Work Text:
TAPE 1 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:04
The camera wobbles around, finds the ceiling, then looks at the floor, and then finally a low bed with a yellow blanket spread over it. Two babies lie on top of the blanket in matching yellow onesies, their fists curled up.
“Ah, hold on, wait just a moment. How do you turn this thing in…” the camera swings towards a window and then back, “ah! There we go, its on! Right? The little lights blinking red.”
The voice pauses, before getting softer, “Well, hello you two. Say hello to the camera.”
Neither does. The baby on the left starts wiggling around and blabbing at the ceiling, while the other one is lying flat on his back, blinking slowly, mouth chewing at air.
The camera zooms in on the baby on the left, “This one’s Atsumu,” the voice comes back, “he’s very talkative and can never sit still. And this one is Osamu,” The camera zooms into the right, “He’s very quiet but whenever he cries it’s either for food or to make his brother get off him.
Is if they knew, Osamu let out a gurgle for food while Atsumu stopped babbling, instead just staring at his brother
"Oh, look at that," Grandma says softly. "Now they want to stop."
Atsumu’s hands go flailing and land on Osamu’s face. Osamu stays silent, choosing to grab Atsumu’s hand with his own and hold them with the grip only a baby could have.
The camera stays there a long time. You can hear the kettle starting to whistle in another room, and a clock ticking.
"Happy birthday boys," Grandma says finally. "Both of you. Don't you grow up too fast."
The camera goes dark.
00:02:51 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 2 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:00
The camera turns on, brighter and clearer than the first image. It’s in a different room now, looking to be a dining room. Two small boys sit at a low table in paper crowns with a single cake with three candles stuck in the middle.
"Three years old already!," Grandma narrates. "No arguing boys. There’s one cake and three of us.."
"I want itttt," says one voice.
"IT’S MINEE," says the other.
"It's ours," Grandma says, in the tone of someone who has said this many times as she lights the candles.
The candles flicker and Atsumu has his whole face inches from the flame, while Osamu is tugging on his sleeve, trying to pull him back.
"'Atsu, you'll get burnt."
"I'm not gonna get—"
"Blow together," Grandma says, a smile on her face. "On three. One, two..."
Atsumu blows before three, and all three candles go out at once. Osamu started at the candle, then at Atsumu then back at the candles in horror.
"You cheated!"
"I didn't!"
"You did it on two!" Osamu wails, eyes tearing up
"Osamu, don't cry, I'll—" Atsumu looks around wildly, then picks up a handful of cake and smears it on Osamu's cheek, apparently as a peace offering.
Osamu stared at him for a second, before picking up his own handful and rubbing it into his brother's face. The footage tilts sideways and there's a blur of yellow frosting and shaking as Grandma starts to laugh.
"Okay, okay," Grandma wheezes. "Wipe your hands, wipe your— oh, forget it. It's your birthday."
00:04:30 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 3 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:00
The label on this tape was in a different handwriting, more of a scribble than actual writing. It said (in crayon) 10 YEARS OLD!! ATSUMU’S THE COOLEST
The camera is held low and isn;t held straight, and then a boy’s voice is heard whispering really close to the camera.
“Okay! I got it to work! This is Miya Atsumu and I'm ten years old and today is gonna be the greatest day ever! Me ‘n ‘Samu found videos of us as babies on our birthday and Grandmas getting old so we think she forgot to record this year so we’ll do it for her.”
"Don’t call Grandma old on her camera," says another voice off to the side. "She's gonna find out."
"But her hair’s white!"
"You shouldn’t say that out loud"
"Shhh." The camera spins to show Osamu sitting on the porch steps in a too-big volleyball jersey, a rice ball in one hand and some drink in the other.
"Say hi, Samu."
"Hi."
"Say something cool."
Osamu thinks about it. He takes a bite, chews, swallows and looks at the camera. "This is the best onigiri I've made in my entire life."
"You've made one onigiri in your life."
"And it's the best so far."
Atsumu falls sideways laughing and takes the camera with him, showing the makeshift volleyball net and volleyball. “Okay new plan. Imma show off how awesome I am at volleyball.”
"You're not that good."
"I'm so good. Watch. Samu, toss me one."
The camera is dropped unceremoniously on the porch and Osamu quickly fixes it to show Atsumu again. He’s standing in front of the net, hands already up in the air and then gets under the ball, throws it up in the air and hits it. Another toss, and this time it hits the sheet. A third, and the ball sails over the fence. Both boys stand still for a second, then run for it at the same time, shouting.
Grandma's voice carries from inside the house. "Do not throw it into the neighbors window again!"
The screen stays on the sky for a while, until it begins to turn orange. Eventually, voices are heard again, out of breath and arguing about whose fault it was, and as they both collapse, one says, “Happy birthday ‘Tsumu”
"Happy birthday, 'Samu."
"...Do we still get cake?"
"Obviously."
00:031:12 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 4 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:0
The picture's sharper now, and no longer in the house. Instead, the camera focuses on a school hallway, sunlight hitting the lockers and the camera zooming in on a thirteen year old boy who was glaring at the camera.
"I'm not filming you," Atsumu argues, filming.
"You're literally pointing the camera directly at my face." Osamu says, unimpressed. He has a school bag hanging off his shoulders and his hair has grown darker in the past couple years."It's our birthday. Of course you're filming."
"Grandma told us to take it to school."
"Grandma made you take it to school."
"Same thing."
"That's not the same thing, why do you think that anything one of us does is the same thing." But Osamu is smiling a little more than he was, and he takes out a small wrapped bundle from his bag. "Here."
The camera tilts down as Atsumu carefully opens the bundle, and inside was an onigiri. A small piece of paper is carefully tucked next to it, reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY IDIOT in blocky, half-legible handwriting.
"You made me onigiri."
"I make everyone onigiri."
"But you made me a birthday onigiri."
"It's the same thing."
"It's not, it's got minced tuna."
"Because you like tuna."
Atsumu's silent for a moment, and the camera's not entirely steady. "...Thanks, Samu."
"Don't be gross about it."
"I'm not being gross!"
It went quiet for a moment, and then the bell rang. Someone runs through the halls, yelling at the twins not to be late to practice and the boys look at each other and start sprinting down the hall, still arguing. The camera can’t pick anything up, everything is blurry, but you can hear shoes squeaking and the last thing on the clip, a distant voice yelling, “Miya! Both of you walk. No, I don't care if it’s your birthday or if you’re going to be late to practice.”
00:014:42 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 5 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:00
The camera starts to look clearer than normal, this time almost instantly focusing into the gym. The camera is also held taller than it normally was, and a voice with a weary tone says “Kita-san, is this okay? I don’t know why I'm doing this.”
"You're doing just fine, Aran."
The camera tilts to show Kita Shinsuke sitting on the bench against the wall, his hands folded in his lap as he watches the court with a calm expression. Behind him, Inarizaki’s volleyball team is gathered around a table that has a small cake on it.
"Sixteen," Aran says. "They're really sixteen now."
"Time has a way of moving too fast," Kita says.
The camera pans around the group, with Ginjima clapping, Akagi trying (and failing) to light the candles, Oomimi stopping people from putting their faces on top of the lighter, Reseki looked like he just wanted cake and the Miya Twins– now with blond and grey hair– were in the middle of it all, fighting over who gets to cut the cake. In the middle of the two of them was a lanky boy who had his phone out and was taking photos of the two arguing.
"And that's Suna," Aran says into the lens. "He only came because he was promised blackmail by the Miya twins."
"That wasn’t the only reason," Suna says. "I was invited. By the one holding the knife."
"Don't say it like that," Osamu says, pouting.
"You're holding a knife."
"To cut the cake."
"Sure."
Atsumu grins at the camera, sneaking up behind Suna with a candle in his hand and tries to stick it in his hair. Suna stays calm and lets him for two seconds, then calmly yanks it out of his hair and sticks it into Atsumu’s.
"Rintarou—"
"You started it."
The camera shakes as Aran starts to laugh, and then steadies as Kita stands up and walks towards the twins. The two stop arguing and smile at Kita, expressions a lot nice.
"Happy birthday boys," Kita says. "You've both worked hard this year."
"...Thanks, Kita-san," Atsumu mumbles. Osamu bows a little. Beside him, Suna's watching the two of them with an expression so quiet it barely registers on the footage.
"Okay!" Aran says, pulling the camera back up. "Cake! Before Ginjima eats all of it!"
"I'M NOT—"
“DON’T YOU DARE”
There's a crash. A shout. Someone says the candles, and the footage dissolves into a tangle of laughter, with the camera still running.
00:09:55 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 6 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:04:56
The camera comes into focus in a dark room. The only sound that’s heard is the hum of a refrigerator and the faint clatter of dishes.
“Okay!” a voice whispers, and the voice comes closer until the camera is able to pick up on blond hair, “18! We’re officially adults. I’m filming us as adults!”
A small lamp turns on and the camera is able to see Osamu making onigiri’s on the side, and Suna sitting on top of the counter, watching him.
"Why's the camera on?" Suna asks.
"It's our birthday," Atsumu says. "Grandma wants footage."
"Grandma asked for footage of the cake."
"The cake will be here when it's here." Atsumu pans back to Osamu and Suna. "Samu's making a special onigiri."
"It's not special," Osamu says, not looking up. "It's just the one Rin likes."
There's a pause. Suna turns his head, very slightly, toward Osamu. The camera catches it, the way his expression doesn't change but his eyes do.
"...You remembered."
“Hey, it’s my birthday, why does he get his favoritee.” Atsumu grumbles, but cheers up when Osamu hands him a minced tuna onigiri.
"I'm not an idiot."
"That's debatable."
"Shut up and eat it."
Suna takes the rice ball and bites into it. He chews slowly. Then he says, in his usual deadpan, "It's good."
"Of course it's good."
"No, I mean..." Suna stops, looks down at it, then back at Osamu. "It's really good."
Osamu turns back towards the rice, but you can see his face and ears bright red. Behind the camera, Atsumu makes a quiet sound, a mix of a laugh and a gasp, and the lens wobbles back and forth for a moment before sitting still again.
"Don't say any—"
"I won’t!"
"You were thinking it."
"I'm thinking about how I'm gonna tell Kita-san and Arun-kun."
"Tsumu. Don’t you dare"
"I'm just saying, I always knew."
"You did not."
"I'm so proud of you both—"
Suna leans over without looking and puts the lens cap back over the camera, making the screen go black. In the dark, you can hear Atsumnu whining and pouting, Osamu laughing and if you listen closely, Suna saying “Happy birthday you two”
00:011:11 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 7 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:00
There's another label on top of the sticker, reading 21 FINALLY. When the camera focuses, it’s easy to tell that they’re in a completely different area. It’s in an onigiri shop with paper lanterns hanging above them and a lot more people than there have ever been in one of these tapes, all sitting at a bar table.
“Okay everyone, smile for the camera!” Hinata’s voice says, cheerfully, “Say cheese!”
"CHEESEEEE," several people shout. One of them is Bokuto Koutarou, who leans so far into the frame that all you can see is his grin.
The camera’s shaky and is constantly passed around the table. There Meian pointing at the Miya twins and laughing about something, Adriah stuffing an entire roll of sushi into his mouth, Oliver and Bokuto taking a shot of something, and, sitting at the very front of the table was Atsumu and Osamu, both arguing about something until a quiet voice break them up, saying, “Atsumu, your sleeve is in the soy sauce.”
"Wait what— aww!"
"I told you."
"You told me after it already happened."
THe camera moves over until you can see the speaker. Sakusa Kiyoomi is sitting in the seat next to Atsumu, his mask pulled down under his chin as he calmly hands Atsumu a napkin.. He has an exasperated expression, although, for a moment, his lips seemed to turn into a semi-smile, before he caught sight of the camera.
"You're staring," Sakusa says to whoever's holding the camera.
"I'm filming!" Hinata says. "It's a documentary."
"It’s a tape that can be deleted."
"Sakusa-san smiled!" Hinata cheerfully announced to anyone listening.
"I did not."
"You did, I saw it, Bokkun, did you see it?"
"I SAW IT TOO!"
Atsumu has gone red to the tips of his ears. "Shut up, both of you."
"We just said you looked happy—"
"I said shut up!"
Hinata pouts and walks away, but sneakily zooms the camera in under the table to find Atsumu and Kiyoomi’s hands, which were interlinked.
Right next to Atsumu, Osamu looks at him, “Oi, ‘Tsumu, are we gonna cut the cake or are you gonna keep staring at your boyfriend? I’m hungry.”
"Samu!"
"I'm just asking."
"I swear to—"
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Hinata cheers, and everyone joins in, voices blending together. The camera is thrown across the room into someone else's hands who turns it around to show confetti in the area, Suna kissing Osamu’s cheek, Aran and Kita sitting closer to the back, side by side next to the rest of Inarizaki, and Atsumu grabbing a piece of cake and throwing it at his brother.
“Alright, imma go get cake.” Whoever's holding the camera says, before the footage goes black.
00:013:03 — END OF CLIP
TAPE 8 — OCTOBER 5
REC ● 00:00:00
The label on this one is a different handwriting that’s a lot neater and more legible, reading 25 <3. THe footage opens with someone holding the camera and a person laughing saying “I can’t believe I almost forgot about this,”
The camera turns around to the porch from the tenth birthday. The makeshift net is gone, and so are the chalk drawings that used to litter the porch, instead being replaced with a baby blue color paint. Atsumu is lounging on the steps in a sweatshirt that’s definitely not his, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows as he smiles at the person holding the camera.
"Where's Samu?"
"Getting the cake."
"He's always getting the cake."
“I heard that,” Osamu calls as he opens the door, holding a small plate and the cake. The camera zooms in on the plate to see a bunch of onigiris.
"Don't say anything." Osamu says, handing the plate to Atsumu
"Samu."
"I said don't."
"You made us minced tuna onigiris."
"It's a tradition."
"It is not a tradition—"
"It's a tradition."
"Since when?"
"The first onigiri I’ve ever made was filmed in this house for our birthday. And, for our last birthday I made everyone onigiri." Osamu sits down beside him, setting the cake down, and pushes one candle toward him, glancing at the camera. "Is it recording?"
"Yup."
"Okay."
They look at each other in a way that only someone who has been together since the womb would be able to share. Atsumu breaks the moment with a soft laugh
"I can’t believe we’re 25 now."
"Yeah."
"That's so weird."
"It's really not that weird."
"’Samu we’re ancient."
"Shut up and say what you really wanna say."
Atsumu takes a deep breath, before turning to the camera, his face filling the screen. It looked pretty similar to the other years, but he looked a lot older now, his hair a more natural and nicer shade of blond.
“Hi Everyone who's going to eventually be watching this!”
"We were cleaning up the attic and almost forgot about doing this," Osamu says, leaning into frame. "Thought we should keep going, seeing as we have every year from zero to twenty-five now."
"There's a lot we haven't added to these," Atsumu says. "Like the Jackals. Or Sumu’s shop. Or..."
"Or Rin."
"Or Omi-kun."
"Or all the times we almost killed each other."
"Which was, like, every day."
"Which was basically every day."
Atsumu laughs, shaking the camera yet again. Behind him, the screen door creaks open and a voice from the doorway says, "Are you two really making a speech?"
The camera moves towards the voice to reveal Sakusa. He’s wearing a sweater that’s clearly Atsumu’s and holding a steaming thermos. Behind him, Suna leans in the dooframe, his arms folded.
"Come sit," Osamu says, patting the spot next to him.
"We've been sitting for ten minutes."
"Then sit closer."
They do. Sakusa settles on Atsumu's other side, close enough that their shoulders touch. Suna lowers himself beside Osamu with a sigh and rests his head briefly against his shoulder. All four of them wedge into the frame, just barely, the camera pulled back at arm's length.
A pause.
"Hey, Samu."
"Yeah Tsumu?"
"We got old."
"Speak for yourself."
"We did."
"We did," Osamu admits, but he's smiling now. He glances at the plate, at the little candles, then back at his brother. "Happy birthday, 'Tsumu."
"Happy birthday, Samu."
They light the candles together and lean in, shoulder to shoulder, as they always have. Behind them the sun is setting, orange at the edges just like it did all those years ago, and somewhere in the house a clock ticks steadily on.
"On three," Atsumu says. "One, two..."
"Don't you dare blow on two."
"I'm not gonna—"
"You always do."
"I do not—"
He blows out the candles on two.
The camera lingers on the smoke curling up, on the four of them laughing in the fading light, on a hand reaching to straighten a crooked paper crown that isn't there anymore.
Then it tilts, slowly, toward the sky.
REC ● 00:09:48
END OF TAPE.
Do not tape over.