Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Sakusa Kiyoomi agreed to run errands in Shizuoka with Miya Atsumu, he didn’t anticipate breaking into an apartment.

“You said I wouldn’t regret staying in town with you, Miya.” Sakusa paced around the hallway as Atsumu crouched in front of the apartment door. He was rummaging through his travel bag, tugging practice jerseys and athletic shorts free and leaving them scattered about the hallway. “I feel like going to jail for breaking-and-entering would be a pretty big regret.” 

“Oh, stop bein’ so dramatic.” Atsumu said, not looking up. 

“If you pull out a lock pick, I’m calling the police.” Sakusa said bluntly. Atsumu scoffed.

“I’m lookin’ for the key, dumbass. You seriously think that little of me?” Atsumu paused his scavenging to look up at Sakusa. Once he had sufficiently stared Sakusa down, he returned to rifling through his bag. “If ya don’t wanna be here, go visit yer cousin.” 

“He’s still at practice and I don’t have a key to his apartment.” Sakusa grumbled.

Atsumu sighed. “Then calm down. Neither of us are goin’ to jail.”

“You haven’t even told me whose apartment this is or what we’re even doing here. Forgive me for being a little suspicious.” Sakusa said. He took out his phone and glanced at the time. It was nearly dinner time and he was still exhausted from MSBY’s week-long training camp in Tokyo. His stomach rumbled quietly.

Before pocketing his phone, he noticed a couple of notifications from Komori. The first contained far too many emojis, but said that he and Atsumu were more than welcome to stay at his apartment for the night. The next couple were about how he just got out of practice and wanted to know if they had dinner plans. Sakusa slipped his phone back into his pocket without responding.

“Ah ha!” Atsumu said, brandishing a key and standing back up. “Our ticket inside.” He slipped the key into his jacket pocket and began putting his discarded clothing back into his bag.

He was nearly finished when a door down the hallway opened and a middle-aged woman stepped out, locking the door behind her. She turned towards the two volleyball players, cocked her head, and then began walking towards them. Sakusa could feel his heart rate rise, but then noticed the woman smiling as she approached. 

“Osamu-san!” She said brightly once she got close enough. “It’s been a while, I’m glad to see you!”

Atsumu stood up from where he had been zipping up the bag. He plastered on a big smile. “It’s great ta see ya too!” His eyes flicked over to Sakusa, begging him to play along.

The woman glanced at Sakusa, then returned her focus to Atsumu. She squinted and tilted her head. “You’ve dyed your hair since I’ve last seen you, haven’t you?” Once Atsumu nodded, her smile returned. “You look great with blond hair.”

Atsumu preened at the compliment; Sakusa wanted to punch him.

“Will you be in town for long?” The woman asked.

“Nah, just swingin’ by to drop off a few things for Su—Rintarou.” Atsumu cleared his throat. He pulled the key out of his pocket and brandished it in front of the woman, as if that would make his story more believable.

But the woman only laughed and moved to slip past them. “That’s too bad. I have to run to pick up Haru from practice, but we’ll have to catch up soon! Don’t be such a stranger next time.” She smiled again and swiftly walked towards the elevators. Atsumu raised a hand in goodbye, then lowered it and turned towards Sakusa.

“Bein’ a twin sure has its perks, Omi-Omi.” His smile turned cocky, and he twirled the key around his finger using the little fox keychain. Sakusa rolled his eyes.

“You could have just told me we were visiting a friend. You didn’t need to be so creepy about it.” Sakusa muttered as Atsumu turned the key in the lock.

Atsumu made a noncommittal noise before pushing the door open. He smirked and gestured for Sakusa to enter first. “After you, my dearest Omi.” 

“You said we were running errands.” Sakusa said once the door was closed behind them. He toed off his shoes in the genkan and arranged them neatly by a couple other pairs of shoes. Atsumu kicked off his own shoes and tossed them towards the door. He grabbed two pairs of guest slippers from a bin, put his own pair on, and then handed the other ones to Sakusa.

“And?” Atsumu replied. He dropped his travel bag and his jacket to the floor, then began to wander deeper into the apartment. Sakusa neatly placed his own belongings down and took off his mask before following.

He had only met Suna Rintarou a handful of times—either through a net, through Komori after an EJP Raijin game, or through Osamu when Suna lived with him during the off-season. He seemed like a decent guy, always poking fun at the twins when they were around. Outside of volleyball, he gave off an air of nonchalance, but he was ruthlessly calculating on the court.

From what Sakusa could see, his apartment was relatively tidy. The living room to the left of the genkan had a few stray blankets and pillows tossed around. Pictures and trinkets lined the bookshelf along the back wall where two more doors stood, presumably leading to the bedroom and bathroom. 

The kitchen was opposite the living room. Atsumu had taken a perch on one of the counters, a glass of juice in his hand. He glanced around the apartment before landing on Sakusa.

“’S nice, right?” Atsumu said, taking a noisy sip.

“It’s an apartment. Your friend’s apartment, who doesn’t appear to be home.” Sakusa punctuated his statement with a sharp glare. “He does know we’re here, right ?”

Atsumu waved him off, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Practice just ended. Sunarin’ll find out soon enough. No point in callin’. Want something to drink?”

“No. I’m not stealing drinks from your friend, who’s apartment we’ve broken into. What are we even doing here anyway? You keep talking about an ‘errand’ but as far as I can see, you have nothing to drop off.” Sakusa sat down at the kitchen table. 

“It’s less of an errand and more of a…favor. One that I’ve been looking forward to for a while.” Atsumu smirked. He took his phone out of his pocket and began playing a noisy phone game. 

Taking this as a sign that the conversation was over, Sakusa continued his inspection of the apartment. 

On the counter next to Atsumu was a small basket of assorted fruits. A rice cooker and a blender sat on the other side of the sink. There was a smattering of pictures and other memorabilia on the fridge. Some were clearly from high school, judging by the poor state of the twins’ hair. Others were more recent. One included a younger girl with similarly-shaped eyes to Suna and long dark hair. A sister, then. 

There was a flyer for an EJP game long since passed, as well as a sticky-note attached that read “MVP (in my heart)” in messy scrawl. A couple of memes that Sakusa didn’t understand and some funny-shaped magnets also decorated the fridge. 

Atsumu grunted quietly, which brought Sakusa’s attention back to his companion. He was kicking his legs back and forth on the counter, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. A tuft of unstyled hair flopped into his eyes and he shook his head to move it. It was almost…endearing. 

Sakusa blinked rapidly to clear his thoughts. Atsumu was anything but endearing. Perhaps endearing until he opened his mouth. 

Before long, the two heard the scraping of a key in the lock. Their heads whipped up and stared at the door. Suna entered, his eyes turned towards the floor. They immediately zeroed in on the travel bag branded with ‘MSBY’ on the floor. 

“What the hell…” He muttered before looking up. 

It was then Sakusa realized that Suna couldn’t see Atsumu from where he was sitting on the counter. So, to Suna, it looked like Sakusa had just broken into his apartment for no apparent reason. 

His heart began to pound. 

Sakusa wasn’t good with strangers. Not that Suna was a stranger, per se, but he was a near-stranger, which was close enough. 

Suna locked eyes with Sakusa, frozen in place. He hadn’t even shut the door behind him yet, too caught up in the strange scene before him. 

“Hey, Sakusa-san…” Suna said, a weird tinge to his voice. He slowly moved further into the genkan, shutting the door behind him and placing his volleyball bag on the floor. 

Sakusa’s throat began to close up. What could he even say to Suna that would justify why he was here? Atsumu hadn’t even told him what errand or favor or whatever he needed from Suna. His eyes flicked towards Atsumu, who had perked up upon hearing Suna enter the apartment. 

Sakusa widened his eyes, hoping that Atsumu would get the message and reveal himself to Suna. Atsumu sighed, placed his juice on the counter, and hopped down to the ground. He swung around the corner, opening his arms up wide as if he were about to give Suna the biggest hug. Once Suna saw Atsumu, he relaxed. 

“What are you doing here, asshole?” Suna spat, shrugging off his jacket and placing it on a coat rack that Sakusa hadn’t noticed earlier. 

“What, would ya rather it just be Omi here and not me?” Atsumu said. 

“I’d prefer neither of you be here, if I’m being honest. Why didn’t you text?” Suna asked. He dodged Atsumu’s outstretched arms and slinked into the kitchen. After grabbing a Pocari Sweat out of the fridge, he turned back towards them. Atsumu had moved to stand next to where Sakusa was sitting at the table.

“Figured you could use a little surprisin’ in your life.” Atsumu said. 

“It was hardly a surprise.” Suna said as he moved towards the kitchen table, taking a seat across from Sakusa. “I got a text from my neighbor, Kojima-san, saying she ran into ‘Osamu’ outside my apartment. I was about to text ‘Samu asking if he was in town when she sent a follow-up text saying how ‘good he looks as a blond.’” Suna made a disgusted face, then took a sip. 

“Ya texted me askin’ for help. Here I am, ready to help!” Atsumu said, spreading his arms wide in a dramatic gesture. Suna sighed, rubbed his eyes, and leveled a glare at both Sakusa and Atsumu.

“When I texted you last week asking for help, I figured we could talk over the phone or find a free weekend to meet up, or hell, wait until the off-season. I didn’t mean that you should break into my apartment!” Suna looked exasperated, like he couldn’t believe he had to explain this simple concept to a 24-year-old man. 

“I didn’t break in.” Atsumu pouted.

“Well, I sure as hell didn’t leave the front door unlocked!” 

Atsumu pulled the key out of his pocket and dangled it in front of Suna. “I stole ‘Samu’s key.” He said proudly. 

Suna slumped over onto the table. “You’re terrible. I’m going to kill you one of these days.”

Sakusa couldn’t contain himself any longer. “What exactly are we doing here?” He asked, eyes flickering between Suna’s limp form and Atsumu. 

Atsumu pulled out a chair, flipped it around, and sat on it backwards. He flung his arms over the back and rested his chin on the backrest. His eyes narrowed and he grinned, but it wasn’t one of joy. This grin was sly, almost conspiratorial. 

“Lil’ Sunarin over here is gonna propose to my sweet baby brother. And he asked me for help.” He let out a quiet cackle. Suna groaned and seemed to slump further into the table, as if he were regretting every single choice he’d ever made. 

Sakusa couldn’t help his eyes widening in surprise. Sure, there were lots of queer athletes in the V-League, but there were few that were publicly out. And marriage? That seemed like a big step for someone his age. He supposed that Suna and Osamu had been dating for longer than Sakusa had known either of them, but still. Marriage seemed like such a faraway, adult thing. 

Suna turned his head towards Atsumu, resting it on his forearms. “I can retract my ask at any time, you realize that right? Nothing is stopping me from doing this entirely on my own.”

“Yeah, and you’d be nervous as hell about it the whole time. I know ya know ‘Samu like the back of yer hand, but I know him even better.” Something crafty glinted in Atsumu’s eyes. Suna groaned again. 

“This is great and all, and congratulations in advance, I suppose.” Sakusa stuttered. “But why am I here again?”

“That is the question of the hour.” Suna said into the table. 

“Like I said, I wanted a travel buddy. And you get to see yer cousin, so it’s a win-win.” Sakusa didn’t see how anyone but Atsumu was winning in this situation, but he didn’t argue. He turned his attention back on Suna. 

“So, do you have a ring yet?” He asked politely. 

Suna sighed and picked his head up from the table. “Not yet, which is mainly why I need Atsumu. What size is your ring finger?” 

“Seriously?” Atsumu squawked. “We ain’t the same person Sunarin, you should know that as well as anyone.” He crossed his arms behind the chair. Suna rolled his eyes, but he seemed used to Atsumu’s antics. One would have to be, in order to be friends with him for nearly a decade. 

“Sure, sure, but you guys are still identical. Or did you hit your head with a volleyball one too many times and forget what that means?” Suna said. Atsumu glared at Suna and they engaged in a short staring contest. Eventually, Atsumu looked away. 

“Fine.” He said. “Ya busy tomorrow? Ya better have a store in mind cause I gotta be back in Osaka by tomorrow night.”

Suna waved him off. “Yeah, no problem. Shouldn’t take too long.” He turned his attention to Sakusa. “Sorry you got dragged into all of this. Did you tell Komori you’re here?”

Sakusa nodded. “We can get lunch together while you guys are off shopping.” He turned towards Atsumu. “I hope you know you’re buying my train ticket back to Osaka.” 

Atsumu banged his head into the back of the chair. 

Suna stood up, his bottle of Pocari Sweat half empty. “I’m not making dinner for you clowns. You also better have a place to stay.” He moved towards the kitchen counter, where he noticed Atsumu’s half-drunk glass of juice. He grimaced and lifted it up towards Atsumu. “Seriously dude? You’ve been here for like ten minutes.”

Atsumu immediately gave him a puppy-dog face. “Please let me stay with ya, Sunarin, I got nowhere else ta go.”

Suna shrugged and dumped the glass of juice into the sink. “Should’ve thought of that before you broke into my apartment.” Sakusa could see Suna’s face, though. The corners of his mouth were turned up, as if he were just pretending to be upset at Atsumu’s surprise appearance. “You can shiver on the street for all I care.”

Atsumu sighed. “I’ll buy dinner for the three of us if you let me stay the night.”

Suna’s grin widened. “Deal.” He glanced over at Sakusa. “I have a spare futon if you need it.” 

Sakusa shook his head. “I’ll stay with Motoya and get out of your hair.”

“I appreciate it.” 

“Yer couch sucks ass.” Atsumu whined. “Can I sleep in yer bed? Apparently, I’m very ‘Samu-shaped.”

Suna hurled an orange at his head. 

“Engaged? Wow, that’s a big step.” Komori said, taking a sip of his water. 

The next day, Sakusa and Komori sat outside a small cafe in the heart of Shizuoka, enjoying the pleasant spring weather. It was sunny and a slight breeze ruffled Sakusa’s curls. 

“He’s never mentioned proposing, but I doubt that’s the type of thing you bring up at volleyball practice.” Komori continued with a chuckle. “None of us know Osamu super well anyway, considering he only comes to Shizuoka a couple times during the season. It makes sense that Atsumu would be helping him.”

Sakusa hummed affirmatively. “Suna said last night that Miya—and now us, I suppose—were the only ones who knew he had been thinking about it.”

Komori took another sip of his water. “It’s weird to think that people we know are getting married. Like, I feel like I’m still nineteen and just getting started with my adult life, when in reality, I’m almost halfway through my twenties.” He sighed. “People just move at different paces, I suppose.”

Sakusa nodded absentmindedly. It did feel weird to think about his life in those terms. His last serious relationship had been in university, but they had never spoken about marriage. Partners generally found him cold and difficult, which wasn’t very helpful in a lifelong commitment. 

Being an athlete didn’t make relationships easy either. A few of his older teammates had wives or long-term partners, but that wasn’t the norm. They worked weird hours and traveled around for most of the year. The love of the game often trumped the love of another person. Sakusa knew from experience that he would rather spend extra hours at the gym practicing than be attentive towards the needs of another. 

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a waitress setting a plate with a sandwich in front of him. She placed another sandwich in front of Komori, smiled at them, and left.

Sakusa dug around in his jacket pocket for the small bottle of hand sanitizer he always kept there. After squeezing a pinch into his own palm, he offered the bottle to Komori, who held out his hands. 

Once satisfied with the level of sanitation, Komori dug into his sandwich. He wasn’t a messy eater, but he ate as if he hadn’t seen any food for three days. Sakusa brought his own sandwich up to his mouth before taking a small bite and chewing slowly.

He listened to the sounds of Shizuoka as he ate, as Komori didn’t seem to be in the place to continue conversation. A man a few tables down took an artful photo of his soup. A couple held hands over the table while they waited for their food. Several cars and delivery mopeds sped by, shouting at errant pedestrians who got in the way. Some birds tweeted from a nearby bush.

Komori came up for air. “I’ve got to know, how did Miya Atsumu of all people convince you to come on a weekend trip with him?” He said. 

“I wanted to visit you, that’s all.” Sakusa said with a shrug. 

“Bullshit.” Komori spat. “You would never give up a weekend with yourself to come and see me.” 

“It’s so unbelievable that I missed my cousin?” Sakusa said, lifting an eyebrow. 

“Yes. I’ve been begging you to come visit for ages and you always give some excuse, but suddenly Miya Atsumu is coming to Shizuoka and it’s the perfect time for a visit? I don’t buy it.” Komori leaned closer. “You still like him.”

“Still? I never liked him in the first place.” 

“You aren’t a very good liar, Kiyo.” Komori said. “I remember how you couldn’t shut up about Atsumu and how annoying and cocky and blond he was after that training camp in high school. You only rant that much about people you absolutely hate or people you like, but wish you didn’t.” Komori leaned in so close, he was practically bending in half. “And I know you don’t hate Atsumu.”

Sakusa could feel his face turning red. He forgot how well his cousin knew him.

“We’ve become sort-of friends since I joined the Jackals.” Sakusa explained. “He’s gotten better since high school, but he’s still terrible. We’re friends. That’s all we’ll ever be, and that’s how I like it.”

“Pretend all you like.” Komori said, finally leaning back. “I know the truth.”

It was then his phone vibrated. Sakusa glared at Komori before turning his attention towards the notification from Atsumu. He and Suna were done at the jewelry store and wanted to know where Sakusa and Komori were. Sakusa quickly sent a message with the name of the cafe and placed his phone face-up on the table. 

“Atsumu?” Komori asked, shoving the last bite of sandwich into his mouth. 

“Yeah, he wanted to know what we were up to.” Sakusa said. “How did you know?”

Komori smirked. “You looked like you wanted to smile, but were holding back.”

“Shut up.” Sakusa grumbled. He directed all of his focus towards his unfinished sandwich, as if that would make the fluttery feeling in his stomach go away. 

About twenty minutes later, Sakusa looked up from his empty plate to see Atsumu and Suna approaching their table. 

Atsumu hadn’t spotted them yet. His jacket sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his hair was tousled by the wind, almost golden in the early afternoon light. His hands gesticulated wildly as he talked with Suna. 

Suna appeared disinterested, but Sakusa could tell he was listening intently. He had a small bag clutched in his hand. His eyes were trained on the ground in front of him. Sakusa found it funny how a nearly 6’3” professional athlete could make himself appear so small. 

It was then Atsumu noticed Sakusa watching. He broke out into a wide grin and raised an arm to wave frantically at him. Suna noticed the gesture and looked up, eyes also meeting Sakusa’s. He grinned slyly, nudged Atsumu, and said something quietly. Atsumu’s face turned red and he slapped Suna’s arm.

Sakusa fought the urge to smile back and lifted a hand to signal that he had seen them. His heart was beating faster. Komori turned around to look at the pair, then turned back to Sakusa. 

“You’re so obvious.” He snickered. Sakusa only narrowed his eyes in response. 

Eventually, Atsumu and Suna walked within earshot. 

“Heya Omi-Omi, ‘Toya-kun.” Atsumu said, sliding up to the table. “How’s your day been?”

“Worse, now that you’re here.” Sakusa responded dryly.

Komori turned towards Suna. “Did you find a ring?” He asked, changing the subject. 

Suna narrowed his eyes at Sakusa. “You told him?” 

“What was I supposed to tell him? I’m not going to lie to my cousin.” Sakusa said.

Atsumu grabbed two chairs from a nearby table and pulled them towards Sakusa’s table. He offered one to Suna and they both sat down. Suna reached into the small bag he now had on his lap. He pulled out a small black box and popped it open, setting it on the table. 

Nestled inside was a thin black band with an inset ring of small diamonds. It wasn’t complicated, but when Sakusa looked back up at Suna, he saw the ghost of a smile. He was happy, plain and simple. 

“Kind of reminded me of an onigiri when I saw it. You know, ‘cause it’s white wrapped in something dark? I dunno.” Suna said softly, looking down at the ring.  

“It’s nice!” Komori said, giving Suna a big smile. “Osamu will love it.” Sakusa hummed in agreement. 

“Oh—” Suna said, reaching into the bag and pulling out another small box. “I know engagement rings aren’t a super big deal anyway, but I know ‘Samu, and he’ll want to wear it all the time. Unfortunately, you know, he works with his hands, so wearing a ring on his finger every day to work isn’t super practical. Atsumu suggested getting a necklace or something that he could string it on.”

Suna opened the box to reveal a simple silver chain that complimented nicely with the ring. 

“Smart!” Komori said. “You guys thought of everything.”

Suna got a pensive look on his face. “It’s important, so why wouldn’t I think of everything?” He closed both boxes and placed them back in the bag. 

“So when are you gonna do it?” Komori asked. 

“Probably not until the off-season, when I’m back in Osaka.” Suna said, leaning back in his chair. 

Atsumu scooted his own chair closer to Suna and batted his eyelashes. “Can I help?” He pleaded.

“Absolutely not.” Suna responded. “I’m already putting a lot of faith in you to not spill this to ‘Samu. I don’t want you getting more involved.”

“Oh please, I’m already plenty involved.” Atsumu said. “Besides, you’re gonna need someone to make ‘Samu not suspicious.”

Suna made a big show of sighing and looking off into the distance. Sakusa could tell that his mind was already made up—perhaps it had been made up long before this conversation. 

“Oh, fine, whatever. Having a partner in crime would make this easier.” Suna smiled briefly, but it suddenly disappeared. “Wait.”

Atsumu froze halfway to celebration, his hands barely above his head. They plopped right back into his lap. 

“Osamu doesn’t have any plans to propose to me, does he?” Suna said, eyes narrow and scrutinizing. 

Atsumu smirked. “Absolutely not. Proposin’ is the last thing on his mind.”

Suna’s eyes widened slightly, obviously not expecting that blunt of an answer. “Wait, he really hasn’t thought about it?” 

Atsumu seemed to realize his mistake and backpedaled. “I mean, ‘Samu’s just busy with work. You know him, always thinking about the restaurant.”

“Has something happened recently? He hasn’t mentioned any troubles to me lately.” Suna said, concerned. 

Atsumu waved him off. “Nah, it’s nothin’ bad. He’s actually drawin’ up plans for a second branch…a second branch that may or may not be here in Shizuoka.”

“Oh.” Suna said, his mouth opening a little in surprise. “He…he hasn’t told me that.”

“It’s in early plannin’, I think.” Atsumu amended. 

Suna snapped his mouth closed, then furrowed his brows in thought. 

The four sat in silence for a moment, letting the breeze ruffle their clothing. Sakusa finished his glass of water, then checked the time on his phone. “Oh, it’s almost time for us to go.” He said, glancing at Atsumu.

“Really? We still have two hours until the train leaves.” Atsumu said. 

Sakusa rolled his eyes. “It will take us a while to get your stuff and walk to the station. And unlike you, I don’t prefer running to catch the train two minutes before it leaves.”

Atsumu pouted, but stood up anyway. “’S been a pleasure doin’ business with ya, Sunarin.” He stretched a hand out towards Suna, who scoffed and batted it away.

Sakusa bent down to grab his travel bag, which he had stowed underneath the table. Komori lived on the opposite side of town from the train station, so he thought it wise to grab it before he left. He slung it over his shoulder and stood up. 

Komori looked up at him. “It was good to see you, Kiyo. Don’t be such a stranger during the off-season, alright?”

“It was good to see you too, Motoya. I’m sure I’ll see you during the mandatory family reunion.” Sakusa said. Komori knew how much he hated those gatherings, but it made his parents sad when he didn’t attend. They were busy most of the year, so it was often one of the few times they got to see their youngest son. 

Komori simply laughed in response. Sakusa walked to the other side of the table to stand next to Atsumu. 

“You know how to get back to my apartment?” Suna asked. 

“Yep, and I have the key, so no need to join us!” Atsumu responded, already moving away from the table. 

“You better give that back to ‘Samu!” Suna shouted as the two of them began to walk away. “I swear to god, Atsumu, if you don’t—”

“Yeah, yeah.” Atsumu laughed, then raised a hand in the air to give Suna a lazy wave. “He’ll never even know it was gone!”

Atsumu turned back to Sakusa and the two walked side-by-side back to Suna’s apartment. Atsumu rambled on about something that Sakusa only half-listened to. He was enjoying just walking, basking in the springtime air. 

Once back at Suna’s apartment, Atsumu took his sweet time gathering up his things. He had only stayed for one night, but it looked like a tornado had torn through the living room. While Atsumu grabbed a couple things from the bathroom, Sakusa straightened the pillows and blankets. It was the least he could do after accidentally invading Suna's weekend. 

They made the train with plenty of time to spare. Atsumu immediately slumped into the aisle seat, claiming it would be easier for when he inevitably had to pee. Sakusa didn’t complain. He liked the window seat. It made him feel more isolated from the other passengers, and he enjoyed looking at the scenery as the train raced through the countryside. 

About halfway through the ride, Sakusa looked over at Atsumu. He was watching something on his phone. One leg was tucked up close to his chest, and he rested his head on his knee. 

“Hey, Miya.” Sakusa said, moving his hand to get Atsumu’s attention.

He jerked up and pulled one of his headphones out. “Yeah?”

“Helping Suna out this weekend…” Sakusa paused. “That was…nice…of you.” 

He didn’t know why he had decided to pay Atsumu a complement in the first place. It was nice in theory, but in practice it felt like someone had plunged a knife into his gut. He especially regretted it once Atsumu smiled, a big fox-like grin. 

“Can’t say I never did nothin’ for other people.” He said smugly. “Plus, it wasn’t a complete waste of time. I get some fun out of it too.”

Sakusa cocked his head to the side. “How so?”

Atsumu grinned wider, showing all of his teeth. “I helped ‘Samu pick out an engagement ring for Sunarin three weeks ago. Can’t wait to see how this plays out.” 

He put his headphone back in and resumed whatever video he was watching.

Sakusa couldn’t help but stare. That bastard.

Two weeks later, Sakusa found himself sitting at a table inside Onigiri Miya for a post-practice dinner. 

It wasn’t closing time yet, but it was late enough in the evening where most customers had left. Two older women sat at a table close to the front windows, their half-eaten onigiri forgotten in front of them as they chatted. One of Osamu’s employees, a teenager whose name tag read ‘Mayumi’, tapped away at her phone as she supervised the register. Osamu himself was in the back. 

Sakusa and his teammates were the only other patrons of the restaurant. Their plates were empty, onigiri long since devoured in a hungry haze. While a couple other players had initially joined them for dinner, Bokuto, Hinata, Atsumu, and Sakusa were the only ones left.

It wasn’t unusual to find volleyball players seated at one of the tables in the cozy restaurant. To any outsider, Osamu was clearly a fan of the game. The side wall was decorated with memorabilia, both from Osamu’s own time on the court and from his friends. The centerpiece was a set of three framed V-League jerseys—Atsumu, Suna, and Aran. Sakusa heard from Komori who heard from Suna that Atsumu cried when he saw his jersey hanging on the wall during the restaurant’s grand opening.

As Hinata finished a story about his confusing first time in a Brazilian grocery store, Sakusa noticed Bokuto staring intently at his phone. It lay flat on the table, but Sakusa couldn’t get a good glimpse of what he was looking at. 

“Everythin’ alright there, Bokkun?” Atsumu asked as soon as Hinata stopped talking. 

“Yeah.” Bokuto sighed and slumped towards the table. He rested his chin on the table, his eyes almost crossing as he attempted to still see his phone screen. “Keiji just texted saying that he’s going to be traveling for a couple weeks. So if I came to Tokyo when the season ends like we had planned, I would be alone in his apartment.” 

“That sucks. Are ya just gonna stay here until he comes back?” Atsumu asked. 

“I don’t know yet.” Bokuto pouted. “I want to see my family and some other friends, but staying in Keiji’s big city apartment all by myself sounds very lonely.” His eyes narrowed, as if he were performing complex math in his head.

It was then Sakusa leaned over enough to see what was on Bokuto’s phone. It was a blank calendar. No events, no birthdays, nothing. Just a layout of what days were in the month. 

“Bokuto…there’s nothing on that calendar.” Sakusa said gently. 

“Oh I know.” Bokuto said, straightening up. “I just needed it to know what day of the week Keiji gets back. I keep everything up here!” He poked a finger at his forehead. 

The three occupants of the table gawked at him. 

“You just…remember everything you have to do? You never write anything down?” Hinata asked. 

“Yeah…don’t you guys?” Bokuto said, cocking his head. 

“I could never.” Sakusa shuddered. He had multiple calendars on his phone all color-coded for the different activities they represented. 

“Forget about that.” Atsumu shook his head. “I’m sure any day ya go up to Tokyo would be a good day! You could stay with some friends or your family?” He suggested.

“You could even invite people to stay with you and make the apartment feel less lonely.” Hinata added cheerfully.

“That’s true…I just miss him so much.” Bokuto whined. Atsumu patted his arm comfortingly. 

“Wasn’t he just in Osaka last week?” Hinata whispered to Sakusa. 

Sakusa nodded, but whispered back. “Not the time, Hinata.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Osamu materialized behind Bokuto. 

“Do you guys want anything else, or are ya just gonna keep takin’ up space in my restaurant?” He said, crossing his arms. 

“Like yer real tight on space right now.” Atsumu bit back. Osamu narrowed his eyes. 

“I think we’re good, but thank you, Osamu-san.” Hinata piped up. “The food was delicious, as always.” 

Osamu looked proud at the compliment. He surveyed the table, as if he could judge the individual happiness of each person in relation to his food. His eyes stopped on Bokuto, who still looked distraught. 

“You alright there, Bokuto?” He asked. 

“We’re helpin’ him figure out if he should go to Tokyo, ‘cause Akaashi’s travelin’ for work right now.” Atsumu said. 

“That’s tough.” Osamu hummed. 

Bokuto sighed dejectedly. Osamu grabbed a chair from the next table over and pulled it close to Bokuto. He sat down.

“You already know that there’s nothin’ ya can do but wait durin’ the periods between when yer together. But being in his empty apartment…” Osamu trailed off. “That would just make me feel worse, I think.” He leaned back in his chair, putting both hands behind his head and sighing. 

“We suggested he stay with friends.” Hinata supplied.

“That sounds fun.” He mused. “Catch up with the people you don’t see often, then go wild when Akaashi gets back.”

Bokuto chuckled, but the table soon fell into silence. 

“When was the last time you saw Suna?” Bokuto asked.

“I was actually gonna surprise him a couple weekends ago, but I couldn’t find my key to his apartment.” Osamu scratched the back of his head. “I ended up findin’ it a couple days later, but I was bummed I couldn’t go see him like I wanted to.”

Sakusa shot a glance over at Atsumu, who was doing his best not to look guilty. 

“Why didn’t you just go anyway?” Hinata asked.

Osamu paused. His face grew red. “I…uh…was a little embarrassed that I lost the key and didn’t want to tell Rin.” He said. 

Atsumu stared at the floor as if he wished the Earth would open up and devour him whole. While Sakusa didn’t condone breaking into apartments (stolen key or not), he definitely did not want Atsumu to have to explain why he took the key to his brother’s boyfriend’s apartment. So, he tactfully changed the subject.

“Have you ever thought about marriage?” Sakusa said, immediately regretting the question. He contemplated smacking his head against the table, but instead opted to change his name and flee the country. Judging by the look on Atsumu’s face, he would help. 

“Have I…what?” Osamu asked, his face reddening even more. 

“Uh…marriage. Like, you and Suna…” Sakusa couldn’t dig himself out of this hole fast enough. 

“No, no, I understood that part. I just…” Osamu chuckled and shook his head. He looked at Atsumu. “Did you tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Hinata asked, leaning forward excitedly. 

“I’m not that terrible of a brother, ‘Samu!” Atsumu exclaimed. “Musta been a weird coincidence.” Atsumu looked over at Sakusa quite obviously. He widened his eyes a smidge, as if to tell Sakusa to shut the hell up.

Osamu didn’t appear to notice. “I actually plan on proposin’ to Rin over the off-season, while he’s here in Osaka.” He smiled softly. His gaze was stuck to the floor, as if he were lost in thought. When he looked back up, it was met with smiles from every person at the table. 

“That’s wonderful!” Hinata congratulated.

Bokuto simply wrapped his arms around Osamu and squeezed the life out of him. “Happy for you, Myaa-Sam!”

Osamu laughed, as much as he could with air rapidly leaving his lungs. “Thanks, guys. He hasn’t actually said ‘yes’ though.”

“How are you going to ask?” Hinata asked.

“‘M not sure yet.” Osamu said.

“We can help come up with ideas. The off-season starts next week, so you don’t have a ton of time.” Bokuto said, smiling widely. 

Osamu glanced around the restaurant. The two women by the door had finished their onigiri, but were still chatting. By the register, Mayumi looked bored.

“Give me one sec to close up shop, then we can talk about this all ya’d like.” He smiled, then stood up from the table. 

Bokuto, Hinata, and Atsumu began talking about something else, but Sakusa couldn’t focus on them. He watched as Osamu approached the ladies and inquired about their satisfaction. They both seem charmed by him, assuring that their meals were great. Osamu nodded and informed them that the restaurant would be closing soon, but there really is no rush! He said it with a dazzling smile. 

Osamu then swept up their empty plates and moved towards the kitchen. There were some kitchen noises, and then Osamu was back up front. He spoke quietly to Mayumi, who then nodded her head in thanks and went through the kitchen door into the back rooms. Osamu tapped away at the register and counted the yen to close it out for the night. 

He walked back over to Sakusa’s table, raising a small hand in acknowledgement at the women, who tittered to themselves. He sat down and turned his attention towards the conversation wrapping up in front of him.

“So much for cleanliness, eh ‘Samu?” Atsumu teased.

“Shut up scrub. I can finish cleanin’ after y’all leave.” 

Hinata leaned over the table towards Osamu. “So, do you have any ideas?” Osamu shook his head. 

“I know if I were gonna propose to Keiji, I’d do something he likes. Like…bring him onigiri.” Bokuto sighed wistfully.

Osamu only laughed. “I could do that, but I cook for my Rin all the time. It’s my job and he loves it, but it’s nothin’ special enough for a proposal.” 

Bokuto nodded, then turned his attention towards the tabletop. He hummed, brows furrowing deep in thought. 

“Well, what kind of things does Suna-san like?” Hinata asked.

“Makin’ fun of people, bein’ mean, and volleyball.” Atsumu counted on his fingers. “Yep. That’s it.” Osamu glared at him. 

“From the few times I’ve met him,” Sakusa started, “he seems like he wouldn’t want anything too extravagant.” He wasn’t sure why he was contributing to the conversation, especially when he knew Suna planned to propose as well. 

Osamu chuckled. “Yer right about that. As much as he likes taking pictures and videos of friends, he hates actually bein’ the center of attention.”

“He’s kinda scary on the court.” Hinata mused. “Like I feel like he always knows what we’re thinking.”

“He sure loves analyzing people.” Osamu laughed. “He’s very clever that way. Likes playing games with his opponents.”

The last thought made Osamu pause. He stared into the wall behind Sakusa’s head and looked lost in his head. 

After a moment, Atsumu spoke up. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?” He said. 

“Rin likes being clever and figuring things out before others do. So maybe I make some sort of puzzle that he has to figure out, and the answer is the proposal?” Osamu said, eyes flickering to Atsumu. 

“Have you ever done something like that for him before? You wouldn’t want to make him suspicious.” Hinata said. 

“No, I haven’t.” Osamu sighed and slumped deeper into his chair. 

Atsumu hummed. “What if he thought it wasn’t connected to you? Like if ya had him figure somethin’ out as a ‘favor’ to me?”

“The hell are you goin’ on about?” Osamu asked.

“Like say ya locked the ring in a box and left clues for Sunarin to figure out the passcode. Ya could give it to him and tell him that it’s my box and I accidentally locked somethin’ in there, ya know?” Atsumu clarified.

Osamu’s eyes widened and he sat up. “He wouldn’t think it’s suspicious because he’d think it was just you being stupid, like usual.”

“Hey!” Atsumu frowned.

“But that’s perfect.” Osamu said. “I could…and then…” He trailed off, muttering unintelligibly to himself. 

The other members of the table exchanged glances at each other, but Atsumu waved them off.

“He does this when he gets too in his own head sometimes.” Atsumu explained. 

After a moment, Osamu’s head jerked up. His eyes gleamed with something akin to excitement. He surveyed the table.

“Gentlemen, I think I got me a proposal.” Osamu said. The table whooped and hollered. Sakusa only gave a tight-lipped smile. He glanced over at the two women who were just gathering their stuff to leave. They paused as they heard the ruckus, but smiled at each other. He turned his attention back to his friends. 

“‘M gonna need your help deflecting suspicion, ‘Tsumu.” Osamu said with a smirk. 

Atsumu only smiled viciously.

About forty-five minutes later, Sakusa and Atsumu were walking home. They waved goodbye to Osamu, who had stayed behind to finish closing the restaurant. Bokuto and Hinata headed off in the other direction. 

Atsumu took in a deep breath, stretching his arms above his head as they walked. He began whistling an upbeat tune. 

“You sure are pleased with yourself.” Sakusa grunted, unsure of how to feel about Atsumu’s involvement in his brother’s relationship. 

“Of course I am, Omi. My two best friends are getting engaged, and after, I’ll get to gloat about how I basically orchestrated the whole thing. What’s not to love?” Atsumu sighed happily and glanced up at the sky. “I’ll be able to hold this over their heads forever.”

Sakusa tucked his hands deeper into his jacket pockets and slouched. “Is that really why you’re doing this, Miya?” 

Astumu turned his head to look at him. “Why is that so unbelievable to think?” 

Sakusa shrugged. A small part of him wanted to believe that Atsumu was doing this for good, unselfish reasons. A bigger part of him knew not to dig too deep. If Atsumu said he was doing this as a tit-for-tat sort of situation, Sakusa would have to believe him.

Atsumu turned his head back towards the path in front of them. It was Sakusa’s turn to look over at his companion.

In the soft glow of the streetlights, his hair was muted. A small smile graced his face and he resumed whistling. It was warm, but Atsumu still wore a light jacket to protect himself from the breeze. 

The streets around them were quiet. It wasn’t absurdly late at night, but it was late enough that most businesses were closed and city goers had retired to their homes. Traffic had dwindled to the occasional car or scooter whizzing by. 

Soon enough, they had reached Atsumu’s apartment building. 

“I’m afraid our journey ends here.” Atsumu said, eyes warm and smiling softly. “Ya have yerself a good night.”

“You too.” Sakusa nodded curtly, and turned away.

Oddly, he could still feel Atsumu’s gaze on his back as he walked away. Once Sakusa had gotten a few meters from the door, he couldn’t help but turn back and look. 

Atsumu was just heading inside, as if he had waited a moment before turning around. Sakusa faintly thought that, if he had gone inside right when Sakusa left, he would be long gone. But for whatever reason, he had stuck around and watched Sakusa leave. 

Sakusa didn’t want to dwell on it for too long. 

He continued walking back to his apartment, attempting to enjoy the fresh air and quiet surroundings. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering back to Atsumu, though. 

Sakusa awoke to sunlight streaming through the side of his curtains. He took a deep breath in and listened to the hustle-and-bustle of the city coming to life below him. Rolling over, he checked the time. 9:38am . He sighed and grabbed his phone.

Sakusa felt grateful that he had nowhere to be. It was officially the beginning of the second week of the off-season, and there was nothing on his agenda. He brought his phone closer to his face to read the notifications that had piled up overnight. An email from his sister regarding his summer availability, a few Instagram DMs from Komori that undoubtably contained memes, and a couple texts from Atsumu. 

Sakusa unlocked his phone and clicked on the texts from Atsumu. They had been sent shortly before he woke up.

Miya Atsumu, 9:27am: hey!!! sunarin’s back in town!! we’re going to the gym to work out around 10 if u wanna come!!

Miya Atsumu, 9:30am: the offseason isn’t for slacking, ya know

Miya Atsumu, 9:34am: i got the key from meian, so we wouldn’t be breaking in ;)

Sakusa groaned and shut his eyes for a moment. He didn’t really want to drag himself out of bed quite yet, but he would need to work out sometime today. Having access to the gym would be great for practicing his serves. He looked back at his phone and typed a quick response. 

Sakusa Kiyoomi, 9:41am: Sure. I’ll get there as close to 10 as I can. 

Atsumu responded moments later.

Miya Atsumu, 9:42am: !!!!!yay!!!!

Sakusa spent another minute in bed, contemplating his existence. When the moment was over, he flung his blankets open and rose from his bed. 

He didn’t rush, but he didn’t know how long Atsumu and Suna were planning on being at the gym, and Sakusa wanted to maximize his time. He scarfed down a quick healthy breakfast, changed into some athletic clothes, and threw together his practice bag. Within fifteen minutes he was out the door, and it only took another fifteen to walk to the gym. 

Sakusa entered the gym and briskly walked towards the main practice court, where he assumed Atsumu and Suna would be. He was proven correct when he stopped by the open doors, watching as they ran laps around the outside of the court. Music played from a speaker situated by their bags. 

He walked further into the gym and set his bag next to theirs in the corner. Sakusa sat down and grabbed his volleyball shoes from his bag. It was only when he was untying his walking shoes that Atsumu noticed him. 

“Omi! Glad ya could make it!” He shouted. Sakusa looked up, and Atsumu jogged closer to him. Suna wasn’t far behind. 

“Is anyone else coming?” Sakusa asked.

“Huh? Oh, uh…” Atsumu glanced over at Suna, who smirked. “Nah, no one else could make it.”

Sakusa finished tying his shoes, grabbed his water bottle to place it outside his bag for easy access later, and stood up. “How far into warmups are you?”

“Did a little stretching, we have…” Suna checked his phone. “Nine minutes left in the run.” He groaned. “I hate running.”

Atsumu slapped him on the arm playfully. “C’mon Sunarin, it’ll be over before ya know it.” He turned around and continued jogging. Suna rolled his eyes. 

“Maybe he’ll be less insufferable now that you’re here.” Suna said, before also turning around to start running. Before Sakusa could follow, he stopped and turned around again. 

“Then again, who am I kidding. He’s always a fool around you.” Suna gave Sakusa a wide grin, showing all of his teeth. It was a little scary. Before Sakusa could ask any follow-up questions, Suna was off, running faster to catch up to Atsumu. 

He’s always a fool around you.

Sakusa pondered that as he ran. He felt like Atsumu didn’t act any differently around him than he did around other people. Maybe he was a little more over-the-top, but that wasn’t just because Sakusa was around, was it?

He ran a little ways behind Suna and Atsumu, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Sakusa couldn’t hear them, but by the way they laughed and shoved each other, it couldn’t have been too serious. He let himself zone out.

Sakusa was so lost in thought that he missed Atsumu declaring that their warm-up run was over. When Sakusa was about to pass Atsumu and Suna, who were drinking some water by their bags, Atsumu stretched out an arm to stop Sakusa from doing another lap. 

“Woah, there! No need to keep goin’, yer just gonna tire yourself out before we get to the good stuff.” Atsumu grinned wickedly. 

Suna moved to stand next to Sakusa, handing him his water bottle. 

Atsumu spread his arms wide towards both of them. “I’m yer setter for the day. How do ya want me?”

Suna wrinkled his nose. “Don’t say it like that, weirdo.”

“Oh, come on.” Atsumu said, moving to sling his arm around Suna’s shoulders and tug him close. “I know you’ve missed my tosses.”

Suna looked at him from the corner of his eye. “Shut up. I’ll block Sakusa’s spikes, yeah?”

They played like that for a while. Sakusa would throw the ball up towards Atsumu, he would set it, and Sakusa would try to slam it home on the opposite side of the net. Suna didn’t make it easy, though. Atsumu and Sakusa would try and work together to fool Suna, but it was often to no avail. 

“That spin of yours is nasty.” Suna commented after a failed block. He rubbed his fingers. “I’d hate to be the person receiving.”

“Ya’ve got ‘Toya-kun on yer team though, I’m sure he’s used ta it.” Atsumu responded. 

Suna shrugged. “Sure, but he can’t receive every ball.”

They switched after twenty minutes, and Sakusa got a chance to try his hand at some blocks. He knew about Suna’s special way of spiking, but that didn’t make it any easier to block. His torso twisted and contorted until he was spiking at an angle Sakusa could only dream of. 

“How’d you learn to do that?” Sakusa asked while they took a quick break. 

“I watched a volleyball match when I was younger and one of the spikers did it. I asked my coach how, and he explained that it’s all in the core. Figured I needed some way to make myself stand out on the court, so I learned.” Suna took a sip of water. 

“Sunarin made me join him on a core workout once last year, it was hell.” Atsumu said, shuddering at the memory. “I don’t know how ya do it.”

After twenty more minutes of this, they were all ready for something new. Atsumu suggested a serving drill. One of them would serve, while the other two stood ready at the other end of the court to receive.

It was fun to have an unstructured practice with friends, Sakusa realized. Atsumu and Suna would rib each other when they flubbed a serve, but they were also always quick to celebrate outstanding serves. Even though Sakusa wasn’t as familiar with Suna, he was eventually pulled into the teasing.

By the end of their impromptu practice, the three athletes were spent. Suna and Sakusa stretched near their bags while Atsumu ran around the gym collecting volleyballs. Consequences of losing rock-paper-scissors, Sakusa supposed. 

Sakusa was in the middle of stretching his wrists when Suna cleared his throat. He tore his gaze away from Atsumu, and Suna set his phone down on the floor next to him. 

“So, Sakusa.” Suna started. “What do you think about ‘Tsumu?”

“What do I…what?” Sakusa stuttered. Heat rose in his cheeks. 

“Atsumu.” Suna repeated. He looked over his shoulder at Atsumu, who was trying to throw each volleyball into the bin at the other end of the room. For someone who had impeccable aim during a game, he was terrible at throwing overhand. 

“He’s my teammate.” Sakusa said bluntly. “Did Motoya put you up to this?”

“No, although Komori and I do talk about you sometimes.”

This raised alarm bells in Sakusa’s head. Komori telling anyone stories about Sakusa wasn’t a good idea, but Komori telling Suna ? Sakusa felt like melting into the floor. 

“Did you know you’re the only person he asked to join us today?” Suna looked back at Sakusa. “I suggested texting friends to see if anyone wanted to scrimmage, but you were the only one he actually contacted.”

Sakusa didn’t know what to do with this information. When he first saw Atsumu’s message that morning, he had just assumed that Atsumu had texted other people. It was a generic message that anyone could have been on the receiving end of. Why was Sakusa the only person Atsumu texted? 

His heart beat faster, and his gaze returned to Atsumu, who was almost done putting all the balls into the basket. As if he could sense Sakusa watching, he turned around. Sakusa quickly averted his gaze and stared at the floor. 

Suna chuckled. Sakusa whipped his head up to look at the other man, who was staring at him with an unreadable expression. Then he smiled.

“I’m glad ‘Tsumu’s not the only one.” Suna said cryptically. 

Before Sakusa could ask what he meant, Atsumu jogged back over. He spread out on the floor next to Sakusa and began stretching. 

“What’re you two up to, huh?” He asked Suna, pulling his right leg towards his chest. 

“Nunya.”

Atsumu sighed. “Have you thought more about the proposal?”

“Jesus, ‘Tsumu, is that all you ever think about?” Suna said. “You already asked me when I got into town last week.” His eyes darted around the room nervously. “Plus, you shouldn’t talk about it so loudly.”

“What, did ya bring ‘Samu with ya and he’s hidin’ in the rafters? There’s no one here that will spill.” Atsumu said. “So where’s yer head at?”

Sakusa began to subtly glare at Atsumu. Why was he pressuring Suna so much, knowing that his own brother also had plans?

Suna sighed. “Knowing ‘Samu, he’s not the type for a big public display or anything like that.” Atsumu hummed affirmatively. 

“There’s this fancy restaurant that ‘Samu’s been talking about for ages.” Suna continued. “Reservations are apparently impossible to get, but the food is supposed to be heavenly. I figured we could go there under the guise of celebrating living in the same city again.”

“Not a bad plan.” Atsumu said, rising into a sitting position. “But how are ya gonna get reservations?”

Sakusa continued to glare, hoping to gain Atsumu’s attention. He desperately wanted him to stop. Nothing good could come from Asumu continuously meddling in this relationship. But Atsumu paid him no mind.

“That’s the tricky part.” Suna sighed. “I’ve been scouring the internet for anything I can use to leverage my chances of getting one.”

“Osamu’s a local business owner, would that help?” Sakusa suggested.

“Tell ‘em yer on the national team!” Atsumu whooped. 

“No one’s technically on the team, since the Olympics aren’t until next summer ‘Tsumu.” Suna said. 

“Okay, yeah, but yer gonna be.” 

Suna ignored him. “I thought about using Osamu’s status as a restaurant owner,” Suna said, looking at Sakusa, “but I don’t want anyone to contact him about it until I’m sure the reservations are in place.” 

The three sat in silence for a moment. 

“Tell ‘em yer a food critic and it’s time for an inspection.” Atsumu joked. 

Suna laughed and moved to swat Atsumu’s arm, but Atsumu rolled out of the way. Suna moved to go after him again. Atsumu giggled and jumped to his feet, leaving Suna on the floor.  

“That’s not how food critics work, Miya.” Sakusa said straight-faced. 

Both Suna and Atsumu turned to look at him. They looked back at each other, then burst out laughing. Sakusa didn’t know what they found so funny, but he couldn’t help smiling at the way Atsumu’s face scrunched up with laughter. 

When the two had finally caught their breaths, Atsumu returned to sitting on the floor with Suna and Sakusa. They all stretched in silence for another moment. 

Once Sakusa had finished his stretches, he stood up and walked over to his bag. He was just beginning to change his shoes when Atsumu spoke softly.

“Hey, Rin?” Atsumu said. Sakusa had a feeling he shouldn’t be listening to whatever Atsumu had to say next.

Suna looked up, surprised. “Yeah?” 

Atsumu paused for a moment, collecting his words. “I’m really glad yer gonna marry my brother.” He admitted sheepishly. 

Suna’s eyes turned soft, and he gave a small smile. “Me too, ‘Tsumu. Me too.”

Two weeks later, Sakusa found himself seated in Atsumu’s kitchen. Atsumu busied himself with making dinner. 

Ever since that first workout in the gym with Suna, Sakusa and Atsumu had been working out together almost daily. Sometimes Suna or Hinata or whoever else was available would join them, but more often than not, it was just the two of them. 

The workouts were never anything super intense, just enough to keep themselves in shape for the coming season. They took long breaks to chat and often grabbed lunch or dinner afterwards, depending on the time of day. 

This was one of those days. 

Sakusa hadn’t intended to invite himself over to Atsumu’s. They had walked home from the gym together and Sakusa stopped in a konbini to grab a meal for dinner. Once Atsumu had seen this, he was offended.

“What’s this, Omi?” Atsumu had grabbed the meal from his hand and waved it in front of him. “Yer not seriously gonna tell me that this is yer dinner, right?”

Sakusa sighed. “I haven’t had time to go to the grocery store lately, so this is the best it’s gonna get.”

Atsumu placed the meal back on the shelf and immediately dragged Sakusa over to his apartment for dinner. 

“I hope you’re a decent cook.” Sakusa said, picking at his nails as he sat at the kitchen table. Atsumu had just wiped it down, which Sakusa greatly appreciated. 

“Who do ya think taught me to cook? The same woman who taught ‘Samu to cook, that’s who.” Atsumu turned away from the stove, a cocky grin on his face. “Dare I say it, I might be better than ‘Samu.”

“Then you should have gone into the restaurant industry.” Sakusa deadpanned. 

“Aw, but ya’d miss me too much in the professional circuit.” 

“Never.” Sakusa responded. It was easier to say that than to admit that Atsumu was right. And that could never happen. 

Atsumu turned back towards the stove, stirring the noodles in the pot. He turned his head over his shoulder and opened his mouth as if he were about to say something. Before he could, a phone rang. 

Sakusa looked towards the other end of the kitchen table, where Atsumu’s phone lay. It was vibrating and playing the most god-awful ringtone Sakusa had ever heard.

Atsumu sighed. “That’d be ‘Samu. You mind pickin’ it up and puttin’ it on speaker?”

Sakusa didn’t say anything, just moved towards the phone and answered it. 

“Hello?” Osamu said. 

“Whatdya want, scrub?” Atsumu yelled so that Osamu could hear him. Sakusa never wanted him to be that loud again, so he grabbed the phone and placed it on the counter by Atsumu. 

“Ya busy?” Osamu said. 

“Just makin’ dinner for me ‘n’ Omi.” Atsumu replied, stirring the noodles. Sakusa leaned over to get a glimpse of what they looked like, but Atsumu nudged him away. 

“Sorry to interrupt yer lil’ date, then.” Osamu said smugly. Atsumu squawked, but Osamu continued before he could say anything. “I figured out when I’m gonna propose to Rin.”

Whatever Atsumu was gonna say to defend himself after the ‘date’ comment was forgotten as he rushed over to the phone. “Really?” He asked. 

“Yep.” Osamu replied. “Rin just told me he got dinner reservations at this real fancy place that I’ve been itchin’ to try. He said it could be a lil’ celebration that we’re in the same place for longer than a weekend. We haven’t been on a proper date in ages.”

Atsumu’s eyes widened, and he met Sakusa’s stare frantically. He looked like he needed help figuring out what to say, but Sakusa was at a loss. They couldn’t deter Osamu from proposing during the dinner, because then they’d have to reveal that Suna was planning on proposing. 

“I’m not gonna propose during the dinner.” Osamu clarified. Both Atsumu and Sakusa let out a breath that neither realized they were holding in. “But I think it’d be nice to propose before the dinner so that we can use it as a nice excuse to celebrate the engagement too!”  

Atsumu had that frantic look on his face again. 

“‘Tsumu? You still there?” Osamu asked. 

“Yeah, I’m still here!” Atsumu said quickly, his voice pitching slightly higher. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He looked at Sakusa, but all Sakusa could do was shrug. 

“So whatdya think? Would ya be able to set up the puzzle that morning? The reservations are next Tuesday at seven, by the way.”

Atsumu’s stare drilled holes in Sakusa’s head. He bobbed his head forward a little, as if he expected Sakusa to say something.

“It’s your brother.” Sakusa mouthed. 

“Yeah, ‘Samu, that sounds great. We can get together sometime this weekend ta figure out logistics.” Atsumu said, but his brows knit together with worry. 

“Great! I’ll let ya know when I’m free.”  

“Yeah, sounds good.” Atsumu replied. They exchanged a couple more pleasantries before it was time to hang up. 

“Enjoy the rest of yer date!” Osamu cackled before quickly hanging up. 

“That bastard.” Atsumu said. He looked up at Sakusa. “Ya think this will be okay?”

“I mean…” Sakusa thought for a moment. “At the end of the day, they’ll still be getting engaged, right? It doesn’t really matter who asks first.”

Atsumu hummed. “Yer right.” He drummed his fingers on the countertop. “When I figured out they both wanted to propose to each other, I kinda secretly hoped that ‘Samu would beat him to it. Brotherly love, and all that, I suppose.” He looked off into the distance for a moment. “Just hope Sunarin doesn’t kill me when he finds out.” He chuckled to himself.

“Then why did you agree to help Suna pick out a ring?” Sakusa asked, exasperated. 

“It’s not like I could’ve said no.” Atsumu protested. “He woulda known somethin’ was up.” 

It was a valid point. Sakusa tore his eyes away from Atsumu and began to notice something foggy…

“Oh my god, Miya, the noodles!” Sakusa shouted. 

Atsumu whirled around and cried out as he saw the smoky haze enveloping the kitchen. He flipped the burner off and tried to fan the smoke away from the pot. Sakusa ran around the kitchen frantically. 

“Do you have a fire extinguisher?” He yelled. 

Atsumu laughed and turned his head to face Sakusa. “It’s not on fire yet, Omi! Just a little smoke, nothing I haven’t seen before.” 

Sakusa trudged back to Atsumu. The smoke was beginning to clear, and he could see the pot now. The noodles looked quite burnt but, like Atsumu said, there was no fire. Sakusa sighed with relief. 

“Looks like you won’t be able to experience my famous cookin’ tonight, though.” Atsumu looked down sadly at the pot. “Can’t really make udon without the noodles.”

“It’s fine, really. I’m just glad we didn’t burn down your apartment.”

“Me too. I wouldn’t get my security deposit back.” Atsumu moved over to a drawer and pulled out a stack of local takeout menus. “Well, I promised ya dinner, didn’t I? Where would ya wanna get takeout?” He gestured to the menus.

Onigiri Miya was on top, but Atsumu quickly moved it to the side. Sakusa didn’t want to think about why Atsumu had an Onigiri Miya menu, considering he ordered the same fatty tuna onigiri every time. 

“Probably shouldn’t bother ‘Samu any more tonight, huh?” Atsumu laughed. 

They chose a place together and Atsumu made the phone call, placing the order for delivery. He tasked Sakusa with going into the living room and picking out a movie for them to watch while they ate. 

Atsumu entered the living room while Sakusa was still deliberating. 

“Food should be here in twenty minutes.” He said, flopping down onto the couch next to Sakusa. “Find anything good?”

“Trying to decide on the genre. Do you like horror movies?” Sakusa asked. 

His face contorted for a moment, as if it were trying to settle on an expression. Eventually, it turned defiant. “‘Course I like horror movies.” He said. 

“Really? You seem like the kind of person who says that, but then gets nightmares when you try to fall asleep.” Sakusa’s lips curled up into a faint smile, goading Atsumu to tell the truth. 

“Did ‘Samu tell you that?” Atsumu asked.

“No, but the fact that you aren’t denying it tells me all I need to know.” Sakusa turned back towards the TV, flipping away from the horror movie options. 

“Hey! That’s not fair of ya.” Atsumu sounded mad, but Sakusa could tell that he was faking it. They eventually settled on a comedy adventure that had premiered a couple years prior. Right after Sakusa pressed play, there was a knock at the door. 

“I’ll get that.” Atsumu said, standing up and walking towards the door. Sakusa could hear him exchange pleasantries with the delivery person before shutting the door and walking back towards the kitchen. Sakusa followed, and Atsumu looked up at him as he plated their food. 

“Ya didn’t have to get up.” He said. “I woulda brought this to you.”

“I don’t mind.” Sakusa said, stepping forward to grab his plate. Atsumu handed it to him gently. When Sakusa looked up, Atsumu was looking at him with a funny expression. 

“What?” Sakusa asked. 

“Nothing.” Atsumu responded. “Help yerself to drinks.” He gestured to his fridge and walked back towards the couch. 

Sakusa poured himself a glass of water and slowly made his way back to the living room. Atsumu had already staked his claim, looking quite comfortable. His feet were propped up on the coffee table, his plate of food resting in his lap. He had the remote in one hand and shook it at Sakusa when he came into view. 

“Hurry up! I’m gonna start the movie without ya.” He said. 

Sakusa placed his food on the coffee table and sat up so it was easily within reach. He looked at Atsumu, who was staring at him expectantly. 

“Aren’t you going to play the movie?” Sakusa asked. 

“Do ya want to get more comfortable? I have some pillows and blankets if ya want those too.” He said. 

“I don’t want to get food everywhere. I’m fine where I am.” Sakusa said. He appreciated the gesture, though. 

“Suit yerself.” Atsumu said, hitting play and starting to shovel food into his mouth. 

As the movie went on, Atsumu and Sakusa would often make funny commentary or pause and rewind to catch a silly scene. It wasn’t anything like any of the movie nights Sakusa had in the past. Komori would sometimes joke around during family movie nights when they were kids, but Sakusa’s mom would often tell him to be quiet. 

Atsumu, however, liked to share every single thought he had. Sometimes it was loud, and Sakusa would miss things that were happening in the movie, but he found that he didn’t mind. If it was truly an important scene, Atsumu would rewind so they could both catch what they missed. 

Sakusa never had a friend like Atsumu before. Someone who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind or goad Sakusa into doing something he might regret. But he was someone who also respected his boundaries and carried extra hand wipes to the gym just for Sakusa’s sake. It was nice, to be cared for like this. 

Sakusa briefly wondered if Atsumu felt the same way about him. 

Before long, the movie was over. As the credits rolled, Atsumu stood up and stretched. He gathered his and Sakusa’s plates and brought them into the kitchen. Sakusa trailed after him.

“Do you need any help cleaning up?” Sakusa asked. 

“Nah. It’s late enough, ya should head home.” Atsumu said, placing the dirty dishes in the sink. He turned back to Sakusa and leaned against the counter. “Sorry again about dinner. I’ll make it up to ya someday.” He smiled.

Sakusa let himself smile back. “I’ll hold you to it.”

Atsumu led him to the door and they exchanged short goodbyes in the doorway. When Sakusa reached the stairwell at the end of the hallway, he turned around, expecting the hallway to be empty. Instead, Atsumu leaned against his doorway, watching Sakusa leave. He gave a little wave.

“Bye, Omi-Omi!” He said, just loud enough for Sakusa to hear, but not loud enough to wake the neighbors. 

Sakusa’s heart fluttered. He allowed himself to smile beneath his mask as he raised a hand and waved back.

Before Sakusa realized, it was Tuesday. 

He had seen Atsumu twice since the failed homemade dinner. Now that the proposal was becoming more real, Atsumu seemed almost nervous about helping his brother and Suna. 

“I just want it to go alright for them.” He would say when Sakusa asked about it, rubbing the back of his neck. Sakusa could tell there was something deeper, though. 

He never pushed.

“Omi!”

Sakusa looked up from his phone. He had been standing out in front of his apartment building, waiting for Atsumu. The other man jogged towards him, one hand raised. Sakusa pocketed his phone and began walking to meet him.

Atsumu came to a stop in front of Sakusa. “Nice day out, huh? Just finished puttin’ all the clues around the city.”

They began walking towards Onigiri Miya. 

“They shouldn’t be too hard to find, but I did have to get creative with some of the hidin’ spots so other people won’t mess with ‘em.” Atsumu babbled. “Even if they walk slow, it should take them an hour and a half, tops, to get to the train station. That’s where ‘Samu locked up the ring this mornin’, in one of those lil’ lockers you can rent. If they find all the clues, they get the code.”

Sakusa hummed. 

“That leaves them enough time to cry and hug and do whatever gross stuff people do when they get engaged before going home and gettin’ nice and fancy for dinner!” Atsumu finished with a flourish. 

“Sounds like you two have a good plan.” Sakusa said.

“It’ll be great. Let’s hope that Sunarin buys the excuse.” Atsumu said as they arrived at Onigiri Miya. He pushed one of the doors open, holding it open so Sakusa didn’t have to touch it.

The early-afternoon rush was just beginning. The restaurant was filled with either students looking for a quick snack, or older folk eating an early dinner. 

Suna sat at the counter, hunched over his phone. Osamu bustled around behind the counter, dishing out orders and keeping the area organized. He looked up when he heard the bell on the front door jingle. Upon seeing that it was just Atsumu and Sakusa, he continued working as if they didn’t exist. 

Atsumu led Sakusa over to the counter, plopping down on the stool next to Suna. Sakusa took a seat on the other side of Atsumu. 

“How’s it goin’ losers?” Atsumu asked Suna and Osamu. 

“Not sure, try asking a mirror.” Suna replied, not looking up from his phone. Osamu laughed and slung a towel over his shoulder. 

“Isn’t that offensive towards ‘Samu?” Atsumu objected.

“You guys literally look nothing alike.” Suna said seriously. Atsumu opened his mouth to retort, but Osamu walked towards them. 

“Ya done setting up whatever you need me and Rin to do?” He asked Atsumu. 

“Yep! Should be easy-peasy, and then y’all can be on yer way to gorgin’ yourselves on fine food.” Atsumu responded. 

Suna put down his phone. “Remind me again why I’m doing this? I’m not in the business of doing favors for you.”

“Meian asked me to set up some sort of ‘team bonding’ activity for the summer, so I figured a little city puzzle would be the perfect thing.” Atsumu said. “There’s a prize at the end for whoever finds and solves all the clues first. I want some people to test it out first to make sure it’s good enough.”

“I don’t live here year-round, so I don’t know Osaka nearly as well as your teammates do. Doesn’t that invalidate me from this challenge, or something?”

“What, you think you can’t solve it?” Atsumu taunted, leaning towards Suna.

Suna narrowed his eyes. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not working. I just don’t know why it has to be today of all days.” 

“The weather’s beautiful. Don’t ya wanna take a nice lil’ stroll ‘round Osaka with your boyfriend? Very romantic .” Atsumu emphasized. 

The two stared at each other for a moment before Osamu cleared his throat. “You guys done, or what?” He said. “I’m gonna go upstairs to the apartment and change out of my work clothes, then we can test out yer little bondin’ activity.” 

With that, Osamu turned and left them at the counter. Once Osamu was out of earshot, Suna whirled around to glare at Atsumu. 

“I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to do, but it better not interfere with my plan.” Suna growled. 

Atsumu put up his hands in defense. “I promise ya, I’m not trying to do anything. Meian gave me this stupid task, and when I asked ‘Samu if he would test it out for me, he suggested that it would make a fun date. He brought up doing it today, not me. I couldn’t exactly persuade him to pick another night without giving anything away.”

“You’re right.” Suna sighed. “Sorry, that’s not fair of me.”

“No worries, man.” Atsumu said. “Yer clearly stressed about tonight.”

“I just don’t want anything to go wrong.” Suna replied.

“If I can ease your worries,” Sakusa chimed in. “I see the way Osamu looks at you. It’s clear he loves you.”

Suna scratched the countertop with his nail. “Yeah. I’m not worried about that. We just haven’t talked about marriage in a while, which I guess is making me a little nervous. Should I have talked to him about it first?”

“Nah, I know he’d marry you in a heartbeat.” Atsumu replied gently.

“It’s just that…I can’t stop thinking about what you said a couple weeks ago. About how proposing isn’t really on his radar because he’s busy with the restaurant.” Suna looked up, gaze meeting Atsumu’s eyes. “He still hasn’t mentioned any of that to me…why?”

“I don’t know.” Atsumu’s mouth was set in a straight line. 

“We talk about everything and yet he hasn’t mentioned the one thing that may actually let us live together full-time. Makes me feel like he’s hiding something.” Suna ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “It’s probably nothing. I’m overthinking things, aren’t I?”

“Just enjoy your night out.” Sakusa said. “You’ll have a good time as long as you’re together.”

Suna smiled gratefully. Before he could say anything else, he noticed Osamu returning through the restaurant’s front door.

“This task better not be stupid.” Suna said, acting as if he had spent the whole time ribbing Atsumu.

Osamu walked up to Suna and reached out his hand. “I’m so sorry you have to spend one hour of your time with me before dinner.” He said sarcastically.

“Whatever shall I do to withstand this torture?” Suna replied dramatically, taking Osamu’s hand in his and standing next to him. 

“Good luck figuring everything out!” Atsumu said. 

Once the two had left the restaurant, Atsumu turned to Sakusa. “I don’t know what ya had in mind when you accepted my invitation for dinner, but can I finally make that home-cooked meal for you?”

Trouble began to brew right as Sakusa and Atsumu sat down for dinner. 

After leaving Onigiri Miya, Atsumu dragged Sakusa to his preferred grocery store and had Sakusa pick out ingredients that he liked. They decided on tempura, so Atsumu wanted to get a good spread of both fish and vegetables to fry. 

Once they returned to Atsumu’s apartment, he spent several minutes grabbing all the ingredients and utensils he would be using to cook. Then, he realized the counter was too cluttered to actually cook. The next several minutes were spent strategically putting things back until they were needed. 

It was well and truly dinner time by the time Atsumu began to fry their food. Between conversation, he would glance at his phone as if he were expecting a notification. But none came. 

As Atsumu began plating food to bring to the table, Sakusa took note of the time. 7:15pm . Osamu and Suna’s reservations were fifteen minutes ago. And still nothing from either of them. 

They both said a quick thanks and dove into the food. Sakusa had to admit, Atsumu was a great cook. 

“I hate to say it but…this is great.” Sakusa said. When Atsumu didn’t reply, Sakusa looked up at him. Atsumu was frozen with a piece of tempura in his chopsticks, eyes boring holes into his phone. 

“...Miya?” Sakusa asked. Atsumu looked up, startled.

“Sorry, did you say something?” 

“Are you okay? You were awfully chatty while making dinner, but now…” Sakusa trailed off.

Atsumu laughed, but it didn’t seem genuine. “Sorry ‘bout that, I’m usually such a good conversationalist. It’s just that…” He paused to collect his thoughts. “Why hasn’t ‘Samu or Sunarin texted?”

“I’m sure they’re just caught up in celebrating.” Sakusa said. 

“Yeah…I’m sure yer right.” Atsumu replied. He finally put the piece of tempura in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

They were both quiet for a moment.

“This is good! Best food you’ve ever eaten, right Omi?” Atsumu exclaimed. His big grin didn’t quite reach his eyes, though. 

Sakusa nodded, which caused Atsumu to smile a little wider, a little more genuine. 

The rest of the night passed normally. Atsumu was still glued to his phone as they cleaned the kitchen and settled onto the couch to watch a movie. The movie was nearly over before Atsumu brought up the proposal again.

“It’s been a while. Should I call ‘Samu?” Atsumu chewed his lower lip. 

“Miya.” Sakusa said, pausing the movie and turning towards Atsumu. “Stop worrying. They’ll tell you when they tell you, but I’m sure everything’s fine.”

Atsumu sighed loudly. “‘Samu and I tell each other everything right away. It’s not like him to be this quiet when he knows I know he’s doin’ somethin’ big tonight, and he doesn’t even know I know Sunarin’s plan.”

Sakusa opened his mouth to respond, but Atsumu beat him to it.

“The only way he wouldn’t tell me immediately is if somethin’ bad happened. Like when he wanted to quit volleyball, he didn’t tell me until way after he decided because he thought I would be upset.” Atsumu amended.

“Were you upset?” Sakusa asked pointedly.

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “Yes, but that’s not the point. I don’t think ‘Samu could tell me anything that would make me upset right now.” He paused again. “Unless they broke up, which is stupid, because that would never happen. So why wouldn’t he tell me about tonight?”

As if on cue, Atsumu’s phone rang with the same obnoxious ringtone from weeks ago. Sakusa and Atsumu stared at each other for a moment, before Atsumu lunged towards the phone vibrating on the table.

“Hello?” Atsumu said, putting the phone on speakerphone and setting it down on the table.

“Do you have a sec?” Osamu’s voice sounded sad on the other end of the line.

Atsumu looked at Sakusa nervously. “Uh, yeah. What’s up?” 

Osamu sighed. “I didn’t propose to Rin.”

Sakusa’s stomach dropped. Based on Atsumu’s body language, he was feeling the same way. 

“What…what happened?” Atsumu asked, face pale. 

“It started off good. Since I had written the clues with you, I had a general idea of where the next ones would be, ya know? But we had a hard time findin’ where you hid them. Rin started getting frustrated, like…like he wanted to be doing something else.” Osamu said. 

Sakusa and Atsumu exchanged a glance. 

“But we had to get to the train station. And it wasn’t like I could just admit ‘Surprise! I actually know where the end is!’ so we had to keep goin’. We probably got like—”

“Wait.” Atsumu interrupted. “Where’s Suna now? He shouldn’t overhear this.”

“He’s in the shower. I told him I was going to check somethin’ in the restaurant, but I’m just in the stairwell.” Osamu said. Sakusa noticed a bit of an echo. “Anyway, we were like three-fourths of the way done before we had to call it quits to make it to dinner on time. Rin was just acting odd…we were a little mean to each other. I feel bad about it now, but I think he’s just stressed. About what, I don’t know.”

“Did he say anythin’ over dinner?” Atsumu asked. 

“No…it was a good meal, and I’m grateful for any time we can spend together, but the atmosphere was just…off.” Osamu sighed again. “It was just…I can usually read his moods, and we tell each other everythin’. Tonight…I couldn’t read him, ‘Tsumu.”

“I’m really sorry, ‘Samu.” Atsumu said. He frowned as he stared down at his phone. 

“You and him have been goin’ to the gym a lot together lately. Has he said anythin’ to ya?” Osamu asked. 

Atsumu looked to be struggling with a dilemma. On the one hand, he could spill the beans and tell Osamu about the other proposal planned for that night. Alternatively, he could keep Suna’s secret, and Osamu would continue to worry. Sakusa didn’t know which was the correct answer.

“No.” Atsumu finally said. “He hasn’t mentioned anythin’ to me.”

“I guess I’m back to square one, huh?” Osamu chuckled, but it didn’t sound right. 

“You guys will be fine.” Atsumu affirmed. Sakusa was glad Osamu couldn’t see his brother’s face.

“Yeah…I can’t help but feel like maybe I don’t know Rin as well as I think I do.”  

“Don’t say that, ‘Samu. Everything will be fine. If you need any help or anythin’, I have yer back.” Atsumu said. 

“Thanks. I’ll leave ya be for the night. Sorry I didn’t have better news.” Osamu said. Sakusa thought he might have heard sniffling.

“It’s not yer fault.” Atsumu said.

“Talk to ya later.” Osamu hung up.

The apartment fell silent. The only light came from the movie, which was still paused on one of the final scenes. Sakusa looked up from the phone to Atsumu. 

“Is this my fault?” Atsumu said quietly. He was still staring at the phone.

“No.” Sakusa said. “Osamu asked you for help.”

“Yeah, but I hid the clues. That means I was the reason they couldn’t solve the puzzle and get to the train station.” Atsumu’s voice wavered. 

“You didn’t know they wouldn’t find them. That’s not your fault.” 

“I should have known it wasn’t a good idea to help both of them. There was no way it could have ended well.” Atsumu shoved his hands through his hair, looking more and more distressed. He was working himself up. 

“Miya, stop.” Sakusa said, scooting closer to Atsumu. “You were trying to do something good for two people you care about. You couldn’t have known things would unfold this way.”

“I’m always messing things up.” In the faint light of the TV, Sakusa could see tears threatening to fall from his eyes. 

“Hey.” Sakusa said. Atsumu still didn’t look up from the phone. “Atsumu.” He tried seeing if his given name would stir a reaction from Atsumu, but nothing happened. Then, in a very un-Sakusa-like move, he held out his hand. 

Atsumu noticed the movement from the corner of his eye and turned to finally face Sakusa. He stared at the hand like it was a foreign object. His eyes flicked from the hand up to Sakusa’s face, searching for some kind of trick. When he found none, he tentatively placed his hand in Sakusa’s. Sakusa squeezed gently, and Atsumu squeezed back.

“I just…I just wanted to help.” Atsumu said. 

“I know.” 

Atsumu opened his mouth as if he were about to say something. “I…” He appeared to be holding back. 

“You can talk to me, Atsumu.” Sakusa said, squeezing his hand again.

“When ‘Samu and me were kids, our ma used to tell us bedtime stories about heroes goin’ on grand adventures. She was so creative, comin’ up with a million obstacles for the hero to overcome.” Atsumu smiled at Sakusa, caught up in a childhood memory. “And at the end, they would always celebrate with the people they loved most. Sometimes it was family, sometimes it was friends, and sometimes it was a partner. It didn’t really matter who at the end of the day, it was just a loved one to come home to, their ‘happily ever after.’

“Ma always told us that these loved ones would stick with the hero forever, through thick and thin. They were a perfect match, even if they sometimes disagreed or fought.” Atsumu chuckled. “Ma would usually end the night by telling me and “Samu that she’d always be waitin’ at home if we needed. But we also knew that, as we got older, we’d have other people to come home to.

“Over the years, I’ve had some great family and even better friends, but I’ve never had that partner. I know that I don’t need a partner…” Atsumu trailed off, then continued quietly. “But that doesn’t stop me from wanting . I’ve only had a few relationships, and none lasted more than a year. Just hard to love, I guess.” He sniffled.

“‘Samu, he’s always had Rin. Even when they were just friends, they were thick as thieves. ‘Samu and Sunarin, the two of them in their own little world. And ‘Samu’s terrible.” Atsumu laughed softly. “He’s mean, and rude, and pushy, and stubborn.”

Sakusa almost thought he was going to stop there, but Atsumu took a big breath and kept going.

“But he’s also good.” Atsumu’s voice broke. “He has so much good in him. And to match him, he found someone just as terrible and good as he is.” 

Sakusa noticed that he was rubbing his thumb over the back of Atsumu’s palm. Weirdly, he didn’t mind the prolonged contact. 

“When they each told me they wanted to propose to the other, I got so excited. I wanted to help them because they’re my favorite people and…they deserve to be happy. For a moment, I could live in that happiness. ‘Cause that’s never actually gonna be me, ya know?” A few tears slipped from Atsumu’s eyes. 

“I’ll never get the ‘happily ever after’. I just don’t think there’s anyone terrible enough out there to match me.” Atsumu finished, bringing his gaze up to meet Sakusa’s eyes. Before Sakusa even realized what he was doing, he pulled Atsumu into a hug. Atsumu melted into his arms.  

“Ya don’t have to do this if ya don’t want to.” Atsumu said, voice muffled by Sakusa’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Atsumu.” Sakusa responded. “I want to.”

They sat like that for a while. Sakusa could feel Atsumu’s tears soaking through his shirt, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. In what felt like too soon, Atsumu pulled away. 

“Sorry to monologue on you, Omi. Thanks for listening.” He said. He wiped his eyes and plastered on a wobbly fake smile. “I’m sure you wanna be heading home by now. It’s late.” 

“You don’t have to do that.” Sakusa said. Atsumu cocked his head in confusion. “You don’t have to act like you’re okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

Atsumu stared at him. Sakusa stared back.

“Would…would you like to stay over? I have a spare futon.” Atsumu said. Before Sakusa could reply, he hurriedly spoke again. “But you don’t have to if you don’t want to! I’ll be okay, promise.”

“No, no.” Sakusa replied. “You’re right, it’s too late to walk back to my apartment. It would just be easier to stay here.”

Atsumu’s eyes widened a little in shock before he jumped up from the couch. “I’ll grab the futon, then.” He rushed out of the room and rummaged through a storage closet down the hall. He ran back into the living room with the futon and some pillows. Sakusa helped him set everything up. 

“Do you want to borrow some clothes and a toothbrush?” Atsumu asked as they began getting ready for bed. Sakusa nodded, and Atsumu brought him some comfy old athletic clothes plus some spare toiletries.

Atsumu let Sakusa use the bathroom first, and Sakusa got comfy in his futon while Atsumu puttered around the bathroom. When he exited, he darted to his bedroom’s doorway, as if he didn’t want to acknowledge Sakusa. 

“You were wrong, earlier.” Sakusa said, stopping him in his tracks.

“About what?” Atsumu replied, tilting his head in confusion.

“You aren’t terrible. You deserve good things too, Atsumu.” Sakusa said. Atsumu’s face softened. “And you know I don’t say things I don’t mean.” 

Sakusa immediately rolled over to avoid seeing Atsumu’s reaction. After a brief pause, he heard footsteps and a door creaking shut. Right before it clicked shut, though, Sakusa heard a voice. 

“Goodnight, Kiyoomi.” Atsumu whispered. 

The door clicked shut and locked.

Someone was bustling around in Sakusa’s kitchen.

Sakusa’s eyes opened rapidly. He tried to still his breathing. Who had broken into his apartment?

The ceiling above him was unfamiliar, and Sakusa squinted in confusion. Then, the night’s events came rushing back to him. 

He sat up. The futon was situated between the couch and the TV stand, so he couldn’t see the kitchen from his place on the floor. Sakusa stretched out his arms to rid himself of his grogginess, and then stood up. A couple joints popped, which had Atsumu whipping his head around the corner from the kitchen.

“Ya sound like an old man!” Atsumu chirped, a mug of coffee in his right hand. 

“Shut up.” Sakusa grumbled. “Hypermobility isn’t always pretty.” 

Atsumu chuckled, and turned around to go back into the kitchen. Sakusa followed. 

Once in the kitchen, Atsumu leaned up against one of his counters. He took a slow sip of his coffee before picking up another mug and offering it to Sakusa. 

Upon accepting it, Sakusa took a small sip. It was black, just the way he liked it. Nothing like the sugary concoctions that Atsumu would often bring to morning practice. 

Atsumu was quiet as he continued sipping his coffee. Sakusa studied him. 

His eyes were drooping, like he hadn’t slept enough. He wore an old Inarizaki volleyball sweatshirt and athletic shorts. His blond hair was tousled, exposing brown roots in desperate need of a touch-up. Atsumu caught him staring. 

“Like whatcha see?” He sounded cocky. Atsumu was often cocky about himself, but this was different. Sakusa couldn’t help but feel like he was overcompensating for the vulnerability of last night. 

Sakusa snorted in response. “Hardly. You look…” The word ‘terrible’ lingered on his tongue. “You look like you haven’t slept.”

Atsumu didn’t respond. He only moved to put more coffee in his mug. 

“Are you doing alright?” Sakusa asked. He rarely initiated talking about feelings, but he felt like not everything from last night had been resolved. 

“I’m fine, Omi. It’s a new day.” Atsumu moved to put several spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee, then stirred it up. “I appreciate all that ya said, but I’d rather if we didn’t talk ‘bout what happened last night.” Atsumu moved towards the stove and took out a pan. He flipped the rice cooker on, then turned back towards Sakusa. 

“Breakfast?” He asked. Sakusa nodded and moved to help, but Atsumu waved him off. “Just sit down, yer a guest.”

Sakusa refilled his mug before sitting down at the kitchen table where Atsumu’s phone lay face up. It suddenly lit up with an email notification, revealing the other unread notifications on the phone. 

Sakusa didn’t mean to read the other notifications, but his eyes were drawn to the phone screen. Surprisingly, there was a message from Suna. It appeared to have been sent last night. 

Sunarin!!, 9:45pm: didnt propose.

It was strange that a message from last night was still on his notification screen, considering Atsumu was usually glued to his phone. Even stranger, it was a notification from someone he considered to be his best friend. Why wouldn’t he have responded? Sakusa thought. 

Before he could continue pondering, Atsumu placed a bowl with rice and an egg in front of him. He placed another bowl on the other side of the table, then sat down. Atsumu’s phone lit up with another notification. They both looked at it, before Atsumu took his phone and placed it face-down next to him on the table. 

“How’dya sleep?” Atsumu asked, mouth full of breakfast. 

“Fine.” Sakusa said.

“Good! It’s Ma’s old futon from when we used to have people stay over. She got a new one a couple years ago—” Atsumu began to ramble, but Sakusa continued to listen. Months ago, he would have tuned Atsumu’s chatter out. Now, he listened, and he weirdly enjoyed it. 

They had nearly finished their breakfast when there was a knock on the front door. Atsumu stopped mid-sentence and looked over at Sakusa. 

“Expecting anyone?” Sakusa asked.

“Nope.” Atsumu said, popping the ‘p’. He slid back in his chair and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Sakusa listened to the soft padding of his slippers on the floor as he approached the door. He heard the lock disengage, and the sound of the door swinging open. 

Atsumu stood silent for a moment. “What’re you doing here?” He finally said. 

“You didn’t answer my text.” A voice Sakusa recognized as Suna’s said. 

Atsumu sighed. “Come in.” 

Sakusa heard them shuffle around in the genkan, then two pairs of footsteps walked toward the kitchen. Atsumu walked in first and moved towards a cabinet to grab a coffee mug for Suna. Suna stepped into the kitchen, saw Sakusa sitting at the table, and immediately froze.

Sakusa realized how this must look. He was sitting at Atsumu’s kitchen table early in the morning, breakfast half-eaten. His hair was messy and he was still wearing the sleep clothes he had borrowed from Atsumu. Worst of all, he knew that the shirt he was wearing had ‘MIYA’ written across the back—a clear sign that Sakusa hadn’t intended on spending the night when they had dinner last night. 

Suna’s eyebrows shot into his hairline, and a wicked grin spread across his face. 

“Well, well, well, ‘Tsumu.” He drawled. “What do we have here?”

Atsumu turned around from where he was filling Suna’s mug and followed Suna’s gaze to Sakusa. His face began to turn red. “Um. It’s…uh…it’s not what ya think.” He stuttered.

“Did you stay over last night?” Suna asked Sakusa. Sakusa could only nod in response, and Suna’s grin grew impossibly wider. “Then it’s exactly what I think.”

“Didn’t ya come here to talk about yerself?” Atsumu said, shoving the coffee mug into Suna’s hands. 

“Oh, but this is much more interesting.” Suna replied. 

“Shuddup.” Atsumu spat, taking a seat at the table. Suna followed suit, taking a sly sip from his coffee and glancing between the two men. There was an awkward pause.

“Did you share a bed?” Suna asked. 

“No!” Atsumu sputtered, slamming his coffee mug on the table. “If ya keep askin’ questions, I’m kickin’ ya out.”

“Why so defensive?” Suna raised an eyebrow. 

Atsumu lunged across the table in an attempt to snatch Suna’s coffee mug. Suna grabbed the mug and held it far from Atsumu’s outstretched hand.

“Fine, fine, we can talk about this,” he casually waved a hand between Atsumu and Sakusa, “later.” Suna continued to drink his coffee. Silence fell upon the kitchen as they all looked towards one another to speak. 

“What’re ya doin’ here, Sunarin?” Atsumu finally asked. 

“Well, I was originally going to chew you out for creating that hellish puzzle for us to do last night, but ‘Samu convinced me not to.”

Sakusa watched as Atsumu’s eyes flickered down towards the table. His fingers tapped his coffee mug nervously. He was still feeling guilty. Sakusa really hoped that Suna had something nicer to say. 

“What happened, happened, so it’d be easier to just move on.” Suna sighed. “I…I wanted to talk to you about ‘Samu.”

The air turned serious. Atsumu suddenly looked attentive, and he leaned forward slightly in his chair. 

“What’s up?” He asked. 

Suna sighed. “I’ve told you a couple times now that I think ‘Samu is keeping something from me. After last night, I’m positive.”

Atsumu shot Sakusa a nervous glance. He didn’t seem to be very good at hiding his emotions, Sakusa thought. 

“Whaddya mean?” Atsumu asked. 

“Well, you know better than anyone that ‘Samu and I have been long-distance basically our whole relationship. The only time of the year when we’re in the same place for more than a weekend is the off-season. When we graduated from Inarizaki, we agreed that we’d put our careers first for the time being, and it worked out great. We’re both successful and happy with where we are in our lives. We have a system for visiting each other so it’s not too stressful or costly. It works. 

“But…I can’t help but want more, you know?” Suna shook his head. “Is that selfish of me? In order for us to live together full time, one of us would have to make a bigger sacrifice than the other. Either I leave EJP for another team, or ‘Samu leaves family and friends and his first business to start over in Shizuoka. 

“We’ve talked about this in the past, and it’s always been kind of a mutual goal. Get to a place in our lives where we could live in the same city full time without either of us having to sacrifice too much. I would also just like it if we could live together before getting married. They say you never truly know your partner until you live together full-time.” Suna looked down at the table and scratched at the wood.

“That makes sense.” Atsumu jumped in. “But what does this have to do with ‘Samu hiding somethin’?”

“Do you have patience, ever?” Suna said snarkily. “You told me two months ago that ‘Samu was planning on opening a second store, possibly in Shizuoka. Yet he’s told me nothing. Why would he keep that from me, unless he didn’t want to actually move to the same city as me?”

When Atsumu had first mentioned this ‘second branch’, Sakusa thought he pulled it out of his ass to keep Suna from finding out that Osamu also wanted to propose. But, if by some reason Atsumu was telling the truth, then Suna did have a legitimate concern on his hands. 

“There are tons of reasons he might not tell ya. Maybe he doesn’t have the fundin’ and doesn’t wanna get yer hopes up. Or maybe it’s somethin’ he just started thinkin’ about.” Atsumu suggested.

Suna stared straight into Atsumu’s soul. “That’s bullshit and you know it. When he was first opening his restaurant, he would talk to me about everything. Location, money, branding, social media, even the decorations on the walls. Plus, you know he texts me every waking thought that passes through his brain.”

Atsumu frowned. “Yeah, yer right.”

“Have you talked to him about it?” Sakusa asked. Suna looked startled, as if he had forgotten that Sakusa were there.

“Not directly, which I guess is on me. But ‘Samu did tell me he recently had a meeting to renew his current lease with his landlord, so that shows me that he’s not looking to move for at least another year.” 

“And last night?” Atsumu pressed.

“He was just so…squirrely. Like he had something to tell me, but didn’t want to say it.” Suna put his head in his hands. “This is stupid, why am I coming to the perpetually single guy for relationship advice?”

“Hey now.” Atsumu chastised. “I know you and ‘Samu better than anyone.”

“Then can I say something ridiculous?” Suna blurted out, glancing down at the floor. When he continued speaking, his voice was pitched slightly higher, like he was trying not to cry. “Is ‘Samu…he’s not planning on breaking up with me or anything, right?” 

Atsumu looked distraught. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me, Rin? I have never seen ‘Samu care ‘bout anything, not even onigiri, as much as he cares ‘bout you.”

Suna backpedaled. “I know, I know he loves me. But…people can be in love and still fall apart.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It scares me. That he’s not talking to me as openly as he used to.”

“I’m sure if ‘Samu is hiding something, he has a good reason.” Atsumu said. “But I can promise you one thousand percent that he would never break up with ya. And trust me, I have to listen to the guy wax poetic about ya enough when yer not here.” He made a disgusted face, which made Suna chuckle. 

“I should just talk to him again, I guess. I could have figured that out on my own—I honestly don’t know why I came all the way here.” Suna paused. “And you would tell me the truth, right?” 

A flicker of panic flew across Atsumu’s face before he smoothed it out into confidence. “Of course. I got no reason to lie to ya.”

Suna rubbed his eyes. “Right. Thanks.” He quickly drank the rest of his coffee. “I’ll get out of your hair.” 

He moved to walk towards the front door, but stopped and turned back towards Atsumu and Sakusa.

“You two enjoy the rest of your morning together.” He smiled nefariously. Atsumu screeched and lunged towards a cackling Suna. Suna sprinted towards the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Atsumu turned back towards Sakusa. “That dick.”

Sakusa shrugged. “In fairness, we did make it kind of easy for him. You gave me a shirt with your name on the back.”

Atsumu gawked. “Yer tellin’ me you don’t sleep in yer old athletic clothes? They’re comfy as hell.” 

“I never said that.” Sakusa said calmly. “I’m just saying, if you don’t want your friends to think certain things about us, think before you let me stay over.”

“It’s not like I knew Sunarin would be droppin’ by.” Atsumu protested. “Besides, would being with me really be the worst thing in the world?”

“I’d rather die, Miya.” Sakusa said instinctively. Atsumu winced and Sakusa immediately regretted reverting back to Atsumu’s last name. Normally, it would just be banter between them. But after last night, Sakusa couldn’t help but feel like he had touched a nerve. 

“Right.” Atsumu said. He grabbed their breakfast plates and rushed to put them in the sink. The room was silent for a while.

“I should get go-”

“I’ve got some erran-”

Both Sakusa and Atsumu spoke at the same time. 

Atsumu rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll see ya later, yeah?” 

“I’ll wash these and return them to you soon.” Sakusa gestured to Atsumu’s borrowed clothes.

Atsumu only waved him off, telling him not to worry about it. “They’re old. I won’t miss ‘em for too long.”

Sakusa quickly gathered his things. In the genkan, he pulled on his shoes and moved to open the door. He paused, turning back to face Atsumu. 

“Are you going to keep helping Suna and Osamu with all this proposal stuff?” He asked.

Atsumu laughed softly. “I’m in too deep now, right?”

They were silent for a moment. Sakusa moved towards the door handle again.

“Thanks for being here for me,” Atsumu said quietly, “with all this nonsense.”

Sakusa didn’t know how to respond. “It’s no problem.”

With that, Sakusa trekked home with stolen clothes on his back and a weird feeling in his chest. 

A week later, Sakusa found himself sitting at a picnic table in the middle of a park near downtown Osaka. Cherry blossom season had long since passed, so the trees were covered in small green leaves. The river that ran through the park sparkled in the early evening sun. The grass was green, and a healthy breeze blew through Sakusa’s curls. 

Atsumu sat across from him. He had spread a picnic blanket out on the table, but there was no food in sight. Instead, he pulled out a box that contained a checkers board and a bag full of pieces. 

“Wanna play a game, Omi?” Atsumu asked. 

“Is that why you brought me here?” Sakusa responded. “Why are we playing outside?”

“I have the perfect idea for how to fix everythin’ between ‘Samu and Sunarin.” Atsumu said, completely ignoring Sakusa’s question. Sakusa raised his eyebrows in response, silently asking him to continue. “They just need to talk it out, ya know? So why not talk it out durin’ a picnic on the banks of a beautiful river during the sunset. What’s more romantic than that?” 

Sakusa could think of many things more romantic than that, but he didn’t say anything. “That doesn’t answer my question. Why are we here?”

“I wanted to know if it would actually be nice, eatin’ out here at this time of day.” Atsumu responded, eyes flicking down towards the table. “I figured you would hate eatin’ outside though, so I brought something else for us to do!”

Sakusa couldn’t lie, eating in nature did unnerve him. There was always the possibility of a bug crawling up the table, or on his leg, or finding its way into the food. There were also bugs in the air that posed an equal, if not worse, threat. He didn’t remember ever telling Atsumu that, though. Was he just that observant about his mannerisms?

“I also thought you’d be the only one in town who would actually go on this date with me.” Atsumu said. His face began to turn red as he fully realized what he said. “Not that this is a date! I meant it more as like a test-date for ‘Samu and Sunarin, but we aren’t dating, so it’s not a date.” Atsumu backpedaled. 

Sakusa felt his face heating up. Strangely enough, going on a date with Atsumu didn’t sound like a bad thing. 

“For their date, I could make them a little picnic dinner and send them on their merry way for the night.” Atsumu continued. 

“Wait, you’d be cooking for Suna and Osamu? You wouldn’t let Osamu cook for them?” Sakusa said, surprised.

“Jeez.” Atsumu looked mock-offended. “Are ya sayin’ that ‘Samu’s cookin’ is better than mine?” 

“He is the one with the restaurant.”

Atsumu waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, but even chefs deserve some home-cooked meals sometimes. I wanna take the stress away and let them enjoy themselves. I also read once that when you cook a meal, it doesn’t taste as good because you’ve been exposed to the smells the whole time. I want this meal to be really good for ‘Samu and Sunarin.”

Sakusa thought that was a surprisingly intelligent point.

“Counterpoint.” Sakusa said instead. “The last time you planned an activity for them, it caused a minor fight. What’s to say they’ll even let you plan this date?” 

“It’s an apology meal. What can go wrong with a picnic?” 

Sakusa could think of lots of things that could go wrong. But maybe that was just him.

“This isn’t even really about the proposals anymore. I just want ‘Samu and Sunarin to start talkin’ like normal again.” Atsumu began setting up the board and placing the pieces on their proper squares. “I don’t know if either of them are really in the place to propose after the way they’ve been acting around each other the past few days.”

It was a nice gesture, Sakusa had to admit. He had seen them both a couple times since the night of the failed proposals, and they just seemed more…awkward. Conversations were still friendly, but they weren’t as full of jabs like they normally were. They had never been an overly touchy couple, but even small gestures had disappeared. It was like Suna and Osamu were walking on broken glass around each other, waiting to accidentally upset the other person.  

“Do you know why they haven’t just talked to each other?” Sakusa asked.

Atsumu sighed.“‘Samu says he doesn’t know how to bring it up. Sunarin says he doesn’t want to ambush ‘Samu. They’re both brutally honest with other people, I don’t know why that doesn’t apply to each other.”

“I get it. They don’t care about other people’s opinions as much as they care about each others’.” 

“Is that why you’re so mean to everyone? You don’t care about anyone’s opinion?” Atsumu smiled playfully. 

Sakusa thought for a moment. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about others’ opinions. It was more about him trusting himself to be right.

“I’m sure there’s someone out there whose opinion matters to ya.” Atsumu pried. “Family? Close friends?” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Exes?”

Sakusa snorted. When he was younger, he cared a lot about his family’s opinion of him. He needed to be an upstanding citizen, proudly bearing the Sakusa name. But over time, he realized that sucking up to rich relatives and pursuing what his parents thought he should pursue would only bring unhappiness. Komori’s opinion was the only one that held real weight these days; but even then, Sakusa took everything he said with a grain of salt. He’d never had close friends in high school, and only a handful of relationships in college. Sakusa mainly lived his life for himself. 

Except…when Atsumu critiqued his spiking, he listened. When Atsumu was proud of him, he listened. Atsumu’s opinion wasn’t an annoyance like it was in Sakusa’s early days on the team. It meant something to him.

Atsumu was still looking at Sakusa expectantly. Sakusa settled for a shrug. “Some of us don’t need constant validation from our peers.” He said.

Atsumu smiled. “Lucky you. Maybe that makes ya a better man than all of us.”

Sakusa hummed. “Maybe.”

“Alright, ya ready to play?” Atsumu clapped his hands together. “You can have the first move.” 

They sat there for a while, moving their pieces back and forth. Sakusa didn’t often find himself in nature (for aforementioned reasons), but he found himself enjoying this afternoon with Atsumu. He forgot about all the bugs in the grass beneath his feet and how dirty the table underneath them was. 

The further they got into the game, the more Atsumu stopped to think about his moves. Sakusa would have thought Atsumu to be an impulsive player, but he was quick to realize how wrong that was. They played games together for a living—he should have known how calculating and strategic Atsumu could be. 

During a particularly long thinking session, Sakusa took the moment to really look at Atsumu. He now understood why many people called this time of day ‘golden hour.’ Atsumu’s blond hair was illuminated by the setting sun, setting a sharp contrast against the dull trees in the background. His brown eyes glimmered with the reflection of the river. He hummed in contentment as he pondered his next move.

Sakusa quickly looked away as his face heated up. If Atsumu asked, he would just say it was a trick of the light. 

By time they finished their second game, the sun was beginning to set. 

“Wow, Omi, look at that!” Atsumu said, looking up from the board and out towards the river. The park was aglow with the light from the setting sun. “It’s so beautiful.” 

“It sure is, Miya.” Sakusa said, looking straight at Atsumu.

Atsumu turned and met his gaze. Sakusa thought about quickly looking away, to avoid embarrassment, but found that he didn’t mind if Atsumu knew he was looking at him. 

“Atsumu.” He replied.

“What?” 

“The other night, you called me Atsumu. You’ve never done that, and I…” He gave Sakusa a small smile. “I’d like it if you called me Atsumu from now on.”

Sakusa thought about it. He was used to calling Atsumu by his family name. ‘Miya’ was easy, impersonal, safe. But his given name? Unless they were family, Sakusa didn’t do given names. He didn’t let himself get close enough to classmates or teammates or frankly anyone else to be on that level. 

Atsumu’s expression grew uneasy the longer it took Sakusa to respond. He was almost holding his breath, which was weird. Everyone in the world called Atsumu by his given name, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Why was he so concerned with what Sakusa called him? 

“Atsumu.” Sakusa responded, slowly. “I think I can do that.”

Atsumu’s face lit up. “Can I call ya Kiyoomi?” 

“Absolutely not.” Sakusa said, but he didn’t really mean it. Something in his chest ached at the way Atsumu said his full given name, the way his accent curled around the syllables. 

Atsumu pouted, but glanced around the park. “We better play our last game fast, we’re losin’ daylight.” 

He reset the board. They had each won one game, so this was the tie-breaker. They chatted between moves, but before long, Sakusa was victorious. 

“Damn it, Omi. Good game.” Atsumu said as he began to pack up the game. It was getting too dark to play. 

“Good game.” Sakusa responded automatically. He didn’t want the night to end. It was nice to do something mundane with Atsumu. 

Atsumu began to pack up the game, reaching for the box that sat at one end of the table. As he brought it back towards him, his arm brushed against the board and scattered some of the pieces. One rolled towards him before falling off the table. 

“One of the checkers fell.” Sakusa said to Atsumu. 

“Huh?” He responded distractedly, too focused on collecting the pieces to put into the box.

“One of the pieces fell off the table.”

Atsumu finished placing the game into the box, then looked up at Sakusa. “Did it fall into the grass?” He ducked his head under the table to begin searching. After a few moments, he popped back up. “I couldn’t find it, it’s too dark.”

Sakusa sighed, then ducked his own head under the table to look. He flicked on his phone’s flashlight and easily found the piece nestled under the bench Atsumu was sitting on. He stretched forward, but the piece was too far. 

“I found it.” Sakusa said, hating what he had to do next. He dropped from the bench onto his knees and reached out again. The piece was now easily within reach, so Sakusa swiped it from the grass. He sat back on his heels and his head immediately smacked into something. 

“Ow!” Atsumu cried out. Sakusa turned as much as he could, still hunched beneath the table. Atsumu’s face was mere inches from Sakusa, and he was rubbing his forehead. His body was contorted to be half under the table, presumably so that he could watch Sakusa grab the lone piece.

Now, they were mere inches from each other. Atsumu’s face was flushed as he steadfastly met Sakusa’s gaze. For a split second, his eyes flicked from Sakusa’s eyes down to his lips. Sakusa felt his face heating up. Any closer, and their noses would be touching. Closer than that…Sakusa didn’t let himself follow that train of thought. 

The moment stretched on as the two stared at each other. Atsumu opened his mouth to say something. 

“Um. Here.” Sakusa interrupted. He held up the fallen piece. 

“Oh, thanks.” Atsumu said, gently accepting it. He straightened up, but didn’t account for the picnic table above him. There was a small thump! as Atsumu’s head smacked into the table.

Sakusa scrambled out from underneath the table and situated himself back on his side. Atsumu was rubbing the back of his head. His face was still red in the soft glow of the lanterns hanging around the park.

“You’d think after all those years with a bunk bed, I’d be more aware of my surroundings, huh?” Atsumu said. Sakusa let himself give a small smile at the joke. Atsumu added the fallen piece to the box, closed it, then checked the time on his phone. “I gotta run. Told Ma I’d give her a call tonight.” He stood up from the picnic table, the board game tucked under his arm. “I’ll see ya later, yeah?” 

Sakusa nodded and stood up as well. Atsumu moved towards him, as if he were going to say or do something, but then thought better of it. He began to walk away backwards.

“Next time, I’m kickin’ yer ass!” Atsumu shouted. 

“Not a chance, Atsumu.” Sakusa didn’t raise his voice, but it was clear Atsumu heard him. He beamed at the use of his given name. As he walked backwards, gaze still on Sakusa, his shoulder bumped into a tree. Atsumu looked startled, but smiled sheepishly and turned around to continue walking home. 

Sakusa turned to look at the river. The last remnants of the sun had slipped away, which left the river babbling in the dark. The lanterns cast soft light and shadows along the pathways. 

He changed his mind. Maybe this was a romantic idea after all.

Miya Atsumu, 10:47am: ONIGIRI MIYA. TONIGHT. 6PM. 

Sakusa read the text over again as he walked toward the restaurant. He wasn’t sure exactly what Atsumu had planned, but based on the caps lock, it couldn’t be good. 

He pushed the door open at exactly six o’clock and was greeted by the dinner rush. Most of the tables were full, and there were a few people standing in line waiting to order at the counter. At one table, a man with messy black hair and glasses frantically scribbled on one of the many papers skewed about the table. He looks stressed, Sakusa thought.

A young man stood by the register as another girl (who Sakusa recognized as Mayumi) hurried to fill orders. Sakusa scanned the room again, but didn’t see any sign of Atsumu. He wasn’t always the most punctual, though, so Sakusa wasn’t too concerned. 

Sakusa joined the line in front of the register. He might as well get water while he was waiting. 

“Hello, what can I get you?” The man behind the counter (whose name tag read ‘Ichirou’) said. 

“Just a bottle of water, please.” Sakusa replied, pulling out his wallet. As he paid, he noticed Mayumi looking at him. 

“You’re friends with Osamu-san, right?” Mayumi asked, moving towards him. 

“Um, yes?” Sakusa wasn’t sure if he would consider himself ‘friends’ with Osamu. The two had only spoken one-on-one a few times. They were more of mutual acquaintances through Atsumu. 

“He and Atsumu-san are in the back if you want to say hi.” Mayumi said. 

“I was actually looking for Atsumu, so that would be great.” Sakusa accepted a water bottle from Ichirou and turned towards Mayumi. She guided him to the door behind the counter that led deeper into the kitchen and back office. As Sakusa walked through the door, he heard muffled voices coming from the small office.

“—Don’t do anythin’ weird.” Osamu was saying. 

“Like what? Don’t worry, I’m just gonna put on one of yer hats and no one will even know yer gone.” Atsumu responded. 

Osamu sighed. “People will still know, dumbass. And ya know how to close the register?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve closed with ya before, ya know.” 

“I know, but sometimes ya forget things and if I’m gonna let ya be here on yer own, I wanna make sure ya ain’t gonna burn the place down or somethin’.” Osamu said. Their accents were thicker, Sakusa noted. It was almost as if being alone together made them both stronger. 

The door to the office was ajar. Sakusa hesitantly stepped in, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. Osamu’s desk took up a majority of the room and Atsumu leaned against it, facing the doorway. Osamu and Suna faced Atsumu. Osamu had his arms crossed, as if he were lecturing a disobedient child. Suna was holding a picnic basket.

“Ya really think that little of me?” Atsumu exclaimed. “I’ll have Omi with me too, if that makes ya feel better.” 

Alarm bells went off in Sakusa’s head. Osamu snorted, but before he could say anything, Atsumu noticed Sakusa lurking in the doorway.

“Omi-Omi!” He exclaimed. Osamu and Suna turned to face him. 

“No offense ‘Tsumu, but you’ll find some way to drag Sakusa into trouble.” Osamu said, looking at Sakusa as if to tell him not to indulge in Atsumu’s mischief. 

“Trust me, we’ll be fine.” Atsumu moved away from the desk and walked to Osamu. He then put his hands on Osamu’s shoulders and pushed him towards the door. “Just go enjoy yerselves and yer lil’ picnic.”

As Atsumu pushed Osamu out the door, Suna gave Atsumu a look. “Why should we trust a picnic you prepared?” 

“Oh, come on Sunarin, it’s just a picnic. I made the food, but ‘Samu was hoverin’ over my shoulder the whole time.” Atsumu protested. Suna just raised his eyebrows. “I got no motive to poison either of ya, I swear.”

Atsumu then ushered Suna out of the office. They both stopped in front of Osamu, who gave Suna a pat on the shoulder.

“This would be pretty hard for him to mess up.” Osamu assured Suna. Suna just rolled his eyes. 

“Am I the only one who’s suspicious of him being this nice?” Suna asked Osamu.

“Like I said, it’s an apology for the other week.” Atsumu said.

Osamu looked at his watch. “We should probably get going if we want to see the sunset.” Sakusa watched as Osamu’s hand reached towards Suna, but he paused and retracted it. Suna noticed and frowned, but didn’t do anything. 

“The place closes at eight tonight, ‘Tsumu, earlier than usual. You’ll have Mayumi and Ichirou, but if anything happens…” Osamu glared at Atsumu. 

“I’ll give you a call, I promise. Now go.” Atsumu shooed them out the back door and into the alley behind Onigiri Miya. “Bye!” 

With that, he slammed the door shut. Atsumu and Sakusa were now left alone in the kitchen, which finally allowed Sakusa’s brain to catch up to the earlier conversation. 

“Wait…did you tell me to come here so I would work at the shop with you?” Sakusa asked. He wasn’t sure whether to be angry or annoyed. Or both. 

Atsumu put his hands up in defense. “Ya don’t have to do anything. I just wanted some company for the night, is that so wrong?”

Sakusa ran a hand through his hair. “Osamu’s employees are here.”

“That’s not the same.” Atsumu said. Sakusa moved past him to open the back door. “Wait, Omi, please!”

Atsumu reached out to grab Sakusa’s arm. He made contact, but then seemed to remember what he was doing and pulled his hand away quickly. “Sorry.” He said, looking down at the ground. “If ya don’t wanna stay, that’s alright. Just wanted someone to stay here with me, that’s all.”

Atsumu looked like a kicked puppy, and Sakusa logically knew that this was part of his ploy to get him to stay. It worked.

Sakusa sighed and turned away from the door. “Fine.” He said. “But I’m not handling the food.” 

Atsumu’s face lit up. “Of course not!” He was quick to say. “Ya don’t have to lift a single finger. Besides, ‘Samu said that his employees can basically handle the shop by themselves, he just wanted someone here to close up once they leave.”

That was fair, Sakusa thought. If he owned a restaurant, he wouldn’t want to leave two teenagers in charge while he was gone. Then again, Atsumu often had the mentality of a teenager, so he wasn’t much better. 

Atsumu returned to the office, and Sakusa trailed after him. Atsumu grabbed an Onigiri Miya hat from the hook on the wall and placed it neatly on his head. A few tufts of blond hair stuck out from underneath the bill.

“How do I look? Ya think people’ll think I’m ‘Samu?” 

“No.” Sakusa said bluntly. He had never known the twins when they were truly identical, but even if he had, he’d like to think he’d be able to tell the difference between them. There was just something so distinctly ‘Atsumu’ about the man standing in front of him, even with his vibrant blond hair covered.

Atsumu pouted and sat down behind the desk. There was a small pile of papers in front of him. Sakusa pulled a chair from the corner of the room to the other side of the desk so he could sit across from Atsumu. He set his water bottle down. 

“‘Samu told me to organize these into different piles—bills, receipts, and ‘other’, whatever that means.” Atsumu shrugged. “It’s not super excitin’, but I guess it’s the easiest task he can give me.” 

Sakusa and Atsumu spent the next hour organizing the papers into their respective piles. It should have taken much less time, but Atsumu decided to fold one of the bills into a paper airplane and toss it at Sakusa. Sakusa critiqued the shoddy craftsmanship, which led Atsumu to challenge Sakusa to a paper airplane contest. They each crafted a paper airplane out of some miscellaneous paper they found in Osamu’s desk drawer and readied themselves at one end of the kitchen. 

“I’ll have ya know, ‘Samu and I used to do this all the time as kids. I usually won.” Atsumu boasted.

Sakusa hummed, as if he found that impressive. “Interesting. But I was a physics major in university, so I did this type of stuff for class projects.” He whipped his head around to grin smugly at Atsumu. “And I never got less than an A+ in my classes.”

Atsumu grinned back. “Nerd. Let’s get to it, then.” 

They each took a stance and began to aim towards the other end of the kitchen. 

“On my mark.” Atsumu said, his voice serious.  “Ready…set…go!”

They launched their airplanes. Atsumu’s plane sailed beautifully through the air, on a good trajectory towards the counters on the other side. Sakusa’s, unfortunately, coasted straight towards the side of a cabinet. It hit the cabinet with a soft bonk and plummeted towards the floor. Atsumu’s continued coasting until it landed neatly on the counters they had originally aimed for. 

“Yes!” Atsumu pumped both fists into the air and turned towards Sakusa, victorious and smug. “Take that, Omi, revenge for beating me at checkers! You know where you can shove that physics degree—” 

“Rematch.” Sakusa demanded, already stomping back towards the office to get more paper. 

Sakusa won the next race, but Atsumu insisted that they couldn’t leave it at a tie. By the time their competitive spirits had died down, the other side of the kitchen was littered with discarded paper airplanes. Atsumu tasked himself with collecting and ridding the kitchen of all evidence of mischief, while Sakusa returned to the office to finish sorting the few papers they had left. 

When Sakusa returned to the kitchen, Atsumu was nowhere to be seen. Sakusa moved towards the door that led to the actual store, passing a small trash bin filled with crumpled paper. He smiled softly. 

In the restaurant, Sakusa easily spotted Atsumu, who was chatting with Ichirou. He had switched places with Mayumi, who was now at the register.

The store had cleared out significantly with only about an hour to closing. There were a couple people waiting to order in front of the counter, but there weren’t as many people scattered about at the tables. The stressed guy from earlier was still working, but now four onigiri plates were stacked at the end of his table. 

Sakusa walked over to Atsumu and Ichirou. Atsumu looked towards Sakusa once he noticed movement, and smiled.

“Papers all sorted?” He asked. Sakusa nodded. “I was just checkin’ to see if Mayumi and Ichirou needed anythin’.”

“We’re doing alright here, thanks. Osamu-san trained us well.” Ichirou said with a customer-service smile. 

“Ah, you don’t gotta give me that bullshit. You and Mayumi just seem like sensible people who know how to get things done, unlike my disaster of a brother.” Atsumu said. Ichirou smiled, but looked a little apprehensive, like he didn’t know if he was allowed to laugh at a joke that made fun of his boss. 

Mayumi finished taking a customer’s order and walked past where they were standing. She reached into the refrigerated display case and placed a few onigiri neatly into a box. 

“Be nice, Atsumu-san” She said as she walked by. “He’s new and not used to the way you and Osamu-san treat each other.” 

Atsumu’s mouth formed a small ‘O’. “Do ya have siblings?” He asked. Ichirou shook his head. “Ah, then that explains it.”

Sakusa noticed a customer approach the counter and wait politely, as if he had a question. Atsumu and Ichirou had continued talking, and Mayumi was back at the register. Sakusa was the only one who appeared to notice him.

“Uh…can I help you?” Sakusa asked. He had never worked a customer service-type job before. 

“Can we get some extra napkins? My daughter was clumsy and spilled her drink.” The man said with a smile. 

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Sakusa responded. He looked down at the counter in front of him, but didn’t see any napkins. Quickly scanning his surroundings, he couldn’t find napkins anywhere. 

“Here ya go, sir.” Atsumu slid up next to Sakusa and smoothly held out a stack of napkins. He wore a blinding smile. 

“Thanks!” The man said and returned to his table. 

“Napkins are right over here, Omi.” Atsumu pointed to a little bin of napkins underneath the counter. 

“Uh, thanks.” Sakusa said. Atsumu was standing very close to him, and still smiling that brilliant smile. If anything, it got wider when Sakusa thanked him. 

“It’s nothin’.” Atsumu said. He moved towards the door to the back rooms, then turned and motioned for Sakusa to follow. “C’mon, I’m sure ‘Samu left other stuff for us to do.”

Sakusa bid a quick goodbye to Mayumi and Ichirou before following Atsumu back to the office. Once inside, Atsumu sprawled out in the chair, taking out his phone and scrolling through a couple notifications.

“What’s next?” Sakusa asked, standing in front of the desk.

“Huh? Oh, nothin’.” Atsumu said. “I just said that so Mayumi ‘n’ Ichirou would think we had important stuff to do. You don’t seem the type to enjoy hangin’ up front and interactin’ with customers.”

Sakusa was oddly touched. As he had suspected in the past, and had confirmed through the most recent interaction, he wasn’t one for dealing directly with clients. There were too many unknowns, too many questions that Sakusa didn’t have the answers to. 

“Figured we could just hang out back here until the store closes and we gotta clean up.” Atsumu continued scrolling on his phone. 

Sakusa sat down in his own chair and relished in the quiet. But it didn’t stay that way for long.

“Do ya wanna see a funny video?” Atsumu asked, leaning forward.

“Sure.” Sakusa replied, bringing his chair around to Atsumu’s side of the desk. 

They sat side-by-side for the next hour, Atsumu scrolling through video after video. A couple even made Sakusa laugh out loud, which was a rarity. Atsumu seemed to enjoy his laugh, poking fun at the high-pitched whistle sound it made. 

Occasionally, they would hear clattering from the kitchen—someone whipping up a new batch of onigiri, grabbing supplies, or whatnot. Whenever this happened, Atsumu and Sakusa would quiet down, as if they were doing something forbidden. 

Their enjoyment was eventually broken by Mayumi entering the office, tossing a set of keys onto the desk. Atsumu and Sakusa looked up from the phone, quickly pretending like they had been doing important work. Mayumi didn’t seem convinced. 

“I just locked up, Ichirou and I are heading out.” Mayumi said. 

“Thanks a lot!” Atsumu replied, picking up the keys and sticking them in a desk drawer. “I ‘preciate all the work you’ve done.” 

“No worries. You two enjoy…your night.” Mayumi said, before turning and leaving. They heard two pairs of footsteps pass the office. The back door opened and then slammed shut. 

“Guess it’s just us now, huh, Omi-Omi.” Atsumu said with a smile. 

Sakusa stood up and stretched, a couple joints popping from staying in the same position for so long. “Let’s just finish closing up so we can go home.”

“We?” Atsumu said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Ask me out to dinner first, why dontcha?” 

Sakusa sighed. “You know that’s not what I meant.” The thought of asking Atsumu out to dinner made Sakusa’s stomach turn, and not in a bad way.

They reached the door between the kitchen and the restaurant. “Here.” Atsumu said, handing Sakusa a broom. “There are more cleaning supplies under the counter. Why don’t you sweep up the front, and I’ll worry about cleaning the kitchen back here. It won’t take me long, then I can help you clean up front.” Sakusa nodded, and they went their separate ways. 

Sakusa had always found cleaning therapeutic. It wasn’t even so much about getting rid of germs, although that was certainly part of it. Sakusa liked the repetitive motions, the calming smell of cleaner, and the knowledge that by time he was done, there would be a tangible difference from when he had started. 

He grabbed some paper towels and cleaning spray from behind the counter to wipe off the tables. Sakusa then got to work sweeping all the crumbs into a little pile in the center of the restaurant. He had almost finished when he heard a clatter and footsteps hurriedly running towards the front of the restaurant.

“Omi!” Atsumu yelled, bursting through the door. “Look what I found!” 

In his hand, he was waving around a small black box. Atsumu ran over to where Sakusa was standing and shoved it in his face. 

“‘Samu’s been hiding his ring in the shop, of all places! I found it behind some old rice bags that are being used as storage.” Atsumu looked extremely pleased with himself. 

“He didn’t take it with him to the picnic tonight?” Sakusa said, tilting his head. He took the box from Atsumu and popped it open. Inside sat a thin silver band. It was plain, but Sakusa knew that Suna wasn’t a flashy guy. 

“Nah. When I told him and Sunarin about the picnic, I suggested to them separately not to propose. I don’t think either of them had been planning on it anyway, since, ya know, things have been weird.” Atsumu waved his hand around dismissively. “The picnic was my final plan on repairin’ what I broke. After this, I’m not gonna stick my nose in their proposal business. I’ll just let it happen naturally.” 

Sakusa felt something akin to pride swell in his chest. Normally, Atsumu was a serial meddler (case in point: everything leading them to this moment). Even with volleyball, he was nosy and always asking everyone about their business. But now, it seemed like he had learned that maybe he should stay out of some things.

“What happens if either of them asks you for more help?” Sakusa asked. 

Atsumu laughed. “After everything that’s happened? I don’t think either of them want my help anymore.” Sakusa couldn’t help but agree. 

He closed the box and handed it back to Atsumu. “You should put this back where you found it, or else Osamu might get mad.” 

Atsumu set it down on the table next to them. “I was comin’ out here anyway to close out the register, so I’ll put it back when I go into the kitchen to grab some stuff from the office before we leave.” He went behind the counter and started tapping at the register. 

Sakusa finished sweeping and tossed all the crumbs into a trash bin near the front door. After putting the broom back into the kitchen, he rejoined Atsumu behind the counter and began wiping that off as well. 

Atsumu was typing numbers into a small calculator and jotting them down on a piece of scrap paper. His tongue was poking out of the corner of his mouth. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you could do math.” Sakusa joked as he sprayed solution onto the counter.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Atsumu said, lifting his head to look at Sakusa. “I’ll have ya know, I always got better grades than ‘Samu in school.” 

“Really?” Sakusa tried to hide the surprise on his face.

“Yeah, really.” Atsumu said. “‘Samu tried, but he just had a hard time learnin’. ‘S part of the reason he didn’t go to university.”

“He didn’t go to university?” Sakusa had always just assumed that Osamu had majored in business or hospitality, and then started his shop right after he graduated. 

Atsumu hummed. “Yeah, he took a few entrance exams, but then decided not to go. Spent the first couple years after high school livin’ with our ma and workin’ at a couple local places. Really let him get the feel of what a small business looks and feels like. Let him save a bunch of money too.” 

“That’s smart.” Sakusa said. 

“Right? He moved out to Osaka when we were twenty-one, got a pretty good cookin’ gig at a restaurant not far from here, and started scouting out locations for his own place.” Atsumu looked out to the restaurant, as if he were taking in the reality of what his brother had done. 

“He must have worked a lot to get enough money to rent a storefront in a city like this.” Sakusa mused. 

Atsumu chuckled, but Sakusa thought it sounded a little nervous. “He’s just a hard worker.” 

Sakusa narrowed his eyes. “There’s more to it, isn’t there?”

“I may have given him a little bit of money.” Atsumu sighed. “He didn’t want it, of course, but if there was a sudden mystery deposit into his bank account? Then who’s to say where it came from.”

Sakusa was shocked. At twenty-one, Atsumu definitely had more of a paycheck than his brother, but professional volleyball players didn’t have outrageous salaries. To give Osamu enough money to help start a restaurant…it was remarkably generous of him. 

“Does he know?” Sakusa asked.

Atsumu snorted. “He never outright asked me, but why do ya think I’m always gettin’ free onigiri?” He paused for a moment. “I’m proud of him. But never tell him I said that.” 

Sakusa chuckled and crossed his heart. “You have my word, Atsumu.” He said. It had been a week since checkers in the park, but Atsumu never stopped smiling whenever Sakusa said his given name.

“I know ‘Samu ‘n’ I always fight about who’s gonna be happier,” Atsumu said, “and it’s definitely gonna be me.” He paused. “But ‘Samu’s doing pretty alright for himself.”

He smiled to himself, shook his head lightly, then went back to closing out the register. Sakusa watched him for a moment. Even though it had been happening more lately, it was always nice to see the softer side of Atsumu. 

“All done?” Atsumu asked once he had closed out the register. Sakusa nodded. “I have a few things left in the kitchen, and then we can head out.” 

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a knock on the front door.

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “We’re closed!” He yelled, but then turned to look. It was Osamu and Suna, back from their picnic. Osamu knocked again, harder. 

“Let me in, scrub!” His voice was muffled through the glass. Atsumu sighed and went to unlock the door. The couple entered, looking more comfortable with each other than they had when they left. Suna had his arm looped around Osamu’s waist. 

“You guys are back early.” Atsumu remarked as he walked back over to Sakusa. 

“The sun set, and ya gave us plates from my restaurant. I need to put them in the dishwasher.” Osamu said, turning around and locking the front door behind them. “Ya haven’t started the dishwasher yet, right?” Atsumu shook his head. 

“How was the meal?” Atsumu asked, smugly expecting a positive review. 

“It was, admittedly, not terrible.” Suna replied.

Atsumu leaned closer and cupped his hand by his ear. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear ya. What did ya say?” 

“I said the food sucked ass.” Suna said dryly, the hint of a smile on his lips. Atsumu pouted.

“I’m gonna put this stuff in the dishwasher, and then we can head upstairs.” Osamu said to Suna, patting the picnic basket hooked around his arm. 

Osamu then walked past Atsumu and Sakusa to get to the kitchen, giving them both a small smile.

“Yer keys are in yer desk drawer!” Atsumu yelled after him. Once the door swung closed, Atsumu turned his attention onto Suna. 

“You guys all good now?” He asked. 

Suna walked towards the counter and leaned against it. “Yeah. We didn’t talk about everything, but we talked about enough. It was nice to spend the evening together with no expectations or nervous energy.”

“I thought as much.” Atsumu said proudly.

“You had a good idea for once, is that what you’re waiting to hear?” Suna said with a laugh. “I appreciate it, man.” 

“I can be pretty romantic, Sunarin. For a ‘single guy ’ , as ya so kindly put it the other mornin’.” Atsumu said.

“Ugh, I’m never talking to you again.” Suna said. He turned away from Sakusa and Atsumu to survey the restaurant. “You guys tidied up well.”

“Much better than when you close, that’s for sure.” Atsumu said. 

“That’s totally not true.” Suna replied. 

The three sat in silence for a moment, admiring the hard work that had been done. Like most things, it was ruined in an instant. 

“Atsumu.” Suna hissed. “What is that?” 

He stalked over to the table where Atsumu had left the ring box. He picked it up, contemplated it, then stomped behind the counter to confront Atsumu.

“Where the hell did you find this?” He asked, shoving the ring box in Atsumu’s face. 

Atsumu turned pale. “Uh…I…uh…”

“Did you go through the apartment or something? I had this really well-hidden.” Suna said, face stormy. “Why were you even up there? Oh my god, ‘Samu could have seen this when we walked in.”

Panic washed over Sakusa. Suna was holding Osamu’s box. It looked identical to the box Suna had shown Sakusa and Komori when he had first bought a ring. Suna thought that the box he was holding contained his ring.

Atsumu clearly didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t reveal that this box wasn’t Suna’s without admitting that Osamu also had a ring. Thankfully, he was saved from answering by the kitchen door swinging open. Osamu walked in, which in Sakusa’s mind, was the worst thing that could happen right now. 

Osamu clearly noticed the tension in the room. “Is everything alright?” He asked.

Suna whipped around, quickly hiding the ring box behind his back. “No, everything’s fine.” 

Osamu didn’t look convinced. He eyed the hand behind Suna’s back. “Whatcha got there?” He asked, taking a step towards Suna. 

“It’s nothing.” Suna said. He tried to make his face look impassive, but he was failing. 

“Somehow, I don’t believe that.” Osamu said with a smile. “Did you guys find something in the restaurant? What’s wrong?” His eyes flickered between Sakusa and Atsumu. 

Osamu’s face only grew more concerned when he saw Atsumu’s very bad attempt at a poker face. His brows knit together as his gaze fell back onto Suna. “Rin…what’s wrong?” He took another step forward.

Suna seemed to realize that there was no way out of this situation. He took a deep breath. “Okay…I didn’t want to do this now, but I don’t really know how to explain this otherwise.” He took the box out from behind his back and held it in front of him. 

Osamu’s eyebrows shot up to the ceiling. He opened his mouth to say something, but Suna held up a hand to stop him. “I know things have been weird between us the past couple of days, but after tonight, I’m confident that everything will turn out fine.” Suna took a step towards Osamu, then paused. He whipped around to glare at Atsumu and Sakusa. “Get out.”

“What?” Atsumu said.

“I’m not doing this with you here, get out.” Suna pointed to the front door.

Sakusa grabbed Atsumu’s arm and began dragging him towards the front door. He was definitely not sticking around for whatever was about to happen.

“Back door!” Osamu shouted. “I already locked the front door.”

Atsumu grumbled, but shook Sakusa’s hand off of his arm. He stomped into the kitchen, Sakusa hot on his trail.

Once in the kitchen, Atsumu stopped. Sakusa continued walking to the back door, but turned around when he noticed Atsumu was no longer walking with him.

“What?” Sakusa whispered.

“I gotta know what’s gonna happen, Omi.” Atsumu whispered back, looking at the door between the kitchen and the restaurant.

Sakusa felt his stomach drop. No. No way he was sticking around for this.

“Come on.” Sakusa said quietly. “Suna said to leave.”

“And since when have I ever listened to that scrub?” Atsumu shot back. He moved to the door and cracked it open to peer through.

Sakusa sighed. He had two options: go home, draw a bath, and enjoy the rest of his night by himself watching his favorite drama, or he could join Atsumu at the door and listen to two people he barely knows profess their love to each other.

The logical answer was obvious to Sakusa. Unfortunately, nothing about dealing with Atsumu was logical.

Sakusa joined him at the door and stood over him to get a good view.

“—I’ve loved you since we were just friends, and I love you more as my partner, and I know that I’ll love you impossibly more as my husband.” Suna was saying. 

“I don’t expect us to get married right away, because we’re young. We don’t even live together full time. I mean, I guess we’ve lived together every year for three months since you moved to Osaka, so if you add that up, we’ve lived together for almost a full year.” Suna shook his head, rambling. “Sorry, that’s not the point.

“The point is, I want to live with you forever. I want to wake up to you everyday and tell you, in person, the mundane things that happen throughout the day and I want to go to bed looking at you each night. God, Osamu, I could look at you forever.”

Suna moved to get down on one knee. “You’re my absolute favorite person in the world, and it would be my honor to marry you someday. So, will you? Will you marry me, Osamu?”

With that, Suna popped open the ring box. There had been no magic trick, no surprise switch of rings. Inside still sat the thin silver ring that undoubtedly belonged to Osamu.

Osamu’s mouth was open as he stared at the ring. A few surprised tears traced their way down his face, and his brain appeared to be buffering as he took in the situation in front of him. Suna began to look nervous at such a long pause.

Then, Osamu began to laugh. He covered his mouth with his hand and tried to calm himself down, but it didn’t work. He took a step back, a step forward, then slowly doubled over, arms holding his stomach as he laughed. Suna looked panicked. His face turned red. 

“What’s wrong? Why are you laughing?” Suna said. 

“I’m sorry, Rin, it’s just—” Osamu tried to speak while gasping for breath. 

Sakusa looked down at Atsumu to see if he had any clue as to what his brother was doing. “What’s going on?” He whispered.

Atsumu looked up at him, panicked. “I have no idea.”

Suna finally looked at the ring in the box, as if something were wrong with it. Of course, something was wrong. It wasn’t the ring he had bought all those months ago.

Suna’s mouth fell open as he realized that he had never seen this ring in his life. He scrambled to his feet. 

“I…’Samu…” Suna clearly didn’t know what to say. 

Osamu straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes. “I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help myself. That was very sweet, Rin, I didn’t mean to laugh. I just…I never imagined bein’ proposed to with a ring I bought. I was surprised, is all.”

“A ring you what?” Suna said.

Osamu moved to Suna and gently took the ring box from his hand. “It’s my turn, now.” He got down on one knee in front of Suna. 

Suna seemed to realize what was about to happen. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the words, instead sinking to his knees in surprise. There was no longer a power difference between them as they knelt before each other, eye to eye.  

“I don’t know how I can top that speech you just gave, Rin. Have you been plannin’ that or somethin’?” 

“Or something.” Suna muttered. Osamu smiled.

“When I was a kid, I never thought I could love someone as much as I love you. I just didn’t think it was physically possible. And then you burst into my life and proved me so wonderfully wrong.

“You were one of the first people in my life to see me as me , not just as part of a set. You talked to me about my hopes and wants and dreams like they mattered, even if they weren’t about volleyball. You were the first person I told about this restaurant back when it was still just an idea. When I’m around you, I’m the most me I’ve ever been.”

Osamu reached out and took Suna’s hand before continuing. “And you’re right, we haven’t lived in the same city since high school, but I’m workin’ on changin’ that. So that when we do get married, we have the space to begin buildin’ a life together, one that we can both be proud of. So, Rintarou, even though I have a feeling I already know the answer, will you do me the honor and be my husband?” 

Osamu let go of Suna’s hand for a moment to open the ring box and present the ring to Suna. Suna chuckled, hiding his face in his hands. He sniffled a couple times and let out a little laugh. Sakusa had never seen Suna cry before and, judging by Atsumu’s face, he hadn’t either. 

“Of course, Osamu.” Suna said, looking back up at Osamu. A few tears traced their way down his face. Osamu smiled brightly and brought him in for a bone-crushing hug. They sat there on the floor for a moment, just holding each other.

Eventually, Osamu pulled back. “Gotta see if it fits.” He said, taking the ring out of the box and slipping it on Suna’s finger. Suna admired it for a moment, then turned back to Osamu.

“It’s perfect.” He said, leaning in to kiss Osamu. 

Sakusa looked at Atsumu in order to give the couple some privacy. Atsumu looked stunned. He looked up at Sakusa and met his gaze.

“It all worked out, huh?” Atsumu said with a soft smile. Sakusa hummed in response.

When Osamu and Suna pulled back, Osamu cupped Suna’s cheeks. “What the hell possessed you to propose with some ring you just found?” He asked.

Suna laughed softly. “I thought it was the ring I got for you. The boxes are identical.”

“You…you have a ring for me?” Osamu asked, clearly shocked.

“Of course, ‘Samu.” Suna responded. Osamu just laughed and brought him in for another hug. 

After a moment, they stood up. Atsumu and Sakusa took this as their cue to sneak out of the kitchen as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for them. 

As they walked, Sakusa looked back at Atsumu to make sure he was following and not going to do something stupid. He didn’t see the empty boxes nestled by the backdoor. His foot caught the edge of one and Sakusa went tumbling down, scattering the boxes everywhere.

“Omi!” Atsumu whisper-yelled. He rushed forward. “Are ya okay?” 

Sakusa was about to respond when he heard rushed footsteps. Osamu and Suna had entered the kitchen. 

“You asshole!” Osamu shouted, but he didn’t sound mad. “You guys were supposed to leave.”

“Oh c’mon, ‘Samu.” Atsumu said, stretching out a hand to help Sakusa up. “You were gonna tell me all about it later anyways.”

Sakusa took Atsumu’s hand and let himself be pulled back to standing. He faced Osamu and Suna. “Uh, congrats. Sorry about this.” He gestured to the boxes now scattered around the kitchen. 

Osamu waved him off. “It’s no big deal. I shoulda moved those a while ago.”

Atsumu watched his brother and Suna for a moment, then gasped. “Wait, I’ll be right back.” He brushed past them as he ran towards the kitchen’s big refrigerator. With Atsumu gone, the three stood in silence for a moment. 

“I don’t know how I keep getting dragged into this stuff.” Sakusa tried to justify why he was still here.

Osamu and Suna shared a look that Sakusa couldn’t quite decipher. 

“It’s no big deal.” Suna said. “We know how convincing Atsumu can be.” 

But that was the thing, Sakusa thought. Atsumu hardly needed to convince him to stay.

Atsumu raced back into the main kitchen. He was holding a bottle of sake in one hand and four small cups in the other.

“Jesus, ‘Tsumu.” Osamu said, rushing forward to grab some of the cups from Atsumu’s hand. “Slow down, yer gonna drop something.”

“We gotta celebrate!” Atsumu raised the bottle of sake high. “C’mon, let’s sit down.”

Atsumu walked out of the kitchen, and everyone followed. He led them over to a table where he set down the bottle. Osamu set down the cups next to the bottle, and Atsumu filled each to the brim. He dished out the cups to each person. 

“To ‘Samu and Rin!” Atsumu proclaimed, holding his cup high in a toast. 

“To Osamu and Suna.” Sakusa murmured, clinking his cup against Atsumu’s. 

“To us.” Osamu said, giving Suna a chaste kiss on the cheek as they clinked their cups together. 

After the toast, they all sat down. Atsumu refilled cups as needed and plopped down into the chair next to Sakusa.

“So, Rin, how did you come to have possession of my ring without actually knowin’ it was my ring?” Osamu asked, turning to Suna.

“It was sitting on a table when we walked into the shop. I’m actually surprised you didn’t notice it.” Suna said.

“On the table? How’d it get there?” Osamu questioned, but then looked straight at Atsumu.

Atsumu put his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay, I found it while I was cleanin’ up the kitchen, but I swear I meant to put it back. I didn’t know you guys were gonna be back so soon.” 

“Did you know it was back there?” Suna said. 

“I mean, I figured he had it hidden somewhere. I should’ve realized it would’ve been in the shop.”

Suna’s eyes narrowed. “So you knew he had a ring.” 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I—” Atsumu abruptly stopped speaking. He realized the trap he had walked into. 

“‘Tsumu helped me pick out the ring ‘n’ everythin’.” Osamu said, not realizing the tension building between his brother and his newly-minted fiancé. “I was a lil’ nervous to do it all by myself.” 

“And when was this?” Suna asked nonchalantly. 

“Oh, I dunno, February?” Osamu guessed. 

“You’re a dead man, Miya Atsumu.” Suna threatened. He turned to Osamu. “‘Tsumu helped me pick out a ring in March.”

“What?” Osamu said, head whipping towards Atsumu.

“He broke into my apartment and everything.” 

“You broke into his apartment?” Osamu looked appalled. 

“I didn’t break in, I had a key!” Atsumu protested.

“So that’s where my fuckin’ key went!” 

Sakusa sat back in his chair and took another sip of his sake. This was fun, much better than any drama he could be watching at home.  

“Neither of ya asked if I was helpin’ the other!” Atsumu said.

“Technically, Suna did ask back in March.” Sakusa supplied unhelpfully. Atsumu hissed at him to shut up. 

Both Osamu and Suna’s heads swiveled towards him, shocked. 

Never mind. Sakusa thought. This was no longer fun.

“Ya were in on this too?” Osamu said. 

“Only by association.” Sakusa defended himself. 

Suna shook his head. “I trusted you.” He said to Atsumu.

“And that was your big mistake.” Osamu snorted. He took a sip of sake. “We should have known that we would have both gone to ‘Tsumu for help.”

“Yeah…” Suna responded. “I just didn’t expect us to both want to propose at the same time.”

“You guys can’t be mad at me if it all worked out in the end.” Atsumu said, gesturing to the ring on Suna’s finger. 

“Eh, I think we’re a little entitled to be mad since yer meddlin’ affected our relationship.” Osamu said. 

“Wait, what did Atsumu help you with?” Suna asked Osamu. “He didn’t help me plan anything, I just confided in him about stuff.”

“Ya remember that ‘team bonding activity’ with all the clues that Atsumu set up? I hid the ring at the end of it.” Osamu said. “That’s why I was so nervous that night.” 

“Oh my god.” Suna said, sliding a hand down his face. “I was going to propose at dinner that night. That’s why I was stressed.” 

“Did you know about that?” Osamu asked his brother.

“Yeah, but how was I supposed to tell you to propose another day without givin’ anything away?” Atsumu defended. 

Osamu shook his head and turned to address Suna. “So all this tension between us the past week has just been made up?”

“It seems so. And to think Atsumu had me all worked up about some secret Shizuoka branch. That was to throw me off, right?” Suna asked Atsumu.  

“He told you about Shizuoka?!” Osamu’s voice sounded strangled as it pitched higher. 

Atsumu threw his hands in the air. “I can’t win.” He stood up and grabbed the now-empty bottle of sake. Sakusa stood up and grabbed the cups, intending to help wash up. They walked towards the small sink behind the counter. 

“Wait…that wasn’t a lie?” Suna asked softly, staring at Osamu. He looked hurt.

Osamu sighed. “It’s in early planning, so early that I probably won’t be able to lease a space for another eight to twelve months.” He gently grabbed Suna’s hand. “I promise I was gonna talk to you about it during the off-season, but you just seemed so nervous that I didn’t want to bring it up. That was stupid of me.” 

Suna looked down at their linked hands. “When did we forget to just talk to each other?” He sighed.

“We got so caught up in keeping the proposals a surprise, I guess.” Osamu squeezed his hand. “But like Atsumu said, it all worked out in the end, right?” He pulled Suna closer and gave him another kiss. 

When they pulled apart, Suna glared at Atsumu behind the counter. “That won’t stop me from murdering him, though.”

“Oh yeah, same.” Osamu said, turning again towards Atsumu.

Atsumu groaned from across the room. “Can you guys just be happy and forget about me?” 

Suna grinned, showing all his teeth. “Not a chance.” 

Sakusa decided it was time to intervene. “Why don’t you guys continue celebrating tonight and murder Atsumu another night?”

Atsumu whined, but Suna and Osamu nodded. “I like the way you think, Sakusa.” Osamu said. 

“Come on.” Sakusa said, moving towards the kitchen door and motioning for Atsumu to follow. “I’ll walk home with you.”

Atsumu walked back to the table to say his goodbyes. He playfully ruffled Suna’s hair and gave Osamu a light punch on the shoulder. “Congrats, losers.” He walked back towards Sakusa and pushed through the door into the kitchen. 

“Congrats again.” Sakusa said. Osamu and Suna only smiled.

Sakusa followed Atsumu through the kitchen and to the back door where the night air was crisp and cool. Sakusa was a little disoriented in the alley, but Atsumu was quick to guide him to the street. They passed a nondescript door on their way out of the alley, which Sakusa assumed was the stairwell leading to Osamu’s upstairs apartment. Once out on the street, Sakusa and Atsumu began walking towards Atsumu’s apartment. 

“Will you come to my funeral, Omi?” Atsumu joked as they walked. “It’s been a long time since ‘Samu’s beaten me up, and he’s only gotten stronger since then.”

Sakusa huffed out a laugh. “Sure, Atsumu.” 

They walked in silence for a moment.

“Hey, Omi?” Atsumu asked. Sakusa turned to look at him. He was looking down at the ground as he walked, and his cheeks looked red underneath the streetlights. It must’ve just been a trick of the light. “Ya know, when ‘Samu and Sunarin actually do get married, I’m…uh…I’m gonna need a date.” Atsumu paused. “So, uh…I was wondering if you would wanna be my date?” Atsumu finally looked up to meet Sakusa’s eyes. His face had gotten redder. It very clearly wasn’t a trick of the light.

“You don’t even know when their wedding will be.” Sakusa responded lightly. His heart was pounding. “It could be years from now.” 

“Yeah, but…ya seem like the kinda guy who’ll stick around.” Atsumu stopped abruptly. Sakusa turned around to look at him. 

“I like you, Kiyoomi. As more than just a friend.” 

Sakusa’s stomach flipped once, twice, three times. He took a step closer to Atsumu. 

“It’s okay if ya don’t reciprocate. I get it.” Atsumu fumbled with his words. “I just think you’re really…neat.” He finished lamely. 

Sakusa took another step closer. They were now standing under a streetlight, which illuminated Atsumu’s whole face.

“I think you’re really neat too.” Sakusa responded. Atsumu’s eyes lit up.

“Really?” He said. 

“And…it would be my pleasure to be your date to the wedding.” Sakusa finished. 

Atsumu looked up at him like he had hung the moon and the stars. “Can…can I kiss you?” He asked.

Sakusa hesitated. It was only partly about the germs. His other concern was that he had only kissed a few people in his life, and none of them had been particularly pleasant. But then again, none of those people were Atsumu.

Before Sakusa could say anything, Atsumu noticed his hesitation. 

“If ya don’t want to, I understand. I also have these if that makes ya feel better?” Atsumu dug around his pocket and pulled out a tiny container of mints. 

“Have you just been carrying those around?” Sakusa asked. 

“Yeah, but it was in case you ever wanted one, or if I got too close to you and you got annoyed-type of thing.” Atsumu was quick to clarify. “It’s definitely not because I wanted to kiss you or anything.” He laughed nervously. 

Sakusa was touched. No one had ever done that for him before. Past partners often found his aversion to germs bothersome and excessive. 

“I also have hand sanitizer with me. In my gym bag, I also keep those as well as some wipes, because some people at the gym just don’t have manners after using machines—” Atsumu rambled. 

Sakusa cut him off by leaning in and pressing his lips to Atsumu’s in a soft kiss. Atsumu made a surprised noise before humming happily. 

There were no fireworks, no explosions behind his closed eyelids. But Sakusa felt lighter than he had in ages. His mind cleared. There was no anxiety, no spiraling thoughts, no tightness in his stomach. It was only him and Atsumu, the boy he had loved for months—maybe even years.  

When they pulled apart, Sakusa was breathless. Atsumu looked starstruck. “Wow.” He whispered. “You’re incredible, ya know that?

Sakusa smirked. “Didn’t know a simple kiss could make you so weak, Atsu.” 

Atsumu’s face reddened. He glanced down at the ground, flustered, before looking back up at Sakusa. He elbowed Sakusa and began walking again. “Shut up.” 

As they walked, Sakusa found himself reaching for Atsumu’s hand. He brushed Atsumu’s knuckles with his own, and Atsumu turned his palm outward to hold Sakusa’s hand within his own.

“This alright?” Atsumu asked. 

Always. Sakusa thought. He squeezed Atsumu’s hand in response. 

They separated at the door to Atsumu’s apartment. “Would you want to come upstairs? Just for a drink or something?” Atsumu said. 

“No, not tonight.” Sakusa replied. He didn’t give a reason and Atsumu didn’t ask.

“Then until next time, Omi.” Atsumu said, a sweet smile on his face. “I’ll text ya.” 

“I’ll hold you to it.” Sakusa replied. He then leaned in and kissed Atsumu’s cheek. “Have a good night, Atsumu.” 

Sakusa waited to walk away until Atsumu walked inside his building.

He wasn’t one for long-term relationships. People found him frigid, and aloof, and unbothered. But Atsumu? Atsumu found him neat.

And for Atsumu, Sakusa would stick around.