Chapter Text
The alleyway reeked of garbage and rain-soaked despair. Sakura’s head throbbed painfully, the kind of headache that came from too much impact and not enough time to recover. His vision blurred, and his body ached like a hundred needles had been driven into him. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head, but the pain was relentless. Everything was a clutter—the cold ground beneath him, the damp air of the alley, the overwhelming bitterness of the defeat that still clung to him.
What a mess. Again.
Sakura's parents had abandoned him when he was young, and this was the life he'd been stuck with ever since—fighting for scraps and barely making it through the day. This recent pounding was simply another day in the life. He'd been jumped by three goons who wanted his meager money. They'd given him no chance and began swinging as soon as they laid eyes on him. It was the same scenario every time: he fought as hard as he could, but it was always a losing battle.
"Ugh—“ he groaned, shifting a little, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. But his body didn’t cooperate, and he crumpled back to the ground, his vision spinning.
But then, he heard footsteps. Not the shuffling of the usual gutter trash, but confident, purposeful steps. His heart raced for a second. Someone was coming his way. His first instinct was to hide, but his body wouldn’t move. He barely had enough strength to lift his head, let alone scramble into the shadows.
Then, the figure emerged.
A man, tall and commanding, stepped into the dim light. His gaze swept over the scene, and for a moment, Sakura thought he might be another thug looking to finish the job. But something about the man felt different—like he didn’t belong in this mess. His sharp eye was calculating, cold, and yet there was a glimmer of something—almost like curiosity.
The man’s features were striking. His dark hair, long enough to tie back, was styled effortlessly, and his clothes—impeccably tailored to fit his lean frame—suggested someone who had no interest in blending in. But the most remarkable thing about him was the eyepatch, and the single red eye that gleamed with a dark, cold intensity, exuding an air of ruthless authority.
The man crouched down, close enough for Sakura to catch the faint scent of something sharp and clean—gunpowder, perhaps, mixed with a hint of leather.
“Dead?” the man asked with a raised eyebrow, his voice smooth, almost amused.
Sakura groaned. Was this guy serious?
"Not yet, thanks for asking,” He meant it to be sarcastic, but it came out nothing more than a wheeze.
The man didn’t blink, his gaze still cold but calculating. He didn’t seem to care about the mess Sakura was in. Instead, his eye flicked to the three thugs that had left Sakura in this state.
“Those the ones who did this to you?” the man asked, his tone still casual, as though he were discussing the weather.
Sakura struggled to sit up, but the world spun around him.
"Who else?" he snapped. He had neither the time nor the energy for a roundabout conversation with someone he couldn't tell was friend or foe.
The man didn’t respond to his words immediately. Instead, his gaze locked on the thugs. Then, without warning, he walked toward them, his movements fluid, controlled. The thugs, seeing him approach, sneered. “What’s this pretty boy think he’s gonna do?“
The man didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. The first thug lunged at him, a crude knife raised. But before the thug could even get close, the man’s hand moved faster than Sakura could track. He grabbed the thug’s wrist, twisting it with a sharp snap, sending the knife clattering to the ground. With a swift knee, he knocked the thug back into the brick wall, causing him to crumple, unable to move.
Sakura blinked, his mind trying to catch up. What—what just happened?
Before the remaining two thugs could react, the man was already on them. One of them swung a fist, but the man dodged effortlessly, grabbing the thug by the arm and flipping him onto the ground with a force that left the thug gasping for air. The last thug hesitated, unsure whether to attack or run.
Sakura, still reeling from the pain, managed to watch as the man took a step toward the last thug. His movements were so fluid, so precise, that it almost seemed like a dance. With a single punch, the thug collapsed, knocked out cold.
The alley was silent now, the only sound the faint trickle of water running from a broken drainpipe. The three thugs were either unconscious or too injured to move, lying in a heap at the man’s feet.
Sakura’s mouth hung open slightly. What the hell was that? Sakura’s mind was still trying to process the speed and efficiency of what he’d just witnessed.
The man turned to him, his eye still as sharp as ever, and for a moment, there was a flicker of amusement in his gaze.
“Are you going to lie there all day?” he asked, his tone almost teasing.
Sakura scowled. “Why the hell do you care?”
The man crouched down again, his expression softening just enough to be disarming.
“I saw how you fought back earlier. It was shit in general but the determination alone was charming. Most of us would have just given them what they wanted so our lives would be spared, but you, you chose to take the beating with a far-fetched dream that you could win. I don’t like wasting potential,” he said simply. “And right now, you look like a waste.”
Sakura bristled, the insult stinging more than he wanted to admit. “Thank you?” he muttered mockingly.
The man snorted out a laugh, extending a hand. “Get up,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “I’m Suo Hayato. And you—well, let’s just say you’re coming with me.”
———
As promised—though admittedly to Sakura’s surprise—Suo returned a few days later to pick him up from the inn where he’d been working. By then, Sakura had patched himself up from his most recent beating, packed the few belongings he owned, and said his goodbyes to Kotoha, the only friend he’d made over the years. With that, he braced himself for whatever this new life Suo gave him might bring.
Now stepping out of the car that had driven them to District 1, Sakura was bewildered to say the least. He had never set foot in District 1 before. It was a world apart from the familiar grime of Districts 4 and 5—the slums where people like him were expected to stay, scraping by on what little they could find. Back in his district, the streets were riddled with broken asphalt, piles of uncollected garbage, and the constant hum of desperation. The air smelled of stale alcohol and rotting leftovers, and the buildings looked like they’d collapse with a single gust of wind. It was a place where dreams came to die—or, more realistically, never existed in the first place.
District 1 was overwhelming. The moment Sakura stepped into its bounds, it felt like a punch to the senses. Everything here gleamed. Towering skyscrapers stretched into the clouds, their reflective glass exteriors catching the sunlight and scattering it like prisms. Sakura craned his neck so far back to take it all in that he almost stumbled over himself. He’d only ever seen buildings like these on the fuzzy screen of the television in his inn’s owner’s room, glimpsed through the narrow crack of a poorly shut door. Now, standing at their base, they seemed impossibly huge, as if they were meant for giants, not people.
Sakura couldn’t stop swiveling his head, gawking like a dog let off its leash for the first time in an open field. His eyes sparkled with a mix of amazement and disbelief, and he felt a pang of something unfamiliar in his chest—envy, maybe, or resentment. It was hard to say.
“Is your neck going to break from all that looking around?” Suo’s voice cut through Sakura’s daze like a sharp blade.
Sakura snapped out of his trance, glancing over at Suo, who was walking a step ahead. Now this place was where Suo should belong. The man had his long hair pulled up into a high bun today, pinned with a silver hair stick. Sakura had never seen any men with that long hair and using hair stick before, so it was intriguing to him how perfectly Suo’s hair was always styled. His tailored navy-blue suit hugged his frame perfectly, and his polished shoes clicked against the pavement with an air of authority. Every step he took seemed purposeful, as if even the ground beneath him had to bend to his will.
“Yeah, yeah, keep walking, you fancy-ass,” Sakura muttered under his breath, though his wide-eyed glances betrayed his true feelings.
Suo smirked, clearly amused. “Fancy-ass? Focus, Sakura. You’re making us look like tourists.”
“Us?” Sakura scoffed, pointing a thumb at himself. “Pretty sure it’s just me. You fit in here like a king.”
“And you?” Suo glanced back, his crimson eye twinkling with amusement. “More like a stray puppy someone dragged in.”
Sakura opened his mouth to retort but closed it again, realizing Suo wasn’t entirely wrong. He could feel the judgmental stares from passersby, their silent disapproval almost suffocating. District 1 was a different universe, one where someone like him didn’t belong. Yet, here he was, following Suo like a shadow, trying to keep up in a world that felt alien to him.
“Hey,” Suo said, his tone softening slightly as he glanced at Sakura. “Keep your head up. You’re with me now. No one’s going to mess with you.”
Sakura blinked at him, momentarily stunned. The confidence in Suo’s voice was infectious, and for a brief moment, Sakura forgot about the weight of the stares and the suffocating sense of inferiority. He straightened his back and quickened his pace, falling in step beside Suo.
"Where are we going?" Sakura asked, his tone edged with impatience. "And why are we walking?"
Suo hummed thoughtfully, his hands clasped behind his back as he glanced down at Sakura.
"I’m hungry so we’re getting dinner," he said, his voice casual, almost teasing. "It’s a small iyakaza tucked away in an alley so the car wouldn’t fit. And well, I figured a big, fancy-assed restaurant might be a bit overwhelming for you right now. Am I not right, Sakura-kun?"
Don’t call me Sakura-kun. The retort hovered on the tip of his tongue, but Sakura swallowed it down. This guy was about to buy him food, after all.
"Tch," Sakura clicked his tongue in irritation. Suo wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t have to phrase it like that.
"You look like you’re loaded, and this is the best you can do for a first date?" Sakura asked, skeptical, as they stopped outside a tiny izakaya.
The place was indeed small—even by his standards. He couldn’t believe something this normal and unassuming existed in District 1, where every corner seemed to sparkle with excess and opulence.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Suo chided lightly, a knowing smile on his face. “Come on. You’ll be surprised.”
As they stepped inside, the quiet hum of conversation died instantly. A dozen heads turned toward them, and within seconds, every customer stood and bowed deeply. The sudden display made Sakura jump, his shoulders jerking up like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.
“You mean surprised by this?” he whispered sharply, leaning toward Suo as he instinctively took a step back.
“No. The menu,” Suo replied, his voice soft with amusement, before gently placing a hand on Sakura’s back. With a light push, he nudged him further into the izakaya, all while the solemn gazes of the other patrons lingered.
Only once Suo and Sakura reached a small table tucked into the corner did the customers slowly return to their seats. As if on cue, the low murmur of conversation resumed, like nothing had happened at all.
A million questions flew through Sakura’s head at full speed. What the hell is going on? Who the hell is Suo? Who are these people? What are they to him—employees? Henchmen? Cult followers? Is this some kind of human trafficking situation? No matter what the answers were, one thing was clear: Sakura was scared shitless.
He nearly leapt out of his skin when an elderly woman suddenly appeared beside their table, seemingly out of thin air, and handed them two menus.
“So you’ve brought a new boy today, Suo-san?” she said cheerfully, her warm smile a slight reassurance—though her words, on the other hand, were anything but.
A new boy? Sakura’s stomach dropped. So Suo had a habit of picking up random guys and bringing them to this shady place. Was this actually happening?
“You’re not selling me to a fucking brothel, are you?” he muttered under his breath, shooting a suspicious glare at Suo.
The old woman, however, just bursted into a laugh, clearly entertained by the outburst. “Oh, you got yourself a funny one also. I like him already,” she said with a wink at Sakura before turning and shuffling off, leaving the two alone with their menus.
Sakura whipped his head back toward Suo, who was calmly thumbing through his menu with that same infuriatingly smug smile, his eye gleaming with quiet amusement.
“I admire the confidence you have, assuming you’re pretty enough for a brothel,” Suo mused, clearly humored.
Sakura’s entire body bristled, and his hands slammed down on the table. “I don’t need to be pretty to end up in a brothel, you dickhead! It’s all the same when the lights are out!”
Suo finally looked up, locking eyes with Sakura. There was a twinkle there, something both teasing and dangerous. He leaned back slightly, his smirk widening. “Oh why, I think you’re plenty pretty, though.”
Sakura froze. His brain short-circuited, his breath catching in his throat as his face ignited with heat. This guy was unbelievable, calling him pretty and shit.
“Wha—!” He almost choked on his own spit, words failing him.
Suo chuckled at Sakura’s flustered reaction but decided to save him further embarrassment by continuing.
“I’m not selling you to a brothel, if that’s what’s concerning you the most,” Suo said, his tone light but pointed. “As for this place, it’s small because the couple that owns it is getting old. The husband is sick, so his wife runs the place alone now. They asked me for help setting up a manageable business, and this was the result. As for those customers? They’re my subordinates. Only they have the patience to wait for the food. Now that I’ve answered all your questions, could you pick your dishes now? Or we will need to wait for a long while, and I’m starving.”
Sakura blinked, momentarily caught off guard by Suo’s explanation. Then, he obediently flipped through the menu. There was something about Suo—his calm yet commanding presence—that made it difficult to resist. Suo’s answers still floated freely in Sakura’s head as he hastily rattled off his choices when the old woman returned to their table. It wasn’t until Suo’s voice cut in that Sakura realized he’d gone completely overboard.
“Are you sure you can eat all that, Sakura-kun?” Suo chuckled, eyeing the ever-growing list of dishes. “Not a single veggie in sight, huh?”
Sakura bristled but couldn’t deny it. “Man, I had veggies my whole life. People like me don’t get all-you-can-eat buffets thrown at them every day,” he admitted, his voice quieter now.
A faint flush of embarrassment crept onto his face—he knew he’d gone too far. He didn’t want Suo to think he was pathetic, though part of him figured Suo probably already did from the moment they first met.
The old woman chuckled warmly, her voice cutting through Sakura’s self-consciousness. “Oh, you poor boy. Don’t worry, honey, I’ll bring all your dishes out, no matter how many.”
Her kindness soothed Sakura, if only a little, and he managed a quiet, “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Suo echoed, his tone polite. Then, Suo turned his gaze back to Sakura, his expression shifting. His single eye fixed on Sakura with an almost piercing intensity, as if he were sizing him up in a way that made the younger man’s skin prickle.
“You’re an honest man, aren’t you?” Suo said suddenly, his voice low but clear.
Sakura blinked in confusion. “Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that,” he muttered, unsure how ordering a mountain of meat equated to honesty.
Suo leaned back slightly, his demeanor changing. The playful glimmer in his eye faded, replaced by a steely seriousness that sent a chill through Sakura.
“Sakura-kun, from now on, you’ll never have to worry about food again. You can eat whatever you want, whenever you want.” Suo said, his tone calm yet unyielding. He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in before continuing, his voice colder now. “But in return, I’ll need your absolute loyalty.”
“You’ll buy me anything?” Sakura asked, incredulous.
Suo barked out a laugh. “That’s not the main point here. Are you really this simple-minded?”
“Well,” Sakura scratched his head sheepishly. “I don’t spend much time reflecting on my mind, but I trust my guts. As long as you give me food, you’ll have my loyalty. I’ve lived by that rule since day one, so don’t worry. What am I gonna do anyway?”
Suo leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms, amusement dancing in his eye. “You’ll be my bodyguard first.”
“You don’t already have one?” Sakura asked, just as the old lady returned with the first dish—potato salad. He wasn’t a fan of vegetables, but hunger got the better of him. He stabbed his fork into it and shoved a bite into his mouth.
“I do, technically,” Suo replied, watching him with a smirk. “His name’s Sugishita, but he’s busy looking after his previous boss, who’s in poor health. I need a replacement.”
“From what I saw back there with those thugs, you seem to handle yourself just fine,” Sakura remarked between bites.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Suo said with a chuckle. “And yes, I can handle most situations, but having a bodyguard is about appearances. If people see me without one, they’ll think I’m vulnerable, and that invites trouble. And,” His voice dipped slightly, losing its playful tone. “There’s something happening within my organization. I need to raise my guard—let’s leave it at that.”
Sakura clicked his tongue, lowering his gaze to his plate. “But I can’t even kill a fly, let alone defend anyone.” The self-doubt in his tone was impossible to miss.
“I’ll teach you how to fight,” Suo said firmly, his voice carrying a promise that felt unshakable. “You’ll never have to feel that kind of helplessness again—like the world’s chewing you up and spitting you out.”
Sakura flinched inwardly. Suo had seen right through him. He hated that feeling of defeat more than anything. But—why him?
“Why me?” he asked, the question escaping his lips before he could stop it. A million thoughts raced through his mind as the old lady returned with a plate of karaage chicken. Surely, there were others more capable. In the slums, boys his age fought tooth and nail every day. He was nothing special—nothing worth Suo’s attention.
“Because you have nowhere else to go,” Suo said, his tone cutting. “Your parents left you when you were just a kid. You don’t even know if they’re alive, and you clearly don’t care enough to find out. And you don’t want to go back to that inn to scrub dirty toilets where the guests fucked, do you?”
Suo paused, his voice sharp with disdain before continued. “Work for me, and you’ll earn enough to help your friend Kotoha, too. I’m offering you more than a job, Sakura—I’m giving you a purpose. A reason to live. I know you’ll take it.”
Suo’s words weren’t kind, but they weren’t heartless either. They hit Sakura like a hammer, breaking through walls he hadn’t even realized he’d built. His throat tightened, and his vision blurred.
“So, you’ve done your homework on me, huh?” Sakura muttered bitterly, the words tasting like ash. He hadn’t expected Suo to know so much—not just about his past, but about the ugly truths of his present and the bleakness of his future.
Suo set down his chopsticks and pulled a tissue from its holder. Without a word, he reached across the table and wiped Sakura’s nose. It wasn’t until that moment that Sakura realized he’d been crying. Maybe it was because this was the first time he had tasted something so delicious, something that wasn’t scraps left behind by strangers. Or maybe it was because Suo was right about everything.
“So,” Suo said, his voice no longer sharp, “is this a deal?”
He extended his hand—the same hand that had just wiped Sakura’s tears and snot.
Sakura hiccupped, wiping his eyes angrily with the back of his arm. He hated how weak he looked right now. He swore to himself that he would become Suo’s strongest bodyguard. Strong enough to make Suo rely on him, to make sure he could never abandon him.
“Deal,” Sakura said firmly, gripping Suo’s hand in a tight handshake.
“Good,” Suo said. His intense crimson eye softened into something almost unreadable as he released him. “Now eat up. Tomorrow, your real life begins.”