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It’s tradition for those who attend Furin to receive a plant that represents themselves to raise during their time at the school. It starts off as just a seed, to be planted by the student in a pot given to them by Umemiya himself. The process of planting the seeds turned into quite an event over the years, as each class is called to the roof and they do their work under the watchful eye of their school’s leader.
The young students get the choice of either taking the plant home, or if their situation doesn’t allow for that, they can leave it on the roof and care for it there. Most of them tend to keep their plant at home, as if to keep something that their leader entrusted them with close. All of them know that if something goes wrong with the plant, all they need to do is ask Umemiya or one of the more experienced upperclassmen to get advice.
Logically, Sakura already knows all of this. He’s heard enough about the tradition from Nirei to be aware of the significance of the planting process. What he’s confused about is why every single classmate of his is vibrating in their seat while waiting for Umemiya to give them their seeds.
“They’re specifically chosen for you by Umemiya-san!” Nirei explains while jittering. Sakura frowns, that didn’t explain much to him.
“Sakura-kun, you know that plants are symbols for certain things, right?” Suo asks and waits for Sakura to nod before continuing. “They’re essentially waiting to see what Umemiya thinks of them.”
Sakura’s frown deepens. They haven’t been students at Furin for long, he doubts that Umemiya can have an accurate view of them as people. Looking at the garden surrounding them, they will all probably get some vegetables to grow.
“Nirei-kun” the boy jumps as he hears Umemiya talk from above them “No need to be nervous! Say, do you have a garden?” their leader asks and Nirei can only nod in response, still unused to his towering presence. “Great then, I want you to take these home and plant them somewhere in partial shade, preferably under trees. They are bluebells, I think they will suit you well.”
Sakura watches the pair with badly contained curiosity. He has no idea what a bluebell is, but he’s pretty sure it’s not a vegetable. Which means his previous theory is wrong. From the looks of it, it seems like Umemiya actually put in the effort when choosing the plants for them. Nirei is barely keeping up with taking notes as Umemiya keeps giving him tips on how to properly take care of the gift. Even after their leader stops talking he stays by Nirei’s side to make sure the boy got everything down. Only after the younger one puts down his pen does Umemiya move on to Suo.
“Well Suo, I must admit you’re quite a hard one to crack” Umemiya says with a small laugh which makes Suo chuckle as well. “I hope this one will prove to fit you well. It’s called edelweiss, it’s quite a strong one despite its looks. I’ve kept these seeds in the fridge for a while so they should be good to go now. After you plant them, keep them somewhere cool until the seedlings appear. Move it somewhere sunny afterwards.” He finishes and looks at Suo, who nods in understanding.
“Sakura-kun, I’ve thought a lot about what to give you.” Umemiya starts when it’s finally Sakura’s time to receive his seeds. “These are blackthorn or sloe berries. I’m giving you a bigger pot since it’s a shrub so it might grow quite large. If it gets too big for you to handle at home just bring it over to the roof! As for where to plant it-”
“I’ll be fine!” Sakura grumbles to stop the older guy. “I don’t need help,” he mutters. Umemiya just looks at him with these soft eyes that drive him insane and ruffles his hair despite Sakura’s protests.
“If you say so…” Bofurin’s leader says as he moves to talk to other first years “Oh, Sakura! If you run into trouble I’ll be happy to help you!” he says before he takes off.
As if Sakura’s gonna need help. It’s just a bush, how hard could it possibly be?
—--------------------------------
Pretty damn hard it turns out.
Nothing is happening. Quite literally. The pot looks the same as it did a few weeks ago when he first planted these damned seeds in it. If he’s being fair, it’s not like he was paying much attention to them. He already forgot to water them a few times, but surely that couldn’t have killed them. He doesn’t ignore them on purpose, he’s just busy. The patrols take up most of his time after school, especially now as a newly appointed grade captain. He only remembers that he has to eat when Suo and Nirei drag him to Pothos. Those are the days he remembers about the plant.
These seeds just need time, he’s sure of it. Maybe he should put the pot on his balcony instead? He doesn’t remember much from his biology lessons, but even he remembers something about plants needing sun. In hindsight, placing that pot on the wall opposite to the window might have been a bad idea. He’ll just leave them there and see how it goes. It’s not like more of his care would do these seeds any good.
It works, somehow.
There is a small sprout on a day that Sakura remembers to water the plant. Nothing big, just a tiny bit of green poking out of the browns of the soil, yet it felt like a once in a lifetime achievement to him. He managed to grow something, with his own two hands that he was told were only meant for no good. The two hands he believed were only suited for violence. They managed to cultivate life.
—--------------------------------
And then it all crashes down.
He got too overconfident. All he knows how to do is talk big and now he can’t even follow it up with his fists. He disappointed everyone and they won’t even admit that to him. This whole Keel situation was a complete mess and it’s completely his fault. If he wasn’t stupid his classmates wouldn’t get hurt. If he wasn’t too cocky his upperclassmen wouldn’t need to come and rescue them. If he can’t do one thing he’s good at and defeat his opponent in a fight, then he’s a complete fuck up.
He comes back to his ratty apartment with his head foggy with worry that it’s all gonna be over soon. That everyone realized he’s no good after this, that no one would stay by his side. He falls down on his futon with a groan caused by the pain from his aggravated injuries. Feeling his eyes watering, he forces himself to believe that it’s only because of the physical pain he’s in. He knows that something else is nagging at him, but he fears that if it gets acknowledged it will become inevitable.
He looks up, desperate to find something to occupy his mind with. His room is too bare to keep his attention for long though. His eyes slide over the free walls to the open doors of his little closet, still nearly completely empty. With a frustrated sigh he moves, slowly to not add any more pain to his current situation. His head moves in the direction of his balcony and he notices his plant, or the remains of it. The sprout is completely brown, it blends in with the dry soil so well he almost missed it. It looks like it would snap in half if even a slightest bit of wind were to blow in its direction.
Sakura swallows the bile in his throat and sprints to turn off the lights.
—--------------------------------
He barely remembers Suo’s and Nirei’s visit when he comes back to his senses.
He knows they were there, Kotoha made sure to remind him of that. Her visit is a bit clearer in his mind, but he still can’t remember all the details. The feeling of warmth in his lap and the taste of her food didn’t leave him despite his sickness. He doesn’t want to think back to their visit, it was uncomfortable and made him feel too much. But it made him realize some important things.
So he goes, gathers up all his courage and will to improve, to ask one person he knows won’t bullshit him or talk in riddles - Kaji. They aren’t close, but the older one has already helped him before so he thinks it’s fair to ask for more.
The talk isn’t as smooth as one with Suo or Umemiya would be, but it does its job. Sakura gets his answers, not ones he likes, but answers nevertheless. He gets advice and a newfound feeling that Kaji might understand him a bit more than others.
“By the way, how’s your plant doing?” Kaji asks and Sakura quickly whips his head away from the upperclassman. “Not well I take it?”
“Shut up, it’s just…” Sakura yells out initially but his voice loses volume soon “it’s seen better days.” He grumbles and leaves it at that.
“You know, you don’t need to go straight to Umemiya to get help with it. I’m sure these two friends of yours will be more than happy to give you a hand.” Kaji says quietly while opening up a new lollipop. Sakura doesn’t answer and the two sit there in silence until the younger finally brings himself to ask.
“What plant did you get?” He mutters under his breath, hoping that Kaji will catch it.
“A ficus.” Kaji answers shortly. He looks at his companion when he hears nothing but silence for a while, only to find him already looking back with furrowed eyebrows. “Our planting session was held late, after all the grade captains were chosen. From what I know, ficus symbolizes unity and peace, especially for leaders. I’m pretty sure Hiragi had a hand in picking it out.” He elaborates and looks away from Sakura.
“I got blackthorn.” Sakura says, looking at Kaji intently.
“I can’t tell you what it means, I’m not the one fixated on plants.” Kaji answers the unspoken question while giving Sakura a side eye so nasty the younger one starts blushing. “Isn’t that blonde kid good at gathering info? Maybe he’d know something.” He says and gets up to leave, only giving Sakura a nod before disappearing behind the roof’s door.
Now alone and with weight lifted off his shoulders, Sakura can hear the birds clearly. He feels the light wind that was blocked by Kaji sitting next to him as the smell of freshly watered soil hits his nose. For the first time, he allows himself to just exist, take all of his surroundings in. His heartbeat calms down, his body cools down and his mind clears up.
—--------------------------------
The next day he asks Suo and Nirei to come over.
They are surprised, but clearly ecstatic. Nirei can’t stop yapping the entire way to his apartment and Sakura can’t even bring himself to pretend that he’s annoyed by it. If either of his companions notice they don’t mention it. He trails slightly behind them as they take the lead, it’s as if they’re the one inviting him over. They’ve only been in his place once yet they remember the route perfectly. Despite knowing that the lock is broken, they still wait for him to open the door first and let them inside.
“Well, that’s pitiful.” Suo says, his eyes clearly focused on the pot standing next to the window “Although not hopeless right, Nirei?”
“It’s not a fragile plant so we should be able to fix it somehow. If not us then Umemiya could help for sure!” Nirei answers while searching through one of his notebooks. Sakura wants to grumble something, reject the idea of asking even more people for help but he bites his tongue. His talk with Kaji is still fresh in his mind and it prevents him from going back to his old ways. “I’ve read that you’re supposed to add lime to the soil in spring to help blackthorn grow, should we do it now?”
“It won’t hurt to try.” Suo says and watches Nirei take out a lime from his uniform pocket. It's already sliced into quarters, packed in a small zip-locked bag that Sakura remembers laying around in Pothos. Nirei takes one of the pieces and cautiously squeezes out the lime juice into the soil. After he’s done, Suo takes a bit of soil and squishes it between his fingers.
“The soil might be too wet, you shouldn’t water it too much, Sakura.” The boy says as his lone visible eye shifts to look straight into Sakura’s amber one. “Maybe we should move it to the balcony?”
“The sun should help it.” Nirei says and before Sakura knows the two boys move to place the pot outside. The balcony is small, the rails are barely even attached to the building but the plant manages to fit just right. “I don’t think we can do much more, Sakura. I don’t know that much about gardening so I’m not even sure if the info I got is right so please if anything-”
“Thank you, Nirei.” Sakura interrupts the boy before he can finish his unnecessary apology. He’s the one who asked them to come here despite knowing that this is not something they are experts on. But they’re special to him and he wanted them to be there. “Uh, you too Suo.” He mumbles after a beat of silence passes.
“No problem, Sakura” They both say, with varying levels of enthusiasm. Nirei looks at him with these huge sparkly eyes, like he just did something incredible. They look watery but the boy looks so happy that the panic that started building in Sakura’s heart vanishes instantly at the sight of his huge grin. Suo’s more subtle, but the small smile on his lips is clear enough for Sakura to notice.
He feels his cheeks warm up when they look at him with so much open fondness. But he can’t look away, he wants to commit this moment to memory and then cherish it for years to come. So keeps looking at both of them, meeting them head on and he can't help the small smile that slips on his lips. He only realizes it when he notices small changes in his companions' expressions. Somehow they look even happier and he feels warm inside at the thought of him being the reason for their joy.
“By the way, what does this plant mean? Everyone says that it’s supposed to represent you but I’ve no idea what’s mine supposed to mean.” He asks after they’ve been sitting together in silence for a while.
“Well, it has a lot of meanings.” Nirei starts. “I’ve mostly heard people say it represents fate or protection, but I’m not sure if that’s all”
“Hope during difficult times is one I’ve heard.” Suo says. He looks at Sakura with that look that makes his insides twist uncomfortably.
“It fits you perfectly, Sakura.”