And my breath still smells drunk

05

"Fuck, what happened?!" Osamu questioned, almost dropping the plates he was holding upon seeing Atsumu's black eye as Bokuto walked guiltily behind him. Suna walked over to the blonde and stared into him, and upon seeing he wasn't afraid to back away, he knew it wasn't anything serious.
"Volleyball incident."
"I spiked the ball aiming for the ground and he went to receive to early and I basically threw it as his face and he won't let me apologise!" Bokuto quickly mumbled, only just coherent as Osamu rushed to inspect his brothers face before dropping the caring expression.
"Oh, I see, you were just being an idiot then."
"Oh for fuck sake- yes ! Whatever! Yer pissin' me off, Samu!" Atsumu grumbled, plopping himself down on the couch and sighing. Osamu watched his brother carefully, seeing how his deep breathing made his shoulders rise, how he hung his head in his hands and how he rested them on his bouncing knees. He saw what nobody else in the apartment could see; sadness. Regret. Suna walked past Osamu with Bokuto, going the balcony area despite the cold, knowing that the brothers would want to talk.

"What happened?"
"Got a bit frustrated and distracted, that's all!"
"At what though? In volleyball you never get distracted. You never let anything get in the way of your performance because-"
"Cause it may cost us the game, I know my own fuckin' words, Samu!" Atsumu fiddled with his hands, blinking profusely as he stared at the ground in front of him and shifting in his seat slightly. Osamu sighed, giving in to his brotherly love for the other and sitting next to him. He dug into his pocket and handed him something to keep his hands from picking at the dead skin around his fingers. "I'm sorry, I didn't wanna be rude. I'm just pissed."
"You're good. What made you so frustrated?" Osamu put one arm round his brothers' back and rubbed it slightly, knowing that the frustration needed comfort.
"Sakusa, he.." Was he about to admit he kissed his supposed ex crush from back in high school? The one he met through a volleyball tournament and got the number of and went from admiring his playing to admiring him? The guy who played volleyball with gloves on until he finally accepted he can just wash his hands after. The guy who breaths heavily under a mask because he's too afraid of contracting germs that he's rather breathe in his own carbon dioxide daily. He was going to admit to his brother that they kissed? And that he liked it? Was he going to tell Osamu about how Sakusa panicked when Bokuto saw them and put him mask back on and didn't look at him so he felt dejected? Was he going to explain that because of that small action from Sakusa, he felt the need to distance because he could feel himself admiring the boy again? Was he going to elaborate on the fact that Sakusa had given him the shirt that is signed and paid him a lot of money just to record his band too? And then talk about his ideal life of having Sakusa with him forever?? "He paid me, a lot, and I haven't finished editing and cleaning up his band's recordings so I can upload them. I usually try to do it all at once so there's no delays or I forget but this time I'm not even half way done and I just left to play volleyball and I'm worried I won't get it done and let him down..." It wasn't completely a lie, he had to admit, he was also stressed about that.

Suna and Bokuto came back in once Osamu looked at Suna with a slight nod.
"Thank God! It's freezing out there!!!" Bokuto shivered dramatically to prove a point before setting his eyes on Atsumu who looked brighter than before, even with the black eye. "I'm-"
"If yer apologisin' again, I oughta not set for you all week." Atsumu joked but Bokuto's eyes widened as he sputtered.
"WHAT?? NOOO SET FOR ME!!" The bot begged as Atsumu joked around, saying he wouldn't until Bokuto stopped apologising for the good spike he did. "ATSUUU!! I NEED YOU TO SET FOR ME, CMONNN!!!"
"They're loud." Suna said, sitting next to Osamu on the couch. The silver-haired boy watched as his brother practically danced around the apartment with Bokuto chasing him and begging for sets. He let the laughter of a calmer Atsumu fill his senses and before he knew it, he had cracked a little smile whilst staring at them. "You good?"
"What? Yes, sorry. Did you say something?" Osamu startled, turning his head to the flat-faced boy before him. He looked at him and flushed slightly, embarrassed for not hearing him by being to engrossed in his brother's happiness. Suna only smiled, getting more comfortable in the seat, his black shirt snd trousers nestling into the couch more as he stared at Osamu, getting him to stare back.
"You're fine, Osa, I know what you guys are like. He's your brother, you love him and want him to be happy. And he's bad with his emotions so you gotta be there. But, take time for you, ok?" Osamu flushed at the nickname, and turned his gaze downwards. He bit the inside of his cheek and struggled to nod in response, not allowing any chances of his voice betraying him.

"Hey At- woah!" Oikawa stood, staring at Atsumu's eye before regaining his ability to walk and talk. "Fuck happened to you? Walk into a door?"
"Bokuto hit a spike and I was clumsy and had it hit my face rather than my hands." Atsumu snickered, watching Oikawa try to contain his laughter. Kuroo, Bokuto, Oikawa, Atsumu and Hinata were all in the gym for some practice, being the volleyball obsessors they were, and with Hinata came Tsukishima. The tall, blonde, mean boy had evolved to a taller, blonder, meaner boy. Well, meaner was a stretch. He was the same amount of mean, but Hinata would argue he became kinder. It was down to preference essentially, or interaction. "So since Tuskishima is here, I guess we got 2 setters, 2 spikers and 2 middle blockers?"
"Teams?"
"You're on!"

This was the first time in a while that the boys got to do a more accurate to the game friendly match. All they really needed was a libero and another spiker or two. But this was still better than 1v1 or 2v3. They would be able to have middle blockers on both sides as well as setters and spikers. To avoid hitting Atsumu in the face again, Bokuto tried to be on that team but Atsumu simply said no. "You need to practice more with Oikawa's sets too. They're different to mine and we never know who's you'll have to hit." The eccentric boy grumbled slightly, knowing that he was right but still panicking slightly. Atsumu's black eye was noticeable by miles away and he was worried to do it again.
"You've never worried about it before, Bo-san. Don't start now." Oikawa said, attempting to be encouraging. Kuroo went and ruffled the white hairs of Bokuto's head, distracting Bokuto from his overthinking and getting him ready for a match.
"I'm gonna spike you so hard you'll be seeing it in your sleep!" Kuroo grinned at the back in action Bokuto, the threat being more endearing than frightening. The teams were Oikawa, Bokuto and Tsukishima against Atsumu, Hinata and Kuroo.

And due to the brilliant skillset of them all, even they had no clue which side would win this friendly game.