Okay, back from Rowing Camp…
Really tired…
…BUT!
Guess where we stayed for the duration of the week? Go on, guess.
…Did any of you guess the boarding house?
Well if you did, you were right.
We weren't in the boarding house I modeled the story's one after (my school has 2, you see) but it was a boarding house nonetheless. I had some serious writer's block before going off to camp but now I've got some ideas. (yay!)
Disclaimer: Do I really have to tell you I don't own GW or SM?
Key:
Bold = emphasis
Italics = thoughts
Awaiting Good Fortune
*******Chapter Nine: I saw what you did
"WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUP!!!" A shrill, jovial, but mostly load voice rang through the upstairs corridor.
"WAKE UUUP HOOOOOOOOOUSE!!" Came another yell right after the first, but it was a more masculine version of the shrill voice.
The two screams were then followed by a, "MAXWELL!! ONNA!! YOUR YELLING IS AN INSULT TO THOSE WHO WISH TO SLEEP!!"
Wufei's outburst was followed by Duo and Minako screaming, terrified (but still laughing) as Wufei chased them up and down the hall.
Usagi groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her brand new alarm clock (Which consisted of Minako, Duo and Wufei screaming and yelling just outside her door) wasn't as friendly as her old one (which played a pleasant little tune that sounded like wedding bells) but it certainly did its job well.
She yawned as she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stretched her arms, letting out a content sigh as she let her arms fall to her lap when she had fully stretched her (almost non-existent) muscles.
"IDIOTS! BE QUIET!!" A commanding, feminine voice yelled from the other side of her door.
Ah, so Rei's awake.
Her door flew open and a slightly tousled Rei appeared, an angry expression pasting her face.
"Usagi! Get up! You need to help me stop them before they break something again!" Rei ordered as she fled from her doorway and thundered down the stairs, screaming insults and warnings as she followed them.
Usagi sighed again. Her new alarm clock, whilst being effective to an extreme, had two functions: wake you up, and get you up.
It was quite depressing, really. Usually she would wake up to the soft, soothing sounds of her furry, pink, cubic alarm clock (that didn't even tell the time, just went off at 8 o'clock) and be able to have another peaceful minutes of restful slumber. Now, however, she had to wake up every morning at 6:58 (due to Minako and Duo's odd humor) and get up at 6:59.
She stood up and almost subconsciously padded out into the corridor, down the stairway and into the Lounge Room. She sighed angrily at what she saw.
Minako was sprinting around the room like a lunatic, leaping over chairs, dodging them and knocking them over, all the while laughing like a madwoman.
Duo followed Minako, doing much the same, but yelling taunts and names at Wufei between his cackles and screams.
Wufei chased Duo over and around the couches angrily, yelling 'INJUSTICE!' and tipping over purposefully upturned chairs.
Rei was at the end of the trail, red faced with frustration. She had a little more grace than Wufei, and jumped over most of the overturned couches with mild ease, all the while screaming at the three of them and throwing cushions.
Usagi yawned sleepily and watched the parade circle around the room a few more times until they came closer to her. Rubbing one of her eyes with a fist, she stuck out her left foot. Minako, unaware of the sudden obstacle, tripped over the petite foot and just about flew into a pile of cushions.
Duo, having seen Minako's graceless fall, tried to stop his wild pace before he approached the foot, and managed to succeed avoiding flying into a wall. He did, however, get knocked off balance by the small foot and plummeted to the ground.
Due to more acute reflexes, Wufei was able to stop before he reached 'the foot' that brought about the downfall of his two insane housemates. He narrowed his eyes and sneered down at the crumpled form of Duo Maxwell, as if to say 'how dare you let yourself be outsmarted by a woman.'
Rei (who was still running) turned a couch-made corner and rushed at the still-standing form of Wufei in front of her. She curled her shoulder around in front of her and charged full force at him.
A short 'oof!' erupted from his lips as he, too, plummeted to the ground (unfortunately squishing Duo in the process).)
Rei drew herself up to her full height in an overly proud fashion and allowed a small, sadistic smirk to appear on her face as she looked down at the three of them.
Usagi tiredly took her hand away from her eye and swiped her foot under Rei's legs, causing the raven-haired girl to topple over onto the small pile of bodies lying on the Lounge Room floor. She then looked over at Minako (who was scrambling out the pile of miss-matched cushions and trying to spit carpet fibres out of her mouth) and smiled a tried, evil smile.
"Guys, can you get me up in half an hour?" She asked absentmindedly as she exited the room and climbed the stairs, ignoring the large amount of indignant shouts being thrown her way.
She could just set her alarm, but she wanted to annoy them.
"BREAKFAAAAAST!" Minako yelled from downstairs, signaling to everyone in the house that it was, indeed, time for breakfast. Ami winced as she walked down the stairs.
"Mina…! Don't yell so loud. I'm standing right here!"
"Eh… sorry Ami! I'm just making sure the message gets across!" Minako beamed happily.
"Well, if that message was to deafen all the children in the Southern Hemisphere, then yes, you got your message across," Rei commented from the top of the stairs. Minako stuck her tongue out at her.
"Wooooo!! Breakfast!! I'm hungry!" Duo yelled as he pushed past Rei and slid down the banister. As he landed rather lopsidedly, he pasted a goofy grin on his face and stumbled into the Dining Room. He sat down at his seat excitedly, eagerly awaiting the promised food.
The rest of the House soon made their way slowly and quietly down after the initial shouting. They were soon all seated and eating their breakfast, most of those present enjoying the rare, rare silence that only seamed to appear at mealtimes.
Minako was unfortunately one of those who did not, and decided to break the silence with a question that made Makoto's cheeks red.
"So Makoto, Trowa…? What're you guys gonna do on your date on the weekend?"
Minako looked intently at the both of them, her head swiveling as she looked from one side of the table to the other. She noticed that Makoto was blushing heavily (She briefly wondered why she was; Duo and herself already knew about it), and that something suddenly seemed different about Trowa.
Hmm… maybe I'm just imagining it, but… something about him is different. Yes, I'm sure of it… but what though? Minako stopped staring at the two of them and moved her gaze to the middle of the table, deep in thought. (She had found out that if she looked at something that didn't move it was easier to think hard about something.) I think it was his eyes. They seemed different… Hm. I'll ask Usagi about it later. She's the one who does the eye thing, anyway. Minako nodded quickly then focused her attention on eating the food in front of her, having completely forgotten about the question she had asked the two tall brunettes.
Which was a good thing, in the end; because one of them didn't know what to say and the other wouldn't have said anything anyway.
"Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God!!" Duo screeched as he ran down the halls, flailing his arms around wildly.
"What?! What?! What?!" Minako asked loudly, trying to stop the boy's rampage whilst giving reassuring looks to all the other students walking through the hall. After many failures at calming him, Minako simply tackled the braided madman and pinned him to the ground.
"Oh God oh God oh God oh God…!!!" Minako clapped a hand over Duo's mouth before he could continue his pointless yelling.
"Minako, do you know why he's acting this way?" Ami queried, looking at Duo (who was still flailing on the floor.)
"Yeah! Why's he gone crazy?" Usagi asked as she squatted on her heels next to the boy, fighting a losing battle against the urge to poke him.
"I dunno… Duo? Duo! Snap out of it!" Minako yelled, whacking him repeatedly across the face.
"Oh God oh God oh God could you stop that?!" Duo squawked, sitting up and rubbing his red cheeks. "I was trying to tell all of you that something horrible has happened!!"
Duo exclamation was rewarded with flat looks.
"And…?" Minako prompted, signaling for Duo to continue.
"Oh… yeah! I remember now!" Duo said happily, standing up and smiling. His face suddenly fell as the memory returned. "M--Mrs. Shinohara's sick today so everyone who had her class this p--period now has--has--has-- " Duo stuttered.
"Has what?! Out with it, Duo!" Minako yelled, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him.
"Gah! Gym! Whoever had Shinohara this period now has gym!" Duo gasped out, trying to free himself of Minako's hands.
He got a few curious looks, a few shocked ones from students in the hallway who also were in Shinohara's class, and tears from a red headed boy who had just got out of therapy for emotional damages caused by Ms. Tomizawa.
"Gym…?" Minako began softly. "Wooo! I wasn't supposed to have gym for another two days! Gym! Gym! Gym! Come on, Shinohara's class! We have Gyyyyym!" Minako yelled whilst running up and down the hall. "Oh! I have to get ready!" She ran to her locker and rummaged through it. "Ahah! Sports Uniform!" She yelled as she held the outfit aloft and ran to the changing rooms excitedly.
"Ignorance is bliss…" Duo commented ruefully, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh well, I guess I liked gym too before I met Tomizawa. You two had better get ready, she's super hard on the people who get to her class late…" Duo said sadly as he plodded to his locker and brought out his rumpled sports uniform.
Ami and Usagi watched as he walked in the direction that Minako had fled moments earlier, dragging his feet and looking like a beat-up puppy.
"Hey, why's Duo upset?" Rei asked as she walked up to the two, carrying her books.
"Well, everyone who had Mrs. Shinohara this period now has Mrs. Tomizawa," Ami explained as she watched Duo walk sadly around a corner.
"Yeah, Duo's scared of her and she picks on him," Usagi added, nodding.
"Well, she's got fresh meat now, which should give him a bit of a break. Anyway, I've got Geography with Okimura now so I'll see you guys later, oh, and tell me how it goes," Rei said as she walked down the hall until she reached the Geography classroom.
"Usagi, by chance, do you know who else had Mrs. Shinohara?" Ami asked, putting her hand over her mouth as she tried to think of the people in the class.
"Well Minako, Duo, you and me…and Heero, I think. And Trowa too. We've all pretty much got the same schedule." Usagi shrugged, then grinned cheekily when Ami looked at her, as if asking her 'how?'. "I checked everyone's timetable." She chuckled at the semi-serious disapproving look Ami gave her.
"Do you know if Quatre's in this class…?" Ami inquired softly.
"Nah… he's in Mr… hey! Why do you want to know where Quatre is? Oohh… I get it! So Ames, you've got a bit of a crush on Blondie do you?" Usagi asked slyly, poking Ami with her elbow. Ami blushed.
"Well, I don't really--Oh…I mean--You won't tell anyone, will you Usagi?" Ami said hurriedly in a hushed voice. Usagi looked shocked.
"You mean… you actually do like him…? I was just being annoying…" said Usagi as a smile began to appear on her face. "But don't worry, Ames, your secret's safe with me!" Usagi winked and gave her friend a 'thumbs-up.' Ami exhaled loudly.
"Phew. Thankyou, Usagi. Ooops! We have to be at class in two minutes! Hurry, Usagi!" Ami said and she quickly retrieved her sports clothes from her locker, panicked at the mere thought of being late.
"Usagi Tsukino?!" Ms. Tomizawa yelled over her clipboard that had the attendance list on it.
"Here!" Usagi chirped.
"OK, I want 20 laps of this basketball court. Maxwell, you take the front, if a student passes you, you have to do another 10 laps, now go! All of you! Every minute wasted is another lap! GO!" She yelled, scaring every student present (except Trowa and Heero, of course) into running for his or her life.
Usagi, due to not being very sporty, held up the tail of the large mass of students with Ami. In a silent mutual agreement, they both decided that chatting would take up too much energy and probably land them with twice as many laps to run.
Taking the silence as an opportunity to observe, Usagi carefully studied all of the other students in her class.
Poor Duo was running in front, looking frightened out of his wits but still strangely determined, his long braid swinging from side to side with each step. Minako, Trowa and Heero were following close behind.
Minako, of course, understood that passing Duo would be an act of unbelievable cruelty, so she dropped back a few steps. Unfortunately for Duo, Trowa and Heero did not follow suit and, being faster than him, began to close the space that was between them and Duo. (Usagi realized that they probably weren't doing it intentionally, but were just naturally faster than Duo and didn't like to slow their pace.)
With a frown of disappointment on her face, Usagi continued to watch them as the approached the unfortunate boy at the front.
Wait…! Did I just see…?
The two of them then began to pull back a bit, giving Duo a fair amount of distance.
I did! He did! I never thought he would do something like that… I'll talk to him after…
"Okay! That's one lap! 19 more! Go! You're not running hard enough! You, there! You've earned yourself another 5 laps, you lazy idiot! Pick it up! GO!" Tomizawa yelled, whacking all those in range with her blood-red clipboard.
After another 19+ laps of panting, screaming as tears, the entire class collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily (some grasping asthma puffers hard enough to snap them in half).
"Class! Over to the ropes! Get on your feet! You! Another lap, GO!" Tomizawa screamed, as she began to wave her clipboard threateningly at a skinny, light haired boy. "OK! The first for to climb to ropes will be…!
"Gah! I'm so tired after that!" Usagi whined as she walked into the girl's change room. "And at the start I thought the 20 laps were hard! I thought she wasn't all that bad! I can't believe she managed to make us do so much in so little time! And how nasty she could be!" Pulling her sports T-Shirt over her head angrily, Usagi continued to grumble to herself as she changed back into her regular school clothes.
"Yes, I agree… I don't think I've ever done... so much in one hour…" Ami panted as walked over to the small drinking fountain on the wall and had drink.
"Yeah, well I thought it was great! I loved it! It should have gone longer!" Minako said happily as she bounced up and down. Usagi rolled her eyes.
"Mina, there are so many things wrong with what you just said I don't know where to start," Usagi said as she shook her head. Minako stuck out her tongue.
"Well, 'nyah' to you too, Usa!" Minako said grumpily and crossed her arms. Then grumpily uncrossed when she realized she had to get changed.
"You know, that was really nice of you before," Usagi said as she sat down next to Heero, holding her lunch. It was already halfway through lunchtime, and she still hadn't touched it (A miracle!) because she had spent so long looking for him. (In the end she found him in a corner of the schoolyard, sitting on a bench under a tree, reading.)
"What?" He asked, a tiny bit of confusion creeping into his emotionless voice.
"In Gym. I saw you stop Trowa when he was about to overtake Duo," Usagi said knowingly and with a smile.
"Hn."
"Yeah, yeah. I thought you'd do that," Usagi laughed and looked at their surroundings.
Well, well. Looks like Monotone Boy landed himself quite a nice spot here.
When the wind blew, it would flatten the bushes and thin trees in front of them to reveal a beautiful view of the city and the park.
"You know," Usagi said, still dazed by the incredible view, "I don't know why you're so stand-offish. You probably have a really nice Heero Yui inside you." She thought back to gym class looked at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He glanced at her quickly. "…but I don't know. I'm not you. But hey, if you do have a 'kind Heero' inside you, let him out more often, OK?" She patted him on the shoulder, got back on her feet and began to walk over to where the other girls were.
"Hey, Usa! Come over here!" Minako yelled to her from the lunch tables far away. "We need you to help us help Makoto prepare for her date!"
"Mina!! Not so loud!" Makoto yelled, trying to hide form all the looks she was getting from students passing by.
"Hey, did you see Trowa this morning, at the breakfast table?" Minako asked Usagi as they both walked towards the boarding house back-gate.
"Yeah, he was pretty much opposite me," Usagi stated blandly as she walked through and held the gate open for Minako.
"No, I mean his eyes. Or eye… whatever. Did you notice something about them or…it?" Minako walked through and Usagi closed the gate behind her, giving her a curious look.
"When…?" Usagi asked cautiously, not knowing where the subject was going.
"When I mentioned Mako's date with him. Mako blushed --well duh-- but Trowa… I dunno… didn't his eyes look different somehow?" Minako asked quietly as they walked through the back garden. Usagi seemed to be deep in thought.
"… I can't really get a good mental picture of him at breakfast, but…. I think I know what you're talking about. And as weird as it sounds, I remember thinking 'his eyes look strange,'" Usagi said slowly. "Can you explain it to me at all?" She asked hopefully.
"Uh… they looked kind of, um… sparkly? I dunno, they just looked different," she shrugged and tossed a mass of golden hair over her shoulder, accidentally whacking Usagi in the face.
"Ow!" Usagi yelped and squinted as she batted the few remaining strands off her face. "Anyway, I think I know what you mean," she said, reverting back into her serious mode. "I think Trowa was… happy. He's a pretty lonely guy, you know. Heero is too, but that's a different matter. Anyway… Yeah, I think Trowa was happy that someone noticed him for once."
Usagi smiled as she pictured Makoto and a happy Trowa on a date. The two of them walked in silence to the house. When they reached the back door, Minako spoke up.
"You know, Usa, in all seriousness, you should give Heero a try. I mean he's lonely, right? You said it yourself. He's attractive enough, and he must have a personality underneath," Minako said sincerely. Usagi raised an eyebrow, trying to deflect the serious question with a joke.
"So you think he's attractive, eh?" She joked with a half-hearted grin.
Minako gave her a pleading look.
Usagi rolled her eyes. "I don't think so, Mina… don't make a big deal out of this, but… I don't think I'm completely over Mamo-… Mamoru yet…"
"But you said--"
"I know what I said, Mina, it's just that… I didn't want you guys feeling sorry for me. I just need more time." Usagi sighed.
"Usagi…"
Usagi looked at her friend and laughed. Not bitterly, or ruefully, just… naturally. "Oh, don't look at me like that! There's no need to worry! I'll be fine, honest."
When Minako continued to look at her she laughed again.
"Honest," she repeated. Minako grinned then hooked her arm around the shorter blonde's.
"Well you still need cheering up. One Minako Special coming your way!" Minako declared, dragging her to the kitchen, sat her down, and began to collect the necessary ingredients-- and then some. "You'll be asking 'Mamoru who?' once you get stuck into a super-duper-deluxe-modified Minako Special!!"
*******End chapter 9
Hee hee… hello! I'm sorry everyone, I could have got this chapter out earlier except well, you know, important distractions. *cough* Neverwinter Nights *cough*…
Anyway, I was going to write more for this chapter but it didn't really fit in with what had happened/
Again, sorry about the lateness! You're going to have to expect a lot more of it though… school just started. *angry sigh* But I think I should be able to get chapters out bi-weekly.
Mercury Ice Storm: Thanks! Heero the house-husband came out of my weird imagination, but I'm really glad you liked it! ^_^
Damia: Thankyou, Thankyou! I'll try to make the chapters as quick as I can! :)
Usagi Asia Maxwell: Lol, Thankyou!
Celestial DreamBLaze: Thankyou (multiplied by *counts* one, two, three… seven!)!!! (Gah! So many thankyous!) Hee hee… we may have a few jealous girls and boys in latter chapters. *evil grin* but you'll just have to see… *cackles*
Cassie-bear01: Hee hee! ^_^ Don't worry! There's plenty more 'Awaiting Good Fortune' stocked in my head!
Serena Yuy: He he he… Usagi : Heero's housewife. Thanks for the compliment! :D
alexz: lol, thanks!
*jacinth flame*: lol, you think? And you're right, Duo and Minako never did finish cleaning the dishes. ;)
Cheska: Lol. I can't see this fic finishing anytime soon… (heheheh ^_~) but I'll try to make all the chappies long! (This one was a bit shorter 'cause the next part I was going to write just didn't fit in.)
Tenshi-Chikyuu: Hee hee. Thankyou! :)
exyberrysilver: Thanks :D (Don't worry, not continuing isn't even an option!^_^)
obsessed: Hee hee, more compliments! Thankyou! :D
Jade Stellar: *evil laugh* Minako and Duo… wont' be 'good friends' for too long… ^_~
kimeno-pebols: Thankyou!
Ayli: Lol, I don't think anyone could ever get tired of compliments! (hehehe) :D Thankyou!!
Angelight: Heh heh… 'Duo and Mina.' Nope. I'm pretty sure they're half chibi-devil and half lead, lol. Oh, and making beds? Well that came straight outta real life when I told my sister that as payback she had to make my bed for a week. (I'm evil and I'm lazy! ^_~) Lol, Rei and Wufei. (They didn't appear as a could this chapter… hmm… maybe Wufei went on a spiritual journey…. Or maybe not.) Someone is going to get hurt before those two get together. (I bet Duo) Lol, anyway, thanks for the wonderful review! I love you summarizing my story! (You're always spot-on with everything you say a about it ^_^)
And one last, giant THANKYOU again to everyone!
~Jemjols
PS: As always, review! :D
PPS: Lol. I started school yesterday and my first subject was Japanese. Here's my teacher's opening statement:
"Okay, girls. Year 10 Japanese is hard. Very hard. Learning Japanese isn't just fun and games anymore, if you're going to get a good mark you're going to have to work much harder than you have in previous years. Every piece of work you hand in is part of your grade, and if you don't do homework: Detention. No more slack teachers, if you're just here for origami, sushi and games, don't even bother. You can't succeed in this subject unless you try."
After that, when she asked us "Ogenki deska?" we weren't sure whether to timidly answer "Hai, genki des" or just cower in fear.