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Suo doesn’t know when it started.
He prides himself in being observant, yet he somehow missed the connection that was built between his grade captain and their upperclassman, Kaji. He should’ve expected it, Sakura tends to gravitate towards those dependable types, ones that are similar to him in ways he probably doesn’t even notice.
At first he thought nothing of it. They didn’t interact much, after all both of them were quite socially inept. The few times he saw them talk seemed like nothing more than Kaji looking after his underclassman, in his own, slightly clumsy way. A quick word of advice here, a ‘good job’ thrown there, nothing out of the ordinary. But even then, when Suo looks back at it, there were some signs present.
Like the way Sakura always stood a bit closer to Kaji than any other upperclassman. Suo thought it was just because they were closer in age than Sakura was with someone like Umemiya, but his grade captain wasn’t someone to care about age in this way. What he did care about was his personal space. He’d always lash out at people getting too close to his liking, like a particularly grumpy cat. Yet there he was, edging closer and closer to someone else, out of his own will. They never quite touched, but it was still more than anyone else got out of Sakura on a regular day. Perhaps those guides about taming cats were right, they do come to you on their own if you feign disinterest well enough.
It just so happened that Kaji was quite great at that. You wouldn’t notice that he cares, unless you looked for the signs. Which were subtle, but more than enough for Sakura to know he’s not going to be rejected. People that were very open and overt with their care for him still overwhelmed him, even after all this time. It made sense that he’d find some form of solace in someone quieter, even if it is someone who can be as abrasive as Kaji. After all, that’s something Sakura is used to.
Sometimes he’d notice them bump shoulders while standing next to each other. Instead of jumping away like he’d usually would, Sakura lets the touch linger for a moment before calmly stepping away and acting like nothing happened.
It was a curious development from their captain, but one Suo welcomed with open arms.
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For Nirei it was the gifts.
He first noticed when Sakura bought a random lollipop during patrol. The captain wasn’t one for sweets, only ever seen eating them when they were given to him. It was a surprise to see him buy one on his own, but he didn’t comment on it since a fight broke out nearby soon after.
He would then see Kaji open up the same lollipop after they ran into his group the next day.
He started noticing other stuff after that. Like how suddenly Sakura always had something on him during lunch, even though he used to never eat anything during that time. The items ranged from small snacks like chips, to various drinks or even small buns from the local bakeries. Those were usually still warm, which made it impossible for Sakura to get them by himself, since he stayed on the school grounds the entire time until patrol.
And then he saw them in the hallway, tucked away in the corner, so close they were almost touching. A small container from a bakery in Kaji’s hand, the other one resting on the railing right next to Sakura’s. His headphones were hanging around his neck, as he spoke softly to the younger boy. Sakura was standing with his back facing Nirei, but he could still notice how relaxed his captain was around the upperclassman. He sneaked back to the classroom, not wanting to witness a moment that seemed so private for any longer.
He couldn't help but smile when Sakura came back and bit into the gifted bun with a slight blush on his face.
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Kiryu noticed when he saw Sakura on his phone during break.
It was a known fact among their class that Sakura does not like smartphones. Neither does he know how to use them the way most teenagers do. So the sight of his captain sitting alone by his desk with his phone in hand raised some alarm bells. He looked calm, way calmer than he was whenever he tried to keep up with their class’ group chat or when he got coaxed into playing games with the rest of them. That made him curious as to what exactly got Sakura so engrossed.
He sneaked around to try and take a peek at his captain’s screen. To his surprise it was rather easy. As he stood behind his captain trying to look at what he’s doing without alerting him, he noticed something in his ears. Sakura was wearing earphones, wireless ones to be exact. That explained the boy's lack of awareness. Kiryu took that as his chance and ran with it. Without the need to worry about being noticed, he took a better angle and finally saw the phone screen. It had a music player app opened, with a playlist called ‘For Sakura’ on it. Kiryu raised his eyebrows, even he didn’t get playlists made for him by other people and he was quite more sociable and tech savvy than the other boy. Curious to see if he’d be able to learn who the playlist was from, he kept staring at the screen from behind Sakura.
For a while it was nothing. Sakura just kept scrolling through the playlist, a damn long one at that, and playing songs that interested him for a bit before switching to the next one. Until his phone vibrated and a message notification popped up on the screen. It was a link, sent with no comment from the other person. After clicking on it, another playlist titled ‘For Sakura’ appeared on screen, this time it even had a picture chosen for it. Fittingly enough it was a black and white cat staring at the camera with the most unimpressed expression an animal could muster. Kiryu heard Sakura huff out a breath and then saw him open the chat just to slowly type in ‘You wanna fight?’. The immediate reply showed a sticker of a weirdly muscular cat saying ‘Bring it on”. Kiryu let his eyes fall on the name on screen and weirdly enough, seeing that it was Kaji was the least unexpected thing of the day.
Deciding that enough was enough, he started walking towards his own desk. On his way, Suo caught his eye. He saw the boy look between him and Sakura as he sat down on his chair. He looked back at their captain, still completely oblivious to his surroundings, furiously typing away on his phone. Kiryu felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he took it out and immediately saw a message from Suo.
‘Kaji?’
He looked at the boy who was already staring at him, nodded and watched as a small smile showed on Suo’s face. Clearly, there was something going on between Sakura and the upperclassman.
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Umemiya realized there was something between his two underclassmen when he saw them on the rooftop together.
Not when he first heard Kaji give Sakura advice, that situation was clearly something completely different from this. It was Sakura, desperate for help and guidance and Kaji trying his best to provide it. Nothing like the way he found them that time.
It was already well into the afternoon, Umemiya was still tending to his garden. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice the pair getting on the roof. They didn’t talk, unless they were whispering, so there was no sound to alert him of the sudden visitors. They weren’t there for him either way, otherwise they would’ve gotten his attention.
He only saw them when he decided to call it quits for the day. His back started to hurt and it was getting cold already. He saw them as he was turning around to go grab his coat. They were sitting on the ground, shoulders touching, a box filled with baked goods shared between them. They talked quietly, none of their usual outbursts or harsh attitudes present. At most a playful shove from Sakura, after Kaji clearly teased him about something. But even that lacked the usual bite, especially with the complete lack of nerves on the younger boy.
Sometimes they would fall silent for a while, just sitting there near each other, enjoying the presence of the other. They’d stare far into the horizon, look at the town that meant so much for both of them. They’d glance at each other sometimes. Rather shyly and never for too long, but the fondness of the look was almost palpable.
Not wanting to disturb the two, Umemiya decided to omit going across the roof for his coat and quietly left the rooftop. No one needs to know that was the reason he caught a cold afterwards.
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For Kaji it was the peace he felt around him.
At first, Sakura annoyed him. Not knowing anything about him, the younger one seemed like a rude brat. It was quite rich coming from Kaji, one of the least pleasant people to be around, but that gave him the authority to make that assessment.
A very wrong one, he would soon find out.
Sakura was way too similar to him for Kaji’s liking. Looking at the boy's struggle felt like looking at his own reflection from just a year ago. Kaji had the experience, knew what was going on, but couldn’t solve Sakura’s problems for him. So he had to settle on giving him the same advice he received in that situation. Thankfully, it worked.
Clearly Sakura was grateful for the help, but couldn’t quite express it. Kaji knew what the younger one was trying to do, but he wasn’t about to bring it up the way that Umemiya or Tsubaki would. That left Sakura awkwardly trying to interact with his upperclassman, clearly determined to express his gratitude even if Kaji wasn’t going to make the first move to make the entire ordeal less painful for both of them.
It wasn’t that Kaji was trying to mess with Sakura, initially he wanted to give him a few days to try and decide on how to approach this. If he couldn’t do it then Kaji wanted to try bringing it up himself to free the boy from the misery. He didn’t expect that he’d start enjoying Sakura’s company in the process.
As loud and brash as Sakura seems, he could appreciate silence as well. Sometimes it even seemed like he was grateful for it. With no overwhelming noises around him, Kaji found himself slipping off his headphones around Sakura often. At first they’d usually just sit near each other in silence, but after a while they started talking. Slowly opening up to each other, first about inconsequential things but even then more they let the more important parts of them slip past and reach the other. Then came the gifts, trying to show that they cared for each other without having to worry about finding the right words. After that were the touches, small ones as they were still testing the waters of what they were comfortable with. Alongside that came sharing music. Showing Sakura his favourite artists, watching him experience cult classics for the first time, listening to him gasp in surprise when a song changed the beat or watching him try to hold back tears when some lyrics hit a bit too close home.
It wasn’t until they were sitting together on Kaji’s bed, Sakura’s hand in his, that he realised how peaceful his life had become,
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For Sakura it was the yearning he felt for him.
First for his guidance, for advice. For reassurance that there was nothing wrong with him, that he won’t be left alone again just because he made mistakes. Logically he knew that his friends wouldn’t abandon him, but his heart rarely liked listening to his brain.
Then for understanding, to know that his gratitude managed to reach Kaji. He just wanted to make sure that his upperclassman knew that his help was appreciated, but as he persisted in his attempts, he started to crave Kaji’s quiet presence. It was a nice change of pace, compared to how loud most of the Furin guys were. He felt that the upperclassman understood him better than other people, like he lived through similar things. Looking at him living a happy life gave him hope that he could also find peace one day, even if he’d still have to deal with some issues the way Kaji does.
As they spent more time together, Sakura found himself itching to get closer to the other. Whenever their hands touched for a moment he found himself longing for more. He wouldn’t dare to reach out, he hoped that if he stared at Kaji enough, then the other would get the hint and do something about it. Either by rejecting his weird advances or reciprocating them. He trusted Kaji enough to believe that he wouldn’t abandon him, even if he wanted different things from him. Until then, he just stayed in the other’s orbit, as close as he could without crossing the line.
Lord had mercy on him, or at least he had enough of his bullshit and made Kaji make a move. Said move being actually grabbing Sakura’s hand when they were sitting around and talking on the roof one day. It wasn’t a tight hold, Sakura had every opportunity in the world to break contact if he chose to. He stared at their interlocked fingers in disbelief for long enough for Kaji to start doubting himself and try to retreat his hand. Not like Sakura would let him do that after waiting for it to happen for so long.
Soon these touches weren’t enough. Sakura wanted more, he wanted Kaji closer to him. He wanted to know that the older won’t let him go no matter what, that he’d always be there to embrace him. Not like Sakura would know how that feels, he didn’t have much experience with those. Still, he felt like no matter what Kaji did to him he would enjoy it. He just wanted to experience more of it.
And he did, he just needed to put in some more effort than just staring at the other. This time Sakura actually had to communicate his wants, as Kaji didn’t want to rush him through anything. But he’d always get what he asked for, be it a small hug or a cuddle session. You name it, Sakura got it. He began to feel at home in Kaji’s arms, knowing that he’s accepted and loved for who he was.
Lastly, came the kisses, ones he didn’t even know he yearned for. The smallest ones that Kaji would leave on his hands after a battle. Those he’d leave on Sakura’s hair while they cuddled. Those he’d place on Sakura’s rosy cheeks after he tried to take initiative in showing affection. Those that he’d leave on Sakura’s lips. Ones that taste sweet, like the lollipops Kaji likes so much.