Wufei and Quatre's conversation was cut short when Heero opened the car door of the
backseat.
"Hi Heero." Turning back from the passenger side, Quatre greeted cheerfully.
Heero said nothing. He climbed into the car and laid his backpack on the car seat next to him.
"You got the books you wanted?" Used to Heero's no reply policy, Quatre had mastered the art of getting the conversation going by himself.
Still no expression, Heero grabbed the door handle, closing the door shut.
"You only found one book? "Quatre pointed at the only library book Heero was
carrying.
Heero lowered his head, staring at the book firmly tucked in his hand. Heero's eyes were clouded with confusion for a split few seconds. Then the anger came up to him like a wave and he flung the book across the car seat. The book hit the other side of the backseat door and dropped on the floor with a loud "Thump".
Quatre involuntarily moved back a bit, taken by surprise. Heero had never acted like this. For the first time in three years, Heero was mad.
Wufei was shocked too. He turned around and stared at Heero. "Yuy, what's the matter with you?"
Heero said nothing. He allowed himself to calm his heartbeat down and then he bent down, picking up the fallen book.
"Heero?" Quatre did not know if he should be screaming with joy or terror.
Heero turned his head and looked out the window. The anger had already left him.
Knowing that Heero had retreated himself back to his doll state, Quatre gave up and turned around. His mind was a mixture of confusion and happiness. Heero was mad. Qautre repeated silently. God, who would have thought that he wanted to see Heero mad. Whatever made Heero mad... God bless!
* * *
Trowa left the cafeteria and met up with Duo just outside of the school main entrance.
"Yo." Duo hopped cheerfully toward Trowa.
Trowa nodded. But as Duo was getting closer, Trowa began to eye at Duo suspiciously.
"What?" Duo frowned. "Do I have something on my face?" Duo brought up his free hand and rubbed his cheek slightly.
Trowa shook his head and pointed at the pile of books that Duo was carrying underneath his right arm.
"Ooooh, you mean these." Duo shrugged, acting as if he did not know why it was such a big deal.
"I don't recall you are interested in war and psychology." Trowa looked over the titles of the books. While he was checking, he also discovered that Duo's backpack was full and heavy. Trowa knew Duo never brought any textbooks to school.
"Hey," Duo smirked. "A man gotta read sometimes."
* * *
Quatre sat at the dinner table. He was nervous. Heero was almost finishing up his dinner and he still hadn't brought up the subject yet. After talking to Trowa, Quatre had found out that Duo often played baseball with the local league on the weekend. Though he is not officially on the team, he showed up frequently enough that the team even gave him a uniform. Quatre and Wufei had talked in the car before Heero got in. They decided to join the baseball league so that they could create a chance for Heero to really know Duo. They both believed that they should do so the sooner the better, before Duo's influence wore off.
Looking for help, Quatre glanced at Wufei.. Wufei looked away. Quatre cursed. He should have never depended on Wufei for anything. It was hard to convince Heero to do anything. It took them THREE years to get him back on fencing.
Quatre picked up his green tea and sipped. He had made Heero's favorite for dinner... well, at least his favorite three years ago. Watching Heero expressionlessly eating his sushi one by one systematically starting from the left corner of his plate, Quatre doubted that Heero was actually tasting the food. Quatre placed his cup down determinedly. It was now or never. Once Heero got back into his room, he would not see him until morning.
"Heero?"
Heero was on his third to the last sushi.
"You know tomorrow is Saturday," Quatre gave his best smile.
Heero picked up his second to the last sushi.
"So Wufei and I thought we should do something at least. What do you think about baseball?" Quatre crossed his fingers, hoping Heero won't say no.
Heero picked up his last sushi. He ate the food in a single bite. No words. No disagreement.
"Okay, so that's what we will do okay?" Quatre couldn't believe today was his lucky day! First he got to find out Duo's best friend was and met the handsome guy after school to found out Duo's activities. And then he saw Heero got mad in the car, actually showing some emotion! Oh, that was kind of weird that he was actually excited about Heero getting mad but never mind that! Now that Heero had agreed to join the baseball team, he was on the roll! Happy and relieved, Quatre stood up, ready to carry his plate to the sink.
"I have to go back to the school library tomorrow afternoon." Taking advantage of Quatre's shock, Heero got to the sink first. He washed the dishes with unmatchable speed. After drying it with the towel, Heero placed the plate back in the cabinet. Heero went straight back to his room.
* * *
"I am sorry but they were all checked out." The old school library lady lifted up her head from the greenish computer screen and showed a somewhat sympathetic face.
Expressionless, Heero stood in front her, his backpack on his shoulder. He was wearing a nice dark blue jean jacket with white tanktop inside. His long pale jean pants nicely matched his eye color.
Thinking that the student in front of her was shocked, the nice librarian tried to be helpful. "Well, we could see who checked them out and maybe you could borrow the books from them?" Her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Heero stared at the back of the computer that the librarian was working on.
"Hum.. let's see...." The librarian adjusted her eyeglasses. "oh my, this is quite strange." The old lady leaned toward the computer screen, making sure she was looking at the records right. "I thought there was a 5 books per subject quota on every student."
Heero stood like a rock.
"Well, kid, I don't know what to tell you." Given up solving the mystery, the librarian finally turned her eyes back to Heero. "I hope you are a good friend with this student." She glanced briefly at the screen again. "Because this kid got all your books."
"Who is it?" Heero flatly asked.
"Duo Maxwell."
* * *
"I can't believe this." Quatre whined. "I went through all this trouble to find out about Duo and then he has a stupid report to do?"
"There is always next weekend." Wufei continued studying his biology book on the comfy sofa.
"Who the hell would actually open the school library on the weekend!!!" Quatre dropped his weight on the sofa next to Wufei. His arms threw in the air.
Wufei chuckled. " You were just frustrated because you told that guy that you would be there."
Quatre sat straight immediately and frowned at Wufei. "What?"
Wufei put down his biology book. "You heard me. I saw you two walked out of the school. You had a looong conversation."
Quatre faintly blushed. "We ... um.. we were talking about this music we were playing." Quatre searched for words. "You know, we are in the orchestra together."
Wufei studied his childhood friend for a few seconds and then smirked. "Whatever happened to your diplomatic skills, Quatre?"
* * *
Impassively, Heero Yuy walked out of the library with his backpack light. The hall was quiet since not many students usually hang out in school on weekends. He passed by rows and rows of lockers. The hallway seemed endless.
Heero turned left to the main wing, heading toward the school's main entrance. The hall wasn't quiet anymore. There was faint thumping sound echoing in the air. Heero paused and instead of going straight toward the main entrance, he turned right toward the north wing. As he went pass the gym he caught a familiar long braid waving in the basketball court.
Heero Yuy stepped onto the court.
Duo Maxwell jumped and released the basketball from his hands gracefully. The basketball followed a beautiful curve and went straight into the basket. It was perfect. "YAH!" Duo involuntarily screamed with joy.
"I want my books back." Heero said. The low voice echoed in the indoor basketball court.
Raising his eyebrow, Duo turned around. The basketball bounced back to him and Duo caught the ball with his right hand without even looking at it.
"I want my books back." Heero insisted.
"Do you always repeat your words?" Duo turned his back, heading toward his belongings. He dug around in the duffle bag a bit and finally retrieved a book. "Looking for this?"
Heero glared at Duo. "All of them."
Duo smirked. "What makes you think I will give them to you."
Heero glared at Duo again. Full force.
Not intimidated at all, Duo returned a grin. "How about this," Duo bounced the basketball on the floor a few times. The sound echoed in the room. "You beat me, you get the books."
Heero stood passive for a few seconds and then turned to leave.
Duo shrugged and turned his attention back to the court. With the ball in his hand, he raised his right arm just a bit higher than his left. Using the right hand as the guiding hand and the left hand as a support, Duo aimed for the basket.
"If you are going to the county library, don't bother." Duo released the ball in the air. "I have already made the trip this morning."
Heero abruptly stopped. He turned around and saw the basketball went straight into the basket.
Duo caught the ball as it came back to him. He turned around arrogantly.
Clenching his fists, Heero tensed.
Duo smirked. He lightly threw the basketball in the air and caught it with his index finger. The ball kept spinning.
Heero threw down his backpack to the side and got rid of his jacket with a violent twist. He walked toward Duo with anger in his eyes.
* * *