Chapter 6

Passions

By

Uplifted

It had to be a dream. There was no possible way that it couldn't be; the greenness and the clarity of the blue sky were enough to take her breath away. But the color, the vivid brightness, wasn't what made it so astonishing. It was her placement in the scheme of things that made it all so surreal and beautiful. As she spread her arms, marveling in the luxury of the wind against her skin, her hair plastered against her head, the zephyr she rode teased the gentle blonde locks to its fullest. Her hair streamed over her back, and her wide blue eyes watched with serious intent as she flew.

There were no wings on her back; there were no strings. It was such pure, unbridled joy to hang in the air, suspended only by wind and nature that Relena's heart constricted, and she cried aloud.

Then she gasped, as she woke on the floor of the classroom.

Howard peered at her over his sunglasses, his sharp eyes calculating and his bionic arm holding her steady. She pushed his arm off her with a grateful smile, and a meek, "Thank you."

She looked around the room, getting her grip, so to speak, with the situation. Hilde's firecracker had exploded, and Quatre had absorbed most of it all, but the blast had caught her by surprise. The wall of heat had only knocked her head against the wall; she had been lucky to escape with such minor injuries. Did she have a concussion? She gingerly felt the back of her head, wincing when she came into contact with a large bump. But the skin hadn't been broken, and her mind was already on other matters. Such as; where was Hiro?

But the lean youth identified himself quickly; his strong face an impassive rock in the anxious crowd that surrounded her. She began to feel claustrophobia seep in, and she glanced about, wild-eyed.

"Everyone, give her some room. Anyone else seriously injured? No? Then I guess we'll just send Ms. Relena to the Medical Lab. Would--"

But Hiro had already stepped up, his quiet voice heard in the sudden stillness of the room.

"I'll take her, Professor Howard."

Nodding, Howard stepped aside, letting the unknown youth that had been fighting Quatre get out of the warm room. As he stepped past the blonde empath, helping a tired Relena walk, he shot a glance to the leader of the Mutates.

"We'll continue later." Came the voice of Howard, firm enough to cause Hiro to look away, and set his sights on the Med. lab. Quatre's eyes narrowed, his body stance shifting as he watched the retreating form of Hiro and Miss Relena with misgivings. That Hiro Yui was something else…

Relena blinked as she and Hiro stepped into the sun, and she squinted as the burning ball of gas continued on its merry way across the Earth's sky. She leaned on Hiro heavily, and he accepted the extra weight without a word, instead shifting, and picking her up. She looked up to his face in surprise, but there was nothing she could read there, not a hint of emotion to suggest that Hiro was doing this for her.

"It's faster this way." He said, glancing down, and meeting her face. She was the first to look away, a blush staining her cheeks at being caught staring. She shifted, and found herself leaning into his chest, a content smile on her face. Then, she found herself drifting off, sleep trying to claim her.

As Hiro continued on, he noticed the lack of responsiveness from his charge, and flexed his muscled arms. They had been built for carrying heavy objects over a long period of time if he had ever needed to. But he was unaccustomed to such a thing. But when he saw that Relena was asleep. He immediately shifted her, and hurried his pace.

"Relena, wake up." He sounded, a bit louder than his usual monotonous tone. But she was fast asleep. Hiro's mind focussed on the medical knowledge, however limited it was that he knew. If she had sustained a concussion, falling asleep was worse than hitting the same spot again. She could fall into shock, or a coma.

Instead of wondering what he should do, Hiro did something. He ran. He ran, carrying Relena to the medical lab, tracing the scent of himself back to the room that Relena's blood had been drawn in. That smell…He shook his head, refusing to think of how sick Relena had looked, nor how pale she looked now.

He ran to the door, and instead of freeing his hands to touch the sliding panel, he merely kicked it. The door, made of one of the strongest metals known to Earth, folded under his leg, and crashed into the room, sending a shower of sparks. Sally Po, sitting at her desk, staring at some sort of paper work, was startled, to say the least.

"Well, this is a mutant school, but couldn't you have at least tried to use the door? Expenses are enough as it is…" She trailed off as she stared at Hiro's burden.

"Get her on the table." Immediately the doctor, the healer in Sally was speaking, and she quickly went to her computer, rapidly typing. The document that Sally had been staring at disappeared into cyberspace, and Hiro couldn't help wondering what had been on the document to make Sally look so startled.

Scanning Relena's body, Sally couldn't help but sigh in relief as she saw that whatever the girl had come here for hadn't adversely affected her too much.

"Relena's fine, Hiro." She said reassuringly, watching as her computer's did the rest of her work, starting up and maintaining Relena's pulse, brain waves, among other things. Sally waved the feral mutant away, and set about her work; her own mutant ability. Healing.

Hiro, finding himself without someone to look after, walked out of the room, with a backward glance to be absolutely positive he wasn't needed. The door hissed shut behind him, obscuring his view, and finalizing his thoughts. As he walked out of the room, he saw Duo of all people lounging against the wall, his usual dopey grin obscured by his grimness. Duo, worrying? Hiro shook his head silently, a bit annoyed by the other mutant.

"So how is she?" were the first words out of the braided Mutate's mouth. In reply he received Hiro's full strength focussed behind his clenched hand. Staggering under the punch Duo looked in amazement to the now-glaring Hiro.

"What the hell?" cried Duo, lifting a hand to his mouth, and wiping away the trickle of blood that had slowly appeared. Hiro didn't respond, but the sound of Hiro's claws freeing themselves from their prison of flesh made Duo's face pale. Bloodless, Duo motioned to Hiro to follow him, gulping audibly.

Hiro followed the teleporter, his glare full force. Unbidden, the memory of Relena kissing him came to his mind, and Hiro shook his head to rid himself of the image, growling now. He couldn't be distracted. He stopped himself from walking into Duo, and found that the mutant had led him to the gardens of the school. Fortunately, they were in a secluded section of the lush gardens, with ferns and trees blocking the two from sight.

And in the sunlight, Hiro was only slightly startled to see Duo's form start to melt, his flesh becoming hazy in the sunlight, his hair unbraiding and fading from a chestnut brown to a sun bleached corn-silk blonde.

Hiding a smirk, Hiro unsheathed both sets of claws, and slid into an offensive stance. Dorothy, fully feminine and herself, blanched.

"You shouldn't have been sent. You don't have the stomach." Hiro growled, his thoughts racing as fast as his adrenaline. "You're afraid." He could smell fear on her, a stench that Hiro personally hated; it reminded him too much of the time when he had been drenched in the smell.

Dorothy reddened, though with anger this time. She glared at Hiro, then smirked, and her form changed again. When her form had ceased rippling, Relena stood, looking innocent and vulnerable. Hiro did grin then, a feral, wicked thing that left Dorothy breathless with fear, and longing. Hiro was a fine specimen of a man, and a mutant. Dorothy smirked in Relena's body, and there was the seductive Relena who had come onto him in the containment area, the prison. Hiro's grin sharpened, and he rushed forward, claws outstretched, only to find himself fighting a copy. Dorothy raised her own gundanium claws, and Hiro's own feral grin was reflected back to him.

The two began a deadly circling game. If one of them stepped too closely to the other, a flurry of claws and fangs and limbs would come up, each springing back before serious harm could be dealt.

Dorothy flung her arms at him, trying to embrace Hiro with her claws. Hiro jumped to avoid the metal, and landed on Dorothy/Hiro's shoulders. He jumped off, neatly flipping around as he did so, and landed in a crouch, completely prepared for an attack. Dorothy growled at Hiro, wondering how things had come to this. Making a final decision, Dorothy melted back to herself, flexing her fingers as the claws retracted, and disappeared.

"Hiro." She said seriously, staring intently at the teenager she had come to capture. "Why are you staying in this school, this breeding hive of activity. I know you love your lonesome ways, your deep bouts of depression and solitude." She schooled her face into a mask of indifference, something that Hiro might accept. "Come with me. I'll take you to Treize, he'll accept you for all you mutant abilities, for all of yourself. Believing in humanity? Fighting for the very people who will turn on you, try to kill you, what does that accomplish? It proves how very weak you've become, accepting scraps like some poor beaten dog."

Hiro never wavered, but Dorothy's words had each struck a hard nerve. The Mutates fought for humanity, but what had humanity done for Hiro? They'd locked him up, like a wild animal, and given him claws, making him more of an animal than he already was. Fighting his instincts now, to go with Dorothy, Hiro glared.

"I won't go with you." He growled out, his claws out and ready 'til the bitter end. Dorothy smiled calmly.

"You mean you won't leave her."

Hiro lunged, his hands itching to feel Dorothy's slender neck in his mercy. She laughed then, infuriating him. As he watched, she slowly became someone else, someone older. The woman from the base, who had brought Relena in, the one with the brown hair and the words of ice. Hiro could only watch helplessly as Dorothy/Une floated away, borrowing the telekinetic powers of Lady Une. Hiro, drenched with sweat from his adrenaline, had nothing to do with his energy, and his frustrations. Instead of fruitlessly looking for how Dorothy had managed to infiltrate the school, he instead headed back inside. He briefly recalled something Duo had said about a training facility, so he used his hyper-senses to try and find where these training grounds were.

Just his luck, Hiro stumbled on the Physical mutations class just as they were having mock-battles in the gym. A boy with the ears of an elephant was currently trying to get the best of a cocky girl with a shock of auburn hair.

"Get 'er Dumbo!" cried one of the mutant's friend, Hiro couldn't be sure which. 'Dumbo' cast a withering look to the speaker, then continued trying to annoy the girl, who had sprouted wings as red as her hair. She laughed at Dumbo, and taunted him from her perch on a basketball hoop.

"Go Red Tail!" said a laughing girl, her hair a brilliant green.

Hiro sighed in exasperation (kids these days!), and made his way over to the teacher, who was delighted to have a late-comer, and encouraged him to find someone to engage with. Casting a dubious glance at the kids that gathered, chatting, around the room, Hiro didn't know what to do with himself. It wasn't that he felt alone, more like he didn't want to accidentally make mutant sushi if his partner was careless.

"Hey there."

Hiro turned to look at the speaker, and was surprised by a shock of blue fur. And instead of a head, he came face-to chest with another mutant. Glancing up at the veritable beast of a person, Hiro coldly sized up his opponent. At least seven feet tall, covered in shaggy blue fur, with jeans, a tight white tee-shirt, and black Dockers.

"Hnn." Was Hiro's less-than-enthusiastic greeting. Fuzzy-blue-boy blew off the greeting, and instead motioned to an empty corner of the gym.

"Did you come here to stand around, or to fight?" Fuzzy asked, successfully goading Hiro into a fight. Glancing warily at the beast, the supposedly-Japanese mutant walked over with his companion. Both settled into a fighting stance, and a small crowd of watchers gathered. By the catcalls and shouting, Hiro could tell that Beast, the blue guy, was the favorite in this class.

Well, too bad!

Hiro started first, his adrenaline already kicking into hyperdrive, taking his sense along with him. He lunged, his claws extracting almost at the last second. Beast, without a chance to move out of the way on the ground, simply leapt into the air, his mutant ability showing the increased muscular density, and flexibility of this mutant. His powers were obvious physical, and enhanced his fighting ability. Hiro, both set of claws out now, kept his face up, his bangs framing his head in a dark halo as he kept his focus on his target.

Beast catapulted to the ground, turning a few times in the air, and then surged to life, getting up close and personal with Hiro.

As Beast held Hiro in a headlock, the thin, lean shaping of Hiro's body was magnified next to his opponent's bulk. Several students were already beating on the shaggy blue teen to win and money was already being exchanged. Hiro's legs, hanging limp in the air, twisted up and, coupled with Beast's extreme height and weight, knocked Beast off balance making him fall to the wooden floor of the gym.

Hiro's supporter's cheered, but the fight wasn't over yet. Hiro crouched; his animalistic instincts taking over as a trickle of blood slowly made its way down Beast's chin. Wiping it away backhanded, Beast grinned. Both of the fighters had animalistic instincts, though the fight was far from even. Hiro, with his skill and claws, had the upper hand, though Beast's superior height and weight made him an opponent to be wary of.

But the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Hiro, crouched, his muscles tense and ready, was tired of this meaningless fighting, and was ready for it to be over. Beast on the other hand hadn't had a good challenge in a long time, and wasn't about to let Hiro best him. Hiro lunged, Beast parried. Beast swung, and Hiro ducked. The fighting was getting more intense, and more and more of the other students were watching. The teacher, oblivious to the lethal battle, was currently lecturing the mutant Red Tail on her usage of the English language, while Dumbo snickered silently behind the teacher. Suddenly, Beast came out of nowhere with a punch aimed at Hiro's stomach. Avoiding it meant either dodging out of the way, into the student's watching, or jumping, and opening himself up for attack, So Hiro simply ducked. Beast's hand flew through Hiro's hair, instead of landing a solid punch into his abdomen. Droplets of sweat flung in the air, and both combatants ran forward at the same moment. As they scuffled and tussled, the teacher finally became aware of what was happening.

"Stop it, you two!" cried the teacher, but his voice went unnoticed by the two fighters. The teacher, trying to get to them failed, and was nearly swamped by the close press of the crowd that had surrounded Hiro and Beast.

When the people finally stepped back, the teacher balked, as he came upon a panting Hiro with his shirt torn and mangled, hanging away from his chest in threads, his eyes nearly glowing with an insatiable thirst for blood. His hands hung limply at his sides, the claws there, wickedly sharp and lethal. His tousled hair seemed a potent symbol for the madness that gripped him with a fury, messy and flyaway, but with a chillingly apparent pattern to the insanity.

"Oh dear." The teacher said helpfully, and tried to move around Hiro to get to Beast, who was lying unconscious behind the irate feral mutant. Hiro paused, never moving, his eyes following the teacher's path. The teacher finally did get around Hiro, but Beast was too heavy to lift. Abruptly, Red Tail shifted into her second form, a red sparrow, and flew off for the Medical Lab's doctor.

There was no sound in the gym, except for Hiro's labored breathing, and the stuffy sound of quiet that had permeated the room. Hiro's senses could smell the fear, taste the anticipation, and nearly touch the nervousness that was in the room. His animal mind, the warrior inside of him had been frustrated with simply sitting and staying put in a classroom. No, that wasn't what the warrior was for, it hadn't been built for that.

The memories that had refused to come back to Hiro, the black and white fragments that were his only ties to the past were now flying through his mind; a dab of blue there, the smell of blood there, but by and large, his only memories were of recently. And the foremost of these memories was a pair of blue-green eyes that blinked at him in trust.

Hiro's 'other side' slipped back into unconsciousness as he slowly came back to himself. His claws snapped back into his knuckles, and the teacher nearly collapsed with relief. Things would at least be partially all right, as long as Beast regained consciousness fairly soon. But Hiro slumped forward, exhausted, right into a pair of arms.

"Hiro!" he heard someone yell, but it was from so far away that he didn't even bother registering it as he slipped into a semi-conscious state.

And Sally Po, on entering the gym, found not one, but two students who needed attention, and one student who should not have been out of bed.

TBC

Hey all! Hope this chapter is as fun for you to read as it was for me to write! My sister wanted a lot more Hiro, so there ya go. Yes, well, the next chapter should be up sooner than the wait with this one was, so please bear with me! I hope you review too, as I read and love all of them!

Thank you!

Lif