Disclaimer: If I owned GW or SM, I would gladly trade it now for Tylenol. Please. Lol. But sadly … that option isn't available to me. xD
Not as much humor … actually … very little. xD A bit depressing because, physically, I feel miserable. Haha. And it's long because I decided to go ahead and cover all four candidates in one chapter. xD
Sorry beta-readers for not sending this chapter to you guys! I hope you haven't abandoned me … lol. xD And please realize that I haven't abandoned you guys either. :D Once things get a little less rushed, I promise I'll send things over. :D Thank you all for being so incredibly understanding. ^^;
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Chapter 2
Usagi seated herself between Dorothy Catalonia and April Winner, peeking almost fearfully up at the platinum blonde-haired woman to her right.
"Y'know, my brother had always had great taste in friends," April chirped from her left.
Usagi blinked puzzledly before realizing the meaning of her words. "Oh! Of course! You're Quatre Winner's sister!"
April smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! They're all a bit young for me but if my brother were gay, I would definitely choose one of them as a husband for him."
Usagi smiled uncertainly and gulped. Too much information. "How can you say that so casually?"
The other blonde laughed and winked. "Well wouldn't you agree?"
Usagi was at a loss for words.
"Tell you about myself?" Minako blinked and glanced around. "Should I answer as me or as Miss Relena?"
"About yourself. This interview won't be a quiz to see how much you studied up on Relena Darlian's idiosyncrasies."
"Okay!" She tapped her chin thoughtfully and grinned. "My name is Minako Aino, I'm 5'4" and weigh 102 pounds. I work as a fashion and special events critic for Elle and in my spare time, I model." She paused and thought some more. "And I'm single."
Only Duo acknowledged the grin and deliberate wink with a laugh.
"Right," Trowa nodded as he crossed the last t in the appearance comments. "Oratory and acting skills will be combined in one event." He shifted through the stack of papers in his lap and pulled one out from under the clip, handing it to Minako. She stared at it blankly.
"It's a speech. Made not by Miss Relena but by Hiiro over there," He indicated with his head. "You can observe him for however long you wish and then read the speech as him."
Duo almost snickered as he saw Hiiro tense and shoot an annoyed scowl in Trowa's direction.
"Doesn't that mean we'll have an advantage?" Dorothy Catalonia's bored voice broke through Minako's puzzled daze. "We'll have more time to observe Mr. Yui."
Trowa barely glanced at her. "We realize, Miss Catalonia, and will take that into consideration."
Hiiro frowned as the girl turned to stare at him and purposely turned to glare intently at the door.
"Are you usually this tense, Mr. Hiiro?" He glanced at Minako at the sound of her small, curiosity-filled voice before looking away quickly, choosing not to answer. Nevertheless, he let his shoulders drop and relaxed his rigid spine. His throat hurt, a leaden weight sat on his head, and he felt faintly nauseas. Quatre had caught him taking Advil a few days back and had attributed the flu or cold or whatever it was to emotional stress but he hadn't answered. Hiiro tried to focus on the door but found his vision blearing on the edges.
He shouldn't be so weak. Never visibly weak. Never make her fearful or concerned. But never had he been in a room filled with five women, each with some physical characteristic of hers … her eyes, her smile, her hair, her hands…
"Are you okay, Mr. Hiiro?" He jumped as his eyes focused on a small hand not half a foot away from his face. Minako peered down at him.
"I'm fine." He looked back in the direction of his three friends and met uneasy frowns and unsmiling faces. "Nothing's wrong," he reaffirmed.
"If you're sure, Mr. Hiiro…" Her voice trailed off and she gazed at him with a faint frown. It was the same worried look. The same look that Relena gave him whenever he pulled all-nighters, whenever he skipped meals. It was the look that had constantly marred her face in the early months of the psychological illness. This girl … this Minako's furrowed brow and wavering voice … He fought to control his breathing.
"Okay. I think I'm ready." She turned away and smiled confidently at the rest of the judges. Hiiro stared at her back as she walked to her chair and turned to face them. It was gone now. That brief moment of incomparable similarity had fled and in this new moment, Minako Aino was once again just a fashion critic, a model, a confident and charismatic stranger. He almost sighed with relief.
She cleared her throat and tried her hardest to form a serious expression.
"There is only one planet in the solar system inhabited by life, the Earth ... A.C. 195. With the development of colonies, human beings have used the new resources and their own strength to create new lands. However, at most, they are poor imitations of their mother, the Earth. What meaning was there in building the colonies? How about just to further develop technology so that on the Earth, human beings would lead more comfortable lives? Aren't humans living in these imitations of Earth holding on to impossible hopes? With no threats from nature, their lives became more stable than those of people on Earth. Endless expansion seemed to promise eternal existence for humans. Wasn't there an age when it was unforgivable to think of life starting from zero in the universe? But there is no way that the colonies, no, that human beings, could forget the Earth. What has the technology for the development of colonies done for the Earth? The most pursued advances on the Earth are those resulting in military strength. Humans have never been able to break away from their habits of destruction. Now the colonies are studying war technology…"
She had lowered her voice purposely and there was a certain trail sincerity in her voice that would have resonated and touched hearts if the small conference room were an auditorium filled with members of the press and millions of diplomats. Trowa nodded to himself. But it wasn't Hiiro he pictured reciting the speech. Her eyes sparkled with optimism and a countless number of ideals. It was as if Quatre were reciting the speech.
Wufei scribbled away blindly as he maintained eye contact with her. The speech ended and he glanced down at his paper to find uneven and crooked lines.
"Thank you, Miss Aino. There will just be a few more random and personal questions before this screening is over."
She nodded and sat down, once again smiling. Duo stared at her thoughtfully. She was obviously not used to being serious and though her lips hadn't been curved up in a smile during the speech, it never left her eyes.
"First of all, what type of person would you classify yourself as?" Wufei started.
"Let's see … I'm pretty friendly, definitely optimistic … but most of the people I work with would say I have an incredibly hard time being serious." Minako smiled sheepishly.
Duo went next. "What do you value most in life?"
There was a slight pause as she thought. "Life itself."
"What types of movies do you usually watch?" Trowa looked up from his analysis chart to stare at her.
"Mostly … romantic comedies, I guess."
Hiiro glanced at the last question on the sheet. "On a level of one to ten, what would you rate your knowledge of current events as?"
Minako laughed and answered immediately. "Three."
"You may-"
"Wait! One last question," Duo jumped in quickly. "Would you be willing to spend day and night with Hiiro?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Duo say Hiiro jerk, clench his jaw, and curls his fingers to form fists. He laughed nervously.
Again, the response was instantaneous. "Is sex involved?"
Duo's loud, uncontrollable laughter broke the long stretch of frozen silence. "S-s-s-s-sex?!" he garbled out before collapsing to the floor with laughter. Wufei glanced uneasily in Hiiro's direction to find the pilot's face a volatile mauve. The muscles in his arms and neck stood out starkly as he clenched his fists and jaw fiercely.
Minako's previously puzzled expression slowly turned into one of utter mortification as realization dawned on her and she clapped her hands over her mouth. "No, no! I didn't mean it like that! I-I-I was just making sure I didn't have to … that is…"
"Don't worry, Miss Aino, we all understand." Trowa's mouth twitched up in a smile. "Well … maybe all except the hooting idiot over there." He nodded in Duo's direction and raised an eyebrow. "And no, sex will not be involved."
"T-then I'd be willing." The flush on her cheeks still hadn't vanished.
"Thank you Miss Aino. Please stay until we decide the results after all the interviews."
"O-of course." Still flustered, she got up and took the empty seat in the row of blondes.
Usagi contained her laughter and smiled up at her. "Don't worry, Minako. Anybody could have done the same."
When Duo's laughter subsided and Hiiro face was no longer that frightening burgundy, Trowa looked up and called the next person. "Miss Catalonia?"
As the steely-eyed blonde strode to the chair, sat, and gave them all a feral smile, Duo's smiling countenance melted away and was replaced by one of ashen fear.
…………………
Duo frowned at his chart as Dorothy sat down after reciting Hiiro's speech. Like Minako, the sincerity was there. The strong belief in what she was saying was there. In fact, the belief was almost too strong. He shuddered. As the blonde was speaking, he envisioned Wufei in her place. Wufei with Dorothy Catalonia's voice. Just the memory was making him shiver. But it was undeniable. The same kind of quasi-fanaticism was there.
"What type of person would you classify yourself as?"
"Cynical."
Wufei paused and waited for elaboration but silence had resumed.
Duo peered up at her uneasily. "What do you value most in life?"
Dorothy shrugged. "Material things that only exist in life." Again, the answer was short and abrupt.
"What type of movies do you usually watch?" Trowa found himself dreading the answer.
"I usually don't watch movies."
It wasn't a great answer but at least it wasn't as freakish as he had expected. He sighed and motioned for Hiiro to ask his question.
"Rate your knowledge of current events."
"Ten."
Duo raised an eyebrow. Well one thing's for sure – Dorothy Catalonia was confident.
"And spending day and night with Hiiro?"
Dorothy paused and thought it over. "Only in these circumstances. Only for Miss Relena."
Duo sighed with relief. "Thank you Miss Catalonia. You may return to your seat."
Trowa glanced down at the list again. "Miss Usagi Tsukino?"
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"You will have an unlimited amount of time to study Mr. Hiiro before commencing."
Usagi nodded and turned her eyes to the silent man to her left. "Do you care a lot about Miss Relena?" she asked in a quiet and contained voice.
Hiiro started. "Why does it matter?"
She voiced the best excuse she could think of. "It'll help me portray you in the speech."
The room was deathly silent. The ticking of the clock echoed strangely, dramatic and almost supernatural.
"I care about her because I'm her bodyguard."
Usagi stared at him and blurted, "Do you usually hide your feelings like this, Mr. Yui?"
He frowned. Yes didn't seem like a suitable answer but neither did no. He settled with the in between. "Hn."
Usagi sighed. "I guess I'm not Miss Relena, huh? I'm sure only she can get an answer to that question." She turned back to the others. "I'm ready."
"…They can't forget the Earth. They cannot forget the past. Human beings, those animals that came to possess so much strength, began to think about controlling a whole planet. The existence of life on a planet is after all only a matter of accidental chance. Humans can think all they want, but they can't change anything. The time humans have spent in space has been wasted. It has all been nothing but a dream. The lie of our artificial living space, and the lie of pacifism, do nothing but give birth to more fighting than ever before. War claims many lives, and human beings have never forgotten that sorrow, yet they never try to give up fighting. The blood and tears are spilled, to be considered nothing more than decorations for some ceremony. The history of many ages is told through its wars. Saying we fight for peace is a pretty lie that has been repeated over and over in the past. The colonies are no different from the Earth that builds up military strength to preserve peace. They are the same. We live, and rise up, through the spilling of blood..."
Her eyes moved along the lines of the speech, glancing up periodically to enforce a point, but never once did she dare look towards Hiiro. He focused on her voice, her posture but their previous conversation still nagged him incessantly, repeating over and over in his head like one of Duo's high-pitched, never-ending songs. Her voice was determined and again the honesty and purity of belief was carried over beautifully, just like the previous candidates, but there was something starkly different. A small smile graced her face and a slight lilt accentuated her voice but despite the small indications of cheerfulness, an almost unnoticeable frown appeared and disappeared, flitted and fluttered. Her eyes were a melancholy blue and though there was hope in her voice, a certain note of resignation emanated from her posture.
Hiiro almost choked on the gasp he forced back down his throat. A vision of mid-length honey blonde hair and smooth sky blue-eyes replaced the figure of the short blonde in front of him. She gave the speech like Relena. But not the Relena that the world knew. Not the Relena that was hopeful, content, and ambitious. She gave the speech like the Relena who was already uncontrollably spiraling downward to depression and anorexia. The Relena who spoke as if it were the last time she could announce her feelings before being shut away for a decade. In the last speech she had made publicly, her voice had resonated with despair, defeat, and dubiosity but what was decidedly sorrowful about it was the smallest, microscopic trace of hope in that strong voice. In the way she tried to hide her quivering hands.
"Thank you, Miss Usagi," Trowa murmured softly. "Please sit."
Wufei cleared his throat and spoke, his voice slightly off-key from disuse. "What type of person would you classify yourself as?"
"A realist."
He nodded and penciled it in.
Duo smiled and cocked his head. "What do you value most in life?"
She bit her lip and netted her eyebrows. "I guess … time. Personal goals and aspirations … friends…"
"Types of movies?"
Usagi laughed embarrassedly. "Romantic tragedies, I guess."
Trowa nodded. It was definitely the impression she had given him.
"Knowledge of current events."
Again, the embarrassed laugh. "Three."
Trowa smiled at her. "You and Minako can easily become good friends." At her questioning look, he explained, "Enough similarities to get along and enough differences to balance each other out."
"Time with Hiiro?"
She almost laughed. The questions were getting more and more efficient in the number of words.
"Time with Mr. Congeniality over there, huh?" she mused. "I suppose. As long as I'm not completely restricted and can still photograph in my spare time."
"Thank you, Miss Usagi. Lastly … Miss April Winner?"
…………………
It was obvious from April Winner's presentation that she had been one of the results of the Winner family's almost genetic aptitude for oration and politics. It was also obvious that though certain aspects of Relena were present in her, she gave off the aura of an older woman despite that she was only three years Relena's senior. The experience was different and though the speech captivated everybody in the room with as much energy and force as Quatre's and though her answers were thorough and, at times, amusing, it was also clear that April's personality landed the farthest from Relena's on the target.
Dorothy Catalonia was also ruled out. Hiiro had difficulty believing that any of his comrades would consider her having the patience to maintain a Relena mask for more than two hours. It just wasn't her style.
Which brought it down to the two girls with whom he was least familiar with. Minako Aino and Usagi Tsukino. One represented the optimistic, hopeful side of the Relena he had come to know exceedingly well and the other was the flip side of the coin – the noticeably less hopeful, realistic side of Relena.
If only the two were one person; that person would be Relena.
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Ack! Finally done. :D ::happy beyond belief:: Wrote this in one sitting … with various distractions … and took approximately three hours. xD It's more depressing, more emotional, less frivolous than previous chapters … partially because of Hiiro's feelings and partially because I personally have that sore throat and that headache. Lol. It's pretty long … I tried to keep the details there as each candidate passed … but, of course, the focus was on Minako, Usagi, and Hiiro. And my hands felt numb by the time I got to April. xD Sorry, minna-san. :x I should be slapped upside the head with the showing vs. telling rule. xD
Notes:
1. The speech that was used for the audition was Hiiro's in [so I'm told] episode 18. Got it off of gundamwing.net, I believe.
Firefly Princess: Witty … lol. Somehow I imagine that calling this witty correlates to calling Hiiro extroverted. xD But it could happen! Lol … thanks for all those compliments! I'll keep them whether they're deserved or not. Heh heh … and sorry if my pointers were a bit general … I can't exactly say I'm qualified to give specific pointers … xD
Xixi: Lol … do you mean Duo is like, personality-wise, your friend or that she portrays him as … incredibly "cutesy" as well…? xD Either way, I want to meet this friend. :DDD
Venus of Love: I really have to admit I have never seen the Star Season … lol. It's definitely OOC … but I'll try my hardest to explain it … without pulling out the melodrama. xD If it helps … despite my long streak of H/U fics … I really have no preference regarding this fic. xD
C06 aka Lady Artemis: Lol … I scrounged for blondes. xD And I know too little about Haruka to put her as one of the matches. :x But can you imagine it…? Lolol. Well … now that I've explained how Hiiro views Minako and Usagi … it didn't turn out the way I'd imagined it. [since I didn't plan this … one of the few fics I hope not to plan … but that'll probably end up changing. :x] Chemistry…? Lol … it seems as if I focused mostly on Hiiro and Relena. xD Largely because I have a need for an emotional side for this fic … and the Hiiro and Relena circumstance is just too tasty to let go. xDxD I feel so evil for not emailing this to you … but I just want to get it out as quickly as possible due to the lack of time … but if you see anything wrong, feel free to comment and I'll most definitely change it. :D
Allyna: Surprisingly … I'd considered whether or not there'd only be one Relena. And I still haven't decided. xD [I'm one of those wishy-washy types…]. It'd actually be very interesting if neither Minako nor Usagi got the role … though perhaps a bit too late. :x
Liquid Ice: Revolutionize is too strong of a term … lol. xD It makes me sound … revolutionary. Lol. Voting might be a bit messy … but it'd be interesting to see the results. xD Considering alternate endings … still undecided. xD
Crystalgem2003: Thank you so much! :DDD Relena is still alive … lol. She's just depressed and has anorexia … ["just" seems a bit inappropriate in that sentence… xD] So, being depressed and weak due to lack of food, it'd be a pretty big shock to the world if they see their "beacon of peace" in that state. :x But … that's still better than having her dead, I suppose … kinda … ^^;
Timeless Enigma: As I mentioned before … no preferences and no decisions [yet] on exactly which couple. :D But I'd have to concede that there are a much larger number of H/U fics … to which I've contributed. xD
Gackt Camui [the EoL]: Lol. I definitely agree that Duo and Wufei make a great pair … lol … in fact … it's probably one of the few yaoi couples I support … haha. Wow … everybody has seen so much of Sailor Moon! ::sinks further in seat:: Assume, assume! It gives me ideas. :D
Angellus Lee: Haha … Relena is just really really sick. Thanks bunches. :DDD
Kazzeh Sodapop: Lots and lots of Minako. :D Lots and lots of Usagi. Lots and lots of Hiiro. Want more Duo, dangit. xDxD Sorry for the late update. :x Due to a mixture of procrastination, ambivalence, and chaotic-ness. xD
Datajana: Lol … that's always been my predicament … whether or not to read fics that have just started or wait until it's all finished. xD But I can't control myself so … I read them. And then get depressed when they don't get updated. Lol. Which explains my fondness for one-shots. xDxD Thanks bunches for the review. :D
Rheia: xDxD I shall love you for life for calling this … urk … this "funny". :DDD And have you been updating…? ::waves disapproving finger:: ;D