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Sakusa Kiyoomi was shit-faced drunk.
There was no two ways about it. It was the team's annual New Year's Eve party and the raven haired spiker had unfortunately been roped into an ill-advised drinking game with Coach Foster, Barnes, and their captain Meian. A rite of passage, they said. An initiation ritual, the rest of the team said. And Sakusa had begrudgingly accepted, clearly already resigned to endure the madness that was MSBY Black Jackals after only a few months with the team.
If anyone asked Atsumu, which no one did, he would say it was more of a torment of the innocent, misguided souls that chose to sign on to this team.
Atsumu remembered his own drinking game. Barnes hadn't been with them yet back then, but just the sheer ruthlessness that was Coach Foster and Meian Shugo was enough to give him the worst hangover of his life. He still couldn't recall half of the things he did that night and the parts he did recall was mostly because he saw them in various clips and pics Inunaki made sure to post on his Instagram for Atsumu's birthday every year since. Atsumu cringed just thinking about the video of him calling their coach 'hunky DILF' that Inunaki had decided to post this year.
Point is, MSBY's welcoming drinking game equaled sufferings of epic proportion and never-ending source of embarrassing blackmail materials. And Sakusa Kiyoomi and Hinata Shoyo were the current victims of it.
Shoyo, the sun-blessed angel that he was, had already passed out. Seemed like the guy was a sleepy drunk and he hit his limit about half an hour ago. Sakusa, on the other hand, was surprisingly holding strong. He definitely had at least a dozen Tequila shots, two cans of beers, four glasses of straight whiskey, and three different types of cocktails. (Atsumu had been taking notes with some kind of morbid fascination.) But the man was sitting upright, albeit heavily leaning on the backrest of the armchair he was occupying. Barnes asked something about Sakusa's college degree and he mumbled back a relatively articulated and wordy answer. Atsumu was almost offended by how normal he sounded. Maybe Sakusa actually put himself out there and partied hard in college, and developed insanely high tolerance as a result? Who would have thought?
As the clock-hand steadily approached midnight, Atsumu saw Coach Foster turned to ask Sakusa the single most important question he asked all of them: why did he choose to join MSBY? Atsumu had to admit he was curious of Sakusa's reason as well. Unlike Shoyo, Sakusa was already a well-established skilled player with an impressive track record. Atsumu knew for a fact that he received offers from at least four division 1 teams and even one from Poland. Yet he chose MSBY.
Sure they were a strong team, placing in the top 3 for three years in a role, but so were EJP and the Adlers. Maybe he could understand Sakusa not wanting to be on the same team with his long-time rival, Ushijima, but it didn't make much sense that he would choose them over EJP. The Raijins were a solid team that were relatively lacking strong hitters. Sakusa would surely get a first-line spot on that team, not to mention that Komori was also playing for them. Everyone had thought he would either go to Poland or join EJP, so it really came as a surprise when he showed up at MSBY's gym on the first day of practice with a yellow jacket and a brand new number 15 jersey.
Especially given the history between him and Atsumu, he was surprised Sakusa even came to the tryout at all.
Atsumu saw Sakusa took a sip of his drink, a bright red Cosmopolitan. He held his breath when the black haired man put down his glass--
--and proceeded to sob into his hands.
Atsumu was shocked. Coach Foster was shocked. Captian Meian was shocked. Everyone who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, mostly for blackmail materials, was shocked. Sakusa Kiyoomi--22 year old Sport Science graduate, collegiate MVP, JNT's first-line outside hitter, and perpetual too-blunt jerk-- was crying in the dormitory lounge, in his first New Year's Eve party.
What. The. Fuck.
Barnes reached over with a hand hovering awkwardly above Sakusa's shoulder, visibly struggling to choose between his paternal urge to comfort the crying man and his respect of Sakusa's physical boundary. The crying man in question remained oblivious to his dilemma. Sakusa had his face buried in his hands, continued bawling his eyes out. A faint sniffle could be heard every now and then, with the occasional wet snorts.
Atsumu got up from his spot at the kitchen island and moved to crouch down in front of Sakusa. He touched those pale hands gently with his fingertips, letting the other knew he was there without trying to remove them, and spoke softly.
"Hey, Omi-kun. It's me. Can ya hear me? Ya alright there?"
At this, Sakusa nodded a few times, then he stilled and shook his head slowly. He let out a loud groan and seemed to sob even harder. Atsumu winced.
"Um, okay. Can ya....ah...wanna tell me why yer cryin'? Anythin' I can do ta help?" Atsumu tried again. He kept his voice low, distantly aware that by now most of the room was listening in and Inunaki probably had his camera out at the ready.
This time, Sakusa straightened up. He finally showed his face and frankly, the guy looked a right mess. He wiped the tear tracks and snots with his shirt (which Atsumu was sure sober Sakusa would kill himself for came tomorrow) and abruptly stood up.
"Tsumu.." Bloodshot eyes looked into golden brown ones. Atsumu swallowed.
Without further explanation, Sakusa marched up to the TV where a karaoke system was hooked up. Bokuto, who was performing a questionable rendition of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off, quietly handed the microphone to him when requested. Sakusa leaned down to type something into the search bar. A black and white video showed up on the screen--
--and then Sakusa screamed.
"I'M CRYING.. 'CAUSE I LOVE YOUUUUU"
Atsumu jumped, along with everyone else in the room. Even Pochi, Thomas's poor shih tzu, yelped in alarm.
Sakusa seemed ignorant to it all though, he continued to croon out the 'ya ya ya, ya ya, ya ya' along with the words on the screen. His eyes was closed while he gripped the microphone tightly with both hands. He was evidently familiar with the song, as he swayed slowly side-to-side with the music before he started singing, perfectly in-sync with the beat despite not looking at the screen.
"Never been in love before
What the fuck are fucking feelings yo?"
Sakusa opened his eyes and frowned.
"Once upon a time, I was a ho
I don't even wanna ho no mo'
Got you something from the liquor store
Little bit of Lizzo and some Mo
Tryna open up a little more
Sorry if my heart a little slow."
Suddenly he turned to look straight at Atsumu, and belted out.
"I thought that I didn't care
I thought I was love-impaired."
Atsumu could feel his cheeks began to warm, and it only got worse when Sakusa dropped down onto his knees.
"But baby, baby
I don't know what I'm gonna doooooo" His voice got progressively higher until it cracked a little at the end. Atsumu cringed, but that didn't seem to matter to the raven haired man on a mission.
"I'M CRYING 'CAUSE I LOVE YOUUUUUUU, OH"
Freeing his right hand from the brutal grip on the microphone, he pointed at Atsumu.
"YES, YOU!!"
Then he got up, his eyes closed again while he slurred out the 'ya ya, ya ya' for the second time.
Sakusa continued to sing passionately, but Atsumu had completely stopped functioning. Not only was Sakusa a crier type of drunk, he was also a singer, who was apparently very into Lizzo.
Atsumu only had a few drinks, but he felt like he was about to blackout with all the new informations he was being bombarded with. He couldn't make sense of any of it and trying to think about it right now hurt his head.
So he just sat there, rooted to the his spot on the ground and mouth gaping open. He was aware of everyone in the room staring, back and forth between him and Sakusa, who was now prancing around the coffee table with astonishingly stable steps while crooning out the lyrics.
When Sakusa sang 'Ready baby? Will you be my man?', he did an abrupt full-body twist to face Atsumu and started stalking towards him, lips still singing the song. Atsumu jolted seeing the laser focus intensity in those pitch black eyes.
Sakusa squatted down low in front of him, mirroring Atsumu's position from earlier and bellowed out.
"I thought that I didn't care
I thought I was love-impaired
But baby, oh baby
I don't know what I'm gonna doooooooooo"
Sakusa plopped down on his ass and screamed.
"I'M CRYING" A gasp. " 'CAUSE I LOVE YOUUUUUUU"
Then he threw up in Atsumu's lap.
Atsumu registered the wetness first, then the stench, and then he noticed how Sakusa was leaning his forehead against Atsumu's shoulder and making a gagging sound, threatening to cover his fuzzy white sweater with another load.
Atsumu made a strangled noise that the rest of the team correctly took as a cry for help. Thomas was the first to move, prying Sakusa's heavy body away, to the man's chagrin. Barnes got up to help him. Sakusa letted out a pathetic whine at being separated from Atsumu and made grabby hands at him while he was dragged all the way to the bathroom. Meian got up from his seat, went to retrieve a roll of paper towel from the kitchen counter, and silently offered it to Atsumu.
Atsumu tried to wipe up the mess on his pants as best as he could. Inunaki, who had stopped recording finally, handed him a plastic bag to use as a makeshift trash can. Bokuto made the executive decision to shutdown the karaoke when the song was over and picked up Sakusa's discarded microphone from the floor to store it back in its box.
Wordlessly, Coach Foster patted Atsumu on the back and left the room. They decided to call it a night right as the clock stroke midnight and fireworks started going off outside.
Atsumu stood up, sidestepping the puddle of gastric content on the ground and stumbled back to his room despite feeling a hundred percent sober. The way he swayed into the doorframe a little on his way had barely anything to do with the alcohol concentration in his veins and everything to do with his world being tilted on its axis in the last ten minutes.
------------------
Sakusa and him went out with each other--yes, like that--back in high school. They met for the first time during their second year of Interhigh. Both of them were already prominent players on the high school level. Atsumu had initially been more interested in IIzuna, Itachiyama's setter and the owner of the 'Best High School Setter' title at the time, but one service ace from Sakusa instantly drew him in. Atsumu countered with a nasty jump float of his own and when Sakusa locked eyes with him from across the net, he knew the game was well and truly on.
The entire match was saturated with the malicious tension between the two of them. It was the Final, the stake was as high as it could be and they took it to 5 sets before Itachiyama ended the deuce with a disgusting block-out off of Suna by their famous ace. At the end of the game, after they shook hands and Kita-san told them all to pack up, Sakusa walked up to the Miya twins with his cousin in towed and looked Atsumu straight in the eyes when he said 'See you at the camp, Miya.'
Then he turned to leave, Komori trailed after him, waving animatedly for the both of them. Atsumu was dumbfounded. He didn't know it in that moment, but Sakusa was talking about Team Japan Training Camp in Tokyo that would be held a few months later.
It was Atsumu's first year there but Sakusa's second. Sakusa asked him for help getting rid of the cockroach in his room and in return, he took Atsumu around to all the tourist attractions when he confessed he had never been to Tokyo before. On the last day, Sakusa shyly asked for his number, which Atsumu was all too happy to give.
They eventually fell into some kind of long-distance relationship for the next year and a half. It was hard at times, but it was fun. Atsumu was happy and he felt a genuine connection that he had never felt before with anyone but his brother. Sakusa became one more reason for him to look forward to Nationals. He was the shoulder Atsumu cried on after Osamu decided once and for all to leave volleyball, Sakusa's quiet promise about never leaving the last thread that Atsumu clung on to in his desperation.
Then Sakusa did a one-eighty and went back to college in Tokyo. And Atsumu was alone in Osaka working his damn ass off to rediscover who he was without his brother and the boy he had fell in love with by his side. And that was the end of that.
Until this year, at least.
--------------------------------
Blinking his eyes open at noon the next day, Sakusa took a moment to orientate himself. He was lying on the common room couch, a blanket thrown over his body. Images from last nights slowly came back to him in bits and pieces, he groaned.
"Urgh. I want euthanasia."
A chuckle came from the kitchen, followed by an amused blond hair man wearing long-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants. Looking at him fondly, Atsumu replied.
"Noooooo, don't kill yaself. Yer so sexy."
Sakasa threw a pillow at him.
"I fucking hate you."
"Not what you said last night, Omi." Atsumu wiggled his stupid eyebrows.
Sakusa winced. "Don't remind me. I wanna forget it ever happened."
"Too bad, Wan-san already posted the clip." Atsumu shrugged.
"Shit."
"Yup."
Sakusa letted out a drawn-out sigh.
"Fuck it." He pushed himself up into a sitting position, blanket falling to his waist, then turned to look at Atsumu. "Tsumu, I still love you and there's a very real possibility that I always will. Date me again?"
A grin broke out on the blond's face. Atsumu walked over to the couch and climbed onto his laps. "Damn, ya've such a nice way with words, don't ya?"
"Shut up." Sakusa rolled his eyes.
Atsumu huffed out a snort. "Make me."
Locking his hands around strong waist, Sakusa hummed. "I will smother you in your sleep."
"Awwwwww, so ya wanna share ma bed already? Didn't know ya were so clingy, Omi-kun." Atsumu cooed, smushing Sakusa's cheeks with the heel of his hands because he knew he could, and received a glare in return.
"Alright alright. Geez, just because ya serenaded me so beautifully last night--" Sakusa thumped his back with his locked hands. "--Sure, I'll date yer sorry ass."
Then Atsumu beamed, showing all his pearly white teeth with the tip of his tongue poking out. And Sakusa was so overwhelmed by his ridiculous smile he had to kiss it off his ridiculous face.
'Click'
The sound of a camera snapping jolted them apart. They turned, wide-eyed, to look in the direction of the noise to see Inunaki smiling gleefully while pocketing his phone. The man gave them a finger gun and a 'have fun' before walking back out the door.
Looking back at each other, they shrugged and continued kissing. Their PR team could deal with Inunaki's antics. They had more important things to get to.