Valentine's Day had never been a problem in elementary school.

"Suzaku-kuuuuuun~"

Suzaku turned to Rivalz, half-desperate. This was not the first or second or… tenth 'admirer' he'd had to dodge today. "Help?"

Rivalz sighed. He had no idea what Suzaku's problem was – he'd change places with him in a second. "Second floor, the cranny under the stairs. I'll hold her off." He was a good friend.

Suzaku shot him a pathetically thankful look and ran off. He'd been grateful for the first proposal and flattered by the second (he'd had no idea he was thatkind of popular) but this was insane. It was less that there were so many girls after him (and why this year? What had changed?) and more that… he was a taken man, for goodness sakes!

At least he made it to the hideaway under the stairs without any problems. Unfortunately, it was occupied. "…hey."

"Hey." The other boy scooted over. "Running away from the crazy girls?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yup."

There wasn't much else to talk about, so Suzaku just settled in next to the boy and waited for Rivalz.

He arrived in a few minutes with Tamaki shoving his way in first. "Guess who's got a girlfriend? Give up? It's me!" Tamaki did a fairly restrained happy dance in the enclosed space before noticing the other boy. "…who're you?"

"Gino Weinberg." The boy grinned at Tamaki. "Did you just come here to brag?"

"Pretty much." Rivalz grunted, sitting across from Suzaku. "There are at least three girls planning an ambush once school's over."

Suzaku shrugged. "I can probably outrun them." The new boy, Gino, laughed.

"Hey. Guys. Girlfriend!"

"Congratulations," Suzaku said, happy enough to leave the topic of his future embarrassment alone. "How did that happen?"

Tamaki opened his mouth, but Rivalz beat him to it. "He harassed everyone not in our class because they'd know better, until this poor shy girl said okay." Suzaku shot Tamaki a smirk and Tamaki scowled.

"That's not really sporting," Gino suggested.

The three other boys stared at him, Tamaki still scowling. "Who talks like that?"

"Weinberg…" Rivalz hummed. "Dude… your mom's the Mayor!"

Out of the three of them, Rivalz was the only member of a family who could vote, so he knew more about local politics. Suzaku could tell you who the president was and that was pretty much it. Still, he was shocked when Gino just shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "What are you doing going to school here?"

"We believe in the public school system," Gino said, his mouth twitching. "…at least we do now that our mother has been elected and is losing poll points for being a total snob."

"That must suck." Suzaku would have hated to transfer schools away from Rivalz and Tamaki. "Is that why those girls were after you?"

"Nah, it's cause I'm cute." Gino grinned and Suzaku had to admit that he had a point. "Unfortunately, I'm gay."

Tamaki and Rivalz immediately shied back. Suzaku just nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"What?" Suzaku blinked at his friends who were staring at him, almost accusatorily. "You never told us that!"

"…you never told me you were straight," Suzaku pointed out. "Besides, it's not like I'm interested in you guys that way."

Rivalz still looked stunned, but Tamaki was looking insulted now. "Why not?"

"Not my type." Suzaku patted Tamaki's shoulder comfortingly. "No offense, but really not my type."

Gino laughed. "Good thing too – he's a taken man until that girl wises up."

Rivalz finally recovered. "Uh. Well. I'm straight, by the way." He shook himself. "And it's not like it matters, right?"

"Not really," Suzaku said, turning back to Gino. "I'm Suzaku Kururugi."

"Shinichiro Tamaki – call me Tamaki."

"Rivalz Cardemonde."

Gino grinned. "First day and already making friends! Mom's PR staff will be so proud!"

"This was your first day and you already have fangirls?"

"I told ya!" Gino beamed cheerfully and Suzaku decided he definitely liked him. "I'm just that cute!"