Chapter Eight: What Messy Misunderstandings

 

     *Serena was in almost unbearable pain. "Ouch! Stop! Duo!" after Relena had messed with her hair, Serena went to Rita to get it out. Rita couldn't do it without cutting it, so Serena said no quickly. After Rita, she had tried Marie. Marie had wanted to put peanut butter in her hair, but Serena said no to that idea too. She had even gotten so desperate as to have Mika try to remove the hair thing, thinking that her small fingers could do it, but no, she was wrong in that idea too. Finally, she spotted Duo. He had a long braid, so he must have had her problem some time or another. She let him go to work on the infamous hair tie less than five minutes ago, and so far, she thought they were  getting nowhere.

     "Have no fear, pretty lady, for I, Sir Duo Maxwell-o-lot,  have done the impossible!"

     "What would that be? Flown? Sorry, it's been done, oh mighty knight." Serena joked with him.

     "Um, no. I was thinking more along the lines of getting your hair tie unstuck without cutting your hair or putting any goop in it."

     "Oh, Duo, thank you!" She cried, turning around and giving him a small peck on the lips. When she pulled away, Duo sat motionless. Just as he opened his eyes, she began to speak. "Oh, I'm going to go find Hiiro. I have a few things to say to him. Bye!" She ran off. Duo still stayed perfectly still. 'She kissed me. Ok, so it was just a friendly thank you kiss, but it was still a kiss. Oh, wait until Hiiro hears about this! He'll go nuts!' And with that in mind, he ran off in the opposite direction of Serena, knowing exactly where Hiiro already was.

~~~###~~~

     "...right on the lips! On the lips! Can you believe it! An angel just took on a one second tour of heaven, and I loved every minute of it!" The five pilots were sitting in the backroom of the arcade discussing 'things' as they called it.

 Hiiro listened to Duo's story. He couldn't believe it. Had Serena really kissed Duo? Of course, he had known about the hair problem. And he had known that when he laughed, well, smirked at her, she had gotten angry. He could tell she was very proud of her hair the way it was, and didn't take kindly to people laughing about it. But to go and kiss Duo because he had gotten the hair tie out? Had she done it just to spite him? To make him jealous? Or had she really meant she liked Duo more than himself? His head was spinning with all of this new information.

     Duo was glowing. He was on top of the world. He couldn't believe that she had pecked him on the lips!  He wondered if any of the other pilots were jealous. 'Well, being at the right place at the right time does it every time. I wonder if I could get her to do it again, and actually mean something by it this time?' He scanned the faces of his comrades. Trowa held an indifferent look. Quatre was somewhat in a trans, Wufei could care less, but, wait, was that jealousy written on the face and in the eyes of the Perfect Soldier? 'I could play this one for all it's worth. It's party time!' He thought.

     "So, Hiiro, what do you think about her kissing me?"

     "Hnn."

     "Come on, be honest. You don't like it very much, do you?" Suddenly the other three pilots were very interested in the direction the conversation was heading.

     "Yeah, Yui. What do you think about her and Maxwell hooking up?" Asked Wufei.

     "Hiiro? Don't you think we'd make a cute couple? Ah, I can see it now. Mrs. Serena Duo Maxwell."

     "Hnn. First of all, her name is Serena Usagi Tsukino. Secondly, I doubt  she cares for you. And thirdly, omea wa koruso."

     "How did you know her full name Hiiro?" Asked Quatre.

     "I asked her."

     "Well, don't you think it has a nice ring to it? I mean, Serena Maxwell. In fact, I'm going to go find her right now." With that, Duo spun out of the room. Hiiro shut his eyes and put on the face of an annoyed person, when really he was ready to chase after Duo and knock him out so he could take Serena far away from here. But of course, in being the Perfect Soldier, one must abide by all of the rules. 'Damn protocols.' He thought to himself again.

Serena had been out looking for Hiiro for an hour. She couldn't find him anywhere in the area. She was ready to transform and go searching for him, but then she spied a happy looking Duo.

     "Hey Duo! Listen, have you seen Hiiro? I really need to talk to him about something."

     "Babe, why talk to him when you can talk to me?"

     "Because it's just something that I started to get into with him and now I need to finish it."

     "Well angel, you started something with me, and now I'm going to finish it."

     "Huh? What did I sta..." Serena was cut off by Duo's lips hitting hers. As he tried to deepen the kiss, she lightly responded, still in shock. She finally pulled away form him and caught her breath.

     "Duo... I... I mean, I, just...."

     "Say 'wow'. Come on, you know that's what you want to say." He grabbed her arms and pulled her into an embrace. She pulled away.

     "Duo, that's sweet and all, but I can't."

     "Why not? You told us yesterday that your boyfriend died a month ago."

"Yes, but I already have another... Duo, I just can't right now, ok. Look, you're a very sweet guy and all, but I just don't think you and I..."

     "What about this kiss earlier?"

     "What kiss?"

     "You know, the one after I fixed your hair?"

     "Duo, that was a 'thank you peck,' not an 'I'm trying to lead you on kiss'"

     "Oh. Sorry. I feel stupid."

     "No, it's my fault, I should have pecked you on the cheek anyway, you're just too tall."

     "Duo? Come see this!" Called Sammy from down the hall.

"Coming kid! Got to run, bye!" And with that, a very red Duo ran down the hall to see what his younger friend wanted to show him.

~~~###~~~

     Two minutes after Duo left, Hiiro went after him. After much inner debating, he decided 'all was fair in love and war', so he was going to go find Serena right away and tell her he was sorry. He entered the arcade's main room, and saw two figures in the corner on the room. Stepping in closer, he saw Serena's hairstyle, and the other one's braid. Duo had found Serena first. He watched the interaction. It was too bad the lighting was so poor, otherwise he would have been able to ready their lips. He watched as they spoke, then Duo kissed her. That was all he needed to see. Feeling rejected, he walked back into the backroom and out the back loading door.

     Hiiro figured a walk would clear his mind. 'When did I become such a weak person that I fawn over girls?' He thought to himself. 'Since when does the emotionless Hiiro Yui, the Perfect Soldier care about anything anyone does if it's not part of the mission? He doesn't.' He stopped. Trying to make himself think differently wasn't helping. He still had Serena on the brain and Serena in the heart. He got to the end of the main street and turned. Seeing Tokyo Tower light up in the dusk, he decided he would head that way for a stroll.

~~~###~~~

     "Have any of you guys seen Hiiro around? I haven't seen him since he shot Relena." Serena was really getting worried now, and she wasn't afraid to show her emotion.

     "Yeah. He was in here three minutes ago. Didn't you see him? He was in the main room of the arcade looking for you and Duo." Answered Quatre.

     "The main room? Three minutes ago? Where is he now?"

     "He came back in here and left without so much as a word. But he had a wild look on his face. He doesn't show emotion that often, but when he does, you can see it in his eyes. He almost looked dead." Said Trowa.

     "Oh no. I'll bet he saw Duo and I kissing. On no, what have I done?"

     "Serena? What do you mean?" Asked Quatre.

     "Well, Duo came in three minutes ago and kissed me senseless, and when I told him no, I just wanted to be friends, I came in here to ask you guys. Hiiro probably saw Duo kiss me. Oh no! He'll never trust me now. He'll hate me forever." She sat down and began to cry with her head buried in her hands.

     "Don't cry." Quatre wrapped his arms around her in a hug, but she pushed him away.

     "The only person I want to hug me is Hiiro. Oh Selene. While you were all gone this morning, Hiiro and I had a little chat, and we were so happy, but now look what I've gone and done! I've spoiled everything now."

     "What happened between you and him this morning?" Asked Duo, who had joined the group in just enough time to hear Serena begin to cry.

     "Well, he asked me if I was scared of Chaos, and I said no. He asked me if I missed my parents, and I said yes and started to cry. He hugged me, and then kissed me, and well, I don't know... we just sort of fell into place."

     "You mean you and Yui got together... this morning?" Asked Wufei. Serena nodded, unable to speak.

     "No wonder he stormed out like he did." Said Trowa.

     "He saw me kiss you and thought... oh, man! I shouldn't have teased him!" Cried Duo.

     "What do you mean, teased him?" Serena asked.

     "I told him you kissed me, then I was messing with his mind and calling you Serena Maxwell... he looked so jealous, but I honestly didn't know you, and he, had already, you know, gotten together." Now Duo's rage matched Serena's.

     "Oh Duo..." Sighed Serena. "I'm going to find him. Stay here incase he comes back."

     "But Serena, it's beginning to storm outside. You're afraid of..."

     "I'm afraid of losing Hiiro. Thunder or no, I go out. Tell the other not to worry, and take care of Sammy for me." She ran out the back door, hoping, praying she would find Hiiro.*