Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Sandrock was no more ❯ Chapter four ( Chapter 5 )

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Chapter four

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The braided boy kicked at the soda can again. It bounced and clanked along the pavement until it came to a rest and Duo kicked it again. The boy didn't have on his usual mask of carefree happiness; instead he was as visibly depressed as the grey drizzling rain that blanketed the town.

"Baka, Hiiro." He muttered to himself, shoving his hands deeper into his trench coat's pockets and kicking the can again. "Trowa's not the only one, you know." He kicked at it again, "I miss him too. But did Baka Hiiro ever think of that? Noooooo." He made a face of a child sulking, "Did he ever stop to think that maybe it would be too soon for the rest of us? That maybe others might still be mourning him?"

He growled in angry frustration kicking the can harder. It went flying farther than before, hitting the side of a building and landing behind a fence. "Baka Hiiro!!" Duo shouted, "Damn it! It's only been a year! ONE FREAKIN' YEAR!"

Yelling felt good. He'd been keeping his emotions bottled up for too long. He needed to vent. So without a care of who saw him, Duo went right on ranting, yelling up at the sky as if it would answer his accusations. "QUATRE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!!! HE WAS THE KINDEST PERSON I'VE EVER KNOWN!! WHY THE HELL DID HE HAVE TO DIE? WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN ME?"

Duo paused. His breath became choked up in a sob. With a pitiful wail, the braided boy fell to his knees. "Why couldn't it have been me?" He asked again. He bowed his head and allowed the tears to stream down his cheeks. "Why him? Why Quatre?" He sobbed.

"I ask myself that question every night, Duo." A quiet voice whispered from behind the braided boy.

Duo struggled to stifle his hiccupping sobs, "What the hell are you talking about, Hiiro?"

The Japanese boy sat himself down next to the American in the misted of the wet grass and rain. "You were right, Duo. Trowa isn't the only one mourning Quatre." He said without looking at Duo. "I mourn him."

Duo snorted, "You? The `Perfect Soldier'? I thought you didn't have emotions. I thought you said that he was nothing but a casualty of war."

Hiiro slowly nodded, "I did." And then he sighed, "But I didn't mean it."

"Then why do you want to make us forget him?" The braided boy asked bitterly.

"You could never forget him, Duo." Hiiro said shaking his head, "And nothing I say or do will change that." He turned and eyed the braided boy seriously, "But, You and Wu Fei and I are able to go on with our lives. We still do the same things we did before he died. Trowa can't. Trowa isn't moving past this. It's slowly killing him, physically. He's not eating, he doesn't sleep. His spirit died a long time ago." Hiiro shrugged, "Maybe I was wrong, but I don't think he'll ever pull himself out of this if we don't push him. I believe that the first step is clearing out Quatre's things. Without the constant reminder, it might make it easier." Hiiro's face became saddened, "I don't know about you, Duo, but I'd rather not lose another one of my friends."

Duo was quiet for a minute, rolling what he'd heard around his head. After a bit he looked at the other boy, "Why couldn't you have explained this before? Instead of just dumping it on us this morning? You know Trowa's not the only one who hated that idea! Wu Fei and I just played along because you said to!"

"I suppose I could have." Hiiro admitted, "But I wasn't sure how you'd all take it. Why didn't you tell me your frustrations earlier? After Trowa had left? You started to. It would have been better than the whole neighborhood finding out what an idiot you think I am."

Duo shrugged, playing with the tip of his long chestnut braid, "And make you think something's wrong?"

"I already knew something was wrong." Hiiro said quietly, slowly.

Duo looked up at the other boy sharply. His dark violet eyes held confusion. Then he looked down at the grass as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. He swallowed hard.

"Duo," Hiiro started, "When a person who talks as much as you do, suddenly can't find anything to say, it's a pretty good indicator."

A smirk crossed the braided boy's face, "Yeah, I guess so."

Hiiro stood and stretched, "I've got to go find Wu Fei. We have a mission later tonight."

"A…a mission?" Duo frowned, "But, Hiiro…"

"I know." Hiiro nodded, "But Dr. J isn't one to let personal feelings and fears get in the way of what has to be done."

"I know." Duo sighed, and looked up. "I'll stay with Trowa."

Hiiro nodded, giving his traditional `hn.' As he turned to leave.

"You do know, Hiiro," Duo started in all seriousness. The Japanese boy paused. "I don't really think you're an idiot."

A small smile crept across the stoic one's face. "I'll be back later, Duo."

"Later." The braided one smiled.

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Wu Fei frowned. He was examining Shenlong's structure for abnormalities. Ever since the bombing of Sandrock, he had become very paranoid of security; especially since they hadn't caught the person responsible. So before every mission, he did a thorough search of his Gundam. He had, however, not expected to actually find something.

Now he stood face to face with an explosive mechanism. Wu Fei's first thought was to disarm it, but it had a tamperproof security measure embedded in it. He then noticed that there was also a timer. The numbers slowly counted backwards.

`Damn.' The Chinese boy thought to himself. `I could fly it out of here, and get a safe distance away from the others… but…' "What is this?" The boy frowned, squinting at a small wire.

"Wu Fei, are you almost ready to go?" Hiiro's voice cut into his thoughts.

"Yui, I think you should see this." The Chinese boy said, trying to keep his voice from shaking as what he was looking at made more and more sense.

"What is it?" The Japanese pilot said walking over.

"I think you should check Zero's structure. I found a nasty little present on Nataku's external frame." He pointed to the bomb. "I think it's the same thing that killed, Quatre."

"Is…Is that what I think it is?" Hiiro frowned.

"Yup. It's a heat sensor." Wu Fei shook his head. "Who ever set this didn't want it to be moved. If I leave it be, the timer will go off. If I try and disarm it, the tamperproof will kick in, and if I try to fly it out of here…"

"Your verniay fuel will cause it to ignite." Hiiro finished. "Destroying you like it did, Quatre."

Wu Fei visibly shuddered. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

"Hang on; I'm going to check out Wing Zero." Hiiro said running over to his suite.

"I'm going to check out Heavyarms and Deathscythe too." Wu Fei said heading to Trowa and Duo's Gundams. He paused, and turned to face the other boy, "Uh… Hiiro, what are we going to do if all four have the same device?"

Hiiro's face grew more serious, "I honestly don't know."

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She scowled.

Of course she had known about the Chinese boy's paranoia, but the fact that it had been over looked, put her in a very bad mood. Yes, she should have known better. Now things might not go as planned. That'd piss off her boss.

Her boss had rebuked her for the blonde's "Accidental" death.

Little did her boss know.

Killing the Arabian had been almost too easy. It had almost been fun. God, she had hated that boy. It was all she could do not to burst out laughing in the middle of the funeral. Of course, the others had been too enveloped in their own misery to have even noticed that she had even been there.

Her scowl deepened.

He hadn't even noticed. She had specifically gone there to see him, but damn it all, he didn't even notice. She honestly wasn't surprised. Not at all surprised. However, that did not mean that it made her any less angry.

Stupid boy.

Yes, killing the Arabian had been too easy. The bastard deserved to suffer in unimaginable ways. He didn't deserve the swift death that had been granted him. She wanted to take him and kill him a thousand more times. Each death more painful than the last.

She smirked.

The others might prove more of a challenge, but she'd enjoy every minute of it.

After all…

It's not every day that you get the opportunity to kill off the Gundam pilots.

To be continued…