Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Hello ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

I generally work around one hundred hours each week. I have noticed that this seems to perturb some of my fellow agents. “Yuy, why don't you ask for some time off or go home” is a question that I have heard more than once. I have never bothered to respond. I don't think it would help if I told my fellow Preventers that I do not take time off or go home because there is nothing to go home to.

 

I was created as a weapon. What does a gun do when it's not being fired? It sits idle. Left too long, it rusts or breaks down. It needs constant cleaning, maintenance, and use in order to be optimal. I am the same. Other than the minimal amount of time I need to sleep, what would I do with “down” time? I am a weapon, a weapon that functions best when it is used constantly, a weapon that might be dangerous if it were allowed to sit idle.

 

Two days ago, I successfully infiltrated a heavily armed munitions plant on a resource satellite near L3. I completed my mission with minor bruises, a few scrapes, and two broken fingers. The broken fingers meant that I would not be sent out for field work for at least ten days.

 

So it was that I was pushing papers when Commander Une called me into her office.

 

Une has not changed much since the war. She still styles her hair the same way, and she still wears glasses. I have concluded that she uses them to hide her eyes. I wonder if it makes it easier for her to do her job, for her to send agents to kill and be killed.

 

“Agent Yuy.”

 

“Commander Une.”

 

Une's office is a bland government office. Bookcases filled with manuals and field books line the walls. She sits behind a huge wooden desk in a high-backed leather chair. There are very few personal effects in her office. Plaques and framed certificates are scattered sparsely across the walls. The top of her desk holds orderly stacks of paper. There are two small, uncomfortable leather chairs across the desk from her. As I acknowledge her, she waves a hand to indicate that I should sit in one of these chairs.

 

I cross the room and stiffly sit down. I prefer not to sit in these chairs. They are positioned in such a way that the backs face the only door to Une's office. I have been trained to avoid such a vulnerable position. I have also been trained to follow orders, so I sit in the unpleasant chairs whenever Une tells me to do so. I think she is aware that the chairs make me uncomfortable.

 

As always, a spot in the middle of my back tenses and itches at the door behind me.

 

She gazes intently at me for one minute and thirty-seven seconds. I stare flatly back at a point just above her left shoulder. I think she is waiting for me to say something, but I simply stare at my chosen point.

 

Eventually she clears her throat and begins. “Excellent work on your last mission, Agent Yuy.”

 

“Thank you, Commander.”

 

Another long silence stretches out between us. Une begins shuffling some of the papers in front of her. She is no longer looking at me. I deduce from the quick movements of her hands that she is nervous. Although I give no outward sign, I too am becoming tense. I do not like surprises or unknowns, nor do I enjoy the soft sighs of the papers passing against each other.

 

Une finally stops shuffling papers and looks up at me. Her face is schooled to stillness, but I read hesitation and a lingering nervousness in her eyes. “Heero, are you happy?”

 

I frown. Happy? “I do not understand the question, Commander.”

 

Une sighs and leans back in her chair. Now it is she who fixes her eyes at a point beyond me, not meeting my glare. “I mean, is this what you want to do?”

 

I shift almost imperceptibly in the uncomfortable chair, unsure how to respond. I am not even sure what she is trying to ask me. “No one is forcing me to work here, Commander.” My frown deepens. “Do you think that someone is? How would someone accomplish such a thing?”

 

As I speak, Commander Une closes her eyes and a small wrinkle appears on her forehead. “No, Heero. I did not mean to imply that anyone was forcing you to work here. It's simply that you've been here a year, and you don't seem happy. As far as I can tell, you haven't made any friends here. You don't even seem to have maintained any connections with the other Gundam pilots.” Une opens her eyes and looks at that point above my shoulder again. “Yuy, do you know how many hours you've worked, on average, each week over the last twelve months?”

 

I shrug, confused as to her point. “Perhaps a hundred?”

 

“One hundred and seven, to be exact.” Commander Une's eyes meet mine for the first time during our meeting. “Heero, how many hours are in a week?”

 

“One hundred and sixty-eight.”

 

“And how far from the office do you live?”

 

I frown and allow my eyes to slide away from hers. “Fifteen minutes, more or less.”

 

“So you might spend around a half an hour each day getting to and from work?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And how many hours do you sleep each night?”

 

I pause for a moment before answering. I do not like where this conversation seems to be headed. “Approximately six and a half hours.”

 

“And you spend maybe a half an hour each day getting ready for work?”

 

“More or less.”

 

“So we've established that you spend around seven and a half hours each day getting to and from work, getting ready for work, and sleeping. Assuming you work all seven days of the week, those activities take up… fifty-two and a half hours. Yuy, do you know what one hundred and sixty-eight minus fifty-two and a half is?”

 

I glare at a point to the right of Commander Une's head. When I don't respond, Commander Une gently says, “One hundred and fifteen and a half. Which means that, on average, you spend just eight and a half hours each week eating lunch and dinner or engaging in non-work activities.”

 

I think that Une's speech is not having the intended effect. Even as she announces that I spend only eight and a half hours each week away from my work, I am thinking of ways to optimize my schedule so that I can reduce those hours away from work.

 

I cannot be an idle weapon.

 

When I still say nothing, Commander Une speaks again. “Look at me, Yuy.”

 

I shift my focus to the left so that I am looking into Une's eyes. She looks… sympathetic, or like she pities me. I do not like it.

 

“Heero, from this moment on, I am setting a cap on the number of hours you may work each week when you are not in the field. Furthermore, you will spend no more than one week of each month on a field assignment. You will also report your progress to me every other week.”

 

“Progress?”

 

“Yes, Yuy, progress. I want you to develop hobbies other than work. Find interests other than fighting. And every other week, you will come to me and talk about what those hobbies and interests are. Understood?”

 

“What is the `cap' on the number of hours I may work?”

 

“That is a good question. Do you have a suggestion?”

 

I eye Commander Une suspiciously. Perhaps this will not be so bad if she is willing to allow me to set my own cap. “Eighty-five?”

 

Une lets out a peal of laughter. I had not intended to humor her, and I scowl at her reaction.

 

“Nice try, Yuy. Your response indicates to me that you still do not really understand what I am telling you. For now, you will work no more than forty-five hours each week, unless you are on assignment. I will expect your first report regarding your non-work activities at the end of this week. You are dismissed for now.” Une picks up a piece of paper on her desk and begins reading it, or at least pretending to do so.

 

Although she is no longer watching me, I nod curtly before standing up and leaving.

 

My expression never changes, but inside I am quaking with anxiety, an emotion that I am unused to experiencing. Interests? Hobbies? I have been led to believe that the world is safest from me when I am not left idle. And yet, Commander Une has ordered me to seek out idleness.

 

I feel lost already.