The Week After
xxx
Seven Days
xxx
Saturday, PM
If there was any place in the world that he'd describe as perfect – the one place where he'd rather be at any given moment – Touji would always choose the mountains. There was something in the elevation of the terrain that made him feel that the sky was closer, the world was smaller, and that the heavens were almost within his reach. Being in the mountains always gave him a sense of calming solitude, a feeling that he was free to reflect and clear his head. It was here that he could afford to be more relaxed and carefree as he wished, more than he could ever be in any other location.
A cold breeze fanned against his face, ruffling his hair. Touji lifted his chin, glad for a moment to refresh himself after nearly thirty minutes of toil. He'd made quick work of gathering the needed firewood for the bonfire, accumulating a sizable pile all on his own. As expected, Yuzuru-san had contributed a pitiful number to the heap, distracted as he was with a great number of things, the least of which was gathering firewood. His upperclassman seemed more interested in sightseeing, and as Touji returned with yet another armful of sticks and driftwood, he noticed that Yuzuru-san had disappeared once again to goodness-knows-where.
"Yuzuru-san?" Touji called out, adding his burden to the collected stack before turning to survey his surroundings. Where had Yuzuru-san ran off to this time?
"Yuzuru-san?" Touji repeated, now more anxious than exasperated, his alarm increasing after the fifth unacknowledged call. Nothing bad could have happened to him, could it? He started running, shouting Yuzuru-san's name in a progressively louder voice. He was close to panicking already, head filled with the worst-case eventualities. But then he took a turn past a cluster of trees and nearly crashed into the person he was searching for. To his utter disbelief, Yuzuru-san was sound asleep.
Touji screeched to a halt. Of all unlikely places, Yuzuru-san had chosen to doze off on a grassy patch beneath the shade of a large tree – barely three meters away from a ravine! What on earth was he doing here? How could he even sleep like he wasn't in any immediate danger of rolling down the incline and plunging into the rocks below?
Touji shook his head. His first impulse was to scold Yuzuru-san, but after simulating the scenario inside his mind, Touji knew that he'd definitely lose the argument anyway. He gave it up, shrugged, and knelt down to shake the other boy awake.
"Yuzuru-san? It's dangerous to sleep here."
Yuzuru-san stirred and mumbled something that sounded like "five more minutes." Touji couldn't stop himself from smiling. Save for a housecat, he didn't know of any other creature that could snooze away as excessively as Yuzuru-san. Well, he corrected himself, maybe a bear in hibernation, but still…
"Yuzuru-san?" Touji tried again. "Wake up. We have to go."
Yuzuru-san cracked open an eye and yawned. "Ser…you…? What time is it…?"
"Time to go back," Touji answered. "I think we have enough firewood."
"Ahh…already?" Yuzuru-san stretched and blinked owlishly at him. "That's good…"
"You look so tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"I did, actually. I was just so sleepy…"
Touji chuckled, amused. That was so like Yuzuru-san. "If you've rested enough, I think we should get going."
Yuzuru-san nodded, rubbing his eyes drowsily, taking a while to fully rouse himself from his nap. He seemed merely half-awake as he sat cross-legged and looked around him, as though to reorient himself with the neighboring scenery. He shook his head, like a confused child getting out of bed in the early morning, complete with the messy hair and heavily-lidded eyes, and watching him in this bedraggled state made Touji's smile broaden.
'How cute…'
He wasn't given much time to indulge in this charming sight, as Yuzuru-san – perhaps reacting to Touji's incomprehensible smile – frowned at him and demanded, "What are you laughing at?"
Touji couldn't help it. "Your hair is a mess, Yuzuru-san," he said, reaching out to flatten the strands that stuck out at weird angles and made his senior's head resemble an overused broomstick. Yuzuru-san's hair was soft to the touch though, and as Touji's fingers lunged and got tangled in the disarray, he vaguely felt his entire body shifting nearer, until he was leaning in too close, a half-realized goal hanging at the brink of his thoughts.
"Ah…" Touji faltered, knowing what he'd been about to do, but overwhelmed by a sense of decorum to follow through. "I…"
Yuzuru-san grinned and filled in the rest for himself, taking the initiative to lift his chin and give Touji a kiss.
The first was soft and quick, a mere prelude, as Yuzuru-san paused for a second to mutter, "Geez, stop teasing me." And before Touji could reply, the second kiss came, long and languid, and hot.
The mountains disappeared; the forest around him vanished. Touji could have been anywhere – at home, at school, or in the middle of a crowded train station, for all he cared. It didn't matter. There was no room for anything else inside his head, except for the pressure of Yuzuru-san's lips on his own, and how it made him ache with a need to touch and be touched, to possess and conquer just as much as he longed to be owned only by this person. It was a complicated emotion, coupled with a horde of complex intentions that Touji yearned – but hesitated – to act upon.
Yuzuru-san pulled back, serene in the aftermath of the kiss, unmindful of the mayhem it had caused inside Touji's mind. "Hey, Seryou," he asked all of a sudden, "what's your favorite place in the entire world?"
'The mountains,' Touji meant to answer, but his brain had stalled for some reason, refusing to articulate the response. He made a noncommittal sound to compensate, pretending that he was still thinking of an answer, focusing more on disentangling his fingers from Yuzuru-san's hair.
"You know," Yuzuru-san continued, "I like this place. Let's come here again some other time. Just the two of us."
The invitation caught him by surprise and filled him with unexpected warmth. Touji nodded, all too conscious that something inside him was changing – transforming – at what Yuzuru-san had just said. He immediately discovered what it was, and when he did, he had to wonder whether he'd always been so capricious, changing his preferences just because of something that was uttered so casually by another person. Then again, perhaps the issue was that it wasn't just another person – it was Yuzuru-san. And because it was the person he was in love with, Touji's favorite place in the entire world was no longer the mountains.
It wasn't anything specific, not bound by any geographical marker or any particular landscape of interest. It was just wherever in the world Yuzuru-san happened to be.
"Ugh, that's so clichéd," Yuzuru-san laughed when Touji verbalized this thought.
Touji laughed too. "You asked me, and that's my answer, Yuzuru-san. It's going to be fine no matter where we go, for as long as you're the one I'm going to be with."
"So clichéd," Yuzuru-san repeated, pretending to throw up. "You're like some gooey and romantic character from a TV drama or something."
"You don't like romantic characters, Yuzuru-san?"
"Hm? No."
Touji felt slighted. "No?"
"It's because of all these things they do," came the matter-of-fact explanation. "They set unfair standards for other guys that aren't the least bit realistic."
"I see," said Touji, wondering whether he was being too – what was the word Yuzuru-san had used? – gooey, and whether Yuzuru-san was bothered by it. He mulled the idea over for a moment, while his fingers continued to delve and twist into Yuzuru-san's hair. He wondered whether this was also considered gooey. Should he stop?
"Seryou? You're thinking too much again."
Touji stopped, realizing that his mind was moving too fast, inferring too much from so little. "Yes, I am, aren't I?" he said ruefully. He gave Yuzuru-san's hair a final pat, then drew back to examine his handiwork. "That's better. Should we go then?"
Yuzuru-san regarded him, an impish smirk on his lips. "Are you kidding? It's still bright. They won't need a bonfire yet, would they?"
Touji considered this. He held Yuzuru-san's gaze and nodded slowly.
"So," Yuzuru-san went on, "they wouldn't miss us until dark, would they?"
"I guess not…" agreed Touji, a tad suspiciously, wondering what the other wished to gain by delaying their return to the cottage. Then to his exasperation, Yuzuru-san plopped back down on the grass. "Yuzuru-san…you can't be planning to go back to sleep…?"
"Hm…maybe." Yuzuru-san winked invitingly and patted the area next to him. "Let's stay here for a while longer, Seryou. Come here."
Touji hesitated, thinking of the task that they had yet to finish. But then his lips tingled with the ghost of the kiss they had just shared, and the prospect for more banished all other concerns from his mind. Shelving all sense of duty aside, Touji found himself obeying. Yuzuru-san watched him as he lay back against the grass too, and the former laughed at his compliance.
"It's nice that you're not worrying about the other people back at camp," Yuzuru-san remarked.
Touji closed his eyes in surrender. "I told you already. I'd rather be here…where you are."
For a moment, there was only silence. There was a chirrup and a flutter of wings, as a wandering bird watched them curiously from its perch, before losing interest and finally taking flight. A breeze wafted over them, bringing with it the scent of grass and the hushed whisper of the trees. The sun was a blinding yellow, but the light failed to pierce through the shaded area that they occupied, and the large tree protected them from sight.
As he lay there, Touji forgot all about the firewood, the bonfire, or the other students waiting back at camp. Yuzuru-san always had this effect on him, ensnaring him inside a bubble of bliss and contentment that never failed to make Touji lose his focus. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. When he turned to the side, he discovered that Yuzuru-san was still watching him.
"What is it?" Touji asked softly.
"So clichéd," muttered Yuzuru-san for the third time. His eyes were warm, but his expression was unusually somber and determined. "Didn't I tell you to stop teasing me?"
"What…?"
He wasn't allowed to finish the question, for at that precise moment, Yuzuru-san's lips found his for the third of so many more times that afternoon.
xxx
Seven Days
xxx
Saturday, Early Evening
Yuzuru could feel it, all the way from the front porch of the cottage, across the yard, all through the path leading to the woods, from where he had just emerged with Seryou, arms laden with separate loads of firewood. He paused in consternation, struck with an abrupt chill of apprehension. He shivered. Did it just get colder…?
"Hey, do you feel that?" he asked his companion.
Seryou paused, confused. "What are you—?" He broke off, his gaze drawn toward the front porch, where a figure stood, waiting, like a huntsman ready to spring a trap upon a hapless victim. "Isn't that…?"
"Koike-chan," Yuzuru supplied. "Man, she looks pissed."
"How could you—?" But Seryou stopped yet again, blinking, perhaps sensing what Yuzuru had felt earlier.
"You feel that, don't you?" Yuzuru observed.
"Yes…it's like…"
"Like you're about to get executed? That's Koike-chan for you. Ugh, she's really, really mad. Brace yourself, Seryou."
"Huh? For what?"
"You should know," Yuzuru said. "You've seen what she's like."
"Huh?"
"Come on. You dated her, didn't you?"
Seryou looked genuinely perplexed. "Eh? As I recall it, Arisa-san was very…cool."
"She never lost her temper?"
"No."
"Never hit you on the head with her fist?"
"No."
"Never shouted at you for no reason at all?"
Seryou laughed. "No, Yuzuru-san. Like I said, she was always so composed. I thought she was very mature."
"Mature! Composed!" Yuzuru scoffed in disbelief. "Yeah, she's practical and probably the most down-to-earth girl I've ever met, but quiet and mature? No way!"
But maybe he got what it was – being with Seryou made the girls behave their utmost best – and Koike-chan was no exception. Yuzuru wondered whether he was any different. Was Seryou changing him too, inspiring him to be the best version of himself that he could be?
"Don't let Arisa-san hear you," Seryou warned in an undertone, as they drew nearer to the waiting girl. "She does look angry, Yuzuru-san."
Yuzuru immediately conjured a vision of more boring chores and other sorts of senseless punishments, and he groaned. "That girl is ruining this trip for me."
"Don't say that," Seryou said in censure. "She's a good friend to you, isn't she?"
"Well, yeah," Yuzuru conceded, "when she's not hitting me, or giving me some long-winded sermon about how I should treat my girlfriends."
"Eh? T-that's…"
"She talks like some love expert, that girl, but she went out with you anyway. She said it was like winning the lottery." Yuzuru snorted at his friend's foolishness. "Can you believe her? I mean, it's sort of hypocritical of her to lecture me on relationships when she—"
"Yuzuru-san."
Seryou had stopped walking. His face seemed suddenly forbidding, and he seemed as though he was biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying something.
"Why? What's wrong, Seryou?"
Seryou avoided his gaze, and when he spoke, he sounded upset. "Arisa-san…really helped me out a lot today. You should know that."
Yuzuru blinked. He couldn't understand at first what was happening, and then he realized how he must have sounded a while back.
"Hey, don't misunderstand anything!" he exclaimed, rushing to explain, "I know that Koike-chan's a great girl. I'm not saying that she isn't. I really like her, you know. If she'd been serious when she asked me out, I would have gone out with her."
Seryou's eyes snapped back to him. He seemed pale – or was it the light? – and he said quietly, "Yuzuru-san…why on earth would you tell me that?"
"Eh? B-but you were defending Koike-chan, weren't you?"
"Still," Seryou said, brows creased with what appeared to be the beginnings of a furious outburst. Yuzuru couldn't tell for sure. He had never seen Seryou like this before. "Why would I want to know that?"
"But Koike-chan is truly a great girl," Yuzuru argued, already at a lost. Why were they discussing this in the first place?
"And you say you like her," Seryou stated blankly.
"I do."
"And that you'd have gone out with her if you had the chance."
"I—hey, wait a second…"
Yuzuru trailed away, his brain finally catching up with what Seryou was implying, and despite the fact that Seryou was looking too severe for comfort, Yuzuru couldn't help but roar with laughter. The idea of him and Koike-chan together was just too ridiculous! True, Koike-chan had proposed in jest that they should try dating, but Yuzuru knew it was nothing more than that – a joke. She wasn't Koike-chan's type, after all. Seryou was.
"It was a joke, Seryou," Yuzuru said, chortling. "Koike-chan would never like me in a romantic way. Come on, you guys dated, didn't you? She'd rather be with you than me."
Yuzuru couldn't understand how he was possibly making things worse, but Seryou's expression had grown darker – an indication that far from assuaging Seryou's wounded feelings, Yuzuru was most probably adding more insult to injury. When a second before, there was only the merest trace of annoyance on Seryou's face, now there was also hurt, and worst – disappointment.
It was the last emotion that made Yuzuru flinch. He hated seeing that in the faces of others, Seryou most of all. Why wouldn't Seryou stop making that face? Yuzuru watched him helplessly, not knowing what to do. Seryou wasn't helping matters, standing there, stiff and tight-lipped, seeming as though he would never talk to Yuzuru again.
"S-Seryou…?"
"We should go," Seryou told him. "We shouldn't keep Arisa-san waiting."
"A-ah…"
Seryou walked past him, and left with no choice, Yuzuru hurried to keep up. They continued like that in uncomfortable silence until they reached the cottage and divested themselves of their loads, upon which Arisa Koike unleashed her wrath upon them for returning so late. Koike-chan ranted on about more punishments, but Yuzuru was too preoccupied to take in anything. Quite the opposite, Seryou appeared to be listening intently.
"I understand, Arisa-san," Seryou said calmly when the girl's lecture was over. "I'll do it now."
Koike-chan seemed disconcerted. Yuzuru thought that he'd feel the same too, if Seryou had also gazed at him so formally and had answered him in such an impersonal voice. Yuzuru winced. Koike-chan glanced at him sharply, and her gaze held an accusation, as if to demand, 'What did you do to him?'
Yuzuru didn't know. He didn't care what it was that he did, and he was aware of a growing desperation to make things alright between Seryou and him. He didn't like this tension between them. It felt eerily like those moments, those telling lulls when he just knew that a relationship was about to end and his current girlfriend was about to break up with him. For Yuzuru, it had always proceeded in the same fashion, a similar sequence of events and corresponding emotions that made it appear as if everything was choreographed. First, there was the surprise of discovering the unexpected – that Yuzuru wasn't what he appeared to be. Then, there was the anger and hurt as a result of Yuzuru's unpredicted bluntness, followed by the disappointment of having realized that they'd been cheated of the cool, perfect prince they'd expected Yuzuru to be.
And then, inevitably, there was the breakup.
But Seryou was different, and it was precisely because of this that Yuzuru felt completely inept to deal with him. Seryou knew who he was exactly; he knew what he was getting into when he'd agreed to go out with Yuzuru. Seryou even said that he liked Yuzuru's personality, so what the hell was up with him? Yuzuru knew that the answer was probably so simple, right smack in front of his nose, but he'd always been so slow with these types of things and that wasn't about to change.
"I'll go ahead," said Seryou. "I'll try to finish before dinner."
"A-alright," Koike-chan answered, still somewhat bewildered. "You should help him out, Shino—"
"No," Seryou said before Yuzuru could respond. "Thank you, Arisa-san, but I'll be fine on my own."
"H-hey—" Yuzuru began, but Seryou had already turned on his heels, and in swift strides, had disappeared around the corner of the cottage. Yuzuru wanted to follow him, but he was a little terrified to move. The entire thing gave him the ominous sensation characteristic of an impending break-up. Yuzuru hated this feeling.
"Okay, Shino," Koike-chan said when Seryou was out of earshot, facing Yuzuru with arms crossed, a scowl on her face. "I'll give you thirty seconds to tell me what exactly you did wrong in that preposterously miniscule time that it took the two of you to walk from that point" – she jabbed a finger at the woods – "to here. This has got to be a new record."
"I…I don't know exactly," Yuzuru said, puzzled. "We were just talking."
"About what?"
"About you…"
Koike-chan's eyebrow shot up. "Me? You were talking about me?"
Yuzuru nodded. And before Koike-chan's piercing gaze, he proceeded to tell his friend everything.
xxx
Seven Days
xxx
You overreacted.
No, you didn't. That was completely normal.
You most definitely overreacted.
You didn't.
Did too.
Did not!
Did too!
No, you did not!
Yes, you did!
Very quietly, Touji swore at himself, trying with all his might to shut off the two arguing voices inside his head. The debate had raged on for the past five minutes, ever since he'd left Yuzuru-san and Arisa-san by the front porch, and so far, the critical voice that insisted that he had reacted excessively was winning the dispute.
Fine! Alright! Maybe he had overreacted. What did it matter anyway if Yuzuru-san and Arisa-san nearly dated one another? What did it matter when they still remained friends? When Yuzuru-san thought the world of her? It didn't matter!
But try as he might to convince himself otherwise, nothing changed the fact that – for Touji – these things did bear a lot of weight. He scoffed, disgusted at the realization. Why and how did he become so insecure? And over such trivial things! He liked Arisa-san. He respected her, and he could see that she was a good influence to Yuzuru-san. And yet despite the irrefutable logic of these arguments, Touji was still irked at the way Yuzuru-san had spoken of her.
Maybe that was it. Maybe it was Yuzuru-san's offhand declaration that he could have dated Arisa-san instead. That guy…would he be fine with anyone who tolerated his eccentricities? Touji had asked Yuzuru-san this before – whether he disliked girls – and Yuzuru-san had told him that that wasn't the issue. If there was one among them who'd like him for who he was, then he'd be fine with that. Wasn't that what Yuzuru-san had said? Touji knew that several girls in Yuzuru-san's past had shunned him once the illusion of the perfect bow-drawing prince was broken. But there was one girl – one person – who didn't.
Arisa-san.
Arisa Koike knew what sort of person Shino Yuzuru actually was. In fact, her knowledge of Yuzuru-san's habits, interests, and quirks should easily surpass Touji's, and still, she remained by Yuzuru-san's side despite this. On the other hand, there was no doubt that Yuzuru-san admired her. Hadn't he told Touji that Arisa Koike was a "great girl"?
"The most down-to-earth girl he's ever met, huh?" Touji muttered quietly, bitterly. Then he groaned, frustrated at the way he was acting, desperately attempting to clear his head of all these unfounded suspicions. He reminded himself that Arisa-san had been very instrumental in him getting to spend some time alone with Yuzuru-san. Perhaps he was just reading too much from Yuzuru-san's careless words.
Touji sighed. That was another problem. Yuzuru-san was too clumsy with his words. Why did he need to divulge the circumstances of his nearly dating Arisa-san anyway? Touji didn't ask for it. Touji didn't need to hear it. Was it Yuzuru-san's fault? Or was it Touji's, for being so thin-skinned about the subject? They'd both dated other people in the past. Touji himself had dated Arisa-san. It was perfectly natural that one or two of their past romantic entanglements would be dragged into one discussion or another, right?
"Idiot," Touji muttered again. "I'm an idiot."
And Touji knew that to be true, because as reasonable as his thoughts were, his feelings hadn't changed. He'd felt this before, but it was more pronounced than ever with the current scenario – the aversion towards having to share Yuzuru-san's attention with anybody else. Not with random girls at school, not with eager, admiring underclassmen at the Archery Club, and most certainly not with one of Yuzuru-san's best friends.
It was so childish, and yet Touji couldn't quash this bout of possessiveness. He had never felt like this before, and he didn't know what to do it. Or with Yuzuru-san. Or with himself.
"You're hopeless," he berated himself. "Really hopeless."
"Ah! Y-you…"
Touji started. Someone had suddenly turned the corner, nearly colliding with him. A girl, obviously taken aback at his presence, jumped back in shock. Touji quickly straightened up and smiled, hoping against hope that she hadn't heard him repeatedly talking to himself like a lunatic for the past minute or so.
"I'm sorry," he said smoothly. "Are you okay?"
"E-eh…y-yes, I'm fine…What are you doing here…?"
It was only then that Touji remembered his errand. "Arisa-san sent me to help with the preparations for the sleeping quarters."
"Oh…that. We've fixed everything already. You should go back…uh…you're…you're S-Seryou-kun, r-right?"
Touji nodded, now paying more attention to the girl's face, trying – for the sake of courtesy – to remember her name.
"Is…uhm…S-Shino-senpai with you?" the girl asked hopefully.
Touji frowned at that. She stepped forward into the light, and the recognition of who she was and where he had seen her before, coupled with the question she had just uttered, made Touji's stomach coil with displeasure.
"You are…"
The girl smiled shyly and gave a little bow. "I'm sorry. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Misa Sanae. Nice to meet you."
xxx
Seven Days
xxx
"You said what?" Koike-chan demanded in an incredulous tone. "Why would you tell Seryou that?"
"You know," answered Yuzuru, "that was Seryou's exact question."
"Of course it was!"
"I don't get it," said Yuzuru, scratching his head. "What's the big deal—?"
Too late. The fist descended hard upon his cranium – decisive, spiteful, and overflowing with the intent to hurt. It never ceased to amaze him how someone with that slender frame could strike a punch like a trained boxer. Yuzuru rather thought that Koike-chan should consider that as a career option, but with the threat of another blow coming his way, he kept that particular idea to himself.
"Koike-chan!" he whined, pressing a palm over a throbbing spot on his scalp. "What was that for?"
"You insensitive moron!" Koike-chan raged at him. "If you want to ruin your relationship, don't you dare make me the reason!"
"Hah? But I wasn't—!"
"You told Seryou that you wanted to date me! And for the record, that was a joke!"
"I know it was—!"
"Oh for goodness' sake, Shino! Stop acting like a child. Just try turning the tables around once in a while. How would you feel if Seryou told you that he wanted to go out with one of his friends?"
That was difficult to imagine. Seryou didn't have any close friends that – oh wait – there was one. Shino.
"Crap," Yuzuru muttered, as a mental image of Seryou and Shino together flashed before his eyes. It made him want to break something.
"You get it now?" Koike-chan huffed. "You should be careful next time, Shino. I told you before and I'll say it again – there are things that you don't say so candidly in a relationship. I'm not sure how much you want to make this one work, but if you're serious enough, you'd better shape up. You can't be so clueless."
"But I honestly didn't intend to…you know…offend Seryou…"
"Offend?" Koike-chan repeated with a scoff. "Try 'hurt,' because I'm pretty sure that was how Seryou had looked like earlier."
She was right. Yuzuru sighed heavily, eyes flitting to the direction Seryou had gone. Where was Seryou? What was he doing?
"I should go talk to him," he said after a while.
"Of course, you should!" Koike-chan burst out impatiently. "Go, you idiot!"
"Koike-chan, I seriously wouldn't know what to do without you."
The girl's face softened for a moment. "That's sweet, Shino, but you know…" – she glowered at him all of a sudden – "…that's another thing you shouldn't let Seryou hear, do you understand?"
Yuzuru did. With a thankful nod at Koike-chan, he quickly took off, running after Seryou.
xxx
Seven Days
xxx
"I don't know if you remember me," the girl who introduced herself as Misa Sanae said, "but weren't you with S-Shino-senpai last week…?"
How could Touji immediately forget the girl who had confessed her feelings for Yuzuru-san? He felt his throat constricting with the effort to keep his voice steady. This must be some kind of joke, he decided. Why was she here, of all places, appearing in front of him when he was in such a sour mood because of Yuzuru-san?
"Uh…Seryou-kun?" Sanae asked, and Touji realized that he hadn't spoken at all for the past minute. "Are you alright?"
No, he wasn't. How could he be, when the reality that Arisa-san wasn't the only competition around, was imposed upon him without warning?
"Seryou-kun?"
Touji forced himself to speak normally, but before he could answer, a familiar voice rang out behind him. For the first time ever, Touji wasn't pleased to hear it.
"Hey, Seryou! There you are!"
Yuzuru-san came sprinting from around the bend, coming to a halt beside Touji. From the corner of his eyes, Touji saw that Sanae had perked up at Yuzuru-san's approach. Touji clenched his fists in agitation. If he were to think of any two people in the entire world that he'd rather not see reunite in front of him, Yuzuru-san and Sanae would make the top of his list. Wasn't there anything he could do?
"Seryou, I—oh." It was too late. Yuzuru-san had seen the girl, and to Touji's irritation, his upperclassman broke into a wide smile. "Sanae-chan! I didn't know you came too!"
Sanae flushed. "N-nice to see you again, S-Shino-senpai…"
"Did you come with Koike-chan?"
"Uh…no. Actually…my family owns this cottage…"
"Heh," remarked Yuzuru-san, looking impressed, "it's a really nice place. I'm jealous."
Sanae bit her lip nervously, as though she was trying to remember how to form words. "I'm glad that S-Senpai likes this place. When I heard that you were coming…I wanted to…I mean…I…I could show you around…if you'd like…?"
Touji could see it from miles ahead: Yuzuru-san was going to agree, like he did last week, when this same girl had asked for a bit of his time. Back then, waiting for Yuzuru-san to return had been tormenting enough, and Touji had no intention of subjecting himself to the same anguish.
"Thank you, Sanae-chan—"
"Yuzuru-san," Touji interrupted in a firm voice before Yuzuru-san could go any further, "can we talk in private?"
Yuzuru-san appeared surprised at his tone. Or maybe it was his expression – Touji couldn't tell.
"S-Seryou…?"
"Misa-san," Touji said, addressing the girl, who backed away for reasons he couldn't care less about, "is it okay if we leave you now?"
"Ah…y-yes…" Sanae answered breathlessly, as though she would have refused if she'd had the courage to contradict him. "I…I guess…I'll see you around…?"
"Uh, yeah," said Yuzuru-san, "I guess we'll see you later, Sanae-chan—"
"Yuzuru-san," Touji cut in once more. "Shall we go?"
He turned away without another glance in the girl's direction, and from the sound of hurried footsteps behind him, he knew that Yuzuru-san had hastily followed his lead. Touji hadn't the faintest idea where he wanted to go or what he purportedly intended to talk to Yuzuru-san about. He had no idea what he was doing anymore.
"Seryou."
Touji ignored the voice and kept on walking.
"A-ah…Seryou!"
Touji pressed onward as if he hadn't heard anything, forestalling the moment when he had to face Yuzuru-san and account for his irrational behavior.
"Seryou! Hey, wait!"
It was getting darker the farther that they moved away from the cottage. Touji found himself longing for a minute of silence, enclosed by nothing but the trees and the tranquility of the mountains—
"Seryou! I said wait!"
He recognized the order in the voice, and against his will, Touji stopped and swiveled around.
"What is wrong with you?" Yuzuru-san panted. "Weren't you a little rude to Sanae-chan?"
"What is wrong with you?" Touji shot back. "You were planning to go with her again, weren't you?"
"What?"
Touji gritted his teeth. He didn't mean to raise his voice. He didn't intend to start a fight, but somehow, everything seemed to be leading to the same outcome. He tried to backtrack, deferring to a long-ingrained tendency to avoid conflict, but he couldn't bring himself to let things go. Something was wrong with him today.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Yuzuru-san asked.
Touji averted his gaze, finding that it was easier to speak his mind when he was staring at his feet rather than at Yuzuru-san's face. "I don't like it," he stated, failing to hold back the resentment in his voice. "I don't like seeing you with them."
"Huh? Them? What are you talking ab—?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, Yuzuru-san!" he said testily. It was embarrassing enough to admit to these silly, invidious feelings without having to explain himself in detail. Honestly, why couldn't Yuzuru-san get it already?
"Now you're just being a jerk," Yuzuru-san retorted, glaring at him. "I don't get you."
Touji didn't understand himself either. What was he doing, picking a fight with someone who was so dense that he surely didn't have any clue that he did anything wrong in the first place? Touji could tell that if he pushed the issue, it wasn't going to end well for either of them.
"Forget it," he said. "Let's just go back."
But Yuzuru-san held his ground. "No, let's talk about this now."
"Yuzu—"
"Look, Seryou…I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It was thoughtless of me to say something like that."
Touji glanced up at the unexpected apology, marveling at the fact that Yuzuru-san wasn't so oblivious as usual. Or maybe…
"You talked to Arisa-san," Touji guessed.
Yuzuru-san grimaced.
"Did she hit you?" Touji asked.
"Just so you know," said Yuzuru-san, pushing his hair back with one hand, "she might have given me a concussion."
Touji didn't know whether to feel incensed or amused. "Maybe I should thank her."
"You should," Yuzuru-san agreed. "Because she'd kill me if I do anything more to upset you. Koike-chan's my friend, you know."
"I know," Touji sighed, realizing that the most prudent course of action was to apologize. "I'm sor—"
RING!
The shrill tone pierced the air, cutting him short. Touji frowned at the noise, distracted.
RING! RING! RING!
They stared at each other for a second, neither one moving. In the end, it was Yuzuru-san who asked, "Aren't you going to answer that?"
"That isn't mine," Touji said.
"Oh, right! Hang on a second…" Yuzuru-san fumbled inside his pocket, bringing out what appeared to be a brand new cell phone. He stole a quick look at the screen and said, "Uh…maybe I should take this…"
Touji nodded, holding on to his apology, although barely a moment later, he wasn't inclined to say it any longer. Yuzuru-san answered the call, and when he did, he uttered the worst possible name that he could have said in that situation:
"Hello? Natsuki?"
xxx
Seven Days
xxx
"A hiking trip," Natsuki said from the other end of the line. "Sounds nice, Yuzuru. I hope you are enjoying yourself."
"Well, I am," Yuzuru answered, glancing at Seryou. "For the most part."
"Are you staying overnight?"
"Uh-huh. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing in particular," Natsuki said. "I was just hoping that you'd somehow remembered to call home and tell them you were going on a trip. A little less distress on your parents' part, wouldn't you say so?"
"Eh?" Call home. Crap. He knew he'd forgotten to do something again.
"Well?"
"I…uh…I forgot…" he said sheepishly.
"I thought so," said Natsuki, heaving a sigh. "It's lucky Shino happened to know where you and Touji had gone. At least I had a ready answer when they called."
"Is that so? Sorry for bothering you with this, Natsuki."
"Don't worry about it. Just try to be more responsible next time, Yuzuru."
"Yeah, I know."
"And don't forget to call home. Your sister's waiting to hear from you."
Yuzuru made a face, not at all looking forward to that conversation. "Ugh, got it. Thanks, by the way." He ended the call and caught Seryou's eye, noticing that the latter had been listening impassively the entire time. "That was Natsuki," he said unnecessarily. "He's a bit of a nagger, isn't he?"
"Only for people he cares about," Seryou said neutrally. "You're amazing, Yuzuru-san. To think that Aniki would exchange phone numbers with you."
There was something there that didn't feel right. Yuzuru frowned at the device. "Hmm, he must have keyed in his number here…"
"Is that so?" Seryou advanced toward him and studied the phone with polite interest. "I didn't know you bought a new phone, Yuzuru-san."
"I didn't," Yuzuru answered without thinking. "It's a gift from Natsuki."
Seryou took that in without comment, but his expression changed imperceptibly. Yuzuru wouldn't have noticed it if Seryou hadn't been standing mere inches away from him. He wanted to ask what was bothering Seryou this time, but he hesitated to speak, unwilling to say anything that might make the situation more awkward than it already was. After a protracted silence, Seryou reached out to touch Yuzuru's face.
"Eh, Sery—mmph…"
The name was quickly stifled; a mouth covered his, warm and ardent, disrupting his breathing. Seryou was so near, and surprised and confused at the abruptness and intensity of the contact, Yuzuru stood stiffly, as though he'd been turned to stone. He felt the exact opposite a moment later – like he'd just been set ablaze – as Seryou deepened the kiss, parting Yuzuru's mouth and tasting him completely with a resolute movement of the tongue. Yuzuru would have been taken in by the utter passion behind the kiss, but even that was driven from his head by something else. Seryou's hand – so harmlessly immobile against Yuzuru's shoulder a second ago – had slid down, wandering lower—
Yuzuru was no longer breathing; the unexpected caress ignited his body with a burning, crippling hunger that he had always known at the ragged edges of his consciousness, but had always ignored and never fully acknowledged. Until now.
But something didn't feel right. Yuzuru struggled to pinpoint the source of his discomfort. Maybe it was because he felt that things were moving too fast – which was saying something for him. He'd wanted Seryou even when he believed that everything was just a one-week game. He'd desired him…had thought of him quite often in ways that might be considered inappropriate…
So why did this feel wrong? Was it the context? The setting? The hint of anger that radiated from Seryou's actions? Yuzuru couldn't decide which it was, and much as he wanted more time to dissect the situation, he couldn't…think…anymore—
RING! RING! RING!
With a gasp, they broke apart at the sound. Yuzuru realized that the phone had fallen to the ground, where it continued to chime loudly, tenaciously, demanding attention. They both stared at it for a beat, and then coming to his senses, Yuzuru bent to pick it up. The caller's name flashed vibrantly across the screen.
Seryou Natsuki.
"Ah…" Yuzuru's gaze darted to Seryou, and he knew that the latter had read the name too. "I…I guess Natsuki forgot to tell me something…"
Seryou looked away. "You'd better answer him then."
"I—"
"The others might be looking for us. I'll go ahead."
"Eh? Wait a second!" He managed to catch Seryou's elbow before the boy could start walking away from him again. "Seryou, are you al—?"
Seryou shook his hand free. "I'm fine, Yuzuru-san." He smiled a horrible, forced smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'm going back."
And without another glance at him, as though he couldn't stand to look at Yuzuru for another second, Seryou left.
xxx
To be continued
xxx
A/N: Thank you very much to those who reviewed the previous chapters. I tried to give everyone a proper reply, but I must have missed some due to poor internet connections. If I did, let me thank you here instead, including all guest reviewers. Your comments drive me to improve this story as well as to try my best to work on this toward its completion.
Anyway, the feedback for the past chapters gave me two things to ponder about – jealousy and bed scenes.
Seryou's brand of jealousy seems to be of the passively possessive type. He seems to want to monopolize Yuzuru's attention, and he gets jealous by just seeing Yuzuru being too overly friendly with anyone, yet he strives not to show any of it if he could help it.
Yuzuru, on the other hand, is much more forthright in expressing his jealousy – which means that he flies off the handle at the slightest aggravation. However, it seems to me that the one person who can really make him feel so insecure about his relationship with Seryou, is Shino. However, I'm foreseeing that Yuzuru would have improved a little bit at this point in the story, while Seryou is becoming a little less inhibited, thus explaining the direction of the scenes above.
As for bed scenes…I'm with l1zHarvey on this one. I can't imagine any sort of intimate scene happening in the manga. It seems to go against the theme – all that cute and sweet, and slice-of-life vibe that the story had going on. Then I realized that it was because my mind was resisting the idea of sex and cuteness and sweetness put together – which made me wonder more why it is so. I mean people in love make love, so why couldn't it happen in Seven Days too? I haven't ruled that out, but there is a very SLIM chance of that happening right now, because I'm also not entirely confident in my capacity to write anything beyond T Ratings. :)
Let meoffer this chapter to spring-pastel and little snail. Thank you very much.
I'd love to hear what you guys think. Please leave a review! Thank you!
