After fussing over Heero for a little more than a week, Duo had definitely become more attached to him. Both felt something above camraderie from this situation. Heero was healing well under Duo's care. Strangely enough, he thought that the briaded baka was more soft and gentle around him then anyone else. He really couldn't see what was really stirring in the heart of the boy because of his inexperience in the department of feelings.
The mission was almost complete. The virus only needed two more parts before it was complete. Needless to say, both boys would be glad to leave the school behind.
In the gossip world, everyone still felt that Heero and Hellen did not seem to fit well together. More people went after Heero but he always beat them up pretty bad without getting a single scrape on himself. Soon, rumors were flying around that Heero abused Hellen and that's why she was afraid to leave him. The two pilots ignored the rumors, but later on, the rumors would catch up to them.
But presently, all was calm. On a day like any other day, Duo waited patiently outside the boy's locker room for Heero. They had no more classes for the day and were going to work on the mission. The locker room opened and the American jumped at the sound, thinking it was Heero. Instead, he found himself looking into a familiar face, that of his fellow student, Ken Takenouchi. Ken was tall, about six feet, with messy dirty blond hair and possesed lean muscles on his arms.
"Gomen, Ken-kun. See, I thought you were Hee-chan so I was gonna pounce him and..." Duo was silenced by pressure on his lips. He pushed the taller boy off him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"That bastard Oda doesn't deserve a sweet girl like you."
"Oh and you do?!" Duo was furious. No one was allowed to touch him unless he let them.
"Look, you don't wanna scream, trust me." Ken held up a knife to his throat. He pinned Duo against the wall with one hand. The smaller frame of Shinigami could not stand up to him. "Now, if you're quiet and follow me, I won't do anything to that pretty complexion. And don't think that I won't either."
Duo couldn't push him off him and could only nod in fear. Oh God, Heero, hurry up and save me.
"Good, follow me. I know a quiet place where we can finish this." Ken pushed Duo in front of him, out the double-doors of the gym and out into a secluded part of the courtyard.
Back in the gym, five minutes later, Heero looked around for Duo. His bag was casually swung over his shoulder. Duo was never this late. Something must have happened. His eyes could only see red. He pushed through the crowd in the hallway, not bothering to apologize for what he was doing. No one ever gets in the way of an angry Gundam pilot.
Heero walked aimlessly on campus. He finally got back to the dorms and knocked on Duo's room door.
"Yes?" Umi answered the door. "Oi! Heero-kun! Have you seen Hellen-chan? We're very worried about her. She said she would come back to pick up her bookbag after P.E. but she never came back!"
The Wing pilot was definitely surprised. Where could Duo be if he wasn't in his room or anywhere else he looked on campus? "Can I come in?"
"Sure, sure. Come in." Heero surveyed the room and unconsciously walked over to the window. Duo, where are you? His eyes roamed over the scenery before him, the lush shrubery of the park. While skimming over the scene, his eye caught something odd. A girl, with a knife to her throat. No, not a girl, Duo. Duo with a knife to his throat. He clenched his fist tightly in anger. He growled lowly and rushed out of the room.
"Oi! Heero-kun! Where are you going?" She looked out the window and looked for the spot that the boy had looked at that made him so angry. "Oi! Oh my god! Hellen-chan!"Frantically, she raced after him to find the rest of the student body and inform them of the latest developments of the new students. Stuff always seemed to start happening since they came in that fateful morning a few weeks ago.
Duo couldn't do anything. He had a knife on his throat and a boy much larger than he was bruising his lips. Ken had slapped him on his left cheek in order to get him to stop squirming and made a few cuts on his neck and skin with the knife. I know you'll find me soon, you always do. Shinigami was starting to get a swollen lip and had many scratches and bruises from Ken's assault. He felt very weak as Ken kept applying the pressure of his body onto Duo's smaller frame. His hand started to wander up Duo's dress, onto his thighs.
Suddenly, the pressure on his body was gone. He looked up meekly at what had happened.
"How dare you touch what belongs to me!" Heero heaved another punch at Ken and broke his nose. He snarled angrily at the boy when he tried to lunge at him with the knife. He clamped his strong hands on the blade and took it into his hands,crushing it in one movement. Blood began to pour from his palms but he didn't care. This guy touched _his_ Duo! He was gonna pay dearly.
"I'm gonna break every finger you touched him with!" Heero grabbed the boy's hands and kept to his word. A crowd of students had started to gather around the two boys, a slight semi-circle of girls around Duo, checking on his condition. After a while, Heero stopped beating up Ken and walked over to Duo. He picked up the trembling boy and looked at him tenderly, with pure concern in his eyes.
Duo curled into Heero's chest, still beating frantically from the rush of adrenaline. He buried his head into the uniform and wrapped his arms around Heero's neck and sobbed quietly. He was a Gundam pilot dammit! And yet he couldn't even do anything to protect himself from getting raped. But the way Heero was reacting was certainly a surprise. Nah, he probably needs you in good condition to finish off the mission. His head said that but his heart told him that there was hope.
Heero stopped for a minute. He turned his head back at the students there. "If _any_ of you try to hurt Hellen-chan, I'll do worse than beat you up." He glared at them, a glare with more anger than that of his trademarked Glare of Death.
The students gathered around Ken. Sure they didn't like Heero but trying to rape Hellen was just wrong. They each gave a few extra kicks of their own. Some had seen the look on Heero's face when he picked up Hellen, a look very different than his previous mask, a look that made him almost human. They held a great respect for him after that, even though they still didn't like him that much.
After a quick stop at the nurse for some lotion that would help with Duo's bruised cheek and scratches, they returned to Duo's room. Heero sat down on the bed, still allowing Duo to cry into his shirt. They were in the same position they were in when the Japanese boy had saved him. The long haired boy was shaking uncontrollobaly, occasionally mumbling something into Heero's already drenched shirt.
Another few minutes led to Duo finally exhausting his strength to cry any further. He didn't realize that he was still shaking and that two strong arms were wrapped around him, caressing him gently.
"Shh...it's okay Duo, it's all over now. Nothing will ever hurt you as long as I live."
Duo began to cry again. "I'm so sorry Heero! We're Gundam pilots and I let you down! I...I...I..." He sniffled again. "I'm so sorry!" He broke down into another heave of sobs.
The door flew open, showing that Umi finally got back from the little gathering outside. "Oi! Hellen-chan! Are you alright?" She knelt on the floor and shook Duo's hand a little to get her attention.
"Hellen-chan is still in shock. She's either ignoring you or she just couldn't hear you."
"Oh! That's horrible! Here, I got you some soup for dinner, just in case you guys wanted to eat something." She handed Heero a take-out container containing some soup, noddles, and a little meat. "Heero-kun, it's probably best if you stay for the night and take care of Hellen-chan. I can tell our teachers tomorrow that you guys need to be excused for medical reasons."
"Hai." Umi left the room, leaving to find her own dinner. Carefully, Heero used his left arm to lift Duo and his right arm to hold the container and walked over to the table, placing the food down. He sat down on the chair and opened the container, putting some of its contents on a spoon. He then shook Duo a little to get his attention. "You have to eat, you know. Come on, open up."
Duo stirred from his previous state and fearfully opened his mouth, afraid of what was to come. When the hot soup hit his tongue, Duo winced and dug himself deeper into Heero's shirt. His fingers scratched Heero's neck a little as he tightened his grip. The Wing pilot realized his error and blew gently on the soup to try and cool it.
"Here Duo, eat it." He attempted again. Duo refused, he shook his head wildly and buried his head into the nape of Heero's neck. "Duo, it's not hot anymore. Remember I said I won't let anything hurt you? Well, see, it's cold enough now. I'm sorry that it was too hot before. My mistake, stupid Heero. Okay? So now eat it." Heero edged the spoon closer to Duo's mouth again. This time, Duo turned his head and drank it, little by little.
He gave a shy smile to indicate that it was good and Heero continued feeding him, alternating between giving himself and Duo a little bit of the noodles, soup, and meat.
Eventually, it was getting late. Heero told Duo to go to sleep but the boy had refused to let Heero go back to his own room. He was still a little scared. So Heero agreed. Neither could sleep at all and ended up talking instead. Not about school, the war, the past, or missions, but about more happy things. The Sandman took pity on them and soon granted them sleep.
Coming in at around one in the morning, Umi peeked into Duo's bedroom in the dorm and smiled. "Kawaii." was all she said to the peacefully sleeping Duo and Heero, quiet serenity surrounding the place. She stalked over to her room in the dorm and closed the door quietly behind her, giggling giddily about her friend's fortune.
End Part III