The morning air was sharp enough to bite when Sakura stepped out of his apartment. The streets still smelled faintly of rain from the night before. He walked with his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders slightly hunched, hood up. As usual. The way he liked it, for him The way it should be.
Except nothing about today was usual.
He could already feel it.
Something in the air buzzed differently, thicker somehow. Even before he stepped through Furin's gates, he noticed the way a few students outside paused mid-conversation when they saw him. Not everyone stared — but enough of them glanced his way, then leaned toward each other to whisper something behind their palms.
Sakura didn't even bother to scowl. He kept walking.
Why the hell is everyone staring? What now?
By the time he made it to the entrance hall, the noise was impossible to ignore. Conversations halted as he passed, then picked back up in lower tones when he moved by. A couple guys actually stepped out of his way.
He muttered under his breath. "You'd think I was carrying a damn gun."
As soon as he turned the corner toward his classroom, the real trouble began.
"Yo! There he is! Our rookie!"
Sakura froze.
Sugishita was already halfway down the hallway, waving one hand over his head like a fool and grinning ear-to-ear. Behind him, Kirita followed with a faint smirk, and Tsugeura trailed after them, leaning back on his heels, whistling low.
"Oh hell no," Sakura muttered and tried to duck into the room.
Sugishita slammed a hand down on his shoulder before he could escape. "What's with the face? You should be proud, man! You're famous now!"
"I didn't ask to be," Sakura grumbled.
Kirita snorted and crossed his arms. "Don't bother. You don't get to pick. You're stuck with us now."
"Lucky you," Tsugeura chimed in, smirking like a fox. "You're officially one of us. Doesn't matter if you like it or not."
Sakura sighed, tugging at his collar. "I prefer not."
"Ohhh, he's shy now!" Sugishita bellowed, earning laughs from a few students nearby. "C'mon, everyone was waiting for you to show up! Can't just walk in all quiet like nothing happened yesterday."
Yes. I can. I absolutely can. And I'd really like to.
Inside the classroom, it only got worse.
Kiryu was already sitting at Sakura's desk, calmly sipping from a juice box. When Sakura stopped in front of him and raised an eyebrow, Kiryu simply handed him the juice without looking up and shifted over to the next seat.
"...Thanks?" Sakura mumbled.
Kiryu just shrugged.
Suo and Nirei appeared out of nowhere, one on either side of him, both of them wearing matching mischievous grins. Suo clapped him on the back so hard he nearly dropped his bag.
"There he is! Boss! Sakura-kun! Sensei! The Legend Himself!" Suo declared.
"Boss?" Sakura muttered, glaring sideways.
"Don't look at me like that," Suo replied, winking. "I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking."
Nirei leaned in from the other side, holding up a notebook already half-filled with what looked like doodles of fists and flames. "You're officially my muse now. I've decided."
"Absolutely not."
"Too late," Nirei said cheerfully. "Already halfway through your first poster design. I'm thinking flames in the background, maybe a tiger, or—"
"Go away," Sakura groaned, sinking into his chair.
They didn't go away.
By the time first period started, his desk was surrounded. Sugishita leaned on the corner, recounting blow-by-blow what happened in the gym the day before — embellishing everything beyond recognition.
"And then he— I swear I saw it! He punched Tsugeura so hard the guy flew three feet!" Sugishita exclaimed.
"That didn't happen," Sakura said flatly.
"It totally happened," Kirita added dryly, clearly amused.
Tsugeura, sprawled lazily against the windowsill, chimed in: "I'm pretty sure it happened. My ribs still hurt."
"Not from that punch," Sakura muttered.
Tsugeura grinned at him knowingly. "Doesn't matter. Still counts."
This is worse than fighting. At least fighting ends when someone drops. This… does
By lunch, things somehow got louder.
The moment the bell rang, Sugishita clapped his hands together like a drill sergeant. "Alright, squad! Roof time! Let's go!"
"I'm staying here," Sakura tried.
"Nope," Kirita said, already tugging at his sleeve. "No one stays behind. Not today."
Before he could protest again, Tsugeura threw an arm over his shoulders and steered him out of the classroom. "Don't fight it, rookie. This is tradition. You survive your first week, you eat on the roof with the rest of us."
"I hate traditions."
"You'll live," Tsugeura assured him. "Maybe."
Kiryu walked ahead of them silently, still drinking from his juice box. Nirei skipped alongside Suo, loudly arguing about whether to draw Sakura with a wolf or a dragon behind him this time.
Sakura muttered to himself the whole way up the stairs.
I liked being alone. Alone is quiet. Alone is fine. This? This is hell.
On the rooftop, the group spread out, bickering over spots to sit. Sugishita plopped down cross-legged in the middle like he owned the place. Kirita leaned back against the fence, arms crossed. Tsugeura sprawled out flat, hands behind his head.
Suo and Nirei sat together near the edge, still arguing about "the legend of Sakura."
Kiryu stood off to the side, sipping his juice as usual, eyes half-closed like he was already asleep.
And Sakura… stood awkwardly by the door.
"Don't just stand there looking miserable!" Sugishita called out. "Sit down, rookie!"
Reluctantly, he shuffled over and sank to the ground between Tsugeura and Kirita.
Immediately Tsugiera elbowed him. "Hey. You like spicy food? What's your favorite fight song? If you could punch anyone outside of school right now, who would it be?"
"What the hell kind of questions are those?"
"The important kind," Tsugeura said seriously.
"Neither."
"Wrong answer," Suo called over.
Sakura buried his face in his hands and sighed loudly.
Why is everyone like this. Why can't they just… shut up?
Kirita snorted. "Ignore him. He's always like this, sorry we got off on the wrong start."
"You like dogs or cats?" Tsugeurra pressed.
"Tsugeura" Kirita called out
"ohh that's right, sorry we got off on the wrong start too" Tsugeura
"yeah sorry" Sugishita said
"sorry" Suo said
"sorry" Kiryu said
"sorry" Nirei said
Sakura sat there too stunned to speak. Seeing the guys who two days earlier had seen him as 'weak meat' that was easily vulnerable, sat there apologizing.
Sakura face turned red instantly "um, w-well it's okay" he scratched the nape of his neck "I wasn't kinda offended actually"
The other guys smiled as they sat on the bench on the rooftop.
hmm maybe this school ain't gonna be that bad though.
***********************************************
Sakura sat cross-legged on the concrete, shoulders stiff, hands resting on his knees. Around him, the others sprawled out in what could only loosely be called "a circle," all shouting over each other and bickering like it was some kind of sport.
If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend he was alone.
"You're too close, move over!" Kirita barked at Sugishita.
"Shut up, the rookie wants me next to him," Sugishita shot back, grinning.
"I don't," Sakura muttered. Too quietly, They didn't hear him.
Tsugeura flopped onto his stomach, resting his chin in his hands.
"Hey rookie, you know you're supposed to actually eat when you're up here, right? Not just sit there looking like you're plotting everyone's death."
"I'm not hungry."
"You look hungry," Suo chimed in from where he was perched on the fence, legs swinging.
"Like a stray dog that wandered in here by accident."
"Better than being a squirrel," Nirei muttered.
Suo threw a rice ball at him.
Nirei caught it and immediately sketched something in his notebook, holding it up proudly a moment later: a stick figure labeled "Sakura" sitting stoically while cartoon versions of all of them danced around him. Flames and lightning bolts filled the background.
"That doesn't even look like me," Sakura said flatly.
Nirei grinned. "Artistic license."
"Oi! Sakura-kun" Sugishita shoved another rice ball at him.
"Eat up. You're making the rest of us look bad just sitting there like some tragic hero."
"I'm fine," Sakura said again.
"Not fine," Tsugeura corrected.
"Definitely brooding. See? Look at the angle of his eyebrows. That's premium brooding."
As the noise continued, Sakura leaned back against the fence, arms folded, eyes half-closed. He watched them argue over something stupid — whether cats or dogs were better this time — and felt that same strange heaviness from earlier.
I like being alone, he thought.
Then said it under his breath: "I like being alone. I like… the quiet."
He stayed there while they bickered and laughed and shoved each other.
Kiryu silently handed him another juice without a word, then went back to leaning against the fence, watching the clouds.
Sakura accepted it reluctantly, muttering a soft "…thanks."
Sugishita finally flopped onto his back, hands behind his head. "Man… look at this. All of us up here. Loud. Stupid. Feels good, doesn't it?"
Sakura didn't answer.
Loud. But… not bad.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting their noise wash over him like wind. Even if he'd never admit it, some part of him — the part he never listened to — almost liked it.
X
Hiragi sat a little ways off from the group, sketchbook balanced on his knees, pencil gliding silently across the page. From here, he could watch everything without getting pulled into the noise. Which was exactly how he liked it.
A shadow dropped beside him, and he didn't need to look up to know who it was.
"Man," Umemiya said cheerfully, plopping down on the concrete next to him, "the energy up here today? Perfect. Loud and alive."
Hiragi hummed noncommittally, adding a few lines to his drawing — the rooftop scene in miniature, all of them exaggerated and ridiculous. Suo perched on the fence like a bird. Nirei flailing with his notebook. Sakura sitting stiff-backed and brooding. He even added a faint smirk to the figure of himself in the corner.
"You're drawing again," Umemiya observed. "That means you're in a good mood. Admit it."
Hiragi finally looked up, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. "You're too loud."
"I'm exactly loud enough," Umemiya replied, grinning. "Look at them. That's how it should be. Everyone's talking, Moving, Breathing. Rookie included."
They both turned their eyes to Sakura, who was still sitting with his arms crossed, scowling faintly while Sugishita and Tsugeura jabbered on at him.
"He looks miserable," Hiragi noted.
Umemiya chuckled. "That's just his face. He'll get used to it. Give him a week, and he'll be telling us to quiet down. Watch."
Hiragi smirked faintly and went back to his sketch.
A moment of quiet settled between them
Then Umemiya leaned back on his palms, tilting his face to the sky. "You think he'll last?"
Hiragi didn't answer right away. He glanced up again, watching Sakura sit a little straighter now, watching him actually take the juice from Kiryu, watching him tolerate the noise without leaving.
"He'll last," Hiragi said simply.
Umemiya's grin widened. "Knew it."
"You're going to fall off the fence if you keep leaning like that," Hiragi added dryly.
"Not a chance," Umemiya replied. "I'm invincible."
"You're ridiculous."
"Yeah," Umemiya said with a laugh. "But it works."
Hiragi shook his head and went back to his drawing, pencil scratching lightly against paper.
He supposed Umemiya was right about that.
Umemiya was still leaning back on his palms, eyes half-closed now, soaking in the breeze like it was sunlight. The laughter from the group behind them rose and fell like waves — Suo and Nirei were arguing about something ridiculous, Sugishita and Kirita had moved on to comparing scars, and Tsugeura was still trying to convince Sakura that he had to pick a favorite between them.
"They're loud today," Hiragi said, pencil scratching lazily against the page. He glanced up and caught Suo dramatically pretending to faint while Nirei sketched his "last moments" on a napkin. "Louder than usual."
Umemiya cracked an eye open and peeked at the sketchbook. Hiragi had drawn a quick scene: the group in all their chaos, with Sakura sitting stiff in the middle like a rock in a river. "Loud is good," Umemiya replied, his grin lazy but sure. "Means they're alive."
"You keep saying that," Hiragi murmured, not looking up. "Doesn't make it any less tiring."
Umemiya rolled over to lie on his stomach and propped his chin in his hands. "Of course it's tiring. Everything worth doing is. But would you rather they sit around quiet? Heads full of things they'll never say? That's when trouble grows."
Hiragi paused at that, letting his pencil hover above the page. "You think too much."
"And you draw too much," Umemiya countered without missing a beat. "But we all need something."
Hiragi allowed himself a faint smirk. "Mine doesn't involve chasing after idiots."
"Hey!" Umemiya laughed and sat up cross-legged, leaning closer, his voice dropping slightly. "Look, I'm serious. This. . . This is what it's about. Doesn't matter what happens outside those gates. Up here? They're ours. So we make sure everyone walks off this roof the same way they walked on — or better."
Hiragi finally glanced at him properly. "You're too soft for this place."
Umemiya's grin didn't falter. "Nah. Just hard enough to know when to be soft."
That earned a quiet chuckle from Hiragi as he turned back to his sketchbook. "You sound like an after-school special."
"And you sound like someone who secretly likes having me around," Umemiya teased, nudging him lightly with his shoulder.
Hiragi exhaled through his nose, which, for him, was practically a laugh.
Another gust of wind swept across the rooftop, fluttering loose scraps of Nirei's notebook. Suo darted after them, shouting something about "copyright infringement," while the others howled with laughter.
"They're idiots," Hiragi muttered.
"They're our idiots," Umemiya c
"You really think he's adjusting?" Hiragi asked after a long pause, nodding toward Sakura.
Umemiya followed his gaze. Sakura now sat slightly less rigid, letting Tsugeura and Sugishita lean closer as they argued over something. Kiryu, quiet as ever, had handed him another juice and returned to watching the clouds.
"He's figuring it out," Umemiya said confidently. "That's what matters."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we figure it out for him until he does," Umemiya replied simply.
Hiragi raised a brow at that. "Not everyone wants to be saved."
"Doesn't matter," Umemiya said. "Everyone deserves the chance to be."
Hiragi leaned back against the wall, letting his pencil fall to his lap. For once, he didn't feel like arguing. He just watched Umemiya grin at nothing in particular, his eyes tracking the group's movements like a shepherd watching his flock.
"You exhaust yourself," Hiragi said finally, his tone softer now. "Trying to hold everyone together."
"That's my Job as Students' Council President," Umemiya said, almost too quiet to hear.
Hiragi's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before he reopened his sketchbook and went back to his work.
"You'll burn out," he warned under his breath.
Umemiya just laughed, leaning back and closing his eyes. "Then at least I'll burn where it counts."
The laughter behind them spiked as Sugishita fell over dramatically, and Nirei started drawing his "tombstone" on the concrete. Tsubaki groaned and shoved them both aside, while Suo cheered them on.
"They'll destroy each other before anyone else gets the chance," Hiragi murmured.
"Maybe," Umemiya agreed, watching them with soft eyes. "But they'll do it smiling. That's enough."
Hiragi smirked faintly and finally closed his sketchbook for good, tucking it under his arm.
"Loud," he admitted. "But alive."
"Exactly," Umemiya said. Then he leaned back, hands behind his head, grin as wide as the sky. "That's all that matters."
And for a little while longer, they just sat there, quiet in their corner of the chaos.
----------------------------------------------------------
After lunch, the group slowly trickled back down the stairs, their energy finally showing signs of wearing thin. Sugishita still had enough breath to tease Sakura on the way down, and Tsugeura tried to get the last word in about something pointless before Kirita shoved them both forward with a grunt. Suo and Nirei stayed behind just long enough to declare they were "documenting history" before darting off after the others. Kiryu, of course, disappeared before anyone noticed.
Sakura hung back slightly, letting them file into the classroom ahead of him. The room was warm and full of late-afternoon sunlight when he finally stepped in. His desk was waiting, clear and quiet, but the faint marks of his new reputation were still there — small glances from others, whispers under breaths, and the occasional smirk in his direction. He ignored them all.
The last two periods dragged. He sat at his desk, chin in his hand, staring out the window more than he stared at the board. The teacher's voice faded into background noise, his mind too busy to bother listening. Even with all the laughter still ringing faintly in his ears from earlier, the silence in his head felt louder now.
When the final bell rang, the classroom emptied quickly. Books slammed shut, chairs scraped back, footsteps shuffled away. Sakura didn't move. He stayed at his desk, letting the tide wash past him until he was one of the last left.
That's when Kaji appeared.
The Classmate leaned against the doorframe, hands in his pockets, eyes steady on Sakura. "Got a minute?"
Sakura looked up slowly. "For what?"
Kaji inclined his head toward the hallway. "Come on. Rooftop."
Sakura stared at him a beat longer before finally standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder. He followed Kaji out without a word.
The stairwell was quiet this late in the day, the sounds of the other students fading behind them. Their footsteps echoed softly as they climbed, neither bothering to fill the silence. When they reached the top, Kaji pushed the door open, letting the cool evening air spill into the stairwell.
The rooftop was empty now. Even the faint scraps of lunch wrappers and Nirei's sketches had been cleared away. The sky above was streaked with gold and violet, and the city below buzzed faintly, lights flickering on as dusk settled.
Kaji walked to the edge and leaned his elbows against the fence. Sakura stopped a few steps behind him, his hands still shoved in his pockets.
For a while, neither spoke. Only the wind.
Finally, Kaji broke the silence. "You don't like noise much, do you?"
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Is that a question?"
Kaji glanced back at him, faint amusement in his eyes. "No. Just an observation."
Sakura grunted. "Congratulations. You noticed."
Kaji turned back to the city. "It's not a bad thing. Everyone's got their way of standing here. Some are loud. Some are quiet. Doesn't really matter, as long as you know which one you are."
Sakura stayed where he was, letting his gaze drift over the rooftops. "So why drag me up here?"
"Because you're quiet, but you're not listening yet."
That earned a sharp glance from Sakura. Kaji met it evenly.
"You're doing fine," Kaji said calmly. "Better than most. But there's a difference between surviving and belonging. You fought to stand here, good. But don't let their noise drown you. Don't let it decide for you who you are."
Sakura frowned faintly, his hands tightening in his pockets. "You sound just like her."
Kaji's lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. "Then maybe she's smarter than you think."
Sakura scoffed quietly but didn't look away this time.