Thread by @miyameian

pre #osamei cw death mention, paranormal

"s'beautiful out tonight," osamu says to no one that can hear. it's cool but not cold and the sky is cloudless. here in the suburbs, the dazzling winter stars are bright and clear.

"why am i in a graveyard," osamu drunkenly asks the sky.

his pants are wet from sitting in the grass, and the headstone he's resting his back against is uncomfortable at best. but the bottle gripped tightly in his hand is helping him forget about that.

the constellation of gemini shines directly above his head. "oh fuck off," osamu slurs at the stars. "m'sick of yer shit."

a head suddenly blocks his view of the night sky.

"god?" osamu asks.

"flattery won't get you out of trouble," meian says flatly. ah. he's been found.

"worth a shot," osamu mumbles, bringing the bottle up to his lips. meian catches his wrist in one big hand.

"nope, you're done with that," he chides, taking the bottle away.

osamu groans pathetically, slumping further onto the ground. castor and pollux twinkle in the sky tauntingly.

"c'mon. i'll carry you back," meian tells him. after a long moment without osamu's reply, he sighs and squats next to osamu. "are you... mad at atsumu?" meian ventures.

"dunno," osamu says succinctly. "just felt like getting away." osamu doesn't really know what to make of meian's frown, not with how much alcohol he's consumed.

"and this is where you come to get away?" meian asks doubtfully.

osamu cranes his neck to check the name on the headstone he's laying against. "fuck," he mutters at the sight of his own name etched into stone. "i always end up wastin' the time i get out of the house, huh?"

there's a bit of sympathy in meian's eyes as he looks down at atsumu's body, currently possessed by the ghost of osamu. "i hate intruding on whatever's happening between you two," meian admits. "but when atsumu asks me to find you, you're always here."

"typical ghost stuff," osamu informs meian, as if he isn't bothered by it. "obsessed with either the place they died or the place they're buried."

meian hums. "y'know, if you ever want to get away somewhere a little less depressing, i don't mind taking you somewhere."

osamu perks up a little. it's an unusually kind gesture from someone who he's generally a nuisance towards. "really?"

"as long as it's not when you're stealing atsumu's body when he really needs it," meian says pointedly.

blatantly ignoring that last comment, osamu wonders, "where would you take me?"

"is there anywhere you want to go?"

osamu thinks about it, but all his dizzy head can come up with is /not here./ "not particularly."

"hmm, well..." meian tilts his head upwards as he considers. "there's a nice park a couple blocks the opposite direction from the house. you can see a lot of stars there at night."

osamu wrinkles his nose. "i hate the stars."

meian cocks one eyebrow.

"pretty sure you just hate that one constellation you and atsumu think cursed you or whatever," meian replies.

and wasn't that the truth? castor and pollux, the twins of gemini, one destined to die as a human and one destined to live on, without his beloved brother, forever.

except after osamu died, he'd woken up a short time later in the house he'd shared with atsumu. no body, no voice, unable to leave, but with the power to affect the house and anything in it in typically spooky ways. so he wasn't totally gone, not like he should've been.

and he'd found out that he could possess atsumu's body, seeing as it was so similar to how his own had been. he didn't have to share atsumu's head, either, because atsumu's consciousness always got pushed out to haunt the house in osamu's stead until osamu gave his body back.

"take me in the summer," osamu finally tells meian, meeting the tall man's eyes. the man who'd willingly moved in with atsumu, into a haunted house, after osamu's death. "can't see gemini that time of year."

"yeah?" meian says. "i won't make you wait--what, six months?--though.

maybe until then, i can take you to some of the good places to eat nearby."

"oh," osamu remembers a little dumbly. "that's right, i really liked food."

"atsumu told me where he got all those recipes." meian gives osamu an unreadable look. "they're good."

osamu scoffs. "ya wouldn't be saying that if i had been the one cooking."

"what should i be saying, then?" meian asks.

"that it's the best damn food you've ever had," osamu boasts. "tsumu can follow a recipe, but he'll never make any food as well as i could."

"sounds like a claim you'd have to back up with evidence." meian smirks, just a little.

"i--" osamu starts confidently, unthinkingly, before his tipsy brain catches up and his voice lowers sadly. "i can't cook any more, so guess you'll just have to take my word for it."

"why not?" meian asks, and osamu blinks at him, uncomprehending. "why can't you cook when atsumu lends you his body?" he clarifies.

osamu looks down at atsumu's hands, smoother and better taken care of than osamu's had been, when he was alive. but they were still the same size.

"i never thought of that," osamu confesses. "i don't know why."

meian looks sympathetic again. "you spend most of your time in atsumu's body getting drunk at your own grave," he says bluntly, but not unkindly.

"fuck, that's so lame," osamu says, chest tight with self-pity.

"if it makes you happy, or gives you some kind of closure," meian begins, hesitant, "then i'd say it's okay. but it looks like it doesn't."

"pretty sure you're right with that one," osamu says, closing his eyes as tiredness rolls over him, more than just physically.

"but i'd also say it isn't okay to mess with atsumu's life just because yours is over," meian levels with him. fuck. osamu winces. "wasn't hard to figure out you're jealous, considering you only take atsumu's body without asking the night before he's got something important."

"MSBY got a game tomorrow?" osamu asks even though they both know he's well aware. he starts pulling at some of the grass next to him guiltily.

"yeah, and a fan event before," meian confirms. "we have to leave pretty early tomorrow, should probably be asleep by now."

osamu sighs. "bet tsumu threw a fit when i left, huh?"

"cracked two windows," meian says. "also he still only knows how write using blood on the walls, so i'll probably have to clean that up."

"yall bought me a chalkboard for a reason," osamu mutters, rolling his eyes. +

+ osamu attempts to stand up, except he stumbles and sways dangerously. meian catches him and steadies him.

"how long is he gonna be gone?" osamu blurts out, cursing his lack of filter.

meian squeezes his shoulder and osamu wishes it isn't so damn obvious, how lonely he gets.

"just the day," meian comforts him. "the rest of the team and i are staying in a hotel, but atsumu's gonna take the late train back."

"okay," osamu replies, feeling himself relax.

"ready to go back?" meian asks.

"yeah," osamu blows out a breath. stupidly, he misses the house he spends every moment inside. there's more for him there than this tired graveyard. "...i don't think i can walk."

meian huffs good-naturedly. as per usual, he picks osamu up.

"wanna know something funny?" osamu asks from the unfortunately familiar position of being slung over meian's shoulder.

"sure," meian replies, barely even out of breath from walking while carrying the body of a professional athlete.

"the last words tsumu said to me before i died were 'you'd make a great housewife, samu,"" osamu confesses, grin evident in his voice.

laughter is startled out of meian, bright and loud in the still night. he has to force his shoulders not to shake to avoid jostling osamu.

"i think that's as good a reason as any to haunt someone," meian replies, voice full of mirth.

"unfortunate i ended up tied to the house, though, because it kinda proved him right," osamu said faux-dramatically, still smiling.

"except i'm the one who does most of the housework these days," meian points out teasingly.

"huh. maybe we're both housewives," osamu hums thoughtfully.

"i hope i get to haunt atsumu with you once i kick the bucket, too," meian tells him. it sounds genuine.

"i'd like that," osamu says softly, with the kind of honesty only alcohol and bittersweet memories and an uncaring, starry sky can bring forth.

/end

do not ask me what this is i do not know

i cleaned this up and threw it on ao3 because i'm trying to avoid my homework ❤️ archiveofourown.org/works/35390629