@)~~>>~~ * ~~<<~~(@

Relena Darlian tapped her pencil absently against the open notebook in front of her. Her eyes stared at the neat row of numbers she had written down, but her mind was not focused on them. No, Relena was preoccupied with thinking about a certain mysterious boy she had just met. ~I don’t even know his name...~ she thought. Yet... something about him had caught her attention. Maybe it was because he was something different from her normal routine. Maybe it was because he had been so darkly handsome; intense Prussian blue eyes snapping coldly from over a hand placed too late over his finely featured face...

Or maybe... maybe it was just the simple fact that he reminded her of a wounded animal, radiating hostility to cover up their pain... She had never been one to turn her back on someone who needed her.

She looked up as she heard the murmuring of the other students diminish. The teacher must be coming back since the talking stop, and she was proven right as a slender youth followed the familiar form of their teacher. Relena’s eyes widened as she recognized the slightly sullen figure standing in front of the room. It was him... that boy... She watched intently as the teacher encouraged the boy to introduce himself. ~I can finally find out who you are. This won’t be like before, not if I can help it.[1]~

"Heero Yuy," he supplied shortly. He sat down next to her at the teacher’s order, and Relena smiled at him in welcome. Somehow, she was not surprised when Heero merely looked at her coolly for a moment before turning his attention away. Relena sighed. If she wanted to help Heero... if she wanted him to help *her*, then she would have to get to know him. But how in the world was she supposed to do that when it seemed that he did not want to get to know her, too?

@)~~>>~~ * ~~<<~~(@

Relena hesitantly eyed the pristine white card in her hand. She knew that trying to invite Heero Yuy to her birthday party was a risky venture, but she did not know what else to do. Her friendly smiles and attempts to talk to him were continually met by a cold silence. Relena closed her eyes briefly, absently tapping the invitation against her hand. She had never known a greater challenge in her short life. Everything had always gone, if not smoothly, then adequately in her life, but now... now there was a stumbling block in the middle of the path and he was not budging.

Heero Yuy had rapidly become one of her main priorities, if only for the fact that he would *not* even acknowledge her. Even her perpetually busy father knew she was alive, at least, Relena reflected with a wry twist of her pink-glossed lips. Before Heero, her top goal was to get her father to spend more time with her. Ever since Heero’s appearance, however, Relena admitted that her fascination with the dark-haired youth had superseded her desire to be with her father. ~Maybe I really did just need to get a hobby, as Mother suggested.~

"Relena-sama!" a bright voice chirped, interrupting the pensive blonde’s thoughts.

Relena pasted a polite smile on her face. "Ohayo, Sayuri-san," she said softly. She watched with dismay as the rest of her coterie quickly came to join the beaming redhead in front of her. They greeted Relena with the same high, cheery manner as the first girl. She courteously echoed similar sentiments, all the while keeping her reserved smile in place.

"What are you doing, Relena-sama?" Sayuri asked.

Relena was reluctant to reveal her intentions, but she was not about to lie. "I... was thinking about inviting Heero to my birthday party," she admitted, hoping that the group would get the message and leave her alone. Unfortunately, they took it the wrong way.

"Oh!" Sayuri said with wide eyes. She peered around Relena’s shoulder curiously and Relena knew that she saw Heero beyond the slightly open rooftop door. She turned to look herself and sighed. His back was rigid and even with the distance between him and the group, Relena knew that Heero had heard every word they had exchanged. She had hoped that her hand would not be forced, but it seemed that she had no choice if she wanted Heero to receive her invitation right then. Relena surreptitiously took a deep breath and approached Heero.

By the time she got within a few feet of him, Heero had already tuned around and was warily watching her close in. Relena felt her perfunctory smile soften and she handed the invitation to Heero. "I want you to come to my birthday party," she said simply and took a step back. She winced inside when she heard the girls behind her clap enthusiastically. ~All I did was invite a potentially hostile boy to my party, that’s nothing to applaud about.~

Relena focused her attention on Heero once more, just in time to see him rip her invitation in half and let the pieces flutter to the ground.

Suddenly, all the frustration and anger she felt about Heero’s obstinate refusal to open up hit her in that moment and tears rose in her eyes. "Hidoi," she complained softly, trying to stop her furious tears from falling. She half-glared at Heero as he closed in and wiped her tears away.

"Omae wo korosu," he threatened in an undertone as he passed her.

Relena’s eyes widened involuntarily and her tears slowed in their appearance. She clenched her fists at her sides and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She was practically shaking with the amount of anger she felt. All she had wanted to do was help Heero, and he responded with a death threat? Her cornflower blue eyes snapped open and she murmured to herself, "He just made things harder for himself."

Relena kept herself from stalking away with some effort. Her fan club cooed and offered their sympathies, and Relena accepted them with a strained smile. ~Oh, he just made things *very* difficult for himself.~

@)~~>>~~ * ~~<<~~(@

Relena eyed the boy sitting next to her. He was currently preoccupied in efficiently completing the problems assigned by the teacher. Relena analytically observed the way Heero would methodically process the information, then whip out an answer quickly. ~He acts on his instinct. What would it take to get him to act on mine?~

[1] Refers to Relena’s Episode Zero.

Back to the fanfics page. ^_^
Send comments to: denised@idmail.com

---

2/21/00