Chapter 47:

The ‘Break’

Fujisaki High School

Monday, 8.57am

The last week of school before a break is nothing to write home about. Most of the students decide to take their vacations a bit too early and classes are sometimes half full. Students and teachers alike barely go through lessons with complete devotion as thoughts of Christmas carols, dinners and gifts fill their minds. There’s a general air of laziness and yet anticipation – a sense of time growing heavier and heavier as it goes by slowly until you feel like exploding on the final day of release.

Duo and I, on the other hand, are on a whole other high. After we caught our breaths from making out last night, we had sat up in bed, still unable to believe we were actually going to be on stage with one of the greatest rock band in the world. It was too good to be true, but we had gotten all the information required and we were supposed to be at the station after school to pick up the tickets and listen to whatever instructions we might have.

It was fun watching Duo leaping around the room in excitement in his birthday suit while waving the piece of paper about as if it was the lottery. He had then taken out his revered autographed Eric Bass t-shirt from the closet, kissing the plastic encased cloth gently as if worshipping a priceless artifact. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was that expensive by now. After all, Eric had worn that particular shirt and flung it out to the crowd. Duo’s fast hands and quick thinking had earned him the prize in the end…okay, so he elbowed one or two people but still, he earned the right to own it. The signature was an extra icing on the cake. I mean, Duo loves the shirt so much; he won’t even let me touch it!

I suffered through his excited chatter this morning as we rode the bus, listening to him talk and talk about what he was going to do when he met Eric in person or Andi the drummer or Seth the bassist or Tony Tow – the wicked dude on the other bass guitar – and how many pictures he’d take once the concert came around in a few weeks and all the goodies he’d steal from their dressing room and if we were lucky, we would even get a signed guitar or lifetime tickets to their shows. I tried to indulge in Duo’s fantasies as best I could, hating to remind him that if it wasn’t for me (as wicked as my way of going about it had been) he wouldn’t be talking about this concert to begin with. At some point, I had to wonder if Duo was actually in love with Eric. The guy is a handsome after all and has both ladies and men going ga-ga over him. Geez.

Unfortunately, all of that fades away as we walk into school and I begin to notice some of the knowing looks Duo receives. A few giggles and some smirks greet him and as he fidgets with his locker, his own chattering stops and he looks at me in bemusement. I shrug and raise a brow as if saying ‘I don’t know what everyone’s looking at’, but when a few classmates walk up and say ‘Congrats on winning the tickets, man,’ we give a sigh of relief. So that’s it. Most people must have listened to the show last night.

But then again…there’s something else in those looks that tell a whole different story. I convince myself that I’m worrying too much about it. I mean, Duo did a considerable good job hiding the fact that he was being ‘distracted’ while on the phone, and yet – to see the snickers and giggles has me feeling a bit uncomfortable. If Duo eventually figures out that people have a good idea he wasn’t having an ‘asthma’ attack, he’ll never forgive me.

Duo and I do not have the same class until third period and when he eventually strides into English class, there’s a perplexed look on his face. There are some more ‘Congrats, man’ that come his way, but he’s hardly paying them any attention. He sits in his usual spot beside me and taps his desk with impatient fingers.

“Uum…is everything okay, Duo?” I ask cautiously, while bracing myself for an onslaught of fury. “What’s up?”

“Had a rather interesting conversation during Biology this morning,” Duo begins. I see his jaw working slightly and I realize he’s either pissed or he’s about to explode. “Apparently, just about everyone’s wondering about my ‘asthma’ attack, Heero.”

Oh shit.

“Fuck ‘em,” I reply with a shrug as I open my textbook, trying to act as nonchalantly as possible when my heartbeat is racing a mile a minute.

“Fuck…fuck ‘em?” Duo hisses angrily. “Half the city might have been listening last night and they definitely heard…!”

“Hey, Duo. Congrats on….”

“Don’t even finish, man!” Duo snaps as Trowa stops in mid-stride, raising a brow in amusement at the look of frustration on Duo’s features.

“Don’t finish what?” Trowa asks and it’s all I can do not to laugh. He’s biting his inner cheek to stop himself from laughing as well. “I was just going to congratulate you on…”

“Yes, I won the tickets and I DID HAVE AN ASTHMA ATTACK!” Duo bellows for the benefit of the rest of the class. As if they had been waiting for a chance to do so, everyone bursts out laughing and Duo slides lower down his seat, cheeks now a bright beet red.

I’m blushing too, but at least no one seems to be picking on me. Maybe it’s my position or something, I don’t know.

“I mean seriously,” Quatre says between snickers as he walks up to meet us. “Everyone must have guessed what was happening, especially when you went ‘oh yes, God yes!’

The breathless way Quatre says those words causes more laugher and try as hard as I might not to give in, I can feel the bubbling sensation of a laugh sneaking its way out. I dare not do so though. Duo’s not looking too happy and it really was all my fault. Maybe I should have gone easy on him.

“Let’s see…do I have sex and get done with it or do I kill two birds with one stone and just do both at the same time?” It’s Wufei this time, only he’s eyeing us both and my need to laugh evaporates quickly.

“Good grief, talk about soft porn on the radio,” some other guy continues and suddenly, I’ve heard enough.

“Like you all didn’t get off hearing it,” I say quietly but yet loud enough to have them all shutting up and looking at me with mingled expressions of doubt and wariness…and yes, there are a few guilty faces. I can feel Duo’s gaze on me, but I’m not done yet. If they want to laugh, then let them, but not to our faces. To be honest, I’m not ashamed of what I did and if it goes down in history that we were the first couple to have sex on the air, then so be it.

“You want to laugh, go on then,” I continue in a much louder voice. The class is quiet and I train my gaze on them, trying to capture each one’s eyes, although to my amusement they look away in sudden embarrassment. Some shuffle to their seats and begin to open textbooks and I smirk in victory.

“I thought so, you hypocrites.”

“Fucking queers,” someone mutters and in a flash, so fast neither of us even noticed him move until it was too late, Duo had grabbed the person who said it by the scruff of his shirt, inches barely separating them. It’s Donovan – a relatively big guy who sits in the corner with his cronies and tries to make trouble wherever he can.

“Say something, Donovan?” Duo sneers, and I rise to my feet to stop the imminent violence. The last thing I need is for a fight to happen just days before the winter break.

“Yeah, ya fairy!” Donovan growls. Their noses bump as Donovan moves even closer as if daring Duo to do something. “Whatcha gonna do, huh? Give me a sissy punch, huh? Do it! Bring it on, bitch – urgh! Mah nose. Mah fookin nose! You brode mah nose!”

I hold my throbbing fist, knowing my knuckles will be swollen by this afternoon, but I still wipe the bloodstains on the sleeve of Donovan’s shirt, watching his eyes widen with something akin to fear as he leans back as if expecting another punch.

“It won’t be your nose that will be broken next time,” I growl, now kicking myself inwardly for letting my anger get the better of me. Unfortunately, I can’t stand anyone talking to Duo like that especially after promising Gabriel that I’d –

“Argh! You son-of-a-bitch!” Duo roars as I hear the sound of flesh against flesh. It’s one of Donovan’s buddies and he has just punched Duo in the face in retaliation. Before I can cry out to Duo to stop and not give in, my boyfriend’s dived over the desk to grab the other boy in a chokehold. They roll to the ground, desks shuffled and thrown aside as students begin to get into the spirit of the chaos. I feel a sudden blow to the side of my head and without thinking, I swing and hit someone, relishing the feel of my fist connecting solidly with someone’s face.

Somehow, I notice that Trowa, Quatre and Wufei have also gotten into the thick of things and the brawl is now in full force. Everyone is punching each other, with no concern for their safety, each trying to release the tension of a long school year and the promise of longer hours as we all prepare to graduate. Perhaps the fight is a necessary evil and being males, it’s the only way we can let out the aggression. I barely hear some of the girls screaming or the bellow of a staff member telling us to ‘Stop fighting this instant!’ We are eventually pulled apart by students from other classes as The Buzzard soon walks in with a smug look of satisfaction on his narrow features. Goodness knows how long he’s been waiting for this moment.

“All of you,” he says in that shrill voice of his. “To my office now!”

__

11.46am

Unfortunately, since all fifteen boys cannot fit in his office, we are made to stand outside in the hallway, looking like we had just survived the apocalypse. Once neatly pressed uniforms are torn, ties undone, shirts untucked and in some cases, pants and belts nearly falling off hips.

We are all bleeding in some form or another. Duo’s got a swollen jaw and a cut above his right eye. Trowa’s usually neat locks are tousled and there’s an ugly looking gash on his left cheek. Jesus! Had someone used a pen-knife there? Quatre’s knuckles look broken and blood seems to be flowing from the right side of his head and down his ear. Wufei’s usually neat ponytail is undone, his dark eyes fiery although his bleeding lips tell a whole other story. As for me, besides the tenderness at the back of my head and a loose teeth suffered from a punch to my left cheek, I’m better than most. Donovan and his three cronies look worse for wear. I’m glad to see they look like they should be barely standing.

The Buzzard begins his ‘inspection’ of us as he walks down the line with Kenzo, the vice president of the Student Council, not far behind. With hands behind his back, The Buzzard makes low ‘tsking’ sounds and rolls his eyes in disgust. He soon stops before Wufei and snorts.

“Ah, if it isn’t the car thief.”

The four of us stiffen at the memory, remembering that it was Wufei who had hot-wired the bastard’s car a year ago which got us into major trouble with the law.

“I always knew you had a rough streak in you,” The Buzzard continues, almost spitting into Wufei’s face as he moves closer. “You and your uncouth, barbaric Asian – “

“I wouldn’t continue with that line of talk if I were you, sir,” Duo interrupts in a jovial tone, smiling (although it doesn’t quite reach his eyes). “Might get you in trouble…with all due respect…sir.” Sarcasm drips from his voice like acid.

Wufei shares a quick but grateful look in Duo’s direction and I’m sure he had been ready to do something that might get him expelled from school all together. The Buzzard for his part, looks like he’s about to pop a blood vessel. He walks away from Wufei to stand before Duo, his smile cruel and cold enough to form a glacier.

“Ah, the Comedian,” The Buzzard drawls. “If I remember you’re the one that came into school with forged papers and a past criminal record. Give me one reason why you should remain in this school or graduate, Mr. Maxwell.”

Duo says nothing. The smile seems frozen on his face, but his eyes are chips of ice. If looks could kill, the old man would be a goner by now. I sincerely hope The Buzzard will say nothing else to provoke Duo or he really will not graduate and that’s the last thing I want.

“Well?” the man continues persistently. “Got something to say for yourself, Maxwell?” He prods Duo’s chest with a finger…harder still and Duo staggers backwards a little.

Hold it in, Duo…don’t explode. Please.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue, hmm? Suddenly you aren’t speaking any more, hmm?” He pushes again and to my relief and yet growing anger, Duo remains silent, only taking the verbal abuse with that forced smile on his face. I notice his hands clenching into tight fists by his side with each passing second.

“I thought so, you coward – “

Grief! Couldn’t he give it a rest? “You bastard,” I growl, thinking my voice is low enough, but the old man’s hearing hasn’t failed him and he pounces on me as if waiting for a good reason to do so.

“And you, Yuy. Our School President.” He says the words as if they contain venom and stands before me. I stare defiantly into his beady dark eyes, noticing the light sheen of sweat on his brow, the lines on his old face, the tufts of gray hair peaking amongst the comb over hairstyle he’s spouting. He smells like raw cabbage and it makes me sick.

“Some example you’re setting here, Mr. President,” he sneers. “What have you got to say for yourself?”

I can feel the other boys staring at me, perhaps waiting for me to say the three words that would secure their graduation. After all, I had started all of this by punching that big mouth, Donovan. But then again, why do I have to apologize to this old fart? If I’m apologizing to anyone, it will be to the boys who deserve to leave this school after all the hours they have put up with. I don’t owe The Buzzard anything. With that resolution firmly in mind, I step out of formation and turn to face my classmates. Taking a deep breath, I bow as deeply as I can, hearing a few shocked gasps at my gesture.

“I’m sorry for starting the fight,” I say, not looking up but down at the marbled floor now dotted in a few places with red fluid from our wounds. “And I will take full responsibility for what happened.”

“Heero,” Duo starts, but I cut him off with a quick and hard glance, before facing The Buzzard again, who is looking a bit miffed that I have stolen his thunder. “I am willing to accept any punishment, sir. But please, let them go. They had nothing to do with it.”

The man raises a brow, his smugness returning. “You’re telling me that you’re willing to be expelled from school for your conduct and allowing these boys to graduate, Yuy?”

I swallow tightly, sensing Duo’s, no doubt, look of shock behind me. What can I say? I don’t want to be expelled and the thought of facing that board of directors is a daunting task. I’ve been there once before and it’s not a very good feeling.

“Well, Yuy? Make up your mind. I haven’t got all day here,” comes the snappish reply as the old man glances at his watch. “What is your decision?”

My mouth feels dry, my eyes stinging with hot unshed tears. Christ. Am I really about to throw off four years of my life in this school? I can’t graduate and my parents will kill me if I return with nothing to show for it. Oh, God…what the fuck do I do?!

“If he goes, then I go,” comes the low voice that has me looking up in shock. For a moment, I assume I’m seeing or hearing things because it’s…well…it’s Donovan. Of all people! He shuffles forward, hands behind his back with a look of resignation on his features. “It was my fault, sir. I shouldn’t have called him a queer.”

The Buzzard looks nonplussed. “What in the world - ?”

“Then I’s going, sir,” comes the words from one of Donovan’s cronies. He too shuffles forward to stand beside his leader. “If the boss goes, then I go. I ain’t staying in this crummy school.”

“Me too!” says the other, after about a moment of thought.

“Me three!” the fourth member of the gang of misfits stands out too and all look towards me. I’m not quite sure of how to react to this. It’s the sort of scene you watch in movies and you think it’s so corny and cheesy and that it could never occur in real life, but to actually watch it happening now…no wonder those actors feel moved to tears.

“Well, shoot, if those four douche bags aren’t going to graduate, what am I doing graduating?” Duo drawls lazily and moves to stand beside me. I give him a small smile of gratitude, still in a state of disbelief at what is going on around me.

“Guess you can count me out too,” Wufei mutters with a shrug and he too steps out. “Besides who wants to wear that lame ass gown.”

“Yeah, looks like crap anyway,” Quatre replies and tugs Trowa forward as if making the decision for both of them.

One by one, they all make some form of excuse and step forward, all willing to join me in not graduating since we were all at fault in some way. The Buzzard, by this time, is red-faced and sweating profusely, even Kenzo has to smile a little at our show of solidarity.

“You think you’re all smart, don’t you?” he finally growls. “You will get your wish, don’t worry! I’ll make sure you’re all expelled, you hear me! All of you!”

He storms into his office, with Kenzo close behind, and we all give a yell of victory, although I don’t join in it. What’s there to celebrate? We weren’t out of the waters yet and they were getting pretty hot at that.

“What if he really means it though,” Peter voices my concern as the cheers die down a little. “What are we going to do?”

“He can’t do anything,” Trowa reassures us. “If he dares expel a whole class…well almost a whole class, it would look bad on his record. Knowing the Buzzard like we do, you think he wants that label attached to him for the rest of this life?”

We all mumble that he wouldn’t, but the funny thing is that none of us make any plans to leave the hallway. We begin to plop to the floor in exhaustion, the pains kicking in from our bruises. I glance at Donovan, who’s now nursing his nose with his blazer. Our eyes meet and I give a small nod of gratitude. He seems to flush at the gesture, but then shrugs and looks away, trying to maintain some form of dignity and cool at his moment of weakness.

“What the hell happened to you, Trowa?” I ask as I watch Quatre pull out his handkerchief to press it against his partner’s cheek.

“I actually bumped into the edge of a desk,” my friend explains with a soft laugh. “Jason pushed me and slice, there goes my cheek. It hurts like hell.”

“I can imagine,” I reply weakly, grunting a little as Duo leans heavily against me. I don’t have a handkerchief with me, so I settle for wiping the blood off his brow with the sleeve of my blazer as gently as I can.

“You okay?” I whisper softly.

His slow smile makes my heart flutter and he murmurs against my neck. “My knight in shining armor. Thanks for sticking up for me, Heero.”

I blush at that, trying to nudge him off, but he laughs quietly and hangs on tighter. In no time, our murmurs fall to silence as we all hold our breath awaiting our fate. Since we’re in the administrative building, we get many curious looks from staff members or students who must have heard about ‘The Fight’ by now. I lean against the wall with a sigh, fingers absently toying with Duo’s hair (his head is now on my lap) and stare out the large glass windows to the well-tended school lawn. Two weeks of winter vacation and then just three more months and I’ll be out of here. Just three more months of trying to be as good a student as I can be and escaping the clutches of obligation and responsibility once and for all.

To be honest, I am tired, not just physically but mentally as well. Being the leader of a school is a trying experience. To be a model figure is all but a joke. No one is perfect and even though I lied to myself all these years with the belief that I could be perfect, Duo was the one to point out my human flaws, to remind me that I could bleed, feel pain, experience joy and pleasure like no one else.

“Mmm,” he moans in appreciation as I knead the nape of his neck gently. He shifts to look at me, our eyes saying what our lips couldn’t. He smiles and captures my hand within his, caressing my bruised knuckles gently before raising it to his lips to kiss them gently. A sudden rush of heat flares up my spine and I bite my lower lip. I dare to look up and find myself meeting the amused stares from my friends and a few of my classmates. Coughing a little, Duo gets the message and sits up quickly, looking slightly flustered as well. How easily distracted could we be? It didn’t take much to get us lost in our own world.

“Coming through!”

We all look up as Relena and her band of girlfriends walk up to us with what look like First Aid kits. “All right, girls, start from the other end. Dorothy, Hilde and I will deal with these ones.”

‘These ones’ being the five of us. We lower our glances like guilty children caught stealing cookies.

“Goodness, look at you!” Relena admonishes as she ‘attacks’ me with a vengeance. She places an icepack on my cheek, as Duo begins to whine with Hilde’s ‘gentle’ scrub of his bleeding forehead and cheek. Dorothy’s working on Wufei, and I’m surprised at how gentle she is with his wounds. They are lost in conversation and I force myself to look into Relena’s frowning features while she works quickly. With a shake of her head, she sticks a plaster to my chin and scuttles off to work on Trowa and Quatre.

“Thanks, Relena,” I mutter, feeling a bit better actually. Her touch and expertise was a welcome distraction.

“You’re welcome,” comes the absentminded reply as she wipes Quatre’s face carefully. “I don’t know what you guys were thinking. Do you all want to get expelled? Huh? Is that what you want?! I thought we all swore to graduate together and you want to jeopardize that! Do you just want to throw away four years of your life over a stupid word?! Haven’t you all learned anything from all you’ve been through in the past two years?!”

Her voice had risen and to our embarrassment and yet guilt, she has tears in her eyes. We look away – all the boys actually – knowing she’s right. A heavy silence descends upon us and I feel the pressure to say something witty, something heroic, something worthy of the President. Suddenly, and luckily, the door to The Buzzard’s office opens and out comes Kenzo, looking like a deer caught in headlights. I guess he assumes we would be in class by now or maybe Relena’s tirade had caught his attention.

“Aaah…”

“Ah what?” Wufei snaps impatiently, after about a few more seconds of Kenzo’s indecisive moment. “What did he say?”

“Uumm…well for now he says to let you all know that you have detention until six o’clock this evening.”

“Six o’clock!” Quatre wails as he looks at Trowa. “We have dress rehearsals by five!” That’s true. Their Christmas concert is this Saturday after all.

“I’ve got basket ball practice after school!” someone else cries out.

“I’ve gotta job, man! I’ll be fired if I don’t show up,” yet someone else says and the collective groans and disgruntled feelings begin to flare up.

“Shit,” Duo whispers and sits up, with a slightly panicked look on his face. “We’re supposed to be at the station to pick up our tickets by at least six o’clock, Heero.”

“Well, we can’t very well get them, can we?” I reply in slight irritation. My head is beginning to pound like a drummer had taken its position in there. Relena’s tirade, my heavy burden of a position I’m beginning to loathe, listening to the whines and complaints around me, as well as knowing The Buzzard is enjoying this moment, and that we might lose the tickets we had worked so ‘hard’ to get, has me this close to losing it. I think I hear someone give a primal scream – a raw sound of frustration that seems ripped from his throat with intense passion.

When the screaming stops, the accompanying silence is deafening. I rise to my feet and walk away without a look back, realizing now that it was my voice after all. My voice. Once locked away behind the cage of responsibility and rules. My voice. Once trapped beneath boulders of pressure and the power of Right and Wrong. My voice had finally broken free from its constraints.

And damn it felt good.

__

The Student Council Office

6.45pm

Detention had been a somber affair. Regular school hours end at about three, so we were forced to sit in a classroom for an extra three hours without speaking. The Buzzard had assigned us to write at least five pages of what he labeled ‘Conscience Cleansing’ – a call to our souls to figure out why we were all spawns of the Devil, probably. On the plus side, we weren’t going to be expelled, but we were going to have to spend the rest of the week in detention. More time to spend with people we could really do without.

I sigh and sign the last document – something about allowing the Soccer club access to the fields first once school resumed next year. I barely look up as the door to the office opens. I’m expecting Duo (since he has a meeting with his basketball coach), but the light cough tells me otherwise.

“Kenzo,” I look up and raise a brow in surprise. “I thought you would be home by now.”

He looks embarrassed. “Well…no.”

“Hn.” I nod and assume he’s here to pick up something from the shelf and ignore him again. However, when he makes no attempt to move, I look up again, clasping my hands tightly to restrain myself from telling him to ‘Fuck off’. “Is there something you wanted, Kenzo?”

“Ah…well…” He coughs again and then takes a step forward. “May I sit down?”

Right. Is this guy fucking with me? “Yes, please.” I inject as much sarcasm as I can muster. “You are the vice-president after all. It’s your office too.”

“Not really,” he mumbles and sits down heavily. I notice for the first time that his usually neat appearance is in disarray. The always impeccably dressed busybody has his tie half-undone and his dark hair looks like he’s been running fingers through it all evening. There’s a weary look on his face – something I’ve missed observing during all my time with him.

“Is everything all right?”

He suddenly barks out something akin to laughter and I sit back and wait for it.

“That’s the first time you’ve asked me that, Yuy,” he finally says. “I mean besides it being related to something about the school.”

“What’s this all about?”

He smiles and leans forward. “Have you ever really seen me as a human being, Yuy? Or as ‘The Vice President’?” He raises his fingers to quote the title. “When you screamed earlier today, you have no idea how much that surprised me…well took all of us by surprise. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do as well, Yuy, only you beat me to the punch. You’ve always beaten me to the punch.”

“I mean, I don’t get it.” He rises to his feet and begins to pace the room. Hands on his hips, hands in his hair, waving them about. He’s clearly agitated. “I mean, you almost always get in trouble and yet…and yet you get out of it so quickly! You are easily the worst president this school has ever recorded and yet you’ve done some amazing things as well! And you know how that makes me feel? Worthless, Yuy! Fucking worthless!”

“Do you know how much I loathe you, Yuy?” He places his hands on the desk and all but drills me with those dark eyes of his. Wow. He really is pissed. “Do you have any idea how much I want to kick your ass and take over that role that you’re making a mockery of? Do you?! Do you know how many nights I lie awake in bed, wondering why? Why you ever won that election and how one boy could fuck things up royally! You didn’t deserve to win! And if Duo hadn’t been here, I’d be in the one in your place!”

That does it. “You want this?!” I roar, rising to my feet and yanking off the badge from my blazer. “Is that it? You want to be the President?! Then be my fucking guest!” I fling it at him, watching with satisfaction as he barely catches it with a look of surprise on his features. I walk around the desk to stand before him, my frustration and anger about to unleashed. I don’t have to take his bullshit.

“Here, let me help you,” I snarl and begin to push him towards my chair. I force him to sit on it and even lift his legs to place them on the desk. “Comfy? Hmm? You like that, don’t you? Here!” I open the drawers and slam the Fujisaki Rules and Regulations book in front of him. “Oh, no that’s not all. Wait a minute. Don’t you move, sir!” I stalk to the shelf and begin to pull out past records of former presidents to place before him. In mere minutes, the desk is laden with folders, record books and documents.

“Now, here’s how it’s going to work, Mr. President,” I begin slowly, walking around Kenzo, who looks a bit frightened at my fervor. As he should be. I’m incensed at this point and yet pretty calm. I tap my chin as if in deep thought and then snap my fingers. Eu-fucking-reka!

“Mr. President, I’d like you to study every document you see here.” I tap the books, a cloud of dust bouncing off them as I grin. “I’d like you to see what all your predecessors have achieved and I’ll like you to go to sleep at night knowing you’ll have to match their record, or guess what? You’ll have to do so much better than them! I want you to go to sleep at night, knowing there’s a long list of students with requests eager for you to give your ‘yay’ or ‘nay’. I’ll like you to consider all the clubs that hinge on your very words for their existence and knowing that you have the power to bring people to their knees. I’d also like to address you to the various death threats that fill the bottom drawer from former students you’ve helped kicked out of the school for their bad conduct. Ah! And let’s not forget the parents that think you’re incompetent and believe that their children’s fates are in your hands. Oh! Did I forget to mention that you’ll have to patrol the school grounds and catch all the bad guys, represent the school at other functions across the state. Act like a fucking robot and do your utmost best to be PERFECT?! Oh, but then again, that shouldn’t be a problem for you, because YOU, Mr. President are already perfect! Why the fuck, do you need me?!”

“Oh God,” I groan, all the fight now seeping out of me like a hot air balloon. Kenzo has tears in his eyes, although he’s doing his best to look as tough as possible. I fall to my knees before him, and reach for his cold trembling hands. For a moment he tries to resist, but I hold on tightly, and a lot more quietly I continue,

“Don’t you see, Kenzo? I wouldn’t be here without your help. I know I’m not the best president and I have tried my fucking best, but Jesus, you and Anne and everyone else, you are the ones who make this machine work. I rely on you and know you can always pull through for me. I wouldn’t have it any other way, you got that? We might not have been the best of friends throughout the year, but believe me when I say you’re the best and most competent vice president this school has ever had.”

“You’re…you’re just saying that,” Kenzo whispers, no longer trying to stop the tears from falling down his cheeks. I can tell he’s pleased at the compliments though. It doesn’t take that much to make him happy.

I smile and squeeze his hands gently. “Maybe and maybe not. But I do appreciate you, Kenzo, more than I show I guess.”

He sniffles and it’s then that we both hear the cough as Duo looks over the pile of books. “Eh…am I interrupting something here? Remember we have tickets to pick up, man.” He looks perplexed – not sure if to be upset or amused at this bonding moment between Kenzo and I.

“It’s cool, Duo. I was just inviting Kenzo to join us at the diner tonight.”

Well, this was news to Kenzo because he looks stumped, his eyes widening in surprise. “What…?”

“What?” Duo echoes with a raised brow. No love lost between these two either.

“I’m hungry,” I say and shrug, rising to my feet to stretch aching muscles. “And if I don’t eat something soon, I’m going to get grouchy. Come on, Kenzo, let’s roll.”

“The…the books,” the boy begins, still not sure if he’s hearing things or not. “We should arrange them…”

“Fuck the books,” I cut in with a smile. “Once in a while, you’ve got to say that, Kenzo, or you’ll end up in a psycho ward.”

“Won’t be too fast for me,” Duo mutters and I cuff him playfully.

“Go on, say it,” I urge my assistant with a wink.

“Fu…fu…”

Duo rolls his eyes as we step out into the quiet hallway. “It’s just two words, dude. It won’t kill you.”

Kenzo eyes us both like we’ve lost our minds, but I can see the twitch of his lips, the faint gleam of something akin to excitement in his eyes. “Fuck it,” he finally says and shakes his head.

“Gotta say it with more ‘mmph!’,” Duo pipes in, now getting into the spirit of it.

“FU…FUCK IT!!” Kenzo eventually roars and Duo and I lean back in awe, earning a laugh from the usually uptight boy.

“Well, now. Whaddaya know? The kid’s a lion, Heero! Yeah!!” Duo cackles. He begins to run down the hallway and in no time, Kenzo and I are joining him. Breaking yet another rule. Geez, we’re hopeless.

“FUCK YOU, FUJISAKI!!” Duo bellows, lifting both hands to give the bird to classrooms or posters or whatever else that symbolizes the ‘Authority.’

“SCREW YOU ALL!!” Kenzo adds and by this time, we’ve taken off our blazers and are hollering and hooting like madmen as we run out of the building and into the cold school grounds.

Freedom. It’s a beautiful thing when you finally begin to accept it and on this night, we feel really young again. Just boys with so much to look forward to. Our problems and worries will be put to rest for a while. Maybe they’ll come back with a vengeance, but for now, we’ll milk life and all it has to offer. It’s way too fucking short to waste being gloomy and moody.

It’s a lesson I’ve learned from two sources – from the one I love and the one I once hated.

~End Period Forty-Seven~