WEEK FOUR: Friday (Yuzuru)

My throat burned every time I swallowed, like a bee had stung my tonsils. My head hurt too much to even be bothered by the random people snapping pictures of me as I got off the train and walked to school. My phone was dead, because like a dumbass I had left it out in the hall last night. I was sure Seryou was waiting for me to respond to his morning text—Yuriko said he'd called last night—but I couldn't turn the damn thing on. I wanted to see him more than anything.

I was running late to school, though, so I couldn't even take the longer route to homeroom in order to pass by his classroom for a glimpse of him. I had to race up the stairs, and managed to get through the door just as the bell rang. Watanabe gave me a scowl. I ducked my head, hurrying to my desk and dropping my bag by my feet, amid whispering and snickers from my classmates.

What, had there been more pictures posted this morning? What were they all looking at?

Akaike was doing roll call from the front of the classroom, and I dropped my head on my desk. I was so tired, my nose was running, and I needed more sleep—about a million years' worth. But it was Friday, and there were only two more exams left before winter break started tomorrow.

Not that I'd be getting much of a break; Houka's classes would be in recess but that just meant I'd be going to cram school all day every day instead. As our teachers had so helpfully reminded us last night, as of today we were exactly one month away from the national university entrance exam. The stress of midterms might be over, but the university exam would dial up the pressure about a hundred thousand times. It was the thing that we had all been preparing for, not just this year but literally our entire lives up to this point.

That was, of course, if I was even still a high school student after today. I felt so crappy I almost didn't care if they expelled me. At least then I could go back to bed...

Akaike called my name and I raised my hand without lifting my head. There was more giggling and whispering, and I cracked one eye open in annoyance. Couldn't they just let a guy nap in pea— What the hell is that?

The surface of my desk, right in front of my nose, was covered in dark pen marks. I blinked, and those marks swam into the shape of a dick and balls, pointed right at my face. Sitting up quickly, I gaped down at the top of my desk. It had been covered in pen and permanent marker, and the penis doodle was tame in comparison to most of the others. Words like Homo and Cocksucker and Go Die!! were scribbled all over, in different colors of ink. There were diagrams of naked asses, cocks with smiley faces, and a pen sketch that was good enough to be recognizable as cartoon portraits of me and Seryou. Cartoon-Seryou was doing something to cartoon-me that was most definitely not appropriate for school.

I heard Tanaka burst out laughing. He'd probably been dying for me to notice since the minute I sat down. Several other kids joined in, while others sat uncomfortably at their desks giving me cautious side-eyes.

It didn't really bother me, except for that cartoon. I didn't like that at all, especially the way my body actually tightened for a second in response. Cartoon-me wasn't screaming, he had hearts floating over his head. I quickly dug my homework out and slapped it down on top of the drawing. Tanaka guffawed again, only turning around when Watanabe barked his name angrily.

If this was what they were doing to me, what was happening to Seryou? I could only hope that if Tanaka had spent his morning redecorating my desk, he wouldn't have had time to bother Seryou downstairs. I needed to talk to Seryou, though. I needed to make sure he was okay. I couldn't believe I'd fallen asleep last night without even texting him back.

My eyelids felt so hot that every time I blinked they burned. Somehow I made it through first period math, and as soon as the bell rang I staggered from my desk over to Koike and Utsumi. "Do either of you guys have a phone charger? My battery died."

Utsumi looked me over skeptically. "You're sweating and sound like a goat. You should go home."

"Can't." I coughed, and both Utsumi and Koike shrank away from me warily. "The science midterm is next period." I shook my phone so they'd remember my original question. My throat hurt too much to ask it again.

He sighed. "I have a charging cord in my bag. I also have a spare face mask. If you want to charge your phone you're gonna wear it. No way are you getting the rest of us sick just before break."

Relieved, I followed him to the back of the classroom. He retrieved the cord and thrust the mask at me. I pulled it on over my face as he plugged my phone into the wall outlet by my desk. "Thanks," I said, snatching it up and staring at the screen.

"It'll take a few minutes for it to turn on," he said, eyeing the graffiti on my desk. "You need help cleaning this up?"

"Utsumi, you know how to get those off?" Koike asked, coming up next to me and making a face at the obscenities.

He pushed his glasses a little higher on his nose. "Sure. I did it all the time in junior high." He started walking to the front of the classroom while Koike and I looked at each other. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised that Utsumi was bullied in junior high, he was geeky and small back then. But neither of us said anything as he returned with one of the classroom's dry-erase markers, and a packet of the wipes we used for cleaning the whiteboard. "Watch this."

He traced some of the permanent marker lines using the dry-erase pen. Then he tore open a packet of wipes and rubbed one over the same spot. The wipe turned blue with ink, and the lines on my desk disappeared.

"Wow, that's like magic," Koike marveled.

Utsumi made a scoffing noise. "It's chemistry," he corrected, working on another section. "The dry-erase ink loosens the bond of the permanent marker, while the—"

"Whatever, it works." Koike pulled the wipe from his hand. "You trace, I'll rub." She turned to me. "And you, Shino, sit your ass down before you fall over. You look like death."

I found a chair and sat. The two of them worked on my desk for the next few minutes, until students started filing back inside in anticipation of the next bell. Utsumi tucked the wipes and marker into my desk.

"We'll do more during the next break," he said before returning to his seat. The top of my desk was already starting to look better, though I hoped Utsumi had a way of getting rid of regular ballpoint pen ink, too. I wanted that cartoon gone most of all.

I remembered my phone and picked it up from the floor, pressing the home button eagerly. The screen turned on. Four missed calls from Seryou this morning, and one from just a couple minutes ago. The bell rang overhead, which meant I couldn't call him back now. I tapped the messages button instead, where a long string of texts from last night and then this morning greeted me. The most recent one just said Please tell me you're okay?

Guilt welled up in my chest and I started typing a reply, only to be interrupted by an angry adult voice.

"Shino Yuzuru-san, hand over that cell phone." My science teacher was frowning down at me with her palm out. "No one cheats on my midterms, young man."

"I wasn't cheating, Sensei," I replied, then realized the only way to prove it was to hand over my phone. I gulped and put it in her hand, and her red-manicured nails closed over it like claws.  She disconnected the charging cord without a word and marched to the front of the room, carrying my phone with her. Disappointment slumped my shoulders as I realized it would be another full class period before I could get a message to Seryou.

The science tests were handed out, and I don't know if I'd ever had to concentrate that hard on an exam in my life. My skull felt a bit like it had lava churning around inside it, and my nose was both so congested that I had to breathe through my mouth, and dripping so that I was constantly having to shift the mask in order to wipe it with my sleeve. I guess the teacher was moved by my predicament, though, because about fifteen minutes into the test she came by my desk and set a box of tissues next to me.

The exam questions, and their multiple choice answers, were floating off the paper in dizzying waves. I had to read each one several times before my burning brain could make sense of them. Luckily, though, I managed to get all of them answered except the very last one. The bell rang, and the teacher was standing right next to my desk waiting to collect my paper. I handed it up to her meekly.

"May I have my phone back, Sensei?"

"You have your Japanese history midterm next period, do you not?" I gave a nod. "Then you may have it back after that test is complete. My homeroom class is 3-2. Come find me at lunch and I'll return it."

No! I couldn't wait two more class periods, I needed it now. Seryou...

I stood up from my desk, wobbling a little and ready to beg, but she had already walked out of the room. I took a couple steps to chase after her, and the floor swayed lopsidedly under my feet.

"Whoa!" Koike said, grabbing my arm. "Shino, sit down. Sit down."

She helped me back into my chair, and I gripped her wrist. "Have you seen Seryou today?"

"Huh? No, why would I?"

"Can you go find him for me? Tell him my phone was dead but I'll call him on lunch. Please?"

She crossed her arms. "Just because you're sick doesn't mean I'm going to be your errand girl."

"Fine," I said, lurching to my feet again. "I'll go do it myself." Screw the school, they'd already seen the picture anyway.

"Oh, no, you won't." She pushed me back down. "I'm not letting you get yourself into any more trouble, you hear me? Which reminds me, did you give your mom that note?"

I shook my head, then regretted it as my ears started ringing.

"What are you going to do about the disciplinary hearing today?"

"I'll go myself," I said. "After the exams. But I have to talk to Seryou first."

"Stay put," she ordered. "I'll go tell him. But you owe me one, you hear?"

I batted my eyes, since that was the only part of my face she could see above the mask. "Thanks, Koike-chan."

She huffed and marched off. Utsumi had appeared on the other side of my desk, resuming his work on the defacement. I laid my head down on the empty desk next to mine. I was going to help, but instead I fell asleep.

Minutes later, Koike tapped me on the shoulder. "Bell's about to ring," she said. "I found him, I told him, he wanted me to give you this." She plunked a carton of strawberry milk on my desk. "You're welcome."

I sat up way too fast and the classroom went spinning. Ugh. "How did he look? Is he okay?"

"Chill, Casanova. He looked gorgeous, like he always does. He asked the exact same thing about you."

I was pretty sure she hadn't told him I looked gorgeous. The bell went off, though, so I couldn't ask her anything else. Utsumi returned to his own desk and I picked up the milk carton, my fingers wrapping it like something precious. My stomach couldn't handle anything in it right now, but that didn't matter. He could have sent me his dirty sock, and I would have held onto it just the same. I was sick and feeling particularly needy, and this was the best comfort I'd felt all day.

I had to hide the drink under my desk as the next set of exams were passed out. Japanese history, one of my worst subjects. But I steeled my resolve, because this was the last of the midterms and I was going to see them through to the end. If anything, I was feeling worse than this morning. But every time frustration started to get the better of me, I stroked the little milk carton in my lap and felt a bit more focused.

After the exam, I fell asleep again during the break. When I woke up, it was because Utsumi was poking me in the arm. "Dude, did you sleep through all of fourth period?"

I raised my head and blinked at him blearily. "Huh?"

"The lunch bell rang. You totally missed English class."

Well, if it was English I didn't have to worry as much about falling behind. I stood up, sticking the milk into my bag and hoisting the bag onto my shoulder. "I gotta go get my phone."

"Want me to come with you?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"No, 'cause I'm going to the admin office right after."

"Oh, yeah." He gave me sympathetic eyes. "Hope it turns out okay."

I think we both knew it wasn't going to be okay at all. "Thanks, Utsumi." I didn't bother adding It was nice knowing you, or Best of luck, or Hope we meet again someday, because all of those things were too sad and I couldn't handle that much depressing stuff right now. I just gave him a nod, and headed out to Building Two to pick up my phone.

I found the science teacher in room 3-2, just as she'd said, and she didn't even look up from the papers she was grading as she handed my phone back. Finally! I hurried out of the classroom, tugged the mask from my face, and dialed Seryou's number.

It rang exactly once before the phone was ripped out of my hand.

I turned to see Tanaka leering at me, winged on either side by the same Class Two guys from yesterday. Tanaka was holding my phone over his head with his eyebrows raised in challenge. He hit the end call button.

"Tanaka," I snarled, "I am not in the mood. Give it back."

In response, he threw it. I spun around, thinking he had some other guy behind me and they were about to play a game of keep-away, but there was no one there. My phone struck the brick wall and fractured, pieces of plastic bouncing off the floor and scattering through the hallway.

My overheated brain took way too long to register what had just happened. By the time a roar of fury escaped the ring of fire in my throat, Tanaka's two friends already had me by the arms. They dragged me out of the airlock doors and onto one of the third-floor balconies that ringed the courtyard. Tanaka followed us out with a menacing light in his eyes that was maybe the closest I'd ever come to seeing pure evil.

My muscles felt sluggish and weak with fever, but I still tried to kick at the guys' ankles. Since that was getting me nowhere, I twisted until I could sink my teeth into one of their forearms. He yelped and his grip on me loosened.

But Tanaka's meaty fist landed in my gut.

The air was forced from my lungs. My knees gave out, and I was hanging by my arms as Tanaka's next punch landed across my face with a crunchy sound, like biting into a pepper. Funny, I felt the skin of my cheek split open, but not the pain I'd have expected. My ears started ringing, though.

Another blow across my jaw, and blood filled my mouth. It tasted like sharp metal. The contents of my skull were sloshing around behind my eyes.

He hit me a few more times, mostly in the face and a couple in the stomach. The pain took its time catching up, but when it did it was like my face was being crushed against a wall and there was a pulsing, spiky ball of fire buried in my abdomen. Between the congestion, runny nose and blood everywhere, I couldn't breathe without gagging.

I guess the choking sounds I was making convinced the guys that they'd better quit. I was dumped onto the icy concrete of the balcony, and the cold actually felt pretty nice against my traumatized cheek. I heard Tanaka laughing.

"That's how we deal with homos at Houka," he said, and the rubber soles of their shoes squeaked as they jogged back into the building.

I was so damn angry that my entire body was shaking. I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd burst into a mushroom cloud of wrath, but I guess my systems were too busy rushing to repair the damage of the beating. I was still having trouble figuring out how to get enough oxygen. I lay there for a few minutes, until the air had found a path to my lungs and I seemed to have charge of my muscles again.

Sitting up was unpleasant. I could feel my heartbeat throbbing in my bottom lip, my left eye, and deep in my intestines. I wiped my mouth and my fingers came away red. My jaw ached, but I wiggled it experimentally and was glad to find that it still seemed properly attached.

I got to my feet slowly, a wave of nausea hitting as I tried to straighten up. I'd been in more than a few fights in junior high, but getting my ass kicked sure hurt a lot more than I remembered. I stumbled through the airlock doors, back into the hallway.

The pieces of my phone were still strewn all over the floor, and I painfully made my way around, collecting them. I think I was more pissed about the phone than the beating. My phone couldn't heal itself like my face could, and there was no way in hell I was going to ask my mom for a replacement. The only reason I even had this one was because Yuriko had given it to me when Grandmother bought her an upgraded model.

I'd never really been a phone person. But now I had lost my lifeline to Seryou. This day could not possibly get any worse.

Oh, shit, that reminded me. I had to get to the admin office. Whatever bad news the school wanted to dish out, if I wasn't there to receive it they were going to call my mom again. I stuffed the pieces of my phone into my jacket pocket and made a stop by the bathroom to check my face.

Once I'd washed the blood and snot off, it didn't look half as bad as it felt. I had a split lip and a gash about three centimeters long over my left cheek. My left eye was ringed with too much pink, which meant I was likely going to have a shiner in a couple hours. I blew my nose—that hurt a lot—and pulled the mask back into place. It hid the busted lip and most of the cheek injury. If I could pull off a normal walking gait, maybe none of the school officials would be able to tell. I was pretty sure that showing up to a disciplinary hearing looking fresh out of a fight would only confirm the school's inclination to expel me.

I had to go down two flights of stairs, then cross the courtyard to Building One, then go back up two more flights of stairs. You never really thought about how many core muscles it took to climb stairs until after having your innards rearranged by someone's fist. It took me twice as long as it should have, but I got to the admin office and pushed the door open.

The lady behind the reception desk eyed me curiously. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Shino Yuzuru," I said with a pained bow. "I'm here for a disciplinary hearing."

"Ah. I thought only parents were invited."

"My parents couldn't come," I said.

"Hm. Well, I guess you can head on into the conference room then." She pointed. "Down that hall, second door on the left."

I followed her instruction to a door marked Conference Room 3, and knocked. From somewhere inside a man's voice answered, "Come in."

When I opened the door, though, I stood stock-still for a second. The long table in the middle of the room was lined with people. I recognized the principal, Watanabe-sensei, Fukuda-sensei, and Seryou's homeroom teacher. There were also two men and a woman I didn't know, all dressed in sedate suits with their graying hair carefully tended and their expressions serious. School officials, was my guess.

Across from them sat three more people whose presence made my throbbing stomach sink to the floor. The older man was tall and thin, with short-cropped black hair, sharp eyes, a narrow jaw and features as symmetrical as a department store mannequin. To his left was a younger version of those same features, whose majestic composure I remembered all too well. And on his other side sat a pretty woman with elegant red lipstick and hair pulled into a sleek bun, her black eyes so familiar I felt a little shock zing through me.

Seryou's family.

I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me that they would be here. Of course they would. But if his parents had come back from Tokyo early for this, how much trouble was Seryou in right now? I was hearing his fear-stricken whisper in my head.

I don't know what I'll do if they send me away.

The principal's brows drew together when he saw me. "Shino-san, this meeting was to be attended by your parents. Where are they?"

I bowed low. "I'm sorry, sir, my mom had to work."

"And your father?"

My heart went cold. What father would that be? I wasn't surprised in the slightest that he hadn't shown up. It was better for everyone, myself most of all, that he didn't give a damn. I barely managed to keep the bitterness from my tone. "It's only me, sir."

He didn't look at all pleased at that, but gestured to an empty chair anyway. I sat, doing my best not to wince. I was right next to Seryou's mom, so I bowed as much as I could in her direction. She ignored me.

"My name is Kaminari Reo," said the man at the head of the table. He had a head full of silver hair and a face full of wrinkles. "I am the chairman of the Houka Preparatory Academy school board. These are my colleagues." He said their names, but I already knew I wouldn't remember them.

"As I am sure you can appreciate," Kaminari began, "our school holds its reputation for academic and ethical standards as a matter of utmost importance. Houka's code of regulations forbids students from engaging in romantic relationships during their studies here. Yesterday, this photo was posted to the Houka student message boards."

He clicked a little remote, and suddenly the picture of me lying on top of Seryou filled the wall screen behind him. With it blown up like that, I could see details I hadn't noticed before. Seryou's hand disappearing into the back of my jeans, for example. His soft, shiny hair draped through my fingers. His lower lip wedged between mine and curved in a little smile, my uniform tie draped over the head rail of my bed behind us. The contrast in our skin tones, his porcelain whiteness making me look ruddy in comparison. I could even see the blush that tinged his profile as he kissed me. Fuck, he was so beautiful. Heat started building in my stomach, warring with the heavy pulse of my injuries. It was probably super wrong that I was getting turned on by the very photo that had prompted all this, but...

I glanced at his mother, who had her hand over her eyes. His father and brother, meanwhile, were gazing at the screen with scarcely more reaction than if it were a blank wall. Most of the other people in the room appeared disgusted, except for Fukuda. His eyes met mine and narrowed, but he almost seemed... sad? Woozy though I was, it occurred to me to be grateful that Yuriko and her friends hadn't interrupted us a few minutes earlier, when Seryou's hands had been tied to the bed and I'd been the one with my hand down his pants. If these people thought this photo was shocking...

Kaminari faced us and cleared his throat. "Obviously, a violation of this nature is a serious concern for the school board, particularly when it has been publicized as widely as this one has. We are left with few choices."

He eyed Seryou's parents nervously, as if hoping that what he was about to say would be acceptable. I guess even Houka officials didn't want to piss off the Happy World Coffee magnates.

"As this infraction was not a violent one, nor one that broke the law, we do not feel it would be appropriate to create such lasting harm as expulsion on the boys' records. Instead, Houka will facilitate their transfer to different schools for the remainder of the school year. Separate ones, of course." He licked his lips, waiting for the Seryous to respond.

I let out a breath. A transfer was better than anything I'd dared to hope for. I knew I had Seryou's family connections to thank for it, because if we'd both been nobodies like me, we'd be expelled without a second thought.

Seryou's father held up a hand, looking around the table at everyone but me. "We appreciate the consideration," he said, "but it will be unnecessary. Our son is withdrawing from Houka today. He will be completing his senior high education at a boarding school in New York."

New York? As in, the United States? No way... A boarding school meant they wouldn't be going with him. They were sending him off to the other side of the planet, all alone. Shit, it was exactly the thing Seryou was most terrified of. Did they have any idea what that would do to him? No, of course they didn't, because they hadn't seen what he was like while they'd been gone. They hadn't been the ones urging him to eat, reading him to sleep, holding him while he cried his heart out with loneliness. They had no fucking clue.

I shook my head frantically. "You can't do that," I wheezed past swollen lips.

Seryou's mother turned to me with loathing in her eyes. "We most certainly can. Be grateful we aren't insisting on your expulsion, you sick little—"

"Yui," Seryou's father said, and she pressed her lips together in a gesture that was so like Seryou's it was heartrending.

"You don't get it," I said in desperation, looking back and forth between all three of them. "This will kill him." As the words left my mouth my fevered brain couldn't help thinking of that last scene from the tennis manga. The one where the boy jumped from the roof of his high school. Only now that boy had cartoon-Seryou's face, eyes ringed with sleepless shadows, cheeks sunken from lack of appetite , black eyes dull with despair. He looked right at me, then stepped off the edge of the building, the wind fluttering his long hair as he dropped from sight.

If I'm all the way on the other side of the world, morning will never come, will it?

Terror lashed through my entire being, and next thing I knew I was on my knees at Seryou's mother's feet, my forehead pressed to the rough carpet. "Expel me," I croaked. "I'll accept it. I'll do anything you want, just please, you can't send him away. He won't survive being separated from you guys."

"Oh for heaven's sake, get up, boy," said Watanabe from behind me. "New York is an excellent opportunity for your friend, you should be happy for him."

"Please," I said again, feeling hot tears soaking the mask over my nose and mouth. They burned like hell against the cut on my cheek. "If you care about him, you won't do this. I know he seems okay on the outside, but he doesn't sleep without you guys around. He doesn't eat. He can barely smile. Your housekeeper is the only real friend he has. If you send him away he's not going to make it."

I was talking too much. My throat felt like it had been attacked with a razor, and my eye was pulsing so hard my inflamed sinuses were going to burst. But I kept my face on the carpet. I was dizzy and queasy and couldn't stop crying.

"Shino-san," the principal said, "you're being unreasonable. University entrance exams are in a month. If you get expelled now, you won't be allowed to take them. Not this year, likely not ever."

"I don't care!" I screamed. "I just care about Seryou. He's all that matters." I'd find another way to help my mom. I'd get five part-time jobs if that's what it took. I couldn't let them do this.

The room was silent except for the sound of my sobs, which I couldn't seem to get under control.

Finally I heard his father say, "Do you mean that?"

"Yes," I replied, choking.

"Get up. We can't hear you properly from down there."

I pushed up onto my knees, keeping my head bowed.

"Take that mask off."

My hands were shaking, but I pulled the mask down around my neck. I heard murmuring from the teachers, and Natsuki's eyebrows went up, but if Seryou's parents were shocked at the cuts and bruises on my face, they didn't let on. His mom was too busy glowering at the wall over my head, anyway, like she couldn't stand to look at me.

His father, though, stared me straight in the eye. "I have an alternative proposal," he said. "Touji may remain at home, and we will transfer him to a Yokohama school, if you fulfill one condition."

I inhaled with a shudder and looked up at them. "Anything."

Seryou's mom's mouth tightened, but his father was still watching me steadily. "From the moment you walk out this door today, you will have no further contact with our son."

I think my heart might actually have stopped beating.

"And by that, I mean there will be no phone calls. No emails. No texts or letters or visits or messages exchanged between you of any sort. You will disappear from his life and never see him again. If we find that you've been in touch with him by any means, he will immediately be on a plane to New York."

I couldn't breathe. More tears were falling from the corners of my eyes, and now they were stinging my lip as well as my cheek. They were going to take him away from me either way, weren't they?

"In exchange," his father went on, "We will see to it that you are transferred to one of the finest high schools in the city. Far from the one Touji attends, of course, so that you two will not be running into one another. And if you are able to pass the national entrance exam next month, we will pay tuition and board for any university you wish to attend, so long as it is not in Yokohama."

My fists knotted at my sides and my tortured guts clenched up in fury. "I hate people like you."

"Shino-san!" the principal exclaimed. Seryou's mom scoffed, but I didn't break my staring contest with his father.

He tilted his head with a small smile, another gesture that was so like Seryou's I had to clamp down on the longing that surged in my chest. "Oh?"

"Keep your fucking money, I don't want it."

"Then it's to be New York after all?"

"I didn't say that. I'll leave him." Those three words ripped holes in my soul that I was pretty certain were never going to heal. "Just as you asked. I won't contact him ever again. But I won't take your filthy payoff money. Seryou has to be able to stay with his family. That's enough."

His expression didn't change, except for a slight shift in the light in his eyes, like his pupils had dilated a little. He regarded me for another second, then inclined his head. "Done." He turned to Kaminari. "My wife and I will be in touch about the transfer paperwork. Please handle it with consideration."

Kaminari bowed. "Of course, Seryou-san."

I got to my feet, and I don't think I had ever hurt worse in my entire life. My face and my stomach ached, my sinuses and my brain throbbed, I was certain I had a fever, and my left eye was already swelling shut. But none of that even came close to the agony of what I'd just promised.

Seryou would be okay without me. He had two and a half more years of high school left. There were hundreds of girls chasing him. He'd find somebody else without a problem. He could go back to his Definite-Yes-Mondays, those had worked out pretty well, hadn't they? I was replaceable, but his parents and brother weren't. And I couldn't stand it, I couldn't stand the thought of what he might do if he was ostracized from them so drastically.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

"We'll email the transfer documents to your parents as well, Shino-san," the principal said.

I didn't even acknowledge that, just hobbled for the door. I stumbled out of the hall to the reception desk, where the lady gave a little cry when she saw my face. "My goodness, young man, what happened to you?"

I wrenched the handle of the exit door and yanked it open...

...only to find myself face-to-face with Seryou.

His dark eyes went wide when he saw me, and his pretty mouth dropped open in shock.

"Yuzuru-san?"

I drank him in, this very last sight of him, his long dramatic hair and thick lashes and creamy, perfect skin. The single precious mole on his left temple. The beautiful black eyes that made me ache to take his face in my hands and kiss him until neither of us could breathe. I blinked until the tears made his features a hot, swirling mess in my vision. Then I pushed past him and ran for the stairs.

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A/N: You guyssss.....