Author: Sorceress Fantasia
Warnings: Fluff, some humour, nice Hilde, OOC-ness
Rating: PG
Pairings: 1+2
Archives: Lev's Lair, Fanfiction.net, MediaMiner. Anyone else, just ask. ^^
Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to, I don't own any of the GW boys. I think I scared them all away. ^^; Luckily, this little piece of ficcy can't run because it hasn't got legs, so yea, I own it.
Dedicated to: This fic is dedicated to everyone to asked me for sequels to the first fic. Hope you'll all like it. ^^
Thanx to Duo-chan for the beta job! ^^
Maybe There Really is Someone
Heero counted the bills. $30 exactly. With a smirk, he slid the notes into his wallet.
"Geez! How do you always predict the scores correctly!?" Edward groaned, watching his money disappear into Heero's wallet. Again. "You always win our bets!"
"That's because I study the players and the teams' overall performance. By calculating the..."
"My god... You managed to turn a soccer game into math! I don't even want to know how you do it!"
The Japanese boy shrugged, and picked up his backpack. Now with this extra money, he could take Duo out for a movie. After all, he had no use for all the cash and Duo had been complaining about the busy week and how he wanted to relax for the weekend. A movie would do him some good. At least, he'd be able to get Duo's incessant whining off his back.
With a wave of his hand and a curt 'goodbye' to his classmate, Heero left the classroom and headed for the lockers where he knew Duo and Hilde would be.
*****
"What do you mean you can't come?" Duo frowned deeply, arms crossed. "We've been talking about it for the whole week!"
"I'm sorry, Duo!" Hilde peeked at her friend from under her bangs, hands clasped together as though she were praying. "But you know how things crop up! It's not my fault if the teacher decides that she wants extra lessons with me!"
Duo seemed deflated at that. "I know... But... I've been looking forward to a nice movie for the whole week! Especially when this week's been filled with various tests and school projects!" He sighed, pushing his books into his locker. When they threatened to tumble off, he stuffed his textbooks with a frustrated punch.
Hilde pouted, and gently pushed Duo away from his locker. "You don't have to get mad at your books. I'll help you tidy it up in a jiffy! And about that movie... I promise I'll watch it with you. Tomorrow?" She asked, locking up Duo's locker.
"I'm busy tomorrow. I promised I'd help Jia En with her homework."
"Jia En? That Chinese girl who just transferred here a week ago? You know her?"
"Yeah. We have the same English class."
"Oh. Then... what about the day after tomorrow? Wait, I've got a date on that day." Hilde muttered sheepishly. Quickly, she thought about her schedule, hoping to find an empty slot for the movie. However, she could find none. Just as she was running out of options, she spied Heero coming towards them.
"I know!" She cried out jubilantly, like she had just found a cure for some incurable disease. Before Heero knew what was happening, Hilde had grabbed hold of his arm and proceeded to drag him all the way to Duo. "Heero can go with you!"
"What?" Heero asked, obviously confused.
Duo snapped his fingers. "You're right, Hilde!"
"What's right?"
"Hey Heero, you free this afternoon? I wanna go catch a movie."
"What about Hilde?"
"She was supposed to go with me but something cropped up suddenly. Pretty please, Heero?" Duo batted his doe eyes. He knew just how much Heero couldn't resist that. Every time he wanted something from his friend, he just had to put on the doe act and Heero would buy his story hook, line and sinker.
Hilde sniggered behind her hand. From her observations, she knew that it was actually pretty hard for Heero to deny Duo anything, especially small favours like this, but Duo just never seemed to notice. Instead, he stuck to his doe eye act, a remnant of his wartime behavior. She vaguely remembered Duo telling her how he had won Heero's approval for the first time to go clubbing during one of their joint missions with his doe eyes, and it probably became tradition. Sigh... the boys were just too cute for their own good. And just to push them along...
She reached into her purse and dug out a ten-dollar bill. "Here. I know you don't like to waste money on such things, Heero, so I'll pay for your ticket. Now go watch a movie with Duo! I gotta go! Bye Duo! Bye Heero!" She waved, and scampered off for her extra lesson. She'd have to ask Duo for all the juicy details of their date later.
Heero turned to Duo, who was still batting his eyes. With a grin, he flicked Duo's forehead playfully. "Stop that. Only Relena does that."
"Oh please don't remind me," Duo groaned, rubbing the spot on his forehead Heero had abused. "So, are you coming with me? I really, really, really want to watch a movie..."
"You know, I had just won $30 from Edward for winning a bet with him."
Duo blinked. He didn't know Heero Yuy gambled. Oh well. People change, and that included the perfect soldier. "So?"
"I recalled you whining..."
"Hey! I do not whine!"
Heero ignored him and continued, "...about wanting to relax this weekend after a whole week of tests. So I thought we could go catch a movie with the money I'd just won. I was just about to ask you when Hilde dragged me over."
His jaws dropped, but Duo regained his composure fairly quickly. "Really? You know... I'm starting to think that we've tuned our minds to the same frequency. Lately, we've been thinking about the same things at nearly the same time." Coincidences were occurring so frequently between him and Heero that it was starting to creep him out a bit. Then again, out of so many people in the entire world, there had to be another guy who wanted to catch a movie! It just so happened that the 'another guy' was Heero.
"Maybe we've just gotten use to each other. Anyway, you up for a movie now?"
"Definitely! Let's go!"
*****
Duo peered around the cinema, movies poster stuck on every wall and pillar. He and Heero had decided to choose a movie each so as to narrow down the choices, and they would pick one of the two. If both were adamant about watching the movie they chose, then they would watch both movies.
After a moment of heated debate within his mind, Duo had made his choice. He glanced at Heero, who gave him a nod in return indicating that he too, had decided. Duo grinned; it felt like some final showdown. He laughed at himself, certain that he was the only person in the whole wide world who would deem such a trivial matter to be so important. Then again, maybe he wasn't the only one. After all, out of the entire world population, there had to be another wacko like him!
With another sideward glance, the two decided to make their choices known to the other at the same time.
"That one!" They chorused, and turned to stare at the other in shock. Blinking, they started laughing together.
"Well, that solves our problem, doesn't it?" Duo chuckled cheekily.
Heero nodded. "Absolutely. I'll go buy the tickets, and you," he handed Duo a ten-dollar bill, "can go get us some snacks for the movie."
"Okay!"
Heero felt a smile tug at his lips as the braided bundle bounded over to the snacks counter. With an amused shake of his head, he turned and headed for the tickets. As he waited patiently in the queue, a sudden thought occurred to him. It seemed that lately, more often than not, he and Duo seemed to be doing a lot of the same things. Just a week ago, they had spent an entire night and morning doing almost the same things! Like both eating slightly burnt eggs and a cup of coffee for breakfast... calling the other at the same time... Nothing could be so coincidental! So what was it? What was the reason behind such... coincidence?
Was Duo reading his mind? Maybe he had somehow rubbed off Quatre's space heart. But if Duo were psychic, he would have told him long ago. After all, it was well known knowledge that Duo Maxwell never kept a secret from Heero Yuy! So no, that was probably not the answer.
Or was Duo simply lying to him? For the sake of playing a prank on him by letting him think that he was a psychic? But Heero had not been the victim of a Duo Maxwell prank for ages now, after he had reacted rather violently over one during the war. And most importantly, Duo Maxwell never lied. He ran, he hid, but he never, ever lied. Heero trusted him that much.
So maybe... it was just all coincidence. Still, it was too much of a coincidence. Oh, he was well aware of the fact that there was always someone out there doing the same thing you were doing. But hey, it never occurred to him that that 'someone out there' could be so close to him...
*****
As he queued up for the snacks, Duo was having the same thoughts. It was simply too much of a coincidence to be doing the same things and having the same thoughts as Heero so frequently.
Maybe Heero was psychic and could read his mind. It was a possibility, what with all the things the Zero system was capable of. Then again, Heero didn't seem like the kind who would resort to such unscientific things. He always based everything on solid, tangible proof. It was unlikely that he'd believe in psychic powers.
Duo ruled out Heero lying immediately. There was nothing to gain from lying about this sort of thing anyway. Besides, he didn't think for a moment that Heero would lie to him over such a petty issue.
Or perhaps Hilde was right. The higher ups just thought it was fun to see the two of them doing the same things at the same time.
Duo shrugged. It didn't really matter actually, nor did it bother him a whole lot. In fact, he liked the idea that there was someone out there just like him. That idea was made sweeter by the fact that that someone was none other than Heero Yuy, his best buddy in the whole world.
Getting his orders quickly, he walked back to the ticket booth to find his friend.
*****
Duo stretched his body; even though he had sat inside Deathscythe's cockpit for many long hours during the war, he still found it uncomfortable to sit in a small space for long periods of time. Even if it was only 2 hours. Feeling slightly better, he followed Heero out of the theatre.
"So... what did you think of the movie?" He asked, throwing the now empty paper cup into the trashcan.
Heero thought for a moment. "Pretty okay. But the main character lacked the finesse needed for his role. And..."
"The explosions weren't realistic enough." Duo finished for him.
"Right," Heero answered, and a thought immediately struck him. Duo had just finished his sentence. If Hilde were here with them, she'd be so thrilled, claiming that they're doing that couple thing. Again. Damn those girl magazines she reads! Maybe he should go steal them or something. Heero pouted inwardly, a little irked by the fact that Hilde's accusations were throwing him off balance. If Duo somehow got the idea that he liked him too soon, he might try avoiding him. Or maybe he should hope that Hilde's incessant hinting would wake Duo to the idea of how much he liked him, and perhaps Duo would return those feelings. Then again, if Duo didn't return the feelings, it would be bad because then Duo might avoid him. Gee, his thoughts were running in circles. Better stop the train of thought. So he asked, "So, did you like it?"
"Mm? It was a pretty okay film, but it could have been better. Still... thanks for the movie, Heero!" Duo flashed a grateful smile at his companion. Then, he realized what he had just done. He had finished Heero's sentence. And he assumed that what he said was pretty accurate, because Heero had offered no correction. Duo slapped his forehead mentally, silently hoping that Hilde would not find out about this. If she did find out, she'd be so excited for them, claiming that they were doing that couple thing again. It wasn't that he didn't like Heero, but it was embarrassing for both of them.
"Well, it's late now. Why don't we go for dinner together? My treat this time."
Heero nodded. It was only fair. "Where?"
"You can choose."
"Fine. Then let's go to the Japanese restaurant downstairs. I feel like having sushi now."
"Sure," Duo answered, deciding that maybe it was a bad idea to let Heero choose. He wasn't sure if his wallet could handle all the sushi and sashimi the two of them would no doubt finish. From experience, he knew just how much they ate. It was probably a consequence of the war; you ate as much as you could because you didn't know when the next meal was coming, or if you even had ability to eat a next meal.
"Don't worry. If you can't afford it, I can pay for it first. Or we can go Dutch."
"You know me so well..."
Heero grinned. "Of course. Who else would I know better?"
As his companion headed for the escalator, Duo blinked. If he didn't know Heero, he would say that he was hitting on him. Or maybe he was just thinking too much about it. Snapping out of his trance by a loud holler of his name, he hurried after his friend.
*****
"What would you like, sirs?" A waitress asked pleasantly, pen ready to scribble down their orders.
"The unagi [1] set please." They spoke in unison again, and they blinked at each other. A thought ran through their minds simultaneously. 'Again?'
The waitress bit back a laugh. Couples that were just dating usually didn't like others pointing out how cute a picture they made; it apparently made them nervous. So she professionally wrote down the orders and asked, "Anything else, sirs?" She looked at the two, who were alternately gazing at the menus and at each other, and she held back the urge to swoon. They were so cute she could hardly resist!
Duo peered at Heero under his bangs as he pretended to read his copy of the menu. It was so strange, but Heero seemed to be mimicking his every thought. Maybe not every one of them, but still... It felt like they were playing 'Guess what Duo's thinking', and Heero was the top scorer.
'Don't tell me Hilde was right. That this 'mimicking each other's thoughts and actions' is part of the 'becoming a couple' symptom. If that's the case, then doesn't that mean that me and Heero are gonna... My god.' He frowned at that thought, and decided that maybe he should just study the menu instead. He glanced down.
Heero peeked at Duo, hands still holding his menu. It was at least the third time it happened this day. They were definitely tuned to the same frequency, and ordering the same set meal was just the newest piece of evidence. Something was going very wrong today...
'...Or maybe things are going very right. Hilde said that this 'mimicking each other's thoughts and actions' is part of the 'becoming a couple' symptom. If it's real, then that means that Duo likes me... that way. Not just the 'buddy, I love you' way, but that way.' He blushed at that thought, and decided that he should just examine the menu again. He looked down.
"Sirs? Do you want anything else?" The waitress asked, after a moment of hesitation. It was so wicked to break that little moment between the couple, but the manager would have her ass fired if she continued to stand there like she was going to vegetate.
Her inquiry seemed to surprise both of them, and they set their menus down at the same time. "One sushi set B please!"
Heero and Duo blinked again.
The waitress calmed herself, wrote down the order, gathered the menus and headed somewhere where she could swoon openly.
*****
Heero tossed his keys into the little dish near his door, and plodded across his living room. He threw himself onto his couch, jumping up when he felt he was sitting on something. Picking it up, he noted that it was 'Webs', a horror novel that he had bought not too many days ago. Tossing it aside, he sat down again, and his mind ran through the day's events again.
It was strange, to say the least. Duo chose the same time to want to watch a movie. Fine, so they chose the same movie, no big deal. Lots of people do that. But having the same comments after that? They even chose the same set meal at the restaurant. Twice!
It was definitely strange.
Then, the shrill call of his telephone broke his reverie. Leaning across his sofa, he picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Heero?"
"Hilde? What're you calling for? I thought you were busy." Heero asked, cocking his head to one side and pressing the earpiece against his shoulder. Lifting his feet up from the ground, he removed his socks.
"Well I was, until a while ago. Anyway, did you guys enjoy the movie?"
"Yeah, we did." Heero tossed his socks aside. He'd pick them up later.
"That's good. Duo will grumble at me the whole week if you guys didn't. But it really wasn't me fault! That teacher just suddenly went bonkers and demanded extra lessons!"
"You failed her latest test." It was a statement, not a question.
There was silence from the other end of the line. "...Yeah, so? It's not like I was the only one who failed."
"Only two people failed that test."
More silence. "...Fine. So I fell asleep during the test. And would you stop it? I didn't call to be reminded of that."
Heero winced. He was used to pointing out other people's weaknesses during his missions; it was hard to change that. "Sorry, Hilde."
"Never mind, I forgive you."
Heero frowned. That tone was too sweet. Something was coming.
"But as compensation for hurting my fragile feelings, you'd better own up what happened earlier between you and Duo!"
Figures. Hilde was always after that. Somehow, she had a strange conviction that he and Duo were meant to be a couple. Not that he hated that (in fact, he was hoping for it), but it was irritating to have another friend always yammering about that in front of Duo. He'd kill Hilde if Duo got so embarrassed he decided to stay away from him.
"Nothing happened. We didn't kiss, we didn't hold hands, we didn't hug, we didn't..."
"But you tried, didn't you?"
"No!"
"Okay, fine! You didn't have to get so defensive... But that coincidence thing happened again, didn't it? Duo's been telling me about that lately."
"Yeah, we kept doing the same things, having the same thoughts... It's weird."
"Nah, you two just know each other too well. Isn't that good? It's a sure sign of you two becoming a couple!"
"Hilde!"
"What? You don't like Duo? Aww, he'll be so hurt by that..."
"No!"
"Ah-ha! I knew it! You like him!"
"Of course I do! He's my best friend!"
"Yeah... I understand."
From Hilde's tone, she was obviously unconvinced, and would probably never be. Heero sighed, silently wondering why the hell was Hilde so adamant about matchmaking he and Duo. And why wasn't any of them working!? He wouldn't be as half irked as he was, if they actually worked.
"Hilde, I'm tired. I need a shower. If that's all you want to ask..."
"Shy, ain't ya? Oh well. Bye then. I'm gonna call Duo and tell him you said you like him!" Hilde said in a singsong manner and quickly hung up.
Heero looked at the earpiece in disbelief, and then decided that Hilde wouldn't do that. Surely, she had better things to do. So he hung up as well, and leaned back in his sofa again. Slowly, his mind ran back to Duo.
Best friend. That was right; no one knew him as well as Duo did. Duo knew exactly what he needed just by reading his body language. Duo knew what was his favourite food. Duo knew what his hobbies were. And it didn't stop there. Duo understood him as a person as well. Duo knew nearly everything about him. And he knew a lot about Duo as well. So yes, Duo was his best friend. But... perhaps there could be more? If even Hilde, the girl who once had the biggest crush on Duo, was adamant that he and Duo were slowly becoming a couple, then the chances seemed pretty big. After all, they had been doing a lot of those 'couple things' lately...
Heero sighed. What was he thinking? Believing all that girl magazine crap? He needed a shower to clear his mind. Standing up, he picked up his backpack again. From the corner of his eye, he spied the horror novel again. Vaguely, he wondered what were the odds of Duo reading the same book. With a shrug, he picked up the novel and headed into his bedroom.
*****
"Hilde, you can't be serious! Heero said that?"
"Sure he did! I swear it on my CD collection!"
"I have good reason to believe that at least half of your CD collection actually belongs to me. Anyway, while we're on it, when are you returning a couple of them? I'm running out of CDs to listen to."
"C'mon! Don't be so evil! You know I can't afford all that CDs. And can we get back to the Heero issue? He actually said that, okay! Shouldn't you be more concerned about that than your CDs?"
"Fine, Hilde. It's not like I don't believe you, but it's not like him to say things like that... Heero's not so open about his emotions. Especially not to you, when he knows you can and will take anything he says and use it against him later."
"Hey! I resent that remark! And why's it so hard for you to believe it? People change. And you, of all people, should know how much he's changed."
"Okay, so I accept the 'people change' argument. But well, Hilde, you can't blame him for saying that. Imagine, two failures out of what? Five classes?"
"Oh, you just had to rub it in my face too, don't you, Duo? Hmph! I'm hurt."
Duo did a mental 'oops'. It wasn't like he was trying to irritate Hilde. But that test she had failed... she failed it because she fell asleep halfway during the test. What was not amusing about it? And if even someone like Heero thought it was amusing, he thought it was hilarious.
"Sorry, Hilde. Didn't mean it. I'm just... shocked. That's all."
"Never mind. You're forgiven. But I demand compensation!"
Oh, that was bad. She always used this technique when she wanted to know something about him and Heero.
"What do you want to know?"
"Since you put it that way... What happened between you and Heero when you guys went on the movie date?"
"Hmm? Nothing happened. It was just like going out for a movie with your best friend. Nothing special."
"Nothing special? You mean going out with Heero is not special? Does it mean he's not a special friend? Does it mean you don't like him? Gee... he'll be so hurt when he hears that..."
"Hilde... with the way you twist words, I'm surprised there're actually people who'd dare to talk to you. Who said I don't like Heero? He's my best friend. Of course I like him." Just where was this conversation headed for? Duo wasn't sure if he really wanted to know that.
"Like him only in terms of best friend? You know, Duo. You two are way too close for being just best friends. And I'm not the only one saying that."
"Yeah, who else?"
"Lemme see... the whole basketball team... the canteen vendors... your whole class... Heero's class... my class... Jessica and her gang..."
"Okay, okay. That's enough." Duo cringed. Jessica and her gang were the school's biggest gossipmongers. If they were in this with Hilde, they could probably convince the rest of the school that Heero was his boyfriend.
"You believe me now?"
"No. So Heero and I are very close, but there's no proof of us sharing anything more."
"I'll admit that we have no proof of that, but hey, you guys are showing all the symptoms."
Duo sighed. He had never seen Hilde so insistent on anything. "For instance?"
"You two have clothes, toothbrushes, towels, shampoo, pjs at each other's places."
"That's in case we wanted to sleep over."
"That's what you say. The way I look at it, you two are gonna co-inhabit soon. And point number two, you have each other's house keys. Point number three, you two know each other so well you can finish each other's sentences. Point four, you two are always together. Point five, you two have been mimicking each other's actions. Remember that day when you told me you spent an entire morning doing all the same things as Heero? [2]"
"Hilde, those points are insufficient to prove anything. We are just best friends. If there is anything more, it happens only in the imaginary planes of your mind. And Hilde?"
"What?"
"I'm gonna take a shower. So can you just...?"
"Fine. I'll hang up. I'm gonna find more evidence just to prove this to you. By the way, I called Heero before I called you. You two gave me the same damn excuse for hanging up. Bye!"
Duo frowned, and placed the earpiece back on the cradle. Flicking on the lights, he picked up 'Webs', the horror novel he had been reading before the phone call. So what if they both gave the same excuse? It just seemed to be the most plausible excuse. And if what she had been insisting was real, then Heero Yuy would be reading the same novel now. And he vaguely wondered what were the chances of that happening.
*****
Duo pouted as he peered out of his window from the kitchen. It was pouring outside. And his fridge was conspicuously empty.
He wanted some cookies-and-cream ice cream, damn it!
Licking his lips, he made his decision. He was going to go to the nearby 24-hour convenience store to get his ice cream even if he was going to get drenched. The ice cream was worth it.
Gathering his coat and umbrella, Duo made his way over. The wind howled in his ears, and the rain fell heavily onto his small umbrella. Water splashed onto him. Sighing, he walked on. 'Just think ice cream, Duo Maxwell! It's gonna be worth this!'
*****
Heero's mind was running several miles a second as he slid into his couch beside Duo.
It was too much of a coincidence, really. When he had run all the way to the nearby convenience store for some cookies and cream ice cream, he'd thought that it was a strange thing to do. After all, it was raining, and no sane person would get drenched for a tub of ice cream so late in the night. Moreover, it was pretty cold. And he thought: if Hilde was right, he'd see Duo at the convenience store buying ice cream just like him.
And when he saw Duo there, bending over the freezer for a tub of ice cream, he nearly fell over.
They even wanted the same flavour!
Since it was the last tub, they decided to share it at Heero's place since it was still raining and his place was nearer. So suddenly, Heero found himself sitting on the couch with Duo, eating out from the same tub of ice cream.
It was a strange experience, especially after that phone call from Hilde. Was she finally right about something this time? That he and Duo were meant to be? Stealing a glance at the braided boy who had long caught his heart, he felt his face burn. Duo was beautiful. Never for a moment did he ever doubt that. Not even when Duo had raised his gun and shot him. But what really captivated him was that Duo was beautiful inside and outside.
And he remembered his comment about how there would always be someone out there doing the same thing as he did. Now, he was convinced that Duo was that someone.
Perhaps it was high time he did something about their relationship. Dating Duo would be good. But first, he needed to know how.
*****
Duo licked his spoon, delighting at the sweetness of the ice cream. It was surely one of the best inventions of the world. Nothing could beat the happiness ice cream gave him.
Or perhaps there was someone who could.
He thought about the night's coincidence again. Finding Heero at the convenience store hadn't really come as a great shock, actually. In fact, he had been waiting for it. After all, it went in pattern with the day's happenings. And it was pretty good, because Heero's apartment was closer to the store, and they could share the last tub of cookies and cream at his place since it was still raining. And he would probably stay overnight; the rain showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. He had his stuff over here anyway, and they always slept at each other's place.
Then, he remembered Hilde's phone call. Actually, she was pretty accurate about the co-inhabiting comment. Duo had quite a few of his things with Heero, and Heero had some with him too. And they slept over pretty often, enough to be used to the idea of living together. Duo could see no problems if it really happened.
And that wasn't the only thing Hilde was right about. Now that he thought about it, Heero and he did seem like a couple. Perhaps since a while back, they had crossed the line between best friends and lovers. But it was only in terms of their way of living. Feelings wise, he wasn't so sure.
Sure, he liked Heero a lot. Heero was so easy on the eyes, Duo couldn't believe if anyone would doubt that. And he liked his personality just as much.
If he ever wanted to be in a serious relationship, Heero seemed to be his first choice.
Besides, didn't he always say that there would always be someone out there doing the same thing as him? Apparently, Heero was that someone. At that thought, he felt a pull at his heart, and he scooted closer to Heero on the couch.
But still, he saw no reason why that would happen. After all, Heero didn't seem to really care about dating him. And he was definitely handsome enough to get any girl he wanted.
So he banished his thoughts, although a part of him still secretly hoped for their relationship to change.
*****
The rain continued that night.
And two people, sleeping in the same apartment, continued to think about asking the other out soon.
OWARI
[1]: I'm pretty sure unagi is eel.
[2]: Reference to the previous fic.
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