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Sakura didn't really like talking about himself.
There just wasn't anything to like about himself, so he rather kept quiet when his classmates conversed about their likes and interests with each other. And when they eventually asked him something, he would give some half-assed answer just to get rid of their prying eyes.
He knew they meant well, but past experiences kept him from opening up to his friends. There just were too many things about him that he got laughed at over back in middle school. Whether it be his love for fighting or how he somehow managed to bond with every single cat he came into contact with, everything was seen as weird.
And that's not even mentioning one of his bigger secrets. Which, coincidentally, is very much related to the topic his classmates were currently discussing.
"Come on, Kakiuchi! You gotta tell us what your type is!" Anzai begged his fellow classmate as they and the rest of class 1-1 sat together for lunch. They had just returned from patrol duty and decided to catch a late lunch slash early dinner together at the new place that opened in Makochi just a few weeks ago.
The boy that Anzai was harassing sighed loudly. "Fine!" he said as he threw his hands up in defeat. "I like short girls with long hair and dark eyes. There, happy?" he replied, a small smile finding its way onto his face despite his earlier reluctance. The brown-haired teen whooped and patted the other on the back. "That's what I'm talking about! What about body type? Any preference?" he then asked with a smug grin.
Kurita flushed red and moved his hand to rub at the back of his neck. "I-I don't know. I guess I maybe prefer.. big boobs?" he stammered out, much to his friend's amusement. Anzai laughed again as more of their classmates joined in on the conversation.
Sakura huffed and rolled his eyes at the display. He didn't understand how people could be so obsessed about knowing these things about other people. Neither did he understand that others were so willing to participate. Like how right now, without prompting, Takanashi began explaining his type (which ended with him showing off pictures of him and his long-term girlfriend, which almost made Sakura choke on his food as his romance sensor went in overdrive).
One of his classmates then looked in the direction where he and his friends were seated. "How about you, Suo-kun? What do you like in a girl?" the boy asked, directing all eyes towards their one-eyed vice captain. Said boy just smiled at his classmates. "As long as the ancient spirit sealed in my right eye approves, I don't mind what my future wife looks like." he replied, earning an unanimous groan from the group.
Suo then turned his attention to his fellow vice captain. "How about you, Nire-kun?" he asked, receiving a surprised yelp from the blond boy. Nirei momentarily fumbled with the notebook he was writing in before daring to look up at the curious gazes of his classmates. "U-uhm.." he hesitated. He then opened said notebook again and skipped to one of the pages near the front. In true Nirei-style, he had written all his desires down.
"My ideal girlfriend would be someone who has blond hair, dyed or natural, and light colored eyes. She also has to be kind and smart, have similar interests, take care of her appearance, has her future planned out and preferably is the same height or shorter than me. Oh, and wants at least 2 or more kids!"
"And?"
"..and has a nice looking butt."
"There you go!"
A few people clapped a red-faced Nirei on the back before moving on. Sakura scoffed at his friends before tuning the conversation around him out in favor of continuing to eat his meal. This new place had some great dishes and he was currently enjoying some new kind of meat with mushroom sauce. Well, it had some cauliflower and other vegetables as well, but he had shoved those aside with a grimace.
He was just about to take another bite when one of his classmates called out to him.
"Alright! Sakura, your turn! Tell us what you like!"
Sakura froze, fork with food still in hand. He looked up and was met with just about everyone looking his way. His hand trembled slightly and his face turned red. "Like hell I'm telling you!" he yelled. He had to avoid this conversation somehow. He was prone to blurting out what he was thinking when he got overwhelmed and that would not end well with this topic..
His classmates were not deterred by his aggressive response. They had known him for a while now and knew he was more bark than bite. They also knew they shouldn't press him for answers lest they push him away, but they desperately wanted to know something, anything about their grade captain. The boy never gave away any personal details!
Anzai, the instigator of this whole conversation, leaned forward and placed his hands on the table in front of the two-toned boy. "Let's hear it, captain! Big boobs? Big ass? Tell us!"
Sakura shoved his chair backwards, ready to flee if necessary. "I have no interest in that! Stop asking!" he retorted, hoping to stop his classmate from bombarding him with these awful questions. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would say something he would regret.
Anzai, however, wasn't discouraged by his refusal.
"Oh, you like flat-chested girls more? Or maybe girls who work out?"
His eye twitched and he could feel his rage building up. His patience was disappearing by the second. He felt ready to explode.
"That's not what I-"
"Or are you the 'I like personality' type?"
Don't do it Sakura, keep your mouth shut!
"I don't have an interest in any girls like that-"
"There has to be something about girls that you-"
Sakura stood up and slammed his hands on the table.
"I LIKE GUYS!"
Shit
His eyes widened and he stepped back from the table. He had really done it now. He had gone and fucked up his relationship with everyone from his class.
He flushed red in embarrassment and shame. He wanted to look away to avoid seeing the look their faces, but he couldn't. He was stuck watching his friends, waiting to see what their reaction would be. Will they laugh at him? Will they be disgusted? Will they start bullying him so much he'll have to change schools again?
He watched his classmates, watched Anzai, as they all looked at him with shocked expressions. He looked on with bated breath as the brown-haired boy stood up from his chair and walked around to his side of the table. He took another step back, hands clenching into fists, as he waited for his classmate to do something. Was he going to hit him? Kick him out? Ridicule him?
Instead, Anzai bowed deeply before him. "I'm so sorry Sakura! I didn't mean to out you like that!" he told the bi-colored teen. Sakura blinked in confusion, hands dropping from their defensive position. What kind of reaction was this?!
The other boy straightened his back again and looked at his captain, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm really, truly sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard for answers. You clearly weren't comfortable with it." he said sincerely. The two-toned boy looked at his friend in shock. That was it? No insults? No slurs?
Did they not mind him being gay?
A hand caught his sleeve and pulled him back down onto his chair. "Don't worry, Sakura-san, no one's going to judge you for something like that!" Nirei said to him. Suo, who sat at his other side, nodded in agreement. "I doubt you're the only one here who likes boys." the other teen added with a smile. Murmurs of agreement erupted from the small group of boys.
"Suo-chan's right, you know." Kiryu piped up from his place at the table. "Personally, I swing both ways! Although I prefer girls, I've been with a couple of cute guys as well." the pink-haired teen confessed. Sakura looked at him with shock and wonder. Kiryu liked guys too?
Some other boys began sharing their experiences as well.
"I kissed a boy once. It was pretty cool!"
"Me too!
"I know, dumbass. You were the one I kissed!"
"I dated a guy in middle school. He left me for my sister.."
"Ouch, that's rough dude."
"It's fine. I fucked his brother."
"Bro wHAT?!"
Sakura watched in awe as the other boys talked about their less than straight escapades without anyone passing judgements on them. Obviously not everyone could contribute with this topic, but there were at least 5 or 6 guys who openly talked about their experiences with other boys. And honestly? As much as this topic made him blush uncontrollably, it really helped him feel less like a freak.
One of the boys sitting opposite to him glanced his way before smirking. "So, what kind of guys are you into?" he asked with a wiggle of the eyebrows. Sakura's face flushed even more red as he stammered through his words. "I-I-I'm not telling! Not any of y-you that's for sure!" he all but yelled.
His classmate feigned a heartbroken look before smiling again. "Aww, come on Sakura-kun! What's your type?" he asked again. Another classmate then hit the boy over the head, telling him to not push their grade captain any further. The two-toned teen opened his mouth to agree with that statement before he hesitated.
He had never been able to participate in any kind of conversation revolving around romantic interests, or any interests at all for that matter. And he didn't necessarily want to talk about it, but he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to participate in this conversation with his friends. Maybe he could say a little bit and see what happens after.
He looked down at his hands. "I guess I-" His confidence wavered slightly as everyone turned to look at him, but he pushed through anyway. "I-I like tall guys. W-with broad shoulders and dark hair. And someone who can put up a good fight! But.. he has to be kind as well.." he finally said, hiding his face behind his hands as a certain someone popped up in his head.
A snort beside him caught his attention and he turned to look at his grinning one-eyed friend. "What?!" he barked. Suo looked him dead in the eyes before speaking.
"Sakura-kun, do you have a crush on Togame-san?"
Sakura let out a strangled sound.
"I do not!"
"Oh really? Then why did that description sound exactly like him?"
"That's not true!"
"It certainly seems like it."
Sakura's face turned redder and redder until finally-
"It's not my fault he's so hot!" he snapped. "You didn't see him fight the way I did! He can literally pick me up like I weigh nothing! And have you seen that stupid fucking smile on his face?! He has no right to look that handsome!"
The group was once again completely silent.
Oh god he was being too honest again.
He dropped his head down onto the table and let out a groan of embarrassment. This was it. He was going to go out and jump off a bridge. He simply would never be able to recover from this.
Goodbye cruel world.
Nirei gently patted him on the back. "There, there, Sakura-san. It's okay to have a crush on someone." he said, his amusement audible in his voice. "And I'm honestly not blaming you. Togame-san is pretty handsome." At that the grade captain picked his head up from the table to glare at his friend. "Hands off, he's mine." he muttered, making several of his classmates stifle their laughter.
"Wait, who is Togame again?"
"Isn't he that guy from Shishitoren?"
"Yeah, I remember him! He looks scary."
"Hey, don't call him scary! You'll evoke Sakura's wrath!"
Sakura actually laughed at that last one. "Nah, it's fine. He can be pretty scary." he commented. His eyes then softened. "But.. he's really nice when you get to know him." he said. His classmates smiled at that. It was good to hear their captain finally open up about these kind of things.
It was also kinda cute to hear him say these kind of things about his crush. Their adorable innocent classmate was probably not even thinking about anything inappropriate like most people did when they talked about the person they liked.
"Also, his hands are really big. I bet he could wrap them around my throat with ease."
Ah, never mind.
Nirei almost fell of his chair. "S-S-Sakura-san! Don't say things like that!" he cried out. Sakura stared at him for a second, confused, before he also flinched back in his chair. "Did I say that out loud?!" he asked, horror visible on his face. The two stared at each other for a moment before the grade captain stood up and began walking away.
"That's it. I'm jumping into the river." he muttered as he made his way to the door. His blond vice captain scrambled to follow him. "You can't, Sakura-san! You still have so much to live for!" The class watched the two go with amusement. Suo let out a sigh and stood up as well. "I'm going to help Nire-kun prevent our captain from doing anything stupid. Have a nice evening everyone." he said before leaving as well.
After the three had left the remaining members of class 1-1 took a moment to let all the new information sink in.
So, one, Sakura was into guys and had a massive crush on Shishitoren's 2nd in command.
Two, Kiryu was apparently a big hit with both girls and guys.
Three, two of their classmates apparently kissed at some point.
Wait-
"Hold up, you two kissed?!"
Said boys looked at each other, a blush appearing on their faces.
Fuck