Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Tokyo Lights ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

 

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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 SEVEN

 

Heero Yuy's Past Life: Part I

 

Osaka Castle was a giant, standing tall and bearing all of its magnificence before the humans that dared examine it with their unworthy eyes. It was of a different species, a species of Gods among mortals, beautiful and powerful and the natural enemy of modesty.

 

Heero Yuy would often watch the Castle. Whenever he wasn't gathering fish or swimming or playing with the other boys his own age, he would sit and stare in awe at the magnificence set before him. It was times like those that he swore to himself that he would give his family back the honor he had lost; he swore to himself that he would regain that honor by stepping into the Castle - as samurai.

 

He lost his family's honor the second his mother's wound began to nurture him - or perhaps even when the vile life spurted from his father's organ and into his mother's golden gates. His mother was a kind, angelic, sweet lady of eighteen years when she became pregnant, and as beautiful as the pink plum blossoms that bloomed in the spring. She was once called Plum Blossom-chan by everyone, but when her gut became heavy with child, her friends refused to look her in the eye and her name became Cha Server. During the day, she served cha in a dirty, scrappy restaurant. The only people that graced the restaurant with their presence were the ones who couldn't afford the better-tasting cha in the more prestigious restaurants. While she served cha, her son worked for a local fisherman. With their joined efforts, they were able to live relatively comfortable lives during the spring, summer, and fall; and they only struggled during the winter when the cold froze their hopeful hearts.

 

Had Cha Server not been disowned from her family, she would have been living in an impressive dwelling; she would be betrothed to a son of a high-status family. She would be happy. However, she also would not have her son, the very joy of her life; and so she did not regret that she had been disowned at all, as long as her son stayed by her side.

 

Cha Server was disowned because of the dishonor she and her son brought upon the family. The man who had raped her was a barbarian, a Portuguese Jesuit, who disappeared along with the Black Ship, the ship that brought trade to the Land of the Gods annually.

 

Because of this, Heero Yuy didn't know his father; he had never set his eyes on the man before. He told himself that he liked it better that way, but this was a lie he told himself to ebb away the pain. Many a day, his friends would scorn him and laugh at him because he was fatherless; even more, because he had blue eyes. He was so very obviously half-barbarian. It disgusted many people who looked at him, and some even suggested that he and his mother be sent to live in an eta village. However, many people still remembered the kindness of Plum Blossom-chan - and no matter how dishonored they were, they did no harm and were clean and healthy, so they were allowed to live amongst the people.

 

Sometimes Cha Server wondered if it would have been better for her to take her son to an eta village, however. Heero had friends because he had such a lovely personality, yet even his friends would tease him; this made Heero feel that something truly was wrong with him. The barbarian blood crawling through his veins chilled his very soul. He began to hate barbarians, and would often imagine killing them with his bare hands, though he never told his worried mother.

 

By the time he was ten, he had decided that he would rise from poverty to samurai in order to make up for his barbarian blood. He would bring honor to his mother, and she would once again be accepted in her family. She would be able to marry into a prestigious family and would give birth to fully Japanese brothers and sisters. And people would no longer throw disgusted looks at Heero Yuy, but looks of admiration.

 

Journey to the Past

 

It's morning right now, and Heero is asleep. I'm kinda tired myself, but I can't stop thinking about last night:

 

You see, Hakone is our next destination. A traditional inn in Hakone, rather. And, if you memorize maps of Japan, then you would know that Nagoya is between Hakone and Osaka. And hey, seeing that Nagoya is a pretty familiar name to me, then it's got to be a popular place, right? And Heero is showing me all of the popular places. Right? So, after giving it some thought, I figured that Heero purposefully skipped over Nagoya in this tour of Japan.

 

“Why?” he echoed me while we were on the bus. It was night time and many of the other passengers were fast asleep. “Well…”

 

I looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to go on.

 

“That's where I grew up,” he finally said. “It doesn't hold pleasant memories for me.”

 

“Why not?” I knew that I was prying, but I didn't care. I've known Yuy for a long enough time to merit some explanations of his past, I think.

 

And I did get some explanations, slowly but surely - and only after I asked a lot of questions. He seemed uneasy about it at first, really, giving me his life story and talking to me about his childhood, but he eventually got on easier.

 

“Because of my looks, I was never really accepted. Everyone always called me `gaijin.' I was an outcast for most of my life, I suppose. My father - even though he was American, he didn't want to tell me about the country where part of my heritage came from. Even though he looked American, he was completely Japanese.” Whatever being Japanese is supposed to mean. “I was upset then, but it would be pathetic of me to want pity now because I was an outcast as a child. I've moved on, neh? And I know that you wouldn't be very appreciative if I started to get dramatic and teary-eyed.”

 

He only became extremely uncomfortable at one point in his story:

 

“You're an American; you probably wouldn't understand,” he said when I expressed my indignant shock.

 

“But Heero,” I murmured and got closer to him despite myself. “Suicide? You tried to commit suicide because you failed your stupid tests?”

 

“They weren't any ordinary tests, Duo. They were my college entrance exams. And success is a bigger deal here,” he shrugged. “A much bigger deal. If you don't succeed at the top, then you're nothing. I wasn't the first to try to jump off of the school building, but I was probably one of the few to be stopped before I could succeed.

 

“Anyway, my father wasn't very pleased with me. He told me that I couldn't even succeed in killing myself - ”

 

“What?!”

 

“Do you want to hear this or not, Duo?”

 

“Okay, okay! Sorry.”

 

“We had a huge row. He wanted me to work in researching math and sciences, I wanted to study abroad and observe cultures and learn other languages… He sort of disowned me after that night, though not officially or legally because my mother refused to let him. In return, he refused to let her contact me in anyway. We've been sending each other letters secretly every now and then to make sure everything is okay…”

 

“Talk about family dysfunction,” I muttered. Then again, look who was talking.

 

“I was lucky that the Peacecraft family decided to sponsor me, else I wouldn't have a proper education, home, or job.” Part of the contract was that, when Heero finished his studies abroad for four years, he would return to Japan and spread knowledge of Europe in the Peacecraft name in order to recruit possible laborers for the company. This was his fourth year.

 

“How did that come about, anyway? The sponsorship?”

 

“Luck would be the correct word, I suppose - though you know how I feel about luck.” Heero already told me that he believed that there was no such thing as luck - only a shining opportunity that was to be grabbed by a prepared person. “By that time I was freshly graduated from high school but unaccepted in Tokyo University, the college my father wanted me to attend. I didn't know what to do, since I had no guidance and only had the house that my mother left me in Tokyo.

 

“Well, that's about when Takashi-san - a friend of mine - came to me and told me about a scholarship program he heard about. He was attending an American university in Tokyo - Temple University Japan, I think - and I couldn't pay the bills alone, so I had him as a roommate. Anyway, he told me about the study abroad opportunity. All I had to do was show up and be interviewed, really.

 

“The interviewer seemed particularly interested in me because I wasn't attending any colleges, and thus didn't have any particular bonds. And it wasn't as if I was unintelligent, either. I was able to prove myself worthy of being a finalist, and met with Mr. Peacecraft privately. He said that it wasn't a tough choice. I suppose he felt pity for me after I told him my situation.”

 

“Pity is a good thing sometimes,” I shrugged. “Look where it got you.”

 

He shrugged.

 

“So I guess when you saw Relena, it was love at first sight.”

 

He sneered at this. “Definitely not. I hated her at first. She was horribly annoying.”

 

“Then why did you start banging her?”

 

“Think about it, Duo: our rooms were on the same floor, practically right beside each other; the only people we saw regularly were the servants and sometimes her brother; and we were both twenty and deprived of healthy sex lives. It was bound to happen,” he shrugged. “Anyway, after I spent more time with her, I eventually realized she isn't such a horrible girl.”

 

“She's still annoying, though.”

 

“So are you,” he pointed out.

 

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, whatever you say.”

 

After that, he asked me to tell him about my past, and it would've been pretty hypocritical of me if I refused, so I agreed. It was only then that I realized I didn't tell him much about me before now either. I told him how I met Quatre and Hilde, how I was rather close to being disowned myself when I leaped out of the closet - well, I didn't really out myself so much as have sex on the couch with Jason when my mother and father came back from their vacation from Las Vegas earlier than expected. Yeah, and - cue Granny Poppy-Dale! When I told him all about her, he seemed pretty surprised that people like her even existed. He seemed to have the illusion that all Americans were rebellious liberals that hated their President.

 

“Why were you Christian if having sex with men was against your religion?”

 

“You're just like Hilde,” I laughed. “Only a group of stupid Christians believe it's wrong. I belonged to the smart group.”

 

“Well, you had to quit Christianity for a reason.”

 

I shrugged. “It just got… boring after a while, is all.”

 

He didn't say anything to that (I could only guess that he didn't think much of people who quit their religions because they thought it was boring) but didn't stop the onslaught of questions. By the end of the night, I felt like I had spilled by entire past - from the moment I rode my first red bike to the moment when I lost my virginity to the moment that I met Heero in Subway in Chicago.

 

“Have you and Quatre ever - ?”

 

“No,” I said instantly. “I mean, we tried making out a few times… it was kind of hard to resist, what with his whole `triple-smacker' greeting and all… but it felt kinda weird. We decided to be strictly friends.”

 

“Oh,” Heero seemed to be slightly relieved.

 

“Hey, Heero?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Why is it that you can be with both me and Relena, but you don't want me to be with anyone else?”

 

Heero avoided my gaze and pretended that he didn't hear the question, but that didn't work with me. I poked and prodded and repeated the question until he finally said:

 

“Fine! I don't know why, okay? I just don't want you to be with others.”

 

“Possessive jerk,” I muttered.

 

“Yeah, that's right,” he retorted defiantly. He was so serious that I couldn't help but laugh; he flushed and looked away.

 

He quickly fell asleep but, like I said earlier, I can't sleep with all of the information buzzing around in my head.

 

Eventually, the bus drops us off in the town and we take a taxi to the traditional inn.

 

 

The Ryokan:

 

For a traditional inn, this hotel is pretty nifty! There are white marble stairs and electric sliding doors that let us into a huge lobby with grey couches and glass walls. A man, who seems pretty square and elfish, is dressed in a black and grey suit and has shiny black shoes. He bows, which is the cue for Heero and I to bow back. It seems that part of his job is to greet guests like this, which explains his thick neck muscles.

 

We're ushered to a marble front desk where a pretty lady is sitting. We exchange bows and smiles and she gives the bronze key to Heero in a small green basket.

 

“Why do you guys do that, anyway?”

 

“What, exchange things with baskets? It's more sanitary and polite.”

 

“Damn you Japanese and your cleanness,” I mutter, but Heero ignores me as we make our way up three stairs and past a stand. The stand is selling candy, magazines, and souvenirs, but there isn't anyone behind the counter. There are also a couple of vending machines - one selling ice cream bars, the other selling beers.

 

We pass by another curtained-off area, two huge white curtains leading into two different rooms, and each with a huge black Japanese character over it. Two gleaming, silver elevator doors are waiting for us around the corner.

 

“You know, for a traditional inn, this place is pretty high-tech,” I can't help but note aloud; Heero snorts.

 

“You'll see,” he says simply.

 

We ride up smoothly to the seventh floor in complete silence (we're not even accompanied by elevator music) and step out when the `ding!' goes off. As I'm stepping out, however, the heavy doors attempt to close on me and Heero has to tug me out before I can be crushed or have my hair get stuck.

 

“You saved my life, Yuy!”

 

He rolls his eyes, muttering something about idiots, and moves on down the hall - but he does have a tinge of red on his cheeks, I can't help but notice.

 

There still isn't anything very traditional - only a bonsai tree in the corner of the hall. We go down the sloping corridor, turn a corner, and get to our room, which doesn't have a number but a name that I can't really remember.

 

Heero unlocks the door with the key, gently swings it open for me, and I look inside. Instantly I see two rooms, both of the doors closed. I glace around the corner and see the smallest space I have ever seen.

 

Heero slips off his shoes and puts them on a small shelf by the door. He walks past me and shuffles into the room. “Close the door,” he orders. “Take off your shoes. Watch your step.”

 

I do as he says. We're below the floor level, so I have to step up to follow him in to see the rest of the room.

 

The floor is made of straw mats - at least, I think it's straw. There's a small square table that's about a foot - or a little less than a foot - off of the floor in the center of the room with four legless and green-cushioned chairs. Beside the table a perfectly set tray of tea cups and a metal pitcher of what I can only assume to be tea. There's a balcony that overlooks the ocean and a normal table with two normal chairs. I think that I'll be staying out on the balcony for most of our time spent in the room.

 

Heero pulls open a screen to show an empty room with more straw mat floor. He steps into the room and I follow him in just as he's sliding open a closet door. There're a bunch of rolled up cushions, but he ignores these and pulls out a robe.

 

“Put this on,” he tells me. “It'll be a lot more comfortable.”

 

He pulls one out for himself and begins to strip. The empty room is unbearably hot, so I step outside and open the balcony doors. A breeze with the scent of salty air wafts through.

 

“Do you need help?”

 

I turn around. He's already dressed in the purple robe with sailboat patterns all over it, his regular clothes bundled in his arms. I can't help but laugh at him, he looks so ridiculous. He smirks as he steps forward.

 

“You're excruciatingly immature, Maxwell.”

 

“I can't help it if you look funny dressed like that!”

 

“It's proper etiquette to dress in yukata while staying in this hotel; at least, that's what I was told,” he says. Then he adds as an after thought, “It seems that they're afraid that, because you're American, you'll make a scene.”

 

“Why do you figure that?”

 

“The man that welcomed us nervously kept imploring me to make sure that you understood all of the rules of proper decorum.”

 

“It's not like I'm going to run through the halls, slashing the air with a fake samurai sword.”

 

I take off my shirt, roll it up, and toss it at my suitcase. The pants quickly follow, but then I pause at the waistband of my boxers. “Are you - er - supposed to wear anything under that?”

 

“If you want,” Heero shrugs. “I am.”

 

“Good.” I reach out for the yukata just as the door opens.

 

A boy steps inside - and Jimmy jumps up at attention the second the kid walks into the room. Well, something tells me that he's much older, but he looks like a boy - about fifteen or sixteen or so, anyway. And good looking, too - but then again, most Japanese people look good anyway. He freezes when he realizes we're inside and bows and starts mumbling. Heero nods his head, replies, and to my complete shock the boy closes the door behind him, slips off his shoes, steps up, and comes into the room, his gaze lowered to the floor.

 

“The hell - ?”

 

He walks past us and into the empty room.

 

“He's just going to make up the futons,” Heero explains vaguely.

 

I look at the boy just as he's looking away from me and I suddenly remember just how naked I am.

 

“You don't have anything he hasn't seen,” Heero rolls his eyes and he brushes past me and to the door. “I'm going to check what time our dinner is.”

 

“All right.”

 

The door closes behind him leaving the two of us alone.

 

After a moment I walk into the now not-so-empty room, clutching the robe in my hand, and watch as he nervously put the futons together. As I'm watching, I make a few attempts at putting the robe on but pathetically fail every time I get to the part where I need to tie the sash around my waist.

 

The boy finishes making the two futons and watches me for a moment before saying what I could swear to be Obi's name (yeah, that old guy from Star Wars.) He hesitates when he realizes that I don't understand Japanese but then steps forward and takes the sash away from me. He wraps it around my waist and when he tugs on it, he pulls me closer to him. He walks around me and ties it tightly. He murmurs something and I turn to look at him, but his eyes are still on the floor. Jimmy, hyperactive and putting his little soldiers at alert, seems keen to remind me that we're quite alone and, though I don't know the boy, he's damned good looking.

 

I know I'm out of my mind, but I can't help but drop to my knees and tug at his waistband. He doesn't jump away in shock as I expect him to - in fact, he gazes down at me and even wraps his hands in my hair as I start to suck him off. He's small - but in a cute way - and I take my sweet time tasting his saltiness and listening to him obviously trying to refrain from being too loud -

 

The door opens and Heero walks in. The boy looks away quickly.

 

“Duo?”

 

I look away from him as he finishes the last green futon.

 

“Duo!”

 

“What?”

 

“Don't ignore me.”

 

“I'm not ignoring you.”

 

Heero stares at me suspiciously. He glances at the boy, staring at the floor pointedly with a light blush spread across his face, and when the gaze returns to me, it's etched with jealousy. In a split second, I feel my mind burst with a fury of thoughts:

 

Yuy is a goddamned hypocrite.

He's a possessive jerk.

He's a pain in the ass.

His hair is ruffled in the cute way (not meaning to be dreamy.)

To show him that I don't belong to him, I'm going to have sex with the boy that is an adult but looks like a boy.

 

But the only words that issue from my mouth are, “What time is dinner?”

 

“Not for a while,” Yuy mutters and says something harshly to the boy, who just finished the futon. He looks frightened and bows to us over and over again as he escapes from the room.

 

“Taken to scaring kids, have you?”

 

“He was annoying me.”

 

“Because I want him?”

 

Yuy halts and turns to me. He stares for a moment. “Why don't you have your yukata on yet?”

 

“I can't get the sash on properly.”

 

Yuy walks over to me and quickly ties the sash around my waist. “I'm going to take him, next time we're alone together.”

 

“Why the hell are you telling me that?” He glares at me. “You do shit like this, but then you don't want me to think you're a - ”

 

“Just because I have sex with one other person besides you doesn't make me a man whore, Yuy.”

 

He doesn't say anything for a moment before he murmurs, “Do you want to be with me or not, Maxwell?”

 

“Of course I want to be with you. I came here with you, didn't I?”

 

When he doesn't say anything, I smirk and sit down on one of the legless chairs. “You know me, Yuy. I hate Soap Operas. They're boring, fake, and annoying.”

 

“Then why are you starting unnecessary conflicts and drama?”

 

“This isn't a Soap Opera, buddy. I'm just trying to make a point.”

 

“Oh, yeah? What point is that?”

 

“I'll give you three guesses.”

 

He rolls his eyes as if to say, “Not this again.”

 

I smirk. “I just want you to know that you don't own me.”

 

When he doesn't say anything, I add, “You have to admit, Yuy: he's pretty good looking.”

 

“Sure,” Heero grumbles.

 

I grin despite the fact that I'm supposed to be pissed off and having a heated argument. “You're cute when you pout, Yuy.”

 

He only glares. “Do whatever you want. I don't care.”

 

“Good.”

 

We barely exchange words for the rest of the night; when he does speak, it's to the ladies that serve us in the traditional restaurant that's on the third floor. It's behind a huge screen with paintings of flying cranes. We arrive early, so we're the only people being served there. We sit side by side in our yukatas, me suffering without Heero's help with the chopsticks, tasting some of what looks like jellyfish, white stuff that smells like sour milk, fried fish, and some of the sake.

 

There's a small ruffling sound and I look up to see the same boy from earlier. “Hey!” I call out on impulse before he can walk away. Startled, he turns back and blushes when he sees us.

 

There's a heavy silence that's interrupted by Heero's sipping of his tea.

 

The boy blushes and looks between us carefully. “Um,” I grimace at my rash decision. I forgot that he couldn't speak English.

 

Heero glares at me as the awkward silence continues. “That was smart.”

 

“Can't you translate for me?”

 

He seems on the edge of laughing spitefully. “Why would I translate for you?”

 

“Fine - I'll find some other way to communicate with him.”

 

The boy, still nervously glancing around and between us, says something with the lowest bow I've seen made yet, his back and legs making a perfect 90 degree angle. Heero's expression seems to soften and he replies, nodding his head. Utterly sick at being left out, I glare at Heero, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he hesitates and glances at me. He slides away from the miniature table/tray in front of him, stands up, and - to my utter confusion, as I'm sure you can understand - he walks away.

 

The boy bows to me and says to my double surprise, “Prease. I speak rittle Engrish.” His accent is so thick it's almost funny - and it's much thicker than Heero's ever was - but he's still noticeably speaking English.

 

“Wha - why didn't you just say so in the goddamned first place?”

 

“Very sorry. I speak rittle - tiny. Much I do not know. I do not understand. Prease speak slow and small.”

 

“Oh - I,” I glance around. “I'm sorry.”

 

“I aporogize.” He bows again and sits down beside me. “I - I want not to say to you. I did not want you to know. Understand?”

 

I nod. “Why not?”

 

He smiles shyly and nods his head at the door Heero just walked through. “I see angry. Not happy. I - ah - scared, neh?”

 

I can't help but laugh. “Scared of Yuy? You shouldn't be.”

 

I try to stay simple, but he seems to only vaguely understand. He does smile, though, and Jimmy starts to eagerly remind me of why I wanted to speak to him in the first place.

 

“He to say - ah, no. He say we go to your room.”

 

“Did he?” I automatically look back at the door, my eyebrows raised.

 

The boy stands up and waits for me to follow him, but when he sees my hesitation at leaving our mess there, he says, “No worry. Ueno-san crean. Ueno-san crean, understand?” he asks and smiles when I nod.

 

We slide our slippers on when we step out of the room and walk down the empty halls and to the elevators.

 

“Where's Heero? You know, the guy I was with?” I ask the boy, but he hesitates before saying:

 

“The baths.”

 

“The - bath?”

 

“Eh. The Hot Spring. On first froor. He bathe in Hot Spring.”

 

“Ah - okay.”

 

When we get to the room, he closes the door behind us and slips off his shoes. I take my shoes off also and follow him into the room with the futons.

 

He sits down on one and gazes up at me expectantly with what could be The Look, but much softer than Heero's. I pull myself down next to him and watch him for a moment, thinking about how much different he looks from Heero: he's much paler, frailer, with black hair and dependent black eyes. His mouth quivers nervously before it breaks into another shy smile.

 

“Ah - sorry. Nervous.”

 

I can't help but grin. “It's okay.”

 

“He - ” I could only assume that “he” was Heero - “say you want me. To talk. And…”

 

“Do you?”

 

He nods and moves closer. “Sorry.” He points a finger at himself. “Sorry - I Ameki. Ameki des, understand?”

 

I nod. “I'm Duo.”

 

And those are pretty much the last coherent words we speak to each other with the exception of, “Does it hurt?” and “No.” With him hollering in Japanese and me in English, I think it's pretty safe to say that the only understanding we shared at that moment was to go faster and harder. After two rounds, I leave Ameki, fast asleep on the futon, and throw away the used condoms and wrappers. I wipe myself off with a towel, dress in the yukata, and - feeling drowsy but fresher than ever - I manage to get the sash tied (looser and more crooked than Heero got it, I'm sure, but tied nonetheless.) I go down to the lobby's floor, smile at a lady that's now standing behind the counter, and hesitate before peeking pass one of the curtains.

 

I'm thankful to see that I chose the right curtain.

 

I slip off my shoes, untie the sash around my yukata, slip it off, and - as naked as the day I was born - walk to the edge of the indoor hot spring, steam enveloping everything. There's an older man with extra belly fat around his middle, but he's drying himself off and he leaves within moments.

 

“How was he?” Heero breathes, his eyes still closed, once we're alone.

 

“You don't care.”

 

“If I didn't care, then I wouldn't have asked.”

 

I shrug my shoulders. “He was good. He fell asleep pretty quickly, though. Lasted only two rounds.”

 

“To a normal person, having sex for about half an hour is a pretty long time.”

 

“You don't seem to mind.”

 

“I've gotten used to you and your - stamina.”

 

I chuckle softly; at this, he opens his eyes and peers up at me. “Why don't you join me?”

 

“I thought you'd be angry at me.”

 

“I am.”

 

“You don't look it.”

 

“I've learned to practice self control.”

 

I smirk and sit down on the edge. I wipe a few strands of hair out of my face. They've become damp from the steam and heat of the baths alone. “Ameki speaks English. That's his name - Ameki.”

 

“I know.”

 

“You knew what his name was?”

 

“No. I knew he speaks English. He told me. He said that he respected that I probably didn't want him to speak with you.”

 

I can't help but grin. “He was afraid of you, you know.”

 

Heero didn't say anything.

 

“And - you know - you're always telling me to live life based by my emotions, yeah? But when I try to, you get on my back.”

 

“I never realized you actually listened to me.”

 

I roll my eyes. “Stop evading.”

 

“Look, I don't have anything against you for having sex with Ameki-san. Not anymore, anyway. But you can't have anything against me for being jealous.”

 

“What?”

 

“I can't help but be upset, Duo. I know that you can't help it if you're attracted to Ameki-san, but I can't help being resentful either. And I don't think that you should hold it against me that I'm jealous.”

 

“And why shouldn't I?”

 

“Well, you're jealous of Relena - aren't you?”

 

I hear the laugh before I realize it's me laughing. “Relena? Why would I be jealous of Relena Peacecraft? Well, besides the reason that she's one of the richest - ”

 

“You hate her, Duo. You've told me so yourself.”

 

“And with bloody good reason, Yuy! She isn't exactly the nicest person in the world, you know.”

 

“I admit, she isn't fair towards you, but she's kindhearted to nearly everyone else.”

 

“So she hates me too! What does that have to do with anything?”

 

“She's envious of you too, Duo; you won't admit that, just as it's natural to be attracted to others, it's natural to be jealous.”

 

“You won't admit that you're a possessive jerk.”

 

“I let you have him, didn't I?”

 

“ `Let?' As if you could've stopped me from taking him.”

 

Heero stares at me with a blank expression over his face before he gets out of the water and sits at the edge beside me. He leans against me, as if I'm the back of a chair. “I thought you were angry with me.”

 

He doesn't answer; rests his head against my shoulder. His hands begin to idly play with the end of my braid. For a while we just stay like that, him resting against me and playing with my hair, me sitting there and letting him.

 

“I should probably go,” I say. He looks up at me. “I left Akemi - ”

 

“Ameki-san.”

 

“Right. Ameki-san. I left Ameki-san in the room. I don't want him to think that I used him and left him alone.”

 

Heero pushes himself away from me and shrugs. “All right.”

 

“You coming?”

 

“No. I'll be up soon.”

 

I nod and stand up.

 

By the time I get back to the room, Ameki is awake and standing on the balcony, staring at the sea below, completely unconcerned that anyone can look up and get a full view of free eye candy.

 

“I'm sorry,” I say when he looks over at me. I close the door and slip off my shoes.

 

He smiles and shakes his head. “It's okay. You go to see your - ah - friend, neh?”

 

I nod.

 

“It's okay,” he repeats. “I understand.”

 

I walk over to stand beside him. “Sea,” he points. “Man-made. Um - fake, neh?”

 

I squint my eyes to stare at it. “How can a sea be fake?” I murmur to myself.

 

“Walk on sea,” Ameki said, making his hand walk on its forefinger and middle finger across the railing. At first, I thought that he was trying to make an allusion to Jesus Christ and was going to start saying that he felt guilty for having sex with another man. But then he added, “With your friend. Very nice place, yo.”

 

“Oh, you mean the beach?”

 

“Eh!” he nods and smiles. He watches me for a moment before he lowers his gaze. “I have to go. I work. I have to work.” He walks back into the room, picks up his neatly folded yukata, and puts it on. I walk him to the door and, after a hesitant and rather awkward pause, we both burst out into grins and he stands on his tip-toes to give me a quick kiss.

 

“Bye,” he says and I wave and watch him walk up the corridor.

 

I don't have to wait long for Heero to return to the room. His hair is still damp and he seems particularly drowsy. He lies down on his futon without taking off his yukata and asks tiredly, “Did you two have another go?”

 

I shake my head. “He had to go back to work.”

 

He does that grunt thing and rolls over onto his back, resting his arm across his forehead. I stand up off of the legless chair and join him in the room. “We're leaving tomorrow evening, right?”

 

He nods.

 

“Before then, I want to take a walk with you.”

 

He furrows his eyebrows and glances up at me. “A walk? Where?”

 

“The beach down there,” I shrug my head at the balcony.

 

I watch him watch me for a moment before he smiles a small smile and nods. “All right.”