Chapter Text
“How about a New Year’s Birthday party?” Suga says. He ducks his head and sounds shy when he says it, at odds with the picture that Daichi is drawing of him in his mind.
He’s been doing this for weeks now. Observing Asahi and Suga, trying to make all the pieces fit together. He’s getting better. It’s not perfect, but he’s getting better. Still, he’s nervous when they show up on his doorstep.
They’re not in uniform. Asahi is wearing a green sweater that accentuates the breadth of his shoulders and makes him look tremendously tall, the way it hangs away from his waist. His hair is an awkward length, in between his ears and his chin, so he has to brush it away to look up at Daichi when he opens the door. He looks beyond nervous, brow pitched with obvious worry, and Daichi wonders what it is he has to be so anxious about. It’s not even his house.
Suga, on the other hand, looks tiny next to him. He’s average size, if a bit short for a volleyball player, not that it matters. All slim shoulders and hips, he’s got a slender build, maybe even scrawny. The collar of his white t-shirt dips in the middle, too big in the shoulders. There’s a mole, right above his collarbone on the right side, a piece of skin that Daichi doesn’t usually get to see. He files it away. Suga brings his pale hands to ruffle snow out of his silver hair, and then he’s smiling at Daichi, sweet and charming.
That’s the rhythm they’ve found. Asahi worries, Suga pushes, and Daichi holds on tight. They’re linking themselves together, slowly but surely. The pieces are all coming together.
His thoughts about his friends are interrupted when his younger sisters come pouring into the foyer, eager to see who might be here to play with them. Suga’s face lights up delightedly when he sees them, and unsurprisingly, Akiko is running right up to the grey-haired boy and grabbing his hand. Daichi gets it, honestly. Suga has the kind of smile that draws you in.
Kumi, on the other hand, takes one look at Asahi and shrinks into herself. She pulls back, hiding behind Daichi’s legs. Asahi glances between them, face knotted into something that looks suspiciously like guilt, and it makes Daichi laugh, big and hearty.
“Don’t worry, she’s like that with everyone,” he says reassuringly. He kneels down, so he’s looking into his baby sister’s eyes. She’s shy, but she trusts Daichi more than anyone, so he nudges her toward Asahi gently.
“Go on, Kumi, it’s alright. I know he looks very mean, but he’s actually nice on the inside,” Daichi explains. Asahi lets out a harassed, strangled noise of protest. Kumi pads over anyways.
She stops a few paces in front of the giant, and Daichi wonders if she might change her mind, but Asahi kneels down, extending a big hand toward her.
“Kumi?” he clarifies. She nods, small and nervous. “I’m Asahi.” She still looks unsure.
“That’s a very pretty dress you’re wearing,” he tries. “Did you pick it out yourself?”
Kumi nods again, much more sure this time, and Daichi’s heart warms when she wraps her small hand around the comically large one in front of her and gives it a small shake.
Satisfied, Daichi turns his attention back toward Akiko, who’s now tugging on Suga’s arm with her characteristic enthusiasm. He laughs brightly at her, and she ceases her assault for a moment, looking a little dazzled. Daichi takes the opportunity to move toward the pair, ruffling Akiko’s hair gently and pulling away her arm to grant the silver-haired boy some reprieve. Akiko moves her hands to her hips.
“Sawamura Akiko!” she barks, much too loud. Suga laughs again, surprised and shining, like he’s never been this delighted in his life. He crouches just a bit, like he’s about to conspire with Akiko.
“Sugawara Koushi,” he informs her, and then he leans a bit closer, like he has a secret. He looks deadly serious, but Daichi is learning how to see beyond his face and into his eyes. If he’s not mistaken, right now they’re glinting with mischief. “But I can tell we’re going to be friends. All my friends call me Suga, okay?”
Akiko beams. Daichi does too, if he’s honest. Akiko is the most easily impressed of all his siblings, but still. He’s never seen anybody reel her in that quick. Suga has a gift. It makes Daichi feel warm and syrupy on the inside.
Another face pops into the room as Daichi collects his sisters back to his side.
“Ah, Tai. Come say hello to my friends.”
Taishiro jumps like he’s been caught, but then moves the rest of his lanky body into the room and holds out his hand sheepishly.
“Sawamura Taishiro,” he says, sounding irritated. Daichi rolls his eyes. Twelve year olds.
When there’s finally enough reprieve to properly bring his friends into the house, Daichi has a thought. They’re wandering into the living room now, moving toward the kitchen, which is emanating smells that make salvia pool in the corners of his mouth.
“Huh, I wonder where—“
He doesn’t even finish the thought before Yasuo comes barreling around the corner at terminal velocity. He’s a flash of dark hair, absolutely tiny, but when he hits his chest against Suga’s knees, the slender boy goes sprawling backwards.
“Suga!” The hand that flies out to grasp Suga’s shoulder moves instinctively. Daichi studies the grey-haired boy for a moment, and to his relief, Suga seems mostly unharmed, if a little dazed. Then he’s spinning around on this little brother, putting on the most intense of his stern faces.
“Yasuo! You have to be careful! Remember what we talked about? If you run too fast without looking where you’re going, somebody could get hurt.” Daichi goes soft a bit, at the end. Yasuo nods, looking a little sheepish, but he’s staring over Daichi’s shoulder with an emotion that reads a bit too close to pride for him to feel like his lecture had any real effect.
Inexplicably, Suga starts laughing. Not just a chuckle, but a silver laugh that sparkles all over, one that makes Daichi very briefly want to touch his face, just to test if the warmth behind the sound is tangible. He blinks at his friend, for just a second, watching Suga’s nose wrinkle as moisture pools in the corners of his eyes. And then he stands, offering a hand to help the grey-haired boy up. Suga’s hands are cool and lean. Daichi files that away too.
There’s a few more moments of reigning in his siblings as the little ones trail behind the house tour. Asahi drinks it all in placidly, but Daichi starts to get nervous when he glances back at Suga. For once, the boy looks timid, like he’s shrinking back into himself. He tucks a bit closer to Asahi’s side, a human shield from Daichi’s walls.
Dinner is mostly uneventful. Daichi is absolutely mortified by the amount of questions that are thrown at Asahi and Suga, and he’s about ready to call off his mother’s incessant interrogation when Asahi, of all people, cracks a joke. There’s a sudden levity in the room. He wonders if everyone else feels it too, the way that the tension melts with his mother’s breathy chuckle. Everyone seems to settle into each other, just a little bit more, and Daichi thinks this really could work, these people becoming a part of his life.
He holds onto this thought, as they enter his bedroom. Their outlines are stark against the navy walls of his room, but as Daichi studies them, he starts to see how they fit in here, in this space that belongs to him. Outlines blur, and then they might as well be a part of the room, from the way Daichi has them permanently imprinted there.
Teasing ensues, bonding occurs, and birthday cake is eaten. And then it’s 11:55 pm and he drags his two friends out to the back porch to shout the countdown into the night sky.
“Wait,” Suga says, when they’re finally outside. He reaches into the pockets of his puffy coat and produces two small boxes. Daichi cocks his head in confusion.
“What’s this?” Asahi asks, voicing Daichi’s own thoughts aloud.
“Well, we are celebrating your birthdays, after all,” Suga clarifies. He says it like it’s obvious, but Daichi thinks there’s an edge of nervousness there too.
What’s inside the box is a phone charm. It’s beaded and cutesy, adorned in stars and sporting a little, shining black crow on the end. Daichi blinks at it. His mouth goes dry and he feels a strange, overwhelming feeling hit him. It’s something he can’t put a name to, but it feels profound. It reaches through time.
The silence must stretch too long, because Suga is opening his mouth again.
“It’s nothing special.”
Suga shrugs as he says it, and Daichi wants to shake his head, to disagree vehemently, but he hates to interrupt.
“Just, you know, I thought we ought to commemorate that we all ended up here, or something,” Suga finishes, and he holds up his phone to show the two other boys the charm that’s attached to it.
There is a brief moment in which Daichi worries that it’s still too early for him to touch these people too much. He likes touch-based affection, but not everybody does. He’s not sure about these two yet. But he’s overwhelmed by that feeling again, it propels him into Suga’s arms. It gets more intense, when Suga squeezes back just as tight, and again when Asahi is encompassing them both, the anxious look on his face finally absent.
Somewhere inside, his siblings shout ‘Happy New Year!’ but whatever this moment is, it’s much more important.