Summary: When Mika leaves for a week, Yuu is a little more than lonely. He can't focus on school and thoughts of the blond won't leave his mind, and to make matters worse, he's caught in class writing Mika's name in his notebook. No one took notice, did they?

Hey guys! I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but it helped get my mind off things, so I'm posting it anyway. Writing this one gave me some more ideas for future one-shots, so I hope you like it. Feel free to leave a review if you like – thank you to those that did! Enjoy!

Yuu-chan, I'll be gone for a week on vacation, but knowing you, I bet you'll barely even notice I'm gone!

Yuu rolled his eyes, Mika's voice entering into his thoughts as he stared blankly at his notebook that sat in front of him, his pencil tracing patterns along the margins. "Barely notice, my ass," Yuu muttered under his breath.

Mika had told him he'd be leaving for the beach with his parents and younger siblings for a week on Friday of the previous week, much to Yuu's discontent. Sure, Yuu had been happy for Mika – the beach was a lot of fun and Mika deserved some time to relax between all the schoolwork and caretaking of his siblings he did – but it also meant that Yuu would be alone for a week without his best friend around. He did have Shinoa, Yoichi, Mitsuba, and Kimizuki (as Mika had infuriatingly pointed out in response to Yuu's protest about him going) but, as much as he enjoyed hanging out with them, they were not Mika.

Mika made Yuu's classes pass a bit faster between passing notes, whispering funny jokes, exchanging funny, odd looks with each other, etc. Mika also kept him on track with his homework, helping him with any assignments he didn't understand and making sure he stayed focused. Sure, sometimes Yuu had a difficult time staying focused on school work when Mika was next to him (he couldn't help getting lost in the deep, depths of Mika's sapphire eyes or even watching how cute Mika looked as he focused on his work, biting his lip subconsciously as he concentrated) but when Mika was not around him, Yuu's thoughts would drift to him every so often, wondering what Mika was up to at the time or on some obscene daydream about a shirtless Mika at the beach that he dared not to share with anyone.

Now I realize how boring class is without him, Yuu thought, resting his head in his fist, his mind barely registering the teacher before him and some sidebar chatter from his classmates. He barely spoke to any of them, feeling most of them were selfish, entitled bastards who could shove their two-faced, condescending comments up their asses. Mika could stand them, but it didn't surprise Yuu that he could. That's Mika's personality, friendly toward everyone. Most times, this never bothered Yuu, as he got used to it over the years, but there were occasions where Yuu found himself feeling a little jealous at Mika's friendly manner towards other people, especially girls.

At first, Yuu had thought he felt that way because of Mika being his best friend – who wants to lose their best friend? – but as time went on, Yuu realized there had been a little more to the story. He realized this one night during spin the bottle…but that was a story for another time (or another fanfic hehe). So now, every time he watched Mika flirt with someone or flash them a friendly smile, he'd feel a pang of jealously, selfishly wishing Mika to turn that around on him. He wished he could be one of those girls who could effortlessly flirt with Mika without worrying about how Mika would react to it, but no, he had to be his best friend, unsure if he should even act on his feelings.

First I'd have to see if Mika is even interested in-

Snapping fingers jumped Yuu from his reverie, his eyes blinking to register his surroundings. He realized his teacher had moved from the front of the class to the front of his desk, the man's hand in front of Yuu's eyes. Yuu also noticed his classmates' stares and snickers, some sidebar conversations about whether he was an idiot for his inattention or if he was a savior from the daunting review floated around, Mr. Ichinose seeming to ignore them.

"Yuichiro, I hope whatever you're daydreaming about is going to help you pass the test tomorrow, because you have zoned out this entire class," Mr. Ichinose proclaimed casually, shrugging his shoulders. "You can choose to actually pay attention or you can choose to continue scribbling your crush's name in your notebook like some grade schooler. I know your crush would be flattered to hear you've been thinking about them, but I recommend digesting the material I'm throwing at you before you fail yourself out of my class, do you understand, Yuichiro?"

Yuu resisted sighing, rolling his eyes, and calling bullshit, merely replying with, "Yes, Mr. Ichinose, I understand."

Damn it, Mika. I bet you're having a great time at the beach while I'm here receiving a lecture on paying attention in class. I hope you're having a crappy time, you bastard. Leaving me alone in class like this, it isn't fair….

The minute class ended, Yuu ran out as quickly as he could, the eyes of his classmates staring down holes into his head after the interruption. He headed straight toward lunch, relieved the day was halfway over. This meant he was half a day closer to seeing Mika than he was yesterday – which is how he planned to focus his thinking. He knew counting down the days would only make time drag on longer than it already, just as it had in his previous class. Just as how even lunch seemed to be, even today he could feel Mika's missing presence.

"Why are you so moody today?"

Yuu's eyes settled onto Shinoa, her hands folding together to create a spot to rest her head as she set her dark pink eyes on Yuu. "You haven't said one word this whole lunch period, is it because your boyfriend isn't here?"

Yuu had been in the middle of swallowing a bite of his sandwich when he choked at her words, swallowing the chunk of food as a small blush crept over Yuu's cheek. "I don't know what you're talking about, Shinoa," Yuu answered, taking a sip of his drink. "I'm fine."

Damn, is it that noticeable that I miss Mika?

Shinoa didn't seem to buy it, an eyebrow raising as she leaned more forward, a sly grin on her lips. "You don't know what I'm talking about, is that right? Is that why you doodled his name all over your notebook in class today?"

Yuu's face grew beat red, his eyes widening in surprise, having forgotten Shinoa was in that class, the one he'd slacked off in. I am officially ruined.

Shinoa winked at him, giggling as she sat back in her seat. "You forgot that Mr. Ichinose said it loud enough for the whole class to hear, didn't you? It's alright, we can keep a secret."

"You have a crush on Mika?" Mitsuba sputtered at, her mouth hanging open as her violet eyes settling on Yuu with an almost sad look to them.

Shinoa, I am going to murder you for what you've started. If anyone else finds out about this, I am so dead. Why am I such an idiot? Did I have to write his name in the margins? No, I could have doodled something, anything else that would not have ruined my social life.

"W-what? I don't - no, Shinoa, you're dead! Um, you misunderstand, it wasn't Mika's name I wrote down, it was-" Yuu said nervously, biting his lip as he tried to think of some other name. He couldn't think of anything, his mind drawing a blank as he groaned inwardly, backing himself into a corner. He stood up and grabbed his backpack, dashing forward and shouting, "I gotta go, I'll just see you guys later!"

Yuu had no specific direction in mind – anywhere far away from the school's cafeteria seemed to be his main goal. He kept running until he found himself a small supply room that seemed to be used to store some random band equipment. The room was dark, only the light from the hallway flooding in from the window on the door. Holing up in here, Yuu set his backpack down and sat on the ground, digging out his notebook from class. He flipped it open to the page he'd drawn in during class, revealing rows of Mika's name, each name done in a similar handwriting style.

He closed the notebook and held it to his chest, sighing to himself. He had been surprised Kimizuki hadn't jumped straight in to make fun of him for drawing in his notebook. He felt fortunate for that, though. Shinoa's torture had been enough. And now she and all of their friends knew about his crush on Mika. How humiliating, he'd worked so hard to keep this a secret and now it had all fallen to shambles. Yuu wished he could lock himself away in this room forever, now dreading the day Mika came back.

He knew Shinoa wouldn't tell Mika what happened – luckily, she was not that type of person – but Yuu also knew she would drop small hints here and there, hints that could cause Mika to think and to consider the possibility, which scared Yuu. Hearing what Mika thought about this ordeal terrified him – if it scared him off, what would Yuu do from there?

Yuu didn't have much time to further dwell on it before the door opened before him, revealing an out-of-breath Yoichi standing before him. Yoichi stepped inside and closed the door, sitting across from Yuu as he tried to regain his breath.

"I came to make sure you were alright," Yoichi said, between huffs of breath. "Shinoa felt bad, but I told her I would take care of things. I'm sorry for what she said."

Yuu stuffed his notebook into his bag, his eyes averted from Yoichi. "I'm fine."

"You seemed upset… I hate to ask, but is it true? What Shinoa said?"

Yuu knew he could lie, but at this point, it seemed pointless in denying his crush. It had been obvious that Shinoa had been right, and Yuu knew that, especially with how he'd acted, racing out of the cafeteria as he had. So he nodded. "…yes."

"Why didn't you tell anyone sooner?"

Yuu frowned, raising an eyebrow at Yoichi. "What?"

Yoichi exhaled softly. "Did you not trust us to keep it a secret? I know Mika is the one you're closest to, but-"

Yuu shook his head, his heart doing a small flip at the mention of Mika's name. "No, it isn't because I didn't trust you guys. I just didn't want Mika to find out… I don't know if he feels the same way, you know?"

"I think you should talk to him."

Yuu's eyes grew wide with fear, the thought of admitting to Mika that he liked him overwhelming. He didn't think he would be able to do it, not without messing up fifty times before sputtering the words out. Not to mention, he faced rejection then, and, as much as he wouldn't mind finding out Mika's answer, he did not want to scare Mika off. He would much rather like Mika from afar than lose him. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"I think you might like what Mika would have to say if you did," Yoichi said casually, a sly smile playing on his lips.

Yuu narrowed his eyes, unsure how to feel about Yoichi's comment. Had he missed something? "Is there something that I don't know about?" Had Mika maybe mentioned something to him?

Yoichi shrugged, opening the door to leave. He paused, turning his head to look at Yuu. "I'll only say this, Mika asked us to keep an eye on you while he went on vacation. He worried you would be acting the way you are now – sad and lonely. He likes seeing you happy and smiling, and he wanted to make sure you stayed that way, so he said to call him if you weren't. Call him and talk to him." Yoichi left without another word, leaving Yuu alone.

Yuu dug into his bag for his cell phone, scrolling to find Mika's number, his thumb hesitating over the call button. He inhaled deeply and hit it, hearing the phone ring for a tantalizing seven seconds before Mika's beautiful, cheerful voice answered.

"Hello, Yuu-chan! Is everything alright?"

Yuu smiled, Mika's voice filling his stomach with butterflies, already providing him with some comfort. "Sort of, well, things will be better once I tell you something…"