Love and Friendship

 

Duo lay on the narrow dormitory bed and contemplated the ceiling.  What a drag.  He couldn't believe his wretched luck.  His current mission involved him infiltrating a OZ controlled school and hacking into their mainframe, which just happened to have a back door into OZ's main network.  Nothing wrong there.  But the school happened to be run in the most oppressively authoritarian way imaginable, which meant almost no free time, and a unbelievable 10 pm curfew.  He'd yet to get any unsupervised time on a computer anywhere, let alone hack anything.

 

If he had to suffer another day standing at rigid attention while teachers in military uniform strutted about droning over the benefits of superior discipline he was just going to die.

 

"Get me out of here!!!  AAARG!" he groaned running his fingers through his long hair.  At least he still had that.  It was a good thing he had come to the school prepared with an official looking affidavit stating that he must be allowed to keep his hair long due to religious convictions.  Otherwise, he'd be sporting a crew cut like everyone else here.  Duo shuddered at the thought.  Everyone looked the same, and dressed the same.  They even thought and talked about the same boring things day after day.  That bothered him more than any of the strict rules and his inability to complete the mission.

 

He rolled over on his stomach and kicked the mattress.  Rules were for breaking, or at least bending a little.  What was wrong with these students here?  The horrible thing was, he was also beginning to fall into the same rut.  When he had first arrived, Duo had pulled a few pranks to try to break the ice with his new classmates.  But all his antics had been met with angry glares and stony silence, and he had given up on any new jokes.  With no one to talk to, he had gradually fallen in step with everyone else.  It was somewhat frightening.

 

"I need out," muttered Duo.  He was almost ready to report a mission failure and abort the whole thing.  Almost.  One thought kept him to his task.

 

What would Heero think if he failed?

 

Duo did not think that Heero would be at all fazed by the stifling atmosphere of this place, and he was sure that a failed mission would not impress him.

 

"Well, he probably just thinks I'm an idiot anyway," Duo punched down on his pillow pensively.  "What difference would it make?"

 

Yet somehow, the thought of Heero's approval meant something to him.  And Duo was determined to complete his objectives.  It was a matter a pride.