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“Don’t go no higher than any of the clouds or you’ll freeze up and die.”
That is what Osamu had told him, more than once actually. He said it soon as they had started on their precarious plan for freedom. He said it again when they finally got the consistency for the wax correct. And he said it when he let him take out the first draft.
It took them six weeks, four days, and two hours to create the first prototype set of wings. They were burnt orange and clacked loudly when they hit the floor of the metal workshop.
“You remember how to steer right?”
“Yes, ‘Samu” he replied, irritation growing in his voice. His feet bounced on the ground as he waited for his brother to finish attaching the wings. He was starved to finally see the outside world again. To feel the sun on his back and gaze at the colors of the outside world.
“And no matter what-”
“Don’t go no higher than the clouds, I got it, I got it jeez. Are you done yet?” He reached his hand over his shoulder to touch where the wax should be connected to the leather strips that marked an “X” over his chest. His fingers were met with a coarse and sticky texture that made him retract his finger immediately.
“Stop fucking touching it, ya bastard, it needs ta dry!” Osamu said as he stuck on more feathers to cover-up the impression his fingers had made.
A few seconds passed before he decided to speak up again.“Are you done yet?”
“Miya Atsumu I will burn these wings myself if you don’t stop talking for five minutes.” Osamu threatened.
“Okay, okay I get it,” Atsumu said, throwing up his hands in defeat and thus furthering the things Osamu needed to fix and the timing for how the wax would dry.
Fifteen minutes later Atsumu stood on the ledge of their workshop tower that the wretched king had imprisoned then on. “Repeat it back to me,” Osamu said.
“Don’t go no higher than any of the clouds or you’ll freeze up and die.”
“Good” The younger brother smiled, “And don’t forget these are just the prototype, fly for about five minutes and then come back so we can improve”
“Yea I know”
“Good”
And suddenly he was careening down and the wind whipped wildly against his face. It took him three seconds before he had stabilized himself and began to hover in the air.
The first realization he had was the smell. Long gone was the stench of various gas or burning flesh (melting wax was hard, okay, a couple of fingers had to be sacrificed). He inhaled deeply and his senses were rocked with the aura of jasmine and rain. Only then he had yet to realize his eyes were still closed. Slowly peeling his eyes open as if not to be blinded by the intense light that surrounded him. The stark contrast to inside being inside the tower hit him like a bus. Blinking his eyes he peered through his long eyelashes to check his surroundings.
Beneath him, the deep, sparkling blue sea looked back, and above were clouds and the- the sun.
“ Pretty ” he mumbled.
“HEY ‘TSUMU! ARE YA GONNA KEEP DAYDREAMIN’ OR ACTUALLY START MOVING BEFORE THE WINGS GIVE OUT!”
Oh, right, he had a job to do.
Atsumu flapped his wings to bring him higher and glazed back up at the sun, curious to see if it could look even prettier closer up. He made two powerful wing strokes, greedy for more and he would have taken a third if it weren’t for a tug at his right leg.
He looked down to see that a brown rope had been attached to his leg and led back into the tower. His mind briefly twisted in confusion but the rope tugged again and he was pulled straight into the metal workshop. “‘Samu what th-”
“WHAT WAS THE ONE THING I TOLD YOU TO DO”
“They’re just so pretty” Atsumu murmured, having not heard his brother at all.
“What?”
“The sun” he repeated, “Its, they’re just so damn pretty”
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“Oi Hinata stay on course!” a voice calls, jumping him out of his thoughts.
“It was a human ” he mumbled to himself.
“God of Light! Hello are you in there”
“ What Tsukkishima”
“You just scorched four of separate fields, Yachi’s gonna be pissed at you”
“What!”
“Look at how close you are to Earth, dumbass”
Hinata looked over the side of his chariot and almost fell over with shock. He had some drifted dangerously close, close enough to touch the clouds if he so wished. He tugged on the reins and quickly brought himself back up to the apex of the sky.
“You’re lucky I was near one of the fields you scorched and could get to you in time, what were you looking at anyway,” he asked.
“There was a human with wings like Pegasus,” Hinata said, still looking below him in hopes of seeing them again.
“Unless the grand king had been fucking around more than normal I highly doubt that”
“But I sa-“
“Just focus on your job so you don’t get in trouble again , Hinata”
“Whatever”
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Ten days had passed since their very first test run of the wings. Nine days had passed since Osamu had given up on lecturing Atsumu about how irresponsible it was of him to fly that far up. And eight days had passed since Atsumu had begun using what leftover oil, paper, and scraps that had been lying around to produce a drawing of what he saw through the clouds. The Sun . A God . The Sun God .
Osamu thought he was out-of-his-mind, crazy, and completely looney. Atsumu thought this burning in his chest and thumping of his heart of love.
“What you have is a fever”
“I ain’t got no fever ‘Samu”
“You probably got it from flyin’ too high, like I told you not too ”
“You’re just jealous of me”
“And you’re just a greedy idiot. Now get them thoughts outta your head ‘cause tomorrows the day” he said, locking his brother in a heated glare.
“Really?” Atsumu replied, excitement creeping through his spine.
He barely even had a chance to get his excitement out before Osamu grabbed the neckline of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. “Don’t even think about it ‘Tsumu. You will die if you get too close, can you even get that through your thick skull?? You will die”
Atsumu almost wilted under his brother’s harsh touch but glared back at him, “Ya know how we said the sky would be freezing?”
“What” Osamu growled.
“We said the sky would be cold, I mean turn your lips blue, and chop your dick off, cold.” He pushed his brother off of himself, “The tallest mountains in the world have ice at the top, so why wouldn’t everything else be cold too?” Atsumu continued backing his brother into a corner.
“Wh-what does this have to do with an-”
Atsumu grabbed his brother’s shoulders, stopping him in his place, “Do you know how incredibly warm it felt to be near his heat?”
Osamu looked at his brother for what felt like hours before replacing the sensation of fear that had been growing in the pit of his stomach with one of resolve. “Do realize how far away from the sun you were?” He said in a mocking tone. “How “ warm ” do you think it will be if you get closer?”
Atsumu was at a loss for words. He knew exactly what came next.
“If you go any higher than the clouds you burn up and die ” He shook himself free of his brother's grasp. “This was supposed to be a happy day. We’re finally leaving tomorrow where we’ll be free . Why can’t you just let this go? Get them thoughts outta your head and get some sleep, your god doesn’t even know you exist but I have an actual family down there waiting for me.... it wouldn’t be complete if you weren’t there”. And with that, he gave his brother a soft punch to the chest and left without a word.
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“What’s all this about a birdman, Hinata”
“It’s not a bird man” Hinata whined before smiling and the rest of them. “It was a man with the wings of Pegasus”
“Was he hot at least?”
“Suga!”
“What! It’s not only Yachi whos field you ruined, you also roasted an entire heard of my cattle”
“Aughh fine, yes he was really really pretty”
“Pretty enough for you to burn shit up that sounds dangerous,” He said sitting down next to Sugawara. Tonight they had a feast for all twelve Olympic gods. Even the god of the dead had been invited.
“Tanaka, stop making fun of meee”
“In all seriousness tho, if you need help to handle your mortal, just ask, dumbass”
“What do you mean Kageyama”
“Have you forgotten you’ve only seen him as the fucking sun? In that form, you would burn him just by being anywhere near him”
“But-”
“I suggest giving him away”
“Kageyama, stop it!” Suga said, cutting in.
“Releasing him to Sakusa and his ocean waters would be kinder t-”
“Kageyama!” Suga called again
Kageyama looked back up from his food to see that the god of light had frozen and looked dangerously close to tears.
“I really liked this one Kags, ya know he prays to me every day and even tries to depict me on to paper.” He set his plate down and stood up, “I just wanted this one mortal, why couldn’t you let me have him,” he uttered softly before leaving the circle of gods.
“Was it something I said?”
Sakusa slapped the back of Kageyama’s head “Are you really that stupid?”
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“Are you ready”
Atsumu looked to his brother. Today’s the day. Each of them were strapped to wings and layered in wax and rope. Atsumus wings gleamed bronze in the afternoon light and Osamu’s silver. “Ready,” he said, sure of his dangerous plan to once again meet the God of Light.
The dove together off the tower and plunged into the air. Atsumu relished in the same refreshing breeze he had felt last time. He gave his wing a large flap and followed after his brother.
Minuted passed as Atsumu waited for the tenseness to fall from his brother’s shoulders. Once it did he began to slowly untie the rope that attaches the two. Funny enough, though the wind had done nothing to help him untie the rope it most definitely helped distract Osamu from looking for him.
And for that Atsumu was grateful. He flew up and towards the clouds. The air burned his neck shoulders and back but he ignored that and instead pushed even further. He would find his god even if it meant flying higher. This was his last and only chance.
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“I’m coming again tomorrow”
That’s what he had said in his prayer yesterday right?
The day was almost over yet the mortal had yet to make an appearance. Maybe Hinata should be happy that he failed to fly. He should be grateful that his choice was postponed and that he would be able to continue to hear the mortal voice through prayer. He sighed at the thought, a few more hours and day would come to a close and he would hear the mortals prayers again. The memory of his voice seemed to coarse through his body “ The Sun God, God of Light!”
Wait.
Hinata opened his eyes in fear and looked around him. No. No no no no no. No . His eyes welled up in tears and he could believe it. His mortal had come for him, just as he said he would
The mortal looked beyond himself in glee but that was the only joyful part. His outstretched arms were red and boil had begun to pop up. Boiling wax streamed down his chest left scorching marks across his legs. The once glorious wing that had gotten him this far were nubs compared to the Pegasus he had been compared to and continued to chip away as he made his final push towards the chariot.
Hinata reached out and grabbed the human in his arms pulling him into a hug, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Gomen'nasai ”. He brought his face back to be level with his own giving him a chaste yet burning kiss before dropping the mortal back to the ocean with a look of confusion as he plunged into the sea.
And the god of light, still atop his mighty Sun Chariot wept .
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Atsumu was confused.
Why do you weep for me, God of Light? Why are you sorry? Why did you let me fall?
He did not notice marks on his arms, legs, or chest.
Nor did he realize the phrase “melt into his touch” had become a literal one as the ocean rose to take him in.