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"PLEASE, DON'T FIRE ME I won't be late again, i promise" you plead to your manager.
he folds his arms over his chest, "that's what you said all the other times. you say you're going to show but then you never do!" he gets louder by the second and you can tell your manager is fighting for his inside voice, "i don't know when to believe you, and as a manager i'm supposed to do what's right for the company"
"what are you saying?" you stumble across your words knowing that you will have tears coming out when he says the words you know he's going to say.
he sighs. "you're not a right fit for our company [y/n], we're going to have to let you go" he looks so sympathetic when he says it but inside, he doesn't feel an ounce of pity.
you point towards the back room, "i'll get my stuff and go then" and you leave the room to go to the back. as you do, you can feel the eyes of each of your coworkers staring down at you. you gulp down the lump in your throat as you take off your apron and reach for your purse.
you try to leave the building in an orderly fashion as you are breaking down from losing yet another job but as you open the door, you find yourself running away, trying to avoid having to talk to people.
once you are a good distance away from your previous job orientation you slow down to take a second to breathe.
i'm going to have to tell keiji what happened
and just as you calm yourself down, you almost burst into tears again thinking about the great impact you getting fired is. getting fired means no income and no income means no nothing. you won't be able to afford living in the dorms, student debt will be worse, no car (not that you could afford to use it anyways), how much you eat will be lessened by about half, and a bunch of other problems that include health and insurance.
this cannot be happening
"hey" you hear from somewhere around you but your vision is too blurry to see anything right now, "heyheyheyhey, please don't cry. what's wrong?"
you sniffle and wipe your wet eyes with your sleeve, "i'm not usually this emotional and teary and snotty but. . . i i ijustgotfiredfrommyjobanditsbeenhardforme and itjustfeelsliketheydontunderstandwhentheysaytheydo" you ramble and miraculously, he understands it all!
"yeah... i get it. they always say shit to make you feel better but all they really want you to do is clock in for your shift. but hey, you shouldn't—"
"and i'm already so effing' poor that i can't even afford to have a good time outside of college and outside of work—" you hiccup, "—i always tell 'em that i have a tight schedule and that they should respect that and i'll come in when i'm available. but then they schedule me when i'm not available or there'll be butches that won't come to work and will say that i said i'll cover for their lazy asses! and so when i literally cannot come into work, they get mad. it was this one time today that it was actually my fault and i got fired"
"well they're assholes"
"they all are! all of my past 5 plus employers have been complete douchebags, either a sexist asshole, a middle-aged man trying to get it with 20 year olds or sleazebags. i've seen them all!"
"okayokay, miss, i want you to take 3 deep breaths with me. can you do that?" he offers a napkin to you for you to dry your eyes. you nod and let him lead you through the breathing exercise, slowly calming yourself down. "feel better?"
you nod and come back to your senses. "did i seriously just tell you all of that? you're a stranger" you massage your temples and end with a tired groan, "and you know i'm poor, fuck"
"i want to help you"
and you give this man —that you've never seen before— a side glance. you look cold as ice but right now, you were willing to do almost anything. not just anything, almost anything. get that straight boys and girls.
"be my fake girlfriend for x amount of time and x amount of money and leave the bills to me. you'll look for a job during the meantime and if you find one, put the money into insurance and savings. you'll have a place to stay, food and i'll give you rides and if you want to go do something or have fun just let me know and i'll take you there" he proposes his deal, "all i need from you is pretend to be my girlfriend for some time okay?"
"who even are you?" despite the great deal that you almost took up, you still don't know who this stranger is even when you don't have blurry vision.
he gasps loudly which takes you aback and then he realizes how obnoxious he was, "sorry, i have to be overdramatic for my friends and for press. but i'm really surprised you don't know who i am"
"are you someone famous?" you lift a brow in confusion.
"i play for the MSBY black jackals"
you have got to be kidding me
he goes to the same college???
"you act like there's paparazzi" you scoff, folding your arms over your chest.
"cause there is!"
"no there is not" you say back, "there might be press but there is not paparazzi following one person around in Osaka. there might be fangir—"
"the fan girls are so crazy this season, like it's all i hear about because we're going to play against the Alders soon and so every girl and boy in the hallways are gushing about the volleyball boys from each team—" he continues to complain.
this
this guy is the one that calmed me down
you have to be shitting me
"not every girl i guess" you mumble inaudibly under your breath.
"huh?" he stops his rant to face you, "what was that?" you shake your head no, "you said something but i couldn't understand it, can you please repeat it?"
"is that what you need a fake girlfriend for? to avoid annoying famgirls?" you lie right through your teeth.
"no... but it would help i guess. i'm doing it for multiple other reasons and i want to help you out" he shrugs like it's no big deal, "are you taking me up on my offer?"
to hell with it
"you have yourself a deal, when do i start?" you hold out you hand for a handshake with the most optimistic smile you could possibly muster but he just stares at your extended hand awkwardly like he doesn't know what to do with it.
"as soon as you're available"
"you never did tell me your name by the way" you tease him a bit, dropping the hand to your side.
"and you never told me yours"
"well the difference is that i asked and didn't receive and you didn't ask" you (accidentally) take it as a challenge and he mumbles 'i just did, didn't i?' "but it's [l/n] [y/n] but i guess for the sake of our deal you'll be calling me [y/n]"
"i'm miya atsumu and maybe i'll be calling you something else soon" he wiggles his eyebrows to tease you and so you swat his arm, "but call me Atsumu, or Tsumu or anything you'd rather call me is fine. just not miya, i have a twin brother and so we always get mixed up when people call us miya"
"uh okay" you give him a look that he totally deflects, "well he's my contact info, just don't text me like a bajillion times in one minute, please"
"as you wish" he smiles, typing your number into his phone to make a contact.
