Chapter Text
Sakura stays on edge. He knows he's been difficult today.
Not that he regrets anything. If Bofurin's supposed to be defenders of Makochi or whatever, then he had just been doing his job, right? Nothing wrong in that.
Challenging Shishitoren's second best fighter just happens to be a bonus for Sakura. Obviously. Sakura can't wait for the fight.
However, he also knows what happens when you make life harder for your foster parent outside of home. The consequences aren't just limited to shouting and slapping – sometimes, it's a revocation of his food privileges or worse, he may be made to sleep outside the shed.
Umemiya has done none of that. All he's done is smile and say you have nothing to apologise for and then offer him a meal choice. Sakura opts for the less intensive option, which is obviously the correct choice, considering how Umemiya had praised him.
Umemiya had praised him. Everything is so confusing.
He finishes dinner with a quiet thanks and offers to clean up the dishes. Umemiya waves him off and says, "You've had a tough day. Why don't you just get some rest? Do some homework, maybe."
Which leaves Sakura at a loss as to where, exactly, he's supposed to 'get some rest'. It can't mean the room Umemiya showed him to yesterday because, well, it's a really nice room. Umemiya's fed him and he's sworn off hurting him in any way, which means there's only one type of punishment left for Sakura.
Sakura finds himself huddling back in that same corner in the living room by the glass sliding doors. His backside is freezing because of the tiled flooring, and his spine feels no better leaning against the wall, but it's leagues better than some other punishments he's been made to endure.
He props his arms up over his knees, leaning his forehead against his forearm and burying his face in the makeshift nook his limbs have created. It's dark and warm. Perfect. Sakura's eyes drift closed.
He must have slipped into a light doze at some point, because the next thing he registers is someone shaking him by the shoulder. Sakura jolts awake, fists snapping up with wide eyes, ready to fight.
Umemiya is there holding his hands up, frowning with concern. "Hey, hey, it's just me, Sakura. Just me."
Sakura lowers his guard. "Yeah, yeah," he scoffs. "I got that, man." There's a bit of silence before Sakura's sleep-adled brain wakes up a bit more and remembers his place. He wraps his arms back over his knees, hugging tight. If Umemiya wasn't going to punish him earlier, he definitely would now.
"Sorry," he trains his gaze on the floor. "Didn't mean to be rude."
"You weren't rude," Umemiya says, even though it's a blatant lie. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, remember?" He settles back on his haunches, speaking slowly. "Sorry for waking you. I just wanted to ask if you would be more comfortable relocating to your room? It wouldn't be good if you caught a cold out here."
Not for the first time this evening, Sakura is stunned. Shocked. Bamboozled.
"I'm… allowed?" falls out of Sakura's lips without him really meaning to.
Umemiya frowns. "Why wouldn't you be?"
"Thank you," Sakura says first, because that's easier than having to answer Umemiya's question. The only reason he continues speaking is because Umemiya keeps accosting him with his sad fucking puppy eyes. "I made trouble today, even if you didn't think I was difficult. It would make sense for you to punish me in some way and since you won't hit me or starve me, the only other way would be–" Umemiya's eyes get immeasurably sadder. Sakura cannot stand it. "– can you stop looking at me like that?" He scowls at his feet. "I'm not weak."
"Sorry." Can Umemiya stop apologising? It's super fucking weird. "I don't think you're weak. I also don't think you've done anything that warrants punishment. Even if you did, your room will always be yours. I will always feed you, and I will never, ever hit you." Umemiya pauses, as if searching for more confounding words to say. "Your home's the one place you're supposed to feel safe, Sakura. I will never take that away from you."
Sakura just stares at Umemiya, a little lost. It's the first time he's seen Umemiya look so… frazzled.
Umemiya sighs. "I'm not, I've never taken care of another person like this before. It's my first time being a foster guardian, if I can even be called that." He rakes a hand through his hair. "And sadly, I'm the best we've got."
"I think you're doing well," Sakura finds himself saying.
Umemiya huffs with a strangely sad smile. "I'm glad you think so, but I'm getting the feeling that your bar for mistreatment is a bit low." Umemiya shakes his head, as if physically shaking away whatever weird feeling that overcame him. "Anyway." The cheery voice is back again. "What I'm trying to say is, there may be times that I miss things. And when I do, I need you to tell me. Or at least ask. I don't know what you've been through, but don't just assume what I want on your own. Ask me first next time, okay?"
That is the clearest instruction Sakura has received since stepping into Umemiya's home. He nods easily.
"Okay," Umemiya says, though it sounds like it's more for himself than Sakura. "I think it's time we get off the floor. It's deathly cold."
Sakura agrees. He lets Umemiya herd him into his room and bids his senior goodnight.
He has a fight to prepare for tomorrow. Best to get enough sleep. He slides under the covers that are soft as a cloud, and drifts into slumber.
The same tightrope plagues the darkness in his dreams that night, the same weightlessness. Below him is that same cavernous trench with no end. If he falls, he falls. There is no one to catch him, no one to save him.
He keeps walking the tightrope with his bare, trembling feet.
The next day, Sakura wins the fight with Togame Jo, but it doesn't feel like a win. It feels like he just called out his opponent for being lame by for preying on the weak, and then that opponent had stupidly decided to let him win to prove a point.
Even then, even so, when he and Umemiya come back home after the fight, Umemiya ruffles his hair and tells him, "You did such a good job, Sakura. I'm proud of you."
The smile that spreads across Sakura's face is small and slow. "Thanks," Sakura says. "I'll train harder so I can beat Togame for real next time."
Umemiya lets out a happy laugh. "Looking forward to it!"