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Nirei Akihiko had been writing up their classes new training plan when chaos errupted. The plan had needed an proper overhaul after their last fight, his classmate's fighting flaws were more obvious their now experienced minds and they all knew that they needed to get stronger. Watching Sakura run himself ragged trying to defend them all when he should only have to focus on himself andhis own fight had made them all more determined to not get in his way next time. Nirei had filled in the last of his grids and put down his pen. He needed a drink before doing that maths required to work out everyones start time, and instead amused himself working out which drink to get Sakura this time. They had recently learnt that Sakura hadn't tried most of the drinks they had in stock, and both Nirei and Suo had made it a goal to find out which is his favourite. Nirei had just stood up when a tall figure walked lazily into their classroom, black hood hiding their face from Nirei. That didn’t mean others in the class couldn’t see him properly and Nirei felt a strike of panic when everyone else stood and stepped away from the invader. There was no way their invader was a Furin student and the class was only just recovering from the last fight, none of them were prepared for a fight right now.
Before Nirei could make a move, the hooded figure headed straight for Sakura’s desk and crouched down onto the balls of their feet, obliviously trying to make eye contact with their now awake class captain. He guessed that Sakura’s sensitivity to attention had dragged him out of his nap, and that whoever was visiting wasn't considered a threat because all he did was blink once before turning away to return to his nap. Nirei wondered if he had slept well enough last night. It had been unusually warm after all and he didn't think Sakura's aircon worked.
‘Sakura~chan~♡, don’t ignore me.' The hooded figure whinned and Nirei thought he recognised the voice, though not in that tone. 'It hurts my feelings you know.’ The last word disloged something and Nirei flinched back. The voice felt like nails down his spine. Suo pushed himself to Sakura's desk and pushed himself between their capatain and the interloper. Nirei watched as his friends smile sharpened and threw himself forward to mediate if possible. Endo's face came into view not that Nirei was facing him head on.
'Hello Endo-san.' Suo's voice was pleasent but carried an hard edge that Nirei felt against his neck. 'It's rather rude of you to make such an unannounced visit.' Nirei shivered and did his best to keep an eye on both people at the same time. Why did everyone he meet have to be so scary all the time. ‘What do you want with our Grade Captain?’
‘Nothing bad, nothing bad.' Nirei wearily watched his waving hands, knowing full well that they were capable of. 'I just wanted to set up a play date but Sakura-chan wasn’t answering my texts.’ Endo might have been physically looking at them but Nirei knew he was barely seeing them, they were irrelevent to the world the maniac lived in. Suo shifted to cover Sakura from sight and Nirei did his best to do the same.
‘Sorry that you came all this way, but our captain isn’t available for a fight right now. If your bored, I’m sure Umemiya-san is willing to entertain you.’ Suo said but Nirei was sure that everyone could hear the cold steel beneath his friendly tone. If Endo didn't leave soon, Nirei was sure a fight was about to break out and this time he was unwillingly up front and center.
‘Don’t worry, it’s not a fight.’ Endo said as he lent back on his hands and smiled up at Suo, his hood falling off from the sudden movement. His attempt to be less threatening did nothing in the face of his tattoos and the half healed split lip he was sporting. ‘Chika seemed to find him interesting and Chika always needs more friends.’ He leant around them to grin back at their frowning captain and Sakura didn’t even blink. Evidently the situation was too hard to ignore despite his attempts to do so.
Endo seemed to take his non-response as acceptance and a moment later he was off the floor and picking up their squirming class leader, tossing him over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. Sakura immediately started hissing and scratched at Endo but nothing made him budge. Nirei new that if Sakura had actually been commited to freedom, Endo would have had a harder time containing him. His friends non-reaction settled some of the building concern, though only slightly. He heard some of the class lurch forward protectivly but were torn between protecting their friend and having to deal with the monster that was Endo. Suo looked like he was willing to give it a try but also noticed that Sakura didn’t actually care that he was being manhandled. So instead they took the opportunity to enjoy how red Sakura's face had become.
Nirei felt like he should question the friends Sakura was making, but knew he didn’t really have a leg to stand on given the people in their class, let alone those attending Furin in general. That didn’t mean Nirei wasn't keeping an eye on the eclectic mix of people Sakura was collecting. Their - senior? - waved absently in farewell to the shocked class and wandered out the door, ducking slightly so Sakura made it through without a problem. The angle his was being carried at gave everyone a clear look at their class captain still red face and Nirei heard someone behind him plead for sunglasses. He glanced at Suo and the both of them hurried after their friend and his friendly overly kidnapper.
Endo turned and smirked at them as they caught up and made to speed up but Sakura’s sudden squirming put an end to those plans, loudly complaining about how rough his captor was being. From beside him Suo sped up and pinched at Sakura’s cheeks. Nirei knew Suo would call him cute if only their leader wouldn’t straight up self-destruct. At least Suo’s teasing kept Sakura from realising that everyone they passed stopped to watch them pass. More than once in their short walk, Nirei spotted phones and camera flashes and knew that the Sakura fan club market would be getting a new influc of content. Not even Endo's presence could distract them.
By the time they made it to the school gate, it was obvious that Sakura had given up trying to get away from either Endo or Suo and decided that hanging there limply was the best way to deal with the situation. Nirei took the chance to look back at the school and spotted Umemiya hanging over the roofs railing, waving cheerily at him when they made eye contact. Something inside Nirei relaxed, Umemiya had given his approval for whatever was happening. He sighed in relief, comforted by the thought. He looked up once more before realising that the others had made it well out of the school grounds while he was distracted, and noticed that Suo had moved to squishing their captains cheeks absentmindedly while holding a fake polite conversation with Endo. Nirei ignored their unsettling conversation and decided his phone had been neglected long enough. The spamming it was being subjected to was starting to turn his skin numb.
‘Tsk, tsk, Sakura-san, I will put more food in your fridge. You shouldn’t be so easy to pick up.’ Nirei could hear the smile in Suo's voice, and knew that Sakura might be inundated with grocieries for the next week.
‘Stop breaking into my house! I can get my own food!’ Nirei looked away as a grin tugged at his mouth, not wanting to be subjected to Sakura's ire. At least he didn't think Nirei was involved in this. Which he was but he tried to be more suble that his co-vice-captain.
‘But Sakura-san, you need more vegetables. A rounded diet is good for you.’ Suo continued despite Sakura's complaints.
‘He’s right. You're too light, you need more muscles otherwise our rematch isn’t going to be any fun.’ Endo’s addition was equally as pleasant sounding. The both of them activly ignored the yelling coming from his shoulder. Nirei tried to feel for their captain but the situation was too amusing for that, though he was concerned about how well the two of them were getting along. He appreciated the addition of a new powerhouse to the Sakura protection society, even if he was the scariest member in it and Nirei never wanted to be left alone with him. Watching Sakura and him go head-to-head made Nirei aware of exactly where he sat on the strength hierarchy.
He followed them through the main street and under the boundary bridge, waving away the more concerned residents. He spotted Kotoha through her cafe window tapping rapidly on her phone. Umemiya would have been notified of their every step, a town of mother hens sending him updates and photo's of them. With that thought, he pulled out his own phone and took a photo of Sakura’s suffering and sent it to everyone who had messaged him, and made sure to pin it to their class chat. He muted the chat as the spamming started once more. As he did so, Umemiya’s popped up with a message saying ‘have fun!’, which was quickly followed by a row of question marks from Hiragi. He send back a shrugging cat and made a mental note to pick up some more medicine for him.
As they exited the tunnel and ventured into Shishitoren’s territory, he did his best to ignore the number of orange jackets that were quickly gathering around them. They might be on friendly terms now, but Endo was an outlier and a known risk. The orange was harder to ignore when Togame and Tomiyama’s suddenly appeared in front of them. Before anyone had the chance to speak, Sakura seemed to realise that a new group of people were aware of his embarrassing situation and did his best to flee from them despite being stuck on Endo’s shoulder. It did not work and he gave up, just dangling there as Endo turned around so Sakura could speak to his friend face-to-face.
‘Do you need help there, friend?’ Perhaps Nirei shouldn’t have been surprised that Sakura had some how made friends with Endo when Shishitoren and it’s demonic second in command now hung on his every word after being kicked in the face. Actually, it seemed to be to main way Sakura made any new friend.
‘It’s nothin,’ Sakura muttered into Endo’s back, a pout evident in his voice.
Nirei watched as Togame somehow negotiated himself into joining them, cheerily telling Tomiyama to enjoy the guests that would be passing through in the near future and striking up a conversation with Suo as Sakura sulked. Nirei understood Togame's concern though, it would be a pain for Shishitoren if Endo did something to Sakura in their territory. That one of their seniors would be coming after them soon was also a foregone conclusion and was only a matter of time. That didn't change the fact that Nirei knew that Togame was mainly joining them to witness whatever chaos Sakura had gotten into.
Eventually, amongst quiet conversation and hearing about what Shishitoren is up to these days, they made it to a run down looking shed on the edges of Shishitoren’s territory. They stopped for a moment and watched as Endo made his way to the buildings door, quickly adjusting his grip on Sakura before kicking open the door. Nirei took the chance to drop a location pin for Hiragi and Umemiya, adding a note that nothing dangerous had happened but they had arrived where ever it was Endo had been taking them. They looked questioningly at each other before following the two of them in.
Inside the shack, laying calmly on a surprising pristine looking couch, was Takiishi Chika, as unbothered as ever. Even as non-threatening as he was being, the mere presence of the man gave Nirei cold sweats. That didn't stop the welling amusement as Endo walked right up to his resting friend and dropped their now wiggling grade captain right into his waiting hands, grasping their friend like those plush toys Kiryu collected. They watched as Sakura calculated the possibility at getting away and slumped, giving up before making any proper attempt and instead, Nirei watched as the scariest person Nirei had ever seen squished his flustered captain’s cheeks and muttered ‘cat’ before using Sakura as a head rest, returning to the nap that they have interupted with their arrival.
Nirei covered his mouth to prevent Sakura from hearing his sequel and took all the photo’s he could. He heard Suo doing the same behind him. These were going to make him so much money, though some of them were only for him.
~*~
Nirei looked away from the wonderful sight in front of him to see Umemiya poking his head through the still open doorway. It has been much more interesting to watch Sakura try and escape his new attachment than to be worried about anyone coming in and causing trouble. Not that Nirei didn't think any single person in the room would quickly to a stop to any possible threat. He quickly ignored the face that he was surrounded by monsters who were only playing nice because of their captive class captain. Beside him, Endo lent out and waved Umemiya over happily. Their school leader joined the rest of them up against the shack's wall to watch as Sakura fulfilled his new role as a body pillow for Takiishi Chika. Said monster was visibly decided between getting up to fight Umemiya or continuing to bother Nirei's exasperated friend. Sakura won in the end and was pulled further into the couch.
‘Endo!’ Umemiya said cheerfully, ‘how nice of you to drop by. But you didn’t even say hello to me.’ Nirei blinked at the brightness of Umemiya’s smile and ignored the chill that ran down his spine.
Endo grinned sharply in reply and Nirei wondered if he could get Sakura out before someone threw the first punch. ‘Sorry, sorry~♡ I had a job to do. Maybe next time.’
‘And that required kidnapping our first year?’ Umemiya sounded light hearted but Nirei still eyed Suo and the still open door. He should be fast enough to make it to safely if required.
‘Well I thought a play date was in order. Chika doesn’t like people but I don’t think he sees Sakura as one.’ Endo said and Nirei had to agree with him. They turned back to the couch and saw that Sakura had started nodding sleepily with Takiishi petting him gently. He didn't make it much longer and soon Nirei's friend was dead to the world. ‘Actually, I think he see him as a stray cat.’ Endo lent against the wall as he continued. ‘We we’re getting dinner the other day and saw cutie cat-boy getting cornered by some local dropouts. Apparently he’d been conned into helping some gramps do an errand and the idiots didn’t recognise him out of the Furin uniform. Chika saw the chance for a fight and took it. Afterwards he seemed to take to him.’ Endo’s smile sharped. ‘Though that might have been because he tried to bite me.’
‘Ah, I understand,’ Togame said, suddenly joining in on the conversation as if he had been invited, nodding like everything made sense. Nirei was just surprised he was paying attention any anuthing that wasn't Sakura. Not that Nirei didn’t understand, he could imagine Sakura’s reaction, all flustered and hissy from the sudden attention and, for the first time ever, understood Takiishi Chika. Togame's statement was the end of that, and instead they returned to what they were doing before Umemiya arrived. They watched the two who were now napping on the couch, the warm sun streaming through the shacks broken window above them.
Nirei took another photo and sent it to Kotoha this time.