Astro-burn (SakuAtsu Atsro/Indoor Hockey AU)

Chapter 7: Close

Sakusa
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It's been about four and a half months since I first saw Atsumu across the field in our practice match.

It's become a habit to text Atsumu daily, a sort of routine.

We'd call whenever we got the chance and he'd help me with my homework, he tends to study a lot so his grades are really good.

Though he still hasn't told me why he doesn't talk to his brother much...

As we entered the month of December, Atsumu started getting really excited about something.

He wouldn't tell me what it was though.

I was just happy that whatever it he was excited about put a smile on his face.

At the moment, it was halfway past midnight, and I was lying awake in my bed with the lights switched off.

I was on a video call with Atsumu who was sitting at his desk studying.

"Atsu, it's late... You need to get some sleep..."

I've been trying to get him to go to sleep for a good hour and a half by now.

"Omi... I need to get good grades..."

He looked up at the screen.

He had dark bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess.

He was sleep deprived.

And how did I know this?

Every night for the past week and a half, he's been up studying until midnight while I'm on a video call with him.

I sighed, "Atsu, you don't want to fall asleep during your exams, do you?"

He slowly shook his head.

I could tell he was holding back tears.

Something happened again, but he wouldn't tell me about it.

He didn't realise it, but I noticed that something or someone is trying to bring him down.

I think it's his team...

The way that they glare at him when he scored goals was enough to notice that they didn't care much for him.

Akagi was the only one that stuck with him.

I really wanted to reach out to him through the screen and comfort him...

I really wanted to go to his school and beat up his teammates with a hockey stick.

We haven't seen each other in person since the tournament and I honestly missed him a lot.

"Come on, Atsu... You need sleep," I said.

He nodded as he packed his books away.

He grabbed his phone and switched off his bedroom light before lying down in bed.

The dim glow of his phone illuminated his eyes, making them glow slightly in the darkness.

"Hey, Omi-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we stay on the call for t'night?"

I smiled softly, "Of course we can, Atsu..."

I heard him sigh lightly as he closed his eyes.

His breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

I gazed at his image on the screen, so at peace and calm as the glow of the phone illuminated his face lightly.