Takeo – Umh, this is a one shot fic and it’s based on a true story and due to encouragement from Nivell, I’ve decided to try. I swear, I’m going to die. Warnings shouenen ai, angst.
WuFei – No you’re not. That would require a very large anvil and you usually aren’t around when it’s raining anvils.
Takeo – Oh, right. *nervous chuckle* Okay, let’s get this going before I lose my resolve.

Jigsaw.

WuFei sighed contentedly as he listened to the teacher talking in class. In front of him sat Duo and Heero, Quatre and Trowa to his left. WuFei couldn’t help but smile as Duo errupted in laughter and the whole class turned to see what was so funny. Quatre was apparently in on the private joke and was laughing as well, tears in his eyes. Duo looked like he would pass out from hyperventilating.

"Duo, Quatre. Stop this ridiculous laughter at once." The teacher fumed as he folded his arms in annoyance.

"It’s not my fault, honest. I can’t stop laughing!" Duo said as he hiccupped. Quatre and Duo looked at one another and burst into another fit of giggles.

"Leave the room gentlemen, take a walk until you’ve calmed down." The teacher said as he pointed to the door. Duo and Quatre rose from their seats and left, still chuckling, both faces flushed.

"Jerk." Heero muttered from his seat.

"What happened Heero?" WuFei asked softly as he shook the boy’s shoulder. Heero blushed as his eyes met WuFei’s.

"I really don’t know. But they might screw up our mission with their behavior." Heero said as he ran a hand through his tousled locks.

"I see." WuFei said with a smile. Heero blushed as the smile graced him. Duo and Quatre returned. WuFei fixed his eyes on Duo as the braided boy sat down, choking down a giggle. Heero glared at Duo and Quatre, both immediately shutting up. The teacher droned on and the class came to an end. WuFei rose from his seat, absently brushing a feather from his skirt.

"Looking good Fei." Duo called as his eyes roamed over the supple caramel legs left exposed from the undeniably short skirt. WuFei resisted the urge to slap Maxwell across his face but he blushed nonetheless and hurriedly escaped from the room. Being around Duo made him uneasy. Heero glared once again at Duo.

"What?" Duo said as he raised his hands in an exaggerated pose. Heero shook his head.

"Never mind." He said as he too left the class, Trowa following behind him.

WuFei pondered as he ate his lunch. Despite Duo’s remarks about his ‘disguise’ which infuriated WuFei to no end, Duo’s touches always brought him to a screeching halt. For the month that the pilots were in the school, Duo was constantly hugging him. Every time, WuFei pushed Duo away from him, feigning disgust, a few curses and threats to bodily harm Duo. And at the same moment, he longed to pull the boy closer and whisper his growing affection for him. WuFei blushed at the last thought, often wondering what it would feel like to fall in love, to demand a kiss, to demand one’s entire devotion. Whether Duo realized it or not, WuFei watched every single thing that Duo did, every laugh that sent the whole class into giggles, every smile, every clueless expression.

"Hey WuFei." Quatre said as he and Trowa sat down opposite him, attending to their lunch.

"Hn." WuFei replied, carefully bottling up his emotions again.

"That isn’t very ladylike." Quatre said with a laugh as he sipped his tea.

"I’m not a lady Winner." WuFei said as he opened his backpack and stuffed his things in. he stood up and slung it over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Quatre asked as turquoise eyes fixed on WuFei.

"To the library, where else?" WuFei said as he headed out, bumping into Heero along the way.

"Hi WuFei." Heero said as he regained his composure. WuFei nodded and headed for the library. On getting there, WuFei pulled out his book that he had been reading for a day now. It was thick, about 789 pages. He put on his glasses and began to read in a corner of the school’s small library, the silence comforting him.

"Hey WuFei!" a boy called as he ran over to his side. WuFei looked up and hid a blush. It was Duo.

"What do you want Maxwell?" he asked dryly as he returned to his reading. Duo took the book from WuFei’s hands and dragged the boy up and towards the computer section that was at the other end of the library.

"I need help. I know our mission and all was to stay in this school for a month, but it’s crazy. I can’t find any research for the biology paper that I’m supposed to write and you know how uptight Mr. Tolstoy is." Duo said as he sat WuFei in his chair.

"I can’t help you Maxwell." WuFei said as he attempted to leave.

"It’s Duo and please Fei, I know that you’re good at this stuff. The only brain cells I have are all for piloting Deathscythe. I don’t need to lose anymore on this mission, please?" Duo pleaded.

"But I need to finish my book. I have an English Project due by the end of this week." WuFei said with an exasperated sigh.

"It won’t take you that long. You’re always reading. This is the only favor that I’ll ask of you." Duo said as his hands rested on WuFei’s shoulders, giving them a squeeze. The strength in Duo’s grip made WuFei hesitate.

"All right. But this is all." WuFei said as he took off his glasses and began the search.

"Thank you, I love you so much!" Duo said as he rested his chin on WuFei’s head, hands massaging into WuFei’s shoulders. WuFei blushed and pushed Duo away. Duo came back and did the same thing, smiling as he watched WuFei type away at the keyboard. Heero, Trowa and Quatre came in.

"Oi, hi Duo. I was wondering why you didn’t come to lunch." Quatre said as he hugged his friend. Duo took a quick glance at Heero.

"Lunch! I knew I forgot something." He lamented as he turned his attention back to the screen.

"You guys should go out. You look so cute together." A girl chirped beside WuFei as she regarded the way Duo’s hands never left WuFei’s shoulders. WuFei blushed.

"I don’t think so." He said as he typed faster, his mind trying to dull out the sensations that Duo’s fingers caused.

"You’re kidding. We’re just friends, ne WuFei?" Duo asked as he sat next to WuFei and slung his arm around WuFei’s neck. WuFei froze, his heart stopping, eyes threatening to say otherwise.

"There, it’s done." WuFei said as he got up and smiled. He stretched and headed back over to his corner. Once he got there, he gave way to angry tears that burned down his cheeks. How dare he, after all that stupidity? He was flirting; I should’ve known never to trust that smile. It’s a mask, just like my own. And I thought that… I even dared to hope. Damn you Duo Maxwell… I hate you! WuFei wrapped his hands around his ears, silencing a scream from his heart. Tears flowed faster, blurring his vision; he used his sleeve to dry his eyes, his heart wrenched from his body.

He tried to calm his rattled nerves. Nothing had hurt like this, someone’s inability to love him like he loved them. The bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. WuFei sat up and packed up his things and headed for the boys’ bathroom. He slapped himself mentally and shyly headed into the girls’ bathroom, breathing a sigh of relief that no one was in. He turned on the tap and attempted to cool his heated face and eyes, the running water like his bleeding heart. He eventually calmed down and arrived five minutes late to class, but the teacher merely smiled at him and told him to take a seat. WuFei breathed a bit as he realized that Duo hadn’t come to class yet. Heero was in his class and they sat at the same table.

"Are you all right WuFei? You look lost." Heero asked as he noticed the distant look in velvet eyes, devoid of nothing.

"I’m just empty, that’s all right isn’t it?" WuFei asked as he rested his head on the desk, ebony hair spilling unto the table. Heero was confused by WuFei’s change in behavior but said nothing. WuFei had made it clear that he didn’t want to talk. Duo came bounding in, apologizing to the teacher. He took his seat in front of the class and cast Heero a flirtive glance. WuFei noticed this and he felt anger boil through his blood for Duo and sorrow for Heero.

"He isn’t worth it Heero, he doesn’t deserve it." WuFei whispered softly. Heero barely caught WuFei’s voice and alarm filled his eyes. He glared at Duo whom turned to the cobalt-eyed boy and winked suggestively. Heero looked away with disgust. The class ended and WuFei walked silently to the safe house. There was nothing he could do. His feelings centered on all that he felt for Duo. He felt empty and hollow as he flopped own on his bed once he arrived at the safe house. On the desk was the English assignment that had to be completed. He isn’t worth it, never let your emotions drag you down, use them to quench the fire. Smiling wistfully, WuFei pulled out a pen and paper and started on his assignment.

Friday came, and it was the end of the month and the last day of the pilots’ mission. The English teacher, Mr. Oble spoke to his class, the last of the day.

"Has everyone done their assignments?’ he asked as his blue eyes sparkled, black hair swirling across his eyes. Several girls blushed, some literally eating up the handsome sight that was perched on the desk.

"Yes Mr. Oble." The class replied.

"Okay, anyone want to come up here and recite his or her work? " he asked. A girl’s hand shot up and she stood before the class, shaking a bit nervously.

"It’s all right." Mr.Oble said with a reassuring smile. She smiled and read her poem that concerned her mother. The class clapped as she finished and she blushed as she sat down.

"Who’s up next?’ the teacher asked. He saw eager hands, but the hands that weren’t raised where the ones he paid attention to. He smiled as his gaze settled on the black haired girl that had been in his class for a month and when they had assignments like this, love was always the focus of her poems and it thrilled his young heart to hear such beautiful words.

"Fei, how about you?" he asked kindly. WuFei got up, a contented smile on his face. He stood up and boys and girls alike watched with admiration as WuFei moved gracefully and stood before the class, his resolve not fleeing for one moment.

"It’s a poem titled And Yet." WuFei said as he cleared his throat and began to read.

"I remember the look in your eyes, the feelings in my heart.
I remember the touches and the kisses like it was all some sweet dream.
I remember reminiscing over every little bit and piece of what I called love.
I remember the feeling in my heart as my world came crashing down.

You smiled, I fumed.
You pull, I push
Always the opposite and yet,
I secretly longed for your touch

But it’s all a scam, a sham.
A picture they say is worth a thousand words.
Well, I’m certainly no longer a picture.
It’s more of a scattered jigsaw puzzle on a child’s playroom floor.

It’s only fitting that I’m on a child’s floor,
Children only know how to play, and will keep their intention of playing, hidden behind those innocent faces.
I was a pawn, and you wanted to play chess

I was killed even before I had a chance to make my move.

It was all a lie
And I saw it too late
And I’m on the floor, broken and useless,
My love for you is killing me so softly.

But I’m not going down without a fight,
Or perhaps I’ve already gone down.
A mask can hide so much,
Repeating a lie can never make it true.

So I’ve realized that I am a pawn
And I’ve stopped this heartless game of fools
But my heart still breaks,
It’ll take centuries to mend, but a moment to shatter it once again.

I couldn’t save myself from the hurt
But I saw the other pawn in your game.
I uttered words to save him from my mistake, my hopes and dreams.
Did he ever hear?

I cannot be drawn to you again,
I cannot live a pretty lie,
There’s too much of that in my life
And it ends here and now, there’s no turning back

People play with the word love,
It means the world to me.
Can't you see that you hurt me
Every time that word flees your lips?

A mask, side to side an every grinning smile,
You slap one cheek,
I won’t turn the other,
I’ll slap you back."

WuFei ended, a flush in his cheeks as his peers gazed at him, some with a secret understanding. Mr. Oble understood and he broke into applause, the rest of the class whistling and clapping their content. WuFei smiled, pleasure in his heart as he sat down in his chair again, his poem giving him the push to rid himself of Duo. Heero smiled contentedly and pressed his hand warmly against WuFei’s.

"I won’t slap you." He whispered with a light in shinning cobalt eyes. WuFei looked at him, a blush in his features.

"I didn’t know." WuFei replied.

"What you see is the real me. Masks are only used to prevent one from entering, and I did hear what you said yesterday." Heero said as he placed a gentle kiss on WuFei’s hand. WuFei smiled softly. Like a fool, I become the pawn once again, or will it be different?

Heero smiled as he guessed WuFei’s train of thought.

"You really should stop playing chess. You could become the controller of pawns. Games should never come between us." Heero whispered. WuFei nodded.

The End.

Takeo - *peers from hiding place * Is it over?
WuFei – Yes. Don’t be shy.
Takeo – Shy, yes; embarrassed to death, damn right!