Mutual Obsession
Part One: Quatre
I was in the kitchen with Trowa when I first noticed, even though I
didn't pay attention at the time. Trowa was forever helping me around
the house. The other pilots think I'm blind, that I don't know why he
does it, but I do. Trowa Barton has a crush on me. I'd be a fool not to
notice. It's something of a mutual obsession, not really a conventional
relationship, not yet, but a connection nonetheless. I like him too. So
we flit around each other, neither one saying anything, and it's
working for now. It's sweet, I think, this pre-relationship stage.
So we were unpacking groceries, stacking cans of pineapple chunks
(mine) and Spaghettios (Heero's) in the pantry when there was a muted
noise in the background. Some kind of rumbling.
I lifted my head, looking up at Trowa. "Did you hear something?"
"No."
"Oh. Okay." And with that I started unpacking the cereal.
* * *
I bought this house for the five of us, since I was the only one with
any substantial amount of money. I thought it would be good for us to
live together, not just because we could relate to one another, but
also for a strategic reason. The more united we were, the easier it
will be to fight together again if the peace is ever threatened. I may
have been sheltered all my life, but I'm not naïve. You don't come
out of the front lines of a war without learning a thing or two, and I
was probably the best tactician out of the five of us.
Of course, I asked Trowa first. He was the first pilot I had met during
the war, the one I connected to the most. He was like some kind of
puzzle- silent, graceful, mysterious. I wanted to figure him out. By
the end of our fight with Oz we had developed our…understanding, I
guess you could call it. At any rate, we were looking out for each
other, and he was the one taking care of me when Dorothy misguidedly
hurt me in that final fencing match. We kept in contact between then
and the time Mariemeia showed up, calling and what not, him traveling
in the circus and me heading my late father's company. During the short
fight against Dekim we didn't have much interaction with one another,
to my eternal disappointment. When I approached him afterwards about
the living arrangements he immediately said yes. It made me happy.
Wufei I asked next. I had to go talk to him about his gundam, anyway.
He hadn't blown it up the first time and we needed to know that he
would this time. He told me he would take care of it himself, and I
asked him if he'd be interested if living with all of us. He was
hesitant, at first. He had always been the solitary one, not really
connecting with any of the pilots during the war. But then he had
nowhere to go, his family and clan gone, and maybe he felt it was time
for him to start a new one. So he decided to come. Later on he opened
up to us, telling us about Meiran, his late wife, and his elders on L5.
I respect him for coping with everything that's happened to him. He's
noble, Wufei, and vastly stronger than I am.
Duo was in charge of blowing up the gundams with me, so I approached
him next. Oddly, he was the most reluctant to acquiesce to the plan. He
said he had his salvage yard to take care of, that he had his friends.
I scoffed internally as he mentioned friends, knowing he meant the girl
that had given us the information on Libra, and maybe some other less
favorable types he had scrounged up on L2. I like Duo, I do, he's nice
as long as you don't get him angry, and our time together in the desert
showed me that he was smart as well. But we all know what kind of
people come out of L2. At any rate, I eventually convinced him to go
along with my plan.
Heero was easy. I found him in the hospital, still unconscious. He had
fallen after he 'killed' Mariemeia, the stress of everything that had
been going on catching up with him. Relena had bought him in, and I sat
patiently by his bedside. Knowing Heero, he wouldn't be out much
longer. And he wasn't. I remember he blinked uncharacteristically fuzzy
eyes at me, raspy syllables falling out of his lips. I could have sworn
he had said Duo. He focused in only a few seconds, asking me what I
wanted. I could see the gears turning in his head even as I suggested
the idea, and when I was done he merely nodded. He realized the
strategic benefit of us living together.
I thought it was a good arrangement. Trowa and I spent a lot of time
together, and I really got to know Wufei. Heero and Duo, though, both
remained in their own distant worlds. As social as Duo acted, I
realized I didn't know that much about him, not any more than I knew
about Heero.
I found out soon after loading the groceries. Trowa had left the
kitchen, probably off to read his newspaper. I needed to make a minor
repair on the motorcycle and made my way out to the garage, only to
find the thing gone. That in itself wasn't unusual, since any one of
the other pilots could have taken it, and I had heard that rumbling
earlier. I decided to go see if the any of the others knew who had
taken it, and when he would be back, so I knew when I could start
working on it. I made my way upstairs, thinking that the bedrooms were
the most logical place for the others to be. Duo and Heero's bedroom
was the closest to the stairwell so headed there first. Opening the
door, I was surprised to find Heero sitting on Duo's bed, the room
devoid of any of other boy's possessions.
"Heero?"
He looked up at me, face blank as always.
"What's going on?"
"Duo left."
I looked around the room. That much was obvious, I was just wondering
why he had been sitting there. Then it hit me. "He stole the
motorcycle?"
Something dangerous flashed through Heero's eyes, but it was gone
as quickly as it had come. "It's as much his motorcycle as it is ours.
We bought it with Oz's money."
I raised an eyebrow at Heero, but didn't comment. Instead I made a note
to make sure Duo hadn't stolen anything else. Duo leaving wasn't that
big a loss, especially if he were heading where I thought he was. Back
to his salvage yard. It would be easy to find him, if we ever needed
him again. I turned and left, leaving Heero to muse over whatever he
was musing over. Strange guy.
The next few days passed as they normally would. It was interesting in
a way, what all of us were doing now. The new government was paying for
us all to go to school, lead normal lives. Or at least, as close to
normal as we could get. Their psychologists had recommended it. I
declined the offer, having been tutored in everything I needed to know
to manage Winner Enterprises. Trowa also said no. He had quit the
circus when he had come to live here, and had managed to get a job
nearby as part of a performance group. Wufei and Heero, on the other
hand, had immersed themselves in their studies, Wufei doing work with
the Preventers on the side. Heero, who had probably planned on
disappearing from the world if I hadn't proposed living together, was
probably trying to assimilate into the crowd. And boys our age did,
after all, usually go to school.
After a few days, it was as if Duo hadn't ever lived with us.
It was a week before any one said anything to me about Duo's departure.
Trowa and I were playing a silent game of scrabble in the kitchen when
Wufei came in, fumbling around in the refrigerator for a drink.
"Is something wrong?" It was Trowa, ever observant and analytical. I
looked up from where I was trying to make sense of the random letters
in front of me, realizing that Wufei did look somewhat distraught, and
maybe even a little remorseful. Overall though, he looked angry, but at
what I didn't know. He stared at us for a little, contemplative, taking
a gulp of water before he spoke.
"I made a grave error in judgment."
Before I could ask him what he meant he left the room, and I turned to
face Trowa again. "What do you think he was talking about?"
Trowa shrugged, but his voice was sure. "Maybe Duo."
I snort. What kind of misjudgment could you possibly make about Duo?
The boy was easy enough to read, given his background. "Do you think he
misses him?"
Trowa didn't answer, instead playing out his next move. This is how we
interacted, though, me talking and him listening, and I didn't mind his
silence.
"It's probably better this way. Really, Duo didn't fit in here with us,
what with his character being what it was and all."
"What about his character?"
I turned around at the voice, coming face to face with Heero. I hadn't
even realized he had come in. He was currently staring at me, almost
riveted to what my next words would be. I wondered briefly if he didn't
know about Duo. "He's from L2."
"So what?"
I know I must be looking at him like he's stupid right now, but I can't
help it. Fine, if he wants me to explain it to him, I will. My next
words are succinct, obvious, spoken slowly and stated matter-of-factly.
"L2 incubates thieves and whores. If Duo's not one he's the other, and
most likely he's both."
As soon as the words were out of my mouth Heero rushed at me, and I
heard a sickening crack as his fist flew into my face. The impact
jolted me out of the chair and onto the floor, only to have Heero lift
me up and push me against the wall. My head throbbed at the sudden
contact, and I raised a shaking arm up to my face. Blood.
"Duo is not a thief or a whore. Not anymore." He pulls me off and bangs
me against the wall again for emphasis, and I manage to crack open an
eye. Allah, he looks furious. "And even if he was, he was just doing
what he needed to survive. At least he's not a spoiled, selfish brat."
It hurts where he's grabbing me, it hurts every where actually, and I'm
dimly aware as his body is pushed away from mine. I crumple onto the
floor as I hear the sound of a small collision, looking over at him as
I regain my bearings. Trowa had pushed him, then Trowa had punched him,
his eyes tearing up with the impact. It would probably be black and
blue tomorrow. Serves the bastard right.
"That's enough." It's Trowa who speaks, crossing his arms and standing
in between the two of us. "Now leave Quatre alone."
Heero pushed himself off of the floor, looking at us in disgust, before
he made his way out of the kitchen. Wufei came running in a second
later, no doubt staring in shock at the mess I'm in. He didn't ask
about it, though, he only watched as Trowa helped me up.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah." I wipe off the blood coming out of my nose. "I'm fine."