Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Friendship? ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

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

Notes: I know I said that I would post the next part in 'One Way Ticket' before this, but apparently, it didn't turned out that
way *blushing*. I just had to write this fic before OWT. Sorry!!

Here's the final part for 'Friendship'. I'm probably gonna write a sequel when I've finished some other of my on-going
series, but feedback might make me write faster. I'm sorry if Duo seems weak in this chapter, but I think he's reacting
rather normally to the happenings. I don't think it is too bad though. There are hints of 1+2, but there is more of a 'curiosity'.
I really tried not to make it cheesy, but I still think it is. *sigh*

Archive: http://dragonball-diaries.150m.com/ (thanks Deb!)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this fic. Don't sue, 'kay?

Beta-ed by: sailor c. ryoko (thank you so much, I'm amazed that you really want to help me!)

^^^^^^

Friendship? - Part 2

^^^^^^

The first thing I did when I came outside the room was to run into something
slightly smaller than me. Of course, I ran fast enough to make us both fall on
the grey floor in un-graceful heaps. Yeah, it's my lucky day.

For a moment of confusion, I just lay on the floor without moving - the kiss
still fresh in my memory. I felt as if I would throw up, and I knew I was still
red in my face. Jesus fucking Christ! Why can't I stay out of trouble?

Slowly, as I stood up again, I became aware of who I had bumped into.
It was Quatre, Quatre Raberba Winner. We smiled dazedly to each other, and I
realized that he must have waited for me outside the door. I looked around, but
couldn't see Wufei anywhere. He must have gone to the next class. I was
flattered. Sure.

"I'm sorry." I said to Quatre, and tried to sound cool. I don't know if it
worked, but he looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Are you okay, Duo?"

"Sure, why do you ask?"

He shook his head, the blond hair became slightly ruffled, and he looked at me
with apologizing eyes, "It was nothing, I must have been mistaken."

'The kiss the kiss the kiss the kiss the kiss.' A voice said in a cold monotone
inside my head and it continued, even when I tried to ignore it. "Yeah, you
probably did."

I wanted to get away from this room as soon as possible, so I grabbed my blonde
team-mate's arm and dragged him after me. I caught him by surprise, and he
actually yelped. How cute. After rounding a corner, I relaxed let go of him. He
looked at me with wide eyes, but I just shrugged and smiled a wan smile towards
him. "Hey Quat, what our next class, do we have the same schedule?" I used my
best defense - my voice, and it seemed to make him think about other things than
my behavior. He smiled at the nickname, or at least, he didn't seem to mind.

If there was one thing you had to say about Quatre; there was the fact that he
was very easy to talk with. Soon, he seemed to have forgotten everything about
my strange behavior, and we chatted about this and that. He wasn't very snobby
or self-conscious as many rich people can be, but instead very kind and polite.
At first, you could get the impression that he was innocent and in-experienced
and in a way, it was true. It was visible that he had grown up in a good home;
where he got as many toys as he wanted, and could eat as much as he could, but
it was also obvious (at least for me) that he was a gundam-pilot - a killer. He
was dark somehow, just like me. It felt nice to know that I wasn't alone in that
sense anymore.

He also told me about himself, he has 29 sisters and he's the youngest one in
the family too! Poor guy - no wonder he ran away from home to become a terrorist
and fight in a gundam with enough weapons to destroy earth *and* the colonies at
the same time..

After he had told me that, I could sense that he was curious about me. I just
shrugged and explained something about L2. I avoided the part about growing up
on the streets though. People seem to assume a lot of things about me when they
realize that I grew up as a filthy stealing street-rat. Luckily, we arrived to
the next class we had (art - finally something I'm good at) and we had to stop
talking. I, for one, was grateful.

We had something called 'free time' in the class. It wasn't exactly what it
sounded like, but it was close enough - it meant that we could draw whatever we
wanted. Apparently, this kind of practice was unusual, because the class cheered
when they heard this statement. Most of the class didn't do anything though,
just talked with each other. Sue me, but I *like* to draw, so I took a paper and
pencil, sat down by my desk (beside Quatre) and waited for my muse to appear.

I noted that Quatre did the same thing, and his brows furrowed in concentration
when he immediately started drawing. I swear, that guy is just too cute for his
own good!

I started with my drawing and listened to the other students gossiping and
occasionally, I spoke with Quatre or someone else who sat close by me.

A face appeared on my paper, a face belonging to a boy my age. I leaned back in
my chair and studied the face. I recognized it, I knew I did, but I couldn't
remember from where.

My blonde friend (because I hoped that he was my friend now) saw that I seemed
to be finished and he leaned towards me to see what I had sketched. He blinked
and looked at me with curious eyes "Why Heero?" he asked.

I studied the picture even closer, and with a critical eye. "That's not
Heero." I said after a while and Quatre shrugged, still with a strange
expression in his almost cherubic face.

The boy in the picture certainly looked like the guy I met yesterday called
Heero, but there was a *big* difference. The picture-boy smiled.

I know, I know, why was that such a big difference? Well, Heero didn't seem to
be the type who smiled, the short moment I had met him had been enough for me to
tell that. He had so cold, emotionless eyes and an uncaring expression in his
face. Somehow, he fascinated me but still, he scared me.

The boy in my picture had soft eyes and a smile that tugged his lip upwards. He
actually reminded me more of Quatre than of Heero.

I had noticed that when Quatre smiled, the smile was often sad, not as sunny as
you might think. It was probably because he was a gundam-pilot.
We're not allowed to be happy, it seems. That's part of the reason to why I
always pretended being happy. It's because I *want* to be happy - I'm really
trying to be happy! "That's not Heero." I repeated.

Quatre considered what I had said and looked sadly at me, but suddenly he seemed
to remember something. He leaned even closer towards me and whispered in my ear.
"We have a meeting after school in your room." I noted that his voice sounded
huskier when he was whispering, and I almost shivered when his breath tickled my
ear. I shook it off though.

He didn't have to explain who 'we' were; it was very evident that it was the
pilots - I mean, who else?

I nodded to show him that I had heard him and he leaned back again, to continue
with his picture.

As the class ended, I secretly folded my picture and put it in my pocket.
Somehow, I had come to like it.

^^^^^^^^

As the classes had ended for the day, I climbed up the eight flights of stairs
to mine and Wufei's room to attend the meeting. I was in a rather bad mood,
mostly because it had become apparent that I was placed in advanced classes in
every subject I had. As I said, I was in a *very* bad mood, mostly because the
only subjects I did well in was art and English.

When I passed the sixth floor, I went past a group of giggling girls, and they
threw longing stares towards me. Usually, I would flirt a little before
continuing, but now I went past them without even glancing at them. Actually, I
think I scared them off. Bad Duo.

When I finally reached the eighth floor, I was exhausted. I don't know why, I'm
usually in a good form, but today I felt..drained.

As I made my way (or rather dragged myself) towards my room, I realized that the
key wasn't in my pocket. Great. I must have forgotten it when I hurried to class
this morning. Once again, great.

I stared at the (grey) door and in the small space between the door and the
wall; I could see that the door was locked. So, Wufei wasn't back yet, and none
of the other guys either. I sighed and took one of my small tools out of my
braid and made sure no one could see me before I began picking the lock. It was
surprisingly easy, but then again, the school probably didn't spend all that
much money on the room-security.

I opened the door with a satisfied grin plastered in my face, but it faded quite
quickly when I saw that the room was occupied already. Wufei, Trowa, Quatre and
Heero stared at me in surprise from where they sat on the two beds in the room.
I slid the tool into my pocket and smiled sheepishly, scratching my head. "Hi
guys."

"Maxwell! How did you get in?" It was Wufei who spoke, but before I had a chance
to answer, Heero spoke up.

"Quatre, did you lock the door?"

An affirmative nod. Geeze, can't these guys hold their horses for a while?

"Hey, wait a sec! I picked the lock, all right?" I sighed as they all looked at
me and I continued. "Anyway, what is this meeting about?" I sat down on my bed,
beside Quatre who sat beside Trowa. Wufei and Heero sat on Wu's bed. Wait! Did I
say 'Wu'? Heh, wonder if he'd like to be called that?

"We were discussing our gundams' special abilities." Trowa said in his calm
voice.

"Sure, whatever." I tried to keep a cool and relaxed façade. Suddenly I
remembered something I wanted to ask them and I spoke up again. "Who put me in
advanced classes anyway?"

Wufei and Heero looked at me like I had grown another head or something and I
laughed nervously. "Uhh, I'm not all that good, 'kay?"

Heero snorted, but I wasn't sure why. "I made our schedules. I assumed that all
gundam-pilots could handle the advanced school-work." Damn, that stung! I felt
how I blushed, *again*. Why do I keep doing that?

"Well, sorry for being an airhead." I said with a grin, and I tried not to show
how it had hurt. Quatre looked at me with concerned eyes again, like he'd done
outside the math-class. Is that guy a mind-reader or what?

I sighed once again and shrugged. "Well, I'll change it, okay? Just drop it."

Heero ignored me and turned towards Quatre. "You said you had financial wealth?"

Quatre actually seemed nervous about the question; he fiddled with his sleeves
and looked everywhere but at us. "Yes. I'm disowned from the
Winner-family but I left with a lot of money. I also have connections with an
underground-organization called 'The Maganuacs, and.." He seemed unwilling to
continue. "I am told that I am an excellent strategist and I also have what some
scientist call an 'uchuu no kokoro', or Space Heart."

I was happy that I wasn't the only one who seemed clueless. Even Heero seemed
slightly confused. "Space..Heart?" he asked.

"Yes. It's an ability that makes me feel other people's stronger emotions,
usually shock, extreme anger and very strong love, etc." Quatre's voice seemed
to take a bitter tone as he spoke, but none of us asked about it.

We left that subject and talked about each others abilities. Wufei was smart, a
bookworm, and he also mastered many forms of martial arts, as well as kendo and
different Chinese sword-styles. Trowa was a good actor and he would probably act
as a spy several times. He was also a very good pilot who kept calm, no matter
what.

Heero. I'm not really sure about Heero. He could use all known weapons, it
seemed, and he had extremely good stamina and strength. Actually, he said he
could bend steel. Impressive.

Then there was me, the last one. I explained that I was a stealth-master, a
thief. I had the ability to hide quickly, and could also sneak past security
easily. My voice got a little cocky when I old them about the nickname G had
come up with: Shinigami.

They seemed a little surprised about my abilities. "Stealth?" Quatre asked,
shocked.

"A thief." Wufei said, with not a little amount of disgust in his voice.
Jesus, had I done something to piss him off? He seemed to hate me.

"Yup, and a break in-expert!" I grinned at them all, enjoying their moment of
surprise. "Surprised you, didn't I?"

That's about everything we talked about that evening. Quatre excused himself and
disappeared from the room. Trowa and Heero also went away, and they left me
together with Wufei. I felt uncomfortable in his presence, mostly because he
seems to dislike me. Since I didn't have anything else to do, I unpacked my
duffel-bag. It wasn't all that much; some changes of clothes (everything was
black), some drawings I made when I stayed with Howard, the laptop that
G gave me before I went to earth, and a very old free-style I found at Howard's.

When I was finished, I sat down on my bed again. Wufei sat by the desk and wrote
something, probably homework. I felt bored. VERY bored.

We both jumped as a knock was heard on our door. Wufei scowled. "We're not
allowed to be out this late." he said, and I looked at my watch. It was nine
o'clock. Anyway, I jumped up from the bed and opened the door. I found Marcus
standing outside, together with some other guys.

I blinked at them in surprise. "What do you want?"

Marcus shrugged. "Just asking if you want to follow us to nearest town.
I know a good place were you can get alcohol cheap."

As I wondered how they knew where my room was, I heard Wufei snort behind me.
Guess he don't appreciate a good drink now and then.

I nodded to the guys and grabbed a jacket (black of course) before going
outside.

Wufei snorted again before I closed the door.

^^^^^^^^

I was giddy from the drinks when I climbed up the stairs to my room.
The door was locked, and I only had a little trouble picking it, mostly because
I saw two locks instead of one. After a moment, the door swung open and I saw
that Wufei was still sitting by the desk, now reading something. I wondered if
he had sat there all the time. The clock was past twelve now.

My Chinese friend looked up when he saw me, and frowned at my wide grin. I
couldn't help but giggle at that expression he had, it could actually look kind
of funny. He wasn't as glad as I was though.

"Where have you been?" he demanded and it made me giggle again. He almost
sounded worried, but I guessed it was the alcohol that made it seem that way. He
frowned again. "You're drunk."

"See, you *can* be smart if you want." I exclaimed, but he missed the
humor and frowned for a third time. I idly wondered if that wrinkle on his
forehead was permanent. I didn't ask though, just threw my jacket on the floor
(or rather, on my bag which stood on the floor).

Wufei looked down on his book again and said, without looking up. "Go to bed."

I shrugged as an answer, but I knew that he couldn't see me anyway. I went into
the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and then stripped down to my black boxers and
white tank top - the attire I usually sleep in.

I went into the room again and threw myself onto the bed and crept under the
covers. I settled into a comfortable position and waited for the sleep to come
and claim me. Unfortunately, the claiming never came. Usually after drinking, I
fall asleep immediately so I thought this was a little strange.

I lay there for a while and I listened as Wufei brushed his teeth before going
to bed. You could hear the muffled sounds of him when he gargled, and for some
reason I found the mental picture I got funny.

He switched the lights off before going to bed, and I found myself staring up at
the ceiling. Okay, I couldn't actually *see* the ceiling, so therefore
I couldn't know it *was* there, but that was a ridiculous thought. I
*knew* the ceiling was there..oh God, I'm rambling. I was suddenly very cold,
and I took a few shuddering breaths to calm myself down. I was..scared.

Suddenly, I felt sick at my stomach. Very sick. A sudden memory of a warm, wet
tongue invading my mouth came to me and I knew that I had to get out of the bed
and to the bathroom, quick.

My bare feet thumped lightly against the carpet and I stumbled over my own bed
in my sudden haste. Sprinting out in the bathroom, I fell to my knees in front
of the toilet and emptied my stomach in it. When I was done, I was sweating, yet
shivering because of the cold, and I rubbed my arms in a try to make the
gooseflesh go away. I really hoped that Wufei was still asleep, and if he wasn't
he had common sense enough not to interfere. My God..if he was awake he'd
probably think that he had been teamed with an alcoholic.

Damn.

I just sat there, in front of the toilet for a while before I picked myself
together enough to stand up and flush the toilet.

Just when I did that, the memory came again - a tongue tasting my saliva.. I
didn't have anything left in my stomach, but I heaved over the toilet for a
couple of minutes before I managed to walk out in the room again. It was
completely black in there after I had switched the lights off in the bathroom,
and I couldn't see a damn thing; so I just stood there for a while, trying to
orient myself.

I could hear Wufei's calm breaths from his own bed, but I couldn't hear if he
was awake or sleeping, to do that you need to know the person in question. I
know some people that can breath quite fast when they're sleeping, and it makes
it impossible to tell if they are actually sleeping or not.

I managed to get to the bed without breaking anything (meaning neither me nor
something else) and I slipped under my covers again. Still, I couldn't relax
completely. I sighed - this was gonna be a loooong night.

^^^^^^

Well, I was right but I didn't know if I should be happy about it or not. Wait,
I take that back - I was NOT happy about it. I stumbled down the corridors with
my eyes red and puffy from lack of sleep. From what I had seen in the mirror, I
looked like I had been crying all night long. Joy.

Anyway, Wufei had taken pity on me and woke me up so I could get to my classes
in time. I wasn't sure if I liked that pity, because it *could* mean that he had
heard me last night. I counted and came to the conclusion that I got exactly
three hours of sleep, and of course I had to wake up with a *bad* hangover.

I guessed that my schedule hadn't been changed yet, so I went to the same
classes that I had yesterday. I thought about skipping the math-class, I did
*not* want to meet Mr Foo..uhh..Sanjou-sensei. Actually, the thought made me
feel sick again. In the cafeteria, I saw one of Marcus friends, another English
guy called Peter. It made me feel slightly better when I saw that he looked
about as bad as I did, well, if you didn't count the bloodshot eyes of mine of
course. He had probably gone to sleep a lot earlier than I had, but he seemed to
have the same kind of hangover.

"It's a pain, isn't it?" I asked him, and the only answer I got was a grunt. He
rolled his eyes though.

"Duo?"

Damn, I recognized that voice, a slightly feminine tone, it was clear that his
voice hadn't started breaking yet. I didn't want to turn around and show him my
new, temporary *look*, but I knew that I had to. Slowly, I did so and I heard
Quatre gasp in surprise. A gasp that really made my mood drop a couple of
degrees. I knew that I looked horrible, damn it - but I really didn't need
everyone to tell me that, intentional or not.

"Duo, what have you done? Are you feeling sick?"

I grunted in the same manner that good old Peter had done only second ago.
Feeling sick? Yeah, I am. "I'm okay Quatre, just a hangover."

"A hang..over?" He repeated, but he made it sound like a question. A question I
felt like I had to answer.

"You know, after drinking a lot you get this sick feeling and headache and..."
My voice trailed off.

"How on earth did you find alcohol here?"

I shrugged and decided not to answer, and Quatre was smart enough not to push
the subject any further. I went to get some coffee, but in the moment I saw the
black-brownish liquid, I knew that I wouldn't be able to drink it. I took the
cup with me anyway, and sat down beside Quatre.

Luckily, none of us were morning-persons, so the conversations were very few and
short. I spent most of the breakfast staring at my soon cold coffee. I managed
to take some sips, not much, but enough to make me feel at least a little more
awake than earlier. Hopefully, the bags under my eyes would disappear soon too.
Hopefully.

I saw Heero and Trowa sit and eat their breakfast a couple of tables from us.

Heero..

That made me remembers the picture I had made earlier and realized that it was
still in my pocket. I felt for it under the table and yes, the pants were stiff
where the paper lay in my pocket. I looked up at the other boy and for a second
our eyes met. I looked away and decided that my 'breakfast' was finished.

I stood up, left my still almost full coffee-cup on the table and began walking
away - out of the cafeteria. I heard as Quatre stood up too, (his chair scraped
against the floor) and then I heard his footsteps quickly coming after me. What
could I do? I turned around and waited for him to catch up on me.

He hadn't run far enough to pant, so he just smiled and looked mildly confused.
"Duo? Is something wrong?"

I didn't answer, only looked at Heero's and Trowa's table. The sat
there and
ate, Heero with a plateful of oatmeal and Trowa with a plate with bacon
and
eggs. They didn't speak with each other, but that wasn't a big
surprise.
Quatre followed my glance and sighed. "They're scary, aren't they?" he
said.

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"They just won't speak."

"I know."

"I'm curious."

I looked at him in confusion. "Curious? How do you mean?"

He shrugged. "They aren't normal, look at them." He looked at the stone-boys
again with dark eyes. "I can't figure them out." The last words came out as a
sigh, a sad and hopeless sigh. I was just happy that someone felt the same way
that I did, and I hope I managed to keep a smile from growing on my lips. It
wasn't all that hard though, because I realized that I had math in twenty
minutes. I made a quick plan in my head.

Step one - Get away from Quatre. Step two - Sneak out of the school.
Step three..well.. - Hide, I guess. Maybe find a bar or just go shopping. Don't
really know, but anything is better than Mr. Fool.. I mean Sanjou-sensei. I have
to start call him Sanjou-sensei. I don't know why, but it felt wrong to call him
Fool. Not because he *wasn't*, but as I said, I don't know why.

Anyway, back to step one - How to get away from Quatre. A fast lie would be the
best option, but since I try to avoid lying as much as possible, it seemed
better to say something that was or would become true.

I turned my head and looked at him. "Hey, Quatre?" I put up a miserable look.
"I'm feeling like shit and my head is killing me." That wasn't a lie. "I think
I'll go back to the dorms to pick up some painkillers, okay?"

My blonde friend looked taken back, but he didn't object as I went towards the
dorms. "Well, you're *looking* better, at least." Was the only thing he said.

I shrugged and rounded a corner.

"Want me to follow?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm okay."

I rounded another corner and went out of his sight. Finally safe. Now I only
hoped that Wufei wasn't in our room. That would make things..complicated, since
I had planned to climb out of the window. The window-rout was, in a way, safer
than going through the whole school, mostly because I didn't want to risk
meeting any of the gundam-pilots.

Luckily, no one was in the room, so I just searched until I found some nice
pills that were also called painkillers. I told Quatre that I would get some
painkillers, so I got some painkillers, dammit! No one can accuse me for lying.

I thought about changing my clothes, but I decided not to, even if my own black
clothes were a lot more comfortable than the school-uniform. I stuck my
freestyle in my pocket before opening the small window.

I looked out and realized that it was a kinda long fall to the ground.
Joy, but I had forgotten that I was on the eight floor. Slightly nervous, I
managed to crawl out of the window and found myself standing on a thin
stone-verge, staring down. It wasn't windy today, and I was happy about that
because I had a hard time trying to make myself to let go from the window-frame.
Wind would probably make it all worse.

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually not afraid of heights; but the latest 24 hours
had been crappy, not to speak about my headache. Needless to say, the pills
hadn't shown any kind of effect yet.

As I stood there, I was suddenly hit by a thought. I could almost see myself
standing there and I realized how desperate I probably was. If anyone saw me,
they'd probably think that I was trying to kill myself. Jesus, why did I ever
think that climbing out of the window would be the best choice? Well, I can at
least blame it on the alcohol.

I climbed inside again, ran out of the door and down the stairs, as fast as I
could. I didn't see anyone so I ran out of the main-entrance, planning to get
away from here.

Of course, I had to bump into someone, again. I seem to do that a lot lately.

This time though, none of us fell and I could immediately see who I had run
into. Unfortunately, I knew the guy. It was Wufei.

Great.

He blinked at me, and I guessed that he was more dazed than me, because he
didn't seem to recognize me at first. When he finally did, he seemed to grow
angry, then confused. At last, his face showed both emotions. Again, great.

"Maxwell, what are you doing here? We have a class in," he looked at his watch,
"three minutes."

Surprise, surprise, but I didn't know what to say. It felt..odd to just gape
like a fish, and I probably looked like an idiot too. Somehow, I guessed that my
team-mate wouldn't be happy to hear the truth that I was on my way to skip the
class he talked about. I decided to keep quiet, which actually wasn't all that
hard for once.

Unfortunately, he seemed to realize the truth by himself, and his eyes narrowed.
"You were going to skip, weren't you?"

Well, what could I do, lie? Don't think so. I just shrugged, and his face
reddened in something that I assumed, was anger. I guess he's something of a
scholar that hates truants. My luck.

The answer seemed to piss him off even more. "It's none of my business,
but.."

"What's going on?"

It was Heero. Who would be the next? Quatre? Trowa? We could start a private
meeting here on the yard.

Wufei nodded in my direction. "Maxwell's going to skip the class." His tone was
accusing and angry, and I found myself blush. I wanted to shout scandalmonger,
like I used to do when I lived at the church, but it was too childish. I really
loved that word when I was younger though, but it took time to learn how to
pronounce it right. I used to say 'shanda'monger' until I was seven. Helen
always said that it was sooo cute, and I didn't like being 'cute'.

It hurt me a little that Heero didn't seem surprised at all, but I grinned
disarmingly anyway, in a try to make his heart melt. Not that it worked or
anything.

Heero glared at me as if I had suggested that he should smile more often. "Why?"
He growled.

I shrugged again and began fiddling with my braid as I wished that I was
unaffected of his glares, like I acted to be.

"I'll follow you to class." That remark made me stiffen, both in surprise and a
private amount of fear.

"Why?"

"I'm going that way."

I suppressed the sudden urge to hit Heero, because he'd probably kill me, or
send me to the hospital. Hmm, the idea wasn't bad, because then I'd miss class.
I considered the idea for a minute when we went inside again, but I decided
against it. The risk that I would die a horrible death was too big.

We went through the halls and my thoughts had a hard time making sense.
I didn't want to see Sanjou-sensei again. I really didn't.

To be honest, I was scared.

We arrived to the door, just as the teacher came and unlocked the door and let
the students inside. I tried to swallow a lump in my throat, but the effort made
me feel sick. I wanted to run away, but I knew I couldn't, not with Heero
standing behind me. Quatre, who had been waiting together with the other
students, looked at me, slightly concerned.

Mr. Foo..Sanjou-sensei looked at me as I entered, and I shivered. He looked
angry but I could see a tiny glint of amusement in his black eyes. What a jerk!

My fear got stronger, and the urge to run away grew together with it. I forced
myself to sit down beside Marcus, who was occupied with trying to saw a rubber
in two with his ruler. He didn't seem to notice me.

The lesson felt *very* long, and Mr. Fool seemed to cast glances towards me all
the time; I just wanted to disappear. When the torture finally ended, I tried to
run out of the door. Unfortunately, I felt a tug at my braid and I held back a
surprised yelp.

"I want to talk with you, Mr. Maxwell." I heard Sanjou-sensei's voice say behind
me. Since my braid still seemed to be in his hand, I had to stay, and I felt my
fear growing stronger again. The students passed me, either grinning or looking
concerned. I wanted to scream for help, but I didn't. Everything just seemed to
private and embarrassing, and I didn't want the others to know that pilot 02 of
Deathscythe couldn't deck a mere teacher.

Sanjou-sensei leaned towards the door, closed it and locked. He put the key in
his pocket. Trapped.

My mind raced, I couldn't floor him, because I'd probably get expelled. I
couldn't just hit him once, because I wouldn't have time to take the key before
he recovered.

Before I had time to do *anything*, he let go of my braid and grabbed my wrists
in a unyielding grip, and before my self-defense instincts made me kick him
again, I was leaning my back against the wall beside the door, and one of his
knees were firmly set between my legs. When I wiggled in attempts to get free,
it pressed harder, almost painfully hard, against my crotch.

"You're pretty." He whispered again, just like he had yesterday and his breath
tickled my ear. I shivered as he bit my ear lobe.

Suddenly, I found myself being turned around and pressed against the wall again,
with one of his hands on my back. I managed to turn my head to the left so my
chin wouldn't be crushed against the hard wall. Another hand found its way down
my back and tugged at the waistband of my pants.

I didn't know what to do, and I choked back a dry sob of pure fear. A memory of
seeing a little girl being raped, at the time when I was still living on the
streets together with Solo, flashed in front of my eyes and I desperately tried
not to panic. How bad could it actually be? I asked myself, but it didn't
reassure me much. The girl had screamed and screamed, until she couldn't do that
anymore. The man killed her when he was done.

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I saw the doorknob shake slightly, as if
someone tried to open the door. I didn't dare to hope, but even when I tried not
to, a small glint of the annoying emotion woke my body up again, and my brain
seemed to be able to think clearly again. I didn't realize until now that I had
sunk into a dazed state of fear.

A big hand managed to slide under my waistband and I tried to wiggle myself free
again. The hand only pressed harder against my back.

Suddenly, I heard a loud crash, and I saw as the door opened, the lock broken.
At first, Mr. Fool didn't seem to react; he just stood there, with me pressed
against the wall and with a hand in my pants. It wasn't before when Heero
stalked into the room, followed by Quatre, as he let go of me, and I felt my
legs give away and I sunk down on the grey floor.

The poor idiot didn't seem to know what to do, and he just stood there for a
minute, staring at Heero in shock, before he walked out of the door, without a
word. I stared after him from my spot on the floor.

When he was out of sight, I heard Quatre whimper and I looked at him instead. He
looked.. horrible. His eyes were wide in shock and terror, and he shook where he
was standing. I wondered why he was so upset, *he* wasn't the one who had been
victim of a rape-attempt.

Rape-attempt.

I felt so very sick, and I desperately held back as I felt as if I was going to
puke. My muscles tightened in the effort, but I succeeded.

They didn't seem to know what to do, so I tried to stand up on my wobbly legs.
Heero realized what I was trying to do, and he slid an arm around my back to
steady me. Quatre still looked shocked, but he followed us as we made our way
out of the room. No one had seen what had happened with the door, so we just
went away as fast as we could before anyone would come.

None of us spoke, and my fear had been replaced by shock and embarrassment. My
cheeks grew red and once again, I felt that I wanted to hide somewhere. I don't
think I could, though.

We came to a door, and Quatre unlocked it. When we went inside, I realized that
it had to be Quatre's dorm-room, because it was only one bed inside. Heero let
go of me, and I slid down on it, happy to be allowed to sit. Quatre sat down
beside me and he grabbed my arm. I could see that he was still, upset, as upset
as I felt.

"Oh Duo, you were so scared!" He said loudly, and he sounded very scared
himself. I was amazed that he cared so much since we had only met each other a
couple of days ago. Well, I was amazed until I realized what he had said.

"I was scared?" I asked in confusion and couldn't for my life understand what he
meant. Heero was leaning against the door and watched as we spoke. After a
while, I managed to get them to tell the whole story.

Quatre had waited outside the door as he did yesterday, when he felt my fear in
his own chest. I was reminded of his 'Space heart'. He had tried to open the
door and had found it locked. He had found Heero, who managed to break the lock
and open the door. Easy as that. Sure.

I didn't know what to do when their story was finished. We sat (and
Heero stood) in silence for a while before Quatre spoke up again. "Uhh, Duo? We
have a class soon." He sounded embarrassed for some reason that I couldn't
figure out.

Class. I didn't want to go to class yet. Actually, I was still scared.
Heero seemed to realize what I was thinking, because he spoke up.

"I think Duo should stay here for a while."

I looked at him in surprise, but Quatre just nodded and went out again, leaving
Heero and me alone. It became quiet again as neither of us seemed to know what
to say. Heero broke it after a while though. "You
should..rest." He said and also sounded oddly embarrassed and unsure.

I nodded and lay down on Quatre's bed, but as Heero moved to open the door, I
was hit by fear again and I said in a small voice. "Can you stay for a while?"

He looked surprised, but nodded in agreement as he sat down in a chair.
"Just sleep." He said, sounding slightly unsure as he said this. I realized that
he was unused to soothe people, he sounded strange. "It's okay."

I closed my eyes, and strange enough, I fell asleep almost immediately.

^^^^^^^^

The End

^^^^^^^^

Well, that's it! I know that rape-attempt, school-setting and all that is way over-used, but it's my fic right? I can do what I
want. Personally, I think that Duo became way too weak, but I couldn't do anything about that, sorry! It just turned out that
way. And do you want to know something? Feedback is a wonderful thing!