Work Text:
Sakyo loves the woman under the sunset. She smiles like a miracle.
Summer isn't his favourite time. The heat suffocates him, annoying insects come back to life and the air is sticky. Spending time outside is more than insufferable. If there is nothing important to do, he stays in the dorms, sits on their living room's sofa and occupies his time with a book. Or with a manga from Sakisaka's shelf. Or with a light novel that he borrowed from Chigasaki.
Today Sakyo chooses the book.
The conversations echoing in the kitchen does not disturb him much, as he read in worse conditions than Taichi's excited screeches and Banri's loud remarks of disapproval. Hyodo cuts in and their troupe leader starts to bicker with him. Azami lets out a disturbed howl. Omi tries to calm them down.
He read in worse conditions than that. As much as annoying it gets, today it seems that Sakyo is impossible to be shaken. Not when the temperature outside is beyond anything that one person can take. Not when he is so immersed with the plot that he doesn't want the brats to interrupt that.
The proposition to go shopping for cold drinks appears somewhere close to the sundown.
Sakyo just steals a glance at the group that bothered the kitchen's space, yapping that, sure, everyone wants some drink to cool down, but everyone is as much unwilling to go out. For a moment he breaks out of the reading session, pointing out that the water from the sink and ice cubes in the freezer should be enough. But Taichi complains that he wants some coke, Banri craves orange juice, and Juza would kill for strawberry milk. None of these can be found in the room apparently. The man stops himself from calling them ungrateful children. Instead, he just scans the words on a page and quickly adds that they should fulfil whatever needs they have themselves.
Although, he understands that going out wouldn't be a pleasant experience for anyone. That kind of weather makes everyone just lazy.
"Let's find a loser who will do that for us then," Banri sneers lengthily and half-jokingly.
"Don't look at Sakyo-nii," Taichi says, which catches Sakyo's attention. "He's just said that we should do it ourselves!"
"But if there would be someone sooooo nice to do it, I would definitely not complain."
"Bringing a bottle of orange juice overwhelms you so much, Banri-san?" Azami asks and gets a bite of a sandwich that Omi has prepared for everyone in the meantime. There is one for Sakyo too, but he politely declines and decides to save it for later.
"Oi, why am I the only one scolded if Taichi and Hyodo are equally lazy if not more?" Banri frowns at the youngest member of the Autumn troupe.
"Deserved..." Juza mutters between taking a few chomps on the food.
"You have literally no room to talk, Hyodo!"
"Do you guys want something from the store?"
A gentle voice disturbs the conversation between them and a scene of a murder in the book.
Everyone shoots their eyes at the woman in the door. Sakyo for a moment forgets about the book, says nothing, but glances at Izumi with carefulness.
"I wanted to buy a few ingredients for tomorrow's dinner and I thought of buying ice cream for everyone," she explains with a bright smile. "But I'm taking requests."
"Oh, Izumi-chan, you sweet angel," Banri wipes out an imaginary tear in his eye. "We would want one orange juice and a can of coke, if it's not a problem."
"And strawberry milk," Juza says, sending Banri a very pretentious look.
"And strawberry milk, I guess," in response, the boy just rolls his eyes.
"An orange juice, a coke, and strawberry milk," she lists quickly. "Okay, noted."
"Can I ask for a few things too?" Omi asks politely. "I will send you a message with a list."
"No problem!"
"... Would a yoghurt and oat flakes make it to the list?" Azami follows.
"Haven't you just complained that I have too lazy ass to go out for a drink?!"
"I want some cream puffs..." Juza wonders.
The items keep mounting a mental list Izumi has made in her head and she makes a puzzled expression. That quickly fades and is replaced with a warm beam. Sakyo, however, doesn't feel like just throwing another pile of things at her.
Instead, he puts the book aside and gets up. The murder can wait a moment. She will definitely need some help with bringing all of these to the dorm and no one has offered their hand in it yet. He is faster than any of the boys.
"Sakyo-san?" Izumi sends him a confused gaze.
"I'm gonna help you carry the bags home, don't give me that surprised look," he says, quickly passing by her. "Do you want to die in this heat? I don't think so. One additional pair of hands won't hurt you."
That statement definitely makes an impression on the rest of the Autumn Troupe. Besides loud ‘thank you’, there are voices of approval towards Sakyo. Taichi is so close to offer some help too, but Banri quickly butts in and his "let them be!" echoes in Sakyo's ears.
He doesn't dislike spending time with Izumi, but he dislikes everyone trying to set them up.
Izumi's rambles jolly the quick trip to the store up. Sakyo can swear that the corners of his mouth rise once they are alone, once she starts talking about her day, once she smiles so brightly. He listens to how practice with the Spring Troupe went. She is very energetic despite the deterring heat.
Walking by her side makes him nothing more but happy. For a moment he forgets about the book and everything he dislikes about the summer.
Shopping doesn't take a lot of time either. They already know what they have come there for and exit the supermarket with three bags. The plan is to come back home even quicker, so the ice cream Izumi has bought doesn't melt. Both of them fall into step. Their conversation continues.
Finally, a gentle breeze of air caresses Sakyo's cheeks and it feels like a blessing. He takes a short look at the sunset sky.
"I don't think it's a bad book," he tells her about the novel he was reading in the living room. Izumi's curious eyes pierce through him. She is the one who has asked about the plot and if he enjoys it. "The author has an interesting way to present events. It got mixed reviews because of the narrative, but I think it's its charm and people are not giving it a fair chance."
"What do you mean?" she inquires a little bit and looks around.
At this time of the year, Veludo gathers many tourists and the summer afternoons sometimes feel like an endless festival. Someone admires theatre buildings here, someone excitedly announces what plays are staged there.
Sakyo doesn't deny it is a nice view.
"At first, it seemed very chaotic. But then it quickly comes together. The book has three perspectives of unrelated characters, so it's no wonder they seem not connected at first. It's all about noticing little details in the language and I think that she stitches them together consistently."
"I see," Izumi nods. He catches her interested gaze on him again before it quickly deteriorates to the side.
"But I haven't finished it yet, so I will tell you more once I finish it."
Izumi giggles a little.
"Please do. I always want to hear your opinions, even though I haven't read or watched the thing you are talking about," she admits.
"Oh really? And why is that?" Sakyo asks, curious.
"Because it always feels like you have something interesting and smart to say," she admits it with confidence, but her face is flushing a little. "It's really admirable."
This statement gives Sakyo butterflies.
"And hey!" she tries to change the topic. "I've already told you many times that I want to know about the things you like and do outside acting."
"I remember, you don't need to tell me twice..." her words embarrass him. He is not sure if it's the heat warming up his face, or the fact that he is blushing. Izumi can't see it, because he looks away and covers his face with a free hand.
But he doesn't hate it. He can't really hate it.
Sakyo does not notice that Izumi stopped. Realizing that, he turns back to her and notices that the woman observes a street act. A crowd gathers around the actors that Sakyo can barely see from the distance, but instead of approaching them and watching their performance, he looks at Izumi.
Sakyo loves this woman under the sunset. She smiles like a miracle.
He wants to call her, but his mouth opens just for a moment. Her name in them is noiseless. It escapes from him as a soundless whisper.
She looks beautiful standing there. The scorching sun is slowly disappearing behind her back, but he is sure she could easily replace it. Her figure perfectly fits the dreamy orange sky. It is warm just like her and her wide smile lights up for him the view.
It’s insane how easy it is for her to set his heart on fire. This is not a hysterical ignition, but a steady flame and its arsonist watches over it, so it does not go out.
He loves her so much.
He loves her so much that it's easy for her to bring a smile on his face.
Finally, Sakyo decides to stand by her side. The street acts a few seconds after, but it doesn't stop the audience from rewarding the actors with a row of applause. For a moment, he steals another glance at her to see her joy. She claps with enthusiasm and looks at the performers with pure admiration.
And if he had more courage, he would tell her she is really beautiful like this. But instead, Sakyo tells her to follow him home. He saves that compliment for another day.
His heart is full of her.
The half-melted ice cream while he continues reading the book does not taste that bad.