Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Some people are born different, they're given a gift said to be from God himself, a great power which allows them to protect those they love, and in turn, these people use their power to defend others. This power allows the user to turn into something of a beast, they become strong and are a symbol of willpower, strength, and perseverance through any obstacle.

Sakura was 13 when he learned he had this power.

While most of the public were taught about guardians from history class, times have changed in the decades since those old stories have traded mouths. Gone were the days of guardians being treated like royalty, being loved, as society advanced they no longer took ‘Power gifted by God’ as an excuse, they wanted to know the science behind everything.

And as society advanced, so did their weapons, intelligence, and their fear .

People fear what they don't understand, they fear the abnormal, and that fear causes backlash. What once was a power so greatly celebrated, became something to keep secret. Sakura didn't understand what was happening, one day he stepped outside into a grassy field and became overwhelmed with a connection towards nature. He felt the grass in between his fingers, smelt the crisp afternoon air, he had an uncontrollable urge to run and run and run, before he could understand what this feeling was, he was on all fours, not as a human, but he had paws and had grown bigger.

He soon realized he had the gift of a guardian.

Unfortunately…

“What is that?”

Sakura wished.

“Someone call animal control!”

He never got that power.

“I already did!”

To begin with.

“Where the fuck did it go?!”

He was already an outcast, his mother hated him, she said she had tried for so long to get pregnant and now that she finally had a child of her own, she couldn't believe he could turn out so… So horrendous .

“You're not my son!” She insisted on saying. “The doctors swapped you at birth, there's no way you could be my son!”

Sakura learned to stay quiet when she went on her tirades, they happened at random times of the day.

“It's your fault your father left me! He insists I cheated on him, why couldn't you just look normal? Is this some sort of punishment you're giving to me?”

Sakura can't remember what his father looked like, but in the family photos he's seen around the house, his mother did look truly happy, a completely different woman than she is now.

“I don't know why you hurt me so much, don't forget I gave you life, you wouldn't exist if it weren't for me, you should be grateful I even allowed you to live! If it weren't for the damn laws, you’dve been thrown in a dumpster by now.”

Sakura likes to pretend she doesn't mean these harmful words, he stays quiet, talking back will get him hurt.

It's not like she's wrong, anyways. He's seen photo evidence of her happiness, it's his fault for taking that away from her.

Sakura hid behind a tree, freaking out, he needed to turn back, he needed to be normal again before more people saw him. He tried to calm himself down, feel the area around him like he did before, and breathe.

He just wanted to be normal, to be loved, was he even worthy of love? Did he deserve such a fragile thing?

He would probably break it , he thinks. He’s destructive, gets into fights constantly, how could someone like him be gifted a divine power that's historically been used to protect others?

Sakura? Protecting people? What a joke.

He opens his eyes to find he's normal again. Running away before the police and animal control could come check things out.

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He tries to keep his newfound power a secret, by now he's learned how to switch it at will, but he switches as little as possible. He can't risk being caught or found out, if others were to know about this, he would be feared even more than he already was. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if his mother sold him off to the highest bidder just to get some quick cash and for Sakura to ‘better society’ by undergoing inhumane tests.

And he knows what society is capable of doing to those they find to be guardians. Ever since that day, he's researched more about the power to see if there was any way to get rid of it or pass it on to someone else.

There wasn't.

But he did see multiple articles of them being studied, forum groups online of people believing guardians never existed and were folktales and legends. Multiple missing persons reports of those who were suspected to have the power.

It wasn't safe.

He kept his head down and stopped using the power as much as humanly possible, even going so far as a year without changing.

He was fourteen when his mom just couldn't handle him anymore.

“You're getting too big, you're taking up too much space, you eat all my food you leech, you don't even bring anything in return, I can't do it anymore!” She ranted one night, pacing back and forth.

Sakura had tried to apply for jobs, but it turns out a large number of places refused to hire a child, and the ones that didn't mind going under the law turned their noses when they looked at Sakura, mismatched eyes and dual toned hair, often times he looked beat up with bandages, cuts, and bruises.

“You're more trouble than you're worth.” He had been told.

It was after school one day when he came home to a note on the countertop.

Haruka. Get out. Take your shit and more of my hard earned money and get the fuck out of here. If I see you here when I return, I will use violence to get you to leave. You don't want to see what my boyfriend has. Goodbye, I hope to never see you again.

It wasn't even signed, but Haruka knew who wrote it.

He needed to do a quick checklist of everything and fast, if he was being kicked out then so be it, but he was going to make damn sure he’d take everything he required.

First, he needed to do the world's fastest shower, he didn't know when he would get the chance for another one.

The shower lasted no more than 10 minutes, he jumped in while the water was still cold just to get it over with and save time. Next he needed to stock up his backpack. He pulled out all the useless shit like his textbooks and binders, he didn't need them, and if his mom didn't return them the school would force her to pay for replacements, so he hid them in shelves and behind boxes.

His backpack had a blanket, food, water, and what little spare clothes he had in his closet. He had to say goodbye to this place forever, so he wanted to leave a lasting impression.

Sakura took some of his moms lipstick, and wrote on her bathroom mirror.

FUCK YOU!

It was bright red, he hoped she would remember this for years to come, that it would take her hours to try and clean it off, all the while his last words to her would stare back at her in the face. He grinned.

He wanted to tear the house down, throw pots and pans everywhere, break the dishes, punch holes in the walls.But he knew if he did any of that, the police would be called on him, he would be proving everyone right that he deserved to be feared.

It was tough, but he left that place he had never considered home.

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It was nearing the end of the school year anyways, he did the bare minimum to pass, and get out of there. He was careful to avoid any crowded areas or usual paths in case he ran into his mom or her boyfriend again, he didn't want to know what they'd do to him. He wished he could've seen his mothers face when she looked into her mirror that day, he wanted to know how her voice sounded as it curled with rage, would the boy toy she found be forced to clean it? Would she buy a new mirror? He liked to think she punched it, got cuts all over her knuckles, like his last attempt at hurting her just a slight amount of karma for all the pain she gave him.

It was difficult living on the streets, Sakura had tried to use his guardian form a few times to get food, but as he continued to grow, so did the form. Long gone were the days when he could pass off as a big sized dog, now he looked more like a tiger, his tail was split half black half white down the center, main body black with patches of white scattered across him, one covering the entire left half of his face.

Just like his hair, he thinks.

“What the fuck kind of animal is that?” A girl calls out, pointing at Sakura.

“Did a lion get out of a zoo? We should call someone!” A male voice replies.

Sakura steps back, he was so hungry, he just wanted to beg for food but it seemed all he was doing was instilling fear back into the people again. He watched the commotion as people pointed and screamed, mothers grabbed their children and ran off as if he would attack them.

“Things almost as large as a moose!”

“Where the hell is animal control?”

“What kinda animal is that anyways?”

He couldn't stay here, Sakura turned around and ran, his paws thudding on concrete. Too many eyes were on him, he couldn't shift, he needed to hide.

He roared in pain as something hit him, he turned around to see a black van, men with guns pointed towards him, shooting again.

It wasn't bullets he was being hit with, as another thing landed on his shoulder, he got to see a dart sticking out from his skin.

Tranquilizer darts.

He had limited time to find a safe spot, and fast. He ran as fast as he could, feeling more sharp needles dig their way into his skin. Taking a sharp turn, he goes down an alley too narrow for the car to follow, jumping over a chain-linked fence as he collapses to the ground in pain.

He just wants to be small, small enough to where no one would notice him, small enough to disappear.

He wants to be tiny, crawl in a dark corner and accept his fate.

He wants to be loved.

A tear escapes his eye, he can hear the people yelling, asking where he went. Sakura goes to a dumpster and nudges it open, without a second thought he hops inside.

It stinks, it's uncomfortable, he's sure there's broken glass digging into his back but he doesn't care, can't bring himself to. This is where he belongs after all.

It's just like his mother had said, he should've been thrown away when she had the chance, now he's doing her a favor and helping her out with that.

His eyes drift closed despite himself, the darts working quickly, his limbs feel numb, his eyes are heavy, maybe he will rest for a bit.

In his dreams, he imagines he's small, so small the world wouldn't notice him. To be overlooked and forgotten like that single lollipop under the teachers desk that one day, like the mold rotting wooden planks in abandoned houses.

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The world grants Sakura his wish, for he wakes up with paws like usual, but smaller. His body ached with the fresh wounds pounding into his skin, he still felt groggy and delirious, but he was small.

Using his new form, he was able to climb out of the dumpster by jumping on different objects, leaping down from the top and landing gracefully on all fours. It appears to have rained the previous night as puddles surrounded him. He peered into one to stare at his reflection.

He looked like a cat, a proper house cat. Tilting his head, he explored the way this new form moved, he reflexively curled his claws as he sheathed and unsheathed them. Narrowing his mis-matched eyes at his fur.

A black cat, not very different from his guardian form, his tail was pure black with a white tip instead of the half black half white in his other form, and his face still had the same white marking as it did previously. He looked more like a tuxedo breed of cat though.

At Least he can look normal for once.

His white patch was a bit abnormal though, typically patches didn't cover half an animal's face, but cats were also known for their strange fur patterns anyways, so this would do.

It was easier to find food in this form as more people swooned and doted on him, not that he was fed regularly, but he got to survive just a bit easier this way. The looks he received were vastly different than when he walked around in his usual form, instead of glares and harsh words thrown behind his back, he got cuddles and cooing noises, girls and boys alike tried to lure him closer to them and a few times they tried to take him home.

He had many different names in this form, they called him Oreo, Loki, Dice, Kai, and even Onyx before. Sakura found the names people gave him funny, some were on the nose like oreo, but some were creative like Loki, god of mischief, fitting because he always stole food from that vendor.

Finding a place to belong was difficult, you'd think as a cat he would have an easier time of fitting in, but he learned the harsh way that cats don't like outsider cats. Sakura has yet to meet a cat that didn't hiss and fight him the instant they saw him.

Funny, he thinks, as a human he's hated by humans, as a cat he's hated by cats, he can't win wherever he goes, doomed to never fit in anywhere. An outcast.

It was another usual night after a year of living on his own, where he curled up in a shabby rotten house. He's not in any forms right now, he's learned being a cat uses energy and being a guardian uses way more energy, if he exhausts his ability to transform he will feel like he stayed up until 4AM unable to register his surroundings. So here he lays, on the cold flooring as he watches bugs skitter past him, eyes lazily registering the area.

What's the point of living if this is what it was like each day?
Why was he even here, suffering, what reason did he have to go on?

Was there a reason to keep surviving? He had no family, no friends, he can't remember the last time he had a proper conversation with someone that wasn't violent. He can't afford hobbies, he's hated by everyone around him. He is an outcast, a burden.

He feels his stomach clench in pain and hunger, he hasn't eaten for two days now, why should he? What was the point? Everyone else deserves food more than he does, he’d just be taking away from those who actually want to live.

His eyes shut, sleep will dull the pain and block out the hunger for just a little bit. He listens to the sound of bugs chittering in the distance, the low moon light making its way through the broken windows. Sakura held on tightly to his tail, which went between his legs as he gripped it, almost like a lifeline.

What was the point of living anymore, anyways?

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“Can I tell you a secret?” Sakura asked, squatting down on the floor of a dingy back alley, looking at his black haired friend.

“O’ course!” He replied, he had a missing tooth and hazel eyes as he looked directly at Sakura. They were both kids, around 14 or so. His clothes were nicer than Sakura's, who had holes and split seams on the ends.

Sakura fidgeted with his hands, looking away from Arata, his friend he had made a few months ago.

Arata was nice to him, he didn't seem offended by his appearance, he even held hands with Sakura! He told him his eyes were really pretty and unique, they always hung out together. Sakura felt safe with him, and the other day Arata told him a big secret about himself, and Sakura wanted to share a secret about himself too, that way it'd be fair for the both of them.

“I'm a guardian!” Sakura said, he gave a nervous smile as he looked at Arata for approval.

“A what?”

“I can turn into a guardian, like the kind we read about in history!”

“No way, I don't believe you.” Arata crossed his arms and huffed.

“It's true! Wanna see?”

“O’ course!”

Arata was so excited, smiling, he watched as Sakura changed, he was glowing a soft white light before the outline of his figure changed and he was bigger now, sitting tall above Arata.

Sakura opened his eyes, his tail wagging up and down as he looked at Arata.

Aratas eyes grew wide, but not in fascination, he stumbled back, scooting on the floor away from Sakura. His smile was gone, replaced by a frown as he trembled.

What's wrong?

Sakura tilted his head, he wasn't sure what was happening, he had said he wanted to see him, he hasn't even moved yet.

“Y-y-y-you-” Arata stumbled, pointing a shaky finger at Sakura. Sakura stopped wagging his tail and let it slump to the floor, his ears pinned back as he lowered his head. Arata flinched hard as he scrambled on the floor, grasping the wall for dear life, still staring at Sakura with such…

Such a horrified expression.

“Y-you're a- a- a monster! A beast!” Arata stated, clear as day. Sakura froze in his place.

A beast?

“Beast! You're not a guardian, you're a beast! You're scary!” Arata had started crying now. Sakura got up and walked closer to Arata.

I'm not scary! I'm fluffy! I'm a guardian!

“AAH!! STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Arata screamed as though he was being killed, Sakura flinched and jumped back from him, those same hazel eyes he hated to admit that he loved so much, were now filled with tears and shook with fear, he sniffled and it wasn't long before Sakura heard footsteps rapidly approaching.

“WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!” A man shouted, before taking in the scene.

Arata crying, holding on to the wall meanwhile Sakura sat little ways away, ears pinned back and fur ruffled.

The man didn't hesitate any longer, pulling out a gun and pointing it at Sakura, he took Arata and placed his friend behind himself.

“What the FUCK did you do to this child!?” The man growled out. Sakura couldn't speak, he can't talk in this form.

Sakura looked from him to the child and quickly changed back to his regular form, hopefully he can explain things instead.

“I-I didn't do any-” 

BANG!

Sakura's eyes widened, his left arm was burning, on fire, pain exploded in the area as he gripped his arm with his right hand, he was shaking, scared.

“Goddamn fucking demon, I didn't know those fuckers were still around.” He looked down at Arata who had screamed in fear at the gunshot.

“I don't want to traumatize this child any further. If I ever see you again, I won't miss next time.” He threatened, taking Arata and booking it out of the alley.

What about me?

Sakura saw the bullet on the floor behind him, it was just a graze luckily, but it still hurt like a bitch.

Sakura could hear more commotion happening around him, the world was moving too fast, was it getting harder to breathe now? He felt like he couldn't take in air, he tried to breathe faster, get oxygen in him but nothing was happening. The world spun on its axis as he leaned against the wall, bile threatening to spill.

I need to get out of here. He thinks

People were coming, if he was caught they would kill him on site. In spite of the pain that bloomed in his arm, he turned into his guardian form and high tailed it out of there, leaving nothing but a bloody trail behind.

The blood flowed down his arm as he ran, sticking and matting into his fur, explosions set off in his arm with each step, each leap he took but he ran, he ran until he threw up, he ran until he feasibly couldn't anymore, he ran without a destination in sight.

He learned one thing that day, it didn't matter who it was, it doesn't matter how close he thinks he is with someone, he must keep this secret close to his chest, never let anyone know about it. Do whatever it takes to push others away, don't let anyone find out.

Chapter Text

Sakura woke up with tears in his eyes. He was dreaming about Arata again. He wished he never told him about his form, he wished he could still have that relationship with him. His eyes were so pretty, his laugh was like bell chimes, he was relaxing to be around. So what if he couldn't truly be himself around the boy? He should have been happy with the connection he did have with him.

But he got greedy. He wanted to be accepted for everything he was.

Dumbass.

Sakura wiped the tears from his eyes. His tail had a dull throbbing sensation, he had gripped it too hard in his sleep it seems.

He breathed in and let the tail fade away into light. He was fully human now, he would blend right in.

As much as he could with his appearance , he believes.

He had gone out again and got into another fight with low-life thugs who thought they were tough shit for cornering a poor woman.

“She was asking for it! Why would she wear red if she didn't want to-”

Sakura punched him in the face harder this time, he doesn't care what they have to say for themselves, there was never an excuse for what they tried to do.

Sakura had turned around to ask if the woman was okay, but she had already taken off, nowhere in sight.

No thanks, as usual. Hope she's alright. Sakura sighs.

Clap clap clap.

He looks up and jumps into a fighting stance, there was a man at the entrance of the alley.

“Don't worry, I'm not here for a fight, I'm here because I wanted to talk to you about something I think you'd enjoy.” He entered the alley. He had long brown hair with blue eyes.

“What is it?” Sakura replied harshly, taking a step back.

“You like fightin’?”

Sakura didn't respond, just narrowed his eyes.

“Hah, no need to answer that, I know you do, I've been watchin’ ya.”

“So you're a stalker?”

“Think of me more as a spectator.” He shrugs, leaning against the wall with no care in the world, not threatened by Sakura in the slightest.

“Anyways, I wanted to ask if you'd heard of a high school called Furin.”

“Why do I give a shit about some school?”

The man smiled, a wide grin as though he were anticipating this question, he had far too much joy in his response.

“Because it's a school full of delinquents, and you can fight to the very top and rule the entire school. The entire town if you play your cards right, you can be in control of everything. Prove your strength to others by climbing the ranks.”

Sakura was stunned silent, listening to this man explain Furin.

Fighting to the top? Proving to everyone that he can do it, that he's capable of accomplishing something in this world?

He grins.

“I'm listening.”

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Was it hypocritical to be upset over Anzai not telling anyone that he needed help?

Yes.

However, Sakura didn't care. His classmate was in trouble and with Keel no less, Sakura didn't know much about Keel but he gathered that they were assholes and that was more than enough reason for Sakura to get the fire inside of him ignited.

“I’m going to fight Keel, right now.” Sakura had stated plainly, he was class captain, this was a job for him to resolve. Alone.

It's his responsibility to ensure everyone is safe, if Keel is threatening Anzai then he won't stop until they're taken down.

“We’re coming too!” Nirei exclaimed, grabbing hold of Sakura's arm. Suo nodded and the rest of 1-1 jumped up to show their support.

“Rely on us to help you!” Nirei adds, his face screwed with determination.

Sakura didn't say anything, but he didn't stop them either. Continuing the march outside of Furin and leading all of 1-1, following Anzai to where Keel lies.

He still couldn't quite grasp the idea of friendship, though he felt a connection with his classmates. When they got hurt, he wanted to help them. He hardly knew Anzai, and yet he wanted to make his problems go away. He couldn't stand seeing the teen show up to class covered in bandages and lie so painfully about how ‘it was just a dog!’ and brush off their concerns.

He hated seeing himself in others, Sakura knew when someone was struggling, saw and felt it first hand, he always wished someone would reach out to him, now he's being the one to reach out to them.

He hardly lived in Makochi long, and yet everyone treated him with such kindness, it was weird. He didn't know what to do with it, how to handle it. He was given this soft, squishy, warm feeling in his hands and he couldn't understand where to put it. He was used to the sharp, cold, hardened cruelties of the world thrown at him until he was battered, bloody, and bruised, he knew how to brush off unwanted comments, knew all too well how to ignore others.

So how does he do the opposite of that? How do you accept compliments, were they compliments? At first Sakura had believed them all to be lying, he was expecting to hear someone talk shit about him behind his back, stayed behind after class just to eavesdrop on conversations, expecting to hear the whispers about him that never came.

He almost even revealed himself to Suo and Nirei willingly .

Almost.

They had been talking at Pothos over food, Nirei rambled on and on, soon enough the conversation twisted into talk about Guardians, and Sakura's heart froze.

“They're a lot like us, huh?” Nirei asked. “They protect those around them, defending their friends and villages, they were like the armored tanks of ancient history!”

“Legend has it they still exist, but due to our current society, they've gone into hiding.” Suo adds with a nod.

“What do you think, Sakura?” Nirei turned to him, grinning.

Arata had been grinning too when they talked about guardians.

“I think they're scary, they're beasts who just abuse their power and cause nothing but trouble.” Sakura said harshly, gripping his cup tighter, eyes focused on the ice bobbing in the glass.

“Really?” Nirei replied, surprised.

“I think they're beautiful.” Suo adds, Sakura looks at him with narrowed eyes.

“Don't fuckin’ joke about this.” He growls out, tired.

“I assure you I'm not!” Suo smiles, Sakura can't tell if it's genuine or if he's mocking him again. “They are selfless, they are given a divine power with the sole purpose of protection, they exist to fight and defend afterall, but I wonder…” He trails off before looking at Sakura, softening his eyes and putting a finger to his chin in contemplation.

“If guardians' jobs are to protect and defend, who protects them when they're down? They are still human, not monsters or beasts as you put it, Sakura. They have desires and needs like everyone else, if anything, I think putting them on such a high pedestal is a negative thing.”

Sakura was dumbfounded.

If his duty was to protect everyone, who would be there to protect him?

I don't need protection anyways, I'm strong, I can handle anything.

I've survived this long on my own after all.

“What would you do if you ever saw a guardian in person?” He asked. His questions were useless, Arata had talked big game but when it actually happened he ran away crying.

Sakura didn't know if he could handle seeing his new friends (could they be called his friends? Was that ok?) reacting the way Arata had done. It had taken Sakura two weeks to recover from Arata’s outburst.

“I would have so many questions! Like height, weight, powers, what happens to their clothes? How do they shift from human to guardian? How strong they are!” He rambles off a few more things that only succeed in making Sakura's head spin.

“I would like to know more about who they are as a person.” Suo replies simply, his question was more curious on a personal level whereas Nireis was more analytical.

“You say that now, but you'll be different if you saw one in person.” Sakura mutters, swirling the ice in his drink with his straw.

“What do you mean?” Nirei questioned.

“Nothing, it doesn't matter.” He brushes it off.

He wanted to prove them wrong, to turn right there and scare them away, it's his nature of self sabotaging that makes him feel as though he doesn't deserve their kindness, to drive them away so he can focus on recovery faster. If he gets rid of them now, it won't hurt so bad later.

Instead he watches as the ice slowly melts in his drink, letting the conversation fade to background noise as he gets lost in the past once more.

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They were fighting Keel, fists were thrown and blood was splattered. Sakura felt his adrenaline pumping through his veins, he had to fight, fight, fight. He got tunnel vision, eyes only focused on the person in front of him, who needed to go down next? And how would he reach the leader? The jackass sat at the top of the metal stairs looking down at everyone with a grin on his face, he had punched Anzai down those stairs and now he was unconscious at the steps. Haruka felt rage, he needed to take them down.

As blood soaked into the concrete flooring, bodies piled on the ground, Sakura continued to march forward, who cares if everything was aching and in pain? As long as he can walk, he can fight.

Why was he fighting? He hates to admit it, but it's not just for Anzai’s sake, it's for the town. He's grown quite fond of this place, and if Keel is threatening to disturb the peace and tranquility of it, Sakura won't hesitate to pummel them. This was the first place to ever accept him with open arms and it was hard to adjust, hard to not jump into a fighting stance when someone so much as made eye contact with him.

He didn't want to see any of his guys get hurt, which only backfired in the end as he turned around in time to watch Nirei go down.

It all happened so fast, and yet so slow. His heart was racing, but all the pain evaporated when he watched his friend, his first ever friend in Makochi, fall to the ground. Suo looked shocked and pissed as all hell, reaching him too late. Sakura wanted to join him, go to Nirei, comfort him, and ask if he was okay.

“Don't look away from your opponent!” The bastard shouted at Sakura, throwing a dirty blow against his face while Haruka was distracted.

Fuck. This.

He was getting pissed beyond all hell, angry, hurting, he needed this to end ASAP. He growls at the guy in front of him, who finds it amusing. Sakura punches him in the face, leaping on him and pinning him to the ground until he stops moving, only to feel pain burst from the back of his head.

One jackass down, and another instantly replaces it.

“ENOUGH!” Shouted a loud voice, it boomed across the warehouse.

Kaji .

Things were happening, the second years showed up, how did they know they were here? Kaji was yelling at him, the vision of Nirei’s bloodied face hitting the ground replayed over and over and over and over in his mind.

Do something. Do something. Do something.

The second years began wiping out more men, Sakura watched as Natori, the leader of Keel, began to grow a bit restless. He was confident at first but once Kaji began landing hits on him he started fidgeting, looking around, before grinning and stepping back.

“I congratulate you on being able to push me to my limits, I didn't want to do this, wanted to keep it secret a tad bit longer but well, you've left me no choice.” wearing a smug grin.

Before anyone had a chance to ask what he was rambling on about, he did it.

He changed, not unlike Sakura either, cast in a white light before his figure transformed into something bigger, opening his eyes to reveal slit pupils, bulky figure with fur standing on it's end, long slender tail that waved to and fro, and a smile that revealed sharp canines and rows of razor-like teeth.

Kaji was in danger.

Everyone was stunned by Natori, it got louder as people began to freak out.

Kaji was in danger.

Natori stalked Kaji like he were a mouse, predator and prey in action, Kaji stumbled backwards, how do you fight something three times as big as you, anyhow?

Kaji is in danger.

Sakura didn't think, couldn't think, all he was focused on was Nirei was hurt and Kaji would be next, he wouldn't let the same thing happen twice. He ran up the stairs to Kaji, getting in between the two. Natori grinned, Sakura watched those sharp teeth glint under the light, the joy in his eyes.

“You're not as special as you think, now fuck off!” Sakura shouted at him, before turning into his Beast form as well.

Because that's what they are, beasts. The world would never accept them.

Maybe, in a different life, in a different story, they could have bonded and became friends over this similarity. Finding anyone who had the same divine power was near impossible, statistically it would make sense Sakura walked past a few on the street, but given the fear society holds on them, they would never reveal themselves.

Natori took a step back, eyes widened in surprise. Sakura growled out all the same, defending Kaji from the beast in front of him.

“Sakura?” He says in a near whisper.

Natori growls before running up to Sakura, Sakura runs towards Natori, their claws unsheathed as they tackle each other. Sakura felt pain flare up on his sides as Natori clawed down on him, Sakura returned the favor. It was a battle of strength, and Sakura was losing.

He wasn't used to this form, given how he tried his best to never use it, nothing felt entirely natural to him, all his senses were going off like alarm bells, he could smell the blood, feel the fire erupt from where Natori raked his claws against his skin, his ears were ringing, his anxiety was high as he felt his heart beat wildly in his chest.

Natori pushed Sakura up against the railing, Sakura bit down on his front leg, tasting the copper of blood on his tongue. The two wrestled each other before the suspended platform gave out under their weight, sending the two guardians tumbling to the ground.

Falling did not mean they stopped fighting, however, it just meant it was a new fight on who would hit the ground first. Sakura bit down on Natori before flipping him at the last second, landing on top of him.

Sakura bounced away, gaining distance from the other beast. He narrowed his eyes, ears flattened back as he let out a growl.

Back down and go away. He wanted to say.

Natori got up and shook off his fur, blood droplets scattered across the floor before growling back at Sakura. The two slowly walked in a circle, sizing the other up.

Natori took a tumble, but he was still able-bodied. Sakura could feel his shoulders stinging from where Natori raked him, but showed no sign of discomfort. His vision hyper focused on Natori and nothing else, no one else mattered, kept his eyes on his opponent.

Natori made the first move, charging at Sakura. Sakura braced himself as Natori got up, swinging his large paws at Sakura's face, he felt an explosion of pain over his left eye, Natori had clawed his face, track marks slicing across his left eye. Sakura bit down hard on his neck, feeling the flesh mend to his will, licking up the source of his opponent's life from the punctures he was inflicting. 

Fuck I can't open my eye!

Sakura tried to open his left eye, but found it difficult as it stung wildly, whatever he had managed to see through the crack was all red with blood anyways.

He had one eye in this fight, whatever, he could still win. Suo always wins with his limitation, this isn't any different.

Suo? 

Sakura had wondered where his friends were for a brief moment, before determining it didn't matter as Natori pounced on him again.

“Guardians are like the tanks of ancient times!” Nirei had said.

Sakura didn't quite believe that, but now he did. Natori wasn't going down for anything, nor was Sakura, they had fight left in them. He just had to hit back harder.

It was strange, running on all fours again. He had forgotten how to use his tail for balance, he felt his movements slower than usual, everything felt heavier, like it carried more weight.

Natori managed to get Sakura on his back, standing over him as he lifted his front legs to deliver a killer blow to his stomach, Sakura used all his force in his hind legs to kick up in between Natori’s, sending the beast flying behind him and now Sakura had the advantage as he quickly flipped himself over and reversed their positions, he stood tall over Natori, sharpened claws hastily find their way down to his stomach as he claws down, a river of red flowed through his opponent. Natori roared, also clawing at Sakura's chest.

Sakura stumbled backwards from Natori’s force, and they went back to the circling position from earlier.

Go away!

Natori tackled Sakura hard, his claws found purchase on Sakura's hind right leg, and he bit down hard. Sakura bit down on whatever part of Natori he could see.

The two wrestled for what felt like an eternity, before Natori jumped back, covered in his and Sakura's blood, breathing heavily, he looked scared. Sakura took a step forward, growling and roaring at the other, before Natori shifted back to normal and quickly ran out of the building, leaving Sakura the victor of the fight.

Sakura stood there, breathing heavily as he watched Natori retreat. His eyes felt heavy, everything stung as if someone set him on fire. His vision was blurry and swaying. He collapsed to the floor in the dusty abandoned warehouse, everything going black.

Chapter Text

Suo knew something was up with Sakura, but he never wanted to pressure the other into revealing his secrets, after all, everyone has things they’d rather not share with others, it wasn't his place to force Sakura into talking about something he wasn't prepared for.

That being said…

He had watched the leader of Keel turn in front of everyone, who knew he would have been blessed with divine power? And to use it to harm others in turn? He was already beyond pissed Nirei had gotten hurt, he was too far away and too occupied to stop him from running off to join the fight, leaving Suo unable to do anything else other than watch his friend get hopelessly bashed on. Now he watched as Kaji was being cornered by a being three times his size.

And Sakura running off to protect him, what a fool he was, but that fool had also transformed too, and things started making more sense.

That's why he always got so defensive when guardian talk was brought up.

Sakura, also blessed with such power? Oddly, it makes sense. The boy is beyond kind and forgiving despite the horrors of the world he faced. Suo noticed how he would flinch when given any kind of contact, how in each room he entered he would scan the area, no doubt searching for exit points to run from if things went south.

“What the fuck is happening?” A keel member mumbled, the fight all but forgotten as the two guardians up on the rafters duked it out. People scrambled to flee the warehouse, the fight between the two gangs practically evaporated and people began to scatter. Most keel members stayed for a bit, but they weren't fighting Bofurin anymore. Some of the kids from 1-1 carried the unconscious Anzai off to a safe area, others were pacing trying to figure out how to help, most were awestruck at the scene before them. Suo pushed through the crowd and made his way up the rafters,to Kaji.

“We need to get out of here now!”

“That's Sakura…”

“Come on, Kaji!”

Kaji was awestruck, before blinking into himself again, turning and grabbing Suo’s outstretched hand as Suo dragged him back to the ground floor. The platform was already creaking from the fighting cats on it. Suo heard a roar behind him and noticed blood going down Sakura's arm, getting tackled at the edge before the weight and movement broke the supports. Suo pulled Kaji just in time to avoid him from getting injured.

“EVERYONE LISTEN UP!” Suo yelled out. “WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW! EVERYONE OUTSIDE NOW!” Using his most authoritative voice he could muster, people began scrambling to leave.

“Where are you going?” Kaji asked.

“Those two are not in their right mind right now, bystanders could easily be killed if anybody stumbled into their circle, this is like watching two kaiju’s fight, destruction is in their entire path, we need to clear the area to prevent anyone from being hurt.”

Kaji nodded in understanding “I’ll support you.” 

“COME ON YOU HEARD THE MAN, OUT!” He shouted, his voice booming much louder than Suo’s.

It turned out to be the right call when Suo heard a loud banging noise, turning to find Sakura had sent the keel leader flying into one of the concrete walls. His eye widened in surprise to find just how bloody they were. Sakura had blood on his front paws and mouth, the keel leader in a similar position, but Sakura was only fighting with one eye opened, the other had too much blood, preventing vision.

“I-is he going to be alright?” Nirei asked timidly from behind Suo.

“Nirei! You should be resting, you're hurt!”

“No! Sakura's hurt too! We have to help him!”

“There's nothing we can do for him when he's in this state, Nirei!”

Nirei grabbed hold of Suo's arm, giving him a determined expression.

“He's our friend, he's going to need us when this is over, we need to be there for him!”

“I agree.” Suo replied instantly with a nod.

“Then let's stay here, Kaji already contacted Umemiya about what's happening, I'm sure they're on their way, things escalated way too quickly here!”

Umemiya was coming? Suo didn't feel like that was a good idea, he was worried about Sakura, obviously he hid this from them for a reason.

GGRRAARRRRR!!!

The sound of pure rage echoed through the warehouse, practically vibrating the two teens in their place, the saw Sakura was on his back but before they could even think about worrying for the other, Sakura pulled a move using his hind legs to kick hard at Natori, swiftly getting up and pinning the other in place.

“He can move way faster than I thought was possible for someone that size.” Nirei commented, his hands shaking (from excitement or fear, Sou was unsure.)

Sharp claws glinted in the LED ceiling lights as Sakura went down on Natoris stomach, the scene too gruesome for even Suo to handle, looking away as they listened to the noises of two otherworldly creatures in pain and rage.

Natori got a good grip on Sakura's chest, causing the other to leap away before more damage could be done, they circled again, sizing the other up, seeing just how much fight the other had left in them.

“Just how much energy do they have to fight with? This is never ending!”

“Well, you said it, they are like battle tanks, they're built for fights like this.” Suo replied.

“We can't do anything?” Nirei desperately grabbed hold of Suo’s jacket.

“No, not until they're done, but we can help with recovery.”

With sudden, albeit, labored movement, Natori tackled Sakura, before Sakura could dodge, he found purchase on his hind right leg, they watched the creature bite down hard on their friend, who in turn bit his neck and twisted. Natori wrestled his way out of Sakura's grip and jumped back to gain distance. Sakura lowered his head closer to the ground as he stalked his prey, tail flicking in interest as if he wasn't currently bleeding from multiple wounds.

Natori looked at Sakura once, backed up slowly, as Sakura closed the distance he quickly changed back, human once again as he hightailed it out of there.

The battle that felt like it was going to go on for eternity finally ended, Sakura stood, raising his head as he growled at Natori’s retreating figure. Suo and Nirei watched as he struggled to walk, picking up his right leg in a hobble sort of motion before he finally collapsed to the ground, a gust of dirt and dust clouded him as he took in labored breaths.

“SAKURA!” Nirei cried out, running to the fallen friend.

Nirei is checking Sakura, feeling hot breath on his hand made him sigh in relief, he was breathing at the very least. Nirei ran his hand through Sakura's fur, but had to stop quickly due to the sheer amount of matting he had, it was bad , Nirei’s never seen matting this bad before.

“What happened!?” Umemiya shouted as he entered the warehouse, before stopping as his eyes lay on the monochromatic guardian on the floor, with their blond haired friend crying over him. Suo stood stunned, before snapping back to reality and turning around to face their leader.

“Sakura won the fight.”

“We all knew he would, he's our feral cat after all!” Umemiya gave a half smile, before it disappeared as he got closer to the big cat. “Who did this?”

“The leader of keel, he has the same power, they both fought really hard but Sakura drove him off.” Suo explained.

Umemiya knelt down next to Nirei and did the same thing, frowning.

“His fur is matted like crazy, did Sakura never take care of himself?”

“I don't think so, there's a reason he didn't tell us about this.” Nirei commented.

“He must’ve been scared to come out with it, I wish we could have known about this sooner and helped him earlier.”

“We know now, we can start helping him now.”

“Agreed, we’re going to need help moving him though, and these injuries need to be treated right away, just because he's a guardian doesn't make him invincible.”

Suo went up to Sakura, looking at his face, it was black with half of it covered in white fur, along with the concerning amount of blood red that dripped from his forehead.

Suo took Sakura's cheeks, looking into his closed eyes.

“We’ll figure this out together, okay? I wish you could have told us about this, but I understand.”

Sakura doesn't answer, how could he? But Suo likes to imagine the monochrome teen blushing and floundering under his words. Suo smiles at that.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“God he's heavy!”

“His fur is terrible, does he even take care of himself?”

“It's Sakura, probably not haha.”

“Hear that, Sakura? We’re gonna force you to take care of yourself from now on!”

“Can't you get smaller ? You're so heavy!”

“Yea, if you could be small again it'd be easy!”

Small? Smaller? Reduced in size. 

I can do that.

Sakura's ear twitched at the words, he felt people gripping his sides, things pressed up against him. He tried to open his eyes but was met with intense stinging and pain in his left one, and a world spinning in his right, he shut them again.

I want to be small, small enough to where I can hide and melt away forever.

Sakura glowed in a soft light before his body changed into something small, smaller than a human, a cat.

“Holy sh-”

“Wait, you can turn into a cat too!?”

“That's so cool!”

“Well we did say we wanted him to be smaller, though I don't think this is what we had in mind.”

He was being carried now, Sakura blearily opened his good eye again to see what was happening. He was met with warm, strong hands cupping him gently, close to the person's chest as if he were something precious, something delicate.

His mind caught up quickly on the situation before he registered what was happening, he was being carried by someone- looking up quickly he was met with a soft smile and auburn hair.

He was being carried by Suo, and he was a cat. They saw him…

They saw me.

They saw me like that.

Sakura's heart started racing as he stood up in Suo’s hold, flailing, his claws unsheathed as he gripped the others shoulders, he was hissing and sputtering in his hold.

“Ahaha, it seems as though Sakura has come to the realization of his situation!” Suo commented lightly, seemingly unaffected by the others claws.

“Sakura calm down! Calm down! It's ok!” Nirei flustered, trying to calm the cat down.

“Woah Sakura it's ok!” Kiryu said now.

Sakura looked to see Kiryu, Suo, Nirei, Tsugeura, and Umemiya all there, each one talking to him and wow .

Wow wow wow there's a lot of noise.

Sakura thought of Arata, how the boy turned and ran, how the man who found him shot him, Arata’s face was twisted in pain and fear as he looked at Sakura. Sakura's vision was blurry, his world was spinning, it was hard to breathe, his body screamed in pain and exhaustion.

He had to get out of here.

Sakura swiped at the hands holding him, before jumping on his friend's face and getting ready to leap.

“Absolutely not.” Umemiya replied, quickly grabbing Sakura’s lower half as he tried to escape Suo’s hold. Umemiya held on tightly to Sakura, mainly pinning his arms and legs to his chest with his strong hands, preventing the kitty from squirming anymore.

“Thank you Umemiya.” Nirei replied, breathing easier.

Suo stood with a smile, despite the fresh flurry of scratches he received, he gets the feeling this will happen a lot more often from now on.

Sakura sat puffy furred in Umemiyas hold, his hissing appeared to have no effect on the other, so he gradually stopped all-together. Umemiya was bringing them to Kotoha to fix him up, since she had emergency supplies for fights, and she had experience with cats before too, this was perfect.

In truth, no one quite knew how to handle the situation, all they knew was if they let Sakura go, they might not see him again.

“Barricade the windows and doors.” Umemiya ordered and the teens agreed, making sure the windows were closed and locked.

“What are you guys doing?” Kotoha asked, coming out of the kitchen.

“We have a bit of an issue.” Umemiya replied sheepishly.

“An issue? Oh my god, what happened to that poor thing!? It's covered in blood!”

“Oh, that's Sakura, he got into a fight.” Suo replied.

“Sakura? No way.”

Umemiya let Sakura down, in turn the boy hissed and limped across the room, jumping up on a table as he tried to make it to a window, before being blocked by Tsugeura.

“Nope, not today little buddy! We gotta talk!”

Sakura hissed in response.

“Sakura?” Kotoha called out, Sakura turned around to look at her.

“Sakura's a guardian, he has the power to turn into this big cat creature, it's really cool! He helped us fight against the Keel leader who had the same power, I'm not sure how we would've won if it weren't for him.” Nirei explained.

Sakura sat at the edge of the table before turning back human, except he sported cat ears and a tail.

Unconsciously, Sakura began gripping his tail, eyes darting at everyone as he scowled at them, ears flattened back.

“Go ahead, say your shit and let me leave! Stop playing with me!”

“Sakura, what are you talking about?” Nirei asked.

“I mean, we’re confused of course, but we’re not mad at you.” Suo tried adding.

The teens tried to get closer to Sakura but he growled in response, his pupils were slits and he bared fangs, feet still dangling off the table where he sat.

“Guys, back off, give him space.” Kotoha interjected, everyone stepped back and Sakura booked it, opening a door only to realize it was a supply closet, before turning around to see Kotoha.

She smiled.

“Sorry bud, you're not leaving yet, you need medical attention, let us patch you up, and for the love of all that's holy, please stop moving around so much, you're making everything worse.”

Sakura stood stunned in place, in his frozen stupor, Kotoha began wrapping his hand with bandages, working on cleaning his face with a damp cloth before he came to his senses and pulled away.

“Why the hell are you treating me like a kid?”

She looked surprised before a bit annoyed.

“First of all, you are a kid, second of all, you are bleeding, limping, and you haven't opened your left eye since you got here, clearly you are in dire need of help.”

Sakura shook his head

Why was she being nice? Why isn't she hurting him? Why are they all treating me like nothing happened?

Sakura backed up against the wall, placing his hand over his chest, seeing the bandages that lined his arms.

Why was Kotoha doing this? He's a beast, scary, he should be chased out of Bofurin by now by Umemiya himself, yet he was the one to carry Sakura to the cafe. He shouldn't be cared for, he should be feared and hurt like everyone else in his life ever did to him.

He couldn't stop thinking about Arata , he was so scared, hurt, and betrayed.

Maybe they didn't know that it was him in the fight? Maybe they just didn't look at him properly, yes that's it, Kotoha hasn't even seen his true form after all! It makes sense she would treat him normally!

“You don't know what I am!”

“Yes I do, you're a guardian!”

“No! I'm a monster, none of you are treating me like you should!”

“And how should we be treating you?”

“I'm scary, big, a freak, you haven't seen me like that.”

Sakura stared Kotoha down as he turned into that beast he had tried to hide for so long. His eyes narrowed, tail flicked back and forth, thumping on the ground. He growled and bared his fangs at Kotoha, claws unsheathed as he took a single step towards her, making sure to flex his shoulders with the movement to emphasize his size, prowling her like she were prey.

Kotoha stared back, to Sakura's surprise, she stood taller, puffing out her chest a little and she walked towards him.

And flicked him on the nose , surprising Sakura as he stumbled back slightly.

“Dummy.” She started. “You're so pretty, like our own little tiger, you've been hurting for a while, haven't you?” She reached out to pet the bridge of his nose softly, before her hand went up behind his ears and scratched them. For the first time he's been here, Sakura's ears slowly lifted up, no longer pinned behind his head. 

“You're part of our family now, whether you like it or not, so stop trying to chase us away, okay?” She said softly. Sakura froze, before becoming human again and leaning into her touch, his hands weakly grabbed the back of her shirt as he buried his head in her neck and cried.

“I ‘ont wanna go.” He mumbled, muffled through the fabric.

Kotoha patted his back and gently used her nails to go up and down his spine, sending shivers down Sakura's back.

“And no one wants you to go, please, stay with us, stay here. We need you, Sakura.”

“No you don't.”

“Yes, we've all bonded to you already, you're class 1-1’s captain, you're Suo and Nirei and so many other people's friends, you belong here.”

Sakura believed her words were genuine, he hugged tighter as Kotoha slowly led him back into the main room of the cafe, the other kids watched but didn't say anything. Sakura sat down on one of the booths and looked up to Kotoha with tired eyes.

“You wanna talk about it?”

Sakura nodded slightly. “I have some things t’explain.”

“Go on.” She gently prodded, focused back on his wounds as she sanitized them and slowly poured water (That Umemiya brought to her) over them to flush out any debris, the warehouse was dusty afterall.

“Uh, I don't take that form much… I uh, i'm not used to it, it takes a lot of energy from me and makes me really tired after. I'm sure I can build a tolerance to it if I use it more, but my last town freaked out really bad when they saw it so… I avoid using it when possible.” He was watching Kotoha clean his wounds, the white turning red as she wiped off blood and layered bandages on them.

Suo watched Sakura closely, he was clearly nervous, he saw a long black tail with a white tip slowly curl around his arm as Sakura gripped the tip of it, he seemingly wasn't registering this, like he did it on instinct.

Sakura must find comfort in holding his tail, how cute . Suo smiled softly. He was still upset Sakura had yet to make much eye contact with anyone.

“Sakura, can you look at me?” Suo asked, stepping next to Kotoha.

“I… I dun’ wanna.”

“Why not?”

“I don’ wanna see you, like how Arata did.” He admitted quietly.

Whoever this ‘Arata’ was, they must've left an impression on Sakura if he was afraid to look at his friends. Suo felt sadness in his heart for this.

“Please, Sakura?” Suo gently prodded. “I promise I don't hate you, no one does, we’re just concerned.”

Sakura looked up timidly, meeting Suo’s eyes. Suo stared back, it felt wrong to only see his gray eye staring back at him, his left eye closed still, Kotoha had cleaned that area and he could see three long slash marks across the side of his face, going over his eye.

He missed its golden colors, he loved his heterochromia to bits.

“There you are.” Suo gently said, tilting his head to the side. “You're so pretty, Sakura.”

Sakura blushed, blinking his eye a bit in surprise.

“Sh-shut up… Y’don’ gotta lie.”

“Who said I was lying? You're beautiful, I’d prefer if you keep your eyes safe next time though, I want to see your golden eye again.”

Sakura turned away, blushing harder.

“Maybe.”

“I'm glad you'll consider it!”

“Sakura, i'm kind of upset you didn't tell us this sooner! I mean, how cool would it be to ride on you as you run through town like that? I bet we could get some serious wind!” Tsugeura chimed in.

“W-what do you mean ride on me? I'm not a horse!”

“No, but I agree, it would be really fun to see where you take us!” Kiryu added.

“No ones going to ride me, okay? I ain’t a horse.” Sakura crossed his arms.

Kotoha rolled up his pant leg and made a tsk’ing noise.

“No wonder you're limping, there's bite marks like crazy here!”

“Yeah, bastard caught me good. It's ‘cuz I ain’t used to that form.”

“Then we’ll have to train with it! When you get better let's wrestle!” Tsugeura stated.

“You want me to train like that !?” 

“Of course! Who knows what kind of cool things you can do if you get used to that body!”

“You were so cool out there, Sakura!” Nirei chimed in.

“You looked stunning.” Suo complimented.

“I wish I got to see it.” Umemiya whined.

“Maybe in the future… If everyone's cool with it.” Sakura mumbled.

“Sounds like a plan!”

“I'm fine with it for sure!” Umemiya said.

“Stop moving now, and if you think we’re allowing you to go home alone, you got another thing coming! I know you Sakura, you're going to run off and try to do something reckless, I'm sending a member of Bofurin to help you until you heal.”

“W-wait! What!? You can't do that, Kotoha! You're not my mom!”

“No, i'm your older sister, and you'll do as I say, if you don't take my word for it, I know Ume will back me up on it, do you want to argue about this any further?” She asked, crossing her arms.

Sakura pet his tail, twiddling with the fur as he shrank away.

“F-fine, who's got time to hang out with me though?”

“I can offer assistance.” Suo said.

“Won't your parents miss you?”

“They won't notice a thing, they're out on holiday so it's just me. Allow me to assist you.”

Sakura looked at the other kids who all nodded in agreement. He didn't have much of a say in this.

“Fine.”

Suo looked really happy at that.

Chapter Text

“Nirei was right, your fur is matted like crazy.” Suo noticed, he didn't even have to touch him to know that, he could see the knots from where he stood.

Sakura swished his tail, ears lowering.

“I don't know how to care for fur, and I didn't exactly have anybody who was willing to help me, so I let it be.” 

Suo frowned at that.

“I think I should text Nirei to get some brushes and detangling spray for you, though we might have to cut your fur and just take care of the new fur that grows in its place.”

“You can't do that! What if it makes me bald!?”

“Well we can try to save the fur as best as we can, but we can worry about that after you're healed.”

Currently, the duo were in Sakura's apartment. Kotoha had bandaged up his wounds and mentioned they didn't look as bad as she was expecting. Nirei looked at them too and speculated if his wounds healed faster than a normal person, since in the myths told about guardians they were said to have healing abilities.

Despite Kotoha not doing take-outs, she made an exception for everyone's favorite resident cat, and got him some omurice. Suo could focus on learning more about his captain and keep a close watch on him during this time.

“You really don't have to stay here, I don't have an extra bed or blankets or anything.”

“Don't worry, Nirei should be stopping by with the things I requested soon enough.” Suo smiled.

“I can take care of myself, I really don't need a babysitter.”

“I know you can take care of yourself, I'm not doubting your ability to. Besides, I want to keep you company anyways, I like spending time with you.” Suo smiled.

Sakura stared at him, eyes widening as he blushed. Suo was genuinely smiling at him, not his regular polite smiles but something that was more intimate, he didn't see it often.

“F-fine, whatever.” Sakura gave in, how could he say no to someone so pretty anyways?

Nirei stopped by with everything Suo had requested, which was a lot apparently. A big duffel bag in hand with some plastic bags on the side. The two began to unpack, pulling out blankets, pillows, spray bottles, brushes, scissors, clothing, all the items made Sakura's head spin.

Just how long was he planning on staying here?! He might as well have gotten a roommate!

And with Suo no less? His heart could handle Nirei, Tsugeura, hell even Kiryu, but Suo!?

“Why do you need all of this stuff!?” Sakura asked, exasperated.

“Because I'm staying for however long it takes until you're back to normal!” Suo replied.

Normal, what did normal mean exactly? Until he was fully healed, or more than that? Until he started behaving like he usually did, or until he stopped showing off his ears and tail and instead became a normal person again? What was he implying?

Sakura narrowed his eyes, his tail twined around his leg as his ears flattened. A low growl in the back of his throat could be heard.

“Oh don't be like that, Sakura! It'll be fun, just focus on not getting into trouble and you'll be fine!” Nirei tried to cheer Sakura up. Sakura liked his independence, but he was more nervous. When he gets anxious he could be a bit of an asshole, even if he doesn't intend to.

“Fine, fine. What's in the spray and why do you have scissors?”

“Oh, it's dematting spray! And this is a comb designed to help with getting rid of mats, Suo figured he could try to smooth out your tail first, if it works then we can have daily sessions together as a group to help you get your fur straightened out!” He explained.

Sakura flushed at the thought of Suo touching his tail.

“Y-you-! Do you even know how sensitive a cat's tail is!?”

“No, but you could teach me.”

Sakura blushed before turning away.

“D-do what you want, i'm tired.”

The two giggled at that and continued working on their setup.

It wasn't long until everything was situated, Suo sprayed some of the dematting spray on his tail and combed through it, gently working on the knots. Nirei had left them an hour ago once he determined his work was done. It was just the two of them now, in the quiet, near empty apartment.

“So how sensitive is a cat's tail?” Suo asked after a bit.

Sakura was laying down, Suo sat upright, delicate hands combed through his tail.

“I jus’ feel weird when people touch it.”

“Do you dislike the feeling?”

“I'm just not used to it.”

“I see.”

The silence stretched on for a couple of minutes, before Sakura started up the next topic.

“Are you really not… Disturbed? By me? By this?”

“It's a bit of a shock, to be honest.”

“But no one is acting like they should.” He grumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone is so… Normal? About it? Shouldn't you all be chasing me out of town by now? Or like… Hating me? Finding me scary?”

Suo smiled softly, in a moment of rare impulse, he pet behind Sakura's ears, which made the dual-haired boy freeze before relaxing into the touch.

“We could never hate you, we love you Sakura. We’re surprised, but you saved our lives back there in that fight.”

Sakura didn't have the energy to fight back, thus he had to let the compliment lie in his chest, it felt warm and fuzzy and uncomfortable.

But he didn't hate it.

His eyes slowly drifted closed, it was beginning to get harder to concentrate. He kept having to pick up his head, forcing himself to stay awake. He had a very long day, he was surprised he hadn't passed out yet.

Suo noticed this, of course he noticed it. Running his hands through Harukas hair, gently he leaned down.

“If you want to sleep you can, I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Sakura nodded, allowing himself to fall victim to the depths of darkness, drowsily nodding off while Suo worked on his tail more.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In his dreams, he saw Arata. The two ran around the playground, swinging as high as they could before jumping off the swing at peak height, testing to see who could land without falling. Sakura had always felt connected with this activity, the weightlessness of flight, the way his shirt hiked up his torso as he fell, before landing on the wood chips with a thud, always on two feet.

Arata had flown too, but he never could land like Sakura could. The two laughed as Sakura declared himself the winner. The next game was climbing up the monkey bars and swinging. Sakura watched Arata carry himself over them before landing on the platform on the other side, turning around and looking at Sakura expectantly. Sakura joined, reaching up and grabbing the first bar, he swung forward, catching the second bar, his feet dangled from where he was at, swinging again he was nearing the center of the bars.

All of a sudden, in a blink of an eye the bars stretched out more, he looked and the height he was at had grown, Arata was further away, Sakura tried to catch up, but with each rung he cleared, a new one spawned out of nowhere. He was desperate, his feet dangling, the only hope he had was his grip strength which was failing him, sweat started to form in his palms making it more difficult to keep his hold.

“A-Arata! Help!” He called out, but it was like he was shouting at noone, Arata looked at him.

He felt trapped, he had no choice but to fall, but the ground was far away, what would happen if he fell?

“Arata!” He tried again “I'm scared!”

Arata still didn't do anything, just standing there on his safe little platform watching Sakura struggle, swing uselessly. Sakura looked behind him to see the rungs stretched infinitely, the park atmosphere had changed. It was getting colder, he was sweating, shaking. He couldn't hold on any longer.

“I'm gonna fall! Help, please!”

“I don't help beasts.” Despite Arata being so far away, his voice was clear in his ears, as if Arata were right next to him.

Sakura startled at that.

“Arata?”

“You were abandoned for a reason, you don't deserve to live. You're a beast, a monster, always and forever.”

“You don't mean that, please!”

Arata turned his back to Sakura as Sakura's hands lost their grip power, gravity working against him as his palms felt weak, the bars were too wet with his sweat, he slipped and suddenly he was falling.

He fell and fell into the void, his heart was racing, eyes widened.

In a flash, Sakura shot up from his position in his bed, eyes wide and breathing heavy, he gripped his chest with one hand and fisted his blanket with the other. Everything was dark, it was dark and he was alone and he was scared and why was he scared? He was falling, is he still falling? He can't tell. Breathing was harder than before, why was it so hard? Where was the oxygen?

“Calm down, it's ok.” A soothing voice entered his mind.

No, no it's not okay, he was falling. Is falling.

“You're not falling, it was just a bad dream.” 

A dream? No, Arata was there, had been there, he did nothing, he just watched as I slipped from the bars.

“You're not there anymore, Sakura, it's okay.”

His hand that was clawing into his chest was gently taken - it felt so warm - and placed on something even warmer. Sakura could feel the pulsation under that warmth. It slowly rose and fell, rising and falling, in a steady rhythm.

“Breathe with me, match my breaths, it's ok.”

“Falling.” Sakura choked out.

“You're not falling, I'm right here, I’ll catch you, I’ll never let you hit the ground.”

The kind voice would catch him? 

Slowly, Sakura took a shuddering breath, then another, he tried his best to match the movements of what he was feeling. Soon enough, the black spots in his vision were going away and he could make out the auburn haired boy beneath them.

“Hey, Sakura, you with me again?” He asked gently, warm hands clasping his own.

Sakura shakily nodded.

“I'm glad, take a breather, I'm right here, okay? You're not alone.”

Sakura nodded again, that made sense. He forgot Suo was here with him.

“Wh-what time is it?” And wow his voice felt dry.

“2AM, I think, you were knocked out for a while haha.” Suo smiled, his eye softened when looking at Sakura.

“Sorry for waking you.” He timidly replied.

“Don't be, that's why I'm here after all. Are you okay on your own for a minute? I’d like to get you some water.”

Sakura nodded at that. Suo squeezed his hand before getting up.

He was so warm, Sakura always forgets how much heat people have, and he's always amazed by it.

Suo returned with a glass of water, which Sakura greedily drank in almost one go ( Before Suo swiped it from him and scolded him “Are you trying to waterboard yourself? Go slowly! No one will take it from you!” ) Suo had sat next to Sakura, it seemed he was sleeping next to him, at one point he must have slid a pillow under Sakura's head so he wasn't sleeping on the hard flooring anymore. Sakura blushed and felt his tail, grabbing hold of it and stroking it soothingly.

And wow his fingers practically glided through the fur, not a single knot or tangle. He looked more at it and saw how smooth it was now.

“Impressed? It took a bit of work but I was able to save the fur!” Suo said, noticing Sakura inspecting his work.

“You did amazing, I've never felt it so smooth before.”

“Thank you, maybe we should teach you how to lick your fur too, that should help.”

“No way! I refuse to taste my own fur, it gets stuck on my tongue and it's gross!”

Suo laughed, he was teasing him. Of course he was teasing him.

“Sakura, do you want to talk about your dream?”

“It's not a big deal.”

“Can I ask who Arata is?”

Oh… Had he talked in his sleep? He didn't mean to do that.

“It's really not a big deal, it's not your problem anyways.”

“Sakura, I want you to feel comfortable enough to talk to me about anything, you mentioned them a lot in your sleep, did something happen?”

“I don't wanna ruin the mood.”

“What mood?”

“It's just, it's not a big deal, really. It’ll sound like a pity party.”

Suo held his hand, looking into his eyes (or, well, eye considering the left one had a medical patch over it), he looked so sincere and close like this. He squeezed Sakura's hand.

“I want to hear it, I promise it won't sound like a pity party, and even if it does, we all deserve to throw our own pity parties at some point, don't we? You can get it off your chest, I promise it won't change anything between us.”

Sakura took a deep breath, it wasn't a big deal but why did it feel like it was?

“Arata was… My friend. We hung out together a lot, he was the only one who didn't care about how I looked. But…” His ears fell downwards and his other hand was now holding onto his tail.

“I wanted to tell him, about me, about my gift. He promised me he wouldn't freak out, that we would still be friends, but after he saw me… He screamed and a man came into the alleyway and he had a gun and he wasn't defending me, Arata didn't say anything about how I was his friend, he hid behind the man and he shot me, after that I ran away from there and I got shot again by animal control, that was the day when I unlocked the power to turn into a house cat instead of a beast.”

The words flowed out of him fast, easily, like a dam that was allowed to finally break and release all the pent up emotions that had been suffocating him for years. Sakura talked so fast he was shaking, his eyes stung and he grasped Suo’s hand like a lifeline. His gray eye looked up at his friends, he looked stunning, yet concerned.

Why was he concerned? It's not like it was that big of a deal, Sakura got to heal from the injuries and it's in the past, it doesn't matter anymore, let it go.

Suo gently hugged Sakura, something he never got before, he never knew he needed. He let go of his tail in favor of grasping the back of Suo’s shirt. His eyes and throat stung, it felt as though someone wrapped his throat with barbed wire, why was it hard to breathe?

“I'm so sorry, Sakura, that never should've happened, you never should have experienced that, no one should have to go through that, I don't even know what to say.”

“Why did they all hate me? Why do you all act like I'm normal? I don't get it, are they in the wrong for hating me? Or is it just because you guys are so weird? Why aren't you scared of me? Why are you helping me?” Sakura's fingers clawed into Suo’s back as he buried his face in his neck.

“I hate everyone, I hate how I was treated, I hate how Arata left me, I hate how people only liked me when I wasn't human, but I hate myself most of all!” He sobbed “I hate that i'm not normal, I hate this stupid power, I wish I was normal, had normal eyes and hair, I wish my mom loved me, I wish dad stayed, why do I always fuck everything up just by existing?” He cried.

Suo hugged him tighter, gently rocking Sakura back and forth.

“Don't say that, please, we love you, that ability of yours is the only reason why Kaji is alive, it's the only reason why everyone got away with minor injuries. There's nothing more beautiful than you, they say every person in the world is unique, but you'll always find someone else with black hair and gray eyes, but we will never find another person like you. I love your eyes and I'm upset we have to hide one of them with a medical patch. I love your hair, I love your ability.”

Sakura let the words flow over him, his self doubt being replaced by the kind things Suo was saying to him, he had no doubt in his mind that his other friends would be agreeing with Suo if they were there right now.

“You're so unique, I will never find another person like you nomatter how long I search the earth, I could live for thousands of years and still never find someone as beautiful as you.”

Sakura chuckled a little, wiping his nose.

“K-keep talkin’ like that and I’ll start to think this is some kinda shitty love confession or something haha.”

“And what would you think if I said it was?”

Things remained silent, Sakura staying in Suo’s hold. He let the sentence in his head, it bumped around like a DVD loading screen.

And what would you think if I said it was?

“I- I'm… You're?”

Suo parted from their hold, grasping his shoulders and pushing him away.

“Sorry, I got caught up in the moment there, you don't have to reply right now, I don't want to move this conversation away from you. You're still recovering.” He explained.

Sakura nodded.

“Okay…”

“Great, thank you for trusting me with your feelings, i'm sorry your self esteem is so fucked, I wish I got to meet you earlier, but i'm here now. Whether as your friend or something more, I hope you will let me stay by your side. I can't wait to see how you blossom.”

Sakura blushed, looking away.

“Th-thanks.”

“Now get some sleep, you need to recover more. I can't wait to see both your eyes again.”

“Do you think it’ll scar?”

“I'm not sure. Kotoha had said the scratch only reached your eyebrows, I'm glad you don't have to join me in keeping an ancient deity sealed in your eye! Finding them and taming them is very difficult, but I've no doubt you'd be able to do it.”

“I know your ancient spirit is bullcrap.” Sakura crossed his arms. Suo smiled.

“Besides, even if it does scar, you'll just be matching Umemiya!”

Sakura hadn't thought of that.

“Tsk, whatever. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Sakura.”

The air felt lighter, Sakura felt more at peace after venting to Suo, but he was most grateful how Suo hadn't dismissed his feelings or told him to ‘just be happy’. He felt validated.

As for the probably semi-confession, well, Sakura needed his heart to calm down first before he did anything with that. He would have to talk about it with Tsubaki, they know all about love, maybe they could help sort his feelings.

Yawning, he opened his eyes a bit to see Suo’s sleeping form. His presence felt natural, as though he always belonged. And perhaps, he did.

Chapter Text

When Sakura was able to go back to school again, he was instantly crushed under a crowd of kids who were all excited to see him back. Anzai was beyond grateful for the help he gave to him and the support in their fight against Keel. Nirei was doing better too, it seems his injuries were not as severe as it had looked.

Sakura still felt uneasy, he had hidden away his ears and tail for now, unsure if he wanted to pretend like nothing happened or if the other kids would bring it up on their own. Once everyone was in class and seated, Sakura stood at the front of the room.

“I uh… I've been thinkin’ about this a lot.” He started, taking a breath and looking at the class in the eyes. Everyone gave him their undivided attention, even Sugishita.

“I think it would be best if I stepped down as class captain.”

The shock was immediate.

“Huh!?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Why?”

“What are you talking about, dude?”

“Sakura.” Suo said, he pushed his seat and stood up.

“Don't be a dumb-ass.” Came a voice from the doorway, jumping he saw Kaji standing there, arms crossed.

“Hah!?”

“Why would you step down as captain?” He asked, walking into the room.

“Because I made us run headfirst into a fight, my guys all got hurt, and to top it off now you all know i'm not exactly normal!”

“You acted fast and organized an entire group to follow your command in an instant.” Kaji began, walking up to Sakura to stand over him.

“Of course they're going to get hurt, don't be stupid, we fight for a living and everyone in this room knows exactly what they signed up for joining Bofurin, so don't insult us like that.” He poked Sakura in the chest and narrowed his eyes, chewing on his lollipop.

“And news flash- no one here is normal. You're a guardian? So what, you're still Sakura, it's not like you suddenly became a different person overnight. As it stands, you need to trust your classmates more and let them take over some of the issues around here, stop stressing yourself out or you'll burn yourself out faster.”

Kaji was right, everything he was saying made sense, but Sakura just couldn't understand it.

“Yeah!” Someone in the class yelled out.

“Don't step down! We’ll only follow your lead- no one else's!”

“You were so badass that day- I've been dying to see you transform again!”

The class shouted in support of Sakura and wanted to see his guardian form again.

“See? How about you talk to your class first before you make outlandish claims, anyways, I wanted to thank you in person.”

“Thank me? For what?”

Kaji raised an eyebrow, looking at Sakura. He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.

“You saved me back there in that fight, I'm not sure how I would've been able to fight off against something so much bigger, and with claws. You took the brunt of the attacks for me. So thank you.”

Sakura blushed, looking away from Kaji.

“Y-yea it's not a big deal, or whatever, you're welcome.”

“Well now that that's sorted, Sakura, are you comfortable with showing us your form?” Suo interjected. Sakura looked at the class, everyone's eyes were shining, excited and waiting.

“Uh… I guess, but no phones!”

“Aw dang, maybe in the future!” Kiryu said.

It was still odd to him how excited everyone got, he flustered under their stares but complied anyway. Taking in a deep breath, a soft light glew around him as his form changed and he grew taller.

He knew the transformation was complete, all he had to do was open his eyes and see their reactions.

Yep, just open his eyes.

Any second now.

He felt tense, rigid. So long as he didn't see their faces, he could still picture them happy. How were they looking at him right now? Were they scared? Did they hate him?

Stop thinking like that, they're your friends. 

Arata was your friend.

But true friends wouldn't care about what I look like, besides, they said I was badass, right?

“Sakura.” Suo gently called out. Like magic, Sakura opened his eyes and looked for the voice, finding Suo below him, smiling with his hands behind his back.

“There you are, there's nothing to be afraid of, look.” Suo gestured to the class, Sakura followed his movements to see the class was in astonishment.

“You're so cute!”

“Oh my god you're fluffy!”

“Those teeth are sharp! No wonder you sent the Keel leader running!”

“Can I pet you?”

Sakura huffed, and layed down, nodding.

“Sakura can't talk in this form unfortunately, so we will have to communicate with him a bit differently!” Suo explained. “Cats typically show their emotions through their tails and body language, so pay attention to Sakura's tail, if he's annoyed it'll slap the ground.”

Sakura hadn't noticed his tail doing any of that, but he didn't want to interrupt Suo either. The class got up to meet their captain. Anzai ran his fingers through his fur much like the other students. The sudden amount of touch he was receiving was a tad overwhelming and made his head spin.

Someone started feeling his tail, gripping it.

“Woah it's so smooth compared to the rest of his fur!”

More hands grabbed his tail, Sakura snarled and whipped around to face the person- Kurita, who let go of his tail instantly.

Sakura growled, his tail thumping on the floor loudly.

“Oh I forgot to mention, Sakura doesn't like his tail being touched!” Suo added. Sakura turned to him because there's no shot in hell Suo forgot a detail like that. He snarls at Suo too.

“Sorry Sakura! I didn't know!” Kurita apologizes. Sakura looks at him and looks away, resting his head on his front paws again.

“Your fur really is awful though, huh?” Kiryu mentions.

“Yeah, it's matted like crazy.”

“I was able to brush out the matting in his tail for the past few days, but we would need more hands to work together on dematting the rest of him.” Suo chimes in.

To Sakura's surprise, he watches as Sugishita makes his way over and also feels his fur. Grunting, he agrees before sitting back down.

Nirei starts logging everything down as fast as he could, even taking the time to do a quick sketch of Sakura like this. He asked questions where Sakura could nod yes or no to and jotted them down that way. As Sakura was yawning, he grew even more excited to look at his teeth, the pronounced canines sharp and long.

“Woah, what a party huh?” Umemiya suddenly said, scaring Sakura who jumped from his position on the floor, sending some of the kids flying as they banged their heads on the floor (They were resting against his body, struggling not to sleep like he was) Sakura growled before sitting back down.

“Sorry for scarin’ ya kid!” Umemiya says sheepishly before making his way into the room.

“So when do you plan on telling everyone else in town about this? I imagine they’d feel a hundred times safer!”

That shocked Sakura, he changed back so fast it made his whole worldview spin on its axis as he ran up to Umemiya.

“NEVER!”

“Huh? Why not?”

“They can't know!”

“Why?”

Sakura was pacing, Suo came by his side and took his hand.

“You're afraid of how they'll treat you, isn't it?”

“I really like it here, I don't want to lose that.”

“You should trust Umemiya, if he says the town will react positively, then they'll react positively.”

“No, I can't, all it takes is one crazy person with a- it just… It takes one wrong thing to happen and I’ll have to find a new place to live. I can't do that again.” He squeezed Suo’s hand.

Suo watched him with sad eyes.

“We can start by asking the town their opinion on guardians then.” He says, turning to Nirei.

“Nirei, how do you propose we get the feel for how the town views guardians? We should be able to scout out their thoughts and opinions on the matter and if they're all positive, then Sakura can live freely.”

Nirei fumbled his notebook before coming up to his captains.

“It's a little on the spot, but maybe we could get Bofurin members to gather reports on how everyone feels about them? We can ask everyone and say it's for a school project maybe?”

Suo turns to Umemiya, giving him a smile.

“Well? What do you think?”

Umemiya sweats at the look Suo gives him, it's friendly- to outsiders- but he knows that look is one that says ‘Just try to say no and see what happens’. Luckily, he also thinks the idea is a  good one so he agrees easily.

“It shouldn't be a problem! I can work on getting the details for you, Sakura, if it makes you more comfortable.”

“S-sure whatever.”

“Great!”

With that, Sakura is left alone with his classmates who all go back to asking him questions.

“Sakura, you know, in the legends guardians are able to communicate, I find it odd you don't know how to do that.”

“Uh- I mean, maybe they could, but I haven't been able to use this power much so i'm not too familiar with it.”

“Perhaps with time, you could learn how to talk? I expect you'll be able to get used to this form of yours much more than before.” Suo suggested.

“Maybe but don't count on it too much, ok?”

Chapter Text

“You're joking.”

Sakura deadpanned, looking at the room. Everyone was sitting on the floor, blankets and pillows thrown about, a basket full of supplies in the center.

There lay brushes, spray, scissors, and lint rollers. Some snacks too.

“We really need to get that matting sorted, the sooner the better, it's been left all alone for far too long!” Nirei stated.

“And you promised me you would do it.” Suo said, holding his hand.

Because yes, they held hands now. Sakura was flustered but found comfort and grounding in doing so. He knew Suo was incredibly stunning, still couldn't understand why someone like him would fall for someone like Sakura, but here they were.

He hadn't officially responded to his semi-confession since that night, but Suo also hasn't pushed the matter either. He had tried to talk to Tsubaki about it but they had been far too hyper and pushed Sakura to go for it.

“You two are perfect for each other!”

“What does that mean?”

“You compliment each other in amazing ways, I swear, Suo is the only person you’ll listen to! And you know how to bring Suo to his senses, I'm pretty sure Umemiya is more scared of Suo than anyone else!” Tsubaki laughed.

“W-well… I'm just not sure if I can be a good boyfriend, are there like, rules? I feel like I have to study for this.”

“Relax, Sakura, it's not a test. You don't have to study for anything, you're a good kid and have a good heart, you have nothing to worry about. Just don't cheat on Suo or he might literally break your legs.” Tsubaki smiled, patting Sakura on the back.

Sakura didn't reply, instead thinking about the incident and his feelings. He liked Suo, found him attractive, he wouldn't mind holding his hand or even… Kissing… That sounded really fun, was it just the prospect of kissing in general that had him excited?

Think about kissing someone else to test the theory! Like Nirei? Or even Kaji, what about Sugishita?

The image of Sugishita sent shivers down his spine. Maybe not.

Okay, everyone seemed fine but it was only thinking about Suo that made his head spin and heart race, that was something, right?

“Sakura? Hey, you okay?” Tsubaki had gently taken hold of Sakura's shoulders, looking him in the face with concern.

“Huh? Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Okay, well the most important thing is how you feel, don't worry about Suo or anyone else, how do you feel about him? If you don't like him-”

“It's not like that! I-I do like him, I'm just not sure if I'm ready to take on the responsibility of being a boyfriend right now, not until we get the whole… Incident sorted out.”

The incident in question was of course, his secret being revealed to the class. Sakura was nervous of course, but Tsubaki had gotten the rundown from Umemiya. Sakura has yet to get a single negative response towards his ability so far. He still felt on edge, but as each day passed and nothing significantly changed between him and his peers, he slowly felt at ease with everything, as though it was always a given that Sakura had such a unique power.

To add to that, Suo had also stayed over at his apartment more often, not because he was injured but just because he liked Sakura's company. Sakura slowly opened up to Suo and ever since, Suo has started to diligently work on Sakura's self esteem issues, starting with getting him to stop calling himself a ‘beast’ or ‘monster’ and instead use terms like ‘guardian’ and ‘protector’,

“I understand, you know Suo, he's always patient, I'm sure he won't mind waiting for an answer. Do what's best for you first and foremost, you should come first before anyone else, got that?”

“Yes I understand, thank you.”

“Okay, because if I hear you sacrificing yourself for others, I may have to slap you in the back of the head.” They smiled. Sakura gently laughed at that before talking about more mundane topics.

“Lay down on these blankets here, we made the area extra comfy for you!” Nirei directed Sakura to the pile of blankets in the center.

“All you have to do is relax and unwind while we do all the work, okay?” Suo said.

“You guys really don't have to do this, it'll be a pain in the ass to get all the knots out.”

“It's alright captain!” Tsugeura shouted.

“Think of it as a class bonding activity!” Kiryu added.

Everyone agreed with that statement, feeling a warm fuzziness in his chest, Sakura complied and soon enough he was laying down in the center of the room, resting on the pillows as people began working at his sides. The sounds of idle chatter, spritz, and clipping of scissors filled the air.

It was weird to be pampered like this, Sakura felt like he was some special guest at a salon. The kids tried their best to be gentle but when they accidentally tug too hard, Sakura's instincts take hold and he turns to growl at them before regaining his composure and laying back down.

Suo was helping out with everything of course, but he took care of the more sensitive parts of Sakura, such as his tail, face, and ears. Sakura trusted Suo to handle those parts of him, no one else could touch him there without him growling or rumbling from where he sat.

“It's like he has a Suo radar!” Anzai whispered to Kiryu

“I know right! If anyone touches his tail he’ll growl at them, but if it's Suo he just knows it's Suo and stays still!”

“How does he even know it's Suo if he doesn't bother checking?”

“I dunno! First he has a romance radar, and now a Suo radar!”

“That's wild.”

Sakura let out a sigh as Suo worked on a spot behind his ears.

“You're doing great, Sakura.” Suo complimented. “We might not be able to get everything in one day, but soon enough you'll be feeling much better, and you'll look less like a feral cat and more like a protector straight from the legends themselves.”

Sakura let out a content rumble. Some of his matting had to be cut out of him, but the students did their best to save whatever fur possible. Nirei had stashed some of Sakura's cut fur in a plastic bag, while the others focused on lint rolling their clothes when they were too tired to continue.

Before Sakura knew it, his eyes were drifting shut. Everything felt relaxing and the knots that were bugging him were slowly going away. Soon enough, he fell into a cat nap. Still aware of his surroundings to get up at a moment's notice, but just tuned out enough to enjoy the sensations and relax his body.

“He's sleeping!” Kiryu whispered. The class noticed he had fully relaxed now, his tail lay flat on the ground and his breathing slowed to a calm rhythm.

“Let's not wake him, we have a job to do after all.” Suo stated, gently brushing the fur. The strands of black and white were in patches, it was almost like a merle fur coat he's seen on dogs. He could feel the warmth radiating from him, the fur was soft and coarse, he wondered how they would all bathe him like this.

Probably outside with a garden hose, we’d all have to wear swimwear to do it, there's no way he wouldn't get us all wet. The thought of a wet Sakura made him laugh, he was sure he’d be all skin and bones if his fur deflated.

“My arms are getting tired.” Anzai complained.

“Mine too, this is taking a bit.” Kurita answered.

“We can take a break for now! Let's eat some snacks and relax!” Nirei suggested, already getting up to pass out the snacks.

Suo stayed where he sat, admiring the beautiful creature before his eyes. Something this strong and powerful, laying here relaxed and comfortable was a sight to behold. Sakura leaned in to Suo’s touch as Suo used his nails to delicately scratch behind the boy's ears. 

The classroom door opened slowly as Umemiya entered the room, he took one look at the scene and smiled.

“I'm glad he's comfortable here.”

“He is, was there anything you needed?” Suo asked.

“My four kings and I went around town earlier and asked about guardians, good news, the opinions are all either positive or indifferent!” He gave a thumbs up to Suo.

Suo had no doubt in his mind that Makochi would accept Sakura, but he wasn't bothered how the boy wanted reassurance, he's sure he would feel the same way if he were in Sakura's position, he had only joined the town for a few months now, compared to most other students whose whole lives they resided here.

Suo patted Sakura's head.

“I'm really glad to hear that.”

“Now we just have to wait until Sakura is comfortable and ready, so don't press the matter too hard on your captain, got it?”

“I understand.”

“Good!” Umemiya looked over at Sakura again, the boy grumbled and in a blink of the eye, he transformed back into his usual human self, curling up more on Suo’s lap, nuzzling his stomach. His tail curled around his legs.

“Haha, he really likes you, huh?”

“It seems he does.” Suo said with a smile.

Suo petted his hair, threading his fingers in the black and white strands. He was so truly blessed to get to know this boy on such a personal level.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure?” Sakura asked for the umpteenth time.

“Yes! We asked everyone in town, we promise they'll love you!” Kiryu pushed Sakura.

Sakura dug his heels in, gripping Suo’s arm who stood beside him.

“What if they were lying? Or what if they thought they would be fine with it but actually they really aren't and get scared when they see me?”
“If that happens, we will just show them how cute and fluffy you are.” Suo replied, not bothered by the death grip Sakura was giving him.

“I'm not cute and I'm not fluffy!” Sakura retorted with a blush.

“Yes you are, now come on, you can do this.”

Currently, Sakura was with a group of Bofurin students at the school, they were outside at the front entrance of the building. They had convinced Sakura to agree to walking around town in his true form, he just had to transform and walk around, that was it. He would have his friends right next to him to help explain what was going on and to give him support, if things truly went terrible they would step in before anything could escalate.

Worst case scenario, the town feared him, even though Suo couldn't see that future happening, he still considered it a possibility. If it were to happen, he and Umemiya would do as much work as possible to get them to change their minds on it.

One thing was certain though: Sakura would not leave Makochi. He was here to stay.

Suo swore it to himself and to Sakura, there would be nothing Sakura could do that would make them want him to leave.

“Are you sure?” Sakura emphasized again.

“Yes come oooon!” Kiryu dragged Sakura forward.

“If you really don't want to do it Sakura, we can do it a different time.” Nirei added.

Sakura stopped for a second, turning to look at Suo who gave him a reassuring smile.

“You'll be okay, Sakura, I promise.” He held on to his hand.

Sakura stared into his eye, searching for any hint of a lie or trick, but receiving none.

He sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Yay!” Kiryu jumped up excitedly.

“But if they hate me, I want you to know this is all your fault.” He pointed at his classmates.

“We will gladly accept responsibility for what happens!” Nirei said.

Ugh these guys were way too optimistic about this.

“Okay… Okay, I got this.” Sakura pep talked to himself.

“I’ll be with you every step of the way too, okay?” Suo said to him, squeezing his hand.

It seemed Suo liked doing that, it was nice, grounding, and reassuring. Just enough connection to feel the warmth radiate from his palms to Sakura's, without being overbearing or uncomfortable. He liked the touch.

Only Suo was allowed to hold his hand though, just like his ears and tail, Suo got special permission none of the other boys received.

Sakura let go and stood back, transforming. Suo never tired of watching the magic happen, the white glow accompanied by the shifting silhouette, it was mesmerizing.

Sakura stood there, looking over at everyone. They all met him with grins and cheers, words of encouragement and reassurance.

With that, he took his first steps at being truly free, to be himself.

As Sakura began to make his way to the town, he saw the four kings and Umemiya standing there, before he could freak out, Umemiya came to them with a wide grin.

“I didn't expect to see you here.” Suo said, voicing Sakura's thoughts.

“We wanted to support Sakura! We believe if they see us, they'll understand the situation better!”

“And we can control the crowds.” Hiiragi says, looking at Sakura up and down.

Oh, he hadn't shown him his form yet had he?

Well, he seems to have gotten the memo, word travels fast and all that. All he did was take more of his stomach pills before turning around.

“Ready when you are.” He says to Umemiya, who turns around and walks forward, leading the way. Momose, Tsubakino, and Mizuki all followed their lead, chatting amongst one another.

Sakura saw the town approaching, and the first onlooker who widened their eyes and stopped in their tracks. After that, Sakura quickly ducked his head down, staring at the floor, his tail low and ears lay down, he was nervous, scared. He couldn't look at anyone in the eyes, couldn't bring his gaze up.

He heard people talking, shouting, members of Bofurin going in to talk to them, explain the situation. But Sakura could only focus on the ground, walking step after step in a slow rhythmic way.

Was this a bad idea? Should he stop while he's ahead? What if Suo was wrong? Arata had said he didn't mind but clearly that's not the case because he did mind. Would someone hurt him now? He didn't have to look up to feel their eyes burning into his skin. They were judging him, no doubt.

“Sakura.”

Why bother looking up when he would just be met with those same faces of terror again? Why was he even here to begin with? He should go, he should do them all a favor and run away, sure the Bofurin guys would be upset but they would forget soon enough, their whole thing is protecting the town but what if Sakura is the one to ruin the peace? They would surely stand with the town and their opinions over the newcomer who hasn't even been here a year.

“Sakura, please.”

Sakura blinked until he bumped into something- someone.

He wasn't moving particularly fast, or strong, so he stopped in his tracks, his eyes focusing on what's in front of him.

Suo?

“Sakura, please, look at them.” Suo says.

Sakura shakes his head. No, I don't want to see their reactions.

Suo rubs his front leg, feeling the fur there, it's all he could do given Sakura's size in this form. Sakura looks at Suo, blinking.

“It's okay, Sakura, please, trust me.” He speaks, so low and quiet only for Sakura to hear.

I trust you.

Because it's the truth, he trusts Suo more than anyone. Suo, ever the unconditional lover, accepts Sakura for who he is without hesitation. Who has questions but never passes judgment. Suo, the only person who has special permission to do things no one else is allowed to do.

Suo, the person Sakura loves.

He trusts him with his life, and would kill for him if Suo wanted it. The thought of what he would do for him is somewhat scary, but he knows Suo would never push him too far.

Sakura looks up, faces the town with his mismatched eyes.

He idly thinks back to the first time he met Kotoha, and her telling him to look people in the eyes, to trust in those around him. He was being his most vulnerable here to so many people, he had to face them.

What happened to the old Sakura who didn't give a crap about others' opinions? What happened to the days where he would be willing to fight anyone who dared talk shit about him? He changed so much just living here that it scared him a little bit to be honest. The old Sakura would never believe that he would be scared of other people's opinions, yet here he was.

Facing the very people who held his future in his hands, he would do it looking them in the eyes, waiting for their judgment.

The townspeople looked back at him, he saw in their stares wonder, amazement, shock, a few of the younger residents looked afraid or at least timid, but the older residents looked excited.

“You shoulda told us sooner, kid!” The owner of the bakery said. “We would've loved to have you here sooner!”

“I can't believe guardians are real!” A kid in the crowd spoke up, breaking way from his mom as he ran up to Sakura.

He put his hands on Sakura's front leg, stars in his eyes.

“YOU'RE SO COOL!” He yelled in excitement.

Sakura didn't know what to do, he side eyed Suo who stood uselessly to the side, smiling.

Help me damnit! What the hell do I do with kids?

Sakura gruffed and looked away, sitting down as the tip of his tail moved back and forth, he didn't know how to reply, or how he even could reply.

“Can I pet you?” The boy asked. Who was Sakura to refuse?

Awkwardly, Sakura lowered his head, now eye level with the kid, who pet the bridge of his nose.

“You're so fluffy and cute!” He said.

Before Sakura could think, he growled and turned his head away.

“Haha, it seems our Sakura still can't handle compliments even in this form!” Kotoha said, coming out of the crowd.

Sakura snarled at her, but she remained unphased.

“It's ok guys, Sakura is all bark, no bite. Or in this case, would he be all hiss and no scratch?”

The kids upon seeing the boy get to pet Sakura, all ran up to him. Some of the adults joined them. Sakura was taken aback by this and sat up, scooting away from them in confusion.

“Guys give him some space please!” Nirei shouted, running towards the group.

This was unexpected, the amount of people crowding him was more than he was used to. Sakura's world was spinning as he tried to comprehend this sudden and intense wave of acceptance.

Were they not scared? He had growled at them!

They know you won't hurt them. Suo's voice rang inside his head.

Leave it to Suo to rein him back in, even if it wasn't physical Suo saying anything.

Sakura began backing up, but the people kept staring. The Bofurin boys did their best to give Sakura space, but that didn't help the sheer number of eyes staring at him. It was all overwhelming, and as word spread, more people came in too.

Sakura shook his head. He was one thing away from just-

“You look stunning!”

“If you ever need anything please let us know!”

“I think you should be our new mascot.”

“Can I draw you? Please?” 

That's it. Way too much praise for him doing jack all, he's done here.

Sakura shifted into his smallest form, a house cat. As the wave of shock overtook the crowd, Sakura quickly took off, weaving his way through the crowd and darting into an alleyway. His little paws pitter pattered on the ground, his small body fast and nimble. He could hear shouts of confusion and awe behind him.

Sakura took a few turns in an alleyway when he stumbled face to face with her-

Risa.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The white cat stared at Sakura. Sakura puffed up his fur instantly, standing wide on all fours, watching her.

How did Risa get out again?

Kaji would surely be looking for her again, what should he do?

Risa tilted her head to the side before jumping down off the boxes and carefully approaching Sakura, her body low to the ground, tail low and centered. Sakura stood stiff as a board while he watched her approach. She sniffed the air, her tiny pink nose moving up and down while Sakura huffed. He took a step back, but she approached onward.

“Mrowr.” She said, Sakura wasn't too familiar with cat language, but for some reason he could tell she was curious. Her emotions felt positive, not threatening.

“Mmrrr.” Sakura replied, he wasn't sure how to talk as a cat so he let out whatever noise felt natural, trusting his body to take the wheel.

Risa sniffed his nose, lightly bumping it before moving on to the rest of him. Sakura didn't want to scare her off, staying still as she looked at his sides.

Was she going to attack? Probably not, her body language looked curious yet positive, she hadn't growled or puffed up her fur. Even her claws were retracted.

Tonk!

She put her cheeks against Sakura's, rubbing her face against his while purring.

This was weird, how was a damn cat just as kind as the people of Makochi!? All the cats he's seen have been rude and ready to attack, he had never experienced positive interactions with other cats before. He had been worried about how he would explain to Kaji that he had attacked a citizen's pet if he needed to hurt Risa.

Rrrrrr 

A rumbling noise erupted from Risa’s chest, soothing Sakura down as his fur laid back. He felt safe here, sitting down, Risa began to groom him.

Her rough tongue lapped at his neck, slowly making her way to his face.

She's treating me like a kid!

Sakura's fur bristled as he froze in place. Risa appeared not to mind as she continued to groom him, happily purring the whole time.

“Sakura? Saaaakuraaa!” Umemiyas voice came from the entrance of the alley.

“Oh there you are!” Umemiya stopped as he watched the scene, a stiff still Sakura and a loving Risa.

“Aww how cute!” Suo said, appearing next to Umemiya. 

Sakura turned his head to face Suo, eyes wide and pleading.

HELP ME!

Suo smiled, clearly taking joy in his suffering. Even as a cat he couldn't escape the kindness of Makochi, he would have to accept that.

“Alright Risa, let him go.” Umemiya said, turning around. “We found Sakura and Risa!”

Kaji and Nirei appeared quickly, there to help and see what was wrong with Sakura. Kaji made his way to pick up Risa, who happily melted into the boy's arms, purring.

“Up you go!” Umemiya said, picking up Sakura. Sakura flailed, claws out as he was struggling against his hold. “Sakura stop it!” 

Let me go!

Before he could bite the leader of Bofurin though,

“I'll take him.” 

Came a calm voice, who's tone had far too much humor in it. Warm hands wrapped around his torso as he was handed off to Suo. Sakura relaxed in his hold. Suo cupped his hind legs so he could rest comfortably against the other. Sakura stopped resisting and nuzzled into the crook of his arm.

Suo genuinely laughed at this, and at the upset face Umemiya made.

“Awwh why doesn't he like me?”

“It seems I'm the only person who's allowed to touch him.” Suo replied with a grin.

“One day, Sakura, you'll let me carry you too!”

Doubt it. Sakura thought, flicking his tail.

Suo carried him out of the alley, brushing his fur with his fingers.

“You must’ve gotten overwhelmed, huh?”

Sakura nodded.

“I'm sorry for not stepping in sooner, do you want to continue?”

Sakura nodded again.

“Okay, let me know when you're ready, we can relax for now.”

Suo was leading them away from the crowd, away from the other Bofurin members and instead went to a more secluded area and sat on a bench, gently stroking Sakura's fur as he closed his eye in thought. The two stayed like this for a while until Sakura was ready to continue. Sakura enjoyed the time spent in Suo’s arms, but it was growing uncomfortable, he felt calmed down enough  to struggle in his hold, Suo letting him go rather easily as Sakura bounced on the floor. Sakura changed back to normal, stretching his arms.

“Aaah that feels so much better!”

“Haha, I'm glad you're feeling better.”

“Thanks Suo.”

“Of course.” Suo stood close to Sakura, watching him from behind. Sakura turned around to see that mischievous glint in his eye.

“If you didn't want to be my boyfriend, you could've just told me.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, your new girlfriend seemed very happy to have you, I can't believe I interrupted your intimate session.” He winked.

Sakura blushed. “Are you talking about Risa!? No way! She came out of nowhere and started licking me!”

“I can't believe I lost to a cat.” Suo said with mock sadness, clutching his heart as if he were fatally wounded.

“You didn't lose to shit! Stop acting like I care more about a cat than you!”

“Aaww Sakura admits he cares about me?” Suo wrapped his arms around Sakura, drawing him in for a hug. “How sweet! I never thought I'd hear that!”

Sakura blushed more. Sputtering under his hold.

“I-I-I don't! Who said I did? Stop makin’ shit up!”

Suo hummed in his hold.

“Do you have an answer, or do you need more time?” He asked, his voice more serious and low now.

Did Sakura need more time? No, he knew in his heart that this is what he wanted.

Sakura relaxed in Suo’s hold. Shaking his head.

“I know now, thank you for being patient with me.”

“Of course.”

Sakura hugged Suo back, taking in a deep breath.

“I… I like you too. We can be together if you want.”

Suo smiled at that, placing a quick peck on his cheek.

“I'm so glad to hear that, Sakura.”

Sakura blushed deeper from the action, tightening his hold on Suo.

“What did I get myself into?” He asked himself.

“The best relationship you'll ever have, I’ll make sure of it.”

 “You better.” Sakura replied with a grin.

Sakura felt infinitely more comfortable and confident strolling through town now. He took it slow so he didn't run into anybody, but Suo was there with him every step of the way. He grew comfortable with photos and videos, although he knew people were taking them before then too. (He knew for a fact Kiryu had taken photos of their grooming session before, he just didn't share them yet). A few kids ran up to Sakura to pet his fur or take photos, Suo was there to make sure no one stepped over any boundaries and soon enough he had made it through the entirety of the town.

Sakura sat drinking a juice pouch next to Suo (courtesy of one of the shop owners nearby).

“I'm surprised people are so… Okay with this.” Sakura commented.

“Well, according to legend, guardians are meant to save us and help protect us, you're really no different from Bofurin to be honest.”

Suo continued after a minute.

“You're their symbol of hope, so is Umemiya, of course, but you're like our mascot now. No one around here will want to mess with us when they see the tiger we have protecting the town. The older generation were taught about guardians and the rituals held, with you here we can start festivals in your honor!” He smiled.

Sakura choked on his drink.

“FESTIVALS?! Why!?”

“Because, it's tradition to celebrate guardians for all the work they do protecting their people!”

“I don't need a celebration!”

“It's also good for boosting morale, the more we celebrate guardians, the more word will spread, who knows maybe we can even start changing people's opinions on them with them, if we show you're not threatening to those who don't cause pain, you could help others with the same power as yours feel comfortable to come out too.”

Sakura sipped his fruit flavored drink.

“That would be good if we could prevent what happened to me from happening to others.”

“But we don't have to worry about that right now, we can focus on you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, using your forms for combat, getting used to moving in them, and maybe with enough persistence and training, you won't get so tired after using your powers for so long. Who knows, maybe you'll even learn how to talk.”

It would be immensely beneficial if Sakura could learn how to talk in his forms, and if he could learn how to switch between forms seamlessly in a fight, imagine trying to punch an opponent just for them to instantly grow tiny, throwing off your balance before they get big and punch you back.

Despite how he knew his guardian form was the strongest, he still preferred to fight as himself. He was Sakura Haruka first, and whatever power he had, second. He didn't want to be reduced to a cat, even if it were his power.

Sakura nodded, leaning his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.

“I'm tired.”

“Do you want me to carry you home?”

“I can walk by myself!”

“Okay okay, it's just that it seemed you really enjoyed it when I carried you last time.”

“Hmph. I don't need your assistance!”

Suo laughed as he teased his boyfriend some more.

Chapter Text

It had been about a week since Sakura showed his true form to everyone in Makochi. There were questions like if it hurt, or if he needed any special accommodations, Suo even teased him with a laser pointer just to watch Sakura's pupils dilate and resist the urge to chase it.

“How many people can you carry, Sakura?” Tsugeura had asked.

“Hah? What do you mean?”

“Like, when you're big! Can we all fit on your back?”

“Uh, I'm not sure.”

“Can we try it out?”

“Why would you want to go on my back?”

“Come on, it'd be fun!” Kiryu chimed in, inviting himself to the conversation. “Imagine it, the wind in our hair as you run top speed!”

“I ain't a damn horse!”

“You're not a horse, you're Sakura!” Kiryu said.

“I'd love the opportunity to record how fast you can go and how many people you can handle!” Nirei said, now joining in the conversation, because apparently this topic was very interesting and warranted everyone to join in.

“Where would we even go?” Sakura asked, blushing faintly at all the attention.

“Take us wherever your heart desires!” Kiryu said.

“Let the wind carry you to where you want to go!” Tsugeura says.

“If we leave it up to the wind, I'm afraid we’d only end up at Kotohas.” Suo jokes, coming in to stand next to Sakura. Sakura crossed his arms.

“I don't only think about food, okay?”

“I'm sure you don't.”

“How come you don't sound like you believe what you just said?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” Suo raised his hands as Sakura began hitting him (Lightly of course) Suo sat and laughed at him.

“I'd like to see the world from atop your shoulders anyways.” Suo said.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Sakura paused for a moment, before caving in.

“Fine.”

“Yay!”

“Of course he listens to his boyfriend.”

“Hey I don't do what he says! I just… Take his suggestions more seriously than yours!” Sakura bites back, crossing his arms.

“Of course you do.” Kiryu says.

Suo uses that moment to sneak his hand into Sakura's, all smiles and giggles as the boy doesn't realize he's holding onto Suo while arguing with his class. It wasn't until Sakura goes to stand up that he realizes he feels a tug and looks down, growing more red.

“When the hell did you do that!?”

“I'm surprised it took you so long to notice!”

“I-I was busy!”

“Of course.” Suo nods.

“Tch, jackass.”

“Aww you know you love me~!”

“In your dreams!”

The crowd laughed around Sakura as he accepted his fate and sat back down.

They decided to test out their theory after classes ended. When they had the time, everyone met at the front of the school, Sakura in his true form laid down on the ground as people began hopping on his back.

First was Suo, who got to sit at the front. Next was Nirei, who was behind Suo. Kiryu behind Nirei, and Tsugeura at the end.

Four people in total. That was about 450 pounds or so. Sakura began to try and get up, shifting his weight to his shoulders and hind legs. It didn't take as much effort as he had been expecting.

“You okay, Sakura?” Suo asked. Sakura huffed, nodding. “Alright, but don't push yourself.”

There wasn't really anything to grab, so Suo held on to his scruff, Nirei held on to Suo, and the other two decided to hold on to the person in front of them or clinging to his fur. It wasn't entirely comfortable, but Sakura would live.

He began walking at first, like an airplane on a runway, he had to build up speed and momentum before he could truly take off. They told him he could go wherever he wanted to so he decided he would take the backways, away from the main trails of the town that way he wouldn't run into anybody. His large paws moved rhythmically as he trotted along. Suo could feel the muscles moving under him as Sakura built up speed.

“This is so cool!” Tsuguera said.

“Yeah! We're so high up!” Nirei said.

“I can tell someone's scared.” Suo teased. Nirei had wrapped his arms around Suo’s torso, gripping on tightly.

“I just wasn't expecting it to be this fast!”

“I don't think Sakura has even reached his peak speed yet.” Kiryu commented, he had his phone out recording the trip.

THUD THUD THUD Went Sakura's footsteps. 

He built up momentum to the point where he was now running, spreading his legs out to cover more ground as each step practically made them fly. He narrowed his eyes and ears, the wind biting his eyes. It felt amazing, Sakura was reminded of the first time he ran away like this, free. Unchained, as he felt the connection between the ground and his paws. He used his tail to help balance himself while also using it to help him steer as he turned left and right, soon enough they were in the forest.

“We’re at the forest! This is away from most civilians, it should be perfect!” Nirei commented.

“I see.” Suo replied.

Sakura could forget he had his friends on his back, all he could focus on was the wind in his face, the way the air weaved itself through his fur and in between his paws. He felt that connection to nature he had lost so long ago.

Everything felt so utterly and completely right , as though this was how he was meant to live. Entering the forest he quickly made his way through trees, jumping over fallen logs, slowly climbing uphill to reach its peak. This is where he was always meant to be.

Standing at the peak he felt the wind blowing through his fur, his mismatched eyes looked down at the scenery before him, it was stunningly beautiful. Sakura half-remembered he had cargo on his back before he completely crushed them, laying down and shaking to encourage them to get off.

Suo picked up on this instantly, as he always did. Coaxing Nirei to jump off with him, followed by Kiryu and Tsugeura. Once everyone was off, Sakura flipped himself over, rubbing his back all over the wild grass.

Legs spread open, wiggling left and right as he enveloped his entire scent with that of grass and dirt. He began to feel a strange sensation in his chest.

Rrrrr

It rumbled throughout his whole body, yet he didn't want it to stop. Like a starting car engine, he purred.

“Oh I am so glad I got this all on video!” Kiryu said. “The boys are gonna be pissed they missed out on this!”

“That looks like fun, Sakura!” Tsugeura said, joining him in rolling around on the grass.

“You guys are so weird.” Kiryu said, but still went in to join them.

“If it's something Sakura likes, I want to do it too!” Nirei said, soon enough they all were laying on the grass, Sakura’s tail thumped happily on the ground.

Suo stood by watching them all, his gaze trailed up and around the area they were at.

Ah, that explains it.

He went over to a bundle of weeds and greenery, pulling out a plant, and he approached Sakura.

“You like this don't you?” He said, a knowing glint in his eye that meant trouble.

Sakura's pupils dilated as he pounced at Suo, who swiftly dodged the movement, he dangled the plant in front of Sakura who bit at it and began toying with the object.

“What is that?” Nirei asked, standing next to Suo.

“Catnip, it seems Sakura was drawn to it.”

“Does that mean he could smell it all the way from school?”

“I'm not sure about that, it seems he just followed the path that felt most natural to him and lead him here.”

Nirei began writing this down while Sakura was playing with the plant.

They all hung out with each other, at one point Sakura went back to normal to talk to the group properly.

“I never thought you'd take us somewhere so pretty.” Nirei said in awe.

“Huh!? You doubted me!? I told you I could go somewhere that wasn't Kotohas!”

The group giggled, everyone flopped on the ground, staring at the clouds in the sky as they floated past, a comfortable silence fell over the group.

Suo still held Sakura's hand.

“I uh… I wanted to say thanks. For y’know, doing everything you do for me.” Sakura said, his voice quiet, vulnerable.

“Of course, Sakura!” Nirei said.

“We’d never make you uncomfortable! That's not very virtuous after all!” Tsugeura stated.

“I'm glad you feel comfortable around us.” Kiryu replied.

Suo took Sakura's hand closer to him, rolling over on his side to face the dual toned boy. He looked at Sakura until Sakura was looking back at him. A light blush spread on Sakura's face as he stared at Suo.

“Sakura…” Suo leaned closer, making the hair on Sakura stand on end, bristling at the closeness especially with others watching them.

“Y-yeah?”

Suo held up his other hand, as Sakura stared at it confused, Suo flicked his forehead.

“OW HEY!” Sakura shouted, tugging his hand free from Suo’s.

“Never doubt the people of Makochi or Bofurin again, got it?”

“Okay, okay you were right!”

Suo smiled before grabbing Sakura and hugging him.

“Good. You're welcome.”

Sakura grumbled in his hold, blushing but compliant. Because Suo was the only one who could get away with this.

“It's getting late, we should go.” Nirei suggested, he had a curfew to go home or his parents would be upset, they fretted over him often.

“Alright, alright, get on.” Sakura said, turning around and having that warm light envelope him once more.

Everyone piled on, and while he didn't have a straight runway to follow, the hill had a gradual decline which helped him pick up speed rather fast. Soon enough he was bolting out of the forest, weaving through trees and jumping over fallen logs before he broke out in the clearing. His paws thudded against the concrete as he sprinted. He would never tire from this feeling of freedom, the ability to run and run as though he was always meant to.

He followed his nose because something smelt incredibly tasty, entering the marketplace area, Suo seemed to know where they were headed.

Sakura slowed down to a light jog, bystanders watching as he made his way through,weaving through people as they parted to let him pass. He got to the front doors of Pothos Cafe and sat down, waiting for his passengers to get off.

Tsugeura slid off, Kiryu joining him. Suo hopped off and helped Nirei down.

“Thank you for taking us here, Sakura.” Suo said.

Sakura changed back, blushing at the compliment.

“You're welcome, now come on I'm starving!”

“Of course you are, you always get hungry after you transform.”

“H-hey! It's just ‘cuz it takes a lot of energy from me to maintain that form!”

Suo nodded along, holding the door open for Sakura and the rest of their friends to follow inside.

Kotoha greeted them and they all talked and ate together. Kotoha smiled to herself seeing the dual haired boy act so free, he certainly has changed so much from the first time she saw him. Now he was confident in himself, he still needed to learn how to fully trust his fellow classmates, but that would come with time.

For now, they would take each day as they came.

Chapter Text

In the town of Makochi, there is a gang of teenagers known as Bofurin.

Despite being a gang, they fight for freedom and justice, they protect the people of Makochi and the values they hold. They draw strength from uplifting those around them, no one is left behind or forgotten here. Above them all is Umemiya, the leader of Bofurin who commands and organizes everything, with a smile no less.

However, a promising young student has joined who has taken hold of these beliefs close to his heart, and has worked harder than anyone to keep the town and its people protected.

Sakura Haruka, if you see a tuxedo colored cat wandering through streets, it may very well be the boy himself. If you happen across a cat with mismatched eyes and black and white patterned fur, you'll know it's him.

Bofurin even have their own protector, a real life guardian who fights beside them, a cat-like creature with mismatched eyes and black and white patterned fur. You already know his name.

It's.

“Sakura!” Kotoha said, turning around to see her new customer.

A tuxedo colored cat trotted his way inside. Around his neck is a custom made collar, green and gold with zig-zagging stitching going across it. The Bofurin symbol dangling from the end, on the back of it, it read ‘Sakura Haruka’.

Jumping up, Sakura changed into his usual self, sitting on the stool he normally stays at.

“Hi Kotoha!”

Soon after, Suo follows him into the cafe.

“Sakura, I told you to wait!”

“Sorry! I just got excited.”

Leaning over to his boyfriend, he kissed him, quick yet affectionate.

“It's okay, I know where to find you anyways.” He smiles.

Sakura flusters under his gaze, he doesn't think he will ever grow used to Suo’s casual affection.

“How cute!” Kotoha says, watching them. It made Sakura jump as he had forgotten she was there.

How was Suo so good at making him forget his surroundings? At making the world feel like it's just the two of them, as though nothing and noone else matters .

Sakura wasn't sure, not sure he would ever figure it out either. But he also doesn't care much. All that matters in this moment was the omurice.

And Suo, maybe…

He glances at the brunette, who catches his eyes and looks back.

“You know you love me.” He teases.

“Sh-shut up! You don't know what I was thinking!” Sakura crossed his arms, turning away. Suo hugged him from behind, pulling him towards himself, causing Sakura to flail to try and not fall off the stool.

“Of course I know what you were thinking, you always make that face when you're thinking about how much I annoy you!” He teases.

“Aagh, let me go!” Sakura struggles weakly in Suo’s hold.

“Not until I hear you say it.”

“Say what?”

“You know what!”

Sakura stops resisting, his ears turning pink.

“I-I love you too.”

Suo kisses his cheek. “I love you as well.”

Kotoha would tease Sakura about it later, when they're alone. For now she just shakes her head, already preparing his omurice, handing Suo tea she had made in preparation for the boys usual breakfast dates.

As Sakura ate the rice, he reflected on his time in Makochi, glancing at his boyfriend next to him, he took his hand. Suo accepts, squeezing it in reassurance.

He's never felt so loved before in his life.