#; a.m.

[kageyuji]

never in your life — or atsumu’s — had you ever thought that you would be so giddy over a kitchen appliance. a microwave was currently the one in question.

he pressed a quick but rough kiss against your cheek, his hand reaching down to thread his fingers through yours and give an excited squeeze.

atsumu was currently pursuing a career as a professional athlete. it sounded easy considering everything that he had accomplished in high school, but the two of you were misjudging exactly how quickly (or slowly, rather) he was going to get his start.

that’s how the two of you ended up here: a run-down apartment with a shower that made a weird noise when you used the hot water, a big water stain on the ceiling, and windows that wouldn’t open — all complete with neighbors that made an unreasonable amount of noise.

the funny thing? he wouldn’t have it any other way.

well, he would have it another way. he’d like to be able to buy you nice things and take you on fancy dates without having to worry about if he has enough money for it.

besides, who would let two kids fresh out of high school into an expensive restaurant?

but that’s not what he means. if he could go back, he wouldn’t have made a different choice. sure, the two of you were broke right now, but you’d make it.

and the engagement ring on your finger reminded atsumu that it would be worth it.

[kageyuji]

“do you ever miss being single?”

atsumu’s head pops up from where he’d been half-asleep on the couch, messy hair sticking up on one side and sleep lines marking his cheek. the confusion at your question is clear on his face.

“what?” he finally asks.

“i just asked if you ever miss being single,” you repeat. “i mean, i dunno, i heard some guy mention it the other day. something about how he can’t pursue other people because of his partner.”

silence follows, and then you hear a thump. bright pink socks with kittens printed onto them slide across the floor as he rises, but nonetheless atsumu is standing in front of you.

“no, never,” he frowns, something akin to an abandoned puppy. “why would you think that? you’re the best thing that ever happened at me.”

heat rises in your cheeks as you turn away from him, busying your hands. atsumu can see the gears working in your head.

“i don’t know, its just... i don’t know, really. i guess—”

you go quiet as atsumu moves to stand behind you, arms wrapping around you and pulling you into his chest. a warm smile crosses your face at the action.

he presses a kiss to the back of your neck. “then don’t think about things like that. i love you, okay?”

[kageyuji]

“it’s not important, really,” atsumu says, though he knows you can see through his lie.

“if it’s not important, just tell me.”

he hums, though he doesn’t elaborate. he just leaves a kiss on your collarbone and buried his face into your neck. the hand running up and down his back comes up to get lost in his hair. you can feel his arms tighten around you, almost as though he was trying to hold you impossibly closer.

“‘tsumu, i hope you know i’m not leaving you alone ‘til you tell me what’s wrong.”

he takes a deep breath and groans, but finally lifts his head. his eyes run over your face for a while. neither of you are sure of what he’s trying to find there — the courage to tell you, maybe.

“the guys... they don’t- uhm, they don’t...” the rest of his words are inaudible. atsumu was staring down at his hands, refusing to look up at you.

“what? ‘tsumu, you gotta look at me.”

“i said that my team, they don’t believe... it’s just that they don’t believe you’d date me.”

you couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from you, even when you saw atsumu pout. you did, however, reach for his hand and then pull him into a hug. he gladly buried his face into your neck again.

“it’s okay, baby. do you want me to go to practice with you tomorrow? i can pretend you forgot to bring something.”

“no, no,” he said. “you don’t have to.”

you could see through that lie too. the way he blushed and smiled, rubbing at his nape. all it took to change his mind was a little tilt of you head.

“on second thought... if you want to, that sounds nice.”

[kageyuji]

“...and you’re completely sure about this?” atsumu asked for what seemed like the thousandth time. “cause there’s no going back anymore.”

“mhm! they’re the people that make you happy, i want to meet them.”

“ah, correction,” atsumu was grinning now, walking to the door. “some of them are people that make me happy. and i would like the other person that makes me happy to meet them.”

you smiled at that and felt heat rise in your cheeks. the door opened as soon as the words has left his mouth though, osamu standing on the other side of it.

“what did you mean by ‘some of them’, you better be glad i even put up with you.” osamu said, though you could tell he was just teasing.

“hi, osamu.” you spoke up.

he looked over to you and smiled, then stepped back from the door. with his gesture to come inside, you and atsumu stepped in. atsumu, of course, left you by the door with his brother and bounded off to where osamu had been cooking in the kitchen.

you kicked off your shoes by the door and smiled at osamu, who hadn’t ran off like your boyfriend. he said something about how his parents had been dying to meet you.

“y/n! come here, ‘samu made-”

“if you eat all of it i’m going to get your ass!”

you laughed at the two of them, osamu seemed all defensive now, but he was still walking slowly beside you instead of bolting to the kitchen.

“anyways,” osamu said, returning to a normal tone. “they’ve been dying to meet you, probably because ‘tsumu doesn’t stop talking about you.”

[kageyuji]

atsumu did not believe in soulmates. he thinks that even the idea of someone being destined for a certain other person is far-fetched.

with over seven billion people in the world, the chances that only one of them was destined for him seemed like something out of a children’s book.

people say you’ll know when you see them. was that true though? his heart never fluttered when he looked at someone, his breath never caught in his throat, his mind never went blank, he never had someone on his mind all the time.

he didn’t have a reason to believe in soulmates.

so, no, atsumu didn’t believe in soulmate. well, not until he met you at least.

[kageyuji]

the world doesn’t stop for anybody, atsumu comes to realize, staring at his ceiling. it felt like three in the morning for him, but it was really only just past midnight.

it wasn’t even his fault. it was the almost constant traveling for his games, the stress piling on his shoulders, the almost celebrity-like facade he had to put up; he had to be happy. smile. pretend everything is fine until either it is or he’s told him self that so much he believes it.

he couldn’t help the time taken away from his personal life, couldn’t help the tiredness at even the thought of having to have an actual conversation with someone.

it wasn’t his fault, and he kept telling himself that even though every time he did it felt more and more like a lie.

he wanted to check his phone, he really did. but there were messages and emails and notifications that were piling up. the worst thing was though, every time he opened an app he was reminded of how happy you were without him.

the world doesn’t stop for anybody, he tells himself again, clicking the unfollow button on your new boyfriend’s social media.