Chapter Text
The Furin trio consisting of Haruka Sakura, Hayato Suo, and Akihiko Nirei vowed in their first year of High School to fight and protect their town and people.
Every day was filled with normal fun and fright for these three teens. One day you could have Sakura embarrassed to accept compliments from an old lady who he saved from thieves. Another day you could have Suo and Nirei privately practice their fighting and defensive skills for their next fight with an unwanted trespasser or evildoer bringing terror to their school.
Long story short, Furin is fun! Yes, there is a lack of teachers and education, but everyone eventually does grow up and progress despite this school’s setbacks.
Everything must come to an end, and so does the Furin trio’s youth as they ascend from their once 15-year-old first year selves to the grade their senpais Umemiya, Tsubaki, and Hiragii were once in.
They are now THE role models of the school. Sakura did accomplish his one wish and it was to be at the top of the school with his two best friends alongside him as his vice-captains.
But wait a sec..
Sakura has yet to do anything though with his new position!
Why is that? Well, it's because summer break is not over yet!
It’s true that Sakura has yet to take advantage and enjoy his newfound power as the newly appointed “Umemiya” of Furin, but no school did not eliminate his ability to see his friends.
Well.. it was more like Nirei bugging him all summer to hang out together.
Suo suddenly went on vacation for whatever reason and couldn’t hang out with Sakura and Nirei all summer, but they made sure to message him all the time.
Since Sakura was with Nirei all summer, of course Sakura wouldn’t be able to tell the changes that have been happening to that once short boy.
Yes.. once short, because he’s suddenly super tall! In their first year, Nirei was this scrawny small kid who people would mess around with, but as the first day of school came around, guess who surprised everyone with his sudden growth spurt.
Of course it was Nirei with his 6’1 self! (It may not seem TALL, but he was 5’4 in his first year! Sakura has yet to reach that kind of height!)
Sakura only then noticed how short he looked compared to Nirei once their previous classmates from their first year huddled around the two as they entered the school gates. Most of them let out some “woahs” and “wows” at the height difference.
I swear we were the same height last year! Sakura thought to himself as he remained stuck due to this new crowd.
As the voices continued to spill, Sakura suddenly felt a hand land on his right shoulder. He tenses up but then soon relaxes as he recognizes the smooth voice of the eye-patch-wearing man who was missing all summer and who stood behind him.
“Good morning, Sakura. What’s going on here?” Hayato Suo says as he eyes the crowd, clearly unaware of the boy standing a few steps away from Sakura.
Sakura turns around to face the other boy and immediately takes a look at Suo’s height. He looks him up and down as Suo stares at him with a tilted head.
Yes! I’m taller than Suo! A win for the newly appointed Furin leader!
Surprisingly Suo hasn’t really grown since his first year and remains as his 5’7 self.
“Anything wrong?” The latter questions.
“Ahh nothing.” Sakura says as he tries to hide his grin. “Good to see you back, Suo.”
It’s funny to compare the trio’s height from their first year knowing that their tallest is now the shortest and their shortest is now the tallest.
Damn I’m still in the middle!
Okay well, what about age? We’re all 17 but Suo’s birthday is in March, Nirei's birthday is in September, and mine is in April.
… seems like I’m neither the oldest nor the youngest.
Well whatever! I’m still at the top at Furin, a win is a win.
“Wait.. Suo?!” A voice is heard from behind. The two friends turned their heads and stared at the direction the voice was coming from.
It wasn’t hard to find the freckled, blonde kid as his height wasn't hard to miss amongst the crowd.
The boy turns his attention from the crowd and immediately, with his long legs, exits the crowd and bolts to his friend who he hasn’t seen in months.
Nirei quickly opens his arms and pulls Suo into an embrace as the once short kid flaunts his new looks to his close friend.
Suo stands there, stunned.
He actually looks super.. shocked!
Wow, I’ve never seen that look on him. He looks.. embarrassed? His face is all red and he has yet to move.
Hmm.. let’s think about this
Is Suo perhaps sick??
Tsubaki had the same face when he was hugged by Umemiya once and told me that he had a cold that day.
That is possible.. but red faces typically indicate that someone is also in love!
I also heard that one from Tsubaki.
Dang man, you’re sending me mixed signals!!
It seems that blushing can have all sorts of meaning.
“Suo?” Nirei asks as he lets go of the current mute boy. After a quick second, Suo finally snaps out of it.
“Ah sorry about that. Anyways, Nirei, it’s good to see you’re still nice and healthy.”
Suo seems to finally be back to his old self, friendly and composed. With his hands behind his back, his head continues to be angled up to look at the taller boy.
“Of course! I drank plenty of milk as you said. I’m certainly getting stronger so I can one day beat you in a spar.” He replies with content in his voice, typical notebook in hand as he flaunts a page written with things Suo told him. Nirei seemed so excited to finally talk with Suo face to face that he just couldn't stop bouncing by the brown-haired boy’s side.
They’ve sparred? Like fought??
Why have I never seen this!?
It’s no doubt that Suo is the better fighter, but Nirei has definitely improved in his self-defence and quick movements.
I’d imagine watching a fight between the two would be like watching a big cat fight a small dog..
One is clearly capable of fighting with those claws of his, but such small creatures typically have the loudest voice. A small dog’s appearance is likely a disguise to conceal all the bigger things he is capable of.
Of course, I wouldn't exactly know since they always trained privately! For whatever reason..
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Sakura, Suo, and Nirei started school with popularity amongst the students, truly showing off their leadership and impact on the younger ones.
Truly carrying out Umemiya, Hiragii, Tsubaki, Kaji, and.. well essentially all of their former senpais and Furin classmates’ legacy!
Of course, with everyone excited about the new school year, it’s not hard to imagine conflict to arrive so easily the next morning.
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Notable and random Sakura fact of the day!! -
For a second I, for some reason, thought Nirei may have had a thing for Suo in our second year. He looked really nervous and anxious all the time with a note in hand as he stood near Suo’s desk, but always seemed to back off putting the letter on his desk once Suo entered the classroom. There were genuinely times he looked so.. I don’t know how to explain it, but I remember Suo always comforting him in many of the times he looked so down. Whether it came from bullying or doubts in his mind.
I'm still unsure as to what he doubted in his mind.. I always thought it may have just been his ability to fight but I did in fact ask him about it to help him clear his mind, and immediately his face went red!
So of course second year was definitely something..
I remember telling Togame and Kiryu individually about Nirei and the letter he wanted to give Suo. They both then told me something along the lines of, "it’s probably a confession.”
My mind blanked..
It kinda makes sense in theory.
So to confirm Togame and Kiryu’s statement, I decided to observe them for the next few months by watching them whenever they were alone. We’re now in our third year and.. they have yet to do anything!
I just decided to ignore the confusion of second year and focus on the more fun bits towards the end of the year.
It’s good that I’d likely need no concern towards Nirei and Suo since they’ve been acting well so far.
Nirei seems much more clingy and up-beat, remaining as the glue of the trio and Suo’s weird behavior from earlier seemed to have never returned for the rest of the day.
At least that’s what Sakura thought. (=.=)!
If Nirei’s sudden growth can cause such a reaction from Suo, then imagine how red his face got once he realized that Nirei is trying to court him! Of course Sakura didn’t see this part as it happened after their patrol after school.
Nirei’s confidence compared to last year has certainly changed and he intends to keep it this way to get what he wants.
(You got this Nirei!)