Chapter Eighteen:
The Dinner Guest:
My Apartment
Sunday,
“Please don’t go, Seiji-kun! The Zen’s mobile suits
are much stronger than your Gundam now! They’ll kill you and I don’t want to
lose you!”
“Don’t worry about me, Chii. I won’t be defeated so
easily.”
“Then promise me. Promise you’ll come back, Seiji-kun!”
“I promise, Chii. I promise…”
The pilot of the Gundam 008XC
has suffered some extensive damage from the last battle with his rival, Kantarou,
pilot of the Gundam 320MX. If he thinks he’ll be able to defeat Lord Keilan’s
new and advanced mobile suits without getting that baby repaired soon, he’s
simply asking for trouble. I swear if I had a Gundam like that, I’d be so
protective of it that I would…
Good grief! What am I thinking about?!
I shouldn’t be here sitting
in the comfort of my gloomy bedroom, in the wee hours of the morning, watching
some anime show! I should be on the
phone calling Duo to let him know of this – this
which currently sits beside me on my bed as I continue to stare glumly at the
bright images on the screen before me. I’m not sure I got any sleep last night
and if I did, it was extremely brief and filled with images of Teruo Senior
sending his henchmen after me to make my life a living hell.
The wound above my eye has
been throbbing rather dully all morning and I’ve come to accept that as a sign
of great stress or thinking way too hard. I am hardly aware of lifting my
fingers to it and caressing the single bandage gently. Relena once said it made
me look cooler, but I feel anything like that right now. Perhaps chilled to the
bones would be more apt to describe my situation at this point. I can’t stand
to look at the pictures again. Each time I think about doing so – just to be
sure it’s really who I think it is – another voice reminds me of my
foolishness.
Of course, it’s them! You clearly saw that in the
kitchen and it was no trick of light.
I had woken up from my light
doze, almost wishing and hoping that everything that happened had only been a
figment of my imagination. But my fingers brushing against the glossy paper
jerked me back to reality quickly and were a painful reminder of just what
Kamui has saddled me with.
I really should throttle the
kid for choosing me yet again to bear this burden. I mean its bad enough that I
have to walk into school tomorrow and suffer a public announcement of my
suspension and now I have to go through this
quagmire. A dull spark of anger
flares within my stomach and I clench the photographs tightly. Why? Why me? I
shouldn’t have to shoulder anyone else’s responsibility. If he wants to spread
his father’s affairs all over the news, let him do so. Why involve me?
But what about Duo, huh? How do you think he’ll feel
about this? How would you feel if he knew that your mom was sleeping around
with another man and never told you and allowed it to get to the Press, huh?
Would you ever forgive him? And besides, you know why Kamui sent this to you.
You’re just about the only ‘friend’ he’s got now.
So what the fuck are my
options, dear Rational Mind? There’s no way in hell I can get to Kamui before
he sends off the pictures. I don’t dare go to his house - for obvious reasons, and
I doubt his cell phone would be on. I’m almost certain that Daddy Dearest has
cut him off from all communication or else he would have called personally to
tell me the news first instead of relying on some anonymous messenger to drop
this evidence at my doorstep.
Fuck. You’re really in a mess this time, aren’t you,
Heero?
My only other option is to
call Duo and talk to him today. I
know he’s still serving his punishment and cannot leave the house without his
mother’s consent, but I’ll have to suffer her hatred and go over there myself. However,
if I’m lucky, she won’t be home and I can talk to Duo with no interruptions for
a while.
As I punch in the numbers to
his cell phone, I practice my lines carefully. I’ll have to sound casual and
collected because I’m sure Duo will be able to detect any panic or concern in
my voice. I’ll have to break it to him gently. I mean, who knows how he’ll
react to such news…
“Hello?”
I open my mouth to reply,
only to check myself quickly as my mind processes the voice at the other end. I
can feel my insides shrivel up as if doused with a bucket of ice and I’m sure I
must have given some small sound of dismay.
“Who is this?” Eleanor asks
again, now sounding quite impatient.
What can I say? What the fuck can I say?! For one
horrifying moment, I contemplate telling her about the pictures.
“You are that Heero boy,
aren’t you?”
My eyes widen at the
accusatory tone but I somehow manage to reply in a voice that sounds completely
alien to me. “Ye…yes, ma’am. I am.”
She sighs and there’s a
steady tapping on the table in the background. I can just about see those
well-manicured fingernails scraping against the wood over and over again. Just
what in the world is she doing with Duo’s cell phone anyway?! You can’t tell me
she confiscated that as well!
“What do you want with my
son, Heero?” she asks in a tight voice.
“I…” There is absolutely no
moisture in my mouth.
“Isn’t it bad enough that
you’ve gotten him into trouble several times already?”
What?!
“I guess it’s a good thing
Duo left his phone here last night…”
“Mrs. Maxwell…”
“Please refrain from
disturbing my son today, Heero. I’m sure that whatever you have to speak to him
about can wait until school tomorrow.”
“No! Wait, it’s import…!”
But the dull monotone sound
of the phone is my only response as she hangs up on me.
“Fuck!” I toss the phone away
from me in disgust, watching it bounce against the beanbag chair as I rise to
my feet and pace around in agitation and anger. Fuck her! I have a good mind of
just letting everything go and letting her suffer the consequences! Here I am
trying to save her hide and she keeps treating me like shit! I don’t really
give a fuck anymore! Let them both go to hell and I hope they burn until even
the devil has a hard time distinguishing their ashes!
Yet, here I am reaching for
the phone again to give Wufei a call. I have
to get to Duo! If Eleanor won’t listen to me, then she sure as hell will listen
to Duo’s other ‘good’ and ‘normal’ friend.
“Wha…?” comes the low groggy
drawl at the other end of the line. “Who…?”
“Wufei!” I all but yell into
the phone, hardly giving him a chance to finish. “I need your help now!”
“Hee…Heero? What the fuck
is…?”
“I need you to call Duo now.
I don’t care what number you call. His house or his cell phone…just call him
and tell him that he has to call me back as soon as he can, got it?”
“What the hell’s going on?” I
can hear the panic in his voice now but this isn’t the time to explain the
situation.
“Will you just do that for
me, Wufei? I’ll explain everything to you later. I promise.”
“All right but just…”
“Do it now!” I hang up and
slide down to the floor in a slump, holding my throbbing wound with a hand as
if I have been struck with another blow. I groan and close my eyes as the
sudden urge to crawl into a cool dark place and fall into deep comforting sleep
completely overwhelms me. Man, I had way too much excitement for one morning…
__
“…can you read me, Seiji?! Hold your fire! We are a
part of the coalition!”
“Liars! You betrayed the trust of the Earth’s
I think I’m drifting in and
out of consciousness, still clutching the phone in my hand and yet hoping it
will ring with some good news. Just how long does it take for one to call
someone else? Or is Eleanor being a pain-in-the-ass to Wufei as well? My head’s
not aching so much anymore and as the morning’s rays begin to drift through the
curtains – another glorious day ahead, dear readers – I begin to wonder if
Wufei even took my call seriously. He might think I was overreacting and will
take his time or worse…
However, the sudden shrill
ring of the phone has me blinking at it stupidly for a moment before gathering
my wits about me to respond quickly.
“Wufei? Any news?”
“Yeah,” comes that wary reply.
“I called his cell phone and his mom picked up at first but she allowed me to
talk to Duo.”
I grit my teeth, trying not
to burst into a series of expletives. This favoritism stuff stinks to high
heaven.
“As you can well imagine,
Duo’s scared shitless,” Wufei continues in an almost accusatory tone. “He says
he’ll give you a call as soon as his mom leaves, which should be in about a few
minutes.”
“Where’s she going to so
early in the morning?”
I can almost ‘hear’ him shrug
in the background. “Fuck if I know. But I want in on this, Heero. You woke me
up at an ungodly hour on a Sunday
just to…”
“Tell you what,” I cut in
with a small smile. “I’m planning to go see Duo this afternoon, since his mom
won’t be around. This thing needs to be seen in person, so you think you can
come pick me up and take me there? I’ll call you when I’m ready to leave,
okay?”
“Right. I’ll be waiting…and
this had better be good, Heero.”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll be
pissing your pants when you see this too.”
Leaving it at that, I hang up
again and peel out of my shorts to change into dark sweatpants and a matching
black tank top. A quick jog around the block should clear my head a little.
Goodness knows I need the fresh air. I slip on my headphones, set my cell phone
to vibrate and let myself out into the city’s calm morning. In my humble
opinion, I think Sundays are the best days to go jogging. The city’s still
asleep and trying to recuperate from a hectic week while dreading another full
day of hustle and bustle the next day. There isn’t much traffic and already the
fresh smell of bread and muffins from a nearby bakery brings a small smile to
my lips. Yes, it’s a picture perfect morning but as my feet begin to pound the
pavement with each stride, I contemplate what the future holds for a boy like
me with so many secrets locked within his heart and mind.
__
The
I’ve hardly formed a fist to
knock on the door when Duo throws it open with a smile on his visage – at least
what looks like a smile since I’m sure he’s still concerned about my frantic
message this morning. However, it’s what he’s wearing that has me gaping at him
in disbelief and with a…
(Hoping Wufei isn’t sporting
one as well)
…growing erection. Duo seems
to have a knack for wearing outfits that just scream ‘fuck me!’ all over it.
I’m not sure if he does it on purpose but those cutoff jeans shorts that barely
cover his ass and clearly outline his package, isn’t helping much. He has no
shirt on, save for the small silver cross necklace around his neck and a black
bracelet on his left wrist. His hair’s still slightly damp from the quick
shower he’s just taken and the tiny droplets of water on his tanned skin are
simply put - lickable.
“Jesus…” Wufei croaks weakly.
“Couldn’t you wear something decent, Duo?”
“What’s wrong with what I’m
wearing?” he begins, but I’m already letting myself into the house (I swear I’m
this close to tossing him over my shoulder) and suffering Pearl’s amorous
gestures as the fluffy white cat begins to rub itself against my foot. At least
someone else in the household loves and appreciates me.
Nothing has changed much in the
Maxwell household besides a new set of oversized Indian silk pillows Eleanor
must have gotten just recently. My eyes automatically glance towards the large
picture where I had discovered Mr. Maxwell’s portrait. I wonder what Duo has
done with it but he must have noticed me looking there because he suddenly
stands in front of me and gives an impatient nod.
“Well? We haven’t got all
day, Heero. What’s going on?”
I catch Wufei’s dark gaze and
take a deep breath. Strapped across my shoulder and chest is a bag that holds
the damning evidence. With hands that tremble slightly, I bring out the large
manila envelope and give it to him, feeling my heart beginning to pound harder
and faster as Duo looks at me with mild confusion before opening it with barely
concealed impatience.
I take a step back as if
afraid of his wrath, while watching his expression carefully. Wufei’s fixated
as well and with good reason. I told him all about it on the way here and if
his explosion was any indication, I’m sure that Duo’s not going to be any less
loud.
He looks through each picture
slowly, my lower lip captured between my teeth now. I want to say something but
I’m not even sure of what the hell to say at this point. I think I’ll just wait
for him to ask me any question IF he asks me anything that is. His visage has
taken on a very chalk-like complexion and those violet eyes seem to have
widened to take up his whole face. His lips had been parted for a while but
they are thinning fast with that familiar expression of anger I’ve had the
opportunity of experiencing several times in the past. I’m sure he’s beginning
to growl or maybe it’s just the sound of the last picture being crushed within
his hand.
“What…” he finally grates out
harshly, not looking at me but at the image of his mother’s lustful gaze.
“What…the…fuck…is…this?”
“Duo…” I begin weakly. “It’s…argh!”
“Duo!” Wufei yells in
surprise.
That damned speed of his!
Before I can even say another word, he’s slammed me against the wall, beginning
to choke me as he grabs the lapels of my shirt tightly and around my throat. I
can literally feel the anger radiate off his body with an intense heat. Wufei
tries to butt in, but Duo shrugs him off, still pinning those dark purple eyes
on me. His grip is becoming tighter and I can feel him cutting off my air
circulation.
“What the fuck is this,
Heero?!”
“Let him go, Duo! Let him
explain!”
But Duo’s not listening. “I
know you’re trying to get back at Teruo but for fuck’s sake keep my mother out
of it! How could you stoop so fucking low?!”
“Listen…” I gasp, feeling the
muscles in my throat straining for release from the pressure. Christ! I think
I’m about to go blue in the face as I place my hands on his wrists to push him
away from me. It’s incredibly hard to do though. Duo’s strength seems to come
from somewhere deep down within – pent up frustrations or built up anger over
the years I’m sure.
“Listen…to…me…goddamn it!” I
manage to pant out harshly.
I shove him away with more
force than necessary, my anger now rising to the surface also as he tries to
lunge for me again. However, Wufei’s quick this time and holds him back and I
swear, with his hair loose and those eyes filled with hate, Duo would do any
jungle boy or beast proud.
I glare at him, rubbing a
hand across my aching neck, while coughing and trying to get some much-needed
air into my lungs.
“Calm the fuck down!” I
begin, but he interrupts me again with a cold laugh that sends chills down my
spine.
“Calm down? Calm down?! You try calming down when
your mom’s splashed all over photographs like some cheap slut!”
“Well maybe you should be
asking her where the hell she goes or who her precious new boyfriend is,
genius!” I bellow back, no longer caring if this hurts him or not. Besides,
didn’t someone once say the truth hurts? If that’s the case, then Duo needs a
good dose of reality right now.
Something close to
uncertainty flickers in his eyes for a moment but he replaces it with
irritation, his lips curling into a cruel sneer.
“What do you know about…?”
“I’ll tell you what I know,
Duo,” I cut in coldly. “I know that I was woken up at
He’s stopped struggling but
the fire in his eyes hasn’t diminished in the slightest.
“Remember? Remember what you
told me yesterday, Duo? That there was a scent and you recognized it and
couldn’t quite place your finger on it? Well, can you figure it out now?! It
was the same scent Teruo Senior wore when we were stuck in the elevator with
him!”
“Shut up…”
“And why?! Why the hell won’t
your own mother tell you about a guy she’s dating?! Don’t you think it’s all
fishy, huh?!”
“Shut up! My mother’s not
telling me that because she’ll tell me in her own good time!”
Something sharp tugs within
my chest and I have the sickening feeling that it’s pity – something I’m sure
he wouldn’t appreciate. Although Duo’s still angry, I can see the shimmer of
unshed tears in his eyes. I can’t even begin to imagine the emotions running
through him now and all I want to do is hug him to me, promising to deliver him
from this mess. My head’s beginning to throb again and it’s all I can do not to
sit down and try to recuperate from my outburst.
“Even you know that’s not
true,” Wufei finally says quietly as Duo’s shoulders slump and he lowers his
head, allowing his hair to shield his face from our view. Wufei relaxes his
grip on Duo’s arms and exchanges a concerned look with me. “Duo…”
“Don’t…” he whispers in a
trembling voice. “Just…just go home…both of you…I just need…”
“We still have to get to
Kamui,” I say slowly. “I know this is tough for you, Duo but if we don’t reach
him soon, he’ll go ahead and send it in tomorrow and that would make matters
even worse.”
But he’s not listening to us.
“To think…to think my own mother would be dating that freak show. I’d laugh if
I wasn’t so pissed off…”
“Duo…” I have to get him out
of this daze he’s fallen into. We’ve got a rather pressing matter to deal with
first. “About Kamui…”
“Don’t you have his goddamn
cell phone number?!” he suddenly yells in frustration, lifting his pained gaze
to mine. “Call him for fuck’s sake!”
“We tried,” Wufei replies,
now completely releasing Duo to stand beside him. “Heero told me about it in
the car and we tried several times to get him on his cell phone. As expected,
we got nothing.”
“There’s no way to reach him?
No way at all?!”
“Besides going to his house
which you know is literally impossible. We’ll be kicked off the premises before we even reach Crescent.”
Duo gives a moan of suffering
and falls to his knees. “Ah, fuck…ah fuck…fuck, fuck, fuck!!”
My sentiments exactly.
“What are we going to do?”
Wufei asks, looking at me as if I’ve got all the answers.
“I’m going to fucking kill
him that’s what,” Duo growls from his crouched position. “I’m going to wait
until he comes back here with my mom and then I’m going to kill him!”
“I don’t think we have enough
time for that, Duo,” I reply and promptly get rewarded with an icy look. “But
we don’t! Who knows when your mom’s going to bring him back here again? It’s
definitely not going to be by tomorrow…”
The phone begins to ring and
we all turn to it as if shot with several jolts of electricity. Duo makes no
attempt to get to his feet and it continues the incessant noise, almost driving
me nuts with it.
“Aren’t you going to get
that?” Wufei finally says with a raised brow. “Damn, that’s annoying…”
“Fine, fine,” Duo replies as
he crawls on his hands and knees towards the machine. Of course, it’s safe to
say that we both (I really wish Wufei wouldn’t do so) stare at Duo’s ass as he
moves and I kick myself inwardly for wishing the other boy wasn’t here. Goodness
knows I’d love to have Duo naked right about now…
“…yes…mom.”
I stiffen and steal a quick
look at Wufei, whose gaze is still trained on Duo albeit intensely. Duo, for
his part, is doing his best to sound ‘normal’ but it’s incredibly hard because
his body is as tense as a bow string. I have a feeling that if I touched him
now, he’d unwind like a clock and punch my lights out all in the same breath.
“…yeah…I know. A guest?
Tonight? Who…? Ah…I see…sure. I’ll start getting things ready, no problem.
Yeah…love you too. Bye.”
He replaces the phone slowly
and by this time Wufei and I are practically on pins and needles – our
curiosity getting the better of us. After what seems like eons, Duo turns to us
with a small but rather frightening smile on his features.
“Guess who’s coming to
dinner?” he says as he rises to his feet and stretches his arms above his head.
“Dare I take a guess?” I ask,
already knowing just who it is. Christ. Talk about bad karma.
However, Duo grins and places
an arm over our shoulders to pull us closer to him. There’s a mischievous look
in his eyes – one that I’m not sure I like very much. Even Wufei seems to have
noticed it too because he’s looking extremely wary.
“How would you two like to
join us tonight?” he asks, still grinning widely.
“Are you serious?” I cry out
in disbelief. “You know your mom hates my guts…!”
“Ah, but she’s not going to
hate you if you become Hermione and Wilma, would she?”
Hermione and…Wilma?!
Wufei and I look at each
other for a moment before it finally sinks in. Wufei’s the first to recover.
“Like hell I’ll dress up like
a girl and call myself Wilma of all names!”
“And I am not dressing up in
drag again!”
Wufei looks at me quickly and
I feel the blood rush to my cheeks at my blunder. I don’t think there’s any need
to talk about that ‘outfit’ Duo got from me over the summer. Meanwhile my
boyfriend’s still grinning and looking quite unapologetic about his suggestion.
“Do you two want to find out
what happens or not?” he teases. “I can’t trust myself to tell you everything
if you don’t come along. I’ll just tell her that I have two friends from the
foster home coming over to visit and there’s no way she’s going to say no.”
“I have to work this
afternoon,” I say slowly, really wishing I could be there to witness it.
“Call them and say you can’t
come in today. That you’re sick or something…too much soda at the convention
last night gave you gas,” Duo offers with a shrug.
“Gee, thanks a lot,
brainiac,” I respond while rolling my eyes. “I do get off at six though. What
time’s dinner?”
“Eightish,” he says. “Plenty
of time for you to get yourself ready, Hermione.”
“Fi…fine,” I finally say through clenched
teeth. The temptation is too much and I’ve fallen for the bait. I’ll just have
to go along with Duo’s whacky idea and hope for the best. “I’ll see if Relena
can help me out. Man, I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Aww, but you’ll be
beautiful, Hermione!” Duo says with a laugh as he places a hard kiss on my
lips. “You have no idea how much I’ve fantasized seeing you in…”
“Ahem!” Wufei interrupts with
a cough even though there’s a dull hue of pink on his cheeks. “I guess I can
make it to…as humiliating as its going to be, I don’t think I’d want to miss
this for the world.”
“You’ll do it too?! Awesome!”
Duo throws his arms around his neck in delight and I all but growl at the
sight. Wufei meets my look and smirks which I respond with a salute of my
middle-finger. He had better not get too comfortable being around Duo or I
swear heads will roll…more likely his.
“All right, guys,” he finally
says, releasing Wufei (much to my relief), and beckoning us closer. “Now here’s
the plan…”
And as Duo begins to speak, I
realize with a small smile that this could also be the perfect opportunity to
get back at Teruo Senior. Tonight, I’ll have to pull off all the stops to get
him to revoke my suspension…
…even if it means sacrificing
my masculinity for a few hours.
~End Period Eighteen (1)~