'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
Mission: Nerima Part 9
Heero sat at his desk, working on his homework and occasionally stealing a glance at Duo's reflection in the window. The other boy was sprawled bonelessly across his bed, books and papers spread all around him. They had been sharing a room for nearly a week now and, while things had improved a bit - Duo ate with the other pilots at least once a day and spent every other evening at home - things hadn't progressed as far as he'd hoped.
While Duo no longer jerked sharply away if Heero brushed up against him in the hallway or the tight confines of their room, he hadn't returned to his old wartime behaviour patterns either. Heero missed those careless pats on the back, the arm slung over his shoulders, all those little touches that he had always taken for granted in the past. Oh, he had snapped and snarled about them back then since they made him want a great many things, things that were inappropriate for a soldier according to J's training, but he felt their loss deeply now. 'J. If you ever turn up alive, I WILL kill you. Your training very nearly cost me the only thing I've ever wanted for myself. And it still might,' he thought worriedly. Duo still draped himself all over the other pilots and even over his new friends. But not Heero.
He glanced at the window again, his breath catching and his pulse racing as Duo stretched sinuously. Hurriedly, he dropped his gaze to his work again as Duo got up from the bed and walked up behind him. 'Maybe this time...' he thought hopefully as the longhaired teen stood close enough for him to feel the warmth radiating off of his body. That alone was enough to send his pulse rate skyrocketing upwards after being kept at a distance for so long. 'Control yourself, Yuy, don't blow this!'
"Whatcha workin' on, Heero?" Duo asked, speaking before slowly leaning over his shoulder.
As Duo's arm settled gently, cautiously across one shoulder, and Duo's chest pressed lightly against the other, Heero tensed with the effort of controlling his body's reaction to the long-awaited touch. 'Throwing him down on the bed, ripping his clothes off, and ravishing him is not an appropriate response to a casual touch, Yuy! Don't scare him off!'
Feeling the other boy go rigid beneath his careful touch, Duo's heart sank. It had taken him all day to get up his nerve to try this and, in spite of his cautious approach, Heero's muscles were quivering with the effort to control his reaction to the contact. 'If merely tolerating a cautious touch from me is putting this much stress on him, obviously I've been reading too much into things again. Damn it, Maxwell, when are you going to accept it? He's not yours and never will be. Give up now, before you wreck what little you've got with him. You know he wanted your friendship back, be satisfied with that and stop torturing yourself and him.' Not waiting for a response to his question, Duo continued in a seemingly-cheerful tone, "Well, I'm about through for the afternoon, guess I'll go take a walk before supper!" He straightened slowly, pulling away from Heero with as much care as he had used in initiating the contact, then spun on his heel and hurried out of the room.
Heero let his breath out in a whoosh and placed his still-quivering hands on the desk. 'Okay, it wasn't much, certainly not the suggestive flirting I was hoping for, but it's a start. I proved it was safe for him to touch me, that I wouldn't over-react and hit him. It's just going to take a little time to get his trust back. That's all, just a little time.' He firmly pushed aside the tiny, niggling little bit of uncertainty that was insistently telling him that something was even more wrong now.
***
Heero slowly climbed the stairs to his room, mulling over the conversation that the five of them had just finished. Really, it had been more like a series of conversations, covering a wide range of topics. Une had handed over the final report on the masked attackers to Wufei earlier that day, but it had contained very little new information. They were all ex-Oz or ex-Romafeller - not exactly a surprise - and none of them were locals. Just like the locals that Ranma's group had questioned, they had been approached and hired by a stranger. They had no contact information for that person, and the description was sufficiently vague that there was little chance of the artist's composite sketches actually leading to finding him. 'And it took them nearly three weeks and seventy-five pages to come to that conclusion... Pitiful!'
The pilots had put together their own observations and written up their semi-weekly report on their own mission as well. It hadn't taken them nearly as long or as many pages, but it was also a pretty pathetic set of results. There had not been any incidents of inexplicable damage since they had arrived in Nerima until two days ago, when a large hole had inexplicably appeared in the outside wall of the girls' locker room. Either no one knew anything about it or no one was willing to talk, but at any rate there had been no explanation offered and the hole had been repaired before classes the next day. End of story. They had collected some debris from the area and sent it in for analysis, but Duo had been unable to find any trace of explosives in the area so Heero doubted that the lab results would find anything either. At least the lack of results meant that they would be staying in Nerima longer, thus providing him with more time in close contact with Duo.
The only part of the conversation that Heero had genuinely been happy about was Duo's answer to Quatre's query about the partnership with Hilde.
----- Flashback Begins -----
"I turned her down. It wouldn't have been fair to her in more ways than one," the braided teen answered. "Me being a Gundam pilot cost us a few jobs when I was just yard manager, being a full partner would have been even worse for business. Hilde suggested that I be a semi-silent partner, have a stake and a say but not put my name out front. It might have worked a bit better, but it still wouldn't have been fair to her."
"Why not?" Quatre asked curiously. "If she was willing to take the risk of having a Gundam pilot as a partner..."
Duo flushed in embarrassment before replying, "Quat, she really wanted more than a business partnership. She said she was willing to settle for business partner and friend, but I saw the way she watched me when she didn't think I was looking. Even if she thought friendship would be enough now, it would've eventually been too uncomfortable." Forestalling the next question before the Arab could even speak, he said, "And no, I wouldn't have changed my mind on that part. She's like a kid sister, even if I wasn't already..." He cut himself off abruptly, shooting an almost undetectable glance in Heero's direction and flushing again before finishing simply, "I could never have thought of her that way."
----- Flashback Ends -----
'I just don't understand why he still doesn't touch me, let alone flirt with me. I've caught him watching me once or twice and I think it's longing that I'm seeing in his eyes, but I'm not completely sure. The only thing I can think of is that I did something wrong that one day that he did touch me - I just don't know what!' Feeling decidedly frustrated and discouraged, Heero entered his room. 'Duo's helping at Ucchan's this afternoon, so I should have a safe window to call Relena without him walking in on the conversation... Maybe she can figure out what I did wrong.'
Waiting patiently while Pargan wandered off to find his employer, Heero ran through the events of the past few weeks yet again, finding nothing else that stuck out as a possible source of Duo's reticence.
"Hello, Heero! So, how are things going? Any progress in the Duo-hunt?" the Darlian girl asked eagerly.
"Hello, Relena. Frustratingly. And yes and no."
"Oh. Oh dear. Tell me what happened."
"Four days ago, he finally touched me. He walked up behind me while I was working at my desk, spoke to me, then leaned over my shoulder and placed one arm on my other shoulder. I did not over-react; I did not elbow him or hit him or say anything insulting or upsetting. He left the room to go for a walk. He has not touched me again since."
"You've told me what you didn't do - so what did you do, Heero."
"Nothing," he admitted. "I froze."
Remembering Heero's talent for understatement, Relena narrowed her eyes and said, "Define 'froze'."
Reluctantly, he said, "Tensed to the point of shaking."
Slapping her forehead with her hand, Relena drew her hand slowly down her face, parting her fingers enough to peek through as she said, "That is not 'nothing', Heero. Congratulations, you've now managed to convince him that you can barely stand him to come in contact with you."
"It was either that or throw him down on the bed and ravish him, and I was pretty sure that the second option was not an appropriate response to a casual touch!" he shot back defensively.
"Generally speaking, no, but in this case, it would probably have been the better choice," the girl managed to respond, though her face was rather flushed and her eyes rather wide. "Heero, you said before that he told you part of the reason he gave you such a hard time when you were trying to make up for the party was that he was tired of always being the one making all the effort. And once again, you've left it up to him to make the effort. Then, when he did finally make another attempt, you didn't even respond to it in a way that would make your real feelings clear! Except that by not responding, you've given him a completely false impression of how you feel!"
"Shit."
Suddenly suspicious, Relena demanded, "Heero, have you done anything since the last time we spoke? Specifically, have you straightened him out about the nature of our relationship? Namely, that I consider you my incredibly frustrating block-headed kid brother?!"
"He hasn't asked again!"
"HEERO!! Tell him! Or I swear, I really WILL come there, tell him EVERYTHING that you have told me starting with that interesting conversation a year ago that began with 'I like you, Relena, but I love Duo Maxwell' and ending with this conversation right now, then lock the two of you in a room together with a bed and a tube of lube and leave you there till you get this relationship straightened out!"
Heero was almost as red with embarrassment as Relena by the time she finished speaking.
"I don't believe I just said that," she mumbled, hiding her face behind her hands.
"I don't believe you did either," Heero managed to choke out.
"But if that's what it takes, I WILL do it," she threatened, straightening her spine and suddenly looking every bit like the "Queen of the World" she so briefly was.
'No, that wasn't a threat - that was a promise,' the other teen realized, suddenly feeling much more motivated to take the initiative in his 'relationship' with Duo.
Relena threw a quick glance at her wristwatch, then said, "Sorry, Heero, I've got to go. I have to catch a shuttle to L1 for disarmament talks with another White Fang splinter group. I'll call you when I get back, and I expect to hear that you've made some progress with Duo by then! Bye!"
With that, the vid-phone went blank.
'Damn. So I really did blow it again. I never even thought of him interpreting my reaction, or lack of it, that way. Shit, Yuy, you really are a complete asshole. Now what? I hope Duo doesn't get home too early, I need some time to figure out what to do. Make that a lot of time. And maybe some help. I wonder if Quatre will give me some advice if I grovel?'
***
"So, what've ya got for me, 'Biki?"
Nabiki couldn't quite suppress a small grin at Ranma's eager question. The Tendo household might lack the luxury of a vid-phone, making do with a regular, old-fashioned voice-only phone instead, but she could clearly imagine the look on her "little brother"'s face. Those bright blue eyes would be sparkling with curiosity and he would be bouncing slightly from one foot to the other, overflowing with the energy of a challenge. As usual, Ranma had taken on life at high speed, deciding in a matter of days that he liked the five ex-Gundam pilots and would do whatever he could to help them out.
Which of course meant dragging her and the rest of the Crew along with him.
She had suspected in advance that he would take to the 02 pilot. Ranma and the L2 teen both used cheerful, happy-go-lucky masks to hide their darker moments, but also had a primarily genuinely cheerful approach to life despite less than easy pasts. Though Duo was the only one that had been accepted as an actual friend so far, and was quickly moving towards "family" status with the entire Wrecking Crew (Tatewaki and herself excepted, of course, since they weren't home at the moment), Ranma had indicated that they would not necessarily be adverse to taking in the rest of the pilots as well, given a little time to get to know them better. He found the Winner heir's aura "warm and comforting" and thought that the 03 pilot's aura was one of "quiet and calm".
As far as the 05 pilot went, Ranma had told her, "Not now. Too much hostility, I think mostly 'cause of 'Kane and I continually scrapping, based on what you found out before and some stuff Duo's told us." Nabiki hadn't really thought about the arranged-marriage commonality until Ranma brought it up, but it made sense that the apparent hostility between Akane and Ranma would anger the volatile L5 boy, considering how short-lived his own disastrous marriage had been and how tragically it had ended. 'Maybe when Cologne gets back,' she thought. 'Chang may be a bit more understanding once the true situation becomes clear. One can only hope.' Especially considering that Ranma's parents would be anything but understanding about the whole thing.
The unapproachability of Pilot 01 was not surprising but still disappointing, Nabiki mused, particularly for Ranma. After all, he could easily empathize with a childhood spent in training - particularly harsh, sometimes brutal, training. That he had made it through his own with his easy-going personality more-or-less intact had less to do with the trainer and more to do with the fact that Genma was never able to completely eliminate the influence of outsiders - particularly the various monks and martial arts masters that they had spent time with over the years - in the way that Heero's trainer had apparently been able to. And Shampoo's insight into the particularly warrior-oriented aspects of training had already proven useful in smoothing over the breach between Heero and Duo. It was unfortunate that circumstances - Ranma's insight into Duo's academic problems, the martial artists' too-convenient interference with the ambush on the first day of school - had made Yuy so suspicious of the Wrecking Crew before they ever got a chance to get to know each other but, hopefully, Duo would prove to be the bridge between his suspicious teammate and the Nerima group.
"'Biki? You there?"
Drawn back to her present task by the query, she answered, "Yes, Ranma. Sorry, just thinking a few things over.
"I've set the wheels in motion for getting you declared an emancipated minor." She shook her head, disappointed at her previous oversight. "I should have thought of that myself before but at least, since you're already so close to being legally of age, it should be little more than a rubber-stamp request at this point.
"As far as your other request goes, I've got a few things for you, but this is a much more complex tangle than I thought initially."
Nabiki could almost hear the snap as Ranma's formidable concentration latched onto her comment and he demanded, "What do you mean?"
"So far, three of the pilots' most vocal detractors can be traced back to Romafeller ties. There are several more that I'm still working on identifying since they have only spoken up in closed sessions and my source has to be very careful not to set off any alarms in hacking into the records. Not only do I need to keep from having this traced back to me, I have to make certain that no one discovers it and blames the pilots," she explained. "There are other leads showing up as well - ties to L5 and to China, but also ties to one of WEI's biggest competitors. Whether all these leads will pan out or not remains to be seen."
"So we're either dealin' with a group of individuals workin' towards a common goal - discrediting the Gundam pilots - or a bunch of individuals each tryin' to achieve a goal - discrediting the Gundam pilots - and just coincidentally helpin' each other out, but nothin' organized about it," Ranma summarized. "And the fact that they are Gundam pilots may just be a convenient excuse; the real motive may lie in who certain pilots are outside of their role in the war."
"Exactly. And, Ranma..." Nabiki hesitated, weighing the benefits and drawbacks of mentioning this last point just yet, before slowly continuing, "...it may not be coincidence that the Nerima 'inexplicable damage' issue came up so conveniently and that the pilots were sent to investigate it.
"Those ties to China reach back many, many years, but they lead back to the general area of the Musk, Phoenix Mountain, Jusenkyo, and Joketsuzoku."
TBC...
Please excuse any errors; I'm a little out of practice at the moment. *sweatdrops* Hopefully, I got the worst of the writing issues cleaned up without destroying this fic's rather - err, unique, shall we say? - "feel". However, do feel free to point out any remaining problems that you notice, so I can fix them before I post this anywhere else.
Now, if I can just figure out how to fix some of the most glaring "very-old-fic" issues in the remaining parts of this... *pokes chapter fragments and cringes*
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