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Sakura Haruka, even if he was fidgety and his thoughts constantly looping along the lines of you don’t belong here, with his primal instinct set to the fight response, has the grace to admit that hanami with his… friends—that specific word was still new, the concept of which he was slowly easing himself into—was not the worst decision he could’ve made.
Hanging out with his friends was something he could no longer run from and in the end, the time spent together turned out to be memorable—something he hadn’t been given the chance to feel for so long that now, all of these emotions filling his chest feels so foreign that he has to wonder whether he truly is allowed to be in the same moment with them.
They’d only been at Komatsugawa park for around an hour or so, spending the time racing each other—minus Suo—up and about the athletics playground, making Sakura feel as if he were a little kid instead of a high school student, and lying on the purple picnic mat Nirei had brought when they’d burnt through all of their energy. Kiryu’s suggestion to play Uno had ended up causing more damage than it was supposed to, and it didn’t help that Sakura didn’t know a card game like that existed, let alone the rules. In the end, they had completely abandoned the original objective of the outing.
Even so, it was enjoyable.
Before he was even aware of it, the pale blue sky had begun turning a shade of rosy pink, tinged with hues of pastel orange, with the sunlight scattered around the park growing smaller and steadily fading away until the only evidence of the sun still remaining above the horizon was the glowing outlines of apartment complexes and skyscrapers. Street lamps, lined at the sides of the several pathways snaking through the huge park, flickering to life, offering the light that had been lost from the gradual sunset.
They were walking now, alongside the Arakawa river, with Kiryu, Tsugeura and Nirei a few steps ahead of Sakura. He was so focused on listening to the gentle rush of water, a strong scent belonging to cherry blossoms filling his lungs, that when a soothing voice from somewhere behind him comments, “Sakura is very pretty tonight,” he startles like a cat, nearly jumping out of his skin.
Whirling around, he sees Suo’s unfairly pretty face just mere centimeters away from his own. His shock does not subside.
“Hah?” For a reason unknown to him, his eyes are drawn to where pale light dances on silky brown hair, pink petals belonging to cherry blossoms occasionally drifting down around them. “What about it?”
Suo smiles, gentle and carefree. “It’s a clear night, and Sakura is beautiful, wouldn’t you agree?” He holds out a hand, palm up, catching a few petals that were floating in the breeze.
Sakura doesn’t know how to answer. He’s never even thought about it, nor does he understand the beauty of nature—he’s never been given the chance to appreciate or see it. All of these had been trivial matters when his only goal had been to survive through each day and come out alive.
He ends up muttering, “they’re just flowers,” and yet, the pastel pink cherry blossom petals swirling around Suo is a dazzling sight.
The taller boy chuckles. “It suits you, though, Sakura-kun.” He says, a layer of fondness to his voice.
“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Sakura demands, looking away to hide the burning heat crawling across his cheeks. “Stop messin’ around!”
“Sakura suits you, Sakura-kun,” Suo repeats, and there is nothing except pure unadulterated adoration within his deep red eye. “They’re beautiful, exactly like you.”
Sakura turns a shade of red brighter than a tomato, his insides turning into an inferno. “Sh—shut up!” He snaps, voice cracking. “What kinda stupid shit is that to say?”
Suo lets out another quiet chuckle, completely unbothered. He looks to be more amused, if anything, though his eye is fond and adoring. “It isn’t a joke,” he says, as if he were saying something of common sense.
The shorter grits his teeth, glaring at absolutely nothing in particular—the cherry blossom trees not too far away, the fluttering petals, the random passerby that’s casually walking a Shiba-Inu—anything but Suo’s face. He doesn’t want to see what sort of expression the taller is wearing; he doesn’t want to understand why he can’t look at the older without thinking of some adjective or another for the word, pretty.
Up ahead, Nirei glances back, eyebrows furrowing with concern. “Sakura-san, are you okay? Your face is really red—”
“I’m fine!” Sakura barks back immediately, effectively cutting off the younger.
Next to Nirei, Kiryu snorts, “you don’t look fine, Sakura-chan.”
Towering over the two, Tsugeura grins widely, “did you get kafunsho, Sakura?”
“I’m nowhere near the trees to catch kafunsho, idiot!” Sakura retorts, rather mortified, “shut up!”
The trio’s laughter follows them as they continue walking ahead, light and easy, leaving Sakura stuck with Suo and whatever the hell the older was insinuating.
“It’s okay if you don’t understand it immediately,” Suo murmurs, stepping closer, their arms brushing.
The salt-and-pepper-haired boy freezes in place. “Huh?”
With an easy smile, Suo elaborates, “why things are beautiful.”
Despite himself, he glances at the taller, a frown on his face and finds that he isn’t the center of Suo’s gaze—it’s being directed at the cherry blossom trees belonging to the senbonzakura road, branches swaying gently in the breeze, petals falling to the ground as soft as snowflakes.
“You’ll start to pay attention to it,” Suo continues, “and find that most things are beautiful, even things you don’t think to be.”
A petal lands in Sakura’s hair. He doesn’t realize until Suo reaches out slowly, giving him the reaction time needed to avoid the touch.
He doesn’t.
Suo’s fingers brush lightly against Sakura’s hair, plucking the petal free. It doesn’t even last two seconds—it’s fleeting, yet, ingrains itself as a phantom in Sakura’s memory.
“There,” Suo says, carefully holding the singular petal between his fingers, almost reverent.
If Sakura had been an inferno before, he had evolved into a supernova. “Did ya do that on purpose or something?” He mutters.
“Do what?” Suo looks at him curiously.
“Act like—you know—” Sakura cuts himself off with a scowl. “—Like that,” he finishes.
“Like what?” Feigning innocence, Suo tilts his head to the side. “You have to be more specific, Sakura-kun.”
Sakura groans, “it’s whatever. Forget it.” He begins walking, fingers fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve. Suo hums and falls in step.
Next to the taller, Sakura exhales sharply, dragging a hand through his bi-colored hair. “Beautiful, my ass,” he mutters. Suo pretends to not have heard, turning his head to glance at the waters belonging to the Arakawa where the reflection of the waning moon ripples and distorts.
Sakura, of course, doesn’t notice, his gaze drifting towards the side where the fully bloomed sakura appear white under the street light, where petals are lazily circling the air before swaying to the ground, and to Suo, who is silhouetted with pale silver light.
As much as he wishes his boyfriend would stop messing with him like this, he wouldn’t have Suo any other way.