Chapter Text
No matter how many single word responses Osamu gives Hinata, he never stops asking questions. Osamu is pleasantly surprised to find that so far, he’s asked 15 questions about Atsumu, 15 about Osamu, and 4 about them as a unit. Usually, these interrogative types focus on one twin or the other.
“If you kept playing pro, which team do you think you’d play for?” He’s asking now.
“Falcons,” Osamu says automatically. He’s not sure that it’s still true or if it was ever true, but it’s harder to tease him for wanting to play on Aran’s team than for wanting to play with either Atsumu or Suna. After all, who doesn’t want to play with Aran?
“Ooooooh.” Hinata starts poking around the objects on Atsumu’s desk. Most of them are artifacts from high school. Beat up notebooks, his Inarizaki tie, the pencil case he used throughout his school days. Currently, Hinata is looking at an anime figurine that Suna bought as a birthday gift years ago. “Has Atsumu ever been in love?”
Osamu resists a laugh. “Direct, ain’t ya?”
Hinata puts down the figurine and turns around to lean on the desk, crossing his arms as he does so. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t be.”
Fair enough. “He’s wanted to set to you since he first saw you. As far as I’m concerned, that’s ‘Tsumu-speak for love at first sight.”
Hinata hums. “What about Omi-omi?”
“…What about him?”
“Didn’t Atsumu have a crush on him?”
“Pfft, nah.”
“But they’re always rooming together!”
“For the gossip, Hinata. The gossip.”
Hinata’s eyebrows scrunch as he frowns. “Are you sure?”
“Certain.” After all, they often call him during those nights so he can listen to them like a podcast as he cooks and cleans. They get so into it that they forget he’s there until he chimes in with some commentary. “Hinata?”
With his arms still crossed and toward the ground, Hinata turns just his eyes to look up at him.
“You break his heart, I’ll break your arms, okay? You’ll never play volleyball again.” He says it in the same manner he usually reads the daily special menu. Blasé, as if he’s done this before. Not that Atsumu’s ever liked someone enough for him to be giving a shovel talk before.
“I-“ Hinata looks up at him in shock. “Okay.”
They return downstairs to Sayaka giving the same kind of talk to Akaashi. Atsumu lingers in the background, not saying anything. He has a satisfied expression on his face, though.
Osamu bumps his arm against Atsumu. “She doing your job?”
“He said I wasn’t scary,” Atsumu says with a pout. Hinata pats his back in consolation.
Akaashi is saying something generic about his job and family, running a finger along the wristband of his watch in distress. Osamu lets him for a while, then reminds everyone in the room, “Keiji-kun, you’re going to have to repeat all of that for my parents later.”
“Ah, Osamu,” Keiji says with surprise, like he hadn’t realized Osamu was in the room. “Your sister is scary.”
Atsumu jumps and laughs. “I told you!” He taps Osamu’s shoulder repeatedly in glee, to which Osamu pushes him away, muttering, You didn’t tell me shit.
Sayaka turns her attention on him and he stops. Then she turns to Osamu. “Did you take care of the other one?”
Hinata shuffles behind Atsumu nervously. Osamu glances at him. “… We talked, yeah.”
“He threatened my whole career!” Hinata adds, reaching around Atsumu to give a thumbs up. “Message received!”
Sayaka smiles then. “Good work, ‘Samu. Saves me some time.” She walks over to pat his head. “Come on, Mom and Dad will be home soon. You two,” she points at the guests, “are responsible for bringing the groceries inside.” Hinata salutes and Akaashi nods at her directions. “Don’t forget to introduce yourselves.” Akaashi salutes and Hinata nods this time. “Good. Now I need to talk to my brothers.” Sayaka grabs each of the twins by the hand and drags them off to her room.
Osamu and Atsumu trade a look. Ominous, Osamu mouths. Atsumu quirks and eyebrow at him, clearly unable to read lips. Osamu shakes his head then. Never mind.
Depositing the boys right inside the doorway, Sayaka starts picking through her jewelry box. “Y’all know I don’t believe in love.”
The twins trade another look and then look back at their sister, nodding slowly. She just recently divorced her husband for being a cheating asshole. The Miyas had harbored a suspicion for a while, but it was confirmed right around their anniversary. He Who Shall Not Be Named was always too busy for her. She’d convinced him to do something big for their anniversary to make up for all the times he was on business trips or taking “boys’ trips” without her.
He cancelled two hours before their reservation, citing a need to work overtime.
Unfortunately, Miya Sayaka is a nurse, and her nurse coworkers saw him rushing into the labor and delivery department just in time for the birth of his daughter by another woman.
“Those boys down there,” she continues. “They make me want to believe it again.”
“Don’t rush yourself,” Osamu protests. “You can take more time to heal from this.”
“I didn’t say I was ready to date again,” Sayaka chides. “I just meant that I think you’ve both got a good one. Better taste in men than me, that’s for sure.”
Atsumu fidgets behind him but says nothing. Osamu feels the back of his shirt scrunch and knows that Atsumu has fisted part of his shirt in distress.
“So…”
Sayaka finally finds what she’s looking for, clumsily shuffling things around to pick up what she wants. “I’ll make you boys a bet. A competition, if you will.”
“We’re not seven anymore, Nee-san.”
“But you’re still my cute little brothers. Do you want to hear the bet or not?”
For the first time since going upstairs, Atsumu speaks. “Get on with it, Nee-san.” His voice is dangerously soft. He’s not upset with Sayaka, they all know. He just can’t stand, well, the injustice of the entire situation. Or rather, he’s upset that he was and still is powerless to do anything about a situation that hurt his one and only sister so deeply.
Sayaka grabs a pillow off her bed and throws it at him. It falls short, but her glare doesn’t. It’s playfully acidic, a lighter version of Atsumu’s right now.
“Whoever brings me closer to believing in love gets my wedding ring.”
At the same time, the twins shout, “What the hell?”
Osamu continues the thought: “Why would you say something like that?”
Sayaka sits on her bed, turning the articles around in her hand. “They remind me of him.” When neither of the twins says anything, she meets each of their eyes. “I would rather they reminded me of you. You have as long as they’re both here; I’ll update you on the scoreboard each night.”
And so the games begin. Team Onigiri and Team Volleyball (Atsumu chose the names) set out to prove to their sister that love is still real. Before the games begin, the twins hold a meeting, setting their own rules and regulations. They’d update Sayaka later. After all, how would they compete if there weren’t any rules? Even if she decided to choose the winner based solely on vibes, the boys needed something a little more concrete.
At least, that’s what Osamu thought this was about.
“How do you want to play this?” Atsumu starts. “I don’t even care about the ring, but I want this to be good for her. She deserves… She deserves everything, but at the very least, she deserves to see the good side of love again.”
“I forgot you were a fucking romantic.”
“Oi!” Atsumu grabs the front of his shirt.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing, scrub!” Osamu pushes him away by the head, doing nothing to dislodge Atsumu’s hand. “I also didn’t say you were wrong.”
“But ‘Samu…” Atsumu bites his lip viciously, like he intends to draw blood.
Osamu shoulders him gently, and he stops.
“Can I tell you a secret, Tsum?”
The look of hunger in Atsumu’s eyes unveils itself even more. Osamu isn’t stupid. That look has been there since Osamu even mentioned to concept of bringing Akaashi over for the holidays. He knows what it is. Jealousy, almost, but in Atsumu’s specific font. He’s not necessarily jealous of what Osamu has, he just struggles still with the fact that they are separate parts of a unit now. A separation that grows by the day.
“It’s about Keiji.”
“Hm.”
“We ain’t dating.”
“Uh huh.”
Socked feet scuff the floor for a moment longer before Atsumu starts yelling. “WHAT?”