Reputations

Chapter 5

"Ahh! There you are! How was the breakfast in the cafeteria? Pretty nice, eh?"

Duo chuckled and nodded.

"Well, seems like everyone's in better spirits so why don't I take you guys back home?" Odin asked with a smile.

"Are you allowed to do that? Leave work?" I said with a glare.

"I usually take a break around one or two while you're at school. I'll just take it early. I already explained everything to my superior and I have a few things I have to do which you can't be here for. So, I'll take you home, come back here and finish work and we'll go out to eat, hmm?"

I rolled my eyes and uncrossed my arms. "Fine. Let's go."

Odin laughed and stood.

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Duo and I were left alone in the house. It was still early and two hours into school so we didn't bother going. We decided to watch cartoons. Duo watched on in a haze. I, curious, spoke up.

"What's up?"

Duo, not expecting it, almost jumped. "Wha? Oh… I just… I was thinking. That's all."

"What were you thinking about?" I asked, shutting off the T.V.

"What if…" Duo's voice was a mere whisper, "What if he comes after me?"

I looked a tad forlorn. What to say? Duo was right… he could come after him. Duo was still far too close to that house. If Solo came looking for him throughout the neighborhood, he could find him. No. Odin had seen him through the file search. If Solo came looking, Odin would say nothing. But how could Duo go to school? Solo could snatch him while on his way there, couldn't he? But… what did Duo hold that would make Solo want to come after him?

I looked pleadingly at the other. "Duo. Please. Tell me what reason Solo has to come after you. I know… you and your family have no money. And he seems to have a lot, so what is it?"

Duo looked hurt but not at my statement of his financial status. He looked hurt at the mention of his uncle's name. I sighed. I wanted to hold him, whenever he looked like that. I hated the pain in that face. I hated the man that caused it more. I wanted to find Solo and rip out his cold heart. I looked back at Duo and found him sobbing silently to himself. I almost smacked myself. How insensitive could I get? Sighing, I did the most impulsive thing I've ever done. I pulled Duo into my chest and hugged him close.

At first the boy tensed while sobbing. Then, he threw his own arms around my waist and bawled. I closed my eyes and just held him. And that was all he wanted. That was all he ever wanted. Ever since he came to this colony—before even—he had had nothing but hard and painful experiences and memories. I wanted to just take them away. I wanted to…

I was crying. I had gripped Duo to me and cried for him, for his pain. We sat there in the living room, sobbing and holding one another, both grieving—me for him and him for himself. And what more could be done? I couldn't tell him I knew how he felt; I didn't. I couldn't tell him I loved him even though I did. I could offer nothing more than my own tears.

And when the two of us had calmed down, Duo pulled away from me. Tears stained both our faces and we were quiet except for the occasional shudder and hiccup.

"I… I'm sorry, Duo…" I said, unsure if I'd hurt more then I'd helped.

Duo looked up at me. "Heero… Thank you."

My eyes must have widened.

"For the first time, I felt like it was okay to cry and let the pain pass. I always thought that with these scars, no one would ever want to touch me. Solo… he hurt me… inside."

My eyes definitely leap out. Was he saying Solo… raped him?

"Duo… do you mean…"

Duo shut his eyes and said, "That's why he chained me," he was crying again. "At first, I would scratch, bite, kick, punch—anything to get him away… so he chained me to that wall. It was… horrible."

I choked. "Duo…"

He wrapped his arms around himself. It was like he was retreating from me and I indistinctly reached out for him, wanting to bring him back to me. Duo's face snapped back up to mine. His face was pained but he smiled. I knew it was a fake.

"Duo…" my voice came in a whisper. "None of this…" my head shook trying to convince myself as if I were the boy in front of my, "None of this was your fault. You didn't ask for it. Your parents didn't ask for this. You can't blame yourself."

I sighed. "Oh Duo…"

I pulled him toward me again. My forehead rested against his and I clasped his hands in mine. It was such an… intimate moment. Duo sighed, his eyes closed and he swayed his head toward my left, resting his head on my shoulder. I released his hands to place them on his arms. I rubbed them soothingly.

He sighed again and mumbled, "Heero?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and responded the typical, "Yes?"

"Heero, I…"

I could feel his eyelashes close together against my bare shoulder blade.

"I think… maybe… I love you."

I smiled. It was a small, soft smile and Duo, when nothing but silence greeted his statement, raised his head. His wide eyes met my softened own and I finally said what I had been eating myself inside to say.

"I love you too, Duo."

Duo's eye glazed with tears yet again. I wiped them before they could fall, softly and kissed his cheek.

This time, when we hugged, it was a close, intimate gesture. His head rested in the crook of my neck and vice versa. My arms wrapped around his back as his hands gripped the sides of my shirt.

Duo smelled faintly of aloe vera. I wondered if he knew it was suppose to be a soothing plant? Duo was actually really smart. For the month that we had attended school together, he was one of the smartest students in our class. Compared to Kobayashi and his 'gang', that's no surprise.

I felt like we could've stayed together like that, on the couch, cuddled, forever. I was comfortable. Duo was warm.

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Odin woke us up. We had fallen asleep, apparently, on the couch. Duo was curled up besides me, his arms around my middle. His head was under mine and one of my arms was draped over his waist. Odin wasn't surprised, I'm sure. He had cases of children abused because of their young discovery and, often, parents were unaccepting. I was still flustered.

"O-Odin…"

Odin just smiled. "Hey. It's five. You guys wanna eat, or what?"

I was a little relieved… but not really.

"Umm… Odin…"

"Heero. Duo. Do you like one another?"

Duo looked a little taken aback. I, however, was use to Odin's straightforwardness.

"Yes," I said, confidant. Then I remembered Duo had a say. "Right?"

Duo looked from Odin to me and replied, "Y-Yes!"

And I smiled.

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Duo, with my help, told Odin about him being raped.

It was difficult.

I held on to him as he told the story from start to finish, all the way through.

In L2, his parents were small business owners. They ran a shop together. Since no one had much money on L2, they never made much. But from the time Duo was born, his parents decided they wanted a better life for child. So they saved as much as they could. And even at the time of his fifteenth birthday, they had only barely managed to scrape together enough for him. They told him where to find his Uncle Solo when he arrived and that they would send word to him. L1 was rather far from L2 and it took him about three hours to even see the port. When he arrived he found his Uncle's house after having hitchhiked since he had no money. He had explained these things to his Uncle. However, Solo was not as understanding. Solo immediately began to put him to work. After that he would use Duo in anyway to his benefit. Even going so far as to use his body. And when school began and Solo had to pay for things. Solo, needless to say, was not happy about this. So he wouldn't feed him. He would let him bathe once a week, but he wouldn't give him lunch money. Duo only had three outfits plus his uniform. They were the outfits he had come with. Solo would not wash them nor buy him anything. If Duo, who was malnourished and unkempt, could not work or did not do what Solo asked of him, Solo would beat him, feed him less, or rape him.

"But, Duo, why?"

Duo bent his head further down; his eyes were closed and his hands were balled resting on his knees. We were sitting at the kitchen table.

"Because…" Duo breathed, "Because Solo talks to himself."

We all blinked. I looked over at Odin.

Odin was staring in disbelief.

"You mean… Solo's insane?"

Duo nodded.

"How… why do you think that?"

"He talks to himself," Duo repeated.

"Everybody talks to themselves."

"Solo… talks to himself. He'll yell at something… blame something, like a plant, for something out of the blue. He'll burst into a blind rage. He'll yell things like, 'but you don't understand!' or 'this is for everyone's good! How can you say that?' He'll yell really weird things like that. And he shakes all the time."

Odin nodded. "Was he like this when you arrived at the start?"

Duo nodded.

"Has he seen a doctor? Do you know?"

Duo shook his head.

"Has anyone ever visited the house?"

"Aside from Heero, no."

"And none of the neighbors reported anything or said anything to you."

"To my knowledge, no."

"Duo…?" Odin asked.

"Yes?" Duo replied looking at him.

"I believe you."

--Tsuzuku--

Hello! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! >. I know that this is overdue and short! I wanted to have lots of sappy stuff and move the plot forward at the same time and… and… sniff

I promise that I'll do better next time! (To be honest, I don't prefer this chapter at all… it's just not… strong.) Please look forward to the next chapter! It will probably take a fairly long time 'cause I wanna get it right! >. Pwease be patient! If you're looking for something else to read, I suggest two things:

1: Read this: Those Lacking Spines by Organization VI on here in KH2. You'll die from laughter. Complexes is also a pretty good in-progress fic. If you like X/1999 or Tokyo Babylon, go to and read Angelic Intervention and then X Therapy. You'll die.

2: Got to and search for Kurohane Shizumi. You'll find my originals. That should satisfy yaoi and boredom needs alike.

Well, till next time!

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Disclaimer:

I do not own Gundam Wing. I do not gain any profit from the creators or for writing this story. It is meant to be taken as a work of fandom. Anything posted for this is solely for the entertainment of those who read it.

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To amend the first chapter: Yes, I know. Kisama was completely wrong. It has been changed on my website but I'm too lazy to change it here. You see, at the time I had a friend who said that 'anata' was impolite. However, all my other sources told me anata was fine but familiar and considered rude unless said otherwise (Japanese people talk in third person all the time). So I am SORRY! I was feeling insecure and thought that since it ended in 'sama' it'd be cool. NOTE: I am never doubting my Japanese again. (I wrote the first chapter, like, three years ago and I'd been learning Japanese self-taught for three years.)

For 'emerald eyes': I hope that you're still reading this and that this chapter answered you're curiosity!

For 'keiichisei': I love your one word reviews! Really! And for your latest one I'd like to say this: This is a dedication to all those children and even adults that have been in such a situation. In a way, this is a life-story. (No, I have never been in these actual situations –put those phones down NOW.) But I did have to go through HRS (now it's Children and Family Services) so I know the general process.

For 'Kisama': I hope you're still reading! You're right! ''' I'm sorry I pissed you off!

For 'Akennea': I'm glad you like this fic! This is probably the last fanfic I'm going to be doing for a while since coming up with your own characters and settings and whatnot makes for a better story (you don't really have to follow guidelines). So if you like my writing here you really should read my other stuff.

For 'aenai': Kyaa! It will, I swear! >.

For 'EmoCloud': Thank you!

For 'jess-eklom': Aww! Thank you! When I wrote it I smiled like I was reading someone else's stuff.

For 'Modified Tam': Thank you! I was hoping they would turn out that way. And I do try to update sooner especially since I had almost completely forgotten I even had a fanfiction account! >. AAAnd I'm so happy you're my fan! (I have a fan!)

For 'neko alexis': You are so awesome! >. I'm really glad you like it enough to want me to discontinue my other fiction (lol) but, sadly, I just can't. I love being able to go out-of-the-box with my own characters and I love being able to draw them. (I don't really do fanart…)

For 'Nikkler': huggles back I hope he does too (both of um)! (lol)

For 'Rchan2': Here's the more!

For 'Sailor Sayuri': Mustn't give into the puppy eyes… mustn't… gives in Darn it. Well, here's the fifth.

For 'Hikaru': I'm so SORRY! >. sniff I had to… it was… a turning point… TT Never again! thinks about Fukai Ai Dammit!

For 'Peaceful Angel': You're right! He shouldn't! >

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Once more, thank you all!