A Boarding School Facade - by Jooles*
Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundamwing yadayadayada blahblahblah....
Chapter 5.3 - continuation of a Christmas Interlude
note that the first part to this chapter has quite a bit of Une and
Heero in it.
Dedication: This is for my
younger [but not little] brother Ben who left for _boarding school_ *ironic
huh?* yesterday morning, and despite the fact that he annoys the hell out of
me, he’s my only brother and I _wuv_ him! This is for you Pip old chap!
**********
Heero Yuy was distracted. And
being unfocused on the job was something of a problem. A spy and sometime
assassin could not afford to be preoccupied. Distractions could quite
easily get the killer killed; especially in his messy line of work. But
after tracking down Relena under the not-so gentle insistence of Quatre a large
portion of his thinking had been analyzing and re-analyzing their brief but seemingly
momentous and equal grounding encounter.
He hadn’t planned on attending
Quatre’s stepmother’s little Christmas party. Then again, he hadn’t
planned on spending Christmas in Treventville. That was until Dr. J
pulled the usual strings and made a typically mentor like remark about how the
client wouldn’t stand for Heero’s attitude. And although Heero didn’t
like to admit it, it was true. The client would not stand for his
attitude. Worse case scenario was that the bastardized client would send
one of their own assassins to take care of not only Relena but Heero
also. Until Heero figured out exactly what he was going to do about the
situation with Relena he wasn’t going to do anything that could possibly
disturb the peace....
The evening had been a giant pain
in the ass in Heero’s opinion. He’d been forced to wear a tuxedo by that
wretched woman who called herself Quatre’s stepmother. When he’d out
rightly refused she’d started bawling. When putting on the water-works
show hadn’t worked Mrs Winner had yelled at him, attempting to beat him down
just like she had her latest husband. Heero had surprisingly in the end
given in to Mrs Winner if only to shut the woebegone woman up. He had
made a point however of giving her the infamous Heero Yuy death glare at each
and every opportune time since the tuxedo outfitting. And that had seemed
to work wonders in that she refused to be within a five metre radius of
him. In a way she had won the battle, but he had won the war.
Heero had kept a close eye on Relena
that evening. He’d noted how much more comfortable and at ease she’d been
since they’d been in Treventville. That was of no surprise. In
actual fact it was expected. After all Treventville was her home town in
a sense. It was where she grew up. And it was in this sleepy
hick-town that deep dark secrets were forged, sealed and kept even till the
present day. After sighting Une earlier on in the evening the suspicions
of his client’s had all but been proven. All he needed now was a
statement (preferably a confessed one, although an overheard one would do) to
confirm the truth. And upon finding out Relena’s true heritage (if it was
what was suspected) he would make a decision based on his emotions at the time.
Heero disliked his client a
lot. Whereas he was finding that as each day passed and the number of
encounters with Relena mounted that he related to her in a way he hadn’t been
able to relate with others before. Ever. It was confusing this new
emotion. Besides, he had a contract to fulfill. And he was still
trying to figure out a way around the contract if he was going to rebel from
not only the client, but Dr. J. But such mutinous thoughts could be left
for another time.
It was at that moment that the
elder of the two women he’d been thinking about maneuvered herself
strategically beside him in the shadowy corner he’d happened to place himself
in. Acknowledging her, Heero grunted her name. “Une.”
“Heero. How nice to see
you. Again.”
Heero glared at the older
woman. Oh yes, they’d crossed paths before. Many times in the
past. And each time he’d met her, he’d found himself liking her less and
less. -Not that he’d liked her at all in the first place. He wasn’t paid
to like people. He was paid to investigate them and if the client wanted,
eventually kill them. It seemed however that Heero had some competition
in the form of Une and her minions, whoever they were. Heero couldn’t
help but snigger at the thought of Une having minions, she herself being one to
the one and only Treize Khushrenada, heir to the all-important Romafellar
Foundation.
The reason Heero detested Une so
much was more to the fact that they’d always been on opposite sides.
She’d always served primarily Treize and than Romafellar, while he’d generally
always been a free agent. Although with his latest client he was anything
but. It was a sticky situation, especially since Une was obviously doing
in Treventville exactly what he was doing at St. Michael’s: sniffing out
the assumed to be dead Peacecraft heir. Not quite literally though.
And he hadn’t had to try too hard with the sniffing part.
Une seemed quite cheerful. Actually
she seemed almost brazen. Obviously a sign of her wanting something from
him. “What a coincidence meeting you here, Heero.”
Heero gave nothing away, leaving
any observation Une might happen to make to her own imagination.
Shrugging he agreed with her, “Just a coincidence Une. Nothing
more.”
Une shook her head. She
evidently wanted to play her ‘infamous know all and see all’ game. “Uh uh
Heero. You and I both know that there’s a lot more going on here than
meets the eye.”
“Such as?”
Une shook her head again, auburn
bangs shadowing her eyes. “Tit for tat Heero. You tell me
something, and I’ll tell you something.”
Heero studied the woman beside
him. She was a player of games, just like Relena. Except with this
woman Heero rather preferred being a spectator rather than an active
competitor. Relena’s games were much more agreeable.
“One of the Peacecraft heirs are
hiding out here. In Treventville.” He said nonchalantly. That
was fairly patent. But he wanted to make sure that they were both there
for the same reason. Otherwise he would be giving Une an upper
hand. And there was no way in hell he’d let something like that happen.
Une watched him closely. “Of
course Heero. What else would people like you and me be doing in a place
like this?” She spoke to him in a peevish tone of voice. In the
past she only ever used that tone when she was getting impatient with his knack
at evading (more likely ignoring) questions not in want of answering.
“I don’t know Une.... taking time
to smell the roses...” He spoke back to her in a complacent way.
Une glanced at him, giving him a
critical once over. “Where’d you gain a sense of humor Heero Yuy?”
The quirk of a left eyebrow stated
his puzzlement at her question. Maybe the not quite sense of humor came
from being around the likes of Duo Maxwell for a term. There was even a
possibility of putting it down to his competitive like bantering he’d developed
while in the company of Relena.
“You know the girl, don’t
you?” She asked in a dubious way.
“How’s Treize?” He asked
changing the subject while at the same time not bothering to answer her question.
After all hadn’t she said only moments before ‘tit for tat’??
“Actually I don’t know. I’ve
been out of contact with Romafellar and Treize since moving here six weeks
ago.”
Heero stared at her, willing her to
look at him. But she refused to do so, and instead contented herself with
observing the swaying figures of various dancers and their partners in the
centre of the ballroom. They stood together in a comfortably tense-filled
silence for mere minutes. That was until Une pushed herself away from the
side wall upon spotting a familiar long-haired blonde male whisking the Dorlian
girl she’d been introduced to that evening out of the ballroom and into
evidently somewhere more private. “Well I’ll be....”
The quirk of an eyebrow was
evidence to Heero’s ability at not missing a beat. “Do you know who that
is?” He asked her.
Une nodded, a look of pure
bafflement still marring her features. “His name is Zechs Merquise and he
and Treize are very close friends.”
Heero snickered. “If they’re
so close, then what’s he doing here.... and what is he doing with Relena?”
Une looked at him
questioningly. “So you do know the girl?”
Heero ignored her, choosing to
avoid being baited by her.
Une glanced at him. Maybe
there was a possibility of the two of them working together. Une shook
herself out of that nearly insane suggestion. If she’d voiced her
proposition aloud Heero would have done something quite characteristic such as
glare at her, ignore her or worse stalk off in who knows what direction.
Besides he seemed to be linked with the Dorlian girl and Une wanted to know
just what she was doing with Merquise. She may have just hit the jackpot,
her search almost being over. She may just have discovered the so-called
Peacecraft heirs presumed dead and long buried in the Cinq Kingdom’s royal
graveyard.
“Come on!” She grabbed
Heero’s forearm and pulled him through the crowd of people in the ballroom and
in the direction Dorlian and Merquise had headed.
Heero shook his forearm loose from
Une’s tight grip. As far as he was concerned, Une was the enemy.
And one did not associate with the enemy. Une, seeming to sense Heero’s
hostility paused mid-pace. “Listen Heero, I don’t like the fact that
we’re working together anymore than you do. But we’re both here for the
same reason, and we both have personal interests here at stake.”
Heero didn’t like the way she
termed his observing of Relena as a personal interest...although the way he’d
been thinking only half an hour ago pointed to him actually having a very personal interest in her.
Uncharacteristically Heero gave into what he supposed was Une’s whim and
followed her in search of this Zechs Merquise and Relena.
************
Relena had been so startled upon
seeing Milliardo that she hadn’t known what to say to her elder brother for an
overly long stretch of seconds. Instead she’d openly stared at him,
replacing the image of her brother ten years ago with the much older and grown
up image. After stuttering her way through what she tried to make out as
a greeting, Milliardo had asked her if she could take them some place more
private to talk. So thus they had dashed (well she had, he’d grown so
tall that he strode while she skittered behind him) out of the dining hall,
through the ballroom and into the West wing of the Winner estate.
It had been overly weird at first;
conversing with her brother that is. She found herself wondering what one
says to someone so meaningful to them when you haven’t seen them in over ten
years. But with the worries over the increasing riots in the Cinq Kingdom
and the increasing amount of tension between warring factions over the
governing of the Kingdom they hadn’t been without topics of discussion.
And as it turned out he hadn’t come to Treventville directly seeking
her. He’d actually come in search of Une. Her instincts had been correct. Une wasn’t
really the fantastic waitress turned manager she played at being. Instead
she was very close to Treize Khushrenada. Very close apparently. Milliardo had come in search of her
because of something that had happened having to do with Treize while she’d
been searching for the other heir to the Peacecraft throne. Une hadn’t
known that the elder and foremost heir had been right under her nose for the
longest possible time. Treize had however. And it was his knowing
of Milliardo’s situation and his in the end refusal to tell his uncle anything
that had concluded with his being locked up. Duke Dermail had not taken his
nephew’s disobedience well. It hadn’t really been disobedience, more so
refusing to share a secret he promised his closest friend he’d keep.
Vaguely similar to her situation with Quatre. Although after listening to
Milliardo speak, Relena suspected that Treize knew a great deal more than she
had ever planned on telling Quatre. It actually sounded as though Treize
had been planning their gaining back of the Cinq Kingdom with Milliardo.
He needed to talk to Une, as she was just as close to Treize (if not more so) as he was. And he needed
her help to break Treize out of the Lake Victoria brig Duke Dermail had
imprisoned him in. They were about to disperse to go in search of Une,
when they found themselves in actual fact confronted with both Une and Heero.
“Heero....Une??” She vaguely
heard herself asking before being interrupted by Milliardo. Although they
were blood kin, there was definitely a certain lack of respect on her brother’s
behalf towards her. The next time they reunited, Relena decided that she
would definitely have to have a little talk with Milliardo about the way he
treated her. After all she was no longer a five year old, and in her own
humble opinion, believed herself to be quite a capable young woman.
Milliardo instead pulled Une
outside the living area of the west wing for a few minutes, explaining to her
the situation with Treize in private. Relena looked around the empty
living area in the west wing realising that Heero was still in the room.
“How do you know Une?” She asked him.
Heero shrugged, his cobalt blue
eyes refusing to meet her own cerulean blue. Relena almost groaned out
loud.... It would have been the perfect time for confessions from both persons,
but Heero was doing his typical ‘keep everything to himself’ act. So the
two of them stood in the large, empty, vacant living area waiting for Une and
Milliardo to return. In silence.
The elder two of the group each
holding closely guarded secrets of their own came back. Une looked quite
a bit distressed. Confused was actually a better way of putting it.
Milliardo glanced at his younger sister. “Une and I have to leave.
We will however, talk at a later date.”
Relena nodded at her brother’s
statement, ignoring the fact that Heero was still in the room. He
obviously had some sort of connection with Une, which would mean that he was to
a certain extent aware of her situation.
They’d have to talk. And if
Heero didn’t want to than that was tough. Because as far as Relena was
concerned they both had some skeletons in the closet that they needed to clear
out.
Bidding her brother and Une goodbye
from a fire exit in the west wing, Relena wondered when exactly the next time
would be when she saw her elder brother. She would not be surprised if
the next time she saw him, they’d be preparing something drastic.
For the time being Relena planned
to concern herself with more domestic things. Turning around, she found
Heero leaning against the corridor’s wall, his face shadowed in the darkness of
the what was still a snow-laden night. It was almost romantic... their being in a deserted, darkened and lit only
by moonlight corridor. Romance however, could be seen to later on.
Because at that moment the two of them needed to talk.
Turning to her hopefully in the
very near future ‘friend’, Relena told Heero the last thing he probably wanted
to hear that evening; “Heero. We have to talk.”
**********
Chapter ends...tbc
Author’s Notes:
As always reviews are asked for and would be much appreciated and
they’ll give me a much needed kick start to put the last chapter of the
Christmas Interlude Part out!
Thanks for reading and reviewing! ^_~ You guys are really
the greatest!
Jooles*