𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐀𝐂𝐄

25; patience is a virtue

"seishun, can we talk? alone, that is."

seishun blinked up at atsumu, a bit surprised by his sudden seriousness. for some reason, kageyama didn't seem all that shocked.

"of course," she answered quickly. seishun pulled her hand away from kageyama's, and he began to sulk in response. "don't sulk, i'll be back," seishun chuckled. she ruffled his hair with a fond smile.

atsumu looked away from their interaction, aware of kageyama's scrutinizing gaze. 

the two stepped further out, atsumu leading seishun away. "so, what's up?" seishun curiously asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

"does somethin' have to be up for me to wanna talk to you?" atsumu teasingly replied. his heart was beating out of his chest, already, so he had to cover it up with jokes. 

seishun snorted. "usually." sand slipped between her toes as they ventured to a place seishun didn't know. "where are you even leading me to, anyway?"

atsumu pointed to somewhere further out. "there's a bench over there."

"you want to sit at a bench?" seishun wondered curiously. 

"somethin' like that."

chatting randomly, the two walked as they always had. seishun didn't seem to notice anything wrong, so she figured atsumu just wanted to talk. little did she know, his 'talk' wouldn't be anywhere near what she expected. 

"the sand is getting stuck between my toes," seishun complained. she lifted one foot and shook it, watching as a bunch of sand fell. 

atsumu raised an eyebrow. "it's sand, what do ya expect?"

"if you told me we were walking this far, i would've brought my shoes," she grumbled. 

mid-step, seishun's foot got caught behind her other foot, and she let out a sound of surprise when she suddenly stumbled forward. 

atsumu grabbed her before she could fall, a hand on her waist and another on her wrist. "geez, can't even walk on your own two feet?" atsumu laughed, his heart warming at the feeling of her skin on his. 

to his surprise, seishun pulled herself out of his grasp, almost unconsciously. "it's the sand in my toes, i'm telling you," seishun huffed. she brushed off some sand on her legs, grumbling about it. 

atsumu blinked. she hadn't even let his touch last for more than a second, pulling away without a second thought. 

noticing his silence, seishun turned her head. "aren't you coming?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"oh, yeah," atsumu said. he shook of the feeling in his chest and continued to walk side-by-side with her. 

when they finally arrived at the bench atsumu had been talking about, the blonde sat down with a long sigh. seishun sat down beside him. there were a handful of inches between them, and atsumu couldn't help but wonder if she was purposefully trying to keep her distance.

"so, what did you want to talk about?" seishun wondered, straight to the point. 

atsumu blinked, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "ah," he said with a gulp. 

"ah?" seishun repeated. she tilted her head and curiously studied atsumu. "is something wrong? you've been acting weird since we started walking."

atsumu shifted in his seat and seishun was beginning to notice his anxious antics. "y'know," he began, slowly. "i've dated a lot of girls in my life, mostly for fun. and i've never really thought about settling down."