Chapter Text
You pause as Yamamoto opens up the black umbrella, feeling something isn’t quite right. “Uh Yamamoto?” You say, slipping your hand form his and taking the umbrella from him. “I don’t think this is big enough for both of us” You point out, holding the small umbrella over your head, and then stretching up to hold it over his. Yamamoto takes he umbrella, his warm hand momentarily brushing yours. He tilts the handle, as if trying to work out how to keep both of you covered. His face is thoughtful for a moment.
Not wanting to make a fuss, you shake your head. “It’s okay. If I went out in that I’d ruin my shoes and tights anyway.” You say, forcing a laugh to make it seem like no big deal. A moments pause, then a smile cracks over Yamamotos face. He hands over the umbrella to you wordlessly, and without warning, pick you up between his arm, bridal style.
It takes an embarrassingly long moment for you to figure out what’s happened. Mind going blank at the sudden loss of ground beneath your feet. “There.” Yamamoto grins. “Problem solved.” He says, looking incredibly proud of himself as he co-ordinates opening the door with his elbow and moving you perfectly out into Namimori walkway. You grip the umbrella in your hand tight, using your other hand to wrap around Yamamoto’s neck for support. A motion that unintentionally brings you closer to him and you can hear you heart beat loud as you look a little too longer at those gorgeous brown eyes. He notices and smiles at you, charmed to have caught you looking.
It only serves to bring warmth to your cheeks as you avert your gaze and pretend to be interested in the weather, starting up a conversation about anything to distract yourself from the embarrassment blossoming on your face. It’s hard, he’s so warm next to you and his laugh seems to cloud your sense as it bubbles in his chest and vibrates through your body. The ride is a little bumpy, but you can’t complain with strong arms supporting you and a smile warming your chest as your eyes connect every now and then that makes your heart flutter.
You’re coming to a stretch of tree lined street right next to Namimori park when Yamamoto stops abruptly. You look up to realise he’s looking at you. “Is everything okay?” You panic and suggest he can put you down, it’s not far from your house and he’s been carrying you for a long time. You make a move to shuffle yourself out of his grasp, only for Yamamoto to laugh and tilt his arm up to stop you. “You’re so cute when you’re worried.” He chuckles.
You try to hide your face in your hands, before remembering you have an umbrella to hold and promptly righting it before either of you get wet.
“There’s actually something I wanted to say to you.” Yamamoto says, his voice taking on a slightly more serious tone. Taking a hint you still in his arms and force yourself to make eye contact. The words seem to come to Yamamoto slowly as he decides walking is a better option than stopping. Maybe it helps him think. Through the contemplative silence, you can head the scatter of rain and hail against the concrete pavement. The steady wave of droplets swaying back and forth in the wind of the autumn evening. Somehow, with Yamamoto around it doesn’t seem as cold as it should.
“Today . . . isn’t the first time I've waited for you.” Yamamoto says, breaking the silence and looking a little sheepish as your eyes meet his once again. He clears his throat and makes another attempt to explain his thoughts. “You probably don’t remember your first day of school right?” He jokes.
You shake your head, trying to recall if anything significant had happened. “Well, I remember it.” Yamamoto says, a small smile appearing on his face that tugs at the edge of his lips despite struggling for the right words.
“You had your uniform all neatly pressed. Shirt done all the way up and the biggest smile on your face I think I've ever seen.” The corners of his eyes crinkle as the smile on his face grows bigger at the sight of the memory in front of him.
“You had this . . . massive umbrella-” Yamamoto moves his hands to emphasise the sheer scale of the aforementioned umbrella, getting halfway through the motion before remembering you’re in his arms and giving you and apologising, before the two of you laugh at his mistake. “It was way too big for you. You kept having to stop and swap hands to carry it. And then, then you saw this biiiiggg puddle. I knew by the way you were looking at it that you wanted to jump into it. I didn’t think you would.” Yamamoto grins. “But you did! You took this big running jump and landed right in the middle. Like SPLASH!” He says, using the limited movement he has with you in his arms to show the way the puddle had exploded under your feet.
“Water went everywhere. But you dropped the umbrella when you’d jumped and it broke. You looked really sad. Just standing there getting wetter and wetter in the rain. I couldn’t just let you get wet. So I walked over and gave you my umbrella.” Yamamoto says, almost not paying attention as he recalls the day and you begin to wonder just how long he’s held onto that memory to be able to describe it so vividly. His laugh breaks the momentary pause.
“You looked up at me like I was some kind of angel. Oh! And then you gave me this really big hug. Like the biggest hug I've ever had in my whole life. And you just skipped off, happy as can be.” Another laugh escapes his lips. “My dad got so annoyed when I told him why I came home all wet.” He grins and throws a smile your way that you can’t help returning.
The day slowly comes back to you. You could only have been about nine or ten but you clearly remember the umbrella. It’d been so old and heavy you could have sworn the damn thing was made from bricks. You remember being more sad about getting wet than actually breaking the thing. “I think I remember it.” You remark, letting nostalgia flood back to you like a river gate. A small dark-haired boy, a smile that could melt ice. “It was a horrid umbrella.” You snort, before realising Yamamoto had stopped walking in favour of looking at you fondly.
You stammer and ask what this has to do with walking you home. Feeling sheepish under his gaze.
Yamamoto looks a little sheepish himself as he parts his lips to say something and promptly closes them again.
“I uh – I didn’t think I'd see you again. Then you showed up at Namimori with the same big smile, like you were surrounded by light. Every time I was you, you were busy helping someone or making new friends. You always looked so happy.” Yamamoto hikes you up a little in his hold, making sure you’re secure as he turns a corner. He takes a deep sigh and laughs at himself. “I kept telling myself the next time I saw you I'd say hello. “ His voice takes on an almost regretful tone now. “But then I'd see you and get this feeling . . . like I'd just be a bother or something.”
Yamamoto stops and closes his eyes as if trying to find it in himself to speak his next words aloud. “I waited kind of. Every now and then I'd hang back trying to find an excuse to talk to your after school . . . maybe to walk you home.” Yamamoto's confidence seems to run out there as he bites his lower lip and you feel the hand under your knees tense into a tight ball. You can’t do much, but before you can stop yourself, the arm around his shoulder gently strokes the cotton of his shirt in a comforting motion. It works and Yamamoto throws you a small smile of thanks as his hand un-balls and relaxes again.
“It was only when I saw you struggling with your mac that I found a good reason to talk to you.” He admits, putting on a big smile as he finds the courage to look at you. “I guess what I'm trying to say is-” Yamamoto sighs in frustration, like saying the next line requires him to decode a puzzle he’s been stuck on for ages.
Then, a tiny light bulb goes off in your head. What he’s saying, what he’s trying to say. What Yamamoto Takeshi has been trying to say to you since he watched you walk off with his umbrella al those years ago.
Your hands move to Yamamoto’s face to take his cheek and turn him towards you. His lips so close before a soft thud distracts you. The umbrella hitting the sidewalk as you realise you’d forgotten about it completely in favour of your revelation.
“I’m sorry I-”
You don’t get to finish your sentence. Yamamoto Takeshi’s lips colliding with yours cutting off all thought processes as your world narrows to the soft feel of warm skin against yours. Your arms links around his neck and Yamamoto pulls you closer, tilting his head to kiss you better, deeper as the two you ignore the rain, ignore the wet drips of water until one trails from Yamamoto's forehead and slips down your nose.
The two of you pull apart, half for breath and half because you don’t want to get a cold. A laugh strikes in your chest as you look at the famous baseball star. His cheeks slowly leaking pink and his hair plastered to his face with the onslaught of rain. He laughs too, puling your in close to brush his nose against your temple and swipe wet strands of hair off your face. “You look ridiculous.” He jokes.
“Same to you.” You grin, before Yamamoto pushes his lips against yours again.