Confusion of the Heart
Prologue
It was 02:12 AM in the beginning of February. Tired, freezing, and
just finishing his mission, Duo Maxwell walked to the edge of the
city, where the safe house was. He cursed having to walk instead of
flying his gundam. The mission was to infiltrate an OZ base and steal
data; therefore he didn't need to use his gundam. He was passing an
alley when he heard several people shouting and laughing. Duo turned
toward the alley and saw some men pushing someone up against the wall.
It was dark and the moon was hiding behind some clouds so Duo wasn't
sure if the person was male or female.
But when Duo could make out the men's words, he knew instantly that
the person was a girl. Judging from the dirty words they shouted,
those laughing men surely didn't have any good intentions for the
girl. Yet another heroic action required, Duo sighed. He walked into
the alley. Approaching the men, he walked up and tapped the back of
one of them. "Excuse me, Sir."
The man turned and glared at him. "What do you want, brat?" Duo could
smell the beer and knew the man was drunk. "If you want a chance to
fuck this girl, get in line." The Deathscythe pilot had had enough, he
was tired and he didn't need to listen to any drunken person. One blow
to the head and the man was out cold.
Some of the men noticed their friend had been knocked out and leapt to
attack Duo. Of course the drunken men weren't a match for a gundam
pilot. The others were still leering at the girl, making it easier for
the braided pilot to knock them all out.
After all the men had been dealt with, Duo turned his attention to the
victim and held his breath as the moonlight revealed the face of the
girl. If there were a word to describe the girl, Duo would choose
perfect to be it. Her skin was pale cream and her lips were soft pink,
tempting to be kissed. Duo was sure that she had Asian heritage,
judging from the pointed chin and nose she had. But the most
attractive part of her was her eyes. They were deep ocean blue and
seemed to beckon Duo to drown in them.
Duo approached the girl and was surprised when he saw her eyes held no
fear in them. Wasn't this girl afraid of the guys? The braided pilot
ran his eyes over the girl's body. She was a wearing plain white
blouse and pastel blue skirt. Duo noticed a tear in her blouse,
revealing a delicate shoulder. He growled as he saw the shoulder was
bruised slightly. "Are you okay, girl??"
The girl nodded. Duo removed his jacket to cover the girl's bruised
shoulder. He smiled as the girl let him put the jacket on her. "Let's
go, it's not safe to stay long here." He offered his hand to the girl.
The girl stared at the hand for some time before she put her hand on
it.
Duo smiled and led the girl out of the alley. He brought her to a
bench next to a street lamp. As the girl sat down, Duo sat next to her
and studied her face again. The girl was beautiful and she had
shoulder length brown hair. The front of her hair was messy but it
suited the girl. Duo could spend all day just watching her. Her lips,
her cheeks, her nose, and mostly her eyes, they intoxicated him. Duo
couldn't help himself and touched the girl's cheek. The cheek was so
soft. The girl looked at Duo, surprised and raised her hand to remove
Duo's hand.
Duo moved faster and caught the girl's hand with his free hand. "It's
okay. I am not gonna hurt you." He let his fingers caress the girl's
cheek tenderly. Stunned, the girl paused, then lowered her hand. Duo
smiled again but didn't let go of her hand, keeping it in his grip.
"Did they hurt you anywhere else beside the shoulder?"
The girl shook her head slightly and Duo, who was still caressing the
girl's cheek, felt his breath stolen away as his fingers brushed the
girl's lips. He let his forefinger stay on those delicate lips and
caressed them. The girl opened her mouth slightly, again surprised by
Duo's action. "They didn't manage to kiss you, did they?" Duo looked
at the girl. Funny, he just met her but he already felt very
possessive about her.
Again, the girl shook her head, this time very slightly as she was
well aware of Duo's finger on her lips. "Good then." Duo smiled. "My
name is Duo Maxwell, what's yours?"
"Hitoe. (read : hee-tou-a)" The girl finally spoke, sending small
vibrations through Duo's fingers that were still on her lips. The
girl's voice was clear and a little low but it was crystal clear in
the middle of the night. So she was Japanese, Duo stored the
information away.
"Hitoe, what a beautiful name." Duo raised the hand he held and kissed
it.
"Uhm.." The girl squirmed and tried to pull her hand away, but Duo
held on to it. "Look, I am very thankful for your help, but I have to
go now."
"Where is your home? I will walk you home." Duo felt disappointed but
he knew it was better for the girl to go home, it was past midnight
after all and it was not safe for a girl to wonder alone on the
streets around this time.
"No, it's okay. I can go home alone." The girl stood up as Duo
reluctantly let go of her hand and drew his other hand from the girl's
face.
"I don't think so. It is really dangerous for a girl to walk alone at
this hour."
The girl shook her head and said stubbornly. "No, I can take care of
myself. Goodbye."
Duo quickly held the girl's hand as she turned to go. "Hitoe, I.."
"Let me go." Duo looked at the girl's eyes and saw nervousness there.
It looked like he had pushed the girl too far. After all he was a
stranger and his past behavior to the girl didn't help either.
"If you say so.." Duo released Hitoe's hand reluctantly.
"Thank you and here..." She removed Duo's jacket but Duo quickly
stopped her.
"You can keep it." Duo smiled.
"But.."
"Don't worry, you can give it back to me later."
"Uhm...." The girl seemed hesitant.
Duo grinned since it'll give him a chance to see the girl again. "How
about we meet tomorrow at 01:00 PM here?"
The girl thought for a minute and then nodded. "Okay."
"Great, see ya tomorrow, then." Duo beamed happily.
"See ya." The girl then turned and left Duo.
Duo walked home to the safe house happily. He was going to meet the
girl again tomorrow. He arrived at the safe house about 03.00 AM and
trotted up to his room that he shared with Heero, the Japanese pilot.
He was surprised to see the room was empty. Usually he would find his
comrade sitting on his bed, typing on his laptop. Duo assumed Heero
must be on a mission too because if he was not on one, then no matter
how late Duo got back, Heero was always up, typing on his laptop, as
if waiting for him.
The braided pilot plopped down on his bed. He fell asleep, dreaming
about the girl he just saved. He didn't wake up when the door was
opened half an hour later. If he woke up, he might have seen his
Japanese companion staring at him. Slowly the Japanese boy's hand came
up and caressed his own cheek as if relishing something there.
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