Chapter Four

Wednesday after school. Quatre was staking out near the Gundam Girls' School of Magic, praying fervently that nothing will go wrong. School was out for the girls and some passed him furtive glances. He pretended not to notice. His friends, best friends, had solemnly wished him the best of luck and Duo had patted his back, claiming, " We will be with you morally."

Dorothy Catanolia had spotted Quatre Raberba Winner. Personally, she found him an interesting fellow with good looks. " Quatre Raberba Winner," she greeted him with an air of swank and walked towards him. " What a surprise to see you here."

" Hi," he said, silently beseeching her to go away.

" Looking for someone?" she gazed into his eyes with mock seductiveness. " Me?"

Quatre swallowed hard and tried to keep his voice steady. Suddenly, he felt nervous. No, he does not fancy Dorothy but her cat-like pair of eyes was too much to bear. It was as if she could penetrate into his soul. " No, not you," he managed to answer.

" Then who?"

Relena and her friends appeared right at this moment. Throwing all his worries to the wind, he shouted for her. He decided that this current problem was more important than anything else at the moment. Let them gossip, he will deal with it after they had settled this. " Relena! Hey!"

The three girls spun round. " I need to talk to you, all three of you," he said. " Why?" Relena asked him.

He lowered his voice, " It's about then two men."

" Let's go to a café," Catherine suggested. " It's safer there."

Dorothy called out, " Hey Mr Winner! Stepping your feet into three boats?" Some of the girls sneered.

" Ignore her, she's like this," Hilde assured him. But Quatre knew no way could they ignore the rumour that will be circulating tomorrow at top speed. His reputation was ruined.

" OZ?"

" You are not lying are you?"

" April Fool's over, you know."

Quatre repeated himself. " Everything I have just told you is true. This OZ is after us. Trowa found out about this in the magazine. I can show it to you."

Quatre does not lie, they all knew. In fact, he has a reputation for being the most honest and honourable boy over at the boys' school. He was a gentleman. He does not go against the girls. The three girls were quiet.

" What do we do now?" Relena asked him.

" I don't know. We don't know what to do next except to watch out for each other."

Relena frowned. " We need to tell an adult."

" But what can they do?" Quatre argued. " If this is not handled well, we will also get them killed."

" Maybe they can help us," Relena debated. " You can't be so quick as to put them down. Miss Une is resourceful."

Quatre shook his head. " OZ is a secret and mysterious organization. Even the police have little information on them. Besides, they are merciless. We don't know what they will do. Look, we might even endanger the whole town. If you tell Miss Une, she is most likely to go to the police and the whole town will go into panic mode. OZ has twice massacred a whole family of innocent people. They might do the same to the town. If us dying means we can save a whole town of people, I will do it."

Catherine gasped while Hilde sat dumbfounded along with Relena. Quatre was right. OZ did not spare the family even after they had handed them the magic book. What if we alerted the whole town and OZ decided to kill all of us for fear that someday there will be endless of trouble? One thing leads to another.

" You're right," Relena murmured.

" If we can't win them by magic, we might win them by wits," Hilde said.

Catherine nodded. Quatre smiled briefly. " I know you are all scared and worried. So are we. I suggest we both help to look after each other. If you have thought of anything or if we have any idea on how to deal with them, we will share it. Right now, we are in the same boat."

Relena squeezed her friends' hands. " Ok."

**********************************************************

The four parted after leaving the cafe. Relena walked home alone, feeling nervous. She held her books close to her chest, her hands cold with sweat. Feeling someone's presence, she looked up. Indeed, someone was waiting for her, Lucrezia Noin.

Noin studied her. " Relena Peacecraft?"

Relena clutched her books tighter. " Who are you?"

" Zechs sent me – to destroy you."

Relena stood rooted to the ground. " Fire-Twirl!" Noin shouted, releasing a spell towards Relena. Relena watched the twirling of fire heading straight at her. She dropped her books. " Shield!" cried the gentle girl.

The Fire-Twirl was not able to penetrate into the ball of shield. Noin clasped her hands tightly and held it up at the sun, absorbing its rays. " The light of all life, power of earth – Sunbeam!" A force of magic shot from her clasped hands. Relena thought quickly.

" Elements of Nature – Water!"

The two forces hit and the impact was so strong that Relena moved a few paces back. Noin was bent on carrying out her job. Finally, the two energies subsided.

" Quick-thinking," Noin commented. She took a good look at Relena. And was taken back. " That look, that determination…it's so familiar," she whispered to herself.

" Evil can never triumph," Relena declared.

" Evil? What is evil? I am only serving my master."

Relena softened. According to her intuition, this woman does not seem all that diabolical. Her eyes are not evil, there's something else…She could not tell.

" Cut the crap," she said. " I only want to finish my job." Noin pulled back an arm and a ball of magic formed. She threw the fiery ball onto the ground in front of Relena, throwing her backwards. Smoke engulfed Relena and she coughed. She was not injured, only shocked. Noin advanced.

" Stop!" A voice yelled out.

The smoke cleared and who shall stand before Relena, protecting her, was none other than Miss Une. " Miss Une," Relena acknowledged her weakly.

" Step back Relena," she ordered. Both women stared with belligerence. Une had her hair up into two buns and she was wearing her glasses.

" What do you think you are doing to my student?"

" I want to kill her."

" Kill her? What wrong has she done?"

" Not at the moment but in the future she will. I'm just acting in preempt."

" What makes you think you can kill her?"

Noin sneered. "And what makes you think you can protect her?"

Another staring match. Relena observed carefully. Une said, " Let's not use magic. See if you can beat me one-to-one."

" Plain old martial arts."

" Plain old martial arts."

Both charged at each other and began exchanging blows and kicks. This does not seem like what a principal would normally do but Une did not care. She had not intended to be a principal in the first place. She was going by instinct. The police cannot do much in this one. Their magic is only superficial.

" Run Relena!"

 Relena shook her head. " I can't leave you alone!"

" This is an order!" shouted Une back.

Both women were an equal in plain old fighting abilities. " You can't escape," Noin told her.

Une retorted back, " But I can protect her!" She ducked a punch. " Go! Go now!"

" I…" Relena was in a dilemma.

Une landed a flying kick on Noin. " Just go! Or you can forget about coming to school tomorrow for disobeying me!"

Relena badly wanted to stay and help but seeing she can offer none, took Miss Une's advice and ran off. The two women continued for a while until another voice interposed into their shouts.

 " Stop fighting at once!"

It was Treize. Both retreated back hastily and Noin greeted him. " Treize, sir. I'm sorry I let that Relena girl get away. I deserve to be punished."

" It's not your fault, Noin," he told her soothingly. " Hi Une."

" Treize…" Une was shocked beyond words. What on earth is going on here?

" Let me introduce. Une, this is Lucrezia Noin. Noin, this is Lady Une."

" Treize, what is going on here?"

Treize smiled, somewhat sad. " Ask them, Relena and her friends. They will tell you much. Perhaps they have already found out some history about us and the organization. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Une. Please accept my apologies."

Une stepped up to her childhood friend. " I want you to tell me," she demanded. Her face was straight, serious. Treize continued smiling. " Just like a soldier."

Her anger left, leaving her feeling subdued. Treize turned and left with Noin saying, " Go ask them. Forgive me."

**********************************************************

Relena ran and ran all the way to Hilde and Catherine's house. " Relena!" Hilde exclaimed, surprised. " What are you doing here?"

Relena panted. " W-we got to tell the others."

Heero was on his way home after buying some groceries. As he climbed up the stairs to his apartment, a distinctive sound of glass breaking caught his ears. It was coming from his home. Heero tensed and searched for his gun. Even though he doubted he need one now, he still carried it with him out of habit. The door was ajar. He flung it aside and pointed his gun at the intruder.

What he saw surprised him. The intruder was, no, the intruders were none other than his friends – Quatre, Trowa and Wufei. " Hi Heero," they greeted him grimly.

Quatre looked sheepish. " Sorry I broke your glass. It slipped." Wufei was sitting cross-legged on the dark blue sofa and Trowa was leaning against the smooth cream-coloured wall. " What are you doing here? How did you get in?" Heero asked.

Quatre stepped forward to explain. " Zechs and Treize found our homes and we all had a brief fight with them. It seems that this is more like a game to them. We can't go back now that they have found us and so we came here."

" I confess I picked your lock," said Wufei.

" It's a simple strategy – put your enemies all in one place and kill them all at one go," Trowa said, almost casually.

Before Heero could say a word, the door burst open once more and who should step in with his luggage is none other than our Duo. Heero once more aimed his gun.

" Hey there buddy! It's me! Easy with the gun. Where did you get that anyway?" Heero lowered his arm while Quatre helped him to put down his groceries. " Did Zechs and Treize kick you out of your house too?" Heero questioned.

Duo shook his head and threw his bags aside. " Nay, I just thought since all of you are here, it is only wise that I move in too. You know, help look after one another. I can help wash the dishes, just don't tell me to cook. Oh, here are some of your stuff. The two are gone." The three "refugees" moved to the bags, murmuring thanks.

Heero eyed him with displeasure. " You have bring the meaning of 'self-service' to a new level."

Duo shrugged and patted his shoulder playfully. " And you have shown us what grumpy and dullness really mean."

Quatre stifled a laugh. " Need help with the groceries, Heero?" Quatre offered good-naturedly.

" We have to be more careful now," Heero said to his friends, passing Quatre his groceries.

Sharp knocks rapped on the door. All five froze. Could it be?… They moved forward to the door quietly. Heero looked through the peephole. " It's Relena and her friends," he informed them.

" Don't tell me Zechs found them too?" Quatre said.

Heero opened the door and the girls ushered themselves in. All three were plastered with anxiety, sweat glistening on their foreheads. " What's the matter?" Duo asked.

" Tell them Relena," Hilde answered.

Relena nodded. " It's like this…"

All five boys listened attentively to her story. When she finished, Catherine asked, " What are you doing here, Trowa?"

Trowa told the girls what happened.

" What do we do now?" Relena asked them. None could answer her.

Duo sighed. " Why must it happen to us? Are we fated to die young? Based on our abilities, there is no way we can defeat them. Unless…"

Heero looked at all his mates carefully and his eyes fell on Relena. "Gundam School of Magic," he said suddenly. " Gundam."

Relena brightened up. " Right, Gundam. I'm sure we all are aware of the legendary Gundam Magic. It is said to be one of the strongest magic ever created."

The rest nodded. If they could find out more about it and learn it, they will have a chance.