Crash and Burn

Part 5

Author: Nyneve (Ich heisse Nyneve. Wie heisst du?)

Hello again! On my new toy again. Did I mention I got it for my birthday? Yes, today is my birthday. I am the extremely mature age of 14. Oh happy day! Only four years left until graduation! Anyways, don't expect a stop in ficcies anytime soon. I'll probably still be writing this stuff in 20 years. Won't that be nice? Of course it will. Now then, I shall stop rambling on and on and allow you to read this story you're all nice enough to read. Don't own the anime. Byers!

-Nyneve

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The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful. Duo left me alone for the most part, and I just stayed in my room. I snuck out to get some food from McDonald's a few miles away from the school, but I could've sworn I saw Quatre watching me from outside. Or else being constantly watched by guys I barely knew was starting to get to me. One of the two.

Monday morning I awoke to my alarm. I didn't trust Duo to wake me up on time. It made me sad though. Lita always looked after me like that. How was I going to survive without her?

As I got dressed and packed my bag for class, I paused to pick up the book my best friend had given me. I glanced at the clock. Seeing as I had about a half an hour before my first class, I sat down on my bed and read just the first page.

The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the fields, resting. As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors. It cast it's eyes upon the roads, which were growing from long troughs of liquid mud to proper thoroughfares. A river, amber-tinted in the shadow of it's banks, purled at the enemy's feet; and at night, when the stream had become of a sorrowful blackness, one could see it across the red, eyelike gleam of hostile camp fires set in the low brows of distant hills.

I stopped reading. I had never heard words so beautiful. Was this really a story of battle, blood, and the loss of human lives? Or was this what battle was?

I thought about the war fought between Earth and the colonies a couple years back. I was 15, then. War was a completely new concept to me. I had read about them of course. The American Revolutionary War, The Hundred Years' War, World Wars I and II, even the American Civil War like I was reading now; but none of them seemed real. They had happened so long ago. But the war that occurred in my lifetime was different somehow.

It was little things at first. Just tensions between groups of people, then little skirmishes, then battles. Before either I or anyone else knew it, history was being made.

But it was over now. I was 17, almost a legal adult. It was time to forget the past and move on. I had a future ahead of me to work for. Things to do, people to see, places to go.

Or had I given it all up in exchange for my life?

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Monday was normal. Tuesday was normal. Wednesday was fairly normal, implying that I got a whisper from a girl saying that "the guy with the braid" was stalking me. But Thursday was what thoroughly confused me.

I was sitting on a bench in the Commons area, a grassy field where guys played soccer and girls sat under trees braiding their hair and giggling like madwomen. I was reading the Red Badge of Courage and being completely oblivious to the world around me when I sensed someone looking at me.

I had just about gotten used to being followed all the time, but I guess I forgot or something because when I looked up and saw Heero sitting next to me I screamed. Luckily, there was no one around.

He glared daggers at me. "The first thing we need to work on is your nerves. You'll never survive if you scream every time something startles you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"The Professor put me in charge of your training. We're starting after school tomorrow," he replied.

"Training? What kind of training?" I asked suspiciously, putting my book in my bag and turning my full attention to him.

"Combat training. You won't be of any use on missions if you can't fight. Or avoid being noticed. Or..."

"I get it!" I snapped. He face showed no emotion. Gee, there was a shock.

"Tomorrow, at sixteen hundred hours. It'll be harder if you put it off, so just show up," he remarked, then stood up and walked away.

"Wait! I've still got a few questions!" I called after him. He didn't answer.

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Duo was waiting for me when I got back to the room. He smiled cheerfully.

"Hey, a little bird told me Heero was going to work with you!" he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Duo, shut up or Hell's gonna be raised by me," I muttered, tossing my stuff on the floor. Oddly though, I didn't want to be alone. Not now anyways. He might be annoying, but he seems to care. A little anyways.

I flopped down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "Is it hard Duo?"

"What, training? Nah, not once you get used to it. You're in awesome shape, and you're really smart too. You'll do fine," he replied.

I paused before asking the next question. "Does your family know you're an assassin?"

For once, Duo was silent. "I don't have a family. I'm a war orphan."

Great. Good move Aino, bring up the worst subject possible with the guy who trusts you the most I thought bitterly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up," I apologized. He shook his head.

"It's nothing. Really. I mean, I've got way more freedom than other people get, so it's no big deal. What about your family?" he asked, switching the questions over to me.

"Ha. If you want to go so far to call it a family, you might say I love them," I said sarcastically. "My mom fails to acknowledge my existence, and I haven't seen my dad for about thirteen years."

"Don't you have anyone else though? I mean, people like you always come from supportive families," he asked.

"People like me? What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up and looking at him. For once, I actually was enjoying talking to my roommate.

"Well, you're smart, like I said before. And athletic, and popular, and pretty, and perfect," he finished. "Haven't you noticed it? I mean, guys want you, girls want to be you, and teachers think you're the greatest thing to come along since the white board."

I stared at him. For some reason, he wasn't flirting with me. Or was he? Was what he was saying the truth, or was he just flattering me so that we'd get along better?

I smiled. It didn't matter.

"Hey Duo. You want to go get a pizza or something? I'm starved," I suggested, grabbing my purse from my room and coming back out.

"You mean, like a date?" he asked hopefully.

"No. Like two friends going out to get pizza. I stress the word friends," I answered firmly. He shrugged and stood up.

"Gotta start somewhere, right?" he grinned. "You just wait, Mina. I'll win you over yet."

I laughed. "Good luck Romeo."

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Classes on Friday dragged on and on. And on.

Finally, it was four o'clock. I was patiently waiting on the bench like a good little girl. I wasn't going to give Heero a reason to think less of me right away.

Five minutes later, he still wasn't there. The Commons were empty now, except for me. I was about to get out my book when my "teacher" stepped out from nowhere, as usual.

"You're late," I commented.

"I was avoiding being seen. You don't know how long I've been here," he retorted. "Come on."

He started to walk away. I followed obediently.

"So, where are we going to do this training?" I asked as we approached the parking lot.

"The Professor's Lab. She has target field she said you could use," he answered, unlocking a dark green Lexus.

I stared. "There is no way in Hell this is your car."

"It's the Professor's. Get in," he ordered.

I tossed my bag in the backseat then sat down. As the car started, I reached for the radio.

"Leave it off," Heero said, not looking away from the road.

"Let me guess. You're one of those quote-on-quote responsible drivers?" I muttered sarcastically.

"No. I just don't like music," he answered simply.

I rolled my eyes. Boy was I lucky to have Heero Yuy for a trainer.

Ten minutes or so later we arrived at the lab. Heero led me into a empty target hall in the basement. From a metal cabinet on the wall he pulled out a gun and handed it to me. He then proceeded to explain it to me.

I don't care how smart Duo thinks I am. The only part I understood was "trigger" which was more than enough.

"I'll shoot first, then you take a shot," Heero remarked. Then, he carefully aimed at a dime-sized target about four billion feet away, and fired. The bang echoed around the concrete walls. He walked over and picked up the target, then showed me. In the exact center was a perfectly small round hole.

"Ready?" he asked, handing me the gun. "Aim for that target to begin with."

I closed one eye, aimed carefully, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

I tried again. No shot.

"It's not working," I remarked, lowering it. Heero rolled his eyes, then took the gun. I don't know what he did, but I heard a small click and he handed it back to me.

"Now try it with the safety off," he instructed.

I glared at him, extremely ticked and a little embarrassed.

I then proceeded to repeat my process. I carefully aimed, then fired. A shot forty times louder than before echoed around followed by the sound of metal on concrete. The bullet was laying on the floor next to the wall to my right.

"Damn it!" I yelled, frustrated at not being able to do this simple task.

"Hey, at least you managed to shoot something," I heard Heero mutter. I was tempted to make a remark back to him, but thought better of it.

"Okay, I'll try again," I hissed.

Release safety, aim, fire.

The shot seemed quieter this time, but it was blocked by the grunt from Heero. I looked and saw that I had shot him in the hand.

"Oh God Heero, I'm so sorry!" I cried, rushing over.

"It's fine, I'll have the Professor fix it. Just try again. And this time, forget your emotions. Focus on your target and nothing else. All that exists is you and the target. Make it so only you exist," he remarked.

After glancing at him worriedly one more time, I took his advice. I took a deep breath, then closed my eyes. I forgot everything. I forgot Lita, Duo, being followed, my family, The Red Badge of Courage, being an assassin, war, the Professor, and even Heero.

Then, I opened my eyes and saw the target. I aimed again slowly, released the safety, and fired.

The shot was more like a snap. I heard Heero walk over to the target and pick it up. When he put it in my hand, I saw that in the exact center was a perfectly round, small, hole.

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All for now! R+R+R (read and review and rant!)