Disclaimer: is in the first chapter. Don't bother me about it.

AN Can you believe it? I'm actually getting this story worked on! I didn't think I would have enough time to write this until about a week from now, but what do you know - chapter three is done! Thanks to everybody who corrected my spelling errors last chapter - I'm really bad at spelling.

If you have the time, I have a live journal that I post all my updates in. If I'm lucky, it might even make you laugh. The link is in my bio, please check it out.

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Chapter 3

Work, as it typically should be, is a relatively boring experience. Even for one who works in a relatively exciting place, the routine eventually sets in and work becomes a boring pain in the ass. Heero had already learned this. He was manning the cashier at The Shack, while another worker was stationed at the grills. It was some new girl that had been hired only for fill-in work. It was to Heero's belief that the girl also had a job at All Videos, the local movie rental shop.

It was Wednesday, probably one of the most boring days of the week. Duo wouldn't be showing up at all for work because that particular Wednesday was "Clean up the Orphanage for the Open House" day at Maxwell Church.

To tell the truth, The Shack and the surrounding beach was completely deserted. There wasn't even a lone couple taking a stroll or a couple of kids building a sand castle to distract that supposed-to-be working teenager.

Heero huffed in boredom, slumping against the counter and pulling the brim of his hat a little lower over his eyes. At long last, the bell over the door jingled as it opened and the sound of footsteps covered up the hissing of grease. Almost immediately the athletic boy straightened up to greet his costumer.

"Welcome to The Shack, what can I get for you?" He recited, looking up into the face of a very old man.

The man was short and had gray hair oddly shaped like a mushroom, but his eyes were sharp and when he spoke it was in a strong and deep voice. A voice that demanded authority and respect. His words might have off-set the illusion, however. "Six Happy-Burgers, two medium Silly-Fries and five large coffees'." There was a brief pause: "To go."

"Anything else, sir?" Heero asked, punching the correct buttons on the cash register. He didn't need the silly machine to add up the total cost, but authority insisted, and Heero valued his job too much to object. "That will come to thirteen dollars and fifty-five cents."

While the man rooted through his clothing for his wallet, Heero turned and hollered to the back of The Shack: "Hey Silvia - six Happies, two sillies!" Before turning back around to receive the cash card thrust at him. He expertly rang up the sale, getting the coffee together while the machine processed.

"Please sign here..." The teen said, handing over the sales slip and a pen.

The man did so, his name almost printed: "Dr. G. Gersbad."

About five minutes later, the shop was back to its boring Wednesday self. Only a few families stopped by for dinner that night, and Heero had to forcibly remind himself to smile kindly, least he scare them away.

===

It was probably the first time that Duo was actually paying attention and taking notes during class. Not only that, but the long haired boy was actually participating and asking questions as well. It was probably because his Latin class had suddenly become interesting.

Most teachers would probably be suspicious of such an event. But Mr. Otto was just relieved he didn't have to put up with the two brightest boys in the class bickering. However, both the attention and the relief were short-lived because about ten minutes into the class, there was a knock on the door.

Mr. Otto paused in his explanation of which languages were based off of Latin and why, and walked over to the door.

Duo leaned over to ask Wufei something that, surprisingly enough related to the topic at hand.

"Maxwell - the principal would like a word with you, in his office."

Duo and Wufei shared muted looks of surprise, and the long haired boy slowly stood up. He gathered his things together, before flipping his braid over his shoulder and leaving the classroom.

And as it should have been, the walk to the office was long and quiet. Too quiet, for Duo's tastes. But the quiet wouldn't last long. Not only was Principle Kushrenada waiting for him in the main office, but so was Father Maxwell. And neither looked very pleased with the teen.

===

"So what was the prank this time?" Wufei asked later at lunch. He picked uninterestedly at his still cold noodles with chopsticks before reaching across the blanket to steal a slice of Heero's pizza.

Duo shrugged, looking with as much interest at his bologna sandwich as he would a single grain of sand. "I have no idea."

Heero smacked Wufei's hand away from his pizza, before offering a slice to his boyfriend - much to the Chinese boy's annoyance. "So you weren't involved at all?"

Duo actually pouted, taking the slice and cramming into his mouth. "Mmph." He said around the food in his mouth.

Quatre wrinkled his nose in distaste. "At least swallow before attempting to speak." He complained.

Two violet eyes rolled skyward before Duo lifted his hands. "They said something about stink-bombs in the locker-room." He signed, proving that he was nothing, if not multilingual.

"Girls or boys?" Trowa asked with interest. He had advanced physical education seventh period, so it would be good for him to know this bit of information.

Duo swallowed. "Girls."

"What's your punishment?" Quatre asked, now peering into his lunch bag to see if he had missed anything edible. He glared suspiciously at Wufei, who was now chewing contentedly on beef jerky. Wufei gave him an innocent look.

"Two days in school suspension." Duo grumbled, turning back to his sandwich and giving it new appreciation. He nearly inhaled the thing. "I don't even know what's awaiting me at home... probably a lot more yelling and life in my room."

The other four winced. They all knew what kind of temper sister Helen hand when she was extremely angry. And for Duo to pull something like this right before the Open House at the orphanage, Duo would be lucky if he would be able to hear after all this was over.

"They're holding me up in the library starting tomorrow." Duo sighed, flopping onto his back, and conveniently into Heero's lap. "Come visit me, ne?"

"Baka. We have classes still."

"Man, this sucks. Stink bombs aren't my thing. I've had enough of bad odors in my life time."

His four friends laughed and the subject shifted to something a little more light hearted.

===

The phone of the orphanage rang shrilly, breaking the silence of dinner. Sister Helen put down her fork and knife, standing up to grab the phone.

"Hello?" She asked. One of her blond eyebrows twitched. "I'm sorry Quatre; Duo is grounded for the next week. He'll see you at school tomorrow." There was a pause. "Oh... I had forgotten... Yes, I'll tell him. Thank you, Quatre."

Duo, having perked up at the sound of his friends' name, watched with eager eyes as the nun replaced the phone on the receiver and walked back to the table. The woman calmly sat down and picked up her fork.

"He said that your study session tonight will be at his house." Helen finally said.

Duo didn't say anything, waiting for the rest of the message.

"Heero will come by to pick you up. I expect you back before ten thirty."

"Yes, sister." The boy murmured.

"What'd you do?" Angel, a five year old girl asked. Her pretty blue eyes peered curiously at Duo, not noticing how both Sister Helen and Father Maxwell turned to look at the eldest boy.

"Nothing important, Angel." Duo sighed, putting down his things. He turned to Father Maxwell. "May I be excused?"

The priest nodded before turning to the rest of the children sitting around the table with a smile. "Who wants ice-cream?"

The kids, only six of them, though all of them were under the age of seven, cheered.

Duo, who was walking up the stairs towards his attic bedroom, heard the cheering and sighed softly. He knew that his guardians were angry at him, but he at least thought that they would believe him if he said he hadn't done it. If there was anything that Duo prided himself on it was never lying. He might stretch the truth a little, or give misleading answers, but never flat out lied. So, earlier that afternoon, when he had stated quiet clearly: "I didn't do it." he had expected them to believe him.

With another heavy sigh, Duo flopped down on his bed and turned on his radio, searching for some good music. What he came across was a news report.

"-Recent studies in youth inactivity have brought forth a new marvel. A group of five scientists have recently brought to public their discovery of "mutation" in youth. They say that this isn't a result of any experimenting, but that humans are born with such mutations. Experts in different subjects have already scorned this new development on the basis that there is no proof. It has been called a fairy tale, by one expert. The five scientists have recently disappeared, leaving no trace of themselves of their research."

Duo's eyes widened and he stared at his radio in shock. That was enough to become a main headline?

"-The agricultural state of our country has taken a turn for the better, farming is up ten percent and-"

With an abrupt flick of his mind, the radio shut off and the long haired youth flopped down on his back to think.

However, before much of that particular past time had time to ensue, there was a knock at his door and Angel bounded in, holding a dish of ice cream.

"Duo!" The girl beamed, and with a flying leap landed sprawled across her "big brothers" chest. The ice cream remained in her hands, undisturbed from the quick movements. "I brought you dessert!"

"Isn't that your ice cream?" Duo asked suspiciously, attempting to pry the little girl off of him. There was a long, drawn out pause.

"Maybe." The girl finally admitted.

Duo grinned. "Okay. I'll eat it."

He reached over with one hand to retrieve the bowl. Angel, not exactly pleased with Duo's decision, rolled off of him and ran to the other side of the room. "How much do you want it?" She taunted, laughter shining in her eyes.

"You'd be surprised what I would do for a little girl's ice cream." Duo told her, getting to his feet, his purple eyes glinting in the fading light. With a playful growl, he pounced, landing right in front of the girl who held his prize.

"...I'll take that..." He grinned broadly, snatching the dish out of her hands.

"AUGH!" Angel wailed, jumping frantically to get it back. "Gimme! It's mine!"

"But you were going to give it to me, remember?"

"That was before!"

"Ah Maxwell... your maturity never ceases to amaze me."

Both Duo and Angel turned in surprise, the former lowering the ice cream and letting the girl have it.

"You're early, Hee-chan." Duo said, sitting back down on his bed. Angel curled up next to him, eating her dessert contentedly while watching the two older boys talk.

Heero grinned and sat down at Duo's desk, picking up one of Duo's comic books and flipping through it idly. "Yes well... I had nothing better to do and Wufei asked me to pick you up." He tossed the comic to one side and grinned. "Besides, I'd never miss a chance to see you lose to a five year old."

The Japanese youth winked at Angel.

Duo pouted. "I didn't lose."

Angel did her best to wink back at Heero. "Did you come to play with us?" She asked. "Cause Duo got grounded?"

Heero laughed and moved to sit down on the bed. He reached over with one hand to ruffle the short brown hair belonging to the little girl. "No, my step-father let me use his bike, so I decided I didn't want to wait for another hour to get Duo."

Angel squealed and tossed her empty bowl towards the floor. "Can I have a ride on it? Please? Please?" Puppy eyes and pouty lips stared up at the boy.

Duo laughed as Heero failed to resist the look. "Who's losing to a five year old now?"

Heero scowled.

===

Going to Quatre's mansion of a house was always something of a treat for the blond's friends. They all outwardly claimed that it was became they were waited on hand and foot - but it was really the general atmosphere of the place. Quatre's house, though large and furnished with very expensive treasures, still held a very "lived in" feeling. It was probably because of the twenty-nine sisters that were constantly leaving their things around or lounging in rooms. The eldest of the sisters was well in her twenties, the youngest being just two years older than Quatre.

"Master Quatre!" A jovial voice sang from the top of the main stairs. "I wasn't aware that you were having friends over tonight!"

There was a slight accusing tone in that sentence.

"Yes Abdul, we're going to be studying up in my room... like we do every Thursday."

Quatre smiled his most innocent smile and turned back to Heero and Duo, who were looking a little wind-blown. "Why don't you two head upstairs and start studying and I'll go get us some food."

/Just don't spend too much time studying each other!/ Came the blonds teasing mental call as he headed towards the kitchens.

Duo and Heero flushed slightly before hurrying up the stairs towards Quatre's wing of the house. To their immense relief, neither Trowa nor Wufei were there yet, so they had the large room to themselves. The winged boy pulled his companion against his chest with a faint smile on his face. "Wouldn't want to disappoint our friend now would we?" He murmured.

"Heero... shut up and kiss me."

===

"Duo! Hurry up and get down here!"

Duo grumbled something unintelligible and rolled out of his bed and straight onto the floor. A string of curses in various languages later, Duo managed to get to his feet and stumble into an outfit that actually matched. Not wanting to waste time, he used his telepathic abilities to brush and braid his hair while he washed his face and brushed his teeth.

After a brief battle with the stairs, in which the teen lost spectacularly, he was finally downstairs and ready for the Open House. It was going to be a long and boring day.

By the time that Duo managed to scrounge a few bites of breakfast, Sister Helen rushed to his side and prodded him. "I need you out there with all the other kids! You need to be helping out! This might be your last chance to have a real family!"

Duo grinned easily at the nun and scooted out the doorway. Although, on the inside those words stung like no other. He had always felt that Sister Helen and Father Maxwell were his family. Sure he had all of his friends, and their families looked out for him as well... but if it hadn't been for the nun and the preacher... none of that would have happened. He'd probably still be a street rat living in some hole somewhere. That's why his last name was "Maxwell" after all. To honor the people who had cared about him first.

"Duo!" One of the small children called, breaking Duo from his less than cheerful thoughts. A small blob of six year old child was suddenly attached to his leg. And than another blob on his other leg. Two small leaches clung to his arms while the final two children jumped on his back and chest respectively. Thanking whatever god looked out for him, Duo was able to avoid falling over and thus making a very large fool of himself in front of potential parents.

Suddenly... half of those children vanished with a cry of "Wufei!" Thus, leaving Duo very unbalanced. He crashed to the floor a moment later, taking the remaining three urchins with him.

"Graceful, very graceful Maxwell." Wufei snorted, bearing the weight of his three new cling-on's like a pro.

"What is this: "Pick on Duo" week?" He stopped talking and just glared. His glare stated the question: "And what the hell are you doing here?!"

Wufei smirked. "What? Miss a day like today? It's very important to you... And I had nothing better to do with my time, either way."

Sister Helen suddenly rushed in, looking even more rushed than she had about five minutes ago. "Children!" She nearly whined. "You need to be in the front room with the families! Wufei... I'm sorry but Duo is needed here today."

Wufei smiled kindly at the nun. "I know, I thought I'd come by and help out a bit. I know these kids can be a bit of a handful."

Sister Helen sighed in relief. "I'm so glad that Duo has some responsible friends! Thank you so much Wufei, if you boys would just watch the kids and make sure that they don't go running off or make too much noise. Maybe you could play some sort of game with them?"

The two teens nodded and herded the six small child-sized leaches into the main room for a rousing game of "Duo and Wufei Say" a very odd combination of "Simon Says" and "Mother May I".

===

Towards the end of the day, when all the potential parents were leaving, Duo and Wufei led all the kids towards their bedrooms. There were four such rooms in the orphanage, not including Duo's. Father Maxwell had one, as did Sister Helen. The remaining two rooms were divided between the six kids.

However, on this particular night all the kids would be sleeping in the same room, for comfort reasons.

"Duo, what if they didn't like us?" The youngest child asked, curling up on his bed.

"Stupid!" the eldest snarled, stamping one foot. "Didn't you see how they were looking at us? They think we're scum!"

Duo delivered a light smack. "Don't insult each other." He scolded lightly, settling down on the floor. Wufei sat down next to him, and the group of kids somehow gravitated into their laps and onto their arms.

"D'ya think we'll be good enough?" Angel asked softly.

Neither teenager knew how to answer the little girl.

===

On Monday, there was an abnormal amount of students in the library. Duo, who was hidden in the back corner of his current prison, alternated between watching the masses and doing his homework. At one point he actually fell asleep.

Some of the people who saw him glared - those would be the victims of his supposed prank. Other stared at him in interest - those being underclassmen, who had only seen him at the parties on Friday nights. Others yet patted him on the back or slipped him food and things to entertain himself with - those being his friends.

Monday passed in a boring stretch of time.

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AN If you review, I promise I'll update. I'm trying to reach a hundred reviews in less than five posts, will you help me? Pretty please with Duo-plushies on top?

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