Chapter Text
Sakura had never seen Nirei look so desperate before, not even during the worst fights they had faced together, because the boy standing in front of them now looked less like someone afraid for a friend and more like someone standing on the edge of losing a person who had quietly become one of the most important parts of his world without him even realizing when it happened.
“It can’t be the end…” Nirei’s voice cracked badly as his panicked gaze moved between Umemiya and Endo before finally settling on Sakura, as though desperately searching for even the smallest sign that someone anyone would tell him this situation was still fixable “Sakura-san… Umemiya-san… please… please let me try talking to him.” His shoulders trembled violently under the weight of emotions he could no longer contain, and before anybody had the chance to stop him, he bowed deeply enough that his forehead nearly brushed against his knees “Please don’t give up on Suo-san.”
“Nire-kun, I don’t think that’s a good-”
“Oh, that’s a terrible idea, blondie.” Endo interrupted Umemiya without hesitation, his tone carrying the same lazy mockery as always, yet the expression resting across his face lacked its usual amusement so completely that the atmosphere in the classroom immediately became heavier.
Sakura felt something inside him snap further. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
Endo glanced toward him slowly before sighing under his breath, clearly annoyed that he now had everyone’s full attention “Well… my dear Sakura,” he began in a quieter, sharper tone than before, “one of my contacts lives in Bankokugai, and according to him the entire district has been tearing itself apart for the past few weeks.”
The room stiffened instantly, even the upperclassmen standing near the back visibly tensed. “I don’t know every detail yet,” Endo continued while loosely crossing his arms, “but apparently one of the three factions inside Red Chanapuru betrayed the others and allowed outside gangs to move in.” His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke. “Now the whole place is drowning in retaliation fights, arson attacks, raids, and revenge killings. At this point it’s less of a territory dispute and more of an outright gang war.”
“I don’t know which side your eyepatch friend is standing on,” Endo finished after a short pause, “but bringing a group of Bofurin students into the middle of that mess sounds pretty suicidal to me.” The silence that followed crashed over Class 1-1 with suffocating weight.
The tension hanging in the room felt almost unbearable, pressing down onto Sakura’s chest hard enough to make it difficult to breathe properly as countless thoughts spiraled violently through his head all at once.
That bastard, the entire time… Suo had stood beside him so naturally that Sakura had stopped questioning it without even realizing when it happened. He had lectured him about trust, about relying on other people instead of trying to carry everything alone, and he had looked Sakura directly in the eyes while telling him that Bofurin was a place where he belonged. And all along he never once considered himself part of it. Always smiling. Always calm. Always keeping everyone exactly far enough away that nobody could truly reach him. Sakura clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug painfully into his palms. Maybe what Suo once told Nirei was true after all. Maybe none of this had ever meant as much to him as it did to them.
“…kura-kun…” Sakura barely registered the voice.
“…Sakura-kun.”
“SAKURA-KUN.”
He jerked slightly before finally looking up, only to find Umemiya watching him carefully with an expression far more serious than usual, the easy warmth he normally carried replaced by quiet concern.
“What do you want to do?” The question stunned the room into even deeper silence.
For a moment Sakura could only stare at him blankly, because the truth was that anger, hurt, confusion, and betrayal had tangled together inside his chest so violently he could barely separate one emotion from another anymore. What did he want? His chest burned painfully. “I want to know,” he said at last, his voice rougher than intended. “I want to know why he came here in the first place.”
Nobody interrupted him.
“Why he chose me as grade captain,” Sakura continued slowly, each word growing heavier as he spoke. “Why he fought beside us. Why he trained us…” His throat tightened briefly before he forced himself to continue. “Why he protected us like we actually mattered to him.” His expression darkened. “And I want to know why he left like none of it meant anything.”
The moment those words left his mouth, something inside the atmosphere shifted completely.Almost instinctively, the entirety of Class 1-1 moved behind Sakura without hesitation, not a single person objecting despite the danger Endo had just described, because regardless of fear or uncertainty, none of them were willing to abandon one of their own without answers.
Umemiya watched them for a moment before a faint smile slowly appeared on his face. “Alright then,” he said quietly. “Looks like Bofurin’s going on a field trip.” Then he turned toward the visitors standing near the doorway “But if we’re heading into Bankokugai,” he continued while bowing lightly, “we’re going to need guides. Endo-kun. Takiishi-kun. Will you help us?”
“I already did my part”
“We’ll help.” Takiishi answered immediately, his voice calm but final in a way that made arguing feel pointless from the start. Endo clicked his tongue in obvious irritation. Apparently even he understood there was no point opposing both Takiishi and Sakura at the same time.
“…Fine,” he muttered eventually while rubbing the back of his neck. “Then let’s talk strategy before you idiots charge into a war zone and get yourselves killed.”
…
Far away from the noise and warmth of Bofurin, cold wind swept across the rooftop balcony where Suo stood alone beneath the dark sky, the tassels hanging from his earrings swaying softly every time another gust passed through the narrow spaces between surrounding buildings.
Below him, the lights of Bankokugai flickered endlessly through the darkness like scattered embers barely surviving against the night, beautiful from a distance despite the violence consuming the streets underneath. They reminded him too much of that night. The night he had burned every bridge behind him with his own hands.By now, they were probably furious with him. A sad smile appeared on his face. Nirei especially had every right to hate him after everything Suo had said and done.
And Sakura…
Suo lowered his gaze slightly as Sakura’s face resurfaced vividly in his mind, sharp eyes filled with anger that undoubtedly hid hurt underneath it. Sakura had only just started learning how to let people stand beside him without immediately pushing them away, only just begun believing that he truly had a place inside Bofurin. And Suo had disappeared without even giving him an explanation, but this was better.
Because if staying beside them meant eventually dragging them into the collapsing violence swallowing Bankokugai whole, then leaving before they became tied to him too deeply was the only thing he still could do for them.
Even if they hated him for it.
…
On a rooftop again.”
The familiar voice cut through the silence just as another gust of cold wind swept across the building, carrying with it the distant sounds of sirens, shouting, and the restless pulse of Bankokugai far below. One of his brothers stepped out onto the rooftop balcony with slow, unhurried movements, as his sharp eyes settled on Suo’s figure leaning against the railing.
Suo did not turn around. From where he stood, the entire district stretched beneath him in fractured lights and shadows, glowing signs flickering between dark alleys like dying stars struggling against the night. Somewhere in the distance, another fire was burning. “I can hear the wind better from here,” Suo murmured after a long pause, his voice almost disappearing beneath the noise of the city. “And rooftops let you see things other people miss.”
“Like what?” Suo’s fingers loosened slightly against the metal railing as his gaze drifted upward toward the dark sky hanging over the city. “The past,” he answered quietly. “And the future.”
A second voice interrupted before the silence could deepen further. “There he goes again with that cryptic philosopher nonsense.” Another of his brothers emerged from the stairwell, sounding irritated, though the concern beneath his tone was impossible to hide completely. He shoved the rooftop door open wider before walking closer, his footsteps echoing softly against the concrete. “Seriously, enough already. We need to go downstairs.” Suo finally glanced back over his shoulder, his expression calm in the same careful way it always was whenever he wanted to hide what he was truly thinking. A subtle smile that never reached his empty eye “Do we?”
“Yes, we do,” the second man answered immediately. “Everyone’s waiting, and the situation’s getting worse by the hour. If the western side really joined the outsiders, then we’re running out of time before this entire district tears itself apart.”
For a brief moment, nobody spoke again. The wind moved the tassels hanging from Suo’s earrings, brushing lightly against his neck as he looked back toward the city below, toward the streets he had once called home long before everything became stained by violence, duty, and expectations he had never truly been allowed to escape from. But things had changed with his master gone now. After his passing, Suo had been named one of the higher officers of Red Chanapuru. Now the responsibility of holding the organization together rested partially on his shoulders, alongside the burden of leading his brothers and the remaining members through the chaos consuming Bankokugai from the inside. Whether he wanted it or not no longer mattered. He had inherited this role and with it came obligations far heavier than his own personal desires. He needed to restore order to stop the district from destroying itself completely. And above all else, he could not afford to selfishly dwell on emotions that would only weaken his resolve. Yet despite everything those people from Bofurin had changed him. Against all logic, against all the careful walls and rules he had spent years building around himself in order to survive this place, Bofurin had become something dangerously important to him not because it made him weaker, but because it made him want things he could no longer afford to have.
Trust, belonging, attachment… Things that had always seemed distant somehow became natural whenever he stood beside them, beside Sakura especially. Who moved forward so stubbornly and honestly that it almost felt blinding at times, who carried his pain openly instead of hiding it behind smiles and half-truths, and who continued reaching toward other people despite every scar left behind by his past. Sakura deserved those things far more than Suo ever would.
Sakura’s annoyed expression still lingered vividly in the back of his mind, alongside Nirei’s desperate voice begging him not to leave. The memories settled heavily in his chest. Painfully warm and that warmth was exactly the reason he could not go back.
Because if Bankokugai drowned completely in violence, if Red Chanapuru collapsed from the inside while outside gangs continued tearing through the district, then the people connected to Suo would inevitably be dragged into the conflict as well.
And Bofurin would never ignore a town in need.Sakura certainly wouldn’t. If Sakura learned Suo was in danger, he would come without hesitation, regardless of how reckless or impossible the situation was. And He would come even if it destroyed him. That thought alone was enough to finally make Suo step away from the railing.
“…Fine,” he said quietly at last. “Let’s go.”