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When Sakura doesn't show at his usual time, Suo gives his fellow vice-captain a look. Nirei frowns and immediately calls their captain. Sakura doesn't pick-up and the phone goes to voicemail. The womanly tone of the automated message rings out, because Nirei has yet to show Sakura how to personalize it.
It was entirely possible that Sakura simply forgot to plug in his phone and it was dead. Except, after the first time that'd happened, and where Kiryu teased Sakura, he has been diligent to keep the battery charged. There was a chance that Sakura stumbled into a fight protecting one of Makochi's citizens and wasn't able to answer. But a fight shouldn't have delayed Sakura, with his skill, more than ten minutes.
His absence was worrying.
"Should we swing by his place during lunch?" asks Nirei. He's already jotting down a grocery list of items to pick-up. Just in case.
"Mmm," Suo nods, fidgeting with the strap to his eye-patch —his only sign of concern as his facial expression clears.
Nirei adjusts in his chair and looks towards the door in hope that Sakura walks through. A minute passes, sitting crossed-legged becomes uncomfortable, so he shifts. Tucks his knees under his chin. As casually as he can, Nirei swipes open the direct message he has with Sakura. Checks it. Nothing new. He pitches the underside of his wrist; he really should have requested sharing locations. He'd never asked, cause it was private, but Sakura was both his class captain and his friend! Not being able to get in-touch… his heart beats loudly in his ears. Could he…? Nirei shakes the question away.
"What's up with Sakura-chan?" Kiryu squishes into the space between Nirei and Suo's desks.
"Don't know," Nirei mutters, disappointment at himself coloring his words. He should know.
Nirei refreshes the chat log again, just in case it changed in the last three seconds. His latest message, a link to an online video, was still left unread. The possum scarfing down broccoli was so cute. In a weird way, it reminded him of Sakura, so he'd sent it. He would have to wait for Sakura's reaction though.
"Oh-ho?" Kiryu covers his mouth with his jacket sleeve. The cuff hangs loose over his fingers.
The sound is loud enough to catch the class's attention. They look towards the three with curious expressions like hungry owls. The sole exception is Sugishita, who remains slumped over his desk with his arms crossed to form a pillow, sleeping.
It is this moment the class begins to verbalize on their captain's absence.
"Is Sakura alright?" One member asks.
Another explains that they hadn't seen Sakura on their morning run, saying it was unusual. They typically saw Sakura chowing down on an egg omelette through Cafe Pothos' window when they ran past.
Anzai, along with two other boys he's grown closer with after the fight against KEEL, stands up. His face is serious, eager to assist. He heads for the door, shouting over his shoulder, "We'll go look for him!"
"Not so fast!" Suo calls them back, "I want to make sure Sakura is alright as much as everyone else, but too many of us could overwhelm him. I'll organize groups and we'll check the places Sakura frequents during lunch. Running off with no direction won't help anyone."
Mollified, the trio returns to their seats. But Suo's command doesn't prevent worried speculation from springing up. The class bats around ideas like a volleyball.
"He's climbing a tree to rescue a cat that got stuck!"
"Sakura offered to help Watanabe-san carry her groceries home and lost track of time."
"He could be in heat."
The majority nod in agreement, jumping onto the theory and providing their own proof for how odd Sakura has been acting the past few days, which could be correlated to an upcoming heat.
"You guys think he's so hot he would skip school? Shouldn't we get him a fan?" Taiga asks. His eyes darting between his classmates, trying to understand.
"I'll explain later, Tsuge-chan," Kiryu waves.
Ignoring Taiga's obliviousness, Nirei personally believes that of all the ideas proposed, it's Sakura starting his heat that holds the most credence. As far as any of them knew (including Nirei's database in his notebook), Sakura hadn't gone through a heat since moving to Makochi. And, per Sakura, he presented years ago. He'd have to be due for one soon—if not now.
A couple weeks ago the class had finished their patrols early. While everyone else was soaking up the afternoon sun in a pack-cuddle-pile, Suo had subtly probed Sakura, trying to determine if he took suppressants, but he never responded either way.
That too worried Nirei. While he wasn't an omega himself, he knew that long passages between heat cycles could increase pain and sensitivity. Not to mention the loss of coherence. Skipping class was the smartest thing Sakura could have done if that was truly the reason why he was absent. A closed room with multiple concerned alphas and betas would only accelerate the onset of heat symptoms; it also could risk triggering other's ruts. It was best then, that it was just Suo and him who went to Sakura's apartment to check in on him. Fingers crosses his friend simply slept in and their worry was needless —this time.
~
"Knock already," Nirei urges. He nudges Suo with his foot.
Future Nirei is not nearly as confident as past Nirei. He is currently standing to the left of Suo, waiting for the door to open. Suo's knocks were quick, but strong, carrying his concern and echo through to the other side. If Sakura was home as they suspected —with all other locations reported empty by class members— then he'd definitely hear it.
Suo sniffs, "You smell that?"
"Smell… what?" Nirei tries to pick up on the scent Suo caught, "I don't smell anything."
As a beta, his nose was biologically less sensitive and couldn't pick up on the nuances that Suo could.
"I think it's Sakura-kun. You have the spare key he gave you?"
Nirei nods. It takes him a moment to fish the key out from his pocket. It's attached to a tiny cat key-chain that he got from a gachapon. It was luck that Nirei managed to get the cat that looked exactly like Sakura —as long as the numerous spares shoved into the back of his desk drawer at home were ignored.
"Cute," comments Suo as he takes it from Nirei.
"It was coincidental," Nirei defends.
Suo chuckles, unlocking and opening the door to Sakura's apartment.
A loud series of raps interrupts Sakura's fitful sleep-not-quite-sleep. He groans, rubbing his eyes as he picks himself up from the tatami mat.
Around Sakura is a meager definition for a nest. He put it together late last night —more like early morning as it was 1:43— when his pre-heat haze shifted from mild nuisance to unignorable and the omega instincts took over. Two thin blankets were the bulk of it, or better said, served as the base of the nest. They defined the boundaries within his room, segregating nest from not-nest. His clean clothes were arranged on top. A single morpeko plushie distinguished the nest from one of those sad pity posters. Sakura had found the plushie months ago abandoned at a park and couldn't leave it there alone, like him. It looked as disgruntled about the nest as he was.
He would be the first to admit that it wasn't much. If he could, Sakura would do away with this whole dynamic-presentation thing. It was expected that as an omega, Sakura would love nests, especially during heat; and also be good at building them. Which pissed Sakura off, he shouldn't have to be an omega to justify why he liked soft blankets or a warm home, those were just comforts. Human comforts that made life… worth it really.
Dynamics just complicated society by placing people into boxes; Sakura struggled to see the benefit. He ignored his omega-ness and pushed it to the side as much as possible. Why did it matter? Being an omega wasn't what made Sakura, Sakura. People looked into the thing too much. So yea, he didn't have a fancy nest cause he didn't care to. It didn't–it didn't mean anything else.
Sometimes, in his dreams, he wished he could keep the scent of Furin with him.
"Sakura-kun!" a muffled voice sounds through his apartment.
Was that Suo? Why was he here? He'd see him in class today—the time!
Sakura feels around for his phone. Shit, he was late. The time read 12:36, half the day was gone and he'd spent it in bed. He also has several missed calls from Nirei. No wonder his friends came knocking.
His stomach curls in a tight knot. He doesn't want to open the door. Suo shouldn't see him like this. He was a mess. This was too much—
"Because we've not heard anything from you, we're gotten a little worried. I brought some food. Can we come in?" That was Nirei.
Damn it. If Sakura continued to ignore them and simply pretended he wasn't home, then they might actually send the whole class around town to find him. He really should just let them in, but something stops him.
A compromise, he could do that.
He slides across the little notification bar on his phone so the device could call Nirei back. The ringtone doesn't even sound once before the call picks up.
"Sakura," says Nirei.
It's off-putting how Sakura first hears Nirei say his name through the door and after a brief technology delay, it repeats on the phone's speakers. There's the fact that the sound through the phone is blue too. He wrinkles his nose, he hates when his heat does this.
"Moshi-moshi," Sakura manages to enunciate. It's the first thing he's spoken all day. His throat cries that it is dry. All he can see is the color blue. He is thirsty.
There's a huge sigh of relief from the other end.
"Are you home right now?" Suo asks.
Sakura hums… that was a nicer blue, like an ocean.
"We're coming in."
That knot in Sakura's stomach flips, "Wait! Wait— what do you mean? You can't just—"
Sakura's pleas are ignored. The door lock clicks open when the key is turned. Sakura rushes out of his nest, a blanket clings to his leg. He trips. Falling to the floor, his phone is knocked from his hand. Air leaves his lungs and Sakura gasps.
Two pairs of footsteps come inside.
"Careful, Sakura-kun," Nirei calls, coming around the corner to the hallway. He's carrying a plastic bag, handles pulled taut by the weight of goods inside, but Nirei throws all of it to the side in favor of helping Sakura.
Behind him, Suo watches, casually covering his nose with a sleeve.
"When did you start?" Suo says.
Sakura looks to his friend, to both of his friends and blushes furiously, "Early–early this morning."
"Sakura-kun, you should've told us your heat was soon," Nirei helps Sakura free from the blanket. He positions Sakura so that he's seated on the floor, against the wall, "I'd be happy to bring anything you needed."
Suo crouches over them to check Sakura's temperature.
Sakura watches him. Wary. His eyes cross as he looks up to track Suo's hand.
"It's just a heat," mutters Sakura, pulling away from Suo. It was only a moments touch, but that was all it took to get a whiff of Suo's scent from the gland on his wrist. Suo smelled…. he smelled of something so incredibly good that Sakura's mouth begins watering. He tenses his body, trying to hold back the urge to jump Suo and bite.
"A heat is not the time to be careless. Have you been drinking water?" Suo remarks, letting Sakura pull back.
When Sakura shakes his head, Suo frowns in disappointment, "I thought so, you're warmer than you should be at this stage. Nirei-kun, can you get the Pocari please?"
Nirei passes over a bottle with the cap untwisted.
"Drink," Suo urges.
Sakura takes it, sips quickly becomes guzzles as he drains the electrolyte drink. The plastic bottle crunches, the absence of fluid vacuuming out it's original shape, shriveling inwards like a raisin. The drink in his stomach is an ice bath and Sakura's body cools down. Some of the haze that fogged his mind abates.
"Better?"
"Yea," shrugs Sakura. His stomach curls, "You didn't have to come over. I've handled plenty of heats on my own before. They're more of a nuisance than anything else, nothing to worry about."
"Sakura-kun," Nirei hesitates, "Did you—Did you have a dynamic health class?"
"Hahh?! No? Why would I take a class that teaches you how to have sex? I don't need that. I'm not doing anything with anyone."
"It doesn't teach you how to have sex! Well, it sorta does, in a way, but… That's not the point. The class mostly focuses on, um, safe dynamic care. Like what to do during you heat. The types of things that you should eat to keep energy and stuff."
"Oh."
"Yea! And for a heat, it's really important to keep fluids and food in easy access, cause your body burns through calories so quickly." Nirei excitedly explains.
Sakura blushes. Okay, maybe, he hasn't taken the best care of himself. It's not like he knew any better though. He didn't have a whole specialized class on it. The only thing he knew was that omegas build a nest during heat — which he did! He should get kudos for that.
"Here, I got these for you," Nirei hands over the plastic bag. It's got a selection of the more healthy and heartier convenience food options.
"Umm…"
Suo smiles, "Don't forget to say thank you. Nirei-kun was quite worried when you didn't show today."
Sakura blusters. It's not— he hadn't meant to worry anyone. Sleep didn't really happen last night, dragging himself out the nest when he was deprived of it was a gargantuan task.
"Thanks," he manages, tucking his chin into his shirt and trying to hide how he couldn't stop sniffing the air.
The two of them together, surrounding his space was incredibly distracting. It had to be the heat speaking, but they both smelled so good. And their scents combining together? Yea, he wanted to bask in it, roll around in the scent like they were a field of flowers and bathe his body with their smell. They were heavenly. Suo's was this strong cinnamon note combined with something woodsy. Then Nirei had this light musk that reminded Sakura of the library that he'd sometimes go to. Not a combination that Sakura would pick out for a candle —which he didn't buy cause it was a waste of money— but they smelled really, really good. Especially together.
"Sakura," Suo says, "need anything else? Or do you want us to leave?"
"Leave?!" Sakura jumps, grabbing onto Suo's wrist. He clenches it tight. The thought of them leaving sends a tremor up his spine.
Suo raises a brow and looks down to his wrist held by Sakura.
"You can't just—" Sakura interrupts himself. He wars with his instincts but manages to release his grip on Suo. There's a beat of silence and then Sakura mutters, "You can leave if you want, I can't stop you if that's what you wanna do."
"What do you want us to do?" Suo asks.
Sakura blushes a fiercely bright red. Suo wasn't playing fair — asking what he wanted. What he wanted wasn't… it wouldn't be allowed.
Nirei smiles at him in a way that Sakura knows is meant to be encouraging, but it just makes his heart beat faster.
"There's your cutest facial expression. I was wondering how quickly I could see it," Suo cooes. His smile matches Nirei's.
"Arhh!" Sakura yelps angrily, "Suo, that's playing dirty. Don't call me cute."
"But you are."
"Nrgh! I'm not. I'm-I'm… I'm not cute," Sakura looks away from his friends as he fails to find an adequate rebuttal.
Suo grabs Sakura by the chin, forcing their eyes to meet, "You didn't answer my question, dear."
Suo's uncovered eye had a penetrating gaze, seemingly able to uncover all of Sakura's secrets. On a normal day, Suo being stern gave him a half-chub, but at the beginning of heat? Sakura cock rose to attention and Suo's eye flicked to it. A little grin shows they both know what feeling was presently curling in Sakura's gut.
"Uhm, you can… stay," Sakura managers to whimper, breaking into a yawn as he admits to the care of an alpha.
"Sleepy?" says Suo.
Nirei pipes in, "Let's get you back in your nest, Sakura-chan – much comfier than the hallway floor."
Sakura mumbles an indistinct response, deeply breathing in the scent of his friends. They were comforting but it would be even better if they were closer, like a nest. There's a voice in the back of his head yelling that this is fake, that Suo and Nirei aren't actually here. Despite the voice shouting to him, it's foggy and distorted, easily ignorable.
Instead, his omega instincts are the forefront of his senses and control. He can't look away from Suo's visible eye. It's such a beautiful deep brown, like the wood of a freshly polished mahogany bed. Sakura wants to fall into the bed's mattress, into Suo's arms, and just sleep forever. He whines at the thought. Needy for the dream to be true, for this present to be true.
Sakura scrambles up, trying to follow his alpha, wanting to be smell alpha's scent and nuzzle into alpha. He stumbles, his sense of gravity loss as his stomach suddenly drops from him. A pair of hands attached to arms catches him. Sakura frowns, confused, looking down at his own legs. Did he just trip over his own feet? They aren't moving like he wants them too, they're just standing there.
"—Ah, ah, there you go, take it easy, Sakura-kun," Suo murmurs into Sakura's ear. "Don't panic, you're falling a bit fast."
When did he? How did— Sakura presses himself into those arms, changing the catch into a hug. He rubs his cheek over alpha's chest, digging deeper for that comforting scent. He wants—
He is hungry. His mouth waters, so he licks. There's a taste of cinnamon, Sakura whines again, asking for more. He is desperate. He pulls at fabric, the barrier between him and the cinnamon needs to go. Sakura nudges his nose into the neck, he wants to be utterly enveloped by the scent and drown in cinnamon.
A disappointed tsk throws Sakura out of the head-space.
"Ah!" Sakura yelps, upset.
"Shhh, you're alright. Take a deep breath," Suo's voice guides Sakura back into the gentle cinnamon.
A hand rubs Sakura's back, "We're just taking you to ya nest, then you can sleep. We'll take care of everything, no need to worry, Sakura-chan."
Above Sakura, there's voices talking, but he only catches parts of it. His vision tilts, like a peach colored filter has been pressed over his eyes as the sounds distort with his eyesight.
"Did you… his nest…?"
"What? Course not! He always… secondary gender… together."
A heavy sigh reverberates in the chest that Sakura is using as a pillow. Sakura nuzzles closer, sighing with the bigger sigh, for it was comforting.
"I'm going to call the rest of class… their spare jackets… everyone's scent."
"Good."
The library leaves and the bookshelves become empty with the scent fading. Sakura cries out, trying to draw it back to himself. It can't leave him like that… like everyone else has.
"Shh," the chest whispers and a hand cards through Sakura's hair. It's the last thing Sakura recalls before he drifts off to sleep.
~
When Sakura wakes, it's unpleasant. His senses are dull, out of place, and his body feels a thousand kilometers away. His nose is clogged with snot. He doesn't want to get up, even though he probably is missing class. He doesn't wanna —why should he? His nest is so comfortable.
Nest?
His nest? He had a nest that was… comfortable. That was odd, but not so strange, maybe the sleep really was that good and his nest became miraculously comfy.
"Evening, moonbeam."
Sakura shakes his head. He must be hearing voices. Who the fuck is moonbeam?
His pillow moves, "You keep saying you're not cute, but I know the truth. If you could only see yourself right now."
There was that peach color again, invading his mind. The hues of a sunset mixing with the a cerulean summer ocean.
"Hawh?! I'm not," Sakura yells, pulling away from his pillow. Only to realize that his pillow is Suo. His cheeks warm — how did that happen?
"You slept on my chest for the past three hours, purring," Suo says.
"Well, I–" Sakura falters, taking in the rest of his room and how it has changed since he accidentally fell asleep in Suo's arms. "When did— How — Why are there so many Furin jackets here?"
"Added to your nest, dummy," says Nirei.
"You didn't have to, I never asked…"
"But I wanted to. Plus it was easy, once everyone in class learned why you were missing, they were eager to swing by and drop off their jackets. Some of them brought more than that. Look," Nirei points to a shark plushie, half-hidden underneath a jacket, "Kiryu-kun got ya a blåhaj!"
The strange, still new feeling of being seen warms Sakura's chest. His ears are hot, burning from the compassion he feels. They didn't have to bring anything. Suo and Nirei swinging by to check on him, and then staying, was more than he would've asked for. It was more than Sakura expected, or ever really dreamed of having, and now it was tangible. They were here and his nest was big, full of clothing articles that carried the scent of his friends, of Bofurin, of his pack.
Sakura swallows, clearing his throat. He tries to steady his nerves, "Can you tell them 'thank you' for me, please?"
"Already have," smiles Nirei, who's sitting with his to the bedroom wall and at the outside edge of Sakura's nest.
Which is wrong, the omega in Sakura voices. Nirei should be cuddling with him in the nest, not watching. Sakura's arms before the thought fully registers in his mind, making a grabby motion for Nirei to come here. He wants, no, needs Nirei to join Suo and him.
"You want me to join?" Nirei's face flickers with repressed anxiety.
Sakura nods and when Nirei doesn't move, takes matters into his own hands by pulling Nirei into the pile of blankets, jackets, and plushies. The next few minutes are spent rearranging. Sakura pokes and prods the various limbs of his friends into a position that makes his omega side purr, satisfied. Nirei and Suo are cradling him on either side, a cage of arms wrap his chest, keeping Sakura inside and protected. Sakura pushes his nose into the base of Suo's neck, inhaling the thick cinnamon scent that carries a blend of pheromones that make up the rest of Furin.
Sakura purrs louder, a rattling sound that vibrates his chest (muddy green). It's unfamiliar and the noise shocks him enough that the rhythm falters. A hand brushing his hair calms him and then, he doesn't want to stop purring —ever. Perfectly content, it feels like nothing could go wrong.
"Mm, as much as I enjoy cuddling, especially with how both of you have gone so sweet. Sakura really should eat something," Suo murmurs.
Sakura whines. He refuses to move. It was comfy. He feels Nirei shift through his back.
Nirei begs five more minutes and that is enough to satisfy them all, for now.