Seven Weeks: A Seven Days Fanfiction

WEEK SIX: Saturday (Touji)

🍓🍓🍓A/N - the last part of this section is NSFW ;) 🍓🍓🍓

Aside from the Houka Academy principal, I'd never met these people seated at Grandfather's conference table before. Yuzuru had, though.

I scanned their faces with anger that I didn't bother to hide. There were three of them, one woman and two men, dressed in dark, tailored suits with carefully styled silver hair. The principal sat on one side of the woman, directly across from me, while the oldest of the men was sitting closest—though still a chair away—from Grandfather at the head of the table. These were the people who had met with Yuzuru right after Tanaka had hurt him so badly, and instead of asking about his injuries or investigating what had been done to him, they'd kicked us out of their school. They'd sat there watching while my parents and brother blackmailed Yuzuru into breaking up with me.

God, the reminder of that horrible day, of everything that had followed, made my stomach turn. I could still picture Yuzuru stumbling out of the principal's office, a tear-soaked mask covering the bottom half of his face, his eyes wild and bloodshot, a cut through one eyebrow, his hair sticking out like he'd caught his finger in an electrical socket. I remembered how he'd stared at me with so much pain I'd nearly started crying myself, even without knowing what had happened to him.

I put my hand on Yuzuru's knee and squeezed, felt his hand come up to cover mine. His fingers slid around my palm, strong and warm, and I could breathe a little easier. He didn't look afraid. In fact, he gave me a cocky grin, and pulsed his grip on my hand a couple of times. No one's ever taking you from me again. He might as well have said it aloud, and my heart echoed the sentiment completely.

I wasn't sure why Grandfather had agreed to meet with the Houka people. They'd come to Tokyo, as he'd required, so I guess that was some small satisfaction. Their expressions were grave, as hard to read as Shimizu's. They were probably here to threaten a lawsuit after all the bad press Houka had gotten over the past week. Well, Grandfather wouldn't be cowed easily, and neither would Yuzuru and I.

"My name is Kaminari Reo," the oldest man began from across the table, "chairman of the Houka Preparatory Academy school board. Thank you for finding the time to meet with us, Takeuchi-san. Shino-san, Seryou-san, it's good to see you again. You're looking well."

I ground my teeth and resisted the childish urge to stick my tongue out.

"What can we do for you, Chairman?" Grandfather asked, in a tone that was mildly disinterested.

"We know you're a busy man, Takeuchi-san," Kaminari began, "so I'll get right to the point. Since the unfortunate events of last week, I and the rest of the Houka school board have spent much time in self-reflection. We have come to the conclusion that the way we handled this... er, situation, with two of our precious students, was wrong."

"No freaking kidding," Yuzuru muttered.

Kaminari turned stern eyes on us. "That is not to say that your behavior was acceptable," he added. "The two of you disrupted the learning environment at Houka by drawing scandalous attention to yourselves. A reaction from the school board was certainly necessary. However, just as Houka students are taught to take responsibility for their mistakes, we must also be accountable for ours."

Accountable, my ass. They were doing this because the internet was holding their feet to the fire.

Grandfather was apparently thinking the same thing, but he was much more diplomatic about it. "Exactly what mistakes, Chairman, is Houka accepting responsibility for?"

"We failed to address acts of harassment and violence within our student body," Kaminari replied. "All students should receive the protection of the school, regardless of their personal disciplinary status. We wish to assure you that we have since conducted an investigation, and the individuals responsible for Shino Yuzuru's injuries have been expelled."