Disclaimers: not mine, no money, don't sue, me is just a poor undergraduate, me owns nothing.
And I was inspired by Lorena's fic, Chiaroscuro. But it's not the same thing, I'm just borrowing the idea of the nightmare in studying in a private school (which I'm currently experiencing). ^___^
Warnings: AU, Cross-dressing. Language. Lame attempt at humor. Lil' bit o' Shounen Ai? By me, 'nuff to scare you? ^___^
Notes: Uhm, this is going to have Shounen Ai in it, definitely, especially this part. But that's to be expected since this is taking place in an academy exclusively for boys. So… if you don't like that, there's the back button for you. But it's not really that detailed, just kissing and stuff, it's for the plot. ::grin:: Oh, well. Read at your own risk.
Notes 2: If there are some typos (more than usual anyway) then please forgive me. Crash hates me so much now she's attacking my keyboard, as if wrecking my HD hadn't been enough. ^^;; Crap. The mouse is acting up as well. _ Poor Kuroi. I really need to invest on a new computer anyway… ::sigh:: A working PC isn't too much to ask for, is it?
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Part 6
The dinning hall was filled with noise coming from different people from all levels. She passed by a group heatedly arguing about quantum physics and another group was discussing who was more gross, Britney or Barney.
"Barney's gross!" one of the sophomores in the table exclaimed.
"But Britney's worse," another one argued. "I mean, really! The implants? Nothing's worse than her."
"I think they only stand equal on the gross scale," Relena butted in before making her way toward their usual table. The others she left agreed among themselves that she was right. They were both gross, period.
"Good morning, Duo," she greeted cheerfully as she sat down. She gave him one of her sunniest smiles.
"Is there some sort of disease everyone's catching on?" Duo asked the second Relena sat for breakfast.
She shrugged. "Don't know what you're talking about." She looked around the table and raised an eyebrow. "Would I regret it if I were to ask where Trowa and Quatre are? And Wufei as well? It seems as if we're getting fewer and fewer…"
"Wufei's blowing something up—got an A- for his chemistry and he's not taking any of it. Quatre and Trowa's at the music room, polishing their pieces together."
"I'm going to think that was all in that statement, no innuendoes," she said, taking a sip on her glass delicately. She gave her friend another sunny smile before she resumed poking her food with her fork.
"You've been smiling a lot since yesterday. Come on, spill."
Relena rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to retort when she saw Heero enter the dining hall at the corner of her eye. She felt her cheeks grow reasonably hot and shoved another forkful of mashed potato in her mouth.
Heero nodded to them in greeting. Relena bit her lower lip and tried to look laid-back but she seemed like she was nearing a cardiac arrest. But constipated pretty much hammered it home. She glanced at Heero then quickly looked down at her plate, afraid he'd catch her.
Duo cleared her throat and she looked up to him, fearing she'd been caught. "You seem to be glowing a bit, Yuy."
Relena flushed and took a generous gulp of her orange juice. What's Heero's reaction? She abruptly turned to her right and watched him carefully.
He shrugged. She felt her shoulders drop a little. No blenching. No gagging. Not a trace of anything negative. Except maybe for his lack of response. THAT'S IT? She dug into her food furiously, glaring at the green garnish at the side.
When she looked up from massacring her breakfast, she saw Duo regarding her with an unreadable expression. "What?" she asked quietly, though she wasn't really expecting an answer. She continued to eat her food in silence, allowing Duo and Heero to fill the silence with their babble about sports.
Heero pushed his plate back and excused himself. "I'll see you at the back of the school for our hike at exactly eight-thirty this morning, Dorian." With that, he stood up and left.
Relena watched his figure disappear from view when he rounded the corner and left the room. She pushed her plate away and frowned.
"Hiking with him, huh? Don't let that dampen whatever exuberance you had with you earlier this morning. You'll survive without rolling down the hill," her friend comforted her.
It would've been better if that was what she was distressed about—not that she was distressed—maybe just a little—no, not at all. "It's just so hard to figure it all out, you know? Everything's so complicated. It's like…I can just fall any time and no one will catch me."
"He won't let you fall, don't worry," Duo said, looking at her straight in the eye and giving her a pointed look. "And trust me, you're not the first one to feel that way. But maybe you'll be different this time."
~*~*~*~
"Oh, this is just great," Relena muttered under her breath, hiking the her backpack higher as she marched toward the school's rear where she was supposed to meet Heero. Overgrown grass was clawing at her legs where her shorts left her skin unprotected. "He tells me something which I assume was meant to comfort me in a way but he ends up confusing me more. Was he talking about hiking or the Devil himself?"
"Didn't you know that talking to yourself isn't a very healthy habit, Rey?"
Relena glared at the young man leaning against faded blue wooden wall that served as an old tool shed. "The last person I want to see," she said. Well, okay, second to the last. But she had no choice with regards to meeting Last Choice No. 1. It was blow me off and find yourself rolling down the damn hill. "What are you doing here?"
"Bird watching."
"Your hot air already scared them off," she replied, turned to resume her walking. Nothing good will come from talking to James. He spelled trouble with a capital T. No, scratch that. He spelled trouble all caps. She doesn't want anything to do with him. Or his horrid fan club. They can have him.
"Aw, you wound me with such words, Reynald Darling," he drawled on, sauntering toward him. He placed at a hand on Relena's shoulder and she stiffened. "Relax, I won't hurt you." He cradled her face with both hands and looked into her eyes. "You have such beautiful eyes, Rey."
"The wonders of tinted contacts," she chirped.
"And you have such smooth skin, " James said, tracing her jaw with the back of his hand.
"Foreign lotion. Lizard's tail and fish eyes. It really works."
"Witty as well as beautiful, that's why I like you, Rey," he whispered softly, his face slowly coming closer. "And you have such soft-looking lips. I wonder if it's as soft as it looks."
Relena froze. She was not attracted to James in any way, quite the opposite in fact, but she was also only a mere mortal. She knew about the thousands of men who became powerless when faced with James' beautiful liquid silver eyes. She hated herself at the mere thought of possibly becoming one of them.
She took a step back. He took a step forward. This is not good, Relena thought when her back came into contact with the hard, wooden wall. Where the hell is my lightning?
"You don't have to be afraid, I promise I'll be gentle," James said, touching her face again. "No one will have to know… He won't have to know about this…"
"H-he?" what the hell was this guy talking about?
"Yes, him. Don't try to fool me, Love. I notice things. Like the way your eyes always light up when he's around. I want your eyes to light up just like that. For me. Only for me," he grabbed her arms and pulled her closer to him.
Relena recoiled in horror. The pressure on her arms was increasing. "Le—let go of me!" she exclaimed, struggling. But he only held onto her. "Let me go, you bastard!"
"I get that a lot," he mused, smiling at her as he eased his hold on her. He tugged at the collar of his dark blue shirt. "Shall we continue?"
Relena started to inch left but James' arm at the side of her immediately immobilized her. "Fun. I didn't know you were the kind to play games. All right then. Let's play." With both arms at each side of her head, she was trapped. "How do you want us to do this?"
"Go to hell, you evil bastard" she glared at him, eyes flashing.
"Now, really, name-calling's not nice, didn't your mother tell you that?"
"Rape's not nice either, didn't you know?"
"This isn't rape. One has to be unwilling for it to be rape. And you came out here willingly, didn't you?" She could feel his breath on her face. Relena closed her eyes.
"I was on my way to the hill for a hike. You were waiting for me."
"Ah, but I can always say you agreed to meet here," he said, hands trailing by her side. He rested it on her waist and grinned. "You have such a nice figure. Almost like a lady's."
"And you have such an awful attitude. Like a bastard's. Oh, wait. You are a bastard."
"Still fiery, aren't we? We'll see about that…" His face came closer again. Relena's breath hitched and she closed her eyes, willing for her lightning to strike her—or him—any instant now. She turned her head at the last second and James' kiss landed on her cheek.
He took his chin in his left hand and glared at her. "I've been trying to play nice since the beginning, Dorian. But you just won't listen." He smiled at her and tilted her face to level her with a pointed glare. "I guess I'll just have to teach you a lesson or two about playing nice, don't I?"
"Let him go, Reyes."
Relena's eyes fell on Heero, standing a good feet behind James with his eyes flashing angrily. His own backpack lay on the grass by his feet.
James shrugged and released Relena. He stepped away and smiled. "You just have to ruin my fun, Yuy." He straightened his shirt and brushed the lint off his clothes. "Well then, since you're already here to keep Dorian company, I'll go now. I'll see you two around."
Relena silently watched him walk away. Then her eyes rested on the young man standing in front of him.
"Reynald…" Heero began.
But she didn't care to hear the rest. Suddenly she felt sick. She placed a hand to cover her mouth and shook her head. She ran all the way back to her dorm without looking back at Heero.
If she did, she would've seen the pained expression that flashed on the young man's face.
Throwing herself on the bed, Relena aloud the tears to fall. The queasy feeling still hasn't left her but now its was being accompanied by tears.
She felt so dirty. She knew James probably wouldn't have the nerve to do more than kiss her but you never know. She just felt so weak that time she couldn't even fight him. A good kick on the groin should've done the trick. But she felt powerless then. Her brain wouldn't work. And Heero had to save her.
Heero had to be the one to see her like that.
She hated it. She hated it when people saw her as weak. But it was worse because it was Heero who saw her in that state.
She had struggled hard so nobody would ever see her as weak. She worked so hard to keep her chin up no what matter the situation. She was sick and tired of being treated like a baby. She could take care of herself, that's what she wanted to prove to her parents. And she succeeded.
That is, until that morning.
She had to be saved by someone again. She hated the feeling.
~*~*~*~
The soft knocks on her door woke her up. Relena opened her eyes slowly and saw through her slightly open window it was already dark outside. So, she mused, I cried myself to sleep. She stood up from the bed and sighed, knowing full well she must look like crap.
But at least the sleep helped her gather her wits. She was not going to let whatever happened earlier that day ruin her stay. And yes, she was going to get James back for that later.
"Who is it?" she asked, fixing her wig as she made her way toward the door. She opened the door and froze.
Heero was standing outside with an unfathomable expression on his face. He cleared his throat and looked down when the door was opened. "Look, I know you may want to be alone but… You didn't come for lunch and dinner and no one saw you the whole day. I—Duo—and the others—are getting worried."
Relena felt a small smile tug on her lips. So Heero's been worried… She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him in. "I'm okay, you guys didn't have to worry. I just slept the whole day, that's all…"
Heero stared at the room he stepped into in amazement. It was, by far, the cleanest room he's been into since he enrolled at SKA. Quatre and Trowa's room didn't count, of course, since it's a known fact Quatre was a clean freak.
"It's a bit messy but I think it's safe to say that no rats will come out," Relena said, taking the shirts strewn all over the small couch she had near the counter of the kitchenette.
"Messy? This is probably the cleanest room I've been to," Heero smiled. "Don't tell me you're another clean freak! We already have Quatre for that."
She chuckled then shook her head. "Not really, but I don't like the prospect of sleeping with rats scurrying around my room. Of course compared to your room…" She left her sentence hanging meaningfully.
He snorted and secretly smiled as he looked around while she gathered the shirts and other articles of clothing in a laundry basket. He was glad Dorian wasn't letting the incident earlier get to him. His eyes fell on the pictures on the end table.
He picked one up and stared at it.
Relena turned back to Heero, about to ask him whether he'd like something to drink when she saw what he had in his hands. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! She screamed at herself.
She had pictures of herself and her family and friends all over the room. Of course Heero would recognize her. She cleared her throat and forced a chuckle. "Pretty, isn't she?" Lightning, where are you? Strike me now.
Heero turned his intense blue eyes on her and held up the picture. "How do you know Relena?"
"Eh? H-how?" Relena swallowed hard. How do I know myself? "She's good friends with my cousin, one of the girls in the picture," she replied, walking toward him and picking out a group picture of all of them. She pointed to Hilde. "She introduced me to her."
"Are you guys going out?"
Am I dating myself?
"No, we're friends. Strictly friends. We're rather close, you know."
Closer than you'll ever imagine.
"Why, are you interested in her?" she asked, elbowing him playfully. She held her breath for his answer.
"It's nothing," Heero shrugged, replacing the picture on the table. "She's just…different, you know? She's not like the other people who lie to you. She's honest. And I like that about her."
Relena felt the ground beneath her crumble. Doesn't lie? Honest? Will he ever talk to me once he finds out about the truth? Maybe…
Maybe it's time I tell someone the truth? I only have two weeks left anyway. I can lock myself in my room until the two weeks are up if things don't go too well.
She cleared her throat and turned to Heero, bracing herself for the worse. This is it. Lord, please be ready to deliver one lightning in ten seconds. I'll have it on stand-by please.
"Heero, there's something I need to tell you. I think you may want to sit down because this will be a bit…surprising, to say the least."
"What do you mean?"
"The truth is…" Relena took a deep breath. Now or never.
"SURPRISE!" three female voices exclaimed at the same time, jumping in from outside the window.
Relena's eyes grew wide as she stared shellshock at her three best friends staring back and forth from Relena then to Heero. This is not good…
WHERE'S MY LIGHTNING?
Tbc
Liked it? Hated it? Loved it? Lost your lunch? Gifts? Threats? Praises? Mail me and tell me! ^_^ Send 'em over at kuroi_22@hotmail.com
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There, I hope you guys liked that. I'm home alone in New Year's Day instead of being terrorized by the yearly family reunion so I thought I'd make the most out of it and update Going Undercover. ^_^
Btw, to Britney fans, I'm sorry. But I hate her. Britney-bashing is pretty much common in my fics so… ::shrugs::