Chapter Text
In the small, cluttered space of his room, Sakura sat on his bed, surrounded by his classmates. Kiryu, with his calm smile, leaned against the window, while Suo stood idle by the door, still being somewhat calm after the recent events. Nirei, fidgeting with his phone, his eyes darting from face to face as he listened to the conversation.
Sakura, still looked a little frightened after the recent events, but asked, "What doctor are we going to see?" It was unusual to see him so frightened, but after the recent events, no one could blame him.
Kiriyu spoke calmly from his position by the window, "Don't worry, Sakura. I've got it handled. I'll take you to my personal physician. I trust his judgment, and I hope you won’t make you uncomfortable" His voice had an assurance in it that was soothing. It was just what Sakura needed to hear.
Sakura looked up at Kiriyu. "You have your own doctor?" It was clear that the concept was foreign to him, as he had never had anyone take care of him in such a personal manner before.
"Yes, I do," Kiriyu replied, his smile never wavering. "It's nothing special, really. Just someone who's been looking out for my health for a long time. And now, they can do the same for you."
Sakura nodded, being grateful that he was so appreciated and well cared for. He was still overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, but the support from his friends was reassuring. "Thank you," he said, his voice a little shaky. "I really appreciate it."
Kiriyu gave him a look, firm but gentle, and said, “You don’t have to thank me. Any of us would’ve done the same, especially after… everything that just happened.”
Nirei, sitting nearby, looked hesitant before finally speaking up. “I-I don’t mean to pry or anything,” he said carefully, “but… Sakura, wouldn’t it maybe be easier to just explain what happened? Or maybe just explain the past and how it got you here? I mean… from the way it looked, this didn’t seem like the first time that doctor—”
There was a beat of silence.
Nirei immediately raised his hands, backing out fast. “I-It’s okay! You don’t have to tell me—I wasn’t trying to dig or anything—I just thought—”
“It’s not that-,” Sakura interrupted, voice calm but low. “It’s just… I wasn’t expecting that question.”
" Nirei-san has a point," Tsubaki said gently. "If you feel comfortable, maybe sharing what happened would help us understand you better. Who knows, it might even help us support you more effectively in the future."
Sakura took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you what I can. It's a... long story. But we'll talk about it on our way to the doctor tomorrow." The tension in the room eased slightly, and the others nodded in understanding. They knew that pushing him now wouldn't be helpful, and they were grateful that he was willing to open up at all.
————————————————————————————
The following morning, as they made their way through the quiet streets of Makochi to the physician's office, Sakura began to recount his past. He spoke slowly, as if the words themselves were painful to form. "The doctor who treated me yesterday, he's actually my uncle. Back in my old town, the people weren’t the fondest of me because of my looks; people judged me before they even knew me. They thought I was a troublemaker, someone to stay away from. And no matter what I did, no one would give me a break . If I found someone’s wallet it was because I stole it. If there was a fight I had to be involved, if I was injured it was because I was bullying a person. You get the gist. And for school, I needed my annual checkup papers… medical history too. But no one in town would do it for me. They either ignored me or flat-out refused.”
He kept his eyes forward, tone flat.
“So I had to start looking farther. Out of town. That’s how I ended up at that clinic. At the time, my physician wasn’t my uncle—it was one of his coworkers. Honestly, the guy was just as bad, maybe even more annoying. He didn’t care what happened to me, just gave me the bare minimum and expected me to move on. So when I found out my uncle started working there too, I figured… maybe it’d be better. Family, right?” He gave a small shrug. “Didn’t take much to switch over.”
His silence lingered for a second before he added, “Should’ve known better.”
They didn’t interrupt. Just listened.
“He’s worse than the other guy,” Sakura said, voice low. “He charges more—just because I’m me. Tells me I was late or wasting time, even if I’m on time. And if I can’t pay… I owe him favors.”
Nirei tensed, but didn’t say anything.
“Those favors are usually tests. Experimental drugs. New meds they want reactions on. Yesterday, before I passed out, he gave me a shot. I didn’t think much of it—I’ve had worse—but maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe that one just hit harder. I usually don’t pass out from blood draws. Not anymore.”
The group stayed quiet, but the air around them had changed. He could feel it, it was more tense, more worried. If that was even possible.
He glanced off to the side, like he wasn’t sure if he should keep talking, but did anyway.
“A while ago, he split off from the original clinic. Started practicing farther out. So I had to go farther too. Ended up at the place you saw yesterday.”
Then—out of nowhere—Sakura let out a short, unexpected chuckle.
Everyone turned to him, confused.
“What’s funny?” Kiriyu asked, brows raised. “That sounded… like the opposite of funny.”
Sakura gave a small, almost sheepish smile. “It’s just—despite all that… I owe him everything.”
They all stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“What? Why would you owe him anything?” Nirei asked, clearly upset. “You shouldn’t owe someone who treats you like that.”
Sakura looked at all of them—really looked—and said simply, “Because if it weren’t for him, I never would’ve heard about Makochi. Or Bofurin. I wouldn’t have transferred. I wouldn’t have met any of you.”
There was a beat of silence.
“That’s why,” he added softly. “Because of him, I’m here.”
And just like that, the mood shifted again—this time leaving a bitter, sour taste in everyone’s mouth.
No one really wanted to thank the man responsible for hurting him, even if he was the reason they had Sakura now.
But Sakura eventually digressed, eyes drifting downwards as his voice flattened again.
“I don’t really know what it’s called,” he mumbled. “But… he’d take a lot of blood. Like… a lot. Pretty often. Said it was to test out different things.”
He paused. “Most of the medicine he used on me—I’d never even heard of it.”
The room went still.
His face didn’t change. His voice didn’t shake. But something in the way he said it made the air heavier.
“Sometimes it hurt,” he added, quiet. Almost like an afterthought.
But the blank look in his eyes, the way he wasn’t even blinking—that terrified everyone.
After everything they had seen this past week and a half, after everything Sakura had powered through without flinching… the idea that something could still hurt him—it was unnerving.
Still, he kept going.
“He’d put me on all kinds of stuff. Not that much ever worked. But sometimes it made me really tired. Drowsy. I’d get dizzy during fights or scuffles, get hit harder than usual. Never bad enough to go to the hospital, but… enough that I’d end up back at the clinic.”
He shifted a bit, then went quiet.
Too quiet.
And then, without looking up, Sakura dropped it—flat, emotionless.
“I don’t think much of it,” he said, “but I just want to tell you, since it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And I’d hate for it to come up later, like I was hiding something.”
They all stared.
“On more than one occasion… my uncle would invite me to stay overnight. When I got hurt badly. He’d offer, like it was normal.”
Sakura still didn’t lift his head.
“I never stayed. His place was farther from my school than the clinic, and I didn’t wanna deal with my teachers calling me late. So I always said no.”
Then, after another beat of silence, he muttered, almost to himself, “It’s just always… uncomfortable when that happens.”
No one said anything.
He glanced up briefly, noticed the looks on their faces, and added quickly, “He never did anything bad. I mean it. Nothing happened. The whole situation just made me feel a little off, that’s all. I just… thought you should know. Just in case.”
But to everyone else—those words meant more than Sakura probably realized.
To them,it was clear that his uncle was trying to take advantage of him in more ways than one, and the idea that someone—family, no less—could treat him like that? It was awful. They were just glad that Sakura never fell victim to what his uncle might’ve subjected him to if he had stayed over at his house, not that they even wanted to imagine what would’ve happened but still. To them the entire conversation felt like confirmation. That maybe his uncle had tried something. That maybe it was worse than what he was saying out loud. The thought of it alone made all of them sick.
They didn’t want to picture what could’ve happened if he had said yes and stayed over. And they weren’t going to.
They were just grateful he never did.
Tsubaki looked away, holding back whatever was written on their face. Kiriyu’s jaw was tight. Nirei was staring at the floor, fists clenched in his pockets .
But when Sakura looked at them, he asked “are you guys alright?”
“It’s nothing,” Nirei said first, voice gentle. “We’re just… glad you told us. Seriously.”
“Yeah,” Kiriyu added. “It’s not something you needed to say, but we’re glad you did.”
Umemiya was quiet, but he nodded too.
They knew the doctor probably wouldn’t be asking questions that personal again—not if they could help it.
But now that Sakura had told them… they’d make sure he never had to deal with it alone again.
As the story began winding down, they finally arrived at Kiriyu’s residence. He unlocked the front door and stepped aside to let everyone in, quietly welcoming them before leading the group down a hallway toward a back room.
“This is where my physician usually does checkups,” Kiriyu said, glancing back once to make sure everyone was still with him.
Compared to the clinic from yesterday, this already felt like a thousand times better.
The space was clean, open, and smelled like disinfectant instead of cold metal and stress. The physician greeted them with a warm smile and introduced himself as Mr. Suzuki before gesturing for Sakura to take a seat.
Mr. Suzuki asked if Sakura had brought his medical history with him. Sakura shook his head. “No,” he said, almost too casually for what that meant. It was surprising—considering the entire reason he had originally sought out his uncle in the first place was to retrieve those records.
Mr. Suzuki didn’t push. He only nodded and asked gently, “Would it be all right if I took a small blood sample then?”
The question hung in the air for a second too long. Everyone’s mind flashed to yesterday—how he passed out, how he looked pale and shaken, how nothing about it had felt normal.
Still, after a pause, Sakura nodded.
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
The doctor moved to roll up Sakura’s sleeve—but paused when he saw the skin underneath.
Faint black marks, fading but visible, lined the inner part of Sakura’s arm. Not full bruises. Not exactly. But enough.
He didn’t say anything right away.
Instead, he reached for the needle—but Sakura spoke up, almost too quietly.
“Can I make a request?”
Mr. Suzuki blinked. “A request?”
Sakura looked at him steadily. “Could I… inject the needle myself?”
The room froze.
The doctor looked surprised. “I don’t usually allow that. You could miss the vein, or cause damage.”
Sakura didn’t react, just waited.
The doctor glanced at Kiriyu, who gave a slow, reluctant nod.
“…All right. Just this once,” Mr. Suzuki said carefully, handing the needle over.
Sakura took it without flinching.
And—shockingly—he slid it in perfectly. Clean. Precise. As if he’d done it a hundred times before.
Mr. Suzuki didn’t say anything. Just raised his brows slightly and moved to start drawing the blood.
“Give me a few minutes,” he said afterward. “I’ll run a few quick tests before sending it to the lab.”
Then he stepped out of the room.
Everything seemed fine—for a moment.
Then Sakura shifted.
He stood up from the table, slow at first, then started pacing. His eyes unfocused slightly, fingers twitching.
Suo noticed first. “Sakura…? You feeling okay?”
“I feel lightheaded,” he muttered. “Like I’m gonna fall.”
That alone made everyone tense—but not nearly as much as what happened next.
Sakura staggered. His knees gave out for a second and he barely caught himself on the table, gripping the edge on his way down.
“Sakura—!” Suo was already by his side, steadying him, while Nirei and Kiriyu helped ease him back up onto the table.
Kiriyu was already calling for the doctor. “Suzuki—come back, now!”
The physician reappeared in seconds, snapping into motion immediately. “Someone get water,” he ordered, checking Sakura’s pulse, then his blood pressure. “Lay your head down. Deep breaths.”
Everyone was on edge until the doctor finally looked up and said, “He’s okay now. It’s stable.”
The room slowly began to settle, but the tension hadn’t completely left.
“What happened?” Kotoha asked quietly.
Mr. Suzuki hesitated, then said, “I expected something like this might happen—but not to this degree.”
He looked at Sakura’s arm again. “Those marks. They’re from repeated injections. Possibly IVs. Or blood withdrawals. It’s likely he’s anemic—severely anemic, judging by that reaction.”
A beat passed before Suo asked, “Why? How?”
The doctor shook his head. “I can’t say for sure until the blood tests come back. It could be psychological, yes—but realistically? This seems more physical. He’s either lost too much blood recently, or his body’s severely strained. Or both.”
No one said anything. But the realization sat in the room like lead.
They all looked at Sakura again—who was still lying back, arm draped over his forehead, not saying a word.
And it was clear.
No matter how much he tried to downplay it—this wasn’t normal.
And none of them were going to pretend it was anymore. And its not like they could anways. If only theyd had noticed and been more persistent sooner.
Once Sakura sat up, Mr. Suzuki gave him a long, concerned look.
“You’re sure you’re all right?” he asked gently. “You gave us quite a fright back there. You looked extremely pale.”
Sakura just nodded. “I’m fine now.”
The physician didn’t seem fully convinced. “Was there a particular reason you came in today?”
Sakura opened his mouth to say there wasn’t really one—but before he could speak, Kiriyu stepped in.
“He’s been getting injured a lot lately,” he said, voice steady but pointed. “The past few weeks have been… different. Some of his reactions really caught us off guard. We wanted to be sure nothing serious was going on.”
Mr. Suzuki’s attention sharpened. “What kind of reactions? And what injuries are we talking about?”
There was a pause—then, one by one, they began to speak up.
Suo was the first. He glanced toward Nirei, who gave a small nod.
“There was an incident last week,” Suo said. “He burned himself—really badly with some soup. It had hit his skin directly, and the wound looked… bad. Deep. Like third-degree bad.”
“What caught us off guard,” Nirei added, “is that he didn’t react at all. No flinch, no pain. Just kept going like nothing happened.”
The doctor raised his brows and noted it down.
“If it was truly third-degree,” he said after a moment, “then yes, he might not have felt it. That kind of burn can destroy the nerves responsible for pain. Still… for that to happen—”
“We’re not even done,” Kiriyu said grimly.
He nodded toward Sakura’s leg. “None of us were with him when it happened, but we saw him walking down the street—just casually walking—with a trail of blood behind him.”
“He had been slashed,” Suo explained. “Right at the Achilles tendon.”
Mr. Suzuki stopped writing. “He was walking… after that?”
Suo nodded once. “Didn’t even limp.”
The physician blinked. “That’s… medically almost impossible.”
“Yeah, that’s what we thought,” Nirei said.
“Not too long after that, we found out he had the earliest stages of pneumonia when he started coughing up blood, but we were able to treat that”
“That, I can work with,” Mr. Suzuki muttered, jotting notes quickly. “But coughing up blood is not something that should be brushed off.”
Next came the metal bat.
“ Again, none of us were there when it happened, but when we were at the onsens we noticed there was a huge, and I mean huge bruise on his back and it apparently come from a metal bat”
“ Of course, just of course. Well at least it’s somewhat normal.” Mr suzuki mumbled under his breath.
Then Kiriyu and Tsugeura stepped up.
“We were the only ones with him when he dislocated his shoulder,” Tsugeura said flatly. “Mid-fight. We saw it pop out.”
“And then we saw him shove it back into place,” Kiriyu added. “Didn’t even pause.”
Mr. Suzuki’s pen froze in midair again.
But he didn’t even have time to comment before the next story hit.
“We all knew about the stabbing,” Nirei said. “Most of us saw the wound after it was already treated.”
“Except… it wasn’t treated by a hospital,” Suo said. “He cauterized it himself.”
Mr. Suzuki visibly paled.
There was silence for a moment.
Then Suo added, “He didn’t flinch.”
Again.
Then came the tasing.
“Only Nirei and I were there for that,” Suo said quietly. “Back of the thigh. Police.”
The doctor’s jaw clenched. “Why didn’t you report that?”
“We didn’t know what to say,” Nirei murmured. “We asked him why he didn’t tell anyone. He just said it was normal.”
“Normal?” Suzuki echoed.
Sakura finally spoke up again. “It happened all the time. Back in my old town.”
That silence returned again—heavier than before.
Then Sui told them what Kaji had told him and Nirei.
“Our upperclassmen said that he caught him smoking the other day,” he said slowly. “Told him to put it out.”
The doctor tilted his head. “And?”
“He did. But he used his neck to stub it out.”
Suzuki blinked. “…Excuse me?”
“Pressed it straight into his skin,” Suo confirmed. “Didn’t even react.”
“I’ll… need to examine that,” Suzuki muttered.
While everyone was still recovering from that, Tsugeura leaned in with a grim expression. “He’s also been shot.”
That made Suzuki freeze again.
“He what?”
“He pulled out the bullet and stapled himself back together,” Suo confirmed.
The physician didn’t even bother writing for a moment. He just stared at Sakura, absolutely dumbfounded.
And finally, Suo and Nirei brought up the last part.
“He’s been acting more tired than usual,” Suo said, voice quieter now. “Not just tired. He’s been falling asleep in the middle of things.”
“While eating,” Nirei added. “Once while walking. Slept for almost an entire day.”
Everyone else nodded. They’d all seen it.
The room went quiet.
And then Suzuki whispered the only thing anyone could say:
“How is he still alive?”
No one had an answer.
But every one of them was thinking the same thing.
He shouldn’t be. Not with everything he’s gone through. Not with what he’s endured alone.
But somehow… Sakura was still here.
Still standing.
And that—more than anything—shook them to their core.