by Neon Fantasy
Disclaimer: Same old disclaimer applies.
Chapter 5
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" --- " - Speaking
' --- ' - Thinking
"Argh!" Hilde yelled as she slammed her pencil onto her book and crossed her arms, pouting to herself.
"What's up with you?" Duo asked, aggravated at the fact that this was the fifth time that she has carried on since the lesson started.
"I give up on this stuff! I just can't do it!" Hilde complained as she glared at the multiple equations in her maths book.
Quatre had just returned from the teacher's desk when Hilde had one of her little tantrums again. Quatre was sitting beside Alex while Hilde and Duo were sitting in front of them. When he had walked past Hilde earlier, he noticed that she was getting angry over something but didn't say anything about it since Duo seemed to be calming her down. Looking over his finished work, he had nothing to do for the rest of the lesson so what was there to do now? Well, he had been working hard so maybe a break wouldn't hurt. Sliding down his chair a little he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, trying to cancel out everything around him. He didn't get the chance to relax for long though since he heard Hilde yelling curses at Duo all of a sudden. Opening one eye at her he suddenly opened up both and saw her strangling him.
"Hilde, what's wrong?" Quatre asked as he sat up straight in his chair again, leaning over to tap her on the shoulder.
Giving Duo a slap in the arm she turned to him and said, "This maths is a load of crap, that's what's wrong." She was trying to hold back her frustration, he could tell, but it wasn't doing much good. Looking over at Duo he was rubbing his arm roughly as he glared at Hilde for doing that.
"I was trying to help you Hilde. Geez, no appreciation what so ever. And to think that I went out of my way to help you too."
"Oh come on Duo! You would be the last person I would ask to help me with maths. And what gets better is that you just HAD to erase my answer and just HAD to put in your own dumb answer which was far from right. At least mine was closer!"
The two of them were fully glaring at each other now, each not pulling their head away as they competed against one another, waiting for the other to flinch first. Quatre just sat there watching them.
"Are they usually like this?" Quatre asked as he nudged Alex.
Alex pulled his head out of his work and glanced over at Hilde and Duo, "Oh yeah, they do this all the time. I think they just want more attention from each other, if you know what I mean." Alex smiled as he said his last sentence and looked at the blank faced Quatre. He didn't seem to get what he was implying but Duo and Hilde did. They both turned to him and grabbed their pencil cases. As Hilde threw hers, Alex ducked under it but as he got up again Duo got him straight in the face.
"Serves you right!" Hilde said, grinning evilly at him, "Now, be a friend and pass my pencil case back."
Alex just stared at her as she suddenly put on an innocent face and smiled at him brightly with puppy dog eyes, as if it were to draw him to do as she requested.
"What do you take me for?" Alex said smirking at her. Giving her back the pencil case she threw at him would only be an invitation for her to do it again, since she had missed him the first time, she would want to correct her aim.
Hilde just pouted, knowing she would have to get up to get it back now. As she was about to rise, Quatre put his hand on her shoulder and showed her, her pencil case in his hand, "I will give it back to you on one condition. Don't try throwing it at anyone again, alright?"
"Ofcourse," Hilde said innocently as she got her pencil case back. Duo and Alex braced themselves since they knew that either one of them would be hit by it next. However, Quatre didn't leave her side, kneeling beside her desk he asked, "Now, what are you having problems with?"
Hilde looked at him stunned and asked, "Nah, it's alright Quatre. I'm sure you have other work to do anyway."
"Its fine, I have already finished."
As he said this, Hilde, Duo and Alex just stared at him.
"But, this work was for us to work on over the week. And you?re telling us that you are finished already!?" Duo asked as he reached over for Quatre's maths book. He was not convinced, he knew Quatre was some sort of a genius at everything he did but they had only just started the week with this new work so he just COULDN'T have finished, 'He's making the rest of us look bad.' Looking over it, he noticed that every question was answered and as he flipped through each page he noticed there being no cross marks but ticks all the way through it. On the last page he noticed the full marks he had just received from the teacher, this would have surprised him on the day Quatre first arrived but after knowing him for a couple of weeks now, this sort of thing was a normal thing to expect of him, if he got any lower, then that would have surprised. Lifting his gaze to Quatre, he just raised an eyebrow at him and said, "You're a freak, you know that?"
Quatre just smiled and shrugged in response to him and resumed back to looking over Hilde's work. Hilde was so thankful for having Quatre in their class, he had helped her on numerous occasions and she couldn't help but smile since she actually understood him when he would explain what she did wrong and what she should have done instead. 'Better help than what the teacher could ever be.' She couldn't stand their maths teacher. He would always explain everything in circles, plus when he explained something, he would do it one way, then another way, then he would go on about what it would be used for in our normal daily lives. Hilde would just stare at what he had done on the board, absolutely lost in what he had just explained.
"Ah, here's your problem," Quatre said as he reached for Hilde's pencil. As he corrected what she did wrong, Hilde sat back and waited for him to finish. At least with Quatre, he always seemed to know what to do. What ever you were stuck on, he could solve it within a couple of seconds. Because of this, she was hoping that her mistake wasn't anything too stupid. It would be a major embarrassment for her if Quatre, the smartest person she knew, were to find it being something like her writing the sum down with a number being four while her steps on working out the question had that number changed to nine. 'Oh, please don't let it be anything I will regret,' then again, this would be asking for too much, fate always seemed to be against her when it came to maths. When he was finished, he gave her back her book and as she looked at what he did she felt like sinking into the ground.
"It's ok, it's a natural error. I do it myself sometimes," Quatre said smiling as he stood from the floor.
"What was the problem?" Alex asked her in curiosity.
Slowly turning her gaze over to him, she gave him an ashamed yet embarrassed expression and said, "I wrote my equation wrong when I was copying it into my book, that's why I couldn't get the right answer."
Alex just grinned and shaked his head at her and resumed back to his own work.
Sighing to herself in frustration, she just had to develop the skill to check through her work, maths wasn't her strong point though. If you got her into any sports on the other hand, she would be able to totally blitz anyone at it, no matter what it was. Looking over to see what Duo was doing, she went totally wide eyed when she saw him looking over Quatre's book and looked to be copying what was there into his own book.
"Duo!!!" She yelled as she snatched the book away from him and handed it to Quatre, "You might need to hang onto this."
Quatre took the book from her and looked over at Duo, "Do you need some help by any chance?"
Duo pouted when Hilde took the book away from him but when Quatre asked if he needed help he brighten up again. He was wondering when Quatre was going to offer his assistance to him, "Uh yes, you see...."
Before Duo could finish he saw Sylvia come up behind Quatre and raised her hands over his eyes, "Guess who?" She playfully asked.
"Sylvia," Quatre answered her back as he removed her hands from his eyes. Turning to her he smiled and asked, "Is there a problem?"
"Well, I was just noticing that you were helping Hilde with her work and well, I was wondering if maybe you could help me with mine," as she was explaining herself, she was twisting a few strands of hair around her index finger while giving him one of her seductive smiles, hoping that he would seem interested in her if she gave him a bit of a hint for the affection she has over him.
Hilde and Duo just stared at her pitiful performance but went into shock when Quatre just smiled and said, "Sure, what do you need help with?"
Sylvia's smile brightened as she took hold of Quatre's arm and dragged him over to where she and Meiran sat.
"As if he didn't get what she was doing," Hilde said as she watched Sylvia sit Quatre down beside her.
Watching as Quatre started going through her work, Hilde noticed Sylvia was just staring at him and not giving a care about what he was doing to her work. Quatre started explaining some things to her but as he was doing so, he was unaware of the fact that Sylvia was inching her way closer to him as she looked over his arm to 'try' and listen to what he was saying. But Hilde could see that her mind wasn't set on maths.
?She doesn?t look to be interested in her work at all by the look on her face,? Hilde stated to Duo.
"You should be use to it by now. As bright as Quatre may be, he has got to be the most naive person I have ever met. I mean, a girl could walk up to him and say 'I love you' without him even understanding what the hell she had just said," Duo said as he glared at Sylvia, "I admit that she's cute but geez she is such a tart. And it was MY turn for Quatre?s help!"
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The bell sounded some time later and as it did so, students started heading out, ready to go to next lesson.
"What have you got now Quatre?" Duo asked as he came up to him.
"I have computing."
"Ok, I will see you at lunch then alright?"
Quatre nodded as he watched Duo and Alex walk out, "Well let's go to lesson Quatre," Hilde said smiling at him.
As they were about to head out the room their teacher suddenly called out, "Wait, Quatre. Can I speak to you for a second?"
Quatre stopped and looked over to the teacher, acknowledging his request but apologetically looked back at Hilde.
She got the idea, "Don't worry, I will tell the teacher that you will be late." And with that said she patted him on the shoulder before heading out the room.
When she left, Quatre walked over to the front of the teacher's desk and asked, "Is there a problem Mr. Otto?"
Mr. Otto was going through his marks book when he asked this, by what Quatre could see he noticed that his teacher was looking over his work progress. As Mr. Otto looked up at him from his desk he folded his arms over the desk and stated, "Your work, I am amazed that you were able to catch up so fast when you had a couple of month's worth of work to do when you first arrived here. And you even handed it up within a couple of days after you had started here too," Standing from his desk he continued; "Even with the latest work, you are well ahead of the class with that as well. I am finding it very strange that you can get things done so quickly, not to mention hardly get anything wrong. Who are you getting to do this for you?"
Quatre looked at him stunned, he couldn't even believe that the teacher would think that he had someone do it all for him. What did he take him for? Yes he finished his maths within a couple of days upon receiving the work he had to do. With all his other subjects it took him in total a week, including weekends to finish all the work he missed when he started school here. What the teacher didn't seem to know was that Quatre spent nights and nights staying up to finish everything, he was only able to give himself a couple of hours sleep each night if he was lucky. He knew that if he kept putting it off, he would have so much to catch up on with his latest work so it was common sense to try and finish it all as soon as possible. He was after all, use to working under pressure. But would the teacher believe him?
"I can assure you that it is my own work sir. If you like, you can ask me any questions you want which is related to what I have done and I will be able to answer it correctly without any problems."
Mr. Otto watched him closely as he said this. He has never taught such an advanced student like him before, it was hard to believe what he was trying to say. But by the look of Quatre's eyes he could tell that he was speaking the truth. In his fifteen years of teaching he could tell when a student was lying or telling the truth.
"You are a very advanced student Quatre. How are you so intelligent?" This was something he just had to find out, surely it just couldn't be that he was naturally gifted, he would not accept it being that.
"I have had personal teachers come to teach me after my working hours overseas. I had the responsibility of looking after our family business but I had no time during the day to do things like study. So I did my schooling at home after working hours. It was basically, work during the day, study during the night."
As Quatre explained him self to Mr. Otto, his teacher walked up to the windows of his classroom and peered up at the sky as he talked. He had a feeling that his teacher didn?t exactly believe what he was saying. Thinking about it though, it did sound a little hard to believe. Anyone would believe that he was buying his way through school with the rate he was working at; if he wanted to he could easily do that. But he wasn't going to cheat the system, his father would skin him alive if he tried it, but even so, he wasn't in a state where he needed to do that anyway.
A couple of students were starting to make their way into the class room now; the next lesson was going to begin soon.
There was silence in the room for a few moments between Mr. Otto and Quatre before the maths teacher finally spoke up, "I have watched you help other students from time to time when ever you had finished your work early. It's very considerate of you I must say, plus it gives me the peace to do my own work," turning his gaze to Quatre, he smiled at his statement and asked, "Have you had any problems?"
Quatre shook his head in response.
Mr. Otto turned to fully face his student and continued, "Many of your other teachers have commented on your work and think highly of your progress so far. I can see now that it was your pure knowledge that helps your fellow students and I'm taking it that you didn't need any help from outside sources to do your other work either. But you must understand that I had to check you out, just to be sure that I wasn't mistaken."
Quatre nodded his understanding before his teacher continued again, "With the way you have been progressing, I have actually been requested to ask a favour from you."
Quatre just stared at him as he said this, it wasn't something he was expecting but remained silent to let Mr. Otto finish, "Would you be willing to do a bit of tutoring by any chance?"
At this moment more and more students were filling into the room. Mariemaia and Mueller had just made their way in at this moment too. As they noticed Quatre in the room, Mariemaia was about to call out to him but when she noticed that he was talking with their teacher she thought against it and sat down quietly beside Mueller.
Quatre was stunned at his teacher's request, if anything he was expecting, he definitely wasn't expecting that.
"I only ask you to help out one student in particular. Their work has been of... a need for assistance and could do with a bit of help from another student outside school hours. I have them in my class now so, would you mind coming here at lunch so you could meet them? I know it is a very selfish request but this person could do with a bit of a push in the right direction."
Quatre didn't know what to say. He would love to help them but what if he isn't successful at helping them out? He would have wasted both their time and his own as well. He had never attempted tutoring another person before, how was he to teach someone what to do? How can he go about it so that they would understand him?
Wufei and Heero walked into the room at this moment and noticed Quatre in the room. Taking their seats, Heero watched him carefully while Wufei started getting out his things for lesson.
"I'm not expecting you to give me an answer now. Meet them after class and see if you could help them out or not," Mr. Otto said as he made his way to his desk again.
Quatre nodded and started making his way out of the room, looking at the floor as he was doing so. He wasn't going to be able to concentrate on his next lesson with this in his head now. He may be stressing too much over it but if he were to tutor them, he would want it to have been helpful for them, not something which both of them would have regretted.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't seem to be watching where he was going since he happened to bump into someone at the entrance of the room.
"Oh, I'm so sorry I-" Before he could finish he raised his head at the person he had bumped into and noticed that it was Relena.
"Oh, Miss Relena. Sorry about that."
Heero glared at Quatre when he said that. He was about ready to get up and pound him for that but noticed Quatre making his way out before he could even get up. Lucky for him, since Heero was about to teach him not to try and persist on being close to Relena, or all hell was about to break loose. One thing he couldn't stand was guys putting on the dumb act like that just to try and appear innocent to girls they happened to like.
Relena was about to apologize to Quatre herself for bumping into him like that, since she wasn't watching where she was going but before she could even say a word he was already heading off. She grew a little concerned for him as she walked into the room, he didn't look all that well today. From the rare occasions she actually saw of him, he was always smiling and he even kept that smile on when he happened to see her as well. He would always say hi to her and would try to talk with her, but as stubborn as she was, she didn't allow it. Instead, she would brush him off and walk away. But why did hurt when she saw him troubled like that? Shaking her head of her thoughts, she knew that it was just the sense of loneliness that was making her think like this. So what if Quatre didn't greet her, or even smile at her for that matter, it didn't matter to her.
When Relena seated her self, she got out her things and remained silent while she waited for their teacher to finish writing on the board. Taking a glance over her shoulder she rested her gaze on Wufei before she noticed another set of eyes on her, Heero?s. Quickly turning back around again, Heero just watched as she tried covering up what she just did. Looking over at Wufei, he just seemed to be copying what was on the board. Glaring at him, he decided that he was just wasting his time since he looked to be completely ignoring him. Grabbing his exercise book and a pen, Heero started jotting down the notes from the board as well. Unknown to him though, Wufei was indeed watching him and knew all too well what he was implying by that.
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Quatre still had no idea what to say as he made his way to Mr. Otto's classroom, should he be considerate and help this student out or should he be realistic and decline. He couldn't be judged if he said no, after all, he had his own studies to worry about. If he got anything below his father's expectations he knew that it would be like writing out his own death warrant, but then again, it didn't sound too bad when he thought about it. But even so, he wouldn't be asked if it wasn't something serious. Why didn't the student just hire a professional tutor? At least they were trained to help out in situations like this, not him.
Taking a deep breath before walking into the room he saw Mr. Otto leaning at the front of his desk, talking to the student who Quatre was going to meet. Only taking a glance at the person he already knew who it was, and for some reason, it didn't surprise him either.
"Ah, Quatre good timing. This is the student I was talking about," Mr. Otto said as he looked from Quatre to the student in front of him.
The student turned around to face Quatre properly while he smiled and nodded to them, "Hello, Miss Relena."
"Ah, so you two know each other. Excellent, I have gone through everything with Relena so now it is just a matter of your answer."
Relena stared at him as she waited for his reaction. When the teacher talked to her about this 'tutoring' business when everyone had left the room, she had doubts on whether or not it would help. As nice as Quatre may be, it was their final year at school so he would have no time to waste on people like her who had no hope of passing the year even if her life depended on it.
"If Miss Relena wants me to help her, I will be more then happy to assist her," Quatre finally said, much to his and Relena's surprise. 'Where did that come from?' Wasn't he about to decline the offer? He was suppose to suggest a professional tutor to them, wasn't he? He may have if it was anyone but Relena. Why did he always hold a soft spot for her?
"Excellent, I'm sure Relena is most grateful," Mr. Otto said as he looked over to Relena.
"I never asked for his help," Relena started, much to Mr. Otto's surprise, "Why did you insist on forcing him to help me? He has enough to do as it is. I'm sorry but I can't," she said as she walked past Quatre and out the room. Mr. Otto was shocked by her words, he thought that she would be happy having a bright student like Quatre help her out, while on the other hand, Quatre had expected this and started rushing after her.
Relena didn't get far as she walked away from the room, she managed to only walk a few steps away before she was stopped by someone grabbing hold of her arm.
Turning her head to the person behind her she saw Quatre looking at her with concerned eyes, "Please Miss Relena, no one forced me to accept tutoring you. I decided to do this myself. Please, allow me to help you."
"But Quatre, I-I can't," Relena said as she tried pulling away. Much to her surprise though, Quatre released his hold on her instantly as she tried prying her arm away from him. She thought that he wasn't about to let go of her until she agreed with him.
"Miss Relena, I won't force you but let me just say that you can and will pass the year if you let me help you. You are intelligent but you seem to have lost your self confidence in everything you do," She looked very doubtful with what he was saying, he was stuck on words himself, but he tried continuing, "I-I believe in you Miss Relena. I know you can do this. It's your decision I know, but I just wanted to let you know that I will do what I can for you." Rerunning through what he had just said, he felt about ready to hit him self over the head with a mallet. If he was in her position, he would just laugh at the words he just used. She didn't need any useless babbling like that, what he had just said would have gone straight through her head by now. But in a sense, he was speaking the truth and was serious about what he had just said to her.
About ready for her to do what he thought she would, which was laugh in his face, he noticed Relena lowering her gaze when he said this.
She was shocked by his words that?s for sure, 'I believe in you' was the one that really stood out to her. The offer did sound appealing she admitted, with his help she could maybe have the hope to pass the year after all. She was struggling with everything but, what if all his efforts to help her go to waste? What if she makes him fail because he spent too much time trying to help her pass? It was embarrassing enough that he knew how bad she was doing. She must look like a total fool to him right now; she was sure that if she asked for his help that he would probably judge her on everything she couldn't do when it was probably the easiest thing he could ever solve.
Lifting her gaze up to meet his, she was about to decline his offer but she got drawn into his eyes again. They were filled with concern for her, and held a sense of truth within them. He was serious about what he had just said, she could see it clearly, and he seemed to be begging for her to let him help her. Sighing in defeat, once again she whispered, "Please help me." She hated how he could just make her do that, it was the same as what happened back at the airport.
Her words were almost inaudible for anyone to hear. If the corridor wasn't completely isolated, then Quatre would have had no idea what she had just said but by her body language, she seemed to tell him that she accepted. She still looked very doubtful and some what ashamed that she was accepting his offer though. But it was enough, she asked for his help with her own words now and he will prove to her that she isn't as hopeless as what she believes she is.
"Would you like to study at my house, or would you prefer your home?" Quatre asked.
Relena's head shot up as he asked this and she quickly replied, "NO!" Quatre went wide eyed at her outburst so she quickly added, "I-I mean, uh, may we study at your house? If it's not too much trouble that is."
"Of course not, I just want things to be as convenient for you as possible. I don't want you feeling insecure or anything."
"No, I am fine but what days would you like to see me? I will be fine with any time; I don't want you having to sacrifice anything because of me."
Quatre was saddened by her behaviour, did she really think that she was that much of a bother to everyone she was with? Was it her insecurities on people's judgment on her that made her want to be alone all the time? He wasn't one to talk though; he was the same in that department. He just went about it in another way from her. Instead of isolating himself like she did, he would always project the friendliest smile he could and speak to whoever he met with that much politeness that he wouldn't have to worry about people hating him. Then again, it was an open doorway for people to take advantage on him, and he was aware of that. It was just his way to judge a person's character better. Bad if they take advantage on him, good if they return his kindness, it was as simple as that. Although, Relena had done neither, so he was still confused on how he should treat her, but he knew for one thing that he better watch what he says for she will easily take it the wrong way and never talk to him again. She needed this though, as much as she my deny it; he needed to help restore her self confidence, and maybe work his way through her barriers to help solve what other problems she may have, which would be buried deep within her, eating away at her soul.
"I'm not really sure on what times would be best so, what if you come over after school? I will need to look over your work though so; you might need to bring all your books with you. Is that alright?"
Relena nodded so he continued, "It will be hard to know how often you may need to come over but I will arrange with you the days I would like to see you. Does this sound ok?"
Relena nodded in response again, she found it strange that he kept asking for her approval to every suggestion he made. He was the one going out of his way so he shouldn?t really care what she thought.
They stood there for a few moments in silence when he had finished going through what he needed with her. He had nothing else to go through with her so, he patiently waited until Relena made her move to leave but while he just watched her he suddenly saw her eyes turn glassy. Tilting her head down to look at the ground she suddenly whispered to him, "I'm so sorry to have you waste your time over such a weak and stupid person like me."
That statement was one which Quatre wasn't expecting, where did that come from?
"I-I know that it is selfish for me to get you doing this for me," Relena continued, feeling the tears swell up in her eye lids, "I haven't exactly been the best person to associate with and it still surprises me that you are still willing to help me but-"
Relena stopped mid sentence when she suddenly felt a hand reach under her chin, the sudden contact made her heart stop.
Quatre titled Relena's head up to face his so that he could look into her eyes better. He almost felt like crying just by seeing her like this, giving her one of his concerned yet understanding smiles he said, "You're not weak Miss Relena. Asking for help is a good sign, not a bad one. I am not going to help you just so that I could put you down even further. As I have said, I will help you with anything you have problems with. And it's a promise which I will keep, I will not break it. You have not been a bad person to associate with. If anything, I should be the one apologizing."
'Why did he have to apologize? He hasn't done anything wrong,' Relena thought to herself. His eyes were filled with such sadness concerning what he had just said and she felt so horrible that it was because of her.
"I-I tried prying into your personal life when I had only just met you, I spoke so rudely to your mother and just now, here I was trying to force you into letting me tutor you. I can understand why you want me to stay away from you."
Relena couldn't believe what he was saying, 'He thinks that this is his fault?' Wanting to protest she opened her mouth and said, "Quatre, I-"
Before she could even explain he placed a finger on her lips before she could say anything more, "Please don't try to cover up what I have done wrong. Maybe with me helping you, I could atone for what I have done wrong to you."
Relena wanted to break down right here and now with what he had just said. She held back her tears as best as she could but one fell a stray down her cheek so Quatre gently wiped it away with the back of his hand before moving away from her. The touch from his hand was so warm across Relena's cheek; she could still feel it linger there as Quatre moved away. He gave her a small smile and said, "I better not waste anymore of your time. We have last lesson together don't we? Shall we walk to the car park together after lesson?"
Relena just stood there with a blank expression on her face. For some reason, she was at a loss for words.
Taking that as a yes since she wasn't protesting he decided that he had better take his leave, "Well, see you later Miss Relena."
Saying his good byes, Quatre started making his way out the building. As he was doing so, Mr. Otto had just walked out of his class room and noticed Relena just standing there.
"Are you alright Relena?" Mr. Otto asked as he walked up to her.
Shaking herself out of her shocked state she looked up to Mr. Otto and said, "Yes, I'm fine."
"Is Quatre still going to tutor you?"
Relena slowly nodded to him, "Yes, he convinced me."
Mr. Otto raised an eyebrow at her remark and said, "Relena, think of this as an opportunity, not something to be regretting. That boy will be able to help you," Before he left her though, he quickly added, "Be sure that his efforts don't go in vain though alright?" He warned her.
Relena nodded again as he started heading away from her. Looking out to where Quatre had left her, she stared at the exit of the building while her hand lifted to where Quatre had touched her on the cheek. Feeling about ready to cry she turned to leave as well.
As Mr. Otto made his way to the office he just remembered that he needed to pass on a message to someone. Going up to one of the office lady's desk he asked her, "Um, excuse me for disturbing you but could you contact Mrs. Darlian please? I need to pass on a message to her."
"Certainly," the office lady said as she started looking up Relena's home number on the computer. After several seconds she found Relena's details and picked up the phone to dial their number, "What message shall I pass on?"
"Tell her that I had a talk to Quatre Raberba Winner, as she requested and tell her that he agreed to help tutor her daughter."
The office lady nodded and pushed in the required numbers to contact Mrs. Darlian. Holding the receiver to her ear after dialing in their home number she waited for the line to pick up while Mr. Otto nodded his thanks and made his way to the staff room so that he could eat his lunch.
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As the school bell sounded to dismiss everyone from school, Quatre started packing away his accounting books. He and Duo were the only ones in this class together, besides Relena, Dorothy, Sylvia and Wufei plus a few other students but they sat on their own from the rest of the class, Relena was always on her own while Dorothy, Sylvia and Wufei sat with each other across the other side of the room.
Duo had finished packing up before Quatre so while he waited for his friend he asked, "Hey Quatre, me and the rest of the gang were thinking about going bowling after school. Feel like coming along?"
Quatre apologetically smiled at Duo and said, "Thank you for inviting me, but I'm afraid that I am busy tonight."
Duo just looked at in questionably and asked, "Doing what exactly? Catching up on work, which you are more then a month in front of already? Geez Quatre, if you keep falling behind like this you might actually finish your work on the date it should be completed, not six months or something earlier. Hmm, we can't have that now can we?"
Quatre just looked at him with confusion until Duo decided to simplify what he said, "Look Quatre, you are always so busy trying to finish work which is not to be handed up to us for like over a month from now. You need to get out and about, have some fun every now and then. Now, with your brains, I don't have to define to you what the word 'fun' means do I?"
Quatre just smirked and shook his head at Duo and said, "I'm actually going to help Miss. Relena out with some things today."
Duo just looked at him in astonishment, "Come again?"
"I said I'm going to be helping Miss Relena out with some things today," Quatre repeated as he looked over to where Relena was still packing away her things.
"Quatre, you are going to get yourself into a lot of trouble if you keep being around her like this," Duo mentioned, keeping his voice low.
Quatre looked at him questionably while Duo just raised an eyebrow at him. Before he could continue he noticed Relena had finished packing her things and was just standing there as she kept hesitantly looking towards them. Taking a glance at her, he narrowed his eyes in the process and continued on to Quatre with a serious tone, "I would watch myself if I were you Quatre. Like I mentioned to you earlier, you are going to make pretty big enemies if you talk to her too much."
Quatre kept silent as he watched Duo trying to plead with him not to be friends with Relena, but why not? He kept seeing her alone, with no one ever talking to her, she kept to herself, she never seemed to bring any harm upon anyone, how could she be a bad person? Quatre still questions this in his mind every time he sees her and wished that he could have started school here earlier, just so that he could see for himself just why she is judged as poorly as she was.
"Are you saying that you will become one of these 'enemies' of mine if I start hanging around her too much?"
Duo was speechless when he said that. Quatre had become one of his closest friends ever since he started here. Duo got along great with him, there was more to him self then just the pranks and jokes and Quatre seemed to be the only one who could see that. He never judged him; he would always help him out and listen to what ever it was he had to say. Quatre was the sort of person who anyone could be friends with and he seemed to like getting to know different kinds of people. Because of his kind heart, he was very naive and seemed to think that he could be on everyone's good side if they just let him, this is what scared Duo. Not everyone is as kind and understanding as what Quatre is and if he continued associating with the wrong sorts of people; he could get very emotionally hurt in the process, maybe even physically. He was just trying to help him, he had only been at Tooi Yoake High for only a couple of weeks, and he still wouldn't have the idea of how things worked yet.
"Quatre, don?t try and turn the tables on me now. I won't turn against you because of this b-"
"Then understand what I'm trying to do," Quatre sadly said to him. With that said he walked away from Duo and walked over to where Relena was waiting.
Duo looked blankly at Quatre but glared at Relena. Muttering a few curses under his breath he roughly opened the door to the room and stomped out in a rage.
"Sorry about that Miss Relena, shall we go?" Quatre asked when he approached her.
"Quatre, you had other plans didn't you? I don't want you sacrificing things because of me," Relena said as she stared at the door which Duo made his loud exit out of.
"Helping you pass the year is more important Miss Relena; I can go out with them some other time. Shall we go?" With that, Quatre started heading for the door, knowing Relena would try debating with him again.
"But Quatre," Relena said to him just before he could open the door, "I don't wan-"
Suddenly Quatre felt himself being pushed aside as Wufei made his way in-between them and just glared at Quatre saying, "Don't try socializing in the middle of a doorway Winner!" And with that he cocked his head up and made his way out the entrance.
Sylvia come up to him shortly afterwards and said, "Hi Quatre, how have yo-"
Before she could finish though, Dorothy came up behind her and pushed Sylvia out the door, "Hey! What are you doing!?" Sylvia yelled at her but Dorothy didn't say a word as they exited and left Quatre and Relena alone once again.
After a few moments of silence, Quatre suddenly said, "You don't want to be a burden."
Looking up at him in confusion he just smiled and said, "That's what you were going to say right? You don't want to be a burden."
Nodding to him as she was about to continue, he suddenly opened the door and said, "Please don't try making up any more excuses Miss Relena, I have made my decision and I plan on sticking by it." Still keeping his hand on the handle as he walked out the class he held the door open for Relena to exit as well. He never seemed to stop surprising Relena, even as they started heading to the car park, Relena still wondered how he was able to just read people's minds like that. He had done that to her on more then one occasion and Relena found it hard to believe that he could just do that.
Unlocking his car, Quatre walked over to the passenger side door and held it open for Relena to enter. Relena blinked before looking at the door then back at him with a puzzled expression but nodded her thanks before seating herself. As he closed the door behind her she put on her seat belt and waited patiently for him.
As Quatre got in himself and put on his own seat belt, he put his sun glasses on and said, "We should go to your home first."
"What! Why?" Relena said as she stared at him in pure shock.
Quatre just looked at her blankly and said, "Um, your parents won't know where you are, will they?"
"I can ring them at your place can't I?"
Quatre just stared at her. She looked to be begging with him not to go near her house, but why? "Well, do you have all your books?"
Relena was about to blurt out yes but then she just remembered that she didn't have music or English today so all of that work was at home. She cursed to herself for not leaving it in her locker at school, "Um, no I don't actually."
Quatre grew very concerned when he noticed her sadden when she said this; he regretted even suggesting for them to go to her home now. But then he remembered her mother. He still needed to apologize about his rude behaviour that day, plus he needed to talk to Relena's parents about the tutoring he was about to do for her. He could ring them yes, but it wouldn't be inconsiderate of him not to tell them face to face. It was after all, a suggestion by a teacher at school, he needed their permission first.
"I'm sorry Miss Relena, but it would only be fair if we talked to your parents face to face about this. I hope you understand why I'm doing this."
He was right, as much as she didn't want him to go there; she had to have the business of this tutoring thing sorted out. She couldn't wait to see the look on her mother's face. Oh well, she never appreciated anything she did anyway so it didn't really matter.
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Relena gave the directions to where her house was as Quatre followed what she said and found her house without any problems, it was pretty close to where he had picked her up that day he was beginning school.
Turning off the car he heard Relena say, "Quatre, can we use another excuse other then the fact that you will be tutoring me?"
Quatre was stunned by her request. Taking off his glasses he looked at her in question so she continued, "Please? Can we just say that you will be helping me with music or something? It's partially right."
Quatre didn't know what to say. In a way, he could understand why she didn't want to say anything about the tutoring. By the impressions he got of her mother and the job which her father seemed to have, maybe she would feel ashamed about them knowing this. Their expectations of her could possibly be pretty high, like what his father expected of him. But if Relena was failing everything, why wouldn't they go about the effort to help her out? But what was getting him a little worried was the fact that she wanted him to lie to her parents. What if they found out about it being a lie? He really had no idea what he should say to her as she patinetly waited for him to reply. Looking back over at Relena, he noticed her eyes were pleading with him to just do her this favour. As much as he didn't feel right about doing this he nodded to her and got out the car.
Sighing in relief, she got out the car and started making her way to the front door, with Quatre following behind her.
Getting out her keys from her jacket, she was about to unlock the door when it suddenly opened revealing Mrs. Darlian.
"Ah, Quatre! Oh it's good to see you again, please, please come in," she greeted as she held the door out wider for them.
Both Relena and Quatre just looked at her with surprised yet shocked expressions. Shrugging it off, Quatre waited for Relena to enter before him but she didn't seem to move, what he didn't know was that she was waiting for him to enter first, "Please, after you Miss Relena."
"No, after you Quatre."
Quatre looked at her puzzled but decided not to press it on any further. Entering the house before her he suddenly felt a hand press against his back, "Please Quatre, let's sit down shall we?" Mrs. Darlian suggested as she guided Quatre to their lounge room. Relena narrowed her eyes at Mrs. Darlian but kept her comments to herself as she followed slowly behind them.
As Quatre was guided to their lounge room she offered for him to sit and said, "Relena, go get something for Quatre to eat and drink please."
Relena just glared at her as she said this but as she was about to head to the kitchen she heard Quatre say, "It's ok, I'm fine, really."
Mrs. Darlian saw Relena's glare and figured that Quatre thought it was directed to him, "I insist Quatre; it is no trouble at all. RIGHT, Relena?"
Relena didn?t answer, instead she just continued on towards the kitchen.
Quatre was feeling really uncomfortable at the moment, some how, he had the feeling that he had started another bit of conflict between Mrs. Darlian and Relena again. Plus what made him curious was the way Mrs. Darlian greeted them at the door. 'How did she know we were there?' He pondered. With the way she beamed when she saw him, he felt as though she knew he was coming, but how can that be?
Relena returned some time later as she brought in a tray with some tea and cake for Quatre and Mrs. Darlian. Placing it on the coffee table she served Quatre his cup and then served her mother?s cup, "Didn't you get any for yourself?" Mrs. Darlian asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I'm fine," Relena answered and she started passing a serving of cake to Quatre and then a piece to Mrs. Darlian. Before walking out the room Quatre said, "Thank you Miss Relena, I'm sorry for making you go out of your way for me like this." He was feeling so guilty at the moment and Mrs. Darlian's next comment didn't make it any easier for him either.
"Why, what ever are you talking about Quatre? You deserve the best hospitality we can offer, I'm sorry that it isn't exactly up to standards today though," Mrs. Darlian said as she narrowed her eyes at Relena. Relena just ignored her and made her way back to the kitchen.
This was not going very well at all; Quatre could feel the tension building between Mrs. Darlian and Relena. And it was all his fault. He felt too ashamed to even touch or sip the food he was offered but when he felt Mrs. Darlian's gaze on him he knew that he better eat or he would be offending her.
As he started eating the cake he felt his hands slightly shake at the way he could feel Mrs. Darlian's gaze watch every move he made, "Mmm, this is very delicious Mrs. Darlian. Did you bake this yourself?" Quatre suddenly said.
"Haha no, I bought it at the local cake store," she said smiling.
"Really? I thought it would have been homemade by the taste of it," Quatre felt like kicking himself with the empty compliments he was giving, he was only doing it to relive the nerves that were building in him. Plus with the way she was watching him, he assumed that she was waiting for that sort of comment.
Silence filled the room once more, until Mrs. Darlian suddenly asked, "So, what brings you here Quatre?"
Quatre was sipping his tea when she asked this and was very close to choking on it as well. Taking a glance at her he kept getting the feeling that she seemed to know something which he didn't. He almost felt like asking her himself why he was here? She looked to know the answer better then he did. The look in her eyes were somehow testing him, depending on his answer she will either smile and remain friendly or turn angry and kick him out. But how should he answer? He could see that she was patiently waiting for him to answer her but these few moments that were passing by as he kept stalling felt like an eternity. He was not all too good at lying and he felt that she knew that as well. Should he tell her the truth and betray Relena so that he remained in Mrs. Darlian?s good books, or should he lie to keep his word to Relena?
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Author's Note: Hmm, I really REALLY should be studying right now. The amount of time I'm dedicating myself to with this fanfic is amazing
If I was just as dedicated to studying as I was with this fanfic 
wow how will easy things be for me when it comes to exams 
Anyway, enough on that. Yet another long chapter 
I'm sorry but I couldn't exactly shorten this one either, i sort of did but as you can see it didn't make much difference :-? Is this starting to bore people in a way? I know most of you are wondering when I will get to the main stuff like Dorothy's behaviour and Relena's secret and things like that but in a way I don't want to give the answer away so quickly. Like, I want you to judge yourself what you may think before I give away the answer, there have been a few hints (not enough I know) but there is so much I have to cover I will try and get things rolling faster. Thank you for reviewing 
You reviews are what's making me post more chapters so quickly 
Anyway, I can't say when the next chapter will be out (knowing me it might be tomorrow) but I need to disipline myself STUDY COMES FIRST (lol yeah right)