothing to do with what you're thinking about. I do not want to waste those ' training ' for the last 2 years … and you enjoyed it thoroughly … didn't you ? "
" So what are you getting at ? "
" Relena needs you, go to her. "
Heero peered at himself again, clothed in his school uniform. His laptop had finished booting up ages ago and he resumed his concentration on it. Typing quickly on the keypad, he was lost in his matters when there was a sharp knock on his door.
" Heero ? Are you free ? "
" Come in. "
Quatre stepped in slowly, apologising as he did so. Heero twirled his chair around so that he was facing his visitor. Standing up, he walked over to him and waited for Quatre to speak.
" Well, Heero … I was trying to come up with the … err … sleeping arrangements … "
Heero raised an eyebrow but had not guessed anything yet.
" The Imperial has a limited number of rooms so erm … Heero … we need to share some rooms with each other … "
Heero pondered about it and surveyed the building's layout which Quatre was showing to him now. It was widely spaced-out and there was almost a yawning distance between each and every room. He was sure the girls would HATE it if they implanted video cameras in their rooms but they were the more easier targets.
" Oh … by the way … Duo and Hilde are already taking this room here so that's settled. "
Heero nodded and continued mapping out a plan in his mind. Quatre was slightly blushing but he managed to utter something despite a shaky voice.
" Erm … well … Dorothy … err … we're sharing one … too … "
[ They're sharing a room ?! ]
" Where are you sleeping then ? "
" Here. "
Heero went to grab a marker pen and roughly circled the rooms which were taken. Feeling slightly exasperated, he decided to question Quatre instead.
" Do you know of any other prior sleeping arrangements ? It's easier for me to allocate the remainders. "
Quatre had managed to avoid maintaining eye contact as he bit his lip almost embarrassingly.
" Trowa said since Wufei was difficult to share a room with, he'll share it with Catherine instead because they're comfortable with each other. "
Heero tried to surpress a sigh as he circled the room which Quatre was now pointing at.
[ Why the hell did he ask me to plan something when everything was settled amongst themselves ? ]
" It leaves you, Relena, Sally and Wufei. Zechs and Noin are coming only on the 19th so we'll decide by then. However, they've also asked for one room. "
Heero gazed at Quatre with questioning eyes as he caught Zech's name. However, he decided to let the matter go and pondered on how to allocate the 4 of them. Suddenly, Quatre's handphone rang and he picked it up.
" Yes ? Oh hi Sally ! Yeah, we're actually trying to fix the rooms … WHAT ?! … oh … "
Heero watched as Quatre's face turned almost bright red to prevent himself from laughing.
" Really ? HE agreed ? Wow, you're amazing Sally … all right … I'll see you then … bye ! "
Quatre chuckled amusedly to himself as he kept the phone away. Heero continued looking at him and Quatre muttered an apology again.
" Oh .. I'm sorry Heero ! That was Sally as you know … erm … she called to let us know that she and Wufei are sharing. "
Heero looked more pointedly at Quatre, who had to shake his head in total disbelief either.
" She said she had something to trash out with him and somehow or other, Wufei was coerced to agree. DON'T ask me how she did that, but it's totally unbelievable. It seemed that they used to share rooms whenever they were on missions. "
" All right. "
Heero circled another room and his mind came to a blank.
[ SHIT ! That leaves me and Relena ?! Is this a joke ? ]
Hurriedly, he pointed out 2 rooms and declared that these were Relena and his own room. Quatre almost sniggered * yeah … sniggered … ^__^ * but he could see that Heero's cold front was faltering when he realised that the situation was … not good …
" Heero, could you kindly inform Relena about the upcoming trip's details and the sleeping arrangements then ? I need to go onto net-conferencing with Dorothy to finalise matters and the rest aren't so … friendly with her … so if you don't mind … "
[ Oh, so I'M friendly with her ?! ]
" Thanks Heero, I owe you one. "
With that, Quatre rolled up the big floor plan and smilingly walked out of his room. Although Heero was positively sure that there was a BIG BIG BIG conspiracy going on, he decided that at the most .. he had to inform the lady about it. Hoping that there weren't anymore nasty surprises in store, he dialled her number.
Author's Ramblings :
This is a pretty short chapter and it's an onslaught of what will happen during the vacation ! So is there a big conspiracy or just a coincidence ? What will happen between Relena and Heero ? Why are everyone sharing rooms all of a sudden ? What are your comments and what would you like to see during the vacation ? As requested, I've placed in Zechs inside the picture too ! Reviews are ALWAYS welcome !!
