Chapter Text
“Do you think he’s sick again?” Nirei asks, concern painting his face as he clutches onto his notebook.
“He’s not picking up his phone,” Kiryu points out in response, turning his phone around and showing many missed calls. He raises a pierced eyebrow and continues, with “Sakura-san’s probably lost, considering he knows at least to text us that he’s unwell.”
“L-LOST?” Nirei exclaims, eyes widening. “But Sakura-san knows his way around this town by now. Oh no - do you think he got into trouble?” Nirei’s mouth curves down as his voice shakes in fear and his body starts rocking in his chair.
Suo decides to speak up, as Nirei’s fretting will do them no good right now. “Nirei-kun, Kiryu’s just joking around. It’s Sakura-san, there’s no way he’s in any sort of trouble. Really, the only thing we can do for him is visit his house after school.”
“We have patrol,” Tsugeura says, before taking another bite of his protein-filled chicken. “After, though, we can visit him. After all, my virtue IS being there for all my friends!”
“Virtues aside,” Kiryu interrupts, “I think visiting him after class is the best thing we can do right now. We can bring him to Pothos - some omurice never fails to cheer him up!”
“A-alright, yeah,” Nirei agrees, “after rounds. Sakura-san’s probably alright, right, Suo-kun?”
Suo knows better than to make the short orange-haired boy fret, so all he does is nod, keeping his mouth in a smile. In reality, he suspects there’s something happening that none of them were prepared for.
The rest of the day’s classes go by as usual, except Suo notices the lack of yelling and “SHADDUP!”’s. The rest of the class also brought up their worry over Sakura, but Suo had made sure to reassure them that Sakura would be fine, and that they would find him. Was he sure about that? No. But he knows that Sakura can take care of himself, so all he can do now is reassure the others.
Patrol also goes relatively smoothly, although Suo finds himself being more diligent than usual- which is already quite a lot- as they don’t have Sakura’s vigilant senses that can sense trouble from almost anywhere in town.
He can feel Nirei practically quivering next to him, out of anticipation for finding Sakura, and fear for what could be there. Suo just places a hand on Nirei’s shoulder, which seems to calm him down.
After thoroughly completing their rounds, Kiryu smiles his usual lazy smile, before turning the way that they all knew leads to Sakura’s apartment. “Alright, guys! I just texted him that we’re coming over. Let’s go.”
“ALRIGHT!” Tsuguera exclaims, running forward then stopping when he realizes everyone else is walking. “Or… we can walk, yeah.”
“You may run ahead, but I’m not sure Sakura-kun would kindly take you running into his apartment,” Suo states, watching the small pink dusting that encapsulates the bigger guy’s face.
“No, it’s fine,” he mutters, much to Kiryu’s clear amusement as he giggles, smiling at Tsuguera.
“I know I can’t run as fast as you guys,” Nirei starts, “but can we go a little faster? I don’t understand why you guys are so relaxed about Sakura-chan potentially being in danger!”
“Sakura-chan can handle himself,” Kiryu repeats, glancing at Nirei with what would seem to be a neutral expression, but Suo can tell there’s a bit of frustration in there from Nirei’s repeated questions. “Let’s enjoy this leisurely walk, yes?”
Nirei glances down, seemingly embarrassed, and Kiryu’s eyes go back to the road in front of him, smile going back to the usual lightness it holds. Suo just shakes his head, mouth curving up even more at how easy his friends are to read.
Yes, Sakura could surprise him at times, and Kiryu kept up a pretty strong facade of happiness, but Suo could see right through most of their moves. As could he with his opponents. He knew that fighting was much more than physical strength, and his mental strength and ability to read his opponents was far superior to most.
Suo stays silent for the rest of the walk, making sure to keep a pleasant smile on his face to avoid anyone asking him stupid questions, such as ‘are you okay?’.n He laughs when he hears Nirei laugh, and nods when he notices Kiryu nodding, but other than that, doesn’t say a word.
He takes the lead as they approach Sakura’s run-down building, having already memorized the way up to his apartment. Politely, he knocks on the door, but hears it creak and knows that, despite the numerous locks provided for him, Sakura hasn’t learned how to use locks. Really, Sakura was practically begging for a burglary to happen. Although, the robber would exit with nothing of value and a bunch of bruises- or, actually, they’d probably be thrown out as a limp body.
After three knocks, Suo decides to just open the door - this wouldn’t be the first time he’s entered Sakura’s house without knocking. He gestures for the other three to follow, and kicks off his shoes, already knowing the protocols of Sakura’s house.
Tsuguera shuts- and locks- the door, which Suo finds not necessary at this moment, as there were three or four (depending on where Sakura was) experienced fighters in this room, but he doesn’t object.
“Sakura-kun?” he calls, walking towards where he knows Sakura keeps his futon. Suo’s about to turn the corner to the main room when he feels a scratch on his leg- not a human scratch, no, but an animal scratch.
Looking down, Suo’s eyes widen at the small cat in front of him. Its messy fur is split in half- half white, half black- and its eyes like marbles. But the fearful yet protective expression is something Suo recognizes, something he’s only seen in the Tamon team’s first-year grade captain.
“Sakura?” Suo whispers, crouching down.
He can feel the shock behind him, and Tsugeura exclaims: “No WAY that’s Sakura-chan!” But Suo can just feel it. That kitty is indeed Sakura.
Suo sticks out his hand and lets cat-Sakura sniff it, then weaves his hand around, petting him softly. True to Sakura’s nature, the cat bristles, hissing.
“Suo-chan…” Kiryu starts, but Suo sticks up a hand, shushing him.
“Give me a moment,” Suo mutters, before holding a hand in front of cat-Sakura. “Alright, Sakura-kun, just a few questions. I’m not sure if you can understand me, or if you remember anything before your… transformation.”
Cat-Sakura freezes, staring intently at Suo’s hand. However, when Suo puts his hand down, cat-Sakura continues to look at Suo.
Tilting his head curiously, Suo practically lays on the floor staring into cat-Sakura’s eyes. “If you can understand me, jump once.”
The look that passes through cat-Sakura’s eyes is something Suo’s used to from the dual-haired boy- are you insane?- but he cautiously jumps, landing neatly on his front paws, then thumping his back paws down, something that tells Suo that Sakura isn’t used to the cat body. So this isn’t a common occurrence.
“Alright. Next, if you know who all four of us are, walk in a circle with your tail pointing straight up.”
Slowly, cat-Sakura spins, tail risen high, marble eyes blinking at Suo in curiosity. Suo just nods at him, getting onto his knees now.
“Alright, I believe you just… transformed into a cat, with the brain of the Sakura-kun we all know and love.”
“Suo-can…” Nirei whispers, “that’s totally insane.”
“Do you have any other explanation? Really, all evidence points towards this. After all…” Suo’s voice cuts off for a second as he gazes into the mismatched eyes of cat-Sakura, “it wouldn’t be the first time Sakura’s achieved the impossible.”
“Alright,” Kiryu muses, stepping forwards and reaching a hand out to pet cat-Sakura’s head (he hisses and flinches but slowly leans into it), “I’ll believe you, Suo-chan. But we have no way of communicating or reversing this.”
Nirei steps forward cautiously, not petting cat-Sakura, but crouching next to him. “Well… if he can really understand us, as you say, then communication can be solved, at least for now. Sakura-kun, look at m- KIRYU-SAN STOP GRABBING HIS FACE!” Nirei practically shoves Kiryu away, barely saving the pink-haired boy from getting his fingers bitten off by cat-Sakura. “Anyway,” Nirei continues, putting a hand in front of cat-Sakura’s face and bringing his gaze to Nirei, “here’s some simple communication. Don’t forget, okay?”
Cat-Sakura nods, eyes glued to Nirei’s face. Nirei smiles, putting his hand down now that he has the kitties full attention, and Suo has to gently remove Kiryu’s hand before the teen starts petting Sakura again.
“Alright, so can you press your ears back?” Nirei asks. Cat-Sakura responds by doing exactly that, and Nirei smiles widely. “Alright! That means yes! Now can you - and this might hurt- fold your ears forward?” Once the cat does that, something that Suo thinks is very cute as that’s clearly not something a cat should be doing, Nirei claps. “That means no. If you want food you raise your right paw and tap it against one of our legs twice, the other paw for water. Make sense so far?” Cat-Sakura presses his ears back, and Suo has to, yet again, stop Kiryu from fondling the kitty too much.
“Aww, but he’s so cute,” Kiryu swoons in Suo’s ear.
“Yes, I know, but we must let Nirei finish. If it’s any condolence, you can carry him back to Furin, alright?”
Kiryu brings his hand to his forehead, feinting a faint. “Alright, let’s see if I can hold out on this absolute cuteness.”
Suo just shakes his head at his friend’s over-dramaticness, turning back to Nirei and cat-Sakura, but notices that they are finished.
“Oh, done already?” Suo asks. “Alright then. Sakura-kun… why don’t you come home with one of us? We can take care of you until we go to Furin tomorrow. How’s that sound?”
Cat-Sakura presses his ears forward, backing away like an animal in a cage (Suo hopes he doesn’t find the four of them to be anything like a cage). Suo remembers that that motion means no, and he widens his smile, trying to look as reassuring as possible.
“You don’t have to, Sakura-kun! We’ll just… get you food and something to drink. Then tomorrow you can come with us. How about that?”
Cautiously, cat-Sakura pads out a little, ears slowly pressing back in a yes.
“Alright then! And I’ll stay with you now, at least until I have to go home. You must be bored, especially since you can’t use your phone.”
“And we’ll stay too!” Tsuguera boasts loudly, causing cat-Sakura to look up at him and hiss. “My virtue is being there for friends.”
“Yeah, I’ll stay until the night,” Nirei responds, falling onto his butt and clutching his knees to his chest. “We’re here for you, Sakura-san.”
Cat-Sakura looks at them warily, then lets his poised tail drop, his limbs loosening, going into a less protective stance, and a more comfortable one. He just sits on his stomach, cat eyes surveying Nirei as if he’s lying.
Oh, Sakura-chan. You should know by now that he would never lie to you.
“Wakey-wakey!” Kiryu sings, pushing the door open. Suo follows suit, walking directly over to where cat-Sakura sat down to sleep the other night.
The kitty is still deep in sleep, tail woven around his ears, blocking out all other noises. Suo sighs, then pulls Tsuguera over, smiling at him.
“Tsuguera-san! I don’t know how to wake up Sakura-kun. Could you?”
“Of course- I’ll always help a friend in need! That is my virtue after all.”
Suo steps back, smiling lightly. He was very fond of his fingers, and reluctant to have them bitten by teeth as sharp as the ones on cat-Sakura. Tsugeura probably wouldn’t be able to feel it, with those beefy fingers.
Amused, he watches Tsuguera try to talk to cat-Sakura, before shaking him gently, until he scratches between his ears. Cat-Sakura yowls, stretches his body in fifteen different directions, and then CHOMPS on the thing in front of him-6 Tsuguera’s fingers.
Ah, well this was what Suo had been trying to avoid with his fingers, Oh well, because Tsugeura didn’t seem to care very much, chuckling and muttering, “that stings”, and going to Sakura’s kitchen to wash the blood off.
Suo steps forward, slowly leaning down. “Good morning, Sakura-kun.”
The cat looks at Suo with a grumpy face, something he’s quite used to seeing on Sakura. He just smiles, tilting his head. ”C’mon, we have to go to Furin.”
He’s about to extend his arms to pick up cat-Sakura, but Kiryu places a hand on his shoulder, a subtle reminder that he’d promised Kiryu the opportunity to pick up the precious kitty, something Suo’s mildly jealous he didn’t gatekeep. But he nonetheless moves, arching as Kiryu sticks out his arms and the monochromatic kitty jumps up, although it’s clearly not to cat-Sakura’s pleasure.
“Our class is going to find this hilarious,” Nirei comments as they proceed to leave, with Tesuguera back (the cuts weren’t bad enough for anything but washing), and cat-Sakura immediately reacts to that, yowling and trashing.
“No, Sakura-kun, stay,” Kiryu argues, trying to keep the cat down, but he manages to throttle his way out, meowing angrily.
“I’m presuming he doesn’t want the class to see him in this state,” Suo suggests, using a hand to stop Kiryu from chasing after the cat. Cat-Sakura freezes, looking at him, then pressing his ears back. Yes.
“Well, what did you think we were gonna do at Furin?” Nirei asks, curiosity reflecting in his yellow-brown eyes. The meowing afterwards sounds embarrassed, as cat-Sakura scratches his head with a paw on the ground.
“But how else will we solve this?” Tsuguera asks. “If we can’t ask our classmates for help?”
“We can just ask Kaji or Umemiya,” Kiryu responds, pressing past Suo’s outstretched hand and holding his arms out to cat-Sakura. “C’mon, Sakura-kun. I promise, just those two. They’re our upperclassmen, they won’t judge you.”
He mrrrrrs for a little, before finally jumping back into a now-satisfied Kiryu’s arms. Kiryu snuggles the ball of fluff, murmuring something about how “he can die happy”. Suo thinks that the phrase ‘die happy’ is stupid, because how can you be happy when you die? No matter, the weirdness of other people’s emotions weren’t his problem.
The walk to Furin is peaceful, with just a few passersby asking who’s cat they have. All of them lie and say he’s a stray, because how were they expected to explain that the town’s most beloved dual-haired delinquent was now a cat?
Before they enter, Suo stops them. “Alright, guys. Nirei-chan and I will go to the second floor and I’ll get Kaji-san alone while Nirei holds Sakura-kun. The both of you,” he points to Kiryu and Tsuguera, “say that the three of us have… captain business. Don’t get the class worrying, Say we checked on Sakura-kun, and he’s fine, just still under the weather. Make sense?”
Everyone nods, and Kiryu (albeit very sadly) hands the kitten over to Nirei. Nirei fastens his hands over the underside of cat-Sakura, nodding at Suo. “Let’s go,” he proclaims, clearly determined. Suo just smiles and leads the smaller teen up the stairs.
Class 2-1 is close enough to 1-1, just a flight and a few yards away. Suo tells Nirei to stay near the stairs- he doesn’t want anyone but Kaji to see cat-Sakura, and for the poor boy to freak out- and goes to knock on the door.
The entire class turns to stare at him, and Suo blinks, before raising his voice and asking, “hey, Kaji-san? We have… an issue. Could we have your attention? By yourself, though.”
The older boy turns towards Suo, pulling his headphones down. Kaji gets up, wordlessly following Suo, which surprises him. Kaji doesn’t, and never, seemed like someone to easily trust others.
“So, Sakura-kun,” Suo starts as soon as they both exit, voice low, “he woke up the other day, and he wasn’t exactly… himself.”
Kaji removes the lollipop, raising a bleached eyebrow. “In what way?”
Suo inhales sharply, bringing Kaji around the corner to where Nirei is standing, petrified. “Sakura-kun… he’s a cat now.”
The whiteness that encompasses Kaji’s face surprises Suo, as does the way the sucker drops from his hand. It’s not shock, or, at least, not just shock. No, there’s some sort of recognition in there, as he stares at the half-black, half-white kitten, and exclaims:
“What?”