Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Tokyo Lights ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

 

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Tokyo no hikari

 

Tokyo Lights

 

 

Summary: 1x2, AU: Heero and Duo work the bugs out of their relationship while on a vacation. (Changed from the earlier summary because 1. I didn't like it, 2. Someone complained that they weren't having sex in every sentence, 3. It wasn't attracting attention anyway.)

 

Warnings: sex; implied non-con later on down the road; not exactly PC.

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

The Absurdity of it All

 

Gaijin stick out like a nail that needs to be hammered down; and it's the Japanese youth who happen to stick out the most.

 

Classic Art vs. Modern Art

 

Okay, I've got a bit of a peeve that I need to rant about for just a sec. I'm guessing that at least a few of you `artistes' know about art salons from way back in the day, right? Only a certain type of art could get into the shows, so all of the galleries were filled with the same stuff. There was a specific set of rules for art back then, you know? You could only paint this way, you couldn't paint that… And anyone who broke it wouldn't get their stuff shown unless they opened their own exhibit.

 

Well, we've ventured far away from that time - and now it's almost a taboo to create classic art. Now, if you put a goldfish in a blender, it's art. If you spit phlegm on a bloody canvas, it's art. Because nowadays, art is all about being a rebel and thinking up new ideas and being original.

 

I hate it. I'm not going to go professional or anything, but there isn't anything good nowadays. You have to look back at people like Vermeer, Monet, and Michelangelo to see real art.

 

Duo, Hilde, and Quatre Meet Seven Days after the Earlier Phone Calls

 

Hilde's house was in one of those small-town suburban neighborhoods, the type which seemed to be an all around friendly and secure place to live, but probably had a few pedophiles or psychopath serial killers hidden away somewhere.

 

Hilde's mother and father were away the day that Quatre visited her after their phone calls; this was nothing special or new. They usually left on business trips to St. Thomas of the United States Virgin Islands, though no one - not even Hilde - was quite sure about what the two did once they got there.

 

When Hilde opened the door to Quatre, clutching luggage that would sustain him for a few days, she broke down. For the entire day, Quatre did what he was best at doing: comforting. The moment Hilde finally fell into a steady slumber, Quatre instantly called Duo, imploring him to come over; but he didn't arrive later that day or the next. Quatre and Hilde spent the time together, Quatre patiently consoling her (though he also tried his hardest to remain a loyal friend to Duo and refrain from joining Hilde in calling him `the braided bastard,' or, `the cheating asshole.')

 

Three days after Quatre arrived, said Braided Bastard and Cheating Asshole knocked on the door without calling them on the telephone first. Quatre was slightly surprised that Duo had shown up at all. As they stood in the shadowy foyer, Duo said that he was in the neighborhood and asked if he could come in.

 

Hilde was in the living room, a bowl of popcorn as proof that Duo had interrupted a movie Hilde and Quatre were watching (Garden State, if you must know.) She froze when she saw Duo, who offered a sheepish smile and asked how she was doing.

 

Now, not many men know the full wrath of a woman. Many have seen snippets as a lady went through her time of the month, or when she was tired and didn't feel like being bothered - but very few have actually been as unfortunate as Duo Maxwell.

 

Her rage pursued him throughout the entire house after she chucked the bowl of popcorn at him, her screams blearing on all the while. Duo barely managed to lock himself into one of the very bathrooms that Hilde used to help him into as he threw up after drinking for hours on end. It didn't take Quatre very long to calm her down enough to edge her away from the bathroom, down the hall, and back to the living room. Duo took the silence as a cue to leave the bathroom and reenter the living room uneasily and secretly. Hilde couldn't see him because her head was bent as she was crying, apologizing to Quatre - she really did think she was over him - but Quatre saw Duo enter. He stilled and stood up, directing Hilde's attention to Duo, and ordered the two to talk; he went to the kitchen, leaving them alone.

 

The silence was unbearably thick and long, so Duo walked to the couch and cautiously sat beside Hilde, still sniffling and wiping her eyes with the back of hand. The silence continued for moments before Duo finally choked out a timid apology.

 

Hilde didn't say anything for a while; she merely sat still and stared at the floor. The silence was too much for Duo, so he stood up to leave. But before he took a step, she said that she couldn't accept it yet, but she knew she would want to in the future. Nervously, Duo nodded to show that he understood. He was still on edge, ready to turn tail if it looked like she was about to attack again.

 

Quatre made sure that Duo stayed at least one night, but he ended up staying five, even after Quatre left. Hilde eventually made Duo understand that they could never be lovers again, but she wanted to be his friend, at least; and they spent the time they shared making up for Duo's mistake. There was only one fault in their unstably and newly built relationship, and that was when Heero Yuy called Duo's cell phone. The ring interrupted their morning coffee moment. Duo wanted to excuse himself, but Hilde wouldn't let him; he and Yuy spoke for close to half an hour about nothings in general, Hilde listening carefully but pretending not to.

 

Only because he was asked did Duo unsurely explain that he and Yuy would continue communicating, even though Relena took him back with her to England a week ago. Hilde was curious as to whether Relena knew about Duo and Heero's relationship long-range relationship, and Duo nodded; Heero immediately told Relena the second night they - er -

 

Hilde didn't need Duo to finish, and she didn't want him to. She went back to sipping her coffee, and Duo took that as a cue to move on to a safer topic.

 

But Hilde wasn't satisfied: she asked how Relena took the news, and Duo admitted that she was as angry as Hilde was and hung up on Heero. But Duo continued to say that, the next morning, he woke up to hear Heero talking on the phone. After the conversation ended, Heero explained to Duo that Relena accepted Heero and Duo's relationship, only because she couldn't live without at least some of Heero's love - even though it wasn't all of it. He continued to explain that, though Relena accepted the relationship, she would never accept Duo and “never wanted to see the little vermin's face again.”

 

Hilde admitted that that's how she felt about Duo and Heero for a while; but she, like Relena to Heero, decided that she couldn't live without Duo. They'd been friends for far too long to let Yuy come between their relationship.

 

At that moment, though you would never expect it, Duo finally broke down crying in what he thought was a completely unmanly and babyish fashion, apologizing time and again; and finally, Hilde wholeheartedly accepted.

 

He never really got over the embarrassment of breaking down, and Hilde would never let him forget that embarrassment either.

 

The Bowing Deer

 

With two fingers, I hold my eyelids open as we drive from Osaka to Nara. I swore on my grandmother's grave (not Granny Poppy-Dale) that I would stay awake on this taxi ride, and so that's exactly what I'm doing.

 

“If you want to sleep, then sleep,” Heero whispers.

 

“And disrespect Granny Susan? Over my dead body.”

 

“You will die if you don't let yourself sleep.”

 

Still holding my eyelids open, I stare at him. “You're kidding, right?”

 

“Many die of exhaustion - ”

 

“Yuy, you're twenty-two. Quit being so serious all of the time, would ya?”

 

“Being twenty-two is a sign to certain people to grow up.”

 

With me still holding open my eyelids, I can only assume that he's making some kind of snide comment on me. Oh well: sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I stick my tongue out at him and look back out of the window.

 

The taxi driver says something to Heero, and Heero grins and says something back, inclining his head slightly.

 

“What did you guys say?”

 

“He said that you're a weirdo, and I agreed,” Heero says simply.

 

“Aren't you Japanese people supposed to be polite?!”

 

“Keep your voice down,” Heero warns.

 

I know I'm pouting, but I don't care.

 

We finally get to the site that Heero wants to show me around. “There are a lot of deer,” he tells me. “They… Well, they like to eat; so make sure none are - ah - nibbling on your clothes.”

 

He pays the taxi driver and I look around at all of the near by forest. They seem to be regular trees, though, not like those spiny ginkgo trees you would expect to see all over the place. We walk up a path where there's deer shit all over the place. Because I don't want to bring it back with me to America - the security guards might pull me to the side in the airport and call me a terrorist for trying to sneak in unlicensed deer shit - I sidestep the piles and almost make a game out of it.

 

There's a giggle. I look up and -

 

“Holy unfucked wound of Mary.”

 

The school girls are back - but in the masses (and bless them, the skirts are shorter than ever.) But this time, there are also hoards of school boys; a few, I can't help but notice, look over in interest. Yuy grabs my hand possessively again and pulls me around them, but he can't stop me from smiling and waving (though, truthfully, I'm just doing it to annoy him.)

 

As we get closer to the shrine I can see in the distance, the screams and giggles get louder… not because I'm getting closer to the crowds of school groups, but because of the sheer number of deer that have suddenly appeared. Because there are so many deer, the school girls are squealing louder than ever. They (the deer, I mean, not the school girls) are eating crackers out of people's hands that can be bought at some stands that are also selling antler-hats, deer-jugs, and deer-pins.

 

Suddenly, a deer stops in front of me and looks up at me expectantly with great, large, beady eyes.

 

“Oh, great. It's a Bambi wannabe,” I say jokingly as I try to walk around it, but it gets in my way again and continues to stare up at me expectantly with those eyes. The closest description I can get to those eyes would be Puss in Boots' from Shrek 2 - you know, when he stares up cutely in order to distract everyone and make them think he's innocent.

 

“Hey, Heero,” I mutter. “What - ?”

 

“Just bow. It'll go away.”

 

“Bow?”

 

“Yes. Bow. It's ultimately expecting some crackers, but if you don't bow it'll be offended and start eating your clothes.”

 

“What?!”

 

Sure enough, the deer gets a sinister glint to its eye and it steps forward, baring its unnaturally pointy teeth.

 

“Heero!”

 

“Bow!”

 

Feeling utterly ridiculous, I bow as low as my back will allow me to bow. The deer hesitates for a moment or two before it too bows. It sniffs at my hands expectantly, but when it finds nothing it doesn't retaliate but merely moves on to Heero, who bows and continues walking up the path. I quickly follow him, glancing nervously over my shoulder at the deer, but - luckily - it's not paying me any mind.

 

We walk up a short slope, up three huge stairs, down three huge stairs, and into an alleyway with no walls but with a railing with peeling red paint. It overlooks perfect patches of lime green grass. We get our tickets from some monks, bow deeply, and continue walking.

 

Incense is burning in a huge bronze bowl. Heero goes over and breathes it in to `cleanse himself' he says, which I do also (perhaps a bit too much; I feel slightly dizzy and giggly afterwards.) We then move forward down the stone stairs, past a huge shrine in the middle of the path, and up to see two huge and pissed-off looking Buddha statues, which I personally find rather boring. Heero's a Buddhist, though - or something like that - so I respect that he wants to take some time with the warrior Buddhas.

 

However, as we're standing there and staring up at the statues, I feel someone's gaze on me - and when I look around and catch the person staring, I'm surprised to find that the person is not Heero. Rather, it's a school boy that seems rather stranded from the rest of the groups. He's got spiky black hair, blue eyes that I know are contacts, and a black uniform on. The group of students that had the same uniform on was way back at the entrance/exit when we passed, but he doesn't seem to care that he's not with them. He's puffing on a cig and openly stares at me, even when I catch him looking, and he holds my gaze with a smirk. He glances at Heero, who - I only just realize - has also caught him staring at me. He glares, but the other boy doesn't back off.

 

In fact, he flicks his cigarette on the ground and, stepping on it on the way over, meanders to us. He grins and bows to us and speaks in the rubbish language and I only catch something that sounds vaguely familiar to “he.” Heero growls a reply, but this doesn't scare the guy.

 

“What're you two saying?” I demand, but Heero ignores me, grabs my hand, and starts to pull me away.

 

But the younger school kid jumps in the way and, laughing, bows and says something to me. He gets a hopeless look on his face when I say, “I don't understand a single fetching word you just said.” I look at Heero expectantly, but he's only avoiding my gaze pointedly.

 

“Yuy, this obviously involves me - tell me what's going on!”

 

He glares at me, but then looks at the ground with a resigned look. “He's inviting you to his apartment for a quick fuck.”

 

“Oh, yeah?” I smirk and grin back at the guy, but then - to Yuy's utter shock, I suppose - I shake my head. “Sorry, kid - not willing to get thrown into jail for statutory rape.”

 

He obviously doesn't understand exactly what I say, but from the disappointed look I know he understood when I shook my head. He shrugs and walks off, probably back to the school group - or perhaps to find someone else worthy of an invite.

 

“And Yuy?”

 

“Yes, Duo?”

 

“If you ever make me out to be some kind of slut that would run off with anyone, I swear I'll kick your scrawny ass.”

 

I really am pissed off, and I make sure he can tell that much. He's surprised and has some trouble getting his words together, but he eventually spits out, “I'm sorry. I thought - ”

 

“You thought wrong, asshole,” I mutter and walk down the steps.

 

“Hey! You said - outside the hotel - ”

 

“I can have fantasies, can't I?” I turn back to him and point at him wildly. “Doesn't mean I'm gonna run off with people every other second.”

 

“You said that I don't own you - ”

 

“You sure as hell don't, Yuy, and you better remember that!”

 

It's a bit of a dramatic exit, sure, but I storm down the stairs nonetheless and virtually ignore him for the rest of the day. Call me a girl, call me a Drama Queen, call me whatever the hell you like - but if someone thinks I'm a manwhore like Yuy just demonstrated he obviously did, then we're going to have some issues.

 

Duo's Future Career

 

Heero and Duo had just finished having make-up sex because Heero's earlier `I'm sorry' evidently wasn't good enough for Duo. Apparently, hot make-up sex wasn't enough either, because Duo forced Heero to pose as a model before he could peacefully fall asleep, as he often did after having sex with Duo. He had Heero drape himself across the small and stained bed as he sat down on a chair, both as naked as the day they were born.

 

“If you're good at art,” Heero asked tiredly in a deep voice, straining to stay still and ignore the cramp in his arm, “then why don't you become an artist?”

 

Duo shrugged and bit on his tongue in concentration. “Isn't art more of a - I don't know - hobby?”

 

“No,” Heero furrowed his eyebrows. “Many people are professional artists.” A muscle in his arm twitched and he longed to move it from the top of the headboard of the bed.

 

“Like Keith Haring,” Duo mused.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing,” Duo shook his head. “I just - I don't know… I'm not good enough to be a professional artist.”

 

“No, you're good enough,” Heero said, his intense and slightly curious gaze focusing on the pad Duo was busy sketching on. “You're just lazy and have low self-esteem.”

 

“I do not have low self-esteem!” Duo retorted.

 

“You just said you're not good enough - ”

 

“Because that's the truth.”

 

“I disagree.”

 

“Then you're dumb.”

 

Heero rolled his eyes and unconsciously moved his hand to scratch his head.

 

“Keep still!” Duo shot. “I was just working on the value…”

 

Heero huffed and moved the arm back. “Do you or don't you like art?”

 

“I like art just fine.”

 

“Then why don't you make a living by doing what you like to do?”

 

“Well - I like art, but - ” Duo sighed and paused. “I'll be a starving artist.”

 

“I didn't realize you could see into the future.” When Duo didn't reply, he added, “You should at least try. You're twenty-two years old and you're not doing anything with your life.”

 

“Wow. Thanks for making me feel so great and special, Yuy,” Duo muttered.

 

“It's the truth,” Heero shrugged. “What is it you Americans say? `The truth is painful?'”

 

Duo snorted and corrected, “The truth hurts.”

 

“Live life based on your emotions,” Heero said quietly. “If you want to be an artist, then be one.”

 

And so it was on Duo's second night in Osaka that he silently decided that he would think about what Heero Yuy said and ponder more about his future career.

 

Author's note: “The Absurdity of it All” refers to the Japanese saying, “Those who stick out like a nail must be hammered down.”