Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Pieces of a Puzzle ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Author's Notes:  Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I had a busy weekend and didn't get any chance to polish it. Now, just to warn you ... there are a few things in here which will not get explained in this story. I'm going to write a side story (gaiden) which goes along with this, and it will be Trowa and Quatre's story. There are only a few small things in here which aren't explained ... and truthfully what I just said should explain it. ^_^

Warnings:  Lemony-Lime Scene, Language, and yet more sap.
Status:  COMPLETE

Duo was having a hard time keeping his eyes off Heero. They were practicing maintaining a steady level of spiritual power, and for some reason, Duo’s hormones had decided to take over his brain functions for the day. “Duo!” Trowa’s voice made the young boy jump. They had to have been practicing for at least five hours straight now, and Duo was tired, hungry, and very horny.

“What!? I’m doing like you asked. What more do you want?” Duo huffed and glared at Trowa, who very calmly walked over to him.

“I would like you to concentrate on something other than Heero’s ass.”

Duo became defensive; was he that transparent? If he was that obvious about his amorous feelings at the moment, why had Heero not noticed. Duo grunted, completely frustrated by the training and by Heero’s complete and utter obliviousness. “I’m hungry.”

“We’ll eat in a moment. Right now, prove to me that you can make and hold a small focused energy ball.” Duo glared once more, but promptly formed the same small glowing blue ball in his palms.

Heero moved to stand near Duo and watched intently. He knew that Duo could do this simple exercise, but there had been something off with his love all day. Heero had no idea what the problem could possibly be, so he had remained silent and tried not to aggravate much. Duo had been quite testy and Heero seemed to be the receiver of much of the anger.

Duo forced all his emotions into that small ball. He had been becoming increasingly frustrated as of late. Heero of course was oblivious, although, Duo knew that Heero wanted more from him, but the opportunity was never there. Trowa was always with them, damn him. Duo wished that he and Heero could move away, but they had to wait until they were accepted into the Shinigami Academy first.

“Very good Duo!” Trowa congratulated the angry braided boy after the set amount of time was over.

“Can we eat now?” Duo’s answer was a mischievous sounding laugh from Trowa.

“Not yet.”

“Huh?! What the fuck do you mean, ‘not yet?!’” With an agitated groan, Duo turned and began walking in the direction of their new home. It wasn’t much more than the last place they had stayed at, but it was bigger and now they had a separate bedroom from the kitchen. “I’m eating no matter what you say.”

“Du--” Heero began, but Trowa stopped him with his hand.

“Let him go. If he wants to be a quitter, fine. It’s his choice.” Trowa said this loudly, he was trying to prick Duo’s anger hoping that Duo would come back and finish. However, Trowa’s trick didn’t work. As Duo continued to walk away, he raised his fist and displayed his middle finger to Trowa. “I tried.” Trowa shrugged.

Heero grunted and cast one concerned look in Duo’s direction before he began the last bit of training. Trowa handed him a sword. “Where did you get this?” There was writing on the blade, it read, ‘Property of Shinigami Academy.’

Trowa laughed uneasily. “Don’t worry ... they’ll never know it was gone.” He pulled out his own and pointed it at Heero. “Come at me.”

Heero concentrated on Trowa, whose stance was infallible. Heero knew there was a very slim chance that in this first duel he would be the winner, but he was determined to give it his best. He charged at Trowa, who easily disarmed Heero.

“You’re holding it too loosely. Try again.” Again, Heero ran at Trowa, sword grasped tightly in his hands. This time when he was disarmed, his hands got bruised. “Too tight.”

Heero glared at Trowa. He picked up his sword and yet again came at Trowa. The two swords clinked loudly together and Heero managed to not lose his weapon. He grinned and began to gain confidence. To Trowa’s surprise, Heero was mimicking his own moves. After a few minutes of parrying, Trowa thought that he had found a weak spot in Heero’s tactics, but when he tried to exploit it, he failed. Heero stood atop Trowa, sword pointed at his throat. “I win.” Heero smirked, happy to have won against those slim odds.

“Impressive. But you only mimicked my moves. That won’t always work. You need to learn and create your own moves to counter different foes.” Trowa stood and handed another sword to Heero. “Take this to Duo. There’s somewhere I have to go.” With a small grunt, Heero took the sword and began to walk in the direction of the house. He and Duo were going to be alone for the first time in four years.


-----


Duo was sitting at the table eating when Heero walked into the house. “Trowa wanted me to give this to you.” Duo took the sword and examined it. A big grin formed on his round face as he lifted it into the air and gave it a few test swings.

“Why didn’t he come back with you?” Duo sat back down at the table and Heero pulled up a chair beside him.

“He said he had somewhere to go. So he just gave it to me.”

“Oh. So ...” Duo realized they were alone. “We’re alone!” Heero’s eyes widened at the excitement and pitch of Duo’s voice. Although he was seventeen and normally had a rich mid-baritone voice, he had just sounded as if he was thirteen again.

“Yes, Duo, we’re alone.” Duo leered at Heero as reality sunk into his heart and other places of his body. He grabbed Heero’s hand and dragged him into their bedroom. “Duo, I think we should be studying ... not sleeping.”

“Who said anything about sleeping.” Duo pressed his open mouth against Heero’s and roughly pressured his partner’s mouth open. Duo’s hot tongue plunged deep into Heero’s mouth, causing a wonderful warmth to flow through both their bodies. “Heero ...” Duo panted heavily against Heero’s moist lips. “If I don’t have you -- now -- I’m going to go insane. I can’t wait any longer.”

“Huh?” Heero’s wits were scrambled from the kiss, and the heat of Duo’s groin against his own.

Duo pulled away slightly and looked Heero in the eyes. “Heero ... don’t tell me you don’t understand.”

Heero mentally shook himself, trying to focus on what Duo was asking. “I u--understand. It’s just I think that we should be practicing.”

“What?! Heero ...” Duo’s head dropped down onto Heero’s shoulder. “Let’s lie down.” The two boys laid down on the bedrolls. “Are you not ready?”

“I--I actually am not completely sure. I never really thought about it. Well ... I have thought about it, but not with the full intent of doing it at that moment.”

Duo rolled onto his back and draped his arm across his eyes. “I’ll wait until you say you’re ready ... okay?”

Heero looked at Duo. The man was beautiful, and very irresistible, why was he hesitating? Heero had never felt unsure a day in his life, but for some reason, this man next to him made him feel turned upside down and inside out. He turned on his side and began to tenderly stroke the thick chestnut locks of Duo’s hair. Heero leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Duo’s ear. “I love you.” His voice was hushed and somewhat husky.

Duo moved his arm enough so that he could look at Heero’s eyes. He could see the slight doubt which Heero was feeling in those dark blue eyes. Duo placed his hand on Heero’s cheek. “It’ll be okay. If you want me to go first I can, or if you want to be the pilot ... I don’t really mind. It’s just -- I can’t wait any longer. If I have to I’ll go mad.”

Heero thought about Duo’s suggestion. He was willing to let Heero lead. “I want to have sex with you ... I’m just not really sure about everything we’re supposed to do.” A small blush formed quietly on Heero’s cheekbones. Duo tried not to let the snicker he felt rising from his gut slip out through his mouth.

Duo sat up so he could look directly into Heero’s face. “What is it that you don’t understand? Is it sex in general ... or sex between men?”

“Well, I know about sex. But -- I knew that two people of the same sex could ... I just never bothered finding out exactly how.” Heero looked away from Duo, trying to hide his embarrassment. It wasn’t the subject that was bothering him, it was the fact that he had no knowledge in this particular area of life. Luckily, Duo would be the only person to ever see this weakness.

Duo chuckled at Heero’s awkwardness. “It’s okay. Here’s what we’ll do, I’ll start -- if you at any time want to take over ... just let me know.” Heero nodded. Their lips met in a tender kiss which soon turned wild and hungry. Duo easily removed Heero’s shirt revealing a hard chiseled chest. His eyes ate every inch of the dark skin up with wild abandon. “You’re beautiful, Heero ... you drive me crazy.” Duo’s breath was rough and uneven as his mouth began to explore that sculpted torso. A moan of pleasure and desire escaped Heero’s lips, this startled him. His body tensed up and he suddenly was unsure of what to do. Duo groaned impatiently. “Heero ... relax. It’ll feel better.”

“I can’t. It’s -- it scares me.”

Duo’s head slumped down in exasperation. “Okay then ... you go.”

“Huh? But Duo ...”

“Listen, you’re anal, a control freak, and more uptight than I am. It’s natural you want to be in charge. I don’t really mind. Just remember though ... I don’t always want to be bottom.” Duo grinned and stripped off his clothes.

“Duo, I still don’t really know what to do.” Duo leaned up against Heero and ran his hand down the length of his back, into his pants. He gave Heero’s tight rump a healthy squeeze before showing him where the goal Heero would be searching for was. Heero gasped as Duo’s finger teased him.

“You understand now?”

Heero swallowed hard and looked into Duo’s deep indigo eyes. “Yes, I do. But isn’t it kind of small?”

Duo laughed hard, his whole body shaking with humor. He handed Heero a small tube. “That’s what this is for.” Heero read the label, it was lubrication. His mind pieced together everything which Duo had told him, and he now felt very ready to make love to Duo. Heero gazed at Duo, his eyes ran slowly over Duo’s lean body.

Heero cupped the side of Duo’s face in his hand and ran his thumb across wet lips. “You drive me crazy too. I don’t know if I should kiss you or slug you most of the time. But one thing I do know, is that I love you more than I can express with words.”

Duo gazed up into the face which was hovering inches from his own. Tears stung his eyes as he lifted his head to meet his lover’s open mouth. Their lips and tongues melded together in a languid rhythm. Duo had never realized how lonely he had felt until he had met Heero. Now he was going to finally be able to show Heero just how much he meant to him. Duo ran his hand down to Heero’s pants and untied the belt, which had already been loosened when Duo had removed his shirt. The pants fell easily from Heero’s lean hips. Lean fingers slowly caressed and explored the newly exposed areas. Heero groaned hungrily against Duo’s mouth. His own hand eagerly began to stroke and knead against his lover’s most private parts.

Duo’s legs moved restlessly as Heero stroked a wildfire within his groin. He wrapped his hand around Heero’s wrist and pulled away from his hot mouth. “I want to try and come together.” Heero couldn’t find his voice, he nodded in agreement. Duo spread his legs and guided Heero’s hand to the promise spot. One finger, then two, then three gently massaged and spread open his lover’s body, until Duo was ready.

Heero lifted one of Duo’s legs and slowly and carefully made their bodies one. Duo guided his body to release as Heero thrust gently at first, but as he lost all sense of the world around him, became more insistent. The two sweat laden bodies rocked together, love spreading throughout them. Then, with a white flash of light before his eyes, Heero climaxed and released. Duo’s groan of pleasure came shortly after.

Heero lay against Duo’s chest, as Duo stroked his lover’s hair. The boys were still recovering from their discovery of passion, when they heard the door open. “Shit.” Duo swore as he squirmed out from underneath Heero’s heavy body. “Put your clothes on!” Heero caught his clothes when Duo tossed them. They dressed quickly and walked into the main room of the house.

A young woman with light brown hair was standing in the doorway, a look of either pity or that of disgust was painted on her narrow face. Bright blue eyes turned to look at the two boys, who were both disheveled in appearance. “Are you Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell?”

“Yes.” The boys answered in tandem.

“Excellent. My name is Relena Peacecraft. I’ve come to give you an invitation.” Relena handed them each a piece of paper. The invitation was to attend a special festival where ten winners were to be granted admission into the academy. “Applications have become too great in number to accept all students. So we’ve come up with a clever solution. Well ... I did.” She grinned in her own praise. “I hope the two of you can attend. And I wish you luck.” Relena turned to leave, but before she did, she turned to the boys with one last piece of advice. “Oh ... and please make sure you’re dressed better next time.” With that she left.

“Ow.” Duo grunted as he sat on the hard dining chair.

“Are you okay?” Heero rushed to his side with concern glowing in his eyes.

“I’m fine.” Duo smiled to reassure his love and then looked at the invitation. “It says it’s next month. I guess we should start training.”

Heero smiled. “See.”

“Oh ... so now you’re saying you would’ve rather trained than --”

Heero cut off Duo. “No. That was joke.” Duo’s mouth hung open. He couldn’t believe it! Heero had actually told a joke. Laughter soon spilt forth from both boys.

“Just for that ... I want top next time.” Duo grinned and ran into the bedroom.

Heero’s eyebrow raised at the proposition. “Really? And just how do you figure that?”

Duo shrugged lazily. He loved joking with Heero, especially since he was always so deadpan about teasing. “Because, my ass hurts now, and I think yours should too.” Heero’s bottom lip promptly stuck out, Duo had hurt his feelings with that last remark. “Heero ...” Duo decided he needed to stop picking. “Sorry. It felt good. It did. Sorry, don’t be upset.”

A smirk slowly spread across Heero’s chiseled face. “Gotcha.”

“Hey! -- I -- I knew you were kidding.” Duo folded his arms against his chest in a defensive manner.

“You did not.”

“Did to!”

“I’m not arguing that way with you. We’re not children anymore.” Heero stripped his shirt and pants off his body. Duo looked at his lover with admiration in his eyes. The man was built perfectly. There were no flaws anywhere. As for his own body, well it wasn’t horrible, but he did have a little chest hair and freckles here and there. “Are you going to take off your clothes or am I going to have to do it for you?” Duo grunted annoyed with Heero for interrupting his ogling.

Duo slowly pulled his shirt off over his head and then took an excruciatingly long time to pull off his pants. Heero felt as if he were going to have to rip off Duo’s clothes if the man didn’t hurry. Heero moved closely to Duo and wrapped his arms around him. The two stood together holding each other and nipping gently on at each other’s necks. “My sexy man.” Duo squeezed Heero tightly, then lowered himself down onto his knees. He teased Heero before tenderly wrapping his mouth around him. Tongue and light teeth brushes drove Heero mad. He let out a long groan and threaded his fingers through Duo’s hair.

Duo’s lean fingers sought out what would soon be his shelter and carefully stretched Heero’s body. He guided his lover down onto the bed roll. Heero grinned. He spread his legs and then grabbed onto Duo to lead him home.

The two lay on the bed rolls, exhausted and thoroughly satisfied. Heero was amazed that he had been wanting that closeness with Duo for sometime, he just hadn’t realized that fact. “I love you, Duo ... so much it scares me.”

Duo was surprised to hear this confession from Heero, who was normally so closed mouthed about everything. “It scares me too. But that’s part of being in love. It’s stressful and wonderful all at the same time.” Duo gently kissed Heero’s forehead. He curled up against Heero and closed his eyes.

“Duo,” Heero began to absently stroke Duo’s long braid. “Will you always be with me?”

“Always, Hee-chan ... always. And if I lose you somehow, I’ll always find you ... no matter what.” Heero smiled at the childish nickname he had been given by Duo shortly after he had named Heero. It was only theirs to know. Heero pulled the cover over the two of them and closed his eyes as well.


-----


Duo and Heero were eating when Trowa returned home later that evening. “Hello, boys. Any problems today?”

The two boys shook their heads at the same time and watched as Trowa grabbed a sandwich for himself. “Where’d ya go?” Duo asked, way too curious about the fact that Trowa seemed to have a nice pleasant flowery smell about him.

“Ever heard the old phrase ... curiosity killed the cat?”

“I’m not a cat ... and I’m still alive aren’t I?” Duo smirked, a gleam in his bright indigo eyes.

“For the time being.” Trowa returned the smirk. “I’m tired, I think I’ll go to bed early.”

“‘Night.”

After a few moments Trowa came back to the kitchen, a small tube in his hand. “Boys ... I -- I think we need to have a talk.”

“Trowa, we already know about sex -- if that’s where this is going.”

“No. Please clean up after yourselves ... and wash the sheets please.” Trowa turned and walked back to the bedroom.

“Oops.” Duo and Heero began to laugh quietly. “I guess we did kind of forget to do that ... didn’t we.”

Heero nodded. He had been so happy since the day Duo had named him. He owed everything to this young, bright, handsome, braided boy. Heero wasn’t sure if Duo was as attached to him as Heero was to Duo, but he knew one thing was certain ... no one would ever take Duo away from him.


-----


“Duo, come at me like you mean it.” Heero was becoming frustrated with Duo’s lack of seriousness with their training.

“I can’t Heero. I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.” Duo rolled his eyes. He could attack Trowa with no problems, but Heero was a different story. He couldn’t just blindly swing to kill with his sword as far as Heero was concerned.

“Duo, the point of training is to actually fight, so that when you are in a battle ... you won’t freeze up.” Heero sighed, weary to his bones. He was so worried that he would get into the academy, but Duo wouldn’t. “Let’s try again.” Duo and Heero began to parry and thrust. Duo wasn’t completely holding back this time, but he still wouldn’t fight with everything he had locked with himself. However, Heero found himself on the losing end in this battle. A bright smile spread across Duo’s face ever so slowly.

“I win.”

Heero nodded. “Yes ... you did. Very good.”

Duo laughed a little embarrassed by the praise. “Thanks.” The two of them walked over to a blanket which was spread out under their willow tree. “So, do you think that we can get into the academy?”

Heero handed Duo an apple. “If everyone else is at our level or less, I think we stand a good chance. The invitation said that along with five recruits, there were to be ten new students chosen from this contest.”

“Only ten. Well, maybe that’s a lot. I mean, we don’t know how many people were given invites.” Duo leaned back and bit into his apple. The wind rustled through the leaves and cooled his brow. The two boys had been practicing since after eating breakfast early that morning.

“Duo ...” Heero felt a little awkward opening up to Duo still, but it was getting easier. Duo had told him that if they were going to have a working relationship, he would have to learn how to open up to him and communicate. “I don’t want to be separated from you. I want you to get serious about this training so I’ll know that you’ll be with me.”

Duo was slightly taken aback by the emotion which he heard in Heero’s deep voice. He smiled with reassurance. “You worry too much. It’ll be fine. I’ll make it ... promise!” Heero grunted in return. He didn’t quite believe the goof-off, but he knew that once Duo promised, he kept it ... no matter what.


-----


Duo panted and wiped his brow with his forearm. He had been practicing without Heero’s knowledge every night. At least he thought that Heero didn’t know. Duo concentrated on the wooden planks which dangled from the branches of a tree. He held his sword at ready and charged. Over and over, he had charged those planks until he could successfully clear them without being touched. A big grin spread across his face as he, for the tenth time that night, fought off all of his wooden foes. It was now time for him to practice concentrating his spiritual energy.

As always, Duo began with a small ball of energy in his palms. This task was beginning to feel completely natural, which was the way it should according to Trowa. Then Duo turned and faced the tree. He took a deep breath and then ran as fast as he could toward the tree. Hands outstretched, he slammed into the tree and broke the thick trunk in half. Duo stared at what he had just accomplished.

“I didn’t know you had that much spiritual energy in you.” Trowa startled Duo when he placed his hand on his slender shoulder.

“I didn’t either. I thought that I’d bounce off of the tree.”

“I think you should go and sleep now. You’ll be fine, there’s no need to worry about being separated from Heero.” Duo nodded and slowly walked back to the house. Trowa stayed and inspected the tree. There were burn marks around the area where Duo had touched the bark. “Wow. If he applies himself in the academy, he and Heero will be the two top students.” Trowa smiled to himself. He had taught his students well. “Wonder if Quatre’s awake ...” He chuckled softly and shook his head. “It’s three in the morning, why would he be awake.”


Duo crawled into bed next to Heero, who promptly rolled over so that he could lay face to face with Duo. “You were practicing again, weren’t you?”

Duo let out a small noise that sounded almost like a squeak. With a chuckle, he wrapped his arms around Heero. “Maybe.” Heero sighed and kissed Duo on the cheek. “I love you, Hee-chan.”

“I love you too, even if you drive me crazy.”

Duo laughed. “But you love how I drive you crazy.” He snuggled closer to Heero and yawned loudly. “Goodnight, Heero.”

“Goodnight.”


-----


Duo and Heero walked into the stadium where the games were to be held. The place was huge, and there were at least one hundred other people who were milling around the fairgrounds. “Great. Looks like we’ve got a lot of competition.” Duo frowned and began to walk a little in front of Heero and Trowa.

Heero was watching Duo walk. The boy was acting like he was going to fail just because there were so many more people who he was going to compete against. Heero was amazed that Duo had such little confidence in himself as far as his abilities were concerned. “Trowa, why aren’t you participating?”

“Because, I’ve already been accepted.”

Heero’s eyes widened. “Really, you were one of the few who were asked?”

“I was.” Heero opened his mouth to ask another question, but Trowa stopped him with a wave of his hand. “Look don’t you think you should be warming up and signing in?”

Heero grunted affirmatively and ran to join Duo at the sign-up booth. “Duo, remember ...”

“Yeah, yeah ... I haven’t forgotten.” Duo winked at Heero. “Remember, everything’s under control.” Heero felt somewhat better, but he knew that he’d still be uneasy until after the winners had been announced.


The matches had already been determined, and Duo was with one of the strongest prospects. “What a surprise that is.” Duo snorted and turned to Heero. “Do they think it’s funny to put the skinniest person here with that.” He pointed to a large and tall man who was leaning against the wall. The man’s head almost hit where the seats in the stands began and that was a good seven feet high.

“It’ll be okay, Duo.”

“Okay!?” Duo’s voice squeaked with excitement. “Right ... it’ll be fine -- so long as he doesn’t sit on me!!” Duo hung his head in frustration. “Why does it always have to be me? Why God ... why? That’s it -- God hates me.”

Heero couldn’t help but laugh at the despair in Duo’s voice. “Duo, all you have to do is defeat him with your sword ... that’s all. Then you’ll move on to the next round, which is spiritual energy level measuring. And you’ve got an abundance of that ... so long as you concentrate.”

“I know ... I know.”

The announcer read Duo’s name and the name of his opponent a few moments later. Duo dragged himself into the fighting ring. He looked up at the gargantuan man and smiled. He took up his stance and garnered all his energy into defeating the large man. When the ref called fight, Duo charged with all he had.

The fight lasted only a few minutes. Because of Duo’s size, he was able to run around the ring and confuse the much bigger man. Duo stood in the middle of the ring, a large smile plastered on his face as the announcer stated his win. He ran over to Heero and hugged him. “I won!” Duo bounced up and down happily, completely amazed that he had been able to bring down the goliath.

“Yes you did. My turn now.” Heero entered the ring and faced his opponent. She was small, and timid. Heero felt as if he hadn’t been given a fair fight. “Well, that was too easy. It wasn’t fun.”

“Heero, it was a good thing. This way you had no possible way to lose.” Duo smiled and patted Heero on the back. Heero took a deep breath; everything was moving along the way he had hoped. There were only two more rounds, and then they would be narrowed down with interviews.

Soon it was time for Duo and Heero to line up for the spiritual energy test. They both concentrated as hard as they could. Heero found that he was very surprised by the amount which Duo released. The two passed and it was on to the next and final round of physical tests. There twenty recruits left, and five of them would be dismissed after this round. This final test was one of speed and agility. The contestants were required to successfully run an obstacle course. Duo chuckled with confidence. “Finally something that I’m going to not have to think too much about.” Heero smiled and watched as Duo began the course. Duo’s time was the quickest up to that point, and he was the only one to have been able to clear it with no problems. Heero’s run wasn’t quite as smooth, but his time was near that of Duo’s ... he had passed as well.

The fifteen recruits were then taken to the school where they were to be interviewed individually. They were left in one of the classrooms, awaiting the teachers entry. “So, Heero, what do you think they’ll ask us?”

“I’m not sure. This was the one part that Trowa never quizzed us on.” Duo could tell that Heero was equally as nervous as he was. One slip up, and they could be separated. After waiting a while, fifteen teachers dressed in shinigami uniforms entered the room. Among them was the girl, Relena Peacecraft. One by one, the teachers called out the name of a recruit and led them out of the room.

Duo’s name was called by a small dark haired girl. He walked up to her and smiled. “Duo?”

“Yeah.”

“My name is Akimori Aya. I’m a member of the eleventh gotei. Would you please follow me.” Duo nodded and cast one last look at Heero over his shoulder.

Heero’s name was called out by Relena herself. He greeted her with a nod and she led him away to the room where his interview was to be held. “Relax, Heero-kun. Everything will be alright with your friend. I actually was asked to give you an interview, but I don’t think that’s very necessary. I approve of you already. In fact, when we were originally gathering information on all the applicants, I was most intrigued by your application.”

“My ... application? What do you mean?” Heero didn’t remember ever filling out any type of application. He then realized that Trowa must have been the one to do so. A smile lit up his face as he thought that Trowa must have high confidence in both Heero and Duo.

“You’re smiling. Did you just realize that your friend was the one who recommended both you and Duo Maxwell?”

“Yes.”

“I promise that Aya is a good person. She’s very skilled at getting people to relax and open up. All we’re simply doing is seeing who has what it takes to be a true shinigami. That’s all. Nothing scary.” Relena smiled and pulled out a clipboard which she handed to Heero. “Here, you need to fill this out. It indicates that I have approved you. After you fill it out I’ll sign it then we’ll go see my brother.” Heero nodded and read the acceptance form.

“So we’ll live on campus?”

“Yes. If you would like, I’ll see if you and Duo can be placed in the same dorm. I wouldn’t want to separate best friends.” Heero nodded and then signed the form and handed it back to Relena. The two left the small office and walked through several hallways until they reached Zechs Marquise’s office.

“His name’s not the same as yours.” Heero realized that was an obvious observation, but he couldn’t stop the words from spilling out of his mouth.

“I know. We were brother and sister in real life. We’re both very fortunate to have actually found each other ... since that’s a very rare occurrence.” Relena handed the form to Heero. “Take this in to him and then he’ll tell you what will happen next.”

Heero walked inside the office. Zechs was sitting with his feet up on the large oak desk and leaning back in his overstuffed leather chair. “Ah, Heero-kun. I was wondering when you’d show up. I saw your performance today, I believe you’ll make an excellent shinigami.”

“Thank you, sir.” Heero handed Zechs the form, who skimmed it quickly then tossed it on his desk.

“Congratulations, Heero-kun, and welcome to the academy.” geovisit();