Standard disclaimers. Suzaku1f@aol.com. --Kitsune-chan

Conflicting Obsessions: Part Seven

Duo Maxwell bounded into the Moscow airport. He stood by phone booths and stretched. 'Oi! Too long in that damned airplane! Even in those big seats, I've still been sitting for at least four hours! 'He glanced around at the people milling in the terminal. This was his first time in Russia, and he was interested in every sight, scent, and sound.

Finally, he went to the baggage claim, grabbed his duffel, and started for the taxi line. Finding a taxi was easier said than done, and he tried to wave down at least fourteen of them before he was finally successful. 'Yeesh! If I were a girl, you can bet I would have gotten the first one!' He plopped inside the taxi, glancing at the driver.

"Lotus Base please," he said absently. The driver nodded and sped off. After a while, the driver spoke up.

"Planning to become a soldier?" he almost smirked back at Duo.

"Yeah." Duo wasn't normally terse, but the condescending tone the driver was using irked him. The man nodded and went on, uninvited.

"I was going to be a soldier, once. It takes a lot of training, not for soft mother's boys." This was accented with a skeptical glance to the backseat. "But even with good training, only the best are allowed in."

"And that's me," Duo smiled a near-sweet smile at the driver. 'Wouldn't *he* like to know! I'm more than the best. I'm the one who beats the crap out of the best.' The man only snorted and turned his focus back to the road. Duo took the time to reflect on the one he had left. 'He didn't even answer me when I said good bye. Why do I even care about him so much? Is it because we're all forced together? We all share our constant flirting with Death. Does that bring us together more? And if what I feel for Heero is only because we might die any day now, do I want to be feeling this? Quatre and Trowa don't even try to cover up what they have. They're lucky. If I die tomorrow, Heero will never know, but they will always know, even after death, that they have each other's hearts... It sounds so corny, but you only have to look at them to see it. Why can't I tell Heero, tell him that I want to spend the rest of my short days with him?' The amethyst-eyed pilot heaved a huge sigh and settled in to wait for his arrival at the Oz base.

Oo-~~~-oO

Treize Khushrenada and General Vingt-sept walked briskly down a hall in the Lotus Base in Moscow. Vingt-sept was a very competent man, and very rich to top it off. 'Fortunately, he can also be easily manipulated.'

"...This merger will be very beneficial to Oz. And after that, I can name my heir, if I can find a boy suitable," the man finished his report with a bit of personal but well-known information.

"I see. Perhaps you would like to spend more time with the young men training as Aries and Leo pilots?" Treize suggested, not really paying attention to his own words. 'He is such and odd man. To think, with his money and station, he should dress like it. But he dresses like a common soldier!'

"A splendid idea, Khushrenada. I shall do that as soon as this merger goes through." With that, the elderly general bowed and stopped at his door. Treize left to go to his private jet. 'I have some unfinished business with little Milliard. And this time, we won't be interrupted by *anything*...'

Oo-~~~-oO

Duo Maxwell dropped his duffel by his bed in his new room. He could feel the wary stare against his back. After a moment of staring at the wall behind his bed, he turned, all smiles.

"Hey there! I'm Saotome Ranma, seventeen years old, blood type B! I'm going to be a Leo pilot!" Duo exclaimed, smiling brightly at the older boy. The boy stared for a minute before breaking into a grin much like Duo's own. He had perfect teeth to compliment his maroon hair and blue eyes.

"Well hello! I'm Mitsumo Ayaji, twenty years old, blood type AB. I am a Leo pilot in training as well," he smiled softly again. "We'll be roommates from now on, I guess. We even get our own bathroom! The water doesn't get very hot down here in the pilots' quarters, but it gets us clean." Duo nodded and scooped out his black silk boxers and black tank top.

"Mind if I change in the bathroom? I think I'm going to crash early tonight. I need my beauty sleep, you know?" Duo already liked this boy who wore a pensive look when he wasn't smiling. Ayaji nodded and got out his own pajamas.

When Duo came back out, the boy was sprawled in a long-sleeved blue pajama top with matching pants. He was paging through a manga. Ayaji was so involved with reading and biting his lip, he didn't notice that Duo was reading over his shoulder. 'Hmm? A yaoi manga? Fairly graphic... Heh, that's cute!' He snorted lightly, and Ayaji startled, slamming the book shut.

Duo laughed a little and plopped down on his bed and smiled. Ayaji blushed so strongly that Duo didn't think there could be a drop of blood anywhere else in his body. Ayaji shoved the manga under his mattress, then winced as he realized that Duo would now know where he kept everything. Duo tried to think of ways to comfort the poor guy.

"Hey, you got any more of those? I could use some reading material before bed." Duo winked at Ayaji's wary relief. The burgundy-haired boy passed Duo a pink manga covered with two young boys that couldn't be any older than Duo's true age of fifteen. He opened the book and began reading. 'Hey, when in Rome...'

Half an hour later, Duo noticed himself getting a little uncomfortable at one of the more graphic parts. 'That boy looks so much like Heero, even acts like him. And this hyper guy has long hair in a ponytail... My God, I didn't know you could kiss bending from that position...' Duo snorted and glanced over at his roommate, who was sleeping soundly, the book still open and resting on his nose. Duo smiled and turned out the night. He unbound his hair and settled in for a long night of dreams about Heero, plus a few interesting ones with Quatre thrown in there...

Oo-~~~-oO

Ayaji Mitsumo lay on his back, his eyes closed. To a casual glance, he would seem asleep. Still half-embarrassed at being caught reading yaoi hentai by his new roommate, he almost wished that the bright and cheerful Ranma had not come at all. Almost.

Shuffling and the turning off of the lamp gave that the longhaired boy was retiring. After a few moments, Ranma's breathing became steady and deep. Ayaji shifted and removed his manga from his face so that he could look at the intruder of his privacy. 'Ranma-kun really is lovely, especially when he's sleeping. Such long, shiny hair. Shit. I shouldn't be feeling this way again. I really am too quick to fall in love with a beautiful face... Shit.'

Ayaji sighed and felt his chest tighten, but he couldn't help himself from gazing at the steadily sleeping teenager. Already, in the few hours that he had known this boy, he had been impressed by the deep emotion in every action and word, and by his complete unawareness of his own soft beauty. Ranma was also fairly predictable, so Ayaji could tell what he would answer to a statement of his beauty.

"Boys can't be beautiful!" he would say, blushing. "And certainly not me!" Ayaji stopped himself before he could imagine his own answer, one that wouldn't be in the form of words. 'Don't be silly, Ayaji-kun. You wouldn't know how to play the role of the seducer if the manual hit you over the head. You're the weak one, being seduced by and falling in love with *that man*. And broken in the end...' He frowned, his chest quivering again, and settled in to sleep, cursing whoever had put this charming angel in his room.

Oo-~~~-oO

General Vingt-sept sighed as he spoke with his valet into the late hours of night.

"Really, I do despair of finding any young man that even begins to satisfy me. The only ones who are not too afraid to speak to me are only after my money, and I want more than that in an heir. If it comes down to that, I will make an heir out of one of those money-grubbers. But I want someone with spirit."

Oo-~~~-oO

Duo Maxwell woke up at five in the morning entirely refreshed and ready for the new day. 'I must be ill,' he thought as he collapsed back onto the bed and into slumber.

At seven, he rose again, properly groggy, took out his hairbrush, and sat in front of his mirror. To his dismay, his hair was a mass of tangles. He started from the ends, brushing his way up, but after ten minutes, he hadn't even gotten through an entire lock of hair. He cursed, but jumped at the soft chuckle behind him.

Ayaji was seated on his bed, sitting cross-legged and smiling good-naturedly at Duo. He reached out his hand, but Duo didn't know what he wanted. Finally, Ayaji moved over and lightly picked up the brush. Duo grinned sheepishly at him as his head was turned almost roughly back towards the mirror. Ayaji began brushing his hair with long, tender strokes.

"Um... how long had you been watching?" Duo relieved himself of the itching need to break the silence that was a bit too thick.

"Since you picked up the brush." The reply was amused and didn't invite commentary. They lapsed back into silence.

Fifteen minutes later, Duo's hair was braided perfectly and the two set out for breakfast. Since breakfast had started at seven fifteen, there was no line for food. They got their trays and slop that Duo supposed was grits and sat down at a table of sixteen or so men, all much older than Duo. They nodded acknowledgment and continued eating.

Duo watched in disgusted fascination as every man at the table, excluding Ayaji, ate like animals. 'They're... they're so sloppy! I mean, even *I* don't eat like that!' He looked over at Ayaji, who ate tidily with knife and fork, cutting into his biscuits delicately. 'At least he has manners.' Duo tried not to watch the food splattering around the table by the smacking and ate his food quietly.

He needed the energy for his first day of Leo training. He was pretty sure he could pilot the mobile suit with ease, but he didn't want to give that away. So he had to pretend to be a newbie. He sighed, already sick of this. Ayaji smiled sympathetically at him, and Duo cheered at the presence of his kind roommate. 'Perhaps training won't be so bad.'

Oo-~~~-oO

Duo Maxwell had been wrong. Training was hell. He trudged down the hallway to his room without paying attention to anything around him. Therefore, he was not ready for the impact and fall as he walked head on into an middle-aged man.

"I-I'm very sorry, sir!" Duo bowed frantically and helped the man up. "I should have been watching where I was going!"

"Yes, you should have been. Young brats like you should be more respectful." Now Duo was angry. The man wore the same uniform he did, and yet was speaking to him as if he were stations above him.

"Well, excuuuuse me!" That earned a startled look from the man. "I said I was sorry, you don't need to be a dick about it!" Duo's use of profanity took the man completely off balance.

"Do you know who I am, boy?"

"It really doesn't matter to me, and I do have a name you know. It's Saotome Ranma, I'd appreciate it if you used it, and not called me boy." The man glared at him.

"I will tell you who I am, then. *I* am the *General* *of* *this* *base*."

Oo-~~~-oO

General Vingt-sept was well pleased with the shocked look on the brat's face. 'Feh, think he can talk to just anybody that way? He is properly cowed now.' But he did not expect the full reaction.

"Being a general doesn't give you the right to treat people like crap!" The boy's cheeks were flushed as he went on. "Being a general is more than just a title! It's a responsibility! You can't lead people by making them feel like crap, you have to have their respect, and you're sure as hell not getting it by acting better than everybody!" Vingt-sept just stared. No one had *ever* spoken to him this way! He was half between clubbing the offending boy's face off and just staring at him. He decided on just staring. Finally, the boy finished his tirade, and stared blankly back at him. They stood that way, the boy still flushed and staring, and the general still shocked and staring.

"Are you new? What are you training in? What division? Where are your quarters and who is your roommate?" The boy looked confused, but at that moment, a young man with red hair turned the corner, whistling lightly.

"Ranma-kun! There you are! What are-" the man broke off mid-sentence as he saw Vingt-sept. He snapped to attention. "General, sir!" He sent an urgent look at the braided boy, signaling to follow suit. Saotome sighed and made a half-hearted impression of his partner's salute.

"At ease," Vingt-sept ordered, then turned back to the violet-eyed boy in front of him. "Answer my questions, boy... Saotome," he amended.

"New Leo trainee, eighty-seventh division, I live right down the hall, and he's my roommate," the quirky boy pointed to the shocked young man next to him. Vingt-sept found himself both irritated and in awe of this coppery haired boy.

"Men," he acknowledged them formally. "Dismissed." He turned back towards the conference room, where he had already been fifteen minutes late. He was now a good twenty-five minutes overdue. The young men behind him started whispering, and he listened, almost amused.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, Saotome? Are you insane?"

"It's not my fault that he has a bad attitude! I said I was sorry! And he walked into me just as much as I walked into him!"

"You walked *into* him? For the love of God! You could get discharged for what I heard you say to him! You should be so lucky you haven't been! And this is only your first day!"

"But Mitsumo-san!..."

Oo-~~~-oO

Ayaji Mitsumo could not help but gaze from behind his book at his sulking roommate. 'He is such an idiot! But a very beautiful idiot, indeed...' He sighed loudly, and Ranma looked up at him. Ayaji didn't want Ranma to be mad at him; he wasn't mad at Ranma, just nervous for him. He hadn't meant to yell at him so much, but he had thought that Ranma was going to be sent away. He sighed again.

"Ranma-kun?"

"Yes, Mitsumo-san?"

"I'm sorry for yelling. And you can call me Ayaji."

"H-hai, Ayaji-san. It's alright, I deserved it." The smile was already coming back full to the heart-shaped face. Ayaji wondered at Ranma's repentant look. He didn't have to wonder long; the mischief lit up, unable to mask itself for long. "But you must admit that he's a snotty old guy."

Ayaji threw a pillow. It connected with Ranma's face, sending the boy tumbling with a meep of surprise. There was a moment of silence, and Ayaji feared that he had insulted his young roommate. But a moment later, the boy popped back up, laughing maniacally. Before Ayaji could guard himself, he was pelted with pillows.

Oo-~~~-oO

Duo Maxwell's day was probably going downhill. He could keep up nicely with the Leo training, without looking suspicious. However, he had been subjected to General Vingt-sept's presence early that morning, and hadn't been anymore impressed than before. He figured neither had said general. Therefore, he was surprised when a messenger came to his door, summoning him to General Vingt-sept's suite. 'How the hell am I supposed to get close to an asshole like that? Heero, you dumb ass, why can't I be with you?'

He looked around the sitting room in which the general took his visitors. Duo scuffed his shoes nervously against the carpet as he waited for his host to come out. Finally, the bedroom door creaked open, almost reluctantly. The normally stuffy general looked at him from around the door, his brow wrinkled with nervousness. When he caught Duo returning his look, he stepped out and sat down across from Duo.

"You're probably wondering why I called you here, Saotome." Duo nodded. "Well... um... you see... You shocked me with the way you spoke to me, and at first, I thought I was going to kill you." Duo flinched. "But your spirit intrigued me, and... I was hoping to get to know you better." The older man lowered his head, and Duo was surprised by his meekness. But that didn't mean he would just give in to the man's wish so easily, even if it was his mission.

"Why should I?" The general's head snapped up at such an affront. The pilot watched him with a calculating look. "I mean, why would you need a worthless trainee to talk with? You could talk to someone else of your rank, and not be bothered with a 'young brat' like myself." The general visibly flinched and Duo regretted his words. The man seemed lonely, an old man who has nothing but his money to give him company.

"But... I guess I could spend some time with you," Duo risked everything that this impertinence wouldn't anger the older man. Instead, the man stood up and nodded briskly.

"Starting tomorrow. You will eat dinner with me, and come here afterwards to talk. Do you enjoy chess?"

"Only if you let me cheat." The man hesitated, put off by this response, and then nodded.

End of Part Seven!

Author's notes: Loooong piece of developmental fluff. But it works. There's going to be more plot in the next one, a lot more, I promise. Write, please! --Kitsune-chan