The fangirl squeals made Taiki wince a bit as they got out of the van, the three young men called the Three Lights heading off to another school day. "You all right?" Seiya asked quietly, the black haired young man giving his brother a perceptive look. "Just tired," Taiki admitted, "staying up helping you three finish you assignments takes a lot out of me." "I didn't need that much help," Yaten scowled, the shorter white haired boy striding along beside them. "Right," Seiya drawled. He sighed slightly as he admitted, "But you're right, we can't keep relying on you to carry us." "It's not quite that bad," Taiki noted, his long brown hair tied back in a pony-tail, "all of us are busy with our roles." Several girls sighed dreamily as the three walked to their lockers, but thankfully they were no longer being mobbed. While the students were still somewhat in awe of the three, they had at least started to get used to the celeberties presence. "So if it is a problem," Yaten grumbled as he got his books out then shut the locker door, "what can we do about it?" "Recruit a tutor," Taiki shrugged, "that way I can work with one of you and the tutor the other. We'd get done much faster." Yaten gave him a pained look, "You're kidding, right? I can't think of anyone in the school who wouldn't go fangirl on us in a situation like that." Taiki looked amused, "I can think of one." "Wait a minute," Saiya blinked, realizing where he was going with this. "Oooh," Yaten smiled, "her!" "You three look like you're plotting mischief," a amused voice noted. Seiya looked up, his eyes narrowuing as a spark of dislike shot between him and Haruka Tenoh. Some people got along instantly, others didn't., but with these two it had been dislike at first sight. Annoyingly, Yaten and Taiki got along reasonably well with the sandy brown haired young woman, which made it hard to give her the cold shoulder. "We are not plotting," Seiya said flatly. "Scheiming, maybe," Taiki noted. "Or possibly planning," Yaten jumped in. "But not plotting," Taiki finished. Seiya rolled his eyes at the two boys attempt at humor. "Thanks a lot," he sighed. Michiru looked amused as the green haired woman casually look Haruka's arm. "It's so hard being surrounded by wise guys," she said to Seiya with a twinkle in her eye. "Thank you," Seiya said with a exagerated bow, "nice to see someone who understands my plight." "Uh huh," Haruka rolled her eyes. "So," Michiru looked curious, "what's going on?" "They're plotting something again," Haruka noted. Taiki opened his mouth and Haruka said, "Not again, it wasn't that funny the first time." "Awww," Yaten pouted. Taiki quickly sketched in their school difficulties then asked, "Do you think Ami might agree to help tutor us?" "It wouldn't be easy," Haruka noted, silently debating what to say. "I know she's busy with classes," Yaten said thoughtfully, "but..." Michiru spoke softly, "Her daughter takes a lot of her time, too." You could have heard a pin drop as Yaten, Taiki and SEiya looked at Michiru with faintly stunned looks. "Daughter?" Seiya managed to get out. "Ami was trying to keep it quiet," Haruka actually frowned at Michiru. "I think we can trust in their discretion," Michiru said, turning a piercing gaze on the three boys. "Of course," Taiki said with a firm nod. "How...?" Yaten started just as the warning bell for the beginning of classes rang. Haruka silently debated for a moment then she said to all three, "We'll talk about it at lunch, all right?" "Sure," Seiya agreed as they hurried to morning classes. Taiki frowned thoughtfully as the three boys entered their class, sitting in their seats as the other students began to arrive. "Did you miss that when you looked into her?" Yaten whispered to him softly. "Obviously, I didn't dig deep enough," Taiki conceded. "Hello," Ami Mizuno nodded greetings to other students as she entered, her boy's uniform as crisply neat as ever. The scar across her nose was visible as always, though many students had noticed a decreasing in her serious manner in the past few weeks. "Morning," Seiya nodded, silently wondering what sort of girl Ami might have as a daughter. ‘She's way too young to have had one, right?' he mused. "Taiki," Ami smiled wryly, "how did you do with the physics?" "Got it," Taiki tapped a note book. Ami smiled a bit sheepishly as she asked, "Even the trick question?" Taiki looked a bit embarrassed, "I must admit, I had to look into the quantum physics question online. Do you think it was included as a challenge or did sensei make a mistake?" "Could be either one," Ami admitted. "Are you following this?" Seiya asked Yaten. "No," Yaten doodled on a sheet of paper. "Me too," Seiya sighed, glad he wasn't in the advanced classes with Taiki and Ami. Classes dragged, between the course work and wondering what Haruka was going to tell them. Finally lunch came and Ami slipped away, presumedly off to spend some time with her girlfriend. More than once Seiya had been tempted to follow her, but he knew Ami would be furious if she caught him. Entering the cafeteria girls frantically waved to open seats nearby them but the three headed to a corner table, one in which Haruka and Michiru had already saved them seats. "Thanks," Yaten said as they sat with their lunch boxes. "No problem," Haruka said casually, all of them cracking open their food and digging in. Michiru studied the three boys, "What I'm going to tell you has to stay private." "Because Ami might get in trouble with the school?" Seiya guessed, pausing with s bit of rice on it's way to his mouth. "No, she cleared it with the school," Haruka looked faintly pained, "but if Ami finds out we're talking about her private life she'll kill us." Taiki smiled wryly as he munched, "I can imagine. You can rely on my discretion." "I won't tell," both Yaten and Seiya agreed. Haruka looked at Taiki, "I'm willing to bet you did some research on her." Taiki didn't even try to deny it. "Ace student, fairly standard life up till a year ago when she and a young girl..." Taiki trailed off as his eyes widened. "I'm a idiot." "What?" Seiya demanded. "I should have thought of it," Taiki shook his head in disbelief. "If I don't get an explaination soon," Yaten frowned, "I'm gonna scream." "Ami and Usagi were the only survivors of a mysterious attack in Tokyo last year," Michiru explained quietly, "they had been friends before, and when Ami discovered Usagi had no other family she took her in." "Damn," Seiya murmured. "Both of them were in pretty rough shape for awhile," Haruka added gravely, "and were chased my the news media. As you can imagine, Ami's a bit gun-shy about talking about her home life." "I can imagine," Yaten admitted, the three boys well aware of the dark side of fame. "So, if you ask Ami for her help, I can't guarentee she'll say yes," Michiru said as she delicately ate, "Usagi is a priority to her."
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