ri

when you finally do look up, he's gazing at you in a sort of quiet reverence, chin propped up one one hand, lips twisted into a pout. you flush, clear your throat; he doesn't seem to notice that you're looking back at him until you say his name, once, then again, louder.

he startles. "huh? what?"

immediately, he looks like his normal self again, with his calm face and usual deadpan. but there's a similar red tinge, like yours, creeping across the tips of his ears, that you wouldn't have noticed if you didn't know him so well. just what is going on?

something in you says you shouldn't pursue it; instead, you say gently, "you got distracted, sunarin, go back to studying, yeah?"

"yeah," he agrees, but it's as if he can't bring himself to decide whether he's disappointed or relieved.

you voice your concerns to kita, aran and the miya twins the next day, when the six of you are hanging out. "i dunno, he... just hasn't been his usual self," you explain. "he keeps zoning out! it's so weird..."

"that's not true!" he protests, sitting up straight. he's even put away his phone—highly uncharacteristic, by the way—in order to argue with you, so it must be something very important to him, you note. so you decide to leave it at that.

"okay, okay," you agree. "you just had a day, we get it, really."

but as usual, it's atsumu who goes and carries it on: "no, you're wrong—he's not zoning out specifically in your direction, you know."

wait—you don't recall mentioning that particular bit of information to them when you were recounting your story. atsumu seems the grin on your face and opens his mouth, but osamu elbows him and he closes it again. only for a second, though. no one, really no one can control him when he's put his mind to anything.

"he wasn't zoning out!" he blurts. "he was just staring at the love of his life!"

a slipper hits him square in the face—playing volleyball has definitely helped with rin's aim, and he looks pissed.

"atsumu!" kita chokes, utterly scandalised.

"atsumu!" you squeak, equally taken aback.

"forget it, it's nothing," suna tells you. "miya, we're going to have a talk. stat."

"oh..."

"y'know," says kita, when the two of them are gone. "that boy really does like you."

"thanks," you reply, "but i'd appreciate it if you didn't sound like my granddad when you tell me that."

he laughs, and something like hope blooms in your chest.

you dare to approach him again later that evening, when he's vindictively scrolling on his phone, a murdeous look on his face.

"rin..."

"what?" it comes out harsh, mean, and he immediately looks sorry for it, eyes softening as he apologises to you. "i don't know why i sounded like that, i'm sorry, i'm not mad at you or anything, i promise!"

"no, i get it," you assure him. "atsumu's the ass here."

he laughs in agreement, but it sounds exasperated and tired in a way you're not used to. or maybe you just haven't noticed, wrapped up in your own thoughts about his wry humour and pretty face.

"anyway," you continue.

"anyway?" he repeats, confused.

"yeah, about earlier..."

"nope," he says. "absolutely not. i'm not going to have this conversation right now."

"kita said what atsumu said was true."

rin's eyes widen dramatically. "that bastard! i trusted him!"

on any other day, you would've paused this to laugh at his reaction. but right now, you carry on bravely. "i would've liked it more if you'd told me yourself."

"i would never—wait, what do you mean, like it more? do you like me?"

you let out a halfhearted, awkward chuckle. "maybe..."

"this isn't funny," he tells you seriously. "if you're joking, i'm literally going to kill myself."

"i'm—" you swallow nervously. "i'm not joking."

"oh. cool." he puts his phone down onto the coffee table next to him, takes a step closer to you. his eyes flit down to your lips for just a fraction of a second—he's absolutely shameless, that's what he is.

"if i were to kiss you right now, what'd your reaction be?" he asks. "hypothetical, of course."

you pretend to think. "well, hypothetically, i'd probably kiss you back."

he grins, and your heart does a triple backflip. "so can i—?"

you close the gap between the two of you and do it yourself.

and even though atsumu set everything off, he's chagrined to know that he's the last to find out about this shocking new development—that you'd thought he already knew about, because wasn't it obvious? and maybe he does murmur a curse or two under his breath as he glares down at suna draped over you on your couch, but you know and he knows, at the end of the day, he is happy for you. (and years later, when he's giving his speech at your wedding, he ends up taking all the credit for making it happen in the first place. really, that bastard.)