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Suo sneaks around the enemy quietly, flanking to the left while Sakura takes all the attention, fighting loudly head on. Suo makes sure Sakura only gets a trickle of enemies to take at once instead of an onslaught. It’s only a quick chop of the side of his hand to the neck, another pointed jab to a pressure point on the back, and the rest of the team falls apart quickly.
Sakura isn’t one for gratuitous compliments, but he acknowledges Suo’s smug smile with one of his own. It is enough for him. They match well, and it’s these moments Suo delights in his role as Sakura’s vice captain.
This group wasn’t particularly strong, but they were pesky. Dragging a few isolated Bofurin members for a beating, caught by themselves after patrol. It’s all futile attempts to intimidate them before they start preying on the town, they weren’t aware such attempts would only enrage their side further.
The bodies that litter the ground wear matching gray jackets, some nonsense form of superficial unity that is offset by the fact that half their forces ran the second Sakura landed his first punch.
It’s hard not to feel a sense of achievement in moments like this, even if they did just beat a bunch of idiots to a pulp, Suo tries not to enjoy the violence, but the sensation creeps up on him often when Sakura and him can operate in sync like this. A part of him knows he likes it, but another part thinks it’s just Sakura that enables this side of him.
Sakura is nothing if not competitive, he made that clear from day one, but he’s far less domineering and violent than his initial impression implied. The contradiction always draws Suo’s attention.
Sakura, behind all that barking and biting, has revealed that he is truly sweet natured at his core.
That rare laugh and smile of his has flitted across Suo’s mind more than once now. It’s such an endearing image, the kind that inspires similar feelings to when he sees a kitten. He wants to hold Sakura’s face in his hands and tease him, despite his ferocity.
He does not analyze the urge too deeply. Suo is content with how things are. It would not be ideal to dwell on affection, not when Sakura is so new to human interaction as a baseline. Just seeing images of couples has him turning red, running for the hills.
Still, he will tease, for fun. The disposition he acts out at Bofurin allows him this. A playful, teasing facade he can dive into once in a while.
“Ah, Sakura, you’re so thorough, you barely left any for me,” He says with the same smile he always gives to piss him off.
He’s proud of him in a way, Sakura’s barely fazed when he rises to the bait. “You’re kidding, how many did you take out? Twenty?”
“You exaggerate, there were only fifteen total.”
For only the two of them, it’s incredible odds. But this team was particularly unskilled.
Sakura’s smug aura only gets more pronounced. “They should’ve called for backup, we barely broke a sweat.”
The we in that equation has Suo nearly purring.
“I may need more activity to get my daily workout in, what shall we do?”
Sakura makes a show of cracking his knuckles, “Find the rest of them?”
Suo waves him off as they walk, “Surely they will find us.”
They do, and Suo has a difficult time keeping his eye on the enemy instead of the slight grin that Sakura can’t seem to subdue.
—-
“Did you hear? I think our captain has a girlfriend!”
Suo’s hands still under the stream of water.
Surely they don’t mean—-
“Sakura? There’s no way, he flips his lid every time someone so much as mentions romance!”
“I think he’s figured it out, someone saw him walking to school with a girl on his arm.”
The skin of his hands burn, the water steaming. It snaps him back to reality, away from the image of some faceless girl wrapped around Sakura.
There’s a sick feeling in his stomach. His reflection looks frightening, eye narrowed and cold in the bathroom mirror, posture the wrong kind of tense.
The conversation outside continues—
“Wow, maybe we’ll get to meet her? What do you think she’s like? Must be real confidant to land him, Sakura would never ask a girl out.”
“Maybe he helped her or something—”
“Getting laid will do him some good I think.”
Suo nearly snaps the porcelain of the sink at that. His mind unwillingly settling to that scenario. A woman caressing Sakura, pulling him into her bed. Sakura’s face, red with his characteristic blush, except his eyes are half lidded in ecstasy.
He needs to hit something. Immediately.
The bathroom door slams open, startling the two gossips. He can feel the expression on his face is unacceptable. His control has completely slipped. For what? His friend finding love? A rumor?
“Suo are you—“
His friend elbows him firmly, silencing him. Good. Suo might have made his face the target of his anger, but he at least has enough control to walk past.
He doesn’t know where to go to let this emotion out. Outside seems best, but he really would like to hit something.
Unfortunately for him, Nirei rounds the corner just before he can make his escape.
“Suo! There you are me and Sakur— Suo?”
Calm down. He has to be calm in front of Nirei at least, he does not deserve his ire. He looks at him, and sees the violent expression he’s wearing reflected in the worry on his face.
“Are you okay? He asks, voice far more subdued than his usual greeting.
Suo inhales, exhales slowly. “I just need some air.”
He moves past him, cold. There’s not much for it, Nirei will forgive him for this brief lapse in control.
What is this feeling?
It occurs to him immediately, so obvious he’s sure the feeling is plastered all over his face. He’s jealous. Madly so. He doesn’t recall being this far gone for Sakura, but it’s obvious now. He’s insatiably jealous.
It was always a wonder to him, if he would be the type to be jealous. He didn’t think so, not initially. Maybe it’s because on some subconscious level he thought he had time to at least attempt to court Sakura. In some ways he already felt his, the way their interactions go these days feels intimate, always bordering on flirtatious.
He didn’t even know if Sakura was interested in men though, did he?
Nirei’s expression grows more panicked and it only takes a few moments before he’s fleeing. Expected. Suo knows his cold expression is the kind that kills.
The smell of hot asphalt greets him as he steps outside, his muscles tensed in every joint. Now that he’s out here he’s not sure what to do with these feelings. It does feel better, to be outside the school in a moment like this.
He rarely lets his true feelings out so openly. It’s freeing in a way, to feel so strongly and not make the enormous effort to subdue it. Still, this is one he’d rather keep hidden.
There is no target for his violence, and now that he acknowledges it for what it is, he can accept the severity of the sensation.
The image of Sakura resurfaces, his hands joined with a girl. He toys with the image, placing himself there. Their hands joined, their lips meeting.
Suo coughs where he stands, feeling like he might be blushing just from the thought.
He doesn’t just like Sakura, he is deeply in love with him.
Stupid. In some ways, Sakura barely knows him. Still, Suo wants him. It’s never been more apparent.
Is the stupid rumor even true? Knowing Sakura, a part of him doubts it. He laughs out loud at the thought, to have even bought the notion to bring him to this emotional revelation. He thought he knew himself better than that.
As if torturing himself, he toys with the thought further. The girl would have to be very bold to leash Sakura. She’d have to get past that difficult exterior, expose the soft underbelly and claim him.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be as hard as he thought. Sakura blooms under the smallest of kindnesses. He shouldn’t have been so presumptuous of his potential for romance. There are plenty of women in this town who could be that for him.
The other thing he has refused to think about, worried about this exact tightness in his chest. Does he want Sakura that way?
He imagines it all too vividly. Touching Sakura intimately, closing the distance between them. Removing his clothes and seeing that blush on his face when he—
As expected, it’s obvious, he does want him. Suo sighs heavily and laughs again.
A walk, maybe time at home for the day. Maybe he stops for tea.
—
Nirei barrels through the classroom like he’d just seen a ghost.
“What’s with you?” Sakura asks as he sits down, hands shaking slightly. Not an unusual sight for him, but usually something he expects where there’s a fight about to break out.
“Suo.”
That grabs his attention, “Suo?”
“Yeah— he said he needed some air.”
“Suo, needed some air?” He repeats, because he can’t possibly think of anything on school grounds that would tamper with his vice captain's insane poker face.
“He looked like he was going to kill someone.”
Never a good sign when he looks like that. Sakura has only caught glimpses and it’s usually when one of their own takes a brutal hit.
“Um, sorry captain, that might be our fault,” Two guys say, standing at the classroom entrance. Sakura zeroes in on their faces, recognizing the ones wild blonde hair and the others lazy loose posture. He thinks their names are Hikaru and Tanaka, their hands sheepishly behind their heads, broadcasting an open stance.
They don’t seem like the type to try to fight.
“What did you guys do to Suo?”
“Nothing nothing, but we were kinda talking about you and he definitely overheard. Thought he was going to kill me. We were talking about you and your new girlfriend and I may have—“
An uneasy pause.
“My what?”
They flounder, “Your girlfriend, the girl all over your arm this morning?”
A girl all over his arm. Ridiculous, what does this have to do with him? The heat climbs quickly to Sakura’s face.
“I don’t have a girlfriend!” He splutters. He tries desperately to think of who they could be talking about.
Then, near the train station this morning. He helped a woman with her bags and her heel snapped off, escorted her to the train station and she used his arm for support. It had to be only a few minutes at most.
She was young, and her face earnest. Another kind person, she was incredibly grateful when he walked her to the train.
“The lady with the broken heel? I was just helping her get to the train.”
They look at each other, “So… not your girlfriend.”
Sakura practically growls, “Idiots, but what does that have to do with Suo?”
Nirei makes a groaning sound, and Sakura looks over to find his head in his hands.
“Nirei?”
“Poor Suo—he’s probably devastated.”
One of them—Tanaka he thinks— bows down and places his head in his hands.”I didn’t even think, I ran my mouth and mentioned he’s getting laid, I’m such an idiot.”
“I’m what?” Sakura nearly shrieks, grabbing the attention of the rest of the class.
They continue rambling on. “It all makes sense now. We’re sorry captain.”
Sakura is still entirely lost. “What are you guys talking about? What am I missing?”
Nirei eyes him, thoughtful for a moment. “Sakura, how do you feel about Suo?”
He’s sure his face could not get anymore red. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Captain likes him,” another voice piles in. A chorus of ‘absolutely’ and ‘for sure’ echo the sentiment.
“What?”
Nirei sighs, “Okay Sakura, I need you to picture the exact same situation from Suo’s perspective. How would you feel if Suo got a girlfriend.”
His face burns, he suppresses the urge to run, “Argh, why would I do that—“
“Just try it,” Nirei pleads.
“Why would—” Without any intention he pictures it. He knows his face is already as red as it possibly gets, but there’s something there with that image that feels so deeply wrong.
Sakura tries again, turning the image in his mind.
His throat gets tight, “What the fuck?”
His chest aches at the idea. Suo’s carefree smile and soft eye aimed at someone else. Something about the image is devastating.
He pushes it further, Suo’s hands on a girl, on another guy, cradling their face in his hands. Reassuring them, the way he does for Sakura. Suo’s eye closing as he leans in for a kiss.
The embarrassment from even thinking it is vastly overshadowed by the tugging pain in his chest.
“What the fuck—“ he repeats, turning an embarrassed glare to Nirei.
Nirei nods, “Yeah? I thought so.”
“Thought what?” Sakura retorts, lost.
“It made you sad, or maybe jealous, right?”
The dots connect quickly after that. This means Sakura loves him, right? This is what people mean when they say they are jealous. This is what people talk about when they say heartache. He never imagined he’d feel this, ever. Romance is so outside the realm of his expectations he’s never even entertained the thought.
Now that he has, it hurts. The label feels right. He hates it.
Suo thought he had a girlfriend and was feeling like this? He can imagine the expression he’d wear.
It still sounds impossible, there’s no way that could be the reason.
“How did you k-know that I felt...that?”
“You wouldn’t have figured it out, but you guys flirt constantly. It makes patrolling with you two kinda painful sometimes,” Nirei says, as if it’s obvious.
“We do not flirt,” Sakura retorts. He’s never flirted in his life.
“You do. You just don’t know what flirting is.”
“We banter.”
Hikaru interjects, “When he looks at you like that? No.”
He thinks back to Suo’s looks, that softness in his eye when their gazes meet. It makes sense now, even if he hesitates to call the feeling in his chest affection.
Still, it adds up. Suo has been on his mind without his control for months now.
And Suo knows him so well, is always fucking checking on him like its part of the job. Seems to always know when there’s something he needs to get off his chest or stop for a meal when he’s crankiest.
It’s ridiculous when he thinks about it. Sakura can’t do the same for him, how is it possible that Suo likes him?
He wonders if it could be anything else, something else they said didn’t make sense.
“And you— what do you mean I’m getting laid— what does that even mean?”
Nirei somehow sinks further into his chair, hands rising to cover his face. “Oh my god, Sakura.”
—
Suo doesn’t return for the rest of the day, instead he patrols by himself, takes a walk, and goes home for the evening. It’s much needed, and he doesn’t fret over a thing as he settles into bed at night. Content with his plan tomorrow, he’ll find out first thing if Sakura has a girlfriend.
He has no idea what he will do if the answer is yes.
But, he’s assuming the answer will be no. It feels like there’s no way he had time to go and make a relationship with the very limited amount of time they don’t spend together. He sees him in class, then after school and by the time their patrols are complete, that small window of time would be nearly impossible to get a girlfriend for someone like Sakura, who has never given pursuing women a thought.
Just running the scenario gives him peace of mind, the thought that truly troubles him is what to do with these feelings. He’s been loosely aware of them in some regard, but now that they have shape, there’s a compulsion to act on them.
It’s hard to imagine a world where Sakura says yes the way he is now. Suo will have a difficult time keeping it under wraps. He could be content for a while perhaps. He falls asleep with the idea of laying on a thick coating of flirtation for their future interactions for the foreseeable future.
Things are the same in the morning light, he feels more prepared to mask his feelings than the night before. He strolls leisurely into Bofurin the next morning, prepared to offer Nirei an apology for his behavior yesterday. He turns to the entrance of his classroom, when hands wrap around his biceps, pinning him in place and pushing him against a wall.
The only reason the owner of the hands isn’t sent flying is because they belong to Sakura.
It is not an unfavorable position. He smiles his usual grin. “Good morning, you’re here early.”
The redness of his face is comical, “You disappeared yesterday.”
Suo raises an eyebrow and peaks over his shoulder, there’s no one else in class. “It was the end of the day, I went home.”
“Nirei said you needed some air.”
“And I needed some air,” Suo smiles, shark-like and amused.
Sakura scoffs, “You never need air, I think most people need air from you. Who pissed you off?”
“That depends,” Suo’s grin turns predatory. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Sakura’s ears always turn red first before it cascades into his cheeks. There doesn’t seem to be a gap in time for the color to return either after the blush wanes. The notable thing however, is that his grip loosens and his mind flits to several different expressions, as if Suo disarmed him.
“What? No! I d-don’t,” Sakura declares on a stutter. “You know that.”
“I know that? I’m not so sure— are you cheating on me Sakura-kun?”
Sakura stammers profusely and lets go of him as if burned by the embarrassment. His hand moves to cover his face, and Suo finds the action so cute and hilarious. He knows his own smile is enormous.
Once Sakura is able to use language again, he removes his hand and meets his gaze. “Idiot. You were jealous yesterday, right?”
Suo’s eye widens, he didn’t expect to be called out by Sakura on jealousy. “That’s unusually insightful… and presumptuous of you, Sakura.”
”Well, am I right?”
Suo decides to meet him on whatever game he’s playing, throwing all pretenses out the window, “I was, yes.”
“You were jealous….because you thought I had a girlfriend.”
Suo's grin is wide, “Yes, that’s correct Sakura.”
“So…” His face begins that climb in color, returning to a deep red. “You like me?”
Suo’s expression falters ever so slightly, he is sure his face is the same red now. It’s the first time Sakura’s disarmed him like this. He can admit defeat when he’s confronted.
Given the determined, still blushing expression on Sakura’s face, he had better chances than he thought. “It seems so.”
Sakura grips his chin, so bold. He wonders if he’s imagining this. Suo certainly underestimated him. “Idiot. Why not say something earlier?”
”Well, I wasn’t planning to say anything. I can honestly say you’ve surprised me.”
“You weren’t going to say anything?” Sakura sounds incredulous. He can’t imagine why.
“Is that so surprising? I wasn’t sure I had a chance, I did not know your preferences after all,” Suo says matter of factly. Sakura is always so responsive to his teasing, so he thought he might someday have a chance, but this is certainly an unexpected acceleration.
“My preferences,” Sakura says as if the notion of having preferences in itself is embarrassing. He truly can’t handle any ounce of romantic thought.
“Yes, whether you were sexually or romantically attracted to men, or—“
Sakura covers his mouth with his hand, the blush extending all the way down to his neck.
”Stop talking, I can’t handle it,” Sakura silences him. He can’t look him in the eye, it's adorable.
“But your reactions are so cute, Sakura.”
The words do nothing to ease his pain.
”Since you are asking me these questions, is there a chance my feelings are reciprocated?” He prods, he’s fairly confident of his chances. Why else would Sakura confront him like this?
There’s a grumble from behind his hand. He vaguely makes out the word ‘asshole.’
“What was that?” Suo teases.
Sakura finally removes his hand, feigning anger as he lunges at him. “You’re such an asshole!”
“Is that a yes?”
“I–Yes, yes the feeling is mutual. Stop fucking messing with me.” Sakura says in exasperation, finally Suo catches that small smile breaking out on his face.
He knows he loves it, this affectionate familiarity. Sakura is so easy to read, after all.
“I think I should get a little leeway, seeing as how you tortured me yesterday. I still can’t believe you went out with a woman, Sakura. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Sakura’s smile quickly morphs into shouting, “I– I didn’t—I was helping her!”
Suo laughs, full bodied and genuine. He decides to give him a break and lets his mask slip just until their classmates arrive. “Relax, I know. I realized after I took a walk. Most of my time is spent alongside you after all, I knew it was a misunderstanding.” He places a hand on Sakura’s cheek, it’s so warm. His confidence almost wavers, “I know romance is a difficult subject for you, thank you for telling me. I’ll plan the first date as my thanks, if that’s alright with you?”
Sakura seems dumbfounded by the full weight of Suo’s romantic affection bearing down on him. ”Uhh. Yes?”
Suo smiles at that. It’s just in time, as he hears footsteps coming in from down the hall. “I look forward to it, love.”
For good measure, he plants a kiss on Sakura’s cheek as he heads to his desk and delights in the anguished sound that follows.
It’s Nirei that enters, his eyes immediately glancing between the two of them. “Good morning—Suo what did you do to Sakura?”
Sakura is bowed down, head in his hands. The tips of his ears are entirely red. Suo imagines steam rising from him from the heat of his embarrassment.
“Nothing, just cleared up a misunderstanding with my boyfriend,” Suo says, smiling widely.
Nirei beams as Sakura makes another sound from his new position, curled against the wall, hiding his face. Suo laughs again, basking in the rare feeling of euphoria.
“Congratulations you two!”