Chapter 1

Mikaela waits for Rene constantly on guard. He's glad this isn't an execution, he hates those, they can get so messy. He wants to get this over with as fast as possible, he has a test in the morning he needs to study for.

Mikaela goes back over the target in his head. Sosuke Kitamura: money laundering. It's not like that's something new in their business and honestly no one would bat an eye. But, he stole from Krul and her position as leader gets more tenuous by the day. It would be foolish of her to let anyone think she would let someone commit crimes against her.

Mika takes a deep breath, fortunately it's just a bit of roughing up and a statement, no torture today. Although Lacus and Rene usually handle that aspect, the positive part of being part of a team.

Rene appears beside him, "You ready? Lacus is already in position and he's grouchy." Mika would be grouchy too if he'd had to hide in the man's office for five hours to make sure they could get in, but unfortunately for him, Lacus drew the short straw.

Mika follows Rene to a side door where Lacus is waiting with an annoyed expression. Mika hands him his gun. "Let's go," Lacus commands "Unlike you two, I haven't eaten for hours." The cameras have already been hacked, the only thing left is to get to Sosuke without being seen, pretty easy when it's after hours and the building is empty except for security.

They proceed swiftly to the elevator and get off one floor before the top, opting to take the stairs up. "Alright," Lacus attaches a silencer to his gun, "let's get this over with." Lacus takes off out the door and has Sosuke shot and pinned down by the time they reach him.

"Your impatience is going to get us killed one of these days," Mika scolds.

"Five hours is enough patience."

"Can't we talk about this," Sosuke implores from his position face first on the floor, his bleeding leg held at an awkward angle.

"There's nothing to talk about," Rene responds. "You stole, you got caught, now you're going to suffer for it, and then we're going home."

"How so?"

"Glad you'll make this easy. You're going to pay back the money you stole with interest, give Krul a stake in your company, we'll record you admitting to all the illicit dealings you did in case we need blackmail material later, and Mika here will you shoot you in the other leg, since he barely does anything anyway. Then we'll leave, quick and simple. Honestly, you're getting off easy. Mika?"

Mika stands up and makes his way over to the guy, Rene does have a point, more often than not, he does leave the dirty work up to them. He takes Lacus' gun and deftly shoots the man in his other leg delivering a quick punch to the jaw to cut off his screams. He stands back and pulls out the camera while they drag Sosuke into a chair. "Okay, start."

Rene is digging his gun into the man's thigh wound to get him to talk when they hear it.

Shit. Sirens. The guy must have hit an alarm switch, Mika is now positive he won't make it to school on time tomorrow.

~~~~~
Yuuichirou sighed, placing his pencil down and stretching his arms above his head. He's finally finished writing all 200 lines, I will not sleep in class. He may have written it, but he couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again, especially if he stayed up late again and his classes continued to be boring as fuck.

Yuu turned in his paper and after receiving a nod of confirmation, headed towards the entrance. He shoved open the door to the parking lot and cursed. The parking lot was nearly deserted and of course missing his car. He growled in frustration as he remembered that his car was in the shop and he'd meant to ask one of his friends for a ride home, but had never gotten around to it. With everyone gone, that was out of the question now. How was he supposed to get home?

"Problem?"

Yuuichirou glanced over in surprise, he hadn't noticed anyone was there, and was met with bright blue eyes. Ah, Mikaela Shindou, brilliant blue eyes and matching golden hair. Yuu had a few classes with him, but he'd never really gotten a chance to talk with him. He kept to himself and his two friends, but seemed nice enough.

He also had a really warm smile that Yuu occasionally got to see if their eyes happened to meet. Never for long though, something always seemed to happen. Mikaela didn't have the best reputation and Shinoa in particular didn't seem overly fond of him, preferring to keep their group from crossing paths or interacting as much as possible, unless absolutely necessary.

But seeing Mikaela focused on him now, smiling that half smile, Shinoa's warnings seemed a million miles away. "I..uh…forgot my car was in the shop today."

Mikaela cocked his head, "Why didn't you get one of your friends to drive you home?"

"Well, Guren drove me to school today and I meant to ask one of them, but I forgot and then I got detention and now everyone's gone…"

Mikaela smiled at him amusedly, "If you don't mind stopping by the mall with me, I can drive you home."

"The mall?"

"Yes, I have to pick something up, but I don't mind dropping you off afterwards."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks."

"No problem." There was that smile again, it really was nice to see, Yuuichirou wouldn't mind seeing more of it.

Mikaela led them to a dark blue Honda civic with lightly tinted windows. He hesitated only briefly about getting in the car with someone he barely knew, before ignoring the thought and getting in anyway.

"It's clean in here."

Mikaela laughed lightly, "Thanks, you sound surprised."

"No, it's just most people our age don't keep theirs clean."

Mikaela glanced at him, "I take it yours isn't."

Yuuichirou looked out the window, "Its…okay."

He laughed, "If it makes you feel any better, Krul insists I take care of my things, so that's a big part of it."

"Krul?"

"My guardian." Yuu was curious, but didn't press, it wasn't any of his business anyway and he let them fall into a comfortable silence.

Mikaela turned to him at the entrance to the mall, "I shouldn't be long, let's meet at the smoothie place in 20 minutes? I wanna grab one before we leave."

"Yeah, that's fine." Mikaela gave him another one of those smiles before leaving. Yuu felt his phone buzz as he went into a game store, [How was detention?] Shinoa, of course. He'd never hear the end of it if she knew who he was with.

[It was detention. What do you expect]

[Nothing, but you deserved it. Next time, you'll listen when I try to wake you up.]

[Probably not]

[Are you home, come join our chat room, we're working on the assignment]

[I can't, I'm at the mall]

[The mall? What are you there for, you never go there]

[I did today]

[For what?]

[For stuff Shinoa]

[Like what?]

[STUFF] Yuu shoved his phone in his pocket and stepped up to buy a smoothie. Why'd she have to be so nosy, who cared what he went to the mall for? Feeling another buzz as he took a seat to wait for Mikaela, he reluctantly unlocked his phone.

[I have to work late, you're on your own for dinner.] Yuu grimaced, of course that would happen today. They probably had nothing to eat, Guren hadn't gone grocery shopping in weeks. Fast food seemed the best option, but he felt kind of bad asking to stop somewhere, Mikaela was already taking him home.

"What's with that face?"

Yuu glanced up to see Mikaela holding his own smoothie and a bag from a store he didn't recognize. "No reason, just a text message from Guren, my guardian."

"Bad news?"

"Not really, I feel bad for asking, but…could we stop by a fast food place on the way to my house?"

"That's fine, mind if I ask why?"

"Guren is working late and his message said I was on my own for dinner."

Mikaela looked contemplative for a moment, "You should just come have dinner at my house."

"What?! I can't do that."

Mikaela cocked his head slightly, "Why not?"

"I'd be intruding and I just…couldn't."

"No you wouldn't and yes you could. Krul's not home and I'm already cooking," he said waving the bag with ingredients."

"You're cooking?"

He looked at him imploringly, "Don't make me eat alone."

"If you're sure its fine…"

"Yes! Let's go," he exclaimed grabbing Yuu's wrist and practically dragging him out of the mall.

~~~~~
Yuuichirou found himself settled at the island in Mika's modern kitchen, the entire room full of black appliances and steel. It was impressive as was the rest of his impeccably decorated large house, a far cry from his and Guren's, which while also big, was nowhere near as decorated or neat. He idly wondered what Mikaela's room looked like.

Speaking of Mikaela, he actually seemed to know what he was doing. Yuu was impressed and as he let his eyes wander a bit lower, he was also pleased with the view. Mika appeared to be making some kind of rice dish, whatever it was, it smelled great. "Hey, how come you're so good at this?"

"How do you know I'm good at it? You haven't even tried it."

"Well, it smells good."

Mikaela laughed, "Krul is gone a lot and over the years, I could only handle so much fast food and take out. Learning to cook seemed like the best option."

"Hmm….what else can you make?"

"Depends, I'm pretty versatile."

"Cool…" Yuu watched him put the finishing touches on the meal.

"Can you grab something to drink from the fridge? I'm good with anything, pick what you want."

"Yea sure," Yuu slid off his chair and went to the fridge. "….What is this stuff, Mikaela?"

"What do you mean?"

"The only thing I recognize is water. And milk."

Mika chuckled, "What were you looking for?"

"Soda? Juice, maybe."

"Sorry Yuuichi-"

"Just call me Yuu."

Mika blushed lightly and turned back towards the stove, "Soda is basically the same as fast food, but the red carton is juice, just probably not as sweet as you're used to."

"Okay," he replies grabbing it and returning to the island.

Mikaela slid onto the chair next to Yuu and placed a plate in front of him.

Yuu inhaled, "Smells good."

"Then I hope you like it."

Yuu took a bite, "It is good!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"Ah, stop being so surprised about me!"

"It's not like I can help it, I don't know anything about you!"

Mika focused those blue eyes on his intensely enough to make Yuu's face begin to warm, "You could get to know me."

Yuu ripped his gaze away, "Y-yeah, I could." From the corner of his eye, he could see Mikaela smiling at him and he hurriedly took another bite in an attempt to keep his face from turning redder.

Mikaela lifted a hand and placed it on Yuu's head, "You're cute Yuu…chan." Yuu nearly choked on his food. Mika laughed, "Yeah, I think I'll stick with that, it fits."

Yuu finally managed to swallow his food, "N-no, don't call me that Mikaela!"

Mikaela let his nails scratch lightly in Yuu's hair, "Call me Mika."

"Ugh."
~~~~~

Yuuichirou is not surprised to find that Mikaela is good at helping him with homework, he is in higher classes. Despite that, he's not condescending at all with explanations even as he's sitting a bit closer than Yuuichirou is used to. Yuu isn't dumb by any means, but school is not his favorite activity. They've been doing homework for the past ninety minutes when Yuu gets a text message from Guren.

[I'm heading home.]

[OK, i'll be there soon]

[What are you talking about? Aren't you already home?]

[no, since SOMEONE didn't buy groceries, I went to a friends house for dinner]

[What the hell kid, you can't just invite yourself to someone's house for dinner. I'll come pick you up on my way. Whose house?]

[it's a new friends house]

[Who?]

[Mikaela]

[A girl? You've never talked about her.]

[a boy and I just met him today]

[Jesus Yuu, you're an idiot. What's the address?]

Yuu sends him the address and looks over at Mika, "Guren is off work and he's on his way to pick me up."

"Alright, we're pretty much finished here anyway." Mikaela stands and begins making a plate.

"You're still hungry?" Yuu questions.

He shakes his head, "No, it's for your guardian. You said he worked late, so he probably hasn't eaten either."

Yuu blinked in surprise, "Wow…that's really nice of you. Nicer than he deserves honestly."

"Don't be mean," Mika hands him the plate. "Hey…if he needs to sleep in tomorrow….I don't mind taking you to school."

"What? Mika, no. You can't do that, you've already done a lot, probably too much. He'll be fine."

"I don't mind, it's really selfish actually. I never get a chance to talk to you, so…."

"That's true...still!"

"If you really think I've done too much, then you should want to do something in return, hmm?"

"You're so persistent."

"Is that a yes?"

Yuuichirou honestly does feel like Mikaela is doing too much for someone he hardly knows, but since he's insisting and Yuu wouldn't actually mind spending more time with him. "I guess so."

"Yes!" Mikaela's enthusiasm actually makes Yuu blush, but he fights it down with a shake of his head. "What's your number?" Yuu responds and Mika sends him a quick message. "Now, you can text me whenever you want," Mika smiles over at him. "But send me your address first, I'll be there at seven thirty."

Yuu nods and hears Guren honk from outside. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," he says moving towards the door.

"Yeah, I'll pick you up in the morning and take you to get your car after school."

"Wait, that's not what I said!" Mika ignores him and pushes him out the door. "Mika!"

"Better hurry, he looks like he's getting impatient." Mika ushers him down the stairs and waves goodbye. Yuu gives up and walks away, waving back before getting in Guren's car.

Guren looks over at him, "If you weren't done eating, you should have said so."

"I already ate, it's for you stupid." Guren's eyebrows raise in surprise. "He said since you worked late, you probably hadn't eaten yet."

"Wow, this really must be a new friend, none of your friends are that considerate, not even Yoichi," Yuu shrugs. "Is it safe?"

"I'm not dead. If you don't want it, I'll eat it."

"I'm sure you would, but I haven't eaten so I will."

"He's also taking me to school in the morning," Yuu mutters.

"What?"

"And taking me to get my car after school. So you can sleep in."

Guren waits until they're stopped at a red light before turning to look at Yuu. "I thought you said you just met this kid today."

"I did."

"Yet, you're already having dinner at his house and he's driving you around?"

"It's only once and he's not really a stranger."

"Uh huh."

"He goes to my school and we have a few classes together. We just never talked much."

"Any reason for that? Like he's a bit obsessive or something?"

"NO! He's really nice. We just hang out with different people."

Guren pulls into their driveway, "Okay Yuu, I didn't think I needed to tell you this, but obviously I overestimated your intelligence level. For future reference, do NOT get in the car with strangers, do NOT tell them where you live, and do NOT go home with them." Guren drops his keys on the counter, "I can't believe I raised such an idiot kid."

"I told you he's not a stranger and I can take care of myself!"

"Sometimes. Sometimes you can take care of yourself and other times I have no idea what the hell you're thinking." Yuu opens his mouth to protest, but Guren stops him, "Shut up, give me the food, I'm hungry." Yuu practically throws the plate at him.

"I told him you didn't deserve it."

Guren tossed his card at Yuu, "Don't wake me up in the morning. If your new little weirdo wants to be considerate, I'll accept his offer."

"He's not a weirdo."

Guren ignores him, "Your weirdo can cook, this is actually pretty good." Yuu gloats. "Whatever, go to bed, your face is starting to make me lose my appetite."

"You're not?"

"Nah, I've got a bit more work and then I will."

"Alright." As Yuu heads upstairs to prepare for bed, he can't help but think that maybe Guren is a little right. They have been in the same school for years, but not once have they talked. Now, somehow they've spent an entire afternoon and evening together? Not that Yuu minds, Mikaela has never seemed as bad as everyone seemed to act like he was, yet he can't help being a little wary.

He'll just ask him tomorrow to put his doubts to rest and better yet, he can rub it in Guren's face that Mikaela is not a weirdo.