Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the many artists of Gundam Wing have not reached a consensus to give it to me as a Christmas gift so ... I still don't own Gundam Wing. However, if you will remember, dearest Naoko did give me rights to Sailor Moon! Yay! ^^
Editors: *blinks innocently* I don't know why you guys call me impatient! ^^''' Anyways, thank you's to Lady Artemis, AutumnHime, and Usagi Asia Maxwell. DevilsDarling and SerenityMoon almost seem to be wiped off planet earth ... come back and tell me what space is like! ^^'''
Warnings:
Nothing really happens in this chapter … you can skip over this and have the story still make perfect sense… I think by now most of us have realized that this is leaning … at 79 degree angle, towards Usagi/Hiiro. I know, I hate myself too … :::sigh:::. One of these days, I'm am going to write something that isn't Usagi/Hiiro! But for now … :::sigh:::......…..…...…....
A week passed at a painfully crawling pace for Usagi. For Hiiro, the only problem was that the week contained too much of Duo.
Artemis constantly found himself watching over Usagi with Luna, and the periods of times spent together oftentimes ended in cat-fights, with Usagi giggling at two livid faces that reddened at any comments on how they would make a nice couple. All in all, it was a week where many things were accomplished, from Usagi's pinched nerve and snapped ACL operations to Hiiro's revenge upon six eavesdroppers.
What was the revenge? Giving each person the scare of his or her lives at unearthly hours in the night. In short, Hiiro was happy, all others wanted revenge for revenge, and the results were not at all pretty.
Quatre invited a doctor over and fairly ordered him to perform a successful operation or get a good lawyer to back him up in court. It was times like those that Usagi didn't know whether to like the attention or to wish that her creativity would go commit suicide. After all, once that little sucker was gone, the attention, along with the people attached to them, will vanish with it. Two birds with one stone. Talk about convenience.
The battle ended in stalemate, or so Hiiro deemed it. And despite her many protests and, in her not so humble opinion, reasonable and logical arguments, he held his ground. Talk about obstinate. However, one thing in the end was achieved and recognized - Usagi now knew that she hated arguing with Hiiro. Because he always won.
…………………
Quatre was very disappointed. Disappointed beyond reason, you might even say. Nothing was turning out as he had planned, meaning Hiiro and Usagi were not living in a happily ever world complete with frolicking, pink bunnies and pastel bubbles.
And thus, Duo found himself a job: teasing Hiiro about Usagi to no end. Why Quatre wanted that was beyond him, but anything involving him putting his neck on the line was appealing. Besides, it would take care of his exercise for the week and put him yet another year ahead of the required amount for his age group.
There was an inner turmoil in Hiiro. To kill Duo or just maim him beyond recognition? The competition was tough. On one hand, killing Duo would get rid of that sickeningly happy face from his life forever, definitely a plus in his eyes. On the other, maiming him would put the idiot through all the suffering he had caused him, a far more fair and long-lasting punishment. Of course, he might still have to stand those knock-knock jokes.
His mind was currently joyfully debating this. Duo was on his case again about actually somewhat apologizing to somebody, a girl, no less. The braided moron was having the time of his life, cracking jokes and then laughing until he cried and had to fairly fall to the ground, clutching his stomach. The sight was revolting.
The situation worsened when Artemis, the silver-haired man he was strongly distrustful of, and Quatre entered the scene. What happened next rivaled WWIII in the chaotic category and a documentary on the life-stories of salmon in hilarity. To him, at least.
"Hiiro and Usagi, sitting in a tree…"
Back to that stupid rhyme again. Sad that he had always figured Duo to be creative. What was worse was not that Quatre was hiding an oversized grin behind his hand but rather that he had acquired another tormenter - Artemis. He had a sneaky feeling that this guy would not support his cause or make a good acquaintance. Anyone short of being mute would not fit that category.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Artemis had joined in on the rhyme, and Hiiro had a strange urge to rip his head from his shoulders. The duo had added a tune to the already freakishly annoying rhyme and the result wasn't very easy on the ears. Or the ego.
"Why don't you go bother Usagi?" he muttered darkly, not truly intending for the singing pair and snickering blonde to hear him.
"Because Quatre is paying me to bother you!" Duo replied cheerily, acting as if it were the greatest honor on earth and in the colonies and grinning while Artemis laughed.
He turned his attention to the angelic blonde and almost started snickering himself. Quatre's eyes were closed in an attempt to suppress anger, and his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides.
"You weren't supposed to tell him that, you moron!"
Hearing this sentence was very unsettling. Not only did kind, thoughtful Quatre call somebody a moron, but his voice had torn the façade of serenity off of itself and became grating with fury.
He winced at the sound and edged his way away from the group, feeling with his hands on the wall for a door, any door. Ah yes! A doorknob! Slipping in, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to press his ear to the wood, listening intently for any sounds of pursuit. Quatre was shouting again. And Duo? Well, Duo wasn't laughing anymore.
He chuckled softly to himself and turned. Pink greeted all his senses, and a wide-eyed girl stared up at him, folded clothes just removed from a suitcase limp in her hands.
"Hiiro? What are you doing here?" She eyed him weirdly, straightening slightly.
He felt like shooting himself.
………………….
The soft lead slid expertly over the textured paper. She sighed in contentment. Sure, it was nearing two in the morning, and she hadn't had coffee in four hours. Drawing and making him come to life was all that mattered to her.
Velvety brown for his hair, pale copper to dull the highlights. Wheat for Relena's hair, cerulean to add a sparkle to her eyes. Ebony for the space around them, palest blue for the stars, a hint of gray for metallic arms and legs, soft, gentle black for the atmosphere around him, olive green mixed with forest and jade, shadowed with cool gray for clothes, bleak black mixed with harsh gray to complete the outfit, pale tan with tints of peach to add reality to his complexion, and lemon yellow with hints of blue providing distant lights.
He was beautiful, as always. She flicked her wrist and added a flair to his hair. Harsh gray lines were drawn to create the sense of friction and heat. She traced over his tightly closed eyes and added tension to his hands, tightly grasping the throttle. The pale lands and dark seas of earth loomed up in a swirl of white, blue, and gray as she tried to create the sense of velvety blackness that Usagi was so good at.
There! She sighed happily, emerald eyes scanning her handiwork. It wasn't bad. Perhaps not as entrancing as Setsuna's work or as emotional as Reeni's, and definitely not as delicate and self-confident as Usagi's, but it was something. After all, Reeni has been with Usagi for almost as long as the blonde had been publishing. Naturally, she would be excellent. And Setsuna? The government official who liked to participate in her cousin's mangas undoubtedly had some of the same artistic genes Usagi did.
She sharpened her pencil happily and prepared for the next panel.
…………………
Life was horrible. Life was terrible. Life was always insane with over one hundred reporters taking up permanent residence on your lawn. Minako breathed a sigh into the air-conditioned room and glanced outside. Poor Usa … if she gets back, she'll never be able to hear the end of it. She shook her head with defiance. Not if, when. Usa is going to come back, she swore to herself.
"I hate the press!" The blonde looked up, startled. She had been thinking the same thing, but the words had not passed her lips.
"Hotaru," she finally acknowledged.
"Do you think we can get rid of them? Auntie says that we're running out of some types of food, and the reporters have found our supposedly secret back entrance."
Minako sighed loudly. "Don't you wish Setsuna were here?"
"I suppose…"
"I'm sure there is something in the law that forbids strangers to trample your lawn and backyard. Not to mention reporters have absolutely no thought for nature! Look at that trash! Setsuna could probably find something to get rid of them," the blonde muttered wistfully.
"At least they haven't gotten permits yet." The dark-haired girl's violet highlights flashed in her eyes and then danced away. "So they're not in the house!"
Minako arched an eyebrow. Hotaru's optimism was really annoying sometimes. Because, well, there are times when a person just wants to be depressed. And Hotaru obviously did not understand that.
"Fine, I'll try to get rid of them myself." She propped herself up and off the recliner, half-joking in her remark. Hotaru smiled and nodded encouragingly. So much for sarcasm.
The worst part came first -- opening the door. As the heavy mahogany inner door was opened, lightening sparks of cameras flashed through the air and the intricately decorated glass, outer door. A dull murmur greeted her ears that sharpened and became reality when she pushed past the glass.
"Tsukino-san! Have you any news on Miss Usagi?" She saw colors when she closed her eyes.
"Tsukino-san! Where is Miss Usagi?" More cameras flashed as the reporters sprang up from their lawn chairs and dropped their bottled water.
"Tsukino-san, over here! Is this disappearance of Miss Usagi simply a hoax?" A mass of dizzying colors moved towards her.
"Tsukino-san-"
"Be quiet!" she shouted frustratedly. Her original intent had been to yell shut up, but that would undoubtedly spread and cause more rumors, and heaven knows how many more this family can stand.
"Get off the lawn! And if you have anything that allows you to do otherwise, let me see it!" she challenged, sky blue eyes flashing like the edges of broken glass in sunlight.
She was surprised. Very. They actually listened to her! Of course, they were grumbling and muttering lord knows what words and phrases at her, but this didn't subtract from the joy of seeing grass again. Trampled, yes, but still grass.
"What do you know," a soft voice snaked up from behind her, and she jerked her head backwards. A small smile decorated her younger by two years cousin's face, and if she didn't know otherwise, she'd say it was smug.
......…...…......
Life was good. Life was exhilarating. And all this simply because he had felt like sharing a fragment of his soul with her. Usagi settled down in her bed and looked up to greet the sight of her leg in a cast. She frowned. Only one more week, she promised herself. Being the author of the manga you're in is a wonderful bonus – she can speed up her healing process.
A soft giggle shattered the silence of the room, and the girl sighed, smiling. Maybe there was hope after all.
Oh yes, life was good.
.....…...….......
"Um," the girl started uncertainly, still staring at him, unwilling to let go of her folded clothes. She turned slightly and relaxed from her previous position.
"I live here. What are you doing here?" he demanded, trying to draw her attention from the fact that he had laughed.
"I'm here to investigate the ultraviolet flash that was seen around here, and Quatre was kind enough to let me stay here," she answered with a slightly amused look on her face. She coughed. He narrowed his eyes. That cough sounded suspiciously like a giggle.
A bolt of fear struck him. What if ... what if she had heard Duo's stupid jokes and laughter? He'd never hear the end of it if she did ... he prayed for the first time in his life.
He grunted at her response and walked stiffly to the other door in the room, wanting an alternate exit. Besides, Duo's face might make him truly snap, and he didn't want Quatre to pay for that many damages.
His eyes were greeted by ... his eyes. A mirror? He was in the bathroom. So that's where this door led, he thought dazedly.
Outside, he could hear somebody collapse in a fit of giggling. He groaned and walked back out.
Hiding his face, he exited into the hall, the echo of giggling in his ears. Oh God. He pleaded that she wouldn't relay the incident to Duo ... or, he shuddered, Artemis. Relena was supposed to be nice, right? Pacifist ways? If she truly were, she would not tell Duo. Because the violence that would result, namely him slaughtering Duo, would not at all be peaceful.
But first, he wanted to shoot himself.
…………………
I cheated with this chapter. I gave you a bunch of useless stuff and lengthened it to five pages with my author's notes. : D Don't you guys love me? ^^ Please don't answer that. I'm not sure my ego can take any more, may that be stroking or trampling. ^^ Anyhow, I'm still trying to take up space! Of course, note that I didn't promise anything similar to five pages. I just promised that a next chapter will come out sometime in the next half year. So this is all simply because of my altruistic personality! ^^
Review please! (This line is the first line on the fifth page. : D)