Once upon a time, there lived a young man. Everyone who knew about him thought he had been coldhearted and mean and so they had kept away from him. But none of them really knew him. One day, he made friends with a duck that had somehow found a way to him. Whenever he found himself in trouble the duck helped him and had never asked anything in return. But one day the duck found herself in trouble. The man decided to help her, and discovered something that he could never dream of...

Princess Tutu ~ Schwan

Chapter of Three Ducklings

It was one of those sad, cloudy mornings that were promising rain. The classroom was dark because it was too early to light the candles, and even if it wasn't, the pupils were not allowed to do it anyway. The teacher was late, so the pupils started talking among themselves.

Why is he late? He is usually very accurate. – said one girl.

I know, I was asking myself the same thing. – said the other.

I don't like the weather. I prefer sunny mornings. They fill me up with energy. – said another girl.

Me too. I don't think I will be able to do my best today because this weather brings down my stamina. – said the first girl again.

That's not good. The teacher is always expecting to see the best we've got, he's very strict. I heard he expelled one girl out of the play because she was too tired of rehearsing all night long. And she was in the advanced class! – said the third girl again.

The first girl made a troubled face. Then the door opened and the teacher came into the room. Everyone jumped to their positions to great him.

Good morning, Fakir-sensei!

Fakir didn't reply to the greeting. He usually never does. He just gave out instructions for today's rehearsal and stood back as the pupils were doing their warm-up exercises. He would eventually come to a pupil who wasn't doing the exercise right and roughly correct her or him. It appeared that everything was the same as always, but there was this one detail of the teacher being late. And everyone wondered...

At the end of the lesson, the pupils went to their dressing rooms and Fakir was left alone in the classroom. He thought deeply of his dream. He was late because of it.

In the girls' dressing room, everyone was talking about what they couldn't speak of in class. That would be pretty much everything, except that one topic dominated over the others: the reason behind why Fakir-sensei was late.

I think he was with his girlfriend, so he came in too late. – The third girl from earlier said.

Don't be ridiculous, Flora! How could such a person like Fakir-sensei have a girlfriend in the first place? – The first girl said.

I don't think that's impossible, Monique. – Replied Flora. – There are many girls all over academy who talk about nothing else than him. Cool guys always gain more attention than they really want, especially from girls.

Yes, but there are girls at this academy who hate him, too! Take me, for example!

Yes, but there are more girls like Dana. – Replied Flora with a little smirk.

F-Flora, please don't compare me to them! – The second girl blushed.

Sure, I'm sorry, Dana. You're not at all like those annoying fan girls! Monique is more like them!

What did you say?

Girls, what in the world is going on in there? – A strong, male voice from the outside shouted with annoyance. – Everyone else left, and you would be clever to do so, too, if you don't want to miss the next class and end up sitting out the play.

We're sorry, Fakir-sensei! – shouted Flora. – We're all ready now!

They rushed to take their belongings and have left the dressing room running, while Fakir watched them go with his usual face that expressed boredom and extreme annoyance.

XXX

It's a deal, then! – said Flora during break. – We'll be following Fakir-sensei after school to find out if he has a girlfriend!

Couldn't we just ask the other stalker fan girls about it? I'm sure they'd know. – replied Monique sarcastically.

Okay, sure. – replied Flora. – Well, Monique, does he?

Monique shook angrily.

I hate him! – She replied almost whispering, making an accent on the every word so Flora could understand perfectly. – Therefore, I have nothing to do with his fan club.

Flora and Monique would continue to glare at one another if Dana hadn't shouted:

There he is!

And everyone turned to see him.

Fakir was walking towards the exit from the Academy.

What is he doing, is he leaving before all classes are over? – asked Monique.

I'm not sure... let's follow him now! – said Flora.

What? Are you crazy? Our classes are not over yet!

I guess they are, because we're leaving now! – replied Flora and ran after Fakir.

Flora! – Dana shouted and rushed after her.

You two, wait! – Shouted Monique. – We're so going to get expelled for this...

The three young ballet pupils followed Fakir as it began to rain.

Aw! Look what did you get us into, Flora! Thank you a lot! – said Monique.

Hey, no one asked you to tag along! – replied Flora.

Please be quiet, or we'll get detected. – whispered Dana.

No worries, I can keep quiet, it's the little Miss Boss that can't keep her beak shut!

Why you...!

Fakir suddenly turned around. Dana was about to scream when Monique placed her hand over her mouth and all three sank deeper into the bush by the road they were hiding in as fast as they could. None of them breathed as Fakir watched directly in their direction. Then he turned around again and went his own way, not paying much attention to the rain which grew stronger. The three took a deep breath.

Maybe we should call it a day and retreat for now. – Flora whispered.

Best idea yet. – replied Monique and took Dana's hand, pulling her back. – Let's go.

As they went back, Fakir stopped for a moment.

"They've finally stopped following me." he thought. "They really are like her when we were their age." A little smile caught his lips but vanished quickly. He continued to walk towards the pond, even though it was unlikely to find Ahiru there. "Damn this rain. It annoys me."