Work Text:
“Look, I know it’s your birthday. But if you dare sayin’ shit about it, I’m gonna make you regret it.”
“Come on, it can’t be that bad—”
The door creaks open as soon as Sakura turns his key. Suo’s gaze immediately lands on the sleeping boy in the corner of the room. Next to the boy is something that looks like a failed embroidery attempt; a shirt with messy flower patterns along with threads and needles scattered on the floor.
Suo’s gaze softens. A fond smile makes it to his lips when he kneels to pick up that shirt. “He’s been working hard, huh?”
“This dumbass been working non-stop since last week. This is like his fifth attempt. You won’t believe how much of a nightmare his first attempt was. I don’t get why he’s so fucking stubborn.”
Sakura runs his fingers through his hair with a low exasperated groan, yet no one can deny that his gaze radiates fondness when it lands on his adorably sleeping boyfriend.
Meanwhile, carefully running his fingers over the rough handiwork, Suo silently regards the shirt with an absentminded hum.
“Sakura-kun, you didn’t think to give him a hand?”
His tsundere boyfriend gives him a flat stare. “Do I look like a guy who knows how to fuck with threads and needles?”
Suo snickers. “I’m looking forward to the day you finally realize that sewing your own clothes is going to help you save up so much.”
“Nothing gonna happen but disaster.” Sakura huffs wryly. “Anyway, if you’ve got nothing nice to say, you better keep your mouth shut, okay? If you so much as laugh at that stupid shirt, it’s going to fucking destroy him. I’m dead serious.”
“Hey, chill. Who do you take me for? There’s no way I’m gonna make Nire-kun cry on my own special day.” Running his thumb over the embroidered pattern once again, Suo adds softly, “Besides, it’s the thought that counts, no?”
“Well, you go around foolin’ people as a hobby, so don’t blame me if I can’t trust ya sometimes.”
“I am hurt, Sakura-kun. That’s a mean thing to say to your boyfriend.”
Suo puts his hand on his chest for dramatic effect, but Sakura merely rolls his eyes at his measly acting.
“So, you gonna wake him up now, or…?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
Suo scoots over to plop himself right beside a sleeping Nirei. His boyfriend’s expression looks so peaceful that Suo almost hesitates to wake him up. But he’s sure Nirei would be elated to see him trying out the shirt he’s worked so hard on, so Suo makes up his mind and whispers right beside his ear.
“Hey. Wake up, sleeping beauty.”
“Mmmhh…”
“Nire-kun, c’mon, don’t you want to see me?”
He threads gently through that messy blond hair. His fingers don’t stop moving until Nirei begins to squirm, eyelids quivering until they finally crack open, revealing a set of bleary sleep-addled eyes.
“Huh? Suo-san…?”
“The one and only,” Suo quips cheerily. “Sakura-kun dragged me here. I hope you don’t mind me seeing your gift before you’re awake.”
At the mention of the gift, Nirei is suddenly wide awake. He glances at the shirt, then at Suo’s face, and back at the shirt on the floor.
“I love it. I really do,” Suo tells him with as much genuinity in his voice as he can muster, “Thank you, Nire-kun.”
Alas, the boy doesn’t seem to buy it. Nirei meets his eye with a petulant pout. “You don’t need to pretend for my sake, Suo-san!”
“No, I swear I really like it—”
“I might believe it if it’s Sakura-san saying it.”
To which Sakura snickers gleefully behind him. Suo sighs exasperatedly. “Nire-kun, come on!”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not lying, alright? It’s the thought that counts!” Suo leans down to place a quick kiss on Nirei’s sweaty forehead. “I love you, and I love this shirt.”
“…Okay.”
Suo grins at him. “You believe me now?”
“At least you don’t hate that shirt.” Nirei presses his lips into a tight line and shakes his head, before reaching into his backpack and pulls a paper bag out of it. “Actually, Suo-san, I also bought you another present for, um, plan B.”
“Plan B?”
This time, the question doesn’t come from Suo, but from Sakura who weirdly looks more surprised than Suo.
“Sakura-san! It’s that thing I bought in the shopping center a couple weeks ago. You even helped me choose it! How could you forget it?!”
“I, um, I dunno?”
Suo laughs amusedly. “Okay. Right. Let’s just open this thing so we all see what this mysterious present is.” Glancing at the flustered Sakura, Suo decides to taunt him, “Wanna place a bet?”
“Underwear,” Sakura blurts out.
Suo gives him a wry look. “I’d believe it if it’s your gift.”
“No, um,” Nirei mumbles awkwardly, “Sakura-san is actually not wrong.”
“Huh? You bought me underwear for my birthday gift?” Suo gets over his surprise and quickly backpedals, “Not that I’d mind getting an underwear! An underwear is actually a thoughtful and very personal gift!”
Sakura not so successfully stifles his laughter. But it’s not like Suo pays any attention to him when Nirei is giving him a very dry flat look that calls out his bullshit.
“Suo-san. Your lip service is certainly good, but sometimes it’s also very obvious.”
“Um, thanks?”
Sakura kicks his ass lightly. “That ain’t a compliment, dumbass.”
Nirei chuckles. Suo swears it’s really nice to see Nirei getting some sort of amusement from him fumbling. He’d like to be a perfect gentleman lover for his dear boys, but even Suo himself is aware that he can act like a loser sometimes.
“Alright. Why don’t you open it now, Suo-san?”
“Right. I’ll open it.”
He peeks into the paper bag, trying to gauge the form of the mysterious gift before diving his hand into it and pulling what looks like a cotton fabric.
“Oh!” Sakura exclaims, “I remember it! That one was—”
“This is really good quality,” Suo notes aloud, running the pads of his finger over the fabric thoughtfully before shifting his gaze towards Nirei. “Thank you. I really like it.”
It’s a chest binder. A well-known brand that’s quite pricey. Nirei must’ve saved up for quite some time to buy it for him.
“Nire-kun, do you wanna see me wearing it?”
“Huh? The binder?”
“The shirt,” Suo corrects him with a chuckle, “Well, I might as well try the binder too.”
Nirei seems surprised. “You’ll really wear that shirt?!”
“Sure.” Suo shrugs. He begins lifting up the hem of his blouse, but then abruptly pausing. “Can you give me a bit of privacy here?”
“It’s not like we haven’t seen you naked,” Sakura argues with a huff, but still turning around obediently.
Nirei also follows suit and turns around, but a hand on his shoulder stops him.
“Ah, no need to do that. Nire-kun can watch,” Suo tells him.
Nirei looks confused, but it’s Sakura who voices out his protest.
“Why is Nirei allowed to watch but I can’t?!”
Suo answers matter of factly, “Well, these all are gifts from Nire-kun.”
“I also made you a cake! A very big one!”
“The cake? Yeah, that was good. I know that you bought all the cupcakes from konbini , stacked it up, covered it up with whip cream you got from Pothos, and put candles on it,” Suo points out dryly, “Also, it was Kaji-san’s idea, wasn’t it?”
“I-It’s the thought that counts, right?!”
Sakura is visibly flustered at getting called out like that, but it’s not like he can deny it.
Suo rolls his eye before making a move to take off his clothes. He can see from the corner of his vision that Nirei is staring at him nervously, and it makes him quite nervous too in return. But he wants to play it cool in front of his boyfriend.
Making eye-contact with Nirei, he curls his lips into a smirk before letting his chinese blouse fall off from his shoulder. He then proceeds to unclasp the binder he’s currently wearing, which is a little awkward, but he manages to do it in record time before making a move replacing it with the one Nirei bought for him.
There is almost nothing more awkward than putting on a chest binder. Suo hates doing it sometimes. But today he doesn’t want to dwell too much on unnecessary thoughts.
As a last move, he buttons up the embroidered shirt, running his palm over the floral patterns before patting it to smooth out the fabric.
“Ta-da~!!”
Suo giggles as he strikes a pose. He notices Nirei sporting a huge happy smile on his face and it makes his chest warm.
The best gift for him is actually seeing his boyfriends happy.
“Whoa! That actually doesn’t look half bad on you.” Sakura gives his boyfriend a once-over before muttering to himself, “Is it cause of his face?”
Nirei asks shyly, “I-Is it comfortable? How do you feel wearing it?”
“The material is soft. This is very comfy and I think it suits all kinds of weather. I already told you I liked this gift, and I meant it, you know?”
As he pats his brand new shirt once again, a question suddenly flashes in his mind.
“By the way, how did you know my, um, chest size?”
“Err…”
For some reason, Nirei hesitates. He glances nervously at Sakura.
“Sakura-san, do we tell him?”
“……”
Suo raises his eyebrows at that suspicious exchange. “What are you guys hiding from me? Come on, you can’t hide things from the birthday guy. It’s my special day!”
Sakura huffs loudly. “Fine! You tell him!”
“A-Are you sure, Sakura-san?”
“Yeah. Whatever.”
Sakura is obviously sulking, plopping down across the room and refusing to meet his gaze. Suo turns to Nirei with a questioning stare. To which Nirei laughs awkwardly at.
“Right. Um, so, we didn’t know your size.”
“Yes…?”
“But, err, Suo-san and Sakura-san are about the same size, right? So, I had Sakura-san trying out different models at the mall, and…”
Sakura completes the sentence with a groan, “I stuffed melon bread into my chest because Kotoha thought it was a good idea! It was—”
“Very awkward. And we wasted those poor melon breads.” Nirei laughs sheepishly. “But hey, it works! The size fits you, right, Suo-san?”
Suo casts a thoughtful look at an obviously flustered Sakura. “I…might need to see it myself.” His lips curl into a mischievous smirk as he asks, “Nire-kun, do you happen to have any documentaries? Like, videos or some photos, maybe?”
“Well, uh, I think Kotoha-san might’ve recorded it—”
“Ugh, no way!” Sakura shoots his boyfriend a mean glare. “You ain’t getting your slimy hands on that thing! And I will get rid of it myself even if I have to burn Kotoha’s phone.”
Suo stifles an amused grin. “I think our ex Furin leader will kill you if you so much as touch his precious baby sister.”
“I will personally kill those siblings with my bare hands if that fucking video ever see the daylight.”
“Ooohh, scary~” Suo snickers.
“A-Anyways!” Nirei effectively interrupts their banter. “Sakura-san also prepared a special present you know!”
Suo perks up at that. “Oh?”
“I-I might just change my mind and give it to someone less annoying,” Sakura grumbles.
“No, he won’t do that,” Nirei assures Suo with a small laugh, “Sakura-san even took another part-time job just to save up to buy you that gift.”
“Nirei, shut up!”
“Interesting,” Suo slides back into the conversation, eyeing Sakura whose face is an even brighter color now. “Well, can this birthday boy get his special birthday present now? Please?”
“Ugh, fine!”
Sakura approaches him with a sour look. But it’s clear to Suo that it is just an act. So, he gives Sakura an easy smile and holds out his hand to receive the gift.
“Suo-san, I think it’s better if you close your eye first,” Nirei suggests.
“Oh? Okay.”
He closes his eye just as Nirei instructs him to. He feels calloused pads of fingers gently brush against his ear before something solid is clipped on it.
“Is it an earring?”
Sakura stays silent, refusing to confirm his guess. Suo lets him do the same thing to his other ear before speaking again.
“Can I open my eye now?”
Sakura gives him a grunt in lieu of an answer. Suo pays it no mind. Sakura has always been a tsundere anyway. He’s more interested in the thing that’s just clipped to his ears.
As if reading his mind, Nirei approaches him and gives Suo his phone. A camera app is already open. Suo immediately angles the camera to focus on his brand new earrings. His eye widens when takes a good look at the shape and color of those earrings.
“Sakura…”
Nirei giggles. “Pretty, right?”
“It’s beautiful,” Suo breathes out. He can’t quite bring himself to stop looking at those glittery pinkish earrings with gold framing its sides.
Sakura clears his throat. “Good then if you like it. Um, it was actually Tsubaki’s idea. Told me that something more personal would make a better present. So, yeah.”
“I really like it.”
Words sometimes aren’t enough to convey feelings. With that in mind, Suo grabs Sakura's shoulder to pull the boy into him and drops a peck on his blushy cheek. As expected, Sakura adorably yelps in surprise.
“Sakura-san! Your face is even redder than Umemiya-san’s tomatoes—”
Nirei’s amused comment is abruptly cut off when he feels Suo lands a peck on his cheek too.
“Both of you, thank you. I love your gifts a lot.”
Suo is rarely honest with his feelings. He keeps it guarded most of the time, careful of his words and just how far he should let people in. But this time he surprises himself because he realizes these happy buzzing feelings are genuine.
Maybe it’s because God blesses him with the best boyfriends anyone could ever ask for.