Chapter Text
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Sakura Haruka is a freak, an abomination with split coloured hair and heterochromia eyes. Something that shouldn’t have been born as his ‘father’ would always spat in his face before they abandoned him. Leaving him behind in the freezing unforgiving weather, skinny knobbly knees, a few pieces of clothes and three 10 dollar notes in his hand.
His mother had barely glanced at him. It stung.
He stood there and looked at the grey sky that day, noting the small pieces of snow fluttering down as the backs of the fading figures disappeared in the distance. Leaving him alone in the country where a single breeze of the winter wind bit into his skin sharply. If someone had asked Sakura if it hurt that day, he wasn’t sure if the hurt implied his breaking heart or the bitter cold weather. Maybe a part of him always knew that they didn’t care about him but it still hurt to realise it was true.
At least they were kind enough to give him 30 dollars.
He was only 9 years old at that time.
Each year, when the snow arrived, Sakura would do his best to sleep through it mostly. With his hard earned collected coins he found in the gutters, underneath bins and so on, he managed to splurge upon a cushion and a thin blanket that was on sale in those saver stores.
His clothes now mostly gathered from clothes dug up in the recycling bin nearby and he tried his best to not get caught by store owners whenever they threw away food that weren’t sold out.
By now, the town folk were aware of the “strange boy” who lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the great town. Provided by a kind blind old man who grumbled that there was no use for him to keep a second small house for himself if no one were to use it.
Sakura was secretly grateful that the old man was blind, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have gotten that house. Despite the poor state of the house, where wind would get through the wooden boards every second spent in there, rickety old wood rotting away and a poor maintenance kitchen, bedroom and… bathroom.
If it can even be called a bathroom. Sakura was always incredibly grateful that he had a bed to sleep in every night.
So he clung onto that small kindness back then, asking if there were any odd jobs he could do for him in order to get a few coins and cents and such. It was a funny relationship.
With Sakura running the errands to get money to survive in the house that was given to him. It was funnier when he didn’t even need to run errands some times to get the same amount of money. Sakura had refused many times and yet he still somehow finds the money snuck into pocket.
He was so sure that this old man wasn’t blind. But… how could he refuse it in his state.
And now today, before winter fully hits in its worst weather. Sakura Haruka was once again rushing around in thin clothing towards the side streets and gutter pipes, hoping to see a large cent somewhere to pick up as he crouches down and glares at the people who shoot him nasty looks.
Now 14 years old, people no longer take pity on his form as it is somehow growing into a nice form for a teenager still growing. However Sakura was still a growing boy, and this growing boy was currently shivering, clenching and unclenching his hands as he brushed around some leaves, a huff of triumph escaping him as he grips onto a 50 dollar note and immediately shoved it up his sleeve.
A good find.
He stood up, grimacing at how numb his legs were feeling as he shook them and one of his shoe shakes around loosely in response to remind him just how he needs to go find another shoe for his soon-to-be-too-small shoe.
Sakura huffs again, adjusting his sleeve before he rushes off back to his next street, slowly inching closer to the main streets where he feels a grin spread across his face as he ducks his face down lower to bury his face into the flimsy scarf.
The main street was always bustling with children dragging their parents around to go to the milk bars, where the legendary tasty chocolates produced by the Hayato’s chocolate factory is sold.
The first time Sakura had heard of those, he was a 10 years old child who had scoffed because what use was chocolate if it didn’t stave off hunger? But when he heard of how just.. Rich, velvety and heaven like it was, he was hesitant. Sakura being a child buying products just to survive, he couldn’t let himself be indulged into such things yet…
Yet the childish part of him wanted to know what it would be like, to have tasty things to provide a bit of this joy.
So 10 year old Sakura had walked into the store with a wad of cash, making sure to look at how much others had paid and received in return before walking in to buy his own. He had put a cap on, as much as he despised hats, he was scared to be ripped off.
The door chimed, signalling his presence and he walked past other customers with ease. He made sure that his feet weren't dirty, heading down the rows before entering the sweets section.
He walked to the shelves, eyes fixating onto the familiar wrappers and stared at the words before reaching up to grab one. Sakura tip-toed and his little hands grasped onto the wrapper, feeling the bumps underneath when he took it off and slowly walked up into the line, clutching onto his money tightly in his fist before it was finally his turn.
The store clerk had grinned, giving a small wink that Sakura wouldn’t have gotten if he didn’t wear a hat. “First time trying this?” He asked, eyes glittering as he immediately gave back the right amount of change, noting Sakura’s nervous figure.
“It’s the best, won’t disappoint ya’.”
Sakura grinned, his heart fluttering in excitement, remembering to duck out after giving a small thanks and raced down the street, clutching onto the chocolate bar like it’s a 2 dollar coin he would find in the gutter. His heart was fluttering with excitement and he felt nervous as he stared at the chocolate bar on what to do.
Should he wait to eat it? Should he eat it now?
Standing there and unsure of what to do, he walked back to the small house at the edge of the street and felt the loss of butterflies in his stomach as it began to churn in unease instead. Was he supposed to wait? Will it actually be good as others have said it to be?
“Hey Sakura, kid.”
Sakura’s head snapped up, looking at the oldman who trudged down the path, his cane hitting the stray loose pebbles and Sakura hastily stuffed the chocolate away in a rush of panic. Forgetting that the old man can’t actually see.
“What is it, old man?” He called out, proud that his voice didn’t waver as much as he thought it would be and the old man grinned when realising he was there.
“Help me with something will ya?”
.
.
.
“You can eat it, you know?”
Sakura snapped his head up, his cup nearly spilling water after he did a small gardening job. “What?” He asked, voice fading a bit and the old man smiled at him, his eyes crinkling.
“I can recognise the sound of a wrapper, especially if it’s chocolate. Say, might it be the famous Hayato produced?” He asked, tapping his nose and Sakura shifted nervously.
“Ye, you’ve heard of it?”
“Hah! Heard of it, young man, this has been around since I was a kid.” The old man had chuckled, his cane clacking against the floor and Sakura had shifted in embarrassment, turning his head away and the old man grinned again.
“Well? What are you waiting for? You finished your work, might as well give yourself a treat.”
A treat, like a reward for congratulations.
Sakura shivered, a smile creeping up on his face unknowingly that time and had opened it, and truth to the people’s words, it was delicious. The warmest and tastiest thing he has ever tasted.
If he cried that day, no one would know.
Sakura hurried his steps to the main street, grinning as he spotted the usual stores out there bustling with children and their parents. He squashes the ugly inner him deep inside at the sight of parents holding their childrens with happy smiles and walks down the street, his eyes searching around for any glimmer of dropped coins.
Sakura buried his hands deep into his pocket, hoping to work little wonders of gathering some nice body heat while his fingers fiddling with the fifty dollar note tucked inside his sleeves
His eyes flitted across the street back and forth, his feet taking his slowly closer to the middle of the town where he automatically looks up to see the enormous chocolate factory, its large iron gates forever closed due to some incident of the factory’s formula being leaked out.
But he didn’t care, for the rich scent of creamy chocolate had always wafted out of the factory, and Sakura would always stop near the gates where he would lift up his head and take in a deep breath of the scent and relax.
If he couldn’t buy it, he can always just enjoy the scent and ignore the torture and yearning for the chocolate the other children’s always eat in front of his face. But Sakura knew deeply, that within his many wishful yearnings, was that he wished to see what was like inside that factory.