Chapter Text
Atsumu hadn’t realized somebody could accumulate as much shit as he had in the few months he had been back in Japan.
“What did you even need this for, Atsu-chan?” Oikawa was holding up something that looked vaguely like a torture device, face contorted in confusion.
“It looks like a sex thing.” Sugawara was neatly folding clothes and then tossing them into boxes, effectively ruining his own hard work. Oikawa let out a sort of half screech half laugh at that, dropping the thing to the floor like it had burned him. Atsumu could feel the first tendrils of regret slipping into his mind.
He yanked it up off the floor, practically hissing as he spoke. “S’not a sex thing , ya assholes. It’s meant to crack yer back. And it was expensive.” Atsumu inspected it to make sure nothing was broken, shooting the pair a dirty look and realizing they had already moved on to making fun of his fashion choices instead. Whatever. He let the stupid equipment fall into a box meant for storage, wincing slightly at the loud noise it made.
They had been packing for hours already, traveling back and forth from the storage unit to Atsumu’s house in Daichi’s truck and sweating the entire time despite the chill in the air. Moving was fucking hard. Atsumu had even sworn that the last time was just that- the last time- before he had gotten this job. Where he would live in a fully furnished room. In Sakusa Kiyoomi’s house.
It still hasn’t settled in.
At some point, Suga throws down a pair of Atsumu’s jeans and makes it known that he’s “Fucking tired of looking at your horrible taste in clothes, Atsumu.” and also “I blame the States for this.” before he drags them both out to the living room so they can take a much needed break. For five minutes.
Which of course turns into them sprawled out on the living room floor (most of Atsumu’s stuff is gone by now- they’re drinking wine out of Starbucks cups from the different states he had visited) and laughing like it was high school all over again. Later, Atsumu will blame the alcohol for the warm feeling in his chest- the other two don’t need the ego boosts of hearing about how much Atsumu loves being able to spend time with them like this.
“So…” Oikawa starts, a predatory smile on that pretty face of his. Atsumu braces himself for impact. “Sakusa Kiyoomi.” Ah. There goes the warmth.
Well, they went about six hours without talking about it. “Sakusa Kiyoomi.” Atsumu repeats, neither of them questioning. Suga is idly scrolling through Tiktok next to them and pretending like he isn’t tuned into the conversation, waiting for them to stop staring each other down and really get into it already. “What about him?” He smiles with his teeth and if Oikawa is only blinking when he does- well, neither of them are blinking.
They always do this. Suga sighs and closes the app, the click of his phone locking breaking the two dumbasses out of their staring contest. Atsumu’s eyes burn slightly when he finally blinks, ignoring Oikawa’s noise of victory to act like he isn’t blushing up to his ears with the knowledge of what’s to come. Of course Suga and Kawa wouldn’t let him get away with this- they’ve all known each other too long, keeping up throughout middle and high school through volleyball and then really meshing once they all graduated and managed to land in one place. They had seen who Atsumu was when Sakusa was in his volleyball prime.
Which is why he isn’t surprised when Suga sits up and grabs his shoulders, looking him dead in the eye. “How hot is he now?” The atmosphere is dead serious and Atsumu wants to laugh so, so badly. But he only sighs in the most dramatic way he can, looking away.
“He’s so fuckin hot, I don’t even think I can give ya an explanation that does him justice.” Everything falls apart after that- Suga and Oikawa burst into laughter, falling all over each other, and Atsumu smiles until his face hurts. He gives them a moment to calm down, yelling “Lemme finish, ya heathens! Yer the ones who asked the question!” at some point when he realizes the two glasses of wine may have been enough to loosen them up. This, however, isn’t enough. He has to start smacking them with the throw pillow that had fallen off the couch when they moved it for them to finally calm down.
“He…” Atsumu continues and then stops again when he’s cut off by Oikawa yelling “Wait!”, letting the two shuffle around until they’re all sat in a circle with their legs crossed and knees touching. Definitely high school. They look at him expectantly, like he had been the one causing problems. Atsumu just rolls his eyes and continues. “It’s like he’s a fuckin wine or somethin! All salt an pepper curls with those damn shoulders. He had that twenty-something thing going on before, but now he’s…” Atsumu can’t put his finger on it. There’s something in the way Sakusa carries himself now- all mature and confident, filling up that doorway with his calm presence when Atsumu had first seen him. He seemed so capable, in some way. Like he could wrap Atsumu up and-
His thought process is cut off by a sharp laugh from Oikawa. “He’s a DILF!” Oh. Well. Yes, actually. They both take Atsumu’s stunned silence as what it is- his realization that Sakusa Kiyoomi is now a major DILF- and start laughing again.
They end up in Atsumu’s (mostly empty) room not too long after that, using their second wind to finish getting all the things he’ll actually be taking with him ready. It doesn’t take too long, though, and they’re all sprawled out on the mattress after the fact. It’s on the floor since they had already sealed the bedframe away in storage- the bed was to go in the morning, right before Atsumu officially moved into his new home slash workplace. He actually felt like he was going to throw up a little bit, thinking about it.
“Atsu?”
Atsumu looked up from where he had been making sure that all of his personal bases had been covered- he’s known about getting the job for about a week now, so it was easy to settle everything- he was just anxious about forgetting anything. About all of this, actually. What was he doing, again?
“Atsu.” Suga was insistent now, sitting up on his elbows and quirking an eyebrow at Atsumu. “You okay over there? Got kinda quiet.” And oh, did he? Probably.
“M’okay, yeah.” He sighed and dragged a hand over his face, deciding to ignore the look his friends shot each other when they thought he couldn’t see. “Just nervous about all of this, y’know? Sakusa Kiyoomi.”
Okay, they didn’t have to shoot each other another look over that. Atsumu decides to take the bait and ask what they’re looking so worried about, really, and he means really . They both have the decency to look a little embarrassed at being “caught” before they launch themselves into a silent war of “who’s going to fess up” that Atsumu doesn’t really have the patience for anymore.
He’s about to ask them to spit it out already, dammit, before Suga finally makes a vague “Fine!” gesture in whatever argument him and Oikawa had been having, turning to Atsumu again. “We’re worried about you being a little… starstruck. It’s Sakusa, but it’s Sakusa’s kids , right? That’s why you’ll be there. Not really working with him, but for him.” And really, he didn’t have to put so much emphasis on that many words.
Atsumu just laughs. “C’mon guys, I’m not…” he sighs and sits up, dragging his hands through his hair. “It’s cool. It’s really cool to be this close to someone I idolized for so long but I’m not sixteen anymore. I can handle myself.” He knows they mean well. It’s job security over dick, really. But god, it’s eating at his nerves a little worse now.
Oikawa must notice this, because he shoves Suga to the side with a snort to break the weird silence. “Coming from the EMT that ‘doesn’t fuck coworkers’ unless they’re ‘the finest fire fighter I’ve ever seen, guys’ named Daichi Sawamura. Who’s picking you up tonight.”
There’s a betrayed gasp from beside Atsumu before Suga is smacking a pillow against Oikawa’s face, voice made of venom and embarrassment. “And who’s going to bring him here, since he left his truck for us today?” They have their own staring contest for a moment, Oikawa unable to say anything as Suga has pressed the pillow against his mouth. The panicked look in his eyes says enough though, really.
“That’s right, Oikawa. Iwa-chan, isn’t it? Because some of us couldn’t help but fuck the pool boy- “ Suga cuts himself off with a yelp when Oikawa shoves him off, using the opportunity to yank the pillow out of his hands and start whaling on him with it. Atsumu is just glad he can sit back and watch the show.
Oikawa punctuates almost every word with a whack, straddling Suga’s waist at this point. “I’ve known Iwa-chan since we were kids! He was just too stubborn to take money from my family when he needed it! So my mom let him clean the pool during the summer! We were sixteen!” And, well.
“Doesn’t that mean he was your pool boy when you lost your-“ WHACK. The pillow had flown out of Oikawa’s hand, thumping against Atsumu’s face and dropping right down onto his lap after. They’re all red faced and laughing for the next hour, anxieties forgotten.
(Daichi and Iwaizumi come to pick up their respective boyfriends an hour or so later, looking only mildly concerned when the trio take one look at them and burst into fits of laughter.)
Sakusa is in a meeting when Atsumu arrives which is… fine. It’s making his anxiety eat away at his insides, the awkward silence with Yachi as they go back and forth between his new room and his box filled car. It’s fine. He wants to bite his fingernails, a little.
It’s fine. They finish quickly enough and the girls are currently at school learning their rainbow colors, so Yachi leads him into the kitchen and offers him a cool water bottle with a smile. The boxes were light and it’s mid fall, so neither of them really need it, but it keeps his hands busy. He leans his hip against the counter and waits for her to take a sip before jumping in.
“So. Does this happen often?” Yachi looks a little panicked mid sip, her eyes popping open wide. Atsumu takes his own sip to hide his smile. She was so nice, really, but he could see the awkward tension in her shoulders the entire time she had led him through the house (whispering when they passed by the home office). So, he had to break the ice.
She recovers fairly quickly, the only sign of her surprise being a faint blush on her face. “I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand the question?” Atsumu just raises an eyebrow at that. How many ways could this conversation go?
“Well I mean, does Sakusa-san get busy an step away during his off days very often?” Yachi winces slightly at that, her teeth beginning to worry her lip. Huh. It’s not like Atsumu said anything bad, did he? “It just feels a little weird, no offense, not being greeted an shown around by the person yer gonna work for.”
Someone clears their throat behind him and Atsumu’s heart drops down to his feet. Of course, that’s why Yachi seemed a little panicked. How long had Sakusa been there, exactly?
Atsumu whirled around with a smile, refusing to be caught off guard like this. “Hello, Sakusa-san! I hope yer meeting went well.” He bows a polite amount before smiling up at Sakusa again and noticing a glint in those dark eyes. “We were just chattin about ya, actually!”
Sakusa doesn’t seem amused. He looks at Yachi with the same eyebrow raise that Atsumu had moments earlier, but instead of making her blush, it makes her scramble to bow and see herself out. She smiles at Atsumu like she’s sorry when she passes by. It’s not like Sakusa was going to eat him, right?
“I do get busy, even on my days off. I’m sorry if it caused any inconveniences on your part.” He’s definitely not amused, but he’s not angry either. Atsumu lets out a breath. Sakusa seems fairly neutral on the matter, rolling his sleeves up and moving to grab his own glass of water. “It will happen again as long as you’re around. Will this be a problem?”
This makes Atsumu’s eyebrow twitch. What happened to capable, warm... di- okay. We’re here for the kids, Atsumu. This is your boss, Atsumu. Get yer shit together, Atsumu. He puts his best smile on and turns towards Sakusa, bowing again.
“No, Sakusa-san. I’m sorry if I overstepped any boundaries.” Sakusa just hums, sipping his water and flicking through what look like documents on his phone. What was Atsumu expecting, really? Sakusa needed a nanny to take care of his kids. He had someone who came and cleaned his house every day. Of course he was a workaholic- and god, he looked so good while he did it.
No, Atsumu. Job. Work.
Atsumu turned his attention to the schedule that he had made for the day- his job wouldn’t officially start until tomorrow- Sakusa had said to show up the day before to learn more about the house and actually meet the girls. But judging by how deep Sakusa was in those documents, Atsumu had a feeling that today would be a bit of a head start.
It was fine.
First on the schedule, unpack.
Sakusa locks himself in an office on the other side of the house again, so Atsumu sees no problem with turning on a little bit of music while he does it. He even throws the curtains and windows open, letting fresh air into what used to be a stuffy guest room as he sang along to whatever the latest Japanese TWICE release was.
It felt a little better to look around and see pieces of his life- pictures on the walls and his clothes in the closet, the blanket his mother had knit for him thrown over the bed, his little mementos from the States on every surface- and he felt like he could breathe again. The open window might’ve helped, too.
He goes down the schedule for the next few hours; learn the layout of the house, figure out places around in the area that he could take the twins later on, text Osamu pictures of the weird art around the house, and finally, when it was down to an hour before the girls were due to show up, make them lunch. The Miya family always says that the best way to meet people is to feed them, of course.
And since he’s going all out Miya on this, he’s going to make Osamu-approved onigiri. He gets so into it that he doesn’t realize how relaxed he is now, in this sort of unfamiliar house, dressed business casual with his sleeves rolled up and his hair starting to fall against his forehead again. Atsumu sings under his breath to music that isn’t playing anymore as he shapes the rice, swaying his hips to his own music. About half an hour now, probably.
Atsumu swirls around at the height of the song, lyrics on the tip of his tongue and a smile on his face.
He chokes on air when he sees Sakusa standing with his arms crossed over his chest at the other end of the kitchen island. Thankfully, he doesn’t drop the rice when he bows. “Hello, Sakusa-san.” His voice cracks slightly on the opening. Dammit.
“Onigiri?” Is all Sakusa says, like he didn’t just see his new nanny dancing to a girl group song that wasn’t playing anywhere outside of his own head. Atsumu just nods, words lost in his throat for a moment. His first impression didn’t go so well, but at least his second impression is somehow worse. He can only go up from here, right?
Atsumu clears his throat. “Would ya like some, Sakusa-san?”
Sakusa seems to think about it for a moment, looking at Atsumu and then at the onigiri on the plate. He’s about to say something when his phone starts to ring, making him slip it out of his pocket and answer it at the same time. As natural as breathing.
“Sakusa speaking.” And Atsumu’s lost him to the world of work again. He sticks around this time though, sitting at one of the stools on the side of the breakfast bar and talking about things that Atsumu doesn’t really care about enough to try and understand. He sounds nice, though. Firm. Professional.
Atsumu snorts at the downward spiral of his own train of thought and then quickly turns away when Sakusa looks up at him with a confused frown. Fuck, was his blush obvious? Whatever, it doesn’t matter, he has onigiri to make and six year old twins to impress.
The door slams open almost immediately after Sakusa has finished his phone call (and his third onigiri), a little girl in a private school uniform half running half stumbling inside and screaming at the top of her lungs. She has what looks like a pencil balled up in her little fist, held right up to her eye as something red drips down. This, understandably, stops either of the men from any conversation that may have been had between the two.
Another little girl runs in a few seconds later, also screaming. Sakusa looks torn between being tired and being in shock, so Atsumu dries his hands off and walks over with a laugh. Of course.
“Himi! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” The second little girl screams, tears rolling down her red face.
“My eye! My eye!” The first little girl, Himiko- or Himi, apparently- cries. Atsumu rolls his eyes and throws a look over his shoulder at Sakusa, as if to say “Are ya seein this?” Sakusa only looks kind of like he wants to puke. Looks like he’s on his own, then.
“Oh my god!” Atsumu joins in on the screaming, dropping himself down to his knees in front of the twins. “Girls! What happened!” He does his best to sound like he’s about to cry and maybe throw up, too.
“Himiko pushed me so I pretended to stab her eye with a pencil but but but-“ Give these girls an Oscar, really. Nanako is even hiccuping.
Atsumu knew this like the back of his hand, though. “Oh god okay, okay! Well yer in luck today girls cause I’m actually a doctor!” All screaming stops and both the girls stare at him, three eyes wide. “An I can replace that sucker right here and now! Sakusa-san, can ya get me my doctor bag from my room?” Now Sakusa looks like he’s catching on, raising both eyebrows at Atsumu this time. He has to bite back a laugh.
He loses it when both girls start backpedaling, though.
“No! My eyes are okay!”
“We were joking!”
They both blurt their panicked words out at the same time, falling all over each other to explain what had actually happened and laughing nervously. Atsumu only stares at them with one hand on his hip and the other held out expectantly. Himiko puts the ketchup-covered pencil in it with a sniffle.
He gets both girls to sit on either side of their father, little plates of onigiri set out in front of them along with drinks and napkins. Nobody says anything for a moment- Sakusa has settled into shock and Atsumu is still howling with laughter on the inside while the girls both look like kicked puppies. Himiko still has a bit of ketchup on her cheek.
“I’m Miya Atsumu, yer new nanny. And ya can’t play any games with me cause I promise ya that I played them a thousand times over with my own twin.” The girls have the decency to look at least a little embarrassed, now.
Sakusa also kicks himself into gear. “Yes, girls. This is your new nanny- and we will be talking about whatever that little display was later.” There’s nothing but confusion in his voice, so it falls a little flat on the girls. Atsumu smiles. Of course Sakusa can only put on the firm voice for his employees and not his little girls. He places another onigiri on the man’s plate and laughs.
“Ya trying to get rid of me already?” Both girls flush at that, picking at the rice on their plates. “S’alright. Samu and I used to do the same thing to our babysitters- but that just means that it won’t work on me, got it?”
“Frog in the bedroom?” Himiko stares him down and a little bit of rice has stuck to her cheek, right under that ketchup smear.
Atsumu grins. “Did it when we were seven. And I like frogs.” He reaches out with a damp napkin to wipe away the food gently, leaving it next to her plate.
“Nair in the shampoo?” Nanako, this time.
“How do ya even know what that is at six years old?!” He says this at the same time Sakusa chokes on his water, coughing violently. The twins must’ve forgotten he was listening, then.
“Girls.” It’s a warning, Sakusa standing up from his chair to round the counter and stand next to Atsumu. “You will be nice to your new nanny. You know I want to be here with you but-“
“But you have work.” Himiko says it without emotion, shrugging. Nanako looks angry about it, but she doesn’t say anything. Ah. This makes more sense now.
“Exactly.” Sakusa doesn’t seem to notice the look the girls give each other before he turns to Atsumu and lets him know that he’ll be busy in his office for the rest of the day, but if anything is needed just let him know. Sure. Okay. Now all three of them share a look as Sakusa takes his plate and retreats to the other side of the house.
“So. Does this happen often?” Atsumu hands both of them glasses of water, a little smirk tugging at his lips.
“Yup.” comes both replies, the girls giggling when he rolls his eyes.
They’ll be fine.