Chapter 9
Daichi was not entirely convinced that the evening had even happened.
Maybe Suga had never showed up at the diner and Daichi had just been talking to himself the entire evening, indulging in delusions for his most impressive third wheel performance yet. That scenario had seemed just as likely as, if not more so, him actually having spent the evening with Suga, playing footsie under the table at his favorite bar. He had told him that Kageyama had never heard of footsies, and that he had been accused of making things up, and Daichi had immediately felt the need to step in an prove that Suga was definitely not making things up.
On the way back to his car, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
From: Suga
I appreciate your gentlemanly manner and all, but, not gonna lie, I’ll be expecting a kiss on the cheek next time :P
Maybe it hadn't been a dream. Daichi smiled into his phone and read the message aloud so that he could hear it with his own ears. Next time, huh?
There was a next time, and a time after that, and even a time after that. They had walked arm and arm through the city streets, drank coffee and tried new noodle bars and window shopped and seen movies and visited shrines and pointed out constellations in the sky.
Suga also came to Sports World to visit him and make Hinata jealous. Not on purpose, he always said with a sly grin, and more often than not the visits ended up with them meeting Kageyama for food and drink and Daichi scolding the three of them like overly excited children on a field trip, echoing their first outing. Eventually, these outings included more people, and Daichi met Asahi properly, witnessed Noya and Tanaka chug beers faster than he thought humanly possible, shook hands with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, and fidgeted nervously in the face of Kiyoko’s beauty as she held hands with Yachi.
They spent a lot of time with other people, but, sometimes, it was the just the two of them, and Daichi selfishly admitted that those times were his favorite. He listened to Suga talk and tried his damnedest to understand how Suga, the most interesting man he had ever met, always had a million questions for him and how he seemed to soak up Daichi’s answers faster than he could spill them.
When Suga had found out that Daichi’s favorite sport was volleyball, and he had played volleyball in high school and in college, he had insisted that they play together. So, the very next time they were both free, Daichi had taught Suga what he knew. When he started going back to the gym on a regular basis, Suga had asked, with practiced innocence, hey, can you bench me sometime? Daichi had said he couldn’t, but asked if Suga would like to join the community volleyball league with him? The answer was a resounding yes and they signed up the next day.
The months went by and it got colder, so their outings became less public and more private, and, again, Daichi selfishly admitted that he preferred it. He had invited Suga over to his apartment for the first time to watch movies. Daichi had figured it would be a good excuse for them to sit close on his couch and for him to make a move, but Suga had brought over a movie about a child who turned out to be a demon and Daichi hid behind Suga in the most undignified manner imaginable. So, instead of making a move that night, he had sent Suga off in an embarrassed hurry and spent the rest of the night under at least four blankets with his hands over his ears.
When Suga had invited Daichi over his own place for the first time, Daichi felt like the heavens had opened up and swallowed him whole. He poured over the posters and outlines and scraps of paper tacked up on the walls. Suga joked that it made him look like a serial killer, and Daichi was a little disturbed by how elated he seemed at the thought.
Occasionally, Daichi had asked whether or not he had been working on anything, but Suga never give him a direct answer. I’ll tell you when it’s ready, he said.
One weekend, they went out for drinks with Kiyoko and Yachi. After Daichi’s initial embarrassment of stuttering every time he tried to speak to Kiyoko while Suga giggled at his expense, they started talking about the idea of an anthology. Yachi asked Suga if he thought Kageyama would be willing to submit something to help sales. Suga was keen on the idea, but Daichi wondered why they didn’t ask him, or if they asked him and he refused. He leaned toward Suga and kissed him on the side of the head, making Yachi blush.
When he got sick of Daichi asking, Suga told him he should read Kageyama’s books, and see Yamaguchi’s lineart, and Yachi’s coloring, so Daichi looked them all up and inhaled what he could find. Hinata had been a little miffed that Suga had been the one to convince him to read Kageyama’s books, not him, but it didn’t last long, not when he could drag Daichi into his conversations as an active participant.
On one of Suga's many mall visits, after they had gotten their meals at the food court, Suga squeezed on the bench next to him and poked him in the side. “Whatcha doing this weekend?”
Daichi took a big bite of salad and chewed thoughtfully. “Nothing other than our volleyball practice on Saturday morning.”
“No work?” Suga asked.
“Nope. I’m trying this new thing where I take weekends off to spend time with people I like.”
“Am I one of the lucky ones?”
Daichi squeezed Suga’s thigh under the table. “Do you have to ask?”
“Does that mean I can break into your house on Friday night, before you get home from work, and make you dinner?”
Daichi almost choked on the bit of lettuce he just swallowed. “I mean, you’re welcome any time, but last time you made me dinner, I couldn’t feel my tongue for days.”
Suga rolled his eyes. “It’s not my fault you’re weak.” Daichi glared at him out of the corner of his eye and kept eating. “Okay, okay, I admit that my level of spicy could be misconstrued as a form of medieval torture. But I’ll make something you like. Please?”
“Suga, you don’t have to beg me to make me dinner,” Daichi joked. “Is there an occasion?”
“Ah,” Suga started, then stopped, and Daichi put down his fork to turn and look at him. “There is something I want to tell you.”
Daichi thought his stomach might drop through the floor. “Should I be worried?”
“No! If anything, you should be excited. I am,” Suga added with a warm smile.
“If you’re sure,” Daichi said, his voice laced with a mixture of curiosity and low-level anxiety. He was about to ask more when they were interrupted.
Michimiya dropped her tray on the table, across from them. “Hey stranger!” She greeted Daichi and squinted at Suga. “It's you again! Remind me of your name?”
Suga repeated his name and Daichi added the title they had agreed upon almost immediately after they started dating. “Suga’s my boyfriend, Mich. You've met dozens of times at this point."
Her eyes lit up like she had just won the lottery. “Right! Suga, Daichi's boyfriend, it's nice to see you again!” She took a long sip of her smoothie. "This must be a record for you, Daichi."
Daichi begged her with his eyes not to say anything else, but she just shrugged. Suga noticed the exchange, observant as ever. “Am I missing something?”
“No,” Daichi answered quickly, with the hope that the conversation would end there. He should've known better.
“Not really,” Michimiya hummed. “But I don’t think Daichi’s had an actual boyfriend in the last three years. Not that he couldn’t, I mean, you know, look at him, but he kinda just screws them and leaves them. So I’m surprised is all. I mean, it’s a good thing!” She added when she saw Daichi with his head in his hands. “Guess you're his excuse for not coming out with me anymore, though” she pouted.
Suga ignored most of the comment and slapped Daichi lightly. “You use me as an excuse to not go out?” He directed his attention to Michimiya. “Next time you want to go out, we’re definitely joining you!”
Michimiya clapped her hands and bounced in her seat. “Yay. And if you’re there, he can’t yell at me for making out with someone next to him and he won’t disappear with random guys into the bathroom!”
“He definitely won’t yell at you,” Suga reassured her, “and if he decides to go into the bathroom with random guys, we can forget him and have our own fun.”
Daichi shot up. “Hey!”
Michimiya and Suga laughed and talked excitedly for the rest of lunch, and Daichi was more than happy to announce that his time was up and that they had to leave. Suga gave MIchimiya his number and Daichi had to pull him out of her arms.
On the way to the escalator, Suga pulled Daichi into one of the service hallways and kissed him. When he pulled away, he didn't say anything, just looked at Daichi with soft, analyzing eyes. Daichi pushed a strand of silver hair behind Suga’s ear. “What was that for?”
“I need an excuse to kiss you?"
Daichi kissed the corner of Suga's mouth. “Never. Hey, I’m sorry for,” Daichi started to apologize, but Suga put his hand to Daichi’s mouth.
“Not sure what you were apologizing for, but you don’t have to. It’s just,” Suga bit his lip, “the part about you having sex with people and being done with them. That’s fine,” he emphasized, “but we haven’t had sex yet and I just want to make sure that you're not waiting to break up with me.”
Daichi thought back. Sure, he had fantasized about having sex with Suga since the moment he saw him, but, for some reason, when he was with Suga, even when they were making out on his couch and hands were everywhere, he was always content and sometimes even surprised, still, after all those months, that he was so lucky. “I guess it used to be important to me because that’s what I thought being in a relationship meant, like sex was the be all end all, or the goal, or something.” He took Suga’s hand and kissed his fingers. “Honestly, I'm just happy to be with you.”
“You’re such a sap,” Suga chided, though his face was bright red and he was grinning.
“Only sometimes.” Daichi checked the time on his phone. “I should really go before Tanaka causes irreparable damage.”
“Okay. Just,” Suga leaned into Daichi for a hug. “I like you a lot.”
Daichi wrapped his arms arm Suga's waist. “I like you too," he whispered. "Now no more stupid talk about breaking up.”
Suga laughed and pulled Daichi out of the hallway and toward the down escalators. “So we’re definitely on for Friday?”
“Of course,” Daichi scoffed.
That Friday, Hinata came running into the store ten minutes after his shift was supposed to start and ran straight into Daichi.
“Daichi! Remember that anthology you told me about ages ago, the one that Yachi was hoping to put together?”
He lifted his hand to point at the clock. “Hinata, go punch in. You're late.”
“I will in just a second! But do you remember?” Daichi nodded slowly. “Well, first of all, they set a date for it to be published!”
“That’s great,” Daichi said. “Now go-”
Hinata grabbed Daichi’s arms. “I’m not done! Kageyama told me he was going to submit something, but he just told me today that he submitted something that we’ve been working on together, which means I’m being published in an actual book for the first time ever!”
Daichi looked at Hinata and thought of all the years they spent together, how he would come in with bags under his eyes and new sketchbooks full of ideas, how he would talk and talk and never once lost hope that his time would come if he worked for it, and how it was finally happening for him.
“We’re going out tonight to celebrate! Right after work! You’re coming, right?” Hinata asked with sparkling eyes.
“I wouldn’t miss it. Now go punch in so we can actually get some work done today.”
“Right-o, captain!” Hinata sang.
Something nagged at Daichi throughout the day, but he was caught up in Hinata's emotional whirlwind until they closed the store, when he checked his phone on the way to the parking lot.
From: Suga
Just pulling broth off the stove. Figured we’d eat and chat and then head out to celebrate the great news? Kageyama told me this morning!
Fuck. Dinner with Suga. The dinner that Suga had been reminding him about all week. He typed a response as quickly as he could while walked through the parking lot to meet Tanaka, Noya, and Hinata at his car.
To: Suga
Kind of promised I’d give the mall people a ride to the bar, which includes one of the guests of honor. Rain check? Meet us at the bar?
It took a couple minutes for Suga to reply. Daichi held his breath for most of it.
From: Suga
Right. See you there!
He exhaled slowly, unsure of what to make of the reply.
The bar was packed when they arrived, and Daichi immediately spotted Suga talking quietly to Kageyama, who seemed to be less than pleased despite the happy news. Daichi supposed that he had enough published already that something this small wasn't that big a deal, but when he got closer, he noticed the air shift uncomfortably. Suga smiled at him, but Kageyama just glared until Suga elbowed him in the side hard enough to knock him off balance. Daichi took his place by Suga's side, handed him his beer, and they joined the celebration.
All in all, Daichi thought it was a good evening. He and Suga made rounds and congratulated the artists. There were toasts and speeches and jokes. He had even seen Tsukishima and Kageyama nod at each other over a beer. Suga didn't believe him, but he knew what he saw.
As the party wound down, Suga excused himself and Daichi helped Asahi move empty glasses to the bar.
“Have fun tonight?” Daichi asked.
“Definitely. I’m a little worried about all the work we have ahead of us, but it’ll be great. Really great,” Asahi said with a nod. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Daichi. “You have fun?”
“Oh yeah. I’m just really happy for everyone. Hinata’s worked hard for this moment.”
Asahi hummed in agreement. “And I didn’t even get the chance to congratulate Suga properly. Noya begged him to let us say something tonight, but you know how he is. He thought it might take away from everyone else.”
Daichi looked at him in confusion. “Say something about what?”
“Did he not tell you? Oh god, I’m so sorry, I just assumed, because Suga said that he was going to tell you over dinner tonight?”
“Tell me what?” Daichi asked sharply.
“Uhh,” Asahi ran his hands through his hair and looked everywhere other than Daichi. He now understood why Suga wanted to punch him all the time. “So, Suga’s been working on a new book for years, or was, but he had stopped and we kind of thought the book was dead. Then, after the con, he picked it back up again and managed to finish it. He wanted us to give it a read through, and I think he was going to ask you to do the same before he submitted it to publishers. It’s a big deal for him.”
Daichi swallowed hard.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m an idiot,” Daichi answered under his breath.