Prologue
Duo stuck the final item in his back pack before slinging it over his shoulder and testing out the weight, he'd carried heavier before. Then he picked up the lunch box, courtesy of his foster mother. She said she would only do this once, for the rest of the time he spent here he would be making his own lunches till the school cafeteria was remodeled. At least it was one thing less for him to worry about today. Today was his first day at his new school.
About a month ago his previous foster mother had been diagnosed with cancer. She could no longer take care of him and his foster brother Solo. CPS had tried to make sure the two boys went on to the same homes together, but just hadn't been able to swing it. Duo had had many siblings and foster parents in his day, but buy far Helen and Solo and their next door neighbor who asked them to call him "Father" rather then 'Mr.' Maxwell. The past four years had probably been the best of all of his time in foster care, but now he was somewhere new.
Duo didn't really mind moving around. At first he'd hated it. He had always been lonely, unable to make friends and approach other children, a real introvert, but then, one day epiphany struck. That day to be exactly was when he first met Solo. He had realized then that the key to getting along in the world and meeting people, having friends, and getting out there, was to be happy. Duo picked it up real fast. In less then two weeks his personality had completely turned around. This didn't mean he still wasn't subjected to spasms of his initial introverted shyness, but still he was more and more friendly, goofy, never seen without a grin and a cheer, more himself he decided.
The bus picked Duo up exactly on the dot; he was going to a private school so he guessed they had to be on time, if parents paid that much just to have their children go there. Duo had never had a lot of money personally, sometimes one family he was placed with was better off then another, but typically they were just moderately well to do people who wanted to know what it was like to have a child. Duo had gotten used to molding in with new people and being flexible.
Duo sat alone for the first half of the ride. He lived pretty far away from school so he wasn't surprised, not many people lived way out where he did, or at least they didn't go to his school. But slowly the bus filled, girls and boys filing on and flipping open books or leaning across the isle to talk with someone. As more people arrived the volume level went up. Duo wished he had brought something to do, a book to read or a crossword puzzle, something. Duo didn't particularly like crossword puzzles. He would have preferred an argument with Solo, or a game of ticktacktoe, but Solo wasn't here and he didn't want to play ticktacktoe with himself, pointless. He fingered the tip of his long braid. It had stayed with him through every move and every house. As long as Duo could remember he had had long hair. Many of his foster parents had tried to convince him to cut it off, but if a pair of scissors neared his hair he screamed bloodily murder. It eventually just became one of his requirements "potential parental unit must not be a threat to the hair". Most of his foster-ites had sighed and given in. Helen though, she was different, she had loved his hair. She would braid it for him in the morning and help detangle it when he let it get in a mess. But Helen wasn't there to brush his hair anymore. She wouldn't ever be. Duo hoped that when Helen got to the Heaven she believed in so staunchly, there would be someone with long hair for her to play with.
Helen had been a devote Catholic, the same as their next door neighbor Father Maxwell. Maxwell had been a priest at one time in his life. He donated some of his old clothes for Solo and Duo to wear. He had actually known Duo's mother before she died. When he was still a preacher she had been a patron of his church. Duo had very little memory of his mother and hung on the Father's every word. Solo was sometimes jealous of Duo's connection to his mother, but Duo had of course offered to share. That was when they really started acting like real brothers. The kids at school had teased them, they didn't look alike at all and their clothes made them look like miniature priests. Duo was not exactly a sworn atheist; he just didn't really know what he believed in. He had not been pleased. He had taken the challenges of those who mocked him, and laid them out flat and cold. It went without saying that the school and Helen weren't very happy with him for this. But Helen believed in forgiveness. A good thing or both Duo and Solo would have been looking at new foster homes a long time before now.
Judging from the level of sound on the bus they were almost to school, funny that they should still be picking up kids. Duo turned away from the window he had been staring out of. There were only one or two more open seats. The seat across from him was taken, two boys sat there. One of them was giggling, if his soft, child-like glee could be called that, at the others miming. Duo watched in fascination. The miming boy was really rather good. His face was partially obscured by his bangs which bizarrely stuck out from his forehead at an angle, almost like a baseball cap. He wore a deep green turtleneck and jeans. Duo always scouted clothes, to get a feel for the person, and what the fashions might be each new place he went. No matter how he acted, Duo still kept his wallflower skills of observation. It paid to know things about other people, especially when they thought you couldn't tell.
The boy stopped his routine and his friend nodded appreciatively, golf clapping at the boy with the odd hair. His friend took a half bow in the seat. They began talking. The blonde's rapid fire and the words were lost to the din of the bus. Though the words were intelligible, the tones sounded familiar and it niggled at the back of his brain. Unable to decipher anything Duo turned back to the window and waited to arrive at his new school.