the price for your love
A confession at the end of your high school years, up on the rooftop where you had laughed together.
a/n: My first Haikyuu drabble lol,, it wasn't originally a drabble,, I didn't originally write it with Atsumu's name and it was also in first person instead of whatever this is, but i thought it would be fair to post both versions
When i wrote it, i pictured y/n (she's her own person in my head) and Atsumu, standing on the roof after graduating high school and the sun is going down so the sky is gold and orange (yk like in the anime), if this helps with imagery
"When we were seven," you start, sitting on the rooftop of the school where you spent the last three years together. "I fell off my bicycle and scraped my knee. You picked me up and held my hand as we walked to your house. Your brother scolded you for not taking better care of me as your mother patched up my wounds."
"I remember that, my mother bought us ice cream so you'd feel better," Atsumu grinned at the memory.
"Is that what you remember? I remember the feeling of your hand as i held it: warm, solid, reassuring. And i remember your brother saying something," you said.
Atsumu's eyebrow arched in curiosity. "Oh? And what was it he said?"
"He said i should stop following you around, that it was just going to get me hurt," you replied. "Back then, 'hurt' meant getting scraped and scratches from trees we climbed. I guess now that we're older, it takes a different meaning."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, voice still teasing.
You stayed quiet as the wind breezed past you both, just like the years and your youth. Atsumu looked at you, waiting for your answer. You looked at him, memorizing the way the sun glowed on his face.
"Middle school was a strange time, I learned what it meant when people say good friendships are hard to come by. I never understood it until then, and maybe I'll continue making the same mistakes but I'm glad i had you there," you paused for a moment, breath caught in your throat at the beauty of his attention. "I hope I'll still have you there."
Atsumu laughed. "Of course you'll have me there, you always will. Where is this all coming from all of a sudden?"
"You got your first girlfriend in our second year of high school, and that's when i learned what love looked like," you continued, ignoring him. "Love was the way you looked at her, it was the way you held her as if she might slip away, in the way you spoke of her," you looked up at the sky, blinking back the rising tears. "It was the way i sneaked glances at you in class, the way i had to ignore the hurt, the way i wished it was me.
"I spent countless nights giving you my all as you rambled about how fun your date was, how cute she looked, how happy you were. It was the only way i could get your attention now, you only ever looked at me when you were thinking of her. I wished you could just talk to me like you used to, without twisting the knife further into my heart. My eyes would get sore as i got your smile in exchange for my tears.
"I fell in love with you, you know," you smiled softly as Atsumu's eyes widened at the confession.
"But nothing in life is free."
