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Daichi had had some hard days in his life, but never one as infuriatingly terrible as this one, and it was only nine o'clock in the morning. First, he had woken up to his electricity out, so he fumbled his way through a shower with his phone flashlight and got dressed by the light of the sun peeking through his bedroom window. He tried to turn on his laptop to run through his presentation for economics one last time, but it was dead--he thought he had left it charging, but maybe the power had been out most of the night. That's what he got for leaving it hibernating with barely 10% battery left. So he shoved it into his backpack swung it over his shoulder and darted out the door, determined to make it to the coffee shop next to his lecture before class started. He could not do this presentation on an empty stomach.
On his way out the door he stopped abruptly, turning as he patted his pockets for his phone. He found it in his suit coat pocket so with a sigh he turned around and heard a rip that set his heart beating into a frenzy. He patted his pockets, his pants, looking for anything with a hole, and then saw his backpack strap had caught on the door handle when he had turned to go back for his phone.
"Damn it!" he muttered, shifting the weight of his backpack onto the other strap. No time to go back for his laptop case and manage, so he made his way out of the apartment complex at a brisk walk.
Everything else went smoothly until he got to the coffee shop. He relaxed for the first time that day and checked his watch. A solid twenty minutes early. He could do this. He ordered his drink, pulled out his laptop and plugged it in to charge, still anxious to review his presentation to make sure he hadn't lost it in some freak accident.
He pressed the power button. Nothing happened. He took a few deep breaths, tried again. Nothing.
His heart beat out of control as he tried one more time. "Sawamura?" Daichi left his laptop to go pick up his coffee. Good thing too, because the person next to him tripped, launching iced coffee everywhere. Daichi closed his eyes. Could have been worse, he reasoned with himself. Could have been hot coffee. Could have been my coffee. Could have gotten my shirt instead of the bottom of my pants and my shoes. (Although these were his nice, expensive dress shoes.)
After the poor woman strung together a somewhat coherent apology, Daichi took a deep breath and went back to his laptop, hoping, praying to any and all gods that something would make the damn thing turn on so he wouldn't fail economics.
Someone was sitting across from his laptop. Daichi, in no mood for this, sat down, pulling his backpack to him to make sure everything was still there. It wasn't like he had anything important, but his books had cost a small fortune.
"I didn't take anything," the stranger across from him said, his voice bordering on petulant. Daichi rolled his eyes, going through the last pocket.
"The cafe's literally empty. Why are you sitting at my table?"
The young man shrugged. Daichi studied him. He had silvery-blond hair, perfect skin, long lean muscles, a wide mouth, and big brown eyes. He was...incredibly attractive. Almost inhumanly so.
"Your poor laptop doesn't want to turn on. You looked a little frantic to get it to do so. Do you want me to help you?"
Daichi sighed, pushing the thing over to the stranger. The man smiled and gave a pleased little hum that Daichi definitely did not find adorable. He watched the stranger tuck one foot under his knee, leaning over the laptop in the process. The stranger opened the laptop lid and ducked down so Daichi couldn't see his face anymore. But he also didn't hear anything other than a few soft hums from the stranger before he heard the fan of his laptop kick on.
The stranger sat up, grinned brilliantly at Daichi, and turned the laptop back to him. He saw his normal login screen and let out his breath in a huge sigh of relief. "Thank god. Thank you so much. Can I get you a coffee for your trouble?"
The stranger wrinkled his nose. "No, no, that stuff is terrible. I don't know how you humans drink it all the time."
Daichi's hand froze on his trackpad. Shit. Did he just ask for help from a faery? Not good, not good. Was this stranger going to take his firstborn child? Steal away his creativity or ask for all his childhood memories? Maybe he would take his voice...
He really needed to give this presentation in econ. He should have asked instead of just assuming.
As if reading Daichi's mind, the stranger laughed. "Don't worry! I'm friendly! I already know what I want, and it is quite achievable in human standards. Can I stay with you for awhile?"
Daichi eyed the faery warily. Now he could really see the inhumanity, the soft metallic sheen to his pale skin, the way his hair glittered in that inhuman way. Daichi thought he might even have pointed ears.
How had he missed all of the signs? The faery hadn't even pushed a button on Daichi's laptop to make it work again.
Any way you sliced it, it didn't stop the stranger from being hot, and sometimes Daichi found himself weak to attractive men.
"How long is awhile?" Daichi asked, reserved.
"Not long at all, just enough to see the human world! How does a year and a day sound? That's a very proper number!"
"Hell no!" Daichi exploded, his hands coming down hard on the table. His patience, already running short, had extinguished completely, cuteness be damned. "You can stay with me for, like, a week or something! I have a one bedroom apartment! How are we both supposed to fit for a whole year?! And what am I going to tell my parents when I drag your ass back home with me?"
The stranger's lips pulled out into a pout, undeterred by Daichi's loud anger. "A week is definitely not enough time. At least half of a year..."
"No," Daichi said firmly. "Classes end in three weeks and then I'm going home. I can't bring you there. So it has to be three weeks or nothing."
In hindsight, Daichi could see how his ultimatum was actually a terrible idea. If he had been in his right mind, he would have remembered that this stranger was a faery, that he had the power to rip Daichi to shreds if he wanted, since Daichi had been stupid enough to put himself into a debt with him. But at the moment, Daichi was done. He had had a horrible start to an important day, and he just wanted to wash his hands of it, faery curses be damned.
Luckily, the stranger sighed. "I guess we can do three weeks. But! That still means that you owe me a small favor."
"As long as me and the people I care about stay intact and there are no harmful repercussions, I think that would be fine."
"Deal." The stranger held out his hand across the table. Warily, Daichi shook it. He felt a stinging shock run up his arm when he touched the stranger, which ran up to his heart. He hoped he wouldn't have a heart attack, but this day had already started bad, why not add more? "You sound like a lawyer, with all your terms and conditions."
Daichi smiled grimly. "I need to go give this presentation, so I'm going to run. What was your name again?"
"I didn't tell it. I'm Sugawara. You can call me Suga for short."
"I'm Daichi," Daichi said without thinking.
"Oh, first name? I didn't realize we were that close!"
Daichi cursed himself internally, but he just said, "We're about to be roommates for a few weeks. Might as well get comfortable with each other."
Suga pouted. "I would have told you my first name if I knew that's how it was going to be, but I guess now you'll just have to wait until we're closer."
"I won't hold my breath," Daichi muttered as he stood up, swinging his backpack onto his shoulder, mindful of the broken strap. Suga stood up as well. "This class is a lecture, so you can come sit in the back, but you can't say anything while you're there, got it?" Suga nodded eagerly. Daichi sighed and led them out the door to the business building.
He left his coffee sitting on the table, barely touched. No matter, he didn't need any more energy boosts today.
***
The rest of the day was hesitantly normal. Daichi had a long enough break after econ to show Suga his apartment. Luckily, his electricity was back on. "I'll give you the spare key but don't lose it. They told me it was some ridiculous amount to copy a new one. Also, please don't touch anything until I get back tonight and show you how everything works. You can use the TV if you like, here's the remote. I have a Tupperware in the fridge with some vegetables if you want to eat that. I'll be back by four this afternoon."
Suga pouted. The look was adorable, but Daichi had no time to get distracted. "You're leaving me all alone on our first day together?"
"Look, you're the one who made a deal with me on a Thursday. You're lucky I don't have a roommate or you'd be holed up in my room. This weekend we'll have plenty more time to...get to know each other. I can't miss these classes, so I have to run. Do not do anything, and don't touch anything." With that, Daichi slammed the door to his apartment a little harder than necessary.
To be honest, Daichi probably got as much out of the classes as he would have had he skipped. All he could worry about was whether or not he would go back to a destroyed apartment, whether Suga was staying still or if he was going to get noise complaints. He wondered if he would even be able to find his way back to his apartment at all. Did he bind Suga to the promise that he wouldn't try and steal his home? Is that something that he should have thought of before?
He worried so obsessively that he was hardly aware he had walked straight to his favorite ramen place. He placed an order, belatedly remembering Suga would probably need to eat as well and quickly doubled it, then took the food back to his place. He held his breath as he opened the door.
Suga sat in the same place Daichi had left him, on the floor in front of the TV, legs pulled in a butterfly. Daichi swallowed hard, then shut the door firmly behind him to get the faery's attention. "Hey, I'm home. I brought dinner."
Suga glanced over and smiled at Daichi. "Great, I'm starving! I hope it's spicy?"
"Ah, no," Daichi said. "Just ramen. It might be hot."
Suga sighed dramatically but walked over to the table with a smile. Daichi set out the ramen, grabbed them both water, and pulled out the fruit he had cut up the other day, hoping it was still good. He usually didn't indulge in things like fruit and vegetables, since they went bad quicker than he could eat them, but he had been craving something beside convenient store food lately.
"Mmm," Suga said as he devoured the first bite. "You must have good taste in food. Most humans don't."
"I'm just picky," Daichi said. He watched Suga eye him appreciatively and refused to blush.
"You look good because of it. So...muscly," Suga finally said before turning his attention back to the food in front of him. Daichi ate slowly, watching the faery. He acted so...normal. Daichi had always been warned about how wily fae were, how manipulative, how unlike humans they acted, but all Daichi had seen so far from Suga was curiosity and naivety, no hint of maliciousness. Even now he ate as if he were used to human food and utensils, used to sitting at a table in an apartment.
Daichi sighed and laid down his chopsticks. “Okay, look, I think we should come up with a schedule or something. I have classes tomorrow until one, so I don't want you to do anything before then. But...maybe we can go out to dinner tomorrow?" Daichi didn't know why it sounds like they're going on a date, because they obviously were not.
Suga's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! That sounds fun. And Saturday we can go out to the park, or to some of the shops! I have so many questions I want to ask you."
"Same," Daichi muttered. The first one was going to be where the hell Suga came from and why he had decided to bother Daichi when he had much more important things to do at this point in his life.
After dinner, Daichi took Suga on a tour of the apartment. Suga cooed over all the kitchen appliances, the alarm clock in Daichi's room, the Glade plugin in the hallway, literally everything that Daichi took for granted when he plugged them into the wall.
"You'll love the Alexa," he said once they were back in the living room. "Hey Alexa, play Chill Mix from Spotify."
"Okay, playing Chill Mix." Suga gasped and ran over to it once started playing.
"I don't understand how you can be so knowledgeable and still so...excited, over these things." Daichi finally said as Suga studied the Alexa. "She turns on and off the lights too, just so you know."
"I can feel the connections, now that you said it. To the computer, to your phone, to the TV, up to the lights. And, to answer your question, I don't know." Suga shrugged. "Fae spots don't have technology. It disrupts a lot of their connections and things. But I am a new fae, so I do not have the repercussions others do." Suga smiled. "I like the human world, but I do not roam it often. It's dangerous for humans, much less fae. So I learn from others, and from the TV of course. But now we are bound, so you can help me out!"
Daichi nodded. He was now lowkey curious about Suga's upbringing, how fae live, where they live, but he was also tired and needed to make sure he had all his homework in order for tomorrow. He flipped on the TV, allowed Suga his pick of the channels, and went to work on the assignment for his writing class he had forgotten to do. He was a little distracted, but who wouldn't be with a gorgeous faery humming to himself as he flipped through the channels on their TV?
He just hoped he passed all his finals with this distraction. He could not afford to have to retake classes at this point in his college career.
***
The next day Daichi floated from class to class as if in a dream, retaining absolutely nothing and sure he would have to study all weekend to catch up. When his last class finally ended, he picked up some groceries on the way home, hesitated, and picked up some spicy mapo tofu for Suga. He still wasn't sure what Suga's diet was like--from his very, very brief interactions with other fae he knew a lot of them were vegetarian, but maybe fae who like technology ate meat? He decided to just play it safe.
When he got home he found Suga poking at an old phone Daichi had had before he had upgraded. "I think I got it working," Suga said when Daichi announced his presence. He sat at the table, fiddling with the phone and watching Daichi unpack the groceries.
Daichi sat down across from Suga once he was done. "We'll wipe it clean and then you can text me when I'm gone. And we can find some apps for you to mess around on. I got you dinner. Spicy. Didn't know what you would like so it's relatively safe. I didn't get the beef."
Suga grinned. "Thanks, but I eat meat, much to some of my friends' chagrin." Daichi had fallen in love with Suga's smile the first time he saw it, and now he just wanted to see it as often as possible.
No, he scolded himself. Suga was a nuisance in his house, mooching off of his food and his space. Daichi didn't have enough money to feed himself, much less two people, yet here he was, offering Suga a dish Daichi would never buy for himself. It didn't stop Daichi from watching as Suga wolfed down the food. Why couldn't Daichi be proud of making someone happy?
"Was the couch okay?" Daichi asked finally as he started into his own meal.
Suga nodded. "But if you have another blanket? That would be nice."
"I...don't," Daichi said. It had been only him for so long, why would he need more than two blankets? One for his bed and one for the couch to make it look like he used it. "We can pick one up tomorrow when we go out?"
"Sounds good."
The rest of the night passed quickly. By Friday Daichi was always dragging, ready to fall asleep at seven at night (he obviously didn't have a very intense social life).
As if reading his mind, Suga turned to Daichi. "Do you have friends? Can we meet some tomorrow?"
"Why are you so...social?" Daichi asked, apprehensive of introducing Suga to anyone, much less his friends. He wanted as little people as possible to know about this whole situation with the faery. If he could keep Suga a secret, so much the better.
Suga shrugged. "I can introduce you to some of my friends too! I just...I think I like the human world. I want to do as many human things as possible until I go back."
Daichi studied Suga, who had gone back to fiddling with the phone. He couldn't meddle too much in his life right? There was no reason why he should not get along with Asahi. And Daichi could bully Asahi into sworn secrecy.
"Let me text someone," Daichi relented. Suga's smile was blinding, so Daichi chose not to look at it too long.
***
"You did what?!" Asahi hissed at Daichi the next day when Daichi pulled him aside in the cafe that Asahi said he would meet them at.
"Shh," Daichi snaps back. "I had a terrible morning! It was an accident."
"And he is really fae?"
"No, Asahi, I just have a random person following me around who can make laptops and phones magically work. Of course he's fae."
Asahi studied Daichi. "I can see you have had a long few days. Let's go sit down." Daichi huffed but followed Asahi to where Suga sat waiting for them, at a table closest to the counter so he could look over the bar to see what the workers were doing.
"Do you want tea or anything?" Daichi asked Suga.
Suga shrugged. "I just want one of the pastries, please."
Daichi sighed but nodded, placing an order for his usual coffee, Asahi's coconut refresher, and asked for whatever the cashier's favorite pastry was. Suga looked very happy with the chocolate croissant he received.
"Hi Suga, I'm Asahi," Asahi introduced himself.
Suga cocked his head. "You both gave me your first names! No fair."
"Shouldn't we be the ones saying no fair?" Daichi asked with a chuckle. "Can't you curse us easier that way?"
Daichi glanced over at Asahi, smirked when he saw the unease lurking under his mostly-calm facade.
"I mean, I guess," Suga sulked. And then he brightened. "It also means that I can make you protections easier too!"
Daichi rolled his eyes. "I think we'll be fine. Do you want to tell Asahi about our day?"
Suga launched into the story of their very long, very meandering day. Daichi was exhausted. Of walking, of people, of talking. He had been captain of his high school volleyball team, but that had been years ago at this point, and he wasn't used to so much interaction. Maybe he had become a shut-in. Maybe he should go out with friends more.
"You aren't tired yet?" Asahi asked Suga skeptically, bringing Daichi back to the conversation.
Suga shook his head. "No, I feel like I could keep going all night!"
"Oh." Asahi sat silent for a few seconds. "Most of the fae I've met get tired being in such a busy city after a few hours."
"My affinity is technology," Suga said dismissively. "I love it. Tokyo is amazing."
Daichi shrugged at Asahi's baffled look. "I told you he fixed my laptop."
Suga hummed, eating the rest of his croissant. "Anyway, I think Daichi's ready to get back, so we should go."
Daichi looked at him in surprise. Suga shrugged one shoulder. The way this lighting caught on Suga's hair made it shimmer whenever he moved, and Daichi got lost in it until Asahi cleared his throat. "Maybe I'll stop by next week? Daichi has classes every day, but I have Wednesdays off of work. Maybe we can hang out?"
Daich stared at Asahi, who shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. Asahi was the epitome of safety and comfort zone. Hanging out with this random faery definitely wasn't in his comfort zone.
Suga's eyes lit up. "Yes! That sounds wonderful...Actually, I fixed Daichi's old phone. Can I message you?"
Daichi didn't really know if he wanted that to happen, but Asahi said yes and gave Suga his contact information. He let Suga go ahead of he and Asahi. "What are you doing?" Daichi hissed. "He's fae! He could be dangerous."
"I don't know," Asahi said. "He seems nice. Earnest. And you seem taken by him, so I figured he couldn't be that bad."
Daichi could feel the blush coming. Asahi grinned. "Shut up. I'm going. See you on Wednesday, I guess, if I survive that long."
"I mean, he wants to make you protection charms."
"Shut up!" Daichi said, waving goodbye as Asahi went the other way.
"He was nice," Suga said. "You have nice friends Daichi. You're nice. I knew I picked the right human as soon as I saw you accept that apology from the woman who spilled coffee all over your shoes."
Daichi bit his lip. That had been the end of his patience rope. If Suga had been anyone else, he would have freaked out. He decided to keep that to himself and instead watched Suga peering anxiously down the track for the train.
"What does it mean, to have an affinity to technology? I mean, that's kind of a human thing, as far as I know," Daichi asked when they had settled into seats on the train.
Suga pursed his lips in thought. It was...too adorable. Daichi looked away quickly before his thoughts spiraled out of control. "Not really. I mean, yeah humans advance it, but it's all science, just like nature or air or water. I can understand technology, how it speaks and moves and flows, like a dryad can nurture trees or naiads can flow through water. We still have to rely on humans to create things."
Daichi risked a glance over to see Suga's mouth had settled into a frown. "When we get back, lets get that phone set up for you. We can make sure you get set up with WiFi."
Suga smiled, his previous melancholy melting away. "Yeah! Sounds great Daichi!"
Later, as Daichi is about to close the door to his room, Suga said, "Thanks. For this. It really means a lot."
"Oh," Daichi said. For the life of him he could not come up with any words. "No...No worries. I mean, you fixed my laptop, so..."
Suga laughed softly. Daichi held his breath, but all Suga said was, "I guess I did. Goodnight, Daichi."
"Goodnight Suga."
***
The next few days passed in a blur. Suga roamed the apartment studying appliance after appliance, content for the moment, but Daichi could tell he was getting restless. By the time Wednesday rolled around, Suga was practically climbing the walls in order to get out. "Asahi!" he cheered when he spotted Asahi in the entryway.
Daichi rolled his eyes. "Please do not let him back in until he has burned off all that energy."
Suga huffed. "C'mon. Daichi said he thought you might show me your place! I want to compare it to his, so we have to go there now. Oh, and he also said you work as a chef...does that mean you can show me the kitchen?! If not, you can just cook me something, I don't mind. Actually, maybe that's better..."
Daichi chuckled as he watched Suga drag Asahi down the sidewalk. It was heartwarming to see his friend so taken with Suga.
Which was a ridiculous thought. He himself had only known Suga for a week (six days to be exact). It wasn't like they were even friends, much less anything else...
Stop it Daichi, he scolded himself, trying to blink the thought of kissing Suga out of his mind. Perv.
He made his way to his classes. He had resigned himself to the fact that he might just have to binge-study as much as he could before each final and pray that his professors focused on the earlier stuff in the course.
At lunch, Daichi checked his phone to make sure there were no SOS messages, but so far everything seemed fine. Suga had sent him a picture of crepes with a flurry of emojis. How Suga could be so emoji-literate, Daichi had no idea. Apparently he had gotten both a tour of the kitchen Asahi worked at and food from Asahi. He chuckled, imagining Suga cajoling Asahi into doing exactly what he wanted.
When he got home, Suga was still out. Come meet us for dinner! a message chimed out of his phone. Daichi sighed, but when Suga sent the restaurant name and time, he found himself already getting ready.
When Daichi got to the restaurant he glanced around to locate Asahi and Suga. His heart tightened when he saw Suga laughing at something Asahi was saying, leaning over the table slightly, his eyes crinkled in that adorable way they had when he smiled too big.
When had Daichi started categorizing Suga's facial features?
He blinked the thought away and made his way toward the table. "Daichi!" Suga cheered, patting the bench next to him. Daichi slid in. "Asahi, is the best cook! You never told me!"
"Why would I tell you?" Daichi asked, reaching for a menu. "It literally has never come up. But yeah, Asahi is a pretty amazing cook. He's been making food since he could hold a knife."
Asahi's face went red. He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Really, guys, I'm not that good..."
Daichi rolled his eyes. "He's also a scaredy-cat who never takes compliments."
"Aw, don't be so negative, Asahi!"
Daichi grinned as Asahi just got more embarrassed. "Anyway, I want to hear about your day."
Suga immediately recapped his whole day, which sounded long and tiring. Daichi glanced at Asahi when Suga had finished, who gave him a weary smile. "I couldn't really say no. He's kind of intimidating."
Their food arrived. The table became quieter as they enjoyed their meal. "Asahi said he had to work this weekend," Suga said unexpectedly. Daichi looked over, noticed Suga's serious expression. "I was wondering...Do you want to meet one of my friends? He hangs out at a park not too far from here on Saturdays."
Daichi blinked. Meet more fae? Was that really something he wanted? He though he had just wanted Suga to hang out with him with minimal interaction for three weeks and then be done with him, but this last week had been one of the most lively weeks he had experienced since college. Daichi had been so focused on being responsible, when had he lost sight of being fun? Happy?
"Sure," Daichi finally said. Suga nodded, took a few deep breaths, but didn't say anything more. Daichi wondered how much harder it might be for Suga to introduce Daichi to his world. Humans still didn't really interact in the fae realm. The fae just seemed to flow into the human world, causing mischief and miracles before leaving just as quickly. Suga seemed to fit here, and maybe that made him anxious.
***
Saturday came quickly. "Just...Don't be offended by anything he says," Suga told Daichi as they make their way to a secluded grove of trees. "He...He likes people alright, but he doesn't really have much experience with them."
Daichi was really starting to have reservations about agreeing to this. "Listen, it's not a big deal if..."
"No! We need to make him be social. Besides," Suga turns to Daichi, mischief in his eyes, "he likes someone. A human someone. So we just need to give him enough courage to talk to him."
Daichi rolled his eyes. "Suga, we are not playing matchmaker..."
"Look, he's my best friend and I know him better than he knows himself."
"You're such a liar, Ko-chan! I know myself perfectly."
Daichi turned his focus to his right side, where a tall, willowy shadow had appeared. Daichi would never have mistaken this creature for a human. He was too...perfect. His face was eerily symmetrical. His wide, wide brown eyes were framed by long dark lashes, his russet brown hair the color of the leftover dark fall leaves around them. His grace was uncanny.
"Oikawa! This is Daichi. Daichi, this is my best friend Oikawa."
Oikawa gave Daichi a once-over. "He's looks boring. He's probably...reliable or something."
Suga rolled his eyes. Daichi's mouth tightened, because he couldn't really refute the claim Oikawa had made. "Oikawa, come on, you told me you would behave."
Oikawa sniffed. "I am behaving. You're the one who wanted me to meet him. Just come back home already, I'm bored."
Suga frowned. "We're not talking about that. Besides, I'm happy here! Daichi is taking me to so many places, showing me so many new things! Today we went grocery shopping and Daichi always meal preps for next week..."
Suga rambled on about their mundane existence. Daichi really was boring, he thought hopelessly. But Oikawa looked mildly intrigued, especially when Suga mentioned the flower shop they had dropped into before this. "I know you watch that worker. The male one with big arms."
Oikawa's cheeks turned red. "Be quiet, Ko-chan! We aren't talking about that."
Suga shrugged, the mischievous glint back in his eyes. "I'm just saying, you never know what he's going to say. If you tell him you know a thing or two about flowers, he may give you the time of day."
Oikawa wrinkled his nose. "I don't need to talk to any humans. I don't want to."
Suga nodded pleasantly. Oikawa turned back to Daichi. "Anyway, lovely to meet you, Reliable-kun. I really must be going. Suga, think about home, if you wouldn't mind."
Suga's expression fell. "I'll see you later."
Oikawa nodded and stalked back into the trees.
"That was...fun?" Daichi said as they walked back into the main park.
Suga sighed. "Fae are...difficult to reason with. They don't like change. Oikawa is more open to it than most. He hangs out in a public park, for goodness sake! But even he gets scared of what it means to open up to a human."
"And that is?" Daichi asked.
Suga bit his lip. "It means...being human yourself. Subjecting yourself to everything humans find themselves going through. Pain, regret, aging, death. That's hard for fae who are used to living thousands of years, who can just snap their fingers and dissolve their problems. I mean, we don't lose our powers, our affinities, but our immortality..."
Daichi hummed an acknowledgement. The rest of their walk back was silent, both lost in their own thoughts.
"I'd give it away," Suga said. Daichi turned to him, surprised. "I would live here, even if it meant losing my immortality. Humans are wonderful!"
Daichi chuckled as he watched Suga spin in a circle in front of him. "Fae are pretty great too."
Suga's brown eyes widened. They stood face-to-face, the sun setting behind Suga, making his hair glow like silver fire. Daichi cleared his throat. "Should we get something from a vending machine on the way home?"
"I love the vending machine!" Suga crowed, the spell broken, skipping the next few steps.
***
Suga became more restless as the next week moved on. Daichi thought about giving him permission to roam around outside of the apartment, but Suga still had the habit of wandering after everything that made him curious, and Daichi didn't want to have to explain anything to his neighbors or the landlord.
"Look, I'm sorry I'm boring, but I have finals coming up and I can't miss class," Daichi explained on Thursday of the next week. "And Asahi had to cover someone's shift yesterday. We'll do something on Saturday, promise. But now, you have to just stay put."
"I feel so useless!" Suga wailed. "At least let me cook dinner?"
Daichi sighed. "Do you even know how to cook?"
"I can ask Asahi for an easy recipe! It's not like we have a lot here anyway." Suga eyed the contents of the fridge doubtfully.
"Whatever. Just don't burn anything down and don't leave. Got it?"
Suga nodded, expression still slightly petulant. Daichi smiled.
Since Suga had become a fixture in his apartment now, Daichi was back on his focusing game. He breezed through the day, hesitantly confident that he was definitely getting at least B's in all his classes.
He smelled the burning before he even reached the door. Dread pooled in his stomach as he opened the door. The smell poured into the hallway. Daichi coughed, blinked back tears from the slightly smoky air.
Suga sat on the floor in front of the oven, the most tragic look on his face. Daichi sighed, pushing down his anger.
"What happened?"
"It burned."
Suga glanced over at Daichi and ducked his head as if Daichi had already started scolding him. "Sorry."
Daichi sat down next to Suga. "You know, I once blew up potatoes in the microwave. No joke, they just instantly caught on fire. I think I left them in too long."
Suga gave him a watery smile. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better. It's just...fae. They don't...create, like humans do. It doesn't work for us, something always goes wrong. But I thought maybe I could cook something for you. Pay back for everything you've done for me, but I guess not."
Daichi pressed his lips together. "You know, my phone does this weird thing where it lags whenever I open messaging apps. Maybe you can take a look at it."
Daichi held up his phone. Still sniffling, Suga took the phone and ran his hand across the screen a few times. His eyebrows scrunched up, and Daichi's heart thudded hard in his chest at the expression of sheer concentration.
Finally Suga's expression fell back into his normal, easy one. He handed the phone back. "See if that works better."
Daichi turned on the screen and flipped through various apps. They all opened without a hitch. In fact, they seemed to respond faster than before. "Wow, thanks Suga."
Suga gave a small laugh. "I guess I'll just stick to the things I know then."
Daichi swallowed. "Maybe...I can help you. Sometime. If you still want to try cooking."
Suga nodded eagerly. "Thanks Daichi! But now I made your apartment smell terrible and we don't have any food."
"I guess we'll just order takeout," Daichi said. "As for the smell, I think we'll just have to live with it."
"I'll light some candles," Suga said, standing from the floor. Daichi watched Suga rummage around for a lighter. He found himself smiling at the domesticity of it all. Maybe meeting Suga hadn't been all bad.
***
"Since it's our last weekend together, I though we could do something you might enjoy," Daichi said when Suga asked him where they were going for at least the tenth time. "But if you don't shut up, we're going back."
Suga buried his face in his scarf and shut up, although Daichi could tell it was hard for him.
They reached the arcade about ten minutes later. Suga stared at him with wide eyes. "We haven't played games together! C'mon, c'mon!"
Daichi laughed. "Hold on a minute, we need to pay." Daichi paid at the counter, Suga tapping his foot impatiently. Once they had taken care of payment and received their card Suga took off.
Of course he had a knack for playing. “I’m not even using my affinity,” Suga protested when Daichi accused him of cheating after Suga had won his fifth straight game. “These are all reflexes.”
After they had spent an obscene amount of money (now Daichi would have to beg his parents for food money during the break because of Suga), they went back to the park where they had met Oikawa the previous weekend, since it was close and Suga seemed to like it. “I wonder if he’s talked to his worker yet?”
Daichi rolled his eyes. “You are such a meddler.”
“I just want the best for my friends!” Suga plopped down on a bench, patting the seat next to him for Daichi. Daichi sat down and said nothing about the fact that Suga scooted closer to him so their arms touched. “This...This has been really fun. Thanks Daichi.”
Daichi swallowed. “Yeah. Even though I should be studying.”
“Ack, Daichi, you’re already smart! And you said we could go study tomorrow. Don’t bring our mood down with talk of school and responsibility.” Suga made a face. Daichi hid a smile and a laugh behind a cough. Suga turned to him, the sun soft through the trees around them.
Something caught Daichi’s attention. “Hey, isn’t that Oikawa?”
Suga turned around and sure enough, Oikawa was looking hesitantly both ways across the street before he darted across, straight to the flower show.
“Yes!” Suga whisper-yelled. “Come on, let’s go see...”
Daichi grabbed Suga’s sleeve. “Absolutely not. Leave him alone. You can ask him anything you want after.”
“But Daichi...”
“No buts. Remember, we are not meddling.” Suga sighed but followed Daichi back to the train station.
“Today was a good day,” Suga murmured sleepily into Daichi’s shoulder after they had eaten dinner and sat down to watch a movie. “Can we have more days like this?”
They had less than a week left, Daichi realized. He wondered what would happen when their contract was up. Would they still talk? Would Suga disappear back to his home? Would he disappear into the busyness that was Tokyo, forget about Daichi entirely?
The though made Daichi sadder than he thought it ever would. So instead of dwelling on that he let himself hope, just a little. “Yeah. We can have as many more days like this as you want.”
Suga smiled, curled up deeper into Daichi’s side. They fell asleep like that, the TV a soft hum in the background. How perfectly domestic, Daichi thought as he drifted off.
***
Somehow, he made it through finals without feeling like a failure. Suga became his number one cheerleader. “Make sure you eat!” “Did you grab your flash cards? I know you were struggling with those econ vocabulary words!” “You’re doing this for your future!”
Daichi didn’t know how he ever survived before Suga. Actually, he just didn’t have a life outside of studying before Suga, so passing was a given. How could you fail if all you did was work?
All his finals were done by Wednesday, so Suga insisted they celebrate. “I already invited Asahi, so you can’t say no.”
“Why are you inviting people over to my apartment? Maybe I just want to sleep for five years.”
Suga wrinkled his nose. “You can’t do that. Don’t be boring. Do you want me to invite Oikawa too? He'll liven you up.”
“Not really,” Daichi sighed, just imagining what that faery would say about his apartment. Suga grinned, knowing he’d won the argument for now.
“Besides, it’s our last day together,” Suga continued, his voice more somber than usual. Daichi bit his lip, busying himself with organizing the things in his backpack. Now that the semester was over, he should get it ready for his next classes. “I...I wanted to thank you. For everything. Because this was really fun.”
“Yeah. I mean, you fixed my laptop, it was the least I could do.” Daichi knew he should say more, knew he should extend some sort of offer for when Daichi came back, but it was too much coming off the heels of finals. So instead he brought the subject back to the topic before. "I guess if Asahi really wants to come over he can. But I need to get ready before, so give me at least an hour. Actually, if you wanted to talk him into making us dinner, I would not be opposed." Suga grinned, but it looked a little forced. Daichi turned away and escaped into the bathroom.
He thought about Suga all through the night, watched the way he interacted with Asahi, the way he looked so comfortable bustling around his kitchen, the way he got so excited at the tiniest bit of news Asahi had to share. Did Daichi really want this to end? Did he really want it to continue?
He tossed and turned through most of the night. At two he finally rolled out of bed, thinking that maybe a warm drink would help him get to bed. He would have to sleep on the train home tomorrow.
He stopped short when he saw that the TV was on, Suga sitting on the floor in the same position he had first seen him in on the day he had arrived back home from school that fateful Thursday. The TV was muted, the actors on scream screaming at each other, one in tears. Suga didn't even have the subtitles on, so Daichi didn't know if he had flipped it on for the comfort of the light and moving pictures or if Suga had already memorized it and was just rewatching.
Without saying anything, Daichi went into the kitchen to heat up some milk. He made two cups of hot chocolate, passing one to Suga when he sat next to him on the floor. They both watched the muted screen for about ten minutes.
Suga finally started talking. "I've been...different, my whole life. I've always been fascinated by humans, so I would beg my father to take me out with him whenever he left our home, just so I could watch their interactions. Humans are so...emotional. So intense. Fae aren't. They're stoic, manipulative."
"We have our fair share of manipulation," Daichi pointed out.
Suga gave a soft smile. "Every race does, I guess. Humans can be so evil, but they can also be so good. They can do so much to help each other. They want to. Fae don't. They live their lives separate. Sometimes they want to better themselves, so they do the things they need to do to get where they want to be, but that's all. I think that's why the fae interact with humans so much. Because humanity is so different. So trusting."
Daichi gave a soft hum of acknowledgement at Suga's point. "I won't go back to live in a fae community. I like humans too much. Oikawa is going to kill me."
"Oikawa seems to like adventure. I'm sure you could persuade him in joining you on this journey of self-discovery."
"Ugh, don't let him hear you say that, he would just say you were such a human.”
“I thought I was being progressive!” Daichi said, grinning when Suga relaxed and smiled. The two of them sat watching the two actors on screen making up. When the episode was finally done Daichi scooped up the two mugs.
“I really should get to bed. I have a long day tomorrow.” Suga nodded, nudging him with a small smile.
“Thanks for keeping me company.”
Daichi took the mugs to the kitchen. He rinsed them out, then washed them, and put them away. He peeked into the front room when he was done.
Suga had turned off the TV and was curled up in his blankets, his long dark lashes shadows against his cheeks. Daichi smiled and turned back to his room.
***
The two of them stood facing each other outside of the train station the next morning. Suga had his hands deep in his pockets, and he raised himself up on his toes a few times as if trying to get himself warm. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."
Daichi took a deep breath. After last night, he knew he didn't want Suga to leave his life forever. "I'm back in two weeks. I'm just visiting my family. Maybe...Maybe I can see you when I get back? And...My lease isn't up until the summer, but a bigger apartment sounds nice. I don't know if you have a place to stay, but my couch is always open."
Suga's eyes opened wide in shock. Daichi grinned, and Suga's smile back was blinding. "Of course! I would love to come visit you! And, maybe I'll stay over on the weekends, but Asahi said he had an extra room and a futon..."
"Wait. You are going to stay with Asahi and you didn't think to tell me? He's my best friend!"
Suga at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "Asahi's so nice! He would never tell me no in my time of need!"
Daichi sighed and rolled his eyes. Suga chuckled and took his hands out of his pockets. It was the only cue Daichi needed to wrap him in a hug. "I'm glad I chose you," Suga whispered in his ear. Daichi pulled back to look into Suga's face. Suga's eyes were sparkling with amusement. "Now, are you finally going to kiss me?"
Daichi's heart hammered as he lowered his lips to Suga's. Suga's lips were warm and soft, as perfect as they looked. When Daichi pulled away Suga let out a laugh of happiness.
"What do you mean finally?" Daichi asked.
"I totally thought you were going to last night! Now, go before you miss the train, I can feel it coming. I'll see you in two weeks, yeah?"
"Yeah," Daichi said, gathering his things. He jogged over to the train and looked back to see Suga, who held out his hand in a wave. Daichi waved back as the doors closed. At least he had something to look forward to coming back to.