Since Sugawara's usually the 'Mom' of the team, I kinda like the idea of Sugawara being selfish and clingy when it comes to Daichi, who has no choice but to dote on him. So in this one, Sugawara's the one with a head start on his feelings as he tries to seduce Daichi. I think it'll be funnier from Daichi's view point, ne? c:


"If I was a girl, I'd date Daichi in a heartbeat."

This strange utterance that'd come out of Sugawara Koushi no less, invoked about a night's worth of barking laughter out of our underclassmen, Nishinoya and Tanaka. Asahi was skittishly looking from Sugawara and back to me, and Sugawara didn't look the least bit sorry.

They'd been playing silly games on this particular night during the Golden week training camp. They'd been asking each other a series of questions, including the timeless, 'If you were a girl, what guy would you fuck?' question. Sugawara looked at me with his usually warm smile, shrugging his shoulders as he fluffed up his futon. "It's just a joke, Daichi. Shh, Tanaka, Noya-kun; we need to quiet down, or Ukai'll make life more difficult for us." That was our second year of high school volleyball, where the original Coach Ukai was busy working our asses off, and attempting to drag this team from the dust. Midst the grueling, spartan training the Coach had demanded of us, it didn't seem like an odd thing that Suga and I got so close. It had always been the three second years; me, him, and Asahi. I didn't think anything about the offhanded joke.

At least, not until it really started making sense.

I remember our second year, after the game against Datekou. It'd been a traumatizing affair for the whole team, as advance after advance had been blocked by the seemingly impassible iron wall. The whole bus was in poor spirits, and since Coach Ukai collapsed prior, we didn't have any direction or hope. The third years didn't see a point in a losing team, so after the Spring high they'd quit on us. Probably the most awkward thing about the bus trip home was that we were still seated in pairs. Asahi and Noya refused to look at each other. Tanaka was consoling Ennoshita, those among the first years that'd quit when training was too tough, and came back only for Ukai to have been out of commission. We were all exhausted, and it wasn't helping our moods. I was worrying about each of my teammates, wondering how we were going to pull through all of this, and pissed off about my own mistakes during the game. I shared my seat with Sugawara, my arms folded across my chest, my head leaning back over the edge of the seat. We'd been all the way in the back as it were, and from what I could see, most if not all of the others had fallen asleep.

I had been giving Sugawara space to think, so during this rare time of silence between the team, I tilted my head to look over at him. He was staring out the window, and from the reflection I could see his look of longing and shame. He felt fully responsible; each of them did. My hand instinctively went to his shoulder, and I squeezed it, watching his face turn toward mine. The gesture was enough to make him tremble, and before I could react or pull away, Sugawara was grabbing at my jersey jacket, and burying his face into my shoulder. I couldn't push him off, the silent, breathy sobs that poured out of him were wrenching my heart pretty painfully. I wrapped my arm around him, letting him indulge until his form stopped quivering, and I could hear the sound of his even breathing. I held him there until I too fell asleep, comforted in the fact that I was able to calm Sugawara, and bring him even a shred of assurance as Captain.

I remember feeling a warm, firm pressure against my lips. It was enough to wake me up, and when I did, Sugawara's face was close to mine.

"We're home. We've gotta clean the gym." He pulled away and scooted past me, walking off the bus.

Did I imagine that feeling on my lips? Was I rubbing them in my sleep or something? I was too tired to think much about it, and Sugawara had played it off so nonchalantly that I started worrying about more important matters, like how I was going to keep the team together.

Asahi and Nishinoya had a fight, the first quitting the team entirely, and the latter being suspended from practice. We tried carrying on practice as per usual with our six remaining members, trying to keep confidence without our libero or our ace. We poured ourselves into hard work, with noticeable progress in Tanaka's attack, my defense, and in Sugawara a very keen ability to pick up on his teammate's well being, which directed his tosses and general game play.

"Suga," I stepped toward him in the club room, wrenching my shirt from my head and arms as I regarded him. He wore a hard to decipher smile, which faded as he looked at my body. "You're coming over to study, right? Tomorrow's Sunday, you can stay over," I suggested, watching his brown eyes dart up to mine, then seeing him break out into a happier smile. "You bet! I'll let my parents know, first." He was pulling out his phone and I was backing up a little, before going back to my side to change back into my uniform. He kept sending short glances in my direction to wait until I had finished changing before we were walking back to my place. My mother was happy to have him for dinner, so after studying and homework, we ate and chatted, before taking turns using the bath.

"Your turn," I called as I came in the room, ruffling the towel through my head as I sauntered in with a pair of comfortable sweats and a shirt on. Sugawara put down this month's new Jump magazine and stood, leaving the room with the set of pajamas I'd loaned him. I put away our things and the table we used to study, plopping onto the floor and leaning my back against the bed. Picking up Jump, I'd started skimming through it, before I'd been lulled into shallow sleep by the warmth from the bath, and the exhaustion from a long day. It wasn't too long after, felt like seconds to me, that I was feeling that familiar soft warmth on my lips. Eyelids snapped open, and the pressure backed off. I reached out and grabbed a thin wrist, dark eyes focusing on the red, unsure face of my teammate.

"D-Daichi," he rasped, looking down at the hand that was clutching his wrist, before his gaze darted toward my face. "Errh, I was just-h-helping you onto the bed. Mhm!"

I sighed, slowly putting the pieces together in my mind. "Suga, be honest. Are you...?" There was so much to ask him, but I didn't know where to start.

Sugawara looked conflicted, but at least he was shedding that fake, ditzy attitude. "I'm gay," he said it in a sigh, and it had me dropping his wrist. Well, there was one question answered. He rubbed his wrist, eyes cast toward the floor as I processed. "So then... you were just curious? And you wanted to try kissing a guy?" Why me? Why was he doing this to me of all people? And why wasn't I freaking out? ... Probably because we were such good friends. A kiss didn't hurt. I didn't exactly get it, and it made me wonder what other things he'd tried while I was asleep, but it wasn't a big deal to me.

At least, I cared about him more than I cared about being kissed by him.

"Well i... it wasn't out of curiosity. I know what I am... and what I want." He sat on his knees, hands in fists, scrunching up the baggy pajama bottoms I'd given him. "It's not like any guy would do it for me, you know." He was whispering, and his face looked so pained that I'd thought he'd cry. But he looked up at me, searching my eyes for some semblance of understanding. No, maybe he wanted to find reciprocation, or some sort of mutual desire.

"I like you, Daichi." He looked like he really didn't want to say it, every part of his body seemed to be rejecting it, and I didn't know why until he started to speak again, slow and broken sounding. "Do you... hate me?"

I wasn't as slow as him, and I gave a quick shake of my head. "I don't hate you. I don't really understand what you're feeling. But I can't hate you." Sugawara's shoulders slackened, and for a second I could've sworn there was some weight on it before. Sugawara looked incredibly happy for a split second, but he was soon crumbling into a swarm of tears, and his hands were rubbing over his tear stained cheeks, his trembling lips parting to let out quiet sobs of mirth. I couldn't handle girls when they were like this, did he really think I could handle him?! "K-Koushi, seriously, gimme a break here... you okay?" I reached out and started to pet his fluffy, pale hair, watching him bring his hands from his eyes to look at me. "I-I'm j-j-j... just happy y... y-you don't hate me," The poor guy was trembling, and leaning toward me. I rolled my eyes and used my other arm to pull him in close for comfort, my other hand still threaded through his soft tufts of hair. Heat was creeping up my neck as I could feel him staring at me, from his place at my chest. He looked to be calming down pretty fast, what with the way his features were glowing again. But he didn't have me fooled, I could feel his heart beating like crazy.

"If you're this nice to me, I'll just wanna kiss you again." Suga sniffled and stuffed his arms underneath mine, reaching for the back of my shirt to cling onto it. I tugged off my towel and set it to the side, my hands now on the ground for support. "It's fine..." I shrugged, looking away momentarily, his eyes blaring into me for clarification. "If it makes you feel better, just kiss me," I made it sound so nonchalant that it surprised even me. He grinned at me from down below, akin to his usual happy ones. "A kiss out of pity? I don't want something like that." He nuzzled into my shirt, being a general creep and sniffing. What was so good about my smell that had him burrowing as close to me as he possibly could?

"It's still a kiss." I remarked, watching as he deliberately pulled himself from my shirt, his hands falling past my sides and onto the floor, where he lifted himself up, his face nearing mine. "... If you insist, Da-i-chi-kuun." But I was only insisting because he still looked as if his heart was breaking.

This time, I was fully aware of his kiss. Instead of warm, his lips were burning against mine. His eyes were open, and mine were too, so I quickly snapped mine shut. His lips were pliant and soft, and after a few lingering seconds he was moving them against mine, brushing our cheeks together with each tilt of his head. It was then that Sugawara's tongue started prodding around my lips. 'Goddammit Suga. That's a little far, dontcha think?!' I thought to myself, one eyebrow twitching as I debated how far I should let him go. Why was I going so far for him? I should've nipped this in the bud, told him I wasn't interested in guys.

I opened my eyes and he was still watching me. His tongue was stubbornly lapping at my lips, his cheeks flustered and red. Parting my lips, I let him in, and got to see the way his expression gave in to the sweet bliss he was feeling, accompanied by a soft sound I never thought I'd hear coming from him. His hands crept closer to my sides until he'd placed them on my legs and was leaning his weight on them while he started frenching me. I'd never kissed before, it was certainly different having another guy's tongue in my mouth... but it was slow and sweet, and soon I was starting to kiss him back. Sugawara was trembling he was so happy, his eyes squinting shut as he moved even closer. He crawled up into my lap then, his softer hands cradling the sides of my face and sweeping into my hair. Sugawara was definitely getting into it, so lost in the moment he didn't even care about how he looked.

I tugged him away by the shoulders, the two of us attempting to catch our breaths as we stared at each other. "Did you hate it? Was it gross?" Sugawara asked in a bit of a daze, and I noticed a bead of drool dripping down from the corner of his mouth to his chin. I reached and swiped it off with my thumb, before rigidly shaking my head. "It's a little embarrassing... but it's not gross."

He sighed heavily, his hands slipping over my shoulders and joining at my back. "Thank God," he murmured, his face nestling into my nape. "I thought it'd be impossible," Sugawara's hot breath ghosted over my neck and goosebumps reared, making me shiver slightly. I held him there, unsure of what other kind of support I was supposed to be giving my gay friend. It didn't really feel like his sexuality changed things. Other than the whole kissing thing, and the crush. Practice would be normal, class would be normal, and walking home would be normal.

"Let's go to bed," I suggested, to which he pulled back and looked at me so excitedly that a laugh escaped me. "For sleep. I'm tired." He looked a little dejected, but nonetheless started crawling up into my bed. It looked like he wasn't even going to bother with the guest futon, which made me only slightly uncomfortable that we were going to share a bed. "You kiss me or do anything else to me in my sleep, I'll hit you," I promised as I moved to turn the lights, earning quick, urgent nods out of him. "No shenanigans, I promise. You're totally safe~" He was opening the covers, having made room for me on the bed, his hand patting my space. I joined him, and was immediately barraged by his body heat and limbs, which tangled with mine.

"... I'm really glad you're the one I like." He spoke quietly, before yawning and resting his head on my chest, adding a sweet, "Night night!" as if to save me from having to reply to such a thing. What was I supposed to say to something like that? Not that it was wrong of him to say. Nothing about this was wrong-his feelings were valid. I didn't understand them, but it didn't make them any less valid. I respected him. I liked him-a different version of 'like' from his own, I was sure. But enough so that kissing him really... it really wasn't such a bad thing.


I hate to cut it off there, but I figured I'd finish up this chapter and post it so I could work on more. Definitely looking forward to continuing this one, but with school we'll have to see how quickly I can get the next chapter up. Hope you enjoyed!