A muffled groan came from an unmoving lump of covers and pillows as it was prodded. The prodder sing-songed, "Wake u~p, baka. You’re going to be late for breakfast."
"Ugh," a moan emerged from the lump. "Don’t wanna... You go ahead, Heero. I’ll sleep in a little more..."
"Fine," the blond boy shook his head, "I’ll never understand how you managed to pass the entrance exams if you didn’t even wake up to *take* them."
A half-hearted, "Go away," was punctuated by a pillow tossed in Heero’s general direction.
The boy laughed. "I’ll see you later. You’d better show up for class this time, or your ‘girlfriend’ will rip your head off."
"Just go away."
Heero smiled as he left the room. Duo was just so cute sometimes.
Duo yawned as he sauntered into his first class, right as the bell rang. He slid into his seat and stretched luxuriously. Then his head was jerked back onto the desk behind him. "And hello to you, too, sweetheart."
"Where were you this morning?"
"Where am I *every* morning?"
"You slept in."
"Yeah, mind letting go?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry." She released her grip on his hair. "We were supposed to hang out, remember?" She laid her head down on her desk. "Well, I guess I should’ve known better than to schedule something with you in the morning. I’ve known you all my life, and I’ve yet to see you get up early in the morning for anything."
Duo rubbed the back of his head, and flipped himself around to see Relena better. "I’m not that bad."
"You’re right. I remember one time you got up early. It was to pour honey in Ukkari-sensei’s briefcase."
Duo grinned, "It was for a good cause." He tousled Relena’s hair affectionately, "He was picking on you."
"And the fact that you didn’t do the homework had no effect on the matter whatsoever, ne?"
"You know me so well."
"A-hem!"
They snapped their heads to the front of the room. Yakimono-sensei was tapping her foot impatiently. "If you two are quite ready, the lesson is about to begin."
"Gomen," the two chorused, then shot equally innocent smiles at the teacher, who ignored them. She was used to their tricks.
Duo was preparing himself for another nice, long nap when he felt Relena smack the back of his head.
"Pay attention," she hissed, "I don't want to have to wait for you because you got stuck on cleaning duty again."
"Hai, hai," Duo made a face at her, but smiled as soon as he saw that she wasn't looking. Sometimes it was nice having his best friend show that she cared for him. He felt another poke to the back of his head with a pencil and sighed.
*Sometimes*.
"Yatta!" Duo cheered as he opened his bentou. "Thanks, Relena! I'm starved! What did you make today?"
"Well, I -- " she was interrupted by the arrival of a boy.
"You wouldn't be so starved if you didn't miss breakfast, you know," Heero slid into a seat next to Duo and carefully placed his tray out of Duo's reach. It didn't help. Relena snagged a piece of his lunch instead of Duo doing so.
"I thought you had band?"
"Manila-sensei told me to get out."
Duo smirked, swiping Heero's drink casually and chugging it down. He stopped in his drinking when the can was half empty. "It was the hair, wasn't it?"
"Something wrong with blonde?" Relena questioned haughtily, throwing her own blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Not at all," Duo admitted, "if you're a natural." His eyes sparkled as he aimed his glance at Heero, "I *told* you that going from a dark brown to platinum was a bad idea."
Heero shrugged nonchalantly. "It was an impulse decision." He snatched his pudding back from Relena, and his drink back from Duo. "Would you two *please* cut this out? Every lunch, you two scarf down my lunch before you even *touch* yours."
"But you can afford it," Relena batted her lashes at Heero, "We're but poor, starving children only here through the kindness of the scholarship committee. You're here on a free ride."
Heero snorted delicately, "Tell me another one, Ms. 'My-Daddy's-A-Diplomat', and Mr. 'My-Guardian-Is-An-Alumni'."
They shrugged simultaneously. "Whatever."
"And speaking of whatever..." Heero jerked his head towards an angry black-haired boy stomping towards their table.
"Kisama..." he started, "How many times do I have to tell you not to tell that fruitcake that I like him? He's been chasing after me all morning! Again!"
Duo widened his eyes. "Why, whatever do you mean?"
The other boy snarled, "That... that... *fruitcake* has been stalking me all day! I'm going to kill you if you don't call him off, Duo."
"What makes you think he'll listen to me?" Duo propped his head on his hand and smiled sweetly at the furious boy in front of him.
Meanwhile, Relena whispered to Heero, "And this is the result of too much hair dye seeping to your brain. You ought to stop it if you don't want to end up like Quatre there."
Heero nodded, smiling in satisfaction that Duo had finally gotten what was coming to him. For the past month, Heero and Duo had had a running bet about two people in their dormitory, Quatre and another boy. Duo would try and persuade the other boy each morning that Quatre had been looking for him, and off the boy went to chase after Quatre. Not that he needed much convincing, the boy had a hopeless crush on the dark and dangerous Quatre.
Heero would then try and make Quatre go on wild goose chases around the campus, therefore avoiding his stalker. The terms were full-body contact, in sight of one or the both of them. If Quatre got away, Duo'd do Heero's homework for the day. If Duo lost, he'd do Heero's. So far, Duo had been on a straight winning streak. *Every* day for the past month, Heero would lose! But now... Duo would have to do *his* homework from now on, since Quatre was *finally* threatening Duo instead of just telling him to call the bet off{not that he knew about the bet. All that he knew was that Duo had apparently gone completely insane to keep harassing him like that}. Duo could hardly keep sending -- to use Quatre's word -- the *fruitcake* after him. He'd get the crap beaten out of him then.
Relena just kept on snitching at Heero's lunch. She figured that Duo would talk his way out of his mess soon enough, and if not... Well, there was no use in letting a perfectly good lunch go to waste.
Quatre stalked closer to a now smirking Duo. "Kisama, what are *you* so happy about?!"
"Heero's going to do my bio lab today. In fact, he's gonna do *all* my work today."
"Huh?"
"5... 4... 3... 2... -- " the sound of a glomp muffled Duo's "...1. We have contact."
"Qua~tre-cha~n!" A taller boy purred, rubbing his face on the back of Quatre's leather jacket. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
A strange feeling overcame Quatre. Now, normally, he was a brave man. He was tough, he was macho, and he was manly, in all sense of the words. He was a Man amongst men. But when faced with the persistent, devoted attention of this boy...
Quatre did the only thing he could do, the only thing he could ever do. "Aaaiiieeeee!!!" he screeched, taking off in a panic-induced run, trying to shake off his admirer. His inability not to only fueled his terror-stricken flight.
Relena finished the last of Heero's pudding calmly. "Anybody else think that Quatre might not like this little bet of yours?"
Duo merely laughed, "I expect an A on my report, Heero."
"Shut up," Heero pouted. He toyed with a strand of his hair absently, "This sucks. I thought that Quatre would finally get away from Wufei today."
"Shh!" Duo hissed. "We don't want to get caught sneaking out again."
"If Heero didn't tromp around so noisily," Relena whispered back heatedly, "then we wouldn't have gotten caught the last time, so don't tell *me* to 'shh', tell *him*!"
"Well, *sooo~ooory* if I'm not little Mr./Ms. Action-Ninja like you two!"
"Just shut up!" Duo hissed again. He peeked cautiously around the corner. "All right, the coast is clear."
The three of them tiptoed out the dormitory.
"Almost home-free!" Heero exulted, doing a little dance.
"Yatta!" Relena joined hands with him. "We can finally see Trowa in person!"
A throat clearing itself interrupted their festivities. "And where do you three think you're going?"
Duo 'eeped!' and spun around to see...
...Quatre glaring at them.
"Oh, it's only you. We're going to a club to see a singer."
"The Trowa gig?"
"Yeah, wanna come?"
Quatre snorted, "I was already on my way there when I saw those two capering around like demented little monkeys."
Heero and Relena would've been offended. It weren't true. As it was, they merely sweatdropped and joined the other two.
Duo laughed. "We can go together then," he offered cheerfully.
Quatre opened his mouth to refuse when...
"Quuu~aaaatreee~ee-chaaa~aaan!!"
...fear flashed in his eyes, and he grabbed hold of Duo's arm and took off, leaving behind a dust cloud. Relena and Heero were left to ran frantically behind them.
Wufei trotted up, and pouted. "Now where did he go?"
"This is great!" Duo said enthusiastically as he jumped in time to the music. Relena eagerly drained her Kahlua, Heero casually watched the people, and Quatre's eyes darted around nervously, scanning the crowd. He just *knew* that the fruitcake had followed him and was just *waiting* for the chance to pounce on him.
"Duo!" A voice pierced through the crowd. Several heads whipped towards the caller, then shrugged as soon as they realized they didn't know him. "How've you been, man?" The boy slapped Duo on the back.
"I've been fine," Duo caught Quatre's eyes and smirked deliberately, "Wufei. How've you been?"
Quatre's eyes widened in involuntary -- conditioned -- alarm, before he narrowed them. ~Wrong Wufei,~ he chided himself. ~Your Wufei is a crazed fruitcake. This one...~ he looked over the boy. ~This one *seems* normal enough. But whoever heard of fuchsia hair?~ Well, he'd seen stranger. ~Yeah, like *purple* hair is really natural. For that matter, neither is blue hair! I wonder where -- ~
His thoughts were interrupted by another greeting. "Q-ball!"
"Don't call me that," he growled automatically, then he got a look at who was standing in front of him. "Trowa!"
Once more, several heads whipped in their direction, then whipped back to what they were doing. Wasn't any of their business what happened in that corner.
"Trowa?" Relena squealed ecstatically, then got a good look at the individual standing in front of them. Hm, maybe she should try dyeing her hair to that shade of red as well... She then turned her attention to the dance floor. Her eyes lingered over a slender girl weaving through the crowd gracefully, her long hair swinging back and forth smoothly. Relena briefly considered going up to her, when she was joined by a short-haired boy. "...you are, Dorothy!" The recent arrival grabbed the girl's elbow, and steered her towards a crowded table. She sighed in regret as her view of the interesting girl was blocked. Well, maybe she could hunt her down later.
Suddenly, the room was plunged into darkness, and wild strobing lights flashed in and out dramatically while a single body cloaked in a dark cape made their entrance on the stage. An arm was flung up, and the cheered, the sound reverberating in the room. The person acknowledged the adulation through a dazzling smile, and a coy flip of the hair. "All right, people! Let's get this show started!" Their emerald green eyes twinkled, and the dark cloak was ripped off, revealing... well, a *revealing* velvet green bodysuit with multiple, strategic cutouts.
Duo almost visibly drooled at the sight of so much bare flesh, and Heero frowned slightly as he threw Duo an annoyed glance. Duo was standing behind him, so he was therefore almost drooling on *him*. Relena just accepted the fact that Trowa, or "T-chan" as the performer liked to be called, would inevitably find a way to practically parade around buck-naked in a show. Relena disliked the sheer, gratuitous fan service, but she loved the music, so she just ignored the act. Quatre not so visibly drooled, and Duo's friend sat stoically through the whole thing. Quatre's friend had just passed out, blood trickling from his left nostril.
Up on the stage, "T-chan" was enthusiastically jumping up and down while singing. Duo's eyes never left the enticing -- almost hypnotizing -- sight. Up, and down. Up, and down. Up, and -- BLAM! "It~ai!!!" he growled. He glared at Heero, "What the fuck did you hit me for?"
Heero glared back, sniffing, "Baka! Don't stand behind me! You're practically drowning me here!"
"Why you -- !"
A minor tussle would have broken out, but it was stopped by an angry Quatre knocking them to the ground and stomping on both their heads. "SHUT UP!"
They shut up.
Meanwhile, Trowa smirked through the song. This was the best performance yet. Not even a quarter of the way through the first song, and already a fight had broken out. ~Because of the fabulous me!~ was the triumphant mental crowing. ~Still, I can't blame them. Who *wouldn't* want me?~ And with that thought firmly in mind, Trowa spun and bounced and swayed her way through the rest of the gig, her long green hair twirling in time to her movements.
Duo was rubbing his head painfully -- muttering obscenities under his breath -- but he still continued ogling the girl on stage. Heero had whipped out a mirror and was fussing over his hair, smoothing the front section of his bangs worriedly. Duo had managed to sneak a peek of his own hair before Heero had snatched it away, saying that he needed it more. That was fine, Heero could fuss all he wanted. Duo had already seen that his vibrant purple locks were still spiked nicely. That was an advantage of having extremely short hair, no muss, no fuss. ~Unlike certain idiots who insist on long hair...~ he thought, shooting Heero an exasperated -- brief -- glance. He scooted away from Heero, then his head whipped back on stage, fixated once more on every movement the well-endowed girl was making. Where was he again before the fight broke out? Oh, yes. Up, and down, and up, and down, and up, and down...
Duo's friend nodded in time to the music. Quatre's friend was still passed out.
Where was Quatre himself? Running through the club for his life. Or at least his sanity. Wait, that was long gone. His virtue then. "Duuu~uuuu~oooo!!!" was the constant shriek that came from his mouth, "I'm going to kill yoo~uu!!!" Once again, he was fleeing from his overly ardent -- *very* unwanted -- admirer.
"Qua~tre-cha~n!" The aforementioned blue-haired boy giggled happily. Wufei almost skipped merrily as he pursued the frantically trying-to-escape black-haired boy. They wove their way madly in and out of the crowd, "playing" their own psychotic little version of tag.
Duo was still drooling over Trowa.
Heero was now making little braids in his knee-length hair.
Quatre was still running.
Wufei was still chasing Quatre.
Relena just ignored the antics of the various idiots she had come with. Now why was she friends with them again? Not finding a suitable answer, she just focused her attention on the music.
"...and finally, the most popular names chosen for newborns in this peaceful era come from the most important figures of the past few centuries. These people paved the way for Absolute Pacifism. These six individuals will have their names remembered through the rest of time for their great deeds: