from @pridewon ;Â All day long, Atsumu had pretended not to know. All day long, Atsumu had pretended not to realise either, no matter how often Bokuto tried to highlight what day it was, fishing for birthday wishes and congratulations. All day long, Atsumu had made a point of avoiding him, of pretending not to hear him, of being called somewhere else at every turn. All part of his masterplan. For Atsumu, behind his detached and egotistical demeanour that day, had been working behind the scenes with Meian and Osamu's assistance; and finally, as evening dawns on Osaka and the Jackals get ready to leave, Atsumu walks up to Bokuto and hooks an arm around his neck. "Not so fast, Bokkun." The fox smirks; and authoritatively drags his teammate along. The other Jackals, mysteriously, seem to have just... disappeared. Without a word, Atsumu forces his hitter to follow him, until they reach the backdoor leading to the lawn behind the gym... and Atsumu swings it open, revealing two very important things: 1. their teammates, all chanting happy birthday!, and 2. the barbecue set up by his brother and a yakiniku chef he happens to be friends with. Connections really are everything, in this world. Proud as a peacock, Atsumu pats his teammate / friend / brother in arms on the back. "Y'can thank me later." He declares, magnanimous (and clearly expecting to be thanked now). "Enjoy yer party, big guy."
to say koutarou has been in a bit of a slump all day would be a bit of an understatement. no, not like how he'd get during high school! he wasn't that sort of ace anymore, after all â he was completely normal! just like how it was completely normal to be super fucking bummed when a friend seems to completely forget about your birthday!!
sure, it wasnât like he was ignored by everyone â his family had been the first to wish him a wonderful birthday, with his sisters both sending extravagant gifts that had arrived that same day! his social medias were completely overrun by a flood of messages from fans and friends alike, the old fukurodani team were planning on visiting the weekend, and he even had presents still waiting for him back at home! there wasnât really a reason to let this thing bother him as much as it was, if atsumu had forgotten then thereâs really no helping it! ( except it made no sense because koutarou has been keeping a countdown calendar in the locker room, heâs been extremely vocal in these upcoming days about how his birthday was coming up, and he KNEW that atsumu has seen his tweets! atsumu even LIKED one! aaaarrgh, betrayal truly came from the ones you held closest!!! )
the instinct to throw a fit was there. it hadnât been there the whole time, had only started to really itch at his skin near the last hour or so of practice. not because atsumu had forgotten ( that WASNâT what was bothering him, if tsumtsum wanted to be the most heartless jerk and forget koutarouâs birthday, then that was perfectly fine by him! ) but because whenever koutarou found the opportunity to casually slip it into conversation, the other just... ran away! fled! absconded! took flight! another phrase for running away! and see, thatâs where koutarouâs irritation came in â because the first time? sure, it happens to anyone. the second time? okay, theyâre all pretty busy, totally normal to be called away for something. the third? starting to get a little suspicious but itâs okay, thatâs still fine. the fourth? the fifth? now something was starting to stink.Â
originally, he wasnât going to go along so easily. originally, koutarou wanted to stand his ground / wanted to huff and puff and pout about how it had only taken him THE ENTIRE DAY to realize what day it was! but things almost never go to plan, so the moment atsumu shows up to drag him somewhere? koutarou goes along as if there wasnât anything wrong, as if he hadnât spent the entire practice period with a pout in place. any question koutarou asked just went ignored, which really wasnât helping the annoyance but hey, at least atsumu was engaging with him for more than three minutes! it takes a moment when the doors get thrown open for everything to really register, but everything finally clicks the moment koutarou registers the smell.
heâs uncontrollable in the way he jumps, practically exploding from the sudden wave of energy that hits ââ especially in the realization that atsumu never actually forgot that today was his birthday! in the blink of an eye, heâs turned around to face atsumu head on, crouching a bit ( to build up jumping power in his legs, of course! ) before leaping full force at him! whether the other catches him or they both fall? that all depends on atsumuâs strength! â tsumutsumu! you absolute jackass, you never forgot!! you really had me going for a while there, but there's no way you'd ever forget my birthday, huh? no matter what anyone says, you really are a great guy, the best kinda guy! ah, but before we eat.. i should apologize for the stuff i said about you in my head. i don't meant any of it, okay? now, c'mon! let's go eat before the meat gets cold!! oh, but since i'm the birthday boy, i get first dibs on everything!  â