Disclaimer: Aldnoah Zero does not belong to me.

A/N: Because lip burn is annoying and because I still ship OrangeBat even after Ep.12. No I do not hate Slaine and yes I hope Inaho and princess are still alive(wishful thinking).

GLOSS OVER

It all started when one Kaizuka Inaho noticed a certain 'Bat'-sempai walk through the school gates with an uncharacteristic frown on his face. The downturned twitch of the older boys' lips was enough to distract him from his morning routine. The routine, of course, meaning looking up the latest sales available in their local grocery via the internet. Inaho couldn't remember the last time his sempai had looked anything other than nervous, self-conscious, flustered, or relaxed. It made him curious enough to pocket his phone and stand where he was to observe the other, and he didn't need to wait for long to note his first discovery.

In the span of thirty seconds, Slaine had licked his lips twice. The numbers kept increasing from then on, and Inaho watched the oblivious teen until he disappeared into one of the schools' side entrances. With a shrug of his shoulder, Inaho returned to his search for discounted eggs, walked the opposite way, and wondered slowly to his first class.

The encounter didn't cross his mind again until morning break when he passed him by on his way to the cafeteria, and they regarded each other with a small nod. Not without licking his lips first, Inaho noted, giving the older teen a second glance before returning his attention to his friends. By lunch, he made a point to catch a glimpse of the teen, more than a little curious to see if he was doing the same thing. He wasn't disappointed. If any, the frown on the teens' lips was even more pronounced.

Inaho didn't get the chance to satisfy his curiosity until later that afternoon during free time; The one and a half hour the school allotted to the students to do their extracurricular activities and such, as well as the only time he and 'Bat' stayed in one place for more than a few minutes. The place in question was none other than the most isolated corner in the school library where a single long couch stood.

It was there that they'd learned to tolerate each other after their first 'official' meeting a few months back. They'd never been close to begin with. Only knowing each other through their mutual friend, Asseylum who was Inaho's classmate and Slaine's childhood friend. She'd introduced them both three weeks after the start of their freshman year and after becoming part of Inaho's little band of misfits. Back then, they'd only nodded at each other with a passing glance. They started acknowledging each other, though, after they found out they'd been playing with each other in the same online game all along.

As rivals, of course. And with their first real conversation going along the lines of-

"I didn't take you to be a gamer, Bat-sempai."

"B-, if you call me that, I'm going to call you Orange outside of the game. I look nothing like a bat."

"Your Kataphrakt does. It's justifiable for me to call you that."

"Y-you-"

Things didn't look any better for them after that first conversation. If any, their non-existent relationship stayed the same for the next couple of months. They acknowledged each other with a nod at best and never talked so much as argued about the only thing they had in common.

"I can't believe you shot my Kat down and left me there-"

"We were playing the Survival Mode."

"After I helped you-"

"You took a shot at me first. I wasn't the one who missed."

Such was the extent of their interactions until they found something else they could relate to. Right then, they were exactly where they'd been when they found out. Slaine had discovered the place during his freshman year and had spent most of his time there. Inaho, after his initial discovery, decided to keep coming to annoy Slaine.

"Bat", Inaho greeted and sat on the opposite end of the couch. On the other side, Slaine looked up from his book, licked his lips, and nodded his head in reply. Inaho watched him impassively and grabbed his phone from his pocket the same time Slaine turned a page.

He licked his lips again.

With an audible click, Inaho returned his phone to his pocket and stretched out a hand. His thumb grazed the others lips long enough for him to feel the roughness before Slaine had a chance to jerk away.

"What was that for?" Slaine asked, craning his neck away from the hand. He was holding the book in front of him nervously like a shield. Inaho expertly ignored the question.

"Your lips are chapped."

"I know. It's been bothering me since yesterday." Slaine said and licked his lips again.

"You should stop licking it and apply some ice. When you can, buy a lip balm. It should help." Inaho said.

"I don't have time to buy one, though I guess I should ask Hime about it." Slaine slumped into his chair and sighed. He turned suspiciously to Inaho and gave him a look. "How'd you know how to treat this?" Slaine asked. Inaho shrugged a shoulder and returned to his side of the couch.

"I have an older sister." Inaho said as explanation. Slaine accepted the words with a simple "Ah."

It was silent for a while where they both returned to their reading with the occasional sound coming from the pages of Slaine's book. After a while though, Inaho turned to look at Slaine again until the other noticed.

Slaine's reaction was the same as always. Bat closed his eyes, sighed, and turned to him with a suspicious look.

"What, Orange?"

"…"

"…"

"…I still don't get why you like reading books when these are easier." Inaho gestured at his phone. Slaine's book closed with an audible snap, and they argued the rest of the time. It was enough to distract the older teen from constantly licking his lips and Inaho made sure to count the number of times he did. Slaine left with a stomp to his steps and a huff after Inaho gave him the exact numbers.

The next day, Inaho didn't catch a glimpse of the older teen until half past lunch. Hedid notice a couple of giggling sophomores run out of the cafeteria though. What's more, they were all clutching something to their chest. He had a sinking feeling he knew what it was since he'd also gone out of his way to buy the same thing. A flash of blonde, however, quickly distracted him from thinking any more of it, so he turned to greet the ever friendly girl.

"Seylum-hime. You disappeared on us. Calm was looking for you." Inaho said. Asseylum smiled apologetically.

"I know, sorry Inaho-kun", she said and perked up. "Slaine told me about what you said to him yesterday. Thanks for suggesting it. He never would have tried to do anything about it if he could help it. I even lent him my lip gloss earlier but I think he lost it and his classmates found out." Inaho nodded his head.

So they were what I thought they were, he thought, and blink when the first part of Asseylums sentence registered.

"You lent him your lip gloss."

"Um…yes?"

"…Where is he now?"

"Oh", Asseylum pressed a hand to her lips to hide her giggle and pointed at the corridor to the mens' toilet. "Over there hiding from the girls." She said and waved when he nodded. Inaho made a beeline for the comfort room and found Slaine washing his mouth with soap when he entered.

"That's not going to help, you know. You'll only irritate it more that way." Inaho said. Looking at him over the mirror, Slaine turned the faucet off and wiped his mouth with a sleeve.

"Doesn't matter. I'd rather it be irritated then filled with glitters." Slaine said with low mumble and sighed. "I can't believe how many times I've heard the words lipstick, lip gloss, and lip balm today." He shook his head. "What's a chapstick?"

Tilting his head, Inaho opened his mouth to explain the difference, but snapped his mouth shut when Slaine gave him a look. He opted instead to fish out the one hebought and tossed it towards the other. Slaine caught it with a questioning look.

"Saylum said she lent you her lip gloss, but the gloss won't help much. That one's the balm variant. Just make sure you use it for the next few days and you should be fine." Inaho explained. Slaine nodded his head, opened the lid of the balm, and awkwardly applied some on his lower lip.

"It's flavored." Slaine grimaced at the taste. "That" he said "is so like you to pick such an obvious-"

But Inaho didn't hear the rest of it. He left before Slaine could finish the sentence. He already knew what Slaine was going to say anyway.

~page break~

Slaine sighed as he hoisted his bag and got ready for the bell signaling the end of classes. The girls had laid off of him after he told them he'd gotten his own balm and that he didn't need to borrow any of theirs with a thanks. True to Inaho's words, the balm was helping and Slaine could already feel the difference even if it'd only been a couple of hours. He found himself applying it a lot more.

His classmates, mostly the ladies, had been whispering a lot ever since he'd declined their offers. Whispering and giggling actually. Slaine didn't really mind it, but he wondered why they were so fixated on the topic. After all it was only lip balm.

Making his way to Asseylum's classroom, he nearly bumped into Inko when he turned a corner.

"Ah! Sorry." Inko apologized, and fixed her hair.

"Don't be, Amifumi-chan. No harm was done." Slaine said. Suddenly, Inko stopped in the process of fixing her hair and sniffed the air suspiciously. Her eyes suddenly landed on Slaine, more specifically his lips.

"Oh," she said and looked at him. "Did you put something on your lips sempai?"

Slaine smiled nervously and rubbed at his neck. "My lips were dry and it was irritating me. I'm applying a balm to make it better." He said.

"I see." Inko hummed, then smiled. "Well, you must have used it a lot then, sempai. Cause your lips smells a lot like O-", she stopped, gasped, and blushed. "Oh…u-um…" Then tried to hide her face with her hands. With that, Inko left a confused Slaine with a hastily muttered goodbye.

Not understanding what had happened, Slaine could only look at her disappear into another corner and return to his walk. He passed another one of Assaylums classmates, Rayet Areash, on his way who blinked and pointedly smirked at him. Assaylum walked out the door before he could think about it though, and he turned his attention to her.

"Hime", he greeted with a smile. Asseylum returned the smile graciously before giving him a surprised stare.

"…Hime?" Slaine asked nervously when her surprised stare turned into something more mischievous. She took a step towards him with a sparking grin.

"You're using something different this time", her grin grew wider. "Did Inaho-kun give that one to you?"

Slaine gulped and took a cautious step back. "Um…he did." He admitted reluctantly, still not getting the deal. This time, the sparkles around Asseylum were the ones that grew.

"Well", she giggled and lean back. "Orange smells good on you, that's for sure." She twirled and skipped ahead.

After standing stiff and dumfounded for a whole minute, Slaine finally realized the meaning behind her words. The meaning behind Inko's blush, Rayet's smirk and Asseylums giggles…as well as the whole whispering fiasco.

Glowing red to the tips of his ears, Slaine turned to the hall facing the school entrance and shouted for all of the students to hear.

"KAIZUKA INAHO!"

Outside of campus, said teen looked up from his phone just in time to hear the last echo of his name. With a satisfied twitch of his lips, he continued on his walk towards home.

"About time."