Chapter Text
It was two in the morning and Atsumu couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning but sleep refused to befall on him. His twin was already asleep and so were his parents; so he should really be sleeping right now. But his brain just kept him up. He groaned, rolling to the side to face the wall before laying on his back. He sighed, rubbing his face. Fuck it.
He gave up on trying to sleep and groggily sat up. He went down from his bunk bed. He usually kept his phone on his shared desk with Osamu because he didn’t want to get tempted into using it. Not that he had any reason to use it–since no one usually chatted with him. Maybe he could play a game on his phone until he falls asleep.
It was dark inside the room he shared with Osamu. It was also cold–too cold for comfort. The combination of the air-conditioner they had alongside the cool air during wee hours made it impossibly cold. He was shivering even though he had his thick sweatshirt on.
He felt around the room, not being able to see anything. The only light he had on, came from the neighborhood street lights that bore through the curtains of their window. He made it to his desk without casualty and searched for his phone–which proved to be a difficult task, due to the lack of vision.
His eyes started to adjust to the darkness; finally being able to see what he was doing. He reached for his phone and turned it on–he was immediately met with a blinding light that made him squint his eyes so hard it started to hurt. He stayed that way before he finally got the courage to open his eyes. Well, partially. He was still squinting his eyes to the point that you'd start to wonder if he could actually see anything.
He scrolled through his phone, trying to find Temple Run. But he was having a hard time because if he was being honest, he couldn't see shit. Maybe he should lower his phone’s brightness first, he always had his brightness maxed up throughout the day and never bothered to change it when it got dark.
He tried to look for the settings, he really tried! Call him a boomer but he was just not a techy person. And in a moment of weakness, he jumped from his seat when he started to hear ringing. Oh shit. He accidentally dialed someone.
He prayed that it wasn't his mom.
Please don't let it be his mom.
Or his dad.
Actually his dad would be worse.
Or his mom–he's not sure.
Please just don't let it be either of them!
Wait he should probably go turn that off, why didn't he do that in the first place!?
Okay now where is the–“Hello?”
This time, he felt his soul genuinely leave his body.
“Atsumu?” Someone asked, who was it? His tired brain couldn't figure it out from the sound of their voice. He'll just take a shot in the dark.
“..Osamu?” He guessed. His first thought always went to his brother.
“What the hell are you on about?” An annoyed voice sneered. Very familiar. Not Osamu, then. Since he knew Osamu’s voice like the back of his head? Hand? Why would he know the back of his head? Focus, Atsumu. Oh, wait, Osamu is sleeping right behind him. Terrible guess, ‘Tsumu. Great work.
“Hello? Atsumu?” The voice called for him once again. His voice was very familiar; weird because it had no accent. Almost everyone he knew used the Kansai dialect, except for–”Sunarin!”
It was Suna, he met him a few months ago during volleyball tryouts. He and Osamu quickly became friends with him, drawn to his exceptional skills, unlike some of the other first years that they saw. Though they weren’t quite close with him yet. Suna usually kept to himself, typically engaging in the conversation when he was named or when he had some witty remark about whatever they were talking about.
He was scouted all the way from Aichi Prefecture, he came alone. He didn’t have his family with him and he didn’t know anyone from Hyogo. The thought made Atsumu feel bad for him. Even though Atsumu never had any friends, he always had his brother so he was never alone. He wondered how Suna felt without his family.
From an outsider’s perspective you’d think he didn’t want to be here at all, considering that he was very lazy during games and was always on his phone.. But he could see Suna’s dedication to volleyball when he chose to stay at the Inarizaki dorms just to play for a powerhouse school instead of staying with his loved ones in his hometown. Choosing to live nearly a 4 hour drive away from your family must have been difficult.
“Yeah, it's me. What the hell? It's- It’s 2:15 in the morning” Suna sounded tired, like he had just woken up. He must've interrupted his sleep.
He could see Suna’s dedication by the way he stuck to his schedule. When he first met him, he seemed like the typical teenager who stayed up all night and ate junk food all day. But no, he was the opposite. Suna took care of his body. He slept early and woke up early; he also only purchased snacks from time to time. He kept up with training and he never complained, though the way he acted contradicted that. Atsumu guesses that Suna just likes to keep a carefree persona, acting as if no one or nothing could bother him.
“Uh- Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. Didn't mean to call you.” He’ll end this call quickly. He felt guilty for waking him up. He knew how terrible it felt to be woken up at the butt crack of dawn for no apparent reason. He can thank Osamu for that.
“Can't sleep?” Suna asked, his voice was hoarse and deeper than usual. Definitely not making his already deep voice even more attractive!
“Yeah, I'm sorry for waking ya up. I'll hang up now.” No longer squinting, his eyes have fully adjusted to the bright screen of his phone. He’ll be able to press the big red button with ease and stop bothering Suna.
“It's fine, I'm up now. You wanna talk?” He asked, surprisingly considerate. It was weird, Suna has never acted like that towards him. He was still pretty closed off, probably adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings. Hell, he barely even initiated anything.
“Yeah, actually, I do.” Atsumu agreed easily. Talking with someone was definitely better than playing Temple Run alone on his phone.
They talked the whole night, their conversations ranging from their day earlier to something completely incomprehensible. Atsumu eventually went back up to his bed, talking to Suna the whole time.
His bed felt comfortable. The pillow soft under his head and his blanket engulfing him in a comfortable warmth. It didn't feel so cold anymore. Especially with the sound of Suna’s soothing voice accompanied by his superb storytelling skills.
“Yeah, so I got back at him by stealing his slippers.”
“Wait, so ya stole yer neighbor’s slippers just because he played music too loud?”
“He was blasting Party In the U.S.A. at 11 p.m. Who does that!?”
“Won't ya get charged for theft?”
“Don't worry, I threw it on his balcony three days later.”
Atsumu chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake up Osamu. “Poor dude must've been so confused.”
“Oh, he was. He's been searching for those slippers for days. Heard him asking the RA when I went down to do my laundry.”
They continued to talk to each other, each sharing their own stories. Until they were so tired their words started to slur and slow down.
“So I… Er… I was… Wait, what was I talking about again?” He giggled. “Oh yeah… Osamu was… Mmm…” His eyes were drooping.
“Yeah?... What happened next?” Suna sounded drunk.
“I held it… Uhh…”
“Held what?”
Atsumu let out another giggle, “I don't even know anymore.”
“We should- we should sleep–It’s already 4:30 a.m. We have school in less than four hours.” Suna suggested.
“Mmh, yeah, yer right. I had fun talkin’ to ya. Thanks.” His words didn’t even register through his own brain. But Suna heard it loud and clear.
“...Yeah. Me too. You’re not so bad.” Suna still had the brain capacity to stop himself from saying corny shit.
“... Let's talk tomorrow?” He said after a short pause.
“Yeah, sure.”
“G’night, Sunarin.” And with that, Atsumu fell asleep, forgetting to end the call.
“Night, ‘Tsumu.” He didn’t end the call either.
Neither of them noticed that it was the first time that Suna had ever called him by his nickname.
They didn’t talk about last night, not when they woke up. Both of their phones were dead when they did. But they didn’t talk about it at school either; nor did they talk about it during practice. Both of them continued on with their day as normal, not one of them mentioned a single thing.
Atsumu lost count of how many times he yawned while he and Osamu walked to school. “Geez, ‘Tsumu. What time did ya sleep last night?” Osamu scrunched his face when he let out another yawn.
“Earlier than ya.” He answered with an obvious lie, accompanied with another yawn.
Osamu gave him the look of I-don't-believe-you, but he let it go. He didn't have the energy to be fighting so early in the morning; and he knew that Atsumu obviously didn't have the energy either. And honestly, he didn't care.
“Stop looking at me like that!”
He was met with another deadpan stare.
“Oi!”
Practice was tough. It was hard to keep up when he only got three hours of sleep. Suna fared better than him since he got some sleep before they called–but he could tell that he was also struggling to fight off exhaustion.
He was tired. He was so, so tired. Their coach was being tough on them today because apparently, his wife just recently divorced him. It wasn’t their fault that his marriage fell apart!
After doing some laps around the court, the coach finally let them take their break. He took that time to sit down on the steps by the entrance as he usually did, whilst drinking some water. But of course, he couldn't have a single moment of peace before his twin decided to hit him with a fucking volleyball. That shit hurts!
And of course, he wouldn't go down without a fight.
“‘Samu!!” He screamed, getting up and charging for his twin.
Osamu ran away, with Atsumu close on his tail. Atsumu screamed incoherent profanities at him before deciding to change his tactic. He sped up, leaping forward and tackling Osamu. They fell to the floor, with Atsumu on top of his twin–clutching his collar while screaming nonsense. Osamu recovered quickly, pushing Atsumu off of him, making him fall to the ground while also clutching the blonde’s collar. The two had a screaming match, the fight going back and forth to each other, with no clear winner. They were twins, after all. They’ve been doing this for over a decade.
“Yer not gonna record them this time, Suna?” Aran came up to Suna.
“Uh, no, my phone died.” Suna responded, he didn’t expect his senpai to approach him.
He usually recorded the twins whenever they fought; adding it to some blackmail folder in case they ever got famous. Also to send to his sister. It wasn’t like him not to have his phone out during their breaks. If he wasn’t recording the twins, he would usually be online on twitter.
It was the first time he ever went to school without his phone battery on full percentage. He didn’t have enough time to fully charge it this morning, since his phone was completely dead when he woke up—and he’d also overslept, thanks to the ungodly hour that he went to sleep last night.
“Woah, that’s unlike ya.” Even Aran knew it. Everyone who knew him knew that he was chronically online. Not exactly a good reputation to have.
They quickly fell into conversation after that, with Suna sitting down while Aran stood up. It was nice to be around him, Aran was a pretty chill guy–no wonder the twins liked him so much.
They kept talking until the end of their break. The coach came back to the Miya twins fighting and reprimanded them in front of everyone. He also decided that that wasn’t enough and decided to punish the whole team for it. More laps around the court, yay.
They still don’t talk about it. Practice was over and the two of them didn’t have a one-on-one conversation the whole time. They acted so familiar with each other last night but for some reason they couldn’t have a single proper conversation with just the two of them in person.
Suna wants to talk about it. That call was the first time he ever got to talk to just Atsumu for hours straight. He so badly wants to talk about it. The whole time he’s been in Hyogo he never felt so personal with anyone until he called with Atsumu. It was weird. It was really weird. And he wants to talk to Atsumu about it so badly. Are they actually friends now? Can Suna approach him whenever he wants to and it won’t seem weird? Can he eat lunch with him every day and talk about random bullshit?
Was this the start of something romantic budding between them? This is what couples did, right? Sleep calls? He’s heard about it from so many people online. He’s seen it in the cheesy dramas his sister was always watching.
He knew that Atsumu hadn’t meant to call him, but maybe this was a sign from the Universe? Were he and Atsumu destined to be with each other? Was that why he was scouted all the way to Hyogo? Were they.. as his sister might say…soulmates?
It was late at night when Suna Rintarou got woken up by a loud ringing. It wasn't that dark inside of his room–the moonlight shone through the balcony as he often left the curtains open.
He went to sleep not much later than usual, maybe a quarter past 10 p.m. It was peaceful, all that was heard was the soft buzzing of the air-conditioner that provided great white noise to aid with sleep, and his soft breathing.
He was wrapped up inside his blanket like a burrito, he was comfortable. His phone was beside him, as always, in case of an emergency. He never turned his internet off, and he made sure not to put his phone on silent whenever he went to sleep. He did not want to miss anything. Or die in a fire because he was sleeping.
He was deep in his sleep when he got his soul sucked back into the mortal realm with a loud ring. His eyes shot open immediately, his heart started racing, and he felt like he just experienced the biggest spook of his life. Like he just got awakened from the dead.
Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere was replaced by the obnoxious ringing of his phone. It was so loud. It probably woke up his neighbors from how loud it was, considering how thin the walls were.
He groaned, upset from his sleep being interrupted but answered the phone anyway. What if something bad happened? “Hello?” He didn't receive a response, who was calling him? Was it a spam call?
He stretched his arm and put his phone far away from his face and squinted, it was Atsumu. His eyes were still adjusting from the sudden light but he could tell from the shape of the random letters that it was Atsumu. He relaxed, relieved that it wasn't some scammer.
“Atsumu?” He asked again when he didn't receive a response, this time, he knew who he was talking to.
“..Osamu?” Was the response that he received. What the hell?
“What the hell are you on about?” It was way too late to be playing mind games. He could’ve been sleeping right now.
He waited for him to respond, but he was losing his patience. He was going to kill him for interrupting his sleep.
“Hello? Atsumu?” He tried not to sound pissed. The last thing he needs is to have beef with a fellow teammate.
“Sunarin!” His tone sounded as if Suna was the one to call him. Was this a butt dial? How unfortunate he was, to be the victim of it. Especially when he was so deep in his slumber.
He sighed, “Yeah, it's me, what the hell? It's-” He squinted, bringing his phone closer to his face to check the time “It’s 2:15 in the morning”
“Uh- Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. Didn't mean to call ya.” His voice sounded like how he'd imagine a scared puppy to sound like, if it was a human. He felt guilty, was he being too mean?
He sounded tired, he’s probably been awake for a while now. He contemplated, should he drag this on further? Atsumu gave him the perfect opportunity to end the call, should he take it?
“... Can't sleep?” He didn't take the silent offer. Maybe it's time to take a small step from his comfort zone. He's never talked to Atsumu personally before. Or anyone, actually.
“Yeah, I'm sorry for waking ya up. I'll hang up now.” Like hell he will. Not after Suna mustered up the courage to say that shit.
“It's fine. I'm up now. You wanna talk?” He was surprised at the softness of his own voice.
“Yeah, actually, I do.” He was even more surprised at the softness of Atsumu’s voice. It was… different from how he usually spoke. It was unexpectedly calming.
They talked for hours, and Suna couldn't help but gossip with him. He's been keeping in so much information and so many secrets and he's been dying to tell someone. He’s never felt particularly close to any of his friends. And Atsumu was surprisingly really easy to talk to, for someone who had no friends.
“So you know Kira from class D?” He asked.
“Uhh, no, I'm not sure who she is.” Atsumu answered.
“Oh, yeah, you're from class B.”
“Aren't ya from class C? How do ya even know her?”
“A friend’s friend.” He didn't really consider that girl a friend, he could tell she was only talking to him because he was a starter for their school’s volleyball team.
“Ya have friends?” Did he think of him as some kind of loser?
“You don't?” It was more of an accusation that he already knew the answer to, rather than a question.
As expected, he was met with silence. So he decided to continue speaking. “Anyway, apparently, she slept with Jurou from class A for homework answers.”
“No way.. Jurou!? I didn't expect him to do that.”
“I know! My jaw dropped when I heard it..” He found himself getting more enthusiastic, telling Atsumu the details and other rumours he heard. He was happy to spill the tea, as his younger sister might say. Back at home, he would always gossip with her, but now, he didn't have anyone he shared that kind of bond with.
Atsumu started giggling, it was quiet since he most likely didn't want to wake up Osamu, but it was joyous, nonetheless. And it was extremely contagious. He began to giggle as well. He couldn’t believe the sounds rumbling out of him–but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. Talking with Atsumu was really fun.
They continued to talk. He talked about random gossip he knew from his classmates while Atsumu shared his own stories about his brother. Since he didn’t really have any friends. He knew from others that Atsumu was the less liked twin, with everyone favoring Osamu for his better personality.
Atsumu was usually alone; Osamu was in class C with him. Other than his twin brother, his only other friend was in a different grade, Aran. Well I guess he counts now too.
Atsumu was infamous for being a ‘big fat jerk’. Everyone knew him to be rude, obnoxious, and arrogant. Basically a narcissist. They talked about him behind his back, they talked about him with Suna as well, but they made sure to never let Osamu hear. Because although the twins fought often, they were very protective of each other. ‘Only I can hurt my brother’ and all that. Maybe it’s a brother complex.
“You know that other people don't like you, right?” He decided to ask, he was dying from curiosity. He also wanted to make sure that Atsumu wasn’t a victim of bullying.
“I know. I don't care about those scrubs. Why?” Of course he would call them scrubs. To hell with the bullying, Atsumu would be the bully.
“I just wanted to see if you knew. I don't know how you can stand knowing people don't like you and not do anything about it.”
“I mean, they don't matter to me anyway. I didn't know ya cared so much about what others thought of ya.” Suna was known to be nonchalant after all.
“I don't. They can perceive me however they want.” It was true, he didn't really care about what others thought of him. But he wouldn't like the entire grade to be talking about how horrible he was. He’d rather be ignored than be the center of gossip. He loves gossip, but he doesn’t want to be the topic of it.
“What about ya?” Atsumu suddenly asked.
“Hm?” What about him what?
“Do ya like me?” It was very straightforward.
Does he like Atsumu? He was a nice guy, but he supposed that Atsumu was nice to him because he was good at volleyball. But, that's what made him so real. He was honest about those he liked and didn't like. He was blunt, but when he complimented people you wouldn't doubt for a single second that it was anything but the truth.
His insults would make you feel horrible at first, but once you got used to it, it wasn’t a big deal anymore. His praises, on the other hand, were rare. The first time Atsumu said something positive about him it felt like his whole world shifted. It was like the sun shined warmly and the clouds were shaped like cats. It felt great. He wanted to receive more compliments.
But does he like Atsumu? He likes receiving his praises, he liked playing volleyball with him–he was a very considerate setter and his sets were easy to hit–and he was a pretty funny dude.
Oh.
“I do” I guess he does like Atsumu.
“Even more than ‘Samu?” Because of course everything had to be a competition between those two.
“Hmm… I'm not too sure.” He wanted to mess with him a little. Obviously, he's not going to admit that he likes him more than Osamu. But of course he only thinks that way because he's never gotten personal with Osamu yet. But something in the back of his mind tells him that even if he does get close with Osamu, he’ll still like the blonde haired twin a smidge better.
“Hey! Yer supposed to be on my side! With me being hated and all that.” Atsumu whisper-shouted; he mumbled the last part. It was a bit endearing.
“Don’t try guilt tripping me now, especially now that I know you don’t care.” He smiled, relaxing into his bed with his phone next to his ear. Teasing Atsumu was so much fun.
They continued to talk, both of them easing into the conversation. They began to let go, the urge to sleep slowly overtaking them.
Suna grinned, listening to Atsumu’s broken story and slurred words. His own replies came out slow and lazy.
They eventually decided to end the call; He could barely keep his eyes open.
“G’night, Sunarin.”
“Night, ‘Tsumu.” Suna has never called Atsumu by his nickname. It wasn't like he was known for it, he thought it was stupid. Only Osamu and Aran called him that, anyway.
But in a moment of weakness, he blurted out that nickname. It felt right on his tongue, it was easy to say. He still thought the nickname was awful, though. Luckily for him, he noticed the slip up.
Atsumu wants to talk about it.
Talking with Suna last night made him feel like he had actually made a friend. That he wasn’t as unlikeable as he thought he was.
Other than Osamu, it was the first time he ever got to talk to someone like that. He knew that he and Aran were friends, but Aran was a chill guy who got along with everyone–and Atsumu happened to be one of those people so he never felt anything special with him. Suna also happened to be popular and had many friends, but he never talked with Aran the same way he did with Suna. It made him feel giddy.
He actually made a real friend.
He feels stupid. He’s thinking about their phone call too much. Suna has probably moved past it already, he doubts this would be a big deal for Suna.
He’s not going to talk to him about it. It would be embarrassing. Talking to him about it would just make him think he’s clingy. It would make it seem like Atsumu was a friendless loser. Which he was, but why would they even need to talk about it? It was just one simple late night phone call. Nothing more, just a call. It was just a phone call and a bunch of silly conversations. It wasn’t anything serious.
So, no. He won’t talk about it.
He’s not going to talk about it.
He won’t.
He really won’t.
He talks about it.
He didn’t mean to, he just blurted it out
Okay maybe he calls him again, so what?
It was late at night once again, not as late as the night before, but again, Atsumu was the only one awake inside his shared room with Osamu.
This time, he calls Suna on purpose.
“Atsumu.” Suna answers the phone call in one ring, as if he'd been waiting for him to call.
“Hi.” Atsumu smiles like a dork, no one can see him anyway.
“Can't sleep?” It sounded less hesitant this time.
“..Yeah.” He was tired as hell, going through practice with barely 2 hours of sleep. He could drop dead at any moment now.
“..Me too.” They both knew it was a lie.
He shouldn't talk about it. But the fact that Suna is willing to talk to him while he clearly sounds exhausted, makes him feel giddy. No, he really shouldn't talk about it. He's seriously going to drive him away–he’s going to–”Are we… friends now?” He really lacks social skills. I mean, who asks that?
It was such a stupid question to ask.
“Do you want to be?” Suna directs the question at him. His tone felt different, he couldn’t exactly put a finger on it though.
“I do.”
“We are” He confirms it.
No one sees him fist pump so hard he accidentally elbows his ribs. No one hears him silently scream as he grovels in pain. Nobody hears him celebrate either.
They talk a bit more after that, not reaching as late as the night before–but still too late for high school athletes to be staying up.
Once again, they laughed. Sharing gossip and personal stories. Talking about their day and the stuff that happened during practice. They both fell asleep on the phone again.
No one hung up this time either.
They both came to school with their phones dead.