A/N: This is based off of tumblr user craziiwolf's DaiSuga daycare/police AU! Definitely check out the art that inspired this (all of her art is the bomb diggity tbh).
PAGE BREAK
Daichi was on break, sipping an afternoon coffee at his favorite café and basking in the smell of flowers that decorated the patio. He often came here before heading home, an officer welcomed by locals due to his cheerful nature. It was a small town and helpful cops were well-known.
He glanced at the nearby building that always caught his eye, trying hard to keep from staring for too long. He smiled at the children bouncing around on the playground, a certain person keeping them in order (with a level of difficulty). He wouldn't admit that this person was the reason he'd chosen this particular coffee shop to frequent.
That's when he saw it.
A small human, stumbling from the sidewalk to the road, chasing a ball. He was pretty far from the daycare and it was impossible to tell how he'd gotten past the playground's fence, not to mention the careful eye of his caretaker. The orange hair was enough to catch anyone's attention, but the boy must have only been three or four years old, oblivious to the oncoming car that was headed his way.
There was no way the driver would be able to see him. Daichi leapt to his feet, his coffee tumbling to the ground, forgotten.
Sprinting down the sidewalk and across the street, Daichi scooped up the little redheaded kid, his toe hitting the curb as the car whizzed by, horn blaring. Daichi tripped and rolled into the concrete, using his shoulders and arms to protect the small child. He finally came to a stop in a patch of grass, lying on his back with a trembling little boy on his chest, tears in his eyes.
"Waaaaah!" he began to sob, completely terrified. Daichi smiled softly. He was just happy to have gotten there in time.
"Hinata!" A scream came from behind him and Daichi looked up. A young man with silver hair and bushy eyebrows was standing over him, reaching for the child. "You cannot climb under the playground fence like that! It's dangerous! Apologize to this officer right now."
The man had scooped up the boy into his arms, who was only crying harder from the request. Daichi could see that the man wasn't really angry—a crease in his forehead displayed blatant concern. It was cute.
Is this a dream? Daichi thought, still prone on the ground, stupefied. The reason he'd frequented that coffee shop, the reason he sat peacefully outside on these fall days, was because of the daycare owner that worked down the street. There was something about his apron and soft expression when he played with those kids that made Daichi's heart turn soft as butter. He'd never had the courage to say hello, never had a reason to, until—
"Need some help?"
A hand was extended towards him, a smile shining brightly on Daichi's baffled face. The carrot-topped troublemaker had stopped crying and was now fussing with the ball he'd gone after, resting comfortably on the daycare worker's hip.
Daichi took the hand. It was softer and smaller than his own. There were smears of paint on this guy's arms and grass in his hair. The small details he noticed from being this close disarmed Daichi, and to avoid revealing his blushing face he reached down to pick up his police hat.
"My name is Sugawara Koushi. Thank you so much for finding him. Hinata and many of the other kids I work with are…explorers in nature."
His name, I know his name! How many times had Daichi hoped, wondered, pined for this opportunity?
"It's not a problem," he responded, his voice gruff from his nerves. "It's just… part of the job."
Sugawara chuckled. "I suppose it is. And your name is…?"
"D—Daichi! Daichi Sawamura." He was so flustered that his voice sounded foreign to him. Calm down and keep it together, he thought. Despite this, his heart hammered in his chest.
"Is there anything I can do as thanks?" Sugawara asked, hitching Hinata up on his hip. "I have to get back in there, but—"
"After work," Daichi interrupted, his cheeks pink. "Please—go on a date with me."
He whispered the last part, putting his hat on and lowering the brim over his eyes. Now you've done it. You definitely scared him away.
Shock filled those silver eyes and Sugawara flushed. "A—a date?!" he repeated, barely believing the words. Daichi nodded.
"I—well, yes, I suppose I can treat you—"
"No, I can cover it. We can go wherever you like."
"Date! Date! Date!" the young boy chirped at Sugawara's side.
"Ehm, I'm sorry, this is so sudden…"
Daichi's eyes were cast downward, unable to look at the open face before him, innocently contemplating the outrageous request. He's too nice, Daichi thought.
"If you don't want to, just say so. I really shouldn't have said anything."
"No!" Sugawara interjected with more force than Daichi expected. "Tonight at seven. Meet me in front of Iwa's Italian. The place on Front Street?"
Daichi's eyes were wide, his mouth taut with seriousness. He nodded stiffly. "I'll be there."
Sugawara's smile was terribly genuine, his eyes crinkling and teeth flashing. Daichi's chest flooded with longing.
"See you then!" The man with silver hair headed back inside. Daichi stood, dumbfounded and eager, on the sidewalk. He'd have a heart attack before the day was through.
PAGE BREAK
"Hello?"
Sugawara answered his cell absentmindedly as he packed up paint sets and picture books, nervous for the night ahead. A brown pair of honest eyes was burned into his memory.
A scream filled his ear.
Dropping an armful of wooden blocks and frantically holding the phone away from his face, it took a moment to discern whom he was talking to.
"Madoka…?" he asked, wary of more screams that could potentially lead to his deafness.
"SUGA!" the woman yelled on the other end of the phone, clearly in a panic. He could hear banging and rattling on the other end of the line. "I need your help!"
Sugawara sighed and continued to pick up the blocks that had fallen. "What happened?"
"I have a HUGE business presentation in the city tonight and I was supposed to leave ten minutes ago, but my sitter canceled at the least minute! Can you please, PLEASE come watch the girls? Yachi is throwing a fit and Kiyoko's mother will be over soon to drop her off, they were supposed to have a sleepover and play date this weekend, I can't believe she canceled—I'm going to miss the train—" there were more thuds and groans from Madoka and Sugawara sighed.
"I have a date tonight."
The commotion on the other end of the line stopped.
"With who?" Madoka sounded surprised, her tone almost defensive.
"Do you remember that police officer you pointed out to me at Iwa's, the one you graduated with?"
"You asked him out?!" she screeched, forever absorbed in her matchmaking endeavors.
"No, actually, he asked me out after saving a playground escapee," Sugawara said. "I don't think he knew you talked to me about him. I don't think he knew who I was before I introduced myself."
"What a small world," she said in awe. "I never mentioned you to him. He's too shy to take initiative."
He did today, Sugawara thought dryly. Clumsily.
"Well, since I know the guy, why don't you just invite him over here? Bake cookies, make out after you put the kids to sleep—"
"We're not going to make out!" Sugawara denied, a blush creeping into his face at the thought. "I don't even know him."
"You know more about him than he realizes," Madoka said slyly.
"I don't have his phone number."
"I'll text it to you."
"Fine. I'll be there as soon as I close up."
"You're the best Suga!"
"And how am I going to explain how I got his number?"
But there was nothing but dial tone in Sugawara's ear.
PAGE BREAK
Daichi's phone buzzed as he hopped out of the shower, a towel wrapped snugly around his waist. An unknown number had texted him:
Hi, it's Sugawara. I was asked to babysit for a friend last minute and was wondering if you would join me. She said it was okay.
Almost immediately after reading, pondering how on earth Sugawara had gotten his number, Daichi received another text.
Madoka: if u dont go tonight ill kill u
Daichi frowned, trying to piece together what was happening. Sugawara knows Madoka? he wondered. It was the only explanation. He texted the both of them back; an agreement to Sugawara and an interrogation to Madoka.
Sighing, he padded to his bedroom and reevaluated what he would wear, scratching at the scruff on his chin and wondering if he should have shaved. Sugawara had responded with an address, not that Daichi needed it. Madoka had been a long-time friend of his, and they both went to college together. She was a lawyer and single mother, having served the divorce papers herself. That woman was a force to be reckoned with.
Inviting me over must have been her idea, Daichi thought. Otherwise he would have just cancelled.
He headed over to Madoka's, his heart thumping wildly the closer he got to her place. She lived in a luxury apartment complex, her daughter only two or three years old. Parking behind the building, Daichi locked up his two-door truck and headed inside, jamming the button to Madoka's floor nervously in the elevator.
He stood in front of her apartment for a moment, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. A crash on the other side of the door prompted him to barge in without knocking.
"Sugawara?"
The childcare worker was holding two struggling children, his eyes wide and frantic as he stood in Madoka's immaculate kitchen. Everything was enormous and stainless steel. The modern apartment wasn't very child-friendly, what with the furniture's sharp corners and the fragility of the decorations.
Daichi strode it, shutting the door and clearing his throat nervously as he made his way to the kitchen. He threw his peacoat over the back of a dining room chair and took off his shoes, padding over to see what had happened.
"Yachi knocked it over while I was trying to get them in their high chairs," Sugawara sighed, nodding towards a broken bowl on the floor.
"She's as feisty as her mother," Daichi chuckled, heading for a closet to root around for a dustpan and broom. The strawberry blonde toddler was whining for food, tugging at Sugawara's over-sized sweater, pushed up to his elbows and dwarfing his jeans. Kiyoko was a quiet girl in comparison—yet the two were inseparable.
"You should be careful until I sweep up the glass," Daichi said, heading back to the kitchen and hunching over the mess.
He's so much taller than me, Sugawara thought, stepping out of the way and staring at the broad back that was cleaning up for him, his face flushed. And… bigger.
Daichi dumped the little shards into the trash and picked up a larger piece with his hands. "Ah!" he winced, the edge of the glass cutting his finger as he tossed it away. He stuck his pointer in his mouth immediately.
Sugawara paled. "Don't do that!" he chastised, putting the girls in their high chairs and running to grab his bag from the living room. It was a huge, quilted number, something that teachers or mothers carried around with them. Daichi smiled, his finger still in his mouth.
Sugawara brought a first-air kit to the counter and whipped out Band-Aids and antibiotic ointment. He held out his hand in a demanding manor, his eyes sharp on Daichi's. The police officer held out his hand hesitantly.
"There are so many germs in a person's mouth," Sugawara muttered, applying the ointment and carefully wrapping a Band-Aid around Daichi's finger. "Honestly."
Daichi roared with laughter, jumping Sugawara and the girls, who had been watching them expectantly. "You're like a mother hen!" he laughed, and Sugawara released his hand to pout.
"Well, it's true!" he retorted, flustered from the man laughing in his face. Then Daichi looked at his bandaged finger with warmth that made Sugawara avert his eyes. He went to the fridge to get the girls' meals, which had been prepared by Madoka, putting them on their respective pink plates. A pout still lingered on his lips.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect you to be so forward." Daichi was chuckling.
"I work with kids," Sugawara said, "the most forward creatures in the world."
Daichi grabbed two chairs from the dining room and placed them in front of the high chairs, one facing the wrong way.
"That's true," he mused. "How long have you been working at that daycare?"
Sugawara's eyebrows shot up. This is a date, he thought. I should try and get to know him.
"The business runs in my family. I took it over after I graduated from high school." He looked at the chairs. "What are those for?"
"I thought we were feeding them?" Daichi questioned, straddling the one facing the wrong way, across from Yachi. The young girl yanked on his hair.
"FEED ME," she screamed, almost demonic in her demand, tears of frustration in her eyes.
I didn't think we would feed them together, Sugawara frowned. He was starting to think that Daichi was just a genuinely kind idiot.
"Do you hear that?" Daichi said in a playful manner, his hand at his ear. Yachi let go of his hair and sniffled. Sugawara was caught off guard by Daichi's play-voice.
"I hear yum yum!" Daichi said. He took Yachi's plate from Sugawara and winked, grabbing the spoon and making an airplane noise. "Brrrrrrrr Brrrrrrrummmmm," he rumbled, wiggling a mountain of peas in front of Yachi's face. The girl's eyes lit up. She chomped down on the spoon.
"Again! Again!" she yelled.
Sugawara flushed. He hadn't expected Daichi to be so good with kids.
"Incoming!" the police officer yelled. Yachi's head followed the spoon until he finally let her take the bite, teasing her. "Don't eat too fast, or you'll get a stomachache. Here, you try."
He handed the spoon to the small girl while Sugawara settled nervously next to Daichi. Their knees rested against each other and the back of Suga's neck prickled.
"My turn," Kiyoko pouted.
"Here we go!" Sugawara said. He didn't want to be outdone by the man at his side. He worked with kids, after all.
Soon, the kitchen was filled with squeals of delight and yelps of panic as food was played with, pushed away, and spoons were thrown. Sugawara and Daichi were laughing at the two fickle girls in their care.
It tells you a lot, Sugawara thought. The way someone interacts with kids.
Sugawara found himself hypnotized by Daichi's intoxicating smile, his sharp incisor flashing crookedly when he grinned at the toddlers. His skin was dark compared to Suga's, his hair thick and cropped short, yet still unruly. He wore a sweater that hugged his broad shoulders and Dorito-shaped torso (his figure was irritatingly perfect). The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing tanned forearms, smooth and strong.
"Sugaaa," Kiyoka whined, pulling at his huge purple sweater. A blush swooped over his face. How long have I been staring? he panicked, giving the child her bite, flustered. Calm down. You don't even know him.
But he did, a little bit, from Madoka. How he was the man of anyone's dreams, and happened to be gay. How you would never find anyone as caring, as idiotically sweet. Sugawara wondered if it was true.
Yachi was currently pinching the man's nose and giggling. The smile he gave the small girl, his eyes lidded with adoration, made Sugawara drop the spoon he was holding, his chest tight.
"D—dinner's over!" he announced. "Do you girls want to watch a movie?" Daichi looked at him in surprise.
"Yaaaay, Sailor Moon!" the two girls cried, wriggling in their chairs.
"Let's get you into pajamas!"
Sugawara lifted Kiyoko, while Daichi carried Yachi, and they both headed for the bedroom.
"Uh oh, someone's smelly," Daichi mused, the girl in his arms making his broad shoulders and chest seem that much larger to Sugawara. Daichi headed to the changing table in Yachi's room and got to work.
My first date with this guy and he is changing a diaper, Sugawara thought, bewildered. Daichi didn't waste any time cleaning the mess—in fact, he looked like a pro.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Sugawara asked in awe.
"My older brother had a kid and I babysat a lot when I was in high school. I am immune to stinky diapers. My nephew's were the worst." Daichi rummaged through a dresser to find pajamas for Yachi. He pulled out a onesie with purple dinosaurs on it.
"Is this okay?" he asked the little girl. She nodded fervently.
Sugawara was dressing Kiyoko—her mother had packed a bag for her.
"So, running daycare right out of high school. That must have been a lot of work," Daichi commented, letting Yachi try to dress herself. She fell over.
"Don't be condescending. You're just trying to be nice, even though I didn't go to college."
Daichi's eyes widened. "Not at all—I'm honestly really impressed. It must be hard work, managing a business and teaching the kids who go there."
Sugawara flushed. He hadn't meant to get defensive. With Daichi's deep, brown eyes on him, he couldn't help but feel the man was being sincere. Dammit. I've always had a thing for brown eyes.
Sugawara turned away, zipping up Kiyoko's onesie. It had a Jiji pattern on it, the black cat form Kiki's Delivery Service.
"Thank you," he said quietly. He paused. "What made you decide to be a police officer?"
Daichi had stood, Yachi on his shoulders, her hands mussing up his hair.
"Soft!" she yelled, yanking at it in a way that made him wince. Sugawara suddenly wished he were the one with his fingers in that hair.
"My dad had been on the force, and he always talked about how hard it was to find good cops who wouldn't get complacent and let things slip through the cracks. I just liked the idea of being in a profession where I could make things fair."
So innocent, Sugawara thought. Daichi didn't seem to be affected by the weight of the world—in fact, he gave off an aura that eased Sugawara's worries. Not that he had many; he was just a hesitant person in general, self-conscious about certain things—being gay, not having gone to college, and being thin and pale. He suddenly thought that he might be in over his head. Daichi's relaxed demeanor and solid gaze were unnerving.
They took the girls back to the living room, Yachi on Daichi's shoulders and Kiyoko wrapped around Sugawara's leg. Sugawara put the DVD in the player while Daichi set up their beds in front of the TV so they could have a "proper" sleepover. When the movie got rolling, Daichi followed Sugawara into the kitchen.
"I—I thought we could make cookies," Sugawara said shyly, rummaging through the cupboards to find the ingredients. "The girls are still kind of young for it, but they'll enjoy them."
Daichi smiled broadly. "Cookies are a great idea. What kind?"
"Chocolate-chip, naturally."
"Mmmmm," Daichi agreed. The low hum in his throat made Sugawara shiver as he pulled a mixing bowl from the highest shelf.
Luckily, the apartment was so open in its construction that the girls were easy to see from the kitchen—Sugawara kept glancing in their direction, still on edge from what happened with Hinata that morning.
"How do you know Madoka?" Sugawara asked, measuring out some brown sugar. "I need a cup of white sugar," he added.
Daichi grabbed a measuring cup and began to pour the sugar into it. "We went to college together," he said, his tongue sticking out with concentration. "Although she continued after I graduated, being a lawyer and all. But we got our bachelors together." He was about to pour the sugar into the mixing bowl when Sugawara yelped.
"WAIT!" He grabbed Daichi's forearm, the skin warm under his fingers. "You have to take the excess off with a spatula. Haven't you baked before?"
Daichi's eyebrows skyrocketed. "'Excess?'" he repeated.
Sugawara took the measuring cup from him and pulled a metal "spatula" from the utensil drawer. It wasn't like any spatula Daichi had seen—a long and flat metal implement with a rounded tip. Sugawara gently scraped the top of the measuring cup, pushing the small mountain of sugar into a flat plain, the excess falling into the bag.
Sugawara's face was fascinating when he concentrated; his eyes narrowed on the objective at hand, his fingers moving nimbly and with ease. They looked delicate, thin and long with oval nails, unlike Daichi's calloused ones, trimmed short. He flushed when Sugawara caught him staring.
"I—I didn't know you had to do that," he stammered, glancing at the girls to make sure they were out of trouble. Yachi was leaning into Kiyoko, snuggling with her friend. He smiled softly.
"Everyone who bakes knows that," Sugawara said. "I guess college doesn't teach you everything."
"Well, I've never made cookies from scratch before," Daichi retorted, frowning. "Now that I think of it, they should definitely teach you this in school. Chocolate-chip cookies are important."
Sugawara sniggered, mixing the first few ingredients together.
"How do you know Madoka?" Daichi asked. "Why did she give you my number?"
Sugawara tensed. "W—well, Yachi goes to my daycare, and I babysit here a lot on the weekends when she has business trips. So Madoka and I got kind of close."
"She tried to set you up with me, didn't she."
Sugawara jumped. "I need two cups of flower," he said instead of replying.
Daichi sighed. "Honestly. That woman is a devilish matchmaker." He grabbed the bag of flour. "It's unreal that we both happen to know her. She never mentioned you." He started packing flour into the measuring cup with the spatula.
"No!" Sugawara squealed, grabbing the spatula from his hands. "You have no idea what you're doing."
"My apologies, cookie connoisseur. Lead the way." Daichi's smirk, his playful brown eyes shining under the kitchen light, all emphasized with his hands on his hips, made Sugawara's heart hammer. He's so beautiful, Suga thought, and I bet he doesn't even know it.
"You can't pack the flour in. It's supposed to be loose."
"But you packed in the brown sugar," Daichi pointed out.
"That's different."
Daichi huffed. "Fine. But let me try."
It was endearing, watching him measure out the flour clumsily, scraping the excess off and completely missing the bag.
"So why did you ask me out then?" Sugawara asked. "I mean, if Madoka had never mentioned me."
Daichi blushed a deep shade of red that did not go unnoticed by Sugawara. He tore his eyes away only to check on the girls.
"I just… saw you one day on patrol. On the playground, covered in kids, laughing like a maniac. And I thought, 'that's someone I would go out with.'" Daichi ran a hand through his hair, unable to look at Sugawara. His next words were barely audible. "Someone who wants to bake chocolate-chip cookies on the first date."
Sugawara was speechless. He couldn't even conceive of how he'd made such a huge impression on the attractive police officer in front of him, one who made airplane noises to feed children, an expert diaper-changer, unabashed praiser, and cleaner-upper of broken dishes.
Sugawara stuttered, unable to reply. His elbow slipped on the counter, knocking the mixing bowl off of the edge.
Daichi saw the catastrophe waiting to happen and lunged for the bowl, catching it in his hands. His forearm, however, knocked into the bag of flower in front of him and tipped it over. A cloud of white rose in the kitchen.
Sugawara blinked. Then he broke out into hysterical laughter.
"Daichi," he giggled, holding on to his sides, "it's all over your hair!"
Daichi frowned, setting the mixing bowl on the counter, away from Sugawara. There was flour all over him, from head to toe; his navy sweater was covered, his socked feet spreading it all over the floor. "This is your fault," he muttered, stepping away from the mess, as if distancing himself from it would help keep it contained.
Sugawara smiled, his heart captured by this honest and innocent goofball. On impulse, he reached up to ruffle Daichi's hair, white with powder. The locks were soft, and that one action broke a barrier between the two of them, causing an avalanche. Daichi raised his hand, touched his palm against Sugawara's forearm, his fingers closing around it and running down the length of his skin, leaning in slowly. His eyes were lidded, and the soft brown under his eyelashes made Sugawara tremble. Sugawara's hand slipped from Daichi's hair to his jaw, drawing it closer, stubble rough under his fingertips.
Naturally, they kissed.
Sugawara tasted flour on his lips, reaching his other hand up to cup Daichi's face, his kisses soft and nervous against the police officer's mouth. Daichi wrapped his arms around Suga's waist, drawing him away from the counter and into his chest, into his personal space. His hands slid up Sugawara's back, who in turn ran his own hands through Daichi's hair again, eliciting a soft groan.
The kisses had deepened inordinately, Sugawara feeling light and out of control of his own body. Their hips were pressed together, flush and hot, and electricity ran through the both of them that they could not suppress. Sugawara had to break apart to catch his breath, but Daichi was greedy, unable to let go for even a moment. Sugawara took advantage of this and let his tongue part Daichi's lips. A quiet moan vibrated at the back of his throat and Sugawara trembled from it, gripping Daichi's hair.
The man moved from Suga's lips to his jaw, his ear, his neck. Sugawara was smothered by every part of him—his smell, his corded muscle, the embrace he had on his small body. Daichi planted kisses on his collarbone and he sighed.
"Huuuuuuuuuuge mess."
Sugawara and Daichi sprang apart. They were both out of breath, both flushed and panicked. Luckily, the two toddlers in front of them didn't seem to pick up on this.
"Cookies?" Yachi asked, noticing the greased baking pan and bag of chocolate chips, abandoned on the counter.
"Y—yeah, they'll be done soon," Sugawara breathed, trying to plaster a smile on his face.
"Yaaaay! Cookies!" Yachi yelled, pulling Kiyoko back to their sleeping bags in the living room.
The two men were alone in the kitchen again. Daichi cleared his throat.
"I'll clean up the flower if you'll finish the batter," he said, dusting himself off and finding the dustpan again. He got to work immediately, trying to keep his mind off of Sugawara's small waist, of his tongue—
"Sounds good," Sugawara breathed, his face still flushed. The measuring cup shook in his hands as he finished the batter. While Daichi wiped up the rest of the mess, Sugawara put the cookies in the oven.
"I thought you said that there were 'so many germs in a person's mouth,'" Daichi said, a crooked smile on his face.
"Shut up," Sugawara replied, red and unable to look at the man he'd just kissed in such an embarrassing way.
"Does this mean we'll have another date?" Daichi asked when the timer was set, the two of them standing awkwardly around the stove.
"Yes," Sugawara whispered. Daichi ruffled his silver hair.
"Maybe we can be alone next time." The grin Daichi gave Sugawara sent his stomach to his toes.
PAGE BREAK
"I'm home!" Madoka yelled as she walked through the front door the next night. "Sorry I'm late. How did yesterday's date go—"
She stood in the living room, paralyzed by the sight before her.
Sugawara and Daichi were on the floor, sleeping peacefully on a mass of blankets and pillows they must've set up for the girls. Yachi and Kiyoko were tangled up together on top of them, sleeping soundly.
I thought he was going to babysit with you yesterday, Madoka mused. Sugawara's head was on Daichi's chest, his leg thrown over Daichi's as well.
This could have happened sooner if you'd just listened to me, Suga.
She smiled as her two friends snuggled against the little toddlers, each with a hand on a child's back for comfort. It was a sight that warmed her heart.