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DEATH BECOMES HIM
By Winter Weil

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CHAPTER TWO
Such Wonderful Friends
A GUNDAM WING FANFICTION
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Disclaimer:
All rights to Gundam Wing and its characters belong to
whoever they belong to. sweatdrop. The characters of this series
are used without permission only for the purpose of entertainment.
This fanfiction is not meant for sale or profit.
All original characters are copyright to the author. Don't use
these characters without contacting the author first.

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Heero leaned against the door of Wufei's jeep, patiently awaiting
his two comrades. The first day of school was unremarkable; it was
a casual school, so uniforms were unnecessary. He wasn't required
to say anything about himself in any classes, and that was an added
relief. The only thing that had posed a problem for possible
discovery was in his math studies. He had stepped right into the
current module without a hitch, which was at a much higher level
than his former class. This unnerved the teacher, but he shrugged
it off, saying he was mearly "talented in that area."

In the distance he could see Wufei and Duo approaching the jeep.
With the bright red turtleneck and tight black jeans he was
wearing, Duo could probably be picked off by a Leo in orbit outside
the colony. Heero shook his head. /Far too flashy./

Wufei sighed irritably as he reached the jeep and dumped his books
into the back seat with uncharacteristic laziness.

"First day," he exclaimed. "First day, and five people have already
asked for Duo's number. Five!" He held out his hand, fingers
extended. "And one of them was *male*!"

Duo laughed and flung an arm over Wufei's shoulder. "Aw, come on,
Wufei. I can't help it if I'm irresistible." The Chinese boy just
snorted and began searching in his pockets for his keys.

Heero shook his head and pursed his lips. "You stand out, Duo. You
need to keep a lower profile; we won't be here for long, so it's
better not to stick out like a sore thumb."

Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero. Heero ignored him.

The Shenlong pilot unlocked the jeep and climbed in, waiting
patiently for Duo to quit fussing and get in the back seat. Once he
and Heero were settled, he put the car in reverse and backed out of
the parking lot. "How long *do* you plan to stay, Heero?" he asked.

"Two months, tops," was the reply. "More likely a month. In a few
weeks we'll have everything we need, from information to supplies.
We'll lay low for a week after the plant is blown, then head off to
another colony. Tonight I'll do reconnaissance, to make sure the
maps match the plant."

"By yourself?" Duo exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Shouldn't you take Duo? This is a bit more tricky than a blow and
run mission. Duo needs to know the internal layout as well," Wufei
said as he rounded a corner.

"Eventually. We have several weeks to prepare. But tonight, I go
alone."

"But---!" Duo tried.

"I'm going *alone*."

The Chinese pilot examined Duo through his rearview mirror, watching
as he crossed his arms and fumed silently out the window. Wufei
pursed his lips angrily. /Calculated risks must be taken, I know,
but sometimes you take those risks too far, Heero./

*****

The next day, Wufei scooted over in order to make room for Duo at
the lunch table.

"I'm being stalked," the Deathscythe pilot said without preamble.

Heero's eyebrows shot up half-way to his hairline.

Duo settled himself and unwrapped his eating utensils before
continuing. "See him over there?" He pointed with the business end
of his fork across the cafeteria. "The one with the black leather
jacket? He's stalking me."

Wufei turned and examined the boy a moment. He had short black hair,
a hawk-like nose and piercing green eyes. He glanced over at their
table a moment before quickly averting his eyes when he realized
all three pilots were staring at him. "Arkasian?" he asked.

Duo nodded. "Yeah, that's his name. You know him?"

"He's in one of my classes."

"Mm. Anyways, he's been following me from class to class ever since
I showed up yesterday."

"Perhaps he has classes near you," Wufei suggested.

"Uh-uh. I hacked into the school files last class. His classes are
all on the other side of campus from mine, except for the last one,
which we all have."

Heero continued gazing after Duo's 'stalker', a thoughtful look on
his normally stoic face. "Too young to be an OZ spy," he murmured.

"I *know* that," Duo replied around a mouthful of rice. "But the
guy's starting to spazz me out. A chick in my other class said he
was the pimp of the campus. Quote: 'Arkasian gets what Arkasian
wants. *I* found *that* out the hard way.'"

Wufei flashed Duo an evil grin. "Well, perhaps he's
just....attracted to you. You know, you *do* look remarkably like a
woman from behind with the braid of yours....."

Duo gave him a scathing look. "Funny, Wu-man."

Heero finally dragged his eyes away from Arkasian to look at Duo.
"What do you plan to do about it?"

Duo shrugged. "Tell him off. He's not *that* big, so I'm not worried
about a fight."

The Shenlong pilot snorted. "He weighs more than you and me
combined."

"Then I'll just have to sic my faithful 'Perfect Soldier' on his
ass. Right Heero?"

"Hn."

*****

"Wufei!"

The Chinese pilot caught the basketball with ease. With fluid grace,
he slipped among the other team's players and passed it to Heero,
who dunked the ball without a hitch. Around them the small crowd of
teenagers who had come to watch the unofficial game cheered as
their score went up by another point.

The ball was passed back onto the court, and again Duo received it.
His braid whipped about him as he dribbled down the court, dodging
blocks from his opponents.

Heero's mind was only half on the game. Arkasian was standing at the
edge of the court, his eyes following Duo's every move. Ever since
the braided teenager had mentioned Arkasian's obsession the week
before, Heero could tell he was bothered by it. It wasn't obvious;
he joked and laughed about it from time to time, but the fact was
every time he caught sight of the raven-haired boy, his violet eyes
would darken. He claimed he had talked to Arkasian about it, but
nothing seemed to have changed. If anything, it made him more
determined.

"Heero!"

He caught the ball automatically and headed back down the court. The
opponents blocks did nothing to stop him, and again their score
went up. The buzzer went off, indicating half-time, and his fellow
pilots moved to join him.

He didn't know why this problem with Arkasian was gnawing at him so
much. Duo could easily deal with it.

/So why does it bother me?/

He wasn't surprised to see Arkasian approach their small group.
Neither was Wufei; they exchanged a quick look as Duo was tapped on
the shoulder.

The braided teenager blinked up at the raven-haired boy. "Arkasian,"
he said, taken unawares. "What's up?"

The other boy's voice was uncommonly smooth as he replied. "I need
to talk to you, Duo." He glanced at Wufei and Heero. "Alone."

Duo looked back at his friends as well, then shrugged. "Sure." He
let the taller boy lead him a few feet away where they began a
whispered discussion.

"What do you think he wants?" Wufei murmured.

Heero shook his head. Duo had deliberately placed himself so that
their lips couldn't be read. However, a few moments later the two
Gundam pilots didn't need to read any lips to know the discussion
was becoming heated. Duo's braid twitched from side to side as he
furiously shook his head and gestured angrily. Arkasian, on the
other hand, remained calm, his arms crossed over his chest.

Heero shifted, moving a few feet to the side, so he could see their
faces. No one around them seemed disturbed at all by the furious
look on Duo's face, not even Arkasian. The raven-haired boy was
actually smiling.

Duo made one last comment, which Heero didn't catch, then turned
away. Arkasian's smiled grew, and the Wing pilot read his lips on
the next comment:

'I didn't say you could leave yet, bitch.'

Duo's eyes widened, and before Arkasian could react he whipped
around and placed a well-aimed sucker-punch in his gut.

"*I* am *nobody's BITCH*." Duo's angered hiss carried well in the
suddenly silent gym.

Arkasian stumbled back a few steps, and his emerald eyes darkened in
rage. "You goddamned whore!" he roared, and attacked Duo with both
fists swinging. The braided pilot, being trained in hand-to-hand
combat, had no difficulty blocking the other student's blows, but
the ferocity and the sheer weight behind the attack knocked the
slim boy off his feet.

Arkasian bent down to grab Duo by his collar, and raised the other
fist high. He had only enough time to blink before another fist
caught him in the jaw and threw him back four feet.

The silence in the gym was profound. One of Arkasian's cronies
rushed to his friends side, then turned to glare at his attacker.
"You asshole! You broke his jaw!"

Cobalt eyes stared coldly back. "Then perhaps he should learn to
take 'no' for an answer more graciously," Heero replied calmly.

Just then the physical education teachers raced into the gym with
two campus guards in tow. Arkasian's cronies didn't waste a second
in pointing the blame at Heero. "That boy attacked us!" they
squealed.

"Wait one damned second!" Duo exclaimed. He climbed back to his feet
and pointed back at Arkasian. "*He* attacked *me* first! Heero was
just defending me!"

A campus guard ignored both parties accusations and clamped an iron
fist around Duo's upper arm. "We'll see about *that*, young man,"
he said darkly.

*****

"Less than two weeks, and already in a fight. The records from your
previous school don't show this sort of aggression on your part."

"Aggravated assault," Duo muttered angrily to the floor.

The dean sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Yes, you already told me
how this incident occurred. Arkasian Boah also gave me his
version."

"Lying piece of--" Duo silenced himself when the dean raised his
hand.

"Better not make things worse than they already are," the dean
advised. "As it is, you two are already suspended for five days."

Heero remained silent, but Duo's objection was immediate. "What?!"
The braided teenager rose from his chair and slammed his palms down
on the desk. "Arkasian did this! We were just defending ourselves!
He--!"

"Duo Maxwell!"

The pilot's mouth snapped shut with a click.

The dean placed his own palms on the desk and slowly leaned forward.
"I understand your anger. But do not endanger your situation any
further. Five days suspension is nothing compared to Mr. Boah's
punishment."

"What was his punishment?" Heero asked quietly.

The dean leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "Why,
expulsion of course."