Seven Weeks: A Seven Days Fanfiction

WEEK ONE: Sunday (Touji)

I raced to archery club on Sunday morning in the hopes that Yuzuru might be there, but he wasn't. Distraught and exhausted, I shot terribly, earning a lecture from our teacher on how my greatest weakness was lack of mental discipline. I took the criticism without emotion, because he was right. All my energy was wrapped up in what was happening with Yuzuru.

After I'd had that brief glimpse of him yesterday, and his friend Koike had basically threatened me within an inch of my life for hurting him, my guilt and panic went through the roof. I lurked outside the assembly hall, waiting for his class dance practice to get out, but when his classmates came filing out he wasn't among them. I managed to corner his less scary friend, the nerdy guy with the glasses, who told me Yuzuru had gone home early because he was sick. I must have texted him a dozen times, but he wouldn't reply or pick up my calls. The longer I went without hearing from him, the more awful and scared I felt.

Was this his way of ending things between us? Was he that angry? I knew he had some insecurities about Shino, but I thought we'd gotten all that straight last week. It probably did look fishy, me hugging her like that, and I was a moron for letting her manipulate me into it. I was willing to bet she'd done it on purpose, just like she'd used Umeki to force me to eat with her, then set me and my brother up for that insane last-minute work problem as some kind of revenge for not giving her the attention she wanted. If her scheming ended up costing me Yuzuru I would never forgive her.

After we were done shooting our rounds, cleanup took much longer than usual because we also had to prepare the dojo for Monday's demonstrations. I had to take charge of setting up the beverage stand, which meant a few trips back and forth from the gym to grab the extra equipment and make sure the outlets worked and there was an extra cash box ready and there were enough cups and napkins and pitchers to serve a second group of people. I snapped a picture of the finished setup and texted it to Natsuki, because he had final say on whether it was satisfactory. Even a tiny booth at a high school festival was a representation of our family's company, and it was his job to ensure we met the standard. A few seconds later my phone pinged, and he'd sent me a thumbs up.

The school was a lot busier than usual for a Sunday, with students running around putting the finishing touches on all our festival stuff. We would open tomorrow, just to family and alumni on the first day, but everything still had to be ready to go. When club got out at noon, I made my way up to Yuzuru's classroom, harboring the faint hope that maybe I'd find him there. I poked my head in.

I didn't see him, but it took his friends no time to spot me.

"Need something?" Koike asked, giving me the same dirty look she'd thrown at me yesterday.

"Is— Is Yuzuru-san here today?"

"He's still sick," the guy with the glasses said. "At least, I think he is."

"You're not sure?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Haven't heard from him since last night."

Koike sighed. "Me either, my calls are going straight to voicemail."

"What's wrong with him?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't want to get my head chewed off again, but the not-knowing was killing me. Sometimes it actually felt like I was choking on it. Like now, for instance, when my throat was closing up and I could feel the instinct to hyperventilate setting in.

Koike eyed me up and down. "We should be asking you that." She looked around the classroom, took my sleeve, and pulled me and the other guy both out into the hall. There, they backed me against the wall and hemmed me in with crossed arms and accusing glares.

"I normally wouldn't do this, but since Shino won't say anything, you're going to explain what happened between you guys on Friday."

Glasses-guy nodded emphatically, and I cringed. "Um..."