AN: Yay! Another chappie is up. And on that note….

Me-chan: Thank you for the review. It made me happy that I had a reviewer so soon.

Marauder Heir: lol, dork! Arigatou for reviewing SAKURA-CHAN! You have made me a very happy friend, lol.

TamsosBijau: Arigatou! And you're right, soon is nice.

Sailor Sayuri: Hehe, I like chocolate lol. And you got me with the puppy eyes lol. I'm glad you liked my chappie that much.

Morning Glory: Thank you! I'm glad you liked the beginning so far. Makes me happy, hehe.

WCInsane: Hehe, more puppyness lol. Happiness is me. Thankies!

Andrea: Of course I'll continue writing, and I'll try to post as soon as possible each time. Thanks!

Wow! I never expected this many reviews for just one chapter… and so soon. I'm not used to this. I like I like, lol. Anyway, here ya go. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Duo sat in his room, staring up at the ceiling. Lily had gone out to meet up with her brother, but hadn't she planned on bringing them here? He looked over at the clock. This was usually about the time that Lily would be serving dinner. There was a knock on the door. Hoping it was Lily, Duo jumped out of bed and threw the door open. His face sank as disappointment set in. It was Hiei.

"Lily just called. She'll be in late tonight. Kurama ordered pizza. Come eat if you're hungry."

Duo sighed. Pizza was okay, but nothing beat Lily's cooking. After they finished eating, Duo waited up for Lily to return home. Instead he fell asleep on the couch. When he woke up in the morning, there was a blanket on him and Lily sat leaning against the couch, fast asleep.

"She was there all night watching over you." Kurama walked into the room and started picking Lily up.

"She didn't go sleep with you last night?" Duo asked a little amazed.

"Don't be so surprised. She's spent most her time lately worrying about you. Personally I don't think you deserve it half the time."

"Lily is my best friend…" Duo muttered.

"She's you're only friend," Kurama pointed out, practically glaring at Duo. "You both have a mission coming up. Don't make her worry needlessly before. She has enough of her own problems to worry about." Kurama walked away, carrying Lily with him. "Don't want her to be sick."

No. Duo didn't want Lily sick. This next mission was important and Lily tended to get sick very easily. Duo got up from the couch and grabbed his coat. He needed a walk. As he was walking down the street deep in thought he bumped into someone.

"Gomen," he muttered as he continued to walk.

"Gee, rude people all around, huh?" said a female voice.

"Hn…" was the response.

Duo turned to face the two he had run into. "I said I was sorry."

"You're Japanese is so bad I couldn't understand you," the girl commented, laughing at him. Duo only glared. "I'm only kidding. Actually, we need some help."

"With what?" Duo examined the two, and his eyes caught on the guy. "Have we met before?"

"Not that I'm aware of. I have no memory of ever being here."

"Hee-chan," the girl poked the boy. "Gomen. Forget him. I'm Sakura. Do you live around here?"

"Yes actually. Are you lost?"

"Great! I wouldn't say lost exactly. I'm trying to find a friend. Do you know Hino Lily?"

"Lily?" Duo couldn't help but smile. "So then you're that Sakura. And he must be Heero."

"Ah!" Sakura couldn't help but point, knowing all too well how rude that was. "You're Duo, ne? The braid tells all." She laughed. "Then you know exactly where we need to go."

"So Lily talks about me huh?"

"All too much," Heero commented sounding a bit angry about it.

"Hee-chan…" Sakura sighed. "Once again, forget him. He's just your typical protective Niichan." Sakura took Duo by the arm. "So lead!"

"Hai." Duo took the two to the house.

"Duo, is that you?" Lily walked out rubbing her eyes. Obviously she had just woken up. "Did you go out?" She stopped in the hallway when she saw Sakura and Heero.

"Hee-chan! Sakura! What are the two of you doing here?"

"Hee-chan wanted to make sure you were okay. You never called back last night when you got home. You know how Hee-chan gets."

"Ah! Gomen ne Hee-chan! I completely forgot. I was so tired when I got home. I was asleep before I knew it." Lily let out a nervous laugh. "Forgive me?"

"Hn… As long as you're okay I guess."

"Arigatou!" Lily looked from Duo to Heero back to Duo. "I see the two of you met already. That saves me from doing introductions."

"Hello Heero. Haven't seen you in a while," Kurama greeted as he came up behind her.

"Che," was Hiei's response. "It's only you." Heero nodded at the two as his greeting.

"So how did you meet Lily?" Heero asked Duo. The girls had gone out to buy some groceries for dinner that night, and Hiei and Kurama had disappeared

"In school. She seemed lost on her first day, and I decided to help."

"Ano… excuse me…" Lily tried catching anyone's attention, but to no avail. She let out a deep sigh and just about gave up when a young man appeared.

"Hey beautiful. You lost?"

"Ano…" Lily smiled. "Hai! I just transferred here and I have no idea where the office is."

"We don't get many transfers. Everyone here usually starts school here and continues till they head off to college. Where ya from?"

"Well, my father enrolled me here. I wanted to go to a really good school. I took the test and aced it," Lily explained, probably just trying to dodge his question Duo guessed.

"Alright, I understand."

"Are you leaving already?" Lily asked her brother.

"You have school tomorrow, right?" Heero asked.

"Oh, I wanna go with you!" Sakura sang out. "I wanna see Lily's school."

"It's agreed then," started Heero. "We'll be here in the morning then."

"Nani… demo…" Lily started to protest, but both Heero and Sakura had already walked out the door. Lily sighed. "No choice then."

"Ne, Lily, about the upcoming mission…" Duo sighed.

"Daijoubu." Lily smiled up at her friend. "Everything will be alright. We have each other, ne? Things can't go wrong."

"I just… Lily, I want you to worry about your own problems."

"Nani?" Lily couldn't grasp what Duo was saying. "What do you mean?"

"Just stop worrying about me."

"Duo, we're friends. You're my best friend. Of course I'm going to worry about you." Lily took his hand. "Duo, where did this come from all of a sudden?"

"I'm just telling you not to worry about me!" Duo practically started shouting. "I don't need you to be worrying about me!"

Lily was in shock. Duo had never yelled at her before. What was going on? Tears started forming in her eyes but she blinked them back. "Fine!" she shouted back. "I won't worry about you! You're not worth my time anyway." She shoved past him and into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Kurama will be mad at you when he gets back," Hiei lectured from the doorway.

Duo sighed. "I'm such an idiot."

"I concur." Hiei strolled past and knocked on Lily's door. "Lily! It's Hiei. Open up." The door opened and Hiei disappeared into the dark room.

"Baka." Duo hit himself on the head. "It's only because she cares so much. I know that. But it's because I care for her as well." Duo sighed. "She only wants to help."