Disclaimer: I do not, and will never claim ownership over Gundam Wing or any of its characters. They belong to people that aren't me. I'm just satisfying my lust for fiction.

Notes: Just to make this perfectly clear, I don't know where I'm taking this story. I'm just going with the flow so it will no doubt, become a long one with many-a-chapter. Hope it's enjoyed by all who read it.

Warning: SLASH!-Yaoi. Whatever you people call it. Male/male relationships! Mild-angst. AU! I'll add more if I think it's necessary.

Four: Rumors, Info and Intel.

"Yeh, and I'm the Queen of fucking England." He muttered then grinned at the girl. "You want to know something cool about the freak at the Orphanage?" Dumbly, the girl nodded and so too did her friends. Hilde thought it best to keep her mouth shut and her head still as she leaned back against the fence by her brother. Duo sauntered closer to the girl, only stopping when he was a mere 8-9 inch away. "It's me." He said and watched with amusement as she and her two friends paled. They girls stepped away from Duo slowly. "What? Gone off me now? Shame really. Though if you really think I'm a freak then I guess you're not worth my time anyway." With that, he turned abruptly to Heero and Hilde, completely ignoring the girls. "So, route?"

x-x-x-x-x

Duo halted at the fence surrounding the Charlatan's garden and grasped it with both hands, nearly doubling over as he gasped for breath. A few seconds of panting later, he stood up and emptied the remainder of his water over his head.

"Have a good run?" The voice of Heero Yuy asked from directly behind him causing Duo to start slightly. He turned around to face his new neighbour and grinned.

"Aye, it served its purpose." He shook his head vigorously, effectively showering Heero with the water he'd just emptied. He was rewarded with a scowl. "How far do you run every morning?" Duo asked as he started his series of warm-down stretches.

"I've been working my way up on the distance scale of things. I've not been running for a long time so I'm at 3 miles each morning for now." Through his stretching, Duo nodded his head thoughtfully.

"I'm about ready to move up to 6 but I've not given it much thought. It keeps me fit so I'm not bothered with the distance." He turned around and lifted his right leg up so it rested on top of the fence. He then proceeded to reach forward and grasp his foot. He felt Heero come up behind him and rest a hand on the small of his back. "Cheers mate." He said, thanking the other for keeping him steady as he stretched.

"Are you really the guy from the Orphanage?" Heero suddenly asked and Duo paused for a moment before continuing with his task.

"The 'freak'?" He spat the word out. "You wouldn't believe how many people come around there looking for trouble just because it's an Orphanage ran by a woman in her 50's. So I took it upon my self to 'stand guard', so to speak. I can't help it if all they see is my face in shadow as I'm sat on my bike. They should know better. The neighbourhood's rough, I admit that much. But the locals are polite and friendly to the Orphanage and Sister Helena. It's the ones from out of the area that cause the most problems." Despite the fact that he knew Duo couldn't see him, Heero nodded his head.

"I figured they were all talk. I don't even think they dare go down Hartford territory for longer than half an hour." Duo snorted at this and switched legs so he was stretching the other one using the fence as a support.

"They don't know shit about Hartford territory. I love it. The streets are brilliant at night. I've had gangs of up to 20 make way for me and the bike." He spared a longing glance at his pride and joy. "They started calling me Shinigami a few months back because it's the name on the bike. Can't say I'm that bothered though." Heero stiffened.

"You're Shinigami?" The youth of Asian origin asked, sparks of curiosity, intrigue and the slightest glint of fear lined his tone. Duo let his elevated leg fall to the ground and turned to face his companion. He quirked an eyebrow and let a lazy grin worm its way across his face.

"I am." He said. Heero shook his head a little to rid himself of the cobwebs he knew had to have formed there.

"You're 'the' Shinigami?" Duo nodded. "Fuck. People at school just thought you were some myth the guys in Hartford made up to keep outsiders off their quote; 'turf'; unquote." He couldn't help it… the braided youth threw his head back and laughed. Heero let a frown mar his brow momentarily before reluctantly letting a smile curve onto his lips.

"Oh man." Duo gasped through his laughter. "You just made my day." He grinned at the other teen and asked, "How do you get to school in a morning?"

"I walk." Heero answered. "Hilde gets picked up here and goes with her friends and Morgan-Roe in a car and I'm left to walk. Why?"

"I've got a spare helmet under the seat, you fancy riding behind Shinigami into the school gates tomorrow?" With only a second's thought to the decision, Heero nodded.

"Hai, thank you." Duo waved the thanks off and grinned widely.

"Alright then, see you 6:30 tomorrow morning." The pair parted ways and entered their own houses.

"What was that about?" Hilde asked Heero as her brother closed the front door behind him. She was stood in the middle of the hall way with her arms folded over her chest and an eyebrow raised in question.

"Ever heard of Shinigami?" Hilde's interest was instantly piqued and she gestured for him to continue. But her brother didn't say anything else. He just grinned, and grinned widely. Slowly but surely, realisation dawned upon Hilde and her eyes widened to an almost impossible width.

"You're kidding me?" She said with the disbelief in her tone clearly evident. Heero shook his head. "You're not. Woah… this is… surreal." Her brother kept grinning, causing her to narrow her eyes a little. No one ever made Heero grin like that. "What happened?" She asked him, accusation lining her tone.

"Nothing Hil'. I just won't be walking to school tomorrow." He laughed as she gaped.

x-x-x-x-x

"What were you talking to Heero about earlier?" Mrs C asked as her, Mr C, Morgan-Roe and Duo were sitting down to their dinner. The day had pretty much gone quickly after his run and for that, Duo was thankful. After his talk with Heero he'd had a shower and finished unpacking his things. He'd then spent a couple of hours working on a fictional story he'd started on paper over a year ago so was now typing it all up.

He looked up from his food and blinked at the woman. He then gave a mental shrug, figuring she must have seen from the window or something similar.

"We talked about the rumours that had been flying around his school about Hartford territory. I offered him a ride in the morning seeing as I really don't know the way. We agreed to meet outside at 6:30 and go on a run together. Then we'll come home, get changed and head off to school." He stuck his fork in a carrot and bit it. Mr and Mrs C both looked thoughtful while Morgan-Roe had a curious look on her face.

"What rumours?" She asked as she held a forkful of roast potatoes to her mouth.

"Oh that there's this freak who lives at the Josephs Orphanage. Then there's the one about Shinigami. That one made me laugh." He grinned at her, chuckling at the memory.

"I've heard that Shinigami doesn't even exist." She said. "He's supposed to be a myth, something made up by gangs in Hartford. The area's rough, I'm surprised the rumour lasted as long as it has." Duo raised an eyebrow at her before shaking his head, a smile still on his face.

"Shinigami isn't a myth." He smirked at her slack-jawed expression. "Did you not see the name of my bike when the kids caught you eyeballing it earlier?" She shook her head in a negative gesture and he laughed. "The area isn't as rough as its rep makes out. Sure there are gangs, but they're really just a group of guys hanging out on the streets because it's better than staying at home watching prime-time TV. I guess Shinigami reared its head when I started taking nightly rides around the place. Gangs parted for me and I suppose some caught the name on the side."

"So you're Shinigami?" Morgan asked bluntly.

"Aye." Duo answered dutifully. A few tense moments later, the teenage girl spoke again.

"This is brilliant!" She exclaimed with a laugh. "Gods it's great! Did you know that even the roughest bullies at school are scared of you? And you're living here. Man its fantastic!"

Mr and Mrs C shook their heads; fond, indulgent chuckles escaped their lips.

x-x-x-x-x

"You're late." Duo grinned at the tired looking Heero Yuy as the latter walked down the path and out of the Yuy's garden. Heero glared at him and the braided youth laughed. "Someone's sure got a stuck up his backside this morning." Another glare.

"I forgot to set my alarm last night." The male half of the Yuy twins grumbled as he started stretching. Duo rested a supporting hand on the small of Heero's back much like the other teen had done for him the day previous and a few minutes later, they were running down the street –only Duo carried a water bottle.

"Heero, you're a great guy and all, but you're not using my water when the exertion catches up with you." The braided teen told his companion and they ran around the first corner of the route. Heero actually smirked at the other teen.

"I'll be fine, don't worry your head." The pair continued their run in silence, turning corners here and there until they hit a street that seemed miles long but in reality, it was only about a mile and a half.

There weren't fences on the gardens of the houses on this street so both Duo and Heero got unrestricted views of the pristine lawns the 'posh folk' of "Darlington and Joans" lived their ridiculously boring lives. Duo almost sneered at one particular garden that had a tacky water fountain smack damn in the centre of the stupidly green lawn, but managed to hold himself back.

As the pair ran on, Duo noticed with an appreciative eye, a boy doing some form of Martial Arts on his front lawn. The boy looked to be both Duo and Heero's age and the braided teen vaguely wondered if he went to the same school Duo himself was starting in a few short hours. They neared the garden and the boy stopped his movements. He reached down to retrieve one of two water bottles sat on the grass. He seemed to wait for us to draw closer to his garden before grinning and launching the bottle towards, to Duo's utter shock, Heero's outstretched hand.

Duo blinked, his feet never missing a step, and he started to laugh. Heero threw him a smug grin and they continued their run.

The long haired teen decided that he'd go home with Heero and pick up the distance after school. He'd done it before and it never harmed him. So 20 minutes later, the pair halted in front of the Charlatan's fence. Duo did the same thing with the water as he did yesterday and stretched to warm-down his muscles.

"Who was that guy?" Duo asked Heero as the latter rested a hand on the small of his back for the second time in as many days.

"His name's Chang Wufei. He, myself and two others have been friends since we were in reception. I meet them all at school, they know waiting for me is pointless as my run sometimes leaves me later than I'd like." His stretching neighbour grinned back over his shoulder.

"No more though, ne?" Heero raised an eyebrow. "I mean, if I have the spare helmet, what's the point of you walking when it's just as easy to get a ride with me?" The male Yuy twin blinked.

"You don't know me." He said simply, causing Duo to roll his eyes heaven-wards.

"Mr and Mrs C do though! And Morgan-Roe too I guess. And they seem to like you so I'm thinking I've got a week here till I have to make the choice on whether I want to stay or not, until then I can find aspects that make me want to stay, like having decent friends for the first time in a long time." Towards the end of his speech, Duo's voice dropped in volume and had Heero nearly straining to catch the words.

"Wufei will already admire you for choosing to run with me, even if I was actually slowing you down." Duo straightened up and allowed the other teen to take his place at the fence.

"You weren't slowing me down, I just run a longer distance. I'll make it up later on and tomorrow I'll lap the street your friend was on twice to make up for it. That place is an easy mile and a half." A weird thought suddenly occurred to Duo. "Seeing as we are in the time we're in, and people often jump at the opportunity to 'categorise' people when and where they feel like it, I'm wondering what you and your friends have been labelled as." He grinned at Heero as the Yuy twin glanced back over his shoulder.

"We have people often hanging all over us for some reason, so I'm assuming people would think we're… I guess you can call it 'popular', but we also work hard at school." He then shrugged his shoulders as best he could in the position he was in. "Call it what you want." He switched legs.

"How about… pop-geeks?" He laughed at the sour look Heero shot him. "Ok ok… not that. You're the type of guys that can't help being drop dead gorgeous, so continue being as studious as ever anyway." An affirmative nod. "Alright then. I guess some might take one look at me and scream in terror, pointing widely at me before shrieking at the top of their lungs, 'Goth'!" He laughed at his own words, noting that Heero was smirking slightly too. "But I don't know. I get good grades, I'm good at sports, my head isn't 'too' big, girls seem attracted to my hair for some unfathomable reason, I ride Shinigami, I listen to rock music. I'm a mixture of every fucking category there is."

"But for your interest in sports, you'll be labelled a jock." Duo sent a dirty look at the now upright and grinning Heero Yuy.

"Watch it Yuy." The braided teen mock-warned. "I'll have you know, I am no Jock. Nor will I ever tolerate being called one." He growled at the other youth before suddenly breaking out into a large grin. He finished up the last of his stretches and turned to the gate of the Charlatan's garden. "When do we have to be there?"

"8:30. It usually takes me ten to fifteen minutes to walk there but on the bike I think it'll take no more than five." Duo nodded thoughtfully.

"Ok. When do Joe and his other 'rough bullies' usually get there? And do they use a car?"

"They get there at 20 past 8 and yes, they all arrive in Joe's car. Why, what are you planning?" but Duo just grinned.

"Meet me out here at quarter past." With that said, he bolted up and into the Charlatan's house, leaving Heero shaking his head.

Written by Diluted Industry.