Duo's Child
Chapter 5
Uno sat up one more morning in the bed and looked about; Duo still lay in bed. She shrugged and began to slide off the bed until that boyish cheery voice filtered the room.
"Don't you go anywhere…we're gonna' to have a fun day today so we got to get going." Duo spoke to her, his eyes still closed. Uno turned around to him.
"What about you?"
Duo sweat dropped. "Yeah…I'm getting up. Just resting from last weeks training. You take a lot out of me, ya' know that?"
Uno climbed up on his bed and stayed besides him. "That ended thwee days ago, Duo."
Duo sweat dropped once again. "Uh…heh heh…yeah." Duo grabbed Uno in a playful hug and she giggled some. "You're learning how to count well."
After a couple of minutes playing around and relaxing, Duo sat up and looked back at Uno. She smiled and he had no option but to smile back at her childish face.
"Well Uno, better get bathed and head out. We're taking you to the circus today." She smiled and watched as he straightened out some. "Ever been to a circus before?"
"Nuh uh." She shook her head and flung her braid around.
"Well…there's a first time for everything." He grinned, watching her braid flip around. Great, first day of training, Trowa's style.
About two and a half hours later, Duo walks down the hall carrying a very happy Uno on top, they both swung their braids around as best as they could. Uno giggled as she caught Duo's braid and held on like a horse rein. Duo smirked as he stepped up to Heero and Quatre.
"Hi Cat-twa!" Uno smiled and waved her fingers. Quatre returned the same back to her then turned to Duo.
"You're late." Heero stated.
"No…you try and bathe two heads of long hair. See how long it takes you." Duo mocked.
"Hn." He nodded to Uno's appearance and walked out the door. Duo smirked at him.
"Well, aren't we just the speed demon today?"
"Duo, Trowa left already because his manager was getting fed up with his lateness. WuFei went with him so he wouldn't have to-"
"I know I know, so he wouldn't have to sit with two Maxwells. The nerve of that guy hurting Uno like that." Duo frowned and perked up once he remembered Uno's training. "Well, I doubt Catherine plans to wait forever, lets' go Uno!"
"Yay!" Uno hugged Duo's neck and ducked as they walked outside the door.
"Good grief." Giggled Quatre, shutting and locking the door behind them. "I only hope Catherine's not going to frighten little Uno at the center stage."
Two hours later, they arrived and back stage talking some with Trowa. Uno sat down on a seat besides the lion cage and looked at the cat. She smiled and leaned to the cage, trying to see if the big cat was bad. Trowa noticed and stepped up to her, lifting up her hand and holding it in the cage. She shook.
"Calm, little one. A wild animal can detect fear so it's best not to have any rather than to try and hide it." Trowa rubbed her back some and let go of her hand. "Keep your hand there and watch as he calms."
"…" Uno gulped and tried not to shake, trying to stifle a smile.
"A lion, like other beasts, only use their fangs when frightened. They're true to their feelings, try and compete as they do."
Duos smirked as he saw, from afar, the lion step up to them and allow both to pet its head. Catherine whispered to he and Quatre, turning Heero's attention away from the caged beast.
"So, she's the one I gotta' look for out there tonight?"
"Yeah, but be careful and gentle, this is her third week of training." Whispered Quatre as he answered and turned to her some. Catherine nodded in return.
"You can't miss by the Shinigami trademark, the braid." Duo grinned and watched as Uno stepped up to them. "Ready to go sit down?"
She nodded as Duo picked her up and carried her away. "I pet the lion!"
"You did! Great! At least one of us is allowed to!" Duo looked away in despise, he wasn't able to because the lion always tried to bite him.
Half an hour later, the show began and they watched as Trowa completed his beginning show of acrobats and stunts, a few left to go before his act finishes. Uno's mouth drew ajar some as she saw him ride the animals single handily without fault and as he tamed the lion fearlessly. Soon after, the area darkened somewhat and the spot light drown on the female star, Catherine.
"Tonight, for the knife throwing, we are going to do something different. Our Silent Clown will not be out star attraction on the target board." Catherine paused allowing a few 'awes' to sound throughout the stadium, then finished. "Instead of our Silent Clown, I will choose one person from the audience to be strapped to the board by our usual act."
Duo grinned, watching as Catherine looked around for a person when her choice had already been rigged. He leant down to Uno and whispered some to her.
"Don't you think it'll be scary to be chosen and have knives thrown at you?" Asked Duo, making her frightened as Catherine turned to their direction. Uno shook some.
"You! The girl in black with the braid! I choose you!" Catherine spoke out and pointed to Uno. Instantly, Uno shook and grabbed Duo's arm, she looked at him with a 'please tell them no' look.
"Nu uh, Uno…" Duo stood and withdrew his arm. "First day of training." Uno's eyes grew large.
"Good luck, Uno. Don't worry, Trowa'll be right besides you." Whispered Quatre as he helped Duo give Uno a little push out off the stands. Uno stood in place as Catherine stepped up to her and walked her to the center stage, speaking on the way and 'finding out' her name.
"…" Trowa stepped in front of Uno and guided her to the target board, strapping her in tightly. "Don't worry, little one. I'll be right here the entire time."
"…" Uno didn't move nor take her eyes off him.
Trowa leant over to her and whispered more to her. "Remember, don't move, don't show any fear, and don't think else of whatnot. Taking your eyes off the enemy may mean your death." He parted to the side and looked back at Catherine.
"Is she ready?" Asked Catherine, receiving but a nod.
"…" Uno gulped.
"Alright now, Uno, stay real still and this will end very fast." Catherine aimed and threw the first knife; it landed an inch away from Uno's left temple.
"!!!" Uno silently shrieked and thought about what Trowa said. It's twue…I won't get huwt if I don't move. And Duo wouldn't let anything happen to me and I live with Twowa. What do I have to feaw about this—besides dying? Uno grinned while her mind drifted for a moment as she was told not to and didn't realize that four more knives were thrown at her body until the last one shined in her face. Uno's eyes blinked a quick split-second and she saw the knife slip out of Catherine's fingers a bit too early and fly directly at her face. Only a foot away and too fast for even Trowa to catch, the knife shined across the entire arena and instantly Uno saw the point arrive at her nose. Uno's quick reaction sped up some as the knife neared and she dropped her head rather fast downward, eyes still open as the knife flew right past where her neck now held her head and stabbed at the back target board, stubbing on the exact spot where her nose would have been.
Instantly, Catherine grabbed her hands across her mouth and Trowa stepped in front of the hanging body and questioned its awareness. Duo's eyes enlarged greatly as Quatre's hands hooked at his chest, Heero's eyes grew large watching and WuFei's attention got stronger.
"Uno?!" Trowa whispered shouted to her, hoping against all hope that she was fine. "Uno?!"
"…" Trowa removed the knife and faced her as she grinned. "I dwifted, Twowa." She faced him.
"You alright?" He asked.
"But I saw the shiny knife and ducked."
"…" Trowa blinked extremely shocked. "D-ducked?"
Uno lifted her head up to him and smirked. "Was that wong?"
Later, after the show, Duo was hugging Uno still since she returned five minutes after the shocking show and didn't stop from practically straining the poor child to death. Trowa returned and handed Uno a bag of cotton candy and Duo one as well, finally prying him off her.
"Trowa! Tell your stickin' sister to learn to throw properly! If Uno hadn't of ducked, I'd end up in jail right now for killing that prick!" Duo shouted as he took the bag of fluffy candy.
"I told her she was lucky. She said the knife slipped because she was frightened once again." Duo blinked.
"…Huh?"
Heero knelt down and allowed Uno to sit on his knee. He looked up and paid attention to the argument as he held Uno's back from falling.
"She said Uno had a similar look on her face as I had when I first was assigned that job." Duo glanced over to the smiling five-year-old sitting on Heero's knee eating cotton candy. "She said she had the look of death written on her face and Uno explained to me that before she noticed the knife, she had drifted away from reality into thought.
"But…" Duo looked back at Trowa. "You mean…Uno looks like she wants to die when she's not keeping a smile?"
Trowa nodded. "I saw it too but kept silent as to speak of it later."
That night as Duo laid Uno down in bed and tucked her in, he remembered her shocking achievement and questioned her about it.
"Uno?"
"Hm?"
"…About what happened today…" Duo sat down after covering her up and looked at her from his spot on his bed. "…How did you see the knife coming that fast at your face?"
"…The shine." Duo sweat dropped.
"…Gomen. I mean, you moved faster than any of us woulda'. How did you do it?"
"…I did?"
"Yeah, even Heero wouldn't be able to move that fast as you had."
"…I saw a knife at my face and ducked." Uno cuddled up.
"Well…what ever you did, I'm very grateful you done it." Duo kissed her forehead and laid down for his night's relaxation.
"Trowa…what happened? I nearly had a heart attack." Quatre watched as Trowa slid into bed, his heart still pounding from earlier.
"She just…ducked. Like nothing was wrong and something bad came at her." Trowa relaxed and faced his beloved.
Quatre blinked. "My goodness. Just like that?!"
Tuesday shined through and filtered through Duo's window, shining brightly into Uno's face. She opened her eyes to see Duo standing over her with a metal plate, shining the window's gleam in through the reflection of the metal. He grinned.
"Hi Uno! You're up early!"
"…Baka." She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Baka?! Do you know what that means?" Duo grinned at her.
Uno nodded. "WuFay said it and I asked Heewo what it means."
"And?"
"Idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!"
"No…you'we a baka." Uno smiled at him and stood to hug him. Duo looked away grinning.
"I'll get you…it's not over yet."
"…" Uno yawned and sat back down, she looked up at him.
"Bath time?"
"No…" Duo inhaled. "Trowa says to dress in this, he's gonna' teach you to flex." Duo handed her a dance bodysuit.
"What is it?" Uno asked, taking it and sliding off the bed.
"It's a dance bodysuit. He's going to teach you acrobats."
"Acwobats?" Uno looked up at him.
"Yeah…you can put on a bathing suit, it's just like that."
"Okay…" Uno undressed and put her clothes on the bed.
"I'll be in the bathroom until you're ready." He stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. Playboy marked his eyes besides him and he grabbed at the magazine. Rolling it up and holding onto it, he stepped back out.
"Weady!" Uno smiled at him.
"Good! Now go on down to the living room and Trowa'll be there to accompany you." Duo opened the door for her.
"Kay."
"Good luck Uno."
"Bye!" Uno ran down the hallway to the living room. Duo stepped across the hall and stepped into Heero's room, hoping to be unnoticed until he heard the slam of the door on its hinges.
"Gah!" Duo spun around to see a grinning Heero leaning on the door. "Heero! I didn't mean to borrow it but I noticed it's an issue that I have yet to read!"
"You better watch yourself; Uno may ponder and look through it." Heero took a couple steps forward.
"Yeah, I know…and I understand I did wrong." Duo stumbled backwards and nearly fell on the bed. "And I'll never do it again."
"You owe me something, Duo." Grinned Heero; he stepped up to the braided American face-to-face, nose-to-nose, and eye-to-eye. "And you know what I want."
Heero shoved Duo down on his bed and watched as the braided baka sworn endlessly to never come near that perfect collection of Playboy again.
"Look, I don't have any money just yet! But I swear it, once I get it, I'll give it to you that night. Deal?!" Duo stressed and panicked.
Heero grinned. "Good, you owe me twenty-four dollars for those missing magazines you borrowed and never returned." Heero stepped away from the heavy breathing male on his bed.
Trowa placed his towel on the bench and watched as Uno stretched as Heero and Duo taught her. He smirked stepped up to her.
"Uno…" She looked up at him. "Remember, when stretching, whenever it hurts, calm it down. But if you feel it burning, keep it going for a little bit longer. That means it's working. Don't hold it for too long for that will cause sprains."
"Kay…" Uno flexed another way and stretched. Trowa stepped behind her and helped her some by pushing her back down a little more. He let go when he felt she finished stretching.
"Alright, follow me." She did and looked down at the balance beam that stood about a foot off the ground in yellow. "This is to help your balance. For the start, we'll begin on basic balancing. Then we'll go on to greater things and the end will cover jumps and landings on one hand and on wires as well."
Uno stepped up and stood on the yellow pole lifted up just a foot off the ground and looked down as she walked. Trowa walked along side of her and had her lift her head up.
"Don't look down. That causes fear to yourself and your mind; you will soon begin to think that you won't continue on and you'll fall. Use the bottom of your eyes to view your footsteps below and watch the pole ahead to know what happens." Uno nodded and reached the end. "Alright, now, instead of walking back as you had just done, try running at best you can without falling."
"…Okay." Uno turned around without using the ground and began to jog back to the opposite end. Once there, she looked at Trowa.
"Alright. That's good. Now, sit right there in the middle of the beam and try to form a V with your body. I'll help you there." Trowa guided her to the center and showed her how to shaper her body. At first, Uno struggled, but soon she found it pretty easy and held there for sometime.
"Okay." Uno stood and watched as Trowa stood up on the beam besides her and guided her off to watch him. "Notice what I will be doing. I'm going to stretch my body backwards and do a slow back flip on the beam. I will use my hands to grip hold of the beam and hoist my legs to the other side, but not gripping too tight for I need to be able to move my fingers and turn my body backwards." Uno watched Trowa do a backwards handstand and complete it by landing back on his feet, balanced.
"Wow."
"Not quite there yet, Uno." Trowa smirked. "Alright, can you do a backwards handstand?"
"No."
"Very well then…" Trowa stepped behind her and held her back around her waist and used his other hand to guide her neck and upper chest backwards. "Lift up your arms and turn your hands forward, palms reaching for the sky. Once you have that down…good…lift up your weakest leg straight towards the sky as well and reach downward for the ground with your hands; your palms should now be able to hold your body up on the ground. Once you have completed those, do not wait a second to lift and bring your other leg backwards to meet with your previous leg, which is up in the air. Then, after you have found both legs up in the air, once again do not wait, but automatically bring them down…like so…and stand back up somewhat slowly as to not pull yourself backwards."
"I did one!" Uno smiled at Trowa.
"Yes you did, now don't move and I will teach you the other kind of backward handstand." Trowa began to guide her lower body and upper chest once again and lowered her body backwards. "Alright, notice…if you can…how your leg is once again up in the air but instead of bringing your other leg up to meet it, use this leg to throw your body weight where your hands are at and lift your opposite leg up off the ground after you feel your previous leg meeting nearby with your hands. You'll end up doing a backwards cartwheel in the end." Uno stood back up and faced him, smiling. "Very good."
"Yay!" Uno cheered and took a sip of water after Trowa handed her the bottle.
Duo sat in the kitchen eating a ham sandwich as Quatre stepped inside.
"Hi Duo."
"Quatre…I can tell you want to train Uno right now." Duo swallowed his bite.
"I just can't wait, she's so cute when she eats with the silverware at meal times." Quatre hugged himself some and smiled, shutting his eyes.
"…Quatre…save that look for Trowa." Duo took another bite as Quatre frowned at him. "What exactly is Trowa teaching her?"
"…Acrobats at the moment…Duo, perhaps you should join Uno's training next week."
"Why? I don't lack leadership qualities, do I?"
"It's not that, Duo…you're speaking with your mouth full."
"…" Duo shut up and finished his sandwich in silence.
Uno rested some that afternoon and watched as Trowa moved swiftly on the balancing beam poles. So far, she's completed the basic course of back flips and balancing. All that she had left in his training was the gun range and extreme acrobats, which he uses mostly. He stepped up to her and received his water bottle from her, also helping her up some.
"That concludes today's lessons for you."
"Why so eawly?" She asked him, hugging the towel he wrapped around her.
"I want you to go read. Go change and head to the library; you should know where it is now." She nodded at him as they neared the door. "Then return to me with a book you think you can read and by the end of the week, I'll ask you to show me where you are and explain what you read so far. You'll see me in the living room."
"Alwight." Uno ran off and passed by WuFei. He noted her outfit and looked back at Trowa.
"So, how's that onna doing?"
"She's not half bad, really. She knows balance pretty well but not enough to save her in dangerous times."
"Hn." WuFei snorted. "Seems like a weakling to me."
"She's weight training when she's not reading or playing, Duo told me. She usually asks Duo to teach her more and help her and he also agrees because she can just barely hold up a gun in one hand."
Uno cleaned up some and dressed and could now be found in the library, looking around the bottom shelves for a book. So far, all she found were big books and she still wasn't capable of reading more than twenty-five pages each time. She bent down and lifted up a book, smiling at its cover. A Unicorn with a rainbow was painted across a waterfall with an angelic fairy beneath it. She hugged the book and turned back to the door. Trowa sat in the love seat chair with Quatre on the arm of it, speaking with WuFei across the room about the Preventers job and its sudden raise in work.
Trowa looked over as Uno neared him, holding up the book. "Hm…Fantasy Gardens. I read that once before." He looked down at her. "Remember, I said by the end of the week I will see where you are in there and ask you about it."
"Okay." She nodded and headed back down the hallway towards the rooms.
"So cute!" Quatre hugged himself again in awe as Trowa smirked.
"So stupid." WuFei mocked and left the room past a now grumpy Quatre who eyes him.
Uno woke up Wednesday morning and yawned. She slid out of bed and went to the dresser to get an early start in training with Trowa; she enjoyed ending training early to give her more time to play, read, or weight lift. As she neared the dresser, she heard the door to her room creak open and her automatic reaction was to run to the side of the room and duck behind the door, staying low to the floor. She looked up and saw Duo tip toeing in the room, shutting the door, and heading over to her bed with a bell. She grinned and followed and as he neared her bed closer, she stood and grabbed his braid, yanking it downward and shocking him completely as he spun around. Duo gasped and fell back on her bed, shocked she was up before he had to wake her.
"Uno!"
"Duo!"
"Uno…what the…"
"Yes?" Uno smiled at him.
"…I can't believe Shinigami is getting beaten by a little five-year-old." Uno giggled. "Oh, hehehaha…"
"Duo looses to Shinimegami!" Uno smiled and thus causing Duo to grab her tightly and hug her guts nearly to her throat.
"Uno!"
"Duo!"
"My cute Uno!"
"I can't bweath!" Duo let go and chuckled as she laughed.
"Sweetie, Trowa says to meet him in the gun range. You know where that is, right?" He received a nod. "Good…go get dressed and good luck. His skill for today is hard."
"…" Uno gulped. "What is it?"
"Can't tell, but you're getting better on speaking, I hear it." Uno smiled. "Go get ready." Duo kissed her forehead and left the room.
Trowa stood in the gunroom reviewing the weight difference between each Gatling gun for Uno; he hoped she remembered the way to the room and which door it was. The knob to the room twisted and opened, revealing a small braided girl named Uno. She smiled when she saw Trowa and shut the door behind herself.
"Hey little one, come here and try and lift this big gun up. I'm not sure if it's light enough for you."
"Okay." Uno stepped up to him and bent down to grasp the handles. When she lifted the gun just about a foot, she lowered her body on to one knee and rested the heavy artillery onto her other.
"Hm. You may need to gain the muscle to lift it. You'll have to do that on your own, we ran out of time already." Trowa stepped away from her and returned an extra chain of ammo. "Try to aim for the most of the enemy. Once you see enough, fire. It is all right to miss as long as you know you're close enough to it. Continue to fire at a rapid pace and only use your greater weapons when you feel you have to. When an enemy is low in count compared to usual rapid fire, only use a small amount. Or, if the enemy is one or two against you, use your switchblade." Trowa placed a switchblade down on the table besides her and watched as her eyes looked over it.
"It's a knife."
"That's right. Don't rely on bullets all the way for if you do, you won't know what to do once you run out of bullets." Trowa turned her eyes away from the knife and to a target at the end of the room. "Alright, this is just one…but…I'm adding more targets to the wall right now and the amount will triple to that of many."
"Okay." Uno watched as Trowa sent more target machines to the back with the original and looked back down to her once finished.
"Alright, now, try to aim for the greatest amount and fire when you believe you're ready." He stepped back as she lifted the gun just a little more and took aim of the middle of the crowd.
"Hm." Uno's eyes narrowed as she took aim and prepared to fire. She did and began to blast right threw the first few targets, soon sending more bullets out to the other areas further away and noticing some targets moving closer. Just as the machines inched closer to her with it's target board, Uno sent rounds of bullets through endless calls of Hell; basically stating, she tore through all the signs as a synch.
"Hm…not bad." Trowa's eyes flickered a second in thought as she dropped the gun off her knee, letting it clatter to the ground. She breathed heavy and looked back over to him as her legs gave way and she plopped down backwards to the floor below.
"…" Breathing heavy, she looked up at Trowa as he glanced at every target board posted.
He looked back down to her and smiled some. "Great job, Uno. You destroyed all of the targets. Now…I will teach you about the switchblades." He helped Uno up off the ground and pushed the gun aside. He then retrieved the knife and held it, showing her.
"…" Uno looked at its decoration and design; defiantly button pressed.
"Uno, this here is a switchblade. If you get caught with it outside of this house, you'll be in a lot of trouble."
"Why?"
"It's illegal to own."
"…Oh…" Uno gulped some; she was never handed something illegal.
"But, if you hide it and use it only when you need to fight for life, you're allowed by our hands. You'll be in trouble, but it's better to be in trouble with the law than get killed because you're not allowed to use the only defense weapon you have on you at that moment."
"Alwight."
"Now, when you hold it…" Trowa placed the knife in her hand and guided her fingers around the handle so she knows how to use the sharp weapon. "Do not have your fingers over this tops slit here, this is where the knife raises from. This button here…as you just saw, once pressed it triggers the blade inside and shoots the object out into the open. This is why the law states these illegal. You may pressure this up against someone's chin and press the button—either by accident or by fault—but either way, you'll kill instantly once done. You may be forced to kill if your life depends on it, but remember that if you do, you must have a perfected reason why…otherwise the law wouldn't have any pity on you."
"Okay."
Duo stepped through the front door humming and startled Quatre as he stepped by.
"Duo! By Allah you frightened me." Quatre crossed his hands at his chest.
"…Oops." Shrugged Duo as he shut the door to the outside world.
"What did you go do?"
"Went to Hildie's."
"Oh…may I ask why?" Quatre questioned nosily.
"Yeah…had to get something." Duo blushed and walked away.
"Oh…perhaps I shouldn't question it." Quatre followed Duo down to the living room, giggling some to him. "I just hope Uno doesn't become as…unique as you."
"What's that mean?" Duo spun around and asked, sounding annoyed.
"Oh nothing…" Chuckled Quatre as he stepped on by to his office. "Well, Trowa and Uno are in the gun range learning long rounded targets and knives."
"Cool."
"I only wish he'd choose another type of knife for her, a switchblade? That's illegal."
"Only if you show it to the world."
Quatre sighed and shook his head some. "I'll be in my office if you need me. Ne?"
"Hai." Duo waved Quatre off and sat down, seeing Heero step into the room. "Hiya' Hee-man!"
"Hn." Heero ignored Duo and sat down across the room on the sofa. He picked up the controller and turned on the television to the news.
"I don't have the money, yet."
"I'll get it from you tonight whether you like it or not." Heero sat back into the cushions and ignored the rest that Duo would say. Luckily, Duo sighed and left the room.
Later that night, Uno couldn't be found anywhere Duo searched and explored. He decided to stop in kitchen and ask Quatre and WuFei for Uno's about. WuFei mocked him and Quatre simply looked up happily.
"Hello Duo."
"I can't find Uno!!! Put her face on those box milk cartons!" Duo panicked.
Quatre sweat dropped. "Um…Duo…Uno's in the library with Trowa, reading.
Duo sweat dropped. "She is? Why?"
"Baka…she's learning how to read so she can go to school with a beginners education." Sneered WuFei.
"How good is she so far?" Duo asked, leaning on the wall behind and resting his head in his hands.
"Pretty well. She's gone rather far these past couple weeks in learning how to read and write."
"Write too?!" Duo shouted, his eyes enlarged with surprise.
"Yup. Trowa and I have been teaching her."
"…How come she never told me these things?"
"Why didn't you ever ask?" WuFei questioned as Duo sweat dropped.
"I…errr…hmph." Duo silence and waited five minutes before leaving.
"I wonder how Duo will react when I tell him this weekend I'm enrolling Uno in class." Quatre pondered; WuFei stood and left, rumbling about the injustice of Duo's immaturity towards Uno.
The Thursday morning begin off with rain and as Duo stepped inside his room around midday, he found Uno looking out his window. He sat behind her and hugged her with a smile.
"It's waining outside."
Duo nodded. "Yeah, they say it's gonna' get bad tonight…think you can handle it?"
Uno pouted and faced him. Obviously, Duo must have forgotten something to cause her to get saddened and he blinked in thought.
"It was bad when I was outside."
"I…" Duo shut up and hugged Uno. "Gomen sweetie."
Uno snuggled into Duo more as she rested there. Duo looked out the window and smiled some.
"Dress for Twowa today?" Uno looked up and faced him.
"Yeah…and hey, maybe if there's time, we can go outside in the backyard and play in the rain! Just you and me!" Duo did his tight smile and Uno nodded. She slid off as he stepped out and dressed in her aerobics clothes. Once finished she found Quatre in the living room reading the newspapers about political issues and hugged him from behind. Quatre blinked.
"Hi Uno!" He hugged her back.
"Hi."
"Trowa's in the gym waiting for you. Go on ahead."
"Bye-bye." Uno ran off.
"Cute." Quatre sighed.
Trowa was fixing his man-made tight rope when Uno stepped inside the doors. "Hey there little one, come over here and let me see if this is high enough for you."
"What are we going to do today?" Uno stepped up to him and looked up at the rope above her head.
"Hm…seems about right." He faced her again. "You're going to learn to walk on the tight-rope today. That means traveling from that side…to over there on the other side, without assistance of anything to hold you." He pointed out to her.
"…" Uno gulped as she looked up at it; it was at least twice his height high.
"Don't worry, I'll be below you the entire time."
Trowa guided Uno over to the latter and had her climb up it. Once Uno reached the top and stood still, she noticed the height seemed to have changed some and her feelings began to get dizzy.
"Alright…now I'm below you so if you should fall I'll catch you. Spread your arms out if you think you won't keep balance and began walking as slowly as you can. Try not to look down either and be sure you keep your feet firmly set on the rope."
"Uh huh." Uno gulped and nodded, doing as he said and spread her arms. Her feet began to press on the rope and she noticed the rope give in a little to her weight.
"Don't worry Uno, I'm right below you. Stop panicking and just walk; remember what I told you, danger will happen if you show fear."
"…" Uno continued and began to hold her entire body up on the rope itself.
"Good, you're doing good so far. If you feel like you won't make it, change the length of your footsteps. Try larger or smaller; whichever will help you easier."
"…" Uno gulped again and tried staying the same. About two feet away from her starting point, the rope began to waver and she decided to take smaller steps. With seven feet of rope left to go, her body weight started to lower the strength and caused her to waver herself. In less than a split second, the rope slipped out from beneath her feet and this caused Uno to fall about twelve feet from the air; luckily, Trowa was below to catch her before she hit the bottom.
"Well, you did make it an extra step than what I was intending you would. But you still showed fear." He looked down at her after he put her down. "Uno, I keep telling you to stop showing fear or having any. If you do you won't ever be able to go as far as you plan to. Yes, you can make it to your goal, but without fear you have nothing holding you back from going over the given amount. Don't let people assume anything about you because then they will most likely know you."
"Hide myself?"
"No, not exactly, but go further than what others intend of you to do. Don't just do enough to get by, go beyond that. Even when you begin school, make yourself go as well as you can and you'll eventually see people, not only getting jealous, but people looking up at you." Trowa explained.
Duo stepped in from outside, soaked in the rainwaters and stood in the kitchen.
"DUO!" Quatre shouted as he stepped into the kitchen and froze in shock; Duo looked like the 'creature from the black lagoon' with his wet hair draped down.
"Yes?"
"Dry off out here! Don't you dare step on my carpet as drenched as you are!" Quatre tossed Duo a few towels from a cabinet. "I don't want Uno to end up doing what you're doing."
"Uh…heh heh…yeah…right." Duo sweat dropped and wiped away the idea of playing with Uno outside in the rain.
WuFei stepped inside and stopped dead in his tracks once he noticed Duo. "Why were you outside, might I ask? Or is it not safe to know why?"
"Um…just going for a stroll in Quatre big outback."
"In the rain?" WuFei asked, mumbling as he sat down at the table.
Several times Uno fell and each time she became about a half step closer to the end, but only this last time she was giving it was in the middle area.
"Uno…I understand you're getting pretty fed up with this and showing anger is just about as bad as showing fear. I'll let you go for the day once you manage to walk the tightrope once without falling."
"Wat if I never do?" Uno mumbled to herself. She began walking the rope once more and this time was growling inside. Although she didn't show her anger, Uno was pretty ticked off and by the time she made it to the middle of the rope; she managed to pull it off quite nicely. Still, she continued grumbling about falling five times this day and when she stepped her last foot length on the opposite ending, it wasn't until Trowa congratulated her that she was back into reality.
"Great job Uno. You finally made it to the other side and without cause I have to add in. Hop on down and I'll catch you."
"…" Uno blinked and dropped. She let Trowa catch her once more and looked up at him after she stood back on the ground.
"You completed today's task. Tell me Uno, what made you finally walk the tightrope without falling?" Trowa leant down to her.
"Um…I didn't think about it." Uno shrugged.
Trowa blinked. "Like you didn't think about ducking that knife?" Uno nodded.
"Uh huh."
"Um…hm." Trowa stood and guided Uno to the door. "I'll wrap things up her Uno. Go on ahead and continue reading that book."
"Okay. Bye!"
Trowa shut the door behind her and began to think. "Ducking and thinking out of reality? Uno sure has something special about her that's revealing slowly."
Once Uno entered the room, Duo jumped and yelped. She blinked and shut the door, then refaced him. He zipped up his jeans.
"Uno…thought you were Heero or someone."
"…" Uno looked down to the floor at his wet clothes with question.
"I was outside. Sorry we gotta' cancel that play time, though."
"Okay. Trowa wants me to read." Uno sat on her bed and grabbed her book.
"I like your vocabulary now, you've improved. What else do you know?" Uno shrugged. "Okay then. Any who, sorry for yelping at you, Heero's looking for something of mine and…"
Uno hugged Duo and shut him up. Uno's cuddle caused Duo to smile and drop to the floor, bear hugging her back greatly.
"Ahh…Uno I can never get enough of ya'!" Duo smiled his smile and they waved at each other as she left the room once again. Duo spun around and grabbed his wet clothes and piled them up in the bin when his room lights suddenly flickered. Before Duo could realize someone else was in the room with him, he was flung around quickly and pinned to the wall forcefully by his collarbone and an arm pressuring against his chest.
"Duo, I said you owed me by tonight!"
"Heero, please! I said I'll get you your cash when I get it myself! Believe me, you know I don't lie!"
"Hn…so you say." Heero's hand traveled downwards and went inside one of Duo's pockets, causing Duo to yelp.
"Um…Heero! That's private!"
Heero released his hand from the pocket with a wad of tens in his hand. "And this is private property of myself." Heero released him and began his way out of the door.
"Hey! That's my money I was saving for Hildie! Come on man, have a heart! I said I'd get you the money!"
"And you just had." Heero shut the door; Duo growled.
Thursday, Duo was prepared for Uno before six. He had to get up and beg Quatre for money for Hildie—thanks to Heero—and beg to let Quatre understand Duo'll return the favor. He crept into the bedroom and over to Uno's bed. He smirked; Duo so loved his idea. As soon as he reached Uno's bedside, he lifted up her braid and began unraveling it from the tie below. Quickly, Uno's eyes shot open and she jumped up automatically and stood on the bed, glaring at Duo and holding her braid. Duo blinked in a rather fast motion unable to believe what had just happened.
"Dang Uno…a little uptight about our braid, are we?"
Uno breathed heavy. "Duo…" Uno glared him and sat back down on his bed. "Meany."
Duo sweatdropped. He then sat down besides her and hugged her. "Mornin' sweetie, Trowa's wants you in the gym again. Can you do that?"
Uno nodded. "Mowe?"
"Yep." Duo stood. "You know where it is by now, right?" Uno nodded. "Good…and later, me and Hildie are taking you out for a treat." Duo left the room.
Trowa was looking around the gym and trying to see where exactly he should begin with Uno; he didn't know what she was prepared to do in his terms. The door to the gym opened and Uno walked inside and yawned as Trowa stepped up to her. She looked awfully tired.
"Sleepy?" Trowa asked.
"Duo touched my bwaid." Uno frowned.
Trowa smirked, she's defiantly getting defensive over her hair too. "Well, what do you think you need the help on with the training from Tuesday? You think you can go on to another level of stunts?"
Uno shrugged. "…"
"Alright then." Trowa helped her up onto the yellow balance-training beam. "Last time, I had you walk this, now try running it without falling down."
Uno nodded and did as told. She felt to slip a few times only she ended up bringing herself back. When she reached the end, she turned around and returned back to her other side. Trowa nodded.
"Good, good. Now, let's teach you some stretching techniques, alright?" Uno stepped up to Trowa and nodded.
Duo was once again preparing an early lunch when Quatre stepped into the kitchen. Duo smiled at him and put away the meats.
"Hey Quatre…sup buddy?" Duo sat down with his sandwich as Quatre just looked at him funny.
"Duo…it's ten in the morning…"
"Yeah…and I'm hungry."
Quatre smirked. "Dear Allah, hope Uno won't become a hungry household member like yourself." Quatre sat down.
"Thanks for the compliment." Duo snorted; Quatre giggled.
"Duo…this weekend, I'm thinking of enrolling Uno into school. I believe-" Duo cut Quatre off.
"No."
Quatre blinked. "What? Duo, she needs to go to school."
"No."
"Duo-"
"I said no Quatre!" Duo gulped his bite. "For one, we're not finished with the trainings…at least to you! And second, I don't want them to treat her as a bad person if she's not on their knowledge level."
"Duo, she's been learning a lot these past weeks. Trowa and I taught her to read and write a little-"
"What about math? Life itself? How to fight? Quatre, I've been to school a few times and only because Sister Helen wanted me to. I was kicked out each day because of the fights I caused. And why did I cause them, you ask? Because the people there were jerks." Duo prepared to stand up.
"…Duo, this is a different time now and-"
"No. I don't care, and besides, she's not legally your child, remember? Hildie and I are." Duo stood with his plate and drink and walked out of the kitchen. He shoved past Heero and went to the living room.
Heero blinked. "Duo's mad?"
Quatre sighed. "Yeah, because I told him I was going to enroll Uno into school this weekend."
"You wouldn't be able to, you need the guardians signature." Heero reached for a water bottle from the fridge.
"I know, but since the school was built by my father, I'm sure I would be able to get her in without any hassle."
"It wouldn't matter. Without the signature of both Duo and Hildie, you can't enroll Uno into a class." Heero left the kitchen.
Trowa and Uno were taking a water break when Duo stepped into the gym. Uno perked up seeing him, but was too sore to stand up. She noticed Duo was a little unhappy so she just sat and watched, sullen on features and drank her water.
"Trowa, can I have a word with you." Duo stood at the doorway.
Trowa blinked. "Sure." He stepped up to Duo.
"Quatre insists to enroll Uno into school this weekend. What do you have to say about your side with him?"
Trowa blinked; Duo was more than angry. "Um…I believe she is ready-" Duo cut him off.
"What about her math skills? Her social skills? The kids in school would be rude to her and of what we taught her, she'd fight back."
Trowa thought about what he said and realized this weekend would be a little too soon. "Well, then when do you suppose?"
"How about after Quatre has his week with her? That way she has more time to learn and with Quatre's skills, she can learn how to speak to people rather than fight." Duo crossed his arms.
"Why do you believe Uno'll get into fights when she begins?" Trowa asked.
"Because I had each day I went when I was younger, and was kicked out each. Bullies were bad and now they're probably worse. With what we taught Uno, I don't want her to become an illegal student for schools."
Trowa took this into consideration. "I understand. I need to return to training her right now, but ask WuFei if he would be able to teach Uno some skills on math. If you can, don't try if you get hurt."
"I know." Duo left.
Trowa returned to Uno. "Ready to continue on?" She nodded and he began more aerobic skills with her.
Duo stepped up to Heero and began. "Heero…you know of a way to teach Uno math? Trowa tells me to go to WuFei but I don't want him to beat me up. I'm in a bad enough mood as it is."
"Hn." Heero began typing on his laptop.
Duo sighed. "Forget it."
Later that day, Uno stepped into the bedroom and found Duo lying back on his bed. With the tough day she's had and felt Duo have the same, she thought cheering him up Shinimegami-style would be great. She jumped up onto the bed besides him and smiled down at him as he opened his eyes. Both stared into each others eyes and Duo suddenly smiled.
"You're braids falling apart." Uno began to frown when he mentioned her braid. "I'm sorry about earlier Uno. I only meant to wake ya' up…not get you mad with me."
"Okay." Uno lay beside him and both hugged.
"Uno…come up, get up." She sat up as Duo sat up and looked at her. "Let's go get you washed and I'll take you over to Hildies. Okay? We got a treat for you."
"Yay!!" Uno smiled and hugged Duo.
Duo blinked, she hasn't done this in a while. He carried her into their bathroom and put her back down onto the floor, then began the filling the tub with water. Uno began undressing herself and when she turned back around, Duo was holding up a shampoo bottle.
"Maple!! We ran out of strawberries so I got us Maple!!" Duo sweatdropped as Uno giggled. She stepped into the tub and he began lathering up her hair.
"Smells funny." Sniffed Uno.
"I know…it does. Makes me hungry." Uno nodded; Dup took some shampoo foam and dabbed it on her nose. "Bubble nose!!" Duo tight smiled.
"Hehehe." Uno blew upward and watched as the foam on her nose blew away and created bubbles.
"So Uno…how much you think you know for school?"
Uno shrugged. "Why?"
"Well…I was thinking of bringing you in to enroll in a few weeks. You think you wanna' go to school?"
"…" Uno blinked; she didn't know what school was. "What is it?"
"A place to learn." Duo spoke bluntly.
"Like here?"
"Well…they teach you more. Do you know any math?" Duo dumped water on her head with a cup of water.
Uno nodded lightly. "Trowa said he taught me…basics?"
"Ah…simple math."
Uno shrugged as she received a lathered bath sponge from Duo. She began washing herself as Duo released his braid and brushed it, facing the mirror and keeping an eye on Uno.
"I must say, Uno…you're pretty mature for your age." Duo turned around and faced her. "Even though you're five-years-old and Halloween is in only a month away, soon to be making you six-years-old…you still act around the age of ten."
Uno faced him. "…"
"Are you sure you didn't lie to me back then?" Duo smirked and leaned his hands on his hips. Uno shook her head.
"I'm five." She smiled and finished washing herself. Duo stepped up to her and grinned.
"I know of a way to make you tell me the truth!" Uno blinked as Duo knelt down to her. He began tickling her all over her body where he somehow knew she was weak in.
Uno began laughing, squirming to get away from Duo. "Duo…stop!! Hehe, pwease!"
"Not until you tell me your real age!!" Duo laughed with her.
"I'm five!!" Uno continued to squirm around and reached for Duo's hair. He brought it in to the tub waters with her and laughed at him. Duo sweatdropped; he forgot his hair wasn't in it's braid anymore.
"Great…not I gotta' take a bath."
"Hehehe." Uno giggled. She reached over and kissed his nose.
"Oh hehe, haha…" Duo side glared her and smirked. He reached over and hugged Uno as he lifted her out of the tub.
"I'm getting you wet now!!" Uno stood and looked at him.
"Yeah yeah…I gotta' bathe myself now anyways." Duo sweatdropped again. "Go on and get dressed while I go wash up. I'll be down soon."
"Okay." Uno nodded and walked back into the bedroom to dress.
About an hour later, Duo stepped out into the living room, his hair tied into a wet braid, and his usual black attire covering his body. He stopped when he saw Uno curled up on the couch with the book Trowa had her reading. He smiled and brushed her hair.
"Hey Uno…good book?" Duo asked.
Uno nodded. "With a unicorn!" Uno shut the book and stood up.
"Where in there are you?" Uno showed him her spot. "Ah…looks about twenty pages worth; good girl."
Uno smiled. Wat's the tweat, Duo?"
"Well…why don't we get to Hildie's and find out." Duo knew what the treat was, but played it stupid to get to Uno. He guided Uno down the hallway and out the front door.
"Wow." Uno turned around to look at the front of the house for her first time.
"Yeah…big isn't it? Hey…you were asleep when you first came here last month…so this is actually your first time viewing the front of the mansion, isn't it?" Uno nodded and Duo took her hand. "Come on sweetie. In you go." Duo opened up his car door and sat her in the seat. He buckled her up and shut the door. He then traveled around the other side and sat in.
"This Uno…is one of the fastest cars ever made." He looked at her as he started up the engine.
"Dwiving U-S-A!!" Uno cheered.
"Heh…near it, but this time you can get killed in."
Duo began driving away in his black Vet and began towards Hildies. Uno reached herself up and sat on her knees to look out the window at the objects that flew by. They arrived at Hildie's and Uno jumped out as Duo held the door open for her. When they entered Hildie's, Uno hugged her and received a puppy puzzle as a present. Uno was happy enough, then ran into the living to begin on it. After they ate dinner there and spoke some, grown proud about Uno with her 250 piece puzzle she completed in under two hours, Duo lifted her up in his arms and drove home.
Friday, Uno sat up and looked over to see Duo laying in his bed. She grinned and crawled over to tackle him, but to her surprise, he grabbed her and tickled her.
"DUO!" Uno laughed.
"Nu uh!! I knew you were up to something, little one!" Duo cheered on and sat up. Uno finally managed to get away and hopped off the beds.
"Stay back." She spoke, hugging her braid.
"Aww…how cute. You hug your braid for safety." Duo chuckled and stood. "Well…it's time for your test of Trowa's training, think you're ready?" Uno shrugged.
"I dunno." She turned and began walking into the bathroom; Duo followed behind.
About two hours later, Uno hopped into the living room where Trowa was and smiled at him.
"Hey there, you and Duo finally get up?" Uno nodded at Trowa. Trowa stood up.
"Yeah…he tickled me." Uno frowned; Trowa smirked.
"Well, you're test isn't really going to be anything major as Heero and Duo's were, alright?" Uno nodded. "You know not to be scared about death, like the circus. It takes time to learn the movements of acrobats I taught you, and weight lifting is what you need more of to be able to hold the gateling gun properly; you're not bad now, but you can do better."
"Alright." Uno nodded as she watched Trowa kneel down to her.
"Alright…tell me about your book. Fantasy Gardens if I remember it was, with the unicorn on top. What did you read about it so far?"
"Well…Duo said I rwead about twenty pages…um, thewe's a unicorn who lives in the forest and a pwincess who ran away because she was fowced to mawwy and she didn't want to."
"Alright, did you get any further than that?" Uno shook her head. "That's good enough, you understood it well. I remember reading that long ago, good book, fairly complicated. No, let's head out into the living room and I want you to show me what you can do on your own, got it?"
"Okay!" Uno nodded her reply and followed Trowa out into the hallway.
"Okay…now, do you remember to do a handstand?"
"Yes." Uno leant forward and grabbed the ground with her hand. She then lifted her legs and tried to stay up, but ended up doing a flip.
Trowa frowned. "Well…you need to practice on that one." Uno stood. "How about back flips?"
"Yes." Uno nodded and did a back flip to show. She did the ordinary kind and the single foot kind, where one foot goes back at a time instead of both together.
Trowa quirked a smirked; she was getting the hang of the stuff rather quickly.
Duo tapped on Heero's door and stepped inside when Heero said, "Hn."
"Thanks for the intro."
"What do you want?" Heero asked, turning to face him.
"To repay you. For all that I owed you." Duo lugged out from his back pocket a one hundred dollar bill. "Hildie gave it to me cuz I said I owed you."
"Hn." Heero grabbed the money and handed Duo back the stolen money he took the day before.
"Geese Heero! I thought you used this up!"
"No, now get out."
Duo grinned. "Hell, yes!" Duo ran out of the room.
"Hn, baka." Heero sat back down and continued reading up about future missions Dr. J has sent him; he growled in thought.
Quatre leant on the wall and watched as Trowa and Uno talked about his week training for her and about the book she read. He smiled and was hardly unable to obtain himself for the next week—his training—and smiled even more as he saw how cute she looked when she replied and did her learned stunts. He stayed silent and watched.
"Well Uno, I do believe you have completed and passed my week."
"Yay!" Uno cheered.
Trowa smiled. "Good work. I'm sure Duo will be proud of his little Shinimegami."
Uno nodded. "Yep!"
"Why don't you go search for him and show him what you know? You know, the Shinimegami sort of way."
Uno giggled and ran off towards their rooms. She snuck into the room in stealth mode and found the bathroom light on. She snuck into the bathroom and found Duo with his top off, his hair wet, and him braiding it, back to her, head upside down facing her view. She grinned and reached up towards the counter, and grabbed his hair tie. When Duo was ready and stood back up holding onto his wet braid, he looked around frantically and couldn't locate his hair tie anymore. He heard a faint giggle from behind him and spun around to find Uno giggling cutely, holding his hair tie in the form of a gun with her fingers—Heero's teachings, he knew it to be—and flung it at his face. She laughed as he growled with a smirk, and then put his braid together with the tie. He faced her.
"I pity WuFei when you get older…I actually pity that boy."
