Chapter Text
Sakura used to live in a city. High rising sky-scrapers which looked down on him oppressively like they too were judging him for his split hair and eyes, even though his hair was black and his eyes blue. Lamp posts that buzzed lowly as night fell; Sakura made sure to stay out of their way, lurking succinctly in the shadows where nobody could see him.
A monster.
A freak.
An abomination.
Peculiar.
One evening, he was walking back home, shoulders bunched. He wouldn’t call it a home. Not really. Raised voices, sharp slaps, crying, screaming, chest tightening, ragged breathing, the burn of hair dye on his scalp that faded far too quickly for his father’s liking, hands holding him down as his eyelids were forced wide open for contacts.
Kindness was something Sakura seldom experienced. The stray cats in this cold, empty city would curl up against his still body when his father kicked him out saying that his appearance made guests sick. One time, he’d done that when it was below freezing. Sakura was still in the t-shirt and boxers he wore to bed and he caught hypothermia.
Nobody came to his aid. He was just thrown to the side, feverish and practically hallucinating and even the gentle licks of the stray cats couldn’t soothe the delusions the same way they soothed his tears.
He was walking home. Today, he decided to take the longer route. The city was almost peaceful. He walked through a park he’d never properly walked through before, wind blowing the leaves around like mini hurricanes. He followed the path until he spotted a boy who looked about as old as himself sitting on the side of the concrete.
The boy’s face was shaped like a tear-drop, framed by black bangs that blew in the wind along with his earrings which had a red bead and yellow tassels that reached all the way to his shoulders. At least Sakura assumed his hair was black. The lack of light made it hard for him to tell the difference. His expression was serene, satisfied like there was nothing wrong in the world. His eye was brown. He had one eye. The other was hidden behind white medical gauze attached to a string around his head.
A leaf fluttered and attached itself to his purple jacket with a collar on top of a white turtleneck. He was hunched over a piece of cardboard with a small bag open and Sakura could see a deck of worn cards inside as the boy collected the cups and the ball which were previously sitting on top of the card.
Sakura, being eight and wary of people, stopped a few meters away and called out to him “Hey, what happened to your eye?”
The dark haired boy looked up, eye glinting, a mischievous smirk plastered across his previously serene face “I lost it in a bet.” he said playfully “I’m Sun Fei. Who are you?
“Haruka.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Haruka-kun.”
Sakura still kept his distance. Sun Fei unnerved him which he shouldn’t, logically but Sakura relied on his instincts because they hadn’t failed him yet, unlike everyone else in his life. “What are you doing?” Sakura asked, watching as Sun Fei closed the bag and tucked his cardboard panel under his arm.
Sakura could now see that the boy was wearing canvas shoes and his trousers were made of some kind of fabric that swished around his legs as he walked.The howling of the wind occupied the silence and the steadily creeping dark as Sun Fei packed up his stuff “I challenge people in games to earn money.”
“And to lose eyes apparently.” Sakura said, following Sun Fei as he started walking “What kind of games?”
“Card games and the game where you have to guess which cup the ball is under.”
“What one do you like better?”
Sun Fei thought for a moment, his elegant fingers picking at the skin of his lips “The latter. It’s far easier to control than cards. Cards can be a game of pure luck like Shithead.”
“Shithead?” Sakura questioned as they turned right, coming towards the exit of the park.
“It’s a card game. My brothers taught me it. They say I’m really good.” Sun Fei said, pride practically streaming from his pores. “I’ll teach you, if you like.”
“What did you mean when you said that the ball game was easier to control?”
“It’s simple really. There’s a small gap in the cups so I can manoeuvre the ball wherever I wish.”
“You’re a con man!” Sakura said loudly, shocked. Sun Fei looked offended
“I am not a con man!”
“My father says that that’s what conmen do. They swing everything in their favour. He says that they are manipulative bastards.”
“I haven’t manipulated you thus far. I’ve only ever told you the truth.”
“Even about the eye?” Sakura asked pointedly
“Well, maybe not the full truth. My brothers say that in order to do my job,I need to maintain some air of mystery.”
“Tch. Who are your brothers anyway?”
“Oh, they’re in the gang that protects the city.”
They were coming up on a bridge now. It was deserted but the water caught the moonlight like a hunter catching a dove. Sun Fei stopped and climbed on top of the bridge, sitting on the side. His legs dangled against the rock, his loose pants flowing around his ankles like a flag. He turned back to look at Sakura and patted the spot next to him.
Sakura didn’t move. The last time he was on this bridge, a classmate had pushed him into the water knowing he couldn’t swim and Sakura would never forget the feeling of calm as he accepted he was going to die before he was wrenched out by strong hands that were gone by the time he finished throwing up the nasty river water in his system.
He didn’t say goodbye to Sun Fei. He just simply took off, sinking into shadows, leaving the boy with the tasselled earrings wondering if he was ever there at all.