#wbk

you sighed, offering him a small bento with an adorably cute wrap around it. "haruka, i'm literally bringing you lunch."

"i didn't ask you to."

"you forgot it."

"i would've survived."

"you would've starved."

sakura's eye twitched, and you smiled sweetly. it wasn’t like your little brother hated you or anything! he just found it annoying that you had no clue what boundaries were.

"just take the lunch,” you chided, making him grumble under his breath. he snatched the bag from your hands. about to say goodbye, you had barely arrived at furin high's gates when a cheerful voice called out from behind you.

"oh? are you sakura's sister?"

you turned–

and immediately forgot how to breathe.

standing a few feet away was a tall young man with soft white hair and light blue eyes. a friendly smile stretched across his face as if smiling was simply his natural state. the afternoon sunlight seemed to gather around him. and for a moment, everything else faded into the background.

. . .

“y/n?” sakura called, though voice sounded incredibly distant.

your heart slammed against your ribs, and you couldn’t stop thinking about how screwed you were! i mean, the man in front of you was gorgeous.

"um..." the stranger tilted his head, the smile reappearing on his face. "i'm hajime umemiya."

oh, you were done for.

-

and after that day, you developed a problem.

you found reasons to visit furin constantly. sometimes you brought sakura lunch. other times, it was snacks or water. but most of the time, it was things he definitely didn't need.

once, you came back to the school three times– solely to give him umbrellas!

now, it was a known fact that sakura was overly sensitive to people being affectionate. he suddenly understood everything when you handed him a polka dot umbrella while staring at the white-haired upperclassmen watering flowers. his face heated up, and he choked on nothing while having a really difficult time understanding everything going on! 

unfortunately, the one person who didn't understand anything was ume himself.

-

"she's really nice!” umemiya beamed, praising you when the topic of sakura’s sister came up. "and she always comes to see sakura, helping him in many ways”

nirei nodded, replying with a, "...right." but in his head, he wanted to say, isn’t it obvious why she’s here?

"it's cute how much she cares about her little brother." ume gushed, his face propped up on the palms on his hands as he talked about you.

nirei blinked. "umemiya."

"hm?"

"have you considered that maybe she comes here for another reason?"

umemiya smiled. "of course."

nirei brightened.

finally.

finally.

"she probably worries about all of us."

…

was nirei talking to a wall?

-

the worst part was that umemiya genuinely adored spending time with you.

he always greeted you first. always shared whatever food he was eating, and always looked happy whenever you arrived.

which should have been encouraging– except every single thing he said made it painfully obvious he thought of you as family.

"you remind me of an older sister."

your soul shattered. "...really?"

"yeah!"

“haha.. probably because I am one! .. to haruka, haha…”

though you tried to laugh it off, you wanted the ground to swallow you whole.

-

you had stopped by furin again, carrying a bag full of food because apparently neither your brother nor his friends knew how to feed themselves properly. and the moment you were near furin, several familiar faces greeted you.

"ah! sakura-san's sister!" nirei waved, enthusiastically.

suo offered a small smile. "visiting again?"

"i'm beginning to think i'm more popular here than sakura,” you commented.

"that's not difficult." he agreed, turning back to look at sakura who was standing nearby, looking offended.

everything felt normal, comfortable, and safe today. but maybe that's why nobody noticed the trouble brewing nearby.

-

makochi had become a better place because of bofurin, but not everyone appreciated that. there were still people who held grudges, people who wanted revenge, and still people foolish enough to test the boys of furin.

you just happened to be in the wrong place when one of those people decided to act.

separating from the group only briefly, just long enough to stop at a nearby convenience store, you decided to grab a couple things on your way back home.

everything went smoothly– until when you were walking out of the store, someone grabbed your wrist.

"well, look what we found!” a male voice spoke, his grip on your wrist not planning to let go anytime soon.

before you knew it, three guys blocked the alleyway.

"you're one of furin's friends, right?" one of the dudes spoke. “you’re pretty, let me get your number.”

you jerked your arm away, scoffing. "not interested." you turned, not daring to make eye contact, until one of them shoved you back. your shoulder slammed into the brick wall, and immediate pain shot through your body.

"we asked you a question."

"and i ignored it."

which, happened to be the wrong answer.

-

in some aspects, you were strong. never quite like haruka, but in your own ways. however, three against one was never going to end well. a fist connected with your side, pain exploded through your ribs. not realizing what was fully going on, your vision blurred.

for a moment, you lost your footing completely.

and then–

someone stepped between you and the next blow.

the sound echoed through the alley, and everyone froze. it took a moment for you to gather your thoughts, and your eyes widened.

of course it had to be him.

"...umemiya?"

the same third-year you always visited stood in front of you, and the fist that had been aimed at you had landed squarely against his shoulder. he hadn't even flinched, like he was a wall that stood between you and danger. 

for several seconds, nobody moved.

until ume slowly lifted his head. 

-

later, nobody could quite agree on exactly what happened, only that it was over very quickly.

and by the time sakura and the others arrived, the fight had already ended. three grown men were sprawled across the ground, groaning. nirei stared, suo nodded, and sakura was confused, (and really worried about you, obviously.)

and ume? he was kneeling beside you, checking up on you.

your lip was bleeding, one side of your face was bruising, and when he saw your arm trembling– something inside him broke.

“hey,” his voice became softer, a change from the violence he acted against those men. “how do you feel?”

you blinked. "i'm okay."

it wasn’t a lie, because you were okay. but the man standing in front of you? he looked upset. actually upset. his hands were trembling while he carefully brushed hair away from your face, and his fingers were gentle like he was afraid you'd disappear.

you had never seen him like this before.

-

umemiya realized it at exactly the same moment.

the moment he saw blood on your cheek, when he imagined arriving too late– and the moment he thought about losing you.

his heart nearly stopped, and suddenly every confusing feeling he'd been carrying around for months made sense.

every smile, every conversation, every excuse to spend time with you, every moment he searched for you in a crowd, every disappointment when you left, every burst of happiness whenever you appeared.

all of it.

oh.

he was in love with you.

ridiculously in love.

"umemiya?" your voice pulled him back, and he took a moment to look at you. for the first time, he understood why everyone had been staring at him lately.

he understood why suo always looked amused, why sakura kept choking on his drinks, and why why nirei always sighed.

because somehow, he had completely missed the fact that he was in love with the woman standing right in front of him.

a/n: this was super fun to write, thank you so much for requesting anon! (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)

link to the request