Hidden Obsession.

Summary: (REWRITE) Because to everyones surprise it ended up being awkward accident prone Takao Kinomiya that came between best friends Rei Kon and Kai Hitawari. "Often it is the most deserving people who cannot help loving those who destroy them - Herman Hesse"

Pairings: Kai/Takao, Rei/Takao, Michael/Max, slowbuild!eventual!Hiro/Tala, possibly Kenny/Hilary, past!Bryan/Tala, onesided!Johnny/Hilary, past!Emily/Max, brief!Brooklyn/Kai

Ratings: T, but mature scenes may appear with their own warnings.

Warnings: Slowbuild. Mild language because teenagers will be teenagers in highschool and use terrible filthy language. Eventual dark themes, violence, sexual references etc, love triangle, slight age difference.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot.

Authors Note: I have almost entirely lived in the UK so have NO concept whatsoever of how the educational system works in Japan or almost anything else. So there will be lots of factual errors in this. Let's just assume BeyCity is a small town of sorts near London since only slight characters have Japanese origins here with Rei Takao and Kai so *shrugs and for my sake we're applying the british CIE system here. Ugh. Oh, also I dont like uniforms? So no school uniforms. and Kai's parents are alive. Takao's aren't. Anything else I manage to remember will be mentioned accordingly.

Chapter 1: Just Give Me A Reason

October 2013

(General POV)

Winter had snuck up very quietly this time around, only having indicated its presence initially by the occasional chilly gusts of wind that appeared sometime after late afternoons as September came to a close.

But now it was around mid October and the change in weather could not be denied, Takao mused, noticing Max's nextdoor neighbour Kenny Mathews rush across his threshold, hand's thrust deep into his coat pockets as he fumbled into his car besides his mother.

The dark haired boy thumped his head lightly against the cool glass of the car window, rolling it down slightly to inhale the crisp early morning air. Infront of him, Tala frowned, thumping the wheel with one hand impatiently as he manned the radio with the other. Cringing at the shrill sound of Taylor Swift, the red head swiftly turned it off and turned around to glare at Takao only to get a raised eyebrow.

"You're like an angry little squirrel, seriously Tala. Stop fidgeting. It's been barely a minute." Takao rolled his eyes, shooting his bestfriend a lazy grin as he swiped the lock off the screen of his phone to check the time. 6:27 am. Four hours too early for his brain to be this awake and functional.

"I'm not fidgetng. Do people not understand the value of punctuality anymore? Did Max drown? Did he trip or fall off the bed or something? Because I swear if he gets us a lecture for being tardy this early in the morning I will kill him myself."

"He probably forgot to set his alarm again. These things happen! Probably because someone decided to have a late night Skype session because they couldn't sleep." Takao grinned as his last Angry Bird managed to knock out both the remaining pigs in one go. "Angry Birds is the best.", he mumbled excitedly watching as he replaced his previous highscore, "Angry Birds for King."

"You frighten me. No, really. Why do I associate myself with such a dork again?" Tala sighed dramatically.

"Stop being bitter. It's okay to suck at this game." Tala snorted in retaliation.

"I think I've aged a billion years. Really. Kinomiya, next time if I ever suggest carpooling because it'd be fun, punch me in the dick." The dark haired boy only rolled his eyes in response.

"And deprive you of my sassy company? I would never-Maaaaaax! Hi!" Max only grinned as he squeezed into the passenger seat besides a glowering Tala, reaching back to ruffle Takao's head.

"You guys won't believe what Bilbo was up to! Really I - OWW. Tala, stop pinching me!"

"You know what that was for." The red head only huffed, dodging his head slightly to avoid the flick to his ear as the blonde boy rolled his eyes.

"Bilbo? OH. How is lovely Satan today?" Takao turned off his phone to poke Max at the back of his neck as Tala turned on the engine and pulled into the lane.

"Lovely Satan woke me up by smashing his butt in my face. Stuff of dreams really."

"You could have avoided that if you actually put on your alarm, idiot."

"YOU could stop with the late night Skype sessions so I don't fall asleep before hand and set it properly."

"Children, children. This could all be avoided if we speed up the intervention we planned ahead and convince Grandpa to let me drive already." The red head and blonde turned to stare at him in unison.

"My driving's NOT that bad!" Takao muttered indignantly.

"Tee, I've seen the elderly walk past your car. There's paranoid about safety and then there's you." Max recalled as he dodged yet another jab from the bluentte. "Stop abusing me you weirdo! You're bony."

"You're like some weird ass freak of nature. How can someone eat a whole serving of cheesecake and a half a tub of chocolate chip in one go which, firstly what the fuck, without gaining weight. I've seen you actually LOSE weight." Tala grinned as he turned a corner and BeyCity Memorial High came into view.

"Stop hating on my youthful metabolism. You're projecting." Takao grinned as Tala parked into an empty spot in the Parking Lot, reaching downwards to retrieve his bag before freezing. "Shit. Tala! Bryan."

The aforementioned redhead froze, one hand dangling the car keys from its fingertips, the other hand on the door handle. Swiftly he crouched low on his seat, as Max turned to stare at him outrageously.

"What are you-Hey it's Bryan!" The blonde grinned as he reached forward to wave with one hand at the tall light haired Russian as he crossed the parkling lot beside the hulking blonde figure of Spencer Davis.

"Are you insane?" Tala hissed reaching forward to jab Max in between the ribs.

"Tala, seriously? Remember when we talked about trying to pretend like you have some self-respect whenever you see him?" Takao rolled his eyes, getting out of the car, watching in amusement as a disgruntled Tala followed. He winced slightly as the sudden cold bit at his exposed neck and hands, stuffing the latter deep into his jacket.

"You can judge me you when you decide to date your friend, Takao."

"I used to date Emily?" Max offered as the three of them fell in line as they made their way to the entrance of the school, nodding politely to the chorus of 'hey's' that bombared the blonde. "She's my friend you know."

"You don't count Max. You befriend everyone. Even trees and squirrels. You're Pocahontus." Takao snickered as Max frowned.

"I don't-what-I-what." Both Tala and Takao reached forward to pat him on the arm lightly.

"It's okay though," Tala offered, feeling a little giddy at the realization of being early on noticing the empty hallways, "We love that about you. Like how we love the fact that Takao pretends to know French."

"Hey! Offense. I do know French!" Takao pouted in mock-hurt as the trio bustled past the growing crowd of kids, as Max grinned. "Google Translate doesn't count buddy. No matter how diligantly you use it."

Tala only rolled his eyes as the blunette and blonde started bickering heatedly no soon aferwards. ("That's Spanish!", "Your Mom is Spanish.")

-gl-

Max Tate loved first period. There was something about the early day rush as people bustled here and there, rushing to their lockers and retrieving books for their first lessons, stopping only to say a casual hello. These moments were the busiest as students stopped and crowded together to catch up and socialize; and gossip a bit. The entire hallway seemed so lively and Max, well, loved life.

"I love life!" Max declared to a random passerby as Takao tried to wrestle his Chemistry Text out of his locker, muttering under his breathe whilst Tala leaned against the adjacent lockers, typing away at his phone.

"Life is going to start sucking a little if we don't hurry up." Tala hissed to a distraced Takao who finally managed to squeeze the book out with a cry of triumph.

"You could just go ahead you know, meet up with your nerdy little friends outside class. I really don't want to be the one who made you combust into a ball of fire right now." Max only grinned as Tala scowled.

"I probably should. God knows I wasted enough time with you idiots already. I'm going to go catch up with them."

"Doesn't Bryan have English with you too?" Max mused as Tala froze.

"I uh, probably have a couple of minutes left still. I have to go use the um, restroom, so." With that, the frazzled red haired boy ducked into the adjacent bathroom doors as Max and Takao shared a look, resuming their direction to their first class.

"You do realize he's probably hyperventialting in there right?" The blunette nudged Max as he plugged in his earbuds, smiling softly as the soft music of Cinematic Orchestra began to play. Max reached forward and snagged an ear bud for his piece, nodding approvingly as the music began to flow.

"It's Tala. He'll probably realize he'd be late for class, and no force on earth can stop that boy from being punctual. Even awkward meetings with Bryan post breakup. This is really good! I'm so glad you came out of your Snow Patrol phase."

Takao crinkled his nose, "They weren't a phase. Snow Patrol is my religion. We understand one another." Max only grinned, bumping into his best friends shoulder softly as they entered their class and took a seat at the back.

-gl-

"Hilary, for the love of god, Johnny is not here. You spaz, you're freaking Max out." Takao poked the brunette girl with his fork as she finished scanning the cafeteria before returning to poke at what was supposed to be mash potatoes on her paper plate.

"I'm not searching for Rickards, Takao. Honestly. I was just scanning the crowd for Tala. Unlike you, I promised to help him seek refuge from Bryan." Hilary sniffed delicately as Takao rolled his eyes, returning to his milkshake, scrolling through his iPod.

The blonde in question only shrugged his shoulders as Hilary glanced at him before she deemed him normal. He resumed scrolling through his sketchpad, eyebrows knitted in frustration as he flipped through each page, a mariage of colours bouncing across his vision as Hilary leaned across to take a look.

"These are really amazing Max, don't worry. I'm sure they'll get accepted. I'm part of the Editorial Team. Trust me." The skinny brown haired girl affirmed, fixing her ponytail as Max's frown deepened.

"Class President and beloved teacher's pet just admitted to favourism?" Takao grinned, slurping the remenants of his drink as the last song came to a stop.

"No. I'm just saying I know the kind of work we'll be receiving and Max has it in the bag. We don't really get that much material for The Beetle anyways." Hilary reached forward to grab a chip off Max's plate, pushing away her plate of 'mashed potatoes' as she felt a wriggle from the corner of her eye. "Remind Tala to send in his articles, once again."

"Where is Tala again?" Max sighed as he pushed his sketchpad back into his backpack and swatted Hilary's hand as she attempted to sneak in another fry.

"I texted him a couple of times, he didn't reply. So he probably saw Bryan and is hiding somewhere obscure or something." Takao sighed. "Before it was sort of fun to see him so fidgety, now I'm just concerned."

"Someone should talk to him. Really. It's been a week, he can't just hide away forever." Hilary mused as she glanced at the cafeteria doors on hearing them open once more.

"Since I'm staying afterwards because I have this Art Project to finish up and Tala has his Peer Teaching meeting, I'll try to talk to him. Can't promise anything though." Max nodded at both of them in determination before turning to Takao.

"I'm coming over tonight right? Mom already said it's okay." The bluenette grinned slightly, nodding. "Grandpa's going to try to enroll you into one of his classes again. Stay strong, blonde one."

"He's still caught up on that?" Hilary turned to the dark haired boy. "I feel sort of insulted since he's never offered to teach me."

"He probably doesn't want to offend your feministic beliefs Hil'. Remember that debate last year? Against Oliver Pendraghast? Grandpa was there."

"I remember that! I think its on Youtube." Max snickered as Hilary hit him sharply on the arm. "OWW. Yep. Definitely don't need self defense martial arts classes."

"Yeah, you definitely don't. Maxie however. He's such a delicate flower. Very appealing to human traffickers you know." Takao sighed sagely.

"Trafficking? What?" Hilary muttered in confusion as the boys shared a grim look.

"It's this...talk Grandpa has. I got it when I was 14. Max got it the next year." The blonde in question shuddered ("The images...")

"Your family is really weird Kinomiya." The girl muttered as they all stood up on account of the shrill bell.

-gp-

Max sighed as he tapped his foot anxiously against the cool tiled floor, scrubbing his left sneaker against a crack as he brushed blonde bangs away from his eyes. He checked his phone again and sighed on noticing it had only been a minute since Tala had entered the Principal's office to fix up something with his schedule. Since the pale redhead was his ride home and he was done finishing up his painting for Art Class, the blonde had no other choice but to sit amongst the rows of seats outside the Principal's Office in the Administration Room. The place was a little chilly, Max realized, as he moved to wrap his jacket tighter against his body.

Across the room, the secretary sitting behind a large oval shaped desk, littered with a huge desktop and a stack of papers amongst office supplies arranged haphazerdly, smiled at him sympathetically. It was almost three and Max frowned as he read another text from his mother.

Emergency at work, called into the hospital. Where are you? Left your lunch in the microwave. Call me as soon as you get home. - JudyT.

He looked up and noticed what appeared to be a group of students bustling by the Admin Office's large window. They were probably the kids Tala's Peer Teaching program tutored after school, Max mused. He frowned as one of the students, a tall muscular blond with shaggy hair tucked under a baseball cap entered the otherwise quiet room. Joining him, the Secretory turned to look at him with a polite smile.

The boy just stared at her for a while, quiet as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets gruffly, before pushing a tiny crinkled slip across the smooth wooden desk towards her. Ms Blake's forehead crinkled a bit as she reached forward and smoothed it out, reading whatever Max assumed was scrawled onto it.

After a pause, she turned to him, lips pressed into a thin line as she motioned for him to take a seat near Max. The blond kid, a baseball jock, Michael, Max recognized, rolled his eyes before dragging his feet and plopping down loudly in a chair. He took off his baseball cup and run his fingers through his hair, messing up the tangled mess even furthur, crouching a little low in the seat.

Max soon realized he was staring and quickly diverted his eyes, clicking on his phone again. (3:10 pm, it read out in bright neon digital ink. Dammit Tala. I swear, if youv'e started discussing your college applications I will kill you.)

It was quiet, safe for the soft clicking of his phone as he quickly resorted to Temple Run to pass by the time. Besides him, only the whirring of the Desktop by Ms Blake accompanied the silence.

Max was too busy cheering inwardly on crossing the twenty thousand metre mark, to notice that someone was trying to talk to him. He startled quickly, almost dropping his phone, as a large rough hand came forward to poke him at his upper arm. Eyes wide and confused, he turned around to stare at Michael who only stared at him in amusement, eyebrow raised.

"So what'd you do?" The jock offered after a long period of silence, his voice gruff and low, laced with boredom and slight annoyance.

"Um, what?" The smaller blonde blinked, confused, returning the jock's mocking raised eyebrow with his own pair of confused ones.

The tall blond stared at him, and his unflinching gaze made Max a little uncomfortable, suddenly feeling self conscious. He twiddled with his phone in his hand as he waited. "What are you in for kid?"

Max blinked. Ah.

"Nothing. I'm just waiting for someone. Do I really look like a delinquant?" He frowned. He looked down at his sneakers and the edges of his sleeves that were splattered by paint. It did look sort of misleading.

Michael only gave him a slow lazy grin, before turning in his seat, away from him. He tapped his fingers alongst an unknown rhythm, stopping at the admonishment from Ms Blake. "So you the principal's kid'?"

"No, that's Zeo?" At the other boy showing no sign of recognition at the mention of the name, Max continued, "Skinny? Dyed green hair-"

"Oh yeh'," Michael smirked, eyes dark with something unreadable. "I remember. Loads of memories with 'im."

Max was now extremely confused. For one thing, Michael Parker, starring athlete and perpetual idol to many, was seemingly interested in conversing with him. Max wasn't even sure the guy knew they were in the same year or knew his name or that in Grade 4 they had been paired up for a science project for the Science Fair (for whom Max and his Dad had built the most amazing paper mache volcano but at which they later had gotten disqualifed because Michael had ended up punching a bragging classfellow in the nose.).

Before his brain could give into spontaneous combustion, Tala, by some miracle, suddenly appeared from the door to the Principal's office, followed by the man himself. The red head only rolled his eyes at the blonde's glare. Max immediately stood up as Principal Stephen nodded at him, before giving a frosty glare to the jock sitting in the seat besides him.

"Parker. Let's not waste my time. Inside, quick." Michael only rolled his eyes, before getting up noisely and following the older man inside the room. It was only when they both left and he waited as Tala packed up his documents inside his backpack, that Max noticed the baseball cap sitting idly on the desk.

He stared at for a few seconds longer than what was necessary until Tala shook his shoulder slightly.

"Back to earth, Space Case? Let's go. You're wasting time." With a roll, Tala proceeded to walk ahead, ignoring Max's indignant 'Hey!' as the shorter blonde hurried to follow.

-gp-

"So tell me again why Max thinks you're swapping sexual favours with the Princie for good test scores?" Hilary giggled as the pixelated appearence of Tala through her laptop screen spluttered in frustration. Takao, directly below Tala snickered, as he blew away the bangs from his eyes. Behind him, Hilary could see Max typing away at the bluenette's desktop, giggling away to himself.

"Maximus needs to stop watching all those soap opera's." Takao grinned, reaching backwards to poke the blonde with his sock clad foot. Max only wriggled out of reach, cackling wildly as Lana DelRay blared from Takao's speakers.

"You guys shame me." Tala muttered as Hilary rolled her eyes at the two younger boys actions, applying a fresh coat of nail polish to her nails.

"Who's taking care of Bilbo right now?" Tala mused as he scanned through the English essay the brunette girl had sent through to proof read.

"Maybe your Dad sat on him? One can only dream." Takao sighed as he turned to return Hilary's judgemental gaze.

"Cat's are delicate lovely creatures. You are a psycho Kinomiya."

"I dare you to say that again after you've survived that henious witch's rage moods. And remember when he ruined my surprise birthday thing last year by getting stuck in the cat flap?" Takao huffed. "Speaking of moody witches, Tala..." The blunette grinned as he recieved the red head's pixelated middle finger.

"I already invoked the 'no Bryan at Skype fourway' rule. Don't disrespect the rule. Takao."

"Yes, but as the initiator of these Skype fourway's, I call voting rights. All in favour of an emotional heart to heart, give me a pixel hand wave." Takao protested.

In response, the blunette recieved two blurry hand movements accompanying his own, and a warning glare from the red head.

"Look. I don't want to talk about it. I'm going to say what I told Max already but since my friends are nosy, overly concerned, boderline annoying internet banshees I'll say it again. It's awkward and I'm awkward and it's a phase. It'll pass, and when it's done I'll be alright."

There was a silence, only disturbed by the angry clicking of Max and the laptop in the background before Takao sighed.

"Fair enough. Just so you know, Bryan approached me in Math." This caused both Hilary and Tala to snap their eyes back from their assigments to the dark haired boy, frowning heavily back at them through the screen.

Tala was quiet for a second, his ice blue eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion, before he started hesitatingly in a tone Takao rarely heard from him. "What'd he say? Did he mention me?"

"No. We suddenly realized we had so much in common and decided to ditch you and became best friends and made plans to skip into the sunset tomorrow. Of course he mentioned you." Takao rolled his eyes before sighing. " He was kind of upset. You're sending confused signals. He was hoping you would talk to him tomorrow at lunch?" He turned to give Tala an awkward apologetic glance and got a frown in return

"Can we focus on someone else' love life? Like how Takao has literally never dated anyone."

To Takao, this immediately felt like something the rest wanted to discuss in depth because the traitors that everyone were, immediately popped their heads, including Max, and gave the bluenette knowing looks.

Said boy ran a hand through his hair. "Max is having an affair with his paintings. And Hilary's sort of stalking Johnny Rickards. And you guys want to talk about me?"

"You DO listen to an often lot of Snow Patrol." Max mused as he dodged an elbow from a protesting Takao.

"Firstly, I'm not stalking anybody. Seriously." Hilary paused to blow at her nails. "Mrs. Archibald assigned him to help me with The Beetle and I'm just making sure he doesn't slack off. And secondly, Max dated Emily. No matter how much of a bitch ("spirited!"), she was. You've never dated anybody."

Takao spluttered. "Well-that-I-uh. This is stupid." He flushed. "I've just never had time for that sort of stuff. What with helping out at the cafe and Grandpa and Hiro, remember my brother? Tall dark and insane, making sure I have no social life whatsoever." He frowned slightly, as if just realizing that amongst all of his quirky group of friends, he was the only one who technically hadn't ever dated anyone. He'd actually never been on a date even. The bluenette couldn't seem to find the time between managing his friends drama and his part time job at Tate's Cafe, owned by Max's dad, and his family's irritating overprotective behaviour.

Hilary stared at the other boy for a while, humming softly."I could help you out, you know. You're not that low on the social ladder, Tee. I'm sure we could find you a nice guy."

"Hey whoa whoa. Since when has this turned into 'lets pity Takao' , you harpies. I'm perfectly fine with the way things are." The boy shrugged, ignoring Tala's questioning eyebrow and Hilary's knowing stare, "When it'll happen, it'll happen. End of. In the meanwhile, I'm happy to fill the asexual plant role for the group." Max grinned at this.

"And you're really good at it too! Sexiest plant I've ever seen." The blonde only received a snort in return.

-gp-

Takao frowned as everyone rushed to occupy the pair of stools set up across each station in the Chem Lab, scanning the crowd for a familiar mop of blonde hair. He quickly climbed onto one stool, arranging his bag over the other as if making an understood claim. Taking out his phone, he quickly sent in a text.

Hey where are you? o.O Lab's already started. - Takao

a lttle sck 2day. mite cum in late. :c - Max

/3 I'll drop by after work today. Back to awkward loner Takao it is for now. Should be fun. - Takao

At a deliberate cough and a heated look from his Sir, Takao immediately smiled apologetically and turned off his phone, tucking it back into his bag. Reaching forward, he rummaged into his messy bag, grinning as he found a pen whilst the sir started scribbling the instructions for today's Practical. Luckily, it was yet another Titration which Takao was familiar with. Whilst Chemistry was extremely boring and useless, Organic getting no love from him whatsoever, the subject was something that the blunette surprisngly understood well. He was the reigning Chem King amongst his friends, something he knew bothered Hilary and Tala to no end.

He was already filling in his details ontop of the worksheet for the day so he didn't notice the sudden opening of the lab doors as someone bursted through, panting slightly as they tried to catch their breath.

"Sorry, Sir. My car broke down. I came as fast as I could." Rei Kon grinned apologetically, leaning against the doors as he struggled to regain his breathing. The class stopped to spare him a few seconds longer than necessary but it was only because it was Rei, good guy extraordinairre, star of the track team, Head of the Photography Club, and best friend of Kai Hiwatari.

Takao turned to spare him a glance as he struggled to pipette NaOH into the flask. He did share three of his four classes with the dark haired Chinese, but he couldn't recall ever exchanging even a 'hello' with him.

Rei was a senior just like him, but light years ahead of Takao in terms of social standing probably because of the fact that he was the childhood friend and perhaps the only real confidant to Kai, the school's star football player and Student Body President. The chinese was rarely seen talking to anyone else outside of the grey haired Hiwatari and his cousins Lee and Mariah Ling with whom he resided with; his Uncle being his legal guardian. (Hilary was the worst gossip in the world, and Takao was even worse because he didn't mind listening to whatever she had to tell.). The tall, dark haired boy stood there, hands flicking over the strap of his beg as he eyed his teacher silently, amber eyes flickering between him and the rest of the class blatantly staring at him.

The older man nodded at him curtly, motioning for him to take his seat, and Rei nodded and rushed to occupy his usual seat next to the imposing figure of BeyCity's own Prince, Kai. Said boy only raised a cool slate coloured eyebrow in response to his best friends fumbling and grunted as he recieved a sly grin in response. Besides him, Takao could hear a girl try to control a giggle and only rolled his eyes.

Kai Hiwatari was probably the most talked about student at BeyCity Memorial; perhaps even outside across BeyCity. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was the son of Hitosh Hiwatari, a successful businessman and CEO to a flourishing pharmaceutical company and even more importantly, grandson to Voltiare Hiwatari, the very well known and respected Chief of Surgery at BeyCity National where Max's mother Judy and Tala's father worked at. It was also the Hospital both Takao and his brother Hiro, in his final years of medical school, aspired to work at; something he knew he shared with Kai. If the extreme wealth and popularity wasn't enough, the fact that Kai was tall dark haired and aesthetically appealing to the eye and the star of the football team, the only sport BeyCity truly only ever cared about, as well as Student Body President with an academic record to rival Tala's was enough for people to delegate him to the status of a God.

Takao hadn't ever really talked to him. From what he could tell, Kai only ever really came across as aloof and cold. Maybe a little emotionally constipated. But he never gave it any thought; not really one to make assumptions based on nothing. He shook his head, focusing back on the task he hoped to finish before the bell rang. He hated leaving his work incomplete.

Being the only student without a lab partner, the blunette realized he was a little behind everyone else; struggling to finish the practical and fill out the appropriate readings and calculations on the sheet. He was furiously scribbling away across the last question, clicking away at his calculator when he felt someone bump into his shoulder roughly as they tried to pass him by. The blunette swore as his flask tilted and fell with a thud against the tiled counter, thankfully not breaking into a million glass peices. The small amount of liquid that it contained spilled over the counter and slightly over Takao's worksheets.

Brushing over the apologetic girls pleas with a soft 'it's alright', he quickly rummaged through his lab coat's pockets for a tissue, furiously trying to clean away his belongings from the mess.

He blinked as a wad of clean tissue papers appeared in his vision as a tan hand slowly splayed them over the growing stain. He looked up in confusion to see the bright smiling face of Rei, who only nodded at him in return.

"Thought you could use a little help. You seemed a little overwhelmed." Takao blinked before snorting slightly.

"Hardly, I usually manage like this on a daily basis. My lab partners absence doesn't really make a difference. But thanks." He smiled softly at him, as he took the remaining tissues from Rei's hands, dabbing them gently against the corners of his worksheet.

The tall dark haired boy only stared at him in question before nodding once again, "Well, I'll leave you to it. Be careful of rogue limbs." The amber-eyed chinese grinned as Takao rolled his eyes. "See you around Takao." Which startled the bluenette.

"Wait, you know my name?"

Rei nodded at him slowly, unsure as to why Takao sounded so confused. "Three of our subjects are the same and we are in all of the same classes. Wait, do you know mine?"

"Yeah. Seriously?" Takao grinned slightly as Rei flushed, scratching his arm slightly.

"Dumb question, huh." Which got him another amused stare from Takao before they settled into an awkward silence; the kinds of which the blunette really hated. They stared at each other for a fraction of a second; even though it seemed longer to Takao, as everyone else bustled around them, finishing up their work.

"Well um. I have my work. So. Yeah. Thankyou. For the tissues." Fuck. Takao cringed as he mumbled through his words trying to come up with something witty and un-boring as Rei raised an eyebrow at him before chuckling slightly.

This is why he had no friends. His conversational skills could rival his athletic ability. Which was in negatives.

"I'll see you around." And with a nod, Rei left, leaving Takao to blink at his retreating back before sighing.

Hilary, I need a personality. ASAP. - Takao

are you really texting me in class? ME? I raised you better. Now shush. I'm trying to get this Fund Raiser on track. - Hilary

With a frustrating sigh, Takao turned around, ready to finish up as quick as possible and sneak in a snack before Biology. There was no better therapy for inner teenage angst than food.

-gp-

"My mom misses you. More than me. Literally." Hilary rolled her eyes as Tala gave out a short laugh besides her as they made their way through the growing crowd, aiming for the Cafeteria. The brunette girl frowned as she opened her phone to see that there was, yet again, no reply from Hiwatari over the ammendents to the schedule for their Fund Raiser. She huffed as Tala manuevered her by a grip on her elbow through a group of rowdy boys near the Art Department.

"I can't help if my sunny disposition and sparkling personality appeals to her more than your neurotic ass. When was the last time you actually set down to eat a proper family lunch with her?"

"Yesterday! Really. I even helped her lay out the dishes and everything. Honestly. Don't people realize how exhausting being Class President is?" Tachibana crinkled her nose as they both got in line behind the lunch lady's counter. The sharp smell of meat made her stomach churn.

Tala looked at her in question. "What, Max isn't converting you to his vegan ways is he?" Hilary only shook her head.

"Just a sudden bout of nausea. Which is pretty normal considering what they serve us for 'food' around here." Tala nodded, lips drawn in a thin line.

They both balanced their trays as they made their way to their usual seats. The absence of Max or Takao made him realize just how long it had been since it'd been just him and Hilary. Whilst Hilary had been the one who grew up with Takao, being in the same lane, and it was Tala's father and Max's mother Judy who worked together; Hilary and him were the ones who had always clicked. Well before Max and Takao met at the former's Dad's cafe. The sudden bout of nostalgia made the corners of the redhead's mouth curl up in a smile.

Hilary poked at him with her plastic spoon.

"You're smiling to yourself again. It's creepy." Tala only snorted as he attempted to dig into today's special.

"How's The Beetle going? I swear I have no idea how you're jugging all of this together Hil'. Do you even sleep? I bet you dream about planning events, don't you?"

Hilary frowned. "That was one time okay. And it was your birthday party, you ungrateful turd. And it was amazing." She sniffed as Tala laughed out loud.

"Tell your Mom I'll come over soon this week. I miss her cooking." He smiled softly. Neither him nor his Dad were culinary gods, and with his Dad being out at work most of the time, they mostly resorted to takeouts more times than Tala felt comfortable with.

"Careful. Once you come inside, she'll never let you leave." Hilary snorted. "She still plans our wedding, do you know that?" The pale boy huffed.

"Isn't it about time you told her I'm gay? I thought she knew about Bryan?" The brunette only shrugged.

"Besides I can't believe your Mom doesn't know about your unhealthy and boderline illegal thing for Johnny." The girl spluttered, cheeks growing hot.

"I do not-what-I-Tala!" She got a knowing look in return; and sometimes she hated her bestfriend for using her own tricks against her.

"He's just helping me out at The Beetle. Rickards is a dumb jock, you insult my taste clueless one. I just don't want him ruining my work."

"Don't you mean Kenny's?" Tala grinned as he ducked to avoid a swipe.

"You take that back, bitch. I have just as much say in the matter as Kenneth." She rolled her eyes at the mention of the skinny brown haired bespectacled boy she worked under. The only reason she hadn't gotten the Chief position was because last year's Editor-in-Chief had had it out for her.

"Speaking of the guy, I have to go. I promised to meet up with him before lunch ended. Rei sent in some of his club's shots and we want to go over them with the Princie." Tala only nodded in response as Hilary moved to pack up her belongings. She eyed the uneaten plate of food distastefully. "Home-made lunches it is."

"Preach!" Tala called out after her, grinning slightly, as she moved to exit the large hall.

He was just contemplating leaving his own tray and seeking out Takao who was probably stuck at his Biology Lab overtime. They both had Math next so seeking his other friend out wouldn't be completely pointless. Tala was just getting up and heaving his bag over his shoulder when his phone buzzed.

Hey. Can we talk? - Bryan.

The readhead frowned, and stared at the message for a couple of seconds. He rubbed his thumb over the screen a few times, and the option to reply popped up. Tala stared at the screen for a few seconds longer, biting his lower lip. He sighed as he quickly typed in a few words and closed the screen.

Can't. Meeting up with Tee before Math. Maybe tomorrow? - Tala

With a determined sigh, Tala continued forward, ignoring the lingering sense of something heavy along the lines of guilt at the back of his head.

He wasn't ready; not yet.

-gp-

Takao groaned as he moved his way past the front door, dropping his bag by the side heavily. Taking off his shoes, he trotted across the hallway, feet sinking into the soft carpet, as he turned to enter the living room. His Grandfather, Ryuuji Kinomiya, lay across the couch, eyes closed; hands propped up behind his head.

With a soft sigh, the bluenette crossed by him into the kitchen; grabbing a bowl and a carton of milk and plopping both near a box of CocoPops. There was a time to eat healthy, and then there was a time to get a sugar rush before his shift at work started. He eat his cereal quietly, except for the sound of his chewing, as he took in the silence of his home.

The Kinomiya residence hadn't ever been the most lively of places, unlike say Max's. It resembled more of Tala's households. But unlike Tala, whose Dad sought his work as a way to try to cope with his wife leaving him and his growing distance with his only son, Takao's home had always been like this, even before his parents death when he was seven. They were renowend archaeologists who travelled the world wherever their career and passion took them, managing to make a trip once a year; delegating the rest of their communication through Skype calls and postcards. Cards that Takao had soon stopped anticipating once the messages had started to stray from being warm and full of love to formal and curt; a necessity if not anything else. So he was used to it, he admitted, being alone.

It got better when his older brother visited from his University every weekend to torment him into oblivion; Hiro had a knack for cheering up Takao even when he didn't realize himself that he needed a lift up, despite being overprotective irritating and boderline controlling. His brother was his family; always had been, just like his Grandfather. And he'd always love both of them to his hearts content.

There was a time when Takao would have wanted more. He would have complained about the injustice of everything when he saw how Taro Tate doted on his son, or how Judy did everything she possibly could to make her family happy despite her hectic job which she loved very much. How Mrs Tachibana struggled to get her daughter to spend more time with her when her husband left early in the morning and came back late at night from the Bank exhausted and only wanting to sleep. How Hilary sometimes shrugged off two loving parents unknowingly when Takao never got the chance to have even one.

But he had a family, unlike Tala. Tala with a broken home and negligent father who only saw his cheating wife when he looked back at his redheaded son. Tala who drove himself into his studies to make his father notice him, acknowledge him; want him. Tala who for all his logistics and thinking, couldn't fathom how a mother of all people couldn't want her own son. Because wasn't it a mothers love that was unparalled? It was unfathomable to him. Like some equation he couldn't solve. An equation that he deemed incomplete. Tala who still tried, even after his father more or less shunned him when he came out, or when he told him he wanted to pursue a career in Writing rather then the Accountant Mr Ivanov wanted.

Takao knew what he had lost, but his loss was never that great, for how could he miss something that was never there to begin with? So sometimes when he noticed the silence, the emptiness, he felt angry. Felt something curl in the pit of his stomach, something inside of him knawing, for acceptance, for attention. For someone to want him. Someone not bound by the obligations of family. Someone who put him first. Someone who didn't amount his worth to meaningless one minute calls a year and a handful of empty postcards.

But sometimes, he saw his Grandfather and his brother, and while it wasn't ideal, he knew it was as good as it was going to get. And he felt lucky. Because at least he had something; and that was enough for him.

His phone buzzed, drawing Takao out of his musing. Putting down his spoon in his empty bowl, Takao drew it out, and gave out a burst of laughter.

(") look! itsa penguin. my emo snses wer tnglin. u ddntt txt me whn u gt home. stp being moody. i wll punch u. i will empty ur fridge whn im over nxt. - Max

Yes, he was happy. More than he remembered ever being growing up.

-gp-

"Takao! Look Hil. It's Takao!" Max giggled from beneath the cocoon of sheets he was bundled in. Beside him, on his bed, Hilary only grunted from the Skype call screen, scribbling away at her notebook and mumbling about 'budget cuts and asshole bosses'.

"Heeey. Your Dad said you were awake. My shift just ended." Takao grinned as he moved to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Max poked him with his foot through the layer of sheets.

"What's up? Missed me today? How'd you survive? I bet you were lost without me. Lost."

Takao only snorted. "I have a new lab partner." The blonde gasped dramatically and glared.

"How could you do this to me. Who is this punk." The blunette laughed as his friend made a threatening motion with his hands.

"You're 5'4, 110 pounds wet, dork. Worse thing you can do guilt someone to death." He recieved a damp pillow in return.

"I sincerely hope this is wet because you just took a shower. Or this friendship is over." Max only cackled in response.

"So Hilary mentioned that there's this party Johnny's throwing over the weekend." Max started, and Takao snorted.

"Oh did she?" PixelHilary only huffed in response. ("Don't even start." Which got her a grin in return.)

"So I think we should go!" This got the blonde a questionable look from Takao.

"Parties aren't really our scene. Especially since Tala wants to disappear into the earth whenever Bryan's around. Need we forget Hiro comes over on the weekends?"

"Just think about it Kinomiya. I'm sure Hiro'll understand once he realizes I'll be going too. I always was the moral compass of you dorks." Hilary casually mentioned, scratching at a cheek. Beside Max, Bilbo pawed at his laptop slowly which caused Takao's eye to twitch.

"I'll ask Mom to pick both of you up if Tala decides to not go because he's lame like that and officially a hermit." She continued after a pause.

"Yeah because that's super cool." Max huffed. "Maybe we can ask Kenny? He's like right next door. I think he has his license too."

"Stick figure Kenny? Really?" Hilary pursued her lips in thought, and then shrugged. "Who knew."

Takao sighed as turned to see Max and Hilary looking at him imploringly. And then he saw an image of Tala with Bryan, and Johnny, and as weird as it is, Rei lastly. Why was he designated the role of wallflower all of a sudden? Sure he didn't think he had time to date, metaphorical group asexual plant and everything, but he deserved to have a social life. Unlike Max and Hilary who were reasonably well known, and even Tala who had Bryan and Spencer, how many people did he know?

"Sure, I'm in." To which Max let out of battle cry of victory and Hilary immediately went into a rant of what she was going to wear. Takao grinned, suddenly feeling light and elated on the inside.

Tala, I think I'm fun now. LOL. - Takao

Ssh. No time for ridiculous untruths. Econ test tomorrow. - Tala

Takao only rolled his eyes in response and made to turn off the screen when he noticed a light notification popup in the status bar; it was from FaceBook.

Confused, because he wasn't really active on there a lot except when Max forced him to wallpost each other because of some weird 'best friend right of passage', he clicked on it. Gazing at the bright screen, the corners of the stunned dark haired boys lips turned up into a soft smile.

You have one new friend request from: Rei Kon
If you know this person, click Confirm, otherwise Ignore.

-gp-

Chapter 1, end.

Author's end notes: So I decided to submit this nonsense up. Tell me what this looks like? Review and tell your friends to read this too? I love reviews. I really appreicate it guys. Do you like this version more than the last?

Who are your favorite characters? Awkward Hipster Music Lover Takao, Artistic Bubbly Max, Studious uptight dramatic Tala or Perfectionist Girl in Love but in Denail Hilary?

I know this chapter didn't really focus on Kai or Rei a lot, briefly mentioned Michael and Bryan. And left little to no mention of Hiro Johnny and Kenny. But by second chapter it'll be more around Rei and Kai.

Chapter 2: Rei and Kai's epic broship, Introduction to Hiro, Some forward growth for Tala and Bryan and a sneak at their past, Kenny has more lines, Johnny gets lines, and another Michael/Max scene.

Because highschool sucks and this has a lot of interlinked complicated relationships, and includes their parents too. Just in case this gets confusing:

Takao and Kai take Physics Chemistry Biology and Math and want to pursue Medicine, Rei takes Physics Chemistry and Math with Lee and wants to go into Engineering, Max takes Physics Art Math and Chemistry and is looking into Architecture, Tala is taking English because he wants to be a Writer but because of his Dad's pressure into being an Accountant he takes Math and Economics, Hilary is taking English MassComm and Thinking Skills with Kenny and Chemistry as a bonus and aspires to go into Event Management.

Hiro is in his final years of medical school. Max's mom and Tala's dad are coworkers and work under Kai's grandfather who is the chief of surgery. Max's Dad owns a Cafe where Takao works part time. Tala's mom left them when he was five. Hilary's dad is a Banker and her mom is unemployed. Kai's Dad is a successful CEO and Ray's parents like Takao's are dead and his guardian is his Uncle and he lives with Lee and Mariah. Takao and Hilary grew up together whilst Max and Tala knew each other because of their parents. Two groups met when Takao started working for Max's father.

Rei is in the track team and head of the Photography Club, Hilary is Class President and Editor of the Magazine The Beetle whilst Kenny is Editor in Chief and Max's neighbour. Kai is Student Body President and Football Captain, Michael is a star Baseball player. Bryan Spencer and Tala are good friends. Hilary's mom wants Tala and Hilary to be together. She doesn't know he's gay. Kai and Hilary are oranizing Fund Raiser.

UHHH. Yeah. So this is super messed up. Ive got all these eleven kids fleshed out a bit in their background so its difficult to translate it onto this story. So if it gets confusing just ask me or uh read this recap ^ of sorts I'll post at the end of every chapter. Any questions, feel free to ask me.

Please read and review. (:

Kai/Takao/Rei love triangle, hints of Brooklyn/Kai

Michael/Max, past!Emily/Max

slowbuild!Hiro/Tala, past!Bryan/Tala

eventual!Kenny/Hilary, onesidedJohnny/Hilary