Crash and Burn

Part 4

Author: Nyneve (remember me?)

Hello! I'm back from my hiatus. I know you're all wondering whether I died or not. Um, I didn't. I apologize for not writing for so long. But you know how it is. I have to be inspired! Plus Internet role-playing gets addictive. But anyways, I know you want to read this terribly, so I won't deny you the story any longer. Don't own the anime. Again, I apologize for not writing for so long.

-Nyneve

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I yawned and opened my eyes. The sun was shining brightly through the windows, which were small but let in enough light to brighten the room. Glancing at my watch, I realized it was the middle of the afternoon.

"Well Duh. If I was out partying until 3 AM then I get knocked out for about an hour then I wake up and get traumatized then go back to sleep it would be pretty late," I said to myself.

"If you're going to hold a conversation with yourself, onna, can you keep it quieter?" the boy I recognized as Wufei snapped. He was sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. I assumed he'd been meditating or something like that.

"I thought we went over this. My name is Mina. Not onna," I sat up, and pain coursed down my back. Sleeping on plastic chairs is not good for your spine.

"Whatever. If you're ready to go, the Professor said I was supposed to give you a ride back to the school," he replied, opening his eyes and standing up.

Oh boy. I couldn't be more thrilled. "What happened to all the others?" I asked, hoping maybe Quatre or Trowa could give me a ride. Hell, even Duo with all of his flirting would be better.

"Duo and Quatre are back already, and Trowa and Heero are with the Professor. If you must know, I was instructed to escort you back," he remarked, turning towards the door. I fumed at the way he expected me to follow him, like some dog.

"So, even though I'm supposed to work with you guys to kill people, you still don't trust me?" I snapped. "Do I win anything here?"

"You're still alive, aren't you? Congratulations. You've won first prize," he said sarcastically, then walked out the door.

I was about to argue with him again, but realized that all I wanted was to get away from this place, wherever it was. So I followed him down to a garage, where a motorcycle was parked.

He climbed on and motioned for me to get behind him. "Hold on. The Professor would kill me if you fell off and became street pizza."

I awkwardly put my arms around his waist. To my surprise, he didn't object. However, as he raised the garage door, I felt it was my duty to let him know I wasn't making any moves. "If you wanted me to put my arms around you, try showing a little respect first," I muttered slyly.

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could almost feel him going red at that remark. "Don't be stupid," he snapped, then revved the engine. A second later, we were going way above the speed limit and heading towards what I hoped was the school.

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Well, I got back to the school in one piece. But as we were pulling in to the dormitories, I saw Lita standing out front, and she was mad as a bull.

"Aino! What the hell is going on?" she yelled, walking over. I sighed and climbed off the motorcycle.

"Lita just listen…" suddenly, I felt Wufei grab my wrist tightly.

"Say anything about what happened and I have permission to kill you," he hissed in my ear.

"All right, all right! Geez, it's not like I haven't heard you the last thousand times!" I snapped, twisting my wrist out of his grip.

He glared at me, then got back on the motorcycle. "Someone's always watching, Aino. Don't try anything." Then, he drove off.

Back to my main problem.

"Who was that?" Lita asked, pointing off in the direction he had gone off in.

"Just…some guy I met," I muttered, not making eye contact. I figured saying nothing meant no names, no places, no nothing.

"The same guy you're moving in with now?" she snapped. "The guy you ditched me for?"

"Lita, I didn't ditch you…" I started, but it was like trying to damn the Nile with a bendy straw.

"Bulls***! You think I didn't see at that party how you were hanging out with that guy? Then you disappear for like, a day, and now I get a notice saying you've changed rooms?" She locked eyes with me. I then noticed that mixed within all her anger and shock, there was hurt.

I realized then how much she needed me. It didn't matter how many people admired her for her guts and attitude. They weren't her friends. Besides me, she didn't have any friends. I thought about the person who'd be her new roommate. Would they help her with her homework? Would they be able to trade fashion tips with her? Would they enjoy her God-given talent for cooking?

"Lita, look," I began. I paused, expecting another tirade. But it didn't come. She was actually listening. "A lot of things have happened to me in the last few hours. I want you to know that if this were up to me, I wouldn't even dream of leaving you. In fact, I really wish I wasn't."

"Then why don't you stay? We can talk to one of the boarding administrators. You've got so much influence, they couldn't say no!" she suggested.

I shook my head. "This doesn't have anything to do with the school. This shouldn't have anything to do with me, and it won't have anything to do with you. I promise."

She looked hard at me, then seemed to understand. "Okay. I guess I get it. I'm sorry I yelled. But do you…have time to come up to the room a second? I wanna give you something."

"Sure," I replied, then followed her up the stairs. As I did, I noticed she didn't seem as confident as she had been yesterday.

Yesterday. Was it really only 24 hours ago I was studying history in my room? Only 24 hours ago that I was a normal girl, who happened to bear a dangerous secret? I kicked myself, thinking about how I gave it all up just because I had to follow some guy down a hallway.

When we reached the room, I noticed how not one single item of mine remained. As I glanced into my old bedroom, I saw just an empty desk, a barren dresser, and a sheetless bed in the corner. My paintings, clothes, makeup, and CD player all gone.

"Two guys came and moved it this morning. They were pretty cute," Lita remarked, trying to be cheerful. She wasn't doing a very good job.

She stepped into her room, and I heard her open her dresser. A moment later, she came back out. In her hands was a worn-out book. She handed it to me.

"The Red Badge of Courage," I read aloud.

She smiled. "It's my favorite. Well, favorite book that's not a romance novel."

I broke into tears. I couldn't handle it anymore. I hugged my best friend tightly. "Thank you so much Lita. I get the feeling I'm going to need lots of courage."

She hugged me back. "No you don't. You've got tons already. You just don't know it."

A few moments later, I stepped away, towards the door. "Lita?" I called.

"Yeah?" she hadn't moved from the door to her bedroom.

"Best friends forever," I murmured.

She grinned weakly and nodded. "Best friends forever."

I turned away, not wanting her to see me break into a fresh wave of tears. Then, I ran down the hallway, got into the elevator, and cried.

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It was a good thing not many people wanted to use the elevator. I can't think of many things more embarrassing then being caught crying in someplace as awkward as an elevator.

I think I sat in there for fifteen minutes, going up and down and up and down until I lost all sense of direction. Then, I looked at the cover of the book.

There were five young men dressed in blue and gray uniforms. "American Civil War, huh? Leave it to fate for me to receive a book about killing," I muttered. Then, wiping my eyes with my sleeve and using the shiny hand bar as a mirror, I made myself look presentable.

I got out of the elevator on the fourth floor, right where Duo had told me his room was the night before. Or was it this morning? Oh well. At this point, time was nonexistent for me.

I walked down the hallway to room 413, then knocked on the door. A few moments later, Duo answered the door.

"Finally! What were you doing, sleeping in at the Prof.'s or having fun with Wufei? Maybe both?" he grinned.

I glared then gave my hair a sophisticated flip. "As if," I replied.

"Oh, Miss Aino! We've moved your things into your room," Quatre said, walking out.

"Actually, we moved all of your boxes into your room. I was going to unpack for you, but Q-man said that I shouldn't be going through your stuff," Duo apologized.

I smiled gratefully at Quatre. "Thanks. Who knew what damage he could've done?"

He blushed bright red, then headed towards the door. "Um, no problem Miss Aino. Well, I'll be seeing you."

With that, he walked out. I walked into what was now my room. A large window overlooked a parking lot where a black jeep stood, but nothing else. Boxes stood stacked against the wall, which looked like it might've been white at some point but was now a drab gray. The carpet looked okay, except for one weird looking blue stain in the corner.

I glanced questioningly at Duo, who shrugged. "Hey, I haven't had a roommate in months. I don't go in there either."

"Right," I said, crossing over and pulling a T-shirt, towel, pair of sweatpants, bottle of shampoo, bottle of body wash, and a scrubber out of a box, then headed towards what I assumed was the bathroom. I shuddered for a moment, then noticed it was oddly clean.

"Quatre made you clean house, didn't he?" I asked nonchalantly.

Duo nodded.

I sighed, and closed the door. Just as I was setting down my things, I opened it up again. "Oh, don't come within ten feet of this door or I will kill you," I said seriously, then shut it.

I heard him mutter "Not another Heero," as I turned on the shower.

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Well, how was that for being on break for about a month? R+R!!