Chapter Text
“Maybe we should consult Umemiya-san about this instead,” Nirei suggests, bending slightly to remain the same eye-level as the cat currently in Sakura’s arms, with the grade captain looking like he would very much rather be anywhere else but outside of school holding someone’s missing pet.
Suo hums, nodding in agreement, arms kept behind his back. “We should probably hurry before someone in town starts panicking.” Then he grins. “It’s a good thing that we caught the cat quickly, huh? Sakura-kun didn’t need to parkour up walls to catch it this time!”
Sakura whips his head sharply at his boyfriend, snarling at his teasing smile. “What are you trying to say?!” The one-eyed male chuckles, “Nothing, nothing. I’m just glad you don’t have to do extravagant things this time.” And it’s genuine. Sakura’s cheeks blush lightly as his heart flutters at the gentleness of Suo’s words.
It’s still unbelievable to Sakura how this guy with a practically permanent eyepatch could make him feel many emotions at once just from the most basic things without even breaking a sweat.
Nirei clears his throat awkwardly, throwing the two out from their own little world, attention brought back to the cat, now resting on Sakura’s chest peacefully.
“Should… should we—”
“First years! What are you guys doing standing outside here?” The three of them immediately look back to spot Hiiragi walking towards them, a hand propped up on his hip. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the cat in Sakura’s arms.
“What? You brought your cat here, Sakura?” The first year grade captain shakes his head instantly, “No! We found this damned cat nearby, but we couldn’t find its owner.”
Hiiragi raises an eyebrow, nodding slowly. “...well, what were you guys planning to do with it then?”
“We were going to find Umemiya-san first and ask if he knew whose cat it was, since he has the impression of knowing everyone in town. He might know the owner easily.” Suo follows up, eyeing the feline, “Do you happen to know where he is, Hiiragi-san?”
Their senior hums, walking up ahead, a cue for them to follow closely behind. “Well, school hasn’t started, so he’s probably in the announcement room or the rooftop. Let’s go.”
Their first destination was the announcement room, since it was on the way to the rooftop. But they had been lucky their first try, because Umemiya was indeed present in the room, happily chatting away with Tsubakino, Seiryu, and Uryu.
Bofurin’s leader perks up at the sight of the four of them entering the room, a bright smile breaking out on his face. He waves, greeting them, before his eyes land on the cat with them.
“Eh—?! That’s Kita-san’s little one you have there, Sakura!” His voice is pleasantly surprised, while the three first years continue blinking at him. Umemiya reaches out to carry the cat in his arms instead, stroking the soft fur and giving it scratches under its chin gently. “How did she get here?”
“T-That’s because—!” Nirei gulps, panicking not at the question, but the fact that he was talking to Umemiya, “...we were on the way to school, a-and we saw this cat stuck in one of the fences surrounding the school… but we didn’t know who it belonged to, so we—”
“Oh! That explains everything!” Umemiya cuts Nirei off, a hand moving to pat the blond’s head, the other still supporting the cat’s weight, “Great job, you guys! I can bring her back to Kita-san. I bet Kita-san still doesn’t know.” He laughed out loud to himself, and Sakura could only stare.
That was when Tsubakino and their two vice-captains greeted them as well. Sakura could see Tsubakino’s very obvious hinting at him and Suo, with how their eyebrows kept wiggling at him, all while grinning widely.
“It’s about time I made my morning announcement! Do you guys want to stay here first?” Umemiya asks, pressing the button anyway, “Actually, help me hold onto this little one first.” He passes the cat back to Sakura, who takes it with much complaints, but gets ignored easily.
Umemiya’s booming voice greets everyone in school a good morning, and Hiiragi scolds him like usual for not pressing on the bell first to at least warn all students of the incoming loudness.
“So…” Tsubakino starts, shifting themselves to stand beside Sakura, “when will you tell me about everything?” They elbow his side, winking suggestively. Sakura immediately brings the cat to their face, blocking out the other from looking at his now flushed face. “D-Don’t ask me right now, of all timings!”
“Ask what?” Suo leans in in curiosity, head tilting a little. Tsubakino transfers the cat over to their arms, patting the cat’s head, and also leans in closer to the first years. “About you and Sakura dating!”
Umemiya pauses in his words the moment his sharp ears catch Tsubakino’s sentence. Hiiragi and the twins also snap their heads towards the three having their conversation at the side.
“Sakura?! Suo?! You guys are dating?!” Umemiya exclaims.
Nirei breaks out in cold sweat, jaw falling to the floor, unable to pick it back up.
Suo’s eyes widened at Umemiya’s exclamation, knowing fully well they were mid-announcement.
Sakura, however, looks like his soul escaped his body.
“Congratulations! Since when?” No response from neither of the two. “Eh? Sakura?” The first year grade captain is frozen in his spot, eyes blank. Suo was left speechless. Nirei looks like he’s about to throw up for the couple’s sake.
“...You need to be banned from the announcement room forever.” Hiiragi comments after his shock subsides, and Seiryu nods in agreement. “Umemiya-san. They might have been keeping it a secret if they were whispering like that. Now the whole school knows…”
“Eh?!” Umemiya turns to look at the announcement button, which was very much flashing red, signifying that it was active. He chuckles awkwardly while scratching his head sheepishly, “I forgot it was on!”
“You were mid-sentence, you idiot!” It was Hiiragi’s turn to exclaim this time. He hastily turns off the microphone, deactivating the school-wide announcement. Hiiragi sighs, turning to Sakura and Suo, “Sorry about that, guys. But it looks like you’ll have to deal with the rest of the school yourself.”
“Oh! Don’t worry though, everyone’s fine with it! I wish you guys the best!” Umemiya gives them thumbs-ups, beaming at them as though he hadn’t just caused this entire incident.
Suo’s the first one that processes the situation quickly and accepts it. “Ah… well… It’s fine with me. I’m not sure about Sakura-kun, though…” He looks at his still-frozen boyfriend, who was being shaken by Tsubakino frantically in an attempt to get him back.
“Suo! Sakura’s frozen!” Tsubakino reports helpfully, pushing his boyfriend towards him. “Unfreeze him! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it while the announcement was happening!”
So you would still have mentioned it even without the announcement… Suo thinks, his default eye smile plastered on his face as he grabs Sakura by his arms, said boyfriend still not reactive. He quickly leans into Sakura’s ear, whispering as his breaths tickle Sakura’s earlobe, “Haruka-kun, I’m going to kiss you.”
That does the trick, because suddenly his boyfriend is covering his harassed ear, pouncing away from Suo, face now as red as a tomato. “What the hell?!” Tsubakino straightens up in amazement, “Wow, Suo! You really thawed him back to life!”
Suo folds his hands behind his back once again, an amused smile painted on his face. “Sakura-kun,” he calls, one arm now out to pat Nirei’s head back to reality as well, “looks like we’re out to the public. What do you think?”
The vice captain would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous about Sakura’s reaction. Him freezing so quickly like that had been concerning enough. What if Sakura didn’t want this? What if…
“I-It’s whatever, I guess…” Sakura mutters, gaze averting to look at the wall or somewhere else that doesn’t show him even the silhouette of one person in the room. His hand is now on his own nape, head lowering. “On the contrary, won’t you feel bothered about everyone knowing you’re…”
“No?” Suo immediately cuts in, knowing damn well what Sakura was about to say. He wouldn’t even let the other finish the sentence, because it was a stupid thought in the first place. He lowers his arm once Nirei finally comes back to life, wiping his sweat. “All I can think about is being able to do whatever I want with you in public now.”
It’s a teasing comment, because Suo knows they both aren’t the type to do public display of affection. Not when they know others are around, anyway. He’d rather keep all of Sakura’s reactions to himself. Only for him to know, only for him to see.
Umemiya oohs in awe, eyebrows raised at Suo’s statement. Hiiragi could only sigh and shake his head. Tsubakino’s cheeks were pinkish, clearly feeling slightly shy for Sakura. Seiryu only looks amused, Uryu looks like he wants out.
Nirei blinks at the two of them, discreetly pulling his notebook out to write more notes down on Suo’s details.
Possessive of Sakura-san, even if he doesn’t show it very obviously.
“Okay,” Hiiragi pulls out his stomach ache medicine from his inner pockets, popping 3 pills into his mouth quickly, “let’s get you guys back to class, please. No one should be allowed in here for the next one week.”
“Ehhh?” Umemiya frowns, eyebrows furrowing in disappointment. “But how am I going to do my morning announcements then?”
“Just let us know what you want to say, and we’ll spread the information through the grade captains. Tell me first, though. So that I can check that what you’re about to say isn’t destructive to anyone else.” Hiiragi sighs tiredly for the nth time that morning, dragging his feet as he pushes the first years out of the room, gesturing for Tsubakino and the twins to follow after him.
Umemiya pouts, also dragging his feet out of the room, having gotten the cat from Tsubakino before they walked out, then burying his nose into the cat’s head to sulk some more.
The walk to their classroom remains silent most of the time, with Nirei nervously following behind the couple who seems to not be interacting at all.
“Um… Are you guys okay…?” The blond male timidly starts the conversation, to which the two of them turn their heads to look at him weirdly, like he was the one that was causing the tension.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” Sakura asks, his voice genuinely sounds confused, and Suo only chuckles. “Nirei-kun thinks we aren’t okay with the revelation.”
“Huh.” Sakura sticks his hands further into his pockets, “But we are. After all, this one,” he pulls out one hand to point at Suo with his thumb, “is constantly trying to find somewhere to—” Suddenly connecting the dots in his own head, Sakura starts blushing again. “...Nevermind.”
“Somewhere to what, Sakura-kun?” Suo chirps, his singular eye turning into a crescent, “could you continue what you were about to say?”
Nirei looks at the two of them back and forth, jaw hanging even more with each word spewing from their lips. “I said ‘nevermind’, you eyepatch bastard!”
Suo laughs out loud, and continues speaking again once he composes himself, “At least we don’t have to find somewhere anymore!”
Shivers run through Nirei’s body, trying desperately to stop Suo’s words from infiltrating his brain further. He doesn’t want to think about what his close friends do while everyone’s not around. His mind races as Sakura launches a kick at his own boyfriend, to which the other vice captain easily dodges, and only laughs again.
Does he need to add this newly obtained information to both of their personal details…?
For once, Nirei decides against that, and slips his notebook back into his inner jacket pocket.
Nirei’s glad he didn’t, though, because his notebook gets snatched from him to take a look at his written personal details about the couple by Takanashi once they arrive at the classroom, the couple instantly surrounded by the entire class with lots of unanswered questions. Takanashi was the first to think of Nirei’s very informative notebook.
“Hey, so, who tops and who bottoms?” Anzai suddenly asks, with absolutely no filter, causing Sakura to flare up in embarrassment, while Suo chortles with amusement. The whole class immediately roars into a heated debate on the topic. Kiryuu and Tsugeura could only pat Sakura on the shoulder for moral support.
Nirei definitely doesn’t want to know the answer to that question, despite constantly saying he wants to know everything about his peers. He could let off the information about his friends’ adventures in bed, really.