Chapter Text
We already went a few times to the orphanage. Natsuki seems very fond of Nirei. I think she doesn’t mind Suo, at least she tolerates him.
“Sakuraaa! Pleaseee, just let us meet her!” Anzai’s group kept pleading. “Please Sakuraaa!” What do they not understand at no!
I hit my desk with my fists, my face flushed red. “For the last time. No!”
“Come on Sakura-kun, they just want to know more about their grade captain.” Suo chuckled from his chair.
“Yes Sakura! And it’s not fair that Suo and Nirei have met her multiple times already!" They complained. “We have patrol today, we can’t!”
“Oh, I know! We can just go tomorrow!” Tsugeura exclaimed from the side. “We don’t have patrol, right?”
I stormed out of the classroom. “You guys aren’t coming! End of the discussion!” I slammed the door shut behind me.
Anzai slumped on his chair. “Oh, that didn’t work out the way I expected.” Nirei patted his back. “Don’t worry about it, he’s just worried about her. It’s not your fault.”
They tried asking again during patrol, but I think that meeting so many people is going to stress her out. “Come on, Sakuraa, we won’t stay long.” I glare back at them. “No!”
_ _
I was quietly drawing with Natsuki when she looked up and froze. She tugged at my sleeve. “Aru…who are those weirdos?” She whispered silently in my ear.
Huh? I looked through the window.
At first glance it seemed completely normal, but when you looked closer…
These damn idiots!
Kurita was trying to hide behind a tree that was way too small for him. Anzai was hiding behind a bench, which was very obvious. “Don’t move guys!”
They weren’t only with two?
The bushes ruffled violently. “Shut up, he’s looking!”
Another voice chimed in. “You’re the one screaming!” A desperate voice spoke. “Guys, he’s going to hear us!”
How loud were they screaming for me to hear?
I clenched my fists. “Natsuki, stay here.”I patted her head before standing up and walking to the door.
I closed the door behind me and ran to the front door, slamming it open. I
heard some whispering. “Oh shit, we’re dead!” and “I’m just a tree, just a tree, just a tree, …”
WTF guys! I yelled. “I know you guys are here so get out!”
Kurita tried being one with the tree and Anzai closed his eyes in hope I wouldn’t see him. “I can see you! Stop trying to hide!”
A head came out of the bush. “Oh, hey Sakura-san…I swear it isn’t what it looks like.” Nirei stammered. Three other heads came out of the bushes. Takanashi, Kakiuchi and Suo. The other two looked a bit guilty, but Suo just looked calm.
“I knew this wouldn’t work.” Kurita said while getting out of his hiding spot. “This was mostly your idea, bro.” Kakiuchi responded.
I felt my eyes twitch.
“What is wrong with you guys?” I yelled. Suo just smiled at me. “Come on Sakura-kun, you’re turning crimson.”
“I AM NOT!” I felt my face become even hotter at that.
A little voice yelled from behind me. “Nirei, you’re here!” Everyone’s eyes flickered to Natsuki, who stood at the doorway waving violently.
“Hey Natsuki.” Nirei answered, waving back slightly.
That seemed to be Natsuki’s signal to run up to him and come hug his leg. “I thought you wouldn’t come, come play with me! You didn’t finish the story last time!” She tugged him with her inside.
I watched them walk away. You know what? It’s Nirei, I don’t really care.”So are there more of you here?” Their eyes snapped back to me, completely baffled.
“You are just letting that happen?!” They screamed together. Suo shrugged. “He has a soft spot for her, she does what she wants to do.”
I cracked my knuckles. “Are you going to answer, or not?”
They began sweating buckets. “No, no, Sakura there is no one else!” Anzai answered from behind the bench.
“Hey guys, are we still on time?!” A loud voice radiated through the courtyard. Tsugeura marched in, with Kiryu trailing behind him. “Tone it down, Tsugeura.” He said lazily, his eyes still on his screen.
He finally looked up. “It looks like we came too late.” His gaze flickered to me. “Hey, Sakura-chan, you good bud?”
Now even more people! Why was everyone here?! I stared at Anzai. “No one else?” I took a deep breath. “GET OUT!”
The guys scrambled away. “He’s actually going to kill us this time!” Anzai shrieked, almost tripping over his own feet. “We’re going to die!” Takanashi screamed, sprinting past Tsugeura.
“Is this all done?” Tsugeura said disappointingly. I glared at him, which made him turn back around and run with the others. “No, definitively gonna go!”
Kiryu just turned back lazily. “I told you it was going to be a bad idea.” He muttered, calmly walking away, his eyes still on his screen.
Suo was the only one that was not actively running for his life. “See you tomorrow at school, Sakura-kun.” He said before walking away.
When they were all gone, I walked back inside. Where Natsuki and Nirei were waiting.
Natsuki ran to me, seemingly very excited. “You looked so cool Aru! You made them scram away with just one stare!”
I picked her up in my arms. “You think so?” She nodded, waving her hands around. “Aru is the coolest…but the others also seemed funny.” She furrowed her eyebrows. “Not Suo, though. He didn’t even react.” She huffed loudly. “But now that you chased them away, I will never get to know them.”
I blinked, completely caught off guard. “You…want to meet them?” She looked at me, nodding eagerly. “Of course! Nirei told me lots of stories about Bofurin and your class.”
Nirei chimed in. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea, Sakura-san. Natsuki needs to meet new people and I think you can trust them.”
He was right, it could be good for her to meet them.
I sighed heavily. “Sure, I can ask them to come next time. But they better behave.”
_ _
I dreaded this moment. Why did I agree? Right, for Natsuki. This is all for Natsuki.
I walked towards them. “Hey.”
Anzai flinched a little. “Oh…hey, Sakura.” Takanashi looked up from his phone. “Do you need anything?” I sighed. “You guys can come to the orphanage after school.”
I flushed bright red. They all looked flabbergasted. “Natsuki found you guys funny…and wanted to meet you.”
A heavy silence hung over the room. Then, the entire room erupted.
“SERIOUSLY?!” Anzai screamed. “I told you guys that it was a good idea!” Kurita yelled, looking at his friends. The others just gave him a deadpan look. “You literally said the exact opposite yesterday!”
Kiryu looked up from his screen. “Can I also tag along, Sakura-chan?” Tsugeura raised his hand excitedly. “And me too, Sakura!”
This was so annoying. “Sure, you guys can also come.” I glared at them. “But you better behave yourselves!”
The guys jumped me. “No problem, Sakura! Count on us!”
“Get off me!”
_ _
We walked togheter to the orphanage. This day was so bad, I couldn’t stop thinking about what’s going to happen. I was probably overreacting.
Nirei tried reassuring me but it didn’t help, this was Natsuki we were talking about.
I knocked on the door, and one of the orphanage workers opened it.
“Hey there Sakura, you good?” She looked a bit concerned.
I nodded. “I hope you are. Are you coming in, or do I need to call Natsuki here?” I looked at the teenagers behind me. “Just call her, we’re going to the park.”
The worker smiled warmly before going back inside.
I turned back to the idiots. “You better behave yourselves, I’m watching.” They nodded eagerly. “Yes, sir!”
The worker came back with Natsuki. “Here! Sakura, don’t forget to bring her back before it gets too late, but you know that by now.” I nodded at her while taking Natsuki’s hand in mine. “Yes, thank you.”
“Don’t even worry about it, Sakura.” She smiled sweetly. “Have fun!”
“OMG is that the real Natsuki!” Someone yelled. “She’s sooo cute!” They came closer. “Hey there, Natsuki!”
Natsuki was surprised by all the attention, blushing furiously while taking a few steps back. “Hi.” They all cooed at her.
“Come on, let’s go to the park.” I tugged a little at Natsuki’s hand. “Let’s go!” The guys were literally skipping to the park. “They are weird.” I looked down at Natsuki, who walked next to me. She was looking at the idiots. “I told you they were weird.”
We arrived at the park.
“Natsuki, let’s go on the swings!” Anzai yelled, waving his arms. “Let’s go on the slide, Natsuki!” Kurita pointed at the slides. “No, we will go on the carousel!”
“On the monkey bars!”
“What are you guys even saying, she will go on the seesaw!”
Natsuki looked at me. I smiled at her. “Go on…go play.” She smiled brightly. “Thanks!” And she ran away to the guys.
I heard Kiryu snickering from the side. “I got a picture of that.” I felt the heat creep up my face. “Can you not!”
Nirei patted my shoulder. “See, she’s having fun. Everything’s going well.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “For now.”
She seemed to be having fun with them, so that was good. I was happy for her. After everything that happened between us, we were finally happy, together.
“So, is our little Sakura-kun happy?” Suo sneaked up from behind me. “Oh, shut up.” He smiled mischievously. “You are literally smiling at her.” I gave him a weak glare. “I understand why she doesn't like you.”
“You wound me, Sakura-kun.” He said, clutching his heart.
Natsuki waved me over. “Aru, these idiots can’t push people on swings, come push me!”
I walked over to her. “Aren’t you big enough to do it yourself?” She smiled brightly. “You still came, didn’t you?”
_ _
“I feel hurt, Idiots, us?!” Kakiuchi yelled, really offended.
“That’s so cute. Why are they so cute?” Kurita was shaking Takanashi.
“Aru, she called him Aru.” Suo and Kiryu both snickered at that.
“No, really, idiots, I feel offended.” Anzai began pouting.
“He is so gentle with her.” Nirei said with a fond smile.
Tsugeura wiped away a tear. “This is such a good virtue!”
_ _
It was getting late, so we needed to bring Natsuki back to the orphanage. “Bye, Natsuki!” They waved at her. “I hope we can hang out again!” She looked up at me with hopeful eyes. “Sure.”
“Let’s play again next time!” She waved back at them before we walked back. I walked into the orphanage.
“Hey Sakura, are you bringing Natsuki back?!”
“Hi Ume-chan!” Natsuki waved excitedly at Umemiya. “Yes, I’m bringing her back.”
He knelt down to Natsuki’s eye level. “I heard you went to the park.” She nodded. “Yes, it was great! We went with Aru’s friends, they’re really nice!” She began babbling about the park.
I ruffled her hair. “I need to go now, goodnight Natsuki.” She turned around to hug me. “Goodnight Aru, see you tomorrow!"
Natsuki ran inside while Umemiya still stayed. “You really care about her.” He said softly.
I looked at the door where Natsuki had just gone through. “Yeah.” I smiled softly. For the first time, I didn’t feel the need to lie.