Author's Note:

This one-shot is a Christmas present for Purplerose128! Merry Christmas, Gina! I love you!

I headcanon that Suna is aromantic asexual. This fic is inspired by Alessia Cara's song "Here" and you should really give it a listen! I think it fits Suna really well. And me as well since I am an introvert. Please enjoy! This take place after the anime, during the spring of Takeo, Suna and Yamato's second year of high school.

Warnings: Party Setting, Implied/Referenced Drinking/Drug Use, Non-Consensual Flirting, Acephobia, Slurs

Here

A path was a way beaten, formed, or trodden by the feet of persons. Some people walked their paths together, others eventually diverged and separated, connecting their paths with new strangers and eventually diverging again. For many, the paths they chose to walk would be laced with calamity and tragedy. Paths of drumming thunder and flinching lightning, rain that drilled into the base of one's neck. Paths of treacherous roses and stabbing thorns, promises that wilted and left a person broken and bleeding. Paths of venomous snakes and sewer rats, diseased tumors that absorbed a happy life into nothing but an ashen corpse. Paths riddled with poison ivy, etching ruby rashes into the skin and into the blood. Paths swamped with adulterated weeds, where ethanol was always searing at the back of the throat. Paths that led to a raging black ocean or a mighty cliff and no option of turning back. In every town, region, country, continent, hemisphere, those people were always present and always existed. Some victims of choice, others of circumstance.

Sunakawa Makoto did not consider himself one of those people. Although, he generally had nothing against them unless they turned to abuse others with their tragedy.

Suna knew his path. His path was a smooth, terracotta road kissed with budding sakura trees. His path was the smell of freshly baked macaroons, the shade of an elephantine shadow, and the warm embrace of sunshine. His path was a tranquil blanket of snow, a cascade of autumn leaves waving hello on their descent. His path was the muted drizzle of rain against umbrella, the cicadas' cacophonous song on sweltering summer evenings. Always at his side, walked the two most important people in his life, happy and in love. And he was perfectly content to walk this path alongside his dear, lovestruck friends. Serenity meant walking the same path as his childhood best friend and the sweet girl and feeling the afterglow of their ever expanding happiness.

Now, however, Suna wished for a brief moment that he did not always walk the same path as his two friends. The origin of such a thought laid with his currently location: a dorm party at Osaka City University, the public school his elder sister attended.

As second-years in the middle of another spring season, Takeo and Suna were well versed in their routine meet up with Yamato-san after classes. A few days ago, the petite strawberry blonde sprinted as far as her legs would allow to the two Shuuei High School students, and her simple minded boyfriend joyously met her halfway. The couple beamed shyly at each other, their mutual love for each other as bright as the park's yellow chrysanthemums. Suna, ever the observant boy, could clearly decipher Takeo's thoughts of SUKI DA! as he stared at his girlfriend. Suna casually strolled up to the lovebirds, effectively removing them from their romantic reunion.

Eventually the three friends had taken their regular seats on their favorite bench, Yamato-san sharing the desserts she had carefully prepared the previous evening. As always, Takeo gushed with amazement and delight at the deliciousness of the talented girl's baking, and Suna nodded in agreement himself, the ghost a smile toying at his lips. As usual, Yamato-san blushed modestly, thanking them. As the trio continued to eat, a sugary conversation brewed; this often ranged from their respective days at school, classmates, future plans, holidays, and the occasional bout of drama that wormed its way into their lives.

"Suna-kun?" Yamato-san intoned in her usual voice, dabbing her face with a napkin and turned on the bench to get a better look at her blond friend. "Have you seen or heard from your sister lately? Last night she sent me an email complaining about Oda-san's friends and asked how Takeo-kun was doing, so I wasn't sure if she'd contacted you at all recently?"

Internally Suna cringed, but his outer appearance remained neutral as Suna gazed up at the sky. Ai had called his cell two nights ago and demanded that he, Takeo and Yamato-san visit her over their long weekend to have a tour of Osaka City University. It was apparently a required duty to give at least one tour of the campus during the semester, and Ai prefered to not work with strangers who would surely ask stupid questions or hit on her. Suna suspected that she mostly just missed seeing Takeo and Yamato-san, but his sister adherently denied it.

"Just promise me you guys will come!" she'd begged, sounding close to tears through the receiver.

Suna sighed and relayed the proposal to his companions. Yamato-san had happily agreed, stating she would need permission from her parents first. Takeo mimicked her positive sentiment. The next morning they were in agreement to meet at the train station on Saturday at ten sharp, and the rest of the week was mostly spent on the topic of future colleges and majors and careers.

This had, thus, been the path Suna chose to walk with his friends that weekend. The reserved blond couldn't have known, though, that this particular path would result in the three high school students running into Oda-san and his senpais at the end of Ai's tour-and-treat-to-dinner, nor that the strangers would mistake Takeo, dressed down in his casual wear, for a student of OCU, nor that the three would be then dragged away from Ai to a stereotypical college party. Well, suffice to say, Suna would have much rather been in his room with his red fleece blanket and Shakespeare's King Lear.

As the door to the dorm was opened, they were immediately assaulted by a malodorous smoke, and Suna deeply regretted agreeing to visit his elder sister. The party was terribly dark with only strings of holiday lights and light-up bracelets providing the children a chance to see. And what the trio did see was not at all enticing.

Semi-empty sake bottles littered much of the floor space and stained the carpet. College students nearing Takeo's height were dispersed around the rooms in various numbered cliques. The distasteful rap music that played on the speaker system screeched violently against Suna's eardrums. Multiple couples could be seen in differing stages of making out on the worn couches and on the balcony outside. A few party guests were passed out.

The teens were ushered further inside and away from the exit by Oda-san's progressively questionable friends.

Yamato-san clutched the back of Takeo's T-shirt as a lifeline in this sea of alcohol and cannabis. Despite the anxiety that crawled up his neck at the feeling of multiple hungry eyes on him, Suna continued to school his features with apathy. He was used to gaining the unfortunate attention from others for his apparent attractiveness and calm demeanor, even receiving the attention from women and men more than twice his age, but it was considerably more troublesome when the uncomfortable oogaling was from the drunk and drugged late at night in a closed area.

They found themselves standing in the kitchen, the only room that seemed to have any overhead light burning, albeit dull, and plastic cups were shoved into their hands. Suna sniffed at his drink, deduced it was a concoction of mixed alcohol and set it on the island. He grabbed Yamato-san's and Takeo's cups before they could foolishly sip the booze. The boy merely shook his head wisely. Takeo nodded, engulfed Yamato's tiny hand in his, and glared threateningly as he surveyed the room. The obscene rap music was surprisingly quieter in the kitchen.

Yamato bit her lip, the unfamiliar yells around her beginning to get overwhelming, and her wide eyes drifted to the other side of the island. Suna looked too.

A tall girl with matching teal hair and eyes waved her hands in exaggerated movements as she spoke—"and then the fucking bitch decided I wasn't fit to model the dress in for design class and that she was going to wear it instead, but remember! This is my dress! I designed for skinny, pretty girls only. Like me. It fit me perfectly! But the fat, ugly wench said"—the cup in her hand sloppily spilled over her tan hand but she continued to complain, undeterred.

Takeo tilted his head for a moment, then beamed, "ONEESAN IS HERE!" Before Suna knew it his friends had left the room together in search for Ai. She was no doubt enraged that her colleagues had dragged three innocent second-years to a college party where anything could happen. A game of beer pong had begun, and Suna promptly left the kitchen; the teen nearly collided with an older guy about to vomit.

Suna grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't wait to get home. From Suna's vantage point, Takeo was just reaching the balcony, which had become more crowded. Yamato, of course, was protectively at his side.

Suna decided to wait in an empty corner of the room in sight of the deck. Multiple people had lit joints in their mouths, the smoke forcing Suna to cough into his sleeve. The floor lamp he stood next to caught the boy's attention, and his hand stayed on the switch, blanketing his spot in light and darkness with each random twist of his thumb. His expression remained nonexistent as dozens of college students lech after him from afar.

After a minute, a girl stood next to him. She was aesthetically pleasing, Suna relented, with her long, spiky hair and large eyes and pale skin. Her hand found her hip, and her body leaned so that her eyes could align with Suna's.

"Hell~o, handsome," she purred. "Would are you doing in the corner all by yourself?"

Suna shifted his gaze from the girl to the balcony briefly and considered how much of a pain it would be to speak to this woman. He released a pent up sigh and spoke, "I'm waiting for my friends to get back so we can leave." Simple, vague but to the point.

"Oh, you're leaving so soon?" she pouted. "But you just got here!"

"Yes."

The girl oogled Suna without an ounce of subtlety, and Suna tensed. "Aren't you gonna tell me your name, Mr. Model?"

Suna said nothing, stared at the lamp shade. He switched the light on. Switched it off.

"Well," she drawled as she latched onto Suna's arm, "I'm Mizuko-chan." She laughed.

Suna didn't. Mizuko squeezed his bicep. Suna flinched, face otherwise blank.

"Do you have a girlfriend, cutie? Surely you must if you're ignoring me and my girls." Mizuko grabbed a large, clothed breast suggestively, winking at the blond with her face much too close. Suna blinked, unimpressed. He attempted to kindly step out of the girl's awkward embrace, but she kept her hold.

Suna returned to flicking the lamp on and off. On and off. He stated at the large window panes of the balcony, watched as two college girls shyly kissed each other just within his sight.

Mizuko glared and pushed Suna into the lamp, hissing, "Are you gay?" in clear disgust. Luckily Suna grabbed the frame before the lit lamp could crash to the ground. He bit the inside of his cheek.

No, as a matter of fact, Suna was not gay. Nor was he straight. Nor bi. Nor pan. His whole life, Suna had never been interested in anyone. It wasn't something he was necessarily sad about either. While it was true that Suna had rejected all the girls who had confessed because of their mean behavior toward Takeo, that wasn't the only reason. He simply wasn't attracted to them. For a very brief time he considered the possibility of being demisexual, thus part of why he went on that date with Amami-san months ago. Perhaps he just needed to form a bond with someone nice to develop some sort of attraction. But no. Amami-san was a sweet girl and could be a future friend, but he felt no attraction towards her, neither romantically or physically.

A matter of weeks ago, Suna had shared this secret with Takeo when the giant had barged into his room and caught the blond reading Japanese translated articles about famous asexuals. Suna had scratched the back of his head and decided to be very blunt about it. Takeo had, as Suna figured, been very confused, but not angry or disgusted. Suna let Takeo use his computer for research, and, after an hour of attentive reading, his friend had smiled with a thumbs up. Yamato was told soon after, and she had cried tears of joy. Thankful, she had said, that Suna trusted her enough to tell her such a sensitive secret. Yamato-san didn't need to have the asexual spectrum explained to her because a girl in her class, Usami-Takahashi Kokoro, came out as demiromantic asexual the year before.

"Are you?" Mizuko demanded with an index finger jabbed into his chest, her harsh tone disrupting the high school student's memories. Suna slowly removed her hand and placed it at her side. He looked back to the balcony: Takeo finally found Ai. She was clutching Yamato in a fierce embrace; distressed, relieved tears ran down his sister's cheeks, and Yamato-san's gentle hand patted Ai's shoulder.

Suna turned back to the perverse college girl with a rare smirk on his face. With a mix of confidence, conviction, and acedia, Suna corrected, "No. I'm not gay. I'm aromantic asexual."

Automatically Mizuko was plagued with confusion and angered further. "What? Are you crazy? That doesn't exist! You-you-you fucking tease! You frigid prude!"

Suna wouldn't deny that internally the insult didn't carry its intended weight, but he managed to uphold the smirk. If anything, it became wider as a shadow obstructed some of the lamp light.

"SUNAAA! I FOUND AI-ONEECHAN! LET'S GO!"

Suna looked up at Takeo to see his best friend smiling, his hand extended with a thumbs up, looking the same as when Suna had come out to him. Behind him stood Yamato-san and his sister, both happy to see he was still in one piece despite being on his own.

They were ready to walk their path back home together.

With a nod, Suna smiled.

Author's Note:

I do not endorse underage drinking or drug use, but even so, please be responsible! If you ever see someone receiving unwanted attention, friend or not, stranger or not, whatever their gender, you should help them get out of the situation. I was debating between having either a boy or a girl hit on Suna, and I decided on a girl just to show that sometimes girls can be creepy and not know when to leave someone alone.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, GINA!

Fun Facts:

I chose the name Mizuko because it means water, and ground (Suna, ie sand) is weak to water in Pokemon. But as you can see, our lovely boy powered through!

The fictional character Usami-Takahashi Kokoro is a reference to Junjou Romantica!

I headcanon that after Suna came out, Takeo apologized to him about making those "Aren't you a man? Don't you like girls?" comments that were present in the anime.