Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Yin And Yang ❯ Chapter I ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Yin and Yang
By Cobalt 27

Summary: AU. 1=2 some 3=4, 5=M. Heero has no choice but to move to a new school in the middle of his sophomore year and is in for a few surprises. Between going from being a loner to one of the most popular guys, finding that he’s more comfortable with homosexuality than he thought, and meeting a nymphomaniac who has a deeper side to him Heero realizes he’s in for one hell of a semester.
Warning: Drinking, drugs, smoking, sex, swearing, angst and mature adult themes. Hilde and Catherine are 100% OOC but I hope you all like my version of their high school girly-ness.
Disclaimer: I do not own or have any claim to Gundam Wing, its characters, logos or its affiliations; they belong to Bandai and their affiliated companies. I do not own or have claim to bus names, street names, school names, mascots or logos. I do not own or have claim to the high school that appears in this story. I do not own or have claim to the malls, store names or their logos that appear in this story. I do not own or have claim to songs, lyrics, movies and movie characters, actors, singers or bands that appear in this story. I own all original characters that do not appear in any anime/manga owned by Bandai or their affiliated companies.

Chapter I

“So, you’ll be alright to get to school on your own?” Odin slipped his arm through his jacket sleeve and grabbed his coffee mug.

“Yeah,” Heero mumbled around a mouthful of Alpha-Bits, while studying the bus map.

The colourful map illustrated all bus routes in the city, every school, park and mall. Heero knew some of it, because his last apartment was in a small township just outside the larger city he had moved to.

“Well, okay. Wish me luck on my first day.”

“Luck.”

Odin was hired at a parts factory as the maintenance supervisor. Maintenance Supervisor was just a fancy way of saying the dude who fixes the stuff, toilets included.

“Okay, see you at four thirty.”

Heero waited until Odin’s footsteps faded down the hallway before he crossed the room to the small stereo set up near the television. He turned the knob and the barely audible music became comfortably audible for seven o’clock in the morning.

[This city’s burning
It’s not my burden
It’s not over before it’s too late
There is nothing left to analyze.]

Heero returned to his small square bedroom to don himself in his school attire: navy blue school pants and a white button up dress shirt with his school’s name embroidered on the breast pocket. He had never gone to a Catholic high school before, but figured it couldn’t be any worse than the public ones he had attended in the past. He heard that Catholic high schools had spirit and everyone got along. He wasn’t expecting much.

[You’re not the Jesus of Suburbia
The St. Jimmy is a figment of
Your father’s rage and your mother’s love
Made me the Idiot of ]

“It’s not over ‘til you’re underground. It’s not over before it’s too late. This city’s burning. It’s not my burden!” Heero’s bass voice filled the small kitchenette as he washed his breakfast dishes.

This was the life he was used to, having to be independent and self-sufficient. Ever since he could remember he had always fended for himself, even with his father to watch over him. Odin had made sure that his adopted son had a healthy home, food on the table and clothes on his back. Any extras Heero got for himself because he had been working since he was eleven. It started with a paper route and then a job at an ice cream parlor when he moved the first time. After the second time, he became a host at a posh restaurant and now, that he was done his dishes and fishing through the classified ad in the newspaper, he was looking for another job.

Glancing at the bus schedule next to the paper, and looking up at the clock on the wall, Heero sighed. He’d have to put away the paper and continue his job searching after school. His bus would be at the corner in five minutes. Gathering his bag, and adorning his puffy blue winter jacket, he grabbed his keys off the kitchenette counter and left the apartment.

Heero waited outside at the bus shelter. Two buses passed this stop and both arrived at his new school, but the 1C would bring him there directly. He had always been a direct person and opted not to travel down side streets. There were a bunch of other uniform clad students on the bus as he boarded it. In fact, they were literally packed like sardines. Some didn’t even have a bar to hold onto and just bumped into others as they sped down the streets. Heero hoped they were all going to his school so he would know for sure when to get off the bus, but he couldn’t see any logos on any school shirts because all the students were wearing jackets.

The bus was loud, and Heero kept weaving in and out of others’ conversations.

“Ohmigaud, she didn’t? … She did? Ohmigaud! I knew it … she’s so like that.”

“…And then he ate it! He actually ate it!”

“…so ma bitch was like ‘why you be mackin’ on her when you be wif me’ and so that’s when I bail dat shit and I’ma just like ‘fuck it, yo’.”

“…Did you get your membership for the Fuzzy Friendship Fanclub yet?”
“SHHH! Be quiet! Someone could have heard you.”
“Oh, no one’s listening.”

“…And then she–hey, you okay? You don’t look too good. Oh, morning sickness, right? Does this happen every day now?”

“…Hey, who’s that?”

Heero had the suspicion the last question was directed to him.

“…Dunno. He’s cute.”

Then he lost the suspicion, but turned discreetly to see who was speaking anyway, not that he was usually curious about these sorts of things. A thin girl with a boyish blue haircut was talking with a taller girl with shoulder length wavy hair. A boy sat behind her, with a giant uni-bang, and thwacked her on the head with a rolled up bristle board.

“OUCH! Trowa, you’re such a jerk sometimes! Why did mom have to have two kids?!”

“Because she was so disappointed when you came out. She stopped after me because I’m perfect.”

“You’re both deluded. She counted her losses and figured why put three demented children on this planet.”

“Ouch, Hilde. You’re supposed to be my friend!”

Amused, but knowing he wasn’t involved, Heero turned his attention away from the entertaining group behind him and settled on a window, or what he could see of a window while he tried to look between people.

It seemed to be a typical February day in the southern tip of in which he resided. There was a mushy snow cover across the lawns they passed, and a thick gray slush on the streets that seemed to get dirtier with every car that drove through it.

The bus came to a prolonged stop where Heero noted that other jacketed students with the same embroiderment as his school shirt began to file out of the bus, so he joined them. The flock of students began trudging across the street, except Heero. He stood back just taking in the unfamiliar scene before him.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t attended a high school before. It was that he knew his old school. Seeing this new one, seeing the activity surrounding it, was slightly overwhelming. He had visited this school once, but it was nearly deserted then. He wasn’t intimidated, but a sense of nervousness gripped him as he thought about the possibilities of what lay ahead.

The bus pulled away and his window of opportunity to cross the street vanished as cars continued traveling down the road. He stood and waited for an opening when a long sleek limousine caught his eye. It sped up the road, the tires splashing dirty slush in every direction, including Heero’s. He was hit hard with a cold thick blanket of wet mush. It stuck to his uniform pants and his jacket and though he hastily tried to wipe himself off it didn’t matter because he was already wet. Muttering under his breath, a cloud now over his head, he spotted an opening in traffic and marched through it.

Yes, he was angry and would most likely be in a sour mood all day, but he wasn’t going to let it bother him. His skin was thicker and, after all, it was just wetness. It would dry, even if it would leave a dirty mark. It could be washed out, even if he had to spend his first day in a filthy uniform. No, he wouldn’t let it bother him.

Continuing up the sidewalk, past cars and people, he noticed the limo parked right in front of the school, in front of a curved brick half wall with the school’s name. He stopped in his tracks as he glared at the luxurious vehicle.

Those jerks! They didn’t even apologize! But, no, he wasn’t going to let this bother him. Shit happened every day and he had to deal with it. Gritting his teeth, he marched up the remainder of the sidewalk with as much dignity as he could muster. Just before he could reach the branded wall, the chauffeur opened the door and Heero, once again, stopped dead in his tracks.

Long slender, but masculine, legs slid out of the limo. A gentle hand with languid fingers gripped the chauffeur’s rough ones as a teenage boy was gracefully pulled out of the limo. Standing at full height, Heero could tell they were roughly the same age. What really caught Heero’s eye was his exotic braid and how it hung like a dancing rope, dusting the seat of his pants as he walked.

Shaking his head, and ending his trance, Heero continued marching up the sidewalk. He was intending to give this guy a piece of his mind! That was, until almost everyone the rude stranger passed said hello or waved to him. Heero turned about, observing others. No other student was being greeted by as many peers as this one. Though, no other student was being dropped off in a beautiful black limo. Sinking slightly, Heero’s resolve vanished. He wasn’t about to ostracize himself by having a confrontation with one of the popular students, especially on the first day.

Now, Heero Yuy wasn’t one to care about high school hierarchy or cast systems. However, he wasn’t too keen on being the only outcast, as everyone he had briefly passed seemed to get along with a good amount of people they briefly passed. What was this school? One of those sing-along get-alongs? That was all he needed, a disagreement with a popular guy in a school where everyone stuck up for each other. No thanks, that’s a pass.

Swallowing his pride, he held his chin a little higher than what he normally did and did the only thing he could in his situation. He marched towards the front entrance, dirty clothes and all.

He entered the school’s doors and was found in a little foyer with another set of doors. The traffic there was thick, and he had to take tiny steps to advance, but finally got through the queue. He found himself in a lobby, with an elevator in front of him, a set of offices to his left, and a glassed in library to his right. Knowing that he was supposed to get a locker, he turned to the right and headed into the windowed room labeled: Main Office. He entered and was greeted by a stern looking woman with a fifties haircut. She directed him to the office next door, which was the Attendance Office. However, the line to get into the office wrapped out and down the hallway and stopped right in front of the elevator. This was going to take forever.

He waited for a while. Music had begun to filter throughout the school, and the activity increased. Students began entering their classes, and five minutes later the bell sounded three times consecutively. Heero had just entered the office where a tall leering man with dark graying hair and glasses stood next to a small, compact sickly looking man who had a female’s name for a reason. Heero explained to him what was going on, and while the taller vice principal found a lock for him, the shorter one checked his watch.

“You’re late for class,” the short one deadpanned.

Heero breathed harshly through his nose as he confirmed the time. The bell had already rung.

“Yes, but I’ve been waiting in line–”

“This is not a very good way to start here.” He flicked a detention slip with the pen in his hand. “First you’re late and now you’re going to be a smart ass?”

“I wasn’t being–”

“Hey! Don’t argue with me, okay?” His eyes widened as he took a defensive stance on the other side of the walled counter. “You’ll find yourself with a detention on your first day.”

Heero knew unfairness when he saw it, and this vice principal reeked of it. Most cruel teachers really were just misunderstood. Dealing with other people’s juvenile delinquents six hours a day, five days a week could be very stressful and most of the time their unfairness was wrongly placed stress and anger. He decided not to push it when he realized this particular vice principal probably put up with more shit from the twenty students in the line before him than Heero would have to put up with all semester.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

Heero thought for a second.

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir what?”

“Yes, sir I understand.”

“I didn’t ask if you understood. I was telling you not to back talk.”

“I wasn’t, sir.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“No, sir.”

At that moment the gorilla looking vice principal came back with a lock in his hand. He handed it to Heero.

“That’ll be seven dollars.”

“Seven dollars?” Heero wasn’t aware that there was a charge for locks and all he had was a five-dollar bill for lunch, and his bus pass. “I didn’t know there was–”

“You either pay, or you don’t get a locker.”

“Well, can I get one on Monday then?”

“Yes…but no backpacks in class. You’ll have to put that in a locker.”

Heero’s brows furrowed at the logic of it all. He had to pay to get a lock, but didn’t have the money. He could wait until he got the money, but wasn’t permitted to bring his bags into class. He had to store them in a locker of which he couldn’t afford. It was sort of a catch twenty-two, and there was nothing he could do.

“Can I make a down payment on a lock, or something?”

“It’s seven dollars or nothing. We don’t have time to chase you around for money. Now get to class, and take this.” The short one scribbled on a slip of paper. “You can serve this detention after school.”

Heero narrowed his eyes as he took the slip and read: “reason: late” on the bottom. This was great. This was just unbelievable! He walked down the hall, passing the guidance office, and threw his arms up in defeat. For all of his troubles he was lockerless and had a detention with a man who seemed to have a personal vendetta against him for no apparent reason.

“Hey, hey, wait up.”

Heero turned around and noticed the uni-banged boy from the bus jog toward him from the Attendance Office. Heero, in his anger, hadn’t even noticed the boy in there.

“That was just Mellion and Lauzon. They’re bastards. Don’t let them fool you, though. The rest of the teachers here can be pretty cool. I can help you with your locker problem for today, if you wish.” He stopped right in front of Heero, and Heero noted that all the uni-bang hid was one massively green eye. The boy had bright emerald eyes, but no physical irregularity that would be reason to hide half his face. Heero, figuring it was this boy’s unique way of standing out in a crowd, shrugged it off and took the boy up on his offer.

“Yeah, a fix to my locker problem would be really helpful right now. My name’s Heero Yuy.” Heero extended his hand, waiting for the green-eyed boy to follow suit.

Taking the offered hand in his, the tall and slender boy gave it a firm shake before speaking. “My name is Trowa Barton. I’m in grade eleven.”

“Tenth.”

Trowa nodded as the two continued down a small hallway that was at the corner of the Guidance office and the elevator. It was a short hallway with one hallway leading off into the main square of the building (where you could either go up the stairs, enter the library or continue down two different hallways), and another hallway that “dead ended”. Trowa took him to that hallway where there was a staircase to his right and another hallway leading from that. It seemed further back that the hallway just ended at the gym doors, but, in fact, gave way to a hallway with vending machines, and lockers. Trowa continued down the sports hallway when Heero turned around and found himself staring down the hallway that lead to the main square of the building.

“You cannot get lost in this school. Don’t worry. It’s just a bunch of squares tacked on to each other, so if you ever get confused just keep walking.” Trowa smirked, noting Heero’s confusion. “All the rooms on this floor are the one hundreds, starting at the front and working their way to the back. All the rooms on the second floor are the two hundreds, starting at the stair case at the front of the school and just going around in a square.” Trowa continued walking, past changing rooms and washrooms and two gym doors that each read “Gym 1” and “Gym 2”. Trowa noticed Heero looking oddly at this, and continued talking. “We have two gyms, or rather, one gym with a divider wall. If there are two gym classes at once, we break it up. For school assemblies and games we have the full gym. There’s a fitness room upstairs, too…if you’re interested.”

Heero nodded. “Thanks, for all the help.”

“No problem. I wish someone had said all this to me on my first day here in grade nine. Oh, and there is no pool on the third floor. We don’t have a third floor, no matter what anyone says.”

Heero nodded once again, figuring that was one of the school’s long-standing jokes or something.

“Another thing, it’s an insult of someone calls you a Cardinal. They’re our rival school. Our mascot is…well, we don’t have a particular mascot, but we’re the Lasers.”

They reached another branching off hallway that was no doubt another part of a greater square, and Trowa turned left. He walked until the end and turned right.

“This is the English hallway, otherwise known as the boonies. We just passed the Tech hallway and the Horticulture room. This is the stoner hallway, pretty much. But I had Art first period last semester so this is where my locker is.”

Heero didn’t say anything. It was a lot to take in still, so he just opted to nod his head instead. They kept walking down the long hallway, passing a small hidden hallway with red lockers, and stopped next to a room numbered 142. Trowa whipped his lock’s dial around and, almost without looking, entered the combination. The lock released and clicked open. He opened the door, sticking the open lock back into its spot so he didn’t have to hold it.

Heero was not amazed by the cleanliness of it. He knew, judging by Trowa’s clean cut appearance and friendliness that Trowa, being a boy of sixteen or not, would have an exceptionally clean locker regardless of the stereotype about how messy teenagers were. Each binder and textbook was organized and had their own place. The locker door had an organizer attached to it along with a strategically placed mirror.

“Go ahead.” Trowa stepped away from the locker so Heero could place his belongings inside.

Heero looked inside once again and noted how Trowa’s backpack was hanging from the hook on the left and his coat was hanging from the hook in the back. The only hook available for Heero’s belongings was the crooked one on the right.

He placed his jacket on the hook, and then his backpack over top of it. Heero took out a big black binder and stepped out of the way for Trowa to close up the locker.

“Do you have everything for first and second?”

Heero nodded, tapping the huge binder that, sealed in a small zipper compartment, contained two ballpoint pens, one pencil, one white out stick and one eraser. The lined paper on the inside was already divided into two major sections, which would later be divided into sub-sections as soon as he got all his class syllabi.

“Okay. Meet me here when the lunch bell rings. I’ll let you in and you can get your food or money.”

“Alright.”

“I have to be going now. Mr. Ferntetti will be wanting his attendance slip back.” With that Trowa dipped his head and walked off.

Heero breathed in slightly, looking down at his drying pants and soiled shirt. He decided, that once he got his own locker, he was going to keep an emergency change of clothes inside. Walking back up the hallway, the way he had originally come, he pulled his schedule out of his pocket to double check it. He already had it memorized but he wanted to make sure that, by some unexplainable force, it hadn’t changed since the last time he looked at it. Confirming that his first period was in fact Religion in room 103 with a certain Mr. Paliski, he began his journey to the front of the school.

[X]-[X]-[X]

With a sigh that could have finished off the leaning of Heero Yuy slowly shuffled through the throng of students that packed the school hallways to the breaking point. It had been the longest two periods of his life, the longest one hundred and fifty-two minutes he had ever had to suffer through. Religion and English had never been more agonizing. It wasn’t the workload, or the teachers, but the environment of the actual class. He could feel some sort of cold immaturity emanating from them, as if they were telling him he didn’t belong. They were so damn cliquey.

He finally got to the locker he was temporarily sharing with Trowa, and found him not to be there. He immediately began to panic. What if Trowa had forgotten, and left? But how could someone as organized as Trowa forget about a strange jacket and backpack in his locker? How could he not notice something that he didn’t have an inventory for? Heero guessed everything in that locker could be accounted for and Trowa knew every place for it. Then, the panic starting to recede, he looked up and down the halls and finally saw him.

It was hard not to notice the tall youth gracefully finding his way through the crowd, nodding to people here and there. He approached Heero and smiled, nodding his head deeper than he did for the few students he passed.

“Find your way to your classes alright?”

“Yeah.” Heero nodded. “I had Religion, then English.” He wasn’t sure why he felt like telling Trowa his schedule. It wasn’t something people were normally interested in.

“Oh?” Trowa began to open the locker. “Who with?”

“Paliski and Teddie.”

“Paliski’s cool.” Trowa opened the door and placed his books on the top shelf. He reached into a small pocket of his backpack and produced a ten-dollar bill. “Odd, but alright. A lot of guys think Teddie’s hot, but she’s getting old.”

“I noticed.” Heero placed his binder in his backpack and stepped back, thinking about the way his fellow students had turned their heads when Mrs. Teddie walked past them in her leather skirt. His lunch money had been safely tucked in his pocket all day, so he was ready to go.

“Are you buying from the caf?” Trowa closed the locker, and leaned up against it.

“I was planning on it.” Heero looked down the hallway. He wasn’t sure about this school, but if it was anything like his other school he knew that hungry teenagers translated into vultures and he had to get to the cafeteria before everything was ravished.

“Well, we can–”

The door at the end of the hallway, the door close to Heero and Trowa, suddenly flew open with such force that it hit the wall hard and made a few students jump. Stomping in, anger wafting off of him, was the braided limo jerk from that morning. His face was livid as he stormed up to where Heero was.

“BARTON! We have to KILL Mr. Alec! He gave me TWENTY MINUSES! TWENTY! Can he really do that? I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think it’s legal! If I don’t get one hundred fucking percent on all my shit I’m not going to make the fucking honour society. If I don’t make the honour society I can’t have the cabin to myself this summer. I. Want. That. Fucking. Cabin!”

“What did you do, Duo?” Trowa was still leaning against his locker, with a smirk on his face.

Heero, on the other hand, was trying hard not to punch this guy in the face. He was standing two feet in front of him and he could clearly see Heero’s dirty clothes. Was he going to apologize for that morning or not?

“Ohmigaud, Q!”

Obviously not. Heero grit his teeth as the braided boy walked toward a small blonde who was walking toward Duo. Duo grabbed the blonde’s arm and turned him around, hauling him off up the hallway. The blonde looked helplessly to Trowa, who just shrugged at him and pushed himself off the locker.

“C’mon.” He chuckled as he led Heero after them. “Duo knows better than to piss off Mr. Alec. Everyone knows better. He’s some crazy Russian or something. Very thick accent and very insane, or so people think. He’s really a great teacher, one of the best. You just have to be a mature and responsible student and you’ll have no problem with him.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“Duo is one of the most immature people I know, most of the time. He’s rarely serious. In fact, he’s only serious when he’s pissed off.”

“Like now?”

“Like now,” Trowa confirmed.

The four boys made their way to the cafeteria, Duo angrily chatting at the blonde who couldn’t get a word in edgewise. The line to get into the kitchen was now outside the cafeteria doors, but the four boys kept walking. They made their way into the cafeteria, and pushed through the kitchen doors. No one complained. It seemed they were too popular to argue with or stand up to.

“Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me…hey ”

“Cutting again I see, Maxwell?”

“Gotta feed the belly.” Duo grinned at a thin girl with grain coloured hair and sharp blue eyes.

Her jaw was defined and was obviously inherited by her father, as it was so masculine, but there was still an odd softness about her. Heero could sense a warmth growing inside her as he walked past and she smiled.

The four boys bullied their way past younger students, but were also bullied by older students. It seemed that seniority rewarded a student what popularity didn’t.

“Oh, fuck off Zechs and move before–”

“Language!”

Heero’ s head snapped at the sour voice and he saw an old, almost skeletal, woman standing behind a counter protected by a sneeze guard.

Duo smiled as he wiggled in between students to join the line once again. “Sorry, Tilly. I’ll watch my mouth, but not until I feed it. Poutine, please.”

“Maxwell, you are trouble.”

The cafeteria lady scooped a bunch of greasy fries into a thin cardboard container and slapped tiny processed pieces of mozzarella cheese onto the fries. Topping it off with a splash of goo thick gravy, she handed it to Duo who moved into the line to pay.

The blonde reached into the small cold container, next to where Duo ordered his food that held salads, sandwiches and the like. He grabbed a pita wrap and a Fruitopia and joined Duo. Trowa wedged himself in between people anxious to order and called to Tilly a Mexican Fry. Tilly splattered greasy ground beef onto a container of fries and added melted cheese, sour cream, salsa and green onions. Just as Heero was about to order, a Chinese boy cut in front of him, clamping one hand on Trowa’s shoulder and calling out for a chicken burger with a Caesar.

“Hey, Wufei. This is Heero, his first semester.” Trowa motioned to Heero with his head as he held his food in one hand and used the other to open the cold container and grab a carton of chocolate milk.

Wufei bowed his head. “Pleasure.” With that he grabbed his plate from Tilly and joined the others in the pay line.

Quickly, getting the hang of how things worked, Heero called out for a poutine. He grabbed his food and a can of coke and met up with Trowa in the pay line.

“Oh, by the way, my name’s Quatre Raberba Winner,” the blonde introduced. “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself before. Duo has a habit of not realizing other people exist.”

Heero nodded. “My name’s Heero Yuy.”

“Year?”

“Tenth.”

“Ah.” Quatre smiled. “I’m still the youngest. I’m in the ninth. But almost everyone else is in tenth except Trowa…and his sister Cathy, Zechs and Noin are seniors.”

It was Heero’s turn to pay at the register and when the tax was added in he was thirty-two cents short. Slightly embarrassed but retaining his dignity, he set his pop can aside when Trowa handed the cashier the rest of the change.

“You didn’t have to–”

“It’s okay. Our cafeteria is more expensive than others. Our school actually has a lot of money so they think they can charge us outrageous amounts for food. We’ve talked to Student Council about it, but it’s more political than we thought. There’s not much we can do about it.”

“Oh, well…Thank you.”

Heero was embarrassed now, full fledged. First Trowa offered to share his locker then he has the kindness to boost Heero through the cafeteria line and then pay for the rest of his lunch. The only way Heero could think to thank him was to get his own locker on Monday and be out of Trowa’s hair.

“So, where are you from?” Quatre asked as the five of them sat at one empty end of a large picnic bench style cafeteria table.

“I used to live in LaSalle.”

“Hello, stranger.”

The girl with the boyish blue hair from the bus walked up to Heero and waved, taking a seat at the table with her friend from the bus…the girl Heero remembered to be Trowa’s sister.

“This is Heero Yuy,” Quatre announced. “Heero, that’s Hilde Schbieker and Catherine Bloom.”

Heero stumbled slightly in his thoughts as he was introduced to Catherine. He was sure she was Trowa’s sister but he was introduced to him as Trowa Barton, and Duo even called him Barton. Catherine seemed to pick up on this and smiled at Heero.

“I have my father’s name and Trowa has his. We’re half siblings.” Just then Catherine’s eyes caught something and her attention was diverted from Heero. “Hey What’s the matter?”

“Maxwell’s a jerk and left me waiting in line!” Heero turned around to see the girl with the grain coloured hair, and three people follow her out, two girls and a boy.

The boy, Zechs as Duo had called him in the cafeteria line, had long platinum blonde hair and was holding hands with a girl who had a hair cut similar to Hilde’s. They were obviously involved. The other girl, however, disturbed Heero. She also had long platinum hair but her eyebrows were grayer, suggesting that maybe she bleached her hair while her natural colour was that of a dirty blonde. Though, it wasn’t the colour of her eyebrows that disturbed Heero, but the way they split down the middle like two fork prongs. Her eyes were icy blue and she had a dangerous air about her. All four of them found a seat at the table.

“Heero, this is Relena and Milliardo Peacecraft, Lucrezia Noin and Dorothy Catalonia,” Quatre introduced him once again. Then, using his friends’ informal names, did the reversal introduction. “LenaZechs, Noin and Dorothy, this is Heero Yuy.”

“Yeah, Dorothy’s not special enough to have a nickname,” Relena stuck her tongue out at the blonde and blew a raspberry.

Dorothy flipped her off as Duo leaned over to Relena.

“But, you want to give her a nickname.” Duo cocked his eyebrow as he sat smug across the table from the now furious girl. “Something sexy like kinky bunny or muffin bear.”

Heero looked from Relena to Duo and it was clear by her expression that he was right. So, Relena liked girls, at least this one. Though Heero couldn’t figure out why Relena liked Dorothy. She must have had a great personality to make up for her maniacal eyebrows.

“Heero, you’ve barely touched your food.”

Heero looked down and, just as Quatre noted, there were only a few bites missing from his poutine.

“Hey, if you don’t want it–”

“Back off Schbieker! Damned vultures.” Quatre shook his head. “There are some of us who are major mooches. Can you guess who? Hilde and Cathy almost rarely bring a lunch but somehow when the period is done they’re always full. Funny how that works.” Quatre shot them a disapproving stare before finishing off his wrap, which Heero learned was a chicken Caesar salad wrap and looked more appetizing than his grease filled poutine. “You’ll learn to eat your food fast…and how to protect it from prying hands!” Quatre hauled off and slapped Dorothy’s hand as she reached for his Fruitopia.

“Well, I’m done. Hurry up, guys.” Duo was straddling the bench, looking like he couldn’t decide between staying and waiting for his friends or getting up to leave without them.

Duo, Heero decided, was a bona-fide jerk. He didn’t say two words to Heero. He treated his friends as if he was their leader, their dictator and they couldn’t do anything without him. He still didn’t apologize about that morning, which entailed the not speaking two words to Heero (and he had a funny feeling he was never going to get an apology). But, what angered him the most wasn’t that he didn’t speak or apologize, but the fact that he didn’t even look at Heero. It was as if he was too good to acknowledge Heero’s existence, and while Heero didn’t expect to be welcomed into this school with open arms, he didn’t expect to be given such a cold shoulder.

Silently, Trowa stood and emptied his and Quatre’s garbage into one of the trash buckets that were all over the cafeteria. Duo followed suit and eventually Wufei did as well. Heero and Relena were the last to finish their meals, and Heero felt bad enough. Now people were waiting for him to finish. Duo was impatient but wouldn’t look at him.

This was really starting to piss him off!

“Meilan, it’s about time!”

Heero finished his last bite of poutine and stood up in time to see a young Chinese girl walk over to them with a huge sack of art supplies under her arm.

“Yeah, well…I was–”

“First day of second semester. Don’t you dare say studying, missy. You have nothing to study.”

“…Preparing posters for the dance. And Maxwell would know that if he ever shut up and listened to people for once.” Meilan glared at him, then quickly kissed Wufei on the cheek before handing him the sack of art supplies. “Would you be a dear and hold this bag while I run in and get some food? I’m starving.”

Wufei nodded and sat back down at the table. “You all go along. I’ll wait here with Meilan.”

“Fine by me.” Duo stretched and took his position in front of everyone. He began walking out of the cafeteria.
Heero was near the back of the group. Trowa was talking to Quatre and, since they were the only two who really spoke to him, no one was talking to him. Once they left the caf, Zechs and Noin went in one direction, Dorothy, Cathy, Hilde and Relena in another, and Duo, Quatre, Trowa and Heero in yet another. It seemed all this clique was good for was eating together and keeping up appearances.

“I’m still really peeved about this Mr. Alec thing. I mean, can he really do that, really?” Duo had now grabbed Quatre’s arm and was conversing with just him. Something told Heero that they were best friends. “Cuz, I don’t think he can.” And that Duo had a one track mind.

“Is anyone going to try and stop him, whether everyone thinks he’s crazy or not? No. So, yes, he can do that. Besides, I’m sure that, though you think you don’t deserve that harsh a punishment, in his eyes his actions are justified.”

“Justified?! Quat, who’s side are you on?”

“The right one,” Trowa laughed.

“Keep outta this, Barton. I’m warning you! If I don’t get to spend my summer alone in that cabin up north it’s your balls I’m gunna have on a silver platter.” Duo was now turned around, walking backwards so he could still lead the group but also have them look at him while he talked.

“Leave my balls out of this, please. They have nothing to do with this in the first place.”

“Bet you wish they did,” Duo winked.

Now Heero was utterly confused. Did Duo just insinuate Trowa wanted Duo to want him? He was very confused. This was certainly not a normal high school, and these were certainly not a normal people. Heero thought it best, for his sake, to change the subject.

“So, is this what you do, then? Walk around after lunch?”

“Yeah, pretty much. We go wherever our feet take us. We just walk circles sometimes, but it’s a way to pass the time.” Quatre smiled. “We like the break, but there’s nothing else to do, really.”

And while Heero talked with Quatre or Trowa he noticed that, during that time, Duo wouldn’t say a word. He would turn around the proper way and walk straight with his eyes forward, never looking back. His jaw would be set shut and he wouldn’t utter a single sound. And, when Heero finished talking, it was as if he hadn’t said anything at all because Duo would talk as if Heero wasn’t there. He wasn’t included in the conversations or anything. It was then Heero confirmed that Duo Maxwell hated his guts, and hated his guts good.

A/N: WOOT!! I actually have a chapter that’s over seven pages in length. *Throws a party*. Alright, the insert song is Letterbomb by Green Day…I command you to love it. Anyway, please don’t ask how long it took to write this. Please don’t. You don’t want to know. Seriously. And, thanks to my wonderful betas (Dentelle_Noir and Katie) who have immense amounts of patience for me. I love you, honestly. Now review! Muwhahaha!