Chapter Text
- SUO -
Nirei hasn’t gotten to school yet.
That’s odd, because he’s normally here early- sometimes even before Hayato. It’s not that he’s late- there’s hardly a definition for that at a school like Furin, anyways- but the thing is that both Kiryu and Tsugeura have already arrived, and even Sugishita walked in a minute or two ago (before promptly going right back to sleep as soon as he sat down at his desk, of course).
Also, Sakura isn’t here yet.
Hayato has to admit, he’s a little worried. He doesn’t think anything bad has happened- at least he certainly hopes not, but it is unlikely, so he doubts it. That being said… after yesterday, there’s a chance, small but not nonexistent, that things could have taken a turn for the worse. He did talk with Sakura… Nirei seemed alright when he checked on him…
Hayato can’t lie and say that he doesn’t look up immediately when the door to the classroom slides open. Sakura strolls in, and Hayato simultaneously feels a muscle somewhere in his body relax, and another one somewhere else pangs with mild worry.
He’s about to open his mouth and tell Sakura that Nirei isn’t here, but before he gets the words out he notices the blonde in question trot in right behind Sakura, as normal as ever. He even has a little smile on his face, waving cheerily to Hayato as he shuts the door behind the two of them.
Hayato’s mouth clicks shut, looking between the two with mild surprise. Oh. Seems like they worked it out. An affectionate smile wipes the shock off his face, relief making that muscle relax. They really didn’t need my help, huh?
He lets out a small laugh as Sakura and Nirei approach, eyes falling shut. “Well geez, I thought you two were going to do that here,” he says, airy. “Guess I missed it, huh?”
Sakura looks away, hand coming up to the back of his neck as he sits down next to Hayato. “Yeah, whatever. Nothin’ to see anyways, s’not a big deal.”
“Yeah,” Nirei adds, and when Hayato looks over at him he’s wearing a little grin, teeth showing. The blonde leans his chin on one of his palms. “Not a big deal, just working things out with Sakura-san.”
Hayato’s smile widens. He keeps eye contact with Nirei, unspoken words in his mind. See? I told you it’d be ok.
Hayato turns his head back to Sakura, about to tell him something, but he’s interrupted again. A second year opens the door and pokes his head inside, looking around lazily at the classroom. “Oi, punks. Morning patrol. Don’t make Hiragi wait.”
Immediately, the students around them start getting up and heading for the door- if there’s one thing Bofurin members are heady about, it’s being on time when their team captain calls for them. Hayato glances back at Sakura and Nirei, blinking a little before smiling slightly. “Oop. Guess you two were just in time, huh?”
“Uuuuughhhhhh,” Sakura groans, lazy as he stands up, making Nirei giggle. “Seriously? I just freakin’ got here!”
“Early bird gets the worm, Sakura!” Anzai calls from across the room, already walking out the door with a cackling Kakiuchi and Takanashi. The redhead grins, waving. “Can’t complain when you were the one who was late!”
“Shut up!” Sakura snarls, stomping after them. “Late is barely even a thing in this damn school! And I’d like to see you get to school on time every single day when you gotta walk from the other side of town!”
Hayato gets up and follows with a smile, he and Nirei falling into their usual familiar places on either side behind Sakura as they walk. Ah, no problem, it’ll just wait for later.
Most of the morning passes before Hayato gets a chance to speak to Sakura. But later, when they’re stopping briefly at a bakery for some snacks while on patrol, he has a good opportunity.
“Sakura-kun,” Hayato says, tugging at the shorter student’s sleeve to pull him aside. Sakura turns around with his usual lazy expression, eyes flicking over to Hayato. “Huh? What’s up?”
Hayato smiles. He really does look unbothered. Hayato’s glad.
He closes his eyes, and tilts his head. “Good job.” he whispers, lifting a hand to cover the side of his mouth. Just for a little added secrecy.
Sakura scowls, pink dusting his cheeks. “Y-you don’t have to make a point just to say that, weirdo!”
“Whaaat?” Hayato grins, leaning towards Sakura to tease, making the split-haired boy jerkily lean back with a squeal. “I’m just congratulating you, Sakura-kun!”
“Shut up! I don’t need to be congratulated!” Sakura hisses, swiping at the air where Hayato’s face was half a second ago- he dodges, of course.
“Why not? You did a good job!” Hayato sidesteps around Sakura’s hands to get to his side so he can lean just a fraction closer again, grinning as he teases. “Haruka-kun.”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Sakura shrieks, red as a cup of rooibos, and Hayato can’t help but laugh aloud, stepping away from the poor thing. The commotion causes Nirei and Takanashi to turn around, both with a roll in their mouth and Nirei with a bag of them on his arm, and Nirei reaches up to grab the roll out of his mouth when he sees what’s happening, double-handing it with his wallet so he can speak. “Huh? Hey, what’s happening over there? Suo-san, what’s going on with Sakura-san?”
“NOTHING!” Sakura yells, and Hayato bursts into more laughter, clutching his stomach.
Nirei, ever the anxious one of them, drops the roll in his bag and scampers over, hands up with worry. “Ah, wait, S-Suo-san, don’t do it again!! We just-”
“I’M FINE!” Sakura yells, cutting the blonde off. He jumps a foot away from Hayato in one leap, and the redhead just loses it, slapping a hand over his mouth to muffle his giggling, eyes squeezed shut desperately. “IT’S FINE! NOTHING’S WRONG!”
“Hey, calm down with the hijinks!” Takanashi jokes, calling from the counter. “No laughing on the job!”
“I-I think this is something other than hijinks,” Nirei quips exasperatedly, but there’s a little smile tugging at his lip. “What’d you do to him, Suo-san?”
“S-sorry,” Hayato hisses, wiping a tear from his eye as he fights to calm his laughter down. “Sorry, sorry! I couldn’t resist.”
Sakura makes a furious noise, and Hayato has to force another laugh down. “ What is with all of you idiots?! Fuck!” Hayato gives his grade captain a sidelong smile, eyes crinkling with mirth, and relishes in the way Sakura growls and looks away, hiding his face. He can’t deny giving in to his own whims, just a little bit. But it’s worth it- Sakura just looks so damn stupidly cute.
“Ah, jeez,” Nirei sighs. “I thought you of all people would know not to rile him up right now, Suo-san…”
“It’s fine,” Hayato smiles. “He can handle it.”
Nirei blinks.
“I guess he can, huh.”