Thread by @captainhoothoot

#sakuatsu #skts #SakuAtsuWeek2023 @sktsweek

LATE Day 04: Confessions (Hybrids | FoxTsumu x Panther Omi)

Atsumu has a secret admirer.

Someone who has been leaving behind random trinkets in his locker; a symbol of courtship, it starts with a marble, the colour of a storm.

Followed closely by another, the colour of his eyes- a hazel brown with speckles of honey gold. 

In the days to come, he finds a pebble shaped like a fox, a seashell, and an acorn.

The team makes a great fuss about it, laughing particularly hard when Atsumu retrieves an acorn from his locker post practice, but he pays no mind to the boisterous chortling from his teammates.

He loves it.

Cradling the acorn close to his chest, tail swishing side to side in happiness, Atsumu can't contain the glee or the soft smile tugging on the corner of his lips. 

Acorns remind him of his favourite season.

Of falling leaves, red and gold, ripened apples, hot chocolate, pumpkin, and a taste of home, he is oblivious to the pink colouring a teammate's cheeks, looking on at him in what appears to be wonderment and endearment. 

(Atsumu finds another acorn in his locker the next day.)

Atsumu can't be too sure who his secret admirer is or who has been leaving an acorn in his locker ever since then, but he has his hopes up.

He hopes it is the outside hitter in his team with a mop of inky curls and eyes far darker than his curls.

A panther with a lithe frame and powerful limbs that makes him an apex predator on and off the court, Atsumu can't stop his tail from flicking in interest every time Sakusa casts a look in his direction, gaze fiery, intense and smothering.

But Sakusa being his secret admirer, seems unlikely. 

He thinks the panther doesn't like him very much, as proven by the constant jabs in their banter, curtness laced with sarcasm in their conversations, and how Sakusa shies away from all physical contact.

Atsumu only starts to think twice, when their tails intertwine with one another's after a gruelling five set match against Schweiden Adlers; with them coming victorious, and the panther pulling him into a hug, without any hesitation.

"You were amazing on the court," Sakusa affirms, eyes gleaming with not just pride and joy, but unadulterated fondness. 

Atsumu's breath catches in his throat, heart hammering wildly against his chest.

He's had a crush on Sakusa since the panther first came on the team. But he never dared to address it.

Being this close to him, Atsumu catches the storm in the panther's eyes. The scent of fall. The warmth radiating from Sakusa's arm. The pink colouring his cheeks.

A wave of epiphany hits him. 

Sakusa is his secret admirer. 

And if that doesn't confirm it, dragging the panther off the court into the locker room, where Atsumu finds a stash of acorns hidden in Sakusa's locker, confirms it.

"Yes." 

Sakusa looks at him, a fish out of water, the mortification and abashment of being found out, morphing into bewilderment. 

"Yes…?"

Atsumu giggles, a wide grin accompanied by rapid swishing of his tail. 

"I'm saying I'll date ya, Omi."

Sakusa's breath hitches in his throat. 

Atsumu thinks it's cute how the panther's swaying tail betrays the look of composure on his face.

He leans into the panther's space.

"You will?" Sakusa murmurs, looking hopefully and slightly unsure, gaze fixated on Atsumu's lips. 

"Yes."

(They seal the deal with their first kiss shared in the MSBY locker room, where Atsumu finally has the 'object' of his affections- Sakusa.)

/End