She made her way down the sunlit street, satchel in hand, like any ordinary student on that Tuesday morning. But as she made her way to her destination, her pale blue eyes were turned away from the other people walking beside her. Talking, laughing....she couldn’t bother to stop and join them. They would just keep moving past her, lost in their own lives. But I don’t care. She clenched her small hands into fists, willing herself to look away from the crowd. I don’t care. They’re not worth it. They could just keep on going, making believe that she was just a shadow, and it wouldn’t matter. Just a shadow...

For some reason, this made her smile, the action brightening her childlike face. But only for a second. It’s better this way. I like it much better. She stopped walking then, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and lifting her head up to the sky. The sun was so bright...it hurt her eyes to look at it, but she didn’t want to look away. Not yet.

Her ice-colored eyes sparkled curiously as she smiled once more. Not yet.

"A new weapon...?" Duo leaned over a bit, peering over Heero’s shoulder in an attempt to get a better look at the paper he was holding. He always finds out about things first, he thought ruefully, his braid falling forward. He repositioned it with a careless flick of his head. "Looks like OZ isn’t going to give us a break," he commented. "What do you--"

"It’s not OZ." Heero didn’t look up. His eyes were fixed on the object in his hands. "According to this, it’s being developed by a former OZ scientist. Dr. Randolph Cinque."

"Former, huh..." Duo gave up trying to read over Heero’s shoulder and sat down at the foot of the chair where the other boy was seated. "So...what’s up with that? Is this guy so crazy that OZ would get rid of him?" That’s original...a mad scientist to look around for... He hugged his knees to his chest, gazing up at Heero with barely contained curiosity. "What does it say?"

"It doesn’t look like it." Heero set the paper on his lap, face down. "Cinque left OZ of his own free will...whether it was because he was restricted, or just to retire...nobody knows."

The long-haired pilot sighed. Sounds a little too complicated for us... His eyes brightened suddenly, and he gave his companion an odd grin. "So....what’ll it be?" he asked. "Do we hunt him down and shoot him on the spot?" Sounds like your kind of mission, he wanted to add, but decided against it.

Surprisingly, Heero shook his head. "Those weren’t our orders," he said in a low voice. He stood up then, turning so that his back was to Duo.

Duo watched this, not sure what to make of it. "What do we do, then?"

The other boy turned to face him, his dark eyes solemn. "According to the information I have, an agent from another organization is involved in this case. He should be in this area....so our mission is to find him and figure out his connection with Cinque."

"So we have to start from zero. Sounds good to me..." Duo managed another smile, but inside he was more than a little frustrated. We should wait for backup...there’s no way we can cover a lot of area with just the two of us. Of course, Heero will probably want to handle the whole mission by himself--like it would do us any good! All they could do was wait.

I’m late...

She slowly pushed open the door, biting her lower lip. She hadn’t meant to be. It was her first day...she shouldn’t have been late. She almost wanted to turn around and leave, just so she wouldn’t have to go in like this. I’m just going to draw attention to myself, she thought, feeling her pale face grow hot. I can’t do that... But she found herself entering the classroom just the same, her eyes fixed on the floor.

Surprisingly, the teacher, a pleasant-looking older woman, didn’t even scold her as she came in. Instead, she rose from behind her desk, pushing her chair aside. "Here’s our new student now," she said warmly. "You must’ve gotten lost. I’m sorry, I should’ve arranged for somebody to show you around." She smiled at her. "Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?"

She swallowed hard. I don’t have a choice... She faced the class, still not looking up from the floor. "I’m Eliza," she heard herself say in a barely audible voice. "Eliza Nadiel."

A faint murmur rose from the rest of the students. After a few moments, she finally managed to raise her head to meet their gaze. She wasn’t sure if they looked friendly or not...she was probably just a curiosity to them. They’d stare at her for a little while, then go on just like nothing had happened. I don’t care. She tried to look away once again, but as she did, she caught sight of a boy sitting near the back of the classroom. His eyes met hers, and she shivered involuntarily. His gaze was so cold... Why is he looking at me like that? She turned away hastily, not wanting to see those icy eyes again.

It can’t be...

"Man...where did he run off to?" Duo sighed, disgusted. He collapsed onto an empty park bench, not really caring that there were about forty people standing around him, most likely waiting for that very spot. He was tired from wandering around, looking for that damn Heero... This is just like him...even when we have a mission, he wants to blow me off! He glanced around the park wearily, hoping to catch a glimpse of his "friend". No luck. He wasn’t surprised. Considering that the park was frequented by many of their classmates, he would choose to be as far away from it as possible...

He was about to get up to leave when something caught his eye. There was a girl sitting alone under a tree not far away, staring blankly ahead. He leaned forward, trying to get a better look at her. Hey...I think that’s that new girl...Eliza? Is that her name? She looked lonely, too...from what he had seen of her in class, she was probably pretty shy. Without the slightest apprehension, he stood up and made his way over to where she was sitting.

"Eliza...right?" He casually sat down on the grass at the girl’s side, smiling at her. Upon hearing his voice, she looked up, her light eyes wide with surprise. He should’ve expected that reaction... Poor kid. She’s pretty high-strung... She looked awfully young, too...much younger than him. Had she skipped a grade or two...? No...it was her too-large eyes, and her blunt-cut black hair, which she had pulled up on one side with a plain gold barrette...she definitely wasn’t like the rest of the students there...

The girl--Eliza--nodded slightly, but didn’t say a word. Duo’s smile faded for a moment. Those eyes looked childish at first glance...but she was staring at him with barely concealed suspicion. Damn...I was just trying to be friendly! He could see pain in her eyes as well...but she looked so young... Too young to look at me like that. Much too young...

He stood up then, forcing himself to be cheerful, at least for her benefit. "Well..." he said a bit awkwardly, "I was just wondering if you’d seen my friend Heero around here. He usually comes here after school, and--" He broke off, noticing the sudden change in the girl’s expression. In her eyes...was it...fear...? But why?

Eliza took a deep breath, willing herself to regain her composure. Her right hand wandered over to her satchel, but she stopped herself in midmotion. Heero...Heero Yuy...

Duo watched this, not sure what to make of it. What’s up with this girl...?

It was already sunset when Heero arrived at the park. In contrast with how crowded it had been before, the area was now completely vacant, save a few crickets chirping away in the bushes. Took him long enough... Duo sighed, getting to his feet as soon as he caught sight of the other boy. "You’re late, Heero!" he called. "I’ve been circling this place all day! What were you doing?"

"Quiet," was all Heero had to say in response. He sat down on the long-abandoned park bench, staring blankly at the trees as if there were nobody there but him. Duo sat down beside him, not even bothering to consider how the other boy would react. He had put him through hell...the least he could do was treat him like a human being.

"What’s that?" the long-haired pilot asked, noticing a small object in the other’s right hand. A computer disk... So he’s been playing hacker again...

"It’s just some information." Heero quickly slipped the disk into the front pocket of his shirt. He rose from the bench. "Get up," he told Duo. "We’re leaving."

Duo obeyed, managing to suppress another sigh. That Heero... So...he isn’t even going to tell me what he’s been looking for? Just some information... He decided to follow him nonetheless, silently hoping that he would relent and tell him what the hell was going on. Would it be too much for him to do that...?

Surprisingly, Heero did intend on showing him the data he had collected. Once they were back in the small apartment room that they had been hiding out in for the past month, he walked over to the computer, slipping the disk he had been carrying into the drive. He sat down in front of the machine, waiting. Duo stood behind him for a while, then relented and pulled up a chair alongside him. He can kill me later for getting too close to him. He turned to Heero, who didn’t seem to notice him in the least. "You got this off the school computers?"

"Right." Heero’s eyes were glued to the monitor. He typed in the user password when he was prompted for it. In a few seconds, a list of information appeared on the screen. But that wasn’t all...

"Hey...that’s the new girl from our class!" Duo exclaimed, seeing the photograph on the computer. Funny...in that picture, she was actually smiling. She looks a lot cuter that way... Pushing that thought out of his head, he addressed Heero again. "I ran into her after school today. Really spooky girl...what do you have on her?"

"According to school records, Eliza Nadiel completed her school registration yesterday afternoon," Heero said. He paused briefly. "But I checked Tokyo’s records of who entered and left the city recently, and they said that she came here exactly two weeks ago."

She’s been playing hooky. And she looked like such a good girl, too. "So she decided to take some time off from school." Duo frowned slightly, frustrated. "This doesn’t necessarily mean anything, Heero. She’s a shy girl. Maybe she needed some time to adjust to living in a big city."

Heero’s eyes darkened. "The incident with Dr. Cinque began a little over two weeks ago. I don’t think this is just a coincidence, Duo."

God...so...well, she seemed a little weird to me, but... "So what do you plan on doing?" Duo demanded. "Do you plan to kill her? Heero, she’s just a little girl. I don’t care what she’s involved in. She--"

"Don’t be so melodramatic." Heero pushed his chair away, giving his companion an icy look. "Our orders were to find out what information she has, not to kill her. Not yet. We need to keep a close eye on her for now."

"But how can we do that? She’d recognize both of us. We’re in her class, remember?"

"I’ve already taken care of that," was the boy’s enigmatic response.

So...what do you think...? Part Two will be up soon...

Part Two
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