Sally smoothed back a stray strand of her glossy blonde hair as she followed a guard down a long white hallway. By now she was used to the strange noises she could hear coming from some of the surrounding rooms. She had nothing to worry about from their occupants; the doors were heavy, and the locks on them were strong.
Besides… The guard with her, though not exactly what you would call intimidating in her appearance, still seemed more than adequate to handle any possible escapes. Provided that Sally herself couldn't do just that without any help.
"So, Miss… Ah…" Sally began, taking a few quick steps so that she was walking side by side with the guard.
The other woman smiled and pushed her purple-black bangs away from her face. "You can call me Noin, Miss Po."
Sally returned the smile. "Just Sally, please. So, Noin. The cases I've been assigned to… The young men, I assume you know the ones in question?"
"I believe I do."
"Well. I don't have any background information on them. I was told by my superiors that this would be my "ultimate challenge" and that I would have to get information on my own once I arrived here, and not before. What do you know of them?"
Noin looked at her briefly, a curious look on her face. "What do you know of them?"
Sally smiled wryly and shook her head. "Next to nothing, I'm afraid. All I know is that they're five teenage boys. I haven't even been told their names or exact ages."
Noin looked surprised. "Really? Well, I know quite a bit about them, to tell you the truth, but since much of it is based on my own conversations with them, as well as on my own speculations… well. I'll just tell you the basics. They're all seventeen, and all of them suffer from some very… unique problems, which I'll tell you more about after you've met them."
Sally nodded. "That sounds reasonable. Now I don't have to worry about forming any opinions of them beforehand. Will you at least tell me their names, please, and perhaps where they're from?"
"Of course. First there's Heero Yuy from Japan. Next is Duo Maxwell from here in America. Then there's Trowa Barton; we're not quite sure where he's from. Some say Spain, some say France, but personally, I've given up trying to figure that one out for now. Quatre Raberba Winner is from Arabia. You might have heard of his family before, as they're quite affluent. And WuFei Chang is from China."
Before Noin could say anything else, or Sally could ask another question, the dark haired woman stopped in front of a door. "You're meeting Heero first. He's the worst of them all as far as attitude goes, so your superiors are probably using him to test you. Make sure that you're really up for this. I'll give you one warning: he makes a lot of threats, but as long as you don't do anything menacing in return, he probably won't bother you." She smiled, then proceeded to unlock the door.
"Thank you for the information," Sally said, watching as Noin went about opening the door to the room. She noted that there were considerably more locks on this particular room than on the others they'd passed earlier.
"Of course!" came the cheerful reply. The door swung open, and Noin ushered her in. "Just knock on the door if you want out. Or scream, if you can't make it that far."
Sally couldn't tell if her guide was teasing or being serious, so she simply nodded and headed into the room. The door shut behind her with a loud thud that was muffled partly by the thickly padded walls.
Sally glanced quickly around the room, her gaze focusing immediately on the sole figure inside. A dark haired boy in a green tanktop and black bicycle shorts was sitting in one corner, his back against the wall, staring at the door. His icy blue eyes met hers, but she refused to flinch. She was used to getting death glares, though she had to admit that his was unusually formidable.
"Heero Yuy?" she asked, taking a few steps towards the center of the room.
"Hn."
"I'm Sally Po. I've been sent here to talk with you."