Chapter One
<203 AC, seven years later after 197 AC ~ Dorlain Mansion>
A tall, slim girl stood in front of Relena Dorlain's mainsion. She had short, black hair in which the ends playfully dangled at her chin. In her hands was a piece of paper and a duffel bag. They were both trembling nervously, before and after she rang the doorbell, but she took a deep breath and told herself to be calm. The door was answered by an elderly man who looked too old to be working, but was misjudged by the youthful look in his eyes.
"May I help you, miss?"
"Anno...I'm...I'm Gally," the girl managed to say. She took another deep breath and let her violet eyes look directly into his pale green. "Gally Trepes."
"Oh, Miss Trepes?" the elderly man replied. He stepped aside and made a gesture to enter. "Please, please come in. Relena-san has been waiting to meet you." He motioned a servant standing by the stairs. "Let's take your luggage upstairs."
Gally entered the home slowly, a bit stunned by all the kindness she was getting. "Arigatou," she answered softly.
The man and the servant took her bag and disappeared up the steps. A short while afterwards, Relena entered looking as if she just came back from a meeting. She greeted Gally with a warm smile.
"So, we finally meet. How are you, Gally?"
"Umm...I'm fine. Thank you for taking me in, Relena-san."
"Well, it must have been hard for you to travel from place to place, family to family. And just call me Relena."
<St. Gabriel's Institute>
"Class," the headmistress called in a loud voice that echoed throughout the room. "I'd like you to meet Gally Trepes. She's just transferred here, so please, let her feel at home." She leaned and whispered into Gally's ear, "You can take a seat next to Maya-san over there."
She did as she was told and the girl named Maya greeted her with a cheerful smile. Gally smiled back, and took her seat. Then the headmistress began to continue with the day's lesson. Maya leaned over to Gally and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry about making friends. It's pretty easy."
Gally whispered back to her red-head classmate. "Are you sure?"
"Definetely. You're not the only one who just transferred here." Her green eyes darted to a young man in the corner on the opposite side. "See him? That's Andrew Lowe. He just transferred here a week ago."
The two both leaned back to their seats. Gally looked at Andy for a moment, who seemed to be sleeping, but then he opened his eyes. Gray met violet for a split second, then they looked back at the headmistress who was showing the class a poster about the space colonies.
<lunchtime>
Gally was sitting alone, admiring the view and absently munching on a celery stick. She was a bit distracted until Maya came up from behind with her lunch.
"Hey, do you mind if I eat lunch with you?" she asked.
"No, I don't mind."
Maya sat down next to her. "So, how long have you been in the area?"
"I just got here yesterday."
"You're living with Relena-san, right?"
Gally was a bit surprised at the question. "How did you know?"
Maya smiled. "I lived at her home for a couple of years until I decided to leave and go off on my own. She took in a lot of people, mainly orphans."
"Oh."
Andy walked past by them without saying a word.
"Is he always like that?" Gally asked, still staring at him as he rode on his motorcycle and drove away.
"Yeah, pretty much so far," Maya answered, also looking in the same direction. "There's been rumors that he leaves early because he's some sort of street fighter or something like that."
"Street fighter? Nah, he doesn't seem like it."
"Well, how do you know?"
"How do you know that those rumors are true?"
Maya was silenced for a moment. Gally took that as a response. "I've had rumors like that put on me before. He doesn't strike me as the type to fight for the hell of it."
"Yeah, but, he doesn't talk to anybody at all. He only talks when he's told to," Maya explained.
Gally got up, putting her lunch away. She looked down at Maya. "Why don't we follow him to see what he's really like?"
"B-but we don't have a pass! We might get caught by the mistress!"
She arched an eyebrow then started to head to the parking lot. "So? I've done this lots of times before. Besides, DON'T you want to find more about him?"
Maya got up as well and followed her. "Yeah, but..."
"But what? Trust me, we're not going to get caught."
<downtown section of a city>
Maya and Gally were following Andy around town in a motorcycle similar to his, just a bit older version of it. They eventually stopped in front of a white building surrounded by brick wall and an iron gate at the front.
"What is this place?" Gally asked as they leaned on one side of the alleyway.
"It's the School for the Gifted. All these child-geniuses go here," Maya answered.
"It looks more like a metal institution to me."
Maya giggled. "That's what I thought, too. And it's so quiet in there, I wonder if those kids ever go crazy."
They both laughed silently together when suddenly a bell rang. The iron gates opened, and a swarm of children came piling out. Andy just sat there against his bike, waiting. Then a young girl ran to him. She looked around twelve or so, but was small for her age. Her black hair was tied in a loose braid.
"Oniichan! Oniichan! Guess what?"
Maya and Gally looked at each other, repeating the girl's words. "Oniichan?"
"That's what," Andy answered, chuckling and handing her his helmet. "So, how's school?"
"Pretty good. Look what I got on my project!"
The girl showed him a piece of paper as she put the helmet on and got on the bike. Andy was busily reading it as he got on as well. Then he grinned a drop-dead-gorgeous grin. "That's great, Kitsune."
"Can I show Hee-chan this?!?" Kitsune asked Andy excitedly.
"Sure, I bet he would be proud. You ready?" Andy started up the engine.
"Uh-huh," Kitsune answered as she held tight onto him.
"Okay, let's go."
They drove away, leaving Gally and Maya absolutely speechless.
"That looked like his little sister," Gally murmured after a few seconds of silence.
"Who would've thought that HE would have a sister," Maya commented. "And who's this 'Hee-chan' that that girl's talking about?"
Gally shrugged and then looked at Maya. "Do I prove my point now? Looks can be deceiving."
"Um...yeah, you can say that again," Maya said.
I wonder what he's really like? Gally thought, smiling to herself.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, kinda weird, but hey! It works! And um...I think you guys know by now who 'Hee-chan' is...heheheh. ^_^