In Three Months' Time (Haikyuu)

I: Papers

Atsumu sat on their bed, eyes locked on the silver ring that rests on their bedside table. It's been a week since Sakusa came home, and it's been three days since he found the ring tucked under a velvet cloth in the bottom of Sakusa's drawer. He raised his head to look at the clock and sighed before standing up. It's already past one in the morning but still no Sakusa knocking on their door.

Atsumu stood up to turn off the lights and call it a day, but the sound of the door being unlocked made him walk out of the bedroom. He watched as the doorknob shake before the click of it being opened echoed in the room. He stood still, waiting for Sakusa to step inside, his heart was racing, and tears started to prick his eyes. He felt so empty the entire week while waiting for Sakusa, so why did his tears have to come now?

Atsumu cursed his tears and quickly wiped them away before Sakusa could see them.

"Welcome home," Atsumu greets coldly the moment Sakusa entered their living room.

Sakusa's eyes move to look at him with eyes devoid of any emotions, far from the Kiyoomi he married, the Kiyoomi who would always beam and wrap him in his arms whenever he comes home.

"Why are you still up?" Sakusa asks and walks past Atsumu without throwing him a glance.

"I was waiting for you," Atsumu answers and approached him to take off his coat, but Sakusa beats him to it.

Atsumu was taken aback by what Sakusa did, he opens his mouth to say something, but no words left his mouth, so he closes them again, and he waits for Sakusa to say something.

"Well, I'm here, now go to bed," Sakusa says, his voice cold and monotonous. Atsumu could feel chills run down his spine, but he braves himself to speak, "aren't you going to bed with me?"

Sakusa looks at him and presses his lips as if it was his way of holding back his tongue from saying something that might hurt Atsumu, "I'll go after a shower,"

Atsumu nods and walks into their room. He sits on the bed and stares at the ring once again. He wanted Sakusa to say something first, but the way the ring was glaring at him from their table forced Atsumu to ask, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Sakusa froze. He looks in Atsumu's direction before his eyes shifted to look at what Atsumu was staring at.

"You know what's wrong," Sakusa says and leans on the wall parallel to Atsumu. He crosses his arms and stares at the ring resting on the table. "Both of us know what's wrong. We were just ignoring it,"

Atsumu remained silent because Sakusa was right. He noticed something was wrong the moment Sakusa stopped waiting for him for breakfast, when he stopped waiting to pick him up, when they stopped having Friday night dates, and when they stopped cuddling in bed. Many things changed, but they both refused to acknowledge them, and now they're here.

"Omi," Atsumu says, lips trembling and tears on the verge of falling, "we still love each other, right? We can still fix this,"

Sakusa scoffs, "I guess you chose to ignore the papers as well," he says and walks towards his drawer. He pulls it open and takes the envelope where his ring had rested, covered by the velvet cloth that covered his ring as well.

Atsumu bit his bottom lip and let his tears fall, "I didn't touch the envelope because I thought it was for your work,"

"Well, they aren't," Sakusa says and takes out the papers previously sealed by the brown envelope.

Atsumu knew what that contained, the ring on their bedside table was enough indication of what's to come, but Atsumu chose to close his eyes and pretend he doesn't know.

"Let's face reality, Miya. You can't turn a blind eye on this one," Sakusa says, followed by the sound of paper hitting wood.

Atsumu opens his eyes and looks at the two words that shattered his heart, "Omi, you can't do this,"

"I just did," Sakusa says and turns the pages to show Atsumu his signatures, "just accept it, Miya. The love's gone. It wasn't meant to last for a lifetime,"

Atsumu shook his head, "mine's still alive,"

"Well, mine isn't, and we can't stay in a marriage where one person isn't in love. It's torture for both sides. We both know that," Sakusa says, then pulls out a pen from his drawer and slides it towards Atsumu.

Atsumu laughs bitterly as he stares at the papers and pen, "so staying with me is torture? After everything we've been through. Omi, I thought we were over this,"

Sakusa runs his hand through his hair and clicks his tongue, "I guess all those hardships weren't worth it,"

Atsumu's tears continue to flow. Sakusa's words felt like knives being stabbed into his heart. So, he wasn't worth it?

"But you did love me, right?" Atsumu asked as he looks up at Sakusa, eyes glistening from the tears that pooled.

Sakusa nods, "I did, I truly did, because if I didn't then, I wouldn't have married you,"

"Then give me three months," Atsumu says, "give me three months to remind you why you loved me."

Sakusa slumps and shakes his head, "Miya, let's not draw this out any longer,"

"Just three months, give me that time," Atsumu begs and wipes his tears before continuing, "ma and pa are coming here for our fifth anniversary. That's three months from now,"

Sakusa's eyes grew wide, and he runs his hand through his hair before pacing in the room, saying, "why didn't you tell me?"

"I was about to, but you never came home," Atsumu admits, "they told me about it a five days ago,"

Sakusa stops and looks at Atsumu, who's chewing his bottom lip with his hands tightly clasped together, "sign the paper, and we'll pretend like a happy couple for your parents on our seventh anniversary,"

Atsumu shakes his head, "give me the three months, Kiyoomi. You can do whatever you want. I can sleep in the guest room or book a hotel for three months, and you can date anyone. You don't have to pretend as if you love me. Give me the chance to remind you why you chose to marry me. If not, then think of this as my way of pouring all the love I have for you before I sign the papers. I won't tell anyone, not even 'Samu. Please, Kiyoomi, three months, that's all I ask for,"

Sakusa was about to shake his head and say no, but Atsumu was already getting off the bed, ready to grovel for Sakusa's approval.

Sakusa grabs his elbow and pulls him up, "three months caps, that's it," he says without making eye contact.

Atsumu nods and thanks Sakusa before walking out of the bedroom, "I'll see you in the morning, Omi,"

Atsumu closes the door, leans on it, and gathers enough strength to move to the guest room. That ten-minute exchange between them had sucked the life out of him. He felt so tired from having his heart broken within those few minutes that he thought he couldn't handle more, but he was forced to bear more when he heard Kiyoomi ask himself, "What's so difficult about signing these papers?"

Atsumu quickly dashed towards the guest room. He was too scared of what he'll hear if he continues to stay there, so he forced his shaky legs to run towards the room. He locks himself inside and leans on the door to cry.

"Will ya stop?" Atsumu scolds himself as he harshly wipes the tears away. He didn't want to wake up the next day with puffy eyes. It's already humiliating enough to cry and beg in front of Kiyoomi. He didn't have to embarrass himself even more by greeting Kiyoomi the next day with puffy eyes.

Atsumu collects himself by tilting his head up and taking in deep breaths. Once he was okay, he moved towards the bed and pulled the sheets to cover his body, "it's cold," he whispers as he curls into a ball, "might as well get used to this," he adds and bitterly laughs to himself before going to sleep.