Misomeru

a/n: I do not own Gundam Wing nor any of its characters. I do not own IKEA. I would like to thank the author pyrzm over at mediaminer(dot)org for the inspiration to make Heero an artist. Misomeru is a Japanese term that means: "To feel, on first meeting, that someone is just the person you've been looking for"

Chapter One – Alla Prima (at the first)

Heero Yuy had no idea what he had done to be put into this situation. Actually, he did know, but it was not his fault, and he would tell anyone that asked the same thing. He had been enrolled in a drawing class that had been beneath his level, so he dropped it. But, he still needed an art class for the semester, so he took the open spot in the Life Studio class without thinking twice.

Two months of drawing females had proven both boring and uneventful. Even though he knew the female body was gorgeous by nature, it did not incite any passion on his part. He could paint, sketch, and do any number of things, but he was looking for something that gave his art purpose.

He was thinking of skiving off classes for the day when something told him to go anyways. Today was the first day of drawing the male form. For two months, the same male would be in their classroom, and they would paint him and sketch him, all in different poses and settings.

Heero arrived early, and he approached the same easel he had been using for days. The morning sun filtered through the vertical blinds and illuminated the room. His back was to the window, being warmed. He shrugged himself out of his blue jacket and stretched his arms high above his head. The dark green t-shirt he had chosen to wear that day rode up the slightest bit, exposing a patch of golden skin across his abdomen. The khakis he wore rode a little low on his slim hips, a product of his Japanese-American heritage. His black boots made no noise on the concrete flooring. He shook his dark brown hair away from his blue eyes and stared forward.

The door opened and shut. Heero looked at the person entering the room instinctively. At first he thought it was a girl, with a long, chestnut brown braid. But as he looked closer, he saw that the body crossing the room was most definitely male. He was a touch taller than Heero himself, and he had a similar build. Long, lithe, and toned. He wore a red t-shirt that did not mold, but certainly clung to his torso and chest. His black jeans were only slightly relaxed. He too wore black boots.

"Can I help you?" Heero asked him, not knowing anything else to say.

"Yeah, um, I'm looking for Professor Epans?" he asked. Heero looked at those messy bangs and the startlingly violet eyes beneath them, amazed at how someone could seem so feminine and yet be so male at the same time.

"He's not here yet," Heero commented.

"Duo Maxwell," the male revealed his name and held out his right hand. Heero took it in his own and shook it. Duo had a firm handshake, but not overwhelmingly so.

"Heero Yuy. Can I help you with something?" Heero asked again.

"Well, I am supposed to model for this class, and I just wanted to know where I could change?" Duo asked, confused. He looked around and saw no changing room.

"I believe the models usually change in the bathroom in the hallway," Heero managed to choke out. This was the male they would be studying for the next two months? Him? The man looked like a combination of exotic and erotic, and Heero knew that the sniggering girls in the class would go gaga over this subject.

"Hey, thanks!" Duo said appreciatively as he turned to walk out. Then he stopped.

"Do you take this class? Am I modeling for you?" Duo asked.

"Well, modeling for the class, but yes, I will be one of the people drawing you," Heero tried to stay calm.

"Well, maybe it won't be so bad with you studying me," Duo winked and then he was out the door. Heero felt a blush grace his cheeks. Was Duo flirting with him?

Other students started flooding into the classroom. Shortly after them came Professor Epans, with his usual surly expression in place.

"Today we start our study of the male body. The model that will be posing today will be posing in the nude. He will be placed in a standing position. You will sketch him in pencil on your paper pads. This is how we will begin this phase. By the end of this section, you will be painting him in various poses of your choice. I will go see if he is ready," the professor opened the door, and poked his head out. A few muffled words later and Duo walked back into the classroom, wearing only a white robe.

"Over here please, Mr. Maxwell," the professor pointed at a small pedestal he had set up in the middle of the room. Heero's easel was directly in front of Duo, if about ten feet away.

"When you take off your robe, please stand in the most comfortable position you can manage. You will be standing still for about 45 minutes. Okay, begin"

Duo slipped his robe off his shoulders and let it fall to the ground. The girls almost all collectively gasped. The other men in the class shifted in an almost uncomfortable manner. Heero just stared, and noticed those violet eyes were watching him as well.

He was every bit as lithe and toned as Heero had imagined. He looked like a fighter. Someone who would get your back in a fight. Someone who would take a punch and give one back. That increased Heero's respect for the braided man.

Those eyes were not as cheerful as they were before, now they seem guarded, they seemed almost cold. Heero, for the first time, wondered why Duo was doing this. He was letting people study his nude body for cash. Did he feel like a stripper? Did he feel used?

Heero looked Duo up and down with professional appraisal, not wanting to hurt the man's feelings. Then he began to sketch. Line after line, shadow after shadow. It did not take him long to do it either. Some of the people around him were having difficulty with the genital area, but Heero drew them perfectly, every fine line in place, every tuft of hair accurately represented.

"Mr. Yuy! This is very good. Have you ever seen this model before? You draw as if you have memorized him!" Professor Epans seemed astounded, and quite unaware of how loud he had been. Duo gained a slightly shocked look on his face but did not move, and not a few people sniggered.

"No sir. I just got inspired," Heero managed to get out evenly, and then he boldly looked at Duo. The shock had given way to a smoldering look, one that could melt stone. The professor shrugged and walked away. Heero wanted to melt into the floor.

Heero was still putting the finishing touches on his piece when the professor dismissed them. Duo quickly slipped out of the room to avoid the rabid girls, and Heero bent down to put everything in his bag. He banged his head on the easel when he went to stand back up. He sat down on the floor, his head spinning just a little. He was still sitting there when the door opened and Duo burst back into the room. Burst. That was a good word when it came to Duo. He burst into rooms and out of rooms. Heero knew, somehow, that Duo probably did everything with bursting.

Duo looked around the room with a weird expression on his face, and then looked relieved when he saw Heero still sitting on the ground. Duo crouched down next to Heero and smiled.

"I'm sorry that I was staring at you throughout the whole thing. I need something to focus on, or else it really starts to rankle me, displaying myself for all the world to see. I wanted to concentrate on a friendly face," Duo smiled a bright smile.

"I'm friendly?" Heero asked, slightly confused.

"More so than a lot of people. Plus, you're cute," Duo ran his fingers through Heero's hair and it was all Heero could do not to turn into his touch. What was wrong with him?

"I'm cute?" Heero asked, caught off guard once again. He was quickly realizing that Duo was very spontaneous, very impetuous, and probably very truthful.

"I will run and hide, but I never lie. I will be back tomorrow to stare at you some more, Heero. I want to see the sketch when you are done!" Duo left the room happy. It was then that Heero realized two things: that Duo had been looking for him when he had burst back into this room, and that there was a piece of paper lying in his lap. He unfolded it and read its contents.

Heero,

Shinigami02. My screen name. Use it?

Duo

Heero sat in that spot, staring at that piece of paper, until people started to file in for another class. He checked his watch as he hit the hallway and realized he was missing his English class. He swore he would ask to borrow notes, and skipped the class entirely, deciding instead to go to the student union and finish his sketch.

As he scratched his pencil along the paper, filled in a small shadow near Duo's chin, he wondered how he had done this. He had captured Duo. It looked like Duo could leap off the page at him. Somehow he had managed to capture that distance and cold look in Duo's eyes as he stood there, nude in front of everyone. The lean lines, the slender but toned arms, the way his bangs fell into his face in an unruly manner, sometimes covering those unusual but beautiful eyes. The upturned nose. Heero traced the lines of his drawing, and all he could think of was how beautiful Duo was. He stared at Duo's mouth in the drawing. Duo's lips had settled into a thin line, showing he was not pleased with what he was doing.

Why did he do it then? You had to volunteer. You were a paid volunteer, but a volunteer just the same. You got one hundred dollars per session to stand there, naked as a jailbird, and let people portray you via their own minds. It must be the money. At least, that was what Heero concluded.

His last class of the day was cancelled, so Heero went back to his apartment. He could not stand living on campus. He had done that his freshman year, and had hated every minute of it. So he rented this small studio space across the street from the college. It was not much. He had a comfy futon, made of cedar wood. The floors had been cedar when he moved in, so he thought it matched. He had a television that he watched sporadically. His eating area consisted of a small table made of cedar and two black chairs he bought at IKEA. He was a very clean person, very efficient. His desk was the biggest thing in the room by far (excepting the futon when it was pulled out). It was made of cheap wood, and painted black. Another black IKEA chair sat behind it. Heero was a computer junkie. He had towers, monitors, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and all sorts of other equipment. Most of it was in neat containers lined up against the wall behind the desk. He sat down at the desk and woke up his computer. The large LCD monitor showed a desktop background of a drawing he did a few months ago. He had sat in the botanical garden in Golden Gate Park and sketched this perfect picture of a single calla lily. The dew had still clung to its tip, and Heero thought it was the best thing he had ever drawn, excepting the current sketch he carried in his portfolio. But that was something he did not think he would ever put on his desktop.

He opened his email program and watched as it checked mail. Junk, junk, junk, junk. An email from an old friend named Wufei, who was currently at Harvard Law. Heero scanned it and found it only contained news that he had begun to see this great girl named Sally. He opened his chat program and opened a page to add a new friend.

"Shinigami02. The God of Death. Unusual name for someone so full of life," Heero muttered as he entered the name. Why was he doing this? He came to the conclusion that not doing it would be rude. It would be simpler to just do it, and not risk distraction later. Then why did he feel like that was a lie?

"He is online," Heero double clicked on the name and a chat screen popped up.

ZeroSystem: Hi, it's me. Heero. From art class?

Heero waited a moment for an answer.

Shinigami02: Heero! I am glad you messaged me.

ZeroSystem: Why?

Shinigami02: Are you done with your sketch?

ZeroSystem: The mission was accomplished. The drawing is done.

Shinigami02: Can I see it?

ZeroSystem: Tomorrow. I do not know what I am going to do with my time in class since your sketch is finished.

Shinigami02: Draw me something.

ZeroSystem: Like what?

Shinigami02: You. Draw yourself.

ZeroSystem: Why?

Shinigami02: You are clueless, you know that?

ZeroSystem: How do you know? You have known me for all of a few hours.

Shinigami02: So? Just trust me.

ZeroSystem: Trust you? I hardly know you!

Shinigami02: Have faith.

ZeroSystem: Okay, I will draw me. Mission accepted.

Shinigami02: And say you will have dinner with me tomorrow night.

Shinigami02: Hello?

Heero stared at the screen. Had Duo just asked him out? On a date? It was not if he really objected, he just never thought about dating anyone. It had always been about his studies, his mission to get his degree. Was he okay with this?

ZeroSystem: Like, a date?

Shinigami02: Why not?

ZeroSystem: Do you always answer a question with a question?

Shinigami02: No. Sometimes I answer yes. As should you. Come on, we can go have pizza or sushi if you prefer…

Heero stared.

"What the fuck am I doing?" he asked himself even as he was typing.

ZeroSystem: I'll go.

Shinigami02: You will? Great. Meet you in front of the library at seven?

ZeroSystem: Seven.

Shinigami02: See you then. Do you dance?

ZeroSystem: I can, when forced.

Shinigami02: I might have to force you then. I have to go. See ya in class tomorrow.

And then he was logged off.

"Very suave Heero," he worried to himself.