by Tyria

Ok, this, along with three more un-related fics, were my X-mas presents to Ami-chan. The other two than this one are X-mas fics. Saddly, there was no way to get them into des arcanes by Christmas, but, as they say, better late than never...

Once again, at Heero Yui and Duo Maxwell's apartment, Heero can't get to sleep. Why?

Because, also once again, Duo was up at a most un-godly hour, singing and jumping around to music.

In Heero's mind, it was bad enough that he tried to sing along, but he also had to change the words. Tonight, for example...

"Will the real Shinigami please stand up? I repeat, will the real shinigami please stand up? We're gonna have a problem here."

"Will the real Shinigami please SHUT UP!?!"

"Heero-chan?" Duo says quietly. He turns off his music. A few seconds later, the door to Heero's room cracks open. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Shouldn't you be in the psychiatric ward?"

"Hey dude, no need to be rude, man."

"Yes, there is. You have consistently kept me awake ever since we moved in together. _When_ do you _sleep_?"

"School."

"Figures. Try and put a lid on it by midnight. Some people plan on actually passing a class or two."

"Huh? Uh, ok, Heero-chan. If you feel that strongly about it. Good night."

"Finally. Peace and quiet. I didn't even have to go deaf first."

~But the next day...~

"My name is... what? My name is... Who? My name is... chickychiky Shinigami! My name is..."

The music dies off suddenly.

"Nani? Where'd 'My Name Is...' go?"

"To bed." Heero leaves the room, Eminem CD still in his hand....

And so it continued. Despite Heero's efforts, Duo could not remember his promise to shut down at midnight.

Heero felt for sure he was going to join Quatra on the list of Gundam Pilots who had lost their sanity soon. He could not remember what "sleep" was.

"Hey, Heero-man, I'm going to a dance tonight. Wanna come?"

"No."

"Aw, come on dude! We haven't done anything together in a month!" Heero simply walked off into his room and closed the door.

"I guess that's 'conversation complete'" Duo mutters before leaving.

~In Heero's room...~

"Mission accepted." Heero picks up the phone and the address book and dials the first number. "Hello, Hilde? This is Heero..."

"Hey, I've never seen her before. Does she go to our school?"

"Huh?" Duo looks over. "Ack!" The pilot of 02 makes a futile attempt to run to a window, but Hilde had all ready spotted him and caught him before he could make his not-so-valiant escape.

As she drags him onto the dance floor, he can't help but wonder: How did she _find_ me?

Heero dials the second number. "Hello, Catherin? This is Heero. Un huh, Un huh, un huh... ok, shut up for a minute. I heard that old speaker system's been giving you problems again..."

Finally, Duo got away from Hilde. After the dance ended, she'd dragged him _everywhere_. Restaurants, donut shops, arcades...

But now he's away from that evil witch-bitch and really wishes Heero had come to the dance. He would have scared her off without any problem.

Speaking of which, Duo was confused. It seems as if Heero and him had been closer before they'd moved in together. Was Heero bored of him? Or maybe Heero didn't like him at _all_ anymore. That would be horrible!

'I've got to spend more time with Heero-chan, before he gets bored of me. Hmmmm.... Tomorrow night. He's probably asleep now.'

'That was an ear-ache, but it was worth it. Mission complete. No more 'Real Shinigami' in this apartment....'

~The next morning...~

"Heero-chan..." Heero opens his eyes to look up into Duo's eyes.

"Huh?"

"Wanna go somewhere tonight? I'll even let you choose where."

"Uhn."

"Was that a no-grunt, or a yes-grunt?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Woohoo! Thanks man!" Duo leans down and kisses Heero.

Both boys suddenly remember how long it has been since they last kissed.

"Mmm." Duo mumbles as they finally pull apart. He sits on the edge of Heero's bed as Heero sits up. "So, Heero-chan, where do you want to go?"

"Ionno. You were out pretty late last night...?"

"Yah. That onna Hilde showed up and dragged me all around the god-be-damned town. I don't even know how the HECK she found me! Oh, _man_, it was horrible! But, seriously," Duo lies down on the bed next to Heero. "Where do you want to go?"

"Better idea."

"What?"

"Let's stay home from school today."

"What?" Heero kisses him. "Oh."

~That night...~

Duo goes to put on a CD. Then, he notices that all his CDs are gone.

He looks to his expensive stereo system with five speakers, and it's gone too. On the ground, where it used to be, was a note, with Duo's name on the first page.
The note says,

"Dear Duo,

Thank you so much for donating your system to our circus. It is very much appreciated however it's too bad you coudn't have been there when we came.

Thanks a ton,
Catherin and Trowa.

"HEERO!!!!!!!!"

Ok, so this story is short as hell, it was a present for Ami-chan, along with two othe fics and a bunch of crappy pictures I drew. The other fics are to come, but they're a little late seeing as their X-mas fics. Enjoy!

Gundam Wing Fanfiction
dans l'ombre des arcanes