Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ By The Light... ❯ does this qualify me for SDDI*? ( Chapter 26 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By The Light…

A Fanfic by Lady Lye

Chapter Twenty-Six: does this qualify me for SDDI*?

Copyright 2001, 2002

Idea suggested and consulting/editing by Mako-chan

Disclaimer: Don't own GW *sob* Don't own SM *sob again* but I do own- KATAKU! My keyboard!! BWAHAHA! *laughs in Wufei's face* Take THAT annoying Justice Boy!!

Note: I scramble names a tad… Japanese- English- what's the dif? Some of each all mixed together to create MY Universe…

Other Note: (I finally worked it out...) It's an SM world with G-Boys in it. Prior to Super S, AU for G-Boys. The whole AC thing never happened. Characters remain essentially themselves, however, different experiences make them different people.

* RE: Chp title- SDDI stands for Society for the Defense of Duo's Intelligence. Think I can sign up, finally???

Today is 5/7/02, and it's BTL's first birthday! ^.^ Squee! To celebrate- the first chapter of the new year! Did it really take me til May to write more? Yes, yes it did. Why? Because my brain shuts down in winter, that's why. After all the flack I got for missing LaFs first b-day, I figured I had to get this out today. Do enjoy, folks!

-Lady ^.~ xoxoxox



XXVI

Heero could see Mina in the distance, waiting for him on the corner. He could tell even from this distance that she was panting- she had been running to get here on time. Again. He smiled a little to himself, already well aware of his friend's tendency to run late.

His finely tuned ears picked up something- a call- something behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to confirm that it must just be one of the neighbors. What he saw nearly made him fall over.

"Duo!?" he gaped, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Hey, buddy!" the braided fool bounded over. "Slow down, I'm comin' with ya!"

Heero openly stared, jaw gone slack. "How-?!" Duo should have been one crispy critter- how stupid was he to come out here in the sunlight!?

Duo grinned. "Neat, huh?" He took delight in watching Heero's jaw work slowly, the most sound able to come out a few incoherent and wildly confused grunts. Duo snickered and bounced over to Mina, beaming, "Good morning, Sunshine!"

Mina looked up at smiled at him. "Hey, Du-" her eyes widened. "DUO!?!??!" She grabbed his shirt front to stare at him better, jaw also slack, and she looked quickly from him to the sun shining merrily and back again. "What in the Hell-???" she whispered.

"Never believe everything you read," he winked. "Or see in the movies."

Heero had stumbled to the them, and was giving Duo the onceover himself. "What are you doing wearing my clothes?"

"I already told'ja! I'm coming to school with ya!"

Heero and Mina's reactions couldn't have represented points further apart on the scale if they had tried. Mina squealed happily and started bouncing, excitedly babbling away about how cool this would be. Heero's eyes sort of bulged and lost their focus… 'Good Lord, what did I ever do to deserve this???'

~~~%*%~~~

A face she could almost see- a face that snarled hatred at her, and then she was blinded by a force of light so bright she could almost still see it through her closed eyes. And suddenly- the world spun. Gravity evaded her, and she knew she was suspended in midair- and then the shifting started. Slowly- and then with a wrench, everything warped.

Her bones melted, reformed. Skin became hard and smooth, refracting the brightness. She could FEEL new membranes bursting forth, already lined with sensitive nerve endings. It didn't quite hurt- but the suddenness and the violence of it threw her into nausea.

And then the new nerves began to react…

Pain, panic, fear, scrambling for something- something- SOMETHING! What?! SOMETHING! Something wet- she could barely breathe!!!!!! If she couldn't breathe, she would die- her skin- oh, oh… that hurt… she could feel it drying up, peeling away from her body like some wounded and dying animal. Oh… oh… sobs caught in her parched throat- and then she was completely overwhelmed. She lost herself to it- and surrendered to darkness.

When she awoke from the nightmare born of reality, she shuddered. …Why was fate so cruel to her?

~~~%*%~~~

Heero leaned, ever casually, against the school's outer wall, watching. He didn't need to be in the center of all those hormones, thank you very much. The very reason he had decided not to accompany his vampire housemates out on their hunting expeditions was that it invariably turned into something sexual.

Damn horny vampires.

Heero gave a little, disdainful sniff and turned his gaze back to the knot of female humans clustered around one very long-winded and self-satisfied vampire.

Duo clearly loved being the center of attention; he liked it even more when he was surrounded by young women who recognized him for the fabulous male specimen he was. From the moment he stepped on campus, all eyes had been upon him, and whispers began making the circuit. Not that they hadn't at Heero's arrival, but the two boys did give off very different vibes, afterall. Heero's chilly stare dared anyone to approach, while Duo was open to everyone and anyone, and his natural buoyancy seemed to promise fun to be uncovered. He welcomed them to join him, and enjoyed talking to them. Hn. Stupid, social, cocky vampire.

Long since abandoned by the crowd, Mina sat on the cement dividers bordering the stairs into the school, swinging her legs idly, watching. She knew that as soon as it got around that Dup was also her friend, she, too, would be swamped. She chose instead to enjoy the peace while she waited for her friends.

As though on cue, her hair bow received a little tug and she turned to find the smiling faces of Ami, Bunny and Lita. She grinned, "ohayo, minna-chan!"

"Hey," Bunny leaned over the cool but rapidly warming cement, and squinted ahead. "What's going on?"

"New guy," Mina continued to swing her legs.

The others looked at her askance.

"What?!"

"Another new boy you know about before us and didn't come running to find us!?" Bunny sulked. "I'm hurt, Mina-chan…"

"Oh," Mina sweatdropped.

Lita's eyes met Mina's, frowning. 'How?' they asked.

While Ami and Bunny were distracted by the crowd, Mina leaned over and whispered, "Duo found out they can go in the sunlight…"

Lita gasped and whipped around to stare into the crowd, and then back at Mina. 'No way,' she mouthed. Mina nodded.

"So, who is he?" Bunny asked, unaware of their silent conversation. She hopped upon the cement to lean out farther, still unable to see who it was that had the other girls so uppity.

"A friend of Heero's."

Bunny nearly lost her balance and Ami hastily yanked her back. "Bunny!"

"Heh… gomen… Heero's friend? What's he doing coming to our school?"

"What, like there's a law against it?" Mina was sweatdropping nervously. She tittered uneasily as she received funny looks. "You'll like him, Buns- he's cu~ute," she said cajolingly. Bunny eyed the crowd hungrily, but remained where she was.

"Still not over Darien, huh?"

"NO! I am COMPLETELY over him! I do not need HIM."

The other three exchanged glances.

"Do you think her dependency on guys is getting unhealthy?"

"It's like she can't function without a boyfriend."

"Bunny's always been pretty boy-crazy."

"Yeah, but now she's rebounding."

"You really think this is a rebound?"

"This could be serious…"

Bunny shot them a dirty look as the bell for homeroom rang. The students milling in the courtyard moved inside and the school day began.

~~~%*%~~~

Duo groaned as he dropped into a seat for his last class before lunch. His growing stack of papers and books landed on the desktop with a small crunch. "Man, how does anybody put up with this crap? What do they think we are, machines?"

"Maxwell!" came the sharp bark from behind him, and Dup whipped around to stare into the angry face of the guy who had subbed for his PE class that morning. Somehow, he'd managed to remember Duo's name… Probably because he'd had to say it so often… Duo gulped. He now really wished he hadn't thrown that ball at him… the dude still had the tape on his glasses.

"Uh- huh- hai?" he tried, with a faltering attempt at a smile.

"You dare to complain about the workload? This is high school, Mr. Maxwell, not kindergarten. We work here. It's not a place for slackers. Now, pick up your things, you're obviously in the wrong classroom," the man made an unwavering path towards the desk at the front. With a sinking feeling, Duo realized he was more than a sub- he was a real teacher, and with greater dread- this was his classroom. "Where are you supposed to be now? I'll have someone walk you there, I'm sure you're not familiar with the building yet."

"Uh, actually, sir," Duo fished out his class schedule and compared it to the plaque next to the door, as students filed into the room. "This IS where I'm supposed to be."

"The man's head shot up (according to the paper and Duo's patchy short-term memory, his name was Ido) and he stared at Duo. Slowly, as though Duo were slow to understand, he said, "This is an honors class, Mr. Maxwell."

Most of the class had assembled by that point, and in the tense pause that followed, the bell rang, signaling the class's start. When the order for silence didn't rapidly follow, they looked to the front of the room, where Duo and Mr. Ido appeared frozen in time, for an explanation.

Carefully, aware that he was treading on thin ice, Duo said, as politely as he could muster, "I was assigned to an honors class, sir."

Mr. Ido looked at Duo in utter disbelief, clearly reviewing memories of the loud-mouthed buffoon from the gymnasium. "Honors sports, maybe," he said distastefully, echoing that morning's foul mood at being assigned to the gym for even one class period. "But certainly not Honors English." The sneering pride with which he said it made the hackles bristle on Duo's neck, and he grit his teeth, knowing he had just been insulted.

Rather than take the bait, he forced himself to relax and cheerfully say, "Yup, Honors English, that's me!" He slid his class schedule across the desk to Ido under the watchful eyes of the class. Ido picked it up and squinted at it.

"You have to pass a test to qualify for this class, Mr. Maxwell."

"Oh, that?" Duo dismissed the idea. "The woman in the office gave me a verbal one- she said I could take the written exam later. She seemed very impressed with me," it was hard not to let the smug satisfaction show through in his voice, and his mischief-loving eyes simply screamed 'Take that, buddy.'

Stiffly, Ido marched to the intercom and jabbed his finger on the button, ignoring the curious murmurings of the class behind him. "Ms. Akuya, where is student Duo Maxwell supposed to be this period?"

"One moment, please, Ido-san," the woman's voice crackled over the loudspeaker and static pattered through. "Ano… he should be in your room this period, Ido-san."

Ido practically spasmed. "Honors English II? MY Honors English? You really think an insolent little-" he drew himself up short and took several deep breaths. Duo looked at him smugly.

"Yes, sir," Ms. Akuya continued on undeterred. "I was there this morning when Mrs. Brown interviewed him. He's stupendous!"

Ido-san looked as though he had been slammed in the gut with a sledgehammer. The class's volume had risen, glancing with great interest between their teacher, the intercom, and the new boy, whose face clearly read 'In. Your. FACE.'

Before the woman could continue, Ido turned off the intercom and swiveled around to face the class. They were immediately silent. "Open books, page 315. Get your homework out," he barked. "Maxwell," Duo snapped to attention. "Take the empty seat by the window."

"Hai!" Duo gathered up his stuff and scrambled to the available seat. The class whispered between the rustling of movement, shooting him inquisitive looks.

On the far side of the room, Ami had to be poked with a pencil by the girl behind her. Numbly, she got out her homework. It was him.

~~~%*%~~~

Happy Birthday, BTL! (And you, too, LaFs! Belatedly!) *throws out BTL plushies to loyal readers*

* RE: Chp title- SDDI stands for Society for the Defense of Duo's Intelligence. Think I can sign up, finally???

R&R, onegai? *big chibi eyes*

-Lady

http://ladylye.20megsfree.com