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The first time Osamu met Akaashi was at an MSBY after party. The small city apartment was jam-packed and honestly, Osamu was kind of worried it was a fire hazard. Knowing his brother and his rambunctious teammates, things could go south real quick and given the fact it was a birthday party, those candles could do more harm than good.
Osamu tended to skirt around the edges of the party, making chit chat with a stranger here and there, stationed in a spot where he could keep an eye on the tray of onigiri he provided. It never usually showed on his face, but he enjoyed seeing the joy that the fruits of his labor brought. One particularly pretty spectacled man had returned to the tray several times, clearly enjoying the spicy tuna onigiri. He seemed to always have a craft beer in one hand and an onigiri in the other, normally close to Bokuto’s side, who he seemed rather close to.
As the night progressed, the other man seemed to live rent-free in Osamu’s peripheral vision. Wherever he looked the pretty man was somehow in his field of vision, Osamu was unsure if it was just a coincidence or if the other man’s beauty was really just that captivating.
As the night continued, partygoers continued to trickle out of the apartment in varying states of sobriety, some opting to go straight home, others raring to start their long night of partying, headed to the clubs. Osamu continued to hang around, checking his phone and entertaining whoever made their way over to the kitchen’s bar, though most of his night was spent watching his brother interacting with his boyfriends.
Atsumu had been absolutely head over heels for Hinata since their fated meeting during the Spring Volleyball Tournament in high school, which oftentimes left Osamu confused on where Sakusa fit into the whole picture. Nevertheless, the trio had been going strong for the better part of the year and there seemed to never be a dull moment between the three and things seemed especially entertaining when they teased his brother.
At one point that night the trio found themselves wrapped around Osamu with Hinata showing him a new promotional video for the deodorant line he had just signed with. Ever since joining MSBY, it seemed as if Hinata had deals rolling in left and right, each one more iconic than the last, from what he could tell over Instagram.
Amidst Hinata enthusiastically showing Osamu another promotional video, the onigiri-obsessed man from before had drifted to the other side of the room, in close succession to Bokuto, his face slightly red from the alcohol, which somehow made the dark green of his eyes pop under the kitchen light. Bokuto hovered around Osamu, trying to get a better look at Hinata’s phone, to which Osamu slightly shifted to the right, which allowed him to get a better view, putting him closer to Bokuto’s friend. Bokuto exclaimed praises as he looked at Hinata’s phone, giving him a celebratory pat on the head.
Osamu chuckled.
“Imagine getting paid for being cute,” he wondered out loud, not fully realizing he had just vocalized it.
He only realized when he saw the other man’s eyes on him, analytical in nature, seeming to size him up, but in a non-threatening way. The other man, simply taking in the view, likely deciding if he should respond or just pretend he didn’t hear anything. Osamu figured it might be too late for the latter, as the other man was clearly checking him out (or at least in Osamu’s wishful thinking he was - he very much would’ve liked that).
“Then you’d be rich,” the other man commented in a soft voice, but it probably wasn’t that he was soft-spoken, rather he spoke in a normal tone of voice compared to the three obnoxious volleyball players, normally in his vicinity (he really wasn’t sure how Sakusa put up with all of them).
Upon hearing the response, Osamu felt himself blush, and it had to have been very obvious to the other man, as Osamu barely had any alcohol in his system - not that the other man had to know that.
“I- I, uhm, aha.” Osamu blushed again, still a little shaken from such a brazen comment. Though it was bold in nature, it was not often Osamu received compliments of this caliber, especially from pretty men that had an affliction from onigiri - they normally came from Kita’s grandmother and her friends every time they decided to spend their afternoons in his shop.
Before Osamu could form a coherent thought, Atsumu had fully draped himself over his shoulders, whining something about how he was tired and needed his brave and sober brother to rescue him. Osamu shook him off and flicked his forehead, warranting another whiny exclamation from his brother and a kiss where Osamu had flicked him from Hinata. His brother was truly insufferable.
Osamu had been grounded by his brother, his wits gathered and when he turned to respond to the other man, he was no longer by his right side, and upon looking around (not frantically though, no Osamu was not desperate to look into those shining dark green eyes), he spotted the other man, onigiri in hand, close to the door with Bokuto leading the charge.
He smiled at Osamu and waved, bringing his fingers into his palm, twice, cute and quick. Osamu was ripped from his trance as Bokuto called out to the other man and he followed, but not before making eye contact again.
When the door closed, Osamu finally blinked again, maybe he was processing it, maybe he wasn’t, but he was pretty sure he’d just seen the love of his life. He was really glad that Bokuto had called out the other man’s name upon their departure because if he had to ask Atsumu, he’d never hear the end of it.
Akaashi was his name. And now Osamu had a name, a mutual friend, and a big fat crush.
Yeah. Atsumu would never let him hear the end of this one.
~~~
The second time Akaashi encountered Osamu was as random as the first.
Akaashi had been living in his new apartment for less than a week when he began being ripped from his sleep by an unbearably loud alarm tone. It would always happen around 2 or 3 am and followed by his neighbor screaming at someone.
Maybe it was him cursing himself because who would want to set an alarm for that time - Akaashi hadn’t done that since college, when he had long nights, sparse of rest, just hoping to get in fifteen minutes of sleep amidst a long night of studying.
Akaashi understood that people needed alarms to wake up, heck if he didn’t have his he would almost always be late for work, not that Udai would mind, but for his own personal pleasure, he preferred to work as much as he could during the day so he could take his nights off.
Though this didn’t happen often, one night, Akaashi did catch himself very behind, a deadline quickly approaching, his brain fried, very close to wits end, and any distraction could send him spiraling for the rest of the night, he was in a very fragile state. Bokuto had dropped by earlier to check on him, bringing coffee and sustenance for the rest of the night. He was always being lectured by Bokuto for not keeping his health in check and not getting enough rest - normally that was Akaashi’s job to remind Bokuto, but when deadlines bore down on him, their roles easily swapped.
After Bokuto had left, the night continued, Akaashi having only reached the outlines for some parts of the plot. There was so much more he wanted to convey in this chapter, but it was looking like his readers would have to wait until next time and he’d have to work extra hard to make sure the following update was everything they’d anticipated.
Deep in concentration, Akaashi was rocked from his zombie-like state by the loud ringing of an alarm. Akaashi, overcome with rage, tried to concentrate again, but much to his chagrin, the alarm sounded off again, completely obliterating his train of thought for the next twenty minutes.
In a fit of rage, Akaashi stood up and made his way toward his neighbors, he was going to get to the bottom of this alarm at 3 am nonsense, it disturbed the general peace of the complex, and Akaashi, for one, was not afraid to speak his mind. The walls and floors were remarkably thin in this apartment complex, so whoever lived above and below his neighbor had to have been equally as annoyed. This way, by talking to his neighbor, he could do other residents a solid. It’s a win-win situation, Akaashi rationalized as he threw on his bathrobe. It was the one he received from Bokuto for his birthday, black with a corny-looking owl pattern all over it. Just like Bokuto, Akaashi also enjoyed owls and found it quite hilarious when receiving the gift with matching slippers.
Akaashi trudged over to his neighbor’s door, more alert than ever that he was about to confront someone at 3 am. Maybe he should just leave a note instead - something a bit more passive-aggressive, maybe there was no need for any kind of big confrontation. He could stop by again in the morning he pondered, as he stared at the door.
Just as he was about to knock, the door flew open, and out emerged his neighbor, the familiar gray eyes meeting his in shock. Akaashi took a step back and crossed his arms to his chest, giving his neighbor some space.
Akaashi’s breath was almost knocked out of him seeing those same gray eyes from two months prior. In front of him stood Miya’s brother - Osamu - if he remembered correctly. Osamu blinked at him in disbelief - at least that’s what emotion read on his face to Akaashi. Akaashi was also a little taken aback, the last person he expected to see was the man he had intentionally flirted with at a random MSBY party.
Akaashi had a bad habit - and that took the form of flirting with guys once or twice at parties, then never seeing them again. However, he had expected to see Osamu again. He knew that he normally frequented the MSBY parties, likely at the invitation of his brother and he did know that the onigiri was normally catered by him. Akaashi had hatched a silly plan on the night of their fated meeting - do his little flirt thing, get Miya Osamu wrapped around his finger, then get free onigiri for life. It was a silly little joke he had made to Konoha, but then ended up actually executing that night, though Osamu was definitely not wrapped around his finger and Akaashi was definitely not getting free onigiri for life.
Akaashi had pretty much left the whole idea of Osamu and free onigiri behind - after all, it was just some joke he had come up with in his spare time, but upon seeing those gray eyes, the cool calm expression that grace his eyes at 3 am, Akaashi couldn’t help but admit that maybe Osamu was the one that had him enraptured and not the other way around. This brother was a lot harder to read than the other, Atsumu always so expressive in his wants and needs, but maybe that was because he always observed him being extra vulnerable because of the presence of his boyfriends.
Osamu spoke up first.
“Akaashi? Are you okay?”
It was funny how Osamu remembered his name - Akaashi was pretty sure they’d never been formally introduced. He smiled at the thought in his mind, not particularly realizing the smile showed on his face as well. Osamu stared back at him for a few seconds, and Akaashi quickly realized, oh god, he was being weird, say nothing at Miya Osamu’s door at 3 am.
“Yes! Yes, I’m okay.” Akaashi quickly recovered. “I live next door,” he motioned to his apartment door, as he saw the gears beginning to turn in Osamu’s head.
“Oh, oh, I see, is this about-”
“The alarm.” They both said at the same time. They stared back at each other for a second before sharing a little laugh.
“Look, I’m really sorry about that, but Atsumu always ends up calling me at ungodly hours asking for god knows what. It also kind of lines up with my personal schedule, the shop has me coming and going at pretty insane hours.”
Akaashi nodded. He understood what insane hours looked like. Now that he knew his neighbor was none other than Miya Osamu, he was going to take the alarm noise with a lot more grace - maybe it would be okay, you know, he could work around it. It wasn’t too bothersome, and these days, Akaashi did find himself up later working up until the deadline.
“Hey, so I’m going up to the rooftop for a little bit… I know it’s late, but maybe you could join me? I still have a couple of hours before my rice shipment comes in so…” Osamu seemed to skirt around the invitation, obviously pretty nervous that he was propositioning Akaashi to spend time with him, a near stranger.
Akaashi considered it for a moment, he was definitely doing a lot more thinking than talking in this conversation. Hopefully he wasn’t also going through a face journey, though he was pretty sure he had a good poker-face. He did have his deadline quickly approaching, but something was alluring about spending time with Osamu on the rooftop of their apartment building at 3 am. They could talk and actually get to know each other - maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having a little breather - he could use the break to recollect his inspiration and then make some coffee and slam out the remainder of his draft.
“Sure. I’ve never been to the rooftop before.”
Osamu smiled, fixed his hat, and locked his apartment.
~~~
The following times they met - Akaashi couldn’t keep track of how often anymore - Osamu brought a smile to his face each and every time. The pair enjoyed eating out a lot. Osamu always had some new recommendations and the promise of a free meal from a fellow restaurant owner - the perks of Osamu having made good relations with other business owners.
Though they had met countless times since they discovered they were neighbors, though they had spent countless nights on the rooftop together, countless meals after work, countless hours of Akaashi camped out in Onigiri Miya (that one was probably his biggest mistake - the merciless teasing from the MSBY members that frequented the restaurant far too often), the two had never officially gone on a date.
It was quite obvious to the both of them that there was a mutual attraction - hell if Akaashi joining Osamu on the roof at 3 am wasn’t a clear enough sign their relationship would be doomed by miscommunication. Alas, the two were on the same page - from the endless compliments from Osamu on Akaashi’s outfits, the free onigiri every time he visited to the nights when Akaashi couldn’t sleep and his thoughts were consumed with Osamu and then eventually his personal space as well, as the two shared a blanket and watched the sunrise from their rooftop.
Their first date had been pretty uneventful, but not in a bad way. Going out for a nice dinner really offered both of them a chance to dress a little bit nicer than normal and though both of them were nervous for no reason, the other didn’t seem to notice, their dinner delicious and the gelato they got after even tastier.
The pair spent the rest of the night walking around the city, their hearts guiding them wherever they pleased, the night ending when they finally arrived back to their apartment complex.
Upon arrival at Osamu's door, they both looked at each other expectantly, unsure what would come next, but sure as ever about what they wanted.
Osamu took Akaashi’s hand and smiled, as he raised it to his mouth, a gentle kiss, his other hand coming up to Akaashi’s shoulder, rubbing his thumb on the other’s soft cardigan.
“I had an amazing night, Akaashi-” and before Osamu could finish, Akaashi cupped his cheek and pulled him in for a kiss, their first kiss and it’s almost as if fireworks set off as their lips collided, expect the sound the hit their ears weren’t actually fireworks, but the sound of Osamu’s phone ringing.
Akaashi pulled away and laughed and after silencing his phone, Osamu pulled him back in for another kiss, this one deeper, his hand steadying Akaashi at the waist as he pushed their bodies together for a full embrace.
After quite a few seconds, Osamu let Akaashi pull away and they shared a smile, and then a laugh as Osamu’s phone rang again.
(Later that night, Osamu chewed out Atsumu for almost ruining the moment twice - Atsumu claimed he was just being a good brother by checking in with him on the status of his date - Osamu wasn’t having it at all).