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— ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ —
June 14, 2025
The beach behind your childhood home had remained the same—every morning you'd go there and talk to your dad. You were always either renting or just filling him in on how you were feeling. It helped if you just imagined he was sitting next to you in the sand and laughing at your complaints.
Sometimes you even try to think about what he'd lecture you with in response to your negative moods.
You over the course were sitting outside your favorite spot by your little cove and staring out at the ocean as you spoke. "The kids at the studio are getting better every day," you say as you watch the waves crash against the walls of the cove. "Yuuka has gotten so big--she said Papa the other day when Ko showed him a picture of you," you continue trying to hold back tears. "I'm babysitting her next week so Ko and Kame can have a getaway. That also means I get to be off of work for a week," you pause and wipe a tear off of your cheek.
For the next few moments you sit in silence and admire the scenery, and as you do you can feel a presence behind you. Hesitantly you turn to look over your shoulder--and nothing could've prepared you for the person you saw.
You both exchange a long pause of silent eye contact and you examine the man's features. From head to toe, he hadn't changed much at all—his hair is a bit longer—a better shade of blond now too. He'd seem to have gotten even more fit which you noticed when you glanced at his broad shoulders.
He looked good though--you could admit that much. The unsettling feeling in your stomach had started to grow when he cautiously took a step closer to you.
"Hi," he speaks first cutting into the thick air of silence.
"Hi," you respond the word almost getting caught in your throat.
"Can I join you?" He asks glancing to the spot on the sand next to you. You spare a glance at the same spot, and back to the man. "Uh sure," you nod scooting over just a bit as he finally takes a seat.
You both turn to stare out at the water. The waves sounded like a melancholy song that perfectly synced with the morning birds that flew overhead. Atsumu sucks in a deep breath and sneaks a glance over at you, "How have you been?"
"Good," your reply is quick—there was zero thought behind it. "You?"
The blond shook his head and chuckled quietly, "You don't wanna elaborate? Good isn't a good answer—y'now that," he concludes and you laugh awkwardly and scratch behind your ear. "Uhm well," you start as you glance around the empty beach. "I have a ballet studio now, it's doing well. I still have Koji," you add flashing a small smile at the blond which he returns before you finish. "Then my dad passed two years ago so that's the only thing that's not good," you mumble quietly.
"I heard," Atsumu frowns at the mention of your father. "Sorry for your loss. I tried to call you when I found out but—"
You lower your head embarrassed at the fact that you had gotten rid of Atsumu's number. Never giving him a chance to respond to the last text you had sent him. "Yeah I'm sorry, you don't have to apologize about my dad its not your fault," You shake your head. You go silent again for a moment and then you turn back to the athlete "Wait, how did you hear about it?"
"Emiko and your brother," he pauses lowering his voice, "I ask about you a lot,"
"Oh," you lower your head again and dig your hands into the sand next to you feeling apologetic.
The silence resumes but the tension in the air is thinning as you watch the water again.
This time you decide to disrupt the silence, "How have you been? I watched the Olympics last year," you note truthfully. "Sometimes I see kids in town in your jersey," you add with a small smile. You watch as a small smile on Atsumu's lips turns into a huge grin, "Oh yeah?" he raises a brow, "So then you have to think about me often—that's perfect,"
You can't help but laugh at Atsumu's words since a little part of you knew he'd say something like that. You both laugh at it actually and your laughs are perfectly synced like a perfect harmony in a song.
There's a shift in mod though when Atsumu's laugh dies down and he lowers his head. "I've been good though—uh except Gran just passed last month," he says and you can hear his voice crack. This news brings a frown to your face and your heart drops to your stomach.
You hesitantly inch closer toward Atsumu put a comforting shoulder on his back and rub small circles into it. "I'm so sorry Tsumu I had no idea," you apologize quietly.
"Don't worry it's not your fault or anythin'" he assures you and your hand lingers on his back as he pauses."That's also kind of why I'm here," he says turning to you and you catch a glimpse of his now glossy eyes.
You keep quiet waiting for him to continue--now slowly removing your hand from his back.
The blond pushes his hair back with one of his hands and he corrects his posture as he looks over to you again. "I haven't been in the best headspace since I found out," he begins causing you to frown again. "Nobody's been able to comfort me and for some reason all I could think about was you and how I just wanted to see you. Selfish isn't it?" he questions rhetorically and you let him finish.
"Then at her funeral, she left some stuff for me—" he cuts himself off as he reaches into his back pocket "—and this was one of the things,"
