Teito sat on the school rooftop, alone. Again.

Another average day had dragged by, resulting in Teito having to commend himself for withstanding the harsh insults constantly thrown by his superiors.

And by superiors, he meant fellow students.

It was odd, really. They all shared the same hateful looks, glaring at his very existence, as if it was a sin within itself. All except for one, strange boy who actually spared him a second glance, and along with it, a smile.

He was probably the worst of all.

Who on earth had the right mind to linger around someone else's thoughts, without permission? They would have to be closer than that before Teito ever let that boy into his life! No way in hell was he letting his walls fall down without a fight..

Nonetheless, he shrugged the uneventful sequence of the day off, as he took a sip of milk.

"Hey, Teito! I knew I'd find you up here!"

Speak of the devil?

"Mikage? What are you doing up here?"

Mikage merely shrugged, "Skipping class again, I see?"

Teito shrugged as well, "That's none of your concern."

"Yeah, I know.", he agreed with an earnest smile, "Either way, you always have your lunch up here alone. I figured I would eat with you today! You could probably use a bit of good, quality company."

"That's not necessary, thank you.", he sighed as he stared down at his milk, taking a sip before grabbing a handful of pills.

"H-Hey!", shrieked Mikage as he snatched the jar of pills out of his hand, "What is that?"

He said nothing, barely amused as he pointed out the label.

"O-Oh..", he sighed in half-relief, "Protein pills. I thought they were drugs or something!"

Teito rolled his eyes as he reclaimed the handful, chasing them down with some milk.

"Is that all you eat?"

He nodded as he wiped his mouth clean.

"That's not good! What if you pass out? You need to eat something else!"

"But I'm not hungry-"

"Come on!"

Before Mikage would allow any further protest, he'd dragged the boy down to the cafeteria and begged the lunch lady for her finest meal. She retorted, claiming something along the lines of 'eating too much will turn you into an idiot', most likely referring to Mikage, before handing Teito a large bowl of porridge.

"W-Why am I here!", Teito silently scolded himself, "I don't need to eat with Mikage, this kid is out of his mind! I-I just want to be alone!"

Sheepishly, and partially against his own wishes, he carefully sipped on the spoonful that was precariously placed, or, well, shoved, into his mouth by the prying blond.

And, well..it wasn't terrible.

Though, the kindness of it all was apparently just enough to send Teito to tears, as he now hid his face from view.

Mikage noticed, praising the almighty porridge, now pestering the lunch lady for more as he chanted nonsense about various foods, earning strange stares from the surrounding students.

The tears had stopped eventually and Teito had regained his clear sense of mind, but nonetheless he'd ended up eating with the boy.

The next morning, not much had changed. He'd avoided a few hateful glares here and there, but he was used to that. Nothing had become even remotely interesting until later that evening, while walking down the halls, back to his bunk house he unfortunately shared with none other than Mikage.

"Look! It's Teito!"

"Oh, I remember him! He's that kid everyone was talking about on the first day of school right?"

"That's him!"

"I heard he was a sklave!"

"No way! Do you think if we ordered him around a little, he'd do whatever we told him to?"

"If we tried!"

"I bet he'd do everything, just like a sklave!"

"Sklave's never change, do they?"

"Once a sklave, always a sklave."

"Hey, hey! If he's really a sklave, does that mean he's expendable?"

"I bet he is! If a meteor landed on this earth right now, and somehow managed to only hit him, nothing would change! Think of him as a..well, there's no better word for it really. He's a sklave!"

The gossip raged on, getting louder and louder by the minute. It was almost enough to make his ears bleed.

That's when he heard the word.

Expendable?

That's what they thought of him?

Nothing but a toy? A sklave? Something..Something to be used once, then thrown away?

Quickening his steps, he paced up to the roof with his lunch, again.

This time, he sat on the edge, overlooking the foreign world below. The great world he knew nothing about.

"What do they know?", he sighed, letting a single tear slip, "Allot more than I do."

For the most part, what they said was true.

"Once a sklave, always a sklave."

"He's expendable."

"Nothing would change if a meteor devastated him and only him right now!"

Teito covered both ears, in a vain attempt to block out the voices.

What was the purpose of saying those terrible things? What could possible feel so rewarding..putting down another human being in such a way? Didn't these people have a heart?

How would they feel if they had no memory of any bit of their childhood? If they were born into a kingdom on the verge of collapse! It's not like he had a say in any of this, right?

...Though, he supposed he did have a say in present tense.

Was that why they hated him?

Was it just..the very fact he existed that daunted them?

Because..that issue was actually quite repairable.

. . After all, it's not like anyone really needed him..He was more or less a blank slate.

With no memory of his past, no true purpose in life, he truly was expendable.

He was hollow.

And he hated it.

He took one last savoring sip of milk, before dropped his food.

Silently, before he allowed any chance of hesitation, he readied the zaiphon around his neck.

Just a single last will and-

"Teito!"

He was knocked to the ground.

"I-Idiot! What the hell are you doing!", he shouted angrily at the offending intruder.

"I could say the same to you!", he shouted back, pinning the boy to the floor, "Don't tell me you were about to do what I..what I think-"

"It doesn't concern you!"

"It absolutely concerns me!"

"Get out of here!"

"No way! Not until you tell me what's eating you!"

"Why do you care!", Teito demanded with tears in his eyes, "I'm expendable, don't you know that?!"

"Because I'm your friend!"

It was then and only then that Teito noticed.

Mikage had tears in his eyes as well, giving him a stern look that warned him not to make another sound.

"Do..Do you really think that I would let you off this easily?", he bitterly chuckled, "You're wrong. A-As if I would let my friend leave me! You're here for a reason, idiot! You can't throw that away!"

A moment of silence had passed between the two, few tears falling.

And after a while, Teito gave into his soul's demands, wrapping his arms around the blond's neck. Mikage returned the hug, whispering comforting thoughts into his ear.

Later that night, as all the rest slept soundly, he found Mikage's words resounding within his thoughts.

"Was I really going to do that?", he wondered.

Mikage seemed to sense the fear, as he crawled atop the bunk and silently greeted his fellow student.

"W-What are you doing!", he demanded.

"Sleeping up here."

"Why?!"

"..Why not?"

"I-Idiot!", he huffed silently as he was forced to one side of the bed, facing the wall.

For decency's sake, he kept his gaze averted..though he was sure he felt the other's gaze on his back.

In the end, the gap between them had closed, as Mikage drew him closer, wrapping an overly protective arm around his waist. Teito hadn't struggled, but he insisted that he wasn't enjoying the warmth.

The fight with Ayanami as Mikage had long since finished, leaving Teito desperately pulling what was left of his friends soul closer to himself, begging, longing for that warmth.

As Mikage dissolved, he was certain he'd heard the faintest of echoing words.

"I love you, Teito.", leaving Teito with only one thought.

"To the God whom I've ignored for so long..Please, tell Mikage, with all my heart, I love him too. Because now, I'll never have that chance."

A/N: Well this isn't accurate at all! *Shot dead

At least Mikage is reborn as a mini flying mint bunny! You still have your chance, Teito!