Disclaimer: No ownie...
Heero watched in perpetual silence as Usagi struggled against the strong handhold of one Trowa Barton. Trowa threw her down onto the blue wrestling mat and she screeched in frustration. Heero raised an eyebrow at her antics and crossed his arms in preparation for some more of her amusing tactics.
Usagi stood shakily once more, her face red with emotion and exhaustion. Trowa merely dropped into the standard wrestling position and waited for her to begin again.
Trowa closed his eyes and waited for Usagi. "I'm not going to hold back, Usagi."
"Yeah, well neither am I!"
The sparring continued as Usagi showed her peculiarly skilled and yet untrained talents. It appeared as if she knew basic, and some advanced, rudiments of sparring with the sword and fists. She was certainly very good at defense and dodging. Even so, within moments she was on the ground once more.
Trowa grunted and stood, holding his hand out to her. As she grabbed it and pulled herself up, Trowa glanced over at Heero and raised an eyebrow. "She is ready to be trained more extensively. But, of course you saw that all yourself."
Heero nodded curtly and walked from the room. Usagi gaped, wondering how long Heero had been standing there as she made a fool of herself. "Was he there the entire time?"
Trowa quirked a corner of his mouth and then chuckled. "Of course he was. He is much more protective of you than he would let on."
"Yeah, right." Usagi delicately snorted. "And pigs fly with little fairy wings around the mansion."
"Well, actually – "
Usagi held up a hand. "Don't even start."
Trowa smiled. "Let's go eat."
"Yes, food! I love food. You wouldn't happen to have any manga on hand?"
Usagi's spine tingled as she felt herself being watched. The ham and cheese sandwich stopped halfway from the table to her mouth as she considered who would be watching her so intensely. Certainly the Manguanacs had been curious, but they had hardly been so scrutinizing. And they hadn't been quite so curious since Quatre had disappeared.
The names of each bodyguard of hers ran through her head and finally settled on – Heero. Of course it would be Heero. He watched her with a concentration worthy of religious worship. And if she had learned anything these past nine years of observation, though never exactly aging, it was that people didn't believe in anything but themselves.
"You can come out you know." Heero moved from the shadows with the speed and grace of a predator. His arms hung loosely against his side, but she could see the tension ready to react at a moment's notice.
"What do you want?" Heero's voice was sharp but she ignored the tone. She did not speak for a moment and his jaw was clenched in obvious hostility.
"I just wanted to make sure it was you." She smiled beatifically and resumed eating her sandwich.
"Why?"
"You just never know who'd be lurking in the shadows."
Heero glared and sat on a wooden stool. "There is no one. I would know and have taken them out before you had the chance to notice."
Usagi said nothing as she chewed the last bits of her lunch. "Well, thank you." She paused. "So what did you think of my skills as a combatant."
"Horrible."
Usagi raised a brow and stood, walking her plate to the dishwasher. "So when will I be starting formal training?"
Heero grunted. "You will begin today. You are in desperate need of training."
"Thanks again." She grinned. "So are you going to be the one to train me?"
"For most of it."
"For how long?"
"For as long as it takes. And I will never hold back."
"You could never be so cruel." Usagi watched as Heero's face lifted in a small smirk.
"I could." His tone was dry and almost sarcastic. The joke was small, and was barely worth noticing, except for the fact that it came from Heero.
Usagi's eyes widened in surprise and she laughed. "I didn't know you could make jokes."
"I can't."
"You can! You just did."
He scoffed. "I did not."
Usagi smiled and walked from the room. "You did so. I heard it and I'm telling Duo!"
Heero's eyes narrowed imperceptibly and he frowned. He had to stop her. He would never hear the end of it from Duo if she told.
Duo jumped out from his own hiding place in the kitchen. Heero and Usagi were now gone and he could officially say that Heero had made a joke. Probably the only one in his entire life.
He ambled into the dojo, though why Quatre had a dojo in his mansion he didn't know, and watched as Wufei swung his sword in a series of katas. He cleared his throat. When Wufei did not react, he cleared it louder.
"Ahem..."
Wufei paused in his kata before continuing, ignoring the braided fool.
"Wufei, you gotta hear this!"
Wufei came to a stop and glared at Duo. "I do not have to hear anything. I am in the middle of something important. You can tell me later." He muttered. "Idiot."
Duo was not to be deterred. "You have to hear this now!"
Wufei began a new series and ignored him.
"It's about Heero."
The graceful slash came to a sudden stop. "What about him?"
Duo flashed a million-watt smile, "Come to the Rec Room. I'll tell you and Trowa at the same time."
Wufei rolled his eyes. "I do not have the time for this. Tell me now or never."
Duo paused to consider. "Ok, if you put it that way." He paused again for effect. "Heero made a joke."
Wufei, already in the midst of another kata, finally processed what Duo had said and tripped, narrowly missing impaling himself on his sword. "You idiot!"
Duo jumped to attention and ran as quickly as possible from the room. With any luck, his braid would be intact for at least another day after what had just happened. His poor, poor braid...
AN: Hey guys, so this is actually quite a bit longer than normal! I'm trying to get at least a little bit back to my original plan...I mean, it's lately been more of action than any re-construction of Heero's innocence. Ah, well. Please review and let me know how it's going.
Ps. Check out Angelight's Cross My Heart. Lately I've been writing the chapters, but she wrote the latest one. Did that make any sense?