the sun and his moon

safe

Kiyoomi was walking down the hallway, carrying his luggage. he reached the door to his dorm and opened it with one swift pull.

he was expecting to see Atsumu's face light up when he noticed the boy return, but that didn't happen. the blonde boy was sitting still on his bed, staring off into nothingness.

"Atsu..?" the dark haired boy called out as the door closed behind him.

his friend snapped out of thoughts and smiled, trying to hide whatever was on his mind.

"hi Omi!"

despite the genuine smile, Kiyoomi saw sadness in those usually sparkly hazel eyes.

"what's wrong..?" the spiker's voice was filled with concern, making the setter feel bad.

"nothin'! I'm happy to see ya again!"

Osamu's words echoed in the twin's head. he was conflicted. seeing Kiyoomi made him happy, but he felt pressured into keeping his excitement down.

"okay..." Kiyoomi said before starting to unpack.

he felt defeated. he didn't want to push Atsumu to open up. he chose to trust that the blonde would tell him when he was ready.

《 ☆ 》

two weeks had passed, and everything seemed normal. one night Atsumu's phone rang, startling the roommates as they were studying.

he picked up the phone and answered: "ma?"

Kiyoomi listened while watching Atsumu's face.

"woah, slow down... what did he do..?"

the dark haired boy felt a clench in his chest as color escaped the blonde's face.

"ma, it's gonna be okay. I- I'll come see ya tomorrow... love ya, ma."

Atsumu ended the call and put his phone down, clearly in shock. tears formed in his eyes.

"Atsumu..." Kiyoomi whispered to the boy fighting against crying.

he moved closer before pulling the trembling boy into a gentle embrace and saying: "it's okay, cry it out."

the boy in his arm sniffled and struggled to speak.

"I knew... I knew this would happen!" the boy pulled away from the hug, frustration clear in his voice.

"calm down, take deep breaths, and tell me what's going on."

the scared hazel eyes met with the calming deep black ones. Kiyoomi reached for Atsumu's hand, brushing his fingers over the back.

"may I?"

Atsumu felt his heart skip a beat, but he looked at the boy in confusion.

"don't ya care 'bout the germs..?"

the germaphobe suddenly looked like he realized something.

"is that why you never initiate anything? and when you grab my hand, you always make sure to hold over my sleeve", he dressed his thoughts into words.

the blonde nodded and mumbled: "I want ya to be comfortable..."

the curly head smiled softly, now knowing how considerate Atsumu had been all this time.

"you feel safe, Atsu. we already share the room together, I know you take care of your hygiene, not to mention you help me clean so I don't run out of energy. you consider me like no one else has before", the black eyes stared into the hazel ones, "so give me your hand."

the black haired boy was holding out his open hand until the blonde boy laid his own hand on it. Kiyoomi squeezed the hand reassuringly.

"now, do you want to tell me what happened to your mom?"

Atsumu gathered up his courage, making it clear he was having a hard time saying it out loud.

"I was scared to come here, knowin' both me 'n Samu were leavin' home at the same time. I hated the thought of leavin' ma alone with him, but she said we needed to pursue our dreams without lookin' back..."

"don't tell me..."

nothing else was said. nothing else needed to be said. Kiyoomi knew exactly what had happened.

"I need to go there, I need to keep ma safe. it's my responsibility", Atsumu said.

"I agree with keeping her safe, but it's not your responsibility. you need to encourage her to leave that house as well."

the blonde nodded: "right... but I'm gonna skip practice tomorrow, so that I can spend the whole weekend with her."

both of the boys were on the school's volleyball team, and lucky for Atsumu, their captain was very understanding.

"I think we should call it a night", the black haired boy said as he let go of the hand he was still holding, "you need sleep."

as the boys lied in theirs beds, neither of them could fall asleep.

"hey, Omi..."

"yes, Atsu?"

"I've always wanted a hilex piercing. would ya get one with me? I'll get my left ear pierced, and ya could match with your right one. we'd look so cool!"

Kiyoomi smiled. it was like the boy had forgotten about his worries for a moment and returned to his easily excitable self.

he turned his head to look at Atsumu and said: "sure, we can get matching piercings next weekend."

the blonde smiled widely, excited for this new thing that would connect them. afterwards they would belong together even more strongly.

━━━━━━━ •♬• ━━━━━━━

both our boys feel safe with each other, that's for sure <3

haha, it's been a while, hasn't it? I should try publishing more often since I've written some chapters ahead of time, but I'm  worried of running out before completing this story.

anyway, hope you're still enjoying this story and will tune in for more c: