Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ What Happened to Being Perfect? ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A couple days later, Heero and Duo stood in front of the mirror in Duo's room, staring down at a small case in Heero's hands.

"Come on, Heero, hurry up!" Duo said impatiently. "I want to see what they look like on you!" Sally had stopped by earlier to finally drop off Heero's glasses, but he had yet to put them on.

"Maybe we should wait until the others get back," Heero suggested, not wanting to put them on at all. Duo blew his bangs off his forehead exasperatedly.

"Heero, Trowa and Quatre won't be back from band and orchestra until 5, and Wufei's re-taking that chemistry test." Heero glanced up sharply.

"I thought he was tutoring someone?"

"Pfft, Wufei? Tutor someone? Do you REALLY believe that? Nah, he failed that chemistry thing last week, along with about half the class." Duo paused. "Maybe he didn't want you to know...oops."

"Does he have Miller?"

"Yep. He's in my class."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that test. How'd you do?" Duo smiled widely.

"I aced it," he said proudly. "I actually understand that stuff. Chemistry's my thing, man."

"Well math obviously isn't," Heero said lowly.

"Hey! Excuse me for not being Mr. Math Wiz like you over there."

"Algebra's easy. It's 'my thing,'" Heero said sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah. Ha ha." Duo pulled a chair out from the desk he was standing near and straddled it. "So, you gonna try those on or not?"

"Hn...maybe," Heero replied. He unconsciously reached down to pull his pants up since they'd started to fall of his hips. He scowled. "I can't stand these American styles," he said, growling at the way too baggy pants.

"Those pants are a hell of a lot better than those ass-tight jeans you and Trowa used to wear. And Quatre and Wufei have finally gotten out of their little fashion slumps too. Plus, you're supposed to wear a belt," Duo pointed out.

"Well, these aren't mine. Mine fit me better." Duo raised an eyebrow at the black jeans he had on.

"Then...whose are they?" Heero flushed slightly.

"Uh, they're yours," he replied sheepishly.

"Mine?!"

"Well, my pants were all dirty and Trowa was in our room so I couldn't take a pair of his or Wufei's. You and Quatre were both downstairs so I just...borrowed a pair," he said defensively. Duo chuckled.

"I THOUGHT they looked familiar. They look better with these chains though," he said, gesturing to the dog chain hanging from his pants.

"I sure hope you don't go Goth on us with those things," Heero said, glancing at the braided teen out of the corner of his eye. Duo waved him off.

"Nah, I just like wearing the one chain. I was thinking about getting my ear pierced though," he added casually. Heero's eyes widened a little.

"Seriously?"

"Mhmm."

"...Cool."

"Would you do it with me?" Duo asked eagerly. Heero shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe. Trowa probably would. I overheard him talking about with someone at school."

"I'll ask him then." Duo held out his hand. "Can I see that case?" he asked, gesturing to the glasses case in Heero's hand. Heero tossed it to him. Duo opened it up and pulled the slender framed glasses out. "Did you pick out the frames?"

"Yeah." Duo nodded.

"They're nice." He put them on over his own eyes, and had to blink several times before pulling them off again. "Well, I was going to see how I looked in them, but everything is one big blur when I look through them. Your eyesight IS terrible, Yuy."

"Shut up," Heero snapped, glaring at Duo. Duo smirked back, and handed the glasses to him.

"Put 'em on." Heero sighed and reluctantly slid them on. He didn't give Duo the chance to see him in them because he quickly turned back to the mirror. Heero blinked. They actually...didn't look that bad. The frames were really thin-wired and were a gold color. The lenses were small and oval-shaped, covering little of his face besides his eyes. "Lemme see!" Duo cried, jumping out of the seat. Heero turned to him, and it was quiet for a second as Duo scrutinized his appearance. "Aw, I'm jealous," he said finally. "They actually look good on you. You look...sophisticated or something. Very suave." Heero smirked.

"Yeah, I have to admit, they don't look as bad as I'd thought they would." He looked back at his reflection.

"I wonder what the others will think," Duo said thoughtfully. "Do they really help?" Heero nodded.

"Uh-huh. Now I can actually see where the socket is on the wall over there." He pointed to the wall beside the door.

"You couldn't see that before?!" Duo exclaimed.

"It blended in with the wall!" Heero said defensively. Duo just shook his head and chuckled.

* * *

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Duo mumbled on his way to school one morning. Heero, who was walking beside him, raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What's up?" he asked. Duo ran a hand through his bangs.

"I just remembered that we get our...our report cards today," he said, looking extremely worried. Behind the pair, Quatre spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I wonder what I got in Government..." he said thoughtfully. Wufei and Trowa remained silent.

"All I know is that I already had a really low B in math, but then I, uh, failed that last quiz, and got a C on the test..." Duo trailed off. Quatre shook his head slightly.

"Math just isn't your subject, huh Duo?"

"Not at all. But it's not just...MATH. It's Algebra II HONORS. That class is freakin' hard!"

"I'm in Algebra II honors," Heero said. "And I have an A."

"Shut up," Duo snapped, glaring at the blue-eyed teen. "You and your dumb glasses...think you're all smart now..." he grumbled.

"Well, look on the bright side, Duo," Wufei spoke up. "At least today's Friday."

"Yeah, and next Wednesday's the day you get your permit, if you pass the test," Trowa added.

"Plus, you've already made the baseball team, so it's not like they can kick you off," Wufei spoke again. Duo nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But still..."

"Oh, don't worry so much. I'm sure you did fine," Quatre assured. "And there's always next quarter. Then the finals, and if you do well both those times, you'll still have a good final average."

"Hmm..."

"Oh, and speaking of driving permits," Heero said suddenly. "My test's today, so I won't be at practice, ok Quatre?" Quatre nodded.

"Yeah. I'll tell them for you, and then you have to tell them when I'm gone on Monday."

"Alright."

"Hey Duo, isn't your first game next Thursday?" Wufei asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it is. Then we have an away game next Monday, and another home game the Wednesday after that."

"I think I'll stick around after lacrosse to watch," Wufei said, pulling his planner out of his backpack. "Yeah, we don't have a game that day."

"When IS your first game?" Duo asked.

"Uh..." Wufei started flipping through the pages in his notebook.

"It's Wednesday, the day of your driving test," Trowa spoke up.

"Aww, I won't be able to go!"

"Don't worry about it, there's plenty more games." Trowa paused. "But if you really want to make it up, you can go to the concert on the 23rd," he said casually. Quatre perked up when he said that.

"Yeah! The orchestra sounds REALLY good! And I have a solo! You should come!" he said excitedly.

"The band sounds better," Trowa said.

"Heh, not really," Quatre threw back.

"You know it does, you just don't want to admit it."

"Whatever, Trowa."

"Isn't that a Friday?" Duo cut it. Trowa paused.

"Yeah, it is," he answered.

"Then I'll be there. And I KNOW Wufei and Heero would LOVE to go too, right?" Heero and Wufei looked at each other.

"Sure, why not. What better way to spend my Friday night then at a Band Concert," Wufei said semi-sarcastically.

"What do you ever do on Friday's besides sitting at home in front of the T.V. anyway?" Heero asked. Wufei glared at him.

"Yeah, Wu-man, it's not like you ever go out," Duo teased.

"Oh, and since we've moved here, you have?" Wufei snapped.

"Uh, well...er..." Duo stuttered,

"That's what I thought," Wufei said smugly. Duo crossed his arms and sulked the rest of the way to the bus stop.

Later that day, Duo, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre finally returned home from school to find Heero watching T.V. with a small, but uncharacteristic smile across his face.

"Hey, Heero. Whatcha watchin'?" Duo asked plopping down on the couch. Heero's smile was promptly erased from his face when he noticed the others were home.

"Just flipping through the channels," he replied dully.

"What were you smiling about?" Quatre asked curiously.

"Smiling?" Heero blinked. "I wasn't smiling."

"But I saw-"

"I. Wasn't. Smiling."

"O-oh. Heh, right..."

"I have a lot of things to tell you though," Heero said, sitting up as he remembered. "One, Preventors is loaning us a car since we're getting our permits. However, unlike food and clothes and everything else, we have to pay for the gas money out of our own pocket, meaning we should probably get jobs. Two, I get to be the first to drive the car since I passed the test today and got my permit." The smile appeared on his face again when he said this. "Three, I ordered pizza for dinner. And four, Trowa, some girl named Carrie called you about three times," he continued, ticking the things off on his fingers. Several things happened at once.

"Oh, sugoi! We get a car! Awesome!!" Duo exclaimed, punching the air. "Do you know what type?"

"Congratulations on getting your permit, Heero," Quatre said, smiling.

"What do you mean we have to get a job?!" Wufei cried. "We COULD have had one already if they didn't make that new law! INJUSTICE!!!!"

"Uh..." Trowa coughed as he blushed bright red. "Did she give you her number?" Heero sighed.

"Ok, no, I don't know what type of car, thank you Quatre, yes it's an injustice we have to get a job, but if YOU want to drive the car at ALL then you'll have to work, and Trowa...her number's on the fridge." Heero said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder at the last part. Trowa nodded and walked off in the direction of the kitchen.

"We get a car, we get a car, we get a car..." Duo chanted quietly to himself. Quatre smiled at him and sat down the other end of the couch, dropping his backpack on the floor.

"Where do you think we should work?" Wufei asked, staring thoughtfully into space.

"Uh, well..." Quatre reached down to tie one of his shoelaces that had come undone. "I could use some of savings to pay for gas," he suggested, "since we're all doing sports and stuff." Duo stopped his chanting abruptly.

"Now THERE'S an idea," he said brightly.

"Maxwell, we can't just rob Quatre of his money every time we need it for something. We're perfectly capable of finding a job."

"But Wu-man-"

"DON'T call me that."

"DON'T interrupt me," Duo spat back. "But as I was saying, we wouldn't be robbing him of his money. He offered! And we could always pay him back in...two years. Or we could get jobs over the summer, and he wouldn't have to pay for gas money until school started again. Yeah, that would work! We could work as...lifeguards. There's plenty of pools around."

"Yeah, plenty of girls too," Heero added lowly. "That's what YOU'RE thinking." Duo smiled sheepishly.

"I don't want to work at a POOL!" Wufei shouted.

"Then you could work at a McDonald's or something," Duo suggested. Wufei looked horrified at the thought.

"We'll do that then, for a few months anyway. Are you sure it's ok Quatre?" Heero asked. Quatre eyed him oddly.

"I'm a millionaire, remember? Of course it's ok." It was quiet for a few minutes, save Trowa's talking in the background.

"He sure is talking a lot," Duo said suddenly. "And to a GIRL. I wonder who she is?"

"Carrie," Heero answered. "That's what she said her name was."

"...That doesn't help me any, Heero. Do you know how many 'Carries' there probably are in our school?"

"How many?" Trowa asked walking into the room. Duo jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Yo, T! Who's the girl, huh?" Duo raised his eyebrows suggestively. Trowa blinked at the "T" part, but ignored the eyebrows.

"She's in some of my classes, math one of them, and she needed help on her homework," he replied lamely. Duo's face fell.

"WHATever," he said, turning back around.

"Speaking of math," Wufei began, glancing at Duo out of the corner of his eye. "What'd you get on your report card?" he asked. Duo glared at him.

"Oh shut up, Wufei. Or would you like to compare Chemistry grades with everyone?" he replied smugly. Wufei scowled.

"I got an A in both those classes," Heero said casually. Both Duo and Wufei turned their glares on him.

"Shut up!" they snapped. Heero just shrugged.

"How you do in English, Heero?" Quatre asked innocently. Heero's eyes hardened.

"Quatre..." he warned.

"I was just asking."

"You're in my class."

"...Oh yeaaah. My bad!" Quatre said overdramatically.

"Wait, hey, what'd you get? Huh, Heero? I wanna know!" Duo said, bouncing up and down eagerly. Wufei sighed, and then started imitating Duo.

"Yeah, yeah Heero! Tell us!" he pleaded. He shared a quick look with Duo before they both exclaimed, "PLEEEAAASSE????"

"Ack, Wufei, stop. Duo's bad enough," Trowa said, backing up a step.

"I got an 82.3," Heero said bluntly. Duo and Wufei stopped their antics abruptly.

"Wow, now I don't feel so bad," Wufei said, smiling lightly. "I had an 83.4 in Chemistry." Duo frowned.

"Aww, am I the only one who got a C in something?" he asked dejectedly. "Damn. Well, I had a 74.8 in Algebra."

"That's not too bad, Duo," Quatre said kindly. "I had an 88 in Government." He glanced at Trowa.

"Uh...I had all A's," he said sheepishly. The other four in the room glared at him, but he raised his hands defensively. "It's not my fault I study."

"You think I don't study?!" Duo cried. "Shit, man. I had a B in Spanish too, AND in English. But that was an 89. I aced Chemistry and Government though, and totally blew everyone away in computer and gym."

"Well, gym was easy," Quatre said.

"I had a B in Spanish too," Wufei said, frowning.

"Same," came Heero's voice. "A high B, but a B." They all glanced at Trowa again, who gulped.

"Uh, I'm fluent in Spanish," he said. "But I took French remember? And I already told you I got all A's."

"Oh yeah. Hey Quat, you took French too, right?" Duo asked.

"Yeah," Quatre replied. "Trowa and I have the same teacher, but we're in different classes."

"Quatre's name is four in French," Trowa said. "I thought that was kind of interesting." Quatre smiled.

"Yeah, I was 04, and my name means four. Weird, huh?"

"I think it's pretty cool," Duo said, though he wasn't really paying attention. "Hey, Trowa, does this Carrie girl have really light brown hair? Sort of wavy?" Trowa blinked.

"Yeah..." he replied slowly. "She's kind of short-"

"But figured proportionally?" Trowa blushed lightly.

"Uh, yeah," he coughed. Duo smiled brightly.

"She's in my English class!" he exclaimed. "I just remembered her. She plays softball."

"Does she? I didn't know."

"Yeah, she plays first base."

"Cool."

"Hey, Duo. Whatever happened to Hilde?" Quatre asked suddenly. Duo blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...wasn't she upset when you left?" Duo scratched his head.

"Well, she didn't want to go back to living alone, so, yeah, she was a little upset, but..." Duo trailed off, and then realization hit him. "Oh! Quat, we weren't going out or anything, if that's what you're getting at."

"Oh..." Quatre smiled a little. "Yeah, actually, that's what I was wondering."

"You two weren't together?" Heero asked, a little surprised. "I could have sworn you were..." Duo shook his head.

"Nope, never. She was a great friend though. I still write to her on e-mail. What about you? When's the last time you talked to your princess over in Europe?" Duo teased. Despite himself, Heero blushed a little.

"I haven't talked to her since we left," he said, glaring at the braided teen.

"You're pathetic," Duo said, laughing.

"Shut up," Heero growled, crossing his arms and sulking in his seat. Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre looked at each other, wondering if they'd missed something. Duo noticed their blank stares, and immediately took the opportunity to voice what he'd been getting at.

"When Heero was staying at my house after the whole Mariemaia thing, he admitted to me that-" Duo was abruptly cut off as Heero lunged at him, causing him to land on his back on the couch. Heero clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Say ANYthing, and die," he said warningly. Duo rolled his eyes up at him.

"Mmmmph mm mmph mmppph!" Duo mumbled through Heero's hand.

"Wait, I want to hear what he has to say!" Quatre said eagerly. He leaned over and tried to pry Heero's hand away from Duo. He was quite unsuccessful. Heero reached for his gun, only to discover it wasn't there.

"We don't carry around guns anymore, remember Heero?" Trowa asked amusedly.

"You guys! Help!" Quatre said from his spot near Heero. Trowa sighed and reluctantly walked over. After discovering that grabbing his arm wouldn't work, he tried wrapping his arms around Heero's waist and pulling. Heero still wouldn't budge. While all this was going on, Wufei calmly walked over and pulled Heero's report card out of his bag to read over the comments.

"Whoa, am I interrupting anything?" a new voice said. Wufei's head shot up.

"Woman, what are YOU doing here?"

"Oh, Sally!" Quatre shouted before she could answer. "Duo was about to tell us something Heero said about Relena, but Heero won't let him say it, and now we can't get his hand off of Duo's mouth," he explained quickly. Sally raised an eyebrow as she stared in amusement at the scene in front of her.

"Well, have you tried tickling him?" she asked. Heero's eyes snapped wide open, and everyone else in the room paused. "Yeah, I found that out during his physical," Sally went on, not noticing the sudden quietness of the room. Though you couldn't see it, Duo began to smirk evilly beneath Heero's hand.

"Sally!" Heero yelled, horrified at what she had just said. She blinked.

"Oh, uh, oops?" Without wasting another second, Duo pushed himself up, sending a startled Heero onto his back on the couch.

"Get him!" Duo cried. He began tickling Heero's sides, not surprised in the least when Heero burst out laughing. Soon Quatre joined him, while Trowa and Wufei just looked on.

"D-Duo! S-st-stop, damn it! C-can't breathe...anym-more," Heero choked out. Duo finally sat back on his heels, and Quatre pulled back to look down at the brown-haired teen who was currently attempting to catch his breath.

"Sally," he growled, when he could finally breathe normally again.

"Yes?" she replied innocently. Heero grumbled something incoherently, and Sally didn't bother asking him what he'd said. She was watching Duo whisper something to Quatre.

"What?!" Quatre exclaimed, drawing back from Duo in shock. "He said THAT?!" Duo nodded solemnly.

"Duo..." Heero said, sounding something akin to hurt.

"Heero, I can't believe you said that about her!" Quatre was still ranting. Heero blinked. He hadn't said anything bad about her... Heero glanced at Duo questioningly. The cheerful teen had been expecting it, and winked at him, letting a smirk grace his face. Heero felt a small smile cross his face too, and he nodded thankfully. Trowa caught the small exchange, as did Sally. Wufei on the other hand...

"What'd he say?" Wufei asked Quatre. "Spit it out already!" Quatre looked up wide-eyed.

"You don't want to know," he replied, before glaring at Heero.

"It wasn't THAT bad," Duo said.

"It was MEAN!" Quatre threw back. Heero ran a hand through his hair.

"What'd you tell him?" he asked Duo quietly. Quatre paused.

"Oh, ha! As if you don't know!" Heero glared at the blonde to shut him up.

"Quatre," Trowa said gently, "I think Duo just told you that so you'd have an answer. I doubt that Heero actually said something mean about Relena." Quatre blinked.

"You mean you lied?" he cried, turning on Duo.

"Hey, I may run and hide, but I NEVER lie!" Duo said, annoyed at him having even thought that.

"Wait, Duo, then what did you tell him?" Heero asked, now thoroughly confused. Duo smiled.

"Oh, I just told him what you said to me a LONG time ago. You know, when I got you out of that hospital? Sally was there!" he said, suddenly remembering that fact. Heero paled slightly.

"You told him THAT?" he said, a little nervously. "I'd only met her the one time before that, and then she followed me to the docks. She was annoying! Was I supposed to like her then?" he said, trying to defend himself.

"So you DID say it!" Quatre exclaimed, and then paused. "Wait, are you saying you like her NOW?" he asked mischievously. Heero paused.

"D-did I say that?" he asked, his voice a little too high. Clearing his throat, he continued monotonously, "Because I certainly don't." Quatre rolled his eyes, his previous tantrum over.

"Sure, Heero."

"Duo tries hard in class, and constantly works to achieve his best?" Wufei said suddenly, interrupting everything else. "If he works so hard, then why does he have a C?" he continued to mutter. He gradually became aware of the silence around him, and looked up to find everyone staring at him oddly. "Uh...yes?"

"Are you reading my report card again?" Duo asked, annoyed. "I already showed it you."

"Yeah, apparently I missed that part, because I don't remember it."

"Um, guys? I'm feeling forgotten over here," Sally spoke up, waving a hand to get their attention. "Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

"Oh yeah, why ARE you here?" Duo asked. Sally smirked.

"I brought your new car over."

There was suddenly a mad scramble for the door.

* * *




O_o OMIGOSH!! Thank you SOOOO much for all the reviews! you guys are great!! It totally made my week! Ok, anyway, there's the second part. Man, I don't know what is it with me, but I love making the big tough guys ticklish. It's so much fun! Those who have read my B/V DBZ fic know what I'm talking about. Well, remember, ten reviews and the next chapter will be out next Sunday! Oh, and I don't mean to make the Gundam guys seem stupid or something, but honestly, they never went to school or anything, accept for Wufei who we KNOW was a scholar, and maybe Quatre. Just wanted to point that out!

*~Maxine~*