The Shoot  (Part 6)

"Hojo! Where are you taking me?" Umbrella-shaped trees with gnarled trunks surrounded them, leaves forming a continuous canopy that screened out much of the evening sunlight. They had reached a piece of forested land at the edge of the school compound. There was no third soul in sight.

Duo had mixed feelings about this confrontation with Heero. He was not so obtuse as to miss seeing the beast-strong emotions pulsating in Heero's eyes when the Japanese pilot held him a moment ago. He had wanted to run away from Heero then – the situation was getting extremely 'sticky' and he hadn't a clue on how to settle the problem. Maybe it would have been better for him to reveal himself. And less cruel to Heero too. As Duo was considering this course of action, Heero stopped walking and faced him once again. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The mating calls of crickets echoed in the woods, occasionally punctuated with the sound of squirrels scampering from branch to branch.

It felt like an eternity before Heero broke the silence, his cool-as-a-winter's-night voice contradicting with the warm glow in his eyes. "Katherine." Duo gulped down the lump in his throat. "How will you respond if I say I care a lot about you?"

Heero could not have been more unromantic. Nevertheless, Duo'd heartbeat still shot up to a suffocating rate. This is ridiculous! We're supposed to be on an important mission and here we are, falling in love with each other ..... No! No! No! A stubborn part of Duo's mind was still in denial. Heero was in love with Katherine Kane. Not Duo Maxwell! This whole misunderstanding was just the regrettable result of a joke gone too far. It was time to put an end to all this craziness once and for all. To hell with the dangers of being labelled as a sissy and being pulverized by Heero.

"Hee.... Hojo...." Duo had wanted to call out Heero's name. His brain, however, refused to cooperate. Why am I so afraid to let him know the truth? Was it because he didn't have the heart to shatter Heero's illusions about this non-existent character called Katherine Kane? If Heero was still his old, statue-like self, Duo would have no qualms about shocking him with the revelation of Katherine Kane and Duo Maxwell being the same person. However, Heero was anything but his old self. He had become undeniably human - hot blood, warm flesh and tender kiss. Very much unlike the ice-cold, rock-hard boy he was used to. He could not imagine how Heero would react upon learning the truth. Most likely he'll kill me .... and enjoy every second of the process. Duo shuddered, an icicle travelling down his spine. Hopefully, he could end this confrontation without ever letting Heero know. Heero did not need to know - Katherine Kane would disappear from the school just as suddenly as she had appeared. His three weeks were nearly up anyway.

Duo hardened his heart and worked his cheek muscles to form the most scornful and mocking countenance. "I'll laugh in your face and walk away."

"Katherine, I'm serious."

"Who says I'm joking? I don't need the emotional burdens of an infatuated fool." Duo could not bring himself to look into Heero’s eyes.

"What I feel for you is definitely not infatuation."

"You don't call it infatuation? We have hardly met more than three times! How much do you know about me? And I know close to nothing about you!" Has Heero forgotten that he is a Gundam pilot who can’t possibly afford to have normal human relationships? What does he plan to do once he gets his next mission? Cast Katherine off like a pair of worn out shoes?

"I know everything about you."

If there was any wind in the forest, Duo would have been knocked off his feet. Could Heero have known all along?! He was seized by an emotion that was part fear and part .... delight. "What do you know?" rasped Duo, a slight tremor in his voice.

As if reciting from memory, Heero rattled on about every single detail of Duo's false identity - Katherine Kane's birthday, her family background, the names of the foster parents currently taking care of her, the schools she used to attend and even her medical allergies. It did not take long for Duo to figure out that Heero had been using his hacking skills to find information that had nothing to do with his mission. Duo had never talked much about Katherine's past since his entry into the school - so Heero could not possibly have known through hear-say. It was more of a shock than a surprise to discover Heero compromising precious mission time on trivial matters such as this. Maybe Heero does not consider this to be a trivial matter. Duo's purposefully numbed heart was starting to ache.

Duo let out a harsh, bitter laugh. He could not help it. It was such an amusing paradox - Heero knowing everything and nothing about Katherine Kane at the same time. It was just so damned funny. Duo's laughter did not hold any mirth.

Heero was gazing at him perplexedly. "Why are you laughing?"

Duo drew breath in between laughs to break a reply. "Because I want to. You got a problem with that?"

Heero waited patiently for Duo's near-hysterical laughter to die away. "You still don't believe that I'm serious about you, do you?" Duo made no answer, his sore diaphragm made it difficult for him to talk.  Duo turned his face away from the hurt look on Heero's face. An optical illusion. Duo reassured himself without conviction. Rocks do not feel anything. "Katherine, look at me." Rocks do not ....

"Katherine!" Duo's shoulders were once more hostages of Heero's searing hands. Duo had no choice but to face those intense eyes again. "I know I'm not good at words. I can't even let you know half the things I want to tell you. I ..." Heero stopped in mid-sentence, evidently at a loss of words to express himself. Just as Duo was deciding whether or not to break free and flee, Heero lifted his right hand and slid something cool around one of his fingers. It was a ring - a circular, silvery band set with a multi-faceted sapphire gemstone. Duo silently stared at the ornament on his finger in disbelief. Heero was serious. Very serious.

"I want you to keep this." Heero cleared his throat before continuing. "You know what the ring means. I don't need your reply immediately. Just keep it with you. It is a token of my lo... my.... uh..." After a few more failed attempts to complete his sentence, Heero gave up and kept quiet. Silence resumed its reign in the forest.

The ache in Duo's heart became worse. He was smitten by Heero's affection for Katherine Kane. Not Duo Maxwell. Heero never had a kind word for Duo Maxwell. In the past, Heero made him feel lower than a snake's navel .... if snakes ever had navels. His bubbly exuberance was always held in check by Heero's solemnity. Every time he tried to crack a joke to lighten the mood, Heero would impale him with a cold glare or worse yet, a cutting remark. Duo had masked his pain and injured feelings behind silly grins and smiling eyes; at the same time trying to convince himself that words would never hurt him. But they did hurt him, and hurt him a great deal.

"You can have my reply now." With Heero's eyes trained on him, Duo removed the ring on his finger and threw it on the leaf-carpeted floor. He raised a foot and stamped on it savagely.

Heero's entire body convulsed as if Duo's heeled shoe was stepping on his heart instead of his ring. His voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "Why? You said yesterday that you don't hate me." It was amazing that Heero could still speak so detachedly.

"I don't hate chocolate cakes too. Shall I get betrothed to food too?" It was even more amazing that Duo could crack a joke, however lame, at a time like this. Duo hated himself for doing this to Heero. "Please don't approach me again in future. Do I have your promise on this?"

"Kathe......."

"Do I have your promise?" repeated Duo, louder this time.

They exchanged heated glances while the air crackled with tension around them. Finally, Heero nodded. "If that is your wish." His voice sounded hollow, like an empty husk. A cloud of gloom seemed to have settled on the boy, transforming him into the old, emotionless Heero Yuy. He walked away without another word or a backward glance.

Only when Duo was sure that Heero had stepped out of the boundaries of sight and sound did he collapse on the ground. His hands sought the sapphire ring and put it back on his naked finger. It would serve to remind him that Heero's heart once belonged to him. Not Duo Maxwell. Duo felt like laughing again.

* * * * * *

Heero's heart felt as if it was skewered by a thousand pins. The pain caused by Relena's cold attitude towards him was nothing compared to the pain caused by Katherine's simple rejection. It was his fault. He had bared his heart, made himself vulnerable and gave Katherine the knife to cut it into pieces. This was what his past mentors had warned him about; and he had foolishly ignored their teachings. His emotions were like a reservoir, formed by a dam of concrete self-control. Somehow, Katherine had managed to breach all his carefully-structured defenses and break that dam, causing his emotions to gush out in a torrent. It was impossible for him to recall it back.

Heero felt lethargic and drained, as if the sheer emotional load had sapped his strength. The day - which had appeared very bright and sunny a moment ago - suddenly seemed so bleak to his eyes. Heero took comfort in the thought that the weather in the physical world reflected the one in his heart.

* * * * * *

As Duo was making his way back to his room in the dormitory, he could not stop pondering about his own feelings towards Heero. Duo realized that somewhere along the line, the fear of exposure of his real identity was no longer due to shame or the fear of what Heero would do to him. True, there had been a constant fear lurking in his mind ever since Heero started to reveal his human side to Katherine - the fear that he would no longer be the recipient of Heero's care and concern once Heero found out the truth. He wanted to see Heero's smile again .... What is wrong with me?! Duo unlocked his door and stepped into his room.

If Duo had not been so emotionally troubled, his instincts would have alerted him to the fact that he was not alone in his room before he even closed the door behind him. The pitch-black figure which was standing still in a corner of the dark room made its presence known by letting out a polite cough. Duo froze, his hand hovering over the light switch. Who ....? He distinctly remembered locking his door before he left in the morning. The intruder could not possibly be friendly. Duo had hidden his pistol underneath a pile of clothes in the cupboard. Too late to get that now. His unwelcomed visitor should have spent enough time in the room to adjust to the darkness - meaning that he had no chance of escape if the intruder was holding a gun and ill intentions. And he had hesitated too long to consider bolting out of the room. So that only left the option of switching on the lights. If he was fast enough, he could use the time required for the intruder's eyes to get used to the sudden brightness to jump for cover behind the writing desk. Duo bent his knees slightly in preparation to sprint.

"Don't get so tensed up. I have come unarmed," said a voice that was somewhere in between tenor and baritone. Duo could not recognize the owner of that voice. "What are you waiting for? Switch on the lights and we'll talk." Thinking that he might have overreacted a little, Duo flicked the switch. Light from the fluorescent lamps on the ceiling flooded the room. Duo drew in a deep breath.

The mysterious intruder was Shang. But why would he ....?

As if reading the question from Duo's expression, Shang replied, "I’ve come so that we can talk. In private." From Shang's tone of voice, it would seem that the boy regarded his actions - breaking into a girl's room in the middle of the night - as totally justifiable in the face of his purpose.

While recovering from his shock and puzzlement, Duo snapped, "In case you have forgotten, this is a girl's dormitory. Strictly out of bounds to boys. I suggest you scram before I summon the warden who has a reputation of flaying male trespassers alive."

Shang's expression did not change. "You can do that." Shang's lips curled to form a ghost of an amused smile. "But the warden will find two males here instead of one."

Duo started. What does he mean by that last statement? His eyes quickly scanned the room for more intruders.

"You can stop pretending now. I know everything about you - who you really are and what you are doing in this school." There was a serious sense of deja vu here. "Does the name 'Gundam' ring a bell to you?"

Duo's heart nearly stopped beating. "I don't know what you’re talking about."

Shang started to walk slowly towards Duo in small strides. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation another time. If you want to carry on acting as 'Katherine Kane', there is nothing I can do to stop you. However, I tire of this deceit." Shang tossed something at Duo which he snatched from mid-air. Duo opened his palm, revealing a pair intricately-carved golden ear rings. He recognized  the ear rings to be the ones that had never left Laila's earlobes. A chill gripped Duo's heart.

The smile on Shang's face was more obvious this time. "I see that you recognize it. If you care about the safety of the two girls concerned, meet me on the roof of the school administration block tomorrow night at eight o' clock. Alone."

Duo's eyes did not leave the pair of ear rings even as Shang walked past him and out of the room. His hand began to tremble. Who was Shang? And why was he doing this? Duo had no answers to those questions.

                                                                                                                             < To Part 7 >