Work Text:
Kiyoomi sits in the chaise lounge in the tiny living room of his equally tiny apartment that he shares with his best friend. The television is buzzing softly with some game show, his roommate is in the kitchen brewing tea, and his phone rests on his lap with a dating app open.
On the main screen is a picture of an attractive blonde, a smirk on his lips that tells Kiyoomi that he's up to no good, and a toned torso that tells him he is definitely up to no good.
Kiyoomi frowns.
He picks up the phone and scrolls through the profile.
Miya Atsumu. 22. Student volleyball player .
Interests: dogs, the countryside, tall pouty guys and gals who can make me feel something other than stressed
(Kiyoomi rolls his eyes at that as he continues to scroll)
Dislikes: waking up early, my twin brother and his gross boyfriend
My biggest date fail: Ok not my fault but I went on a date with this girl who was really cool until she started doing Chuckie impersonations and honestly I chickened out and left in the middle of the meal (sorry if you find me here)
"What are you doing?"
Kiyoomi starts, jumping in his seat as he quickly makes moves to lock his phone. He looks up to see his roommate and best friend, Shimizu Kiyoko, looming over him on the lounge, two cups of tea in her hands.
She places one cup on the kotatsu, where their other best friend Yachi Hitoka sits and focuses on her schoolwork, before handing the other cup to Kiyoomi.
Kiyoomi takes the cup with both hands, handling it with care.
Ever so brilliant, Kiyoko takes the opportunity to snatch Kiyoomi's phone where it had fallen on his chest, and quickly types in his passcode (2003 -- she's made it a point that choosing your birthday was a terrible passcode) to see where he left off on the dating app.
Kiyoomi had subconsciously opened up the photos, which are now presented in a formulaic layout, with the original photo in the top left corner. Kiyoko glances down at Kiyoomi with a raised eyebrow as the curly haired male flushes, taking a sip of his hot tea.
"What's this?" she grins. At that, Hitoka glances up from her assignment, her eyes twinkling with knowing mischief.
Kiyoko forces him to sit up and scoot over, pulling the phone to her face as Hitoka joins them on the other side of Kiyoko.
"Guys," Kiyoomi grumbles, trying to snatch the phone back from Kiyoko but the threat of hot liquid spilling over his skin seemed none too wise.
"Oh, I remember him!" Hitoka perks up as she leans over Kiyoko's shoulder. "He's cute. He's got a twin, too. If I were straight, I'd probably swipe right."
"Hm," Kiyoko nods. "I remember him from high school. A little too cocky for my taste."
"You're dating Tanaka," Kiyoomi deadpans, as if her own boyfriend wasn't as obnoxious as Miya Atsumu seemed to be, but she waves him off dismissively.
Kiyoko clicks on the next photo as Kiyoomi joins Hitoka by peering over Kiyoko's opposite shoulder.
The image loads and presents the one Miya Atsumu with his identical twin, save for the different hair color. They have their arms over each others' shoulders, a golden lab settled between their legs. Miya Atsumu has his tongue hanging out, and Kiyoomi can't help that he looks exactly like the dog.
"Oh, they're both pretty," Hitoka breaths as Kiyoko hums in confirmation. Kiyoomi takes another sip of his tea to avoid verbalizing any embarrassing agreement.
The next photo is of Miya Atsumu by himself. At a beach. Tan.
Kiyoomi resists the urge to bathe himself in the hot liquid sitting in his cup. Not that it would help, he already feels like he'se on fire.
The final photo is an image of the blonde posing with a skeleton, the caption reading: "My best friend in anatomy and physio -- Sally the Skeleton."
Kiyoomi's eye twitches.
"You're interested," Kiyoko says playfully. She looks like she's going to hand over the phone to him, but holds onto it instead.
Making sure to exit the photos without directly tampering with his current potential prosper, Kiyoko clicks on Kiyoomi's profile.
"What are you doing?" he chokes.
"Oh, this won't do..." she mumbles, staring at Kiyoomi's main photo -- the primary photo that appears when he shows up on someone's dating app.
It's not a bad photo, he thinks. But he had downloaded the app ages ago and made his profile as a lazy attempt to appear appealing. It's not like he had been looking for a legitimate relationship -- and that's certainly not why he wanted to use it, especially not during college. He was focused on his studies, he told himself. But that didn't mean he couldn't have fun once in a while.
It was a mirror selfie he had taken before a night into town with Kiyoko and Hitoka -- a clear reflection of Kiyoomi standing tall in a black turtleneck and tapered plaid pants, his hair neatly parted to the side.
He had two other photos on his page: A candid Kiyoko had taken at the shrine last New Years, where Kiyoomi was looking into the distance "like the broody star of that new K-drama on Netflix," and another of him squished between Hitoka and his cousin Motoya at a volleyball game, all three decked in MSBY Black Jackals colors.
He watches as Kiyoko changes the primary photo to the candid, before she proceeds to open up his gallery. Kiyoomi almost lets her before he remembers the types of photos he has in his gallery.
"Wait --"
"Oh!" Hitoka gasps.
"Hm."
There's silence for a moment as Kiyoomi sputters, the three of them staring at the plethora of kitten images and a single dick picture in the middle.
"Can we exit out of that? Why are we editing my profile?"
Kiyoko sighs before exiting from the gallery, shaking her head as if trying to erase the image of the lone nude surrounded by the many kitten pictures from her head.
"It's a nice penis," Hitoka tries, and even she blushes profusely at the insinuation.
"If you're trying to get laid, this profile won't cut it," Kiyoko continues.
"What do you know about dating apps? You have a boyfriend," Kiyoomi stresses as he puts his cup of tea on the kotatsu and makes a move to grab his phone. But Kiyoko's much too quick, and to be fair, part of Kiyoomi is curious. What would make him appealing?
"I got Hitoka that date with the girl from her visual arts class."
"And how well did that go?" Kiyoomi counters before turning to Hitoka. "No offense, Yacchan."
Hitoka waves her hand, but her face stays pink, clearly remembering that god-awful date with her classmate.
He sees Kiyoko start to type and Kiyoomi leans forward again.
"What are you doing now?"
"Likes: deep conversations and volleyballs.' You sound so..."
"Adult," Hitoka squeawks.
They watch as Kiyoko changes his response to "umeboshi and quiet nights in." She's not wrong, and if someone knows him better than himself (besides Motoya), it's definitely Kiyoko.
He lets her adjust his profile as she sees fit, trusting her romantic judgment. Fifteen quiet minutes pass as she types and erases under Hitoka's suggestions and Kiyoomi's ignored rebuttals.
When she returns to the main screen, Miya Atsumu's profile stares back at them yet again.
"Are we interested?" Kiyoko asks, passing the phone back to its rightful owner.
"I don't know... He's in my anatomy and physiology class," he mumbles, remembering the photo of Sally the Skeleton.
"Do it! That's the perfect icebreaker," Hitoka encouarges.
"If we match..." He stares at that dumb smirk and the shitty dye job, and he instantly remembers all the times his eyes drifted to the handsome classmate across the room, the reason for his messed up notes and As-turned-Bs because he couldn't be bothered to listen to the professor when he'd rather watch Miya Atsumu smile at something on his phone.
Kiyoomi's thumb moves before he even realizes he's swiping right.
"Fuck." He drops his phone on his lap when he realizes what he's done, his palms rubbing over his face exhaustedly.
Kiyoomi feels the chair shift as Kiyoko and Hitoka lean over, then hears Kiyoko's soft gasp, and then Hitoka, "it's a match!"
When Kiyoomi looks down, he sees his tiny profile picture beside Miya Atsumu's, a small heart connecting the two.
MATCHED is written in bright yellow.
It's a match. They matched.
Sakusa Kiyoomi matched with Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu swiped right on Sakusa Kiyoomi.
He swiped right before Kiyoomi swiped right on him.
Internal panic sets in before realization. And then --
"You changed my entire profile."
"Yes..." Kiyoko trails off. "I realize that."
"You changed it for this one guy."
Kiyoko opens her mouth, but then shuts it and nods. "I mean, not necessarily for this one guy, but for all guys on the app."
"You saw my dick."
"Yes, well it's not like I haven't seen it before." Hitoka jumps at that before recalling the story of Kiyoomi getting so drunk one evening during his first year that he threw up in the toilet and was forced into the shower by Kiyoko, a day that had ascended their relationship to Best Friendship.
He's so deep in his thoughts, bouncing between this "Best Friendship" and how to approach Miya Atsumu on a dating app that he almost doesn't feel his phone vibrate.
When he looks down at his phone, he has a message from the man himself.
At this point, Kiyoomi isn't sure whether he wants to scream, jump, or die. He does a bit of everything.
"What does it say?" Hitoka asks.
Kiyoomi exhales his nerves before opening the message.
Atsumu: Kiyoomi-kun! Yer in my a and p class right?
Kiyoomi: Hey. Yeah, I think so.
Atsumu: Cool!
Atsumu: What do ya think of the class so far?
Kiyoomi is hyper-aware of his friends' eyes trained on the screen, aware of the beating deep in his chest as he types his response.
Kiyoomi: It's alright. Trying to study for the upcoming exam has been tough, though.
Atsumu: Hmm...
Atsumu: Well, we could always study together.
Atsumu: I'd love to give ya a lesson in anatomy any time.
Atsumu: And I know I'd love to study yours.
If Kiyoomi wasn't on fire before, he definitely was now.