Crossing the quad between the girls' and boys' dormitories was like navigating a minefield. And Relena thought her walk through the cafeteria was bad. The quad was littered with students, and she could feel each one of them passing judgment as she headed toward the boys' building. Never mind that she could be going there to see anyone, really; thanks to The Guardian's email blast, everyone probably knew exactly what she was up to by now. There was no sense in hiding, though she wished she could don some kind of disguise. That would be useless on an unseasonably warm March evening, when the sky would be light for at least another hour or two. Sans the bitter cold mistral winds, spring could arrive fairly early in the South of France.

Once she was safely – or so she hoped – inside the building, Relena unfolded the piece of notebook paper upon which Heero had scrawled his room number. Taking a deep breath, she ascended the dormitory's main stairway and made her way up to the third floor.

Nearly all of the dorm rooms in the narrow hallway were opened, with girls visiting guys, studying, playing cards, or just lounging around and talking. Someone was strumming an acoustic guitar further down the hallway, albeit badly. Relena could also hear the sounds from a spirited video game match, teenage boys shouting over tinny computerized music. She stopped outside the room that was supposed to be Heero's—the door was shut. Taking another deep breath for courage, Relena lightly rapped her hand against it.

There was no answer. She waited a beat and knocked again.

"Heero?" she called. "It's me—Relena. From the library?" she added. Just in case.

The door creaked open slowly, and Heero stuck his head out warily, his eyes quickly scanning the hallway. Then he settled his gaze on Relena.

"Good. It's you." His flat tone of voice wasn't exactly enthusiastic, but Relena thought she detected some relief. "Come in."

Relena couldn't help it—she was dazzled just by the sight of him. And being next to Heero was so much more thrilling than observing him from afar. Why had it taken her so long to get up the nerve to talk to him? He'd already been at St. Gabriel for weeks. If he hadn't sat down next to her in the library earlier, she wouldn't even be here right now. She could only hope she wouldn't somehow make an idiot of herself. Especially if her friends were right, and Heero turned out to be interested in doing something more than studying…

Heero opened the door just enough for Relena to step inside, then quickly shut – and locked – it behind them. This gave the girl quite a start.

"Heero!" she gasped. "You have to keep the door open! School policy," she explained, trying not to sound too panicked. She added a tinkling laugh for good measure, but it only made her sound even more nervous.

"Dammit." Heero obeyed and pushed the door back open. "All these rules…" He raked his hand through his dark shock of hair.

"You're not used to Catholic school, are you?" Relena smiled warmly at him. "Have you gone to one before?"

Heero surprised her with a hearty laugh that sounded almost maniacal. His dark blue eyes gleamed at Relena wickedly.

"Do I… strike you as the religious type?"

Relena found herself blushing. It was becoming a bad habit around Heero, and one she hoped to break—soon.

"No, not exactly," she answered, working to keep her face from turning a deeper shade of crimson. Just what is he getting at? She glanced around his room, searching desperately for some kind of distraction. The bare space afforded her none. Nor did it offer her any sort of glimpse into Heero's character or personality. The walls were white and bare; the beige duvet that came standard on St. Gabriel beds was tucked in perfectly, as if no one had ever slept there; the small wooden secretary desk was spare save for a single neat pile of notebooks and folders. The only signs of life were on the bookshelf, which was crammed full. Relena would have to sneak a glance at the spines later. But now, Heero was talking.

"A lot of these rules and regulations just get lost in translation for me." His eyes glinted as he spoke, indicating that he found humor in this.

"Don't worry about it." Relena waved her hand dismissively. "There's always a learning curve. And besides, the school should realize that you're going to experience some culture shock, not to mention a language barrier."

"That's the problem." Heero crossed his arms over his chest. "The nuns know I speak English. So there's not really much of an excuse."

"Well, surely they understand that you're not going to grasp all of the little nuances," Relena offered.

"Apparently not. They've been pretty hard on me so far. They think I'm the devil, or something." He shot another furtive glance down the hallway. "And evidently, so does everyone else."

He must be referring to all the rumors, Relena thought. She felt bad that her immature, gossipy classmates had seemingly hurt his feelings. Poor Heero.

She reached out and gently touched his arm. "I don't feel that way," she murmured.

For a split second, Heero looked surprised by the contact. "Relena…" His tone was uncharacteristically warm. He leaned close to her and reached up to brush back a strand of her long hair. Once he was just inches from her face, he whispered, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Relena's eyes widened. "But… what do you mean?"

Heero took a step back, breaking their contact. "Forget it. Let's study." He pulled out his desk chair and gestured for Relena to sit down. She only gaped at him.

How could he do that? One minute, he was practically caressing her face, in a way Relena had only seen in movies. She'd never even seen her father look at her mother like that. The next minute – boom – Heero was back to business. It left her feeling whiplashed.

But two could play at this game. Composing her features, Relena joined Heero at his desk, smoothing her skirt as she sat down.

"I don't think you know what you're getting into." Relena imitated Dorothy's purr. It helped her, momentarily, to pretend she was someone else. Quiet, shy Relena couldn't spar verbally with Heero Yuy blow by blow; but bold, brazen Relena could.

"Hn." It seemed to do the trick; Heero leaned in a little closer. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Relena blinked up at him innocently. "I'm just not the easiest pupil."

A small smile tugged at Heero's lips. "How come?"

"Because…" Relena imitated Heero, brushing a dark lock of hair off his face. "Often, I have my own agenda."

Heero caught her raised hand in his, leveling Relena with the ferocity of his gaze. "Then I'll have to go slowly… and work deliberately… to keep you on track."

Relena stilled her features once more to keep her face from coloring. So far, her fallacy seemed to be working; she'd really seemed to fool Heero into thinking that she was far more worldly and experienced than the naïve schoolgirl he'd probably thought she was. Best of all, it seemed that she'd managed to captivate him.

His dark eyes were burning like two hot coals. Relena was beginning to notice that depending on how intensely Heero looked at her, his eye color could vary from cobalt blue to navy or obsidian. And the more piercing his expression, the blacker his eyes became.

But it was too much. Relena felt like gasping for air. Maybe Heero was right—she really had no idea what she'd gotten herself into. She knew nothing about Heero, aside from the few things he'd told her, along with her classmates' take on his bad-boy reputation. Everything was happening so fast. They'd had an instant rapport, and Relena already felt an intense connection to him. Had she already gotten in over her head?

"Let me ask you something, Relena." Heero was still holding tightly to her hand, staring at her unblinkingly.

Relena swallowed, hard. "Y-yes?"

"Do you always play by the rules?" He smiled with just one corner of his mouth. "Or do you ever observe just the letter of the law?"

Relena blinked. "Ah… that depends, I guess. What do you mean?"

Heero tilted his head toward the open door. "We have to keep the door open. Why?"

"School policy," Relena answered automatically, the consummate student council member.

"Yeah… but why?" Heero challenged.

"Because it's a Catholic school, Heero, and the rules are stricter here. It's in…"

"What, the rule book? Or, excuse me, the student code of conduct. That's odd, I thought I had one around here somewhere…" Heero feigned searching for it on his desk. "No… must've accidentally caught on fire." He smirked.

"So," he continued, "let me get this straight. The powers that be decided, somewhere along the way, that students must have their doors open, when…"

"When members of the opposite sex are present," Relena finished, knitting her brows together. "Where are you going with this, Heero?"

"My point is they're making assumptions about what students could be up to behind closed doors."

"Well, they're teachers, Heero. And nuns. Of course they're going to be concerned that teenagers would be doing something inappropriate."

"That's the term I was looking for," Heero said. "Inappropriate. What's so inappropriate about it, exactly?"

"About males and females being alone together?" Relena scrunched her nose up. "Nothing, I guess, as long as they're not doing anything…"

"Like what?" Heero quirked an eyebrow.

"Like…"

"Something… inappropriate?" He smirked. Relena could tell he was enjoying this exchange.

"Well, that depends on your definition of inappropriate." Relena smiled, happy to have settled the argument. Or so she thought.

"That," Heero murmured, tipping up Relena's chin, "is exactly what I'm getting at. I guess I just don't agree with what the rules define as 'inappropriate.' What I think of as normal, the church calls 'immoral.' What I would call 'acting on your emotions,' the church calls 'giving into temptation.' And yet here we are, in France, where de vie la douceur de vivre is de rigueur… And all I'm hearing about are stifling rules."

Relena flushed scarlet; she couldn't help it. Heero was touching her again, and giving her that paralyzing look he'd mastered so well. And he'd spoken her native language, tossing off the words in his deep baritone as if he'd spoken them all his life. The saying was right; everything sounded sexier in French. And so, instead of replying to Heero's monologue, a whispered, "Oh…" was all Relena could manage.

"It's not surprising," Heero continued, keeping his voice low, "that I don't see eye to eye with the parochial way of doing things, then. Is it?"

"Ah…" Relena cleared her throat, somehow finding her voice. "At the same time, Heero, that's just the way schools like these are. Students know what they're signing up for when they attend here. Or, what their parents are signing them up for," she amended. "I've gone here my whole life, so I guess I'm just… used to these things."

"That's why you jumped a mile when I shut the door," Heero murmured. "You're conditioned." His eyes changed, then, their teasing glint gone. "You're… afraid."

Relena couldn't believe it. Here, she'd felt sorry for Heero for the way her classmates were treating him. But now… was he pitying her?

Suddenly, she felt more aloof. "I'm not afraid," she stated firmly, staring straight into Heero's eyes. "It's not like I've been brainwashed by my upbringing. I've got my own convictions and impressions about the world, and not everything echoes the teachings of the church. I understand that there are countless people in the world with other viewpoints and cultures from all walks of life, and exploring these other worldviews has its merits. I'm not a robot," she finished breathlessly.

Heero released her, chuckling softly.

"Funny." He turned his face toward the nearby window, his eyes turning to stone once more. "I struggle to convince people of that myself."

"Of what?" Relena had gotten lost somewhere in their dizzying discourse.

"That I'm not a robot." Heero turned back to her and gave her a half smile. Relena thought that if she were to ever see Heero break out in a toothy grin, she would probably have a heart attack.

"Well, Heero, I've only known you for a little while. Just a few hours, really." Relena smiled back. "But I can already tell that you're definitely not a robot." She laughed, spreading her hands. "For a robot, you certainly gave an impassioned argument for keeping the door closed. I'd say you're pretty much a normal, if a little stoic, hot-blooded teenaged guy."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you thought I intended? Relena…" He stood and walked over to the doorway. "I was merely trying to point out how stupid it is that we have to keep the door wide open when we're trying to study. What I was going to say was, wouldn't we get more work done with the door closed? The ambient noise is distracting." He folded his arms over his chest.

Relena's jaw dropped. That's not what he'd been getting at, and he knew it. She was certain now that he was toying with her. In fact, they seemed to be playing quite the game of cat and mouse. Relena got up and moved to stand beside Heero.

"In that case…" Relena pushed the door so that it remained open only a crack. Astonishment washed over Heero's features, though he quickly masked it. Relena gave him her own little smirk.

"The letter of the law," she announced with glee. She turned and sashayed back to Heero's desk.

A/N:

Heero defended himself against the "robot" attacks! So if anyone wants to challenge that he's OOC… put up your dukes!

Yes, he spoke French. He's in France! And Relena likes it. And this author likes it, too. *Swoon*

I do appreciate your feedback! And remember, you get to help me decide who Heero's host family is! That revelation will be coming soon!