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Autumn.
Osamu Miya meets Suna during the try outs for the Inarizaki volleyball club.
There are only three things Osamu thinks about him: Suna is tall, lanky, and weird. He’s good at volleyball (he was scouted, so that much was obvious), but he was still kinda weird. Quiet and reserved — Suna was all that and much more. If he wasn’t focused on practice, he was scrolling through his phone, an occasional low chuckle leaving him every so often. His eyes pierced through everyone who approached him. Yeah, Osamu decides, weird.
It’s autumn. The leaves change their colors and begin to fall from the trees. Osamu liked the crunch they made when he stepped on them. They reminded him of the crunch whenever he bit into a good onigiri. He decided a quick snack at the convenience store before school was fine.
The convenience store, as expected, was empty at this early hour. Except for —
“Suna?”
Suna was carefully observing some chuupets off one of the shelves. His hand clung to his chin in deep thought. His other hand holding his phone, which was open to some social media app Osamu probably doesn’t have. He doesn’t notice — hear — Osamu. Earbuds, Osamu sees.
Osamu taps Suna on his shoulder, to which Suna jumps slightly and quickly turns to face Osamu. “Yeah?”
“I didn’t think ya were the kinda guy ta stop by a convenience store this early.”
Suna shrugs. “I was hungry. I didn’t have food, so it was an easy decision…”
Osamu nods slowly in companionship. “I’m here ta get food too.”
Suna nods and goes back to observing the chuupets.
“What’re ya gonna get?” Osamu starts eyeing the onigiri in the next aisle. And so, his height comes in handy!
Suna sighs. “I might get a chuupet. Now though, I might want an onigiri or something.”
“Oh! Good idea!” Osamu pats Suna’s shoulder excitedly. “I’ll buy an extra ongiri for ya, and then ya can buy the chuupets and I’ll finish whatcha can’t.”
Suna stares at him for a long while. Olive green eyes.
“Silence means yes,” Osamu begins to walk towards the aisle holding the onigiri.
“But I didn’t agree to anything…”
Suna buys the chuupets anyways because food is food, deal is a deal. That’s what Osamu assumes anyway.
Osamu hands over one of the onigiri he bought towards Suna, who eyes him a bit before taking it. Suna is careful to open the onigiri. He’s also careful to take a bite into it.
“This is pretty good.” Suna says with enthusiasm. Well, the amount of enthusiasm that someone as monotone as he seems can muster, which is the same amount a rock can. Although, he does seem pretty happy to eat the onigiri, so he must like it.
“Duh.”
The two continue to walk side by side quietly. There’s an occasional crunch of a leaves in the background, and Osamu begins to wonder if this is awkward. Should he say something?
“Where’s your other half?” Suna says in between bites.
Osamu internally thanks whoever is in the universe. “‘Tsumu went ahead, somethin’ ‘bout gettin’ ta practice early. I stopped payin’ attention.”
Suna lets out a small laugh. “Isn’t the goal to get to practice early?”
“Well, I said I stopped payin’ attention.”
This time Suna lets out a cackle. “I probably would stop paying attention too.”
Speaking of attention… “What’re ya always watchin’ on yer phone?”
“Uh,” Suna drags out the ‘uh’ until he pulls out his phone again. He opens his phone and shows Osamu. “Usually just random videos on any social media app I can find. Or ones that I took myself.”
Suna starts scrolling through his gallery, a light laugh begins to echo in his throat. “Like, look at this one.” He presses on a video of Atsumu walking through the halls of their school. It must be lunch because there are a couple of students just walking around as well. Eventually, Atsumu trips over nothing and lets out a small squawk. He doesn’t fall down, but he quickly checks around before continuing to walk.
Suna laughs, which causes his hold on his phone to shake. He lifts his empty hand to his face to cover the small laughter and giggles escaping his throat. The laughter must be contagious, or the video was funny enough, because Osamu begins to laugh as well.
“That’s a good video, Sunarin!” Osamu points at the phone screen. “Could ya send that ta me?”
Suna nods. “Sure.”
The rest of the walk is pleasant. Suna has multiple videos and photos of their teammates and classmates doing embarrassing or funny things. He has all of them sorted into albums and the sorts. Osamu feels impressed. He also feels relieved. He never thought that he’d be able to bond with Suna like this; Suna’s a pretty funny guy.
Osamu thinks about it for a moment. Rintarou Suna is a pretty funny guy. Yeah, Osamu thinks, he’s glad he walked into the convenience store.
Winter.
Osamu and Suna are left behind to close up the gym for the day. Atsumu ran off, yelling something about getting to eat first. Osamu, frustrated because that should be him, began to run after him. That is until Kita gave him the captain face, and Osamu instantly began putting away the equipment.
Osamu did majority of the cleaning up. Suna helped here and there, but he very cleverly took ‘breaks’ to ‘stretch’ and ‘crack his back’. Although, Osamu didn’t mind much; Suna’s commentary (and company) was nice.
“Damn, it’s so cold!” Suna almost yells. He more sounds frustrated. It kind of sounds like he’s forcing his voice out. He proceeds to shove his hands in his pockets.
Osamu shivers in agreement. “Yup.”
The two walk quietly for a couple minutes after that. Osamu has found that the more quiet walks he has with Suna, the less he minds the silence at all.
“Do you wanna listen to this?” Suna holds up his phone and points at it. There’s a song playing that Osamu can’t hear, since Suna has earbuds in.
Osamu shrugs. “Sure.”
Suna hands him an earbud. Osamu realizes that they are now standing much closer to each other. They were shoulder to shoulder. It felt kind of weird, but also comforting.
The crunch of snow and ice beneath their feet, buzzing melodies in their ears, and warmth spread through their connected shoulders — Osamu feels pleasant. Then, he comes to a new, happy realization.
Suna is sharing his earbuds; Suna prefers not to share.
Suna is his friend.
Osamu lets out a small laugh. He’s not sure why he’s relieved about this fact, but he is.
Suna squints at him. “What?”
Osamu smiles. “Nothin’.”
Spring.
Starting a new year at school was nothing interesting for Osamu. School was just school. However, life has its nice surprises here and there. For his second year at Inarizaki, life has gifted him Rintarou Suna in the same class.
Osamu feels his heart skip a beat once he sees tall, lanky, weird Rintarou Suna walk through the door.
Suna smiles once he sees him: snarky smile. “Looks like I’m stuck with you this year.”
Osamu blinks. “But, we’re stuck together regardless. We’re both in volleyball?”
“I’m stuck with you twice.”
Osamu thinks he might have a problem. He might be sick. Yeah, sick.
Suna is his friend. A friend he’s grown to very much appreciate and care for. A friend with whom silence is lovely and not terrifying.
So the reason behind Osamu being unable to focus during class because all his mind can focus on is Suna? He’s not sure.
Osamu figures he must be excited to have a friend, a best friend, in his class. Suna was very precious to him. He must want to speak to him. So, lunch time comes, and Osamu quickly turns to face Suna.
Suna, whose face is half buried in his arms on the desk, looks up at him sleepily. Were his eyes always that specific shade of olive green?
“What?” Suna quirks up an eyebrow.
Osamu blinks. “I’m hungry.”
“Okay, go eat.” Suna sits up and stretches his arms above his head, kind of like a cat. Has his face always looked so easy to bite? Okay, maybe Osamu was a bit hungry.
Unfortunately, while they eat, Osamu keeps having multiple small realizations. Suna has soft looking hair and pretty eyes that work well with his face. His words are always short and precise; he’ll never say more than he needs because he likes shortcuts. He’s also very careful with his eating proportions. He’ll eat what he has to in order to satisfy himself, but always makes sure to leave some in case he gets hungry later. He also fidgets with his fingers when he starts gaining energy. He sometimes sticks out his tongue when he starts getting into something. What he watches on his phone changes depending on his mood.
Osamu finally realizes he’s been staring for too long when Suna looks up to initiate eye contact. “Are you okay, Osamu? You’ve just been staring…”
“Huh? Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”
“Okay.” Suna goes back to his phone.
Occasionally, he seems to hit a particular video or photo he likes and immediately shows Osamu. He smiles and giggles and sometimes explains context. Osamu realizes he can’t stop staring at Suna’s lips whenever he laughs or talks. They look shiny, but kind of chapped.
Osamu hits his final realization at the end of lunch.
“Here.” Osamu hands Suna an onigiri.
Suna waves his hand at it. “No thanks. I already ate.”
“But, I want ya ta try it.” Osamu holds out the onigiri again.
Suna looks at it for a moment, and then looks at Osamu. There’s an awkward (oh boy) moment where they both realize they’ve been looking at each other for more seconds than needed and quickly look away.
Suna shrugs before taking the onigiri. Osamu stares at him while he slowly holds it up to his mouth. Try it, try it, try it. Osamu feels his heart begin to speed up, and his palms feel stingy. Suna takes a bite out of it. Silence. For once, it was silence that made Osamu feel weird. Suna’s slow chewing and squint make Osamu’s heart drop.
Then Suna speaks, “This is… really good. This can’t be store brought. Where did you get this?”
Osamu’s heart stops dropping and returns, beating harder and faster than ever. “I made it.”
Suna looks like he takes a double take. “You can cook?”
“Yeah, my ma taught me.”
“That’s… nice.” Suna continues to eat the onigiri. Osamu watches.
Suna has a nice blush on his face, his eyes look focused, and his fingers are carefully placed. Osamu thinks he must be in a dream because no one can look that pretty while eating something as simple as an onigiri.
Rintarou Suna is a pretty funny guy. Rintarou Suna is Osamu’s friend. Rintarou Suna is a pretty guy.
Oh, Osamu realizes. He has a crush on Suna.
Well, isn’t that a pleasant surprise?
Summer.
The heat sucks. It’s sticky, and sometimes humid, and it makes Osamu want to dip himself into a large tub of ice. Curse his genetics for giving him the “always hot” body temperature. Curse adult life for forcing him to find a way to deal with it.
However, despite the sticky and sweatiness that comes with summer, here he lays in bed, comfortable in the naked arms of Rintarou Suna.
Rin, clearly bothered by the heat, scrolls through his phone. He lets out a small chuckle, which lets Osamu know he’s about to show him something funny.
“‘Samu, look.” Rin tilts his phone screen towards Osamu’s face. A small clip of Gin walking into a glass door plays. Osamu laughs at the memory. Gin hadn’t realized the door in front of him closed, and therefore, his face met it.
“Poor Gin.” Osamu tucks his face into Rin’s neck.
Rin places a hand on Osamu’s shoulder. “Osamuuuu, stop. Your breath is gonna make my neck feel hotter.”
“Yer the one who begged me ta get into bed with ya.” Osamu jabs his finger into Rin’s chest.
“Yeah but the moments over now,” Rin pats Osamu’s face with his hand. “Look at me.”
Osamu licks Rin’s neck. Rin squirms and lets out a small laugh. “Gross.”
Osamu supports himself up with his forearm and looks at Rin. Pretty Rin. His Rin. He smiles.
Rin squints at him. “What?”
“Nothin’,” Osamu breaths out.
Osamu leans in and presses his lips against Rin’s. He feels Rin’s free hand reach up to grab the back of his neck. Osamu carefully runs his fingertips up and down Rin’s torso.
Electricity buzzes in their chests, lips run against each other lazy and slow, hearts run at the same rhythm and the same pace — Osamu feels ecstatic. And when he parts away from Rin’s body, he looks back at Rin’s face. Rin who stares at him with pretty olive eyes, pupils expanded and all shiny. Rin whose fingertips gently run across the expanse of his body despite being calloused and rough. Rin whose attention only knows Osamu in that moment.
“Rin?” Osamu proceeds carefully.
“Hm?”
“I love you.” A statement, a fact, a truth — Osamu declares it with a voice strong, yet soft.
Rin’s face fills with a palette of emotion. Despite this, his next words are confident and assured.
“I love you, too.”
Osamu’s comes to his favorite realization: he is in love with Rintarou Suna.
Happy and utterly filled with life, Osamu kisses Rin. He kisses him throughout the rest of the day, and for the rest of their lives.