Disclaimer: Do not own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. And even if I did, I wouldn't admit it because this chapter is quite pathetic… :x
Again, not beta-read, one-sitting, strange mood swing, last minute chapter that I rushed through partially out of guilt. xD It's actually quite bad … both the rushing and the chapter itself. xDxD [admittedly, I don't like it at all .. xD] But here you go. I'll edit it when I feel like it. Lol. [personally experiencing strange mood so … beware of strange actions and reactions in chapter. :D]
Chapter 3
"It's simple enough, isn't it? Just four girls … and we have an odd number of voters. Majority rules." Duo shrugged and pushed himself up onto the desk in the corner of the room. He swung his legs restlessly. "Let's get this over quickly, okay? I have a date with this cute chick a-"
Wufei slammed his fist onto the table. Quatre jumped.
"If you didn't understand, that translates to shut up, Maxwell." He casually brushed a loose strand of charcoal hair away from his eyes and resumed a neutral stance, arms crossed over his chest.
"No cruelty to animals, Wufei," Trowa reprimanded, a small smile settling over his features.
Duo blinked and heaved a heavy sigh, pouting sulkily. "No fair, you guys. Two against one."
Wufei opened his mouth to retort.
"Enough." Four pairs of eyes swung in the direction of the voice. "Decide now. Before they get impatient in there." Hiiro nodded towards the closed door leading to the adjacent room. He stood to the side, a bit of a distance away from the group. His voice was clear and without dynamics and his stony expression offered no room for questions or complaints.
Trowa cleared his throat, the smile gone from his face and leaned forward in his seat, careful to not lean too far as to get in the way of Duo's idly swinging legs. "I think we can all agree that it comes down to Miss Minako Aino and Miss Usagi Tsukino."
"Well … Dorothy seemed pretty dedicated out there too, hmm?" Duo turned and shot Hiiro a wicked grin. "I'm sure Hiiro wouldn't mind spending some quality time with her…"
Quatre swallowed uneasily and decided he didn't like how Duo intoned "quality time" and from the way Hiiro's face froze and posture stiffened, it was pretty obvious that he didn't appreciate the tone either.
"Accepting Dorothy Catalonia as Miss Relena's replacement would be like accepting you." His cold, flat voice drained the statement of any humor it could have contained.
Quatre shifted uncomfortably in his seat next to Trowa, the notes on each candidate crinkling in his lap, and glanced from one tense, cheerless face to the next. "Well … from what I've read … I think Miss Usagi would be the better choice. She seems to be a better match for Miss Relena and I'm sure she'd be dedicated enough to carry the role through successfully."
Trowa nodded thoughtfully in agreement. "Miss Usagi would definitely be able to fulfill the responsibilities we require of her."
"Hmm … Trowa, and Wufei have the same cumulative scores for the two…" Quatre shifted through the sheets some more.
"I don't think Usagi represents Relena though … I mean … she seemed so dejected when reading the speech … Minako's character is much closer to Relena's…" Duo paused to struggle with putting into words how he felt. "That is … Minako has Relena's hope and belief in the goodness of mankind … and that's the aspect of Relena that the masses love the most, right?"
Wufei shook his head. "I can't believe this…" He shot an incredulous look towards Duo. "Not only did Maxwell sound decently intelligent … I'd have to say I agree with him. Aino's optimism is similar to Darlian's. That's always been the defining trait of that woman … her foolish optimism and faith."
There was a pause and drift into silence that nobody sought to pierce. Quatre continued shifting through the papers, pausing to read and nod, contemplating.
"So." Trowa's smooth, cool voice seemed gratingly loud. "Hiiro? You're the tie-breaker."
Four heads turned to the side, Duo from his position on top of the desk, Wufei while leaning against it, Quatre and Trowa from their respective seats opposite of Duo, and surveyed the last, isolated member of their motley group. He didn't look up from the ground, eyes focused intently on something nobody else could discern. Only at Duo's prodding "Hiiro?" did he mutter a short, "I heard you."
The headache was back, much worse than before, and the gray carpet of the floor came in and out of focus. He wanted to turn away from their curious eyes and lean his head against the cool, plaster wall but that would make them worry. There was no need to make them worry.
He hated responsibility. It was suffocating him. Its disembodied hands reached out for him and latched onto his neck, nails digging vengefully into smooth flesh. He wanted to give up struggling for breath and let the boulder on his chest crush his ribs and tear through his lungs.
It was almost as if he were a little kid, peering wide-eyed into a toy store and desiring for two toys with the equal amount of fervor. Two toys among which he could only choose one. Hiiro shook his head. He felt so juvenile.
"Ah! Hiiro!" There was a nauseating swing of attentions as the focus turned to Quatre. He looked up, baby blue eyes meeting Hiiro's almost black ones. A small, uncertain smile formed over his angelic features as he held up two sheets of paper. "Your cumulative score for the two of them…" He glanced down, hesitating, and checked his math. "They're different."
"Eh?! They're unequal?" Duo slid off the desk and leaned over to study the papers, eyes wide.
Quatre nodded, head bowed again, and scanned the two sheets of paper. "The scores add up to … forty and forty-six. A large difference."
…………………
April leaned back and stretched, sighing happily. "I think it'll come down to you and Minako over there." She nodded knowingly at Usagi's blank face.
She shook her head. "But … what about you and Miss Catalonia?"
Dorothy laughed shortly as Minako peered over curiously. "Don't be ridiculous. There's only one idiot in that group and since majority will decide, I'm sure they'll make the right decision."
"Idiot, huh?" Minako giggled. "Does Duo always act that way?"
Dorothy laughed again, the bitter sound twisted with sarcasm. "I wasn't referring to Mr. Maxwell. At a time like this, the idiot is obviously Mr. Yui."
"What? Why? He didn't seem unreasonable." Usagi leaned forwards to meet Dorothy's icy eyes.
"Hiiro Yui is not in his right state of mind." April quirked her mouth up in a small, sardonic smile when Usagi turned to look at her. "This is only the second time that something affected him so deeply. That the wound was so close to his heart."
"Mr. Yui cares a lot about Miss Relena, huh?" Minako sighed. "I wonder how he feels…"
"Probably blames it all on himself." Dorothy snorted derisively. "And rightly so."
Usagi blinked puzzledly. "But Mr. Yui couldn't possibly do something like that … he's not cruel."
The platinum-haired woman rolled her eyes. "That may be so but Hiiro Yui is what psychologists like to call passive aggressive. He hurts people through the actions he doesn't do."
Both Minako and Usagi uttered a simultaneous, soft, "Oh."
"It's a big sacrifice." April's bright voice shattered the pregnant silence and dispelled the lingering phantasms of pity. "If you accept this role, that is. You'll be giving up a segment of your life in order to become somebody else. And more likely than not, you won't be publicly recognized or anything. I'm sure they'd like to keep this as contained as possible."
"I see," Minako murmured quietly. "I'm not so sure I can accept it then…" She frowned to herself and closed her eyes. "I don't think I'm that unselfish."
Usagi laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'm not that unselfish. But…"
The door opened. Quatre was the first to step out, papers in hand. He rewarded each of them with a small smile. "Sorry for the long wait. We have the results."
…………………
She was bored beyond all definitions of being bored. Rei sighed and continued her idle flipping through the Glamour magazine, glancing approvingly at a photograph Usagi had did for Chanel. A photograph that she had glanced approvingly at twenty-three times in twenty-three different fashion magazines. And that was after the six rides up and down the building in the elevator. And after chatting with the cute receptionist at the front of the office building and conning him into buying her lunch.
They must realize that she had a life! And if only for that reason, they should have the decency to hurry along with the auditions. After all, she only had two months or so to get that story and there was only so much naïve, inexperienced Usagi can get out of Hiiro Yui in a month. Rei shook her head and had to admit her expectations were not high.
What if Usagi couldn't get her the facts? She didn't want to think about the possibility of having to go about the country and hunt down Miss Relena Darlian.
…………………
"After much deliberation," Quatre started, "we decided that it would be best to have a double."
Minako looked up curiously. "A double?"
"Yes. It's quite common among celebrities nowadays. They have somebody act as their twin and follow them around. It's a tactic in order to confuse hordes of fans," Trowa explained. "In this case, we decided on both Miss Minako Aino and Miss Usagi Tsukino so that in each situation, we have both halves of Miss Relena and we can alternate roles as we see fit."
"Both halves of Miss Relena…" Usagi murmured to herself.
"I'm … I'm not so sure I'm willing to do this." The room went deathly silent. Minako had stood up and was staring at the floor, long blonde hair falling into her face, blocking any view of her profile and bangs shadowing her eyes. "I'm not that unselfish. I can't devote so much of my time … and not get anything in return." She trailed off before adding in a soft whisper, "I'm sorry."
Usagi stared up at her. "Mina…ko." The shocked silence continued. Hiiro was the last to step through the doorway and quietly closed the door after him. Usagi pursed her lips with determination and stood up as well. "I think that … I feel the same as Miss Minako."
Minako's head jerked up as she turned to stare at Usagi's resolved profile.
"It doesn't matter."
All eight voices chorused a single word: "What?"
"Hiiro, are you out of your mind? What do you mean it doesn't matter? Of course it matters!" Duo squawked. Hiiro's bland expression never wavered.
"It doesn't matter what you feel. You only have two choices: either comply with us voluntarily or be forced into it. Our decision is final. We have your phone numbers and will contact you when we decide to start the training. You may leave now." He took the papers back from Quatre.
"M-Mr. Hiiro?"
Blank blue eyes turned to Minako. Her expression was faintly fearful and she bit her bottom lip nervously.
"What … what if we are unable to comply? What if our jobs demands for us to-"
He shook his head impatiently. "That would not be a possibility. We have informed your bosses to allow you to-"
"What she means is," Usagi interrupted bluntly, "what if we refuse to comply. What if we refuse to act like Miss Relena." She glared at him but he remained expressionless only giving away his annoyance by the slight pursing of his lips.
"Then we," Hiiro paused to indicate the four Preventers around him, "will make this ordeal insufferably difficult for you." He turned and returned to the adjacent room.
"Harsh, huh?" Minako breathed, shoulders dropping as she let go of her previous tension. "But I suppose it makes sense. After all … once we think of what may happen if Miss Relena doesn't show up in public soon…"
Usagi continued glaring venomously at the closed door. "I think," she started slowly, "that Hiiro Yui is one of those people that you can't feel indifferent towards. That is … you either like him or you hate him…"
April nodded. "I agree."
"Then question is … are you going to be one of the few to actually like him?" Dorothy shot her a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
………………….
Four pages … not a bad amount but nothing to be proud of. :x And though I realize quality is of far greater value than quantity … the quality of this chapter is pretty poor so I decided to fall back onto quantity. xD I feel much better … from the cold, that is, so this chapter wasn't as depressing … or at least … I don't think it is. xD But I felt kind of blank when I wrote this … like my senses were dulled … so … it's bare. It's not descriptive and does not provoke contemplation. Sadly. Not to say the previous ones did… xDxD Oh well.
Autumn Ice: Ack! I know, I know … I was cringing at the profuse amounts of dialogue too … though I think I did it again in this chapter. xD Thanks for the comments though! :DDD
Liquid Ice: Lol … cruel, Ice-san, cruel ... forcing ideas upon others. xD Actually the speeches were two halves of one speech. xD They combine to make up the speech Hiiro made in episode 18 or so. :D I just didn't want to bore everybody by pasting it twice and instead separated it… ^^; Usagi was a bit more prominent in this chapter but I think that was accidental … lol. Or maybe my subconscious…? x_x Lol … I'm not sure I have favorites anymore … xD
C06 aka Lady Artemis: Hiiro? Lovestruck? Hmm … maybe with Relena. ^___~ But that's all I really see … lol. Oh dang … I wanted an even competition … so I'm going to have to work harder to make the two couples seem equally likely, huh? ^___~ Actually there were several mistakes … I'm just too lazy to go back and fix it … maybe later. Lol. I'm relieved that you didn't care about editing … :D And sadly, I have to admit that this really isn't all too original. ;-;
Jupiter Angel: Lol … I used to read and review during school … but now fanfiction.net is blocked by the school computers. xD And … oh my gosh … a three way between Hiiro, Usagi, and Minako? LOL! That is tempting. ;D
Kolishar Jackie-chan Benito: I updated! In one week! :D It's not a great chapter but…did I mention that I updated in one week? :D
LA2: Lol … "I feel as if I'm a little kid…" Nice imagery. xD But thank you! Even if the question was just kind of stuck in there … xD I'm glad you found it funny. :D
Serena Yuy: It seems as if my favorite type of Hiiro is sad Hiiro … lol. xD He's so fun to write about. :DDD Still haven't decided … lol. Check back in a year. xD
Gackt Camui: 01 x 02 = yum. xDxD Well … at least your assuming tangent would amuse me…! And I'm sure I'll be able to twist some kind of warped idea out of it. xD I think I have a reason for Usagi's realism … haha. Hope. Wah! The all-time Usagi fan supports Minako? Lol … it's like the world's flip-flopped. xD But like I said to Lady Artemis … I'm going to have to change that. ;D
Venus of Love: Ack! Sorry … substantially less Minako and Hiiro in this chapter … a whole lot of Hiiro and Duo … lol. xD Actually … any review is a good review … lol. xD I'm striving to make both couples seem equally likely … so far I'm not succeeding, huh? Lol … thanks for the analysis. :D I really needed to organize things and you did it for me. :DDD
Kazzeh Sodapop: Less everybody in general in this chapter … lol … well … maybe minus Duo … and Hiiro. :D
Angel131: Being indecisive, I still haven't decided … lol. :D Thanks for the review. :DDD