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Daichi took a deep breath as he walked towards the entrance of the amusement park, inhaling the sharp scent of metal, sticky summer heat, and sun block. The sound of distant conversations and laughter filled his ears and all around he could see families and well-dressed couples. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and suddenly felt a bit self-conscious—all he had thrown on the nearest t-shirt and a pair of jeans. It’d probably be in bad taste to go back and change when he was already running a whole ten minutes late, but Daichi made a mental note to be more prepared for next time.
You know, Daichi thought with a gulp, if there is a next time.
“Oh, Daichi!”
Daichi’s head snapped up to see Suga waving at him from under the shade of a tree and he was relieved to see that Suga was dressed rather plainly as well. As Daichi walked towards him, Suga straightened up and sent Daichi one of those signature smiles that never failed to make Daichi’s heart skip a beat.
Yup, Suga was still cute.
“S-sorry, I’m late,” Daichi stammered, slapping himself for being so uncharacteristically flustered.
Suga laughed. “It’s fine! I just got here myself,” he said, pushing a lock of hair out of his face. “Shall we go then?”
“Ye-ure,” Daichi stammered. When he caught his mistake he felt his face flush and he immediately wanted to hit himself. “S-seah,” he stammered. His hand immediately flew to his face and he shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, sure,’ he said slowly, feeling embarrassment flood over him.
“Alright,” Suga said, chuckling in a way that Daichi was positive was too melodious to be legal. “Lead the way, captain.”
Daichi’s nerves ate at him in a way he hadn’t felt since the first time he had played his first official volleyball game as they walked, suddenly hyper aware of Suga striding next to him, their hands only a few inches apart. And, really, why wouldn’t he be nervous? After all, Daichi had finally managed to ask Sugawara Koushi out on a date. For real. As in, not one of those bro things they did as friends or an outing where Asahi just sort of tagged along.
“It’s been a long time since its been just the two of us, huh?” Suga said, practically reading Daichi’s mind. “It’s always been a lot of team get-togethers and stuff.”
“Is that so?” Daichi said conversationally even though he knew very well that it was so.
Suga hummed. “To be honest, I actually really missed hanging out with just you,” he said so quietly that Daichi almost doesn’t hear him. He watched the tips of Suga’s ears turn pink as the other boy looks up to him, blushing as he waved his hands. “N-not that I don’t like hanging out with Asahi or the rest of the team or anything,” he quickly corrected himself. “I-I just, you know…”
Daichi’s chest felt warm and all of his worries began to melt away. He even almost forgot that his hands were clammy as he reached out to grab Suga’s hand, letting their fingers intertwine.
“I missed being with you, too,” Daichi said, reveling in the small smile Suga gave him as Daichi squeezed his hand gently, “but hey—today’s our day, just the two of us. No team or interruptions, just—“
“Oh, hey—is that the captain and Sugawara-san?” Hinata’s voice rang through the clearing.
Daichi and Suga’s hands immediately let go of each other and moved behind their backs as they began to blush. They cast each other a sideways glance before turning to see a head of orange hair approaching them accompanied by…
Daichi felt an impending feeling of horror in his gut as he watched six heads following Hinata, all dreadfully familiar and probably oblivious. Kageyama walked behind Hinata, looking around with an awed expression, and Nishinoya and Tanaka are marching along enthusiastically towards them. Yamaguchi followed close behind with an apologetic expression with Tsukishima, who looked rather grouchy as if he had just been woken unceremoniously and dragged out of bed just fifteen minutes ago (which was exactly what happened). In the back, where he thought Daichi couldn’t see him despite his huge size, Asahi walked behind them with his head lowered and a hand shielding his face guiltily.
Daichi automatically knew who to blame for this.
He turned to Suga, who’s eyebrows are knit together in mixed confusion and concern. He watches the silver-haired boy force his lips into a smile as he waves at the team.
“Y’know,” Daichi began, leaning close enough for Suga to hear his whispers, “we could just go in right now and lose them.”
“I-I don’t know, Daichi,” Suga stammered. “I feel kind of bad… I mean, maybe we could just hang out with them for today?”
Daichi frowned, giving Suga an incredulous look. “We see them every day,” he pointed out.
“Well, yeah, but is this really how we want them to know about… us?“ Suga replied, scratching the back of his head. “Besides—“ He froze as Hinata suddenly hopped in front of them. He gave the short middle blocker a mix between a grimace and a smile. “H-hello, Hinata.”
“Sugawara-san, why didn’t you tell us that you were going to the amusement park?” Hinata asked. “I love amusement parks!”
“Yeah, Daichi-san, did you think you guys could steal all the fun without us?”
Daichi jumped as Nishinoya gave him a hard slap on the back and a toothy grin. Tanaka walked up to them, rubbing his chin in an imitation of deep thought. “Hm, you made a good choice Daichi-san,” Tanaka observed with a firm nod. “Fun rides, cute girls—nice, nice.”
“Say, Daichi-san,” Nishinoya said before Daichi could tell them to get lost, “Did you know Kageyama’s never been to an amusement park before?” Nishinoya snickered as Kageyama turned beat red. “I swear this guy’s only got volleyball on the brain.”
“Woah, Kageyama—does that mean you’ve never been on a rollercoaster before?” Hinata asked, his eyes wide.
“S-so what?’ Kageyama stammered. “I’m going today anyway, why does it matter?”
“We’ll have to be careful then, won’t we, Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima said, smirking in spite of his general grouchiness. “Don’t want the King’s royal vomit to get on us or anything.”’
“Nice one, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi snickered, despite it not being Tsukishima’s best. Kageyama only turned even more red than he already was.
“Alright, that’s enough, you two,” Daichi found himself saying before he could stop himself.
Tsukishima just scoffed, looking to the side while Yamaguchi just looked down at his feet in a way that makes Daichi wonder if the freckled first year knew what was going on here, which only made himself all the more peeved.
“Look guys,” Daichi began, using his captain tone of voice. He took a deep breath as he looked over his team, suddenly realizing that all of them had the biggest eyes he had ever seen on a group of teenage boys. Hinata was literally sparkling, Kageyama looked like an excited five-year-old, and—were Tanaka and Nishinoya making puppy eyes at him?
No, Daichi, he told himself, shaking his head. Today is your date with Suga for real. Don’t let them sway you!
Daichi peaked at his boyfriend from the corner of his eye and his jaw almost dropped when he saw Suga looking absolutely guilty as he looked at the rest of the team. There was a pitying look in the third-year setter’s eyes that only intensified when he looked back at Daichi with a small grimace.
God dammit.
Daichi finally sighed, scratching the back of his head. “Alright,” he said, looking away as the group began to light up, “if we don’t get our tickets now, the line’s going to get long.” Tanaka and Nishinoya cheered, high-fiving each other before running off to the ticket booths. Hinata and Kageyama ran quickly behind them, almost knocking over a small child in the process. “Hey, no running!” Daichi yelled at them as Yamaguchi and Tsukishima passed him.
Daichi sighed, running a hand through his hair. “At this rate, my hair’s going to get as grey as yours,” he said to Suga, who pouted with his hands on his hips.
“C’mon, Captain—live a little,” Suga teased. Suddenly, Daichi felt a pair of hands on his shoulder and a pair of lips brush his cheek. Daichi’s hand flew to his cheek as he looked at Suga, who’s own cheeks were dusted pink. “Thank you, Daichi,” he said. Suga put a finger in front of his lips and winked at him, which only made Daichi’s heart flutter. “Next time it’ll be just us for real, okay?”
Daichi nodded dumbly and Suga laughed before jogging after the rest of the team. Daichi watched him in a daze until he saw a large figure move out of the corner of his eye, hoping to get away before the captain noticed.
Daichi’s hand flew to Asahi’s shoulder and Karasuno’s ace found himself squeaking in shock, a chill running down his spine as the hand tightened its grip. Asahi turned his head slowly to see Daichi giving him a look that could kill.
“Asahi, why don’t we have a little chat?”
The amusement park was louder than life. Rollercoasters and rides roared with the delighted screams of the park goers. Fountains of water drummed throughout the park and children shrieked with excitement. The sun beat down on them, but a slight breeze kept them comfortably cool. The park’s atmosphere was so contagious that even Tsukishima and Yamaguchi found themselves looking at the park map with the rest of the team.
However, in the back of the group, with his arms crossed and a dark aura around him that managed to scare the people passing him, Daichi had decided that he was never telling Asahi anything ever again.
Asahi obviously hadn’t done it on purpose, mind you, but regardless, he had let it slip to Nishinoya that they couldn’t hold a team outing on Saturday because Daichi and Suga were at the amusement park. Of course, Nishinoya would never be able to keep his mouth shut, so the news spread to the rest of the team within seconds and the team got their Karasuno team outing. Ennoshita, Narita, and Kinoshita had opted out of this disaster field trip, bless their kind hearts. Apparently, Tsukishima would have as well if Hinata, Tanaka, and Nishinoya didn’t call him a total of twenty-six times as well as proceed to physically pull him out of his bed (Tsukishima Akiteru was guilty of letting them in). Yachi couldn’t make it because the poor first year had gotten sick the night before and Shimizu had elected not to go since Yachi wouldn’t be there.
Daichi uncrossed his arms as he watched a head of silver hair step back from the group and slide next to him.
“Careful, Daichi,” he said in a low voice, “you don’t want to scare every small child in the park now, do you?”
Daichi quirked his eyebrow at Suga before turning to see a curious, bit obviously frightened child staring at him. The child shrieked when he saw Daichi looking at him and ran off to his parents.
Daichi sighed, running a hand through his dark hair and letting it rest at his neck. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “I just… kind of wanted it to be only the two of us,” he admitted, frowning a bit. “I wanted to make today special.”
“Aw, I’m sorry, Daichi,” Suga said, pressing his arm against Daichi’s. Suga’s hand slid into Daichi’s and he let their fingers lace together. The feeling made Daichi feel so elated that he could feel himself smiling a bit again.
“We can still make today special,” Suga said.
“What if they see us?”
“Well, we’ll just have to be careful then,” Suga replied with a shrug. “Besides, I doubt they’re going to even pay attention to us.”
Daichi hummed thoughtfully and Suga chuckled, nudging Daichi’s side gently with his elbow.
“C’mon, Daichi,” he said, “after this we can get some ramen, just the two of us—it’ll be my treat.”
“That does sound nice,” Daichi nodded.
“That’s my captain,” Suga said smiling. He pulled down on Daichi’s arm a bit and got on his toes. Suga’s lips began to drift closer to his cheek and Daichi began to feel oddly lucky. Two kisses in the span of fifteen minutes? Nice.
However, just as Suga’s lips were just millimeters away from Daichi, Hinata whirled around to face them. The couple sprang apart, blushing bright red as Hinata jogged up to Suga with the park map.
“Hey, Sugawara-san?” Hinata asked, unfazed by what he might have almost seen. “What do you think of rollercoasters?”
Suga bent down a bit to look at the map and Daichi began to relax.
Suga was right—today could still be their day. Daichi had been looking forward to this for weeks and he was going to get his date.
It was as much of a mystery to Daichi as it was to the next person why the amusement park had a haunted house. It was a manually operated attraction, after all, and it was the middle of a summer day. Maybe it was just a couple trap, considering you had to enter in pairs.
Daichi had been to this park a few times before and he never really thought much of the haunted house. However, after Nishinoya and Tanaka suggested it, the first thought that comes to Daichi’s mind is that it was perfect.
After all, this was his chance to be alone with Suga, leading each other through the dark, holding hands. It was cliché and terrible, Daichi knew it, but it could also work.
“We have an odd number, though,” Yamaguchi pointed out. “Someone’s going to have to stay out.”
“I-I’ll stay out,” Asahi quickly volunteered, scratching his chin sheepishly. “I can’t really handle scary stuff.”
Nishinoya pouted in disappointment. “Even off the volleyball court, you still have a glass heart, Asahi-san,” he observed. “Fine, I’ll go with Ryuu then.”
“Okay,” Yamaguchi said. “So we can go with me and Tsukki first, then Kageyama and Hinata. The captain and Sugawara-san can follow them in and Nishinoya-san and Tanaka-san can go in last.”
Daichi felt himself fill with excitement that almost rivaled Hinata’s as he watched Yamaguchi and Tsukishima enter the haunted house. This was it—the first step in a great date.
“Wait,” Suga said hesitantly. “Maybe Daichi and I should sit this one out, too.”
“Really?” Nishinoya asked, raising an eyebrow. They move up in line as Kageyama and Hinata enter the haunted house. “Suga-san, can you not handle scary stuff either?”
“Oh no, I can handle scary stuff just fine,” Suga said calmly, “but Daichi—”
“Suga, c’mon,” Daichi said a bit too quickly. “It’s our turn.”
Suga shot Daichi a puzzled look, but entered with him regardless. Daichi stepped in, his hand hovering close to Suga’s, ready to grab it. It isn’t until the door of the haunted house slams closed and they are enveloped in utter darkness and cold that Daichi realizes he has made a grave mistake.
“I may not be afraid of the dark,” Suga continued, “but Daichi, aren’t you still bad with horror?”
“I may have… gotten too excited to remember,” Daichi admitted, thankful that it was at least dark enough for Suga not to notice his blush. Daichi almost screamed as something brushed his hand, only to relax as a set of fingers intertwined with his own in a way that was so familiarly Suga to him. “Th-that is your hand, right?”
Suga chuckled and Daichi felt himself being pulled forward. “Yeah,” Suga answered. “Don’t worry, Daichi, I’ll lead the way out.”
Daichi sighed in relief, following the directions Suga pulled him in, trying to ignore the creepy props that littered the walls and floor and bypassing the actors with masks so scary that Daichi would have punched instinctively had he not been busy holding Suga’s hand.
Daichi also found that it helped to stare at Suga’s back. He was barely visible in the dim lighting of the house, but Daichi could still make out Suga’s slender shoulders and soft silver locks that he always wanted to run his hands through. He found his eyes locked on the skin on the back of Suga’s neck and his mind began to wander to thoughts of pressing his lips to it in the dark.
Daichi shook his head, feeling his face heat up. This wasn’t the place for that, Daichi had concluded, but as they walked, he began to wonder if maybe their time in the dark was the *only* time they would have by themselves today.
Daichi stopped in his steps. “Suga?” he began.
Suga turned around, his head tilted slightly. “Yeah?”
Daichi took a step forward and let go of Suga only to cup the boy’s face in his hands. Suga’s eyes seemed to glow in the dark as the gazed at him. His lips were slightly parted and, now that they were this close, he could even see a shade of pink dusting Suga’s cheeks. Daichi brought himself closer, closing his eyes. Their noses were just an inch apart, he could feel Suga’s breath on his skin, and his heart began to hammer in his chest.
Then, he felt an ice cold breeze against his cheek and neck and a low and horrible moan fill the room.
Daichi screamed.
Daichi sat on a bench, his head in his hands and Suga rubbing soothing circles into his back, which would have been nice if Tsukishima, Nishinoya, and Tanaka weren’t laughing their asses off two feet away from him.
“Oh my god, Daichi-san, you were so loud I could hear you from all the way outside,” Nishinoya howled. Asahi looked rather frightened as he waved his hands, trying to get Nishinoya to calm down.
“Yeah, why didn’t you tell us you were scared of the dark?” Tanaka said, clutching his stomach as he fell into fits of laughter.
Daichi’s eyebrows knit together and he sent them a glare that immediately struck fear into Nishinoya and Tanaka’s eyes and at least stopped Tsukishima from his snickering.
It’s fine, he told himself. It was only the beginning of the day and the haunted house was a… minor setback. He had more chances.
“Why don’t we get something to eat?’” Suga asked the group. “You know, to calm down?”
“Oh, how about ice cream?” Hinata chirped.
Daichi’s head shot up. Ice cream? Yeah, that could be potentially cheesy and romantic, right?
“Alright,” Daichi finally said. “Let’s go get ice cream.”
Tanaka and Nishinoya roared as the team charged for the nearest ice cream stand. Daichi followed them, yelling at Nishinoya for cutting and Tanaka for staring down a middle school boy. The line was rather long considering everyone was desperate for something cool in the scorching heat.
“Woah, that’s a large cone,” Hinata observed, licking his lips as someone walked by with a swirl of vanilla ice cream half as tall as their head.
“It’s probably best if we share,” Daichi said, hoping he wasn’t sounding too enthusiastic as he paid for his ice cream. Sure enough, Daichi received a rather large vanilla ice cream cone that he probably could finish if he wanted to, but he wasn’t really up for trying right now.
He looked over at Suga, who was standing a ways off to the side, away from the line. It was the perfect cheesy set up, if Daichi did say so himself.
“Hey, Suga, do you want to share—“
“Oh, Daichi-san! Let me try some of that!”
Daichi looked back to see Nishinoya taking the top off of Daichi’s ice cream with a sample spoon.
“Oh, me too!”
“Thanks, captain!”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, I’m getting seconds!”
“Hey!” Daichi finally said, moving his hand back. When he looked down, he was down to the cone in ice cream and Tanaka, Nishinoya, Hinata, Kageyama, and even Yamaguchi were licking the ice cream off of their spoons and lips.
Suga chuckled, looking down at Daichi’s puddle of ice cream. “It’s alright, Daichi—I don’t really like ice cream anyway.”
Daichi frowned—another chance tumbled and fell into an endless abyss of embarrassment. Suga liked spicy food—of course he wouldn’t like ice cream. Daichi resisted the urge to smash his ice cream into his face in frustration as the rest of the team bought their own ice cream.
“Oh, but Daichi, you have a bit of ice cream on your nose,” Suga said innocently.
“Wait, what?” Daichi asked, dumbfounded. “I haven’t even—“
“Here, let me get it for you,” Suga said insistently, reaching up to grab Daichi’s face and pecking Daichi’s nose so gently and so quickly that Daichi didn’t even know it happened until Suga pulled back, a mischievous glint in his eye as he smiled. “There, all better,” he said, before skipping off to the group to remind them to thank the ice cream vendor.
Daichi found himself in a daze for the umpteenth time that day as he stared at Suga. He was also very aware of the large man standing to the side, trying (and failing) to do his best not to be seen.
“You didn’t see anything,” Daichi said to Asahi, who blanched immediately.
“See what?” he said before nervously power-walking away.
The Karasuno team (minus five) raced through the park in a blur and, before they knew it the bright sun of the morning had began to set and the scorching heat was replaced by a cool breeze that would send shivers down their spines every once in a while. The hustle and bustle of the crowd began to settle and many families had cleared out. The group eventually found themselves a bit tired and even Hinata dozed off whenever they stood still for too long.
So, for their last ride before they parted for the rest of the weekend, they decided to finish off with the ferris wheel that towered over the park, Hinata insisting that he wanted to see it from the very top. So the group had split and Daichi found himself in a passenger car with Suga, Hinata, and Kageyama, feeling rather bitter.
Don’t get him wrong—Daichi had fun today, he really did. However, the fact of the matter was that today was more of a team field trip rather than the date he envisioned and he couldn’t help but feel rather disappointed. Despite all of his attempts to at least escape with Suga for just a moment, he found his plans constantly foiled. So far, he had been nearly puked on by Hinata after they got off a roller coaster, had to break up a fight between Tanaka and Nishinoya and some other high school students when he and Suga walked off for just two minutes, and pushed into the same ‘Tunnel of Love’ cart as Nishinoya and Tsukishima (one of whom pointed things out noisily and the other making it very clear that he did not want to be there).
Although now he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Suga and Kageyama and Hinata had dozed off in front of him, Daichi couldn’t help but feel at least a little grouchy.
Suga nudged Daichi’s shoulder with his own, breaking him out of his stupor. The corner of his eyes wrinkled as he smiled and jerked his head towards Kageyama and Hinata. “I thought they’d never run out of energy,” Suga said, his voice soft and low.
Daichi sighed, feeling his spirits lift a bit at the sight of Suga’s smile. “I’m glad they did,” he said, slumping in his seat.
Suga laughed as he leaned into Daichi, they gazed out of the window next to them for a bit. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be by ourselves today,” Suga finally said.
“It’s not your fault or anything,” Daichi reassured him, sitting up straight so quickly that Suga moved back in alarm. The last thing Daichi wanted Suga to feel was like it was his fault. “I mean, we’ve never actually been on a real date before or anything, so…” Daichi trailed off.
“Really? I thought this was kind of like a real date,” Suga pointed out. Kageyama began to snore, as if to call attention back to the rest of the group and Suga laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, sure everyone else was here with us—but I had a lot of fun with you.”
“Y-yeah?” Daichi stammered, feeling his face grow warm at Suga’s honesty. He found his lips curving into a smile as Suga leaned into him again. Daichi found himself draping an arm over Suga’s shoulder, reveling in the feeling of finally having Suga in his arms. “I had fun, too,” Daichi admitted.
Suga hummed appreciatively and rested his head in the crook of Daichi’s neck like he belonged there, staring blankly out the window. Daichi leaned his head on top of Suga’s in turn and found that Suga’s hair was, in fact, very soft. Daichi’s heartbeat fell into a steady rhythm and he found himself at ease enough to almost doze off.
“Hey, Daichi,” Suga said. “We’re at the top.”
Daichi looked out the window, staring at the view overlooking the park. The late afternoon sun shining in the distance. “Yeah,” Daichi said simply. There was a moment before Suga suddenly straightened up so quickly that he knocked Daichi’s head away
“We’re at the top,” he repeated, his eyes wide. He turned to Kageyama and Hinata, who were still snoozing away as their cart began to descend. Suga got up to shake Hinata’s shoulder as the first- year just continued snoring with a dazed smile on his face. “Hey, Hinata! Didn’t you want to see the top? Heeey!”
Daichi laughed, watching as Suga’s brows creased together, his lips turned into a frown. Suga turned to Daichi, pouting as Hinata’s head fell against Suga’s chest.
“Daichi, help me out here!”
Daichi got up from his seat, a smile still on his face. “Alright, alright.”
Yeah, this was still fun.
The team had lined up in front of Daichi as if they had just finished volleyball practice. Although their faces were still mostly bright (with the exception of Tsukishima and Asahi, who just looked rather tired), he could see their eyes drooping and mouths stretching into yawns. Suga had joined the line, mostly to tease Daichi, who felt rather self-conscious as people stared at the group as they passed.
“You guys all know how to get home, right?” Daichi began. When he got a loud “yes” in response, he smiled. “Alright, good, I’ll see you guys on Monday then…” Daichi paused. “I had fun today, thanks guys.”
Tanaka and Nishinoya hooted in triumph and Hinata looked rather proud of himself. Suga chuckled to himself as the group broke up.
Daichi put his hands on his hips as Suga approached him. All in all, this day had been pretty alright, Daichi finally decided. Sure it didn’t really go as planned, but hey it was fun and as long as he saw his team happy, he was happy. Plus, his and Suga’s relationship was still kept under lock and—
“Thanks for letting us interrupt your date, Captain!” Hinata called out as he walked away with Kageyama.
“Yeah, have fun on the rest of your date, love-birds,” Nishinoya chimed in.
Daichi stared at them, his arms fell slack to his sides, Suga’s face began to turn a bright red and Daichi’s patience finally wore thin.
“Hey!” Daichi called after them, breaking into a sprint as the team ran off in opposite directions. “You guys—“
Daichi felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down to see Suga, still looking rather bashful and pink. “Uh, m-maybe we should just get that ramen I promised you?” Suga stammered.
Daichi sighed. “Yeah,” he said, massaging his forehead. “Ramen would be nice.”
When the team got to the gym on Monday morning, Daichi and Suga arrived hand in hand, neither attempting to shield the secret that was, honestly, never really a secret. Everyone was rather proud of them and Daichi had even accepted hearty congratulations from Tanaka and Nishinoya.
Daichi also made sure the seven involved in the field trip from Hell got extra laps, which was warning enough to never mess with Daichi’s personal affairs again.