Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anzai was pleasantly surprised by the events that led to this moment.

It was the end of the school day, and he and Sakura had been tasked with the end of the class cleaning duty that day.

Anzai sighed as he stood at the front of the classroom, already dreading staying within his classroom any longer than he should.

Now it's not like Anzai disliked being with Sakura, of course he cherished his awkward grade captain and his silliness. After the events of KEEL, seeing Sakura's straight up wrong perceptions of himself and Furin, Anzai always saw Sakura as this timid cat that was too afraid of reaching out to its owner, and small yet assuring coaxing was the only way to get it to open up; which he found super endearing- not that he would ever tell that to the boy himself.

And he owed the boy so much after saving his friend. No it wasn’t Sakura-

It was cleaning that was the problem.

Anzai believed that he cleaned after himself pretty well, at least he felt he did. And sure he might get messy at times, but he believes that he takes care of himself just fine. The problem lies with his classmates however.

Somehow, someway their classroom always ends in disarray. Whether it be questionable liquids on the floor, to heaps of desks and chairs piled up in one corner of the room that end up looking like a museum still life- it always ended with the room being more trashed than it was in the morning.

This obviously led to many classmates- who had the unfortunate fate of cleaning duty- to deal with the class mess every day after classes ended.

‘And you would think after so many complaints they would try to be a bit more cleaner…’ The boy mussed as he took in the dirty room before him.

Of course he knows that he attends a fully delinquent run school, and with that comes the colorfully vandalized halls and classrooms, which mind you he liked very much. The thing is that class 1-1 was definitely a rowdy bunch, especially with all the eccentric characters within said class. With that there was bound to be a major hodgepodge of dirt and grime that came with it.

“Oi”

Anzai was taken out of his thoughts by his fellow classmate who was also staring at the mess with large distaste.

“The more we stand here, the more time it will take to clear up this damn mess. Let’s do this”. Sakura said while cracking his knuckles, as if he were preparing to fight the scene before him.

With a determined smile Anzai replies, "Roger!"

____________________________________________________________________________

Thirty minutes in and Anzai was already done with life, mentally begging to go home so that he could rot in bed and never touch another cleaning product again.

At first it was fine, they managed to arrange the stacks of chairs and desks to a somewhat organized lineup and threw out any loose wrappers and papers laying around. They even wiped down all the open surfaces that had thin layers of dust already forming.

Things were looking great-

Until the duo found large clumps of what seemed to be protein powder within the crevices on the floor and walls at the back of the classroom.

Anzai sweatdropped ‘That bastard Tsugeura- he probably gets too into his spiel about his workout that he doesn’t realize the mess he makes…’

“This is gonna be a pain to clean…” Anzai voices out loud while scratching his head.

A tsk to his right makes him glance toward his partnered cleaner, Sakura’s face is pinched with annoyance and disdain as he surveys the damage before him. “He looks like a grumpy cat,” Anzai pondered with a fond look.

“When I see Tsugeura I’m going to beat his ass for all this mess… ugh” The grade captain grumbled while crouching down to assess the sight more closely. Anzai couldn’t help but agree with the remark.

This leads them to now, where they currently are still scrubbing off the powder off the walls, or at least are trying to.

‘What the fuck is in this protein powder- why won’t this come off?!!?’ The boy questions as he continues to furiously scrub at the wall corner. He's been scrubbing for the past ten minutes and there has been little to no change in the bright mustard yellow stain that was banana protein powder.

After a few more strong scrubs Anzai eventually stops his attempts to clean the stain. 'This is getting nowhere.’ With a sigh he takes out his phone to open his go to music app, as he is doing so Anzai hollers to Sakura who is on the other end of the room, who is also scrubbing the floor with an irked expression.

“Hey Sakura, you don’t mind if I play some tunes do ya, it’s getting pretty chummy in here with all the silence yeah?”

Said boy perks up from being addressed to and replies “Uh yeah- do whatever you want”. With a gruff and a shrug, still caught up with the stains he has to deal with on his side of the classroom.

Anzai grins at the confirmation from his captain and immediately starts playing the class playlist. A few days after the confrontation with KEEL, Kiryu suggested making a joint music playlist stating “It would be nice to get to know everyone more…like their music tastes ya know!” with a usual lax smile.

No one is really sure if anyone uses the playlist, but they do play it sometimes when the class is together or when on patrol- just to keep the mood up and for some background noise.

Anzai especially needed a distraction with something to keep on going with all this darn scrubbing he's been doing.

A few more minutes pass by, along with various songs ranging to pop, metal, and folk. The playlist has helped time pass by, but it's still pretty hard to stay motivated when all you are doing is just wiping the same spot repeatedly. Currently the playlist just queued up a much more slow-paced song. Masaki silently groans, ready to skip the seemingly boring song when he hears it.

A slight melodic sound cuts the air the same time the first chorus of the song starts to play.

Confused, the boy looks around while thinking, ‘that’s strange… there should be basically no one left at school… unless’. Anzai tilts his head to get a better look at his companion, who is still working on the floor, and his eyes widen at the two realizations that pop up in his head.

One- Sakura is singing- albeit Anzai thinks that the two haired boy doesn't realize what he is unconsciously doing.

And two… it was beautiful.

Masaki could hear the soft voice even amidst the loud pop tunes coming out of his phone. The voice, though shaky and mumbly at parts, sounded like wind chimes lightly clamoring in the wind, free and refreshing to hear.

It was an endearingly lovely new piece of info that the Bofurin student stashed away in his mental Sakura folder for future references.

Anzai was tempted to call out the boy on this newly found talent, and maybe tease him- but the look on his grade captain's face immediately made Masaki stop in his tracks.

Sakura’s face looked so serene, the small upturn of his lips while he was singing. Along with the sunset's last rays contouring the dual haired boy just added more to his already fairly pretty features. Painting a very much an unforgettable shot that Anzai was bound to remember.

‘The others are gonna be so jealous when I tell them about this.’ Anzai slightly grinned, remembering how Kurita, Kakiuchi, and Takanashi gave him half assed sympathies as they were leaving.

Trying not to alert his buddy cleaner of his blatant staring, the first year looked back at his partially removed section of protein powder with new determined rigor.

‘Well might as well get to work- Sakura is giving me this reward after all.’

____________________________________________________________________________

Soon enough they managed to make it so that the protein powder stains blended in enough that they looked a part of one of the many graffiti painted on the walls. Which was good enough in their books.

Sakura and Anzai both huffed, tired and done with the labor they had gone through. After cleaning all the powder they could off they decided that they should probably start wrapping up and head home. Currently the duo were walking towards the school gates, ready to prance home and rest their hands from the rigorous cleaning job.

“Soo- Sakura how was it?”

“Hah? What do you mean?”

“I mean listening to music while cleaning, pretty chill right!”

Sakura starts shuffling side to side while avoiding Anzai's gaze, his ears already a faint shade of pink as he mumbles “Uh- I- I guess it was pretty nice…”

Anzai does a mental fist bump while flashing Sakura and elated smirk,

“That's great! You must really love the class playlist huh!”

“HEY I DIDN'T SAY THAT!”

“Don't deny it~”

“YOU-”

Before Sakura could snatch and smother Anzai for his comment, the said boy starts sprinting away. His last words being a quick “OH! Gotta go, see ya Captain!” before zooming out of Sakura’s reach and into the streets of Makochi.

Masaki continues to run, Sakura's sputtering sounding more distant by the second. A large smile on his face as he thinks back to the golden scene he witnessed while they were tidying up,

‘Maybe cleaning duty isn't that bad after all.’

‘I'm still gonna beat the shit out of Tsugeura tho, that fucking protein powder was a pain the the ass’

Chapter Text

Sakura begrudgingly walked beside his upperclassman as they walked the streets of the Red-light district.

Tsubakino had somehow, after much prodding and swaying, managed to drag the dual haired boy to another “shopping day”. Which was more of Tsubaki buying bags of clothes, and Sakura awkwardly sticking by and carrying the paid items.

The third year glanced at their pouting underclassman with a mirthful beam, silently cooing at how stubbornly cute Sakura was being.

Tsubaki had grown affectionate for Sakura and his Tsundere vibe ever since they first met him on the Furin rooftop, even more so with his actions in supporting Pub Ougi and protecting Shizuka. They had seen the underlying protective nature the younger had for both his friend and the innocent, even if he was trying to be nonchalant about it.

There was something about the boy, something about his captivating stubborn nature- along with his shy yet boyish charm was such an aspiring quirk Sakura had, and seeing that in real time always make Tsubakino admire the boy’s strong resolve.

After that whole debacle, Tsubaki had grown a little attached to Sakura and all his little charms. Leading them to constantly ask Sakura out on little outings, just to get to know the boy more- as well as spoil him as much as possible since he was their adorable kohai.

Just seeing the dual haired boy so flustered over any small gift given to him never failed to make Tasuku giggle.

Whether it be with a group or just the duo, they would always prod for Sakura to join. Sometimes it worked, other times the first year managed to wiggle his way out of the plans with pink on his cheeks and sputtering as he ran from the third year.

On this outing in particular, along with the shopping, Tsubaki asked Sakura to come along since the Pub Ougi was recruiting new gigs for their night shows. Shizuka had invited her friend to catch up and have them get a glimpse of who was auditioning, and of course the Heavenly King saw the perfect opportunity to ask Sakura to accompany them.

The invite was successful with the boy looking somewhat interested when told the news, leading Tsubakino to happily trek through the Red-Light district with Sakura on their heels.

“Are you excited to see what the performers have in store?” The heavenly king leans to the side while asking their companion.

“I guess so…” The boy replied while looking to the side with embarrassment.

Tsubaki giggles and says cheerily “Hehe no need to be shy on what interests you! C’mon, maybe you will find someone you like!” At that moment they arrive at the pub, and the third year captain gracefully prances inside before the first year can protest their statement.

Sakura’s squawks with intelligible sounds in front of the pub door for a few seconds before he messily composes himself and follows Tsubakino inside.

Even with the dimmed lights anyone could see that the interior of the pub was filled with performers and small band groups, who were all in a state of motion. From mingling with the other groups to enjoying the small drinks and finger foods the pub generously provided, the space looked pretty packed and lively. They could already see people at the back setting up sound systems and microphones, signaling that performances might be starting soon.

“Oh wow! It’s more packed than I thought!” The third year voices while surveying the area with surprise. They look to their side to see Sakura with an awed expression on his face, which makes Tsubaki giggle with fondness.

Tsubakino is taken out of their staring when someone shouts, “Tsubaki-chan! Sakura-kun! You made it just in time!” They turn to see Shizuka jump towards them with a smile on the petite girl’s face, with Nakamura a few feet behind her also sporting a smile.

As soon the two friends exchange hugs and pleasantries, the lights go out and the sound of microphone rebound echoes through the space, dramatically shushing the audience and kicking off the program of performances for the night.

Each act had their own special flair to their program, making it a fun experience to go though and witness. Tsubaki especially liked one group’s act that did a variation of a dance choreo that included both hip hop and contemporary dance elements. During the previous performances, Tasuku managed to note the engrossed look Sakura gave specifically to the band performances. Maybe the boy liked the instrumental acts more- it was something that the third year wanted to bring up and learn more about.

Cause who wouldn’t want to know what Sakura liked.

—

Soon enough all the performers had finished their acts and were slowly packing out and trickling out of the pub, eager to learn about their fates as performers for the said space.

Shizuka, Tsubakino, and the other current performers of Pub Ougi mingle and connect with the lingering artists, making them feel more welcome to visit the area even if they don’t get a gig in the end.

After sending another group off, Tsubaki notices Sakura brooding near the stage, constantly taking a peak of the open area where a few instruments are still sitting on stage in their respective stands. Sakura, though aloof, looks like an eager kitten ready to jump on stage and examine the props.

Tsubaki walks closer to the boy, ready to ask about the observations they had earlier, when they see one of the Pub Ougi staff come up to Sakura. The young worker lightly bows to the Bofurin student and states “Hi! I saw that you have been staring at the stage for a bit, would you like to come up and take a closer look?”

Sakura unsurprisingly gets embarrassed and begins to deny the observations the staff worker pointed out. Before things could escalate (which was Sakura fleeing the scene) the heavenly king jumps in and excitedly follows with “Of course he would! Isn’t that great Sakura!”

“Hey- I didn’t-”

“Ooh don’t deny it! During the performances I saw how interested you looked when the band groups came on! If you like them, don't be shy!”

Sakura looks down with a grumble and pink cheeks, he contemplates for a bit before turning to the pub worker and gives them a little reluctant nod.

“I-If it’s really ok… then…”

Sakura puts down the shopping bags he has been holding since the start of the event and shyly climbs on the platform.

The worker and Tasuku glance at each other with hidden smiles as they follow the boy on stage.

Once on, the worker notes “You can touch and examine the instruments all you want, they are actually owned by the pub and we brought them on in case the performers tonight needed backups. Just try not to damage them please!” They bow once again and start to tidy up the loose equipment on the side of the stage.

Tsubaki nods at that information, turning their head to where their underclassman should be.

“Did you hear that Sakura? You can-”

Once Tsubakino puts their full attention on Sakura the words that they had on their tongue instantly vanish.

The boy in question has trekked across the platform and is currently fiddling with what seems to be an electric guitar. His motions looked as if the boy was a professional, easily connecting the instrument to one of the few amps that were lying around on the stage.

The older watches with quiet interest, observing as he grips the neck of the guitar with practiced ease as he begins to quietly tune it. The nimble fingers of the Bofurin captain lightly turning the tuner knobs and strumming the strings with careful movements.

Tasuku’s face fills with awed astonishment when the fellow Bofurin student starts to play the said instrument he was holding-

The dual haired boy starts with a loud guitar riff, effectively shushing the remaining people within the pub and turning their attention on the stage. Sakura, surprisingly unbothered by the newfound attention centered on him, then continues his playing with swift yet steady pick tapping, going on and off with a hybrid picking technique before returning to more simple yet impressive strumming.

While doing these remarkable moves, Sakura’s face holds a satisfied grin that shines brighter than the artificial glare of the stage lights.

The little play session goes on for another minute or two before Sakura ends his bout with a final strum, shaking the guitar and letting the vibrato effect on the final chord echo into the little venue.

After a few seconds the pub erupts in cheers and calls, pulling Sakura out of the mini trace he was in from the moment he started playing. It was then he realized the situation he was in and quickly stripped himself from the electric guitar and hurried himself off stage, away from the mini commotion he caused.

The teen is then glomped on by an enthusiastic Tsubaki who immediately starts firing off questions to their red-faced kohai.

“OMG SAKURA I DIDN’T KNOW YOU COULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!”

"THAT WAS SO COOL!-"

“You were planning to hide this from me weren’t you!”

“IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE- We got to tell Ume-chan of this talent-”

Sakura, flustered and annoyed by all the ruckus his upperclassmen is making, breaks out of their hold and turns to them with an embarrassed pinched face.

“I-It wasn’t like I was actively hiding it… It’s just been awhile since I played and- and I wanted to feel the sensation of playing again that’s all…”

“But still! How do you know how to play so well?!?! Those tricks that you did aren’t something a casual player can do on the fly!”

“Oh-, well I…” The boy is silent for a moment, contemplating for a few seconds, before yelling “I-I just know ok!”

“Sakura-channnnnnnn”

What Sakura won’t tell is that he picked up playing the guitar to distract himself from the aching of his bruises when he managed to get away from the bullies and his tormentors, mainly fleeing to the shady parts of his town, where he would sneak into bars and pubs- places where eccentric people gathered and could care less about the appearances and lives of fellow customers.

The boy learned from a young man who was a regular performer of this pub that Sakura would call his ‘go to’ hiding spot. The performer was one of the few people that actually interacted with Sakura, seeing and tending to his injuries and offering to show some sick playing tricks when he saw the awed look on the younger whenever he had his prized guitar in his hands.

The man never asked about Sakura’s situation and why he always appeared ragged and bruised when they would meet, but he always held a look of understanding when he patched him up. They had a silent agreement to never pry about their lives, it was only them and the art of the guitar that actually kept them close.

From there Sakura managed to become a decent player, even to the point where the performer would invite him to play whenever he did a gig at the pub.

Unfortunately the young man had found a better venue to perform at and had to leave. It was one of the few times Sakura had bonded with another individual, so seeing him leave was really a hard pill for the younger one to swallow.

Before he left he gave Sakura his guitar pick and told the boy to never give up on surviving. Ever since then those words had given some semblance of hope whenever Sakura felt down or discouraged after another altercation. He had always kept the gift in his pocket, using the guitar pick as a lucky charm when he had no more hope left to look towards. But that was before moving to Makochi.

Especially after Sakura moved towns, he never got another opportunity to play the electric guitar, so seeing one on the open stage made him eager to test if he still remembered the content he was taught.

“Oiiiii- Sakura-chan?”

The dual haired boy is pulled out of his reverie by the call, noticing that his older companion has a worried look as they wave their hand in front of his face- trying to rouse his attention.

“You ok? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable with my rambling-”

“Naw I’m good. Just… remembering unimportant stuff.”

Tsubakino gives the other a pinched look before letting it go, if Sakura didn’t want to talk about it then they wouldn’t pry further.

That didn’t mean that they couldn’t spread the world of Sakura’s talent however.

With a smile and a skip in their step, Tsubaki went to go stand next to the grumpy boy, ready to tease and flaunt their kohai’s talent to the other Bofurin students when they returned to school the next day.

'Hehe Sakura never fails to bring something entertaining to the table.'

Chapter Text

The town of Makochi was fairly a quiet town, of course when there was no ruckus concerning gangs and street fights.

From the nice old ladies that drink tea outside their lawns every Tuesday, to the loud joyful sounds of little kids playing with their friends and even the Bofurin students when they join in while on patrol. It was overall a very peaceful area.

The residents were very generous people, Sakura knows this. In fact he has witnessed this first hand with all the gracious gifts and acts of service he receives wherever he casually strolls through the town streets.

The boy has always been thankful that he’s been accepted here, at first he thought the worst would happen- that he would be ostracized and shunned just from his distinct appearance and he would be forced to move again.

But no, none of that occurred and he is grateful that he has the courage to call this place ‘home’.

With that in mind, Sakura internally vowed to protect any person within Makochi and Furin to the best of his ability. He felt that this was the only way he could actively show his gratitude to the people who finally respected who he was.

Thus any time the people in Makochi were in a pickle of some kind, they knew that they could rely on their new resident to lend a helping hand.

—

Patrols had just ended and many of the classes that were deployed were returning to Furin to finally end their day.

Sakura’s team consisted of his usual entourage of peers, he was leading the group Suo and Nirei a step behind him chatting about how peaceful their patrol was.

“Oh! It's Sakura and the others.”

The mentioned boy turns his head to the direction of the call and sees Kusumi, Kaji, and Hiiragi a few feet in front of their group. It seems that while heading back they coincidentally bumped into another group of the Tamon Unit.

Nirei, always the welcoming one, jumps with joy while exclaiming “Oooh! Hello senpai! Are you heading back too?”

Hiiragi nods, “Yep, we just finished over here, nothing out of the ordinary- might as well go together, seeing as we are all here together anyways”.

Sakura gives the heavenly king a light nod, turning his head to the rest of his group mates for their input. Suo gives the grade captain a light smile while Nirei glimmers with joy from joining groups with the upperclassmen.

The team takes their time heading back, after all once they get back to school they still have to clean up and do reports. So no one is really in a rush to get home anyway.

This leads to a noisy but pleasant journey for the dual-haired boy, with a bigger group the background sounds of rambunctious chatter and heavy steps on the concrete are an anchoring feeling that he will never admit gives him peace out loud.

His quiet pondering is broken when he hears of what seems to be distressed voices a few yards away from where his group are loitering around. Sakura has always had good ears, it's one of the key ways he's so keen when fighting. The grade captain looks to see if anyone heard it too and finds that they are all in their little bubbles of discussions. Sakura thinks for a second, about to bring it up to his peers when he stops himself.

‘Hm, they look pretty relaxed right now and they haven’t noticed the voices… if I tell them about it they might get worked up- and if it’s something small they could get stressed over nothing…’

The boy scans the area while weighing his options. He finally makes up his mind and slowly starts walking towards the direction of the commotion.

‘I’ll check on it myself and if it’s serious I can always just drag them over.’

—

Once at the scene of the commotion, which was an open grassy park, Sakura is met with a group of four middle schoolers being picked on by around six highschoolers that were definitely not from Makochi.

“Y’all are actually so trash it’s pitiful-”

“This field belongs to us, not some prissy wannabe soccer player kids.”

The highschoolers start to laugh at the terrified looks the middle schoolers dawn on their faces.

“You lot should scram- we are the superior soccer players here, those who are the best stay at the top you hear!?”

From that comment Sakura suddenly notices the discarded pieces of soccer gear and athletic pieces strewn across the open field. Some of the said gear look broken and torn, not through multiple uses, but as if they were destroyed by a third party. Haruka frowns, putting pieces together concerning the situation in front of him.

A few feet behind the group are other smaller kids who have their faces painted with fear, along with a few stray tears he can see on their cheeks- obviously scared of the rising tension the highschoolers are displaying. From that he turns back to the escalating scene with newfound determination.

“HEY”

Surprised by the shout, the unknown high schoolers crane their heads towards the new voice. When they meet Sakura’s eyes they start to arrogantly question him.

“Who the hell are you-?”

“Wow- who is this emo wannabe…”

“He looks like a weir-”

Before any more comments are said Sakura cuts them off,

“You lot are pretty pathetic, picking on people younger than you. Is that how you stay happy? Talking shit? They probably are better at soccer than you- heck you all look so weak even I could beat you.”

“Why don’t you bastards beat it before you embarrass yourselves even further.”

The comment obviously gets the highschoolers irritated. One boy specifically, who looks like the leader of the group Sakura surmises, steps forward with an irritated look in his eyes and a cocky smile, as if he already had the upper hand with what he was going to say.

“Oh? If you're so confident in yourself, why don’t we play a game? All of us against you, first to five wins… You said so yourself- that you can beat all of us on your own, so why don’t you take responsibility for what you said hm~?”

The no name high schooler stands tall as if he already won with what he proposed. Behind him his friends also start goading Sakura to accept the challenge.

Sakura stays silent for a beat, the small group of middle schoolers huddling behind the boy a distance away, afraid of the challenge the other team suggested. The Furin student suddenly flashes a egotistic grin while jaunting forward and replies,

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

—

“Hey…Where did Sakura-san go…?”

The question from the already panicking Nirei causes everyone within the present Tamon group to pause whatever convo they were in.

“Oh my, now that you mention it…” Suo looks around in surprise, “We haven’t seen him since we stopped walking…”

“DO YOU THINK HE GOT KIDNAPPED??!!!?”

“Now now Nirei-kun, let's not jump to conclusions, shall we?” The one eyed boy suggests while holding a polite smile, “He probably wandered off somewhere!”

Kusumi nods his head in agreement, typing in his phone, “Let’s go try to find him (ﾉ´ з `)ノ.”

Kaji, who was listening to the discussion even with his headphones on, nods his head in agreement and begins walking around with a mission.

Hiiragi sighed, ready to take another gas-kun, before he could do so; however he notices a small crowd of boys beginning to form around a park gate a block or two down.

“Oi it looks like there’s something happening over there, let's go check it out before it gets out of hand.”

“B-but Sakura-san…”

“We’ll just have to search for him later- let's go.”

The rest of the Bofurin students nod and begin to head on over to the crowd.

Once over to the scene of interest Hiiragi takes initiative and asks one of the terrified kids the situation.

“Hey! Kid- Is there something wrong?”

“M-me and my friends were playing soccer here but t-then a bunch of high schoolers started to harass us for the space…”

The Bofurin group collectively frown at the news, but before any of them can ask for more details the younger boy continues.

“But then!- this black and white onii-chan came to our rescue! And- and now he’s playing against them right now! He told us to stay here and watch w-whatever happens…”

Suo and Nirei look in surprise by the new info, while Kaji and Kusumi- though looking indifferent- definitely seem more interested by this new development.

Hiiragi sighs for what seems to be the hundredth time today and asks, “Where are they right now?”

The middle schooler points at a small group beyond the fence and into the park, with six of the people on one side of the field and one other person on the other side stretching his limbs, seemingly getting ready to start playing.

Even from afar they could recognize the mismatched hair belonging to their fellow classmate in the lone person stretching their limbs.

Hiiragi begins to trudge over to the group, ready to give a piece of his mind, when a gray sweater covered hand stops his descent.

“Kaji-?”

The second year lazily takes out the lollipop that had been occupying his mouth to respond, “Let’s let him do his thing… he was the one who ran off after all. He should take responsibility for whatever act he'll do… ”

‘And plus… I want to see what Sakura will do…’

The heavenly king makes an exasperated face before relenting and walking back to the group of middle schoolers. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was also curious on how Sakura planned to deal with all of this alone.

The vice captains of 1-1 smile at each other before looking ahead- eager for the events to unfold, their captain always handles things in his own peculiar way.

—

After one final stretch, Sakura makes his way to the center of the field. Directly facing the leader he spoke to earlier, the said boy arrogantly has his chin up while he sneers at the Furin student.

“Get ready to lose.”

“Tch- in your dreams.”

With that they kick off, the ball first goes to the highschoolers- who begin to dribble it amongst themselves to build some sort of momentum. They grin at each other while doing so, believing that this match would be a piece of cake due to the circumstances.

They are proven wrong however when a black and white blur comes barreling in when two boys are in mid-pass, surprising the opposing team.

Sakura effectively steals the ball during their seconds of surprise and begins to expertly dribble the ball on both his heels.

“What the-!??!”

“How is he doing that insane dribbling-!?!?”

“STOP HIM HE’S HEADING TOWARDS THE GOAL!!”

The dual-haired boy smugly grins at their rising panic, and proceeds to nutmeg the ball the moment the other players start to mark him.

The boy swiftly gets towards the edge of the penalty box and firmly delivers a direct shot from where he was standing. The goal keeper, unable to keep up with the turning events, is unable to stop the ball from going into the net and lets Sakura’s shot pass, dramatically starting off the game in his favor.

Sakura smugly stands while looking at the highschooler team. The said team all have various irritated looks on their faces, with hints of disbelief sewn into them. The leader is the first one who gets out of their disbelief and snaps back “Don’t get cocky… It’s just one goal- the weirdo just got lucky…”

“Y-yeah! It's all just luck!...”

“We are six while he’s one… we got this..!”

Haruka scoffs at the poor attempts of excuses the other team spurt out. He begins to walk back to his starting position, exclaiming “Oi- hurry it up we don’t have all day to listen to your whining.”

Sakura actually had been pretty decent at soccer. In one of the towns he took refuge in, the boy would always pass this pretty hefty looking private school due to how close it was to his living area. While walking past the school’s field area he would always witness two boys playing by themselves, one taller who was always on the ground and the other smaller one who would always coddle the other- with tons of soccer balls scattered around them. Those two always showcased insane plays that sort of got Sakura interested in the game itself.

From there he managed to snag an old beat up soccer ball that he would play around with when he felt bored. Referring back to the two boys he watched every now and then, Sakura would imitate their moves to his best ability to the point where he felt he got it correct. Over time the sport grew on Sakura and it became a little pastime activity he would do whenever he had the chance of seeing a loose ball on the street or in the comfort of his home.

Nowadays Sakura always wondered what the two boys were doing after he left that particular town, he was always silently thankful that they gave him the inspiration to pursue something that he found rather interesting.

‘They also had unique hair colors too… who would bother making their hair purple and white-’

–

The Bofurin leader successfully makes another goal- effectively ending the sad match with a 5-1 ratio.

After his first eccentric goal, Sakura had mostly played around with the highschoolers. Using various trap and dribbling methods that left the bullies in the dust. His main goal was to humiliate them for how much they bragged about their ‘amazing talent’, though in actuality there was little to nothing special about their plays.

It was payback for messing with the young kids, as well as tainting the fun that soccer gave to the middle schoolers.

After the final goal, the defeated high schoolers ran away with their tails between their legs, cursing out profanities while stating that it was all ‘dumb luck’.

‘They yap to goddamn much…’ Sakura thought while walking back to the group of kids he instructed to stay behind.

“Hey- it’s ok now I took care-”

Before the boy could finish his sentence he was jumped by two bodies, effectively scaring him and pinning him down onto the concrete sidewalk.

“WAH-”

“Sakura-san! That was so cool!- Who would've known that you can play soccer like that! How did you learn?!? Didyouplayalotasakid?!Yougotoshowme-”

“Nirei-kun let’s breathe and talk slowly, I bet Sakura-kun can’t understand you, and we want to get all the details don’t we~?” Suo always the levelheaded one jumps in with his own little teasing manner.

Sakura blinks for a few times before mumbling “...I just like the sport, that’s all…”

That response was apparently enough to fill Nirei and Suo’s growing curiosity somewhat, leaving them to back down on the questions. Though they do give him pats on the back for his performance.

The rest of the group make themselves known after Sakura has settled himself after Nirei and Suo’s surprise attack, with Kusumi jumping in front of the first year thrusting his phone into the younger’s face.

“Sakura-kun that was mega cool! o(≧▽≦)o”

“Oh- thanks I guess…”

Hiiragi takes this chance to ask, “Why didn’t you call the rest of us? We could have helped you know.”

Haruka looks away from that question. How does he say he didn’t want to break the serene atmosphere they had without getting teased by his group mates… The boy sighs, ready to get the teasing of a lifetime while he recounts his reasoning.

“...Well everyone just looked so relaxed, and I didn’t want to ruin it and worry you all with some lousy reasoning like lame bullies…”

The group goes quiet from the confession; they look at each other for a few seconds before bursting into joyful laughter and cheeky smiles.

“H-Huh?!? What are you laughing for??”

They continue to laugh, prompting Sakura to get more confusingly flustered by the sudden events.

“Did I miss something-??”

Kaji fondly huffs before stepping in front of Sakura. He puts his hand on his kohai’s head and ruffles the tousled head of black and white strands. While doing so he loudly mutters,

“Idiot”

“WHAT YOU SAY-”
—

After checking up with the smaller kids and seeing that they are ok, the Tamon group starts to continue their leisure walk again. They continue to giggle and smile as they continue their steps towards Furin, watching as Sakura tries to start a fight with the unbothered Kaji. All of them with one collective thought lingering in their heads.

‘Never change Sakura’.

Chapter Text

The winter season was in full swing, with mounds of snow and dead leaves covering most of the sidewalks and streets. Little children and their parents enjoying the cold yet festive atmosphere with their winter mufflers and bulky gloves.

During this time most of the tasks the Bofurin students did while they were on patrol consisted of helping elderly residents with cleaning the fronts of their homes, or setting up heaters and cozy environments for the general people of Makochi to enjoy. The students definitely had a lot on their plates, all while making sure they didn't get sick themselves.

So when winter break came around, everyone let out cheers of relief for finally having some down time for themselves. With many choosing to stay home and recharge and others going on little mini vacations before school started again.

This leads us to our current entourage of Furin students; Nirei, Suo, Kiryu, Tsubaki, and of course their leader Umemiya. Who are one of the few groups who are traveling for their break, riding on a train to Hokkadio.

“Wahhh the scenery looks so nice!” Nirei fawns while staring out the window from his seat.

The train’s route cuts though untouched land, leaving people to experience the picturesque flattery of the wetlands and the forest of countless rigid trees. The ever loving note taker continues to babble on about how excited he is to see the view and experience Hokkaido with his fellow friends.

Across from him Kiryu takes a pic of the scene and starts to laxly fiddle with his phone, “mhm! It’s not every day we see a good view of the natural landscape!”

Suo listens to the ambient chatter his fellow classmates are making with a calm smile, in his hands he nurses a still fairly warm thermos of herbal tea- which helps him wade off the cold from his fingers while also helping him get comfortable.

Parallel to the first year’s seating booth were the two third years. Umemiya and Tsubakino never seemed to have any dull moments. From where the first years were sitting it seemed that the two upperclassmen were within their little bubble, gossiping away at anything that came to mind at the moment- as well as discussing any silly acts they happen to recall during their class hours.

This all started when Tsubaki had proudly stated that they had won a three day tourist trip when they were tending to the grannies at the local wellness center a few blocks from Furin. (They were playing bingo with them and somehow won the grand prize).

The trip could hold up to five people, of course the first person Tsubakino asked to go with them was Umemiya, who happily accepted the proposal with his usual boyish grin.

Nirei looked out at the scenery again with more of a reserved look.

“Awah- I wish Sakura-san could have seen this too…”

Nirei looks back to when Tsubaki was searching for more people to invite; the third year’s next person of interest was none other than their kohai Sakura and his vice captains. However the offer was surprisingly turned down by the boy himself,

“Can’t. I have things to do over the break… I’m sure Suo and Nirei can go though.”

The boy turns to the people in question, both immediately accept the invite with little to no hesitation.

Tsubaki turns to Sakura with a pout on their lips, “Sakura-chan! What do you possibly have to do over the break?! You better not be planning to lay around in your house for a week!?”

“I’m not going to do that!... I just have some business outside of Makochi, that's all.”

While stating that the dual haired boy’s face was rather neutral, but anyone could see the guarded look in his eyes, which made most of the questions towards the matter die down.

The heavenly king huffed and asked, “Well then Sakura-chan, since this ticket was supposed to be for you… what do you think I should do with it then?”

Haruka ponders for a few seconds while scanning the cover art of the paper ticket, when finished the boy responds with,

“Well I could give it to one of my classmates-”

At that moment the people who were eavesdropping on the convo (which was basically the whole class) jumped out of their seats to try to convince their grade captain into giving them the ticket.

“OI-”

—

“I can’t believe that Kiryu won that rock-paper-scissors tournament to get the spot, it was a pretty intense battle” Suo remarks with a turn of his lips.

The mentioned boy responds with a lax but smug smirk, “Yup! I wouldn’t pass up a free trip to Hokkaido during the winter season, that’s when all the fun events happen after all!”

Perking up at the mention of fun events, Umemiya leans over to the first year’s booth to put in his two cents on the matter.

“Speaking of fun activities- isn’t this exciting! The brochure for the trip said that the whole tour consists of staying at a privately owned inn for all three nights- and that area has a bunch of activities to do there too! Hot springs, food festivals…They even have a whole outdoor ice skating rink there!”

Tsubakino sighs dreamily with stars in their eyes, “Oh and to skate at night under the stars… How romantic!”

“Ooooh! That sounds fun! We should try to do that at least once before we leave! What do you think Suo-san, Kiryu-san!”

“Of course! It seems fun to do!”

“Mhm! We should totes do it!”

The highschoolers continued to excitedly chat about their itinerary as the train continued its journey to their destination.

–

The group had finally arrived at the inn, it was already mid-day since the group left Makochi in the early hours of dawn.

Once Tsubaki had talked to the front desk and had their room keys, they began to walk towards the direction of their assigned room- prompting the rest of the Furin students to follow their lead. After putting down their luggage and taking a few minutes to decide on what to do for the rest of the day, the group decided to explore the property to see where everything was first.

They discovered that the hot springs were already a part of the inn itself, and could be accessed at any time during their stay, and the festival venue was stationed a block or two away from the inn. The ice skating rank however seemed to be a bit of a walk, being a few blocks away from the inn.

Ume, being ever the leader, already had an idea for their course of action, “Yosh! I propose we should enjoy the activities around us first, and maybe over the course of the other two days we can try to check out the rink later! Whaddya say!”

The groups had no qualms with the suggestion, with Nirei and Tsubakino jumping with eager agreement and with the other two, Kiryu and Suo, giving more placid nods of approval.

“Then let's get this show on the road!”

—

From there the Bofurin students committed themselves to thoroughly enjoying the free time they had, going to the festivals and trying local dishes, indulging in the free wood carving lessons the inn hosted, or even just chilling in their room.

We jump to their last day of the trip, the sun was descending from the sky, with the highschoolers walking on a small mini path towards the ice rink.

They were so caught up on the local activities that they almost forgot that they had the option to go ice skating. Luckily Tsubakino was really adamant on going- especially during the night time, and reminded them of it before they were set to leave the day before.

With a pip in their step, the heavenly king enthusiastically walks in front of the group while voicing,

“The receptionist at the front desk also told me that the rink stays open till two AM! And at night there are barely any people, so if we are lucky we can basically have the whole area to ourselves!”

Kiryu fishes out his phone from his pocket to check the time, “It’s only nine- I bet we can stay for a few hours, since the sun already went down there will probs be little to no people.”

Umemiya chimes in with, “whelp, even if there are people there the more the merrier right!”

Nirei’s eyes sparkle with adoring admiration while whole heartingly agreeing with the Bofurin top.

The red haired boy within the group announces that they have arrived, causing everyone’s focus to turn onto the scenery before them.

The rink itself looked pretty spacious, with a few accessible sitting areas scattered around the rim of the rink itself. The main entrance, where people could lock their belongings and rent some skates, seemed to be under a large yet flattering gazebo that had a few winter decorations and fairy lights hanging from its overhang. Making the whole area feel cozy and an overall cool place to hang out in.

“Wahhh! This place looks awesome!” the blonde haired boy exclaimed.

“Hehe it does seem a pretty quaint place to skate in” the fellow one-eyed classmate replied.

Tsubakino turns to their group of kohai, “Me and Ume-chan are going to inquire about renting skates at the front desk, you guys can explore for a bit if you want!” They say with a delighted smile.

The first years nod while they make their way to the open rink. As the two vice captains discuss their thrilled thoughts of being able to skate, Kiryu catches their attention.

“Oh! There’s someone already there.”

The pink haired boy points to a figure across the rink who was already on the ice, they wore black tights and a black sweater with the hood on. The person seems to be talking to an older woman who looks like a coach from the sports jacket she dawned and the clipboard she holds in her hands. She is in one of the resting spaces, leaning on the rails of the rink while talking to the person on the ice. Since the person is in conversation with the women, the group are unable to see the figure's face- since their back is towards them.

“Wah, they look super professional, I wonder why they are here out of all places.”

“Maybe they live around here.”

“Mhm”

The three are thrown out of their questioning when the upperclassmen join them in front of the rink. The two newcomers relay the information the desk had told them, effectively distracting them from the fact that there was another person on the rink.

They are however reminded of their past thoughts when Umemiya notices, “Oh! Guys look- That person seems like they are going to start skating.”

The rest of the group turns back to the rink in question and sure enough, the person from before is at the center of the rink, clearly getting ready to perform due to the lax yet professional stance they hold. The lady from before is no longer within the resting areas, and probably left as she is nowhere in sight.

The person is still faced away from them, making them miss the fact that they have an audience of highschoolers about to watch their skating routine.

The Bofurin students decide to silently watch the stranger, going over to one of the open seating areas rather than going to rent skates. They had the rest of the night anyway, so they thought they should give the stranger the rink to do whatever they wanted for a few minutes before joining in.

Nirei sat at the edge of his seat, excited for the show he was about to see, “Ohh this is so exciting! I hope they won’t be bothered by our presence though…”

Tsubaki calms the younger’s worries with “I’m sure it’s fine! This is a public rink after all.”

“Look!”

Turning back, they see that the figure had started to casually skate around the rink, the stranger’s movements look calculated yet lax- as if it was second nature to them.

The figure then starts to slow down their speed. They then start to take off their sweater, unveiling the outfit they had under, which was a sparkly black and white top piece with pink embroidered jeweled flowers on the shoulders, and as well as a head of familiar dark and light strands and mismatched colored eyes.

The seated highschoolers’ eyes widen at the reveal- mutely turning to each other with wide eyes, all their faces full of disbelief. One collective thought exclaiming in their mind,

‘EHHH- SAKURA?!?!?’

After the initial shock wears down, the group of five hold a silent conversation before coming to a consensus of staying quiet for now, and watching what their friend would do on the rink.

The boy in question had not noticed his new audience and started to perform his routine. He begins with rapid yet elegant hand gestures, swaying his lightly toned arms up and down- making him look like the epitome of fluidity.

Sakura then starts to rapidly skate around the rink, building up momentum- as he is doing so he continues bending and extending his arms at certain moments.

Once with the desired momentum, the boy on the rink suddenly performs a flawless axel jump, spinning for at least two times before successfully landing on the ice with an elegant gliding pointing pose. From there the boy starts to execute a multitude of weaves and zigzags on the ice.

The first year moves with style and grace, performing toe loops and quad jumps as if they were second nature to him. As he is doing all this, Sakura holds a neutral yet focused face, but the group could tell that the boy was really happy to be on the ice from his twinkling eyes.

Conveniently enough it had started to snow, the small flurries cascading down and following the skater’s movements- as if he was a snow fairy using his ice powers. The artificial lights of the venue add more mystic to the display, reflecting on Sakura’s bedazzled top- effectively capturing his mini audience, making it all feel all more intimate and enchanting to watch.

The light also projects onto the oncoming flurries of snow, making the small ice fractures glisten like little stars. It was as if they were dancing along with the boy, a cosmic-like effect following every graceful movement he conducted.

Suo and Nirei stare in wonder at the movements of their grade captain, the swiftness of actions along with the serene look on his face. All they could do was stare in astonishment. To the right of the duo- Kiryu takes out his phone to start recording the free show, it’s something that he wanted to keep and watch over and over again. It felt like a once in a lifetime moment that he just had to document.

The two third years affectionately smile at the display; their little kohai always has surprises tucked into his sleeve.

Nirei’s eyes glisten with awe, “Wow… Sakura-san is truly amazing isn’t he!”

The rest of the party turn away from the rink and nod happily at the blonde’s statement. They soon break into idle chatter, taking small glances at Sakura’s private performance while indulging in their own conversations.

Surely enough the gang can somehow tell that the boy’s ice dance routine is coming to an end. They all stand up and make their way to the border of the rink- ready to surprise their friend.

—

Sakura had been looking forward to winter break. Of course he loved Makochi and Furin, but they were missing one important thing.

They had no ice skating rink.

Not that he NEEDED one… It was just that, the boy really liked ice skating. With an already flexible body, the moves and tricks in ice skating were no problem to do. He actually found the sport therapeutic in a weird way, as he likes to be doing something to clear his mind.

So when winter break came around he had the chance to go find one and try to skate out his inner thoughts.

Usually when he wants to cool down he would try to find an opponent to fight- Just to get a few punches and flex his body. But he then found a new outlet to free his brain from unnecessary thoughts in the form of ice skates and fancy costumes.

Surprisingly he came across the opportunity when this lady came up to him after a small fight he got into before he moved to Makochi. During that fight the dual haired boy had fought back with his usual acrobatic moves and dodges. Once finished, the boy is startled by the eccentric woman who had stars in her eyes.

“YOU! Did anyone tell you how amazing your flexibility is!”

“GAH?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU??!”

Unperturbed by the boy’s yelling, the lady continues with “Just answer the question sonny!”

Sakura, understandably confused with the lady, responds “uh… no?”

“Well you're in luck! You have amazing skills, and I know just the way to put them in good use!”

The unexpected praise for Sakura’s athleticism causes the said boy to get thrown off and turn red, making him unable to deny whatever the lady is offering. The boy follows the woman in a unsure daze. When he regains clarity, Sakura realizes that he had been somehow led into this indoor gym with a big piece of what seems like ice in the middle of an enclosed area.

“Why the hell is there just a big block of ice inside this building??”

“Oho- You’ve never seen an ice skating rink before sonny?”

“Uh- no…?”

“Well that’s not important” The Lady holds out a pair of ice skates, “Here, go sit down and put these on. I’ll meet you on the ice when you are ready” She gives the younger one a wink and goes off to put on a pair for herself.

Haruka looks down at the shoes he's been given with unease.

“...How am I supposed to put these on…?”

After a few tries and knots, the boy had somehow managed to keep the skates on with a tight hold. The new challenge however was actually walking to the rink without falling like a newborn baby deer.

‘How the FUCK- do people walk in these things??!?’

“C’mon Sonny! We don’t have all day!”

The boy groans and waddles to the open rink gate where he slowly puts his feet on the new ice floor. Once on, Sakura struggles to maintain perfect balance, uncomfortably swaying side to side to maintain a center of gravity.

“AH- lady- w-why exactly did you bring me here???”

The woman, who was somehow standing perfectly still on the slippery floor, hums in contemplation before answering,

“Well, I saw your little fight while I was walking here and you have crazy moves! I could see the potential you have when it comes to ice skating! As a coach I surely can’t let this natural talent go to waste! So here's the deal- I can teach you a few basic moves and see if you are interested, so what do you say!”

The dual haired boy blinks at the statement, and mulls over his options. The lady hasn’t done anything that warrants any danger (and it doesn’t look like she could for that matter), and he IS pretty interested on how people could possibly do stuff on ice for that matter.

Sakura ultimately agrees with the deal, stating “w-well it looks- unusual- maybe I’ll try for a bit.”

The older lady smiles and starts to show some figure skating clips on her phone to the boy.

“Ok! Here, look at this…”

From there Sakura had quickly gone to love the sport, he found that being on the ice was a calming experience and he would use the activity as a new outlet whenever he had something mulling on his mind.

The lovely lady had effectively made herself Sakura’s mini coach, helping the boy with stretches or routines when he had trouble. She didn’t give the boy her proper name, telling him that he could call her ‘Miss Granny’. With that they would hone Sakura’s skills to the point where their meetings became less and less frequent.

Even after moving to Makochi, Haruka was still given the opportunity to practice because Miss Granny was adamant enough to drive the boy to a rink.

Coincidentally one of those meetings fell on one of the few days of winter break, which leads us to now.

In all honesty Sakura just let the woman do whatever she wanted concerning his abilities in skating, and the boy wasn't going to complain about learning a bit more exercises that ultimately helped his ability to fight; and in his opinion it was really fun to do. So when Miss Granny stated that she would take the boy to Hokkaido, since there was a rink in the area, Haruka went without complaint.

He was kinda bummed out at the fact that he had to turn down Tsubaki’s invitation though. The trip seemed fun, and he was sure that his friends would enjoy themselves, wherever they were going.

Sakura had already agreed to Miss Granny’s request; so when his upperclassman gave him the invite to a trip outside Makochi the boy kinda tuned out all the details of the trip itself, since he knew he couldn’t attend.

—

“So Sonny, how have you been? I hope you still know how to skate.”

Haruka huffs, “Of course I still know how to skate, our last meeting was only a month ago.”

The duo were currently at the rink Miss Granny had told her young charge about. With the said boy being on the ice and the coach standing on the sidelines. They had already been there for at least an hour or two, doing some drills and mandatory stretches and now they were having a quick break.

“Hm, I’ll let you do whatever you want now- we have already done most of the basic practices we usually do anyway. And I know you want to practice your routine, you even wore the costume I gave you!” The lady gives Haruka a teasing grin, which prompts the said boy’s cheeks to go red.

Too embarrassed at being found out, Sakura mutely nods while looking at the floor.

“Hehe, I’ll leave you to it then.” and with that, Miss Granny walks off into the open gazebo, away from the rink and by correlation Sakura.

Now alone Sakura glides towards the center of the rink, taking a few calming breaths before standing still and striking his beginning pose. Haruka then goes through his whole ice dancing segment from start to finish without any problems. He was in the zone, concentrating his whole mind and body to his movements and steps- disregarding the world around him.

—

Sakura makes his final move as a massive loop spin, spinning in place for a few seconds before coming to a stop and putting his arms out in a grand gesture. The boy is left panting from the massive amounts of cardio he had just done, his chest going up and down with his heaving.

He overall thought he did pretty good, though there was always room for improvement. Clarity regains control in his mismatched eyes the moment he hears the sound of applause on the side of the rink.
Haruka turns around to the source of the noise-

“Ah.”

Over the rink border, to his utter horror, is his group of friends that supposedly went on the trip Tsubaki proposed.

“HUHHHHHHHHHHH!??!?!??!?”

–

“Oh! Sakura-san noticed us!”

After walking down to the rink border, the group of five waited for their friend to finish his dance. When he had done the last move, they couldn’t help but give a loud ovation to the magical performance they bear witness to.

Their small racket had finally made the cat-like boy notice the presence of the crowd giving him applause. Leading to the first year to glide over to the group with a pink hue on his cheeks that was definitely not caused by the cold.

Once arriving to his destination, the skater quietly asks,

“W-what are you guys doing here…?”

“Why- we are on the trip Tsubaki-san gave us! The real question we should be asking is what are YOU doing here!” Suo answers with a smirk-like smile.

“Yeah Sakura-chan! You should have told us that you were coming to the same place as us!”

“Hoho! Sakura definitely has moves on the ice! If you were shy you should have just told us!”

Realizing that he’s being put on the spot, the first year captain can only stammer out sounds of disbelief. Lucky the shy boy is saved by another voice that joins their conversation,

“Young Sonny is here because I asked him to be.”

The Bofurin students turn to see the old lady Sakura was talking to before his performance walking towards them with graceful steps.

Kiryu, who had been just watching the chaos unfold, finally puts in his input.

“I’m assuming you are his coach, or taught him some of those hefty tricks.”

Miss Granny chuckles and agrees with the pink haired boy’s assumptions, “Hehe you're right. I saw his potential when I happened to witness him in an altercation in an alley, ever since then I’ve been somewhat of a pseudo coach for this little gangster.”

The rest of the group nod at the explanation, their friend had a crazy flexible moveset afterall. While Sakura turns more red in the face from his coach’s words.

Nirei’s hands are already on his mini notebook writing down this new info on his friend.

“It makes sense, Sakura-san’s flexibility is a sight to behold afterall.”

Umemiya, who is already itching to do something, changes the subject with “Hey! We should get on the ice! Sakura, you should show me how to do some of those awesome moves, yeah?”

“S-sure”

Tsubakino squeals with glee, happy to do night skating with their kohai and Ume- immediately jogging over to the rent center with a purpose. The first years smile at each other and follow their senpai, happy to ice skate now that Haruka is here.

Umemiya with his friendly charm had captured Miss Granny in a fond conversation, both dawning smiles on their faces as they followed the rest of the group inside, ready to get on the ice with the now left alone boy.

Sakura watches the group’s descent to the rental center. All of them have happy looks on their faces, making the grade captain break out into a small quaint smile too. As he waits for his friends to join him, the dual haired boy looks up at the gray snow-filled sky.

Cat-like eyes reminisce on Miss Granny’s glimmering eyes whenever he successfully did an axel spin or skating move and how each one of his classmates held that same captivated look when he noticed their applause.

‘Ice skating is really that magical huh…”

Chapter Text

Today was certainly much more chaotic compared to the already busy schedule Hiragi had as a Heavenly King.

The third year was already caught up with babysitting their childish leader and watching over most of his underclassmen- who somehow all had a knack in getting in some sort of trouble in ways he couldn't possibly comprehend.

So when Umemiya bounced up to his fellow friend with the news that they would be having a little field trip to the once enemies turned friends turf of Shishitoren, Hiragi could only sigh and hope his poor stomach could handle all the bullshit he would have to watch over.

Because having one overly extroverted silly leader was enough. But TWO was too much for his mind to handle- and them being in the same room was just gonna be a concoction for a killer headache.

—

Togame had been leisurely lounging in one of the cushioned chairs of the Orion Stars Theater, watching his fellow gang members clean up and arrange the empty space for their guests.

After the war against the Noroshi, Umemiya and Choji had become much closer as friends, often texting each other and inviting the other to their turf for random hang outs. Though they barely made plans due to their mismatched schedules.

Luckily they had managed to find a day on the weekend where both happened to be free and set plans for a casual hang out. The two leaders however started to argue about which turf would be the host, prompting a rather intense game of thumb-wrestling match between the two. With the smaller being the victor.

The vice Shishitoren captain was just happy that his friend was reaching out and expressing his true feelings. Ever since the infamous Shishitoren vs. Bofurin event, Togame was always thankful to the Furin leader for literally punching some sense into Choji’s misguided head. He was also thankful to a certain black and white first year- who had been the one to knock some sense into Togame himself, as embarrassing it may sound.

Speaking of Sakura, Togame was happy to have some hang out time with the other. The last time he saw the boy was when Bofurin hosted that victory cookout, and even then he couldn't hold a long conversation due to the large amounts of people the boy had to serve. So sue him if he was a little giddy at the fact that he finally could talk to him at his own pace.

He was also eager to tease the boy. Sakura was just too entertaining to tease after all.

Jo is still in a state of reminiscing, even when a small ball of orange energy goes bouncing around the vicinity, eventually making way to where the green-eyed boy is sitting. Tomiyama then starts to grab at his second in command’s arms, swaying them up and down to grab his attention.

“Kame-channnn! Ume-chan and the others are here!”

Togame taps back to reality when he hears the news, blinking out any haze of memory clouds that have accumulated in his brain.

“Ok-ok, I heard you Choji. Let's go greet them, yeah?”

“Yaaaaaaay”

—

“Yo! Tomiyama, Togame!”

The ever extroverted top dog of Furin exclaims while jumping over to their Shishitoren counter-part.

“Ume-Channnnn!!”

Togame smiles as he watches the rest of the Bofurin group trickle into the theater. The party in question consisted of the contenders that fought the tiger gang back when they were still on bad terms.

Hiragi nods at the fellow vice-captain before breaking off from the group and walking towards Sako. Sugishita, the loyal fan he is, follows Umemiya as the said boy goofs off with Choji. That leaves the rest of the group, which were Nirei, Suo, and of course Sakura, with Togame- which the said boy was more than happy to oblige.

“Yo Othello-kun!”

“Stop calling me that!... and hey…”

Suo snickers “You know Sakura-kun, he’s not wrong- you do kinda look like an othello board.”

“WHADDYA MEAN- YOU WANNA GO?!!??”

The rest of the group giggle as their grumpy cat friend starts to sputter and yell with a prominent blush on his face. They continue to casually catch up and lounge around, also interacting with other members of Shishitoren and learning more about the fellow gang in general.

Eventually they all spread out and actually explore the abandoned theater-turned delinquent base. The Furin students hadn’t actually had the chance to fully appreciate the theater the last time they were there, most notably Nirei who had eager stars in his eyes at the idea of putting more info about strong delinquents in his trusty notebook as he yaps about his excitement to Suo, who follows the blonde haired boy as he picks and prods every detail of the base.

Sakura also eventually leaves Togame’s side, he also wanted to check out the abandoned theater- sharp mismatched eyes conveying his curious thoughts. The dual haired boy goes on this little adventure alone stating that he can manage himself. Jo, trusting his friend’s word, lets him go with a smile and a slow wave.

Things were going pretty swell, until it all went to unexpected shit.

—

The gang Shishitoren was known for their virtue of power, and of course many people joined for that sediment. However this ideal can very much get twisted and misinterpreted. For people like Tomiyama, Togame and many of the higher up members- power is measured through respected means, such as fists and determined character. Though within the gang there are a few people that have their own personal takes concerning the idea of ‘power’. Where they think they are superior to others with the help of tools and threats, using whatever it takes (even if it is unfair) to get what they want.

This fact leads to a multitude of events unfolding during this intended peaceful meet-up.

After a few more moments of roaming and exploring, the guest group decided to regroup and take it easy with their friend gang. Opting to lounge and chill for the rest of their time there. It was a perfect way of joining the two groups and adding on to the growing trust they had for each other.

So it was a surprise when there was a sudden commotion towards the back of the theater, where a few Shishitoren members were gathering. With a few shouts and murmurs getting louder and louder as the unknown situation began to warner attention.

“Yo that’s dangerous…”

“Oi! What the hell are you doing”

“Should we call Tomiyama-san and Togame-san…?”

All of this commotion of course catches the attention of both the top leaders of Shishitoren and the guest Bofurin group. They all glance at each other and start making their way to the heart of the commotion, curious and a bit worried at what they might find.

When they do get to the scene they are all taken aback at what they are looking at.

The Shishitoren members have created a circle of people, they all keep their distance- with many of them dawning faces of fear, surprise, and nervousness. All the attention is on two individuals within the middle of the ring of people, who are facing each other.

One of them is a infamous Shishitoren member, who was mainly known for his reckless abrasiveness and cocky attitude. Choji and Togame had been given tons of complaints about this member and the problems he constantly caused. The said boy had a pompous look on his face, as if he were looking down on his opponent.

What surprised the two groups was the opponent this member was going against.

“SAKURA-SAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!?”

Amidst the circle, in all his stubborn glory stood the first year grade captain. His eyes were narrowed in unease and disgust while he held a tense stance. He looked ultra- focused, disregarding the crowd that had formed around himself and the Shishitoren member. He even ignored the surprised calls of his fellow vice captain.

He just couldn’t shake off what that bastard said…

-.-.-.-.-

Sakura had just been laying on his seat, his mind somewhat at peace as he watched the two fellow gangs mingle together.

He was really proud at the fact that Togame took his words at heart and changed his lame ways for the better. (Not that he’d ever admit it to his face) Haruka could just see the new happy shine in the guy’s eyes, he looked more honest… more happy.

“Pshh how lame…”

The dual haired boy immediately turns to the area where he heard the scoff, already pissed off at the fact that his inner thoughts were disrupted. He locks his eyes on a small group of Shisihtoren members gathered around one singular punk.

Though there are various noises happening around the group and Sakura, the first year can somehow hear the nagging voice of the group leader from where he is sitting.

“This whole thing is boring… why the hell do we have to babysit the Furin bastards anyway…”

Sakura rolls his eyes at this. He didn’t particularly care at the fact that not all of Shishitoren accepted the alliance they shared with Bofurin. Gangs always have their own groups of unfiltered opinions afterall, and those weak jabs are by weak people anyway- they practically mean nothing.

Sakura may love the sensation of fighting, but he knows not to make a scene during the calm outing both gang leaders tried to initiate. So the Furin student takes a small breath and tries to go back to his daydreaming.

“Ugh it’s all because of Togame… after fighting Bofurin he’s become a wuss! Sure he’s got the strength and all but compared to before- he’s a total pussy now! Makes me wanna hurl!”

The guy then starts to make barfing sounds while dramatically holding his stomach. What follows is a few laughs and giggles, as if they actually found what the fucker said funny.

Sakura sits up straight at the comment. His cat-like eyes narrowed in distaste as he side eyed the group, who was oblivious of the new listener they acquired from their lame gossip.

‘Stay calm Haruka… they are just weaklings running their mouths…’

“I miss the old Shishitoren… it was so much more badass- not whatever this friendship is magic shitshow this is.” The leader lazily gestures his hand to the whole area, where both Bofurin students and Shishitoren members are mingling.

At that moment Sakura recalls Togame’s heartbroken face as he stares at beaten down Tomiyama on that raggedy stage. He remembers the lost look on the tiger gang leader, when the boy apologized to both Umemiya and Togame for his brash actions he inflicted on both of his friends.

‘Those fuckers…’

Having enough bullshit, Haruka stands up with gritted teeth and hikes over to the loser gossip club. As he is doing so the boy continually tries to quell his growing anger from their words.

Once over Sakura stands over them while giving the group a disgusted stare. Since the group were sitting down, the dual haired boy’s presence (as well as stare) was immediately noticed by the group.

The leader, who seemed to be the main talker and instigator of his little entourage, had quickly gotten offended by Sakura’s appearance.

“Ugh- what’s your problem?”

“...”

The Shisihitoren member immediately gets more perturbed and annoyed by Sakura's lack of response.

“HELLOOO, are you in there-”

“...back.”

“Huh- I don’t speak loser-”

“...Take that back.”

The guy blinks for a few seconds, processing what Haruka said. After a few moments he finally understands what Sakura is referring to and scoffs.

“Ohhh- you must have heard what I was saying… Well no thanks- I’m just speaking fact after all-”

Patience almost at its breaking point, Sakura stands his ground while he gives the leader a pissed off stare. This of course triggers the cocky Shishitoren member, prompting him to square up and start being aggressive to the first year Furin student.

Leading the rest of the group to disperse into a circle around the two people of interest.

-.-.-.-.-

“SAKURA-SAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!?”

Nirei trembles in fear as he watches his friend within the middle of the mini circle. To his left Suo dawns a grimace, which means it was really bad if the mysterious Suo wasn’t holding his usual sly smile.

The Shishitoren member continues to yell out profanities and threats to his opponent. Each yell and jab louder than the last, while the black and white haired boy just glares back.

“Ne, what’s happening?”

The two first years look to their right and find Choji, Umemiya, and Togame looking at the scene with concern and a hint of anger in their eyes.

“It seems Sakura-kun has gotten caught up in something…” Suo answers with disdain.

The two Shishitoren leaders narrow their eyes at the sight of Sakura’s opponent and quickly come to the conclusion that the member is probably at fault here. They relay this to the rest of their group.

Togame huffs and states “ We should probably stop this before things get-”

At first the lame Shishitoren member continues to talk down and berate Sakura in an attempt to display his ‘power’ to the Bofurin student. Obviously this is ineffective, as Sakura continues to do nothing but pity and stare at his opponent.

This action hits the leader’s breaking point. He swiftly stuffs his hand inside his jacket, and whips out a black object, pointing it at Sakura.

A Gun.

“THAT’S IT- FUCK YOU-”

It happens so fast, so unexpectedly that they could only watch.

Before the Shishitoren member could try anything, Sakura- with his unnatural speed, instantaneously gets in front of the guy and restrains his arms and effectively throws the gun out of his hand and into the air.

Now with his opponent unarmed, Haruka makes easy work of putting the scummy tiger member on the floor, effectively towering over him and giving him the upper hand.

Then with incredible grace Sakura catches the gun as it begins descending down to the ground and immediately turns the tables as he points it back to its previous owner.

Haruka checks the magazine of the gun to see if it has any ammo in the socket, once done inspecting it he flicks the instrument towards himself with one fluid motion, closing the magazine and pointing the muzzle of the gun to the perpetrator on the floor.

His mix-matched eyes are unusually cold as they stare down at the prey beneath him. The stance and posture the boy holds looks as if what he is doing is a common occurrence, making both the crowd and his fellow friends shiver with nervousness at the idea.

Now understanding the situation he is in, the Shishitoren member starts to babble and plead for forgiveness. Suddenly weary of the fact that his own weapon is turned against him.

“H-Hey I’m sorry ok… I-I just wasn’t thinking-”

“Oi”

All words that he intended to say died out the moment Haruka spoke. Likewise all noise within the whole theatre came to a stop the moment the Duel haired boy spoke.

Sakura, whose focus is solely on the person in front of him, continues to speak undeterred by the sudden change in the air around him.

“You and your shitty group talk as if you all have all the power in this group, and yet you pull out something like this.” He gestures to the instrument in his hand.

“I-I-”

“If you think using this makes you so high and mighty then it means I have no problem using this right?”

Sakura proceeds to then tense his hand, as if he's getting ready to shoot.

The Shishitoren member starts waving his hands frantically while scooting away, terrified. “NO- IM SORRY- WAIT PLEASE-”

BANG

Everyone stood frozen, shocked by the sound.

The Shishitoren member's once tense form is now a lump on the floor, unmoving.

“Sakura-san…”Nirei shakely whimpers.

The said boy sighs. “Don't piss your pants. He's just unconscious.”

Many of the crowd go to check and indeed the guy's eyes are rolled back, passed out with a look of fear in his face.

“Tsk, he had something this dangerous but even then he had a fake.”

Nirei and Suo, who are now crowded around their friend, tilt their heads questioningly .

“What do you mean Sakura-kun?”

“The gun is not even real- just A shitty BB gun imitation. That idiot probably just wanted to use it to scare people to do his bidding…”

Suo chuckles, “How ironic. He got scared by his own tricks.”

“He probably didn’t even know he was using a fake.” Haruka sighs.

“Wow Sakura-san you really know how to hold yourself up under any situation!- BUT please don’t try that again!” Nirei cries out.

The red haired boy agrees and follows with “Always so adept in the eyes of danger!” along his usual smile.

Haruka continues to fiddle with the toy gun, promptly ignoring the praise he was receiving. Pushing down some buttons and a lever built at the back of it before giving it to a dazed Togame.

“Hmph, even if it's just a toy it's still dangerous. I've put the safety on so it can't be used easily, so you should take it out of here before it causes more problems.” The grade captain ordered with an uncharacteristically mature tone.

He then turns to Choji, “I'll leave that dude to you.” While gesturing to the lump behind him.

Tomiyoma nods and looks at the Shishitoren member on the ground with a deadly look, “Me and Kame-chan have a lot to say to him when he wakes up.”

Togame, now out of his daze, grunts with agreement. That conversation was long overdue. He then turns to the monochromatic boy.

“Ne Sakura, it seems you know your way with stuff like this…”

The said boy tenses at the question, looking away from the group and tucking his head down to himself, as if he were trying to hide himself.

“...I needed to…”

Everyone immediately understands the notion of his words, which effectively makes all their hearts break.

They have always had an idea that Haruka didn’t have the best life before coming to Bofurin. But these notions always slap them in the face when they realize how deep these experiences hurt their two-toned friend.

The melancholy atmosphere is broken when Umemiya barges in to commend Sakura on his efforts, while also telling his kohai how cool he looked doing it. This of course prompts Sakura to break out into a furious blush, making him leave his scared shell to defend himself from his upperclassman.

Behind Ume are Hiiragi and Sugishita, who were listening in on the convo and understanding what had transpired. They join the rest of the group and watch the duo as they continue their light squabble.

Togame sighs lightheartedly, being close with Sakura is such a wave of emotions that always seems to hit him at unexpected moments. He’s not complaining though, it just makes his life all the more interesting.

His friend always has something up his sleeve- which just entices more reasons to learn more about this new factor in his life. Of course he knows that under the light surface there are some dark cracks the dual haired boy tends to hide from the world-

Jo glances at Sakura’s miffed yet lax expression as he talks with Umemiya.

The Shishitoren second in command smiles; but if it’s Sakura… Togame is willing to protect him from those cracks.

As he helped him with his own.

Chapter Text

Colors have always been a means of expression, at least that’s what Kiryu thought.

There had always been something so fascinating about the mismatch of faded colors on a well used jungle gym, or the monochrome shades of his favorite manga. Mitsuki had always found those small little instances more telling than words and actions, seeing how much character one can see from the pallet used.

This is why the boy is always seen with eccentric yet kind of tacky prints. As well as his vivid dyed hair. He felt that these colors and patterns displayed who he was as a person, as well as show the world his somewhat ‘artistic’ stance he had.

Joining Bofurin was also a given, with the brightly graffitied walls and the pretty cherry blossom trees that grew at the front gates. Kiryu loved the fact that he could express himself without being judged about his preferences. In middle school his aesthetic would always warrant a few looks and scoldings whenever he was on his school campus, of course that stopped when he entered Furin. He liked doing things at his own pace with his own flair, and he was grateful that many of his classmates accepted his unique style.

Of course with loving colors one of the main things he enjoyed doing was painting. It would be a small hobby the first year would do when he had the chance to. Just seeing and physically putting the splotches of color onto the canvas and sculpting your own scene was always such a fulfilling thing to witness, which is why the pink haired boy adored it so much.

Unfortunately Furin doesn’t host any art-related classes within its curriculum, with patrols and training replacing those slots.

Luckily there was still a way Kiryu could be in an artistic environment, in the form of a public art studio at the edge of Makochi.

Since it was so far from the school and pretty niche, little to no people actually know about its existence. Which the boy kinda liked, it was like his own little sanctuary that no one (not even Nirei) knew about.

—

It was a typical Thursday afternoon, and classes had just ended. Mitsuki had decided that he would visit the art studio today, since he was in a creative mood and it's been a while since he picked up a brush.

‘Ah I haven't visited in a while… I wonder if they fixed the stand I always use.’

Kiryu was in the middle of arranging his belongings into his desk and bag, as he is doing so he can’t help but listen to Nirei and Tsugeura’s fairly loud conversation. They were two desks away from him, and seemed to be too caught up in their own bubble to care about their volume.

“Yer always so virtuous aren’t ya Nirei! Ya got all this info about our classmates, seems to me yer such a caring person!”

“Ahh, no I just think they are cool that’s all! And some of these are just things I notice but don’t really mean anything-”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Uhhh- er” Nirei ponders for a bit while flipping through his notebook.

“Oh! Like how on Thursdays, Sakura-san leaves school earlier than usual- It’s something I just noticed. Oh! And how Sugishita-san likes to sleep on the right side of his head rather than his left…”

Shaking his head fondly at Nirei's oddly observant stashes of information, Kiryuu slings his bag over his shoulder and leaves the classroom. He would have to start heading over to the studio right now if he still wanted time to make something, the place was pretty far from school after all.

The walk to the studio was always a peaceful one, since the studio itself was nestled between two apartment complexes it was barely noticeable and didn't really attract a lot of people on the street. So the journey would always be filled with quiet ambience, with the only sounds being the swaying of leaves from the sidewalk shrubbery and the pitter patter of shoes on the worn concrete.

“I see this place hasn’t changed a bit”

The front of the gallery housed a small assortment of bonsai and potted plants that hugged the entrance and storefront, ranging from some common green leafed plants to tiny but pretty flowers that gave the entrance a pop of color. On the windows were a few pages of art showcasing some of the content made within the walls of the studio. Some of it clearly were made by children- from the large squiggles and discombobulated smiley faces, while other pieces looked more professional and thought out- probably made by an older age group.

Kiryu walked in with his usual lax smile, once he opened the door a mini bell jingled- signaling the front desk of a walk-in customer. Along the right side of the wall were a bunch of mini cubbies for people to store their belongings as they went inside to paint. It looked almost empty except for the small bag at the bottom right of the cubby rack.

At the petite front desk, where an assortment of colored pens and pencils stood in square holders, was a middle aged woman who was tending to some papers.

“Welcome to Poster Canvases, how can I- OH! Kiryu-chan!”

“Hiii Rei-san! It’s been awhile hasn't it!”

“Oh my of course it has! It seems you never come over anymore- look at you, you've gotten so tall and skinny!”

The Bofurin student chuckles at the owner’s motherly nature. As he is putting his belongings in a random cubby the pink haired boy asks, “I’d like to stay for a bit and use some paints if that’s ok with you?”

“Of course Kiryu-chan! You're in luck, today we have little to no people in right now- in fact we only have one person in the studio, so make yourself comfortable!”

“Yayyyyy”

Before Mitsuki could enter the corridor leading to the art rooms Rei stops him with a little shout.

“OH! Also- before I forget- try not to startle the current person in the main art room, he gets super spooked easily since he tends to zone out when he’s doing something ok?”

Kiryu nods his head and makes his way into the main art studio room. ‘I wonder who that person is…?

The first year soon stands in front of the slightly open door to the main art room, keeping what Rei-san had in mind, Mitsuki slowly opens the door so that he can enter. As he turns the door he soon understands what the owner meant.

The art room was filled with various used and unused canvases, all scattered around in hazardous ways to retain space. On the walls are splotches of paint and charcoal, showing the wear and multiple use the room has gone through. On a table in the back stored tons of mixed-matched painting brushes and corroding paint pallets. However Mitsuki already knew the layout of the studio by heart.

It was the scene laid before Kiryu that was certainly not what he had in mind.

‘Well.. this is- unexpected’

In the center of all this colorful mess was undoubtedly his classmate Sakura Haruka, who was dawning one of the many paint aprons the gallery provided and was currently putting a shade of daffodil yellow on a medium sized canvas. He sat on a small stool in front of his canvas, his right foot rested on the stool's footrest while his other foot lay flat on the floor. In his left hand the boy held a paint pallet with a few colors squeezed on it, resting that arm on his left leg as he focused on his painting.

He seemed to be in the zone, not noticing Kiryu’s entrance- or even the fact that the room’s door was open, granted his canvas and easel covered the view of the door. On closer inspection the pink haired boy could see the various streaks of paint on Sakura's hands and arms, as well as a few on his face much to Kiryu’s amusement. The sun’s rays hit the layout of the room, highlighting the flying dust particles in the air and giving a warm vibe to the room. Making Sakura look as if he were part of a painting himself.

Mitsuki huffs warmly at the image in front of him and lets the silence rein for a few more minutes. He leans on the open door frame with crossed arms as he watches his captain’s cat-like eyes fixate on his project.

‘I guess I solved the mystery of why Sakura-chan leaves early on Thursdays…’

After a few minutes of quietly observing, the first year decides to make his presence known. Keeping in mind what Rei-san suggested, Kiryu promptly knocks his knuckles on the wood frame of the door.

The green eyed boy lightly chuckles as he sees Sakura’s imaginary cat ears go up in alarm at the noise. He then meets the infamous heterochromatic pupils and Mitsuki can’t help but smile.

“I never expected to see you here Sakura-chan!”

Haruka holds a cutely surprised face before looking away and replying with his usual pink cheeks “Y-Yo Kiryu…”

“Hehe! Almost no one knows about this place because of how discreet it is. I usually come here cause I like to paint in my free time.” Kiryu walks further into the room, stopping in front of Sakura’s easel. “How did you find this place, Sakura-chan?”

From that question Sakura looks down with embarrassment, “I helped the lady when she needed assistance for tending her outdoor plants… after that she insisted that I try to use her art materials as a thank you for helping…” Sakura’s ears get a bit more noticeably red- “A-And I guess I kinda liked it so…”

Mitsuki blinks in surprise at the mini confession and then beams with delight, “That’s totes amazing Sakura-chan! So this is why you leave early on Thursdays now huh!”

“H-HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT??!?”

“Nirei-chan.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway- Can I see some of the paintings you made?”

From that question the black and white haired boy puffs up his cheeks and pointedly turns his head away from his friend, making Kiryu giggle at his stubborn shyness.

“I… guess you can…”

Kiryu throws up his hands while dawning a lax yet triumphant smile.

“Yayyyy! Where do you keep them?”

Sakura then proceeds to point at a small group of canvases within a cranny between two desks. Kiryu lightly skips over to the small spot and takes out a random painting as Haruka returns his attention to his current one.

The picture in question is a pastel scene of what looks to be the storefront of the Poster Canvases. From the bright pastel green of the outside Bonsai, to the cream colored awning providing shade to the figure sketched out in the front, everything looked so unified making the painting have a sense of forgotten nostalgia. It looked like one of those detailed murals that could be only found in children's books.

Thrown aback by the beauty of the painting he just examined, Kiryu goes on to take another canvas.

This canvas holds what seems to be a depiction of a cherry blossom tree, probably the ones planted outside of Furin. Mitsuki intently traces the light strokes of the Sakura petals, looking in awe on the use of pinks and yellows and how they really make each individual flower seemingly pop out from the canvas. In the background, which holds a bluish purple sky, Kiryu could make out the faint outline of Furin’s gates justifying the thought from earlier.

Going back into the small pile, Kiryu takes out a smaller canvas depicting a plate of omurice. The egg, though just seen as yellow, is shaded to look as if it were just served straight out of Cafe Pothos and ready to eat. With some white lines imitating steam and the crookedness of the ketchup just add more character to the simple painting. Even the vegetables that are usually served with the dish are rendered and painted to perfection.

“Sugoi!! Sakura-chan is amazing!! These paintings are so cute!”

“T-Thanks.”

“I never thought Sakura-chan would have a knack for something like this~”

“Humph- I just find it kinda therapeutic…”

“Hehe- I totes get that! It seems you really have some talent with painting.”

“...” Sakura is quiet, but anyone could see his cherry cheeks burning from the subtle praise he was receiving.

Looking at how his friend has gone back to painting, Kiryu gets up and rolls his sleeves.

“Hehe, it's time that I try to make something too!”

The pink haired boy continues to get his easel (which was fixed much to his delight), a paint pallet, a cup of water, one of the many paint aprons lying around, a few brushes, and of course a few paints. He goes over to station himself next to Sakura and starts to let his creative juices take over.

—

It's been a few hours and both Bofurin students seemed to have finished their respective paint pieces.

Kiryu looked on proudly at his painting of a small lily pond. The boy decided on the scene when he was walking to the studio and saw little puddles of water on the street. He thought they looked cute and centered his piece around a tiny pond containing a plethora of lilies and lotuses.

Mitsuki then turns to his new paint partner, “Hey Sakura, we should show each other what we made. It can be like a little unveiling!”

The boy in question blinks a few times before timidly agreeing.

“...Ok”

“Hehe :3”

The two boys stand in front of each other, their canvases in their hands, painted side facing them, ready to be turned to show the other.

“Ok! 3..”

“2…”

”1!!”

At one both of them turn their canvases out to show the painted content. Kiryu of course shows his small but detailed lily pond, while Sakura’s painting displays a semi-realistic tuxedo cat in front of a bakery. The feline seems to be looking straight at the viewer with their mismatched eyes, putting its paw out as if it were asking the viewer to give it food.

“Aww! Sakura-chan! These scenes are so cute! Where do you get the inspiration for these?!”

“W-Well- They are usually just images that I keep in my head whenever I go out on a stroll or whatever pops into my head…”

Sakura then starts to ramble about the stuff he sees whenever he's on patrol or on a regular walk in Makochi and how pretty they look that he has the urge to paint them. As the boy continues to yap, a small smile starts to adorn his face. Kiryu can’t help but rest his head on his palm and fondly smile at how beautifully simple his grade captain is.

The two then start complimenting each other's art pieces, from the color choice to the use of certain paint strokes within certain parts of their paintings. In the end both Bofurin students hold mirthful smiles on their faces at the praise they've been giving to one another.

Kiryu looks at Sakura's cat-like eyes glistening with wonder at the two paintings, and he can’t help but revel in this quiet moment he’s sharing with his dear friend.

'Ah, Haruka-chan is so cute.'

Chapter Text

“Ah Sakura-san! Can we stop by Cactus today? My mother ordered a cake from them and I'm tasked to pick it up!”

Haruka turns to his fellow companion, Nirei, with an indifferent gaze. The two high school students were walking home together as they usually do, however noticeably with one friend missing. Suo had gone on a little trip to see his relatives so he wasn’t present for a week or two, leaving the two by themselves for a bit.

“Hah?! Sure, whatever.”

Nirei nods with a great smile, “Hehe thanks Sakura-san!”

—

The two Bofurin students arrive at the quaint bakery and open its teal framed glass door. As Nirei bounces up to the counter, Sakura surveys the shop with silent interest. Even though he often gets free goodies from the nice workers the boy never actually stepped inside the establishment for himself.

Mainly because he would always get too flustered when they offered free bread buns, and he would run away before they could coax him to come inside for a drink or two.

Haruka observes the faded teal tables shaped like circles, as well as the well taken care of cushioned seats scattered all around the front of the store. He slowly walked towards the back, where the counter and the showcase of already made pastries were set.

Seeing that Nirei was still talking to the cashier, Sakura decides to examine the showcased pastries more carefully. Now that the boy thought about it, he never had the idea that Cactus sold more than just the goods he was gifted. So he wanted to learn more about what the bakery offered.

Bending down his head, Haruka locked his eyes on the first thing he could see. It looked to be a mini mango pie, with blocks of mango and cream dolloped on the top of what looked to be a flakey crispy crust.

Gold and grey eyes then glance at the item next to the pie, which was an assorted fruit tart. The dessert looked shiny from the light jelly glaze that kept the small group of razzberries, blackberries, strawberries, and somehow a whole slice of orange on the small tart crust. There seemed to be a sprinkle of powdered sugar at the top of the treat, making it look as if a small snow storm had come and gone over the small pastry.

Above the two pastries was another rack that held a large assortment of croissant flavors, ranging from regular to chocolate. What caught the Furin student’s eye however was this line of croissants that were cut in the middle. Inside the cut croissant bread was a piped line of light cream, and nestled on top of the yummy looking cream were large sliced strawberries. Each lined up as close as possible so there could be enough for at least four slices to cover the whole dessert.

The mismatched boy looked at the glass encased goods with childlike awe. The desserts looked so… so…SO-

“Ah! Sakura-san I got the cake so we can go now!”

Surprised by the sudden interference of a new voice, Sakura flinches and immediately starts turning into a strawberry.

“Sakura-san?”

“SHUT UP”

“B-But I didn’t even say anything-”

Haruka huffs in quiet embarrassment as he quickly escapes out of the Cactus bakery with long strides. Nirei, lost in whatever transpired, looks back at the show glass his friend was eyeing before he left.

The blonde boy looks closely at the sweets and turns back to the door where Sakura had just gone though. Akihiko narrows his eyes and thinks about his captain’s actions.

“Hmmm…”

—

Nirei already had a small assumption after the events in Cactus a few days ago. Of course whatever he had in mind may just be him overthinking, but it never hurt to try right?

That day when he went to retrieve a cake for his mother, Akihiko noticed how captivated Sakura was with the display of pastries set out in the display case. The sparkling cat-like irises of grey and gold were such a cute scene to see.

And looking back to the times whenever he ate together with Sakura- the first year noticed that the dual haired boy never seems to eat anything sweet. Always choosing to eat something more savory, or filling.

Nirei recalls back at a few days ago when their group had gone to the local Kombini that Furin students usually frequent.

-.-.-

“Kiryu-san you sure buy a lot of hard candies.”

The boy in question had a small handful of fruit crystal candies in his dainty hands, along with a melon bread and a Ramune soda.

“Hehe, I kinda like candies that I can suck on throughout the day, these are usually the ones I buy- and cause they taste super good! If you want you can try some Nirei-chan.”

“Really!? Thanks Kiryu-san!” The vice captain exclaims as he lifts his head from his notebook from writing down this new piece of info about his classmate.

In Akihiko’s hands (or rather arms as he was writing down info in his trusty notebook) was a can of melon soda, two packs of fruit jelly, and a large pack of chocolate pocky.

“OH Kiryu! Yer sharin’ some of yer snacks?! Lemme have some!”

Tsugeura exits an aisle to join with the rest of the group, in his hands is a Pocari sweat, a family sized bag of honey potato chips, a small pack of matcha KitKat, and two sticks of beef jerky. Behind him is Sakura, who seems to hold a small barley tea and one onigiri.

“Haa?? No wayyy! You’ll just keep on asking for more!”

“Cmonn Kiryuuu, I always see ya eatin em in class-”

Stepping back as he watches his two bright colored haired friends bicker, Nirei turns to Sakura- who was also watching the display with nonchalant face yet dawning fond eyes.

Looking at the grade captain's small selection Akihiko asks, “Ne Sakura-san, is that all you're gonna get?”

“Hm? Yea…”

“Do you like sweets Sakura-san?”

“Eh, not really…” Sakura turns his head away from the younger. ”Cmon let’s go pay for these.”

Nirei blinks at Sakura’s quick change of the subject, or rather diversion of it, and quietly follows him to the register.

-.-.-

Even though his friend stated that he has no preference for sweets, Nirei would always catch the boy staring a bit too long at the plastic covered sweet bread or the packaged cake rolls in the Kombini. The observant boy also noticed that whenever they come over to buy snacks, Sakura always seems to buy the maximum of two items- while the rest of the group end up with at least a few goodies at the end of their trip.

Especially that day when they visited Cactus… The moment Akihiko saw those star-stricken eyes he knew Sakura’s real feelings.

‘But why would Sakura-san hide the fact that he likes sweets…?’ The blonde ponders as he walks to his classroom.

The vice grade captain shakes his head, ‘Well there's no need to dwell too much on it Akihiko! We already made a plan to make Sakura-san happy so there’s no turning back!’

The said plan wasn’t actually anything grand, Nirei just bought a couple of sweets from Cactus this morning and was planning to give them to Sakura during their lunch break. If Sakura really had no affection for the pastries then Akihiko would happily eat them, and maybe he could find out why he might not like them too.

But Nirei had a feeling that it would end just as he hoped.

Standing in front of the sliding door of class 1-1 Akihiko takes a large breath, clutching the milk white pastry box handle with a bit more pressure before sliding open the door to his classroom and entering.

“G-Good Morning!...”

—

Morning classes quickly zoomed by, which Nirei was grateful for, and now the day was entering the afternoon hours- meaning the start of their lunch period. Usually Nirei, Sakura, and Suo would eat their lunch on the open school grounds away from their rowdy friends. The backyard of Furin actually has a few tables and seating areas that many of the students use when they eat lunch.
As for the first year group, they managed to find a small faded picnic table that is covered by the surrounding sakura trees and other loose shrubbery. They noticed that not many know about the plot’s existence and have been using that area as their lunch spot ever since first discovering it. Akihiko always takes pride in the fact that he managed to find it, remembering the quaint moments he would have with his two friends as they chatted about anything.

Their usual lunch spot is pretty far away from the other tables so it's perfect for the small veil of privacy needed for this exchange. (Nirei knows that Sakura doesn’t do good in crowded places, so if he did this in the classroom the shy boy would definitely hide his true intentions).

The moment the bell rang for their lunch break Nirei sprang up to his seat, grabbing both his packed lunch and his pastry box. He fidgets with anticipation as he waits for Haruka at the door, too excited to finally give the boy the sweets he bought.

Sakura, seeing his friend’s sudden spark in mood, raises his eyebrow and questions Nirei’s sudden eagerness.

“Hm- What’s got you all excited all of a sudden?”

“Ah!?- Er- uh… I-I’m just happy to eat with Sakura-san now- yea!”

“O-Oh okay…” With cherry cheeks the grade captain turns around and leaves the classroom with a “L-Lets go then…”

As he watches the monochromatic haired boy leave, Akihiko lets out a breath he was holding.

‘Gah- I almost spilled the beans!’

With a huff Nirei catches up with Sakura in the hallway and they both make their way to their usual place.

—

Once arriving the duo take their unassigned seats, leaving them to face each other. Both boys put down their respective lunches in front of them and start unpacking their meal packages.

Nirei always brings a small home cooked meal made by his lovely mother. The lunch is held in a light metal bento, and is wrapped with a rather cute handkerchief with a small shiba inu pattern. On the other side Sakura holds a plastic bag full of Kombini goods and free Cactus bread.

“Sakura-san what do you have today? My mom made me karaage today hehe!” The younger says as he opens his bento tupperware to show off the pieces of large fried chicken and rice.

Haruka sighs “The guy from Cactus managed to smuggle some bread in my hands as I was walking today…” The boy brings out three pieces of curry bread, “So I guess I got some curry bread and barley tea for today.”

“Wow they always manage to have leftovers huh, Hehe isn’t that great!”

“Hmph, well I ain’t complaining…”

The duo then start to eat in a comfortable silence, with Nirei mostly bringing up small topics of conversation as they eat. Eventually they run out of things to talk about, as well as food to eat.

Dusting off the loose crumbs from his lap, Sakura starts to get up from his seat, “Phew, I guess we’re done here… Let’s go bac-

“WAIT!!”

The black and white haired boy jumps at his friend’s loud objection, tilting his head in concern when he sees how the blonde starts to panic from how rude his shout may have been seen as.

“Uh Nirei-”

“EEP- S-Sorry Sakura-san! I didn’t mean to yell at you- I just- I have something for you!”

“For me…?”

“Uh- Yes!” Akihiko then scrambles to get the surprise package from under his seat. Gently putting it down on the picnic table in front of his unassuming friend. Haruka’s critical eyes stare at the mystery package while also raising an eyebrow at his fidgeting friend across from him.

“Y-You should open it… eheheh…”

Following his vice captain’s suggestion, Sakura carefully unboxes the mystery gift while Nirei watches with quiet excitement.

Once fully unboxed Sakura can’t help but ask-

“...why?”

The gift in question was an assortment of mini fruit tarts, specifically there were four kinds of tarts and each tart had one specific fruit on its crust.The flavors were strawberry, blueberry, orange, and lastly mango. Similarly to the tarts in Cactus each one had a small sprinkle of powdered sugar on top.

“Oh- I, well I noticed how you always look at the sweets whenever we get something at the Kombini, a-and when we went into Cactus the other day you looked like you wanted to try the pastries they had… so I got you some… yea.”

Akihiko watches as Sakura’s face contorts into various emotions, while his mouth constantly opens and closes with no sound coming out of his lips. He truly seems surprised by the gift and doesn’t know how to articulate his thoughts.

Seeing how his captain is struggling to convey his feelings, Nirei saves the poor boy by asking a question.

“Um Sakura-san, If it’s ok to ask- do you really not like sweets? Is there a reason why?”

The question effectively brings the dazed boy out of his inner reverie, blinking down at the yummy pastries. Haruka thinks for a bit before taking a deep breath before opening his mouth.

“I… I have always been told that- that sweets and pastries… they were for good people. That those who eat these things are for people who deserve it… I-...Even it I was worthy I could never afford it anywa-

“Now that’s not right!”

Sakura looks up, startled by the outburst, to see Nirei standing up with a disgruntled look on his face and glassy eyes.

“No one needs to be ‘good’ to have nice things!... Sweets- food- they are things that we as people are obligated to!” Akihiko stares at the pastries on the table with fragile determination before turning his eyes to lost mismatched ones.

“Sakura-san… Those things these people tell you… They are far from the truth! I’ve seen with my own eyes how good of a person you are, and- and even then that shouldn’t stop you from snagging a sweet or two if you just want one!”

Nirei then goes to take slightly shaking hands into his own in a gentle yet unwavering grip. The blonde’s gaze still locked with his friends, albeit a bit more misty than before.

“Y-You can want things Sakura-san… It’s ok.”

From that Haruka can’t help but think of narrow dark hallways and old adults with metal rulers, ready to smack them on small cherub hands whenever they would reach out for a snack or two. Usually stating that’s what they would call ‘misbehaving’, even when he would state that his stomach hurt or grumbled.

“I…” Sakura closes his eyes to collect himself and his thoughts. Unlike his last memories, the heterochromatic boy starts to think about how the town of Makochi has often been giving the gift of free food ever since he started staying. He thinks about Nirei’s words and how his friends have shown that they do indeed care for someone like him. After a few seconds of silence the boy opens his eyes to see Nirei quietly panicking while they still hold hands.

Haruka fondly huffs at the display, effectively capturing the boy in front of him from his inner thoughts.

“Sakura-san! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable! I realize it might sound weird that I stared at you all the time- BUT I didn’t mean it like in a stalker kinda way- I MEAN-”

Light laughter rings out in the air, prompting Akihiko to stop his spiraling to stare at his friend and the beautiful sound of his quiet giggles. After a few moments Sakura’s chuckles die down, leaving the boy puffing a bit with strawberry cheeks from the impromptu laughing.

“Haa… Thanks Nirei… I guess I needed that.”

“O-Oh!? No p-problem I guess-”

Haruka lets go of Nirei’s hands in favor of picking up one of the tarts that were left forgotten once their conversation had taken head. Nimble hands go to tear the treat in half, with a few crumbs falling in the process. Sakura then goes to give one half of the tart to his fellow companion.

“Here…” The boy mumbles with a pink flush.

Nirei, surprised by the gesture, can't help but accept the offer with a wobbly smile and a resurgence of his glassy eyes.

“S-Sakura-sannnnnnn!!!”

The grade captain tenderly stares as he watches his vice captain gobble up the treat while he comments about how good the pastry is. In turn the boy takes the courage to chomp down on his half of the strawberry tart. Gold and grey eyes sparkle in delight on how refreshingly sweet the fruit tart is and how much he longed to experience what the pastry would taste like.

Haruka’s eyes close in bliss as he savors another tart flavor, he unknowingly dawns a happy smile while his cheeks are full with the lovely gift his dear friend gave him.

‘Yummy!’

Chapter Text

Getting hurt and injured has always been the norm for Sakura.

Whether it be from the constant fights that he strives to sink his teeth into, or accidentally stumbling whenever he goes around helping the folks of Makochi- his hands have always had a few bruises or scratches from the large extent of work he has gone through during his stay.

Distantly he recalls large callused hands towering over him to deliver blow after blow.

“…”

From that Haruka learned to basically take care of himself, well at least the injury part. He still struggles with his day to day life- but he’s been learning recently.

Overtime he learned that he needed to know how to patch himself up, no matter how difficult it seemed to be, if he wanted to persevere in the sorry story he called his life.

So he learned. Through the gnarly system of trial and error the dual haired boy had basically learned some basic medical lingo and practices that he knew would save his sorry ass whenever it was needed.

However this knowledge has been rarely used by the teen, since most of the time the ones who get majorly hurt are his opponents if anything. Of course he still kept these teachings in his head, you never know when you'll need it after all.

—

Winter was finally leaving the cusps of Makochi, leading to warmer weather and the budding of a few flowers here and there. This also meant an increase of problems, with more vandalism and gang fights becoming more prominent as the season changes.

This of course is put into the hands of Bofurin to stop and mitigate.

Nirei sighs for what was like the twelfth time as he watches Suo and Sakura take down another small group of no name delinquents that stumbled into their area looking for trouble. They were currently on their regular patrol route when they found the group harassing any passerby.

“Man, since spring is coming it seems that there’s a lot more activity…” The blonde complains as he writes down his thoughts into his notebook.

A voice to his right chuckles “It can’t be helped Nirei-kun, the warmth is the strongest enabler after all.” The red hair boy inputs as he flips a random guy to his back.

“I guess you're right… The weather has been pretty good this week.”

On the other side of the alleyway their two toned friend grumbles with annoyance, “...still pisses me off with how so many are around tho…”

The two vice captains can’t help agree to that.

After a bit more squabbling, the team managed to clear the area of the delinquents, with many on the floor unconscious or them running away with their tails between their legs, pushing away whatever they see to get away from the strong fighters.

“Phew, such a work-out don’t you think Sakura-kun?” Suo comments with his sly smile as he pats down the invisible dust off his Changsheng.

“Hah?! The hell you mean, those wimps were a piece of cake!”

“Oh? The sweat on your brow says otherwise-”

“HAA-”

“Suo-san, Sakura-san!? We should really get back to patrol!”

“Not my fault Leonardo here wants to be a bastard!!”

“UUUU- Sakura-sannnnnnnnnn-!!”

Before the distressed Nirei could complete his sentence a young boy comes barreling into the alley they were situated in. The presence of the newcomer of course alerts the patrol group, who immediately stop their bickering to assess the new person.

The kid stumbles a bit before crying out,

“P-Please help!”

The plea instantly causes the Bofurin students to square up and try to give aid to the boy.

Nirei quickly goes to kneel on his knees to be on eye level to comfort the hysterical boy, “Hey, what’s wrong!?”

Through various sniffs and hiccups the poor boy manages to respond, “M-me and my m-mommy were walking home from the park and- and suddenly-” more tears begin to cascade down his cubby rosy cheeks.

“A-a big guy pushed my mommy! A-And she fell and hasn’t g-gotten up!” The boy starts to completely break down at this point.

“T-That’s terrible!” The blonde starts to stammer and panic.

Suo then crouches next to Nirei effectively calming both the older and younger. With a friendly smile to not scare the little kid any further than he already is, the one-eyed highschooler gently asks “can you take us to her?”

The boy vigorously nods and starts dragging the closest hand (which was Nirei’s) to the site of interest.

Suo and Sakura share a look before hastily following the other two down the open alley.

—

When the little kid stops the three boys can’t help but stare worriedly at the petite woman haphazardly laying on the floor as they run in.

Sakura, the moment he sees the poor mother on the street he immediately starts to bark out orders.

“Nirei, watch the kid and call an ambulance- Suo you're with me.” The dual haired boy commands as he swiftly takes off his Bofurin uniform and quickly positions himself next to the fallen woman. He then hastily takes her arm and presses his finger to the middle of the mother’s wrist.

“R-right!!” The freckled boy instantly takes out his phone while softly parading the boy away from his mother to give his friends space to focus. Suo stations himself across Sakura, also assessing the damage. The one eyed boy begins to softly call out to the injured woman but with no response.

‘Her pulse seems fine…’ Redacting his hand from the woman’s arm, Sakura lightly begins to move the rest of her sprawled out limbs back onto resting at her sides.

The grade captain folds his jacket into a makeshift pillow and oh so carefully cradles the mother’s head onto the new plush surface. After doing that task Haruka looks at his hands with a tense expression. “Tsk…” Seeing the shift in his friend’s demeanor, Suo glances at his fellow friend’s hands to find mild blood stains on them.

“!!!- Sakura-kun-”

“She probably fell on her head and has a concussion…” Sakura makes quick work of ripping a large part of his white under T-shirt, tearing it a way so that they would be long nimble strips.

“It’s best to help mitigate the bleeding before it gets any more worse, at least for now till an ambulance arrives to give proper care.”

Haruka then surveys the area with his sharp eyes, thinking out loud he mumbles “We don’t have the proper disinfectant or usable water to effectively clean the wound so we just gotta use the cloth I just made…”

Sakura tilts his head up to stare at Suo with a determined glint in his eyes,

“Help me clean and bandage the wound on her head would ya.”

“Of course Sakura-san, who would I be if I didn’t.”

“Hmph-” The boy then turns his attention back to the lady. “Ok, I need you to support her head while I wrap the bandages, make sure you don’t irritate the injury since we don’t know the full extent of it- ya got that?”

The one eyed boy firmly nods as he gently lifts the woman’s head from the Furin uniform pillow and into a careful hold.

Haruka nods at the heedful handling and slowly begins to clean and wrap up the poor mother’s concussed head with his substitute gauze. Focused on his work, the monochromatic boy distantly hears a “They’re coming!!” from the left of him- offering a small grunt of acknowledgement while staying true to his task.

After a few wraps around the head with the bandage, Sakura hums with content- raising his gaze to Suo and giving a nod of affirmation that he could set her head back onto the pillow.

Once the mother is safely nestled back on the pillow Sakura finally lets out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding. The student loosens his posture and lets his body untense into a more comfortable sitting position while still staying close to his pseudo patient. Across from him the other Bofurin members and the little kid do the same after seeing the monochromatic boy do so.

The kid now with a relieved face starts to slowly crawl next to Sakura, shifting his eyes from the winded high schooler to the serene face and steady breathing of his mother.

“Is… Is mommy gonna be ok now?”

Catching a few more seconds for himself, Sakura breathes out deeply before roughly patting the boy’s head in an awkward comforting gesture.

“For now, yea.”

The confirming statement makes the child’s constant scared face finally lighten up with a cautious happy smile. The boy turns to Nirei (whom the boy had gotten attached to since he had been a constant help in calming the distressed kid) with vigorous enthusiasm now that his mother is out of the woods, soon going into a small yap session that the vice captain happily contributes to.

Suo watches his grade captain with subtle interest as his friend keeps tabs on the mother.

“Heh, it seems we can never have a dull moment with you Sakura-san.”

“Hah? The hell is that supposed to mean?”

The red haired boy giggles at his friend’s confused miffed expression. His one lone eye stares straight into Gold and grey ones and sincerely conveys,

“I’m just saying I find it admirable that you make an effort to take care of everyone you see. Like now, how you're doing everything in your power to help this family.”

“You even know how to swiftly administer a form of first aid, which is really impressive Sakura-kun.”

The fond gaze combined with the veracity of Hayato’s words causes the class one captain to look down in embarrassment with a slight blush,

“... It’s nothing praiseworthy, anyone would do the same…”

“Still, I think it’s amazing.”

Slowly losing more of his composure, Haruka was about to short-circuit until he distantly hears a plethora of stomping footsteps coming towards their direction. Turning his head from the ground to the source of the sound, Sakura spots three paramedics running towards them, a little further back where the sidewalk meets the road he could see the white shine of their ambulance.

Nirei also takes notice of the paramedics and jumps up with joy seeing now that the boy’s mother would finally be taken to a safer place for treatment.

“Ah! Thank goodness the ambulance is finally here!!”

The three Furin students quickly moved out of the way so that the professionals could do their work in peace. From the sidelines they manage to catch small tidbits of the working convo.

“...It seems she’s gotten a lot of brunt of the force to the head… could have been much worse if it was left unattended…”

Suo knowingly stares at his mismatched companion who refuses to make eye-contact with the blatant look.

More assessment later and both the young boy and the mother are being taken away to be loaded up on the back of the ambulance. Before the doors close the little kid gives one last wave in gratitude with a grateful grin.

Since the Bofurin students have no other reason to loiter around, they also prepare to continue their patrol route. However right before they start walking away one of the paramedics- a fairly young man with slight bags under his eyes- quickly hikes over to them.

“Hey! It was you kids that helped the patient right?”

Hayato, quickly taking over the talking role, steps up and lightly nods “That’s right.”

“Well you all did a good job handling her wounds, thanks to those superb bindings her head injury will be much more manageable!” He glances at Sakura’s torn shirt, and gives the boy a thumbs up which in turn makes the cat-like boy look away shyly.

“You all did a good deed today, and take pride in it.” The young man then turns to jog back to his team with a “Stay safe out there, and thanks for your help!”

Now all alone again Suo turns to Sakura with a smugly fond look on his face.

“See Sakura-kun, what did I say?”

The said boy grumbles as he pointedly shoves his hands into his pants pockets with heated cheeks and saunters away, as if silently stating that he rather avoid another embarrassing remark.

“Huh? You said something, Suo-san?”

White tassels bounce as their owner chuckles with mirth, “Oh, just saying how I was right.” After that the boy briskly tries to catch up with Haruka whose figure is getting smaller by the second.

Brown eyes blink in confusion as they stare at the two receding figures. A few beats pass before the oblivious boy sweatdrops,

‘I still don’t know what that means-’

Chapter Text

Daybreak approaches a small worn apartment, with the Sun's rays hitting the scratched window panes and flowing into the water damaged walls.

A lone gray eye squints open from being disturbed by the morning light.

Sakura groans as he groggily wakes up from his deep slumber. Lately his sleep has been unperturbed for the most part, with the boy just going straight to sleep with no dreams or nightmares invading his subconscious.

Inwardly he admits that he probably is in a safer environment now to the point where his mind is putting its guard down. That being here in Furin is why he can sleep easy now.

Ruffling his bed head to clear out his embarrassedly cheesy thoughts, Haruka looks to the paper calendar posted on the adjacent wall from his futon. The item was gifted to him by Togame one day when he was invited over for a small hang out. The Shishitoren vice said it could be used to manage time in an easier, more fun way since he noticed Sakura was still a novice at using his phone. The small present came with a set of highlighters and a multi-colored pen- where you could push the plastic tabs and a different colored pen would take its place.

Surprisingly enough Sakura actually liked using the calendar, he could customize it however he liked- and all he needed was to write whatever plans or dates he deemed important. It was one of the few things he had control over- something he could manage just for himself, nobody else.

Haruka squints at the medium sized bold font of the unassuming calendar with the cover picture of cherry blossom trees-

‘Cherry blossom trees…?’

Disbelieving eyes travel down to the fine print. In the first box of the month a big red X covers the majority of the small square space, as if the person wanted to erase it from the calendar itself.

‘April…’

“Oh.”

Today is his birthday.

Sakura always felt that his birthday was such an iffy subject for himself.

Mainly because how the day reminded him of his biological parents.

Whenever this day comes around Haruka always recalls his only memory of the people who gave birth to him.

Small cherub hands grab loosely on larger more wrinkled ones.

A man with dark hair enters a small Haruka’s peripheral line of vision, he holds a large excited smile on his face as he leads his son to the small circle dining table in their quaint kitchen.

“Attaboy Haruka!! You're almost there! Me and Mama got a surprise for you!”

Behind the table a short woman with light hair is standing with her hands behind her back, the light pink apron she dawns is a stark difference from the grey house dress she is wearing. Her face is similar to her spouse’s, a large fond smile beaming and directed to her son.

“Is it true Mama?! Dada said you have a surprise!”

“That’s right, little blossom! All you need to do is sit in your seat, close your eyes and you'll see!”

Mixed matched eyes look up with wonder, they then squeeze shut with childlike anticipation. His small hands are clenched in front of him in excitement for the surprise he is about to see.

After a few more seconds the boy starts to get restless, before the boy could explode with questions for when they will finish an enthusiastic voice calls out,

“Ok Haruka you can open your eyes!”

Bouncing up and down with utter enthusiasm the little boy opens his eyes and is absolutely floored with what he sees.

The lights are shut off encasing the room in total darkness, that however is irrelevant when the only source of light comes from the medium sized circle cake that sits in the center of the table. Small fondant cherry blossom flowers and white frosting cover the outside rim and the top surface of the cake along with another color of frosting piped around the dessert making it look like vines growing on it. Three candles sit together with their wicks lit bathing the dark kitchen in warm orange light. On top of the cake are the curvy calligraphy words “Happy Birthday Haruka” written in a bright-ish pink jelly frosting.

Little Haruka looks on with complete awe, his eyes glimmer with delight seeing the gift in front of him. He looks up ready to geek out about his new gift when he notices,

Heartfelt gazes watch on with deep affection, staring directly at-

Sakura immediately pops back to reality the moment he gets to that part of his memory. The boy lets out an annoyed huff before willing his ass off of his futon. He had to quickly get ready to go to school now since he wasted his time recalling that damn memory.

Those mind images always elicited a bitter feeling at the innermost pit of his stomach.

That’s why he couldn’t come to like his birthday, it just served a reminder of the things that he once had- what he could’ve got…

The thing that was just at reach but forever unobtainable.

After begrudgingly putting on his short sleeved school uniform, Sakura stands at his genkan ready to leave and start his day. He opens the heavily damaged metal door of his apartment and steps out the door.

Before he closes it however, Haruka glances back at his bare wall with the lone calendar on it. The small unassuming first box with the red streaks stare right back at him, the harsh grooves of the indented paper from the multiple red markings glare with an unnerving mocking aura. He stares at it for a few more seconds before scoffing, slamming the door shut and trudging away.

—

Already moody due to the depressing events starting his day, Sakura enters the 1-1 classroom with hopeful expectations for a semblance of a normal day. That is however thrown out the window when he notices immediately entering the classroom- that all of his classmates’ eyes are on him for some reason.

The staring lasts for only a mili-second before everyone returns to what they were doing, as if it never occurred in the first place. Sakura blinks at the strange behavior as he walks to his assigned seat.

‘The fuck?- Maybe my mind is tired of me and is starting to play games with me…’

As he sits down the monochromatic boy is met with greetings from his close group, with Nirei popping up with his excited smile and Suo with his benevolent stare.

“Good morning Sakura-san! The weather has been super nice this week hasn’t it! Spring has really sprung!”

“Mornin’... I guess so.”

“Oh come on Sakura-kun, aren’t you a bit excited to see your fellow sakura? I’m sure you’ll fit right in with all the blushing you do!”

“HAH??!?!”

Nirei can’t help but giggle at the teasing remark before further inquiring how the cherry blossom trees always look so beautiful during the springtime. Suo naturally joins his fellow vice’s convo, with some outside voices (Kiryuu and Tsugeura) inputting their own opinions as well.

Sakura watches as his friends mingle, although his mind wanders elsewhere. He hasn’t told anyone about his birthday, and plans to keep it under wraps as long as he can. It’s not like he doesn’t trust his companions, on the contrary he fully puts his trust in them.

It was more of just his irrational fear that once they celebrated it they would leave too like his-

“Sakura-chan?”

The sensation of someone poking his arm grounds him back to reality. To his right, Kiryuu has his pointer finger extended out of his uniform sweater paws mid poke to his shoulder.

“You ok Sakura-chan? You've been staring at your desk for quite a while.”

Haruka looks around and realizes that the group was now staring at him with mixtures of concern and curiosity. Flustered by the unexpected attention the grade captain tries to come up with a no name excuse,

“O-Oh yea- the weathers’ just making me more sleepy- yep.”

Luckily they took the excuse without a second thought.

“Hmmm I totes get that, the spring breeze is just that calming.”

Tsugeura jumps in with “Yer got that right, It’s so nice to meditate outside with the sun and cool wind!”

With that they continue with their thoughts and let Sakura be. The said boy exhales a breath of relief and slouches in his seat, hoping the minutes would tick by so the day would end already. Burying his head into his arms into a comfortable lying position, the boy fails to notice the knowing glances his classmates give to each other.

—

Patrol had just ended and Sakura can’t wait to just go home and wallow in self pity for the rest of the day till midnight. The sun was slowly making its trek down the horizon, displaying that the day was soon coming to a close.

The usual route they took today was peculiarly busy for some reason, with most of the residents of Makochi out and about asking their group in particular for assistance for almost anything- some that they could even do themselves, whether it be to switch a light bulb or move a singular potted plant a foot over from its original spot.

The black and white haired boy, though kind of confused by the easy requests, did them without a second thought. He would honestly do anything to not let his mind wander towards buried memories.

On the plus side their praises and gifts for his ‘hard work’ (which were most of the time food) did make him feel a bit better, not that he would admit that to anyone.

The grade captain huffs out a large sigh, making way back to school with heavy steps. His vice captains are a step behind him unnaturally silent, this kind of irks Sakura- since it leaves him with open silence and his unfiltered thoughts. His worried musings are halted when his blonde friend speaks up,

“Uh!- S-Sakura-san how did you feel about today?”

“Hah? What’s with the random question?”

Seeing how Nirei begins to panic and mumble about his question being misinterpreted, Suo comes in as his friend’s saving grace.

“Hm it seems Nirei-kun just wants to know if today was a good day for you, nothing really special. So what’s your verdict?”

Seeing that it indeed was a small question, Sakura slows his steps to collect his thoughts- his face set in a thoughtful crinkled squint. Beside his sad thoughts concerning his birthday- today had been pretty ok, nothing special had happened but it was quite relaxing.

After a few more seconds of thinking Haruka summarizes his answer with a “It was aight, nothing special I guess.”

Both vice captains nod in approval in unison, as if that answer was exactly what they wanted. Sakura raises his eyebrow at the peculiar gesture and continues his walk saying nothing, he didn’t really feel like dealing with whatever they had in their heads right now.

Finally at the school gates Haruka is relieved that the day is basically over. Ready to sprint out and wallow at home, the boy swiftly gathers his belongings in the desolate classroom. But before he could skedaddle out the door his vices stop him by crowding the door.

“Hey! What gives? School ended, didn't it?”

“Ah ah ah, did you forget that there was a meeting on the roof for the class leaders today?”

Suo, the bastard, with a devious smirk relays- happy to get a reaction out of the boy.

“No one told me about that!!”

“Aah- Sakura-san it was a recent development that happened when we were on patrol!”

The first year huffs with resignation, putting his stuff on his desk and walking out of the classroom with a new destination towards the roof. His two friends watch amused and start to catch up when he disappears from sight.

“Gah whatever let’s just get this over with!!”

—

The trio are a few steps away from the roof door before he hears a “I’m sorry Sakura-san!” before his line of vision is completely covered in darkness.

“HAH THE FUCK IS THIS-”

The cat-like boy startled by the sudden blindness- is prepared to thrash around in surprise before his arms are chained in a strong grip.

“Sakura-san just bear this for a bit! Don’t worry It’s nothing bad, trust us!”

A giggle to his front reveals that it’s probably Suo holding his hands. “My my always so ready to fight I see.”

“Whatever this is, it better be good, ya could just tell me instead of doin all this.”

Another chuckle and then “Believe me, I think you'll like it.”

“Huh-”

The questions Sakura has on his tongue are halted when he hears the creak of the metal door opening and his body is slightly pushed forward. At the same time the cloth surrounding his face goes loose and slightly falls off his face.

Mixed matched eyes squint a bit from being exposed to light after a period of darkness. Once his pupils adjust the boy can’t help but stare at what's presented in front of him with wide eyes. The entirety of class 1-1, the heavenly kings, as well as some of class 1-2 gather around in a bunched up semicircle around him. Even the captain and the vice of Shishitoren are seen within the mass of people. Many of them dawn cone party hats and party favors in their heads and hands.

“SURPRISE!!!”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAKURA!!!”

The said boy just stands there in shock, only able to mutter a single sound,

“Wha-”

The group of Bofurin students come and shower the boy with birthday wishes and congratulations. Many of it goes from one ear out the other- since the birthday celebrant in question seems to still be in an astonished dazed state.

He is taken out of his surprised trace the moment a loud voice cuts through all the layering chatter.

“Now let the poor boy breathe, god you guys are hopeless!”

Kotoha, still in her green Porthos apron, steps out of the small crowd with her hands behind her back. She walks up to her fellow friend with familiar fond eyes and a bright smile.

“Happy Birthday Sakura.”

Hidden hands reveal a medium sized circle cake with large strawberries and candy flowers decorated on the top, with small blueberries and piped puffs of white cream covering the outer rim of the petite dessert. A singular candle sits unassumingly on top, it’s wick already lit illuminating every surrounding surface with its small glow. Right below the candle in bright-ish pink jelly frosting are the words ‘Happy Birthday Haruka’ in a distantly familiar curvy calligraphy font. She lightly pushes the present into his tense hands.

Haruka can only stare at the scene in front of him.

A strong feeling of deja vu hits him like a title wave. This cake- this scenario- it’s just like that day, that memory. There’s just one piece left.

Downcast bi-colored eyes slowly look up at the faces of people before him. He does it slowly and carefully, scared at what he might see. Once he finally looks completely up, Haruka’s eyes widen and he sucks in a deep breath before looking down at the cake again. His bangs shading his eyes from the now concerned onlookers.

On each of their faces- a look of euphoric warmth stares straight at him. Each of their eyes, a gateway to their thoughts and feelings- loaded with endearment and undoubtedly tender truth.

"..."

He never understood his heart when his birthday came around.

Why it hurt so much whenever the distant memory of his parents resurfaced every year. How it continued to yearn for them even though it knew that they never wanted him back. That they abandoned him because he was just… him.

But he sees now, he gets it now. It was never really about the cake- or the candles, or the grand presents…

It was the feeling, this feeling of being seen- being cherished. Basking in the fact that…

He is loved.

And that love was from the people he truly cared about... His Family.

—

Nirei and Suo glance at their friend with worried looks, Kiryuu tilts his head in an anxious manner as he holds down a distressed Taiga. Tsubaki looks around with concerned eyes, locking looks with Umemiya who looks just as concerned.

At this point many of his friends are concerned for the lack of reaction from their cat-like friend. They thought that Sakura would react with screeches of embarrassment and his iconic blushed complexion, not a tense silence.

Kotoha, being the closest to the boy, slowly steps closer to see if the boy is alright.

“Sakura-?”

..Plip

A small droplet of water hits the top of the cake, right next to the word ‘Happy”.

Plop

Another one.

‘Eh…?’

Plip

Everyone immediately freezes and slowly looks up at the birthday boy’s face.

Lo and behold- Sakura has silent tears cascading down his now rosy cheeks. His eyes shake with an unexplainable emotion as he continues to blankly stare at the cake he is holding. The boy’s mouth quivers as he is unable to voice his inner thoughts- highlighting just how stunned he is.

A quiet involuntary whimper from the boy is all it takes for the rooftop to be thrown into a cacophony of chaos. Almost instantly everyone within the vicinity goes to try to comfort the crying first year.

“AHH SAKURA-SAN DON’T CRY, WE’RE SORRY-”

“D-DON’T CRY-”

“Oh dear- It seems we might have misstepped…”

“WAHHHHH-”

“Sakura-chan?!?!-”

“SHIT- I knew he was gonna hate it, Takanashi this is all your fault…”

“HUH??!? HOW IS IT MY FAULT”

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO GET A CAKE WITH BLUEBERRIES ON IT-”

“HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT CHANGE ANYTHING???”

Sakura slowly begins to hunch over himself, from time to time his fame shaking. His quiet sobs and deep breaths acting as bullets to the mass every time they occur. Ultimately the boy becomes silent again after a minute or two.

Thinking that they only made it worse, the crowd of distressed high schoolers start to get louder and more rowdy by the second.

“...”

Before things could get even more chaotic a glorious sound hits the eardrums of every person present.

“Pfft- Hahaha!”

Sakura has lifted his head from his hunched position, there are still a few stray tears falling from his closed eyes, but instead of a tense pinched face everyone is met with the beautiful sight of a happy smile and a serene face. Once open again, his two colored pupils shine with joy and sparkles of gratitude.

All motion on the rooftop stops in favor of hearing Haruka’s light and airy giggles. As the melodious sound rings into the crisp night air everyone slowly loosens their tense stature in favor of throwing their loved first year faces of awe and endearment.

The laughter soon enough sadly diminishes, leaving the group with a sniffling first year with a shy but large smile.

“Y-You guys are really weird, ya know that…”

The first one to leave their awed trace was Kotoha, who slowly walks up to the boy with a fond smile to relight the candle that had somehow died during all the commotion.

“Cmon Sakura… time to make your birthday wish.”

Gold and grey watch the small flame as it dances on the tiny wick. He has an idea on what to wish for, and he slowly closes his eyes to make sure that his wish really sticks the moment he wishes for it.

After a few more seconds Haruka opens his eyes and lightly blows the flame out solidifying his wish has been created and sent to the open air of the world.

‘I wish for this love to stay with me forever.’

Chapter Text

It was another casual day in Porthos, with Kotoha manning the counter and Sakura absentmindedly munching on a plate of mini sandwiches that was served to him.

Brown eyes watch fondly as the boy in front of her chews his food with puffed cheeks. Kotaha’s eyes then look down to Sakura’s slightly bruised hands. Apparently on his walk here there were a few rowdy kids that were threatening Cactus bakery into giving them free bread. Things got out of hand, leading to Sakura reprimanding them with his fists.

From that the girl can’t help reminisce when the said boy came to her aid back when they first met. Haruka always seemed light on his feet, as if gravity had no effect on him.

Kotoha then wonders if Sakura had gone through any athletic activities to get to where he is now. The almost grateful movements the cat-like boy did was as if he were a free dancer on an open stage. Surely those high kicks and jumps had some experience and practice behind them right?

She turns her attention back to the person in question, ready to ask about her lingering thoughts.

“Hey, Sakura.”

Haruka grunts, since there is still food in his mouth. After a few more chews the boy gulps up his meal and responds in a grumpy tone.

“Hm? Whaddya want?”

“Have you ever tried any dancing classes before?”

Kotoha was expecting the boy to be completely oblivious to the question, and even ask what she meant. However, she is met with a blushing Sakura and a look as if he were caught in a heinous act. This reaction surprises the girl, making her prod for more answers.

“Wah- what’s with that reaction?! Unless you actually know how to dance…”

“...”

“AH YOU REALLY DO KNOW HOW TO DANCE!”

“S-SO WHAT IF I DO HUH?!”

Brown eyes sparkle with awed mischief, “No wonder when you fight you look so elegant!”

Started by the praising comment Sakura’s face gets even more redder by the second. Kotoha watches the Furin student’s reaction with a chuckle before stripping her Porthos apron off her body and putting her short hair into a half updo. She then goes to the glass door to turn the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’.

Still with relatively red cheeks, Haruka watches the action with mild curiosity. It was still pretty early into the day for her to close shop now. He watches as Kotoha makes her way to where he is sitting, stopping at least an arm distance away. She then puts her hand out in a calling manner.

“Would you humor me with a dance then?” The brown haired girl asks in a light questioning manner.

Already re-flustered, Sakura can’t help but stumble on his words. After all, no one has ever asked him to dance before- especially since he never told anyone about the fact he could even perform a move. Eventually he gathers the courage and puts his hand on the inviting one.

“...O-Ok.”

The Porthos worker smiles in delight at the acceptance and stands in front of Sakura with their hands held in a loose ready position. She wasn’t sure what Sakura knew when it came to the art of dancing and she was willing to let him do whatever he felt comfortable doing.

“So, what dances do you do?”

Sakura looks to the side in quiet embarrassment while gently arranging their arms and hands to be more of a dance ready posture. With their elbows a bit bent towards each other and their hands in a strong yet loose grip.

“Er- the way I like to dance is a bit… weird.”

Kotoha tilts her head in confusion, “Weird? How could dancing be possibly ‘weird’?”

Haruka huffs in irritation, unable to articulate his ideas into solid words. The boy ponders a bit before shaking his head in annoyance and decides on just letting his actions speak louder than his unfound words. He goes to straighten his posture and lightly grips his partner’s hand for a little warning for what is to come.

“Let me just show you instead, yea?”

“Ok if you- WOAH-”

Before Kotoha could finish her sentence, Sakura shifts his feet in bold quick steps prompting the girl to follow his movements in a similar manner. His feet, though very intentional with the movements, are light and nimble, moving back and forth with quick steps creating a certain tempo of flow. As for their arms- Sakura lightly guides his companion through certain motions and poses, making it feel more freeform and easy to follow.

Though they are confined within the small space of Porthos’ open floor walk-way, the duo manage to perform light turns and spins. With Sakura sometimes guiding Kotoha to do an individual turn and or the duo both turning together. Even separating the hold of one of their hands to extend out in a grand gesture before spinning back together with the imaginary tempo.

Light laughter starts to erupt from Tachibana’s mouth as they continue their light rhythmic dancing. She has never experienced such fun movement when it comes to dancing with a partner. The only experience she had was at school where they taught the basic levels of ballroom dancing, and even then that was such a bore to go through.

But when it came to Sakura and his dancing, she could really see the vibrant joy and freedom this style of dance had for anyone who performed this style.

After a few more minutes of light twisting and twirling, Sakura eventually stops with his movements and lets go of Kotoha’s hands. He shuffles his foot against the wood flooring and scratches his head in a shy manner as he asks,

“..So how was it?”

The girl laughs with relief as she voices, “Wow Sakura! I never knew you could do something like that- It was so fun!”

“Hmph, Course it is; dancing is just letting your body loose and free- at least that’s what it's like for me.”

Kotoha hums in recognition from the words, “I totally understand how you're so quick on your feet- like a cat!” She flashes him a smile full of gratitude, “Thanks for the mini dance Sakura.”

“Yea- yea whatever…” The Furin student then goes to sit back down and finish the last few bites of his sandwich. He pointedly looks anywhere but his fellow companion as he chews with rigor and slightly pink ears.

Tachibana giggles as she glances at Sakura’s see-through tsundere act.

‘So easy to tease’

—

Sakura thought that Kotoha forgot about the encounter of his dancing talent since she hasn’t pulled it up ever since she discovered it a few weeks ago. He is proven wrong, however, when he enters Porthos for his usual breakfast and the first thing he sees is a flyer being thrusted into his face.

“GAH!?!- The fuck?!”

Of course, Kotoha is unperturbed by the language and starts to talk as if Sakura’s reaction is of the norm. She flaps the flyer of two silhouettes holding hands up and down lightly making the monochromatic boy focus his attention on her.

“Look Sakura! They are doing a dance festival a month from now in the town square, we should totally sign up!”

Haruka looks at the girl as if she grew a second head as she continues her flyer flapping “So what…”, then after a few seconds recognition fills his eyes. “HAH?! What do you mean WE???”

Tachibana grins, pointing at herself then at the bamboozled boy. “That’s right! Me and you!”

“NUH-UH NO WAY!”

The brunette pouts a bit before countering, “Cmon!! I can’t just apply myself! I need a partner!”

Sakura clicks his tongue and crosses his arms, “Why can’t you ask someone else?!” Kotoha quickly shoots the suggestion down with “Everyone I know has a partner already- besides I want it to be a surprise!!”

“Do you even know how to dance!?”

“Well not as good as you! That’s why you should teach me and we can sign in together! With your cool moves we can definitely win!”

Kotoha quietly smirks at Sakura’s already flushed face. She knew just one final push was all she needed for the boy to agree.

“If you participate I’ll make you a homemade lunch for a whole month! Takeout and everything- anything you want! How bout it?!”

“...”

“...Ugh fine…”

The brown haired girl jumps in joy “YAY!” She then goes to bring the flustered boy into a strong hug.

“Thank you Sakura!”

Kotoha breaks the hug and throws a small wink, “From now I guess I’ll be learning something from you for a change, hehe!”

“What’s that s’possed to mean-”

He is effectively silenced when a fresh plate of steaming omurice is served right in front of him. Haruka looks towards the culprit and finds Kotoha’s sparkling eyes and eager smile, she pushes the dish closer to his person as if it were a little offering. Already accepting the hole he dug for himself- the grade captain huffs and grabs the already offered spoon to start digging into the piping meal.

“... Ya better be ready to do large amounts of cardio- Ya hear!?!?”

“Of Course!”

—

Two figures sit in the middle of a barren dance room, the walls are layered with mirrors projecting every angle of the winded inhabitants. Kotoha huffs out another breath before taking a quick sip of her water bottle. To the left of her, Sakura wipes a bead of sweat off his head as he also exhales a deep breath.

The duo have been practicing for at least two hours already. Ever since their agreement in Porthos three weeks ago, the two teenagers have been subtly practicing a simple dance routine in the local recreation center near Sakura’s house.

According to Sakura, not many people frequent the area since it’s pretty run down; so the boy had used the center as a place to rewind whenever he felt like it. Now they use it as a little secret base where Haruka teaches Kotoha the basics of dancing. Swing dancing to be exact, they found out from the research session the two did before jumping into actual movement and discovered how Sakura’s movements were so similar to the videos of swing dancing online.

Another large gulp of water, then a satisfied sign fills the room. “Man Sakura you’re right, swing dancing is a lot of cardio.”

The said boy glances at his partner's direction before laying his body on the ground in a starfish pose, exhausted from even sitting up. “Well at least you're building your stamina.”

“Heh I guess you’re right.”

The two teens stay quiet a bit longer, with their heaving breaths the only source of noise within the open space. Brown orbs look at one of the wall mirrors with growing excitement. The festival was literally this weekend and they basically had their routine memorized, it was just the matter of perfecting a few flaws and finding what to wear.

Kotoha turns to Sakura, who has already gotten up from his last position, and asks in an eager tone. “Are you excited?! I kind of am!” Sakura stares at her enthusiasm for a few seconds before looking away and scoffing in embarrassment “...Maybe, I guess.”

His response is met with laughter and a determined, “Don’t worry it will be fun! We’ll knock e’m dead for sure!”

“WE'RE GONNA KILL THEM!!?!”

“...Not like that-”

—

It’s finally the awaited Dance night that many of the residents of Makochi have been looking forward to. Tons of people of all ages mingle and fill the area of the town’s square, with many dressing up in bright colors or bedazzled clothing for the fun occasion. Amongst the colorful chaos are a few teens that dawn dark green school uniforms.

Since it was a fairly large event, the coordinators (which were a bunch of older Makochi residents) asked if Bofuirn would be in charge of providing order and security to the open floor spectacle. Of course Umemiya was happy to comply, asking whomever wanted to join to sign up. This leads us to now, where the said top dog is walking within the open street with Tsubaki and Hiragi traveling with him as they take in the festival floor.

“Man Makochi really knows how to make a festival!” Hajime comments with childlike wonder as he watches a small group of people huddle together as they dance to some line dancing music.

Tsubakino and Hiragi both nod in agreement as they survey the area with fond eyes. Seeing so many people so alive and happy really just solidified how much they love the area and their desire to protect it. The trio continue to walk some more before the sound of microphone rebound plays, then an enthusiastic voice conveys.

“Alright everyone! The long awaited dance showcase is about to begin shortly! Please come gather towards the center of the plaza to see the art of dance on our elevated stage!”

“OOOH! I guess the main event is starting! Let’s go take a peak!” Excited blue eyes sparkle as they turn to the center plaza. Umemiya then starts walking at a quicker pace to get to the venue faster.

“Ah! Ume-chan wait for me!” Tsubaki yells as they move to catch up.

"We are supposed to help in patrol..” Hiragi huffs in defeat as he walks towards the same direction he friends ran to.

Once situated on one of the many provided seats that were set around the plaza, Umemiya and Tsubakino fawn in excitement as they watch more people trickle in and fill in the empty seating. Hiragi just chuckles fondly at the two’s silly behavior and follows suit in people watching, making sure that everyone is getting to a seat without any problems.

When most seats seemed to be filled, a bright old man- who was the announcer of the event- starts to explain the idea of the showcase.

“Ok everyone! Now that we all seem to be seated let me explain the idea of our dear dancing showcase! Now many have signed up for this event to display their dancing talent, they all have their unique style and flair that I know many will find awe-inspiring.”

This statement causes many claps and whoops to sound within the crowd, unfettered by the positive sounds the announcer continues his speech.

“Now it is our job as the audience to watch and support those who have bravely stepped up to show us their dancing talent! All of the contestants will soon enter the dance floor and dance to their heart’s content, and as they are doing so you can observe and see the different art forms of what dance is! So are you ready!!”

The crowd answers with eagerness and cacophonies of agreements. “Then let’s welcome our dancers!!” Once that is said a plethora of nicely dressed people fill up the once empty center stage, each with a partner next to them ready to start swaying to their own beat. Tsubaki and Umemiya look at the dapper contestants with keen elation, commenting on certain things they like as they fill in. It’s not until a voice laced with disbelief tunes them out of their musings.

“No way… isn’t that-?”

The astonished words of the usually composed Hiragi prompt the other third years to glance at the direction he was looking at. Once they look over they can’t help but laugh in shock at what they are seeing.

Amongst the other bodies on stage they could clearly see the petite body of Kotoha. The girl is wearing a flattering light pink dress that stops right under her knees. The skirt of the dress looks to be made of a light tulle material that slightly curls into itself making it look airy and elegant. On the bodice small cute bows and pearls are sewn into the fabric, which just add more to the pretty look the young girl holds. Her light brown hair is her usual down-do, with the addition of small clip-on flowers that adorn the back of her head.

The other factor to the surprise is the fact that Sakura is her partner. His outfit consists of a light pink dress shirt that is slightly tucked into his beige cautery dress pants. On his neck is a loose white tie with a cute cherry blossom pattern running in the center. His black and white locks are less unruly than usual and are slicked back just a bit exposing his eyes more.

On closer inspection the three could see the small details of subtle pink glittery makeup on their eyes and cheeks. Tsubakino squeals in delight, quickly understanding that the duo have signed up to perform and have dressed up in such a cute manner.

On the other hand Hiragi, and surprisingly Umemiya continue to watch with amazement coated on their faces, though it lasts for only a few seconds longer before it melts into more intrigued looks.

“Did they tell you that they were gonna join?” Toma looks over to his white haired friend.

“Nope! Not a clue!” the boy answers with his usual optimistic tone.

“Look how dolled up they both look! Their matching outfits are so cute!” Tasuku gushes as they go to take out their phone to take pictures like a proud parent watching their children’s first ever dance recital.

Soon enough all the contestants are on the stage facing each other, ready to start their dance routines the moment they are given the ok from the old announcer. In a joyful tone the old grandpa yells “Now that all our dancers have taken up the stage, let the dance showcase begin!!” Thus the dancers on the open floor start to sway and turn within their own paces, in the background light upbeat music starts to bleed out from stationed speakers set throughout the venue.

As soon as the music started playing Sakura and Kotoha grin at each other with unwavering confidence causing the audience of third years to perk up with curiosity. Seeing the assured looks on the younger’s faces made them wonder what moves they planned to showcase.

The heavenly kings watch as Sakura takes his partner’s hands and brings them close to his person. He then starts to perform very light yet powerful sways and taps with his feet, effectively making a moderate flowy tempo with his footwork. Even with the quick movements and turns, Kotoha follows almost in sync with the dual-haired boy.

With all the light prancing and swift turns the duo does the audience completely get immersed by the strong but elegant movements. The small spins and flips of the feet help Tachibana’s light tulle dress move in such a graceful fluttering manner as if she were a flying fairy. Along with that, Sakura’s strong guidance highlights their quick movements as they constantly move close and away from each other in succession.

Surprised by the unique way of dancing, Tsubakino turns to Umemiya with awed excitement coating their features. “Ume! Did Kotoha always know how to dance like that!?” The question is met with an equally awed look and a shake of the head from the top dog.

Hiragi smiles with a content look on his face, “Heh she must have learned from Sakura- the way they move kind of reminds me of how Sakura moves when he’s fightin a bunch of people.”

The other two third years, after hearing that statement, nod and agree as they watch the dancing duo more closely. Now that they analyzed their flow more in detail they could definitely see the young boy’s influence within their steps and twists. Although there were plenty of other duos on the dance floor, they couldn’t tear their eyes away from the almost shining pair.

Though their flashy costumes and expressive steps make them stand out within the crowd, the main attraction that the audience can’t get enough of is the jubilant expressions the young duo have as they whirl to their heart’s content.

Eventually the music died down and it was time for the showcase to come to a close. Once the music had stopped all the contestants stood facing towards the audience and gave a group bow and a thank you before walking off the stage. When the pink team had finally stepped down to the street pavement they were immediately surrounded by the ambitious Bofurin students.

Tsubaki takes them into a big bear hug, which they eventually break to start to praise them for the performance they just did, causing Sakura to start blushing grumpily and Kotoha laughing in delight.

“You two did so well!”

“C-Course we did!” “Hahaha! Thanks Tsubaki-chan!”

Then Hiragi goes to give them a simple good natured nod and a “good job” with a fond smile. Which the pair return with happy grins. Finally Haruka and Kotoha turn to the last person who was waiting to give their bout of praise.

Hajime goes to give both of his younger siblings a light pat on the head with his usual carefree smile.

“Man! That was amazing! I didn’t know you two liked dancing so much!”

Kotoha smirks with a mischievous glint in her eye before asking. “So Umemiya- how did you like it? Was it a shocker to see us up there?”

“Of course! Seeing my little sister and my fellow kohai performing those sick poses moved me like crazy!”

The brown-haired girl, satisfied with the response, turns to her dancing partner with a triumphant look. “So Sakura, did YOU like it?”

The first year pouts as he crosses his arms too embarrassed to share his thoughts. Though the rest of the group were ready to tease the answer out of him, the younger already opens his mouth to quietly confess,

“It was pretty fun actually…”

Happy to get a genuine response from the boy, the three older kids start to usher the dance duo to the mini food stalls that were stationed further away from the town square. Stating that the two deserved a treat for all the work they did in participating.

Kotoha watches Sakura’s face with caring eyes as she detects the glimmering mirth within her friend’s expressive dual orbs as he prances to a food stall. She thinks back to when she first proposed the idea of joining and the reluctance of his nature compared to now where he is much more relaxed and seems to be having a good time.

‘I’m glad you're having fun here Sakura.’

Chapter Text

“Meow!”

The sound of an eccentric meow echoes in the busted alley way. Sakura, who had been taking a regular afternoon stroll around his lonely apartment, tilts his head in curiosity after hearing the loud cries.

Haruka crouches a bit, surveying where the source of the whines could be located. “Hmm- where could you be…”

Cats were always a welcome presence within the young boy’s life. Especially because of how they were much nicer than the people he usually met. While those in his past bullied and villainized him, the stray animals he would come across always accepted him.

He mostly would see cats, and whenever he would cross paths with one they would curl up to his person and snuggle with him, seemingly unafraid of his appearance and his ‘monstrous’ behavior that other humans would say he had.

The touch was always appreciated, especially when Sakura used to come home with multiple bruises and scratches on his body and tired glassy eyes. Those days the strays in the area would be waiting for him in his lonesome shed home, sitting on his only futon. When he would arrive, the felines would nuzzle their heads and bodies on his legs and arms- sometimes licking on some of his shallow wounds as if saying ‘let me help you with your hurts’.

Cats provided more love and care any person would give when he grew up, and eventually he learned to care for them back. Haruka would buy cheap cat food and set it outside of his shed home, away from his relative’s eye so he couldn’t get caught. He had come to really cherish the company they would give and immediately would come to their aid if they were in danger.

You could say that cats were Sakura’s first ever friend.

From there Sakura would sometimes accompany and follow his feline friends to whatever place they lingered or stayed. Usually these places were very rundown and abandoned, areas where people would struggle to access or even enter. But with Haruka’s nimble body and agile movements getting to these areas never seemed to be a problem.

When the black and white haired boy moved to Makochi one of the first things he did was try to be friends with the strays in his area. The task was deemed to be fairly easy since the strays already seemed to have a liking for Sakura and flocked to his single apartment every now and then.

After a few more minutes of wandering the grade captain finally found the culprit of the cries in the form of a grey tabby stray situated atop of a few cardboard boxes stacked to be a bit taller than Sakura himself.

Amber and coal eyes inspect the loafing tabby as it swishes its tail in a languid manner while it continues to have an open conversation with its ‘meows’.

Sakura sighs at the cat’s loud behavior, “Hmph- from all that cryin’ your doin' It looks like you're hungry.”

“Mrrrp!- Meow!”

Haruka nods as if he understood the cat noises were plausible words, “Yea- yea, you don’t need to tell me twice”.

The boy then crouches to the ground while rummaging in his sweater pocket. After a few seconds he takes out a long flat packet of cat food. He started to bring those when he noticed the amount of cats he managed to come across on his daily walks- which was a lot.

He opens the packet by the corner so he could just squeeze the food out in a way that there would be little to no mess. He learned the hard way when he opened the treat by its whole side a bit too fast, causing the contents to spill onto his pants. At least the cat he was giving it to at the time managed to lick the food clean off.

The grey cat, smelling the fragrance of food, quickly jumps down from its perch to start digging into the offered meal. Happy purrs and meows sound out as the stray is eating, as if it was thanking the human who gifted it to them.

“There ya go, looks like you were really hungry huh.”

The response he got was just the flicker of the cat’s left ear and its slightly bushy tail coiling around his outstretched arm as the cat continued to chow down. Seeing the calm welcome of touch, Sakura gently starts to pet the cat with simple motions- mostly on its back and head to not disturb the needed meal.

“Purr…”

A fond sigh and a little smile adorns Haruka’s face, “Heh- don’t mention it.”

—

A tick mark appears on Sakura’s head as he surveys the main road in front of him. Currently he was on a regular patrol route with the rag-tag group of his class consisting of Takanashi, Kurita, Kakiuchi, and of course Anzai.

Even though he was apart from his usual entourage of friends, the cat-like boy wasn’t opposed to hanging out with the other boys in his class. But one thing is for sure-

“OI ANZAI- YOU FUCKER- YOU STOLE MY PEACH CANDY-”

They were pretty damn loud.

An exasperated sigh leaves Haruka’s mouth as he watches Kakiuchi try and fail to catch Anzai as they play-fight in the middle of the street. Behind them Takanashi and Kurita laugh and goad the two as they watch with amused grins.

Sakura stomps towards the group with an irritated look. “Stop horsing around and continue patrolling!”

Takanashi blows a raspberry towards his grumpy friend’s direction, “C’mon captain- we never get to patrol with you, let alone spend time with you.” He then swings his arm over Sakura’s shoulder in an exaggerated friendly manner. “Just relax and let us have this yea?”

Haruka already feels his face heat up from the comment and turns his head away from his classmates in an attempt to save his nonexistent image.

“...Whatever, as long as you continue your duties….”

The first year then quickly speeds up his walking pace to avoid the smug faces of Takanashi and Kurita, who look ready to tease the ever living hell out of their captain for being so ‘soft’.

“Hurry your asses up, we still have a lot to cover-”

Sakura’s words soon leave him when a large grey blur pounces out of the alley way he was walking by. He stops and stares at the newcomer and realises that it’s the grey tabby that he takes care of from time to time.

The bi-colored haired boy tilts his head in surprise, “Oh it’s you.”

“Mrrp!”

On closer inspection the boy notices that the feline’s hind legs looked pretty scratched up, long dark scratch lines could be seen mixed between the uneven coat of grey fur. Haruka slowly crouches down to inspect more of the injuries to not scare the cat away. The boy’s face scrunching into a worried frown from the wounds.

“C’mon, I’m not gonna hurt ya…” The cat-like boy quietly murmurs as he beckons the cat closer with slight waves of his fingers.

But before Sakura could snatch the stray to tend to the scratches a loud “Whatcha got there Sakura!” from behind him alerts the poor feline, prompting the tabby to scuttle away with frantic movements.

“HEY- WAIT!!”

“Oops-”

Haruka turns to the culprit, which was Kurita, with a small huff. The grade captain stands up again and offers his classmate a small shake of his head, showing that he didn’t mind the disturbance. “It’s ok… I’ll somehow find her again later.”

Anzai suddenly peaks his head into the conversation with a determined look,

“Nuh-uh none of that! Don’t worry Sakura, we'll help you find that cat! Right guys?”

Takanashi and Kakiuchi nod in agreement, while Kurtia chimes in with a “Yea, the little thing looked pretty hurt didn’t it?”

The black and white haired boy tenses, ready to spew out protests of getting the rest of the patrol group involved. However, before he could voice his thoughts, the rest of his ragtag group of first years already cheer with resolve.

“All right you guys! Ready to find Sakura’s cat?!!”

“YEA!”

The said boy could only fondly sigh as he watched his classmates start to search.

—

After some roaming and subtle searching the group was at a small standstill. Even with a team of five people they hadn’t come across the feline at all. Walking along a back street alley the group of boys began to lose hope and were about to head back to Furin.

That was until a large familiar blob plopped right in front of them just as they were about to leave the alley they were occupying. The grey tabby swishes its bushy tail nonchalantly, unknowing of the impact its disappearance has caused. The group stills for a few seconds before they quickly leap into action.

“OI ISN’T THAT-?!”

“THERE IT IS!”

“SHIT IT’S GETTING AWAY-”

True to Takanashi’s words, the moment they started panicking, the stray started to flee again. Not wasting another second, Sakura swiftly pursues the tabby the best he can.

‘Ugh this reminds me of chasing down Risa-’

More twisting and turning between alleys and narrow streets eventually lead Sakura and his group to an open junkyard. Piles of unused and rusted appliances are stationed around the desolate dirtland, discarded cable lines and wires dangle around most of the towers of junk connecting the yard as sort of a mangled jungle gym of some kind.

An astonished “Uwa I never knew this place existed” and some more awed “Oohs” and “Aahhs” are thrown around as the Furin students take in the newly discovered area. Eventually a loud “There she is!” from an enthusiastic Kakiuchi point’s the group’s attention to the highest mound of broken down cars where the source of their search sits pliantly on the very top.

Anzai examines the hill of junk with disdain, circling around the rubble pile to see if there was any way to safely climb up to achieve the sly stray.

“Man it’s gonna be hard to get up there…”

“Maybe we can find a crane or something?”

“You dummy- where the hell are we gonna find a crane of all things out here-”

“I dunno!? Somewhere!”

“Kurita, your idiocy astonishes me sometimes.”

“HAH-?!”

Already done with all the bickering of his loud classmates, Sakura effectively shuts all them up by striding forward with his pinkie in his ear.

“Shut up with all your yapping- all we gotta do is get up there.”

Amused by Sakura’s confident demeanor, Takanashi laughs while voicing “Welp our dear grade captain, with all that confidence It seems you already have a plan.”

Haruka huffs a long breath as he looks around. The rest of the group notice how his eyes sharpen with resolve as his cat-like pupils lock onto a small pile of compressed garbage. Those said eyes then turn to the rest of the patrol group with the underlying message,

‘Watch me’

The first year quartet smile at their captain’s determined nature. Though he often tries to hide it, they all know how strong their friend gets when he wants to protect the things he likes.

They watch as Sakura seemingly concentrates as he surveys the area while he stands a few feet away from the compressed garbage pile he was observing earlier. Then after a few tense seconds the boy runs into action.

With his running start Sakura gains enough leverage to pounce on the junk pile with ease, maintaining his momentum as he travels from different surfaces made by the layers of debris and garbage.

Seeing that he still had to get higher, Haruka effortlessly performs a cat leap to get to the higher platforms of trash. With the loads of uneven junk surfaces Sakura executes diverse amounts of landing and rolling moves to quickly travel without the issue of footing or stance, making it look almost easy to conduct and traverse. The boy continues this motion of Kong vaulting and various Precision techniques until he gets close to the large car pile’s peak. Once he is as close as he possibly can, Sakura starts loudly calling for the grey tabby.

“OI- I know you’re up there!”

Somehow recognizing the voice, the cat sticks its head out as if it doesn’t have any urgent matters to address. The moment the cat realizes who’s calling for them they excitedly jump onto Sakura’s unassuming figure, causing the said boy to yell out in surprise while successfully catching the hunk of fur.

“GEH- Man you are heavy, I need to stop spoiling you.”

“Meow-Meow!”

“Whatever- forget that, we gotta get those scratches treated first.”

“Mrrrrreow”

“Hmph.”

Sakura continues his careful trek back down to the ground while also scolding the cat for being so reckless. As soon as his feet touch the solid pavement of the junk yard he is immediately bombarded by the overstimulating sounds of four enthusiastic boys talking all at once.

“WAH YOU DID IT!”

“Man, you never fail to surprise me with all those moves, Sakura!”

“You were like a ninja man- that’s so freakin cool!

“More like a cat! You were jumping over all those hills of trash like they were nothing!”

“You should totally teach us how to do that stuff- we’ll be like Spider-Man or something!”

Sakura’s eye twitches with annoyance with all the noisy comments. He could already feel a headache forming from all the yapping they were doing.

‘I kinda get Hiragi now…’

In his arms the grey tabby squirms around- signaling that she wants to be free. The monochromatic boy sighs in relinquishment as he deposits the inpatient feline to the closest arms, which was Anzai. The movement quickly enraptures the rest of the group, completely committing their attention to the injured cat with gentle pats and small first aid while talking amongst themselves.

Haruka watches as his classmates interact with the cat with rambunctious yet considerate motions. His eyes soften at how the cat seems to find comfort in the hands of his friends, purring and closing its eyes in a display of affection to the attention it was receiving.

‘Heh- they may be idiots- but they are good idiots…’

‘...My friends.’

Chapter Text

The light sound of upbeat humming is all that could be heard as three figures walk down the main street of Makochi. The orange hue of the setting sun projects on the dark green uniforms as they enter a restaurant under a bright white sign with the words 'Restaurant Ashitaba’ written in bold lettering.

As they enter, the enthusiastic man who runs the counter loudly greets the trio as they trickle in.

“Ooh! Why isn’t it Ume and Hiragi- and another Furin boy! Come on in, sit wherever you boys want!”

Umemiya, always a sucker for conversation, returns the man’s boisterous greeting with his own.

“Yo Oji-san! Thanks for having us hehe!”

Behind the white haired third year- Hiragi huffs tenderly as he takes a seat within one of the many tables that can house up to four people. Next to him, Sakura also takes a seat, holding a similar expression to his team leader as he watches Umemiya and the restaurant owner partake in casual small talk.

As the Tamon duo wait and decide on what to eat for their fairly late dinner meal, Toma casually turns his head to his younger charge. “How ya feelin Sakura? Got anything you craving right now? Don’t worry about the price- it’s on Umemiya after he pulled you into his mess.”

Somehow hearing the comment from where he was stationed the said boy whines with a “I said I was sorryyyyy!” and a pouting face. Hiragi counters with a twitch of his eye and an exasperated tone, “I’m sorry MY ASS- me and the kid had to pick up after your reckless shit after you dove head first into beating those thugs- with groceries in your hands no less!

Toma holds an irked expression as he crosses his arms in a sort of disappointed gesture, “And I thought Sakura here was a handful- but you will always take the cake!”

Sakura’s small “Hey! What’s that s’posed to mean!” is promptly ignored as Hajime returns to the table to counter his friend’s statement.

“At least it ended well, right! No need to nitpick the specifics!” Ume boisterously states and he plops himself across from the duo. His face then turns more excited, “Have you guys finalized your orders yet? I know what I’m getting- brisket stew! Hehe!”

Hiragi breathes out a long sigh before replying with a simple “Yep, unagi don”. He then turns to Sakura, who jumps at the attention and answers with a shy “...Katsudon”.

Seeing that they were ready, Umemiya jumps out of his seat with an enthusiastic “Oji-sannn we’re ready!”

A distant “You got it” is heard from the kitchen before the older man appears in front of the Bofurin trio wiping his hands of excess oil from manning the kitchen, ready to take their orders.

Umemiya happily relays the group’s order to the elder, and once done the man offers a big smile while stating- “Coming right up! It’ll be out in a minute!”

While they wait the trio recount the events of the brawl that took place hours prior, with Umemiya talking animatedly about the different moves and combinations the three did together and praising how cool they must have looked to the bystanders watching. Hiragi chuckles at some points and gives out valid comments concerning the fight, naturally adding to any part of the conversation he needed to. Of course their only underclassman stays silent for the most part, only making little comments and mumbles when they turn to him and or if he had something to add about today's events.

Eventually the old man returns to the table with a full tray of their orders and a gleeful sparkle to his smile.

“Here ya kiddos go! Hope you boys enjoy!”

The old man then graciously sets down each bowl to their respective owners. While he’s at it he also sets down a set of eating utensils for each person before giving the group a small laugh and wave before happily walking back to his station in the back.

Haruka stares at his freshly steaming bowl of katsudon with eager sparkling eyes and an awed look on his face. He is so enamored by the tasty plate in front of him the first year fails to notice the two fond gazes directed at his reaction.

“Wow… “

Hajime giggles and asks, “It looks good doesn’t it?” Sakura nods his head without breaking his stare from his food as if he were entranced by it. “Heh then don’t be shy! Let’s dig in!”

Not being told twice, they start eating their long awaited meals. Since they were in no rush, they actually took their sweet time savoring and cherishing the hot delicious food after a long day of fighting and bringing aid to Makochi.

Just as Toma takes another spoonful of rice and unagi he manages to notice something peculiar from his peripheral vision concerning the first year. There was nothing wrong with Sakura enjoying his meal, it was just- the way the boy was holding his spoon.

The said boy was gripping the metal spoon in an irregular way, with his whole fist rather than the usual way people hold it- which was usually with the thumb and the pointer finger for better control and grip.

‘With the way he is holding it… no way that feels comfortable…’

The sharp toothed senior puts down his own spoon in favor of silently alerting the still eating Umemiya with a subtle yet hard push of his foot to the other’s shin. This causes Ume to jolt in pain and stare accusingly at the culprit parallel to him. Once he has his friend's attention, Toma motions to Sakura’s unique technique with a small tilt of his head to the younger’s direction.

Confused by the sudden intervention, Hajime looks towards where Hiragi was faintly pointing to. What he finds is Sakura shoveling his food down his throat with the most horrendous grip of his spoon he’s ever seen. Ume looks back to Hiragi to see a similar bewildered expression from the uncommon way their underclassman is using the simple utensil.

Quickly chewing the rest of the food in his mouth, and gulping it all down, Hajime clears his throat- effectively catching Sakura’s out of his food stricken mind.

“Ahem– So Sakura… Is your hand ok?”

“Hmm?” Haruka puts down his spoon to promptly inspect both sides of his hand in confusion. Sure it looked pretty bruised up by his knuckles but that always happens when he gets into fights.

“Nothin’s wrong with my hand.”

“So why are you holding your spoon like that?”

The monochromatic boy then looks at his upperclassman as if he grew a second head, like the question he asked was ridiculous because of how simple it was.

“I always hold it like this when I eat.”

After answering as if his actions were normal, the boy simply goes back to eating, missing how his words had affected the rest of the group more than he realizes.

From that reply Hajime and Toma glance at each other with concerned dark faces. Things like holding your pencil and eating utensils are things that are usually taught to a person when they are just a kid from their parents… and from seeing how Sakura’s answer sounded so genuine they can’t help but think of the implications concerning their kohai’s past.

It just made them wonder if the boy really had anyone to lean on when he was growing up- when he was just a small kid figuring out how the world worked.

After a quick second of silence Hiragi goes to subtly ask the million dollar question, “So… did anyone teach you to hold it like that?”

Haruka perks up again at the question and absentmindedly chews the food in his mouth before admitting,

“No one has ever taught me how to use them- I just figured it out myself.”

What comes next is a tense silence. Seeing the mood suddenly shift, Haruka becomes a bit flustered by the contemplative looks both third years dawn after hearing his response.

“Um- Is… Is there something wrong?”

The uneasy tone of their kohai instantly causes the two third years to pop back from their cumulative somber thoughts to reassure the boy that there was nothing wrong with what was said.

“Nope! Nothing at all, we– we were just thinking how good the food is right Hiragi!” Umemiya then gives his friend a pointed look as if saying ‘you better follow along!’ Toma huffs in resignation and plays along to try to quell Sakura’s growing concern.

“Yep, can’t get enough of this unagi ya know.”

Haruka looks at the two with a disbelieving stare before dropping it to a more thoughtful look, then seemingly under his breath he mumbles,

“W-Well ok then… if- If anything bothering ya you can always just say it…”

The first year ducks down as his cheeks take on a more pinkish hue as he continues, “...You guys said eating together helps bring people together so…”

The two senpais, surprised by the shy statement, stare at the cat-like boy with astonishment before breaking out into touched happy smiles. Umemiya jumps out of his chair in glee to hug the boy from across the table.

“UWAAA SAKURAA- You really are such a good little brother!!”

“H-HEY- YOUR GONNA SPILL ALL YOUR FOOD ON ME-”

Hiragi smiles as he watches the interaction with soft eyes, his kohai has really grown a long way from his brash fight-hungry persona he held all those months ago when he first became a part of his group.

To save Sakura from his demise from Umemiya’s bone crushing hug, the Tamon leader hollers out to Sakura, gaining the attention of the other two at the table.

“So Sakura, would it be ok to show you a spoon holding technique I learned? I think this one will be much more comfortable than how you are holding it now.”

Never opposed to learning new things from the people around him, Sakura agrees to the suggestion with an interested perk of his head and an intrigued hum.

“...Sure.”

Once his suggestion was given the ok, Hiragi shuffled a bit closer to the younger while still maintaining a respectable distance with a spoon in his right hand. He positions the utensil to be how he usually holds it in his own hands and displays the hand arrangement to the curious mixed matched eyes of his underclassman.

Hiragi then continues to go into detail about how he is holding the spoon and how it sits in between certain fingers to acquire a steady firm grip as he goes to pick up some katsudon from Sakura’s plate. After demonstrating how to pick up food with the new grip, Toma puts the spoon in front of Harkua’s face in a teasing gesture and a knowing smile.

Understanding the meaning of the action, Sakura blushes tenfold while embarrassingly opening his mouth with shaky eyes. The heavenly king then completes the action by bringing the spoon closer to his mouth and feeding the younger with a chuckle and a satisfied smirk. Although a bit perturbed from the gesture in the beginning, the moment he gets fed the spoonful, Sakura quickly forgets about his bashfulness of being spoon fed and focuses on savoring the portion of food that is now in his mouth.

After Haruka has finished the food in his mouth, the boy turns back to Hiragi with glimmers of resolve already in his heterochromatic eyes.

“Teach me.”

Satisfied with the younger’s fiery enthusiasm, the Tamon leader wastes no time in becoming a pseudo teacher for this mini lesson that was long overdue for his young charge. Hiragi enthusiastically gives Sakura the spoon he used to demonstrate and helps the younger in arranging his nimble hands to hold it the way Toma just did a few minutes ago.

“Here you hold it like this, and put this finger over here…”

“L-Like this..?”

“Almost, you gotta loosen your grip a bit- yep like that!”

“Hmmm…”

With steady guidance and active tweaking on how fingers should be placed, the duo seem to trap themselves within their own bubble. So engrossed in their musings they forget the third person in the party that has been silently staring with his cheek resting on his upright hand at impromptu lesson.

Blue slanted eyes stare at the pair with affectionate understanding. Seeing Sakura’s hesitant yet curious expression as he clumsily holds the spoon and Hiragi’s cool demeanor with the subtle sprinkles of fondness and enthusiasm as he gives pointers really reminded Hajime of his time within the orphanage with his siblings, and bits of his past.

How those who might come from the heaviest backgrounds still have a chance to flourish and find belonging, like he once was. And now they have the chance to shower that feeling to their new kohai who has been through so much but still has a heart of gold.

“There ya go! Try using the spoon now, how does it feel?”

Umemiya looks back amused to find Sakura holding the spoon in a more relaxed and easier grip than before. The said boy looks surprised with hints of awe in his gaze as he stares at the new grip he managed to finally learn.

“It does feel more comfortable…”

Hajime then giggles as he sits up straighter, gaining the other two’s awareness of his presence.

“It does, doesn't it… Good for you Sakura!”

The cat-like boy tilts his head in confusion for the sudden excitement in his words. “Thank you…?” Haruka then goes back to practicing with the new-found grip with a stubborn pinched face, like a child discovering a new project to overcome.

As the boy continues his focused new found method, the two third years share a small glance harboring the same expression. Stares of fond recognition and brotherly love shroud the two like a warm blanket as they watch their recent edition to Furin glare at the spoon in his hand, obvious to the two figures observing right next to him.

'We'll hold your hand gently... as much as you need- every step of the way.'

Chapter Text

It was a rather casual day for the main class 1-1 group as they traversed the town’s streets during their daily patrol run. After conducting it so many times Sakura had somehow found peace in just walking around and absorbing the natural sounds of the street markets and light rings of the occasional wind chime. 

And maybe being with his friends was one of the reasons why he enjoyed it so much, but you didn’t hear that from him…

Marble eyes amusedly watch as Tsugeura loudly exclaims that they should go to muscle power when they finish their patrol route. Of course, Nirei immediately accepts- engaging in various questions about what they should try on their menu. 

Beside them, Suo and Kiryu keep their distance in an attempt to subtly display ‘Oh, I rather not’ while maintaining similar carefree yet strained smiles. Sakura chuckles to himself at the way the two are so reluctant to go to the rather enthusiastic cafe with their hidden pinched looks. 

Though reluctant, the two calmer members couldn’t refuse the request of their orange haired friend after seeing how eager Nirei and Tsugeura had been when asking the rest of the group to join them for their after school activities. So in the end Suo and Kiryu tag along with a small slump of defeat on their shoulders, though it doesn’t last for long. 

Haruka himself didn’t mind going to the ‘virtuous’ cafe. If they served food, who is he to refuse the offer? Though he would have to agree with the fact that the decorations were pretty… interesting for a cafe. 

The group walk at a slow pace, after all being protectors while also being highschoolers can be pretty tiring if they are needed all over the place. In the front Taiga and Akihiko lead the group as they continue their animated conversation about who knows what with Kiryu, who is fiddling with his phone, and Suo who is maintaining his usual perfect posture while watching the two in the front with mild interest. Sakura situates himself behind the group, content with watching his group just be themselves. 

“Ah Tsugeura-san, have you tried this smoothie recipe that’s been getting popular recently?” Nirei pipes as he shows the other his phone. 

“Oooh lemme see… Oh yea!- I tried it a few days ago, I think it’s pretty good! Especially after a hard workout!”

“Aha! That's good to keep in mind!”

“What’cha gonna do with that recipe? Are ya gonna start workin out?! You should totally invite me sometime!”

Nirei shyly looks away, glancing at Suo’s direction for a quick second before turning back to Tsugeura. “Y-Yea! I’ve been researching drinks that help me stay energized after doing lots of movement and training! And I found this, so I thought I’d ask what you think about it- since this is your forte after all.”

The orange haired boy puffs up his chest with pride, “I’m honored that I’m yer first choice for this! Anyway, Yea I totally think that this drink could help ya after a workout, just try not to drink it all the time. It can be unhealthy if you have it all the time ya know?

“Oh! I see!” Hazel eyes brighten at the useful info, immediately turning to his already open notebook to vigorously add the new information to the pages. 

Listening to the exchange, Mitsuki giggles as he turns to Suo with a gleeful smile. 

“Well would you look at that, Nirei-chan looks super pumped up! As his teacher, you must feel super proud Suo-chan!”

The mentioned boy lets out a light chuckle, “Well of course, I’ve been graced with a good student after all!”

From the back Sakura also quietly agrees with the sentiment. In fact all of them have been actively training, and Haruka has seen the growth of each person. 

Many people might not see it at first due to his rather loud open book reactions, but Sakura is actually very keen when it comes to observing others. Whether it be noticing how people dress or how people hold themselves both in normal circumstances or in a fight, he has come to understand a bit of an individual's personality just from just one critical glance. 

This small talent has helped him throughout many situations, both bad and good. It is mostly whether a person is going to be hostile to him or have good intentions. Of course the people of Furin have no ill intentions toward him, but it is fun looking at others and noticing what they like and keeping it for later use. By observing others in broad daylight Haruka actually learns more than in an educational setting, which the boy found kind of silly seeing that it means his instincts work better in an active setting than in a more calmer intentional place like school.  

He’s not complaining though, not when he knows that though Kiryu likes to play mobile games on his phone, he also likes to write. Sakura noticed how his right hand seemed to have slight indents on his fingers when one would rest their pencil whenever Kiryu showed him the game he was currently playing. 

Or how the second year, Kusumi, likes to listen to Kpop. The first year captain, during one of Umemiya’s rooftop gatherings, had noticed the unique phone charm of what seemed to be a white alpaca with a red scarf hanging from the older’s phone and he couldn’t take his eyes off it every time it moved. So after that gathering, Sakura had somehow used his phone to search up the mascot and found that it belonged to this group of boys that sing in Korean.

And of course with Nirei, the black and white haired boy definitely has seen how more vocal and confident his friend has become. From cowering into his notebook to now standing tall and at least a bit more prideful, which never fails to make Sakura proud.  

Though these things might seem like nothing, to Sakura it shows more than what words can say. Obviously he can’t say these things out loud, so the boy keeps it to himself, in hopes he won’t embarrass himself if he were to admit he is very ‘knowledgeable about others’. 

—

Soon enough, after a bit more light wandering, the group of Furin boys finally make it to the front of Muscle power’s storefront with the eccentric cardboard cutouts of macho wrestlers stand rigid and tall. 

Taiga laughs as he stands in front of the cafe with his hands on his hips and a fulfilled grin, 

“Ahah! It's always so fun bringing you guys to my favorite aesthetic spot!”

Sakura sweatdrops at the statement, ‘It definitely has an aesthetic that’s for sure.’ He looks to his side and sees that Suo agrees with his silent thought with his light exasperated look. Kiryu, though slightly opposed at first, looks at the cafe’s menu with indifference while Nirei still holds an eager twinkle in his eyes. 

‘Well, whatever- at least we get to eat something.’

The group enter the cafe and quickly find a table to occupy, courtesy of Tsugeura herding them to a table at the back. As they walk towards the back, Sakura notices a fairly young man he’s never seen before with features that look more foreign than a regular Japanese citizen with his blond hair and blue eyes. The guy seems to fit right in with the whole wrestler look that cafe promotes as he has rather large muscles and bushy blond beard if anything. 

‘Uwa- that guy looks like one of those people in the magazines Tsugeura brings to school.’

However, the main thing the boy takes note of is the small pinched look the man had as he was surveying the menu.

‘Hm- that guy… Maybe he doesn’t speak Japanese. There are barely any English words on the menu after all…’  

The cat-like boy puts the info at the back of his mind as he sits on a seat with a small grunt. There was no use in overthinking every little detail he notices on a person, if he did he would probably end up like Nirei- a bit of an overthinker. 

So Haruka turns his attention towards the rest of the group, who were discussing what they should order. Grey and Gold eyes look at the laminated menu and impulsively chooses the most delicious looking picture as his choice, since he's not picky. After that the grade captain decides to just silently listen to Nirei rant about the wonders of miso soup and how it’s good for your gut to keep his mind occupied. 

‘Huh maybe Hiragi should drink some more miso soup then…’ 

The highschoolers order their meals without any mishaps and receive the said food after a few minutes of waiting. And even though they were decorated with silly miniature paper food toppers with muscular people on them, the food itself surprisingly wasn’t that bad; at least in Sakura’s standards. After a bit more eating and talking, the Furin group finally finish their plates and step out of the cafe after paying. 

“Phew, that hit the spot!” Taiga exclaims as he pats his belly in satisfaction. He looks over his shoulder as he is walking to the other companions of his group behind him with gleeful eyes. 

“How bout you guys? Yer all good right!?”

“Yes Tsugeura-san! It was a really nice meal!”

“Hehe I guess you could say it was fun, right Suo-chan?”

“Hm~ More or less!”

Noticing that Sakura has yet to leave his input, Tsugeura fully turns his body so that he is more or less walking backwards so that he can look at his friends more clearly. 

“Hey Sakura, what about you?!”

Tenseing at the fact that everyone has turned to him, Haruka opens his mouth to provide a sound answer albeit a bit shyly. However his words die on his lips when he realizes that Tsugeura is about to bump into someone who’s been standing in the middle of the sidewalk because he is walking backward. The grade captain puts his hand out to stop the collision and in an attempt to pull him back. 

“O-Oi You’re-!”

Unfortunately his warning comes a bit too late as Tsugeura’s back hits a fairly steady body causing the highschooler to stumble. At this point the rest of the group look at the small accident in surprise, while Sakura looks at both Taiga and the unfortunate stranger with hints of distress. 

‘Wait… That's the guy from the cafe…’ 

Haruka then glances at the guy’s hands, which held a folded map and his cellphone. 

‘Hm…’

The accident of course causes Tsugeura to quickly go into a small panic for his lack of spatial awareness. The boy starts apologizing profusely while hitting many ninety degree bows to display how truly sorry he is to the stranger. Stating over and over “THIS WAS NOT VIRTUOUS OF ME I APOLOGIZE!” The person in question looks at the orange highschooler with a confused look while putting his hands out waving it in a way of saying ‘It’s ok! Calm down!’

After a bit more coaxing from the rest of the first year group, Taiga managed to go down from his hysterical apology mindset and was currently looking like a sad dog who knows that they did something wrong. From there Suo, the ever sweet talker, goes to give a proper apology while also asking if the man was alright. 

“I’m so sorry mister. Are you alright?”

“Oh it’s quite alright! I’m sorry for the sudden question, but can you help me find a certain address? ”

The sudden foreign language that graces the group's ears stops everyone in their tracks. Even Suo raises his eyebrows in genuine surprise by the sudden English, which in retrospect was pretty silly considering the fact that the man in front of them didn’t look Japanese at all. 

Seeing how they have yet to give an answer, Nirei whisper’s to the red head’s ear with growing distress. 

“Suo-san, do you know English!?”

“I’m afraid that’s not my forte unfortunately, it were Chinese we could have better chances at communicating- but alias.” Hayato offers with a small shrug of his shoulders. 

Akihiko then turns to Kiryu with a silent plea that unfortunately is shot down as Mitsuki gives the vice captain a carefree smile and a shake of his head. Before Nirei could spiral more into an overthinking hole Tsugeura puffs out his chest while declaring,

“Don’t worry yer yellow covered head Nirei! This is my fault so I gotta take responsibility!”

“Tsugeura-san?! Do you even know what he said?!”

“Not a clue! But we gotta try right!?” With that Taiga goes up to the stranger again in hopes of communicating and understanding his words with his fairly broken English that he probably picked up from watching American workout trainers. 

“W-What you need-?”

Hearing the sound of his mother tongue, the stranger brightens up and starts talking too fast for poor Tsugeura and most of the other group to understand. 

“Oh yes! I need to go to this place because I plan to meet my niece there, but it’s pretty hard to find my way since there are no street signs. Could you please guide me to this place?”

The man then points to the small post-it note that has some neat writing written all in English. Tsugeura blanks out at the rapid English, causing him to get dizzy and step back a few steps to collect himself. Kiryu looks on with amusement while slowly getting out his phone.

“I guess we gotta use a translator.”

Cat-like pupils watch the commotion with exasperated eyes before finally making a move and stepping in front of his group with a confident face. He’s seen and heard enough to understand the situation and act on what to do next. Suo looks at his captain with interest and a questioning call on his lips. 

“Sakura-kun–?”   

“What is the place you want to go to called?”

The group again thrusted into a bout of silence, now along with bewildered stares, after another revelation of language was revealed. The stranger, unperturbed by the rest of the gawking highschoolers, turns his focus towards the mixed-matched boy with sparkling eyes. 

“If I recall- the place is called Toto Lane, here I have the address my niece sent too if you’d like!”

Sakura takes the offered paper and scans the letters with a thoughtful stare before twinkling in recognition when he understands the establishment the guy was talking about and giving it back. 

“I see you want to go to this bookstore, correct?”

“That’s right!”

“It’s pretty far from here, I would give you directions but with all the twists and turns it might get confusing if you don’t know your way. If you’d like we could escort you there?”

From the question the guy ponders his options for a few seconds before giving a small nod of approval. From that Haruka grunts in agreement and starts walking toward the mentioned bookstore with light steps. It’s only through the lack of footsteps that Sakura catches that the rest of his teammates have yet to move from their rooted spots on the pavement. 

“Is there something wrong-?”

The poor boy doesn’t get another word in before two heads of bright colored hair adorn his vision. 

“SAKURA-SAN YOU KNOW ENGLISH??! WHEN DID YOU LEARN?!”

“Wow Sakura! You could’a said something earlier if yer knew what he was saying!”

In the back Kiryu giggles while also chirping in “Wahh Sakura-chan seems to be an English genius!” While Suo watches with a chuckle and his usual closed eye smile.  

Tired of the overstimulating questions, Haruka yells out in irritation as he pushes the two loud boys away to continue walking. 

“UGH- I-I’ll tell you all later- But first we gotta get the guy to the place he wants to go first!”

He points to the unassuming foreigner who looks at the group with a small smile and an amused stare. 

“O-Oh right!”

—

As the group walk along the cracked pavement; Sakura and the stranger, who they now learn is called Oliver, is actually a bodybuilder from New York (Which obviously got Tsugeura super excited) who came to visit his niece in Japan. The reason why he came to Makochi specifically was because the said niece was an avid writer and had managed to publish a small book about herself and her family. The first book signing of the said book was set to be in Makochi’s Toto Lane, where she would often go when she was writing her drafts for her published piece. 

‘I guess I kind of guessed that when we went to the cafe…’ 

“Wow you must really love your niece if you came all the way from New York.”

“Of course! She is such a nice girl! She even told me that she would treat me after her book signing to the food Makochi offers!”

“That’s nice.”

At one point Tsugeura goes to grab Sakura’s shoulders, shaking them while begging the poor boy to tell Oliver something. 

“Sakura ya gotta ask him about his life as a bodybuilder for me!”

“Hah? Why would I need to do something like that?”

“C’mon Please! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!” Taiga looks at his captain with shimmering puppy eyes as he clasps his hands together in a begging motion while the rest of the group do nothing to stop it, as they are also clearly interested on how their friend will go about it. With a sigh and a pinkish face, Haruka turns to Oliver who looks at the whole ordeal with mirth. 

“Uh- So my friend is asking about what you do as a bodybuilder… If you don’t mind.”  

Oliver chuckles, already having an inkling of what the orange haired boy was asking the other, 

“Hehe not at all, in fact I’d be happy to!”

The buff man then goes to walk next to Tsugeura and does a subtle flex of his arm muscles as they walk. He then starts to point out certain areas to the awed highschooler who somehow gets what the older man is conveying with just animated gestures alone.   

Haruka watches Tsugeura’s elated expression and he can’t help but huff in fondness. Well if someone could get something out of this whole exchange, it definitely would be Taiga. And it’s nice to see any of his friends express who they are… not that he’d tell that to any of their faces.  

Eventually after a bit more streets and turns the newly befriended group reach the entrance of the quaint bookstore , where there are people lingering outside holding what they assumed to be the book Oliver talked about. 

“Ah, thank you so much! Without you youngsters here I would have probably been walking in circles by now!” 

“D-Don’t mention it…” 

He gives Sakura a little wink of approval while waving the highschoolers goodbye before entering the bustling store. After that Sakura huffs in relief for finally completing this abrupt mission. Though the relief is quickly drowned out by the four foreboding presences behind him. Slowly turning around Haruka relinquishes his freedom of peace and quiet the moment he sees their curious stares. 

Seeing that they are waiting for an explanation, Sakura averts his eyes while conveying with a slight pout on his lips.

“I- Uh- As a kid I just liked watching a lot of movies in English ok…”

Nirei is the first to pounce on the yap train with a, “Wow Sakura-san! You must have watched a lot since you sound so fluent!”

The comment is then followed by loud praising from the eccentric orange broccoli of their group. “Sakura! That was really virtuous of you! Ya really are a good guy aren't cha! Using yer knowledge to help people!” He then goes to give black and white locks a rough noogie, which the boy tries to dodge with a hiss. 

“Oooh what shows did you watch! Maybe we could watch some together as a group- like a movie night or something!” Kiryu exclaims as he looks at the chaos with a chippy tone. Beside the pink haired boy, Suo pipes in with a teasing gleam in his eye and a perk of his lips. 

“Who knows, maybe Sakura-kun is the cheesy romantic type!” 

“THE HELL I AM!”

Breaking free of Tsugeura’s hold, the first year speed walks away from the rest of the group with pink blooming from his cheeks as he sweatdrops. 

‘Shit- I can’t let them know-!’

And so what if Sakura had a whole used (loved) stash of classic English movies tucked under the small nook of his closet. Mostly romantic tear inducing stories that would make any teenage girl cry while snuggled in the sheets and eating a tub of ice cream. 

Whether it be about the forbidden love between a girl and her choice between a vampire or a werewolf, or the gut wrenching love story of a couple on a boat that gets hit by an iceberg and sinks-

…That information is between Sakura and his pillow only.