Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Shounen Kakumei Duo ❯ The Black Rose Bud ( Chapter 2 )

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. I posted this on ff.net, and I'm unsure about rewriting it. Please leave some feedback...?))

"The Black Rose Bud"

~*~

A beeping nose. It's rather annoying. Shut up. Go away.

Duo swung his arm outside from the bed covers and hit the small alarm clock set on a table next to his bed. It fell and hit the floor, finally shutting up its alarm. Finally, now to get more sle-

Instantly, Duo shot up from bed and picked up the alarm clock. Class was set to start in. fifteen minutes? Quickly, he dropped the alarm clock and headed towards the bathroom.

'I thought I set that damn thing earlier...!' he thought to himself, angrily. Even though Duo was a new student at the Ohtori Academy, Noin had informed him that he was to immediately start class the very next day. She also had Duo stay in the East Hall; a pretty far distance from the main campus. The dormitory building itself would've been lonely, except for dust and insects, had not Duo moved in yesterday evening. Having nothing but his priest attire, he was suddenly glad that the school had furnished him with a place to stay, a school uniform, and any other necessities he might need.

Literally running out of the bathroom and in the middle of the process of braiding his hair, he spotted something unfamiliar on his dresser. There was a small, white envelope with a ring next to it, the envelope baring a red rose seal on it. After finishing his braid, Duo walked over to his dresser and looked at the ring, then at the envelope. Casting away his gaze from the ring for a moment, he casually opened up the envelope and withdrew a small letter from it. Strangely, the paper that the letter was printed on carried the heavy scent of roses. Coincidence? Duo didn't think so.

Expecting to see a reminder of the school rules and whatnot, the letter only contained one sentence:

"Be free and revolutionize the world..."

Duo raised an eyebrow at that. What did -that- mean? He looked back at the ring. He folded back up the letter and placed it back into the envelope, taking the ring and holding it up to get a better look at it. It was white all about, and in the center of the outside of the ring was a small circle with the same rose seal was on the envelope, but the rose was a deep violet color instead...almost black. Duo slid it onto his right ring finger and held up his hand. The ring fit his finger perfectly. Lowering his hand, he placed his left hand over it and attempted to slide it off. 'Oh shit, it's stuck,' he thought to himself as he pulled harder. He tugged at it a bit more with his right arm and attempted to yank it with his left. He pulled harder and harder, until his left hand slipped off his finger. He grunted lightly at the pain that followed. 'I'll deal with it later,' he thought to himself as he reached over for his provided black book bag. He took one last glance in the mirror before heading out the door. It still had a little dust on it; as did the rest of his room. He didn't clean up much of it last night, and all that cleaning tired him out. And he wasn't even done! At that though, he brushes a little dust off the shoulder of his black school uniform, then quickly headed out the door, and headed for the main campus.

The sound of a sharp slap caught Duo's ears.

Duo slowed down his running pace to a stop. The only sound that echoed in the large hallway was his own footsteps, until the sound of a slap was heard. Soon, he heard another, then the collapse of someone. Was there going to be a fight?

Changing his direction, Duo slowly began to walk towards the area of where he heard the slap. Turning around by a corner, facing a large flight of stairs, there stood Heero, in the same red school uniform that he was wearing yesterday, complete with a golden trim and white slacks and formal white shoes. He had his right hand raised threateningly, and below him against another wall was Relena, with her black book bag lying next to her and herself huddled towards the wall, her left cheek a bright red color. She seemed to be trembling.

"Heero!"

Heero turned his gaze to Duo, meeting his eyes with a sharp glare. Duo felt himself jump slightly from Heero's sudden stare. Relena, still huddled by the wall, also turned her gaze to Duo. Her eyes were watery with fright in them.

"Who are you?" asked Heero, his voice sounding dangerous. Duo tilted his head to the side, and then raised one of his hands to scratch the back of his neck.

"It's me, Heero... Duo," he said. Heero lowered his hand and turned fully to Duo. Relena hesitated for a moment, before slowly raising to her feet. She bent down and picked up her book bag, holding it close to her chest with both her arms wrapped around it.

"I don't recall having seen you around here," said Heero. Duo met his fierce gaze again, then lowered his hand from his neck and waved it about in front of him.

"Well, I just came here yesterday. Saw you and Quatre on that balcony, y'know? Oh, she was there too," he indicated to Relena, and then continued, "but what I wanna know is why are you treating her this way? True, she's annoying as hell and we all don't like her, but don't you think that this is a bit extre-"

Heero's eyes grew as he spotted the ring upon Duo's right ring finger. He quickly walked up to him and grasped his wrist tightly, bringing it up and to get a good look at it.

"Where did you acquire this?!" he asked. Duo blinked, then glanced at the ring and forced a grin.

"Found it on my dresser this morning... kinda stuck there, though," he said. Heero's eyes narrowed as he stared into Duo's, studying him for a moment. Duo felt himself begin to cower under that fierce gaze.

"If you really wish for me to stop treating the Rose Bride in such a manner, then why not fight for her?" Heero asked, the corner of his mouth curling into a slight smirk. Duo's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly.

"What? No, I just said that I think that this is a bit extre-"

"If you feel that strongly about it, I challenge you to a Duel, Duo," Heero interrupted. He let go of Duo's wrist, then turned around and grabbed Relena by her lower arm.

"After your last class, meet me at the Dueling grounds. Bring a sword and some luck," he said, tauntingly. He quickly began to walk away with Relena almost being dragged behind him, allowing herself to be. As he walked past Duo, he flashed him another smirk, though this one sent a chill down Duo's spine. Quickly, Duo turned around and watched as Heero walked away with Relena, down the hall and soon, out of the building.

"Shit! I'm late!" said Duo as he glanced down at his watch. Quickly, he began to run back in the direction from which he came and headed for his first hour class.

Knocking at the door first, Duo waited for an answer. After a moment, it opened slowly, with the teacher standing behind it.

"Yes...?" the female teacher asked. Duo's eyes widened. It was Sally Po!

"Wait, you must be the new student, correct?" she asked quickly. Before Duo could open his mouth, Sally took a step back and gestured him into the class. Hesitating for a moment, Duo slowly stepped into the large classroom. In less than a second, Duo felt the gaze of almost all the students resting upon him...judging him. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Your name must be Duo Maxwell. Since today is your first day, I'll let this tardy slip. But let me warn you, another tardy and we've got problems," she said, calmly. Duo nodded slowly, looking from student to student. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar face in the back of the class. There, sitting in the back corner of the classroom, was Wufei. He was engulfed in a textbook before him, his reading glasses presently on his face. He didn't seem to notice the sudden class interruption.

"Duo, you're to sit by Wufei Chang. You see that empty seat in the back of the classroom?" asked Sally, indicating to the empty desk to the right of Wufei. Duo nodded slowly, and then began to walk to that desk. The heavy weight of the classroom's gaze was still upon him, causing him to grin nervously at the crowd as he took his seat. He placed his black book bag onto the desk top and looked upwards to the front of the class as Sally took her place behind the teacher's desk.

"Now, proceeding with the lesson for today..."

Duo glanced at Wufei, who was still absorbed in the textbook. His uniform was in the same style as Heero's and Quatre's, but he wore a light blue overcoat instead, complete with a gold trimming and white slacks. Duo guessed that that was the attire of the student council, except each member had his or her own colored overcoat.

"Hey... Wufei!"

Wufei ignored Duo and continued to devour the text with his eyes scanning across its pages.

"Wufei!"

Ignoring him once again, Wufei continued to read silently, ignoring both Duo and Sally's lesson.

"Wuffles!"

Finally, Wufei's eyes escaped the white pages of knowledge and narrowed slightly at Duo. He proceeded to turn the page of the textbook, before Duo interrupted him.

"Wufei, please tell me that you remember me!" Duo said quietly, just enough for Wufei to hear. Wufei raised an eyebrow, then lifted his head up from the textbook and faced Duo, looking him up and down; studying him briefly.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, calmly. Duo exhaled and shook his head.

"Other than Sally pointing you out, we're-"

"Mr. Maxwell, I don't appreciate you ignoring today's lesson," said Sally, sharply. Duo jumped at her voice. He quickly sat upright and forced a nervous grin at her.

"My bad," he said, nervously. Sally eyed him, then turned her back and continued with her lecture. Quickly, Duo looked over to Wufei again, who was engulfed back in his textbook.

"Chang! What the hell is this?" asked Duo, holding up his right arm to show him the rose ring. Wufei lifted his gaze up from his book, and then looked at Duo's ring. Quickly, he sat up and placed the textbook on the desk, along with his reading glasses.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked.

"It was on my dresser with a letter with this seal on it," he said, pointing to the rose on the ring.

"What did the letter say?" Wufei asked. Duo drew back his hand and leaned on the desk top with his arm.

"Something about being free and revolutionizing something," he said. Wufei nodded, then sat back and lifted up his right hand, showing Duo that he bore the exact same ring- except for his contained a blue rose, rather than a black rose.

"As far as I know, only the student council members bare the Rose Seal," he said. Duo's eyes widened slightly.

"Am I in student council?" he asked, anxiously. Wufei lowered his hand and shook his head.

"Unless you receive a letter from World's End specifically saying that you are to participate in the Student Council, no," he said. Duo paused, blinked, and opened his mouth to ask Wufei about 'World's End', but the Chinese continued.

"But since you bare the Rose Seal, I take it that you are to participate in the Duels to obtain the Rose Bride," said Wufei. 'Rose Bride... Heero said something about that earlier,' Duo thought that to himself. He opened his mouth to ask Wufei about that.

"Mr. Maxwell!"

Duo jumped at the sound of Sally's voice. He turned to face the front of the class and offered yet another nervous grin.

"I'm sorry! Won't happen again," he said. Sally narrowed her eyes slightly, keeping her gaze upon Duo for another moment, before returning back to her lesson. Wufei leaned towards Duo.

"After class, I'll point out where to obtain a temporary sparring sword and the direction to the Dueling grounds," he whispered. Duo nodded slowly, and then returned his gaze to the front of the classroom, not wanting to be scolded by Sally again.

After class, Wufei signaled for Duo to follow him through the rush of students going to their next class. From his impression of Duo, he had a feeling that if he just told him where to get a sparring sword and whatnot, then Duo's just forget easily. But that was just the impression he got from the talkative American. He wasn't for sure if he was that way or not.

"Hey, what's 'World's End'?" asked Duo as he and Wufei made their way through the various students. Wufei kept his eyes focused forward.

"World's End is that which formed the Student Council. That's all you need to know," said Wufei, bluntly. Duo frowned.

"All righty then. What's a 'Rose Bride'?" he asked. Wufei kept his gaze forward.

"The Rose Bride is the key to obtaining the 'power'," was all he said. Duo waited for a moment, expecting Wufei to add something to his last sentence. When he didn't, he spoke up.

"...And that means...?" he asked, waving an arm in front of him to emphasize his words. Wufei didn't cast a glance at the braided boy and kept walking.

"That means you have to find out," he said, continuing his pace of walking. Duo pouted, and then sighed. 'Stubborn as always.' he thought to himself.

Not long after, Duo and Wufei had walked up to what seemed like a lone classroom. Wufei reached into his coat pocket and withdrew out a few keys connected by a key chain. He fumbled with it for a moment, looking for the right one. Duo had noticed that a majority of students had left to their next classes, thus emptying the hallways.

"Hey, we gonna be late for next class?" asked Duo. Wufei finally found the right key and slid it into the keyhole, pausing for a second before turning it.

"Yes, you are," Wufei said, casually. Duo turned to him as he opened up the door. He stepped inside, and then flicked on a light beside the entrance. Peeking inside, Duo saw what appeared to be a small locker room. Wufei stepped to the side, and a bit of fumbling was heard.

"What kind of sword do you spar with?" he asked. Duo paused for a moment, dumbfounded by the question.

"Sword? I don't use sword," he replied. For a moment, he was tempted to saw, 'I use Deathscythe!', but he didn't think it'd be wise. Wufei stepped into view, his eyes narrowed at Duo.

"...You look like you'd use kendo or something. You know what that is?" he asked. Duo looked up at the ceiling, folding his arms behind his neck.

"That has to do with those big, wooden sticks, right?" he asked back. Wufei rolled his eyes and stepped back into the small room.

"So I'd just come right back here after school, right?" Duo asked.

"After school?" Wufei asked, still in the room.

"Yeah. Heero challenged me to one of those Duels," he said, casually. Quickly, Wufei shot up and stared at the American.

"You've already been challenged by the Student Council president?" he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. Duo looked at him, and then nodded.

"Yep. That's why I was kinda late for class earlier," he replied. Wufei paused for a moment, and then disappeared back into the small locker room.

"You've never told me your name, other than Sally yelling out your last name in class," he said. Duo unfolded his arms and places him in his pockets. That's right. He'd have to reintroduce himself to everyone here... even to Quatre.

"Duo Maxwell," he said.

Wufei rose back up from the room, and then closed it behind him, without locking it.

"I left out a practice kendo stick out for you. There's a name tag on it with your name. You ruin that sword and you owe the school a new one," he said. Duo nodded slowly.

"Now get to class," he said, as he began to walk in the direction of his next class. Duo's eyes widened.

"But I don't have an excuse for being late...!" he said. Wufei shrugged and continued walking.

"Not my problem," the onyx haired boy replied. Duo frowned.