Chapter Text
As he entered the kitchen, Haruka took a deep breath and inhaled the warmth in the room. It was one of those slow mornings where he got everything ready to start while his boss came back with the ingredients. He was blissfully alone, and he found peace in the iron sterile kitchen.
Haruka cleaned the floors and counters once again and, since everything was still off, he looked down at the small thing cradled on his chest— Do you wanna be down a bit?
The little black fluff looked up at him, and her golden eyes glowed with an intensity Haruka wasn’t sure was normal for a pup so small— Of course you want, you brat.
—Ah! —she wiggled once she found herself free from her sling, just calming down when she was left on the floor, crawling away from Sakura.
The kitchen is safe, the sun coming from the windows warms the floors, his boss put a baby lock in every cabinet and there is nothing she can throw in her little adventure, so Haruka has no problem in letting her wander while he cut the little veggies there were left on the kitchen. Some onions and garlic, and he cut the pork meat too, it was ready since yesterday so it was not much work— Sayu, where are you? —he called the baby.
—Amn! —she babbled from the back of the kitchen.
Haruka followed the little voice and found the baby looking at the wall. There were some lights, a reflect from a glass ornament his boss kept near the window, and Sayu tried to reach them with his chubby hands. She couldn't reach them, she couldn’t even stand, for that matter, but she was doing her very best to touch the lights.
He laughed softly and keeled by her side— Come here —Sakura said as he picked her up.
From the safety of his arms, she touched the white wall and giggled, delighted by the moving lights on it.
Haruka looked at Sayu, she was just… happy. She liked to look around, she liked to wander and she liked shiny stuff. She liked to follow him around too. Every time she stopped paying attention to her toys, she would find Sakura and stuck to him until she was finally held by him.
He couldn’t get used to it, knowing that someone relies solely on him.
Click.
Haruka turned around, finding his boss right in front of him, with his phone on her hands— Sakura’s smile is so pretty! —she cooed happily— Look! I think I took a good one this time.
She showed his phone, because she always used his phone, and he saw the picture— You know, you don’t need to do that… —he huffed, the red crawling up his face.
—Don’t be so tense, Sakura! —she smiled—. Pictures are important! One day you are going to look back and won’t believe how much time has passed.
Haruka took the phone and left it on his pocket— I take pictures all the time.
—But you are not on those pictures, are you? —she smiled cheerfully—. You are a growing boy too!
His blush grew even worse as he put the baby back on her sling. Wanijima Sumire is the weirdest person he has ever known, she has been nothing but gentle with Haruka and Sayu, and insisted in accommodating for their needs whenever possible. She made his life a little warmer.
—Mom, where do I leave this?
A tall, ash haired boy entered the kitchen. The boxes covered his face, but Haruka recognized his voice— Ah, Yugo! —the woman went and picked the upper box on the boy’s hands— Leave them on the counter, we can storage them once they are inside.
—Yes boss —he agreed.
While they got things from the truck into the kitchen, Haruka slowly put things away on the fridges with the always helpful support of Sayu’s hands over the baskets— Sakura, leave that to me —the boy said.
Yugo was the spiting image of his mother, with ash blond hair and almond shaped eyes, he was just way taller than her, and his eyes were honey instead of silver— I can do this, It’s not even heavy.
—Still —he said—. Carrying weight so far from your body is not good for your back.
—Yugo is right, Sakura! —the woman followed—. Can you put the water on the stove in the meantime?
He just hummed, ignoring the red growing on his face. Sayu didn’t ignore it, however, she was giggling at him and poking his cheek, the brat.
Haruka heard them from his place, speaking softly about one of his part time jobs around town and where the woman’s youngest child was. She’s usually wondering around the neighbourhood doing God knows what, but Yugo always seems to know where she is and with who. He’s not saying that Yugo’s an overprotecting brother but, yeah, he absolutely is.
—See ya, Yu-chan —Yugo passed right behind him and she giggled when he pinched her cheek—. You too, Sakura, take care.
—Hm —he nodded.
Yugo often spends time in the kitchen, helping around or just spacing out on the back shop, which often includes spending time with Sayu, because she just wanders trough every open door she has available and has given Sakura a heart attack more than once.
—Ah! Uuo!
—Looks like someone got bored —Yugo laughed—. I’ll be right back, ok?
—Uuo! —she kept shutting on Sakura’s ear, ringing on his tired existence, but Haruka couldn’t say anything. It was way beater than having her crying about Yugo.
Yugo walked right back at the back shop, opening the door and putting a little stopper to prevent it from closing again— I’ll have her drawing, that’s ok? —he asked with a quiet smile.
—Yeah, just don’t close the door —he said again, because he always asks the same thing.
Yugo hummed happily, lowering the cloth of the slip to let the pup go— Goooot it.
Sayu wiggled herself out of the sailing and raised her little arms towards Yugo with a bright smile on her chubby chicks— Baah! —she beamed as soon as she was free. But started wiggling to get to the floor the second after, because she hated to be picked for some reason.
That brat was so happy whenever Yugo or Asuka, Yugo’s younger sister, played with her. Having many scents around is good for a pup’s development, at least that said in the maternity books he read early on his pregnancy… His friends gave it to him as a joke when his cycle was late, but jokes on them, he was very pregnant.
The fucker jinxed him, really, but it didn’t turned out so bad so he wasn’t so annoyed.
Speaking of the devil… He hadn’t known much about him lately, he should pay him a call or something.
—Sakura-kun, do you wanna go out?
His eyes sharpened like the ones of a cat would, and he instantly forgot about that silly issue— Do you need anything?
—Oh, not much —she smiled—. Can you run to the store for a couple things? I need them for lunch.
From time to time, mostly when Sayu is entertained with something on the shop, Wanijima treats him for lunch. She’s very happy about making tiny meals for Sayu too, now that she can actually eat food outside her milk, and Sakura is quite relieved to have someone’s advice on what to give her.
—Yu, I’ll go out for a bit —he told the child carefully— Be brave for a bit, ok?
Sayu smiled and hummed, she likes Wanijima enough to stay with her, or rather, he trust the woman enough to leave his pup with her. Anyway, Sayu can be alone for so long before throwing a fit, so his walks are always short— I’ll be back, then.
—Am! —she smiled.
He left the apron on the counter and left right after, it’s not everyday that he gets to go out and Haruka plans to use it well.
“Well” read as “running around like a dumb ass” because that’s one of the few things he definitely can’t do with Sayu strapped to his chest. She’s so weak he can easily hurt her in a shake, and he’s very paranoid about that, even now that she’s more sturdy and can crawl and sit alone.
Sayu can hold pens too, it’s been just a few days tho…
—Hello, Sakura-kun —greeted the old woman in the front register—. Yu-chan is not with you today?
He looked at the granny, remembering the odd sensation of having her asking so frequently about his pup, but she’s just an old lady making chit chat, or so Wanijima said. She knows almost everyone in the district and is very very nosy, so she always ask, apparently— Nah, she’s with my brother today.
Not that he’s ever telling anyone where his pup actually is, of course.
—Oh, you have siblings! —she smiled— Are they many? Are they older than you?
Damned woman. Sakura wondered inside the little convenience store and started looking for ingredients, It’s for Wanijima, not for the shop, so he has to buy things like condiments and a little of many things— We are a couple —he explained—. I’m the youngest.
She hummed softly— That’s very lovely, I hope he is taking good care of you and Yu-chan.
—Yeah, he’s kind of…
Sakura looked at the basket, checking he had everything while avoiding the nosy granny’s questions— Is that everything for today? —she asked while he put everything in front of her.
—Yep —he nodded, taking the cash Wanijima had given him and counting it.
While he minded his own business, thing that kept him alive for many many years, he started hearing noise outside— Oh my… —The woman frowned visibly, gazing at the door with knowing eyes—. You should wait for a bit before going back, Sakura-kun.
Sakura followed her sight towards the clear doors, and found a bunch of assholes surrounding someone— Shishitoren, right? —he wondered out loud—. They say they’re a rowdy bunch.
—Rowdy… —The woman sighed—. They used to be lively, it used to be just kids causing ruckus around the street.
Even if he felt curious about the melancholy in the woman’s brown eyes, Sakura gave her the money and started saving everything in his backpack.
The neighbourhood is filled to the top with bars, pubs and restaurants, but it has an incredible amount of elderly people living there, happy to serve customers until insane hours in the morning. Most of them, at least for the costumers Haruka spoke to during his almost none existing evening shifts, had some kind of bittersweet feeling towards the gang that keeps causing incidents, more and more violent each time. They are making the neighbourhood a dangerous place, but they are more worried about them then they are for themselves and their business.
“They are our kids” They said.
Sakura wondered what would he do if Sayu fell in ill steps, even after everything he did to prevent it.
He left the life he knew, the ways he felt comfortable with and the people who surrounded him for years, just to give her a normal life. But if she fell anyway, because apples fall close to the tree or whatever… he had the sensation that he would be fucking boiling.
He can’t fathom the idea of leaving her alone to ruin her life like that.
But again, he has only one kid, fortunately, and it’s enough work for a lifetime. Haruka can’t care less for what they do but…
—Oh, Lord! Is that a child!?
The woman's voice ran on his ears, and his eyes ceroed in the group. The person in the middle, the one being cornered and who found a way to avoid them and run, was a boy, not older than a middle schooler— That kid’s not from here, poor thing…
For a brief moment, something visceral revolver on his chest.
He can leave some overgrown idiots ruin their lives, he can leave them cause the trouble they want because he’s perfectly capable of saving his own damn ass.
But a child younger than him is totally out of question.
If someone chased Sayu like that…
—Tell someone to bring this to the restaurant.
The woman looked at the backpack left on the counter— W-wait, Sakura-kun!?
Haruka bolted out of the shop with his heart on his throat. The boy is running to the tracks, to the commercial district, but he’s not from around here, he probably doesn’t know where are the arcs under the tracks. They are a couple blocks between each other, the boy is going to end up in an alley if he’s not careful— Hey! —he shouted, running to catch them up.
The commercial district is guarded by Bofurin, a gang that Shishitoren doesn’t cross with for whatever reason. And Haruka can’t go back home covered in bruises so…— Come here!
Haruka cached the boy’s arm and started running away from the main streets, cutting road with back alleys and shortcuts— W-who are-!?
—Fucking run! —He scolded the boy.
He’s saving his ass, who cares who he is.
When one of those arcs entered his visual camp, Haruka heard a shout— WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THERE!? —Haruka couldn’t see the man, but he was wondering the very same thing— COME HERE!
He felt almost relieved but, of course, the kid fucking tripped, and Haruka could only push him as far as he could and turn around to see the fucker’s face. He had seen the leader before, but the man-bun and the mohawk guy were totally unknown to him, he hadn’t even seen them around town during his walks with Sayu.
A familiar kind of rush ran down his back the second he twisted his torso, aiming for his stupid face with a kick. But someone get there faster.
One second he was ready to start a brawl, and the next one he had an awfully tall alpha standing in front of him, growling like a feral dog— Sugishita!
—They started —he argued to the man who yelled at them before, the guy was blond and looked older than them. Haruka sawthe green uniforms and the stupid bravado, the recognition crossing his mismatching eyes.
They must be Bofurin.
He expected something… Different, not that clearly stressed dude herding guys his age— Oh, are you already down? —he heard a giggling voice— How laaame!
Looking back, the man-bun was poking at the guy’s face, with a mocking grin on his face. Mohawk wasn’t much better, laughing at the guy— Wasn’t he your friend? —he asked, moving unconsciously to cover the boy from them. Not that he hadn’t seen things like that before, he would surely smack his brother’s head too if he fell from just a kick, but what they were doing was just… yeah. They were rotten shit.
—This one? No way —the taller said between laughs—. But that doesn’t matter, it’s very rude for you to meddle in our business, don’t you thing?
The older Bofurin guy frowned, tense by the accusations «Right, the turf ends here.» Haruka remembered as he heard the train running on top of them. But anyway— You need some spine, dude —Haruka sighed, looking at the blond guy. Always keeping the kid behind him.
—You started this bullish following one of our kids —spat the tall alpha.
Well, more like a feral dog, sounds like he’s a watchdog, a feisty one at that. Quite better, but he would like to know who’s holding his leash before assuming anything. At least, he had to agree with him at that— This kid is not from Kokubuncho, so it’s nothing for you to be toying with.
—You are not even from Bofurin! —the mohawk guy said—. Get out of here before I beat the shit out of you.
Haruka scoffed— You were following a kid —he mocked him—. You are just a big lame ass who can’t stand his ground in front of someone your size.
The second the guy grabs his collar shirt, but a languid voice was heard, freezing the guy's fanfare— Hey, heeeeyy —the voice spoke—. Why so rushed?
It was a huge guy, who wore traditional clothing with wooden getas included. He got closer slowly, and Haruka felt the growing tension on the place as he walked. The guy wasn’t looking around, he even steeped over the knocked out dude— Saruwatari! What happened!?
…What’s wrong with him?
—Ah, Hiiragi! Heeyy! —he smiled an waved at the blond— What is Furing doing here, hm?
—Your guys were following one of us —the blond guy spoke for once.
—Hm… Then this thing here… —The man pointed to… Saruwatari, was it?— Is a mischief from those pup of yours?
Ah…
Sakura swallowed hard, felling the scentless weight in the air.
This guy has a problem.
The world stopped for a few seconds where he pondered what to do. Slamming his head against the pavement was tempting, but looking at him he didn’t really expected him to be a quick fix. Whatever he’s on is dulling his scent and probably numbing his senses, only God knows if he feels pain at all right now, and besides, the way everyone is alert… He must be a big one in Shishitoren.
And it’s not like he can leave, he lives in Kokubuncho and is most likely going to cross path with them again sooner than later.
He just sighed, tuning back on whatever was happening around him— I expected something else, you know? —he said, looking at the jacked hanging from the guy’s hand, looks like he just ripped it from his… teammate?— The people around you are scared out of their wits, but you are a bunch of bullies hiding behind a stupid motto.
—I can’t hear everything, you talk too fast…
Yep, he’s definitely high on something. The man walked towards him, easily towering over him— Oww… Disappointed? —he laughed— You look a little weird, don’t you? Like Othello pieces.
—You are too slow.
The man’s grin grew wide on his face— Ah… You are irritating —he growled. It was weird, even without an scent, the guy had a heavy presence—. Well, I’ve seen you around before, I’ll see you around again, don’t you thing, Othello-kun? I have other stuff to deal with right now…
Sakura shivered, he had seen him before?
Did he saw Sayu?
—Your face is quite unforgettable, after all.