"Hey, where can I find the Holy Knight series?"

Elliot Nightray, 16 years old, came marching over to a short, black-haired boy wearing a uniform of the bookstore he was currently in.

"Fiction, fantasy section. It's over that way." The boy pointed towards an aisle, barely seeming interested in Elliot's question at all. He had hardly even glanced at Elliot, and seemed to have a rather disinterested look on his face, although it was hard to tell, because half of his face was covered by thick, long bangs, and equally thick glasses.

"How on earth can he see through all that?" Elliot wondered momentarily, although that train of thought didn't last long, because in the next moment, the boy had turned to walk away, causing Elliot to feel a surge of anger. "Hey, shorty, are you gonna show me where it is?"

The boy stopped in his tracks and faced Elliot once more. His face, although still covered, seemed to twist in an expression beyond what could be called anger. He was livid. No, perhaps even more than that. Words couldn't even describe it. The closest one could get to describing it? Murderous. "What….….did you just call me?"

Elliot's eyes went wide. "What the heck!? This guy looks like he's ready to kill me! Is he that sensitive about his height?!" But he didn't back down, and instead he repeated, with a little more confidence than he felt, "I called you shorty. Got a problem with that?"

"Yes, I do!" The boy yelled, stepping closer. Elliot could now plainly read his nametag, which said "Leo". He payed no attention to the several people who were now staring in his direction. "I will not stand for someone insulting me!" Quickly, his hand reached for the nearest object he could find, which just so happened to be a book. "Don't you dare ever say that to me again!" At this point, Leo was practically screaming. Without a moment of hesitation, he threw the book, or at least tried to. Before it could leave his hand, it was wrenched away by another person.

"Stop fighting, you two!" The other person scolded, holding out the book and waving it for emphasis. His blonde colored locks fell across his face as he shook his head. "You're in the middle of a public place!" He frowned, looking back and forth between the two in disapproval. His emerald eyes seemed to look straight through them. "There was no need to get so worked up!" He sighed, dropping his arm down to his side, book and all.

"Shut up!" Leo yelled, clenching his fists. "It's none of your business!" He pointed in Elliot's direction angrily. "He's the one I have business with, not you!"

"The name's Elliot!" Elliot shot back, completing ignoring the blonde's plea to stop fighting. "Not that I care if you know it or not!"

"Fine then! Sorry for not calling you by your proper name, Idiot!" Leo's words had a biting edge that seemed as though it could cut through anything. "And sorry I didn't parade you over to find your stupid book!" A sarcastic smirk tugged at his lips, and he continued, "Or are you so clueless that you can't do anything for yourself?"

"Why you!-" Elliot yelled, only to be cut off by the arrival of yet another person.

"Elliot, calm down!" A tall, black-haired man with dark clothing stood over Elliot, his frown even deeper than the blonde's. "Did you not hear Oz say we're in a public place?" If it was possible, his frown deepened even farther. "What has gotten into you?!"

"Gilbert!" Elliot glared at him, frustration evident on his face. "I don't care about that! He tried to throw a book at me!"

"Only because you insulted me!" Leo shoved roughly past Oz and got right up into Elliot's face. One could feel the murderous aura still emanating from him. "I would have gladly helped you, had you not insulted me!" Now, without distance separating the two, Leo clenched his fist, and stepped back slightly in an attempt to punch Elliot.

"You two stop!" Oz pushed the two apart, luckily managing to keep anyone from getting hurt. "Before somebody gets in trouble!"

Elliot clicked his tongue in annoyance, but backed off. "Fine. But I'm not going to forget this!" He promised, storming off towards the exit, his book all but forgotten.

Leo, on the other hand, was still fuming. "Get back here! I'm not done with you yet!" Before he could follow, however, a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Calm down, alright?"

Leo glared at Oz, and roughly shoved his hand away. He then turned his glare to follow Elliot's retreating form. "No, I will not calm down!" He declared, huffing in anger.

"Elliot didn't mean anything by it. He has a good heart, he just….tends to speak a little rudely sometimes." Oz assured, smiling softly. "But he's really a good guy once you get to know him!"

"Him, a good guy?!" Leo scoffed in disbelief. "Yeah right, and I work in a coffee shop!" His sarcasm was thick and sharp, and he gestured towards the aisles of books surrounding him. "And we all know that's a lie!"

"But he really is!" Oz insisted, shaking his head. "You'll see! You've just got to give him a chance!"

"I'm not going to give him that chance! I don't even know him, I don't even know you!" Leo snapped, crossing his arms. "Whatever, just…...I'm getting back to my job now." He turned sharply on his heel, disappearing down an aisle of books.

Meanwhile, Elliot hadn't stopped walking until he had made it several blocks away from the bookstore. "What is wrong with that guy?!" He fumed, sitting harshly on a bench positioned in front of a quaint coffee shop.

"Elliot?"

"Great, more people. Just what I need right now." Elliot internally groaned, but met the eyes of who had been speaking to him nonetheless. "Vincent?" He frowned, tilting his head. "Shouldn't you be at work right now?"

"You're sitting right in front of it." Vincent laughed softly, gesturing to the coffee shop. "And I'm on break." He sat down next to Elliot, glancing at him in concern. Genuine concern, which was rare for him. "What happened?"

"Don't wanna talk about it." Elliot attempted to brush him off, looking away. His eyes traced cracks in the ground, in an attempt to keep from meeting Vincent's gaze.

"Elliot….." Vincent sighed, brushing his golden hair away from his face. "Listen, we may not be related by blood, but I'm still your brother. And you're the brother I care about the most, besides Gil. You know that. So go on, tell me what's wrong, OK?"

Elliot took a moment to think, and finally, he admitted, "I just met a jerk at a bookstore with Gilbert and Oz. He ticked me off, that's all. I'm fine, really."

Vincent nodded in understanding. "Ah, his name wouldn't happen to be Leo, would it?"

Elliot's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

Vincent laughed again, and explained, "He comes over here from time to time during his break. Of course, he's always wearing his uniform, so I know he works at that bookstore. Something about him has always seemed….unstable. He's been, as you said, a jerk, to some of my co-workers."

"Oh." Elliot tried to imagine Leo in a coffee shop. All he could see was him yelling and throwing coffee all over the place. It was not a pleasant image in the slightest. "Does he…...ever throw things?" He asked curiously.

"Not usually." Vincent shrugged, "But then again, he's usually only here to get a cup of coffee or tea, maybe something to eat. He doesn't stay long. He doesn't really talk to anyone either, except to get what he needs."

"Oh…." Elliot couldn't help but feel a sense of relief, but somehow it also upset him. Not that he wished that Leo was violent with others, no-one deserved that, but it felt odd that he was the only one who had managed to elicit that response from him. "So I guess he only likes to throw things at me."

Now that caught Vincent off-guard. "He threw something at you?!" One could practically see the gears turning in Vincent's head, and it was not a pretty sight.

"Tried to, anyways. Oz stopped him. Tried to punch me too. Again, Oz stopped him. I don't know how he managed to do it, either." Elliot recalled the moment where Oz stepped between them, and a small smile formed on his lips. "That idiot, he could have gotten himself hurt."

"Yes, well, at least you're all safe." Vincent pointed out, although he didn't look happy at all about the prospect of Elliot potentially having something thrown at him. "I'll have to warn my co-workers, I don't want there to be any trouble. Although that reminds me, there was that one incident."

Elliot was immediately curious. "Incident?" He asked, "What incident?"

Vincent lowered his voice to a hushed tone, and said, "There was this one time, that 'Leo' boy had just ordered some coffee, and someone made a comment about him, I have no clue what it was. Well, they were out here, so I couldn't hear all of it anyways. But he started yelling, and picked up a chair. Looked like he was ready to throw it, too."

Elliot was surprised at this, to say the least. Throwing a book was one thing, but a chair? Now that could be dangerous. "What happened? Did someone stop him?"

"Yeah, someone managed to get it away from him. But he was not happy about it."

Elliot felt his heart beating in his chest. He realized that he had left Oz in a potentially dangerous situation. As much as Oz could annoy him, they were still technically friends (although Elliot didn't say so very much). "I…...I have to go back. Oz could be-"

"-I wouldn't worry about that too much." Vincent smirked, pointing down the block.

"Elliot!" Oz's cheerful voice called out, and he ran towards the pair, waving in an equally cheerful manner. His face was flushed from running, and it only added to his cheerful look.

"And to think I was worried….." Elliot sighed, standing and giving Oz a gentle thwap to the head. "Where's Gilbert? Are you two OK?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, Gil's…...well, he was right behind me. I guess I got too far ahead!" Oz laughed sheepishly, scratching his head in embarrassment. "I figured you might come this way, so I went looking for you!"

"Of course you did…..." Elliot glanced back at Vincent, who was standing as well. "Isn't your break going to be over soon?"

"I've got about 5 minutes left." Vincent motioned towards the coffee shop, patting Elliot's shoulder as he walked past. "How about some coffee? My treat."

"That sounds good." Elliot nodded, following Vincent inside.

Oz tilted his head, and a moment later, he called out, "Hey, what about me?!" He followed behind, nearly having the door slammed on him.

"Ah, you'll have to pay for yours." Vincent grinned slyly, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

"Aww, no fair!"

A/N: Hey guys! So this is my first attempt at a modern AU, so I hope it's OK! I know that it's not very dramatic and angsty yet, but it'll get there, I promise. Oh, and even though Elliot and Leo are going to be the main focus of this fic, the other characters are going to have plenty of time in the spotlight too, I already have a couple of plotline ideas for Vincent and Gil in particular.

As for why Vincent is a barista? the simple answer? because I can and I want to. the other answer? blame my sister LOL she mentioned the idea of a coffee shop AU, but I was already writing this, so I just plopped Vincent down in the coffee shop.