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Why does almost everyone has backstory in wb except Sakura?

my guess is that it's going to come up later in the series, probably due to someone from his past resurfacing in Makochi for a big dramatic series finale or pre-finale arc :D -> dramatic is used positively here, i love dramatics in media

it'd be cool if we heard about it in third person, i.e. someone from his past talking about him and the things they and his old town inflicted upon Sakura with pride- before being swiftly shut down yk?

like- they'll be talking bad about Sakura in Cafe Pothos to Suo and Nirei thinking they're all on the same side- and then get a plate of food thrown in their face and verbally eviscerated by the vices

OR- or, because this trope is also always tasty- Sakura just, freezes up entirely when the 'Weather' contact in his phone surfaces [assuming that it's an actual person ofc] and that obviously freaks his friends out bc- Sakura is so strong??? Whhhy is this nobody making him look so scared and quiet???

anyway, all this to say that it'll probably be revealed in a 'last hurdle' sorta way, yk? The last obstacle between Sakura and his acceptance that what happened to him was not his fault and that he deserves love just as much as anyone else

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i've been rooting around the wbk fandom and manga for a little over a week now, and i've made a few posts just about some observational things, sooo now i feel a wee bit more comfortable posting something more indulgent :3 -> it's like leveling up in a video game, where you gotta learn the controls for the first 10-15 levels until you can participate in the fun stuff T^T

Nirei, Sakura, and Suo's dynamic is so very, very adorable. i wish more people talked about how cuddly they are with each other 😭

Nirei Akihiko and Suo Hayato's Top Secret Guide to Being a Grade Captain's Charger Or, Sakura Haruka's Emotional Support Vice Captains

"You guys ever notice..." Anzai starts.

The small group of first years' gaze is drawn over one by one. First to Anzai, and then green, brown, amber, and red eyes pulled to the shwip of the door opening.

This early in the day, the people entering and leaving didn't cause much fanfare. Sure, you might perk up when you saw your friend, get giddy to share news that couldn't be conveyed properly over text, but all in all it wasn't really anything out of the ordinary.

A freckled blond strolls in.

"...that Nirei gets away with a lot more than we do?"

With his hand wrapped around Sakura Haruka's upper arm.

The group of four feels an irrational swell of jealousy, one that they’ll deny to their graves.

It wasn't like Anzai was wrong, even if it was an unwanted dose of reality. Out of all of them, Nirei- whether it be because of his puppy like energy or his position as one of Sakura’s first friends- always seemed able to squeak into contact with their bristly captain without his alarm bells going off.

Seriously.

It was impressive, actually, Kiryu had tried to brush some of his darker hair out of his face once- buut Sakura hadn't seen his hand coming until it was right in front of his nose. Both of them had frozen at the resulting flinch, as dishearteningly natural as it was.

Kiryu didn't really let it deter him, though. Sakura's hair was really soft. Anzai would know, considering he got a face full of it when he tackled him that first day. Also positive reinforcement 'n conations 'n all that.

Anyway- honestly, the only one that even came close to Nirei's level of allowed tactility was..

“Oh? What makes you say that, Anzai-kun?” Suo asks, smiling like they couldn't all see how he tightened his grip on his wrist. 

Greedy bastard. At least Nirei was practically impossible to hate.

And Suo got away with blatantly staring at their grade captain's pretty features, so Anzai thinks he really shouldn't be complaining.

"Why're you actin' like that, you get his attent-"

“I told you, it’s fine!” Sakura is huffing at the blond, unintentionally interrupting as the two came closer, “It’s not even that deep.”

“It could still get infected-”

The attention shifts again, this time to the hand hidden inside the bicolored boy's pants pocket.

"Hmm? Did Sakura-chan get hurt on his way here?" Kiryu questions, shifting closer as Nirei starts talking with Suo [eh, somethin' about missing him this morning?]- though the blond's hand slips down to his captive's elbow instead of entirely letting go.

"Wh-? As if! Nire- he's overreacting!"

Annd there's that familiar blush, rosy down to Sakura's accusing finger. ....is that healthy? It's cute, no doubt, but are hands supposed to blush? They're not, right?

Eh, Anzai will ask Nagato later. It's been a while since they hung out one on one.

"No, I'm not! You're- mmph!?"

"Shut up, shut up! It's not important!"

With Sakura's hand clamped [gently, oh so gently, everyone notes] over his vice's mouth, Nirei can't do much more than make some worriedly frustrated noises. He's still clinging to their bristly captain's arm, as if trying to pry out the injured hand into the open through sheer force of will, and-

"DID YOU JUST LICK ME!?"

"YOU WEREN'T GONNA LISTEN OTHERWISE!"

...they're rowdy this morning.

Suo, the asshole, is just watching with an elatedly amused curve to his eye- like observing a ping pong match.

Unnoticed by everyone, the desk the group was gathered around contained one slowly rousing Sugishita. Well- they knew he was dozing there, but none of them really knew how long he'd been listening. Or awake.

Had he been awake the whole time?

It'd clearly been long enough regardless, because he reaches his lanky arm up- perfectly level with Sakura's pocket in his slouched malaise- and lifts the bicolored captain's hand into view. Like a princess.

The result is near instantaneous.

Like a feral cat, Sakura throws himself backwards and out of Nirei's hold with a startled screech- kinda adorably reminiscent of a tuxedo arching it's back and hissing- but he doesn't really get far when Sugishita shifts his grip to his wrist to keep him from bolting.

....and Sakura's wrists were really small.. or maybe the blue haired fanatic's hands were really big? He only had to use his pinkie and thumb to completely loop around it.

Both could be true.

Also wow. Their relationship really had changed since Noroshi.. it still couldn't really be considered friendly, of course, but...

Hey, wait a second-

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Anzai balks in pure astonishment, finally registering the absolutely demolished knuckles of his grade captain. They're practically skinned to the bone!

Seriously, they're horrific looking- skin is literally dangling off in places.

Sakura squirms, concerningly red in the face and heaving in the chest as he tries to free his hand, but Suo maneuvers his way behind him to gently grab his shoulders.

"Calm down," he cajoles, ever the greedy, soothing gentleman, "We're just worried, Sakura-kun, no one wants to hurt you."

...right.

Maybe they were coming on a bit too strong. Sakura's trust in them was still a fragile thing, barely planted with a bud as new as spring flowers and... ah, Sugishita could do this metaphor better. Something, something, too much water and fertilizer at once?

Point is- they had to go slow. A little at a time.

"I- I knew that," their captain bristles defensively, his raised shoulders lowering as Nirei wraps himself around his arm again, "I just- I wasn't expecting to get grabbed-"

"Eh? But didn't Nire-chan and Suo-chan grab you just now?" Kiryu cuts in, returning from wherever he had disappeared to [Anzai feels a little bad for not noticing his departure] with a roll of bandages and cleaning solution.

Unsurprisingly, that just makes their captain flush darker.

"That-! That's different-"

Oh?

Anzai grins.

"Reeeally?" he leans close, but takes care not to brush against him just yet- there's already three people touching his bristly captain, and five in total crowding him- "Why is that?"

Distantly, he wonders if they make cosmetics in the color Sakura is turning. Maybe Tsuchiya would want some..

"They're-"

"Special?" Kiryuu heckles lightheartedly, leaning over Sugishita to gently pat the cleaning solution into the cuts.

Sakura doesn't even flinch. Anzai's chest squeezes again.

"H-Hey! Don't put words in my-"

"Aww, Sakura-kun. We're touched," because, of course, Suo had to rile him up even further, "We are your vice captains, after all. It makes sense."

Smug bastard.

"It's not like that- You volunteered for that role!" Sakura continues to deny, getting dangerously close to overheating, "You two just- don't... count. For some reason."

...he doesn't even realize.

He doesn't even realize!

Anzai has never been so jealous in his fucking life-

Nirei squeezes their grade captain's arm closer with sparkles in his big brown eyes, "Sakura-san..."

"So how did your knuckles end up like that anyway?" Anzai butts in, forcing his gaze to where Kiryu was gently taping the gauze down.

Sugishita was still holding Sakura's wrist still, but at least the limb wasn't trembling anymore. Still stiff as wood, though, but progress is progress so he'll keep his mouth shut.

Their grade captain goes silent- his ahoge practically crinkling from the heat emanating from his face.

The four look to Nirei.

"Ah, Sakura-san.." he prompts, patting his captive's elbow, "You should be the one to tell them!"

Suo squeezes his shoulders, curious himself.

Sakura stays silent.

"I bet it'll make them reeeally happy!"

....maybe the blond was more devious then they all thought.. or maybe Suo was just rubbing off on him too much. Either way, their captain relents the slightest bit.

"There was... a fight."

"Yeah.. we figured." Anzai can't help but deadpan.

And then he wants to kick himself, because Sakura was sharing and if Anzai was the one that made him retreat back into the shell everyone was trying to crack, then he'd never forgive himself-

Sugishita kicks his ankle for him. Which- surprising, but also fair.

"They were- saying shit. About Kiryu," it's honestly a miracle Sakura hasn't ground his teeth to dust yet, "'...'n Suo.... and Sugishita.."

Their bicolored captain raises his injured hand to the back of his head- out of Sugishita's surprise loosened grip- and ruffles up the strands as he attempts to glare holes into the edge of the desk. His face is as pink as his namesake.

"And you," Nirei tacks on, but Sakura just shakes his head.

"I don't care about that, they can say whatever they want about me- I'm used to it."

He shouldn't have to be used to it, they all think bitterly.

"But they don't know you guys," Sakura bulldozes before any of them can say as much, "It just- pissed me off."

That seems to be his limit, because as soon as that final word rings out he's whirling around hiding his face in Suo's shoulder. The eyepatched bastard is caught so off guard that it shows on his face.

"Oh my," he says, tentatively resting his hands on his captain's shoulders, and then he smiles again... all soft and unslimy-like that it's a little off putting, "So our dear Sakura-kun was defending our honor~ How sweet."

Sakura defended them.

Unlike his usual backhanded compliments, this one from Suo sounds so genuine.. Suo, Kiryu, hell even Sugishita look a little awed in different ways- though the blue-haired fanatic looks pissed about it a second later and puts his head back down against his desk. Kiryu pats his shoulder consolingly, clicking a million photos away on his phone of their bashful captain.

...Anzai'll have to pester him for some of those later.

Sakura weakly punches his vice's shoulder, his knuckles bright pink [seriously, is that healthy?] and his ears much the same.

Maybe they still had to go slow with their affection, still had to ween the bicolored boy off the loneliness that plagued him like an addiction, but the rewards were more than worth it.

How anyone could look at Sakura and not want him in their lives was a concept that Anzai couldn't grasp at all.

Sakura Haruka, the boy who jumped fist first into protecting those who couldn't- their grade captain that wanted all of them to be safe and made himself literally sick with worry after everything with Keel.

How could anybody not love him?

How could his old town look at him, truly look at him, and not want to crawl into his skin to make a home?

It was their loss, now, regardless.

Sakura Haruka belonged to Makochi.

And Makochi was greedy enough to want him all to themselves.

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one thing i love about Hiragi is his character during the Noroshi War Arc

you can tell he's a really sweet guy, who cares a lot about Kaji and Sako, and although he's very sympathetic towards Banjo- and offers him a solution to become a better person and stop taking his fights so far- he's still fucking pissed

he's got this dude, a MASOCHIST, sobbing and begging him to stop, and he does not give two fucks because this little bastard hurt Kaji in way that's deeper than a physical beatdown -> there's not ONE badly written character in WinBre, i swear

the way this manga and anime has stolen my entire focus, it really is written so amazingly, and i love seeing Hiragi crash out

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i'm fully convinced that they use animal models for some of these interactions, Sakura looks like a cat trying to square up against a curious dog 😭

oh my gosh, someone please redraw this with a cat, dog, and hamster, please. please? please?

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ik the previews at the end of the Winbre episodes aren’t exactly canon, but i can’t stop thinking about this 😭

[after a situation where they had to fake cry] Kiryu: so… I’m not surprised that Suo-chan knows how to cry on command, but- why do you, Nire-chan? Nirei, still sniffly: I don’t Kiryu, head tilting: ….eh? Nirei: I just started thinking about all the things Sakura-san told me he’s been hit over the head with

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y'all, the Kitty Lu Guang agenda is SPREADING, but at what cost

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there's not a single dynamic in Wind Breaker that's not an absolute treat to witness

i just finished the Noroshi War Arc and i love love love the way everybody clings so desperately to Sakura -> HOWEVER, for once, this post is not about gushing over how loved and appreciated this poor boy is and deserves to be... it's about:

ENDO AND CHIKA oh my gosh

it's undeniably toxic, yes, with Endo putting in all of the legwork for Chika's happiness, but it's the kinda toxicity that is so so so well executed. They're both terrible for each other ↑ it's not one side that's completely innocent bc Chika may be very physically violent, and dismissive, but Endo enables that kind of behavior for Chika's attention and happiness because he's obsessed

and his own apathetic way, Chika is obsessed with Endo too -> It's very obvious that the two do care about each in a very fucked up, mutually obsessed fashion.

Endo believes that he's not a part of Chika's world, that it's just him and Umemiya in there, but if that was the case then Chika would've never let Endo tail him for so long. There was a reason Endo was the second person he acknowledged after losing and there's was a reason he felt so comfortable demanding and accepting things from him

it's not a healthy relationship at all, but it's theirs. ↑ and something tells me that if Endo stopped indulging Chika, he would care because Endo is undoubtedly an important person in his life

like- he wanted a tattoo, so Endo drew him one and Chika didn't even want or need to see a second option. That is trust. It's a twisted and ugly version of trust, but their relationship was never exactly pretty to begin with

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i beg your FINEST pardon, Jo -> man suffocated someone with his THIGHS, he really is that bitch™

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WHY IS HE SUCH A DORK 😭 ->The LOOK on Sakura's face is absolutely sending me, his ass was NOT impressed

i think this might be my favorite arc so far, with the way everyone immediately rushes to Sakura's defense. AND THE WAY SAKURA INDIRECTLY SAID HIS PLACE WAS IN MAKOCHI ↑ NIREI BEING SO HAPPY THAT SAKURA STILL WANTS TO SPEND TIME WITH THEM!? AND THAT HE'S NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM THEIR AFFECTION!?

i need a crossover between WinBre and Natsuyuu now, i fear...

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Link Click drinking game where we take a shot every time Lu Guang's stab wound reopens in s2 -> bro could NOT keep that shit closed  😭

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it's crazy how you can see Sakura's body language change throughout the manga

i just got to ch72-73, and his eyes are so much wider than they were in the beginning. Not in a panicked way either, or an artstyle change, he's just stopped downright glaring at everyone that approaches him -> his shoulders are a lot looser, he doesn't immediately go on the attack when someone touches him, and he doesn't look scared

i've already somewhat spoiled a tiny bit of the Endo Yamato arc for myself from snooping through ao3 and tumblr, so ik this doesn't necessarily last very long-

but it genuinely feels like Sakura has settled into Makochi

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this is just simply NOT the same man, excuse me

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what if i violently sobbed

there's something about Nirei being able to drag these two around [literally the two with the flightiest personalities and fighting styles] without them throwing him off or redirecting him that makes my chest go all gooey -> man really domesticated their asses 😭

like- Suo and Sakura could EASILY pull away and do their own thing, but they're choosing to let Nirei usher them along. which is huge considering Sakura's general distrust of the public and Suo's very obvious dislike of Tsuge

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that moment when your asshole friend finally emotes -> Nirei was FLABBERGASTED

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on one of my more recent Link Click posts, i believe this one, a lovely user [i won't tag them as to not be a bother :3] and i started talking about Lu Guang's parents

it got me thinkin, yk? ↑ how exactly did Lu Guang get his powers?

theorizing about that, led me to ANOTHER possibility. Lu Guang very obviously did not have a healthy, normal upbringing considering his emotional dependence on Cheng Xiaoshi, sooo i was wondering if he was born with his powers OR if he got them in a... more unorthodox way

what if one of Lu Guang's parents died when he was really young and passed the time power onto him? what if this caused his other parent to resent him? [yk bc LG would've had to be there when they died, and then would have a very obvious piece of someone the other parent loved]

AND, if this was the case, it would feed into why Lu Guang is so desperate to save Cheng Xiaoshi's life and avoid Qiao Ling resenting him too for 'killing her brother' -> which, in turn, would avoid another loop of losing one loved one to death and the other to hate. Even if Qiao Ling would never hate him for that

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listen, listen, listen- their tactile relationship is so so important to me

Sakura Haruka, the guy that thinks touching people outside of a fight feels weird, openly lets Nirei cling to him without barely any fuss -> i feel so bad for him, i swear, he deserves every hug T^T

live laugh love Nirei Akihiko too bc he really asked "is anybody going to hug this very obviously abused boy" and then didn't wait for an answer

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something else that's really funny in Link Click:

Lu Guang thinks he's totally in control of the timelines, right? or, at the very least, he thinks that his relationship with Qiao Ling and Cheng Xiaoshi and everybody else is something he initiates

HOWEVER, the siblings obviously don't think that at all 😭 ↑ for all they know, they scooped Lu Guang off the side of a road like a cat

Lu Guang: *playing 4D, Deathnote-esque Light v. L style chess with himself and his relationships* Cheng Xiaoshi//Qiao Ling: pspspspsp