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This story is part of a series featuring inter-connected short stories detailing the years of relationship journey of Sakura Haruka & Suo Hayato
“Hey, man, look! Bofurin’s got a girl now!”
The voice was sharp, mocking, downright cruel.
Suo held himself with dignity—posture straight, chin up, silently challenging those idiots to dig their grave further. Right to his sides, his friends protectively straightened their backs. They hovered, not too much, but just enough. Just in case the thick tension would escalate into a full-blown nasty fight. They all knew that Suo was perfectly capable of holding his own weight. They stood back and respectfully gave Suo some space to settle the situation.
However, much to the irony, the one who ended up worsening the situation was their own leader: Sakura Haruka.
Unfortunately, back then Sakura wasn’t aware yet of the bad blood shared between Suo and those smug bastards. He stepped forward with his usual bravado, crossing his arms and cocking his eyebrow at those loud trio.
“Who ya callin’ a girl, huh? Y’got problem with my buddies, you gotta take it up with me.”
His patrolling team inwardly winced. Sakura was obviously pissed, as he always did whenever anyone messed with the people he cared about. It was obvious through his gravelly voice and out-of-town accent that slipped into his words. It was pretty clear that Sakura was challenging them—which was the escalation that none of his friends hoped.
In an attempt to cool down the growing tension, Suo stepped forward and landed a heavy hand on Sakura’s shoulder. He made eye-contact with Sakura’s narrowed ones before firmly shaking his head.
“They’re not worth it,” Suo said quietly, eyeing the three delinquent boys who were grinning sharply at him. “Let’s just ignore them.”
Sakura seemed like he wanted to protest, but those boys beat him to it.
“Yo, Oreo guy! Is that your girlfriend? This ain’t a place for a chick like her. She might cut her pretty nails and cry to her mommy.”
Those boys barked a laugh, as if it’s a funny joke. Meanwhile, Sakura was very much puzzled. He turned a questioning gaze at Suo, who was visibly struggling to keep his own temper in check.
“What the hell they’re sayin’?”
“I’ll explain it later,” Suo muttered. His hand shook with bubbling emotions that were threatening to burst as he tugged Sakura towards the opposite direction. “Let’s just leave now.”
When Sakura refused to budge, Suo added with a tight voice, “ Please, captain. ”
Sakura clenched his fists tightly. He tried his best to ignore the jeers and mockeries thrown loudly by those bastards. His pride as a Bofurin Team Captain urged him to settle the score and teach those bastards a lesson. But another side of him was torn because of the obvious desperation in Suo’s voice—something that they all rarely heard from their untouchable Vice Captain. With a heavy heart, Sakura made a choice. He bitterly huffed out his annoyance and listened to his Vice Captain’s plea.
“You better explain this shit later,” Sakura grumbled.
Suo nodded wordlessly. Behind them, Kiryu and Nirei, who were on the patrol with them, exchanged their glances and followed their lead in silence. The air between them grew thick with the tension. Neither of them made any attempt to break it until they made it back to their school.
It wasn’t until the lunch break was over that Suo finally took a plunge of courage to talk to his Grade Captain.
Sakura was deep in thought, sitting on the edge of the school rooftop by himself, hands fiddling with the leaves jutting out from Umemiya’s potted plants as if contemplating something. He did not react when Suo stepped into the open garden area, but he did acknowledge his Vice Captain’s presence without looking back.
“Hey. Mind if I join you?”
“You skippin’ class too, huh? That’s pretty rare. You’re basically a model student among us here.”
It successfully pulled a little smile out of Suo. Though it was a shame that Sakura couldn’t see it.
“I’m not really a model student. Never have been. My old middle school teachers pegged me as the troublemaker.”
That one piqued Sakura’s interest.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Suo shrugged. “They simply dislike kids like me, I think.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Sakura frowned when Suo did not immediately satisfy him with an answer. He looked closely at his friend’s expression. Suo had taken a seat right beside him. His legs swayed in the air, leaning forward, as if preparing to fall, yet his fingers gripped the edge so hard that his knuckles turned white.
His expression, however, was as unreadable as ever.
“Suo—”
“I’m not like other guys,” Suo uttered in quick breath, shoulders tensing, before heaving out a deep sigh and slowing down. “I’m, I am not like…the other guys that you know, Sakura-kun.”
“Care to explain?”
Sakura’s tone was as gruff and impatient as always, hiding his concerns.
“It’s exactly as I said.” Suo chuckled a bit, seemingly more at ease all of sudden despite his tense knuckles. “It’s just… I wasn’t born like you. Or Nire-kun. Or Sugishita-kun. Or any other boys you’ve seen here.”
That afternoon, Suo’s tone carried a strange sense of resignation, yet Sakura chose to ignore it and instead demanded for a clearer answer.
“In what fuckin’ way exactly are you different from the rest of us? Your supernatural talent? Your big brain?”
Suo actually laughed at that. A genuine, purely amused laugh escaped his lips.
“No, nothing like that. I mean,” Suo paused a little, clearly hesitated, yet pushed forward with a whispered confession. “ It’s my body. ”
“Your…Your body?” Sakura frowned again. “You mean your eye?”
“No. I mean, uh.” Suo interrupted himself again, licking his lips nervously. “I was… not assigned as a boy when I was born. People didn’t think I was a boy.”
Sakura reflexively opened his mouth, then closed it again, before his eyes widening as what Suo was saying quickly dawned on him.
“So, that means…”
“ I’m trans. ”
The voice was so soft that it almost got carried over completely by the harsh wind blowing on their faces.
For the first time ever since Sakura knew him, Suo did not look so confident. The boy averted his gaze towards his lap and continued quietly, “I realized it and started to change my appearance in middle school. But people were too used to seeing me as a girl, seeing me as this weird girl. Some of them still do.”
Again, a small laugh escaped out of Suo, though this time it sounded bitter.
“You know, I even had a girly name that sounded so corny. I wish I could forget it. Or go back in time to tell my parents to give me a better one.”
Sakura wasn’t sure what to say. He slowly reached over, placing his hand atop of Suo’s cold one and squeezing it.
“I…I never see you as a girl. You’re a boy. A tough one.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Sakura awkwardly backtracked, “It ain’t a compliment, okay?! It’s just a fact! Everyone can see it!”
Suo chuckled wryly. “Thanks.”
Sakura cleared his throat. “Did you, um, does anybody else know?”
“Many people know.”
“How many?!”
“Like, I think, almost everyone here knows.”
“What?!”
A small, cheeky grin made it to Suo’s face. There’s a sense of unexplainable relief deep down that Sakura felt at the sight of his friend becoming more like his usual self, though he didn’t voice it out.
“Well, let’s be real. Makochi is a small town. Everyone knows each other.”
Sakura scowled indignantly. “Ugh. Don’t make me feel more like an alien in this weird place.”
But Suo did not let him get away with such a self-deprecating thought. He bumped his shoulder against Sakura’s with a playful smile.
“Oh, come on! You know you’re no longer an outsider, Sakura-kun. Everybody likes you here!”
“You’ve not met my landlord yet,” Sakura grumbled.
“Well, most people like you here. And I swear I’m not exaggerating it.”
Suo giggled at Sakura’s petty scoff. His smile took on a gentler edge as his voice dropped lower, “…That’s why I’m telling you this, Sakura-kun. I think you deserve to know too.”
Sakura’s gaze softened. He squeezed harder on Suo’s hand.
“Next time those fuckers bother you again, I’ll make ‘em pay for it.”
A minute of comfortable silence passed.
Then, in a fluid, unexpected motion, Suo’s body swayed to the side until his head landed on Sakura’s shoulder with a soft whisper,
“ My hero. ”