Author's Notes: Read if you want...

Max - Although it took a while to get out of that damned closet...

Maz - *snickers*

Max - *glares in her general direction* I suppose I ought to apologize... I was a little overzealous in my revenge on... our lovable author. *holds up a chibified Ryu-Sama*

Maz - *butts in* He used the Fruit of Past Life on him... And he's so cute, now! And... chibi! *pinches Ryu's cheeks*

Max - *kicks Maz out of his way* Anyway, that means that I am in control, today.

Maz - What about me?

Max - *ignores her* So I have to check over the reviews...

Chibi Ryu - Lemme! Lemme!

Max - Uhm...

Maz - Whatever happened to "control"?

Chibi Ryu - LeDiz, even though ya didn't review, huggles ta ya anyway! If ya like da Pietro t'ingy, it wasn't supposed ta be serious, but if ya like it dat much, I'll t'ink about it.

Dragon-Orb, hehee... Maybe on ice cream? I been dying fer a sundae, but Max won't get me one. *pouts cutely*

Max - *chokes, splutters and glares* You should not expose children to those kind of things. *glances at Chibi Ryu* Now, that I think about it, though, never mind...

Chibi Ryu - Neva, *sparkly eyed* Ya like da way I talk. *huggles* Ya spelt Eugene wrong. Ya only read two lines. *pouts* Darn ya.

Chibi Ryu - *holds up sign that reads "Warnings for the chapter"* Unda age drinkin'. I t'ink I maybe took som'n else's idea on Quatre... If yer da person, sorry! I don't own it!

~@~

~*~flashback of the night before~*~

It had been easy, too easy, to sneak out of the mansion. The security systems sucked. Duo wasn't sure why, but when he was younger, he wanted to be a professional thief.

But that wasn't what he wanted now. What he wanted, was something to drink. The Professor didn't keep any alcohol at the school, so he had to go and find his own. He wound up in a dirty pub, on the bad end of town. That rich kid, Quatre, would have had a fit if Duo said he went to bars like this. The alcohol wouldn't have bothered the other boy. Quatre was actually pretty cool about that kind of thing. It was the fact that the place itself was disgusting.

He grinned as he thought about the blonde Arab. He had found out, late on the night he came to the school, that the poor guy had absolutely no night vision. It made sense, really. Quatre came from the desert, where, even at night, the light from the stars shining against the reflective sand made visibility almost like day.

The way he'd found out about Quatre's little problem had been funny as hell, though.

Quatre had woken up, in the middle of the night and went looking for some water. Somehow, he had ended up in the bathroom, and turned the shower on, thinking that the knob was a door handle. He'd been soaking wet, and red, from embarrassment, when Duo had found him.

Duo spent most of his time at the pub thinking about this, and other weird/funny things that had happened since he had ended up at the Institute. The rest of the time was spent flirting with the other costumers.

So, when he got back, he was dead drunk, and had lipstick all over the neck of his shirt. Good thing he'd chosen to wear black...

The thing that bothered Duo, for some ungodly reason, was the fact that there had been absolutely no one there, when he got back.

~*~end flashback~*~

So, he decided to ask Kurt. After all, it was lunch time, and Kurt was sitting right next to him. Making fun of him. Finally, he snapped. He could take no more!

"Shut up!" Duo rolled his eyes at them. "If you had heard him, you wouldn't have been able to resist either."

"Vas?" Kurt looked, well, shocked, to say the least. "Vhat do you mean?"

"First, he offered food. Anywhere I wanted, so long as it didn't cost too much. And second... well... He actually pulled off this weird cute-nervous thing. He's cute when he's being nice."

Jean frowned. "I don't recall ever hearing of him being 'nice'... This is the first time."

Scott... Well, let's just say he looked -really- uncomfortable.

"Pietro? Nice? Cute? Is zere somezing wrong vith your head?"

Duo shook his head. "Nah. Not really. Okay, maybe something, but I'm not sharing what."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Uhm... may I ask what you guys were doing last night?"

They jumped when he spoke.

"What?" Duo glanced around at them.

Kurt decided to be the one to answer. "Ve vere looking for a new mutant. Ve didn't find her."

Scott continued for him, "We think she was hiding from something. Jean said that it wasn't us, though."

Jean nodded. "She wasn't hiding from us. She was hiding from 'him'. What bothers me, is that whoever 'he' is, she wasn't thinking his name."

Duo frowned. "Maybe there was someone she knew looking for her. Someone... bad?"

They all stared at him.

"What?" he glanced around franticly between them. "What'd I say?"

"Someone... bad?" Jean gave him the most intense stare he'd seen since he'd left the orphanage. "What do you mean, bad?"

~*~

'Natsu DaichiHi.' Katsuya glared absently at Lance. 'If it weren't fer dat JERK, I wouldna been here!'

Lance glanced back at him. "What're ya lookin' at, Brick?"

Katsuya frowned. That was a new one. "Yer ugly head, Rock-head."

Lance wasn't sure if he should laugh, or attack. Not many people were stupid enough to try calling him names, X-geeks not included.

While Lance thought on this, Katsuya's mind returned to the problem at hand. 'When I find 'im I'm gonna kill that bastard.'

Lance was watching the other boy's face this time, so when his eyes glowed, he saw it. Lance wasn't so sure that he wanted to return that earlier comment. That was creepy. The other boy was glaring at nothing, his eyes glowing and he didn't even seem to notice it. He decided, from now on, he would try not to piss him off. Too much.

There was a thud at the top of the stairs. Lance wondered vaguely where Pietro had gone. "Lance! Were you wearing my shirt?" Wanda. Oh shit.

"No... Why would I do that?"

Katsuya grinned at him, eyes still glowing slightly. Lance glared at him.

"I know it was you, Lance! Pietro doesn't like my style."

Katsuya fought back a laugh.

"It smells like your cologne!"

He couldn't hold it back any more, he had to laugh! Lance smacked him.

She pounded down the stairs. "Admit it, Lance! You went out clubbing in MY clothes."

Katsuya looked up at her. 'Niceshirt. Nicebody. Wonderwhatit'dlooklikeonme. Wonderifshe'dletmeborrowit. Wonderwhatshe'dlooklikewithoutit. Wonderifshe'dgooutwithme?' "Oooo, and what nice clothes they are. Can I borrow the shirt yer wearin'?"

Lance dove away from Katsuya. He was in for it. Big time.

"Aah! Slimy bastard!" A wave of blue energy descended upon Jounouchi Katsuya. He didn't have time to dodge it.

They stared at the seemingly boneless form left on the couch. Katsuya wasn't moving. The only thing they could see wrong with him was a red mark, on the left side of his face, where Lance had slapped him, moments ago.

Lance blinked. "Uhm... Shouldn't he be moving?"

Wanda shook her head. "Yeah. He should be."

Lance leaned over and felt for a pulse. It was there, barely. "Uhm... He's like, barely there, Wanda."

She was wide eyed. "Are you sure? I didn't do anything more than normal. It doesn't hurt you guys that bad. Is he breathing?"

Lance checked. "No."

"Then, what're you waiting for? Give him CPR!"

"But... Why don't you? You did it. And you're a girl!"

"Hey, wanna become a normal boy for a while?"

"You just want to see me kiss a guy."

Todd walked down in time to hear that part. "What're ya talkin' about, yo?"

Wanda grabbed him and told him what happened. "Would you give him CPR?"

He glanced at the still form on the couch. Not as pretty as Wanda, but he'd take what he could get.

~*~

'What did she do to me?

Everything... it's moving so fast.

I can't breathe.

I can't die yet.

There are still things I have to do.

Where are they?

It's too quiet.

They're gone...

I still can't breathe.

Need air...

It's getting dark.

Is it night already?

Huh?

It's slowing back down... I still can't breathe. Help? Wait. Breath... good. I can breathe? I'd almost forgotten.'

Katsuya opened his eyes. Todd hovered over his face. His voice cracked, "Air?" He sat up slowly, coughing. "Hey, they're back! That's good. I'd thought I'd lost them."

Todd frowned. "You alright, yo?"

He coughed. "Aa. Daijoubu. Onegai, doozo, please, please don't do that again. Although, I guess I was a bit outta line, I really didn' mean it in a bad way. Ya know, open mouth, insert foot?"

Wanda looked a bit... perplexed. "It's never done that to anyone else... I didn't think I'd kill you!"

"Everything went too fast. Couldn' keep up. Couldn' breathe."

~@~

Max - What am I supposed to say here? Remember...

Don't forget to tell me what you think. Is it good? Bad? Did it suck royal ass? Or did you (Kami-sama forgive me for this blasphemy) actually like it?

C'mon people! I live for reviews!! Tell me all! Or else my happy thoughts will go away!! Wah!!!

Maz - This blows. *wanders off to find something more interesting*