Well, I'm back from Japan, and very tired. But I'm going to try and wrap up the story soon.

Chapter Fourteen: On the way to the banquet

The weather simply got colder as October melted into November, followed by December and before Duo realized it, it was New Years Eve. Things at school weren't much different. Wufei occasionally taunted him but that was becoming more rare recently. Heero never really spoke to Duo but kind of watched him from afar along with his friends Trowa and Quatre. Relena and the rest of 'Prince' Duo's groupies fought fiercely with the Prince Yuki Fan Club. Yume and Gin never seemed to be around anymore. Especially Yume, she was missing a lot of school and would surely fail again if she didn't stop skipping. Yuki barely talked to Duo and Duo didn't like being with any of the Sohmas anymore since his encounter with Hatsuharu.

A two-inch blanket of snow covered the ground and in multiple yards, small children were having snowball fights, building snow forts and snowmen. The white fluff crunched under Duo's snow boots. The cold air was crisp and clean but the wind would bite at the bare skin. Duo leaned against a brick wall and watched everything around him. It was a good thing Duo had gotten over Yume quickly, even though he was still a little jealous of Hatsuharu. Duo sighed and pushed himself away from the wall so he could walk up his driveway. Apparently the mailman had already stopped by his house, because letters were sticking out of the mailbox. He lifted the lid and yanked out the wad of letters out. Then he went inside so he could warm up.

The light paper envelopes were tossed onto the kitchen table as Duo flipped through them and warmed his feet with the electric heater under the table. Duo paused suddenly when he saw his name printed in neat handwriting on the front of a plain white letter. He set down the rest of the junk mail and slipped his finger under the tab, tearing it open. The letter inside was the same as the envelope, plain and white. A small map was also included with directions on how to get there. Duo read it carefully, wondering who would send him the letter.

Dear Duo Maxwell,

I humbly invite you to the Sohma Mansion for the New Years banquet. Come to the mansion tonight, alone. You will be required to stay for three days.

Head of the Sohma family,

Sohma Akito

Duo's heart stopped. Akito was inviting him to the Sohma mansion after kicking him out last time? That sounded fishy and plus Yuki had told Duo to stay away from the Sohmas. But since when did Duo listen to Yuki? Duo skimmed through the short letter again and had a bad feeling. This would definitely have to be responded with a "hell no." A word on the letter caught his eye, banquet.

Banquet = lots of food = a HELL YES!

"Mom!" Duo yelled upstairs while still warming his feet. "I'm going to er… a friend's house to stay for three days!"

"Okay honey! Have a good time and don't stay up too late!" His mother yelled back in a cheerful voice upstairs. Duo paused, wondering if his mother was an idiot or anything. Packing a small bag, Duo slipped his snow boots back on, wrapped a scarf around his neck and headed out the door, map in hand. The walk to the mansion was pretty long. Duo had to stop about half way to rest his legs. Everywhere he went, families seemed very busy with the New Years preparations. With his cold, numb hand, Duo reached into the pocket of his heavy jacket and pulled out the crumpled map and address. He barely glanced at it when a snowball was thrown into his face. The cold snow bit at his face making it even number. Duo looked around angrily for the snowball pitcher. Hilde Schbeiker peeked over a fence at Duo.

"I'm sorry! Did I hit you with that snowball?" She asked with concern.

Duo wiped all the wet snow off his face with his sleeve. "Just a little…" he answered sarcastically.

"I'm really sorry… hey, aren't you Duo Maxwell from school? They call you the Prince, right?" Hilde folded her arms on the snow-covered wall and laid her head down looking at Duo with her deep blue eyes.

"That's me all right." Duo thrust his cold thumbs into his pockets.

"Sounds stuck-up to me." Hilde observed.

Duo foot slipped slightly on some ice under the snow. "R-really? Well… it's not like I really chose to be the Prince of the school, from what I hear, Yuki Sohma was Prince Charming first."

Hilde's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like an excuse to me. And hear I thought the rumors about you being a different person were true."

"Huh? You lost me…" Duo scratched his head. What rumors? He hadn't heard of any.

"This is mostly just among a small group of students. Some say that the Prince, Duo Maxwell, is no longer the spoiled brat he was earlier this year. But rumors usually aren't true…" Hilde sat up straight and disappeared again behind the wall.

What the hell was that about? Duo felt like the girl he had had a crush on since third or fourth grade had just stabbed him in the back. Duo didn't think he had changed much but he didn't think he was a spoiled brat either. Then again, at the beginning of the school year, Duo felt like a god who had girls worship his feet. He also got in trouble a lot at school because of his attitude. But since Heero shot at him, Duo had gone a little quiet at school. Maybe he did change…

"Hey Duo-kun."

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, in which Duo (thinking it was Hilde) apologized for being the way he was.

"What are you apologizing for? You're the one and only Prince of Yukiro Academy." Relena Peacecraft smiled in her preppy, girly way.

Duo jumped at seeing Relena's face. "When did you get here?!"

Relena's smile grew wider, but her face looked like it was contorting with pain. (A/N: I don't like Relena… mwahahahahahahah!) "Oh Duo my love! It's so nice of you to ask about me! Let's spend New Years together." Relena grabbed onto Duo's arm and Duo tried to pry her off.

"I'm not your love! And let go of me! I'm going some where else for New Years!" Duo yanked harder and even tried to kick his foot against Relena to give himself traction to break free.

"You already have plans?" Relena burst into tears trying to act pathetic.

"Damn it! Let go of me, woman!" Duo growled and he tried shoving her away again but her grip was too tight.

Relena's expression changed completely and now she looked like she was up to something evil and Duo knew he would regret it. "So Duo-kun, just what do you transform into exactly?"

Duo's feet were frozen to the ground, his arm was severely frost bitten, or Relena was just cutting off the circulation to his arm but either way, Duo froze and couldn't move. "Wha-what?" Duo stammered.

"That's right." Relena moved closer to his ear. "I heard all about how you transform."

Duo's eyes were wide in fright. If Relena knew, then half the school would find out! Did Duo have to move again like he did when he was eight?

"I'll make you a deal." Relena whispered in the twilight air. "If you will go out with me, no one will hear about this. It'll be our little secret…" Relena smiled most deviously.

Duo's voice didn't seem to want to work. What should he do? He hated Relena, but what if she told the entire school? He'd have to move far away again. Then again, it didn't really matter… Duo didn't have any friends… so why should he care if he moved somewhere else and start a new life again? Just when he had found his voice and was going to tell Relena that he would just move, but Heero's voice was refreshed in his memory.

"Maxwell is becoming a nicer person than you'll ever be!"

Maybe he did have something worth holding onto here. Duo decided he would try and prove to everyone that he was no longer the brat everyone mistook him for.

"Go to hell, Peacecraft." Duo shoved her away finally and she was shocked by his reaction. "I don't care if the whole damn school finds out, I'll just prove to them all that I'm a decent guy, even if it means I have to give up the title of Prince." Duo started walking to the Sohma mansion again and didn't look back at the baffled Relena. Okay, maybe he would try and be nice but not start with Relena.

"Oh yeah! Well…" Relena thought for a moment. "I will tell the whole school what a freak you are and make you never want to come back to Yukiro academy again!"

Duo just shrugged and continued on his way. Relena let out a shriek of aggravation and stormed off only to slip on a patch of ice.

The sun was setting when Duo stood in front of the gates to the Sohma mansion. The doors opened and Yuki faced Duo with a serious expression. "Duo Maxwell, you should leave now, while you still can."

TO BE CONTINUED

I have yet to see what the main point of this story was… hmmm… oh well.