Chapter 4: Tango in G Major

Rosella's high heels clanked on the hard flooring as she marched at a swift pace down the corridor. They took 3 flights of stairs up to the dorm rooms, passing dazed looking students along the way. Once on the 3rd floor, Rosella guided them to the end of the corridor and stopped in front of a room with a big sign proclaiming "#214." She fished a key out from in her left jeans pocket and unlocked the door. It swung open with a creaking sound.

The room was dark with only a small window, directly across from the door. Rosella flipped a switch by the door and suddenly the room was illuminated. On either side of the room were bunk beds. They were about 6 feet high and were covered with green bedding.

"Here's where you'll be sleeping and basically living when you're not in classes or therapy. The bathroom's on your left as you come in, and there is a big table at the far end of the room where you can all work. Are there any questions before I leave you boys to get settled in for the night?"

"Yes," Wufei spoke up, "There are only four beds in here. As you can see, there are five of us. Would it be possible to get some more bedding in here?"

"Oh! Yes, well, as I'm sure the principal mentioned to you, there are normally only 4 boys to a room. I'll see what I can do, but for now you'll just have to share. Anything else?"

"Ms. Rosella, ma'am," Quatre broke in tentatively, "Are there any rules?"

Rosella slapped herself on the forehead in frustration.

"Of course! I almost forgot! Curfew is 10:00, meaning you must be in your room preparing for bed by that time. Lights out is at 11:00. Beyond that, you can pretty much do what you like, although to go into town, you must see the receptionist and obtain a special permit by stating where you are going, why, and approximately what time you plan to be back. When you come back, just sign in with the receptionist, and you're free to do as you like. You can visit others in their rooms just as long as you are not there past curfew. Boys may enter girls' rooms, but they have to be out of there by 9:00, not 10:00. Have I forgotten anything?"

The gundam pilots stood in silence.

"Oh, yes." At this her face turned severe. "You would do well to keep in mind that this is a school for troubled youth. We do not tolerate any sort of disrespect towards each other here. Any sign that you are not behaving properly towards others is taken very seriously indeed and punishments are severe. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" They replied in unison.

"Good. Dinner is in the mess hall at 6 o'clock sharp. I expect to see you there."

With that she turned on her heel and left without another word.

"Uh, guys," said Duo, "do any of you know where the mess hall is?" The others shook their heads.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," said Trowa in a low voice, and the others nodded their agreement.

"Guys, I don't know about this." Heero sounded very uncertain. "group therapy, troubled youth, academics, and extra curriculars? This isn't any ordinary mission."

Trowa turned to look at him, "Why don't we unpack our things and have a group discussion about what we know so far, and how best to go about fitting in with the other kids. We have to help each other, otherwise we'll all fall apart."

"Good idea Trowa," Quatre nodded seriously, as he went over to the corner where all their bags had been dropped. He picked up a black duffel bag. "Heero, this one's yours," he said tossing it over to Heero who was already sitting on the bottom bunk on the left side of the room.

When all the bags had been distributed and all five pilots sat on their respective bunks unpacking, (Quatre and Trowa had drawn short straws and were sharing the bottom bunk on the right side, with Wufei on the top) it was Duo who started off the discussion:

"Guys," he said softly, "I've never been to school before, and I just know I'm not going to like this therapy thing."

"It's ok, Duo, I think all of us can admit to being a little afraid of school. It's definitely going to be a new experience for us. I for one, I am very unsure of what to expect." Quatre ended with a little sigh, his shoulders drooping and his brow creasing with worry. Trowa put his arm around Quatre's thin shoulders in a comforting squeeze, and Quatre leaned into the hug slightly. They were shocked out of this position and silence when Wufei's head suddenly appeared inches from theirs as he dangled, upside down off the top bunk.

"I have always loved academics, and am greatly looking forward to the scholarly part of this school, however, I am troubled by the notion that the Commander put us in here to learn how to be human."

"I don't think that's exactly what Une meant, Wufei," said Duo in a contemplative tone, "I think what she meant was that we need to learn how to be more like kids our own age. We need to learn how to relax and have some fun, or at least become a little more personable."

"That's right Duo," Quatre agreed. "I know it's going to be difficult, and it may involve dealing with painful memories, but I think we can do it and I'm willing to give it my best shot!"

There were some general murmurs of ascent, and then Heero grunted,

"What time is it?"

"Exactly 15:00 hours," replied Wufei in a cool tone.

"Hn, that means we have 3 hours before our presence is required at dinner. Shall we go and explore the layout of the school?"

"Probably," was the quick reply.

Nodding, Heero got up and stretched. The boys headed for the door, Wufei pocketing the key. Leaving the room, the boys were immediately lured to the gym by the sound of pounding feet, bouncing balls, and sharp catcalls. As they entered the gym, Heero was jostled by a tall, sweating boy of about 6 feet. His muscles bulged threateningly as he held a basketball tightly to him.

"Hey, watch it you klutz!" the brown haired boy yelled at Heero.

Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oh hoh!" the big boy gestured over at some of his friends, "Newbie over here is giving me "a look". How about we settle this with a little.." there was a pause as the boy took a moment to press his face close up to Heero's, "one on one."

Heero smirked, knowing he had a huge advantage in strength and agility over the boy, whose ego was even bigger than his left bicep.

"Sure," he agreed.

"Alright! He wants to challenge me boys, did you see that?" His friends let out a few obligatory chuckles on his behalf. "What's your name?"

"Heero."

"Okay, Heeeerrrrooo, I'm Henry" he said, grotesquely mispronouncing Heero's name, "let's go settle us a game or two. First one to 10 points wins."

A mild anger, flanked by determination flared up in Heero, a kind that he had only felt before in training when he wanted to prove something to Dr. J. This poor sod was going down.

The rest of the gundam pilots hid their smirks as they went to sit down with the rest of the crowd and pretended to be worried for Heero. It was over within less than a minute. Heero was all over the court, dodging Henry's comparatively clumsy advances with unrivaled agility. He swished 5 shots in like they were nothing. Then he stood there on the court, smirking and running a hand through his hair. He hadn't even broken a sweat.

Slowly, a murmur spread through the crowd, asking who this guy was and how he had defeated their star player so easily.

"C'mon guys, they've seen all they need to see." Heero gestured to the others, and they left Henry and the crowd gaping like fish.

After two more hours of wandering the halls, they had located the library on the second floor, and the mess hall at the other end of it. They had discovered that all class rooms were on the first floor, while the administrative offices and nurse's station were on the second. They were just headed toward the mess hall for dinner, when a man tapped Wufei on the back. Soldier instincts in place, he whirled around and slammed the man into the wall, holding him by his collar. As his pupils gradually went back to their normal size, a look of horror spread across his face at what he had just done.

"Sorry sir, I didn't know sir, I can't believe I did that..."

Winded and dusting himself off, the man interrupted Wufei's incoherent apologies.

"That's quite alright, young man," he wheezed, "I'm a counselor here, and I should have known not to sneak up on a student like that. Now, I understand that you are the new students."

"Yes," was the general murmur of the boys.

"Hmmm…" he muttered, "Gundam pilots, eh? Very interesting." This did not seem to require a response, and so none was given.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you 5 soon. Have a nice day." And with that he continued down the corridor.

"Strange guy," said Duo.

"Strange place," contributed Heero.

Dinner, though it consisted of a gob of muck that was barely identifiable as meatloaf, passed uneventfully, as the five were used to such food (the preventer's meatloaf being second to none in the universe in its vileness) and the five were soon off to their rooms.

Entering almost soundlessly, they began undressing, in a wordless agreement on an early night. As they climbed into bed, Heero's voice was heard saying gruffly,

"This alarm goes off at precisely 0600 hours tomorrow."

There were grunts of approval and some uncomfortable shifting from Quatre and Trowa's bed before the lights were turned out. Just as everybody was falling asleep, an indignant cry resonated from the bottom right bunk:

"Trowa! that's my foot!