Chapter Text
Sakura wasn’t usually one to help out strangers for the fun of it—let alone one to gain thanks for doing it—and yet here he was, standing in a random café with a random old woman on his back.
How he ended up here? No fucking clue.
“Ah, So you decided to come back after all?” The café girl smiled slightly, glancing up at the sound of the bell.
“Alright lady, we’re here. Get offa me.”
“Hm?” café girl tilted her head, eyes drifting past him, “Oh! Granny Sato! How are you?”
“Kotoha-chan! Lovely morning!” the grandmother replied, waving.
That's right, her name was Kotoha, wasn’t it. Sakura was bad with names—never had a reason to remember them in the past.
“Do your pleasantries when you aren’t on my back!” Sakura grumbled, crouching slightly to encourage the old woman to get off already.
“Hmph! You sure are rude for a furin boy, Sakura-chan,” the old woman huffed, jumping down with surprising ease.
Damn old lady was lying about her hip pain huh? Sakura decided not to pick a fight about that, though.
. . .-chan. . .
Sakura suppressed a grimace.
“Whatever! I got you here didn’t I?”
The old woman smiled.
“That you did! Despite that mouth of yours, you’re still a Furin boy. Thanks for the help.”
Sakura could feel his ears turning red—he hated that. Furin boy.
“W-Whatever! It was on my way, ok? I’m leaving now!”
He turned on his heel, reaching for the door, but Kotoha stopped him.
“Wait a second, Sakura!”
“Whadya want now?”
Kotoha smiled, gesturing to one of the chairs while she ducked behind the counter, “Sit down for a bit! Lemme make you something to eat!”
“Eh?? I—I . . . don’t got the money for that. I don’t need anything!”
“It’s fine! Your entrance ceremony was today, right? It’s on the house, ok? Just sit down!”
. . .
Free?
For him?
Well that was a first.
Sakura wanted to refuse—it seemed too good to be true—but the growing knot in his stomach was hard to argue with.
“Pretty please?”
“Ugh, fine. Make it quick then,” He sighed, settling into one of the stools at the counter.
“Oh come on! What’s the rush? I thought the ceremony wasn’t until the afternoon?” Kotoha turned to look at the clock on the wall behind her.
It was barely 10.
Kotoha smirked.
“Excited, are we?”
“Was not! I just—didn’t have anything else to do so I was walking around!” Sakura retorted, slamming a fist on the counter. “If you’re just gonna tease me I’m leaving!”
“Ah—no no, I’m sorry! I’m making it now, ok? Sit down.”
“Ugh, fine.”
Sakura frowned, propping an elbow up on the counter as he watched Kotoha disappear through a door behind her.
She was weird.
This whole town was weird.
Sakura-chan~
He shook his head, trying to clear the storm of thoughts brewing.
“Here you go! Packed egg sandwiches with seasonal fruit! Eat up!” Kotoha smiled proudly as she placed a tray of food in front of him.
“Are eggs like. . . the only thing you know how to cook?” Sakura muttered, taking a bite of one of the halves.
It was good!
The . . . omurice? from yesterday had been good too, but this was a different kind of good. The lettuce was cold and it gave a nice crunch. He liked this too.
“Excuse you~ I cook plenty of other things I’ll have you know!” Kotoha puffed, a dramatic pout on her face.
“ . . . sorry.”
“Oh, I’m kidding~!” Kotoha laughed, lightly smacking his shoulder. “Oh! Do you drink coffee? You want some too?”
“Eh? Uhm . . . sure? Thanks?”
While Kotoha busied herself with setting a pot to brew, the sound of the bell on the door pulled Sakura's attention.
“Kotoha-saaaaaaaaaaan~”
Thud!
‘Who’s this clutz?’
“Good morning, Nirei-chan!”
“Morning granny Sato!” The blond on the floor sat up, beaming as if he hadn’t just face planted so dramatically.
He stood, puffing out his chest as he did a small spin, “How do I look, Kotoha-san? Pretty spiffy, huh? It's my new Furin uniform!”
“You know there’s still a tag . . . right?”
“Eh?? Ack! You’re right!” The boy reached back.
In his attempt to reach the tag hanging on the back of the jacket, he ended up on the floor . . . again.
“He’s in furin?”
“Mhm! Same grade as you!” Kotoha smiled, cup clinking as she set the fresh coffee in front of him.
Sakura swallowed his mouthful of egg before carefully sipping at the steaming liquid in the mug. Ack—still hot.
“Oh? Is that another Furin uniform I see?”
Seems the blond had finally managed to remove the tags from his clothing.
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well I recognize the uniform, but you aren’t familiar. You’re not from here are you?” The boy frowned, walking over. “And hey! What's with that hair? And those eyes?”
“What—”
“Hmm . . . could be stress. You’re so young too. What a shame.” The boy sighed, placing his hands on Sakura’s shoulders.
“Wha—HEY! Don’t touch me!” Sakura growled, slapping his hands away.
“Whoa, easy, Sakura! Nirei, personal space!”
“Ack! My bad!” the boy stepped back, rubbing at the spot where Sakura had smacked him.
“We should have done introductions, huh? Nirei, this is Sakura. He came to town yesterday—” Kotoha turned to Sakura, adding”—Sakura, this is Nirei. He didn’t mean anything bad, I promise.”
“Sakura, huh? Haven’t heard of any Sakura’s.” Nirei frowned, digging a notebook out of his jacket.
He flipped through it for a bit, muttering under his breath while his eyes flickered across the pages.
Sakura took the opportunity to try another sip of his coffee.
It was bitter. Honestly, he didn’t mind. Too sweet made him sick, plus he’s never really had it any other way so there wasn’t much to compare it to.
Coffee was coffee. And it was free. He wasn’t going to complain.
“Hey—are you listening to me?”
“Eh?” Sakura frowned, glancing at the blond staring expectantly at him.
Admittedly, no, he hadn’t been listening to the boy's long rant. Something about Bofurin and justice? Whatever.
“I said ‘why would an outside like you come to Furin?’” Nirei huffed, planting a hand on his hip.
Why indeed.
There were plenty of places Sakura could have chosen. Places that didn’t have rumors of constant gang wars and fights. He had chosen Furin for a few reasons, some he wasn’t too eager to share with a random stranger.
“I came to take the top spot,” He replied, chomping another bite out of his sandwich.
It was starting to get cold, but he’s had worse. He’d still finish it.
“. . . eh?”
Sakura swallowed the last bite, licking the remains of bread from his fingers.
“Well I heard there were plenty of strong guys there. Taking them all out myself would be pretty satisfying, don’t you think?”
“. . . Y’know . . . if you seriously try that . . .” Nirei paused, planting his hands on Sakura’s shoulders, “You’ll go bald!”
“Get offa me!” Sakura growled, glaring at Kotoha.
The chef was doubled over, holding her stomach, bell-like laughter filling the room.
“HEY! Don’t laugh!”
“Oh shoot! Is that the time?” Nirei’s eyes widened behind his glasses.
“Hm? What's up?”
“I’ve gotta head out!”
“Hey! Don’t ignore me!”
“Wait, you aren’t eating breakfast?”
“Nope! Just came to show off my uniform!”
“OI!”
“Alright, well be careful!”
‘Fuck it.’
“‘Course! Starting today y'know I’m a hero too!”
Just like that the storm that was Nirei was gone as quickly as it had come.
There was a brief silence before Kotoha spoke up.
“Interesting fellow, huh?”
“Too touchy for my liking,” Sakura huffed, chomping down on his orange slice. It was pleasantly sour.
“Yeah, sorry about that. He just gets excited,” Kotoha chuckled. Reaching for the empty tray in front of him she added, “you want any more coffee?”
“No . . .” Sakura paused, considering. “Got any more oranges though?”
Kotoha smiled, pulling out a small bowl of orange slices from somewhere under her side of the counter.
“So you like fruits huh?”
“Eh?”
“I noticed yesterday you didn’t eat the broccoli with the omurice I gave you.”
“S-So what? I just didn’t want to!” Sakura could feel his cheeks going warm.
Damn it, he hated how easily he could blush. It wasn’t something to be embarrassed about! Plenty of people didn’t like veggies! He wasn’t the only one!
Sakura frowned, chomping down on an orange slice, peel and all.
“Why are my eating habits any business of yours, huh?” He huffed through the mouthful.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way, you know. Just making an observation is all!”
“. . . oh.” Sakura took a minute to finish chewing. “Anyways, that guy’s really in Furin, huh?”
“Hm? Nirei you mean?”
“Yeah. That clutz seems like he’d get hurt more than he’d give hurt.”
“Oho?~ I didn’t think you’d be the type to judge people’s looks.”
Sakura finished off the last of the orange slices, licking his fingers clean.
“Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of guys like him. More worried about looks than skills, and always the first to run in a fight.”
“Hey Sakura, do you know what color the fruits of coffee are?” Kotoha asked, taking the empty bowl from him.
No. What does that have to do with anything?
“Uh . . . coffee colored?” He guessed.
Was this some kind of test?
“Nope! They’re red! Smooth like cherries too. The coffee we see in the jars? That’s just a seed, hidden by the exterior of the fruit.”
“. . . Ok? Why do I need to know this?”
“I’m saying, you shouldn’t judge something from just one angle. See it from all sides first. Get to know people. Talk with them. Make your judgments however you’d like—but do it after you have all the facts.”
“. . . I see.” Sakura frowned, "So . . . that guy’s actually good at fighting?”
“That’s what you gathered from my wisdom?”
“Yeah? Well it's kinda hard to grasp the meaning of something if all you use is bullshit metaphors,” Sakura huffed.
“Well whatever. Something you can think about then.”
“Hmph.”
Sakura didn’t need to think about it. He knew from experience. People judged him just based on appearance all the time—what made it so wrong for him to do the same?
“Kotoha-chan~ More coffee please!”
“Coming!”
——————————————
“Hey there! Care for some fresh bread, lad?”
“Uh—Eh??” Sakura blinked, confused by the tray of bread that had suddenly appeared in his face. “Uh, no thanks . . . I don’t got the cash.”
“No worries, you can have some on the house!”
Free? This again? Kotoha was one thing—he’d saved her—but Sakura had no idea who this man was.
“. . . why?”
“Why? Well you saved us all yesterday! You are that boy that was in that brawl yesterday, aren’t you?”
“I—”
Yeah, that’s right. He was a boy.
They thought that? Really?
Damn it his ears were turning red again.
“U-uh! No thanks! I already ate today!”
Sakura tried to shove past the seller, only to get yanked back by the arm—”Hey! Don’t—”
“Just take some with you then! It’ll still be good even if it gets cold later! Trust me!”
The man squeezed.
It hurt.
“Lemme go! I don’t need it!”
Sakura yanked himself free and sprinted, ignoring the shouts that followed after him.
Shit they weren’t going to chase him were they? He hadn’t done anything!
Not that that fact stopped anyone in the past.
Damn it he thought it would be different here! Sakura should have known. He’d always be running no matter where he went.
“E-Excuse me!”
Sakura spun around, punch loaded to throw at the person on his arm.
“You’re from Furin right? Please! You have to help!”
“Eh?” Sakura froze, lowering his hand. “With what?”
============================
‘Holy . . . shit!’
Nirei’s eyes widened, the world seeming to move in slow motion as the body of the bi-colored teen flew over his head.
He didn’t really have time to process what he’d seen as the world sped up again and he found himself flat on his face.
‘Ack!’
“What the—you bastard! What’d you do that for?”
“Look, your buddy came to save you eh? Alone!”
“Hah?! Get this straight: he’s not my ‘buddy’. I just think someone should teach you jackasses a lesson.”
“W-Wait! You can’t—”
Nirei looked up, but in the time it took him to blink, the gang he had struggled so hard with was laid out flat on their backs.
“Holy . . .”
‘So strong . . . I—I wish I could be like that too . . .’
“Hey.”
“Eh? Uh . . . wha—me?” Nirei jumped, suddenly finding himself under a glare from dual colored eyes.
“You . . . saw?”
“Huh? Saw what?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
Sakura shoved his hands into his pockets, quickly walking past Nirei down the alley.
“Th—thank you! You saved me.” Nirei bit his lip.
He wanted to cry, and not because of the bruises on his back and elbows.
‘I’m pathetic. . . aren’t I.’
“Hey, I wasn’t—whatever. Just . . . next time be aware of your own limits, ok? I ain’t gonna do it again.”
“R-right. Sorry.”
Honestly he should have learned by now. He always seemed to bite off more than he could chew. What made him think this time would be any different? At least . . . at least that clerk hadn’t been hurt. He was glad for that if nothing else.
“ —but hey, that . . . was pretty cool of you, y’know? So . . . don’t get too down.”
Nirei looked up, surprised.
He . . . was cool?
This strong person . . . thought he was cool?
“Are you alright?”
“Eh? Uh—yes! I’m totally fine!” Nirei quickly swiped a sleeve across his cheek, turning to the shop woman on his left, “You weren’t hurt either, right?”
“No! Thanks to you I’m perfectly fine! I was worried when that guy grabbed me, but you jumped in! Thank you so much!” The woman smiled, bowing.
She turned to Sakura, adding,” And you as well! Thank you!”
Sakura’s back was turned, but Nirei could see a hint of red on the tips of his ears.
“Y-yeah, whatever!”
“Ah—Sakura!”
Nirei gulped.
That glare again . . .
“. . . san?”
“What?”
“Um . . . if it’s not too much trouble . . . can I ask you a few questions?”
“Wha—eh? About what?”
Nirei stood up, hurrying to catch up with the taller teen. Reaching into his coat pocket, he procured a pencil and his notebook.
“Just a few questions!” Nirei flipped open to a new page, scrawling ‘Sakura’ at the top in bold letters. Well—as bold as he could get without a hard surface to write on.
“Uh . . . depends. What are they?”
Nirei brightened.
“Really? Great! What’s your height, weight, blood type, hobbies, favorite food, and type of man?”
“Wha—eh? Slow down, what?”
“Hmm, you’re a bit taller than me, so . . . 169 centimeters.”
“Don’t measure me weirdo.”
“Ah—sorry. I just—I like collecting data on people I like and think are cool!”
“You—D-do what you want.” there was a hint of blush on his cheeks.
“Oh, great! So, do you know how much you weigh? What about blood type?”
“What’s a blood type?”
Nirei froze.
Was he . . . serious?
“. . . at least tell me you know your own weight.”
“How am I supposed to know that?”
“Sakura-san . . .”
“WHAT?”
Nirei couldn’t help but laugh a little. Sakura seemed pretty cold on the surface, but he was surprisingly easy to read. At least if the blush and slight pout on his face were anything to go by.
“Nothing, it’s ok! We can measure you later. For now we should head over to the school! Come on, I’ll show you the way!” Nirei smiled, reaching out.
He froze, noticing the way Sakura flinched away from him. Suddenly he recalled the last time he’d touched the guy.
“You think I don’t know the way to my own school?” Sakura hissed, roughly shoving his hands in his pockets.
He continued walking, a little faster this time.
“N-no! That’s not what I meant,” Nirei stowed his notebook, hurrying to catch up—” I may not be helpful in a fight, but I can guide you through town, or answer any questions you have! I’ll take you all the way to the top!”
“Hah, to the top, huh? Bold words for someone who was crying two minutes ago.”
A smirk danced across Sakura’s face. It wasn’t mocking though—not like what Nirei was used to seeing. This one was soft, playful even.
Nirei smiled, running ahead.
“Come on! It’s this way! Hurry or we’ll be late!”
——————————————
“Ah! Sakura-san I found it!” Nirei grinned, running up the steps before turning to wave at the teen lagging behind him.
“Found what?”
“The class rosters, duh!”
Nirei didn’t wait for Sakura to catch up before turning back to the drama prop with papers.
His eyes quickly scanned the pages, searching for Sakura’s name, and his own.
. . . so his first name was ‘Haruka’ huh? Cute. Nirei would have to remember to add that to his notebook later.
“Look! We’re in the same class!” He smiled, pointing to his own name under the same list of class-1 students. “Hmm . . . who else do we have? Whoa! Suo-san, Kiryu-san and Tsugeura-san? We’re loaded!”
“Who’re they? Friends o’ yours?”
“Nope! Not at all! But I’ve heard of them!” Nirei grinned, pulling out his notebook.
He took the chance to quickly scribble down the spelling of Sakura’s name before flipping to the page with Suo’s information. “I can sure tell you about them though!”
“Nah, it's fine. Don’t matter who you class with. They’re all the same,” Sakura replied, walking toward the door.
“What do you mean? That makes a huge difference, Sakura-san. . .” Nirei trailed off, thought lost as his eyes found another name on the list.
‘Oh shit.’
Nirei hurried to follow Sakura inside.
“S-Sakura-san! Can you promise me something? Pretty please?”
“Eh? What?”
“Will you please be nice to our classmates? Maybe try a smile? Please?”
“Huh? Are you messing with me or something?”
‘No, I just don’t want to see you die.’
“I’m serious! This guy—”
“What? You wanna go home now? I thought you were excited?”
“Just listen!” Nirei grabbed the back of Sakura’s jacket, regretting it immediately when Sakura roughly jerked away.
“Well? Spit it out then?”
“Look—Bofurin is made up of people that live here—people of the town protecting the town. They might take it bad to know you aren’t from here! You should try to teach them right away that you aren’t . . . their. . . what are you doing?”
Sakura was on the floor stretching his legs.
“Warming up.”
“WHY?! Did you hear a word I said?”
“I heard you alright.”
“Then why? If you aren’t careful you could make the whole school your enemy!”
Sure they hadn’t known each other longer than a few hours at most, but Nirei was starting to get attacked to the outsider.
“You think I care about that?” Sakura smirked, straightening,” I came to take the top spot—or did you forget?”
Before Nirei could stop him, Sakura flung open the door to the classroom.
Welp. They’re doomed.
‘It was nice knowing you, Sakura-san.’
“Yo! You must be Sakura-kun.”
‘Eh?’
Nirei glanced up from his hiding place behind Sakura.
Across from them, a boy with burgundy colored hair stood next to the window, smiling. A black eyepatch covered his right eye.
Somehow that smile wasn’t very reassuring. . .
“Depends. Who’s asking?”
“Ack! Sakura-san, no! I said play nice!” Nirei quickly stepped between them, covering Sakura’s raised fists with his arms. “Sorry, he’s just excited!”
The boy approached them, tassel earrings swaying as he walked. If Nirei recalled, his name was . . .
“You’re Suo-san, right?”
“Yep! Well—that’s what everyone seems to call me!” Suo smiled, pointing at his eyepatch,” By the way, I only wear this to keep an ancient chinese spirit sealed away~”
“. . . wasn’t it from an old injury?” Nirei didn’t remember hearing about any ancient spirits anywhere.
“Yep!”
‘Ok, this guy is way more of a joker than I thought he’d be. He seemed more cool, calm, collected before he opened his mouth.’
He was kind of like Sakura in that sense. Appearances were really deceiving it seemed.
“Enough about me though . . .”
The smile dropped, Suo’s eyes narrowing as his gaze returned to Sakura; Nirei felt a chill shoot up his spine.
“. . . Let's talk about you, Sakura-kun.”
Nirei couldn’t move—frozen in place as Suo continued to approach.
Crap. Was there no way to stop this? Nirei really didn’t want to see Sakura get pummeled on his first day.
“I heard all about it! You were the star of the brawl on main street yesterday, right?!” Suo suddenly grinned, slapping Sakura on the back.
“What? Yesterday?” One of the other boys spoke up.
“Whatchya talkin’ about, Suo?”
“You didn’t hear? Hiragi-san went to stop the brawl on main street, but someone was already there fighting when he got there!” Suo beamed.
“Wh—hey don’t touch me!” Sakura hissed, slapping his hand away.
“S-Sakura-san, is that true?”
“I just beat up a buncha guys cause they were buggin’ me that’s all!” Sakura puffed, cheeks red.
“That’s pretty good for someone from outside, though!”
“Yeah! My grandma was there, she said you were super cool!”
“Oh but hey, why did you come all the way out here?”
“To take the top spot . . .”
The chatter in the room was replaced with dead silence.
Damn it, Sakura, things were doing so well before you opened your mouth.
“Ah! What he means is—”
Nirei wasn’t able to finish his thought, a chair suddenly flying inches past his face.
Sakura looked surprised, eyes quickly flickering to the source of the projectile.
Nirei didn’t have to look. He was pretty sure he knew who it was.
“Sakura-san you can’t fight him! That’s the most dangerous guy here!” Nirei grabbed onto Sakura’s sleeve, ignoring the glare he earned. “That’s . . . Sugishita Kyotaro.”
“Strong, huh?” Sakura smirked, brushing Nirei off. “I like strong guys.”
Without warning, Sugishita lunged forward, arm reeled back in preparation for a punch. Nirei let out a squeak, suddenly being yanked backward by the jacket as the swing landed, smashing the teachers desk in half.
“Whoooo, you almost got caught in that, huh?” Suo smiled down at him, brushing flat the part of Nirei’s coat he’d wrinkled when he grabbed him.
“Oh. . . thanks, Suo-san!”
“Hehe, how nice~”
‘What is? Them trying to kill each other?’
“Sakura-kun! One thing you should know! Talking about stuff like that in front of Sugishita-kun? You’re just asking for hurt.”
Nirei winced, watching Sakura narrowly dodge another punch from the taller boy.
“Suo! Quit stirring the pot and stop them already! That outsiders first day is gonna be his last at this rate!”
“Awe, can’t you do it?”
“LIKE HELL! That monster would kill us!”
“Ack!”
Sakura cursed as he slipped, falling backwards. Nirei could hardly bear to watch! Just as it seemed like Sakura would hit the floor, he suddenly bent over backward, planting his hands above his head to dodge the punch Sughishita threw at him.
“Uh oh~ swing and a miss~” Sakura smirked, flipping.
He landed a solid kick to Sugishita’s chin mid backflip, before nimbly landing on his feet. Gasps filled the room when Sakura straightened, smugly adjusting his jacket as Suigishita stumbled backward, clutching his nose.
“Hmph! I expected more from Furin. This is all ya got?”
That was the second time he'd seen it.
The first had been barely a glimpse, but this time Nirei had definitely seen it clearly. White bandages hidden under Sakura’s white shirt—blending in almost perfectly if not for the dark gray tape on his chest.
No wonder he reacted the way he had to being touched. How bad of a wound was it?
‘Wait! Should he even be fighting like that?!’
Before Nirei could even think to stop them, the sound of the loudspeaker overhead did it for him.
“AH, AH, TESTING! TESTING! How do I turn this thing on?”