Can't Help Myself Part 5
Duo blinked, hands reaching for his abused head unconsciously. It felt as though a herd of rhinoceros had gone against a herd of elephants playing soccer inside his mind. Simply put, it hurt like hell.
"Hey! Don't move! You're messing up your hair!"
He blinked harder. Just where was he? He remembered something hitting his head... Duo bolted up immediately, trying to get away from whoever it was close to him, but he found himself sitting on a cushioned chair. When his eyes focused, he noticed a few girls were surrounding him, holding a whole array of things ranging from nail filers to a hairbrush.
"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?" Duo yelled, shrinking back in surprise.
Somehow, the girls seemed to finally have noticed his shock and one of them took a step forward, her hands held up as though surrendering. The rest of them just cringed and huddled together.
"Erm, don't worry. We're just here to make you look pretty! As to why you're here, it's because... erm... We don't know. You were just brought here, and we've been given explicit orders to pretty you up. We were given an hour to finish everything, and then you're supposed to meet our young master," she said carefully.
"Young master?" Duo cocked his head, peering at the girls through narrowed slits.
She nodded. "You'll know when you see him. Now, there's just half an hour left for our session. Can you...?"
It was as though she was Bambi, batting her teary doe eyes and looking hopeful. Duo grimaced, almost feeling guilty. Then he peered at the rest of the girls behind her, and knew that he had lost the battle. All of them were doing either a Bambi or Tweety Bird imitation, eyes teary and lips wobbling. Duo knew there was one reason he didn't like girls.
Sighing, he nodded. And one by one, the girls walked up to him again to start working again.
*****
Duo felt strangely conscious of himself suddenly, as he stood in front of the room which he had been led to after his make over session. His hair was brushed to its silky glory, and woven into a neat French braid that seemed to have a life of its own. His fingernails had been carefully polished and filed, and his face felt really clean after that facial one of the girls gave him. He felt the knots in his body had been loosened too, and he wondered if one of them had given him a quick massage before he woke up. And his clothes! The girls had told him that all of them were branded stuff, but he had never heard of, much less worn any of them before. He straightened his shirt again.
Then a servant opened the door, and he was led into a luxurious room that looked bigger than his own living room and dining room put together. When Duo was finally left alone in the room, he took a moment to appreciate the beauty and the obvious amount of money put into it. The carpeted floor was giving him a fuzzy feeling between his toes, and how he wished he could just jump into that large bed to feel its softness. Paintings and other art pieces adorned the tables and walls.
He felt unsure himself again. Just who was this young master all the girls were talking about? Why would someone this rich, and obviously rather educated -considering he probably had an artistic eye with all the art pieces lying around-, want to meet him? And if this young master was indeed as rich and educated as he had imagined, then why in the world would he kidnap him?
"I see that you're impressed with my room."
That voice! Duo spun around, gasping when he saw Heero Yuy standing at the door and looking very smug. It seemed that nothing could look bad on Heero, and Duo found himself admiring just how handsome the man was. But then again -he reminded himself- this was the leader of W4, the head of all jerks in school.
"This is your house? Wait a minute. You have a beauty salon in your house?" Duo looked positively shocked.
Heero shrugged as though that was a given. He advanced towards Duo, scrutinizing him as though he was a product to be bought. Apparently satisfied, he smirked lopsidedly.
"Those things can do wonders for one's looks, don't you think? They've even managed to make you look good," he said, although he knew better. Duo looked good even before the session. The girls in the salon just managed to enhance Duo's beauty. And nothing in the world could ever give Duo that natural grace in his every movement.
Duo frowned. "What are you doing? I could charge you with kidnapping!"
"There's no ransom note, and why would I want to kidnap you? It's not like you've got the money to pay me," Heero noted dryly.
"Then why?"
"Well, I find you a very interesting person. And looks wise, you don't look too bad," he said, lifting Duo's head with a finger to peer into the violet eyes. But Duo swatted his hand away irritably. Heero took a step back, looking as confident as ever. "I want you to be my lover. In school, you'll tag along behind me wherever I go and never defy me. Outside, I'll call when I want you around. I'll pay you well, Duo."
Duo had to forcibly hold himself back. "What do you take me for? A whore? Some kept boy at your beck and call?" he asked angrily. "I will not sell myself and my pride to you at any price, you jerk!" And he stormed out of his room, shoving Heero aside.
Heero blinked. He couldn't remember a time when someone had rejected his offer of money. And just what was so bad about being his lover? Duo would be able to enjoy a luxurious life he had never imagined, and besides, it was an easy job. He just had to surrender to him. And on top of all that, no one would dare mess around with him again.
He sighed, brushing a hand through his messy locks. No matter how lovely Duo looked, he was doing this just to win his bet with Trowa. It was just that, and nothing more.
But, his mind wondered, what had possessed him to ask Duo to be his lover instead of just his subordinate?
*****
The rooftop was officially his favorite place in the entire university compound, Duo thought. The idea of walking through the corridors was still rather dreadful, for he was still the victim of a lot of pranks. But it had been a while since receiving that red note, and things had simmered down quite a bit already. Still, meeting Heero Yuy was a possibility if he walked through the school, and he had no intention of seeing that jerk ever again. He was still fuming over the audacity of him propositioning him to be his lover.
He snorted again.
Pushing the door open, Duo stepped out into the rooftop. There was sunlight shining down on him, and everything felt warm. His eyes darted around, and they sparkled when he found Wufei sitting on a ledge, near the edge of the building. Suppressing that little smile that was threatening to surface, he shuffled up to the ledge as well.
"Hi, Wufei."
"Hi, Duo." The Chinese boy smiled.
Duo bit back a gasp. Was it just him, or was Wufei in a good mood today? It wasn't like him to answer, and to smile so gently at him? But Duo honestly didn't care; he just thanked his lucky stars.
"It's a great day to be outside, isn't it?"
Wufei nodded. "Yeah, it is. The weather is lovely today. It feels good to have the sun shining on you."
"Right," Duo answered, not willing to say anything more or risk spoiling Wufei's apparent good mood. Besides, the weather was too good to be wasted on mindless conversations that they both could do without. He peered out into the horizon, hoping for the day to stay a little longer so he could be beside Wufei a while more.
*****
Relena glanced sideways at her best friend, smirking. "Are you recording all this down?"
Dorothy nodded faintly, grinning as well. Looking at the two people lounging under the sun on the rooftop through the screen of her video camera, she replied, "Of course I am. I'm sure we can find this of some use soon... Now keep quiet, or Wufei will catch us."
She nodded, and looked intently at the screen. If she could, she would go right up to Duo and push him down the building. It was so unfair of him to hoard all of W4's attention. Relena pouted. Ever since Duo had gotten that red note, W4 kept observing him from a distance. Heero had recently, on some occasions, even rescued Duo from some of the meaner pranks. And Wufei was letting Duo get too close to him as well.
It was just so unfair.
*****
Duo was practically prancing around the school compound. Just the opportunity to be closer to Wufei was making him feel as though on cloud nine, and he smiled contentedly again at that thought. Maybe both he and Hilde were wrong. Not everyone in W4 was as bad as he had imagined. At least, Wufei was gentle and kind. After all, he had saved him before.
"Hey Duo!"
He spun around. "Dorothy? Relena?"
The two girls walked up to him, holding what seemed like a magazine in their hands. Duo didn't like that self-assured grin on both of their faces. It felt as though they were up to no good, and Duo had no intention of becoming their victim. But it wasn't exactly polite to just run away now.
"We just thought that you'd like to see this," Relena said, holding out a magazine.
Duo regarded her suspiciously, but took it from her. It was one of those magazines for the rich people, he noted as he saw its name. And on the cover was a woman smiling serenely, her azure blue eyes radiating gentleness. There was something about the way she looked too, reminding Duo of the elegance of a swan.
"See this woman? That's Sally Po, Wufei's sweetheart. She's the heiress to the Po Enterprises, and just in case you didn't know, Po Enterprises is ranked number seven in terms of annual turnover in our country. What are you compared to her? And you have the guts to even try to get close to Wufei?" Dorothy gloated, cackling.
Beside her, Relena sniggered as well.
Duo held onto the magazine, fists clenched so tightly it was becoming crumpled. They were... right, even though he didn't want to admit it. He was just some poor little boy whose parents were paying through their noses just to let him stay in university, and Wufei was the heir to one of the richest men in the country. His sweetheart should be someone like him, as rich and as well-bred... someone like Sally Po.
"What do you two think you're doing?"
*****
Heero sighed. It was getting difficult finding Duo lately, ever since the day he had so nicely ordered his servants to bring him to his house. Was Duo avoiding him? He frowned when he felt uneasy at that thought, and glanced around for the braided boy again. Just where was he?
Snarling, he grabbed an unfortunate passerby's collar and asked, "Have you seen Duo?"
The boy quickly shook his head, "No... no... I haven't seen him around."
Heero sighed almost harshly, and pushed the boy away before walking away to continue his search. Then he heard Dorothy's distinctive shrill voice, and turned to her direction. He felt his protective instincts kick in again at the sight of the two blonde girls talking to Duo, knowing very well that nothing good ever came out of their mouths. They were probably talking down to Duo again, judging from the way his head was hung low.
"What do you two think you're doing?" he growled, walking up to them. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Duo's frown deepening and he vaguely wondered why.
Relena flinched at Heero's irritated expression, and quickly ducked behind her friend. Dorothy just shrugged in what she hoped was a casual gesture. Heero Yuy was well known for his temper that could well match the anger of a volcano. But there was no reason for him to be angry now, was there? After all, it was Heero's idea to torture Duo.
"Well, we were just showing him our latest magazine... It seems that he doesn't quite like it," she said cautiously.
Heero's eyes were cold enough to make her shiver.
"Scram. Now," he spat.
That was enough to send the two girls away after Relena grabbed her magazine back from Duo. Heero turned to Duo after they were gone, not too happy about how upset he seemed to be.
"You okay?" he asked tentatively.
"Go away. I don't need your sympathy. And don't you dare rub it in," Duo snarled and stalked off as well.
Heero was tempted to go after him, but something held him back. He wasn't eager to plunge himself into something he wasn't sure of. Like... just what was making him feel this way? What was so special about Duo that he couldn't help but want to get close to him?
He was going to check it out. Heero Yuy hated not knowing.
TBC...
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