twenty-two years young [yaku/sugawara, single dad au]

[libemom]

[ There's a feeling of exhaustion that's long since settled deep in Yaku's bones and leaves him wondering just how he could have aged so much in the years since graduating from Nekoma High School. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday he was playing as their volleyball team's libero, and the most he had to worry about was how to best keep the underclassmen (and Kuroo, sometimes) in line - and sometimes he finds himself wishing that it were just yesterday, that his life since graduation was just one giant stress dream and he'd wake up to a phone call from a teammate telling him to get to the gym, he's thirty minutes late and counting. But he's here, not there, with a little girl tugging softly on his hand and leading him toward a building that, despite its kid-friendliness, leaves little knots forming in the pit of his stomach.

After all, who would expect to enroll in a university to get a degree and come out a parent of a young child? Maybe it'd be less shocking for someone less responsible than he was (is, continues to try to be), but this is Yaku's life since then - a life he's kept secret from most (Kuroo and Kai were reluctantly let in, and even that he regrets), under control, for the sake of his family, his now ex-wife, himself.

(not that there was anyone to blame but himself for everything that happened during those four years - he should've been more careful, should've been a better boyfriend - a better husband, for the little amount of time that lasted - should've should've should've

should've done so much more

could he have saved the sinking ship that was his relationship if he could've been more than he was?)

He's done his best to raise Kaori on his own - his parents frowned upon him the moment he and his then fiancee bowed before them, announcing their engagement, and he's far too proud to ask for help otherwise - but with work getting busier and Kaori getting more anxious to meet people her age, well. All-day daycare's one of the few options he has, and the most appealing.

He squeezes Kaori's hand gently - a gesture he tells himself is for her benefit, but is actually for his own, for a father not eager to let his child leave the nest. ] Here we go... [ Yaku slides the door open and steps inside the daycare. ]

Hello?

Comments

[settermom]

[Mmm, Suga nods along. And once again he feels a warm little thump in his heart, knowing this bit of information.]

Kuroo-san! I remember him. The hair. [He remembers hair and giving Daichi a run for his money, which is always a good thing. And speaking of Daichi.]

I keep in touch with our former captain as well. Sawamura. We basically lived together during college actually. But aside from him, it's a little harder when everyone's so spread out. You know?

[libemom]

[ Yaku tries - and barely succeeds - to not snrk when Sugawara mentions hair. He can imagine Kuroo protesting the association: "come on, that's what you remember me by?" ]

Yeah, that makes sense. Kuroo and I were in the same class for years, so it was easy to stay in contact with him - otherwise, it's about the same for me. College was hectic.

[ Understatement of the century. He sighs quietly. ] Just thinking about them makes me a little nostalgic.