Chapter 12

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chapter by rinoastar

fic by Shanchan and rinoastar

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"Oh, my!" Elizabeth gasped as she turned around to

inspect the damage. "At least I've never hit anything!" she

covered her mouth with one hand.

"Hn!" Serena huffed, shouldering her bag and whipping

her long hair behind her. "Then why didn't YOU drive?"

"I'm not good at it, " the other girl replied, laughing.

"I can't drive in traffic. I get nervous. And I've never driven

for more than twenty minutes in succession."

"Don't feel bad. We didn't want Hiiro driving, either.

He's driven high speed chases and all, but he can't stay between

the lines. Or the sides of the road, " Duo quipped, earning a

glare from the Perfect Soldier.

"Well, what do we do now?" Quatre spoke up, turning to

the others. "It's sunny out today, so there's almost no chance

of 'procuring' another without being seen, and with this being

a traveled road, it's only moments before someone sees us and

turns us in."

"He's right. We have to go, " Hiiro stated calmly,

picking up his pack and beginning to walk away.

"Whoah! What do you think you're doing? Do you know

we're about four hours' DRIVE away from our destination? We

can't possibly walk!" Duo burst out, practically shaking.

"It must be done. We can at least walk to the subway

station, " he replied, glancing over his shoulder.

The others glanced at one another for a few minutes before

grabbing their packs and starting off. "Anou . . . " Shimei

called, and even Hiiro stopped. "How am I going to go?" she asked.

"I can't walk!"

"She's YOUR cousin, Wu-man, " Duo chimed in, grabbing

her bags. "You and Hiiro can carry her. She seems light enough."

"What?!" Shimei squealed in protest as the Japanese boy

and Chinese boy came to stand in front of her. "No way! I

wouldn't be able to marry!"

"Who would marry you?" Wufei teased lightly. "You're

completely untraditional, like . . . " he trailed off, hefting

her over his shoulder.

"LET ME DOWN!" she kicked at him. Hiiro grabbed her and

pulled her down, and she kicked at Wufei when her feet touched

the ground.

"Stop it. He WILL carry you, but not in the disgraceful

manner he just was. Deal with it or walk yourself, " Hiiro said,

placing her easily in Wufei's arms.

"Ech. You're heavy, " Wufei told her, and she bared her

teeth.

"I bite, " she warned, and he chuckled.

"You guys just met and you're already acting like brother

and sister!" Elizabeth cheerfully giggled, balancing her bag in one

hand and suitcase in the other.

"Not necessarily. My sister and I never act like that, "

Trowa quietly offered, glancing back at the Chinese youths.

"You have a sister?" Elizabeth asked, turning to him.

"Sort of. Her name's Catherine, and she acts like a sister, "

he replied, then pointed to Hiiro, who was already ten meters in front

of the group. "We'd better go on."

"Aa, " Hinoko agreed, silently sliding her pocketknife into

a pouch on the front of her bag. She set out after the Perfect Soldier

in an equally brutal pace.

---

[Three Hours Later]

"I'm tired, " Duo and Serena moaned at the same time. They

turned to each other and laughed, then turned to look at the grumpy

group leaders.

"Grin and bare it, " Hinoko said.

"Deal with it, " Hiiro told them.

"Hn, " Wufei and Shimei both snorted, and Elizabeth laughed.

"Oh, my! All of you sound exactly alike!" she chuckled, and

Dominique blinked a minute before laughing, too.

"She's right! You all sound just the same!" the French teen

giggled, covering her mouth.

"You couldn't be more similar if you were each other, " Trowa

smirked slightly, the latino's eyes alight in mirth.

Quatre laughed, too, holding his stomach. "Goodness! Two

Pefrect Soldiers, two Shinigami, two Solitary Dragons?" he snickered

at the thought.

"And two European mercenaries, plus two artists from L4! What

are the odds?" Dominique added, smiling.

"I, for one, think the doctors planned it this way. There's

really no other possible answer, if you think about it, " Shimei told

the others. "It's too much of a coincidence that we should all match

perfectly to one another. It makes the two teams work interchangeably,

so that if something happened to one of us, he or she could be replaced

by the other, with no lost chemistry, or even lost skill. The only

loss would be the loss of time in tracking down the other pilots."

"You may be right, but I'd like to think the doctors chose you

even partially based on your credentials. I certainly wouldn't want to

have to spend the battles rescuing a bunch of amateurs, " Wufei cut in.

"And onna-tachi at that."

"Hn. You'd think you already had a glimpse of our credentials,

Wuffie, considering that we can outplay, outsmart, and outlast you at

everything!" Serena pointed out.

"What is this, Survivor? Who gives a damn if you can outplay,

outlast, and outsmart? We need to know if you can pilot a mecha, "

Duo interjected. "You're nothing if you can't. Well, nothing but dead

meat."

"And what makes you think we can't?" Dominique demanded. Her

grey eyes narrowed and she frowned at him. "What makes you think that

your team is so much better than ours? Just because you've had more

training than us? Because you're men? We're just as good as you are

on the battlefield, if not better!"

"Better? Ha!" Wufei interrupted, his ego slightly bruised at

the mention of his defeat. "Onna-tachi are not made for war. They

are made to sit at home and cook and clean and darn our socks when we

get in from winning the war!"

"You wanna start something, Chang?" Serena snapped, rearing

back. "I'm sick of your mysoginistic attitude. Are you gay or

something? You seem to hate women almost as much as any k. d. lang

or Indigo Girls or other Lilith Fest artist would hate men!"

Wufei's eyes nearly popped out. "You'll never marry! No

self-respecting traditional man would marry a demon like you! You

would probably make him into the wife and wear the tuxedo yourself!"

he angrily shouted at her.

This time, Serena didn't have a chance. Hinoko strode quickly

over to the fuming Chinese man and slapped him firmly across the face.

"Shape up, Chang; it's a long walk home, and I intend to get back with

at least nine out of ten teenagers. If you want to be the one left

behind, I'm going to let her go ahead and beat you senseless, then

drag you back to headquarters."

Wufei's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything. He calmly

readjusted the weight of his luggage and began walking quicker.

Elizabeth began to walk a little quicker and soon caught up with the

other girl.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh? I mean, I doubt he

really meant it, and she was going to handle it herself without hurting

his pride, " the sentimental pilot said softly.

"Hn. He's going to have to accept the fact that there's a

whole other gender to this species sometime. Better now than when he's

causing problems in the group, " Hinoko replied.

"She's right. This whole arguement needs to end. Now, " Hiiro

ordered.

"Bossy son of a-" Dominique began, but burst into laughter

before she could finish. "Well, he is!" she told the others, who

were staring at her. Duo snickered and pointed up the path to a small

roadside hotel.

" 'S getting late. We might want to shack up for a while, or

at least until dawn, " he suggested. Hiiro made a face, but turned

to the already setting sun.

"Yes. It will begin to get cold soon, and the women may be

uncomfortable. Also, there may be more training waiting for us

when we get to the lab, so it will be best to get some rest. I'll

get us another vehicle first thing tomorrow morning. Serena will NOT

drive, " he informed them all.

"Fine, " Serena huffed. "It's not like I wanted to, anyway!"