Thread by @honeybreaths

#sakuatsu // pre-relationship, slight bullying ft. kiyoomi with braces

Atsumu always wondered what Sakusa Kiyoomi's secret was. There just 𝘩𝘢𝘥 to be something the other was hiding. Why else would he always wear a mask?

Why else would he barely talk on the court - and if he did, then it would always be an almost incomprehensible mumbling.

And it was not like Kiyoomi was scared of talking! Nu-uh, that was surely 𝘯𝘰𝘵 the case.

Because Kiyoomi could, bluntly said, be such an 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 and that not seldomly.

He didn't have any problems telling you his opinion - without a filter, without any consideration regarding your feelings.

Kiyoomi also liked to glare at people who he had issues with (whatever those 'issues' even were to begin with).

Not like Atsumu was any different - he knew that - and if he were to listen to his brother, he shouldn't even be the one talking right now.

But Atsumu had always been good at ignoring him.

So, during his second year of highschool when both Atsumu and Kiyoomi were invited to youth training camp once again, the blond decided to go on a mission.

And that mission was to find out what Kiyoomi was hiding from everyone else. He wanted, no, 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 to know. "It's none of your business," he heard his brother groan in his head. Yet, Atsumu didn't care.

He was way too curious and nosy for 𝘯𝘰𝘵 trying to find out Mister Mysterious' secret.

"Heya, Omi-kun," he chirped enthusiastically because he exactly knew how much that nickname bothered the other. "Why are you sitting all alone again?"

Kiyoomi raised his gaze a little bit and shot him a glare.

"Right," Atsumu snickered, "forgot you're not the talkative type." The blond placed his tray in front of him as he sat down opposite to Kiyoomi.

The cafeteria wasn't exactly big and yet the raven always seemed to find a table all for himself. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, however.

It was obvious that Kiyoomi was not pleased by Atsumu's company - the raven usually preferred to sit alone, back facing everyone else.

Another thing Atsumu wanted to figure out.

"Why are you here?" Kiyoomi asked just when Atsumu was about to start to perforate him with questions. His tone sounded annoyed, as if he wanted to be anywhere else but at the same table as Atsumu. 𝘙𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳.

"Why not?" he countered with a smug smirk. 𝘖𝘩, 𝘒𝘪𝘺𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

The other just huffed, looked down at his food as if he debated on something, and was just about to shove a meatball in his mouth when Atsumu saw a glimpse of silver in Kiyoomi's mouth.

𝘕𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺! "You have braces?!" he exclaimed loudly and for a brief moment every pair of eyes in the room turned towards them. "Dude!" Atsumu couldn't help but laugh. That information was worth 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥.

Seemingly perfect Sakusa Kiyoomi actually had braces?! - a 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘸, by any means?! This was even better than the day he discovered that Samu had a crush on Suna! 𝘏𝘢!

This was too funny 𝘯𝘰𝘵 to laugh about.

"Oh man," Atsumu wiped away a tear, still giggling. "Hey, do you think I can call you bunny now or something? Or! Or! What about train track?" Atsumu started to laugh all over again, loudly and bashfully.

But, suddenly, Kiyoomi stood up abruptly, the chair making an ugly noise as it slid back.

Atsumu stopped his hyena laugh and noticed how Kiyoomi's hands where balled to fists, knuckles already turning white. "Something wro—"

"You're an asshole, Miya," Kiyoomi's voice wavered just a little and red began to color his cheeks. "Fuck you!" he spat and turned on his heels to pace away, leaving Atsumu back at their (?) table.

The blond stared after him in utter confusion. What kind of reaction was that? He expected Kiyoomi to throw all kinds of insults at him or maybe to shoot some death glares at him - not to walk away embarrassed.

Atsumu didn't get it. What was so wrong about having braces? They didn't even look bad on Kiyoomi, weren’t ugly or anything like that. So why...?

He didn't think much of it when he went to bed or when Kiyoomi remained completely silent throughout the whole next day.

He tried sitting down next to him during lunch and dinner again but Kiyoomi had already left whenever Atsumu entered the cafeteria.

It was the second day after their "talk" when Atsumu actively noticed that there was actually something wrong with Kiyoomi.

"Damn it!" Hoshiumi yelled, "Sakusa you could've just made a line shot instead!"

Their team of three was currently losing and Kiyoomi had just made the third mistake in a row. "Get your shit together, man," Hoshiumi grumbled.

"Sorry," was all Kiyoomi said and Atsumu stopped dead in his tracks when he heard it. Because 𝘚𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘺𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪 never said sorry. It was weird and off putting and... Suddenly an uncomfortable pressure spread in his chest.

"What the hell was up with you today?" Atsumu stopped Kiyoomi before the raven could walk up the stairs to hide in his room for the rest of the day - just like yesterday, Atsumu realized.

"Are you pissed because of what happened two days ago?" Atsumu asked and saw Kiyoomi's shoulders tense just a little. He internally rolled his eyes. "Seriously," he started again. "You aren't actually embarrassed by them, are you?"

"What the fuck could you possibly know?" Kiyoomi spat back. "Huh?!"

"Come on, don't be like that," Atsumu glared back. "They aren't even ugly! If you're worried about that or something...they even fit your nerdy side!"

Kiyoomi scoffed and shook his head in disbelief which only pissed Atsumu off even more.

"A lot of people have braces," he tried again, "and I even wanted one back when I was in middle school! Never needed one though."

++

"Oh really? That's cool," Kiyoomi hissed. "Good for you, Mr. Perfect Teeth."

Just what the heck was his damn problem?! Atsumu literally tried to cheer him up here and that guy had the 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 to be mad at him?!

"See, this is why you don't have any friends," Atsumu growled, "I'm literally trying to be 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦—"

"Well no one's forcing you to spend time with me!"

Atsumu flinched at the sudden outburst and Kiyoomi took this chance to run up the stairs to his room.

He didn't attempt to stop the raven - not after he saw the tears in Kiyoomi's eyes, not after he heard him sniffle and after he saw him wipe them away quickly with his hoodie.

Dumbstruck be stood in the hallway, the bright light beginning to burn in his eyes. The pressure he felt earlier during practice was back, making him wince. And then it clicked - 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵.

But...he hasn't done something particularly bad right? He was just teasing Kiyoomi - it wasn't his fault that his teeth were in wrong positions or something. Having braces wasn't something 𝘣𝘢𝘥, he just...he just wanted to spend a little fun time with Kiyoomi, that’s all.

He swallowed dryly. Maybe he had gone to far, however. Atsumu always hated Kiyoomi for saying inconsiderate things as if they weren't a big deal but in reality, Atsumu wasn't any better than him.

----

Two hours later, Atsumu found himself standing in front of Kiyoomi's dorm room. He had tried to ignore the rising guilt, tried to convince himself that Kiyoomi deserved this.

Yet here he was.

He inhaled shakingly and then knocked.

"Who's there?" could be heard seconds later.

"It's me," he said, "Atsumu."

Deep down he wouldn't even blame Kiyoomi if he didn't open the door now.

"What do you want?"

Atsumu swallowed. "Can I come in?" he asked. "People are nosy and maybe the whole building shouldn't hear this."

The door remained closed but the blond heard it being unlocked, so he took that as an invitation to enter.

Kiyoomi was laying on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as his legs hung off the bed. The sight was almost pitiful but Atsumu didn't comment on it.

"So, um—" he fidgeted with his fingers. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸?! "About earlier..."

He scratched the back of his neck and dared to steal a glance at Kiyoomi who hadn't moved an inch since he entered the room. Atsumu wondered if he had even blinked once.

He debated on what to say next.

Apparently Kiyoomi didn't want to hear that the braces actually looked good on him - for real! But Atsumu didn't wanted to fake-comfort him either. 𝘈𝘩, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, he thought, already regretting coming here on impulse and not planning on what to say beforehand.

"I always hated my teeth," Kiyoomi's voice suddenly sounded. It was raspy and it sent an extra pang of guilty through Atsumu's chest. "There always seems to be something wrong with them and it wasn't really a surprise I'd be getting braces, too."

As Kiyoomi was speaking, Atsumu sat down on the other - empty - bed. They were an uneven amount of pupils here so Kiyoomi needed (could?) room alone.

"It wasn't so bad at first," he saw the adam's apple of the raven bob, "but I didn't know people liked to make fun of them so much." There was another sniffle and Kiyoomi wiped over his cheeks with his hoodie again. "I resent them so much."

"So that's why you always wear a mask or barely talk when you can't wear it on the court."

Kiyoomi just hummed and then it was silent. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable but Atsumu wouldn't call it pleasant either.

"Well, you know," he cleared his throat, "I was actually serious when I said you don't look bad with them."

"You don't have to say things you don't actually mean," Kiyoomi said and Atsumu raised an eyebrow.

This wasn't like Kiyoomi! The one he knew never apologized and never doubted himself.

"But I'm serious," he tried his best to sound stern. "I might even say you look cute in them," the words slipped out of him before he could even process them.

Kiyoomi propped up on his elbows to look at Atsumu properly. "What?"

"Well, I mean—" he spluttered and suddenly his face felt so warm he might be close to exploding. "I'm— you're not—"

In that moment of misery and embarrassment, he suddenly heard the cutest giggle to ever exist, probably. His head shot up to see Kiyoomi laughing.

𝘊𝘶𝘵𝘦, he thought again and he flushed once more - probably even deeper than before.

"You're so weird," Kiyoomi finally said and plopped back down on his bed. "First you make fun of me and then you call me cute," Kiyoomi smiled again when he said that last part, something in Atsumu made him want to protect that innocent smile.

"Are we…good now?" Atsumu dared to ask, hesitantly.

He saw Kiyoomi nod. "Yeah," the raven said, "you don't— you don't have to stay any longer. The problem was resolved."

If you asked the Atsumu from three hours ago, he'd be offended, claiming that Kiyoomi only wanted to get rid of him. But now…it was different. Maybe the problem had been him all this time - he didn't want to understand Kiyoomi,

didn't care that perhaps the raven didn't always mean what he said.

"Nah," he answered instead and Kiyoomi widened his eyes in surprise. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here for a little longer," he grinned, "my roommate's a pain in the ass anyway."

Kiyoomi giggled at that and Atsumu felt like winning. "I don't," he smiled and silver shimmered in the warm lightning of the room.

//bonus:

𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳…

"Smiilleee," Atsumu sing-songed and cupped his boyfriend's cheeks, pulling them back gently.

"Stop it," Kiyoomi whined as his braces were on full display for Atsumu. He hated it when he did that. "Mmmm,"

"How," Atsumu brought their foreheads together and stared into the pretty, dark eyes of Kiyoomi, "are you so cute?"

"'m not," Kiyoomi mumbled as Atsumu attacked his face with kisses.

"Lies," the blond pressed a soft kiss onto Kiyoomi's lips. "You're the prettiest thing on earth," a kiss on each cheek, "and it's all mine!"

// fin
kiyoomi is literally me, I hated my teeth for that. And still do 💀😂