Work Text:
Sakusa detests public transport - the people, the bacteria covering every seat and pole, the unpredictability, everything. He's had bad experiences on trains, strangers bumping into him accidentally and anxiety held in till his stop arrives and he bursts out onto the platform. But with the distance of the gym from their dorms, taking the train is unavoidable. Taking a taxi everyday would burn a hole in his bank account. So he musters up the courage to take the train every day and is proud of himself for that.
Atsumu had moved back when he joined the Black Jackals. When the setter had found out that he took the same line, he made sure to leave at the same time as Sakusa after every practice, begged Sakusa to wait for him after extra drills, seamlessly integrated himself into Sakusa's routine.
Having Atsumu next to him on the train made things better. It was like Atsumu made it a point every time it got particularly crowded to act as a shield between Sakusa and other people. He appreciates it more than he'd like to admit. Atsumu lives three stops before him, and usually he likes to wave to Sakusa way-too-enthusiastically in front of watching strangers until the doors close and the train pulls away from the platform. But this evening, when the doors open at his stop, Atsumu doesn't move a step. Sakusa stares at him quizzically until the doors close and the train starts to move again. "You missed your stop," he points out.
"I know," Atsumu replies.
"Why?"
Atsumu shrugs. "Ya seemed fidgety today."
Sakusa blanches. He didn't think someone actually noticed. He had woken up feeling off, skin tight and itchy, and chalked it off as another one of those days. It dulled a little throughout practice as he got into the momentum of the game, but it never completely disappeared. The commute today had been less tolerable than usual, and Atsumu was offering to accompany him his whole ride because he had noticed. Sakusa looks down at his shoes. "You didn't have to," he murmurs.
"I wanted to," Atsumu says. At the lack of reply, he tilts his head down to enter Sakusa's line of sight. "Is that okay with ya?"
Sakusa sighs. "But you'll have to take the train back."
"That's no problem," Atsumu says with a smile on his face.
Suddenly the train lurches forward and Sakusa, who isn't holding on to anything, stumbles. Atsumu, with his fast reflexes, catches him before he can bump into anything. Arms brace him by the back solidly and Sakusa's breath catches. He quickly pulls himself off, pretends he isn't flustered by the unexpected touch. "Sorry, I'll balance better," he says, widening his stance.
"Ya can hold on to me," Atsumu offers. He grabs hold of a pole and glances at his arm.
Sakusa hesitates. Then he cautiously wraps his fingers around Atsumu's wrist, tries not to think about how unnecessary the action is since they're nearing his stop anyway.
Atsumu grins. "Can't have our ace gettin' injured now, can we?"
Sakusa rolls his eyes. "I'm not the ace."
"Uh huh," Atsumu drawls sarcastically.
"I'm not," Sakusa repeats.
"Our team has multiple aces," Atsumu points at him, "and yer one of them."
"That's," Sakusa stifles a smile, "not how aces work."
Atsumu is gripping the pole like it's his job and the sight of it makes Sakusa slightly amused, so he doesn't let go of his wrist either. When the train finally reaches his stop, they both alight, and Sakusa has an appreciative smile behind his mask. "Thanks, only you would choose to stay on the train for longer than necessary."
Atsumu beams at him. "It's not boring if yer accompanyin' me," he says. The train going in the opposite direction starts to approach on the other side of the platform. "Don't miss me too hard tonight?"
Sakusa lets out a short laugh. "I'll try my best." Then he takes out his bottle of hand sanitizer. Like clockwork, Atsumu holds out his hands in expectation, and receives a few drops of sanitizer in the middle of his palm which he rubs around thoroughly. "Okay," Sakusa nods in satisfaction, "see you tomorrow." Atsumu runs and slides into the train carriage just before the doors close, waves to him as the train pulls away like usual, and Sakusa walks home thinking about a certain pair of strong arms against his lower back.