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The smell of morning air developed the atmosphere. People are getting busy, some on their way to work, some opening their stores and some driving their car to work.
Atsumu yawn as he walks towards their gym. It's currently 8:00 am and their practice will start at 9:00 am.
While he's walking, someone called his name making him look back.
He felt his mouth curve slightly upwards when he saw the person calling him.
"Atsumu!"
The black curly haired man waved at him as the sun hits his face. To Atsumu, this sight is like a masterpiece from the art gallery that cost millions,
except this man is priceless.
Atsumu smiled at him and waved back at man, "Morning Omi-kun!"
He greeted cheerfully and he stops walking so that 'Omi-kun' or we would rather call Sakusa Kiyoomi, could catch up to him.
Atsumu looked at him confused and pointed out Sakusa's face, "You aren't wearing a mask?"
Sakusa huffed, "I removed it. I ran like marathon here."
He did ran like marathon from the looks of it. His sweat is trickling down from his forehead to his neck. His chest was rising up and down trying to catch his breath.
Atsumu chuckled at him, "You didn't need to run, our practice won't start until an hour."
Sakusa grumbled beside as they walk together to their gym.
For some reason the image of Sakusa sweating and panting can't get out of Atsumu's head.
He tried shaking it off and continued walking.
They soon arrived and saw that three of their teammates were already warming up so they quickly went to the locker to join them.
They both enter their locker and change to their practice shirts.
Atsumu was the first to be done and closed his locker. He looked at Sakusa who just finished after him.
He laughed at him as he pointed to Sakusa's shirt, "Your shirt is upside down."
Sakusa looked down at his shirt and it is really upside down. He blushed at embarrassment and quickly fixed it.
Atsumu is laughing at him and Sakusa glared at him, still red from embarrassment.
"Shut up." With that he closed his locker and went out.
Atsumu calmed himself down and followed after him.
He remembered Sakusa's red face and it made his heart race.
'That's cute.'
He smiled at the thought and started to warm up along with his teammates.
☁︎☁︎☁︎
"the way the morning sun hits your nose,
i love those like your cheeks tinted rose."
☁︎☁︎☁︎
Atsumu woke up from his alarm clock ringing for the nth time this morning.
He finally decided to get up after snoozing 9 of his alarm. He looked at his phone and saw that it's currently 10:18 am. Luckily they don't have practice today.
He got up and fixed himself up before going downstairs to make a breakfast.
He's too lazy to cook so he just toasted a bread and made himself a coffee.
The smell of coffee can be smell in his kitchen.
Ah, how much he love those.
While he's eating his breakfast he heard a 'ding' and saw his phone lit up.
He saw someone messaged him with the id name 'Omi<3' so he quickly open the message.
---
Omi♡︎
good morning♡´･ᴗ･`♡
---
'A heart? so cute!'
---
Omi♡︎
how you doing?
Atsuシ︎
morning
didn't know you use emoticons(●’◡’●)
im eating my breakfast rn
hbu?
Omi♡︎
komori used it last time
i just finished
what are you doing today?
---
'I knew it got something to do with komori.'
---
Atsuシ︎
dunno
probably stay at my apartment all day
y?
Omi♡︎
wanna hang out?
---
Atsumu felt his face heat up for some reason.
Sure, they hanged out before but that was with their whole team.
They haven't hangout before, by that i mean alone, not even once since their high school.
'it's like a da-'
He snapped himself out of his fantasies and decided to reply back.
---
Atsuシ︎
oh?
is omi asking me on a date?( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Omi♡︎
i changed my mind
i'm going to ask bokuto instead.
Atsuシ︎
WIAT!
NO!
this a once in a life time moment
"sakusa kiyoomi asked miya atsumu to hang out."
ur cruek😔
Omi♡︎
cruel*
and if you don't want to then don't come.
Atsuシ︎
nah lets hang out
besides do you really want to hangout with bokunn instead of me?
Omi♡︎
i-
nah i'm just gonna hang out by myself
bye.
Atsuシ︎
HAH! too late😝
lets meet up by 1
Omi♡︎
k.
Atsuシ︎
at least reply something better than 'k'
Omi♡︎
kk.
Atsuシ︎
you-
---
Atsumu chuckled at their conversation.
He was glad that Sakusa is comfortable with him that he himself asked Atsumu to hang out.
He kept reminding himself that this is just a friendly hang out. Nothing more.
After all, they are just friends.
Right?
☁︎☁︎☁︎
"the smell of coffee in the morning,
with a text from you says 'how you doin'?'"
☁︎☁︎☁︎
They were taking a 10 minute break after playing 2 sets.
Atsumu was wiping his sweats, he tried to wipe his back but to no avail, he can't reach it. He was about to asked Sakusa for help.
"Omi can you wipe my-"
He halt what he was about to say and stared at Sakusa, shocked.
He saw Sakusa drinking from his tumbler. By 'his' i mean Atsumu's.
He stared at him with his mouth slightly agape.
Sakusa saw that Atsumu is staring at him, mouth wide open.
He raised his eyebrows in a questioning way and saw that Atsumu is eyeing the tumbler he is holding.
He looked at it and felt something was off,
his tumbler is grey.
But the one he's holding is white.
He blushed and quickly put down the bottle and apologized to Atsumu.
"Oh sorry. Must be from thirstiness." With that, he walked of to drink his own water and started practicing.
Atsumu was too stunned to speak.
He's still processing on what just happened.
Sakusa Kiyoomi has his dna on his water bottle.
HIS.WATER.BOTTLE
Simp right?
He swear to himself that he will not gonna wash that ever again.
Do you think he'll do that?
Of course not, that's unhygienic.
They just got an indirect kiss.
To others that was not a big deal. But for Atsumu it is a big deal.
After all, he can't wait to kiss those red lips of his.
Well, that is if he has a chance.
He almost forgot about his sweats on his back so he just asked Hinata for help.
☁︎☁︎☁︎
"the way your curls looked unbothered,
when you took a sip from my water bottle."
☁︎☁︎☁︎
It was evening and Atsumu just visited his brother's restaurant.
He's on his way home and texting Sakusa.
It happens that Sakusa was just close to his location so they decided to meet up. Atsumu waited for on the bench at the nearby park, just scrolling through his social media, waiting for Sakusa to show up.
He heard a familiar voice called him. He looked up from his phone and saw Sakusa walking towards him with his mask hanging from his left ear, smiling.
This smile never failed to make Atsumu's heart go wild. He love seeing those smile and he will never get tired looking at them even if it makes him blind from the brightness.
Sakusa sat down beside him, "What now?"
"I don't know. You're the one who asked to meet up though." Atsumu said.
They both relaxed on the bench and decided to talk about some random things that their mind came up with.
Suddenly, a question popped up Atsumu's head.
"Say Omi... will you quit volleyball in the future?" Atsumu asked. For some reason he wanted to know what was Sakusa's thinking about the future.
Sakusa hummed at the thought. He'd never really thought about. Will he quit though?
"Of course i am. When i got old i supposed." Sakusa said.
Atsumu nodded and looked up.
"I don't know what i'm gonna do after i quit volleyball so i suppose that i'll stick longer. If have decided on what to do in my life then i'll quit by then." Atsumu said while looking at the night sky.
Sakusa sighed at him and smile, "Take your time. Don't rush such an important decision."
Atsumu looked at him and smiled back.
Silence covered their atmosphere. It isn't an awkward silence but comfortable.
They are just both watching the moon and stars as they contemplated on their life choices.
For some reason, the stars looked 10 times brighter than any other night.
"The sky is beautiful. Let's just stay like this." Sakusa said.
Atsumu silently agreed as they watched the stars.
Of course he don't give a fuck about that. Instead he watched Sakusa from his sideview.
He took a note about the things he love about him.
His curly hair,
his pointed nose,
his sharp jawline,
his thick eyebrows,
those eyelashes, gosh how much he love those,
his dark eyes that is as dark as the night,
those two paralleled moles above his eyebrows.
Sakusa Kiyoomi is indeed flawless.
No words could be described on how much beautiful this man is.
No matter what dirt you look on him you'll never find one.
And Atsumu know this, he knew this. No matter how many times people ask him 'who is the most beautiful person you've ever known?"
Besides his mom, he would confidently answer 'Sakusa Kiyoomi'.
He would shout it even.
Even if it means reminding the whole world about it. He would gladly remind them. No complaints.
After all, that is how much Miya Atsumu loves Sakusa Kiyoomi.
'You're beautiful.'
Those are the words he wanted to tell Sakusa right now.
But he's scared.
He's scared that Sakusa might reject his feelings. He doesn't want to risk it.
He doesn't want to break the bond they had made since high school.
He can't just risk it like that.
So he decided to set aside his feelings for him. He locked those feelings and never open them up.
Where's the key you asked?
He himself don't know too.
Besides he don't need those anymore.
Just Sakusa close to him is enough.
Atsumu continues on watching Sakusa until he realized that he's been staring too much.
How much he wishes that they could stay like this forever.
His heart is pounding too much that it might actually break his rib cage.
'Damn. What did you do to me?'
Falling in love is like a roller coaster.
Surely, it's fun and scary at the same time.
And Atsumu hates roller coasters.
He looked at the sky again to calm himself down.
Sakusa was right. The night sky is indeed beautiful.
The moon shine brightly along with the billions of stars. The galaxy sure is amazing.
Atsumu didn't stopped himself from saying the words that left his mouth.
"The moon is beautiful isn't it?"
He exclaimed those words calmly as he looked at Sakusa's eyes.
He wanted to say his 'i love you'. But now is not the time.
Or is it?
Sakusa's mouth slightly curved and he chuckled. He looked at the night sky again for one last time.
"Indeed it is."
☁︎☁︎☁︎
"the way you smiles relieves me,
i love the way you do those, believe me."
☁︎☁︎☁︎
The team just finished their game nearby and they are currently hanging out at the cafe.
Sakusa refused to join at first since he said that it's too 'unsanitary'. But he didn't budge anymore when Atsumu persuaded him to.
"Come on Omi. Our last team bonding was like ages ago."
He tried to fight back with his reason, "But we always have games and practices. How can not that be a hangout?"
So that's how he ended up here.
Sitting with a pisshair, a loud owl and a human tangerine.
Oh how much he wants to pay just to go home right now.
Atsumu notice a scowl on his face even if it's being covered by mask.
"I didn't forced you here to just stay quiet." Atsumu said made the other twos attention turn to them.
"That's right! Let us cherish this moment. Life is too short!" Bokuto exclaimed.
Sakusa deadpanned, "Maybe yours is too short. Why do you sound like you're dying tomorrow? Well, not like they'll accept someone as loud as you in the after life."
Bokuto didn't mind what Sakusa said instead, "Wahh! That's the longest i heard you speak! Do it again!"
Sakusa mumbled a "too loud" and ignored Bokuto.
Poor owl𓅓
Hinata asked a question that made Atsumu perked up.
"Say Sakusa-san, do you have someone you like?"
Strangely but strangely, when the question slipped Hinata's mouth Sakusa took a glanced at Atsumu but the blonde setter didn't noticed it since he's looking outside. Pretending that he's not listening.
"I don't." Sakusa said calmly.
Atsumu was a little glad at what Sakusa said. He's stopping himself from having his hopes up.
Well, him being glad surely won't last long.
He felt someone staring at him. He looked at Sakusa and saw him looking at his way.
This made Atsumu confused so he asked Sakusa, "Is there something on my face?"
Nothing.
Sakusa said nothing, still looking at Atsumu's way.
Hinata snapped his fingers in front of his face.
Still nothing.
Atsumu swore that he saw a tinted red on Sakusa's cheeks, was he looking at him?
But he felt something was off so followed where is Sakusa looking at.
Ah, he is indeed looking at Atsumu's way.
However, Atsumu isn't the one he's looking at.
Atsumu felt his heart clenched at the sight in front of him.
Sakusa is looking at the lady on the cash register.
She has a long dark brown hair. A brown eyes. And a smile that could make your day.
She is truly beautiful.
How much he wish that he was the girl right now.
He want those dark eyes to look at his way.
He want Sakusa to blush because of him.
He want Sakusa to have his eyes light up because of him.
How badly he want to do those things.
However, was he too late.
Sakusa snapped out of it when Bokuto clapped his hands in front of his face.
"You're staring at the lady on the cash register she might melt." Bokuto said.
Sakusa quickly snapped back, "I am not."
"Perhaps Sakusa-san is interested in her." Hinata said while wiggling his eyebrows.
Atsumu joined in and put on a fake smile, "Eh? Why don't you ask for her number then?"
He put on such a perfect fake expression.
His heart was aching and he badly wanted to cry but he pushed them aside as the man in front of him is his top priority.
"If you don't want to ask her number then can i take her instead?" Atsumu said, teasing Sakusa.
Give this man an Oscar.
He want to drag Sakusa out of this cafe and take him himself and never let go.
But that's not it.
He saw the way Sakusa's eyes lit up when he looked at her.
For Atsumu, it truly is an amazing sight.
He never want to look away.
But he's not the one who caused it though.
"Don't you dare." Sakusa said. As soon as he realized what he said, he covered his face with his hands.
They kept teasing him about it and Sakusa would just ignore them by then.
Maybe if Atsumu looked for the key before then will he look at him like that too?
Maybe if he opened up his feelings to him he will look at him like that too.
Maybe if he said those words that night and confessed he would look at him like that too.
But is it too late?
Was he too late?
Nevertheless, even if he is too late.
He would still do anything just to see those dark eyes shine.
Even if he's not the reason he smiles.
☁︎☁︎☁︎
"the way your eyes lights when you looked passed me,
i looked back too and wonder who is she?"
☁︎☁︎☁︎
7 years later...
"You look ugly as fuck."
The grey haired man said to the pisshair who is fixing his hair using his phone's camera.
"I- we literally have the same face." The pisshair said. He put down his phone and looked at his brother.
"Why did you close your store this early?" The pisshair asked.
The grey haired male took off his apron and hat as he fixed the chair and tables.
"Rin is sick. I need to go home early."
Atsumu just hummed as he leaned back on his chair.
"Why are you here anyway?" Osamu asked and sat down in front of him.
Atsumu looked at his brother and rolled his eyes, "Why do you sound like you don't want me here?"
"Because it's true."
Atsumu just ignored what his brother said and crossed his arms, "I just passed by, i'm really meeting someone anyway."
Osamu raised his eyebrows at him, "Hmm? Who is it?"
"None of your business."
Atsumu stood up fixed his long coat,
"I'm leaving now. He must be waiting."
"He?" Osamu asked.
Atsumu looked back at him and smiled.
"I'm gonna meet Sakusa."
☁︎☁︎☁︎
Two men is sitting at the cafe as they sip their hot coffee. They talked to each other like the old days.
No one was interrupting them as they are the only customers at the cafe.
"Are you really going to retire for good?" The curly haired man asked.
Atsumu looked at him and chuckled, "Yup! I made this decision for so long, i want to start a new life too you know."
Sakusa smiled at him, "Then i suppose i'll support you."
"Why did you made it sound like you're oppose to support me." Atsumu joked.
Sakusa just shrugged as they laughed together.
"Say what about you? When will you retire?" Atsumu asked while leaning at his chair smiling with his arm crossed.
Sakusa just hummed at the thought while tapping his left fingers on the table, "I've never really thought about that. Who knows, maybe on a year or two."
They continued on their conversation. Just like before,
talking about random things that their mind came up with.
Then Atsumu asked a question,
"Hey Sakusa, how is she?"
For some reason, still isn't used to Atsumu calling him by his last name and not with his nickname.
Sakusa stopped tapping his left fingers where the gold wedding ring is placed with his and her name imprinted.
Sakusa smiled at the thought, "She's doing fine thank you. Having someone pregnant with you sure is hard."
Atsumu chuckled, "Tell me about it."
That's right.
The lady on the cash register and Kiyoomi are now married.
Her name is Haruki Noa but now she's Sakusa Noa, 6 months pregnant with their first child.
Sakusa had asked for her number after Atsumu pursuaded him for like 20 times 7 years ago.
How did Atsumu coped up with that?
Well, he's just a passerby.
He was just passing by every time they smiled at each other.
He was just passing by every time they blushed around each other.
He was just passing by when they confessed to each other.
And he was just a passerby when they got married to each other.
He listened as they said their i do's.
He watched as they smiled at each other.
He happily watched at the sidelines on how happy they are.
Was he happy though?
All of this, he watched as the man he loved slowly disappear beside him.
Ah, it feels like it was just yesterday.
The morning they went together to practice.
The morning they texted each other.
The 10 minute break when Sakusa mistook Atsumu's water bottle as his.
And the night they watched the stars together.
Oh how badly he wants to turn back the time to fix all of those.
But that would be selfish right?
Sakusa is happy now.
Even of he has the chance to turn back the time he'll gladly refuse.
After all, he wants to see those smile even if he's not the reason behind it.
Atsumu finally gained the courage to say the words he wanted to say for the past few months.
No,
maybe for so long.
"C-can i tell you something?" His voice came out as hoarse. He mentally cursed himself from stuttering. He badly want to cry. But not now.
Sakusa looked at him worriedly, "Sure, what is it?"
"I-i'll leave Japan and live in other country." Atsumu said looking down.
Sakusa was about to open his mouth but Atsumu cut him off,
"Don't say anything i'm not done yet." He said while raising his index fingers in front of his face.
Sakusa nodded and listen intensively.
"I want to start a new life."
"And i want to start it by forgetting you."
Sakusa was shocked. Why does Atsumu want to forget him?
"What?" He said almost came out as whisper.
"I had feelings for you since our high school." Atsumu ignored what Sakusa said and continued.
"I like- no, i loved you." Atsumu flashed him a bright smile with teary eyes.
Sakusa was taken a back.
Since high school? That was a long time ago.
Sakusa was blaming himself, why didn't he knew about that?
Was he too dumbed to noticed?
Did Atsumu made some signals?
Or he just took it as a friendly gesture since Atsumu was always like that.
Either way. This made Sakusa's heart flutter and ache at the same time.
What Atsumu said didn't made him disgusted, at all.
Rather, he's glad that he heard it.
Why?
Has he been waiting for this?
"Hah- shit i finally said it." Atsumu laughed as if he had achieved something.
Surely, he did.
Sakusa stayed quiet and waited for Atsumu to continue.
Atsumu opened his mouth and continued, "What i said was true. And i'll never take it back. You can throw it, it's fine."
"But it is not my intention to ruin your family. I did this for mine and your sake so that i could take out the spikes stabbing deep inside me."
Atsumu was tearing up but he blinked those away. Sakusa handed him his handkerchief and Atsumu mumbled a small "thank you."
"I never had the courage to say it. I was scared because of my feelings it might break our friendship."
That is not true.
Sakusa wouldn't do such a thing.
But that's too late to say it now.
"So i just ignored it. I moved forward with the heavy feeling i've been carrying till now."
Sakusa listened carefully to what Atsumu is saying. He focused his mind, eyes and ears to him and only him. Afraid that he would miss such an important words.
"So i decided to let go of this heavy feeling. I want to move forward again. This time without looking back."
"By the time we walked out of this cafe. I want us to be strangers by then."
Sakusa was shocked. This made his heart shatter.
But he understands Atsumu.
"We would walk forward without looking back."
Atsumu smiled at him. His eyes are red puffy from the tears running out his eyes non stop.
It's a miracle he's able to said those words without stuttering while crying.
Atsumu wants to touch Sakusa's cheeks one last time but he stopped himself because once he touched him again, he might not let go.
Sakusa too, he wants to wipe those tears but he stopped himself from doing so because Atsumu might not like that.
Sakusa chuckled lowly at him and smiled, "Sure."
"Let us move forward. This time without looking back.
Atsumu stared at him.
'He's still beautiful.'
They stood up and paid for their coffee.
They know why.
And they readied themselves on what was about to happen the moment they stepped out the cafe.
They said their thank you to the cashier and went their way out.
Atsumu inhaled the cold breeze of December. His cheeks are tinted red rose from the coldness.
Ah, this atmosphere is so calming.
Sakusa stood by his side and watched the night sky with the moon shing brightly along with billions of stars.
They stood beside each other in silence until Atsumu decided to break it.
"I guess this is our farewell." Atsumu looked at him smiling.
Sakusa nodded at him and smiled back, "I guess it is."
"Well then." Atsumu turned his back on him and started to walk off.
"Goodbye, Sakusa Kiyoomi."
Sakusa watched his retreating figure. He wanted to hug Atsumu for one last time but he can't. So he does what came to his mind first.
"Miya Atsumu!" He called out.
Atsumu stopped on his tracks but he did not looked back.
Sakusa was slightly hoping he'll look at him one last time. But he didn't.
"Thank you, for loving me."
Atsumu smiled and started moving forward. This time without looking back.
'No. Thank you for letting me love you.'
Surely, Sakusa won't throw away Atsumu's words.
Maybe the stars aren't agreeing with them in this world.
Maybe the stars have better plans for them.
Maybe the stars are watching them right now.
No,
The stars are indeed watching them.
Both souls are wishing that they heard their prayer.
Maybe,
just maybe,
they would agree to lead their fate together again in another timeline.
end.