AN: I love you guys! I'm floating in a cloud of reviews. *sweat drops* I know that the previous sentence makes no sense. Oh well. This chapter is going to be short because I have no time with school. I feel so behind with everything. I have so much catching up to do, and it's only the second week of school. This chapter will not be as insane as the last. Last thing, if you want to, you can email me. I love emails, whether it's to answer questions, to help other's writing, or just to chat.
Chapter 3
"I'm glad that that was over!" Duo exclaimed in relief as the group walked out of biology class. "What kind of question was that anyways?! Do you know the difference between a boy and a girl. It's not like that she's teaching a bunch of five years olds."
"By the way Usagi, how were you able to memorize Relena's speech so well?" Trowa spoke up for the first time this day. It hadn't escape his notice that Usagi was able to remember such a long speech.
The said blonde froze in her tracks. Kuso! What am I suppose to tell them now? "Um, I have a very good memory?" the shinimegami offered lamely. Thankfully, a loud growling sound from her stomach saved her from further explanations. "Can we walk faster? I'm starving!"
"Usagi-chan, I don't think that you want to try the food that they serve here," Duo saved the hungry bunny before she made a dash for the cafeteria. "Trust me, I speak from experience. The stuff they give you is like the by-product from a chemical experiment gone wrong. The only way that you can tolerate their food is to first kill your taste buds by drinking down 10 ml of 0.5 mol/L hydrochloric acid. Then the food won't taste that bad."
"So, what are we going to have for lunch then?" the impatient girl asked.
"Tsukino Usagi, please come to my office. Tsukino Usagi, please come to my office," the voice of Relena blared form the speakers in the hall.
The shinimegami groaned to herself as the other students looked at her in pity. "What does she want from me this time?" Usagi asked as she made her way to Relena's office. The five gundam pilots followed close behind. "Why are you guys always following me around?" Finally the question burst out. She had been aching to ask that question ever since this morning.
Giving her a puzzled look, Duo answered for the group. "You mean you don't know? We are assigned to protect you, because terrorists might use you against your uncle."
Protect me? But I'm the one who's suppose to protect you guys! My uncle? Then it all clicked in Usagi's head. Konoe! How dare he mess with the living world and my mission without warning me first?! Outwardly she quickly pasted on a smile. "Oh yeah, my uncle," before laughing nervously.
She's hiding something, all the pilots thought at once as they saw the tell-tale symptoms.
Finally arriving at Relena's office, Usagi took a deep breath before turning the knob to open the door. Her jaws dropped as a dark haired, mid aged man came into her view. He was wearing glasses and an Armani suit. Tatsumi? What the hell is he doing here?
As if answering her questions, the man moved forward, making all the pilots pull out their guns. "Usagi-chan! How's my favorite niece doing?" the man ignored the guns pointed at his head (AN: after all, he's also a shinigami) as he pulled the speechless girl into an embrace. "Play along Tsukino. I'll explain everything later," Tatsumi whispered into the shinimegami's ear.
"Uncle Tatsumi, what are you doing here?" Usagi asked out loud, then added under her breath "you better have a good reason too."
"Do I need a reason to come and see my only niece. I was concerned about you, after all today is your first day of school. I didn't know if you will be able to adjust from private tutors to a normal school. And since I missed your sixteenth birthday because of that contract with the colonies, I'm here to give you your delayed birthday presents. You also forgot your cell phone and laptop at the shrine, so I brought them here as well," Tatsumi handed a new cellular and laptop to the unresisting girl. "You'll find all of your new identity and why the pilots are protecting you on your laptop," Tatsumi whispered quickly.
"So…" the girl paused "What am I getting for my birthday?"
"I think that you will like your presents this year. Konoe helped me pick them," the man said as he led Usagi, the pilots, and Relena outside.
"Holy cow,"
"Oh my,"
"Injustice,"
"…"
"Hn,"
Parked in front of them was a brand new black Porsche Boxster convertible (the I wish I have one of those )and a silver BMW motorcycle.
"Usagi-chan, can I be adopted into your family?" the braided boy asked the blonde haired girl, a puppy dog expression on his face.
A chuckle from Tatsumi interrupted Duo's plea. "I'm sorry Mr. Maxwell, but I already have my hands full with my niece."
The braided one sighed, but he wasn't about to give up hope yet. Getting onto his knees in front of the shinimegami, "Tsukino Usagi, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
Giving him a long stare, before…. "AHHHH! Where did the water came from?!" The poor braided boy was completely soaked when a small dark cloud appeared over his head and water poured onto his body. Everyone else just stared in shock as the cold water served to cool Duo's greed.
"Does that answer your question?" the shinimegami replied as the other pilots all chuckled at the poor boy's predicament. It seemed that Usagi's powers doesn't end at fire.
"As I was saying, happy birthday Usagi. I made a few changes on your cell phone and laptop. Now you can control your car and bike from the screen of your phone and computer," Tatsumi smiled at the happy expression on the shinimegami's face as he flipped open the cell phone he gave her. A mini screen appeared. "One tap starts the bike, two taps starts the car. Both vehicles follow the path you make with your finger on the screen" (AN: If you have seen the James Bond movie: Tomorrow Never Dies, it's like Bond's car, with all the cool functions.)
Everyone smiled (except for Relena) as Usagi squealed when the convertible roared into life with two taps of her finger. Her laughter of delight was heard as the car sped around the curved drive way of the academy under Usagi's command. "This is so cool! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" the bouncing bunny hugged her so called uncle. Suddenly her happy expression disappeared. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not mad at him."
Tatsumi sighed. Poor Konoe, he is going to taste the full extant of the Shinimegami's wrath when she returns to the underworld.
"Come on guys! Lets go for a spin. Shot gun I'm driving!" Usagi pulled Hiiro and a wet Duo towards her new car. Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre smiling at the sight of the two helpless pilots.
"Usagi, are you coming home this weekend? I'm throwing a garden party at the mansion on Saturday," Tatsumi called out.
"Sure I'll be there, and I'm going to bring a few friends too!" the blonde girl called out from her car. Not bothering to look back.
"You are invited too Miss Peacecraft," Usagi's uncle said to the fuming Queen of the World.
Usagi silently groaned to herself, but there was a more immediate problem. How were they going to fit six people in a car that meant for five?
"Hiiro you know, we can take my LIMO out for a spin if you want," Relena offered with what she would call a seductive smile.
"No thank you, we have it all solved," Hiiro quickly answered as he pushed Usagi onto Duo's lap while he jumped into the driver's seat. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei filled out the back seat. "Usagi, start the car!"
When the convertible hummed into life again after taking Usagi's finger print, Hiiro floored the accelerator, leaving a thick trail of dust and smoke as the car zoomed away from Relena.
The momentum of the car had caused Usagi to fly back in Duo's lap. As Hiiro sped away, the poor blonde had to hang on to Duo for her life. She shivered as the wetness made its way into her clothes. Finally deciding to take some pity into the trembling pilot of Deathscythe, she increased the temperature around them, and quickly dried off their clothes.
"Hiiro, I think that we lost her, you can slow down now," the braided boy choked out. "And Usagi-chan, can you loosen your arms just a little? Not that I mind, but I need to breath."
The arms around his neck instantly let go as the owner blushed to a pretty pink.
Chuckling, Duo let his arms encircle the girl's waist lightly, as the wind wrapped her golden hair around their bodies.
Finally noticing that they were a good five miles away from Relena, Hiiro slowly decreased the speed to 100 m/h.
"Where do you guys want to go? We have almost two whole hours to kill before our next class." Quatre shouted from the back.
"Hey, I know this great ice cream pallor outside of the city. It's by the beaches and it serves the best ice cream in this whole country. It's not too far from here. I think that it'll take around twenty minutes," Duo suggested.
"Yeah! Then we can have ice cream for lunch!"
"Onna, where do you store all that food?"
Usagi shrugged, "I have a high metabolism," and reached out to turn on the stereo. "Someone to Call My Lover" (AN: Sorry, but I just love this song) from Janet Jackson blared out. Singing along to the song, the blonde girl turned to look ahead as they sped past the other cars. Feeling free for the first time ever since her death. Having the wind blowing across her face, the sun beating down on her body, and a pair of arms holding her tightly to remind her that she wasn't dreaming.
Suddenly, a yellow sports car with two stripes raced past them. The driver was a sandy haired man, his companion was an elegant young woman with aqua hair. The man flashed them a challenging little smirk as the yellow car dashed by.
Haruka, Michiru. the names crossed her mind. Letting a grin grace her face, Usagi turned to Hiiro. "Come on Hiiro-kun, let's show them what we got!"
The perfect solider "Hn"ed before stepping on the gas petal again, pushing past the sports car.
"Eat our dust!" Duo shouted as they passed.
A determined look came up on the sandy haired man's face before he shifted to the last gear. The other cars on the street quickly turned to get away from the two mad drivers. Soon sirens could be heard as several police cars chased after the two exotic cars. Exchanging a glance with the other driver, Hiiro and the other man both turned in opposite directions (Hiiro left, Haruka right) to try to lose the police. No matter how good the police were, they couldn't even begin to compare with the ex-gundam pilot and a professional race car driver. It took the two drivers no time at all to loose the polices and turn back on to their original road at the same time.
"Hiiro stop the car! You're going to pass the ice cream pallor!" Duo shouted above the wind as he pointed to a small stand in front of a glorious view of the ocean behind. Quickly turning the steering wheel 450 , the BMW convertible screeched to a halt in the parking loot, leaving four tire marks.
"Yeah food!" Duo and Usagi both jumped out running to the ice cream stand. But they were quickly faced with another problem.
"Um guys? Did any of you bring money?" Duo asked sheepishly.
All the pilots quickly searched every pocket. It turned out that tin their hast to get away from Relena, no one brought any money.
"So we came all the way out here for nothing?" the girl of the group pouted. Her stomach growled, joining her in the complaint.
"I won't say that you came out here for nothing Odango. After all, the view is spectacular," a voice cut in from behind the pilots.
Everyone turned around to see the sandy blond man who raced with them coming out of his car, followed by the aqua haired woman. "You're a pretty good driver. There aren't many people who could keep up with me," the man nodded at Hiiro. "Are you guys form the Sanq Academy?" Haruka asked as she eyed the uniform the six wore.
"Yes we are," Quatre replied politely before introducing everyone. "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, and these are my friends. Hiiro, Duo, Trowa, Wufei, and Usagi."
"Usagi, it's a cute name," the woman looked at the only girl of the group. "I'm Kaioh Michiru and this is my friend Ten'oh Haruka. We both work at the Sanq Academy. I'm the art and music teacher. Haruka is the gym teacher."
"That reminds me. What are you six doing out of school? Ditching?" Haruka stared hard at the six, who were all squirming uncomfortably under the hard stare.
Pushing Usagi forward, Duo hid behind the bunny. "Sorry Haruka-san. This is our lunch break. We had permission from Miss Peacecraft to be able to go out for lunch," Usagi lied while putting on her famous puppy dog face. Behind her, all of her fingers were crossed.
"Haruka, give the poor girl a break," Michiru said, "It's okay Usagi. How about we treat you guys to lunch?"
"Arigato!" the blonde girl gave the older woman a hug before yanking Duo by the braid to the ice cream stand.
Trowa quietly shook his head, feeling sorry for Michiru and Haruka. How could they afford to pay for Duo and Usagi with only their teacher's salaries?
"Come on minna!" Usagi waved them towards the stand, before placing her order. "I want everything on the menu please!"
The cashier gave the girl a funny look. "Are you sure miss?"
"Yeap! What do you want Duo-chan?"
Duo-chan? There may still be hope for us after all! the braided one thought to himself. "I'll take four banana splits, six hot fudge Sundays, and three triple scope cappuccino ice cream."
The others ordered after the two and Haruka paid for everything.
"You know Usagi, somehow, I feel like that we have met before," Michiru said as she observed the blonde girl closely.
Giving the aqua haired woman a mysterious smile, the shinimegami replied, "Maybe we knew each other in a previous life Michiru-san," she left the table to let everyone ponder on her words.
So, they really forgot about everything, the thought disappointed her, yet Usagi was happy that her friends could now fulfill their dreams of having a normal life. Her eyes unconsciously strayed to a little child walking on the beach with her mother. A sad smile made its way onto her face as she watched the mother and child. "Hiiro-kun, you don't have to hide. I know that you're here."
The perfect solider walked out of his hiding place behind the tree. "Why are you so sad?"
Instead of answering the question, she asked him one. "Tell me Hiiro-kun, have you ever lost something very important to you?"
"Yes," the images of a young girl and her puppy flashed across the Perfect Soldier's mind.
"I was just watching the kid over there. And I just couldn't help but envy his happiness," the Shinimegami said quietly. Her eyes held a far away look. Okaasan, Otoosan, Shingao.
"At least you have your uncle,
A bitter chuckle was heard. "Yeah, an uncle whose motto is: Time is money. DO you have a family Hiiro-kun?"
A surprised look passed across his face. "A family? No, as far as I could remember, I was always alone. All of us except for Quatre are alone."
"You know, I don't know why I'm talking about this with you. But somehow, I feel that you can understand how I feel. You know that my parents died right?"
At a nod from Hiiro, Usagi continued. "Even now, I sometimes hate myself so much because I was left to live when everyone else lost their lives. It was all my fault that they died. If only I could've done something…" a sob escaped Usagi's lips as the images from her past resurfaced.
Hiiro was all too familiar with this emotion the girl felt. Guilt. That all consuming feeling that appeared when he saw the Leo collapse on the building the little girl lived with her puppy. The same emotion that drove him to lose his humanity. But Usagi shouldn't feel like that. She was too pure to be like him. Wanting to comfort the sobbing girl, the Perfect Soldier awkwardly gathered the trembling girl into his arms, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Don't worry imouto-chan, I'll protect you from now on. Hiiro promised to himself as he gently rubbed Usagi's back.
As if sensing his thoughts, her small frame stopped trembling and her sobs lessened. "Arigato niichan."
"Now, we're not alone anymore are we?" it was more of a statement than a question, as the cold hearted solider unconsciously smiled.
"Is that a smile I see on your face? Mr. Perfect Soldier's?"
Hiiro mock growled at the bunny, before tackling her down and proceeded to tickle the girl breathless.
"Niichan…stop," the girl panted out between giggles.
"Hiiro, Usagi, we're leaving now!" Quatre's voice saved Usagi from further torture. Hiiro turned around, but suddenly something jumped on his back.
"Payback time niichan! I wanna piggy back rid back to the car!" the blonde girl wrapped her arms and legs around her new older brother beneath her.
Having no choice left, Hiiro struggled back to the others, cursing under his breath. If the others saw him like this… Well let's just say that his reputation would be ruined forever. When they were close enough to see the others standing near the two cars, Hiiro immediately dropped his arms, hoping that his mischievous imouto would take the hint and hop off.
Too bad that he didn't see the sinister look in Usagi's eyes. Clinging on even more tighter to his back, she filled her lungs with air. "Duo-chan! We're over here!" she shouted for all the world to hear.
Knowing that if the braided baka ever saw him like this, he would provide more than enough amusement for the other pilots for the rest of their lives, Hiiro quickly dumped his bundle on the ground. Unfortunately, it was not fast enough. The braided boy caught the sight of Usagi on his back. Duo quickly ran over, an anxious expression on his face.
"Usagi-chan, are you okay? Are you hurt? Why is Hiiro carrying you?" Duo instantly examined her, searching for any injuries.
Usagi's sapphire eyes softened. "I'm not hurt," the amused look came back. "But I was a little tired, so niichan offered to give me a piggy back ride to the car," the impish girl then jumped onto Hiiro's back as if to prove her statement.
Violet eyes stared at the girl as if she grew two heads. "Hiiro…niichan…piggyback ride?" This was all too much. Falling back with a thump, the braided one fainted for the second time of the day.
"Duo!" the alarmed bunny jumped off Hiiro's back and fell on her knees beside the unmoving boy. "Duo! Are you okay? Answer me! Niichan, what's wrong with him?"
Hiiro snorted as he gently kicked Duo with his foot. After all, he knew the braided boy too well to know that it was just a trick.
"Oh no! He stopped breathing!" the frantic blonde shook the unconscious boy. Getting no responses from Duo, Usagi took to the desperate measures. Taking a deep breath, she pushed down on Duo's chest before bending down and breathed into his mouth.
A startled gasp escaped from Usagi as she felt arms on her back bring her closer to the fallen braided boy. Something warm and wet licked at her closed lips. Her mouth opened in shock as Usagi suddenly found herself looking into the amused amethyst eyes of a not so unconscious pilot.
Shrieking, the bunny jumped up, but not before delivering a sound slap on the grinning God of Death's cheeks. "Duo…you hentai!!!" the scream was heard before Usagi ran back to Haruka and Michiru, who had amazed looks on their faces.
"Omae o korosu Duo," Hiiro took out his gun and aimed it at Duo, who flinched when he heard the safety being clicked off.
"Jeez Hiiro, put the gun down. Why are you so mad anyways? Do you like her or something?" Duo said as he hid behind his braid.
"No one touches my imouto like that and live," the monotone voice said, but the perfect soldier did put his gun away.
"Sorry man," Duo said while he got up from the ground. "But I would've never have thought that you're the family type of guy."
"Omae o korosu if you tell anyone."
"Yeah, yeah whatever. Hahaha. Hiiro Yuy, a big brother. Man, but I pity the entire male teenage population!" Duo mused as the two best friends walked back to the Porsche. "Come on Usagi-chan I'm sorry. We really have to go back now."
"I'm not talking to you anymore Duo no baka," the blonde girl blew a raspberry in his direction. "Niichan, I'm going to ride with Haruka-san and Michiru-san. I'll meet you guys back at school." the blond girl waved before the yellow sports car took off.
"What did you do to the onna this time Maxwell?" Wufei asked. Trowa and Quatre also had curious expressions on their faces/
"Well, all I did was kiss her," Duo admitted.
"Dishonourable American. You have only known her for one day, and you're already making moves on her," the Chinese Dragon muttered under his breath, before Hiiro started the car and chased after the yellow sports car.
"I now, but I just couldn't resist. She's no like any girls I've ever met," a serious look crossed the normally goofy face. "I don't know how to explain it, but I just felt so right when she was in my arms. She is so pure and sweet and innocent. Well except when she's angry, but that's another story. It just confuses me what could've happened to her to make her so cold in a relationship."
"Omae o korosu Duo if you hurt her in anyway," the perfect soldier murmured to the American pilot without taking his eyes off of the road.
The serious expression disappeared and was replaced by the familiar cheeky grin as the American was reminded of the event he saw this afternoon. Ignoring the warning glare that Hiiro sent him, the pilot of Deathscythe unbuckled his seat belt and turned around to face the other three pilots sitting at the back.
"Guess what you guys?" Duo grinned. "The perfect soldier has a…" his words were cut off when Hiiro suddenly spun the steering wheel, making the convertible turn recklessly, sending the braided bake out the side. His whole life flashed across his eyes, as Duo prepared to died at the tender age of 16, which consisted of his collection of manga collection, his gundam, and his kiss with Usagi. He felt a ripping pain tearing across his skull, and shut his tightly. Carefully opening his eyes after noticing that he wasn't lying on the concrete, bleeding to death, he noticed that he was still alive.
It turned out that Trowa's quick reflexes had saved Duo from his bloody end. When Duo was about to fall out, the tall pilot had snatched the end of Duo's braid, and used the long rope of hair to pull the other pilot back into the car.
"HHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRROOOOO! Why did you do that for?" the braided pilot wailed out, sounding like Relena.
"That was a bug, and I didn't want to kill it. So I had to avoid it," was the calm response.
"You mean to tell me that the life of a bug is more important than the life of your best friend?" another wail came out.
"At least the bug doesn't sound like Relena, and it doesn't' say things that it's not suppose to say."
Duo quickly shut up. The rest of the tripe was surprisingly quiet, after the meaningful glare Hiiro sent to the Duo.
When the gundam pilots arrived at back at the Academy, their lunch break was about to end. Usagi was talking with Haruka and Michiru while waiting for them.
"Of course I'm interested Michiru-san, I'll be honoured to help you," the pilots heard Usagi say as they walked up to the three. Haruka and Michiru waved before they walked away. After all, they were teachers, and they had to prepare for their next class.
"Hey Usagi-chan, what were you talking about?" Duo asked, trying to find a way to make the girl talk to him again.
"Niichan, can you please tell Duo no baka that I'm not talking to him?" Usagi turned her back on the pouting braided boy.
"Hn," Hiiro repeated Usagi's message to Duo.
Sensing Duo's helplessness, Quatre decided to come to the rescue, "so what were you talking about Usagi-chan?"
"Michiru-san asked me to pose for her next painting," the blonde girl beamed. "And I agreed. She's working on another series of painting. It seems like I reminded her of something."
"When are you going to pose for her?" Duo attempted to talk to Usagi again.
Instead of answering however, Usagi turned and walked away towards the garden. Duo quickly ran to catch up with her as Hiiro gave him a not so friendly push.
"Usagi, I'm very sorry. I don't know what came up with me," Duo caught up with the upset bunny and held her hand to make her turn and face him. But the girl still refused to look up to him. "I'm sorry that you were hurt by my actions, but I have to tell you that I did not regret it. I told you when we met that I never lie, so I'm not going to start now. No one had ever cared about me. It was the first time that anyone was worried about me. I liked you ever since we first met. And I guess that from your actions this morning, I felt that you maybe returned my feelings. I'm sorry that I assumed so much. I'll never bother you again if you don't want me to." Duo said sadly as he let go of Usagi's hand.
Finally lifting her eyes to his face, Usagi gasped inwardly as she saw the sincerity in Duo's eyes. Slowly opening her mouth, she was about to answer when…
"Freeze!"
TBC…
AN: Muhahahahah! I know that I'm evil, but I just can't help it. It's a mean cliff-hanger, now if you want to know what happened, then REVIEW! About my Hiiro + Usagi fic, it's going to come out after I finish Promises and An Unusual Mission.