He arrived with the sun. The old man who worked the night shift at the restaurant nearly felt his heart jumped through his chest when Atsumu strolled into the hotel with the first sun rays.
"I'm fine, mom," groaned Atsumu into his phone as he walked towards the national training center.
"I almost had a heart attack when Osamu told me you took off last night!"
"I'm sorry, mom."
"You have some serious explaining to do, young man!"
"I said I'm sorry," cried Atsumu as he messaged his temples.
"What the hell happened last night? Does it have something to do with Momo-chan?"
Atsumu froze in his tracks when the picture of his next-door-neighbor danced in front of his eyes. His heart stopped beating and the anger he shoved away from last night came boiling back like thunder in the summer.
"It has nothing to do with her mom," grumbled Atsumu.
A chuckled fell through the line and Atsumu rolled his eyes.
"What did she do?"
"Nothing."
"Tsumu."
"Mom! I really need to go!"
"Wait-" called Mrs. Miya.
"Okay, bye, love ya!"
He ignored the call from his mother and hung up the phone. He ignored the thumping of his heart and ran the rest of the way to the gym. He couldn't keep an evil, sinister and mocking smirk from his lips the entire duration at the first practice of the volleyball youth training camp. He wasn't threatened by the new competition, such as Kageyama Tobio, a setter from Miyagi, whom he planned to tease after their match – since Atsumu was the best high school setter in Japan.
"Miya!"
A boy with feather-like, snow-white hair yelled at the blond setter. Miya followed the ball with his eyes and lazily jogged after it.
"Yeah, yeah," muttered Atsumu.
He moved underneath the ball, jumped into the air beautifully like a bird, and set the ball right into the hands of Kageyama who smashed the ball over the net. It landed on the floor and jumped back into the air.
"Nice kill!" smirked Atsumu.
After the match, Atsumu saw his opportunity to have a little bit of fun with the new setter.
"Well? How did it feel to be a spiker?
Kageyama glanced up to his golden eyes and stopped stretching.
"It was fun!" Kageyama replied in an eager voice.
"Anyone who can't hit my tosses just sucks."
Kageyama rosed his brow, confused but didn't ask any question.
"Maybe you're better off being a spiker rather than a setter, Tobio-kun. Your face is really intense when your setting."
"But, I'm a setter."
Atsumu needed to keep his mouth from twitching as he bent down next to the young boy with the raven-black hair.
"Yeah, I figured as much," sighed Atsumu with a smirk plastered on his face. He rose from his seat and glanced through the gym. Kageyama gave his senpai a puzzled look.
"Oh, don't worry about it," smirked Atsumu before he left the gym.
*
"Where's Atsumu?"
Momo's ear twitched at the sound of his name but she managed to contain the muscles in her face from moving. However, Suna noticed her slightly furrowed brows. He decided to ask her later when they would meet up for a study session with the rest of the second years of the volleyball club.
"He left for Tokyo," shrugged Osamu as he continued to stuff his face with fired rice.
"Wasn't he supposed to leave tonight? Why did he leave earlier?" asked Ginjima.
"As if he would have studied!" laughed Osamu.
"To think that I cleaned my room for nothing," groaned Suna, exhausted.
"You actually cleaned your room?" yoked Momo, amused. "Why?"
"He always goes through my stuff," sighed Suna, "your brother has a problem."
Osamu chuckled.
"Tell me something I don't know."
Laughter erupted around the table when a group of older guys circled around Momo. A tall, handsome guy in the front, smirked at her and flashed his perfect row of white teeth.
"Hey, you're Takeshita Momo, right?" asked the handsome guy in front of her. His crystal blue eyes focused on her shiny, lip balm-covered lips which were pressed tightly together, making her mouth appear thinner than usual.
"Yeah," snapped Momo, "can I help you?"
The smirk on the guy's face grew, despite the ice-cold atmosphere Osamu, Suna, and the rest of the guys were giving off.
"Some of my friends are going to a karaoke bar tonight. We need one more person to join for a group discount. Are you interested?"
"And you're asking me because?"
"We heard you like karaoke bars," smirked the guy.
"Where did you hear that?" asked Momo with grinned teeth.
"Miya mentioned it a few weeks ago. The pictures from his party were amazing. You looked really good."
The guys behind him laughed loudly as Momo's eyes widened in shock. Her face snapped towards Osamu, who, unexpectedly, didn't meet her eyes, and then she glared at Suna. Unlike Osamu, he met her eyes, but she couldn't read anything inside of them.
"I liked to see these pictures," smiled Momo, "if you don't mind."
"I don't think–"
"Now," insisted Momo in a voice so cold it made him shiver.
The guy whipped his phone from his pocket and searched for the photos. A few seconds later, he handed her his phone, and Momo's heart dropped to her feet. On the small screen was a picture of her singing and dancing. Her cheeks were as red as her hair and the drink on the table sparkled in from the disco light. If the situation was different... If Osamu, Suna or ... perhaps if ... Atsumu showed her this picture she might be happy or flattered, but the only emotion she felt in her stomach boiling was anger and treachery.
"And he sent you this?" asked Momo.
"Well, he was talking about his party in P.E. and then we asked for a photo."
"Oh, okay. By the way, what's your name?"
"Call me Rio."
"Okay, Rio," chipped Momo, her smile too big, "I'm not interested in joining you tonight."
Rio's smile fell.
"Are you sure? My older brother's friends are joining, and they are going to buy use drinks."
"Nah, I'm good."
Suddenly, Rio's hand was in his Momo's hair and yanked her towards him. She felt a sudden tuck before thousands of small knives cut into her skull. Then, when she thought Rio had pulled out most of her hair, the tugging stopped. Momo opened her eyes and gasped at the scene in front of her. Rio laid on the floor, blood ran from his mouth down to the crouch of his neck. On top of him were Suna and Osamu. Both punched him and pulled each other away from him. Ginjima and Kosaku tried their best to keep them from breaking Rio's neck when a couple of teachers finally shut them off. Five minutes later, Rio, Osamu, Suna, Ginjima, and Kosaku were with the principle's office. Momo didn't need to join them because the teacher saw everything. So, Momo used this chance to be a naughty girl and sneak away from the crowds. She found her way to the rooftop of the school. The cigarette between her lips tasted sweeter and the smoke in her lungs burned her consciousness away.
"Are you Takeshita?"
The lit cigarette fell from her lips and burned her hand when a sudden stranger walked towards her. She yelped in pain and flicked her hand to get rid of the sting while hiding the cigarette underneath her foot. The stranger was tall, very tall. His tanned skin glowed in the direct sunlight and the black, messy curls of hair danced with the wind. Momo didn't know who this man was, but she was certain that he wasn't a student.
"Yes. Can I help you?"
"You can stop trying to hide the cigarette and give me one," sighed the stranger.
Momo's eyes nearly jumped out when he glared at her with a mean look and his hand stretched out, waiting. Quickly, she shoved the pack with the lighter in his large hand and began to turn when his voice stopped her.
"Your friends got detention."
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"The ones from the volleyball club didn't do anything!"
The stranger gave her the most interesting look Momo seen in years.
"Everybody was hitting everybody. It doesn't matter who started it."
"Yes, it does!" yelled Momo, "It wasn't their fault! They shouldn't be punished for-"
"For what? Protecting you? Why didn't you punch the guy yourself?"
The breath in her lungs began to choke her as he stared into her eyes. Her mouth shut, then opened, and then shut again. She wasn't sure what to say or how to react.
"They moved before I could do anything," sighed Momo, "who are you anyway?"
The man smirked.
"I'm your new biology teacher. Now, go. The next period is about to end."
Momo waited a second before she turned and marched to the door. Before her foot set inside the new teacher called her name again.
"Don't smoke."
*
Friday night, Atsumu finally returned from his training camp. His arrival was loud. When Mr. Miya's grey car came to a stop in front of their house, Atsumu jumped out before his mother fell at his throat. Momo saw the small tears falling from her eyes when Atsumu hugged her tightly. Osamu waited at the front step. His eyes flicked to her, but he didn't move. When Atsumu started to walk to his brother, Momo pressed herself against her window. He didn't look at her.
*
"Seriously? How come no one told me about it?" muttered Momo before she took another sip from her steaming cup of tea.
Winter was harsher than in Tokyo and she didn't fancy any bit of the frosty wind which kissed her neck. Osamu shrugged his broad shoulders and pointed at an open bag of potato chips with his lean fingers.
"No one mentioned it to you because you don't have any friends."
Suna snickered as Osamu caught the bag in the air. A mischievous grin danced on his lips. Pretending to be hurt by his comment, Momo took a step back and leaned against the open class window. The new biology teacher, Mr. Hina, wanted fresh air before starting his class.
"I thought we are friends," sighed Momo.
Osamu, who didn't care about her statement, shrugged again.
"Guess I'm a bad friend."
Momo rolled her eyes at his blunt answer. A loud, bear-like growl erupted from his stomach which caused Suna to chuckle and Osamu to throw the bag of chips back into your lap. Momo took a large handful and happily began to stuff her face when Atsumu entered the room. He immediately kept his glance to the ground as he approached his table which was two rows away from them.
"Still not talking," said Suna, who was suddenly more interested in the new burning tension than his phone.
"He's avoiding me," replied Momo, loud and stubbornly.
Atsumu didn't react.
"Alright, I had enough of this! Hey! Hey, Tsumu! Did you know about the school trip to the hot springs this weekend?"
For a second, he didn't move. Then, suddenly, he whipped around and grinned her with his largest smile on his thin lips.
"Eh? You didn't know about it, Momo-chan?"
Momo's cheeks reddened.
"Everyone knows about it. It's the highlight of the year! I guess nobody bothered to tell a stank like you."
Osamu and Suna took a sharp breath when Atsumu continued to grin at Momo.
"Don't worry. You still have time to figure out how you feel about it."
"You're such a little bi–"
"Takeshita! I strongly advise you to call Miya name after my class!" called Mr. Hina when he entered the room.
Atsumu continued to grin at her before someone stepped in between them. Osamu and Suna blocked Atsumu's view as they starred at Momo, whose face was a red as her eyes.
"What am I supposed to do?" whined Momo.
Osamu and Suna exchanged a glance.
"Well, you could apologize–"
"About the trip! I don't have girlfriends, remember? This means I'll be alone for the whole three days! They separated boys and girls in almost every activity!" yelled Momo and a light bulb flicked on in their heads.
"Sucks," said Osamu.
"It won't be that bad," said Suna.
Momo eyed him carefully.
"Since when are you so positive."
"Shut up."