orbs | sugawara koushi

Trees rustled against the warm afternoon breeze. It was quiet where you stood, patiently waiting underneath a big oak tree, save for the faint whispers of grasshoppers in the surrounding bushes along the path. It wasn’t unusual to see the sun setting in the far distance, colouring your surroundings a pastel orange layered on top of a deep fire red. A flock of birds passed by overhead, making you lazily look up as they swirled in the air and sung their happy songs like a group of sirens on shore. You tried your hardest not to fall asleep as the blinding rays of sunlight peeked over the edge of trees opposite of the road, heavy eyelids slowly making their way down to make your eyelashes powder against the soft skin of your cheeks.

‘‘Koushi…’’ you whined soft and slowly, as if reprimanding the boy in question.

You couldn’t remember exactly how long you had been waiting a little ways from the school gates, near the entrance of the local park, for a certain grey-haired boy to come from his volleyball practice. Normally you would’ve joined him, but the pounding against your temples you had to endure the whole day had you casually declining their offer to come and watch. You didn’t think you were able to endure the normally soothing shouts of ‘nice receive!’ and ‘don’t mind!’, so you decided to rest and relax under the oak tree you were then sitting. The same place where you had met the setter in middle school, during a game of hide and seek with your new class.

While you had given up long ago on looking at every pedestrian walking past in the hopes of it being the awaited boy, the sound of fast footsteps colliding with the pathed floor still had you slightly opening your eyes. Just enough to see the approaching form of the stunning Mr. Refreshing, as he was often called.

‘‘(Y/N)!’’

The sweet sound of his voice filled your extremely tired mind, somehow making a smile form on your lips. And even though his voice was the softest and most heart-warming sound you had ever heard, you couldn’t help but long for something else.

The panting boy stopped jogging as he came to stand in front of you, hands on his knees to help him regain his steady breathing. It had you silently chuckling, the dishevelled hair, the boy clad in his volleyball outfit, his bag and jacket thrown over his shoulder sloppily. You guessed he didn’t want to come any later than he already was and left in a hurry.

It was the moment you had been waiting for, the moment your eyes met his chocolaty brown ones and a warm feeling erupted in your stomach.

‘‘Ahh, Daichi got mad at the first years again, I’m really sorry!’’ Sugawara apologised, a small smile on his face as he looked down at you and held out his hand.

You swore that if it wasn’t for your natural reflex to take his hand to pull yourself up, you would’ve been staring up into those eyes for as long as possible. You blinked as he cocked his head at you cutely, unfortunately letting go of the hand he held in his.

You quickly replied, ‘‘I-It’s fine, Suga. You know I can’t get mad at you.’’

Now standing in front of Sugawara, you had the perfect view of his hazel orbs, the mole beneath his left eye and the upstanding lock of his hair somehow accentuating how stunning he looked in the afternoon sunset.

‘‘What do you mean, ‘my weakness’?’’

"Maybe I'll tell you later," Sugawara replied, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

He started walking ahead down the empty street and you naturally followed, albeit being a little slow as the pounding in your head became worse with fast movements. Sugawara slowed down a bit, allowing you to walk beside him instead of behind him like a lost puppy. Occasional touches of your arms had you bashfully putting distance between you again and you were glad he didn’t notice your face as it gradually started to warm up. You continued walking slowly.

‘‘But I am sorry for making you wait today,’’ he softly broke the silence. 

You smiled, ‘‘Is that going to nag at you till I tell you it’s okay?’’

‘‘Uhh… Yes,’’ Sugawara hesitated but quickly gave in to your observant personality. 

‘‘It’s okay, I don’t mind waiting for you,’’ you spoke softly, the fatigue taking over as you looked briefly at your best friend.

Your head and limbs swayed softly from side to side, your bag dragging you down like it weighed a ton. Anyone walking by would probably think the apocalypse had started, because you had to admit, today was not your best day and you looked like a walking zombie.

‘‘You’re basically sleepwalking, (Y/N),’’ Sugawara laughed softly at your bent-over form. 

You pouted at his comment, ‘‘If you didn’t notice, I’m kinda tired…''

‘‘Come here then,’’ he cooed, suddenly looping his left arm around your waist as he gently let you rest your head on his shoulder.

The feeling of Sugawara’s relatively hesitant hand on your waist gave off the same burning sensation like any other time you came into contact with his lovely pale, white skin. Inhaling his scent made you chuckle to yourself, because even if he had practiced hours long, he still managed to give off his distinct ‘Suga’ smell, as you usually called it.

‘‘You make really small steps, (Y/N),’ he commented, looking down at both pair of feet and the distance between each step. 

With your eyes closed, you nudged his shoulder like a child, ‘‘You just have long limbs, Koushi.’’

‘‘Well, it comes in handy, being a setter and all,’’ he retorted confidently, but let out a sigh, ‘‘But I’m not that tall, most of our underclassmen are taller than me.’’

‘‘Which is completely fine by the way, boop.’’

You poked his arm while saying that and he just poked you back, thanking you for trying to ease his concern.

The both of you knew that the playful, gentle gesture was a precious memory only you two knew of. It was of the time after the hide and seek game you got to know him, where you poked the mole beneath his left eye with your pointer finger and made a robotic ‘boop’ sound, which was quite surprising for the little boy. He didn’t know for the life of him what to do when you poked him and told him his eyes were pretty, so he just went and poked you back, which resulted in a playful poking-slash-tickle fight on the playground.

Ever since, you had the habit of poking each other at random times. Just like now, when the cherished, silly moments together were only very short. You couldn't but help but think you were glad it was him you fell in love with.

You two kept walking like that, you trying to stay awake as the delicate touches of Sugawara’s hand on your waist lulled you softly to sleep, until you could see the familiar crossing you usually parted ways.

Upon trying to tell him he could let go of you now, Sugawara refused and smiled down at you. He locked gazes with you as you almost voluntarily stepped into the well-known heavens that were his eyes. His smile wavered for a second upon realising just how close your face was to his.

‘‘You don’t have to walk me home, Suga.’’ 

‘‘B-But I want to.’’

''It’s really okay, and I’m sure you’re pretty tired from practice,’’ you jokingly shook your head in disapproval. 

He shook his head right back at you, ‘‘Not really. Plus, I have to make sure you don’t fall asleep halfway there.’’

‘‘You know my house is like a block away,’’ you objected, ‘‘Besides, your sweaty smell woke me up enough.’’

Sugawara slowly came to a halt and let out a soft laugh. You cocked your head to the side, coming to stand in front of him to ask what’s wrong.

Sugawara looked away, bashfully scratching his neck, ‘‘I actually hoped you would understand I want to spend more time with you.’’

‘‘O-Oh,’’ you breathed out, a little taken aback, ‘‘O-Okay. That’s fine.’’

Walking side by side again, you passed the crossing and the notorious playground filled with memories. The playful sanctuary was rather empty for a Friday afternoon, but the squeaking of the mechanics’ metal as the few kids played about, still gave off a nostalgic feeling. You both couldn’t help but look as you walked past, briefly glancing at each other and smiling at the way you used to do the same thing as those kids.

‘‘Well,’’ you spoke, pointing at your house on the corner of the street, ‘‘This is my stop. Thanks, Kou-!’’

Without warning, Sugawara had grabbed your wrist and dragged you behind him as he quickly ran to the end of the street, out of sight from your house.

‘‘S-Suga?!’’

He laughed nervously before turning to you, ‘‘Ahh, I thought it was a little embarrassing to do this in front of your house, ya know. Well, it’s embarrassing anyway and it’s not exactly going as I planned, since practice ran late and I don’t know how to do this and now I’m still talking and-"

‘‘Suga, don’t go into that mode where you overthink everything,’’ you gave him a reassuring grin, your interest peaking at what he was up to now. You couldn’t resist the urge to look into those lovely eyes of his, those irresistible eyes of his, those eyes that made time lose its presence around you.

‘‘Sorry, I tend to do that, hehe,’’ he apologised, seemingly nervous.

''(Y/N)…''

Sugawara stepped closer to you. Now that you were this close and slightly looking up at him, straight into those beautifully coloured eyes, your arms subconsciously reached out to hold onto his wrists before he could make your knees give out beneath you.

‘‘I really like you.’’

The way his hands slid down to your own, holding you up as he almost purposely leaned in closer to shorten the distance of your gaze. The squeeze of his hands making you realise his words meant so much more than anyone else’s could have.

''I like to think I know you better than anyone, since we’ve been friends for so long…''

He smiled gently.

‘‘But I want to know you even better than that, even more intimately than that.''



Your surroundings got drowned out, his smooth voice the only thing filling your head, the pounding from earlier even more painful than before. But this time it was different. This time it was the result of your breathing complicating and your stomach fluttering, looking into the beautiful face that held those stunning eyes as they were solely looking at you.

‘‘Would you like to go out with me?’’

It was that moment you slowly took your hands back, slightly startling the innocent grey-haired boy.


But instead you wrapped your arms around his waist and nuzzled into his chest, nodding your head as a response to his question.

‘‘Yes, you stupid Koushi.’’ You laughed, ‘‘Waiting till our last year of high school... Who do you think you are?’’

Sugawara laughed as his arms came up behind you, wrapping them tightly around your form. You had been this close before, but even this felt different. Now there was no real need for a reason to hold you close. The only objective Sugawara needed was the love he possessed for you and the love you reciprocated.

"I wanted to make sure you fell in love with me too, making use of your weakness.''

You gulped down the pit in your throat, ‘‘Will you tell me what my weakness is then?’’

Looking up at his face, you gazed into each other’s eyes. Your hands softly clawed at his back to keep you from falling as you lost yourself once more in those beautiful orbs.

He winked and smiled down at you.

‘‘It’s my eyes.’’