The bells of the school echoed through the town as students made their way through the halls to their classes on the first day of the spring quarter. The rustling of feet and books resonated in the halls of the old school followed by several doors s

Perfect Beauty

Chapter 1

The bells of the school echoed through the town as students made their way through the halls and to their classes on the first day of the spring quarter. The rustling of feet and books resonated in the halls of the old school followed by several doors shutting as the last of the students scurried to get to their classes.

The school was a private college nestled beneath the Swiss Alps, bordering a fairly large town, not too far from the big city. The town was old but filled with ancient culture and Old World charm. The snow-capped mountains in the background were slowly losing their whiteness as spring welcomed itself to another year. The serenity quickly came to a halt as the teacher screeched the chalk across the chalkboard, causing the class to jump up from their morning stupor and focus their attention to the teacher. "Good morning class. I'm Ms. Schmidt and welcome to English 101."

In the back of the room, oblivious to the teacher's voice, a young girl sat at her desk, staring aimlessly out the window at the scenery surrounding the school, not at all phased by the chalk moving awkwardly across the black board. While the rest of her classmates cringed after the shrill noise, she just continued to stare out the window blankly. She had long auburn hair and her eyes were a deep emerald color, both traits accenting her fair complexion beautifully. "Kanani O'Neal?" the teacher called out.

The girl quickly awoke from her little daydream and snapped her head forward and replied, "Here." After that brief interruption, she went back to her window, something that she had become quite fond of within the last few minutes. "And lastly, Heero Yuy," the teacher said as she finished roll call.

'Heero Yuy, that's an odd name,' she thought as she looked around the room to match the face with the name. "Here," a deep voice replied beside her. She was too busy looking outside the window to even notice her surrounding classmates. Kanani looked at him curiously, a boy with dark ruffled hair and midnight blue eyes didn't fit in around here. 'Wonder where he's from?' she thought as she looked at his attire. He was clad in dark blue jeans and a loose black turtleneck sweater. For some reason, the boy captivated her as she peered at him from the corner of her eye. He just sat there idly, barely moving a muscle, as he focused on the lecture at hand. Kanani knew that if she said anything to him, she would get in trouble, something she didn't want to do on the first day of class. After a boring introductory lecture, the students packed up their things and exited the classroom. Kanani took this moment to introduce herself as she turned to face Heero. "Hi, I'm Kanani," she said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Heero looked up and since he didn't want to be rude, replied in his usual monotone voice, "Hi."

He then collected his things and left the class without saying another word. Kanani just stared at him as he left the room. 'There's something strange about him, his eyes, they looked so, empty,' she thought to herself as she too proceeded out the door.

Kanani saw him walking down the hall towards his next class, she then looked down at her schedule. 'I'm in another class with him, hmm, wonder what that ones going to be like?' she thought as she made her way to the classroom door that he was about to go in. "Hey Heero, looks like we have another class together," she said as he held the door open for her. "Hn," was all he said as he followed her into the classroom. He walked towards the back of the classroom and she followed, taking a seat next to him. "So where ya from Heero?" she asked sweetly.

He said nothing as he took out his notebook and books. "I'm not from around here as well," she said as she stared out yet another window. Heero eyed her for a second, her once cheerful expression had dwindled into a more subtle, sorrowful expression. All of a sudden, the class became quiet and Kanani turned back around in her seat just as the teacher entered the classroom.

Not another word was spoken from Kanani for she decided to just leave Heero alone, if he didn't want to talk, then he didn't want to talk. As soon as class was over with, Kanani quickly grabbed her books and left the classroom to grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria.

She took a seat in the corner of the cafeteria so she could observe all of the people. It was a small college so she recognized many faces that graced the halls everyday. Among the crowd, she spotted Heero, who was carrying a tray over to a table not too far from her. She sat there and watched him as he ate, not a soul near him. 'He doesn't seem to have any friends, he must be new,' she thought as she nibbled on her sandwich. Kanani began to feel sorry for him so she picked up her tray and carried it over to the table where Heero was sitting. "Mind if I join you?" she asked and he just looked up at her. She took that as a yes and sat down across from him. "Yuy, that's Japanese isn't it?" she inquired, trying to get a conversation started.

"Hn."

"Not very talkative are you? Well I understand, I'm new as well. My dad had to move here on business from Ireland. How did you end up here?"

He didn't bother to look up and just poked at his food, shoving bites in his mouth sporadically. "Oh fine," said a very flustered Kanani. "Whenever you decide to talk, you know where to find me." She then picked up her tray and walked off, Heero still remaining as stoic as ever as he ate the rest of his lunch. At the far door of the cafeteria, Kanani stood and watched him, he had not said a word to her or hardly acknowledged her existence. 'He's so strange, why is he so reclusive? I've heard of being shy but this is abnormal. Something must be bothering him deeply, causing him to shut himself off from the rest of the world,' she pondered. 'I think he just needs a friend right now,' she concluded, smiling slightly as she walked off to her dorm room since her day was over as far as school was concerned.

Kanani settled into her dorm room and decided to take a well-deserved catnap. Heero had retreated back to his for the day to settle in to his new accommodations. The hours flew by and when Kanani woke up, she realized that she had overslept a bit. She peered out her window just as the sun was starting to set over the mountains. She got up and stretched her arms into the air, "Dang, didn't realize I was that tired. I think I will head down to the terrace in the garden for a bit of fresh air." After pulling a sweater over her head, she left her room and headed outside.

Kanani stopped by the cafeteria on the way to the gardens and grabbed herself a bite to eat. The gardens were located towards the back of the school, nestled behind the cafeteria in a world of their own. They were planted by a group of monks who once used the school as a monastery. It was a simple garden but very beautiful and lush. Adorned with beautiful rose bushes and trellises full of climbing jasmine, the garden was truly a site to see. At the end of the garden was a terrace that when stood upon, gave a great view of the Alps. Sometimes Kanani would go out to the terrace and sit upon the railing and just stare up at the night sky, it was her little spot to get away from it all. Kanani was meandering towards the terrace when a figure sitting on the railing caught her eye, it was Heero. He was staring at the mountains and the clear midnight sky. She slowly walked over to him so as not to startle him. "Heero?" she said just above a whisper.

He turned his head and saw the approaching girl. "Hi Heero, would you like some company?" He just turned his head up towards the sky and sighed. Kanani took a seat next to him on the railing. "Beautiful night isn't it?" she said wistfully at the star filled sky.

"Your persistent," he said monotonously.

She just smiled slightly and said, "I'm sorry, I just thought you would like someone to talk to, being new here and all. Well, I'll leave now."

Just as she was about to hop off the railing, Heero spoke up and said, "No wait." He paused for a second to try and figure out what to say to her.

"I'm sorry." He paused again. "For being rude," he said casting his eyes downward at the ground.

"Oh don't worry about it, I'm used to it. I get ignored all of the time so it's really no big deal," she said as she looked at the snow covered mountains. Heero turned to look at her, he could sense an underlying sadness in her voice. "Why?"

"Ever since my mom died, my dad has been constantly working so he doesn't have to think about her. That is why we moved, so he wouldn't have to remember her anymore, all of those painful memories. My dad sent me here to this school so I wouldn't remind him of her. My dad has been hit the hardest by her untimely death and he hasn't been the same since."

Heero saw tears welling up in her eyes as she averted her gaze upward to try and hide the tears that threatened to flow. He really didn't know what to do so all he could say was "I'm sorry." He has been void of emotion his entire life that he does not know how to express it or accept it. Clueless as to what to say, he decided to change the topic to a happier note. "You sure talk a lot," he said dryly.

She sniffled a bit and laughed softly. She then turned her head towards Heero and said, "Heero, where are you from?"

"I don't know," was all he said, his voice suddenly becoming sullen.

"Oh, I see, sorry to hear that," she said, as she looked curiously at him. There was a moment of awkward silence as the two took in the night sky and the cold mountain air. He wasn't giving her too much information so it was hard trying to start a conversation with him. She had to break the silence. She sighed and said lowly, "Why did you come out here Heero?"

"It's quiet," he stated plainly.

"Yeah, it sure is," she said wistfully as a breeze gently blew her auburn hair against her face. Heero looked at her from the corner of his eye as she spoke those words, her gaze directed upward at the star filled sky. 'Why does she even bother?' he thought to himself.

'Hm, he's not much of a talker, what should I say? What should I do? I can sense so much pain emanating from him, it's so strange. And his eyes, they lack the rainbow of emotions that a normal person would possess, there is something deeper, I just know it,' she thought as the night sky captivated her with its everlasting beauty. 'I guess I will just leave him be, he seems to be going through a lot of turmoil within himself right now. He needs some time to himself and that I can understand,' she thought as she hopped off of the railing and stood beside him.

"Well Heero, I will leave you alone now but if you ever need someone to talk to, just look for me and I will be there." With those words, she turned on her heel and vanished into the gardens leaving Heero in his own thoughts.

Heero remained on the terrace as Kanani made her way back towards the dorms. As she made her way through the gardens back to the main building, she stopped by a jasmine vine and gently plucked one of the blossoms. After inhaling the sweet aroma, she gently tucked the sprig behind her ear and continued along the path. For some reason, the image of Heero's eyes were embedded in her memory, they seemed to haunt her every time she thought about them. 'Wonder what happened to him to make his expression so vacant? Poor thing,' she thought as she entered the shelter of her dorm room. She pulled on her flannel pajamas and plopped down on her bed, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. She looked at her dorm room window and just sighed, Heero was truly a mystery to her.