Work Text:
Nirei first meets Sakura on the first day of high school when he’s fifteen years old.
It’s a meeting he’ll never forget.
It happens in Café Pothos, a place Nirei has regularly visited for the past two years, ever since Bofurin first formed. He used to huddle in the back corner and take notes in his ratty book about all the guys that came in, hoping one day to grow big and strong enough to join them.
Well, he hasn’t exactly grown big and strong, but he has grow older, and that’s all he needs to enroll in Furin anyway.
He dressed up to the nines this morning, so much so that his mother laughed at him as he left the house, but nothing can get him down today! This is his first step to becoming a hero.
But back to Sakura.
They first meet at the Café, and it’s a meeting that has Nirei blush like mad whenever someone (read: Suo) brings it up any time afterward.
He sees her back first, at the counter talking with Kotoha. He mistakes her for a boy, what with the short hair and the iconic Furin uniform. A girl going to an all-boys school would have never crossed his mind as a possibility.
Of course, he makes a complete fool of himself immediately by face-planting onto the floor. His nose is smarting, and at the moment he’s just grateful that Kotoha, Granny Sato, and the stranger are the only witnesses to his fuck up.
But when he stands back up, all thoughts leave his mind because the Furin student has turned to look at him, and he—she’s beautiful.
Her face is round and sweet beyond belief, and her nose is small and upturned at the end. The black part of her hair sweeps down and brushes at her right eye, but the white part of hair is tucked behind her ear to reveal a large golden eye, sparkling and sun-like.
There’s a piece of food at the corner of her soft lips, and Nirei is overtaken with the urge to brush it off with his finger.
Kotoha clears her throat, and Nirei realizes that he’s been staring in silence for an awkward amount of time that’s long past the point of being rude, and that the pretty girl’s eyebrows are twitching with rage.
Ah, shit.
…
So. Here’s what Nirei has learned about Sakura over the course of the day:
Number One; she looks delicate, yet she’s anything but.
She confronted his attackers right out in the street despite being outnumbered. They towered over her—she’s actually a little shorter than Nirei himself—and they said such vile comments to her that Nirei clenches his fist just at the memory.
But she beat them all without an ounce of fear or hesitation, a smile of fire spreading across her face.
It was beautiful to witness.
Number Two; she’s ambitious, and that stresses Nirei the fuck out.
Nirei never had doubts about Bofurin before. To him, they can do no wrong. For most of his childhood, Makochi had never been safe, and he will never take for granted the freedom and happiness Bofurin provided all of them.
But…
Furin High is an all-boys school, and despite her strength he’s worried for her. What if they see her goal to be the top of Furin as an offense?
Umemiya’s attained an almost sacred spot in the Bofurin hierarchy, and even Nirei himself can’t imagine a Bofurin post-Umemiya despite his extensive knowledge of all the members.
Sakura’s strong, stronger than Nirei will ever be if he’s going to be completely honest with himself, but he remembers the violence that used to darken the streets of Makochi. He’ll never forget the haunted look on his mother’s face when she came back one night from her shift at the hospital, hands shaking as she told Nirei to always be kind.
Number Three; Sakura’s must have had a hard life before arriving here.
The blushes that bloom like her namesake across her face are as sweet as they are endearing, but they are also worrying. She gets flustered and confused at the simplest kindness, and overwhelmed at the slightest of positive attention, and Nirei wants to kick past-him for staring like he did.
Nirei’s already pledged his loyalty to help reach the top of Furin, but privately, he wants to help her smile openly without needing her fists raised in defense.
…
“You’re lame,” Sakura tells the second-in-command of Shishitoren himself, straight to his face. Nirei wants to tear his hair out, and Hiragi looks close to doing the same.
Togame looms over her, so much taller that it’s almost comical. She only comes up to his shoulders, and her neck is tilted back to keep glaring at him because, as Nirei has unfortunately learned, she has absolutely no sense of self-preservation.
Togame, hands still bloodied from his brutal beatdown if his teammate, reaches out to take a tuft of her white hair between his fingers. The white stains red. “I’ve never seen hair like this before, doll,” he croons, leaning down to get a closer look at her face.
No no no no no this can’t be happening. Togame’s creepy smile needs to get far away from Sakura right now.
Nirei’s never hated his inability to fight more than he does that second.
Thankfully, Togame and his “friends” depart soon after that, though the tension in Nirei’s shoulders don’t leave with them. Sakura, for her part, doesn’t look fazed at all. Hiragi gives him a knowing look at a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“Am I thinking about it too much?” Nirei asks Suo, after the group split off from the Café later that night. It’s just them walking through the barely lit streets, as they are the only two of the group to live in the north edge of town. “I just get so worried, but I wonder if I’m getting overbearing…”
Suo pauses in his steps and gives him a considering look. “It’s normal to get worried. She’s your friend, isn’t she?” He then smiles. “Just trust her a bit more, and catch her when she falls.”
Nirei can do that, if nothing else. “Thanks, Suo.”
“...but let’s still keep an eye on Togame,” Suo admits. Nirei agrees.
…
Nirei’s admiration and worry for Sakura continue to grow as they become closer.
He’s seen her accomplish amazing things—she beat Togame and made him change his ways (though Nirei wishes he’d stop calling her ‘doll’), she became the class’ trusted grade captain, and she’s started to open up more to them, little by little.
If Nirei’s learned anything about her the past few days, it’s that her growing trust in them—in him—needs to be protected. It’s fragile where she is not, and he’ll be damned if he does anything to break it.
…
Despite being the class captain, Sakura tends to be quiet when surrounded by their classmates.
She’s her usual brash self when she’s around Nirei himself, Suo, some of the upperclassmen, and even Sugishita, but she holds herself differently around the others.
For the life of him Nirei can’t figure out why, until Kiryu comes up to him after class with a pensive expression.
“She’s not comfortable with us,” he says. “She’s not scared, but she’s wary.” He then gives Nirei a meaningful look, and it all finally clicks for him.
It’s easy to be fooled, when Sakura’s so blunt and so herself no matter what comes her way, but she also hides the most vulnerable parts of herself away and Nirei can’t believe he didn’t see it before.
She ignored the comments Togame—and many others—have said about her looks, her gender, her body with practiced ease, but they didn’t bounce off harmlessly, did they? She signed up for an all-boys school knowing she’d be the only girl, but that decision wasn’t made without her thinking about all the ways it could go wrong.
She’s always preparing for the worst, even if she had begun trusting them.
It breaks Nirei’s heart.
“We just have to show her we’ll be there for her, no matter what,” Nirei says.
Kiryu blinks, and smiles warmly. “You’re a good vice-captain, don’t forget that.”
It’s the least he could do.
…
“Does she really live like this,” Nirei says to Suo. They stand in front of Sakura’s apartment complex, if it can even be called that.
Nirei sees mold crawl up the walls as they ascend to her room, and feels the soft wood bend beneath his feet. His mother would be writing complaint after complaint about health code violations if she were here.
“She likely can’t afford anywhere else,” Suo explains simply, though Nirei can tell he’s upset as well by the hard frown on his face.
They enter her empty one-room apartment. Sakura’s flushed not with blush but with fever, twisted in her sheets, still in her pajamas. She doesn’t even have the energy to greet them at the door, only cracking her eyes open, whispering what are you doing here.
She has both arms curled around her abdomen, which has Nirei so upset that his hand is already at his phone dialing his mother for help before Suo lays an exasperated hand on his arm to stop him.
“But what if it’s appendicitis?” Nirei says.
Sakura groans in embarrassment and Suo gives him a pointed look. What? It’s a perfectly valid worry—
Oh.
“Please forget everything I said,” Nirei begs. He can’t believe he forgot period pain existed. His mother would be so disappointed in him. Suo merely smiles at him, though Nirei could totally see the brief flash of panic on his face when Sakura groans in pain beside them.
Suo runs to the corner store to pick up some pain medication because Sakura doesn’t have any on hand. It’s worrying. Nirei stays by her side.
“You don’t have to do this for me,” Sakura whispers, hiding her face in her limp pillow.
“But we want to help you.” Why can’t Sakura see it?
She sighs in frustration. “It’s just a stupid cramp, ‘is embarrassing. Let me deal with it on my own; it happens every month.”
Nirei doesn’t know how to help her. It’s obvious she’s in pain—more pain than she had been in during their fights with Shishitoren and Keel. It’s not “just a stupid cramp,” but Nirei can’t find the words to show her that she deserves more than the nothing she keeps subjecting herself to.
He vows to talk to his mom and maybe even Kotoha for help later, and instead cards his fingers through her soft hair.
She tenses under his hand for a brief second, but Nirei knows her well enough to keep going, and soon she relaxes just a bit under his touch.
They stay in silence together until Suo returns, plastic bags filled with more than just the medication he set out for.
Nirei gives him a not-so-subtle thumbs up for the effort. Sakura whacks him for it.
…
Tsubakino is delighted to meet Sakura, and Nirei can tell that Sakura is just as happy under all her guarded expressions.
Tsubakino—please, call me Tsubaki—rolls up to the Class 1-1 doorway almost as soon as class ends, smile wide on his face and his long hair styled like the magazine models Nirei’s mother likes to read.
Nirei internally fangirls at the sight; seeing any of the Four Kings will always be a dream come true, no matter how often it happens now that he’s a part of Bofurin.
Out of all of them, he’s always admired Tsubaki the most.
His bravery, his strength, his beauty, his confidence—Nirei can admit he used to have a bit of a crush on him.
Tsubaki immediately ushers Sakura out on a shopping trip. Nirei finds himself naturally tagging along before he even realizes it. Kiryu and surprisingly Sugishita also join, and the three of them follow along in comfortable silence behind Sakura’s fond bickering with Tsubaki.
Sakura definitely needs the clothes—she cycles through the same two jean-hoodie combos everytime she goes out without the Furin uniform. Nirei has lended (given) her some of his hoodies, but she also needs some clothes that fit her.
And Tsubaki practically buries her under an avalanche of them, refusing to let her pay a cent, much to her visible frustration.
But he also buys her dresses and accessories and other feminine things Nirei’s never seen her wear before. He drops them in her arms, saying, “Will you try them on, for me?” He flutters his long eyelashes like it’s a light request, but his eyes are gentle and welcoming, and Nirei knows that he would accept a no with grace and kindness.
Sakura bites her lip, considering the colors and fabric pooling in her arms. “You better not make fun of me, even if I look weird.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Tsubaki smiles.
Sugishita mutters something darkly under his breath, and Kiryu starts rapidly texting on his phone. Nirei’s glad he’s not the only one concerned by her words.
Tsubaki’s excitement is infectious, and the three of them get roped into being Sakura’s personal cheer team, though Nirei isn’t complaining.
Of all the dresses and shoes and accessories she tries on, Nirei’s favorite is the last one she wears.
It’s a pink dress, with long flowing sleeves and a skirt that comes down to below her knees. Yellow and rose flowers are stitched on along the skirt, and flower clips brush the bangs away revealing a soft and round face.
“I like it,” Nirei says. Kiryu takes a picture next to him, and Sugishita politely claps. They make a pretty good peanut gallery.
“Pink doesn’t really fit me,” Sakura complains, but the blush on her cheeks is the same shade of pink as her namesake, so Nirei calls bullshit.
She twirls around a few times in the dress, and it flutters like leaves in the wind around her. It actually looks pretty fun to spin around in, if the small joy hidden in her eyes is anything to go by.
“I can’t pick a favorite,” Tsubaki sighs dramatically. He then grins, twirling his hair. “I guess we just have to get all of them!”
“Don’t,” Sakura groans, but Nirei can hear an unseen smile in her voice.
“Shoe shopping next!” Tsubaki demands, and whisks them away to yet another store.
…
Kiryu sends the picture to the class group chat.
Strings of emoji’s fill Nirei’s screen; compliments and encouragements and plans being made for hang-outs and events.
Tsugeura: I wish I could have come…
Anzai: You would have stalled them at Foot Locker or smthn.
Suo: I know a good store for jewelry that we can visit with Sakura together.
Nirei’s never been more proud to be a part of Class 1-1 than he is now.
…
The next time their patrol group gets into a fight, Sakura is in one of Tsubaki’s hand-picked outfits. Denim shorts and a pink tank top, a cropped white jacket and new boots to complete the look.
One of the guys barely gets a few words out—some gross comment about her bare legs—before she kicks him with her shining heeled boots.
She pauses after the attack, and Nirei’s worried that something’s gone wrong, but she starts grinning that wild, burning smile of hers and the concern melts away. “This feels good to fight in,” she says, and kicks a few more guys to boot.
Tsubaki claps his hands and gives her a kiss on the cheek the next time they see each other. “I have so much more to show you,” he says. Sakura brings a hand up to the red lipstick stain on her cheek, eyes sparkling with interest.
Yeah, Tsubaki is definitely Nirei’s favorite of the Four Kings.
…
It doesn’t take long for Umemiya to get as protective of Sakura as he is of Kotoha.
“I just don’t get it,” Sakura complains to Nirei. Café Pothos, so near to closing for the night, is empty except for them, a bone-tired Hiragi, and a content Kotoha. “He’s not like this with you or Sugishita or whatever. Is it because I’m a girl? I’ll kick his ass.”
Nirei’s afraid she’ll actually do it. He looks over to Hiragi for some help, but he just shrugs and nurses his coffee like it’s liquor.
Poor guy’s stressed out, and understandably so. Umemiya went on a bit of a rampage against a small gang in the red light district after he found out that a few of them tried to follow Sakura home.
Nirei doesn’t blame him—he trusts Sakura to take care of herself, but a situation like that will always be scary and she shouldn’t have to suffer with it on her own.
Hiragi had to deal with quite a fallout.
Kotoha laughs softly and sets down the cup she was cleaning. “He’s definitely more protective of his little sisters than his little brothers.”
Sakura looks a bit murderous at that. Well, as murderous as she can look with a face as sweet as hers. It comes across more like a pout, or an upset kitten.
…Nirei might be a bit biased.
Kotoha just waves her anger off and places a new plate of omurice before her. Sakura continues to glare, but she starts eating the food almost immediately. Not even she can resist Kotoha’s cooking.
“I don’t really know why he’s like this,” Kotoha continues, bringing a hand up to her chin. “Maybe it’s because he grew much taller and stronger than us girls so quickly and it freaked him out, or maybe he’s seen something bad he doesn’t know how to cope with, or maybe he’s just like that.
“And yeah, it sometimes annoys the shit out of me, but…it’s how he shows he cares, you know?”
Her smile is fond, yet sad. There’s deep history there that Nirei knows isn’t his place to ask for.
Sakura continues to eat, but the furrow between her eyes turn more contemplative than mad. Nirei’s just glad she isn’t talking about kicking ass anymore.
Hiragi continues to nurse his cup of coffee in the corner.
…
“I wish I were taller,” Sakura says.
She had just gotten out of a practice match with Sugishita. She’s usually able to evade him with ease during their fights, but it seems that Sugishita had been practicing quite a bit on his own to counter her.
He had managed to catch her, and he quite literally lifted her off her feet. Somehow, Nirei never internalized the fact that Sugishita was a whole foot taller than her until she was dangling in his arms like a stuffed toy.
Sugishita looked incredibly smug, even after Sakura gave him a violent kick in the gut for it.
“160 centimeters is perfectly normal,” Suo reassures, ever composed. “You might still be growing, too.”
Nirei privately hopes she isn’t; he likes being taller than her. Though, he does have a bit of sympathy for her—he’s also used to being the shortest of any given class.
“You don’t get it,” she mutters, glaring up at Suo. He gives her a placating smile.
Nirei decides to step in with his own words of encouragement. “Your fighting style relies on your small size, right? Growing taller wouldn’t make things better.”
Suo nods in agreement, and to Nirei’s amusement there is relief in his eye. “You should take this opportunity to find a solution to the obstacle Sugishita is providing.”
“Ugh, fine,” Sakura snaps, and goes off to hunt down Sugishita for a rematch.
“Nailed it,” Nirei says. Suo gives him a high-five.
…
Nirei walks into the classroom one day to find Sugishita brushing Sakura’s hair.
His hands are surprisingly gentle as he combs, and he places colorful and pretty clips in her hair at random places, occasionally taking them out and putting new ones back in from a small bin on the desk in front of them.
He doesn’t seem to be going for any style; he’s just playing with her hair.
Sakura’s expression is more relaxed than Nirei’s ever seen it. Her eyes are lidded and sleepy, and her lips almost curve into a smile at the edges.
Neither of them acknowledge Nirei’s presence.
“Um,” Nirei says, and looks to the only other people in the room—Anzai and Kiryu.
“I’ve given up trying to understand it,” Anzai says.
Kiryu takes another picture. “I wonder if she’ll let me style her hair.”
Nirei saves the image on his phone when it’s sent later that night, laughing at the argument it spawned in the group chat.
…
Togame and Choji occasionally find their way to Furin, sometimes to see Umemiya, but also sometimes to see Sakura.
Nirei kind of hates it. And by hates it, he means he hates Togame.
“You’re being too protective,” Suo tells him. They’re sitting on a bench at the park, watching (spying on) Sakura and Togame talking at the pond ahead. It’s a pleasant day, the wind a light breeze and the ducks out to play.
“But he calls her doll,” Nirei insists. Suo’s supposed to be on his side! Togame should back off.
Suo just laughs, but he sits with him for the whole hour Togame’s there. They talk about Sakura, about Bofurin, about food and clothes and everything under the sun.
It’s nice. It’s even nicer when Sakura joins them on the bench after Togame leaves to peel Choji off of Umemiya again.
…
Endo terrifies Nirei.
His violence disturbs him, his smile frightens him, but what chills Nirei to the bones is the way he looks at Sakura.
Sakura’s scared too. She hides it well, but she tells Nirei quietly one night as they walk home together—I know what the look in his eyes mean.
Nirei calls Suo soon after. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be strong enough to beat Endo, but he’d be damned if he won’t try his best to help Sakura if—no, when Endo comes again.
…
Umemiya whisks them away for a meeting as soon as he’s able to.
Nirei sits on one side of Sakura, and Suo sits on the other, hoping to give a comforting buffer to the severity that freezes the air between the strongest fighters of Bofurin.
Hiragi frets and Tsubaki frowns as they discuss Endo and Takiishi and everything Noroshi could bring down on them, but Umemiya turns to the three first-years with eyes that sing safety.
“We’ll defeat Noroshi and protect Makochi,” he says. He pats Sakura’s head gently, and for once she doesn’t bat his hand away.
Instead, she smiles with that familiar fire. “Of course we will. We’re a part of Bofurin, after all.”
Nirei will stand with her no matter what it takes.