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Fighting for the safety of the town is not without risk.
A lot of people look at Bofurin and their talented fighters and think they usually come out of battle mostly unscathed, but that's not always the case. Obviously, most members leave a fight with at least a few cuts and bruises and sometimes a bloody nose, but worse injuries occur as well.
Concussions were a pretty regular injury to get during a street fight. Broken bones, while less common, were still far from rare. Stabwounds? Definitely happened a few times a year as well. Someone even got shot in the leg once, but thankfully that was the only instance of gun violence that had occurred in Makochi so far.
Other things like hypothermia or hyperthermia were also a thing. They were teenage boys and sometimes they lacked the care to think about their health. The Makochi residents have become quite accustomed to the Furin students by now and always made sure to have supplies like cool packs or dry clothes ready for overheated or freezing kids.
In other words, there is always the possibility of something bad happening. Although, usually things don't turn out quite as disastrous as this time..
It was a rainy Monday afternoon. The school day had officially ended about twenty minutes ago but the students from class 1-1 were far from going home for the day. A large fight had broken out not long ago at one of the bridges leading into Makochi and they were all heavily engrossed in battle.
The weather had been awful all week. Constant rain and thunderstorms made sure most thugs stayed at home, but when they came out to fight the weather really didn't make it easy. Several students had already slipped on the wet pavement and gotten minor injuries. It really didn't help improve the mood that was already dampened by the dreary atmosphere the dark clouds created.
Even now, the rain was pelting the boys as they moved around on the bridge. Just below, the water was moving at an increased speed. The heavy downpour had made the water level in the river rise as well. They even heard that a large area downstream had flooded just two days ago. Seriously, how much water can fall from the sky in just a few days?
At least half of the class was present in the fight. It was Takanashi's group that had encountered the gang first and quickly requested help once they figured out that they were outnumbered by a large margin. Sakura and his group were the last to arrive at the site as they had been quite far from the bridge at the time of the alert. Still, he was the captain and determined to be present to help his classmates out.
The fight was quite chaotic to say the least. The group they were up against was large, the afternoon sky was dark and with everyone being completely soaked through and looking like wet cats it was sometimes hard to tell who was who. It was probably a given that everyone just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
Suo kicked another thug to the ground while he kept an eye on anyone who might need assistance. Normally he'd play a little and make the enemy stumble around, but he really wanted to go home and quickly get out of his practically see-through changshan. Just to his left Kiryu seemed to have the same idea as instead of throwing his targets at his friends he was now actively incapacitating them with swift movements.
Nirei and Tsugeura were both close by as they fought. The blond, while not that strong just yet, could take care of himself in a fight pretty well by now. Seeing him throw a punch and actually land it made the one-eyed boy smile with pride. He has come a long way and with the orange-haired powerhouse right next to him Suo wasn't as concerned when the boy left field of vision for a bit.
The others, including Sakura and Sugishita, were a bit further out in the crowd. So far none of them had sustained any bad injuries just yet, if you didn't count the ripped jeans and scraped knees Kurita got from slipping on the wet bridge. Suo almost smiled remembering the amount of cussing he'd heard earlier when it happened. Yeah, that guy was not very happy right now. Especially since it was apparently a fairly new pair he'd ripped up just now.
Sakura had slipped earlier as well, though that was before they even got to the bridge. He had ignored Nirei's warning about running on the wet streets and almost instantly got punished by almost falling face first into the pavement. Thankfully he managed to only get a bit muddy, which Suo teased him for relentlessly.
Which was probably why the bi-colored boy was so fired up right now. He was absolutely mowing through the crowd. Honestly, Suo would hate to be on the enemy's side right now. It was kinda pathetic just how fast they fell to his fists.
Of course, just when he thought this, things started to go wrong. A larger man appeared from the crowd, one that clearly wouldn't go down with just one or two kicks. Sakura zeroed in on the guy instantly. He and the man quickly began exchanging punches left and right, with the grade captain dodging most of them while the other guy tanked them all.
They slowly migrated to the side of the bridge, too invested to even see where they were going.
Suo almost missed it when it happened.
Just in his peripheral vision he saw how his captain readied himself to dodge the next incoming punch. But as he did so, his foot slid out from under him. Because of that, instead of dodging, Sakura took the hit head on. The strike made him stumble back and hit the railing of the bridge. His opponent, seeing an opening, reared his hand back and struck again. Still disorientated from the previous hit, the boy didn't stand a chance.
The man's fist connected and the teen got knocked backwards.
Right over the railing.
Suo felt his heart stutter in his chest as he watched, almost in slow-motion, as his friend disappeared from his sight completely. The thug himself stood there for a second, a shocked expression on his face, before quickly leaving the scene and disappearing into the crowd.
The auburn-haired boy abandoned his own fight and sprinted towards the railing. "Sakura-kun!" he cried out as he scanned the river below. Apart from a clear disturbance in the water there was nothing to be seen. Following the direction of the river's flow, the vice captain ran to the other side of the bridge and looked down again, hoping to see a head of two-toned hair come up from the water.
Nothing.
"Suo-san! What happened?" Nirei yelled as he ran over to his classmate. Several of their classmates also seemed to have caught on that something was wrong. The one-eyed boy looked at them with visible despair. "It's Sakura-kun! He fell in!" he replied as he turned his head back to search the water.
Still nothing.
"What?!" the blond vice captain cried out as he also pushed himself against the railing to look down at the river. After not seeing anything the boy shrugged off his soaked Furin jacket and started to climb over the railing. However, Suo was quick to pull him back to the other side as soon as he noticed his friend's plans.
"Don't! The current is too strong!" he said as he held the other teen back. Nirei struggled against his hold. "Let me go! We need to go after him!" he screamed as he clawed at the other's arms. "He can't swim! He's gonna drown!"
The atmosphere instantly shifted as the realization of the situation dawned on the students. Instead of finishing the fight, panic broke out within the group as everyone rushed to the side to look for their captain. Cries of Sakura's name filled the air as they tried and failed to locate their classmate.
The sound of more wet fabric hitting concrete made Suo look to the side again. "Stop! You'll only end up getting dragged under by the waves!" he yelled as he watched both Tsugeura and Sugishita shed their jackets and shoes. The latter sent a glare his way before crossing the railing and jumping down into the depths below. The other looked back at his vice captain with worried brown eyes. "We can't just stand by and do nothing! We need to get him out!" he yelled before following his classmate and jumping into the river.
Other classmates quickly dispersed themselves between standing on the bridge and running down the embankment of the river to search for their friend there. The group they had been fighting quickly scampered off as soon as the attention was off of them, but anyone had yet to notice. All they could think about right now was Sakura.
Nirei, once released from his friend's grasp, immediately took out his phone and called Hiragi to relay the situation to him. Since there were no police in Makochi situations like these fell on the shoulders of the leaders of Bofurin. And while it may be unfair to let literal teenagers handle such dire situations, they had acquired lots of connections over the two years of their reign. Surely they would know what to do and who to contact for help.
Meanwhile, Suo kept looking down from his spot on the bridge. His hands clutched the railing tightly as he withheld himself from jumping in as well. In his head he was already blaming himself for not being of any help despite being one of their vice captains and the first one to see what happened. And believe him, he really wanted to help! He wanted to follow in Sugishita and Tsugeura's footsteps and search for their captain in the water, but he knew he couldn't do that.
Truth be told, while he was a decent swimmer Suo knew he would not be able to withstand the current right now. He has always relied in quick movements and a clever mind when fighting and thus didn't really build up raw strength like the other two did. The river was a lot faster and more brutal than usual and he knew he would only get into trouble himself if he entered the water now.
All he could do was stand here and search the waters from above and hope that one of his classmates was able to find him or for Sakura to claw his way out himself.
The search went on for hours and well into the night. Once the seriousness of the situation became more apparent Hiragi and Umemiya, who had been informed about everything by his friend, notified the rest of Bofurin and almost everyone came out to help look for the missing teen. They even called in the help of the towns' residents who didn't hesitate to come out in droves with lanterns and flashlights to help.
Unfortunately, the weather didn't let up. The heavy rain made it almost impossible to see anything and despite their combined efforts no progress was made. At some point both Tsugeura and Sugishita were called out of the water by their relatives, worried about their well-being after being in near-freezing water for such a long time. Despite the strong current the two had been relentless in their search, even going as far as to move downstream in the hope that they would find their classmate there.
The rest of class 1-1 and other members of Bofurin had spread out beside the river, walking alongside the shorelines on both sides as they looked for Sakura. The two vice captains had stayed behind to relay the events of the night to Umemiya and a few others.
"I contacted an acquaintance of mine in the next town over. If we haven't found him by sunrise he'll come over with a small diving team to search the river more thoroughly." Umemiya told everyone after leaving for a couple of minutes to make a few phone calls. Their usually happy yet stoic leader looked tired and shaken. Seems like the last few hours had taken just as hard of a toll on his as on his underclassmen.
Nirei swallowed hard as he tried to prevent tears from welling up again. He had broken down a few times already this night but he still did his best to stay strong. But it was hard. It was so goddamn hard because he knew what those words meant. He knew what their leader was implying with what he had just told them.
If they didn't find him soon, they wouldn't just be looking for Sakura anymore.
They would be looking for a body.
"We'll find him." Suo's voice sounded from beside him. Nirei turned to look at his fellow vice captain and saw how his friend was still looking out at the water. He had barely moved from his spot on the bridge all night.
The shorter boy moved to stand next to his friend. From where they stood they had a perfect view of the river and everything going on in and around the water. The night air, usually calm and quiet, was filled with the sound of panic and despair. The whole town was working together to find the missing boy.
"It will be okay." the taller said. His voice was still as composed as always, but his hands had the railing in a death grip. "Sakura-kun is strong. He's always managed to get himself out of dire situations before. Today won't be an exception." His lone eye watched the waves break against the embankment. "I won't let it be."
Moments later the auburn-haired teen pushed himself away from the railing and set off to the end of the bridge to join the rest down at the riverbank.
Nirei watched him go in silence. A shuddering breath left his lips as he turned his head up to watch the sky. The rain was starting to slow and dark blue was slowly making way for purple and red, the sign of a new day. The boy closed his eyes for a moment, composed himself, and then set off to the opposite side of the bridge.
Suo was right. They won't let today be the day they lost a friend.
In the end, they found nothing.
Search efforts continued all day. The divers Umemiya spoke of arrived around eight that morning and entered the water as they looked for the body of the missing teenager. Because at this point more and more people were convinced that that would be the end result of all of their efforts. A body.
As for now, almost 24 hours had passed since Sakura's disappearance. School had been cancelled when it became clear that no-one would be attending anyway. Class 1-1, after searching for hours on end, had stranded in cafe Pothos after the adults told them to rest for a bit.
The mood was grim. Several of the boys supported red eyes and flushed cheeks and no one dared to comment on it. Kotoha, who had been informed by Umemiya earlier that morning, also wore visible signs of crying. She tried her best to cheer the boys up with free food as gratitude for their effort, but anyone could tell her heart wasn't in it.
Suo and a few others couldn't be swayed to take a rest and were thus absent. The group at the cafe did have a constant ongoing phone call with one of their classmates out in the field so they could hear everything that was going on out there.
They were quietly listening in on the sparse chatter on the other end of the line when, out of nowhere, the door to the cafe swung open and an absolutely furious Umemiya entered the room. Everyone was immediately on high alert. Looking at the older teen they could tell he wasn't here with good news.
"Ume?" Kotoha questioned as the white-haired boy made his way over to her. He slammed his phone down on the counter and let himself drop down onto one of the bar stools. He was silent as the rest watched him with increased worry. They had never seen their leader like this.
The white haired man took a few deep breaths before speaking, head down as he stared at his phone. "I called his parents just now to inform them about everything." he said. Everyone's heart skipped a beat at that. They hadn't even thought about the bi-colored boy's family. They knew he didn't have the best relationship with them as he lived alone but of course they would have to be notified. No wonder Umemiya looked so distraught. That must have been a hard conversation to have.
"It took a while for the school administration to find their number because it wasn't in his file or I would have done so earlier." he continued. "I called them and told them everything. And do you know what they said to me when I told them their son could be dead right now?" he asked as he looked up at his sister.
"They said 'good riddance'! They don't give a fuck about their own child."
Sharp intakes of breath were heard all over the room as the boys stared at the white-haired teen in disbelief. Kotoha turned herself away from her brother and pressed a hand against her mouth as a startled sob left her. Umemiya himself let out a sigh and let his head fall into his hands. No one knew what to say at that moment.
It was silent for a good while after that. Even after the Bofurin representative left to continue the search and Kotoha excused herself to the back room of the cafe no one dared to say a word. Because what do you even say after hearing such a thing? They had already presumed Sakura's family wasn't the best after the way they treated someone so pure and kindhearted, but to actually say something like that?
"How can people be so cruel?"
Several heads turned to look at a certain pink-haired boy sitting in one of the booths. Kiryu hugged his knees to his chest as red and slightly swollen eyes stared down at the table. "I mean, my father is an absolute asshole but I know that if something were to ever happen to me he would at least shed a few tears.." he said quietly.
A few murmurs of agreement filled the air. There were more than a few people here that had problems with their parents. They were still delinquents, after all. But every single one of them could agree on one thing; beneath it all, their family still loved them. They would do anything to keep them safe and mourn them if they failed to do so.
But Sakura.. He didn't have that. He didn't have a mother or a father who loved him. He didn't have a family to mourn him. He didn't have anyone that cared about what happened to him.
Except for them.
"No matter what happens in these next few days," Anzai started, taking a breath to stop himself from bursting into tears. "I want to make sure we do things right for him. We may not be family, but he's our captain. Our f-friend. He deserves t-the best we c-can offer.." he said as a tear rolled down his cheek anyway. Dead or alive, Sakura deserves to be recognized and loved.
Nirei, who had been quiet ever since they entered the cafe, looked up from where he'd been staring off into nowhere. "We can't give up hope just yet." he whispered. Despite how bad the current situation looked he didn't want to lose faith in his friend. "Sakura-san is a strong person. He won't let himself go out like this."
"Nirei-kun is right. We can't lose hope this fast! If anyone can survive something like this it's Sakura-kun!" Tsugeura boasted as he rose up from his seat. The redhead had lost his headband somewhere in the river that night and he was currently wearing a sweater his mom had brought over instead of the usual tank top. He had been unusually quiet that day, but now his boisterous personality seemed to bounce back a bit.
His optimism seemed to raise the spirits in the room a little bit and several boys nodded in agreement. Sakura was the strongest of their class. There's just no way he could be taken out by a bit of water, right?
"Let's get back to work." one of the teens said as he rose from his seat as well. "We'll join up with the others and go from there. See where they haven't looked yet." One by one the boys stood up and readied themselves to continue the search. Even if the chance of finding their friend alive was getting smaller with every passing minute, they were determined to give it their all to bring him home.
Kotoha walked back into the room just as the last few students exited the cafe. She watched them go with a troubled look on her face. Her hand clutched a pack of tissues, the second one she had opened that day.
All she could think of was that she hoped everything would be alright.
But that hope was slowly dwindling..
The many hours spent searching in and around the river turned up nothing. That is, until early Wednesday afternoon.
The class was currently on patrol in their town. They didn't want to at first since Sakura was still out there somewhere, but rival gangs had taken note of Bofurin's absence on the streets . They were trying to take advantage of them in their moment vulnerability, so everyone returned to patrol duty (albeit very reluctantly).
At this point though they had pretty much searched everywhere in the vicinity of Makochi. The adults and older members of Bofurin had taken the search further down stream while leaving the younger boys to defend the city. 'We know the area and are quicker since we can use cars to get there' they had said, but the boys knew that wasn't the actual reason.
They just didn't want them to see the state their friend was probably in after floating in the river for several days if they ended up finding him.
As they walked down the shopping street Nirei almost jumped out of his skin when his phone rang. The small group he was with watched as he scrambled to pull the device out and looked at the screen. His heart jumped as Umemiya's name was displayed. He quickly pressed the accept button and raised it to his ear.
"Umemiya-san? Did you find anything?" he asked immediately. The other side of the call was quiet for a few long seconds before the older teen's voice cut through the silence. "Meet us at the entrance of the shopping district with the rest of your class." he said, voice sounding strangely emotional. He then hung up without further word.
The blond vice captain stared at his phone for a moment before looking up at his classmates. Everyone looked at him with expressions ranging from worried to outright scared. And he could understand why. Umemiya hadn't called anyone like this in the past few days. And that could only mean one thing.
They had actually found something.
He quickly sent a message in the class group chat to meet them at the appointed place before leading his own group there as well. When they got there, Umemiya was already there waiting for them. At his side stood a man he recognized as the person who led the diving team their leader had called in.
Nirei could feel himself getting sick.
Once everyone was present, the white-haired teen let out a small sigh. "We uncovered something in the river earlier this afternoon. A couple hundred feet downstream from here." he started out. "The divers have been scouring the bottom of the river bit by bit in search of Sakura-kun, and it wasn't until just now that they found something."
The man beside him reached into the bad he was holding and pulled something out. Everyone's heart just about stopped as their eyes were met with the familiar sight of a Furin jacket. A first year Furin jacket, to be precise. "It was hooked onto some roots underwater." the man explained with a deep frown. "We're not completely sure if it's Sakura-kun's, but with the situation we're in right now.."
Nirei slowly stepped forward. He stopped just before the two taller men and reached for the jacket. The fabric was wet and muddy and the article of clothing held several large tears in the fabric, presumably caused by the rocks and branches in the water.
Hands trembled as he moved the item around to see the front. His eyes immediately fell on the button just below the collar of the jacket. His hand reached up to thumb at the large scuff mark that almost made the Furin logo there inrecognizable. He instantly remembered how he had urged Sakura to replace this very button after it got damaged during a fall. And how Sakura had looked at him like he was crazy since in his opinion it was 'just a button' and not an important feature of their school uniform.
A shuddering breath left his lips as he spoke.
"It's his."
His fingers clenched the jacket as he pulled it towards himself. His arms involuntarily wrapped around it and he hugged it against his chest. His eyes watered as the scent of the river water hit his nose. His lungs began to ache as he struggled to keep himself composed, but in the end it didn't matter. Nirei's heart was broken.
The boy collapsed to his knees as he began to sob into his lost friend's jacket. He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to lose hope! But it had been almost two full days without a sign of his friend. The bad weather, the strong current, the fact that Sakura couldn't even fucking swim, and now the jacket that was found at the bottom of the river. Everything was pointing towards the inevitable.
Several hands came to rest on his back and shoulders and someone even came up to kneel beside him and wrap him in their arms. He whimpered as his classmates tried to comfort him while also dealing with their own grief. He could hear so many different emotions from the people around him. Denial, anger, sadness, and in some cases, quiet acceptance.
This was really it then. Sakura was gone. Taken from them in such a cruel and abrupt way. After everything he had gone through before coming here, after finally having found a place to belong, the world had snuffed out his light in one of the worst ways possible. How could fate be so terrible to one person? To someone as good as Sakura? He'll never understand..
"We'll keep looking." Umemiya said after a moment. He opened his mouth to say more, maybe tell them to not give up hope just yet, but he just couldn't.
Not when he himself had given up hope already.
Thursday was a strange day for everyone. Despite everything that happened, the boys needed to return to school. So instead of continuing the search, the class spent the afternoon locked in their classroom listening to whatever the teacher was trying to teach them.
They didn't have patrol today, but they still unanimously agreed to fan out in groups after school to look for their missing friend once more. Even if the chance of finding anything in or around Makochi was very small after having looked pretty much everywhere, they just didn't want to feel like they were not doing anything. Their minds would just wander to dark places anyway if they stayed home.
Anzai and about five other classmates wandered the streets as they made their way to the other side of town. What they were hoping to find there? No idea. But the rest had already dispersed near the river so it was kinda pointless to go there as well.
Just as they were leaving the main street, a voice called out to them.
"Hey! You guys! Come help!"
The group all instantly turned their heads to look in the direction of the yelling. A fellow first year from a different class looked at them with desperate eyes. "There's a fight near the Butchery! Someone's going absolutely crazy beating these guys up. You gotta stop him!"
The students moved instantly as they fell in step next to the other boy. "What's going on? Who's fighting?" Anzai asked as they hurried along. The teen looked very troubled. "Some guys were destroying store windows and then this other guy just came and completely lost it! I don't know his name, but he's one of yours. The eye patch kid!"
The group startled at that.
Wait, Suo?!
What do you mean their vice captain was 'losing it'? This has to be some kind of misunderstanding. There was no way Suo was doing that. They must be thinking of the wrong guy!
But sure enough, when they arrived at the scene, they were met with the sight of their usually calm and composed vice captain sitting on top of some random thug while driving his fist into their face repeatedly.
For a moment the group just stood there, stunned to silence, before they jumped into action. "Suo, that's enough!" one of them cried out as they approached their classmate, but the boy didn't even seem to hear them. He just kept on with the assault without as much as blinking.
It took four of them to successfully pull Suo away from the unconscious body beneath him. They dragged him to the side of the street and forcefully sat him down on the curb, all the while still restraining his arms.
"Calm the fuck down! What the hell has gotten into you?" Anzai said harshly. He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he expected. Maybe the usual deflection or maybe some actual anger for once. Instead, the auburn-haired teen just stared out in front of him with an empty look in his eye.
Somehow, this reaction was worse than anger..
The ones not currently holding onto Suo quickly dealt with the remainder of the gang still loitering around while the others continued to restrain their classmate. They didn't know if they were to let go he would go on another rampage, so they opted to hold onto him for now. The boy had yet to say anything, and it was starting to worry them. This was so unlike their vice captain they just didn't know what to do
"After he fell," Suo suddenly started after a while, his voice almost too quiet to hear. "he.. never came up above the surface. Not even once." He let out a hitched breath. "And I can't help but wonder.. i-if we ever stood a chance at finding him alive at all."
The others looked at him and instantly knew what had happened. After days of stress and frustration and grief the boy had simply just snapped. Everything had become too much for him and, instead of having a good cry like most of them had, Suo's body had expressed it by turning it all into anger. Anger that he let loose on the first gang he came across.
Suo's hands, bruised and bloodied from the one-sided battle, clenched hard. "I should've went in after him the moment he fell. Maybe together we would've stood a chance against the waves." he murmured. One of his classmates shook his head. "No, you were right back then. The current was just too strong. We all would've ended up in trouble if he jumped in. Hell, Sugishita and Tsugeura barely made it out alive and they are some of the strongest swimmers in our group. Don't blame yourself for this."
A scoff left the auburn-haired teen. "How can I not?" he muttered. In his mind, he was the reason his friend was dead. If he hadn't stopped Nirei from jumping in, or if he had jumped in right away himself, maybe Sakura would still be with them. It was all his fault.
Anzai let out a small sigh. He moved to kneel down in front of his vice captain and clasped the boy's hands in his. "I understand." he breathed out. "But don't let these feelings consume you like this, okay? What would Sakura say if he saw you acting like this, huh?" he said, unconsciously tightening his grip on the other.
A small, sad smile appeared on the one-eyed teen's face. "He'd probably tell me to knock it off." he answered. He was immediately reminded of how the two-toned boy had stopped him when he almost lost it during the KEEL fight. Even now, months later, his words still rung true in Suo's mind.
'Getting pissed off isn't gonna help. We need to focus on what we have to do.'
The boy took a deep breath before looking at his classmates. "I'm alright now." he said, urging the others to let go of him. They did, but still stayed close to their vice. Suo looked at the state of the thugs he had beaten earlier. Sadness pooled in his chest and he fought against the sudden onslaught of tears threatening to escape from his eye. His friend is gone and everything is going to shit and he couldn't help but choke out,
"I can't do this without him.."
Hearing one of their strongest sound so defeated was almost enough to break the rest of the group. Anzai swallowed hard before putting on a smile that looked anything but convincing. "We'll be okay." he said, looking at the one-eyed teen. "Maybe not now, but eventually."
Suo stared up at him before averting his gaze. A quiet sniffle left him as he stared at the carnage he left in the wake of his rage.
"I hope you're right."
It was Friday. Everyone was once again stuck in their classroom as a teacher tried to keep their attention to no avail. Everyone's thoughts were far away from Math any other subject.
Yesterday afternoon, not long after the incident with Suo, Umemiya regrettably announced that the divers had stopped the search. They had scoured the river for days, but other than the jacket nothing turned up. They had done their best, but they weren't trained on finding and recovering.. bodies. There was nothing more they could do. Umemiya's contact said that their best option would be to either hire a professional team or, as terrible as it sounds, wait and hope Sakura gets washed ashore at some point.
And while the students didn't agree with that statement at all, they knew there was only so much they could do now. Almost four days had passed since their grade captain vanished. He could be literally anywhere, be it stuck some foliage after the flooding downstream or floating somewhere just below the surface miles and miles away from here.
They opted to still search for their friend after class. Even if it was just walking along the shoreline for a bit, they wanted to do something! Even if it was futile, they wanted to at least feel like they didn't give up. That they didn't let Sakura down.
Second period was just starting and everyone was prepared to zone out during English when one of the boys suddenly spoke up. "What the- Guys, come take a look at this." he said, motioning at the window. Ignoring the teacher's attempt at keeping them seated, most of the class moved to look through the glass at the schoolyard below. A very strange sight met their eyes.
A dark blue car, one none of them recognized, was driving through the school gates.
This was very unusual. Teachers and visitors usually come on foot or park in the parking lot hidden at the back of the building. No one has ever driven directly up to the school like this. The students could hear quite a bit of commotion from other classrooms as well as the car was sighted by pretty much everyone in the school.
The car stopped a couple of feet away from the main entrance of the building. For a short moment, there was no movement from inside. Then, the driver side door swung open and an older, gruff looking man exited the vehicle. The man kinda reminded them of an old sailor or gangster; long scruffy beard, arms covered in tattoos, an earring decorating one of his lobes. Definitely not someone from Makochi.
Footsteps were heard down the hall and several students looked back just in time to see Umemiya pass by the open door. A few others, mainly grade captains and vice captains, followed closely behind. They must be on their way to see what the man was doing here.
Once again ignoring their teacher, the vice captains of class 1-1 left the classroom to follow their leader down the stairs. There was a tense silence as no one dared to question what was going on. They doubted Umemiya or anyone else would be able to answer anyway. Everyone seemed equally confused and concerned.
They all exited the doors as they followed their representative. Just before any of them could take a step down the stairs, Umemiya raised a hand to stop them. "Stay there." he instructed before moving towards the man. The younger boys stilled and watched the other go, ready to jump in if anything went wrong.
"Hello there! Can I help you with something?" Umemiya called out to the guy in his usual friendly way. The bearded man looked at him as he rounded the vehicle. "Ah, are you the principle? You look quite young for one.." he wondered out loud, a slight puzzled look on his face. His voice was a bit hoarse, not unlike that of someone who had smoked for most of their life.
The white-haired teen smiled as best as he could after the week he had. "Not the principle exactly. I'm Umemiya, the representative of Bofurin. Now, what can I do for you?" he asked again. The man rested his hands on his hips as he eyed the teen. "Bofurin, ey? Yeah, the lad told me 'bout it!" he said with a smile. Umemiya looked a bit puzzled, but the man continued talking. "I hope parking here is fine. I wasn't sure where to go since I couldn't find your parking lot!" he barked out with a laugh.
"Anyway," he said before the other could get a word in. "I got something for ya. Sorry we couldn't get into contact sooner." the man said as he turned to the car again. "I would've called a few days ago, but you know how life is. Nothing ever goes according to plan." He opened the door to the back seat and reached an arm inside.
"Come on, up you go."
Umemiya, the other students outside, and everyone watching from the windows above watched as the man assisted someone in the car. They couldn't see who it was as the man's broad back blocked them from view. The first thing they saw though, was a pair of bandaged feet wearing simple slippers step out of the vehicle. Then, a pale hand grabbed onto the man's shoulder as he helped them stand on their own.
Then, when the man moved away, everyone's heart suddenly soared.
There, standing in front of the car in all of his bandaged glory, was Sakura.
It was dead silent as the boy they thought they had lost forever looked at them tiredly. He was clad in shorts they didn't recognize and a shirt that was way too baggy to be his own. His legs and arms were heavily bandaged and they could still see cuts and bruises on the exposed skin. His face, pale and sickly looking, had a couple of bandages on it as well.
He was alive.
Clearly tired, unwell and injured,
But alive!
Umemiya stared at the boy with wide eyes. He took a step forward and hesitantly reached a hand out, almost as if he didn't believe what he was seeing was real. As soon as his fingers brushed Sakura's shoulder though, the older teen let out a small gasp before pulling the boy against his chest and crushing him in a hug. The other let out a little sound of protest, but didn't dare to push him away as the older of the two spoke up,
"Don't ever scare us like that again!"
Sakura stood still as the other embraced him. Then, after a moment, he moved his own arms up to lightly brush against the other's back. "I'm sorry." he said quietly. "I'm back now."
Umemiya leaned back just as rapid footsteps were heard behind them. The bi-colored boy barely had any time to brace himself as a body barreled into him. He let out a small hiss as his many injuries were jostled, but any words died at the back of his throat as he caught sight of the sobbing mess clinging to his shirt.
"I thought you were dead!" Nirei's distraught voice cut through the air. Sakura's heart stuttered in his chest at those words. God, he had really scared his friends, hadn't he? Even if it wasn't completely his fault, guilt filled him anyway. If only he had been more careful..
Moments later a second body came up behind him and wrapped their arms around him. A calm yet slightly trembling voice spoke up from where the person had tucked themselves against his shoulder. "You really should learn how to swim, Sakura-kun." Suo said, trying to sound like his usual sarcastic self. The two-toned boy couldn't help but smile. "I'll give it a try, I promise."
It didn't take long before the rest of class 1-1 burst through the doors. Umemiya and the old man had to take a few steps back to avoid getting run over by highly emotional teenagers. The Bofurin representative grinned widely as the sound of crying and laughter filled the air. It seems like everything was alright again.
He turned to the man and bowed deeply before straightening again. "Thank you so much for bringing him home. We thought-" he cleared his throat as he absentmindedly whiped away a stray tear from his eyes. "We thought we would never see him again."
The man chuckled lightly. "Well, if we found him any later it might actually have been too late. He's a lucky guy." he commented as he watched the boys crowd their friend, most of them crying their eyes out for obvious reasons.
The white-haired teen looked at group as well before turning his attention back to the man. "Can you tell me what happened? We searched everywhere for him. Where did you find him?" he asked.
The man crossed his arms. "Me and my friend went out fishing early Tuesday morning. Found the lad clinging to the branches of a downed tree in the river. Poor boy was soaked down to the bone and absolutely exhausted. He passed out the moment we pulled him into our boat." he told the other.
"We took him to the hospital right away. Apparently he got very hypothermic after being in the water all night and got near drowning-associated pneumonia on top of that. Honestly, while he did wake up a few times, he only really became lucid enough to talk yesterday afternoon. Before then, we couldn't figure out who he even was, let alone where he came from, or we would've contacted someone sooner."
Old kind eyes looked at the boy in question again. "He was supposed to stay at the hospital for a few more days, but he insisted that he wanted to go home." he said with a small smile. "After everything he went through, we really couldn't refuse him." he said.
Umemiya nodded his head as he listened to the other's words. So he had been found a couple of hours after everything went down. This man must not be from Makochi then, because if he was he would have known about the search going on that night and the following days.
"How far down stream did you find him?" he asked, just out of curiosity. The man shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I'd guess about two miles? Maybe three? He got pretty banged up on the way down so I imagine he clung to anything he could get his hands on. The river was filled with debris from the flooding last week which probably helped him stay afloat." he said. "We actually contemplated not going on our fishing trip because of that, but I'm glad we did anyway, even if we didn't end up catching anything. Well, except for him I guess."
The white-haired teen nodded. "We will be forever grateful for that." he replied, looking at the man. "If there's anything we can do or give you to repay you for your kindness, please let us know. We are indebted to you." he told him, but the man waved him off. "Ah, don't worry 'bout it. Just make sure you take good care of that one, that's payment enough for me." he replied, motioning at Sakura. "He seems like he could use a couple of good friends."
The younger of the two wondered what made the man say something like that, but he couldn't help but nod in agreement. His thoughts trailed back to that phone call with the boy's parents several days ago. His family didn't seem to care one bit about him, so he supposed they would just have to fill that gap and be his new family.
He deserved to be loved, after all.
Meanwhile, the boys had calmed down just enough to go from crying and hugging to berating their poor captain. "Why didn't you contact us sooner? We were worried sick!" one of them yelled through their tears, though there was no real anger behind those words. Everything stemmed from the worry and grief they all had felt over the past couple of days.
The captain looked away with a flustered expression, not used to this much attention directed at him. "I wanted to, but I didn't know how. My phone is pretty much a lost cause and I didn't remember anyone's phone number." he replied with a small pout. His phone had been in his pocket when he fell in, so it was no wonder the device stopped working after being in the water with him all night.
"I asked the old man and some of the hospital staff if they knew anyone who lived here so maybe they could contact someone, but that was a bust as well." he continued. He might have found someone with relatives who lived around here if he kept searching, but in all honestly he had been so drained from everything that he didn't have the energy to do so. Instead, he just insisted on the older gentleman bringing him to Makochi as soon as possible the next day. He had already been missing for several days so what was a few hours more in the grand scheme of things?
"Also, can someone bust down the door of my apartment?" he suddenly asked, raising quite a few eyebrows. "My wallet and keys got lost somewhere in the river." he clarified sheepishly. He had pretty much lost everything he had on him that day. His jacket? Lost in the waves. His shirt and pants? Ripped up beyond repair. His shoes? Well, one is still in the river somewhere and the other is in a hospital trash bin because what use is one singular shoe..
A hand patted him on the shoulder. "We'll ask the local locksmith to come take a look at it. He should be able to make a new key for you or replace the lock without breaking the door." one of his classmates replied with a grin. "And what do you mean your apartment? Like hell you're going home like that! You look ready to fall over any second!" another one exclaimed. The others nodded at that because yes, Sakura was just about swaying on his feet at that point.
"Like I told your friend here earlier, he should still be at the hospital. But he was too stubborn to listen to the doctors." the older man piped up. The group collectively sweat-dropped at that. Yup, that definitely sounded like Sakura alright.
A hand grabbed the two-toned boy's arm and carefully began pulling him in the direction of the school building. "Let's get you to the infirmary. We'll figure out arrangements for a sleepover later." Suo said as he guided his friend away. Nirei nodded from where he clung onto Sakura's other arm. "Wha- sleepover?!" the poor captain shrieked as he was hauled away. His classmates followed him and his vice inside, not wanting to lose sight of their friend after everything that happened.
Umemiya and the old man watched them go with a smile. "Well, seems like my job is done here." the man said with a sigh. The white-haired boy smiled as he followed the man back to the driver's side door. "Again, thank you for all you have done. It means the world to us to have him back safe and sound." he said as the man entered his car.
"Don't mention it. I'm always happy to help someone in need." the man said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go plan a new fishing trip!" he laughed. He cast one last glance at the school's entrance and his grin softened. "I know he's a bit busy right now, but tell him I wish him well."
And with that, the man closed the door, waved at Umemiya, and drove away.
Umemiya then stood in the now empty schoolyard, everyone long since having retreated back inside. He looked up at the sky and smiled. The weather was improving and for the first time in days the sun dared to show itself, shining brightly through the clouds.
After everything that happened, after everything they went through, everything came out right after all.