Chapter Text
‘I’ve got the eggs, the vegetables… A loaf of bread…’ Amber eyes scanned the green shopping basket held by her hand, the grocery store wasn’t that packed with many customers. Just the grannies who were getting vegetables, mothers with their children asking for candy and sweet drinks from the beverages. Speaking of those old grannies—
They have never stopped pestering her to get a boyfriend. Most of Makochi town have given up trying to persuade her, Tachibana Kotoha who runs Pothos like a tight ship, however; the grannies haven’t given up yet. She knows they mean well and knows they were worrying about her future but not every girl needs to have a man by their side and looking at Makochi town’s boys? She only sees most of them as friends and even little brother figures, Nirei was someone she let into Pothos constantly even when he was beaten up due to bullies. The poor brunette was always a golfer, but he was saved by a Furin student, which gave him some motivation to join Furin high school.
If you ask her though; Nirei, as he is (no skill in fighting), would fit in a different school. She wouldn’t dare voice that out though, Nirei was incredibly happy to go to Furin.
Kotoha wouldn’t stomp on that happiness, she hopes that Nirei’s class would protect the info-hoarder.
She smooths down her green jacket while the cashier clerk finishes scanning her chosen items, opening her red crossbody bag to get her wallet to pay. It was a quick transaction and she bid the nice employee a good day on her way out, what should be a peaceful walk back to Pothos Cafe however…
Ended up with her in a predicament of being backed into a graffitied security shutter, five taller men surrounding her from all sides. Kotoha is already on-guard, staring at the leader in the eyes. Dirty blond hair with ridiculous black leather jackets all five of them share to show they were a group, lazy if you asked her. Shishitoren's members had some style with their gang symbol on the back of their notoriously orange baseball jackets.
“Listen, I said get out of my way.” Her burgundy hair fell to her right side as she maintained eye contact even when she had to lift her chin up.
“Come on, don't be like that.” The man with the earrings stared down at her with that familiar grin that screamed 'danger' instead of the 'nice guy' mask he probably used to charm (or warn) other girls. “Don’t you wanna hang out?”
'As if I'd hang out with you.’ She hissed in her mind.
“Isn't there anything you wanna do?” She rolled her eyes internally, manchildren these days. So easy to spot. With how aggressive his flirtatious tone got in the end.
“I'd like….” The way he beamed was sickening.
“..To smash these eggs into your face. But my hands are full, and it'd be a waste.” She stared at the dozen eggs in the plastic holder before turning her gaze back to the leader of this small group and snarled. Eyes going from firm defiance to a complete glare, she hated that smirk and wanted to slap him across the face and maybe kick him in the balls.
“I like a feisty girl, but if you talk too much—” Kotoha turned to walk off but the man grabbed her wrist, tight and like a vice. She winced from the strength, there it was, the threat of physical assault if she didn't comply.
“Ow, hey! That hurt—” She yelped from the way she couldn't snatch away her arm from the bastard when a pale hand came up and placed itself on the guy's shoulder. All of them had turned their attention to the kid that was brave enough to disturb them, and amber eyes widened as she recognized that uniform. She was familiar with it, no— she understands it.
“Huh?”
“It's too damn early for you to be actin' so lame in broad daylight.” The boy with split hair (black and white, Kotoha noted) snarked under his breath but it was loud and clear enough for all of them to hear. Kotoha did what she could do to get out of this situation way quicker than any fight could.
“What’s your deal? And what is up with that look—”
“Anata!” ‘I’m sorry random unique-looking guy, but I'm on a schedule!!’ Kotoha apologized for the act she was about to pull, she pushed her tone to sound friendlier, adoring and soft. It caught every guy off guard, even the poor stranger with the unique hair and pretty marble-like eyes was slowly getting redder by every passing second.
“Sorry, if you think I was available then you're dead wrong. I was meeting up with my boyfriend back at the cafe I work at, so long jerks!” She had this massive shit-eating grin on her face and quickly made the stranger hold one of the grocery bags, she used her now free hand to grab the pale hand that belonged to the strange boy that was sputtering, stuttering and trying to make sense of the situation. She took off to the direction of Pothos cafe with the stranger in tow, both of them carrying the yellow ecobags with care.
As they ran, many of the locals had seen them holding hands and some of the elderly ladies had this shocked expression on their faces as the two ran past them.
When they got to Pothos, Kotoha closed the door and heaved. Panting lightly from the sudden sprint she broke into.
“W-WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT?!” The heterochromia boy screamed at the top of his lungs, red as a tomato and still cradling the groceries with one arm. As she first noticed, he wore the Furin High uniform, had different colored hair that split perfectly at the left side. Black on the right with the deep blue eye accompanying it and then pure silky white paired with that color of dawn that had a shade of orange. He had a simple white t-shirt under his jacket and he wore simple black and white sneakers that looked like they haven't been washed for only god knows how long.
“Sorry, sorry! I was on a tight schedule! And—” Kotoha was cut off by the boy again and she started to sweat from the lack of answers she could give. The only one that technically benefits here was her.
“I was gonna beat 'em up! I was gonna put them in their place!” The flustered pink shade on his face hasn't disappeared, he kept pointing at her and wouldn't stop his tirade. “I wasn't helping you!!” He finished off, which was possibly the biggest lie Kotoha has probably ever heard.
“I know, I know but thank you either way.” The burgundy-haired teen smiled softly even when the boy was quite the loud customer. He blushed even more and stepped back, “I said I didn't do it to help you!!” Kotoha broke out into a laugh, ‘This is one severe tsundere!’ she couldn't help but giggle at that in retrospective, she called this tsundere her 'boyfriend' in front of those thugs and ran through the packed street where the cafe was hand-in-hand with him—
Wait.
Boyfriend. In front of thugs that would definitely come back for revenge.
Ran to Pothos hand-in-hand with a new kid with so many eyes being present to see.
Oh no.
“AND WHY DID YOU CALL ME BOYFRIEND?! You don't know me!!!”
“—EVERYONE’S GONNA THINK WE'RE TOGETHER.” She felt her heart drop to her stomach.
“THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!”
“Ah, I see. You're from out of town, no wonder I didn't recognize you by your face at least.” Kotoha placed the plate of omurice in front of him, they've managed to calm down from their shared freak out. She offered to cook a free meal for him as an apology for getting him into this situation. 'This was going to be chaotic. The gossip here is fast and they'll spread like wildfire— Independent, sharp-tongued me! Tachibana Kotoha, holding hands with a new boy, unknown to everyone!’
She went back to the drawers to get Sakura a spoon. Sakura Haruka was the name of the boy who was new to Makochi, an outsider who seemed to be excited for his time in Furin because he was wearing the uniform a day too early.
“Yeah, another weirdo, I get it.” He grumbled, his tone implied that he's experienced indifference and dismissiveness in the past. Kotoha was quick to correct herself, “If you're talking about your appearance, that isn't what I meant at all!” She waved her hand with a sympathetic expression on her face. It was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to be like those ordinary outsiders who only stir trouble in Makochi town only to be driven out by Bofurin, for one….
Sakura was going to be attending Furin High.
And second; people may or may not get the gist that Sakura may or may not be her boyfriend.
“Makochi town wasn't famous for its hospitality and safety, it's filled with teams and thugs. As you saw with the ones bothering me.” She strided back to the front of the counter, handing the new makochi resident a spoon for his meal. “Always breaking into fights, destroying shops and whatnot.”
“So normal people wouldn't even dream of coming close. Even so, I also came from outside of Makochi.” Sakura still looked at her wearily even when she had placed the spoon down on the tissue, he's not tense and ready for a fight but he isn't exactly relaxed either.
“My name is Tachibana Kotoha, and I'm really sorry for the situation I got you in!” Kotoha bowed her head again, the boy just stared at her with this look of Why are you not weirded out? The cafe worker just kept her smile on, she had a similar rough childhood, but probably not exactly like his. Whether he likes it or not, Makochi will claim him.
Because whoever has a connection to Makochi will belong to Makochi.
“I know it's a lot to ask but… can we keep this up for a while? This tiny ruse?” Haruka remembered her words, echoing as he walked down the streets of Makochi.
'Why the hell did I even say whatever, she took it as a yes!!’ He 'tsked' under his breath, already starting to feel irritated at it all. He came here to be the Top dog! To be untouchable and find his peace even if it would be fragile, even if it would rely on constantly fighting, constantly having his guard up—
“I have some kind of plan, let's exchange contact IDs.”
Sakura felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he pressed the smaller button on the side of it and it was a message from Kotoha. A notification from their DMs, I'm sorry if I sounded condescending. But you need connections. I have no other way to tell you that.
Yeah, right.
Like connections did a lot for him.
“Let's fill up the DMs with all sorts of messages, that way it looks like we've been talking for a while now!” Haruka didn't understand why a part of him nagged to reply to that girl, she dragged him into a complicated mess and now he was following her plan. It felt like those cliche plots in those American teen movies where the actors were literal adults portraying teenagers, and the plot was so asinine that Haruka couldn't be bothered to finish it even if those DVDs were the only real thing Haruka had entertaining him.
Those were gone and destroyed by the jerks in the orphanage when they saw that he cared about a physical thing.
I'll be fine alone.
Sakura then added;
I'm always alone.
Kotoha replied in an instant.
You have me now. I'm a friend, and to everyone else,
I'm your girlfriend. Let that mean something, okay?
Sakura shoved his phone back into his pocket, running his hand through his two-toned hair.
You are alone.
No shit, Sherlock.
And now she was trying to be all nice?
“Lookie here, it's the chick's boyfriend! Why do you have such a scary look on your face?” The same bastard as before, hair that looks as fried as a double fried chicken strip, piercings that were trendy a few days ago (Sakura noticed how other thugs dressed, he always took note of what they wore. The more ridiculous they present themselves, the weaker they are.)
“Did she dump you? Reject you when you tried to ask for a kiss?” Now what was this trashtalk? Was he even trying to degrade him or her? It felt like Sakura was facing off against an army of preschoolers instead of a whole gang of thugs looking for a fight.
“I mean— could you blame her? With a boyfriend that looks like that, she wouldn't have kept you around for long.” ‘We’re not even a thing.’ Haruka felt his face redden, anger and embarrassed taking over, but then he realized something.
This bastard was actively insulting her.
She said 'No' and he was going so far as to mock Sakura, Kotoha never said a single bad thing about his damned appearance. She even… complimented it, confusing experience but a real one nonetheless. The point is—
“Hah? Are you putting words into a girl's mouth? She isn't even here to stop you, is that all you can muster up? Talk shit when the person you're targeting isn't around? Talk about fucking lame!” The first year's face went from angry and red to vicious and wild, before the taller guy could retort again. Sakura had already drilled his fist into the jerk's face, square to the nose, the leader of the gang fell as Sakura Haruka glared at the rest of them, charging forward.
Kotoha —> Sakura
I'm always alone
You have me now. I'm a friend, and to
everyone else, I'm your girlfriend. Let that mean something, okay?
Seen
Sakura, I hear fighting.
Sakura, are you in trouble?!
Sakura can you please just seen again?!
Sakura. I'm getting you help.
Hiragi Toma was used to hearing strange things from their elderly charges, Granny Sato was one of the few endearing grannies that had a spine of steel when it came to ‘her boys’ neglecting their injuries. Their representative had, once, tried hiding an injury when he was helping around with carrying crates. Almost all of the adults gave the white-haired thorn-in-Toma's-side a good scolding. It was a marvelous day for Toma, seeing that irresponsible idiot get his just-desserts.
He was having a fairly normal day, a day before the official school year started. His final year at Furin better be a calmer one, he can not handle more stress, he would rather not chug a whole box of stomach medicine in a single month.
But that was wishful thinking.
Hiragi —> Kotoha
Hiragi-san, I know you might be busy but there's a fight happening just outside of Pothos right now! The only Furin guy out there is my boyfriend, you NEED to help.
Okay.
Okay. Furin first year in trouble, he can handle that. Matsumoto, Kaji and Yanagida were with him so there wouldn't be any issues with that white-haired bastard making a scene of Kotoha being in danger—
Wait.
Matsumoto caught a glimpse on the message on Hiragi's phone, “‘'the only Furin guy out there is my boyfriend.’” The mohawked third year read aloud, but not boomingly so. Just enough for the other two Bofurin members to hear.
“SHE HAS A WHAT?!”
Hiragi bolted to the direction of Pothos Cafe, boyfriend or just a regular first year student who really shouldn't be out here fighting battles before the semester even started— Kotoha was in danger if they didn't get there on time. Yanagida wordlessly and loyally followed after him, Matsumoto and Kaji breaking into a sprint after
Hiragi does not want another repeat of that one incident from their first year.
We're on our way, Kotoha-chan.
And you need to tell me WHEN exactly you got a boyfriend.
‘This ain't gonna end, not while I'm protecting her!’ Kotoha was standing behind him, pupils dilated from fear. Haruka knows it couldn't possibly be from the fear of seeing him get hurt, she's scared of getting hurt. (lie, she stood up to these bastards all on her own even when she was shorter)
‘Why am I even protecting her?!’ He narrowed his eyes at that thought finally crossing his mind, he had no real obligation to protect this girl and if he could look like a terrible person that left their partner to fend for themselves then he’d get a clean way out! And because—
‘Doing things for others never ends well!’ More of them charged forward, he threw a good punch into someone’s stomach and kicked the next one right into the other guy. Swift, decisive, but not enough to end it as quickly as he wanted it to.
He was too busy kicking two other thugs again, a sequence of two swift kicks to their sides when he felt someone slash an area of skin just above his ankle; tearing his Furin uniform’s pants and bloodying his shoes. ‘See?’ He hissed at himself, the man on the floor scrambled onto his feet as another of his friends had a bat and had it up high— ready to bring it down hard.
Haruka backed up hard, subsequently pushing Kotoha into the graffitied security shutter behind both of them. ‘This is why you don’t help or protect others!’ He still stretched his arms out, keeping Kotoha behind him even when he was thinking of doing the exact opposite. He was still protecting this girl who only knew him by name and who dragged him into this mess of being her fake boyfriend.
“Sakura…” She peaked from his shoulder, burgundy hair a mess from its previous neatly styled appearance, the boy’s warmth was something she could feel but she also knows how helpless they are with how he was cut in the foot. He was going to struggle with just keeping them away until help arrived, come on.
Come on, where were those bastards—?!
Seriously, what am I even doing?!
The metal came down, Haruka screwed his eyes shut to brace for the impact.
What am I trying to do?!
The blow never came down onto Haruka’s head, he didn’t feel the impact of a metal bat and the telltale signs of bleeding from the head, he heard the bat hit something else entirely.
“So, a First year huh? Glad you were here.” The two-toned hair boy with heterochromic eyes stilled in shock, he slowly gazed up as Kotoha stopped trembling behind him. She must know this guy, right?
“That’s… a Furin uniform…” Haruka mumbled to himself, disbelief crashing over him at the prospect of being protected by someone from Furin. A school known for housing the scum of the earth, a school knowbn for its multiple gangs—
Why was a Furin student helping him?!
“Kotoha-chan.” The girl behind him beamed, the beginnings of a laugh escaping her lips.
“Don’t tell you-know-who
that you were in danger… And you also need to tell him about this ‘boyfriend’ of yours.” Haruka just blinked for a bit before Kotoha pulled him beside her and sat him down on the path, ‘You-know-who?? The hell is that? Voldermort??’ Haruka tried to get up even with the sting bothering his movement, his left leg was deadweight with how it was bleeding out.
“You know how much he adores you.” The 3rd year furin student grabbed the bat that was still on his back, harshly jabbing his elbow into the thug’s face after he snatched the bat from his grasp. The two-toned hair boy was already being treated by Kotoha, it was bizarre to think about either way. A boy was able to handle Kotoha’s teasing and her stubbornness (which Toma keeps insisting she adapted from her older foster brother) and he was a new student at Furin.
He hears them already bickering.
“Look me in the eyes, Haruka. I deserve that at least, don’t I?”
Looks like he’s got another troublesome kid to deal with.
Kotoha didn’t know what she expected for this day. She ran into thugs who cornered her, met a new friend by calling him her boyfriend in the middle of the street, she was held hostage and immediately saved by said boy who was now her ‘pretend boyfriend’ (didn’t even give the thug time to think about their next course of action).
Now, his ankle was bandaged, he got swarmed by the locals if he really was ‘dating Kotoha’ which he kept blushing helplessly at the words, he kicked one of the last thugs that had a knife in the face after admitting that the new Bofurin sounded ‘cool’. Sakura Haruka, tsundere to the extreme, was now known around Makochi Town as her boyfriend who moved into Town to meet her and to study at Furin.
That’s a way better reputation to have than just an Outsider, right?