A/N: So a few people liked chapter 1 so I'm going to continue posting this story. Updates may not always be so frequent because I'll be back at college in September.
Once more, thank you to my best friend, Hannah! Without her, this chapter would be crappy!
Friday morning dawned bright and early. Setagawa woke slowly, still in the flat he had previously shared with his mother.
He rolled on to his side. The shock of the unexpected parental abandonment had yet to fully wear off and he still hadn't decided what to tell Kousuke and Ken. On one hand, he didn't want to lie to them but he knew that they would pry and he knew that Kousuke would definitely be upset that he had missed four days of school for what was probably a minor issue.
It had taken some time, but, in the end, Setagawa decided he would attend school today and he would try to avoid telling the two brothers about the cause for his absence. If they harried him too much he could just say he had gotten ill.
Plan decided, Setagawa got ready for the day. Most of his stuff had been carefully packed into cardboard boxes that now littered the floor in his room, leaving just his school uniform and bag. As expected, his mother had already taken all her belongings and had emptied the family savings pot that he had only occasionally donated to. It was unsurprising, really, but he would miss this flat and of course his mother. He couldn't even contact her.
Putting these thoughts aside, for now, the blond left the flat and locked it behind him before starting the trek toward school. As he walked he planned; tomorrow he would move all the boxes to his new place. It would take a few hours for sure because he couldn't hire a van or anything to help him carry the stuff over and he was not going to bother anyone else to help him.
He also had another 8-hour shift at work almost straight after school today so he wouldn't be able to hang out with his friends again. He doubted they really missed him though - they did have another person who could cook, after all.
In no time at all, he had made it to the school gates. The blond haired boy took a deep breath in and slowly breathed out, trying to ease his nerves, and plastered a smile to his face. He had been about to step into the gate when he noticed Kousuke standing inside the entrance to the building. Startled, he took a step back and hid out of view. Why was he so nervous? He was being stupid.
After taking, and releasing, another deep breath, Setagawa felt as ready as he would ever be and walked through the gate and up to the school trying to act as if he hadn't even seen Kousuke.
This, of course, failed completely. Damn Kousuke for his Setagawa-radar! He inwardly cursed as the older man made a bee-line over to him.
"Oh… um… Good morning Kou- er… Sensei." Stumbled Setagawa, blushing slightly at his inability to speak coherently.
"Good morning, Masahiro. Not skiving today?"
The blond paled. Of course, Kousuke would think he skived school. He really should have called in sick!
It was too late for that now though.
"I've been ill," he mumbled under his breath, knowing that Kousuke wouldn't let him go until he had somewhat explained his absence. "Sorry."
"Hmm." Kousuke seemed suspicious, "Why didn't you ring me? You haven't even texted Kensuke."
If that wasn't enough to make him feel bad, then he didn't know what was. He really hadn't thought this far ahead.
"Ah, my phone wasn't charged." He decided to say.
Kousuke looked kind of concerned now and he saw why. Kousuke knew his mother wasn't the caring type which meant that he thought that Setagawa had been home alone and ill for four whole days.
It was too late to backtrack now but he could downplay it a bit.
"It was fine really, I had mum there to look after me." He blatantly lied, refusing to look up into Kousuke's eyes. He doubted Kousuke would believe him at all.
Luckily for him, the bell rang and Kousuke walked away without even saying goodbye.
His heart dropped into his stomach. Kousuke was angry. The man knew he'd been lying. It hurt so badly, but it was too late to change his story now.
After changing his shoes, Setagawa walked slowly to his homeroom class. He entered the room and apologised for being late before turning around to find in his seat. Kensuke looked overjoyed to see him and smiled widely, which Setagawa returned. At least one person didn't hate him.
Kensuke had easily bought his story about being ill and had insisted that Setagawa should take it easy today. Instead of complaining like he usually would, Setagawa accepted the suggestion. He was tired. Between working and preparing to move it felt like he hadn't got a decent night of sleep in a long time and he had work later.
The blond boy managed to avoid Kousuke for the rest of the day and left straight after the bell went to run to work.
Unfortunately, Kensuke had noticed that Setagawa had been avoiding Kousuke and that Kousuke seemed to be suspicious of Setagawa.
"Do you think that my brother thinks that Setagawa is cheating?" Kensuke had turned to his own boyfriend for help, "He seems upset at Setagawa."
"Hmm, perhaps." The boy said noncommittally, "Why don't we follow him or something?" He ended up suggesting.
Kensuke thought about it for a while. "How about after he finishes work we follow him home?" He countered, "We won't find out by watching him work!"
Hasekura reluctantly agreed. He had wanted to get some free ramen with the vouchers he had been given.
The two waited until it was late enough that Setagawa would have finished work and stood around the corner from the ramen shop waiting for him.
At last, the boy had left the restaurant and had started to walk home. Kensuke and Hasekura followed from a distance, hiding within the shadows. Setagawa didn't meet up with anyone on the way home and the lights were off in his home so there was no-one waiting for him. They watched Setagawa unlock the door and step in. Less than a minute later, the lights were turned on. Kensuke walked up to the flat and looked through the little window next to the door.
All he could see in the flat were boxes. They were piled up near the front door as if they were going to be taken somewhere else.
"No way… He's moving?" Kensuke was shocked. How could Setagawa not tell him?