Chapter Text
Sakusa Kiyoomi is not what Atsumu imagined him to be and he doesn’t mean it in a negative way at all. Judging by the fact that he’s Bokuto’s boyfriend’s best friend, he didn’t expect someone bubbly or over the top. Akaashi once told Atsumu that there’s only place for one person like that in his life, which actually sent him into a laughing fit while he was downing a beer. But he also didn’t expect someone… moody looking. Well, on the surface anyways. As soon as he fumbled his way through greeting Atsumu, the blond had to actually stop himself from laughing. It was obvious that Sakusa was nervous about the whole job interview thing, which meant that laughing at him would have just been counterproductive.
Still, at first, Atsumu wasn't sure if he'd actually be any good with his kids. Sure, compared Samu and him Ayame and Yuuto could be considered angels, but they are still Miyas through and through. It takes someone capable to not let them do whatever they want. Atsumu was sure that Akaashi and Bokuto wouldn't have recommended him, though if they didn't think he'd be fit for the job. And with all these thoughts swirling around in his head, he'd tried interviewing Sakusa.
To be fair, he's never had to do that before. He was very careful about choosing the twins' kindergarten, but this is the first season where he actually needs someone who isn't family to look after them. They moved to Osaka during this year's off season. Before that, Atsumu made the commute from his hometown basically every day, just so that he was closer to Samu and his Ma, who helped him raise the twins and take care of them for the last years. When Osamu announced that he was finally going to open his shop in Osaka and his Ma told Atsumu that she needed to pick up shifts at the hospital, it was only natural to finally do the logical thing and move closer to work. He talked to the team and executives about it, so that they could figure out a way to make his training schedule compatible with the twins being at kindergarten. He's made it clear from the start, that he wanted to be there for them as much as possible and MSBY was luckily very accommodating to that. Yuuto and Ayame now go to the same kindergarten Meian's kid goes to and they became fast friends. Atsumu was worried they would be sad about having to make new friends, but they adjusted to the whole thing quickly.
What he couldn't change, though, was the fact that during the season, his job has him travelling all over the country from either Friday evening or Saturday morning to Sunday evening or night. From October to the end of March there isn't a weekend, except for the winter break, where he's not busy playing two games in two days. And now that his Ma as well as his brother have their schedules packed with their own responsibilities again, he does need to hire someone who will take care of his babies. Which brings the blond back to Sakusa.
As he said, he was a little wary at first, but that flew out the window the moment Sakusa started interacting with his children. Sure, Atsumu retreated back to the kitchen, to let them do their thing, but of course he peeked at what they were doing and Atsumu was surprised at how fast Sakusa got Yuuto out of his shell. He is generally more reserved, especially when it comes to adults that aren’t family, but Sakusa’s calm and collected presence seems to just be what his son needs to get lively. It also helped Ayame feel safe. Atsumu knows she likes to protect her brother and look out for him, but she felt safe enough to not check on Yuuto every five minutes. And when he heard them sing Happy Birthday while washing their hands, he just knew that he will have to do that from now on, as well.
From what he could observe while Sakusa was here, Atsumu is positive he’ll do a good job. He’ll have him come back to get a little more of a feel for the dynamic between him and the twins, but he’s 90% sure they wouldn’t accept anyone else now that Ayame even called him a friend. Osamu on the other hand, seems a little more wary than the blond and his children. He eyes the raven haired man from behind the kitchen counter while packing away the groceries he brought. Atsumu knows he tries to be subtle about it, but there’s really no-one he can fool with the amount of side eyes he throws Sakusa’s way. For now, Atsumu just rolls his eyes at his twin and puts the pack of sugar from under the sink, where Osamu put it, into the small pantry under the stairs where it actually belongs. He’ll have to check if Osamu accidentally put the meat with the flour in his effort to spy on his nephew, niece and their potential babysitter.
“Samu?” Atsumu tries getting his brother’s attention, who is currently having an eye on the three other people in the house playing pairs like Sakusa could potentially strangle the children in front of him from out of nowhere.
“Hm?” Osamu answers but doesn’t tear his eyes away from the scene in the living room. One would think they’re his kids and not Atsumu’s.
“When’s Sunarin gonna come over?”
“He said ta call him ‘when the coast is clear’,” he answers absentmindedly, still not looking at Atsumu.
“Well, then ya should just call him, cause I’m about ta ask Sakusa-kun if he wants ta have dinner with us.”
“What?” That’s what gets Osamu to finally look at him. With a frown and pursed lips, nonetheless. Atsumu cannot believe this guy.
“Ya heard right, mister guard dog. Text Rin and then tear yer stupid eyes away from my children, so that we can finally start on dinner. They’re not gonna explode just ‘cause yer not watchin’ ‘em all the damn time.”
“If they literally weren’t over there, I’d sock ya in the head fer that, just so ya know,” Osamu huffs in indignation, but he does pull out his phone to text his boyfriend.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Atsumu waves him off and starts grabbing the ingredients from the fridge they'll need. "I'll get the rice goin' if ya'll start with the chicken and veggies fer the Oyakodon."
"Alright. I also brought some onigiri, spinach gomaae and sunomono from the shop."
"That's great, 'cause we don't have a lot of side dishes in the fridge anymore." As Atsumu gets started on the rice, Osamu begins prepping the chicken and vegetables. They work in comfortable silence for a while, until Atsumu has finished with his rice and needs to go over, to actually check on his kids and Sakusa.
When he gets there, Ayame and Yuuto are destroying Sakusa at pairs, but that's not anything new to him. Suna even refuses to play the game with them after having lost too many times.
It’s something about the memory of a nearly four-year-old that adults just don’t possess anymore. Sakusa takes the loss with far more dignity than Suna did, though and Atsumu can see that his kids are pleased as punch with themselves.
The talk that follows after just shows that they really do like the young man a lot, with Ayame already trusting him to not rat her out to Atsumu, should she get up to mischief. Sakusa himself seems to still want the job as well, so after politely declining his invitation to dinner, they schedule another day where he’ll come back to finalise the whole work arrangement and get to know the twins more. When he’s gone, Ayame and Yuuto bemoan that he won’t be back for another week, but Atsumu’s question if they want to help with dinner brings their mood up again.
They trot to the kitchen after him and Osamu welcomes them with a big smile. After nearly four years, Atsumu still has moments where he needs to comprehend how absolutely doting his brother can be. Sure, they are there for each other in this weird sibling way, where you’d die for eachother, but refuse to give the other a charger, because why would they need one, they have one themselves. But the fact that Atsumu knows for sure, that if anything happened to him tomorrow, Osamu would, without a shadow of doubt, take responsibility for raising these two little humans? It’s still more than he can comprehend on most days. He’s lucky to have the bastard. Not that he would tell him that. At least not under normal circumstances. There was the time where Atsumu, high on sleep deprivation and post practice fatigue, started crying when Osamu finally got Yuuto to settle down and sleep, where he might have told him that he is the best brother Atsumu could have asked for. But they both don’t speak of that day. It was embarrassing for the both of them.
Osamu helps Ayame and Yuuto with washing their hands and nods approvingly when they show him what they learned just today. Atsumu gets their step stools, so that they can actually reach the counter. The twins love helping in the kitchen, which makes Osamu nearly burst with pride. He lets Yuuto mix together the sauce for their Oyakodon and gives Ayame some vegetables to chop. They bought these kiddie knives specifically for that purpose. Osamu actually hates them, saying that you cannot actually cut shit with them. But he’d rather have torn up food than for his niece or nephew to lose a finger, which really is a huge deal for how freakishly perfectionist he usually is with his dishes.
They work and joke, have to clean up a little spill, where Yuuto got a bit too excited about mixing the sauce and they let the twins try some of the food while cooking. Osamu says it’s because you have to taste whatever you’re making and he may be right, but Atsumu still calls him a hypocrite for it. He never lets him try food in advance. It’s complete favouritism he’s playing.
It doesn’t take too long for them all to finish cooking and Suna makes it just in time to get roped into setting the table for them all. Not after Yuuto and Ayame actually tackle him to the ground with the force of their hug, when he squats down to greet them, though. They call out an excited “Uncle Rin-Rin!” and then immediately launch into how their day went so far, completely forgetting that he was there for more than half of it. Suna shows the patience of a saint, as he ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s at their excited chattering, asking follow up questions and only stopping the conversation when they try to tell him about ‘the devil’s game’ as he likes to call it. He banned any and all talk of it in his immediate vicinity. Osamu and Atsumu tease him relentlessly for it, although Samu does reprimand the setter for doing so. Apparently it’s some kind of privilege Osamu wants to hog for himself. But he’ll be in the ground before Atsumu relinquishes his teasing best friend card. Ayame and Yuuto, though, are quite good at accepting Suna’s (ridiculous) boundary. As soon as he holds up his palm and squeezes his right hand to his chest, they just giggle at his joke and help him with getting the chopsticks from the kitchen.
Dinner is a pleasant affair. Well, considering Suna skirts around the topic of the job interview for now. They both know that Osamu is not a big fan of the idea, not trusting someone to take care of his family. One could think he is actually the twins’ father. But it’s not like they can change the fact that Atsumu has work obligations (he loves his job and wouldn’t exchange it for a corporate one even if it paid better) and both his mother and brother do too. He should be happy that they’re considering someone Bokuto knows. It really lifted a huge boulder off of Atsumu’s chest, knowing that Bokuto trusts someone enough to recommend him for the job. But, alas, Miya Osamu cannot be swayed that easily, especially judging by the way he is piercing his chicken like he’s trying to kill it a second time.
Once they’re done with eating, Atsumu allows the twins to watch one episode of their favourite show, while the adults clean up in the kitchen. Once they’re settled on the couch, the setter returns to help do the dishes.
“So, are we gonna talk about the grump in the room?” Suna pairs his question with a small bump of Osamu’s hip. The man in question just huffs in indignation, while scrubbing away at the dishes.
Atsumu rolls his eyes at his brother’s antics. “Well, I can only guess he’s mad that the interview went really well.”
“Maybe I’m jus’ wary ‘cause the guy doesn’t have any qualifications, Tsumu. Have ya thought about that?” Suna furrows his eyebrows at Osamu’s words and looks at Atsumu like he’s considering if he lost his mind.
“I know that, Samu. ‘N I thought about it a lot, ever since Bokkun and Kaashi-kun said they may have someone in mind fer the job. It’s not like he doesn’t have any experience with lookin’ after kids.”
“But he doesn’t have an actual degree in it, or at least some kind of schoolin’!”
“Ya don’t got that, either ‘n I trust ya with my kids,” Atsumu huffs in indignation. He knows it’s a stupid argument, but he’s tired of Osamu acting like this is the worst idea he’s ever had.
“Well, I’m yer brother, dipshit.”
“Yer bein’ a real shitty one right now, ya know that?”
The rise in their voices makes the twins actually look over to them in concern, but they’re both so caught up in huffing and puffing at each other that they don’t notice. Who does notice, though, is Suna. He steps between them and puts his hands up to signal them to stop. It’s a real display of how they’ve become responsible adults because of the two little whirlwinds in their lives. If the twins weren’t there, he’d probably let them fight it out and even film it for them to be embarrassed about it later. But now, he regards them both with a sharp look that gets them to actually shut up for a second.
“I’m gonna tell the little rascals that you’re just being dumb and you figure this shit out without screaming at each other, alright?” It’s not really a question, more of a command, which is underlined by the fact that he doesn’t even wait for an answer from them, just stepping away to walk towards the sofa. They look after him with wide eyes for a second before their gazes settle on each other again.
Atsumu chews on his bottom lip for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to say. He knows he’s going to have to be the first one to talk. They’re both stubborn, but Osamu is even more bull-headed than the setter is. They’re trying with this whole communication thing. Ever since the twins were born, Atsumu didn’t want to be the kind of parent that just told his kids how to act. He wanted to be a good example, even if sticking by these rules was hard a lot of the time.
“Ya know, it sounds like ya think I’m a horrible father fer lettin’ Sakusa-kun watch after ‘em.” Osamu’s eyes widen at the blond man’s admission.
“Tsumu, I- I don’t think yer a horrible father,” he clarifies, emphasising each word to give it meaning. “Yer a great dad. ‘M just scared, ‘cause there was never anyone outside o’ family lookin’ after ‘em.”
“Aran ‘n Kita-san looked after ‘em a few times.”
“I’ll tell ‘em that ya think they’re not family.”
“Don’t’cha dare! I was jokin’!” They both chuckle to dissipate the tension between them, but get serious soon after.
“O’ course I’m scared, too. And I know there’s probably people with fancy degrees out there that’d fit the job description better. But I trust Bokkun and Kaashi-kun to know if their friend is fit fer the job. And ya’ve seen Ayan and Yuutan, Samu. They love ‘im already, even gave ‘im a nickname. He seemed more ‘n competent to me when we spoke ‘n when he interacted with the kids.”
“I know, I know. I’m still not a fan, but I trust ya. If ya say ya got a good feelin’, I’ll … well, I’ll try ta get there, okay?” It’s more than Atsumu thought he’d get out of his brother, so he nods his approval and they finally get back to doing the dishes. Suna is still entertaining the kids, the perfect out of helping them, so it takes a little longer than it would have with him, but they’re used to him slinking off when he’s supposed to help in the kitchen. Atsumu always says he’s lucky he fell in love with a future chef, because he could probably burn water if he put his mind to it.
When everything is done, it’s already time for Ayame and Yuuto to go to sleep. They try begging for another episode of this mermaid show, but Atsumu tells them they only get one episode, that that’s what they always do, but they can choose what bedtime story to read. They’re not euphoric, but the prospect of probably picking the same book as they’ve done for weeks now, gets them to perk up. Atsumu knows routines are important for children and that wanting to be read the same book over and over isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually good, but it’s tiring. He knows the words by heart by now and when he tried switching it up, they chastised him for reading it wrong. They cannot even read themselves! They just know the whole thing by heart by now.
They rope Osamu and Suna into doing the whole thing, so Atsumu just settles into the rocking chair in their room, while the four of them cram into Yuuto’s bottom bunk bed. Atsumu just knows Suna’s going to complain about the crick in his neck he’ll get from this. But for now, he opens the book the twins chose and places it on their laps, where they’re sitting between Osamu and him. His brother and brother-in-law (well, not officially, yet, but Atsumu knows about the ring Osamu has been hiding for weeks now) take turns reading the pages. They pause to let the twins talk about the pictures on the pages, which they happily do. Their excited chatter dies down after a while, though and they start yawning and rubbing their eyes.
Ayame makes it to the end of the book, but Yuuto nods off somewhere in the middle of it, his little head lolling against Suna’s arm. He’s out like a light, not even a bomb going off next to him could wake him up now. Atsumu’s been thankful for it ever since Ayame turned out to be a fussy sleeper when she was a baby. They’ve always shared a room and yet, his son hardly woke up when his sister started crying at night. The setter calls it a miracle to this day.
It’s the same now. With Ayame happily chirping about the different jungle animals helping out the baby chimpanzee, while Yuuto is probably already dreaming about one thing or the other.
He’s got his whale plushie pressed to his chest, his most prized possession. Ayame is the same with her stegosaurus plushie, always at least aware of where it’s at. Right now, she has it pushed against Osamu’s side, so that the dinosaur can take a look at the book they’re reading as well.
They finish the book with her yawning a few times and Osamu makes sure she gets up into her bed safely. He tucks her in while Suna and Atsumu manoeuver Yuuto into the right position and tuck him in as well. They both get kisses from the three men and then the lights are off and they are heading downstairs again.
Atsumu follows the other two to the front door, where they put on their shoes and coats, ready to call it a day as well. Atsumu’s happy to get into his bed as well. Sleep is already calling for him, even if it’s not late. That’s what happens when you have two nearly four-year-olds that wake you up at the ass crack of dawn because they’re not tired anymore. Atsumu loves his kids to pieces. He’d just wish they would let him sleep until it’s a reasonable hour. He’s probably not gonna get that until later in life.
What he’s also not going to get later in life, or probably never if he’s being honest, is a brother that knows how to relax for a bit. Because while Osamu is saying goodbye to him, he also tells him that he’s “gonna have an eye on that Sakusa kid”.
Atsumu just sighs and lets the topic be. Osamu may say he’ll learn to trust Sakusa, but he’s someone who needs to see it with his own eyes. So, Atsumu lets them leave without starting another argument. How bad can that promise even be?