Work Text:
Atsumu swears that Yumi is a good kid. She never fights with other kids at the park, and eats all her veggies. She hasn't even pulled her first prank yet; definitely a far cry from Atsumu and Osamu at that age.
And yet he finds himself pacing outside her empty kindergarten classroom on a Friday afternoon, wondering what her teacher's call last night had meant.
Atsumu's brows are furrowed in thought over what his daughter could have done to prompt her teacher to ask Atsumu to meet him, "to discuss something about Yumi," apparently. He frowns, he cannot recall any telltale signs of her growing into his or Osamu's mischievous habits.
A creak of a door breaks Atsumu out of his thoughts. He looks up, only for a blur of orange to crash into him.
Atsumu yelps, toppling over, as the person who had rushed into him shrieks, alarmed and high pitched, tumbling down along with Atsumu.
His vision swims with orange when he opens his eyes, groaning, taking in the head of unruly orange curls nestled against his chest. Disoriented and confused, Atsumu just lies there, his dizzy head plagued by a sudden urge to run his fingers through those orange strands, wondering if they were really as soft as they looked. He really hopes he does not have a concussion.
A little whimper escapes the body lying atop Atsumu's, and suddenly the head of orange curls jerks up, legs still tangled up with Atsumu's on the wooden floorboards.
Atsumu holds his breath. Beautiful amber eyes pore into his, startled, and he takes in freckles dotted about like constellations across pale skin, pretty heart-shaped lips widened in a little "o".
And then the pretty redhead is scrambling up and off Atsumu, a thousand apologies rolling off his tongue as he very violently but very cutely gesticulates every word.
Still in a daze over the close-up of that beautiful face, Atsumu does not hear a word of what the guy is rambling off about, but god, is his voice as pretty as his face.
"Are you Yumi's father?"
Atsumu snaps up his head at the mention of his daughter's name, getting off the floor so fast that the cute guy has to reach out to steady him, his little hands clutching onto Atsumu's much larger arms.
"I'm Hinata Shouyou, we talked yesterday!" Atsumu is met with a beaming smile that could rival the sun.
For a moment, Atsumu just stands there, starstruck by that smile, trying to process the new information that this adorable man was actually Yumi's teacher who had called him down here to talk. He had definitely not imagined Hinata Shouyou from last night's call to be this cute.
"Um, are you not?" Shouyou pipes up, confused by Atsumu's silence.
"Ah, yes," Atsumu coughs, finally aware of his surroundings. "Miya Atsumu," he reaches out a hand, his most handsome smile on display. Shouyou smiles back, and for the first time Atsumu notices the dimple on his right cheek, his stomach flipping at the sight. And if his heart rate picks up at the way his hand dwarfs Shouyou's, he will never admit it.
"It's nice to meet you," Shouyou says, turning back towards the classroom, motioning for Atsumu to follow him.
Atsumu follows as they make their way through clusters of little chairs and low tables littered about the room to a desk at the very front, painted in bright pastel shades in sync with the rest of the furniture.
"Have a seat!" Shouyou exclaims as he makes his way to what looks like a storage closet at the corner.
Atsumu seats himself in the pink chair by the desk, taking in colourful sheets and crayons clumsily strewn about the desk. There's a bento box pushed to the side, the cat-print cloth wrapped around it unconsciously bringing a smile to Atsumu's face.
Shouyou comes back with a rickety folded chair, settling himself on it opposite Atsumu.
"I hope you didn't wait long," Shouyou scratches his head, apologetic, "I was hanging up the kids' drawings and lost track of time," he points behind Atsumu's head. Atsumu turns back to find a blue pin-board adorned with crayon and sharpie drawings, green skies and blue stick people. He catches two giant onigiri-people among the motley crew, adoration searing through his heart as he recognises it as Yumi's drawing, almost identical to some of the pages he has stuck up to their refrigerator with alphabet magnets.
"No, it's alright, I just dropped Yumi off at my brother's place and got here," he takes his eyes off the colourful display, smiling at Shouyou.
"So, about Yumi," Shouyou sighs, fiddling with his hands as he looks down at his lap.
"Is it that bad?" Atsumu frowns, thoughts running about his head once more trying to figure out what kind of trouble Yumi could have gotten herself into.
"Huh?" Shouyou tilts his head to the side in surprise, incredibly adorable, before he starts frantically waving his hands, embarrassed.
"Oh, it's nothing bad, I promise! Yumi is a great kid!
"She didn't pull any pranks?" Atsumu quirks a brow, "Or fight with anyone?" he continues, baffled.
"No, of course not! Why would you think of that?" Shouyou protests, incredulous.
"But you called me up here to talk about her, didn't you?" Atsumu counters, perplexed.
"You were a troublemaker as a kid, weren't you?" Shouyou narrows his eyes, and Atsumu looks away, sheepishly rubbing his head. Oh, so Yumi had not caused any trouble after all.
"Miya-san," Shouyou starts, eyebrows scrunched, "I always encourage kids to share, but your daughter lets her classmates have almost everything they ask for, and she gets left with nothing!"
"What?" Atsumu replies, blank.
"The other kids ask for her lunch, she lets them have all of it! They ask for crayons, she lets them take all of hers!" Shouyou continues, frustrated beyond measure.
"So the problem is," Atsumu says, slowly, "my daughter is too kind?"
"Too kind for her own good!" Shouyou nods earnestly.
Atsumu tries to hold back his laughter and fails miserably.
"Miya-san, this isn't funny!" Shouyou declares, disbelieving, the tips of his ears poking out through his mess of orange hair very red.
"Shouyou-kun," Atsumu tries his best to keep a straight face, "you are the one who's too kind for his own good."
Shouyou huffs, face almost as red as his hair at the use of his first name, "This is a real problem, Miya-san!"
He looks adorable when he's angry, Atsumu thinks as Shouyou grumbles on, "I have had to let Yumi eat my lunch for the entirety of last week! She won't listen to me if I tell her to keep some food for herself, and says that she's happy to give it all away to her friends!"
Atsumu's face softens. He thinks of that one time Yumi let an older kid have the last balloon of a bunch that an old woman had been selling at the park. She had looked longingly as the other kid bounced away with the blue balloon in hand, and yet she did not complain, or even utter a word about wanting it for herself. Yeah, maybe his daughter was too kind for her own good.
"Alright," he nods at Shouyou, sincere, "I'll talk to her about it."
Shouyou claps, excited, beaming happily at finally being taken seriously. Atsumu's heart flips a little again.
Later, as Shouyou leads him out to the gates, Atsumu asks, "By the way, can I have your number?"
"Eh?" Shouyou replies quizzically, "You can call me on the school's telephone if you need to talk about Yumi!" he explains, but Atsumu can see the slight blush sitting under Shouyou's freckles.
"It isn't for Yumi," he smirks, Shouyou's rapidly reddening face as he goes on a sight to behold, "it's for me."
══════════════════
"Osamu, don't you have customers to serve?" Atsumu glares.
Osamu merely shrugs, continuing with his story, "And then Atsumu shoved the broken crayon right into his mouth before anyone could see."
Shouyou guffaws, tears in his eyes, arms flailing about as they hit the table.
Yeah, bringing your date to your brother's restaurant was definitely a bad idea.
"This is not the first date I had in mind," Atsumu grumbles from across the table as Osamu proceeds to detail almost every embarrassing incident from their childhood. Fratricide seems like a very tempting option right then.
When enough of his attempts to get Osamu to go away have been dismissed, he settles for menacingly poking at his onigiri like it is the cause of all his misfortune. Damn Osamu and his mouth-watering onigiri.
"Atsumu-san, stop pouting," Shouyou reaches for his hand across the table, squeezing it with a smile that could put the sun to shame.
Atsumu blinks, awestruck, his heart about to leap out of his chest at the way Shouyou's gums peek through his very pretty pink lips. He wants to kiss him already. A dopey smile finds its way onto his face.
"Disgusting," Osamu gags from the side.
Shouyou bursts out laughing again, his nose scrunched, and Atsumu is torn between the need to strangle Osamu and the urge to poke the tip of Shouyou's nose.
The bell by the door chimes. Osamu shouts out a "Welcome to Onigiri Miya!" without moving an inch from the stool he had placed right beside Atsumu and Shouyou's table as soon as he was done serving them.
A cry of "Pa!" pierces the air before a tiny body is barrelling into Atsumu's.
"Yumi?" Atsumu half-questions, half-declares in surprise, looking down to find his daughter clinging to his side.
Yumi grins back before situating herself comfortably on her father's lap, plucking an onigiri from his plate and shoving it right into her mouth all at once, happily buzzing all over.
"Yumi, you need to wash your hands before eating! And what have I said about eating in small bites? You could choke if you eat like that!"
Atsumu looks up to find an exasperated Keiji nagging a finger at his daughter.
He looks at Yumi, and back at Keiji, and back at Yumi again.
"There goes your date," Osamu howls in laughter from the side.
Shouyou stares at Yumi, unfazed, gaze soft at her adorably munching her food.
Atsumu gently pats his daughter's head before he shifts his focus back to Keiji, narrowing his eyes at him.
"Keiji-kun," he says, voice disgustingly saccharine, "I asked you to babysit my daughter, not bring her along to one of your gross flirting sessions with Osamu."
"I did not think you'd be dumb enough to bring your date here," Keiji simply raises an eyebrow at him in place of a proper response.
"Trust me, I am regretting it," Atsumu groans, pointing accusingly at his twin who was still in throes of laughter over how his first date with Shouyou had unfolded.
"Hinata-sam, isunnt uncle's food tha best!" Yumi exclaims rather than asks her teacher with her cheeks stuffed full, having cleared off almost everything on Atsumu's side of the table already.
"Don't speak while you're eating, Yumi," Shouyou gently chides, an adoring smile gracing his soft features as he leans across the table to wipe a few stray grains of rice off Yumi's cheeks. "And yes, it is," he finishes as he sits back, folding his handkerchief, his smile a little wider.
Every fibre of Atsumu's body tingles with the warmth of a favourite sweater at the interaction. He questions the newfound compulsion to give his entire heart to Shouyou, and wonders how it is possible to feel this much affection for a person on a first date.
Atsumu's heart has never been too good at staying still when it comes to Shouyou anyway. He guesses he'll just have to get used to it.
"That's why I brought you here," Atsumu rubs his head, a blush sitting high on his cheeks, "Samu's food really is the best."
Osamu coughs from the side, flustered, as Keiji slides in a chair beside Shouyou's, seating himself on it.
"Um, thanks," Osamu gets up, he's never been too good at taking compliments, unlike Atsumu, "I'll be back with more food."
Atsumu spies a fond gleam in Shouyou's eyes as he takes in Osamu's retreating figure. And then Shouyou looks back at Atsumu with a smile so delicate that Atsumu knows he understands, understands how much Atsumu's brother means to him.
Atsumu has a feeling that Shouyou can see through every wall he's put up high around his heart through all these years already. And he has a feeling that he would gladly put every one of them down for Shouyou too.
He looks away, unable to deal with the rush of emotions cascading through him yet.
"You came for the free food, didn't you?" Keiji comments, calmly chewing on something off Shouyou's plate.
"Hey!" Atsumu protests, as Shouyou tries hard to hold back his giggles at Atsumu's pained face.
Later, as he walks Shouyou home through streets that empty out as dusk bleeds into the night, the colours sitting low on the horizon as vibrant as Shouyou's hair, he hesitantly asks, "Shouyou-kun, you didn't mind, did you? I know that wasn't really a proper date."
Atsumu stares hard at the shadows on the pavement by a flickering street light, shallow under the still visible rays of the waning sun, unable to look at Shouyou, afraid of his reaction.
A warm hand snakes its way into his. He lifts up his blushing face, only to see Shouyou with the prettiest smile adorning his lips.
"Atsumu-san," he says, lacing his slender fingers through Atsumu's, "it was perfect."
Atsumu feels punch-drunk and giddy as he smiles back, butterflies he's never felt before fluttering about his stomach. He wonders if this is what falling in love feels like.
He comes home to a sleepy Yumi cuddled up against Osamu on the couch.
Lifting his daughter up, he whispers a "thank you" to Osamu before carrying her to her room, gently placing her on her pastel blue sheets with little foxes printed throughout. He grabs her fox plushie off the foot of the bed, settling it by her head before running his fingers through her short hair, the same hue as Atsumu's natural strands.
He smiles down at Yumi. Atsumu could do little to properly describe all the joy she's brought him. She's growing up so well, he thinks, as she unconsciously grabs one of his fingers in her tiny fist in her sleep.
He remembers the first time she did that, her first time in Atsumu's arms. Her mother had looked out of the window by the hospital bed, distant.
Atsumu had always known it would be hard, raising a child alone, and anxiety had drenched him to the core as he paced the hospital lobby, awaiting the birth of a child with a woman he barely knew, let alone loved. He was twenty-two and scared, very scared, but every fear had dissipated into thin air the first time he held his little daughter, crying and bald and beautiful, and she pulled one of his large fingers between her fists, a perfect fit.
Yumi doesn't have a mother, but she has always had Atsumu, and he has always tried to be enough. It's always been the two of them, in their own little world.
But tonight, there's this vague vision in Atsumu's head, of Shouyou fitting somewhere into that equation, perfectly.
Plucking his finger from Yumi's hold, Atsumu is about to leave for his own bed when he feels a tug at his shirt.
He finds a sleepy Yumi pulling at the fabric, looking up at her father with sleep-dazed eyes.
"Pa, do you like Hinata-san?" she murmurs.
A smile finds its way to Atsumu's face before he even realises it, the rosy visions back to cloud his mind.
"Yeah, I think I do," he starts quietly, "is that okay with you?"
"Uhuh," Yumi nods her head, heavy-eyed, a sweet sleepy smile on her lips, "I like him too."
══════════════════
Yumi runs into Atsumu's arms as he stands by the school gates, bouquet of sunflowers in hand.
"Oof!" Atsumu grunts as he hauls her onto one arm, carefully safeguarding the flowers in another.
"Pa!" Yumi exclaims as she circles her little arms around Atsumu's neck, toothy grin in place as she giggles into her father's shirt.
"How is my little girl do-" a smiling Atsumu is interrupted by Yumi as she excitedly leans towards the sunflowers, finally having noticed them, eyes wide and sparkling in awe.
"Sunflowers!" she tries to grab at the bouquet, pouting when Atsumu holds them high, beyond her reach.
"Aren't they for me?" she looks up with her best puppy eyes.
As much as Atsumu would like to get his little daughter all the flowers she asks for, these are for another special person who has been growing on him too much lately.
He shakes his head. Yumi keeps pouting, until suddenly her eyes light up with a look of all too familiar mischief he is too used to seeing on Osamu's face, and is probably mirrored by his own.
"You brought flowers for Hinata-san!" she shouts, grinning at a mortified Atsumu who tries to look anywhere but at the kids and the parents who have turned around to stare at him, curious at the mention of the ball of sunshine that is their teacher.
At a distance, he spots a laughing Osamu leaning out of his car window, seemingly having the time of his life at Yumi's outburst and Atsumu's discomfiture.
That bastard has been turning my own daughter against me, Atsumu grits his teeth. He draws a deep breath and walks towards Osamu's car in long strides, flashing a smirk at two gossiping mothers, breaking them out of whatever scandalous rumour about him and Shouyou they had been cooking up. They blush at his handsome face, juicy gossip already discarded. A handsome face does get you out of trouble more often than not. Atsumu can testify.
He places Yumi in the passenger seat beside Osamu, carefully fastening her seat-belt before shooting a nasty look at Osamu, who seems still quite entertained from the earlier ordeal.
"Good luck, simp," Osamu only grins back, turning on the ignition.
Atsumu pointedly ignores him as he leans down through the open window to peck Yumi on the cheek.
Yumi tugs on his shirt sleeve just as he is about to back away, a smile more like Shouyou's than his own gracing her baby features.
"Good luck, Pa!" she raises her tiny fist in a little thumbs up.
Atsumu's heart melts into little puddles as they drive away, a full smile imprinted onto his face as he stores away Yumi's little good luck into that little recess of his mind that has every memory Atsumu plans to revisit when he's old and wan, to remind himself that he lived a happy life, he really did.
He puffs out his chest before striding back to the emptying school, his feet taking him back to that same hallway where he first met Shouyou, barely two months ago.
Atsumu feels like he has known Shouyou for two lifetimes already.
Atsumu has had every chamber of his heart closed off for years now, sealed tightly shut under the burden of being a young father, his life re-orbiting itself to revolve around Yumi's, placing her joys and needs before his own. And yet here he is, that very heart fluttering like a hummingbird's wings every time Shouyou so much as smiles at him.
The tables of his brother's restaurant, car drives past Yumi's bedtime, or wandering through city streets with nowhere to go, hands clutched tightly in each other's, Atsumu wonders when Shouyou started to feel so much like home.
He knocks at the classroom door, tucking the bouquet behind his back as he waits for Shoyou with bated breath.
Shouyou peeks through the door, face morphing into his characteristic gummy smile when he takes in Atsumu standing across from him.
"Atsumu-san!" he holds the door wide open, his hair a flaming halo in the light of the afternoon sun filtering in through the half open windows. Shouyou has sharpie marks all over his apron, and there is a little dash of green on his cheek. Atsumu thinks he looks absolutely beautiful.
He thrusts the sunflowers at Shouyou, warmth seeping in from his chest and into his veins, skin tingling all over.
Shouyou's pretty mouth lets out a little "oh" as the sunflowers cloud his vision, amber eyes widening in surprise and a sudden softness that sends Atsumu's heart into a frenzy.
"You remembered that I like sunflowers?" he looks up at Atsumu, cheeks pink.
"Of course I did," Atsumu smiles back, eyes crinkling, hands aching to reach out and hold Shouyou and his blushing face and perhaps kiss him senseless.
(First, second, third and thirteenth dates blend into each other as Atsumu and Shouyou learn to map out constellations for each other in blue skies and the weight of Shouyou's hand in Atsumu's becomes almost as familiar as the taste of his brother's food. Atsumu waits outside Shouyou's apartment, fixing his hair in the rear-view mirror. There's a squeal of "Atsumu-san!" and the shuffle of eager feet against concrete as Shouyou pops into view, letting himself into the passenger seat.
Shouyou's bright orange hair is hidden under a pale green bucket hat, unruly strands peeking through from underneath.
"That's new," Atsumu points as he leans into Shouyou for a customary kiss.
"Bad hair day," Shouyou mumbles into his mouth as he pulls away.
There is a little sunflower embroidered into the hat. It looks almost as adorable as Shouyou in his light denim overalls.
"Do you like sunflowers?" Atsumu asks, eyes transfixed on how the flower uncannily resembles Shouyou.
"They're my favourite," Shouyou smiles, eyes like little crescents, dimple showing.
Atsumu pities the sunflowers. Hinata Shouyou is definitely prettier than them.)
Shouyou is still smiling at Atsumu, sunflowers spilling from his arms, and Atsumu wants to take a picture of him right then and probably frame it and place it right in his living room for everyone to see.
Atsumu smiles back, hopes Shouyou can read the words he can't say.
Shouyou places the flowers on his desk, and jumps into Atsumu's arms. Atsumu's hands find Shouyou's waist as he holds on tight, taking one last look at the familiar indent of the dimple on Shouyou's right cheek before he dives in, crashing his lips onto Shouyou's.
Shouyou is smiling into the kiss, as is Atsumu. It feels like their first kiss all over again. Every single one does.
When they come up for air, Yumi's little good luck speeds across Atsumu's mind.
"Oh, by the way," Atsumu cradles Shouyou's cheek in his palm, thumb brushing the patch of pale skin the dimple has disappeared into, "can I call you my boyfriend from now on?"
The muscle dips under Atsumu's finger, the dimple back in place, Shouyou's grin brighter than any sunflower's or sun's.
This time around, Shouyou reaches up, small hands gripping Atsumu's wide shoulders, lips soft and sweet and electrifying and everything Atsumu could ever ask for. Atsumu kisses him senseless.
When Atsumu picks Yumi up from school the next day, there are two sunflowers clenched in her hand.
"Hinata-san said I could take some, his boyfriend got him a whole bouquet," she sticks out her tongue at him.
══════════════════
"Yumi, put down the flour!" Atsumu shouts as he runs after Yumi across the kitchen floor, Shouyou bent over in laughter at the counter, spatula in hand.
Yumi only giggles, little puffs of flour escaping from the packet held tight against her chest and into the air as she dodges Atsumu's attempts to catch her.
The kitchen in his shared apartment is quite big, courtesy of Osamu, who is out on date night with Keiji. But it is also quite crowded, also courtesy of Osamu. Appliances and ingredients Atsumu could not name with a gun held to his head are meticulously arranged at every available surface. Atsumu lets out a frustrated grunt as he misses getting a hold on Yumi for the hundredth time in fear of upsetting some jars of homemade jams and pickles stacked at a corner. Yumi, sly and tiny, had slithered in through the gap between the counter and the dining table. She looks back at her father, grin triumphant, holding up the packet of flour in her arms like a prize she's just won.
Yeah, Yumi was definitely growing into the twins' mischievous habits.
Atsumu narrows his eyes at Yumi, side-eyeing Osamu's precious jams and pickles and wondering how much of a risk possibly breaking them could be.
The mental image of Osamu beating him to a pulp isn't pleasant, but it isn't something he is not used to either. Maybe acting on his impulses wouldn't be such a bad idea. Or would it-
Yumi lets out a shrill squeak.
Atsumu whips his head around to see Shouyou tackle her from behind, eyes alight with mischief and fondness, and then disaster breaks loose.
It almost unfolds in slow motion before Atsumu's eyes. Yumi is up in Shouyou's arms for a miniscule second before he's toppling back, Yumi and the open packet of flour with him. The packet flies up from Yumi's hands at the motion, up in a somersault of sorts before its contents rain down all over Shouyou and Yumi, now sprawled across the wooden floorboards. The air turns all white in a miniature snowstorm before Shouyou and Yumi look up at Atsumu with wide eyes, faces and clothes all ridiculously powdered in white.
Shouyou groans, and Yumi coughs, before they both break out in loud peals of laughter, rolling about the now white floor, making it messier than it already is.
Atsumu takes in the scene before him with tender eyes, affection and warmth seeping through every bone in his body as he watches his little daughter and his boyfriend throw spilled flour at each other, melodious laughter ringing about the kitchen like a song Atsumu never wants to forget.
What he fails to see, however, is the impish smile shared between the two as they pause smearing flour over each other for one second, and collectively look over at Atsumu instead.
Suddenly, two handfuls of white are launched at an unsuspecting Atsumu who just stands like an idiot with a gaping jaw and his now stained clothes in shock for a whole minute as Yumi and Shouyou burst out in louder laughter, tears in their eyes.
And then Atsumu is charging at them, Osamu's jams be damned, picking fistfuls of flour off the floor in his own fists, smothering Yumi and Shouyou with them.
Osamu's precious kitchen is a whole mess. A packet of flour lies spilled all over the floor, and Atsumu, Shouyou and Yumi roll about it like they've found every joy in the world right in that little mess. Shouyou's brilliant orange hair is covered in a fine layer of white, the freckles on his face peeking through all the flour that has been smeared across them by Yumi. He makes a face as he pokes out his tongue to taste the flour across his lips, launching Yumi into a new set of giggles. Atsumu wants to kiss him right then. He wonders if this is what love feels like.
Later, when they have somewhat cleaned up the mess on the floor and set a batch of cupcakes with questionable looking batter into the oven, Atsumu laces his hand through Shouyou's, and places it right across his heart.
The muffled dim of Yumi watching cartoons filters in from the living room.
Shouyou is seated atop the countertop, swinging his legs as he watches the timer on the oven. He turns around to look at Atsumu, at his hand clutched in his, right above the loud thump of his beating heart.
Atsumu's heart is a happy mess, and he can trace it all back to Shouyou. He does not really know how to put it all into words yet. He's going to try anyway.
"You make me really happy," he smiles at Shouyou, soft and sincere.
Shouyou smiles back, wide and pretty and as bright as a thousand splendid suns.
He gently pulls their entwined hands off Atsumu's chest, places them across his own. Atsumu's heartbeat quickens at the sound of Shouyou's heart thrumming under his fingertips.
"You make me really happy too, Atsumu-san."
Atsumu is sure his heart is pounding in rhythm with Shouyou's.
He leans into Shouyou, free hand cupping the nape of his neck, brushing the soft curls that tickle his fingers there. He pecks the corner of Shouyou's mouth. His lips find his.
Shouyou is smiling into the kiss. He tastes like strawberry chapstick and flour and warmth. He tastes like Shouyou.
Atsumu is sure this is what love feels like.
They have lost track of the kisses and the time when Yumi rushes in, shouting something they fail to catch as they jump apart, as though caught guilty.
It's not that they haven't kissed in front of Yumi before, Atsumu would just not have a four year-old witness a full blown make-out session.
It is only when they have sprung apart do they notice the beeping of the oven timer.
"The cupcakes!" Yumi cries out again.
"The cupcakes!" Shouyou and Atsumu cry back in unison before dashing towards the oven, Yumi getting tucked into Atsumu's arms on the way.
Shouyou takes hold of the oven door, excitement and hunger written across his face as he looks back at Atsumu and Yumi, who wear expressions mirroring his own.
They nod, determined. Shouyou nods back.
He pulls open the door, grabbing a pair of mittens lying about before thrusting in his hands to pull out the tray.
Atsumu covers Yumi's eyes.
Shouyou grimaces as he sets the tray on the table.
Burnt to a crisp and probably inedible, their long-awaited cupcakes look more like bricks. Setting the mittens aside, Shouyou grabs a spoon from a drawer and hits a "cupcake" with it. It bounces back. Yeah, those are definitely inedible.
"Let me see the cupcakes, Pa!" Yumi fusses about in Atsumu's hold, trying to get his hands off her eyes.
Atsumu shakes his head at Shouyou.
Shouyou sighs. He kneels down and takes Yumi's hands in his.
"Yumi, you, um, can't eat the cupcakes," he gently breaks to her.
"Let me see them!" she only shrieks back, getting more restless in Atsumu's arms.
Shouyou nods at Atsumu, lips set into a tight line.
Atsumu takes his hands off Yumi's eyes, holding her up to let her have a look at the very disastrous cupcakes, dreading her reaction.
Yumi starts shaking, and Atsumu looks down, concerned, only to see her crack up in a loud fit of giggles.
"They look like poop," she hollers, breaking out into full blown laughter like that is the funniest thing in the world.
Another set of laughter joins her. Atsumu looks up to find Shouyou beating the table, amused at Yumi's antics. He hits another cupcake with the spoon. It sounds like stones hitting a pavement. The two howl in laughter again. This time, Atsumu joins them.
He can hear the suspicion in Osamu's voice when he calls him up to get a batch of cupcakes from Yumi's favourite bakery on his way back.
"Get that thing out of my kitchen," Osamu deadpans when he gets home, the disgust on his face almost laughable.
Yumi sits in the living room, happily munching on the fresh and tasty and very edible cupcakes her uncle had brought her.
"Maybe I should have gone for the brother with all the cooking skills," Shouyou pouts in thought, mocking, as he tosses the brick cupcakes into a garbage bag.
"Shouyou-kun, you wound me," Atsumu clutches his chest, mock-hurt.
"Atsumu-san!" Shouyou sprints forward dramatically, keeping up with the act, clasping Atsumu's hand in both of his.
His smile grows soft, his hands tighten around Atsumu's.
"I love you," he says, sincerity written all over his face, "even though you can't cook for shit," he scrunches his nose.
Cheeky little bastard, Atsumu thinks. "I love you too, Shouyou-kun," he pecks the tip of his nose, "even in all my inability to cook," he pouts, exaggerated.
Shouyou giggles, circling his arms around Atsumu's neck.
Atsumu had always thought declarations of love had to be grand to be unforgettable. He realises how wrong he was as Shouyou gets up on his tiptoes to kiss him in his brother's kitchen, the disastrous cupcakes they had wasted hours on littering the table behind them, bits of their hair still white with flour. He's going to remember this all his life.
"Get your PDA out of my kitchen," Osamu yells from the back, and a hard object hits Atsumu at the back of his head. The moment breaks.
"Ow!" Atsumu looks down, rubbing his head. It's one of their tragic cupcakes.
══════════════════
Atsumu walks into the school building, Yumi in tow, swinging about their entwined hands. A carefully packed bento box dangles off Atsumu's other hand.
The flowers painted in bright primary colours on the walls of the kindergarten hallway have grown all too familiar to Atsumu over the course of the last ten months. He had not even noticed them the first time around, as he nervously paced about wondering what trouble Yumi might have caused. The memory of that day brings a grin to Atsumu's face as he walks in through the just as familiar classroom door, the sight of Shouyou picking up stray pencils and crayons off the floor greeting him.
Shouyou only hums at their entry, already used to the routine, but even with his back turned to them, Atsumu knows that he is smiling.
"Sho-san!" Yumi greets, chipper as ever, as though she had not been in his class throughout the day. She rushes forward to join Shouyou, gingerly taking the pencils off Shouyou's hand and placing them in a little pouch on the table.
Atsumu leaves the bento box on Shouyou's desk and joins the two, pecking Shouyou on the cheek as he finishes up.
Yumi runs back to the desk, settling the pouch at a corner as Shouyou hugs Atsumu, humming contently.
"Do you really have to stay back for the meeting today?" Atsumu pouts.
Shouyou looks up from the embrace, face still squished against Atsumu's chest, "You ask the same question every time although you already know the answer", he pouts back.
Atsumu makes his best puppy eyes, although that's more of Shouyou's forte to be honest, "I just want you to come home already."
Shouyou gently flicks Atsumu's forehead, "Stop being a baby, I have to deal with kids all the time already."
"You like it," Atsumu tangles a finger in an orange curl, his hand across Shouyou's waist pulling him as close as they can be.
"I do," Shouyou says, his breath fanning Atsumu's mouth before he bridges the distance.
The kiss is chaste, but Shouyou's lips taste like strawberry chapstick and warmth and home, and Atsumu's heart is still terrible at staying still when it comes to Shouyou.
There's a tug at the hem of Atsumu's shirt. He pulls away from Shouyou to find a grumpy Yumi at his side.
"Uncle Osamu put heart-shaped carrots in Sho-san's bento! He never puts any in mine!" she whines.
"You don't like carrots Yumi," Shouyou giggles, squatting down to be at Yumi's level.
"B-but they are heart shaped!" Yumi splutters, embarrassed.
"Then you should eat carrots," Shouyou playfully sticks his tongue out at a sulking Yumi.
"Yumi," Atsumu chides as he makes his way back to Shouyou's desk, "how many times have I told you not to open Sho's bento? It's for him to have when he's hungry afterwards," he puts the lid back onto the box.
"But there are heart-shaped carrots in it!" Yumi exclaims again in lieu of an answer, huffing.
"Do you want some?" Shouyou pats her head in question.
"Really? Can I?" Yumi beams up at him, before her little brows furrow in thought, "but they're carrots," she mutters.
"But they're heart-shaped," Shouyou entices.
Yumi nods her head, latching onto Shouyou's hand as they walk towards Atsumu.
Yumi's hand held in Shouyou's might be Atsumu's favourite sight in the world.
Atsumu had always thought that dating as a single father would be a burden, that Yumi would be seen as burden. Shouyou had proved him wrong, so, so wrong.
They have weekly movie nights now, cuddled up on the couch, Yumi lying across their lap, fox plushie in hand. She usually falls asleep halfway through, and Atsumu has to carry her to bed. Shouyou pauses the movie and follows him, fluffing Yumi's pillows as Atsumu carefully places her on them, tucking her inside her comforter. They both kiss her goodnight.
Shouyou wakes up early to make pancakes with extra cream for Yumi every Sunday morning as Atsumu whines for him to come back to bed, missing his warmth.
And Yumi gives back just as much as she's given. Atsumu looks back at the pin-board by the desk as Shouyou plucks out heart-shaped carrots from his bento, with a curious Yumi looking on. Atsumu finds Yumi's drawing towards the top right, the bold crayon lines less shaky than before. There are three onigiri-people in it now. One of them is tiny, standing between the other two, stick hands held in theirs. Atsumu's little family has grown.
"Its noth dath badh," Yumi declares, contemplative as she munches on a heart-shaped piece of carrot.
Shouyou smiles, love written across every plane of his profile, feeds her another.
Atsumu wants to give them the world.
Yumi does not want to let go of Shouyou when it's finally time for Atsumu and her to leave.
Shouyou laughs at her shenanigans, fond as she clings on to the sleeve of his shirt, unresponsive to her father's attempts to get her off.
"Yumi, Sho has a meeting now," Atsumu pleads, but there's a smile on his face too. Yumi shakes her head, the little pigtails Shouyou had tied that morning flying around, refusing to let go.
Shouyou sits down on the floor, and beckons Yumi into his lap.
Reluctantly, she slips off his arm to crawl into lap, hugging him with all the strength she can muster in her four year-old body as soon as she's seated.
"Yumi," Shouyou whispers, "I'll be home soon, alright?"
Yumi makes a noise of protest, but Shouyou shushes her, "Atsumu will be sad all alone at home if you don't go with him."
"Really?" Yumi turns her head towards her father, who eagerly nods at her, sincere.
"Oh… Okay then," she slowly disentangles herself from Shouyou, slowly making her way to Atsumu as Shouyou stands up.
"I'm sorry, Pa. I won't let you be lonely," she hugs Atsumu's legs.
He pats her head, looking across at Shouyou who stares at them with all the adoration in the world.
"Don't be too late, alright?" Atsumu says as he walks out, Yumi clutched tight in his arms.
Shouyou nods, a delicate smile sitting on his soft features.
I love you, he mouths, waving at them from the classroom door.
I love you too, Atsumu mouths back.