Duo's Child

Chapter 4

Uno walked down the hallway on Monday morning to the living room where Duo would most likely be. Just two days ago, she completed Heero's training and Duo's was next—today. She reached the living room and saw no one but Quatre and Trowa sitting on the couch. She stepped up to them.

"Uno!" Quatre smile.

"Hi Cat-wa." Uno smile and Quatre lifted her up on his lap. Trowa smirked.

"Duo said he'd be back in a couple of minutes. He went out to get you something." Quatre hugged her; he so wished she was his child.

"Hey little one." Trowa spoke up. "You still reading those books Quatre and I got for you?"

"Uh huh." Uno nodded.

"Which one are you on now?"

Uno stayed silent in thought for a few seconds before replying to Quatre's question. She then looked up at them and shook her head.

"You may be in training right now, but you still need to read them…okay?" She nodded. "Even though you're strong for your age, you don't want to become stupid. Do you?"

"…" Uno shook her head, her braid whipping around.

"She's too much like Duo." Trowa smiled at her braid.

"I know…but she's so cute!" Quatre hugged her again and smiled. "So, you think you're ready for Duo's training?"

"Uh huh."

"What did Duo say he was going to train her in?" Trowa leaned back, looking at Uno.

"I don't know…he doesn't really know yet, either. There's not really that much he can train her to be that he knows of."

"…"

"Uno!"

Uno spun around and saw Duo at the doorway of the living room. Quickly, she got off Quatre and ran to Duo, arms wide open.

"Duo!" He hugged her and looked at her eye to eye, kneeling on the ground.

"Uno…I got ya' something!" Uno backed away from him and watched as he brought his hand around to his back and returned it with a little box. "It's a toy, G I Joe!"

"…" Uno looked at it and at the pictures. Then hugged Duo.

"So whenever you don't have training and you want to play for a change- since I read with you-you can play!"

"Yay." Uno smiled.

"Duo…you bought her a G I Joe?" Duo stepped into the room near Quatre.

"Yup."

"…But she's a girl…why not a Barbie or anything like that?"

"Ewww…Quatre! Uno is in training to be a cold-blooded ruthless killer at the moment! The last thing she needs is to be sabotaged by…preppy…incest…toys that…live by…love and…peace." Duo acted as if he were about to throw up just thinking of the living Barbie they knew-Relena.

Uno sat down on the floor, already playing with the G I Joes that were in the box, already acting like they were in a war.

"Look at that…already she thinks life's a war." Duo smiled and knelt down besides Uno. Uno looked up.

"Uno sweetie, why don't you put those away and get dressed. You're about to start training with me in ten minutes. So, go dress and come back here when you're done, okay?" Uno nodded, smiled, and stood to hug him. She then put the G I Joes back in the box and ran off with them.

"…Cute." Quatre smiled and looked back at Duo. "So Duo…what will your training be to take place the entire week?"

"And the test Friday?" Trowa added in.

"…Now ya' just had to remind me that it was this long, didn't 'cha?" Duo sighed and put his arms behind his head. "At the moment…just lock picking…stealth speed-ya' know, like super fast and super quiet-how to steal and not leave a trace of evidence behind…"

"Oh…thief rules." Quatre didn't look happy and stood alongside with Trowa.

"…And pigging out and having to be annoying as everyone says-but I say that's being cheerful!" Duo smiled. "Hell, after having Heero's intense training, she has to have mine to tell her it's quite alright to be happy at all times."

"…Duo. You need more."

"But like what! Geeze', I didn't think it'll be that hard to train someone. Lock picking isn't just something that someone can learn in one day you know. Took me a few weeks to understand how to do it."

"But didn't you say that Uno's already over achieved her goals she had with Heero? She may be better with you as well."

"Quatre, let's let Duo decide." Trowa hugged Quatre from behind. Uno stepped into the room and Duo looked at her.

"Uno sweetie, ya' ready?" She nodded heavily; braid flipping all around. "Alright…step one: Race to the kitchen…. go!" And with that, they both ran into the kitchen.

"…Pigging out already?"

"…Well, that's Duo for you." Quatre smiled and walked with Trowa to the library.

In the kitchen sat Uno on her knees and Duo besides her, eating cereal. Lucky Charms was the choice he chose and Uno was already pigging out just as he.

"See Uno…" Duo swallowed. "Your first step in my training is, learning how to eat."

"…But Duo…I know how to eat." Uno's questionable face made Duo pause and smile. She was just too cute with her little questions.

"…I mean…eating fast. Ya' never know when you'll be attacked, so it's best to remain on guard at all times. And besides, they say you can't do much on an empty tummy. So therefore, try and finish rather quickly. Once you feel it hurt, then you can stop. But never stop until you feel it or you run out. Got it?"

"…" Uno nodded as she ate.

"Good, part of your test will be to see how fast you can…'pig out'. Also, they say it's bad to do anything on a completely full tummy too, so to prevent this, don't stuff yourself too much, okay? You can, but if you go slow then move the pace a lil', you're accomplish it like nothing."

"Me done." Uno smiled as she pushed her bowl away.

"Uno…you still hungry?" She nodded a little. "Then more you eat." Duo poured more Lucky Charms in her cereal and milk after, then handed her back the bowl. She began to pig out again.

About an hour after eating their big breakfast of nothing but Lucky Charms, Duo stood and put the dishes away in the sink, then turned to Uno.

"Also…drink as much milk as you can. Don't want to have you breaking bones that fast." Duo left the kitchen with Uno trailing behind and headed into the office.

Quatre had another office created just for him. He knew Duo when it came to fun time and needed another office so Duo could use the old one to mess around in. Quatre also didn't trust Duo going into his computer for porn. Quatre was innocent, but Duo displayed the wrong image of Quatre on his computer, making Quatre seem like a lying porn fanatic.

"Uno…" Duo looked at her as he withdrew a small leather bounded wrap-up and unfolded it. "These are lock picking tools."

Uno looked at them. To her, they looked like thin pieces of metal, like pins and screwdrivers.

"Now, the reason why I'm teaching you this now, is because it took me weeks to learn how to do this professionally. Now since you've mastered just about all of Heero's training, I took in account that you may do the same with mine. So I had you start the beginning of the week. Now we'll continue to train on this, but not much. I'll help if you want to practice it, but like I said, we won't train with it often, got it?"

"Okay." Uno nodded and followed Duo to the door. He locked the door and stepped outside.

"Okay…see it's locked, no way in. And we don't have a key." He tried the knob and nothing happened. "These are for lock picking. Once mastered, you can do anything that allows locking…well, just about. Heero'll have to teach you how to hack into locks on computers and such."

Duo knelt down besides the door and looked at the utensils. "Alright, now in order to see which one you use for the lock, you measure it. See, this lock looks tiny and thin, but 'twisty-and-turny' looking." He picked up one of the mechanisms and looked at it with her.

"Now you see, this one looks too fat and see…it doesn't go through to begin with." He showed her, trying to slide it inside the lock. "Now this one here, is thin and twisty…and it does go through, but notice…once you hit a spot you can't slide in any longer, try and see if you can move it about to look for a little switch button. Okay? You can't see or feel it, so you have to try and rely on the metal to rub against it and describe the outer forms. Got that?" Uno nodded again.

"Now hand me the next one you think may work?" He put down the other besides him and watched as Uno lifted up each one. "That one doesn't work? Tell me why not."

"…To fat and twisty."

"…Good." He smiled. Twisty…she's just like me! "Now what about that one there? No? Why not?"

"…Not twisty enough or stwaight enough."

"Okay…now how about that smaller one there…think it'll fit?"

"No…too showt."

"Okay, now Uno. Look closer. The one we found that fits is long, thin, and twisted. Don't just look and decide; you have to try it out sometimes. Okay, now see…" Duo picked it up. "This one actually works. See? If you already have a long one…then the other may not be long, it may be short. Or you may get two long ones…or you may get two short ones. Most likely, it depends on the lock. Got it?"

"Uh huh."

"Good, now…hand it to me and I'll show you what to do now." Uno handed Duo the tools and he prepared. "Okay, now pay close attention. You see how I slid in the long one first? You must so that way you won't struggle with the second. Once you feel around inside for a little button, don't press it just yet, but keep in mind that it's there. Then with the other, slip that in and look for its button. Now, once you find the shorter one's button, press it, then press the further one and try and hold it there…now, Uno…question: When putting a key in a lock, do you open the door, turn it left, or turn it right?"

"…You tuwn it wight."

"Okay…so let's try right." The door didn't open. "Nope…this one must be left then. Not all locks are the same, you hear me Uno? Good. This lock opens on the left, so lets see." Duo twisted his fingers around and he heard a tiny faint click.

"You hear that?" Uno nodded. "That means it worked and looky! It opened!" Duo smiled as he shut the door again and locked it.

"Okay, now Uno. Not all locks open on the left. Front door locks are both. The top is called the dead bolt, and that opens in the direction the metal lock bar opens…inside the door. So if the door's opposite of this, then it's opposite then left, right. Got it? Good. Now the bottom lock on the front door is called the doorknob…much like this one and all the others-but not all have locks on them. Now, they can have either way to open them, depending on the lock inside it. Some old doorknobs with locks open the same as this one, but many new ones open opposite. There's a little something inside the door that is installed and whenever the key is turned to the right, as you see I'm showing you, inside the door, it slides like clock wheels and turns the metal lock bar inside the door. Kinda' tricky, but it's so many people can't break inside things. Now, to determine which way it turns, cuz' some old locks look like new ones, you have to be gentle when inserting the tools inside it's hole. See, on this one, the longer piece is slide into its spot over here on the left-the shorter one to the right-but not all are the same, remember that." Duo sat back and sat her in his lap, shuffling the utensils around. "Now see if you can do this without my help. Don't remember what I did to do this-it could be different. And keep in mind, that if this wasn't Quatre's house and you were doing this on a mission or something, there could be a trap set up to kill you if you make the wrong move…but I'll get more into that later. Okay?"

"Okay…" Uno looked down at the utensils and brought up one that looked like it fit. It was skinny, twisted, but ridged. She put that down and took up one that was short and thin. She placed that on the side of her and Duo then looked back. She picked up two others that looked so identical to each other, but she knew there was something different in it. She stared. After a minute of searching for the answer, she noticed the tip; one was pointed like a screwdriver, the other was flat. She smiled and picked up the other then set to work. She slid the long one in, but on the wrong side then slid it over and further in. The shorter next and pressed it's button once she found it. She searched for the longer one's button, but had no luck. She continued to try. Finally, she managed to locate it-she wasn't feeling around as Duo had told her to-and pressed it. She thought about which way it turned. All the talk about the locks and turns made her forget-but that's what Duo wanted, right? She thought quickly and hard about it then looked at the metal lock bar inside the crevice. She tried left and began to turn it, and then the utensils fell out of her hands to the floor. She pouted.

"Try again, Uno. You'll get the hang of it soon. You're hands are too small, but they'll develop into tougher ones before ya' know it."

Uno reached down and picked up the metal strips, then reinserted them inside the lock. After pressing the buttons again, she gripped a little harder on them and turned left, just barely hearing the click inside. It opened after that and she looked back at Duo.

"Great. You struggled at first, but with practice you'll get the hang of it."

"Wat if I don't heaw it click?"

"Not all the time you can and not all the time it will. And you won't always be able to have the time to quickly hear for it, especially when running."

"Okay."

"Okay, now this is an outdated version of lock picking utensils…actually…it's extremely outdated. But still, it never failed me once before. Each locking mechanism is different to use, so once you get the hang of this one, I'll locate an updated version-a new one-and teach you how to use that. Alright?"

"Kay." Uno hugged Duo.

"Good, now lets move on to another door." Duo stood up and looked down. "Think you know how those fit into their rightful slots?"

"…" Uno sat down and fumbled around until she got each utensil inside its leather strap holder, then stood.

"Good."

That night, as Duo was watching television, Uno stepped into the room with her G I Joes and sat down on the ground once again. Heero looked up from his typing and noticed it.

"…Duo."

"Ya'?"

"…Did you get Uno G I Joes?"

"Yup!" Duo smiled and watched her play war.

"…Hn…" Heero smirked and looked back down to his laptop. Already, she wants to fight. I can see it while she plays with those toys. He continued typing his reports to Dr. J on how he's teaching Uno to become the Perfect Soldier along with everyone else on their hoping. He knew she'd become the Perfect Soldier, but Duo would also want her to stay as the Goddess of Death. Wonder if he'll tell Professor G about this one.

"Ya' know, Heero."

"Hn…"

"We no longer fight, but yet, you still have mission reports to send…why?"

"Classified."

"…I shoulda' known." Duo looked at Uno. "Ey Uno sweetie."

"…" Uno looked up at him, questionably.

"Whatever you do, when I ask you something, don't respond like Heero and label it as 'classified'…alright?"

"…Kay." Uno smiled and looked back down at her toys, playing more with them. "Bang! Bang…"

WuFei glanced over from the chair and watched her. Quatre lied on Trowa's lap and watch from across the room while Trowa read yet another dull book to help him sleep that night.

Tuesday morning and Duo sat up in bed, still seeing Uno sound asleep cuddling Deathscythe in her arms. He smiled. He crawled over on his bed and shook her some; she cuddled more and ducked her face in her pillow.

"Uno sweetie, wake up. We gotta' continue training." Duo looked at her. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked up at him from cuddling position and smiled.

"Do we have ta'?" Uno asked cutely.

"You're already becoming me." Duo smiled and kissed her forehead. "Come on, go get dressed."

"Okay." Uno sat up and stretched.

Uno made her way down the hallway that morning after she dressed and found Duo sitting on the arm of the couch, looking at her.

"Uno…today, I'm gonna' teach ya' how to sneak."

"But I know how."

"…Differently than you did on the streets some months ago." Duo picked her up and sat her on his knee. "I mean going stealth. Having other people not know you're around. Becoming the shadow among the other shadows."

"Okay." Uno slid off his knee and looked at him. Duo stood and straightened out his jeans.

"Alright…you do know how to tip toe, right?" Uno nodded. "Okay good. Sorta' like that, but be extremely cautious that you don't alarm those you're sneaking by. Now, the main thing you have to remember is…when going slow, take it easy. But when going fast, don't use your weight."

"Okay." Uno followed Duo to the hallway as he walked there.

"Now, the first key to remember is: When running in stealth, try to keep your weight subsides by your lightness. Meaning, don't go running and stomping. It won't work like that. Run like a feather, you'll also notice yourself speed up that way; you'll feel so light, you can go faster. Like this." Duo ran stealth and moved silently. "Okay Uno, now when trying to run stealth, be sure not to do…this." Duo ran back to her stealth mode and made soft sounds with his feet.

"See, even soft sounds don't let you get by easily…now you try. Don't forget to sound silent."

Uno nodded and ran in stealth. Unfortunately, her feet still made soft noises even when she tried with her toes.

"No…you made a noise…"

"What if it's my shoes or the gwound?"

"…More than likely, you'd have to fix that as much as possible not to happen a lot. Once or twice, depends. You'll get spotted and you don't want to do that. Now, when trying to run stealth, be careful not to use your weight. Remember I said that. Now try again."

Uno nodded once again and ran. She was a bit slower this time and used more of her toes then her heals. Once returned to Duo, she looked up at him with a pondering look on her face.

"That's better, I didn't hear you this time. But you slowed down. Now try it again and this time, try not to slow down some. Alright."

"Kay." Replied Uno.

She took off once again and swayed to each foot as she stepped. So far, she was doing well and once she stopped at the end, returned to Duo, speeding up gradually.

"Good…now, what you just learned was stealth running. We still have sprinting left and that's faster, like running for dear life silently, and walking or tiptoeing. Both of those last two are the hardest to learn because you're applying more weight to your feet."

Duo looked at Uno through the eyes and watched her blink. He waited for a reply of feedback but that was good enough to him so far. Duo thought quickly about the next topic and decided on doing sprinting.

"Alright, now when sprinting, remember the same thing you had for running. Be calm when running, don't breath heavy, stay quiet, and above all…try your very best not to use your heels. Watch me." Duo looked down to the end of the hallway and tilted his head to pop his neck. When he took off, he didn't leave even a single swift of his clothes, instead high-tailed his butt down the hall, very quiet and fast. When he stopped, he was at the opposite end and didn't look half that badly out of breath.

"Now you try, Uno." Uno ran as he did and made note that she was doing all right. When she finished, she almost had trouble stopping but luckily Duo was there to hold her.

"Whoa…hey sweetie…not that fast. Look, careful of your speed. I didn't think you could run that fast, but still…" He hugged her and then ran again to the previous end of the hallway. This time, Uno took note of how the correct way to run was. He ended and turned back to her.

"Now you try again."

Sitting in the library, Quatre was reading a magazine that was delivered to his mansion by mail. He looked at all the pretty decorations it showed for occasions and such. Outside the door and down a floor, Duo was training with Uno.

"I wonder how well Uno's learning stealth right now." Quatre flipped a page.

"I don't understand why he'll call it that, it's only running when silent." WuFei mention, not looking up from his martial arts book. He leaned backwards on the window of the balcony couch.

"Duo thinks there's more to it than just running. But let's let Duo to think that." Trowa stepped inside the room with a glass of tea for he and Quatre.

"Thank you, Trowa." Quatre placed it on the table. "Say…did Duo find out Uno's birthday?"

"No. He hasn't even thought about that yet." Heero canceled his program and opened a new message.

"I'm surprised. He loves her to death already, I figured he'd probably find out by now."

"For a beginner, Uno's pretty well coordinated. I just walked by the two on running silent sprints and they aren't so bad. Uno's not as quiet, but she's close." Trowa sipped his tea.

"That onna better not grow up to become a weak onna, or in this matter…an exact replica of that Maxwell as she seems so already."

"Then you should join in with teaching her, WuFei. I bet you can make quiet a difference in her." Quatre looked up at him.

"No…however, that does give me an idea."

"Just don't turn her against Duo…it'll break his heart."

"Exactly." WuFei grinned.

"Good, Uno…so far you got running and sprinting down." Duo leaned on the wall and looked down at the sitting Uno. He smirked as she looked around this big, decorated hallway.

"What next?"

"Walking…or tiptoeing. Which ever you decide."

"…Kay." Uno stood and tiptoed over to Duo.

"Heh…well, this one may not take so long." Duo wrapped his arm around her head and back as they walked back to the center of the hallway. "Alright now…fun time." Duo smiled tightly.

"…What fun?"

"Okay…say I'm a cop and I'm guarding this…priceless…" Duo looked around for something he could use. "…Vase!"

"…" Uno blinked.

"And I don't want anybody to come and steal it and I'm the best, and I mean THE best, cop they have for the job. And this priceless piece of something is what you need to get the money you long for. How do you get it?" He stood and folded his arm, glancing around like a cop.

"…" Uno walked by him like nothing and looked around at the pictures hanging on the walls. She stopped and stared up into one, then casually walked away to another. When she sensed his back was to her, she silently tiptoed over to the previous direction and closed in on the special item.

Duo was counting to three until he would have to turn around and tell her to make her move. He was expecting her to make a noise when doing what he asked for. Already, he hasn't heard a thing and was getting, to some extent, impatient. He turned around and found he was alone. He blinked and looked over. The vase was gone as well. He then looked down the hall they were previously at and saw her sitting there, holding the vase in her arms. He blinked again. He was there the entire time…paying attention so he could try and make due of what she would do, and there she was…sitting very happy, with the vase and all.

"…Uno…I…"

"Didn't see me." She smiled and walked up to him.

"Did you tiptoe away too?" She shook her head and handed the vase back to him carefully. "Run?" She nodded. "…God…I didn't even sense you."

"…"

"Heh heh heh…" Duo grinned and hugged her. "My little Uno's already a perfect little thief, I'm so proud!"

Later that night, Quatre stepped up to Duo. He was in the kitchen preparing a sandwich for him as Uno played more. She was fondling around with a padlock that Duo had let her use to practice on. She mastered the lock picking on doors in less than a few hours ago and moved on to greater things, like padlocks. Next, Duo would want her to try to pick car's and hotwire them. Hotwiring would be not until she gets a little older.

"Hello Duo."

"Hey Q…hey look." He pointed to Uno. "She moved on to padlocks now."

Quatre smiled. "Nice…um…Duo, listen."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know Uno's birthday?" Duo stopped making his sandwich. "Because I was looking through a magazine and I realized that we haven't asked her yet."

"…What if she doesn't know?" He looked at him seriously and put the peanut butter and jelly away.

"…Have you even asked her yet?"

"…I will now." Duo trailed out of the kitchen with his food and Quatre followed behind. He walked up to Uno who was turning the keypad with her ear gently pressed on it. Heero glanced up at her and watched.

"…" Uno looked seriously in her eyes and smiled when she heard the third and final click of the lock. She looked up to Duo.

"Uno hon…" Duo sat down and Quatre sat on the couch. "When's your birthday?"

"…I'm not suw."

"…You don't know?"

"…No…I know Mommy and Daddy had a lot of people at the doow one day."

"Was that day your birthday?"

"I think so…lots of pwesents…but a lot of people at the doow who looked scawy too."

"…They looked dressed up?" Uno nodded to Duo again. "Halloween. Perfect!"

"Duo…" Quatre began but Duo silenced him with his hand.

"Shush Quatre. Shinimegami's birthday is Halloween. That is SO great!" Duo smiled and hugged Uno.

The next day, Wednesday, Duo was sitting in the living room watching television when Uno suddenly appeared besides him and cuddled into his side. She hugged at Deathscythe tighter and shut her eyes again.

"Hey sweetie."

"…"

"We're gonna' continue today, alright?"

"…"

"…Right…and guess what on?"

"…"

"That's right! We're learning how to use a scythe!"

"…" Uno looked up at him with a weird look in her face. "…You'we weiwd."

"…" Do to that, Duo suddenly had the urge to grab her and tickle her, and so he did. "Teach ya' not to mess with Shinigami!"

"Hahahaha!!!" Uno laughed loudly and squirmed. She tried to slide off the couch only Duo pulled her back and held onto her braid. He continued and she spun around and hit him in the side.

"Damn Uno!" He rubbed his side. "Ouch."

"…" Uno slapped his hand that was closest to her. "Potty mouth." She pouted at him.

"Erm…heh heh…let's go." Duo quickly stood and looked down at her pleading eyes. "Scythe time!"

"…" Uno stood and ran down to their room to change. She knew Duo would tell her to so she went along and did so before he had the chance to speak.

"…Um…okay." Duo shrugged and sat back down to wait for her. With in a few minutes, she ran back down but Duo did not see her. Due to that, she snuck up behind him, behind the couch, and grabbed at his braid, pulling it down.

"Gah!! Uno!! I know that's you back there!" Uno giggled and Duo stood. "That's it!"

"!!!" Uno ran and opened the hallway door on the other end. She left it open and ran as Duo fled behind her. She saw Quatre up ahead and called out for him.

"Cat-twa!" She smiled and ran to him.

"Hello Uno." Quatre smiled back and watched as she ran behind him.

"There you are….ughn…god." Duo leant down and rested his hands on his knees. "That lil' thing runs fast."

"Playing Tag?"

"Nah…'Tickle Me Uno'…ughn…"

"Oh." Quatre giggled.

"Come on Uno..." Duo stood and took out his scythe, real but not powered on at that moment.

"Just be careful Duo…"

"I know." Duo took Uno's hand and led her outside the mansion. When outside, he handed the scythe to her.

"Hold it." She held it in two hands. "Is it heavy?"

"A little."

"Alright, try just one then." She did but held it with two again. "…Hm…okay. Then, you need to practice more…get stronger. That can be tomorrow…weight room."

"Kay…" Uno handed it back and he spun the scythe around some in his hands.

"Okay, notice how I'm very careful about where I'm placing my hands on this stick? The handle or whatever you wish to call it?" She nodded. "Kay…when spinning it, be sure to NOT touch this end here." He pointed out to her the energy holes.

"This is where the scythe gets powered up. Now you, I know you have, seen this in my pictures on my walls…correct?" She nodded. "Okay, now when you get it powered up…like so…notice how it's very bright and hot."

Uno stared at the energy flame then away to him, rubbing her eyes. He handed her the scythe and she felt it get a little heavier.

"Okay, careful…now try and spin it like I did." She did and just barely had it slip out of her fingers. "You're fingers are small but eventually you'll get the hang of it. Until then…try hitting this here tree branch."

Uno walked up to a branch that he held out in his hands away from his body, and swung the scythe at him. He backed away some and the branch split in half fast, then fell to the ground. Uno looked up to him, shocked.

"Cool, isn't it?" Uno nodded and continued to spin it in her hands. "Good…now try with one…good…switch…alright…now…hm…try, um…try spinning it around-yeah, like that."

Uno tossed it back to him in the air and he grabbed it and continued to spin it, then shut it off. Duo stood, hanging the scythe from his hands and looked at her. Uno breathed heavy a little and stumbled backwards onto her butt. She sat resting.

"Weak?" Uno nodded. "That's okay. You'll get used to it eventually. But it also depends on…"

"On wat?" Uno asked.

Duo sighed, he wanted her to be just like him. "If you want to have a scythe in the future when you battle."

"…"

"But you won't ever know until then, will ya'." She smiled and he felt somewhat depressed.

Quatre stepped into his bedroom to see Trowa napping on the bed. With a smirk, he tiptoed over to the bed and prepared an attack, until…

"Hello Quatre."

"How could you tell?"

"It's not hard to sense another's presence in a room." He paused. "Besides, no one but us would enter this room and if it were Uno, she'd sneak up."

"Perhaps I should have Duo teach me stealth then, as well." Quatre sat down on the bed as Trowa opened his eyes. He sat up some and hugged Quatre from behind, placing his chin on Quatre's left shoulder.

"Something wrong, Love?" Trowa almost whispered in his ear.

"No…but Uno's getting well educated so far only she's not getting proper schooling. I understand Duo wants her to be Shinimegami in the future, but she need an education and there may not even be a battle when she's older."

"I understand. Speak with Duo about it."

"I will, but I don't want to sound pushy to him. He's the legal guardian of Uno and we're only helpers."

"We are all her guardians, only Duo and Hildie are signed for it because the law states only two can parent a child: one female and one male."

Quatre sighed and leaned back on Trowa some. Trowa kissed his neck and moved to his lips.

"Well Uno…so far…you've done great. Now all that's left is training with strength tomorrow. I don't want it to seem like it's on all your trainings, but I've noticed that you need the strength that we want you to use."

"Okay." Uno stood and sat in Duo's lap; Duo hugged her.

Both were panting due to the movements of the scythe. Each time Duo would toss her the scythe, she'd spin it around and tossed it right back-not what he intended to do. A few times she caught him by surprise but after the fifth time, he realized what she was doing: she was training her own reflexes and not even knowing it.

"Uno…I think that's it for now…I got you a new padlock you can try…it's a different type and I don't think I'll teach you about hotwiring just yet. Not until battle time comes near-don't want you to hack Quatre's cars in the future."

Uno smiled as she was hugged and picked up. Duo stood and carried her into the mansion, piggyback style. After he shut the door, she perked up at the sight of a certain someone.

"Wu-man!"

"…" Duo stayed silent-he told her not to do that.

"…" WuFei walked right by and stuck his nose up at her once.

"…Wu-Fay?" Uno asked and as he slowed to turn the corner, looking back at her amazed that she spoke his name the best she was able to properly. When Duo turned around to him with Uno on top, she death glared him again.

"…" WuFei turned away and Duo smirked.

"Ya' scarin' him the more you do that."

"So."

"So…if you continue to do that and call him Wu-man…then he won't want to help teach you." Uno pouted as Duo walked away. She bent over and hugged his neck; he smiled.

When he finally reached the hallway where their rooms were at, Heero's door was slightly ajar and he figured he'd pop in. He did and Heero looked a little disturbed until he saw Uno.

"Hi-ya', Hee-chan!" Duo waved.

"…" Heero faced Duo and then to Uno. He smirked.

"Huh?" Duo's face vaulted.

"She's asleep."

"…" Duo glanced over to the mirror and saw Uno out like a light, leaning over his shoulder in a hug and sleeping silently. "Wow…I guess that training was pretty tough on her after all."

"What training did you teach today?"

"Scythe."

"…" Heero glanced at her, he had to admit-in his feelings and not outside- she looked very cute like that. With her braid hanging off the side almost falling out and her arms dangling on each side of Duo, she looked like a miniature sized Duo-rag doll.

"Well…guess I'm gonna' go put her to bed. See ya' later, Hee-man!" Duo turned the corner and headed back down the hallway.

"Hm…" Heero watched and stared at Uno-her face was vaulted like she hasn't had sleep in years. He wondered if Duo taught her stealth that well because she didn't make any noise as she slept, almost like he himself as Duo found on their last missions. Duo would sometimes wonder if Heero was even alive because he slept perfectly silent, just as the Perfect Soldier was.

Duo entered his room and shut the door. He looked at the clock-five in the afternoon-and to the windows. It was still sunny out, but the sun was lowering. He figured if Uno were that tired he'd let her sleep the night and skip dinner. He set her in her bed-his cot actually-and tucked her in the sheets. Automatically, she grabbed at the Deathscythe-as if knowing perfectly where it was without looking-and cuddled. Duo smiled and pecked her forehead, then turned and walked away. Just as he reached for the knob, he heard his name mumbled. He turned his head to her.

"…Eh?" He asked but it didn't reach her awareness. Instead, she just continued.

"Luv you, Duo." To Duo, it was more of a whisper but she mumbled it in her sleep.

Duo smiled and felt extremely happy. He's never felt this proud since he found a meaning to stay alive after the Maxwell Church. He shut the door quietly and walked down to the dining room, a bright smile planted on his face.

"Duo?" Quatre asked while he set the table for dinner.

"Uno…she's tired and so I put her in her bed to let her sleep. I mean she's really tired."

"Oh? So she won't be joining us?" Quatre stepped away to take the cups from Trowa as Heero and WuFei sat down.

"No…not tonight. But as I left, I heard my name mumbled and she said she loved me." Duo smiled and hugged himself. Quatre blushed and smiled, feeling very happy for him.

"Cute. I'm proud of you Duo…you've done great."

"I know, Quat…I love it!" Duo smiled tightly.

"I'm surprised you haven't faulted yet." WuFei poured he and Heero soda as Heero gave WuFei and himself some food Quatre had just placed down.

"Duo, when you are going to send Uno off to school?" Quatre sat down and took his own share of food.

"…Well…I want her to finish our training first…you know, at least to you. WuFei…I'm hoping…"

WuFei snorted at him.

"…But I'm feeling that as a no. And I don't know where just yet and where she stands. She's learning quite well on her own so far."

"But she's catching up…she'll need proper schooling." Quatre sliced his meat.

"…I'll look into it."

"I'll help you. I'm sure I have enough money to help you send her to a school."

"No private school! She's going public, just like a normal human being that we never had the chance to acquire."

"…But Duo…it's too dangerous for her."

"I dun care Quatre…we taught her well and like you all have been telling me, there may not even be anything going on in the future."

Quatre sighed. "Alright. I'll look into public schools and find the best one that's closest near here."

"Thank you." Duo smiled and began to eat his first bite. "And besides…she may become the smartest student in that entire school if WuFei decided to join."

"Note your words, Maxwell. Decide."

"Duo…please swallow your food before you speak." Quatre asked and Duo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya'."

"Maybe I should have him sit through my training with Uno as well." Quatre whispered to Trowa.

Thursday morning and Duo sat up in his bed, alone in the room.

"Uno?" He looked around and found no one. Figuring she wouldn't be playing, he left the room to the living room. There he found Uno watching cartoons and cuddling next to Quatre who sat with her.

"Hey Duo." Quatre perked up. Uno was too glued to the television set that she didn't even notice Duo was in the room.

"…Uno?"

"She's been stuck to the set this morning."

"…I can tell."

"She already takes after you." Quatre giggled.

"Yeah, yeah. We're weight lighting today. She struggled some with the scythe yesterday so she's gonna' be packing it up today in the gym. Ain't that right, Uno?" Uno looked up and saw Duo.

"Hi Duo!" She smiled, just now realizing he was in the room.

"You're worse than me."

"I hope you know you're insulting yourself."

"Hi Heewo!" Uno smiled at Heero as he passed by.

"I do and I don't care!" Duo went cold shoulder on him and looked back to Uno. "Ya' ready to get strong?"

"Uh huh." Uno stood besides Duo.

"Be careful, Duo."

"I know Quatre." Said Duo as he bent down so she could climb on top. "Gid on, lil' lady."

Uno crawled on him and held onto him in a hug. He hopped her up some and began his way down the hallway.

"Uno…I thank you for what you said yesterday. You made me very proud." Duo was welcome with another hug and smiled again. "Hehe, ya' know something, Uno…I'm proud to have taken you in myself."

Uno smiled and looked around. Duo stepped through another door in the hallway and looked around as he began to walk up to the weight room door.

"Word of advice, hon."

"Yeah?"

"…Never roam these halls without one of us."

"You mean 'one of them?'" She giggled and Duo felt his eyes shift to the lower right. However, he knew she was right.

"…Yeah…one of them. I oughta' get you for that one." Uno giggled. "Oh 'hehe-haha'…just you wait."

The door shut behind them and Duo set Uno down. He stepped up to a bag and looked back at her.

"Punch." She did. "…Okay then. Seems like Heero trained you in this already."

"Uh huh."

"…Okay…then…" Duo stood next to the bench press and motioned her to lay back. "How much did he do this with you?"

"Um…I think he said fifteen."

"…You can't be that strong already and struggle to hold a gun and my scythe. Try this." Duo placed five pounds on each side of the bar and she lifted it quite well. He then added an extra five to the side and she continued.

"See?"

"Not wanting to believe it, but yeah. Okay, this is what I'm going to do. I am going to place five pounds on each side and you tell me when it begins to get heavy for you. And from there, we'll lower that five pounds to one on each side until we mark where you are."

"…Kay." Uno prepared and held up the bar with fifteen already on.

"Okay, now here we go." Duo placed five pounds on the opposite side of the ten-pound side and Uno still held tightly. "No? Go on then." About another ten pounds more Uno's arms began to shake.

"Duo."

"This?" Uno nodded. "Okay. Let's try this." Duo removed the previously placed five-pound weight and began adding a one pound one to each side.

"Duo!"

"That's about twenty two pounds. Now continue with lowering and lifting them, I'm right behind you." Duo stood behind Uno and held his hands to prevent fatal accidents.

"Here." Heero placed a water bottle down on the table besides the bench and looked back at Duo's questioning face. "She'll dehydrate if she doesn't train while drinking water."

"What about Gatorade?"

"…Water is the best for training. Those other commercialized drinks were not trusted when they came out. Water is safe, just don't let her drink a lot of it."

"Why not?" Asked Uno as she lifted the bar for the fifth time.

"Too little of it can dehydrate you but too much can make you sick."

"Hm…I didn't know that."

"…" Heero turned and walked away. Before he left, he turned around once more and looked back at Duo and Uno. She lifted for the seventh time at that moment.

"Good Uno, that's seven. Three more and we move on. Eventually I'll have you be doing twenty."

Heero smirked and shut the door. He sat down in the office besides the living room and spoke to Quatre who sat at the desk before him.

"She's strong, twenty two pounds."

"Really? Wow." Quatre took a sip of his tea and placed it back down.

"Have you found a school yet?"

"So-to-speak, I have."

"Which school are you questioning?"

"Winner Elementary, Junior High, and High school."

"Huh?"

"My father opened three schools and I had not known about it. It says here that he founded three schools for bright students but since he decided it to become public, it outgrew it's original potential and became public for all types."

"How does it look?"

"Pretty decent so far. I only wonder if Uno will get the schooling she will need instead of passing by because I own the school now."

"Hm."

"I guess I will have to speak with the principal about her enrollments then.

"Duo will have to be the one to sign her in, I will go with him to make sure he does it correctly."

"Well if you plan to go that far in helping, then I need to be there to be sure you don't hurt his feelings." Quatre looked up from the screen to meet his eyes. "You hurt his feelings plenty before and he doesn't show them until he's alone-I've seen it. And he doesn't want to be caught crying in front of Uno."

"Hm." Heero noted this mentally. He never knew he hurt the poor boys feelings; besides, how would he know-Duo's stealth even when it comes to negative feeling emotions.

"Besides, I need to speak with the principal to explain that I have taken over the family business."

Later that day, about four hours later and the entire weight room set completed, Uno sat on the bench press drinking her water. Duo cleaned up the weights he and Uno had dealt with.

"Duo?"

"Eh?"

"Are we done?"

"…No." Uno sighed as he walked over to her. "Hit my hands."

"What?" Duo held up his palms and repeated. "…Okay."

"Well…you can work on your punching skills, but that'll take some time and it's best to ask Heero for that."

"How come?" Asked Uno as Duo lifted her back up onto his back so she could rest her feet-those leg presses were tough on her little body.

"Trust me…when it comes to final blows, Heero has a knack for those."

As Duo sat Uno down in the chair for dinner, he noticed Quatre had a smile plastered in his face. He pondered and poured he and Uno some soda as she sipped hers when he finished.

"Duo…I found a school for Uno."

"Yeah?" Duo sat. Uno sat her cup back down and frowned down a little.

"My father founded three schools and had not told me about it. Winner Elementary is where I'm planning to sign her up in. Only, I need to speak with the principal about her enrollment first. I don't want them to favor her because she lives with the new founder of the school."

"…" Uno pouted inside but hid it on the outside. She liked having the advantage so far, she felt special. She got whatever she asked for; which wasn't much-yet.

"Here you go, Uno." Trowa put a plate of food on the table in front of her as she smiled; her favorite time of the day-food. Hanging out with Duo as much as she had been trailed off a habit of his to her.

"Thank you, Trow-wa." Uno smiled and picked up the utensils as she learned herself.

"Welcome." Responded Trowa as he sat besides Quatre.

Quatre watched Uno hold her fork as a knife to stab at things. He'd have so much fun teaching her in training. He couldn't wait, really; he almost feels like he's going to ask Trowa to trade training spots with him, but he knows Duo wouldn't be proud of that; she is his child. No body really spoke over the dinner table except for WuFei and Heero about the work at the Preventers and the occasional snare of 'injustice'. Quatre looked over at Uno as she grasped her cup with both hands to drink. He smiled and enjoyed the site-he knew, as she grows older, he'll begin to miss 'Little Uno' more and more compared to the 'Big Uno' she'll grow into.

Duo tucked Uno in that night and kissed her forehead. A book he had Heero place on his dresser earlier slid down and startled him, causing him to turn and face it. This gave Uno the perfect opportunity to kiss him on the cheek and snuggle up fast. Duo turned fast back to her and grinned.

"Love you too, Uno sweetie." He tucked the sheets over her and gave her Deathscythe back from the floor. He crawled into his bed and shut off his lamp.

That night, Uno woke to a very disturbing sound-Duo's snoring. She sat upright on her shoulders and faced him with a disgusting look. She pondered for a moment, then did the only logic thing she could at that moment: she grabbed one of his unused pillows (he had two for his bed) and threw it directly to his face, instantly waking him up. Quickly, she dove back down for sleep, her back to him, and silently acted asleep as she listened-in to his movements.

Duo looked around and back down to the pillow that now sat in his lap and only one thought came to mind: Uno. He grinned and placed his pillow right back in its spot and laid back down. I'll get her back…very soon. Duo grinned at his thoughts as he fell back into slumber land for the second time that night.

Uno woke to an abrupt style: pillow to the face. She sat up quickly and faced a grinning maniac named Duo. She pouted, grabbed her pillow, and hit him in return. The pillow fight went on for a few good minutes then both settled down to rest. Duo sat besides Uno and hugged her.

"Uno...time for the test sweetie."

"..." Uno dug her head into Duo's side to hide, but did her no good.

"Nope..." Duo stood. "Come on, get dressed and come down. It starts A.S.A.P." Duo walked out and shut the door behind him. Uno sat there thinking of a way to get him...she was tired.

Duo's been waiting for ten minutes already and Uno hadn't returned yet. Quatre came by earlier and told him each of them were in their room doing their own things, in case Duo needed them. Duo also told him to tell everyone else about the test so if they spot Uno, to tell him. Duo was about to go back to his room and find Uno when he saw her head pop out from around the corner. He smiled.

"'Bout time." Duo stood as she walked up to him. "Alright, Breakfast. Now why do I say to eat a lot?" Duo picked up Uno and carried her into the Kitchen.

"So you won't stawve quickly latew on. Not to eat a lot because you'll make youwself sick. Eat just the porfect amount so that way you can be pwepawed and full at the same time." Uno smiled and nodded each sentence in agreement with Duo's smile.

"Great." Duo sat her in a chair and gave her a bowl. "Dig in."

Uno smiled and took her cereal and milk, pouring it into the bowl carefully. Duo watched Uno put the cap back on the milk, closed up the box of cereal, then began to eat with her spoon. He already had his share of food early that morning when Quatre opened his door. Quatre wanted to know if Duo decided to take Uno to the mall that day, but Duo wouldn't spare a minute of her training; she needed this badly. Moments later, she finished and smiled at Duo.

"Okay...now what do you do?" Asked Duo; she needed to be able to clean up after herself else Quatre would fit over her, considering he owns her.

"..." Uno blinked.

"Clean it." Duo had her follow him to the counter and placed a little stool below the sink. "Climb up, put the bowl in the sink, turn on the faucet and fill it with water until it seeps out a lot. This is how clean it now so later on, you don't have a rough time to take care of it."

"Okay." Uno did as told and stood on the stool. She placed the bowl in the sink, filled it with water until it overflowed, and watched as the water cleared up. She finished and turned off the faucet, then faced Duo in return.

"Good, now follow me." Duo left to go to the living room and turned to face her. He handed her a lock picking mechanism and smiled at her.

"Um..."

"Okay, I will time you and you have to find a golden rose. Do not let anyone know you're there, you don't know where they could be, and above all, most of the doors are locked so don't alarm anyone testing a doorknob."

"Wight." Uno smiled and nodded, clearing her objectives for this.

"Now...ready...set...go!" Duo sat back on the couch with the timer and watched her run like hell out into the hallway. He smirked. Go Uno...you do this...Trowa has a present for you.

Uno rounded the corner and stopped seeing WuFei up ahead. Quickly, she dove behind a large houseplant and watched him move. She kept silent, holding her breath.

"Baka Maxwell. I don't care about that onna's training! I don't care about no stupid rose!" WuFei quieted and looked around the hallway; he felt he was being watched.

"..." Uno stayed quiet knowing he was searching. Once she watched him shut the door behind him to his room, she made a run for it. Stepping up to a door, she tried the knob and found it locked. Grinning, she began lock picking.

About three tries after she screwed up, she finally managed to open it. Carefully, after she put the tools away, she stepped into the room and shut the door behind herself. It was Quatre's bedroom and no one, Quatre meaning, was around. She ran over to his dresser and took out a cloth she stole from Duo's back pocket. She grinned and used it to look around, opening the drawers to the dresser and digging through the stuff for the rose. Frowning, she shut all the drawers once she found it nowhere and left the room after locking it from the inside. She looked around and searched.

Duo still waited for her arrival with the rose. Uno swiped his scarf out of his back pocket he was going to give to Quatre, but unfortunately that was going to have to wait.

Darting across the hall, she tested another knob and found it unlocked. Inside she went and automatically she dove under a desk; Heero was in his room. She watched his movements as he shut the door to the bathroom. She stood and ran to his laptop to look in his desk drawers. Nothing she found useful so she ran to his dresser. With cloth in hand still, she tried those drawers and still found nothing. The sound of the door startled her and quickly she did the only think known to mankind at this point in time, she dove under the bed. Uno watched as Heero walked across the room and sat on his bed, causing the bed to crater over her head and push her down. Heero thought about the sudden appeared lump from the base of his bed and hopped once with his butt. To poor Uno, she bit her lower lip easing the pain of a sudden headache. The sound of bed sheets crumbling stopped as she heard Heero nap. She sighed to herself; it was about damn time she was able to get out. She crawled. Something constructed her path and she looked down at a magazine. Playboy, a name that was new to her but the image on the cover was a female that needed a towel; this lady was soaked in water and showing threw a white t-shirt and her shorts looked too old- they were short. Uno pushed the magazine aside and crawled out from the hide away. Silently, she stood and stealth ran to the door. She opened it and looked out the halls for anything. Nothing was there and before she shut the door behind herself, she double checked on Heero. He was out like a light. Uno shut the door and looked to the other doors, sighing; this was going to be a long test. Heero sat up and yawned. He reached below his bed and grabbed at his Playboy magazine, finding it in a different spot than where he last had it. He blinked and found it's new spot.

Finally, Uno made it through another door that was locked and shut it quietly behind her. She was now in the library and behind the shelves she found Trowa skimming through a book. She climbed up the shelves to the top and looked around; she was extremely relieved to find out the shelves were sturdy even if she weighed below 100lbs. Uno crawled around on the top of the bookcase and stopped at the end of one. She watched Trowa sit down in a chair and begin reading. She bit her lip and backed away from the edge, staying low even for her height. She turned around and found the annoying golden rose on the top of a shelf in the corner of the room. She smiled happily that she found it, then frowned at it's place-four rows over and in the back corner noticeable to the silent reader. Even with the reader there, she crawled to the end of the shelf and looked down. She was at least ten feet up in the air and the gap to the back wall shelves were about half the width. Shakily, she stood and backed some. She looked behind her and found Trowa still reading. With that, she ran a few feet and jump at the last second, quickly grabbing the edge of the other side. She wouldn't be able to make a noise or fall so this had to be perfect. She hoisted herself up and sat on her knees, resting her arms and heart. She heard the door to the room open and WuFei's voice rise up to Trowa's. She waited and watched them speak, smiling for distracting the reader. Uno crawled to the golden rose and pocketed it. It was nice looking but she needed to get out now. The door opened again and she found Quatre step inside, WuFei leant back on the door and all three began to speak. Uno was now frightened at what to do. Her only way out was threw the door that the Chinese fighter leant on and the other two were right there as well. She looked around for different ways and found another door below the tiny shelf she sat on. Her shelf she was on at the moment was a top-wall shelf for above doors and stuff like that and it followed all the way across half the room into a U-shape. It curved in the corners, went over the door that she wouldn't have time to test and lock pick if needed for the crowd was right behind her, and went over a window. Uno's eyes widened at the window that was open. If she were to jump down, they'd see her. But she could crawl on the shelves, and swing outside from there, the only downfall is, what's below and how far down is it. She shook the thoughts out of her head and did it anyways. Crawling, she kept one eye on her path and the other on the crowd. When she finally got to the spot, she turned around to where her back was to everything, held onto the edge with her hands, and dropped her knees and feet, swinging them out the window. Quickly, she let go-actually by accident-and held her breath until she landed. Her feet fell firmly on the ground one and a half stories up and tingled up her legs. She bit her lip again and began running to the front of the house. As she spun around the corner, she slammed herself against the brick wall seeing Heero's window open and him at the desk. She thought, I bet the front door is locked anyways and his window is open...but he's right there... Uno inhaled and waited until she heard him get up and go to the door. Finally, she heard the sound of the hinges and she jumped through the window and looked about the room. Carefully, she ran to the door and noticed it locked. She unlocked it, opened it, relocked it, looked around the hallway, and out of the room. Shutting the door behind herself, she dove behind another large houseplant waiting until Heero stepped by. She watched him unlock his door with keys and step inside. When the door shut, she stood and high-tailed her butt down the hallway.

Duo was about to fall asleep when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Uno walking up to him with the golden rose in her hand. He smirked.

"One hour and twenty-one minutes. Where did you find it?" He cleared his stop watched and set it down.

"On the top of a shelf in the libwawy in the faw back cownew." Uno handed him the rose and hugged him.

"Well..." Duo looked at it. "You run into anyone?"

"Ask Cat-twa, Trow-wa, Wu-Fay, and Heewo. They may know." She smiled as Duo picked her up.

"Oh yeah? You found them?"

"Heewo twice."

"Hm...I'll find out later how you did...they suspect anything?"

"Not that I saw." Uno hugged Duo and they left the living room.

"How did you get out?"

"I jumped out the window from the shelves." Duo blinked at her. "I held onto the edge and let go aftor I swung outside. Then I found Heewo's window open and jumped in."

"Uno...you're a natural. Even I wouldn't think of that at your age. By that age, I was only good at stealin' apples and food with my ol' group."

Later that night, Duo found out that neither of the group heard or seen Uno the entire test. He was actually shocked that she did so well. Duo stepped into the living room and found Uno playing one of his video games, Quatre and Trowa with her; Quatre watched, Trowa read.

"Duo..." Quatre began. "Tekken isn't a good game for her to play."

"Sure it is...just not mortal combat. I hid that from her long ago." Duo sat down besides her and watched her replays. "Besides, if WuFei won't teach her, then I can have these video games learn her a little something."

"Correction Maxwell, I won't teach her. You said 'if'." WuFei passed by and left in the Kitchen.

"Whatever." Duo rolled his eyes. "Uno...don't smack me with a pillow tonight, okay hon?"

"Don't snor."

"Hehehe." Quatre giggled some.

"Uh! How dare you say I snore!" Duo acted innocent.

"But you do..." Uno blinked and Quatre laughed.

That night, Heero was on his laptop typing up another status report on Uno, once a week he felt Dr. J should know how she's being trained. He stopped for a moment to stretch and heard the door to his room open and shut fast. He looked and saw Uno dive under his bed.

"Shh!!!" Uno hid.

"Hn."

"Heero!" Duo bounced inside. "Where's Uno? I'm gonna' get her."

"Baka...knock next time." Duo blinked at Heero.

"So I take it she's not here?"

"Get out."

"Gone!" Duo left the room.

"Thanks Heewo." Uno crawled out of the crevice.

"Hn."

"Heewo...what's this?" Uno lifted up his Playboy magazine and showed him. Automatically, he grabbed the magazine and threw it back under his bed.

"OUT!" Uno jumped at Heero's words and ran out the door as Duo just had.

"Uno!" Duo stood from his chair seeing Uno enter the room. "Where were you?"

"Under Heewo's bed."

"But I...that guy." Duo sighed.

"Wat's Playboy?"

Duo sweat dropped. "Uh...huh?"

"It's a book under Heewo's bed. Wat is it?"

"...A magazine that you're not allowed to look at." Duo picked her up and sat down, sitting Uno on his knee.

"But wat is it?" Uno blinked at him; Duo couldn't stand her cute facial expressions.

"Um...a bad book that you aren't allowed to view at least until you're thirteen. Then I will tell you."

"...Okay." Uno quieted it down. She knew Duo didn't like the topic because he was shaky about it.

That night after Uno fell asleep, Duo crept across the hallway to Heero's room and stepped inside while knocking.

"Baka...that's not knocking."

"But I did knock."

"What do you need?"

"Um...just that same book.." Lied Duo. He was actually there for the magazine.

"It's on the desk." Heero shut the door to the bathroom.

"Thanks. I didn't get finished reading it." Duo picked up the book and dropped to his knees in search of below Heero's bed. "Ah! There it is!"

After Duo grabbed the magazine, he fled the room and across to his. Once entered, he placed the book on the dresser and stepped into the bathroom. Locking the door behind himself, Duo begin his readings and relief work. Heero laid back down on his bed, shut out the lights, and stared at the ceiling. He was in great need of stress relief and when he dropped his hands to the base of the bed, he felt to scream. All he felt was carpet when he was suppose to feel his magazine. He looked under his bed and found it missing.

"Duo...omae o korusu!!!"