forever | sugawara x reader

05

The next day at school I was confronted by both Asahi and Daichi, although it seemed they each had their own separate need to talk to me from the way the awkwardly stood next to each other but not making eye contact.

"What's up guys?" I asked, confused about their serious expressions.

"I need to talk to you," Daichi said, looking almost disappointed in me.

"M-me too," Asahi chimed in. He looked as sheepish as ever and I didn't know who to respond to.

"Well, we can talk whenever you want," I said, my hands sweating even though I had no idea what was wrong. "Is everything okay?"

Asahi's face flushed a bit, scratching the back of his neck as he stayed quiet and avoided looking at me. Daichi on the other hand kept his eyes locked on mine, his gaze a mix of hurt and apprehension. He looked up at the ceiling and groaned, thrusting his hands in his pockets.

"We can talk after practice," he sighed, turning on his heel and walking away from Asahi and I. There were still a few minutes until classes began and I waited for him to open up, a very uncomfortable silence settling over us.

"Okay," he breathed, looking so nervous I thought he might faint. "You're one of m-my closest friends and I don't know how to say how much I appreciate you without it sounding weird, b-but, like, I wanted to talk about (y/n)..."

He looked up from his shoes trying to gauge my reaction, which must have been pretty telling because his eyes shot back to the floor after only a second. I frowned and looked away too, knowing what was coming.

"I know we both like her," he sighed, sounding more sure than before. "And I don't want to fight over her because she's too good for that and so are we. But this whole thing is killing me because I have no idea how she really feels about either of us and I- I just want all of us to be happy, you know?"

I was afraid he might start crying if I said the wrong thing, so I looked up at him with a smile. I wasn't faking it though; I felt relieved that we were on the same page, and despite all the confusion it felt good to finally lay everything out on the table.

"I feel the same, Asahi," I said. "Our friendship is really important to me- more than any girl, even if it is (y/n)."

We both laughed and I felt some of the suffocating tension leave the air and I felt relieved to have my smile returned by him finally.

"She's really something else though, isn't she?" He said as we walked to class together.

"It's not hard to believe both of us like her," I laughed, a little happy to talk to someone other than my mom about my crush, even if Asahi was technically my competition. "She's definitely something else to say the least." He blushed, covering his face with his hands as we entered our classroom.*

"She drives me so crazy," he said, his voice weak. "Is it the same for you? It's almost torture to like somebody so much..."

"Exactly!" I burst out. "I thought it was just me!"

We gushed to each other about (y/n) until class started, and it was refreshing to not be on edge with my best friend for the first time in seemingly ages. The day continued on the same high note, until practice came and I was reminded of Daichi's solemn expression from this morning.

"Hey Daichi," I said as we stretched together. "What did you wanna talk about this morning?"

He locked eyes with me, his gaze intense despite the blush creeping up his neck.

"Not here," he replied, giving me a nod that said we'd talk later, when we were alone. I nodded back, pushing away the anxious thoughts and focusing on volleyball instead.