"This has got to stop," Yaten growled, crossing his arms across his chest. His green eyes glittered dangerously as he regarded Seiya from across the room. The handsome, black-haired singer was leaning casually against the receptionist's desk, flirting openly with her. "He acts like he's God's gift to women!"

Taiki shrugged noncommittally. "He is, really. Everyone seems to be smitten with our proverbial 'golden boy'," he stated matter-of-factly.

Yaten snorted, then blinked as an idea came to him. "Taiki, you're a genius!"

"Well, yes," the tallest Light replied slowly, "but I don't see what that has to do with anything."

Yaten smirked, an expression that somehow did not seem to detract from the handsome boy's features. "Not yet, you don't, but you just gave me a great idea..."

* * *

Seiya yawned again as he strolled out into the living room, rubbing his hand through is thick, dark hair, trying to wake up. He just was not a morning person.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead. I made you breakfast," Yaten’s voice floated out from the kitchen.

Seiya sniffed and headed to the dining room table, his stomach rumbling. He sat down and Yaten exited the kitchen bearing a tray loaded with fish, rice and fruit. The smaller boy set this in front of Seiya, then asked politely, "Would you like some tea?"

Bleary-eyed, Seiya nodded and reached for the food. Then, he stopped. "Hey. Wait a minute. *You* cooked this?" All thoughts of sleep were forgotten as he stared at Yaten, open-mouthed in amazement. The look on Yaten's face almost made him choke on his tongue. Rather than being angry, like Seiya expected, Yaten actually looked *hurt*! "Er, I mean, that is, thank you. It smells wonderful," he added lamely, taking a bit of fish and popping it into his mouth. He blinked in surprise. It actually *was* good, and he told the silver-haired boy so.

Seiya almost choked at the look of sublime happiness that seemed to suffuse Yaten's face at this. "I'm glad you like it!" Yaten beamed. Then he did the damnedest thing yet: he blushed.

'What the…?' Seiya wondered to himself as Yaten returned to the kitchen to fetch his tea.

"Ohayo gozaimasu!" Taiki greeted Seiya cheerfully as he entered the dining room. As usual, Taiki looked wide-awake. He'd probably been up for quite some time already, Seiya thought to himself. He was surprised as the tallest Light held out some papers to him. "I took the liberty of correcting your homework for you," he said as Seiya took them and looked them over. "I went ahead and finished your English essay for you as well. I hope you don't mind."

Mind! That thing had been such a thorn in his side, he was beyond grateful. He was about to tell Taiki that when his voice just died. Taiki had taken a seat across from him and was staring at him, chin in hand, elbow on table. The look was... creepy. "Nanio, Taiki?" the athletic Light said, eyes narrowing.

Taiki's violet eyes blinked as if rousted from some inner thoughts. "Hmm? Nandemonai," he said, taking a napkin from the table as Yaten exited the kitchen. Then *Taiki* blushed.

'What in the Nine Hells is going on????' Seiya gaped inwardly, thinking his friends had gone insane. They were being nice. They were taking care of him. They were *blushing*. It was almost as if...

Seiya took the tea from Yaten and sipped, then almost choked at the deep look the smaller boy gave him before heading back into the kitchen. Yaten WINKED at him! For the love of God...

"Are you ok?" Taiki asked, leaning forward in obvious concern.

Seiya felt his eyebrow start to twitch. "What are you doing?"

"Doing?" Taiki echoed, his face the precise mixture of innocence and confusion that set Seiya's teeth on edge.

"Yes. Doing. You did my homework. Yaten made breakfast. Oh my God - did you wreck the car?"

Taiki's face shifted slightly, looking wounded in the way only Taiki could. "Why do you say such things?" he asked quietly, with as much dignity as he could muster.

Seiya blinked. He tried again. "No offense, but we're usually not like this," he said, waving his arm towards Yaten, who set a tray in front of Taiki, then paused. Now *both* of them looked hurt. "What?"

Taiki started eating his breakfast without comment, but Yaten stalked off to his room. The slamming of his door made the walls shake. Seiya threw his head back and sighed. What had gotten INTO these two??? Looking back down, he saw that the brunette had begun to play with his food, a sure sign that he was distressed. Seiya frowned, then stood. He walked over to Taiki and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry, ok? That wasn't very nice of me. You know how we are, though. I thought you were up to something." When Taiki didn't respond, he gave the shoulder under his hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry, ok?"

Taiki slowly looked up at Seiya, and the black-haired singer almost took a step backwards. The look Taiki gave him was indescribable. At least, it would have been describable if it had come form someone else, but not *Taiki*! "Sure, Seiya," he said, reaching up and patting Seiya on the wrist. Then he stroked it gently. "I understand."

Seiya felt his own cheeks turn pink as he gave his friend a wan smile then walked off to Yaten's room. As soon as the coast was clear, Taiki's head ducked down and his shoulder shook in silent mirth.

* * *

Seiya could have sworn he heard a sniffle come from behind Yaten's door. 'What is going on here???' he wailed to himself. He knocked at the closed door then he heard a thump - probably Yaten throwing something at the door.

"Go away!"

Seiya sighed. Man or woman, Yaten was the pissiest person he knew. Some things never change. "Yaten, it's Seiya. If you just--"

There was a crash, as something breakable was hurled at the door. "I said go away!"

"Oh, come on. (crash) Don't be (thud) like this! (bang) Look, I didn't mean (slam) to insult you, Yaten. Your cooking (crash) was really very good. Please don't be like ---" he jumped backwards as the door flew open.

Yaten's eyes were red, though no evidence of tears could be seen. His normally perfect hair stood akimbo, and he looked at Seiya with a mixture of anger and regret. "You... liked my cooking?"

Seiya's jaw worked for a moment, digesting this. "Umm, yeah, actually, I did. It was really nice. You're a great cook," he gushed, seeing Yaten's features soften with each word. "And I wanted to thank you for taking the time to make it for me," he added.

To this, Yaten beamed. "No problem! Actually, I was just getting ready to make your lunch. You like chicken, right?" The silver-haired boy practically glowed as Seiya nodded dumbly. "Great! I'll just go do that then!" Yaten reached out and gave Seiya's arm a friendly squeeze, then zipped off into the kitchen.

"I must be losing my mind," Seiya muttered, heading into his room to pick up his books for school.

* * *

School didn't make things much better, as far as Seiya was concerned. Every time he went to talk to Odango, either Taiki or Yaten would glare at him. Or both. The singer knew his friends didn't like him associating with the humans, but for the most part they let him alone. Today, however, was different. If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn they were acting jealous!

To make matters worse, from time to time, he would feel as if someone was staring at him. Normally, this didn't bother him because as an idol, he was usually in the thick of things. Besides, he *was* Kou Seiya, after all. But what really drove him insane was the fact that he'd look up and see Taiki just staring at him. Thank God Yaten was behind him; he had no idea if the silver-haired boy was doing the same thing, but he would bet money he was.

What. The. Hell?

When Yaten meekly presented Seiya his lunch, even Minako's jaw dropped. The smaller boy gave the blonde an irritated look, then sat, staring, as Seiya tried to eat. The athletic boy gave Yaten an exasperated look, which made him visibly wilt. Seiya overheard Makoto asking Ami, "What's with Yaten-kun?"

Ami just gave her a wide-eyed look and a shrug, as if to say, "I have absolutely no idea." Then she nodded in Taiki's direction. With a sinking stomach, Seiya's blue eyes followed the nod.

Glasses perched on the end of his nose, the brunette seemed to be writing at a furious pace. Every once in a while, he'd look up at Seiya thoughtfully, then start writing again. Seiya looked over at Ami, his blue eyes wide. She gave him a little shrug, then went back to the book she had been reading.

Seiya picked up a rice ball and as he was about to bite into it, he saw Yaten was staring at him again, this time in an almost eager fashion. Seiya closed his eyes in irritation and popped the rice ball in his mouth, his eyebrow spasming as he chewed.

* * *

Thankfully, rehearsals went off without a hitch. For whatever reasons, both boys behaved themselves perfectly. Even the photo shoot afterward seemed normal, with the three of them in close quarters, posing under the hot lights for hours. Yaten had even snapped at him peevishly, for which the black-haired singer was actually grateful.

Seiya sank down on the futon with a sigh of relief. A couple hours of homework and then...

"Ne, Seiya?"

Yaten stood next to the futon, his hands clasped in front of him and his head bowed. His silvery hair hid is face, but his posture spoke of nervousness. 'Oh Gods,' Seiya thought to himself. 'What now?'

"I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier."

Seiya was floored. Yaten *apologizing*? His jaw dropped open in utter astonishment.

"I hope you can forgive me."

He actually sounded like he meant it! Seiya stared at Yaten like the proverbial deer in the headlights, unable to do or say anything. The smaller boy looked up and it took every ounce of restraint for him not to laugh out loud. Instead, he pasted on a hurt look and knelt before Seiya. "Please? Forgive me?" he asked softly, putting his hand on Seiya's knee.

Seiya almost jumped out of his skin at that. "What are you DOING?" he gasped, looking at his friend as if he'd gone insane - which was exactly what Seiya thought he'd done.

Looking as if he were about to cry, Yaten sniffled and looked away. Seiya saw his slim shoulder droop as if in defeat. "Please don't be angry with me," he whispered through his hair. "I couldn't bear it."

"Couldn't...bear... it? Since WHEN?" Seiya roared, causing Yaten to flinch visibly. "You always bait me. Since when do you care if I'm angry, other than to gloat?"

Yaten looked up and Seiya felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Two silvery tears slid down his friend's cheeks. "You hate me..."

Reeling, the black-haired singer fell mute. This was too crazy. He simply couldn't fathom what was going on. Instead, he just shook his head numbly.

"You do so, or how could you say such things to me? I..." Yaten bowed his head again and his shoulders shook. Seiya looked on helplessly. This was too crazy! His teammates were going insane, and they were taking him with them!

Against his better judgment, he reached out and lay a hand on those shoulders, giving them a soft pat. "Gomen nasai," he muttered, though what he was sorry for, he wasn't sure. "But you say such things, too, you know..."

"Only (hic) because I care..." Seiya saw Yaten pull a handkerchief out of the inner pocket of his coat then blow his nose, loudly. "It's just how I am."

Seiya felt himself blushing as he digested that bit of information. "Care?"

Yaten looked up, his green eyes staring at him intently. "Hai," he murmured, putting his hand, sans handkerchief, back on Seiya's knee, giving it a suggestive squeeze. At the stricken look Seiya gave him, Yaten had to bow his head again or lose it. His shoulders shook again, but Seiya assumed it was in grief.

At just this precise moment, Taiki walked into the room. Seeing Yaten on his knees before Seiya, the brunette frowned. "Just what is going on here?" he snapped peevishly. Seiya's eyes widened. That was a tone he'd *never* heard from Taiki before!

"Er... ummm...well, you see..." Seiya began lamely, only to fall silent at the glare Taiki gave him. Then his features softened.

"It's OK, Seiya. I'll try not to be jealous."

"Jealous?" Seiya yelped, his eye bugging out, staring at Taiki in horror.

The brunette came over and stat on the futon next to Seiya, and he almost lost it when Seiya hurriedly backed away, bumping Yaten in his haste. "Jealous," Taiki said calmly, gesturing to Yaten, who had recovered himself and was looking at Seiya intently. "I can share."

Seiya could only look at his two friends in mute horror.

Yaten nodded and rubbed Seiya's knee again. "I can, too," he purred, all trace of anguish gone.

The look Seiya gave them was priceless, and finally Yaten lost his composure. He howled with laughter, and even Taiki's shoulders shook. When Seiya's features dissolved from horror to puzzlement, the boys laughed all the louder. Tears were running down Yaten's face again, and Taiki had to remove his glasses to wipe his eyes.

Finally, it dawned on Seiya that he'd been had. "You...sick...little...bastards." He turned red, then purple. But the laughter was contagious, and eventually he had to give into it. After all, it was a good joke. "That was horrible!" he roared, thumping Yaten, who immediately jumped up and socked him in the arm. "OUCH!"

"I've been wanting to do that all day!" Yaten smirked, and all three of them laughed.