Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Shot at Normalcy: University Life? ❯ Classes ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: - I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the other anime series. I write this purely for my amusement and for the entertainment of others. I earn just about $0 every time some one reads this. ^_^

Note: Thank you for reading and thank you if you are continuing to read this fic of mine. Do tell me if you like it or should I stop writing? I don't know how long this chapter will be, but hey! Who cares? Keep reading and reviewing. Love, Devil.

Chapter 6: Classes

The weekend was uneventful for our heroes. Heero did nothing but sit in front of his laptop and he disappeared somewhere on Sunday afternoon, but that was pretty normal for him. Duo was trying to catch hold of Hilde and the two of them had gone to the town to watch a movie. Quatre was trying to fix his apartment and trying to talk to Dorothy. Trowa had decided to read a few books. He had also wanted to talk to Jade, but she mysteriously disappeared during the day and reappeared, during the evening after which she spent time in her room, so they didn't get any talking done.

Surprisingly, the weekend went away pretty soon and University started on Monday. Heero and Duo had their classes together. They had Computer Programming in the morning and then Mechanics in late afternoon. Quatre, Hilde and Dorothy had their business in the morning. Psychology was in the early afternoon, followed by the course for empaths. There were other courses offered too, but we only need to concern ourselves with these. Out of all the people that we have been introduced to till now, Quatre and Jade, our two empaths, had the most hectic schedules.

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"Get up you baka. Or we will be late," Heero yelled at Duo.

Duo just turned over and murmured something in his sleep. Now was not the time to be tactful, Heero thought. He just sighed a bit and dragged Duo out of his bed by his braid.

"Hey!" Duo was now wide awake and was not at all happy at being treated like that.

Heero let go of Duo's braid when he was sure that the baka was awake.

"Get up and get ready. First class at 0900 hours and it's already 0800." Heero barked at Duo.

"Fine." Duo was still pissed off at Heero for pulling his braid. His braid was one thing that he was very touchy about.

Duo entered the bathroom when Heero was preparing breakfast. He had been in there fifteen minutes. Heero was getting really impatient now.

"Get the hell out of there. You are not the only one living here," he shouted.

"You try washing long hair in five minutes mister," Duo replied.

"Hn. Be quick. Or else no breakfast. I'll finish it off."

Immediately a wet long haired head popped out of the bathroom.

"What no breakfast? I'll be out in five minutes," he said with a panicked expression. How could he go anywhere without eating?

Heero smiled to himself. This trick always worked on Duo. And sure enough Duo popped out of the bathroom in exactly five minutes with a towel around his waist and another one tied around his head like a turban. Before actually going to his room to put on his clothes, he went into the kitchen to see if Heero had actually saved him some breakfast. Heero just looked up and then he walked towards the bathroom and when he passed Duo in the doorway he just said, "Put some clothes on before you attack the food."

Duo who was still eyeing the breakfast greedily said, "Yes sir."

Heero just shook his head and left. Duo thought it probably was a good idea to go and out on some clothes after all.

After the two were ready it was eight forty-five. The two of them walked to the main building.

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Quatre was up early. It was the first day of University and he did not want to be late. As expected, he had trouble with his breakfast. He decided to skip it. He could have lunch directly in the University cafeteria. He was also eager to go to his Business course. He was going to see someone there. (I don't think I need to mention it, but that some one is Dorothy).

"I wish I had a room mate," he sighed while getting ready. He was really getting bored being all alone in his single apartment. Being the nice guy that he is, he did not want to intrude upon his other friends. He could go and talk to Trowa and Duo and Heero but he did not know Trowa's room mate and it would be rude to just go and ask Trowa to listen to him. And he was not sure if he could exactly handle Heero's intense emotions. Not that he hadn't handled them before but with Duo's extra cheery personality, he would have trouble dealing with two types of feelings all at once. So all he could do was just spend time in his room. He wanted company badly, but did not know how to get it. He would normally spend time with his laptop. He had called his sisters thrice already and he wanted to talk to amber about Dorothy, but then he decided that Iria would normally listen to that sort of chatter, not Amber. It was difficult to choose from so many sisters. But enough about his solitary existence. He was getting ready to go to university. He was all ready by eight in the morning, and his first course was at nine. He decided to walk the grounds to kill time.

________________________________________________________________ < p>Trowa slept in because he did not have any classes in the morning. When he woke up it was already eleven in the morning.

"Dammit! Only half an hour before I have to get to the University," He muttered to himself. He quickly got out of bed and put on his T-shirt, just in case if his room mate was about. But she wasn't. Must have had a morning class, he thought. He got out of his room and sure enough there was a note posted on his door. Yes, she did have a morning class and she was not going to come back till probably late evening. Why did she have to write all those notes? He didn't care. At least that's what he thought. He scrunched up the note in a small paper ball and threw it in the waste basket. He went and took a shower and had a breakfast of cereal and milk. She hadn't made anything for breakfast it seems. He had psychology first. He would have time to grab a bite to eat during the lunch hour i.e. the time that he had between his two subjects. He quickly got out of his room, locked the door and walked towards the university building.

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Hilde and Dorothy were running around their apartment like headless chickens. Hilde could not find her purse and Dorothy could not find the perfect clothes and they were going to be late. Neither of them had anything to eat and they decided to skip breakfast altogether. Finally when they were done (Hilde found her purse but Dorothy was still not dressed to her liking), they left their apartment.

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Heero and Duo had Programming first. They knew where the computer lab was and they did not get lost unlike many other people. Heero entered the class first and Duo followed. Duo was looking around the class when he stopped suddenly.

"Hey Heero, isn't that Jade there?"

"Hn."

He had seen her and he had also seen her see them enter. But she looked at them as though they were perfect strangers. Heero knew that trick well. He used it almost everyday. He almost smirked to himself.

"I think she saw us. But why is she ignoring us?" Duo asked Heero.

"She doesn't want to be bothered," Heero told duo in a flat voice.

"Why would we bother her?"

"I wouldn't but you would."

"I am hurt."

"Baka."

Even though Heero knew that she wanted to be left alone, he decided to go and sit beside her. Duo followed suit and went and sat on her other side. No response. She was busy reading something. Heero smirked.

"Hey what's up Jade?" Duo asked her.

She just ignored him again and continued reading. Heero was watching her and he was till smirking. She reminded him very much of himself, when he first joined the school that Relena had gone to. He ignored Relena in much the same way that Jade was ignoring Duo. Relena. He sighed involuntarily and when he came back to his senses, he found Jade and Duo staring at him as though he had sprouted horns. He turned and gave them his famous death glare. Duo smiled. He was used to Heero's death glare. Jade smiled too.

"You're in love," she told him and resumed whatever she was doing.

Now it was Heero's turn to stare at her like she had two heads. Duo was staring at her too. Nobody spoke to Heero like that. Especially not after he glared at some one like that. And definitely not someone who knew him for only a few days. No way!

Both of them were jolted back to reality by a female voice. And Jade looked up from what she was doing. Their "teacher" had entered. This professor was a small lady. Really tiny and must have been in her fifties. Her name was Mrs. Antunes. She was going to be their programming teacher. She was now giving them some instructions to do something. Nobody actually paid any attention. Heero booted up his computer and so did everybody else. Heero and Duo were done their work pretty soon and started their tinkering. The old lady was busy helping a blonde girl with something. Jade was now reading her book again. It seems she was done her work too. She did not say anything for the rest of the class and neither did Heero and Duo was having trouble sitting still or sitting quietly. He started whistling and not surprisingly received glares from everyone in the class and he shut up. Jade and Heero, however, just continued with what they were doing. The class was uneventful. When it ended, Jade quietly got up and left. Heero and Duo were the last to leave. The two did not have anything else and it was still early for lunch so they decided to go back to their apartment. But Duo wanted to go to the Cafeteria and after about fifteen minutes of arguing with Duo, Heero relented.

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Quatre entered his Business class to find Hilde and Dorothy already there. Hilde waved at him when he entered and Dorothy smiled at him. He blushed slightly and took a seat near them. Quatre and Hilde almost jumped out of their seats when they saw their Business teacher.

"Hello students. My name is Lucrezia Noin-Peacecraft," their Teacher introduced themselves.

"Duo was right. It is a weird University for weirdos!" Quatre muttered under his breath.

"When did she get married anyways?" Hilde asked Dorothy who was a close friend of the Peacecrafts.

"I dunno. They got married somewhere on Mars. It was Milliardo's idea. Nobody knew till they came back here," Dorothy replied nonchalantly.

"Wasn't she working at the Preventors?" Hilde asked again.

"She is just taking a break from her Preventor's job. She is a Temp here," Dorothy replied.

Quatre who was now looking around the class, found all the male students ogling at Noin and all the females giving her admiring glances.

"I thought she was a soldier, where did she learn business?" Quatre thought out loud. Just then Noin spotted the trio and flashed them a smile. He decided to go and have a talk with her later.

"Business is very much involved with strategy. What you are going to do and how you are going to do it. That's basically all there is to it," Noin started and Quatre realized that she was a former OZ instructor. She had taught the soldiers war strategies.

"What comes next is the different situations where you have to deal with people and finances." She was still ranting on about strategies. Quatre tried to take a few notes, but then gave up.

'Come to think of it, business is very much like war. Just a war of minds,' he thought to himself.

"Understanding human psychology also plays an important part in business transactions." Noin was still talking and had now switched to her soldier-instructor mode.

When Quatre looked to his side he saw that Hilde and Dorothy were just blankly staring at Noin.

'Note to self: Get a tape-recorder to Noin's class. She talks too fast,' he thought.

The class was over and Quatre decided to skip the talk with Noin. He was tired of listening to her talk. Quatre, Hilde and Dorothy left the class together. He just smiled at Noin when he left. He had Psychology next and he was hungry. He went to the cafeteria and bought a box of donuts.

"I am beginning to feel like Duo now," he said to himself while eating his sixth donut.

"Can I have one of those Q-man?"

Quatre looked up. Duo was standing right in front of him and Heero was coming towards them.

"Hey Duo!"

"Eating donuts is not bad. Can I have one?" Duo asked again with his innocent expression. The only thing on his mind right now was the donut.

"Oh sure!" Quatre replied and handed him the box. Duo immediately started pigging out on the donuts.

"Jerk." You guessed it. That was Heero.

________________________________________________________________

Trowa did not have any morning classes and he inevitably slept in. when he got up he realized that he had only half an hour to get to university. He quickly got out of bed and put on a shirt. Just in case his room mate was around. He rushed out of his room and as expected, there was a note on his door. She had a morning class and she would not be back till late evening.

"Why does she have to write these notes? I don't care," he muttered to himself irritably and scrunched up the note in a ball and threw it in the waste paper basket. He showered and decided to skip breakfast. It was too late fro breakfast anyway. He would have lunch during his free time between his two classes. That's what the cafeteria was for, right?

He was early for class. He went in and took up a seat at the back of the class from where he could watch the people that entered. He had been sitting in his place for only a short while when he saw Quatre enter. Quatre was rubbing his temples and yawning. He saw Trowa and immediately brightened up. He went and sat down beside Trowa.

"Did you have a class before this?" Trowa asked Quatre with a smile.

"Yes. Business. Noin was the professor," Quatre informed him, his tired expression returning.

"NOIN?!?!" Trowa practically shouted. "What's she doing here?"

"Teaching business. To her business and war is one and the same. You should hear her teach."

"I thought she was working at the Preventors."

"She was. She is a temp here. And she got married," Quatre told him.

"To Zechs?"

Quatre only nodded. Just then Trowa saw Jade enter the class. She was wearing black jeans and a maroon top. She walked in and sat down a few seats away from Trowa. She made no attempt to come and talk to him and so he coolly ignored her.

"Isn't she your room mate?" Quatre asked.

"Yes." And as if reading Quatre's mind he added, "She is an empath. You will meet her sooner or later."

Before Quatre could say anything, their Psychology professor entered. He was a tall old man, and he was balding. He appeared a friendly, fatherly person. He introduced himself as Mr. Siminghton. The professor did not hurry and Quatre was glad. He could take notes this time. The class was pretty uneventful. After the class ended, Trowa and Quatre left immediately. Both of them were really hungry and it was time for lunch. The made their way to the Cafeteria. They were eating and talking in general. Both of them had classes for late afternoon. The cafeteria was unusually crowded.

"You go get something to eat. I'll find a place to sit," Trowa told Quatre.

"Ok," Quatre replied and headed off to get some thing to eat.

"Now to find a place to sit."

He looked around the crowded area and spotted a few empty seats and then he saw Jade sitting all alone at a table near the corner. She was reading something and eating fries. He smiled to himself and walked towards her.

"May I sit here?" He asked her.

"Sure. Please have a seat," she said without looking up from her book.

He smiled again at her total engrossment in her book.

"So which book are you reading?" He asked her.

"A classic: Little Women," she replied again without looking up.

He saw Quatre standing in the middle of the Cafeteria, with a tray in his hand, trying to find Trowa.

"Hey Quatre. Here," Trowa yelled and waved.

Jade almost jumped in her seat.

"Oh hi! Didn't notice you there," she said finally looking up.

"You were too busy reading," he told her and smiled.

"Sorry," she said and grinned.

Quatre reached them. Put down the tray and held out his hand blushing slightly.

"Hello, my name is Quatre Raberba Winner," He said.

She took his extended hand and smiled at him," My name is Jade. Just Jade. A pleasure to meet you."

He relaxed visibly after that.

"Trowa told us that you were his room mate," Quatre said.

"I am and I met two of your friends already, one of them is already my friend," she told him. She had put down the book now and was talking to the two. Quatre looked at Trowa confusingly.

"She means Heero and Duo," he informed Quatre.

"You never told me that!" Quatre looked at Trowa in disbelief.

"Must have slipped my mind," Trowa said as though it was no big deal and to tell the truth, it wasn't.

She just gave Trowa a quizzical look as though she didn't entirely believe him, but decided to drop the subject anyway.

"So what subjects do you have Miss Jade?" Quatre asked her.

"Jus call me Jade. And I have Computer Programming, Psychology and I am also an empath."

"Yes, I remember seeing you in the psychology class," Quatre said.

"I take it, Trowa here refused to introduce me?" She said looking at Trowa.

"Huh?" Trowa wasn't paying attention.

"Heh, heh…Yes, he refused to do the introductions," Quatre said.

"He isn't very communicative, is he?" She asked Quatre.

"He takes time."

"I figured as much. It's a wonder in itself, that he came and sat down here," she said.

"It's better than sitting with complete strangers," Trowa said.

"I am honoured, Trowa Barton," She said sarcastically.

"Don't mention it."

"Guys? Don't you think we should be leaving? Classes start in about 10 minutes," Quatre interrupted their conversation.

"Yes, I think we should. Even though I would prefer arguing with you," Jade said.

Trowa smiled and the three of them got up.

"Can you lend me the book when you are done?" Trowa asked all of a sudden when they were walking out of the Cafeteria.

"Hn?"

"The book. After you are done reading."

"Oh sure. I'll probably be done by tonight."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"I think we part ways now," Quatre interrupted again.

"Ok. See you later." And Trowa left towards his mechanics class. And the two of them headed towards the emphatic faculty.

"When did you know that you were an empath Jade?" Quatre asked her. Even he had taken a liking to her.

"I don't know. Sometime during the war. What about you?" She asked seriously. She seemed different. It was as though she had undergone a sudden change.

"I'm sorry. I seem to have brought up bad memories," Quatre apologised. After all he too was an empath.

"No, don't apologise. Its just memories. I can't let them rule my life," she said quietly and then with a sudden change in her manner she asked, "When did you know you were an empath?"

"During the wars," he said and when he looked up, she was looking at him intently, somewhat questioningly. As though she knew it wasn't the complete truth.

"I was a Gundam Pilot. I fought in the wars. In a way, I helped start them," he said sadly.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw her giving him an understanding look.

"You don't have to blame yourself for what happened. Everything happens for a reason and no one is to blame. What has happened has happened," she told him calmly.

"Thanks," He said with a weak smile.

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."

He hadn't known her for more than a few minutes, but he didn't mind having her for a friend. As a matter of fact he rather liked having her for a friend. The rest of the way, they walked in silence. Both of them were thinking about what they had talked. Quatre felt she was older than her years. Something made him feel that she had been through a lot and survived. What was it? Was it her intense gaze? Or was it the conversation that they just had.

"Stop thinking about me."

He was immediately jarred back to reality.

"Hn?"

She was smiling at him.

"I could feel your confusion and you could logically be thinking of only one thing: what we just talked about."

"Remind me I am not the only empath here," he said with a smile.

"Never mind. We are here."

They walked in. This class was totally different from the other classes. It was almost thrice as big and had a homey feeling to it. The chairs were arranged in a big circle. Both of them entered warily and took a seat somewhere in the circle. When the class finally started a few minutes later. Quatre actually got the shock of his life. It was more like a talk show than anything. People came out in the middle of the class and talked to others and asked questions and stuff. It was in a way…weird. But it was good nevertheless. Their Professor explained that to learn how to control your emphatic abilities, it was necessary for you to be comfortable. It made sense.

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Trowa walked in silence towards his mechanics class. He was thinking about the incident in the Cafeteria. She was so engrossed in her book, she didn't even notice him and she was an empath…For God's Sake. She stumped him sometimes. Well, almost all the times. How long had he known her anyway? A few days? But he liked her anyways. He absently smiled at a girl in the corridor.

'Did I just smile...At a girl? Something's wrong with me,' he thought and shook his head and continued walking. He walked in the class and found Heero and Duo already there. He went and took a seat by them.

"How are things, Clown boy?" Duo asked him jokingly.

"Quatre's in my Psychology class and so is Jade," he told them.

"Jade?" Heero asked.

"She is in our Programming class," Duo exclaimed.

"I met…" he stopped in mid-sentence.

"ZECHS!?!" all three of them exclaimed.

"What the hell's he doing here?" Trowa muttered under his breath.

Heero just glared at him and Duo was staring at him. Dumbstruck.

"Hello. My name is Milliardo Peacecraft and I will be your Professor for this subject."

"He is going to be our professor?!" Heero muttered to himself. "He is going to teach me?"

"Aww… c'mon. He's not that bad," Duo told Heero.

Duo had a point. Zechs, or Milliardo as he now called himself, had always been reasonable. And now the war was over. He decided to let go. But it would be interesting to meet an old acquaintance, not as an opponent, but as a teacher. Zechs skipped the talk and jumped directly to the practicals and he began with labelling mobile suit parts.

"I thought all the mobile suit parts were destroyed," Trowa muttered.

"No, only the weapons," Heero answered.

"Hehehe… what do you think they use at the Scrap yard? The place is littered with junk MS parts," Duo informed them.

"Yes, this Mobile suit was reconstructed from those parts, without the weapons of course."

All three of them turned back to see the origin of the voice. Zechs was standing there smiling at the three.

"It's been a long time," he said.

"Hn."

"Yes, long time indeed."

"Hey Zechs, your hair is longer. Almost as long as mine."

"Now that you mention it, I have to get a hair cut."

"Where did you get the parts?" Heero asked Zechs.

"Oh, the place is littered with them. I wanted in to put in dud weapons too but Relena and Noin would take nothing of it," He answered offhandedly.

"How is she?" Heero asked again.

"Relena's fine. Just busy," he answered. Still looking at the MS. He then looked at Heero, who was also looking at the MS and smiled.

"Talk to you guys later. Someone needs help there," he said and left.

"Hn."

"See he's not that bad."

"No, he isn't."

"He should really get a hair cut, or at least get it trimmed." Duo was still looking at the retreating figure. Trowa started laughing and Heero joined in.

"What?" Duo looked stumped.

"Nothing," Trowa answered.

"I can make people laugh without even trying. Go me!" Duo muttered to himself.

============================================================= < p>Note: and that's for chapter 6. I hope you liked it. I am sorry this took so long, but I had a bad (and I mean real BAD) writer's block. Been thinking too many things lately and with school starting, its going to get bad. But I do hope you like this chappie. I have already started on the 7th chapter and I hope, it will be out soon. Please read and review. Love, Devil.