-Matchmaker Mieu-

Maiyoko Iwagashi

Disclaimer: I do not own ToA or any of its characters. If I did, then –insert many names- would not have died.

Warnings: Spoilers ((after Luke cuts his hair)), and shounen-ai. Also, gets angsty and then gets really fluffy… Sorry, I like fluff! ((sweatdrop))

Coupling: GuyxLuke, since it is a classic and one of the cutest.

A/N: You guys probably do not understand how excited I was when I saw that they finally got a ToA section. I literally shouted "WOO-HEE!" then jumped out of seat to go grab a notebook I had been using for notes for a ToA story. I didn't want to type any until it was FFDN, so here it is! Yesh, yesh, yesh, I'm so happy. And I can't wait to see some of your guys' stories, too! Well, here you go!

Luke relinquished his hundredth sight that day as he fell deeper into his broody thoughts. Instead of his usual self-hatred, though, he brooded about another matter that had recently crawled its way into his consciousness -- that concern standing as no other than Guy.

Ever since his friends first traveled with Asch to Belkend (leaving his body in Yulia City), he could not get the certain blond off of his mind. He could still remember Guy telling everyone how concerned he felt about Luke and that he had to return to him, no matter what. The mentioned redhead's heart would jump whenever he thought of the kindness of Guy. He could not recall anybody else being nicer to him.

The fact that Guy was the first to fully regain his trust in Luke and believe in him put him in slightly better spirits. Actually, the kindness overwhelmed him to a point where he could not comprehend as to why somebody would act nice towards a replica like him.

Surely, he did not deserve affection… Dammit, there he went off again. Luke could not think for five minutes without running off to "depressed-suicidal-emo-redhead" land. He hated feeling like some nobody, but after the most recent events, he had troubles stopping himself from thinking like that. In fact, he never stopped himself from thinking lowly of himself. This problem only increased since a few certain party members liked to spit in his face and grind him into the dirt.

Oh, but, being Luke, these certainly were not the only bugs bothering him. His mind ran off into another problem at other intervals – his feelings for Guy. He felt flattered and loved that Guy cared that much for him, but his teenage hormones got to him and his thoughts jumped to conclusions. Perhaps… they may have been a chance that Guy loved him.

The vision of Guy confessing his feelings to Luke made his heart skip it's normally timed beats and filled his cheeks with a foolish color of pink. He sighed again and looked down at the cobblestone street. The teenager saw himself more hopeless than he thought.

A high-pitched voice interrupted his mental ramblings and fretted over him, "Master, is something wrong?" He jumped up on the nearby railing close to Luke and looked up at him with sparkling eyes. The unmoved aristocrat gazed down from his spot on the Sheridan road and eyed the tiny cheagle, shaking his head. He carried the burden of killing some of his own, too, did he not?

"I'm perfectly fine…" For how long did Mieu watch him? And did his movements really yell, 'LOOK! I'm stressing over my homosexuality!' that loudly?

Mieu puffed one of his cheeks as his eyelids lowered in slight frustration. "Master, you're lying! I can tell!"

Luke huffed. Mieu cared for him and all, but he did not have to be so demanding and annoying about it. Still, he held back his frustration.

"Do I have to say it?"

Mieu glared again. "Of course, Master. The problem can't solve itself."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows. "I suppose you're right," he said, giving in to the animal's worries. His gaze changed its course as his eyes followed an invisible path to the swordsman standing on the dock-like structure that loomed over the warm ocean and watched the rocket center. The swordsman, Guy, leaned over the rusted railing and let the mist sweep past his cheeks. His eyes held a serene aura around them as he studied the horizon, thinking thoughts only an aspiring mechanic could think in times of tranquility.

Mieu studied the younger swordsman's sight carefully before asking, "Guy?" He suggested it innocently. Luke blushed slightly at the mention of his crush's name.

"Y-yeah," he shyly replied, averting the movement of his eyes elsewhere to the other side.

"Do you like him?" the cheagle once again wondered aloud.

"W-What?!" Luke sputtered, his breath catching in his throat.

"You do, don't you, master?!" Mieu piped, jumping up continuously with excitement. Luke shoved his gloved hand into Mieu's face.

"Gah, shut up…" he sighed again.

Mieu looked puzzled as he tilted his head. "Why does that bother you?" his squeaky voice grew higher at the end of the question. "I thought it was good to like somebody else, Master." Luke shook his head again.

"You're just an animal, you wouldn't understand…" Well, it was true.

"Well, I may not understand, but maybe you should just go talk to him. What harm could it do?" He smiled, but not for long as the smiled replaced itself with a frown as Luke glared over at him.

"That's suicide."

"Fine then--," Mieu paused and took in a big breath. "Oh, Guuuuuyy!!" Luke flinched as Mieu giggled madly and ran off, flapping his ears eagerly. The said blond responded to his name by turning around and facing Luke with a puzzled expression roughly painted on his face. The redhead clenched his fists but then sighed. He dragged his butt over to where Guy watched him approaching.

Guy's look of bafflement grew when he saw the stressed face of Luke—furrowed eyebrows and a trembling lip. "Luke? What's the matter?" Guy walked a few steps towards Luke, allowing the younger one to walk less to get to him. Luke looked down at the ground, studying the crevices and eventually studying the tip of Guy's boot. "Luke…?" He placed his hands on Luke's shoulders. Luke replied by shifting his eyes to look up through his bangs, barely able to see that his crush held a worried look. The breeze from the ocean brushed by them, swaying the bangs out of his face and allowing Guy to get a closer study of Luke's expression; the boy looked like he was about to break out into tears and run away. He was obviously troubled.

Luke tensed when the hold on his shoulders tightened slightly. He could tell his presence confused and worried Guy. He did not speak, though, afraid of what would blurt out of his mouth. What did Mieu expect him to do? Just come out and say 'Guy, I love you!' as if there were no problem with it? Of course, there was a problem! He just did not know how to deal with it.

"Um… Luke…" Guy was getting more concerned. Oh boy, Luke hoped he did not think anything too serious was wrong with him… as if he accidentally pushed someone into the sea and he/she was drowning at that moment. "Please tell me what the matter is."

Luke finally lifted his whole countenance up to look at Guy thoughtfully. He gulped loudly before biting his lower lip, his green pools quivering as salty tears formed around the edges. The older swordsman frowned and leaned down a bit so that he was eye-to-eye with the younger one. Luke pulled back slightly and violently shook his head, exclaiming, "No! I can't!" He attempted to run away but Guy held on firmly to his frail shoulders. "I… can't…" His sobs escaped from his throat and he covered his face, his hands shivering as the hot tears made contact with them.

Guy became even more confused than he was before. What did the replica put himself through? He did not understand at all. Guy pulled Luke closer and wrapped his arms around him, caressing his back and softly cooing him. Guy comforted him with, "It's okay, Luke, it's okay," being the only sentence he could utter in that situation. He wanted to know the matter, of course, but he had to calm Luke down first before the boy would have been able to speak.

Luke attempted to straighten himself out, but could only clutch onto Guy. His hands grabbed at the older man's shirt helplessly, unknowing of what to do. Guy remained silent and continued to hold onto him. They stayed in that position for a few seconds. No citizens walked by and non of their traveling party members came up to them, so they felt at ease together on the ocean balcony.

Luke sighed and slowly pulled himself away from Guy's warmth. He looked to the side and watched the waves. For some odd reason, watching the waves allowed his mind better thinking space. His thoughts circled through his only doable choice – tell Guy the truth of what has been bothering him. As risky as it seemed, he had too. The redhead sighed again and looked up at Guy, biting his lower lip in nervousness. "Guy…"

Guy turned all of his attention towards the speaker of his name. "Yeah?" Guy avoided from acting like concerned nanny. It might have scared Luke. The said aristocrat exhaled the deepest he ever had that day.

"I think I like you…" His words were inaudible and muffled, causing Guy to ask him to repeat it. "I like you!" he exclaimed, slapping his hands over his mouth in shock and turning around quickly. "I-I mean… I'm so sorry Guy!" Guy blinked once, twice. Luke mentally cursed at himself for being so blunt. Tears threatened to sting his eyes again and he ran off, fearing the expression of Guy, whether it be disgust or fear. Guy remained in his position until he noticed Luke's absence. He ran after him towards the Sheridan inn, calling out his name.

"Luke, come back here! Luke!" Luke did not listen as he rushed past the inn attendant and right into one of the rooms they bought for the night. Guy rushed after him, quickly apologizing to the host, and into the room. Inside, he found Luke huddle up on the bed, crying as he clutched onto his legs tightly.

No, no… I just ruined everything. I just ruined myself and my friendship with Guy. Asch is so right – replicas are nothing but defected His eyes pained him more as the salty droplets infiltrated them. Guy frowned intensely, his stomach lurching at the sight of the saddened Luke. He slowly approached him and set his palm on the boy's shoulder. Luke pulled away and continued to cry.

Guy began to speak, knowing that the sooner he told Luke his feelings, the better the two would both be, "Luke… don't worry so much." Luke paused for a second. What did Guy mean? Don't worry? How could he not worry?! His questions remained in his head as Guy continued with, "From your behaviour, I can safely assume that you have no idea of what I think about your little confession…" Luke gulped. Here it came… the huge rejection he had feared (even though he did not listen to the blond's words well enough). It seemed impossible to screw yourself over so badly, but the evidence stood naked out in the open.

Continuing, Guy said, "Would it make you feel better if I told that I liked you too?" A huge gasp and struggling sound for breath exited Luke. The blond was slightly amused at Luke's recent act. Guy paused – did he just enjoy somebody else's pain? Oh, God, no… Jade rubbed off on him. He rubbed his hands on him; his old, sadistic hands, and… Oh, my, it seems I have run off topic. Guy shivered at the thought of Jade touching him and quickly focused his attention back to Luke, who then watched him with attentive eyes.

"Do you… do you really mean it, Guy?" His eyes flashed with that childish curiosity and Guy could not help himself but blush. He just wanted to glomp the little bugger. More than usual, anyways, especially since Luke got the cutest haircut. Guy smiled at him, trying to disguise his blush.

"Of course. I may not have shown too many signs, before but… I didn't want to scare you…" Guy sat down on the bed next to Luke. "You just… seemed really into women, with Tear and all, so I decided to just keep it to myself. Losing you as a friend would have been the worst thing ever."

Luke grinned sweetly, and wrapped himself around Guy's torso. "Well, you don't have to live in that fear anymore…" He looked up, in surprise to find Guy's lips waiting by his. A scarlet color ran across both of their cheeks, each leaning in a little closer to their destination. With the shove of a certain-pea-brained cheagle, they fell together in surprise. Luke sat up abruptly and looked around. "Mieu?! Where are you?!"

"Glad I could help, master!" And with that, Mieu jumped out of the window, giggling like a mad schoolgirl again as he glided away to a safe spot. Luke looked back at Guy to find him chuckling and blushing and the same time. He stopped to smile at Luke again and pulled him closer, holding him gently and playing with his hair. Luke could only blush as returned the hug.

"I love you, Guy."

"I love you, too." Both could tell that was the start of a completely new kind of relationship, involving much more friendlier touches and conversations.

A/N: Kind of rushed, but, I'm feeling lazy today and I did not feel like getting too into it… Sorry! ((sweatdrop again))