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It was a rare day off for the two representatives and Umemiya had made it a point to grab Sakura at the end of the school day. They don’t get to hang out casually often, and he wanted to take the opportunity to bond with his little brother.
Hopefully they don’t run into any trouble around town. Both of them had shed their Bofurin jackets, but it’s hard for either of them to have any anonymity in Makochi.
“So Sakura, I’m thinking we should get out of town to find some grub. What do you think?”
He seems to consider it for a moment, looking a little uneasy, but eventually nods.
“Sure, I haven’t been out of Makochi in a while. Though I can’t say we won’t get any weird looks if we go.” He says with a shrug.
At the agreement, Umemiya slings an arm over his shoulders, earning a signature flush. “Oi! Don’t grab me!”
He says that but Umemiya can feel him lean into the touch. So instead of letting go, he just holds on tighter and pulls them towards the closest station.
“Dont worry, no one will bother you with me around!”
Sakura flushes and gives him a skeptical look but nods, “Whatever you say.”
He decides to change the subject with a beaming grin. “I haven’t heard of any big brawls going down for 1-1 recently. But the townspeople have been singing your praises for all the good work you do for them!”
“I don’t know what you're talking about!” The boy sputters before his expression turns into a pout, “and who’s been telling you that anyway.”
Ah, so cute!
He raises a finger with a smirk, “Ah trade secrets! You'll have the same resources eventually, but with Neire-kun it shouldn’t be too hard to figure it out.”
“Tch. You're right about that. He seems to know everything about everyone.” It might sound begrudging but the upperclassman can see the small smile he tries to hide.
Umemiya’s grin softens, “Oh? Look at you, appreciating your friends.”
Sakura’s shoulders hunch under his arm as he flushes again. “Yeah, what of it!? Can’t deny facts!”
“Ahaha you're right!” He laughs as they reach the station and board the closest train. It should take them to a good ramen shop he went to with Tsubaki awhile back.
Sakura sits down in an empty seat while Umemyia stays standing, regaling him with the latest updates of the rooftop garden.
The younger boy just listens quietly, though still engages with a question now and then.
It’s something Umemiya has noticed over the last year. Unless he’s prompted, the class captain prefers to listen to others talk. He’s mellowed a lot over time, now more contemplative and steady.
It’s not ten minutes into the ride before the upperclassman notices Sakura’s shoulders tensing with his head down.
Umemiya pauses in his description of the new plot of peppers he added and looks over his shoulder, only to see an older lady pointing directly at Sakura muttering to the man beside her.
Now that he’s listening he picks up on her quiet words.
“Look at that boy. Are those eyes natural?”
The man is nodding his head while chuckling, “yeah what a freak.”
Immediately anger floods him. How dare these strangers say such crude things about his little brother. He moves further in front of Sakura to hide him from their gaze and sends them a cold glare.
“Mind your own business.” His voice is devoid of his usual cheer, and the two immediately pale and look away.
He gazes back to Sakura only to see the boy looking up at him with barely concealed gratitude.
The class captain clears his throat. “Um. Thanks, you didn’t have to do that. I’m used to it.”
That only makes him angrier, but he lightens his expression. “It doesn’t matter if you're used to it, no one should speak about you like that.”
That seems to surprise the boy, but he gives a small nod, looking away with a bright flush.
Umemiya grants the boy mercy and changes the subject to his new plots until they reach their stop.
As they walk down the street, the upperclassman picks out multiple people staring, but no one engages with them so he leaves it be. Instead keeping Sakura distracted with old stories of his own past fights.
They keep up lighthearted conversation throughout dinner. The younger boy is easy to talk to and even easier to read. It really is hilarious to see him get all flustered or excited about different topics.
“I told Suo I could do it! He’s not even that much taller than me, I could have just grabbed a stool. But no, he had to flaunt his height by painting the last section all on his own.”
Sakura sits with his arms crossed and a pout on his face, obviously still flustered even a few days after the incident.
“Oh? You sure he wasn’t just trying to show off for a certain someone?” Umemiya asks in a knowing tone.
The bi-colored boy seems to flush even more at that. “Eh? What’s that supposed to mean!? We were the only ones there!”
“Mhm, I wonder.” He knows there’s a shit eating grin on his face, but he can’t help but tease him. It’s what big brothers are for really, and he has a lot of years to make up.
The upperclassmen noticed the change in the vice-captains demeanor after the window incident. Seemingly more attentive and quicker to tease. It’s absolutely adorable.
Ah, first love. I can’t wait to give him a shovel talk.
He still hasn’t had the chance to give one for Kotoha, but that might be his fault. His protectiveness is a well known fact in Makochi.
Unfortunately for the auburn haired boy that also applies to Sakura now.
“Well, you’ll figure it out eventually! Until then, just enjoy the time you spend together.” He offers with a clap. “What do you say about getting out of here? It’s already getting dark outside.”
Sakura looks up towards the window in surprise. “Oh yeah, we totally lost track of time.”
—
It’s not until they're close to the station that they hear the tell tale sounds of a scuffle in a nearby alleyway.
Really it was inevitable they would run into some trouble. The two of them seem to be magnates for chaos.
They give each other a quick look before running over to see what’s happening, only to find one man cowering with five guys jeering around him.
“Look at this wimp. Just give us your money and we’ll let you go.” Says a blond guy that must be the leader of the group.
Just as he goes to grab the man’s collar Sakura jumps in to kick the guy in the back.
“What are you losers doing picking on one guy? You really are lame, huh?” He drawls with a finger up to his ear.
Umemiya kicks one of them in the back of the head. “I couldn't have said it better myself!”
Both of them are too distracted to see the man’s mouth turn into a disgusted grimace.
After that it’s barely even a fight. Only lasting less than a minute before all five are down groaning in pain. The leader seems to recover quickly and starts pulling his guys out of the alley, running with tails between their legs.
When Umemiya turns back to the man that was being cornered, Sakura is already there.
“Sir, are you okay?” He asks in a gentle tone. The man just starting to look up suddenly punches Sakura in the face.
Unemiya is struck silent in surprise.
“Get away from me, freak! I thought you had fucked off to some no where town, what the hell are you doing here?” He all but yells.
Sakura, now white as a sheet, only looks at him in silence.
“Or better yet you could have been dead. Always bringing shame to our family, can’t even stay out of trouble can you?”
The venom in the man’s tone finally breaks Umemiya out of his surprise. He walks to place himself between the two.
“Hey! What the hell are you talking about? He just stepped in to save you from those thugs.” His voice is cold as ice.
“Save me? I’d rather die than let this trash anywhere near me.” He finally looks away from Sakura towards him, and immediately goes just as white as the other boy.
He doesn’t know what expression is on his face right now, but it must be pretty scary to get that reaction.
Good. I think I can guess who this guy is.
There’s a faint resemblance between the two, and though he’s pretty sure of the answer he still asks, “Sakura, do you know this guy?”
The boy in question looks down as if ashamed, “yeah, h-he’s my brother.”
“Don’t call me that freak, the fact we share blood is bad enough. Just wait until I tell mom and dad I saw you here.” He sneers.
Sakura actually flinches at that.
“Enough.” Umemiya bites out, “don’t you dare say another word. I don’t care if you're related, that doesn’t give you the right to speak to him that way.”
“Oh yeah? And who are you? Must be pretty pathetic if your hanging out with this monst-“
He doesn’t get a chance to finish the sentence before Umemyia punches him in the jaw hard enough to send him to the ground. Before the man can try to get up he stomps his foot on the guy's face.
“I’m his real brother, you piece of shit, and I won’t let you spout that nonsense about my family.”
He hears a faint call of his name from behind him, but can’t look away from the pathetic man beneath his shoe.
“If I see you are your worthless parents anywhere near him, I’ll do much worse than this. Understand?”
He doesn’t respond immediately so Umemiya grinds his foot down harder until the man gives a reluctant “yes.”
“Good.” He kicks the guy's head to knock him out for good measure before turning back to Sakura.
He looks lost, still white as a sheet and shaking. The upperclassman walks over and puts his arm around the boy’s shoulder, gently guiding them out of the alleyway.
Once they reach the station, he finds a bench away from the hub of people to sit Sakura down. Looking around he finds a vending machine and goes to grab the boy’s favorite juice. Hopefully the sugar will help steady him.
He puts the drink in the Sakura’s hands before sitting down himself to lay a hand on his back.
“Hey, you with me?” He asks quietly, trying not to startle him too much.
Sakura reluctantly lifts his gaze to look at him, his face contorted in shame, and to the upperclassman's surprise, tears in his eyes.
His heart breaks for him and his anger is rekindled once again, but he takes a deep breath. Sakura needs a steady presence right now, not a vengeful protector.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know we would run into him here. They live so far away, I thought it would be safe.” He looks back down again at the drink in his hands. “I didn’t want you to find out about them this way.”
“Hey, it’s not your fault he was here. And you are safe. He won’t bother you again, and he will never be welcome in Makochi.” He smiles reassuringly and wraps an arm around the boy's shoulders. “You don’t need to worry, your big brother will always be here to protect you.”
At that, Sakura's head peaks up and he’s relieved to see the regular blush on his cheeks.
The class captain nods and leans into Umemiya. “Yeah. I know.” Then he whispers almost too quiet to hear, “thanks Onii-chan”
—
Umemiya drops Sakura off at his place once they arrive in Makochi. He needed to make sure the boy got home safe after the night they had.
To his surprise, Sakura gave him a hug before he left. It was the first time he had initiated one, and it felt like another step forward.
He can’t help but fall into his own thoughts on the way home.
It was shocking to see how Sakura was treated once they were out of Makochi. He hadn’t realized just how badly the boy had been regarded, not just by his brother, even strangers were awful.
The lady pointing at him in the train and people on the street staring at them as they walked.
Sakura had confided in him in the past that he thought the people of Makochi were strange. Too kind to be ‘normal’. He’s just starting to understand the depth of isolation the boy had experienced in the past.
And over something so inconsequential as his looks. What does it matter that his eyes and hair are different colors? That could easily be accomplished with hair dye and contacts.
It’s not like he causes trouble for others, if anything he’s more prone to help people then hurt them.
Umemiya has only known the boy for less than a year, but he is certain of Sakura’s character. On his first day in Makochi, even before he knew of Bofurin, he had defended the townspeople.
Those aren’t the actions of someone malicious.
He won’t always be able to shield his little brother from the cruelty of others, but he will be damned before he stops trying.