Bitter Truths:
Ten:
Wednesday
The
For as long as I can
remember, I’ve always been a loner – one of those people who’d rather do things
on their own without depending on others. I had no problems with it and would
have continued to be that way if it hadn’t been for my mother’s incessant need
for me to be more sociable. She threw me into as many clubs and sporting
activities as she possibly could, all in the attempt to
get me to make new friends. Birthday parties were quite a big deal for her and
sometimes, I’d find myself in a roomful of classmates or teammates I had absolutely
nothing in common with.
However, the Peacecrafts are
the exception. Our families are close friends due to father’s involvement with
a project the billionaire had started when I was about five years old. We would
always go to the Peacecraft residence for Sunday brunches and of course, I had
met the brown-haired girl who would eventually become one of my first and
closest friends. Of course it goes without saying that she was a bossy little
thing back then. After all, being the only girl had its perks and she was
almost considered and treated like royalty. Zechs on the other hand, became the
big brother I never really wanted. He teased me a lot and still does to this
day, seeming to find pleasure in either making me embarrassed with his sexual
innuendos or just plain angry for the fun of it.
I still think our families
are a bit upset that Relena and I aren’t any closer, if you know what I mean.
But, I think they’ve come to understand that we’d never be a couple. We are
just content the way we are and that’s that. So yes, with the exception of
Relena and Zechs, I had little to no ‘friends’ at all.
However, all that changed
with my arrival to Fujisaki. It’s not as if I made a conscious effort to become
friendlier and I didn’t go out of my way to become accepted, but thanks to
Relena’s outgoing nature and her need to introduce me to others even if it
killed her (or me), I came to meet and enjoy the company of Wufei Chang, Trowa
Barton, Quatre Winner, Hilde Schbeiker and Dorothy Catalonia. They are a rather
eclectic bunch, but we work well together and I’ve really come to appreciate
their support for me throughout the years.
Although I won’t say we are
that close, since I can’t very well share every single secret with them - and
god knows I wouldn’t have wanted to share this particular story either - however,
with Duo’s prodding, I now find myself spilling out my guts to the curious
group all peering at me as if I’ve grown an extra head. It’s quite unnerving to
tell you the truth, but at least no one’s laughing or making faces and that helps
a lot.
I deliberately keep out the
sordid details of Kamui’s claims of me sleeping with him and I know Duo’s not
pleased about that, but hell if I’m going to go that far. It’s not really their
business anyway and all they have to know is that there’s a rather sick kid
running around the school grounds trying to make my life a living hell. I
wonder what suggestions would be given to me.
“I say we ambush him at night
and kill him swiftly but quietly,” Dorothy suggests calmly. “A blow to the head
with a baseball bat would work quite well.”
We all gawk at her in
disbelief, but she continues to suck on her boxed fruit juice as if she had
suggested nothing out of the ordinary.
“Ah…well…I don’t think we
want to go killing…” I begin but Relena intervenes.
“Damn it! And to think I was
going to let him into my fashion show! Grrr!” She stabs her plate of salad with
a fork causing the guys and I cringe a bit at the venom in that act. “Let me
get some dirt on him, Heero. Let me print something about him in the papers…”
“No!” I say quickly. “That’s
exactly what he might want you to do and then what? Who knows what he’ll do
afterwards? I don’t want to see your paper banned because of his connections…”
“I hope he goes hang
himself,” Hilde mumbles with a glare.
Trowa finishes up with his
glass of orange juice and says quietly. “You did say his father is a member of
the ministry…”
“Not just a member,” Duo
explains. “He’s the Minster of Education for the fucking country. The dude can
take us all down with one word to his daddy.”
That harsh fact leaves us
stumped for a moment. I can already see the chain of destruction in my head. We
do something terrible to Kamui, he goes and reports to his father who has a
long talk with the principal of Fujisaki, who then proceeds to ban most school
activities or worse expel us from school with some cock and bull story he must
have told his father to begin with.
“But there’s got to be
something we can do,” Quatre muses with a light frown. “You can deny him some
rights in school, can’t you, Heero?”
“Yeah, good thing you already
yanked him out of the fashion show,” Wufei agrees with a nod. “What else can
you do to him here?”
“Hmmm, I think he’s a member
of the Chess club,” Relena says with a light frown as if trying to remember something
she had read up somewhere. “We have to get stats and stuff for all our models,
you know. Anyway, I heard something about him being in the Chess Club.”
“And if he’s been picked as a
representative for the school, all you have to do is tell the Club President,
who’s a good friend of mine,” Quatre says with a light smirk, “to pull Kamui
out of the tournament.”
Speaking of which…
“How did he take it, Relena?”
I ask, turning my attention to her. “What did he do when you told him he
couldn’t participate in the show anymore?”
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t
feel good telling him that, Heero,” she says with a firm nod. “But that was
before I knew about this. Hmph, if I had known earlier, you can be sure I
wouldn’t have felt so bad for him. Anyway, he looked a bit confused…you
know…had that cute almost hurt look on his face and I felt like a complete heel
for telling him no.”
“What did you say exactly?”
Hilde asks.
“I just said that we’re sorry
we just realized we had way too much models for the show and we’d have to let
him go but that we’ll definitely be using him for some other project coming
up.”
I am unaware of how tightly
clasped my hands are as I listen. Knowing his reaction to such a thing will
help in how we approach him from now on.
“So he didn’t pull some
tantrum or anything like that?” Duo asks with a raised brow as if in disbelief
himself.
“Surprisingly none,” Relena
says with a shrug. “He just said that he was disappointed and wished he could
participate but that he’ll be cheering us on and that he’s bought ten tickets
for him and his friends. He wouldn’t want to miss it for anything in the
world.”
Duo and I exchange a quick
but knowing look. Kamui’s response had been too…
“Sounds like he wasn’t too
upset about it,” Wufei says slowly. “It’s a bit fishy if you ask me.”
My sentiments exactly.
“Hey, you don’t think he’s
going to do something stupid like rig the show or anything like that, do you?”
Hilde asks with a worried look on her features. “I mean…I’ve seen some people
do stuff like that. In that movie, where the girl doesn’t win the competition
and then she goes about setting traps and stuff so that all the other
contestants get hurt…”
“No one’s ruining my show!”
Relena retorts sharply. “I’m not going to let that little punk mess up
something we’ve worked so hard for. If he does anything like that, I’ll
personally throw him over my knee and spank his ass so hard, he won’t be able
to walk for a week!”
Someone bursts out laughing
and although I don’t feel like joining in the infectious sounds of my friends’
mirth, I can’t help smiling a little at the thought of Kamui being spanked by
an irate Relena. Perhaps that could be one of the ways to make him see some
sense…
“Ah…uum…excuse me…sempai?”
Just like that, my blood runs
cold at the familiar soft voice that interrupts our conversation and I don’t
need to look around to see who’s standing behind me. I can already tell from
the surprised looks on my friends features that the very boy we are talking
about is now in our midst. I swear you can cut the tension with a knife at this
point.
It’s Duo who manages to break
the silence with a low drawl. “Hello, Kamui. Is there something you wanted?” I
can sense the tension in Duo’s body (since he’s sitting right beside me) and
I’m sure that he would have loved to punch Kamui right about now. Placing a
hand upon his slightly trembling one, I squeeze it gently in reassurance before
turning around to face the freshman.
He’s smiling…blushing but
smiling and holding something in his hands. Two of his male classmates flank
his sides and they look a bit terrified at standing in the presence of eight
upperclassmen. It looks as if they wish they could be anywhere but here, but
I’m sure that Kamui must have dragged them here with a bribe or a threat or worse.
“Kamui.” I greet flatly, my
back prickling with awareness, knowing full well that my friends are watching
our interaction carefully.
He blushes even harder and
bows a little. “I’m sorry for interrupting you, sempai but I just wanted to
return this.”
He holds out the cloth
wrapped in a clear plastic bag. I hear Duo’s harsh intake of breath beside me
and I know he’s recognized what it is. It’s one of my dark blue dress shirts. I
don’t wear it much anymore, which is why I must have missed it when going
through my closet the other day. But there it is now. In Kamui’s hands. Washed,
neatly ironed and a fucking glaring evidence for something I know I didn’t
commit.
“Thank you for letting me
wear this home, sempai,” Kamui’s saying still doing his best to act as coyly as
possible. “Since my clothes were…uum…messy and all...”
Someone gives a small squeak
behind me and I don’t really care to know who it is. I am mad. So mad, I can
hardly think straight. How dare he?! How dare he do this to me?!
“But I washed and ironed it
for you, sempai,” he continues. “And I know I’ll have to come back to your
place to pick up my other clothes. I think I must have left it there…”
“Fuck off,” Duo suddenly says
in a tone that sends chills down my spine. I’ve never heard him this angry
before and although it’s a bad time to be saying this…I absolutely love it. Thank goodness he’s not buying
into this act.
Kamui blinks and the smile
disappears. Something hard and cold flickers in those green eyes for a moment –
just a moment - but it’s quickly replaced with a look of hurt. “I just wanted
to return this…” he begins meekly.
“You could have returned it to
him in his office, if you’re so fucking adamant on being a goody two-shoes!”
Duo flares angrily. “You didn’t have to come out here to announce it to the
goddamn world!”
“Duo,” Trowa warns quietly
but the long-haired boy’s too far gone in his anger to take notice of any of us
now.
“You wanna act like a fucking
prick about this? Then go take it someplace else! Sick fucks like you need to
be locked up in a goddamn asylum and kept there for life!”
By now, the other students
loitering about the grounds have all turned to our direction but Duo’s not
budging a bit. I place a hand upon his arm to stop him and he shrugs it off,
sparing me a cold glare as if daring me to stop him. Kamui for his part looks
like he’s about to start screaming or crying in a second. He’s clutching my
shirt to his chest and whimpering a little, seeming to shrink before Duo’s
fury. In fact, mere inches separate the two boys now and I fear that Duo will really punch Kamui soon.
I have to stop this before it
gets out of hand.
“Duo!” I say sharply forcing
his attention towards me again. With a firm look, I try to appease his anger
while nodding towards Mr. Hanoi, the History teacher who’s stomping towards us
with a frown of displeasure on his features.
“Fuck it all, Heero,” he
growls tightly before snatching the shirt away from Kamui’s lax grasp. “I’m
sick of playing the nice guy!”
“What the hell’s going on
here?!”
Duo rolls his eyes and sighs.
I can’t begin to imagine how many times he’s been called out for one thing or
another. It’s like he almost expects it anytime a teacher’s nearby. “I didn’t
do anything, sir…”
“He yelled at me!” Kamui
suddenly cries out and much to our surprise, there are streams of tears falling
down his cheeks. Anyone coming to the scene for the first time would assume we
had beaten the poor kid or worse. However, Relena counters with a heated,
“That’s because you started
it, you little jerk!”
While Hilde and Dorothy agree
with firm nods of support.
“No one’s above the law,
sir,” I say calmly, not betraying the irritation I feel at the way things are
going.
“So?!” He bellows and I shake
my head slowly, knowing exactly what he wants to hear.
“I will write up a report on
the incident and submit it to your desk for consideration, sir,” I say tightly.
“I expect it no later than
“Mr. Teruo,”
Wufei mutters beneath his
breath something along the lines of ‘Ass kisser’ and that sends some of us
stifling snickers.
“Something funny?”
“Yes, sir.”
Duo suddenly makes a low
kissing sound and it’s now taking all of my strength to hold back my laughter.
Neither of us say anything
until I ask with feigned innocence. “Who did what, sir?”
“Don’t play coy with me,
Yuy!” he bellows, coming closer to me to spray some of his spit in my face with
each word he yells. “You know exactly what I’m talking about! Who made that
sound?!”
“What sound? Are you sure you
aren’t hearing things, sir?”
He opens and shuts his mouth
for a few seconds, and I fear he’s going to burst a blood vessel soon. “That’s
it. I have had it with you upperclassmen. Meet me after school on the track in
your gym uniforms, do you understand?!”
The girls groan. “And no
skipping out or your punishment will be ten times worse and that includes you,
Yuy! You might be the president but if you don’t lead a good example, I’m
afraid you’ll have to learn it the hard way!”
Great. So now I have a
goddamn report to write as well as running around that Olympic-sized track
after school under the blazing sun. Shit.
I manage to catch Kamui’s
gaze as he’s being led away by
“What I want to know is,”
Dorothy says as the quartet soon disappear from sight. “What I want to know is
how he got your shirt and what he means by his clothes being messy. When did
this happen? You didn’t tell us that part, Heero.”
I didn’t tell you about that
because I didn’t think it was that important. I glare at the shirt in Duo’s
hands and shake my head. “Look, it doesn’t matter how he got it…”
“Does he have the keys to
your place?” Wufei asks in confusion.
Did I forget to mention that
I have the most persistent friends on the planet? They simply don’t know when
to let things go. We should be worried about how Kamui’s getting the best of us
now and instead…
“No he doesn’t.”
Quatre cuts in. “Then how did
he get a hold of your shirt and all that talk about his clothes being at your
place…unless there’s something you aren’t telling us, Heero.”
I glance at Duo but he only
shrugs and seems to say ‘the ball’s in your court now’. Taking a deep breath,
(and quite reluctantly mind you) I tell them about the incident at the
restaurant and the events that led up to me being in Relena’s place. Again, I
deliberately refrain from telling them about the scratch marks or the false
accusation of supposed sexual acts taking place. I really don’t think they need
to know that much.
“Ah, that makes sense now,”
Trowa says with a light frown. “I hate to say this, Heero but you’ve definitely
got to find a way to stop him or else…”
“You’re forgetting that he’s
already got most of the teachers on his side,” Duo adds, reaching into his
pocket for his pack of cigarettes but Hilde reaches for it quickly, causing him
to frown at her in consternation.
“And who knows if the
Principal’s not on his side either…” Relena says.
“Or the Buzzard,” Wufei says
with a groan.
The Buzzard being Vice
Principal Kentaro, whose car we once ‘borrowed’ in our junior year to visit Duo
when he was sick. I don’t think I need to rehash the events that followed
afterwards all over again.
“We don’t need the teachers,”
I say quietly but firmly, as they all turn to me. I have to weigh my words
carefully, to understand the enormity of what I have finally planned to do. “We
can do this on our own without them ever knowing a thing. Slowly but surely,
we’ll get him to break…and not by staring him down or yelling at him in public.
That’s exactly what he wants and we won’t play into his little traps.”
I can see I have their
undivided attention now. “Whatever club he’s in, he’s going to be given little
to no rights in it and I don’t care how good he is or if he’s the key to them
winning any of the upcoming events. However, you’ve got to use your connections
to all the presidents – make friends with them if you have to – and make sure
he gets no special treatment.”
“And if he notices a pattern
and puts two and two together?” Quatre asks.
“We feign innocence or
indifference. We have to make the presidents swear never to reveal anything to
him. He cannot say I or any of us are responsible for it since he’ll have no
proof. Everyone agreed with this?”
They nod solemnly. “It’s only
one step guys,” I continue with a light stretch of my arms. “We haven’t won
this thing yet, not by any means. Who knows what he can come up with next but
until then…let’s not give him any reason to gloat.”
“Yeah, but he’ll be gloating
at us this afternoon while we’re running around the track like a couple of
freshmen,” Wufei growls in annoyance. “Geez, I had plans this afternoon!”
“We all had plans.” I don’t
actually, well besides following Duo home to check out his new and improved
bike before his mother shows up. “But this isn’t the time for us to worry about
it. Let’s head off to class, all right? We’ll talk some more after school.”
They all nod reluctantly as
we begin to make our way down the small hill and towards the looming school
buildings. Not surprisingly, we are all silent, each of us lost in thought over
what had just happened earlier.
Duo has to leave for Technology
and gives me a quick and almost absent kiss at the corner of my mouth before
turning away without a second look. I stare after him (Trowa later tells me
that I had a longing look on my face then) for sometime, feeling a bit bereft
at his absence. Call me paranoid or overly protective, but I now have the
feeling that I should be with Duo all the time – every waking minute or second
because of all this. Of course, if he realizes that, he’ll probably think I’ve
gone crazy as well.
However, a new set of
questions begin to spring to mind as I make my way towards Biology with Trowa
in tow. For one thing, Kamui had met us just
as we were talking about him.
Had he heard everything we
were talking about?
How long had he been standing
there?
Does he already know what we
plan to do to him?
And what about his flippant
response to Relena? It seemed like he had expected something like that to
happen. Will my plan to deny him the pleasure of school life make a dent on him
at all?
Someone nudges me and I start
in surprise, only to realize that Lady Une had asked me a question. But as I
scramble to find an answer, the my persistent doubts continue to plague me and
all I can see is that smug look in those cool green eyes which continue to
taunt me to do my very worst.
__
Locker Room:
I know I am definitely going
to be sore in places I didn’t even know existed by the time I get home tonight.
I peel out of my soaked t-shirt, now knowing why I deliberately refused to pick
gym as an option for my final year. It’s not as if I don’t like participating
in sporting activities…I just don’t enjoy doing them in school. I’ve had enough
of dealing with sweaty boys and steamy public bathrooms over the years. It’s
like the wet smell of damp socks and sweatpants never gets out of your system.
“See you tomorrow, Heero!”
Wufei salutes as he dashes out of the room. He’s already done…actually he was
the first to finish with his fifteen laps around the track. Trowa and Quatre
have also left because they each got to do ten laps. The report I wrote for
Which meant two extra laps
for him.
I step under the warm sprays
of the shower and close my eyes, allowing the water to soak me completely. I’m
very glad the school’s almost empty now, the only sounds coming from the few
students who have club meetings or leaving from detention. But most
importantly, I’m more than glad that I don’t have to share the showers with
anyone else. It gives me the time to think and not to deal with the boisterous
noises from boys willing to show each other how well endowed they are. Christ,
the shit I have had to listen to over the years…
I stiffen - the hairs (wet as
they are) at the back of my neck standing to attention as I sense someone else
now in the showers with me. Unfortunately, I can’t turn off the water since I’ve
still got soap in my eyes. But I begin to rinse it off quickly, feeling my
heartbeat quickening with each breath I take as my skin continues to crawl in awareness.
There’s no doubt about it. I am clearly being watched.
“Hello?” Why did I have to
open my mouth?! But I can’t stop now. It’s best to let my watcher know that I’m
on to him. “Duo? Is that you? Are you in here?”
But an eerie silence greets
my question and holding my breath for another second or two, I begin to chide
myself for being so paranoid. There is definitely no one in here. Or perhaps
one of the janitors must have come in to clean the place and realized that
someone was in the bathroom and then left again.
“Yeah, that’s it. Nothing to
worry about,” I mumble, still doing the best I can to scrub my lathered hair as
quickly as I can. I have to get the hell out of here or else…
A firm hand slaps itself upon
my shoulder and my heart leaps into my throat. I get ready to either scream
like a fucking girl or to throw my attacker to the ground when that familiar snicker
fills my ear. My reaction is immediate.
“FUCK!! DUO!! THAT’S NOT
FUNNY!!”
Shit!! I can barely breathe
and there he is still laughing like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever done. Of
course it doesn’t help that I’m pressed against the wet tiles like a deer
caught in headlights trying to catch my goddamn breath. I try to glare at Duo
who’s standing in nothing but a white towel with his hair loosened and stuck to
his forehead and shoulders like a second skin. It’s probably due to a
combination of the sweat from his run and the steam in the room and despite my
current state, I can’t help admiring how downright sexy he looks.
“Scared you, didn’t I?” he
says with a wide grin. “Who did you think I was? Kaaaaamuuii?” He says the name
in a spooky tone and I retaliate by tossing my sponge at him. He dodges, still
laughing and moves closer to me – towel and all- to whisper against my lips. “Don’t
worry. Your pretty boy’s not here.”
“What makes you so sure?” I
say with a light stutter, trying hard to control my heart’s erratic beating.
From fear to excitement in a matter of seconds…it’s a bit too much for one to
take if you ask me. “Be…besides, your towel is getting wet.”
Yeah, great observation
Heero. What a thing to say at a time like this…aah!
I
groan and then bite my lower lip as Duo’s tongue begins to trace the wet
outline of my jaw and neck. I arch into his caresses, my knees trembling from
the pressure he’s exerting against my growing erection.
“God, you’re so fucking hot,
Heero,” he says huskily as he wraps his arms around my waist tightly and pulls
me closer to him, forcing our bodies to become one beneath the warm (it’s
becoming a bit tepid now) water still raining down on us.
“Your…your band…ages…” I mutter
within his mouth as our lips meet unable to stop the suffusion of color to my
cheeks at his words. Me, hot? I doubt it. But hearing it from Duo…oh gods -
tongues tasting, teeth biting, sucking hard on the soft flesh as our hips begin
to move in simulation of a coupling we both really need.
“I’ll change it when I get
home,” comes the slightly breathless reply. “Was almost…messed up…anyway…”
He slips a hand to my buttocks
and squeezes a cheek hard causing me to gasp sharply with pleasure into his
mouth. Finally finding good use for my hands, I begin to tug away the soaked
and now heavy towel from his waist and within seconds our throbbing cocks are
pressed against each other, our breathing becoming labored as the tepid stream
of water is no match for the heat we are now generating between us.
My hand reaches for his erection
and begins to stroke it firmly, our lips never breaking away from our fevered
kiss. With a soft grunt, I switch our positions and shove Duo against the wet
tiles, having to wrap an arm around his waist to stop him from sliding to the
floor. I thrust a thigh between his legs and begin to grind against him swallowing
his choked sob of acceptance within the kiss. Harder and faster we begin to
move – our breathless sighs and moans of impending release getting lost within
the sound of rushing water and…
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!”
What the fuck?!!
A douse of cold water
couldn’t have separated us any faster. The bloodcurdling shriek had clearly
come from the bathroom, barely a feet or two away, and motioning quickly for Duo to stay put, I
dash out – grabbing my towel along the way to wrap around my waist – and into
the empty locker room. I am just in time to see the door swinging shut and
begin to run as fast as I can to catch up to the culprit - not an easy thing to
do since I’m still wet and the floor’s now a bit slippery. But on getting there
and opening it, I peer down the corridor and see…no one. Not even a janitor
cleaning up or a student wandering around. I could run towards the main gym but
I don’t think showing up in a towel is going to help my case in any way.
However, I am shaken now, my
entire being trembling with a cold that has nothing to do with the shower I had
just taken. My heartbeat is racing madly, my mind filled with thoughts of who
could have seen us. It’s no surprise that one name keeps coming up even though
I keep telling myself that it’s not possible.
I walk into the locker room
and swallow tightly as I watch Duo dressing up with quick movements that betray
his agitation or fury or both. His hair’s still a damp and slightly tangled
mess but he doesn’t seem to care at this point.
“Duo…” I begin not even sure
of what the hell to say while knowing that any chance of us rekindling the fire
in the shower is now non-existent.
“It was him, wasn’t it?” he
says tightly as he slips into a t-shirt and tugs it down with more force than
necessary. “It was that asshole, wasn’t it, Heero?!”
I can only nod softly. “I guess…”
“Goddamn it!” He slams a fist
into a locker creating a dent that would be noticeable by the owner the next
day. “I’m gonna kill him, Heero” he says flatly and my eyes widen at the venom
in that tone.
“Duo…I don’t think…”
“And you’re not going to stop
me either,” he says with a cold look that has me frozen in my tracks. “If
you’re not going to step up to the plate and deal with him then I will. And to
hell with the consequences! You have your precious reputation to protect so
you’re worried about doing anything too dangerous, right?”
“You can’t harm him
physically, Duo,” I begin with a light frown. “If you do…”
He smiles – a cold smile that
leaves me feeling even more worried. “Ever wondered what really happened to my
bike, Heero?”
/I had nothing to do with it. Duo sempai was careless
and had it coming. /
That…that…son-of-a-bitch!
“I’m going to deal with him
myself, Heero,” Duo says reaching for his helmet with that grim smile still on
his visage. “I’ll find him and we’ll have a little talk - just between the two
of us.”
And without a second glance,
he walks out of the locker room, his footsteps echoing down the empty hallway like
an ominous sound within the eerie silence.
~End Period Ten~