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The walk back from school is nice like this, Kageyama thinks as he watches the tarmac beneath his feet be immersed in soft orange light, only briefly being blocked out by the shadows of other people as they walk the same path, just slightly ahead of him. It had been a while since he’d gone home this early, recently much of his time outside had been spent in the dark, which whilst charming in its own way, is a far cry from the sunset that he gets to watch today.
Mixed within soft footsteps is the faint chatter of the rest of his team, talking about things that he admittedly hasn’t bothered to listen to. There’s a shriek, or a squeal coming from ahead that sounds suspiciously like Hinata.
“There are cats!” he yells, and almost everyone seems to follow in the same direction to see what was going on. Kageyama follows the group hesitantly, staying towards the back of everyone else, keeping a fair bit of distance between himself and the three cats that the team had come across.
“Kageyama,” he turns his head to see Suga smiling at him, “Do you want to join in?”
He fidgets in his place slightly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Animals don’t really like me, so I don’t think I should.” His eyes stare dumbly at the ground and he wonders what Suga's face looks like at this moment. Sugawara’s face was always something that he was fascinated by, how expressive he was with his emotions, how comforting and easy he was able to look when he needed to be. He envied him for it. He looks up briefly to see just what he expected to see, those same soft and calming features that don’t help the redness in his cheeks that he gets whenever it's just a bit too cold for his liking.
“I don’t think that they don’t like you, you just need to be patient with them,” he says, “Tell you what, come to my house this weekend and you can meet my animals, I’m pretty sure they’ll like you,”
He says it with the same soft smile and tone of voice that he always speaks in, and Kageyama can feel his heart flutter out of rhythm in his chest. He doesn’t know what he’s meant to say, and so only nods dumbly in response. Still, Suga nods back, his smile creeping wider across his face. “Great,” is all he says before rejoining the rest of the team in their walk along the tarmac. He looks up at the sky and sees that the sun has set slightly more since before, and now a soft deep blue threatens to take over the sky as the sun disappears beneath the horizon.
//
The house that Kageyama ends up at that Saturday is strangely pristine. It’s not bad in any sense, it's a nice house, if a little large, but what strikes him as odd is how unfitting it is for Suga. Ironically enough, he supposes, he never thought that white suited the other, it was far too clean and careful to be him, nothing like the soft warm yellows that Suga actually is, bright and unforgiving, yet at the same time truthful and caring.
Still, this had to be the house, and so he made his way up the pathway to knock on the door. Suga opens the door and already he can feel this excited buzz about him that wasn't there before. His smile, whilst the same as usual, is different in a way that he can't quite explain as he’s almost dragged through the house to the kitchen. Just like the outside, the kitchen is the same pristine white, there's the odd spec of gray or blue hidden somewhere to make it not be such a pain on the eyes, but Kageyama still finds himself squinting despite the lights not even being on.
“You okay?” Suga asks, he’s probably wondering about why he’s squinting but just as he was about to explain another thought came to his head.
“Are you sure they aren’t going to be freaked out by me?” he fidgets with his fingers again, picking at the side of his nail slightly as he waits for an answer.
Suga only laughs, he laughs as though what he’s said was actually a decent joke, but he’s a hundred percent serious. Animals have never been fond of him, same with most people, amongst other things, so how does he know that it’s going to be any different. “Daichi is terrified of them, if anything I think you should be worried about being scared of them,” it's said as a joke, but the thought of Sawamura being frightened of something seems almost as frightening, and already he feels his joints stiffen with nerves.
"I was joking, Kageyama, now come on," he says, grabbing Kageyama by the hand and pulling him along to the back door.
Kageyama is reminded of Suga's constant confidence. How he always goes into something two steps ahead of everyone, head held high and smile bright on his face in anything from going to the shops after school to matches against any difficult team. Everything he does he has the same golden aura that leaches into his surroundings and Kageyama thinks it's beautiful.
His garden is big, and whilst he hasn't seen many other gardens outside of the small communal area outside of his flat block, he knows enough to see that it's big enough to suggest that Suga's family has money. Towards the back of the fence is decking, surrounded by flower bed upon flower bed of bright blue flowers.
It doesn't suit Suga that much, he thinks. Suga has always made him think of warm colours, that shine brilliant and golden in the light of the sun, making any surrounding feel like comfort. The blues and grays that make up the patio flower bed and raised surfaces feel cold and distant in comparison and already he feels his face tightening. With what he's not sure, annoyance? disgust? distance? He has no clue.
Suga seems to find whatever expression he makes hilarious, giggling as he walks towards him and faces the back of the garden with him. "It's hideous isn't it," he says. That's not the word that he would use exactly, but it certainly isn't to his tastes, "My mum has a fascination with the colour for some reason, she claims it looks elegant, I think it looks like an eyesore,"
Kageyama nods along in agreement, "At least that's not what you're here to see" he continues and leads him to a section closer to the front of the house, completely separate from the rest of it.
There's a chicken coop that was similar to ones that he's seen before in farms, with high ceilings for people to enter and most of it being just empty space for the chickens to roam. The space is nice, it doesn't look cramped for the birds, although it's slightly obvious that they're meant to be kept as far away from the rest of the garden as possible. There's a door that leads them into their space that Suga opens for the two to go in. Kageyama is pleasantly surprised when he finds that it's high enough for him to enter without having to duck down a bit.
The chickens continue to go about their business not paying him much mind other than the odd look but they all seem too focused on pecking at the ground to see him as that interesting. It's nice, cozy, and the yellow straw and soft browns of the dirt and wood make him smile. They make soft noises, beaks pecking at food, feet scratching at the ground and their soft crowing is already bringing a smile to his face.
This feels like Suga, he thinks as he crouches down to be closer to the chickens' level. Suga hums "they seem to like you," he says.
Kageyama squints his eyes, "They're ignoring me," he mumbles, and Suga laughs.
“Exactly, most people get pecked on the feet if the ladies don't approve, daichi has a scar on his foot as proof for that," he says it with a laugh much like how he had before, but Kageyama can't help but be a little horrified at the image of their captain howling in pain and bleeding because of such a small creature. "They won't do that with you though, from what I can tell at least," Kageyama gives a small nod of acknowledgment but keeps his eyes fixated on the birds.
"Would you like to hold one of them, Kageyama?"
The question catches him off guard for a moment, "You can do that?" he asks, he can feel his own curiosity bubbling within him.
"Of course you can," another giggle falls out of his mouth, and Kageyama is reminded again of how nice his laugh is, and he almost forgets that it's aimed towards whatever facial expression he had pulled. he knows it's not out of spite or mocking though, and it makes him smile in turn.
Suga turns to enter the area of the coop where the birds are meant to sleep and comes out with a bird that's larger than the rest of them. She's older than the others, hinted at by the white streaks in the feathers of the wings that stand out stark against the rest of the inky black that coats them. "Is she the leader?"
Suga snorts, "In a way I suppose, she's the head of the pecking order, and my first chicken," he says, "I think she'll like you. You two seem really alike," his arms are held out where the bird is perched on, and Kageyama attempts to mirror his stance.
"What's her name?" he asks
"Aiya," he says, "Mum insisted on giving the chickens a proper name, of course, that went out the window when I got more of them," he laughs and he can't help but admire that despite the way his chest shakes with his giggles, and how Aiya seems perfectly comfortable in his arms despite it. Suga makes it so that their forearms are touching, and Kageyama can feel her strong talons pressing against his jacket and their soft breath against his chest.
It's such a small moment of contact, and seemingly insignificant in comparison to the pats on the back and arms thrown around him that he's had before, and yet somehow this feels so much more intimate. He feels closer to Suga than he ever has before.
Suga strokes the chicken's back to coax her into Kageyama's arms and he watches with bated breath as she steps onto him with ease.
"She's a grumpy old thing," he mutters, "but she's lovely really," he gives her a few strokes, then runs his hand down her tail feathers and onto Kageyama's arm, holding him gently as if it's going to help him hold the bird properly somehow. he doesn't want it to end, he never wants this to end.
The thought 'I really want to kiss him' worms its way into his head and suddenly it's all he can think about. He bites his lip in a shitty attempt to keep his face from doing something and somehow telling Suga what he's thinking. It probably won't happen, but Suga is observant enough that in his mind it's a possibility.
Kageyama pets the bird gently, feeling her soft feathers beneath his fingertips. They shimmer slightly at the press of his fingers in the light and he finds himself becoming fascinated at the beauty of it. Suga pulls on his arm lightly to pull him down to sit on the ground, and Kageyama smiles when he finds that it's more comfortable to sit like this. Suga joins them and grins, "Do you like her?" he asks and Kageyama nods. He's never seen an animal be so comfortable with him, and he smiles when Aiya shifts slightly to settle down against him more.
They stay like that for a while, sitting on a grassy section of the coop in a sweet and comfortable silence. Suga's legs are crossed and his head is leaning back slightly to enjoy the soft light of the sun, his hands planted firmly into the ground. The sun is already starting to set, and he watches as it disappears beyond the fence at the back of the garden, hiding behind the shades of royal blues within the wisteria tree at the very back, bathing the garden in light, tinged with warm purples and delicate pinks.
It feels like it's setting too soon like there should be more time left in the day for him to spend in Sugawara's garden. he doesn't want to go home yet, not ever when he can spend his time staring at the way the light bounces off of his hair, making it seem as though he's glowing.
The birds remain unbothered by their presence, and Kageyama thrives off of it, as he is reminded once again of Aiya sitting in his lap, quite happy in her perch and looking as though she's about to fall asleep at any moment.
She truly is magnificent, with her long dark feathers that are soft to the touch and shimmer with soft blues and greens whenever the light hits at just the right angle. He thinks back to when Suga had said that she reminded them of him, but he doesn't see much of a resemblance. The bird is beautiful, stunning even, and is born and bred to be shown off, to be cared for, to be desired. A show bird by nature that thrives off of attention and care in the face of its brilliance, something that he could never hope to be like.
But Suga doesn't lie, he wouldn't about something like that, and so he holds what he said close to his heart, and hopes that maybe that was Sugawara's way of calling him beautiful, maybe.
Oh god, he hopes so.