Archive of Our Own

It's a Monday morning before class like any other. Akihiko is seated at his desk, chatting with Kiryu and Suo, while Tsugeura is finishing his usual workout routine near the window in the back. Sugishita is asleep at his own desk. One thing is out of the ordinary though: Class is about to start in five minutes, and Sakura still hasn't shown up. Akihiko checks his phone nervously.

"Does anyone know where Sakura-san is?", he asks his friends even though he already suspects their answers.

"No," Kiryu replies with a little frown while Suo shakes his head.

Akihiko hums. Hopefully, their grade captain isn't sick again. He shoots Sakura a quick message, trying to stay calm. He probably just overslept or something. Nothing to worry about.

When the teacher enters the classroom at 8:28 AM and Sakura is still not at his desk, Akihiko checks his phone again. Sakura hasn't read his text. His palms are starting to feel sweaty.

Just as the bell is about to ring, the classroom door slides open.

Akihiko smells Sakura before he sees him. His sigh of relief gets stuck in his throat as he's nearly overwhelmed by the heavy scent of cherry blossoms and pink peppercorn that suddenly fills the air. It's a sweet, floral aroma that is so perfectly Sakura, Akihiko wants to drown in it. Judging from his classmates' reactions, most of them seem to feel the same way.

Everyone's eyes are on their grade captain who's standing in the doorway, his cheeks flushed and hair sticking to his forehead. He doesn't look well.

"Sorry for bein' late," Sakura mumbles and drags himself over to his desk, plopping down in his chair.

Their teacher, unfazed, starts her lecture. Akihiko wonders how she hasn't noticed Sakura's condition. He looks over to his friend who's put his head down onto his desk and closed his eyes. This is bad. Several of their classmates are still staring at him.

"Sakura-san," Akihiko whispers urgently. Sakura doesn't look up. Shooting a glance at the teacher and seeing that she's currently writing something on the blackboard with her back turned to them, Akihiko grabs his eraser and chucks it at Sakura's head.

Sakura groans and lifts his head to glare at Akihiko. "The fuck?", he grumbles. The fact that he's not immediately threatening Akihiko to meet him outside speaks volumes about his well-being.

"Sakura-san, why are you not at home??", Akihiko hisses. "You're —" He feels himself blush. "You're clearly not feeling well!"

The grade captain avoids his eyes. "I'm fine. Jus' a little under the weather, 's all."

Akihiko stares at him. Does Sakura not understand what's happening to him? There's no way he doesn't know. On second thought, the boy can still barely use a smartphone or chopsticks. If no one's taught him those things, who would've taught him about … this?

The thing is, Akihiko feels way too embarrassed to talk about it. He doesn't know how to explain this to Sakura. No one else in their class has presented yet, so there isn't anyone here who could talk to him, either.

His eyes keep drifting over to Sakura during the entire lesson. Usually, Akihiko tries to pay close attention to their teacher and take diligent notes, but his brain is too foggy from the heavy scent coming from his right.

When class is finally over — what was it about? Akihiko can't say — and the teacher's left the room, everyone crowds around Sakura's desk. The boy's feverish blush turns even redder at the unwanted attention.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?", Kiryu asks sternly. "You should be resting at home."

"Why the hell would I be at home? Nirei said the same thing," Sakura grunts, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow. "'s just kinda warm today, what's the big deal?"

There's a moment of silence when the students of Class 1-1 realise that their captain apparently doesn't know he's —

Sakura lets out an uncharacteristically high-pitched noise when a heavy gust of cherry blossoms and pink peppercorn suddenly wafts through their classroom, making several of them cover their noses at how strong it is.

"Oh, shit," Anzai says. "Uh —"

"The fuck?!", Sakura yelps, shooting up from his chair. He's beet red from the tips of his ears down to his neck. Akihiko is glad that from this angle, he is the only one who can see the dark patch forming at the back of Sakura's trousers; Sakura would probably rather die than let the whole class witness his embarrassment.

Before anyone else can react, Suo is already at Sakura's side, wrapping his own Furin jacket around the boy's waist. "Sakura-kun, let's go outside for a sec, okay?", he says, sounding calm though his flared nostrils betray him. Sakura doesn't even protest, stumbling as Suo drags him along and slides the classroom door closed behind them.

"Um," Akihiko says into the silence the two have left behind. He watches Sugishita wordlessly open the windows to let fresh air inside.

"Do you think Sakura-chan doesn't know what a heat is?", Kiryu asks, ever straight to the point. Akihiko can't help but cringe, feeling too embarrassed to even say the word out loud.

"Maybe he wasn't taught by his parents," Tsugeura muses. He also looks a little awkward talking about this topic.

"What was he taught by his parents?" Kiryu says with an upset frown. "Poor Sakura-chan; he looked scared."

"I get it, though," Takanashi says. "My girlfriend also recently —" He blushes and stops himself. "Uhh, you know. She also wasn't really, um, prepared."

Anzai nudges Takanashi with his elbow and makes a dirty joke to try and lighten the mood, but Akihiko is barely listening. He's thinking about Sakura. Tries to imagine him waking up this morning, feeling feverish and wrong without knowing what's happening to him, and getting up to make it to class anyway. It makes Akihiko feel a little sick.

During their next lesson, he is still unable to focus, Sakura's absence next to him too prominent to pay attention to anything else. He takes his phone out when the teacher's not looking and sends Suo a quick text, asking how Sakura's doing. The reply comes swiftly: He's okay, we're on the roof with Tsubaki-san.

Akihiko's anxiety lessens slightly at the thought of the older omega helping Sakura. He still thinks the boy should just go home, but he guesses it's Sakura's choice.

There's still the giant elephant in the room: Their grade captain is the first in their class to present, and as an omega no less. Akihiko wonders how Sakura feels about that. If he even knows what it really means.

Either way, there's another elephant, but this one's in Akihiko's mind alone: If Sakura is an omega, there's no way they'll ever be compatible. Because Akihiko is many things, but definitely not an alpha; the thought alone is laughable. He looks down at his hands. Technically, he knows there's no reason why an omega shouldn't be with a beta or even another omega, but with Sakura's delicious scent, Akihiko will be surprised if an alpha upperclassman hasn't snatched him up by the end of the school year. If Sakura's even into boys at all.

And it's fine. Akihiko never expected Sakura to like him back anyway. Why would he, when he is one of the strongest in their class, the entire school, really, and Akihiko is just … the way he is? Weak, unskilled, a pathetic excuse for a Bofurin member. Even with Suo teaching him, he'll never be as good at fighting as any of his classmates.

He jumps when the bell rings, announcing the end of class. The page of his notebook in front of him is empty. Great. He's going to have to ask Kiryu for his notes later.

Speak of the devil, now that lunch break has started, his pink-haired friend approaches his desk and pulls up a chair to sit across from him. "What are we gonna do about Sakura-chan?", Kiryu asks seriously.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Like, I really think he doesn't know what's going on with him. Should we talk to him? Or get him some stuff?"

"Stuff?" Nirei looks at him quizzically.

"You know, like …" Kiryu trails off, blushing a little. Akihiko's never seen him look this bashful, and it suddenly dawns on him what Kiryu means.

"Oh, God, um —" He doesn't even know what to say. Sakura would probably (absolutely) kill them if they got him a fucking sex toy.

"Let's not, actually," Kiryu says quickly. If even he is embarrassed about this topic, then Akihiko is definitely not equipped to talk about it.

"Maybe we should go and see how he's doing. He's apparently on the roof with Suo-san and Tsubaki-san."

"Good idea. Tsuge-chan?", Kiryu calls out to the fifth member of their friend group. Once Tsugeura looks up, Kiryu says, "Let's go check on Sakura-chan."

When they get to the rooftop, Sakura is sitting on the sofa between Suo and Tsubaki, still as red as he was earlier. He's exchanged his trousers for a pair of black sweatpants and is looking a little more comfortable overall while Tsubaki is currently showing him something on her phone. Akihiko notices Suo's arm draped across the back of the sofa behind Sakura and tries to ignore the pang of jealousy in his chest.

He knows it's wrong, but he wishes he'd been the one to help Sakura first. Why can't he just be happy that someone was there to help him at all?

Sakura looks up when he hears them approach. "What do you guys want?", he grumbles. Akihiko can tell the boy is embarrassed that everyone's fussing over him.

"We wanted to see if you're feeling better," Kiryu says gingerly.

"Um, I guess," Sakura mutters, avoiding their eyes.

Tsubaki pats his knee and smiles at them. "I gave him a little biology lesson, so now he knows what he's dealing with."

"Sh-shut up!!", Sakura sputters, jerking away. The movement involuntarily pushes him into Suo's arms, and the vice captain catches him with a chuckle.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, Sakura-kun."

"Be glad that it was me and not Kaji," Tsubaki berates Sakura, flicking his forehead with a manicured finger.

Akihiko finds it hard to concentrate on the conversation when his gaze is focused on Suo's arms around Sakura. Sakura hasn't moved yet, looking completely fine with their proximity. What Akihiko would give to get this close to him without being awkwardly pushed away.

"Are ya coming back to class after lunch?", Tsugeura asks.

"Uh, I —" Sakura hesitates.

"You are not," Tsubaki glares at him. "I'm taking him home with me, so you boys don't have to worry."

"Thank you for taking care of our precious captain, Tsubaki-chan-senpai," Kiryu says with a little bow. "We trust you with his life."

Akihiko didn't think it possible, but somehow Sakura manages to turn an even deeper shade of red as his scent spikes. He sits up, letting go of Suo. "Can we stop making such a big deal out of this, goddammit …"

"Well, you are the first Tamon team first-year to, um, present, Sakura-san," Akihiko says, and he's only realised now that he hasn't put this new information into his notebook yet. His own feelings be damned, data always comes first. He pulls his book out of his jacket, together with his pen, and opens it to the "Sakura" section. Diligently, he jots down the words Subgender: Omega underneath Sakura's blood type.

He looks up and notices Sakura glaring daggers at him. "What?", he asks nervously.

"Did ya really have to put that in there?" Of course, Sakura knows exactly what Akihiko wrote down.

"I-I mean, it's important information about you!"

"'s not like it's anythin' to be proud of," Sakura mumbles so quietly it's barely audible, but everyone hears him.

"What's wrong with being an omega?", Tsubaki asks sharply.

"Nothin', for you, of course," Sakura says as he looks down at his own hands. "'cause yer, like, a girl."

"Kaji-san is a male omega, too ~", Kiryu chimes in.

Sakura opens his mouth and then closes it again since he can't really argue with that.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Sakura-kun," Suo tells him, gently patting Sakura's biceps. Akihiko pointedly doesn't look at the way Sakura subconsciously leans into the touch for a second.

Sakura clears his throat and abruptly stands up. "Whatever. I'm gonna leave now," he says, not looking at any of them.

Tsubaki nods and gets up as well. "Let's go." She follows Sakura towards the door leading to the stairwell. "Bye, guys!"

Akihiko watches them leave while the rest of their friends say their goodbyes. He looks down at the page of his notebook.

Subgender: Omega.

Sakura clearly hadn't known what a heat is or how it works until a couple of hours ago, but judging from what he just said, he must have already known what it means to be a male omega (or a female alpha, for that matter) in this society. To him, it's probably just another thing that makes him stand out and puts negative attention on him. But in Bofurin, it doesn't make a difference; Sakura should know by now that he'll be accepted here no matter what. Akihiko guesses old habits and thought patterns are hard to break, though.

"Um, I'm gonna get something from Saboten for lunch," Kiryu says into the awkward silence that has fallen over their group. "Anyone wanna join me?"

Tsugeura immediately agrees, but Akihiko doesn't feel hungry. Neither does Suo, of course, so the vice captains stay on the rooftop while the other two leave for Tonpu Market Street.

"Suo-san … Thank you for helping out Sakura-san." Akihiko, now next to Suo on the sofa, looks at the ground in front of him as he says it. The image of Suo's arms around Sakura is still pretty fresh in his mind.

"Why are you thanking me?", Suo says with his usual teasing, though gentle, smile. "Don't worry, Sakura-kun already thanked me earlier. Can you believe it?"

Honestly, Akihiko almost can't. But Sakura has been changing a lot over the time he's spent with them, and everyone knows he's trying to be more open about his feelings and accept help from others. Akihiko suddenly feels really proud of him. "I'm glad Tsubaki-san was there, as well."

"Me, too," Suo nods. "She obviously knows a lot more about this than most of us do."

Akihiko hums in agreement.

More awkward silence.

"Are you alright, Nire-kun?"

"Uh —" The question catches Akihiko off-guard. "Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?", he lies nervously.

"I'm worried about Sakura-kun, too," Suo says, folding his hands in his lap. As expected, he sees right through Akihiko. "But he's safe at Tsubaki-san's place; she said not even Umemiya-san or Suzuri-san are allowed there while she's taking care of him."

For a second, Akihiko is confused — why wouldn't they be allowed …? But then he realises and feels himself blush. Of course, those two are are Tsubaki's mates. They're alphas. Sakura might not feel entirely safe spending his first … time of the month … with two alphas in close proximity.

"You're really not comfortable with this topic, are you, Nire-kun?"

Akihiko's face is starting to feel even warmer. He looks up at Suo and stammers, "I-I mean, who is?!"

Suo tilts his head. "I am, I think. It's just biology, isn't it? It happens to so many of us at some point. Quite unfortunate that it happened to our youngest classmate first, but that's just Sakura's luck." His smile seems a little sad.

Akihiko is quiet for a moment. He guesses Suo is right. It's not something his parents ever really talked about; they left that to his teachers who only taught them the basics in biology class while the boys around him giggled and drew raunchy sketches in their textbooks. Maybe there are things he has to unlearn, as well — at least for Sakura's sake.

"I guess I'm just not good with these things," he mumbles sheepishly. "Especially when it comes to, um, alpha and omega … stuff." He cringes at his own words. "How are you so calm about all of this, Suo-san?"

Suo's smile is unwavering, but there's something behind his eye. "I'm glad I'm appearing calm to you."

Akihiko shudders involuntarily at the intensity of Suo's gaze. What the hell?

"Anyway," Suo gets up from the sofa, not acknowledging the weird change in atmosphere, "with Sakura-kun gone, you and I are in charge of our classmates. Let's make sure everyone knows their patrol routes for after school."

"I … yeah, sure," Akihiko replies weakly. He follows Suo down the stairs to their classroom.

Haruka feels like he's dying.

"Shh, it's okay, honey," Tsubaki says above him as she gently removes the old cooling patch from his forehead and replaces it with a new one. The effect is instant, making Haruka breathe a sigh of relief.

"Better?", she asks with a smile. Her current position, leaning over him from the side of the futon, gives him a clear view of the bite marks on both sides of her neck. The marks her mates put there.

Is this what's in his future, as well? To be marked forever by another person, permanently claimed by them?

He'd known about the existence of alphas, betas, and omegas, of course. But he'd never been taught how any of that stuff actually worked. For fuck's sake, Tsubaki explained to him a couple hours ago where babies came from.

Also, he hadn't known how rare male omegas were. Just add it to the long list of things that make him a freak.

"Sakura?" Tsubaki is looking looking at him with concern in her bright blue eyes. "Are you in pain? Do you need a heating pad?"

"N-no," he breathes. His whole body feels like it's on fire; he does not want a heating pad (whatever that even is). "I'm … fine."

She frowns. "You sure? I can get you anything you need."

He just groans. "No … thank you," he adds. Tsubaki is doing something nice for him here; he should try and be at least a bit polite.

"Do you want to be alone for a little longer?", she asks.

"Mhm," he hums, closing his eyes.

"Okay. In the meantime, I'll make something for us to eat and bring it to you later," she says and pats his shoulder. "You'll be okay, honey. The first day is always the worst, but it'll get better from here." With that, she gets up and leaves the bedroom, softly closing the door behind her.

Haruka lets out another long groan and shifts on the futon. Everything's too fucking warm. He frantically pushes the blanket away until he can feel the cool air of the room on his legs and feet, but it does little to reduce the heat that seems to be coming from inside his body.

Is this his life now? Will he end up a sweaty, hot mess on the floor, incapable of doing practically anything for at least three days every month?

It's fucking humiliating, having anyone witness his current state. At least it's Tsubaki helping him; Haruka knows he can trust her to not talk to anyone about this. But his entire class saw him, saw what happened — if he thinks about it for too long, he might actually start crying. How will they ever take him seriously as their captain again, knowing what he is?

He buries his face in his pillow. It reeks of cherry blossoms and pink peppercorn and it makes him want to vomit, but he can't escape it. Maybe, he thinks, he could come to terms with most of this if he could just deal with it in private like he does with everything else in his life. But the fact that his sickeningly sweet scent announces his stupid subgender to the entire world, and there's nothing he can do about it? He doesn't know how to accept that.

"Kaji-san is a male omega, too", he hears Kiryu's voice in his head.

God dammit, he's gonna have to ask Kaji for advice again, isn't he? This is truly the worst day of his life.

He must've fallen asleep for a while, because the next time he opens his eyes, there's a plate with sandwiches sitting on the floor next to him.

"Hey, Sakura! Did you have a good nap?", he hears Tsubaki's voice from across the room. When he looks up, she's sitting on her bed with her phone, an empty plate next to her on the bedside table.

He hums noncommittally. The cooling patch seems to have lost its effect entirely, so his head is overheating again. At this point, he's almost become used to it.

"You need to eat something, darling," Tsubaki says as she gets up from the bed. She kneels down next to the futon and helps him sit up despite his protests. "Come on, these are Kotoha-chan's recipe; you'll like them."

He doesn't feel like eating at all right now, but Tsubaki made this food just for him, so he takes a couple of bites. They do taste almost exactly like his favourite egg sandwiches at Pothos.

"Thanks," he mumbles with his mouth full. He's not sure if it's even intelligible, but Tsubaki smiles at him nonetheless.

"Anything for my favourite kohai! I'm so happy to have another omega at school; Kaji can get so grumpy sometimes …"

Haruka guesses there's at least one person who's happy about his subgender. What the hell, sure.

"Are … do ya like that yer an omega?", he asks her, avoiding her eyes.

"Oh! Yeah, of course!"

He looks up in surprise at the promptness of her reply. "Really?"

"I mean … for me specifically, it was really gender-affirming, if that makes sense? I definitely never wanted to be an alpha."

Ah. Sometimes he forgets that Tsubaki's transgender. Obviously, presenting as an omega made sense to her. Because that's a girly thing. Ugh! It's not even like he cares about shitty stereotypes like that. And yet.

Tsubaki looks at him with a sad expression on her face. "Sakura … you know that your subgender doesn't say anything about who you are as a person, right? You're still you."

Of course, she sees right through him; he's never been good at hiding his feelings. Has he not been through enough today? He doesn't know how to respond.

He's enveloped by the calming scent of freesias and roses when Tsubaki hugs him. For a second, the unexpected touch makes him tense up, but then he relaxes when his brain realises she's not a threat. It feels kind of nice; she's soft and warm and smells good. Haruka can also detect the underlying scents of Umemiya and Suzuri, though, and it once again reminds him of what is expected of omegas in this world: To be claimed, to belong to someone.

"I can hear you thinking," Tsubaki murmurs into his ear. "And they're clearly not good thoughts. You're good just the way you are, honey."

God, he's so fucking embarrassed. If he wasn't basically physically unable to cry in front of other people, he'd probably be sobbing into her shoulder at this point. But his eyes stay dry despite the gigantic lump in his throat.

"Sakura," Tsubaki pulls back and looks into his eyes. "What do you think being an omega entails, like, socially? Genuinely."

"Um …" Is she really going to make him do this? He tries to rack his brain for what his junior high school teacher used to tell them in biology class, turning red as he thinks back to it. "Well, uh, they're … like, submissive, 'n uh, caretakers, 'n they're at the bottom of the hierarchy, and —"

"What the fuck?", Tsubaki interrupts him. "Is that what you were taught?"

"Uh, yes?" He stares back at her, confused. Did he say something wrong?

Tsubaki looks furious. "That's — that's such old-fashioned bullshit, Sakura."

Oh.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realise that you were told all of that; that crap is so damaging."

"I …" Haruka is at a loss for words. It's been a long time since he's seen her this angry. He feels like he should apologise, somehow.

"Being an omega has nothing to do with being a submissive, subservient little housewife or something. Do you think I'm like that? Do you think Kaji's like that?"

"N-no, 'course not —"

"I mean, even if we were, that'd just be us as people, not because we're omegas. You can be whoever you want, no matter your primary or subgender. Who gives a shit what society has to say about us?"

"I-I guess …"

She glares at him. "You are good just the way you are."

"B-but …"

"But what?"

He doesn't know how to phrase it without sounding like an asshole. "Um, wh-what about … mates," he says so quietly she can probably barely hear him.

"What about them?", she asks with a raised eyebrow.

The feverish heat inside of him is making it hard for him to think, so he lies back down onto the futon. Tsubaki attempts to drape the blanket over him, but he motions for her to let it go. It's too hot.

"I don't … wanna be … claimed by anyone," he breathes with his eyes closed. "I wanna be my own person."

"Ah," she says as she looks for a new cooling patch for him. "You think because I'm Ume's and Shuhei's mate, they own me?"

He opens his mouth to protest, but she continues. "No, no, don't worry, I don't take it personally; that's what they used to teach us in school, too. It's just — sure, in a way, they own me, but I also own them, if you put it like that? Like, I belong to them, and they belong to me."

He hums, not quite sure if he gets it but willing to try, when she exchanges the patch on his forehead once again.

"You never have to let anyone bite you if you don't want that, Sakura. You never have to take a mate. You're too young to even think about that, anyway," she adds and softly pinches his cheek.

"Ugh," he groans. She's talking like she's not just two years older than him. And anyway, she doesn't have to worry about that; there's no one in this entire town who wants to date him, let alone be his mate.

"Listen, I think this is just a lot to take in for you today. We should probably talk more about all of this once your heat is over and you can think more clearly."

Haruka can agree with that. For now, he just wants to sleep until his body feels normal again.

The next day, Sakura doesn't come to school. Akihiko should have expected that, but he still worries.

What's a lot more concerning is that Suo and Kiryu are missing, too.

Class has already started, but Akihiko is staring at the messenger app on his phone. He's texted both Suo and Kiryu individually and even sent a message in their group chat, but neither of them have replied — which is very unusual for them.

Are they sick? They both seemed completely fine yesterday. And why is no one telling Akihiko anything anymore? He feels so lost. With both Sakura and Suo gone, he's essentially the grade captain right now, which is a terrifying thought.

At least Tsugeura knows just as little as he does.

"Maybe we should call 'em?", Tsugeura suggests when they're sitting together during lunch break.

Akihiko hums in thought — maybe that's not a bad idea. He pulls out his phone again, but he hesitates as his finger hovers over Kiryu's name in his contact list. What if their friend is asleep and doesn't want to be disturbed?

Just in that moment, he jumps when his phone starts ringing.

"Kiryu-san?", he says as he picks up, putting the call on speaker so Tsugeura can hear everything.

"Are ya okay, Kiryu-kun?"

An uncomfortable, breathy laugh comes from the other end of the line, and it doesn't sound like Kiryu at all. "Not really, you guys … Sorry I didn't reply to your texts, Nire-chan."

"W-What's wrong?", Akihiko asks anxiously.

"Ah, do you think you guys could come over? I don't wanna explain over the phone …"

What could be so bad that Kiryu needs to tell them in person? Akihiko wills himself to stay calm. It's probably not as terrible as he is imagining.

Kiryu tries to reassure them that it can wait until after school, but Akihiko can't deal with his spiralling thoughts anymore, so Tsugeura and he leave before lunch break has ended — he puts Anzai in charge of the class, hoping he won't regret that choice later.

A servant opens the gate for them when they ring the doorbell. She eyes them suspiciously until she notices their Furin uniforms and lets them inside with a smile — the staff apparently don't share Kiryu's dad's disdain for the school.

They make their way over to Kiryu's room and ring his doorbell, but there's no answer for a long time. Just as Akihiko is about to take out his phone and call the boy, the door finally slides open.

The smell of lavender and citrus that hits Akihiko is so strong he almost wants to cover his nose. He realises just in time that it'd look incredibly rude if he did, so he keeps his hands clenched into fists by his side.

Oh, shit.

Kiryu's appearance is more unkempt than Akihiko's ever seen him — he's wearing nothing but an old, shabby t-shirt and boxers, and his hair is barely held together in a haphazard ponytail. It doesn't seem like he's left his bed at all today. Frankly, he looks terrible.

"Nire-chan, Tsuge-chan, come in," Kiryu rasps, leaning against the doorframe like it's difficult for him to stand upright.

"Lemme help you, Kiryu-kun!" Tsugeura reaches out towards their friend despite clearly also struggling with the strong smell. He leads Kiryu back into his room, Akihiko following behind them.

"So …", Kiryu starts once he's lying in his bed again. His face looks flushed from the effort of just getting up to let them inside. "This is really embarrassing."

Akihiko thinks about his conversation with Suo from yesterday, and tries to apply his friend's advice. "I-It's not embarrassing, Kiryu-san! It's, uh, totally natural!" He wants to cringe at himself as soon as the words leave his mouth. Suo is definitely better at this.

Kiryu laughs weakly. "Ugh, sure, it's natural … doesn't make it less uncomfortable, though."

Sitting down at Kiryu's low table, Akihiko takes out his notebook. "I've heard that, um, heats usually get easier as you get older," he says as he avoids eye contact with the others.

"Y-yeah!", Tsugeura nods awkwardly.

"Huh? … Oh," Kiryu laughs again, a little more loudly this time. "You guys think I'm an omega."

Akihiko's pen stills where it's currently writing down the word Subgender on Kiryu's info page.

"Y-You're not? But —"

"God, can you imagine, my father would have a fucking field day," Kiryu groans, hugging his body pillow tightly. "No, I know I smell like a lavender farm, but I'm definitely an alpha."

"Oh, uh, sorry —", Akihiko stutters, feeling his face heat up.

"It's all good, Nire-chan," Kiryu says, "But man, I'd really hoped I wasn't … like them."

"Your … dad and your brothers?", Akihiko asks hesitantly.

"Yeah …", Kiryu turns on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. "Basically all men in our family are alphas, and I hate fitting in that mould. I've made it my mission to never meet my dad's expectations, but you can't beat biology, I guess."

"I-I mean, you're nothing like him, Kiryu-san."

"Yeah, yer way cooler than him," Tsugeura agrees.

"Thanks, guys," Kiryu smiles. "It's just … ugh, I haven't even left my room today; I've just been hiding. I don't wanna see any of them. And Akari is gone for the week, so I have no one on my side in that house."

"Do you need anything, Kiryu-san?", Akihiko asks. "We can bring you food, or medicine?" He doesn't even know what kind of medication they'd have to buy, but he wants to offer his help anyway.

"Honestly, that'd be really nice …" Kiryu slowly starts typing a list of things he needs that he's going to send Akihiko later. "Where's Suo-chan, by the way?"

"We don't know," Tsugeura says. "He didn't come to school today."

"Right, I saw that you texted him in the group chat as well, Nire-chan … I hope he's okay. I mean, maybe he's in the same situation I'm in right now."

Oh. "Y-You think …?"

"My guess is that my body reacted to Sakura-chan's scent yesterday, so … It's not impossible the same thing happened to Suo."

Now that Akihiko thinks about it, Suo and Kiryu weren't the only ones not at school today: Kakiuchi and two other classmates were out, as well. Could it be …?

Tsugeura nods slowly. "I guess that'd make sense. But it's a weird coincidence, that everybody's, um, presentin' at the same time, ain't it?"

"I think that can happen sometimes," Akihiko says, "when one person in a group presents, it can trigger a chain reaction, basically. Because of, uh, pheromones, or something." He tries not to think about other people reacting to Sakura's scent, about them possibly thinking about Sakura in that way. It makes him feel a little nauseated.

Kiryu mumbles something incoherent into his pillow. He looks kind of out of it. Akihiko gets up and gently touches his cheek with the back of his hand — he's burning up.

"Let me help you, Kiryu-san," Akihiko says and walks towards the bathroom where he wets a small towel with cold water. When he returns to the room, he carefully helps a weakly protesting Kiryu lie down on his back.

I hope I never have to go through this myself, he thinks as he sits down on the bed and pushes back Kiryu's hair to place the wet towel on his forehead. I'll be perfectly happy as a beta.

(Even if that means Sakura might never be interested in you?, his brain adds without his consent. He doesn't know the answer to that.)

"Thank you," Kiryu breathes. "By the way, I sent you the list of stuff I need, Nire-chan; I'd be super grateful if you guys got it for me … My wallet's in my bag over there."

"Of course, Kiryu-san! Leave it to us!!" Akihiko adjusts Kiryu's blanket and gets up. "We'll leave right away, don't even worry about it."

Kiryu just replies with a sleepy hum, so Tsugeura and Akihiko silently slip out of the room and head towards the main gate. Thankfully, no servants or anyone else seem to notice them.

"Man, all that crap looks exhaustin'," Tsugeura mutters while they walk towards the next convenience store.

"Yeah", Akihiko agrees quietly. "Do you think it's true, what Kiryu-san said? That Suo-san's also …?"

"Maybe," Tsugeura says thoughtfully. "He hasn't texted back yet, has he?"

Akihiko checks his phone for what feels like the hundredth time today and huffs in frustration. "No."

They buy the products Kiryu asked for — some drinks, snacks, instant noodles — and are about to leave the store when Akihiko finally gets a text from Suo, making him stop dead in his tracks.

Suo Hayato
Nire-kun, I'm sorry for not replying to you earlier.
I got embarrassed, which I guess makes me a bit of a hypocrite.

Akihiko furrows his brows at the messages and the sticker of a little dog with a speech bubble that says "Sorry". What is Suo apologising for? Why is he embarrassed?

Nirei Akihiko
What are you talking about, Suo-san?

"What's up?", Tsugeura asks when he notices Akihiko's stopped walking.

"Suo-san texted me," Akihiko replies distractedly. Suo is typing.

Suo Hayato
I … went into rut last night.

Akihiko can't stop himself from cursing. Is everyone and their mother really presenting at the same time? There's no way Kakiuchi and the others didn't skip school for the same reason.

"Oh." Tsugeura is looking at Akihiko's phone, reading the messages. "That … explains it, then."

Suo misinterprets Akihiko's lack of reply.

Suo Hayato
I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wasn't feeling well, but I shouldn't have left my fellow vice captain all on his own.

Nirei Akihiko
It's okay, Suo-san, don't even worry about it!! How are you feeling now?

Suo Hayato
A little better, thank you. Do you know how Kiryu-kun is doing?

Akihiko assumes that Kiryu hasn't told Suo about his predicament personally, but Suo probably just put two and two together from Akihiko's questioning messages in the group chat. Akihiko starts walking and typing at the same time.

Nirei Akihiko
Not so great, he is in rut just like you. Tsugeura-san and I just got him some stuff from the store and are going back to his house now.

Suo Hayato
If I'd known you guys could deliver me things, maybe I would've told you about my situation earlier.

Nirei Akihiko
Ha ha.

Like Suo would ever ask them to bring him food. Or tell them where he lives.

Suo Hayato
Everything okay at school today?

Nirei Akihiko
Yeah, but we left for Kiryu-san's during lunch break. I told Anzai-san to take care of things.

Suo Hayato
Let's hope the classroom's still standing tomorrow.

Akihiko chuckles and replies with a laughing cat sticker, pocketing his phone since they're almost at Kiryu's place again. It seems like Suo's doing okay.

"Should we go and see Suo-kun, too?", Tsugeura asks as Akihiko unlocks the main gate with a key Kiryu gave them.

"I mean, if you know where he lives," Akihiko replies dryly. He's honestly surprised Suo even told them about his presentation at all, considering how private he usually is, but Akihiko guesses even Suo can't keep something like that a secret.

Tsugeura doesn't respond, since he obviously doesn't know Suo's address, either.

Kiryu greets them with quiet snores when they get inside. He's hugging one of his plushies, and the damp towel has slipped off his forehead onto the pillow next to his face.

Akihiko picks up the towel and goes to the bathroom to replace it while Tsugeura carefully sets down the convenience store bags next to the bed and starts to unpack them.

Kiryu hasn't woken up by the time they're done, so they decide to let him sleep and leave silently. He probably needs all the rest he can get before he needs to face his father.

Everything is sticky and gross and uncomfortable.

Now on day three of his heat, Haruka no longer feels like he's about to burst into flames or pass out any minute, but now there's … other problems he has to deal with.

It's not like he's entirely new to the concept of sexual arousal; he's not a child anymore. But it's never felt like this: like physical pain that barely lessens even once he … takes care of it. This entire ordeal is so incredibly embarrassing, especially considering he's not even in the privacy of his own home, but instead staining the sheets of Tsubaki's futon with his bodily fluids. She can probably hear him from the living room, too.

He attempts to muffle his groan with his pillow, knowing it's futile. None of this even feels pleasurable; he's just exhausted at this point, trying to get it over with.

As he catches his breath, there's a knock on the door. He sighs and sits up, wiping his hands on the blanket and covering himself with it. "Come in, Tsubaki."

"O-oh, um, it's —", Haruka hears, and he's absolutely mortified to find Nirei standing in the doorway, looking down at him. He thinks he can see the vice captain physically recoil, probably at the overbearing scent in the room that tells Nirei exactly what Haruka was doing before he came in. "H-hi, Sakura-san."

"The fuck do ya want," Haruka grunts, his face feeling hot.

"I'm sorry, I … I just wanted to see how you were doing." Nirei is avoiding his eyes. He looks about embarrassed as Haruka feels.

"What's it look like," Haruka mutters, picking at his blanket. Why does it have to be Nirei seeing him like this, all ugly and sweaty? He doesn't want anyone to witness this, least of all his best friend.

"Should I leave?", Nirei asks nervously.

"'s … fine, whatever," Haruka says. "Where's Tsubaki?"

"She had to go run some errands, so she texted me to come over and stay with you, in case you … need anything." Nirei's face is bright red, and yeah, he definitely knows what Haruka was up to until just now. "Um, I thought I'd bring you some fresh clothes, in case you wanna take a shower," he says, holding up a bag that Haruka hadn't noticed before.

"Ya didn't have to …" Haruka rubs his neck awkwardly.

"Oh, it's no problem, really! I hope it's okay that I went to your place when you weren't there, since I, uh, didn't think you'd wanna wear my clothes, so?"

Haruka tries not to think about Nirei seeing the mess that is currently his apartment; he hasn't cleaned in at least a week. "I mean, as long as it's not the popcorn shirt or somethin', I'd probably have no problem wearing yer stuff, but, um … thanks."

Nirei finally looks up from where he's unpacking Haruka's clothes and meets his gaze, mouth slightly open in surprise. Then, he smiles at Haruka. "Of course, Sakura-san! I'm always happy to help!"

"Just don't make a big deal out of it," Haruka grumbles. His blush doesn't get any better when he notices Nirei set down a pair of boxers — did he really have to go through Haruka's underwear? Though he guesses the only other option would've been to wear Nirei's underwear, and that'd be even more humiliating.

"I'll, uh, wait in the living room while you shower?", Nirei asks once the bag is empty. He's even brought Haruka's body wash and shampoo bottles.

Haruka grunts an affirmative and waits until his vice captain has left before he gets up, cringing when he feels the air of the bedroom hit the stickiness on his lower body. Maybe a shower will help him feel more like a human again.

Akihiko is sitting on Tsubaki's sofa, surrounded by the smell of Sakura despite being in a different room. He can hardly focus on anything else; his head is filled with cherry blossoms and pink peppercorn.

His mind wanders back to the moment he entered the bedroom and nearly went to his knees when Sakura's scent hit him at full force. God. He obviously knows what a heat entails and what … urges it brings with it, and he really thought he would be able to deal with seeing his grade captain like this, all sweaty and desperate and aroused, but he truly wasn't prepared. Sakura is so beautiful. Akihiko feels like he's about to burst into flames.

He needs to get over Sakura somehow. Even before the other boy presented, the idea of him liking Akihiko back was nothing more than a silly daydream, and now, the chances have lowered even more. Who would ever want someone like Akihiko anyway, regardless of subgender? He'll probably be alone for the rest of his life, and he needs to accept it. Whomever the grade captain ends up with — and Akihiko doesn't know if Sakura is even interested in anyone, but he knows there's a lot of people interested in Sakura —, Akihiko will support him. Because they're best friends. And that's all they'll ever be.

Before Akihiko's thoughts can spiral any further, the door to the bathroom slides open and Sakura steps into the living room, his damp hair falling into his face. He looks a lot more composed than he did twenty minutes ago, but his cheeks are still flushed.

"H-hi, Sakura-san," Akihiko greets him awkwardly. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess," Sakura mumbles as he sits down in the armchair next to the sofa. "I, um, dunno for how long though."

Akihiko can't meet his eyes. "Ah, I'm sorry …"

"'s fine," Sakura sighs. "Just annoying, 'n embarrassing …" He runs a hand through his hair, and Akihiko doesn't think about how stupidly attractive he looks with his forehead exposed.

"It's not embarrassing!", Akihiko says a little too loudly, trying to reassure him.

Sakura laughs dryly. "Yeah, sure, havin' ya walk in on me looking like that earlier wasn't embarrassing at all," he says with pink cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Akihiko says, quickly looking away again.

"Whatever … I'm sorry, too," Sakura says quietly. "For making ya witness all of … this, and for," he cringes, "stinkin' up the place."

"You don't stink!", Akihiko almost yells. What the hell is Sakura talking about? "You smell so good!"

Ah. Shit.

"Um, I, I mean, your scent is … uh, n-nice," Akihiko stutters. He wants to die. There's no saving this. Why did he have to say that? Why couldn't he keep his stupid mouth shut?

Sakura has gone beet red. "Uh, th-thanks, I guess?"

Before Akihiko can come up with an appropriate response (there is none), he is saved by the sound of the front door opening.

"Hey, boys, I'm back!"

"H-hello, Tsubaki-san," Akihiko calls out.

There's a small pause in which Tsubaki is presumably taking her shoes and jacket off, and then she's standing in the living room. "Thank you for keeping Sakura company, Nirei," she says. "Everything okay?"

Something in her smile and tone makes Akihiko feel like she can see right through him. He thinks he's starting to sweat a little.

"Everythin's fine," Sakura grunts, the colour of his face betraying him.

"Does Sakura want to lie down again?", Tsubaki asks sweetly. "You look like you're burning up."

"Maybe …", Sakura mumbles as he slowly gets up. "Um, sorry, Nirei."

"It's fine," Akihiko says weakly, watching Sakura retreat to the bedroom without another word.

"Be right back," Tsubaki tells Akihiko as she follows Sakura into her room.

As soon as the door closes, Akihiko hides his face in his hands and lets out a low groan. Why the fuck did he say that? Now Sakura probably thinks he's a total weirdo. Talk about embarrassment.

"What happened while I was gone?"

He jumps a little in his seat — why is Tsubaki back already? "Uh, wh-what do you mean?"

She smiles that knowing smile again and sits down in the armchair, looking at him with a raised brow. "Just seemed really awkward in here when I came in. You wanna talk about it?"

"I …" Akihiko has never told anyone about his feelings for his best friend. He doesn't know if he'd even get the words out. "I don't know," he says, looking down at his hands in his lap.

There's a manicured hand patting his knee. "I've been told I'm good at helping with boy problems."

His head shoots up in shock as he stares at her. Does she actually know? The thought is mortifying. If she knows, do other people know, as well? Who else could've found out? What if the whole school knows? What if Sakura does?

"Nirei," Tsubaki says, gripping his knee more tightly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. We don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

Akihiko just gives her a tight-lipped smile and a nod.

"Alright. Do you wanna stay a little longer, or do you wanna go home? I don't think Sakura will want to have visitors for the rest of the day … He'll probably be fine by tomorrow, though, if everything goes well."

Akihiko tries not to think about why Sakura won't want anyone around, but he's happy to hear the grade captain will hopefully feel better soon. "I, uh, guess I'll head home … Thank you for taking care of him, Tsubaki-san."

"Of course, I'm just being a good senpai ~"

Tsubaki sees him to the door and surprises him with a tight hug before he leaves. "Text me if you need anything, alright?"

"I-I will," he replies. "Thank you."

The door shuts behind him, and then he's standing alone in the hallway, the scent of cherry blossoms and pink peppercorn still lingering on his clothes, now mixed with the soft floral aroma of Tsubaki's scent. He's not sure what to do with himself. It feels like Sakura is in a different world from him now, one that he cannot enter. Suddenly, he finds himself wishing to present as an alpha or omega after all, if only to feel less disconnected from his best friend.

Hayato hasn't felt this uncomfortable in a long time.

He puts a lot of effort into appearing — and being — untouchable, and so far he's succeeded in never displaying any weakness or vulnerability in front of his friends. But he suspects his subgender presentation might change things.

It was quite embarrassing admitting to Nirei that he'd went into rut, and that he'd hid it from his friends despite talking big about it not being a big deal with his fellow vice captain just a couple of days ago. That'd been easy to say when he hadn't been affected by it, yet.

He stares up at his ceiling in the dim light that shines through the small gap between his drawn curtains. The past few days have been exhausting, and he's spent most of them in bed. His usual routine of waking up early, meditating, and practising with his brother has been thoroughly disrupted, and it's making him feel restless.

He wonders how Sakura is holding up; if he's doing just as badly as Hayato, or if his heat has been easy on him.

Thinking about Sakura is a dangerous game, one that Hayato should definitely not be playing during a time like this. It has been several days since he last saw Sakura and yet, Hayato feels like he can still smell the lovely cherry blossom scent every time he takes a breath. It does absolutely nothing to quell the arousal simmering deep in his gut.

Yesterday, in what had probably been his lowest moment in this entire ordeal so far, he'd grabbed his school jacket that he'd wrapped around Sakura's waist on Monday, and took it to bed with him, the grade captain's scent still sticking to it making it easy to pretend that Sakura was there with him while he took care of his needs. His face had burned with shame when his mind cleared up soon afterwards, and he'd discarded the jacket in the laundry basket as quickly as possible.

Arousal, guilt, loss of self-restraint — Hayato is not used to having to deal with these things. He's worked hard on his discipline all his life, and he has yet to find a way to cope with not feeling fully in control of his own body and brain.

There's a light knock on the door. "Hayato-kun? Can I come in?"

He takes a deep breath and says, "Yeah, come in, senpai."

Kawasumi enters the room carrying a tray with a teapot and a bowl of miso soup and immediately wrinkles his nose. "We need some fresh air in here," he says as he sets down the tray on Hayato's bedside table.

Hayato just hums in response and watches Kawasumi open the windows. "How are you, Hayato-kun?"

"Not … great," Hayato says sullenly. "I don't know how to deal with any of this."

"That's why I take suppressants," Kawasumi says, filling Hayato's cup with steaming green tea. "They're supposedly not really good for you, but it's worth it for me."

Hayato learned about the possible side effects of suppressants in biology class a couple of years ago, but he doesn't remember much. He'll look into them at some point but for now, he'll have to let his first rut run its course anyway.

"Speaking of … will we have to have the talk soon, Hayato-kun? Now that you're all grown up?"

Hayato lets out a groan, heat rising in his cheeks at the mortifying thought of talking about sex to his brother. "Absolutely not."

Kawasumi chuckles. "Don't worry, I was joking; I know you're a responsible kid."

"There's nothing to be responsible about, senpai," he grimaces.

"Not yet," Kawasumi counters.

Not ever, Hayato thinks, Sakura-kun is too busy working towards his goals to even think about romance.

He slowly sits up and accepts the cup from Kawasumi's hands, taking a small sip. "Thank you."

Kawasumi ruffles his hair and smiles. "Sure thing. And please eat the soup. Your body needs nutrients."

Hayato warily eyes the bowl, but it seems to be fine — he guesses he can eat the soup once Kawasumi is gone. "I will, thank you."

"Let me know if you need anything," Kawasumi says before he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Hayato takes another sip of his tea and looks at the soup again. His body has been burning a lot of energy in the past few days and his usual iron grip on his self-restraint has been slipping more and more, so he does feel quite hungry.

With a heavy sigh, he sets down his cup and grabs the bowl and a spoon from the tray.

After Akihiko came back home from Tsubaki's, he immediately dropped everything and fell face first onto his bed. Now, almost an hour later, he's still there, face hot as he recalls his interaction with Sakura.

"You smell so good!"

God, what an embarrassment; he cringes just thinking about it.

But it had been true. Sakura does smell so good.

He just prays that the other boy won't think too hard about Akihiko's words or what they could indicate about his feelings. And anyway, you can totally compliment someone else's scent platonically, right?

He has to figure out a way to get over this. There's no reason for Sakura to ever like him as more than a friend.

Akihiko once again thinks about how inadequate he is. Sure, Sakura had called him not lame on the day they first met, and it had meant so much to Akihiko because he is nothing if not pathetic and desperate for approval, but it can hardly be called high praise. And since then, Akihiko's status and skill level definitely haven't exceeded not lame.

He sighs. He knows all this self-deprecation probably isn't healthy or useful, but it's hard for him to stop the spiralling thoughts. This all seems like a perfectly fine situation to be self-deprecating and sad about anyway, so sue him. He burrows his face in his pillow with a groan.

"Aki-nii, dinner's ready~!"

Akihiko barely looks up from the pillow when Fuyumi and Yuki barge into his room without knocking — they always do, after all. "I'm not hungry."

"Why is Nii-chan sad?", Yuki asks curiously.

"I'm not," he mumbles into the fabric, clearly not fooling anyone.

"Were people being mean to you at school again?"

He lifts his head in surprise; he didn't know the twins had been aware that he'd been bullied in junior high since they'd been so young back then, but they've always been much more perceptive than they let on.

"N-no," he replies, "nothing like that."

The mattress dips when his sisters sit down on the bed. Fuyumi crawls over to his one side, Yuki to the other, and soon enough he's in the middle of a cuddle sandwich.

"We don't want Aki-nii to be sad", Yuki says with a pout.

"It's okay, guys, I'm fine," Akihiko tries to reassure them, pulling them closer. The last thing he wants to do is worry his family. "You two can go downstairs already. I'll be there in two minutes."

"If you say so," Fuyumi says sceptically as she gets up.

The girls leave his room, but not before reminding him they'll be counting the seconds until he comes downstairs. Akihiko is pretty sure they don't know how many seconds are in two minutes, and he doesn't think they can even count to 120 yet. Still, he sits up and runs a hand through his hair which has been messed up by him lying on it weirdly.

He guesses having dinner with his family like he does every night won't be the cure for his lovesickness, but it won't hurt either. He just hopes he doesn't look too miserable so his parents won't notice anything.

"Thanks," Haruka mumbles as Tsubaki holds out his Furin jacket for him to slip into. One would think that a simple gesture like this wouldn't cause heat to rise in his cheeks anymore after everything she's done for him in the past couple days, but at least this part of him hasn't changed.

"Don't mention it," she smiles and adjusts his collar. She's definitely not just talking about the help with his jacket. Neither had he been.

The laundry detergent Tsubaki uses smells a lot nicer than his own. Should he ask her where she buys it? No, that'd probably be weird.

"I'll, uh, I'll get goin' now," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You really don't wanna walk to school together?", she asks. She's pouting, but her tone is playful.

"Nah, I'm gettin' breakfast with Nirei at Pothos before class." Also, he assumes Tsubaki wants to walk with Umemiya anyway, and he's not really looking forward to seeing the head of Bofurin — there's probably a long, embarrassing conversation with the guy waiting for him the next time they meet.

"Okay, say hi to him from me!"

For a moment, he thinks about hugging her goodbye, but then his social ineptitude gets the better of him and he gives her an awkward little wave instead. "See ya."

It feels a little strange to walk the streets of Makochi. His scent is finally a lot more subdued now that his heat is over so he doesn't reek quite as much anymore, but he's still kind of uncomfortable. Maybe he should think about getting suppressants; Tsubaki told him about those: They're supposed to both hide your scent and suppress your heats, which sounds like a double win to Haruka. He doesn't want to go through this shit every month; how do people deal with this?

The walk from Tsubaki's place to Pothos takes a bit longer than he expected so Nirei is already waiting for him in their usual spot at the counter when he gets there.

"Good morning, Sakura-san! How are you?"

"Uh, good, I guess … What about you?"

Nirei smiles at him. "I'm really happy to hear that! If you're good, then I'm good, too."

Haruka tries to return the smile, but the movement always feels a bit foreign to him. "Sorry, um, for, ya know, bein' late."

"Don't worry, I just came here a minute ago as well!"

Haruka eyes Nirei's almost-empty glass of orange juice and the mostly filled-in page of his notebook. He guesses he appreciates his friend trying not to make him feel bad.

"Morning, Sakura," Kotoha says and places a cup of coffee on the counter next to Nirei's spread-out things. "Sandwiches?"

He nods, watching her walk towards the kitchen as he takes a seat. "So, anythin' special happen at school while I was gone?"

Nirei's expression shifts into something more awkward. "Uh … I guess."

When Haruka just raises his eyebrows questioningly, Nirei sighs.

"Um, I mean, you saw in the group chat that Kiryu-san and Suo-san weren't at school, so …"

Considering that Haruka hasn't looked at his chats with anyone besides Nirei since Monday, he doesn't have a clue what his friend is talking about. "Wait, they were sick?"

"Uh, not exactly …" Nirei's cheeks have turned pink, and his voice is growing quieter with every word. "They … went into r-rut."

Haruka almost chokes on his coffee. "Huh?!"

"W-well, um, I think maybe there was some kind of chain reaction or something, so several people were missing from class. Kakiuchi-san, Suzuki-san and, uh," he quickly flips through the pages of his notebook, his face turning even redder, "Morimoto-san, also went into rut …"

Fuck. "A chain reaction?"

"Y-you know, because you …" Nirei trails off, apparently finally too embarrassed to keep going, but he doesn't have to anyway.

Haruka stays silent for a long moment. He feels like shit. If Nirei is right, it's thanks to his stupid body that several of his classmates, including two of his closest friends, had to stay home and suffer through the same pain that he did. Good job, grade captain.

"Sakura-san … I didn’t mean …" Nirei looks like he just read Haruka's mind. "It's not your fault or anything … It would've happened to them either way at some point."

"Nirei's right", Kotoha announces, loudly setting down a plate with egg sandwiches in front of him. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I can tell you're in your head, Sakura. Don't be an idiot."

Haruka groans. Can't they let him be self-deprecating in peace?

"No," Kotoha says sternly, and Haruka realises with embarrassment that he voiced that thought out loud. "You just got the short end of the stick and were the first one in your class that it happened to. Not your fault. Now, eat."

With no good arguments left, Haruka takes a bite out of his sandwich instead of replying. He hates when Kotoha is right.

"They're all doing okay, too, so don't worry, Sakura-san."

"Wasn't worried," Haruka grumbles into his sandwich.

"I assume most of them will be back at school tomorrow," Nirei says, ignoring him. "I'm sure everyone else will be very happy to see you today! We all missed you."

Haruka's face heats up when he sees Nirei's soft smile. Why does he always have to be so goddamn earnest? Haruka has to take another big bite before he says something embarrassing back.

Nirei clears his throat. "But, um, that's pretty much all that you missed at school. You can have my notes, obviously, from class …"

Haruka snorts as he watches his friend rummage through his backpack — as if he'd have taken notes or paid attentionat all in class if he'd been there. Nirei is always so considerate, though. "Thanks."

While they finish their breakfast, Nirei tells him that apparently, while the two of them and Suo were gone, he left Anzai in charge of the class, and the boy promptly started a karaoke contest during break instead of assigning patrol routes. Haruka sighs; he probably needs to talk to Anzai about that.

Once they're in front of their classroom door, he takes a deep breath, steeling himself for his classmates' reactions. He realises with slight horror that his nerves are causing his scent to spike.

"It's okay, Sakura-san," Nirei says next to him, cautiously touching his shoulder. Realising that there is now a new way in which his body announces his mental state to the world only makes Haruka feel even more humiliated.

"'course it is," he grunts and forcefully slides the door open.

"Morning, Sakura!", Anzai calls from his desk, Takanashi and Kurita waving from where they're sitting next to him. Several of their other classmates happily greet him as well before they return to their previous activities of talking or playing cards.

Nobody's giving him weird looks, nobody's covering their nose. They act like they always do.

"Sakura-kun, yer finally back!" Haruka is suddenly pulled into a bone crushing hug by a slightly sweaty Tsugeura who'd been doing pull-ups at the window just moments ago.

"M-mornin'", he wheezes, trying to get Tsugeura to release him, but his friend seems set on squeezing every ounce of air out of his lungs.

Tsugeura finally lets go of him after a long moment, holding him at arm's length. "I'm really happy to see ya, man."

Haruka would almost prefer stares and sneers. He must be the colour of Umemiya's tomatoes. "I was only gone for, like, three days," he grumbles, avoiding looking at Tsugeura.

"A long time if you're the only available vice captain," Nirei mutters next to him. Fair enough, Haruka thinks.

"Good morning, Bofurin!!", comes Umemiya's loud and tinny voice through the classroom speakers, making everyone immediately cover their ears. "I would like to ask the Jikoku first-years to come up to the roof after classes to help with the harvest! Everyone will be allowed to take home a couple of veggies for himself once we're done! Have fun at school today, everyone!"

Haruka sighs. Looks like Tsubaki is using her powers for evil again. At least Umemiya is not dating Hiragi — somewhere on the other side of school, the Tamon leader is asking himself why he's got such a strong, sudden onset of heartburn — or else it'd be Haruka and his classmates harvesting vegetables after school.

When class starts, Haruka finds himself staring at the empty desk diagonally across from him. How is Suo doing right now? Maybe he should text him and ask?

This reminds him that he still hasn't looked at his unopened chats. The only thing he replied to was Nirei's invitation to Pothos this morning; everything else seemed too overwhelming to deal with.

There's two texts from Kiryu, one from Suo, and five in the group chat he has with his friends. The additional fifteen unread messages in the class group chat make him feel quite guilty — what kind of grade captain abandons his duties like that? When he checks the chat, it mostly consists of memes and Nirei's reminders for patrol routes though, so Haruka really hasn't missed much. He still feels bad about leaving Nirei alone this week, even if realistically he knows that it's not really his fault.

Surprisingly, there's also a couple of texts from Kaji, sent on Monday.

Kaji Ren 
Tsubaki-san told me what happened
My condolences
This is not an offer for advice. Talk to Tsubaki-san about your issues or whatever
Good luck

Haruka's not sure what he expected. He replies with a "Thanks".

The texts from Kiryu are one from Monday morning before class — Sakura-chan, are you okay? Nire-chan is worried about you — and one from later on the same day, a cartoon dog sending a flying kiss with the text "Feel better soon". Haruka feels himself blush as he looks at it.

In the group chat with his friends, there's only a couple of messages from Nirei and one encouraging sticker sent by Tsugeura. Finally, the last remaining unread text is the one from Suo that the boy sent on Tuesday. For some reason, Haruka feels nervous about opening the chat.

Suo Hayato
Good morning, Sakura-kun. I'll have to stay home for the rest of the week. I'm sorry for neglecting my duties as your vice captain. Hopefully, you're doing okay.

Haruka looks at Suo's abandoned chair again. The boy hadn't told him about the reason for his absence himself. He guesses it makes sense that one would be embarrassed about it, but on Monday (Haruka hates thinking back to that day), Suo had seemed so confident, like the whole topic didn't phase him at all.

His fingers hover over his phone's keyboard. Should he text him? What would he even write? Before he can think about it too much, he types up a quick message and hits "Send".

Sakura Haruka
Hope you're feeling better.

Since he's in class, he has to stifle his groan, but he still cringes at himself. It shouldn't be such a big deal to show one of his best friends that he cares about him.

When the bell finally rings, Haruka barely has time to react before Nirei is standing in front of his desk.

"Sakura-san, do you want to visit Kiryu-san after school with me and Tsugeura-san? He said he's feeling a lot better and wanted to hang out."

"Uh …"

"Nire-kun," Tsugeura says, getting up from his chair, "Are ya sure Sakura-kun should come with us, since, ya know …" He trails off, standing awkwardly next to the two of them.

"Know what?", Haruka asks warily.

"Um …" Nirei's cheeks are turning red as he's avoiding Haruka's eyes. "I didn't even think of that …"

Haruka hates how he always has to ask for clarification about literally everything. Why won't anyone ever just tell him things? "The fuck are you guys talkin' about?"

"Well, since, uh, Kiryu-san is still not quite done with his … rut right now," Nirei seems to really be struggling to get the words out, and Haruka can't exactly blame him, "an, um, omega like you might not want to see him …"

Great, so now he can't even see his fucking friends anymore? This just keeps getting better. "Fuck that, I'm comin' with you." He's not even sure he wanted to go at first, but now he feels like he has to just as a matter of principle. His body will not tell him what he can and cannot do.

"O-okay," Nirei smiles weakly. "Let's all go together after class."

That's settled, then.

Akihiko is trying his best to listen to Tsugeura's excited chatter about a new workout routine, but it's hard to pay attention while there is a beautiful, brooding boy walking next to them. Sakura has been eerily quiet ever since they talked about visiting Kiryu, and he's still not talking while they're walking to their friend's house together. Why does everything have to be so awkward between them nowadays? Things used to be so easy; Sakura used to seem to become more confident and open up to them more, and now Akihiko feels like they're back to square one.

Maybe Kiryu will be able to help somehow. That guy almost always knows what to say.

When they reach the Kiryu residence, they are let in by the same servant as last time and head straight for the separate house in the back of the garden.

Kiryu is already waiting at his door, looking a lot better than he did on Tuesday. His face is still flushed and his scent is still strong, but he's smiling and it seems like he's taking care of himself again. "Hi guys ~"

Sakura's breath hitches. It's a quiet sound, but Akihiko notices. He also notices how the closer they get to Kiryu, the more Sakura's scent spikes.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," Kiryu says softly once they're standing in front of him. His grip on the doorframe has tightened. "How are you?"

"F-fine," Sakura mumbles, his cheeks tinted red.

"Are you sure this was a good idea?", Tsugeura whispers to Akihiko, but he's never been good at being quiet so the other two can definitely hear him, too.

Sakura glares at him while Kiryu clears his throat awkwardly. "I cleaned up the place and my windows have been open, like, all day, so … I hope Sakura-chan won't be too uncomfortable being here."

"'m not uncomfortable," Sakura grunts, only stumbling slightly when he bumps into Kiryu as he stomps past him into the house.

Kiryu looks at Akihiko with concern in his eyes for a long moment before he wordlessly follows Sakura inside.

Haruka thought he was done feeling like a prisoner in his own body.

And yet here he is, sitting in Kiryu's room, blushing from head to toe and making the whole place reek of cherry blossoms, and there's nothing he can do about it. Thank God Tsubaki taught him about pads; otherwise, he'd be leaking slick all over Kiryu's floor. His friends have definitely noticed. He's so fucking embarrassed. Why did he come here?

Across from him, Tsugeura and Nirei are trying to make casual conversation, but all he can focus on is Kiryu next to him: his warmth, his scent, his uneven breaths.

Haruka has never thought about Kiryu in that way. And he still doesn't! It's just that his body is reacting in ways he can't control, and it seems like the same is true for Kiryu himself.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," Kiryu murmurs into Haruka's ear. The proximity is making his heart rate speed up. "Maybe I shouldn't have invited you guys yet."

"It's fine," Haruka says quietly. "Sorry for … making it awkward."

When Kiryu chuckles, his breath tickles Haruka's ear and he has to clench his fists to suppress a shudder but he doesn't push Kiryu away. "I think both of our bodies are making it awkward."

Haruka cringes and shifts uncomfortably. "Yeah."

"Don't worry, I don't think I like you like that, Sakura-chan, even though you do smell lovely."

"Sh-shut up!", Haruka sputters, his face burning. He doesn't appreciate his friend making fun of him.

"Um, are you okay, Sakura-san?", Nirei asks worriedly. He and Tsugeura have stopped talking and are both looking at Haruka now. So is Kiryu, but he's smiling mischievously.

"Y-yeah," he says, moving away from Kiryu and leaving some space between them, both to give his own body a break and to prevent the other boy from having to breathe in more of his cherry blossom stink than necessary. Hopefully, he'll be able get suppressants soon. Where do people even get those? From a doctor? He hasn't been to one in years.

"I'm gonna get a cooling patch from the bathroom," Kiryu says, getting up with a soft grunt, "Nire-chan, do you think you could turn on the TV and the Switch? I wanna show you guys a new game I got."

Haruka silently watches Nirei set up the console while Kiryu is gone. His heart is still beating fast, but now more out of embarrassment than anything else.

Kiryu's scent is, objectively, very nice. He smells like lavender and citrus, and Haruka's body is reacting to it against his will, wanting to get closer to it. Meanwhile Haruka, as expected of a piece of trash like him, smells too sweet, too overpowering, and Kiryu is probably disgusted by it. He would never admit it, but he's sad about Kiryu mocking him, saying he smells lovely, when they both know he doesn't.

"Sakura-chaaan," Kiryu says, poking his cheek. "You in there?"

Haruka startles; he hadn't noticed Kiryu coming back or talking to him until just now. His friend is holding up a controller and smiling at him. "Let's play the tutorial first."

In the game, each one of them controls a little cartoon animal dressed as a chef while they have to work together to cook and serve various dishes. It gets increasingly more chaotic with Nirei's rising stress levels and Tsugeura's lack of coordination with the buttons he needs to press. Kiryu seems to be the only one who actually knows what he's doing, but it doesn't help when there's three other people who are just making their little chefs run around like headless chickens.

Within minutes, Haruka is already absolutely losing it, close to throwing his controller at the TV, while Nirei looks like he's about to cry and Kiryu is laughing his ass off.

"Oh, my God," Kiryu says, wiping his eyes as he pauses the game, his cooling patch barely holding onto his forehead. "I think this is not the game for us. I'll have to ask Akari to play it with me; you guys are hopeless."

"Fuck off," Haruka grunts, slamming the controller down on Kiryu's low table and pointing at Nirei. "If you hadn't set the whole kitchen on fire, we would've been fine!"

"I'm sorry, Sakura-san," Nirei says tearfully.

"Blaming your friends isn't very virtuous, Sakura-kun," Tsugeura frowns.

"Whatever," Haruka grumbles.

"You know Sakura-chan doesn't mean it, Nire-chan," Kiryu slings an arm around Nirei's shoulders.

"L-let's try again, Sakura-san! This time I'll get it right!!"

"… Fine."

Kiryu gives both Akihiko and Tsugeura a hug when they say goodbye like he always does. When he gets to Sakura, Akihiko notices both of them blush and hesitate before they settle on an incredibly awkward fist bump.

The ugly, jealous creature in Akihiko's chest regrets ever bringing Sakura here. It's his own fault, really, because he'd suggested it, but he just hadn't thought about what it'd be like to see Sakura react to Kiryu's rut.

Is Sakura … interested? In Kiryu? Akihiko supposes it would make sense. Sakura put in so much effort to help Kiryu with his sister, and he bought him that cute plushie when he doesn't ever really get anyone gifts … Is this it? Has Akihiko been helplessly crushing on Sakura while the boy was trying to get with one of their other friends this whole time?

Akihiko feels so stupid.

"What are you guys doin' this evening?", Tsugeura asks cheerfully as they leave the Kiryu residence. "I'm goin' to Muscle Power, if anyone wants to join me."

"I'll, uh, do homework, I guess," Akihiko mumbles.

Next to him, Sakura groans. "Fuck me, I need to catch up on so much shit from this week."

"I can help you, Sakura-san," Akihiko offers automatically. "Do you want to come over to my place?"

"I gotta go home 'n change clothes," Sakura replies, blushing a little, "but maybe after that, if that's okay."

"Y-yeah, sure!", Akihiko says. "Um, Tsugeura-san, do you want to come, too?" He'd rather spend time alone with Sakura, but it would be rude not to include their other friend.

"No, thanks," Tsugeura says. "They have some new dishes on the menu that I'm dyin' to try."

"Alright," Sakura says as they reach his home. "I'll see ya later, Nirei."

Being addressed directly like this by Sakura is still a rarity, so hearing his name in Sakura's lovely gruff voice is giving Akihiko butterflies. He feels a little ridiculous when he stutters, "S-see you, Sakura-san."

About an hour after Akihiko's come home, he hears the doorbell ring downstairs. He jumps up from his bed, but his mother is faster.

"Oh, Sakura-kun, how nice to finally meet you! Come in!", she greets the boy happily. Of course, she recognises Sakura from pictures Akihiko's shown her.

"H-hello, Nirei…san." Sakura sounds almost comically nervous as he talks to Akihiko's mother. Akihiko has never heard the grade captain address someone with a honorific in the entire time he's known him.

"It's Sakura-san?!"

Akihiko has barely left his room before Yuki and Fuyumi are already zooming past him down the stairs.

"Nii-chan talks about Sakura-san all the time!"

"Your hair is so pretty!"

"Are you here to see Aki-nii?"

Akihiko's face is burning by the time he reaches the genkan. Why do his sisters always have to embarrass him? At least Sakura's also blushing, his cheeks coloured a lovely shade of pink as he looks at Akihiko.

"Hey," Sakura greets him shyly.

"Alright, girls, leave Aki-chan and Sakura-kun alone, okay?", their mother reprimands Fuyumi and Yuki.

The twins agree with matching pouts, watching the boys walk upstairs to Akihiko's bedroom.

Somehow it only dawns on Akihiko that this is the first time Sakura' been in his in his home now that the boy is actually standing inside his room, fidgeting with the strap of his backpack and looking around curiously. Has Akihiko cleaned up well enough? Does Sakura think it looks nice in here?

"You … have a lot of clothes," Sakura points out.

"I … um, I do," Akihiko says sheepishly, stepping towards his clothing rack and fiddling with the collar of one of his jackets.

It's awkward. God, why is it so awkward?

Akihiko clears his throat. "Um, so, we can look at the homework from this week …", he says as he sits down at his low table in the middle of the room.

Sakura sets down his backpack and takes a seat on the cushion across from Akihiko with a sour expression. "I don't even know where to start."

"Well, I think we could start with Japanese, I can help you with that …"

"Ugh …"

This isn't the first time Akihiko's assisting Sakura with schoolwork, but something about this, sitting on his bedroom floor together, feels a lot more intimate than just letting Sakura copy his homework in their classroom.

At some point, Sakura moves to sit next to him, and the feeling of Sakura's shoulder touching his own affects him much more than he would like. All things considered, though, Akihiko's doing better than he thought he would. He hasn't said or done anything too weird, and Sakura looks comfortable — as much as he can while doing homework, anyway.

They finish Sakura's Japanese homework quickly before moving onto History and then English.

"You'll have to ask someone else for help with maths, you know how terrible I am at that …"

"Still better than me," Sakura says.

Before Akihiko can reply that it's okay, Sakura-san is so good at so many other things and academics don't matter that much anyway, there's a knock on his door.

"Aki-chan, is Sakura-kun staying for dinner?", his mother's voice comes from the other side of the door.

"Um —"

"It's fine, I'll leave," Sakura mumbles and starts to gather his things.

"No, no! You can stay," Akihiko says hurriedly, grabbing his wrist.

"I don't —"

"It's no problem, Sakura-kun; we've got enough food for everybody," Akihiko's mum says from where she's now standing in the doorway. Akihiko quickly lets go of Sakura's wrist, feeling embarrassed under her gaze.

Sakura's cheeks are reddening in front of Akihiko's eyes. "I, uh, I guess I'll stay, then … Don't want your food to go to waste or anythin'."

Akihiko mirrors his mother's smile. "Okay, great!"

Twenty minutes and a failed attempt at maths homework later, Akihiko and Sakura are sitting at the dinner table with Akihiko's mother and sisters. His dad is still at work, so he'll eat later in the evening when he's back.

Akihiko thinks this might be Sakura's first time eating at a friend's place because he can see him fidgeting with his chopsticks. He wishes he could take his friend's hand or give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but of course he can't; Sakura would never let him.

"Sakura-san, why does your hair look like that?"

"Um —"

"Fuyumi, it's rude to ask that," Akihiko says, nervously glancing towards Sakura. He doesn't want the grade captain to think badly of his sisters, but he knows that this is a very touchy subject for Sakura.

"Why, was it a dyeing accident like Nii-chan had last year?", Yuki asks.

"H-hey now," Akihiko sputters, "we don't have to talk about that!"

"Okaa-san, do you still have the pictures of it?", Yuki asks their mother, ignoring Akihiko entirely.

Their mother takes out her phone while Akihiko pleads with her not to show Sakura the photos of when he had just graduated junior high and secretly tried dyeing his hair on his own for the very first time. It had turned bright orange and his parents had refused to take him to the hairdresser for a full week as punishment.

Next to him, he hears a lovely, rare sound: Sakura is chuckling as he watches Akihiko and his family's antics, and it makes Akihiko want to show Sakura every single embarrassing picture he's ever taken, if only it'll make him laugh more.

His mum can't find the right photos, though, so Akihiko's dignity remains as intact as it can be for another day.

"How is life in Makochi treating you, Sakura-kun?", Akihiko's mother asks, pocketing her phone and thankfully changing the subject.

"It's, uh, it's fine," Sakura says with his mouth full. He's looking a little more tense again, like he's worried he'll say the wrong thing. "Everybody's really … nice."

"Aki-chan keeps telling us about how much good you're doing for Furin. I think you really fit in well with everyone."

Akihiko chokes on his rice. "Uh, obviously I talk a lot about everyone in class, not just Sakura-san," he gets out. He hopes his mother catches his glare across the table.

"But you talk the most about Sakura-san," Fuyumi says, not helping at all. "Nii-chan likes Sakura-san a lot!"

This has all been a big mistake. Akihiko should've never invited Sakura at all; he never should've let his sisters be in the same room as Sakura. God, this is so embarrassing.

"I, uh, I mean, he's my best friend, so …", he says, looking down at his plate. His face is burning. "Of course I like him a lot."

Sakura has gone very still next to him.

"Fuyumi-chan is my best friend!", Yuki exclaims cheerfully, embracing her twin in a tight side-hug and accidentally knocking over her cup of juice.

Akihiko cautiously glances up at Sakura while his mother is busy fussing over the girls. The vice captain is poking at his food, a shy blush colouring his pretty cheeks.

"Yer family's, um, nice," Sakura says quietly when he's packing up his things in Akihiko's room some time later.

"They are," Akihiko smiles. "I'm glad you like them."

"I've … never had dinner at someone else's house," Sakura admits, confirming Akihiko's suspicions.

"You did great," Akihiko says. "I think my mum really likes you."

Sakura blushes again and silently zips up his backpack.

When they walk down the stairs, Akihiko's mother sees them from the living room and approaches the genkan.

"You can come back any time, Sakura-kun!"

"Th-thank you, um, Nirei-san," Sakura stutters as he fumbles with his shoes.

Akihiko can hear the sound of two sets of small, but quick footsteps at the top of the stairs.

"Is Sakura-san leaving already?"

"Noo, I thought Sakura-san could play with us!"

Akihiko's mother sighs. "Girls, why are you not in your pyjamas yet?"

"Uhh —"

"I'll be upstairs in ten minutes, and by that time both of you better be ready!"

Fuyumi and Yuki retreat slowly, muttering all the way to their bedroom.

"G-goodbye," Sakura says, his face flushed.

"Bye, Sakura-san," Akihiko says. His own cheeks feel warm, too.

Once Sakura's gone and Akihiko has closed the door behind him, his mother turns to look at him.

"Aki —"

"Okaa-san, don't say anything, please," he says softly. He knows that she knows. But he's not having this conversation right now.

She looks concerned, but gently caresses his cheek. "Okay. Goodnight, honey."

The next morning, Suo and Kakiuchi are back at school.

Kakiuchi joins Anzai and the rest of his friends who heartily pat him on the back and start playing their usual game of cards at Takanashi's desk with him.

Suo sits down between Akihiko and Tsugeura in their little circle of chairs, his attitude as calm and his appearance as pristine as always, looking like he just spent the last couple of days on a holiday instead of going through his first rut. The only sign anything's changed about him is the subtle scent of ginger and bergamot around him.

"Good morning, everyone," Suo greets them. "Is Kiryu-kun not joining us today?"

"Looks like it," Tsugeura says.

Akihiko nods and holds up his phone, the screen showing his chat with Kiryu. "He texted me this morning. He's not coming today."

"And what about Sakura-kun — ah," Suo interrupts himself, his nostrils flaring. He coughs as his handsome face quickly changes its expression to a calm smile again. "There he is."

"What —", Akihiko starts, but then he hears someone roughly slide open the classroom door. He doesn't have to turn around to know who it is; at this point, he can tell from the sound of Sakura's footsteps alone.

But Sakura doesn't sit down next to Akihiko immediately. Instead, the footsteps slow down and then stop just behind him. The light aroma of cherry blossoms and pink peppercorn fills the air.

Akihiko turns around to look at Sakura and sees that his face is flushed. When the grade captain notices Akihiko staring, he swallows and finally takes his seat.

"M-mornin'."

"Good morning, Sakura-san, are you okay?", Akihiko asks worriedly.

"I'm fine," Sakura grunts, looking at his own hands in his lap. Quietly, he adds, "Finished the maths homework this mornin'."

Akihiko can't suppress a little smile. "Good job."

Before any of them can say anything else, the speaker on the wall above them wakes with a horrible noise. Another announcement, after he just made one yesterday?, Akihiko thinks exasperatedly as he covers his ears.

"Happy Friday, Bofurin!!", Umemiya greets them loudly, "I would like to remind all grade and vice captains that today is our monthly meeting to discuss new developments in Makochi! See you at lunch!!"

Sakura sighs heavily. "Fuck me, I forgot about that … There goes our lunch break."

"You know Umemiya-san never has much to report, Sakura-kun; I'm sure it won't last a full hour," Suo says. He's looking at Sakura with a strange expression on his face that Akihiko can't identify, but definitely doesn't like.

"Y-yeah," he agrees, "maybe we can go to Saboten after."

Sakura grumbles something incoherent. He's still avoiding looking at anyone, and Akihiko is getting concerned again. The tips of Sakura's ears are very pink.

"You guys," Tsugeura says, probably trying to fill the silence, "I tried this new flavour of protein powder by Sakas recently, and I never thought there'd be anythin' better than banana, but this new watermelon stuff? Game changer, for real." He takes a large bag of protein powder out of his school bag and holds it up like he's in a commercial.

"That's great, Tsugeura-kun," Suo deadpans, still looking at Sakura. If Akihiko had to put a name to Suo's expression, he might call it hunger. He holds back a shudder.

"Wanna try it, Suo-kun?", Tsugeura asks enthusiastically. "I got another shaker somewhere …"

Suo gracefully declines.

Before Tsugeura can offer his protein shake to anyone else, the school bell rings. Akihiko has never been more grateful to see his maths teacher in his life.

Haruka hates the stupid grade captain talks. Umemiya almost never has anything actually useful to say and always just ends up showing everyone the progress of his vegetables. Most of these meetings could've just been texts, but of course Umemiya insists on seeing everyone in person, because of community and shit.

Nirei wanted to buy a can of cola at the vending machine before they went to the roof so they're among some of the last trios to make it.

Azusawa excitedly waves at Haruka when they enter, so he awkwardly waves back. That guy is always so friendly and enthusiastic about everything; Haruka doesn't understand why the Jikoku grade captain wants to be friends with him so badly.

Umemiya is already seated at the head of the table under the pergola — on time for once — with the four kings sitting on the surrounding benches. Everyone else has gathered around them, either standing or sitting on the floor. Much like Haruka, most of them don't look very eager to be here, no matter how much they respect Umemiya.

Haruka unceremoniously plops down on the concrete somewhere behind Mizuki and his vice captains, Suo and Nirei joining him soon after.

When Umemiya starts his usual speech about the importance of Bofurin and how every member is a sign of hope for the town residents, Haruka zones out quickly, knowing that Nirei will diligently take notes and tell him about any significant parts later.

His thoughts immediately drift towards Suo. The vice captain is sitting right next to Haruka, and his scent is making him feel dizzy. He doesn't understand what's happening, why he can barely look at Suo without blushing under his heated gaze.

It's the same alpha bullshit that happened with Kiryu, isn't it? Once again, Haruka is trapped by his hormones, controlled by a body that doesn't feel like his own anymore. He's so tired of this.

It's not like Suo would ever be … interested in him, anyway. He probably keeps staring at Haruka in disgust because his newly-sensitive alpha nose can't stand Haruka's stench.

Ugh. Haruka runs a hand over his face. This is so annoying. Everything was easier before all of this shit happened and he could just pretend that everything was fine, that he wasn't even into Suo or anyone else, and that he didn't care whether anyone was interested in him romantically.

But now, not just his brain, but his body wants Suo. Uncomfortably so.

He keeps fidgeting with the sleeves of his jacket to distract himself and notices Nirei shooting worried glances his way. But of course Haruka can't talk to his vice captain about any of this; Nirei is too nice to laugh at him but would probably secretly think Haruka is pathetic.

"Sakura-san —", Nirei starts quietly, as if he's read Haruka's mind.

"I'm fine," Haruka hisses. He knows he's terrible at lying, so Nirei is probably not buying it for even a second, but what else is he supposed to say?

Nirei looks like a kicked puppy as he returns his eyes to his notebook, and Haruka feels like shit.

This is a lot more difficult than I expected.

Hayato should have anticipated this, and yet nothing could have prepared him for actually having to sit this close to Sakura for a prolonged period of time. The grade captain's scent, albeit a lot weaker than during the first day of his heat, is making Hayato's mouth water, and what's much worse is that Sakura seems to be reacting to him, too — if his flushed cheeks, restless hands and avoidant eyes are anything to go by.

Is he reading too much into this? Is Sakura's body just acting on instinct, or is there even the slightest chance that he might be interested in Hayato? Surely Hayato is imagining things; he shouldn't be getting his hopes up.

The meeting with Umemiya is finally drawing to a close so Hayato lightly taps Sakura's shoulder to get his attention. The boy startles and his head shoots up, making him look directly at Hayato. Hayato feels ridiculous for the way his breath hitches as he tries to choose which one of Sakura's lovely eyes to focus on. They stare at each other for a moment, and Hayato feels his grip on his composure slip once again.

"Alright!", Umemiya breaks the spell with a cheerful clap. "You guys are dismissed. Have a nice weekend!"

Sakura is red from his hairline down to his neck when he finally averts his eyes from Hayato's. Hayato thinks even he himself might be blushing.

Next to them, Nirei clears his throat. "Uh, so, we still got half an hour … That's probably enough time to go to Saboten, if you guys want?"

"Sure," Hayato smiles carefully.

"What, um, what about you, Sakura-san?", Nirei asks. He looks nervous, probably because of the way Sakura snapped at him earlier.

Sakura grunts something that sounds vaguely affirmative and gets up, his eyes firmly focused on the ground at his feet. Hayato and Nirei stand as well.

When they reach the second floor, Nirei stops. "Ah, sorry guys, I gotta pee real quick …"

With that, he disappears into the bathroom, leaving Hayato alone with Sakura in the empty hallway.

"It's, uh," Sakura mumbles, "it's good that yer back. For yer vice captain duties, I mean." The boy is still not looking at Hayato, who smiles.

"I'm glad to be back, too, Sakura-kun. Wouldn't have missed this meeting with Umemiya-san for the world."

Sakura huffs. "Yeah, right."

Silence settles over them, and it feels a little uncomfortable. After a long moment, Sakura raises his head and looks at Hayato.

Hayato stares back.

Sakura's gaze drops to his mouth.

"Okay," Nirei bursts into their little bubble, making Suo blink, "Here I am, let's go!"

The trip to Saboten only takes ten minutes, but it feels a lot longer while he's walking between Suo and Sakura.

Akihiko could tell something was up when he returned from his short trip to the bathroom. His friends had been looking at each other in a way that made Akihiko's jealousy go haywire, and he felt stupid about it but he just had to abruptly interrupt that little moment.

Even though he already knows he's lost. Sakura definitely likes Suo, and by the looks of it, Suo is interested in Sakura, too.

Sue Akihiko for wanting a small reprieve before the two of them start going out and leave him behind. Honestly, he already feels like a third wheel right now, even though Sakura and Suo aren't even next to each other. The vibes are just … off.

He's desperately trying to come up with topics to talk about, but his brain must be frozen so they're just walking next to each other in silence. Sakura has never been a big talker, anyway, and Suo seems content without conversation, but Akihiko feels the awkward silence suffocate him.

When they finally reach the bakery, Akihiko and Sakura get their food while Suo waits for them outside. The owners of the shop gift them two melon breads for free, so Akihiko tries to give one to Suo but of course he declines, reminding Akihiko of his stupid diet. Fine, he can starve for all Akihiko cares.

Akihiko doesn't want to be angry at Suo. The boy has objectively done nothing wrong. He doesn't know about Akihiko's feelings for Sakura — and even if he did, how would that be his problem?

And yet, Akihiko thinks he hates Suo right now, especially when he sees the way Suo looks at Sakura munching on his curry bread. Because it's the same way Sakura is looking at the curry bread. God, how has he never noticed Suo is interested in their grade captain? Or is this only something that happened because they presented as alpha and omega? Is it purely physical attraction, influenced by hormones? If so, Akihiko hates Suo even more, because he likes Sakura for who he is, not just because he smells good or whatever.

"Nire-kun, are you alright?"

Akihiko has been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hasn't noticed Suo's concerned glances until now. Stupid Suo, what does he care? He's ripped out Akihiko's heart and stomped on it and now he wants to ask if Akihiko's alright.

"I'm fine," he says moodily, taking a big bite out of his croissant so he doesn't have to talk.

Even Sakura is looking at him warily now, so Akihiko definitely needs to calm down.

"S-sorry," he mumbles after he's swallowed, "Just … not in a good mood today, I guess."

Suo hums. "Sorry to hear it."

"Yeah …" This is all so freaking awkward. "Um, we should probably head back, right?"

"We should," Suo agrees.

"You, uh, you guys go ahead," Sakura says, rubbing his neck and avoiding their eyes. "I gotta, uh … talk to Kotoha about somethin'."

Suo raises an eyebrow, but just says, "See you at school, then, Sakura-kun. Let's go, Nire-kun."

Akihiko also thinks Sakura is behaving suspiciously, but he knows the boy wouldn't tell them what he's up to if they asked, so he follows Suo down Tonpu Market Street to make their way back to school.

After a couple of minutes of walking next to each other, Suo breaks the silence. "Are you upset with me, Nire-kun?"

He says it quietly, calmly, but the weight of the question makes Akihiko stop dead in his tracks. "I, uh …"

What is he supposed to say? He knows he doesn't have an actual good reason to be angry at Suo, so he doesn't want to admit it.

Suo has also stopped walking and is standing in front of him now. They've passed the busiest parts of Tonpu Market Street, so they're on their own, thankfully.

"Have I done anything?"

"N-no, you …"

You've done nothing besides being your stupidly handsome, charming self that's better than me in every way.

"Do you want to talk about what is bothering you?"

Akihiko is quiet for a moment. "No."

"Okay." Suo just smiles at him (it doesn't quite reach his eye) before he turns and starts walking in the direction of Furin High again.

Akihiko doesn't have much of a choice but to follow him. He can't help but feel like he just majorly fucked up.

Sakura returns to school less than ten minutes after Suo and Akihiko, a little bag in his hand. He drops onto his chair with a grunt and turns to Akihiko with pink cheeks.

"Uh, I didn't want ya to look miserable all day, so I, uh … just take these," he grumbles like it's a chore as he holds out the bag to Akihiko.

Akihiko gingerly takes it from him and peeks inside.

"Oh."

"If ya don't like it, I'll give 'em back," Sakura mutters, his face turning redder by the second.

In the bag are two packs of Akihiko's favourite brand of gummies and a new fashion magazine that he mentioned wanting to get recently. It's such a simple yet sweet gesture that Akihiko almost wants to cry.

"Th-thank you, Sakura-san …"

"Is Sakura-kun handing out gifts?", Suo comments with a pout. "And you didn't get me anything?"

"Fuck off," Sakura glares at him. "I just saw these when I passed the store, it's not a big deal … I didn't get somethin' for everyone, ya think I'm made of money or somethin'?!"

Suo just smiles that irritating smile of his and turns back to his conversation with Kakiuchi.

Akihiko is barely listening to what is happening around him; he's too focused on the fact that Sakura got him a present. He's never done that before. He's never given anyone a present except the cushion he got for Kiryu, ever.

Before the bell rings, Akihiko quickly opens one of the bags and happily shoves a bunch of gummies into his mouth. It's probably more than a little ridiculous to go this crazy over a some sweets and a magazine, but he feels like he's on cloud nine.

Suo is behaving strangely.

He texted Haruka every day over the weekend, and it's getting weird.

Haruka's never been the best at keeping conversations going, neither in real life nor via messenger app, so he doesn't know how to reply most of the time past a "Good morning" or "I'm fine, how are you". Suo doesn't give up, though, and keeps sending him cute or funny stickers that Haruka doesn't know how to use.

This morning when he puts on his shoes, he hasn't checked his phone yet, but he's sure Suo has already messaged him. Haruka doesn't even want to look at his chats; he almost feels too embarrassed at this point. Why can't he be good at texting?

"Good morning, Sakura-kun!"

"What the fuck?!", Haruka yelps, jumping when he opens his apartment door and Suo is standing right in front of him.

"Do you want to walk to school with me?"

Haruka is very confused, but he's also already feeling the heat rise in his cheeks as his nose takes in Suo's subtle ginger scent. God, he hopes his own scent isn't too noticeable.

"Did … did ya come all the way here just to walk with me?"

"I did." Suo is smiling at him in that way that always makes Haruka unsure whether he's genuine or mocking him.

"I … I mean, I guess I can't stop ya …", he mumbles, gripping the strap of his backpack and stepping over his threshold. He pulls the door shut behind him without bothering to lock it — the lock hasn't worked since he moved in.

"Wonderful. How are you, Sakura-kun?", Suo asks as he follows Haruka when he starts walking.

"Fine, I guess … Um, what- what about you?", Haruka asks back. He cringes when he hears how flustered he sounds.

"I'm always feeling great when I'm with Sakura-kun," Suo replies, his usual teasing tone in his voice but a genuine look in his eye.

What the hell?

Since when does Suo just say things like that?

"V-very funny," he grumbles, kicking an empty can on the ground in front of him.

"'I'm serious!", Suo protests, like he's ever been serious a day in his life.

Haruka stays quiet for a while as he thinks about how to respond to Suo's weird attitude. Is Suo just messing with him? Fuck, what if he's noticed the way Haruka's body has been reacting to him? That'd be so mortifying that Haruka can't even entertain the thought for more than a second lest he combusts.

They walk in silence for a couple minutes, Haruka hyperaware of how close their arms are to each other. He wishes he were bold enough to just take Suo's hand, but he has no idea how any of this works — you probably have to, like, confess to the other person before you do that, right? And Haruka is definitely not doing that.

It'd just be so nice to know how Suo's hand would feel in his own.

Ugh! Goddamn feelings.

Akihiko can't say he's all that shocked when he sees Suo and Sakura enter their classroom together, but it stings nonetheless. He almost expects them to be holding hands at this point. Who knows what they were up to over the weekend?

"Good morning," he smiles at them even though it feels more like a grimace.

"Mornin'," Sakura greets back and sits down next to him. There's a faint blush on his cheeks, no doubt from hanging out with Suo.

Oh, God, what if they've kissed already?

Akihiko's smile turns a little wobbly while Suo returns his greeting as well and sits down next to Kiryu — huh, that's weird; is he not going to sit at Sakura's side? Maybe they want to keep their budding relationship a secret for now. Either way, at least this means Akihiko can pretend everything is fine for another day.

"How, uh, how are ya?"

"What?", Akihiko blurts out, too surprised by Sakura actually asking him about his well-being to be polite.

"N-nothin'," Sakura mutters, "Forget about it." He's suddenly very busy with his backpack.

Of course Sakura would choose now of all times to become all sweet and caring to Akihiko again. He's gonna get his stupid hopes back up. Nervously, he glances towards Suo, but the vice captain seems busy with Kiryu, the other boy showing him something on his phone.

"I'm okay," Akihiko says quietly, and it's not even that much of a lie. He is talking to Sakura right now, at least. "How are you, Sakura-san?"

"Fine," Sakura replies offhandedly, avoiding Akihiko's eyes.

"Did you have a nice weekend?", Akihiko asks, even though he's not sure he wants to know the answer — what if Sakura really did spend the weekend with Suo, doing God knows what?

"Wasn't excitin' or anythin'," Sakura grumbles, "Tsubaki asked me to go shoppin' with her on Saturday so she dragged me through every store at the mall." He sighs. "She already got so many clothes, what does she need even more for? I don't get it."

Akihiko bites his lip to suppress a smile. "You can never have too many clothes."

Sakura rolls his eyes. "Of course you'd say that."

"Well," Akihiko starts, but then the bell rings and their teacher enters. Everyone quickly starts dragging their chairs back to their own desks so class can begin.

Unable to focus on the lecture, Akihiko instead stares at the back of Suo's head. What is up with him and Sakura? There's definitely something, right? Why did they come into school together? But Sakura hasn't mentioned anything happening over the weekend, and Akihiko believes him; that boy is a terrible liar.

Something does happen during lunch break, though.

Right after their teacher has left the classroom, Sakura starts rummaging through his backpack, finally retrieving a book. It doesn't look like any of their school books, though.

"Here," he grunts, nudging Suo with the book. There's already a blush rising in his cheeks.

Suo turns around to face Sakura and looks at the object in surprise. "Oh!"

"Just … didn't want ya to complain about not gettin' anythin' from me like ya did on Friday," Sakura grumbles quietly. "Forgot about it this mornin'."

"Aren't I supposed to be the one giving you gifts, Sakura-kun?", Suo asks, a twinkle in his eye. He takes the book from Sakura's hands to look at it more closely. As Akihiko watches the exchange in horror, several of their classmates are starting to notice what is going on.

"Ooh, Sakura, bold as always!", Anzai calls out with a wide grin.

"H-huh?", Sakura sputters, his face approaching tomato colour. "What the fuck are ya talking about?!"

"Sakura-chan, what's up with that book?", Kiryu asks sweetly, getting up to stand between Sakura and Akihiko's desks.

"I-it's just some poetry book, I dunno, looked like somethin' Suo would be into; who cares?!"

"So this isn't … a courting gift?", Kiryu inquires further.

Akihiko wants to jump out of the window just hearing the words.

"The fuck is a courtin' gift?"

The corners of Suo's mouth drop for just a second before he puts on his usual smile again, but Akihiko notices. "It's fine, Sakura-kun. Don't worry about it."

"When an alpha and an omega like each other very much —",

"Kiryu-kun." Suo's expression shuts Kiryu up immediately.

"Fuck you guys, too, then," Sakura mutters and abruptly stands up. Before anyone can say anything, he's already rushing out of their classroom, roughly sliding the door shut behind him.

Kiryu looks genuinely upset. "Oh, shit."

"I got it," Suo says and gets up. Akihiko watches helplessly as his fellow vice captain quickly follows Sakura to wherever he escaped to. Hopefully, he'll be able to find him.

"I hadn't realised they weren't already dating," Takanashi mumbles. Anzai halfheartedly shoves his shoulder.

"Nire-chan, what do we do?", Kiryu asks, looking at Akihiko.

"I … guess we just have to wait," Akihiko says dejectedly. He knows that the conversation Suo and Sakura might already be having by now will lead to them getting together. It's inevitable.

"I'm sure Suo-kun will find the right words to say," Tsugeura says. "Let's stay positive, everyone!"

Akihiko is struggling to find optimism in his current situation, but still smiles at his friend. "You're right, Tsugeura-san."

"Do ya wanna work out with me, Nirei-kun?"

"Uh …"

"Sakura-kun!"

When Hayato finally manages to grab Sakura's wrist, the boy immediately tries to shake him off, but Hayato doesn't let go.

"What?!" Sakura spins around, fire behind his pretty eyes. "Ya followed me to mock me some more?"

I'd never, Hayato almost wants to say, but he knows that's not quite true — he does enjoy teasing Sakura every once in a while, but always with love.

"What do you mean?", he chooses to ask instead.

Sakura's face is red, not from embarrassment as usual, but from anger. "Nobody ever tells me shit! Everyone jus' seems to know everythin' about all this bullshit, and then there's me who's always gotta ask but then no one actually ever explains anythin'!"

"Sakura-kun —"

"I'm sorry if I did somethin' wrong by giving ya that stupid book, but how the fuck would I know?! If no one tells me why I'm not supposed to give it to ya, apparently?"

Hayato's grip on Sakura's wrist tightens. "You did nothing wrong. It doesn't have to mean anything if you don't want it to."

"What would I want it to mean?!"

"I'll explain everything to you that you want to know." Feeling bold, Hayato slides his own hand lower to take Sakura's. He can't help but smile, despite everything, when he hears Sakura's breath hitch. Holding onto Sakura's hand, he leads the other boy into an empty classroom at the end of the hallway and shuts the door behind them.

"Sit," he tells Sakura who goes to sit down on the abandoned teacher's desk. Unfortunately, this means that Hayato has to let go of his hand. Taking a seat on a table across from Sakura, he looks at the boy expectantly. "What do you want to know, Sakura-kun?"

"What the hell is a courtin' gift," Sakura grumbles, looking a little deflated after his outburst.

"Well," Hayato sighs, "It's a gift that you give to someone to show them you're interested in them. Usually, an alpha would give courting gifts to an … omega they would like to date." He looks directly at Sakura as he says it. The boy immediately averts his eyes.

"I … see."

"That is why our classmates got very excited when they saw you give me such a thoughtful gift. They assumed that —"

"Got it, thanks," Sakura interrupts him, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Is there something else you would like to know?"

"That means wh-when ya, uh," Sakura stutters, "When ya said that it sh-should be you giving me gifts, um …"

"Yes," Hayato says. Sakura doesn't even have to finish the question; Hayato already knows what he's asking.

"Ah."

Hayato smiles, and Sakura finally looks up, directing those beautiful mismatched eyes at him. When Hayato reaches out and takes his hand once more, however, Sakura drops his gaze again.

He's so adorable.

"Y-ya better get me some good gifts, then," he grumbles.

"Only the best for Sakura-kun," Hayato replies, lifting Sakura's hand to his lips and dropping a kiss on his knuckles.

Sakura looks so pretty with his cheeks flushed and his mouth open in surprise. His lovely scent is spiking; Suo doesn't think he's even aware of it.

"A-alright," Sakura says quietly and slides his hand out of Hayato's grip. "I, um, I think we can go back to our classroom now."

Hayato smiles. "Let's go."

When Sakura and Suo return, no one dares to ask them what happened; even Anzai realises it's best to keep his mouth shut right now.

Akihiko stares at them and tries to figure out if anything has changed between the two, but obviously he can't read their minds. The only hint is Sakura sporting his usual blush, though that can mean a lot of things.

"Welcome back," Kiryu says cautiously when the boys sit back down at their respective desks.

"Are you okay, Sakura-san?", Akihiko asks nervously.

"I, uh, I'm good," Sakura mumbles. He shoots a look towards Suo that makes Akihiko want to be the one to run out of the classroom.

"I'm glad," Akihiko says, and he hopes his voice doesn't betray his true emotions.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Kiryu wildly tapping his phone's keyboard. After a couple of seconds, Sakura's phone buzzes on his desk.

"H-hey!" Sakura spins around in his chair, his face bright red, and yells at Kiryu as soon as he's read the message. "No, we didn't!"

Kiryu holds up his sweater paws in surrender with a smile. "Sorry, sorry! I was just wondering, Sakura-chan! I'm just glad you guys are okay."

Sakura grunts something incoherent and busies himself with his leftover curry bread.

Objectively, Suo has a nice laugh, but right now, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard to Akihiko. He wishes he could go home and spend the rest of the week crying in bed.

Kiryu Mitsuki
What's wrong, Nire-chan?

Akihiko's phone lights up with the notification of Kiryu's text. He quickly turns his head, but Kiryu's eyes are on his own phone.

Nirei Akihiko
Nothing, what do you mean?

Kiryu Mitsuki
Are you kidding me? You look like someone just set fire to all of your notebooks.

Akihiko grimaces. He's supposed to act nonchalant about all of this, goddammit.

Nirei Akihiko
Can we talk about it after school?

He turns back to face Kiryu again, and this time the other boy is looking at him. Kiryu's eyebrows are raised, but he nods.

Nirei Akihiko
Thank you.

Akihiko tries his best to ignore the glances between Suo and Sakura for the rest of the school day, but it's near impossible. At one point, Suo fucking winks at Sakura, making the grade captain's face burst into flames and causing Akihiko to snap his pencil. Thankfully, no one seems to notice.

After their last class ends, Akihiko quickly gathers his things, ignoring all distractions, and heads to the school gate so he can wait there for Kiryu. He's sure some of his other friends want to talk to him, but he doesn't think he'd be able to hold a normal conversation right now.

"Nire-chan!"

The light scent of lavender and citrus approaches him from behind, so he turns around to see Kiryu standing there.

"Hey."

"Do you want to go to my place?", Kiryu asks. "Or should we hang out at yours?"

"W-we're hanging out?"

"Uh, duh? How else are we going to talk about what's bothering you? I'm not gonna make you air out your business in front of the school building or at, like, Pothos or whatever. So, where are we going?"

Akihiko thinks about it for a moment. He'd been hoping to just go home and cry into his pillow for a couple of hours, so maybe they should go to his place. But there's no way Fuyumi and Yuki would leave a cool, pretty boy with dyed pink hair and piercings like Kiryu alone, so Akihiko and Kiryu wouldn't have time to talk on their own.

At Kiryu's house, they'd have the boy's whole room to themselves.

"If it's alright with you," Akihiko mumbles, "maybe we could go to your place?"

"Sure!", Kiryu agrees easily. "Let's get some snacks at the convenience store on the way."

Kiryu doesn't ask any questions while they walk to the store and then to his family's home. He just makes casual conversation, chattering about their school day — leaving out lunch break — and what he did during the weekend. Akihiko tries to contribute, but he ends up letting Kiryu do most of the talking.

"Do you want something to drink?", Kiryu asks while he toes off his shoes in the entryway to his house. "I can check if I have any melon soda."

"O-okay," Akihiko replies and watches Kiryu walk to the fridge. He feels nervous all over again because his time to avoid questions is running out fast. After carefully setting down his shoes next to Kiryu's, he takes a seat at the low table. The room smells faintly of lavender and Kiryu's cologne.

"Nire-chan, feel free to sit on the big cushion!" Kiryu enters the room with two cans of soda in his hand and gestures towards the large cat-shaped cushion next to the table. "Something tells me you're gonna want to be as comfortable as possible for this conversation."

Akihiko cringes and wordlessly switches seats.

"Alright," Kiryu says as he sits next to Akihiko and sets down the soda cans. "Let's talk about your boy problems."

"My — what?!", Akihiko sputters and nearly knocks over the low table. The cans wobble for a second before he steadies them with shaky hands. Does Kiryu know? God, does everyone know?

"This is about Suo-chan and Sakura-chan, right?", Kiryu asks, seemingly unfazed.

For a moment, Akihiko considers the distance between himself and the door. Would he make it there in time or would Kiryu catch him before he can flee?

Kiryu narrows his eyes when he notices Akihiko's glances around the room. "Nire-chan."

Akihiko winces. Fine. He can trust Kiryu, right? "It … is about Suo-san and Sakura-san, yes."

"I mean, I guess we should've seen it coming, huh?", Kiryu says as he opens his soda can and takes a sip. "I'm sorry it's hurting you, though. You and Suo-chan would've been cute together, too."

"M-me and Suo-san?", Akihiko asks, taken aback. "What do you mean?"

His friend looks at him with furrowed brows. "Well, yeah? Aren't you upset that Suo-chan is with Sakura-chan instead of you? Because you like him?"

Akihiko doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Kiryu hasn't actually got him figured out, after all. Obviously, he doesn't like Suo like that. He only likes Sakura.

"I, um, actually … like Sakura-san. Th-that's why I'm upset."

Has he ever said that out loud? In his silly daydreams, he always imagined he'd confess to Sakura some day, and the boy would be the only one to ever hear those words.

"Oh! Wait, what?", Kiryu says, sounding more like he's speaking to himself. "How … Nire-chan, are you sure?"

"What the hell, of course I'm sure which boy I like!", Akihiko asserts indignantly, feeling his cheeks heat up. This is all turning out to be even more embarrassing than he'd expected.

"Huh," is all Kiryu says. He plays with his labret piercing and stares absentmindedly at the table for a moment before he looks up at Akihiko again. "I see. Uh … Well, either way, I guess Sakura-chan is off the market, too, so. I'm really sorry, Nire-chan."

Akihiko sighs. "Yeah … I don't know how I'm supposed to continue working as Sakura-san's vice captain when Suo-san is going to be … courting him."

"I could take over for you for a bit, if you want?", Kiryu offers.

"No, that'd just raise too many questions … But thanks." Akihiko rubs his eyes. "I've been trying to get over him for a while … It's not like I ever had a chance, anyway."

Kiryu gently shoves his shoulder. "Shut up. Nire-chan is a catch. It's not your fault that Suo-chan was quicker than you — Sakura-chan would absolutely be interested in you, I'm sure."

Akihiko wants to argue against that, but he guesses he should try to be nicer to himself. "If you say so …"

"Honestly, I always thought that Sakura-chan had a bit of a thing for you. But that boy blushes because of almost everything, so he becomes hard to read at some point …"

"Don't get my hopes up," Akihiko mumbles. What good does it do to think about any of this now?

"Sorry, sorry," Kiryu smiles at him apologetically. "You're right. Maybe for today, we can just try to distract you with some video games and snacks? And if you ever need to vent to someone in the future, I'm here. Your secret's safe with me, obviously."

"Thank you, Kiryu-san …"

"Don't worry about it. I know you'd do the same for me! Now," Kiryu gets up and kneels in front of his TV stand to browse his video game collection, "do you wanna play Tricycle Race or Underbaked?"

Aren't you upset that Suo-chan is with Sakura-chan instead of you? Because you like him?

Akihiko keeps turning Kiryu's words over in his head, and he feels like he's going insane. A look at his alarm clock tells him it's already past 2 AM. Ugh. He's so tired, but he can't fall asleep.

What would've made Kiryu think that Akihiko has a crush on Suo? Sure, the other vice captain is very handsome and smart, and compassionate and kind despite his cold exterior, but Akihiko likes Sakura. Has liked him since the day they met, probably. Suo is one of his closest friends, and now Sakura's soon-to-be-boyfriend. There's no way for Akihiko to have feelings for him; you can't like two people at the same time. And anyway, the jealous gremlin inside of him still kind of hates Suo right now.

Is he overthinking this? Kiryu was just wrong with his assumption; that's all.

Suddenly, his phone buzzes where it's lying on his low table to charge. He lets out a surprised sound in the quiet of his room. Who'd still be up at this time of night to message him? Considering he probably won't fall asleep any time soon, he gets out of bed and reaches for his phone. The screen is lit up with a text notification by one Suo Hayato.

"What the …", Akihiko mumbles, slowly sitting down on his floor cushion as he clicks on the notification.

Suo Hayato
Hello, Nire-kun. I can't help but feel like I've upset you. Is it about Sakura-kun and me?

Shit, he shouldn't have opened it, because now it'll show Suo that he read the text. What is he supposed to reply? It takes him several minutes to come up with a response (and it's not even a good one).

Nirei Akihiko
It's not. I'm sorry if it looked like that …

Okay, great, Aki, that's totally believable.

Suo Hayato
What is wrong, then? I'm worried about you.

Nirei Akihiko
I can't … really talk about it right now. But you don't have to worry. I'll be fine.

Suo Hayato
Are you sure? Did somebody hurt you?

Akihiko's heartbeat speeds up when he reads that, and he hurriedly types his reply. The last thing he needs is Suo thinking he's getting bullied.

Nirei Akihiko
No, no one hurt me, don't worry. It's just some stuff I have to work through on my own. Why are you still awake, Suo-san?

Will switching topics work on Suo? Probably not, but Akihiko can try.

Suo Hayato
Please talk to me if there's anything I can do. We've also been neglecting your training, I'm sorry about that. Let's pick it up again this week. ◝(ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ)◜
I can't sleep, lots of things on my mind. What about you?

Nirei Akihiko
Same …
Are you sure you want to train with me? I don't want to interrupt your time with Sakura-san.

It hurts to send the text, but he knows it's true. He doesn't want to get between Suo and Sakura.

Suo Hayato
Don't be ridiculous. I would never abandon my favourite student.

It's a bit of a silly message, but Akihiko can't help but smile, a couple of butterflies stirring in his stomach. He feels wide awake.

Suo Hayato
How about after school tomorrow?

Nirei Akihiko
Sounds good. ♡⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝

Akihiko cringes. It's not completely unusual for him to use stickers and emojis with hearts sometimes, but is that still okay when you're texting someone who's (almost) got a boyfriend? He stares at the screen, but Suo doesn't reply for a long moment even after the app says he's read the message. Oh, God, Akihiko messed it up somehow, didn't he?

He accidentally drops his phone on the table when it suddenly starts vibrating. What the fuck, why is Suo calling him right now?

With shaky hands, he picks up the phone and hesitates for a second, but then presses "Answer".

"S-suo-san …?"

A short pause, then: "Nire-kun."

"E-everything alright?"

"Mhm."

"… Are you gonna tell me why you called?"

Another beat of silence.

"Nire-kun, what do you think of me courting Sakura-kun?"

Akihiko abruptly feels his heart drop. "I … um, I …"

He knows he's telling on himself by not answering, he's fucking it all up; he should be telling Suo how happy he is for the two of them, how he will be nothing but supportive. But he can't. It's the middle of the night, and Suo's sleepy voice is in his ear, and he's put on the spot. He can't lie.

"I'm sorry, Nire-kun. I know how you feel about Sakura-kun."

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. He needs to end this call right now.

"I know how protective you are of him. And I know I'm not … a good guy."

"What?", Akihiko can't help but blurt out. What the hell is Suo talking about?

"I promise I won't drag him down."

"Why … why would you …?"

"You must think that I'll be in the way of Sakura-kun reaching the top of Bofurin, but I swear to you that I won't be a hindrance to his ambitions."

Akihiko wants to laugh. Suo thinks he doesn't want him to date Sakura because it'd distract him from his dreams. There's no way that Sakura would ever let that happen. But sure, this is a good excuse for Akihiko.

"I … I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was worried about that," he breathes, hoping he sounds convincing. "It's n-nothing personal."

"I understand," Suo says. "I'm sorry, too. Maybe I should have talked to you before."

"I-I'm not Sakura's dad!", Akihiko protests indignantly. "You can do whatever you want."

Suo chuckles, a low sound in Akihiko's ear. "You're right, sorry. Sakura-kun is his own person who can make his own choices."

And he didn't choose you, Akihiko tells himself bitterly.

"Are we good, Nire-kun?", Suo asks, sounding serious again.

"Yeah," Akihiko says, and maybe he really means it.

Hayato stares at himself in the mirror after his shower. There's dark circles under his eyes — unsurprising, considering he got around three hours of sleep last night, but he wouldn't sacrifice his routine just because he was an idiot who stayed up too long.

He sighs and applies balm to the scar across his right eye before he covers it with his eye patch, adjusting it a little so it sits properly under his brow. The scar has been itching more again in the past couple of days, so Hayato should probably use a sterile cotton patch, but he always feels a little embarrassed to be seen with those.

After he's blow-dried his hair and put in his earrings, he leaves the bathroom and goes to the kitchen to pick up the box he prepared.

"Is this what you were doing all night yesterday?", Kawasumi asks from where he's sitting at the kitchen table with his cup of coffee.

"I hope I didn't disturb you, senpai," Hayato says, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Don't worry about it, you're always allowed to make food." Kawasumi gazes at Hayato. "If you eat some of it."

Hayato smiles back at him. "Of course, senpai. I'll see you later."

He quickly leaves the kitchen with his box and dons his Furin jacket and shoes before he picks up his schoolbag and exits the apartment. Hopefully, he'll make it to Sakura's place in time.

"M-mornin'," the beautiful grade captain greets him bashfully when he sees Hayato in front of his door.

"Good morning, Sakura-kun, did you sleep well?", Hayato smiles.

Sakura hums in response before he quietly asks, "Are ya gonna pick me up every mornin' now, or …?"

"I'd be happy to, if you let me."

"I … wouldn't mind it, I guess …", Sakura mumbles, closing the door behind him.

"Wonderful," Hayato says as they start walking.

"So, what's in that box?", Haruka asks after a couple of minutes of walking in silence. At least with both of Suo's hands occupied, Haruka doesn't have to worry about whether he should be holding them. (He really, really wants to, though. Would Suo allow it now, after their conversation yesterday? The box doesn't look heavy at all; surely Suo could carry it with one hand …)

"It's a surprise," Suo smiles at him, "I'll show you during lunch break."

"Ah." Suddenly, Haruka feels nervous. Is this one of those courting gifts they talked about yesterday? He hadn't expected to get one so soon. His hands are starting to feel clammy; he's never been good with presents since he spent most of his life never receiving any, and Suo is such a thoughtful guy, so it'll probably be a really nice gift, and what if Haruka doesn't react properly? What if Suo won't want to give him any more gifts after this?

Both his thoughts and his feet come to a halt when Suo firmly grips his shoulder.

"Sakura-kun, it's okay. Would you rather open it now?"

God, it's so embarrassing to hang around a guy who's so perceptive, especially when your emotions are always written on your forehead.

"I-it's fine, I can wait for lunch …", he mutters, feeling heat rise in his cheeks.

"I hope you'll like it," Suo says before he slides his hand down Haruka's arm and intertwines his fingers with his own.

Haruka barely manages to suppress a squeak, because that would've been actually humiliating, and prays that his hands aren't as sweaty as he thinks they are.

"Is this alright?", Suo asks, and his mouth is way too close to Haruka's ear.

"Mhm," Haruka gets out. Even to himself, it sounds a little strained.

Suo chuckles and starts pulling him forward so they can keep walking. "Wonderful, let's get going then. We don't want to be late for class, do we?"

Haruka has never cared less about school than in this very moment.

They arrive at their classroom door with ten minutes to spare. Haruka reaches for the handle with his right hand without thinking, but then becomes acutely aware of his left hand — which is still holding onto Suo's.

"Uh …"

Suo turns his head to face him and notices Haruka staring down at their hands. With a smirk, he asks: "Is this still okay?"

Haruka takes a deep breath, then nods and grips Suo's hand more tightly. He roughly pulls on the handle, making the classroom door slide open.

When Suo and he step inside, all eyes are suddenly on them. Haruka barely suppresses the urge to stare daggers at his classmates — these are your friends, they won't hurt you —, but his face feels hot regardless. Can't they all mind their own business?

Kiryu and Nirei are sitting at the latter's desk while Tsugeura is doing his usual pull-ups near the window. Nirei immediately averts his eyes when he notices Haruka looking their way, but Kiryu grins and waves at them.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan and Suo-chan! How are you doing?"

"I'm … good," Haruka mumbles before he regretfully lets go of Suo's hand to pull up his chair at Nirei's desk and sits down.

"I'm glad to hear that, Sakura-san," Nirei says with a smile, but it seems somewhat dimmed. Something's off with him these days, Haruka has noticed. He should probably talk to him soon.

Thankfully, no one comments on the way they entered the classroom. Haruka doesn't think he could take any questions about whatever their relationship is right now.

Nirei's mood seems to pick up a little when Suo compliments his outfit and he gets to talk about the bargain he apparently got at the thrift store. Haruka catches himself smiling at his vice captains, but immediately averts his eyes when he notices Kiryu is watching him. He clears his throat and wipes his hands on his trousers.

Class starts only a couple of minutes later, and Haruka pays about as much attention to it as he always does. He just wants lunch break to arrive so he can find out what's in the mysterious box.

Once the bell finally rings at 12 PM, Suo turns to him and calls his name. When Haruka looks up, Suo asks, "Can we go to the rooftop?"

Haruka's almost too nervous to notice Kiryu's wolf whistle behind him, but he nods quickly.

Suo smiles and takes his hand. "We'll be back later, guys," he tells their other friends, picking up the box from his desk and pulling Haruka towards the door.

They're silent as they walk through the hallways, a couple of Furin boys passing them but not paying as much attention to them as Haruka feared. Suo's palm feels warm against his own, and Haruka thinks he might be getting a little more used to this whole hand-holding thing.

When Suo opens the door to the roof, Haruka sees Umemiya sitting on the couch near the ping-pong table and lets go of Suo's hand like he's just been burnt. He is not letting Umemiya find out about any of this right now.

The Bofurin leader greets them with a big, happy smile, thankfully oblivious. He invites them to sit with him, but Suo politely declines and leads Haruka over to the Mahjong table so they're too far away for Umemiya to hear anything they say.

"So … what's in the box?", Haruka asks quietly once they've both taken a seat on one of the benches. He can't look Suo in the eye for some reason.

"Well," Suo says, and Haruka can hear the smile in his voice, "I couldn't sleep last night, so I thought I'd make something for you."

Haruka looks at the box in Suo's lap when he opens it. Inside is a selection of little tea cakes, the kind that he's seen Suo eat on the very rare occasions he could convince him to actually consume food. They look delicious.

"You- you made these?", he asks, taking the box from Suo and looking at its contents more closely.

"I did! I hope you'll like them. Do you want to try one?"

Haruka nods and goes to reach into the box, but Suo is quicker. The boy takes one of the tea cakes and unwraps it before he slowly raises it to Haruka's face.

Suo's hand seems to tremble a little. When Haruka finally looks up, he thinks he can see a faint blush on Suo's cheeks.

Huh. Maybe Suo is nervous about this whole thing, too.

Haruka takes a shaky breath and opens his mouth, allowing Suo to place the tea cake between his teeth and taking a bite. Neither of them break eye contact, and it feels like the most intimate thing Haruka's ever done with another person. He can barely focus on the sweet aroma on his tongue, too wrapped up in Suo's intense gaze.

He swallows, and Suo's fingers brush his lips as he feeds him the remaining piece of the cake. When he collects a crumb with his tongue, Suo's eye follows the movement.

Is Haruka having a heart attack?

"Is it good?", Suo asks, his voice cracking on the last word. He clears his throat, his expression uncharacteristically embarrassed, but doesn't look away from Haruka.

"'course 's good," Haruka mumbles. Trying to sound confident, he asks, "Are ya gonna try one, too?"

Suo visibly hesitates. "Maybe later," he replies and smiles at him. "Do you want another one?"

"W-will ya feed me again?", Haruka asks. He feels his face heat up again as soon as he says it.

The air around them suddenly smells heavily like ginger and bergamot, and Suo's eye sparkles. "If you want me to."

Akihiko knows what he's doing is wrong. He should be happy for his friends and let them have their moment alone, but he just can't help himself. Maybe they'll actually kiss, he thinks to himself as he climbs the stairs, and if he sees it, he'll finally be able to get over them. It'll be official. He opens the door to the rooftop as quietly as possible, only slowly poking his head through, and sees Umemiya lounging on the sofa with his reading glasses on, too focused on the book in his hands to notice Akihiko.

If Umemiya is here (and to be fair, how could Akihiko have expected anything else), does that mean the two boys have moved to a different place? Akihiko doubts they'd want the Bofurin leader to chaperone them.

This is probably a sign from the universe not to spy on his friends. God knows where they are. But now that he's already here, he might as well stay and sulk on one of the loungers; maybe he can get some work done on his notebook while he's at it.

When he slowly walks past the couch, though, he finally sees Suo and Sakura at the Mahjong table.

Fuck.

The boys clearly haven't noticed him, Suo sitting sideways on the bench with his blind eye towards Akihiko and Sakura's full attention on Suo. Akihiko can smell their mixing scents from where he's standing several metres away.

Is — Is Suo feeding Sakura? He's clearly holding something in front of Sakura's face, and Sakura is holding eye contact with him while he takes it into his mouth.

This is a lot to take in. Akihiko hadn't realised their relationship had already progressed that much.

He just stands there, frozen in place holding his stupid notebook, as he watches Sakura take another bite of whatever Suo is giving him. From what he's heard, an alpha feeding an omega is considered more intimate than kissing by many. How are they already at that stage?

Suo reaches out and wipes Sakura's chin, probably to brush off some crumbs. But then his hand stays there.

Surely, this isn't going to happen.

Akihiko holds his breath, feeling like time is moving in slow motion as Suo leans forward. Sakura stays still, his cheeks aflame and eyes closed when Suo's lips meet his. They fit perfectly together like puzzle pieces.

A choked sound leaves Akihiko's throat, and he inadvertently takes a couple steps backwards without noticing a chair behind him. He stumbles and knocks it over, causing a horribly loud noise on the otherwise quiet rooftop.

He watches in horror as Suo and Sakura immediately break apart, their heads snapping towards him.

"Yo, Nirei!", Umemiya says happily. He looks up at him from the sofa. "You wanna sit with me? Sakura and Suo must be somewhere —"

"N-no," Akihiko manages to say, scrambling to pick up the chair from the ground. "S-sorry, I gotta go —"

"Nire-kun!", he hears Suo call out, but Akihiko's too fast; he's already opened the rooftop door and is running down the stairs, taking two steps at a time and nearly toppling over at one point. God, how fucking stupid was he? Seeing them kiss would help him get over it? Why in the world would that work?!

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," he mutters to himself as he roughly pushes open the front door of the school, running towards the main gate. He can barely make out what's in front of him through the tears in his eyes.

The school day is far from over and his backpack is still in the classroom, but he's decided that he's going home right fucking now. Maybe he can ask Kiryu to bring him his stuff later.

His phone is vibrating in his back pocket, but he ignores it. He's lost. He's lost something he never even had to begin with, and now it's gone forever.

The way home is a blur; all he knows is that at some point, he's standing in front of his family's house. Of course, his keys are in his backpack that he left at his desk, so he has to ring the doorbell and face his mother in this embarrassing state. At least Yuki and Fuyumi are still at school.

His mother's face falls as soon as she opens the door. "Aki? What's wrong?"

He will not start sobbing in front of her. Instead, he bites his lip, wipes his eyes and says, "I don't want to talk about it." His own voice sounds pathetic in his ears.

"Come here," she says and pulls him into a tight hug. "You know you can tell me anything, right?", she murmurs into his hair.

There's a lump in his throat. "Mhm," he gets out. He can feel the wetness of his fresh tears on his mother's shirt when he buries his face in her shoulder. God, this is so humiliating — he's fifteen, not a child. This isn't how he should behave at this age.

She presses a kiss to his forehead and leads him inside.

"The girls will be home from school in less than an hour, so I already started preparing lunch. Do you want to help me?" She smiles at him, but there's still concern in her eyes.

"If it's alright, I think I'd just like to lie down," he says. He suddenly feels very tired.

"Okay, honey … Wait, where's your backpack?"

"Forgot it at school," he mumbles. They both know that he rarely ever forgets things.

"Look at me," she says sharply, and he's so taken aback by her tone that he follows the order immediately. "Are people bullying you again, Aki?"

"N-no!", he exclaims quickly. "I promise, I'm gonna ask Kiryu-san to bring it over later."

"Alright," she says, still eyeing him suspiciously.

Akihiko sighs and walks up the stairs.

"Is this about Sakura-kun?", she calls out just as he's opened the door to his bedroom.

He looks down at her where she's still standing in the genkan. Her face looks so sad that he nearly bursts into tears again.

"I'm sorry, Okaa-san, not now," he just says and closes the door behind him.

He drops onto his bed without bothering to take off his Furin uniform. Once again, his phone buzzes in his pocket, and he takes it out to look at it.

Three missed calls from Suo, five text messages from Suo, and two from Kiryu.

No sign from Sakura.

He doesn't unlock the phone. Instead, he sets it down on his shelf and stares at the ceiling.

Everyone is assuming he's getting bullied again. Does he really seem that pathetic? What kind of question is that; of course he does. Even his little sisters think so. All that training with Suo, and for what? He wouldn't be able to defend himself even if he were getting bullied.

The thought of training with Suo makes him cringe. Just last night, they'd been talking about wanting to pick it up again today. Obviously, that's not going to happen; he's ruined that as well as everything else. Oh, God, he'll have to resign from the vice captain position, won't he? Maybe he should just transfer to a different school. Yes, that's probably the best option right now: Start fresh, keep a low profile, don't develop crushes on any classmates. It's the perfect plan.

But how would he explain that to his parents? He can't talk to them about any of this, even if his mother offered; that'd be way too embarrassing. What would he even tell them? I fucked up my two closest friendships because I can't get over the stupid crushes I have on them?

The singular crush. He has on one of them. Fuck.

His phone rings again, but he just lets it until it finally stops.

Maybe he'll talk to his mum later.