Chapter Text
Things have slowed down after the big fight with Endo’s group and settling the unfinished business with the shadows of Bofurin.
At least, that's what Sakura thought.
“‘–choo!”
His entire body rocks as he lets out probably the millionth sneeze after he wakes up this morning. “Dammit”, he grumbles, fumbling beside him to grab a roll of tissue. Instead, he gets a cardboard core with a lone square of tissue stuck into it. His face twitches in mild annoyance before he blows his nose into the sad piece of paper, being careful not to let it rip and get snot all over his fingers. After the deed, he tosses the balled-up tissue aside, too weak to get up and dispose of it properly. The almost empty water bottle beside him gets knocked over as his hand accidentally brushes against it. Sakura picks it up and raises it over his head, checking how much water it has left. That's the last bottle he has, and inside it is a measly amount not even enough for one full gulp.
Frustrated, Sakura throws the bottle away and wills himself to get up despite his wobbly knees. It's just another fever, he can handle it by himself, as he had been doing for the longest time before he got into Furin. Except, this is probably worse than the cold he caught after the fight with KEEL. He's sore all over and his entire body feels like it's burning from the inside. It's like his head is being smacked by a brick whenever it throbs. Well, this is bound to happen. He had faced a lot of enemies the other night with no breaks in between, beating them up and getting beaten up himself. He knows a day won't be enough to recover, but he wasn't prepared for its consequences on his physique to be this bad.
His life will probably be easier if he just sends a text to literally anyone in his phone's contact list. Moving into Furin was like a hurricane that brought a lot of positive changes in his life and no longer does he think that he's alone. Yet, there's still some part of him that stubbornly refuses help. He's always managed on his own and aside from not wanting to bother anyone, he also doesn't want them to see them in the sorry state he's currently in.
Sakura’s legs feel like they're made of lead as he waddles towards the cabinet, putting on his jacket and pants. He winces in pain as the fabric of his outerwear grazes against the still-fresh cuts and bruises painting his skin. Stuffing some coins into his pocket, he makes it out for a grocery run to get some supplies and to fill his aching stomach with something cheap. It's dark outside and a lot of the establishments are already closed, telling him that it's probably later than what he thought it was. Good thing the presence of the Bofurin keeps ruffians away from the streets even at night. Not that he'll ever lose to anyone even with his condition, he thinks. A cold gust sends a chill to his whole body that knocks him unstable. Before he can fall though, Sakura holds on to a wall and steadies himself, huffing in exhaustion that he denies to himself. After giving himself some time to recover, he pushes himself to walk further, until he reaches the store.
…Which is already closed.
Sakura can only click his tongue as he glares at the rolled down steel door and the sign stuck to it that says “OPEN 5:00 AM-10:00 PM”.
At this point, his throat itches with thirst and his body burns even hotter after tiring himself out for naught. He leans on his knees and takes a few deep breaths to stabilize himself. A tiny voice in his head tells him to send a text to Nirei or Suo for help but he shushes it quickly. If it's this late then they're already asleep, he tells himself. There's no one available to help him and texting them will only cause them worry when they read it in the morning. Then he remembers he doesn't even have his phone on him so the whole internal debate was useless.
The only choices available to Sakura now is to go back home and try again in the morning or to look for other stores that might be open this time. He highly doubts that there's still open shops nearby, but a bulb lights up in Sakura’s mind. Perhaps he'll have a better chance finding those in Shishitoren turf. It's a huge bar district. There's gotta be a 24-hour convenience store there, unlike in Makochi. With wobbly footsteps, Sakura sets out for the district beyond the tunnel.
However, even with his newfound motive, the fatigue eating away at his strength has taken too much from him. He's overwhelmed by the bright lights and the lively noise, the opposite of where he was around 2 minutes ago. The crowd walking past him is pushing and bumping into him while he stood in the middle of the street confused and nauseous. It's all too much to handle for him right now.
Feeling himself on the verge of passing out, Sakura withdraws to a nearby alley. Shallow breaths and aching muscles, he sits against a wall to gather himself together. His vision blurs and his eyelids are getting heavier by the second. A little nap won't hurt, he tells himself. Perhaps even five minutes will do. He just needs to rest for a bit.
The next time Sakura closes his eyes, he succumbs to sleep.
*
Nothing beats a good bath after a long day.
Togame dips himself into the warm pool of water, sighing as he leans back and rests his elbow by the ledge. It has been three days since that big Bofurin scuffle that they got themselves involved in.
Three days since the last time he saw the monochrome-haired boy.
It hasn't been that long but with the grueling outcome of the whole affair, he wasn't given much chance to talk to Sakura after the fights ended. It was Hiragi who thanked them on behalf of Sakura who was knocked out cold after his win. This has left Togame extremely unsatisfied and yearning for the next time he'll have the chance to speak to Sakura again, to hear his voice and watch blood creep up his cheeks whenever he gets flustered. The mental image makes him blush himself, thinking back to the time when Sakura had a hard time opening the ramune bottle.
Or that time Sakura told him to stop doing lame shit. It all started from there. Beginning with admiration towards Sakura as the person who made him realize his mistakes and setting him straight, to being antsy, waiting by their headquarters for the slim chance of Sakura visiting him again. He can just visit him too but the thought of babysitting Choji once he finds out he's visiting Furin turf is already giving him a headache. And in the first place, he doesn't even know how Sakura thinks of him so he doesn't want to get ahead of himself.
If only he could take a page out of Sakura’s book and be more straightforward rather than just waiting for something to happen.
Togame lets a long-winded sigh escape thinking, this is too difficult. Pushing his thoughts aside, he realizes he's been in the bath for way too long now, wrinkled palms he can compare to dried plum. He gets off the bath and grooms himself, donning a fresh set of monk clothes he'll be sleeping in and the Shishitoren jacket before leaving the sento.
It's past midnight now but the neighborhood is still lively. Signs and lanterns illuminate the streets bright enough to scare any punk planning on mischief. There's no need to but since he has time to spare until his hair fully dries, Togame decides to take the longer cut to his home and patrol the streets.
He meets a few Shishitoren guys playing hooky, declining when they invite him to come with them. The scenery of the nightlife in their town he used to admire but it became something he got used to as he aged up. Other than that, there's nothing out of the ordinary from this trip. His leisurely trip is cut short when the sound of thunder followed by heavy rain disrupts everyone’s night. What a bummer, he thinks, raining right after he just took a bath too. With no umbrella on him, Togame walks home briskly, doing his best to not get wet.
Hm?
Something catches his attention from the dark and narrow alley he just passed by. Togame backtracks and sees a pile of soaked clothes on the ground and a cat sleeping on top of it. The cat’s fur is slick with water already but it doesn't move from that spot.
Is it… Togame brushes the dreadful thought aside and checks up on the cat. He’s filled with relief when he realizes that it's alive, but it’s breathing faintly and is hot to the touch. Togame spites the irresponsible bastard who abandoned this sick cat here as he picks it up and wraps it with his dirty clothes for warmth. As he does, he notices that the cat is not black all throughout — it has a white patch on the left side of its head reaching down to its chest.
It's just like a certain someone he knows, what a funny coincidence.
Togame shakes off the grin on his face and carries the cat close to his chest. He's pretty sure his grandfather will cuss him out for this, but he’ll bear the repercussions of bringing the cat home later. There's no way he's leaving this poor cat here to die.