Chapter Text
Furin High ❦ / 12° ☼ / Tuesday 12:01 PM
It was not a secret to anyone in Class 1-1 that Sakura lives by himself, or that his apartment is largely unfurnished, and the building itself had seen better days. A few of the guys already brought in a couple of items they had no use for, but as his partner, Momijikawa wanted Sakura to have a decent home he can look forward coming back to and be totally comfortable in once the day was over.
Concurrently, outfitting even a micro-apartment like Sakura’s unit cost real money that was both very hard to earn and very easily spent. There is also legitimate concern that his space might end up as an unofficial storage unit for products that their classmates and respective families no longer wanted or needed, and Sakura – while prickly – tended to easily keel over if something is kindly given to him out of nowhere.
However, during lunch at Furin on a sunny day, Anzai talked about a certain foreign neighbor from his side of town. The timing of the subject could not have been more perfect as Sakura himself was up on the roof to (begrudgingly) help Umemiya with his plants, alongside Sugeshita.
“The young Thai neighbor we have next door is heading down under to Melbourne with help of the biotech company he works for,” Anzai said. “Because of that, he’s doing a ‘Sayonara Sale’, but it’s less of a sale and more like a giveaway if you show up at his door first. Since the dude has a fairly cushy job, you can bet his stuff has quality all over it. But before any of you can ask for the flatscreen, best to drop it now since he’s totally keeping that.”
“Why's he giving out most of his stuff away?” Tsugeura inquired. He was confused on why Anzai’s foreign neighbor was letting much of his personal possessions go without any price. “He bought it with his own money, right? Shouldn’t he try to keep ‘em?”
“It’s not actually practical for him to pack it all up and ship it down to Australia,” Anzai explained. “Calling the city or a disposal company to throw it out for him will cost too much time with all the measurements he has to take for the large items he wants to get rid of. It’s also really expensive. From my view, it'd be a total waste anyway since the guy takes real good care of what he buys.”
“And you’re telling us this because…?” a playful Kiryu trailed as he twirled a mechanical pencil between his fingers.
“He wants the word out since the sooner it gets done, the better,” Anzai explained. “I figured I’d talk about it in case any of you are interested.”
“Why don’t we take his stuff and use it to deck out Sakura’s apartment?”
Momijikawa’s suggestion quickly earned him the eyes of Sakura’s classmates — who thought of him as an adoptive Tamon member from Bofurin’s Zojo Team ever since starting a romantic relationship with their grade captain. While the sudden attention slightly unnerved Momijikawa, he still pressed on to share his thoughts. This was a rare opportunity to better his boyfriend’s life on the cheap.
“I know you guys gave him some stuff, but it’s obviously not enough. Having been there myself, it could use a thorough clean down and more renter-friendly shelves in the bathroom.”
“Your boyfriend — this class’s captain — will kill us if we come in with a bunch of stuff he believes he doesn’t need,” said Takanashi. “He definitely likes it minimal.”
“He’s only a minimalist since he gets by with a futon and phone charger,” Kakiuchi said. “He doesn’t even have a pillow. Like c’mon man, Sakura has done a lot for us, Momijikawa and Makochi, so it’s high time he finally gets a decent place to unwind at.”
“But Takanashi’s right though,” Kurita raised to everyone. “Sakura’s a big tsundere, but he’s not stupid. He will definitely know something’s up if we show up en masse again.”
“Then we make our dear leader go out for the day,” Suo told them with a calm yet confident smile. “And Nirei will be the one to do that.”
The freckled blond repeatedly blinked back at the eyepatch-clad teen, “Eh!? Me!?”
“Yes, you,” Suo confirmed with a chuckle and a nod. “Let’s iron out the details after school at your place later in the week. But in general, Nirei, you’re going to give us the time window to see this through.”
“Should I tell my neighbor then?” Anzai clarified to Suo. “That we’ll take quite a bit of his stuff?”
“If you please,” confirmed Suo. “As for me and my fellow vice captain here, we’ll make a stop at Sakura’s place later. We’ll try to gather more detailed information while we’re there, so we all know what we’re working with.”
Makochi ❀ / 15° ☼ / Saturday 9:41 AM
When a grumpy Sakura opened the door, Nirei was simply elated to see his vice-captain not wear the usual get up he has almost every day. The freckled vice captain is aware that his close friend is a striking yet good-looking individual, and outfits which have a certain edge to them made Sakura ooze even more appeal.
“I knew those would look great on you!” grinned the blond. “If I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re a really cool guy!”
“Whatever...” Sakura quietly muttered as his fair complexion became tinted as the flower he was named after. He then fiddled with his necklace. “So, are we meeting with Scraggles and his runt rabbit lion leader now or what? And do they also have to come with us to the damn theme park?”
“The park is running a Valentine’s promo for groups of four or bigger!” Nirei happily chirped back. “If they come with us, the cost of entry per head is much lower!”
“You still spent more money because a group of four will always have a higher price tag than just admission for two people,” Sakura pointed out. “It’s just a way for the theme park to make easy coin from overpriced merch and food.”
Ignoring his leader’s reasonable logic, Nirei unceremoniously pulled him out from the apartment before closing the door for him with a smile. While he and Suo did own spare copies of keys to the place, the smaller and freckled male covertly made sure it was left unlocked, making it easier for the others to get into later.
“Less thinking, Sakura!” exclaimed Nirei. “This day is all about having fun! And that starts with both of us meeting Choji and Togame-san inside the convenience store of the train station!”
Makochi ❦ / 17° ☼ / Saturday 12:30 PM
Compared to the clean-ups they had to conduct around town, it was a total cake walk to tidy up Sakura’s micro-apartment. As all possessions belonging to the first-year captain comfortably fit in a large box outside the open-air hallway, nothing went in the way for the teenagers. Even after lubing up squeaky door hinges, realigning the slidable window that allowing a much smoother glide on the metal track, updating the seven tatami mats for newer ones and installing a spare yet immaculate roof-mounted bathroom dryer sourced from the local scrapyard, the whole process only took a little under 90 minutes.
“Damn, that’s it?” asked a grinning Tsugeura. “We barely broke a sweat!”
Kiryu playfully shrugged as everyone eyed the hotel-like cleanliness and cool pine scent of the empty 23 square-meter space, “That should be expected in a place that someone treats much less like a home and more like a tavern in one of those shitty isekais. But it’s amazing at what Bar Keeper’s Friend, Mrs. Meyer’s and a decent amount of elbow grease can do to a space, right?”
“Where did you find those products anyway?” a curious Momijikawa asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them on the shelves in the supermarkets around Makochi.”
“A cousin of mine runs a popular bar in Hyōgo, so she always brings a spare or two of those to my parents,” explained Kiryu. “When she gifted them to us for the first time, she gave a useful list of which surfaces we can apply and also not apply the cleaning products. She buys them in bulk packs whenever she’s in her area’s Costco — which is why you never see them in Japanese supermarkets. As for why we needed to wear a pair of rubber gloves, handling Bar Keeper’s Friend requires them since it’s a strong agent — not ideal for the skin.”
Anzai’s phone vibrated in a pocket of the forest green sleeveless hooded vest he was wearing before it chimed a message notification sound. When he fished it out, Anzai was able to quickly condense the information into something more digestible for the others.
“My neighbor said the truck of the logistics company he hired is currently on its way here,” Anzai announced to all of them. “Additionally, he gave the logistics company’s staff members specific instructions to install both the fridge and washing machine, and to reassemble the queen-sized bed’s wooden frame.”
Suo lightheartedly chuckled at the summary, “I guess we’re going to have a field day in playing micro-apartment designer today. But we should wait for our seniors, Kotoha-san and Sugishita before any of us go hog wild on filling out a place that isn’t even ours.”
Kurita’s eyes slightly widened at the additional detail Suo just shared. “Oh, how did they know we’re trying helping out Sakura?”
“It’s the Furin way of doing things, right? Pitch in to help?” Suo remarked back at him with a smile. “But I think Sugishita is the main reason why the info got to the others. To be clear, he didn’t do anything wrong, but it also means we have to inform the neighbors in the other apartment units that Sakura’s place will be busy throughout the day.”
Makochi ❦ / 17° ☼ / Friday 4:12 PM
After arriving with Umemiya, Sugishita, Tsubaki, Hiragi and Kaji at the tiny apartment, Kotoha took charge in arranging the galley kitchen with Anzai and Hiragi some of the appliances.
Umemiya’s bleached right-hand man placed a single-burner Mitsumaru induction cooktop right at the designated stove area. After organizing a stainless steel utensils container holding a pair of cooking chopsticks, tongs, a wooden spoon, a metal fish spatula, a whisk and a one-piece silicone spatula – all from Kotoha, he looked to Anzai at the standalone kitchen rack that nicely slotted in-between the end of the counter and the refrigerator.
The first-year was busy setting up a matte black appliance with two handles and a small opaque polycarbonate tank on top of it.
“The hell is that?” Hiragi asked as the first-year.
“A Philips air fryer!” Anzai answered. “Not only it has two baskets; a big one and a small one, but this model has a steam function. If my captain wants some steamed pork and shrimp siu mai, he can cook it in here instead of setting up the pot at that induction top.”
“I can’t believe that Thai guy, who you got most of this stuff from, is practically giving away that — plus a refrigerator and washing machine with a dryer function,” Hiragi commented. “It’s insane he believes this benefits him.”
“Because it does,” Anzai respectfully addressed the third-year. “In the neighborhood where both my family and the Thai guy lives, there’s quite a large Southeast Asian community. The Filipinos, Thais and Vietnamese make up the numbers in it, and if they decide to head back to their home country, it’s common for most of them to hold a ‘Sayonara Sale’, where they sell stuff at a steal or give them away entirely for free. The people who typically look around are those new to their community, expats not from the area and your everyday Japanese university student or young professional.”
“I need to take a look at those sales myself,” said Kotoha. “But I’m in agreement with Hiragi here. The refrigerator, for example, is made by Mitsubishi Electric and comes with a glass surface finish on the doors, a capacity of 300 liters and has a bottom freezer. The Hitachi washing machine, now at the right provisions space for it — which Sakura used to treat as a storage room, has a dryer function. Along with that air fryer, you never buy those things for fun or on a whim. You save up for it until the time comes.”
“Well, to them at least, getting them disposed is both very expensive and a total waste,” Anzai detailed. “A firestorm sale takes out a pain point in their wallets and it gives them total reassurance that the stuff they got will be useful to someone, even when they’re no longer in the country.”
“Being honest with myself right now, I don’t mind living in a space like this since I don’t like having a lot of stuff too,” Hiragi expressed. “If it only had thicker walls and better insulation, I could see myself asking how much the rent is here.”
“Well, it’s being rented out at a price to Sakura for a reason,” Kotoha pointed out. “Not the worst place I’ve seen, but you can objectively do much better too. At least this area is a lot more peaceful compared to the shopping district.”
“No shit,” Hiragi agreed before he called Anzai. “Before I forget, who was the moron who gave Sakura the portable burner?”
“I think it was Kurita,” Anzai said. “Why?”
“Remind me to talk to him later once things settle down,” the bleached third-year instructed to the first-year. “He forgot to tell Sakura that the butane canister should be removed from the attachment chamber because it’s dangerous to simply leave it there. Also, the portable gas stove itself needs to be stored in its plastic shell case. He’s luckily his leader doesn’t like to cook much, and his leader’s boyfriend never did it here since there was no fridge.”
Some of the new furniture, namely the bed frame and the low-profile table, included features that allowed them to function as storage and greatly improve their overall practicality. Kiryu was impressed at Suo’s demonstration of lifting the bed frame’s mattress base up with smooth pneumatic hydraulics to reveal ample storage. It was perfect to stow away any unused bedding and larger pieces in.
Even better was the low-profile table, as it had a lift-top, allowing it to function as either a desk or a small dining table while revealing a few more internal storage solutions.
“Okay,” Kiryu smiled at his boyfriend’s brief yet clear demonstrations before he took out his own phone to take pictures. “I need to get myself a bed frame and coffee table with the clever but practical tricks they have.”
“Right?” Suo agreed with a bright smile. “I want them too because I can imagine the reduced clutter in my own room. I’m one of those tea enthusiasts who isn’t afraid to match my tea set for whatever season we’re currently in.”
“Oh yeah, we can put that tea set you brought for Sakura on the small table I’ve brought here the first time!” suggested the pink-haired male. “Or do we put it on the transforming coffee table?”
“We’ll figure it out,” Suo cheerfully grinned at his partner. “But I’m confident Sakura will like the teas I’ve personally picked out and brought for him. They’ll also help with his stress and wrinkles!”
“But Sakura’s just the same age as us…?”
“He is! But being grumpy isn’t good for the skin, you know? I don’t want him to look 40 when he’s barely even 16.”
As Kaji slightly adjusted the ‘quaint’ LG flatscreen TV on the low-level console, its very existence raised the eyebrows of Momijikawa. It also took his attention away from the first-aid kit he was trying to fill out and prepare.
“Where the hell did you get that?” The tall, dark-haired first-year asked.
“It was my older brother’s,” Kaji directly replied after he took out the lollipop stick from his mouth. “He said he’s okay giving it to Sakura when I told him about the furnishing plan. He wasn’t going to get much money anyway if he tried to sell it since it has a decent number of years on it. Still, it has functioning smart TV functions and 4K resolution, so Sakura can at least try to entertain himself.”
“In a normal situation, I’d say I’m jealous in that he’s getting pretty nice stuff for free,” admitted Momijikawa. “But Haru didn’t grow up normal. I was floored how empty his place was when I went inside here for the first time. Like fuck, my boyfriend didn’t even have a pillow.”
“You can say that again,” Kaji acknowledged as he did some thorough cable management. “To be honest with you, this is my first time being in here. It’s only a couple hours ago that I realized his initial attitude towards others isn’t a result of some family member enabling it, but a necessary survival mechanism. The fact he’s a genuinely good guy at his core is nothing short of a miracle.”
“I know my grandma isn’t around anymore, but I at least had her,” said Momijikawa. “I can’t imagine how I’d turn out if I didn’t have any family members or relatives at my side.”
“That’s why I told Sakura he needs to rely more on others worthy of his trust,” Kaji shared. “It’s true that his classmates rely on him to be their leader. In the same sense, he needs to rely on others because the job is tough even with your advisors around you — what more if you don’t have it, right? From what I’m hearing, there’s at least a brain in his Todoroki Shouto-ass hair.”
When Momijikawa looked around, he believed that outfitting Sakura’s apartment unit was 60 percent complete. While furnishing it was not tedious, the layout was being optimized to yield the maximum amount of comfort and space in a limited floor plan.
“I hope he doesn’t take this surprise furnishing the wrong way,” sighed Momijikawa. “It’ll be a pretty disappointing Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend if he keeps pestering me on where all this shit came from.”
“Eh, you’ll be fine,” said Kaji before he took out another lollipop from his hoodie. “But I’m leaving all of the streaming app sign-ins on the TV to you two.”
Tsubaki was properly wrapping up his part in taking care of the bathroom. While the fixtures were old, they looked better than ever with the attention, effort and cleaning products he gave them. The bathroom itself also looked much a lot more alive and pleasantly colorful with the palette matching body and hand towels he got from MUJI.
Just as he perfectly aligned the large bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash sourced from a local store, both Umemiya and Sugishita came by to see his progress.
“Wow, this place looks and smells way better,” complimented Umemiya. “It’s pretty cool what striped green towels can do.”
“It’s almost done,” Tsubaki said. “But it still needs a little something…”
Sugishita slowly walked up to the long-haired third-year and quietly offered up a framed print poster of plants, which can be simply hung on the wall space above the toilet. Tsubaki’s blue eyes sparkled at how it would effectively tie the color palette for the compact space.
“Oh Sugi-chan, this is what I needed!” squealed an ecstatic Tsubaki.
The third-year practically snatched the framed poster out of the hands of Umemiya’s most loyal fan. With the built-in hook on the wall, Tsubaki gingerly placed the colorful print and adjusted its angle slightly so it would be aesthetically pleasing and balanced.
“Okay, this tiny bathroom can now be declared as truly finished!” nodded Umemiya, followed up by a grunt in the affirmative from Sugishita.
“I’m finally free of this place!” stated Tsubaki as he turned around to face the other two. “And since you guys aren’t doing anything right now, why don’t we all arrange Sakura-chan’s closet so it can be much more organized? It shouldn’t take us a long time to do it.”
“Yeah, Sugi-kun and I are down for that,” Umemiya nodded to the suggestion. “The only plants I’ll be giving to Sakura-kun are some cute crochet ones anyway, so he won’t have to worry about maintaining their health.”
Makochi ❀ / 17° ☽ / Saturday 6:12 PM
Sakura was exhausted. Huge crowds were never his thing, so the all-day exposure to the volumes of people at the theme park was just taxing. Making matters worse; him, Nirei, Togame and Tomiyama were likely the only friend group in the theme park, while just about everyone around them was a couple on a double date with another pair who took on the group promo pricing for Valentine’s Day.
Once he finally split off from the other three at the train station, he found himself wishing that Momijikawa’s company was at his side. While the theme park was overall decent, fun even, past the massive throngs of people, the duo color-haired male teen was partial to the understated company his partner provided. And unlike the theme park, he would not be paying through the nose for food with a middling quality.
After he begrudgingly climbed the stairs to the open-air hallway to his apartment unit, he found Momijikawa standing at his door and just about to slot in the spare key he gave his boyfriend on the lock.
“I thought you were going to help out the guys by surprising someone today?” Sakura asked as he walked up to him before eyeing the carry-on wheeled luggage piece Momijikawa held. “What’s with the airplane suitcase?”
“As your boyfriend, I think I should have some change of clothes at your place, yeah?” replied Momijikawa with a smirk. “It’s only fair since I let you wear my own clothes when you’re staying the night at my apartment.”
Sakura did his usual blushing tsundere bit while lightly scratching his cheek, “Uhh, I guess so… but why are you here to drop off some of your clothes? You were with the others, right? That they roped you in to help surprise someone?”
“I was,” the taller dark-haired teen smiled. “And the person we’re surprising is the same one that I’m talking to right now.”
It took a while Sakura’s brain to piece together what his boyfriend meant before his striking pair of heterochromic eyes widened upon realization.
“HUH!?”
Hiding behind a car nearby, Nirei, Togame and Tomiyama were watching the couple by peering through a pair of high-quality binoculars.
“So that’s his boy toy from your school, huh?” Tomiyama inquired with a laugh. “Interesting… but why didn’t we invite him along? The group promo for the theme park was centered around Valentine’s Day!”
“Sakura can accurately sense if Momijikawa is up to something, so it made more sense for me to be the one dragging him there,” Nirei replied. “Momijikawa wanted to stay anyway since he believes he’ll be the best out of everyone when it came organizing, cleaning and labeling stuff in Sakura’s apartment. He’s a good cook too, which mixes well with Sakura’s healthy appetite and lack of cooking skills.”
“Oh, he knows his way around the kitchen, huh?” noted an interested Togame. “Maybe if I ask him and Othello-kun nicely, that big guy can help me out on a food stall I’ll be running for the upcoming hanami season.”
When their binoculars showed Momijikawa and Sakura heading inside, they emerged from the shadow of the parked car.
“What's the game plan now with those two inside?” Tomiyama asked Nirei.
“We go to Pothos!” Nirei happily declared. “Let’s help out Kotoha-san to speed-up the cooking! The food that’ll be made there is going back here at Sakura’s place actually. Think of it as like a combo of a housewarming party and a Valentine’s Day celebration!”
“Eh, regardless of the day’s labels, I’ll help that girl out,” Togame shrugged. “I can’t say no to the chance of free food either after the theme park wrung my wallet good.”
Makochi ❀ / 16° ☽ / Saturday 6:30 PM
Sakura had to repeatedly blink and rubbed his dual-colored eyes to see how he came back to an apartment that actually had furniture pieces, working appliances and gleaming like a premium hotel room. The grade captain can visually tell that Momijikawa had a hand in its thoughtful hotel-like arrangement and layout since everything was spotless and in its place. In the air was the comforting scent of fresh tatami too.
Sakura saw he now owns a queen-sized bed with a plush duvet, smooth bedsheets and four pillows. His dark-haired boyfriend demonstrated at how its mattress platform smoothly lifted up on a pair of hydraulic arms, revealing the storage compartments in its wooden base. The built-in storage area held all the spare bedding and even the old futon Sakura used to sleep on.
“Wait, how much did this cost!?” Sakura realized as the larger first-year brought down the platform with a secure click. “Shit like this has a price tag!”
“Almost nothing,” Momijikawa smiled. “Go thank your classmate… Anzai was it? One of his neighbors is moving to Australia and needed to offload his stuff. It’s a mutual benefit thing; you get a real apartment and he saves boatload of money and time by not dealing with needlessly annoying city disposal rules. A couple of special mentions is for Kaji-san’s brother, who gave the flatscreen TV, and Tsubaki-senpai for the bathroom stuff. Seriously, I just suggested they should funnel that neighbor guy’s possessions to your place.”
“This apartment is pretty dumpy though. I don’t understand why you and everyone else believe I need all this crap.”
“Well, think of it as one of those cool homes that were made inside repurposed industrial buildings. It’s high time you get these things anyway to better take care of yourself. I don’t want you to turn 18, but be completely helpless on how to operate a washing machine.”
“Then teach me,” Sakura said as he plopped his body on the firm yet supportive bed, that his own being internally approved. His signature tinge of blush formed on his cheeks as he tried to look away from his boyfriend. “It would be lame if I legally become an adult and only know jack on how a washing machine works anyway.”
Momijikawa chuckled before joining him on the (new to Sakura) bed. With the gentle nudge on his large hand, Momijikawa gradually made his dual-haired partner face him.
“All the more for me to come over,” Momijikawa chuckled as he teasingly pinched Sakura’s puffy cheeks. “I envy you, Haru. You’ve got an air fryer now, which is something I don’t have at my place nor do I have the spare funds to go out and buy one. It’s basically a mini-oven, and the model you now have even has a steam function.”
“Then why the hell is it called an air fryer?
“It’s a marketing term. But seriously, it’s just the name for what’s really a compact oven.”
“Whatever,” the striking heterochromic-eyed teen sighed as he leaned back with the support of his two arms on the bed. “As long as you make me omurice, I’m good.”
“You’re lucky you’re attractive and that I’m happy to be your personal omurice dispenser,” Momijikawa snuggled up to Sakura’s side before placing a sweet peck on his blushing cheek. The larger of the pair then placed his chin on the smaller’s shoulder, before his nose instinctively sniffed him. “Let me guess; you got a corn dog, pizza and some ungodly pasta at the theme park.”
“No shit,” Sakura nonchalantly confirmed as his right hand carded through Momijikawa’s hair. “I mean the quality was decent, but whenever I remember the price tags, all of them suddenly left a bad taste in my mouth.”
“Sorry I wasn’t able to do boyfriend stuff with you at the theme park,” apologized Momijikawa. “But your classmates and I thought that Nirei is perfect since he’s on his phone often, and can discreetly check our messages to him every now and then.”
Sakura groaned. “Why am I not surprised that Nirei taking me out was all part of the plan? Did he involve Scraggles and his little lion leader too since they went with us?”
“Uh, I don’t know about the other guys who Nirei roped in, but I’m sure they’re okay folks,” Momijikawa responded. “Maybe I’ll even meet them later here?”
Sakura’s pair of steel blue and bright gold eyes blinked when he noted the choice of words.
“Huh? ‘Meet them here?’ What are you talking about, Sakae?”
“Don’t shoot the messenger, Haru. But the guys, and by that, I mean everyone here who was not me, decided they should celebrate here — in your newly furnished and outfitted apartment unit.”
The grade captain moaned at the news, “And to think I was going to get a quiet night with you.”
“At least they’re coming with food?” The larger, more muscular teenager tried to offer. “That we don’t have to cook or burn our money through a delivery app? If there are any leftovers, you now have a fridge to squirrel those away.”
“Leftovers? With Tsugeura and Anzai? No dice,” Sakura scoffed at his boyfriend before standing up himself. “I’m going to take a shower since I can pick up my own smell right now, which is like some cat who doesn’t use the damn litter box.”
“Can I join you, Haru?” a teasing but rather hopeful Momijikawa asked. “It’s Valentine’s Day after all.”
Sakura took in a breath before he relented and gave his hand out, “Fine, but no funny business. We got those knuckleheads coming over, and they certainly don’t need to catch me giving you a blowjob or us coming out of the bathroom at the same time.”
Momijikawa grinned and allowed himself to be pulled up by his boyfriend.
“I’ll take what I can get.”