if i can't have love, i want power (but love is so close, if only you know how to let it come to you)

by captainorgazmo

Summary:

In searching for something, anything, that could light Takiishi’s fire back up again, Endo stumbled into an ember that he knew could turn into a blazing inferno and maybe also light up Takiishi as well.

OR:

Unfortunately for Furin (and everyone, really), Endo found Sakura first. Noroshi! Sakura AU (kinda).

Can be read as a standalone. Not related to the other fic in the series

Notes:

hi hello yes. if ur from the wind breaker discord you might know this as "endo's throuple yaoi fantasy" but it had kinda taken me for a ride and between then and now a lot of things change. ideas merged and split as they do, and here's the result.

i think of this as some sort of "sister fic" to Charcoal, but you won't need to read it to read this one and vice versa.

Chapter 1

1.

“Why… why are you doing this?” Tsubaki asked through gritted teeth as Endo held them by their hair. “What do you have against Furin and Makochi that you want to ruin everything again?’

Endo grinned at the question. “You really think of me, us, as some kind of kaiju coming to destroy everything in our path, huh? Not even a moment do you think that I might have some other motive?”

Tsubaki froze at his words, “...what?”

“See, I don’t give a rat’s ass about Furin. In fact, if I feel like I'm in a good enough mood I might just let you maggots be, after Takiishi is done. After all, I only want two things.” Endo explained, lifting two of his fingers. “And once I join Takiishi and Umemiya on the rooftop to watch their fight, I would have gotten everything I wanted.”

“You…!” Tsubaki exclaimed in realization. “This whole thing-!”

“Yep!” Endo replied cheekily, popping up the “p” in a way that only further aggravate Tsubaki. “Half the reason is to give a chance for Takiishi to fight Umemiya while Umemiya is in tip-top shape. Takiishi won’t be satisfied otherwise, after all.”

“And seeing him be satisfied is my goal.”

Seeing the grin and what almost seemed like a blush on Endo’s face, Tsubaki realized with a sickening feeling in their stomach that all of this violence, all of this trouble that Noroshi made them go through… it’s all just to satisfy Endo’s weird-ass crush on Takiishi.

“All that said, I gotta hurry if I don’t want to miss the fight,” Endo said as he lifted his foot and put it by Tsubaki’s head, ready to stomp down and knock them out when a voice suddenly came and interrupted him.

“Huh, you’re here? Where the hell is Takiishi then?”

Tsubaki turned his head toward the voice to see a peculiar-looking teen with his hair divided half in black and half in white, strolling toward them with a frown on his face. Tsubaki knew for one that he was not with Furin since he had never seen him before. He looked somewhat worse for wear, with bruises on his face, a cut lip, and other injuries but otherwise looked fine.

“Oh, you’re done too?” Endo grinned. “Perfect, we can go see Takiishi fight once I’m done here. He’s on the rooftop with Umemiya.”

The teen scowled. “Then get it done quickly or I’m leaving your ass behind.”

“Well, you hear Sakura-kun. See you!” Endo said cheerfully before bringing his foot down.

The last thought that Tsubaki had before he lost consciousness was “Wait, isn’t he the kid who helped Shizuka a while ago?”

 

2.

He near damn almost missed it, lost in his thoughts trying to figure out if there was something else he hadn’t tried yet in his quest to find something that would light Takiishi’s fire up. Nothing has worked so far, and Endo was kind of at the end of his wits.

Of course, he knew that Takiishi above all else wanted to fight against strong people, but not just strong. Otherwise, Endo himself and maybe one or two of the other stronger Noroshi guys ganging up on him would do it.

No, he needed something special. It felt almost blasphemous, just the idea of it. But there has got to be someone else who has the same or at least possesses the potential to become the all-consuming blazing inferno that Takiishi is. Maybe what Takiishi needed was another flame that could light back up his smoldering one.

Then, just like the heavens (or hell, Endo isn’t under any illusion that whatever higher power might side with him would be heavenly in any kind for many many reasons) was listening to his thoughts and immediately decided to give him a chance to find it, he noticed a fight on the corner of his eyes.

In another world, in another timeline, he would have simply ignored it and went about his days. In another world, he would not have walked down that street at all. In another world, the person he saw from the corner of his eyes would be somewhere else. In another world, the first time he met face-to-face with Haruka Sakura would be a few months later, and the teen had found his place in Furin and was not willing to leave it all behind and become the blazing inferno that Endo knew he could become.

But in this world, Yamato Endo paused, something about it catching his attention. A closer look and he could see that one of the people in the fight, the one beating the others surrounding him, had a unique hair, split down the middle half black and half white. But that’s not what held Endo’s attention.

No, it’s the way that the teen fights that did. It’s the way that once he stood victorious against his enemies, the blood of his enemies on his knuckles and splattering on his face and clothes, that made Endo stare .

An ember. Not quite a big fire, let alone an all-consuming inferno. Not yet. But it’s there. A fire that with enough fuel could burn brightly and strongly. A fire that might just be the catalyst he needed to restart Takiishi’s weakening flame.

And like a moth, Endo followed the trails leading up to the flame.

 

3.

Sakura had never really quite shared Endo’s philosophy of “live life as you please and destroy everything that gets in your way”, but he’s also self-aware enough of how selfish and greedy of a person he really is.

His desires are wide as an ocean and determination to see it fulfilled as deep. Endo had always said that he and Takiishi were similar to each other like that: If he wants something, he’ll do everything to get it. He’s just a little nicer about it compared to Endo and Takiishi.

But then again Endo is terrible at being a judge of people. His choice of partners for his hedonist escapades have always been questionable, even Sakura could tell as much, and looking at the people Endo keeps around as his lackeys, that terrible judgment extends to his choices of “subordinates” as well. The Noroshi would never admit to being Endo’s “subordinates” but if it barks like a dog, waves their tail from treats like a dog, and follows their master’s commands like a dog, then it’s a dog. It does put into question what exactly Sakura is in relation to their whole group.

The Noroshis at first saw him as an easy target, but that didn’t last long. Then it progressed to being Endo’s pet… until they realized that not once had he ever let Endo tell him what to do. As for what Sakura thinks his relationship with Endo and Takiishi is… well, he had no damn clue.

He never had any friends before, so he couldn’t tell if they’re friends. Endo often teased him for having very obvious reactions when faced with romance, but Sakura doesn’t think that he himself knows what that kind of relationship entails. Endo serves as more of a “whatever it is he’s doing, that’s what you should not do” kind of model when it comes to relationships. Or at least that’s what the few Noroshis semi-friendly to him said.

His only real interaction with Takiishi is when they fight each other, and is it fun? Very. Takiishi is very strong, and Takiishi seemed to think the same of him, and these days Takiishi is the only one who can really make his blood pumping, make him struggle and feel alive, and Endo had been frank in saying that half the reason why he took interest in Sakura was because he wants to find someone that can get Takiishi excited.

It’s a win-win situation, really. Fighting the Noroshi members made him stronger and got his blood rushing, struggling in ways that made him feel alive. Winning or losing doesn’t really matter, after a certain point, especially against Takiishi. To fight and to struggle is to feel alive, and he thinks that’s a feeling that the two of them shared.

Sakura had no idea what friendship looked like, and he didn't think that he particularly considered Takiishi as a friend, and neither does Takiishi. In fact, he doesn’t think that Takiishi consider anyone as anything really, beyond the kind of fight that they could give him. Takiishi “likes” him for being a good fight, and Sakura had no trouble thinking the same of Takiishi.

And Endo… Endo made him feel weird. Because Endo’s everything makes Sakura want to knock the lights out of him but at the same time bring with him a strange comfort to Sakura. The way that Endo never seems to care about his personal space with his constant contact, casually slinging his arm over Sakura’s shoulders, the many many times he would just randomly hug him from behind (damn him for lording their height difference like that!)... just, everything . Sakura would have suspected that Endo is just taking out all his pent up desires for casual touches with Takiishi on him because he’s less likely to outright beat the shit out of him for it, but Takiishi had been letting him get away with more and it didn’t change Endo’s behavior toward Sakura at all.

Endo practically yanked him off the tightrope he had been walking on his entire life and burned it to the ground with a laugh, and in some ways, Sakura was mesmerized by it all. He was the first person to ever tell and show him how free one could be, unrestricted by whatever others think and unrestrained by what the world thinks as “proper”.

His hedonism didn’t appeal to Sakura at all, but at the same time, it brought a weird sense of validation to him, that he’s not wrong to desire, to want something as long as he has what it takes to grab it for himself no matter what others might say. His entire life had been an endless of people who shun him, telling he doesn’t deserve anything, and he thinks Endo was the first one who told him that he does deserve whatever whatever he wanted for himself: He just has to be strong enough to take it.

It’s not much, really. Endo is still an annoying bastard, and Takiishi barely talks to him and doesn’t have much if any interest beyond fighting, but neither of them had ever told him that he doesn’t belong. At least not yet. So, until that day comes, Sakura is content to stick around and let Endo drag him around to whatever he thinks might amuse them.

(In the meantime, he pushed down all the feelings that made him feel like he’s doing things wrong, screaming at him that he went the wrong way. This is the first time in his life that he had ever felt like he was wanted and he’s not going to let anything ruin things for him. Not even the strange warmth that he felt whenever he ate in that cafe with that annoyingly nice lady, or the same feeling that he got whenever those two from Furin bothers him.)

 

4.

Maybe it’s wrong, considering everything else that had transpired over the last few days, but Umemiya couldn’t get the bicolour-haired teen he met on the rooftop that day out of his mind.

That entire day confused the hell out of him, though Tsubaki’s explanation on Endo’s motivation to orchestrate it all cleared several things up, but there’s just something that bothers him about it. Endo mentioned to Tsubaki that he had two motives, and while they knew what the first one is: Watching Takiishi fight him, they still had no idea what the second was, except that it’s already achieved as well.

For some reason, Umemiya had a strong feeling that whatever it is, it’s related to that Sakura boy. Focused on his fight against Takiishi as he was, he hadn’t even noticed Sakura and Endo coming to the rooftop apparently to watch said fight. It wasn’t until Sakura said something to the effect of “Oi, can you wrap this up quickly? I want to go to sleep” to Takiishi that Umemiya even noticed their presence.

It was sort of fascinating, seeing the way that Takiishi, Endo, and Sakura interact. He knew Endo and Takiishi from back when they’re only first years, and he thinks that both of them had gotten more intense in their… everything, really. Takiishi’s brutality had always been very pronounced, and Endo’s devil may care attitude had only got worse, but both seemed to be… fond? (for a given meaning of the word especially as it relates to Endo and Takiishi) of Sakura.

Takiishi, who had never hesitated to violently beat up anybody who tried to tell him to do anything only seemed to be amused by Sakura’s remarks, while Endo seemed to be weirdly clingy to Sakura. He’s pretty sure that Endo was practically draped over Sakura the whole time the two watched him fight Takiishi.

And then Takiishi just… stops.

“I’m done.” Takiishi suddenly said. “I’m leaving. Do whatever you want.”

He directed the latter statements toward Sakura and Endo while brushing off his clothes from the dust and dirt that had got on it over the fight.

Endo seemed surprised by that. “Really? I thought you’re having fun.”

Takiishi paused for a moment before nodding. “I am. But…”

He looked at Sakura before continuing. “I think I’m done here, and with Furin.”

Endo grinned. “Ah, I see. Well then.”

He took out his phone, typed something up, then hit send. “We’re leaving. Come on, Sakura-kun. You said you want to sleep right?”

“Finally.” Sakura said before shoving Endo off him.

Much to Umemiya’s bewilderment, the three did move to leave.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Endo said, turning toward Umemiya. “I just sent out the command for everyone we brought here to stop and leave. If any of them disobeyed and stuck around, you guys are free to do whatever.”

“With that said, see you later~!”

Watching their retreating backs, Umemiya was filled with many emotions, but above all, anger. Did they think they could just… just leave like that after what they’ve done? Like they hadn’t threatened to destroy everything Furin stood for?

One step. Two steps, and Umemiya found himself leaping toward the three, fully intending to fight all three of them if that’s what it meant.

Maybe that anger was the reason why he didn’t see Sakura jumping to do a spin kick that smashed straight into his face.

“...consider yourself lucky that it was me who reacted first.” He heard before he lost consciousness.

Apparently it was Tsubaki who found him passed out on the rooftop with none of the Noroshis present. Apart from Tsubaki, who was told by Endo himself about his motives, and Umemiya who was… well, passed out on the rooftop after an ill-timed reaction to the idea, nobody else seemed to have caught on to the fact that their enemies’ “retreat” was done entirely on a whim.

Neither of them had said anything about it, mostly because for some reason… Umemiya thinks that Takiishi was being genuine when he said that he’s “done with Furin”, and if what Endo said to Tsubaki was to be believed, if Takiishi wasn’t interested Endo wouldn’t care about Furin either, and they will just do their own things without bothering Furin. Well, at least not directly.

And that leaves only that Sakura kid.

He had asked around a little, and here’s what he knows:

• He was with Endo and Takiishi when the breach in the park happened
• Suo and Nirei knew him but had refused to say anything and nobody had tried to dig because of how distraught they are, especially Nirei
• He’s Takiishi’s sparring partner, again, according to one of the Noroshis
• He’s the one who defeated Hiragi and the other Tamon Team leaders, including Kaji and Suo
• His full name is Haruka Sakura

And lastly:

• His name is registered in Furin High’s student database. Still is.

Could it be that he’s someone who slipped through the cracks? One of the new first years that they failed to help and ended up joining Endo’s side?

But he’s pretty certain that if he had come to the school, someone would have seen him and knew him other than just Suo and Nirei. That Sakura kid looks very striking after all, with his hair and eyes like that.

So most likely he signed up for the school and just never showed up. Because of the state of Furin’s whole system, it would take a long time until that kind of thing even became noticed considering how many instances of such happen in the school. While Bofurin’s establishment had managed to get the student side of things better, their luck in trying to change things on the administration and teaching side of things hadn’t been quite as good.

Right, so technically this Sakura, someone who was apparently close to both Endo and Takiishi, someone that one of their Grade Captains knew and seemed to be some kind of friends with going by Nirei and Suo’s distress at the revelation, someone who was also strong enough to not just beat some of Furin’s strongest fighters but is also known to fight Takiishi fairly regularly and match him, is technically one of Furin’s student, if nothing else by way of registration.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure that this might be a problem in the future. Maybe things would be easier if Suo and Nirei were willing to talk about it, but he really doesn’t want to push, not when Suo was still recovering from the beating he got from this Sakura and Nirei’s anxiety was even worse than usual.

With the last few days and the topic of Haruka Sakura still weighing heavily in his mind, Umemiya entered Cafe Pothos for the first time in a few days. He would have liked to come sooner, but he had been busy making sure everyone is alright and trying to calm down the fears that their enemy would be coming back for round two and doesn’t have much time to spend for himself.

Imagine his surprise then, when he looked at the counter to greet Kotoha and found the person who had been weighing heavily in his mind sitting on one of the stools, eating what seemed to be omelet rice while Kotoha talked to him. There were some bandages peeking out from under his shirt and one on his cheek.

“Oh, Ume-kun! Is everything alright? You haven’t come in a few days and a few of the Furin students I saw while they’re patrolling seem pretty banged up.” Kotoha greeted, a concerned frown on her face. Of course, she doesn’t have to mention the fact that parts of Makochi also seemed to be an utter mess for a few days and are just now finally getting back to normal

Umemiya discreetly looked at the teen eating. If the topic made him in any way uncomfortable, he didn’t show it.

“Yeah, I think I can’t keep this from you.” Umemiya sighed before turning toward Sakura. “Uhh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before?”

There’s a look in the other teen’s eyes that says “really?” though said look disappeared after a moment. “Haruka Sakura. Never met you either. Got a problem with me?”

‘Yes, actually.’ Umemiya thought, but looking at Kotoha who looked at him with a disapproving look on her face, he realized that the situation is a lot more complicated than he would have liked.

Sakura clicked his tongue. “I know when I’m not wanted.”

He finished his meal in a speed that surprised Umemiya before getting up, his hand looking for something in his pocket before putting a few bills on the bar counter.

“There should be no change.” Sakura said, not leaving any room as he quickly made his way out of the cafe.

Kotoha turned to Umemiya once Sakura left, “Okay, that’s not like you to be so hostile to someone you never met. What’s going on?”

He really can't hide any of his emotions from Kotoha, couldn't he? Ume swore he wasn't trying to force that Sakura out, but he guessed he's not as good at acting as he thought.

Umemiya sighed. “This is gonna take some time, but please, can you tell me what you know about him?”

“You mean Sakura?” Kotoha asked. “You better tell me what’s going on after this.”

And so she began.

5.

“Nirei-kun, you really need to stop pacing.” Suo chided, but Nirei couldn’t help it.

“But what if he doesn’t come?” Nirei said, anxiety palpable.

Suo sighed. It’s not that he doesn’t understand why Nirei would be nervous. In fact, he too has a feeling of trepidation about this. He doubts that anything bad will happen, despite everything that has transpired.

He’s pretty sure that their seniors would berate him and Nirei for this, for being so foolish to invite an enemy into Makochi, but… they knew better. They knew that this “enemy” thinks of Makochi as somewhat of a home too, though he would never admit it.

Otherwise, that “enemy” wouldn’t have stayed around so much. Wouldn’t have come to Cafe Pothos so much, or beat up the people trying to disturb the peace in that area. In fact, Suo has the feeling that the reason why the Noroshi didn’t end up bringing back the old chaos to Furin was partly because of that “enemy”.

In fact, at least to Suo and Nirei, calling him an “enemy” doesn’t feel right at all.

If they were enemies, Sakura wouldn’t have told them to stay away from him, where the greatest danger would be, through jilted texts that sounded hostile though they knew better.

“I know you and that wimp is guarding the bridge. Stay there if you don’t want to die. I won’t hesitate if you show your face in front of me.”

It was them who ignored that warning, and Suo thinks that all that said, he got out of it lightly. Compared to Hiragi and Kaji-san, the way that Sakura knocked him out was almost gentle, and his worse injuries came after he recovered his consciousness, when Sakura was already gone. In fact, Suo was pretty sure that Sakura was rougher when Suo first challenged him to a spar not long after they first met.

And Nirei… he didn’t even touch Nirei. The others seemed to think it’s because he wasn’t considered a threat, but Suo knew better. Sakura had never hurt Nirei in the whole time they had known each other.

They had let it slip that the two of them knew Sakura and the others seemed to think of their silence about him and Nirei’s anxiety as a shock from betrayal, but… they had known. Maybe not the whole time, but Sakura bluntly told them that he’s with Endo days before the whole thing goes down. They had already sorted out their feelings about it: Sakura is not at all like the rest of Noroshi. In fact, Suo was quite sure that if he was given a chance to be better, if he’s surrounded by people who weren’t the Noroshis and instead by that of Furin…

He sighed. It’s not good to think of what-ifs, not when they haven’t even met Sakura again. Sakura had agreed to meet them, but he knew better than to think that anyone can force Sakura to do something he doesn’t want to. Make him apathetic enough to not care about it? Yes. But force him? No.

Out of the corner of his uncovered eye, Suo noticed a familiar figure coming toward them and he smiled slightly.

“Sakura-kun. You came after all.”

Sakura scowled. “What do you want?”

Suo smiled slightly when he saw something on Sakura’s face.

“Were you just in Pothos? You have some little omelet piece here,” Suo mentioned casually, pointing toward a corner of his lip.

Sakura immediately wiped his mouth, and he could see the tip of Sakura’s ear reddening in embarrassment.

It’s slightly jarring, to hear the others from Furin speak of Sakura like he’s some kind of monster when the Sakura that he and Nirei knew is like this. Grumpy and prickly, but at the same time always have a pretty big reaction to small teasing.

“Did… did something happen? I don’t think you got injured enough to need all… that, after fighting us.” Nirei asked.

Sakura rolled his eyes. “Takiishi got a little disappointed by his fight against your commander, said something like it’s more fun fighting me. You gotta see him if you think I look bad.”

“Ahh, is that so?” Suo chimed in.

“Now, what do you two want? Make it quick. Endo is being annoying again and I would rather not deal with Endo being pouty because I ignored him.”

Now that's a jarring image.

“Uhh, we just… we just want to know if you’re okay.” Nirei said.

“Haaah? You and your pansy friends are the one who got their collective asses beaten by me. Why the fuck would you worry about me?” Sakura snarled.

“Is it wrong to be worried for a friend?” Suo asked, and for a split second, Sakura looked stricken before it was replaced with anger.

“You- We’re not friends.” Sakura growled.

Suo didn’t say anything to that, and Sakura’s hand twitched, an urge to punch Suo arising within him, and indeed, Suo was pretty sure that Sakura would have hit him if it wasn’t for Nirei.

“You- you might not think so, but please believe me, us, that we care about you.” Nirei said, his words steady despite his shaking body.

Sakura gritted his teeth, his fist shaking beside him before he turned away and left without any other word. Neither Suo nor Nirei tried to stop or chase after him.

(Nirei flinched when he heard the sound of something hitting another thing really hard, almost like a bang. His heart clenched a little, because he think he would rather Sakura just punch him as at least that way, Sakura won’t have to hurt himself)

 

5.5

(Endo have two goals with the attack on Furin:

The first is obvious: Get Takiishi a fight against Umemiya

The second one... is to get those Furin kids that hangs around Sakura to buzz off.

He was satisfied when he saw Sakura knocked the one with the eyepatch out with a brutal kick to the side while the wimpy one just watched with a terrified look, clearly scared of Sakura.)

What Endo doesn't understand is the willingness of those who carried Furin's banner to accept those who had hurt them before.

For many of them, Furin is a second chance that they never have in their life before and they understood that it's something that they should give to others too, and as long as they adhere under Furin's motto, there's no past sin they wouldn't forgive, no flaw they wouldn't embrace.

And for Suo and Nirei, there was never any doubt in their hearts that Sakura deserve that second chance. And a third one. And a fourth one. As many as it would take until the golden hearted, kind person hidden under all of that layer of bitterness that had saved them can be seen by everyone.

Chapter 2

6.

Nirei first met Sakura right before school started.

A weird boy he had never seen before, with a very striking appearance by way of his two toned hair and heterochromatic eyes, sitting in Cafe Pothos which Nirei often goes to by virtue of Kotoha being there.

It’s probably fair to say that Nirei’s first impression of Sakura wasn’t exactly the best, and his own first impression on Sakura also probably wasn’t the best. Accidentally talking down on him for being from out of town, unwittingly making fun of his appearance, gushing about Furin and then proceeding to call Sakura a “nobody”...

He really wanted to go back in time and knock some sense into himself, because whenever he thought about that first meeting, a little part of him slightly shriveled up and died, especially when considering the way that Sakura would do so much for him.

At the time, Sakura had just rolled his eyes, finished up the omurice he was eating, put his payment on the counter, then left.

Kotoha sighed. “Just after I finally convinced him to come around, too.”

Nirei knew that he had made a mistake then. Exactly two minutes after the initial “offense”.

“Uhh, Kotoha-san, who was he?” Nirei asked, trying to figure out what exactly he had done wrong.

“His name is Sakura. Moved in pretty recently, and he helped me drive off a few creeps.” Kotoha replied. “I offered to treat him here after that but he refused, and I thought that would be the end of it but…”

She then told him about the creeps coming back again about two days later, bringing all their friends with them. Usually she would have just waited until someone from Furin came and took care of them, but they were specifically looking for Sakura to get revenge.

“Wait, is this…” Nirei cut in.

Kotoha nodded. “Yes, he came back and beat them all up with no problem. We met again and I told him that the offer still stood, but he refused again.”

That was particularly embarrassing, because just a few minutes earlier, in his gushing of Furin, he had attributed the recent ass kicking around the area to them. Straight to the face of the person who actually did it.

“Apparently there’s a place nearby with an omurice he liked, which was why he was around here a lot. I met him a few times this past week or so and tried to get him here, so I told him that my omurice is probably better and that it’s my treat.” Kotoha continued before sighing, looking at the money Sakura left. “Finally got him here, but well…”

By the time Kotoha finished the story, Nirei already wanted to dig a hole in the ground and jump into it out of shame.

Looking at Nirei’s distress, Kotoha chuckled. “It’s fine. I’m sure that there would be more chances to get him to come again.”

But to Nirei’s surprise, he would get the chance to meet Sakura again the very next day.

In a way that is really unflattering on his part. After all, who would want anyone to see them when they’re bruised and beaten up in the middle of some while trying to play hero and failing miserably?

Throughout his desperate struggle against those scoundrels harassing the girl he had told to get away, half of him was begging for someone to help him, thinking that he would die otherwise, with the other half begging that nobody, especially anyone from Furin came and saw him like that. The mortification alone would have killed him.

But much to his surprise, it was the teen he met in Pothos the previous day that came.

Sakura clicked his tongue, “I know that people around here are pathetic, but being proud of beating up some nerd is really a new low.”

It was with amazement that Nirei watched as Sakura proceeded to beat the crap out of all those thugs without breaking a sweat, looking even bored despite the brutality he dished out against his opponents.

“Not even an ounce of power to back all that either.” Sakura sighed as he kicked one of the unconscious thugs out of what seemed to be annoyance. It probably didn't take more than a minute for him to knock them all out, not a single one of the thugs getting back up after one hit.

Sakura looked like he was about to leave when the girl that Nirei helped earlier came.

“Are you alright?!” The girl asked, crouching next to Nirei.

After some stammering, he managed to reassure the girl that he’s alright before embarrassingly started crying when she earnestly thanked him for helping her.

“Oh, and you!” The girl turned toward the leaving Sakura, “Thank you, too!”

Sakura didn’t give any response, and Nirei suddenly felt the need to chase after the other teen, first to apologize for the previous day, then to thank him for saving him.

“S-Sakura-san!” Nirei called out, getting up as he did so.

“What?”

Nirei flinched upon receiving the cold glare from Sakura but soldiered on despite his nerve and bowed. “I’m sorry for what I said to you yesterday! I shouldn’t have judged you like that!”

He heard Sakura click his tongue. “Is that it? I have no interest in weaklings and you’re even more pathetic than those guys.”

Nirei swallowed. “S-still. You helped me, so I want to thank you.”

“Whatever. Don’t expect me to ever do that again.” Sakura said before leaving. Nirei didn’t try to chase after him, feeling like Sakura might not appreciate it much if he did and he would join those guys unconscious on the ground.

But he still has questions.

“Uhh, how did you get him to come this way?” He asked the girl.

The girl explained that after she left, she immediately looked for someone to back him up. Like most other Makochi residents would have, she looked for Furin students first, but when she found none, she recognized Sakura as the person who helped Kotoha a few days earlier and beat up the troublemakers with ease.

“I’m not sure why he came, but I’m glad he did.” She said, “I wonder where he’s from. I don’t think I’ve seen him around until recently.”

Honestly, Nirei was glad that Sakura came too. He hoped he would be able to make it up to him, somehow. Despite his cold and unfriendly outward appearance, Nirei had a feeling that the other teen wasn’t a bad person at all. After all, all that Nirei had known of him is that he had helped Kotoha and then him.

Even after everything, Nirei still believed that. He didn’t think that he had ever seen Sakura refuse when someone asked for his help. It’s not that many, those who asked. Not being a Furin student, combined with his striking appearance and cold attitude, made very few people around Makochi approach him. But those that did only have good things to say about him, many of them surprised that he’s not a Furin student “considering how helpful he was” to paraphrase one of the grannies that frequented Pothos.

He, and Suo, just need to convince everyone else that no, Sakura is not just a callous monster like Yamato Endo and Chika Takiishi. Despite his violence, despite the callous way that he had treated Kaji and Hiragi-senpai in their fight, he’s really not a bad person.

He might just be delusional or making things up in his mind, but Nirei believed with his heart that Sakura wasn’t meant to be cruel. That those parts of him were something borne out of his environment, especially now that he knew for certain the kind of company Sakura has. Just as being saved by a Bofurin member made Nirei the way he is, there must have been something that made Sakura the way he is, and while he had only known Sakura for three months, Sakura had done so much for him in those three months.

Saving him in their first day of knowing each other despite his terrible first impression, the way that despite his harsh words and constantly calling him a weakling he didn’t feel like Sakura had ever looked down on him, the way that Sakura had showed little, awkward gestures of kindness that he knew couldn’t be faked. And he’s not the only one.

While he was yet to know how Suo and Sakura met each other and what happened, he and Suo had bonded over those little things that told them that Sakura is much more than his violence. Kotoha had seen it too, and perhaps something more that he was yet to understand about Sakura that made her be so gentle and nice to him.

And there’s another reason why he cared so much, why he’s adamant about Sakura not being Furin’s enemy.

They had missed it at first because of how many had also just never showed up to the school despite having been registered as a student, but Sakura’s name was there too, among the list of Furin’s students. Among those who were assigned to Class 1-1.

Furin would never give up on one of their own, and Nirei had already made up his mind that Sakura belonged with them in Furin, in Class 1-1. It might take a long time until that’s something that others would accept. Until that’s something that Sakura accepts. But Nirei is determined to see it through.

 

7.

Kaji had no idea what the hell his juniors were thinking. Specifically, the Grade Captain and Vice-Captain duo of Suo and Nirei. Class 1-1 had a somewhat strange arrangement going on, where one of the Vice-Captain positions was held by a rotating cast of sorts consisting of Kiryu, Tsugeura, and Sugishita. But when it comes to Bofurin Captain meetings and such, it’s usually just Suo and Nirei, with Sugishita coming if Umemiya was involved.

Just a few weeks ago, he thought of them as a reliable if somewhat unique pair of juniors that he wouldn’t mind working with for the next two years or so. That assessment had mostly stayed true, except that Kaji feels that his juniors might not be quite as truthful about a lot of things, which he definitely has problems with. The most pressing issue is the fact that it’s becoming quite clear that Suo and Nirei were friends with an enemy.

That alone wouldn’t have been too much of a problem. He and others had given them the benefit of the doubt, that their friend being an enemy, someone that apparently was close to both Endo and Takiishi, was a shock to them. But things in Class 1-1 had been chaotic, and after asking around, it became very clear that a split had emerged within the class, all centered around one Haruka Sakura, with Suo and Nirei defending that person even after everything that had happened.

A maelstrom of emotions emerged within Kaji when he was reminded about him. Even if things had turned out alright, even if their enemies retreated and didn’t seem to have any intention of coming back again, he couldn’t just forget about the utter humiliation and despair he felt when facing him then.

Things were already chaotic and not looking very good for Furin when they got the news that their enemies had broken through the park, and the situation on the bridges, including the one he was guarding, were looking pretty dire too. In fact, Kaji had only been spared of what would have been a humiliating defeat against one of the Noroshis because Hiragi-san had stepped in.

When he found out about the reinforcement they got from Shishitoren and Roppo Ichiza, Kaji was quite dumbfounded to find out that those two groups had come because Suo and Nirei went to them and asked.

“I don’t know where they got the idea from,” Hiragi began. “But I think we’re lucky that they thought to do it.”

Once Banjo, the Noroshi leading the group attacking the bridge, fell, the rest of their enemies there were whittled down slowly but surely. They were also getting reports from the other groups guarding the bridges that reinforcements had greatly lessened the pressures around there. However, all that good news was canceled out by the news coming from the shopping district. While Hiragi had been assured that Shishitoren would be there to help guard the area and both Momose and Mizuki had recovered enough to join them on the defense,  they were still getting pushed back.

The other teams guarding the bridges had sent messages that they’re sending some people to help there as well.

“Captain! Hiragi-senpai! You two should go and help the guys in the shopping district, I think we’re going to be fine here!” Enomoto exclaimed.

When Hiragi and Kaji hesitated, Sako glared at the two and yelled, “Go! The only part of the town that still needs help is there! Hiragi, that’s where you wanted to go in the first place, right?!”

Kaji nodded, resolved to make up for his shortcomings in guarding the bridge and making Hiragi come all the way there to help him.

Seeing that, Hiragi could only sigh and abide by that.

The two of them met Suo and Nirei on their way to the shopping district, and it was not long after that that they met him .

Kaji first spotted him among the crowd of people fighting for being the only one not actually fighting. Leaning on the wall of one of the buildings, his arms crossed while watching with what could only really be described as a bored look on his face. There wasn’t a speck of dust on him, and once he got closer, he could see that he was surrounded by unconscious Bofurin and Shishitoren members.

Moments later, he saw those heterochromatic eyes turning toward him, Hiragi, and the first year duo’s direction.

“... you know. After the warning I gave, don’t blame me for whatever happens next.” The other teen said as he left the wall he was leaning on and began stretching his arms, walking toward them.

“So you are really with them.” Suo said, his tone even as he addressed the unknown teen. “Sakura.”

Beside Suo, Kaji could see Nirei was pretty much shaking where he stood, looking at this ‘Sakura’ with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

Sakura scowled. “It’s more of ‘can’t get them off my back’, really.”

“Then it shouldn’t be a problem, if you were to just walk away, no?” Suo asked.

“...unfortunately, me being here is entirely because I wanted to.”

Suo gave a small, melancholic smile. “I see. I really don’t want to fight you.”

“Shame, then.” Sakura remarked, and in a blink, he was already in front of Suo.

Kaji could only watch as his junior took what seemed to be a brutal kick to his side which sent him skidding down the ground before hitting the wall of a nearby building.

Hearing the pained grunt from Suo as he tried to get back up, Kaji immediately rushed to his junior’s side, but that Sakura was faster and wasted no time to stomp his foot onto Suo’s head, knocking him out for good.

When he saw Sakura turn his attention to Nirei, both Kaji and Hiragi quickly jumped in front of the first year.

“Nirei, get away from here!” Hiragi barked at his junior, fully understanding that the blond wouldn’t survive a single hit from this Sakura.

Kaji heard Sakura clicked his tongue. “Relax, I’m not gonna do anything to that wimp. I’ve got what I came here for already.”

He then frowned, “Not how I ideally want it, but I guess it will do.”

After the fight started, it became very clear that Sakura's interest was in Hiragi, and Hiragi only. He didn’t even spare a glance toward Kaji, who got blown back quickly whenever he tried to insert himself into the fight, and at some point, the others shifted their attention toward him as well, tying him up as Sakura and Hiragi fought.

Not to mention, he could see that Nirei was beginning to have some enemies coming toward him as well. While the first year wasn’t quite helpless, anything more than a one on one fight would be too much for him, and Kaji could only grit his teeth and believe in Hiragi as he moved to help his junior.

But then he heard a loud banging sound, and when he turned to see what it was, he was greeted by the sight of Hiragi lying on the ground, the loud sound coming from the trash can he had been sent flying into just moments before. Sakura dashed toward him, jumping over the trash can and brought down his foot on Hiragi who just barely managed to roll out of the way, avoiding having the aforementioned foot slam straight into his stomach.

It’s becoming pretty clear that Hiragi is losing . He was on the defensive, blocking and dodging far more than he get the chance to attack, and Kaji watched as Hiragi failed to guard against a powerful punch to the stomach which destabilized him before Sakura grabbed the sides of his head to bring his face down onto his knees.

“Hiragi-san!” Kaji kicked away the person he’s fighting and dashed toward Sakura to get Hiragi out of his grip. After he barely dodged a kick from Sakura, Kaji moved to attack but was caught off guard by an elbow to the face which sent him skidding back, though that did accomplish getting Hiragi out of Sakura’s grip.

Hiragi quickly moved to make some distance between him and Sakura, cradling his nose which he’s sure was broken after that knee to the face while Kaji did the same, stabilizing himself after the elbow to the face.

“I know you’re tired after fighting others, but I genuinely expected more.” Sakura suddenly said, scowling. “Endo said you’re only second to Umemiya, but if this is all you got I wouldn’t have come at all.”

Hiragi glared at him, “Don’t talk like you’ve already beaten me.”

“It’s just a matter of time.” Sakura shot back easily before turning to Kaji. “So is this gonna be a 2 on 1? Not that it would change anything, really.”

Kaji scowled. “Shut the fuck up. We’re not gonna go down that easily.”

“We’ll see about that.”

It’s far from the first time that he and Hiragi had fought together. They’ve done it before, and they knew that they have good teamwork, having known each other for a long time and very good at reading each other to bring the best out of each other. But Sakura was a monster . Kaji didn’t think he had ever fought anyone as strong as him, each one of his hits making him feel like he’s about to keel over and pass out.

Before long, Kaji found himself desperately clinging to the bicolor haired teen to try to stop him from going after Hiragi, who laid on the ground face-down, desperately trying to push himself back up.

Sakura easily threw him back, and moments later, Kaji could only watch as Sakura stomped on Hiragi’s head, knocking him out cold, blood pooling underneath his head.

Kaji began to see sparks fly, something screaming within and at him to be let free, to destroy the person in front of him. The person who had hurt his friends and juniors. The person who had hurt Hiragi .

The next thing he knew, he felt pain from all over his body, especially from his head. It took him a few moments to realize that he was being held by his hair.

“Rabid mutt.” Sakura growled, clearly pissed off. Kaji wanted to struggle, but there was no energy left in him, and he felt his whole body ache from pain that wasn’t there previously.

Kaji realized what had happened to him, the realization sending a wave of nausea through his entire being. He had lost himself and became that beast that he had sworn to never be again, and despite that, he still failed.

“Oh, back to being human again huh?” Sakura remarked, clicking his tongue.

Kaji felt the grip on his hair loosened and he fell to the ground with a thud. He’s pretty sure he’s concussed, and there’s a wet feeling from his head that told him that he’s bleeding from there.

“I gotta hand it to you, it’s not everyday I get to see someone fight like an animal.” He faintly heard Sakura remark. “But in the end a weakling is a weakling. What made you think you can beat me by yourself when you can’t do it with that Hiragi?”

“But then again, animals aren’t particularly smart.”

A feeling of a powerful blunt force hitting the back of his head, and he’s gone.

He wished that all that blunt force trauma to his head had made him forget things, but the humiliating memories were very clear in his mind when he woke up, though muddled by panic. He and Hiragi had lost, and someone as powerful as that Sakura was still going strong, but he woke up in the school infirmary, one of the few who was there apparently due to the severity of his injuries, and when he asked about the situation, he was shocked to know that their enemies had retreated.

“What about Hiragi and Umemiya-san?” He asked Enomoto and Kusumi, both of whom were there when he woke up.

“Hiragi-san is fine. He was the one who brought you to those who took care of the injured even though he himself was badly injured.” Enomoto replied. “Tsubaki-san found Umemiya-san passed out on the school’s rooftop, with Yamato Endo and Chika Takiishi nowhere in sight.”

“There’s someone called Sakura on the enemy’s side. He was the one who…” Kaji gritted his teeth at the memory of the humiliating defeat. He was lucky that none of his teammates were there to witness it, otherwise it would be even worse for him.

“We know.” Enomoto said. “Someone saw you and Hiragi-san’s fight against him and asked us to come because it’s not looking good…”

Kaji felt his heart skipping a beat, and suddenly he couldn’t meet his two vice-captain’s eyes.

“Ren. Ren .” He felt Enomoto and Kusumi’s hands on his back and arm. “You did nothing wrong. We… we are the one who should apologize to you because we’re not strong enough to help you when he’s beating you up.”

“But…”

“Don’t be stupid.”

The three of them turned to see Hiragi, his head still covered in bandages and his voice still a little nasal due to his broken nose, coming into the infirmary.

“That guy we fought is apparently as strong as Takiishi, and we already fought a lot of people before meeting him.” Hiragi stated. “Nobody would blame you for anything.”

And as always, Hiragi said it with such firm conviction that Kaji couldn’t say anything to that.

However, that didn’t change how humiliated and helpless he felt in that fight. Sakura had caused a lot of damage, hurting many of them, and he didn’t know what to think about the fact that some of his juniors, both of them who were there to witness it all and one of them being Sakura’s victim himself, were defending him even after everything.

The fact that apparently Sakura was supposed to be a Furin student, a member of Class 1-1 nonetheless, did throw him for a loop though. The idea that that monster was supposed to be his junior sent shivers down his spine, and he didn’t think that he could accept someone capable of such callousness that he displayed then as a member of Bofurin.

He said as much to Hiragi when the topic came up between them.

“...I’m inclined to agree with you.” Hiragi sighed, “But Suo and Nirei had been stubbornly unmoving in their stance about him, that he’s not an enemy that should be driven away from Makochi if sighted, and Anzai said that it was that Sakura who saved him and his friend from Keel which turned a lot of people in Class 1-1 over that side. Apparently Kotoha knew him too. He was somewhat of a regular in Cafe Pothos, and she only really had good things to say about him.”

That… doesn’t sound right. He really can’t imagine that person that he fought that night as anything but callous and cruel, uncaring about how he hurt others. He was with the Noroshis for fuck’s sake, and if what he heard is true, is closer to Endo and Takiishi than anyone else. He really doesn't think that anyone who willingly associated with those two could be any good.

“I’m sure you have a lot of feelings about it.” Hiragi said. “I do, too. But we can only really stand back and let our juniors figure it out themselves. They are the one who made this a problem, and despite everything that I personally knew and experienced wanting to make sure that he never steps foot in Makochi ever again, I don’t think Kotoha had ever been wrong about someone before.”

Kaji could only hope that this won’t be the first time that Kotoha was wrong.

 

8.

Umemiya didn’t know what to think. He had a hard time reconciling the stories of Sakura that Kotoha told him, of a seemingly cold and unfriendly teen who had never turned down anyone who asked him for help, of someone who despite his harsh words had helped Nirei to gain confidence, with the Sakura that brutally beat down Suo, Kaji, and Hiragi.

In fact, what Sakura did to Hiragi would most likely leave a lasting mark, as Hiragi’s nose had become just slightly crooked. Not too extreme but enough to be noticeable by those who knew him. Kaji had a new scar on his forehead from having his head smashed onto the ground, and that one looked like it’s gonna be staying too.

Out of his “victims”, Suo was the only one left with relatively light injuries due to how swiftly Sakura took him down. The fact that he’s also the only one that was apparently close to Sakura among them was not lost on Umemiya on top of the fact that he didn’t even touch Nirei at all.

Usually, something like this wouldn’t have been a problem he would be particularly invested in. Bofurin members have friends belonging to different gangs quite often, and sometimes they would clash with them, but in the end the through line would be pretty clear, and most other gangs, while at times at odds with Bofurin, had never been truly a threat to everything that they stood for.

The Noroshis were an entirely different matter, however, and just the thought of one of them wandering around Makochi and coming anywhere near Cafe Pothos would have been enough to send him into a bit of a frenzy, but apparently Sakura had been a frequent presence there for months at that point. The “weird but nice kid” that Kotoha had been talking about as a new frequent customer in Pothos was him .

Suo and Nirei were among the First Years that he had gotten pretty familiar with, what with them being part of the whole matter with Shishitoren, and the fact that they already got involved in something quite serious like the matter with Keel before the first month of the school year even ended definitely put them in his radar, and he personally found Nirei’s enthusiasm about Furin and everything they stood for to be something he’s happy to see in his juniors. A little assurance that even after he’s gone, after he no longer is part of Bofurin, there would be those who come after him that believed in the same cause.

The two, along with a few others in Class 1-1 had been quite fierce in their belief that Sakura wasn’t an enemy. Umemiya was quite confused, at first. Suo and Nirei he understands since they’ve known him for some time and seemed to be genuinely friends with him, but the others he didn’t. Until Anzai, the one whose friend was involved with Keel and pretty much the catalyst to that whole debacle with Keel, revealed that it was Sakura who helped that friend to get out of Keel and also saved him from the group.

“Tsuchiya recognized him because he had beaten up a gang that was making trouble near her school, and… she was desperate enough to ask him. He had no reason to help, but he did anyway.” Anzai explained.

That whole debacle was still fresh on Umemiya’s mind. Finding out that one of their own was possibly in great danger from another gang was of course something that they took very seriously, and he remembered that Class 1-1 had asked them for help to deal with the matter after Anzai had barely escaped with his friend, with the possibility of Keel coming after them still very high.

“I know that he has done bad things, including to our seniors, but what I know is that he saved me and Nagato even when he had no reason to. I just can’t consider him as an enemy.”

Kotoha also echoed that sentiment, after he told her of what happened with Kaji and Hiragi. “It’s not up to me to decide how they, or you, or anyone for that matter, should feel about Sakura. But what I know about him is that he’s a good and helpful kid. You out of all people should know how we can be shaped by the company we keep.”

It’s quite clear what Kotoha meant. In her opinion, Sakura is not a bad person, just someone with bad company. It’s just. Endo and Takiishi are probably as bad of a company as it gets, and his own experience with them and the Noroshis made him struggle to picture someone who willingly hangs around the two as anything resembling “a good and helpful kid”. Something that characterized Endo, Takiishi, and those who followed them were a supreme selfishness and uncaring attitude about what kind of damage they left behind in their pursuits, something that Umemiya could never agree with, and while he didn’t doubt Kotoha’s judgment, what little he know of Sakura from those who had less than nice words about him also pointed toward similar characteristics from Sakura.

So in the end, he made up his mind that he needed to meet and talk with Sakura and see for himself what kind of person he really is.

 

9.

Hiragi liked to think that he believed in second chances. That people are better than their worst self, that if they wanted to and were given the chance to, people can change. The more he knew and heard about Haruka Sakura, Hiragi thinks that he might be convinced that he’s not a bad person and that he shouldn’t be hostile to him and treat him as an enemy of Furin.

But he also has his own lived experience, and the one time he had met Haruka Sakura told him that he’s dangerous in ways that made it made sense to him why he would be close to Endo and Takiishi. Why he might consider those two as birds of a feather to some degree.

That first time, during the fight against the Noroshis, was something he couldn't just forget. Helplessness was a feeling that he hated , and it was something he felt in spades during that fight. Those who described him as Takiishi’s equal are not exaggerating at all, and even in peak condition, it would still be an extremely hard fight to win for him with the odds being heavily against him, and the fight against Banjo and all the others had drained a lot out of him that he could only really do his best to survive during that fight.

The thought that he had failed to protect Makochi, Furin, and his friends were the last thing in his mind before he was knocked out, and he had woken up expecting the worst just to find out that was not the case at all. He knew that their enemies were aiming for Umemiya, and while he’s fairly confident that Umemiya could take on Takiishi, he’s less confident about Umemiya’s chances of taking on Takiishi and then that Sakura.

But their enemies had just… left. Leaving Furin to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, with many of them injured and many parts of the town damaged from the fighting. Even after the wounds heal and the bandages come off, Hiragi looks in the mirror and sees the way that his nose was just slightly crooked, and Kaji has a scar on his forehead that will probably take a long time to fade.

They’re used to fighting, but rarely does it leave such lasting damages to their person. There’s a brutality within Haruka Sakura that just made him squirm slightly from recalling that fight, and the fact that he pretty much told them that he had no problem participating in Endo’s schemes which resulted in all of that hurt for Furin just because he was promised a good fight against him certainly did not ease him into the idea that Sakura wasn’t a bad person.

It told him a level of callousness, an uncaring attitude about who he hurt to get what he wanted even when what he wanted was something as mundane as a “good fight”. It was the reason why they could never agree with Endo and those who follow him. Liking and wanting a good fight wasn’t a bad thing by itself, seeking entertainment and indulging in pleasures also wasn’t a bad thing by itself, what he and Furin as a whole could never agree with is the way that many of them simply had no respect for boundaries, had no care for who they hurt in their pursuit of those.

That first meeting and first fight told him that Haruka Sakura is a selfish bastard with a capacity for cruelty that made him fit right in with the Noroshis. It would take way more than anecdotes of his helpfulness and supposed kindness for him to change his mind.

But he gets it, why those who had been saved and helped by Sakura wanted to think the best of him. Because it did speak that there’s something within that person, something that tethered him to his humanity. Something that stopped him just short of becoming someone like Endo and Takiishi who would never entertain the idea of being helpful or kind to others for no reason.

Maybe he just is yet to experience or see whatever it is that made those who vouched for Haruka Sakura so convinced that he’s not “beyond saving”. Maybe it’s not fair for him to judge someone on their worst traits, but those worst traits are very hard to ignore as someone who had fought the Noroshis tooth and nail so Furin could become what it is.

So, until he could see for himself what made Haruka Sakura deserving of a second chance, Hiragi would step back and let his juniors figure things out among themselves.

 

10.

“I don’t get you at all.” Togame commented.

He and Sakura were sitting next to each other, on a public bench somewhere in Shishitoren’s territory. He’s pretty sure that if anyone saw them they would think that he had lost his mind, talking with an enemy like that.

But the thing is, he doesn’t think that Sakura is an enemy. Something that he knew Suo and Nirei would agree with, and he thinks that if they knew everything and got the whole picture, everyone in Furin would have agreed with as well. At the very least, Umemiya would, and he would make everyone else understand as well.

However, he’s also pretty sure that he’s really the only one who had truly figured most things out surrounding one Haruka Sakura. Not the person himself, but at the very least the way his actions made things that have happened in the past few weeks make more sense. 

Now, Togame is pretty sure that Sakura himself had no interest in Shishitoren beyond what kind of fight that he and Tomiyama could have given to him. Sakura himself said as much during their fight that day back in April, when Togame was feeling lost after seeing the way that Umemiya had changed everything. How he brought the light back to Tomiyama’s eyes in one fight, something that Togame will forever envy the other teen for, as he had done what Togame himself couldn’t do.

After that, there’s no way that Togame could have kept everything as it was anymore. Tomiyama had stood and faced all of them, had told them everything that he felt which only further drive deeper how much Togame had fucked everything up with what he had done, and asked them to help him move forward.

Tomiyama was getting better, Shishitoren was getting better, but Togame wasn’t. He couldn’t face Tomiyama and what he had done, couldn’t face his mistakes, and so he didn’t, and as slowly but surely everyone else was stepping back into the light, he was trapped in the dark still. He thought of it as penance, that he would watch as everyone but him move forward. That Tomiyama would leave him behind, a fitting punishment for what he had done.

It was then that he met Sakura, on the edges of Shishitoren’s territory surrounded by unconscious Shishitoren members.

“...you’re Shishitoren’s second-in-command.” The other teen said the moment Togame came into the scene. “None of your lackeys are any good even though they talk big and were the ones who started the fight. So much for being Devotees of Power.”

Togame had heard of the teen in front of him before. Some other gangs were talking about someone with two coloured hair and heterochromatic eyes coming to their territory and beating up their leaders just to leave without another word. Nobody knew where he’s actually from and if he belonged to any gang, but what they do know is that he is very strong.

Honestly Togame was itching for a fight. Something that would be able to distract him from everything . Some mindless violence against someone who would hit back as good, anything to take his mind off the fact that everything is falling apart for him without any recourse. So he threw the first punch, taking up the other teen’s unspoken challenge.

A few minutes later, Togame found himself on the ground, his whole body unable to move and aching from the punches and kicks he had taken throughout the fight. He’s pretty sure something was broken or at the very least cracked, and the metallic taste of blood continued to linger within his mouth.

“Well, I guess you’re not too bad.” His opponent commented, looking a little worse for wear and a nasty looking bruise adorning his face but otherwise seemingly fine.

The rumors about him being insanely strong wasn’t an exaggeration at all. He’s pretty sure he had only seen this kind of strength from Tomiyama, Umemiya, and those guys who left Furin a while back ago.

“I heard you guys kicked out those who lost a fight,” the other teen said, peering curiously at him in a way that for some reason reminds Togame of cats. A big and very dangerous cat, but a cat nonetheless. “Does that apply to you too?”

Togame laughs humorlessly. “No, we don't do that anymore as of a few weeks ago.”

“Is it because your leader got his ass kicked by Furin’s?”

Ah damn, so the story had really spread huh. Must have been one of those blabbermouth and gossipers talking shit behind their back even while still being part of Shishitoren. Yet another reminder of his failures. He really couldn’t catch a break.

“Well. Not exactly, but I guess you can put it that way.”

The other teen looked at him for some time, like he’s trying to figure something out before saying, “Teach your lackeys to shut up when fighting. I don’t need to know about your group’s drama when I’m beating people up. I heard something about how you and your leader need to just kiss and make up.”

Oh now that’s mortifying. Togame took note of who was around there among the unconscious and kept in mind to make them do all the most annoying work around the area.

“I honestly don’t give a shit about your group’s drama, but if that’s why you can’t get more than three hits in during our fights then you better get your shit together. I hate people who let stupid shit drag them down.”

“What do you know?” Togame bit back bitterly.

The other teen rolled his eyes. “Nothing, but you fight like you’re running away from something. Only weaklings run away. You don’t feel like a weakling.”

He then frowned. “What the hell am I talking about? Forget it.”

Without another word, the teen then turned around and left, not knowing how he had pretty much turned Togame’s world upside down with those careless remarks.

“Stop running away huh?” Togame muttered to himself.

He felt stupid for running away for so long. Only weaklings run away, and he had never thought of himself as one. If Tomiyama hates him, if his punishment were really to be left behind… the only thing he could do is to face it and accept his fate. The fact that apparently some of their members are talking about him needing to just man up and face Tomiyama helped as a motivation to get his shit together so he can then punish them for talking shit about him like that.

Some time has passed since then. He found out that the other teen’s name was Sakura not long after their first meeting, when he met him again in Shishitoren’s territory, this time exiting an ice cream shop.

Togame hounded him for some time, asking his name, where he’s from, and why he’s in Shishitoren’s territory. He got the name and the reason (because the ice cream parlor there was his favorite), but he couldn’t figure out where he’s from and if he’s affiliated with any gang. The thought of following Sakura to find out was immediately dispelled when he took a strong punch in the stomach that left him wheezing on the sidewalk for a whole minute after trying to put his arm around Sakura’s shoulder.

But Sakura comes around every once in a while. Always for the ice cream. Sometimes some fools would make trouble with him, and he would beat them up in record speed before carrying on in his merry ways. Togame always tries to strike up some conversation with him when he can, his interest in Sakura having been piqued by their first encounter and the subsequent ones. He’s pretty sure that Sakura only tolerated him because he’s strong enough to take or block the warning hit when he thought he’s annoying him.

And Togame observed. He knew that Sakura knew that he’s watching but didn’t say anything about it, so he figured that it’s fine. There’s a lot of weird contradictions about Sakura. He’s quite violent, never hesitating to use his fists rather than his words during situations where it’s a viable option, and can be callous to his opponents with mockeries and degrading comments abound, especially if he considers his opponent a disappointment or an annoyance. Togame thinks he was quite lucky that Sakura didn’t consider him too much of either. In fact, he got something close to a praise from Sakura from their fight.

But at the same time, Sakura never turned down anyone who asked for help even when he had good reasons to. Very few people ever did, really. Sakura gave off an unapproachable and cold aura that made it hard for people to come close let alone ask him for help, but the few that did were never turned down. Whether it’s a grandma asking for help crossing the road, or some kid asking him to help them get their kite which got stuck on a tree, Sakura would help. It’s a strange dichotomy of a genuinely helpful and for the most part “decent” person and also someone who went around looking to fight people like he’s addicted to violence.

Their strange little relationship went on for some time until one day Sakura stopped coming, and Suo and Nirei, the two first years from Furin that were there during the confrontation between Shishitoren and Furin, came to them and asked for their help for an upcoming fight.

Of course, Togame had some idea about who Furin would be fighting against. Those ex-Furin used to clash with Shishitoren as well, and he personally had fought the infamous Yamato Endo once. He understood why Furin might ask for help, and Tomiyama had been enthusiastic in wanting to help, so Togame made no objection.

“If I were you I wouldn’t come to help Furin.”

When Sakura came around Shishitoren territory again, one day before the supposed attack on Makochi happened, the other teen surprised him with that statement.

“...you’re not on Furin’s side.” Togame realized.

Sakura didn’t answer, but he didn't need to.

“Is that a warning?”

“Not really.” Sakura replied. “You’re an annoying but smart guy. You’ll probably figure it out once it’s all over. Try to stay away from anywhere that gets breached.”

Then he left without another word, ice cream in hand. Togame didn’t tell anyone about that encounter.

And Togame thinks that Sakura was right. Once the dust settled, once his asking around gave him a clearer picture of what’s going on, he realized that Furin and Makochi were never truly in serious danger, reinforcement or not. While Togame was quite pleased to see that Tomiyama had truly had fun in his fights again, plenty of their people still got injured. The whole thing was a farce, arranged by their enemy for entertainment.

He also found out from the Shishitoren members guarding the shopping district that the Team Tamon Grade Captains consisting of Hiragi, Kaji, and Suo, had their collective asses handed to them by Sakura. While they were already pretty tired and beaten up in some way by the time they fought him, the description they gave of him gave off the impression that Sakura were more like a force of nature than a human, and honestly he could picture it.

They also told him that it seemed that the Furin First Years, Nirei and Suo, knew Sakura and in fact were fairly close to him.

If anybody had any suspicion about why Togame was so interested in Sakura, they didn’t say anything.

He would meet Sakura again just a few days later, ice cream in hand like he always does when he’s in Shishitoren’s territory. Like just a few days earlier he wasn’t part of the group that threatened to ruin Makochi and by proxy the area around it as well.

“So you’re with Yamato Endo and Chika Takiishi.” Togame stated matter of factly when they met.

Sakura snorted. “Not really. They’re more like annoyances I can’t get rid of, especially Endo.”

Despite his derisive tone, there’s a strange sense of fondness underlying Sakura’s words.

“...you warned me not to go where a breach happened.”

“Only one smart enough to take the advice when given one.” Sakura stated, his face scrunching up in annoyance.

“You told your friends in Furin that too.” Togame realized.

“They’re not my friends.”

Maybe not, Togame thought. But if Sakura’s relationship with those two from Furin was anything like his own, then at the very least, the two had managed to one way or another become enough of a presence in Sakura’s everyday life.

And now, Togame’s thoughts had returned back to the beginning.

“I really don’t get you at all.”

Sako’s description of what happened told him that Sakura hadn’t hesitated to brutally defeat his enemies, looking down on them the entire time. But at the same time he had been nice enough to give him and a few others a warning. In fact, Togame had the feeling that Suo and Nirei coming to Shishitoren to ask for help were partly influenced by something that Sakura did.

But he thinks he gets him, a little. Sakura had known the whole thing was a farce to begin with and most likely only participated because Endo had something on him. Or maybe he just annoyed him enough until Sakura gave in. He didn’t think anyone could make Sakura do something he didn’t want to. He warned the few people he was somewhat fond of to stay away but couldn’t be bothered about the others and had no qualms about simply beating the shit out of them if they ignored his warning.

“Quick question. Do you have any particular reason, sticking around with Yamato Endo and Chika Takiishi?”

Sakura scowled at him. “Why do you care? Don’t even think about trying to get me to join your loser of a group if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Togame laughed. “No, that’s not it. Just personal curiosity, really.”

“...No. Not really.”

“I see.”

They didn’t talk anymore after that, but Togame got up from the bench, went to a nearby vending machine, and bought two bottles of ramune, offering one to Sakura when he returned.

Sakura’s face scrunched up at the bottle he took. “How am I supposed to open this?”

Togame blinked, and suddenly it clicked.

Oh.

He quickly adjusted his expression and showed Sakura how to do it, and he seemed to like it.

The other teen left not long after that, leaving Togame to ponder about his realization.

“Man, to think that he’s really just lonely …”

He’s probably oversimplifying things. Sakura probably had more things going on with him. But all the things he knew about him gathered together to form an incomplete puzzle that still told him that Haruka Sakura is above all else lonely . His constant fight seeking, his constant wandering, him sticking around with people like Endo and Takiishi. Togame knows that he’s far from having the full picture, but he thinks he got a decently good picture with him.

Someone who deep down wanted to make connections, probably never having many if any friends before. Someone who genuinely cared, even if his way of showing it is very awkward because he had never had anyone to show that care to. Buried underneath all that coldness and violence, there’s someone who was all of that, if one were to look closer. But that coldness and violence is part of him.

Togame did not get the impression that Sakura was particularly disturbed or repulsed by his own violence, and he thinks that might be something that those guys in Furin might struggle with. For all that Sakura might be a decent guy, his views of the world are pretty warped. Togame wouldn’t pretend to know why Sakura is the way he is. Full of contradictions, capable of great violence and callousness, yet also strangely caring and kind in his own weird way. But he does think that he’s not an “enemy”. At least not to him.

“I wonder if he will finally let me add my contact to his phone.” He mused to himself.

 

10.5

Haruka Sakura wanted to be free.

He had lived his whole life feeling like he had no control over anything . How everyone treated him had been written in the stone by the way he looked, and he had always felt like he was walking down a tightrope, a small and narrow space in which he can exist as he is, with anything beyond it being an endless abyss of rejection.

He had to be strong because otherwise he would never be anything else but weak and rejected. He had never expected anything from anyone, because he knew that nobody would ever give anything to him willingly. To struggle is to live, and everything that he has, meager as it might be, were all things that he had to struggle and fight for. He struggled, because that’s the only way that he could have even the slightest feeling of control over his life.

He longed to be free.

Free from the tightrope, free from any and all expectation on how he should be, free from everything that made living a struggle, and Endo was the first person to show him that the freedom he longed for was something he could grasp if he’s strong enough.

But freedom also meant that he no longer had anything to ground him. There’s nothing that he could think of as his guide to how he should live his life. When to live was to struggle, he knew he’s alive when he felt like he’s on the verge of falling to the abyss, when he felt his breath rags from exhaustion, when he felt his fist ache from hitting others so many times, when the winter nights nearly froze him to death.

He was no longer walking on a tightrope. The freedom that he longed for had become his. But when the tightrope was all he knew and freedom was so alien to him, he could only grasp blindly in the dark, hoping that something anything would lead him to the light, whatever that light might be.

But when the darkness is all he knew, how would he know when the light had come?

Notes:

sorry for the long wait. this chapter took me for a ride and trashes around like a wild bull, and before i know it things had gone completely out of control. please don't expect chapters this long from me ever again.

Notes:

this was supposed to be a one shot of a little "what if sakura is on the villain's side" and practically amounted to endo's victory lap, but my need to make everyone, especially sakura, go through various emotional turmoils ends up with... this. so. uh.

and don't worry, how sakura in this au first met suo and nirei will be explored. so look forward to that!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of nobody except for endo is actually having a good time