Yet another Suzume/Souta fic, this time touching on the kinda jealousy we saw from Suzume in the movie (when the shop keepers below Souta's apartment were commenting about him). Kinda wanted to flip it back on Souta.

Hope y'all enjoy!

The summer air was so nice, and experiencing her first summer in Tokyo, Suzume couldn't be more excited. She took a quick glance at her phone, seeing the text from Souta that told her he was on his way to meet her at the subway station.

Though they hadn't said it in so many words, they'd been seeing each other once in a while since Suzume moved to the city for university for the last few months. Now that they were on break for the semester, they'd decided to spend most of their time together, and Suzume couldn't have been more excited.

Uninterrupted time with the man she'd fallen head over heels for? She wasn't about to turn that down.

With a sense of urgency in her walk, she stepped off the train platform and started her way up the stairs to where she and Souta had agreed to meet up for the afternoon. As she came around a corner, trying to orient herself through the crowds of people, she looked around and managed to spot Souta… talking to a slightly older woman. She was maybe just a year or two older than him. She was beautiful, her lighter brown hair styled very neatly, and her outfit looking very professional and put together. Small, dainty pieces of jewelry accented her long neck and slender form, and overall, she looked like she'd stepped out of one of the billboards on the street.

Suzume paused mid-stride, and watched as the woman seemed to be laughing and making small hand gestures, eventually placing her hand on Souta's arm. He didn't seem too bothered by the motion, his usual sweet smile on his lips.

Suzume tried to not let it bother her, after all, maybe it was just a co-worker of his that he ran into and had a good relationship with. Or someone he knew from school?

The possibilities started to run through her mind unmitigated, and she felt a need to clutch her chest to soothe the pain she felt.

She almost didn't realize that Souta had been looking for, and managed to pull himself away from whoever that woman was to wave at Suzume, his welcoming smile beckoning her to join him.

After a few moments to steady herself, Suzume managed to force herself to move through the crowd towards him, and had noticed the woman now seemed to be gone. Souta came up to meet her halfway, and as he approached, opened his arms to her and hugged her, "Hey Suzume."

Suzume tried to ignore what had happened, wrapping her own arms around his midsection, but before she could stop herself, she asked against his chest, "Someone you know?"

Souta gave her a confused look, "Hm? What do you mean?"

Suzume looked up at him and clarified, "That woman… you were talking to…?"

A look of realization hit Souta, "Oh, yeah, she was one of my colleagues from the university. She was in the year ahead of me and she helped mentor me. We hadn't seen each other in a while, and we were just catching up while I was waiting."

Suzume's heart started to calm at that, "Oh, that's nice..."

Souta must've recognized the tone in her voice, "Suzume, you jealous?"

Her cheeks flushed uncontrollably, "Wha—!? Of course, not! What would I have to be jealous about?"

Souta grinned a little while chuckling at her bashfulness, "Trust me. There's nothing for you to worry about."

Suzume sighed, wanting to move on from this conversation, "I wasn't jealous… now can we please enjoy this beautiful day?"

With a nod of agreement, Souta directed them out of the station and to head to a café nearby. It had some pastries that Suzume had been wanting to try that had been all the rage on social media. Once they'd grabbed their treats, they headed to the nearby park and found a small spot to enjoy the sunny day.

Just as they set their things down, Souta patted his pocket and realized, "Hey, I think I forgot my wallet at the café. I'll be right back!"

Suzume nodded, getting a blanket set up while he went back to the café. While she was there, she started to scroll on her phone and didn't notice when someone came up to her, "Suzume?"

She looked up, and saw one of her former high school classmates, "Itsuki?"

"Hey! How's it going?" he asked while raising his hand as a greeting, "Didn't expect to see you in Tokyo."

She smiled as she stood up to greet him properly, "I'm good. Yeah, I moved here at the beginning of the new year. Just started at University of Tokyo this past semester."

Itsuki wasn't an unattractive guy. He'd definitely been someone Suzume could talk to on occasion, and her fellow female classmates had always shown more of an interest in him than she thought was casual; she just never saw him that way herself.

Growing up in a smaller town, Suzume knew people were always somewhat aware of everyone else's business, even if you didn't want to be.

"I always kinda figured you would've stayed closer to home. To be with your aunt?" he stated as they both sat down to catch up for a moment.

Suzume's cheeks flushed as she replied, "I had my reasons for wanting to come to Tokyo. Besides, she deserved to have her own freedom back. I bet she was counting the days to when I've leave the nest. She comes to visit every so often anyways, so it barely feels like I left home."

Itsuki laughed, "That makes sense. After hearing about how she ran all over Japan to find you that one time, I thought she'd never let you leave Kyushu again."

"Well, lucky for me, she actually gave her blessing," Suzume stated before asking, "How about you? What brings you here of all days?"

Itsuki pointed to a booth area that was happening not far away, "There's an event going on today that some friends and I wanted to see. I saw you from there and thought I'd come say hi. Did you want to maybe join us?"

Suzume smiled politely, "Thanks, but I have plans for the day."

Itsuki nodded, "No worries. We'll just be right over there if your plans change."

Suzume thanked him again before he got ready to stand, but before he got up, he paused and said, "You know, I always thought you were really cute when we went to school together."

His admission was so casual, Suzume though she must've misheard him, "Sorry?"

Itsuki smirked, "I said, I always thought you were cute."

The hot summer day started to somehow feel unbearably warm, as all she could manage to say was, "Oh…"

Itsuki didn't seem to be too thrown off, as he just said, "Hope to see you around sometime. Maybe we can go out? Catch up more?"

"Uh… actually, I'm kind of…" Suzume tried to start explaining, but cut herself off when she realized that while she was sure of her feelings for Souta, she wasn't sure where they currently stood with each other, and whether or not what they were was 'official'. She hesitated to call him her boyfriend, because they'd never really talked about it before.

But as continued her thoughts, she realized that didn't matter. She continued, "I actually already have feelings for someone else."

It was the truth, and she knew that she could say that without a doubt.

Itsuki just gave a small nod of understanding, "Well, whoever they are, they're very lucky."

Suzume gave a warm smile as he finally stood to take his leave, "I hope it works out for you, Suzume."

"Thanks, Ituski. See you around!" she replied politely as he left to head back to the event area with his friends.

Suzume smiled as she appreciated the small compliment he'd offered, and continued waiting patiently for Souta to return.

From the edge of the park's trees, Souta had watched the younger, handsome man who'd approached Suzume effortlessly and had managed to pull that glowing smile of hers from her lips.

It was odd. Souta had never felt this way before, and there was a pang of something in his chest he couldn't really articulate.

Seeing Suzume with someone else... someone who was attractive and seemed to make her happy — if only for a brief moment — made him wonder if this was how she'd felt every time a woman had expressed any kind of attraction to him.

Souta was no stranger to being complimented by people. He was somewhat aware of how his features made him stand out. In all honesty, he never paid it much mind, because he never had any intentions of taking it more seriously than just a compliment.

For him, the entirety of his life's focus had always been on two things; being a Closer and finishing his teaching degree. Romance had ever really played a part in his day to day existence… 'til he met Suzume.

His life had been completely turned around after that week they'd spent traveling Japan together and chasing after Daijin. His world suddenly got a lot wider, and she filled all of it.

While he knew of how he felt for Suzume, he had always wanted to wait to tell her; not only because she was still young when he'd realized it, but because he didn't want her to feel like she was obligated to reciprocate those feelings if she didn't feel that way.

Now that she was a little older and more independent, he had started to give it more consideration. But every time they saw each other on days like today, he could never fully bring himself to tell her how he felt. Instead, opting to enjoy the time they could just be together, even if it wasn't in a romantic context.

But seeing that interaction with that guy… something in him told him that he needed to make that jump, or else he could lose her. Suzume was an amazing person, and if he didn't say something, he didn't doubt there could be other people lined up to have the same opportunity. And he'd rather lose her because he was honest about his feelings for her, than lose her because he couldn't pull himself together to tell her and let the chance slip by. Suzume was everything to him, and now… he couldn't wait any longer to tell her.

Suzume started to wonder what was taking Souta so long, as she looked around. She got nervous, deciding maybe she should text him, ask if he was able to find his wallet okay. But before she could hit send, she heard footsteps in the grass come up from beside her and she saw Souta slowly walking back towards her, "Hey, I was getting worried. You find it okay?"

Souta nodded a bit absentmindedly as he'd totally forgotten about finding his wallet — which he did without issue at the café.

Suzume asked, "You okay? You look a little…?" she couldn't place the emotion, "Not like yourself. Did something happen?"

Souta came up and sat beside her on the blanket, her eyes fixated on him as he did so. He took a moment to think before he spoke, "Suzume…"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning to face him more fully.

As if by magic, Souta pulled a small, single stemed flower from out of nowhere — he'd picked it up from a nearby cart selling them in the park — and gently held it out for her to take.

Initially surprised by the gesture, Suzume could feel her heart beating a mile a minute as she looked from the flower back to his face. That was when she saw that his own cheeks were turning a little pink, even if he was trying to remain stoic, "Is this... for me?"

He nodded, and she reached out to carefully take the flower with both hands, holding it up to her face and smelling it sweetly, "Thank you, Souta."

She looked back at him and he clearly looked like he had something on his mind. She reached a hand out to his, which he accepted.

"Suzume, there's something I've wanted to tell you… for a while now," he started, his hand more securely holding hers as her attention remained squarely focused on him.

"It's been almost 2 years since we met… and every day, I'm so thankful to the gods that I found you and met you the way we did."

With every word, Suzume's heart pumped louder and harder.

"I know that… we've been seeing each other for a while now, and… I think it's important that you know."

He could see her eyes shine in the sunlight, a light sheen coming over them as if she were about to cry.

He took a breath, and with affection written all over his face, he told her, "I love you… Suzume Iwato."

Tears streamed down her cheeks as if of their own accord, and Suzume was unsure if she was dreaming. She breathed out his name softly, "Souta…"

He smiled, feeling the intense burden he'd been carrying lift off his shoulders, "I'd wanted to tell you that for so long now, and today… it just felt like it I just couldn't hold it in any longer. You're everything to me; you have been for a while now."

Suzume lowered her head, wiping away at the tears that betrayed her emotions and sniffling, hoping they would subside. When Souta remained quiet, she looked back up at him and with that ethereal smile that he dreamt of every night that saved him from the binding of the Keystone, she said, "I love you too, Souta… so much!"

His breath shuddered before she leaned into him and hugged him tightly, like he would vanish from her arms if she ever let go. His arms wrapped around her, his hand holding the back of her tenderly, as they just embraced one another, feeling every ounce of love they could muster.

After a few moments, they pulled apart, and Suzume laughed apologetically, "I was worried… that we might never get here."

Souta's brows knitted together in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I thought I would never have the guts to say it first… because as much as I knew how much I cared about you, I was never sure if you felt the same. And I didn't want you thinking I was just some kid who was infatuated with you… like everyone else is."

Souta shook his head, "You're nothing like anyone else I've ever met, Suzume. No one's ever made me feel the way you do."

Her heart warmed at that, joking, "Not even those women who work under your apartment?"

Souta laughed, remembering how Suzume had commented about how the shop keeper and associate that worked under his place had gushed over him when they thought he wasn't there, "As sweet as they are… no one compares to you. You're too beautiful for words, and you have a soul that matches it in spades."

Her face screwed together as she pushed his shoulder playfully as she tried to not let even more tears be shed, "Stop it! You're gonna make me cry again!"

Souta reached for her hand again, and brought it up to his lips as he kissed the back of it, saying, "I'll never stop telling you how amazing you are, Suzume. So… get used to it."

Just a quick one, but hope you all enjoyed it!

I need for Suzume/Souta goodness in my life, so I'll probably write some more if you guys enjoy them as well.

Until Next Time…