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Not even 10 minutes into your baking project and you already cursed whoever thought that sugar, salt, and flour should be the same color. Sweat started to form along the sides of your head from the thoughts that were running through your mind as you went back and forth to your recipes and to the countertop on the table. No matter the labor, heat, and stress you put yourself through, you wanted this to be perfect. After all, you had this whole plan to surprise your boyfriend, Sugawara Koushi, with a delicious dessert for him to eat after his long week of training camp with the Karasuno volleyball team.
You knew you wanted to make something for him, but you wanted something a bit practical. Lucky charms would usually be a go-to gift, but you thought it held more meaning when given during tournaments or for huge matches. What you had in mind was something that reminded him that even the harshest bitter days or salty losses can easily be brightened with a little sweetness. For all the moments life put you in such a rough patch, Sugawara was there by your side, reminding you of the brighter side to things.
You decided on making a batch of fruit tarts since it seemed like the healthy choice for an athlete. It included different fruits, a creamy sweet filling and a firm brown crust; seems pretty easy and simple. Yet, as you scanned the bright screen of your phone, reading through the list of ingredients and simple instructions for the crust, you started to rethink your own choices.
You liked the simple process of the first recipe you saw; it was made for one big tart, as big as a pie, and had an assortment of berries that you thought tasted better. This recipe also claimed to only take fifteen minutes to prepare. Although, you came across another recipe that had multiple tarts instead of one big one. In your head, you saw the benefit of having multiple small tarts instead of one big one.
Suddenly, an image of a cheerful Sugawara happily munching on a small tart came into your mind. He’s praising you for the deliciousness of the fruit tart while holding another in his hand bringing it to your mouth with the intention to feed you. Blinded by your excitement, your inexperience was forgotten in the attempt to combine the two recipes. All you had to do was to follow the instructions, have the right measurements, and don’t eat the ingredients before cooking right?
What could go wrong?
Apparently, many, many things can go wrong.
In the first batch, the crusts seemed to break as soon as you tried to take it out of the pan. You suspected that you mistook one ingredient for another and mixed the wrong one in the dough, which caused the base of the crust to fall apart. Annoyance started to fill your mind as you thought of whoever had the audacity to make flour and cornstarch look the same.
For the second batch, the crusts came out darker than it should be. You grimaced as you took out this batch of burnt crusts out of the oven, fanning your mittens over the smoking heat it gave off. You cursed yourself as you admit that this disaster was caused by your negligence. Seeing as you did get a bit distracted washing the fruit to prepare for cutting.
You were on your third attempt to make the right crusts, being extra careful on the measurements and the time the pan lay inside the oven. You suspected that Sugawara would arrive at any minute, just as he sent a text to you that the team had just finished their last practice match of the day, marking the end of training camp.
In an attempt to pre-heat your oven faster, you set the temperature to 400 degrees instead of 350, what difference would it make anyway. You didn’t spend more time thinking about the consequences of your decision, as you carefully sped up the process of placing your dough into the tart pan. You put your focus on making sure that each tart would get the right amount of dough in order to maintain the consistency of the crust as it should turn golden brown on time. As you opened the door to the preheated oven, your ears suddenly heard a sharp buzz from the front gate.
You hurriedly placed the tray of uncooked dough into the oven and closed the door with a small jump. You turned the timer to 20 minutes and quickly washed your hands right after. You rushed to dry them onto your apron, not having time to take it off. You darted across your house to the front door, opening it wide to see the third year waiting right outside looking all-undeniably cute and surprisingly fresh despite having finished training.
“Hi” you broke out in a smile as you tried to calm yourself from the sprint that you had to do in the last few minutes. “Hey,” Sugawara gave you a swift peck on the cheek as he entered, “were you cooking?” he asked, taking off his shoes and placing them neatly beside yours.
You started to stammer out any excuse to buy you some time to lure his attention away from the kitchen entrance, but you slowed down as his soft brown eyes kept looking to the side of your face and a mischievous smile spread across his lips. One of his hands seemed to inch towards your cheek as he swiped his thumb across the small side of your face right at the base of your chin. He brought his thumb to his lips and gave it a soft suck, all without taking his eyes off of yours. You had to refrain yourself from giving him any sort of weak reaction to his suggestive actions, yet you couldn’t stop the rapid beating of your heart that you were sure he could feel for himself.
“Sweet like sugar, sugar.” He winked at the playful nickname and suddenly, all traces of the teasing persona he put on just a few seconds ago was gone. Bright eyes and an innocent smile deceived your heart as you shook your head at his attempts to be smooth. “That’s because that probably was sugar.” You pulled yourself out of the blissful moment as you caught a whiff of a familiar burnt smell.
“Is something burning—” You barely gave Sugawara the time to finish his question as you dashed inside the kitchen to turn off the oven and opened the door of the oven to let out the smoke. In your rush, you forgot to lower the temperature when you set the oven to preheat earlier. You opened the nearby window to let out most of the dreadful burnt smell. You sheepishly looked back at your boyfriend, who was standing at the kitchen door with his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.
“Ah, um,” you shifted your eyes to anywhere but his face as it filled with your own disappointment, “I tried to bake something.” You confessed as you dejectedly stared at your mess. “It was supposed to be a surprise and a little reward for you.”
He hummed in understanding, his keen brown eyes surveying the damage you had brought upon your kitchen counter, not missing the broken crumbs of past attempts at the perfect golden-brown crust. He could clearly see the work you had put into this and wanted to smile at how much love you tried to show.
Sugawara was about to tease you for the mess when you gave out a heavy sigh; one he was familiar with as it was something you’d do when you were extremely disheartened, which you were at yourself. “I can’t believe I messed up a simple recipe for fruit tarts,” you bitterly uttered as you glared at the ground and remembered how ambitious you were to even decide to bake with no experience or supervision.
You felt his presence suddenly wash over you as he stood right by yourself, reaching out a hand to lightly stroke your cheek, calling you to rest your eyes on him. “Can I take a look at the recipe?” he asked. You purse your lips and bite the inside of your cheek as you brought out your phone and showed him the two recipes. You started to grow nervous as your hands started to fidget with the hem of your apron. Your eyes not leaving his figure as he took a glance at the two sets of recipes written down on your notes, widening his own eyes in surprise at your attempt to break down and combine the two.
As much as Sugawara wanted to laugh and tease you for what you had done, he was overwhelmed with your intent to surprise him. “You wanted to make this for me?” he asked as he lifted his stare away from your phone to your bashful face.
“Yeah, but it didn’t turn as well as I’d hope. I don’t think I should have impulsively combined two different recipes together,” your eyes suddenly shifted to your untouched mess as you started to explain, “I think I got all the measurements and ingredients mixed up, cause the crust kept breaking and I couldn’t even cut the fruits ye—” You were interrupted by a strong arm wrapping around your waist. With a soft pull of your body, Sugawara tugged you towards his strong torso.
A soft smile rested on his lips as he gave you a genuine look that made your heart clench at how he kept his eyes on yours. “Thank you.” your boyfriend said with words dripping with sincerity.
“But, I messed up. I—,” you chuckled at your own actions, “I didn’t even get to make one batch out of the three attempts I’ve made.” The setter shook his head and smiled at you, “No one has done something like this for me and I guess, I’m thankful that you made your way to even try to do it.” His arms tightened his hold around you and your heart seemed to weigh even heavier with love.
“I wanted to do it.” you fondly sighed. “You’re important to me Koushi,” you brought your hands up to his cheeks and cradled his face in your hands, “and I’m so proud of you and how far you’ve come. I just wanted to somehow show it.”
“Well, I have an idea. Why don’t you take a small break? You go freshen up and I’ll clean up around here, then we can just go snack on the fruits you have—” You interrupted him with a timid hum. “I still wanna bake for you though,” you said as you directed your pleading look onto your boyfriend’s eyes, with a hint that you wanted to bake something with him.
“Do you wanna bake together then?” you eagerly nodded at his question, a smile occupied your face immediately as this meant you both would spend more time together. You would be able to truly show him your good intentions in this new dessert while showing that you were actually capable of not messing up the kitchen.
Sugawara matched your smile with his own as he brought his hands together with a clap, “Then it’s settled!” You crouched down to one of the cabinets to find a spare apron. As you looked, the athlete started to say, “Let’s maybe start with something easier, babe. I appreciate the thought for the fruit tart but, you have no experience in the kitchen, to begin with, why did you want to start with that?”
Your actions halted at his teasing knowing he was trying to mock you for your inexperience in the kitchen. Without a reply, you slowly stood straight and looked menacingly at the naive setter and raised your leg to give a soft kick to his thighs. He let out a cry as his knees buckled at the sudden force.
After you had both calmed down, and you had accepted his apologies for your lack of cooking skills, you decided to go bake some cookies. Sugawara let out a cheer as he found a recipe for matcha and white chocolate chip cookies. “This is perfect! We can use the matcha powder that you already have!”
“No,” you gave out a small whine, “those have white chocolate in them. They aren’t healthy at all.” You tried to reach for his phone to try and change the recipe, but his long arms and taller stature rose the device high above your head and out of your reach.
“Ah! These are for me anyway so I get to pick!” He brushed off your whine and gave small pats on your head, “Besides, matcha is a great substitute for caffeine! I think it’ll give me an energy boost when I need it.” He gave you one of those smiles that made your heart melt and left to gather the extra ingredients you needed. You pouted and grumbled as you fought the blush rising to your cheeks. Sugawara’s smile would always make your heart soften, making you give in to his wishes.
As he brought down the can of matcha powder from the cupboard, he took a glance at your pout and gasped at the sight, “Oi! Throw away that frown, away with the negativity!” You let out a yelp as he gave a firm chop onto your side, not even his significant other could be spared by his firm chops to the side. You narrowed your eyes at him as you rubbed your waist. You got back at him for it, giving him your own chops on each side of his torso. If there’s anything about you that Sugawara loved, it was definitely the fact that you easily joined in on the fun and his teasing.
-
Baking with Sugawara proved to be more effective than doing it by yourself. He knew you still wanted to prove your skills for this, so he let you take the lead on most of the instructions. Instead, he made sure all the ingredients were properly measured and did not get mistaken for any other ingredients, despite them looking the same. With someone to keep you and your actions in check, the cookies were in the oven in no time.
“So, how was the training camp?” you asked as you leaned onto the kitchen counter, keeping an eye on your phone’s timer, but giving your attention to your boyfriend’s response.
Sugawara wiped his hands on the hand towel as he answered, “It was pretty good. We’re a new team, so it will take a bit of time to get used to each other.”
“I can’t wait to attend your matches! It’s the Inter-High Tournament soon right?” your excitement died down as you noticed arms suddenly slowed their motions as the setter brought down the dishes he was wiping.
“Koushi? Is there something wrong?” You stood by his side and gently placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, waiting for his reply. His eyes seemed sullen, it’s usual brightness gone. He took a deep breath and put on a sad smile on his face as he turned to you. “I’m not the starting setter,” he confessed.
Puzzled by this revelation, your eyebrows knitted together in confusion, “But, you’re a third year. You’ve been on the team since your first.”
“I-I know,” Sugawara said.
“Y-You have experience.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t—,” Sugawara sighed and placed a tender hand on your cheek, his eyes asking you to listen to his next words. “It’s okay,” His serene smile seemed to calm your rising nerves, “The strongest are the ones who stand on the court. I just have to work harder to be stronger.”
You couldn’t believe that he was talking this awfully well. If you were in his place you’d definitely feel cheated on by being taken away the opportunity to play for a sport you dedicated your high school years to. Your eyes searched his own, for you knew, despite his words of reassurance, he was hurt. Of course, he was. But right now, he needed your support in this. He must have thought this through to be this collected while breaking the news to you. You nodded for him to continue.
“I’m not giving up. Our coach knows this. Even if I’ll be on the sidelines, I still want as many chances as I can get, but that won’t happen if I’m on the court as a regular,” Sugawara sighed, “I just wanted to tell you because I didn’t want you to be disappointed when you see that I’m not starting.” His voice softened as he averted his gaze away from you.
“Oh Kou,” you felt your heart burn from his words, “I could never.” You took his hands into yours and brought them to your lips, giving them a soft kiss. “Please believe me when I say that I will never be disappointed in you.”
“You may not be on the court,” you continued. “But, please remember what you’ve been through, what you’ve experienced. Who you are and how you grow is what matters. You are strong and you are more than good enough to be their setter.”
Your relationship with Sugawara may be pretty fresh, having gotten together with him officially in the middle of your second year. However, even when you were both first years, you knew how hard and dedicated he was to this sport. You were also aware of what he and the other third years had to go through when they first started out; training every day, agreeing to every practice match they could have, getting laughed at by other schools, sometimes even by the other clubs at how they had become the fallen powerhouse or flightless crows of Karasuno High School— you knew about it all.
Seeing them grow from the baby crows they once were to who they are now was something that brought so much warmth to your heart. Every morning from the start of your third year, you would walk to school with Sugawara. Every morning without fail, you’d listen to him animatedly talk about the promising first-year students and how amazing and talented they all seemed to be. You would never get tired of how he radiated with joy and spirit for his team.
You locked eyes with him, determined to bring out the usual light in his eyes again. With the most heartfelt smile you could make, you claimed, “I’m always gonna be proud of you.” You smoothed out a thumb across his cheek as a stray tear fell escaped from his eyes. “And I’m gonna be there at every match for you. I’m always gonna be cheering for my setter.”
He brought you into an embrace full of passion and emotion. “Thank you.” You both stayed in each other’s arms for a while, making the most out of this moment you two have. Placing your head on his chest, you secured your arms around him and squeezed his torso with the intention to remind him of all of the love and support that you could give. He wouldn’t be alone in this, he had his other teammates and he was smart to begin with. You were sure he’ll be able to stand on the court with his friends as well.
You lifted your head from his chest and took a glance at his face, your heart flipped in triumph at the familiar smile resting on your boyfriend’s face. “There’s that sweet smile I love.” you teased. Sugawara let out the most precious laugh. You hummed and gave him a taste of his own teasing looks, “Maybe I should start calling you ‘sugar’ too.” His cheeks glowed even redder at your comment.
It wasn’t long until your phone rang with the timer flashing as it came to the end. You both peered into the window of the heated oven, excited to see the green and white sweets in all its glory. Every single one of them looked absolutely delectable as a soft golden brown lined along the rim of each cookie. The long-awaited desserts were brought out of the oven and were left to cool for a few minutes.
Biting the inside of your cheek, you allowed Sugawara to take the first bite out of the first cookie. He gave a glance at you and smiled at your ecstatic nature, he already knew the cookies would taste great as his senses were filled with sweetness. With a slow chomp and a chew, he took his time assessing the food, definitely prolonging your anticipation on purpose. “So?” you couldn’t help but ask. you were patiently waiting, as you always were, observing the exaggerated gestures on his face as he tried to mask his enjoyment.
“There’s this thing we say in volleyball as someone makes a good serve,” he placed his cookie near your mouth for you to bite on. You were taken aback for a moment, reliving a sense of deja vu, as you recalled your little daydream earlier, now has brought to life. You graciously accepted his offering, taking it out of his hands, and took a bite out of your creation. Your boyfriend took a step back and brought one leg up and struck a pose. With a wink directed at you, he shouted, “nice serve!” You tried to stifle your laughter but failed, as you looked at his form even longer. He raised both his hands up to give you a double high-five, to which you gave in return.
You’ll never forget how much of a dork your favorite person really was. It was definitely strange to compare a good serve to a good cookie, but you’ll take it! You smiled in victory at the success of the batch of cookies you two had made. “Ah! That smile!” Sugawara wanted to use your own words against you, but of course, he added his own spice into it. With exaggerated gestures, he clutched at his chest and pretended to faint to the ground, “I don’t think I need the cookies anymore, babe. I’ve got all the sweetness to win all of our matches!”
He wrapped his arms around your frame and squeezed your sides, swaying your bodies slightly. You rolled your eyes at his antics and lightly pushed his arms away to make him stop, “Shut up!” you said while giving out a light laughter.
“No, I’m serious!” At his declaration, his hold on you got even tighter, “I don’t need them, all I need is your smile, your laugh— all I need is you standing right there on my side of the court with your eyes on me!”
Your heart swooned as his words, at the same time, your laugh grew louder at his persistence. You stretched out your arms to reach out for the cookies. “Guess, I’ll just give these to Daichi-san and Asahi-san then.” you teased. At this, the playful athlete shook his head and buried his head onto the crook of your neck, whining, “No! You made these cookies for me! We made them together! They won’t get a single bite!”
You let out a laugh at how utterly adorable Sugawara is. You adore special moments like this with him; times when you both can be completely goofy with each other, but at the same time, know when the other needs comfort and solace. You can’t ever imagine what your life would be like without him and you’d hope that everyone else would be able to experience the kind of sweet and pure love that you both shared together.