missing half-sakuatsu

7

Atsumu and Sakusa spent their last night together in the blonde's quiet hotel room. The shorter boy expected the other to be colder toward him, or the atmosphere to be incredibly awkward. To his surprise, it wasn't anything like that. Sakusa appeared to have accepted Atsumu with his anxiety, as well as his panic attacks. Atsumu kept repeating to Sakusa that he was incredibly thankful for taking care of him when he needed it and that nobody except for Osamu, and sometimes Suna, had ever done that for him. But, let's be honest, Osamu and Suna loved Atsumu in their own brotherly way, and they didn't have a choice. They liked knowing Atsumu was okay, and, as of recently, so did Sakusa.

The last morning of camp was pretty uneventful. All the participants were rewarded for their accomplishments and each of their abilities, and then they were all dismissed to finish packing up and checking out of the hotel whenever they had to leave. Atsumu was supposed to catch his noon train back home, so he kind of had to hurry. As he was about to zip up his last bag, he heard 3 soft knocks on his door. Exactly the 3 knocks he'd been longing for. He bid farewell to Sakusa, hugging him tightly before taking off to go to the train station.

A couple of hours later, Atsumu walked through the front door, the familiar creek of the old hinges almost soothing after the whirlwind that had been the volleyball training camp. The late afternoon sun filtered through the windows, casting a warm glow on the entryway as he set down his duffel bag. His body was exhausted from the intense training sessions, but his mind was far from tired. It buzzed with memories of the past week, memories that seemed to revolve around one person in particular: Sakusa Kiyoomi.

Atsumu couldn't bring himself to understand why Sakusa had such a big impact on him. He'd known about Sakusa for a while, he had a name, he had a reputation, a talent that was hard to ignore in the volleyball world. But actually spending time with him, training side by side, was a different experience altogether. Sakusa was reserved, meticulous, and fiercely dedicated. He was also surprisingly kind, in his own subtle way, a fact that Atsumu had discovered when he found himself struggling to talk to people on his first day, or when he experienced a very sudden, but also not unusual, panic attack. The pressure to perform, to stand out, had been mounting, and Atsumu, despite his confident exterior, felt it crushing him, but Sakusa helped him through it. They'd spent all their nights there together, feeling warm and cozy in each other's embrace, something nobody would expect from an arrogant blonde and a salty germaphobe. Now, standing in his family home, Atsumu's thoughts drifted back to those moments. A part of him missed Sakusa already, though they had only parted ways a few hours prior. 

"Atsumu, you just gonna stand there all day?" Osamu's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Atsumu looked up to see his twin brother leaning against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed and a teasing smirk on his face.

"Shut up" Atsumu muttered, though he couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at his lips. He followed Osamu into the kitchen, where the smell of dinner greeted him: warm, comforting, and distinctly home. Their mom was at the stove, humming softly as she stirred something in a pot. Suna, of course, was sitting at the table, casually scrolling through his phone.

"Welcome back, Atsumu" Suna said, not looking up from his screen, but there was a hint of amusement in his tone that made Atsumu narrow his eyes.

"Thanks" Atsumu replied, taking a seat at the table. He could feel Osamu's eyes on him, the twin telepathy kicking in like usual. Atsumu braced himself for whatever comment was coming his way.

"So, how was camp?" Osamu asked, sliding into the chair next to Suna. His tone was innocent enough, but Atsumu knew better.

"It was good," Atsumu said, trying to keep his voice nonchalant as he reached for a glass of water. "Learned a lot, met some new people."