1

Must we go into this every time? They are not mine, dammit.

For some time, the silence of the room was only broken by the turning of pages and the soft scratching of Jinpei's pencil over his paper as he worked through his history and Japanese assignments. A quiet groan soon signaled his abandonment of those and the start of the nightly torture of junior high students...algebra. He buried himself in the homework once more, hoping the torture would end soon. One thing was certain...whoever had the brilliant idea to invent math should be shot! Halfway through the assignment he got stuck on a problem, and began to grumble to himself as he erased and reworked the problem, only to begin erasing again. Damn it!

Ken glanced up from his own work at the frustrated boy, then glanced at the clock. It was still fairly early and Jin had been doing well so far. Time for a break. He set his reports down next to the chair and gently lobbed a wadded up sheet of paper at the boy, causing him to look up in surprise as it bounced off his head, "Aniki, what was that for?"

His Commander just smiled at him as he rose from the chair in a stretch, "Come on, time for a break. You want something to drink?"

"Sure. You got any beer around?"

Ken rolled his eyes, "Nice try kid, maybe in about ten years. How about we just stick to soda for today."

Jinpei smiled up at him innocently, "It was worth a try aniki." He easily caught the can Ken tossed to him. Popping it open, he leaned against the counter in the small kitchen, a frown on his face. Ken studied him for a moment from his spot near the door, noticing the downcast look. When the boy was uncharacteristically quiet for several minutes, Ken broke the silence, asking softly,

"Something on your mind Jinpei?"

Jinpei took a swallow of his soda before replying, "Aniki, you ever have trouble when you and Joe still went to school?"

Ken cocked his head curiously, "How do you mean?"

"Did your teachers ever give you a hard time? Or the other kids?"

Ken set his soda down and leaned back, "Well, I didn't have too much trouble with the teachers...that was Joe's job. But yes, I did have some trouble with the other kids. There were a few bullies around who liked to pick on the quieter kids."

Jinpei looked surprised, "They picked on you aniki? Why didn't you just kick their asses?"

"Language Jinpei."

"Sorry aniki. But why didn't you?"

Ken smiled at the boy, "Remember that discussion we had about not letting the other kids know about your ninja abilities? Well, Joe and I were under the same restrictions when we were in school. So it wasn't always easy."

Jinpei scowled down at his soda, "At least you got out of it aniki. School sucks. I wish I didn't have to go. I already know most of what they tell us anyways. It's boring."

Ken took a sip of his soda and thought for a minute, "Tell you what Jinpei. You stay out of trouble and keep your grades up for the rest of the school year and I'll talk to Hakase about letting you finish off the rest of your school at home."

"You mean it aniki?"

"You bet. So what do you say, deal?"

"Deal!"

Ken lobbed his empty can into the recycling bin and pushed away from the wall, "Come with me."

Jinpei tossed his can and smirked in satisfaction, nothing but net, "Where are we going aniki?"

"You'll see. Follow me." Ken led Jinpei out the back door and into the woods behind the airfield. He grinned as Jinpei peppered him with questions but didn't say anything until they approached a clearing, "Alright Jinpei, enough. We're here."

Jinpei looked around, "What are we doing here aniki?"

"Take a look Jinpei."

Jinpei looked thorugh the last of the bushes between them and the clearing, "Oh wow aniki! That's so cool!"

Gold Angel: I agree, the brotherly bond was always there but often seemed overshadowed by the fact that Ken was the commander. I hope to bring that side out more. As always, it's a pleasure to read your reviews

Female Heero Yuy: Great to hear from you, and I fully agree. (hands you a handkerchief) you might need this. Hope you enjoyed this one.

A/N: Short I know, but I plead forgiveness on the grounds that I've been out of town. More will come soon, it's handwritten, just not typed yet. .It will be up as soon as I catch up on schoolwork and have the chance to focus on the fun stuff. Ja ne.