He was almost tempted to say the apartment was too quiet, but...

"Heero!"

... well, it wasn't.

"Heero, I wanna check my e-mail!" Duo all but yelled in his ear, bouncing over to throw both arms around his neck.

He tried very hard to look angry at the interruption, but it was very half-hearted at best, turning around in his computer chair to look at him. "Can't you wait till I finish checking my own?"

The American shook his head sharply. "I want to see if Usagi happened to e-mail me. She said she would." He put on the most pitiful face he could manage, turning huge, pleading, irresistible violet eyes on him. "Can't I please just check it?"

"I'm almost done, then it'll be yours, okay?" He slowly turned the chair again and continued to type one handed on the laptop keyboard before him.

He suddenly found himself with a lapful of a pouting Duo Maxwell. "Do you think she'll ever get back in touch with us?"

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. "We did something to piss her off. That's all I know."

"Demo..." Duo whispered, lightly biting the knuckle on his thumb.

He clicked on the last message in his inbox, and a small smirk built on his face. "Besides, here's an e-mail from her."

Duo twisted violently in his lap; he only scarcely held back a sharp wince; and they both started to read.

Yuy,

I can't be there for the weekend after all, but I thought I would send you and Duo a message to let you know everything's okay here. I'm sorry that it's text only; I'm on a really old machine. Anyway, this is what I wanted to say:

Murude mujaki ni suki na no da nante
Nozoki konda kuso ni uwa no sora ne
Dakara, uso o tsuita no. Daisuki to iu uso
Itai kurai no ai wa mune ni kakushi ta.

You looked into my face innocently, asking "Do you like me?"
But you're thinking of something else.
That's why I lied by saying "I like you very much."
I hide my love which is hurting, deep inside my mind.

Ijiwaru Angel, sonna tako ne
Yashashii kuse ni tsumetai no wa naze
Fuuin o toito mune no oku no subete o
Tsuki-tsu keta nare ba don na kao shite kaesu no.

Mean Angel, you are just like it.
You're sweet but why are you cruel?
If I unseal my heart and show you everything in my heart,
What kind of face will you show and what will you do?

Kuyashii heredo koi wa kukaku natte yuku
Anata no miryoku niwa kanawa nai wa.
Itsuka sonae ni natte, hitomi ni makasete
Ai e to kawatta koi, tsutae rarera wa.

I don't want to, but my love grows deeper and deeper.
I can't resist your fascination.
I will be obedient someday, and my eyes will tell you,
My affection has changed and now I love you.

Sayoonara, Yuy-kun. Daisuki.
Usagi.

"What a weird message," Duo mused aloud.

"I don't know," he couldn't hold back saying. "It seems pretty typically Usagi to me."

Duo elbowed him gently in the stomach. "Heero... And here I was thinking you and Usagi made up."

"She still calls me 'Yuy,' doesn't she?" he countered.

"Saa... whatever. Time for me to check mine." He flipped his braid over his shoulder and started typing nearly as fast as Heero had been, speaking aloud as he went. "Let's see: junk mail, junk mail, junk mail, Howard, junk mail, junk mail, Quatre and Trowa, junk mail, junk mail, junk mail, mission," Heero couldn't stop the automatic stiffening his body did at that word, even as Duo went on speaking, "junk mail, junk mail, junk mail... Usagi." He clicked on the message and read aloud as both their eyes skimmed the page.

Duo,

Saa... How's your weekend going so far? I'm so lonely here with you and Yuy around. I never realized how much company even Lifeless, Stick-up-his-ass Yuy-san can be. >.< I wish I could say it was quiet though; I have some noisy friends here.

Anyway, I was watching this old anime with Omi-kun-tachi and it sorta reminded me of... well, the three of us. I'm sure Yuy's already read his part of the message, so here's your half, koishii.

Daisuki,
Usagi.

Tokidoki miseru fukiyou-sa wa
Yancha na koro no wa suremono kashira.
Ato modori wa dekizu, wasureru koto sae muri
Iki tsu modori tsu mo, furikomu you na kono koi.

You are sometimes clumsy.
Does it mean you are still a little boy?
I can't go back to those days, it's impossible to forget about love.
My feelings go back and forth. I can't stop falling in love with you.

Nanige nai furi o shite, suki na no da nante,
Yokogao de kiku no wa dou iu tsumori.
Dakara uso o tsuita no, Daisuki to iu uso
Setsuanai hodo no ai ni, furue nagara mo.

You asked me "Do you like me?" with no expression on your face.
Why are you asking that question without showing your face?
That's why I lied to you by saying "I like you very much".
Even though I love you so much I'm shaking.

Kuyashii kerodo koi wa fukaku natte yuku
Anata no miryoku niwa kanawara wa.
Itsuka sunao ni natte, hitomi o mitsumete
Ai e to kawatta koi, uketome to hoshii.

I don't want to but I am falling deeper and deeper in love with you.
I can't resist your fascination.
I will be obedient someday, and my eyes will tell you,
That I've fallen in love with you, so I want you to accept my love.

Saa... I'm pretty sure both and Yuy were reading over the other's shoulder when you got these messages, ne, koishii? Don't try to deny it; I know you both too well for that now.

I guess these are just my way of saying sayonara. The two of you are made for each other, you're two halves of a whole, and I'm just a third wheel, an extra piece, keeping the two of you from being all you could be. So I'm going to gracefully step out of the picture now, and let the two of you be together like you're supposed to be. Just remember, daisuki. Both of you, daisuki. You're both the lights of my life.

Daisuki and sayonara,
Tsukino Usagi.

"No!" Duo cried, as always the more vocal of the pair, slamming his fists down on the desk hard enough to rattle the computer and everything around it. "No, I won't accept this!"

"Just like that? Just like that, she left us?" Something akin to bewilderment echoed in Heero's voice.

Determination that usually only showed up during missions glinted in the American's eyes. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

~ * ^ * ~ * ^ * ~

"Are you sure about this, Usagi-san?"

She frowned at the young man before who looked enough like her to be a brother and slowly shook her head, pulling her book pack further up on her shoulder. "Iie, Omi-kun, I'm not... Demo, I think it's the right thing for me to do."

"Then you better hurry or you'll miss your train again."

"Doomo, Omi-kun." She leaned over briefly and kissed his cheek. "You're a good friend. I just have one more favor to ask. Don't tell Yuy or Duo where I'm going, okay?"

He nodded slightly. "Sure. Be careful, Usagi-san."

"Of course, Omi-kaasan!" She grinned and turned to run through the closing doors of the train, waving at him through the glass and mouthing "Bai-bai."

Then frowned...

This isn't right... "Isn't the train supposed to be moving by now?"

"It won't, till I give them the signal," a too familiar nasal voice stated.

Her eyes flew wide open. Masaka...

"Were you really just going to leave us behind, Usagi?" that other voice she knew so well continued.

She didn't even look away from the glass before her face. "It's best this way, Duo, Yuy."

A hard grip took hold of her arm and whirled her around to face them both. "Best for who?" Duo demanded. She would have had to have been blind not to see the pain radiating from those violet eyes. "Don't we mean enough to you for you not to leave us at the first sign of a disagreement?"

She shook her head slightly, not disagreeing, but merely attempting to clear her own confusion. "How did you find me?"

"We traced your e-mail," Heero explained, stepping the rest of the way up to them. "There aren't that many text-only machines left in Japan, then it was just a matter of tracing down your friend Omi. Kyoto was the only match on both."

"Usagi..." She looked back over to stare at Duo. "Don't you care about us at all?"

"Hai. Daisuki," she replied, the words coming automatically.

"That's what you meant by the song, isn't it?" Heero interrupted suddenly. "We always ask you if you love us, but we never say anything back."

"Or there's a mission or something," cut in Duo.

Again she shook her head. "I never asked either of you to love me. I entered this relationship because of how I felt about Duo and what I have come to feel for you, Yuy; I never expected either of you to return my feelings. Neither of you need that kind of an attachment now, and I -"

Hard lips covered her own, silencing her words as strong arms wrapped around her body to hold her in place. Her eyes flew wide to stare at Heero then slowly sank closed against the feelings rising within her body, slowly parting her lips to let his tongue invade her mouth. He did not accept the unspoken offer, however, a nd broke the kiss, resting his head against her shoulder. "Kuso," he breathed lightly in her ear.

Only Yuy could make a curse word into an endearment...

Somewhat more gentle arms wrapped around both of them, and she felt herself melt as Duo pulled them both into an awkward embrace. "We're both guys, Usagi. We sometimes forget that girls need to actually hear the words. Daisuki, Usagi."

She opened her eyes part of the way to smile tiredly up at him. "Soo ka?"

Duo opened his mouth to speak, but Heero beat him to it. "Hai. Suki da, Usagi."

A faint wavering smile barely touched her swollen lips. "Soo desu. Ai shiteru, Duo, Heero. Zutto... Zutto ai shiteru."

Something approximating his usual cocky grin appearing on his face, Duo released the pair of them, signaling Heero to lean back as well. "Then why don't we go home now?" the Japanese young man asked.

The American's grin only grew. "We should thank Omi and the others first."

Sapphire blue eyes narrowed. "Omi-kun-tachi... helped... We missed the first train on purpose, ne?" Duo didn't answer, opting instead to look both sheepish and conniving at the same time; Yuy had the good graces to look as embarrassed as she'd ever seen him since Duo's last birthday party. She pouted for a brief moment then smiled. "Maybe we should thank them. After I yell at them..."

The glass doors slid open again, and she stepped out muttering something about stringing matchmaking assassins up with their own wire; she was definitely not talking about Omi.

For just a moment, the two young men stood where they were and stared after her. "Looks like we have our Usagi back," Duo stated, wrapping an arm around Heero's and leaning his head against the other young man's.

"I'm still not sure whether that's a good thing or not," Heero muttered under his breath, wrapping an arm around Duo's waist. "After all, I had the chance to have you all to myself. But, it wasn't right without her here too."

"She's the last part of us." Duo grinned and stepped away from Heero, pulling him along with him. "Come on, Hii-chan! I wanna see what this anime they were watching was. And hey! Maybe if we get lucky, Yohji-san will let us watch it on that big screen TV!"

"Oi, Duo! Chotto matte!" he cried out as he was pulled along.

Suddenly another person grabbed his other arm. "Come on, Yuy!" Usagi called, grinning nearly as much as Duo, if that were possible. "Let's go home!"

---

First Draft: 20 August 2001
Revision: 14 January 2009

Okay this story is just chock full of random observations I've made during numerous anime binges, including (but not limited to): Don't Omi and Usagi look a lot alike? Good gods, could they be related? Round out that already messed up family of his...

And why does this ficlet partially take place in Kyoto? Well, that's another observation I've made: if anything bad is going to happen in an anime, it'll usually happen in Kyoto. Rurouni Kenshin and Yami no Matsuei, to name a few.

And this ficlet takes place in my own little world, so to say. Anyone can act however I want them and anyone I want can show up. Basically, this is like the Ultimate Crossover, where all anime (even contradictory ones, like Dragonball Z and Genso Maden Saiyuki) exist in the same world. Which easily explains why the Gundam boys, Tsukino Usagi of Sailormoon, and the Wei? boys can all be in the same world. ^___^ I may have to play with this world some more.
(An interesting fact... Every version of this world I've ever designed has had Duo and Heero be a couple and Usagi in a triangle, but this is the first one where Usagi was with Heero and Duo. Previous versions have put in her in triangles with Vegita and Gokou (now there's a weird triangle, ne?) and Aya/Ran and Ken.)

Anyway, there's still the possibility of more of this ficlet series. And if anyone feels like they'd like to be adventuresome and try writing things in this world or even things in this world that fill in the gaps between chappys, please contact me and let me know!

That's enough notes for today.

Ja! Bai-bai!

As for the revisions, I am in the process of converting all my stories with Gundam Wing characters over to traditional spellings. So that means all my "Hiiro"s will become "Heero"s and all my "Ririna"s will become "Relena"s. For clarity's sake.