Leave Me Breathless     by Hikari-chan

Disclaimer: Don´t own it. Never did; never will. Glad we got that straight.

AN: As promised, the next chapter once my exams are over, and they were done yesterday. *sigh* The result? I think I did alright on most of them. At least I felt pretty confident about the calculus one, and that was the one I was really worried about. I messed up one of the questions on the Algeo exam, and one question on the Biology exam (that I know of). Otherwise, I guess we´ll see when Monday rolls around. Meanwhile, I hope this effort on another on my part will be worthwhile and enjoyable. Thank you all for waiting.

the Desert Fox: I´m sorry. ^^ No, I´m not a girl scout. I never was. Next time, we´ll settle for kudos. And it doesn´t get annoying for Ami, I suppose. It gets routine. *laughs*

Celestial Dreamblaze: Ha ha, wouldn´t I have to up the rating then? ^^;;; Then again, there probably will be a scene like that. It´s tradition. ^_~ Thank you for all the kind comments.

DuoLover: Yes it is. I´m such a Heero/Usa shipper, it´d take a lot of persuasion plus a tad to make me change it. Triangles are something I´ve never written though, so we´ll see how it turns out.

Saturnpyroprincess: Either that or they both have big mouths that they can´t keep shut around each other. LOL.

Sunshine Fia: Makoto will be included, because I came up with a good subplot involving her. ^^ As for the Outers, I´ll have to see. Maybe they´ll make a cameo somewhere.

Angellus Lee: Ha ha, I was reading fics when I was supposed to be studying too, so don´t feel so guilty. ^^

sapphireskies: He said he´ll think about it. That´s 50% yes. ^^ Besides, we don´t know whether or not something good will come from this.

Pixi: Awww. . .all of you are so nice. Someone else said that to me too.

Cheska: Calculus is okay. It´s no bird course, that´s for sure, but it´s not as horrible as a lot of people make it out to be. At least, IMO.

LunaPrincess: Wow, coming from you, all those comments are really flattering. ^^;;; I don´t know what to say, except thank you. The sarcasm was rubbed off on me from a friend. At least I´m putting it to a good use, right? *laughs*

RixiVixi aka Vixen: Another set of flattery from another great author. O.o I´m at a loss for words. I´m not quite so sarcastic as I made Usagi. ^^;;; Sarcasm can be biting, so I try to keep it at a minimum as a person. I hope you don´t mind more supporting roles, because a couple are coming right up.

Lilaclight: That comment about a tongue can be rather ambiguous, especially since we´re discussing Heero and Usa. ^_~ Duo will play a major role in Heero and Usa´s relationship, so long as my ideas don´t change on me.

siren: Calculus isn´t that bad. ^^;;; But don´t tell my calc teacher I said that. =\

BlueFrost: Can you really imagine Trowa as a talkative person? Even in his late twenties? =\

Heart Soul: *sigh* Ah yes, the joy in the people´s density when it comes to love. Sakura and Syaoran, Mizuki and Sano, Hikaru and Akari. . . Stories drag out so nicely when it happens. ^^;;;

Sailor Grape: Bits of entertainment, but not as drawn out as the moment in Heero´s office. ^_~

Tenshi-chan: As Rei would soon tell you, there´s a big difference between Heero and Quatre´s characters. ^^ Besides, Quatre didn´t post an ad. It was more of an appointment since Minako recommended Rei.

Ming Ming: Legolas would be hot anywhere. ROFL. I do want to finish up SW at least before I hit university. We´ll see how the summer turns out. Maybe my hermit habits will kick in again. Well, Wufei being an accountant was spur of the moment. I needed an accountant, and I figured he´d be more believable than Duo. ^^;;; I thought Usagi was sarcastic enough when speaking with Heero in the office. Hmm. . . unless you mean the scenes where she was kind of afraid of Heero´s advances? By the way, I do enjoy my sleep. =P

The Big Cheese: LOL. I can try for one every 2 to 3 weeks, so long as not much is going on in my life. We´ll see. ^^

Minna-san: Thank you all for the lovely reviews. I never thought I´d have that much with this story. ^^;;; Honestly speaking, I was afraid people will think "oh, just another Heero/Usagi story" and those who do read it will decide the characters are too OOC for their liking. But I´m very glad for all your encouragement. Yes, I know I say this every chapter, but I feel it necessary. Arigato!

Warnings: AU, OOC-ness galore. And shunshou is the Japanese for "spring evening".

Let´s get the show on the road!

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Chapter 6 – Triangles

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Usagi hurried through the front entrance of a sophisticated looking restaurant, berating herself for having left the little piece of paper on which she had scribbled the name and address on her desk at work. She had to stop and ask for directions a few times, and was now late for her dinner with Rei and Minako. Knowing Rei´s character, she wasn´t going to be pleased.

Looking around the crowded restaurant, Usagi finally spotted a raven-haired woman sitting by herself in the middle of the restaurant, impatiently tapping her long fingernails on a dinner table. Minako was nowhere to be found, and Usagi mentally winced at the thought of facing what appears to be a very irritated Rei. She walked quietly up to the table. Unfortunately, Rei still spotted her before she reached it.

"Finally!" the violet-eyed woman cried out, completely exasperated. "I can´t believe you and Minako!"

Usagi smiled sheepishly as she seated herself beside the other woman. "Lack of punctuality runs in the family," she joked lightly.

"Not funny, Usagi," Rei replied flatly. "Do you have any idea how many times I´ve been stared at since I got here?"

"How many guesses do I have?" Usagi returned, picking up one of the menus on the table.

Rei glared at her darkly. "At least one person seems to be in a good mood," she commented.

Usagi looked up from the menu, smiling brightly. "I had the most wonderful day," she admitted.

Rei stared at her in disbelief. "Hold on, let´s backtrack," she started. "You got a job working at Aegis for Heero Yuy, came back from your first day of work, and thought it was wonderful?!"

"Don´t sound too convinced or anything," Usagi replied, laughing at the look on Rei´s face.

"Usagi, that was my job before you came to Tokyo, and to be quite honest, Heero Yuy is the most insufferable, despicable, annoyingly irritating man I´ve ever had the displeasure of meeting, let alone work for," Rei stated. "How could you possibly have found it wonderful?"

Usagi blinked, then frowned slightly. "Hold on, Rei," she began, "you worked in my current position before I came? That means that ad was in the newspaper because you quit."

Rei nodded.

"Then why didn´t you tell me that I would be working for Mr. Yuy, of all people?!" Usagi exclaimed suddenly. "Then I wouldn´t have gone for this job!"

"I thought you knew already. Besides, didn´t you just say you had a good day?" Rei asked, now confused.

"I did, but it´s not because of who I´m working for. It´s because I cracked his password system, so now he´s thinking about switching me to research," Usagi answered with a grin.

Rei laughed. "The look on his face must have been priceless," she replied.

"Most definitely," Usagi responded, making a face. "It´s one I wouldn´t want to see again even if I was paid, let alone having to pay myself."

"I wouldn´t know. I´ve never pissed him off," Rei said, shrugging her shoulders. "He didn´t even get mad when I yelled at him right before I quit."

"Probably another reason why you hated him," Usagi mused aloud.

"Why?" Rei prompted.

"Because you could never piss him off," Usagi answered simply. "Emotionless people do get annoying after awhile."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "And pray tell, Usagi, how many different emotions did you see today on Heero Yuy?" she retorted. "Because I think in the course of a month, I can name two: irritation and amusement, three if indifference qualifies as an emotion."

Usagi blinked, then, putting down her menu, she started to count off her fingers, "Amusement, happiness, passion, irritation, anger, sadness, regret, satisfaction, and . . .I think that´s it," she muttered.

"Are you trying to be sarcastic?" Rei questioned, gaping in disbelief.

"I´ve lost my touch," Usagi replied dryly. "Darn it. Remind me to practice on more unsuspecting victims."

Rei shook her head. "Men," she muttered. "Another thing to add to the list of things to hate about them."

"PMS?" Usagi joked.

Rei´s lips twitched into a smile. "No, just mood swings. Then again, maybe it´s just Heero Yuy. I seem to have no problem with Mr. Winner. He´s polite and courteous enough. I don´t know how he does it. He organizes all of the models´ schedules, have meetings with different companies, draws up contracts with them, and still has time to run around apologizing for his obnoxious models´ misconduct," she said.

"Speaking of which, how was work?" Usagi asked.

Rei smiled and proceeded to talk about the basic paperwork that she was in charge of, at least until she became familiar with the industry´s workings. In the mix of description, there was also a series of good things about her current boss, which did not escape Usagi´s notice. She was about to comment on that when a blonde whirlwind whipped by their table and plopped herself down in one of the seats.

"Sorry I´m late," Minako chirped.

Rei rolled her eyes. "Late does not begin to define your tardiness," she muttered.

"It´s always been a family joke," Usagi supplied, much to Minako´s chagrin, "that whenever you´re supposed to meet Minako somewhere, you just show up half an hour late. Then, you´ll be on time to meet her."

"Alas, the ruthlessness with which you treat me breaks my heart, my dearest sister," Minako replied, placing both of her hands over her right breast as though Usagi´s words had seriously wounded her.

 "The heart, Minako, is tilted to the left side of your body," Usagi informed her, a smirk threatening to break out on her lips. "Besides, I´m your only sister."

"Which is why you´re such a special person to her!" a male voice suddenly interrupted. "Right, Minako?"

All three women look up at the source of the sound, two were surprised while the remaining one was pleased with the scheme she had thought up. Having Duo "accidentally" bump into them at the restaurant would squash all suspicions that she had planned this, and she was not ready to have both her roommate and her sister mad at her.

"Duo! What a surprise!" Minako exclaimed. She quickly shifted over, leaving the chair next to Usagi empty. "Are you here alone?"

"Yup!" Duo replied, taking his seat and grinning his most charming smile at Usagi, completely missing the look of pure annoyance that flashed across Rei´s face.

"The least you could do is wait until you´ve been invited to sit before helping yourself to our table," the raven-haired woman said, irritation evident in her voice.

"Aw, Rei, don´t be so mean," Usagi tried to say with a straight face. "After all, Mr. Maxwell must be awfully bored, lonely, and unoccupied to come out and dine by himself." She raised an eyebrow at Minako, who smiled nervously.

Rei rolled her eyes as Duo started to flirt shamelessly with Usagi, whose lips twitched in amusement. She seemed to have a good comeback for every one of his attempts, and some of them were rather cutting. Duo, however, took no offense and continued to try and hold her attention, which Rei could tell was amusing Usagi, if anything. Meanwhile, Minako was staring off into space as she no doubt dreamed of becoming a famous matchmaker as well as a world-renowned model. Rei sighed. This was going to be a long night.

~*~*~*~*~

Quatre rubbed his temples as he tried to finish organizing Relena´s schedule for the following week. If he had a list of "the top ten most annoying things that you have to do every week", organizing Miss Relena Peacecraft´s schedule would be right up there with cleaning your pet turtle´s tank. Relena was a popular model, and she was wanted for a lot of photo shoots and interviews every week. It didn´t help that she was also extremely confident in her own popularity. She had times set aside for dates, hair appointments, nail appointments, the tailor, the social events, and everything else that one can imagine. Quatre was not cheering for joy at the chance to change Relena´s vanity time and habits. She made money for the company, and as long as she was popular, she would continue to do so. Much as Quatre hated to admit it, Relena was popular because she was beautiful, so he would have to sacrifice his own time to let Relena have hers.

Sighing, he penciled in another time slot for an interview that a national television studio wanted to have with Miss Peacecraft. No sooner had he written that down, the phone started to ring. Normally, somebody outside would pick it up before his phone even gave a chirp, but it was late now, and other than himself, no one was even in the building.

"Hello, Winner Studios, Quatre Winner speaking," he said into the phone, which he tucked between his ear and his shoulder in order to do both things at once.

"Quatre?" a female voice replied. "Do you remember me?"

Quatre blinked and stopped his work. This sounded more like a personal phone call, for the voice was vaguely familiar to him.

"I´m sorry, but I don´t," he answered politely. "May I ask who´s speaking?"

The woman on the other end laughed. Her voice was distinctly female, but it sounded low for a woman. "I should have known that you wouldn´t remember. After all, it´s been more than ten years," she stated. "It´s me, Makoto Kino."

Quatre frowned, trying to remember where he had heard the name before. Makoto Kino, it was vaguely familiar. No, it was more than familiar. His eyes widened as memories flooded back through his mind.

"Makoto?" he echoed aloud. "Not that I´m not happy to hear from you, but I thought you went to France."

"I did," Makoto laughed. "My restaurant has been doing so well that a Monsieur Dupont decided to sponsor its expansion. I decided that the first branch should be in Japan, so I came back to Tokyo today."

"Well, that´s very good to hear," Quatre replied with a smile. "We need to catch up sometime."

"We do," Makoto agreed heartily. "But first, I need you to suggest a hotel until I can find an apartment."

"Speaking of finding, how did you find this number?" Quatre asked. "I certainly don´t think my studio is famous enough to be known in France."

"I was looking up Winner in the phone book to find your number," Makoto explained, "but it wasn´t listed. I did end up finding a Winner Studios though, so I decided to give it a shot."

"It´s lucky I stayed late then," Quatre commented.

Makoto laughed. "Now, about that hotel," she prompted.

"Where are you? I´ll pick you up. It´s late right now, so you can stay with me until tomorrow morning at least, unless you don´t mind staying until you can find an apartment," Quatre offered.

"I´m at the airport, Terminal E, and unless I´ll be in your way, yes, that offer sounds great," Makoto replied.

"Alright, I´ll meet you at the front gate in an hour," Quatre said before both of them hung up.

He smiled to himself as he gathered all the notes and paperwork he had to finish before stuffing them all in a folder. They could all be done at night once he went home anyways. Reaching into his wallet, he pulled up an old photo that he and Makoto had taken long ago, back when they were in high school. Her shoulder-length brown hair fell loosely in waves around her face, her bright green eyes exquisite. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the neck of the lanky, timid blond in the picture, and they were both smiling at the camera.

How much would she have changed from the young woman he remembered? From the phone call, it didn´t sound like she was very different, but they hadn´t really talked about anything important anyways. Laughing silently to himself at the irony of the last twenty minutes, Quatre decided that he had to thank Relena the next morning. If it hadn´t been for her, he never would have gotten Makoto´s phone call.

~*~*~*~*~

Wufei stirred his after-dinner tea as he studied his wife from across the dining table. Her chin-length black hair framed her heart-shaped face, and in the light of the chandelier above the table, it looked almost blue. A pair of reading glasses was perched on her nose, hiding her deep blue eyes, and she had her face buried in the pages of a report.

Bemused, he spoke up. "Woman, can that not wait until after dinner?" he asked lightly. "You work more than I do, and I have been told I´m a workaholic."

Ami looked up briefly from the report to give him a look. "It´s Ami, not ‘woman´," she corrected automatically, making Wufei grin. "And I thought you wanted to play chess after dinner, so I want to finish reading this. I have to operate on this child tomorrow."

Wufei shrugged. "Chess can wait. I´ll beat you someday," he stated. "Men are better than women at strategies."

"Actually," Ami commented, smiling at him, "according to a recent study, women can multi-task much better than men, which would actually make us better at strategies involving more than one group of people." Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she added, "I do believe, however, that school results show that the boys are-"

Wufei laughed, interrupting the speech she was making on the workings of the human brain. "I was trying to provoke an answer," he admitted, "but not a scientific speech."

Ami smiled sheepishly. "Well, since you decided that you don´t want to play chess tonight, I suppose the report can wait until after dinner," she decided. After a brief pause, she continued, "Is there something you want to tell me? You´ve been sitting there looking like a Cheshire Cat all evening."

"A Cheshire Cat?" Wufei echoed, frowning. "I do not."

"Do too," Ami argued. She took off her glasses and raised an eyebrow at him. "Well?"

Wufei rolled his eyes. "I hate women," he grumbled.

"I know," Ami grinned.

Wufei sighed. "I met someone at work today. She was supposed to come and have dinner with us, but she turned me down because she already agreed to have dinner with her sister."

Ami wrinkled her brow. It certainly wasn´t like her husband to invite random women to dine with them. "Was it a friend?" she asked.

"Not a friend of mine," Wufei answered with a smile. "I met her for the first time today, and I find her most amusing."

"Oh," Ami replied. She wondered to herself why Wufei was telling her this. First of all, he wasn´t the kind of man who saw women as conquests. Second of all, even if he was, why in the world would he tell his wife about a woman he was attracted to?

"She actually gets Yuy riled up," Wufei continued. "He can´t seem to control himself around her."

Ami blinked. Now this was interesting. The few times she had met Tokyo´s most eligible bachelor, he was as cool as ice and would beat a rock in lack of emotions. Of course, she had read about his many women, but losing control of himself around women? That was just a little hard to believe with the mental image she had of the man.

"You can´t mean what I think you mean," she stated.

Wufei smiled wryly and proceeded to tell her about the situation he and Trowa walked in on at the office. His wife blushed at the description he gave, but remained silent until he was done.

"That´s. . .most interesting," Ami mused aloud. "She certainly sounds amusing, if not a little bewildered by Heero. Although, I can´t understand why you would invite her for dinner if your friend is attracted to her."

Wufei´s lips twitched into a smirk. "Did you not say you were supposed to be better at strategies?" he asked. "I challenge you to figure this out, woman."

"It´s Ami, not ‘woman´," his wife replied again. She sighed, knowing full well that he was doing this to provoke her. Then again, she was never one to turn down a challenge, especially the kind that involved puzzles. "What are the stakes? And how much time do I have?"

"There are no stakes," Wufei answered with a shrug. "I respect you. I wouldn´t make you do something you don´t want to, and there´s no point in betting on something you´d willingly do." He stood up from his chair and walked to the other side of the table. "I daresay that you have until the night of the charity ball, love."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, briefly enjoying the sweet scent of her freshly washed hair.

"Don´t think too much. You still have that operation to do tomorrow," he murmured softly.

~*~*~*~*~

Heero sighed as he got ready to head up to his so-called home. He had finally gotten the work that he was supposed to finish today done. He glanced at the clock and scowled. It had taken him two extra hours, and it was all because he couldn´t keep his mind off a certain blonde for most of the day.

Getting up from his chair, he grabbed the laptop sitting on his desk and headed out the door. As he passed by the secretary´s desk outside his office, he couldn´t help but pause and take a look at what she had done with it. It looked almost lively, screaming that someone worked there during the day. There wasn´t a single speck of dust, and a couple of books sat next to the computer. A pencil holder filled with various pens sat proudly on top the desk, next to the little flower-themed calendar and picture frames.

Curious, Heero sifted through the numerous amounts of pens, and was amused to find a couple of gold and silver ones among the many blacks and blues. Yet, it was so very Usagi. She was an alluring woman, but she was also an innocent girl.

He took a look at the photos. The first one was of her family, and he noted that both Usagi and her sister took after their mother, whose wavy blond hair and soft blue eyes gave her a very motherly and gentle look. Her father looked more stern, but one could easily recognize the love in his eyes as he smiled down at his family. The photo was dated in the corner in a flowing cursive hand with silver pen. It was taken four years ago.

The second one looked like a graduation picture, filled with girls that were most likely in her class. And the third one, which looked the most recent, made him blink and glare at the frame, or to be more precise, the man behind the frame. The woman in the centre was undoubtedly Usagi, and she had her arms looped through those of the two people around her. On the left was a dark haired girl with startling violet eyes, and on the right was a man, who looked a little too friendly for his liking.

Putting the frame down in case it broke under his continuously tightening grip, he happened to see a piece of white notepaper sprawled carelessly on the desk. In the same cursive hand that Heero now deduced was Usagi´s handwriting, Shunshou was written down, along with the address and phone number.

He picked up the piece of paper. That was probably where she was supposed to meet her sister for dinner tonight, and knowing Usagi, she had probably skipped out of the office and left the directions behind. He smirked and tucked the piece of paper into the pocket of his jacket.

It looked like he would be dining out tonight, at Shunshou.

~*~*~*~*~

Minako looked across the table at her sister, who was eating her cheesecake while she carried on a conversation with Rei about the benefits of technology, a topic which she had tuned out on as soon as Usagi asked about the software protection system at Aegis. She snuck a glance at Duo, who looked like he was debating whether to be disappointed or confused – disappointed because Usagi´s full attention was now on Rei, or confused about the computer terms they were using.

As though he sensed her gaze on him, he turned his attention from staring at Usagi´s profile to meet Minako´s eyes. She rolled her eyes, to which he grinned. If there was one thing the two of them definitely agreed on, it was that technology was incomprehensible.

Determined not to let this turn of topic ruin her plans, she jumped into the conversation, which had switched to something about timers and lights.

"So Rei, do you want to come to the bathroom with me?" Minako asked.

"The door might need an electronic password," Usagi added sarcastically, "and we know all about Minako´s typing abilities."

"Thanks Usagi," Minako replied. "I can use a debit card, you know."

"Whoever said the password involved just numbers?" Usagi returned, grinning. "What if it was CBJK? And what if they had to be capitalized?"

Minako pouted. "You could be nicer about it," she muttered.

"She is being nice about it," Rei responded. "Did you not hear some of the replies Mr. Maxwell got?"

Rei´s eyebrows twitched while she glared at Minako, who moved her chair away from the black-haired woman. If she wasn´t sure before about whether or not Rei and Usagi knew she planned Duo´s appearance, well, she was sure they both knew from the start now.

"You sure you still want Rei to go with you?" Usagi drawled, raising an eyebrow at her sister´s previous action. "It looks to me like you wouldn´t want to dump water over her if she was on fire, at least not if you have to get close to her."

"Hey!" Minako protested.

"Hay makes the fire spread," Usagi informed her with as straight a face as possible.

Duo laughed, and Rei smirked.

"I would not watch my best friend be burned to death," Minako answered, crossing her arms. "I am kind enough to save people in need."

"Then if you need to go to the bathroom," Usagi laughed, "by all means, I´ll save you. Let´s go."

She started to get up, but Minako quickly pushed her down, a little too hard it seemed. Usagi toppled over into Duo´s arms, who grinned like a maniac.

"I think you´re falling to quickly for me, Miss Aino," Duo tried again.

Usagi sighed, straightening herself and removing any contact she had with Duo. "I´d fall quicker for the Earth," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "After all, the acceleration towards the centre of the Earth is 9.8 meters per second."

Three people stared blankly at her, and Usagi shook her head. "Never mind. What I mean to say is, I would fall quicker for the ground from a mountain than I would for you, Mr. Maxwell."

"What does the ground have that I don´t?" Duo asked, frowning.

Rei rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "Come on, Minako," she called out, getting out of her chair. "I know you´re just dying to go to the bathroom."

The sarcasm was not lost on Minako, who had become an expert at picking up that tone since she had to live with Usagi. Still, she´ll take any chance to continue with her matchmaking scheme. Quickly, she followed Rei to the far end of the restaurant, completely missing the amused look Usagi threw at her back.

"Did I miss something funny, Usagi?" Duo asked. "Um. . .can I call you Usagi? It feels weird calling you by your last name since I call Minako by her first name."

Usagi nodded. "Sure, I don´t mind."

Duo grinned. That was one small step closer. "You can call me Duo," he offered.

"If it´s alright with you, Mr. Maxwell, I´d rather not be on such familiar terms yet," Usagi mused, stirring her coffee.

And one big step back.

"Oh, how come?" Duo prompted.

Usagi shrugged. "I´m not used to calling men I´ve only met a couple of times by their first name," she supplied. "Besides, if I do, that´d be encouraging Minako, and believe me, I´d rather survive only on carrots for a year."

She smiled at him suddenly, and Duo grinned back, happy to be on the receiving end of her good graces instead of her biting remarks for once. "You know," she began, "I have no idea why my sister decided to set you up with me."

"Why not?" Duo replied.

"She´ll be a much better match for you," Usagi answered.

"But I like you," Duo protested boldly.

For one of the few times in her life, Usagi was taken aback. She had an idea that Duo might be interested in her. After all, he had been doing nothing but hitting on her all evening. Plus, it was so obvious that this wasn´t a chance encounter, nor did Minako have to go to the bathroom that badly. Still, for him to come out so openly and admit that was surprising, if anything.

"I´m. . .flattered," Usagi responded softly, staring into his deep indigo eyes. Subconsciously, she noted that they were a very unusual shade, yet, they didn´t burn into her soul the way Heero´s did. Duo´s eyes mesmerized her, but Heero´s drowned her, seeming to capture her very essence in their depth. Mentally shaking herself, Usagi wanted to slap herself. She couldn´t believe the train of thought her mind had taken.

"I think that´s the first nice thing you´ve said to me all evening," Duo stated cheekily. He reached up uncertainly to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, almost breathing a sigh of relief when Usagi didn´t protest.

It was then that he noticed their faces were very close together. In fact, if he "accidentally" lost his balance now, he could kiss her, equally by "accident".

~*~*~*~*~

"Heero, I´m so glad you invited me to dinner," Relena said, tracing her index finger up his arm. "You should have told me earlier though. I didn´t have enough time to get ready for this date of ours."

Heero mentally rolled his eyes. As if she couldn´t find an appropriate outfit in that closet of hers, which he would bet was the size of his apartment, if not bigger.

As he pulled into a parking place in front of the restaurant, he wondered again at the wisdom of bringing Relena with him just to see his temporary secretary again. He couldn´t have come out alone. No one goes out to dine alone at a fancy restaurant like Shunshou. That was just stupidity. Then again, he had no intention of bringing Trowa or Wufei. Trowa would figure out his intent in half a second, and he didn´t want to give his longtime friend the satisfaction of being amused. As for Wufei, he was probably going to be busy with his wife anyway. No other woman in his office building would do, and he had no intention of bringing some unknown woman who was after his money and would no doubt be gossiping about his affairs everywhere. At least Relena would have the decency to keep her mouth shut about this so-called date, and he knew that even if he spent the entire night staring at the child-woman who had been on his mind all day, the worst that could happen would be an angry Relena, which he´d always tolerated just fine. Besides, a new piece of clothing or jewelry would soothe her anger in under half a minute.

The manager practically tripped as he ran up to greet the two new guests who had appeared at his restaurant.

"Mr. Yuy, what a surprise," he greeted hastily, trying to adjust his tie and look composed at the same time. "You did not call for reservations. Should we open up the VIP room for you?"

Relena was about to say that it would be desirable, but Heero beat her to answering the man in front of them. "No, I´d prefer you don´t," he murmured absentmindedly, scanning the large restaurant with his eyes.

Finally, they landed on a head of shining blond hair in the middle of the restaurant. He frowned slightly, trying to figure out if that was the woman he was looking for. Common sense told him that it couldn´t be, but his inner feelings said otherwise. No one else could make his heart quicken its pace like that; no one else could make his blood run hot and cold at the same time.

Mindlessly, he followed the manager as he led them to a table, Relena tugging on his arm the entire time. As they walked by the table the blonde was sitting at, he could tell the woman really was Usagi. . . and she was in the company of that guy from the party. . . and he looked as though he was about to kiss the slightly blushing woman.

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End of Chapter 6.

AN: I´m really evil, and I know it. =D Please review! Happy Chinese New Year to the Chinese people out there. ^^ Hope you guys get lots of money. LOL.

Reference: The hey/hay thing was derived from Angelight´s Christmas fic, "A Breath Away." Read it if you´re in the mood. It´s a cute fic.