Work Text:
It was what Hinata would've called a fate encounter.
Daichi sees him for the first time at the train station. He's ethereal; white hair blowing gently as the train whooshes past, his mouth tucked into a burgundy scarf that's wrapped around his neck. His eyes seem to smile as they survey the tracks, and when they land on Daichi, they seem to brighten.
Daichi thinks one word: beautiful.
The two share a secretive look—if those are even possible, given the very public place they're in, and Daichi feels his heart stop. The man pulls his face out from under the scarf, smiles at him, and Daichi's about to smile back when a train pulls into the station.
It stops.
Daichi breathes.
And when it leaves, the man is gone.
Pulling his face into a disappointed frown, Daichi hefts his bag higher on his shoulder and waits for his train.
The man doesn't leave his mind for a long, long time.
Work is something that Daichi neither likes nor dislikes. He goes through the everyday motions of it: put the paper in the printer if it's empty, type down this, sign that. He waves to the doorman when he enters the building, smiles to Yachi, the receptionist when he walks to the elevator. He eats lunch out on the patio by himself, occasionally texts his friends when he has the time.
Most of the time he's silent. Hardworking, but silent. His boss tells him he needs to socialize more, the office girls pester him constantly to go to the bar after work, but Daichi takes both of the situations in stride, smiles and tells them he's busy.
The only exception to his silence is Shimizu Kiyoko, the girl who works in the cubicle next to his. She's an old friend, one that he's known since high school and probably one of his closest friends. She's silent, like him, but she possesses a sort of grace that Daichi doesn't have, making her well-liked.
"I don't get it," Daichi tells her one day as they're both walking to the trains. Shimizu shakes her head as she laughs, black hair falling in front of her face. "We're pretty much the same, but why does Ukai always tell me to socialize more, and all you get is a respected nod?"
"Dai-san," she sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're kind of scary to look at."
Daichi presses a hand against his chest, mocking hurt. "That hurts, Shimizu."
She laughs as they enter the station, and turns to face him when she sees her train stop. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dai-san."
Daichi laughs, bringing her into a hug. "Yeah, I'll see you--"
A flash of white. Widened hazel eyes.
Shimizu pulls away. "Dai-san, what's wrong?"
He feels numb. "Nothing, I—I'll see you tomorrow."
She enters the train, and he goes to leave. From the corner of his eye he sees the man enter the train, head turned in Daichi's direction. He whips his head around.
Eyes meet.
A sad smile.
The train whooshes past.
"Oh ho? It seems you've got it bad for this guy." Daichi groans, covering his face from Kuroo and Bokuto's gazes, and brings his cup closer to his chest.
"Will you two shut up?"
"No," Kuroo smirks, taking a sip of his whiskey. He's not supposed to be drinking on the job, but seeing that the bar's relatively empty, and it's his bar, he drinks anyway. "Shimizu was in here last night with a couple of her friends. Said something about you high-key mooning over this guy."
"High-key?" Daichi splutters. "I do not high-key moon for anyone."
Bokuto snorts. "Yeah, okay. I'll believe you bring in a guy who tells us that he couldn't see your crush from a mile away."
Daichi frowns. "Okay, first of all, that was in college, and second of all--"
"Yeah!" Kuroo pipes up, interrupting Daichi with a smirk. "When you bring in a guy here that doesn't see your crushin' on him, I'll give you free drinks for a month."
"Kuroo--"
"Oh ho! Make it a year!" Bokuto grins.
"Guys--"
"Maybe I should do something nice for Sawamura, eh?"
"Hey!" Daichi booms, stopping the two, and possibly half the patrons in the bar. "At least make it five weeks of not pestering me."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto laughs.
The thing is, Daichi's been haunted by this guy for more than a month now, and he still hasn't found a way to make decent conversation with him. He'd seen him in the morning, pale hair glinting in the sunlight, bright smile on his face as he helped a little girl who'd dropped her school bag on the ground. Daichi watched as the man meticulously picked up every pencil and book that had fallen, helping the girl place everything into the bag, smiling at her instructions. Afterwards the man had looked up, met Daichi's eyes with a surprised look on his face, and smiled so sweetly, he'd made Daichi's heart ache.
Daichi had gone to work, hazed and slightly disgruntled. He ignored Shimizu's knowing look when he sat in his cubicle and put his head between his hands and groaned.
He is so, so fucked.
"Daichi-san!" Daichi looks up from his laptop to see his usual barista Hinata jogging up to him. Daichi leans back, grimacing as his back pops. Hinata takes a moment to catch his breath and it takes a moment for Daichi to realize he's not wearing the uniform that signifies he's working at Karasu Café. It's a Monday morning, Daichi's first day off in months and he watches Hinata heave a breath before he speaks.
"I have a mandatory seminar today." He explains, fidgeting with his bag. Daichi nods once in understanding. Seminars when he was college were the worst, taking out most of his time set specifically for procrastination. "I can't pick up my sister from school. Usually I'd get my mom to pick her up, or for Tobio to do it, but she's working and Tobio--" he freezes, mouth pulling into a scowl. "Well, we're not exactly on good terms right now."
Daichi takes a sip from his cappuccino before he nods. "Yeah I can take her for you." He looks down at the time. "Class ends at 3 right?"
Hinata smiles, expression bright as the sun. "Really? Thanks, Daichi-san!" He takes out a crumpled notebook from his bag, scribbles something on it before he rips the page out, placing the sheet next to Daichi's laptop. "Everything's on there, and I'd tell you more, but I've really got to go!" He pushes the notebook back into his back. "If you need anything else just text me!"
Daichi chuckles as he watched the younger man go. His eyes drift to the paper. Hinata Natsu, Tokonami Elementary, Sugawara-sensei's class. Pick up at 2:45. Thanks Daichi-san!
Daichi lets out a faint snort as he continues working on his project.
Tokonami Elementary is a couple of blocks away from Karasu Café. It’s small and reminds Daichi a bit of his own elementary experience. By the looks of it, school has just ended, and Daichi walks into the school, carefully trying not to trample any of the kids.
He finds Sugawara's class with ease, having been given instructions from Hinata earlier by phone when he'd asked where to drop Natsu off after he picked her up. The classroom door's already opened and he raps on the door twice before stepping in and is immediately tackled by an orange blur. Surprised, Daichi lets out a grunt, stabilizing himself against the door frame and looks down to find a pair of bright, orange eyes staring up at him.
"Sawamura-nii-san!" Natsu says, voice bubbly and loud. Daichi lets out a laugh as he hefts the girl up, carrying her up and setting her in his left arm. He's only met Natsu a couple of times, but each time the girl crept further and further into his heart. Known for bringing laughter and customers to Karasu Café during Saturday mornings, she's full of smiles, and is (possibly) more energetic than her brother.
"Hey Natsu," he says, brushing back her hair from her face. Natsu giggles, arms latching around Daichi's neck. "Your brother couldn't make it today."
"S'Okay." Natsu grins, pressing her hands against Daichi's cheeks. "He told me he gots a semernar."
"It's seminar, Nat-chan," a different voice says, and Daichi looks up to find hazel eyes and white hair.
He forgets how to breathe.
The other man seems to freeze up for a second too, relaxing slightly when his gaze moves from Daichi's eyes to Natsu. "Who’s this, Nat-chan?"
"This is Sawamura-nii-san!" Natsu grins, as she gestures wildly to Daichi who's having a hard time keeping her up. "He visits my brother all the time and he's cool! He taught my nii-chan how to go bwah and guwah with the volleyball!"
The other man smiles fondly at Natsu before his eyes meet Daichi's again. "Hi there," he says, and Daichi doesn't know how to do anything but nod. "I'm Sugawara Koushi, Natsu's teacher."
Daichi looks at Sugawara's extended hand and snaps out of his trance. "Sawamura Daichi," he says, shaking his hand, and hoping to whatever god is listening that his palm isn't sweaty. "Hinata's friend. It's nice to meet you, Sugawara-sensei."
Sugawara laughs and Daichi swears he can hear the angels. "Just Suga is fine."
"All right then, nice to meet you Suga-sensei."
"Bro, look at him. He's blushing."
Daichi doesn't even bother sending Bokuto a glare, opting instead to push his red face into a glass of whiskey, taking a long sip. Kuroo chuckles as he wipes down a couple of glasses. The bar is packed, meaning that the two won't annoy him as much as usual, but Daichi knows that Kuroo will spend every available moment he has near them just to find blackmail he can use in the future.
Hinata, who's barely legal enough to be in the bar—partly because of his age (21) and because of his looks (a first year high school) lets out a snort as he sips his own drink. "You don't even know, Bokuto-san." There's a glint in his eyes that Daichi does not like. "You should've seen him when he came back from picking Natsu up. He was red-faced and everything!"
"Who even invited you here?" Daichi spits, but even then it comes out as fond. Hinata rolls his eyes good-naturedly.
"Suga-sensei's asked about you though." Hinata says, and both Bokuto and Kuroo perk up.
"Oh? And my dear Shrimpy-chan, what has he said?" Kuroo says, mixing up a drink meant for a patron five stools down.
Hinata grins. "Nothing other than polite conversation. That's how Suga-sensei is, though. Polite."
Kuroo sends Daichi a smirk as he pours the drink. "You know what they say about polite, nice men, right?"
"What?" Daichi deadpans.
"That they're kinky in bed."
"Ooh!" Bokuto drawls, hands swinging. Hinata pulls his drink back in time. "That is very much true, Sawamura! You know when I started dating Akaashi--"
"Please no." Daichi grumbles.
"Ah." Kuroo says, looking as if he'd made the biggest mistake of his life. He pushes off the counter, taking his drink to the customer. "Not this again."
"He was so quiet during practice and then when we got home, he--"
"Okay!" Kuroo says loudly as he stands in front of them. "Anything new with you guys. Other than Sawamura's crush, of course."
Daichi hums, remembering something he'd heard a couple of days ago. "Oh, Hinata. How's your thing with Kageyama?"
Hinata's face almost immediately darkens, and Daichi immediately regrets asking.
"Oh look." Kuroo says. "You made Shrimpy-chan sad."
"No," Hinata says. "It's okay, Daichi-san, it's not your fault. We haven't really fixed anthing since last time, and he's ignoring all of my calls so..." He trails off.
"Hey Hinata," Daichi begins.
"It's all right though!" Hinata says, face breaking into a smile. "But I've really got to go. I'm in for the earlybird shift tomorrow, and I don't want to be late like last time, or Take-chan-san will have my head." He places a couple of bills on the table. "Oh and Daichi-san! I have another seminar tomorrow, so could you please pick up Natsu from school again?"
Kuroo and Bokuto both hold back snickers, but Daichi sighs. "Yeah, I will."
They watch Hinata leave, and it takes only three long moments for Bokuto to speak up.
"Bro, he is so whipped."
"Sawamura-san!" Suga says, smiling when he looks up from his computer. "It's good to see you again."
Daichi, who's having trouble with Natsu sends him a pained glance. "Hey, Suga-sensei."
Suga blinks once, twice, before he's on his feet, at Daichi's side in an instance. He grabs Natsu's bag off of her, and Daichi breathes a sigh of relief at the feeling of stabilizing Natsu without her bag on. He lets out a faint chuckle before smiling. "Thanks."
"No problem," Suga says, smiling. He sends Natsu a reprimanding glare, and she buries her face into Daichi's neck. "Sorry about Natsu."
Daichi laughs. "No, it's fine. I'm used to it."
"With Shouyou, yeah?" Suga laughs, and Daichi feels his heart beat faster.
"Yeah."
"Well," Suga says, leaning back on his heels. "I guess I'll see you later then."
Daichi almost wants to say no, wants to see Suga's smile on his face. It occurs to Daichi that he's known Suga for more than a year now, their relationship purely developed through stares and smiles, and Daichi really wants to kiss him.
"Suga," he says before he can stop himself.
Suga tenses. "Yes?" He asks, pushing a strand of white hair behind his ear. Daichi resists the urge to do it for him.
"I—Thank you for everything."
"It's not problem Sawamura-san."
"And you didn't ask him for his number?" Hinata laughs, clutching at his sides. Daichi feels his ears burn.
"Dude," Kuroo smirks, making a scotch on the rocks for Yachi, who sits a couple of stools down. "I don't think I'd ever say this, but that was very cowardly of you."
"I know," Daichi groans.
"Daichi-san, you're so in love with Suga-san that it hurts me."
"Shut up, Hinata! I know."
Daichi presses his hands into his pockets, shivering slightly from the autumn wind. He doesn't usually take the trains in the mornings anymore, opting instead to get a ride from Kuroo, who drives to the bar. However, Kuroo's down with the cold, meaning that Daichi's taking the train this morning, to the bar first to check on the Kuroo's rookie replacement, and then to work, hopefully in time.
There's a gust of wind as a train rushes past the station, followed by the ruffling of paper. There's a soft curse, and Daichi looks up to find a bunch of papers flowing in the wind. Reaching up, he grabs as many as he can before looking back.
Suga-sensei's on his hands and knees, picking up sheets of paper and organizing them into a big stack. His nose is red, and he sniffles. Daichi kneels down as well, helping him stack up the papers.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Suga says. His voice sounds nasally, and Daichi finds it oddly endearing. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually this clumsy, and the wind came in and made it worse and—oh. Hello, Sawamura-san."
"Hi." Daichi says stupidly, a grin appearing on his face. "Need any help with that?"
"Oh!" Suga says, cheeks darkening to a pink. "A-are you sure? I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble."
"Nah," Daichi says, picking up the stack of paper and pulling it to his chest. He makes a mental note to text Yamamoto the basic run-down of the bar. "Come on, I'll join you."
Daichi learns a couple of things about Suga on their ride to the elementary school. He learns that Suga's the same age as him, and went to Aoba Johsai for high school. He was a setter, and still is, playing small games with his old teammates on the weekends whenever he can. Although they'd been on teams at the same time, they'd never played each other as Daichi opted to quit the team after the Inter Highs of his third year, and well, Karasuno hadn't made it to nationals until after he quit the team.
"You were on the same team as Oikawa Tooru, then!" Daichi grins as he watches Suga giggle.
"Yeah. I was." His eyes turn down. "I only played reserve setter during my three years. That's probably why we didn't see much of each other."
"Hey," Daichi says, his voice dropping slightly. Suga looks up. "I think you're a great setter."
Suga giggles, "You've never seen me play."
"Well," Daichi says. "I can tell you're a great setter."
The train's intercom announces Suga's stop, and he sighs, letting out a cough. Daichi starts to stand up as well, but Suga stops him gently.
"It's okay, Sawamura-san. I can handle myself from here. I know you've got to get to work soon, and I wouldn't want to keep you." He picks up the stack of papers. "I'll see you later, then?"
Daichi looks up at Suga's form, his red nose and his thin coat. He shrugs off his coat and drapes it across Suga's shoulders.
Suga's eyes widen. "Dai—Sawamura-san!" Daichi feels his breath catch in his throat. "You don't need to, I'm all right with my coat and my scarf--"
"Suga." Daichi says through Suga's blubbering. "Take it. I wouldn't want you to catch a cold and not be able to teach the kids."
Suga stops talking and nods once, his cheeks a bright red. "Okay. Thank you. But when should I return this?"
The train slides into the station, and Daichi makes up his mind. "Monday. When I come pick up Natsu."
"Monday?" Suga squeaks.
"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll survive until then." The train stops. "Oh and Suga?" The teacher stops, eyes bright.
"Yeah?"
"Please, call me Daichi."
Suga grins. "Okay...Daichi."
"Hello?"
"…Can I pick up Natsu on Monday?"
"Ha, got it that bad already?"
"...Shut up. Can I?"
"Sure, Daichi-san."
Daichi shows up earlier than usual on Monday afternoon. It's his day off again, and instead of throwing on his usual lazy sweats and old college hoodie, he's wearing a pair of jeans and a nice sweater that Shimizu had gotten him for their gift exchange last year. The bell signaling the end of the day hasn't rung yet, so Daichi sits outside of Suga's classroom, occasionally looking through the half-opened door at the teacher.
He smiles more when he teaches, Daichi notices. He's patient and kind with the children, helping them one by one as they pack their bags. When the bell rings, Daichi has half a second to get out of the way before kids come running out, each to their own parent. He waits a couple of moments before he walks into the door.
Natsu doesn't seem surprised that he's picking her up again. She doesn't jump, opting instead to give him a hug around the leg before she asks if she can play in the playground for a bit. Suga looks up, eyes crinkling as he smiles.
"It's fine, Daichi. There's a supervisor there."
Natsu brightens as she hands Daichi her bag, and she runs out, shouting as she does so. Daichi chuckles and turns to find Suga leaning against one of the desks. His hair is messier than usual, nose no longer red, but Daichi doesn't think he's seen anything more beautiful.
"Hey," Daichi breathes.
Suga smiles. "Hi."
There's a comfortable silence between them. Just as Daichi's about to say something, Suga's face lights up and he walks over to his desk and pulls out Daichi's jacket.
"Here you go." Suga says as Daichi walks up to his desk. "I—Thank you for last time."
Daichi smiles. "It's no problem, really."
Suga holds out the jacket, and Daichi takes it, smiling wider when his hand brushes Suga's. Suga blushes as he pulls his arm back, but Daichi grasps his fingers, pulling him closer.
"Suga." He says.
"Daichi," Suga says softly. He leans in slightly, but blinks and pushes away. "No. We can't do this."
Daichi frowns. "Hey,"
Suga looks down, mouth trembling. "I don't—Daichi."
Daichi grasps at Suga's hand, and pulls him closer. "Hey. What's wrong?"
"I don't. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels like this." Suga whispers, hazel eyes looking into Daichi's.
Daichi nearly laughs. "Hey," he takes Suga's face in his hands, thumbs running against his cheekbones. "Do you really think I'd be doing this if it was?"
Suga shakes his head. "Daichi, are you sure?"
Daichi chuckles. "I've been sure since I saw you on the train tracks months ago."
Suga looks up. "Really?"
"Yeah." Daichi blushes, looking down. "Um, I thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on. And you were in my head. Everyday. And when I found out you were Natsu's teacher, I didn't know what to think. And that one time I rode the bus with you, I wanted to walk with you all the way to the school because that meant I could spend more time with you. So don't you dare tell me this is unrequited because it's not." Suga chuckles. "I love you so much."
Suga's eyes close as he rests his forehead against Daichi's. "Yeah."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Suga says, arms linking around Daichi's neck, and pulling him down.
When their lips meet, Daichi can't think of anything else more perfect.
("So," Kuroo says. Eyes flitting from Suga's face to Daichi's. "You didn't know that Sawamura had a crush on you?"
"How?" Bokuto groans, laughing.
Daichi only smiles, arms wrapped around Suga's waist. His lips find their way up Suga's neck, smiling when Suga lets out a little whine. "You know what this means, right?"
Kuroo lets out an overexaggerated sigh as he places two glasses in front of Daichi and Suga.
"It's on the house.")