Whoops! I forgot to put up bios for Naoko and Satori! Ritsu impersonation I'm so sorry!
Satori Shindou
Sign: horse
Age: 10
Year in school: 5th
Crush: Takei
"I understand"Naoko Takenaka
Sign: sheep
Age: 9
Year in school: 4th
Crush: Momiji
"You're my new slave!"Chapter Ten: Back-stories
Duo recoiled as his mother fussed over him.
"Ouch! Stop pulling on my hair; I'm tender headed y'know! My God what's wrong with you, woman?!" Duo hollered.
"Oh be quiet!" His mother hissed. "It wouldn't be so painful if you would cut your hair." She gave an extra yank to his hair while re-braiding it.
"Hell no! Anything but my hair!" Duo whined while pulling his finished braid out of his mother's hands to stroke slowly. "My precious…"
"Anything, eh? Even your you-know-what?" An evil grin couldn't help but curl on her lips as a loud thunder clapped outside.
Backing away slowly, Duo gave his mother a death glare. "You're a very sick woman." Trowa's message suddenly reiterated itself in Duo's mind. "Mom, I've been invited to someone's house for the night."
Dinner was starting to get cooked. "Okay, but take an umbrella."
The rain didn't seem to want to stop. Something didn't quite feel right because normally it never rained this late in the year. Large droplets of freshwater thumped on Duo's black umbrella. On his way there, he walked passed Heero's neighborhood and shuddered. The memories of their first time together flooded back into his mind, vividly. Second place he passed was Yume's neighborhood. It was dark, quiet with only the sound of the rain, and deserted. Pausing for a second, he hoped she was doing well. As if on cue, he could've pledged he saw Yume step out of her apartment onto her balcony with some white-haired dude. But an instant later they were gone. Who was that guy? His hair was too short for him to be Ayame. But Duo didn't think he'd ever seen that guy at school. A strong gust of wind chilled Duo, making him hurry to Quatre's house.
The address led the chestnut-haired American to a large white house that could've only been owned by someone with a HUGE pocketful of cash.
"This can't be the right address…" Duo double-checked. Sure enough, it was.
Quatre must be friggin' rich! He lives in a mansion 100 times bigger than Yume's apartment complex! Not bad for a sixteen-year-old dude. Duo had trouble picking up his jaw from the ground long enough to ring the doorbell at the front gate.
"Ah, yes. Mr. Maxwell." The speaker acknowledged in a snobbish tone. "Master Quatre has been awaiting your arrival. Please continue forward to the front door." Aw, gee, well duh! The gate opened slowly and Duo wondered if he would freeze to death before it admitted him.
Since the gate was taking so long, Duo squeezed through the gate at the first possible chance and ran to the front door. Banging the large doorknocker several times before it was opened, Duo jumped inside and stood shivering. Apparently the umbrella didn't help much.
"Duo! It's very nice to meet you for the first time." The platinum blonde Quatre jogged down a nearby spiral staircase and shook hands with Duo.
Nodding and putting on a weak smile because he was so cold and tired, Duo bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, er… Quatre."
Quatre's pleasant blue eyes seemed to be watching Duo closely with a slight air of suspicion, even though he hid it well. Spandex boy and hairstyle freak followed the blonde. Trying not to be offensive to the guy with the gun (not that he had it with him), Duo also bowed to Heero and Trowa. "Um… thanks for having me…" Duo added in a low tone. "I guess."
"Hn."
"Uh huh." Trowa seemed to just stare off into space again.
Quatre smiled warmly. "Well, let's go on up to my room. We can just do some… male bonding there."
Male bonding? What the hell? Hiding his confusion was difficult. But up the spiral staircase were several different halls lined with rooms. Quatre led them through one of the doors into his room and Duo had to scramble to pick up his jaw again. Quatre had a huge baby blue bed! Not only that but also several tall bookshelves and even a small entertainment center with a big screen TV, VCR, DVD player, and several game systems. There was also a brand new computer by Quatre's humongous closet. (A/N: I WANT QUATRE'S ROOM!!!)
"Wow…" Duo breathed.
"Yes, my father owns the Winner Corporation." Quatre explained while gesturing for them to take seats on the floor. Duo sat down and shivered. Exchanging glances with the others, Quatre got Duo a towel. "You should dry yourself off. And to do that quickly, it would help if you undid your hair and I can take your shirt to be dried in the laundry room." Quatre suggested.
"O-okay." Duo reluctantly took off his shirt and wrapped himself up in the towel after undoing his long braid again. Heero turned away and Duo imagined he saw him blushing. Quatre trotted off with Duo's shirt, leaving the door to his room wide open. Trowa was as empty and expressionless as always. "Sooo…" Duo trailed off in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.
"I saw your mother before I left." Trowa startled Duo. "Is she your real mother?"
"Actually, no. I'm taken care of by my foster parents." Duo shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
A girl with platinum blonde hair burst into the room suddenly. "Oh! Hot boys! And all friends of my Otouto-chan!" The girl squealed even though she had to be four years older than Duo.
"One of Quatre's sisters…" Trowa grumbled.
"One?!" Duo exclaimed.
"Quatre has twenty-nine sisters." Trowa sighed.
"Nani?!" Duo squeaked.
"That's right!" Quatre's sister smiled and rushed at Duo. "Now give me a hug!"
"Wha-?! No!" Too late. Duo had been glomped by the older girl and with a puff of smoke; the little white rat was being squished to death. Duo couldn't really complain because he was getting squished by her rather large breasts, being the pervert he is. "Chu!"
Trowa's shoulders shook and he burst out laughing. The smallest smile spread on Heero's face. Panicking, Duo struggled to break free and run. His eyes started to swirl because of a lack of oxygen from Ms. Bust. Quatre's sister loosened her grip and looked down at Duo. "Don't worry. Quatre's a part of the zodiac curse, too."
"What?! Him too?" Duo was finally released and set down on his baggy pants.
She nodded and pointed at the other two. "So are Heero and Trowa."
"But how did you know I was?" Duo pawed his head in confusion.
"I saw you at the library." Heero answered quietly.
Duo's tiny eyes bulged. "You did?!" Heero nodded.
"Causing some trouble, I see Onee-san." Quatre returned with Duo's dry T-shirt.
She laughed innocently. "Of course not! But I'll be going now!" She hurried out of the room in a fit of giggles.
"Sorry about that Duo." Quatre set his shirt beside the petit rat. Another large puff of smoke erupted and Duo hurried to put his pants and shirt back on when he heard more giggling outside Quatre's door. "Get out!" Quatre yelled at the mob of sisters that came to watch Duo put his clothes back on. Heero decided it best to look out the window while Quatre slammed his door shut.
"Is it that funny Trowa?" Quatre questioned while sitting back down. Trowa was rolling on the floor from laughter.
Duo felt really embarrassed after finally getting all his clothes back on. His cheeks were bright red and soon the laughter died away to another uncomfortable silence.
"You're so lucky Quatre…" Trowa trailed off after calming down from his fit of laughing.
"Really? Why's that Trowa?" Quatre looked curiously at Trowa who was staring at the floor, hunched over.
"Because…" Trowa began. "All of your sisters accept you and love you for your curse. And your father just pretends it doesn't exist and treats you like any normal teenager." He paused while everyone listened intently. "Whereas my family is the complete opposite. My parents divorced because of my "condition" of being cursed. So now I live with a drunken father while my mother and sister reject me…"
Quatre patted Trowa on the shoulder to comfort him. "You've been through a lot. And all this stress made you fail last year. It's okay. Catherine is really bitchy anyway."
"Catherine? Catherine Bloom?" Duo asked. Trowa nodded. "I agree with you, Quatre." Duo shuddered.
"All of you at least have parents of some kind. Mine died when I was little and I've been an orphan since." Heero stated quietly. Duo was surprised he was talking so much… well… more than his fragments.
All eyes turned on Duo and he assumed it was his turn to tell a sad tragic tale about his sucky life. "My original parents were shaky with the fact of me turning into a rat. So when I was eight and accidentally hugged a girl I liked, my parents couldn't handle it and I ran away here to be put into a foster home… haven't spoken to either of my parents since." Everyone was quiet for a while, thinking about how each of them being tied to the zodiac made their life miserable.
"So what year are the rest of you?" Duo asked, once again breaking the silence. Before anyone could answer, a loud crack of thunder boomed and vibrated through the whole mansion. The power went out and the darkness was impenetrable, the storm outside sounding more violent than ever.
"Crap…" the four of them groaned in unison.
TO BE CONTINUED
By the way, I'm not telling who the romantic pairs are going to be because that would spoil all the drama and surprise!