Disclaimer: There's a lot to be said about Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon, and "I own them" is not one of them.
As always, thanks to my editors, Autumn Hime, Lady Artemis, Usagi Asia Maxwell, and DevilsDarling for … being on the receiving end of these … words. Lol. Doesn't that just make you pity them so much? ^_~
Warning: Pointless and nonsensical humor ahead. No major developments.
…………………
"Okay, Hiiro. Who said 'When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better'?" Duo sighed tiredly as he gulped at the water bottle by his side. His voice came out hoarse.
Hiiro suddenly looked up. "Relena."
Duo managed enough voice to utter a wide-eyed, "WHAT?!"
Quatre choked on cookie he had been munching on, and Wufei looked as if he had just swallowed something that didn't taste quite right.
"Umm…"
"No, he means she's here," Trowa finally explained. All eyes turned to the blonde figure at the door and Usagi sighed with relief.
…………………
The game dragged onwards. Loser had to lose by three questions, and neither of the two combatants seemed ready to give up any time soon. Duo's voice had long since gone hoarse and, reluctantly, Wufei had taken over. The braided boy dozed near the sofa, drawing many annoyed glares from all but the two players.
Relena had appeared about twenty minutes ago, slightly miffed to find that she had missed over half of the game. Quatre promised to redraw her a legible map after the wager.
Wufei was beginning to look distinctly exasperated at the rapid-fire answers he received, sometimes even before finishing a question. Finally, it was Hiiro's turn again and the scores stood at 19:20, Usagi's favor.
"What commission does an Avon Lady average?" He blinked and read over the question again, scowling. What the heck was an Avon Lady?!
Quatre blinked. For once, no quick answer followed the question. If he didn't know better, he'd say that was confusion written on one Perfect Soldier's face…
"What's an Avon Lady?" Usagi finally piped up, nose wrinkling slightly. Nobody answered the question.
"Hn."
"Is that an 'I don't know', Yui?"
Hiiro scowled. "Hn."
"Usagi?"
She shrugged, dumbfounded.
"Okay. Forty percent. Your turn, woman." Please get this right, please get this right, he begged to whatever deity happened to be listening at that time.
"Whose number one books include Daddy, Fine Things, Jewels, and Wanderlust?"
Usagi's cerulean eyes blinked confusedly at him, and his heart sank. So much for a quick and decisive ending…
"I don't read books like that…"
"Hiiro?"
He shot the Chinese man a dark look. "What, you think I do?"
"Danielle Steel."
Wufei sighed to himself. The only good thing that came out of this whole charade was that Maxwell would not be able to talk for at least two days…
…………………
"When is the funeral?" Minako asked softly to Hotaru, who had just gotten off of the phone with their aunt. Makoto, sitting by her, gazed towards the violet-haired teen as well.
Hotaru shot her a confused look. "Auntie told us that it was postponed again … something about Luna warning her to wait another while…"
"That's definitely odd."
"You're telling me," Makoto piped up.
Hotaru frowned. "I don't understand why they're allowing this to be dragged out for so long. It's bad enough that the media is carrying this on and on but … must they keep reminding us that she's … she's gone?"
"The media won't drop it until we do," Minako sighed sensibly.
"I know this must sound horribly selfish … but I really want her to look at my recent sketches … she's the only person whose advice I can really trust…"
Minako smiled wistfully. "She was so talented, wasn't she…?"
…………………
The role of the interrogator had switched to Quatre after Wufei slammed the sheets of paper down and refused to open his mouth again. The blonde boy sighed and glanced up at the clock. The hands displayed 12:37. He silently wondered when the nightmare was going to end. From the looks of the two glaring people in front of him, he easily surmised – not soon.
"Hiiro, this artist has won numerous awards, including Best New Artist of the year 1997 and the humor and angst divisions of the Randall Awards. This person's current project depicts a world that had fallen into a war of machines."
Silence again filled the room as Hiiro frowned. Usagi blinked bemusedly to herself as Wufei slammed a hand over a just woken up Duo's mouth.
"Ummmphee ummpheeumph!" came out urgently as Duo's eyes widened at the utterly clueless look on his best friend's face. He sighed and shot a look at Wufei, indicating that the Chinese could let go of his mouth. Rolling his eyes, he glared ahead when Wufei didn't take notice of twin violet eyes burning holes through his constantly scowling face.
"Your answer, Hiiro?" Quatre prompted after a lengthy silence.
"Hn."
Quatre sighed at the ambiguous response. "Usagi? You?"
The blonde fought down a laugh and innocently replied, "Can you repeat the question, Quatre?"
"This artist has won numerous awards, including Best New Artist of the year 1997 and the humor and angst divisions of the Randall Awards. This person's current project depicts a world that had fallen into a war of machines."
She shot Hiiro a triumphant smile and uttered two simple words. "Usagi Tsukino."
Several people's jaws dropped as Wufei's hand finally fell from Duo's face. The braided pilot grinned smugly, turning his nose upwards.
"I told you guys! But would you listen? Nooooooo-"
Relena shot him a silent glance. "Duo, you told us, and I quote, 'Ummmphee ummpheeumph'" she deadpanned.
The gloating boy scowled, snapping a flippant, "That's what it sounds like in Yiddish."
………………..
"Any luck?"
Luna sighed, barely glancing up at the man in front of her. "I convinced them to wait a bit longer before the funeral … but I'm not sure how much longer they can stand all this media coverage. It's starting to grate on even MY nerves and I'M not the one with reporters camped out on MY front lawn!!"
Artemis blinked. "So what now?"
She blinked tiredly up at him and smiled faintly. "I was just going to ask you that…"
…………………
"Good! You're now two points ahead, Usagi. Answer this next question correctly, and the game is over!" Quatre cried happily. "Thank God," he added as an afterthought.
"Okay … here goes: this person suffered amnesia at age six and had never regained the memories lost. Said person had, afterwards, helped achieve peace and stability in the political structure of today and-"
Usagi interrupted before Quatre even finished reciting the question. "Hiiro Yui."
The blonde pilot blinked at her before looking back down at the sheet of paper in his hands. "Correct," he uttered softly.
Wufei stood up to stretch. "What was at stake?" Relena asked curiously.
"Ah … ummm…" Usagi stuttered. She shot the other girl an embarrassed smile.
Hiiro stood up, ignoring the curious and expectant looks he received and stared at the girl opposite of him. "It's late. We'll discuss it tomorrow."
Usagi gulped. "Okay," she squeaked and watched him walk out of the room.
Duo, having just recently woken up after another short catnap, looked back and forth between Usagi and Hiiro, questions forming in his mind. "A-" His voice came out as a croak, and he sighed mentally. I miss my voice…stupid Hiiro. He could have at least ended this sooner…
"Usagi?" Quatre prompted."
"Umm … tomorrow, okay?" she stuttered out rapidly and dashed out of the room before another word could be uttered.
Relena looked after her, blinking at the open door. And this was the girl who had her future in her hands? Lord have mercy…
Meanwhile, Duo coaxed his voice to utter a short, "Wu-man" and watched in delight as the furious Asian pilot's face went from pink to red to purple as he silently shook his fist at the grinning Duo.
Quatre sighed and shook his head as the two took off down the hall, this time the chase not sprinkled with Duo's peals of hyena-like laughter and Wufei's foreign expletives. He glanced sideways to Trowa, nodding a goodnight to Relena as she exited.
"And in the end, my friend, you're the only one who came out unscathed," he smiled, massaging his throat.
Trowa shrugged as Quatre shot him a defeated look.
"We should've made you go first. You don't even use your voice!"
"Isn't it funny how you just realized that?" Trowa's calm voice laughed airily as he too strolled out of the den, leaving a flabbergasted Quatre in his wake.
…………………
Ahh … four pages of pointless and lame humor … and our little bunny winning the wager. So there, Hiiro! So … what next? Why are you asking me? O_o I probably know the least about "what's next" out of all of us … :sigh: :looks up: Pretty sparklies … Hey, back off. I like my delusional world. Yours, Angel. ^___~
Lunarian Amethyst: Rei's the reporter, yes, but … this world isn't very realistic – Usagi got into her manga for goodness sakes! Rei doesn't know mainly because what happened defies human expectations – people can't believe that Usagi is now in her manga, conversing with imaginary characters.
Kiwi-chan: You ~do~ write well though! I'm serious! Though you should write more … ~hint, hint~ Thanks for the lovely compliments! ^^
Callisto: Well … not ~necessarily~, y'know? Lol. ^^
Jally: The smoochies? Lol … I'm not sure they exist! Sigh ^^
Solus Nox: Up until then, yes. Lol. ^___~
Silly Smiles: Or so people tell me … hmm … here's the next chapter! Sorry to make you wait!
Crazygurl70: blinks It is? I'm not sure I agree but … I'm flattered. ^^
Kiwi: Sorry to make you wait so long!
Sailor Watoki Tsuna (I'm SAN2): Erm … I think this chapter's a LOT shorter. Lol. Sorry. ^^
Cheska: Does it really warrant an "OMG!!"? Lol. Thanks so much!
Sunshine Fia: Really? Wow … I obviously have no taste whatsoever. I thought it was dull. Lol.
Lilaclight: To kiss or not to kiss indeed! Well … Hiiro got there through being dense but … I suppose maybe he "accidentally" missed a few questions due to psychological reasons? I'm not sure I want to go into that. Relena? She's heart-broken. Lol. And it's kind of weird when one first finds out that one is created by some other person. Really weird.
Sailor Grape: Lol. Yeah, Usa is smart enough. And I decided I didn't need to go to the trouble. ^^ The confessions of love? They came out of nowhere? I agree. And I personally hated it … but it needed to be done and I wasn't in the mood to ease it upon the readers … lol. ^^ Actually, I think it's more accurately that Hiiro can't DRAW a map. ^_____~
Kawaii Chibi Megami: Thanks! Glad that you like it. Here's the update!
^_~: I updated, I updated! ^^