tide pools (i. matsukawa)
genre: fluff, slightly suggestive
warnings: just some kissing & suggestive thoughts
this trip had been a long time in the making. with everyone off at university doing their own stuff, it was hard for the friend group to reunite. especially considering the distance between you all now that you were all graduated. the group had been planning a trip to okinawa for a few months now, and you couldn’t be more excited when the day finally arrived.
you’d rented rooms in a hotel by the beach, getting one all to yourself while the rest of the boys bunked up. it was your first full day after arriving late last night, and you could practically feel the ocean calling your name.
you finished up your hairstyle for the day, opting to pull your hair back so it would stay out of your face while you swam, and took one last look at yourself in the mirror. you had done a light coat of mascara, waterproof of course, just to make yourself feel a bit more put together. although if you were honest with yourself, it was definitely to impress a special someone.
you had been head over heels for matsukawa issei since your time in high school together. you were the manager of their volleyball team, and best friends with the seijoh four for most of your life. however, it never felt like matsukawa paid you much attention at all. he was a good friend, but he never seemed to care too much about what you were doing. besides, you were constantly hearing about all the girls confessing to him, and gifting him chocolates, so you never felt like you stood a chance.
as you all grew older, you and matsukawa seemed to grow closer. with oikawa and iwaizumi moving abroad for university, it seemed to bring the remaining friends closer together. all three of you attended the same university, and you now live in the same apartment building. matsukawa roomed with hanamaki, and you lived with one of your friends from first year. you all spent tons of time together, but you never felt like matsukawa would ever see you as anything other than a friend. with a sigh, you pulled yourself from your thoughts and went to grab your beach bag so you could meet up with the boys outside.
“y/n! glad you decided to join us,” oikawa teased, referring to the fact that they’d all been waiting for you.
“oh come on, it hasn’t even been that long,” you replied, shoving his shoulder lightly with a roll of your eyes.
the group began to head outside towards the beach, and you fell into a rhythm walking next to oikawa.
“i’m glad we’re finally doing this, i’ve missed you guys,” you said after a few moments of comfortable silence.
“aw y/n-chan, i’m sure you missed me the most,” oikawa boasted with a smile. “considering you rarely get to see me.”
“what if i missed iwa more? he’s just as far away as you are,” you commented, giving iwa a smile.
oikawa scoffed and draped his arm over your shoulders, “not a chance, i know you love me the most,”
you adjusted your shoulders, shaking his arm off. oikawa had always been this way with you. he showed his love very physically, and it tended to scare off any potential suitors. no one wanted to be in competition with oikawa, but no one seemed to gather that he wasn’t in the running at all.
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matsukawa knew this day would be hard for him. he missed his friends dearly, of course, but being all together again brought back some of the hardships of high school. he had never been the most outspoken person in the world, so he appreciated his friends taking that role on. however, he could do without oikawa’s incessant affections towards you.
it’s not like he’d ever made it known, but matsukawa always had a soft spot for you. from the day you had first met, your smile and bright eyes captivated him. you were always so kind, and willing to help the team out, and honestly you cared just as much about volleyball as they all did. matsukawa never made it known how he felt about you though, partially because he would hate to ruin your friendship, but also because he began to feel like it was a losing battle.
oikawa was the guy every girl wanted. he was handsome, talented, smart, and flirting came so naturally to him. with just one look he could make a girl blush, and all matsukawa could accomplish with one look was making a girl avert her eyes and walk away. so seeing oikawa constantly all over you made him feel like he had no chance of you ever picking him.
he was excited for the beach though. despite his jealousy, oikawa was one of his best friends, so it was hard to go so long without seeing him. same for iwaizumi; matsukawa had been looking forward to a reunion.
the group reached a good spot to start setting up their chairs and towels, and hanamaki was quick to toss his shirt to the side and rush towards the ocean. oikawa was quick to follow in his footsteps, and iwaizumi was next after he had sprayed his shoulders down with a good amount of sunscreen. matsukawa didn’t want to go ahead without you though.
as soon as you popped into his head, he glanced over to see what you were doing and almost lost control of his calm facial expression.
you had taken off your coverup, and were now only in your bikini. matsukawa knew you were hot, but seeing you like this made him feel like a teenager again. like he could barely control himself. it was a cute matching set, monochrome in color, with little ties on the side of the bottoms and the triangle shape of the top seemed to barely hold everything in. matsukawa felt his throat getting dry, and he was about to look away to regain his composure when your eyes looked up and met his.
“what?” you asked, a confused look on your face.
matsukawa coughed awkwardly, “uh, nothing, sorry.”
“well, whatever, could you help me with the sunscreen?” you asked innocently.
matsukawa felt like his heart might beat out of his chest. he couldn’t string a sentence together to reply to you, so he just nodded curtly and reached for the bottle of sunscreen nearby. you turned, leaving your back facing him, and gently held your hair away from your neck. matsukawa knew today would be difficult for him.
he quickly rubbed the sunscreen into your back, trying his hardest not to seem weird. he didn’t want you to get a strange vibe from him, especially if it would make you uncomfortable. however, he couldn’t help but linger with his hands on your shoulders. your skin was so soft, and if he stood just close enough he could smell the vanilla scent radiating off of you. however, he couldn’t place if it was perfume or something more subtle like body wash.
“is everything okay back there?” you asked with a giggle, snapping matsukawa back into reality.
he cleared his throat again, “yeah, yeah, i’m fine. you’re good now by the way.”
you turned around to face him with a smile adorning your face, “thanks matsun!”
he nodded in response, a smile creeping onto his face. it was like your smile was contagious for him.
“anytime. do you want to get in the water?” matsukawa asked.
you nodded back at him, and with that you both headed towards the ocean.
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despite your best efforts to keep your hair dry, of course, you ended up fully submerged in the ocean not even an hour into your day. you’d all been splashing around in the water for a while now, and everyone was reaching a stopping point. you in particular were starting to crave some food.
as if he’d read your mind, iwaizumi popped up from under the water, and after he shook his hair dry, he posed the question.
“do you guys wanna get out and eat something?”
hanamaki responded with an enthusiastic yes, and you backed him up.
“yeah, i’m getting hungry.”
you all headed back towards your spot on the sand, while you lingered towards the back. it was hard to keep up with a bunch of boys with long legs, especially while walking in the water. matsukawa seemed to notice you, and hung back as well.
“did we bring anything with us to eat?” oikawa asked, from the front of the pack.
your eyes widened, how could you guys forget to bring snacks?
“someone could always run over to the beach grill and bring food back,” iwaizumi suggested with a shrug.
“genius iwa!” oikawa exclaimed, reaching over to ruffle his friend’s hair.
iwaizumi scowled and swatted his hand away, “back off shithead,” he grumbled.
oikawa brought his hand over his heart, feigning offence, “iwa how dare you!”
he just rolled his eyes in response, and the two began to bicker back and forth. you smiled at the exchange, feeling all of the nostalgia from your time in high school. oh how you’d missed these boys.
“do you want to go get the food for everyone?” matsukawa asked you, leaning down a bit to reach your ears better.
you couldn't stop the heat that spread over your cheeks at his proximity, but you nodded despite the blush.
“yeah, i’m down for that.”
“guys, everyone text your orders, me and y/n are gonna go to the grill,” matsukawa announced to the group, only catching the attention of hanamaki.
“i’ll make sure they send what they want, you guys can go,” hanamaki said, referring to oikawa and iwaizumi who had yet to stop bickering.
matsukawa tilted his head towards the grill, gesturing for you to follow after him. with a small wave at the remaining three, you began to follow after him. you both headed towards the boardwalk, a skinny piece of wood trailing the edge of the beach, leading towards the center where all the stands were located. with its distance from all the action on the sand, it actually felt somewhat isolated. once the two of you reached the boardwalk, you fell comfortably into a rhythm with each other.
“i’m so hungry, i can’t wait to get our food,” you commented, breaking the silence.
“mhm,” matsukawa hummed in reply, looking anywhere but at you.
you felt a small pang of hurt in your chest, and quickly tried to change the direction of your thoughts. it was so hard though, with matsukawa right next to you, and his shirt nowhere to be seen. the years of volleyball had been good to him, and you knew he liked to stay active, even just by working out at the gym. he was ripped without being too big, and in your eyes he had the perfect build. he was broad, and strong, and you could see the definition of his muscles along his back and chest. his arms were huge, veins running down to his hands, and you couldn’t focus on them for too long before your mind would start to wander. you wondered how it would feel to have his arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer to his chest. you would lay your head against him, and then you wondered what he would smell like. does he still use the same axe products as he did in high school? or has he matured into using more adult scents? you wondered what it would be like to lay with him, cuddling up next to him. how would he hold you?
“y/n?”
matsukawa’s deep voice brought you back to reality. he was waving a hand in front of your face, trying to get your attention. a bright red blush swept over your face, instantly regretting letting your mind wander.
“what were you thinking about?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his tone.
you felt like you were blushing all the way down to your toes. how much more embarrassing could this possibly be?
“oh, uh, nothing really. i was just, uh, distracted,” your voice faded out at the end, like you knew you had no good excuse for your behavior.
matsukawa brushed it off though, and just kept walking forwards. he began rambling about hanamaki, and his unexplainable beef with flip flops, giving you a chance to calm down. because how could you get worked up hearing about hanamaki’s feet?
you both finally reached the beach grill, and thankfully there wasn’t much of a line. once you reached the front, matsukawa ordered for your friends, and then for himself, and much to your surprise, he ordered for you too. you’d told him what you wanted while you were waiting in line, and even though it was a small gesture, it made you feel the oh so familiar blush creep back onto your face. it felt so domestic, and you couldn’t help but imagine, for just one second, that matsukawa was yours.
you stepped to the side to wait for your food, and you kept your head hung low. the last thing you needed right now was another awkward moment with him. you wanted him to like you, and how would that ever happen if he kept catching you staring like a freak.
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matsukawa had no clue what came over him, but he felt the most bold he’d felt in a while. maybe it was seeing you in a bikini, and seeing the way every other man on the beach looked at you. thinking about some other guy creeping on you made his fists clench, and matsukawa knew he had to do something about it. the whole walk over to the grill, he’d been scheming a way to romance you.
however, it was appearing to be much harder than he thought it would be. no grand gestures were coming to mind, and to make matters worse he couldn’t tell if you were fine being with him, or if you were incredibly uncomfortable. you could hardly meet his eyes, and your body language was basically running away from him. but then every time you did look at him, the smile on your face and the light in your eyes pulled him right back in.
matsukawa heard his name being called, and went up to the counter to grab their togo bags. it was only two bags, which he easily swept up in one hand. you trailed behind him, and he could feel your eyes burning into the back of his neck.
“do you want help carrying those?” you asked politely.
matsukawa shook his head, “nah, they’re not even heavy. besides, it’s only two bags.”
you nodded in understanding, “okay, well let me know if you change your mind.”
matsukawa thanked you, and then his mind was right back to scheming. he knew he could never make a move on you in front of your friends. he would be teased relentlessly, and if you truly did like oikawa, he would never want to make things weird for you guys. then, as if it was sent by the universe, matsuakwa spotted a grouping of tide pools tucked away in a small cove off of the shore. there wasn’t a single person in sight, not even in the collection of tide pools. without saying a word, matsukawa looped his free arm through yours and pulled you away from the boardwalk.
“matsu! where are we going?” you asked through giggles, a smile breaking out on your face.
“look, did you see these?” he asked, dropping your arm to gesture in front of himself.
your eyes widened as you took it all in, and within seconds you had rushed forward to start inspecting the small pools of water. matsukawa watched as you glanced over the many pools, before your sights settled on one in particular. you bent down to look through it, and matsukawa sucked in a quick breath. he felt like a creep thinking about how your ass looked while you were digging through tide pools, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“omg matsun come here!” you exclaimed suddenly, making his heart skip a beat.
for just a second he thought perhaps you caught him, but your eyes never left the tide pool in front of you. he walked over to stand next to you, and looked to what you were pointing at. a small coral colored starfish was hugging the base of a rock surrounding the pool. you could hardly contain your excitement, and it made a smile break out on his face as well.
“that’s so cool! i don’t think i’ve ever seen a starfish in person before,” you rambled excitedly.
then, you straightened up from your bent-over position, and your gaze looked up towards matsukawa. once your eyes met, it was like a magnetic pull. your eyes were sparkling, full of delight at your discovery, with something else brewing beneath. it was an intense look, and if the pull wasn’t so strong, matsukawa would’ve shied away from you. your eyes were captivating, and he had never noticed how you had small flecks of gold decorating your irises. matsukawa was sure he looked like a gobsmacked idiot right now, but he couldn’t care less. you were beautiful, and he needed to soak in as much of you as he could.
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you could feel your heart beating in your throat. the way matsukawa was looking at you made you feel like all of the stars in the sky. he was awed, and it made you feel like he was seeing every inch of you. like there was nothing you could hide from him. it was rare to have a moment with someone where no words are needed. you were able to notice the small crinkle in the corner of his eyes, and the drips of water running down his neck from his still-wet hair. there was one bead of water running from his temple, and before you could even realize what you were doing, you reached out and caught it with your thumb.
your hand rested against the side of his neck as your thumb carefully swept the droplet up, but you didn’t move your hand away. his skin felt hot underneath your touch, but despite that he didn’t make a move to get away from you. instead, you felt his hand delicately wrap around your waist and gently pull you closer.
now, you were sure you were red from head to toe. his hand felt heavy against your bare skin, and you couldn’t help but notice every single thing about his touch. it was soft, and you could count each individual finger he had placed against your skin. his grip tightened, drawing a small gasp out of your mouth.
“is this okay?” matsukawa asked, his voice hushed, like if he spoke too loud the moment would shatter.
you nodded, unable to get any words past the lump in your throat. now that you stood closer to him, you could tell exactly what he smelled like. he was warm and musky, without being too juvenile. it was nothing like the axe he used in high school. the scent was overwhelming you, making your head spin. you could hardly think any rational thoughts, especially not when your gaze dropped to his bare chest again. your eyes quickly darted back up to his face, where his smile was turning into more of a smirk.
“now what are you looking at?” he teased, pressing his fingers tighter against you.
“you smell good,” you said, your voice coming out breathier than you anticipated.
matsukawa tilted his head to the side, leaning more into your palm that was still resting against the junction of his face and neck.
“oh yeah?” he asked, confidence growing in his tone.
you nodded, once again unable to muster up anything to say. almost involuntarily, your fingers crept into his curls, grasping onto the small strands of hair. the slight tug brought matsukawa’s gaze lower on you, and he pulled you in even closer. you were now just a step apart from being skin-to-skin, and you could almost feel the heat radiating off of him. like his energy was pulling you in closer. it was captivating
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matsukawa knew he had to act now. this moment was like a blue moon, so rare he didn’t know if it could ever be replicated. he had you alone, and your attention was completely wrapped up in him. matsukawa hoped with everything in him that he hadn’t misread the energy, and he went to close the gap between you.
his eyes darted down to your lips, and back up to your eyes. he looked for any semblance of uncertainty on your face, but he was met entirely with a sense of longing. a hungry sense of longing, like you needed him.
matsukawa took action, pulling you flush against his chest and leaning into you. he stopped with his lips just barely grazing yours, needing final confirmation that this is what you wanted. he looked into your eyes one last time, and before he had the chance to discern how you were feeling, you hummed out a small sound of wanting.
“matsu, please kiss me,” you whispered, your fingers tugging against his scalp harder.
the bags of food in his other hand dropped to the ground, and matsukawa could barely spare a second to be thankful that they landed comfortably on the sand. his now free hand joined his other on your waist, and he circled your body in his grasp. then, finally, he pressed his lips against yours.
it was like he was on fire. flames shot up his back, leaving him tingling all over at the contact. you moved in sync, barely starting out soft before passion crept into the kiss. his lips were bruising against yours, but you didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. you just pushed back harder against him, like you couldn’t get close enough. matsukawa grazed his teeth against your bottom lip, causing you to let out a small gasp. he took the moment to run his tongue against your open lips, and another small breath escaped you.
matsukawa felt feverish, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if this whole thing was a fever-induced hallucination. having you right here, pressed against him and wanting was like a dream come true. all of the sudden he felt you grasping against his bare back with your other hand, your nails digging into his skin. it took everything in him not to groan at the feeling. then, you separated for air, not putting any distance between your faces. you were breathing shallow, your gasps ghosting over his lips, keeping the fire inside him burning.
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“do you think they’re wondering where we are?” you asked, your voice coming out soft and breathless.
matsukawa gave you a small chuckle, “definitely. i’m sure they’re all missing you the most though,” and then he leaned in towards your ear, his voice dropping to a whisper, “i mean, you have been the eye candy of the day.”
your cheeks burst into a blush for what felt like the millionth time today.
“oh c’mon, i don’t think that.”
“really? everyone’s been staring at you today. it’s why i had to let you know. i want you to be mine y/n. i don’t want anyone to stare at you like that, except me.”
you shyly looked away from matsukawa, unable to handle the flattery being thrown your way. your head was swimming with a thousand different thoughts, and you couldn’t seem to come to a conclusion in your head. was this matsukawa’s way of saying he liked you? or was he just calling you hot? had he always felt this way, or was it just a matter of you being scantily clad and him being desperate?
he gave your waist a slight squeeze, pulling you out of your thoughts, and your gaze met matsukawa’s eyes once again.
“what are you thinking about? and be honest with me this time.”
you gave him a soft smile at his reference to earlier, but struggled to think of what to say. how could you encapsulate so many questions into one, without seeming like you were thinking way too hard about everything.
“just…” you trailed off, biting your bottom lip softly in thought.
as your eyes were cast downwards, matsukawa brought a hand off of your waist to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear.
“you look worried, is everything okay?”
you nodded quickly, bringing your eyes back up to his face. you saw the concern written all over him, but you also noticed a scared look in his eyes. like he was thinking you were about to reject him. but still, you couldn’t find the words to say what you meant.
matsukawa took a step back, his hands leaving your waist. he raised one hand to scratch at the back of his neck awkwardly.
“sorry, i didn’t mean to make things weird. we can just forget about this if you want,” he said, sadness creeping into his tone.
“no!” you replied quickly, before you were able to think of what you really wanted to say.
a smile returned to matsukawa’s face at your reply, but he gave you a moment to speak.
“i…i like you. probably more than you like me, and i just don’t want to come on too strong if that’s not what this was about. i mean, like, i know we’ve known each other forever, and i always thought you felt pretty indifferent towards me in that way, and i just, i don’t know. i like you. but if that’s too much for you it’s okay, i’m not like expecting anything from you or anything i just-”
matsukawa reached out and placed his arms around your waist, pulling you back into his chest. he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, and before you could even process the moment, he was chuckling at you.
“seriously y/n, you thought i was indifferent about you? i’ve liked you forever, you just made me so nervous in high school, i didn’t know what to do with myself,” he said earnestly.
your heart was jumping for joy. you looked up at him, bringing your gaze away from the ground.
“really? you’re not joking with me?” you asked, finding it hard to believe that the boy you’ve loved for so long has always reciprocated your feelings.
matsukawa nodded, “not joking, i promise. i think you’re the most amazing girl ever, and that bikini definitely wasn’t helping me keep my feelings to myself.”
his fingers were toying with the straps of your bottoms, making heat scorch your face again.
“matsukawa, you’ve gotta stop that or we’ll never make it back to the beach,” you said.
he laughed, dropping his hands once again before reaching down to grab the long forgotten bags of food off the ground. then, he held out his other hand for you to grab. you intertwined your fingers, unable to keep the grin off your face.
“you should call me issei,” he noted as you began your walk back to the beach.
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“what do you think is keeping them so long?” oikawa asked as he gave the volleyball they were playing with a small hit towards iwaizumi.
iwaizumi quickly sent the ball towards hanamaki and then shrugged.
“who knows, maybe the line was long.”
“but we’ve seen like five groups of people leave to get food, and come back since they left!” oikawa exclaimed, clearly quite hungry.
“i bet they’re hooking up, did you see the way matsukawa was looking at y/n today?” hanamaki asked cheekily before hitting the ball back.
oikawa mimed gagging before catching the ball that had been sent his way.
“i hope not, my meal doesn’t deserve to see all that.”
“like you wouldn’t do exactly the same,” iwaizumi shot back with a roll of his eyes.
oikawa then sent the ball flying towards him, a bit more aggressively than probably necessary.
“i would never keep you guys waiting during mealtime!”