Four:

Black Beauty was a whale of a horse…at least in Duo’s eyes. It stood a good five inches taller than he, and with its black coat gleaming with an extra sheen and nostrils that had the tendency to flare as if challenging him, Duo could already feel the cold claws of fear grip his heart. Did Heero actually expect him to ride such an animal?!

Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one who thought it was a bit too much.

“Uuum…Heero…” Quatre began weakly, as he eyed the stomping horse and the impassive features of the boy in question. “Don’t you think saddling Duo with Black Beauty is a bit too much? I mean, you could just let him ride Cider…”

“No. Mr. Maxwell is quite capable of handling such a horse, aren’t you?” Heero asked with a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes as he glanced at Duo. Not waiting to hear the teacher’s response, he turned back to face the concerned blond. “You should not belittle Mr. Maxwell’s skills. After all, he has practically done everything besides finding the solution for world peace.”

“Do I detect a tone of sarcasm there, Mr. Yuy?” Duo asked with a light laugh, even though he still felt like shit and had the sudden urge to throttle the smug boy to death.

“Heero has a very twisted sense of humor, Mr. Maxwell,” Trowa explained softly as he gave another glance towards Heero’s direction before leading his horse towards the riding grounds. “You will have to forgive him.”

“Ah…eh…thanks for telling me…” Duo replied quickly as Harris handed the reigns to him with an apologetic look in his eyes. Smiling wanly at the man, Duo accepted it and began to lead his beast of burden towards the other boys who had begun to follow Trowa. He glared at the dark-haired boy in front of him with several curses floating around in his mind. Several threatened to spill out of his mouth and Quatre, who had decided to walk beside him, curbed it.

“I am really sorry about this. I shouldn’t have made you come since you didn’t want to in the first place.”

Duo shook his head. “Nah, it’s no problem really. I think I can handle him…hopefully.”

They had finally reached the wide expanse of land and Duo’s feeling of confidence quickly diminished as the horse began to neigh and trot a bit faster. It was clearly ready to make its way out into the open and swallowing tightly, Duo tried to coax the creature to relax a little.

“Whoa there boy…steady now…” Closing his eyes and praying to the gods that watched over horses and riders to have mercy on him, Duo hoisted himself onto the saddle and almost fell off as Black Beauty gave a quick jerk that had him clinging on for dear life. Opening his eyes slowly, he blushed hotly as he noticed the three boys staring at him with different expressions on their features. Naturally, Quatre was worried and concerned, while Trowa looked slightly amused and as for Heero, Duo was surprised to find absolutely nothing on the handsome features. For all he knew, Heero could very well be chanting voodoo spells in his mind to make him fall off the horse and he would never know. Sitting upright, he gave a small wave and a laugh.

“Looks like I’m ready boys. Let’s do this….wwwwwhoooooooooooooaaaa!!!”

In his quest to look cool, he had accidentally tapped his legs against the horse’s side, which was usually a signal for the beast to get moving. In less than a second, Duo found himself sprinting across the meadows screaming obscenities and wishing to goodness that lightening would strike down the horse and Heero as well.

“Heero, do something!” Quatre cried out, as he watched the horse and its rider gallop around the field with a speed that looked way too dangerous. “He’s going to fall!”

For several minutes, Heero remained immobile, the same unreadable expression on his features as he watched horse and rider. Trowa growled softly and was just about to make his way towards them, when Heero beat him to the punch with a loud cry for his horse to move.

Duo could feel something twinge at his back and he swore even louder as he knew without a doubt that he had broken a bone or something worse. At least, he hadn’t fallen off yet, but the damn horse wasn’t stopping and no matter how many times he kept screaming out ‘Whoa, boy!’ the stubborn stallion continued its wild run. Duo could feel his palms become sleek with sweat and realizing that he was going to lose his grip on the reigns, he swallowed his non-existent pride and bellowed out pitifully.

“SOMEONE HEEEEEEEELP!!!”

He stopped as he saw something white flash by him. He tried to get a sense of what was happening and in mere moments, he felt strong hands grip his briefly before they reached for the reigns. Seconds later, a sharp reprimand from a familiar voice had Black Beauty stopping with a suddenness that had Duo falling off the horse and to the hard earth with a painful thump. This had him rubbing his hurt rump lightly.

“Ouch!” He lifted his gaze to stare into the cold ones of Heero as he still sat upon his white horse. He was now holding onto Black Beauty’s reigns. Duo wasn’t sure he wanted to say thanks for the rescue because at this moment he felt very angry, embarrassed and humiliated. He could hear the others catch up to them and Quatre’s frantic call to find out if he was alright.

Heero gave a light snort and turned his gaze away, but not before leaving the scathing words that would have Duo’s blood boiling with suppressed annoyance.

“Hmph…and you call yourself a teacher. Bakayaro.”

“Bakayaro, huh?”

“What does it mean, Wufei?” came the impatient and rather irritated question. “What the fuck does it mean?!”

“Geez, calm down already!” came the response over the other end of the line as the amused Chinese man tapped his pen against his notepad. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“It’s an insult right? The bastard insulted me, didn’t he? Fuck!”

“What’s the matter?”

“My back is still killing me. The stupid horse almost killed me out there and he wanted to see that happen! He is the devil! A devil beneath all that cool, Mr. Nice Manners. Damn it!” He kicked angrily at his sofa and resisted the urge to break something. He didn’t understand why he would allow Heero to get under his skin this easily. He was usually an easygoing guy with the ability to curb his anger, but this was something he had never had to experience before. Maybe, it had to do with the fact that he was pouching off them in a way. Was that it? Some sort of guilt thing? But what should he feel guilty about? It wasn’t as if Heero knew that he hadn’t really graduated from Harvard. Or did he?

“Gaaaaaaaaahh!! He is driving me crazy!!”

“Who?”

“Who else?! Mr. Heero fucking Yuy!! I can’t stand it!”

Wufei chuckled and shook his head. “Calm down, Duo. You haven’t even started teaching him and he is already driving you nuts?”

“I’m going to kill him! I swear it! If he comes near…” He stopped his tirade as he heard the doorbell and blinking in confusion, he muttered quickly. “Call you back later, Wufei. I’ve got company.”

Not waiting for a reply, he hung up the phone and wondered who could possibly be visiting him at this time. It couldn’t be for dinner with the family, because it wasn’t really necessary for him to join them all the time and besides, he was tired and it was already nine in the evening.

He opened the door with a ready smile only to have it falter as he noticed who stood there. “What do you want?” Duo asked rudely. He knew he was sounding childish, but he was in no mood to deal with the teenager tonight.

Heero quirked a brow at the tone before giving a light bow in greeting. He was dressed in a casual dress shirt and a pair of black pants, which had Duo reluctantly admiring how good the kid looked, although he still thought that Heero was the devil incarnate

“I came to apologize,” Heero said quietly as he held the surprised amethyst depths with cobalt ones that gave nothing away. “I should not have allowed you to ride a fine horse like Black Beauty considering your minimal skills in…everything.”

Duo gripped the doorknob with a strength that threatened to make it snap as he listened to the words that fell from the full lips before him. Oh, but this Heero was damn good. Coming here to apologize and then insulting him all over again? This was too much. But it seemed as if the heir wasn’t done yet.

“I am surprised at how you managed to get past my parents with such a phony application.” Noticing Duo’s barely concealed gasp, Heero smirked and continued. “Did you think I would not look into your background, Mr. Duo Maxwell? I make it a point of duty to make sure that all my teachers are up to par and so far…you have fallen short on many, many levels. I wonder what would happen if I walked up to my father and told him about the real you?”

Duo grit his teeth and bit out coldly. “Do what you like, kid. Do you think I give a shit? You are the one who’s in trouble, not me. So why don’t you run ahead to daddy and tell him all about me. The poor teacher who lived in a slum with no real job for the past year or so. A man who was once accused of sexually harassing his students? Why don’t you go tell your precious parents all about that place, hmm? Well, guess what? I.Don’t.Give.A.Damn.Anymore. Got it, you spoiled brat?”

Heero’s face filled with color at the tone and the look in the older man’s eyes. Hiding his confusion and slight fear, he stood his ground and responded in a slightly shaky voice that made him angry inside. “Don’t…don’t think you can get away with it. With your background, I doubt that you could teach me anything useful. My IQ is much higher than yours and I can…”

Duo growled, placed a hand on Heero’s arm and roughly pulled the surprised boy into the room. Slamming the door shut behind him, he pinned the heir to the wall and trapped him against it. Amethyst depths flashed with something that had Heero’s heart thumping faster than normal and for a brief instance another of his fantasies flashed through his mind. This one had the boy being so dominant that their lovemaking could be compared to Heero being raped. With his face darkening with color at the thought, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to say something only to squeak as he felt the finger against his lips.

“Sure you are smarter than I am. I guess I could give you that, but you forget that there is more to this damn life than reading over a million books and having an IQ of one thousand. Tell me, Heero, when was the last time you had fun?”

Duo removed his finger, idly wondering why Heero’s face was bright beet red. “Well? When was it? When was the last time you could really say that you had a good laugh with your buddies? Or even - what’s her name now?”

“Relena,” Heero replied quickly before kicking himself for even responding. “Let me go, Mr. Maxwell! I do not have the time for this and I will tell my father…!”

“You are always going to tell your father one thing or another, aren’t you? Geez, what are you? A mama’s boy?”

Heero blushed in embarrassment and shook his head. “I am not…!”

“You could have fooled me,” came the flippant reply as Duo willing released him although he made no effort to put too much of a distance between them. “Now, why don’t you apologize properly, Heero and run along now to your daddy before I’m forced to do the reporting myself. I could very well sue your parents for my aggravated back injuries.”

“I will not! You deserve it for lying to my family!”

“Whoa there, cowboy! I did not lie to your family, okay? My friend fixed up that application and I never got a chance to even see it. I didn’t even have any hopes of teaching you, but now that I have it…you can be sure that I’ll do the best I can. Now, are you going to apologize or do I have to make you spit it out?”

Heero eyed him warily. “What…what are you going to do?”

“I already told you. I will just pick up the phone and sue the pants off your family.”

“That’s…that’s blackmail!” Heero cried out in desperation. He couldn’t believe he was losing this battle. He had done this in the past with success, why was Duo being so difficult?

“Well, hello! You guessed it, Heero. Now, are you going to say it…it’s just three little words. Say it…”

“No!”

“Say it…” Duo began to reach for the phone with a light smirk on his handsome features.

Heero shook his head again as he licked his lips and eyed the damning object. “You won’t. You’re bluffing.”

Duo shrugged and placed the phone against his ear only to find himself pushed to the couch and the phone snatched away from his hands and put back in place. He blinked at the heaving and rather panic-stricken boy before raising his hands with a light laugh.

“I’ve gotta give it to ya. You are pretty damn fast.”

“I…”

“Huh? What was that you said?”

Heero cursed and lowered his gaze to the floor. “IsaidIwassorry,” he replied quickly.

“I’m sorry, you are going to have to speak up a bit louder because…”

“I AM SORRY! THERE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!”

Duo grinned and got to his feet. Placing his hands upon the strong shoulders, he forced Heero’s chin upwards to stare into the angry and frustrated eyes. “See? That wasn’t so bad was it, Heero? It looks like you and I are going to have a beautiful relationship, hmm?”

Heero gasped softly at the sentence, wondering if Duo even realized how that sounded. He could not tear his gaze away from the mesmerizing purple depths and anything he might have said disappeared right out of the window as he felt himself drowning within them. He swallowed tightly as his gaze fell to the slightly parted lips, his breathing becoming rougher and harsher as yet another fantasy was within reach. Just one more step and he would finally get a chance to taste the boy of his dreams. He felt his knees give way as Duo’s intoxicating scent filled his senses and closing his eyes, he moaned softly and swayed forward helplessly, only to feel a light sting on his cheek. Opening his eyes quickly, his face burning with embarrassment, he noticed that the teacher was staring at him with a look of confusion on his features.

“Is everything alright, Heero? Sorry for slapping you, but it looked as if you were about to pass out on me.”

Heero blinked. Duo had slapped him? So much for his fantasy. With a small sigh, he pulled away and tried to regain his composure. “I’m fine. You need not worry about me.”

He began to make his way towards the front door and opening it, he turned back to give a polite bow. “I will see you tomorrow during classes. You have a goodnight, Mr. Maxwell.”

The door closed softly behind him and Duo was left gaping at it as if expecting the boy to make another appearance. Once sure that Heero was away, he sat back down on the couch with a heavy sigh. He was beginning to tremble and he didn’t need a rocket scientist to tell him his current problem.

There was no denying it. He was helplessly attracted to the little devil incarnate.

And with a weak groan, he closed his eyes and fell back against the seat. “God, I’m so screwed.”

Heero stared at the mess on his hands, thighs and sheets with a sigh. Rising to his feet, he shuffled towards the bathroom to clean himself like he normally did after every time he pleased himself. If he was frustrated before, he was downright at breaking point now. It was bad enough that his fantasies were just those...fantasies. He could live with that. He had enjoyed the fact that they were solely his and that they might never happen in real life. But now...now he wasn’t so sure anymore. He still didn’t know what had possessed him to go to Duo’s place tonight. He could have just ignored everything and remained in his room. But no, he had walked like a boy controlled by something towards the teacher’s house and once the door had been opened, Heero had almost lost his nerve and quit.

But his body still burned from the touches and the intense gaze and the voice and just Duo in general. With a small cry, he fell to the shower floor and hugged his naked trembling form. He wanted Duo. He wanted Duo to touch him like the boy in his fantasy. He wanted to feel those lips upon his skin, those hands caress him like something precious and sacred. He wanted to feel Duo as well. To know what it was really like to be loved by a man.

But he knew he couldn’t. He knew that Duo disliked him. His attitude this afternoon hadn’t helped and with his threat to sue his parents, Heero was sure that anything he did now was going to be looked on as something manipulative and mean-spirited.

He would have to hide his feelings from Duo and Heero suddenly wondered why that little decision made him feel so much pain.