A/N: Techincally co-written by Spring Zephyr, because when I get writer's block they're usually the person I turn to for this. We were discussing Tales of Academia and somehow this came into being. I don't exactly remember what stared it :/

See if you can spot where we switched off - surprisingly, it's pretty hard.

I wasn't too sure how to write Spada's dialogue, since Innocence has kinda never come to America, so I translated his rather rough way of talking into the best I could. I'm worried part of it is a little OoC, but it's AU and students have more freedom in certain areas. I'm sure they have the time to goof off like this, since there's no world that needs saving right now. Maybe.

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In Spada's opinion, Yuri was making a big deal out of nothing.

"So what if I've got a crush on Ruca? He's my best friend, I can't just tell him!"

And in Yuri's opinion, Spada wasn't making enough of a deal out of it.

"I bet if you straight up told him, he'd fly into your arms. Seriously." He said, giving the other a bland look. "You're being too negative - just do it!"

"Is that what ya told Leon before he broke Stahn's arm?" Spada asked dubiously. Yuri pointed at him.

"No, I told him "be calm about it". He's the one who swung his sword."

That sounded about right. According to Emil, it was quite the spectacle.

"And really," He continued. "It's pretty amazing he even managed to break it. Isn't he always talking about how he doesn't need strength as long as he's fast?"

"That's not the point right now." Spada sighed, tossing himself onto the couch of Yuri's living room. Why he'd asked the older student to tutor him, he wasn't sure. He was fairly certain Flynn was the reason Yuri was passing anything besides PE and Home Ec. "The point is I'm failing Government and you're the only one who agreed to help me."

"Convenient." Yuri said, sitting up from where he was slumped on the armchair. "Isn't Government Ruca's best subject?"

There was a teasing note in his tone, and a sly smile spread on the dark-haired male's face. Spada blinked twice before the implications clicked.

"No." He said, waving his hands around. "Nononono- Yuri don't!"

He reacted too late - Yuri had tackled him to the floor and was keeping him pinned with his weight while he grabbed the boy's phone, scrolling through the contacts - Spada immediately regretted not setting a password - expression set in complete concentration. He held the phone up to his ear.

"Ruca? Hey, it's Yuri. Spada asked me to call." He shifted to slap a hand over Spada's mouth. "He's having some trouble in Government, but he's too embarrassed to ask you to help him. Do you think I can send him to your place and you could tutor him?"

There was silence on their end, where Yuri was giddily listening to Ruca's response while Spada thrashed helplessly.

"Great. He'll be over in twenty minutes."

He hung up and tossed the phone onto the couch, removing his hand but not standing up.

"I helped." He smirked. Spada glared at him.

"Flynn is so hearin' about this."

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The next morning, Spada walked through the school gates with Ruca by his side. They were halfway to the building entrance when he was pulled aside by a familiar senior.

"So, how'd your study date go?" Yuri asked, smiling innocently. Spada's lip twitched.

"Great. We studied. I took notes, he explained stuff... ya know. Studied."

His companion nodded at this, but continued to stare at him, as if expecting something. After another few minutes of nothing but staring - which was, to be honest, very creeping coming from Yuri - Spada groaned.

"Oh for the love of- nothing happened." He admitted, and Yuri actually had the gall to look offended. It was completely fake, but it seemed today Spada was getting the full treatment.

"Oh come on, it was set up so perfectly too!" He said helplessly. Spada gawked at him.

"Yatackled me and took my phone! How's that "set up"?" Yuri shrugged.

"Improv?"

"Yuri!"

Said male threw his hands up in a "Meh, I dunno" manner, a confused expression on his face. "It must have done some good if you got to school on time for once."

"Like you would know." Spada retorted, scowling. Nobody had a worse reputation for causing trouble and skipping school than Yuri, even if Spada's came close. It was probably having not been a student for as long as Yuri that he owed that credit to.

And Yuri, fittingly enough, didn't appear to be perturbed by any of it.

"Touche, Spada." He'd thought he was free, until Yuri added, in that annoyingly big brotherly voice of his, "But at least I'm not in denial."

"It's not denial if there's nothing to deny." He said. A pause, and he wondered if that made any sense.

"So you're saying you accept it?" Yuri seemed to consider this a confession, to which Spada responded by forming an 'X' with his arms in front of his chest.

"Nope. Just bein' honest."

"About having those feelings, right?" Yuri looked like he was enjoying Spada's suffering a lot more than he was when their conversation started. "Come to think of it, Ruca seemed a little down when you guys walked in. So something happened."

There was suspicion in his tone now, and he glanced between Spada and Ruca - who was waiting in front of the building entrance for Spada, watching them worriedly - before crossing his arms. Spada fidgeted awkwardly before sighing theatrically.

"I told him it was weird for two guys to be holding hands." Spada replied, one hand coming up to form a protective shield against his face.

It was the only thing preventing Yuri from seeing how red he was. Though he seriously doubted Yuri really needed to see to know it was there.

"...Obviously," he added indignantly, in a last ditch effort to protect his pride.

Spada had no idea why he was here. It was like he had nothing better to do than stand here with Yuri, of all people, and confess all of his life's unintended mistakes or something. Falling in love with his best friend? Tch, that wasn't supposed to happen.

Besides. He was still trying to convince himself that it was just a crush. Or maybe he'd misunderstood his feelings – either way, it would go away eventually.

"Very romantic." Yuri replied sarcastically.

"That's the point. I'm not tryin' to be!"

"Well if he's talking about guys holding hands, obviously he's interested in it!" While they seemed to be dissolving into another argument, no one paid them any mind, since Yuri was involved. He fought with the younger students at least three times a week - though he refused to admit that losing a brawl to Jude was the main reason he stopped with actual fights, he liked to tell people it was because Flynn nagged his ear off if he was too rough with the underclassmen - and it was hardly surprising that he and Spada were yelling at each other. They may get along, but that didn't mean they never had their disagreements.

Like right now.

"I'm tellin' ya, even if there was something, I can't just tell him! That's all kinds of awkward!" He reasoned, though he was starting to sound desprate at this point. He wasn't sure what he was trying to achieve anymore, honsetly; getting Yuri off his back, or getting over whatever it was they were arguing about.

"What would make it 'awkward'? Look at Leon and Stahn, they were best friends before they got together!"

"They're the definition of awkward!" Even before they found out how Leon felt about the blond, they were nothing but that. He couldn't understand how Yuri saw it any differently. "And they're not even together! Leon hasn't been to school since!"

He didn't bring up how it's been a week since his failed confession.

"Details!"

"Important details!"

Yuri was about to point to Jude and Milla - who were on the other side of the courtyard and therefor wouldn't hear him - when he paused. A knowing smirk spread across his face.

"Alright then, details. You like Ruca, so why don't you just come out an say it?" He said confidently, standing up straight. Spada's eye twitched.

"Alright, fine! I like him! I really, really like him! A whole lot, so much I can't stand it whenever he's with someone else!" At this point, people were starting to notice them, but he was too distracted to notice by now. "I like him so much I'd do all that cliche romantic crap like walkin' to school together, holdin' hands, makin' each other lunch and eating it together- hell, we already do that!"

Yuri was looking more amused now, and Spada would have asked him what the hell he was grinning about if he didn't have more to add to his rant.

"And if that's not enough to make ya happy, then I'll tell ya now: I love him so much that I can't tell him because if he rejects me it'll be too hard to see him again!"

He stopped then, attempting to catch his breath. A beat passed, and Yuri slowly pointed over his shoulder.

"Sweet. Now just turn around and say it all over again. Oh, but this time replace "him" with "you", alright?"

Confused, he whirled around to see what Yuri was talking about, and his heart nearly stopped.

"Uh, Ruca, hey..." He said slowly. "How... how long ya been standing there?"

The boy didn't say anything, his face a brilliant shade of red and mouth slightly open, lips quivering. Whether he was going to cry or say something, Spada couldn't tell.

He heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see Yuri running in the opposite direction, towards the shopping district.

"Wha- hey, get back here!" He shouted, panicked. "Don't start somethin' then leave me to deal with it!"

The older male didn't seem to hear him - actually, Spada was pretty sure he was just being ignored - and turned the corner, effectively out of his reach.

He was on his own now.

"Um, S-Spada?" A quiet voice said, and there was a tug on his sleeve. He slowly turned around, face tinted a light shade of pink when he remembered what his friend just witnessed.

"H-hey..." Not sure what to say - and having noticed the other students had backed off considerably, either to give them privacy or to avoid Spada's many possible reactions - he rubbed the back of his neck, eyes glued to their feet.

Spada called it. This was going to be all kinds of awkward.

"A-" Ruca stuttered. "About what you... said earlier..."

The green-haired youth swallowed, suddenly finding the nearby garden very interesting. Were those asters growing? Must have been Emil's work, he did say the science teacher loved them-

"I, um, I also... really like you."

Spada's head snapped back to the shorter boy, whose face looked as red as the roses lining the edges of the garden. Seconds ticked by as he stared, unable to comprehend the words that just came out of his best friend's mouth.

He blinked several times, mouth opening and closing, unable to form any words. When he finally registered Ruca's concerned look, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, could ya- could you repeat that?" He asked dumbly, not quite processing the confession.

"Um, I like you too?" Ruca repeated, furrowing his brows and looking understandably confused. Spada nodded stiffly, flashing him a thumbs-up.

"Alright. Sweet. Just makin' sure." He said flatly, then looked around. "Mind if I have a sec? Somethin' I need to get out of my system."

Ruca nodded, watching as he walked away and behind a tree. There was a moment of silence before a very loud "Fuck yes!" was heard, and Spada returned, looking a little relieved.

"Alright, can we do that again?" He said with an awkward smile. Then he straightened out his back, clearing his throat and held out a hand. "Ruca, I wanted to let ya know I've liked ya for a long time, so will ya go out with me?"

Ruca blinked, then brought up a hand to stifle a giggle.

"Of course. I like you too, after all."

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A/N: Hopefully by the end of this fic Spada has realized that Yuri isn't the best person to talk to about your relationship issues. He tries to fix them. His next target is probably Emil, but I don't have anything for that yet, and everyone else is kind of in a relationship.

Except Leon. He might need some help with that.

There was actually going to be a scene at the end with Yuri and Flynn discussing the aftermath of Yuri's actions, but that turned out longer than it should have been(about a quarter or so the length of this one, which is way too long for an omake in my opinion), so I decided to turn it into its own one-shot. No harm, and it's still in the same 'verse anyway.