Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Giri? Ninjo. Koibito! ❯ Chapter 5

We had agreed to meet in front of the building since Duo would already be at the dance. I arrived a little late. I was edgy about having to attend a social function. I didn't know how to act; I didn't know what to expect; I didn't even know what to wear. It took me an hour to decide if I should buy Duo a corsage. I didn't know if it was appropriate or not, so I settled it by choosing a single rose.

I walked up to the auditorium, hurrying because I had kept Duo waiting. Except … he was not waiting. I stood around for a while, getting annoyed, before I realized that Duo had probably gone inside already. I went in. The sounds and the press of bodies around me were overwhelming. I threaded through the crowd, looking for Duo. I saw the class rep, who frowned when she spotted me and put her hands on her hips. "Odin Lowe!" she said angrily. "You have a lot of nerve!"

"Nani?"

"Helen thought you stood her up! She was so upset she almost went home."

Duo was upset because he thought I stood him up? But why would he …. Ah. The message from Relena. I could have kicked myself for not explaining to him earlier.

"Ano … I was just running late," I explained to the class rep.

"That's no excuse!"

"And I had to stop to get this." I gestured with the rose, and she suddenly softened.

"Well, maybe you're not a *total* baka," she conceded. "She's over there," the class rep continued, "getting some punch, I think."

I thanked her and left, still unsure if I should feel praised or insulted by her comment. Finding the punch bowl, but not Duo, I looked around. I finally spotted him standing against the wall. I had barely realized it was him before it registered that there was a big guy looming over him. Over *my* Duo.

I pushed through the crowd quickly and placed myself between them. "What's going on here?" I demanded. I quickly realized two things: that the guy was dead drunk, and that he was looking for a fight.

"She won't dance with me," the drunk stated.

"So get lost," I snapped.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," he slurred. I couldn't help but smirk at that remark. "If I wanna dance with her, then I'm gonna dance with her." He took a step forward, trying to threaten me. "You better get out of my way." He pushed me, crushing the rose that I had carried so carefully. I let it drop to the floor and he laughed.

I hated people like him, blindly fighting all of the time for no reason. It made me think of the war. I shoved him back, hard, hoping he would get the message without me having to hurt him. No such luck. He came at me with a roundhouse punch. I ducked, avoiding it with ease, then heard it connected solidly with someone's face.

K'so. Duo.

I knocked the drunk sprawling with one blow, and turned around. Duo was slumped against the wall, knocked out, face already displaying a red mark where he had been hit. I grimly picked up the unconscious form in my arms. The crowd parted before me as if I was death itself, and I carried Duo back to the dorm room.

Once inside, I laid his body on my bed. He let out a little moan of pain, and his eyelids fluttered open. "What happened?" he whispered.

"He knocked you out for a few minutes. I brought you back here."

We sat there a moment in silence. Duo reached up to feel the tender spot on his face, and winced. "You're going to have a black eye," I told him.

"You could have told me you were going to duck."

"Gomen." I berated myself silently for my carelessness. The beginnings of the bruise were already visible on his pale face. "I'll get some ice." I brushed a wisp of hair from his face gently with my hand, and he smiled.

"Hurry back," he said.