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Atsumu slams the room of his door open to see Osamu stirring something on the stove and Hinata and Bokuto with their notes spread out on the coffee table of their shared apartment.
“Attention, everyone! I’ve got a problem.”
“What else is new,” Osamu says, whereas Bokuto and Hinata perk up from their notes to look at him.
Atsumu continues without acknowledging Osamu. “Volleyball practices tire me out but I still can’t sleep, I’ve listened to white noise videos, rain and river sounds make me wanna pee, if I play music, I spend a lot longer looking for music I wanna listen to and sing along instead of actually studyin', total silence distracts me. This law shit isn’t goin' into my brain and neither is sleep when I actually need to do it. I’m out of options, give me some.”
“Melatonin, or I can knock you out,” Osamu says, holding out the wooden spoon for Atsumu to try what looks like curry. Atsumu hums in approval and Osamu smirks. “Mole poblano, with chocolate. Learned about the spice mixtures in class the other day.”
“There’s a new Starbucks that opened a few weeks ago close to campus,” Hinata says. “I like coffee shops as study places, Atsumu-san.”
“Have you tried ASMR?” Bokuto says from the couch. He taps on his phone and turns it to show Atsumu what he’s planning to listen to before bed, which is a YouTube video of someone silently preparing a meal over a campfire. “It’s really soothing, Tsum-Tsum. Some videos are of people whispering or tapping their nails on things, but I like the cooking ones. Those help me sleep.” Atsumu agrees to try it, but after watching with Bokuto for a bit by flopping his upper half over the back of the couch and feeling more hungry than sleepy, he decides to take Hinata’s suggestion instead for now.
Their group shuffles into the Starbucks the next day, a cloudy morning before classes, collectively yawning and mumbling about the menu as they line up. Atsumu leads them towards the register and peers at the breakfast sandwiches on their way to the till.
One barista taps on the shoulder of the one at the register. “One second please,” the barista at the till says once they get there, holding up one finger to Atsumu. He pulls off his surgical mask to unhook the drive thru headset from around his head and Atsumu takes the break to pull out his wallet.
The barista has dark wavy hair pulled up into a ponytail, ends curling in multiple directions from where the ponytail sticks out of the green cap, a strong jawline, and piercings in his ears including two rings on his bottom lip in the snakebite fashion. A stray curl brushes his forehead where two moles sit above his eyebrow, framed by a pair of round silver wire glasses. Atsumu doesn’t think he’s ever developed a crush on the spot before, but he has now.
“Good morning, apologies for the wait,” the barista says, hooking the mask back around his face and pinching the nose bridge of it so his glasses sit properly without fogging up. Dark eyes with the hint of university student eyebags blink at Atsumu, who blinks back with similar couture eyebags. “What I can get for you today?”
Atsumu glances at the pastries and points at some scones. “Do those have raisins?”
Handsome barista looks at them and says, “No, just cranberries –“
“Then how about a date?” The barista’s eyes narrow, customer service smile wobbling a bit as he scrutinizes Atsumu. Osamu groans from behind him and thumps his head between Atsumu’s shoulders.
“I’m more of a cashew kind of guy, actually,” the barista replies, looking Atsumu up and down.
“Oh, a little nuts,” Atsumu says. “I’m into that.” He grins when the barista huffs a laugh.
Osamu’s had enough and steps out from behind Atsumu. “I’m Miya Osamu, this is Atsumu, please give him your number if you’d like, but maybe not considerin' he’s hitting on you at 7:30am. Also because he’s made me and you suffer through this, I want a venti caramel macchiato frappucino with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Thanks, ‘Tsumu,” he says, clapping Atsumu on the shoulder. The barista taps in the order dutifully.
Bokuto follows his lead. “A tall hot chocolate for me please!”
Hinata looks up from his phone, trailing after Bokuto. “A grande vanilla bean frappucino for me please, thank you Atsumu-san!”
“Oi, I didn’t volunteer for any of this!” Atsumu says, glaring at the rest of them.
“I’m Sakusa. What would you like, Atsumu?” Sakusa is clearly amused from under the mask.
“Uh, a tall blonde roast, please. You’re welcome, assholes, cover for me next time,” Atsumu sighs, fishing out some bills from his wallet and sticking his tongue out to mirror Hinata’s playful expression.
“Didn’t think you’d want to pay for someone to diss your own hairstyle,” Sakusa says, writing his order down on the side of the cup. Bokuto, Osamu, and Hinata perk up too fast for 7:30am, hooting and making airhorn noises.
Atsumu clutches his chest with one hand with flair for the dramatic. “Wow. Omi-kun,” he says, reading the name off the name tag, “our friendship has been terminated.”
“It’s Sakusa. I don’t think it even began in the first place.” He hands Atsumu his coffee, and Atsumu moves out of the way for the other three to get their drinks until he notices the phone number in dark marker. He points and winks at Sakusa, triumphant, making the “call me” hand gesture. Osamu loops an arm around his neck to begin dragging him out.
“If I gave you my phone number, I think you’re supposed to call me,” Sakusa calls after him. Atsumu does not stop with the winking and finger guns until he’s out of the store.
So now that he can’t face the barista anymore due to being somewhat humiliated on the spot by his closest friends and literal twin, Atsumu does not text the number on his coffee, opting to wait for the mortification to pass first. He does keep it on his desk as a reminder to text him eventually. There’s some kind of etiquette, maybe.
Next on the list: ASMR.
After class, Atsumu scrolls around on YouTube, feeling like he's spiralling a little into the odd corners of it when some recommended videos are "I'm a Plague Doctor and You've Been Diagnosed with the Black Plague ASMR" or videos of people eating truly remarkable amounts of food. No judgement (maybe a little bit, he's no angel), but mukbangs make him hungry and whispering makes his ears itch. A video called "Study With Me: Pomodoro Technique #1" appears and he clicks on it.
The channel's name is endomiphins, and the thumbnail features a view of a man from the neck downward at his desk, notebook and laptop open.
Atsumu presses play.
The video starts with the man in a cream jumper waving to the camera as he sits down with a mug of water. There is no sound except the ambient noise of the heater in the room and his movement; captions appear at the bottom of the screen in lieu of him speaking.
Hey, it’s Kiyjax, Atsumu reads. I’d like to try the pomodoro 25-5 technique today. It’s where you study for 25 minutes and then take a break for 5 and repeat that until you’re done. This video’s going to be 3 hours long and I’ll have a timer up on the screen to notify you when it’s time for a break. You all set up?
He watches “Kiyjax” slide on some headphones and tap at his phone for music. Let’s get started. Kiyjax twirls his pen between his fingers and poses it above his notebook. Atsumu blinks and scrambles for his notebook to focus as the timer starts.
Not being used to this yet, Atsumu takes some time to adjust and stop himself from looking up at the screen to see what Kiyjax is up to. It’s generally the same throughout the entire video; there’s the visual and the sound of his pen scratching along the page, the mug being picked up and put down, some typing, and the flipping of his textbook. When the first break comes Atsumu admires the patch of skin that appears when he stretches and the hem of the sweater rides up a little.
Nice job everyone, the captions say. Let’s start the timer for the break. Kiyjax picks up his phone and taps at it for a few minutes and sets it down when the break is over.
Back to work. Let’s go.
Atsumu doesn’t realize the 3 hours are up until Kiyjax is waving goodbye at the camera. Let me know what you think of this video. I livestream Tuesday and Thursday evenings here where we do the same thing. See you next time.
Suddenly, Atsumu feels the exhaustion of sitting for so long and focusing so hard. It’s midnight, and he needs to sleep for class tomorrow. He swears and closes the laptop but opens it to like and subscribe before slamming it shut again and packing up.
Over the rest of the semester, Atsumu gets real acquainted with the endomiphins channel. Outside of the pomodoro technique videos, there’s videos labelled “Typing ASMR” where the camera is focused on his desktop keyboard and he types his papers for his classes, or shorter cooking videos which are similarly silent save for food preparation and focused on his hands titled “Kiyjax tries weird ramen #5” and “Bentos for this week” and “Coffees I’ve had this week at 7pm (Do Not Try at Home You Need to Sleep)”.
Atsumu keeps up with all of the different series Kiyjax has going on, but his favorite has to be the Tuesday and Thursday livestreams. They’re fully uncut and unedited with runtimes of up to five or six hours and feature Kiyjax at his most natural and endearing, humming quietly along to songs or mumbling under his breath as he studies. Atsumu thinks he’s got a very attractive voice even when he’s only heard him whisper and probably an attractive face to go along with it. As curious as Atsumu is and as often as the comment section wants Kiyjax to do a face reveal, they quiet down after he sticks up a sign on a scrap piece of paper that says “I’m wanted by the FBI I can’t show my face”, which makes Atsumu laugh loud enough when he’s studying along with the stream that Osamu pokes his head in to make sure he’s actually focused. The pomodoro videos are more polished and Kiyjax is stricter with his own behaviour. It’s nice to see his sense of humor appear in the longer streams, Atsumu figures. It’s like making a new friend that’s also an intense study buddy.
The rest of the semester passes by similarly. He ends up at home for Kiyjax’s streams – he’d tried streaming at the Starbucks but gave up pretty easily because Sakusa doesn’t have shifts on those days and the internet was shit. Otherwise, he’s at the Starbucks in the mornings before class sometimes to flirt with Sakusa and there on a few evenings a week to also flirt with Sakusa and wait for him to join Atsumu on his shift breaks, usually with some kind of food from Osamu and his culinary arts classes.
“G’morning, Omi-kun, a tall vanilla latte please. Would I be in a latte of trouble if I asked you out?”
He gets a flat stare. “Yes, I’m on shift.”
“Damn. ‘Kay, I’ll try again on your next shift.”
“If it didn’t work this shift, what makes you think it’ll work next shift?”
“I dunno, your next shift is in the evening and I figured the sunset coming in from the floor to ceiling windows would make ya bewitched by me or somethin’. Plus the coffee puns only work while you’re on shift.”
“If this means I have to see you multiple times a day, please don’t.”
“Aw c’mon, Omi-kun, I’m easily the best part of your day. Just like this latte is for me.”
“Must be a pretty good latte. You’re welcome.”
“I get the best parts of my day right here in this Starbucks – this and you,” Atsumu says, toasting Sakusa with the latte he’s been handed. “We could make sure you’re my number one if you’d go on a date with me.”
“Tall order, that. We’ve already checked our schedules and they’re quite literally the opposite of one another. We’re also on opposite ends of campus.”
“Tall order, you’re a comedic genius, Omi-kun. It’s fine, we can just meet here which is around halfway like some star-crossed lovers. Why, R-Omi-o, thou art fairer than the sun. Quite hot, actually.”
“I wish I put poison into that cup.”
Atsumu takes a long sip just to prove he’s not poisoned and waves on his way out to class. It’s a victory when Sakusa gives a lazy wave back over the till, a fond smile on his face.
One rainy weekend after midterms, Atsumu is thoroughly studied out but is feeling restless in a way where nothing he does really satisfies the feeling. He’s had morning practice, already showered and ate dinner, got bored of his phone games, can’t stand to look at any of his notes.
His phone pings with a notification from YouTube.
“Kiyjax Plays Animal Crossing: New Horizons #1” appears in his subscription box like a miracle. Atsumu doesn’t really play Animal Crossing but if Kiyjax is interested, it’s probably worth checking out. Maybe he’s got a crush on a faceless stranger. Don’t ask.
A little human character with blonde hair waves at the camera, and the usual captions appear on the video.
Midterm exams finished for me two days ago so I figured I would relax with some Animal Crossing. I’ve stopped playing for a while because of exams, so let’s escape to a deserted island, shall we? Welcome to Eventide.
The intro plays and it’s frankly too adorable – both the game and Kiyjax himself. Kiyjax has styled his character after Link from Breath of the Wild, downloading a custom pattern for the blue tunic, and tours the audience around his island and his islanders. He runs little errands like harvesting wood or iron ore or travels to other islands to meet more animal characters and models a bunch of different outfits from his wardrobe. Atsumu is fascinated and kind of wants to drop a whole load of cash he doesn’t have on a Nintendo Switch.
Lying in bed, he watches the hour and a half long video and falls asleep to the peaceful hourly music somewhere halfway through.
He’s at the counter of the coffee shop on the following Monday to grab his usual dosage of caffeine when Sakusa looks up at him from tapping his order in and says, “Is that Animal Crossing music you’re humming right now?”
Atsumu fumbles and hits the wrong number while entering his debit card PIN. He swears and apologizes, Sakusa waving him off as he tries again. Once he’s got it, he looks up and makes eye contact with Sakusa who has his eyebrows raised, waiting for his answer.
“Uh, yeah. I was watching a YouTube video of someone play and I fell asleep to it? I don’t play, so I dunno what part of the game it’s from exactly.”
Sakusa writes his name on the coffee cup and sets it down for a co-worker. “5pm is one of my favourites of the hourly music. I didn’t think Animal Crossing would get R&B sexy, but I’m not complaining.” Atsumu laughs and hums the song, then widens his eyes at Sakusa comically.
“It does have that kind of beat, huh? ‘Kay, next time I’m gonna come in and hum a different one and you gotta guess, Omi-kun.”
Sakusa holds up his coffee and turns it to show little doodles of Timmy and Tommy Nook on the side of the cup. “See you later.”
Atsumu has a small crisis on whether he wants to keep the cup or not when he finishes his drink in class an hour later.
“’Sup, Omi-Omi. Just wanted to espresso my feelings: you’re gorgeous.”
“Are you ordering anything or not?”
“Nah. I just wanted to see ya and see what’s brewin’. Stop – don’t hit me, I’m gonna go study over there, I swear. ‘Samu gave me some club sandwiches from his class for us, by the way. Catch ya on your break.”
He’s pleased when Sakusa does join him on these days. Sakusa usually appears like an apparition next to or across from Atsumu depending on where he’s seated, Nintendo Switch and freshly baked croissants in hand.
“Hey, Omi-kun.” Atsumu plucks a croissant from the plate and bites into it, crumbs flaking all over the place. Sakusa scowls and grabs a napkin to sweep them up.
“So lemme tell ya, the funniest thing happened in class today –“ Atsumu’s deliberately spitting croissant flakes now, prompting Sakusa to whip his washcloth at Atsumu, who laughs and then has to stop or else he’ll choke.
Sakusa cleans his Switch controllers with a wipe and turns it on to select Breath of the Wild. “I hate you. What happened in class?”
“Naruto Shippuden opening #16 was used as the background music of one of the video presentations, totally illegally. My class decided to sing along instead of listen.” Sakusa snorts, joysticks clicking while he hunts a Lynel.
“I’m assuming you did too?”
“Well, duh, Omi-kun, it’s a classic.” Atsumu twirls his pen. “How was your day?”
“Labour studies class was okay. I learned who in the class thought people were disposable as employees though.” Atsumu flicks at the Starbucks logo on his apron and Sakusa nods.
“And this is why you’re studyin’ to be an accountant, because power is where money lies?”
Sakusa huffs, amused. “I’m not going to be an accountant because I want power, but sure. I just like that in accounting, when it’s done right, it all makes sense. It’s all cause and effect.”
“Volleyball’s like that too,” Atsumu says. “Law also, now that I think about it.”
“Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Fuck off.”
They have classes at generally the same times, although Sakusa is in the business and accounting buildings. Atsumu is in the law buildings as well as at the gym practicing with the team, or at the college where Osamu is doing his practicum to get free food.
On one evening when he’s at the store to study, Atsumu pushes the rice balls Osamu sent him off with towards Sakusa. Sakusa uses a fork to slice a piece of onigiri before putting it in his mouth. “Is this canned tuna with roe and spicy mayo? It’s good.” Atsumu nods, proud, unwrapping the other one to bite into.
“’Samu’s bein’ adventurous with our family’s onigiri brand. If you’re willing to be a taste tester along with me, we can score a lot of snacks.” Atsumu takes a moment to sigh into his next bite of fluffy rice.
Sakusa stops chewing. “I’ll do you one better,” he says. “How about selling some here?”
“I thought Starbucks generally had their own brand of food to sell?” Atsumu’s brain races a little towards what the contract would look like, what Osamu’s onigiri would look like on the cooler display.
Sakusa shrugs. “The great green goddess –“ he smiles a little at Atsumu’s snort, “is always looking to pair with smaller brands if the food’s good and it’ll sell. We’re close to the university and pretty busy, so I think it would be profitable. I can talk to the owner of this place if your family is interested.”
Atsumu taps the end of his pen on his nose, thinking, then picks up his phone. “I’ll text Osamu. He’s been itchin’ to do something more than just sell at the restaurant or make us taste test, anyway.” Sakusa nods, smiling, and Atsumu nearly dials Osamu instead of texting him.
Osamu is predictably thrilled. “’Tsumu, you’ve brought honor to the family after all.”
“If I’m Mulan you’re Mushu, forever the sidekick. Stop stressin’ over the ones you’re gonna bring, they all taste great.”
Osamu has a whiteboard with nine boxes drawn, each with a flavour labelled inside. He keeps erasing them and mumbling over the selection as well as the order in which to eat the different flavors to showcase maximum range and versatility. “Is that a genuine compliment? I thought I’d never see the day. Gimme Sakusa’s phone number so I can schedule a meeting without you as the middleman.”
“’Cuse me? Who’s the person with business contract negotiation experience, huh? I’m gonna be there whether you like it or not. Oh, shit, I forgot I had his number.” Atsumu walks off into his room to retrieve the coffee cup that’s got the number on it.
“Have you been flirting with him all this time without having texted him once? Do you write letters to him via passenger pigeon? ‘From the gentleman at the table of Starbucks to the barista behind the counter,” Osamu says, parroting a snobby accent. “’All night I have only been pacing thinking of the way you grind those coffee beans, and would you meet me of the fifteenth to do the same to me –“ Atsumu’s nailed him in the forehead with the cup and he breaks off, laughing.
“I forgot I had it, and also it’s romantic to see him at Starbucks!” Osamu rolls his eyes and shoots a text to Sakusa to schedule a meeting.
Atsumu is there with Osamu on one side of the booth, Sakusa and his boss on the other side, who is a polite woman with a passion for pastries. Atsumu gets to exercise his skills picked up from internships at local law offices and his classes and doubles this interaction for an assignment.
“Can’t keep your nose out of anything, can you, Atsumu?” Sakusa bows to his boss before tidying up the papers on the table.
Atsumu sits back, munching on the rest of the samples. “You should be thanking me for a solid business deal, Omi-Omi.”
Outside of managing said business deals, Atsumu watches the recorded pomodoro and typing videos as he studies at the Starbucks with Sakusa on shift. Whenever he’s feeling like he can’t sleep at night, he watches the Animal Crossing or cooking videos. He’s more invested in Kiyjax’s developing island and friendships with the islanders than he’s willing to admit. He and Sakusa try to make plans outside of school and work, but things don’t really work out with how busy they are, so they keep to their schedules and spend time together the way they can as they get through school.
It all comes to a head when the new semester starts and Atsumu heads into the store after his classes for the day to study for the evening. He waves at Sakusa, who’s juggling an alarming amount of frappucinos and settles in with the latest pomodoro video from Kiyjax.
He jumps when Sakusa slides into the seat next to him, Switch and croissants placed on the table. Atsumu pulls his earbuds out of his ears and grins hello, discreetly switching to a different tab.
Sakusa doesn’t notice and slides the joy-cons out to prop the Switch screen up on the table. “You mind if I play some Animal Crossing while you work? Customers have been so shitty even you’re better than they are, and nothing will calm me but the 8pm music.”
Atsumu laughs. “Such a sweet-talker, aren’t ya? I’m swooning over here.” Atsumu shuffles his textbook and laptop out of the way to make more room. “Can I watch ya play? The semester’s just started and if y’can believe it, I’m actually ahead.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Fucker.”
Sakusa pulls out some disinfectant wipes from an apron pocket and hands one over to Atsumu. “Wipe down your earphones, mine are in the back room and I’m too lazy to get them.” Atsumu huffs and makes a show of reluctantly wiping clean his earphones to help himself ignore his sudden nerves at sharing earbuds with Sakusa. What is going on with him.
Sakusa boots up the console and selects Animal Crossing from the menu, and a very familiar intro screen appears.
“Welcome to Eventide!” Isabelle chirps in Atsumu’s left ear. “There’s a visitor in the campsite today. Have a good day!”
It’s probably a coincidence that it’s named Eventide, Atsumu thinks. It’s not like multiple people can’t have the same island name.
“Have you seen my island before?” Sakusa asks. “Let me show you around.” The little Link that Atsumu is so familiar with dashes around the island, and Atsumu gets quieter and more fidgety as Sakusa explains where his stores are, this is the café area he made, the museum is really pretty, here are my favourite islanders. He watches the moles forming a constellation on Sakusa’s wrist instead of the screen.
Atsumu knows all of this, because he’s seen it all before on Kiyjax’s channel. He feels the two unlikeliest parts of his world he thought were separate collide. Endomiphins. Endomiphins. Kiyjax. Kiyoomi.
Sakusa Kiyoomi, study YouTuber and barista, and the man of Atsumu’s affections all rolled into one.
“Oh, fuck,” he blurts out.
Sakusa stops watering his flowers and looks at Atsumu. “You okay?”
Atsumu jolts. “Yeah. Uh, I have to go.” Sakusa blinks, watching with growing confusion and concern as Atsumu hastily shoves his notebook and laptop into his bag.
“Atsumu, wait –“ He feels Sakusa’s hand on his wrist like a brand. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?”
Atsumu shakes his head no, then yes vigorously. “I gotta – I forgot – gotta go somewhere. Everything’s fine, I’ll see ya later, Omi-kun.”
And he bolts out of the store, only remembering he’d left his earphones behind until after he’s yelled into his pillow for a good five minutes. This sets off another few minutes of yelling.
Atsumu doesn’t show up at the Starbucks at all the following week in his turmoil to figure out how to tell Sakusa this. He doesn’t watch any of Kiyjax’s – Sakusa’s – videos, gets shit sleep, can barely study, actually honest to goodness turns his phone off and throws it under the bed.
Osamu is the first to confront Atsumu about all of this drama and sticks his head into his room, where Atsumu is in instead of his own, to regard him with some mild disgust.
“’Tsumu, what the fuck is going on with you.”
Atsumu hasn’t spoken to anyone about his current crisis, and once he’s started, it’s like he can’t stop.
“You remember Sakusa, right?”
“Yeah, we get coffee from him all the time –“
“Shut it, ’m not done. Remember when Bokuto recommended ASMR to me to help me study last semester? So I found a channel called endomiphins and used it to study and the guy’s screenname was Kiyjax, and he did streams and played Animal Crossing all that shit – “
“There is nothin’ new here that I don’t already know –“
Atsumu barrels on without hearing him. “’Samu, fuckin’ shut up, let me get through this.” Osamu opens the door wider to sit on his desk chair and stare blankly at Atsumu, who is currently flat on his back on the floor gazing into the void of the white ceiling.
“’Kay, so when I went to Starbucks to study the other day, Omi-kun brought out his Switch and when he started playing it was the same island as Kiyjax’s. Same layout, name, islanders, everythin’. It turns out that they’re the same person, ‘Samu, my YouTube crush and Starbucks crush are all wrapped up into an extremely hot, studious, disinfected package that is Sakusa Kiyoomi, they’re stupid ass puns of his name!” Atsumu’s volume increases into full on yelling by the end of the spiel. He feels a little delirious.
“Endomiphins! Kiyjax!” he continues shouting, slapping his hands over his face. Osamu remains impassive.
“So what’d you do when you figured it out?”
Atsumu lowers his hands to peek out from over them. “I left the Starbucks and ran home.” Osamu snorts.
“You didn’t even bother tellin’ Sakusa what got your knickers all twisted up? You fuckin’ ran?”
“I was very overwhelmed!” Atsumu yells, on the verge of a wail, arms up in the air. Osamu stands and smacks them down.
“Are ya done yet?”
Atsumu feels exhausted. His arms flop to the floor. “Yeah, ‘m done. I’ll go tell him eventually.”
“Good, ‘cause Sakusa’s at the door lookin’ for ya.” Osamu gets up and walks out of the room.
Atsumu sits straight up.
“OSAMU!”
Said person sticks his head in the door again, expression fed up. “What? He’s here lookin’ for you, I said. Get your ass off the floor.” Osamu walks away and returns with Atsumu’s backpack to throw it at Atsumu’s chest.
“What’s he here for?” Osamu shrugs and gives a hard stare at Atsumu for being willfully obtuse.
“How are you this stupid, clearly all the brain cells in the womb went to me, can you please go talk to him, go, get out,” Osamu says, shoving Atsumu out of the bedroom towards the open front door where Sakusa leans against the doorframe in his tall, cream sweater, long wool coat glory. Atsumu wants to punch him, or punch himself, and then run back into his room to hide. Bokuto and Hinata wave from the couch and return to bickering over Smash Brothers Melee on Bokuto’s old Gamecube.
Sakusa looks up from his phone and tucks it into his pocket. “Hey, Atsumu.”
“Hi? Whatcha doin’ here, Omi-kun?” Atsumu squeaks. He asks for any and all divine entities to end his existence.
“You left without your earphones and an explanation last week.” Atsumu winces, shoving his shoes on and stumbling out the door when Osamu closes it behind him. He scrubs a hand through his hair, still clutching his backpack to his chest.
“Erm, well. ‘M sorry for runnin’ away and bein’ a dick about not showin’ up for the last week - I was just really, really overwhelmed?” Atsumu clamps his eyes shut to get the worst part of the explanation over with.
“Okay, I just explained the long version to ‘Samu so long story short, I’m a subscriber to your endomiphins channel ‘cause your study streams help me and I didn’t realize Kiyjax and you were the same person ‘til you booted up your Animal Crossing game the other day and I recognized everything. I got the fuck out of there ‘cause I was very overwhelmed that my barista crush and ASMR crush were the same person. It was like I had two separate forms of attraction and now they’re one actual person and it’s a lot to deal with – I’ve always read it as endo-miphins because that’s how you read endor-phins so it’s not like I’m stupid for not recognizing it – stop laughing, Omi-kun, ‘m gonna murder you.”
Sakusa is actually wiping away tears, the corners of his eyes crinkled with mirth. Atsumu can see the rise of his cheekbones from underneath the mask with how wide Sakusa is smiling, and when he feels his face flush because of how gorgeous Sakusa is, all he thinks oh my god, can I calm down for one second please.
Sakusa gets himself together and shrugs. “Thanks, but I knew already. Osamu told me earlier in the week and that’s why I’m here.” He pulls out his phone and shows Atsumu the date and time on the screen.
“It’s Thursday and the stream starts soon. We’re studying together. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Atsumu says, laughing in a panic. “Osamu knew? He told you? Me? Study with you? On stream?” Atsumu whirls to open the door to confront his jackass twin but it’s locked, and he doesn’t have his keys. He can hear the three on the other side of the door snickering. He turns back around.
Sakusa looks at him, incredulous. “That’s what I just said. Did the revelation of me being the person behind endomiphins really break you?”
“I confessed to you, Omi-kun, that’s what’s breaking me,” Atsumu whines, playing it up to mask how hard his heart is pounding. If Sakusa knew all this and is still here, then maybe he –
When he notices Sakusa go a little pink Atsumu feels giddy. If Osamu is going to physically force him out of the apartment to confront Sakusa, he might as well go for the home run.
“You’re going to ignore my confession for the stream? I must’ve made a mistake in choosing you as my extremely hot, studious, disinfected, Animal Crossing gamer package of a man,” Atsumu repeats, starting to laugh at the long title.
“The whole reason I’m here right now is that yes, me, your extremely hot, studious, disinfected, Animal Crossing gamer, is accepting that confession,” Sakusa says, glaring and grabbing at Atsumu’s hand which makes him nearly drop his bag. “We’re going to be late.”
Atsumu tugs on their linked hands to force Sakusa to stop. He pouts, which makes Sakusa roll his eyes and take a deep breath.
“I like you too,” he says, tightening his grip on Atsumu’s hand as if he’s trying to crush the nerves away. “I got a stupid amount of worried over you when you ran away last week and didn’t answer any of my texts or calls. I like you so much I went and texted Osamu to find out what was wrong, okay? He gave me so much shit about it before he told me you were just wasting away in your room. It’s not weird to me that you like my stuff. Clearly not, since I’m making you stream with me.”
Seeing Sakusa get nervous makes Atsumu’s nerves disappear. “I get front row seat, huh? As your boyfriend, does that include one man shows to endomiphins’ most effective ‘studying methods’?”
Sakusa’s resumed dragging Atsumu behind him and Atsumu gets a clear view of his ears turning from pink to red. “I changed my mind. I’m going to murder you in my apartment where no one will see.”
“Yes, they will, Omi-Omi, we’ll be streaming.” Sakusa looks back, trying to glare, his nose scrunching up with the effort to look mad and not laugh.
“You’d get banned from YouTube,” Atsumu adds with a thousand-watt smile, too happy to care for the threat, which makes Sakusa huff and turn back around to continue manhandling Atsumu back to his apartment just off the university campus.
“It’d be worth it.”
When they get to Sakusa’s apartment and settle in, it’s a bit weird for Atsumu to have the Kiyjax setup in front of him and not through the screen, especially considering he’s got Sakusa in person without his head chopped out of frame. He’s got his hair down from the ponytail and the curls that catch in the wool of his sweater are incredibly distracting. Atsumu sets up his textbook and notepad as he usually does when studying along with the videos; they’ve rearranged the setup in Sakusa’s room such that the desk is pulled away from the wall to make enough table space. They sit across from each other, although not directly in front of each other so they can spread their books out.
Sakusa adjusts the camera so the view is at the typical shoulder height. His mask is off now that he’s home. He looks over at Atsumu.
“Ready?” Atsumu nods, not trusting himself to speak and break the silent mode he’s got himself into to study. Sakusa clicks the button to start streaming on YouTube.
Atsumu jumps when he speaks at a normal tone of voice, having expected a whisper. “Hey guys, Kiyjax here,” Sakusa says, looking at Atsumu curiously.
“I’m changing up the stream a little bit today by adding a friend.” He points at Atsumu and Atsumu does a little awkward wave, then scribbles ‘BOYFRIEND’ on his notepad to hold it up towards the camera.
Sakusa purses his lips. He shakes his head at Atsumu and pushes the sign down. Atsumu fights back to keep it up.
“My boyfriend,” Sakusa says, giving up with a sigh and letting Atsumu have his fun. “He doesn’t have a YouTube channel, but we’ve started the semester and it’s time to get back into a routine. I hope your holidays were relaxing. We’ll start the timer for a 50-10 pomodoro session now.” He fiddles with his phone and Atsumu watches the chat go wild.
boyfriend? bOyfriend!!
Can’t see ur faces but I bet both of u r cute based on ur shoulders alone
Aww! Can we have more study sessions with both of you?
Boyfriend tag pls
Happy 4 u Kiyjax!!
Atsumu holds up his textbook and puts one palm behind it like the makeup YouTubers do which makes Sakusa laugh and swat at him. Sakusa turns his timer to the camera and then to Atsumu, who salutes to the amusement of the chat and gets to work. He feels a bit of deja-vu to the time he first clicked on the fateful video because he wants to look up at Sakusa and see what he’s up to; he settles into the rhythm soon enough with Sakusa’s pen scratching along the page and his usual humming under his breath.
The breaks they take involve doing an impromptu Q&A session with the users in the chat over some snacks.
“’How did you guys meet?’” Sakusa reads. He looks over at Atsumu to explain.
Atsumu crosses his legs in his chair. “I used a pickup line and I’m hot enough that he fell for it. You’re lucky we keep these faceless, it’d be so distracting if we didn’t.” Sakusa chuckles, shaking his head in exasperation.
“I did give him my number, which he did not text.”
“Ain’t there some kind of etiquette about texting? I was trying to do that.” Atsumu leans in to read the next question.
“’How long have ya been together?’”
“About four hours. It’s been exhausting,” Sakusa deadpans.
Atsumu grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers, exaggerating a blissful sigh. “I’ve never been happier.”
“I thought you were ready to never see me again.”
“I was, but I had literally just decided I was gonna talk to you and you were already at the door.” The chat erupts with a lot of question marks at the dramatic phrasing. Sakusa looks at him like now you’ve done it.
Atsumu sighs. “I can’t believe I’m doing this for a third time today. I met Kiyjax while also watching this channel and didn’t realize they were the same person, and when I did, I had an itty-bitty meltdown, but we figured our shit out. I repeat: it has been. Complete. Marital. Bliss,” he says, punctuating the last sentence by thumping their hands on the table.
Sakusa pulls his hand out of Atsumu’s grip when a smile threatens to bloom on his face.
“Break’s over. Last 50-minute session starts now.”
“Aw. Thanks for chatting, y’all.”
They finish the stream just before midnight and wave goodbye to the chat, promising duo study sessions in the future. They wash up for bed and Sakusa pulls out a futon from the closet and spreads it out.
“Don’t plan to consummate our relationship tonight, Omi-Omi?” Atsumu wiggles his eyebrows and gets a pillow to the face.
“You have an 8am class and I start at 7 tomorrow morning, Atsumu.” Atsumu grumbles good naturedly and hunkers down to sleep. It’s tough going until he hears Sakusa wake his Switch up from sleep mode.
“Are ya playin’ Animal Crossing?”
“Yeah, didn’t get do my dailies today. Was too busy trying to track down someone.”
Atsumu huffs and twiddles his thumbs, suddenly shy. “Can I watch? The music helps me sleep.”
“You’re not going to run away again, are you?” Sakusa flicks the lamp back on and sits up, legs dangling off the side of the bed. Atsumu climbs up and lies down on his side to curl around Sakusa while poking him in the ribs in retaliation.
Atsumu hums, almost a purr, when Sakusa leans back into him so he can see the screen. He’s out like a light when Sakusa is halfway through finding the fossils of the day.
The morning is a blur when they get up at 6am, but it all comes into focus when Atsumu works up the nerve to hold Sakusa’s hand on the way to Starbucks. Osamu, Bokuto, and Hinata are in line when they go in and Osamu has the nerve to wolf whistle and mortify both of them before tossing Atsumu’s housekeys at him.
“Get in line!” Hinata shouts.
“Just ‘cause you’re dating one of the baristas now doesn’t mean you get to cut,” adds Osamu. Atsumu attempts to drag Osamu out of his spot but Hinata and Bokuto hold Osamu in place, laughing.
Once he’s at the till, he greets Sakusa with a wide goofy grin.
“A tall flat white, hold the sugar, ‘cause you’re sweet enough for me.”
“Get out,” Sakusa says, and Atsumu’s never been happier.