~*~*~*~*~*


Rei and the boys entered the class two minutes late.

"Sorry Mr. Tomizawa, we had to pick up Rei's schedule," Quatre said with a smile. The other boys just went and sat down. They had an unspoken agreement with the teachers, minus one. As long as they didn't bother the boys unduly, and the boys didn't bother them, everything was fine. Of course, Duo had a tendency to bug the teachers throughout the course of the day.

"Miss Hino?" He asked. Rei nodded.

"You may sit by Mr. Maxwell," He told her. She walked over and sat next to the braided boy. Maxwell grinned cheekily at her and she pointedly ignored him.

"Now, I doubt that any of you actually remember anything that you were told yesterday, but you will have a test on I anyway. Miss Hino, you will take the test as well, that way I will figure out where you are compared to the class," Mr. Tomizawa announced. He pulled a pile of papers off his desk and passed them out. Rei took hers and passed the rest to the person behind her. She looked it over quickly and groaned in her head. The stuff on the paper was child's play. She finished all fifty problems in less than five minutes and pulled her lap top out of her red and black messenger bag.

"Miss Hino?" the teacher called. She glanced up at him.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Are you done?"

"Yes," She nodded.

"Bring it to the front please," She picked up the paper, walked to the front of the class, and handed it to him. She turned and walked back to her desk and started to type quietly. She glanced over at Duo and noticed that he to was done, but he was doodling on another paper and it almost looked like he was still doing his work. After everyone else was done, he raised is hand for a few extra minutes to work.

"Fine Mr. Maxwell," Mr. Tomizawa said with a sigh, "I should expect it from you, you are always the last person to finish your tests," Rei stored that tidbit of information in the back of her mind.

"Class dismissed," Mr. Tomizawa announced as Duo turned in his paper.

"Next is PE," Duo told Rei with a disgruntled look on his face.

"What's the matter with this teacher?" Rei asked with a sigh.

"He's evil," Duo answered quickly.

"He's not evil," Quatre started, "He's just, . . . very pushy,"

"He's evil," Duo restated.

"Why do you call him evil?" Rei asked.

"He purposefully goes after people in the class until the can't handle it and collapse," Duo informed her.

"It sounds to me like he just doesn't know where your boundaries are," Rei told him with a shrug.

"We have two girls left in our class because he made them all cry. The two that are left cry everyday and all he does is yell that they are babies and he doesn't allow babies on his field or in his gym," Quatre told her with a worried look on his face.

"I don't cry," Rei said stonily.

"All onna's cry," Wufei commented.

"I'm not all onna's. Just point me to the girls locker rooms," They had just reached the gym and were standing in front of the doors. Heero lifted a hand and gestured to the area. She walked over to it. She entered the locker room and found two other girls.

"Are you new to the school or just crazy?" Asked the shorter of the two. She looked to be about 5'1" and had long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.

"I'm new," She told them with a nod.

"Figures," the other girl said. She had short brown hair and blue eyes. She was only about an inch or so taller than the first girl.

"I've already heard about him from my roommates friends," Rei told them.

"Who's your roommate?" The first one asked.

"Trowa Barton," She answered automatically. She pulled off her uniform and started to pull on the gym outfit she had chosen. Red yoga pants, a black work out top, and a red zip-up sweatshirt. She pulled her long hair into a ponytail and tied her red and black sneakers.

"Don't worry about crying, he's really mean and no one thinks about it anymore," The second girl told her.

"I don't cry," Rei answered stiffly.

"Whatever you say, but you've never met Mr. Gin. I'm Sharon, and this is Carol," The first girl introduced herself.

"I'm Rei," She left the locker room and went into the gym.

"You must be the little girl they sent me," Mr. Gin called as she came in. He was a tall stocky man with a bald spot in his brown hair and muddy brown eyes.

"I'm not a little girl anymore," Rei said with a shrug.

"Rule number one in this class is that you do not speak unless I give you permission. Understood?" He asked Rei. The boys had just walked into the room. They were all wearing black sweat pants and white tee-shirts.

"Yes sir," she answered with a nod.

"I expect you to do everything that I tell you to when I tell you to, understood?" He asked.

"Yes sir," She said with a nod.

"Name?"

"Rei Hino," She told him.

"Run, now," He told her. He turned around, fully expecting her to be completely cowed.

"Yui, Barton, Chang," He called over those three. He was still trying to get those three to collapse on him. Rei being so small, he figured she'd be simple. These three wouldn't do anything though. They just worked without complaint. Quatre had burst into tears four weeks before, and Duo had collapsed two days after that.

"Yes?" Wufei asked.

"I want ten laps in the next two minutes, GO," He shouted. The boys obediently took off at a fast pace and Mr. Gin turned to talk to the other kids only to see Rei still standing there.

"What are you still doing standing there?" He shouted.

"You didn't tell me how long to run sir," She told him steadily.

"You run until I tell you to stop you idiot," He shouted at her. Her eyes narrowed on him.

"You did not stipulate that at the beginning when you first told me to run, and since I am a new student it is unprofessional to assume that I know what you are talking about. Therefore you have no right to call me an idiot," She turned and started to run after the boys. She caught up with them and kept pace. When the boys finished Mr. Gin called for her to stop as well.

"Fifty pull-ups each, go," He told them. Rei glared at him and walked over to the two bars. She and Heero reached first. They each grabbed a hold of the bars and started to pull up on them. Heero took the speed he usually did, and Rei decided to pace him. They finished at the same time and jumped off to let Wufei and Trowa get on with their own. The rest of the class was playing some game. Wufei and Trowa stopped a little later and the four looked at the teacher for their next assignment. He walked over and glared at them.

"Sit-ups, now, a hundred," He growled. The two got down and started them. He watched for a few moments, completely annoyed at the fact that a girl was acting like Heero Yui. He smirked as he noticed her knees slightly bend. He walked over and kicked her over. She rolled away quickly and glared at him.

"What was that for?" She growled.

"Your knee's were bent, start over," He told her with a smile. She growled and started over. When she was at seventy he growled to himself. The boys were done and waiting and she was doing the rest of her own. He growled and walked over. Her long ponytail stayed in a neat pile below her face. He reached down and pulled it, hard. She popped up immediately and he pulled her close.

"Do you think your self above the rules?" He yelled. She set a stony look on her face as her breathing became shallow. "It is written clearly that you must have hair in a bun or a braid to keep it form blowing around," He yelled again. Her eyes went blank as he kept screaming at her.

Flashback

Rei bit her lip until she felt the blood run down her chin. She refused to scream. They were using the screamer again. She had named all of the 'toys' that they men used on her. The screamer was a thick whip that was cut into eight thinner strips at the end, each with it's own razor blade at the end. One hundred lashes a day, that was what she was up to. The last one fell and she took an unsteady breath. She was unchained and thrown on top of the table again. She had long sense become used to the routine. First the whip, then the salt in anything bleeding, then the rape, and then whatever the guards decided would be more interesting. An hour later she was shoved on the ground and forced to do pushups. She started to do them as the men practiced throwing knives at the space under her when she was up. The commander came in and kicked her over. She rolled away and looked at him. He came over and took her by the ponytail and dragged her up to his face. He glared at her and started screaming about some sort of rescue mission. She glared back and he pulled a large dagger and stabbed it into her side to the hilt. Eight inches.


End Flashback

"Are you listening to me?" He yelled, her hair still wrapped around his fist. Her glazed eyes never moved. Duo and Quatre watched nervously as she didn't move.

"HINO?" He yelled. Her hands moved to her side unseeingly and bit her lip hard enough to make blood drip down her chin. Her jaw locked and a scowl set on her face. She brought her knee up and hit him squarely in the nuts. He let go of her hair and dropped like a stone. She turned and ran out of the building. The five pilots quickly followed her. She ran up into the dorm building, all the way up the stairs, and into her room. She slammed the door closed and walked into the living room. She looked around before collapsing in the middle of the room. Her eyes were dry, but she put her arms around her body and rocked back and forth. Not even two minutes later the boys all came into the room. She was still sitting there, rocking back and forth. Looking like a lost child. Quatre felt his heart twist in pity for the girl.

"Rei?" He asked. She ignored him and rocked back and forth.

"He is a worthless otoko, now get up onna," Wufei told her. She turned and glared at him.

"You don't know me, you don't understand anything. Everyone tells me that I need to get over it, but it's not that easy," She screamed at him. She put her hands over her face for a moment. She pulled them back down a moment later, the attention of all five boys on her.

"We can try," Quatre told her pleadingly.

"No, You don't want to, I wouldn't wish my life on anyone. I don't need pity, I don't need help, and I don't need people telling me that everything will be fine, Because I know that it's impossible for everything to be FINE," She yelled. She stood up and pushed through the boys to lock herself in the bathroom.

"You might as well open up to us as anyone else, we'd be the ones to understand a little of what you went through," Duo called through the door. The door swung open and she glared at him with enough fury to scare Heero, even if the perfect soldier wouldn't admit it.

"Is that so?" She asked evenly. She unzipped her sweatshirt, took it off and turned to show them her back. the skin that they could see on her face and hands was a pale white, marred her and there by small scars. Her back was scars upon scars upon scars. Here and there she had tiny patches of pale skin, but most of it was scars.

"Allah," Quatre breathed.

"That's nothing compared to many other things that were done. Can any of you tell me that you can relate?" She asked, the stiff look still on her face. They looked at her, two with distinct pity, two with respect, and one she could tell understood, even if he wouldn't admit to. She looked at the blonde and the braided boy.

"Don't look at me if all you will feel is pity. It is not wanted or needed," She told them bitterly.


~*~*~*


Damia - "I know, short, but I had to write it. Hotaru was requesting it. She made me remember my duty to the fans,"


Solatina - "You are so corny,"


Wren - "Can't you be nice,"


Damia - "So I would like to thank Hotaru,"


Solatina - "Can't you grow a back bone,"


Damia - "Because if she hadn't reminded me, I probably wouldn't have updated for a few more weeks,"


Wren - "Can't you spare the incessant childish come backs?"


Solatina - "Only when you do,"


Damia - "I'm getting a head ache . . . "