DLIBYH - i. matsukawa

14 - popsicle

"i'm leaving now, see you guys tomorrow." your mom poked her head into your room where both you and kentaro were.

you two were playing cards on the floor. you were laying on your stomach and kentaro was sitting with his legs crossed.

"see you." kentaro said and placed down two fours.

"goodnight." you placed down two sixes.

"goodnight." she closed the door, but left a small gap that turned into a bigger gap.

you sighed and kicked the door so it shut properly. "you can't beat that." kentaro said and put down two twos.

"yes i can." you also placed down a set of twos, but two of hearts and diamonds. after that you placed down two aces and since he couldn't beat that you placed down your last card.

"nine to seven. you're winning." kentaro said and took the cards to shuffle them again.

"great. go me."

"so." kentaro started shuffling the cards. "your birthday."

"not you too."

"can i just give you money and then you go buy the shit you want?" he asked and started dealing the cards.

"works for me." you picked up the cards and sorted them.

"are you celebrating?"

"nope. just want it to be a normal day where i get presents." you said and stuck your hands into your pockets.

"sounds fun." he nodded and waited for you to place down a card.

"very fun." you agreed and put down a three.

"gonna hang out with oikawa?" kentaro asked casually.

"hopefully." you answered. "he's been distant these last few days."

kentaro looked at your face while you said that. he didn't know much about you and oikawa's relationship, but what he did know was that there was some tension between you, oikawa, and mattsun.

"maybe he's just planning something." kentaro leaned against your bed.

"maybe." you stood up. "I'm going to the store. I'm hungry."

"alright." kentaro got up as well. "i have to finish my work."

"want anything?" you asked and grabbed some money and your phone.

"nah."

you walked out of the house and grabbed your bike from the spot you left it earlier.

your headphones were blasting music while you rode your bike to the store and you didn't take them off even when you entered.

that was until a tap on your shoulder nearly made you smack the person with a bag of chips.

"you moterfu- oh hey." you calmed down after you saw it was just mattsun.

mattsun was beyond happy to see you there. he was just stopping by to get a few things, but seeing you made up for having to walk all the way to the store.

"did you think i was gonna kidnap you or something? he asked and reached above you to grab a box of cookies.

"possibly." you lowered your headphones to wrap around your neck and looked down at the basket mattsun had in his hand.

"my mom asked me to get stuff." he said when he saw where you were looking.

"i'm just hungry." you grabbed a bag of chips.

"aren't you cold?" mattsun asked when he noticed you were just wearing shorts and a hoodie. his eyes trailed down to your legs for a second before looking back at you face.

the hoodie was one that he recognized that was oikawa's.

"not really. the breeze feels kinda nice." you answered and slid open the door to one of the freezers.

mattsun didn't say anything after that. he simply just admired you from where he was standing.

then he realized what he was doing and looked away. you pulled out a popsicle and then closed the door.

"ready to pay?" he asked and you nodded. "I'll pay for yours." he offered and you looked up at him.

you were unwrapping the wrapper off the popsicle when he said that. "no, it's fine. it's just a popsicle and bag of chips. i can pay for it."'

"exactly. not that expensive. I'm not gonna go broke because of it." he took the bag of chips from your hand and walked to the cashier.

"fine." you placed in cold popsicle into your mouth and walked with him. "I'll pay you back another time."

"consider this an early birthday gift." he said and handed you the chip bag back. his eyes lingered on your mouth and he cleared his throat before looking up at the ceiling, nonchalantly.

"thank you." you took the bag back and both of you walked outside.

mattsun was kind of nervous. this was the first time in a while that you two were hanging out by yourselves.

he looked down at you and watched as you got your bike out of the lock. you looked more relaxed here than you did at school.

the small part of him hoped that it was because you were away from oikawa, but then he felt bad and threw that idea out of his head.

but he knew that he was somewhat right. in a way.

not that he was gonna make a move on you.

he promised himself he wouldn't be a homewrecker.

he was a patient man. he would be fine waiting for you. all he really wanted was to treat you better than oikawa anyway. treat you in the way you deserve.

"want me to walk you home?" he asked when you finished your popsicle.

"i rode my bike here."

"I'll keep up." he looked over at you as you got on your bike.

his phone starting ringing right after he finished his sentence. "give me a sec." he picked up his phone and held it up to his ear. "hello."

"i need you home to watch your brother." his mother's voice rang through the phone.

"now?" mattsun whined and looked back at you.

"yes."

"how about in twenty minutes?" mattsun bargained.

"now, issei." his mother said. "i have to get to my night shift at the hospital."

"okay okay." mattsun sighed. "nevermind. you can enjoy a peaceful ride home."

"mother mattsun calling you home?" you asked and got on your bike.

"yup. k, so don't fall, don't get kidnapped, don't do all that." mattsun said and patted your head.

"great so if a kidnapper comes up to me I'll tell them i can't get kidnapped because you told me not to." you gave him a thumbs up and pushed the break off the floor.

"good girl."

you threw the popsicle stick into the trash and got ready to leave. "goodnight. you don't get kidnapped and all that either."

"i'll try just because you said so. goodnight." mattsun waved as he started to walk backward. "see you tomorrow."

you gave him a smile and started biking back to your house.

mattsun watched as you disappeared into the night before turning around and walking back to his house.

he felt happy.

the short ten minutes with you was enough for him.

for now.