Chapter Text
Sakura Haruka arrives in Makochi like a hurricane, like it’s always meant to be.
He says he doesn’t care, says he only came to aim for the top dog place in a school full of rabid dogs. But his voice isn’t the right shade of loud, and the anger that shapes his face is more of a great deal awkwardness topped with a weird hat than actual anger. And if that wasn’t enough to betray him, the way he punches and kicks like a possessed man while doing his best to protect a girl he barely knows surely would.
The third kings had already planned to keep an eye on him, at least during the first few weeks. Fresh blood doesn’t always mix well, either too weak or too volatile. And while they weren’t going to let the new kid crash and burn just from the stigma of being an outsider, they sure as hell weren’t going to let him uproot Furin’s peace either.
It won’t be an easy task, Hiragi thinks when he gets called in to solve a nasty street fight, only to end up faced with a boy he never met before clad in Furin colours. And with that distinct hair and eyes, on top of the crazy fighting style, Hiragi is sure that he would’ve noticed him before. And then, the boy decides to casually freaking jump over their heads to kick a stray goon in the face and Hiragi nearly starts seeing his life pass before his eyes. With his damned luck, he’s just sure that a trouble magnet like that will end up on his team.
He really needs to start putting aside a budget for his Gas-Kun10.
At least, the conversation when he gets back to school is an interesting one. For once, Sugishita isn’t tending to the garden when Hiragi steps onto the rooftop, finding only Umemiya and Suo with their knees bent in front of what he thinks to be peppers. Even through their calm conversation they spark a loud contrast, Umemiya with his exuberant expressions and stained arms, and Suo with his calm and immaculate self. If there’s one thing guaranteed to always amuse Hiragi, is the way the exuberant puppy and the dignified cat actually seem to get along so well.
When they are not trying to piss the hell out of each other, that is.
Trying to avoid being roped into yet another conversation about how well the peppers and the tomatoes are going (sometimes, Umemiya sounds like a proud parent, which is just two parts weird and one part plain disturbing), he launches into his retelling about what happened earlier. He’s not dumb enough to mention that Kotoha was involved, instead doing as he’d agreed with the girl and replacing her with the Nakamura girl down the street. Umemiya easily believes it, but something about the way Suo keeps staring at him, serene but seemingly unblinking, tells Hiragi that the brown haired boy wasn’t so easily fooled.
Not that he wasn’t half expecting it already. Sometimes it seems like Suo has a lie detector built in somewhere in him, like he can smell them or something. On his worst days, Hiragi wouldn’t put it completely past him; as much as he likes the other, there’s something just undeniably weird about him.
At least, he consoles himself, as much as Suo is also protective of Kotoha, he isn’t the type to go berserk just because someone hurt her. In fact, Hiragi is pretty sure he’s just incapable of doing it at all.
Like he said, weird.
Nirei is really starting to think that he’ll be better off if he turns around and goes back home. It’s still not too late to change schools, right? The new school year has just started today, surely if he tells his parents right away they’ll complete the transition process quick enough for him not to lose that much.
No , he reminds himself, he came here for a reason. And he was always aware that it wasn’t going to be easy to reach his objectives, not when he doesn’t even know how to throw a punch in a school full of delinquents. Former delinquents? Somewhat delinquents?
A desk flies across the room.
Ah, maybe it’s a thought he should revisit later.
When Nirei met Sakura, he hadn’t thought much about him besides the fact that a) he was the new guy that the rumours had been mentioning lately and b) he had some freaking cool eyes, even if he seemed a bit stressed. Then, Sakura had saved him, Sakura had said he wasn’t lame even when he’d professed his hate for weak people who thought themselves strong, and that little show of (probably) unintentional validation had been… well, had been something Nirei didn’t even know he was looking for. Hit like a truck and felt like a feather, which only had the tears already present in his eyes growing even bigger.
Sakura was a bit of a mystery, Nirei figured while they were walking to the school. He was brash and strong, loud-mouthed and so confident in a fight that you couldn’t help but feel drawn to him. He fighted beautifully too, quick movements full of power behind them and rapid twists that only made them even meaner. But he was also awkward and a bit too quiet and something told Nirei that underneath the brash personna was someone worth looking out for. Maybe someone a little too addicted to fighting, sure, but who at Furin, bar some of the third years, wasn’t?
Except that, well, for one to look out for another, that another had to, at the very least, be alive. Which in this case meant keeping Sakura far away from Sugishita Kyotaro, who was known for his devotion to Furin’s top dog. Or, in case of an inevitability, at least guarantee that no bad word was said about Umemiya in Sugishita’s presence.
So, of course that Sugishita, of all the people, had to be the one to appear just after Nirei and Sakura entered the classroom. And, of course, it had to be when Sakura was talking about how he was aiming for the school’s top spot.
Because, apparently, such is Nirei’s luck.
Watching Sakura and Sugishita fight is like watching titans fight, Nirei thinks from his spot on the floor, where he’d end up when Sakura pushed him out of the way from the first of Sugishita’s punches. Or perhaps just absurdly strong ninjas, he corrects himself, seeing how Sakura spends half of the time seemingly suspended in the air, and sometimes their moves are so quick that they are barely a blur.
He hadn’t thought it was possible for someone other than the top third years to be able to take on Sugishita, and going by the gobsmacked looks on his classmates’ faces, he wasn’t the only one. Not only is Sugishita quick, but he’s also stronger than any high scholar has the right to be, with a range that makes him very dangerous. Though you wouldn’t know it, from the way Sakura keeps evading his every movement with a smirk on his face and the air of someone who’s only getting their morning workout in.
Scary.
Except that it seems that not even Sakura’s luck holds up forever, as he slips on something while escaping from one of Sugishita’s attacks, and goes down hard. Something that the other quickly takes advantage of, gearing up for another punch that has Nirei valiantly resisting the urge to cover his eyes. Once that punch connects, Sakura-
Sakura kicks Sugishita across the face, because he’s not only the kind of ninja that spends half of his time with his feet off the ground, but a very bendy one too, that takes an almost guaranteed fall and twists it into a surprise kick. It makes everyone let out a gasp in surprise, which only worsens at the sight of blood freely rushing down Sugishita’s face.
Nirei’s heart wasn’t made for this.
Sakura, though, barely reacts, jumping back to nimbly feet while provoking Sugishita even more. Sure, Sugishita might be a bit of a fanatic, they are all pretty aware of that. But calling it to his face? Worse, proclaiming quite so confidently that no one like that could beat him?
A whistle sounds from somewhere within the group of boys that have gathered around a group of desks. The big question is whether in admiration or bafflement at the words the newcomer just said.
Neither Sakura nor Sugishita tend to notice, though, far too focused on glaring at each other from across the classroom. From where he is, Nirei can’t quite see Sakura’s face, but he can see clear as day the sheer rage painted across Sugishita’s, worn like battle paint. It’s nearly enough to send him trembling, a complete opposite to Sakura’s relaxed posture. And yet, they both push forward at the same time, raising clenched fists by their shoulders and gearing up to meet in the m-
“Test, test!” a loud voice yells from the speaker overhead, and somehow it’s all it takes for the two of them to stagger in their steps, movements suddenly awkward from the loss of momentum and focus. “1, 2, 3! 3, 2, 2! 1, 3, 2, 3!”
“Say, Suo, I just have t’a press this button, right?”
“Hm, it certainly seems so” a quietly amused voice answers back, in a more normal tone.
“Wait, it’s already on? You should’ve told me!”
“Oh? But I hadn’t noticed it either.”
A distinctly aggressive bang interrupts the squabble, so loud that it makes nearly everyone raise their hands to try to cover their ears. “You two! Stop messing around where the whole school can hear you!”
“But Hiragi, I didn’t even know this was on!”
“Stop yelling, you idiot, do you want everyone in Makochi to be able to hear you?”
“Mah, Hiragi-kun” the same voice from before interrupts, almost innocently. “Didn’t you just come in yelling yourself?”
“Yes, yes, Suo is right!”
Probably not for the last time of the day, Nirei wonders if it’s too late to request the transfer to another school.
If his gut worked as well when it comes to good things as it does when it’s something bad that is in question, Hiragi would’ve already made quite a hefty sum playing the lottery.
Because of course, of freaking course , not only did he get Sakura on his team, but he got Sugishita too. He’d say that’s an explosion waiting to happen, but according to what Enomoto said, that ship had already sailed. Go figure. At least there were no broken bones this time.
All in all, though, the new kid isn’t that bad. He might have let it slip that Kotoha was involved in yesterday’s incident right where someone could overhear it and bring it directly to Umemiya - which is a less than ideal situation. But it’s more than likely that the kid doesn’t know about the connection between the two of them, so Hiragu gives him a half pass for it. And sure, he’s a bit quick to anger but it’s not like Hiragi doesn’t suffer from the same demons himself. Besides, the blond kid, Nirei, seems to have him handled for the most part.
“Patrol aside” Sakura’s gruff voice says from somewhere behind him, as they are passing through one quiet street a little south from the market “why’s this guy with us?”
Hiragi sighs “I already told you Umemiya asked me to keep you and Sugishita und-”
“Not him!” the interruption makes him pause “the eye patch one.”
‘The eye patch one’ turns out to be none other than Suo Hayato, who upon noticing that the spotlight has been turned his way, approaches the group from where he’d been tailing them a few dozen meters behind. Outwards, there’s nothing unusual about him, just the same congenial smile and passive facial expressions, hands resting behind his back in an elegant but natural posture. However, there’s something about him that speaks oddly to Hiragi’s instincts; he just can’t figure out what.
“Didn’t know you had a thing for stalking” he tells his classmate, because one should never lose an opportunity to mess with Suo Hayato. Not when the other never loses one himself.
“Mah, Hiragi-kun, such hurtful words to say to a friend!” auburn eyes wander over the three first years, probably taking in Nirei’s dread, Sugishita’s little perk up (after Umemiya, Suo is probably his favourite), and Sakura’s scowl. “And in front of the impressionable first years, too. What if they get the wrong idea?”
“Like you following us like a rat since school didn’t give us one?” Sakura drawls, crossing his arms and switching his weight over to his left leg. Hiragi blinks at the accusation, half tempted to bark at the other to have more respect towards an upperclassman, but Suo’s expression halts him in his tracks. Three years he has been classmates with the guy, and he can probably count in both hands the amount of times he’s seen him surprised.
But the widening of a sole, visible eye doesn’t lie, nor does the slackening of the other’s mouth.
Hiragi can’t say he’s not entertained.
“Well, you certainly aren’t observant, aren’t you?”
A snort. “Not like it’s hard to miss a guy with an eye patch nearly a head taller than everybody else around.”
“Ah, I suppose not” Suo easily agrees, not mentioning the fact that no one else in the group had noticed his presence until Sakura mentioned it. Taking one step closer, he bends forward until he’s almost level with Sakura’s eyes. It’s a common Suo gesture, but from the way Sakura bristles he doesn’t take it nearly as lightly. “Were you the one messing around with our Sugishita this morning?”
“First of all, he was the one who threw the first fucking punch” Sakura gets right up in the other’s face with a snarl, jabbing a finger to his chest. After a second of mortified petrification, Nirei goes after him, trying to get him to lower down his arm as he babbles something about picking up fights and ditches. From the corner of his eye, Hiragi spots Sugishita sending him a look, as if questioning why he hasn’t yet intervened to stop the mess. But, well, it’s not like he minds a bit of overtime. And Umemiya and Tsubakino, at the very least, will be very interested in hearing all about this interaction. “Second of all, what’s it to you? Want to fight too, is that it?”
Oh, that’s a first. When was the last time someone actually tried to fight Suo?
“Sakura-san, please! Do you even know who Suo-san is?”
“Ah? What does that have to do with anything?” Sakura doesn't divert his attention to Nirei for more than a second, but it’s enough to send the other faltering back a step. “He looks strong, so I wanna fight him. Simple as that.”
“And if you lose?” it’s Suo’s turn to pipe up, something barbed, eerie, just underneath his amused tone. The bicolored boy seems to sense it to, from the way his shoulders tense.
“What if I do? Won’t know until we try it out, will we?”
Silence hangs over the five of them for a long minute, Suo seemingly too busy dissecting his way to Sakura’s very soul to give him a proper response. Hiragi tells himself that this might be the time to intervene, lest Suo takes the other seriously and he ends up with one of his most promising first years beaten to a pulp in the most embarrassing way.
“Mah, aren’t you so cute, Sakura-kun?” letting out a laugh, Suo reaches over to ruffle the other’s hair, completely ignoring the finger still pointed at his chest. There’s a strange glint to his eye that Hiragi can’t quite identify, which rarely means anything good when it comes to Suo. “Just like a cat!”
“Who the heck are you calling a cat, you bastard?” the yell is accompanied by a seemingly instinctive punch that Suo easily dodges, dancing his way out of a kick in the next breath. “And stop messing up my hair, damn it!”
“But it’s so soft.”
“Not my freaking problem!”
Yes, he certainly has his work cut out for him this year.