blue scarf ; sugawara koushi
haikyuu!! one shot
⇢ scenario: in which you forget to bring a scarf on the way to school, but running into him suddenly makes the cold, chilly air dissipate away with your feelings for him burning in your chest instead. ⇢ feat. : suga (karasuno) x you (f!reader) ⇢ genre : fluff, meet-cute, self indulgent lbr ⇢ wc & warnings: 2.8k, none ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ lmk what you think! i’m considering a 2nd part for this :-)
Sugawara Koushi didn’t have much to look forward to during his weekday mornings going to school. He is neither an early riser nor a person who absolutely abhors waking up before noon. He usually gets up before his first alarm turns off, and readies himself for the day ahead. He’ll chug a scalding hot cup of coffee sometimes, munch on an energy bar with half-lidded eyelids or perhaps snooze away whilst leaning against the wall in the bathroom as he brushes his teeth — but that’s all routine to Suga, there isn’t much to think about things you do on a daily basis for so many years now.
But that fateful day on a winter morning, well into his second year of high school, Koushi didn’t think there could be anything mildly interesting about his routine on the way to Karasuno.
Until he met you.
“Good morning,” he mutters, a friendly nod towards you. You quickly whip your head to the sound of his muffled voice underneath the blue scarf wrapped around his neck snugly. Half of his face was covered, probably in an attempt to keep exposed skin warm but for some reason, you can hear the smile in his tone.
“M-morning,” you stutter, reddened cheeks the only heat your face is emitting against the cold wind hitting the air around you. You had gone out forgetting your own scarf again, only to have remembered once you’ve already turned so many streets away from your house.
There is that logical voice in the back of your head encouraging you to return home and grab it, maybe two so you can chuck it in your locker in case this happens three more times in a row — but the early morning lecture from your mother would have been an inevitable reason of frustration for you eventually. So, you swallowed your pride and the sense of feeling anything on your face as you braved the biting winter season welcoming the streets of Miyagi.
Unfortunately for you, Koushi had detected the shivering in your words as well as your shoulders, watching the way your hands wrap themselves around you. He knew you went to the same school given the shared colors of your uniform, but for the past year and a half he spent in it, he’s bewildered by the fact that he’s never noticed you before today.
“Do you have something to keep you warm?” He asks, concern laced in his soft spoken manner.
Your steps naturally slow down to match his but as his body inches closer to you, the more you feel your feet side stepping two inches away. You were still very much in a state of freezing cold at this point, but having the Sugawara Koushi walk to school with you at the same time, greet you a good morning, and realize how stuipid you must have looked walking around with nothing to defend yourself from the weather?
Your body would probably give out first due to embarrassment rather than hypothermia.
“N-no,” you bite your lower lip in a futile attempt to keep the chattering of your teeth to a minimum, but the sudden breeze attacking your face made you come to a halt. Hair suddenly all over the place, you sacrifice the warmth your hands were exuding off your sleeve-clad arms to fix the flyaways atop your head. In your peripheral vision, Sugawara pauses with you, eyes trained at your actions with an indistinguishable expression— thanks to his scarf.
You panic inwardly, making haste with flattening out the pesky strands of hair without so much help as a mirror to see if you’re actually making it look better or way, way worse.
Curse him, you think with your eyes closing tight for a second. If there was anyone in the world — or at least the 3rd year batch in Karasuno — who had the messiest, most unkempt hairstyle you’ve ever seen: it’s Sugawara. And yet, it’s what gives the guy so much charm to his appearance without even getting to know his personality yet.
Admittedly, it was one of the first reasons why you harbor indescribable feelings towards him since you moved to his school just a few months ago. Your feelings had only deepened even more so in the bottomless pit of your heart once you have (eavesdropped) on the many anecdotes a lot of his friends from your class had said about him. (Particularly the student with a manbun named… it escapes you).
“Sorry, y-you can g-go ahead,” you let him know, shoulders shivering from the lack of heat source as little as your hands have given them. Sugawara continued to look at you with those gentle hazel eyes, studying every minute twitch of your body, and hands nervously tucking the last stray bangs out of your face.
“I’ll probably just go back h-home to get m-my scarf and b-be late for class—” you don’t know why you’re explaining your inner defeat out loud to him, but it was soon interrupted by the very blue scarf that hugged his neck being stretched out to you.
With your hands falling to your sides, your eyes held its nervous gaze upon kinder ones; and there is no telling how similar to a tomato your whole face had been colored by now. Sugawara urges the scarf closer to you, his tight lipped grin finally exposed for you to witness, for the world only just waking up to see for itself. .
“I think you need it more than I do,” he chuckles lightly, and before his arm gets numb from reaching over to you, you grasp the blue scarf with utmost care. It’s soft, just like you imagined. You feel nervous putting it around you while having an audience of one for at least three minutes now, but it would be rude to make Sugawara wait.
As you let the scarf engulf you in its small yet snug embrace, sudden notes of what smells like gingerbread cookies invite your senses to inhale it all in. To your side, you hear Sugawara laugh a little louder and longer this time, but it didn’t sound mean at all. You still look at him curiously, the lingering holiday-esque scent keeping you more wide awake than you actually were.
“My perfume probably rubbed off on the scarf,” he explains as if reading your mind (your eyes probably told it all, though). “It was an early Christmas present from my younger brother.”
“Oh,” you respond meekly, appreciating the tiny detail of his family life shared to you in the most unexpected of ways. “He has good taste,” you add, smiling shyly against the fabric.
“Right? My friends say it smells childish and too sugary,” Sugawara nods his head one too many times in agreement, pouting his lips at the end. “I think Daichi and Asahi just need to feel like a kid again more often.”
“I like gingerbread cookies, so this is right up my alley,” you comment, falling into step once more with Sugawara right next to you. If a few minutes ago your feet seemed to be magnetically pulling you away from him, this time you revel in the feeling of his arm brushing against yours every so often as you walk along the path to school.
He didn’t seem to notice— or maybe he didn’t mind? Either way, you masterfully calculated how wide your steps needed to be in order to accidentally mismatch his, and so the faux touching happens and your fast heart thudding in a never ending race.
“Ah, how could I forget to introduce myself?” He perks up in an instant, brows up in surprise while he puts a hand behind his neck for comfort. “I’m Sugawara Koushi, a third year in Karasuno.”
And I already knew that, and have been infatuated with you way before I heard your name, you confess in your mind, careful not to let the embarrassed squirm on your lips protrude from the scarf. Sugawara waits for your name expectantly, blinking up at you. Without hesitation, you blurt out yours, adding on that you’re in the same year as him.
“Is that so? Which class are you in?”
“3-2. I just transferred a couple months into the year, so I’m fairly new…”
“That explains why,” Sugawara hums to himself, grabbing hold of his chin as if to ponder over this information. You grip the handles of your backpack a little too tightly, not knowing what was there to outwardly think about you being new to the school, and the area. It’s not like it mattered too much to him, right?
“I’ve never seen anyone from my school walk the same way I do in the mornings, apparently they all live on the other side of town. Just like my friends,” Sugawara grins, and you couldn’t help yourself but to take in the endearing sight before you.
You wish the walk was an endless path, but soon enough your eyes can make out the exterior structure of the high school building, as well as the many trees surrounding its gate. Most of them had quickly shed off their leaves the past few days, and others are dusted with soft, plush snowflakes overnight. It was truly a sight to behold, entering the winter season away from the air pollution of the city where you used to live.
And also, the sight of Sugawara Koushi admiring the very same surroundings, his mole highlighting the beauty that his face radiated this early in the day.
Since you’re closing in on school grounds, a couple more students enter your field of vision; in groups of three, five or those who keep to themselves. Unconsciously, you dip into the gingerbread scented scarf further, nose scrunching at the possibility of returning the source of warmth to its owner sooner than you realize.
Having reached the gate, you begin to unwrap what has become your most favorite temporary prized possession from your neck, but the man in question (and always on your mind) physically stops your hand. His fingertips touch the back of your palm ever so slightly, sending tingles along your arm.
You jump from the sensation, taking Sugawara aback with you but he was quicker on his reflexes and keeps the same calm, gentle expression you love to daydream about.
“You can keep it, I’m sure the cold would be even more bothersome after school,” he urges.
Shaking your head, you protest, “No, no. I couldn’t— how about you? You’re walking home, too…”
“I have my volleyball jacket to keep me warm!” He chirps, sounding rather proud with the mention of his club uniform. With the scarf hanging down from your face, your smile lets itself out warmly this time. You’ve always wanted to watch him play upon hearing of his vice captain role in Karasuno’s volleyball team. There hasn’t been any official matches yet as far as you’re concerned, but going to their practices after school without any relation to the members whatsoever just deemed suspicious to you, so you kept the image of Sugawara tossing the ball and wearing his jersey and shorts and his messy hair even more out of place all to yourself. For now.
“I insist, though, you can keep it until you buy a scarf of your own,” Sugawara snaps you out of your reverie, a teasing tone seeping through his words. It takes you a second to realize this, noticing how his smirk turns into a goofy smile in an instant.
He’s teasing you, and you sure are wrapped around his slender, pretty finger.
“I— I have my own scarf! I just forgot it at home,” your first reaction is to pout, crossing your arms defensively at the lighthearted accusation. “I’ll take the scarf home tonight to wash it and give it back to you!” you huff once more, watching how Sugawara chuckles at your serious demeanor.
“Understood,” he responds with a mock salute, opening the door for you. You bow your head to thank him, awkwardly shuffling your feet to get you inside the somewhat less cold temperature in the school lobby. You proceed to change your shoes with your locker being a few steps away from Sugawara, and you contemplate whether or not it was okay to wait up for him. You share the same floor after all, but was this supposed to be the end of your interaction for today?
“Ready to go up?” Sugawara calls your name for the first time, looking back at you as he approaches the staircase.
You blink back, the worries swirling in your head slowly disappearing just by looking at him smile at you. And he said your name. You take the stairs to the third floor, a couple of students you recognize from your year in the hallways have said their quick hellos and nods towards the volleyball player, and you see him reply back in earnest grins and high fives.
Upon reaching your classroom first, Sugawara stands by the open door, right in front of you.
“Thanks for the company, it was a nice change of pace for me,” he tells you, the mole on his left eye crinkling in the way he smiles. You nod your head, ears heating up at the way he focuses all of his attention towards you — it’s a nerve wracking feeling but nevertheless something you’d want to experience again.
“Thank you for the scarf, I’ll make sure to return it in good condition,” you promise. “Have a good rest of your day, Sugawara-san.”
He opens his mouth slightly as if to correct you, but closes it at the next second when another boy screams his name at the top of his lungs at the other end of the hallway.
“Suga-san!!” A boy with a clean, shaven head runs up to him in a skidding halt, almost toppling over you. You flinch at this volume instinctively, wary of the fact that the situation between you and Sugawara would be misconstrued at this moment. In reality, he barely recognized your presence, wide eyes glowing at his friend instead.
“Have you seen Kiyoko-san? I need to talk to her!” He cries out loud, hands clasped tight.
Sugawara shakes his head no, places a hand on his friend’s shoulder to calm him down. “I haven’t, Tanaka. I just got here. What do you need her for?”
“I forgot to tell her how beautiful she looked yesterday after practice, and I feel like I had done the worst crime ever known to man,” Tanaka groans in frustration, a dramatic hand wiping at non-existent tears. As if on cue, you and Sugawara stifle a laugh, and that’s when he finally sees you. He takes a step back, points at your figure, then at Sugawara, mouth hanging open.
You’re certain he stopped functioning, so you squeak out, “Um.. hi.”
“Suga-senpai, you didn’t tell me you were taken! Does Daichi-san know? Asahi-san? Why are you leaving all of us behind like that— and keeping it a secret, too! I thought we were close buddies on the team!”
“Tanaka, shut up!” Sugawara had gravitated his hand over to the loud mouthed guy’s lips, clamping it shut. He tries to blabber some more but his words become incoherent, and you wouldn’t have been able to process them anyway with your cheeks rising to the heat, and your head getting dizzy due to his assumption about you two.
Sugawara isn’t less fazed, sweat oozing out his temples as he looks at you with an apologetic expression. “Sorry about my teammate here, he’s uh— he doesn’t have a filter, even with people he doesn’t know.”
“It’s okay!”
“I— I’ll see you later, then, yeah? Good luck in your classes today! Fighting!” He hurriedly tells you, dragging the Tanaka boy alongside him. You watch Sugawara push him on his back, almost tumbling down the stairs with the way he kept struggling from his grasp. You concur that Tanaka would have been a second year if they had went a floor down. Thankfully, students out and about had minded their own business, so you finally rush inside the classroom and took in everything that happened ever since you realized you forgot your scarf.
As your trembling heart beats at a normal pace, you finally become aware of the scarf you’re still using even when seated at your desk. The scent of Christmas cookies and Sugawara become one to you, and you feel utterly lucky to have been given a piece of him albeit it was out of his kindness (so you think).
“Hey, mornin’! Nice scarf,” your friend arrives with a few minutes before class starts, and you wave at her hello. You hadn’t taken it off yet.
“You still feelin’ cold in here? I think it’s pretty toasty actually,” she comments, placing her bag underneath her desk and making herself comfortable in the seat next to yours. You don’t respond, only bury yourself in the comfort of Suga’s scarf. She begins to share her morning festivities, and you listen with half a mind thinking about the next time you’re going to face Sugawara again.
You wish it was already tomorrow.