Author's Note: This is actually the first GW fic I ever attempted to write. Surprisingly (sarcasm), I never got past chapter two.

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Gundam Wing.

Warnings: Shounen ai (1+2, 3+4), Angst

Life is hell. Shadows that come from within the darkness feed on our souls. Slowly they suck your spirit from your body until there's nothing left... Just a shallow being, dwelling in the darkness. Becoming one with our shadows. This is life. Life is hell.

He was an illusion of happiness. To everyone he knew, he was the loud obnoxious one. The one who got in the way. The one who had nothing to worry about, other than who was going to entertain him that day. He was the one that was engulfed in bordem. He was normally the happiest teenager of the five gundam pilots. The joker.

It wasn't true... any of it.

The days were bright and filled with heat. For Duo, the daylight held the weight of fraud and seclusion as well. The wars were heating up around the colonies and all of the other pilots had been called on missions numerous times for quite a while. Duo, having only been on about three in the last few months was slowly finding himself alone more often than he was accustomed too. He wasn't complaining, but at the same time he wasn't jumping for joy either.

It had all started a few months ago when Duo had realized the reason he was so miserable around the others. It was that stoic brown haired boy. The one that never smiled. He wasn't sure why, but he gave the American a feeling of defeat that seemed to wash over him whenever they were in the same room together... whenever he saw him. It was a feeling. Like he was suffocating, like he was about to scream, though he had formed a plan to avoid this. He just had to stay away from Heero Yuy.

The street was quiet, and the streetlight on the cornor glowed, giving a dim orange haze to the street. He could hear nothing, except for a chill breeze that whistled quietly, and his own footsteps against the wet pavement. It had rained that day.

It was 10 PM and the braided pilot, shivered in his thin jacket as the breeze gained strength. He hurried his pace, to a sort of jog. He slowed after a few minutes as he passed an old church. It looked creepy from the street, it's windows cracked and stained, the lights were out, and the church was no longer in use from the look of it. The wind seemed to stop him as he looked to the two front windows, as if beckoning him into the dark courtyard of the church. His eyes caught on a small glow of eerie white in the second window. He squinted to get a better look.

The boy was ghostly pale and his face was narrow and sullen. His eyes were cole black. The boy's eyes were transfixed on something. Something in the street... "Duo."

Duo's breath caught mid-sentence. He blinked staring at the ghostly figure. When he reopened his eyes... the boy was gone. Duo's face was a puzzle of confusion and shock as he continued to stare at the black window, he coughed, brushing a hand against across his cold face. He quickly turned and walked right into something. A man. Duo blinked and looked up.

A cold chill ran up his spine as his eyes met the arctic stare of the man he had run into. Icy blue eyes locked hold on Duo's alert brown stare when the braided pilot looked up.

"H-Heero?" Duo shivered, "S-Sorry, about that. I didn't know you were there..." He took a deep breath, with difficulty.

The other pilot cocked a brow in a very unamused manner. "I called you three times, and you didn't pick up the phone, so I was coming to get you."

"Oh... Sorry! Quatre called me just a minute ago." Duo shrugged, chill bumps developing on his arms and legs, even through his clothes. "I guess I just didn't hear the phone when you called or something."

'Or didn't want to answer it.' A headache began to pulse in Duo's head, getting stronger with every beat.

Inside, Duo gave a sigh of releif when Heero moved his icy gaze towards the church. "What were you looking at, anyway?" Heero's monotone voice and stoic expression gave no hint of actually caring.

'He wouldn't care anyway. Why even answer...' The braided resisted the urge to sigh, as his ache in his head increased rapidly. 'God... I need to get away from him...'

"A ghost." Duo chuckled, falsly, feeling that long hated feeling of suffocation, and turned, starting back on his walk to Quatre's. His head spun lightly, and his chest heaved silently for breath. 'Damn you, Heero.'

No reply came from Heero, as he followed behind. The boy just paused breifly once in a while glancing back at the church.

To Be Continued...

Notes

None.




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