Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shouyou grunts as he feels a sudden force drop on his stomach. There was nothing he could do but only sigh, as he knew exactly where it came from. He opens one eye to peek at the culprit, only to smile at the sight in front of him. His daughter sits at his stomach, grinning at him, turning her eyes into the most adorable crescents Shouyou has ever seen with her slightly curly orange hair disheveled in different places.

“Papa!” His daughter giggles. “Good morning!”

Shouyou pretends to sleep but proves futile as his daughter attacks him with tickles. Shouyou lets out giggles and grabs hold of his daughter’s hands. “Sachio-chan, stop attacking Papa!” Shouyou takes both hands in one of his and blows raspberries on Sachio’s tummy. She lets out an adorable shriek as well as a fit of giggles.

“Papa, stop!” Sachio squeals and Shouyou sits them both up properly. He combs through his daughter’s messy hair as she spurts out her requests for breakfast. “Sachio-chan, slowly…” Shouyou says, trying to take note of the words jumbling out of his daughter’s mouth.

“Pancakes, papa?” Sachio says, finally settling until… “Ah! Tamago kake gohan, Papa!”

Shouyou laughs at his daughter’s indecisiveness. “Are you sure, Chio-chan?”

“Yes! I’ll race you to the kitchen, Papa!” Sachio hops off Shouyou’s stomach as Shouyou grunts watching his daughter run away. He puts a hand on his stomach. He didn’t mind being woken up this way, but Sachio was getting bigger. He won’t be able to handle being jumped on in a few months by the rate she was growing. He shakes his head with a smile and goes to the bathroom to do his business.

Shouyou sets down the steaming bowls of rice on the table, observing Sachio who was immersed in what she was watching on the TV. Shouyou clears his throat to no avail, as Sachio kept her eyes on the screen. Shouyou looks at it as well, realizing it was the Jackals versus Falcons game on low volume. Ah… so that’s why.

Sakusa Kiyoomi was serving, and of course his daughter’s attention was all on him.

She is his biggest fan after all.

Shouyou remembers exactly the conversation with Bokuto first time they visited. Sachio was all starry-eyed upon knowing one of Papa’s friends was a volleyball player… but the conversation ended with tears and a broken heart.

And it wasn’t Sachio’s.

“Sacchan’s favorite player is Kou-san, right?” Bokuto says as he carries Sachio in his arms.

Shouyou tries to stop Sachio from running her mouth, but Sachio squeals out her answer almost immediately along with a shake of her head.

“No! It’s Sakusa Kiyoomi-san! He’s awesome! I like Kou-san second best!”

Shouyou scratches his head upon seeing the betrayal on Bokuto’s face. “I’m supposed to be her favorite, Shouyou…”

There wasn’t really anything he can do about that. He just laughs it off, praying the forlorn look on Bokuto’s face fades before he goes home to Akaashi. He didn’t want to add on the pile of stress currently terrorizing him.

Shouyou is brought back when Sachio suddenly squeals as Sakusa Kiyoomi scores a service ace. Sachio cheers along with the audience and tries to grab onto Shouyou’s shirt without looking from excitement. Shouyou places himself by her hand so she can hold onto something. “Papa! Did you see that? It went FWOOOH and then BAAHM! Sakusa Kiyoomi-san is so cool!”

“I saw it, Chio-chan. But please eat breakfast first, okay?” Shouyou says as he grabs her hand holding onto his shirt and gives her a set of chopsticks. “If you don’t look at where you’re eating, I’m going to turn off the TV.”

Sachio almost gives herself a whiplash as Shouyou sits in front of her. She mixes the bowl in front of her with full attention. Shouyou tries to stop himself from laughing with the way she was sitting up straight and sneaking glances towards the TV.

Shouyou lets her be when Sakusa Kiyoomi-san slams a pass from Miya Atsumu towards the back of their opponents’ court for the win. He smiles at her excitement even if she has watched this game a few times already. She even searched up Sakusa Kiyoomi-san on YouTube last night through Shouyou’s phone.

“The first Olympic game for our national volleyball team is on August 18, 2021. Please come support us against our versatile opponents, The Blues, Italy. Thank you very much and we hope to see you there,” Ushijima Wakatoshi, current captain of the mens’ national volleyball team, finishes his short speech with a bow after the Jackals versus Falcons game. Huh… last he heard from him was… ah.

Ushijima was joined by the other members of the roster who bowed with him. Bokuto was also wearing his big goofy smile, no doubt excited for what’s about to come.

Sakusa Kiyoomi-san was also present.

Shouyou knows what’s next…

“Papa! That’s my birthday! Sakusa Kiyoomi-san is playing as well!” Sachio says with pleading eyes complete with jutted lips. Shouyou couldn’t exactly say no, but he couldn’t say yes either. V League tickets were already hard enough to find, Olympic game tickets would be scarce and a pain in the ass.

Maybe Bokuto can help… Shouyou shakes his head internally. Surely, he was busy with practice so he couldn’t bother him. He’s also asked for enough favors this lifetime for having Akaashi watch Sachio sometimes.

But he couldn’t say no. It was rare for Sachio to plead for something… so, he finds himself promising her to get those tickets for her birthday. It was about two weeks away anyway…

He has time.

“Papa! You’re the best!”

God help me, Shouyou thinks.

Shouyou slumps his head against the kitchen counter to take a break from his hellish day. He had to deal with a few entitled customers, all of which made him want to rip his hair and gouge his eyes out.  He massages the upper part of the bridge of his nose, a habit he’s developed when he’s a bit stressed out. It wasn’t his or Kiriko’s—his co-worker slash underling—fault that the coffee wasn’t up to their taste. The weirdly specific coffee order was something straight out of a ridiculous movie, and Shouyou could only shake his head subtly as he made it. He sighs deeply as he remembered the silliness of it all.

God, when will people stop calling for the manager?

Shouyou hears the bell ring out front, his ears perked for whatever the customer will order. Coffees and baked goods were his thing, while Kiriko was more of logistical help, in charge of serving, cashiering, and everything else. Though she can also hold her own when Shouyou isn’t around to make coffee.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” He hears Kiriko say in a friendly tone.

“Just a medium decaf. Is Hinata in?”

“Trying to lay off the caffeine?” Shouyou says before Kiriko could answer. He gives Akaashi a smile as he starts working on his medium decaf. Kiriko joins Shouyou by the coffee machine and takes the cup from his hand. He gives her a questioning look.

“It’s your break. Join your friend,” Kiriko says in a tone that Shouyou cannot say no to, eyes squinting behind her round glasses.

Wait, he was the boss— well, not exactly. More like acting boss since his uncle is the owner, but still he was overseas—

Kiriko bumps his hips out of the way with Shouyou giving her a look of disbelief. Kiriko just motions him to go to Akaashi. “That’s a dollar less on your paycheck!” Kiriko just sticks her tongue out at him. Shouyou walks over to Akaashi, who was watching the whole exchange. He smiles at Shouyou as he sits in front of him. A look of concern graces his features, making Shouyou shoot up his eyebrows.

“Please sleep,” Akaashi says, observing the dark bags under his eyes.

“Could say the same for you,” Shouyou says back. He knows the demand in Akaashi’s workplace. He always worked overtime despite the pay, but he always waves them off and says he loves what he does. Well, no one can argue with that. “Besides, I’m alright.”

“Are the classes stressing you out?” Akaashi asks as Kiriko places his cup of coffee and a slice of chocolate cake on the table. He thanks her and looks at Shouyou pointedly, waiting for an answer.

Shouyou leans back on his chair and answers him nonchalantly, “It’s like high school all over again. I still hate studying, but I need something to fall back to... I’m still adjusting to the whole online night class thing.”

“And Sachio?”

Shouyou lets out a single laugh. “She’s upstairs with Aiko-san,” he says, having left Sachio in the care of his neighbor. “But, God, Keiji. She’s learned how to look up Sakusa Kiyoomi-san on YouTube. The interviews, the plays, everything. It’s all I hear, Keiji. The FWOOOH and the BAAAAHM and how he’s so cool! I’m glad she’s starting kindergarten soon. He’s really all I hear from her. If I hear one more Sakusa Kiyoomi-san…”

Akaashi laughs heartily. “Any plans for her birthday, then? Sakusa Kiyoomi-san’s merchandise perhaps?”

God, if it were as easy as that.

He still had no luck in getting a ticket. It’s been over a week, and though he still has a few days away, it’s hard not to feel hopeless with the amount of people who wants to attend. He might have to tell Sachio that they can’t…

He’s not looking forward to breaking his daughter’s heart.

Maybe the Sakusa Kiyoomi-san merchandise…

“Shouyou?” Shouyou looks at Akaashi and blinks. “I asked if dinner is still on this Saturday?”

Shouyou smiles. “Of course. We haven’t canceled in the last two years!”

“Great timing, too. Bokuto’s off to the Olympic village on Sunday. Perhaps Sachio can still change her mind about her favorite player…”

“You know I highly doubt that. It’s been years…”

Shouyou sighs. He was not looking forward to this. Telling Sachio they won’t be able to watch her favorite player was on the bottom of things Shouyou wanted to do. He screams against a pillow, releasing all his frustrations on it. Stupid Olympic game tickets. Stupid people who also want to watch. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It was already Saturday, and he came up with nothing. He settles for another groan, angry at himself for not being able to give his daughter her only wish in a long while. He hears a soft unsure knock on his door. Sachio must have heard him.

He fixes and readies himself for the inevitable. There’s no point in stalling. He really wanted her to have a great birthday, but maybe God had other plans. Like not giving him freaking Olympic game tickets.

“Come in, Chio-chan.”

Sachio slowly opens the door, the doorknob higher than her. Her tentative footsteps towards the room made Shouyou want to gush. God, how did she get this adorable? Shouyou gives her a smile and in turn, she blinks at Shouyou cutely, a look of concern on her face.

“Papa, are you okay?”

Shouyou nods. “Papa’s okay, Sachio…” and then he sighs. “Can you sit beside Papa?” He pats the space on the bed next to him. Sachio walks toward him in short steps, and Shouyou helps her settle on the bed.

Well, here goes nothing.

“Papa needs to tell you something, so listen, okay?” Shouyou says, looking at her with guilt. She nods towards her dad, cheeks puffed out and eyes widened in curiosity. Shouyou rolls his lips inside his mouth, trying not to look away from his daughter’s face. He really didn’t want to see her sad or cry, as that was never an option in Shouyou’s book.

He closes his eyes for a moment, and as soon as he opens them, his eyes zero in on his daughter’s face. He speaks slowly. “First of all, Papa wants to say sorry. Please forgive Papa, Sachio-chan? I know I promised you that we can watch Sakusa Kiyoomi-san’s game on your birthday, but Papa hasn’t been able to get us any tickets… Papa has been trying and will keep on trying, but there’s a possibility we can’t watch it. There are so many others who also want to watch how awesome Sakusa Kiyoomi-san and Bokuto-san are.”

Shouyou looks down for a moment, and back up when he doesn’t hear a response from his daughter. Sachio is looking at him with her mouth agape. Was she going to cry? Oh God no. He hasn’t seen her cry in a while. Shouyou was getting nervous. He tries to salvage whatever he can before Sachio can cry. “Second, we can go anywhere you want and buy anything you want, just not—”

“Papa,” Sachio starts and Shouyou looks at her intently after she cuts him off. He was unprepared for what’s to come.

“It’s okay! I can still watch Sakusa Kiyoomi-san on our TV!”

Shouyou wanted to cry right then and there. His eyes turn teary, and he hugs Sachio. How is it she turned out this way? She lets out a whelp from the sudden embrace, but hugs her father back, nonetheless. He feels her pat his back with her tiny hands and now Shouyou was full-on crying. “Papa, are you okay? Are you sad? Why do you need a hug?”

Right… he asks her for hugs whenever he’s down in the dumps.

“Papa is okay, Chio-chan. It’s because Chio-chan is super amazing and awesome,” Shouyou says with a sniff.

“Oh! Like Sakusa Kiyoomi-san?”

He chuckles and kisses the side of her head. “Yes, like Sakusa Kiyoomi-san.”

“Okay,” she giggles as Shouyou places another sloppy kiss on her head. “Papa, Kei-san and Kou-san are waiting for us!”

Shouyou holds onto Sachio’s hand as they wait for the elevator doors to open at Akaashi and Bokuto’s floor. Sachio looks up at him and scrunches her nose, a habit she developed when she feels like being silly. Shouyou scrunches his nose back, the same time the elevator dings. As soon as the doors open, Sachio runs in the direction of the apartment. She waits by the door and waits for Shouyou to carry her for her to ring the doorbell.

She presses the button and leans in toward the camera to show her scrunched-up face. Akaashi speaks through the intercom, “Huh? I wonder who this is!”

Sachio giggles and shouts, “Kei-san, it’s Sachio!”

“Sachio? Do we know a Sachio, Kou?”

“Huh? I don’t think so!” Bokuto answers from a distance.

“Kei-san, Kou-san!” Sachio whines. “I’m your favorite!”

“Are you?” Akaashi asks in a playful tone. “I’m pretty sure Shouyou’s my favorite!”

Shouyou tries to stop himself from laughing as Sachio crosses her arms with a huff. “No, it’s Sachio!”

Akaashi finally opens the door and Sachio gestures for him to take and carry her. Akaashi catches her with a groan towards Shouyou. “She’s getting bigger.”

Shouyou nods and goes inside after them. “Imagine that jumping on you in the stomach every morning.” Akaashi laughs and points towards the kitchen where Bokuto is. As soon as they catch sight of him, he was in the middle of consuming a crouton from the salad that wasn’t tossed yet. Akaashi had his mouth agape before letting out a reprimanding, “Kou!”

Bokuto smiles at him apologetically before popping the crouton into his mouth. Shouyou laughs at him at the same time he greets them. “Sacchan, am I still not your favorite?”

Sachio pouts and shakes her head. “It’s still Sakusa Kiyoomi-san!”

Bokuto puts his hand over his chest, faking a wound. “Just wait ‘til you meet him…”

“Kou!” Akaashi says with a laugh. He sets Sachio down on one of the dining table chairs. Shouyou makes a move to help in the kitchen, but Akaashi just tells him to sit his butt down. The couple serves the dishes on the table and joins the father and daughter duo.

“So… any plans for Sacchan’s birthday? She’s hitting the big 5,” Bokuto says as he takes a spoonful of salad to his mouth.

Shouyou winces slightly. He knows Sachio is alright with whatever he will plan out, but he still wanted her to have the best birthday ever. “Maybe go shopping and then the amusement park…”

“And then watch Sakusa Kiyoomi-san and Kou-san’s game on TV!” Sachio says, butting in the conversation. She takes a spoon of cut-up spaghetti to her mouth and Shouyou wipes the corners. He misses the look Bokuto and Akaashi shared while he was paying attention to his daughter.

As soon as dinner finished, Bokuto goes to the kitchen announcing dessert while Akaashi excuses himself to their bedroom. A work call, he says. Shouyou stands up as well and clears the plates on the table. He stacks them one by one as Sachio makes a move to go to the living room.

Shouyou was in the middle of scraping off leftovers from one plate to another when Bokuto enters the room with a cake in hand with five sticks of golden sparklers lit up. Shouyou gapes at him and whispers, “You didn’t have to!”

“I kinda do! I won’t be able to celebrate and eat cake with her on her birthday. I have to be her favorite, Shouyou.” He laughs at him and puts down the plate he was holding on the table. He joins Bokuto in the living room, observing Sachio who was too engrossed in whatever was playing on TV. Akaashi also quietly goes out of the room, a small gift box in hand. Shouyou smiles at him, and damn it he was getting teary-eyed again.

Bokuto signals to three before singing happy birthday in his loud booming voice. Sachio looks up from the TV, her face morphing from shock to a big happy grin. She joins in singing as well as the clapping. As soon as the song ends, she closes her eyes and clasps her hands together, making a wish. She opens her eyes after a few seconds and inhales through her mouth deeply before blowing out all the candles on the cake. They all clap as Sachio giggles. “Kou-san and Kei-san, thank you so much!”

Bokuto sets the cake down on the coffee table and sits beside Sachio. Akaashi does the same, while Shouyou sits adjacent to the love seat they are on. “You’re welcome, Sacchan! Are you ready for your gift?”

At the mention of gift, Sachio lights up, her eyes starry and mouth agape. Akaashi hides the gift behind him. “How about you close your eyes, Sacchan?” He asks her as she closes her eyes tight. They smile at her endearingly, her excitement radiating to everyone in the room. Akaashi places the gift on her two open palms, and she opens her eyes. She smiles at both Bokuto and Akaashi before shaking the box gently, wanting a clue on what’s inside. They hear nothing but carton hitting carton and Sachio tilts her head, trying to guess.

“Papa, can I open it?”

“Of course! It’s yours, my love,” Shouyou answers and gestures to her to go ahead.

As she always did, Sachio carefully lifts the tape from one side of the pink polka dotted box to the other, making sure not to have a repeat of the paper cut incident, which ended in a lot of tears and well, blood. Akaashi looks at her amused, while Bokuto looked way too excited for Sachio and wanted to open the gift himself. Shouyou wonders what’s inside as well.

Sachio finally pulls out the box from the wrapper, and grins excitedly at all the adults in the room. She carefully lifts the box cover and sees two pieces of paper with a splash of red on top of a Japanese paper used as wrapping for whatever else was inside the box. Sachio lifts the paper for her to read, despite jumbling all the words together. Shouyou looks at the couple with his mouth open and eyes widened. They both just smile at him.

God damn it, the tears.

“August 18, Aria-ariake? Are-are—” Sachio tries to read. “Kei-san, it’s too hard… You do it!”

They all laugh, with Shouyou wiping down a lone tear that managed to escape his eye. Akaashi takes the tickets from her hands and reads to her. “August 18, Ariake Arena, Men’s Volleyball, Japan versus Italy.”

Sachio tilts her head. “What does that mean, Kou-san?”

“Sacchan, it means you’ll get to watch Kou-san play volleyball!”

Sachio squeals. If anyone looked closely, she probably looked like she was vibrating with excitement. “Kou-san and Sakusa Kiyoomi-san?!”

They all nod at her she wraps her tiny arms around the necks of the adults beside her. “Kou-san, Kei-san! Thank you so much!” Shouyou also joins in on the hug and whispers his gratitude to the couple. They both give him pats on the back, which was really comforting and now Shouyou was full-on crying again.

“Don’t forget to wear this as well!” Bokuto takes the Japanese paper-wrapped material from Sachio’s lap and opens it for her. It was Sakusa Kiyoomi’s jersey, a big white 15 printed on it, as well as his last name on the back. The black jersey was too big for her, but she wears it over her pink dress, nonetheless. She drowns in it, the sleeves far too long for her short arms, and the length of the shirt itself reaching almost her ankles. Shouyou almost hears Akaashi coo.

They decide to take a few pictures for Instagram as a keepsake. They move to the dining area, where Akaashi lights up the sparklers on the cake again. Sachio still wears the jersey (as well as a birthday hat courtesy of Bokuto) while standing up on a stool, with Shouyou behind her and Akaashi and Bokuto on their sides. All of them lean close to the birthday girl and smile at the cellphone sitting on the tripod Bokuto set up.

liked by miyatsumu, hinatashou, sakusa_k and 152,101 others

bokutokou   best gift for our best girl, sacchan! #ihavetobethefavoritenow #gonnabeattheonesheswearing

akaashikei   babe, i still don’t think so…

hinatashou  thank you so much, you guys! T__T i had to take the jersey away for laundry and she almost fought me for it…

miyatsumu   happy birthday, cute kid! whose jersey is that? i see a 1, but i can’t see the other number. is it mine? i know i’m the favorite.

            bokutokou   not a chance.

            itsmotoya     it’s gotta be me, then!

            moriyaku      nope, it’s me

            ojiroaran      i hate to be the bearer

            of bad news, but it’s me.

Sachio was vibrating in her seat. Shouyou looks at her through the rearview mirror, with Akaashi in the passenger seat. She was staring out the window with a big grin on her face, humming the song on the radio, despite not really knowing what was playing. She was wearing Sakusa’s jersey (no surprise about that) with a pair of jeans and white rubber shoes. She looked ridiculous yet adorable by how much the jersey was drowning her little body.

“Papa! Look! It’s Sakusa Kiyoomi-san!” Shouyou glances on his right and sure enough, it was him, his big billboard sitting atop a midrise building. Shouyou lets his eyes linger as the stoplight turns red. Sakusa was dressed in his MSBY uniform high up in the air getting ready to spike. His form was impeccable, as usual, his thighs flexed, broad shoulders and wide chest in full view. He’s really broad and wide... Shouyou nods towards it unconsciously. Years of volleyball can do that to you, huh.  The billboard reads, ‘Never miss any of their games. Subscribe to VB Unlimited Pass now.’

“He really is popular,” Shouyou says as the light turns green. He steps on the gas lightly, going straight for the signage ‘Ariake Arena.’

“Yeah, I mean he was the number one ace when we were in high school… He’s also good-looking… you’ve seen him. It’s kinda hard to imagine him to be unpopular,” Akaashi says turning his head to give the billboard one last look. “Did you ever meet him, by the way?”

“No, not really. I think I only got to watch one of their games and it was a game tape. I would die before receiving any of his spikes. Looking back, I probably would have wanted to do exactly that, but now… Nope. My arms would break…”

“Talk about nasty,” Akaashi says with a chuckle, shaking his head. “Kou said he’s been practicing a different spin on his ball handling these past few weeks, and so far, no one’s been able to receive it cleanly.”

“That and the power of his spikes? Yeah… no, thank you.”

“Oh, we’re here, Sacchan!”

--

“Bokkun, your phone just chimed,” Atsumu says on Sakusa’s left. Atsumu was filing his nails, just setter things, he says. Bokuto walks over to where his phone was, smiling at something his boyfriend probably sent. Sakusa looks forward and leans back against the cool metal of their lockers—he sanitized it—hands inside the pocket of his jersey jacket. He stares at the empty bench in front of him, face stoic. The Olympics. He tries to focus on the small stain of rust on the front side of the bench as if staring at it would magically make it go away.

“Nervous?” Komori asks on his right. Donning the same jersey jacket as him, he was also leaning against the lockers, one leg crossed with the other, fingers tapping on them.

“Omi? Nervous? Never!”

“He’s right! That’s his Avengers face,” Bokuto chimes in even if he was wearing a face mask. Sakusa shakes his head at the two idiots on his left and turns to Komori. He sighs before saying, “It’s the Olympics.”

“So, that’s why you have your Avengers game face on…”

Before Sakusa can talk back, they all hear the metal doors open, revealing their coach along with Iwaizumi. They both survey the room, looking for anyone missing. Sakusa looks around as well, straightening himself up. They all gather by them, waiting for any announcement the coach had.

“I’m not entirely good with words—I’ll leave Ushijima to that,” the coach starts jokingly which was responded with a chorus of huffs and laughs. “But you’ve done so well right from when you were all lanky boys. You have all earned your spots here and you all deserve it. Let’s all continue working hard moving forward. No matter the result, let’s all keep our heads up high.” A series of affirmations are heard, all of them nodding towards their coach. “Iwaizumi, any words?” the coach asks, and his face just turns sour, to which the others snickered at.

“Just kick ass.”

Cheers. That’s what the Japanese National Volleyball team hears as soon as they step inside the arena. It feels something akin to being welcomed home, Sakusa thinks, but they were already home. Different voices—young and old, high and low—can be heard all over. They were the first team inside, with the referee giving them a 15-minute warm-up period. Sakusa looks around the arena, taking it all in. The international stage. He’d like to convince himself it didn’t feel any different, but it was. He was always excited about volleyball, but this was something else. They weren’t going to compete against each other, but together and against the world. He allows himself the smallest of smiles and looks around once more.

He hears a loud booming sound from a ball contacting the floor and sees Bokuto high-fiving Kageyama. The others were lined up on one side to spike as well, while the others were doing receiving drills on the other side of the net. Sakusa chooses to line up just behind Ushijima, who was up to spike. Yaku receives the ball effortlessly, with a scrunch of his nose. “Still nasty!” Yaku shouts at Ushijima who just shrugs and tells him he managed to receive it anyway.

It was his turn next. He throws the ball towards Kageyama, who sets it in a manner he knew Sakusa would like. Sakusa jumps high above the net, spiking the ball just by Hoshiumi. It hits the floor with a loud booming thud. Cheers can be heard all over, but a particular voice rises above everyone else. A squeal followed by a laugh, no doubt from an obviously excited child. Some of the members of the team turned their heads to the sound, smiling and wondering who owned the voice which made most of the arena coo. Sakusa also glances around but not before giving a thumbs up to Kageyama.

“Huh,” Atsumu starts, getting the attention of the others. “So, Omi-omi is the favorite after all.”

At the mention of his stupid nickname venerated by none other than possibly the most annoying blond in the world, Sakusa turns around to look for whatever he was pointing at. He tries to catch whatever it was and almost turns to Atsumu to ask what he meant until he sees a head full of bright orange hair. And well, he’d recognize that anywhere… and there were two of them.

Hinata Shouyou stands meters from him, his daughter in his arms grinning at no one else but Sakusa. Said daughter was wearing his black jersey, the big 15 printed in front, and seemed to drown in it. Huh… it was his jersey that Bokuto gifted to her. If it weren’t for the demonic spawns of his siblings, Sakusa would have said the child was criminally adorable, her clementine hair kept in two slightly unruly pigtails. Akaashi, Bokuto’s boyfriend, as Sakusa recognizes, sees him and takes the child’s hand to wave it towards him.

The right thing to do is to wave back, Sakusa thinks or at least the nicer part of his brain does. So, he gives her a small wave and the faintest of smiles in return, only for the child to bury her face on her father’s neck. Sakusa looks at Shouyou with his eyebrows raised a bit, asking him silently what he did wrong—did he not smile enough? —and the orange-head gives him a sheepish smile and a small bow. Sakusa stares at him. Did he recognize him? Well, besides the fact that his daughter was a big fan of his, Sakusa wanted to ask him if he actually knew him from high school? There are lots of questions from the top of his head, but he is brought back when he feels Atsumu clap his back, trying to round the others up for receiving drills. He sneaks in a small bow towards Shouyou, who gives him a smile in return.

“So, that’s the path he took, huh,” Komori says in front of Sakusa. There were three more people before he was up to receive and so he found the time to annoy Sakusa once more. “I always thought he’d go pro.” Sakusa thinks he will leave it at that once he gives his hum of agreement, but of course, Komori doesn’t. “Never thought he’d get married, have a child, and settle…” He’s sure now Komori was doing this for that reason.

Sakusa squints his eyes at Komori, a warning to shut him up. Komori just shrugs, “I’m just saying.”

“Focus,” is all Sakusa says knowing Komori will get serious later on anyway, but not before hearing the referee’s whistle and Bokuto say, “He’s not married though!”

The final stretch aka superhuman territory. Sakusa takes a sip of his water, as he sat on the bench as their coach rounds them up for the final point. They were up by one and getting one more will get them their first win in the Olympics. Sakusa listens to whatever the coach was saying, nodding along his instructions. Atsumu and Bokuto clap his back as they usually did even if Sakusa tells them to stop (even though he does find it supportive), before going back to the court.

Sakusa forgives himself when he wipes a sheen of sweat from his forehead with the use of his jersey. He was up to serve next, catching the ball from the umpire. The other team comes back to their side as well, positioning themselves. Sakusa hits the ball towards the floor a few times, before hearing the referee’s whistle. As he inhales, he feels as if the whole arena inhaled with him. He can hear his heart right in his ears. The final point.

It’s now.

He starts walking and throws the ball up in the air with a swoosh, jumps, and hits it. He runs back to his designated position before he could see if the ball went in or not as if he was sure. He hears a whistle, the crowd shouting and suddenly his teammates on the court go to him, screaming at his face. Bokuto and Atsumu clap him in the back again and Sakusa will make sure they’ll pay for it next time.

A service ace for the win. That’s what he did. They had a long way to go, Sakusa thinks, but with one win in the Olympics, he allows himself a smile. Cheers from the crowd go on as they shake hands with their opponents. The Japanese Team bows to them before going to the bench. Sakusa wipes his sweat with a fresh towel, as Iwaizumi ruffles his hair. Disgusting, Sakusa thinks but doesn’t say it out loud. A punch from their athletic trainer isn’t something he wants.

The coach rounds them all up, congratulating all of them for a job well done. He tells the team they’ll discuss everything later, so they can do their stretches and greet family, friends and fans first. The team thanks the coach and go to different directions to do so. Sakusa decides to sit on the bench first after playing for almost all sets. Komori settles beside him, sighing. “Stop overshadowing me, prick.”

Sakusa lets out a huff. “I’m not doing anything.”

“If I didn’t know any better, which I actually do, you’re showing off,” Komori says in a teasing tone.

Before Sakusa can fold Komori in half backward, they hear a child’s excited voice again. “Kou-san!”

Bokuto, who was standing a few feet away from them, runs up to the direction of the voice. Sure enough, it was Hinata Shouyou’s daughter, now on the floor, the barricade just below her chin. Bokuto picks her up and sets her down on their side. Bokuto squats down to her height, as she tries to animate spikes and receives. Her use of FWWOOOH and BAAAHM makes Komori chuckle. “God, that’s adorable. She’s as energetic as her father.”

Sakusa turns to Komori. “Did you know him personally?”

“Yeah! We met up a few times because of Kageyama—wait, no, I was kidding. Jesus,” Komori says in defense when he sees Sakusa getting ready to hit him. They hear a squeal, which draws Sakusa’s attention back to Bokuto and Hinata’s daughter. He catches her eye, which in turn widens. She hides behind Bokuto’s legs, who is now standing up. The child angles her head and peeks at Sakusa. Bokuto just looks at her amused.

“Awww. She’s getting shy from seeing her favorite!” Komori says. “Why don’t you go and say hi?”

Sakusa whips his head towards Komori’s direction. Just… what? Sakusa is never the type to do fan service, even if it was someone he knew. He looks at Komori in disbelief, shocked at his suggestion. Komori just laughs at him, “Dude, it’s one kid. Think about your reputation.”

Fuck my reputation.

“Oh? Is it because you’re afraid to go starry-eyed and dreamy for Hinata?” Komori says, complete with batting eyelashes and hands entwined together under his chin. He glares at him before he glances around to look if someone was nearby. He wants to chainsaw Komori in half due to his own embarrassment, remembering once again the time when he heavily favored one orange head in high school because of volleyball.

All because of volleyball.

Sakusa stands up anyway and ignores Komori’s hey, wait, what are you doing as he walks toward the direction of Bokuto and the kid. He blames the exhausting game for his elevated heartbeat, right before he stops by Bokuto. The gray-haired man blinks at him, obviously in shock with Sakusa approaching them, which was unprompted, they think. He looks at Hinata Shouyou, who was also looking up at him, mouth agape. Sakusa notices he hasn’t grown much vertically, and his hair was much shorter than the last time he saw him, which was in high school. He was clad in an oversized casual shirt, his arms drowning in the sleeves, just like his daughter. He bows to them in a timid manner and clears his throat.

I wasn’t staring… right?

“I just wanted to say hi,” Sakusa says, gesturing towards Sachio, as he learns, who was still hiding behind Bokuto, but is still peeking up at him.

Bokuto gently takes Sachio from behind him and pushes her towards Sakusa. She looks at Bokuto to perhaps whine but doesn’t do so and faces him anyway. Sakusa squats to her height, giving her a small gentle smile as he greets her hello. Sachio waves her tiny hand in his direction. “I’d just like to thank Sachio-san for supporting me and my team. You did so well in cheering for us that we won,” Sakusa says and where the hell did he get that? What the fuck? That earns him a big, excited grin in return.

“It’s because Sakusa Kiyoomi-san and Kou-san and everyone else are amazing!” Sachio says, now unshy. If anyone looked closer, it was almost as if she had stars in her eyes. Her big grin made her eyes even tinier, cheeks mushed up like she had something in them. Okay, that was cute.

He’ll take that back anyway once he sees his diabolical nephews and nieces.

“Okay, how about a high-five for doing a great job?” Sakusa says raising his dominant hand. He doesn’t miss Bokuto’s almost inaudible what. Sachio obliges him, the loud smack heard by all of them. Sakusa catches Komori’s eye. The man was looking at him in disbelief. Some of his teammates were staring at him as well as if he grew another fucking head. Hell, even Sakusa would ask himself why he was doing this later.

“Maybe a picture?” Bokuto says, unsure. Sakusa knows Bokuto is trying to take advantage of this rare Sakusa but he turns to Hinata Shouyou anyway, who was looking at him with wide eyes. He raises his eyebrows towards him and Akaashi nudges Shouyou. “O-oh, right! A picture!” Shouyou immediately takes his phone from his pocket and angles it towards them. Sakusa, whose bane of existence was constant human contact and people in close proximity, wraps his hand over Sachio’s shoulder, then smiles at the camera. Shouyou snaps the picture a few times, and then, Sakusa stands up. He gives Sachio another high-five—again, what the fuck?—as Bokuto returns her to the other side of the barricade. She goes to her father, holding out her palm towards Hinata. At first, Sakusa thinks she was bragging about the fact that her favorite athlete gave her not one, but two high-fives and Hinata nods his head yes with a big smile, matching her excitement—

“Papa, spray!” Sachio says, voice slightly agitated, piquing Sakusa’s curiosity. Then, in a lower and quiet tone and bluntly, “His hand was sweaty and dirty…”

What?

Akaashi was quick to cover Sachio’s mouth, who in turn makes a questioning noise along with a muffled “Kei-san!” Hinata Shouyou pulls out an alcohol spray from what looked like his daughter’s bag and immediately hands it to Akaashi. He turns to approach and face Sakusa, a hint of red on his cheeks. They blink at each other with Sakusa’s mouth agape until Shouyou speaks and bows lightly. “I’m sorry.” The shorter man then glares at Bokuto who was trying to stop himself from laughing before giving his attention back to Sakusa. He looks down at Shouyou, who was looking at anywhere but his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Hinata tries again and reddens even further as he fiddles with his hands. “I am really sorry about that…”

Sakusa stares. He stares. Hinata Shouyou stands an arm away. He notices Shouyou reddening even more. Then, Shouyou looks at him straight in the eyes, and Sakusa straightens up and wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. Someone just called him sweaty and dirty. A child at that. He’ll rethink his life later and so instead he chooses to give Shouyou a slight smile.

“Well, she wasn’t wrong, Hinata-san. I’ll make sure to clean my hands next time.”

Sakusa turns to Bokuto, who points over to where his coach was doing an interview. Right, post-game interviews. Shouyou stands there looking at Sakusa, blinking at him. “R-right… Thank you so much, Sakusa-san!” Sakusa bows towards Shouyou and then Akaashi, who was staring at him with eyebrows raised before giving him a bow of his own. “Right, before I forget. Happy birthday, Sachio.” Her mouth was now uncovered, and she thanks Sakusa. She waves her hands goodbye as they walk away.

liked by bokutokou, akaashikei, sakusa_k and 1,021 others

hinatashou   best birthday ever!!! (her jaw and cheeks hurt so much from smiling)

thank you so much, @sakusa_k plus kou-san and kei-san for making this possible T_T

#someoneisgoingtostayuplate #itsthebothofus

#shewontletgoofthejerseyagain

akaashikei   gaaah, look at that happy baby! happy birthday, sacchan!

miyatsumu   why is it omi

itsmotoya     yeah, why is it omi… but happy birthday, sachio!

bokutokou   sacchan is kou-san still not your favorite…

                        akaashikei   i still don’t think so…

sakusa_k      you’re welcome. Happy birthday, Sachio :)

“You went all out. You high-fived… a kid!”

“Shut up.”

“TWICE.”

“Shut up.”

“You used a happy face—”

“Shut up.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you look like a family—"

“SHUT UP.”

The Japanese National Volleyball Team doesn’t win gold in the Olympics. They make it into the quarterfinals—which was a good feat. It wasn’t bad for them, and there was 2024 anyway. After the Olympics, all players and staff were given a month-long break before practice starts again for the new season in the V-League. Most of the team went back to their hometowns and Sakusa decides to stay back in Tokyo just because despite its congestion. It was silly really as he hated crowds, noise, and just other people in general but Tokyo was home as it always was. Komori also decides to do the same and chose to stay at his childhood home.  

Sakusa was now back in his old apartment that his parents gifted him when he attended college, the one he left as soon as he decided to play for the Jackals. He stands in the living room, squinting his eyes at the gathering dust by the windowsill. It was in good shape still, even if the last time he was here was three months ago. He puts his face mask back on and decides to clean the apartment until the last speck of dust is gone.

He scrubbed, vacuumed, and wiped down every corner. He shook the dust off his furniture, replaced every single linen, disinfected everything that could gather bacteria, and unpacked his clothes. Sakusa decides to lay down on the floor, the bed too clean for his sweaty and probably dirty self. He unhooks one side of his mask and sighs loudly. He stares at the ceiling for a good minute or two, until he feels that it was too boring to look at and decides to stand up to shower.

He gets out of the shower feeling clean, the smell of his aftershave lingering on his skin. Sakusa dresses up in casual clothes, a light long sleeve, and a pair of sweatpants. He was only going grocery shopping anyway, and he was never one to dress up. He grabs a fresh surgical mask and puts it on his face.

It wasn’t crowded, which was a miracle, really. It was a little past six in the evening, and there weren’t many people in the grocery store. Sakusa could have ordered take-out rather than go outside, but he always preferred to make his own meals than to second-guess whether the food he ordered was prepared with utmost cleanliness.

Sakusa grabs one basket beside the entrance, spraying it with alcohol and wiping the handles with disinfectant wipes. The cashier lady by the entrance stares at him, probably due to his towering height and physique, and he just bows lightly before going on his way.

His grocery list didn’t contain much, most of which were just greens, protein, his favorite umeboshi, and the occasional sour gummies—which were disgusting really—that he loved. Sakusa surveys each aisle one by one, just in case he missed something.

He crosses off each item on his list, settling to just take two for each produce, and not wanting them to rot in the fridge. He can always go back to the store. He goes for self-checkout, not wanting another person to touch his items. Sakusa also buys a cloth bag, because even if he was a meticulous person, he sometimes forgets things. He bags them all up, opting to spray the bag before, then goes on his way.

The automatic doors open, the dark of the night greeting him. Sakusa walks in the direction of his apartment but halts when he hears his name.

“Sakusa-san?” He turns towards the direction of the voice. It was Akaashi Keiji, holding a block of cheese probably from the grocery store. Sakusa bows towards him, greeting him a good evening.

“Ah, I knew it was you. Koutarou mentioned you’d be staying in your Tokyo apartment for a while…” Akaashi says and Sakusa just nods like the awkward almost anti-social person he was. “Anyway… If you’re free tonight, you can join us for dinner if you’re up for it.”

Sakusa knows he was just being nice since he lived alone, like the more outgoing person asking the introverted one to hang out, but— “Shouyou and Sachio are coming as well. It’s a weekly thing, really. I doubt they’d mind if you joined us. If you want, that is.”

“Kou? Brought your friend here,” Akaashi says as Sakusa entered the apartment with the previous following suit. They both remove their shoes and place them on the shoe rack and Sakusa notices the tiniest house slippers he’s probably seen. “Oh, that’s Sachio’s. She’s outgrowing them though.” Akaashi gives him his own pair and asks him if anything he bought needed to be put in the fridge. He shakes his head no, as he didn’t really buy any meat, deciding to go to the market instead for fresher goods.

“Hey!” Bokuto greets him. “Welcome to our place! It’s clean… Kind of. I think… Anyway, just sit on the couch for a while, we’re just finishing up!”  Bokuto leaves him in the living room, going to the kitchen to help his boyfriend. Sakusa places his grocery just by the couch and sits on it. He removes his face mask—feeling a bit rude not doing so, and yes, he actually knew how to be nice—and places it in a spare plastic bag he had before pocketing it to throw away later. He looks around the room and it was as he expected. There wasn’t anything significantly loud in any furnishing or design. It was muted and was more of Akaashi than Bokuto. He continues surveying the room, and realizes… why was he here anyway?

Sakusa blames it on his laziness to cook after a long day of scrubbing, vacuuming and disinfecting or perhaps he was too shy to say no, but then the front door suddenly opens, and it was Shouyou and Sachio entering the room and oh. “You guys left the door open again; I swear this is a homicide waiting to happen!” Shouyou says as he removed his shoes. He hasn’t seen him yet and neither has Sachio, who sat on the step to remove her shoes, unable to balance herself when removing them standing up. She successfully takes them off, and Shouyou sets down her own house slippers for her to wear. Sachio wears them immediately, and runs up to the living room probably to greet Akaashi and Bokuto, but instead comes face to face with Sakusa.

They blink at each other until the child’s initial reaction of shock morphs into excitement. “Sakusa Kiyoomi-san?”

“Hi,” Sakusa greets her with a small smile. “How have you been, Sachio-san?”

She gives him an excited wave, and then shouts for her dad. “Papa, come here!”

“Just a sec, my love.”

Sakusa stands up as Shouyou joins them in the living room. He also blinks at Sakusa, much like his daughter’s reaction. It also morphs into a tentative smile. He’s really short, Sakusa registers in his mind. He had to crane his neck a bit to look at him. He wears a black plaid polo over a white shirt and a pair of jeans. Shouyou bows first and Sakusa follows. In a quiet voice, Shouyou speaks. “Uhm… Hi. It’s nice to see you again.”

It is.

Sakusa notices his eyebrows raise towards him, but Bokuto enters the room. “Oh, you’ve seen each other!” They both nod at him, and he continues talking. “Omi decided to stay back in Tokyo for a while and bumped into Akaashi. He asked him to dinner so here we are.”

“Kou-san!” Sachio greets Bokuto, hugging his legs. He ruffles her hair in return.

“Okay, it’s ready!” Akaashi enters the room as well, holding up two full plates of what looked like breadsticks and chicken wings, and beckons them towards their dining area. “I hope you like Italian,” he says to Sakusa to which he replies that he didn’t mind. They all go to the dining area to sit until Sakusa feels something or someone tugging on the hem of his shirt.

Sachio blinks up at him, her amber eyes staring at him as if Sakusa was forgetting something. He looks at Shouyou, who was also staring at his daughter. “Sacchan, is there something wrong?” He asks.

“Sakusa Kiyoomi-san needs to wash his hands.”

Borderline laugh and snort. That was Bokuto.

“Sacchan!” That was Shouyou.

He tries removing Sachio’s grip from Sakusa’s shirt, but instead also gets pulled by Sachio. “You too, Papa!” He feels his ears redden, well, because a child called him out again. The kid didn’t even call him dirty this time, but that’s exactly how Sakusa felt. He finds himself in the kitchen with Shouyou and Sachio, the latter carried by his father to reach the sink. He let them go first, as he needed to go through his five stages of grief.

1. He was called dirty and sweaty.
2. By a child
3. In front of Bokuto
4. Twice.

Okay, maybe four. Sakusa leans against the counter—it was clean, he checked—and stares at them, as Sachio opens the tap to rinse her hands initially, before pumping out hand soap. She starts singing happy birthday, with Shouyou nodding along with her—it was more of blabbering, really—singing. She accidentally claps her hands from excitement, getting soap on her father’s face. Shouyou laughs, and Sakusa just finds himself staring at his face. The two orange heads looked too similar with their eyes imitating crescents, and then Sakusa feels the tips of his ears heating up. All of a sudden, Tokyo feels a little too hot for his liking, forgetting the cool breeze he felt when he went out earlier. Sachio finishes her two happy birthdays with a yay right at the end, her father setting her down on the floor and giving her paper towels to dry her hands with.

She turns to Sakusa, and decides to placate herself right next to him, leaning against the counter or at least she tries as much as her height could allow. Shouyou washes his hands, glancing at the two people who were staring at him. “Sacchan? Why don’t you go to Kou-san and Kei-san?”

“Omi-san also needs to wash his hands, Papa!”

Shouyou closes his eyes for a moment, before closing the faucet and facing them both. “It’s Sakusa-san, Sacchan… Also, you don’t have to watch him…” Sachio glances at Sakusa, who surprises himself as he didn’t really mind. “But Kou-san calls him Omi…”

“That’s because they’re friends, Sacchan…”

“But aren’t we friends, Sakusa Kiyoomi-san?” She stares up again at Sakusa, the same time Shouyou shakes his head no at him, but Sakusa already nodding yes. Sachio grins big at him and then at Shouyou, as if to tell him I told you so! She runs to where Bokuto and Akaashi were and Shouyou stands up, sighing.

“I’m sorry,” they say at the same time. Shouyou huffs but smiles at Sakusa anyway, and the latter gives him a restrained smile. “It’s just that I don’t want her getting too friendly with adults like they’re the same age. And well, she’s gonna be pestering you now because you’re friends.”

“I don’t mind, Hinata-san.”

“Gah… still…”

“Still?”

“Still,” Hinata repeats, a small frown on his face. “You probably don’t want to be called cute nicknames...? But still, sorry and thank you, Sakusa-san.”

“For what?”

“I don’t mean to be rude… but you don’t seem like the type to like kids. But I guess I was wrong since you seem so nice to Sachio.”

You’re not wrong. Sakusa wanted to say. Even if he did say he liked Sachio—which no, he didn’t—that won’t affect his general disposition of kids… especially his demonic nephews and nieces. He also wanted to say that maybe the kid reminds him of a younger version of the man in front of him which he may have been a bit fond of but doesn’t say so. Instead, Akaashi shouts from where he was, effectively cutting off whatever response Sakusa had. “Hey! Dinner’s waiting!” Sakusa just gives Shouyou a nod, then makes a move to go to the sink to wash his hands.

Dinner goes by smoothly, consisting of small talks between the four adults. Bokuto was a decent enough cook, Sakusa realizes but maybe Akaashi was the one to thank for that. They ask Sakusa how Tokyo is treating him so far after being back for a while, and he answers promptly, saying things like it’s the same as it was, the weather’s hotter, and somehow there’s less congestion from where his apartment was. Sakusa and Bokuto’s performance in the Olympics come up as well, with Sachio telling them how awesome they were, and that the best part of it all was Omi-san’s service aces. Sakusa knows they are both great players, but somehow, he takes pride in the fact that he was the kid’s favorite. Like the laughably awkward person he was, he just thanks Sachio when he catches Shouyou beaming at him.

“Oh, did you guys ever meet when we were in high school?” Bokuto asks, directing the question to Sakusa and Shouyou. They move to the living room after dinner, with Shouyou sitting on the floor and the love seat occupied by Sakusa and Sachio. Bokuto sits at the single sofa across them, with Akaashi sitting on one of the armrests. “I don’t think I remember you guys going head-to-head!”

Sakusa feels his ears redden. It wasn’t uncalled for, and Bokuto was probably asking that as small talk, but a memory that Sakusa actively wants to eradicate from his mind pops up and suddenly, he’s brought back to high school nationals in his 2^nd year, watching the game between Inarizaki and Karasuno, his eyes trained on a certain redhead hopping around the court. He wants to groan, remembering why the hell he asked Komori what the redhead’s name was and then came the onslaught of endless teasing by Komori and him threatening to hit his cousin if he so much utters a single word when he had enough. He also remembers a part of it he isn’t fond of, the one where the man seated on the floor fell in the middle of a match. He distinctly remembers that memory, playing on another court in the same gym as them, and he just wanted to know why that happened.

“No,” Shouyou answers, with a pout. “We didn’t really get to match up when Sakusa-san was still in high school, but we did lose against Itachiyama in our third year. It would have been fun to dig his spikes, but now not so much.” Shouyou scrunches his nose and smiles again at Sakusa, and now it’s his cheeks that were hot. He notices Shouyou was less awkward around him, and that he found him looking a little dazed. He looks drunk despite not consuming wine as Akaashi and Bokuto did. Was he sleepy? Sakusa doesn’t miss the forming bags under his eyes, and just nods along, looking away before the redhead can see that he was basically the same color as his hair.

“Right,” Akaashi says, joining in the conversation. “How did you guys know each other, then?”

“Well, Sakusa-san was the number one ace when we were in high school! You guys remember my obsession with aces, right?”

“God, yes, I remember you being Kou’s number one disciple…”

Shouyou laughs at that, and Sakusa turns his attention to him again. Was it too much if he asked him to laugh again? “Gah, I miss volleyball! It really was so much fun!” His eyes were pensive now, and then he leans on the couch with a sigh. Akaashi and Bokuto look at him with sad smiles. And maybe Sakusa didn’t like that one bit. Akaashi was about to speak, but Shouyou talks again. “Anyway! I think it’s time for us to go… I’m sorry she had to use you as a pillow, Sakusa-san.”

Sakusa looks to his right and sees Sachio leaning against him, almost weightless. Her left cheek was mushed up against his arm, mouth slightly open in an ‘o’. Shouyou looks at her with a soft look on his face, probably not wanting to disturb her peace. He notices Sakusa looking at him, and he mouths another apology. Shouyou stands up with the support of the loveseat and collects Sachio in his arms with a groan. He carefully places her head on his shoulder. He bounces her in his arms to get a better grip.

“Are you guys walking home? I think it’s best to take a cab,” Akaashi says now standing up to help Shouyou with Sachio’s arms, wrapping it around his neck.

“It’s just a short walk, Keiji. We’ll be okay,” Shouyou whispers now that Sachio was in his arms.

“Three kilometers isn’t exactly a short walk, Sho.”

“I’ll be fi—”

“I can carry her for you,” Sakusa finds himself saying. What the fuck, he wanted to ask himself. Where did this come from? They all turn to him, with Bokuto blinking at him, Shouyou’s eyes widened and Akaashi staring at him with a knowing look and was that a slight smile?

Shouyou shakes his head. “You don’t have to Sakusa-san. I don’t want to bother you and we might be going to different directions anyway, so—”

“Sho, give her to the guy who deadlifts,” Akaashi says motioning towards Sakusa to which Shouyou rolled his eyes. “Please, you look like you’ll pass out any minute now.”

--

Awkward. That’s how Shouyou feels as they walk along the empty streets of almost midnight Tokyo. Sachio rests easily in Sakusa’s arms, her own wrapped around his neck. Her head was facing Shouyou, and if it weren’t for the atmosphere, he would have cooed at the sight. He looks forward again, watching as some stores close up late. He fiddles with his hands, not knowing what to do with them. He offered to carry Sakusa’s grocery bag for him, but the taller man just hooks it up his shoulder and carried on with Sachio in his arms like it was nothing.

Focusing ahead, a leaf crunches under Shouyou’s foot, and he takes in his surroundings. Trees lined up by the sidewalk were turning into different shades of yellow, orange, and red. Tokyo was about to get chilly in a few weeks or days. Sachio often has trouble with changing seasons, especially from the hot summer to the cool wind of autumn. He looks over to Sachio again and sees her scrunching her nose, probably dreaming. Shouyou hears her whisper Papa, along with one of her fists balling Sakusa’s shirt. She tightens her grip on the taller man’s neck, and Sakusa bounces her in his arms to get a better grip. The smaller man looks at them in concern and tries to offer him a hand.

“Sorry about that, she really has an active mind even when she’s sleeping… If your arms get tired, I can take her from you. Or at least the grocery bag,” Shouyou says quietly. “You really didn’t have to do this, Sakusa-san.”

“I’m okay,” Sakusa says, voice slightly muffled against the face mask he was wearing. Shouyou sneaks in a glance at the taller man, looking for any indication that he was in fact getting tired, but said man’s face didn’t actually give away anything, except that he was a person who cared a lot about his health—the face mask. His face remains stoic in an almost relaxed manner, and not like he didn’t actually force himself to make it that way. Shouyou finds himself staring longer than necessary and notices the two moles lined up perfectly on his forehead, his forehead that looked so smooth—of course, he was modeling for athletic brands, he needed to have good skin—the brushed back hair, the slightly curly bangs, the long eyelashes, the thick eyebrows, and sharp nose and oh. Sakusa catches him looking and Shouyou looks straight ahead again.

The orange-haired man clears his throat, ears and cheeks hot. “We turn this way and then we’ll arrive.”

They make a right towards Shouyou’s street, and Shouyou wonders if it was embarrass Shouyou day today. They bump into his neighbor, who was honestly a good woman, wife, and mother, Shouyou assumes as he takes in Sachio sometimes to look after and sees her raise her eyebrows at them. She stares at Sakusa, blinking as if this was the first time she’s seen someone as tall and built as him. Oh, right. He was with Sakusa Kiyoomi-san. And he was carrying his daughter for him. Shouyou just bows his head good evening, face almost the same shade as the red autumn leaf he stepped on earlier, with Sakusa slightly bowing as well, supporting Sachio’s head in the process, no doubt confused as to who he just bowed to. She bows back and looks as if she was stopping herself from gaping at what she just saw. Shouyou speeds up his steps, and they finally arrive in front of the closed coffee shop.

“This is us,” Shouyou says. Sakusa looks around the place, curious as to where ‘us’ is. “Oh. We live upstairs. My uncle owns the coffee shop and I manage it for him with another person and yeah, you didn’t ask… I’ll stop talking.”

Sakusa nods, and Shouyou makes a gesture to take Sachio from him. Sakusa lowers his height a bit, slowly unwraps Sachio’s arms from his neck, and Shouyou grabs her from him. Shouyou leans back a bit with Sachio’s sudden weight on him and suddenly feels Sakusa’s warm hand on his back to balance him. Shouyou looks up at Sakusa and blinks. The taller man stares straight into his eyes, and Shouyou thinks he can only turn red a number of times in a day.

Shouyou straightens up, bouncing Sachio in his arms. “Thank you, Sakusa-san.” The other nods and retracts his hand from Shouyou’s back. He takes a step back from Shouyou and bows to him. “Goodnight, Hinata-san. Please tell the same to Sachio.”

Before Shouyou can say anything, Sakusa turns around to walk away. He blinks at his retreating form, a tall man carrying his grocery bag, steps quickened, until he finds himself saying his name. The dark-haired man stops and turns around to look at Shouyou. With Sachio in his arms, Shouyou tries catching up to him in slow steps, but Sakusa beats him to it as he makes his way to him in his naturally long strides.

“Did you forget something, Hinata-san?”

“You… you can drop by for mediocre coffee but slightly good pastry if you’re up for that. On the house…?” Shouyou says, arms getting heavy from his daughter still in his arms. He bounces Sachio yet again and hears a huff—a laugh?— from Sakusa. Although, it may have been his senses tricking him. He sees his cheeks rise up a bit, and oh. He really was handsome.

“I’d love to have mediocre coffee.”

“Not the slightly good pastry?” Shouyou asks, smiling a bit despite the sleeping five-year-old in his arms that seemed to get heavier by the minute. He sees Sakusa shake his head gently at him, still keeping perhaps the small smile on his face.

“Yeah, laying off the carbs.” Shouyou laughs at that, and notices Sakusa staring at him. He nods his head, saying he’ll take note of his preferences. He motions towards the entrance of the apartments above the coffee shop and bids Sakusa goodnight. The other nods, waving lightly as the father and daughter enter their building.