Chapter Text
Sakusa didn’t go to the afterparty. He had a few texts from the others, asking where we went, but he was too caught up in his own thoughts to answer anything.
Afte Atsumu left him, Sakusa stood there for a few minutes, staring hopelessly at Atsumu’s retreating back. For once since he had become a superhero, Sakusa had never felt more powerless.
He wanted to reach out to Atsumu, to pull his friend back and tell him that he was wrong. Atsumu was an amazing friend, in fact, Sakusa wanted him to be even more than just a friend.
But super strength and a sixth sense meant nothing when Sakusa couldn’t even move his legs.
It wasn’t till Atsumu disappeared out of view that Sakusa could walk again. Instead of heading back to their dorm, Sakusa turned tail and ran to the one person that he could think of.
He was too caught up in his thoughts to notice, in his dazed state, a figure standing off the side, watching him curiously.
----
Sakusa didn’t go to the afterparty, instead, he went to the engineering building where he knew the one person he could trust at the moment would be waiting.
“Sakusa?” Komori looked up quizzingly. He was in one of the engineering classrooms, working on a long term project. “What are you doing? Should you be celebrating?”
Sakusa didn’t speak. He walked over to the chair opposite from Komori and sat in it heavily, not meeting his friend’s eyes. He would have put his head on the table from exhaustion, but even in a sad mood, he wouldn’t touch those surfaces for the life of him.
Komori raised an eyebrow at Sakusa’s sulking attitude and asked, “Alright, what’s wrong?”
A pause.
“I have feelings for Atsumu,” Sakusa muttered darkly. Oddly enough, as much as it pained him to admit that, Sakusa also felt as if there was a weight lifted off his shoulders.
“And?”
“During the game, there was an emergency so I had to leave…” Sakusa trailed off, but the pitiful look in Komori’s eyes let him know that his friend understood.
“He didn’t take it very well, I assume?”
Sakusa shook his head slowly. “No, and now I don’t know what to do.”
“Apologize, first.”
The sudden new voice had both Sakusa and Komori whipping around to see who spoke.
Kenma walked into the room, hands jammed in his pockets as he sat down next to Sakusa.
“I overheard your conversation,” Kenma offered simply, “And I think both of you have a bit of tension you need to fix. But first, I have a question…” Kenma’s eyes seemed to pierce into Sakusa’s soul as he asked quietly, “Are you Spider-man?”
Sakusa tensed up immediately, as Komori let out a small sigh. “What makes you say that?” Sakusa refuted, fighting to keep his voice low and steady.
Kenma was unwavering as he stared at Sakusa calmly. “You always disappear whenever something big has happened, and ironically, Spider-man always comes.” He paused and gave a small wry smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on telling anyone if you are.”
Sometimes, Sakusa forgot just how observant Kenma could be. When he’s sitting down, playing his game quietly, people tend to forget his presence. But that meant that Kenma had plenty of opportunity to observe others.
Well, there wasn’t much use in hiding it. Kenma was one of the few people Sakusa trusted could actually keep his secret.
“I am,” Sakusa confessed, “I had to leave because there was a shooting downtown.”
“And you didn’t tell Miya that?”
“Are you joking?” Sakusa shook his head vigorously. “I can’t tell him who I am, can you imagine what would happen?”
“He’d fall even more in love with you,” Komori suggested.
“He’s not in love with me.”
“In like then,” Kenma piped up. Sakusa shot him a dark look but Kenma shrugged it off. “You’re the only one who doesn’t see the way he looks at you.”
That made Sakusa pause. If Kenma said he saw something, then-
“I don’t see why he would like me.”
Sakusa’s denial made Komori’s eye twitch and Kenma to have the tiniest bit of a scowl.
“For someone who is a super famous superhero, you sure have a lack of confidence.” Kenma gave Komori a look of exasperation, to which Komori shrugged simply. Sakusa felt a sudden irk of annoyance at how his two friends seemed to communicate so well about him.
“The heck? Are you guys friends or something?” Sakusa muttered, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
Komori shot him a surprised look and nodded. “Oh, yeah, we are. We met before.”
“At some of the gaming conventions,” Kenma added, “He’s really good at Monster Hunter.”
Something must have visibly twitched on Sakusa’s face because Komori hastily changed the subject. “But Sakusa, Kenma does have a point. Why are you feeling so unconfident about this?”
Leave it to Komori to ask without any tact.
“Because-” Sakusa hesitated, struggling to choose his words. He never was good at expressing his feelings; he’d much rather hide his expressions behind his face mask and silently observe. But right now, he was being asked to convey the very thing that had been plaguing him for ages.
“He’s like a star,” Sakusa finally blurted out.
“That’s poetic...”
Sakusa continued talking, pointedly ignoring Kenma’s interjection. “He’s always been so confident in himself, no matter what he does. And I feel like I can’t do the same, so that’s why I don’t think we’d do well together. Plus, I don’t want him to think of me any differently if he knew who I was.”
A sudden bang on the table made Sakusa flinch. Komori slapped his palms on the table with clear exasperation. “What part of ‘you’re Spider-man’ do you not understand? He adores you, whether you’re in your superhero suit or not.”
“But what if he’s disappointed? Like he imagined Spider-man to be someone better?” There it was, Sakusa’s deep inferiority fear. His fear that he wouldn’t be able to meet the high bar that people had set for Spider-man-had set for him . Seeing how much Atsumu admired Spider-man made him feel even more nervous, as if he wasn’t good enough for Atsumu’s affection.
“I don’t think there’s anyone else better than his own best friend to be his favorite superhero.”
Komori’s voice was so confident, so reassured in his statement that Sakusa had to pause in his disparaging thoughts.
“He’s right. It’s because you’re his best friend that he would be excited,” Kenma agreed. “Besides, you may not see it, but everyone else can see how he looks at you.”
Another pause.
“How does he look at me?” Sakusa’s question was so quiet that it might have been a whisper, but in the stillness of the room, Kenma and Komori heard him loud and clear.
“Like how you look at him-“
“Like you’re the only one in the room.” Komori finished Kenma’a sentence easily with a satisfied nod.
Kenma’s and Komori’s constant encouragement made Sakusa lighter. He trusted both of them, even if they were somewhat questionable at times, to feel reassured. But even so...
“He doesn’t want to talk to me right now,” Sakusa decided.
“Probably not, but you can just bother him till he does,” Kenma pointed out, “It’s not like he can avoid you forever.”
“The party has started by now right?” Komori took out his phone and started to check something. “You can hurry over there and-oh, maybe not.” The shift in his tone made Sakusa look at him confused. “Looks like you’ll be busy.”
Komori showed the two of them his phone, where a live news report was playing of an active robbery on the far side of the city.
“Criminals have the worst timing, damnit,” Sakusa swore angrily, picking up his bag. He started to head out, before he turned around and awkwardly stood there. “Thanks, both of you.”
“Go save the city, Spider-man!” Komori encouraged him cheerfully before Sakusa left.
——
Unlike the earlier incident, the robbery took much longer than expected. It seemed to have some sort of connection to the shooters from before, but Sakusa much rather let the law enforcement deal with that headache.
The robbery was tricky, for the bank the robbers chose was old and lax on security. Which meant Sakusa spent a good portion of his time sealing up all possible exits and playing a tiring game of cat-and-mouse with the robbers.
It was after dark that Sakusa hauled the last criminal to the police car, breathing slightly heavy underneath his mask.
“Thank you so much, Spider-man,” a bushy eyed policeman said eagerly.
Probably new to the force, Sakusa thought as he threw the robber roughly into the back seat. Thank goodness for his gloves, he would’ve hated to touch any part of that man. “Just doing my job,” Sakusa replied dismissively, “I’ll be heading out now.” He was physically and emotionally tired, but luckily his job kept him distracted from any Atsumu thoughts. He stopped momentarily to wave at the small crowd of phones and cameras, before swinging off.
As soon as he was out of view, Sakusa perched himself on the roof of a tall building, sitting neatly on the roof wall. He tore off his mask and took a long, deep breath of the icy night air. It did little to clear his mind, but it still felt nice to sit up there on the roof, free from any prying eyes or curious cameras.
Sakusa let his eyes freely wander across the bright city horizon as he thought back on his earlier conversation with Komori and Kenma. He never would have imagined getting relationship advice from that duo, but it seemed as if his life was full of surprises.
Could Atsumu really have feelings for him? The Sakusa self, not just a happy crush on Spider-man. Kenma and Komori said he did, and well, they haven’t given Sakusa a reason to mistrust them.
But that didn’t mean that Sakusa was suddenly confident that he could tell Atsumu about his feelings. There was still so much unknown, like how Atsumu would react if he knew that Sakusa was Spider-man? Or-
Sakusa blinked as his eyes suddenly focused on a hooded figure below. The person was creeping along the edge of the building that Sakusa was perched on. It seemed that the person was following someone, probably to rob or harm. Sakusa’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked for whoever was the person’s target.
A jogger in a bright red hoodie, a very familiar jogger in a hoodie with dyed blonde hair.
Not even a minute passed by before a suited figure swung out of nowhere, knocking the hooded figure away with a solid punch that sent him flying into a wall.
Atsumu ripped his earbuds out of his ears, eyes wide in surprise as he turned around and saw Spider-man standing behind him.
“S-Spider-man?” Atsumu sputtered, his face suddenly blushing from embarrassment.
“Are you hurt?”
“N-no-” Atsumu could hardly speak from shock and excitement. He spotted the unconscious figure behind Spider-man and blinked in surprise. “Oh, did you save me? Thank you-”
“You’re Atsumu, right?”
Atsumu’s mouth fell open a little and Sakusa silently cursed at himself. Right now he was Spider-man, he couldn’t get too familiar, not to mention on these open streets…
“Come with me for a bit?” Sakusa suggested hesitantly, but he didn’t have anything fear as Atsumu eagerly nodded and followed him into a small side alley.
“How do you know my name?” Atsumu immediately asked and Sakusa willed himself not to flinch.
“Um, you run the really popular Spider-man blog right? And I see you around a lot so…” Sakusa trailed off when he saw Atsumu literally light up.
“I can’t believe this is happening right now,” Atsumu muttered, feeling his pockets, “And when I’m running too…ah-“ He looked up quickly“-Can we take a picture?”
“Of course,” Sakusa immediately agreed, “Anything for you.” He smirked slightly when Atsumu blushed again and fumbled with his phone. It was a refreshing change to see Atsumu acting nervous for once.
Sakusa had an arm around Atsumu’s shoulders as Atsumu rapidly pressed the shutter button on his phone. He hastily stowed away the device in his pocket and said, “Really, it’s an honor to meet you, Spider-man.”
“Thanks for always supporting me,” Sakusa replied kindly, trying to convey his strong feelings through his sentence. He pulled up part of his mouth, exposing his mouth, to be able to talk easier. He saw Atsumu’s eyes trail down to his lips, and smiled.
“Oh! Yeah! Well, who wouldn’t-I mean-yer amazing and everything,” Atsumu answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, it’s been a weird day for me so I’m rambling.”
A weird day, exactly what Sakusa was thinking.
“Did something happen?” Sakusa was all too eager to hear what Atsumu was thinking. Maybe it could give him some insight on how Atsumu really felt.
“Well, I had a volleyball game today ‘n we won..”
“Wow, how impressive.” Sakusa wanted to ask Atsumu to hurry up, to get to the root of the problem, but he held back.
“Thanks, but then my best friend wasn’t there to watch any of it, even though he promised me that he’d be there.” Atsumu looked a bit dejected as he stared down at the ground and Sakusa instantly felt another shot of guilt.
“Maybe he was busy?”
“Nah, if you knew him, he wouldn’t flake out like that. He’s a stubborn guy after all, but reliable.” Atsumu had the tinest smile on his face, exactly like how Kenma described it, and in that moment, Sakusa’s heart fluttered.
“But I’m just irritated ‘cause it’s like he doesn’t trust me to tell me anything,” Atsumu finished with a heavy sigh. “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to rant to you.”
“It’s ok!” Sakusa hastily reassured him. “It’s part of my job, listening to problems.”
“Yer a really good listener too,” Atsumu agreed.
“So, this friend of yours,” Sakusa pressed on, “It seems like you really care about him.”
“Well, yeh, he’s my best friend. And I guess, you could say I have some sort of feelings...but I doubt he likes me so it’s fine.”
“Who wouldn’t like you?”
Shit. Sakusa wanted to cover his mouth the moment those words. Dressed in his superhero suit, Sakusa felt a new type of confidence about the things he said. Well, too late to go back. Meanwhile, Atsumu gaped at him in confusion.
“I mean, you seem hard working and all-“ Sakusa continued, highly enjoying the massive blush that bloomed across Atsumu’s face. “And-” He leaned in slightly” -you’re pretty attractive.”
Atsumu’s face was so red that it rivaled his sports hoodie.
“That’s-wow, thank you,” Atsumu stuttered, sheepishly shoving his hands in his pocket. “That means a lot coming from you.”
“Anytime.” Sakusa shot a web up to the nearest building’s roof and swung himself up. “Then, I’ll be heading off now.”
“Wait-”
Sakusa cocked his head and fell back down, hanging upside down from his web curiously.
“I know I haven’t seen yer face or anything, but yer pretty amazing so thanks for-” Sakusa felt his heart beating faster and faster as Atsumu walked towards him. Now they were standing close together, close enough that Sakusa could see his long eyelashes, his sculpted cheekbones, his bright eyes.
Sakusa wasn’t sure what made him do it, maybe it was how endearing Atsumu looked, staring at him like he was the only one in the area, but Sakusa leaned forward till he was pressing a soft kiss to Atsumu’s lips. Atsumu tensed up, clearly shocked by the sudden turn of events, but he leaned forward as well, cradling Sakusa’s head in his hands.
It was like time stopped around them: the cars speeding past slowed down, the street lights blurring, as Sakusa kissed Atsumu. It was everything he had imagined: the softness of Atsumu’s lips, the scent of Atsumu close to him.
If Sakusa wasn’t hanging from one of his own webs, he would have fallen to the ground.
But he was so caught up in the moment, that when Sakusa pulled away for breath, he didn’t notice Atsumu holding on to his mask.
He didn’t notice anything, till he saw Atsumu holding his mask in his hands, and Atsumu’s eyes wide with shock.
“Sakusa?!” Atsumu choked out.
Sakusa gasped, feeling his bare face with one hand. Atsumu was staring at him as if seeing him for the first time, and Sakusa felt a cold thrill of fear run through his body.
He didn’t know what else to do. Sakusa shot another web, pulling the mask out of Atsumu’s hands before bolting up the roof. His heart was pounding loudly, echoing in his ears. How could he be so stupid? Sakusa cursed at himself. Atsumu would surely hate him now, for saying all those things and hiding the secret of Spider-man. He would hate him and Sakusa would never be able to-
“I like you too, dumbass!”
Sakusa was about to fling himself off the edge of another building when he heard Atsumu yell louder than he had ever heard.
Atsumu was out of breath, most likely chasing after Sakusa. “I like you, you stupid urchin, so stop running away!”
Sakusa felt his heart calming down, his breath returning to its normal pace as he processed Atsumu’s words. He turned around slowly to Atsumu, who was giving him a hopeful smile.
“Spi-no-Sakusa! Don’t run away from me, please,” Atsumu asked, half begging. Sakusa bit his lip in hesitation. His rational instincts were telling him to run away, to deal with the problem later but Komori’s and Kenma’s words kept coming to his head. But he didn’t want to talk to Atsumu there, not where everyone could see them. So he carefully shot a web at Atsumu’s hoodie, pulling him up gently. Atsumu stumbled as his foot caught the terrace edge but Sakusa held him steady.
“Is this the secret that you’ve been hiding from me?” Atsumu whispered, his hands clenching Sakusa’s arms. Sakusa wordlessly nodded, mentally bracing himself for the explosion. But he recoiled in surprise when Atsumu suddenly leaned his head on Sakusa’s shoulder. “I’m so happy.”
“You’re happy?” Sakusa repeated in disbelief, “Aren’t you angry? I never told you that I’m Spider-man, your favorite superhero.”
“I’m happy because my crush and my favorite superhero are the same person,” Atsumu explained. His hands found Sakusa’s mask, gently tugging it off again so he could look Sakusa in the eyes. In that moment, Sakusa was struck with how Atsumu’s eyes seemed to reflect the starry sky above. His arms wrapped around Atsumu’s back, pulling him closer.
“You like me too, right, omi-omi?” Atsumu asked with a bright smile that made Sakusa blush to the tips of his ears.
He took a deep inhale before answering quietly, “Of course I like you, Atsumu.” Sakusa hugged Atsumu who held him even tighter.
Sakusa didn’t need to see Atsumu’s face to know that he was smiling as brightly as Sakusa.
Fin