Akaashi's 18th (and the events that followed...)

7. Day Out

"Urgh Daichi... you set an alarm?"

"I set one every morning," Daichi explained with a yawn, hitting the snooze button on his phone. He tried to get up, but realised that there was a heavy and warm Suga draped on top of him, his pale arms dangling around his head like a halo, his cheek resting on Daichi's chest.

"Not for holidays?" Suga's face was incredulous, squinting from the white winter sunlight streaming through the gap in the curtains.

"Errrm. Yes?" Daichi could hear the uncertainty in his own words.

Suga rolled his eyes and shoved Daichi's head back onto the pillow. Daichi tried to stay awake, but the soothing breaths heating up his ear lured his brain back to bed.

Luckily, he had set a second alarm - Suga had nearly strangled him with a pillow in his distaste towards the harsh wakeup - and they managed to quickly get dressed and meet his mum on time to get breakfast.

The morning ran fairly smoothly. The seven of them went shopping, and Suga and Daichi bought something for Asahi for his birthday. Then, after Daichi had expressed concern over his mother not having any time to herself, Suga had volunteered them both to look after the children whilst she went to shop for herself.

Hina, Sakura, Reo and Sora had enjoyed it so much, especially when Suga and Daichi had treated them to some Gari Gari ice lollies from a corner shop as they walked around, handing the children tissues as the sticky juice dribbled from their mouths. And, after meeting back up with his more relaxed-looking mother, they had all stopped at a diner down a small alley on the outskirts for lunch.

At that moment, they were strolling around the city in the early afternoon sun.

"What did you have for dinner last night?" His mother asked conversationally.

"Bento," Daichi replied.

"Oh Sugawara, you brought two?" She beamed. "That's lovely, thank you."

"Two?" Daichi looked over at his mum.

"Yes, he gave the other to myself and the kids. It was delicious." She smiled at Suga, who returned the gesture. "You know," she continued, looking out at the pavement in front of them. "I always say Daichi has such a big appetite. Whoever he marries when he's older has to be a brilliant cook." She nudged Daichi's arm. "Who made the bento Suga, your mum?"

"Actually, I did."

Daichi hid his burning cheeks by feigning interest in the shop to his left. Hina and Sakura giggled at him. "You're such a good cook, Suga nii-san." Daichi glanced at them in alarm. "You could cook for Daichi nii-san!"

"I certainly could!" Suga grinned.

Daichi's mum gave him a pointed look. Go for it, she mouthed, before pulling Sakura away from the adjacent toy shop.

Suga hadn't noticed, too busy telling Hina how he would teach her to make onigiri. "They're quite easy to make, so if Daichi lets me come over after school one day I'll help you cook some." She smiled, and Suga held her hand as she skipped along. It was hard not to smile when he was around; it was like realising that - although the sky might appear dark and menacing - the sun was standing right next to you with outstretched arms, a bright, cheeky smile and a caring hand.

As the evening drew nearer, and the remaining beams of sunlight dwindled over the tops of the high-rises, a sick feeling developed in Daichi's stomach. He knew that he was going to admit his feelings that night, but the thought just made him queasy. This was instantly made worse as his mum brought his siblings across to the other side of the pavement. "I have my phone on me, Dai, so make sure to text me every now and then to make sure you and Koushi are alright whilst you're watching the light show. I'm taking the kids around a shorter route in case they get tired."

The two men nodded, taking off in the opposite direction. "I heard there's a museum next door, about advertising," Suga remarked.

Daichi studied the map outside the subway. "So this is the Ōedo subway line, which can take us directly to the Shiodome from Akabanebashi, which," he squinted closer, "I think is where we are right now."

Suga had evidently not been paying attention, and was looking at a brochure instead. "There's even a 300 year-old black cedar nearby..."

"That shouldn't take more than five minutes for the journey, and I think the fare's about 200 yen as well, which isn't bad for Tokyo prices." Daichi stood up, taking Suga's coat sleeve and pulling him down into the subway station.

"...So, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Daichi finally rounded his attention on Suga, as they hastily boarded the subway. Suga hadn't quite gripped the supports on the roof when they began to move, tripping over his own feet and falling headfirst into Daichi's chest...

(Word count: 813)
(Total word count: 10,054)

Author's note:
Question: would you prefer shorter chapters like these, and for me to update more frequently? I'm trying out a new schedule: updating every Tuesday and Friday. I don't know which one you guys would prefer (I'm not even sure if anyone is even going to read this bit) but if you are reading this, and you do have a preference, then please let me know!