Lend me Your Troubles

[O Lord, God of my salvation,

when at night, I cry out in your presence,

let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry.]

Teito thoroughly cursed the entirety of his existence as he trudged back to his dorm that evening.

Why him? Why of all people did he have to be pushed down, nearly taken advantage of, and saved by his idiot pervert of a homeroom teacher? Surely, the process would repeat the next day, or at least something along those lines. Teito grit his teeth.

He hoped that Shuri idiot was going through similar pain, though the thought was only a slightly comforting notion. He knew the blonde elite wouldn't have to go through something even a fraction as traumatizing as what had transpired over the past hour for Teito.

Once again, he passed whispering groups of gossips, and shot glares at those within range of his blazing emerald trajectory but nothing more. He didn't want to sink faster into the already knee-deep trouble he was in. Especially with Ayanami's strange interest in him.

He shivered as an image of deeply cold eyes came to mind.

It took him longer to return to his dorm than it had to make his way to the vice principal's, and cliques trickled out of the sparse concrete courtyard as he walked, each step a small battle. Fatigue played behind closed eyelids every time he blinked. It had surely been a rough first day, and if he knew anything about the way his world worked for him, it would only become worse.

He paused towards one end of the courtyard, where a sidewalk led up in a winding path to the deceitfully grandiose double doors of his dorm. Rubbing his eyes, it occurred to him that he wouldn't mind chatting about nothing at all with Mikage right then—or if not that, yakisoba foods, at the least. A small smile lifted the corners of his lips and he laughed, eyes still veiled. Mikage was already his only light of hope in this hell of an academy.

Three figures spoke in hushed tones to each other at the end of a long corridor.

"Are you positive that's what you saw, Frau?" The only brunette of the group asked, glasses flashing white as a strike of moonlight dyed the three in visibility.

The blond clicked his tongue. "'M not blind, I know what I saw. Ask the kid if you doubt me so much."

A third voice, a pitch higher than the other two that sounded pleasant to one's ears spoke up at the blond's words. "If what you say is true, though I am not suggesting I don't believe you, then we should tread carefully around Teito Klein. He is…a very delicate person." A small note of pity could be heard as the man spoke. "I think you're being a little too rash under the circumstances."

Another click. "God, what else was I supposed to do? Stand by and let him get raped? Who knew Ayanami was into kids, though. Sick bastard."

"There has to be some deeper meaning to this if Ayanami is so interested in him to begin with," the brunette offered. "Do you know what they were talking about before all of…whatever happened, happened?"

There was a long pause before the blond found his voice again. "N-no. I mean, even if I asked, he probably wouldn't have—goddammit, whatever, I'll ask him tomorrow after class."

"I don't think we should talk to Teito as anything more than his teachers for the time being," the shortest said in reply. In a rare display of stubbornness, he crossed his arms at his chest. "He's going through a lot."

"Do you want to add rape to that?"

"No, but I am sure he'll be wary of Ayanami from now on."

"Even if he is wary, he can't hold his own against Ayanami! Look how scrawny the little brat is, he probably couldn't even take you, Labrador."

The brunette smacked the back of a blond head. "Keep your voice down, idiot."

Ignoring the brunette's assault save a small grunt, the blond trudged forward once again with the subject. "You aren't really suggesting that we leave Teito alone like this, right?" To his companions' shared surprise, a note of something like concern had crept its way into his words.

A stunned silence lapsed over the hallway for more than a few moments before the shortest replied, "Well, it seems like you are taking this seriously enough, Frau…" He turned his pale gaze to his brunette companion. "What do you think, Castor? If Frau just watches over Teito, there shouldn't be much harm in that."

It took an irritated nudge from the blond for him to answer. "Fine. But you can leave it to Frau to screw things up."

The flash of a white grin could be seen through the dense blackness. "Whoever said I didn't believe in you, Castor!" He returned the favor of the head smack from earlier by slapping the brunette's back with a firm hand before quickly pacing his way out of reach. As he walked, gloved hands reached for the familiar cigarette and lighter he kept under his cloak; God knew he needed one.

In a far corner of his mind, a voice nagged at him that things were surely about to get much more complicated before anything could be resolved. But he was willing to take up that challenge.

"Do you really think Frau keeping tabs on Teito will do any good?" The brunette readjusted his glasses, his expression impassive though his companion could tell he was miffed by their friend's antics.

"Something, at least, needs to be done." The pale-eyed man brought a hand to the collar of his cloak and gripped it, fingers trembling slightly. Not to let it go unnoticed, the tall brunette reached down and enveloped the smaller hand in his, pulling him closer. Reassured, he continued, "Everything seems to have only just begun, and the boy cannot even seem to adjust to this much. I pray we find answers for him soon."

The words echoed about lonely hallways, leaving an ominous premonition in their wake.

"Mikage! Are you really telling me that you didn't read your history book? At all?" Teito opened the door to his room to find Mikage sprawled over his bed, reading a magazine that was covered with girls wearing strips of cloth that could barely pass for bikinis on the cover. "And you're reading…that?"

Mikage grinned back at Teito, unfazed by his nagging. "You're back early. How was detention with the vice principal?"

Teito didn't reply, but opted to slam the door shut behind him and flop on the bed. He was utterly exhausted. "Don't remind me," he muttered, rolling over to lie away from Mikage on his side.

He heard a shift in the room, and before he knew it, his bed was creaking with added weight. Then a certain blond was lying on top of Teito, crushing him into the mattress. "H-hey, Mikage, what the hell! I'm tired, and you're heavy! Get off me!"

"You seem down, Teito. What's the matter?" Mikage flipped onto his back, still splayed over Teito, and cocked his head to direct a questioning honey-colored gaze towards him.

Teito quickly averted his eyes from that prying stare. He didn't want to talk about the whole thing that had gone on with Ayanami to anyone—Mikage least of all. It was out of the question. Plus, he didn't want to worry the other boy, so he just shrugged his shoulders and copped out a curt reply. "Nothing, really. Just tired. It was a long day today."

Mikage stared for half a beat longer, as if he were assessing whether Teito was spewing a lie at him, but Teito's usual impassiveness must have won him over in the end. He closed his eyes as a bright smile lit up his features and he locked his arms tight around the smaller boy as to not let him escape. "Well, if you say so! But you know we have another long day tomorrow, right? And like, for the rest of the year!" He laughed into the collar of Teito's uniform, the jade-eyed boy struggling all the while to free himself—but his efforts subsided as he realized he couldn't escape the blond's hold. Gradually, Mikage's laugh trailed off into nothingness as well, and the room was washed through with strangely unfamiliar silence. But he didn't release his grip on Teito.

And for some reason, Teito no longer had a problem with that.

He felt the heavier boy nuzzle into his collar, pale locks tickling the side of his face. "Teito…" His eyes widened. Mikage's tone had shifted drastically—he sounded as tired as Teito felt. "…You smell like home," he finished, and a soft giggle reverberated off his chest. Teito thought he had slipped into a daze, what with him not moving anymore, but after a few minutes of silent lounging he continued. "No, not quite…that…" He sounded like he was having trouble talking, and Teito felt his arms move of their own accord and wrap around Mikage's back, fingers teasing wayward strands of golden hair. "Something…else…Teito, you're something else…really…"

After that, the room returned to its previous state of heavy silence. Teito didn't know what to make of Mikage's words. He didn't want to think, either. Mikage's raspy, tired voice was like a soporific, and his eyelids were already drooping. Still exposed above covers with the body of a boy he'd only just met the day before on top of him, Teito fell into the deepest sleep he'd had in a long, long while.

The crude, mechanic sound of something like lasers being shot by his bedside roused Teito from his dreamless sleep. His body felt heavy. Too heavy.

What the…? Teito tried to get up, but he felt like something was pinning him down, almost purposely. He wriggled under the weight and realized that there was indeed a person lying on him. Like water breaking through a dam, recollections from the night before returned to him with a start.

"Mi—ka—ge—!" Teito struggled fruitlessly under the other boy. He sure was a hell of a lot heavier than he looked. "Get up! You're going to make us late!"

"Heuh…?" An inhuman groan slipped past Mikage's lips as a golden head lifted and he met Teito's irritated stare.

"Weren't you the one lecturing me last night about how we had to last a whole year of this?"

"…Last night…?"

Teito rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. Just get off me so at least I can be on time," he growled, and not wanting to face the impending dragon, Mikage somehow woke himself up enough to slither off the bristling teen and crawl to his own bed.

"If you skip, you're dead," Teito tossed over his shoulder as he walked into the bathroom to try to freshen himself up. He'd slept in his uniform, and though it wasn't wrinkled, it faintly smelled of sweat and something almost metallic that reminded him of the tile that would be the floor of Ayanami's office. He felt his body tense up, but with quick and seasoned force he eased his shoulders back to their natural position and his eyebrows relaxed once more; the crease that had formed between them disappeared. Stop…you have to see him again today, and it won't do you any good to freak out about it. He's just a man…

…But Teito knew just what "just a man" could do to him.

"Teito—o," Mikage drawled the other boy's name, and Teito peeked his head around the door to find the blond in a peculiar state; with his legs still spread upon his bed and his face pressed to the floor of their room, it made for an interesting sight.

Teito, disregarding the humor of it all, barely held back a groan. "Mikage, be serious for three minutes and just get ready. You're already in your uniform, so you're one step ahead." He wouldn't say he was being encouraging, but at least he was trying to motivate the other teen to at least make an effort to get to school.

Suddenly, as if he'd been recharged in an instant, Mikage shoved himself up by his hands and flipped backward to land on his feet. "That reminds me," he chattered brightly as if he'd never been fatigued in his life, "do you know what you're gonna do for your art project?"

"Art project—what the hell, Mikage." Teito crossed his arms and skirted around Mikage, who was now buzzing about the room in what seemed like an attempt to get ready, but he wasn't really doing much besides picking through multiple suitcases in search of what Teito assumed to be something related to yakisoba. "No, I haven't. Why are you even asking—"

"I'm thinking I'll make my stuffed animal based off you, Teito." The words were murmured, like Mikage was actually being serious. Teito blanched.

"You—you what?" He whipped around, abandoning his view of the clock that displayed the numbers "five thirty-three." Morning classes began at six, though that particular bit of information was cast aside in Teito's mind at Mikage's words. "What the—I didn't give you permission! You can't just—you can't go around making people the inspirations of your stupid little art project!"

"Aw, come on Teito! I won't make you look bad or anything!"

"No!"

"Teito…"

Teito let an utterly exasperated sigh slip as he flopped backwards onto his bed. He was so bad at dealing with people like this. The comfortable feeling from the night before had seemed to evaporate the moment he'd woken up. "What's your deal, anyway? Why would you want to make me your stuffed animal thing?"

He sensed Mikage's shrug, as his eyes were shut closed in a mixture of irritation and exhaustion. "I just felt like you'd be perfect as my inspiration. I'm good with my hands, too, so I won't make you look ugly!" He could hear the smile in Mikage's voice, along with more rummaging through suitcases.

Deciding to drop the subject, Teito opened his eyes and asked, "Why don't you just unpack everything already?"

Mikage glanced up and winked at him. "Because food isn't allowed in the dorms, and they'll check the drawers. It's survival of the fittest, Teito, survival of the fittest!"

Teito sighed again, though a faint trace of a smile was evident at the corners of his lips. Mikage had completely botched the saying, but it was just as well.

"You okay, Teito? You keep sighing."

"I'd be okay if we left in the next sixty seconds."

"Aye aye, sir!"

Teito suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the acknowledgement—albeit barely—and made his way to the door. Mikage followed behind him, carrying a pack stuffed full of yakisoba.

Somehow, they made it to their first class with a full two minutes to spare. They were sitting in their natural sciences class; what seemed like one of the only teachers in the private academy to enforce honorifics on his name, Mr. Konatsu was a spontaneous man who had already singled out the kids who looked like they were willing to work hard and stay organized, Teito being one of them. Mikage, on the other hand, seemed to be hanging somewhere in the middle of Mr. Konatsu's judgment. He was a hard worker when he wanted to be, sure. But from what Teito had witnessed so far, he couldn't be cleanly to save his life.

Class began, and stragglers were harshly scolded by Mr. Konatsu. Teito rested his chin atop his palm and opted to think about how a teacher like Frau would probably just sit and laugh at kids who were late. He figured that was what the blond was doing right now, in fact.

After thoroughly dealing with the tardy kids, Mr. Konatsu began giving a brief overview of the day's lesson plan, then asked for his students to turn to specific pages in the book to read and handed out a corresponding worksheet. Half of the class groaned and muttered about how it was only the second day of school, but Mr. Konatsu felt that that was his cue to begin a rather unnecessary lecture about the duties of being a student at the private academy.

While Mikage listened with feigned concentration to their teacher, Teito turned to his book and began working, not wanting to waste any precious class time. There wouldn't be any time later for homework, after all.

Homeroom hit faster than Teito had anticipated.

He hadn't given it much thought beforehand, but he realized that he had been dreading his next encounter with Frau since the day before, more or less. And not just because of their previous run-in during class.

Teito passed by the blond without a word, which Frau took in stride, returning the cold indifference likewise. Recollections of late into the night before when he had been talking to Lab and Castor about watching over Teito flashed through his mind. Though he wouldn't bend to the younger boy's will, he would give him some space for the time being. He decided that he would act as professional as possible for the next few days, trying something like an attempt to impress Teito and get him to open up a bit.

Professional. He could definitely do that.

Teito took his seat in front of Mikage, glaring at the chalkboard that took over the majority of the front wall's space. He bit back an irritated click of his tongue and wondered whether Nurse Labrador would have any stress balls handy.

Once everyone had filed into their seats and the bell rung, Frau made his way to the podium at the front of the classroom and began his lesson.

Teito's homeroom class was history. He genuinely liked the subject, though he wasn't one to admit his preferences so often. He found wars interesting yet petty, but also needed for the human race to develop and proceed on its march through time. Even if that meant relapsing into times of chaos for the cause.

Currently, they were discussing Barsburg's earliest wars when it first became a country. There were many bordering countries simply waiting for a chance to take a bite out of the newly-formed nation, but a small yet skilled military had done their best to proactively clear out threats before they became an issue to the growth of the Barsburg Empire.

"This small band of soldiers," Frau, just at the beginning of his lesson, continued as he talked about Barsburg's early military tactics, "were known as the Blackhawks. The legion still exists today as an elite group of…"

Teito felt a sharp prod between his shoulder blades, distracting him from Frau's next words. He snapped his head around and mouthed, "What?"

Mikage grinned. "I forgot to ask, did Frau actually make you write an essay about pornos?" he mouthed back. Teito could hear the laugh just waiting to burst past the blond's now tightly clenched lips. He wasn't fooling anyone.

"No, I didn't. Now shut up and pay attention."

Mikage brought a hand to his forehead in mock salute, winking. "Aye aye, sir!"

Teito turned back around at that, rolling his eyes. If Mikage saluted him like that again, he'd punch him.

Frau, meanwhile, felt a small flame of irritation begin to rise within him. Teito wasn't paying attention to his carefully planned lesson whose purpose was to show Teito that he knew exactly what he was talking about, that he could totally be respectable—

Frau froze in the middle of speaking, taken aback for a moment. Why, again, did he care so much about what Teito Klein thought of him? He only wanted to help the boy, who was too proud or too stubborn—or a mixture of both—to rely on anyone for help when he most obviously needed it. At least, Frau assumed Teito didn't prefer to be molested by the vice principal.

But he couldn't contain the irksome heat that had built up in the pit of his stomach. Slamming his palm on the podium, he snapped, "Teito Klein, why don't you repeat what I was just saying about the current affairs of the Blackhawks?" He let a sly grin curl at his lips as Teito blinked, bewildered at the sudden acknowledgement. Even so, he recollected himself in no more than a few moments and his cool green gaze leveled with Frau's.

"I apologize," was his equally dispassionate reply.

Frau snorted. This kid was definitely amusing, though. "For what?"

Teito's eyebrow twitched. This bastard was playing with him. "For not paying attention when you were speaking. Sir."

It was Frau's turn for an eyebrow twitch. The unnecessary "sir" made him feel years older than what he was. "Do we need to review medieval torture practices? Barsburg has a shit ton of history on that as well, Teito."

"I believe you'll need the principal's approval for that, right? Unless you're alluding to other things. Pervert."

Frau grit his teeth. "—Was that really necessary?" he asked, exasperated at only this small amount of prodding. Something about the impassively glossy look Teito's eyes held just really pissed him off. He wanted to make the brunet make different expressions, to stop being so tightly wound that he could never enjoy himself—though Frau unconsciously pushed these thoughts down before they could surface completely.

"Well, anyway, are you going to continue your lesson or just argue with me? Your students are getting bored," Teito replied, crossing his arms as he gestured towards the rest of the class who were all engaged in their own side conversations now that they'd deemed Frau thoroughly occupied.

Frau sent a final childish glare Teito's way before pounding into the podium again. That got the boys' attention, and everyone whipped around to face their openly furious teacher.

"Everyone open your books to chapter two and read through chapter three. If you don't, I'll make the rest of this period a living hell." He tried to eye every boy in the room, but it was as if his gaze were magnetically attracted to a certain emerald-eyed boy. He clicked his tongue and plopped down at his desk as his students complied without objection.

Teito was seething behind his book, which he propped up on his desk to block him from Frau's stupid glare. What had crawled up his ass? He couldn't even focus on the history of the legendary Blackhawks, he was so preoccupied. He read the words, but nothing registered. He could see that idiot's face, clear as day, every time he blinked.

The period dragged on, while nothing but silence enveloped the group of thirty boys. It seemed like Frau's intimidation had done the trick. Then, just before the bell rang, the silence was finally broken.

"Teito, I want you to stay after class again."

The only sign of his surprise was a blink. "Frau?"

"I wanna talk about what we discussed yesterday. It's not a big deal, just stay after class."

Teito could feel Mikage's burning inquisitive stare from behind. "Okay…"

There was no shoulder prod from Mikage this time.

The few remaining minutes passed by quickly and the shrill call of the bell signaled the haphazard departure of the boys. Teito stayed seated, and nodded to Mikage when he sent a curiously worried glance his direction. Teito hoped Mikage had heard the part where Frau said "it wasn't a big deal."

Once everyone had filed out of the room, Frau made his way to Teito's desk and took a seat on top of it, similar to their position the day before. Only the situation at hand was much more tense and less comical than simply getting upset over a porn magazine.

"Teito…" Frau scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for acting like that."

Stunned, Teito didn't exactly know how to reply. Frau was…apologizing to him.

"It's just…I'm worried about you, seeing Ayanami and all. After what he did to you yesterday. It feels like I'm scared for you, since you don't look or act any different than you did yesterday," he said, eyes searching Teito's face for any scrap of emotion he could find.

Teito's practiced indifference gave way to something more at Frau's words. He tried to recollect himself and he replied, "Well, I don't see how moping around would get me anywhere. I'll just have to deal with it for the next two weeks." He broke his gaze away from Frau, doing anything to escape from that intrusive stare.

Frau sighed. "Look. Teito." He didn't look up. "Look at me, Teito!" His tone grew a note harsher and he grasped Teito's chin between his fingers, forcing the boy to acknowledge him. He flashed back to the day before, when they were standing like this after he'd found Teito just before the worst could be done to him. It was too close. Much too close. If he could do anything about it, he'd never let Ayanami touch Teito again. "I want you to lean on me."

Teito blinked. What?

"You really…you think you're strong. And don't get me wrong, you're a tough kid. But there are always things that can break you." Frau was now speaking softly, his fingers slackening their grip on Teito's chin, though they remained in place. "I don't want to see you cry, Teito."

At that, Teito's eyebrows drew together. He pushed himself up from his seat and smacked Frau's hand away from him. "Who's crying, bastard?" he snapped, scooping his materials into his arms hastily and turning around without another word.

Lean on you? Teito thought, seething. He wasn't that weak. He could deal with Ayanami by himself. He didn't need help with his own problems, and absolutely did not need to rely on that idiot of a teacher to help him through his own mess. Yeah right. I'll show you.

But even so, as he stormed out of the classroom and hurried towards his next period, he couldn't help but blush as he thought of how warm he'd felt with Frau's gloved fingers on his skin.

A/N

There are no words that can express my apologies for this extremely delayed update—

I think I PM'd someone like two months ago and told them the wait for this chapter would be nowhere near as long as the last. Lol. I'm so sorry, I'm a terrible person and I lied.

(ALSO THERE ARE MALE AND FEMALE VERSIONS OF BLOND AND BRUNET. THOSE BEING THE MALE VERSIONS. I NEVER KNEW—)

ANNNNYWAY. Not much smexay happened but I hope that's not all you're reading this for? Right? Right? It's still good without smexyfuntime? Let me know if I suck, please. I'll agree with you.

Now, please excuse me as I procrastinate on like five million other things. Life would be great if I could put off studying for two months like I do with my fanficitons…

Next chapter will be more AyanamixTeito stuff. Because I enjoy that. Very much. And apparently a lot of y'all like it too? Yay for brethren right? (Even though I still appreciate like every other Teito pairing in existence. Yay for the Teito Harem~) And also Teito and Ayanami's "relationship" is the only one getting off to a productive start, so. Mikage and Frau are so slow, just kiss him already...

I'll also be getting to writing separate side stories with LabxCastor and some other side characters in the same AU in separate fics. One day. I swear. I will. Maybe. Why am I writing in italics.

-Hikari