Well, I am determined to pick up on my fics, seeing as how I must
re-attend to my schooling starting on Friday. Argh! Summer break
has been horribly short this year, and school is planned out for more
than the board's usual 180 days. ;_; I shan't make it through alive.
At this time, I should actuallybe finishing my reading projects, and
summaries for when they are due on Monday, though as always I
am procrastinating and finding other ways to spend my time. ^_^
Thank you to those who have reviewed so far, you're not going to
leave me now, are you? Enjoy the chapter, please r+r?

-Seph

Warnings: Shounon ai, Language, Mature Content, Character
Death, Angst, 1 + 2, 3 + 4, Violence, Lots of blue.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Gundam Wing or
any of it's characters. Did you really think I did?

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+ Blue + Chapter III + By Seph Lorraine +

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It was an overcast day, as was well observed to those few souls
that sat out on the lawn to eat their lunch. The skies were covered
to the rim with various thick clouds, their appearances becoming
darker by the moment. As of now their were patches of dull grey
staining full spots onto pristine white.

Duo frowned at the sky as he entered the yard. He might have to
join Quatre and the others in the cafeteria, if it continued to be this
dull outside. His violet eyes scanned over the school yard, landing
on his favourite tree, and he began to make a quick trail towards
it. He dismissed the few people in the yard other than himself, and
leaned back against the trunk, heavily. Reaching into his bag, he
pulled out his lunch bag, and began to eat.

No sunlight would find an escape through the thick blanket of
condensed moisture filling the sky above, today. Though, at least
it didn't look like rain. Duo hated rain.

The braided boy frowned, glancing around at the empty area around
him. Sitting in peace, so much peace it could be classified as boring,
he pulled out his first period folder, and a simple HB #2 pencil. He
took out one of the many pieces of blank white paper he had filled
into the pack pocket, and looked around for something to sketch, or
and inspiration for writing, in his time.

All though he was the "class clown", Duo liked to write, and draw.
He liked to write poetry the most, because he found it easy, and
time occupying. In days alone he could fill up small composition
books, usually writing about whatever popped into his mind, but
he never showed them to anybody. People had seen his art, sure,
but never his writing. He only wrote when he was alone, and this
seemed like the perfect chance. 'Now if I could just get my muse
to work...'

The chatter and noise of the cafeteria on the otherside of the lawn
could be heard quite clearly, even out on the school yard. The
American silently cursed the lunchroom staff for insisting on keeping
the doors towards the yards open due to "noise affect". Damn
the stupid "noise affect"! If they didn't want it so loud in the lunch
room at once, why didn't they bother assigning lunch periods...

The noise had gone almost immdiately silent. Duo turned to see who
had stopped the loud disruption. The few others on the lawn also
were looking towards the cafeteria.

All was quiet for a few moments more, until HE stepped out through
the door. The noise started back up almost immdiately as Heero Yuy
escaped the silent boundries of the cafeteria. Frowning, Duo could
see the boy was clearly angry as he walked into the school yard.
And he was heading towards his tree!

The braided boy quickly looked back down to his blank sheet of
paper, drawing lines at random, hoping he could form some coherent
shape. He slowly let his eyes peer out through his bangs towards the
creature that was walking... right past him?

Duo looked up, watching the new guy walk on past him, without a
glance, and up to another tree across the lawn. He then reached for
one of the lower branches and with one arm, and the grace of the
wind itself, pulled himself onto the branch, and then up another, to
perch silently, with his back against the trunk and his legs crossed
at the ankles on the branch on which he sat. He was still, and did
not move again.

There was something odd about that, Duo was thinking as he watched
the boy sit up in the tree, silently. Maybe it was the ease in which he
completed the motion, maybe it was the unusual way he seemed to
remain focused on the tree as some sort of objective, through his
stormy eyes. 'Weird kid...'

Once again, the American turned back to his paper and frowned,
he had drawn a nice scribble in the middle of the page, as he was
watching the boy. He balled up the paper, glancing at the tree in
which the new guy was sitting. Thinking for a moment he figured,
his muse wasn't giving him any inspiration today(1), and he didn't
see anything worth drawing, he might as well start on the plan that
Quatre had had during first period. 'Might as well go say hello.'

Oddly, he wasn't feeling very hungry(2), and he glanced at the sky
once more, while he began packing up his things. Picking up his bag
and tossing it over his shoulder, he began walking toward the tree
in which the new boy was perched, trying to smile. Oddly though,
the smile didn't seem to be coming to him as easily as usual, and
he took another look at the clouds, deepening in their shades of
grey.

He stopped, reaching a foot or two from the trunk, and looked up
at the boy in black, his black jacket now hiding the white shirt
beneath. He took a deep breath, "Hello, up there!"

There was a hesitation from the boy in the tree, but the boy looked
down, slightly narrowing his eyes at the person who dared intrude
on his moment of peace. He blinked. It was the boy at the other
end of the class room. 'Aa... He's the one with the swearing disorder.'
He narrowed his eyes further, trying to remember the name, 'What
was his name?'

He stared at the boy a moment more, '...Why didn't I sense his
approach?' He unconsciously narrowed his eyes more.

Duo frowned seeing the boy glaring at him from the tree above,
maybe he should have waited until this guy was in a better mood.
'Whatever. Somebody's gotta cheer him up.' He forced a smile,
shuddering from the icy glare he was receiving, and shrugged
nonchallantly.

The boy in the tree noticed his visitor's shudder, and frowned,
losing the glare, "Hello," the boy paused, "Why are you here?"

The American found himself smiling, as he looked up at the man
in the tree above. he was opening his mouth to speak when all of
a sudden... his mind froze. What the hell was he supposed to say
now? 'Um... Well, I noticed we both like trees! So I thought I'd say
high... Ya know? High tree, and 'Hi'! Eh heh heh...' He glanced
about, suddenly nervous. Then froze again.

Since when does Duo Maxwell get 'nervous'?

"Ano... So, you're the new guy?" As soon as the words left his lips,
he immediately wanted to take them back. 'What kind of stupid
question is that, Maxwell?'

The boy in the branches, lifted an eyebrow, crossing his arms on
his chest, "No. I'm the old one."

Again, there was a need for a large cardboard sweatdrop, this time
to be pasted to the side of Duo's face, he knew that would backfire.
He rolled his eyes, "Right. Well," He glanced around for conversation
material, and then remembered, "I know your name already, Heero
Yuy, ne?" He waited as the boy in the tree slowly nodded his head,
"Well, I'm Duo Maxwell... I would shake your hand now, or something,
but..." He jerked his thumb indicating the tree.

The boy in the tree simply stared at him, his cold blue eyes burning
into Duo's skin. 'Aa! Maxwell! I see, your name is Duo...' He thought
silently.

Suddenly, Duo frowned, looking to the ground. Why did he feel so
out of place to talk to this boy? Like he was pushing a conversation
that all the realms of Heavan forbid take place. He smirked at that
thought, and looked up again, "Where are you from again, Heero-
kun?" Noticing that this guys was Japanese, he decided he would
use the little bit of nihongo he knew. He had never been a scholar
when it came to those particular classes.

The stranger wrinkled his nose slightly, dismissing the fact that this
'boy' had simply skipped the formality of 'Yuy-san'. Since first seeing
Duo, his indicators had told him the boy was American, and couldn't
be expected to be as formal as to which he was usually accustomed.
Though, the question was one he had already answered, it wouldn't
hurt to repeat himself. "I've already mentioned Colony L1."

"Oh yeah... Sorr-Gomen! I guess I forgot." He bit his lower lip,
thoughtfully, "Say, why are you up in that tree?"

At this Heero frowned, "I needed some fresh air."

Duo thought back to the lunch room going silent, and thought for a
moment, "Is something wrong?"

Heero paused.

Classifying the American, Maxwell, as one of those "prying" types,
as he assumed the same about his friends in the cafeteria as well,
he quickly thought of a way to dismiss the boy, and decided upon
the quick and easy approach, "That is not your business to be
concerned with." Remembering the joke he had encountered
earlier, he could not help the fact that his voice at this moment
was nearly as cold as his own eyes.

Not looking down to see the rather shocked, or hurt, look on Duo's
face he quickly decided he wanted nothing to do with the Maxwell
boy or his 'friends', and climbed down from the tree. Without looking
back, he walked once more past the braided boy and back into the
school building.

They did not speak for the rest of the day.



As the bell rang from their final class session, Heero was one of the
first out of the door. Once outside, the many girls and guys alike
that wanted to speak to him had lost their chance.

He had dissappeared.



Because of Duo's detention, which he had had everyday of the new
school year so far, he had handed Wufei the key and headed off to
the Library.

When they had reached Duo's dorm, the group, Trowa, Quatre,
Hilde, and Wufei, unlocked the door and all wentl in. It was standard
procedure. Every day, after school, the four guys would wait
for the dark-haired girl at the gates, and they would head off to the
dorms together. These past three days had been without the braided
baka though.

All of them were resident students for one reason or another.

Wufei's father had passed away the year Wufei began his schooling,
and his mother was unable to honour her family by supporting him
and his five other siblings. Their clan, over in China seemed to be
loosing touch, and she had sent Wufei to live in Japan with her
second cousin, the owner of a car-dealership in Kyoto. From there
he had been sent to this school as a boarding student, so that his
relatives wouldn't need to watch over him.

It was a touchy subject for Wufei, his family and his reason for being
there, and he preferred not to speak of it. No one brought it up,
either.

Trowa's adoptive father owned a traveling circus, and he and his
sister Catherine had both been sent to the school as boarding students,
so that they would not have to switch from school to school, weekly.
Catherine, though, had graduated years before and was now traveling
with their 'dad'.

Quatre's father was a very powerful business man on Colony L4,
and had sent his only son and 29 sisters to Earth when he began having
security leaks. Many people were against Mr. Winner, and had made
many threats as to his and his family's own safety. He had been
sent here as a boarding student, and could hardly remember his life
in the colonies all those years ago.

As for Duo and Hilde, both had been friends long ago in a Church
orphanage, on Colony L4(3). The Winner family had attended the
Church(4), and during those times the younger children who could
not comprehend the service, would play out in the courtyards, which
was where Duo and Hilde both met Quatre. They became very good
friends instantly. When Father Maxwell died, and the Church was
torn down, it was at those times that Quatre's family began having
their security problems. Mr. Winner had been gracious enough to
pay the way to Earth for both Hilde and Duo, and so they attended
the same school as boarding students(5), as well.

Hilde was two years younger than all of them, and had no memories
of the Church orphanage, and on those few times that she had asked
Duo, she could never remember getting an answer. They eventually
learned, it was useless to ask him anything on a subject he did not
wish to talk about. So they stopped asking.

As Duo was the only one out of them all without a room mate, it was
naturally in his dorm that they would go to study, and hang out.

"...And then Hikaru-chan told on me for hitting the guy! What a
bitch!" Hilde was informing the other three on her day, the only
one actually listening being Quatre.

"Hilde, try not to use such language, please." The Arabian frowned
at the dark haired girl. Hilde was like Duo's sister to all of them, so
naturally, where Duo went she went, and that was almost everywhere.
The two of them were very close, and to Quatre, both Duo and Hilde
were like cousins, so the same went with him.

"Oh come off it, Q-man," They even shared nicknames, "I've seen
you swear before. Hell! Who was it that had to first explain to me
the meaning of the word 'fuck', huh?" She prodded him in the ribs
playfully.

"That was last year, Hilde." The blond was blushing slightly, "I know
that is wrong now. Ever since I have discovered Allah--"

"Gods, Winner." Wufei was speaking this time, "Are you a religious
fanatic, or something?" He narrowed his eyes at Quatre. "When
did you start doing this anyway? I remember, last year it was all
that crap about 'Mother Mary', the year before that it was something
about 'Buddha', and then you've gone through several different
variations of 'Jesus' stuff."

"Yeah..." Hilde joined in, "Weren't you a Baptist in the nineth grade?
And I think you were Episcopalian in the eighth, In seventh you were..."

"Satanist." Trowa murmered just loud enough for the group to hear.

"Oh yeah!" Hilde exclaimed, "I remember that! 'Gothic Quatre'!"(6)

"Alright! Alright!" Quatre frowned, "So I have some difficulties with
religion--"

"Not difficulties, Winner. Indecision. Like some weak onna--" A
hard pinch from Hilde, "Kisama! Stop it, woman!" Wufei snarled
at the girl, before turning back to Quatre, "Why do you do that?
You go so quickly from one religion to the next, how do you know
if any of it's real? What are you planning next year? Wicca?"

Sighing, the blond entered, the dorm room, taking a seat, followed
by the others, "No. I really think I'm going to stick with this... Being
a Muslim is giving me more enlightenment than I remember with
any of those other religions--" He was cut off by loud laughter from
everyone but Trowa, and even the silent boy was trying to hide a
smile.

"That's what you've said the last few times!" The dark-haired girl
exclaimed and began to unpack her binders and books.

"Oh! Forget it, just don't worry about it anyway." Quatre sighed,
trying to muffle his frustration, and finally felt it go as Trowa laid
a hand on his shoulder.

"You will find what is right for you, and when you do, you'll know
it is. If you think you are to be Muslim, than we shall be happy
you have found your calling." The silent boy's voice was quiet,
and comforted the Arabian quite a lot.

"Ahem!" Wufei cleared his throat, and the scene was over, as they
all began pulling out their books and papers, and waiting for Duo
to come in from detention.

Wufei was good at accepting the fact that two of his best friends
were gay, but he really didn't like to witness the "moments". This
thought brought up Duo, 'At least one of them's still got his head
on straight.'(7)



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1) Muse not giving you any luck today? Join the club.
Miri got very angry at me for putting that part in. ^_^

2) Duo? Not hungry? LOL! You've got to be joking, right?
This is actually a clue into the way Duo "functions", yea,
there's something unusual about or braided baka in this
fic, too.

3) Yea... Maxwell church moved to a different colony.
For necessary reasons.

4) I know, I know, I switched Quatre's family religion.
Again with the necessary reasons!

5) Can you see why all the necessary reasoning now?
They had to het there some way, and I was really out
of ideas, so... Yay!

6) Gothic Quatre. Can you even begin to imagine? I
wonder what this would look like if someone drew it...
^_~ Heh heh!

7) No pun intended. This is not a homophobic thing,
neither I nor Wufei are homophobic, it's just a bit of
insight to further our story... And some character
building on Wufei's half. *Glomps Wufei*