Title: Take a Chance

Pairing: Frito

Characters: Teito, Hakuren, Shuri, Frau, Castor, Razette and Labby (Bastien, Kurena, and Mikage are only mentioned)

Timeline: Alternate Universe, High School, TEENAGERZ

Word Count: 4,353

Other: Unbeta'd. Sorry for any mistakes!

A/N: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! The holiday really snuck up on me; Romeo reminded me last night and I sorta wrote this all spur-of-the-moment type of deal. Stayed up 'till four, and thankfully with no school or work today, I was able to finish it. RIGHT ON TIME~ So this fic is dedicated to Black Romeo. I hope everyone likes, and I'm not the only that does.

As a high school student, it wasn't expected of him to pass out valentines anymore. In elementary, it was practically obligatory to hand a card and a piece of candy to every student in the class. In middle school, the tradition carried on by habit. By high school, the unity that all children had with their peers had all but disintegrated and valentines were only passed to those that 'mattered'.

And, really, only one person mattered to Teito but he wasn't present at the moment. Mikage's brother was getting married outside the country or something, and the whole Celestine family had packed and gone to help with the setup. He'd still be gone for another week, as it were.

The holiday had snuck rather unexpectedly upon Teito as he found the halls of his school decorated with red, pink and white hearts and cupids, with girls dressed in their prettiest as they passed out chocolate, and a few boys returning the gesture with flowers or candy. Regardless of social norm, Mikage always took it upon himself to make Teito participate in every holiday, including the couple-oriented ones, and became the brunet's sort-of walking calendar.

For Valentine's Day, he would remind Teito to buy a holiday gram for the blond and he would return the gesture. That way they would get something, he had explained during their first year of middle school when holiday participation was no longer necessary within public schools.

Teito wasn't an idiot though. He knew that Mikage received plenty of those student-sold grams from the friends in all his classes, as well as the cheerleaders that watched him practice with the soccer team. It was Teito that received just the one.

Now his first Valentine's Day in high school would be his first without receiving anything. He would receive something in the mail soon, Mikage had said in an email the previous night, but his peers in class would most likely judge him as a pathetic loner without a single friend when grams were passed and his desk would be empty save his English book.

Not that Teito particularly cared what his peers thought of him, they were all idiots anyway, but he'd rather wish they didn't look at him with any sort of pity or scorn. That got annoying quickly, considering he had to be put through enough of that at every Back-To-School-Night. The maid of his guardian's estate was not the type of person to be generally accepted by the supportive, homemade-cookies moms and business-suits, 'that's my boy!' dads that attended.

Kurena wasn't much of a talker either, and when she did decide to do so, it was rather bleak and depressing. Teito didn't blame her. She was a maid, after all. The job has to suck.

So, it was with a deep breath that Teito mentally prepared himself when he walked into his homeroom. The bell rang five minutes later, attendance was taken, homework was turned in, and graded quizzes were passed back, and dread: two choir students came into their classroom for the Valentine's Day grams.

Previous years, Teito learned to loath the choir kids. Because Mikage was always behind them entering his classroom and he would be forced to sit through some horribly overused love song while slowly dying of embarrassment as it was sung to him.

This year he was safe though. Had to be. Mikage had not the time to send a gram before leaving, and so the singing should not be for him. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened his copy of Great Expectations to reread. All around him, grams were passed as a girl with dark hair was being serenaded with a popular pop song that seemed rather inappropriate for the time and place.

He was just beginning to think the choir kids had gone when three horribly pink, unimaginative xeroxed Valentine cards fluttered atop his book. He looked up to be burdened with the smirk of a blond his grade level, having long blond hair tied off in an off-the-shoulder ponytail and eyes that near shone like amethysts.

"Hey, Klein."

Teito bit back a snarl, but did not keep the annoyance from his tone. "Hakuren Oak. What do you want?"

"My cousin and I are going to sing you a song."

Said cousin was finishing up for a girl near the back row of students.

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Oh, but we have to," he replied sickly sweet, not at all apologetic. "It's paid for and everything."

"Who paid?" Now Teito did snarl. He wanted the name so he could properly plot his revenge. If it had been Mikage...

The lying bastard.

"Can't say. They asked to remain anonymous."

"And this?" Teito gestured to the monstrosities keeping him from reading about Pip.

"Those have names. Why seniors are giving you Valentines, I have no idea."

"This one is from you, isn't it?" The card had merely said Oak, and inside was a reminder that their biology project was due on Monday.

Hakuren shrugged. "With Mikage gone, I figured no one would send you anything. Didn't want you looking pathetic."

They interacted only in biology, having been partnered up as lab partners. Teito didn't think he'd left much of an impression on the blond. Well, enough to warrant a valentine at least.

"Ah... Thanks. Sorry, I didn't get you anything."

"Oh, that's hardly a problem," Hakuren smiled mischievously, and a girl behind Teito sighed dreamily. "Your secret admirer has given me the best valentine I can ever hope to get out of you. SHURI!"

"I think you're pretty, without any makeup on," the older Oak began with much more enthusiasm than he put into the other singing grams as he walked up the aisle towards Teito and his cousin, "I think you're funny when you tell the punch-line wrong. I know you get me, so I let my walls come down – do-wn."

"Before you met me, I was alright but thinks were kinda heavy, you brought life. Now every February, you'll be my Valentine," Hakuren grinned maliciously as a chorus of giggles began somewhere behind Teito. "Valentine."

"Let's just fall, into the night. No regrets, just love~"the two sang together, causing the class to erupt in cheers as they finished through the song in perfect sync.

Teito attempted to severely injure himself with his pencil when most of the female students began to coo and look at him with happily jealous eyes, but Hakuren stole it from him before he could do any damage. Not once breaking from the song too; it was terrifying. The brunet resigned himself to the torture, and sank low in his desk, hiding beneath the hood of his sweater.

Death would be dealt on this "secret admirer".

It was only long after Hakuren and Shuri left, and the teacher calmed the students down long enough to finish the lesson that Teito glanced at the other two valentines.

Lunchtime was upon him, but Teito didn't have the courage or strength to brave the cafeteria, so he found a secluded spot beneath the art building's stairs to eat a lunch of chips and water.

The next valentine was from a boy named Labrador. It took Teito a bit to remember, but he had met the upperclassman in the nurse's office. She hadn't been in, though he had been called, and he just decided to wait for her. Only, he wasn't alone. The boy Labrador was there, lying on one of the cots.

Their interaction was brief, but memorable. It started with Teito inquiring after the teen's health, because he looked a sickly pale, but Labrador had merely said his stomach ached a bit. He was lying, Teito was certain, but he did not pry, merely offered condolences. Because he knew the lost look that was written plainly on Labrador's face.

He'd worn one similar just a few years ago, when he learned his uncle passed on. The older teen had seemed so surprised by Teito's action that he suddenly shouted that he was the nurse's aide and could perform the check-up. It wasn't until Teito realized he was reading a page from a cheesy romantic novel while covering one eye that the boy was playing with him. The nurse had arrived then, chased him out, and they parted ways with Labrador saying he was sorry but it was just too fun to pass up.

Or something like that.

Why give him a valentine, Teito did not know and decided not to question it. He'd never seen the boy again after that and had completely written it off of his memory. It seemed Labrador had remembered, because the card read: "A candy for the perfect patient! Hope you are still in good health, Teito. Thank you."

The next was signed by two people: Razette and Castor. All it said inside was "Thank you." in crisp calligraphy, and Teito wouldn't have known who either was if not for the picture beneath it. He could still see the pencil sketch beneath the strong lines of ink, but it gave the overall image a loving quality.

The image was that of a mermaid clinging to the edge of a rock, her lower half submerged in water, and a boy that looked far too similar to Teito to be a coincidence offering her a hand up onto the land.

If he remembered, it had been October and the students had been allowed to dress up for Halloween. Teito just went as himself, though Mikage, the pirate, had slapped some cat ears on him. It was as he passed the auditorium that he heard a batch of boys laughing. He stormed in without much conscious thought, just knowing something was wrong, and sure enough this young girl, appearing his age with a shock of pink hair, was being bared down and harassed by a group of three boys.

Teito jumped in without bothering to ask for details.

Luckily Mikage had followed him to make sure he didn't throw the cat ears away, and helped him scare them off. While the blond went to go find a teacher, Teito stayed with the mute girl dressed as a mermaid and told her some of the folklore he learned about them in an old book he found at the library. It seemed to pull her a bit out from her scare, and he kept her distracted until the teacher finally showed up.

Teito had never given his name, and she never gave hers. How he ended up with a thank you note for something any decent person would do, he gave up on figuring out. Especially why it came in the form of a valentine. Castor was most likely her brother, or something.

Teito shoved the valentines in his bag and tried not to think about them for the rest of the day. Only, Hakuren refused to allow him the pleasure as they shared the last class of the day. He pressured and pressed, though Teito refused to give any information away unless Hakuren revealed the identity of the singing gram.

"I really don't know, Klein," he shrugged as he set up a slide with a leaf sample for the microscope. "I'm not in charge of collecting or organizing them. They just give me classrooms and names and I go and sing. And I highly doubt the kid that collected your order remembers who requested it in the first place. We had over a hundred singing grams to pass out. Almost didn't finish before lunch."

"I just don't like these types of jokes," Teito muttered beneath his breath as he doodled in the margins of his notebook.

"What makes you think it's a joke? You received other valentines. You obviously make more of an impression than you realize."

"But the other two valentines were thank you notes. The singing gram though?"

"Yeah," Hakuren straightened up and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind his ear, pushing the microscope towards Teito. "The song choice was odd too."

"What do you mean?"

Hakuren rested his elbows on the counter, staring unseeingly at the poster of photosynthesis before him. "Teenage Dream, the song Shuri and I sang? The original lyrics are a tad different, more sexualized. The fact that whoever requested this song for you would pick the cleaner version, the far more innocent version, just... This girl loves you, I think."

Teito jerked violently in surprise and broke the slide with the microscope. "Shit," he hissed, ducking for some towels in a pathetic attempt to hide his blush.

"Nice going there, Casanova. That was our last slide."

"Then go ask for another!" He snapped as he delicately swept the thin glass into the trash.

"Hey, Mister Teacher's Aide! Casanova here broke our slide and we need another!"

"I'm no Casanova!"

The tall blond shifting through stacks of paper behind the teacher's desk groaned loudly and dropped his head onto the hard surface. It was with a tired sigh and a fist rubbing away the sleep from his eyes that the older teen got to his feet and shuffled toward the duo with obvious reluctance. He towered over the freshmen, in both height and bulk, though seemed oddly childish as he eyed the mess Teito was still cleaning with a peevishly bored expression.

"Okay, here's the deal." His voice was deep and rumbling, heavy as if he was sleeping behind those stacks of paper. "There are more slides. Somewhere. An' I don't feel like lookin' for 'em, let alone gettin' 'em for clumsy brats like you."

Hakuren responded with a sarcastic "Awww, such kind words, so sweet." at the same time Teito scoffed with "Aren't you supposed to be a teacher's aide?"

The blond with the dark blue eyes ignored them both, and glared at the microscope as if it had done him serious grievance.

"Class is out in ten minutes. Can we just not do this today?"

Hakuren huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. "You act like we do this every day."

"I get more shit from the two of you than the rest of the class put together." The blond mimicked Hakuren by crossing his arms as well, looking far more intimidating than the shorter blond could hope for.

"How so?" Teito inquired and received a raised eyebrow, as if the senior had just realized he was there.

"First of all, you," he stabbed a finger towards Hakuren. "My name is Frau, not Mister Teacher's Aide."

"It's your nickname!" He whined.

"A nickname is not supposed to be longer than your real name," Frau growled before turning his sights to Teito. "And you. Stop correcting Bastien's tests. It was funny the first five times, but now he's got me proofreading all of them!"

"That's your job," Teito glared, unimpressed by the blond's show at power. "It's not my fault people don't know the damn language they speak. I'm just helping."

"Bastien learned English using the dictionary. Cut the man some slack."

"Okay, whatever," Hakuren waved a hand. "That stuff hardly makes us hardcore delinquents."

"Need I bring up the evolution slideshow incident? Or perhaps the blood type lab incident? Or how about when someone let the lobster get away?"

"I told you already," Teito hunched his shoulders and bristled like a cat. "It wasn't me! I don't know how those rubber bands got in my backpack!"

"We still can't find it, Klein," Frau groaned as he slapped his forehead. "There is a vicious lobster on the loose in this classroom and we still can't find it! Do I need to mention the octopus too?"

Hakuren turned to Teito. "You are not good with animals."

"I told you it wasn't me, dammit! He got up there on his own!"

"Look," Frau placed a gentle hand on Teito's shoulder, settling the boy down with frightful ease. "All I'm saying is, that it's pointless for me to go looking for the stuff when class is about to end anyway. Let's give the teacher's aide a break for once, alright? It's a holiday."

Teito looked to Hakuren as the blond did the same. They shared a moment of silence, with only the drone of soft murmurs from their classmates rippling the peace. Hakuren shrugged helplessly and moved to begin packing away his things. At his example, a few of the other students began to pack up as well.

"Sorry, Frau," Teito sighed heavily. "We don't mean to be annoying. Or at least I don't. Sorry."

Frau smirked, something that curled the corner of his thin lips and softened azure eyes. It was on odd change, especially to his previous barely-contained indignant rage, so much so that it had Teito holding his breath as the hand the blond settled on his shoulder moved. The senior combed his fingers though chocolate locks, gently petting Teito as if he mattered. And that emotion bleeding into the tender act would have had the boy blushing if not for the sudden cuff upside his head, effectively breaking his trance.

"You're more trouble than you realize, Klein. Go get your shit together."

"R-right."

It was as Teito was zipping up his backpack that the last bell for the day rang, and he accompanied Hakuren towards the front entrance of the school. They said nothing to each other, though the silence wasn't awkward. Soon Shuri joined their group, smelling of shampoo with a faint underscore of chlorine. He had a gym bag slung over his shoulder.

"I thought you were going to stay for practice," Hakuren inquired. He took the bag from his cousin, giving the sophomore free hands to properly fix his clothing.

"Practice is for those that need practicing." Shuri shook his head like a dog to free it of clinging water. "My game is perfect already."

Hakuren scoffed. "Moron."

"What do you play?" Teito inquired from around the long-haired blond, startling the other at his sudden presence if the wide eyes and the tense posture was anything to go by.

"Water Polo," the older Oak muttered. He seemed to suddenly realize who he was, as an Oak did not mutter, and gestured vaguely towards the brunet while talking to his cousin. "So all it takes is a valentine gram to gain the good graces of Klein?"

"Leave him alone," the blond huffed as he shoved the gym bag back onto its owner. He smiled wickedly then, grabbing the brunet and holding him close to his chest – which made walking a tad awkward. "He's obviously lonesome without Mikage and he deemed me worthy as his replacement!"

"Is that so?"

"Not so! Hakuren, let me go!" The young teen shoved at his captor and managed escape. "I'm just," he shrugged. "Just thought I'd walk this way."

"Did you ever find out who sent you the singing gram?"

Hakuren smirked patronizingly, shrugging his shoulders and looking every bit the pompous asshole Teito had pegged him for in the beginning of the school year.

"Poor boy wouldn't know who they were even if he spent every hour of the school day with them. He's hopeless."

"I can figure it out!"

"Okay," the blond challenged. "Give me the names of the likely contenders."

Teito bit into his bottom lip, watching distractedly as his feet carried him out the front entrance of the school, down the grand steps, and across the courtyard. He stopped alongside the two Oaks, who glanced around for their ride home, and growled angrily when not a single theory sprung to mind.

"He obviously doesn't know," Shuri yawned his observation, stretching out long arms in the process.

"Okay, we can figure this out." Hakuren looked as pleased as a cat with a saucer of cream. If Teito had to guess, it was the mystery behind it all and not who really admired the brunet enough to send him a corny song. "Teito, are you a recluse in all your classes?"

The teen bristled and hissed, but responded in the affirmative.

"Even with the teachers?"

He nodded.

"Are you ever partnered up with anyone like in biology? Or sit next to anyone that insistently asks you for help or answers?"

A thought struck Teito. "Ah. Well, there's this girl in history that insists I let her draw me."

Hakuren raised an eyebrow, grinning. "And she is~?"

"Ah. I think her name is Ouka?"

Shuri choked on a laugh and Hakuren looked dejected and harassed. "Ouka is a menace. She does that to everyone."

"Only the pretty ones~"

"I will hurt you, Shuri. Shut your yap." He turned his attention back to Teito. "What about outside of class? The cafeteria, library?"

The brunet shrugged.

"Honestly, Klein. You've been here half a year, how have you not made acquaintances outside of Mikage?"

"Didn't think I needed to."

Shuri glanced at his cousin. "He's making me depressed. Make him stop."

Teito glared at the two blonds as they bickered between each other. He'd had enough for the day – and it was supposed to be an easy day, what with Mikage out of the country – and he really had to get started on his homework. He prepared himself to walk away, a generic goodbye on the tip of his tongue for the Oaks when someone across the courtyard, standing by the bus stop with what seemed like his friends, caught his attention.

"That guy over there always asks me for help in Calculus."

The reaction of the related differentiated, as Hakuren perked at the new information while Shuri blanched.

"A boy? Who, who? Tell me!"

"You're taking calculus? You're just a freshman!"

Teito spared Shuri a side-long glance, but ultimately answered Hakuren's question with a jut of his chin towards the bus stop.

"The guy, in the torn jeans and the white shirt. Blond. He's next to the guy with glasses, girl with the letterman jacket and the other guy who...is...currently looking over here."

"...Teito," Hakuren waved at the light-haired teen that caught them staring. He, in turn, smiled and waved back. "Do you not know who that is?"

"Who do you mean? I don't know any of them."

The older teen didn't seem to have told his companions that they were being watched, so the trio continued to stare, quite blatantly obvious now.

"Who sent the other two grams he got?" Shuri asked his cousin.

"I believe Labrador, and Razette and Castor signed the last one together. Teito said they were thank you cards."

"When did he last interact with them?"

Together, they looked to Teito to answer.

"Last semester, I think? Before November."

"So," Shuri crossed his arms over his chest, "Thanksgiving grams. Christmas grams. Why didn't they thank him then? Why on Valentines?"

"Because someone probably reminded them of a debt to be repaid."

"What are you getting at, Hakuren?" Teito quirked an eyebrow, unable to follow the blond's seemingly random trail of thought.

"Do you really not know who the other boy is, hanging out with the three? Because the boy with the light blond hair is Labrador – he was my orientation leader before school began – the girl is Razette – she's in my theatre class – and the boy in glasses is Castor, if the picture she showed me is anything to go by."

At the shake of Teito's head, Hakuren groaned and dropped his face into his open palms.

"You saw him just twenty minutes ago, Klein!"

Teito turned then just as the city bus pulled up and the teens began to shove themselves inside, packed tight like sardines in a can. From the distance, he couldn't make out his profile well, but...

"Holy... That's Bastien's aide? Frau," he breathed the name as memory began to fill in the fuzzy corners. "He's in my math class. And ROTC. And, I think he was that kid that helped me in the library. And showed me where all my classes were in the beginning of school." Teito pressed his lips together, a blush coloring his whole face. "I think he gave me his tater-tots when some kid stole mine."

They were silent as the information processed, though once Frau began his ascend into the bus Hakuren waved his hands frantically and shouted the older teen's name. Teito, completely mortified, grabbed at the blond's arms and attempted to steer him out of sight.

But Hakuren was stronger and loud when he wanted to be. Frau had one foot on the bus when he turned and saw them. And though Teito could not see his face very well, he could hear the pleased smirk on the older teen's tone.

"Finally figured it out, Klein?" He shouted before disappearing into the crowd of high schoolers and behind closing bus doors. The over-packed vehicle steadily wheeled away, along with Teito's sanity.

Teito fell to the ground on hands and knees, pressing his forehead onto the cement.

"Oh, god!"

"This is incredible! And adorable! I hate you so much right now because I didn't know Frau swung that way, and I would've so made a pass had I known, but GOD DAMN!"

"Think he'd let me use this fiasco as inspiration for my screenplay? It's the easiest idea I've gotten yet." Shuri pointed to the distressed slop that what once was Teito Klein.

Hakuren prodded the brunet with the tip of his shoe. "Teito?"

"I have to see him in ROTC tomorrow! God, he's my squad leader. H-how can I– ? I can't go! Not after– after this!"

"What period do you have ROTC?"

"Sixth," the teen groaned as he sat on the floor, his head in his open palms.

"I have PE. I can totally sneak away and watch this spectacular."

"And I have video production."

Teito looked up to glare at Hakuren, though with the heavy blush he was sporting, he looked more like a pathetic cat after a bath. And it only made the blond smirk sadistically.

"And guess what I get to do? Go. Out. And. Film~"

Teito hung his head again, feeling his heart thump loudly in his chest and his hands shake with nerves.

Or perhaps it was anticipation.

"I really hate Valentine's Day."

End.