Chapter Two: Hnn.

*The giant glass revolving doors loomed before Hiiro as he stood in front of the monstrous building. He looked down at the slip of paper in his hand and could see that this was, indeed, the correct address.

But did he really want to do this? He could walk away right now, and no one would ever know he had been there. He could leave; start a life apart and detached from all of this. Why should he return anyway? What was holding him here? What was drawing him back again? His inner mind plagued his thoughts too much these days.

Being a soldier had been so simple. He hadn’t needed to think of anything but how to complete the mission. His life hadn’t mattered, his thoughts hadn’t mattered, his feelings hadn’t mattered. But now that the wars were indeed over, no one truly needed him… he could walk of scot-free and not worry about what would happen without him. He could. So why was he still standing in front of the building?

He took his unwillingness to walk away as a sign- a sign that said stay, commit another ten years of your life to them all… another ten years of not knowing whether he would wake in the mornings, another ten years of loneliness… he would commit another ten years if his boring and dull life to cheating death once more.

Finally Hiiro forced his legs to move. He pushed the door, and walked through it. The man at the door tried to card him, but one glance at him and he stayed put. No doubt the doorman had been told to expect a dark man who would glare and not allow him to card him. Hiiro grunted and entered the elevator. He pushed the button for the fourteenth floor… no. He sighed inwardly.

It was really the number for the thirteenth floor, but when the building had been constructed, the company that had built it had had a superstition about the thirteenth floor being cursed, so they had left it out and skipped right to fourteen. Most construction companies did the same, they though of it as another way to cheat death. Hiiro smirked. He was going to the thirteenth floor, no matter what the numbers read, and he would cheat death anyway. How ironic.

As the elevator dinged, Hiiro stepped out of the silence and into chaos. People were milling around, drinking coffee, laughing, talking. A few were sitting at desks and typing, and a few more were answering the phones. It was your typical busy office scene. He glanced around the room and spied the door he wanted. As he made his way towards the door, he could hear people talking about him.

“Is that him?”

“I heard Lady…”

“Is he really…”

“Are the rumors…” But Hiiro grunted. Without knocking, he opened the door to the office and barged in. And then he slammed it behind him.

“Hiiro? Well, you are a bit late.” The woman seated at the desk mocked gently.

“Hnn.” Hiiro narrowed his eyes at Lady Une.

“Hiiro my boy, didn’t I teach you punctuality was important?” An old man seated on a hard chair in the corner scolded.

“There was a slight altercation on the streets.” Hiiro tried to make an excuse. It was more like he had been dawdling along thinking of the woman he had met.

“An altercation? Nothing too large I hope?” Une asked.

“Hnn.”

“Yes. Well. As you know, I would like to offer you a job. The Preventers could use someone like yourself to oversee the major operations… the ones that require a great deal of infiltration and experience.”

“You want me to guard Relena.” Hiiro stated bluntly. Lady Une blushed.

“That’s one way of looking at it, yes.”

“Hnn.” Hiiro grunted again. This was what he had been afraid of. This was what he didn’t want to do. It wasn’t Relena and her childish infatuation with him that he didn’t want to deal with, it was the fact that guarding Relena made him feel so useless. As if there was something better he could be doing with his time, but instead he was trapped inside a house guarding a princess.

“Hiiro, I think it will be good for you. Relena is a sensitive woman who can help restore some of your humanity.” Hiiro looked at the doctor who had trained him for so long.

“You’re trying to set me up?”

“ Just trying to restore what I stole.”

“I don’t need emotions back.”

“You do, you just haven’t realized it yet! How will you live? Go on day to day with nothing left to do? You need social skills to get a normal job. And One day, you’ll even have the urge to marry, settle down, and have children. And if you want those things, which you will, you need to know how to act to get them.”

“Hnn.”

“Stop grunting Hiiro. This is not fun and games anymore. We want you to guard Relena and in return she will give you lessons in humanity.” Une smacked her hand on the table. Hiiro tried to remind himself why he had entered the building in the first place.

“Hiiro. We can’t force you into doing this, but know that this will be your last mission from me. Will you fail your last mission Hiiro Yui?”

“I acknowledge no more missions.” J and Une sat silently, both surprised. That had not been the answer they had been expecting.

“Then will acknowledge the job Hiiro?” Une managed to ask. Hiiro took one more moment to stare at them.

“When do I start and what is my pay?” Une and J grinned, and Hiiro cringed. Too sweet… something was wrong…

“Right now. You’re pay, of course, will be dealt with by Miss Relena, so you’ll need to speak with her on the issue right away.” Une told him. Hiiro nodded and stood.

“She’s home?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Hnn.” And he strolled out the door. As he passed through the hall, he noticed that all activity had stopped and once again people were staring at him. He walked out the door, then turned around and walked back in.

“What are you staring at? Get back to work!” He barked. And then he left once more. Hiiro found himself almost smiling. That had been interesting. It wasn’t everyday Hiiro Yui had an outburst, and today’s had been exceptionally fulfilling.

>>>)(<<<

A woman poked her head around a door and into a large office. “Miss Relena, I have a message here for you from Miss Lady Une.” She announced quietly.

“Oh? What does she have to say?” Relena’s head shot up.

“Her essential message was that the, and I quote: ‘fish has taken the bait.’” The woman giggled. “An interesting choice of words. What do they mean?” Relena sighed happily.

“He’s coming.”

“He? You mean the man you’ve been telling me about for the last year and a half? That man?”

“Yes, the very same. You see, I asked Une to make him my bodyguard. And Hiiro Yui never turns down a mission… well, job in this case.”

“Is that his name? Hiiro Yui? I like it- it has a very melodic roll off the tongue.” Relena glared.

“He’s mine.”

“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to imply…” Relena sighed and looked at the younger woman before her. How she had gotten to be her secretary when she barely looked old enough to be out of high school was beyond her. But she did an excellent job, and was usually cheerful and more than willing to do a little extra.

“That’s fine, I shouldn’t have snapped. I suppose I’m just a little tense, seeing him again and all. I mean, it has been a very long time… almost two full years now. I wonder if he’s changed much? I wonder if I’ll have changed in his eyes?”

“Miss Relena, forgive me, but may I ask a personal question?”

“Of course. But there are no guarantees I’ll answer.” Relena grinned and her secretary flushed.

“Well. If this man is a good for nothing murder and soldier, how can you, a powerful, pacifist princess, be so in love with him? Doesn’t he go against everything your principals stand for? Isn’t that being hypocritical? And how can you love someone who has so much blood on his hands?” Relena stayed silent for a moment, then she cleared her throat.

“Though I do wish and work for peace, I don’t stand for total pacifism anymore Miss Kennington. If I did, I wouldn’t have gone back to my adoptive father’s name, Darlian. I think what it is is that I know Hiiro killed for the good of others. He tried to save lives. That is more important.”

“To some.” The secretary grumbled.

“Look. I know how you feel about the war, and about the soldiers who fought in it. You think they’re nothing but a bunch of lazy bums who killed each other for sport. But they weren’t the war wasn’t just some overly macho fight blown out of proportion, and the soldiers most certainly didn’t think of it as a game, Hiiro least of all.”

“They took lives. I could never love anyone who took lives, and I don’t see how you can.”

“Miss Kennington, I think that you are too sensitive to the idea of killing. As much as I wish it could be, both you and I know that our innocence and that of everyone else who lives in this time has been robbed before it should have been. But we cannot kill the robber, for then we ourselves become him. Do you see my point?”

“A nice metaphor, yes. But still… I’m sorry Miss Relena. Maybe I just have too many idealistic notions in my empty head.”

“Your head is no more empty than the peace talks I preach daily, don’t sell your intelligence short! Why, without you running and organizing me, I wouldn’t know what to do!” Both women smiled and giggled slightly as the heavy tension in the room broke.

“Well,” the secretary began, “Lady Une said Hiiro would be here soon, that he had just left for here. I’ll keep an eye out for him, and when he gets here, I’ll send him straight in.”

“Thank you so much.”

“That’s my job!” They smiled again, and then the secretary strolled out of the room. Relena watched the younger woman’s retreating form and had to smile. She liked these chats she and her secretary had. What she had said was true- without the organization she had brought; Relena wouldn’t know what to do. But at the same time, Relena liked to try to teach and educate the woman.

It wasn’t that her secretary was ill taught, no, not by any means. In fact, she was a bright woman who seemed to keep up with current events and have a keen insight to different views. It was just that she could be so narrow-minded when it came to the Eve Wars. Relena didn’t know why, but her secretary seemed to hate all soldiers. Well, maybe she did know why. It was because of their killing. Killing was the one thing that bothered her secretary the most. Now the reason for that, Relena truly had no idea.

Soldiers… Hiiro… Hiiro was returning to her! At long last, she could finally see him again. She had so many things to tell him, so many things she wanted to do with him. Relena sighed. It would only be a matter of time before Hiiro realized he loved her. And then… they would live happily ever after. Relena grinned, then frowned. How corny was her last thought? *

~~~This took a while- ideas are coming slower these days. But I do have a few more, so no worries. VERY IMPORTANT: I am going to be uploading a new fic called Last Chances. But I need to rate it R for sure. So if you all want to read this, PLEASE change the rating scale above and search for it or go through my name. IF you don’t think it needs to be rated R, please tell me so I can lower the rating. I think more people read Pg13 cause it’s easier than checking for R rated and up. Oh well. Thanks, and please REVIEW! Vixen ~~~