Disclaimer: Don't own either Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. ;-;
General pointlessness through about half of the chapter and then mindless literary devices. :P I. Hate. It. But I don't really know how to fix it … . [mustkillfic] The humor's stupid … except it wasn't even meant to be humor … :P Happy reading … ? xD
Chapter 5
"Take a seat. You'll have ten questions per reading and we'll give you," Trowa glanced down at his watch, "until 10:45. About three hours."
Minako shook her head in awe and sobbed melodramatically. "It's way too early in the morning to be telling us this…"
"T-t-ten questions…? T-that'd be fifty questions…?" Usagi noticeably gulped, her face frozen and ashen. "Th-th…" No more words would come out.
Trowa pulled out two packets and dropped them onto the office desk at which both Minako and Usagi were sitting. The quizzes made a most unbecoming flopping sound that characterized thick stacks of paper.
"T-they're all short answer," Minako whispered numbly.
"I'd thought for sure I wouldn't be doing anymore quizzes after college…" Usagi sighed. "Service for the nation, huh? We should be getting paid for this."
Minako nodded vehemently.
"You now have two hours and fifty-five minutes," Wufei interrupted brutally, face irate. "They're not easy questions, you know."
Usagi tapped her pencil boredly on the table and read through number one. "So what're you going to put for the first one?" she asked out of the corner of her mouth.
"I don't know … I've never even heard of these words … transferability … gravity model … demographic transition…"
"…Did you read it, Minako?"
She snickered sheepishly. "I bought the CDs for the recordings and listened to them in my sleep."
Usagi stared at her blankly.
"Hey, hey! You two! Stop cheating over there!"
…………………
"Done." All five pilots glanced up at the girls and then at the clock. The word had come out simultaneously, almost as if the two shared a mind. Twenty minutes had lapsed since the distribution of those unsightly packets; twenty minutes during which very little evidence of furious scribbling transpired. Quatre stood up and picked the two packets up. His slightly awed and curious expression slowly dissolved into one of exasperation.
He glanced up at Minako and raised an eyebrow. "Number thirty-two. After the exponential growth of population in the twentieth and thirtieth centuries, what caused this growth to slow? Which countries were the leaders in this slowing of growth? What model is based on this? Why do you think modern society both defies and supports Malthusian views on population. Answer: Why do YOU think modern society both defies and supports Malthusian views on population?"
Usagi choked back a small giggle.
He pursed his lips and turned to Usagi's. "Number nineteen: List three examples of how classical empires (Gupta in India, Han in China, and the Pax Romana of Rome) have influenced today's world. Which is said to have had the most influence on the government of the ESUN? How so? Answer: Timbuktu."
Trowa took the papers from Quatre and flipped through them briefly. "You both got twos."
Minako blinked in surprise. "Which one did I get right?"
"You both got the same one right … 'Who was proclaimed queen by the Romafeller Foundation?'"
"Relena Darlian," both replied automatically.
Trowa nodded defeatedly. "With this kind of performance and retention of material … we'll probably just have to bluff our way through and learn as we go."
"Sounds like a relief compared to the chapter readings."
Trowa frowned. "It's not supposed to."
…………………
"Does it bother either of you that we only have one day left for the training?" Trowa grimaced at the two girls sitting idly in front of him. He ignored Duo's giddy peal of laughter as the braided pilot expertly dodged Wufei's fist and dashed out of the room followed closely by a red-faced Chinese. He ignored the scary tension of muscles on Hiiro's face that indicated the forming of a headache over his head. He ignored Quatre's frantic zipping from one conflict to the next, trying to calm people down but only making things worse. And in the middle of it all, Minako yawned and Usagi stretched her arms.
Usagi shrugged casually and crossed her legs. "We're on schedule, right? I mean, all we have to do now is integrate everything and act like Miss Relena."
Trowa stopped and thought for a moment. "I suppose that is true … tomorrow Makoto Kino will be in to help adjust both of you to Miss Relena's looks."
Minako nodded absentmindedly. "I'm so tired. I haven't done and accomplished this much in the last year."
"I wonder what made us decide on the two of you as replacements for Miss Relena." Trowa shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "I mean…" He looked up at them. "You're … you're … "
"We get it, Trowa," Usagi cut in abruptly. Minako shot him a wounded look.
"It's not as if we don't try! And you don't have to go so far as to insult us…"
Usagi nodded accordingly. "Right, right."
"I hope you two can pull it off." Trowa sighed. "I mean … you haven't even spent over five minutes alone with Hiiro. It's a very different experience when it's just the two of you and him in that mansion of Relena's. It'll be challenging. Hiiro has a way of making those around him nervous."
Minako smiled brightly. "We can handle it. Hiiro Yui doesn't scare us one bit!"
"SHUT UP!"
The room dropped several degrees in temperature and all movement stopped. Silence flattened the previous buzz of sound. Hiiro's chair had fallen over backwards due to the force of his standing up; his fists clenched and unclenched, the muscles in his arm becoming prominent and then relaxing.
"Shut up, all of you."
Usagi surveyed the room. Wufei had caught up to Duo and his hand latched onto his arm but Duo wasn't ready to die at so young an age – his mouth hovered inches away from Wufei's hand, ready to bite if necessary. They froze in mid-step, Duo's right leg still raised as if the two were part of some absurd wax sculpture. Ferocity clung like sweat to Duo's countenance and Wufei's face transitioned from an expression of anger to one of disgust and back again. Quatre's arms stretched outward, ready to push Wufei away from Duo; his face seized by panic, soft blue eyes pleading.
"That's it for today," Trowa said quietly. "You can all go home."
Usagi glanced at Minako as the two of them stood up and gathered their stuff. "Not afraid of Hiiro Yui? Speak for yourself, Minako."
The other blonde giggled nervously, eyes darting quickly to Hiiro. The anger in his eyes still hadn't dulled or been tamed, and Minako had to admit, the thorny plant called fear was blossoming in her stomach.
…………………
The strangest thing took place. Just yesterday, Usagi had found herself reading the last page of a book to decide whether or not it was worth the time before starting from page one. In the process, she found out that one of the main characters who had supposedly died somewhere in the middle of the novel hadn't really and that one of the supposed "good guys" had somehow transformed into the antagonist of the story. Normally that would have ruined a story for her but this time, she felt happier, the tangible guardrail of certainty guiding her and making her smile.
It wasn't until twenty minutes had passed and she had just flipped to page forty-two that she figured out what exactly had happened.
Reading the last page of a book before beginning it was a habit of Relena's.
…………………
Minako sighed as she trimmed her nails for the second time that week. Usagi's almost panicked phone call finally made her realize and take note of the habits of Relena she had adopted. Only now did she understand that her new habit of keeping her nails short, her dislike for anything disorderly, and her sudden love for keeping a diary were actually traits of Relena she had unwittingly picked up along the way. It disconcerted her a bit at first. After all, just five days ago, she had felt only dispassion toward the color pink and yesterday, she found herself wearing a rose-themed ensemble of makeup.
The fear continued growing in her stomach. She had no intention of losing her identity through this government project. She had no intention of becoming Relena for life. In fact, she had hoped this whole charade would be over with and a fond, nostalgia-inducing memory six months from now.
But perhaps she was thinking too optimistically.
…………………
"There! Done."
Minako glanced mournfully down at the long pieces of hair now forever disconnected from her and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was shorter and dyed a darker shade of blonde, now bordering on honey. Makoto had prepared contacts for both Usagi and her and had instructed them on exactly what types of shoes to wear. Usagi distastefully found that she had to come up with a supply of high-heeled shoes that measured around two to three inches high and Minako was ordered to not wear anything taller than an inch. Makoto had also brought complete wardrobes that she deemed "Relena-like" and accessories that were "Relena-fied".
"This is almost supernatural, huh?" Usagi laughed as she turned to Minako and stared at a reflection of herself.
Minako blinked dumbfoundedly. "Yeah … it's as if Miss Relena, you, and I are triplets."
"It's going to get difficult from here," Usagi mumbled. "Even more so than before."
"Do you think you're ready?"
"Is there a way to be ready?"
Minako giggled. "You're probably right. Hiiro Yui is still way too unpredictable."
………………….
He had called in that morning and told Trowa he felt sick with the flu but he had lied. True his throat was waging war against the rest of his body and was still unbearably scratchy, and true, his temper ran dangerously short; but he would easily have made it to work, especially since work these days was just chaperoning and training Relena's replacements.
But that fact challenged him and his ability to contain himself the most. His hands turned clammy, cold, and numb at the thought of looking at Serena and Usagi especially since from today on, they would even look exactly like Relena. On the outside, he acted as if he hated this because it wasted his time, but inside, he was trembling with fear.
The features and personalities of Minako and Usagi brought back unwanted memories. Memories of the first time Relena and he had met, how the hatred had burned so fiercely inside of him and how he had truly wanted to end her life with a bullet to the head. It was a hatred fueled by temporary frustration and anger, false and empty. Behind the mask sat the cruel little creature called fear and its siblings, uncertainty and confusion. Until meeting Relena, his world resembled a perfect picture, carefully pieced together and easily coherent. Relena ended that, slashing that picture and allowing the mangled pieces to fall in front of his disbelieving eyes.
And now, just when he had started over and painfully pieced together a new picture, infernos Minako and Usagi were slowly eating it away at the corners. The picture was curling up as bright fire flickered over it and hungrily consumed any certainty he had managed to win back.
Despicable reality breathed down his neck and hid in the corners and closets of his apartment. Too little time remained. Just a bit more than two days before he had to return to Relena's mansion and guard over Minako and Usagi. Just a bit more than two days before the picture is completely rendered to ashes.
…………………
A lot of parallel structure [in the plot] ::hinthint:: :D Thanks to Liquid Ice-san's motivation, a brief outline of the plot is down and at this point, it seems as if this will be approximately … eeto … 29 chapter plus prologue and epilogue…? ^^;;; [If I can last that long, it'd be my longest one yet…!! o_o]
Raye-chan: Lol … Quatre just has eccentric tastes … ;; The update's a bit late … --; But thanks bunches for the review! :D
Serena Yuy: The only one I could imagine liking the food was Quatre so … heh … he ended up as the one with no taste buds. xD A bit more serious this chapter [near the end] and I think that'll become a trend … [the see-sawing of frivolous and serious] :D
Venus of Love: More Minako! Actually … equal amounts. :D Trying to maintain equilibrium .xD
Liquid Ice: o_o!!! Y-you wrote an essay for a review…! Lol. And I love it to death! :DDD It didn't necessarily help motivate me to write this chapter but almost directly after it, I spewed out the outline of the plot for this fic. :D So it wasn't really until this time that I could confirm any guesses because it was all hazy with random scenes until the outline. :D I'm reallyreally happy that I can keep you thinking though … I'm afraid it's going to become a bit predictable. ;-; [or at least, by my standards. xD] Lol … if you really liked the interaction last chapter … go watch Prince of Tennis … it's so much funnier in there. xD What happened to Usagi, hmmm? xD I've actually decided on it but … well … it's more typical than spectacular. x3 Minako's hidden side … heh heh heh … @_@ Wahhhhhhh!!! I love your guesses. :D They're always so thought-provoking. :DDD I agree that Trowa laughed too much but really … I desperately wanted a "normal" guy in there. :D Somebody that wasn't hyper to the extreme of Duo, wasn't Hiiro, Wufei, or Quatre but just … the leader behind it [due to Hiiro's temporary psychological weakness] and all around nice guy. :D Trowa came to mind first. xD [he always does, for me :D] Nono, I loved the interpretations! :DDD I'm curious to know what evidence you can find in this chapter. :D [either intentional or unintentional … xD]
Xixi: Here's more. :D Hmm … I can hardly imagine Trowa cooking … I get this vivid mental picture of the food catching on fire in front of him and he maintaining a bland, bored look on his face and casual posture, with spatula still in hand. xD
Kazzeh Sodapop: Quatre? Weak? Lol. I'd have to say I thought so at first too but … well … I'm not sure how he'll turn out in this. :D
Kolinshar Jackie-chan Benito: Hmm … I think I mentioned earlier that Relena was anorexic. :x Lol … can you imagine Zechs's reaction…? o_o!!! It's definitely an amusing picture. :D And if I use it, I'll definitely give you credit. :DDD
Tenshi-Hotaru: Heh heh heh … I was actually thinking of how exactly to make Hiiro taste the food … xD It might happen in the future. :D Lol … yes, yes. Definitely thankful we're not Usagi or Minako in the current situation. xD
Gackt Camui: Hmmm … ff.net is a bit strange sometimes … like it sometimes sends emails of reviews but they never show up on the site … xD Yesyes, the bishies from PoT [pot…? xD] are very bishie … lol … you should watch it! :DDD