Gundam Wing is not mine. :-( Shut up! I can live in my own little world can't I?
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Shi-chan: Just two chapters tonight--gomen!
Duo: Yatta!
Shi-chan: Shut up, you...
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Star Crossed, Forever Lost
~By Shimegami-chan
Part 6
Shounen ai!
Confused yet? Read on....
No way. No freaking way.
Shiseki pulled the door closed behind her and leaned against the wall, letting out a deep breath.
So that's why...she's a guy. He's a guy! Why didn't Yumi tell me!?
There had to be some explanation for this! Suddenly Seki was incredibly glad that there were two bedrooms in the apartment after all. Was she ever going to tell me what was goign on!?
A memory came unbidden to the young Canadian. "It's a personal problem, okay!?" Mayumi had said. "I can't even remember what it is. But I can't let you touch me."
She's no idiot. She knows why she can't let anybody see her...but why was she dressed like that in the first place?
It all made too-perfect sense. That hair...so impossibly long. A wig maybe. The low tenor voice. The long pants and baggy clothes, presumably hiding hips and chest.
It almost fits him, though. Seki reflected. He has such smooth hands, slim fingers, pale skin...he looks almost delicate sometimes, as though you could break him with a touch.
Him.
"Mayumi...why didn't you tell me?" she whispered aloud. "Were you afraid of what I'd think?" Maybe he just cross-dressed for fun, but Seki had been living with him for two weeks. Hadn't she gained any of his trust at all? Seki was a little hurt at the thought.
Should she ask Mayumi about it? She didn't want Yumi to think she was spying on him, or make Yumi leave suddenly. Not when he had no place to go, and Seki was the only person he could call a friend. No, she'd keep it quiet for now, and rest easier knowing the secret. Maybe Yumi might open up and tell her after all...
With that thought fresh in her mind, Seki returned to her room for some much-deserved rest.
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The next passed fairly uneventfully for the two, as Mayumi went out for groceries and Seki stayed back to do more research on the Gundam pilots she was after. The American finally wandered back in the door at seven o'clock, just as Shiseki was preparing to go out for the night.
Yumi unloaded his bags on the kitchen table. "Where're you off to, Seki-chan?"
"Just going out for a bit...more detective work."
Mayumi grinned. "I'm so glad you're doing all this for me. Of course, you probably just want me out of your apartment!"
"It's true that you're eating me out of house and home," Seki laughed, as the American popped a Dream Puff in his mouth. "But I don't mind you staying, you know that!"
"Find anything yet?"
"Quatre recommended a few places I could go for info." Seki was hesitant to tell her friend exactly where she was going for the information, and kept her mouth shut. "I'll be home later tonight, okay?"
"Okay." Yumi mumbled around the Dream Puff, and started to pack the groceries away.
Seki pulled on her slick black jacket on top of her tight blue sweater and black slacks, grabbed her datapad, and headed out the door with a wave. Once outside she called up the list of clubs that Quatre had suggested.
The first was a small pub not far from the apartment, and Seki went there first. It was a dark place with the smell of smoke hanging in the air called "The Professional." The Canadian walked dutifully inside and sat down at the bar.
"What can I get you?"
Let's get right down to it. "Anything cold, and I'm looking for some information."
"What kind of information?" the bartender asked suspiciously. He was fairly young, about the same age as Seki herself, with peircing green eyes and messy chocolate-brown hair that was combed back from his face to keep it out of his eyes.
"I'm looking for a guy named Duo Maxwell. Someone told me he used to come here."
"Never heard of him," the man responded, setting a glass down in front of Seki.
"I'm willing to pay for any information you can find for me...it's important that I find him, and soon."
The tender's eyes glinted. "You're not very good at this, you know."
Seki shrugged. "I've only seen this type of thing done in movies."
"Are you talking about the Duo Maxwell?"
"The Gundam pilot."
"How much are you paying?"
Seki let a few bills peek from the breast pocket of her jacket. Thank God for Quatre. "Depends on what you know."
"Try the place down the street, the Lone Starr. You're not the only one looking for Maxwell."
Seki gave him a wad of the money. "Thanks a lot. What is it, a singles bar?"
"Whatever you want, sweetheart. Be careful, ne?"
"I will." She took a last sip of her drink and grimaced, then headed out the door. That wasn't too hard.
Shadows scampered along the sides of the building, sending chills down the Canadian's spine. Someone's following me.
Should I run? Maybe he knows something about Duo... she pushed her hands into her pockets to secure her money and datapad and continued to walk until she was standing in a pool of light from the dim streetlight. "Who's there?"
No answer came, and Seki wondered if she's been wrong about being followed. A voice rasped close to her ear, "Don't move."
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Shi-chan: Gotta get straight onto chapter 6...read on...
