"You're offering me his Gundam?" Juri echoed. An odd little
smile appeared on her face as she murmured, "I'm reminded of a saying
about stepping into a dead man's shoes."
"Not quite that," Duo Maxwell sighed.
The two of them made an odd looking pair, standing there by the
wall in a deserted part of the large campus. The orange haired Juri
Arisugawa was nearly half a foot taller than her companion, and she
carried herself with confidence. Beside her Duo Maxwell almost blended
into the shadows, the black schoolboy's uniform that the brown haired
boy wore going well with the black cap he kept pulled down over his
eyes.
Duo took a computer disk from his pocket, passing it over as he
said, "There's information here on where I hid the Gundam, as well as
how to access a simulator mode in the suit. It'll help train you for
using the suit, though I'd bet you'll be a natural."
"I haven't even agreed to do it Maxwell," Juri quietly protested
even as she took the disk from him, oddly heavy in her hand.
Duo simply walked away, only stopping to say over his shoulder,
"You said you wanted to fight OZ, Arisugawa. This is your chance."
Juri slipped the disk into her boy's uniform pocket, watching
him walk off as her own thoughts ran away with her. She pushed off from
where she leaned against the wall and walked back to her dorm, feeling
the breeze ruffle her long hair.
'I shot that boy,' Juri thought of Heero sadly, 'even if it was
an accident. Can Duo really expect me to pilot the Mobile Suit he
possessed?"
Flower petals blew around her as Juri walked on, her black boy's
school uniform hugging her lean form. The students watched her as she
went, and she felt a bit of a flush touch her cheeks. Nearing her dorm
her eyes widened as she saw the student who was waiting there for her
there, leaning up near the front doors with a false sort of casualness.
"I'm sorry to bother you," Releena said, her long brown hair
flowing down her back as she smiled up at Juri gently.
"It's no bother," Juri said, despite feeling a degree of
irritation at the intrusion. Mastering her emotions she said, "Would you
care to come in?"
"I'd love to," Releena smiled.
Juri used her key to open up the outer door, leading Releena
over to the elevator as she asked conversationally, "How were classes
today?"
"Not bad," Releena smiled. She hesitated as they stepped into
the elevator together, "Who was that odd young man you were with?"
"Duo is an old acquaintance," Juri lied glibly, feeling a bit
bad about doing it.
"Not a boy friend then," Releena mused. She laughed quietly as
they exited the elevator into a thickly carpeted hallway, "I think many
of your fans will be glad about that."
Juri felt herself blush slightly at that even as she murmured,
"I suppose so."
They walked up the long hall together mostly silently, quickly
reaching Juri's dorm room. She unlocked the door with a golden key and
swung it open, stepping aside and then waving for Releena to go inside
the room first. Juri saw Releena scanning the room as she entered,
taking in the neat bed, desk, personal computer and the few personal
items that Juri still had.
"What a lovely place," Releena smiled.
"Sorry for the mess," Juri said, frowning a bit at the scattered
books and stuff. She nodded in the general direction of the desk and
bed, "Grab a seat, I'll be with you in a moment."
"Thank you," Releena walked past the desk and chair and sat down
on the side of the bed, leaning forward just slightly.
Juri took off her black uniform jacket, determined to get as
comfortable as she could. As she hung it up her locket swung free, the
golden metal shining. It clinked softly up against the signet ring that
was hanging there beside it on the chain, loud in the silence. She
noticed Releena's eyes gazing at it, and braced herself for the
inevitable questions.
"That's a lovely ring," Releena surprised her with that
question, "why don't you wear it?"
Juri reached up to touch the signet, warm from being near her
skin, and said, "I received it at my old school. It's a momento to me."
Releena winced visibly, obviously having heard about what had
happened. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I didn't know."
"There's no reason you would have," Juri said, keeping her
rattled emotions out of her voice. She walked over to the desk, pulling
out the chair and sitting down. "So what can I do for you?" she asked
Releena curiously.
Releena looked down shyly, a bit of color appearing on her
cheeks. "I'm going to be going on a diplomatic trip with my father," she
said softly, "I'll have to leave the school for weeks."
Juri wasn't quite sure where the girl was going with this,
honestly. "And you don't want to go?" she offered with a frown.
"Not really," Releena looked up to flash a smile. "I can't
really turn him down, not without hurting his feelings. However, he has
said I can bring a classmate along," she said tentatively.
It took Juri a moment, then she asked, "Me?"
"You don't have to," Releena hastened to say, "if you don't want
to. The space colonies are a dangerous place right now, and it will just
be my dad going to meetings and stuff."
"I guess with the tensions between Earth and the colonies they
really need a good diplomat there to calm things down," Juri said as her
own thoughts raced. Reports leaked to the media said that the Gundams
and their pilots were from the colonies. If she went, she might be able
to... do something for Heero Yui, pay some kind of respects to them.
Releena sighed softly as she murmured, "My father seems to think
our military is the greater threat." She brightened as she looked up,
"So what do you think?"
'Duo, I hope you hid that Gundam very well,' Juri thought to
herself as she said aloud to Releena, "Yes, I'd like to go."
Releena pushed herself off the bed, getting back to her feet.
She smiled at Juri, "Thank you, Juri. You may just make this trip
bearable."
Juri got up out of her chair and they walked towards the door
together. "So when are we going?" she asked her.
"Two days," Releena said as they stopped by the door, "pack
clothes that are comfortable, and a few formal pieces." Juri opened up
the door and Releena turned towards her. In a sudden gesture she rose on
her toes to press her lips to Juri's cheek, "Thank you again."
With that Releena was gone down the hallway, hair flowing down
her back. Juri stood there in surprise, fingers resting on her cheek in
surprise. It took a moment for her to recover, then with a faint blush
she shut her door and retreated back to her room.
"Well," Juri muttered softly, "that was interesting."
Shaking her head Juri walked over to where her jacket hung,
pulling the computer disk out of her pocket. She went back to her desk
and sat down, sliding the disk into the drive with a soft click. It took
some thinking to sort through the files, but after some work she found
the map and where Duo had hidden the Mobile Suit.
"He buried it under a hillside?" Juri blinked. Softly she
murmured, "I hope the suit can dig it's way out when the time comes."
Juri browsed the information contain there for a while, but
finally her eyes began to feel the strain and she shut the computer
down. She got up from her seat, moving towards the window to look out at
the deepening darkness. She made quite the striking figure in white
shirt and black pants, hands in her pants pockets.
'I wonder if I'm doing the right thing?' Juri mused as she
opened her locket, looking at the images of Shiori on one side and Utena
and Anthy on the other. She closed it with a snap, yawning slightly,
then stumbled towards her bed.
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