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Part two

Psychology class was the period right before Heero's lunch period. He settled into an empty seat before class, and looked around him as he waited for it to begin. The professor was apparently not present yet, and the students were all socializing in little groups. Heero spotted Quatre across the room, talking with a few other students. Heero was about to think nothing of it, when one of the students caught his eye.

He had at first mistaken it for a girl, but by the uniform and the wiry, muscular build, he was soon positive it was a boy. The boy was talking animatedly with Quatre, a broad grin splashed across his expressive face. He had long, chestnut-colored hair that wound into a braid down his back, and his amethyst eyes seemed to laugh nearly as much as his lips did. Even from across the room, Heero could here the low, throaty laugh that came from the boy's mouth. It wasn't until the vivid purple eyes fixed on him that he realized he was staring. He quickly looked away, seemingly finding something very interesting in his notebook, but it didn't stop the red from creeping into his cheeks. "What was that?!" Heero thought to himself. He found his reaction to the other boy mildly disturbing.

Heero was still recovering when he was overshadowed by two figures. "Ahh, Heero-san. Let me introduce you ...! This is the friend I was telling you about. Duo, this is Heero Yuy."

Heero found a hand being held out to him, and he looked up reluctantly. There stood the braided boy, still smiling, but this time with an all-too knowing twinkle in his violet eyes. "Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you ... Heero."

Heero took the proffered hand and shook it unconsciously. The boy named Duo helped himself to the seat next to Heero, leaning onto the desk to converse with Heero. "So I hear you're from L1. I'm from L2 myself. How do you like Romefeller?" Duo asked cheerfully.

Heero blinked at the enthusiastic young man, though his expression was once again carefully guarded. "It's ... tolerable."
Duo snorted. "Oh please, it's boring shit, and we both know it," he quipped. Heero was a little surprised by Duo's comment. Of all the people he had spoken to at this school, not one had put the school down. Something told Heero that Duo wasn't like the others here. "Naze da?" Heero asked. Duo made a dismissive gesture with his hands. "Too many posers. It gets redundant, know what I mean? Anyway, I heard you went to some big-shot school on L1. Pretty hot stuff."

Heero shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal," Heero muttered. Something about the way Duo looked at him was unnerving. Quatre was smiling, seated on his other side. "Oh no, no, I heard it's like a military school for advanced students. Isn't that right, Heero?!" Quatre coaxed. He seemed to like hearing about Heero's former school, though Heero was reluctant to talk about it.

Heero hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Aa ... they required physical training as well as academic."

"Wow," Duo said. Quatre was beaming again. "Hai, hai, and you were a physics genius, ne Heero!"

Heero felt like he was being showed off. He sank lower into his seat, but Duo didn't seem to notice. "Physics, huh? What a coincidence. I'm incredibly *bad* at physics," Duo smiled slowly. "You have it seventh period, don't you?"

Heero nodded, not sure where the other boy was going with this. Duo threw his arms up and folded them behind his head, grinning broadly. "Great! Then you can tutor me for physics, can't you?" Duo gave Heero an imploring look.
" ... Aa ..," Heero replied, without even thinking about it. For some reason, he felt like blushing again. Behind him, Quatre clapped his hands together. "Sugoi! You two will be good friends, won't you! I know it!"

Sandwiched between the two smiling boys, Heero felt strangely helpless.

*************

"Neee, do you see what I'm saying now? The man's a total dictator!" Duo complained.

"Aa," Heero answered, as he keyed himself into his apartment. He had chosen to live in the city surrounding the school, as many of the wealthier students did, as opposed to staying in the school's dormitories. He opened the door, letting Duo inside. Duo dropped his bag on the kitchen table, then moved off to look around the apartment. Heero heard Duo whistle from inside his bedroom, the only room in the apartment. "Sweeet. This place is pretty spacious for a one-bedroom ... but you can afford it, can't you?"

The last sentence was a little on the sarcastic side, and Heero found himself wondering something about Duo. "So where do you stay?" he asked. Duo came bounding out of the bedroom to join Heero in the kitchen area. "At the dorms," Duo replied. He added a bitter laugh. "Kinda don't have a choice."
Heero looked briefly at Duo, then turned to busy himself by tidying up the kitchen. "What do you mean, if you don't mind my asking?"

Luckily, Heero noticed, Duo wasn't offended by Heero's question. "Well, I'm not like all those other rich brats at Romefeller ...,"

Heero could have guessed as much.

"...I'm here on a scholarship. It paid for everything. Tuition, room and board, books, you name it. Even some extra cash now and then. Pretty good deal if you ask me."

"Oh. I didn't know Romefeller did stuff like that ... it seemed so ... so ..."

"Elitist?" Duo laughed. "Yeah it is, or *was* at least. It's part of this new program to make Romefeller more 'academic', as opposed to them just being this upper-class snub school. I think it's so they can compete with schools like yours on L1." Duo winked at Heero.

Heero grunted an agreement. He found that he had completely cleared the kitchen area and was left with nothing to do. "Do you, uh, want something to drink?"
Duo smiled. "Yeah, anything will be fine."
While Heero poured Duo some fruit drink, Duo took notice to the stacks of boxes still lying around the pretty-much bare apartment. "You want help unpacking? I have some free time .." Heero handed Duo his drink, but as soon as Duo took a sip, he set the glass back down on the counter. "C'mon, let's study!" Duo said, grabbing his bag from the table and moving off into Heero's room again. Heero was stunned for a moment, then followed Duo into his room.

When he came in, Duo was already perched on his bed, notebook in hand.

"Ne, Heero, did you understand *any* part of today's lesson? Because if you did, would you kindly explain it to me?" Duo said, smiling up at Heero. Heero nodded, swallowing hard, before he took a seat beside Duo on the bed.

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~*Tenken no Miko*~

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Fragile Hearts part 3