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Sakusa Kiyoomi has the habit of spending his birthdays alone.
Or so anyone around him believes.
Motoya has learnt that soon, when they were still kids and Kiyoomi always got vocal about wanting to spend his birthdays at his grandparents’ place in the outskirts of Miyagi instead of spending it at the family mansion in Tokyo, a habit that stayed through his teen and adult years too.
MSBY learnt that recently, instead, noticing that whenever they offered to host a party for one of their newest members said offer was always met by the spiker’s rejection, with no more than a “I already have plans” as an explanation to it.
And being honest, that was never even an excuse, since he did have plans for his birthday, plans that included spending the day at his grandparents’ place - now his place, seeing how they left the little country house to their beloved nephew after their departure - baking himself a small cake and baking a pet friendly treat too, for the fox that roamed around there.
Said fox was a curious creature and Kiyoomi could swear that they were born together and then grew together too - which to this day he still deems impossible since foxes shouldn’t live that long, he googled that once he made sure that the fox he has been seeing since his first years of life to this day still is always the same.
Fluff brown-ish coat and golden colored eyes, the fox had taken a liking towards him since they were both little pups and somehow the animal - besides the random occasional appearances - always managed to spend the day around him on his birthday, every year without fail.
And so, with the passing of time, it became a habit for Kiyoomi to go back there, to the country house with the pretty garden, and spend his birthday with the fox.
If he has to be truly fully honest this year, though, he almost forfeited the yearly appointment with the cute animal, hoping for once to spend his birthday with someone in particular.
Someone named Miya Atsumu, to be specific, his high school rival turned crush in denial turned admitted crush and bane and delight of his existence through the years.
Kiyoomi had thought about it, enforced by the signals and the flirt that he got back from Miya, and got finally so sure about the chance of his feelings being reciprocated that he almost gave in to the birthday party idea the team had offered, for once.
Almost being the keyword.
Because Miya Atsumu has always been nothing but a whirlwind of unpredictable actions and words and so, when Kiyoomi has by now started to get himself mentally ready to a big party, the setter declares - a bit slurred because he does so on a team bonding night where they've decided to drink some - "I'm sorry but I won't manage to be here for yer birthday, I'll get ya a gift anyways tho, because my fave Omi Omi still deserves gift".
Which leaves Kiyoomi both warm at the thoughtfulness anyway and offended because how dares Miya Atsumu ditch him on his birthday?
He sighs eventually, a bit defeated and somehow relieved at the idea of not having to throw a big party in the end and settles back to his original plan.
That's how, on his 27th birthday, he finds himself traveling to Miyagi like every other year, spending the travel time answering all the birthday texts he gets - his heart fills with warmth at that except when he notices the lack of a text from a certain setter. It makes him frown for the rest of his travel, a little note of disappointment settling in his chest, because Atsumu never forgot the birthday text, not ever questioning why Kiyoomi never spent it with the team or with anyone else that he known of - somehow odd for someone known to be nosy like Miya, even though Atsumu was nothing less than thoughtful actually and so it wasn't really surprising for him to respect his teammates' boundaries, whichever those were.
Kiyoomi feels glad to be alone right there and then, feeling an actual dumb smile forming on his face at the mere thought of his setter, so lost in his thoughts about him that he almost forgets to get off the train, actually.
From then on, he spends the rest of the trip to the little house with the pretty garden thinking of the fox instead and even then, he can't help but let his mind drift away to Atsumu again.
He thinks of how the creature reminds him of the setter, how he actually can't wait to tell the fox about him too, because see, that's another habit he grew with time - since high school, up until now.
He tells the fox about Atsumu, and the animal listens, or so it seems for how improbable that should be - just like improbable is the smile he could swear the cute animal flashed at him a few times.
He sighs as he shakes his head, eyes finally taking in the place he knows like he knows himself, the place he grew in and grew with.
Kiyoomi loves it, he has loved it since his childhood years and has loved it more and more with every passing year.
His hands delicately graze the flowers that have been growing in the garden, flourishing through spring days, his nostrils flare as he takes in the fresh smell the house always has, his eyes sparkle as he looks around, gaze already settling on the kitchen he immediately walks in, actually eager to get the sweets ready - another secret about him, he loves sweets nevertheless of what many people wrongly think.
The added bonus to making them, though?
The smell he knows for sure will also lure his furry friend in. Which is soon proved successful as always, as he notices his furry friend making a run towards his porch.
"Hey there, lil one" he smiles upon seeing him, soon crouching down to scratch behind fluffy ears.
"The sweets are still baking, I'm sorry but you'll have to wait" he tells the creature, getting a whine in response.
He chuckles as he lets him step inside anyways - a right the fox has earned with the years - so that he can settle on the soft sofa with his furry friend on his lap.
And then he starts telling the fox all about his life since they last saw each other.
He tells him about the team, and the matches he played - the wins and the losses - he tells about Motoya, about how he feels about getting older and finally, he talks about Atsumu.
He talks and talks, ranting about how he wishes he had gotten at least a text from him today, vents about his crush, how he was so sure he would have been able to take the step and confess and how instead he now feels like maybe he shouldn't.
He doesn't know why, nor how it is even possible, but he's sure the fox listens, like actually /understands/ him, because the look the animal gives him is… not so clueless, almost human he would dare to say.
"I'm sorry, I… I don't know why I tire your pretty fluffy ears with all my ranting, but I swear sometimes I feel like you actually understand what I'm saying. Maybe I am really getting crazier as I get older, that must be it, huh?"
He shakes his head, smile still soft plastered on his face, and curls bouncing lightly as he moves aside his pet friend to walk back into the kitchen to take the sweets out of the oven.
And it's a miracle he doesn't let everything fall on the floor as a familiar voice speaks from behind him.
"You're not crazy, Omi-Omi. You're actually adorable, y'know?"
How- When did he even- What is Miya Atsumu even doing there? How did he know…?
There's a lot of questions swirling in his mind as he slowly turns around, the same questions doubling in number as he takes in the sight in front of him.
Miya Atsumu, in the flesh and in the… fur?
It's his Atsumu, of that he's sure, except he's naked - hiding himself behind the sofa cushions at least - and he's sporting a pair of fluffy fox ears on his head matched with a just as fluffy tails poking from behind his back.
"You…"
"Yeah, uhm, me yes. About this… I'm sure you have questions and I would love to answer but do you mind if I dress first? I'm not sure we can have a talk while I'm naked… not now, at least'' and then, the setter has the audacity to wink at him before he's retrieving some clothes - when did he even have the time to get them? - and dressing up again before he's sitting back next to Kiyoomi - which had to sit, for clear reasons.
"So, ask away, Omi. I know ya want to" Atsumu smiles, like he hasn't just tilted his whole world on its axis.
"I don't know what to… What are you?" he asks, even if he knows what the answer might be. But he always thought shifters were a fairytale, some kid story that grandparents invented to keep the little ones entertained. Yet, Atsumu was there in front of him, flesh and ear and tail, looking more beautiful than ever, and maybe he had to rethink the concept of fairytales after all.
"I'm a shifter, Omi. Have you never heard about us?"
He finds himself nodding at the question, still entranced by the view in front of him.
"Yes, yes I have… I never thought you all were real, though"
"Well, we are. We just tend to hide a lot, you know, you might never be so sure on how people might react"
"Mh…" it's fair, he thinks, but still that sparks a new set of questions, and he starts with the simplest one.
"Does the team know…?"
Atsumu shakes his head softly.
"No. I actually thought of telling them but… it's scary for me, even though I know they would still love me, that's all."
And again, Kiyoomi understands, it does seem something he wouldn't disclose either, after all.
Yet he still has another question he's dying to ask, something that now feels urgent like nothing else has ever been in his life.
"Atsumu. Are you… Have you always been the fox around here…?"
At that, Atsumu shrinks a bit in himself, trying to hide himself behind his tail.
And really, that's an answer itself already but Kiyoomi has to - needs to - know from the setter himself.
"Y-yeah… My parents, my mom mostly, was a shifter too and when she was in her fox form used to strut around the area, y'know.
One day she ran into yer grandma, and she was kind and nice to her and from then on yer grandparents became our chosen humans. As I said we don't really trust people, but from time to time we'll find someone nice enough that's gonna be chosen as a trusted family, in a way…"
He sighs and Kiyoomi feels like he already gets what Atsumu's trying to say, yet he lets him talk freely anyways, doing his best to ignore how his own heart beats fast as he starts to pick the whole reason Atsumu has been so into his orbit since high school days.
"And well it's only fair my mom and your grandma pushed us into meeting each other, I guess. I didn't get it at first, I'll be honest, but I was a puppy so that was why. Still I always felt comfortable around you, y'know? I only understood why as I started growing up, my mom called it fate, and I think she might have been right. I just… I truly hope you don't hate me now, even though I would understand if you did, it's just… I didn't know how to tell you, it was simpler to travel here a bit earlier than you and be with you as yer fox, I guess.
Well, except for today because I had planned something to surprise you and maybe confess too but I ran late and I wasn't able to and mph-"
Kiyoomi doesn't know what got into him as he takes this leap of faith, leaning in to kiss Atsumu and stop his rambling.
Maybe it's because in a silly absurd explanation of shapeshifters' social habits, Atsumu implied that Kiyoomi was his human, his person, from birth to every day after.
Maybe it's the deliriousness that the thought of Atsumu wanting to confess, because he loves him back too and there's no way Kiyoomi's misreading that, not when he's now aware Atsumu has known he loves him too for a long time - and god he should be embarrassed about it now that he thinks better of it - and has always shown him love in fox form for years.
Maybe it's simply because Kiyoomi's 27 years old today, and he spent a lifetime with Miya Atsumu already, and he has never really thought much of soulmates and fated lovers but he thinks, in a way, that this must be it - and if it isn't, this is still the closest similar thing to soulmates he must know.
And maybe, certainly, it has to be because Atsumu kisses him back immediately, with just as much want, purring against his mouth and with his tails wagging excitedly.
Yeah, that must be it, Kiyoomi thinks.
He doesn't ever want to stop kissing Atsumy and yet he has to take a break from kissing to take a breath, even if he doesn't need air, not when he has Atsumu anyway.
"It's okay" he says eventually, as he's still heaving through breaths "You still surprised me. And I could never hate you, I think you're aware too… you're the only thing I've ever wanted, Atsumu. And maybe it's pointless to say it, because we've been spending years together already but please… be mine, and I'll be yours, if you'll have me."
And Kiyoomi can't help it. He can't help but think that the smile on Atsumu's face, bright like the sun and tasting like spring warmth, is actually the best gift he could ever get for his birthday.
"It's always been you, Kiyoomi. And it will always be you. Forever."
Forever, he says.
Like it's the easiest concept in the world.
And maybe, actually no scratch that, surely, it is.
As Kiyoomi leans again to kiss Atsumu, as they fall into his bed and crumple the sheets, as they spend the day murmuring sweet nothings, exploring their bodies, mapping every inch of skin into each other's marks.
As Kiyoomi learns about Atsumu's shapeshifting, lets the blonde talk his ears off about foxes and mating and everything and nothing all at the same time.
And eventually, as he slowly falls asleep, lulled by the warmth of his now officially boyfriend's arms, Kiyoomi thinks that maybe, surely, forever really is easy if he can keep growing older next to one Miya Atsumu, after all.