✧ With Love ✧ || A Haikyuu Fanfic

✧ 1 || A Fool's Dignity ✧

Koushi Sugawara's POV

Stars dotted the blanket of darkness that hung from the sky, adorning the night with its twinkling light. A soft breeze brushed past my skin. There we sat, on a hill at the back of our school, just me and him. The bustling of the trees provided a soft murmur to fill the comfortable silence between me and Daichi. It was as if the universe had stopped for me, providing a gentle nudge to make me move forward. And I decided to comply.

Tonight was the night.

I was going to confess.

"Daichi?" I said softly, breaking the calming silence between us.

He looked over at me with a small smile. "Yeah?"

My heart started racing as soon as his eyes met mine. Time seemed to have completely stopped. The way his eyes glistened in the moonlight, the way his smile would make my heart skip a beat, the way he looked at everyone with love and care, it was all so special to me. He was so special to me.

"Uh... Suga?"

His gentle voice snapped me back to reality. "Oh," I said with a nervous chuckle, "sorry. I just uh, wanted to tell you something."

"Oh, that is?" As he said that, he tilted his head ever so slightly.

I looked down at the grass beneath me, grazing my hand over it to calm me down. I took a deep breath in. Relax, Suga.

I had prepared what to say but suddenly my mind went blank and my throat closed up. I smiled to myself, finding it slightly funny. It was just me and him, I had no reason to be scared. Because I love him. It's okay, I'll be fine.

"What I'm about to say next might ruin our friendship, but I trust you enough to know you won't let that happen," I said calmly, my voice as gentle as the hum of the wind brushing past us.

Immediately, he furrowed his eyebrows. "Is... is anything wrong?"

I gave him a reassuring smile and shook my head before continuing on. "I've wanted to tell you this for a while because I've felt this way ever since we first met." I looked down at the ground, smiling to myself. You can do it, I reassured myself.

"I like you, a lot."

The words hung in the air, as if caught in the night's breeze. And they lingered there in the silence that fell over us.

"Like... as in..."

I nodded, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. "Yes. I've felt this way about you ever since I can remember."

"Oh."

His expression was exactly like his statement: empty.

That one word was enough to cause a pang of regret. I knew that there was a possibility that he would reject me, so why did it hit me so hard? I tried to control my breathing, but it was impossible when it felt like everything was slipping away from my grasp. My heart stopped. I could feel my chest close up as I tried to take a breath in. The stars that once dotted the night felt like they were falling to the ground. The soft breeze that brushed past my skin suddenly froze in its place. The bustling of the trees were drowned out by the white noise that rang in my ears. Every bit of beauty in this world had vanished, all thanks to that one word.

He stared back at me, blankly. But in that blankness, I could see worry. And that worry of his emanated, it's heavy fog so tangible it felt as though the sky fell. I couldn't breathe.

I looked down at the ground, not wanting to meet his eyes. My body immediately tensed up, as if telling me to leave. Tears stung my eyes. I forced them back, trying to stay strong.