Work Text:
“Suga, care for a waltz in the rain?”
The ash gray-haired setter lifted his head, scanning your expression. You were only half-joking, finding the light downpour streaking down the school window a lot more enticing than studying.
You loved studying with Sugawara, he always made it worthwhile, bringing snacks, random motivational notes, and pokes, and he was a good teacher and close friend. That, and the fact that your crush offered to study with you was a hard request to deny.
Studying for several days in a row though was your limit.
Taking your expression as a serious one, he blinked owlishly, his caramel eyes that seemed to observe your expressions and clue into your moods, looking a little gray, distant. He hummed, raising a finger and you covered your forehead quickly, fearing another motivational poke barrage.
Instead, he lifted it to his curly hair, which seemed flatter than usual. You weren't able to linger on the thought as the chime of the school bell reverberated through the school speaker. As you guys began to put your things away Sugawara still seemed pensive, shooting glances at you and fiddling with his hair.
"Earth to Suga!" You cupped his face in your hands as he broke out of his stupor, going pink. "Huh, what? Oh right..." You followed his gaze to the window, where the rain had become a bit heavier, luckily no thunder or lightning yet.
He shook his head at you in joking disappointment, nearly mirroring the look your mother made before scolding you. Though instead, he asked, "what happens after the dance, and we're all wet?"
"We complain about it and then go get something to eat." You mused, grinning at his soft laughter. The two of you walked side by side down the stairs and through less frequented hallways.
His earth-colored eyes glinted as he turned to you. "and if we both get sick, who will take care of us?"
"It would be my responsibility of course." You guys finally reached the entrance that seemed overly crowded with people. Many that didn't have an umbrella. A few people bearing umbrellas walked in groups, and through in the blur of rain, you made out umbrella colors up ahead, the patterned pastel themed umbrellas a stark contrast to the stony sky.
"What music will we dance to?" You turned to him, surprised that he humored you this long, and pretended to look pensive. As if you weren't thinking about dancing in the rain since you first met him on a particularly rainy September day several long months back.
"Your singing voice or my phone." He rolled his eyes, and you waited for him to reach into his backpack and produce his large black umbrella. Instead, he took your hand, ignoring the rosy tint to his face. "W-What are you waiting for?" He stuttered, taking in your surprised expression as he led you into the rain.
Tears from the sky ran down your faces and hair as he continued leading you across the sidewalk that branched into a few others before you two reached a quiet, deserted clearing.
As the faint music played from deep within the backpack that you left to the side, the boy in his dark uniform, gray hair, and all seemed to fade into the storm. It was his firm grip that had become chilled because of the rain, crinkled eyes, and his huge smile as you guys performed an awful waltz, holding each other up, afraid slipping that made it all real to you.
The two of you blinked the rain out of your eyes as you teased him for his poor dancing. You obviously weren't all that better with how you guys seemed to step in just about every puddle, laughing as you did so.
It was after he dramatically dipped you, followed by an even poorer rendition of the tango that you corrected your earlier thought. He didn't fade but was more like the sun peeking through the thick dark clouds by the end of the storm. A wave of sudden warmth and light...
Almost by coincidence did the dark area become lit by the soft sun's rays illumnating the clearing as his face and the rain gean to subside. Sugawara looked wetter than you thought and you likely looked the same. He stared down at your glowing form right before you ended up dipping him. It was when you were halfway through propping him up that you noticed his slightly shorter, trimmed hair.
"You've got like the prettiest smile." The compliment slipped from your tongue as your gaze traveled from his hair back to his face.
For a moment he was afraid you would drop him. Or maybe he was afraid of falling even more for you. You lifted him back into place, mirroring his shy smile. "I think your smile rivals mine to be honest." Despite that, he was unable to hide the huge grin that lit up his face.
Now you were smiling ear to ear. "You're adorable," your tone is quiet as you near him, just for another look into his eyes you try to convince yourself.
"Says the fun-sized one." He steps forward and tilts his head much like Tanaka would as he flexes his height, his face almost on fire. "Shut up, I'm never expressing my feelings for you ever again." He lowered his head, once more scanning your expression.
It was warm, soft, fragile but genuine.
"Wait y/n, you don't like me...do you?" His hopeful tone betrayed his real feelings and before he could take it back you laughed. "Of course I do, didn't you realize this was a date?"
His lips parted in surprise as you made your way over to your backpack.
You only partly planned this, only the confessing part as far as you were concerned. The rest was your brain improvising and words coming out before your brain seemed to catch up. It was only at the word date that your heart stopped and your brain began to produce thoughts per second.
You held up a hand to your face to cover your blush but peeked through to meet his eyes, determined to stick by your words. It's not like you expected him to say yes anyway. Sugawara wasn't the type to stomp all over your feelings and was an amazing friend and so, you were going to be okay regardless of his decision.
By the time you returned with your backpack, a soft smile was on his face. In the halo of the suns ray, and his warm smile, for a moment he seemed like an angel. The expression made you stop in your tracks as he held a hand towards you, his free hand nervously scrating his neck.
"Are you still down to go somewhere to eat and complain about the rain? If you want...we can go on a date next week? A normal one this time?" He teased and tears formed at the corners of your eyes. The tears didn't last long and you burst into laughter as he turned a deep shade of red, a pained expression on his face.
Suga had to be the only person to act suave and then start blushing five seconds later.
You grinned taking his hand as he slowly spun you. Everywhere became so bright with the rain letting up, the sun shining on puddles and windows but it was once more his firm grip, this time warm intertwined with yours and both of your giddy smiles that woke you up and led you through the wet empty streets of Miyagi Prefecture.
_
A loud knock of the door is what quite literally woke you up the next morning. It was the weekend but with all the sniffling and tissues you used, you almost regretted your rain performance.
"coming..." you murmured, aware that they couldn't hear you but you could hear them loud and clear. "Y/n? I know you're sick too, open up." That was all it took for you to head to the washroom quickly before returning to the door.
Sugawara stood in the doorway, bearing medicine, a large container of soup, and snacks that his mom made. Taking in your half-lidded eyes, he shook his head, leaving the stuff on the table before standing before you. "I thought you said you were going to look after us, y/n."
You sheepishly apologized, trying to hold in your sneeze, "I'm not very great at taking care of people but may I invite you to another dance?" Once itch faded, you took his hands, raising your eyebrows.
With the warmth in the room, it would be less of a danger to your health. The setter laughed, "I've had enough dancing to last me a while, y/n." Still, he raised your arms to spin you. It was when you acted like this that he relaxed a bit too much around you.
Your whimsical nature was something he definitely had to be wary of. "I came to scold you...and to eat with you." His face was warm but it had been like that since he stepped inside. He'd been over before but not as your boyfriend. The setter made his way to the table and after you directed him to the microwave, began to reheat the food.
"You already make great boyfriend, Suga." It was hard to hide your grin when he became the human equivalent to a tomato.
He knew what you were doing but more often than not, there was truth to your teasing. It was frustrating that even a bit of truth to that statement could work him up like this. Might as well make them both flustered. "I'm not Suga, I go by Koushi now...f/n."
Although a hand had been on his hip and he had jutted his chest out a moment before, both hands came to cover his face a moment later. When he peeked through his fingers instead of laughing, you were pretty red yourself. It was then that it occured to you that Suga- no Koushi, was your boyfriend.
"Oh my gosh," you hid your face in the cradle of your arms at your kitchen table. "I can't believe this is real." This time Koushi laughed, setting a plate of soup by you on the table. "I can't believe it only seems real to you now." Especially after it kept him up last night revisiting what happened after school over and over.
"To be fair, I've liked you for a while so it wasn't hard to convince myself that it was all a fever dream when you suddenly liked me back." He nearly dropped his spoon. You mean...you both liked each other this entire time? All the time he spent thinking about confessing but didn't was wasted opportunities?
"But, you constantly remind me that it's all-" You went silent as he tilted your chin, placing a soft, fleeting kiss on your lips.
"Is it real now?" He whispered and you blushed, for the first time at a loss of words. You two cleaned up, and you handed him the washed container placing it in the plastic back that he left at one of the free other seats at the table.
Inside sat a lone tulip and under it, an orchid, the stems wrapped in plastic, sealed with bows. "Oh," his voice came by your ear as he peered over your shoulder. "The tulip is from me...the orchid is...from my mom. She somehow figured it out and wants to meet you...oh right! How do I introduce you to the team..." With that he took the bag and the container and hurried to the door, wearing the pensive expression that he studied with.
It's unbelievable how quickly your life could change with him humouring you. Maybe he wasn't humouring you after all... "Bye K-Koushi, love you."
He reddened, flashing you his trademark grin. "I love you too...f/n". With how you two stumbled over each other's names, glanced at each other every now and then, wondering if things were going too fast or slow, all these natural bumps brought a warm smile to your face. Maybe you were just humouring yourself with the idea that he didn't like you in the first place. When he-
"Oh wait, I forgot my umbrella." Your boyfriend materialized once more bent over after rushing back for it. You hurried back to the table checking the other empty chairs until you found a black umbrella. Handing it to him, he pulled your arm, bringing you closer to plant a kiss on your cheek.
"I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself." He nervously stammered and you laughed, waving him off, both of your cheeks lit once more. You were just as suave and blushy as him inall honesty. But at least you didn't need to humor yourself when he liked you back just as much.