Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nirei and Suo usually drags themselves together and kept close with Sakura, whenever and wherever he went. It's common knowledge, everyone is aware of this. And you know what else is another common knowledge? Its the fact that Suo never eats with people around. Drinking his tea, yep, definitely. But actually eating? Well, never. Even Nirei could count with his one hand how many times Suo would accept his gummy that Nirei always has on hand. It just didn't happen, like how the sky is blue, water is clear. It's a fact everyone knows, or at least some of their classmates.

So, when Suo suddenly asks them to go with him to a cafe that had just opened very recently, to try their baked goods, Nirei of course would join him without any doubts. Sakura, however, didn't get to join them, claiming he has a meeting with Umemiya later. And as they waved goodbye to each other before the bicolor hair boy went up to the school rooftop, he looked a little sad, like he wanted to join them rather than meet up with their leader. Which was weird, and probably not true, since he knows Sakura looks up to Umemiya the most. Before they separate their ways, though, Nirei saw the boy glared at Suo, and when Suo coyly linked up his arm with Nirei’s, Sakura clicked his tongue, roughly shoving his hands into his trouser’s pockets and stomping out from their sight. His face flushed deeply, even to the tip of his ears. Suo, honest to god, actually cackles, loud and shameless, and Nirei doesn't understand what exactly is going on, neither would he want to ask them.

He thinks it's best not to say anything, since he didn’t want to spoil Suo’s mood, not to say that he’s moody, but Nirei likes to play safe. It's also not everyday Suo would ask him to join him eating anyway. The boy sometimes treats eating as a chore, and Nirei couldn't understand, but he tries his best to respect that. (Though he couldn't help but feel worried from time to time about his diet since it can't be healthy to wait all day after school to only eat at home. One day, he hopes he would succeed in asking him his full diet routine so he can help him eat more or bring out a bento for them to eat during recess at school. Well, it can't be today, but it will happen one day, Nirei swears on his life.) So, for now, Nirei wants to savor the afternoon as best as he can.

Anyway, back to the present. Nirei is sipping on his Jasmine Oolong tea, recommended by Suo. They also ordered an English tea cake, the slice is big enough for the both of them to eat together. Suo got a Masala Chai as his drink today, yet another tea Nirei has never heard of, but it looks interesting, and smells delicious. He can’t help but hope Suo will let him taste it later. It is cool inside the bakery, making the hot tea even more enjoyable. He hums happily, satisfied with the taste– he was a bit skeptical earlier to follow blindly Suo’s recommendation, since sometimes he can be a bit of a prankster and if he thought it would be funnier to let Nirei drink something bitter or weird, he would definitely do that, rather than letting him try something that he knows Nirei would enjoy.

Suo stares at him in amusement, wondering silently how he is always so brave in trying something new, even in small matters like tea. Well, Suo for one knows he could never, he loves to stay with his routine, all day, all night. Oh– and if he is caught dead to be changing them a bit to fit in some time for their own personal training together, or their little hangout, with and without Sakura, well, it's his own secret to keep. Though, it's not really a secret that he has a soft spot for his friends anyway, something he never thought he would admit.

“Suo-san, how’s your tea? Is it good?”

Suo smiles, pushing his cup towards Nirei and nods his head. Nirei then happily takes up the cup and tries his tea. It tastes- well, it tastes weird, and bitter, but also spicy. Nirei don't understand at all how it is supposed to taste, or react. He simply scrunched up his nose out of habit, and returned back the cup to Suo.

“It's– uhm, it's good? I think?” Nirei winces, in which he gets a laugh from his friend. At that, Nirei glares at him, realizing how Suo knows he won’t like the taste, but still asks him to try it first before describing his tea. Menace, that he is.

“I’m sorry, Nirei-kun. It's just, you don't need to lie and say it's good.” He snickers, voice cracking a little, still trying to stop his laugh.

Nirei can feel how heated up his face is, no doubt flushing from embarrassment, as he takes the small spoon on the table in front of them, just to do something else, and harshly cuts up a small bit from the tea cake. He has taken a picture of their food earlier for his journal, so he doesn’t feel bad for ruining the good cake. Not at all, since the owner who ordered the cake is still laughing at him.

“I’m just trying to understand your taste, Suo-san. No need to laugh that hard, it's not that funny.” And if he pouts a bit at that, well, he’d deny the fact until his last breath.

Suo chuckles, “No, no. It's not funny. It's somewhat endearing though, with how you just straight up drink the tea, you know I like them bitter, right?”

“Wait, really? You never told me that.” Nirei’s face immediately lightens up, all bright with excitement, as he takes his journal from inside of his blazer, with his pen in another hand. He slams the book roughly on the table– for someone who always writes in the book, Nirei never seems to treat the book delicately. He flips up the page one by one, not in the mood to flip them quickly as he always does.

Suo, never the one to let any chances to know his friends’ secret slip by, he too, sneaking a look at the journal, his eyes focusing on each page, trying to read and grasp everything he could. And when he sees approximately 27 pages filled with Sakura's name, well, he can't say that he’s surprised. That's the one that he could see, from the frantic flicking of the pages that Nirei did, so what about the ones he couldn't catch? There must be more, Suo thinks he wants to read them, for research purposes, of course, and never about collecting all the materials he can get to tease them later.

And when he saw a particular page describing Sakura’s eyes, all using big words that even he couldn't seem to comprehend, he thinks, maybe he didn’t want to know any of Nirei's thoughts about Sakura. After all, he didn't need to know how pretty and strong and delicate Sakura’s hands are, based on another page written about them in the journal. Suo smiles, leaning up his chin on one hand on the table. Idiots, the both of them. He thinks as he stares at Nirei, who is writing all about Suo’s new information that he got earlier.

Nirei hums, his legs swinging under the table, “Is there any tea that you hate, Suo-san?” He asks, not looking up at his friend as he is still scribbling on the new page in his journal. For someone who writes so quickly, Nirei has such neat handwriting.

Suo sips on his tea, his eyes never leaving the other boy, “Nice try, Nirei-kun. I think just the fact that I hate Natto is enough for your journal about my weakness.”

“Heh, still. It's worth a shot to ask.” Nirei giggles, tapping his pen on the table softly.

“What about mine, then? Do you like this kind of tea?”

“Well, Nirei-kun,” Suo starts, his hands clasping on one another as he crosses his legs. He sits up straight, as if being interviewed on something important and not as mild as his preferences of tea. He then smirks, staring at Nirei closely, “If you want to know about it all, you better get your little notebook ready and write everything.”

“Yes, please!” 

Chapter Text

Nirei likes to believe that he gets along with all of his classmates. He knows their names, birthdays, star sign, hobbies, and even some of their address and details of their family (some of them give all of their private information too easily, and Nirei never complains, since he was the one asking about that) Nirei also likes to believe he can somewhat understand all of their dynamics, and what others think about him.

But one thing (or rather, someone) that he couldn't understand, even until this day, is Sugishita. He knows the boy never meant any harm, despite his tall, bulky and looming presence. He once saw how Sugishita treats his grandparents, or how he interacts with the Four Kings. He thinks the boy is only a little bit awkward with other people, especially someone new in his life. Technically, he knows to never question his actions since he can be confusing and couldn't understand basic social cues.

So, when Nirei is kidnapped by Sugishita for the second time now, he genuinely doesn't know what to do.

“Sugishita-san?!” He screeches in the other boy’s hold, his voice muffled since Sugishita was putting his palm over Nirei’s mouth.

Nirei tries to trash around in his hold, but gives up a second later, and leans up against the wall. Sugishita nods at him, and slowly takes his hand from Nirei’s mouth.

Nirei huffs, “Do you need anything, Sugishita-san?”

He tilts his head up to look at the boy, he knows Sugishita is tall, but damn if it sometimes didn't make him feel annoyed with that fact. The blond then looks around, seeing many tables and chairs scattered in the abandoned hallway that Sugishita drags him off to. 

“Let's sit first,” He says, tugging on Sugishita’s sleeve and drags him to one of the chairs that he thinks are not broken. 

Sugishita follows along, only grumbling a hmm in response. Nirei sits beside him, crossing his legs on top of one another. He then places his hands on one knee, not quite sure what to do with the situation. He needs to come up with another lie to Sakura-san and Suo-san about his sudden disappearance. Just as he thinks of letting them know via text, his phone rings up loudly. 

Seeing Sakura’s name on the phone, he picks up the call immediately. He once had accidentally let a call from Sakura ring more than three times, and he didn't want that experience of getting nagged by the boy to repeat again. He also wouldn't want to imagine what would happen if he ever missed a call from Sakura. 

“Yes, Sakura-san?”

“Where are you?” Sakura’s voice distorted from the speaker, Nirei couldn't tell if he sounded concerned or angry, or just as indifferent.

“I’m sorry Sakura-san, but I have a stomachache. It hurts so much so I just rushed to the toilet without telling you.” Nirei replies, and it's a bit alarming how his legs are shaking due to lying to his friend. At the end of the line, he can hear Suo’s voice asking: “Again?”

“Are you okay, now?”

“Yes,” He yelps. “But I think I need some more time though, and then I’ll be okay.” Nirei winces, this sounds like he got a bad case of diarrhea and his face flushes up at the thought of having to discuss this kind of thing with him.

The call is silent for a moment before he hears some rustling and loud and frantic steps as if someone is running. “I’ll buy you some medicine. Are you okay with pills? Or you prefer liquids?”

Gasping, Nirei hastily shaking his head, his hair bouncing messily at the gesture. His hold on the phone tightens, “Wait, Sakura-san! No! It's okay! You don't need to–” 

“Once you’re done, wait for me and Suo outside the school later.”

“Wait, no, Sakura-san! I really don't need–!” The call ends before he gets to finish his sentence. Nirei sighs loudly, before tucking his phone in his pocket. He then looks up to the boy beside him, who seems to be a lot more tense than earlier.

Nirei sighs, “So, I’m guessing this has to be something with Sakura?” He looks up at the taller boy beside him, and sighs once more when he notices he still has to look up at him, even when they're sitting now.

Sugishita nods.

Nirei hums, thinking, “Do you feel like you want to fight him more than you usually feel?”

Sugishita grunts.

“And what do you think is the reason for that?” Nirei asks as he blindly takes his journal, opening up a new page to write all about their talk. Oh how he loves new information about everything and everyone. He clicks his pen and squeaks as he feels Sugishita gripping his head, making them look up at each other.

The taller boy grits his teeth, and his hand feels heavy on Nirei’s head. Heavy, but not constricting, Nirei smiles, oddly feeling a little proud, as he thinks Sugishita can control his anger a little bit better now. 

“That's what I want to ask you.” Sugishita snarls, his teeth clenching together as if the mere thought of Sakura is enough to make him go crazy.

“Sugishita-san,” He starts, as if the taller boy barking around is a normal occurrence, “has anything happened between the two of you lately?”

Sugishita shakes his head, grunting. 

Nirei hums, tilting his head, “You guys never really have the same patrol scheduled together, so what could be the problem then?” He murmurs, more to himself.

They stay silent for a while, before Sugishita mumbles under his breath, too quiet for Nirei to listen, “Is he good at everything he does?” 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I ask, is there anything he’s bad at?” Sugishita snaps, as if Nirei had done him wrong just for asking him to repeat himself.

Huh, that’s odd. Why would he suddenly ask for Sakura’s weakness? Physically, Nirei thinks Sugishita can win easily against Sakura, seeing how he is a lot taller, and has long, silky hair, and handsome (maybe not as handsome as Sakura but, well, you get the gist, or maybe he is just biased when it comes to Sakura, but nobody’s asking that now, so let's just ignore that fact.) And Sakura is also not far behind Sakura in fighting. Nirei thinks they are on the same level; the only difference is their strategy and mental strength. But still, nobody is either right or wrong in fighting, especially when it comes with these two. Nirei flicks the pages of his journal back and forth, his teeth nibbling the end of his pen as he thinks and thinks. What could be the reason?

He then sees one page of him doodling Sakura grilling some food during the ‘Thank you’ party they did a few days ago. Wait– could it be–  “Sugishita-san, do you actually think Sakura is good at everything he tries to do even though it's only his first time?”

Nirei looks up at the boy, and he sees how tense he becomes, his hold on his gold locks tightens, but still not actually hurts. “Is this about him helping Umemiya-san setting up some booths during the party we did before?” Nirei adds, tapping his pen on his opened journal.

Sugishita scoffs, his hand leaving Nirei’s head just to cross his hands in front of his chest and pouts. Like– as aggressive as one can in pouting anyway. Nirei thinks he looks ridiculous, like a puppy throwing a tantrum. Except he is a giant. A giant puppy?

The taller boy then barks, more malice this time, as if he catches on Nirei comparing him with a puppy. “Well, do you have any?”

“Any what?”

“Dirt on him, damn it.”  

Nirei gasps, “That’s an understatement, Sugishita-san. And also, I take full offense in that, by the way. Sakura is not perfect after all, but I won’t give you any dirt about him. Instead, I can share with you what he did this one time when we were chasing a cat called Lisa, and then he–” Nirei babbles, his voice fast and a little loud, as he flips through all of the pages in his journal, finding any materials he has wrote about Sakura.

Sugishita groans, his hands pulling his hair roughly as he leans up his body on the chair. He closes his eyes, tuning out whatever the boy is saying next to him, thinking why exactly he thought it would be a good idea to talk with Nirei when he feels his head is too cloudy, instead of simply finding Umemiya-san. Oh god, wherever you are, please help me end this misery. What did I ever do to deserve this? He just wants to know Sakura’s negative points, not to listen to some lovesick rambling about him. He sighs, opening one eye and peeking to the boy next to him. He sees Sakura’s name scribbled neatly (there’s so many of that goddamn name) on several pages in his journal, and he groans again, louder this time. 

Chapter Text

Sometimes Nirei questions his luck. Before, he had the worst luck ever. But now, after rolling in Furin, he likes to think the god of luck has somehow loved him more, and he is now bestowed to be someone with one of the best luck to ever exist. 

Now you see, it's one thing to be able to talk with any of the four kings casually, and another thing to be hanging out together with them. Most of the time, Sakura being the reason, ever the one to jump into troubles, he makes it easy for Nirei to get the chance to speak with the legendary Four Kings, the ones establishing BoFurin. He likes to believe that he is now at least acquaintances with them, and that's all they can be, which he is more than grateful for. (Oh, who is he kidding, of course he wants to, if not as close friends, to at least be friends with them so badly.) 

That afternoon, Suo and Sakura are off to do their patrols, leaving him alone to go home by himself. And though usually he would go along with the two of them even though he is not needed, he has something he wants to do. Something that he has planned to do a long time ago. So when Sakura had asked him to join them on the patrol, Nirei gently said he wanted to go straight home, and he couldn't really grasp why Sakura seemed a little down. Well, maybe he didn't want to be alone with Suo for a long period of time, since he is usually the victim of Suo’s teasing the most. 

Nirei then walks out of the school, but his pace is slow, as he is thinking how exactly he can make the plan he has in his mind come true flawlessly. And just before he walks out of the school gate, he sees Tsubaki and his two grade captains walking out of the school building.

Nirei stops in his tracks, waiting for them to reach the school gate. Tsubaki is talking animatedly to Sakaki, his smile wide and hair swishing around cutely. Tsubaki always looks beautiful and dazzling, with the way he dresses himself and holds himself full with confidence and elegance. The older one then stops a while in his steps, as he sees Nirei in at the gate, in which the younger quickly waves shyly at him. 

He hopes Tsubaki would want to hang out for a while with him, or maybe just walk home together. He knows they're not really close, but he also knows Tsubaki is kind, and warm, and considerate, and so he quickly goes over his mental notes, searching for any topics that could start to catch the older attention to talk with him at least for a bit, before he goes straight to his true intention of talking to him.

(sometimes he remembers most people’s likes and dislikes just so he could start a conversation and to not bore them with his company)

“Hello, Nirei-chan!” Tsubaki waves at him excitedly, before running to the younger. Sakaki, (the both of them) follow their leader closely.

Nirei breathes in deeply, quietly pep talking himself in his mind, trying to hold on his ground, as to stop the squeal that is threatening to spill. Come on, he's a fan, how could he contain his excitement? And so, he simply smiles, wide to his ears, and jumps a little, “Tsubaki-chan-san, hi!”

Tsubaki stops before him, nodding, with his smile never wavering. God, he's so precious, Nirei wouldn't want anything bad to ever happen to him.

“What are you doing here, alone? Where are your guard dogs?” The long haired boy asks, looking around as if that would make Suo and Sakura magically appear.

“If you mean Sakura-san and Suo-san, they're busy for the day, so it's only me.”

Tsubaki gasps, “Oh, that's weird, I thought you guys came in a package.” 

“Not true, Tsubaki-chan-san. Sometimes we also learn to respect each other's personal space. And they usually have better things to do without me anyway.”

“Huh, could've fooled me with the way Sakura clings on you.” Tsubaki says, his hand on his chin.

Nirei shrieks, his whole face flushed to no end. “That's not true at all!” He shakes his head vigorously, his hands tightens on his bag straps to keep them from shaking.

Tsubaki grins playfully, “Really? because the last time you went ahead alone, Sakura nearly tear the rooftop upside down, Ume be damned if you didn't suddenly showed up and–”

Nirei shrills, loud and awkward, “Nevermind that! I have a question for you!” Nirei suddenly cuts him off, he couldn't contain the embarrassment any further. He could see both Sakaki from behind Tsubaki, one of them chuckles, and another just tilts his head while staring at him and his antics.

Tsubaki gasps, his hands holding up his shiny hair. “What is it, my dear junior?” He says, his eyes sparkling as if he's been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“Uhm,” Nirei stutters, fidgeting not so quietly on his heels. “Uhm– it's about nail polish. I wanna ask you what's the best kind for a beginner to try.” Nirei utters, his voice getting softer and quiet, he is a bit embarrassed about this topic, even though he's been thinking about it for quite some time now.

Tsubaki didn't say anything for a while, and Nirei shakes a little more on his heels. He then slowly looks up at the older boy, but sees him holding up an expression of disappointment, or maybe somewhat dissatisfied with Nirei’s anwer? He's not sure, yet he still feels a little upset as this is not what he has been expecting their little encounter to be. He really thought this would be the day he finally got to learn how to paint his nails. He's been on google for a few times, but he thought asking someone else would be more efficient. But now, he starts to regret doing so.

He then gushes, his voice cracking, “I mean, it's okay if you don't want to help me. I mean– I’m sorry! i must be taking up your time, so uhm– its fine, i can just ask someone else or google them instead or–”

“No, no Nirei! It's not that I didn't want to help you. Of course I would help, it would be my pleasure.” Tsubaki holds on to Nirei's hands, stopping them from waving around uselessly as he tries to contain his embarrassment from earlier.

Tsubaki smiles, the kind of smile that instantly reassures Nirei. “It's just that it's not the question I expected, but it's fine.”  

Nirei nods, his hands slightly trembling in Tsubaki’s hold.

“Let's go somewhere else to discuss this. I'm hungry anyways.”

Tsubaki lets his hands go, only to grip on his wrist, and stand beside him, walking together out of the school. 

“Do you guys wanna join us?” Tsubaki asks the twins, and Nirei can see his little frown.

One of them, the one with wavy bangs, hums, “Will you treat us to some food?”

“Hell no.” Tsubaki answers, short and clear.

“Cheapskate. We’ll go home first then, goodbye Nirei,” He answers, smiling as he drags his twin away from them.

“How am I  the cheapskate one when he's the one always demanding me to treat them with some food? Like- I don't understand him at all.” Tsubaki clicks his tongue, and they start walking again.

Nirei giggles, swinging their hands together in between them. He skips a little in his steps, feeling giddy to finally hanging out with the older. So yes, Nirei sometimes questions his luck, since he knows he’s been getting the good bits these days since he first met Sakura. And today? Today must be another one of his lucky days. Tsubaki on the other hand, couldn't help but to match his steps, feeling happy as the mood seems to be infectious. He could even see the metaphorical flowers around Nirei as they walked together to Pothos. 

—

Tsubaki hums, as he sips on his juice. He ordered an omelette rice (classic) and he treated Nirei to a Melon Soda, since the blond insists on not wanting any food.

“So,” The taller man starts, tilting his head, “you wanna try painting nails?”

Nirei nods, “Yep!” He then takes out his journal from his school blazer.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since– like– forever. But I always chickened out whenever I went to buy them.”

Tsubaki smiles, “I get that feeling too before.” He sighs, “The first step is always the scariest after all.”

“Right?!” Nirei slowly opens his little notebook. “I thought that maybe, it's just that I dont have much knowledge in this kind of thing, and it's making me a little scared.” He flips the pages. “But I’m done with all that crap now, all I really want is to have my nails painted and look pretty like you!” He exclaims, before taking a little sip on his drink.

He writes something in his journal, and when he notices how Tsubaki goes silent for a while, he glances up at the older one. “Tsubaki-chan-san?”

“Huh?” The boy falters in his seat, as if something has made him into a trance.

“Are you okay?” Nirei tilts his head, his pen tapping on his chin.

“Yeah, sure.” Tsubaki says, “Where were we again?” 

“Nowhere. We haven’t started anything yet.” Nirei closes his book. “If this is not a good time, we can–”

“No!” Tsubaki yelps, “No, Nirei-chan. Now is a good time, actually.” Tsubaki grins, his hand going up to touch Nirei’s journal. “So, let's open up your book again and you can write up all the things we’re gonna discuss!” The long-haired boy sneers, his finger working up towards Nirei’s journal pages, and flicking them slowly, almost like he wants to read them all, page by page.

Nirei notices the senior would linger a tad bit longer through the pages that are filled with Skura’s names, and everything he writes about the bicolor haired boy. He even notices how Tsubaki chuckles lightly at one of the pages where Nirei doodles carelessly some of Sakura’s facial expressions, from his flustered ones, frowning, to his annoyed face. 

The blond waits, “Tsubaki-chan-san, are you interested in Sakura-san?”

Tsubaki shrieks, “What?! No! I’m loyal to Ume, Nirei-chan!”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Nirei panics, “I thought you only wanted to know about him, like his strengths, hobbies, or anything like that.” He blurts, and he can feel his face flushing as he grips on his pen. “I didn’t mean to say you like- like him like that. I just– you know,” His eyes looking around the cafe, feeling too awkward to be looking at his senior.

“Oh,” Tsubaki utters, “Well, just so you know, I’m extremely, very, very loyal to Ume, so please stop with the accusations.” 

Nirei squeaks, “I’m sorry!” The blond is ready to stand and bow deeply to his senior, before listening to loud cackles from him.

“No, I’m sorry,” Tsubaki laughs, “I was just teasing, Nirei-chan.” He wipes his non existing tear.

“Tsubaki-chan-san,” Nirei sighs, and he continues flicking through his journal, trying to find another blank page. “Then why did you read everything I wrote about him?”

Tsubaki sips his drink, “It's interesting.”

“Sakura-san is?”

“No, not really– well– he is interesting as a whole concept, or person. But that’s not what interests me.” Tsubaki sneers, “It's your cute doodles that caught me off guard– hmm– well now that I think about it, that shouldn’t be a surprise at all.”

“What is?” 

Nirei’s confusion only gets worse when the older of the two chuckles, “Now, tell me Nirei-chan, do you always draw his face in your notebooks?”

Nirei squeaks, “Not every time, Tsubaki-chan-san!” His face reddens, “Well, maybe sometimes, but– also maybe it is always filled up with him– but I was only collecting data!”

“Whatever you say, Nirei-chan.” Tsubaki coos, before eating his food, trying his best to not laugh or tease the boy in front of him.

Once Nirei calms down from his fidgeting, he blurts out all of the questions he’s been dying to know the answers to. Tsubaki kindly answers all of them, going out of his way to stop his eating for a while, just to google something that he is not sure of the answer. He then tells the stories of how he first got into crossdressing, stopping in his tracks here and there to show some of the pictures of his past outfits, claiming how horrible they are before he finally found his taste in fashion, and sticks with what exactly he likes to wear. And when he finishes his food, he asks Nirei if he wants to try painting his nails at the moment.

Nirei hesitantly says yes, but only because he didn’t know just yet that Tsubaki always brings some of his nail polish with him. By then, he excitedly chose one of the most neutral looking ones that Tsubaki has, which is pink peach. The blond then preens in his seat as the older praises him for his excellent taste. Tsubaki starts by painting Nirei's left hand, planning to first show the boy how to do it properly. He repeats some of the tips that they discussed earlier, emphasizing on how to make the color even and not messy. Then, he asks Nirei to try painting his other fingers, to which the boy beams and eagerly takes up the nail polish from Tsubaki.

“Nirei?”

The two boys that are currently too deep in their own world look up to the voice, and Nirei splutters a bit as he sees Sakura staring down at him, and it causes the brush to slightly mess up his nail.

“Sakura-san?!” 

Sakura frowns, “What are you doing here? I thought you’re already home.”

“Well, hello there, Sakura-chan.” Tsubaki waves, and only gets a curt nod from the boy.

“Did you lie?” Sakura huffs, crossing his hands together, as if to make himself look smaller than he already is. 

Nirei stammers, “No! Not at all! I was just– uhm– I didn’t mean to like– lie or anything– I was just–” The blond stammers, trying to find some excuses.

Tsubaki clears his throat loudly, “I met Nirei at the front gate and asked him to eat together, since I was feeling a little lonely.” Tsubaki places his hand on the table, and rests his head against his palm. And then we come here and eat, and now we’re playing dress up!” He chirps, showing off his newly painted nails, bright in cherry red color. 

“Yes! That’s what actually happened!” Nirei nods aggressively, as if by doing that he could convince the two-toned hair to believe him more.

Sakura sighs, waving his hand at Nirei, silently asking for him to make some space for him to sit beside him, to which Nirei immediately moves, without question.

“You should at least answer our text. Did you even check on your phone at all?” Sakura glances up at his friend, placing his own phone on the table.

Nirei gasps, taking out his phone from his bag. “Oh no, there’s so much from you and Suo.” He whimpers, checking out all of their texts from their trio group chat. “Wait, let me reply on Suo real quick.” 

The shorter quickly types out his replies, before noticing his nail polish scraping on his phone’s screen. He yelps as he hits the send button.

Sakura quickly leans closer, wanting to check on him. “What– what happened?”

“My nails!” Nirei shouts, showing his messed-up nails to Tsubaki. “They haven't dries up yet, and now they’re all smudged all over the place!” He complains, before showing the nails to Sakura. 

“What?!” Sakura shrieks, his face reddens. “I thought it was something important?!” He blinks rapidly, not sure if he wants to look at Nirei’s panic face or his poorly painted nails, or his cute forehead that is currently showing off to the whole world to see, since he has clipped his bangs on his head. 

“This is important, Sakura-san!” The boy then frantically waves his hand, trying to take out a napkin he keeps in his bag, to wipe off his nails.

Sakura rolls his eyes, “It's not that–”

“That is horrible indeed, Nirei-chan.” Tsubaki cuts off the other boy, “But fret not, we can still fix them!” Tsubaki gently holds Nirei’s hand, and wipes off the colors on his smudged nails.

“These things happen all the time,” He coaxes the boy, as he continues cleaning up his nails.

Nirei stays still– eerily still as he stares at his senior, who is now painting a new layer on his now naked nails. He then feels Sakura poking his cheek, using his thumb to wipe up the one tear that falls on it.

“I’m sorry,” Sakura mumbles, his face now becoming redder than before.

The boy frowns, “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Nirei shakes his head, glancing at Tsubaki for a bit, seeing he is now moving on to the next nail to paint. He then looks up at his friend beside him, “It's not your fault. I was clumsy and now I wasted Tsubaki-chan-san’s nail polish for no reason.” He says, voice slow, filled with regret.

“You’re not wasting anything, Nirei-chan.” Tsubaki chuckles, his hands busy painting the other’s nails. “In fact, I was planning to give out this color to you anyway, since I don’t prefer this kind of shade now. I like ‘em bold and red, you know?” The older one looks up at him, smiling.

Nirei splutters in his seat, his face flushes in excitement, “Really?!"

And when Tsubaki nods, he gleams, brighter than ever, "Thank you, Tsubaki-chan-san! Thank you so much!”

“Anything for my favorite junior. And now, all done.” Tsubaki claps his hands. “Now boys, you have to wait for a while for them to dry. I’m gonna go pay first.” The tall boy then stands, walking towards the counter, smiling and laughing as he greets Kotoha.

Nirei beams, full of awe as he studies his fingers closely, now the nails are filled with color. 

“They’re pretty.” Sakura mutters under his breath as he too, is staring up at Nirei’s hands.  (and admiring them)

“What?” 

“I said, they’re pretty. The colors, and your nails.” Sakura stutters a bit, and he also wants to add that he thinks Nirei’s hands are pretty, and all about him, in general, but he couldn't seem to find the confidence in doing so.

Nirei’s mouth hangs open, and he somehow wants to say that he actually hears the boy the first time, that he was just too surprised to believe what the boy has said.

“The cherry clip on your hair is pretty too.” Sakura adds absentmindedly, yet still refusing to look at his friend, as he too, can literally feel his face reddens, and how the tips of his ear are heating up to no end.

“Why, boys– aren’t you both looking cute,” Tsubaki equals, his hands resting on his hips. “Look at that, your faces are almost as red as my nails.” He then giggles. “Whatever happened while I was away for a second?” 

“Nothing!” Sakura slams the table. “Shut up!”

Nirei grumbles under his breath, pressing his palms to his face, doing his best to hide how flustered he is. Now he wonders if the god of luck actually loves him or not.

Chapter Text

“Look here,” Nirei chirps, showing off his newly bought notebook to his friends.

Suo nods, smiling, “Blue this time?”  

“Yep!” Nirei holds the book closer toward his friends. “It even has a plastic cover!”

Sakura smiles, “It's nice. Your current one is already full?” 

“Almost,” Nirei beams, he then moves on to show them the pages, showing how thick the paper is, and that they can endure more of his writings, and won’t be easily torn, a perfect fit for him, as he likes to bring his journal everywhere and writes everything no matter what the circumstances or place is.

Suo chuckles, listening to Nirei’s ramble. “Almost like it was made for you.”

“I know right!” Nirei grins. “Oh! Here, you can give back my beg, Sakura-san.”

Sakura shakes his head, “It’s okay,” Sakura then takes the new journal from Nirei’s hand, then opening up Nirei’s school bag, the one that he chose to hold onto, when Nirei decides to check on the shop with Kiryu and Tsugeura, leaving Sakura and Suo outside. He carefully keeps the book inside Nirei’s bag, before slinging them on his shoulder again, squishing along with his own school bag.

“Ah, I can bring my bag myself, Sakura-san,” Nirei gushes, hands ready to snatch the bag from Sakura’s hold.

Sakura dodges him, walking on ahead, “It's okay, I can do it.” 

Suo chuckles, “Just let him be, Nirei-kun.” The taller one starts walking, and Nirei follows him.

“Okay then,” 

—

The five of them walk together in the shopping district, Kiryuu keeps on complaining how they don't have anything interesting for him to buy. He wanted to find a gift for his sister, since her birthday is coming up next week, and now, he considers if he should just buy them online, they usually have more trendy and cute things there anyway. 

Nirei walks with Sakura, their hands shyly touching against one another as they swing side by side. Sakura tries his best to control his heated up face, and when he looks up to Nirei, he almost feels disappointed as the boy seems not to notice anything, while he is almost overheating just from trying to find the courage to hold on to his hand. But, when he sees Nirei practically gleaming as he asks them to check out on another shop near them, Sakura simply smiles, nodding to the boy. (he’s weak like that, and he can’t even deny that)

Nirei drags Kiryuu inside, exclaiming how they might finally find the best gift for his sister, to which Kiryu cheers, clinging close to the boy. Suo also walks straight into the shop, saying how he sees a rack filled with tea in the store, leaving only Sakura and Tsugeura outside. Tsugeura loudly read out one of the magazine titles, the one with a bodybuilder posing on the frontpage, that is stacked on the shelf by the door, as obnoxious as ever whenever he found something within his interest. Sakura glares at him, looking around, checking if his loudness is somehow disturbing other people or not. When he’s sure nobody pays them their attention, he continues looking at the display in front of him, waiting patiently for his friends inside the shop.

“What about this one?” Kiryuu holds up a cute ceramic mug, filled with flowers drawn on it.

Nirei hums, “It's nice, but, do you think she will like the color combination on that?” 

“I don’t know,” Kiryuu sighs, placing back the mug on the shelf.

“I’m not saying it's a bad choice, Kiryu-san.” Nirei explains, "You said she will be moving out soon, right? Maybe a mug is the right one to buy after all.”

“But it's so common.”

“And so what if it is? It's you giving her the mug. Surely she will appreciate that dearly.” 

“You think?” Kiryuu looks back at the other mugs on the shelf.

Nirei nods, “Lemme see, last month, it was my parents’ anniversary,” He then takes out his journal, “So, I was doing some research on gifts. Maybe it will be useful.” 

“You should’ve taken out that weapon earlier, Nirei-chan.” Kiryu whines, sticking closer to the boy, resting his chin on his shoulder, and taking a peek at the journal. He then can feel another tall presence behind them, and he looks up to see Suo also sneaking up behind Nirei, peering at the journal. 

Nirei flicks up the pages quickly, closing them, before opening them again, this time flicking up the pages slower than before. A habit he never seems to leave. Kiryuu sees his neat handwriting on the pages, all of it filled with words from top to the bottom, not even a small amount of white from the page can be seen, all are filled with scribbling of some words, and the others are filled with small doodles of Sakura’s face. 

Kiryuu blinks. Wait, that can’t be right. 

But then he sees yet another page with Sakura’s face, this time bigger than the ones he sees before. And when he looks closely, he sees Sakura’s names being the most written in the book. He blinks, finally noticing how Nirei stops at one page, the top of it written gift ideas with cute doodles around it, and at the end of the page, he sees another tiny Sakura’s face doodled cutely. 

Kiryuu hums, “These are for your parents you say?” 

And when Nirei nods, reading out loud the lists of gifts he has written on the pages, Kiryuu blinks, tuning him out, still bewildered on why exactly there’s a completely unrelated boy’s face doodled in a page that is not even about him. He looks up at Suo, who simply smiles widely, almost like he is sneering, nodding at him, and shrugs off his shoulders, as if he is not surprised at all with what they see in the journal. 

“What about a sun catcher?” Nirei glances at Kiryuu, immediately taking him off from his trance.

“I think I saw them there,” Suo says, pointing out at one of the shelves at the other side of the store. His other hand is holding a box of tea.

“Let's check them out–” Nirei says, but before they can move, Kiryuu, who is still resting his chin on his shoulder, while clinging on his arm, suddenly disappears, being dragged forcefully by Sakura, who holds the boy by the back of his collar. 

Nirei shrieks, yelping Sakura’s name as Kiryu, simply holding up his arms in the air, as if he is found guilty. But, from the way he snorts, and swaying back closer to Nirei, there’s nothing about the boy screaming that he's feeling guilty. Sakura feels his face reddening, puffs of imaginary air flowing from his ears. He clicks his tongue, glaring at the boy, and stomps back to walk to the cashier. He places something on the cashier table harshly, but trying his best to control his voice, as to not being seen as rude, and politely asking the one behind the counter to ring him up. 

Kiryuu laughs, clapping Nirei's shoulder several times, and holds tight on it, as if trying his best not to crumple on the floor, by the way he loudly laughs, and laughs. Nirei doesn’t understand what exactly is funny, and when he looks up to check on Suo, the other boy is trying his best to hold in his laugh, his face red, body shaking as he too, holding on Nirei’s shoulder.

“The fuck you guys laughing at!?” Sakura now stands before them.

Kiryuu snorts, before laughing harder after looking up at him. And when Sakura visibly shaken up, his face red and his brows tight on his face, Suo too, started to laugh.

Nirei can’t understand these guys. He gets that Sakura’s flustered face sometimes is way too funny to be taken seriously, due to most of the time, the reason of it are just way too absurd, like there is one time his face turn so red, Nirei thinks he might faint, and the reason is merely because there's a cat that suddenly walks close to him, and caress its cheeks against his legs.

But still, at this moment, Nirei can’t understand what is going on, so he simply ignores the two, choosing to ask Sakura instead of what he just paid before. Nirei can see the boy holding a small bag in his hand, but Sakura simply turns even redder than before, the red goes on his neck and ears. 

Not answering the question, Sakura holds Nirei’s wrist. “Lets go,” He drags Nirei from the hold of Suo and Kiryuu, to which Kiryuu whines and makes a dramatic grabby hands toward the blond, trying to get him back. 

“Shut up, and go finish up quickly!” Sakura shouts, slapping Kiryuu’s hands. “Quit wasting time!” He adds, before dragging Nirei outside.

“Sakura-san?” Nirei stops the boy before they can walk farther from the store. “You okay?” He asks, as he can see the boy’s face still red as ever.

Sakura nods, still not looking at him, so Nirei moves to stand in front of him, trying to look at his face, to check if there’s anything wrong with the boy. But Sakura still holds his head down, and his hold on the beg he got from the store trembling a little. 

Nirei waits, and just as he is about to ask if there's anything wrong, Sakura suddenly looks up at him, face determined and eyes looking straight at Nirei. He then takes out the thing he bought from the store, showing it to Nirei.

“This for you.” The boy mutters under his breath. There is a flower hair clip on his hand, yellow, with details on the petals that makes it look shiny and pretty.

“A dandelion?” 

“Yep, it's for you.” Sakura looks up at him, before finally moving his hand to gently stick the hair clip on one side of Nirei’s hair, just above his right ear. 

“But, why?” Nirei tilts his head, “Not that I’m not grateful, or anything– its very pretty, but–”

“Just because,” Sakura utters, confident this time. He then caresses the hair clip, touching shyly, before merely hovering there, trying to hold himself from patting Nirei’s head.

“Thank you,” Nirei whispers, suddenly feeling shy. “I appreciate it.”

And just before Sakura can say anything in reply, like how he thinks the boy now looks even prettier with the new accessory (not that he’s not already pretty without it), they suddenly hear a click sound of a camera flashing near them. Nirei looks toward the source, and sees Kiryuu holding up his phone in their direction, Suo and Tsugeura standing close to his sides. And then, there’s another flash of his phone camera, several times.

Nirei gasps, mouth wide open, and before he can even react some more, Sakura already stomps towards them, ready to throw some fists, while shouting incoherent swear words that Nirei can’t understand. 

Nirei feels his face heated up, and he touches the clip on his hair gently, smiling bashfully.

Chapter Text

Nirei hums happily, as he sips on his juice. He is hanging around at Pothos, waiting for Sakura and Suo. They had planned to watch a movie at the theatre together that evening, and Nirei, being way too excited, arrives at their meeting spot an hour early. He chooses not to mention this in the groupchat, partly because he feels like he should be embarrassed by the fact that he comes up too early, (an hour at that) and partly to avoid them from feeling guilty of having Nirei waiting for them for too long.

So he sits on one stool, Umemiya beside him chatting happily about his plants, the ones he and Sugishita take care of together. Kotoha sometimes replies to him, or nods, but most of the time she simply ignores him. Nirei, on the other hand, listening closely to whatever he’s saying, feels like he should take notes on these things, surely whatever comes out from their leader is always wise and would be a waste not to write them all up, right? 

And so he takes out his journal, his pen ready in his right hand. but before he can write anything, Kotoha holds up her hand, “Wait, are you seriously gonna write up whatever nonsense he’s spouting?”

Umemiya gasps, “They're not nonsense, Kotoha! They're my babies!” He whines childishly.

“See?” Kotoha says, “Proving the point even more.”

Nirei chuckles, “But I want to write them all, I always like new information, no matter what kind.” He places his journal on the table.

“Is that so?” Kotoha raises her eyebrows, leaning closer to Nirei and Umemiya across the table. “Then, write this: my omelet rice recipe.” Kotoha folds her sleeves up to her elbows. 

Nirei tilts his head, questioning, “So suddenly?” 

“Yeah, and why omelet rice?” Umemiya adds.

Kotoha sighs, “It's not sudden.” She crosses her arms, “This way you can cook that damn food for Sakura. Maybe make him a bento to school or something.”

Nirei gasps, clicking his pen. “Wait! That's an excellent idea, actually!” 

Nirei beams, opening his journal excitedly. He flicks up the pages, not caring of the fact that the two people suddenly move closer to him, sneaking a peek at the book, as if they're always wanted to do so for ages.

And when he flicks quickly on one page that is describing Sakura’s morning and night routine, Umemiya suddenly places his finger at the edge of the page, stopping him from turning to another page. He moves even closer, reading everything on that page, obnoxious as ever. Kotoha also stops in her trance, curious about what makes the boy so interested in. 

And when she sees Sakura’s face doodle several times on that same page, she nearly chokes. 

Nirei waits for a moment, “Uhm, is there something wrong?”

“Nope,” Umemiya chirps, his fingers then flicking to another page, and stopping at another one with Sakura’s name scribbled all over, noting how the writer is rambling about his hair, his hands, or even the mundane way Sakura walks. 

And then there's another page with Sakura’s face drawn, filling up half of the page. Kotoha blushes, the expression of Sakura in the drawing is too soft and gentle to look at. 

"Wait, why is it that he looks so tame here? He looks way too soft here, no way– is this when he looks at you?” Umemiya asks, his brows moving up and down teasingly as he stares down on his junior. 

Nirei blushes, stammering hastily, on how he just simply caught sakura daydreaming in the class, hence, the soft look on the drawing. (though, he can't actually quite explain how most of the time Sakura has that look, he is looking at Nirei)

“He’s smiling while daydreaming? Hmm, that’s quite hard to believe. Are you sure this is not when he looks at you?” Kotoha adds, sneering, as she taps on the page, as if trying to prove a point.

Nirei feels like he is suddenly being interrogated by the two of them, and so he hastily flicks the page, faster this time and stopping only at a blank page he finally finds. his face red, and his hands tremble a little as he listens to Umemiya laughing quietly.

“So!” Nirei yelps, trying to quickly change the subject, too flustered to mind his manners. “The recipe, Kotoha-san?”

Kotoha simply stares at Nirei, before nodding and starts listing the ingredients he needs to make the food. And by the time Suo and Sakura arrive at the cafe, Nirei already acquired three simple dish recipes, all complete with the ingredients, where he can get them, to the steps and tips on how to cook them.

When the cafe’s bell chimes, Nirei looks to Suo and Sakura walks in together. He closes and keeps his journal back in his pocket, and then waving around, greeting them excitedly. 

Suo smiles, greeting him back. “Hello, Nirei-kun,” He walks ahead of Sakura, “You’re here early.” He says, then greeting Umemiya and Kotoha.

“It’s alright, I haven’t waited long.” Nirei beams, looking up at the taller boy.

Sakura walks towards them, and blushes as he sees Nirei wearing the dandelion hair clip he bought for him the other day. He almost falters on his step, but tries his best to stay cool. When he stands before Nirei, though, his cool disappears as he sees a small band aid stuck under the boy’s chin.

“Another scar?” He holds on Nirei's chin gently, trying to check on the injury. “Is it Suo?” His voice darken.

Nirei splutters on his seat, blushing as he tries to defend himself, saying how it doesnt hurt at all, and how it was just a small injury.

Suo chuckles, standing close right next to Nirei. “Calm down, Sakura-kun. It’s not like I’m beating him up for fun.”

Sakura clicks his tongue, glaring at the taller boy beside him. “Really, Suo?”

“I'm alright, Sakura-san, it's not a big deal at all. Besides, I learned something new this week!”

“Well, that's good, but don't just go hurting yourself more than necessary, okay?” Sakura nags, then turning to glare at Suo, “Listen, Suo, you can't just–”

“No! I– I want to do this!” Nirei stammers, looking up at his friend nervously. “Sakura-san you can't ask me to stop– dont–”

Sakura, still standing before him, looks down at Nirei, who is blinking, wide and fast, at him, a stray tear threatening to fall from his eye. And he knows that he can never win against that face.

“Please don't ask Suo to stop teaching me, I still–” 

And so Sakura blushes, looking away, mumbling “Well– if it's what you want, then, you can do– uhm– whatever it is.”

“Yes! Okay.” Nirei grins, “It is what I want to do. I want this.” He tugs on Sakura’s sleeve.

Sakura flushes even more, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “But I won't stop myself from worrying you though.”

Nirei chuckles lightly, “That's okay, I also worry about you a lot.” He then holds Suo’s sleeve with his other hand. “You and Suo-san, both of you.”

Suo simply smiles, ruffling Nirei’s hair, and says. “We worry about you a lot too.”

Umemiya, who is now standing behind Nirei then sneers, wrapping his hands on Nirei’s shoulder in a too friendly way. 

He grins, rubbing his chin on Nirei’s hair, “Come on, Sakura, you gotta let the kid do what he wants.” The boy then caress Nirei’s ear with one hand.

Nirei stiffens, awkward but didn't try to move away, as he didnt know what to do. He can see Sakura’s eyes darken, glaring at their leader. 

Before Sakura can say anything though, Suo chimes in, “Wait, at what time the movie starts again?”

Nirei quickly takes out his phone, checking on the tickets that they have bought online. He then yelps, “It's in 10 minutes!”

Nirei quickly stands, bowing at Umemiya and Kotoha, before grabbing both Suo and Sakura and rushing towards the door. He shouts his thanks to Kotoha and Umemiya. The second before they walk through the door, Sakura looks back, still glaring at Umemiya. He then sees the older man stick out his tongue at him mockingly. Sakura can’t believe the audacity of that guy. He then smirks as he sees Kotoha smacking Umemiya’s head, nagging at how childish he is behaving at the moment. 

Sakura walks closer to Nirei, who is now blabbering on how they have to walk faster, else the movie would start before they can arrive. Sakura smiles, staring at the boy. He sometimes wonders how the boy can always look so cute even in any situation. Sakura tightens their hold together, but when he feels Suo staring at him, he looks up to the boy, only to be greeted by one of his sarcastic smiles. He frowns. Suo then simply shows how he too, is also being held by Nirei, and swings their hands together shamelessly between them. 

Sakura swears he has never felt like wanting to hit someone more than he is feeling right at that moment. 

Chapter Text

Sakura neatly arranges all of the snacks Nirei brought on his small table. He then looks at the boy, who is currently sprawled on the floor comfortably. They are waiting for Suo to come by and join them for their little sleepover. It has been a weekly routine for the three of them to spend the night on the weekend at Sakura’s house, something that Nirei takes a lot of time in convincing Suo and Sakura to agree with.

After finding out Sakura lives all alone, he immediately makes multiple schemes to ensure that he will not be left alone most of the time. At that, comes one of the solutions, which is to have sleepovers at his house. Sometimes Kiryu and Tsugeura would join them, but at the moment, it's only the three of them.

Sakura smiles to himself, staring at Nirei, as the boy takes out his book from his overnight bag. Sakura notices that the journal is kind of different from the ones he usually brought with him everywhere. This one, a little bit thicker and bigger in size, the cover page is also more colorful, decorated with stickers of cartoon characters that Sakura couldn't recognize. 

“What are you doing?” Sakura asks, slowly leaning closer to the boy. 

Nirei hums, flicking up the pages of his journal mindlessly. “I was gonna write up something, this one is like– for my daily journal.” 

“Like a diary?”

“Yup!” Nirei grins, sticking out his tongue.

Sakura sits close next to him, sneaking up to get a clearer look on the book. “Is that why the journal looks different than the one you usually use?”

“Yup!” Nirei nods, “This one got more space for me to write.” Nirei flicks up the pages quickly, to find another blank page.

Sakura nods, humming while watching the boy closely. He then notices one of the pages, where a surprisingly detailed, almost reverent drawing of himself. Not just that, scattering around his face, there are like so many other tiny, a bit messier doodles of his face from various angles, his hands mid-gesture, even to his distinctive fighting postures. Sakura freezes, a strangled squeak escaping from his lips. His eyes widened, and a faint flush begins to creep up his neck.

“Sakura-san?” Nirei looks up at him, the journal now open, showing a brand-new page.

Sakura hides his reddened face using the back of his palm, which is also slowly turning red, as he keeps on thinking of the page he just seen. Nirei, oblivious to the internal meltdown that is happening to him, simply tilts his head cutely, (god, why is he so cute?) his wide, innocent eyes blinking. “You okay? Your face is getting a little red.” Nirei closes his journal, then scoots up closer to the boy.

Before Sakura can even stammer out a response, a series of sharp knocks echoed from the front door. The boys turn their heads to the door. 

"I'm here!" Suo's voice calls out. The sound, while a welcome distraction, has done only a little help to quell the crimson blush now staining Sakura's cheeks. 

Nirei beams, quickly standing to open the door for Suo. The click of the door locking behind the two is loud, yet it still cannot help Sakura’s heart from slowing down from thumping loudly, that he can’t even listen to what Suo is saying. He keeps his head down low, his eyes glaring at the journal across him.

—

On days like this, when they don't really have anything to, without any round, or having to meet up with their leaders, the three boys, Sakura, Nirei and Suo usually would just hang around the school, or spend time together outside, whether at Pothos, or the shopping district, until late evening, before finally going home. Currently, Nirei and Sakura are lounging around, perched on the highest point of their school, the secluded rooftop, but far away from the usual hangout spots of Umemiya and the others. 

The two are waiting for Suo, since the boy claims that he needs to do something with Kiryu earlier, and to much of Suo’s complaint, with Tsugeura too. Whatever they are doing, Sakura didn't really want to know. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows, and a gentle breeze rustles through Sakura’s hair. Nirei, lulled by the peaceful quiet, has slowly succumbed to sleep, his head resting comfortably on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura’s face is still red, by the way, just like how he feels the second Nirei’s head fall on his shoulder earlier. 

Nirei’s hands, still clutching on his ever-present journal, is lying on his lap. Sakura finds himself utterly captivated by the sight. Nirei's soft, even breathing, the way his hair fell across his forehead, the innocent curve of his lips in slumber. And, the curiosity that has been simmering in him ever since the previous sleepover they had at Sakura’s house, is becoming unbearable. And so, with a gentle hand, he carefully pries the journal from Nirei's loose grip.

He flips through the pages, trying his best to stay quiet, and suppressing the mix of apprehension and excitement that are bubbling within him. He sees notes on fighting techniques, observations about their friends, their hobbies, even to the mundane routine that some of his classmates have, and to the steps or tips on how to comfort their friends– to which Sakura smiles softly. Leave it to the boy next to him to always think about others before his own well being. 

And then he finds it again– more sketches of him, some quick, some more detailed. His heart hammers against his ribs, loud and distracting. It wasn't just a one-off. Nirei really did draw him. A lot. He feels his face heated up even more, if that's even possible, his mouth gaping like fish. 

Just as he is way too absorbed in a particularly detailed sketch of his profile, to the notes about his features underneath the drawing, a familiar voice cut through the quiet. "Well, well, look what we have here." Suo's voice, laces with amusement, makes Sakura jumps a little.  

He snaps the journal shut, his face aflame even redder than he could ever imagine them to be. Suo stands there, hands in his pockets, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. “Are you perhaps, snooping, Sakura-kun?” Suo tilts his head, striding towards his friends.

“I’m not!” Sakura yells, as he quickly places the journal carefully into Nirei’s arms.

Suo squats in front of him, “Then what are you doing?” His eyes twinkles, as he snickers, “Your face can’t lie, by the way.”

Sakura shrieks, a high-pitched sound that startles Nirei awake. Nirei blinks groggily, looking up between a red-faced Sakura and a smirking Suo. 

"What's going on?" he mumbles, rubbing his eyes.

"Nothing!" Sakura practically yells. "Let's just go home!" He then quickly gets to his feet.

The walk home is a mix of awkward silence and Suo’s barely suppressed snickers. Nirei, still a little sleepy, seems to notice nothing amiss, occasionally leaning against Sakura as they walk. Sakura, however, is a whirlwind of emotions, still tries his best to balance Nirei on his feet, by placing one hand on the small of his back.

He sighs, again, as he notices Suo's never ending smirk. The journal, Suo's teasing, Nirei's innocent proximity – it all converged into a single, undeniable realization. 

Yes, he does like Nirei. It's been a while since he accepts that fact and had also admits that to himself. He likes him more than just a friend. And now, it's confirmed, he's sure of it. That Nirei also shares the same feeling as him. And he needs to do something about it.

— 

Later that night, Sakura sits in front of his tabletop mirror, the one gifted by Nirei, his face red, looking utterly ridiculous. 

"Okay. Deep breaths. You can do this," he tells his reflection, puffing out his chest. 

"Nirei– uhm–  I– I really like you. Like, more than just a friend. I want to– uhh–  date you." He immediately winces, turning away. "Ugh, no. Too stiff. Too much like an admission, not confession." He tries again, softer. "Nirei– uhm–  you're– you're really kind, and– uhh– you’re beautiful." His face flushing, as he imagines Nirei grinning at him, his face bright and blinding. He clears his throat loudly.

"And I– uhh– I think I'm in love with you." He groans, burying his face in his hands. "This is impossible! How do people do this?!" He grabs a pillow and hugs it tightly. "Nirei, I need to tell you something really important!" He shouts at the pillow in his hold. "I like you! A lot!" He then shakes the pillow aggressively. "Will you go out with me?!" He throws the pillow onto his bed in frustration. "This is a disaster. I sound like an idiot." Sakura picks up the pillow he just threw, then squeezes it gently as if he's imagining that the pillow is Nirei himself. He sighs, "I’m an idiot. I need help." 

Sakura reaches out for his phone, texting Suo, saying how he needs to tell him something tomorrow at school. He receives multiple ridiculous stickers, to which he is confident that the boy is only teasing him, before finally saying yes to Sakura’s request to meet for a while before going home. 

— 

"You look like you're about to fight a ghost." Suo teases, "Still reeling from your journal-snooping adventure?" Suo asks, sitting next to Sakura.

"Worse. Suo, I have a problem. Like– a huge problem," Sakura sighs dramatically.

Suo hums, “I believe it's not worse than mine. Lying to Nirei-kun is not easy, you know- since he can read people easily.” Suo sighs, leaning against the wall.

Sakura raises a brow at him, “Wait, what’d you say to him then?”

Suo sighs, as if he’s been facing a critical crisis all on his own. “He is like– so suspicious of us, he truly believes we are meeting up together, since I went out not long after you.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Sakura nods.

“Right? It's kinda creepy how he can always notice this kind of thing. I mean, I believe I’m always quite subtle– hell– nobody can even pry open my mind quite like him.”

Sakura shrugs, “Yeah?”

“He terrifies me sometimes.” Suo admits silently. 

Sakura smiles, nodding. “He’s incredible.” 

Suo hums, crossing his arms as he stares at the sky.

“And smart, and always kind.” Sakura continues.

Suo raises an eyebrow. "Oh?” 

Sakura sighs, as he too, gazing up at the sky. “He is so amazing.”  

"Ah.” Suo grins, “So, the great Sakura has finally realized he's got it bad, huh? Took you long enough."

Sakura's face reddens. "Shut up! It's not funny!” He squeaks, “I– I want to tell him. That I like him. But I don't know how! I keep on practicing, and I just sound like a moron!"

Suo glances at the boy. He then considers Sakura for a moment, his usual teasing fading into a more thoughtful expression. "Look, it's Nirei we're talking about. He's– you know– special. He won't pick up on hints, no matter how obvious.” Suo chuckles, “I think– you just gotta say it. Directly. Like ripping off a bandage."

“Are you sure? Isn’t it like– not romantic if I do it like that?” 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Suo sighs half-heartedly, “You both are technically already together anyway.”

Sakura blushes, “It’s not like– “Sakura groans, scratching his head awkwardly. "But what do I even say?”  

"Just admit that you like him. And explain your whole intention with him." Suo shrugs. "Oh– and make sure to lay it out clearly.”

Sakura nods, making a mental note on whatever Suo is saying. Suo taps on his chin, “As for where– uhm– as long as the date is not at Pothos, I’m sure you'll be fine. That place is too much." Sakura shivered slightly at the thought of the bustling cafe, usually crowded with Furin students, and worse, their own classmates.  

"Maybe join him window-shopping? He likes that kind of thing, right? Or just walk along by the river. I'm sure he'd appreciate that. He's not picky, Sakura. I believe he'd be happy to go anywhere with you." Suo nods at himself, "Like- he just wants to be with you, I guess." Suo eyes Sakura pointedly. "He already is, anyway."

A flicker of hope ignites in Sakura's eyes. "By the river– uh yeah, that could work."

"Do your best, Sakura-kun." Suo smiles, "Just know that if anything goes wrong, I will always take Nirei's side."

Sakura nods to himself, “Yeah, fair enough.” 

— 

Asking Nirei to hang out alone, just the two of them, is not difficult, but not entirely easy either. Sakura embraces himself from the teasing of his classmates, while asking Nirei to walk home together. Granted, perhaps it is his own fault that he couldn't wait until they walked outside of the school to finally ask the boy, but he couldn't help his nerves and his voice stumbling out before his mind could even think.

He’s been thinking about the same situation over and over during classes, and even the night before. So, sue him if he's a bit impatient in asking the boy to go home with him that afternoon. 

“Let's go out.” He asks, holding on Nirei’s wrist gently, as they both stand up to walk out of the classroom.

And then, the whole classroom stops with whatever they are doing (well, maybe there's people who couldn't careless and simply minding their own business, but Suo and Kiryu are definitely not of those for sure) From the corner of his eyes, he can see Suo stops, standing close to Kiryu who is sitting on the lockers at the back of the classroom. The two of them staring at Sakura, eyes never leaving him as he tries to gather up his courage again. 

Nirei tilts his head, “Go where?”

“Just walk home,” Sakura stutters out, “Together,” He blushes, “The two of us.”

“Only us two?” Nirei asks, his face reddens.

“Yeah.” Sakura nods, clutching tight on Nirei’s hand.

Nirei glances down at his hold, his ears flushing. “Okay,” He mutters under his breath.

Sakura nods, “Okay,” He then grabs Nirei’s school bag, holding it on his shoulder, then fixes his hold to properly intertwine their hands together. “Let's go.”

Kiryu whistles at them, loud and shameless, to which he receives a book that Sakura finds on one of the tables, throwing it, and scores right on Kiryu’s forehead. He can hear Suo's laughs along with Kiryu's as they walk across the hallway. 

— 

The river glistens under the late afternoon sun. People stroll by, enjoying the gentle breeze. Sakura and Nirei are walking along the path, sharing a box of dango Sakura bought from a nearby stall. Sakura walks close to Nirei, while observing the boy closely.

Okay, this is a good spot. Relaxed. Scenic, beautiful even. (well, not as beautiful as Nirei, but nothing can come close to his beauty) Sakura thought. 

Nirei seems happy, excitedly rambling about everything and anything they stumble upon. Like that cute dog walking on a leash with its owner, or that wildflower bed by the path, anything that he deems is worth talking to (which is everything). Sakura tries his best to keep up with his rambling, all the while trying to also calm his nerves down.

Nirei takes another bite of his dango, a content hum escaping him. "This dango is really good, Sakura." He grins, "Do you like it?" He asks, oblivious to Sakura's own struggle and the way he didn’t even try the dango at all. 

Sakura stops walking, turning to face Nirei, which forces the boy to also stops walking. He stares intently, his heart flipping.

This is it. The perfect opening.

"Yes, Nirei. I like it," He says softly, staring into Nirei's eyes. "I like it very much. But not as much as I like you."

Nirei blinks, tilting his head slightly. "Oh!" He yelps, "That's good! I'm glad you like them! I thought you might.” Nirei rambles, his face slowly heating up. (gosh Nirei thinks he’s hearing things that are too good to be true) “It's got the perfect chewiness, right? And the sauce isn't too sweet." He takes another bite, not knowing what to do with his hands, or what to say.  

Sakura's jaw drops. He misunderstood! Of course he did! "No, Nirei!" He yelps, "I mean– yes, the dango is good,” He stammers, “But I meant–” Sakura takes a deep breath, “I like you. As in- I really like you." Sakura's voice was louder now, more insistent.

Nirei chews thoughtfully, eyes glancing anywhere that is not the boy in front of him. His face is still red. "Oh!” (this is way too good to be true)

“I like you too, Sakura!” He grins, awkward, while still trying his best to hide his embarrassment, and he can still feel the heat on his face, that is slowly creeping up to his ears. “I mean– you're my best friend!” He nods hastily, his hold on the box shaking a little, “And you're always there to help me whenever I need it. You're a really, really, good friend!" 

Sakura's face flushes again, this time he’s sure out of frustration. He is trying so hard, but Nirei's stubbornness is a force of nature. "No, Nirei!" He shakes his head, "Not just as a friend! I don't want to be just friends, Nirei!" He ends up yelling.

The words hang in the air, suddenly heavier than before. Nirei's bright smile falters. His eyes, usually so clear and innocent, clouded over, and his lower lip began to tremble slightly. He looked down at his half-eaten dango, clutching it tightly.

"You–” Nirei gasps, “You don't want to be friends anymore?" Nirei's voice is small, barely a whisper, fills with a hurt that is slowly twisting Sakura's gut. His eyes shimmer with tears, threatening to spill over. It's like a rollercoaster of emotions, a moment ago, Nirei feels like he's flying in the sky, what with the sudden confession from Sakura saying he likes him, only to be drop on the ground, harsh, and hard. 

Panic seizes Sakura. He hasn't meant it like that at all! No– he'd made it worse! In a desperate surge, he lunged forward, grabbing Nirei by both of his shoulders.

"No! Nirei," Sakura squeezes Nirei's shoulders. "That's not what I mean!" Sakura shouted, his voice cracking with urgency and pure desperation. He shakes Nirei gently, trying to make him understand. "I want to be your boyfriend, Nirei! Your boyfriend! Do you get it?!"

This time, Nirei didn't even blink or tilt his head in confusion. The box of dango simply fell from his hand, and they both ignored it. Nirei’s eyes, still wide from the initial shock, slowly begins to clear. The sadness fades away, replaced by a dawning comprehension. He stares at Sakura, gaping, and really sees him, the frantic worry in his eyes, the deep blush on his cheeks, the tremor in his hands gripping his shoulders.

A slow warmth spread across Nirei's face again, matching Sakura's blush. "Boyfriend?" he whispered ridiculously shy, the term sounding new and soft on his tongue. He looks away from Sakura's intense gaze, to the river, then back, as if piecing together a puzzle. The realization hits him with a gentle force of a warm wave. All the drawings and notes of Sakura in his journal, all the unnoticed glances, all the time Sakura had gone out of his way for him– wait.

It then suddenly clicks into place. They’re not just friends. Probably hasn't been for a long time now. 

A small, shy smile began to form on Nirei's lips, spreading slowly. "Oh," he breathes out, his voice barely audible. His confusion is gone, replaced by something entirely new, something that makes him flustered and unexpectedly delighted. "Sakura– you mean– really?"

Sakura's grip on Nirei's shoulders tightens slightly, his own frantic energy now replaced by a terrifying hope. He can only nod, his throat tight, unable to speak, but he wouldn't dare to gaze away from Nirei’s eyes. 

Nirei's smile widened, a beautiful, genuine bloom. He slowly reached up, his fingers gently covering Sakura's hands on his shoulders. "Oh," he says again, a soft giggle escaping him. "I– I think I understand now."

Nirei then brings Sakura’s hands off from his shoulders, intertwining their fingers together. He leans up slowly, and kisses Sakura’s cheek.

Nirei kisses him! 

"I like you too." Nirei whispers, smiling softly.

Sakura feels his soul leave his body. He wants to scream so bad. He wants to shake Nirei until he fall into his embrace. He wants to throw himself into the river. He wants to hug Nirei tightly until both of their bodies melt together into one entity. "Nirei," he starts, his voice barely a whisper, "You are going to be the death of me."

Nirei, still beaming, squeezing their hands together. "Don't worry, Sakura!" He grins, "I'll make sure you don't die! We're boyfriends now, after all!" 

Sakura can only stare, his mind blank. He is so utterly, completely, hopelessly in love with this boy. From his still red face, all the way to his neck (he believes himself is no better than that), to the way his freckles seem to gleam under the evening sun, and how his hair curls as the wind moves and kisses them softly. 

Nirei squeezes their hands together, smiling at Sakura in that innocent way that could make Sakura feel like he can finally die happy.

“We’re boyfriends, now.” Sakura mumbles, leaning in closer to Nirei, and resting their forehead together.

Nirei nods, beaming, “Yep!”

Sakura leans in, his gaze fixed on Nirei's lips before he places a quick yet tender peck. Another wave of heat rushes over their faces, painting them a vivid red.

"You're mine now," Sakura breathes out, the words a gentle claim. 

Nirei's arms instinctively wrap around Sakura's shoulders, drawing him into a tight embrace. "Only yours," Nirei whispers back, the words a soft promise against Sakura's ear as he buries his face in Sakura's shoulder, holding him impossibly close.

A blissful grin spreads across Sakura’s face, his hands finding purchase around Nirei’s waist, drawing the boy even closer, their bodies a perfect fit.