Ne, Sensai! Part 2
Bad to worse.
That's how his day was going. First the incident with the teacher, then having to sit through the entire class with him. Duo could have sworn that the whole time the professor was staring at him, glaring at him, making his hair stand on end and his skin crawl. Why in the world did the prof have to stare at him so much? After all, wasn't it Heero who'd nearly run him over?
But he didn't have time to worry about his annoyingly handsome professor; instead he had bigger problems to worry about. Five bigger problems to be precise.
It never failed. No matter where he went he seemed to attract bullies like a light to moths. They seemed to congregate around him the moment he was alone, and his whole run-in with Heero Yuy had made him completely forget the first rule of attending school. Never be alone on your first day. Especially not in college! He'd made the same mistake his freshman year in high school and paid dearly for it, and now Duo could only curse his stupidity at repeating the mistake again.
Insults were tossed back and forth at Duo as the five boys closed in. Duo didn't pay attention to the jeers, having heard them all before. Instead he paid more attention to the boys, trying to decide the best route of action. But then one of them reached forward and snatched up part of his hair and his good nature faltered. Duo's eyes narrowed and he snatched his braid back.
"Don't touch me," he hissed angrily, trying to shove past one of the boys.
The larger boy only sneered and shoved him back up against the wall. "We're not done talking with you yet. You see, we don't like gay boys like you hanging around our school. See when other people see you around they assume we're just as sick as you."
"Who says you aren't?" Duo returned, glaring at the boys. He knew he shouldn't egg them on but he couldn't help it. It was almost like reflex, get the enemy angry enough and they'll make a mistake and you can get away. Least that's how it usually worked...
One of the boys snorted at Duo's comment, obviously not impressed and suddenly he felt a hard fist connect with his stomach. Duo doubled over and clutched himself, biting his lip against the pain. He hadn't seen that one coming and it hurt like hell!
A hand reached forward and grabbed his braid, tugging it sharply to the side, causing Duo to let out a small cry of pain. Pulling himself together he kicked out his leg at one of the boys and succeeded in kicking him in the crotch, but was rewarded with another hard punch to his side, knocking him over into the hold of one of the other boys.
Strong arms held him tightly, preventing escape as another punch hit the side of his head. Stars filled his vision for a second, colors shifting around him. Duo struggled blindly, trying madly to think of a way out of the situation, but he couldn't come up with anything. Panic rose in his mind, but it died down quickly as he realized the beating had stopped. Duo blinked and looked up, finding that all the boys' heads had turned toward someone heading their way across the grass.
"I said, leave him alone." The voice was calm and threatening, a low tone of malice. Immediately Duo felt the arms holding him slacken and pull away. The bullies around him backed off a step, allowing him to see that the man approaching them was a tall and very attractive blond, with hair falling down around his shoulders. Piercing, icy blue eyes glared at the five surrounding Duo.
"Peacecraft," one of the boys murmured.
The blond stopped in front of them and hissed. "If I ever see you touch him again..."
The boys didn't stay around to listen. Something about the tone in the blonde's voice made them all turn around and run, putting as much distance between them as possible. Duo's eyes widened and he turned around, watching them disappear back into the school building. Swallowing hard he winced as his face and stomach throbbed more. They'd hit him pretty hard...
"Are you all right, Duo?"
Duo turned back to the blond and nodded slowly, wincing at the pain. He blinked. "Wait, do I know you?"
The blond chuckled softly and gestured for Duo to follow him. "You got hit pretty bad, and you're bleeding. We should get you some bandages at least."
Duo followed him back into the school building, desperately racking his brain. How the heck did this guy know his name? After all the only blond he knew at this school was Quatre, but Quatre looked nothing like this. This man, whom the bullies had called Peacecraft, was much taller then Quatre would probably ever be. Not to mention the color of his eyes was wrong, it was too cold. And the way he moved as he walked just didn't fit the Quatre that Duo knew. He couldn't picture Quatre ever swaying as he walked in such a way to show off his body to every set of wandering eyes.
But then who?
The two turned down the corner and found themselves at a closed door with a sign for the Nurse's Office. The blond pushed open the door and glanced in, then pushed it open wider so they could both enter. Duo stepped in and sat down on the edge of an empty bed while the taller blond leaned back against a large bookshelf, posing as if it were completely natural.
Duo's eyes widened. "No way..."
The blond raised an eyebrow. "The nurse isn't in, so we'll have to wait. Something wrong?"
"Milly?"
The blond let out a laugh, a smile crossing his face. "No one's called me that for ages. And how many times do I have to tell you, it's Milliardo?"
Duo joined in with his own laugh, despite the growing bruise on the side of his face. "What in the world are you doing here? I thought your family would send you to some huge rich college, like a prep school or something."
"And I'm surprised you didn't recognize me." Milliardo leaned forward and tapped Duo on the nose, causing him to blink and pull back in surprise. "Shame on you, Duo Maxwell."
Duo rubbed his nose and made a face. "Can you blame me? It's been more then a few years and besides you certainly didn't look so... so..."
"So what?" The amusement showed clearly on Milliardo's face.
"So, umm, well..." Duo coughed. "You look different, that's all." He turned away hiding the blush on his face.
Milliardo's smirk grew and he leaned forward, closer to Duo's face. "And is there anything wrong with that?" He asked in a low voice, his eyes shining with amusement.
Duo scrambled back across the bed and nearly tumbled off the other side in his haste. "Stop that!"
The blond just laughed and pulled back, moving back to his spot against the bookshelf. Duo sighed with relief and ran a hand through his bangs, furiously trying to banish his blush.
"You haven't changed one bit," he murmured, smoothing out the front of his shirt and diverting his eyes from Milliardo's face. "You still flirt like there's no tomorrow with anything that breathes."
"I'm hurt."
Duo smirked. "No you're not, because you know it's the truth."
The blond beauty leaned back against the bookshelf and turned his head, causing his hair to cascade over his shoulders. "What can I say? It is the truth. But it would be a crime to let beauty like this go to waste, don't you think?" He turned and locked eyes with Duo, giving him a sultry smile. "Duo."
Duo froze at the look and his breath caught in his throat. He hated it when Milliardo used his looks like that; the guy was so beautiful it was mesmerizing. Duo had thought he was beautiful four years ago but now it was even better... or worse. Milliardo had to be one of the most attractive young men in the school, and the problem was that he knew it. Duo quickly looked away as his face heated up.
"So what are you doing here at this school?" Milliardo asked, turning his attention to the books on the shelf behind him. He asked the question as if he had done nothing wrong, like he'd completely forgotten the large amount of flirting he'd just done. Duo shook his head and nearly groaned; he'd forgotten how infuriating his old friend was.
"I heard this was the school Quatre was at."
Duo watched Milliardo's reaction to that one very carefully. Milliardo had known Quatre for a brief time but as far as Duo knew they'd never really spoken. But the blond would have had to have been blind if he didn't know how much Duo was in love with Quatre. Milliardo had to know about it, because Duo had never made any attempt to hide it from anyone, except maybe Quatre...
But if the blond had a reaction to Duo's statement he didn't show it. The strangest thing was that Duo expected a reaction. He expected Milliardo to get angry, to yell at him, or to just shake his head sadly and tell him it was hopeless. You see, the situation was a lot more complicated between Duo and Milliardo then it should have been. It was no secret that Milliardo had his eyes set on Duo, Duo knew this, but he'd never been interested. The only one he wanted in his life was Quatre.
The earlier flirting made it clear that Milliardo did still care for Duo yet he wasn't reacting to Duo's statement about coming here to find Quatre. Duo immediately felt a little guilty, he felt like he was flaunting his feelings for Quatre in front of Milliardo's face.
"Sorry, I didn't know you were at this school."
Milliardo looked up from a book he'd pulled off the shelf and started leafing through. "Why are you apologizing? Would it have mattered if you did know?"
"No! Well, uhh, I mean to say... that is..." Duo gave a helpless look as he tried to recover.
Meanwhile Milliardo closed the book and flashed him a dazzling smile. "You're so cute when you're flustered Duo. Still as cute as ever."
Duo frowned. "I am not cute!"
Milliardo just chuckled.
The blond opened his mouth, probably for a comeback of some kind aimed to make Duo blush more, when the loud speaker over them clicked on. Both glanced up at the speaker imbedded in the ceiling.
"Will Milliardo Peacecraft please report to the dean's office."
Duo blinked in surprise, as did Milliardo.
"You do something wrong? On the first day?"
Milliardo just shrugged. "I guess I did. One of those boys who attacked you probably said something. You stay here for the nurse; I'll be back. This shouldn't take long."
Duo smirked as Milliardo headed for the door. "Don't be too rough with the dean, Milly."
Milliardo's head snuck back in through the door. "Stop calling me that!" His tone was playful and he tried to sound angry, but the smile on his face just ruined the whole attempt. Duo gave him a wave and watched his shadow retreat through the tinted glass in the door.
Sighing softly he leaned back on the bed, waiting for the nurse to arrive and trying to sort out his thoughts.
Milliardo was at this school? It felt like high school all over again with his friends around him. He hadn't known that this was where his friend had gone and since they were two years apart in age that'd been two years since they'd really had a chance to talk, or even hang out together. But then it was really awkward to hang out with someone who you knew had the major hots for you. Duo even remembered how Milliardo used to corner him in empty classrooms up against the wall and kiss him.
It'd never gone beyond that, and it was always Milly who started it, but still... It made it awkward to be close friends with the guy.
Duo closed his eyes and sighed.
Milliardo or not, it didn't really matter. His main point in coming to this college was to find Quatre and in the end that was the goal he would accomplish. Even if everything blew up in his face he was determined to find his love and tell him the truth. He'd tell Quatre that he loved him, finally. Finally after all these years of keeping his feelings hidden he was going to do something about it.
"I know you're here Quatre, wait for me?" Duo murmured softly.
Beside him the door slid open and he heard someone step into the room. Duo opened his eyes and his gasped in surprise.
The man standing before him was the very last person he'd ever suspected to see in a white nurse's coat.
No way!
TBC...
Back to Snow Tigra's Fanfictions Page