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Hatsuko’s peals of laughter rang through the playground as Atsumu chased her, his own laughter echoing hers.
“I’m gonna get ya, Hatsuko-chan!!”
“Ah! Uncle ‘Tsumu! No fair, you’re old and have longer legs!”
“Old?! I’ll have ya know, I’m in my prime. Yer five, you should have the energy to outrun me!”
Hinata watched them from his place on the bench, trying to keep cool from the summer heat in the shade. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he watched his boyfriend and his niece play together.
If anyone had told Atsumu Miya that he would genuinely enjoy spending his free time with children, he would have sworn profusely at them and laughed them out the door.
Hinata remembered the day Atsumu received the call that he was going to be an uncle. Atsumu had laughed uncontrollably at the “misfortune” that befell his brother and was grateful that he and Hinata would not have this problem. He did not hesitate to tell Osamu this. His twin commented that there was a special place in hell for people that hated children. Hinata had lightly smacked his arm and plucked the phone out of his boyfriend's hand to properly congratulate the father-to-be and his wife.
Atsumu had later explained to him that he did not hate children per se, he just felt indifferent towards them. He had never considered starting a family of his own as part of his life plan. He wasn’t a prude though, he did date occasionally through middle school and high school, but his priority was always volleyball. Girlfriends and boyfriends that had failed to understand that concept were immediately dropped.
He lived and breathed the sport and he thought he would rise to the top with his brother by his side. But Osamu destroyed Atsumu’s carefully laid out plans when he decided that his future did not involve volleyball. He had his own dream to pursue.
Despite being the younger twin, Atsumu had always led the way and Osamu followed. It was only natural that they’d always be together because they shared the same dream. At least that’s what Atsumu had thought at the time.
“Oh no! Where did Hatsuko-chan go?” Atsumu called out for his niece, pretending he did not see her under the slide. “She must have disappeared!”
Hatsuko giggled as she crawled out of her hiding spot. Her black pigtails bounced by her ears as she snuck up behind her uncle to tug on his pant leg before running in the opposite direction. She squealed when Atsumu immediately whirled around to try and catch her.
From his vantage point on his bench, Hinata’s thoughts drifted five years into the past to a hospital room in Hyogo. Osamu and his wife were surrounded by their parents, Atsumu and himself. He remembered the new grandparents fussing over their grandchild, cooing and cradling the babe as they congratulated their children for bringing a beautiful girl into the world. Atsumu had remained off to the side, putting as much distance between himself and the rest of the people in the room. He muttered to Hinata that he did not understand what the huge fuss was about and that he was missing practice for this. They could have just facetimed instead of making them travel all this way. Hinata had had enough of his boyfriend’s complaints and had elbowed him in the ribs for his bad attitude, only smiling when the rest of the room turned their attention to him while Atsumu massaged his side.
The pair of them remained as wallflowers until the new grandparents left the room, Atsumu’s mother kissing both Hinata and her sons goodbye. Osamu approached with the pink bundle in his arms, smirking when he read the panicked expression on his twin's face.
“C’mon ‘Tsumu, say hello to your niece!”
Atsumu’s heart beat wildly, “No way in hell, get away from me! I can see her from here just fine!”
Osamu ignored him and pressed on, gently placing his new-born daughter into her uncle’s vacant arms.
Both Hinata and Osamu laughed at how Atsumu stiffened. He was too afraid to be upset with them. He was afraid of the baby in his arms. Afraid that he would drop and break her. She was such a tiny thing, how could they trust him with such a fragile creature? Toss him a volleyball, fine. But a new-born baby?
The bundle wiggled and Atsumu looked down, surprised to see a pair of soft grey eyes staring up at him.
It’s funny how just one moment can change a person forever.
“She’s looking at me!” He whispered in awe, his initial fear and tension dissipating as he held her closer to his chest.
Atsumu would later admit that it was love at first sight. With that one look, Hatsuko had imprinted herself in his heart and took up the remaining space beside Hinata and his brother.
A warm voice interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. “Whatcha thinking in there, Shouyou?”
Hinata looked up to find Hatsuko nestled in Atsumu’s arms, their expressions identical and heads cocked to the side.
They could pass for father and daughter.
Hinata thought to himself before mentally face-palming, of course they could pass for father and daughter. Her father was Atsumu’s twin brother after all.
“Just daydreaming.” He grinned, “You ready for lunch?”
Atsumu sat on the bench, adjusting Hatsuko so she was seated comfortably on his lap. Hinata’s heart melted when he watched them bicker over the bento box, Hatsuko insisting that she could use the chopsticks and feed herself while Atsumu laughed and pretended he could not hear her, trying to feed her like he had when she was still a toddler.
In the seven years they had been together, Hinata had witnessed Atsumu mature into the smiling man before him. His boyfriend was not without his faults. He knew that. But there was no denying that Atsumu was not the same person he was at seventeen, or when they were reacquainted at twenty-three. Part of it could be attributed to the passage of time and their growth together as a couple, but Hinata felt that Hatsuko had changed him as well.
When Hinata looked up, he found Atsumu staring at him, his chin resting on top of Hatsuko's head. He flashed his boyfriend a lazy smile and reached out to hold his hand in his.
I love you.
Hinata’s breath caught in his throat and he swore he saw his future reflected in Atsumu’s chocolate brown eyes.
I want forever with you.
Osamu steeled himself, prepared to be attacked by his daughter when the door opened. When the tiny tornado did not rush at his knees, he peeked behind the younger male, brows furrowed in confusion when he did not see his daughter anywhere.
“Hatsuko-chan is still sleeping in the bedroom, she exhausted herself at the park with ‘Tsumu.” Hinata explained as he relieved Osamu of the two heaping bags of onigiri, ushering him into the apartment. “‘Tsumu’s napping too.”
Osamu nodded. “S’fine. Not in a rush today.”
Hinata made his way to the kitchen, “You want something to drink?”
Osamu hummed in affirmation, Hinata knew what he liked. As he flopped onto the couch, something caught his eye. He leaned forward and reviewed the images on the laptop, his eyes widened and he smirked.
“Oi, Hinata,” Osamu called, “Why are ya looking at rings?”
There was the unmistakable sound of metal clattering to the ground and rapid approaching footsteps. A whirlwind of orange rushed past him to slam the laptop shut. Hinata turned to look at him, face flushed and mouth gaping as he tried to come up with an answer.
Osamu’s eyes sparkled mischievously, “It looked like mens rings. Why were ya looking at mens rings, Hinata?”
“I--uh--I wanted to get myself a ring?”
Osamu simply quirked an eyebrow at him.
Hinata squirmed under his gaze, clearly caught but too embarrassed to admit it.
“Can I see the ring ya picked out for ‘Tsumu?”
“--ry me?”
Atsumu convinced himself he was dreaming. There was absolutely no way that his boyfriend of seven and a half years was proposing to him on a beach in Brazil at sunset.
There was no way.
“‘Tsumu?”
Hinata was in front of him on bended knee, holding the white gold band, the sunburst diamond winked up at him in the afterglow.
“Huh?”
“I asked you if you would marry me.”
Atsumu swallowed thickly, “We’re on a beach?”
“Yes.”
“In Brazil?”
“Yes.”
“You’re proposing?”
“Yes.”
“To me?”
“Oh my go--yes, ‘Tsumu! Yes, I am proposing to you , Miya Atsumu, and the fact that you still haven’t said yes is slightly concerning!”
Atsumu’s brain finally caught up to the moment and he reached out to pull Hinata up.
“I’m sorry, Shouyou.”
Hinata’s face fell.
“Ahh no, no! Not ‘I’m sorry’ as in ‘no’. I mean the answer is obviously yes, yes I will marry you! I just--I was goin--wow.”
Hinata let out a watery laugh, his eyes shiny from unshed tears. “Then can I put this on you now?”
Atsumu nodded wordlessly, his own eyes misting over as he held out his left hand. His heart fluttered as he watched Hinata carefully slide the ring onto his finger. It fit perfectly. Hinata placed his lips over his knuckle in a gentle kiss just above the band before proceeding to kiss each and every finger on Atsumu’s hand.
Atsumu pressed soft kisses to his forehead, his temple, his cheek, the corner of his lips. Upon hearing Hinata’s giggle, he finally placed their lips together. They had kissed thousands of times over their years together, but this one beautiful moment burned itself into Atsumu’s memory.
Hinata, his partner, his lover, his fiancé.
His fiancé.
Atsumu pulled back and cupped Hinata’s cheek with his free hand, he searched Hinata’s soft brown eyes with his. A new wave of happiness rushed over him and he smiled when he found what he was looking for.
Atsumu had found his forever.