Leave Me Breathless     by Hikari-chan

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, never will be. Glad we have that cleared up.

AN: Another chapter out earlier than I expected. ^^ Yes, I´m still busy with schoolwork. I´ve yet to finish reading La Morte d´Arthur for my Classics ISP. My teacher, however, was nice enough to let me extend the date till April 16th, so I´m trudging along.

Silver-Star: LOL. I´m quite insane myself, so don´t worry. ^^

frosty: I´ve had mixed opinions about the Rei/Quatre/Makoto/Trowa love square. At the end of last chapter, I thought about putting up the two couples to a poll, but decided that because of the way I´ve written it already, there´s one outcome that´s better than the other.

Cherry: It´s eleven chapters, but really, about a week´s gone by in their time. =\

Sailor Grape: You didn´t get to see the conversation because I would have run out of ideas. LOL.

Celestial Dreamblaze: Well, aren´t you curious to know why Heero hates marriage so much? ^_~

LunaPrincess: Don´t worry. It´s not rude, it´s true. =P I didn´t want to use it, but it was so perfect for the two scenes that followed it. Plus, there´s one line that I want to use badly later in the fic that needs her to be drunk at some point. The things I do for future chapters. LOL. I hope you laugh at this one. I think a couple events in here are insanely funny, but I´ve been known to have a twisted sense of humor.

Lady Light: There always a first time! XD Quatre is human too.

moon princezz: The journey is part of the fun. ^_~ If they got together in the first chapter, the story would be that much more bland.

Minna-san: You guys are just incredible. All of you have different guesses and thoughts, and many of your comments, even those reviews you think are insane, really inspire me on parts of the fic. I´m very, very thankful for all your thoughts. Once again, earlier chapter than I expected. I hope you like and laugh. ^_~

Warnings: AU, OOC-ness galore.

Notes: I forgot to reference a couple of lines last chapter. "I´d come back to haunt you" is Ryogo´s line in Front Mission 3. I´m pretty sure I´ve seen it elsewhere, but FM3 is where I first saw it.

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Chapter 12 - On the Surface

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Rei was typing out a letter for Mr. Winner, her eyes glued to the screen in front of her. She barely noticed when her boss walked quietly into her office, seemingly wanting to ask something, but not knowing how to.

Glancing up, the violet-eyed woman giggled softly, making the blond blush. "Can I help you, Mr. Winner?" she asked him, momentarily stopping her work.

"Well," Quatre uttered, scratching the back of his head and feeling a bit embarrassed. "The question is a bit personal."

Rei blinked and smiled. How very like her boss to be considerate enough to let her tell him whether he could ask or not. She nodded encouragingly. "Go ahead," she said.

That was the prompting Quatre needed. In a flurry of words, he burst out, "How do you know Mr. Barton?"

"Is that all?" Rei replied, amused that he thought it was personal. She had thought he was going to ask something like how many men she had dated in her life. "That´s simple enough. We used to work in the same office building. I was Mr. Yuy´s secretary and he was the head of research. Inevitably, he ended up at my desk a lot."

"Oh," Quatre responded dumbly. Now he felt foolish. Of course. He had even known Miss Hino used to work at Aegis. So why was it such a big surprise that she knew Trowa Barton, who also worked at Aegis? "I was just curious," he added, turning to leave.

Quietly entering his own office, Quatre wondered to himself why he even bothered to ask. It wasn´t as if it made a big difference how Miss Hino and Mr. Barton met. Then again, he felt warmer, more comfortable, after hearing Miss Hino´s explanation. It had been satisfactory and acceptable, unlike Makoto´s answer. He frowned slightly. His girlfriend had just told him that she got bored, walked out to a balcony, and met the man. It wasn´t as if Quatre didn´t believe her, or was faulting her for attempting to make new friends. The thought just rubbed him the wrong way. Why hadn´t she said something to him? He thought she should at least have told him she was taking a walk. He had been worried about her when he couldn´t find her at dinner.

Sighing, he turned back to his work. Makoto had always done things the way she wanted. He doubted that she would change now to suit his needs. Besides, he had said he didn´t mind. Quatre twirled the pencil in his hands, wondering what had happened to the bond between him and Makoto. He had never minded her independence before. In fact, he had been terribly grateful for it. Back in high school, all of his friends had said that he was lucky because his girlfriend had been the only one who wasn´t clingy. And he had agreed. So what was wrong now?

~*~*~*~*~

Minako checked her appearance for the umpteenth time in the mirror. Nervously, she pulled the brush through her hair again. Why was she so jumpy? All she was doing was going over to the set of Duo´s new movie and asking, as a friend, whether he would join her for lunch. No big deal.

Letting out a sigh, the blonde picked up her purse and made her way to the set. It seemed like the thought of Duo had a much stronger effect on her now that she had made the revelation that she may like him as more than a friend. Maybe it was because she knew very well that he liked her sister. But who´s to say that he didn´t see what she saw at the ball?

Minako was so busy thinking that she didn´t notice where she was going. She crashed into a person and would have fallen to the ground if the other person´s reflexes hadn´t been so quick.

"Hey Minako!" the subject of her thought bubbled, a wide grin on his face. "Fancy bumping into you here!"

Although the thought of meeting Duo made her nervous, once she was actually in his company, it was all forgotten. His presence calmed her down, made her comfortable. "Hey Duo," she replied with a smile. "How´s the movie coming along?"

"If we get through the scene where the female lead confronts her mother, then we can move on, but the actress seems to be having problems," the braided man told her. He checked his watch. "I have to hurry before Usagi takes off for lunch with someone else."

Minako´s smile fell. He hadn´t made the same revelation as her.

Immediately noticing her change in mood, Duo peered curiously at her. "You okay, Minako?" he asked.

"Of course!" Minako answered immediately, pasting on her fake smile. "I just didn´t know you were having lunch with Usagi, since you told me she was always turning you down."

"Well, you suggested it, remember?" Duo reminded her, making Minako wince internally. "I´m surprising her at the office!"

"Oh," Minako replied. "You sure she won´t get mad?" Inside, she knew that Duo´s decision wouldn´t waver, but she didn´t want him to be wasting his time with her sister, who just tossed his efforts out the window. Mentally, she slapped herself. How could she think that? She had agreed to help Duo. She should be giving him suggestions, not discouraging him because of her own feelings.

"Nah, she promised me a lunch date anyway," Duo grinned.

Minako was surprised. Maybe Usagi was remotely interested in Duo after all? She knew her sister never liked leading people on, and Minako probably could count the number of men her sister had dated on one hand. "How did that happen?" she wondered out loud, although whether it was curiosity or dismay that prompted her to ask, she did not know.

"It´s really an exchange of favours," Duo responded nonchalantly. "Anyways, I have to go. Talk to you later, Minako!"

A minute later, his figure disappeared around the corner, heading towards the imposing Aegis building. Blinking back unreasonable tears, Minako walked back to the studio where she had come from. As she passed by a store window, she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her hair shone from the time she had spent brushing it. She was decked out in a cute yellow sundress and sandals, yet, Duo seemed to have looked right past her special care in appearance. Maybe Rei was wrong. Maybe Duo and her sister´s personalities really were as perfect together as she had thought.

Seeing a nearby newsstand, Minako squared her shoulders and walked up to it, resolutely selecting a magazine on the latest development in computer technology.

~*~*~*~*~

"So that´s why I have to cut back some of the funding for the research department," Wufei told Trowa as the two went over the latest files together.

Trowa nodded and flipped through the financial records. "Are you sure there´s no other way?" he asked. "We have two major projects going on, the Tokyo Tower´s lights and the company security system. A lot of my workers have been putting in extra hours."

"I´ll look into it again, but unless Yuy decides to be extra lenient in this month budget, then we´ll go over," Wufei replied.

Trowa´s reply was cut off by the sound of knocking. "Come in," he called out, and immediately, a brunette came in with an indigo-eyed man.

Both Trowa and Wufei recognized him as Duo Maxwell the actor, and the young woman almost had hearts in her eyes as she spoke. "Mr. Barton, Mr. Maxwell was wondering if he could visit the department."

"I suppose it shouldn´t be a problem," Trowa answered nonchalantly. "You know the rules, Miyuki."

"Thanks, Mister!" Duo called out, grinning at Trowa.

Miyuki led the braided man out of the office, eager to show the famous actor around, but wondering what interested him so at the same time. Meanwhile, Wufei gave Trowa a look.

"He doesn´t look very bright," the Chinese man deadpanned.

"Don´t judge a book by its cover, Wufei," Trowa replied, slightly amused. "Now, as I was saying before about the extra hours."

~*~*~*~*~

Duo nodded mindlessly at the office tables and computer animation that the young woman was showing him. He did not understand a word she was saying. Letting his eyes wander around the work tables, he tried to catch a glimpse of long blonde hair, but couldn´t spot her. Maybe he was in the wrong department? He turned to the woman beside him.

"Uh. . .can you tell me if you´re familiar with a Usagi Aino?" he asked, interrupting the young woman´s speech on technology.

The brunette, Miyuki, blinked. "Does she work here?"

"Yea, I think so. She has long blonde hair, blue eyes, kind of short," Duo described.

"Oh, the new girl!" Miyuki exclaimed. "There´s rumors around that the big boss himself recommended her. Anyways, yea, she´s in the lab, I think."

Duo brightened. So he didn´t end up in the wrong part of the giant Aegis building. "You think I can see her?" he prompted.

Miyuki sat down at her desk. So her idol was here for another woman. Of course, why else would he show up at her work office? It wasn´t like they knew each other. "I can´t take you there," she told him. "It´s against the company´s policy to let non-workers into the lab."

Duo frowned slightly. That wasn´t good. He was here to see Usagi, and she was in the lab, but he wasn´t allowed in the lab. "I won´t steal anything," he stated. "It´s not like I even understand anything."

Miyuki shook her head. "I can´t. If you really want to convince someone, you have to go to Mr. Barton," she replied.

"Okay," Duo responded immediately. He smiled at the young woman. "Thanks for your time." Then he sauntered off back to the office he had first gone into.

~*~*~*~*~

"I like that idea," Trowa muttered. "We should have thought of it earlier."

Wufei nodded, but before he could say anything, the door was flung wide open. Annoyed, he turned around. Who in the world was rude enough to just walk into Barton´s office? Even Yuy knocked before he came in. Alright, so he and Barton didn´t knock when they went to Yuy´s office, but that was only because they were very close friends. And of course, it was because Yuy never answered the door. When Wufei saw the braided man standing in the doorway, grinning like an idiot, he had to mentally tell himself that he didn´t want to be accused of physically harming a famous actor.

"Yes?" Trowa said, raising an eyebrow at the intruder.

"Mister, I was wondering if I could go into the lab to talk to Usagi," Duo said none too eloquently. "Usagi´s the blonde girl who´s new to your department."

"And you, have you heard of knocking?" Wufei snapped, sending a glare his way.

Duo scratched the back of his neck. "Well, the last time I came in, you didn´t look that busy," he explained. "Should I go out and knock?"

Wufei´s eye twitched.

"I can´t let you into the lab, Mr. Maxwell," Trowa answered the actor´s earlier question. "It´s company policy. However, if you´ll wait for another fifteen minutes or so, lunch break will be starting. Miss Aino will probably come out of the lab by then."

"Oh, I guess that´s okay," Duo responded. "Um. . .so what do I do for the next fifteen minutes?"

"You get me a cup of coffee," Wufei butt in sarcastically.

Duo blinked. "Uh. . .sure, I guess," he decided. "Sugar and milk?"

Wufei´s eye twitched more. He remained silent.

"I´ll take that as a no," Duo stated. "I´ll be right back with that coffee." And the door shut with a loud slam, making most of the people in the office jump. No one ever closed the door that hard in the busy Aegis building, except for an angry Mr. Yuy, who no one really wanted to come face to face with. He was grumpy enough when he wasn´t angry.

In Trowa´s office, Wufei turned to Trowa with a look of exasperation. "Who said you couldn´t judge a book by its cover?" he asked flatly.

~*~*~*~*~

It was about five minutes before the lunch break that one could observe Mr. Heero Yuy, the owner of Tokyo´s largest electronic company, walking purposely towards the main office of his research department, his footsteps echoing in the otherwise quiet and empty hallway.

He wondered what in the world had happened. Whatever it was, it seemed as though all his employees were finding it interesting enough to gossip about. Plus, it was important enough that Trowa had asked him to come down. As he walked into the research department, he could see a large circle of people crowded around the kitchenette of the floor. Someone in the middle appeared to be holding a fire extinguisher.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" he bellowed none too nicely, making his employees part like the Red Sea and allowing him to see the centre of attention.

His eyes darkened dangerously when he spotted Duo Maxwell looking at him sheepishly. Heero was not at all pleased to see the man in the building, forget what he had done.

"If you´re not involved in this situation, please go back to your work," he ordered monotonously.

His workers scurried off, leaving Trowa, Wufei, Mr. Maxwell, and Trowa´s secretary, Miyuki.

Now, he could see the mess that had everyone interested. The whole area that was the kitchenette was blackened with soot, as was parts of Mr. Maxwell´s person. The fridge and stove seemed to still be in one piece, but the microwave looked like it had been run over by a bullet train a few times, and the coffee and toast makers were lying on the floor. Spilled coffee was all over the floor as well.

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Explain," he stated darkly.

All eyes turned to the braided man, who looked as though he was a young teenager waiting for the school principle´s verdict of whether or not he would be suspended. "Well, you see, Sir, I was getting a cup of coffee for Mr. Chang. . .uh, that´s your name, right? Anyways, I put it into a cup and tried to heat it in the microwave. Then the microwave kind of exploded."

Heero noticed that Wufei´s eye was twitching. "Something you want to add, Wufei?" he prompted tonelessly.

"The cup was Miss Fujisaki´s," Wufei stated, biting back the words he really wanted to say.

"The microwave is a year and three months old, not old enough to spontaneously combust," Heero informed them, narrowing his eyes. "Now, any idea why it might have exploded?"

Miyuki gulped audibly. "Mr. Yuy, the cup was made of metal," she answered quietly. "A friend brought it back as a souvenir for me from Africa. And since I generally just drink water, I thought it´d be okay to take to work."

Wufei couldn´t keep quiet any longer. He blew up. "What kind of idiot puts hot coffee into the microwave to try and heat it up?!" he demanded.

"What kind of idiot put metal into a microwave?" Heero added dryly, looking pointedly at a sheepish Duo.

"I don´t really know how to cook, and the coffee felt cold," the braided man answered both questions.

"Oh my god, what happened here?" a female voice suddenly interrupted them.

All eyes turned to the petite blonde figure standing in the entranceway, holding a cup in her hand and staring wide-eyed at the blackened kitchenette.

Trowa, who had been silent since Heero had appeared, now pointed to Duo. "He put Miss Fujisaki´s metal cup into the microwave," he answered.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at the embarrassed Duo.

"Well, I was waiting for you," he protested. "So, can we go out for lunch?"

Heero stiffened even more. He was not having a good day. First, this braided man that he now decided he hated with an unexplainable passion blows up the microwave in his research department´s kitchenette, and now, he was asking his chibi-chan out without even trying to compensate for the damage he caused.

"And this is why they, and by 'they´ I mean 'me´, conclude that my hypothesis on Maxwell being an idiot was correct from the beginning," Wufei muttered, rolling his eyes.

A few minutes of silence ensued before Duo decided to speak up. "By 'me´, you mean 'I´, right? Because otherwise, that´s a pretty retarded sounding sentence," he pointed out.

Wufei glared murderously at the actor, cursing the minute that he walked into the office.

"Stupidity appears to be contagious," Heero stated dryly. However, his eyes were boring into Usagi´s, not Wufei or Duo´s, which made the young woman smile nervously at him.

"We can go out for lunch, Mr. Maxwell, but that doesn´t mean we will," Usagi commented, attempting to change the direction of Heero´s glare. She suspected that he was angry because the actor was asking her out, but for what reason, she couldn´t be sure.

"But you promised me we will," Duo returned, which made Heero glare harder at poor Usagi, who slowly inched away from him.

Usagi sighed. It was true, and it appeared that Mr. Maxwell was more dense than she´d first thought. It looked like step two of her plan would have to be put into action. "Fine, let me get my jacket," she replied shortly, turning on her heels and walking quickly out of the area.

"You let him into the office, you take care of this," Heero stated, looking at Trowa and Wufei. "If you want, you can have the cost of renovating this alcove taken from your paycheck."

Then he disappeared around the corner, leaving Trowa and Wufei to glare at the braided man and work out the numbers.

~*~*~*~*~

Usagi shrugged on the baby blue, knee-length spring jacket over her white blouse and matching blue skirt. Who would have thought Mr. Maxwell take up her favour so quickly? Then again, who would have thought Mr. Maxwell was so darn dense? Couldn´t he see that Minako would be perfect for him? Heck, they even appeared to have the same habits when it came to using the microwave.

Amused, Usagi smiled to herself as she recalled an incident in high school when Minako had accidentally blown up the microwave and set the whole kitchen on fire.

"I´m glad you´re happy about your date," came the cold voice from the doorway to the lounge.

Usagi jumped and whirled around. Seeing Heero´s forbidding figure standing there made her recall the incident in his office, and quickly, she backed away from him.

"What´s it to you?" she retorted.

Ignoring the question, Heero closed the door to the lounge behind him and strolled into the room. "You asked him out," he stated rather than asked.

"That didn´t answer my question," Usagi pointed out.

"I´m not trying to answer your question," Heero replied. He stopped his advance five feet in front of her.

"What does it matter whether I asked him out or he asked me out?" Usagi responded, annoyed. "I´m not your mother, your sister, or your wife. I don´t owe you an explanation!"

"You can´t be my mother," Heero pointed out dryly. "I certainly hope you´re not my sister. And if you were, I´d lock you away from Maxwell."

Usagi rolled her eyes. "Subtle, aren´t we?" she muttered under her breath.

Heero heard her anyway. "I try," he responded in the same sarcastic tone as her. He closed the remaining space between and cupped her face in his hands. "So the only way you´ll explain is if you´re my wife?" he mocked her.

Usagi blushed, unable to look away from those Prussian blue eyes that bore deep into her soul. She shivered at the gentle way he was stroking her cheeks.

"I didn´t ask him out," she answered softly, suddenly feeling as though she needed to explain. "I think he´d be perfect for my sister, and I´m trying to get him to see that."

"Why do I find it hard to believe you can convince him of that by going out with him, chibi-chan?" Heero replied, raising an eyebrow at her.

Usagi laughed and stepped away from him. "You sound like you´re jealous," she teased him with a grin, buttoning up the jacket.

"Am I not allowed to be?" Heero asked nonchalantly, putting his hands into the pockets of his black dress pants.

Usagi froze, and slowly looked up at him. She was honestly stunned beyond belief. "Well, you´re certainly allowed to be," she responded, staring wide-eyed at him. "But you never are. Why would you be? I mean, you can´t be. It doesn´t make sense."

She looked at him and he stared back. Usagi´s heart fluttered at the sight he made. As always, he looked immaculate in his black suit. His hair was falling into those eyes that never failed to hold her captive, and all of a sudden, she found that she wanted to brush them out of his eyes with her fingers.

As though he was sick of merely looking at her, he crossed the room and gently pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Her small body fit like a jigsaw puzzle against his, and he could smell the scent of vanilla in her hair.

Unable the explain the warmth that wrapped itself like a blanket around her heart, Usagi closed her eyes and snuggled into his embrace, her head seeming to fit perfectly into the crook of his neck, the spicy scent of his cologne tingling her senses. She was sure that he could feel her heart beating rapidly against her chest.

"When it comes to you, chibi-chan, nothing makes much sense," he whispered, a bit of wonder and confusion in his normally confident voice.

Usagi laughed, pushing against his chest and looking up at him. "If it´s any consolation to your ego, you make less sense than I do, Mr. Yuy," she teased him.

"The best compliment I´ve ever received," Heero replied dryly.

Without warning, he bent his head and kissed her, slowly at first and then more urgently. He gently pried her mouth open and shamelessly explored their depths. She kissed back, losing herself in the passion he offered and wanting to give something back in return. She clung to him, wrapping her slender arms around his neck and feeling like her legs were going to give out. Where had he learned how to kiss? Every time they do, it left her weak and breathless.

They were both having trouble breathing when he finally pulled away. Usagi looked at him, dazed from the kiss.

"I think you enjoyed that more than I did," Heero teased her, watching her eyes try to refocus. At least he seemed to have succeeded in making her senseless.

Usagi gave him a weak smile. "It was different from the ones you gave me before," she whispered.

"It helps when there´s participation from both parties," he commented with a smirk. Noticing the way she held on tightly to him, he added, "Can you stand, chibi-chan?"

"Hold me for a bit longer," she pleaded softly. She still felt weak, and looking into his mocking eyes, she knew that even if she was scared of her growing feelings, she couldn´t deny them. But what would it all come to? When he got what he wanted, she´d just be another tally on that growing list of women who had come and gone in his life. She didn´t want that. Unconsciously, she buried her face in his chest, her hands tightening on the lapels of his shirt.

"Chibi-chan," Heero murmured, "you won´t be able to leave this building for a long time if you keep doing that."

Usagi looked up, confused. "What are you going to do, handcuff me to you?" she joked.

"I´m not into bondage," Heero replied dryly, earning him a playful punch in the arm from Usagi.

"I´m sure you´ve developed your own form of entertainment," she huffed, pulling away from him and picking up her purse. She looked at the clock as she headed for the door. "Mr. Maxwell must be wondering if I´ve died somewhere between the kitchenette and here by now," she muttered.

"Yes, from lack of air," Heero mocked, following her back to where they had left the actor.

"Then you should have died too," Usagi returned bitingly, sending a glare his way.

Heero suddenly stopped her in the middle of the hall, just out of earshot of Wufei and Duo, who they could see were standing at the end of the hall, waiting for them.

"Tell me how this is supposed to convince him," Heero requested softly. If he was going to watch another man take his chibi-chan out for lunch, he felt that he should know the reason he was letting that man walk out of the building injury-free. Why did he absolutely need to know? He didn´t know, but it was an instinct, a gnawing insistence, and he never ignored his gut feeling.

"Still jealous?" Usagi giggled softly. Whoever would have thought Heero Yuy was even capable of jealousy at all, let alone the fact that it was because she, a common girl from a town one wouldn´t even have heard of, was going out with someone else.

He remained silent, merely waiting for her answer while keeping an eye on the curious Duo and impatient Wufei, making sure they still couldn´t hear the conversation.

"My sister is exactly like him," Usagi explained quickly. "She even blew up our microwave at home. If I could just show him how horrible a relationship between him and me would be, then he´d realize Minako is perfect for him."

The explanation left Heero dissatisfied. He didn´t think it was such a great plan. Or maybe he just didn´t like the plan. Or it could be because he simply didn´t like the idea of her going out with someone else, despite the fact that he really had no claim over her. So, in conclusion, he was biased.

He looked into her eyes, and was faintly surprised to see the pleading in them. She was silently hoping for his approval. She would probably go ahead with her plan no matter what he thought, but the mere fact that she wanted him to side with her left him with a feeling of warmth.

"If it backfires on you, I´m getting a restraining order on him," Heero threatened half seriously, half jokingly, his eyes glinting as he regarded the woman in front of him.

Usagi smothered her laughter behind her hand. "Fifty feet away?" she joked.

Heero gave her a lazy smirk. "Try five hundred," he replied.

"Why don´t you just issue one for yourself for halfway around the world?" Usagi asked sarcastically, finally walking towards Wufei and Duo.

"I´m thinking about it," Heero responded flatly, glaring at the unsuspecting actor.

"Finally!" Wufei was the first to speak once they approached him. "I was starting to think you were preaching to each other about the legality of visitors at work!"

Usagi glanced at Heero, who smirked at her. She tried to hide her laughter. "We were giving you time to become better acquainted with Mr. Maxwell," she replied casually.

Wufei twitched.

"Is there something in your eye, Chang-man?" Duo blurted out, staring curiously at the muscle near the Chinese man´s eye. "You keep doing that."

Wufei turned red, and both Heero and Usagi could swear they saw steam coming from his ears. "Let´s play a game, Maxwell," he stated, glaring at the braided man. "It´s called Hide-and-Seek. I count to ten, and if you´re still in my sight by then, I´m kicking you out of this building via the window."

"But, but this is the fortieth floor!" Duo exclaimed, backing away from the pissed off Chinese.

"Exactly," Wufei deadpanned.

"I believe this is our cue," Usagi interrupted quickly. "Let´s move, Mr. Maxwell. As much as you might enjoy taking a flight out the fortieth story window of Aegis, I´m not looking forward to collecting the pieces of your body from the first floor."

And with that, she dragged him to the elevator around the corner and away from Wufei´s sight, much to the braided man´s relief. The Chinese scared him, a lot.

"I take it you don´t like him either," Heero commented flatly to his longtime friend, his eyes still on the corner that Usagi and Duo had gone around.

Wufei glared at him. "No, he´s my new best friend," he replied equally sarcastically. "What do you think, Yuy? He´s the biggest idiot I´ve met in my life. I can´t believe Ami actually invited him to that ball this past weekend."

"What happened to Trowa?" Heero asked.

"Went back to his office to take care of the organization for renovations," Wufei answered shortly. "Maxwell´s paying. I was told to keep an eye on him so nothing else blows up. That reminds me. What were you and Usagi talking about? And why were you with her in the first place?"

"Because she needed an escort down the hall," Heero responded, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Wufei narrowed his eyes. "She´s not just another woman you can sleep with and toss aside," he stated coldly.

"It´s none of your business," Heero brushed his warning aside, the monotone returning to his voice.

"She´s my wife´s best friend, almost a sister-in-law," Wufei replied, recalling their earlier conversation, which had looked too intimate for his liking, as well as their exchange of looks. "I don´t like what you´re doing to her, whatever it is you´re doing to her."

Heero sent a chilling glare in Wufei´s direction. "I´m doing whatever it is you think I´m doing," he answered evasively. "Watch where you´re treading, Chang. You know I hate people who meddle with my personal life."

He disappeared down the hall, leaving Wufei to ponder what he meant.

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End of Chapter 12.

AN: Duo´s line of "by me, you mean I" is courtesy of my brother. I´m still laughing at that line. When he told me, I decided I had to use it. ^^ Okay, once more, please review, and I´ll see where I can squeeze in some time to write the next chapter. At least after I´m done with the Classics ISP.