Golden (Sugawara Koushi x Reader)

Patience

The whole way back home was spent with her mulling over her thoughts. What could he have to say to her that he couldn't tell her then?

She tried not to jump to conclusions, maybe it was nothing that important...

She had been about to tell him she loved him the night before. The way he looked at her and how he held her... was she too hopeful to think that he returned her feelings? She saw signs there, but being as she was, she didn't like assuming things from people, despite having known Suga since they were both barely out of diapers.

As she walked into her house, she took her shoes off and put on her flippers, quickly greeting her mother in the garden and informing her of the team's victory before making her way to the living room and making a straight-line for the piano to try to make her nerves go down.

She opened the top of it, quickly starting to play a tune that could transmit the way she felt at the moment. Both tranquil, yet excited, charged with electricity like the calm before a storm.

Her fingers quickly travelled through the keys, enveloping her in a melody that made her feel like the air finally cleared up. She closed her eyes, pouring all her emotions into the song as she played one song after the other.

She didn't even hear the doorbell ring, nor the footsteps as her mother went to open the door and welcomed the visitor.

She finished playing and was startled when she heard a soft round of applause from behind her.

There he was, in all his golden glory. Suga was still wearing the black tracksuit -she had returned his jacket early that same morning before he left for the game-, his hair still slightly disheveled from the arduous match and everything that happened in the day. He was leaning against the frame of the door, his bag slung across his shoulders as he crossed his arms in front of his chest with his characteristically warm smile.

It took everything in her not to run up to him and kiss him right then.

"Perfect" he whispered, and even knowing that he meant the song she had just played, she couldn't help but blush at the underlying affection he put into the word. Almost as if he meant it for her as well.

She stood up from the bench and walked over to where he was standing.

"What did you want to tell me?" she asked abruptly and he chuckled at her. She could see a small blush creep up to his cheeks and her heart nearly stopped as he leaned in to grab a hold of her hand.

He had done that so many times lately, they both had. They had always been affectionate towards each other. But the past couple of months those small touches, charged with so much affection and emotions had become so much more intense. She looked down as he intertwined their fingers, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand.

Patience, she thought, he'll speak when he's ready. She tried to tell herself that but her heart was racing and it felt like everything was happening too quickly and not quickly enough at the same time.

He took a deep breath in, closing his eyes and his lips quivered slightly. Her eyes fixated on the beauty mark under his left eye and more than ever, she felt the strong urge to press a kiss into it.

"I love you" he breathed out and now the world truly screeched to a halt for her as she gaped at him.

She had definitely not been expecting that. Or had she? She wasn't sure anymore and so she stood there frozen, unable to voice the many thoughts racing through her head.

"I- I" she stuttered and watched as his face turned comically red.

"I- you don't need to say anything back" he quickly continued, pulling his hand from hers to shyly rub the back of his head as he looked anywhere but at her, "I just really wanted you to know, I've felt this way for a long time and I-"

Since her voice failed her, she decided that her best option to quiet down his words and his anxiety was to simply put her hands on his cheeks, pulling him down and pressing her lips against his in a searing kiss.

Now it was his turn to stand there frozen and his hands fell to his sides as he tried to comprehend what was happening. The soft sigh that left her lips shook him, then, and he finally put one hand on her lower back, the other coming up to tangle into her hair as he held her there, reciprocating the kiss softly.

Heaven could've been filled with gold and sweet clouds and he would've pushed it aside for the feeling of her lips against his as they continued the kiss.

Air ran short, though, and they had to separate their lips, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he brought both his arms around her waist to hold her close.

"In case that wasn't clear enough," she smirked at him, her cheeks were flushed and he brought a hand up to cup one side of her face, feeling the warmth of her skin under his fingers, "I love you too, Kou"

Months passed after that and things didn't change too much between them.

As so many people -their parents, Daichi and even Asahi- so kindly and discretely pointed out, they had already been together, the only two idiots who didn't realize it were just themselves.

The biggest change was that they now would unabashedly stare at each other with a lovesick gaze that had everyone asking for insulin, lest they die of a saccharine overdose.

December came and went and as Nationals approached, so did the appointment she had secured with the board of admissions at TCM. Being that the program she was applying for was mostly practical, she'd have to audition to earn her spot. She'd be making the trip to Tokyo with the Volleyball team, since her audition fell between the dates of the matches and she'd also use that trip to go support them.

She had been trying to work on her compositions, but none convinced her fully. Until one afternoon, watching snowflakes falling down through the window of her living room while cuddling up to Suga for warmth, she jumped up.

"What's going on?" he asked confused and she quickly ushered him to stand up, guiding him towards the entrance.

"Go! I need to work on a song" she explained haphazardly and he just looked at her like she had gone crazy.

"And I can't be here for that? I've heard you play a million times before" he argued but she was already walking back to the living room, leaving him behind in a confused flurry as he chuckled at her antics and put on his shoes and coat to make his way back home.

Once she had the melody in her head she made quick work of writing down the notes, scratching down the ones that didn't sound perfect in her head.

She ended up siting in the bench in front of the piano, musical sheets all over her as she worked to perfect the tune.

"This is one of your most beautiful compositions, sweetheart" her father commented from the entrance as she finished touching up the last few notes.

Darkness had fallen outside a long time ago and she glanced up at the clock to realize that it was a little over midnight. She yawned and stretched her back and arms.

"Are you just now getting home?" she asked as she eyed his white coat. He sighed, nodding as he took off the coat and left his bag on the floor next to the couch. He plopped down, his fingers massaging the bridge of his nose. She sat down next to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Are you ready for Tokyo?" her father asked with a tired voice.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess" she said and she could feel him chuckle next to her.

"You'll do great things" he assured her and she blushed, "I know because I see the same look of determination in your eyes that I had when I was your age" he said and she could feel how proud he was, "of course, determination is not everything, even less so in the highly competitive path that you've chosen, but the fact that you're brave enough to jump into it and give it your all already makes me prouder than you could ever imagine"

"Thank you, dad" she said, for lack of any other words that she felt could be enough.

They stayed there in silence and before she realized it, they had both nodded off and fallen asleep on the couch. A similar picture to how they had done it when she was just a baby and he'd nurse her back to sleep during the nights.