Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Sakura-san,” Nirei pats on his friend’s shoulder lightly, since the other doesn’t reply to the proposed question. No wonder, he seems spaced out, like he’s troubled, or rather… annoyed. It must have something to do with Kotoha’s request from the day before, when she asked Sakura to stay behind after they had finished their meals and started getting ready to leave Pothos.

“What d’ya want?!” Sakura turns abruptly, nearly biting Nirei’s head off. The blond boy flinches as Sakura’s roar echoes in the classroom, and pulls his hand back immediately. “K-Kiryu-san asked you a question…” He blurts out with a slightly frightened expression. He’s not truly scared, but Sakura tends to startle him with his sudden outbursts.

“Huh?” The one in question unfolds his arms, and begins searching for his classmate with the flashy colorful shirt and dyed pink hair. It’s easy to spot a dude like him in the crowd.

“What is it?” Sakura asks once they lock eye-contact. He’s more relaxed now, as his previous frustration is being chased away by his growing curiosity.

“Ah, seriously, Sakura-chan!” Kiryu complains with a huff. “You never pay attention to serious conversations, do you?”

Sakura raises an eyebrow. Is this Kiryu being unnecessarily theatrical again, or is it really something that requires his absolute attention? Are they under attack, or something of the sort? It does happen pretty often to this class, that a student winds up being in the eye of the storm, one way or another.

Sakura quickly scans the classroom with his eyes, and indeed, one person is missing.

He can’t find Suo.

His heart skips a beat at the realization, which then leads to him having mixed feelings.

On one hand, if it’s Suo, then it should be fine. He’s never seen him break a sweat during a fight, let alone be defeated by anyone. He’s practically untouchable.

On the other hand, if he’s alone and a considerably big group of guys surround him, he’s still an easy target. Moreover, he’s got a pretty nasty nature when provoked, and could end up saying things that would piss his enemy off even more.

“Sakura-chan?”

“Spit it out already!” Sakura snaps at Kiryu, fuelled by impatience. “’s it about Suo?!”

“Oh, he did listen, after all!” Tsugeura joins in, thumbs up shown to the class-captain proudly. “What a virtue to secretly pay attention while seeming unfocused!”

That reply confuses Sakura. Ha rarely understands what Tsugeura truly means by his words, but right now, he’s completely lost. Besides, why is he so calm if Suo is in danger? And what about the others?

As he’s staring at his group of friends, he comes to the conclusion that, one: this is about Suo; and two: he might not be in danger, after all. No one around him shows any sign of concern.

Nirei sighs to himself as he makes a small smile.

“Don’t worry, Sakura-san. Suo-san is well, he’s just discussing something with Mizuki-san in the third years’ classroom.”

Sakura slowly relaxes the muscles in his body.

That makes sense, actually. Mizuki and Suo are both good strategists, and since Sakura often tosses these matters to his vice-captain, it’s only natural the two of them share ideas and come up with plans together. It’s not the first time, and certainly not the last. Although, sometimes it bugs Sakura that Suo doesn’t fill him in, but then again… He trusts his vice-captain. If Suo finds out something he should know about, then it will be shared with him in a timely manner. Otherwise it’s probably nothing to worry about.

Sakura finally nods and turns to the group with his entire body, ready to listen.

Kiryu smiles, but there’s something dark and foreboding in his eyes. He leans closer to Sakura, a bit too close for the captain’s liking, but he’s way too curious to pull away. Especially when Kiryu covers his mouth with a hand secretively, guarding his following words from the rest of the class.

“Say, Sakura-chan… Have you ever seen Suo-chan blush?”

Sakura freezes for a second.

And then his features distort into a disgusted expression, glaring at Kiryu.

So this is not a serious conversation, after all.

“The hell do you mean??”

“Exactly what I’m asking!” Kiryu pulls away from him, amused. “We all know you are a frequent and heavy blusher, Sakura-chan,” Kiryu leans back in his chair, shrugging, and that pisses Sakura off slightly. He doesn’t comment on it though, just averts his gaze.

“Nire-chan blushes when he doesn’t remember someone’s name, Tsuge-chan blushes when he reads his big boy magazines, and even Sugi-chan blushes when Ume-chan-senpai praises him,” Kiryu continues casually, counting his friends on his fingers. “But as for Suo-chan, we’ve never seen him blush before. Have you?”

At first, Sakura thinks this is dumb. Who cares whether Suo can blush or not?

But as he glances at Nirei… It’s pretty obvious that even he’s interested in this peculiar topic, although he tries to hide it from Sakura.

That makes him think. In fact, he can’t recall a single time when Suo had blushed. It’s practically impossible to embarrass him, since it usually happens the other way around. Suo likes messing with others, let them be enemies or friends. He’s got guts, he’s clever with his comebacks, plus he has a rich vocabulary. It’s a really annoying combination to be honest. It pisses Sakura off all the time that he can’t win.

But… There’s this other thing.

“How ‘bout the time when… that girl, ya know...” He implies, and he can already feel his face heat up. Not only that, but his stomach is acting weird as well, simply recalling the scene.

“Oh!” Tsugeura points at Sakura. “The chick from that private school right outta Makochi? She seemed ta be pretty into our guy!”

He doesn’t have to say it out loud, Sakura knows already! He’s seen the two of them together, Suo walking her back to her school, so gentlemanly and all… Like those handsome butlers from romance movies he totally doesn’t watch.

Kiryu closes his eyes and dismisses by waving his hand. “Yeah, but Suo-chan turned her down immediately. I felt sorry for her, coming all the way to our school on her own and then being rejected like that...”

Oh, so that’s what happened.

“Well, can’t be helped if he’s not interested. Ain’t that an honest dude, that’s true virtue!”

Strangely, Sakura feels a little lighter upon finding out the details, but he notices his vice-captain on his right looks somewhat troubled still.

“What’re you thinkin’?” He nudges him.

The other hesitates, clutching his tiny notebook in one hand, pencil in the other.

“I know talking about Suo-san behind his back is a bad thing… B-But I can’t help being… curious. Even that pretty girl couldn’t make him blush, so I wonder…”

Kiryu bursts out laughing, and even Sakura smiles at the innocent confession.

“’S not like we are badmouthing him, so no worries!” Tsugeura pats Nirei on the back several times. He’s pretty rough with the motion, but Nirei doesn’t complain. If anything, he’s thankful and relieved.

Kiryu falls silent for a bit, and then he hums. There’s obviously something on his mind.

“We should set up a trap for him.”

“What?!” Nirei exclaims, preventing Sakura from being the first to do so.

“Just a silly little friendly one, of course!” Kiryu is fast to defend himself when Sakura’s piercing gaze lands on him. “Don’t think I’d put him through public humiliation or something! Suo-chan’s my friend too!”

Sakura continues to stare at him for a short while before he finally decides to lean back in his chair, earning a relieved exhale from the pink-haired.

If Sakura wants to be honest with himself, he’s just as curious as the rest of them. Moreover, Tsugeura’s right; it’s not like their purpose is to be nasty. It would be a harmless and private trick, solely between themselves.

It’s about time for Suo to be at the receiving end of a joke anyway!

“I’m guessing Kiryu-san has a plan already…?” Nirei pries cautiously.

“I might have just the thing,” Kiryu admits, and that successfully catches Sakura’s attention. If he had puppy ears, they would stand up in anticipation.

Kiryu motions for the guys of the group to lean closer. He intends to keep this mission a top-secret.

“We are going to date-bait him.” He shares.

Once again, Sakura’s face distorts with both confusion and disgust. Why did he even expect a decent plan from Kiryu?

“But didn’t ya say he doesn’t care ‘bout love confessions?” Tsugeura asks, and he receives an approving nod from Nirei. He wanted to bring up the same issue.

“Ah, you guys are hopeless…” Kiryu sighs and folds his arms. “It’s because that girl was a stranger to Suo-chan!”

His bright green eyes are drawing Sakura in as he continues.

“I wonder what would happen if he were to receive a love confession, but from someone he’s… actually close to.”

Those green eyes are definitely focused on Sakura now, paired by a heavy silence that follows.

“What’re ya starin’ at me for?!” Sakura raises his voice, pulling away from Kiryu abruptly.

“That might just work, actually…” Nirei falls deep into thought, tapping the pencil against his chin. “Rejecting a stranger is easier than someone we consider close. Even Suo-san would be troubled in that situation, especially if he doesn’t see it coming.”

Tsuegura laughs. “The element of surprise, I see! Who woulda expect Sakura to confess!”

Kiryu nods proudly. “Exactly.”

“Hey!” Sakura jumps up, visibly fuming with embarrassment. The tips or his ears are so red they’re about to catch on fire. “Don’ just decide it on yer own!! I ain’t gonna confess to Su—”

Sakura halts mid-sentence, noticing the whole class has gone silent thanks to his outburst. He reddens even more – if humanly possible – and slowly pulls his chair back, sitting down.

“I ain’t gonna confess… to stupid Suo!” He whispers. “That ain’t happenin’ so forget about it!”

“Forget about what?”

Nirei screeches, and they all turn their heads towards the direction of the ever so calm, familiar voice.

It is indeed Suo and his expectant smile, hands behind his back as per usual.

“Sorry, Nire-kun, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He adds, and then leans into the smaller male’s personal space, holding a finger up. “But you know what they say; A guilty conscience needs no accuser.”

Everyone knows Nirei is terrible at lying or keeping secrets, it’s all written on his face. His eyes couldn’t suggest more panic and anxiety even if he asked them to.

“Leave ‘im alone,” Sakura sighs and then looks at Suo with a serious expression. “A few guys from class were askin’ to skip their turn of patrol today, and I told ‘em that ain’t happenin’.”

Suo pulls away from Nirei and focuses his eye on Sakura this time. It’s one of those occasions when his expression is extremely hard to read. Sakura’s convinced this certain, heavy gaze is one of his tactics, patiently waiting until his opponent breaks and confesses to all of their sins.

There’s no telling whether Suo believes Sakura’s story or not, which makes everyone feel uneasy, but Sakura stands his ground regardless. He doesn’t allow that demanding stare to break him so easily.

Eventually, Suo forms a small smile and his mood lifts with it.

“Is that so? Looks like our captain keeps everyone in check. Well done, Sakura-kun!”

Sakura can hear Nirei’s subtle exhale of relief, but he’s not sure Suo can be deceived so easily.

No, he definitely can’t. For some reason, however, the taller male decided to yield first, and Sakura doesn’t wish to dwell on the details right now. There’s a more bothersome problem arising, like a dark cloud as he notices the sparkle of mischief in those green eyes of Kiryu again. This can’t mean any good, he suspects.

And indeed, Sakura’s fears are soon to be justified. He feels his phone buzz in the pocket of his trousers, so he pulls it out curiously. It’s not rare of his friends to start texting in their groupchat during school hours, or any other time of day, even if they are physically in the same room. Sakura rarely has anything to add to the conversations, he’d rather just say it in person, but he follows the flow of the text messages anyway.

Upon unlocking his screen and checking the texting app, he immediately furrows his eyebrows. Something’s off, this is not their usual groupchat. There are only a few participants, namely Kiryu, Nirei, Tsugeura, and him.

桐生🌭: psst, guys! how should we name this secret groupchat? ✧ω✧

楡井📒: Kiryu-san, Is this really necessary? It feels so wrong...

桐生🌭: Nire-chan! We’ve already discussed this! Don’t feel bad!

柘浦💪: A cool name for the mission, huh? Any ideas from our main actor?

楡井📒: Calling Sakura-san an actor makes it even worse...

Sakura grits his teeth in frustration, and begins tapping his screen with his fingers. His speed at replying to his friends has improved considerably, but it’s still difficult for him to figure out which emoticons are appropriate to use and stuff like that…

桜🌸: i don care. remove me from here

The way Kiryu snorts in the back of the classroom only fuels Sakura’s irritation. What’s his problem?!

桐生🌭: It seems I have to do everything myself. (￣▽￣)

桐生🌭 has changed the groupchat name to Code Red.

柘浦💪: That does sound cool!

楡井📒: But doesn’t Code Red mean fire?

桐生🌭: We do hope Suo-chan’s face will burn up, don’t we?

柘浦💪: Wow, clever!

Totally not clever! This is stupid as fuck! Sakura needs every bit of self-restraint is his body to constrain the urge of throwing his phone at his friends.

“Sakura-kun? Is everything okay over there?” Someone questions from the side, and that’s when Sakura remembers Suo and him sit eerily close to each other. After a moment of panic, he drops his phone back into his pocket. It’s true that Suo can only utilize one eye, but he pretty much sees everything with it. It’s merely another creepy yet impressive quality of his.

“Yeah, why are ya askin’?” Sakura shrugs, as if nothing had ever happened in the past couple of seconds.

He then leans back, folding his arms as he glances out the window on the other side.

He can tell he hasn’t succeeded in shaking Suo’s gaze off. It’s stuck to him like gum, quite uncomfortably. Sakura never particularly enjoys being subject to that fixed stare, but this time it’s making him more anxious than usual.

It’s not that he feels guilty about their plan, or scared that they will be found out. It’s… a different type of feeling. He doesn’t know how to describe it for now, way too complex for his own understanding.

“Never mind, then.” Suo voluntarily withdraws for the second time today, which is highly unusual. Normally, he’d pester or bully Sakura a little bit more, and then he’d add something wise or reassuring in the end to make up for it. Sakura can’t remember how long things have been like that, but now that it’s not happening, it weirds him out.

Moreover, it only encourages the gnawing knot in his stomach to grow larger and larger.

There’s no chance analyzing why that happens though, since another buzz in his pocket ends up distracting him. After pulling it out and checking the notification windows, Sakura swears he’s going to tear Kiryu into shreds after school.

桐生🌭: So, Sakura-chan, this is how we shall proceed with the plan:

◊

It’s already nearing dusk when the school hours run out for the day. Winter is just around the corner, summoning the night sky considerably early. The sunset on the horizon is not as warm as before, during the summer days, when they would patrol with popsicles in hand and shirts buttoned down due to the hot and humid air that captured Makochi.

Now the streets are cold, gray and less busy, reminding Sakura of a ghost town. The townsfolks are hiding in their warm homes and shops, and even the stray cats and dogs are seeking shelter from the light snow.

“You are being quiet today, Sakura-kun.” Suo points out from beside him, intended as a conversation starter. He doesn’t sound as cold and distant as he did back in the classroom. His tone is mostly back to normal, relaxed and friendly. He usually speaks to Sakura like this.

“I don’ talk much in general.” Sakura murmurs as a reply, not bothering to look at the taller. “Unless ya start messin’ with me.”

“Hmm…” Suo hums and places a finger on his chin, seemingly considering Sakura’s statement. “I guess that’s true.” He concludes.

A while passes in silence again. The sound of the wind blowing through the streets of Makochi is the only thing to be heard.

“Say, Sakura-kun,” Suo starts again, and he earns a sigh from the other.

“What now?”

“Is there any particular reason why we are patrolling together today? Just the two of us?”

Sakura halts for a moment before he continues his way.

“A-Ask Nirei! Ain’t he responsible for teaming us up?”

“But Nire-kun usually splits the class up evenly for the patrol, that’s what we had agreed on previously. In order to do that, each group requires at least three people, of which one is preferably an outstanding fighter.” Suo explains, like the annoying smartass he is. “Now, our current group consists of two people only, and we are both considerably good fighters, wouldn’t you agree?” He smiles playfully. “Doesn’t seem balanced to me.”

Now Sakura can’t help but stop entirely, gritting his teeth as he stares at the ground. Suo notices his hands are forming fists, like he’s supressing something that aches to come out.

“Sakura-kun…?” He asks, more curious than worried at this point.

“Fine! ‘T was my idea!” Sakura raises his voice, but remains staring at the ground as his cheeks flush with soft red. “I wanted to.. t-talk to ya… privately.”

He hates this. He hates this stupid plan or mission or whatever, but he especially hates Kiryu and the others for coming up with something like this in the first place.

“Oh, that’s interesting.” Suo says matter-of-factly, and Sakura’s kind of relieved he’s not mocking him right off the bat. Then again, when it comes to important things, Suo always lends an ear and takes him seriously.

But there’s that goddamn knot in his stomach again.

Seeing his struggle, the taller boy decides to show more empathy. He sighs with a warm smile, much warmer than the sun these days.

“Since we are alone, Sakura-kun,” His tone is as calm and reassuring as ever. “You can tell me.”

Alone, huh…

Sakura glances at the nearby coffee shop window from the corner of his eye before he finally lifts his head to face Suo. His cheeks are burning up even more when their eyes meet, Suo’s as deep and mysterious as ever, but nevertheless, comforting. It’s a comfort Sakura’s learnt to welcome and appreciate over time. He knows Suo doesn’t offer it to many. Not like this.

He inhales, like it’s going to be his last breath before going to war. And then he closes his eyes, pressing his eyelids so strongly together he begins seeing stars.

“L-Listen, Suo,”

The taller boy tilts his head before he replies.

“Yes?”

“I got… A question…”

◊

The place they have previously chosen for their “base of operation” is not the Pothos café this time. There are quite a few Furin students who visit it frequently, not to mention Kotoha is dangerously perceptive, noticing literally everything that goes on from behind the counter. Nirei doesn’t want to risk being found out by her, or anyone for that matter. He’s already anxious as it is for merely being part of this scheme against his fellow vice-captain.

Thankfully, Kiryu knows a lot of good spots around town, including this lovely, teddy bear themed brunch place, that functions as a bubble tea shop as well. After careful consideration, the group has agreed to mark this spot as their base. Even though Suo likes tea to an extent that Sakura finds borderline obsessive, the red-head prefers tea in the traditional form. None of them have ever witnessed Suo chew on tapioca pearls before, so a bubble tea shop should provide a safe hideout.

What is more, this small restaurant happens to be located in a corner building, overlooking two streets and the park nearby. There are plenty of good-view seats available close to the windows. From a tactical point of view – at least, according to Nirei – this place is perfect for both the performer, and the observation crew. As long as Sakura and Suo remain relatively close to either side of the corner building or the front of the park, the others should be able to see the whole scene without any obstacle or fault.

But it works the other way around too, unfortunately. Sakura can see Kiryu’s smug smile from the corner of his eye, since he knows he’s there. Although he doesn’t see the other two for now, he imagines Tsugeura is consoling Nirei while the blond male’s feet keep tapping on the floor anxiously. He hates how he can imagine it all, how they all excitedly and desperately depend on him in this impossible scenario – as ridiculous as it sounds.

Yet what Sakura hates even more is being aware of his own body’s temperature endlessly rising in front of Suo in this very moment. It’s one thing that his friend is occasionally – as in, quite frequently – teases him in a way that leaves Sakura blushing against his will. The taller has a real talent for that, and for what it’s worth, Sakura has long accepted his fate of not being able to avoid those skillful attacks. However, right now he’s deliberately choosing to be the prey, and that’s a thousand times worse. Because Suo hasn’t even answered, or said anything yet, and he’s already as bright and red as Umemiya’s goddamn tomatoes by the end of summer.

The lack of reaction from Suo begins to bother him more and more. Not that he’s able to look him in the eye though. He’s staring at his feet after blurting out the words clumsily.

And then finally, the answer arrives, and before he could really digest it himself, or the trouble he’s caused, the painful performance is over in what seems like a mere moment only.

In the blink of an eye.

When he goes back to their base afterwards, the memory is vivid yet still kind of a blur. Despite his disoriented state, he somehow ends up finding the boys’ table. He’s standing in front of them with eyes of deep deep confusion. Tsugeura is the one to react first by quickly fetching a free chair for Sakura to sit and join them.

Sakura accepts without any words leaving his mouth, and takes a seat quietly.

It’s almost as if something terrible had happened, and it’s not far from the truth.

“S-Sakura-san, are you alright?” Nirei asks, breaking the ominous silence, but it does little to nothing. His friend doesn’t reply, so Nirei tries again.

“Do you want us… to order you anyth—”

“Dude, what happened?” Tsugeura interrupts Nirei, elbowing the table, and it seems Kiryu was just about ready to ask as well. None of the two can wait any longer.

“He didn’t blush at all.” Tsugeura adds, as blunt and straightforward as ever, and if Sakura’s pride wouldn’t be practically non-existent by now, perhaps he’d have the will to fight for himself.

Nevertheless, it’s true. Sakura couldn’t see him, but telling from Suo’s posture, the calmness of his voice, and his lack of reaction otherwise, it’s quite obvious Sakura’s confession didn’t make him blush at all.

Suo didn’t even flinch.

It’s like a sick joke. Sakura feels his stomach turn upside down, and a black void swallowing him up whole. Does he really have no impact on him whatsoever?

Nirei seems beyond worried for his friend, and so he looks at Kiryu, pleading eyes for help and perhaps some insight for what happened. If anyone, it’s him who understands romantic relationships, has the most experience with them, and to be fair, this whole plan was his idea in the first place. He owes the group to figure this out.

Kiryu feels the gaze, and he understands. Of course he is the one to take responsibility if anything goes south. Although, this is not how he had pictured things would turn out.

“Hmm…” He leans back in his chair and falls into thought. “Did you get rejected, Sakura-chan?”

Sakura freezes, and for the first time since he has entered the shop, he shows some reaction.

A heavy blush, to be precise.

He averts his gaze as he mumbles something.

“Come again?” Kiryu presses.

Sakura closes his eyes shut and raises his voice.

“’Said I didn’t get rejected, dammit!”

The silence lasts for a couple of seconds, until the pink-haired leans forward once again.

“Sakura-chan, what do you mean?”

“Ya did ask him out, didn’t ya?” Tsugeura joins the interrogation, quite confused by this point as well. “Or did ya chicken out?”

Now Sakura’s offended.

“Like hell I’d chicken out, dumbass!”

“So, you did ask him out then…” Nirei wonders.

“What I’m sayin’!” Sakura confirms, folding his arms proudly.

“And what did he say?” Kiryu leans even closer. They are so close to uncovering the truth, it’s like he’s watching one of those murder mystery movies.

“He said okay!” Sakura replies, grinning.

“What?!” Kiryu and Tsugeura exclaim in unison.

Meanwhile, Nirei has that uneasy, maybe even apologetic look in his eyes that Sakura doesn’t know how to perceive.

“Sakura-san…” He places a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure that’s what… Suo-san meant?”

“Huh?” Sakura furrows his brows. “Ya think I’m stupid or somethin’? ‘Course that’s what he meant!”

“Okay, so—“ Kiryu clears his throat, picks up his drink, and after a quick sip he looks at his friend. “Just to be absolutely clear here. You asked Suo-chan out, and he agreed to go out with you?” He asks diplomatically.

Sakura stares, he stares some more, and that’s when it hits him for the second time. His pupils instantly shrink, his cheeks heat up and he blooms in red all over again.

That reaction tells a story on its own, and Kiryu doesn’t even need to ask anything else. He immediately bursts out in a bright laughter, something he rarely does, but this time he can’t control himself. It’s way too hilarious.

Tsugeura sighs with relief as well, having a small smile on his face. They all expected Suo to turn Sakura down, but in a way that wouldn’t be hurtful or embarrassing for him, of course. However, when Sakura walked in with that devastatingly empty expression, they all started doubting things. Would Suo reject Sakura harshly, after all? Would he hurt Sakura with his words, perhaps unknowingly? It doesn’t sound like Suo at all, but then again, how would they know for sure?

Thankfully, Sakura’s weird expression had another reason behind it. Something none of them could have predicted. It’s strange indeed, and downright funny, but at least not in a way that would hurt Sakura.

It sure does confuse him though.

“Q-Quit laughing at me! ‘t was yer stupid idea!!” Sakura snaps, but he doesn’t sound threatening at all. He sounds more like a tiny white maltese, barking. And he looks the part as well.

“Sorry, sorry!” Kiryu wipes a tear from the corner of his eye, slowly regaining control over his laughter. He then takes a sip from his bubble tea once more to refresh himself before he speaks again. “Do you think he was joking it off?”

Sakura averts his gaze, away from everyone.

“I dunno…” He mumbles. “I can never tell when he’s… jokin’ or actually bein’ serious.”

He’s so sincere, it actually makes the other boys feels somewhat bad. Especially Nirei. His guilt is seeping back.

“M-Maybe he’s found out about… the plan?” The blond proposes.

“That’s possible, but… I don’t think so,” Kiryu replies, and for some reason, it makes Sakura feel relieved. Is it because he doesn’t want to fail his friends, or is it something else? He doesn’t know.

“Why not?” Tsugeure questions. “He’s the smart type, ain’t he?”

“Yeah, but… we’ve been extra careful. Besides, even he if suspects something, I don’t think Suo-chan expects Sakura-chan to willingly do this type of thing for other people’s amusement. I’m guessing he plays along until he finds out what this is truly about.”

Sakura’s sense of pride has not yet returned, but that does hurt nevertheless. It bugs him so much he can’t let it slide.

And the next thing he says surprises himself as well.

“Or maybe he’s serious! How ‘bout that?!”

Tsugeura and Nirei stare at him, not knowing how to react. Kiryu, however, flashes the softest smile, and the kindest eyes ever.

“Yeah, Sakura-chan. That’s also possible.”

◊

Needless to say, Sakura doesn’t sleep much that night, and the next morning when he goes to school, he’s anxious and distracted. He nearly gets run over by a biker, and when he cusses at him he doesn’t know whether he’s mad the driver or that jackass Suo.

He’s mad, because he doesn’t understand any of it. Not Suo’s side, and not his own.

He hates to admit it, but Kiryu is right. Sakura is not the type of guy who would do this kind of shit for other people’s amusement. He only ever does things he deems necessary and right. That’s what he had promised himself when he had decided to protect his friends and the town.

But this is not right, it’s twisted and wrong.

It’s wrong to lie to Suo, and deceive him. Suo, of all people. One of his first and closest friends. The one he trusts the most, actually. He imagines – or rather hopes – that the other feels the same way about him. But if he really does, then Sakura is the shittiest friend for betraying that trust.

And for what? So that Kiryu and the others can get a giggle out of it?

So that they can see Suo blush?

The sun is slowly waking up on the horizon, behind that modest yet lovely bakery he knows so well, with all the owners and employees inside. They always offer him various kinds of pastry on his way to school. Every morning, Sakura swears he won’t accept anymore gifts, but… Those pastries do taste amazing. Besides, he physically cannot walk past without saying hi to the elderly man who works there. On the outside, he looks way too old and fragile to be working, but in reality, he’s always so bright and lively first thing in the morning.

“Ah, if it isn’t my favorite young man! Good morning, Sakura-kun!” The old man waves at him, and Sakura approaches the bakery, hands in his pockets.

“Mornin’.” He greets him back quite shyly when he’s up close.

“The days are getting shorter, aren’t they?” The old man smiles as he’s wiping his hands with a cloth. He’s practically covered in flour, so that doesn’t help much, but Sakura figures it must be more of a habit. “Hold on for a second, let me grab you something for breakfast!”

“Y-You really don’t have to do that every morning!” Sakura protests weakly, but of course, it’s only in vain. The old man has already disappeared into the bakery, and the next time he pops up, he’s got some treats in his hand.

“Don’t be shy, breakfast is very important for young men who’re still growing! Take these!” He shoves two warm packets into his hands. “Today’s special is sweet bread with strawberry filling! Enjoy!”

Sakura looks down at the gifts. They do feel warm which is pleasant, but…

“W-why two?! I ain’t that greedy, old man!”

The bakery worker laughs cheerfully. “There is no such thing as too many when it comes to sweet bread! And you can always share with someone! Tastes even better then!”

Sakura instantly blushes, to the elderly man’s amusement.

“Whatever. T-Thank you, I guess. I’m leavin’ now.” Sakura finally accepts and waves his goodbye.

“Dress warmly next time, it’s getting real cold these days!” The old man shouts after him brightly before he goes back to work.

“Old folk n’ their non-stop naggin’…” Sakura comments under his nose, but he can’t help feeling the morning chill as it bites on his exposed skin. Perhaps it’s indeed time to pick out some warmer clothing.

It’s November after all, and the fact reminds him that he has some business at the Pothos café later in the afternoon. He doesn’t have anymore time to think about it though, because as soon as he turns the corner near the school building, a familiar voice calls out to him.

“Sakura-kun, good morning!” Suo sings as he suddenly appears beside him, out of nowhere.

Sakura jumps, startled out of his thoughts, and nearly out of his sneakers as well. “Quit sneakin’ up on me like that! And so early in the freakin’ mornin’!”

“Haha, my bad.” Suo giggles behind his cherry red scarf, but Sakura knows there’s little to no remorse.

“What are you squeezing to death in your hands, by the way?”

Sakura blinks at Suo a couple of times before he glances downwards and notices the sweet bread is indeed more than sad-looking at this point. The filling has escaped, disgracefully painting the inside of the packet with a gooey pink layer.

“How miserable,” Suo adds with a somewhat apologetic, but also mocking tone.

“Shaddap! ‘s your fault for startlin’ me!” Sakura replies, and then presses one of the treats against Suo’s chest without looking at him. “Here, take one.”

“Oh?” Suo studies the miserable pastry. “But Sakura-kun, you know I’m on a diet.”

“Always that goddamn diet, you needa eat shit sometimes! Just take it!” Sakura bites back without hesitation, like he’s expected this excuse already. “I got too many anyway.” He adds.

That makes Suo smile, although the other can’t see.

“If you insist,” The taller finally accepts, and Sakura’s heart skips a beat when their fingers brush against each other’s, Suo taking the treat from him.

“You are such a caring boyfriend, Sakura-kun,”

Now,

Sakura nearly chokes on that word as it keeps resonating inside his skull. And he feels hot too, like he’s burning up all of a sudden. He swears there must be steam shooting out of his ears.

“A what?!”

“A caring boyf—”

“I heard it! D-Don’t say it again!” Sakura panics, covering Suo’s mouth with his free hand.

Since they are fairly close to the school building, other Furin students are gathering as well, and this scene has caught their attention. There is physically no way Sakura could be more embarrassed, but he wouldn’t bet his life on it. With Suo, there’s always a possible worse.

He needs several seconds for composing himself enough to look at Suo’s face. The other’s deep red eye is mainly questioning, but also patient, which he’s momentarily thankful for.

Once the students around them decide they are no more fun to watch they move on, and Sakura judges the situation as safe-ish, so he slowly pulls his hand back.

Suo remains quiet, but he’s more expectant than questioning at this point, following Sakura’s awkward movements with his eye carefully. Three or four other students pass them by, without any of the two saying anything, and it’s almost frustrating. Sakura doesn’t know how to proceed from here.

“Don’t tell me you are ashamed of dating me, Sakura-kun. That’s hurtful.”

“T-That’s not it!!” Sakura finally turns to him.

And for a split second, it’s almost like he’s seeing relief, followed by pure amusement as the corners of Suo’s mouth turn upwards.

“Is it not?”

“No, I-I just…” Sakura’s gaze drops as he’s trying to find the words, but he doesn’t even know what words he’s looking for right now. His mind is a blank space, his heart is weirdly jumpy, and his stomach… There’s something bubbly and giddy going on in his stomach, too.

Just what the hell is happening?!

“Hmm?”

“I-I ain’t ready to… y’know, in front of the class and all,” He blurts out, the first excuse that comes to mind.

It doesn’t sound like a proper excuse, even to him, but thankfully, it’s good enough for Suo.

“I see,” Suo sighs, but it’s not an annoyed gesture. More like, understanding.

Acknowledging.

“I’ll respect that, then.” He smiles warmly, and it makes Sakura’s heart tense now. Like it’s in a cage that’s too tight.

“Let’s get to school, hurry up.” Suo adds as he slips the sweet bread into his bag.

Sakura follows quietly as they pass the gates. He’d wish something casual would come to mind, to initiate a normal conversation with Suo, but his mind is still as empty as most of his test papers.

During the day, the hands on the wall clock move torturously slowly. Not that Sakura ever looks up to check. He pretends to be sleeping at his desk, but in reality, he’s blankly staring out the window. His head is resting on his arms, face hidden so that Suo, seated by his other side, cannot tell he’s actually awake.

Although, he probably can.

Sakura’s aware Suo is dangerously skilled at reading people, and since they’ve been friends for a while now, it’s probably even easier for him to figure Sakura out. His likes and dislikes, his habits and his routine. Sakura doesn’t even know whether he has a solid routine, but Suo… He could definitely educate him on himself. Even his inner demons that he’s too scared to face sometimes, Suo would be able to lay them out like a map, if he were to ask him. He’s sure of it.

Part of Sakura hates it, because it’s uncomfortable to be known and seen like that, to the very core and essence, and although he’s been trying not to hide himself lately, he’d been doing it for so long. It’s new to have friends, ones that he can trust and confide in, but it’s especially difficult to accept there’s one of them who sees through his mask particularly easily.

And yet, some other part of him wants to cling to this new and unusual feeling. He can’t explain it, but it’s a good type of new and unusual.

Like he’s standing on a fine line between two ends of the spectrum. It’s both uncomfortable and comforting, having someone who knows him on a deeper level. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, yet still…

Sakura wants to curl up into a very, very small ball.

He doesn’t know what Suo thinks, and usually he’s fine with that, but right now, for some unexplainable reason, it’s making him anxious.

Why was Suo not surprised at all, when he confessed? Why did he just agree like it was nothing?

Does he know about the plan? Or is he really just playing?

Damn it.

Sakura pulls his phone out of his pocket. He opens their secret groupchat, making sure the screen is guarded enough so that no one can see the content other than him.

Code Red

桜🌸: you guys think he knows?

柘浦💪: Difficult to tell. His virtue seems normal to me.

桜🌸: that wasn’t the question!!

楡井📒: Did Suo-san say anything this morning? Have you two talked?

桜🌸: briefly

Sakura sends and swallows before writing another one.

桜🌸: maybe we should call it off and tell him the truth

桐生🌭: Not yet!! Let me think!!

楡井📒: But if Sakura-san wants to call it off...

桐生🌭: Well, it’s totally his choice, but aren’t we so close? It would be such a shame to let this opportunity go to waste TT_TT

柘浦💪: haven’t we failed already?

楡井📒: Kind of...

It always hurts to admit defeat, but what can Sakura do? They are right. He wasn’t the right person for this stupid job, it seems.

桜🌸: sorry guys

柘浦📒: Sakura-san, please don’t apologize!

楡井💪: Not your fault dude!

桐生🌭: Sakura-chan, don’t be discouraged!

桐生🌭: You are doing a great job, we can still win! I have an idea!  (˵ •̀ ᴗ •́ ˵ ) ✧

◊

Damn Kiryu and his ideas!

All those hours at school, trying to avoid Suo, just to have him by Sakura’s side later, as they walk together to the Furin boys’ regular place. At least it’s already dark at this time of the day, in the late afternoon. Sakura hopes the dimly lit street is to his advantage, covering his tense shoulders and awkward steps beside the other like a veil.

“Sakura-kun, is there something wrong?” Suo asks curiously, and Sakura figures it’s obvious the darkness cannot prevent the other’s ability to see right through him.

“…Why’re you askin’?”

“Hm…” Suo wonders for a moment. “Usually when we walk together, you walk by my left side out of consideration.” He explains, and then smiles as he turns to him. “But right now, you are walking by my right side. Dare I assume you are hiding in my supposed blind spot?”

“T-That’s not—!”

“I must warn you, Sakura-kun, I have no such thing. I can see you perfectly.” Suo giggles, and it’s eerily similar to type of giggle he uses with his opponents to provoke them. That voice gives Sakura the chills, and not in a good sense.

Not the way he felt this morning when their fingers brushed against each other.

“So,” Suo decides to shift his tone, thankfully. “What’s bothering you? If it’s about tonight, there’s no need to be embarrassed. This is a perfectly normal thing.”

“L-Like hell I’m embarrassed!” Sakura snaps at him. “Nothing’s botherin’ me! Geez,” He adds, managing to control his blush for the time being.

Suo accepts with a happy hum, but the other knows this is going to be a long evening. Kotoha had previously asked him to help out at Photos with the holiday decorations. He had been the one who put up the little black bats and installed the pumpkins and ghosts for Halloween, which seems more than useless at this point. It hasn’t even been one month, and now there needs to be new decoration again?! All his efforts were practically in vain. How annoying.

Regardless of his complaint, Kotoha insists the café needs the Christmas decoration as soon as possible, and so here Sakura is, on his way to assist with the task. Cutting tapes, climbing ladders and possibly covering himself in glitter from head to toe all over again, while that insufferable guy on Kotoha’s favorite podcast continues yapping until Sakura wants to tear his eardrums out with his very own bare hands. Seriously, why can’t she use headphones?!

What is worse, Kiryu had been right there when Kotoha had asked for Sakura’s help, and so earlier today he suggested Sakura should take Suo with him. Because, according to this pink-haired piercing-loving punk, there is still a way for Sakura to make his friend blush. They need to go on a couple of dates, so that Suo can believe this is real, and once he does he might be caught off-guard.

Needless to say, Nirei didn’t like that idea. Even Tsugeura thought this was going too far, but Sakura agreed surprisingly easily. As to why, he has absolutely no idea. Perhaps it’s because he’s put so much effort into this acting thing that his ego won’t allow him to step down from the challenge.

And, anyways…

He wonders what kind of face Suo makes, when he blushes for real.

By the time they reach the Photos café, the little red sign on the door already reads closed.  Regardless, the lights are still on, and Kotoha can be seen from outside as she’s eagerly digging through a couple of cardboard boxes, placed on the counter.

The designated decorator enters the shop with a sigh.

“’Evenin’.” Sakura greets Kotoha, who doesn’t even bother to reciprocate.

She places her hands on her hips as their eyes meet. “Sakura, at last! Didn’t I tell you to come in early today? Right after closing? I still have to bake the gingerbread cookies for the childrens’ gathering!”

Well, in fact she did mention something about a birthday party. It’s a surprise event for a little girl who’s been recently discharged from the hospital, and her parents believe a surprise party with her friends from pre-school would cheer her up immensely. Obviously, the owner of Photos café gladly agreed to lend the place, and appointed Kotoha as the event organizer – which she usually does whenever there’s an event in the café. Since she’s a maximalist, she wants to make sure the kids will be able to experience the Christmas spirit with a cosily decorated space and some tasty gingerbread cookies paired with warm milk or hot chocolate.

“Stop naggin’ me, we had stuff to do at school!” Sakura replies, although he feels a little bit bad for not showing up earlier. Truth be told, his mind had been occupied by Suo and he completely forgot about the little girl. “But we still came, didn’t we??!”

“Wait, who’s we?” Kotoha asks, but soon enough he recognizes the face as Suo’s head pops up behind Sakura. “You’ve brought a helper as compensation?” She folds her arms with an empathetic sigh.

“Mhm!” Suo confirms with an ever-so-radiant smile. “Decorating is fun, so I don’t mind helping out. Besides, it’s our first official date with Sakura-kun, so,”

“Did you say date?!” Kotoha asks with wide eyes of disbelief. She needs to confirm she’s heard that right, and that it’s not some joke or weird code name for something, because even she knows Suo can’t be trusted when it comes to these things. Most of the time, he just says whatever to confuse people.

“Shi—” Sakura reddens as he turns to Suo immediately. “Ya promised not to tell anyone yet!!”

“Oh?” Suo glances at him like he has no idea why Sakura is so worked up all of a sudden. “I thought that only applied to the boys in our class.”

“Huh?!”

Sakura fumes. He did say something similar during their conversation this morning, but there’s no need for this jackass to take everything so damn literally! He obviously meant everyone! Every person in the whole wide world!

Meanwhile, Kotoha giggles darkly behind the counter. “Ah, so it’s true? You two are dating?”

“Yes!” Suo replies, ignoring the grumpy one in front of himself. “Sakura-kun asked me out yesterday!”

“You— T-There’s no need to spill the details!” Sakura protests violently, feeling like this situation can’t possibly get more embarrassing than this.

But unfortunately…

There is always a new, worse kind of low when he’s with Suo.

“Wow, how lovely!”

That voice is eerily familiar. It’s someone he knows well, and someone who definitely shouldn’t hear this conversation.

Sakura glances, chanting some inner prayer to be wrong about the owner of the voice, but it is indeed the top dog of Bofurin. He appears beside Kotoha with a heavy-looking cardboard box in his hands, grinning from ear to ear upon hearing the conversation. He’d been probably hiding in the staff room until now.

“U-U-Umemiya?!” Sakura screeches like he’s seen a ghost, or more like his sleep paralysis demon in broad daylight.

“No need to be embarrassed ‘bout this kinda thing!” Umemiya laughs as he drops the last box on the counter, brushing his hands together to dust them off. “It takes a real man to ask someone out! Great job, Sakura!”

He wants to die.

Sakura wants to dig a hole in the ground and lay himself down for eternity.

But,

At least Umemiya is not mad about it, right? Sakura had some fears, how certain people would react to Suo and him dating. Even if it’s fake, or temporary, they wouldn’t know. They’ll take it for what it seems: a grade captain and his vice-captain going out. Sakura takes his position at Furin seriously and so does Suo, even if the latter seems nonchalant most of the time. They wouldn’t want Umemiya to think protecting the town and their schoolmates is not their utmost priority, because they are distracted by… other things.

Fortunately, their senior seems to be more than okay with this new information, and Sakura feels somewhat guilty for assuming Umemiya would offer anything other than pure, heartfelt support. It’s what he always gives, after all.

“…Why’re you here, anyway?” Sakura asks after calming his nerves.

It’s Kotoha who answers his question.

“Last time you kept complaining that you had to decorate the whole place by yourself, so I thought I’d ask him to help out. He’s tall so he should be useful.” She points at Umemiya, who’s showing thumbs up with a wide smile, the air nearly sparkling around him.

Sakura poses a bored expression.

So what if Umemiya is tall? Suo is kind of tall, too. Well, not annoyingly tall, like that stupid Sugishita, but he’s taller than Sakura, so it still counts.

Thinking about it, he comes to the conclusion that Suo’s… comfortably tall. Sakura doesn’t get neck cramps after talking to him for longer periods, and he can still see the other’s face from the corner of his eye when they patrol together. There’s just something comforting about that.

Which is stupid. Absolutely freakin’ stupid to think about this right now! They’ve got work to do!

As if Suo could read his mind, he proposes for them to start the decoration process, unwrapping himself from his red scarf and jacket. They all agree, and Kotoha tells them she’s already removed most of the Halloween décor during the day, except the bats and the spider web hanging from the roof – way too high for her to reach. And so Umemiya disappears into the staff room once more to fetch the ladder and collect the spooky pieces into an empty box.

While he’s at it, the other two boys start going through the Christmas boxes with Kotoha. One box is filled with colourful string lights and garlands, one with ribbons, bows and candy canes, and one with Christmas Tree ornaments that she pushes to the side for the time being. They don’t have a tree yet.

Sakura also finds an artificial snow spray hidden in the bottom of the garland box. He’s never seen anything like this before, and that obviously shows on his face. Suo tells him it’s a hairspray for the elderly, which makes absolutely no sense, but he sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, so Sakura naturally believes it. Kotoha holds her stomach for a while, but in the end she can’t contain it, and the cheerful laughter escapes her mouth. Sakura reddens and throws the spray bottle at Suo in the heat of his embarrassment, aiming perfectly. Luckily Suo catches the bottle before any window or glass could break.

After being scolded by Kotoha for his reckless action, they all agree it’s best for Sakura to decorate the walls and the counter with the string lights and the garland, while Suo is mainly responsible for the windows with the fake snow and the smaller bows and candy canes.

Sakura keeps peeking as the other works. Suo might seem like he doesn’t take things seriously, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Whenever he’s got a job at hand he works diligently and tirelessly. He’s not the best artist in class for sure, but he makes sure to create something decent for Pothos café’s windows, so that the children can enjoy looking at it. He uses paper to cut some shapes, resembling houses and trees, and that’s how he sprays the windows, adding some bows and candy canes to complete the winter wonderland aesthetic.

Sakura’s competitive side jumps out as he notices he’s way behind with his own task. He needs to speed up, and so he uses his knee on a chair to lift himself near the counter, since that’s the only way he could reach the inside of it to plug the strings lights in.

“Do you need help, Sakura-kun?” Suo asks, exhaling with satisfaction as he steps away from the windows to see the bigger picture. He finds his finished work quite impressive. “I am almost finished over here,”

“’M fine,” Sakura declines, but he does sound like he’s struggling with something. Suo approaches to see it for himself, and that’s exactly when Sakura’s knee slips down from the chair, and he loses balance with the string lights still in his hand. There’s a moment of panic as he expects to slam his face against the counter, possibly breaking his nose and losing a number of teeth.

Kotoha happens to witness the whole scene, and her blood also freezes for a split second, going pale.

“Sakura!!” She yells.

“Oops,” Suo drops the word seemingly calmly, but with a hint of worry as he’s reaching to catch the other boy before he could sniff the countertop from up close.

Once he confirms he’s got a good grip on him, and that he’s successfully prevented Sakura’s skull from shattering, the taller boy’s expression shifts. “Careful there, Sakura-kun,” He smiles, palm up against Sakura’s chest, practically hugging him from behind.

Sakura has no idea how Suo’s managed to get here so fast and grab him like this, and at the moment he doesn’t even care. His primary concern is his own heart, beating so loud and out of its usual rhythm, right where Suo’s protecting palm is pressed at. He quickly finds his own footing and pushes him away.

“I-I’m okay,” He mumbles, feeling like he’s got a fever all of a sudden.

“Seriously, you can’t be trusted with anything!” Kotoha storms over, scolding him once again. “Just walk around the counter like a normal person! What if you had seriously injured yourself?!”

“I said ‘m fine!!” Sakura fights back, and Suo tiredly sighs in the back as Umemiya takes over, using his mediator skills to end the quarrel on a peaceful note.

Once the decoration process is done and Kotoha approves of it, she needs the boys to move some tables and chairs to make place for the future Christmas tree. It might take some time to decide what type of tree to get, and where to buy it from, but one thing’s for sure: Umemiya wants a big one. And so they need to free up some space in advance.

Thankfully, Kotoha decides they are free to go afterwards. It’s getting late and she needs to open up the restaurant early tomorrow.

After saying their goodbyes to the siblings, Suo and Sakura put their jackets back on and leave the café. However, Sakura soon has to realize the evening air is much colder than the afternoon one had been. It’s nearly freezing as it forces its way down into his lungs, and it also makes him blink several times until his eyes are used to the temperature shift as well.

Suo watches him with an apologetic expression.

“Sakura-kun, you may be strong, but you keep underestimating the winter,”

Sakura rolls his eyes. He’s just finished with his longest day ever, but Suo’s bothersome ass still won’t quit nagging him. He wonders whether this non-stop bullying is what charges the redhead’s battery back to a hundred, since Suo always seems so energetic and happy upon receiving a reaction, even after a long day.

“Whatever. Let’s get goin’.” Sakura sighs as he’s too exhausted to entertain the other right now. For fuck’s sake, he’s probably going to dream about candy canes, as they grow limbs and start chasing him… Or something equally ridiculous.

He blows, or rather exhales warm air against his palms a couple of times before he shoves them back into his pockets. He’s eager to head home as fast as possible, and can almost feel the futon underneath his body, embracing him. He can’t wait to lay himself down and drift off immediately.  

Merely thinking about his bedding makes him warm and cozy. Or, perhaps it’s due to this thick yet light material he feels, wrapping around his neck gently.

“What— What are ya doin’?!” Sakura stutters in his embarrassment, realizing it’s a scarf – Suo’s scarf, to be precise – casually gracing him now.

“Preventing a cold?” Suo asks like it’s obvious, still perfecting the position of his cherry red woollen scarf around Sakura’s neck. He covers the other so well that even the tip of his nose is hidden. Which is good, considering the fact that Sakura’s nose and his cheeks might glow even brighter than the colourful string lights back at Photos.

Since his mouth is covered too, it would be difficult to argue, so Sakura figures it’s best to accept the scarf in silence. For now. He averts his eyes until Suo’s styling is finished completely, stepping away from him.

“Looks good! Are you feeling better now?” He asks, and Sakura nods in response.

It really is warm, and cozy. Almost like his futon, or even more so.

And it smells like Suo.

He didn’t even realize Suo had a distinctive scent. It’s quite obvious now that it’s shoved into his face so directly. He never noticed, but he can definitely tell this is Suo. It’s sweet, a little flowery, but not too strong. If Sakura had to describe it, he’d say the scent reminds him of a lotus pond. It’s modest, like Suo himself, and it suits him well.

But it’s probably stupid and unnecessary to think about this.

“Thanks…” He manages to mutter out from behind the soft fabric, and Suo just smiles.

“Of course!”

“I’ll give it back, on Monday.”

“Keep it for now.” Suo offers. “And, I know what you’re about to say, so hold it—I have many more at home, so it’s fine!”

That doesn’t feel right, but Sakura can’t bring himself to protest. Instead, he turns and changes the topic.

“So, uh. This’ my way, and—”

“Certainly,” The taller confirms happily as he begins walking towards the street that leads to Sakura’s home. “Let’s go.”

Sakura stares at his back for a while before he runs after him to catch up.

“B-But, ain’t your house in the opposite direction?” He asks, a bit tentative. He’s never been to Suo’s place, after all. All he knows is that Suo usually walks that way when he goes home.

“It is, but Sakura-kun,” Suo turns to look at him, and he’s got that kind yet mischievous look on his face. “What kind of boyfriend do you take me for? It goes without saying that I’ll walk you home after a date.”

Sakura can’t look away. He’s hopelessly locked by Suo’s gaze, caught under a spell of his words. He says those embarrassing things so naturally, and so easily, it almost makes Sakura jealous. And, he feels a whole lot of other things, on top of jealously.

For example, he wishes they were closer. Closer in all sorts of aspects, but right now, mainly…

“S-Suo—” Sakura reaches out.

And then,

BAM.

Suddenly, there’s no more magical moonlight surrounding Suo’s figure in the dark. Only pitch black, and perhaps a couple of stars dancing in circles as Sakura lands face-first on the ground, tripping over his own feet.

“Sakura-kun?!”

Shit.

Even Suo sounds alarmed, and he rarely does.

“Oh my,” The taller boy laughs, but there’s a hint of worry in his tone as he scoops the other up from the ground. “You are being rather clumsy today.”

“Shaddap…” Sakura mutters as he covers his nose with his palm. It’s pulsing with pain so badly that a teardrop rolls down his face. However, his main concern is the scarf. He hopes he didn’t accidentally rip a hole in it or dirty it too much, since it belongs to Suo.

Luckily or not, his nose broke most of the fall, leaving the scarf intact.

The rest of their way home is thankfully uneventful. There’s a casual chit-chat between them regarding the decoration process at Pothos earlier today. It mainly consists of Sakura’s complaint-filled story of untangling the string lights, and Suo’s amusement of finding out that Kotoha prefers listening to unsettling true-crime podcasts in her spare time.

Upon reaching Sakura’s home, Suo bids his final farewell. But it is only after stepping inside his house and removing the cherry colored woollen scarf that Sakura feels he can finally let loose and breathe out.

Holding the clothing item so tightly in his grip, he sits down on the floor as soon as his shoes are off, leaning against the wall with his back.

What the fuck is going on?!

◊

Sakura spends the rest of the weekend at home, pondering. He wants to figure out how this has happened – or rather why. Why he’s agreed to this ridiculous plan in the first place, why he still sticks to it, and most importantly, why Suo is so on-board with this boyfriend thing as well. Even if he’s found out the truth, or he’s known it all along, why is he so into it? Sakura believes Suo should turn the events to his advantage somehow, to teach him a lesson perhaps. Because that’s more like him, even if it’s annoying. Suo’s good at acting like a smart-ass anyway, so why is he not lecturing Sakura about his bad acting skills or something. That’s suspicious, and gives Sakura an anxious stomach-ache.

Not to mention that there’s this other possibility. That Suo really believes things are what they seem to be, and that thought alone…

Sakura can’t bring himself to go down that road. Not yet, because that would put him in an even more difficult spot.

Monday comes knocking on his front door way too quickly, and before he knows it, his feet are already walking him to school in the morning. As per usual, he drops by the lovely little bakery with the cheerful old man, smiling as he waves at the break of day. Sakura receives something round and flat, but tasty looking nevertheless. He studies the treat, but doesn’t matter how hard he stares at it from different angles, he can’t identify the pastry.

The old man allows an amused laugh. “That’s Caramel Almond Teacake for you.”

“…Teacake?” Sakura repeats after him curiously.

The baker nods. “The owner’s daughter studies in North-Europe, ya see! Apparently, this is a popular pastry over there, and so she has brought the recipe home for us during her visit! We tried to bake it, and I say it turned out great, best with some tea!” He presents the touching story, like they do in those television advertisements.

Sakura furrows his brows. “Sounds fancy, huh…”

He’s not really into extravagant things from overseas, but now that he thinks about it…  Suo did mention it sometime, that he likes cakes… And he definitely likes tea, that’s for sure.

“Say, old man,” The tips of Sakura’s ears bloom in a pinkish shade as he asks shyly. “’S it okay if I take two, like last time…”

The old man merely blinks as he’s never heard Sakura ask for an additional pastry before. If anything, the old baker can barely convince him to take one. After his initial surprise, however, his eyes light up with joy as he nods and disappears into the store to grab another teacake for Sakura.

“For a friend?” He asks with a smile wider than Umemiya’s when he shows off a new plant he’s grown from tiny seeds himself.

“Somethin’ like that...” Sakura mumbles, and waves goodbye before the old man could ask anymore uncomfortable questions.

Friend.

Boyfriend.

Sakura’s already thought about it way too much during the weekend, his head is hurting. He wishes it could all just go away, but the moment he sets foot in their classroom, he spots Suo next to his own seat. He swallows as he walks up to him, casually dropping a ‘good morning’ and the teacake on his desk.

At first Sakura feels awkward about it, but as soon as Suo’s smile blooms, he figures it’s okay.

“Sakura-kun, how did you know I like teacakes from overseas?”

“T-The hell I knew!” Sakura turns away from him as he sits down. “Just guessed…”

“Ah,” Suo covers his chuckle with a hand, like he usually does when he’s amused. “What a good guess, then.”

Yeah, well… It wasn’t too hard. Sakura’s not even surprised Suo recognized the pastry from one single glance.

He sighs and pulls his phone out from his pocket. It’s become a habit to check on those stupid groupchats his friends keep adding him to.

And, of course, there are new messages he’s ought to check and reply to.

Code Red

桐生🌭: Any progress, Sakura-chan?

桜🌸: not really

桐生🌭: Is that so?

桐生🌭: But I can see things are going well... („¬ᴗ¬„)

桜🌸: what do you mean

桐生🌭: Well, I’ve noticed you keep giving him tasty treats!

桐生🌭: And today you came to school wearing his scarf!

柘浦📒: You are right! That’s indeed Suo-san’s scarf!

楡井💪: I knew it looked familiar!

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

Damn Kiryu and his perceptive skills! He’s almost as good at this as Suo!

Sakura grits his teeth, trying to come up with an excuse. He doesn’t wish to lie, and to be fair he sucks at lying anyway, but somehow telling them the details from yesterday seems like an even worse idea in his head. He’d rather just keep those embarrassing moments to himself.

The problem is, how do you explain these things without being completely honest and lengthy about them? Starting with the old man from the bakery, who gave him two pastries for no reason. Sakura never wanted to bring two of those to school, but he had no choice! The second time though, he did ask for two… But that’s an exceptional case, because Suo likes teacakes, right? So of course Sakura would like to surprise him!

As for the scarf, he had no other option there either! He had to accept Suo’s offer, because he didn’t want to freeze to death on his way home! It’s true that he could have bought a scarf on his own during the weekend, but wouldn’t that make Suo’s sacrifice go to waste? He needs to show appreciation and use it for some time, at least. That’s the only reason.

Not because he feels kind of proud and giddy about wearing something that belongs to Suo.

Damn it!

He needs to give it back, doesn’t he? Unless he wants to make things even more weird between them, for everyone to see.

Sakura shoves his phone back into his pocket as he turns his head to the side, where the taller boy is seated. He’s reading a book, which appears to be rather old. The mud-colored leather cover is faded at the spine, and it has a few cracks and worn edges. Additionally, the pages seem to be yellowed with age. Maybe that’s merely the design of the book, Sakura’s not sure. Either way, Suo seems to be completely immersed in the content within, a serious yet tranquil expression on his face despite the noisy guys in the back of the classroom.

Sakura notes to himself that his vice-captain is probably the most handsome during mornings like this one, when the waking sun shines upon him through the windows. Everything about him radiates perfect grace and dignity, in a way that’s nearly upsetting. It doesn’t bother Sakura per se, but it makes him feel uneasy for some reason. Like he doesn’t have the right to talk to him right now, or disturb his peace.

On the other hand, there’s an increasing urge to call out his name and thus gain his attention. It’s almost a need at this point, to have that beautiful burgundy eye only on him, like he’s the only existence of this universe.

He doesn’t even think about how insane this thought is, his lips moving on their own when he finally musters up the courage to call for the other.

“Suo,”

The shift of focus in the other’s eye tells him that Suo can hear him clearly. His classmate slowly looks up from his book, his tassel earrings brushing against his shoulders as he turns to him.

“What is it, Sakura-kun?” Suo asks with a gentle tone, smiling like he always does.

Sakura immediately forgets every word, phrase and swearing he’s ever known, but lucky for him, another classmate suddenly towers over, blocking his view.

“What’re ya lookin’ at?” He proposes the question with a shift of expression as he looks up to find Sugishita’s face. “Ya need somethin’?”

“Hmph.” Is all he receives as a reply, which pisses him off. Isn’t it Sugishita who started bothering him first?! What’s with the attitude?

“Sugishita-kun,” Suo sings happily, poking his back.

The tall boy turns away from his rival, now facing the vice-captain.

“If you don’t want to talk to him, feel free to tell me instead.” Suo giggles, completely ignoring the fact that Sakura can hear him as well.

“What the—”

“Mn.” Sugishita nods.

“D’ya just agree to tell him?!” Sakura jumps up from his seat, offended.

However, doesn’t matter how hard Sakura fumes beside them, the other two continue to act like he’s some ghost that can’t be seen or heard at all. Sugishita leans down to whisper something into Suo’s ear, and when he’s done, he casually walks back to his desk to continue his nap.

Sakura watches his back as he leaves, murmuring after him.

“Seriously, what’s this dude’s deal…”

“Sakura-kun,”

“Y-Yeah?!” Sakura turns to Suo abruptly with a small blush on his cheeks. He’s completely forgotten about the previous scene thanks to that grumpy giant, but now it’s all coming back to him. How pretty Suo had looked, and how he’d lost all words and thoughts upon their eyes meeting.

“Umemiya-san wants to see you.” Suo tells him with a small smile.

“Umemiya…?” Sakura repeats, confused. “What’s he gotta do with anything?”

Now Suo is similarly lost.

“I am… not sure? It’s what Sugishita-kun told me.”

“huh?…O-Oh!” Sakura’s blush returns to his face with a much deeper glow, feeding on his embarrassment.

On his way up the stairs, he decides to blame this all on Sugishita. Why did he have to interrupt them at such an inconvenient time? And, why did he talk to Suo, but not him?!

Right, that one’s actually easy: because Suo is so damn charming, and good with people. Including his persuasion skills or whatever. Suo probably always gets what he wants with a wide variety of special smiles. Scary smile, pressure smile, kind smile…

Sakura wonders which one of those is the real deal. He trusts Suo, he really does, but Sakura just can’t… He doesn’t understand him sometimes. Suo’s smiles feel so genuine in certain moments, but can he really tell the difference between each and every one of them?

Can he be sure what they mean?

Sakura halts and shakes his head.

This is stupid. He’s pretty sure Suo doesn’t ever bother to think about these things, so why does he?

Right now he’s got more important matters to attend to. Umemiya wants to talk to him about something, one on one. Perhaps there’s a new threat, some new gang or another lunatic who’s planning to target Makochi or Furin.

Once he reaches the roof, Sakura kicks the door open and begins searching for Umemiya with his eyes. Soon enough he recognizes the familiar figure, hovering over what appears to be a new flowerbed in his little garden on the rooftop. It’s impressive that he’s maintaining his plants despite such cold temperatures.

Impressive in an insane kind of way.

“Sakura! Good morning!” His senior greets him with a grin.

As he nods and walks closer, Sakura wraps his—Suo’s scarf tighter around his neck to shelter half of his face behind it. He finds that the wind is more violent on the rooftop than it had been on the ground previously.

Since Umemiya does not say anything else for the time being, Sakura quietly stands by him and watches as the older waters his plants, hands in his pockets. It does not help much, though, his hands are still freezing. He wonders if Suo has a matching set of gloves, similarly soft, warm, and having a scent that unmistakeably belongs to him. Sakura’s nose could never forget or mistake this scent anymore. For better or for worse.

“I know what yer thinking,” Umemiya starts, causing Sakura to snap out of his daydream suddenly. “But there are certain plants that like to be planted during cooler months! Like leafy greens, or root vegetables! They can even handle light frost!”

Fucking amazing, except Sakura couldn’t care less about gardening stuff. But he knows it always starts out like this with his senior, so he doesn’t interrupt.

“There are a few things I want to discuss with you.” Umemiya’s smile doesn’t disappear entirely, but Sakura feels a shift in the mood. He straightens his back and sets his focus on him.

“First of all, thank you for helping out at Pothos yesterday. I had a great time decorating with you guys,” Umemiya giggles for a short moment only before he continues. “In fact, that gave me a really good idea, and I talked to Kotoha after you two had left. We’ve decided to host a Christmas Party at Pothos.”

Sakura’s surprised. Not because of the party idea, Umemiya adores hosting parties. Sakura recalls that Tsubakino even mentioned it months ago, that he hopes Umemiya would host a party on Christmas Eve, because it would be so romantic or some lame shit like that.

What’s surprising is that Umemiya doesn’t seem particularly excited about hosting this time. Quite the opposite, he has a fairly worried look on his face. Like he’s troubled by something.

“You are invited, of course! Anyone can join, so make sure to bring all your friends from Furin!”

It doesn’t sit well with Sakura, the way he talks. He doesn’t know how to comfort people, or get them to talk, like Suo, but he can at least try, right?

He averts his eyes, glancing back at the flowerbeds.

“’S there somethin’ wrong though?”

Umemiya’s eyes widen and he suddenly turns to Sakura, startling him.

“W-What?!”

“Haha!” His senior finally lights up. “Yer getting better at reading people, huh?! Good job, Sakura!”

Sakura reddens. “I-I always knew… Howta read people…”

Which is a lie, obviously. He’s learnt a lot from his friends over time, and they have all taught him different things. Kiryu helped him with social media and pop-culture, Nirei helped him with empathy and social interactions, even Tsugeura helped him with work-out routines and such.

As for Suo…

Sakura feels that strange twist in his stomach again.

Suo’s good at explaining all kinds of things, and even when he doesn’t use words, he still teaches Sakura. Simply by watching him, and reading from the other’s expressions, Sakura’s developed some skills on his own, and he’s been able to work on himself.

Suo’s the one who holds the mirror, and shoves it right up his face, whether Sakura likes it or not. His vice-captain has never allowed him to run away from his own issues. Instead, Suo offers a solution, paired with emotional support. Tirelessly, every single time.

Sakura’s thankful for that.

“Yer’ right. There’s something,” Umemiya admits, guiding Sakura’s attention back to the topic. He puts his little green watering can down and takes his gardening gloves off. Sakura thinks it’s a stupid idea, now his senior’s hands are going to be cold too. But he doesn’t say.

“Have you heard about the raven guys?”

Hearing the English word, a number of things pop up in Sakura’s mind. It’s a bird, right? And, there’s something from a famous author, or… It’s a movie? He’s not sure. Sakura only paid half attention to Kiryu when he attempted to educate him on classic Halloween stuff not too long ago.

Umemiya studies his expression for a while until it hits him.

“Ah, sorry sorry,” He waves with his hand. “I shoulda’ been more specific. I mean the gang. Officially they go by Nightcallers, but they have many other nicknames.”

Sakura’s eyes grow big.

Nirei had mentioned something like that a while back. Apparently, the Nightcallers are a group of strange delinquents from various schools. They are not associated with any district or neighbourhood, and they don’t really have a known base either. Their only characteristic is the black raven tattoo on their wrists, and the dark alternative clothing style. Additionally, they only ever appear at night, often in small groups.

That alone is not enough to worry Sakura, especially because Nirei’s scribbles read “urban legend” when he had peeked into his vice-captain’s busy notebook. If even the blond doesn’t believe they exist, there’s nothing to be concerned about.

Unless,

“They’re real…?”

“Ya bet,” Umemiya allows a small chuckle before his voice shifts back to serious. “Hiragi’s received some information from the second years,”

In Sakura’s mind, an image of Kaji, Enomoto and Kusumi pops.

“They’ve met ‘em?!” He asks, suddenly all worked up.

“Yeah,” Umemiya sighs. He seems to be genuinely troubled, which means this is a real issue. “A smaller group of… maybe four people. There was no physical fight, but according to the second years, they had a threatening look in their eyes upon recognizing the Furin uniforms.”

Great. Bofurin can’t even go a couple of months without another threat.

Well, whatever. All Sakura needs to do is simply send them flying, like all the others who had challenged him before.

“Either way,” Umemiya clears his throat. “I found it best to tell all the grade captains, to be prepared and keep our eyes open. No need to involve your whole class yet, but you are advised to inform your vice-captains. It’s up to you how you handle this though.” Umemiya flashes a wide smile, knowing full well that Sakura will surely inform both Nirei and Suo.

The grade captain acknowledges his words. He’d prefer to tell the whole class right away, but if Umemiya suggests it’s best not to do it yet, he’ll follow the instructions of his senior. He’s learnt to trust their leader and follow his order, but that doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind later. He’s responsible for his classmates, which means he shall decide what to do in a case of emergency.

For the time being, he just nods.

“And while you’re talking to your vice-captains, make sure to invite them to the Christmas Party!” Umemiya adds, grinning from ear to ear.

Sakura has naturally imagined the party with having both Suo and Nirei there. It’s only evident that Sakura doesn’t go without them. But, when it hits him that it’s his job to invite those two, a slight blush appears on his face. Why can’t Umemiya invite them?! He’s the host, isn’t he? Sakura is just another guest! In his mind that task doesn’t make sense at all.

“Will do,” Sakura murmurs as he turns away from his senior, hoping this puts an end to their conversation, allowing him to walk away.

Obviously not, because Umemiya can’t help being nosy.

“About the Suo situation,” He starts, and Sakura stops dead in his tracks.

What is even the Suo situation?!

Well, clearly Sakura knows what Umemiya means by that, but it sounds so weird… And why bring it up now? Does it bother his senior, after all? That they are… together?

Sakura wishes he were invisible, or at least not so close to Umemiya on the roof, where he can’t run anywhere to hide from him.

On second thought, he could jump… That’s an option.

“No need to be so tense!” Umemiya bursts out in laughter, slapping his back real hard. Sakura thinks this must be similar to how Tsugeura slapped Nirei the other day. Why do these guys have to be so rough?!

“I only wanted to make sure ya feel comfortable about it! I actually talked Suo yesterday, so I know what’s up!”

Sakura freezes once more.

He knows what’s up?!

Suo knows?!

“What… do you mean?” He asks with an unusual tone. It sounds similar to fear, but not quite the same. He can’t figure it out right now.

“Ya know, Sakura,” Umemiya stares into the distance. From the top of the school building, he can see almost the entire town, including the people of Makochi. That’s why he likes coming up here, and that’s why he calls his Kouhai here when there’s something important to discuss. “I didn’t expect you to open up your heart so fast, in that sense, and I admit I was kinda worried when I found out about you two. It’s not that I don’t trust Suo, but relationships are complicated, and for someone like you—”

“What’d he say?!” Sakura interrupts, his panic gradually unfolding while Umemiya casually keeps avoiding the point.

The older halts as he glances at him, and then a slow smile appears on his face.

“He politely asked me not to tell anyone about the dating thing, since you two are taking things slow. Basically that you are not ready to announce it like that, as it would be too overwhelming for you at this early stage – or somethin’ like that. Sorry, I can’t remember all his fancy words.” Umemiya reveals with an apologetic smile, scratching the back of his head. “The point is: He’s considerate, and it shows how much he cares about you. That reassured me as well, and I gotta admit you are in good hands, Sakura!”

Sakura stares, and stares, and stares some more, until he feels like crying.

“’M leaving,” He says while already turning on his heel, running away from Umemiya.

Sakura slams the rooftop door shut behind himself, hurrying down the stairs while gritting his teeth and squeezing his fists.

Why does everyone take this dumb dating thing so seriously? First Suo, and now Umemiya too?! Why is he acting like he’s giving his freaking blessing?! He may be the top dog of Bofurin, but this is none of his business!

But, more importantly, why does it make Sakura so oddly happy?!

The fact that Suo is so thoughtful…

No, not only that. Seeing his face, his smile, and hearing his voice… Ever since Kiryu came up with this stupid plan, Sakura can’t look at—can’t think of Suo the same way as before. It’s weird and frustrating, because it’s all happening inside him. Suo doesn’t really act different. He was always like this, wasn’t he?

He can’t tell anymore. Whether it’s in his head only, or things have really… changed.

“Oi, be careful!” An unknown Furin student sneers as Sakura nearly bumps into him in the hallway, but he doesn’t bother to apologize. He proceeds with his escape route, like a frightened animal with tunnel vision. He feels trapped and confused.

He inhales sharply as he successfully ends up hitting another student, with his shoulder against the other’s chest. “Outta my way!”

“Sakura-kun,” Suo says with a slight surprise in his voice. “What’s wrong?”

Sakura glances up for a moment, but then averts his eyes immediately.

“I-I said outta my way!” He growls, but Suo doesn’t move. The aura around him is as ominous and unwavering as ever. It makes Sakura feel uneasy, and he hates it. He couldn’t care less that Suo acts like this with other people, but when it’s directed at him, Sakura hates it.

“Sakura-san!” Nirei appears in Sakura’s vision as well. “Did Umemiya-san say something upsetting?! Please, tell us! We are your vice-captains!”

“Indeed,” Suo finally speaks again, and he sounds cold. “Instead of dismissing us, you should talk to us like you normally do.”

Shit.

He didn’t mean to talk to Suo like that. But he did, and now the air’s both awkward and tense between them.

He’s always acting like this. He’s always ruining things. Suo’s proven to be patient and considerate with him, over and over again, and Sakura keeps fucking it up, like the idiot he is.

“Sakura-san, we are just worried…” Nirei tries again. “Right, Suo-san?”

Under the mediator’s strict but good-willed pressure, Suo eventually sighs, and the tense air gradually dissipates.

“That’s right,”

Sakura can hear the soft smile in his tone, so he lifts his head and meets his gaze.

“…Sorry,” He forces out.

Suo’s smile grows, and an empathetic glow appears in his eye as he tilts his head slightly. He’s so, so painfully soft when he looks at Sakura like this, and it’s the best thing ever. Entirely different from his cold expression from not even a minute ago.

And so Sakura manages to calm himself down, and shares the details with his vice-captains back in their classroom —about Umemiya’s Christmas Party and the Nightcallers, not the other thing. Of course, Suo focuses on the Christmas Party details, beaming widely as he suggests inviting the rest of their friends from the class, while Nirei’s already flipping through his notes about the mysterious midnight gang. However, there’s not much known about them, which only worries him more.

“I need to talk to Kaji-san and the others!” He says, and with that, Nirei’s already left Sakura’s vision.

Which leaves him alone with Suo.

“I wonder how they’ll find a tree.” Suo wonders, but Sakura just shrugs.

The awkwardness in the air hasn’t been lifted entirely. It’s still weird when he’s alone with Suo, so he can’t look him in the eye.

Besides, he doesn’t know much about Christmas Trees, so what could he say? He’s never had one, or decorated one himself. He doesn’t even know where people get those from.

It would be nice though, to decorate it with his friends. To exchange gifts, and—

Gifts?!

Sakura’s eyes grow big.

“Hm? Sakura-kun?” Suo peeks curiously.

“I-I’ll be back!” Sakura replies in a hurry before rushing away from Suo, leaving him behind like fine dust.

Suo has no idea what’s gotten into him. He merely sighs after being left behind by both of his friends. He decides not to take it personally, and approaches Kiryu and Tsugeura to inform them about the upcoming party.

Meanwhile, Sakura ends up finding Tsubakino in the school’s bathroom, his senior fixing his hair and makeup in front of the mirror. The younger keeps standing beside him anxiously, feeling uncomfortable. It’s almost as if he’s not supposed to be here and see behind the scenes of Tsubakino’s flawless appearance.

As to why him,

At first Sakura had Umemiya in mind, but after their previous conversation… Sakura would rather not talk to him for a while, which leaves him with the next best at giving advice – considering that Suo is not an option right now.

“Oh my, Sakura… People rarely follow me to the bathroom, are you missing me so much?!” The Jikoku Team Leader giggles happily. “How cute!!”

“Shaddap!! T-That’s not it!” Sakura protests violently, and he hates how he can see his own blush in the mirror.

“Aww, don’t make me sad now!” Tsubakino sighs, leaning closer to his own reflection. He’s trying to see whether his lipstick need a touch up. “So, what’s up then?”

Sakura averts his eyes, staring at the forest green tiles between his feet.

“Ya know… ‘Bout Christmas stuff, right?”

“Oh!” Tsubakino turns to him abruptly, his long silky hair flowing beautifully thanks to the motion. “Ume told you about the party already? I hope you are coming!”

Sakura nods shyly, not knowing what to do with his hands. He feels sweaty all of a sudden.

His senior notices, of course.

“So?” He asks with patience and compassion, and just enough pressure to make the other talk.

“For Christmas… People give presents and stuff like that, right? Like, ain’t that common?”

Tsubakino’s eyes widen a bit, but he doesn’t allow a big reaction just yet. He wants to see where this is going.

“Yes, that’s how it works.” He confirms. “Christmas is a great opportunity to show your feelings through gifts.”

Sakura falls quiet again, and there’s that usual troubled expression Tsubakino knows so well, so he can’t help prying a little more. Out of helping spirit, but also a little bit of curiosity.

He places a hand on his hip, leaning down to the other with a smile.

“Is there a special someone you want to surprise?”

“T-That ain’t why I—!!”

“Ahh, I knew it! Who is it!?” Tsubakino covers his mouth with his hands excitedly.

Sakura doesn’t know whether he hates or likes that reaction, perhaps a mixture of both. However, there’s no use lying to his senior anymore. He’s pretty easy to read, isn’t he?

“It’s… Suo,” Sakura replies with honesty, even though it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done. The sound of his classmates’ name feels embarrassing and downright guilty on his lips. Like it’s a big secret he’s not supposed to tell anyone.

There’s no immediate reaction, which worries Sakura. He glances up to see what’s happening, and he finds Tsubakino calculating something in his head.

“Hmm… Yes, that makes sense actually,” He mutters to himself as a result.

“What does?!”

Tsubakino only replies with a sneaky grin.

“You know, Sakura, most people prefer personalized gifts!” He points out, like a professional of the topic.

Sakura furrows his brows. “Personalized? The heck does that mean?”

Tsubakino glances back at the mirror, folding his arms.

“It means you think of a gift with the person in mind. What do they like? What would make them happy? At first it seems easy. Since you are close to someone, you should be able to tell what they like, right? If you look at me, or you are a friend of mine, you would naturally assume I’d love to receive gifts such as makeup and pretty clothes!”

Sakura squints.

“Ya wouldn’t?”

“Oh, I totally would!” He replies with a laugh. “But when someone is real special to you, you can try to look a little closer. Sometimes, what people really want is to be reminded that they are important to us, and that we think about them a lot.”

Sakura stares, and honest to God he’s trying his best to understand, but no use.

“I… I don’ get it…”

Tsubakino giggles.

“Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out eventually.”

Well, easy to say! Sakura cannot figure it out, no matter how hard he tries. He thinks about it during class, while patrolling, even when he’s supposed to sleep at night.

Suo likes tea, and clothes that are nice to the touch. Also martial arts stuff, probably?? And… That’s about it, as far as he’s concerned.

Really, it’s kind of depressing how little he knows about his so-called boyfriend.

Sakura turns to his side, feeling weird again.

Let’s say Tsubakino is right and he eventually comes up with an idea. Is it really okay to give Suo a Christmas present? What if no one else shows up with gifts, and he’s the only one making a fool out of himself? But still, he feels the need to do it. He can’t explain it, he just has to give Suo something, and it’s not even because of the fake dating thing.

It’s because Sakura likes Suo.

He likes him, whether he’s ready to accept the painfully obvious or not. It’s the only logical explanation as to why he’s been feeling so strange around him lately. Sakura doesn’t necessarily want this to be the case, because Suo’s an annoying smartass, who’s always messing with him for his own entertainment. The hell wants a boyfriend like that! Even as a friend, he’s too much sometimes.

But other times… He’s the sweetest.

Sakura buries his face in the pillow. Deep.

Truth be told, he doesn’t need a boyfriend. It would be easier if Suo and him could remain friends. Go back to how everything used to be.

They probably will, anyway, because this is only happening to him. It’s one-sided, it must be, because Suo’s not the type who’s interested in dating, especially not… Sakura, of all people.

But then again, there’s this small silver lining. The fact that Suo has agreed to go out with him, for whatever reason. Maybe it’s a prank from his side, maybe he’s curious to see where this is going, or maybe he’s just passing time without reading too much into it. Despite everything, however, it doesn’t change the fact that Sakura’s heart dances with joy whenever he thinks about Suo and his charming smile.

It’s super disgusting.

This must be how Tsubakino feels about Umemiya. Now he understands, and maybe that’s the very reason why he asked for his advice specifically.

Sakura wants to be like his senior. Tsubakino doesn’t seem to mind that Umemiya is not reciprocating his romantic feelings. Simply being able to remain close to him and support him with all that he can is enough for Tsubakino.

But,

Sakura finds it difficult to digest the idea of Suo not liking him back. In his mind, he knows how impossible this all is, but in his heart… It hurts, and even he knows things can’t go on like this forever. Being stuck in this self-created fake idyll with Suo is not fair at all. Not fair for him, and not fair for Suo either. It doesn’t matter how innocent the whole idea had started out, or how much fun either one of them is having with it.

It’s just wrong.

And so, Sakura comes to the conclusion that he has to break up with Suo as soon as possible.

◊

Code Red

桐生🌭: You can’t give up, Sakura-chan!!

桜🌸: why not

桜🌸: the plan is not working

桐生🌭: It’s only been one week!

What an incredibly long, exhausting, and mentally draining week it has been. The audacity of Kiryu’s only is making Sakura annoyed.

Suo and him were not meant to actually go out in the first place. Suo should have blushed, like normal people do when they are confessed to, and then he should have turned Sakura down in a silly yet kind way. And then everyone should have joked about it for a day or two. That’s all.

What it should have been like.

An innocent prank that fades into an insignificant memory with time.

And yet…

桜🌸: i don’t think this is right

He sends.

Perhaps it’s a bad idea to be so open about his feelings, because the chat falls dead silent for a while. Sakura curls up to a ball on his futon. He doesn’t feel like going to school today.

桐生🌭: I mean, if that’s how you feel, Sakura-chan...

柘浦📒: It’s okay, Sakura-san! Do what’s best for you!

楡井💪: Yeah, don’t push yourself!

Sakura exhales with relief.

That’s it, then.

He places his phone beside his pillow and finally falls asleep after a long night of contemplation. He knows what’s the right thing to do, and he’s gotten his friends’ approval, so he can rest with a lighter heart, and a clear conscience now.

The sun is about to set when he wakes up again. A golden glimmer meets his eyes as he slowly turns to the window. Despite the light breaking through the holes of his window blinds, it’s the noise that wakes him up.

Perhaps it’s that squirrel again—a sneaky dark brown one. Small with long fluffy tail, digging through the leaves and the dirt in the front yard. Sakura sees it around his house sometimes, searching for scrapes of food, he assumes. He finds it funny sometimes, how most people have stray cats around their place, getting attached to them, but Sakura? He has a squirrel for neighbour. He likes having it around though, because it gets less lonely when he hears the familiar noise. At first Sakura had kept his distance, but now that they’ve known each other for a while, he can tell the squirrel is generally friendly and approachable. Sometimes he can even pet it.

However, the noise is not from his dirty little neighbour this time. Sakura notices a human shadow outside his bedroom window.

He quickly sits up, his senses sharp.

The door slowly opens, and Sakura can’t believe someone’s stupid enough to break into his house when it’s not even dark yet. They’ll be real surprised to lose a set of teeth when Sakura kicks their face in.

He jumps up carefully, with little to no sound as he approaches his front door along with the shadow. Sakura’s ready to punch, but thankfully, the intruder is quick to identify themselves before the ugly outcome.

“Hello? Sakura-kun?”

“…Suo?”

Sakura reveals himself, dumbfounded.

“Ah!” Suo’s face lights up immediately. “So you are awake? May I come in?”

He’s kind of already inside the house, but whatever. Sakura opens the door wider and moves to the side so that his classmate can enter. Sakura then walks him to his bedroom.

“Why… are you here?”

“Hm? Isn’t it obvious?” Suo tilts his head, his eye filled with disappointment and hurt. “I’m here to check up on you, since I’m worried.”

Sakura turns away from him in his embarrassment, and sits back down on his futon. He doesn’t offer a seat for Suo, but his vice-captain sits down on his heels as well, beside the futon so that they are facing each other.

“What’re those stuff?” Sakura asks as the other pulls out some small boxes and packets from a white plastic bag, laying everything out on the floor nicely. The sight gives Sakura déjà vu. The last time he had been sick, Suo and Nirei also brought medicine and other gifts from their classmates. Still, the present feels different somehow. Suo seems to be more relaxed, being in Sakura’s room and personal space. And Sakura doesn’t feel like he has to hide from him either.

“We weren’t sure why you skipped school today, so it’s just the usual things. Medicine, vitamins, fruit… And I stopped by your favorite bakery. You’ve been really nice, getting me treats from there every morning, I suppose I wanted to return your kindness.” Suo smiles.

Oh, crap. It’s that smile again.

Sakura’s heart feels weak.

“Nire-kun couldn’t come, he’s busy with his research on the Nightcallers, but he’s sending his good wishes as well.” He adds.

Sakura nods. That must be true, but he also has a feeling Nirei didn’t want to interrupt, considering what Sakura’s planning to do.

He’s about to reveal the truth, and tell Suo all about the Code Red project.

It can’t even be considered a break-up, since their romantic relationship was never real to begin with. It’s funny, because it felt like that sometimes. There were times when Suo called himself Sakura’s boyfriend, and it sounded genuine.

“Suo,”

“Yes?” The taller boy looks up as he finishes unpacking the contents of the plastic bag.

Sakura swallows, staring at his clenched fists on his lap.

“Do you hate… when people lie?”

There’s a short moment of silence, but it feels long and loud nevertheless. Sakura can hear the lone fly in the room, and he can see the dust lingering around in the glowing light of the setting sun.

“Don’t you, Sakura-kun?” Suo answers with a question. His voice doesn’t indicate that he knows, but it doesn’t preclude the possibility either. It’s one of those times when Sakura simply can’t figure out what the other’s thinking. He can’t read him at all.

“I’m asking ‘cause... I feel like you’d have a different answer than me.”

“Is that so…” Suo wonders. “Are you, perhaps, expecting something wise from me, Sakura-kun?” He teases.

“Just...!” Sakura reddens. “Just answer the damn question!”

“Well, let’s see…” Suo looks to the side, towards the fading rays of golden in the room. “It’s true that the answer may seem obvious, but sometimes there’s more to lies than deceit and dishonesty. When one decides to lie, there can be a thousand reasons behind it. People don’t always mean to cause harm by not telling the truth, or hiding something. So, I suppose I wouldn’t be as fast as to judge immediately.”

Sakura takes his time to digest those words.

“That being said,” Suo adds in a cheerful tone to lighten the mood. “I prefer when someone’s honest.”

“Even if it hurts?” Sakura asks, maybe way too quickly, because Suo’s smile drops. He seems a bit taken aback, and that’s pretty rare.

Nevertheless, his smile returns just as fast.

“Sakura-kun, why don’t we go for a walk?”

The other looks up.

“A… walk?”

“Mhm! You look like you could use some fresh air.” Suo suggests, and he intends to sound more comforting than mocking. “And the Christmas lights are finally up in Makochi. It’s really pretty all around, especially in the evening.”

Well, that doesn’t sound half bad, and even if it did, Suo wouldn’t accept no for an answer. Before Sakura knows it, he’s already wrapped in the cherry red scarf he had previously borrowed from him. It’s a bit embarrassing to wear it around Suo, Sakura should have given it back by now. Although, he’s the only one who seems to be bothered by it. Suo has been using another scarf lately. It’s a bit lighter in color and thickness. It’s possibly not as warm as the one Sakura is wearing, but does the job alright, he assumes.

By the time they leave the house, the sky has turned completely dark. The stars, however, they shine brightly enough, not the mention the colourful lightbulbs that decorate the buildings and the tall trees. Sakura spectates with awe twinkling in his eyes. It’s truly so beautiful and cozy, with families, friend groups and couples walking around with hot drinks in their hands. Some are out to walk their dogs; others are window-shopping or grabbing something to eat. It’s much busier than during the day, when the town is grey and gloomy.

Suo suggests to get some tea, and Sakura nods shyly. He doesn’t drink much tea, he prefers water—or rather, that’s what he’s used to. But it’s also true that he’s tried different drinks after coming to Furin and making friends. Tea is not so bad, especially if he can drink it while walking by Suo’s side.

The taller buys their tea from a street vendor, and when he hands it over to the other, Sakura notices the paper cup says Winter Special with little stars and human-shaped smiling cookies. The design looks a bit strange, but not necessarily ugly strange. It’s what Kiryu would call cute. That’s the best way to describe it.

Now that he thinks about it, these cookies seem similar to the ones Kotoha had baked, when she was preparing for the children’s Christmas gathering. She kept complaining about having to bake several batches, because the kids couldn’t stop stuffing them into their mouths. Sounds like a pain, but that’s not the point.

“Have you ever tried gingerbread, Sakura-kun?”

Sakura feels as his face heats up, but he hopes Suo can’t make the color out in the dark. On the other hand, he probably doesn’t have to see shit to know Sakura’s embarrassed. It’s quite obvious.

“No…” Sakura admits and tears his gaze away from the funny looking cookie design to drink some of the tea instead.

“What a shame. It’s really good.”

Now Sakura’s curious.

“What’s it like?”

Suo also takes a sip before answering.

“It’s—” He begins, but soon his focus wanders somewhere else, away from Sakura. The grade captain turns to see what he’s looking at, but he can’t spot anything strange in the dark.

“What’d ya see?”

Suo shakes his head with a smile, and starts again.

“Gingerbread is mostly sweet, with lots of sugar and honey. But it’s also a little bit spicy, thanks to the cinnamon and other spices. It creates a pleasant, playful harmony.” Suo explains, and funnily enough, that description sounds familiar to Sakura.

“And it’s very popular around Christmas time, mainly because it’s easy to make and fun to decorate. Even children can do it.” Suo adds. “I am sure we can buy some from the vendors, if you’d like to try.”

“No, ‘s fine.” Sakura dismisses, deep in thought. There’s something he needs to do before he goes to bed tonight, and he hopes he doesn’t forget it.

After the educational lesson on Christmas cookies, they continue their evening walk in Makochi. It’s fun to look at the pretty lights and windows, but after finishing their tea and spending a while outside, Sakura’s body grows considerably cold, especially his hands. Needless to say, he doesn’t have gloves. Back in the city, the winters had been cold enough, but he didn’t expect Makochi to be similarly low in temperature during the winter.

“Should we head back, Sakura-kun?” Comes the question with Suo’s usual perfect timing. “I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

“I-I won’t!” Sakura growls, which makes Suo laugh.

“It’s not like you are free to decide. Come on,” The taller holds his hand out for him. “I’ll keep your hand warm until we get you home.”

Sakura stares blankly.

Until it hits him.

“Huh?! N-No way!” He protests, stepping away from Suo.

The rejection has little to no effect on the other. If anything, he sees it as a challenge.

“But isn’t it normal for couples to hold hands, Sakura-kun?” Suo presses with a teasing tone, his smile devilish. “If you continue to treat me so coldly, I might start thinking you are not even serious about dating me.”

At this point Sakura’s pretty sure Suo is the spawn of Satan, or something. He must have crawled up from Hell itself.

So damn annoying.

“Fine! Just shut up already!” Sakura takes Suo’s hand with a loud slap, but the other’s self-satisfied grin is only fuel to the fire. He wishes he had punched him back in his house for real, when he thought Suo was an intruder.

“Good,” Suo says with a softer tone, pulling on Sakura’s hand and shoving it into his pocket along with his own as they start walking back.

Sakura’s a bit startled, and it makes his heart skip a bit. He’s so flustered he can’t even say anything. He follows the rhythm of the other’s steps with his own feet, walking closely by his side in silence.

It’s so warm in Suo’s pocket, which makes no sense at all.

No, it’s in all of his body. Every part of him is suddenly burning up, with this stupid, unbearable flame of embarrassment. Sometimes Sakura wishes he was better with emotions, but then again, right now… He almost doesn’t mind feeling things so ridiculously strongly.

Because, this kind of embarrassment is not so bad. It’s almost nice.

“Are you feeling better, Sakura-kun?”

Sakura-kun this, Sakura-kun that…

It should be illegal for Suo to call his name so tenderly, over and over again. It’s making Sakura nauseous, like the world is spinning around him, and he’s about to fall.

Fall for him harder.

“Yeah,” He replies, barely audible.

But Suo hears it, of course, and glances at him from the corner of his eye.

“Another successful date, huh?” He chuckles after noting, squeezing Sakura’s hand in his pocket. The other attempts to hide, but it’s not so easy when they are so close, and practically stuck together.

On second thought, maybe there’s no need for Sakura to hide. Maybe this is okay, holding Suo’s hand and spending time with him, only the two of them.

Surprisingly, Sakura’s the calmest when Suo’s around. It may seem like Suo is the one following him around, teasing him and going on his nerves more often than not, but Sakura knows he would gravitate towards the other anyway. There’s something pulling him in.

He doesn’t know whether it’s the same for Suo, the reason why he’s always around. Why he stays so close, despite Sakura’s several fuck-ups in the past. He’s never tired of explaining things, and helps him reflect. In tough situations—No, in every situation, Sakura finds himself thinking about him more and more.

Does Suo think about him a lot, too?

Does he also feel stupidly happy, whenever Sakura smiles at him?

Well, Sakura doesn’t smile often, so there’s that.

“Looks like we’re here,” The taller points out as they reach Sakura’s home.  

He looks up, and indeed, they have reached his house. He immediately pulls his hand out of the other’s pocket, stepping away from him also. Suo doesn’t seem particularly hurt or surprised by that, almost as if he’d expected it.

“Well then, see you tomorrow, Sakura-kun? Don’t skip school again.”

“Yeah…” Sakura replies as he approaches his door. His hand is already on the handle, but hesitating.

He can hear as the other turns and begins walking away.

His heart races, and he feels hot again.

“Suo!”

He turns, and Suo glances back at him curiously.

“Yes?”

“It’s just—” Sakura struggles, barely finding the words he’s searching for. “Thanks… for today.” He blurts out with glimmering eyes, and a small yet genuine smile.

It’s quiet in the neighbourhood, and the night lights are not as bright in this street as they had been near the market. Even so, Sakura manages to catch a glimpse of surprise on Suo’s face in the dark. It’s almost as if he’s…

But it lasts for a split second only.

“My pleasure, Sakura-kun. Sleep well tonight, okay?” He replies cheerfully, waving before he turns to leave once more, his figure slowly fading into the night.

After a well-deserved warm shower, buried under the blanket…

Sakura wonders whether he’s really seen a faint blush appear on Suo’s cheeks.

◊

The red-light district is a pretty fun place, actually. At first the buzzing, crowded atmosphere was a bit too much for him, but the more he visited various bars and clubs to see Shizuka and Tsubakino perform, the more he got used to this overly-lively place.

Besides, there’s much more to the famous red-light district than live entertainment. The Furin students have found several shops, concert venues, as well as arcades. In fact, Kiryu has discovered the best arcade ever, called NEONIS, and he makes sure to drag all of his friends there at least once a week, usually during the weekend.

Although he still sucks at video games – and every type of game, let’s be honest – Sakura enjoys going to NEONIS with his friends. He participates in matches quite often now, and even tries single-player games without being forced by the others. His favorites are fighting games, obviously, but he quite enjoys shooting games as well. If he had to pick one that he dislikes, or rather downright despises, it would be the racing car one. Somehow he always drives off the road and ends up falling into the sea. There’s something wrong with that game. It has those bugs or whatever… He doesn’t know what those bugs really are, but he’s heard Kiryu complain about them before while playing his gatcha games on his phone.

“Any luck, Sakura-kun?” Suo asks, leaning closer to see whether the other has caught any of the cartoon character plushies with the claw machine.

Of course not.

“This’ dumb as hell. I hate it,” Sakura grumbles under his nose, but continues the struggle.

“Haha, don’t give up! You almost got it last week!” Suo giggles, hands behind his back. He mostly spectates while the others play, as he’s not much of a gamer either. Although, Sakura believes that in his case it’s a matter of preference, not skill.

After three more attempts, Sakura’s considerably pissed off at the claw machine. Luckily, Kiryu appears beside him before he could land a good old kick of frustration. The pink-haired boy quickly pulls the other away before the owner of the place could kick them out due to Sakura’s behavior.

“Sa-ku-ra-chan! Give it a rest!” Kiryu attempts to keep him away from the evil machine, while Suo doesn’t even try to hide his amused smile in the back.

“Ain’t my fault! ‘S the stupid bugs!” Sakura fumes tirelessly.

“Claw machines don’t have bugs, Sakura-chan! They are just tricky! Now come on,” Kiryu has no other option but to use brute force, grabbing his friend’s jacket and dragging him outside. “Let’s get something to drink and cool you down.”

Sakura puffs his cheeks like a sulking child, but gives up eventually. He allows Kiryu to drag him outside the arcade, where he wraps his—Suo’s cherry red scarf around his neck tighter, hiding half of his face behind it. It’s routine at this point.

The red-light district is even more dazzling and lively during this time of the year. A whole other world compared to the rest of the town. The Christmas decorations are truly over-the-top, nearly blinding. Not to mention the fast-paced and noisy flow of the crowd, which is making Sakura nauseous.

However, it’s true that the chilly air calms him down bit by bit as it enters his lungs, and the vitamin water Kiryu’s got from the vending machine is refreshing as well.

“You know, Sakura-chan, I’ve been meaning to talk to you privately, so I guess this opportunity is as good as any.” Kiryu reveals, which awakens Sakura’s curiosity.

“What’s it about?” He asks, focusing his attention on his classmate.

Kiryu leans against the wall with his back as he opens his own drink. The can suggests it’s something strawberry flavoured, the color matching his hair.

“It’s about Code Red.”

Sakura says nothing. He merely averts his gaze, staring at the ground.

He’s almost forgotten about that stupid group chat.

“I assume you remember our last conversation there?” Kiryu asks after drinking some.

Sakura nods. His hands are getting cold, and he’s starting to feel uneasy.

“Well…” Kiryu continues, and the anxiousness grows into a thick knot in Sakura’s stomach, because he knows where this is going.

“You still haven’t told Suo-chan the truth, right?”

Shit.

Here it is, and Sakura knows this conversation has been long overdue.

Even though the decision had been made by none other than him, Sakura never really followed through with it.

He never broke up with Suo.

The reason being… That night together. When Suo got worried about him skipping school, and brought him medicine, and fruit, and then took him out on a walk—on a date, which felt like a real one. It was so nice, torturously pleasant to a point where Sakura didn’t want their relationship to end, despite the whole thing being fake.

Despite the big fat lies.

But, is it truly, genuinely a hundred percent fake, if it’s only him knowing the truth? Suo may think it’s real, and that means their relationship is only half fake. Like, fifty percent at most.

Sakura hides his face deeper behind the scarf that barely smells like a lotus pond at this point. The sweet scent is lost, similarly to the way Sakura has lost himself somewhere between the lies. Because it’s been nice to spend more time with Suo, listen to his dumb yet innocent teasing while he pours tea for both of them. It’s been nice to stay out after patrol and simply wander around the town, greeting the usual faces together. It’s been nice to be called something special, more than a friend, an ally, and a captain.

And so Sakura selfishly kept taking advantage of… of whatever this is.

But Kiryu’s right.

“I’ll break up with him, at the Christmas Party.” Sakura says eventually. “But there’s something I needa do first.”

The other doesn’t fail to notice the lingering nostalgia in his voice, nor the saddened eyes.

“Sakura-chan, I am... Sorry, I didn’t notice this at the time. If breaking up is not what you want, then you really don’t have to—”

“No, I do.” Sakura replies with more confidence this time, looking up at his friend. “And I will.”

Their eyes meet, and Kiryu holds onto his gaze for a while. Perhaps he’s hoping for Sakura to give up first, but he doesn’t.

So he sighs.

“You are real stubborn, Sakura-chan!” He finishes his drink and throws an arm around the other. “Let’s see what happens at the party, then! I don’t think Suo-chan’s that easy to break up with, you know?” He adds with a sly smile, which gives Sakura the shivers. Kiryu can be so creepy at times.

What happens at the party, huh.

For Kiryu, it might seem like a fun event to look forward to, but as for Sakura… Well, personally, he’s not all that thrilled. There are some things he needs to do, some things he needs to figure out… If anything, it’s making him incredibly anxious.

For the rest of the day, Sakura’s not approaching Suo at all. Though, it’s true that it’s usually Suo who approaches him. However, Suo’s having a quite engaging conversation with Nirei in the back, about that stupid Nightcallers group, or whatever. Sakura has more important matters to worry about right now. Either way, it’s fortunate that his supposed boyfriend is busy being a know-it-all, and won’t bother him too much on their way home from the arcade.

At home, Sakura takes a quick bath, buries himself beneath his fluffy blanket, and after some hesitation – very, very long hesitation – he pulls his phone close to his pillow. He then picks it up and searches for a specific name in his contacts.

He rephrases his text over and over, all two entire sentences, until he’s somewhat satisfied and the least embarrassed about it. Just as he presses on send, another notification pops up on his screen.

His eyes slightly widen when he recognizes the sleek little white teapot profile picture.

蘇枋🍵: Sakura-kun, are you awake?

桜🌸: what do you want

蘇枋🍵: Aww, is that how you’re supposed to speak to your boyfriend who’s worried about you?

Sakura blushes and curses to himself under the blanket.

桜🌸: whatever

桜🌸: why are you worried

蘇枋🍵: You looked troubled today.

蘇枋🍵: After talking to Kiryu-kun, that is.

蘇枋🍵: I wonder if there’s a reason? Was it something he said?

Maybe?

Well, partly.

桜🌸: no

桜🌸: it’s not like that

蘇枋🍵: Then what is it? You know you can tell me.

桜🌸: just tired is all

He taps on send and tosses his phone away. A faint sound of vibration can be heard afterwards, but Sakura doesn’t check the notifications anymore.

It’s getting really difficult to keep this act up without telling Suo the truth. He doesn’t want to lie anymore, and he knows he shouldn’t, but it can’t be helped. Even if it’s taking a toll on his psyche, Sakura doesn’t want to face this whole issue just yet. There are two more weeks to go, until he can end this mess on Christmas Eve.

But it’s not going to be easy. Sakura’s got the feeling that Suo is slowly caching on. He’s not sure what the red-head suspects, but in the following days his gaze falls heavier on Sakura than ever before.

Or, perhaps it’s in his imagination only?

Is he becoming fucking paranoid now?!

Sakura grits his teeth and lowers his head, trying to avoid the demanding stare in Suo’s eye the best he possibly can. Unfortunately, his pathetic efforts do little to nothing to calm his own nerves. Even a small drop of rain on his shoulder could trigger him enough to snap.

The unavoidable is awfully close.

It happens mid-afternoon, when Suo and Sakura end up strolling together in town. Luckily, this day’s patrol team consists of two additional students, so they are not by themselves only. It’s mostly Kiryu and Takanashi who keep the conversation flowing, while Sakura’s being as silent as a dead fish. Suo inserts a few comments here and there, but his eye remains focused on the captain. Studying, scanning, calculating.

Sakura feels it, obviously, but he’s not willing to make his job easier. He wishes he could bark at Suo, and ask “Why’re ya starin’ at me like that, you got a problem?!” – or the sort. But giving way to emotions wouldn’t be smart. Everything’s blurred now, at least in his mind, so it’s better to keep every little reaction locked inside. At least for now.

He’s so lost in thought he forgets about Suo’s heavy gaze entirely, until someone pokes his waist from the side.

“What the—?!” Sakura jumps, startled and annoyed at the same time, but when his eyes find the culprit, the rest of the sentence gets stuck in his throat. He spots Suo, standing in the shadow of his inscrutable smile.

Sakura quickly turns his head, trying to find the other two. There’s a moment of deep panic, thinking that maybe he’s made those two people up in his head to feel better about today’s patrol, but fair enough, Kiryu and Takanashi are present – although they are fairly distant in the front. Sakura must have spaced out, which caused his pace to drop, and Suo must have fallen behind with him.

When Sakura looks back at the taller, the smile is still there.

Unwavering.

“Is everything okay, Sakura-kun?”

“Well, uh,” Sakura rubs the sensitive spot where Suo had poked him. “Other than ya pokin’ me for no goddamn reason, yeah,”

“Did it hurt? I’m sorry,”

“You better be,” Sakura murmurs as he averts his eyes. “I ain’t a weakling but you coulda gone easier on me. That might leave a bruise or somethin’.”

Sakura doesn’t know why he says that. He’s never complained about scars or bruises, because usually, he doesn’t give a shit. He couldn’t care less about injuries being painful or messing up his appearance. That comes with being a delinquent.

But somehow, with Suo – and this is a very disgusting thought, but regardless – he can allow himself to care. To be considered fragile, even. He’s always had to be strong, and so it’s nice to take it easy once in a while. And who’s more suited to see that side of him than Suo? He knows best that messing with Sakura is the worst gamble there is. He’d never associate this vulnerability with weakness.

Moreover, Suo’s… gentle.

Well, with him at least.

Most of the time.

“Ah?” Suo’s eye widens, and a playful sparkle ignites within. “In that case, I should see it for myself. I’ll take responsibility for that unsightly bruise, if present.”

“L-Like hell!” Sakura’s cheeks flush heavily as he pulls away, sheltering his alleged bruise with both hands. This nasty bastard doesn’t even think twice before speaking, huh?!

“Bruises don’ show up immediately, stupid!”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s true. Then, in a couple of days—”

“You ain’t gonna see nothin’! Ever! Got it?!” Sakura protests as if his life depended on keeping that spot hidden.

Suo finds that amusing, and finally allows an airy laugh. Usually that laugh makes Sakura feel somewhat awkward and embarrassed, because it means Suo’s teasing has come to fruition, but right now, it’s rather reassuring. He’s glad to see Suo’s genuine smile return.

For a moment it seems like everything’s okay again. Like they are not fake dating, or half-fake dating, and Sakura’s not actively fucking this precious bond up.

But the idyllic scene doesn’t last long, as Suo’s smile suddenly drops.

“Listen, Sakura-kun,” He starts, and Sakura swallows a big one. “I’d like to talk to you about something important.”

Oh.

Oh shit.

“Hold… Hold on,” Sakura begins fidgeting, searching for something in his pockets. Suo watches him patiently, probably trying to figure out what’s gotten into him. Sadly, Sakura doesn’t know the answer to that either. “’S getting’ late, right?!” Sakura asks eventually, shoving his phone screen into Suo’s face.

Suo doesn’t flinch nor does he grant a reaction.

“Sakura-kun, it’s only three in the aftern—“

“Yeah! Ain’t it gettin’ dark at like, four or somethin’?”

Suo tilts his head, looking at him a little harder.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Gotta go!” Sakura drops the phone back into his pocket and sprints away from Suo, trying to avoid Kiryu and Takanashi as well. Although his heart beats loudly in his hears, he can still hear as Takanashi asks “Where is he going?”

He’s not sure if he can’t hear the rest due to being considerably far from them at this point, but there’s no response to Takanashi’s question. 

Suo doesn’t reply.

Needless to say, Sakura is not proud of running away. He regrets it instantly, and it only gets worse from there. It makes him feel absolutely shitty about himself in the coming days. His self-loathing knows no bounds.

Let alone the guilt of lying that he’d already struggled with, now he’s become an even bigger loser by avoiding Suo completely. Like that will solve anything.

Ridiculous…

Even Suo said so; lying can be explained in certain cases, but avoiding the issues… There’s no excuse for being a fucking coward. Sakura is able to tell that much without anyone pointing it out for him.

But he doesn’t want to have that important conversation yet.

He doesn’t want to break up yet.

Not like this.

And so his days pass with minimal to no interaction between Suo and him. It’s odd, to say the least. Suo has been around since day one of his high school life, and it’s almost as if Sakura doesn’t know how to navigate between these walls without him. Additionally, he feels unmotivated and nearly empty when he’s patrolling with other classmates.

He misses Suo.

He’s been asking Nirei to arrange the patrol team-ups in a certain way, and although his vice-captain has been hesitant to comply, he knows about the sensitive situation between Suo and Sakura. Mainly from the Code Red groupchat, but also from Kiryu. Being aware, he can’t possibly say no to Sakura.

Nirei recognizes the drained look in his differently-colored eyes. Usually warm like a glowing sunset, followed by a starry sky. Those telling eyes of Sakura are not so vibrant and lively anymore. Quite the opposite; they are foggy and distant, and it worries Nirei immensely. And so, if avoiding Suo is what Sakura needs momentarily, then so be it. All three of them are close friends, but the blond boy believes this is beyond his jurisdiction. This needs to be settled in the way they want to do it.

Besides, Nirei owes Sakura. It was the Code Red group that had pushed the latter into this situation in the first place. 

“Sakura-san,”

“Hm?” Sakura looks back down at his classmate, but only after he makes sure his name written on the chalkboard stands very far from Suo’s. Certainly in different patrol groups. “What you got?”

Nirei hesitates, playing with the piece of chalk before he finally places it back to where it belongs, into the little wooden box container under the board.

“Y-You can’t avoid him forever,” He ends up blurting out anyway, despite all those fancy, high and mighty inner monologues in his head. As Sakura’s friend, he’s already lost his right to be giving advice, but as Suo’s friend… He has to say something.

He expects to be yelled or frowned at, at least to some degree, but Sakura doesn’t have a particularly strong reaction. He merely averts his eyes, staring at the floor, dusty with white powder. There’s even some on his black sneakers.

“Sakura-san… There’s also—”

“I know,” He says, like he’d told Kiryu days ago. It’s not that he’s stupid and doesn’t realize it, he’s just a coward, and that title has been haunting him day and night, from dawn to dusk. In his sleep, even. He doesn’t want to be a coward, but it’s obvious this problem won’t solve itself.

Regardless, Sakura wishes this wasn’t so obvious for everyone else to see.

Including Suo.

Shit, Suo must have also noticed Sakura’s avoiding him, right? Stupid question, and downright ridiculous to assume otherwise. Suo, who sees through people like no other. Who reads Sakura like a dusty old book.

Sakura squeezes his eyes shut as he walks away from Nirei, ignoring the concern-filled calls of his name from behind.

◊

Another uneventful weekend goes by. Sakura contemplates ditching Suo’s scarf before going out, as he doesn’t feel worthy of it anymore, but… It’s ass-cold outside. Literally freezing. Why hasn’t he bought a new scarf still?? The mystery remains.

Perhaps because the color is nice, like cherr— Sappanwood. And it’s unreasonably comforting, warm, and sheltering. No wonder it reminds him of Suo, even though the lotus pond scent is long gone. It’s still very him.

God damn it!

Why does his every second thought have to be about that idiot? Sakura’s tiptoeing on the verge of insanity. He’s crossed enough lines and so-called boundaries already, why does it never end?! He’s sinking lower and lower, and who knows what’s waiting for him when he eventually makes it to the bottom.

On the brighter side of things, Christmas Eve – aka Umemiya’s party – is just around the corner. This should be over soon. He’s going to be free, and everything will be in order again. Like a Christmas Miracle. He doesn’t know much about those, but he sure as hell hopes they exist, because Sakura Haruka needs every last bit of good-fucking-fortune to survive that night.

He can’t wait for Suo and him to be simply friends again. He can’t wait to talk to him normally – as normal as it gets between them – and not see him as something different. Something more.

Yet that idea scares him as well. Going back to how things used to be with Suo, it seems… dull and lacking, compared to their recent interactions and the times they’ve spent together. Suo’s casual boyfriend comments, and his closeness… His mildly sweet scent and the touch of his hand. Even his shameless flirting is going to be missed, now that Sakura thinks about it.

Is Suo truly that shameless, or maybe that’s a regular way to flirt? The hell knows, Sakura’s far from having enough experience to tell.

Regardless, the way Suo flirts with him, it stimulates something in his brain as well as in the rest of his body. It makes him feel dumb, and giddy, and freaking hell—he doesn’t want to admit he likes that gross thing.

There’s not much happening in town, so he’s done with patrol quite early after school. He exchanges a few words with Tsubakino by the front gates of school after his report – mainly being held up by him – and then continues his way towards Pothos. This should be his last visit before the party, so he expects to feel anxious, but the opposite happens. Surprisingly, he’s focused and filled with pure determination. He’s also in a generally good mood, because he’s finally about to do something nice for Suo. His first decent act in a while.  

He’s clearly deep in thought as he hides his face behind the Sappanwood-colored scarf, making sure his nose is covered as well. No real reason other than the fact that he’s gotten used to wearing it this way. It’s comfy and warm.

Although Sakura has finished patrol considerably early today, it’s still late enough for the sky to be slipping into a darker shade of blue. The café building should be close now, decorated with the pretty Christmas lights, so he starts looking for the illuminated Photos sign.

Since he’s focused on something else, or maybe due to dusk, Sakura doesn’t catch sight of Suo until they are practically up close.

Suo blocking his way.

Saying Sakura’s flabbergasted would be an understatement. He turns to stone on the spot, eyes growing huge in an instant.

“W-What’re—”

“We need to talk, Sakura-kun.” Suo interrupts, which he rarely does.

This cold attitude is giving Sakura the chills. His tone, his posture, and the look in his eye... Even his wording is rather antagonistic.

Last time it had been “I’d like to talk.” but now it’s “We need to talk.”

Not promising, but not surprising either. Sakura’s been walking on eggshells for longer than he would like to admit, doing everything within his power to avoid his vice-captain. Which is as stupid as it sounds, given that he’s the captain of the same class.

Perhaps he’s been way too successful at it.

“’Nother time,” Sakura sighs, like he doesn’t care. “I gotta do other stuff right now,”

“Why are you avoiding me?”

As direct as one would expect from Suo upon being annoyed.

Okay. Right.

Sakura shifts from one leg to another, making sure he’s not truly a statue. “Who says I’m—”

“Never mind.” Suo sighs with disappointment so raw and loud it resonates in Sakura’s eardrums. “We’ll get back to that at a later time.”

Sakura swallows. Why does that sound like a threat.

“I am not exaggerating when I say we need to talk. It’s important.” Suo pushes, but the more he does, the less Sakura wants to hear what he has to say.

“Sure it can wait?”

Now, Suo never raises his voice or throws a fit when he’s angry. Not that Sakura’s witnessed a pissed of Suo many times, but there have been occasions. He knows Suo is a different type of upset.

It’s much worse.

He furrows his brows quietly – which Sakura would possibly miss in the dark if they weren’t standing so awfully close to one another – and replies with one word only.

“No.”

That’s… brief.

And unfortunately, scary as fuck. It triggers Sakura’s fight or flight reflex, which results in him snapping back.

“Don’ be so full of yourself, dammit!”

That’s not what he wants to say. Not even close to it.

But it’s all said and done, and Suo’s expression wavers for a split second that hurts Sakura more than every beating he’s ever gotten, combined.

“Is that what you really think of me?”

Shit.

Suo’s truly skilled at remaining calm in critical moments. He’s as composed as ever, despite clearly hurting by those words. Sakura wishes he would just punch him though—or flip him, throw him, whatever technique Suo usually uses. If he doesn’t, Sakura might end up smacking himself in the face instead. Someone has to do it at this point because why is he being such an asshole?!

He casts his gaze downwards, finally softening his features with regret.

“That’s…not…”

“Sakura-kun, on your left!” Suo warns him out of nowhere.

His voice suggests there’s no time to think, no time to look, and Sakura would trust Suo with his life, so of course, he shifts to his right as fast as his reflexes allow him.

Fair enough, there’s an arm reaching out from behind him. It shoots forward like a bullet, right beside his left ear. From the corner of his eye, Sakura can see a silver stream of light in the dark, and the chilly air is caught in his throat when he realizes the silvery object is a boot knife.

Some fucker tried to cut his ear off.

Suo, who managed to warn Sakura in time, has the conscience to quickly catch the arm before it could try to hurt Sakura again. He grabs it by the wrist, and squeezes it firmly.

“Aiming for someone’s face with a knife is truly despicable.” He lectures, and the animosity is visibly pulsing in his eye.

The stranger in the dark chuckles in a twisted, sick way, and that’s when Sakura notices the dark chiffon sleeve and his black nails.

“That’s… This dude’s from…”

“This is what I’ve been trying to talk to you about.” Suo reveals without looking at him. He’s directing his threatening glare towards the enemy.

Sakura’s both relieved and embarrassed.

“Haha! Famous delinquent Sakura Haruka from Furin High must be protected by a bodyguard, hm? How convenient~ Haha!”

The eerily amused voice upsets both Suo and Sakura, although in different ways. For Suo, it’s merely oil to fire. For Sakura, it’s more like clarity.

“Sakura-kun,” Suo finally glances at him, and Sakura acknowledges it.

“Yeah, I know,” He takes a deep breath and moves farther away from the person behind him, turning to see him properly. He soon realizes it’s not only one, but three people ganging up on them. They are all dressed in black and dusty muted colors, with silver accessories, platform boots and heavy make up.

“So? What will it be, then~?” The creepy guy with the knife asks Suo, as he’s still being held by the red-head’s strong grip around his wrist.

Sakura nods at his vice-captain, and Suo releases him.

Fair enough, there’s the raven tattoo.

“You’ve got two things wrong.” Suo says as he corrects his posture.

“The fuck are you yapping about?!” The shortest of the three asks, visibly annoyed and impatient. “Trying to buy time?”

Suo’s as calm and unbothered as ever. Graceful, like a lily floating on water.

But his eye is glowing in the dark like a bloodstone.

“First: I am not his bodyguard. I am his boyfriend.” He states with a smile as cold as frost. Beside him, Sakura tries his best not to react to that last word.

“Second: He does not require my protection. I merely warned him as an attack from behind can hardly be considered fair, wouldn’t you agree?”

“You think you’re so fucking smart, huh?” The guy with the knife launches at him, so Suo takes position as well.

“I’ll handle this one, Sakura-kun,”

Sakura nods and leaves it to him, approaching the rest of the group. “I’ll deal with ya two losers then,” He grins, cracking the knuckles in his fists.

The grade captain’s first few punches are careful. He wants to make sure these two he’s up against don’t hide similar weapons to the one Suo’s fighting. He’s aiming for their torso, and then quickly checks their coat pockets and boots while they are blocking his punches. Thankfully, Sakura can’t find anything seemingly dangerous.

Once it’s confirmed to be a fair fight – although two-on-one – he allows himself go all in. After swinging his fist to distract the Nightcallers, he jumps and lands on his palms against the ground, delivering a set of powerful kicks. It’s not yet enough to knock them off their feet, but Sakura’s just about to get started.

As soon as comes back to his feet, he punches one of them in the gut, and immediately after he headbutts the other one. The latter immediately blacks out and remains fallen, spread out as a starfish at the bottom of the ocean.

But that punch to the gut wasn’t enough to take the short one out. The one that likes running his mouth. Sakura can’t stand him.

The guy with the raven tattoo runs his fingers through his black hair, trying to see better, but by doing so he ends up smearing some of his heavy make up.

“Hah, ya look fuckin’ ridiculous right now, just sayin’.” Sakura provokes, covering his amused snort as he points at his opponent his other hand. “Ya clown,”

The other grits his teeth in frustration, which is gives him satisfaction. He means to mock him further, but that’s when he feels something warm on his otherwise freezing fingers. He pulls his hand away from his face, realizing it’s indeed blood, although he doesn’t remember being cut anywhere.  

“Where are you looking?!”

“Shit!” Sakura ends up choking as the Nightcaller member grabs his scarf, pulling it towards himself. It tightens around Sakura’s neck, and although his struggle looks really bad on the outside, he knows he can turn things around. His enemy is smaller than him, and hopefully weighs less too. He clutches on his scarf with both of his hands, and it doesn’t take long for him to outpower his opponent.

First he manages to create some space between the scarf and his neck, and once his airways are free, Sakura quickly reaches out at the enemy, grabbing a handful of his long black hair.

“Don’ ya fuckin’…” Sakura grunts, pulling with all his might. “Touch my scarf!!”

He slams the other face first into the ground, knocking his lights out completely. He then decides to wait for a couple of seconds before releasing him, just to make sure this loser won’t get up soon and cause any more trouble.

One, two, three…

Nope. It’s clear as day he won’t get up soon.

Sakura drops him and finally exhales, releasing the pent-up frustration while resting his palms on his knees. It hasn’t been the most exhausting fight for sure, but throwing punches, swinging, kicking and jumping… It’s not so comfortable during the winter, with several layers of clothing and the freezing wind blowing through the night streets.

“Done?”

Sakura looks up, and finds Suo smiling down at him. Looks like he’s uninjured.

Go figure.

Sakura hums to confirm as he straightens his back. He doesn’t even ask about the knife-guy his vice-captain had been fighting. There’s no need.

“Seriously, Sakura-kun,” The taller sighs with an apologetic expression, and begins fixing Sakura’s dishevelled look. “This is just a scarf, don’t be so childish about it.”

Sakura pouts but allows Suo to wrap the soft fabric back around his neck properly.

“’S not…” He murmurs.

“Hm?”

“I said it ain’t just a scarf, ‘kay?” Sakura repeats, blushing.

As a response, Suo smiles fondly. He doesn’t seem to be mad anymore, and it helps Sakura find the courage he’s been looking for. He finally looks him in the eye. “An’ I don’t.... actually think you’re.. full of yourself.”

“I know.” Suo reassures as he finishes styling his scarf. It has a pretty little half-bow on the front.

“S-So…” Sakura clears his throat, glancing around and gesturing at the knocked out bodies. “About this scum…”

Suo sighs. “There have been several sightings of their members around town, myself included. Remember when we went out on a date after you skipped school?”

Of course, how could Sakura forget that evening.

“Yeah…”

“I saw one of them at the market. I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure at the time, but now I’m certain the Nightcallers are spying on you specifically.”

Sakura furrows his brows. “Why me?!”

The taller’s expression suggests he’s been waiting for this very question all along.

 “You heard him, Sakura-kun. You are famous, perhaps they wish to recruit you.” He proposes with a smile.

Sakura makes a disgusted face. That’s not something to be grinning about.

“Or it could be this other thing Nire-kun has found out,” Suo takes a step closer to Sakura. There’s not much distance left between them, and when the other talks, Sakura can not only see his breath in the cold, he can also feel it on his skin.

“W-What...”

“Apparently the Nightcallers are seeking an official base for the first time in their gang history. Until now, they had been using private online platforms to communicate, but as their numbers are increasing, their leader realized they need an actual physical base where they can organize and operate the group activities better. Makochi is possibly to their liking, a potential headquarters candidate.” Suo leans even closer. “You know what that means, right, Sakura-kun?”

Hah! Finally something even Sakura finds easy to answer!

“We’ll send ‘em all flyin’ back to wherever the hell they’ve come from!”

“Correct!” Suo beams, pulling away from his face. “But first, what do we do with these guys…” He blinks at the bodies, miserably spread out on the ground.

Sakura thinks for a second and then approaches one of them, crouching down and going through his pockets, eagerly searching for something.

“Interesting choice, but Sakura-kun…” Suo spectates with a troubled expression. “Robbery is a crime, you know.”

“The hell’s tryna rob these losers?!” Sakura snaps at him before he goes back to searching. “I’m lookin’ for a phone with contacts, or somethin’. We can’t leave ‘em out here in the freezing cold, someone needa pick ‘em up.”

“Is that so?” Suo acts all surprised. “You are so kind, Sakura-kun!”

“Shaddap!”

“Even though they hurt you.” Suo adds with a shift in his tone. A whole other version of him, the one that Sakura wouldn’t want to be an enemy of.

He sounds like he did back at the beginning of this fight, when he stopped that Nightcaller bastard’s attack and thus saved Sakura’s ear. His voice is frighteningly calm yet deeply threatening, and the look in his eye is nothing short of scary either.

It leaves Sakura feeling uneasy but he decides it’s best not to comment on it. He stands up and goes back to Suo after finding a phone.

“This?” He points at the scar on his face. “This ain’t nothin’. Doesn’t even bleed anymore.”

“Hmm…” Suo gently brushes the back of his two fingers against the scar on Sakura’s cheek, and the other is caught off-guard by not only the tender touch, but also by the fond gaze he’s suddenly under. “Still, aiming for Sakura-kun’s pretty face with a knife… I’m not sure I can forgive them.”

What face?!

Sakura feels like it’s suddenly summer, or like he’s flown into the sun directly. He doesn’t know whether he’s going to explode, melt, or spontaneously combust. Possibly all three at once if Suo doesn’t stop saying shit like that with such a soft and affectionate voice.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” Sakura pulls away from him, trying to calm his madly beating heart.

Something’s weird. Suo’s never been so overly protective before. Previously, while they were facing the enemy, he didn’t act like Sakura needed any help protecting himself. On the contrary, actually. But now that they are between themselves only – not counting the bodies on the ground – he’s being… emotional.

But, being upset over an injury is natural, since they are friends and allies, right?

“I am his boyfriend.” – echoes the sentence in Sakura’s mind suddenly, and it takes him back to a very very complicated issue.

Nope. Not right now.

“This has that… lock thing.” Sakura studies the phone instead.

“Should be easy, let me see.” Suo joins him, and he’s seemingly back to normal. “Ah, it’s face recognition. Just go over there and scan his ugly face.” He instructs with a not so innocent smile.

Okay, maybe he’s still not over it completely, but… At least he’s smiling.

Sakura sends a text message to one of the most recently used contacts in the phone before throwing it back onto the Nightcaller guy’s stomach, thinking that’s done and over with. However, the smartphone unexpectedly bounces off the person’s stomach with a silly plop before it eventually lands on a nearby rock, cracking the screen.

“Pffff,” Sakura covers his mouth immediately, barely able to contain his laughter.

Suo sighs, much less amused. “Sakura-kun, don’t be childish.”

“But serves ‘im right, huh?!” Sakura huffs, all high and mighty. “The price for my pr… m-my regular face.” He ends up stuttering by the end. “The scar, ya know.”

“Well, if you put it that way, I suppose it’s okay.” Suo shrugs, accepting. “While we are at it, that scar should be treated. You are on your way to Pothos, I assume? Let’s ask Kotoha-san for the first-aid kit there.” He suggests, and steps over two bodies as he makes his way towards the café building, hands linked behind his back.

At first Sakura finds no fault with the plan, but then it hits him suddenly.

“W-Wait, Suo!” Sakura runs after him, nearly stumbling over the dude with the bigger build.

Suo turns. “Yes?”

“I can do that… by myself.” Sakura blurts out.

The other furrows his brows. He’s not exactly mad mad right now, but rather tired of this game.

“Sakura-kun, please don’t start this again.”

Sakura averts his eyes, his guilt coming back bit by bit.

“I’m not… Startin’ anything’.”

“You’ve been clearly avoiding me.” Suo states matter-of-factly. “As for the reason, I am not sure, and to be honest that bothers me a lot. Was it something that I did? Did I upset you somehow?”

“No!”

“Then why?” He presses. “And what is this secret project at Pothos you mentioned to Tsubakino-san?”

“HUH?!” Sakura lifts his gaze quickly to find Suo’s. “Are ya eavesdroppin’ on me now?!”

Then something strange happens. Something that never happened before. Suo’s the one being speechless, and breaking eye-contact.

Sakura’s impressed by himself for being able to do that. He’s not even angry or anxious anymore. Just purely amused.

“Ha! Ya really did!!” He points at him with a self-satisfied smirk. Who would have thought even this gentleman would spy on others?

“I gotta tell Nirei, he won’t friggin’ believe me!”

Suo clears his throat, ignoring his teasing. “Perhaps I did eavesdrop, but that’s not the point. What’s going on?”

It seems he is serious about this topic, so Sakura’s smile slowly fades as well. There are so many things to say, and Suo deserves to hear them, but it’s still difficult. There needs to be a right way to do it.

“I’ll tell you… at the party.”

Suo’s face tells him he’s not satisfied with that answer.

“Sakura-kun,”

“I promise.” Sakura looks him in the eye. “I’ll tell you… everything. But not right now. There’s something I need to do first.”

The staring contest lasts for a little while longer, but eventually, Suo’s features soften. He’s got a kind look in his eye, and the corners of his mouth turn upwards, just a tiny bit. He’s really, really so prince-like.

“I bet you think you won, but,” Suo pokes Sakura’s forehead playfully. “Truth is, you are just being awfully stubborn.”

Sakura covers his forehead with a hand, but the complaint gets caught up in his throat as the kind look in Suo’s beautifully deep ruby red eye turns somewhat melancholic. He’s usually enthusiastic about pestering Sakura, going on his nerves by pressing all his buttons, so it’s a bit strange to see him like this. Almost weary.

“Glad I’ve got ya annoying ass to tell me the truth then, huh?” Sakura says clumsily, to lighten the mood, and even though he’s aware it all sounds cheesy and lame, when Suo’s smile grows wider it suddenly doesn’t matter.

“How flattering, Sakura-kun!” Suo giggles. “My pleasure!”

“Now go home.” Sakura says awkwardly, trying to change the topic. “Thanks for helpin’ with these losers, but I’ll be fine now.”

It is obvious Suo wishes he could giggle some more and enjoy Sakura’s embarrassment, but he accepts with a nod. “Make sure your injury is treated properly.”  Suo adds as a last comment, reaching out and brushing his thumb over the scar on Sakura’s face once more.

It’s all too sudden for Sakura to react, but thankfully Suo’s touch on his face doesn’t linger for long. He pulls away from him quickly, making Sakura feel almost abandoned.

This is not good for his heart.

Suo is not good for his heart. Especially lately, like on this very day. The vice-captain of class 1-1 takes pride in his composed image, so it’s very odd for him to show such a wide range of emotions in so little time. Today Sakura has witnessed true anger and concern, happiness and unhappiness, and even defeat. So many open doors, so much out and disclosed.

Has Suo always allowed Sakura to see, or is this a new phenomenon?

Now that he understands his own feelings, Sakura has been paying more attention to the other as well. And he’s begun noticing details.

How Suo quickly adjusts and fixes his eyepatch when no one is looking. How he carefully and politely pushes the chairs back at cafés, when his friends forget to do so. How his eye lights up when he’s able to teach someone something new – let it be a genuinely useful thing or a silly fun-fact.

Suo’s just a person, like everyone else.

He’s got likes and dislikes, things that excite him, and he does worry at times too. Sakura doesn’t know why that realization hits so hard. It should be evident, but somehow… Seeing Suo this way is new to him.

“Oh dear, why are you so hot?” Tsubakino asks while taking care of Sakura’s injury, back at Café Pothos. “Is it a fever?!” He pulls away with a violently worried expression.

“I-I ain’t hot!!” Sakura barks, but reddens further.

“But you are literally burning up…”

“That’s bullshit!”

“Hm…” His senior ignores the comment and turns, searching the room with his eyes. “Kotoha-chan! Can you turn the heating down a little bit?”

Sakura’s veins on his forehead are visibly pulsing.

“It ain’t the heating, dammit!”

“Then what is it?” Tsubakino glances back at him curiously.

“It’s his boyfriend, obviously.” Kotoha appears behind the counter, hands on her hips. “Do you even need to ask?”

Tsubakino’s eyes begin to shine brightly under the colourful string lights Sakura had installed a while ago. He then grabs two handfuls of his long silky hair and brings them close to his cheeks, going “Awwwww!”

Sakura already knows he won’t hear the end of this. Damn Kotoha!

But it’s okay, he can endure this today, since it’s for the last time. People won’t be referring to Suo as his boyfriend after the Christmas Party anyway.

“Right! The party is in a few days, you must be nervous! I really hope he will appreciate your gift!” Tsubakino claps excitedly.

“He better,” Kotoha places three mugs on top of the counter, pouring warm milk inside each one carefully. “Otherwise my extra hours after closing will be pointless.”

“But wasn’t it fun?! Spending so much time together recently?!” Tsubakino argues, pressing the band-aid on Sakura’s cheek after cleaning his scar. The amount of force he uses to press is kind of unnecessary. Sakura assumes it’s probably because he’s enthusiastic about the conversation, but still…

He’d like to point that out and take part in the conversation, but he can’t help as his thoughts keep wandering back to Suo, and his gentle touch from earlier. How it made him feel seen and cared about, and how lonely he felt once the other pulled away from him and they parted ways.

He almost wishes he’d allowed that idiot to treat his injury instead of Tsubakino.

◊

Code Red

桐生🌭: Sakura-chan, wanna come to the party with us?

桐生🌭: Or are you going with Suo-chan? ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

桜🌸: i am going alone

桐生🌭: Boring ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

柘浦📒: See you there, Sakura-san!

楡井💪: Don’t be late!

After that, Sakura leaves his phone to charge. It’s about time to get ready.

While looking for an outfit to wear, he wonders why this stupid group chat is still active anyway. They’ve given up on the plan to make Suo blush long ago, yet Kiryu keeps sending messages in Code Red. He keeps dropping hints, and Sakura may not be a relationship expert or whatever, but he’s not stupid, damn it!

He wishes his pink-haired friend would be more considerate of his messy situation, but obviously that’s too much to ask. Now that Kiryu is aware of… things, that are quite new to Sakura himself, he’s being a real menace. He probably thinks he’s helping by trying to set them up for real, but if Kiryu would truly want to make himself useful, he’d give tips on what to wear to the Christmas party.

Not that Sakura has anything other than white t-shirts in his closet, but still.

He feels the need to dress up for the occasion. He’s been to enough events with his friends to know that there are times when a special care for his looks is necessary. Fancy outfits and such. Nirei and Kiryu have so many clothes, and even Suo likes to be stylish, although he’s pretty picky when it comes to shapes and materials. Yes, Sakura has noticed that about him too.

Moving on.

As for Tsugeura… Well, yeah, Tsugeura and Sakura might share the same fate in this regard. Probably the only thing they have in common, apart from fighting. They can’t dress for shit.

His phone buzzes again, so Sakura reaches for it.

桐生🌭: Sakura-chan, make sure you wear the shirt we bought together!

桐生🌭: The black one, you know!

Sakura blushes. Kiryu can read his mind now?!

But it’s a good thing his friend’s memory is better than his own. Sakura has completely forgotten about that black shirt.

It had been Kanji, from Roppo Ichiza, who had this unusual request. He’d asked Sakura to buy some formal clothing, as the Bofurin boys had become regular guests at the bars in the red-light district. It had been an innocent suggestion with some joking undertone, but needless to say, Sakura didn’t take it well. He kept rambling about “Who cares what I wear??” and so his classmates explained why dressing up matters. It’s to show respect for the occasion and towards the people attending.

They even managed to pursue Sakura into buying a dress shirt, although he couldn’t stop frowning upon the ones Nirei picked out for him. All those crazy patterns and vivid colors made him nauseous. In the end, Kiryu threw a plain black shirt into his dressing room, and Sakura eventually accepted that one. The least obnoxious-looking piece of clothing he’d seen that day, and it had a pleasant, thin material that allowed him to breathe normally.

For the amount of money he’d spent on it, one would assume Sakura makes good use of that dress shirt. However, the truth is he’d never had the opportunity to wear it up until now.

Might as well give it a try…

He wonders how Suo will look tonight. The colors of his outfit, his hair… Suo’s hair has gotten long again. He cut it in the summer, but it’s grown since then. Sakura likes it better this way. When it’s longer, somehow it looks shinier and softer too. And the little waves at the bottom are so… He’s not sure what the right word is, but they suit Suo so well.

Great, Sakura’s head is filled with Suo thoughts again. This is hopeless.

He sighs as he rises on his feet, heading in for a quick bath. Afterwards he goes through his clothes in the closet and pulls the black shirt out. Kiryu had warned him about wrinkles back at the store when he’d picked it out, but Sakura sees only a small one, hardly noticeable on the back of the right sleeve. He’s not sure what’s an acceptable amount of wrinkles, but he deems the shirt’s as good as it gets, and probably appropriate to wear.

Before actually putting it on, he goes to the kitchen to check on Suo’s gift once more. He stares at it for a while, battling with his inner embarrassment. Should he really give this to him? What if he doesn’t like it? What if he laughs?!

The questions keep coming until he remembers to check the time, and it’s a good thing he does. He pulls himself together and finally puts his black shirt on, followed by his grey jacket that he pairs with his Sappanwood-colored scarf.

After a deep inhale, Sakura picks Suo’s present up as well and walks out the door.

◊

“Sakura!!”

Umemiya is the first to welcome him, and definitely the most enthusiastic one as well.

“Perfect timing!! Hiragi and Kaji just got back with the tree, c’mon in!” He adds excitedly. “Ya gotta see how huge it is!!”

Sakura peeks as much as he can, but Umemiya’s tall and wide figure is basically blocking his entire view.

“Tree..?”

“Why are you always so loud?” Kotoha appears beside them, startling Sakura. “At least let him take his jacket off first.” She crosses her arms, and that’s when Sakura notices even Kotoha dressed up nicely. Well, more than she usually does, that is. She’s wearing high heels and a purple dress with gold details, matching her gold necklace and big hoop earrings. As for her hair, the brown locks are wavier than usual, and that hairstyle grants her a more mature look. She’s very feminine and pretty.

“Also, give me that.” Kotoha takes the box from him, manoeuvring secretively. “I’ll put it behind the counter for now, call me when you need it.”

Sakura blinks dumbly before he realizes Kotoha is helping him out with Suo’s gift.

“Y-Yeah, thanks.” He approves belatedly, and takes his jacket off, hanging it near the entrance door along with his scarf.

Umemiya then walks him to the main attraction of the party. The famous fir is indeed gigantic, just as Sakura’s senior had described previously. The tallest branch on the top is nearly touching the ceiling, and it’s considerably broad and dense as well, taking up quite some space in the café. Looking at it from a bit closer up, Sakura also notices the rich, vibrant green color, as well as the sweet scent lingering in the air. 

“Amazing, right?!” Umemiya grabs Sakura by the shoulder. “The boys got a truck and brought it all the way from outta town!”

Sakura feels a little sad, staring up at the glorious evergreen. “What a shame, cutting it out…”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t.” Hiragi enters the conversation, standing beside Umemiya. “It’s got a pot.”

“Oh,” Sakura peeks beneath the lower branches, and confirms it for himself. Not that he thinks Hiragi would lie, but still.

“Yeah. Kaji was not willing to buy a ‘dead tree’ so I had to drive over an hour to find one that was being sold with a pot.” Hiragi sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose. “I can’t say I blame him for it, but that kid is giving me stomach-ache worse than Umemiya sometimes.”

Sakura ponders while Umemiya laughs in the back. He didn’t know Hiragi had a driver’s license, but then again, there’s probably a bunch of things he doesn’t know about him. But it makes sense, actually. Hiragi has always been the most responsible member of Bofurin, now that he thinks about it. The leader and the Heavenly Kings are great fighters, but Sakura wouldn’t necessarily trust Umemiya or Tsubakino with non-fight related matters, such as driving. The idea alone terrifies him, and Hiragi probably shares that sentiment. Thus he must have claimed the right – or burden – to become the designated driver figure. Sakura feels a bit bad for him, but he’s also relieved to know.

“Haha!” Umemiya slaps his friend between his shoulder blades. “Sounds like Kaji indeed! Sakura and him have a lot in common, wouldn’t ya say?!”

“Like hell!” Sakura protests, and that makes Umemiya’s laugh resonate even louder.

Well, whatever. Let them think what they want to think. Sakura has more important things to focus on.

“Your classmates are seated over there.” Hiragi points over his shoulder. “Why don’t ya join them and leave this idiot to me?”

Umemiya blinks like a big saddened puppy while Sakura nods and hurries away from them, thankful to be excused. He quickly finds the table his senior referred to, with all four of his friends seated and chatting over some drinks. Including Suo. However, before Sakura could swallow a big one and approach them, a strong hand appears from behind him to cover his mouth, while another one grabs him by the arm and pulls him to the side.

Sakura begins kicking and throwing punches in the air. He’s receiving flashbacks from the other day, when something similar had occurred. He remembers how he’d stumbled upon the Nightcallers for the first time, and how those bastards had attacked him and Suo in such a nasty, sneaky manner. Sakura and Suo had beat their asses back then, but if they want a rematch, Sakura is more than happy to knock their lights out for the second time!

“Dear, it’s just me!” A familiar voice whispers, and Sakura’s body halts. Soon enough he’s released as well.

“It’s… you?!” Sakura whispers back. Although, he doesn’t know why he entertains the idea of whispering. The hell is up with this undercover spy talk?!

“Yup! Just wanted to check you out, before your big entrance, you know!” Tsubakino winks and then begins scanning the other with his eyes. “Ah, looking good! Stylish and handsome!” He approves, making Sakura blush.

Forget the undercover spy bullshit, he’s got a better question: Why is everyone suddenly so interested in his Suo business?

It takes a while to shake Tsubakino off as well, and by the time he reaches the table his classmates have claimed for themselves, Sakura’s already exhausted.

Not a good start.

“Yo, Sakura! A bit late, buddy!” Tsugeura greets him first.

Sakura sighs. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Got held up.”

“That’s okay, Sakura-san! We saved a seat for you!” Nirei presents.

Sakura walks over, but before he could take a seat, he’s met with a pair of glowing green eyes of mischief.

“Ah, I see you are wearing the shirt, Sakura-chan!” The cunning demon sings innocently. “What do you think, Suo-chan? Doesn’t it look great on him?!”

Sakura reddens, and all he wants in that moment is to pick a fight with Kiryu, because why does he have to be so awfully direct and ask Suo, of all people?!

Okay, maybe Suo is the very reason why Sakura wanted to dress nicely for once, but no need to make it so obvious in front of him! Besides, what if Suo doesn’t like how he looks?! Or worse, he doesn’t care at all? Sakura wishes he wouldn’t have to know what he truly thinks.

All these stupid, unreasonable fears again. He wants to leave.

Until Suo turns to him – and God, why does he have to look so ridiculously fine in that white turtleneck and sky blue blazer?

Suo stares for long seconds with his gorgeous big eye of crimson, and when he’s done scanning, an affectionate expression sits on his face.

“You look indeed stunning, Sakura-kun.” He declares with a fond smile. No teasing whatsoever, only the genuine compliment.

Well,

Sakura has never felt so insane. Everything’s itching in his brain, burning underneath his skin, and he feels he could believe anything for this guy right now. If Suo says the Earth is flat, then sure. Whatever.

He even believes when the other says he looks good.

“Sh… Shut up, it’s just a damn shirt,” He mumbles while pulling out his chair and throwing himself down, crossing his arms.

Thankfully, he can resist the urge to stare back at Suo, but Kiryu’s smug smile proves to be even more difficult to ignore. Sakura hates how his friend was right.

“Would you like some hot chocolate, Sakura-san?” Nirei asks, and Sakura nods. That doesn’t sound half bad, actually. He needs something nerve-calming.

While waiting for Nirei to return, a random conversation kicks off. Tsugeura mentions that he’s heard about Sakura’s and Suo’s encounter with the Nightcallers, and asks them to spill the details. Unfortunately, neither Sakura nor Suo are good at telling stories in an exciting way, but as soon as Nirei returns with the hot chocolate for Sakura, he makes everything sound way cooler and more dramatic, including the fading scar on Sakura’s face. He was there when Suo and Sakura had reported the incident to Umemiya, taking notes diligently.

Somewhere in the middle of the conversation Tsubakino approaches their table. He discloses that everyone who was supposed to come to the party has showed up, which means they can start decorating the tree and thus juice up the party in general.

Sakura’s eyes light up, although he attempts to hide it.

He wants to follow the others as they walk to the huge, glorious tree. They all seem enthusiastic and eager to decorate. Sakura wants to be part of it so badly, but he hesitates.

Suo notices.

“What’s the matter, Sakura-kun?” He asks, waiting for him patiently.

Sakura catches up to him and rubs his temple awkwardly. “I’ve never… decorated a Christmas tree.” He confesses. “I dunno how to…”

Suo’s eye widens for a split second before he offers a warm smile. “That’s okay, I’ll help.”

Sakura looks up, perhaps blushing the tiniest bit. Now he’s aware he’s been doing that around Suo a lot, especially lately, but knowing doesn’t change much. He still can’t stop himself from blushing when it comes to him. Ironic, huh…

“Come now,” Says Suo, and takes Sakura’s hand to walk him closer to the tree.

Sakura doesn’t mind the hand-holding. He’s mildly concerned someone might see, but then again, Suo’s holding his hand with such a natural ease, it doesn’t seem or feel odd at all.

“This is a Momi Fir, right, Hiragi-san?” Suo asks, and their senior nods.

“That’s right,”

Sakura can’t deny being impressed by the supposedly endless library hidden in Suo’s brain. This is not the first time he recognizes a plant by the looks of it alone, addressing it properly and describing its symbolic meanings and sharing other useless facts about it. And he does that with not only plants, but so many other things.

Suo being not only street smart, but also book smart, is rather annoying at times. But it’s also… kind of attractive, Sakura admits.

“Well, you see those boxes over there?” Suo points, and indeed there are several boxes of Christmas tree ornaments and ribbons. The other Furin students are already picking them up. “Sometimes there’s a theme for tree decoration. Colors, for example. But the way I see it, there’s no fixed theme for this tree.”

“How can you tell?” Sakura asks.

“I heard Umemiya-san has collected these ornaments from around town. Possibly donations from the townsfolk. It would be difficult to stick to a specific theme when the ornaments are so versatile in shape, material and color.” Suo explains. “That makes your job easy, actually. Just pick anything that catches your attention.”

Sakura is still not confident enough to proceed, so Suo glances at the tree and continues.

“The branches of the Momi fir are quite sturdy. Big and heavy ornaments should be fine too, as well as smaller delicate ones. It’s really up to your preference only, Sakura-kun. Go all out and have fun.” Suo adds an encouraging smile, his tassel earrings dancing happily as he turns back to him.

“F-Fine. Got it,” Sakura mutters as he averts his gaze, noticing that they are still holding hands. Is it okay to let go now? He can’t decorate like this, can he?

“Sakura-san!” Nirei calls for him, and he immediately pulls away from Suo, startled.

“What now?!” Sakura growls, like he’s about to bite, but his vice-captain is momentarily too thrilled to be scared off.

Nirei extends his arms towards him. “Here, this one looks like a snow globe! It’s really pretty!”

Sakura leans forward, peeking curiously. He’s never owned a snow globe, let alone a snow-globe-resembling-ornament, so he finds it indeed fascinating. He accepts it from Nirei, turning the ball in his hands and studying the tiny white bits flowing inside. His eyes are glimmering with wonder while doing so.

Once he’s done being awe-struck, he looks at Suo.

“Should I…?” He asks dumbly, glancing at the tree and then back at the other.

“Most certainly.” Suo replies with a warm smile, and the approval fills Sakura with immense joy. He can barely control his face.

This is his very first ornament, and his very first opportunity to decorate a Christmas tree with it. He takes a step forward, closer to the tree, although still hesitant. What if he places it wrongly, and it doesn’t look good? Or if it falls and shatters?

But then Sakura remembers Suo’s comforting words. That it’s okay to pick whichever decoration he likes, and place it anywhere. The branches of the tree that he’s already forgotten the name of are supposed to be sturdy, right? If it’s Suo who said so, it must be true.

And so the captain of class 1-1 hangs his first ever ornament on his first ever Christmas tree. That act officially commences the main event of the party: the tree decoration. Suo joins Sakura and hangs a few ornaments and bows himself. He mainly picks small and delicate ones, while Sakura looks for big and extravagant pieces along with Nirei. Even the terribly distasteful ones, he’s fascinated by them in a way – and then he gives them to Sugishita to piss him off.

About an hour passes, filled with lively chatter over the festive music in the background. Everyone’s happy to be part of the decoration process, surrounding the tall fir.

In the end, Umemiya applies the final touch by placing the star-shaped string lights and the glorious yellow topper. He needs some help from Hiragi, the latter holding the not-so-robust ladder under the Bofurin leader’s reckless movements. Even Tsubakino feels somewhat anxious while watching, but as soon as Umemiya is safely back on ground level his worries cease to exist and only a relieved smile remains.

Following Umemiya’s safe return, Kotoha switches the main lights off in the café, and a magical silence covers the entire place.

The tree they have decorated glows beautifully in the dark, as if it were a divine creature born from pure grace. The different colors and shapes of the ornaments complement each other remarkably well, hanging in lovely harmony on the strong branches of the magnificent Momi fir. Simply by being close to something so grand, and so outstandingly bright and brilliant, Sakura feels like he’s part of a fairy-tale.

And as he looks around himself, he feels this is definitely a dream come true. To be part of this, and to share this view with so many people, each and every one of them being so dear to him.

Especially…

Sakura means to say something as he turns to Suo, but Umemiya cuts him off by declaring that the string lights have different settings. With a press, the beautiful glow is now pulsing vividly, and the decorated tree comes alive. It’s nearly dazzling to Sakura’s sensitive eyes, and he’s close to tearing up. Maybe it’s the lights, or maybe it’s because of something else. 

“Very well!” Umemiya claps, his palms pressed together. “I think it’s ‘bout time for the presents, if yer have any!”

Sakura’s eyes grow wide open and his heart skips a beat. He starts looking for Kotoha, but lucky for him, the café employee appears in front of him, finding Sakura like a lost lamb. She winks as she slips the box into his hands slyly, and then vanishing in the dark as quickly as she had appeared.

Sakura doesn’t even have time to think this over. He knows he needs to collect his thoughts and figure out what to tell Suo exactly, but those plans fly right out the window as the other calls for him first.

“Sakura-kun,” He approaches, giving Sakura a decent heart-attack by doing so. “Do you have a minute?”

Sakura awkwardly hides the box behind his back. He’s sure Suo’s seen it already, but acts his part anyway.

“Y-Yeah!” He replies, and follows Suo as he walks to the other side of the tree. They are safely hidden in this corner of the café, which gives Sakura some sense of solace.

And that’s also when he notices the small silvery gift bag in Suo’s hand.

Sakura feels hot, like steam is about to shoot out of his ears.

“Perhaps you should go first,” Suo suggests. “Since you seem to be very nervous, for some reason.”

Now Sakura’s annoyed by his teasing smile.

“No, ya go first!” He presses stubbornly.

Suo laughs with ease, and that sound fills Sakura with a pleasantly familiar tingling in his stomach.

“Sure, I can. Here,” Suo lifts the gift bag, waiting for Sakura to take it. However, the other doesn’t, since… his hands are not-so-secretively grasping something behind his back.

After a few seconds it’s starting to get awkward, so Sakura swallows his pride and looks away as he asks.

“C-Can you… open it for me?”

Suo covers his mouth as he snorts, giving Sakura another dose of instant dopamine by doing so.

“Of course,” He replies afterwards, reaching inside the gift bag with his other hand, pulling out a number of items. It’s quite dark despite the glowing lights of the tree, but Sakura recognizes the cherry— no, Sappanwood color, and the textile material.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve grown quite fond of the scarf I gave you,” Suo starts. “I obviously have no intention of taking it back anymore. Instead…” He puts down the bag on the table nearby so his hands are both free to showcase the items. “I got you gloves and cute earmuffs in the same color to match with it.”

Sakura raises an eyebrow dumbly. He knows what gloves are, but…

“The hell is an earmuff?!”

“Glad you asked!” Suo throws the gloves back into the bag and turns to Sakura once again, now promoting the mentioned item only. The color is fine, surely the same as the scarf Sakura had borrowed ages ago, but the two ear-warming pieces are a bit...

They are shaped like bunny heads.

Why?!

Sakura feels conflicted, until Suo quickly puts the earmuffs on his head.

“There! You look adorable, Sakura-kun!” Suo sings happily, and Sakura can’t hate this stupid thing when Suo says something like that, can he?!

Moreover, he’s kind of… touched.

He was supposed to give that scarf back to Suo eventually, but yeah, he’s definitely grown fond of it. No doubt, no denial. It’s nice of Suo to say he can keep it. It’s even nicer of him to give Sakura some matching pieces, even if they look fucking ridiculous. He’s going to cherish them for sure.

Despite being embarrassed to the core and blushing aggressively, Sakura looks at Suo while still wearing the bunny-shaped earmuffs, and forces out a shy yet honest “Thank you.”

Suo’s eye seemingly twitches, but Sakura’s too focused on his own struggle to notice.

Once that’s done, Suo removes the earmuffs – since Sakura’s hands are still hidden behind his back – and drops them back into the gift bag as well.

“So, what are you hiding?” He asks curiously.

Sakura swallows hesitantly, but eventually reveals a small tin box with a Christmassy pattern of red and green bows, and hands it over to the other without saying anything. Suo blinks a couple of times, genuinely clueless, but proceeds to accept the gift.

He takes off the lid of the tin box carefully.

“This is…” Suo mutters, staring like he doesn’t recognize the obvious content of the box.

“Gingerbread,” Sakura finishes it for him, averting his eyes. “I made ‘em myself.”

Suo looks up, even more astonished by the additional information.

“You did?”

“Kotoha showed me how, n’ Tsubaki supervised, but yeah… I did.” Sakura reveals. Tsubakino was more like a bother than a help, but anyway.

Suo slowly puts two and two together. “So this is why you’ve been so secretive and distant lately? Preparing my gift?”

That question is a tough one.

“…Sort of.” Sakura decides to say briefly.

It’s definitely only the damn cookies. Totally not because he’s a loser who’s fallen for a close friend and is unable decide whether it’s better to break up or go out for real.

It takes a while for Suo to digest the information, but once he’s done, he doesn’t seem that surprised anymore. He’s studying the cookies carefully. “The decoration is rather impressive, Sakura-kun.” He comments.

“Ah,” Sakura shifts closer to him, pointing at the cookies inside the box. “Tsubaki suggested heart-shapes and corny stuff like that, but I thought t’ was too much, so I went with trees n’ dolls…”

“I see…” Suo says fondly.

“Here, this one’s you.” Sakura points at a gingerbread figure with red hair and a sloppy attempt for an eyepatch. He sounds quite proud of it. “Took me like three days and five tries in total, but looks kinda cool, huh?!”

“Sakura-kun,”

“Yeah?” Sakura looks up.

Suo puts the lid back on the box, and gently places his present on the table next to the silvery gift bag.

“Why did you make these for me?”

Sakura tilts his head, saddened. He’d really thought Suo would appreciate his hand-made gift.

“You don’ like it?”

“Oh, I do, very much.” Suo smiles. “I’m just curious.”

Sakura crosses his arms. “You like teacakes, right? So that. And, I guess…” He halts, looking away. Suo looks way too handsome under those magical lights. “When ya told me about gingerbread cookies the other day… They reminded me of you.”

Suo is a little bit lost.

“Why?” He asks.

Sakura struggles. He unfolds his arms, and holds one of his wrists with his other hand, tensing up. He had strongly hoped he wouldn’t have to explain this in great detail, but here goes nothing. Even if Suo makes fun of his reasoning, the time has come for Sakura to speak his truth.

“’Cause you’re… sweet, b-but also spicy.”

God. Sakura can’t believe he just said that. Aloud. He wants to sprint and hide from everyone and everything forever, especially Suo. There’s no way he won’t dream about this embarrassment for the rest of his life, but at least for years to come.

He wishes the other would laugh already. He wants it to be over as soon as possible. But instead, the ominous silence lasts longer and longer. It’s draining to be waiting for a reaction, while the fear weighs on Sakura’s heart like a heavy boulder.

He can’t take it anymore, so he glances up to see Suo’s expression.

There’s no sign of derisive laughter or teasing on his face whatsoever. He’s as peaceful as the waves of the sea on a clear day, and as ethereal as the full moon, gracing the night sky with its presence.

There has always been a superior air around Suo, from as early on as Sakura can remember. It used to bother him to an extent, until he realized it’s not something that Suo does on purpose. It’s how he is, as a person. Always above, so distant and difficult to read. The more Sakura wishes to clear the fog between them, the farther he drifts from him.

It’s only getting worse due to this goddamn dating thing. It lingers in the air, the unbearable tension of not-knowing. Sakura wants to fight his way through all those glass walls and unravel Suo’s side of the same story. To see where they stand, to make sense of it all.

But he’s weak.

Sakura feels terribly weak in Suo’s arm as it wraps around him in the dark. He inhales sharply when he realizes how torturously close they are, and how easy it would be to feel the beating of Suo’s heart through his chest. Barely a few centimeters. 

He can feel the brush of the gold tassel earrings when Suo leans in, closing the gap between them, and something tells Sakura to close his eyes. And so he does. He squeezes his eyes shut instinctively, relaxing into Suo’s embrace as he awaits with a burning heart.

For his first—

“…You are so cruel, Sakura-kun.”

Wait,

Who’s what?!

Sakura opens his eyes at once as the arm loosens around his waist.

The first thing he sees is the utter disappointment on Suo’s face. He makes little to no effort to hide it at this point. Perhaps he wants the other to see, to be met with what he feels inside.

It’s devastating, to see Suo like this, but what’s even worse, and what twists the knife in Sakura’s heart, is the sense of betrayal he notices in that gorgeous deep red eye.  

“You come up with such sweet words, and you would even go as far as to accept a kiss? And for what? A prank?” Suo tilts his head with a saddened smile. “You are breaking my heart, you know.”

It can’t possibly be described how utterly guilty, and… just really fucking awful Sakura feels right now. There are a million things racing through his mind. What he feels, what Suo might feel, and all the events of the past month, spent together.

Of course he knew.

Of course Suo knew, it’s so damn obvious. Sakura doesn’t even understand why he had any doubt about it at all, at any point in time.

“Wait, Suo!” Sakura tries, but the other doesn’t wait. Suo’s arm releases him completely, and now Sakura’s feeling cold and rejected. And the worst is that he knows he deserves it.

Still, he can’t let go.

“It’s not like that!”

“It’s not?” Suo asks, seemingly calm, but Sakura knows this is not the right type of calm. He’s definitely upset now.

If Sakura continues to lie to him, this is only going to get worse, right? And he’s not sure if he can handle that.

“I mean, it sorta started out like that, but…”

Suo sighs. He’s ever so perfect at staying composed.

“You shouldn’t have gone so far.”

“Ya shouldn’t have allowed me to!!” Sakura fires back. He’s not nearly as good at controlling himself, nor does he want to in particular.

“Guys,” They hear a familiar voice from the side, and when they turn they recognize their blond friend, peeking from behind the tree. He’s hesitant to interrupt, but decides to do it anyway. “Is… everything okay?”

“Sure, Nire-kun. No worries.” Suo replies with a small smile.

However, Nirei is obviously not convinced. His eyes are filled with concern, and Sakura might even sense some culpability in them.

“I-I’m sorry, Sakura-san,” He blurts out, tears about to fall, and that’s when Sakura finally gets it.

Nirei is not feeling guilty because he’s been part of Code Red. Alright, perhaps that too. Nevertheless, Sakura suspects Nirei might have spilled some details to Suo. Those two practice fighting techniques together a lot, so there had been countless opportunities for Suo to pry. He takes pride in getting people to talk, after all, and Nirei is… Let’s say he’s not the best at keeping secrets anyway.

“Come on, Nire-chan,” Kiryu appears, slowly pulling him away. “Let the boys resolve this between themselves, ‘kay?” 

And with that they are gone.

The air remains so heavy and thick between Suo and Sakura, one could cut it with a knife. The delightful resolve Kiryu had mentioned previously does not seem so easy to obtain.

“Why’d you play along… If you knew,” Sakura stares at his feet as he asks in a small voice. He might not want to hear the answer, but it must be better than this stupid silence.

There’s a short pause before Suo replies.

“I don’t know.”

“What d’ya mean you don’t know?” Sakura looks up. There’s no way Suo just does things without thinking. That’s the polar opposite of what he’s like.

“At first I thought it would be fun, to see where this is going. I knew you had no ill intent, it must have been something silly, and so I was waiting for you to tell me the truth at some point,” Suo reveals, making Sakura’s heart drop. “But you never did. So I asked Nire-kun, and he did say some things, but I guess it didn’t make sense to me. I should have been straightforward and ask you directly at that point, but I figured I quite liked how things were progressing between us. I realize it had been rather foolish and selfish of me, and…”

Hold on—

Why does Suo act like this is all his fault?! Like he’s the one who lied and fucked up?!

Why is he the one to reflect?!

Sakura has never hated himself so much before. He’s shifting the blame on the one who’s been victim to his cowardly actions. The one who’s been endlessly patient and kind to him. The one that does not deserve to be guilt-tripped!

“Stop that, dammit!” He clenches his fists.

The other indeed halts in his speech, focusing his eye on Sakura.

“Ya know it damn well this ain’t your fault so stop that!”

Suo has something unreadable on his face again, but Sakura doesn’t like the look of it.

“I think we are both at fault. I allowed myself to believe your feelings for me had been real, and—”

“’Cause they were!” Sakura confirms, loud and clear, leaving Suo surprised and speechless.

Sakura knows his face is heating up, but whatever. There’s no going back now.

“It did start out as… an experiment, sorta… But everything that I said… I never acted, y’know?!” Sakura covers his face with both of his hands. He’s saying too much, but he can’t keep those things inside anymore. He wants Suo to know.

“I was supposed to be actin’, but I realized… That I wasn’t doin’ that… And I want stuff to stay like this, ‘cause you make me feel so freakin’… Like all those weird stuff that I find super annoying and embarrassing, but still I… I wanna continue to feel like that! Goin’ out on stupid dates with you and… Ya know! ‘Cause I… like… you…”

Sakura exhales after finishing in a tiny voice. He’s feeling dizzy and out of breath after his messy confession. He waits for Suo’s reply with a racing heart, slowly pulling his hands away from his face.

However, when he finally sees the other’s expression, it exceeds all of his wildest fantasies.

Suo’s also hiding. He’s covering his mouth with one hand, looking to the side shyly as his face blooms with deep red.

“S-Suo, are you…?”

He’s blushing?!

Sakura’s floored by the unbelievable sight. This is not even a small blush, he’s practically as red as those big Christmas ornaments beside him, hanging on the tree! Kiryu would call Sakura a fucking liar if he’d try to paint this picture to them later.

Not that Sakura wants to. He finds this side of Suo needs to stay hidden from the public forever. Otherwise…

“Sakura-kun,” Suo clears his throat, and he’s already back to normal. Way too quickly. “In that case, let me try again.”

Sakura furrows his brows.

“Try what—” He means to ask, but in the following moment he’s already being held, and being kissed by Suo.

On the lips.

This is his first kiss, but it’s perfect. He couldn’t imagine it with anyone else. Suo’s the only one he wants, and it makes him happy to know Suo feels the same way about him. He can tell from the way he holds him, and from the way his lips press against his own.

Sakura was truly right when he called Suo sweet. He really is so soft and sweet. Exactly the touch of tenderness Sakura needs. He closes his eyes and leans into his embrace, pressing against Suo’s lips slightly.

They part after a few seconds, and Sakura feels shy all of a sudden. He’s never been this intimate with anyone, and even though Suo, the one he trusts and wants to be with, it’s still… new. He finds it difficult to face him after the kiss, but the other’s as patient as ever.

“How was it?” He asks with a soft voice.

Sakura finally looks at him, his cheeks moderately pink.

“Good,” He replies.

That makes Suo giggle, just a little bit.

“How about another one, then?” The taller asks, winking and pressing his index finger on his own bottom lip to demonstrate.

Sakura’s a bit conflicted, having a strange feeling about Suo’s undertone, but he agrees nevertheless. He parts his lips to inhale before the kiss, and Suo uses the opportunity to slip his tongue inside the other’s mouth. That’s not something Sakura expected him to do, even though he should have, and so he’s momentarily frozen in place.

But it doesn’t take long for Suo to help him ease into the deeper kiss. He places a hand on Sakura’s cheek, and despite those fingers being a bit cold compared to Sakura’s face burning up, the way they progress to comb through his hair near his nape is weirdly comforting and stimulating.

Sakura closes his eyes and allows Suo to explore, tilting his head and pulling on the fabric of Suo’s blue blazer when the kiss deepens further. He’s not sure if he’s doing it well, kissing him back like this, but it feels satisfying. Addictive.

Sakura’s head is both light and heavy, and he’s driven yet weak in the knees. Like he’s about to fall and there’s nothing beneath. But it’s not scary at all, it’s more like thrilling. As if he’d seek to be pushed down and over and over again.

When Suo finally pulls away, Sakura’s pretty much out of breath. He pants softly against the other’s lips, staring at him hazily.

Needless to say, Suo enjoys the sight very much.

And, obviously, the urge to tease him is strong as well.

“How unexpected, Sakura-kun,” He says mischievously. “You are quite good at kissing.”

“Wh–!” Sakura’s so embarrassed he swears he’s going to fucking cry. “S-Shaddap, will ya! What if someone hears us?”

Sakura believes holding hands is public-safe, somewhat… But kissing and sharing such details is really not!

“Hmm… But,” Suo wraps both arms around him, refusing to let go when Sakura attempts to escape. “Isn’t kissing what boyfriends normally do?”

“W-Well…” Sakura averts his eyes, still red.

“Or, would you rather break up with me, then?” Comes the next question, with an unwavering smile. Regardless of Suo’s perfect mask, Sakura suspects there’s still some doubts hidden beneath.

And now Sakura feels the need to comfort this idiot.

“I never… wanted to break up, y’know.” Sakura blurts out, avoiding his gaze. “An’ I won’t,”

It’s true. He might have planned on it, but he never wanted to truly do it. Hence why they are where they are currently. Still fake-dat— real-dating, or whatever. Sakura can’t keep track anymore. But one thing’s for sure: he’s not going to break up! Even if Suo begs for it at some point! He’s stuck with Sakura now, whether he likes it or not!

“Isn’t that a relief,” Suo exhales and loosens his grip around him mercifully.

Sakura gives him a small smile in return. He’s still learning how to open up and be true to his emotions, but when it comes to Suo, he wants to try his best even more.

“Guys! It’s snowing!” Someone shouts in the café, and Sakura furrows his brows as he turns to the window.

“It was snowin’ last week, too…” He murmurs.

“Yup, but it didn’t stay!” Kiryu replies, casually popping up beside the two.

Sakura leaps out of Suo’s arms immediately. “S-S-Since when—”

“Let’s hope the snow stays this time.” Suo smiles, unbothered by Kiryu’s presence.

Sakura glares at both of them, but eventually sighs and joins the others as they are going outside to spectate the snowfall. He quickly puts on his jacket and scarf, but Suo grabs him from behind and won’t let go until he wears his brand new gloves and his earmuffs.

Sakura rolls his eyes and takes them from him, making sure he complains enough while doing so.  

◊

“Was that the last one of ‘em?” Sakura releases a satisfied huff, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He’s standing over three knocked out bodies, all clothed in black.

“Ya bet!” Tsugeura confirms, throwing another body on top of the bunch.

Nirei also nods, glancing up after checking his phone screen. “Kusumi-san texted me, and it looks like everything’s fine over there too. The remaining members of the Nighcallers are fleeing.”

“Ha! Losers!” Sakura flashes a victorious grin. “Shoulda known better than to pick a fight with Bofurin!”

Someone snorts, and Sakura notices his classmates are all trying to hold their laughter.

“I’m sorry, Sakura-chan,” Kiryu tries, nearly tearing up. “But I just can’t take you seriously with those bunny earmuffs,”

That’s when the rest of the boys break, all at once, and their cheerful laughters fill the entire street. Even Sugishita fails to supress his amusement, turning away to keep some of his composure at least.

Needless to say, Sakura’s beyond embarrassed. He’s blushing violently.

“S-Shaddap everyone! Like I enjoy wearin’ this stupid thing!” He turns to Suo, accusing. “It’s yer fault I look fuckin’ dumb!”

Suo seems as reserved as ever, but Sakura knows he’s savouring every moment of his embarrassment behind that subtle smile.

“You don’t look dumb, Sakura-kun,” The taller approaches, and pulls him closer by his waist. “You look cute.”

“T-The hell looks cute! And quit pullin’ on my waist so casually!” Sakura argues, but doesn’t try to escape. For now.

“Right, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Anzai sighs after his laughter, which felt really good. “Are you guys, like, going out or something?”

It’s quiet for some time. Sakura doesn’t know how to react, so Suo decides to answer instead.

“Yes.”

“Hey!” Sakura glares at him.

Suo puts on an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry, Sakura-kun, but I think it’s time we make it public.”

“Huh? It’s been that long?!” Kakiuchi’s eyes widen. “Since when?”

“Since the last week of November, last year.” Suo reveals.

For some reason, Sakura thought Suo was going to say Christmas Eve, but if they want to be precise… Yeah, technically it was still November when Sakura asked Suo out. It’s been well over two months now, huh…

“Man, I wish you’d told us sooner.” Takanashi adds, and Sakura feels a little bad now. Maybe Suo’s right, these are their friends, and Sakura should trust them more.

“Sorry guys,” He says. “I asked Suo not to tell anyone. ‘Cause I needed to figure some stuff out, y’know.”

There’s a short pause again, but then all his friends smile at him and approach him with hugs and pats on the back.

“Sure! Good you took your time to figure it out!”

“Glad you decided to tell us now!”

“Good for ya guys!”

Ah, shit. Now Sakura feels emotional again.

It really is good for him, to have so many good friends.

And a boyfriend like Suo.

◊

Code Red

桐生🌭: Sakura-chan, it’s been 6 months!!

桐生🌭: You can be honest now!!

桐生🌭: Have you ever seen Suo-chan blush?!

桜🌸: no

THE END ⋆ ˚ ｡ ⋆ ୨୧˚