Summary: While Tao was busy setting up the extra security around the school (and dragging M-21 in to help), Takeo finds himself interacting more with Rai.

Contains TakeoRai

Set between season 5 and 6.

Written for Kai. *hearts*

Let me say I hate the fact pretty much everyone calls Rai 'him'. D:

Hint

By Dark Ice Dragon

Takeo walked unaccompanied by Tao or M-21 to school – Tao was still in the middle of setting up all the cameras and sensors he wanted and had dragged M-21 in to help; the only reason Takeo hadn't been brought into it as well was because someone needed to look after the children while they were busy.

He blinked when he saw his familiar form in front of him, waiting. Takeo nodded to him in greeting and he nodded back.

"Shinwoo slept in again?" Takeo hazarded when he reached him. It was the only reason Takeo could think of that explained he was standing there (except maybe being lost, but he knew the route to school, so it couldn't be that).

He shook his head. "They're already at school."

Oh, that was surprising; Shinwoo slept in more times than he was early. But then, if he wasn't waiting for Shinwoo… "You were waiting for me?" Takeo asked, his eyebrows rising.

He nodded. "Yes." He gazed at him, not look away.

"Ah," Takeo said, blinking. "Thanks." That was nice of him.

Together, they started walking to the school in silence. They parted ways at the gates, the children going to his side, chatting about a drama they had just started watching.

xOx

'We've finished setting up the 85th sensor, so we should be finished soon~! ^0^ You won't be lonely for much longer~'

Takeo nodded before he slipped his mobile back into his pocket as he changed shoes. The extra security was definitely needed, but he couldn't deny he missed their presence either. He wasn't sure what he would do for the rest of the night, but the first thing he knew he would do was change out of his work clothes.

He had closed the entrance door behind him when he heard the soft, "Welcome back."

Takeo turned to see him sitting at the table, a steaming cup of tea in his hand. "Thanks," Takeo said, smiling a little.

Nodding to him as he passed, Takeo went upstairs to his room.

xOx

Takeo woke up. Straining his ears for an intruder, Takeo waited, but he didn't hear anything. He cracked his eyelids open, but it was dark around him, the only light filtering in from underneath his door and the moonlight shining through the blinds.

He turned over to check the clock. Three in the morning. Damn. Sighing, Takeo stared at it for a little longer before he sat up, swivelling so that his legs were over the edge of his bed. He didn't feel like he would doze off easily again, and if that was the case, he would rather be doing something rather than waste it in bed, staring at the walls. At least it was Sunday, so he wouldn't have to worry about not being completely alert at the school.

After he'd made his bed, Takeo left his room; his guns were clean and maintained, he wasn't hungry or thirsty, and he wasn't in the mood for a book either, which didn't leave him a lot left to do.

There was Counter-Strike…

Destination in mind, Takeo went to the gaming room.

xOx

After a couple rounds (Takeo had won most of them, but there was one particular player who kept headshotting everyone that he was keeping an eye on), Takeo heard the gaming room door click open.

He glanced away from his screen to see who it was - his mouth was already open to greet them but he stopped when he saw him at the doorway.

"Uh, hey," Takeo said, blinking. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"No," he said, looking at him. He was quiet for a few seconds. "Do you mind if I play with you?"

"Ah?" Takeo blinked at him again before shaking his head. "Of course not."

He slipped into one of the chairs closest to the door, and the hum of the computer coming to life followed him a few seconds later.

While Takeo waited for him to log in, Takeo continued playing, that one player chasing his high kill rate.

When he saw him log in, Takeo smiled just before the game started and he moved to play.

It was strange to say, but Take found the gaming room quieter now that he was playing; when he played with Tao and M-21, the room was filled with Tao's exclamations and M-21 muttering under his breath, but with him, he only added to the number of clicks in the room.

But…Takeo found he didn't mind. (And it would have been weird if he had tried to fill the silence.)

After a few rounds, Takeo noticed his death score was higher than his kill score, which was zero. Hm.

"Ah," Takeo said, as he watched the round from the perspective of another player, "do you want me to give you tips on how to play?"

Takeo fidgeted with his mouse when he didn't answer straight away. He'd offered, but the children had already tried to teach him any time they could, and Frankenstein filled the rest of the time writing textbooks for him, so his help wouldn't be needed.

"If you want to," he said.

Huh? Takeo didn't move for a second, blinking at the screen because had he heard that right? "You're sure?"

"Yes."

Oh. Okay. Takeo switched his status fully to spectator mode and went over to his side, wondering how exactly he would try.

xOx

Hours later, Takeo closed his eyes and slumped back on the sofa. He should go upstairs and take a nap now that his lack of sleep had caught up with him – he had a headache that felt his skull was squeezing his brain. The space on his right dipped and Takeo could feel a warm presence beside him.

It had to be Tao; no-one else would go into his space like that.

He tumbled into sleep after that, hoping he would wake up before Tao got bored and decided to do something to his hair.

xOx

The first thing Takeo realised when he woke up was that he'd slumped onto Tao's shoulder. Which was a little embarrassing, but the fact that he could see Tao's hands running through his unchanged hair was reassuring.

Or worrying. He could be on the verge of doing something.

Takeo's headache had gone, but there was still a bit of fogginess in his brain because Takeo was sure he had never seen Tao's nails without… The person he had been sleeping on was wearing white trousers. There was no way he would have been able to comfortably rest his head on Regis' shoulder either, which only left one person.

He straightened, clearing his throat as he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. "Sorry about that."

"Are you feeling better?" he asked, looking at him.

"Yeah," Takeo said, nodding, studying him. It didn't seem like it had ruffled him at all. But it was a good thing Frankenstein hadn't seen them or else Takeo was sure he would have woken up to Frankenstein's aura darkening the room. If he was lucky.

xOx

The next day when Takeo returned from the school, the TV was on, the drama that Takeo had heard the children had been talking about the week before playing softly. He was there, a plate of kang jung sitting on the table.

Takeo hesitated for a second before sitting down next to him; he could get changed afterwards.

He turned to him, a small smile on his face, before he said, "Do you want one?"

Takeo's eyebrows rose. "Thanks," he said, leaning forward and taking one. As he ate it, Takeo settled down to see if he could work out the plot from the snippets he had heard.

xOx

"Sooo," Tao drew out, leaning back on his chair to look at him when Takeo went to visit him, "you're not going to announce it?" He shook his head. "Damn."

Takeo was used to Tao doing or saying something out the blue so all he did was close Tao's bedroom door behind him. "Announce what?" he asked as he picked over all the stuff across Tao's floor.

Tao sent him a wry grin. "Aw, come on, don't play coy – you're not even trying to hide it."

Takeo frowned in confusion as Tao sighed. Hide what?

Tao swung around in his chair to tap something out on his computer, a couple windows flashing up before disappearing. "I'm still making a celebratory party," he grumbled.

He blinked, trying to work out what Tao was saying. No-one's birthday was coming up (of the people who knew their birthday), and the closest holiday wasn't for a number of weeks, but even if that was what Tao was talking about, it didn't make sense.

Seeing how he was talking with Tao, he could be setting up another joke, but he seemed sincere. He'd thought the same when Tao had been teaching him Korean though…

Tao looked over his shoulder at him again. When he saw Takeo's expression, his jaw dropped, his eyes going wide. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"When do I ever know what you're talking about?" Takeo said helplessly.

Tao covered his face with a hand. "Okay," he said, bringing his hand away, "I'm gonna lay it out for you really simply: you are dating him."

It was Takeo's turn for his eyes to widen. "What? I am not!" Where had Tao even gotten that idea from?

Tao squawked, flailing. "How can you not-?" He huffed, straightening his shoulders. "Listen," he said, and Tao started to count off his fingers. "He greets you when you come back from school, you play Counter-Strike together, you fell asleep on his shoulder and he didn't care-"

Takeo winced. So the others had seen that. Or Tao had seen it on his cameras. "He, ah, came to me, actually," Takeo half-mumbled, his face heating up because when he took all the information together like that…

Tao nodded resolutely. "Y'see? And then," Tao continued, "he gave you food." He shook his head. "Takeo, that's as close to a love confession you can get from him – the only step up from that would be if he'd offered you the sugar for his tea, or his ramen."

That…was all true. Takeo's breath caught in his throat when he realised something and he groaned. "Frankenstein's going to kill me."

Tao leaned over and patted him on the shoulder, chuckling. "Only for taking so long to get it."

Takeo blinked at him.

"Heh. If the Boss hasn't said anything, then he doesn't mind."

That was also a point. Frankenstein hadn't said anything the entire time, so maybe he was all right with it? (It couldn't be that Frankenstein hadn't noticed.)

Tao peered at him. "Sooo? Are you gonna go leaping off into his arms now that you know what that fluttering in your chest means?" Tao grinned.

"Tao…" But he was right; he needed to speak with him.

"I'll talk with you later," Tao said, flapping a hand as he turned back to his computer. "I'll make sure I save the moment." He paused. "Unless you mess it up."

"I'm not going to-" Takeo sighed. He didn't know if he would. He hoped he wouldn't, and he apparently hadn't by being completely oblivious all this time.

Takeo found him in the living room, the TV on again, but Takeo paused, frowning over what he'd just thought. If they –no, they were dating- then he should use his name. If that was what he wanted.

"Uh, I want to ask you a question," Takeo said, glancing around to see who else was in the living room. When he saw there wasn't anyone, Takeo turned his attention back to him.

He blinked, his head tilting slightly. "So ask."

"Do you want me to call you Rai?"

Takeo could see his eyes lighten as he smiled. "Yes."

Ah. All right. Letting out a relieved breath, Takeo smiled back as he said, "Hey, Rai."

Rai's smile widened and Takeo settled down to watch TV with him.

I did want to end this with a kiss but it didn't seem to fit. (Also, cheesy ending aaaahahahah. Orz)

Aaahahha, yeah, Rai offered Regis pocky in 122 but I'm just going to say that was because Regis was annoyed and Rai did that because he heard food is also good for comforting people. XD;

I apparently have a thing for sleeping characters too. *facepalm*

I really had intended for Rai to go to Takeo's room, but it was almost repetitive by the point it would have slotted in?

The first draft of this had so many 'mind's lskdjf;sf

Aaaand those are supposed to be tildes in Tao's text but ffnet automatically changes them to dashes. At least it kept the emoticon.