ADMIRE ME |Brothers Conflict

08

"Ah," I hurried to say, "I'm sorry. We'll get this fixed, no worries."

"You do realise that you're hopeless, don't you?" Fuuto asked me, his voice strangely devoid of any exasperation. What could have triggered such a change? Although I deemed it unlikely, it was possible that my tears still affected how he treated me.

Still lost in thought, I didn't notice that Fuuto had already turned away, ready to leave me behind in the corridor until he turned back abruptly. With a complicated expression, he pointed at the cast around my ankle.

"Do you still wear that thing?" he asked me as if we were discussing my poor fashion style. Disdain laced his voice, but would he have paused to consider how many weeks had passed since my ankle was fractured if he was indifferent towards me?

"I have an appointment with Doctor Masume this Friday," I told him. "Then, he'll take a look at how my recovery is coming along."

Hopefully, Doctor Masume wouldn't see any reason to kill me and break his Doctor's oath.

My ankle had been painful since my trip to Osaka – I knew that he was going to be very angry.

"That's good," Fuuto decided before walking off.

Nonplussed, I stared at his back which disappeared into the stream of students that traversed between the canteen and classrooms. Surely, he wasn't worried about me.

Overly aware of the people who were gawking at me now that I no longer had Fuuto's company, I wobbled back to the classroom. Leaning heavily on my crutches, I headed past whispering classroom to sink back in my seat.

Ema didn't comment on the deep sigh I heaved.

"Want to come over to my house to play games?" she asked.

"I would love to, but my dad has grounded me until I graduate," I rejected her invitation.

She raised an elegant eyebrow, her curiosity evident in the way she cocked her head. I hadn't told her about the concert in Osaka, so she didn't know what had happened. However, Ema wasn't stupid, so she narrowed her eyes and took a calculated guess.

"Does this have anything to do with the day you were absent?" she asked. "What did you do? You have been limping more than usual these days too."

"Eh." I hesitated, wondering what I was supposed to say in response.

By the time school was over, I still didn't know what kind of lie to feed Ema. So, I ended up saying nothing at all.

Fortunately, Ema didn't broach the subject again when we walked to the station together after school. She didn't even try to convince me to go to her house, visibly lost in thought. Her pensive expression was terrifying because I knew that she would eventually find the truth – and I wasn't sure what truth that would be.

The ever-changing dynamics between Fuuto and I were making me dizzy. For now, things between us were improving, but I couldn't know when everything would reverse. At the very least, I would be able to listen to Fuuto live, which was a wish come true.

"See you tomorrow," Ema said when we reached the station, interrupting my train of thought. Startled, I looked up with a brilliant smile.

"See you," I greeted her before entering the old station building. As soon as I stepped over the threshold, my smartphone buzzed. Although I was curious about the identity of the caller, I couldn't both walk and pick up the phone, so I let my phone ring until I could sit down on the train.

My eyes widened when I noticed that I had five misseed calls from an unknown number. Tentatively, I called back, wondering who was so desperate to reach me. Halfway convinced that someone would try to scam me, I waited as the phone rang for a millisecond.

"You don't know how to accept a call?" Fuuto asked, "let me help you through the steps, then, [Y/N]-chan."

"Are you angry?" I asked with a broad grin. Proximity made Fuuto intimidating, I realised. With a safe distance between us, I could relax and enjoy this conversation that would undoubtedly turn into an argument.

"I have a plan," he said, completely ignoring my question.

"Does your plan take the fact that my dad had grounded me into account?"

"You... What? Well, this's for the greater good, so screw your detention." In the span of one sentence, his voice changed from confused to arrogant.

"Don't screw my detention," I protested weakly, already thinking about how I would manage to sneak away unnoticed.

"Tomorrow, I have a double date planned for us."

"Tomorrow, you have what planned for us?" I echoed, gawking at my phone with a slack jaw and wide eyes.

"A double date. Listen, I have got you covered. I even have a date for you."

"Wait," I blurted, too speechless to voice my opinion on his crazy plans. "What are you planning?"

"Glad that you want to know the details," Fuuto said. "I was already worried that you wouldn't show enough initiative and interest."

Oh dear, this was going to be troublesome.

"But Fuuto," I said softly, hoping that my words would reach him, "I'm grounded. How do you expect me to attend this alleged double date? How do you even imagine this will work out?"

"Don't you worry your pretty head over this," Fuuto assured me. I wasn't sure whether I was flattered or insulted, but those emotions didn't matter in the face of this emergency. For a second, I contemplated reminding him of the unfortunate consequences of his last masterplan.

Back then, Yuusuke had taken Ema to the canteen to buy lunch for her, scoring brownie points (literally). This time, we would have a second boy who could disrupt Fuuto's plans, which weren't very detailed anyway.

A part of me hoped that this plan would be a disaster. I should be appalled by this mean part of me that wanted Fuuto to fail, but I couldn't muster the morals to care. My conscience remained silent as I agreed to meet him tomorrow after school.