GIFT
Suna Rintarou x Asano Kura
Suna asks Kura to accompany him to buy a gift for someone on her birthday. What she doesn’t know is that the gift is meant for the girl that Suna likes and how dense she can be.
Their feelings might be mutual, but the way they convey them can’t be more different.
Notes:
*Not dating, but Suna acts like they are lol
*Very indulgent, so mostly it’s a bit mellow but everything turns out fine
*Suna is… very teasy I think. From 1-10 he’s a 7 or 8 in this, because as I said, very indulgent please don't judge
From: myself
To: myself
Hey, let's do our best too for this year. I know we can do it.
Today is Kura's birthday and Suna is bringing her along to buy a gift for someone.
Of course she thinks there's a myriad of better ways to spend her time on her birthday, but she can't just reject an invitation from someone she likes! Especially because this is the first time Suna has called her for something like this! So despite Miyu’s reservation about how fishy she thinks Suna is acting, Kura agrees to meet him for this small errand. But even though she’s really looking forward to today…
Kura sighs before taking another deep breath. Her boots are clacking loud on the pavement as she runs. People are looking at her, the ankle-length-skirt-wearing woman who dashes off from the station towards the popular shopping street in a panic, but she couldn’t care less. Her mind is already filled with other things anyway.
She’s now running 20 minutes late and it’s all because yesterday night she can’t stop thinking about every scenario that might play out for today. The overthinking acts like a domino, making her head hurt and making her only able to sleep a few hours before the meeting time, and at the end, causing her to wake up later than she expected.
When Kura walks near their meeting spot, she starts looking around, and eventually, she finds him. Suna Rintarou, the second-year middle blocker of Inarizaki Boys' Volleyball Club—and quite a formidable middle blocker, based on what Miyu told her—is leaning on a street railing while scrolling on his phone while Kura is cursing herself for making him wait.
She starts running toward him, and while doing it, she can’t help but stare at his outfit. His casual ensemble fits him like a glove. Unlike Kura who doesn’t know much about fashion and needs to ask Miyu if the color of her skirt and shirt clash, Suna’s choice of clothes is more deliberate, cool, and trendy. Just by seeing him Kura feels like she’ll fall in love all over again.
Then, when she gets closer, he finally notices her and pockets his phone.
“Morning, Asano.”
She slows down her pace and stops in front of him. Making sure she’s not out of breath, she answers the greeting. “Good morning, Suna-kun. I’m truly sorry I’m late.”
“It’s fine, I just got here too.”
There’s no way he just got there. Suna might slack off sometimes, as Kita says, but he’s not one to be late. But before she can apologize again, Suna brings up another topic.
“Have you eaten yet?”
”... no,” says Kura.
“Then let’s buy a crepe, there’s a good one around here,” says Suna.
He looks down at Kura’s empty hand. Today she’s using a messenger bag, so she just lets her hands fall on her skirt instead of holding a handbag she sometimes carries. “Wanna hold hands? You look tired.”
“N-no thanks, I’ll be fine.” Her heart hasn’t settled down yet and she doesn’t want it racing so hard it comes out of her chest by holding hands with Suna.
“Well, if you insist,” says Suna. “Let’s go.”
Suna leads the way as Kura walks beside him. She can finally breathe normally again and finally notices how much they look like couples around them. Shopping streets like this are a popular destination for a date, especially on holidays like today. Too bad she’s not there today with Suna as a couple… she gives a wry smile to herself.
“You don’t mind crepes, right?” Suna suddenly asks, snapping Kura out of her thoughts.
She nods. “I like everything, honestly.”
Suna cocks his head at Kura, “so you don’t mind a cucumber-filled crepe?”
“O-of course I mind!” At those mere words, Kura yells in panic. “What kind of monster can eat something like that?!”
Crap. Kura lowers her head. She really just rants about cucumbers in front of him. Aah, what if Suna dislikes her now?!
Kura steals a glance at Suna’s face. He still has that blank deadpan expression he usually has, so… he doesn’t seem to mind. That’s good. Next time she’ll make sure not to show her more uncool side in front of Suna!
Before she knows it, they stop in front of a big crepe shop with a long line in front of it.
“What will you get?” asks Suna.
Kura reads the store menu hanging near the waiting line, and after a few silent minutes of mulling over how many variants there are, she finally picks one.
“Custard and cream,” she says. It has a recommendation sticker beside its name and it looks fulfilling enough for a breakfast replacement, so it should be enough for her.
Suna nods. “Then I’ll take the strawberry jam and strawberry ice cream one.”
After Suna insists he’ll go order, Kura gives him her money and insists back that she’ll pay for her crepe, and waiting on the tree near the shop for around fifteen minutes, watching the couples walking around in a bit of envy, Suna finally comes back with her order which she eats without waiting too long.
The custard and cream crepe is delicious, with it not being too sweet and having a perfect balance of custard and cream, none of them overlapping the other's taste and instead complementing the crispy crepe.
Seeing Kura’s joyful face, Suna can’t help but chuckle, a gesture which she unfortunately missed. Then, Suna touches her shoulder, making her stop eating and turn her attention to him.
“Can I taste yours?” he asks.
“Ah, sure.” Kura peels off the tissue around the crepe a bit lower so Suna wouldn’t eat into them before handing it to him. “Here you go.”
But instead of taking it from her hand, Suna just bit into it as she held it. Kura is shaken, but keeps her hand from shaking as Suna gets closer and bite the crepe.
Pretty. The word pops up in Kura’s mind as she can see Suna’s eyelashes flutter when he leans down. His dark brown hair is also so immaculate. She doesn’t know if he style it meticulously, but up close it’s so neat yet looks just messy enough to be natural. And as Suna pulls away, Kura can’t help but think how many times does she have to fall all over for him again.
Suna munches in silence, seemingly enjoying the taste of her crepe for a few seconds. Then, he handed her his crepe.
“Wanna taste mine too? The ice cream isn’t too bad.”
Kura nods. This time she holds Suna’s crepe, not wanting to be awkwardly close to him before taking a bite of some of the ice cream and the crepe. Unlike her custard and cream, the strawberry one Suna has is far sweeter for her. Maybe it’s because of the jam spread on the crepe, or maybe the ice cream is just that sweet.
Then, drip.
“Ah.”
A bit of ice cream falls on Kura’s bottom lip, and before she can get it, Suna’s right thumb traces the dripped ice cream and effectively, half of Kura’s bottom lip. He then licks his thumb nonchalantly.
Still with a blank expression, Suna looks down at her. “Isn't that bad, right?”
Kura is sure she almost faints. But she keeps it together, ignoring the silent scream on the back of her head. What was that? What was that?!
“M-mhm, yeah…”
While Kura gives Suna’s crepe back and he finishes his, Kura can only look down at hers, unable to think straight about anything other than what whatever just happened is called.
“Aren’t you going to finish yours?” Suna asks, throwing the trash inside a nearby trash can.
“Ah, sorry,” Kura mumbles, “uh, we’re going now? Should I just throw it away or something?”
“No need to panic, Asano.” Suna puts his hands inside his pants pocket. “Just eat it on our way to the shop.”
Kura silently agrees with him and both of them finally continue walking to their destination. She munches on the rest of her crepe as they walk, with Suna not saying a thing. And despite how noisy everything around them is, the silence between them takes the forefront of her mind. Even the overthinking seems to stop just so she can realize how quiet Suna is. Is she boring him already? She fears the worst.
Just ask something. Anything, her mind says. She had a thousand questions for him just now, and her mind insisted she should just pick one and end the silence. So Kura gathers a bit of courage before speaking up.
“Uh, Suna-kun, may I ask something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Who is this birthday present for?”
He hums for a second, thinking, before finally answering in a nonchalant tone.
“A girl that I like.”
Kura almost drops her crepe, but she recovers from the shock quickly enough and manages to hold her ground. Though her grip on the crepe tightens just a bit too much, and parts of it crunches under pressure.
“Is that so,” says Kura. She tries to keep a smile on her face, but it looks as sad as always. At least she’s walking a bit behind Suna, so he won’t see how disappointed she is right now. She can only let out a small sigh and look down at the stone pavement under her feet.
She knows this birthday present won’t be for her because what kind of person takes the one the gift is for when buying it, especially because her birthday is today, and buying a present right on the big day seems a bit counterintuitive. But knowing the present is for someone he likes… Kura doesn’t know if she would even consider coming along if she knew this from the beginning. Too little too late, though. She’s already here, and it wouldn’t be polite for her to just say ‘I can’t bear hearing the person I like muse about someone else so I’ll go home first’ before taking off in tears, so she needs to bear with it. Just for an hour or two.
As Kura is busy mulling over the circumstances she finds herself in, Suna stops walking and stares right at her, even leaning down so he can meet her limestone eyes.
“Why do you ask?”
Trying to contain the shock of being so close to Suna, Kura looks away, but he follows her movement intently and she can’t escape his gaze.
“I’m just… curious,” she says, “it’s not every day you invite me somewhere like this. I’m interested in what kind of thing you need me for.”
“Ah.” Suna hums again, backing away from Kura. “I don’t know much about girls, so I thought your opinion on gifts I’m gonna choose will help.”
That hurts. That hurts too much. Kura is glad that he trusts her enough to get her opinion on something important to him, but she wishes it’ll be for something related to something other than the girl he likes.
A few minutes later, they stop in front of a jewelry shop. It’s a high-end one, Kura thinks, with the silver theme going around the shop and how classy the glass interiors are from what she can see outside the glass window. Kura finished her remaining crepe before walking inside the store, following behind Suna.
They’re greeted by a female employee. She smiles and talks to Suna.
“Welcome, are you buying something for your girlfriend?”
“Something like that,” says Suna. Kura tries to ignore how much that hurts her and keeps smiling.
Suna then turns to her. “What do you think would be a nice present?”
“Earrings, maybe? If she’s wearing one that is.”
Kura can’t deny that she answers that while thinking of her earrings that went down her shower drain the other day, but well, that’s a piece of jewelry she has on top of her head, and if Suna doesn’t like her suggestion he can always pick another one. He’s not someone too shy to convey his opinion, after all.
But hearing her suggestion, Suna nods and faces the employee.
“Can you show us the earrings section?”
“Right this way.”
The employee walks them to lines and lines of earrings, each displayed inside a transparent box and placed on a shelf. She says to call her if they need any help before disappearing to the entrance again.
Suna then starts the conversation again.
“What kind of earring do you think a girl your age would like?”
“If you’re asking me, I prefer something more elegant,” says Kura. “Earrings too big might get in the way or get confiscated by teachers, so something simple is a must.”
A thought then pops into her mind. “Ah, the type of earrings you’ll buy also depends on her personality though … if she likes flashy earrings maybe you can sacrifice the flash for a more intricate model. That is if you want to follow my advice and keep the size small.”
Suna nods, looking over the earrings. “I’ll follow your advice, Asano. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” says Kura. But a question still burns in her mind, and before her mind can protest about how quiet the tension is between them, she asks Suna the question.
“... if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of girl is she?”
He stifles a laugh which catches Kura off guard, but quickly recovers and changes into his usual expression again. “She’s dense but interesting. I think she tries her hardest at everything, but she usually tries too hard and ends up a bit pathetic especially when she fails, yet refuses to tell anyone about her failures,” he says, “she always tries to look perfect and only shows her other faces to certain people, but it’s easy to break her walls down. Also, I bet she thinks she’s not dense even though she is. She's really bad at anything emotional.” He finishes it off with another stifle of laughter.
Hearing all of that, the first thing that Kura wonders about is … what does he see in that girl? And besides, aren't most of the things he just described can fall under insults?
As she scrunches her face in confusion, Kura realizes that Suna has been staring at her. Directly at her, gazing into her eyes. And it’s making her more nervous.
“W-what?”
“Nothing,” he says before returning to browsing for earrings.
Suna is particular about what he’s going to buy. It takes him around two hours to narrow the search into a few earrings, and with Kura’s help, they manage to cut it into one pair of earrings.
“What do you think about this one?”
“The design is nice, intricate yet simple… but isn’t it a bit too expensive?” asks Kura. They’re just high schoolers, and the price written on that tag isn’t a high schooler’s pocket money.
Suna holds the earrings in his hand, his eyes never leaving them. The gray sapphire on it reflects the store light and glimmers bright, coloring the short silence between them.
“Nothing is too expensive for her.”
As he says that, Kura can see a genuine smile on his face. Something he doesn’t show to many people. His usual deadpan face is cool enough for her to fall in love with him, and that smile is enough to make her feel like she’s not making a bad decision by falling in love with him—even with her current situation.
“I’ll ask for it to be wrapped up. Can you wait here?”
“Sure,” says Kura.
She stares at Suna’s backside as he walks away and talks to an employee before handing over the earrings. Watching how he acts about anything related to the girl he likes is unfair. It feels unfair. It hurts. It feels like she shouldn’t even be here, she shouldn’t be able to see that genuine smile, she shouldn't even accept his invitation. Only someone he likes should be able to see that side of him, not someone like her, who probably means nothing to him.
If only … if only Suna would think about her like that too ….
A wry smile creeps up on her face. What is she thinking? She should be happy that Suna has someone he cares deeply about. But no matter how she twists it, she can’t help but feel the pit in her stomach only going deeper every time Suna talks about the girl he likes.
When she realizes it, Suna already waves at her standing near the cashier. He’s probably done, she thinks as she walks to the cashier. She should stop thinking so negatively for now, since she wouldn’t want to worry Suna.
Kura stops beside Suna who’s paying for the earrings that are now nicely boxed inside a square velvet box, tied neatly with a gray ribbon the same color as the gems on the earrings. With a smile, she brings up a sentence she knows the answer to will only hurt her even more.
“You really care about the girl you like, huh, Suna-kun?”
“Of course,” he says, grabbing the box from the cashier before glancing at Kura, his pale citrine eyes meeting her. “Wouldn’t you do that too for someone you like?”
“I guess,” her answer is quiet, though she knows she will do most things for someone that she cares about. Just look at her now, accompanying her first love to buy expensive earrings for a girl he likes even though it pains her so much.
She clenches her chest to stop it from hurting. No. She can’t feel down, this is her birthday after all, and she’s also in front of someone she likes. Get a grip! She tells herself, taking a deep breath. Kura’s mind wanders. Maybe when she gets back she’ll call Miyu and go eat some kebab or whatever. Anything to take her mind off her unrequited love.
Finishing the purchase, they walk out of the store. And before Kura can ask where to next, Suna stops walking and turns around towards her.
“Here you go.”
“Huh?”
“Your birthday present.”
Kura looks down at her hands. The square box looks small in Suna’s hands, but now that it’s in her hands, it feels a bit too big.
“S-suna-kun, this is—”
As she looks up, he meets Suna's eyes. The grayish-yellow tint in them looks even more beautiful than she thought, causing her heartbeat to fasten even more. He’s leaning down, but Kura doesn’t realize that until he tilts his head and places a peck on her lips, lingering a second longer than she anticipated, his breath hot against her already warm skin.
“Happy birthday, Kura.” The corner of his mouth twists into a playful grin as he pulls away. “Hope you can catch up to my height this year so I can kiss you more easily.”
Silence.
Both Kura’s heart and mind stop for a few seconds, unable to comprehend everything that just happened. But Suna doesn’t wait for her. Instead, he pulls out his phone and snaps a picture of Kura’s face. And the shutter is what brings Kura back to reality.
“W-WHAT?!” Kura takes panicked steps back. “W-wait what just… what did you mean… I-I—”
Her mind can’t keep up with her racing heartbeat. Every word that Suna has uttered today flows through Kura’s mind, every meaning in it covered by the sly fox’s deadpan face finally making sense, and with it, anger and embarrassment bubble up inside her.
“Y-you Do-S! You did it all on purpose, didn't you?!” She points at him, her face redder than ever. Gears on her head are overheating as she can’t believe how she was thinking about ‘if only’ and feels jealous whenever Suna talks about the girl he likes when in reality, she has fallen into his trap all along.
“If you like me you can just say it directly, you know! No need to go through this… complicated ritual of yours!” Kura grabs onto Suna’s sleeve. “If you do so, I can answer it easily!”
“That’s not fun. Just saying it wouldn’t make you show more of your sides.” His eyes glimmer with mischievous intent, something she recognizes pops up now and then when he looks at her. “Besides, I wouldn’t try any of this if it weren’t so obvious that you’ll say yes anyway.”
It’s that obvious? Is it that obvious that she likes him?! She knows Miyu has pointed out how Kura unconsciously keeps looking at Suna when someone tells a joke, but is it that obvious that the person itself would notice it?!
“I can’t believe it,” Kura’s world crumbles down. This whole time Suna knows she likes him and he just acts so nonchalantly around her? “Aah, I want to disappear,” she mumbles, covering her face with her birthday present. “I can’t, this is too much…”
He pats Kura’s head, the over twenty centimeters height gap is nothing to him as the taller one.
“Don’t mind,” he says, the casual tone the same as he always uses when he says that to his teammates. He ruffles Kura’s hair while the girl herself is still fuming in anger and embarrassment. She knows Suna hides something under his deadpan demeanor, but she never thought it’ll be… whatever this is!
“Now let’s go walk around some more. Today is our first date after all.”
The word ‘first date’ makes Kura’s heart go crazy again, but Suna is happy he got the reaction he’s aiming for. Not only on the field, even with something like this, Suna can control the ‘blockers’ into giving him the result he wants. He snaps another picture of her.
“Stop that already, geez! Stop trying to embarrass me!” Kura complains, trying to move away from Suna, but he quickly grabs her shoulder and pulls her closer, earning a soft yelp from her.
“Calm down, Kura, you’re going to make people look at us, you know?” says Suna, the deadpan expression of his wavering under his ghostly grin, “or maybe you’ll only calm down if I kiss you again?”
“A-as if!”
While trying to avoid Suna’s gaze, Kura can’t help but scolds herself. She can’t believe she falls for someone like Suna! She can’t believe how she thought the deadpan manner of him is cool, or how with this whole teasing escapade he’s doing, he’s only falling for him more. Just how bad is her taste?!
But most importantly, she really can’t believe how he falls for her back.