#haikyuu x the office au 🏢

[plutoccult]

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU — EPISODE TWO: LUNCHTIME VOLLEYBALL MATCH

pairing: sugawara koushi x female reader

description: ukai’s idea to hold a volleyball match with the warehouse staff during lunch proves to be a bad one, but it sure is entertaining for you to watch from the sidelines. well, as long as your fiancé doesn’t ruin the fun for you.

word count: 5.5k

also available to read on my ao3 here

author’s note: hello!!! i’ve been fueled to write the continuation of this au. this time around, it’ll be inspired by the basketball episode, but since haikyuu is all about volleyball… you know what i had to do. i would have waited to do that one company-wide volleyball match episode later on, but who says i can’t do that later anyway? it’s haikyuu, there is NEVER enough volleyball. besides, that’ll give me the opportunity to introduce other haikyuu characters when the time is right. i’m still trying to get my groove when it comes to writing this au, but i think i’m starting to get there. i hope this will be equally as entertaining, and i also hope everyone enjoys it! also, stream livelock by xdinary heroes fr 😮‍💨

ever since filming for the documentary began, ukai had been more… eccentric than usual. everyone knew it was to play up for the cameras, but god, it was annoying. the employees of japan pulp and paper thought they had seen it all when it came to their chaotic boss, but that was proven to be false when ukai burst into the office randomly dressed in sports gear with a wilson volleyball pressed to his hip.

“guys, we’re doing a thing.” ukai announced, much to the confusion of his employees.

“is this the office olympics again?” tanaka questioned. the office olympics was an idea ukai attempted many years ago, and let’s just say it didn’t end well whatsoever.

“no, tanaka, it is not.” he scoffed. “i don’t need corporate threatening to fire me… again.”

“then why are you dressed like an athlete past his prime, but he refuses to let go, so he ends up losing his wife and kids?” tsukishima asked nonchalantly despite completely flaming ukai to bits.

“that kinda sounds like tom brady.” hinata said.

“tom brady was a football player, idiot.” kageyama rolled his eyes, sparking a bickering matching between him and hinata, which was always a classic occurrence in the office since the day they were hired.

“everybody shut up! i’m holding a volleyball match with the warehouse guys during lunch!” ukai yelled over his employees, followed by complete silence. not a peep came out of them, not even a cricket. “come on, why aren’t any of you excited?”

“um… did hr approve of this?” you speak up and ask. it was clear ukai didn’t see how horrible of an idea this was.

“shockingly, specs approved.” he replied. a miracle, really, but ukai claimed it would be a “good way” to “bond” with everybody.

“and he approved of it… with the warehouse guys?” you gulp.

“yes, y/n, why are you so—” ukai cut off his sentence when he realized why you were questioning him with such worry. “oh…”

the reason why holding a match with the warehouse guys worried you was because your fiancé ryo was one of them. it was almost like an unspoken common fact that he was a total jerk who didn’t deserve you. while suga’s fondness towards you wasn’t very known to the office, everyone could at least see that you shouldn’t be with ryo. only tell will tell how this dreaded volleyball match will end up. it was everybody’s funeral, really.

•••

“so, i got the idea to hold a volleyball match because my grandfather—who is a volleyball legend, by the way—suggested it would be a great idea to bring everybody together, so i got him to help me set up some stuff outside the office building.” ukai said to the camera crew while he sat at his desk, his typical interviewing spot. “what i forgot to put into consideration was y/n’s hotheaded fiancé who works in the warehouse downstairs, but who doesn’t love a little chaos, am i right? well, no, not right. it’s just gonna be a friendly game of volleyball. totally friendly.”

•••

while suga sat at his desk with nothing to do, he did what he always did and caught a look at you to see what you were doing in hopes to share at least a moment with you. he always reached for those little moments, even if you seemed to see him as just a friend. when he looked over at your desk, he saw you were staring at your computer, seemingly bored out of your mind, which you most definitely were at this time when there were dry spots in the work day.

suga quietly stood up and went to the break room for a cup of coffee, hoping you’d notice the sound of his footsteps and follow him. there was nobody around, but that soon changed when you followed suit minutes later just as he hoped you would.

“hey, suga.” you say, reaching for the cabinet to grab a mug.

“oh, hey, y/n.” he said, trying to act cool while he waited for his coffee to brew.

“you gonna play in the match later?” you ask. part of you was worried about what would happen with ryo, but at the same time you wanted to root for suga because he was your best friend.

“well, after ukai begged me…” cue war-like flashbacks to ukai begging suga over and over to participate, which included over-dramatically sobbing while on his knees. “unfortunately, yeah.”

“i thought you used to play volleyball in high school? setter, right?” you questioned.

“how did—” suga was shocked but also adorably amazed that you remembered such a thing. “how did you remember that?”

“guess it just stuck with me, i don’t know.” you shrugged. quite a poor lie on your end, really. you would always try your best to remember everything correct out of fear of making a mistake. even if there wasn’t someone there to crucify you for it, you always made sure to get the job done anyway. although you knew suga wouldn’t do such a thing to you, you didn’t want to mess up the only good thing you had in your life.

“i was vice captain too, actually.” he chuckled before taking a sip of his fresh coffee.

“aw, i knew there was something i was forgetting!” you pouted, doing what you knew best and making yourself feel bad for forgetting despite how innocent it was. “i’m sorry!”

suga couldn’t see what you needed to be sorry for, so he always reassured you knowing you truly needed it. “what? it’s okay, really. i’m glad you at least remembered i played volleyball in the first place.”

“you’re serious?” you asked, almost like it was hard to believe him.

“of course.” he said with that smile that always made you feel better, bringing back your light. “why wouldn’t i be?”

“i don’t know.” you sigh for a moment before taking your turn with the coffee maker. you hated yourself for feeling this way all the time. you needed to be bejeweled, but you were always held back by a ball and chain in the form of your fiancé.

“well, if anything, i hope i remember how to play properly, so don’t worry.” suga said to put you at ease.

“why, you rusty?” you question him.

“perhaps.” he jokingly shrugged.

“guess i’ll have to be the judge of that. might whip up some popcorn, who knows?” you tease. “need some entertainment better than the youtube videos i watch during my usual lunch.”

“well, i guess i’ll have to put on a real show for you.” suga smirked.

“i’ll keep that in mind, sugawara.”

•••

while the employees were getting ready to head downstairs for the match, suga was called in for a quick interview with the documentary crew before the inevitable chaos went down. he didn’t find it to be suspicious as everyone was asked questions too, but there was an inkling in his gut that the crew had an ulterior motive questioning him.

“thoughts on playing in the match?”

“ah, i don’t know. i’m just here for some fun, not competition. i’m not trying to take it that seriously. it’s not high school anymore, it’s just a game.” suga said in response to the question, then immediately cringed at his own answer. “oof, i sound like tsukishima. yikes.”

“you’re not worried about ryo?” whoop, there it is. he knew they were onto him when it came to you. suga should’ve known to stop his pining stares while all those cameras were on all of you over eight hours a day.

“huh?” he furrowed his eyebrows before rolling his eyes when the documentary crew gave him a look in hopes he’d spill. “oh, don’t look at me like that. i’m outta here.”

•••

everyone followed ukai to the parking lot to see a volleyball net smack dab in the middle of the sea of cars. his grandfather came while everyone was working to put it all together, and he seemed to have put it in the worst spot possible.

“this… is what you’ve set up?” you question ukai.

with the way the net was set up, it was prime real estate for a ball to fly in the wrong direction and break someone’s window. it was an overpriced repair bill just begging to happen, and none of you got paid enough to throw around money so easily.

“um, hello, my grandfather gave me the hookup.” he rolled his eyes. “amateurs.”

“but it’s outside.” you say, hoping ukai would get the point, but of course, he doesn’t.

“so?”

“in the middle of the parking lot.” you add.

“there’s enough wiggle room, what’s the problem?” ukai shrugged. god, he was clueless.

“to add onto what y/n is saying, some—if not all—of us would like our windows to be intact by the end of the day.” tsukishima said before walking away from the group, leaving ukai unaware of his intentions.

“hey, tsukishima, where are you going?” he called out.

“moving my car?” tsukishima replied with a heap of sass. “god, i don’t get paid enough for this shit.”

“you better come back!” ukai yelled, his words falling on deaf ears. “i need a tall bitch like you for blocking!”

“i’m gonna move my car too…” yamaguchi said sheepishly then followed tsukishima to do the same as him.

in a shocking event, everyone agreed with tsukishima for once and didn’t think he was being hyper-negative for no reason. one by one, almost everyone went to move their cars. some stayed behind, like you, tanaka, and a few others, but ukai began to feel discouraged and worried that his dream match wouldn’t occur.

“suga! everyone! come on!” he whined, hoping they’d come back.

“boss, sir, i can assure you that i can handle balls better than tsukishima.” tanaka said with utmost confidence, thinking his words would make ukai feel better. it only ended up making you resist the urge to laugh, and you had to quickly collect yourself before you did the wrong thing.

“but…” ukai pouted.

“don’t worry, everyone’s coming back, ukai.” you assure him, seeing tsukishima and yamaguchi start to walk back to the group, then daichi and nishinoya, and so forth.

seeing what everyone was doing, your fiancé ryo wanted to hop on the bandwagon, but was a little too “preoccupied” to do so. “babe, can you move the car? i’m in the middle of stretching here and i need to be in top shape for the match.”

“uh, yeah, sure…”

•••

“it’s an unofficial volleyball match in the middle of an office parking lot, not the olympics. what do you need to be in top shape for?” you rant before doing the same thing suga did in his interview earlier. “wow, i sound like tsukki, don’t i?”

“suga said something similar earlier.” a crew member said, mainly to hopefully stir the pot.

“what, did he say something pessimistic like him too?” you question. the crew nodded in response.

“huh. interesting.”

•••

once the whole parking lot ordeal was over with, it was finally time to put this game together. ukai began yelling around like he was some sort of professional coach, which raised questions.

“alright! let’s get into positions everyone!” he hollered. “i need a setter, middle blocker, wing spikers—”

“woah, woah, woah. what position are you gonna play?” daichi interrupted him with the question that was on quite literally everyone’s minds.

“you guys thought i was playing?” ukai questioned as if it were some sort of massive shock.

“uh… yeah?” daichi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “why else are you dressed like that?”

“is this not what volleyball coaches wear?” ukai asked. what’s ironic about ukai’s look was that he was dressed like a volleyball player, not a coach. whatever sporting goods store employee told him that was a good look on him would remain a mystery, unfortunately.

“they probably wear tracksuits or something, i don’t know.” nishinoya shrugged.

“hm, i oughta look into those.”

“so, who’s playing what?” yamaguchi spoke up, considering they were wasting precious company time. “we need a starting lineup and the warehouse guys are scaring me…”

“well, i can be setter and tsukishima can be middle blocker.” suga volunteered, his words met with an eye roll from tsukishima.

“oh, boy, i wonder why that is.” he scoffed.

“aren’t you a tall bitch who can block?” suga crossed his arms.

“you doubt me, sugawara?” tsukishima questioned him.

“maybe.” he replied, resisting the urge to smirk.

“i’m blocking the hell out of those warehouse guys.” tsukishima said with determination as he rolled up his sleeves. it was manipulation at its finest, and suga wasn’t ashamed of using it for today. unfortunately, not everyone was happy with the results.

“aw, i wanted to be middle blocker.” hinata pouted, having not given the chance to speak up before.

“eh, maybe later, hinata.” suga said, although the chances were quite slim.

“pft, as if you’d let shorty ever be middle blocker.” kageyama snickered.

“i’m not short, i’m fun sized!” hinata exclaimed.

“who even says that anymore?!”

“shut up, you—”

hinata and kageyama then did what they do best, aka start arguing like a married couple out of nowhere. suga and daichi had to break the two up, and while daichi struggled with kageyama, asahi came to his rescue and threw him over his shoulder effortlessly. everyone watched asahi with amazement, including you, but he was quite oblivious to the looks of awe.

“anyways. who’s got ideas?”

everybody was too busy standing there shell shocked until you spoke up with an idea of your own, one that made perfect sense in your eyes. “well, i think daichi should be captain of the office team. he’s really good at handling chaos.”

“you think so, y/n?” daichi asked, touched that you thought so highly of him.

“well, you just handled husband and wife over there. plus, if you can handle those knuckleheads too,” you say, pointing to tanaka and nishinoya. “then yeah, i definitely think so.”

“we are NOT knuckleheads—”

“quiet, you two.” kiyoko cut them off.

“yes, kiyoko.” tanaka and nishinoya say in unison. it was just too easy.

the idea of daichi being captain was in agreement with all of the office employees, but there was still more to figure out before everyone could start playing. “well, if i’m captain, then i think i should have a say in who’s doing what.”

“actually, that’s my job, daichi.” ukai tried to say before he was shut down by asahi, who spoke in a low tone.

“daichi should decide.”

“okayyesjustdon’tkillme.” ukai said quickly.

asahi turned his head and stared into the camera confused.

•••

“he’s always gonna be scared of me, isn’t he?” asahi said with a pout then let out a sigh. “even yachi doesn’t scream in terror when i walk into a room anymore…”

•••

after plenty of debating, the office workers had finally put together their team. daichi as captain and right-wing spiker, suga as setter, tsukishima as middle blocker, tanaka as left-wing spiker, nishinoya as libero, and then asahi as the team’s ace. it had all been so carefully crafted, so they hoped it would be worth it in the end. they all even considered going out for a drink after work if they won too, but everyone was getting too ahead of themselves. they had a match to win.

both teams lined up together on opposite ends, ukai instructing his employees to stand up straight and give their best intimidating look, but they weren’t all that up for it. thankfully for tsukishima and asahi, that was their usual resting face anyway.

kiyoko stood in the middle of the court, taking on the role of scorekeeper for this little event. she did the same during the controversial office olympics, so it was no question of whether she’d do it again today. besides, she loved the power she held right now.

“alright, captains in the middle of the court, please!” kiyoko called out. daichi took a step forward while ryo, the captain for the warehouse team, did the same. “the match will be best two out of three. each captain will pick a side of the coin and whichever side it lands on gets to serve first.”

“i call heads!” ryo claimed over-excitedly, as if the coin toss were the real competition.

“tails, please.” daichi said calmly.

kiyoko grinned happily as she flipped the coin, landing in daichi’a favor, much to her amusement. “it’s tails. daichi, your team will serve first.”

“asahi, it’s your time to shine.” daichi pointed to asahi.

“on it!” he replied, gripping the ball in his hands as he prepared for his first serve.

“alright, guys, let’s go! show me what you’re made of!” ukai yelled from the sidelines as he clapped his hands together, taking on this newfound role as coach seriously, even if no one cared for what he had to say.

ignoring ukai, asahi tossed the ball into the air and performed a flawless ace serve, proving his title as ace was well deserved. everyone in the parking lot was at a lot for words over how effortlessly he pulled that off, especially ukai whose jaw could practically reach the floor.

•••

“i would just like to put on the record that i have never once doubted asahi.” ukai said with utmost confidence, despite the documentary crew having many doubts. “never scared of the guy. never ever. i love that man. he’s my favorite employee, actually.”

•••

the match went back and forth, with your fiancé carrying the warehouse team on his back as they weren’t all that enthused to be on the same team as him. you stood on the sidelines with ukai, taking over as temporary scorekeeper while kiyoko and yachi went into the office building for snacks and waters from the vending machines.

“we’re back!” yachi beamed, skipping towards you while kiyoko held a stack of two boxes; one with drinks and the other with snacks.

“sorry it took so long.” kiyoko said as she set the boxes down. “hopefully you had no trouble?”

“there was a little argument over whether the ball was out or not, but otherwise, it was fine.” you shrugged. in the end, you decided no one got a point, which while controversial, was ultimately the right move.

“good. yachi and i got a bunch of bags of popcorn from the vending machine. want some?” kiyoko asked.

“ooh!” you gasp, hoping they had your favorite. “is it the sweet corn kind?”

“no, they ran out because yamaguchi is always eating them all.” yachi giggled while yamaguchi blushed out of embarrassment.

“really, dude?” you pouted. first your yogurt, now this? the guy was secretly a menace, no matter how innocent he looked.

“i’m sorry…” he looked down.

“ah, it’s fine.” you sigh. “i’ll just take whatever you got. thanks, you two.”

as you start chowing down on a bag a popcorn, your attention is back on the match just in time to watch suga set the ball to tsukishima, who in turn grants the office team another point effortlessly. tsukishima merely shrugged after spiking the ball, but everyone on the office side, including you, cheered the small victory. you particularly yelled out suga’s name and gave him a thumbs up for setting the ball so nicely, which caught the attention of your fiancé, and he sure wasn’t pleased.

kiyoko raised an eyebrow over your cheers, not trying to stir the pot, but couldn’t help but be curious over where your loyalties lie. “so, which team are you rooting for? i thought you’d be a little biased towards ryo, but…”

“huh?” you question. “oh, i’m not really rooting for anyone in particular…”

“oh, okay…”

oof. you’re such a bad liar.

now it was ryo’s turn to serve. still fuming from giving your attention to suga, he served the ball with excessive force. thankfully for your team, nishinoya saved the ball, impressing everyone. now that you thought about it, your coworkers seemed to be a little too good at volleyball to just be casual players.

when the ball came back to the office side, tanaka spiked it and scored. he then proceeded to act like a maniac by ripping his shirt off and obnoxiously waving it around, undoubtedly in hopes to woo kiyoko.

“are you falling head over heels yet, kiyoko?” you nudge and tease her, but she wasn’t going to falter.

“blegh. disgusting.” she fake gagged. despite her words, kiyoko couldn’t help but wonder since when tanaka was so ripped.

•••

“i was NOT blushing. tanaka is gross. and annoying. and stupid. and… oh no.” kiyoko ran out of the room without another word, ashamed of her newfound attraction.

•••

after the end of a difficult first set, the office team was in the lead. before continuing onto the second set, everyone took a little water break as they needed to hydrate and recuperate. while everyone conversed with one another in little groups, you walked over to ryo to hand him a water bottle, and he grabbed it quite aggressively, taking you by surprise.

“okay then.” you mutter and look down, trying to avoid his eyes, but it wouldn’t work.

“i thought you were gonna root for me, not quicksilver and the x-men over there.” his petty statement almost made you think there was no way he could be serious right now, but based off your fiancé’s track record, he was oh so serious. it was ridiculous, really. was it a crime to cheer for your friends? in his eyes, yes, it was.

“i’m just trying to cheer for everyone.” you try reasoning with him, even if there was no point. “sorry that wasn’t clear, i guess.”

“yeah, well maybe consider your fiancé next time.” ryo scoffed as he walked away from you, tossing his now empty water bottle to the side.

without trying, suga overheard the conversation clear as day. you could almost sense his presence from far behind you. but when you look over to him, he quickly turned his head away and acted like he wasn’t listening.

the negative thoughts that swam in your head were interrupted by ukai announcing that the second set would start. you just wanted to have fun today, and you would still try to do exactly that. screw what ryo had to say, right?

as the second set began, yamaguchi came in to pinch serve for daichi after politely asking for just one chance to do so. daichi, being the total sweetheart he is, obviously said yes and told him to do his thing. yamaguchi could feel his hands shake violently as he walked over to the makeshift court, but let his anxieties fade away when yachi gave him a thumbs up.

while his serve wasn’t perfect, the ball thankfully managed to go over the net. the warehouse team tried spiking the ball, but thanks to a triple block from suga, tsukishima, and tanaka, the ball dropped onto the warehouse side, allowing the office team to score.

you without hesitation cheer for suga and the office team extra loud this time. even if you were acting a little extra, you decided not to care about it right now. you knew you’d hear plenty about it later, but that was a future you problem. at least, that’s what you thought.

ryo was boiling with anger now, so when it came for his chance to spike the ball, he slammed it right in suga’s face, knocking him to the ground instantly. it put the entire game on pause as everyone was frozen in shock over what just happened. ryo tried to chest bump his fellow warehouse guys since he scored (although unfairly), but they weren’t feeling it whatsoever because of suga clearly looking like he was in pain.

“suga!” you gasp as you and your coworkers rush to his side.

“man down! we got a man down!” ukai yelled, drumming out the theatrics as per usual.

everyone tried inspecting suga like a guinea pig, words overlapping as they all tried speaking at the same time. he grew frustrated over the sudden treatment, throwing his hands up in the air to make it all stop.

“guys, i’m fine, i’m fine!” suga insisted, trying his best to ignore the pain.

“suga, your nose is bleeding!” nishinoya pointed out. suga swiped his fingers under his nose and watched as droplets of blood fell onto his skin, shocked as he couldn’t feel himself bleeding at all.

“oh my god, he’s dying!” ukai cried out dramatically.

“shut up!”

god, all you could think of was how this was an utter disaster.

•••

“this is all my fault, isn’t it? i should’ve just kept my mouth shut…” you say to the camera with a frown.

•••

while the game was on pause, the office team tried to figure out how they were going to move forward. suga sat there with tissues plugged up his nose, although kiyoko insisted he put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. however, he was insistent on getting back onto the court, but his teammates had other plans.

“suga, you should sit out for awhile.” daichi said, as much as it pained him to say it. “at least until your nose stops bleeding.”

“but…” he pouted, looking over to you. you knew he was having so much fun up until this point. even if it wasn’t a serious match, it was nice seeing him so happy doing something he was good at. suga wanted to see you look so proud of him, but he couldn’t do that with an active nosebleed.

“it’s okay.” you reassure him, and only because you said it was okay, suga surrendered.

“okay.” he sighed, trying to quickly think of a new plan for the team, and he had a lightbulb almost instantly. “kageyama?”

“huh? me?” kageyama questioned.

“i need you to take over.” suga said. “i know you’re good at volleyball. way better than me.”

“well, i haven’t played since college, but—” he shrugged before acting cocky. “oh, alright. don’t threaten me with a good time.”

“if sugawara’s out, can i be out too?” tsukishima raised his hand. he wanted no parts on this nonsense anymore. with good reason, you thought.

“tsukki, you’re literally fine. get your tall ass back out there.” ukai said, seeing no reason why he should quit now.

“yamaguchi, punch me in the face.” tsukishima spoke without hesitation while yamaguchi immediately protested against the idea.

“eh?! no way!”

“okay, i’ll make your little girlfriend do it. come on, yachi.” he said.

“girlfriend?!” yachi exclaimed, her cheeks burning red.

“nobody’s punching you, tsukki!” yamaguchi yelled.

“fine, i’ll do it myself—”

“no, no, no!” yamaguchi and yachi immediately tried to stop him together, swatting tsukishima’s fists away from his face. thankfully, their efforts weren’t in vain as there was no reason for him to inflict harm on himself.

“i can take tsukishima’s place!” hinata leaped and waved his hand for everyone’s attention. it was almost like a record scratch as they all froze in placed and turned to an overenthusiastic hinata.

“huh?!” kageyama gawked. “as if!”

“you don’t know what i’m capable of, kageyama!” he huffed, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

“daichi, it’s your call.” tanaka said.

daichi put some thought into it for a second, and that second consisted of the words “fuck it, we ball” entering his brain. “let’s see what you got.”

“yay!” hinata jumped for joy, as opposed to kageyama’s despair.

“i hate my life…” he groaned.

•••

“are you excited about playing in the match?”

“excited? excited is an understatement! i’m so…” hinata paused, trying to think of a better word, but failed to do so. “excited! oh man, i need a better word for excited…”

•••

finally, the second set continued. it was pretty rusty for the office team at first as they struggled with the new lineup, and it irritated everyone to no end, especially kageyama.

“god, hinata! you suck!” he groaned in frustration. kageyama was a star setter all throughout his youth, so being matched up with hinata was quite literally his worst nightmare. his fireball of a coworker was too giddy and overhyped to actually hit the ball. instead, hinata always jumped too high to spike the ball in time before it fell to the ground.

“no, you suck! your sets are terrible!” hinata argued. “i thought you were “king of the court”? give me something good, at least!”

“oh, i’ll give you something good, pipsqueak…” kageyama muttered under his breath, cracking his knuckles in preparation to bring on the power.

as the match kept rotating, suga returned to the parking lot after cleaning up in the building bathroom. his nose was cleared up now, but he wasn’t too antsy to return playing just yet. instead, he walked over to you and stood with you while as you continued watching the match from the sidelines.

suga tapped your shoulder, and without him saying a word, you instantly knew it was him standing beside you. of course, your first thought was his well-being as you were ridden with guilt. “suga! are you feeling okay?”

“yeah, i’m okay.” he assured you. “been through worse, no doubt.”

“are you gonna get back in the game then?” you ask him.

“no… i think i should sit the rest of this out. let you root for someone other than me.” suga replied. you knew he had to have heard your conversation with ryo earlier. now you were just embarrassed. you didn’t want him to hear that, and he must have known what ryo did to him was on purpose, you were sure of it.

“yeah, okay, sure…” you frown.

when you turn your attention back to the match, kageyama had given hinata the perfect set. his eyes were so clearly set on the ball, and despite being in the back row, he rushed out of everyone’s way and jumped so high it left the warehouse team frozen in shock. when he spiked the ball, it slammed so hard against the ground that it ricocheted out of sight, and the sound startled all of you.

with the ball gone, no one knew what to do. everyone’s attention turned to hinata, and he couldn’t help but feel like he just did something bad. the stares were killing him. “am i in trouble?”

“trouble? no, no, no.” ukai shook his head. “you just won the game.”

“what? no fair!” ryo instantly complained. the other warehouse guys weren’t all that pressed, just him. but what else are you supposed to play with when there’s no ball?

“we lost our only ball and you were losing anyway! office team wins!” ukai announced, and the office workers immediately roared with excitement. they all lifted hinata into the air and chanted his name, thanking him for not only ending this monstrosity, but also granting them victory.

despite the lively mood, you couldn’t find it in your heart to be happy for your fellow office employees. you wanted to show your happiness for them so badly, but what happened with ryo and suga remained ingrained in your mind. when your eyes meet ryo’s angry gaze, you decided it was best if you just stayed silent.

suga’s focus wasn’t on the celebrations anymore, it was on you. like always, he could read that sad look on your face so easily. he knew, and suga could only hope that one day you’d escape those shackles, even if it meant you didn’t end up in his arms. he just wanted you to be happy.

but regardless of everyone’s excitement, the mood had to be ruined one way or another. “alright, now everyone get back to work!”

“boo!”

•••

“the great thing about sports is that it’s all about character,” ukai began, speaking as if he were giving an inspirational speech. “and you can learn lessons about life even if you don't win… but we did win because we were ahead, so ha!”

“you didn’t do anything, ukai.”

“that’s what she said.” he winked to the camera, resulting in the first of many eye rolls and face palms from the camera crew to occur.

•••

(bonus scene)

later that day, everyone had went home for the night, but you had stayed for a little while longer as ukai needed some extra work done from you on such short notice. you went to the break room for one last cup of coffee before leaving, but there laid a note on the table, one with your name on it.

“thanks for being my biggest fan today. i hadn’t been so excited about volleyball in the longest time and i really appreciate it.

—suga.

ps. check the fridge. you forgot something.”

you furrow your eyebrows in confusion before opening the fridge. inside, there was a yogurt with a sticky note that read “y/n” on it. when you removed the sticky note, it was your favorite, and then you remembered what happened that night ryo called you on your way to the bus stop with suga. you forgot the yogurt he bought you at the convenience store.

ryo would never remember things like that, but suga always did. if only ryo could be like him. if you could only be with suga instead.

oh.

oh.

“fuck.” you curse to yourself before realizing you were still being filmed. “you guys can censor that, right?”

“just don’t tell ukai.”

“easy.” you say. what wouldn’t be easy, however, was navigating this newfound revelation.

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr. reblogs are appreciated <3

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu au #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi x female reader #sugawara x female reader #sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara #sugawara fanfiction #sugawara koushi fanfiction #haikyu x reader #haikyu #haikyu fanfiction #haikyuu x female reader #haikyu x female reader #pluto writes 📝 #haikyuu x the office au 🏢

[plutoccult]

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU — EPISODE THREE: EMPLOYEE AWARDS NIGHT

pairing: sugawara koushi x female reader

description: it’s the annual employee awards night for japan pulp and paper, your least favorite night of the year. after getting embarrassed year after year over your ill-fated engagement, you just hope the night turns out decently, and your new conflicting feelings for sugawara aren’t all that helpful either.

word count: 5.4k

also available to read on my ao3 here

author’s note: hello! i’m sorry this third part took so long to get to you guys. i’m juggling schoolwork alongside life in general and i didn’t want to rush this then post something crappy as a result. i’m really passionate about this au and want to provide the best content possible for everyone, not just myself (because honestly this is so self indulgent for me to write). this part will be inspired by the dundies episode, of course with many changes, and as you can tell, we’re getting closer to the angst!!! my favorite!!! i’m thinking about making a suga x reader playlist, honestly. hopefully the wait for this was worth it, and i hope you enjoy!

“y/n, y/n, y/n!” oh, how you hated the tone of ukai’s voice right now. based off experience—and also the time of year—he was either going to a. act super excited about something, b. say something stupid, or the most popular option, c. both. “you know what time of the year it is.”

“unfortunately, i do.” you sigh as you look up from your computer.

ukai pouted over your lack of enthusiasm. he should know by now why you were like this. “why aren’t you excited? awards night! chili’s! booze! ribs! good vibes!”

yes, awards night. you absolutely despised this night ever since you began working at the office. it was more like an ordinary power trip for ukai rather than an actual celebration for the employees. most if not all of the time, at least someone got absolutely humiliated, and you were one of the common targets. but, there was free food and drinks, so you couldn’t totally hate it, even if you really did hate it a whole lot.

“well, i do like ribs.” you shrug.

“what about booze?” he questioned.

“i need to listen to a lot of taylor swift if i’m going to drink, or be really sad…” you pause. “or all of the above.”

“ugh, how pathetic.” ukai scoffed and began to walk away.

“don’t make me tell takeda you bully your employees on the daily.” you lightly threatened, but ukai wasn’t wavered by your words one bit.

“i bully him on the daily, i’m invincible!” he said, perhaps a little too loud as the entire office could hear him, even takeda himself in his little nook.

“uh-huh…”

•••

“every year, ukai holds an awards night for all the employees at japan pulp and paper. mind you, he funds the entire thing. none of the other branches to this. just this one.” you explain to the camera as the crew questioned ukai’s yearly excursion. “it’s probably my least favorite night of the year besides the bachelor finale. i always get sad thinking about how majority of those relationships never work out…”

•••

in his office, ukai put on a show for the documentary crew as he conveniently placed all of his past awards on his desk for the sake of “cleaning” them. they were all awards he gave to himself, but he still felt like a winner regardless.

“oh, what’s this?” ukai asked as he pretended to act like he didn’t notice the cameras were rolling. “just my “world’s best boss” awards. i’ve never lost once. i should make a reel, actually… Y/N!”

you cursed to yourself as you got up from your desk and walked to ukai’s office, eyeing suga as he snickered quietly and rolling your eyes as a result. “is it a y/n problem or a ukai problem?”

“y/n problem.” he said without hesitation. “i’m emailing you footage from every miyagi awards and i need you to make a highlight reel.”

“can’t you just make tanaka do it?” you whined. you could be doing much more productive things right now, like making faxes or pining for suga from afar— oh! you were still struggling with that newfound realization, it seemed.

“but where’s the fun in that?” ukai whined.

oh, but the fun was so obvious to you, how could your egotistical boss not see that? “um, he’d probably make the highlight reel all about you rather than everybody else.”

“y/n, you beautiful genius.” perfection, just like you wanted, and a rare compliment from ukai too. “TANAKA!”

tanaka bolted out of his seat, knocking over his chair and even spooking the shit out of suga. he tripped over his feet multiple times as he ran to the sound of ukai’s voice, almost like an over-obedient puppy. it was sad, but oddly adorable at the same time.

“yes, sir?!” tanaka asked, practically gasping for air. how could he be so out of breath so quickly, you wondered.

“miyagi awards highlight reel. have it done by the end of the day.” ukai ordered, passing your previous duty onto someone far more willing.

“i’m on it!” he said excitedly, running back to his desk as quickly as he arrived.

now that you got away with not having to do a thing, you wanted out of ukai’s spiky hair. “am i done here?”

“eh, make me a coffee or something.” ukai said, shooing you away. as if you were going to do that for him.

“sounds like a ukai problem, not a y/n problem.” you sassed, shocking your boss as he cried out for you on your way out of his office.

“y/n! god, where did you learn that from?! tsukishima?!”

•••

“she sure did.” tsukishima smiled proudly as the two of you high fived each other. where else would you learn such sass? from the sass master himself, of course. he was the leader of the sassy apocalypse.

“you know, i actually dislike you less now, tsukishima.” you say nonchalantly, and tsukishima is touched by your words.

“that is the nicest thing i’ve ever heard.” he said, placing his hand over his heart to show his appreciation.

•••

the work day went by, and tanaka sat on his computer while looking through past awards footage. upon his digging, he stopped on a certain clip from last year, one you instantly recognized just by the sounds of the camera shuffling, even from the distance of your desk to his. you couldn’t believe you were reliving this right now.

“yo, guys. watch this.” tanaka called out. nishinoya and hinata get out of their seats and crowd at tanaka’s desk to watch the computer screen with more of your coworkers following suit. it all made you want to crawl into a hole and die.

tanaka resumed the video, thus playing out last year’s utter embarrassment. it was ukai announcing your award, one that haunts you to this day. “and the award for "world’s longest engagement" goes to… y/n l/n! give it up for y/n, everybody!”

the sound of everyone’s applause in the video erupted through the office. suga sat awkwardly across from tanaka, so even if he wasn’t watching the video, he could hear it all loud and clear. he remembered that night all too well, and all suga could think to himself was that if he was your fiancé, he wouldn’t leave you waiting around to get married.

“when are you finally gonna tie that knot, you two? when pigs fly?”

god, the memories are all coming back to you. getting the award was bad enough, but with ryo right there watching, just as embarrassed as you, it was all too much. you couldn’t take the humiliation anymore, so you walked away from your desk and went to the break room, hoping it would be empty so you could go cry in there. suga noticed you walk away, and while tempted to comfort you, he thought of something much better.

suga—with the camera crew inches behind him—knocked on ukai’s office door. when ukai noticed the cameras, he motioned for them to come in. suga just knew his boss simply couldn’t resist it.

“hey ukai?” he walked through the door, one of the crew members closing the door behind him. “ooh, it’s cramped in here.”

“you’ll get used to it.” ukai shrugged. “what’s up?”

“have you, uh, finalized the miyagi awards yet?” suga asked. he was beating around the bush right now, but it was all part of his not so sinister master plan.

“why, you want me to rig something? because i can be convinced…” ukai dramatically paused. “with money.”

“no, not exactly. i just, uh…” he sat down in an empty chair. “i’m kind of curious as to what award you’re giving y/n this year.”

you see, ukai didn’t have a clue about suga’s feelings for you. if he paid a little more attention to his employees, he’d see how clear as day it was that you two had some unspoken thing going on. even the documentary crew noticed it on their first day of filming. his obliviousness was just bad.

“oh, same as last year, no contest.” ukai struggled not to laugh, the mere thought of what happened last year giving him the urge to burst. “it's the best one.”

“world’s longest engagement? again?” suga scoffed. he had an inkling this would happen, and thank god he decided to talk to ukai while you had no suspicions.

“yeah, it’s hilarious.” he replied.

now this was where suga had to let his plan really start rolling. it’s phase one now. “i just, um, i think it’s just pretty much expected by now, you know?”

“but that's why it's funny.” ukai said. “every year that y/n and ryo don't get married, it gets funnier.”

“well, i think if you use the same jokes it just comes across as lazy, if you catch my drift.” suga shrugged. there comes the first crack in the glass. he knew exactly where to push ukai’s buttons.

“lazy?!”

“and unoriginal.” the glass had been totally shattered now.

“well, i never!” ukai gasped out of offense. lazy and unoriginal? he’d rather die than have his jokes be called such things, which is why he fell right into suga’s trap.

“oughta think of something better then.” he said, resisting a smirk.

“and what’s your idea of better, suga?” ukai questioned, crossing his arms as he waited for an answer.

“oh, well, let me think about that.” suga smiled to the camera, proud of his work.

•••

you walk into the break room with tears in your eyes. unfortunately for you, takeda was sitting at a table alone as he sipped a cup of coffee, so you quickly wiped away your tears and pretended as if nothing was wrong.

“oh, hey, takeda.” you sniffle. “excited about awards night?”

you weren’t exactly the best at hiding things, which takeda instantly noticed. it’s almost never a good idea to cry in front of the hr guy. “y/n, are you crying? did ukai do something insanely offensive again?”

you’re silent for a moment, trying to think of what to say to him, especially considering he’s higher up than you in the company. regardless, the words all just come out like word vomit.

“i’m in the world’s longest engagement with a man who doesn’t even know my favorite flavor of yogurt.” you spilled out, instantly regretting saying those words out loud based off the confused look on takeda’s face. “i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have said anything—”

“no, no, no. it’s okay.” he reassured you. “you guys can come to me about anything, especially if it’s ukai related.”

“really?” you asked in disbelief.

“emphasis on anything, not just the ukai stuff.” takeda said. it’s nice to know someone else around here has your back, even if that’s quite literally part of his job.

“thanks, takeda.” you say. “i don’t know why ukai messes with you so much.”

“trust me, i don’t know why either…” he quietly said to himself.

you decided that since you were already in the break room, you might as well grab your favorite snack, but alas, someone ate it. again. you knew you should’ve bought that mini fridge to hide behind your desk like you wanted to.

“aw, did yamaguchi eat my fucking yogurt again?” you groan then instantly realized you dropped the f-bomb on camera once again. “oh shit, i just cursed. fuck, i did it again! oh my god, please stop me—”

•••

“i am not okay, guys. not okay.” you say while laughing almost manically, sparking concern from the crew who questioned your sanity. “i have feelings for someone who isn’t my fiancé. someone i work with, no less! i’ve been with ryo for years, since college! but will i EVER get married? i just… i don’t know what to do. i just want this to all go away.”

•••

after arguing with ryo at home, you finally convinced him to come along with you to chili’s for awards night. he wanted to go out to a bar with his friends instead, but he did that plenty enough, so one night without going wouldn’t kill him, at least you hoped that was the case. you couldn’t bear to hear his voice any longer at this point.

the two of your entered the restaurant and were greeted by tanaka and nishinoya, who were taking on the role of ushers before the event properly began.

“welcome to the eighth annual japan pulp and paper awards night.” nishinoya greeted you. “may i take your coat, y/n?”

“sure, nishinoya, thanks.” you say, taking off your coat and handing it to him.

“ryo—” he began to say before ryo brushed past you and grumpily walked towards an empty table. “nevermind.”

you softly smile to them before following ryo, taking the vacant seat next to him. you let out a sigh and look over to see suga was already here, sitting at a table with hinata and kageyama, seemingly babysitting them for the night. you assumed daichi put him up to it, wondering how he was able to be convinced.

“i can’t believe you dragged me here after what happened last year, y/n. you embarrassed me.” ryo scoffed.

god, not this argument again. you remembered what happened when you got home that night last year. your argument lasted all throughout the hours of the night, all to end with no solution. you both went to work the next day with bags under your eyes, the sweet bliss of caffeine keeping you in a somewhat functioning state.

you couldn’t understand why ryo would claim this was all your fault. he was the one that proposed to you! besides, you were far more than willing to plan a wedding, but it takes more than one person to do it. you would have never gotten that pathetic award in the first place had it not been for his lack of cooperation. it’s why your relationship was doomed to fail; he never wanted to work as a team.

“really?” you raise an eyebrow. “if anything, you embarrassed me.”

“what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, a hint of threat in his tone.

“it means exactly what i said.“ you huff.

“pft, whatever.” ryo rolled his eyes. “we should’ve just went to the thirsty bulldog with the warehouse guys like i wanted to.”

“well, you can go. i’m staying.” you cross your arms.

before ryo could get another word in, tanaka walked onto a small stage with a microphone in hand, signaling the awards were about to begin.

“alright, before we get started, a few announcements. keep your acceptance speeches short.” tanaka said, wagging his finger around so everyone got the point. “i have wrap it up music, and i'm not afraid to use it, people!”

ukai took the microphone out of tanaka’s hand despite his protest and forced him off the stage, getting the night properly started. “thank you tanaka for that, and thank you all for coming to the 2023 miyagi awards night! i am your host, keishin ukai. let’s all have some fun tonight!”

everyone clapped, and ryo simply couldn’t stand to be there a moment longer. he looked at his surroundings to see if anyone would notice him leaving, but he thought screw it and decided to just straight up get out.

“i’m leaving.” he said quietly in your ear. “find your own way home.”

“fine by me.” you reply.

ryo shook his head in annoyance. “god, you’re such a bitch, y/n.”

your jaw dropped as you watched ryo leave the restaurant. you knew no one else heard what he said, but you wished someone did so they could see why you were in such shock right now.

“oh man, ryo, don’t go, aw no, come on—” ukai said on ryo’s way out, letting out a chuckle once he saw him head through the exit. “whew, thank god.”

all of your coworkers laughed, and you covered your face with your hands in embarrassment. at least last time you met your fate towards the end of the night, not right at the beginning. this was already off to a horrendous start.

to come to your rescue, suga slinked out of his chair and walked over to the empty seat next to you. “this seat taken?”

you uncover your eyes and see suga, your knight in shining armor. he always came to you when you needed him most, didn’t he? “uh, not anymore, no.”

“great.” he grinned and sat down. “someone else will have to babysit carrot top and mr. simpleton idiot tonight.”

why did suga have to make the whole feelings thing so hard for you? he just had to be perfect in every way, the complete opposite of your asshole fiancé. he always treated you like porcelain, and if that’s what you were, then ryo had shattered you a long time ago. but as much as that sick and twisted part of you deep down wanted suga, you knew you couldn’t have him. it was wrong.

as the night moved along, a waitress walked up to your table to take your order, just what you needed. if you were going to spend this night with suga and potentially be made a running joke, you needed reinforcements in the form of intoxicating liquid. there was no way you could get through tonight sober, as sad as it sounded.

“can i get you two something to drink?” the waitress asked politely.

“two of the strongest drink you have.” you reply.

“alright, i’ll be right back—” she began to say before you cut her off.

“oh no, that’s just for me.” you say with out hesitation. suga’s eyes widened as a result, his concern evident.

•••

“is y/n okay? do any of you know what’s up with her?” suga asked.

of course they knew, but it’s not like they were going to spill, especially considering they would be fired if they ruined such a slow burn. the producers knew full well they had a glorious storyline unfolding on their hands, and none of the crew members were allowed to directly stir the pot.

“nothing?” he groaned. yup, not a peep from them. “you have to know something. god, you guys suck.”

the camera crew took that personally.

•••

the distributing of the awards went smoothly so far. no complete and utter humiliation happened yet, so it was safe to say nothing was terribly wrong. while ukai’s awards were almost always at least slightly offensive, some of them were actually kind of funny.

“alright, y’all. this award goes to someone who is quite literally scared of everything.” ukai began. “i mean, they freak out when a fly is in the room. so, the award for “biggest scaredy cat” goes to… hitoka yachi!”

everyone did the typical applause, and kiyoko giggled at yachi while she went up to get her award. on the way up to the stage, she received a high five from yamaguchi, her cheeks slightly burning red as a result. however, her blush quickly faded when she received her little trophy.

“um, this says “biggest scaredy rat”…” she spoke up.

“ignore that.” ukai said.

before yachi had a chance to speak another word, tanaka played his “wrap it up” music that he threatened everybody with earlier. “i didn’t even give a speech!”

“we’re on a time crunch!” tanaka yelled harshly.

“but i…” yachi pouted as she accepted defeat and walked off the stage.

“it’s okay, yachi.” yamaguchi tried to comfort her.

“thanks, yamaguchi.” she sighed.

“i’m shocked you didn’t get that award considering you look like the rat from flushed away.” tsukishima snickered while yamaguchi gawked at his savage comment.

“what?!”

while that was going on, you were downing drink after drink. you weren’t even counting anymore. no thoughts, head empty; just the way you wanted it to be. you figured this was the only way to feel good about yourself with the way your life is going, so you thought so be it.

after finishing yet another drink, you slammed the glass down onto the table and raised your fists into the air. “y’all know what dj khaled said!”

“anotha one?” suga replied hesitantly.

“anotha one!” you exclaim.

“okay, let’s settle down.” cough. “y/n.”

“are you still drinking that?” you ask suga.

“um—”

“great, thanks.” you interrupt suga and take his beer, giving him no room to protest. he wanted to tell you to relax on the drinks, but he found it hard to do so. would it come off the wrong way? maybe, so suga had to bite his tongue while you got drunk. you weren’t the only one drinking anyway, but you might be the only one drinking to this extent.

once you were quiet, ukai began to announce the next award. “this next award is one that’s never been done before. gasp, am i right? why are none of you gasping?”

crickets.

“anyway, this award goes to someone who’s built like a greek god and is always rocking a gorgeous man bun.” he said, making it all so obvious. “the “office beefcake” award goes to… asahi the temp!”

asahi looked to the camera in shock.

•••

“what’s… what’s a beefcake?” he asked in disbelief, hoping someone could grant him an answer, but he was left with nothing. “is it like, um, a cake made of beef? a beef made of cake? wait, that doesn’t even make sense…”

one of the crew members pulled up the definition on their phone and handed it to him. when asahi read it over, his eyes widened. “oh...”

•••

“this award… is no contest.” ukai said. from the way he started speaking, you thought the award was for you, but thankfully it wasn’t. “i ask myself this all the time, how can one possess such a hair color without dyeing it?”

“ugh, come on.” tsukishima rolled his eyes. “we already know it’s an award for hinata.”

ukai couldn’t even get that mad. it was his most unoriginal award ever. a painfully obvious one too. “yeah, come up here, ginger.”

hinata rushed onto the stage as happy as he could be, but his smile quickly went away when he read out his award. “most orange hair? not again!”

kageyama hollered out into a fit of laughter, probably the only employee who found this hilarious. any chance to laugh at hinata, he would take, but he sure wouldn’t get the last laugh once ukai was done with him.

“well, kageyama, since you find that so funny, let’s give out your award.” he said then went to look for the trophy. “where is it… ah, it’s the “tight ass” award!”

“but that went to tsukishima last year!” kageyama stood defiantly.

“well, guess what? there’s a new tight ass in town!” ukai cackled.

tsukishima laughed his ass off. he wouldn’t have been mad if he received the same award, but this… this was the greatest potential outcome. this may just end up being the best awards night ever. that is, if everyone is happy by the end of it.

all while tsukishima laughed, kageyama gave him the death glare, but it wasn’t long before he switched his gaze onto ukai, who joined in on the laughter.

•••

“how’s the award, kageyama?”

“i’m gonna shove it where the sun don’t shine and show ukai who the REAL tight ass is.” he said through gritted teeth. it was safe to say no one should speak to him for the rest of the night.

•••

it was halfway through the night, and after so many awards had been given out, it was time to relax a little bit. unfortunately, ukai’s idea of “relaxing” wasn’t what any of your pictured.

“now, it’s time for a brief intermission…” he spoke into the microphone. “one where i will be singing bring me to life by evanescence with tanaka.”

“oh my god.” kiyoko’s eyes widened. she couldn’t handle this right now. it’s too much.

“kiyoko’s got a crush…” daichi teased, gently nudging her shoulder while yachi tried to pull him away to stop.

“daichi, don’t—”

“i’m just poking fun!” he raised his hands in the air defensively.

“shut your trap, daichi.” kiyoko said lowly.

“that doesn’t work on me like it works on tanaka and nishinoya.” daichi said with full confidence before kiyoko gave him the death glare, which immediately made him cower down. “but that does.”

meanwhile, you’re sipping on an empty glass through a straw, and suga couldn’t help but take notice to it. “uh, i think that might be empty, y/n.”

“no, no, no. when the ice melts it’s just like a second drink!” you giggle before letting out a loud hiccup.

“lemme just…” suga tried taking the glass out of your hands, but you fought against it, so he gave up. “nevermind.”

suga’s concern only grew more and more. not just towards you, but also to the horrendously off-key performance ukai and tanaka were putting on right now. at least the “god, please help me” face on kiyoko had while she covered her ears was funny.

“WAKE ME UP!”

“WAKE ME UP INSIDE!”

“I CAN’T WAKE UP!”

“WAKE ME UP INSIDE!”

“SAVE ME!”

suddenly, wadded up napkins were pelted at ukai and tanaka, but it wasn’t their coworkers who did such a thing. it was the other poor customers in the restaurant who just wanted to have a nice meal.

“you guys SUCK!” a random guy yelled, crushing both ukai’s soul and his confidence, so he pressed pause on the music, which confused tanaka.

“hey, why’d you stop?” he questioned, ready to keep going despite the haters.

“i’m not feeling it anymore.” ukai shrugged. “we should just cut this short, you guys. just enjoy your food and stuff.”

cut this short? oh no, no, no. you didn’t get drunk for nothing! if ukai was going to put you to shame once again, you sure weren’t going to be sober for it this time around.

“wait, where’s my award?!” you whined. “i didn’t get one!”

“yeah, me too!” suga chimed in to help your case. he too didn’t put on all that work convincing ukai for nothing. neither of your efforts shall be in vein.

“anotha one! anotha one! anotha one!” you began to chant, suga joining in before the rest of your coworkers did too “come on, everybody!”

the chant went on for a few more seconds before ukai finally gave in, but you would soon live to regret your previous decision. “okay, fine! since you asked so nicely… this next award goes out to none other than our lovely receptionist, y/n.”

all of your drunkenness quickly faded into sober realization as you brace for what’s to come. suga could only hope his earlier conversation with ukai actually worked.

“i think we all know what award y/n is going to get this year…” a dramatic pause, it’s killing you. why does ukai love those so much? “it’s the “dairy queen” award! because she’s always eating yogurt without blowing up the bathroom afterwards!”

you instantly gasp and look over to see the proud smile on suga’s face. you have no clue he took part in this for your sake, but you’re just too elated to think right now. you couldn’t believe this was happening in the best way possible. finally, you weren’t the butt of the joke, and it was absolutely glorious.

“come on down, y/n!” ukai said as you got out of your chair—still in shock—and walked up to the stage for your award, one you were actually excited to receive.

“oh my god!” you say as you grab the microphone out of ukai’s hands to give a speech. “i have so many people to thank for this award.”

“first off, shoutout to my supreme tolerance for lactose, i’m just really built different.” you began. “uh, let’s give ukai a round of applause for being our mc tonight because this is a lot harder than it looks. and also because of tanaka too.”

you watched as everyone clapped, but your eyes were fixed on suga for a brief moment as he watched you in complete and utter amazement. you didn’t know if it was the alcohol, but you sure felt on top of the world right now.

“and um, finally, i want to thank god. because god gave me this award…” you pause before saying nine words that nobody will ever let you live down, but you didn’t care. “and i feel god in this chili’s tonight. WOO!”

“y/n l/n, ladies and gentlemen!” ukai exclaimed as you gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, making him blush “oh! thank you…”

you return to your seat and instantly wrap your arms around suga. he’s taken aback at first, but returned your embrace and found himself lingering against your touch longer than he should. you let go of the hug and jump up and down in excitement, forcing suga to join you, and does so happily.

•••

“i think this might just have been the best awards night ever.” suga said to the camera. in all honesty, it was your happiness that made it this way. “we got a killer evanescence cover, which is always awesome. asahi is the office beefcake now, pretty bummed it’s not me. kageyama dethroned tsukishima, which was a total shocker, in my opinion. and uh, you’re the dairy queen.”

suga looked over to you and saw that you were staring at him while continuously nodding. “what?”

“nothing.” you smile. you were so drunk right now.

“okay.” he said before looking away. when suga turned his head again, you were still staring at him, and he could swear he saw hearts in your eyes. “what?!”

“nothing!” you start laughing uncontrollably and fall out of your chair, still laughing.

“oh my god, you are so drunk!” suga exclaimed as he rushed down to the floor to lift you back up, but ukai had a different idea in mind.

“oh fuck, she’s dead!”

“you’re not supposed to curse, ukai!” suga yelled at him.

“shut the fuck up, suga!” he yelled back.

•••

“was this year's awards night a success?” ukai repeated the documentary crew’s question. “well, let's see. i made y/n laugh so hard that she fell out of her chair, and she almost broke her neck, so i killed… almost.”

•••

after the whole falling out of your chair ordeal, you and ukai ended up banned from the establishment. you walked out of the place with suga, who had his eye on you incase your body threatened to let you fall again. you notice the cameras are on you on your way out, and with your trophy in hand, you yell to the camera.

“i just want to say… that this was the best night ever! WOO!” you say before tripping over your own feet.

“woah, careful!” suga quickly caught you, your eyes lingering onto each other’s gaze.

“…thank you.” you step away from suga’s gentle grasp. you really were porcelain, weren’t you?

the silence afterwards engulfed you both. your drunken mind was telling you to kiss him, but the part of you that started to sober up screamed no. you couldn’t. you can’t ruin this one good thing that’s yours.

“hey, how are you getting home tonight?” suga asked to break the silence.

“i, uh, didn’t think that part through.” you let out a dry laugh. you defiant behavior towards ryo earlier may have been a mistake as you knew he wouldn’t be here to pick you up later, but you always had suga to count on.

“well, i can take you home.” he offered. “didn’t exactly drink enough to get tipsy considering you kept stealing my drinks.”

“heh, sorry about that…” you look away, embarrassed over your previous behavior.

“actually, i wanted to ask you something…” suga paused, trying to figure out how to put it into words. “um, are you… doing okay? you seemed upset after ryo left.”

“i’m uh…” you hesitate, your head swirling. i’m harboring conflicting feelings for you despite being engaged to another man, you think to yourself, but you knew you couldn’t say that out loud. “i’m doing just fine.”

it wasn’t what suga wanted to hear, but he just had to accept it. “oh, okay. let’s get you home then.”

one way or another, sugawara koushi would be the death of you.

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr. reblogs are appreciated <3

#haikyuu #haikyu #haikyu x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyu x female reader #haikyuu x female reader #haikyu au #haikyuu au #sugawara koushi x female reader #sugawara koushi fanfiction #sugawara x female reader #sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara x reader #sugawara fanfiction #sugawara koushi #sugawara #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyu fanfiction #pluto writes 📝 #haikyuu x the office au 🏢

[plutoccult]

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU — EPISODE ONE: JAPAN PULP AND PAPER, THIS IS Y/N

pairing: sugawara koushi x female reader

description: chaos ensues when the miyagi branch of japan pulp and paper allow a documentary crew to capture their day-to-day lives in the office.

word count: 3.3k

also available to read on my ao3 here

author’s note: another work from my ao3 that i really wanted to share! i posted this back in july, and i definitely intend to write more. i refuse to let this go without writing casino night. like, come on. it’s too good! for some context, you as the reader are essentially pam, while sugawara is jim, ukai is michael, the list goes on. some characters don’t really reflect any office counterparts, but that’s okay. you can imagine i’ll be going through the motions of that torturous jim and pam slow burn but with my own pizazz. also, text in bold and italics are the interviewing part, if that makes sense. hopefully it’s a smooth transition. anyway, i hope you enjoy!!!

“are we rolling?” ukai asks the camera crew and they nod in response. “alright, cool, cool, cool.”

he takes a deep breath before doing various ridiculous vocal and physical exercises, some you would take straight out of a children’s choir practice. he even got out of his chair and tried to squat before he realized he could rip his pants right at the beginning of the documentary. one could hope it wouldn’t make it to the final edit, but it probably will anyway.

“ahem.” he coughs. “i’m keishin ukai, regional manager. um, i’ve been working at japan pulp and paper for about twelve years now, but i’ve been the regional manager for the past few years.”

“let’s try taking a tour of the office floor.” a camera guy proposes since they were currently cramped in ukai’s office.

“oh, you want a change of scenery? yeah, i can do that. come on, let’s go.” ukai stands up and allows the camera crew to make their way out before he exited as well. there was much, much more room to film around, thank god.

“welcome to my humble abode, aka the office floor.” he began, then made his way to the reception desk where you sat. you kind of hoped you wouldn’t be filmed right off the bat, but here you were with a camera now in your face. “starting off here, we have our receptionist, y/n. say hi to the camera, y/n.”

“hello, camera.” you shyly wave, then try to hand ukai a piece of paper. “by the way, you have a fax.”

“unimportant.” he immediately brushes it off.

“it’s from corporate—“ you try to say, but he interrupts you.

“y/n over here notoriously once dated a guy named mad dog. seriously. that was his name.” ukai whispers to the camera, although you could hear him clear as day, same with the microphone one of the crew members held above you two.

“i thought we agreed to never talk about that again, ukai.” you groan.

“i’m not known to be a truther, y/n.” he shrugs. “anyway, that doesn’t matter anymore because she’s engaged now. well, she’s been engaged for three years. bummer.”

“i’m just going to shred this fax—“

“woah, woah, woah. let’s not do that!” ukai interrupts you, reaching out for the fax you threateningly held over the shredder. “come on, gimme the fax.”

you stare into the camera and hand the fax to ukai.

•••

“as you can tell, i don’t exactly love it here. i mean, it pays alright, but i don’t think anybody dreams of becoming a receptionist.” you say to the documentary crew, forcing a laugh as you’re being interviewed separately. “i wanted to be an actress. as you can tell, that’s not going so well since i still work here. at least there are a couple of good things that come from working here, i suppose.”

•••

“i have to go to the bathroom.” hinata and kageyama announce at the same time. the camera crew turns their attention from you and ukai to them instead. this could be good… maybe.

“i bet i can make it to the bathroom faster!” they yell, again, in unison and rush through the doors to race to the bathroom. unfortunately, it was a tie like always.

“don’t mind them, that’s just hinata and kageyama. always got this weird ass tension, those two.” ukai rolled his eyes. “welp, anyway.”

as ukai scanned the office to think of who else he could bother, ahem, introduce to the cameras, a certain gray-haired salesman quietly whispered to himself at his desk, hoping he wouldn’t be next. after seeing what you went through, he didn’t want to be the next victim. “no, no, no, no, no…”

unfortunately, he was next.

“ah, perfect.” ukai clapped his hands together. “suga! my favorite prematurely gray sales guy!”

“how many times do i have to say my hair is ash blonde?” the young salesman groaned, pouting towards the camera.

“whatever helps you sleep at night.”

suga grumbles at his boss, who blissfully ignores him. “ah, tanaka, assistant—“

“sir, ukai, sir!” tanaka gets up from his chair quicker than one could blink, standing up as straight as possible, almost as if he’d break his spine if he tried to stand any straighter, with his hand to his forehead like a soldier speaking to his captain.

“why are you saluting at me? this is a paper company, not the army.” ukai says in disgust.

“because it feels right...?” tanaka replies hesitantly, slowly slouching back to normal posture.

“ugh, get out of my face. you ruined your intro.” ukai scoffs as he walks away, leaving tanaka with a pout.

•••

later when tanaka speaks to the documentary crew, he breaks out into tears, almost a little too dramatically. “i try so hard to receive that man’s approval. and kiyoko’s love…”

the poor guy thinks he’ll get nominated for an emmy because of this.

•••

a tall man walks in with a man bun. one could even compare him to a samurai, you think. his presence startles everyone in the office upon his arrival, but you keep your cool. well, unlike someone else you know.

“oh, my god! please don’t murder me, i’m begging you!” yachi screams out at the top of her lungs as she runs out of the office in a flash.

the mysterious man stands confused over the blonde rushing out. he looks at you shyly, so you greet him nicely and decide in your head that today was not the day to use your pepper spray.

“hi, can i help you?”

“um.” he coughs. “i’m azumane asahi from the temp agency. i was sent down to start today.”

oh… that checks out.

“oh, yeah!” you say cheerily as you waive those previous thoughts away. “i’ll get you introduced to mr. ukai.”

you show asahi to ukai’s office, knocking on the door before you’re allowed in. “hey, ukai?”

“mhm?” he looks up from his computer.

“this is azumane asahi. he’s from the temp agency.” you inform him.

“nice to meet y—“ asahi begins to speak before his words are interrupted.

“my god, how old are you?” ukai stands up to inspect asahi’s face. you could sense the poor new temp screaming in his head for dear life, so you mouth to him to just roll with it.

“twenty-three…” he stumbles with his response.

“jesus! you look like you’re heading toward a midlife crisis!” ukai exclaims.

you gasp at your boss and pull him away from asahi whose face is as red as a tomato. “ukai! you can’t just say that to people right in their face! you’re such a meanie!”

•••

“you know, people say i’m very harsh, but i think i just simply state what i think, and i think a lot of crazy shit.” ukai laughs at the camera. the crew quite literally thinks he’s clinically insane. “unless hr says something to me, i’m not stopping this ol’ noggin of mine. just like how i refuse to quit smoking...”

•••

knock knock on ukai’s door once more. it’s takeda this time around, who’s the sole part of hr. ukai’s relationship with him isn’t a love-hate one as the love part of it is dead silent. takeda thinks it’s all in good fun, unfortunately.

“ukai, i think we need to have a discussion,” takeda speaks calmly.

ukai slams his hands on his desk and stands up. “specs, you ignorant slut. i’m going out to smoke a cigarette.”

the camera crew proceeds to follow ukai as he goes outside to smoke. he’s unaware that they’re right behind him, so when he looks around to see if anyone is watching him, his soul almost leaps out of his body when he sees a bunch of filming equipment surrounding him as he tries to light a cigarette.

he takes a couple of puffs before addressing the camera, waving around his cigarette as he spoke, which made the crew worry as they tried oh so carefully to protect their extremely expensive equipment.

“yeah, i smoke.” he rolls his eyes. “i’ve tried quitting plenty of times, but it’s like mcdonald’s. even when you say you don’t want anything, you still find yourself stealing somebody’s fries.”

ukai had to make note of how oddly deep that sounded.

after finishing his smoke, ukai headed back inside the office, only to be met with chaos thanks to tanaka and nishinoya annoying kiyoko, a particularly drop-dead gorgeous employee, like always.

“daichi! pry tanaka and nishinoya away from kiyoko! their flirting skills are pathetic and we don’t need any lawsuits around here!” ukai yelled out first thing, pointing his finger at daichi to stop the embarrassment that was his employees.

“on it…” he sighed as he grabbed the two men by the backs of their shirts and dragged them away despite their pleas.

•••

“that was flirting?” kiyoko laughs hysterically at the camera. the camera crew shrugs. unfortunately, their googly eyes and drooling mouths as they asked how her day has been was flirting.

•••

“look, me and tanaka have been trying to woo kiyoko for years. one of us has to succeed, right? and by one of us, i mean me.“ nishinoya says confidently and the crew can’t help but snicker at him based on what kiyoko said to them earlier. he gives them the death glare in response and they immediately stop.

•••

long after the chaos died down, tanaka opens his desk drawer and reveals a plate with his stapler inside jell-o. he’s ultimately taken by surprise, almost unable to form words as to why this has happened to him.

“what…?” he asks himself quietly.

suga, sitting at the desk across from him, tries his best to resist the urge to grin while he plays dumb. “what? what’s wrong?”

“my stapler… is in jell-o,” tanaka says, staring at the plate.

“jell-o? lemme see!” hinata perks up from his desk and runs over to see the phenomenon, just as entranced as tanaka is.

“woah, how did that happen, buddy?” suga continues his act, this time cracking a smile as he watched hinata crouch down and poke the jell-o.

“stop poking it, hinata.” kageyama scoffs, but hinata doesn’t waver one bit.

“i… don’t know,” tanaka replies. it was like his brain literally couldn’t wrap around the situation. how could this be? he didn’t know how to put two and two together. suga found it insanely hilarious, but when he looked over and saw your little snicker as you quickly covered your mouth, it made it a million times better for him.

“obviously, suga did it, you idiot.” tsukishima rolled his eyes as he looked over at everybody with his classic resting bitch face.

“tsukki!” yamaguchi scolded him. “don’t ruin it…”

•••

“i did not get this job to endure immature pranks, especially from someone whose hair went gray before their balls dropped,” tsukishima said in a monotone voice, staring down the camera like it would become his murder victim.

•••

“how do you feel about tsukishima?”

“i’m gonna put his glasses in jell-o next,” suga said to the camera with a smile, proud of his previous work.

•••

as the day progressed, you went into the break room to eat a mid-day snack, but when you opened the fridge, you found that it was gone. “oh, no…”

“y/n? what’s up?” suga asks as he walks in, noticing the look of disappointment on your face.

you shut the refrigerator door and cross your arms, scanning the faces of your fellow employees in the break room. tanaka and nishinoya were too busy eating the jell-o from earlier in hopes to access the stapler, so you assumed it wasn’t them, but then again, you had your doubts. yamaguchi silently sipped his coffee and avoided your gaze, but you found him to be typically shy anyway, so you crossed him off.

“who ate my yogurt? come on, that was my favorite yogurt. who did it?” you ask aloud.

silence.

“meanies.” you roll your eyes and walk toward tanaka and nishinoya. “gimme a bite of that stupid jell-o.”

“mine!” they yell in unison, protecting the gelatin treat as if it were gold.

“ugh.” you huff, accepting defeat and walking out of the break room. no snack for you.

•••

“what’s y/n‘s favorite yogurt?” suga repeats the camera crew’s question, laughing nervously as a result. “why would you think i know that? i mean, it’s mixed berry, but still…”

•••

“suga said mixed berry? heh, he’s definitely onto me…” you smile at the thought of your favorite coworker knowing you so well, but then that very thought leads you to the worst possible conclusion. “hey, wait! i bet that dummy ate my yogurt!”

“we can confirm it was yamaguchi.” a crew member says to you, quickly debunking your theory, which you found to be shocking.

“what? really?” you gasp.

“we found him crying in the bathroom after you discovered somebody ate it.” they reply.

“oh.”

•••

when the work day was finally over, you start to collect your things, logging off your computer for the day and making sure you have everything before you leave. you look up and see a familiar face waiting behind your desk with his warm smile that never grew old.

“hey,” suga said, coat draped over his shoulder as he held his briefcase in his hand.

“hi.” you reply, voice shaky. he gave you butterflies for some reason…

“you walking out?” he asks. sometimes you stayed a little later than usual if there were extra things to do around the office, and suga hated to leave you hanging there. he hated sitting at the bus stop alone even more since it meant you weren’t there with him.

“yeah, lemme just get my coat.” you say softly as you grab your purse from under your desk then get your coat from the coat rack. suga waits right behind you, his shadow right in your vision.

“um, wanna stop by the convenience store on the way to the bus stop?” he adds on. it was typical of you two to grab an after-work snack, usually something indulgent like candy and a soda. suga has tried so hard to figure out what your favorite sweets were, but you were always switching it up in times you get something, so it was impossible to solve the puzzle.

“oh, yeah, sure.” you nod with a smile. “let’s go.”

you two walk out of the office building, beginning your short walk to the store and then the bus stop. it was one of the only times of the day you could share a moment with suga like this without any craziness going on from your coworkers. you liked talking to him just as much as he liked talking to you. sometimes you thought he was only your friend out of convenience and proximity, you were his coworker, after all, but it didn’t dawn on you how much you meant to him.

“so tell me.” you start the walk home conversation. suga perks up and looks over to you in anticipation of what you’re about to say, itching to hear more of your voice. “you put tanaka’s stapler in that jell-o, didn’t you?”

“what?” he laughs in your face, putting on a little act that you never failed to crack a laugh at. “what makes you assume such a thing? i’m offended, y/n. truly, honestly offended.”

“well, sorry!” you huff, also pretending.

“i mean… i totally did that to his stapler.” suga admits, and the two of you bust out into laughter. it was always easy to feel like a kid again when it came to suga. you didn’t grow up with him, but the two of you clicked on your first day like it was the first day of kindergarten.

as you arrived at the convenience store, you insisted to suga that you would wait outside while he got something. he pestered, asking if you were sure you didn’t want anything, but you said no and told him to not waste his money on you.

suga hated that you saw yourself as a waste. he knew what—or should he say who—made you feel that way, and he would be damned if you ever felt that way with him. suga knew who the real problem was, and it wasn’t you. it never was.

when suga came back outside, he had two bags. one was definitely for him, but the other one turned out to be a little surprise. “i know you said not to waste my money on you, but—“

“what, what did you do?” you questioned as if he did something bad.

“i figured you deserved this after what happened earlier.” he grinned, handing you one of the bags in his hands. when you opened it, it was your favorite, mixed berry yogurt. it was even the good kind mixed with vanilla. you couldn’t believe he’d remember such details.

“oh my god, suga, thank you.” you quickly hug him. suga’s heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest while you moved on from the close touch so quickly like it was second nature. “how much was it? i’ll pay you back—“

“no, no. it’s on me.” he interrupted. he wanted to say more, say that anything spent on you was never a waste, but that would be going too far, wouldn’t it?

“really?” you ask with puppy dog eyes. suga nods. “thank you.”

the two of you share a long pause in each other’s eyes. suga’s pupils dilate, and so do yours, but it was too dark to notice. it was like you were both in an unwavering trance, but it couldn’t last forever as the sound of your phone ringing startles you both.

“shit, i gotta take this.” you say, walking a few steps away from suga before answering the call.

“oh, yeah, go ahead.” he looks down, giving you space.

“ryo?” great, it was your fiancé, and he was pissed again. he was so sweet in the beginning, but now you were stuck. at least, you felt stuck.

“what are you talking about?! you never said anything about picking me up after work today!” you yell into the phone.

suga tries not to overhear the conversation, but from the sound of your voice, he assumed your asshole fiancé was being rude towards you again. god, he couldn’t stand it. he almost wanted to grab your phone out of your hands and tell ryo off himself, but suga had to remember his place as just your friendly coworker and nothing more.

“fine, just… drive over to the bus stop. yeah. okay. alright. bye.” you sigh as you hang up, walking back to suga like nothing happened. you always brushed off these things, and you didn’t know how to stop them. “sorry about that. let’s just… go, shall we?”

“yeah,” suga says awkwardly and continues the walk, doing the same as you; acting like nothing happened. you had that in common.

the two of you sit at the bus stop in awkward silence, your bags from the convenience store acting as a barrier between you. you wanted to tell suga what happened on the phone with your fiancé, but it was easy for him to get the gist when he saw ryo skirt down the road like it was fast and furious.

“y/n! get in the car! i don’t got all night!” he yells from the driver's seat. you quickly yell back that you’re “coming!” and run to the other side of the door, ultimately forgetting the yogurt suga bought you. ryo gives you no time to put on your seatbelt and immediately drives away, leaving suga waiting for his bus alone.

suga looks over at his surroundings, finding that the documentary crew had been recording the entire walk here. he knew that was part of the deal, he and the rest of the office signed a contract after all, but he didn’t imagine embarrassing himself in the pilot episode like this.

“you guys recorded all that, didn’t you…?”

the film crew nods awkwardly.

“damn.”

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr. reblogs are appreciated <3

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu au #sugawara x reader #sugawara #sugawara koushi #sugawara koushi x reader #haikyuu x female reader #sugawara x female reader #sugawara koushi x female reader #sugawara fanfiction #haikyuu fanfiction #sugawara koushi fanfiction #haikyu #haikyu x reader #haikyu fanfiction #pluto writes 📝 #haikyuu x the office au 🏢

[plutoccult]

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU — EPISODE FIVE: BOOZE CRUISE

pairing: sugawara koushi x female reader

description: ukai attempts to help the office bond more by booking a booze cruise for his employees… in the middle of winter. meanwhile, tanaka miserably tries to set suga up with his older sister per kiyoko’s suggestion.

word count: 6.5k

also available to read on my ao3 here

author’s note: hey, i changed my user! i was @310802 before, now i’m @plutoccult! i also had to repost this because the original post wasn’t showing up in ANY tags, so i’m sorry if you already read it before i did this! moving on, i was SO EXCITED to write this episode. i know i neglected the katy storyline from the show, so i decided to take the opportunity to somewhat use that for this episode as a little one-off. i think i was clever with its use too… i’m trying to balance the amount of “screen”time between the reader and suga, but some episodes may just end up needing more focus on suga for the sake of the storyline. anyway, the next few weeks is gonna be updates galore, so you’re all gonna be FED. btw, thank you to @dragon-slayer5 for beta reading this! enjoy!

tags: @toorubobatea @intorder @dragon-slayer5 @femme-lune @jeanboyjean @cowgirlikets @imissyuuji @darthferbert @kazuchaos @bakagun1312 @beingbrokenfitsus @mumblepingu @daedaep69 @intheewrld @msbyomimi @sukxma @akari-fujikawa @milkteeboba

taglist form here

suga considered lunchtime to be the only time of day where he could actually catch a break. he seemed to have a hard time catching any sort of breaks lately, especially when it came to his miserable love life. as much as he wanted things to change, today would certainly be no different.

since suga entered the office building this morning, tanaka had his eyes on him like an hawk. it was creepy how every time suga looked away from his computer, tanaka was staring right at him. but why? did he have something on his face? was his hair actually looking gray? no, that would be terrible. there can’t be anything than that.

to hopefully get tanaka’s eyes off him for once, suga got up and headed down to the hallway where the vending machines were. maybe a little snack would ease the unnerving feeling in his stomach. unfortunately, tanaka was already on his way to follow.

suga pondered over his choices, and before he knew it, tanaka’s reflection was seen in the glass of the vending machine. it was like a scene straight out of a horror movie, but suga decided to ignore him and pray he would go away, then continued to ponder over what to pick.

“a little birdie told me something.” tanaka spoke up.

oh no. “what?”

“nothing.” he smirked.

you enter, also looking to use the vending machine. great, just what this moment needed, suga thought.

“hey, guys.” you greet the two men, no clue about what’s going on. it was better if you didn’t know.

“oh, hi, y/n.” suga slightly blushed.

a smirk crept up on tanaka’s face. suga began to wonder about tanaka’s motives even more, but shook it off and picked a bag of sour cream and onion chips before walking back to his desk. tanaka quickly followed behind, which you found weird considering you assumed he was waiting for his turn to use the vending machine. you figured “oh well”, got your snack, and went back to your desk.

you sit down and meet eyes with suga who’s about pop a chip into his mouth. you quickly open up your bag and pull out a chip, doing a little “clink” with your chips from across the room, which suga immediately thought to reciprocate. it was good to know you two were still in sync.

a few minutes later, ukai returned from eating out for lunch, which he typically did almost every day. oh, how you wished you could afford ordering food for lunch all the time like your boss, but alas, you were just the receptionist.

“hello, everyone.” ukai said as he hung up his coat.

“welcome back, ukai.” tanaka replied before loudly whispering in suga’s ear. “i know your secret…”

my god. as much as suga was totally freaked out right now, ukai thought tanaka’s menacing words were directed towards him instead. “what?! i don’t have any secrets!”

suga and tanaka both look into the camera with furrowed eyebrows.

•••

the crew loved putting you and suga together for interviews. and given the drama that’s soon to come, they had to use every opportunity possible.

“so, ukai sent everyone a very interesting email last week.” you say the camera.

“yeah, it was, um… quite the thinker.” suga chuckled.

“mhm. it said, “it's time for our first quarter camaraderie event, so pack a swimsuit, a toothbrush, rubber-soled shoes, and a ski mask.” you read out the email from your phone. “i’m not really sure what that exactly equates to…”

“clearly, he wants to us to rob a bank and escape through the sewers afterwards.” suga shrugged. that was totally the obvious conclusion.

“then brush our teeth after a hard time committing crimes?” you jokingly question.

“yeah, exactly.” suga smiled at you, making you blush. you quickly turn to the crew and wonder if they noticed that, but it was obvious they did. the cameras catch everything.

•••

now the question that remained rent-free in everyone’s minds was what the hell ukai could possibly be planning this year. he was never up to any good, always doing something completely out of the box. he was simply incapable of doing anything normal. it made work interesting, but sometimes you all wished ukai take a chill pill for once.

at the most random time, ukai emerged from his office with an announcement. why he always did this, you couldn’t help but wonder, yet you didn’t hesitate to look away from your computer to hear what he had to say this time around.

“everyone, it appears some of you have figured me out.” ukai said to grab everyone’s attention. “so, it is now time to unveil the destination of this year's retreat. drumroll, please.”

no one provides a drumroll, much to ukai’s disappointment. “really? no drumroll? not even you, tanaka?”

“just spit it out already.” tanaka groaned.

“okay, fine.” he sighed before announcing the big news. “i got us a riverboat cruise on the abukuma river! it’s gonna be a booze cruise!”

a booze cruise? god, for a paper company, you guys sure consumed a lot of alcohol. plus, the combination of ukai and a cruise ship already seemed like a total disaster. when you add booze into the mix, it was almost comparable to the end of the world.

ukai received practically cricket noises from his employees, daichi being the one to express what was on everyone’s minds. “ukai, it’s january.”

“so? it was cheaper.” ukai shrugged. if it were any other month, like—hm, who knows—any month in the summer, maybe they’d show a little more excitement.

“and what is up with you and booze?” daichi asked. again, something you’ve all thought about at least once. “this is like when hinata was addicted to mixing buzzballz with every soda known to man.”

“pepsi with the cranberry flavor was the best…” hinata randomly spoke up, remembering that month-long phase last year. it wasn’t pretty, to say the least.

“gross…” kageyama shook his head in disgust.

“you don’t get it like i do, kageyama.” hinata protested.

“what is that supposed to mean?” kageyama raised an eyebrow, ready to start up an argument with his desk neighbor at any given second. typical, of course. you wondered when it would ever get old.

“okay, shut up before you two start making out!” ukai interrupted them before another hr fiasco occurred. again.

“what?!” the two gawked in unison. did they really give off that vibe?

“anyway!” ukai forced a laugh and switched the subject back to the cruise. “just hear me out guys, okay? let me cook. i’m combining fun with education! it’s gonna be mind-blowing.”

“sounds like you just want another excuse to party.”

“it’s not a party, it’s a bonding exercise.” ukai corrected him. “i’m helping us bond. people find lifelong friends in the workplace. others may find the love of their lives.”

ukai was right, shockingly. people do find lifelong friends. suga knew he would always stay friends with daichi for life, and even if tsukishima got on his nerves sometimes, he wasn’t the worst person in the world to be around. there would always be a bond between your coworkers. maybe you were all trauma bonded from dealing with ukai for all these years, but it was an unforgettable bond nonetheless.

suga blushed out of embarrassment from that last statement. some do find the love of their lives. he liked to believe you were the love of his life, swearing he found such a thing his first day at the office. the second he walked through that door and was met with your face, the words “japan pulp and paper, this is y/n. please hold.” coming out of your mouth as you spoke on the phone before setting it down to ask him what he needed. suga knew, right then and there, that he had found his future wife, but oh how he wished he knew back then what he would be in for years later.

even if ukai was oddly onto something for once, not everyone was interested. asahi, who had yet to survive a full year at the office, raised his hand and attempted to opt out of the event. “can i sit this one out? i have… a thing… later…”

“nice try, asahi.” ukai rolled his eyes. “this is mandatory. i better see your beefy ass on that dock tonight.”

“i’m not that beefy…” asahi said with a tinge of red on his cheeks.

“you so are, bro. those glutes go crazy.” nishinoya said confidently.

asahi wasn’t sure why nishinoya was paying attention to that area of his body, but he took the compliment anyway, although continuing to question it. “thank you?”

“glad we got that covered.” ukai said. “now, before we go on this cruise later, we have to talk about safety.”

“you’re literally the most unsafe person here, ukai.” you speak up. if anyone knew ukai best, it would very well be you, always there to deal with his antics and sometimes assist in them. the time you helped ukai hack into a higher up’s email account to prevent a picture of his ass that he accidentally sent being seen would go down in office history. you saved his ass, quite literally.

“ugh, come on!” ukai huffed. “i saw titantic a million times and i refuse to let us all die like leonardo dicaprio!”

•••

“do you think you could save one of your employees in the face of danger?”

“um, hello? i took a swimming class once. of course, i could save one of them.” ukai sassily replied to the documentary crew. “besides, we all know jack and rose could’ve both fit on that door at the end of titanic. james cameron is such a liar.”

•••

later on, suga went to go grab a cup of coffee in the break room. before he knew it, he was being cornered by tanaka, the sound of his name being called practically scaring him shitless. “sugawara koushi.”

“jesus christ.” suga jumped, putting his hand over his chest to feel his heartbeat. “do not use my full name like that ever again.”

“shut up.” tanaka shushed him and pressed his index finger over suga’s mouth to further silence him. “how would you… like to… take my sister as your date for the booze cruise tonight?”

there was no way this could be real life right now, suga thought. being in this position with tanaka was weird enough, but taking his sister as his date? he wasn’t even aware people were taking dates for this. it was no contest who suga truly wanted to take as a date, but of course it wasn’t an option, and he didn’t want to settle.

“your… sister? uh, no thanks.” suga turned the idea down without hesitation. however, tanaka was feeling devious.

“really?” he moved his finger away and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face. “kiyoko told me everything, suga. i know you have feelings for—”

oh no. not again.

“oh my god, shut your fucking mouth!” suga exclaimed with wide eyes, slapping his hands over tanaka’s mouth so he’d be quiet. to hell with censorship, this was critical. at this rate, the whole damn office was going to find out about suga’s pathetic feelings. he was going to end up broke by the time he bribed everyone to keep their mouths shut. his poor wallet and heartstrings can’t suffer any longer.

“woah, woah, woah!” tanaka laughed awkwardly, actually kind of scared over suga’s newfound rage. “language, my man!”

“whatever!” suga yelled “why the hell did she tell you?!”

“well, it was her idea to set you up with my sister, and i wanted to know why, so…” tanaka replied timidly, hoping kiyoko wouldn’t kill him later for pinning part of the blame onto her. well, unless suga didn’t get to her first.

“god fucking dammit.” suga cursed as he walked away from this monstrosity of a conversation. now, where was he off to? to confront kiyoko about the mess she’s made, of course.

“well? are you taking her out or not?!” tanaka yelled out to suga on his way out, receiving a middle finger in response, which will undoubtedly be blurred out in post production. the editing team had a lot of work cut out for them, that’s for sure.

on a mission like his life—and certainly dignity—depended on it, suga stormed up to kiyoko’s desk, where tsukishima and yamaguchi sat across from one another.

“kiyoko.” he towered over her as she sat in her chair, completely unbothered by him. “you were sworn to secrecy.”

“actually, only tsukishima was because you gave him twenty bucks.” kiyoko said. “you didn’t buy my silence.”

well, no wonder she spilled the beans. tsukishima got money, she didn’t. it’s not like kiyoko had asked that day at the christmas party, but suga certainly should have known better than to not doubt her. yamaguchi, however, was one big ol’ question mark. “yamaguchi? what about your silence?”

“i don’t like taking advantage of those less fortunate than me.” yamaguchi replied to him, those savage words coming out so innocent from his voice.

“less fortunate?!” suga gasped. it was beyond insulting, but he couldn’t even be that mad hearing it come from yamaguchi. now, if it were tsukishima talking, he’d insult him right back.

“suga, you need to have eyes on other women.” kiyoko lectured him. it’s not like she was wrong, obviously suga knew that, but the heart wants what it wants, and no matter what, his heart wanted you.

“but did you really have to tell tanaka about it?” suga whined.

tsukishima almost choked on his drink. “you told—”

“quiet.” kiyoko shushed tsukishima. “listen, suga. i’m doing you a favor, okay? just… take saeko out. just once. maybe it could take your mind off you know who for a little while?”

suga didn’t really have much choice, did he? maybe being seen with another woman will throw away any suspicion his coworkers may potentially have. it definitely won’t take his mind off of you, but at the very least, suga could have some sort of benefit from this whole ordeal.

“and will you keep your mouth shut if i do?” he asked, the most important question of all.

“accompanied by some cash, yes.” kiyoko said. why, of course.

giving in, suga let out a sigh as he whipped out his wallet and handed kiyoko money. she took the bill with a smile on her face, slyly putting in it her pocket.

“what about me—” yamaguchi began to say before suga cut him off.

“i’m less fortunate, remember?” he replied sassily, a nod to what yamaguchi said earlier. suga then finally went back to his desk, muttering curses to himself. “assholes.”

•••

“i’m gonna end up killing someone.” suga said to the camera with an unsettling smile, which quickly faded when he realized he couldn’t actually commit murder like he desired in the moment. “actually, i can’t do that. i’m still waiting for gta 6 to come out.”

“what?”

“none of you guys are waiting for gta 6?” he furrowed his eyebrows before pouting when the crew shook their heads no. “aw, come on…”

•••

once the sun set for the night, the employees of japan pulp and paper all met up at the dock for tonight’s booze cruise. ukai, who arrived far too early, waved his arms in the air for his employees, motioning them to board the boat, acting as if he were the captain of it.

“all aboard!”

“isn’t that what people say on trains?” you ask as you arrive with ryo, shocked he’s not totally against coming here tonight. it was safe to assume it’s because of the open bar, when you really thought it through.

“that’s such a stupid question.” ryo scoffed. of course, a part of him hated being around your obnoxious coworkers. that was no surprise, unfortunately.

“whatever.” you sigh. “sorry i asked, i guess…”

meanwhile, suga parked his car in the parking, just now arriving. he hoped he wasn’t late as he really didn’t need to feel tanaka’s and/or kiyoko’s wrath. he may as well feel it regardless of his time of arrival. suga didn’t want this date tonight. that too was no surprise.

as he got out of his car, suga’s eyes landed on the coolest motorcycle he had ever seen. whoever owned it must take really good care of it, like it was their child or something, he thought to himself. suga didn’t think of the motorcycle much further as he heard a car door slam from far away. he turned around, hoping it was you, but it turned out to kiyoko and yachi rushing towards him.

“sugawara!” they yell out.

suga put his hands out in front of him, hoping to shield the two girls away. “oh god, am i being ambushed?”

“no.” kiyoko replied to his question out of breath. she knew quitting track in high school was a terrible idea. “we were waiting for you to arrive.”

“why..?” suga furrowed his eyebrows.

“to make sure you’re ready for tonight.” yachi said on kiyoko’s behalf.

what did he exactly to be ready for? a date he was forced into with a woman he’s never met? frankly, suga he didn’t really want to meet tanaka’s sister. it was nothing against her personally, she just wasn’t you.

“do i need to give you money too, yachi?” he groaned.

“that’s like taking money from charity.” she replied. man, yachi was just as savage as yamaguchi. they’re truly made for each other.

“wow, just wow.” suga said in disbelief. “look, i’m here, isn’t that good enough?”

“no.” kiyoko deadpanned.

he didn’t have time for this bullshit. suga was just going that stupid dock. “i’m walking away.”

“but—” kiyoko and yachi go after him, but can’t seem to keep up.

suga didn’t really think this through. he was just so irritated that he had to get away from kiyoko and yachi. suga didn’t think about where his feet were going, but before he knew it, he was right at the dock, freezing when you saw you with your fiancé. god, he really regretted his life choices right now.

“suga, come here, pretty boy!” he’s snapped back to reality thanks to tanaka calling out his name. without any chance to take a step, kiyoko and yachi creep up behind him and push him to move. you watch the events unravel, wondering what’s going on, but shake it off bring your back to ryo.

suga stumbled to tanaka and an unfamiliar woman. he met eyes with her, a look of shock evidently present on his face. how can someone related to a bozo like tanaka be so… attractive? no. suga couldn’t think like that. she was tanaka’s sister.

“this is my sister, saeko.” tanaka said, waiting for one of them to say something.

“hiya, suga.” saeko extended her hand out for a handshake. “nice to meet you.”

“hello.” suga replied awkwardly, reciprocating the handshake. thank god it was winter. otherwise, they wouldn’t be wearing gloves.

“have her home by midnight.” tanaka joked. “i’m just kidding, she rode herself here.”

“huh?” suga questioned.

“oh, she’s a biker. have fun!” tanaka then walked away to follow kiyoko, who was boarding the ship with yachi. at least suga knew where that awesome motorcycle belonged to.

now alone with saeko, suga turned his head and watched you board the ship with ryo. he looked back to saeko and examined her face for a second before deciding his next action. she was a very pretty woman, but that simply couldn’t fill the void in suga’s heart. he had to be honest while he had the chance. it was only fair.

“listen, saeko… you seem like a really nice girl, but tanaka is only doing this because i’m in love with a girl that works here and wants to help me get over her.” he admitted, a weight lifted off his shoulders after revealing the truth. “i just think i should be honest.”

“oh, i know.” saeko replied bluntly. “he told me all about that.”

suga blinked a couple times and tried to make sure he heard that correctly. “he did?”

“yeah, i’m just doing this because i owe him one.” she shrugged. “besides, i don’t really date older guys.”

“older?” right. the hair. of course.

“i can play wingwoman for ya! don’t worry, pops.” saeko lightly punched him in the arm, followed by an obnoxiously loud laugh. suga looked to the cameras for help, but the crew just stood in their place.

•••

“tanaka…” suga let out a long sigh. “what the hell have you gotten me into?”

•••

after going through all of the safety measures for the cruise, the office were finally allowed to have their fun. it seemed that telling saeko the truth was the best idea suga ever had as she wanted to help him out by trying to make you jealous. well, if that’s even possible, but who knows? it was worth a shot.

suga and saeko walked to you and ryo as you sat together at one of the many tables. their arms were interlinked, surely making some sort of statement.

“y/n, ryo.” suga said to catch your attention, although he ended up catching ryo’s attention more than yours thanks to saeko.

“well, well, well. who’s the pretty lady you brought with you tonight, suga?” ryo asked with a smirk.

you weren’t all that phased until ryo spoke up. saeko wasn’t just pretty to you, she was beautiful, far more than you ever thought of yourself. you can’t remember the last time ryo ever gave you eyes like the ones he was giving saeko now. you weren’t sure who or what you were jealous of right now. the fact that suga was on a date, your fiancé ogling at said date, or that she was so much prettier than you. you cursed yourself in your head for those thought. you didn’t have a right to be jealous of suga. he had every right to date, he was single, you were not.

now that you thought about it, suga never really dated anyone since he started at the office. as far as you knew, at least. you wondered why that was, but it was impossible to pinpoint it down to one reason. you were so painfully blind to the truth.

“uh, this is—” suga began to introduce saeko until she interrupted him.

“saeko. nice to meet you.” she said with a smile.

“she’s tanaka’s sister.” suga added for a little salt in the wound.

“oh…” your eyes widened. you look to ryo and see as he gave suga a high five, telling him he hit the jackpot. you felt sick, and it definitely had nothing to do with the sea.

suga sat next to you, making you in between him and ryo. saeko sat on the end with suga, showing her excitement about the booze cruise. “i feel like we're in high school and we're sitting at the cool table. how fun.”

“yeah.” you reply, trying to remain as chill as possible. you had to keep telling yourself that she wasn’t a villain, she was just a really nice girl who got lucky to be with suga tonight.

“y/n, what were you like in high school?” saeko asked you.

ryo, however, answered the question for you, letting out a cackle as he practically insulted you in front of the whole table. “oh, she was a total, total dork. it took her getting pretty in college for me to notice her.”

“ha! that’s hilarious!” saeko giggled, nudging suga to laugh as she thought this would work with their plan, but he didn’t find it funny whatsoever. it was completely insulting to you.

“it’s really not…” suga muttered to himself.

“where did you go to school?” ryo asked saeko.

“karasuno.” she replied instantly.

“woah… you guys had the tiny giant, didn’t you?” ryo gasped, referring to a well known former high school volleyball player. despite being at his peak, he retired after graduating high school, never once playing professionally. everyone always wondered about what could’ve been, including ryo, who was one of the many people that heard the tale of the tiny giant.

“yeah, i went to school with him.” saeko bragged. it was far from a humble brag, it was awesome.

“woah! what was he like?” ryo questioned in amazement.

“uh… tiny, i guess?” saeko shrugged. she wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question as she never knew the guy personally, just passed him in the hallways on occasion.

suddenly, the cupid shuffle blared through the speakers. nishinoya had taken over the music and started to play his own playlist, claiming the dj “sucked ass” and decided to take matters into his own hands. there wasn’t much protest as everyone began dancing together, including saeko and ryo who get up from the table and decide to join in on the dance.

suga watched the sight, glad to finally have a moment just with you, but when he turned his head to say something to you, it seemed as if you disappeared. of course, he wondered where you went off to, and decided to find you.

you stood alone, leaning your back against the railing of the boat and rubbing your hands together for warmth. it all became overwhelming for you too quickly, and you figured ryo wouldn’t notice you leaving anyway. even so, it still shocked you when suga noticed, finding you in your lonely spot.

“getting too rowdy?” he asked you.

“mhm…” you nod as you shiver a little.

“yeah, i’m not really a fan of making my ears bleed.” suga said to lighten things up. he wondered if this was a good time to admit the truth about the whole saeko thing, that it was all a set up to get your attention because he was in love with you, but before he had the chance, you blurted out something he didn’t expect out of you.

“sometimes i just don't get ryo.”

suga gulped as his eyes widened for a brief second. “oh…”

“i mean, i don't know. it’s whatever.” you shake the feeling off. why were you saying this to suga anyway? it wasn’t his burden to carry. “so... what's it like going out with tanaka’s sister?”

“oh, um...” suga struggled to answer the question. a long silence followed, making you both feel awkward. there was so many things the two of you could say to each other right now.

“i'm cold.” you say with a faint laugh before heading back to your coworkers, suga following not long after. it was easy just to ignore the unspoken tension.

•••

“how’s the booze cruise going so far?”

“kind of wish things were different right about now.” suga forced a laugh. it was clear he was in pure misery. “haha… i need a drink.”

•••

you return to the group, scanning the area. ryo was chatting it up with one of his coworkers from the warehouse, chugging drinks together and sharing a laugh. you then see kiyoko and yachi pull suga by his arm, seemingly yelling at him for reasons you weren’t sure of whatsoever. your choices of where to go were limited, so you return to your table and see saeko sitting alone with a beer. it seemed like a good idea to have a friendly chat with her.

“hey.” you sit down next to her.

“hey.” she greeted you, taking a swig of her beer bottle.

“i never really liked beer.” you say, trying to start up a conversation. whatever topic worked, you were fine with. as adults, talking about alcohol seemed like the best bet.

“oh, you don’t?” saeko questioned. “you just have to find the right brand, honestly. some taste like shit.”

“ha, yeah.” you quietly laugh and rest your face in your hand. saeko immediately noticed the ring on your finger, even if it’s lost its sparkle as the years have gone by.

“woah, nice ring.” she said in amazement.

you look at your ring, shocked by the compliment. it wasn’t anything special, but you appreciated it anyway. “oh, thank you.”

“i'd like to be engaged.” saeko sighed. “how did you manage to pull that off?”

“uh, i've been engaged for three years, and there's no end in sight, so... you don't wanna ask me for any advice.” you force a laugh. god, you‘d kill for the waiting game to finally end.

unbeknownst to you, ryo overheard what you said, and he decided that tonight was the best night to finally take some action when you least expected it.

•••

“what do you think of saeko?”

such an awkward question for the crew to ask you, don’t you think? even so, you had to answer it without making a complete fool of yourself.

“she’s nice.” you shrug. it technically wasn’t a lie, but you sure quickly pulled it out of your ass. “really pretty too. crazy to think she’s related to tanaka…”

“but what about suga taking her as his date tonight?” and there’s the stinger. you didn’t have a right to be jealous, did you?

“uh… doesn’t really matter what i think, i’d say.” you say timidly and look away from the camera.

•••

out of nowhere, ryo got ahold of the dj’s microphone, seemingly about to make an announcement. what the announcement was, you didn’t know, but you sure as hell were scared to know what it would be.

“everybody, could i have your attention for just a second? could you guys listen to me for a second?” he said into the microphone.

everyone stopped what they were doing to look at ryo. suga had a terrible feeling this wasn’t going to be any good, at least not for him.

“i was just, um…” ryo paused before he dropped the ultimate bomb in front of everyone. “y/n, i think enough is enough. i think we should set a date for our wedding. how about june tenth?”

your eyes widen in shock and you find everyone’s eyes are on you. suga swore he felt his heart drop, desperately waiting for your answer like everybody else. wasn’t this what you wanted? to finally get married? it was hard to think that this was real life. you almost wished time would just stop for a second, but the time kept ticking as you had yet to say a thing.

“well, what do you say?” ryo asked.

before you said anything, you immediately look for suga. he was supposed to be your knight in shining armor, you thought, but now when you desperately needed his saving, he was nowhere to be found. maybe this was a sign that you should say yes. after all, you said yes the first time, right?

“okay..?” you answer.

the room felt silent before everyone erupted into cheers, you the least excited person present. “she said okay!”

you’re ushered to get up and head to ryo. he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and planted a big kiss on your temple. it might as well be the most affectionate he’s been towards you in a very long time, but of course, it was when he had a large group of eyes all on him. while part of you was happy you finally began to see a light at the end of the tunnel, the other part of you felt that this was all just for show. but maybe things will be different. you always think that, but you wanted to think that it would really be different this time.

ukai hopped to you and ryo, quickly hugging you and sharing his excitement for you two. “woah, congratulations, you guys! i knew it would happen eventually!”

“did you?” you raise an eyebrow, looking back on all those past jokes about your engagement.

“uh, yes, y/n. of course, i did.” ukai replied sarcastically. he actually didn’t see this coming, but he wanted in on the attention. “now you have to let me give you away!”

“uh, no thank you.” you quickly shut the idea down. even when all the attention was on you (and your fiancé), your mind still went back to suga. he should be here celebrating with you. you wanted him here. he was your best friend, after all. “um, where’s suga?”

“i don’t know, i thought he was right—“ ukai looked around and saw he was nowhere in sight. “oh, seems he vanished.”

“i should—“ you began to say before ukai cut you off.

“no, no. i’ll go find him.” he insisted. “go celebrate!”

“yeah, okay…” you frown as you watch ukai walk away to find suga.

ukai searched around for suga for quite a bit. when he disappeared, he really took it seriously. it was like he vanished out of thin air. ukai hoped he didn’t jump off the ship or something, and luckily before he could cause a scene over a potentially missing employee, suga was found.

“hey, suga.” he said to him. “you, uh, disappeared, man. did you hear the news?”

“uh-huh. i sure did.” suga said, looking down at the deep, dark ocean, almost as dark as his heart had become after what just happened. you finally set a wedding date. it was a day suga dreaded for god knows how long. he always went back and forth wondering whether the day would actually come, but now that’s it’s here, it was a nightmare turned brutal reality.

“something wrong?” ukai asked suga.

“i just…” he paused, tempted to speak up about how he felt, but kept it to himself. “mmm, nope. it’s stupid.”

“i’m the master of stupid things. you can tell me.” ukai said.

it was just the two of them. for some reason, suga felt like he could actually confide in his boss right now. maybe telling him what was wrong wouldn’t be such a bad idea. “i just… i didn’t think they’d ever actually plan to get married.”

“who? y/n and ryo?” ukai questioned. “what, do you like her or something?”

the look on suga’s face said it all. it showed a man who was desperately in love with a woman that simply wasn’t his. it was all so clear now.

“oh my god, you like y/n.” he said, followed by a faint gasp.

suga let out a sigh. he didn’t need to say a thing, ukai just knew. it was a shock he never figured it out before, really. everyone else seemed to find out easily once suga started to slip up in his facade.

“i can’t believe i never noticed before!” ukai exclaimed. “you two are always smiling and giggling with each other, how could i be so blind? holy cow.”

“tsukishima figured it out at the christmas party.” suga said with a frown. “it’s only a matter of time before she figures it out too.”

“and is that so bad?” ukai asked. it seemed like such a simple yes or no question, but the only way suga knew how to answer it was by pouring his heart out, spewing all the things he kept shoved down his throat for the longest time. it was always bound to come up one way or another.

“ukai, it’s not that i just like her… i love her. i’m in love with everything about her. i adore her. she’s sweet, funny, and she just has this aura… i can’t describe it.” he spoke from the heart, the only way he knew how when it came to you. “she’s beautiful inside and out. i would do anything to give her the world. i worship the rain that waters the grass that grows on the ground she walks on. my heart beats louder for her than it ever has for anyone else, and…”

“and… what?” ukai questioned.

“i don’t want her to marry him. i want her to be with me.” suga cried out, covering his face with his hands out of embarrassment. how could he say something so selfish out loud? the thought felt safer in his head, but even so, he would have burst if he kept it in any longer. “god, it’s so fucking stupid. i’m such an idiot.”

suga had been suffering in silence for too long, and ukai could clearly see that. it pained him to see one of his best employees in this state of despair. “suga, if that’s how you truly feel… then don’t give up. tell her how you feel.”

“she’s engaged, ukai. i can’t.” suga shook his head no. such a prosperous thing to suggest now. it was easy to think he could reveal his feelings when he knew there wasn’t a wedding date in sight, but wouldn’t it be so silly now to beg you to cancel the wedding? he felt like a tall child with all these thoughts eating him up.

“so? engaged ain’t married.” ukai shrugged. “besides, you’re way better than ryo.”

it was weird to have ukai on his side. was he not just celebrating with you? maybe suga’s heartfelt speech gave him a change of heart, or maybe he always saw something there without truly realizing what that something was. maybe ukai always knew you deserved better than a lowlife like ryo.

“why are you saying this?” suga questioned ukai. “i thought you’d be excited about the world’s longest engagement finally reaching its end.”

“i don’t know. i just… when i look at her with ryo versus with you, i think there’s a clear winner. you two have something special, and i wouldn’t give up hope, suga.” he replied. “maybe one day you should just… take a chance and see what she says. you never know what’s going on in that mind of hers.”

“you think so?” suga asked.

ukai nodded without hesitation. “never, ever give up.”

overcome with emotion, suga suddenly decided to wrap his arms around ukai. what’s crazy was that it didn’t even feel weird. ukai may be the most insane boss ever, but no matter what, he always had his way of showing he had his employees backs. when suga needed him most, ukai was right there, telling him words he didn’t know he needed to hear, and turned out to be what he needed the most.

“okay.” suga sniffled into ukai’s shoulder, holding him tighter than before. “i won’t.”

ukai really didn’t want to ruin such a heartfelt moment, but he felt like the life was being sucked out of him. “suga, you… you’re suffocating me.”

“oh.” suga quickly let go of him. “sorry.”

“it’s okay, but don’t forget what i told you.” ukai said, gently poking where suga’s heart was. “that’s an order from your boss.”

suga thought that tonight was the end of the world, but it turned out that he still had reason to have hope. maybe ukai was just feeding his delusions, but it sure felt nice knowing someone had his back and believed in him, that his feelings weren’t foolish. besides, a lot can happen between now and june, right?

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr. reblogs are appreciated <3

#haikyuu #haikyu #haikyuu x reader #haikyu x reader #haikyuu x female reader #haikyu x female reader #sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi x female reader #sugawara x female reader #sugawara koushi #haikyuu x the office au 🏢 #pluto writes 📝 #gif divider by cafekitsune

[plutoccult]

TAG INDEX!

PLUTO WRITES 📝

find all my works in this tag regardless of the fandom. i apologize for the angst in advance.

PLUTO TALKS 🔭

sometimes i don’t know when to shut up and this is the tag i use when i have something random (or sometimes shockingly important) to say.

PLUTO’S BEDTIME STORIES 💤

i almost exclusively read on here at night before i actually go to sleep, so i call them my little bedtime stories and reblog them.

PLUTO’S MUTUALS 👽

posts about my lovely mutuals who i adore so very much! love y’all <3

PLUTO’S INBOX 💌

i basically never get asks, but if i ever got more you could find them in this tag!

ICYMI 🫶

pretty self explanatory. typically when i reblog my own works to make sure my followers know it exists.

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU 🏢

all parts to this series can be found in this tag if not also my masterlist. she’s a vibe give her a shot!

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr.

#it’s about time i did this #inspired by shoyostar #navigation #tag index #pluto writes 📝 #pluto talks 🔭 #pluto’s bedtime stories 💤 #pluto’s mutuals 👽 #pluto’s inbox 💌 #icymi 🫶 #haikyuu x the office au 🏢

[plutoccult]

if anyone is interested, i made a sugawara x reader playlist for my office au <3

check it out here

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyu #haikyu x reader #sugawara koushi x female reader #sugawara x female reader #sugawara fanfiction #sugawara koushi fanfiction #sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi #haikyuu x female reader #haikyu x female reader #pluto talks 🔭 #haikyuu x the office au 🏢

[plutoccult]

HAIKYUU X THE OFFICE AU MASTERLIST!

pairing: sugawara koushi x female reader

description: a series of one-shots depicting your favorite haikyuu characters in an office setting.

status: ongoing

also available to read on my ao3 here

EPISODES:

EPISODE ONE: JAPAN PULP AND PAPER, THIS IS Y/N

description: chaos ensues when the miyagi branch of japan pulp and paper allow a documentary crew to capture their day-to-day lives in the office.

word count: 3.3k

EPISODE TWO: LUNCHTIME VOLLEYBALL MATCH

description: ukai’s idea to hold a volleyball match with the warehouse staff during lunch proves to be a bad one, but it sure is entertaining for you to watch from the sidelines. well, as long as your fiancé doesn’t ruin the fun for you.

word count: 5.5k

EPISODE THREE: EMPLOYEE AWARDS NIGHT

description: it’s the annual employee awards night for japan pulp and paper, your least favorite night of the year. after getting embarrassed year after year over your ill-fated engagement, you just hope the night turns out decently, and your new conflicting feelings for sugawara aren’t all that helpful either.

word count: 5.4k

EPISODE FOUR: OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY

description: it’s the holidays, and that means it’s time for the annual office christmas party where everyone participates in secret santa. much to sugawara’s delight, he has picked your name for secret santa this year and plans to make it count.

word count: 5.6k

EPISODE FIVE: BOOZE CRUISE

description: ukai attempts to help the office bond more by booking a booze cruise for his employees… in the middle of winter. meanwhile, tanaka miserably tries to set suga up with his older sister per kiyoko’s suggestion.

word count: 6.5k

EPISODE SIX: SUGA’S GOT A SECRET

description: now that ukai knows of sugawara’s feelings for you, it’s only a matter of time before the big secret spreads throughout the office, leaving sugawara with plenty of damage control to do.

word count: 6.3k

EPISODE SEVEN: VALENTINE’S DAY

description: it’s valentine’s day at the office, and you hope for it to be one you’ll never forget. however, everyone seems to be having a better holiday than you.

word count: 4.9k

© plutoccult / 310802. please do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my content in or outside of tumblr.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu au #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi #sugawara koushi x reader #sugawara #haikyuu fanfiction #sugawara fanfiction #sugawara koushi fanfiction #sugawara x female reader #haikyuu x female reader #sugawara koushi x female reader #haikyu #haikyu x reader #haikyu fanfiction #haikyuu x the office au 🏢