"You are too slow!" Duo faked a left and then charged past Heero from the right with the basketball firmly in his control.
Heero swirled around, intending to catch up with Duo.
Duo raced down the court, lengthening the distance between him and his opponent.
Seeing that he would not be able to steal back the ball, Heero stopped and dropped his weight slightly. Panting, he bent down and rested his hands temporarily on his knees. Heero's eyes followed Duo's movement.
Getting near under the basket, Duo did a three step hops. And at the last step, Duo's body was in the air for a brief second, his hand releasing the ball upwards. The ball precisely hit the backboard and banked into the basket. "10 to 4." Duo triumphly announced.
Heero scowled.
* * *
Quatre eyed at the White Pages sitting in front of him on the low coffee table.
Wufei sat next to Quatre on the sofa, still burying his head in his awful biology book.
After a few minutes of silence, Quatre sat straight. "It is only polite that we should call him to let him know that we are not coming." Quatre reassured himself.
Wufei ignored Quatre, eyes following the tiny prints on the page, describing the difference between a prokaryote and eukaryote.
Quatre picked up the heavy White Pages and started to flip the pages to the "B" section. He winced as he saw the long list of names listed under "Barton".
"Do you know his father's name?" Wufei asked without too much interest.
Quatre shook his head. He closed the book and walked toward the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and poured a glass of orange juice. Still standing next to the refrigerator, Quatre drank down the orange juice with one gulp. He then held his empty glass thoughtfully.
Wufei flipped a page.
Quatre abruptly put down the empty glass in the sink and returned to the sofa. He reopened the White Pages swiftly and immediately found the name, Barton.
"Michael" Quatre nodded to himself. "Michael Barton sounds good." Quatre picked up the phone and started dialing. The phone rang twice and a low male voice answered on the other end. "Hello," Quatre took care to smooth his voice. "I am looking for Trowa?" Quatre listened for a few seconds and his eyebrows dropped in disappointment. "Oh, I am sorry I called the wrong number." Quatre handed up phone and reverted his eyes to the phone book.
Wufei smirked behind his biology book. He then got up, throwing the offending biology book aside. "You are pathetic." Wufei teased Quatre. "I am going to take a shower. If you ever found his phone number, let me know."
Quatre ignored Wufei. He did NOT have to see Wufei's face to know that he is laughing at him now.
* * *
Heero held his hands up trying to block Duo. But Duo was almost a head taller than him. Heero was hardly in Duo's way.
Duo shifted his position. Instead of trying to aim for the basket and go for the three point shot, Duo stayed low, juggling the ball between his legs. The smirk stayed on his face since the beginning of the game.
Heero coldly stared at Duo, who stood merely a couple inches in front of him. He lowered his center of gravity as well. He brought down his arms and extended them sideway to prevent Duo from breaking his defense.
"You WERE doing well in the beginning but you are tired now, kid." Duo teased. "Fencing hardly gave you any exercise."
Heero said nothing, his eyes trained on Duo's violet eyes. He would not let Duo trick him again. This time he would get the ball back.
"You can get away in fencing because you have quick reflexes." Duo's hands never slowed down juggling the ball. "All you need to do is wait for the opponent to come at you." Duo laughed. "Hell, you don't even need to move a inch!"
Heero glared at Duo. He wisely did not let his anger distract his concentration.
Seeing that Heero was not responding, Duo suddenly sprang out an evil grin. He knew he had Heero's undivided attention. Taking the advantage of their closeness, Duo leaned his face forward, making a motion of kissing the boy in front of him.
Heero jerked his head back in response before Duo could physically touch Heero with his sensuous lips. Eyes widened. He barely saw the smirk on Duo's face before Duo ran past him and put the ball neatly in the basket.
Duo caught the bouncing ball and turned around. "Still want to continue?"
Heero stared at Duo with embarrassment and anger in his eyes.
* * *
On the 42 nd floor, Senator Winner leaned back on his leather office chair. His eyes looked out the bay window, admiring the beauty of the golden gate bridge on the San Francisco Bay.
Behind him, his desk was littered with piles and piles of official paper waiting for his signature. The Red light on his massive black digital phone stubbornly and furiously blinked to get his attention.
But Senator Winner did not care at this moment. He continued to admire the scenery outside of his office. It was breathtaking. He had moved into this office two year ago but he had never really noticed the beauty outside until now.
Finally a firm knocks on his door brought his eyes back to his desk.
"I have been trying to phone you, Senator Winner, but you don't seem to want to pick up the phone." His secretary stepped in with a smile. "Senator Chang is here."
Senator Winner returned a smile. "Do ask him to come in." Senator Winner fingered the file that was on his lap. It was a file sent from General Odin Lowell.
* * *
"It's dark and Heero hasn't returned yet." Quatre impatiently paced in the room.
Wufei started to comment but then the sound of the garage door halted him.
After a few minutes of silence, Heero opened the front door.
"How was the paper going?" Quatre asked.
Heero said nothing. He dropped his empty backpack on the sofa and went to the kitchen closet. He emerged with a tool box.
Wufei eyed at the tool box suspiciously. But instead of say anything, he and Quatre followed Heero out to the driveway.
To their surprise, they found a big box approximately 10 feet in length sitting on the driveway.
Heero went to the box, opening it and retrieving the content.
Quatre and Wufei watched in silence as Heero assembled the basketball pole on their driveway.
* * *
"Where were you?" Trowa's voice was dangerously low.
Duo shrugged. He kicked off his sneakers and headed toward the shower.
"Duo! You smelled bad." A little girl tugged at Duo's jersey with one hand. The other hand pinched her nose comically.
Duo smiled. He kneeled down. "That's why I am going to take a shower if Trowa let me." Still patting the girl's head, Duo looked up at his tall friend.
Trowa sighed. "Will you go to the baseball game tomorrow then?"
Duo carelessly took off his sweat stained shirt. "No. Why?"
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going then?"
Duo loosed his braid. "To hear the birds sing."
* * *
Quatre worriedly looked out of the window. "He's been practicing shooting for 2 hours straight now. What got to him?"
Wufei shrugged. "Who cares? It's better than having him locked up in his room."
Quatre continued to watch Heero making shoots. "That's true. But how can he see the basket. It's very dark, even with the garage light on."
* * *
The next morning, Heero woke up at 6 AM sharp. After brushing his teeth and washed his face, he put on a lose T-shirt and toped it with his light sweater. He picked out a pair of long sweatpants and started to head toward the garage.
7 AM. Heero arrived at the student parking lot. As he was parking his car, he noticed that Duo just got here too. Clenching his fists, Heero walked toward Duo's car.
Duo parked and got out and saw Heero standing right next to his car.
Heero eyed at Duo suspiciously. "Where is your basketball?"
"I told you I would be here at 7 AM." Duo grinned. "But I never mentioned about basketball." He ran his hand over his hair. "We are going hiking." Duo stated as a matter of fact. His voice was calm
Heero stared at Duo, not believing him at all.
Duo looked up and down on Heero's outfit. "It's an easy hike. You should be fine in those."
Realizing Duo was not joking, Heero ignored him and started to head back his car.
Duo shrugged. He pulled out a computer print out. "AP honor English, A+. AP Calculus A+, World History honor, A+, AP Chemistry, A+, Advance Programming, A+, Honor Psychology……" Duo trailed off and looked at Heero's furious face. "You want to finish your report on war and soldier psychology or not?"
"All of them. I want my books by the end of the day." Heero's voice did not hide his anger.
Duo grinned. He went to the trunk and patted the trunk with affection. "All in here. A mini library."
Heero kicked the small stones on the student parking lot before he opened Duo's car door and got into the passenger side.
* * *