Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Voices ❯ Control ( Chapter 1 )

Voices : Control

Author's Note: I am working on other ..longer..stories and I will try to have the first parts out soon enough, but until then it will be nothing but short stuff coming from me, nothing involving too much of a complicated plot. Oh and this is AU [Alternate Universe] in sense that there is no Sailor Moon group but the Gundam pilots still exist and there's a lot of OCC, it also lacks a plot, an important one anyway.

Thoughts-//yadda yadda yadda//

Change in person-+++

Hotaru's bashings to herself in voice of father- 'yadda yadda yadda'

I was hoping that my parents would buy me Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon, since I'm starting 9th grade and all, but alast, I own nothing, not yet anyway. :Lark smiles but owners of shows shake their heads:

Lark:Well I can dream. PLEASE REVIEW! On with the story.

+++

Her shoulder length, raven black hair was pulled into a tight bun with wisps of shorter hair stuck to the back of her red and sweat ridden face and neck. It had been hours since she had taken a water break but the petite and lean girl was determined to dance the entire program without a mistake. //Practice makes perfection, practice makes perfection,// she continually thought to herself, leaping elegantly across the waxed floor once more but seeing a mistake in the mirror across from her.

"Hotaru! Hotaru," Rini, her friend called out from the door to the dance studio. She had already changed into her everyday clothes and had her gym bag in hand. Her bright pink hair was French braided but she had pulled out a few hairs to make it look more natural. "Hotaru, you've been practicing since 5, it's already 8:30. Sereana is waiting for us."

"Fine," Hotaru admitted defeat although her left foot was still a little low in her leap when she led with the right. She would have to fix it tomorrow, sure the audience would never guess but her parents...her parents would know, they always knew.

'I spend all this money and you're still messing up with a simple jump' her father's voice scolded in her head. The girl felt a tightening on her heart but pushed it back and rubbed away a tear.

[Yes, Hotaru has parents, why you ask? Because.]

After a hurried locker room shower and change of dress, Hotaru saw Rini outside, talking to Sereana and her boyfriend, Darien. "Sorry for keeping you," the ballet expert apologized humbly when they were climbing into the car.

"Oh that's okay Firefly," Sereana said, using Hotaru's pet name, "I wasn't really ready to leave gymnastics anyway."

"Yes, but I will be sure not to make you late again," Hotaru promised and leaned her head against the window, watching the passing cars. //Sereana must have so much fun jumping around, flipping over herself. And look how strong she is, she must do everything exactly right,// the girl thought admiration.

'You'll never be like that girl, you'll always be nothing,' her father's voice rung out clear as a church bell but Hotaru kept her feelings hidden from the other passengers in the car.

"What'cha thinking about Hotaru?" Rini asked.

"Nothing much, just the performance on Friday. My dad is coming this time, he had a meeting postponed in Dallas just to come," she said with enthusiasm. Her father hadn't come to a performance since she was four.

"Oh that's great, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you," Sereana chimed in. //I hope so,// Hotaru mused sadly. //He's never happy to see me though, I'm always a disappointment, I'll just have to try harder this time.//

"Do you want to come to our house for dinner?" Rini offered.

"No, I've got a lot of biology homework," Hotaru lied. She never had homework, she always finished it during studyhall. Her mom made her do that so that she would be able to get a scholar ship for academic reasons if she couldn't get into a good ballerina school. The truth was that she wasn't in the mood to be social, just tired.

"Alright," Rini said, and Hotaru could tell that her friend knew she was lying but that was okay. Another few minuet drive and Sereana let Hotaru out near the metro that she would take to her house in the nicer area of town.

"Miss, could you spare a coin?" a youngish man requested, looking cold and hungry.

"Sorry, I don't have any money but you can have my food if you want," Hotaru offered. The old man looked a little disappointed, which probably meant he had planned to buy drugs with her money, that's why food was better. She handed him her power bar and went to catch the next train.

It was only a 20 minuet ride to her house, but that was enough time for Hotaru's life begin to change. When she boarded, wearing a gray stretch skirt and light purple tank top, a few heads turned. She took a seat facing a sleeping boy with dark honey colored hair covering half his features. By the look of his clothing he wasn't well off, or even middle class. //Another one,// she thought sadly. There were always poor people close to the nicer parts of town.

"Hey pretty girl?" a voice whispered behind her. Hotaru sighed. She was already exhausted, she didn't need to be pushed around by some guy trying to get head. "Don't blow me off bitch," the man said, changing tones quite suddenly.

//Please...not now,// Hotaru prayed. There weren't many people who could help her if she got into trouble except for an old man and the sleeping boy. It wasn't like ballet had made her some great fighting expert. She wasn't weak but she wouldn't be able to take on a group of five drunk men.

'Always weak, never able to stand up for yourself,' the thought flashed across her mind quickly. //Yes, weak, always weak,// Hotaru agreed, remembering her failed attempts at some harder gymnastics moves that she had been teaching herself.

"You gonna answer my friend," another voice breathed into her ear, sending a chill down her spine. "Huh? You ain't nothing but a fucking piece of shit and you should know when to answer a man."

//Don't turn around,// Hotaru warned herself, keeping her breathing level, //They can probably sense fear.// "Please go away," she murmured as a thought, not meant to be said out loud.

"Say what whore?" the 2nd man said, and Hotaru felt a cold blade of metal against the back of her neck. "I know you said you want me and my friend," he guessed with a chuckle.

"Leave her alone," the prevously sleeping boy demanded. Hotaru kept her face down, afraid that motion would dig the knife into her neck but watched the shadows move. "Leave her alone," the boy repeated, his voice threatening and firm.

"Whatever man," the thug said, turning around and snickering to his buddies.

Hotaru felt the knife move away and looked up at her knight. She was greeted by thoughtful eyes that changed from green to hazel depending on the light angle. "Are you alright?"

Hotaru nodded silently. "Thank you," she finally spoke up and the boy just nodded before falling asleep against the window again.

Soon enough the train pulled into her stop and Hotaru got off the bus, eager to get away from the mob or what have you. "Hope that never happens again," she sighed and took the maze out of the metro station to get onto the main road that would take her home.

+++

Trowa Barton watched the girl leave the train with a half opened eye. //She fits the description that the doctors gave me,// he thought, pulling a wrinkled e-mail out of his pocket.

Trowa,

Rider Tomoe has stolen up to 1,000,000 million credits from the Sanq Kingdom Treasury. The best way to reach him is through his daughter, Hotaru Tomoe. At the moment she lives with her mother but it was rumored that she was put under the influence that her father is the center of the Earth. The best way to find her is to catch her when she is coming home from ballet. She has black hair, purple eyes, she's small and quiet. Gook Luck.

The Doctors

The pilot quickly grabbed his back pack and jumped off the metro train before it could leave the station. //I'll have to rent a hotel in this area, then transfer to her school,// he planned. Once he had reached the main road, he pulled out his laptop and quickly found a map of the area. Fortunately the apartment complexes were only a few blocks from the metro and Hotaru's house.

"What do you have available?" Trowa asked the apartment guard when he reached the complex.

"I'm not the one to be talking to kid," the guard answered bluntly and pointed to the display board on the left wall. "Anything that's open will be over there." Trowa nodded and went to check out the board. There were a few adds for apartment rentals but the thing that caught his eye was a request for a house sitter while a family was on vacation.

"Furniture, bills paid for," Trowa listed the pros, "which means a phone line." He looked at apartment number, pulled out a cell phone. In a few minuets he had living arrangements for 10 days and the couple had offered to house him until they left. "Can I go up without being shot?" Trowa asked the guard.

"Sure kid," the man answered, apparently he had heard the conversation. Trowa nodded and trotted up 2 flights of stairs to room 259 where there was a middle aged blonde woman waiting for him with a giant grin.

"Hi, you must be Trowa," she greeted, taking his hand and shaking it vigorously. "I'm Cathleen, you spoke to my husband Scott on the phone. Thank you so much for taking care of our house, we've been looking forward to this vacation for a long time."

"You're welcome," Trowa said in his same calm voice that had only slightly more warmth than Heero's monotone. Cathleen invited him in and showed him his room which was good enough for the duration of the mission. It also had a phone line in it which would made it even better.

"Scott is already asleep so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to meet him. Do you know what time you'll be leaving for..school is it?" Cathleen inquired.

"Well tomorrow is my first day so I'll be leaving early, around 6," Trowa explained.

"And when will you be home?" she continued and Trowa began to feel like a kid instead of a 18 year old. //Great, a new mother.//

"8ish," he answered, "Is that all?" Cathleen nodded and went to her room for the night. Trowa closed the door to his room and began to unpack. He put a few clothes in the dresser, along with a couple of his handguns. Finally he pulled out his computer and hooked it up to the Internet. A instant messenger box popped onto the screen from the SHINIGAMI02.

Shinigami02:Hey Trowa how's the mission coming?

Unhappyclown03:I found Hotaru and rented out an apartment a few blacks from her house.

Shinigami02:What's she look like? I saw one of the pictures and she looks hot to me.

Trowa sighed. Duo never thought of anything but girls.

Unhappyclown03:She's pretty, small, someone you want to protect because she looks so fragile.

Shinigami02:Ooooooooo, does a certain pilot have a crush? :}) Or at least what I like to call the Heero syndrome?

UNhappyclown03: What's Heero syndrome?

Shinigami02:The urge to protect someone, no matter what, no matter how annoying or ugly or stupid or weird (Releana)

Unhappyclown03:Hehe, I get it. Maybe I do, but I've only seen her once.

Trowa looked down at his watch when it beeped. Midnight.

Unhappyclown03:I have to go. I still have to enroll myself in the school and rent a car. send everyone my best.

Shinigami02:Good luck Tro' and don't get confused with your mission. Shinigami02 signed off.

//I wonder what he meant by that?// Trowa thought as he went through the boring job of regerestering into Tomoeda Highschool. With a few clicks of the button he was a senior student who had almost no classes except for the few that he could have with Hotaru, who was only a sophomore.

"She's smart for a 10th grader," he commented as he went over her grades. All A's and she was apparently some sort of phenomenon in ballet. "Should I sign up for that too?" Trowa wondered. He could dance quite well but he wasn't good enough to get into her class. "They offer gymnastics." The pilot clicked on the dot and pressed send. "Done with that," he pronounced.

Renting a car was a little more fun and he was able to get an okay black Eclipse which was the nicest thing they offered in this sort of suburb area. It was 12:30 when Trowa settled into the cot that had been put out for him. 6 hours of sleep would be enough.

+++

Hotaru woke up to the sound of her buzzing alarm. //6:30? School doesn't start 'till 8, I still have time to sleep.// She turned over in her bed and pulled the violet comforter over her head, that's when she remembered why she wanted to wake up early.

"Damn," she cursed quietly and got out of bed, still dressed in yesterday's shirt and a pair of boxers. Last night she had been so tired from ballet that she had watched the news with her mom and went straight to bed without a shower or anything. "Never doing that again," she decided as she stumbled o her bathroom and stripped off her clothes.

"Hotaru? Was that your alarm?" her mother's groggy voice asked through the door.

"Yeah Mom, I didn't take a shower last night so I wanted to get up early. Go back to bed, I can get to school by myself," the teenage girl offered, stopping the shower and rapping herself in a towel.

"Take the Escort," her mom suggested instead.

"K," Hotaru answered as she walked into her room. Opening up her closet, she grabbed underwear, nylon flare pants that hung comfortably on her slim hips , a white tank top and dark purple duster. In five minuets she was dressed and ready to leave with keys in hand when she remembered her ballet bag.

"Oh yeah, I washed you leotard," her mother's voice spoke up over Hotaru's jumbled thoughts about the sudden closeness of the reccital. "It's on the dining room table along with your bag which I also packed."

Hotaru smiled happily and bent over to hug her still weary eyed mother, "Thank you so much Mom." She ran to the next room, grabbed her stuff, and went out to the car.

In 30 minuets she was at school, which left her about 45 minuets to put things away and get ready for her first class. //Bet no one is here except the teachers,// she thought as she pulled into the parking lot. Surprisingly there was another car in the lot that didn't look too familiar.

"Must be a sub," Hotaru assumed and started towards the school with ballet and school bags in hand. She looked down at the book she was suppose to be reading for English and turned a couple of pages before she met with a soft object. "Ahh," she said felt herself stumble and start to fall. Suddenly a hand shot out for her to grab. She took it but instead of stopping the fall, the person who had offered their hand, fell on top of her.

"Sorry," a male voice apologized and Hotaru opened her eyes.

She was greeted by a somewhat familiar pair of bright green eyed and dark honey hair. "It's you!" she exclaimed, accidentally bumping her head with the stranger. "Oww, sorry."

'Clumsy stupid girl,' Hotaru's father murmured, catching her off guard and almost making her smack heads again.

"Yes I remember you also," the boy suggested, pushing himself off of Hotaru.

Hotaru stood up and dusted herself off then looked up at the guy who had saved her life yesterday. "I didn't know you went to this school," she said then added under her breath, "I didn't know you went to any school."

"I just transferred," the boy answered, "I am Trowa Barton."

"Hotaru Tomoe," Hotaru said, her voice a little light. //Wow, he's gorgeous,// she thought, her eyes a little large with awe. His face was long with a sharp nose and thoughtful green eyes that looked like the color of emeralds one moment and golden amber the next. "What grade are you in?" she said finally, breaking the awkward silence.

"12th," Trowa calmly, much more in control of his voice than Hotaru.

"Oh," Hotaru said, a little downcast, "I'm only a sophomore, I probably don't have any classes with you." She actually didn't mean to add the last part. //Now he'll think I'm weird, wanting to have classes with him.//

'You stupid girl, why would he be interested in you, you're only a small and skinny, terrible dancer,' her father's voice whispered in her head. Hotaru choked on a slight sob a second hit.

"Maybe," Trowa guessed, his eyes sshowing no emotion but simple understanding. Hotaru looked towards the ground, her eyes taking on a doeful look. Trowa's mouth barely twitched in pity before he spoke. "I have to go."

"Yeah, my locker, I should get there before school starts," Hotaru remembered, "Bye."

"Uh huh," Trowa agreed and walked off in the opposite direction of her, towards the class building.

+++

Trowa began to walk off, not caring that he wasn't going in the direction that he had planned. //Duo was right, she is hot.// His mind wondered back to Hotaru's small and compact body, the fact that her tank top was a little low in the front.

"You're a pervert," he said to himself and subconsciously looked behind him. She was still within seeing distance, her shoulder length hair swaying back and forth with her walk. "The guys would laugh to see me like this," Trowa mused. He turned in his path and head towards the senior hall where is where he meant to be going. Class would be starting in 15 minuets, he didn't want to be late.

+++

Hotaru arrived in the Sophomore Hall where her locker was waiting patiently. At first she didn't bother to open it, just leaned against the cool blue metal, her eyes a little red around the edges.

"He's not here, he doesn't think that," she kept trying to convince herself. The sad truth was that her father would probably say exactly what she had thought or worse, which meant it was true, Father was always right. He had taught her that.

Hotaru wiped her eyes carefully so not to smear her eye liner and spun the combination on her lock. It opened with a creak and she transferred books back and forth between it and her backpack. Son enough she was ready to go to Biology II, then Spanish IV, and finally English, all before she went to lunch.

By the time she arrived to Biology, other classmates were starting to enter the school and she could hear people scampering around to reach their lockers and classrooms before the bell rung.

"Hey Hotaru," Rini greeted cheerfully, sitting down next to her lab partner.

"Hi," Hotaru said with the usual troubled voice that she got when confronted with her father's opinions. Rini never knew that though, she only knew what Hotaru was willing to tell her and that wasn't much.

"You okay?" Rini asked, looking at Hotaru's solemn expression.

Hotaru nodded to herself before answering. "Yeah I'm fine, just thinking about the performance again. I only have 3 days to practice so I'm still a little worried."

Her pink haired companion smiled happily and squeezed Hotaru's hand reassuringly. "You're practically perfect, there's no way you can mess up enough for anyone to care."

//What if perfect is the only thing I can be?// Hotaru contradicted, her smile almost fading away before she caught herself for Rini's sake.

"Class, please take out your text books and turn to page 576, Evolution," the teacher announced and Hotaru pushed all other thoughts out of her mind so she could concentrate.

+++

Trowa slid into a free desk after being introduced and ogled at by the people in Geometry II. There were various problems on the board that he had been taught to figure out in his head while everyone else pulled out their TI-83's.

"Done already Mr.Barton?" the teacher inquired with painful skepticism. Trowa nodded and handed the man his sheet, answers and explanations neatly writing out as if Trowa had been doing a write up of a mission. He had only done this because he was bored.

"Very good, you can get started on your homework, don't mind the rest of us while we check the problems over," the teacher said without sarcasm and walked away to inquire on other people's progress.

Trowa spent 15 minuets on Math homework before pulling out his laptop and looking over his report on the mission so far. Everything was there so far, even the note from the doctors about Hotaru.

//They forgot to mention she was a emotional nutcase,// Trowa said, remembering quite suddenly the sudden sadness that had appeared on her face during an akward silence. //I wonder what would cause her so much pain,// he mused seriously and typed the question up under possible important facts.

Class went on for another 30 minuets before Trowa was allowed to leave for Spanish IV which was one of the few classes he had with Hotaru. When he entered his object of watch was sitting across from a blonde boy and chattering quietly in Spanish.

"Quien es?" he heard the boy ask Hotaru.

"Yo soy Trowa Barton," Trowa interrupted Hotaru's answer, surprised that he had spoken without being asked anything.

"Ryan," the boy answered. "Ella es Yue," he pointed to a girl with pale while hair and icy blue eyes who smiled at him.

"Hola clase," Professora Lea greeted and the class responded back in unison. Trowa zoned out, still attentive when necessary but concentrated more on watching Hotaru. She seemed bent on doing well, always volunteering to read or answer a question. Even people who were really good didn't try to answer every question.

//She's striving to be perfect or something, like Heero,// Trowa guessed, remembering when Heero was just a trainee and drove himself crazy trying to please the Doctors, himself and everyone else in the world. //Who's she trying to please though? She's already popular enough, even with the senoirs and it's obvious that the teachers are enchanted with her.//

+++

Hotaru could feel Trowa watching her, which was pleasing at first but then it slowly became distracting, which wasn't good. //If he doesn't stop I won't be able to past the quiz tomorrow, and Father, Father's coming tonight,// she thought with sudden horror. She looked at Professora Lea who was writing a list on the board, then she looked behind her and glared at Trowa, fiercely enough to keep him from bothering her.

//Great Hotaru, offend the guy who saved you life,// she thought sadly.

'That was good dear,' Hotaru heard her father, oddly soft and kind, 'Keep him away, such distractions brings no good.'

//Maybe it isn't bad if Father would be pleased,// Hotaru hoped and sank down in her chair, it didn't feel right.

"Adios clase," Lea said after a few minuets and Hotaru gathered up her stuff. Yue waited for her with a fretful look and followed her a few yards before speaking up.

"Hotaru, what's up?" Yue asked, but not in the friendly way. Yue had always been there for Hotaru, she was her older confidante while Rini was just a person to go shopping with.

"Nothing," Hotaru claimed but refused to look at the ice girl.

"Right, then how come you harassed that guy Trowa who was checking you out," Yue wondered. Then something dawned on her face, "You're father's coming today for the performance on Friday isn't he?"

Hotaru looked down at her feet and Yue muffled a cry of sympathy. She could remember when Hotaru had drove over to her house, bruised and beaten, claiming that she had ran into the door while leaving. Yue had believed it until early in the mourning Mrs.Tomoe had called to say that Mr.Tomoe had beaten her after spilling something on the carpet.

"It's okay though Yue," Hotaru claimed with an elated voice, "I'm better now, I won't disappoint him this time." Yue was about to speak up when the bell rung, "I have to go, don't worry about me." She ran down the hallway towards English, and all Yue could do was watch.

//Or talk to Trowa,// she planned and scanned the hallway for the extremely tall boy who could protect Hotaru better than she.

+++

Trowa thought to himself over and over, //Strange, I wonder why she changed mods so quickly. I was sure that she had somewhat of a liking for me,//. The other thing that upset him was that he wasn't sure whether he was worried for reasons for the mission or because he actually wanted Hotaru to feel something for him.

"Mission, it's always about the mission," he told himself, "If Hotaru doesn't feel close to me then she won't confide in me about her father and the money, that will jeopardize the mission."

"TROWA!" a girl's voice yelled behind him and the pilot turned around hoping to see Hotaru but it was her friend Yue instead. "Trowa I need to talk to you about Hotaru."

"Yes?" Trowa inquired, leaning on the wall, interested to hear more about the mysterious Hotaru Tomoe.

"I need you to protect her," Yue requested and Trowa stared at her for further explanation but there was only silence.

"What do you mean?" Trowa asked.

"Don't ask, it's personal, just please try to look after her, she really needs some help and it's more than I can give," Yue said and turned around, disappearing down another hall.

"Help for what?" Trowa murmured to himself.

+++

Hotaru raced to English, escaping Yue's inquisition. //There's nothing wrong with Father, it's me. He has ever reason to feel the way he does. There's nothing wrong,// she kept repeating while she dug out her books and readied herself for class.

A few fellow ballerinas walked in and waved at Hotaru before sitting together on the other side of the room. //Why couldn't I be like them? Surround myself with friends and always have someone to turn to?//

'Because you're not good enough for that, they would never except you, never a nothing person like you,' her personal demon grated her nerves until the girl felt like she might scream except that she had too much self control to do so.

"Hey Hotaru, how was Spanish?" Rini asked, sliding into the seat next to her.

"Not bad," Hotaru said, smiling despite her inner turmoil. Trowa had been watching her quite closely which was nice.

'He probably found something wrong with you and was inspecting it further,' the voice bashed her hopes.

"Hotaru?" Rini called to her friend, "what is up with you today? You're really out of it."

The teenager eyes widen, //Rini can't find out, she would only worry to much.// "Nothing. Really. I forgot to tell you that last night when I was on the metro I was held up by these thugs and I thought I was going to die when this one guy held a knife to my throat."

"Oh that's horrible," Rini interrupted.

"Wait, this guy who was also on the metro stood up to them and practically saved my life. That's why I'm so shaken up," Hotaru explained, leaving out the fact that the boy was the most beautiful person ever to exist and that she had practically shunned him.

"That's so cool," Rini exclaimed quietly. "I'm glad you're alright."

"So am I," Hotaru agreed, forcing a jovial smile on her face and turning to concentrate on English.

She could hear the teacher talking about Hamlet, the betrayal and such but the teenager began to go over her ballet routine once more. The music was playing in the background, a Russian composition from her favorite opera, Beautiful Things. In her mind Hotaru was landing all the leaps perfectly, twirling in tight circles and curving her body like a professional.

Out in the crowd her father, mother and Trowa were clamping and smiling. The dream stopped and Hotaru became alert. //Trowa?// she thought, //why would I care if Trowa was there?//

"And what Disney movie is an allegory for Hamlet? Ms.Tomoe?" her teacher inquired.

Hotaru looked up, her mind still a little jumbled but quickly mutter, "The Lion King." The teacher nodded suspiciously, his old blue eyes a little untrusting.

//Trowa would only be a distraction, my goal is to impress Father, not a meaningless boy from the metro,// Hotaru scolded her self. She let her self drifted back into her dream, only to be confronted by the tall, green eyed boy. The image dispersed with a shake of Hotaru's head and she looked around the classroom for another distraction. Her violet eyes landed on the poster for the Fall Ball.

Rini caught her looking at the large and gaudy poster, "This is the first year we can actually go, now that we're sophomores. The whole dance company is going, Gray already asked me."

"That's great," Hotaru murmured. It was after the gig, she could go as a treat to herself, maybe her father would even give her money to buy her a dress, not like she needed it. "Maybe we can go look at dresses after practice, since I have my mom's car."

"Yeah, that would be great," Rini agreed. The pinkish girl was quiet when she saw the professor raising an eyebrow to her and Hotaru continued to look around the room, anything to keep her mind off of the boy with emerald green eyes.

+++

Trowa miled around the resonably empty hallways for a few minuets before finding the computer lab and checking his e-mail.

Trowa,

My mission is in the same area as yours, there's a diner on Yoko Street, about 15 minuets away from the school. Meet me for lunch at 11:45.

Heero

"Heero, polite as ever," Trowa said in a sardonic tone. It was only 11:00 so he had a while until he had to leave. Again, Trowa was left with nothing to do other than work on the report write up for the mission. "Except that I haven't gotten any new information, except for the fact that Rider has some control over Hotaru, which we already knew."

"Hey, you have a free period too?" Yue's regal voice said behind Trowa. The pilot's eyes widened and he quickly turned around to keep the girl from seeing the screen.

"Yes," Trowa said, keeping the edginess down in his voice.

"Cool," Yue paused then thought of something, "I was going to go to the gym and practice for my gymnastics meet, you wanna come. Maybe I could teach you some stuff."

Trowa smiled and almost laughed, "Okay, let me sign off first." Yue nodded and walked over to the door, waiting for him. The fighter saved his report onto his disk then slipped it into the front pocket of his bag before joining Yue.

"So do you do any sports?" the girl inquired as they walked down the hallway.

"I use to work for a circus with my sister. I learned a couple things about gymnastics, tight rope walking, flyting trapeze and some other stuff," he answered, finding Yue's amazement a little funny.

"That's cool, I always wanted to run away to the circus when I was little, once I did too but my parents found me. That's how I got them to pay for gymnastics lessons," she explained. Trowa grinned appropriately.

"Here we are," Yue said, opening the gray doors to a room that was half covered by blue mats. "That's our section."

"Nice." The two spent a few minuets stretching and doing some simple stuff before Yue stood at the left corner of the matted floor and waved Trowa out of the way. Taking a deep breath, she ran up and dove into the ground, starting a set of flips and jumps. As quickly as it started, she paused and danced slowly to music from her own mind.

Trowa watched in a teacher's admiration as she pulled her leg of with her head and dropped down one knee, then flipped her self on to her stomach. Sure he could do all the jumps and flips but when it came to the artistic part of the sport, he was as lost as the next guy.

Yue reached another corner of the mat, arched her back and slowly did a walk over, then did it the other way, began to alternate, gaining more and more speed until she flew into the air and landed perfectly.

"You're talented," Trowa complimented.

Yue bowed, her siver hair tumbling over her face, "Why thankyou sir. If you think that's great, you should see Hotaru at Gregory Dance Company's recital tomorrow night. She has something completely different from anyone else's."

"Really, how?" Trowa asked out of pure curiosity.

Yue smiled, "She's just so good at it and when she was younger, you could tell that she cared about what she was doing," the girl seemed proud then her voice became more downcast, "Lately though, she's lost that feeling, it's like she's only dancing by the book. You know what I mean?"

Trowa nodded. //Another thing that has changed, probably connected to her father.// "What's going to be different about this one?"

"She's been concentrating so hard on getting it right for her dad, I'm hoping that she'll push herself in to exhaustion and just become light like she use to be," Yue explained, her voice falling at the mention of Mr. Tomoe. Trowa was silent too, feeling that he had pressed to much.

//So it is her father,// Trowa concluded and felt a burning spread through his blood. In his contained anger he noticed the clock read 11:30.

"I have to go," he said to Yue and quickly left for the parking lot before the other could respond. he reached his car in record time, knowing that Heero woud be there at least 5 minuets early and didn't like to wait.

Trowa climbed into the car and turned it on like a machine, unaware of his movements but sure that he was right. In his mind he reveiwed what he had done today, guessing that Heero would want a full report.

"I'm not asking the correct questions to get near to Rider, only Hotaru," he critized and turned out of the school parking lot. For a few minuets he was quiet, contimplating very hard on the mission.

Hotaru was a nice girl and he wouldn't mind getting to know her better but he hated playing a false lover, especially when it meant that the other would get burned in the end. //But I have to in order to even meet Rider.//

"I need the love pep talk from Heero again," Trowa said, recalling Heero's famous 'Love is shit' out burst when Quatre fell in love with one of the girls he was suppose to kill. That had kept Trowa away from woman for weeks.

The diner appeared through a line of trees, a long, flashy metallic silver car that was emblazen with neon lights. In the parking lot was Heero's grey blue convertable that he had bought on Releana's request. "Only he's allowed to be in love," Trowa said, but by the tone of his voice, he couldn't tell whether he was jealous or not.

"Is a Heero Huy here?" Trowa asked the waiter at the front. The twenty year old nodded solemnly and lead Trowa to a booth near the back of the sardine can.

Heero was waiting, playing idly with the straw in his water, dark chocolate hair falling over his head and hiding his Prussian eyes. He waited for the waiter to leave before he even acknowledged Trowa.

"You're alive," Trowa said and Heero nodded steadily. Pilot 01 had been in Palestine recovering some stolen merchandise and the fact that he looked like a Isrealite made it slightly more dangerous than usual. "Why are you here?"

"You were the closest one in the area, next to Duo," Heero said and Trowa required no explanation why the boy didn't want to go home just yet.

"Have you talked to Releana yet?" Trowa asked and enjoyed watching Heero squirm at the thought of his over protective girlfriend.

"No. I've only been here for a day," he said, trying to defend himself and Trowa had to stop himself from shaking his head in disapprovement. "How has your mission with Rider Tomoe been going?" Heero asked, hanging the subject.

"I've made contact with his daughter, Hotaru. The doctors were right, he has her rapped around his finger. It's sad to see someone so helpless and controlled," Trowa admitted.

"Duo said that I should worry about you remembering what your mission is," Heero added, randomly stirring his water again.

Trowa's eyes widened at the acusation. "What do you mean? I know what my mission is, to use Hotaru to get to Rider and figure out his plans."

Heero nodded silently the spoke, "and it has nothing to do with helping the girl with her problems...or becoming attatched."

"Of course not," Trowa said steadily but felt something inside him twist with a sharp pain. "Of course," he repeated quietly, more to convince himself.

++++

Author's Note:Well that's the end of this chapter, I'm thinking that I'll probably have like three. The story won't be really long.