Chapter 9: A New Rival

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and everyone had gone out to do different things, like – take a stroll at the park, go shopping, play video games or if you're as desperate as one Quatre Raberba Winner you'd be spying on one Dorothy Catalonia and her date.

That's right; Dorothy Catalonia is on a date with someone who isn't Quatre.

Because as of the moment Quatre is not on Dermail's good side and as punishment for Quatre and his trampling of Dermail's trust, he had arranged a date for his granddaughter. Dorothy's date is young man who is the youngest son of one of Dermail's trusted friends.

The news had come as a complete shock to Quatre, considering he had organized a wonderful hiking trip as an adventurous date with Dorothy and had hoped to surprise her. But when he got to her house, he was received by an annoyed Dermail and his gruff answer to Dorothy's whereabouts was a door to his face.

"She's on a date." The young boy muttered to himself as he continued to follow the couple from a safe distance. Unlike those crazy stalkers, Quatre was intelligent enough not to adopt a funny disguise. Wearing rounded sunglasses and a mask does not help in concealing oneself but only makes you stand out. The smartest thing to do was pay a certain someone to give you his tiger costume. Not only was his identity hidden, but he also had an excuse to be moving around—giving away promotional balloons.

And that was not all he prepared.

Inside a van labeled "Party Poppers" that was following him around (which was also rented from the tiger man) were all his friends whom he had asked to gather information about Dorothy's date. If he was going to stalk someone he needed this kind of professional help; besides, they didn't have anything better to do.

"Quatre, they are now in the amusement park." Heero informed him through their radio communication. "You should be able to enter through the entrance for employees."

"Okay, I'm coming in there to get some more balloons." The man hurried to get to the van and as soon as the door had closed behind him Quatre quickly removed the mascot's head and was surprised to hear snorts coming from his friends.

"Shut up, it's not as funny as you think. It's so hot in here and kids these days are very demanding! And I can't get close to those two!"

Wu Fei tried his best to compose himself as he parked the van near the park. "We'll just stay here, where we can access the park's security cameras to keep an eye on you."

Quatre nodded and received Duo's offered drink. "Were you able to get any details on the guy?"

Trowa pulled out a folder and read the file out loud. "Kakeru Yamamoto. Fine Arts major, 177cm, 63kg, half-Japanese and half-French from his mother's side. Females from his university address him as Apollo for his brown hair, captivating green eyes and his seemingly sharp jaw-line. Dermail also added that aside from his good looks, he is also a complete gentleman."

"Wow, that's a good profile. D'you think Dorothy will like him?" Duo commented as he handed the mascot's head back to Quatre. Quatre grabbed the head forcefully and gruffly puts it on as gets off the van. "Wow, he's really pissed."

When Duo turned to face his friends he was surprised to be on the receiving end of an angry glare from everyone. "What?"

As Heero had said, Quatre did not have a hard time entering the park through the employee's entrance. Even without Wu Fei's surveillance help Quatre quickly found the pair walking towards one of the park's roller coasters. It wasn't because his eyes were sharp or anything, it was only because his eyes always seemed to find Dorothy. Wherever he may be and no matter how far she is from him, as long as she was within his visual range his eyes would always and easily seek her out.

Or maybe it was because blondes are so rare in Japan and Dorothy's long blonde hair always stood out.

Seeing his soon-to-be-girlfriend out with another man and apparently having a wonderful time with him was enough to make him bristle at her infidelity. 'I thought she hates guys! When I asked for a date I had to be locked out and pushed out of a window, but this guy...he's receiving special treatment!'

But his inner rage did not last for long when he saw the CREEP – the new name Quatre had dubbed Dorothy's date – wrap an arm around Dorothy's shoulder, pulling her body close to him. Quatre knew that something he did not like was about to happen and he needed to stop it. Quickly taking action, he hurried between the couple, making sure to push the creep as far back as he could.

"What the heck? Who are you?" the creep asked at the sight of the tiger looking down on him with a big smile on its face. But instead of receiving any answer, all he got was a heavy pat on the head. Kakeru swatted the hand away. "What do you think you're doing?"

The tiger simply ignored the question as he turned towards Dorothy and offered her a balloon and a kiss on the hand. But when the tiger looked up with its permanently smiling face he was taken aback by Dorothy's cold stare and a hissed question that made Quatre's blood run cold. "What do you think you're doing, Quatre?"

The two remained frozen in their position for a while with Quatre still holding onto Dorothy's hand before he sped off towards the exit. Passers-by heard a frantic voice shouting from inside the mascot, "Abort! Abort mission! I've been compromised!"

Once Quatre was inside the van he hurriedly removed the costume, "Darn it! I shouldn't have acted like that! Do you think she'll kill me?"

"…"

"Guys? Why're you so qui—et?" In front of Quatre were a bunch of girl scouts with their den mother behind the wheel, all of them looking at him with slight amusement and shock.

Quatre smiled at the girls while he retrieved the costume's head and made his way towards their van.

"Quatre, what happened? What took you so long?" Heero asked with a hint of teasing in his smirk obviously already knowing the answer.

"Don't. Just don't ask."

"Did you get in the wrong van?" Duo asked with a grin on his face.

"No! Can we just get out of here?"

Wu Fei simply nodded as he started the engine and drove while the rest did not even try to hide the smiles on their faces.

They drove for a while in peaceful silence until Heero broke it, "So…where are we going now?"

Before Quatre could say anything, Trowa cut in. "I just received a call from Noin. She's telling us to go to the Jasmine Tea House."

"Did she say why?" Wu Fei asked as made a turn towards the tea house.

"She says that Iria has just arrived here in Japan and that she wants to see Quatre."

No one else said anything after that choosing to look outside than at Quatre. Iria is Quatre's older sister and is currently the one handling the Winner Corporation. She's rarely seen by her siblings due to her busy schedule but whenever she and Quatre met he would always come out with a scowl and no one would be able to approach him for the duration of the day.

With a heavy sigh, Quatre stepped out of the van that was parked outside the tea house. He couldn't see inside the shop due to the heavily tinted windows but he could tell the lone silhouette inside the shop was none other than his sister's.

"Quatre, do you want us to come with you?" Duo offered, fearing the effects of the two siblings' meeting.

"It's fine, Duo. I think I'll be fine. You guys head home."

Wu Fei gave a brief nod to Quatre being driving off, "This is bad."

"Things are always bad whenever Iria is involved." Heero added.

SsSsSsSsS

A small chime sound signaled the entrance of another customer who was immediately assisted towards a table where a woman with short brown hair was already drinking tea. Iria smiled as she set the cup down, and in an instant the other person rose to pour tea into the waiting cup. "So where is he?"

"It seems like my little brother will not be coming in today. I apologize."

"Oh no, it's fine. It's my fault, I'm the one who wanted to see him. I'm sure he must be busy doing something else."

Iria smiled at her guest, "In the meantime why don't we just eat and talk. So tell me, what have you been up to, Sylvia?"

SsSsSsSsS

Quatre hurried towards The Antique Bakery as soon as he received a message from Dorothy telling him to meet her there. The small pastry shop was not so far from the tea house where he had been dropped off so it didn't take him long to get there.

The small bell chimed as soon as he entered and he was immediately greeted by the garçon whom he waived off as he found Dorothy sitting on one of the tables. He smiled at the girl who gave him a light glare, "Aw, don't be like that. Didn't you say you wanted to meet with me?"

"I did. Then I remembered what happened in the park."

"So where is Yamamoto?"

"How'd you know his name?" Dorothy asked but Quatre chose that opportunity to look at the menu and call for the garçon to give his very long order. As soon he was done he turned to her with a smile on his face as if her date's name was not mentioned. "Listen, I know what you did earlier and why you did it."

When Quatre didn't say anything, Dorothy continued, "I only went out with Kakeru because grandpa told me to, that's all, so you don't have to be worried or act all jealous."

"I wasn't jealous."

"You were following us the entire time with a tiger costume!" Dorothy answered with a grin on her face, she was enjoying Quatre's embarrassed blush. "If it'll make you feel better I told him I'm already seeing someone."

Quatre couldn't help but smile as a warm feeling came over him with Dorothy's words. They continued to look at one another with gentle smiles on their faces until Quatre's order arrived. The waiter laid down Quatre's cassis and a mousse fromage which he ordered for Dorothy.

Dorothy took the mousse fromage and smiled in gratitude at the waiter and Quatre. "How'd you know I was going to order this one?"

"I just thought you'd choose this one because of the strawberries. Wow, this cassis is great!"

"This is one of my favorite cafés, they make very good cakes here and the atmosphere is very warm."

The two continued to eat their cakes as Dorothy talked about her date, much to Quatre's displeasure. "Dorothy, I hope you know that it's not proper manners to talk about a guy you dated with your boyfriend."

"I told you, you have nothing to worry about. Besides he's batting for the same team as I am." Dorothy answered as she swiped her fork at Quatre's cake.

"You mean –" Dorothy took another swipe at Quatre's cake while he was still distracted with the revelation. 'Well…that wasn't in the profile Trowa gave me.'

"Yup!" She answered as she blissfully ate the cassis, "He says you're cute."

"How did he know what I look like?"

"Oh I showed him a picture of you… and he said you were quite good-looking."

"I see, so you were showing me off?" Quatre teased with a big grin on his face and Dorothy had to resist the urge to smack him to get the grin off. But she held back considering the grin looked very good on him.

"I was- was not! He simply asked to see and so I showed him those photos of yourself that you took on my phone!" Dorothy replied as she got a larger portion of Quatre's snack.

Quatre simply nodded with the grin still in place and returned to his cake only to find that it was significantly smaller. "If you want, I don't mind switching cakes with you."

"No, no, that's okay. I just wanted to taste it. I've never tried any of their other cakes aside for this one… I don't normally try their new flavors."

Quatre smiled in understanding and decided to take a swipe of the fromage as payment, "This is nice."

"It sure is. The texture is wonderful and –"

"I meant us just spending time like this." Quatre clarified as he leveled his gaze at his date, "I don't remember us having a date like this one."

"Yeah… I think this is our first proper date." Dorothy couldn't help but smile at the memory of their first disastrous date and the other times that they spent together. Somehow after so many weeks she can say that finally feels calm and comfortable around him.

"And we have your grandfather and Kakeru to thank for it."

"Speaking of grandfather, I'd better get going. I told him that I'd be home before dinner time." Dorothy muttered as she checked her watch.

"I'll drive you."

"You can't. I'm not supposed to be seeing you, remember?"

"Then I'll drop you a few blocks off."

Dorothy seemed to think about it for a while before giving Quatre a nod of approval. Quatre immediately settled their bill at the counter. He quickly returned to their table and offered his hand to Dorothy, which she took. The two of them walked out of the café, their hands still intertwined.

"So…where's your car?"

A few minutes later, a young couple outside Antique Bakery are seen to be having a hard time hailing a cab. The male seems to be annoyed while his companion seems to laughing at him for something.

"Next time, before you offer someone a ride, maybe you should make sure you actually have a car with you."

Quatre didn't respond as his embarrassment over the incident just won't ebb. 'For once, just once I wish we could actually have a perfect date!'

As soon as a cab stopped in front of them they quickly entered, Quatre barked the directions and promptly kept his eyes glued to his window. Sensing Quatre's irritation, Dorothy stifled her laughter as she moved closer to lean on Quatre's shoulder causing Quatre to look at her. "But I like this better."

Quatre smiled in agreement as he wrapped his arm around Dorothy allowing her to sleep on his chest instead. "Yeah…this is much better."

The ride had gone much quicker than they had expected and as much as Quatre wanted to walk Dorothy to her house he knew that Dermail would only scold her for disobeying him. "Dorothy, I'm sorry about what I did earlier. I should've trusted you."

"I understand. Things weren't clear between us… but now you know that you have nothing to worry about, right?"

Feeling playful Quatre decided to test the waters a bit, "Well… I would feel much more at peace if I had some more proof…"

Dorothy gave Quatre a stern look which made him immediately regret his words. It was a glare stern enough to make the other boy cringe, awaiting the scolding that was about to follow, but the only thing that came was quick peck on his cheek and the sound of footsteps running away.

Meanwhile in the Winner Manor, Quatre's sisters and friends are all in the main library waiting for Quatre to return from his meeting with Iria. All of them were expecting him to be in a foul mood so when they heard the door opening they immediately hurried to greet him only to find Iria at the door accompanied by a young woman.

"Well, isn't this such a wonderful welcome." Iria smiled at her sisters, who one by one approached her to give her a kiss on the cheek. After a few minutes have passed due to the required greeting that they each had to give, Iria settled herself before introducing her guest, "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Sylvia Noventa. She'll be staying with us from now on."

The young girl gave a polite bow to everyone in the house, "It's nice meeting all of you. I am Sylvia Noventa."

"Noin, if you could please take Sylvia to one of the guest rooms? I'm sure she's tired from the travel." Iria ordered, her eyes still fixed on everyone who was probably wondering about the girl's identity aside from her name.

Noin nodded, took Sylvia's bags and led the way upstairs to one of the available guest rooms.

"Iria, is she your new assistant? She seems pretty young to be an assistant." Trowa inquired.

Iria simply laughed as she removed her blazer, "No, Trowa. Sylvia is not my assistant. She's Quatre's fiancée."

Author's Note:

To avoid confusion, I decided to write the name, Kakeru Yamamoto, in Western format.

Antique Bakery is an anime/manga/drama if you want you can check out their website for an idea of the place and the desserts mentioned.

And yes…I'm alive! Hopefully, I'll be able to update more now that I'm no longer studying! Woohoo! I hope my job will allow me that luxury of more writing time.^^ And big thanks to my editor who's always quick with the editing – Jin!