Seven Weeks: A Seven Days Fanfiction

WEEK ONE: Friday (Yuzuru)

Lunch wasn't nearly as satisfying when I couldn't nap with Seryou. I did get to eat the food he'd given me though, and it was maybe the best bento I'd ever had, with rice and salad and eggs and fish and even a cup of miso in a little thermos. So much better than what I usually ate at school. I devoured every last bit, and was in the process of licking the container clean when Koike's fist landed on my head.

"Ow," I said loudly. "Why do I stay friends with you? All you ever do is hit me."

Koike made a face. "Why do I stay friends with you? You're so gross."

"Am not," I retorted, and licked the inside of the container one more time. She raised her fist and I ducked away. "You don't understand how good this is."

"Where'd you get all that from, anyway? Did your mom make it?"

"Seryou gave it to me," I said while inspecting the second container. There was still some sauce and a few grains of rice at the bottom. I decided to swipe it out with my finger, since Koike was so opposed to the licking.

"I just bet he did." She tapped the end of her chopsticks against her own bento, kind of like she was debating saying something else.

I sucked the sauce and rice off my finger and eyeballed her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Koike sighed. She looked around a little, like she was making sure we wouldn't be overheard, then pulled out her phone. "Shino, I think you need to see this."

A video started playing on her phone screen. She had the volume muted, but I recognized Seryou with the Pocky sticking out of his mouth. Damn, he even looked hot from the camera's perspective, with his elegant features and wispy long hair and totally kissable lips framing the pink snack.

Then I appeared on the screen, biting the end of the stick and eating it all the way up to where Seryou held it in his teeth. I hadn't seen it at the time, but he had gone so pale that his perfect complexion looked like milk, except the blush to his cheeks and ears that got brighter the closer I got to his face. I felt a deep stir of satisfaction watching our mouths come together, brief though it was. The camera zoomed in on his expression after I'd pulled back, and for once he didn't have that distant, glamorous vibe going on. He looked surprised, and... well, now that I was seeing it from this angle, he looked pretty turned on. Heh.

You and me both, buddy.

The video cut off, and I reached for Koike's phone with a grin. "Play it again."

She snatched her phone back with an exclamation of annoyance. "Honestly, Shino, what is wrong with you? What is this?"

I really didn't get why she was making such a big deal out of it. "Some first years wanted us to play a Pocky game." People did it on TV all the time. I knew because my sister spent countless hours squealing from the living room when her favorite boy bands were doing fan service on those game shows. Seryou's classmates reminded me of her a lot, actually, which is why I went along with it to begin with. It had given me an excuse to get close to Seryou while we were at school. And the Pocky was strawberry, so...

"And how about this one?" She scrolled up on the screen, and there was a picture of me and Seryou walking side by side through the train station. I made a pfft noise, and she scrolled further to show that someone had cropped the picture into a close-up of our hands. Seryou was giving me a can of coffee, and my fingers were touching his as I took it. There was a bright red circle drawn around our hands, and some silly-looking bunny rabbit sticker with hearts for eyes.

Koike narrowed her eyes at me like I was supposed to find this meaningful.

"So?" I finally said, and she sighed and scrolled yet again. There was another picture of Seryou and me together at the school gates, and one where we were hanging out in the hall between classes. At the bottom was that selfie of us surrounded by the three first-year girls I'd been thinking of, the ones who'd offered us the Pocky today.