Alone With Him

Chapter 2

Daichi let out a small, disappointed sigh, then handed me my sandwich.  I smiled at him, trying as much as possible to avoid eye contact.  I had done a pretty good job of hiding my feelings from Daichi so far, but now that we were finally alone, it seemed harder than usual.  When I would blush before, I could blame it on the heat or from practicing too hard, but there were no excuses now.  It was pretty rare for us to be alone, we were always surrounded by the team or being checked on by Daichi's mom.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to manage the next few days.  

After we both finished our sandwiches, I stood up and decided to take a shower.  I went to my room, grabbing clothes and a towel for myself, and walked towards my parents' room.  "You can use the shower in my room," I said down the hall as Daichi walked towards my room.  He nodded in response, and I proceeded to enter the shower.  

As I took off my shirt, the pain in my shoulder that had been reoccurring the past few weeks presented itself.  I let out a quiet groan as I stripped off the rest of my clothes, knowing the warm water would help subside the pain.  As the warmth soothed the pain, I began to remember the warmth on my shoulder on the bus, the sensation of my hand in Daichi's.  I took a longer shower than usual, trying to hold on to the warmth as long as possible.

As I walked back in my room, I heard humming coming from the shower.  It was a familiar tune, Daichi had always listened to it when we were studying or when he was bored or just in general.  I had asked him once about it, about why he always listened to that song.

"So what's up with that song?  You seem to always be listening to it, and when you're not, you're humming the melody."

"Oh, sorry, does it bother you?  I can stop, I just like this song."

"No, it's fine.  I don't really mind."

That was really it.  I really didn't mind, I still don't, in fact, the song is somewhat comforting now.  I heard the water turn off then went to sit on my bed, drying my hair in the towel.  Daichi walked out dressed in sweatpants and a loose white shirt.  As we got ready for bed, Daichi helped me bring in the extra futon from the living room.  It's not like Daicho hadn't slept over before, but the fact that my parents weren't home was starting to get to me.

I went to the kitchen, grabbed two glasses of water, and walked back to my room.  Daichi was texting someone, probably his mom.  I handed him his glass, he gave a nod in appreciation.

I fell face first on my bed, grunting as my stomach hit it.  Daichi laughed, making me smile a bit.  "Hey Daichi?" I sighed.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, again.  You really didn't have to, but I appreciate you being here."

"Are you kidding, Suga?  Of course I had to come.  You're my best friend, I have to look out for you." He smiled his sweet, tender smile.  I winced at the word friend, luckily he didn't notice.  I gave him a smile then threw his pillow at him. 

"We should probably get some shut eye, we have to be up early tomorrow," I said, weariness evident in my voice.  Daichi looked up, as if he were about to whine like a child would to his mother.  I rolled my eyes.  "Go to sleep."

"Yes, mom," he sighed.

"Shut up," I laughed.  "Night, Daichi."

"Night, Suga."

I fell asleep faster than usual.  It had been a pretty tiring day and I didn't want to stay up all night worrying about Daichi.  I couldn't lose him, he's like my cornerstone, without him, I'd fall apart.

---

I woke up earlier than I needed to, but I couldn't go back to sleep.  I decided to get ready and make breakfast for Daichi and I.  I stretched my arms and stood up, letting a yawn escape my mouth.  I began to walk towards the bathroom, when I suddenly stubbed my toe.  I groaned at the sharp pain as I tripped over the futon next to my bed.  I landed on my knees, my hands landing against the wooden floor as I tried to catch myself.  Daichi stirred next to me.  I brought myself up to sit down, but as I leaned forward, Daichi sat up, bringing our heads together in collision.  I let out a gasp at the sudden pain, which was much stronger than the one in my toe.  "You okay?  Sorry about that, and for waking you," I said, starting to laugh as I realized what was going on.

"Haha, don't worry about it," Daichi said with a smile.  "What time is it anyway?"

"Ummm," I grabbed my phone to check the time.  I was a little surprised, I knew I had woken up before my alarm, but not this early.  "Woah, it's 3:45."

"Ugh, it's that early?  Suga, we don't have to be up for at least 2 hours.  I'm not tired though, are you?  You should go back to sleep if you are."  By now he had his concerned face on and his hand on my knee.  

"I'm fine, Daichi.  Don't worry. I'm the one who woke you up.  Since we're up, why not talk about these strategies you have for the team?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, gosh who's the mom now?"

"Whatever.  Suga, there's something I need to ask you."  He looked at me as if he were about to tell me my dog had died.  "Do you think Asahi will come back?  I have faith in Nishinoya, but after that game, Asahi has been very distant.  I'm just a little worried."

"Of course he'll come back, Daichi.  Especially if Noya comes back, those two were inseparable.  You might want to take it easy on him though."

"Why?  He's Asahi, I'm not going to take it easy on him until he dies.  Especially not after he's missed so many weeks of practice and training."  Daichi and I ended up talking for a good hour thinking up strategies and plans to better the team.  After a while, my stomach started to growl, as I hadn't eaten anything since I woke.

"Hey, Daichi?  I'm a little hungry, I think I'm going to make something.  Is there anything you want?"  I asked, my stomach still rumbling.

"How about pancakes?  I can help if you want," he smiled back.

"Yeah, pancakes sound great.  Why don't we both get ready and meet in the kitchen?"

"Sounds great.  See you in a few," he said before getting up and walking into the bathroom.  I watched as he closed the door and smiled to myself.  With that, I was off.  I brushed my teeth, changed, and tried to straighten out my hair.  Man, I needed to get a hair cut.  I walked out, heading towards the kitchen.  Daichi was already in the kitchen, sitting on the counter, swinging his legs like a little kid.  

"There you are," he smiled.  "I was starting to get worried."

"Oh please," I laughed.  "Shall we?"

"We shall.  Do you have the ingredients?

"Yup, they should be in,"  I said as I walked towards the cabinet.  "Here."  I grabbed flour, baking soda, salt and sugar.  Daichi had grabbed the eggs, milk, and butter, laying them out next to a mixing bowl.  He smiled at me, as if to tell me that everything was all set.  We began to mix the ingredients together, flour falling out of the bowl, onto the surrounding counter.  We finally got the batter into a nice texture pouring it into the pan on the stove.  After about 10 minutes, we had successfully made 7 pancakes and two burnt ones.  

"Well, I'd call that a success," Daichi gleamed.

"We won't know until we try them," I said, setting two plates on the table, along with butter and syrup.  We each ate three pancakes, both staring at the fourth one, as if it were the death of the both of us.  We were both filled to the brim and didn't want to eat anymore.  We looked at each other, then back at the pancake.  "So..."

"So..."

We both yelled 'not it' at the same time, like we had read each other's thoughts.  We sat in silence for a few seconds, then started bursting with laughter.  Neither of us ended up eating it, and we cleaned up the mess in the kitchen.  It was still quite early, and practice wasn't for another 2 hours.