swiped to the right 'cause i thought you were cute

sakusa x reader

wc: 1.2k

authors note: long time no see! It’s been about two years since I’ve posted on here! And this just so happens to be my hundredth post! My master list is pinned to my profile. Please support me through my comeback 🙏🏻

Your eyes followed the curly-haired outsider hitter as you carefully slid your phone out of your bag. You glanced down as your thumb quickly hit the Tinder app. It’s been so long since you’ve been on it, it offloaded from your apps.

“C’mon.” You mumbled, tapping at the fire logo waiting for it to load. The reception in the gymnasium was slow. You open your messages and click on the name Kiyoomi. Quickly pulling up the profile. 

Deleted. 

Makes sense. You guess that it was foolish that you didn’t delete your profile as well. If anything you just forgot about the app with all the time you spent together between classes. 

You swipe out of the app and move to your photo gallery. It wasn’t even a week ago… 

There. There was a photo of you hanging onto his arm, both of you smiling into a mirror at a coffee shop. Swiping through the few pictures that you had of him, the man on the court was definitely the same Kiyoomi in your phone.

You’ve been seeing him for… what? Three months now and he never mentioned this. He said he just finished school and he was job hunting… He did mention playing in high school and college but nothing serious…

The sound of the whistle echoes through the arena. They had announced that his team had the first serve. You click his contact in your phone and check the last messages.

Kiyoomi: going to work out (:

Reading the text, you can feel your eyes roll so hard you could probably see your brain. Yeah, this is working out, alright.

Glancing back at the court, the ball was being set to Kiyoomi at a lightning pace. You could feel your mouth open slightly at the shock of the spike. There was no possible way that someone could humanly dig that up, but the other team did anyway.

You couldn’t believe it.

-

After four sets, the game drew to a close with MSBY pulling three straight sets. Throughout the duration of the game you thought about texting something snarky or clever along the lines of guess who but nothing that you tried typing sat right.

Avoiding the crowd, you walked down to the rails of the home side, watching over girls fawning over the men’s team as they drank their water and wiped their sweat away. You leaned over the railing, looking directly at Kiyoomi. He has a towel wrapped around his neck, his curls flattened against his forehead from the sweat, panting into a mask. Two of his teammates behind him, were patting his back overenthusiastically while his eyes were filled with dread.

His eyes scanned the crowd, dipping his head in intervals to thank the crowd for coming to the game. His eyes stopped on you, his eyebrows furrowed and his demeanor straightened. Raising a hand you offered a small wave, which made his forehead scrunch more. He nodded his head towards the gymnasium door. He shrugged off his teammates, waving them away, waving at the fans, before walking towards the door.

-

“So when were you gonna tell me that you were a fancy, big shot volleyball player?” You leaned against the hall outside the men’s locker room.

“It’s not that big of a deal-”

“Kiyoomi, I literally googled you.” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “You’re playing in the Olympics next year.”

“I think a better question to ask is why are you at a men’s V-League game? You don’t even watch volleyball.” He placed his hands into his pockets, frowning.

“Hanae bought a ticket to today’s game, but she had to study. Which is so not the point. I’ve been seeing you for months now and you kept this from me. This is your career! Your life! Were you ever planning on saying anything or were you just gonna keep hoping that I believed that you were a gym rat” His dark eyes never left yours.

“Obviously that wasn’t the intention-”

“Obviously.” You mocked. “Your intentions weren’t very clear. If I wasn’t important enough to be a part of this, am I just a side piece? I sat through an entire match wondering ‘huh I can’t believe that this man is such a talent. I can’t believe all the hours of hard work from his being that had to be put into this’ to not share it with the person who’s apartment you're at almost every night!”

“Y/N, I-” He was cut off by the locker room door creaking open.

“Hey! Have you guys seen Omi-Omi?” A teammate of his popped his head out of the door. “Oh hey.” The blonde said before noticing you. “Also, hey.” He turned his attention back to Sakusa. “Bo and Shoyo are looking for you. They wanna see if you wanna go to that yakitori place down in Dotonbori again.” 

“I’ll be there, Miya.” He waved him off without a glance

“Sweet. We’re heading there after we get dressed.” Miya pulled the door closed. Silence filled the air as he turned his head to the side.

“You know what, have fun with your team tonight.” You pulled your bag tightly over your shoulder as you turned on your heel. You barely made it five steps before you heard your name being called. A slender hand grabbed your shoulder gently, making your footsteps slow as he guided your body to look back at him.

“Listen.” He pulled the loops of his mask over his ears. He folded the mask nicely in his hands before pocketing it, and returning his gaze to you.

“I understand why you’re upset with me, and if you want to walk out of this gym without ever talking to me again that’s fine, but you are not going to walk out of here thinking that I don’t like and care for you.” His fingers curled around your forearm.

Shaking your head, you pull your arm to your chest, Sakusa still attached. Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath. And another. And another.

“Y’know around the three month mark it’s the point where you consider if you want to stay together and start picturing a future together-”

“You’ve done a lot of talking in the last five minutes, now it’s my turn.” He let go of your arm, letting it fall to your waist. His figure towering over you. “I didn’t disclose to you me being a professional volleyball player, especially on Tinder, because, yes, I am famous to an extent and some people only want to be with me because I am famous or because I’m talented. I have gone on dates with girls that care about my career and not me. Like I said, Tinder. I’m very happy to be with you and spend all of my time outside of practice with you, in said apartment, but it is not everyday that you hear fortunate stories of people who meet off of Tinder. I was planning on telling you when I asked you to be my girlfriend later this week because I know you care about me, so trust me when I tell you that I don’t think this situation is ideal.” He ran his hand through his hair, looking down at you for a response.

A small smile tugged on the corner of your mouth.

“You were gonna make it official?”

He rolled his eyes. “Stay right here.”

“Where are you going?” You ask tilting your head.

sakusa loved you. in fact, he was practically fucking obsessed with you.

you were the love of his life. every thought that passed in his mind somehow reminded him of you, and every minute he was away felt like absolute hell. he would do anything for you to call out his name, and he would not hesitate trade eternal heaven just if it meant seeing you smile one last time.

however, now, you were the reason he wanted to bang his head against the wall until he passed out.

it wasn’t something you actively did. you were the perfect partner, after all. you took care of him, made sure he didn’t overwork himself, made him feel very loved, and appreciated him dearly.

it was actually something you didn’t do.

you never let him take care of you, and it drove him absolutely fucking insane, especially in times like these. you were avoiding his eyes as you sat across of him, clearly doing your best to look at everything but him as he stared at you, eyes wide in disbelief. “i’m sorry, repeat that?”

your shoulders dropped. “i ignored you during the weekend because i was… unstable, and i didn’t want my sad mood to ruin yours, so i dealt with it alone. it’s really not that big of a deal.”

sakusa stared at you blankly. he could remember breaking down multiple times in your arms, and you always pulled him into the comfort of your company, assuring him that he’s always welcome and that you loved taking care of him.

you always noticed even if he was just a little upset, and did everything possible to make his mood better. he could recall uncountable amounts of times were he cried over the silliest stuff, yet you always validated him and made sure he was okay.

the words coming out of your mouth truly flabbergasted him, and he continued staring at you. after a few seconds, you turned to him, frowning. “i already apologized for ignoring you. i’m sorry, okay? i just really didn’t want you to worry and—“

“are you fucking insane?”

you halted, before you sulked, giving him a small pout in response. “rude.”

“why the hell didn’t you come to me when you felt upset?” he stressed, bewildered. “i’m your boyfriend!”

you shrugged calmly. your nonchalance was starting to piss him off. “didn’t want to inconvenience you.”

“inconvenience—?!” he stammered, baffled. “you— inconvenience— oh my god!”

you blinked back, confused. “…why are you shocked? my words are very logical. i was very upset, so i thought about what would be best for you and i followed it.”

for the first time, sakusa was truly astonished. he stared at you, face blank as your words repeated in his head, before he cleared his throat. “[y/n]?”

“…yeah?”

“do you love me?”

you arched an eyebrow. “obviously.”

“then, for the love of god, please call me the next time you’re upset.”

you scoffed loudly, as if he was the unreasonable one. “don’t be ridiculous—“

his jaw dropped. you thought he was the ridiculous one?

“—why would i do that? i would burden you. that makes no sense. i thought you were smart, kiyoomi.”

kiyoomi stared at you for a few more seconds, before he let his head bang against the table loudly.

as much as sakusa would love to lie and say, he did not switch your mind up with a simple conversation. it actually took him days and weeks and months and almost years of continuously restating and reassuring and convincing until you finally accepted his love, help and care.

however, sakusa didn’t mind.

because all the stress you caused by worrying him, the frustration as he repeatedly tried to get it through your head, the sadness he felt whenever you pushed him away, all of it was worth it,

all of it was worth it because it’s you.

all of it was worth it and the second you came home years later, finally married, stressed from work and simply walked over to lean on him, shutting your eyes as he embraced you as you quietly mumbled a simple ‘i need you.’ as you finally allowed yourself to let him take care of you, he was sure it was all really worth it.

and sakusa would do it all over again if he had to, if it meant you would lean at him, even if it was just a brief moment.

because the truth was, loving you was never about convenience to him. he didn’t need to be comfortable as he loved. he didn’t need to be undisturbed.

to him, loving you was a commitment, an unwavering devotion, a pledge to remain your safe space forever. he ached to be in your presence, and loathed your absence. to him, loving you was never about himself. it was never transactional.

sakusa would do anything for you. in fact, sakusa would do anything if it meant you would give him the same soft, gentle smile he had gotten used to waking up to every morning.

and if he had to spend a couple more years for you to believe him,

he would do it in every lifetime.

"ang kupad."

umirap siya sa hangin nang marinig ang salitang iyon galing kay sakusa. hindi niya pa nga nasusuklay ang buhok, at hindi pa siya nakakapag-pulbo!

"napaka-aga mo kasi, nagmamadali ka ba?" inis niyang sagot habang nakatingin sa salamin.

nakita niya pang inirapan siya nito bago sumagot, "first day na first day kasi nagpapa-late ka."

dumila siya rito. "first day na first day kasi, gusto mong mauna sa lahat! wala pa ngang magtuturo niyan sigurado."

"iiwan na kita—"

nang akmang tatayo si sakusa mula sa sofa nila, agad niyang pinagpag ang pulbo sa mukha at itinulak ang buhok gamit ang kamay. agad siyang tumakbo pa-pintuan, making sure nauna siya kay sakusa dahil magsasapatos pa siya.

"ma! alis na kami!" sigaw niya habang nagsisintas. muli, dumila siya kay sakusa dahil sa bagal nito maglakad, nauna siyang matapos magsintas kaysa makalabas ito ng gate. "disney princess ka masyado maglakad kasi kaya gusto mong maaga."

"kaysa sa'yo na darating sa campus nang pawis na pawis?" sagot nito.

"mama mo," asar niya rito.

"dugyot."

nanlaki ang mata niya, at nagpanggap na gulat. suminghap pa siya para mas dramatic bago tiningnan ang tabi. "dugyot si tita? susumbong kita!"

kitang-kita niya kung paano mangunot ang noo ni sakusa sa narinig. gusto niyang tumawa dahil dito, pero pinipigilan niya ang sarili para mas maasar ito.

bumilis tuloy ang paglalakad ni sakusa at dahil sa haba ng biyas nito, naiiwan siya. agad niya itong hinabol at tumalon upang abutin ang leeg nito, at sumabit.

"'wag ka mang-iwan!"

"get off me," naiinis na tinanggal nito ang braso niya mula sa leeg.

this time, hindi niya na mapigilang matawa nang makita ang pamumula ng buong mukha nito. umabot pa sa leeg. "sensitive talaga ng balat mo! konting lapat lang ng kamay ko namumula ka agad."

"marumi ka kasi," sagot nito, inayos ang suot na face mask.

"ang kapal-kapal ng mukha mo, hoy—"

alam niya namang hindi siya marumi, pero dahil sa dumi na 'yan kaya lang naman sila nagkakilala ni sakusa. bagong lipat pa lang sa tabi nila ang pamilya nito nang umuwi siyang puro putik mula bewang hanggang paa.

hindi niya makakalimutan kung paano siya nahusgahan nito pagpasok na pagpasok pa lang niya sa sariling bahay. malinaw na malinaw pa sa utak niya ang mukhang tahimik na batang lalaki, na nakasuot ng yellow t-shirt na may mukha ni sponge bob at short na kulay itim. nasa tabi ito ng isang magandang babae na kulot din ang buhok, at nakikipag-usap sa mama niya.

"yuck." hindi man lang ito nag-abalang hinaan ang boses!

kinder pa lang sila noon kaya dapat normal pa lang na marumi sila kalalaro. well, nahulog siya sa kanal kaya siya ganoon karumi sa totoo lang pero hindi na kailangang malaman iyon ng batang si sakusa.

sumama ang timpla ng mukha niya at kumuha ng putik mula sa damit. tumatakbo siyang lumapit sa batang mukhang bubuyog dahil sa suot nito at ikinalat ang putik sa mukha ni sponge bob sa damit nito.

"ayan, yuck ka rin!" at saka siya humalukipkip.

parehong nagulat ang mga mama nila sa nangyari, at ilang sorry ata ang nasabi ng pareho sa isa't isa. dahil mas malaki ang kasalanan niya, lagi siyang sinasabihan ng nanay niya na puntahan si sakusa para sabay silang pumasok at nakasanayan na nila ito.

"duduraan kita pag-uwi, ayaw mo akong hintayin!" sigaw niya nang muling magkaroon ng distansya sa pagitan nila.

"hindi kita isasabay," sagot nito kahit nakatalikod.

akmang sasagot siyang muli nang may humarang na lalaki sa kaniya. "uy, hoshi!" nakipag-apir pa siya kay hoshiumi.

"wala ka namang jowa diba?" bungad nito.

pabiro siyang sumimangot. "mapanakit naman bungad mo, dalawang buwan tayong hindi nagkita."

humalakhak si hoshiumi. "tanga! irereto kita, crush ka kasi ni kanoka!"

nanlaki ang mata niya. "kanoka–kanoka amanai!? yung sa volleyball?"

ngumisi ito. "oo, pre. type mo?"

"sinong hindi may type sa kaniya—"

"yeah, but sadly may boyfriend siya."

naputol ang sasabihin niya nang may sumingit. iniangat niya sa katabi ang tingin at nakitang si sakusa ito, wala na ang suot na face mask at wala ring ekspresyon sa mukha.

"weh? tingnan mo! maka-react kanina akala mo naoffend ko siya!" sumimangot si hoshiumi. "sayang naman patay na patay sa'yo 'yon—pero i-interrogate kita sa jowa mo next time! late na 'ko!"

bago pa man siya makareact, nakalipad na paalis si hoshiumi. nilongon niyang muli ang kasama. tatlong beses. mabagal. at pasama nang pasama ang naging pagkurap niya habang nakatitig kay sakusa.

"anong eksena 'yon?" tanong niya.

umangat ang kaliwang kilay ng kausap. "bakit? gusto mo si kanoka?"

"hindi—pero kahit na!" lumalim ang gitla sa noo niya. "epal ka sa love life! at boyfriend—sinong boyfriend ko?"

ngumisi ito, at tumagilid ang ulo. "ako."

ilang segundong katahimikan ang namutawi sa pagitan nila bago siya nakahanap ng isasagot. "may... may hd ka sa'kin?"

this time, noo naman ni sakusa ang nangunot. "hd?"

suminghap siya. "h. d. hidden desire!"

nalaglag ang panga ni sakusa. sumara ang bibig nito, at muling bubukas pero isasara muli. tila hindi alam ang sasabihin. sa huli, bumuntong hininga lang ito, umiling, at tinalikuran siya.

"hoy! hindi ka pa nga nanliligaw!" habol niya.

let me talk abt ryo for a second

if you had a dollar for every time someone commented on his eye bags, you'd have a lot of dollars. there have been plenty of times where you and alice both bought him products to help with them but he just refuses to get rid of them. says they're a sign of his hard work and his dedication to cooking.

he gets sooooooooooooo mad when you say someone else's cooking is good, "mmm! akira the spices add to your curry, it's really good." you'd hear a little grunt, " that headache's food s'not better than mine." akira chuckles and you roll your eyes, "calm down"

ryo has definitely scared the shit out of people A LOT, especially you. he's the type of mf to stand behind you and not say anything so when you turn around you accidently slap him.

if he's not passionate about something he's sleeping. you were trying to teach him how to make a rubber band bracelet and he fell asleep half way through.

DOES NOT KNOW WHAT PRIVACY IS. it doesn't matter if you're changing, using the bathroom, showering, whatever, he'll just walk right in and go about his business. "ryo, i'm using the bathroom." his dark eyes slowly make their way to yours, "so? i don't care. i need to brush my teeth."

CEO of "eh" "hm?" "idk" and "oi" (honestly that's most of his vocabulary unless he's mad abt smthing)

HATES COFFEE. he just seems like a non-coffee drinker and akira + soma bully the fuck outta him for it

"ugh come here" kind of guy when it comes to cuddling, all you have to do is give him those eyes

if you give him the time of day he will rant abt how much he hates soma and akira

being a professional volleyball player had gotten kiyoomi an onslaught of— albeit, somewhat unhinged, fans.

he'd never say he hated his fans. in fact, he appreciated their constant support for his growth as both a person and a way too attractive volleyball player. however, the way some of them would show their support was rather... unique for his standards.

the two of you were sprawled out on the couch, you mindlessly scrolling through tiktok, and him ultimately deciding to do the same. this was one of the few times he ever even went on the damn app and the first thing he's greeted with is an edit of him from his most recent game. he somehow felt inclined to open the comments but a part of him knew his scowl would only deepen if he did.

you leaned over and tried to smooth out the crease in between his brows with a hum. "you gotta give them credit, 'omi. you look really hot there."

"it's a 15 second video of me drinking water."

"still hot."

he rolled his eyes, switching his phone off and leaning on your shoulder. you went back to running through his hair with one hand, and scrolling on tiktok with the other.

while kiyoomi was mainly focused on how nice it felt to have your fingers gently carding through his hair, he was also listening along to the random audios that played each time you scrolled onto another video. eventually, a song oddly familiar to kiyoomi started up on your phone.

wait.

kiyoomi paused, turning to look up at you in a comically slow manner with a grimace painted on his face. you bit back a laugh at his sour expression, batting your eyelashes back at him. "what's wrong, my sweetheart, honeybunch, sugarplum, light of my life?"

"ignoring those disgusting pet names— is that the same edit i just saw?"

the familiar song played faintly as you offered him an innocent grin. you glanced at your phone then back at him, quickly swiping up. "edit? don't know what you're talking about."

alas, the algorithm knew you a bit too well. maybe it was coming after you with the fact yet another kiyoomi edit popped up after you swiped. the two of you stared at the screen silently, your thumb sliding over to press another button.

"...what a coincidence, huh 'om-"

"did you just favorite it?"

you didn't respond. he shifted closer to grab your phone, you leaned away. this ultimately led to you and kiyoomi wrestling for your phone. as you two were tugging at your phone, it slid to unsurprisingly, another kiyoomi edit.

"i'm gatekeeping these, get off!"

"they're literally edits of me!"

eventually, he decided to dig his fingers in your sides, causing you to break into what sounded like a mixture of a scream and manic laughter. he smiled triumphantly, using his free hand to grab your phone from your— now weak grasp and going straight to your favorites.

he scrolled through the random collection of cooking tutorials he knows you won't do, cat videos you've shown him multiple times, and of course, edits of him. from clips of him from interviews to his monstrous spikes, you had it all.

"this is— an invasion of privacy!" you whined, trying to get your phone back to no avail. kiyoomi looked through all your saved edits with an amused look. "think you might be even more obsessed than these fans." he teased, his shoulders shaking as a chuckle escaped his lips.

"god, can't someone enjoy videos of their jaw-droppingly handsome, gorgeous, hot, attractive boyfriend in peace?"

"not when you're right next to said handsome boyfriend, watching those videos on the highest possible volume."

you waved off his quip, "details, details." you propped your head on his shoulder and watched in silent amusement as he regrettably decided to open the comments on one of the edits. he's not even sure how some of these comments slipped past community guidelines, while some were rather tame, gushing about how good he looked, some were so depraved he thought he was going to get permanent frown lines just by looking at them.

"if you though that was bad, you should see what i say on twitter."

for the sake of his sanity, kiyoomi decides against checking your twitter account.

🍰 genre: fluff ! ✒️ word count: 1,113 💭 summary: what it feels like for sakusa to fall in love for his dear old seatmate. 🍥 author's note: FUCK i did NOT anticipate it to be so long what 🎧song inspo: this is what falling in love feels like by jvke

it's hard for sakusa to focus on what the teacher is saying in front, what with you constantly grumbling and crumpling your scratch paper full of notes and solutions in frustration. he silently reaches over your table and plops a spare eraser he had to you. "please don't waste it," he advises you in a hushed tone, going back to the lesson at hand.

his ears perk up when you tell him a soft, 'thank you!' under your breath and erase away at your mistakes, prompting sakusa to prepare another eraser to sacrifice to you. out of everybody at school, only you never seemed to realize how much warmer sakusa was to you compared to everybody else. sure, you used to bother him a lot during your first year when you sat in front of him, but now that he sat in the same row as you, directly next to your chair, you had more opportunities to socialize with him (not that the feeling was always mutual, but he did often listen to you talk).

from remaining silent, glaring at you, and murmuring at you to please go away, he now remains silent... just with an inquisitive energy to him. it was rare for someone to change sakusa's view of them in a matter of half a year, but that was probably why he had developed such an interest in you. you were uniquely annoying, not insufferable, but you were more energetic than him, had a lot more to say, and understood him at certain times.