Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shot at Normalcy: University Life? ❯ Old Acquaintances? ( Chapter 4 )

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

Disclaimer: - I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the other anime series. I write this purely for my amusement and for the entertainment of others. I earn just about $0 every time some one reads this. ^_^

Note: This is going to be a really, really short chapter. Maybe just about a page or so long. I don't know. I just write as things come to me. This Chapter more or less forms a link between the last chapter and the chapters to come. Hope you understand. And big thanks to all the people who are reading and reviewing. Love ya, Devil^_^*

Chapter 5: Old Acquaintances?

September 2nd

He was sleeping soundly, dreaming dreams about him and Hilde and had a satisfied smile on his face. Heero was standing in the doorway of Duo's room and had been watching him for almost ten minutes now. He smiled. Now was the perfect time to pay Duo back for that slap yesterday. He slowly picked up the spare pillow and hit Duo's head with it. It hit Duo's head and Duo just caught it and continued dreaming. Heero just sighed.

"He is absolutely hopeless."

Heero then tried opening the curtains to let the sunlight in and Duo just turned his back to the window. Heero was beginning to wonder if he was going to wake Duo up at all, forget surprising him in any way. He finally decided to resort to the last and final plan of action that he had. He went up to Duo's bed and bent down to Duo's ear and yelled in full volume.

"Get up you idiot!"

That seemed to do the trick. Duo jerked and sat up in bed as though his pillow had turned to a pile of burning coals. He was utterly surprised and was looking around with a bewildered expression, his hair tousled from sleep. He made a funny picture. Heero could not control himself any longer and burst out laughing.

"That's for yesterday's slap, buddy," he told Duo.

Duo who had finally completely, truly woken up looked at Heero with something like an angry expression, but after a while a smile crept up on his face.

"Don't ever do that again."

"Wake up, man. Its morning already." Heero was still grinning.

Duo finally got out of his bed and yawned.

"Did you get some breakfast ready?" he asked Heero.

"I am finished with my breakfast already."

"You mean, you didn't leave some for me?"

"I did."

"Breakfast, here I come." ___________________________________________________________

Quatre was up early. He wanted to ask the Dean if he knew where his other friends were. They were living on campus so they had to be in one of the two buildings. He fixed himself another sandwich. It was apparently the only thing that he could fix for himself it seems. He thought he heard Hilde and Dorothy in the corridor outside. He left his sandwich on the table and went out to open the door, to check if Hilde and Dorothy really were in the corridor. And to his surprise, they were. He was just watching the exchange between Hilde and Dorothy from his doorway. It was Dorothy who noticed him first.

"Isn't that Quatre?"

"Yes, I am Quatre. Glad you remember me." He walked ahead and stood by Hilde and Dorothy.

"Hey Quatre, how do you find this place?" Hilde asked him.

"It's pretty good," he replied.

"So what are you planning to do today, Quatre?" Dorothy asked him and touched his hand. He blushed slightly.

"I was just having my breakfast right now when I heard your voice in the corridor. It isn't anything much, just a sandwich."

"So can you cook?" Dorothy asked him and received an elbow in her ribs from Hilde. But Quatre was too busy looking at the carpet to notice anything. He blushed a brighter shade of pink and replied, "No, I can't. Sandwiches and instant foods are the only things that I can make."

Hilde soon came to his rescue. "So what are your plans for the day?"

"After breakfast I was planning to meet the Dean and ask him if he knew where the others were living. He seemed pretty helpful."

"Duo did not like that Dean one bit," She replied with a chuckle.

"So you know where Duo is staying?" He asked her expectantly.

"Of course I do, and Heero's his room mate," she informed him.

"Imagine that. Two dorks living together." Dorothy said and rolled up her eyes in a mock gesture of exasperation. "It's a miracle in itself, how you became their friend Quatre."

He blushed even brighter and reminded her, "We fought in the war together. I was a Gundam pilot too."

"We should be going now or else we will be late. Nice meeting you Quatre. At least we have one neighbour whom we know." With that she dragged Dorothy away and Quatre turned to go back in.

He knew that Duo and Heero were living in the same apartment, but he did not know which apartment that was. He also did not know where Trowa was living. He would have to meet the Dean after he finished his sandwich.

When he had finished his sandwich, he went down to the lobby. He found the Dean in his office. He knocked on the door to announce his presence.

"Oh, good morning, Mr. Winner. How did you find your room? I do hope you had a good night. Please come in."

Quatre entered the office and sat down on a chair that the Dean indicated.

"Thank you, Mr. Blackwell. The room was good and I indeed had a very good night. But I had a favour to ask of you, if it isn't too much trouble," he said apologetically.

"How may I help you Mr. Winner?"

"I wanted to know where my friends were staying. I was wondering if you could consult the register and tell me that."

"Is that all? That shouldn't be much of a bother. If you want we can take care of it right now." He got up from his chair and Quatre followed. "Please follow me."

They went out of his office to the main desk and he took out a big register.

"Now, what might their names be Mr. Winner?" he asked Quatre.

"A Mr. Duo Maxwell. A."

He was abruptly cut off.

"You mean the one with a long braid?"

"Yes, that's him. Could you tell me where he is staying?"

"I would hardly have expected him to be your friend, but pardon me." He resumed his search in the register and finally announced.

"He is living on the same floor as you and has been allotted room # 609. Do you have any other friends living here?"

"Yes. A Mr. Heero Yuy and a Mr. Trowa Barton."

"Mr. Yuy seems quite a recluse and let me tell you Mr. Barton is a fine young man with fine manners."

"Yes I do know that. It's amazing how you remember the names of so many people."

"Actually I don't, but last night's was a funny party. Everyone had their own air. It is easy to remember such people. Ah. here it is. Mr. Barton is also living on the same floor as you in room # 610 and Mr. Yuy is Mr. Maxwell's room mate."

"Many thanks to you for helping Mr. Blackwell."

"Glad to be of service.anytime."

'It is unusual for a guy like Mr. Winner to keep such friends. But, it's a pretty weird world after all,' he thought to himself.

He had finally located the whereabouts of his friends, now all he had to do is go and find them. It would be better if he went in the evening. Everyone was probably out to get supplies. And that reminded him that he too needed to get supplies. ___________________________________________________________

Trowa woke up pretty late. He checked the watch on his study table. It said 10.30 am. He must have slept in. He must have been really tired yesterday to sleep for 12 hours straight. He decided to get out of bed. He opened the door to his room and walked out of his room. He looked around the apartment. His room mate was no where to be seen. He was walking towards the kitchen when he noticed for the first time a note posted on his door. Funny. He hadn't noticed it when he got out of his room. Must have still been half asleep. He went and read it. It was written in a neat hand. It read as follows.

7.30 am

Dear room mate,

You were sleeping soundly and did not wake up even after I knocked on your door for fifteen minutes straight. So I decided to let you sleep. Breakfast is in the kitchen. I won't be there for lunch so fix something up for yourself. Won't be back till evening, but I'll take care of dinner. See you later.

Jade.

It had a smiley face at the end. He smiled to himself. She really wanted to be his friend. She reminded him a bit of Catherine, but she was different. He walked into the kitchen and sure enough there was breakfast in the microwave. Bacon and eggs. He made himself a cup of coffee with milk and sugar, the way she had made last night. He had his breakfast and then freshened up and took a shower. He was expecting the bathroom to be littered with all the girl stuff, but to his utter surprise, there was nothing of the sort. As a matter of fact there was hardly anything, only the bare necessities. He was a bit taken aback but he went in anyway. It seemed strange to be sharing a bathroom with a stranger. And a stranger who was a girl. And to top it all, a girl who was not like others.

He came out 10 minutes later and dressed up. He had to get supplies for university and also had to find his friends. He also wanted to know who his neighbours were. The ones in #609. There was a lot of noise coming from that room yesterday, but something at the back of his mind told him that the people staying in that room were the people he thought they were. That is, Heero and Duo. But he wanted to be sure nevertheless.

He took the keys locked his apartment and went and knocked on the door of #609. He was greeted by a stern looking Heero Yuy. They both glared at each other and then Heero smiled.

"You loose," he told Trowa.

Trowa smiled too.

"Come in." Heero told him.

"Where's your room mate. If I am not much mistaken, it's Duo, right?"

"Yes. And he just woke up and is finishing up his breakfast of cereal and milk."

Duo had heard the two of them talking and walked out of the kitchen into the living room in his pyjamas and a huge cereal bowl in his hands.

"Hi Trowa." He said between mouthfuls of cereal.

"How did you know we were here and that we were room mates?" Heero asked Trowa.

"I live in the apartment next to yours and you two sure make a lot of noise."

Duo grinned and Heero smiled, they had had a pillow fight last night.

"So who's your room mate, Clown boy?" Duo asked him.

"So what are you going to do today?" Trowa tried to evade the subject.

"Nothing much. After this baka gets ready, we were planning to get our university supplies and have a look around the campus," Heero who was now looking out of the window, told him.

Duo just grinned at Trowa and resumed eating.

"Know where Quatre's living?"

"No, But he'll find us before we find him." Duo had finished eating and went and put his bowl in the sink.

"Wash the bowl, you baka," Heero yelled at Duo from the hall.

"Ok, Ok. Don't shout." Was the reply from the kitchen and you could hear the water running in the sink. Duo then entered the bathroom and stayed there for the next twenty minutes. Heero and Trowa talked a bit. Nothing too specific. Heero had noticed that Trowa did not want to talk about his room mate, so he did not broach the subject.

All three of them left together when Duo was all ready. They decided to look around the campus first. They had the supply store right on campus, so they did not have to leave the University campus to get the required things. As a matter of fact, there was a general store, pharmacy and grocery store all on Campus. It sure made things easier for them.

They were a weird crowd. Duo with his long braid, Trowa with his gravity defying hair and Heero with his unruly mop, all walking in silence. Yes, even Duo. He was busy looking for Hilde. Each of them dressed differently. Duo in his usual black, Heero in a white button up shirt and blue jeans and Trowa in his turtle neck and black trousers. As expected, Duo met Hilde somewhere during his tour of the University grounds.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. I checked your room. You weren't there," Duo told Hilde when she had caught up with him.

"Yep. Me and Dorothy decided to get an early start."

"Where did Dorothy come in now?"

"She is my room mate baka," Hilde up slapped Duo's head while she said this.

"Heero's my room mate," He told Hilde.

She turned to look at Heero and as a confirmation, Heero only said, "Hn." And gave a slight nod of his head.

"So where is your fine friend now?" Duo asked Hilde.

"Oh! She met Quatre sometime back and they decided to go get the University supplies. They must be somewhere in that building," she said pointing towards one of the big buildings.

"Let's go look for them there." It was Heero who said this.

They foursome left towards the building and everybody spilt up except for Duo and Hilde. After all they all had to buy their supplies. It was Friday and neither of them knew if any of these shops, stores, whatever you call it were open on weekends.

Heero was looking for something when he saw Quatre and Dorothy walking together in an aisle. Dorothy had said something and was laughing and Quatre was blushing but smiling all the same. He then said something that made her laugh even harder. Heero just smiled and continued walking. He would meet them in the next aisle. He was right behind them. It seems while entering the other aisle they had seen Heero, because when he caught up with them, they were acting like mere acquaintances.

"So how have you been Heero?" Dorothy asked him. She was looking at him with a frigid glare.

"Fine."

He then turned to Quatre and gave him a knowing look and Quatre just blushed slightly.

Somewhere else, Hilde was telling Duo about Quatre's plight this morning. Duo could only laugh.

"Seems like Quatre's fallen for Dorothy," he managed to say after he stopped laughing.

"I know, but I doubt if Quatre realises it yet," she said to him. She appeared thoughtful. She looked really cute when she concentrated about something or thought really hard. Duo was watching her. All of a sudden he pulled her close to him and said, "Forget that. I know I have fallen for you."

And before she could say anything, he kissed her. They were still kissing when somebody cleared their throat behind them. They parted and Duo turned around to see who it was. Hilde was blushing slightly. Trowa was smiling there. He was smirking.

"Did I interrupt something?" He asked slyly.

"Nope. Did you get what you were looking for?" Duo asked.

"Yes."

"Then let's get out of here."

They found Heero, Quatre and Dorothy at the cashier's. Duo waved at them and they waited for the other three to come. Heero was reluctant to wait, but Quatre insisted. Heero hated crowds and being the centre of attention. And theirs was a crowd that attracted a lot of attention. Duo, Trowa and Hilde joined them pretty soon and since nobody had anything else to do, they decided to visit the town. Everybody was hungry as it was near lunch time. Actually it was past their usual lunch time.

They walked to town. Duo grumbled about it, but he was outnumbered, so he decided to go along, but he was not going to pay for the food.

"I am not going to pay for the food. No way. We could have eaten on campus. There's an eating place there. And now they make me, poor, hungry Duo, walk all the way to the town so that they can satisfy their curiosity, while I die of hunger. And."

"I'll pay for you if you stop your complaints." Heero said finally.

"Is that a deal?" Duo asked him.

"Anything to shut you up Duo, anything," he said.

"Don't bother Heero. I'll pay for him," Hilde offered. "I owe him a lunch anyways."

"I lost a bet," was her only reply to a questioning eyebrow that Heero was giving her.

"Hn."

"Don't you want to know what the bet was about?" Duo asked Heero eagerly.

Hilde elbowed him in the ribs and whispered so that only Duo could hear her, "Not in front of those two, you baka."

"Whoops! Sorry."

They continued walking. Heero was walking with Trowa, Duo and Hilde were walking together and Quatre and Dorothy were walking together. Heero and Trowa were the only ones who walked in silence. Heero noticed that something was bothering his friend, but he did not ask him what it was. He didn't like people asking him questions. So why should he ask others questions. They walked all the way to town and Duo decided that they would enter the first restaurant or eating place that they saw.

"There's a better one further down the street," Trowa informed them.

"How do you know that buddy?" Duo asked him.

"The circus visited this town for fifteen days during July." He told Duo.

"So what's so great about this place?" Quatre asked Trowa.

"Nothing. The food's good and the price isn't too high." He said in a tone that indicated that it was enough talking for now.

They walked down the street to the restaurant that Trowa had suggested. It wasn't very big, but it had a homey feeling. It was called "Eater's Paradise"

"Funny name for a restaurant," Duo remarked.

They went in nevertheless.

It was pretty crowded, but there were still a few empty tables. They chose to join two tables and gave their orders. Their table was near the wall, from where they could see the entrance. They were waiting for their food to arrive and were talking in general. Trowa and Heero were silent. Suddenly, Trowa tensed visibly. He almost jerked and whispered to himself, "What is she doing here?"

Everybody at the table noticed Trowa's reaction to something though no one heard what he said. Everybody's eyes followed Trowa's and landed on a girl of average height. Yep, it was Jade. She was wearing a blue knee length skirt and a button up white shirt. Her long black hair was tied back in a big bun kind of a thing. She had some files in her hand and she went over to one of the tables and sat down. Far away from where our group was sitting with her profile to them.

"Pretty good looking. Nice choice, Trowa," Duo said when he saw what Trowa was looking at and received an elbow from Hilde for his comment.

"Hey! I was only telling the truth," he said to her defensively. She glared at him and Trowa was still staring at her. She was the same Jade from yesterday, but somehow she looked different in this attire.

She had dismissed the person who had come to take her order. She was now looking over some papers and a stray strand of wavy hair drooped down onto her cheek. She brushed it aside roughly. Suddenly, she sensed something and sat up straight. Somebody was most probably talking about her or looking at her right this minute, in this room. She tried to shrug it off. It was too crowded in here to find the people who had chosen her as their subject of conversation. She tried to concentrate on what she was doing, but the feeling stayed. So she finally got up and walked out of the restaurant. Trowa's eyes followed her out into the street till she disappeared from view and so did the others' eyes.

"So who was she?" Quatre asked him.

"My room mate," he replied, still looking out of the window.

"Wow, that's some room mate you have got!" Duo told him. He was going to add, 'wish I had a room mate like that,' but decided not to when he realised that Hilde was sitting right beside him and Heero, his current room mate was in the vicinity.

"Why were you looking at her like that?" Dorothy asked him.

"I have my reasons."

Their food arrived and they started eating.

"So when are you going to introduce us." Surprisingly, it was Heero and not Duo who asked this question.

"May be tonight," he replied while he was still looking at the plate. Only if he had looked at Heero, he would have seen the humorous glint in Heero's eyes.

"What did you do when you found out that your room mate was a girl? Were you surprised?" Duo asked him.

"I was surprised because it was this girl."

"What do you mean 'this girl'?" Duo asked again.

"Nothing," was the only reply.

After they finished their lunch (which was pretty soon), they left the restaurant and decided to look around a bit. After they were done looking around, it was almost past four in the afternoon. They decided to return to their respective apartments. Heero was still intrigued by Trowa's behaviour during the day. Trowa was generally a quiet person but today was something different. He seemed totally lost in his own world. Trowa was thinking about today and yesterday too. Duo was too occupied with Hilde to actually pay any attention and Quatre was too busy blushing at Dorothy's comments. ___________________________________________________________

Trowa entered his apartment. Jade wasn't back yet. He had just entered his room when he heard the front door open. Jade was back. He kept his room door open just a bit so that he could know what was going on. She walked quickly into her room and shut the door. He heard her room door open five minutes later. He followed soon. She had changed into a pair of well worn jeans and a white T-shirt and her hair was back in her long braid again.

"Oh hi! I didn't notice that you were back," she said to him.

"But I noticed," he told her.

She had now walked into the kitchen and he had followed. He was standing in exactly the same place that he was standing yesterday.

"I hope you got my note in the morning."

"Yes, I did."

"Good."

"Where were you anyway? I saw you at the "Eater's Paradise" today."

"Oh! So it was you!" and she laughed. And this baffled him a bit.

"Why?"

"Because I got that weird feeling that you get one someone stares at you. I couldn't concentrate on the work that I had to do. So I left."

"You work?"

"No I just had to handle a few accounts for my friend," she informed him.

"You do accounting?"

"No, not professionally. It's something like a hobby. Today it was a favour."

"You were looking pretty good in that dress. So it was a favour?"

"Thank you. And yes, it was a favour," she said in a tone that indicated it was the end of the conversation. But Trowa continued nevertheless.

"My friends want to meet see where I am staying," he told her.

"You don't give up, do you?" she asked him and finally met his eyes for the first time this evening. It made him feel a bit weird.

"No, would you like to meet them?" He asked her.

"When are they coming?"

"Pretty late, at night. Only our neighbours."

"So our neighbours are your friends? Which ones? The ones in # 609 or the ones in # 611?"

"Ones in #609."

"'K. fine by me. I'll be in my room then. I have some things to take care of." This time her tone indicated that she was done talking and he could continue if he wanted to, but he could speak to the doorjamb that he was leaning against all the same.

He retreated from the kitchen.

After dinner, she went into her room and closed the door. She wasn't interested in conversation today. He heard her switch on her laptop. He decided to call the guests. He knocked on the door. It was opened by the hyperactive Duo this time.

"You can come now if you like," Trowa told him.

"Be right there." And Duo bounded off to bang on Heero's door. A "we get to meet his room mate," greeted Trowa's ears in the hallway and Heero was opened the door almost immediately.

"Let's go," Heero said. He was grinning. He wanted to see how Trowa got along with his new room mate.

They followed Trowa into his shared apartment. They saw Jade returning to her room. Duo saw her long braid and muttered under his breath, "Her hair must be longer than mine."

She noticed them but she closed the door to her room anyway. They were Trowa's friends and she had nothing to do among them. Heero and Duo were still standing in the doorway.

"Won't you come in?" Trowa asked with mock politeness.

"Oh, yeah.heh,heh," Duo said.

After a while after they were done talking bout some stupid things, Heero asked Trowa, "Where's your room mate?"

"In her room. Hasn't been very communicative today. Do you want to meet her anyway?"

"Yes," both Duo and Heero echoed together.

"Fine, have it your way," and sensing there was no way out, he went and knocked on Jade's door.

"It's open, come in," she said in reply to the knock.

He opened the door only a crack, the table was right beside the door and she was seated in front of her laptop at the table. She looked up to him and smiled. He smiled slightly and then told her.

"My friends want to meet you."

"Me?" She did the one eyebrow thing. Why would they want to meet her? He noticed that she was genuinely confused and nodded.

"Ok, I'll be there in a few minutes. Just let me finish what I am doing."

"Ok." And he closed the door.

"She says she will be out in a few minutes," he informed his friends.

"We heard that, buddy," Duo told him. He was grinning. Even Heero was smirking. Trowa did not have a good feeling about the coming meeting. He was still thinking about that, when the door behind him opened. She was standing behind him.

"So who am I supposed to meet?" She asked to no one in particular. Trowa moved from her line of vision and when he made no attempt to do the introductions, she walked up to Heero first and held out her hand.

"My name is Jade, and pray who might you be?" She asked him with a smile.

He took her hand and replied gruffly, "Heero Yuy."

She then turned to Duo and held out her hand and said with a smile, "Jade."

Duo took her hand and returned her smile, "Duo Maxwell."

She seemed to be thinking about something and then spoke up with a smile, "Duo Maxwell of colony cluster L2, ward of Maxwell church."

He was visibly startled. Was she a mind reader? Trowa had told them that she was an empath, but could empaths read minds? She sensed his, confusion, curiosity and a little bit of fear and then walked up to him and said in barely a whisper, "Name's Jade. Also called 'Loner' by some."

That seemed to ring a bell. "Not that Jade?!?" He asked a surprised way.

"Yes, the very same Jade."

Trowa and Heero were looking at the two and when Heero shot Trowa a questioning look, Trowa just shrugged. It seems like Jade sensed their confused feeling and then turned to them, "You can call us very old acquaintances."

They both looked at Duo for a confirmation and he nodded. This was getting interesting, really interesting.

After a while they lapsed into general conversation, when Duo suddenly asked her, "How is Trevor?" she just looked at him and immediately changed the subject.

"So did you find yourself a girl?" she asked him.

"Yes and."

"Does she beat you up?" Jade asked him, her eyes dancing with mirth.

Duo blushed slightly and said, "No, not all girls are like you and I could beat you up now." He was getting defensive.

Heero and Trowa had stopped their talking and had turned to Jade and Duo.

"I am not in the mood, but maybe later we can see about that." She was speaking to Duo and then she turned to Trowa and Heero with an almost pleading look, though the intensity of her gaze never wavered. It was this intense gaze that also intrigued Heero, but she did not have the same effect on Heero as it did on Trowa. She then spoke to them, "Please don't bother him about what just happened. You will know when the time comes and it would spoil the surprise if you ask him." And then she flicked her head in Duo's direction who was looking at her, "And if I can remember correctly, that baka cannot lie even if his life depends on it."

At this comment, everybody, including Duo started laughing and she received an affirming nod from Heero and decided that she could count on him for not pestering Duo. She would talk to Trowa about it later.

By the end of the evening, all four of them got along pretty well. They had found a common topic for conversation. Duo. Jade and Duo had been in an orphanage together and Duo was busy entertaining them with stories about their orphanage life. When he began talking about Trevor, he caught her eye and changed the subject immediately.

Heero did not mind speaking with her. It felt to him as though she was one of them and not some stranger. It made him feel pretty weird when he realised it. He was not for accepting people that easily. Was that the reason why Trowa was behaving a bit strangely? Who knows? He was going to have to talk to Trowa about it. It was almost 11.30 pm and Jade got up to leave.

"I have to go now," she said.

"Why?" Duo and Trowa said together while Heero raised a questioning eyebrow. Why did she want to leave so abruptly? She sensed it and laughed out, a laugh that Trowa and Heero found strangely silent and musical both at the same time.

"I was working before I came out to meet you guys and I have to finish whatever I was doing before morning."

With that she left to go to her room and wished everyone a good night before she closed the door to her room. Heero and Duo got up to leave too. Trowa followed them to the door. At the door, both of them turned to Trowa with wide grins plastered on their faces. Both of them stood looking at Trowa and he was looking back at them. Nothing was said for a while, and then Trowa said, "Nonsense."

"As you say buddy," Duo said and Heero just shook his head. And the two went into their room.

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NOTE: and that's for chapter 6. Hope you liked it. I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, and it seems my beta forgot to look over it too, but the character Jade is my creation. And this fic is basically about the lives of the G-Boys at university. I don't know when the next chapter will be coming out and with school starting; the updates might not be too frequent. Keep reading and reviewing. Love, Devil>:-)