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Inside Bofurin Class 1-1, there was a long-running bet: Who would be the first to call Sakura Haruka by his first name?
It wasn't really a bet with any stakes — more like a bunch of bored teenagers goofing around. The class was roughly divided into three camps. One camp backed Nirei: he and Sakura were already close, and he was plenty warm-hearted, so calling Sakura by name should come easily. However, some pointed out Nirei's habit of underestimating himself — that might make it hard for him to feel entitled enough to say Sakura's name.
The second camp backed Suo. Not only were Suo and Sakura close, but Suo also had a knack for "taking things a step too far" — odds were, one of these days while teasing their class rep, he'd just let the name slip.
The remaining few sided with Kiryuu. Kiryuu was already used to calling people by nicknames; stepping up to first names would be only natural.
No one expected Momijikawa to come out of nowhere and kill the bet. But that did remind the class: they'd forgotten about the upperclassmen like Umemiya and Tsubakino from the start. At that point, they figured they might as well double down on the mistake. The bet was reopened — this time limited to their own classmates only.
But then another surprise hit. Kiryuu happened to hear about the bet from Tsugeura. He cheerfully declared his neutrality: "Well now, I'm not going to call Sakura-chan by his first name before Nirei-chan or Suo-chan do. You can scratch me off the list."
Having removed himself from the running, he then proceeded to up the ante and stir the pot even more — whenever someone finally called Sakura by name and their class rep didn't turn red, the next time they all went out together, he'd treat everyone to premium beef.
Anzai stuck out his tongue and said flatly, "Oh, I can't wait."
In short, thanks to Kawakawa's unexpected interruption and Kiryuu's generous escalation, what had started as a casual passing bet during break had officially entered its final, intense phase — even though the three main characters at the center of it all were completely oblivious. Wait, not so fast. "I don't think Suo-chan knows nothing about it," Kiryuu added. At the very least, when it came to who would call Sakura by name first, Suo-chan probably knew.
"If that's the case, I bet Nirei knows something too," Tsugeura said bluntly, pumping a dumbbell.
The class fell into a brief silence. Suo's always-smiling, yet somehow inscrutable face appeared in everyone's mind. Well, they couldn't imagine Suo having some secret way of finding out, but somehow it wouldn't be surprising if he did know. And Nirei always knew a lot of things — he'd even managed to find out that Suo hated natto.
Sure, no one had actually told him, but Nirei knowing that kind of stuff didn't seem all that unexpected either.
As a matter of fact, Suo and Nirei did know the first half. They'd even talked about it.
Suo naturally started the conversation. He threw out the question: "Nire-kun, don't you think everyone's been acting a little strange lately?" Nirei closed his notebook and hesitated, then agreed, "A little." He was still weighing whether to tell Suo about the bet when Suo said slowly:
"Nire-kun, do you know about everyone's bet?"
Nirei tried to lock eyes with Suo, but Suo's narrowed gaze left nowhere for his probing to land. Fine. Nirei Akihiko gave up.
"I know. What do you think about it, Suo-san?"
"I don't really mind it," Suo said, shrugging elegantly. "So, how about you go first?"
"Huh?! Why?"
"I think you're gentler, Nire-kun. Sakura-kun probably won't react too strongly."
"That makes it sound like you're using me as a tutorial..."
Suo blinked, looking perfectly innocent. "I'm complimenting you."
"It feels like you're setting a trap for me. But what about you, Suo-san? I can try, but you have to do it too, right?"
"Deal."
Nirei opened his notebook and tapped his chin with the end of his pen. Calling Sakura-san by his first name... He could already picture their class rep's red face — and Suo-san gleefully adding fuel to the fire. Well, maybe letting Nirei go first wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Nirei Akihiko was completely confident in himself. It's just calling Sakura-san by his first name — I can say it ten times in my head without any problem. But imagination was just imagination. He was sure he had this in the bag. Yet his performance the next day at noon turned out to be the complete opposite of what he'd expected.
Sakura Haruka reached his limit when Nirei put down his chopsticks for the tenth time. He bit fiercely into his sandwich. Nirei flinched under his gaze, as if he himself had become that sandwich, being tormented between Sakura's teeth.
"What are you thinking about?"
Sakura finally swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. Nirei Akihiko gave up on torturing his own lunch. He put down his chopsticks and took a deep breath.
"Uh... um, well, Sakura-san?"
"What?"
Sakura was genuinely puzzled. Nirei's voice trailed off with a light, uncertain lift — but what was there to be uncertain about? It wasn't like his name was something strange.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
Then he got to witness a rare sight: Nirei Akihiko, struck speechless. Heaven knows what words were tossing and turning in his mouth. Occasionally a few stammered syllables slipped out. Finally, Nirei shouted, "I'll be right back!" — then, face bright red, walked away stiffly, moving the same arm and leg at the same time.
...What's wrong with him?
Sakura was completely baffled. The wind on the rooftop brushed gently across his brow. He stretched lazily and, before taking a short nap, casually closed Nirei's lunch box — otherwise, by the time Nirei came back, it would be covered in dust.
The next day at noon, the sun bleached the rooftop's concrete floor white. Nirei and Sakura sat back down in the gazebo, the two of them locked in a tug-of-war over the vegetables in their lunch boxes. A friendly shopkeeper had given Sakura a generously packed bento — which, of course, included plenty of vegetables. So now Sakura was frowning as he pushed the green peppers and carrots onto the lid of Nirei's bento. Nirei looked at the vegetables, then at Sakura, sighed, and turned to rummage in his bag for another container. Inside the transparent box lay several glossy little cherry tomatoes, washed clean.
"Then, Sakura-san... how about these? Oh, actually, tomatoes are technically fruit."
Is that so? It was probably a side effect of his information-gathering skills — Nirei occasionally dropped these random bits of trivia, and Sakura was used to it. Still, even if it was fruit, he wasn't keen on eating it.
Suo Hayato walked over carrying a cup of tea and found them like this: neither willing to give in, pushing food back and forth across their bento boxes, Nirei trying to pop a cherry tomato into Sakura's mouth while Sakura turned his head away, muttering "no."
Suo sat down gracefully, set down his teacup, and watched the little farce with an amused smile. Then he pushed the scene to its climax: "Haruka-kun, you seem especially energetic today."
Sakura and Nirei froze mid-tussle, like someone had hit the pause button — except for Sakura's face. Crimson flooded his cheeks, spread to his ears, and even to the bit of neck visible above his collar, as if scalded, practically steaming — forming a wonderfully strange echo with the tomato in Nirei's hand.
This reaction didn't surprise Suo at all, and to some extent, Nirei had expected it too. Sakura stammered, "Are you calling — why are you calling me that?!"
But before the retort, Sakura had already let slip a genuine question, caught somewhere between daze and disbelief. Neither Suo nor Nirei missed it, even if they didn't quite understand why. The red-haired boy deliberately tilted his head with an innocent look. "Of course I'm calling you. Is there anyone else here named 'Haruka'? Right, Aki-kun?"
"Mm... huh?! Suo-san, what did you say?" Nirei Akihiko nearly jumped out of his seat. Suo quickly grabbed him to keep him from banging into the table. Sakura's subtle awkwardness was swept up in the commotion, and lunch break rolled on as usual.
And so Suo did start calling him "Haruka-kun." When Sakura wasn't around, the classmates jostled each other and shoved Kyōnishi forward as their representative to ask Suo: Which of the two vice-reps made the first move?
Anzai, of course, was deeply reluctant. The thing was, they'd never once seen Nirei call Sakura anything other than "Sakura-san." Shouldn't that automatically make him second place?
But in the spirit of fairness — and probably just because they wanted to see the drama — Anzai steeled himself and went.
After hearing the question, Suo gave a faint smile and swept his gaze across all the eyes watching him. "At first, we agreed to let Aki-kun go first."
The Nirei supporters: "Oho?! Does that mean —"
"But..." Suo drew out the word.
"In the end, I was the one who said it first. So I win the bet, don't I?" He narrowed his eyes and laughed.
The bet had no real penalty. The winners watched the Nirei supporters go through a wild emotional rollercoaster, looking utterly drained, but they didn't have the heart to mock them. Just as they were reflecting that Suo was as inscrutable as ever, a belated realization hit them: Wait — you knew we were betting?
Kiryuu, however, probed Suo's reaction and concluded that they didn't know about the second half of the bet. So the bonus prize was still up for grabs. The pink-haired boy's eyes twinkled. "Hey, why doesn't everyone start calling Haruka-chan by name? That way he can 'get desensitized' faster."
Thus began a grand desensitization campaign in Bofurin Class 1-1.
Kiryuu started it. He called Sakura "Haruka-chan," and of course Sakura blushed. But Kiryuu, with the same slyness as Suo, said, "Don't you think we're close enough to call each other by first names, Haruka-chan?" Everyone followed along, and soon the whole class was calling Haruka by name.
During breaks, someone would deliberately walk past Sakura and casually say, "Haruka,please move over." Sakura would automatically step aside, then turn bright red two seconds later when he realized what had happened. After school patrols, someone would shout, "Thanks, Haruka!" before dashing off, leaving Sakura grinding his teeth in place.
In the midst of this chaotic and boisterous wave of name-calling, everyone had a bright idea — they swept their last names into the dustbin and started calling each other by their first names. Nirei was always everyone's first choice for testing out new names. This warm, enthusiastic boy readily adjusted to calling anyone whatever they wanted. Except for Sakura. He still couldn't say Sakura's first name.
Nirei himself couldn't explain why. He would silently chant "Haruka-san" ten times in his heart, then switch to "Sakura-san" on the eleventh try at his lips. He held the name in the palm of his hand, took a few steps, then pulled it back, always waiting for the perfect moment — but the moment always yawned around the corner and slipped away. He acted as if nothing was wrong, but every missed opportunity poured another dose of embarrassment into his heart.
But Sakura wasn't exactly taking well to the new names either.
His reactions when people called him "Haruka" were complicated. He would always turn his head first to confirm that the person was actually addressing him. If someone said "Haruka" in an impatient tone, he would unconsciously tense up. The two closest to him, Nirei and Suo, naturally noticed everything.
Until one day at lunch, the three were eating together again (except Suo). Sakura was already dozing off before he'd even finished eating. Through his drowsiness, he vaguely heard Suo say, "Sakura."
After being called "Haruka" so many times, he didn't quite react at first. He propped his chin on his hand and forced his eyes open.
"Huh?"
Nirei closed his bento box, sat up straight, and looked at Sakura. Sakura unconsciously straightened up too, caught by Nirei's seriousness. Nirei's expression was a mix of solemnity and concern. Before Sakura could ask what was wrong, Nirei struck first:
"Sakura-san, after everyone changed how they address you... are you uncomfortable?"
Busted.
"...It's not exactly uncomfortable." Sakura put down the hand that had been holding up his face, but he needed something to do, so he absently picked at his rice with the tip of his chopsticks. He spoke slowly, each word as if it had been scorched in his mouth.
"It's just that... almost no one called me that before... except for my 'family' back then."
He thought of those false, hollow displays of affection. The cold words hidden behind closed doors. What followed his name was always mockery or endless commands. Haruka, Haruka, Haruka. They were calling him, yet they weren't. Haruka — probably the thing farthest from Sakura Haruka in this world.
Sakura pushed his lunch box aside and buried his head in his arms, not looking at the other two.
Someone sat down beside him and took his hand. The hand wasn't very large — it was Nirei.
"I think 'Haruka' really suits you, Sakura-san."
Nirei spoke gently. "Cherry blossoms bloom for only a short time, but 'Haruka'(遥-yao) has the meaning of 'long-lasting.'"
"A cherry blossom that blooms for a long time... I think that must be something very beautiful."
Someone else sat down on the other side.
"Japanese literature has always been Aki-kun's strong point, but I agree with him, you know." Suo's hand rested on Sakura's shoulder blade. "I think your name suits you, Sakura-kun. Of course, if you don't like being called that, we can go back to the old way."
The wind on the rooftop had taken on the heat of summer, pressing warmth against all three of them. Sakura's head was still buried in his arms — that would make him even hotter, but that was fine. Maybe the heat would evaporate some of those things that shouldn't be there.
"...What do you mean 'we'?" After a long moment, Sakura spoke, his voice muffled. "Nirei still calls me Sakura."
"Huh? Ah, um..."
"Aha, Haruka-kun, are you being clingy?"
And the moment Nirei finally said Sakura's first name was tied directly to Sakura's desensitization. The trigger wasn't exactly elegant — it was a fight.
It was a routine patrol for the Bofurin students. Normally it would have been just Sakura, Nirei, and Suo, but Kiryuu happened to need to go to a shopping mall in the same direction, so the four of them set off together.
Then they ran into some thugs causing trouble in town. In the chaos, the group got split into three parts: Sakura and Kiryuu were pushed to the far end of an alley, Suo got caught around a corner, and Nirei ended up wedged in the middle.
He tried his best to dodge, but with enemies on both sides, it was hard to cover everything. A low kick sliced through the gap between bodies, aimed straight at Nirei's head. Sakura didn't have time to think — he took two running steps, vaulted over one person, and threw up his arm to block. A dull, heavy impact hit his bone, pain exploding in an instant. Sakura's breath caught for half a second, but his brow only twitched slightly.
"Sakura-san!" Nirei's voice was so sharp it nearly cut through the air.
"Don't yell. I'm fine." Sakura's voice was fairly steady, but his face had gone pale, his lips pressed into a thin line. Suo finished off the few near him and quickly ran over. Kiryuu, behind Sakura, dealt with the stragglers. The alley finally fell quiet, save for ragged breathing and faint shouts from the street far away.
Nirei practically crashed into Sakura. His hands hovered above the injured arm, not knowing where to touch. Sakura could see his fingers trembling, and Nirei's eyes were already red.
"Haruka-san, are you okay?! I'm sorry, Haruka-san — does it hurt? Haruka-san, let's go to the hospital — I'll call a taxi right now — I'm so sorry, Haruka-san…" He stammered out a jumbled string of sentences, each one practically carrying the name he'd never been able to say, firing them off like a machine gun. Sakura could barely keep up.
"I'm fine. Really, I'm fine." Flustered by Nirei's panic, Sakura awkwardly patted his back with his uninjured right hand, while his other hand was cradled in midair by Nirei, unsure whether to move. At that moment, he actually found himself hoping Suo would rescue him.
Suo stepped in at just the right moment. He gently rolled up Sakura's sleeve and took a look. "It's okay, Aki-kun. Haruka-kun's arm is a bit swollen, but nothing serious. You don't need to cry so much." Suo pulled a few tissues out of nowhere and pressed them into Nirei's hand.
Nirei wiped his tears. "Hayato-san, Haruka-san's arm…"
"Of course, we can't just leave it alone," Suo said, carefully avoiding the injury as he took Sakura's wrist. "Haruka-kun should still go to the hospital for some medicine." He saw right through Sakura's stubborn attempt to tough it out. Kiryuu timely cut off any escape: "I've already called a taxi. The four of us fit perfectly."
Nirei still looked a little anxious. "Haruka-san…"
"Really, it's nothing serious." Sakura cut him off cleanly, shoving his arm up in front of Nirei's face. "See? It's just a little red."
Kiryuu didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he watched their class rep wave his arm around. But before he could even say anything, he realized something else:
Compared to that reddened arm, A-Haruka's face wasn't red at all.
The grill at the yakiniku restaurant was the first to make noise — a sizzle, and oil splattered. Kiryuu laid out a row of meat, rolled up his sleeves, and struck the pose of a head chef. The classmates were scattered around the restaurant, holding tongs and plates, some of them goofing around. The air smelled of sweet sauce and spicy pepper, filled with the echoes of laughter and chatter.
"A-Haruka — here, this bigger piece for you?" Kiryuu flipped the beef a few times, picked up a perfect slice, and placed it on Sakura's plate. Sakura looked up instinctively, his ears warming a bit, but he took it properly and said thank you — thank you for Kiryuu's random treat.
"No need to thank me, A-Haruka. If anything, I should thank you."
"For what?"
"Everyone in class has started calling each other by their first names, right?" Kiryuu took a sip from his cup. "It feels like we've all gotten closer."
Huh? Sakura didn't quite see how that had anything to do with him. Yet he could certainly feel the increased closeness in the class recently. Well, it was a good thing, probably.
"Come on, everyone, how about a toast?" Kiryuu stood up and raised his glass. "Ready — three —"
Sakura was still looking down, adding meat to Nirei's bowl, and fell behind. The two people on either side of him exchanged a glance. Nirei gave the back of his chair a little push, and Suo gently lifted his arm from the other side. Sandwiched between them, Sakura was pulled to his feet. The bottom of his glass clicked softly against the table — he'd caught up.
"Haruka-san, Hayato-san — happiness every day!" Nirei raised his glass. The charcoal firelight from the grill reflected in his eyes, melting those honey-colored pupils.
"Same to you, Aki-kun," Suo said with a proper smile, tapping his teacup against theirs. "Wishing you and Haruka-kun all the best."
Only Sakura was left. He looked straight ahead. In the reflection on his glass, he saw a face with a bit of sweat. He saw himself. He saw "Sakura Haruka." .He also saw"Haruka."
He took a breath and raised his glass as high as theirs.
"Happiness every day —" He paused. "Akihiko. Hayato."
Many glasses gently clinked together, the clear sound rising above the sizzle of the grill. Someone downed their drink in one go. Someone egged them on. Someone laughed while reaching for the last piece of meat. Outside, night was falling, like the successful curtain call of a performance.
Sakura took a sip of his juice and swallowed both of those names down his throat.
Too sweet.