County Fair
PAIRING - Sakusa Kiyoomi x Reader WC - 3.3K GENRE - Fluff CW - first person fic (not sorry), pretty much just fluff SYNOPSIS - sakusa hates crowds and nothing is more crowded than a county fair, but if its with you then maybe he can find it tolerable. A/N - she comes back with her first fluffy fic ever, back in her original style...
Becoming friends with the MSBY team was inevitable. Going to Fukurodani for high school meant that eventually I had run into Koutarou and honestly, it wasn’t easy to avoid a friendship with the man. Our friendship was a small one, not being in the same year meant we only talked in passing or if I ended up showing up to a volleyball game - which I often did. And then, when I moved to Osaka, it was only a matter of time before I was being dragged to hangouts with the MSBY team by my old high school schoolmate.
Those hangouts always provided a second familiar face from my school days. Sakusa Kiyoomi. I’d known him longer than I’d known Bokutou, since middle school thanks to a friendship I’d made with Komori. I liked to think that those outings with MSBY were a little nicer for Kiyoomi when I was around, maybe that was delusional, but maybe it helped him to have someone who had known him so long that they could tell when he was uncomfortable without even looking at him. Because, well, if there was one thing his teammates liked to do, it was drag him into situations he’d never have comfortably wandered into on his own.
Like today, for example.
Standing in the middle of the county fair that was in town for the summer.
Koutarou, Shouyou, and Atsumu had decided to drag a whole group out to the fair since it would be ending in a few days. How they’d convinced Kiyoomi to go was beyond me, truly. All three of the boys had dragged along dates as well, which had left me and Kiyoomi on our own as they all linked hands with another.
Kiyoomi had shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets long ago and I could tell by the way his eyes flicked around the crowd that he was wildly uncomfortable. Most of his face was covered by his mask, per usual, but the little crease between his eyebrows as they scrunched together gave him away.
The glares he was sending to Atsumu were becoming more and more frequent as the time went on, and if I wasn’t so worried about him and how anxious I could tell he was getting, then I would have found it all amusing.
“Omi-Omi!” Atsumu yelled, trying to swing an arm over Kiyoomi’s shoulder - a movement he easily dodged. “Bokkun!” Atsumu whined over his shoulder to Koutarou when he was rejected by Kiyoomi. “Omi-Omi’s bein’ mean!” But Koutarou was too busy dragging his girlfriend to the cotton candy stand to care about his teammate’s whining. As I watched Atsumu turn towards Shouyou to complain to someone else, I felt a warm hand wrap around my wrist and drag.
I gasped and pulled my eyes to look at my abductor and saw only the soft black curls that laid on the back of Kiyoomi’s head. He maneuvered easily through the crowd, practiced and methodical, touching the least amount of people possible as he dragged me along with him.
He kept the distance between us small, leaving very little room for someone to possibly step between us and ruin the flow of our movements. I glanced behind us and noticed that I was easily losing the heads of my other friends in the crowd the further we got.
“Kiyoomi?” I called softly in question once I noticed his pace starting to slow. We’d finally settled into easy movements and he glanced over his shoulder, waiting for me as I caught up to walk side-by-side with him. “What was that about?”
“They’re annoying me.” His words were blunt as he continued to lead us away, now seemingly without direction. “Didn’t want to leave you alone to deal with them either.” I smiled slightly as he cleared his throat. I tried to get a good look at his facial expression under his mask but he turned his head too quickly. “I find you tolerable.”
I let out a loud laugh at that, I couldn’t help myself. I barely registered that his head whipped towards me in surprise at my outburst, but I was too busy letting my smile split my face to mind the bewildered look he was giving me. “I’m sorry,” I giggled as I attempted to take deep breaths and calm myself down. I beamed up at him and saw a soft look pass over his eyes when they connected with mine. “Thank you for tolerating me. However, I do really want to be at this fair, and if you would rather go home, I would understand.” I laughed a little more, “I don’t mind being the extra wheel with them for a day so you can get out of here.”
His soft stare turned into a glare for a second and I momentarily thought I’d offended him before he rolled his eyes and looked forward again. “We’re already here,” he continued to walk with me, slowing his gait to match mine, “you enjoy yourself and I’ll try my best.”
I bit back my laugh, but I couldn’t help my smile. “Okay,” I agreed, nodding, “you let me know when you tap out.”
It was then that I was suddenly hyper-aware of the fact that Kiyoomi’s hand was still lightly wrapped around my wrist. The warm weight was foreign but not unwelcome as we walked. I decided to test the waters, letting my hand slip slowly into his. I gauged his reaction carefully, his eyes widening slightly and his grip tightening in mine for a moment before he relaxed into it. He didn’t say anything, but I could have sworn I could see the tips of his ears turn pink beneath his curls as we walked.
“Let’s get cotton candy!” I exclaimed then. If Kiyoomi was willing to trail along the county fair with me, then I would be making the best of it. I dragged him along by using our conjoined hands, finding my way to the front of the nearest stand. I bounced lightly on my toes, excited, as we waited to get to the front of the line. I was acutely aware of Kiyoomi’s eyes lingering on me but I chose to ignore them - worried that if I looked over, I would see him giving me one of the looks that he gave Koutarou when he was doing something Kiyoomi deemed as childish.
When we got to the booth window, I rattled out my order for cotton candy and went to reach for my wallet but was stopped by Kiyoomi. Kiyoomi who was already handing his card over to the boy who was running the booth. “A bottle of water as well, please.”
I smiled up at Kiyoomi and saw him glance down at me quickly before redirecting his eyes back to where he was being handed back his card. He sighed and released my hand as he grabbed my treat and the water.
My hand felt weirdly cold and I couldn’t help the small frown that pulled at my lips ever-so-slightly as I trailed after him and away from the booth’s line. My eyes were trained on the back of his shoes as I made sure to not lose him in the crowd. The sudden stop and turn of his shoes had me drawing my eyes back up to his face. He was holding my bucket of cotton candy out to me, the seal already broken off and ready for me to start eating.
“That stuff is awful for you so make sure to drink some water after.” I stared at him in awe for a moment but he just rolled his eyes and directed me to turn towards some of the enclosed tents nearby with a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t look at me like that.” He sighed at me but left his arm across my shoulders as we walked into the building. “I want to look at the shopping booths.”
I could barely hear his explanation over the blood pounding in my ears at the weight of his arm on my shoulders. My heart pounded furiously as I stood close to him. I had never been this close to him for an extended period of time and I could feel my skin heating up, the anxieties of possibly doing or saying wrong to ruin this moment rattled around inside of my head. I tried to keep the appearance of being calm on the outside as I placed a small piece of cotton candy in my mouth.
We wandered around the shops, chatting idly about the items we saw and how useless or ridiculous some of the things that were being sold were. I made a point to stick another piece of the cotton in my mouth anytime I thought I might say something dumb. I was determined to not ruin the rare moment I’d been blessed with. The moment of having Kiyoomi in public with his arm around me. I was sure that this chance was once in a lifetime.
As the shopping booths ended, so did my cotton candy. I winced at my safe-guard disappearing but I was left with yet another shocked expression directed to Kiyoomi. “Water please.” Kiyoomi requested, easily removing the empty container from my hands and replacing it with the bottle of water he’d bought with it. The same bottle that he’d been drinking out of every now and then.
I stared at the bottle in shock for a moment as he disposed of my trash. I brought it hesitantly to my lips to take a sip, washing out the sugary aftertaste left on my teeth from the pink candy. I expected the bottle to be mine now but felt my eyes widen as he took it back and pulled his mask down slightly to take his own sip before screwing the top back on it.
I watched in curiosity as he wiped a little bit of water off of his lip before pulling his mask back up. It was ridiculous for me to find the motion attractive and I quickly averted my eyes to look away from him when I noticed him glance over at me. “Let’s go look at the different games.” I gripped his hand easily and led the way this time. Pushing off the anxious feeling of touching him when he didn’t protest and instead let me drag him along.
I smiled as I pointed out the games and the cute couples playing against each other. I was oblivious to the smile he grew under his mask as he watched me coo at how cute the stuffed animals were that people were carrying through the crowd. Oblivious when his fingers started to rub circles into my hand, suddenly neither of us conscious about the way that our fingers were intertwined and felt warm as we made our way through the crowd.
The bright colors of the fair blurred out everything except Kiyoomi and I and whatever new thing I was pointing to and raving about. There was a pull on my arm and I watched as Kiyoomi dragged us to a booth to throw darts at a wall of balloons.
I smiled as I grabbed my assigned darts, only to miss horribly each time. I laughed and shrugged easily but watched as Kiyoomi furrowed his eyebrows and took my place, grumbling. “Kiyoo?” I questioned as I watched him hand over some cash to the man running the stand.
“Color to color, right?” Kiyoomi ignored me and directed his question to the booth manager. I tilted my head in confusion as he lifted his hand to aim. I watched in awe as he hit every balloon perfectly and a small little alarm went off at the top of the booth signaling a perfect score.
I jumped up and down in excitement, my confusion easily forgotten as I felt a rush of adrenaline at his win. “Oh my god! You won!” I jumped in front of him excitedly, smiling widely and I swear I saw his eyes glimmer at my excitement.
“That one right there.” He pointed to the stuffed animal hanging above us. The pink and fuchsia fabric catching my attention as the booth worker pulled it down and put it into Kiyoomi’s hands. “You know,” Kiyoomi sighed, turning towards me as he turned the animal in his hands, looking at it, “you should have just said something.” I tilted my head at him, pausing my movements to analyze his. He was holding the stuffed animal out to me, presenting it like a gift. “I saw you looking at it, I know you wanted it.” He cleared his throat and brought his hand up to scratch his neck as I slowly took the stuffed animal and turned it around in my hands, analyzing it while a small smile grew on my lips. “I mean it’s kind of weird, but it’s for you.”
“It is not weird!” I exclaimed, holding the stuffed animal to my chest protectively. “It’s an axolotl and it’s adorable!” I exclaimed with offence. He raised his eyebrows at me in curiosity and amusement as I began to jump up and down again. “It’s so cute! Oh my god!” I squealed and hugged the stuffed toy even tighter. “Thank you thank you thank you!” I exclaimed, beaming up at him.
He coughed awkwardly, adjusting his mask as he looked away from me. “Re-relax,” he muttered, looking anywhere but at me as I refused to look away, “it was whatever.” He cleared his throat and I tried to calm myself down. The light blush that had begun to creep up my own cheeks was burning my skin as I realized that he was beginning to feel awkward with my attention so plainly on him like this.
“Did you want to…” I trailed off and tried to glance around the fair, trying to spot something that we could do next that wouldn’t cause him too much discomfort. He’d been nothing but accommodating to my whims and wishes that I wanted to pay him back a little for it.
My eyes locked on the spinning lights of the Ferris Wheel that I could see in the dimming sky, just over the tops of the booths. The idea was instantly pushed out of my mind, however, because as fun as it looked, as much as I wanted to go on it, I was scared it would be too much of a “couple thing” for him to want to do it with me.
“How about the Ferris Wheel?” He offered, interrupting my thoughts as he already started to guide me with an easy hand on my back towards the line for the ride. My eyes followed his movements carefully, a small smile tugging on my lips as I trailed after him. “There’s um, there’s less people up there,” he reasoned softly and I nodded along to him, not having the guts to protest the words.
When we got to the front of the line, he let me into the small cart first, pausing to speak quietly to the ride worker. When he slipped in next to me and shut and locked the door, I swear my breath caught in my throat.
I could feel the heat radiating off his body and wrapping around my own. His side created a soft pressure against mine and I watched his curls bounce lightly as he nodded at the ride worker. His curls looked so soft compared to his hardened outside personality, that mask of stoicism he wore.
“What did you say to him?” I questioned softly as the ride jerked to life, pushing us up towards the top.
“He was telling me that the fireworks were about to start.” He pulled his mask down under his chin and relaxed against the back of the cart, his arm lazily draped over the seat behind me. “I asked if he could make the ride go a little slower.” He smiled and tilted his head to look at me easily. “No need to look so surprised.”
I quickly realized that my jaw had dropped open and I was staring at him. “Sorry,” I laughed breathily as I looked away from him, the heat returning to my cheeks. “It’s quiet up here,” I mumbled, looking out at the lights of the fair, “it’s pretty.”
“You’re pretty.” My eyes widened at the compliment that seemed to float easily out of his mouth and my head snapped back to look at him. “I’m not taking it back,” he said quietly, eyes analyzing my shocked features. His cheeks, tinted a soft pink, were the only giveaway to his current nervousness. “Actually,” he cleared his throat and turned to face me directly, the cart rocking slightly as he did, “you’re beautiful. And I thoroughly enjoyed my time today.”
“I-” I swallowed the extra saliva in my mouth and had an issue keeping the eye contact he was holding as he leaned closer to me, a soft smirk on his lips. “I enjoyed my time as well,” I whispered, my grip tightening on the soft animal he’d won for me still in my grasp.
His hand came up to cup my face, his thumb brushing gently against my cheekbone and his eyes trailing its path. “Could I kiss you?” he whispered softly.
I nodded quietly, not trusting my voice to respond to him. I let my eyes flutter shut as he tilted my head up, angling it towards his.
The first pop of fireworks went off just as his lips fit against mine.
His lips were soft, warm, as they pressed against mine and my body instinctively leaned in more towards him. That warmth from his lips sparked like wildfire, spreading across my face and setting off fireworks in my stomach, mimicking the fireworks now going off in the sky. I pulled away in shock as the cart came to a stop at the top of the wheel.
“I may have also paid him to give us a couple minutes at the top while the fireworks went off,” he confessed as he took in my expression. I was watching the colors of the fireworks light up the sky, a blush spread across my cheeks.
“Are you a romantic after all?” I teased him lightly, but he just rolled his eyes and pulled me back towards him with a gentle hand on the back of my neck.
“Shut up and kiss me again,” he whispered against my lips and I happily obliged.
The cold air that brushed against my skin was a stark contrast to the warmth Kiyoomi provided me. One of my hands wound its way into his curls - as soft as I’d imagined - and the other kept hold of the plush toy he’d won for me that I was sure I’d never let go.
When he finally pulled away, he refused to take his arm from around me, using it to occasionally pull me in for another kiss. The fireworks going off in the sky made me smile at the movie-perfect moment.
“We should come back,” he suggested as we started to move back towards the ground again.
I tilted my head to lock eyes with him, smiling softly, “but you hate being at the fair.”
He shrugged his shoulders, “I can make an exception for you.” He smiled at my lit-up face, “it isn’t so bad when I’m alone with you.”
“Is that Omi-kun!?” I heard a voice shout from the ground and laughed as I saw a mess of orange hair pop up from above the crowd to look at us.
“I’ll pay you to make it go around again,” Kiyoomi said to the ride worker as we almost reached the bottom. I laughed as he nodded and sent us back up. Warmth filled my body as he kissed me again. “They’re annoying,” he grumbled.
He didn’t have to justify himself. I didn’t mind if we never got off the ride.
TAGLIST - FILL OUT THE FORM TO BE ADDED
