Chapter Text
Osamu was heading home from his afternoon shift at the shop, leaving the slow day to be taken care of by his part-timer when he noticed his phone buzzing.
“Hello?”
“ Osamu! Hey, do you have a minute? ”
“For you, Rin? Always,” he laughed. “How can I help ya?”
“ My sister just told me she’s gonna be featured in some gallery in Tokyo, as some kind of special showcase, or something like that. ”
“Oh! I don’t know much about art, but that sounds like a big deal.”
“ Isn’t it? Even though she’s a brat for telling me so late.” So he said, but Osamu could hear the pride in his voice. “ Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come and see it with me? We could make a day out of it.”
In another world, this was a date. In another world, this conversation wasn’t happening over the phone. Instead, Osamu would have been waiting for Rin to get home from practice, where he would have casually mentioned the gallery and they both assumed Osamu was going with Rin. Because in that world, they weren’t connected by invisible signals, but through linked fingers.
But in this world, none of that was the case. So Osamu would settle for making a “day” out of the gallery and at least getting to spend time with Rin.
“I can make time for it, sure thing,” he told him.
“ Alright, I’ll send you all the details and stuff later. ”
They hung up and Osamu let the excitement wash over him and uplift his steps. Why mope over something that could have been? Well, there were lots of reasons to mope. But he would save it all for after their day together was over and there was nothing else to look forward to.
Stepping into his apartment, he took off his shoes, happy to be home before 8 pm for once, and hung up his jacket. He couldn’t even muster the annoyance he normally would have at seeing extra pairs of shoes in the entryway, instead choosing to head straight to his living room to the owners and shoving them to one end of his couch.
“Ow! ‘Samu what’s the big deal?”
“Shut it, loser, it’s my couch,” he said.
Atsumu huffed but still moved to lean against Sakusa anyways, who automatically wrapped an arm around the blonde. After the two of them made up, Osamu found himself wishing that they hadn’t, because now that they were officially dating, he had seen more of Sakusa Kiyoomi than he ever wished he did. And it wasn’t like Sakusa was a nice dude compared to his brother; no, Osamu was surrounded by assholes that gave him a headache.
Not today, though. Today, any sort of headache that would have normally formed was staved off by the grin that kept trying to worm its way onto his face. He wouldn’t let it win, of course. He had company at the moment and that would be embarrassing as hell. But there was no harm in letting a small smile sit on his face right?
Wrong.
“What are ya smiling for, huh?”
“Am I not allowed to smile? In my own home?”
“Not for no damn reason, no, yer not allowed to smile,” Atsumu snorted.
“He could have a reason,” Sakusa pointed out.
“Exactly, ‘Tsumu, I could have a reason. So leave me alone.”
“So if you have a reason, you might as well share with the class,” Sakusa tacked on drily.
“Hah! So, dear ‘Samu, tell us why you’re in such a good mood,” Atsumu said smugly.
Osamu hated them. This is exactly what he was talking about. Great for the two of them that they had chemistry, but Osamu preferred for them to keep it to themselves and not harass him with their stupid teamwork.
“Why can’t I be in a good mood?! The two of YOU can be all gross and happy in front of an innocent bystander like myself but I can’t be in a good mood? In my own home,” he muttered. “Why the hell are ya in my living room anyways?” He threw his hands up exasperatedly.
“We were invited.”
“By who?”
“We invited ourselves, ‘Samu. So? What’s up with you?”
“Don’t gloss over the breaking and entering.”
“Atsumu has a key though.”
Osamu glared at Sakusa, who returned it with his own cool gaze.
“That’s not the point, ya jerk. Yer just as bad this asshole, match made in heaven, aren’t ya?”
The couple held up their joined hands as their only response. Fine. If they wanted to be so insufferable, Osamu wasn’t going to share anything with them. Normally, he’d give in to his brother but he wasn’t in the mood. It wasn’t even a big deal, anyways. Osamu was a grown adult. He could handle a day out with his longtime crush without making it into a big deal
“I just got a bit of good news. Now fuck off and outta my place. I had a long day today and the two of you aren't making it any shorter.”
After kicking the pests from his house, Osamu took a deep breath and fell back on his couch. He and Rin were doing great. He could either ruin it and tell him he was still in love with him or...he could give it up and suffer. Which seemed ridiculous and dramatic. Atsumu was the dramatic twin, not him. Why did he have to suffer? He was stubborn enough to hold onto these feelings for all these years, he could push through another rejection. Maybe this time Rin would change his mind. If the middle blocker gathered himself to reach out to Osamu after the mess that their last few interactions had been, something had clearly changed in his thought process. Maybe this time, Osamu wasn’t reading the signs wrong.
Rin heaved a sigh. Today was his sister’s day, so he was trying his best not to grumble at her, but Meiko always had so much to say. It’s what really set them apart as siblings. Whereas Rin was happy to let silence speak for itself, she always thought the best way for people to connect was for them to talk to each other.
“Don’t you have to be inside for some sort of check-in? Go show off your amazing pictures or something.”
“I told you, I’m waiting for Osamu-nii,” she rolled her eyes at him. “It’s been so long since I’ve even heard you say his name, I want to at least say hi.”
Just in time, Rin spotted Osamu walking from the train station, fingers fiddling with the zipper of his jacket and a dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck. It was such a plain, basic look. But somehow, Osamu managed to look breathtaking.
“A scarf, really? It’s March,” Rin joked.
“And it’s still freezing out, leave me alone. Once it gets dark you’ll be singing a different tune,” he replied.
“Osamu-nii!” Meiko interrupted them. “Thanks for coming today! I have to run to check-in, but I’ll see you guys before the event ends!”
“I get it, yer too famous for us common people, huh? I’m looking forward to seeing yer work,” Osamu smiled at her as she waved and ran off, turning back to look at Rin.
“Let’s head in?”
The inside of the gallery was cool, the air conditioning kept reasonably low despite the weather outside, and the ceiling lights hung low, amber lighting softly illuminating the various forms of art that were being displayed. The front of the gallery showcased sculptures, with those made of more sensitive material underneath the air vents to keep them cool. Paintings didn’t have their own specific section, but were instead hung throughout, with multiple works by the same artists displayed side by side.
“So where’s yer sister’s stuff?” Osamu asked as they strolled through the gallery, taking their time to look through each section. They were currently eyeing a painting of a deconstructed bear, with the head half complete vertically in shades of blue, and the other half lay horizontally where the chin would typically be. The backdrop was an intense range of warm colors, except for the block of navy streaks that took up the center. Considering a lot of this art was created by high schoolers and college students, Rin found himself impressed by how much they got him thinking.
“Mei’s work is towards the back, I think, since it’s photography.”
The back of the gallery was much darker, with the low lighting upgraded to small spotlights that drew their attention to each display. Meiko’s was a collection of small photographs arranged in an incomplete pyramid. Osamu, Rin had learned, was the type to move close to the art and inspect every part of it, eyes raking over the descriptions and flitting back and forth between everything it had to offer. True to his observation, Osamu was already leaning forward and running his finger along the air over each photo.
“Why do you do that?” Rin asked.
“Do what?” Osamu replied without turning around.
“The...finger thing.”
This time, Osamu did turn his head with an amused expression on his face. “The finger thing?”
“Don’t make fun of me,” Rin rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean, you’re literally doing it right now.”
“Yeah, I know what ya mean, Rin,” the other man laughed. He turned back to the photos. “It just helps me concentrate on what ‘m looking at. Gotta keep track of what I just saw, y’know?”
To be honest, Rin didn’t really know, but he understood. Whatever the reasoning, he found it out endearing as hell, and was content to watch Osamu interact with his sister’s work. Luckily for him, he was the type to hang back and stare at art, so if he needed to, he could pass his staring off as him looking at the art. Although in a way, Osamu could be considered art, too. The way his dark hair complimented his gray eyes, the way his proportions looked as if someone had carefully sketched out each line, broad and strong shoulders tapering to a tiny, tiny waist, and sturdy legs to support his upper body. He was beautiful.
“Rin? What do ya think of it?”
“Hm? Oh, uh.” He shook his head free of any thoughts about Osamu and his tiny waist. Well, tried to, at least. He’d never be fully rid of those. “Meiko worked really hard on getting some of these shots. Some of them are simple ones, like a crosswalk or something. But I know she traveled around for other ones. Like the mountain shots.”
“Having ‘life’ as a topic in high school is pretty big, ain’t it?”
“I thought the same thing,” Rin said as he moved to stand next to Osamu. “But Meiko has always been the type to want to tackle everything, and I think this topic gave her room to show how many things life has to offer.”
“Ooh, a family of deep thinkers.”
Rin shoved his shoulder. “Shut it and stop making fun of me.”
He only received a laugh in response. Looking at the man in front of him, Rin found himself filled with thoughts of only him once more. They were surrounded by creative work and Rin and his dumb brain couldn’t focus on anything besides the dumb man laughing at him. That probably meant a lot more than he wanted it to.
Oh, he thought to himself. I should tell him today.
They waited for Meiko outside, Rin keeping his hands in pocket to brace himself against the cold. Osamu had been right, but he wouldn’t admit that out loud. Next to him, Osamu’s face was pinched from the cold, the lower half of his face seated in his scarf. Rin kind of wanted to wrap him up more, just to shield him from the weather. He also had the urge to steal that scarf from him. Before he could do either, his sister came outside with two bags.
“Here,” she said simply.
Rin didn’t even protest and held his arms out. He stopped fighting her long ago on being her personal assistant. Anytime they went outside, he ended up holding all of his things and almost all of hers. Meiko was the reason Rin tended to travel light.
“So! What did you think?” She asked as they headed to the train.
“It was good. Some of the paintings in there had me questioning if I was high or not.”
“Rin-nii!” She punched his arm. “I meant my work,” she whined.
“I know, I know. You did good, Meiko. I’m sure the art snobs are gonna keep an eye out for your name,” he said as he ruffled her hair.
“Osamu-nii, did you like it?”
“Sure did,” he said easily. “I like how ya tackled ‘life’ as a theme. There’s so many ways to do that, and ya could have just shown us yer life. But ya chose to show what life could mean for anyone. Ya had me thinking I took some of those photos for a minute.”
Meiko laughed and moved from Rin to stand next to Osamu as they boarded the train, which was packed. There were no seats available, so the three of them settled for standing in the corner near the door, Meiko holding onto Rin’s jacket.
“There are poles for that,” he complained.
“Poles are dirty.”
“ You’re dirty,” he shot back. Still, he adjusted his posture so she could hold onto his arm.
Their train ride was relatively quiet, Osamu reading through some emails on his phone and Rin lost in his thoughts.
That is, until his sister pinched his arm. “What’s up with you?”
“That hurt!” He rubbed his arm with his free hand. “What do you mean?”
“You aren’t on your phone. You’re always on that thing. So? Everything okay?”
Why was his sister observant? Shouldn't she have learned subtlety by now? Rin was positive that was something his mother had begged the both of them to learn, although looking back it might have just been because he was a snarky little shit. Why did she have to speak up about things? Because now Osamu was looking at him funny too. He sighed.
“I’m just thinking a bit. I’m allowed to do that, aren’t I?”
She squinted at him. “Thinking about what?”
“Nothing, Meiko. You’ll find out if it ends up being important.”
“Way to be cryptic,” she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be a brat,” he said as he flicked her forehead. Beside him, Osamu was smiling lightly as he watched the two of them interact.
Soon, they arrived at their stop on the train and shuffled through the throng of people onto the platform. Meiko was walking in between the two of them, clinging onto Osamu’s arm and telling him about her plans to be a photographer that’s “known for being the best at anything! People are going to want to hire me for magazines, or weddings, or landscapes, oh! Even sports! Rin-nii I’ll make you look super cool, just you wait.”
“Are we sure his knees are gonna hold out that long?” Osamu whispered conspiratorially.
“Oh good point,” he heard Meiko whisper back.
Rin had already heard her talk about her dream at least two hundred times, and while he was always down to listen to Meiko chat about the things she loved, he was busy trying to plan out what he was going to say to Osamu, so he chose to ignore the slander being thrown his way, as much as he wanted to defend his honor as a professional player.
The two of them dropped Meiko off at his aunt’s house and made their way to a small park near the train station while they waited for their train to arrive. Osamu pulled him to sit down on a bench on the walkway. The late March air was cool, and they watched the breeze pick up stray flower petals. Suddenly, Rin was reminded of graduation.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself.”
Rin smiled and leaned his head back on the bench. “Do you remember graduation?”
Osamu was silent for a bit. “Of course I do,” he laughed quietly. “I don’t think I could forget if I wanted to, Rin.”
“Me either.” He inhaled deeply. This was the only moment he would allow himself to do this. “I lied that day, ‘Samu. I’m sorry.”
He kept his eyes closed and held his breath. He’d give Osamu all the time in the world to process what he just told him.
“Y’know, part of me always thought that there was no way in hell I had misread the two of us back then. But a bigger part of me told me that there was no way you could ever like me,” Osamu said. “Can I know why?”
The wind was starting to pick up and Rin could feel his face growing cold. He didn’t make any moves to warm up, though, choosing to let the cool air keep him grounded.
“I was scared. I didn’t want to have to get used to loving you in bits and pieces. We were both starting brand new chapters of our lives that would leave us with almost no time for each other. I honestly meant to tell you I just wasn’t ready for it, but my mouth spoke before I did and, well. That happened.”
He could hear Osamu shuffling next to him. “Why are you telling me this now?” he asked calmly.
“Because now that I have you in my life again, I realize that it’s been...not so hard keeping up with you with the whole long distance thing. Obviously relationships are more work. But I think we can do it.” He paused. “That is, if you still want to.”
At that, Osamu burst out laughing and Rin’s eyes flew open. Instinctively, his face pinched in offense and he sat up, adjusting his jacket as he got ready to stand up and walk away.
“Wait! Sit,” Osamu was still laughing. “Can’t believe that’s what it took to get ya to look at me. I also can’t believe that yer asking me if I still wanna be with you. Rin, what do ya think?”
“I don’t know! You could have changed your mind!”
A smile still sitting on his face, Osamu sighed and grabbed Rin’s hands. “No, stupid. I stopped tryin’ to change my mind a long time ago.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.”
“Did you know that low lighting really suits you?” Rin shifted to pull their joined hands onto his lap.
“I didn’t know that,” he chuckled. “Are you talking about the gallery?”
“Yeah. I was worried Meiko was going to give me away when she started questioning me on the train. Speaking of, we should probably catch ours.”
They walked to the train station with their hands still lightly locked and when they sat down on the train to Shizuoka their grips grew a little firmer.
“This train ride woulda been pretty awkward if I said no, Rin.”
“I’d still let you stay at my place for the night if you did. I wouldn’t make you take a four hour trip back to Hyogo.”
Osamu grinned at him. “So charming.”
The events of the day were slowly catching up to them and Rin could feel himself drifting off, his head tilting back, and Osamu not too far behind him. Each time his eyes blinked open, he saw a new scenery in the window across from him, and he was suddenly struck by how quickly time moves. Just a couple of months ago, he and Osamu were strangers. Somehow, within that time they had fallen right back into their old friendship and now they were together?
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“Are we dating?”
“I’d like to think so,” Osamu mumbled sleepily.
“Okay. Nice.”
Osamu snorted and leaned his head on Rin’s shoulder. Rin was going to have to thank Kita somehow. And also bribe him to never mention their talk to Osamu, or anyone that they knew for that matter. Knowing Kita, that would be almost impossible considering Rin didn’t have anything to offer him that would be useful to him. Oh well. He could stand a little embarrassment if it meant he could enjoy the rest of his life with Osamu by his side.
Osamu finished packing away the leftover onigiri, waving goodbye to his part timer, who was bringing the rest of the equipment back to Onigiri Miya. He stretched his back muscles, leaning backwards until he heard a satisfying pop.
“Those bastards should be done washing up,” he said to himself and started walking towards the arena lobby. EJP and MSBY had faced off against each other for the second time that season and unlike their first match, EJP won this match. Osamu was already anticipating the smug remarks that Rin and Komori were going to be sending Atsumu’s way during dinner, as well as the silent brooding Kiyoomi was going to be indulging half of the time. As he stepped up to the group of four waiting for him, he could tell that the menaces had already begun their taunting.
“Finally! ‘Samu, you and yer slow ass took forever to get here! Tell them to stop,” Atsumu begged.
“Nah, I don’t think so,” he said, sidestepping his brother to reach for Rin’s hand, who wordlessly met him halfway. “Let’s go eat, ‘m starving.”
“Aren’t you always?” Sakusa muttered.
“Yeah, and? I worked hard for my money today,” Osamu said as Komori began subtly poking his cousin forward.
“He’s just being sulky because I received all his spikes today,” the libero offered with a light smile, only receiving more grumbling in response.
The group began moving forward again, exiting the building and walking to the barbeque spot that Komori had picked out for all of them for a post-game meal. Osamu and Rin walked a little slower than the rest of them, hands swinging between them.
“Good game out there today, Rin.”
“Thanks. Do I get a prize for playing well?”
Osamu pretended to think, looking away and trying to suppress a smile as Rin tugged on his arm repeatedly. He pulled him close and wrapped an arm around Osamu’s waist, completely stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Please?” He pretended to pout. Osamu, a simple, weak man gave in and leaned up the few centimeters that separated them, pressing their lips together softly. Rin hummed in approval and squeezed his hand happily. The two of them stood there for a moment, letting the spring breeze caress them as they shared a few more soft pecks.
“Alright,” Osamu pulled away, “alright, alright, Rin, let’s catch up before those assholes completely leave us behind.”
Rin stole one more kiss and they started walking again, a little faster this time, and ended up walking behind Sakusa and Atsumu. A couple of months ago, Osamu would have been on his way to mope at home. Instead, he was hand in hand with his boyfriend, looking forward to a night out with their friends. He smiled lightly.
He and Rin had tomorrow, and the day after, and all the moments in between to enjoy being together. Osamu was happy, and looking at the smile that broke out on Rin’s face when they made eye contact, he could tell Rin was too. And that was all that mattered.