Dandelion Fluff [Sugawara Koushi]

Love Sick

Sugawara Koushi sneezed. He blew his nose into yet another tissue and tossed it into a nearly overflowing bin. He pulled his pile of blankets closer to his chin.

        The rain had not cleared the other day; he spent too much time standing in the wind. This was his own fault, he sighed internally at his own choices. But he did not regret giving [Name] his umbrella.

       Sugawara launched into a fit of coughs and reached for a half-gone stick of Halls.

The setter rolled onto his back, elevating himself with several pillows, hoping he'd be able to breathe better that way. After only one day, he was annoyed enough to rip off his nose already. He hated being sick. He hated missing volleyball practice. He hating not seeing [Name].

After checking the clock, he discovered school would have ended 6 minutes ago. He hoped he didn't miss anything important. Sugawara suppressed a chuckle at the thought of Hinata and Kageyama wreaking havoc in the gym.

• • •

[Name] could feel her eraser in her pocket, pressing against her leg with every step. She hadn't moved it back to her pencil case and couldn't seem to get it off her mind. But it wasn't just the eraser.

She walked down the hall, away from Class 4 and towards the gym. The boy who lent her his umbrella and found her eraser hadn't been at school. [Name] felt an odd pang in her chest when Sugawara's classmate informed her that he was sick. He had also said Daichi, captain of the volleyball team and Sugawara's closest friend would know where the setter lived. Daichi also had handouts [Name] could deliver if she wanted.

Sugawara's umbrella was tucked safely in [Name]'s bag. The thought alone brought warmth to her cheeks. Only it wasn't just her cheeks; [Name] felt the warmth in her chest. It was a gentle thing, kind and soft and soothing. And it stayed with her, through the halls and even when she spoke to Daichi. The captain gladly gave her directions to Sugawara's house as well as that day's handouts.

She reached the house and knocked. A woman with her son's kind eyes and gentle smile answered. She giggled when [Name] introduced herself. She giggled more when [Name] mentioned that she wasn't in Sugawara Koushi's class.

"His room is up the stairs, three doors to the left. Go on up, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you," The setter's mother said. [Name] thanked her and as she headed up the staircase she caught a glimpse of the woman giggling yet again, and this time [Name] flushed. She hurried up the stairs.

She counted the doors, and when she reached the third one on the left she stopped to breathe. [Name] pressed her fingers to her cheeks, trying to guess if she was still blushing by temperature. Gods, if she went in and he saw her blushing —

When she decided enough time had passed she squeezed a hand into a fist, steeling herself and getting ready to knock all at once. She raised her fist.

And knocked. And waited. And heard nothing. She took another breath and wrapped her fingers around the cool metal of the doorknob and entered anyway.

She found him sleeping, surrounded by pillows and blankets. [Name] felt her heart skip a beat; it was unfair how he was cute when he was sleeping too. She took out the handouts from Daichi and set them on his desk along with his umbrella. The soft baby blue suited him.

       [Name] looked at the sleeping setter, at his relaxed face and the slow rise and fall of his chest and the blankets on top of it. She felt the warm feeling inside of her blossom. "Thank you for my eraser," She said in a quiet voice somewhere between a whisper and her normal voice. "And for the umbrella, but next time I'll remember mine so you won't have to get sick."

        She took a third object out of her bag, scowling when the plastic crinkled and made noise. The little bag was clear with delicate white designs of floating dandelion seeds. She had seen a pack on sale and decided that they were perfect.

       "Don't get sick again," She said as she turned to leave. [Name] paused to breathe, "Because I like you too." She said before leaving silently from his room, never dreaming how light a sleeper Sugawara was.

        The instant the door closed his eyes snapped open, his face very pink. Did that really happen?

The setter looked at his table and picked up the bag. Opening it slowly and finding sugar cookies inside, each with white frosting and round rainbow sprinkles. Sugawara bit into one. It was soft and sweet and somehow it felt warm.

       "I like you, [Name]. I like you very much."