Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Psionic Saga ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One

Heero Yuy breathed out heavily and leant back in the small chair. It was not comfortable, but it was efficient for the purpose. At times he had contemplated getting something more comfortable, considering the amount of time he spent in the chair, but it did not seem appropriate. Why buy another chair when the one he had was fine? It was something his room-mate would do, which was all the more reason not to do it.

Instead, Heero leant forward and pressed the `enter' key on his laptop. The screen went blank and the printer buzzed quickly, divulging the assignment he had just spent seven straight hours completing. It was due in six hours. He had expected it to take longer and was not sure what to do with his free time.

Looking around the small dorm room, he frowned. It was a rare thing for him to frown, but he thought himself justified. There was a definite line down the centre of the room, one he himself had demanded exist, for good reason. On his side of the line was a perfectly tidy desk with a laptop and a small pile of books that still looked brand new. There was his bed, neatly made, and there was his school bag. That was all.

On the other side of the line Heero knew there was a bed, but he could not see it. In its place was what appeared to be a mountain of manga magazines. Surrounding this bizarre mountain all the way to the line separating the room were piles of clothes, most of them surprisingly clean. Near the bed was the desk. It was almost visible beneath the assorted piles and boxes of machinery. There was no sign of school books.

Heero assumed the lack of books meant his room-mate had gone in search of someone to help him with his assignment. Heero recalled him asking for help and vaguely realised he had refused. He was glad he had, because Duo Maxwell didn't need any help. He just liked to make people think he did.

With the tip of one perfectly shined black shoe, Heero kicked the few clothing items that had crossed the line back onto Duo's side of the room. Heero knew Duo would not stop to clean up his mess. At first Heero had cleaned the room out of sheer annoyance. Then he had got annoyed. Yes, annoyed. Heero had never really understood his emotions. He just knew he had to banish them so life was easy. So, once he was annoyed he had calmly come up with the great idea.

He painted a red line down the centre of the small room. The only time Duo was to cross that line was when entering or exiting. Heero was amazed how well it worked.

The door slammed open loudly and a bag flew through the air, skimming Heero's ear and landing on the manga mountain. Heero spun sharply around to see Duo storm into the room, his left hand cradled against his chest while he made massive, meaningless gestures with the other.

For his part Duo paid Heero no attention, still furious his room-mate had refused to help him. It wasn't like he had needed the help, but it would have been nice to know he gave a damn. Instead Heero cared only for himself, and gave all his precious attention to his computer.

Heero watched in fascination as Duo pushed a rather heavy box of machine parts of his desk with a loud smash, ignored the noise completely and in its place put down a rather large pile of text books. The books looked as if someone had dragged them through a warzone. Heero almost smiled as he looked about the tiny space on that side of the line. The books had survived more than a warzone. They had survived Duo Maxwell.

Duo was grumbling loudly as he knelt down by the bed, ignoring the clothes he crawled all over as he slipped under the bed. Intrigued, Heero continued to watch as Duo disappeared under the manga mountain for a few minutes. Eventually a hand appeared, grasping a bottle of shampoo. Another appeared holding a bottle of conditioner. When at last Duo's head came out from under the mountain the boy was grimacing, ready to puke. Heero did not blame him as he realised the funny shape in Duo's mouth was a cake of soap.

Not bothering to brush off his now rather dusty clothes, Duo kicked a towel off the floor into his arms and hurried out the door, headed for the dorm's showers. Heero stuck his head out the door and watched his room-mate until the boy kicked open the bathroom door and it slammed shut at his heels. Within minutes Heero could hear the water going and Duo spluttering madly about the top ten reasons why people should make flavoured soap.

Shaking his head, Heero slipped back into their room and shut the door. He then went over the red line and shuffled through the pile of books on the table. He would have felt guilty about going through Duo's things, except for two reasons. He had never said Duo's side of the room was out of bounds, only his own, and Duo had never picked up on that small hitch in the rules. Secondly, he wasn't sure how to feel guilty. Instead, he looked around the messy area in annoyance, because Duo's assignment was not in any of the books.

Has he even started yet? Heero could not be sure. There had been times when Heero would see Duo go off to class ten minutes early without his work done, yet by the time Heero turned up Duo would have something to hand in. Not something brilliant, but something nonetheless.

From the corner of his eye Heero noticed the backpack nestled in the mountain of manga. Being very careful to take note of just how it had landed and how the things inside were sitting, Heero shuffled through Duo's things until he finally found it. Tucked between the pages of a slim black workbook was a folded set of pages in the familiar black scrawl.

Listening carefully Heero could still hear the water running and Duo's loud singing. Satisfied he still had time, Heero quickly read through Duo's assignment. It was clever, sharp and while not exactly to the point, the waffling certainly gave a larger picture Heero had never considered. It was tinged with humour yet when there was a point to made Duo had made it, almost too clearly.

Sighing as he replaced the essay, Heero erased any sign he had stepped over the red line and sat on his bed. He did not understand Duo one bit. They had been room-mates for three years, since their arrival at the private college in their first year of high school, yet in all that time Duo never ceased to confuse and amaze. Everyone loved Duo. It was impossible not to. The girls flocked to him whenever he dared show his face, yet Duo, while flirting insanely with them all, had failed to accept a single date. His only real friends were the small group Heero himself was a part of.

Heero could not understand why Duo remained so isolated. He seemed to fear human touch, even despise it to a certain extent, unless he himself initiated it. He also seemed determined to hide anything he was feeling behind this rather illustrious mask of frivolity and nonsense, which drove Heero up the wall. Duo was also the most intelligent person Heero had ever met. Not in the sense of mathematical brilliance, because Duo was actually quite hopeless at anything mathematical. No, his intelligence was emotional. He could look at any life situation and explain it to you perfectly. His opinions were based on a life experience that should have only been possible if someone had lived a hundred lifetimes, or a few years of one that was incredibly horrible.

Heero stared at the wall, thinking. He liked Duo Maxwell. It had taken him a long time to accept that fact. He just didn't understand him.

The wall shuddered as the door swung open again and two bottles flew onto the bed, followed by a cake of soap. Heero smirked at the flying objects, but didn't look up. He waited until Duo was in the room, back to the red line, shuffling through the boxes of mechanical parts. Heero took the time to study his room-mate through his dark brown bangs. Duo was slender, like a girl, with perfect, unmarred ivory skin. His long chestnut hair was loose, hanging down his back and dripping on the floor. Heero had never asked why Duo kept it long because he didn't want to provoke the boy into cutting it off. It was too stunning.

Heero suddenly blushed as he realised Duo was, as always after getting out of the shower, only dressed in a towel.

With a cry of triumph Duo flung a hand in the air, tightly gripping a brush. Sighing heavily he plonked down on the manga mountain, careless as to what he was scrunching, and began attacking his head. That was the only description Heero could think of. It looked painful and Duo grumbled loudly as he worked at all the tangles. Heero was sure there was a better way to do it, but he certainly wasn't going to give Duo any reason to make more noise than he already was and it was rather amusing to watch him try to do it himself. Still, Heero was surprised there was any hair left on the boy's head at all.

"It's all Wufei's fault," Duo grumbled. "If he had just let me have a shower at his place I wouldn't have felt like crap while I was walking back, and then I wouldn't have run into Hilde, and I wouldn't have had to try and get away and I wouldn't have gone through the woods, wouldn't have fallen over, wouldn't have got dirt up my nose..."

Heero tuned out, trying not to laugh. So, that explained why Duo was in such a bad mood. He had no doubt Wufei had not helped Duo on the assignment. Duo would have gone there just to be in a quiet place with an understanding friend who knew when to leave him alone. Wufei was also good at telling Duo to shut up and do his work.

"How's Hilde?"

Duo stopped hacking at his hair with the brush and stared at Heero, stunned.

"You...asked...question...." he shook his head, huge violet-blue eyes wide. "Miracle. Now I don't need to live anymore. I can die in peace. I have seen all there is to see."

"Baka."

Duo grinned. Heat suddenly radiated from his side of the room as he looked over at Heero. For some reason Duo loved being called an idiot. Or rather, Duo loved it when Heero called him an idiot. When Wufei did it...well, that was always entertaining at least.

"Hilde is...Hilde." Duo replied, as if that explained anything. Duo liked Hilde. She was one of his best friends. But that was all she was to him. Unfortunately Hilde kept wanting more.

Duo had finally managed to tame his hair and with extremely deft flicks of his fingers he had it braided and tossed over his shoulder and was rummaging through the clothes on the floor for something to wear.

Heero quickly turned to face the wall as Duo dressed. It didn't take long. When he turned around again, Duo was dressed in a loose pair of black cargo's and a black shirt with a priest's collar. Heero always wanted to laugh when he saw that collar, but he never did. He knew it meant something to Duo, for Duo had been raised an orphan and was only at the school because the local church that had raised him had also raised enough money to pay for a rather illustrious education. That, and Duo had also managed to talk the school into giving him a scholarship.

"I'm going for a walk."

Heero nodded, barely paying any attention as Duo left the room. With Duo once again gone he had free time to waste once more. Bored with the room, Heero left to find Trowa. He liked Trowa. Trowa did not like to talk. He did not like to run around and play stupid games. Trowa liked quiet, neat and tidy times to sit and think. Oh yes, Heero liked Trowa.

Trowa shared a room with Quatre in a different dorm. Luckily, the dorms piled one on top of the other and all Heero had to do was climb down the drainpipe and move three windows over to get to Trowa and Quatre's room. He knocked politely on the window and Quatre appeared, a huge sunny smile on his face, to let him in.

Once they realised they could sneak into each other's rooms it became necessary to make locking window's a habit. Mainly because Duo got bored at all hours of the night and went looking for company.

Trowa was in the communal kitchen. Heero took a chair, nodded in greeting and sat for a few minutes in silence before Quatre came in, poured some tea, and handed it out, still smiling.

"Did Duo get his assignment done?" Quatre asked.

Heero nodded and restrained a smile. He had learnt long ago that if you just listened you could usually trace Duo's path through the day. The boy caused such a fuss it was impossible not to be able to see where he had been. Everyone was always worried about where he had gone next, or wether he had done whatever he had asked them about. Another strange thing about the braided baka; he was always asking questions.

Trowa seemed about to say something when the door burst open and Wufei fell through it, pale red marks all over his otherwise white skin. His jet hair had fallen loose of its tie and was hanging around his face. His black eyes were burning with anger and pain.

Heero barely managed to catch Wufei before he fell on the floor. He lifted the boy easily and hurried to the room Trowa and Quatre shared, dumping him unceremoniously on Quatre's well made bed.

"What happened?"

"Couldn't see their faces. They didn't have weapons, but..."

Wufei had been attacked? Heero didn't think it was possible. Wufei was the best swordsman he had ever met, and Heero had met a few. He always carried small knives and other assorted items on his body. He had never been defeated.

"They wore black robes. They were female. They...used their hands...everything got hot and suddenly my body just..." He seemed incapable of explaining it. "It was like my blood was boiling."

Heero grimaced. Whenever Wufei got stuck for words he always came up with something a little too blunt. This time it was rather gross.

Sharing a look, Heero got up to go speak with Trowa and let Quatre help Wufei get comfortable. They were accustomed to getting into trouble. In fact, they had quite an affinity for it. Whenever they did, Heero somehow became the leader and the others followed his lead, for whatever reason.

Before he could leave the room, however, Wufei grabbed his wrist and refused to let go.

"They said they would get us all," Wufie panted, still in pain. "They named all five of us."

Heero froze. Wufei's grip lightened as the boy slipped into unconsciousness but Heero did not notice.

"Quatre, lock the doors and windows. Let no one in until we get back."

"We?" Quatre looked at Trowa, who was nodding knowingly. Recognition flared in Quatre's eyes and he nodded vehementaly, following in their wake as they left the room. At the door, he stopped and called out to Trowa and Heero, who were already down the hallway. Heero did not hear what he said, his thoughts racing, searching, trying to pinpoint where.

Wufei was strong. Almost as strong as Heero himself. They were all strong, but there were definately two weaker than the others. Quatre was fine; he was with Wufei. It wasn't Quatre Heero was worried about. Yes, he admitted to himself, I am worried.

He had to figure out where he would have gone. He had to find Duo before it was too late.

End Chapter One.