016

"Stop spitting paper at me!" Reiko screams at her brother, who continues to wad spitballs in his mouth as he launches them forcefully at her head.

He mocks her, sticking his tongue out as he rips another piece out from his notebook.

"Y/n! Tell him to stop!" She whines, using her backpack as a weapon to smack the living daylights out of the boy.

"Reiki, please stop tormenting your sister." You say sternly. There wasn't much you could do while you were driving, the backseat continuing to stir with commotion as you approached the final street to your destination.

You pulled into the parking lot of a bustling playground, full of kids still in their school uniforms - no doubt stoping by on their way home from school just as you had planned. The twins were full of energy, so having them run around and expel it all only made the most sense.

"Reiki, you sit on the bench with me for 5 minutes for the spitball incident." You say to the boy, who groans as he plops down next you, crossing his arms as his legs dangle off of the seat.

"Ha-ha!" His sister laughs at his demise as she runs off to the playground and proceeds to climb onto the the jungle gym with some of the other kids.

"Don't look at me like that, you did this to yourself kid." You smirk, playfully nudging the grumpy little Suna as he bites back the giggles that threaten to spill. "Since you're here, anything you wanna talk about?"

His face contorts as he ponders for a moment, but he shakes his head 'no' as he looks out into the sea of children. You nod in agreement, giving a quick sigh before telling him that he was free to go. He bolts out of the seat, a smile already forming on his face as he started to run off.

Except, he turns back towards you, throwing his arms around your neck swiftly into a tight hug as he murmurs 'thank you' before he's off again, zooming out of sight.

You can't help but smile. It seems that you were finally breaking through that tough exterior of his. You wouldn't push it though, you were just happy that he was seemingly starting to trust you, little by little.

Suddenly, you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You check the notification - it's text from Rin.

Suna

SunaWhere are you?

You I took the kids to the park after school

SunaStill there?

YouYeah, just got here actually

SunaOmw

'Weird' you thought. Rin was typically a man of few words regardless, but his texts were oddly much shorter than usual. You were glad he was coming though, for the kids' sake. You knew they rarely got ti spend time with him as it is, so you knew they would be happy to see him.

You'd be lying if you said you wouldn't be happy to see him as well, especially after the way he left you the other night. Still, you needed to talk to him about it and hope that you can continue a professional relationship.

No matter what you were feeling, whatever it was, it can't continue.

"Which ones yours?"

A soft, delicate voice speaks to you from the other end of the bench. You turn your attention away from your phone to look at the woman seated at your side - a cute, petite blonde with gorgeous dark brown eyes offered a lovely smile as she awaits your response.

"Two, actually. Twins." You laugh, matching her friendly smile. "What about you?"

"I'm here with my step-son,  just needed a break to catch my breath. The little one baking in here won't let me get around as well as I used to." She responds, patting her swollen pregnant belly.

There's something familiar about the woman. You could have sworn that you had seen her before, you just couldn't quite put your finger on it.

"Oh, well congratulations! Is this your first?" You ask.

"Actually, I -"

She's cut off by the distant sound of a small boy yelling for her attention. She offers an apologetic smile as she excuses herself, you watch her disappear from sight while you're left to ponder where you're sure that you've seen her before...

~

"Higher, y/n!" Reiko screams as you continue to push her harder on the swing, her adorable little giggles are like sweet music to your ears. As you get ready to push her once more, you feel a large pair of hands cover your eyes from behind you.

"Guess who?" The deep, breathy familiar voice coos into your ear, unmistakably letting you know that Suna had arrived. You turned around, not realizing exactly how close he had been standing behind you as the front of your body presses into him.

"Hey, no peeking. Cheater." He smirks, his pale eyes flickering with mischief.

"It wasn't hard to tell it was you, the sound of your voice- "

"You like it?" He cuts you off, still proudly wearing that confident smile that sends a tingle throughout your body.

"I didn't say that. Don't put words in my mouth." You respond, turning your attention back to Reiko who was blissfully unaware that her dad had showed up and was standing right behind her.

"Mhm." He hums, teasingly. "Want me to take over?"

You nod, as you step back, allowing Rin to continue pushing his daughter on the swing. His pushes are much harder, sending her soaring into the sky just as she had requested.

As the swing brings her back and forth, she peeks behind her, noticing the drastic change in pressure from when you were pushing her. Her face instantly lighting up when she spots her dad, a big smile graces her cute little face.

"Daddy!" She squeals as she jumps off the seat, her body flying out onto the mulch as she sticks the landing perfectly - Pretty impressive.

She immediately runs over to him, giving him a big hug. He lifts her off the ground and holds her tight in his arms, unintentionally causing you to swoon. The love between Suna and his children is something you'd never get tired of seeing.

It made you think about something.

Something your mother had said to you earlier at the Cafe.

"Don't you think it's time you stopped playing house with other peoples families, and start making your own?"

Was she right?

Were you just 'playing house' to avoid having a real marriage of your own?

You could've had that with Yuji. You had thought about whether or not he could be 'the one' on several occasions.

Clearly, you dodged a huge bullet with that one. You only would've ended up in a marriage exactly like your parent's, and that's the last thing you would ever want.

You were terrified of it, even.

Yet, you still somehow ended up dating someone just as toxic as your own father. It's almost like the toxicity was your comfort. In a weird way, it's all you've ever known...

"You really space out a lot. You good?"

You break out of your thoughts, not realizing that you must have been staring off into space as you pondered your entire existence right in the middle of a park full of screaming kids.  Suna was standing there, brows furrowed, now all alone as Reiko had long since ran off to continue playing with her friends.

"Oh, uh- sorry. I'm fine, just thinking." You respond, meekly.

Suna's surprised at your response, expecting some snarky remark as the two of you usually commenced in playful banter. Something was wrong, clearly. Fortunately for you, he just didn't really care enough to pry any further.

Though, there was something weighing in his mind that he wasn't able to shake, even though he swore to himself that he could careless about it.

"So, you and Atsumu?"

"Huh?" You're confused at his question, not really sure what he means by the words that came out of his lips coldly.

"You kissed him?" He asked again in that same shivery tone.

"Oh- Uh, well yeah. I mean, he kissed me, but it's a funny story actually..." you began to fill Suna in on everything that happened at the cafe and the actions that lead up to you pretending that Atsumu was your boyfriend.

"Ah, I see." He chuckles, somehow feeling relieved that's all that it was.

"Yeah, so I guess I'm technically off the market." You joke, lightheartedly.

There's an uncomfortable silence between the two of you for a while, Rin's expression holds little emotion, until he finally says something -

"Why didn't you use me?"

"What - oh, you mean ..."

"Yeah, you could've said I was your boyfriend. Would've been believable." He shrugs, nonchalantly as if it was just such an obvious choice.

"Well, I thought- I mean, you said that you didn't want romance or a relationship... and Atsumu was just there, so..."

"Oh, I don't." He says abruptly, before that sly smirk creeps onto his pretty face. "Nothing wrong with pretending though, right? Our chemistry is undeniable, even you can admit that."

He's moving closer towards you now, with the same look in his eyes as he had the other night in the kitchen. Surely he wouldn't try something like that here, at a children's playground?

He grips your hand, his thumb rubbing delicate circles into your palm as he leans in closer, placing a soft kiss to your forehead.

"See," he murmurs, his lips dusting your skin where he left his kiss - his thumb finding its way to your wrist, pressing into it. "Your pulse is racing and I've barely even touched you."

You feel your cheeks heat up, embarrassed that he caught you in such a compromising way. Though, it doesn't last long, as he stares off past your shoulder - looking as if he'd just seen a ghost...

"Now who's the one spacing out?" You chuckle, before he quickly holds his hand up as a subtle signal to shush you.

"Oh, fuck." He whispers.

"What? What's wrong?" You say, a bit panicked as your thoughts immediately go to the kids.

"I-it's my ex-wife... She's here."