Archive of Our Own ^beta

Friends were for the weak. They only ever held you back, and were exploited by your enemies.

That’s what Sakura liked to tell himself–convince himself. In reality, he never understood it. He didn’t understand why having friends was so great. Why did he need someone to eat out? He could do that easily by himself. Why have someone bring him things when he is sick? He can just as easily go to the store himself. Why have someone to fight alongside? They would only get in his way.

These were the thoughts that racked Sakura’s mind as he watched from afar. It eventually became such a far off thought that by the time he had reached high school, any curiosity he had about friendship was replaced with bitterness.

It will never happen; you’re just a freak.

Then, there was the day he stepped through the front gates of Furin and realized there was much more to the world of friendship than he had previously thought. No longer was he an outcast, but instead part of the group–the leader. He found himself being carried up by others, something Kotoha had mentioned that first day. He found out what true power was, and in turn, learned how soft and whole he felt when he sat with friends and laughter surrounding him.

At first, it was strange. The laughter felt pointed and cruel. He could only remember his youth, before he was strong, when others would laugh at him as they broke his things and threw things from across the room. He didn’t like when others would look him in the eye–worried they were secretly laughing at his unusual appearance.

Over time, the weight he carried on his shoulders–the stress of being constantly vigilant–was lifted. He no longer had to keep an eye on his surroundings at all times. He didn’t have to question if there was spit in the food he purchased. He didn’t have to solely rely on himself. He had the boys of Bofurin to watch his back, and the townsfolk to take care of.

It felt nice to be needed, to be supported.

It was a change that Sakura never thought he would have wanted. Yet, despite all of his hardships, he was happy.

At first, he was bad at the whole friends thing. He flinched when someone patted his back, or lifted their hand for a high five. He growled when anyone tried to swipe a bite of his food, and he despised the constant pinging from the multitude of group chat he got added to. Eventually he learned to enjoy those aspects of friendship, even if he still had a ways to go.

“Nirei, you have to punch harder!” Tsugeura shouted.

“I am punching as hard as I can!” Nirei yelled back as he panted from the effort of repeatedly punching the pad Tsugeura was holding.

“I barely felt it! I know you can do better!”

Sakura cringed a bit at Tsugeura’s volume. The other boy still hadn’t gotten the hang of lowering his volume.

Nirei huffed and with a mighty yell he punched again, this time a bit harder.

“There you go! Now you have earned yourself lunch!”

Nirei looked like he was about to collapse, but the dopy look on his face told Sakura he was elated.

“Nirei has improved quite a bit.”

Sakura barely avoided flinching as he whipped around to find Suo sitting next to him. “I have told ya to stop sneaking up on me like that!” Sakura yelled as he tried to punch Suo in the shoulder–which he easily dodged.

“And as I have said before, you need to improve your awareness,” Suo replied with his typical smile.

Sakura huffed in response and turned back towards the group. It was sparring day, and everyone was paired up and practicing, except for him and Suo. The two of them had been walking around and provisioning tips, but Sakura, and apparently Suo, had both gotten caught up on watching Nirei.

“You’re right though, Nirei has improved–a lot. I bet he could beat up those guys from that day I met him.”

Suo hummed in response. “I think you’re right.”

The silence lapsed as the two watched Nirei and Tsugeura walk over to the water jugs and greet the other members of class 1-1 taking a break.

“Everyone seems to be improving,” Suo continued.

Sakura hummed in response and glanced over at Anzai. He had likely improved the most, especially after that whole fiasco with KEEL.

Flashes of Nirei on the ground with his face covered in blood flashed through Sakura’s mind. He could still remember the grief he faced seeing someone he cared about being beaten up and there had been nothing he could do to stop it.

A brush against his shoulder and Sakura was ripped from his thoughts. His head whipped back to face Suo, but the other boy wasn’t even looking at him. Their shoulders were brushed together, almost as if it was an accident. However, given Suo hadn’t pulled away yet and–

“They are strong enough that won’t happen again–you’re strong enough now.” The words were quiet, but they were clear in Sakura’s ears.

Sakura huffed and pushed his shoulder against Suo’s, effectively pushing the other boy away. “Yeah, yeah, but they still got a long ways to go.”

Suo turned his head to Sakura once more with that sadistic smile. “Oh, I never said we were done training them into the ground.”

A short laugh escaped Sakura before he could stop himself, and he got a few looks from the other boys. “You’re right.”

Sakura stepped up and clapped his hands to gather everyone’s attention. “Break time everyone then we will be running ten laps around the school!”

There were loud groans from all the boys, but all Sakura could hear was the soft laughs of Suo next to him.

Protecting the town wasn’t something Sakura had expected when he had decided to attend Furin. The few times he had ever protected someone, they had seen him after the fight, covered in blood, and run away without so much as a thanks. It didn’t mean he stopped, he didn’t fight for gratitude, but for the release of energy and opportunity to pummel someone into the ground.

However, he soon learned the joy of defending others. Some might like it for the gifts, or the many words of thanks. What Sakura liked were the smiles he got afterwards, the greetings he got as he walked down the street as a member of Bofurin. The camaraderie wasn’t something he ever thought he would experience, but it was now something he never wanted to lose.

“Sakura-san, is your shoulder okay?” Nirei asked as they ate lunch.

Perceptive bastard probably noticed his restrained movements.

“Yes,” Sakura replied shortly, shoving another bite of egg sandwich into his mouth.

“But yesterday you seemed hurt when that guy twisted your arm–”

“I said I’m fine,” Sakura huffed, but it was too late. The others, who prior to this hadn’t been paying attention, now whipped around to face them.

“What happened, Nirei?” Kiryu questioned.

“On patrol yesterday some guy got the jump on Sakura and almost had him pinned! Then Sakura bucked him off and pummeled him into the ground.”

Sakura groaned as everyone turned towards him.

“I didn’t realize anyone had gotten the jump on Sakura,” Tsugeura replied.

“He didn’t! He came out of nowhere while I was helping old lady Fujimori!” Sakura defended.

“‘Coming out of nowhere’ is the same as ‘getting the jump’, Sakura-san!” Nirei pointed out as he wrote something down in his notebook.

“Don’t write this down!” Sakura yelled as he attempted to swipe Nirei’s pen, but due to all his training Nirei dodged quickly and hid behind Kiryu.

“It is my role as vice-captain to document all important events!”

Sakura huffed and swiped again, but Kiryu caught his hand. “Sit down, Sakura-kun. Don’t aggravate your shoulder which is already injured.”

“Why you–”

“Who’s injured?” Suo said from behind.

Sakura yanked his arm out of Kiryu’s grip and plopped back down. “No one.”

“Hmmm, seems like I heard the word injured, or are you saying I am mistaken?” Suo replied, sitting down at the lunch table between Sakura and Tsugeura.

“You are–”

“Sakura-kun got injured on patrol yesterday,” Kiryu interrupted, a small smirk on his face.

Sakura glared at Kiryu before turning to Suo, but by then, it was too late.

“Who hurt Sakura-kun?”

While to most, Suo seemed as stoic as usual, right now, his eye was ablaze. It was easy to tell that if the guy who had attacked Sakura was in front of Suo right now, he might not walk away with his life.

“No one–”

“Some guy from that new start up gang! They thought they could pull a fast one on Sakura while he was distracted helping Fujimori-san,” Nirei piped up, not realizing the danger he just put that man in.

“Oh no, what did he look like?”

While the question was innocent enough, there was one thing Sakura had learned about Suo over the six months they had known each other; he is sadistic and protective. If any member of their team was hurt, Suo would defend them. He would always give them an opportunity to do it themselves, but as soon as Suo saw it going downhill, he stepped in right when they needed him.

While this never happened with Sakura specifically, as Sakura is good at protecting himself–thank you very much. However, there were a few times Sakura had caught dark glares from Suo, especially a time when someone stabbed Sakura in the arm. After Suo nearly stomped someone’s head in for attempting to hit him with a bat–well, Sakura decided he didn’t need to cause a murder charge.

Really, why was Suo extra protective of me? Does he think I’m weak?

“He was one of those tall–”

“Enough, Nirei,” Sakura barked, before continuing, “The guy just twisted my arm s’all. My shoulder is just a bit sore.”

Suo’s attention was back on Sakura. “Hmm, I wonder if you’ll be able to participate in training tomorrow…”

Glad Suo’s rage was distracted, Sakura huffed. “I will be just fine by tomorrow!”

Suo brought a hand to his chin and cocked his head. “Are you sure? We wouldn’t want you to aggravate it…”

“It was nothing!”

“Then why have you been rolling your shoulder every ten minutes?” Nirei piped up.

Sakura shot a dirty look at Nirei, who only gave a concerned frown back. Kiryu and Tsugeura remained silent.

“Am not–”

“You know, I could give you a massage if you like. It can help blood flow and relieve tension.”

Sakura gaped at Suo, who only politely smiled back. “Wha–”

“That way you can do training tomorrow,” Suo replied, then tacked on–almost as if it were an afterthought. “I have been told I am good with my hands.”

Sakura’s brain was still trying to comprehend what was just said, when Nirei spoke up, “That’s a great idea! Sakura-san, you should do it. I can tell you’re in pain.”

Sakura opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was sure his face was as red as a tomato.

“You don’t have to do it if it will make you uncomfortable, Sakura-kun,” Suo chimed in. His eyes were so soft and considerate, that Sakura felt the tension in his shoulders disperse.

“Fine.”

Suo perked up minutely, and his smile crept towards being genuine. “Wonderful, do you want to do it here or in the classroom?”

Sakura’s mind flashed to the empty classroom. He could picture how the two of them in there alone would look. Suo with his hands on his shoulders…

“Here,” Sakura huffed.

“Wonderful, Sakura-kun. Why don’t you take off your jacket and we can get started?” Suo took off his own jacket as he spoke, resting it on the table.

Sakura’s own jacket had already been shucked off by the time he realized what the request was, and given Suo was already behind him, he had only a second to be self-conscious about the scars littering his arms before Suo was behind him.

“Ready?” Suo asked as he cracked his knuckles, and Sakura nodded.

Sakura couldn’t see Suo’s face, but he could see the face of his other classmates. They all appeared to be disinterested, but given the way Nirei had his notebook ready, they were definitely ready to see if Suo was as good with his hands as they say.

Suo’s hands crept up his back to rest on his shoulders, where he began firmly pressing down. The force was strong, and Sakura shrunk down under the force. He didn’t get very far though, as Suo’s leg pushed his back straight again. “Back straight, Sakura-kun.”

Sakura’s blush deepened as the pressure made it feel like his head was detaching from his spine–but oddly, it felt good. Suo rearranged his hands closer to his neck and pushed harder. Sakura’s eyes fluttered closed as his shoulders relaxed more and more. This continued on for a few more minutes, with Suo moving his hands every so often.

Just as Sakura felt like his shoulders couldn’t go down any further, Suo slid his hands down Sakura’s biceps and coached them upwards. With hands above his head, Suo grabbed both of Sakura’s hands, crossing his own, and pressed his thigh up against Sakura’s back.

“Deep breath in,” Suo murmured, and Sakura could do nothing but obey. “And out.”

On the breath out, Suo pulled his arms up and back, forcing Sakura’s back to bend slightly over his leg. One more shorter tug and Sakura felt a pop.

“Good.” Suo pulled slightly again, before placing Sakura’s hands back in his lap. “Tilt your head to the left please.”

Sakura followed the directions, but Suo still used his hand to push his hair back. It sent goosebumps down his throat as Suo placed his elbow in the crook on his neck and began massaging. The pressure was delicious, especially as he moved closer to his neck.

“Hurt at all?” Suo asked when he got to a particular tender part.

“No,” Sakura huffed. While it was bordering on painful, Sakura had always liked a bit of pain.

Suo hummed in response and massaged a bit longer before switching sides. After that, Suo slid his hand along Sakura’s arm and crossed it behind his lower back, pushing his shoulder blade outward. From there, Suo rested his forearm against his shoulder blade and began pressing down.

This time, the pressure caused a mix of pain and relief so good Sakura let out a soft groan. He felt his head drift forward. Sakura could have sworn Suo’s movements stuttered a moment, but it was so brief it was likely a fluke.

Suo repeated on the other side before bringing his arm across his chest and holding it there. Again, Suo dressed his forearm along the exposed shoulder blade, pausing to take special care of any tight spots.

By the time Suo had finished both sides, Sakura’s head was fuzzy and he was ready to take a nap. His chest felt oddly warm, and his fingertips were vibrating.

“There you go, all done. How does it feel?” Suo asked as he brought Sakura’s arm back into his lap. Suo’s hands were still gently massaging his shoulders in a way that was almost comforting.

“Fine,” Sakura muttered. Much better went left unsaid.

Suo hummed in reply and slowly removed his hands, almost as if he was hesitant to do so.

“Me next!” Tsugeura exclaimed.

“No.”

A high pain tolerance was a necessity when you were as much of a delinquent as Sakura was. That being said, Sakura was usually good at hiding his pain. He had walked off stab wounds, twisted ankles, and even a broken arm once.

The only injuries that got him were head injuries. Maybe he had hit his head one too many times, but as soon as a fight was over, if his head had gotten smashed in too hard, he felt like he was watching a blurry tv. He felt like he wasn’t there at all, and instead, watching from afar in a life he wasn’t at all a participant in.

That being said, it still took a lot for him to get to that stage.

The sky above Sakura was spinning as he blinked his eyes open. Above him were several people, but given the bad case of vertigo and blurriness, he couldn’t quite make out who it was, or what they were saying. He couldn’t quite remember what had happened. Vaguely he recalled helping someone hang a store sign, and the next thing he knew…

Sakura groaned as someone moved and the sun shined right into his eyes. He heard a squeak, and then someone was helping him sit up.

“Drink, Sakura-kun.”

Not able to turn down the water bottle already at his lips, Sakura took a few sips. It was refreshing and cleared Sakura’s thoughts enough to– “Suo?”

“The one and only.” Sakura managed to tilt his head up, and given how close the other boy was, it was easy to see his eye patch and trademarked smile.

“Wha happ’n?” Sakura slurred.

Suo’s mouth moved, and sound seemed to be coming out, but Sakura couldn’t quite process what he said. Regardless, Sakura nodded as if he understood.

“–didn’t understand a word, did you?” The next words processed in his mind, and Sakura was shaking his head and mouthing ‘no’ before he could think. “I said the chain broke on the sign and it fell on your head. You probably have a concussion.”

Sakura pouted and flopped his head to the side. “No I don’.”

“Hmmm, I think you do.”

Sakura pouted and buried his face into the soft fabric. “No.”

Something vibrated against his face, and when Suo’s laughter reached his ears, Sakura realized where he was resting his face.

Sakura pulled away, a little too fast, and found himself falling to the other way. Thankfully, before he could face-plant and contribute to his head injury, someone caught him and pulled him back.

“Whoa there, Sakura-kun.” Sakura pouted as arms tightened around his body and pulled him against something warm.

“Head hur’s,” Sakura muttered, giving up and resting his head back against Suo’s chest.

“I can imagine, that sign is at least 10 kilograms.”

Sakura’s brow furrowed as memories came back at the mention of the heavy sign. The sign had fallen during a rainstorm, and the owner had asked him, Suo, and Nirei to help hang it back up. They have just managed to get the chains back up when there was a snap. It must have swung and wacked Sakura right in the head.

“Bleedin’?” Sakura questioned.

“A little, but Nirei-kun is getting a first aid kit as we speak.”

Sakura hummed and brought a hand to his face to find a lot of blood. “Lots.”

“Well, as you are familiar, head wounds bleed a lot.”

Sakura nodded slightly. “No like hea’ injur’s.”

Suo hummed in response. “Those do tend to hurt you the worst, don’t they?”

“Like’a bell,” Sakura replied before saying bing

Suo laughed again and brushed some of Sakura’s–now matted–hair out of his face. “You really got your bell rung this time, didn’t you?”

Sakura frowned this time. “Yea, hur’.”

“Well, I could do something that my mom always did to make me feel better. She called it her ‘magic trick.’”

Sakura perked up a bit at that. “Magi’ tri’?”

“Hmm, yes. Should I try?” Suo asked innocently. There was something about his face that was giving something away, but Sakura was too lost to figure out what it was.

“Yes.”

Suo chuckled again, brushed a bit more hair from his face. Then, Suo leaned closer till he gave a quick kiss to Sakura’s forehead. “There you go! All better.”

Sakura pouted and brought a hand to rub the spot Suo had just kissed. “That’ no’ a magi’ tri’.”

“Hmmm, that’s strange, it always worked wonders as a kid,” Suo replied with a contemplative look on his face.

Sakura wanted to argue more, but before he could form the words in his mouth, a voice interrupted.

“Suo-san! I have the first aid kit!”

Suo looked up and gave a smile. “Wonderful, bring it here.”

With that, the two boys began first aid, and Sakura was left with a new kind of buzzing that only occurred under the skin of his forehead.

Dating and romance was never something that had crossed Sakura’s mind–let alone became a possibility. He had no interest in girls anyways, which made it easy to ignore the taunts from the popular girls who thought a delinquent like him was an easy target.

At Furin, he is constantly made fun of for his embarrassment around anything romantic. Some of the guys will show off their girlfriends only for the purpose of seeing Sakura get as red as a tomato. Sakura wasn’t sure what it was that made him uncomfortable, but the thought of romance always made his stomach squirrely. Especially for anyone their age.

Why is everyone else so into girls and I’m… not?

Nowadays, however, Sakura has the opposite problem. Apparently, becoming a protector of the town meant girls suddenly liked you.

“Sakura-kun, I made these cookies for you. I wanted to thank you for saving me the other day.”

The girl in question was the second girl this month to come up to Sakura with a blush and attempt to give him treats. The first time such an event happened, he hadn’t realized the girl was attempting to confess her feelings. Instead, he had grumpily taken the cookies and eaten the bag. Later, Kiryu taught him the truth. If a girl is giving you ‘gifts’ for saving her, and only you, then she has a crush on you.

Sakura had been in denial at first, but when the girl had come back with more cookies and asked to go out to eat, Sakura realized he had been very wrong. Turning down that girl had been the worse conversation in his life, especially since he didn’t even know the girl’s name.

Regardless, despite being naive as Suo says, Sakura was now able to spot the girls attempting to woo him. But it didn’t make it any easier to turn them down.

“Um, thank you,” Sakura mumbled as he took the cookies. He opened the bag and found chocolate chip cookies inside. They looked homemade.

“Of c-course! It was the least I could do after those men tried to m-mug me.” The girl’s hands were clenched in her skirt and she was sweating. She hadn’t made a move to leave either.

“It’s what we do,” Sakura gruffed, pulling a cookie out of the bag to shove it in his mouth so he avoided putting his foot in it instead. Surprisingly, the cookie was actually pretty good.

“Um, Sakura-kun–” Oh no, here she goes. “I wanted to see if you–”

“Ooo, Sakura-chan, do you have some cookies?”

Sakura turned to find Suo approaching. They were supposed to meet to go patrol in five minutes, but it seemed Suo was also early and able to save Sakura from his misery.

Sakura huffed an affirmation and shoved another cookie in his mouth.

“Can I have one?” Suo asked, but he was already reaching into the bag so Sakura just nodded along.

“Um, actually those are for–” the girl tried to intercede, but Suo was quick on the draw.

“These are for the mugging the other day, yeah? I hope you are okay! I was happy to protect you while Sakura here took on the thug.” Suo’s smile was brutal as he took a bite of the cookie.

“Um, yes, thank you–”

“Of course! That’s what we do!” Suo replied before turning to Sakura. “Should we get going?”

“Yeah.” Sakura turned back to the girl to thank her for the cookies, but she was glaring daggers at Suo. Sakura was about to ask her what was wrong when he felt an arm loop through his own.

“See you Yui-chan, get home safe!” Suo called over his shoulder as he pulled Sakura down the street. When they rounded the corner Suo stopped. “I'm surprised you have captured the heart of another poor girl, Sakura-kun!”

“It’s not like I’m trying,” Sakura huffed as he looked down at the cookies in his hand. Suo hadn’t dropped his arm yet, and Sakura could feel the heat radiating off the boy’s body.

“Hmmm, must be the whole ‘hard to get’ thing they think you are doing,” Suo replied, looking at the cookie in his hand before offering it up. “Do you want the rest of this? I am not a fan of chocolate.”

“Sure,” Sakura replied, reaching out to grab it.

However, before he could grab it, Suo already had the cookie pressed against his lips, and before he could even think, his mouth was open. The cookie was pressed into his mouth and Sakura felt as though he was caught in a net. Suo was staring at where the cookie had disappeared into Sakura’s mouth. Or was he staring at his–

Before Sakura’s thought could finish, Suo had pulled away completely. “Well, Sakura, we should probably get on to our patrol.”

Sakura nodded dumbly as he dropped the hand that had previously been entwined with Suo’s. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Sakura despised getting sick. He hated feeling like his body weighed five tons. He hated throwing up his guts in the toilet. He hated having a fever so high he felt cold. Last time he had gotten sick, it was from overworking himself. A day in bed, Suo and Nirei visiting to bring him supplies, and he was right as rain.

This time around, he had the flu and was sick as a dog. He hadn’t been this sick since he was a child, and frankly, it sucked. He had already been out of school for two days.

The first day, Nirei had brought him some cough syrup and soup. The next day, Kotoha came bearing gifts of omurice and cough drops. By the end of that day Sakura had thought he was getting better and had made a promise to attendschool the next day. However, his fever peaked again overnight and he was back at square one, and forced to tell the group chat he was out sick again.

The class had all been sad and asked if he needed anything, but he had declined, stating the leftovers from the two previous days. They didn’t seem convinced at first, but a photo of Sakura’s fridge with leftovers fended off the wolves from breaking down his door carrying food. That left Sakura to flop back on his futon, pull his blanket over his head, and succumb to sleep.

A knock woke Sakura some time later. He wasn’t sure what time it was given Nirei had forced him to buy blinds. Though, given no light peeked through, it was likely early evening, or even night.

Did I really sleep that long.

Another knock and Sakura sat up. He attempted to say something, but only a small sound came out of his mouth. Sakura groaned and laid back down. His head was fuzzy and his mouth tasted like ash.

“Sakura-kun, I’m coming in.”

Sakura hummed in response, his door must have been unlocked from when Kotoha had visited the previous day. He couldn’t quite place whose voice it was through what felt like cotton in his ears, but given they knew his name, they likely weren’t here to beat him up.

Well, his enemies also knew his name, but they wouldn’t have called him Sakura-kun.

Sakura shut his eyes and dozed as he listened to someone teeter around his kitchen. Their footsteps were soft and actions were purposeful. That already checked off a list of suspects, given some of the Bofurin boys wouldn’t know stealth if it grabbed them by the dick.

Some time later, maybe minutes or hours, the voice spoke again. “I brought you something to eat, Sakura-kun.”

Sakura blinked his eyes open and found Suo kneeling next to his bed. He had kept the light off in the bedroom, but the kitchen light illuminated his almost auburn eye.

“Nnng,” Sakura replied, shaking his head. He couldn’t see what Suo had, but his stomach was so queasy he likely wouldn’t keep it down.

“You need to eat something.” Suo brought a hand to Sakura’s cheek and felt his temperature. It must have been hot as Suo had a small frown on his face, but Sakura was too distracted leaning into the cold hand, which thankfully didn’t pull away. “I have just some rice, won’t you eat a few bites?”

Sakura huffed and nodded against the hand on his cheek. Given the go ahead, the hand slid behind his head and helped him sit up. Once sat with his legs crossed, Suo handed him a bowl of fried rice. It looked on the lighter side, so likely had less seasoning, but that was likely better for a sick stomach.

Sakura accepted the chopsticks and held them with a shaky hand. He stabbed the rice aggressively and brought a bite to his mouth. Sadly, despite the small gap between the raised bowl and his mouth, by the time the bite got to his mouth, more than half had fallen off. Sakura huffed, and tried again, but this time, the shaking and nausea was so bad, all but two grains had fallen off.

“Would you like some help, Sakura-kun?”

Sakura set the bowl down in his lap with a pout, before nodding.

Taking the initiative, Suo gently took the bowl and chopsticks before bringing a bite to Sakura’s mouth. The bites Suo gave Sakura were much steadier and filling than his own. However, after a few bites the nausea kicks in and he shakes his head. “Can’t.”

“That’s fine,” Suo murmured and set the bowl down next to him. “When was the last time you took the flu medicine?”

Sakura frowned again and grabbed his phone. He had last had medicine that morning when he texted the group chat and now it was… 8pm.

He had apparently been sleeping for ten hours.

Sakura’s face must have been telling, as Suo stood up and walked over to grab the cough syrup that was sitting on the window sill. He poured a serving into the small cup, then handed it to Sakura.

“Drink up, I will get you some water.”

Sakura downed the bitter fluid, gagged a bit, and set the cup back down. Thankfully, Suo was handing him a glass of water a second later, which he drank, only spilling a few drops because of his shaky hand. When he was done, Suo took the glass back and set it down somewhere as Sakura flopped back onto his futon. His head wasn’t as fuzzy as when he first woke up, but if he had to remain sitting up any longer, he might vomit up everything he just ingested.

“Seems you are pretty sick, Sakura-kun. Nirei didn’t tell us it was this bad.”

Sakura hummed in agreement, his throat still too scratchy from all the coughing. There was no reply for a few minutes. For a second, Sakura thought he had fallen asleep and missed Suo leaving, but just as the thought crossed his mind, a cool hand brushed the sweaty hair from his face.

Sakura nuzzled the hand and heard a small laugh in return. Thankfully, the hand didn’t leave, but instead continued to run through his hair. It felt odd, given no one ever touched his hair, but it also felt nice. Nails scraped against his skull, scratching an itch he didn’t know he had. He knew it must have felt gross given the oil that had built up in his hair from a few days without a bath, but he was too sated to care.

Eventually, he felt sleep tugging at his edges. The hand was beginning to slow with Sakura’s breathing. Just as he reached the cusp of sleep, the hand in his hair stilled. A moment later, something soft and wet was pressed against his forehead.

“Hope you feel better, Sakura-kun,” Suo whispered, much closer to his face than before.

With that, Sakura fell asleep.

Sakura was unsure of how to feel. He had almost convinced himself he would never have a crush on anyone, at least, not how others described it to him. However, he had never expected for something like this to happen either.

A gang had declared war on Bofurin a few weeks prior. They were new in the area and likely trying to assert their place in the pecking order. To Sakura, they seemed like mere minnows in the big ocean, especially after a few skirmishes they had all lost. However, they got it in their heads that if they beat up the first years, they could get somewhere, which left Sakura where he was now.

Sakura and some of the other guys from 1-1 were on their way to dinner after patrol when the group had appeared out of the woodworks. They must have been following them for a while if they knew where they would be. Regardless, this group had more people, and outnumbered them 3 to 1. On top of that, a few of the less experienced guys from their class, like Nirei, were accounted for in those numbers.

Even with those odds, Sakura had felt good. He had taken on more enemies at once, this would all be fine. He egged the guys on and got five to attack him all at once. Nearby, Suo covered Nirei, and despite their odds, the numbers were quickly evened out. Just as Sakura had beaten who appeared to be their leader, he heard a stangled grunt that set his nerves aflame.

“Suo-san!”

Sakura whipped around and saw Suo clutching a wound on his leg. A man, no longer holding a knife, was knocked out. Nirei was grabbing Suo and helping him sit as there was still a knife lodged in his leg.

At that moment, Sakura wasn’t quite sure what came over him. All he felt was a pit of rage so endless he couldn’t even think. One moment there were still enemies around him, and the next, they were all down and he was stomping towards Suo. Next to him, holding a first aid kit, Nirei was staring at Sakura with an open mouth, but Sakura ignored him.

“What happen’d?” Sakura gruffed as he swiped the first aid kit from Nirei. By this point the knife had already been removed and Suo’s pant leg cut off.

“It was my fault if I was a better fighter–” Nirei spoke up, but Suo waved him off.

“I had thought the man was already knocked out, and he was down in my blind spot. Before I knew it, there was a knife in my leg. Nirei couldn’t have done anything,” Suo replied with that stupid grin on his face.

Sakura huffed and ripped a pack of gauze open with his mouth. “Stupid assholes bringing knives to fist fights. They don’t know the first thing about being real men.”

Sakura pressed the gauze firmly on Suo’s thigh, and heard a short intake of breath that made his hurt squeeze.

“It’s fine, Sakura-kun.”

Sakura shook his head as he ripped open another pack of gauze to add on top of the one already soaked in blood. “You were hurt.”

Suo rolled his eyes. “You are hurt all the time. Your cheek is bleeding right now.” As if to prove his point, Suo brushed a hand against his cheek, which came away with blood.

“‘ts different,” Sakura murmured as he pulled out a roll of bandages and began wrapping them to hold the gauze in place.

“Hmmm, I don’t think so.”

Sakura’s hurt clenched tighter as he felt a frown tuf at his lips. It was different. While Sakura recently had learned to rely on his teammates, and beat himself up when they got hurt, something about it being Suo felt different.

Suo hissed again as Sakura tightly tied the bandage down. Then, he stood up and picked Suo up, who yelped a bit at the rough handling.

“We are taking you to a doctor.” Sakura was moving without a second thought. He could care less if the others followed, but by the sound of quick footsteps, they were.

“Sakura-kun, it’s just a minor stab wound. I will be fine–”

“You should still see a doctor–”

“I hear you got stabbed your first day and were fine. Really, Sakura. I will be fine.”

Sakura slowed his gait enough for the other boys to catch up, and turned to them.

“Nirei, you take charge for the rest of the patrol. Call Kaji and let him know what happened, he can help facilitate cleanup. I am taking Suo home.”

Nirei agreed without a word. The other boys nodded along as well, a few wishing Suo good health. However, as soon as Nirei nodded, Sakura was already walking away.

In his arms, Suo huffed and rested his head on Sakura’s shoulder. “You know, I can still walk.”

Sakura’s arms tightened instinctively, but otherwise he ignored the other boy. The thought of letting him walk was painful. Sakura simply wanted to keep him in his arms where he could be safe. (Almost completely ignoring the fact that if someone attacked Sakura it would be better off not carrying another person.)

Suo sighed when Sakura didn’t respond, but seemed to accept his fate as he moved his far hand to rest on Sakura’s shoulder. It slowly began rubbing along Sakura’s shoulder, slowly migrating up his neck, then to his cheek. As the hand moved, Sakura’s footsteps slowed till they stopped altogether. By this point, he was too enraptured, staring down into Suo’s auburn eye.

“Sakura, I’ll be fine. There is no need to stress,” Suo murmured as he rubbed Sakura’s cheek and jaw. Like a cat, Sakura couldn’t help but lean into the gesture.

“But…” Sakura wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say. But my tight chest is telling me otherwise. But I don’t like to see you hurt. But I wasn’t able to protect you.

Protect, huh? That was something Sakura never thought of before he joined Bofurin. He never had anyone relying on him but himself. He never had friends he cared about, let alone close ones like Nirei and Suo. Yet, something felt keenly different about Suo than anyone else.

It burned him on the inside to think of that bastard stabbing Suo and living to tell the tale. For the first time in his life, he wanted to hit a man that was down, he wanted to bash his head in and break his hand so he could never stab Suo again. He wanted to take the knife and stab–

“Haruka.”

The firm voice snapped Sakura of his thoughts. He blinked a few times and found Suo staring up at him. His eyes looked so concerned, and there was a small frown on his lips. His face was so close to Sakura’s, that he couldn’t help as his eyes flickered down to Suo’s lips. They were thin but smooth. He could picture how they would feel against him. Soft and wet. They would feel like they would that day when he was sick…

Sakura’s face was closer now. He wasn’t sure who leaned closer, but Suo’s eye was now firmly cast down towards Sakura’s own lips. His hand on Sakura’s cheek had stilled to thumb just below his bottom lip.

If he leaned forward a few more centimeters–

The thought was struck from his mind as warm lips were already pressed to his own. Again, he wasn’t sure who moved first, but he had little room to care as his eyes fluttered closed. Kissing had almost seemed weird and gross to Sakura. However, when it was Suo’s pressed to his, suddenly, it felt like fireworks.

The kiss was soft and chaste, yet Sakura’s arms tightened around Suo, pulling him closer. He felt his fingertips buzzing and his brain numbing. All sensation narrowed to that single point of contact and how badly he wished for it to continue on for forever. However, like all things in his life, it came to an end much sooner than he had hoped.

Blinking his eyes open, he found Suo smiling up at him softly. “You know, I have been wanting to do that for months, and all I had to do to get it was to be stabbed for it to happen. I should’ve let that happen much sooner.”

Sakura growled and glared up at the sky in an attempt to fight off a blush. However, based on Suo’s chuckle, he was miserably failing. “You should have asked sooner.”

Suo chuckles again. “I suppose you’re right, though I thought my intentions were clear.”

Sakura’s mind flashed through the recent weeks. He thinks about how Suo treats him in comparison to the others. He thinks about how he feels in comparison to the others, and as hindsight is always 20/20, it became quickly apparent how naive Sakura had been.

“I have never had friends before, how was I supposed to know the difference?” Sakura huffed as he began walking towards home again, attempting to fight off the blush.

“Hmm, you know the difference for those girls that are always after you.” Suo’s voice was lower than before, and something about the tone sent a shiver up his spine.

“I didn’t know you were… into other guys. I didn’t know I was into other guys.” That brought a swift laugh out of Suo, who had situated himself in the crook of Sakura’s neck.

“I guess that is fair. With all the ‘no homo bros’ in Furin I am not surprised you couldn’t tell.”

Sakura had brief flashes to all the ass slapping that occurs everyday. For some reason, the men here think it's fine to slap each other's asses. (It had only happened to Sakura once before they learned their lesson.)

“See,” Sakura grumbled.

Suo didn’t respond, instead humming softly as he ran his hand along any part of Sakura he could reach. It was wildly distracted given Sakura was on an important mission to get Suo home so he could properly treat the–

“You know, my home is in the opposite direction, and that you are suspiciously heading towards yours? I hope you don’t intend to bed me without courting me first, Sakura-kun.”

Sakura froze. There were many things to digest in that statement. However, the first thing he said was, “Haruka. I liked it when you called me Haruka.”

Suo’s hand froze for a second, before continuing. “Okay, Haruka. Then please call me Hayato.”

“Alright, Hayato.”

With that, Sakura continued back to his own apartment (which was closer) and where he intended to not bed Suo.