Chapter Text
Sakusa was almost always the first person in the locker room and the last person out of it. At least, after practice. Before practice he wasn’t usually the last person out because he didn’t have to clean up, he just had to get changed. Either way, it usually meant that after practice, Atsumu left before Sakusa, but this time he was dragging his feet. He’d been slightly off all day at practice. “You’re not sick, are you?” Sakusa asked.
Atsumu looked over at him from a few lockers away, “Aw, are ya worried ‘bout me Omi-Omi?” He asked, his hooded eyes looking a little more tired than usual. When all Atsumu got in response was a deadpan stare he shrugged his shoulders. “Nah. I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be on vacation today anyway?” Atsumu had always taken very regular vacations. One week every three months. He never missed it and never pushed it off a day. Until this time.
“Well, ‘Samu’s coming to me instead of me goin’ to Tokyo, so I decided to come to practice.”
Most of the team, Sakusa notwithstanding, speculated that Atsumu just had some partner that he didn’t want to talk about. Maybe trying to save them from the harassment that can come from dating someone as popular as Atsumu was. After all, a week every three months was oddly regular, exactly the interval of a heat cycle. He had missed games that people would have assumed Atsumu would never miss. So, most of them simply assumed he had an omega partner who he helped through regular heats. But he always said the same thing, that he was visiting his brother.
Still, there was no denying the fact that Atsumu was an alpha. He was unbelievably strong, dominant, and confident. He wasn’t nurturing, sweet, or soft like a stereotypical omega. And sure, there were always outliers. Not every alpha was hardwired to be an asshole and not every omega was born to be a parent. But Sakusa could smell Atsumu’s smoky smell from where he was standing. It wasn’t nauseatingly sweet like Hinata and Komori and any number of his fans who rub their scent all over letters they give to him.
And well, when he stepped out of the gym only two steps behind Atsumu, Osamu was waiting at the doors for his brother. He was far enough away by the time Osamu started whisper-yelling that he couldn’t really understand what he was yelling about, but he could hear Atsumu’s whining in response.
Still, it gave Sakusa pause.
Three months later, exactly one day before Atsumu’s scheduled vacation, Sakusa set up an experiment. Sakusa preferred to wear scent blockers to practice; he always had. He didn’t think he had a bad scent, he just hated how people tended to hem and haw over what exactly it smelled like. Plus, he always felt like he could get his gear clean better if it just smelled like sweat. The secretions of the mating glands were oily and while they didn’t leave a nasty feel, the scent could stay for years . Sakusa preferred to put on laundry that smelled like soap.
Over the three months since Atsumu’s last vacation, Sakusa had been watching him. Well, that wasn’t entirely new, but Sakusa hadn’t been able to admit to himself that he might not be quite as uninterested as he initially assumed. He had noted that Atsumu had a few peculiar habits, none that screamed out that he was lying about his life, but well… Sakusa noted that he never came to practice with any sort of indication that he was in a relationship. Even Inunaki, who was perpetually single, occasionally came in with a hickey or scratches on his back or something to suggest that he had gotten laid. He also noticed that Atsumu didn’t seem to be on any sort of suppressant, but when Hinata went into heat unexpectedly while they were at an away game, he’d hardly reacted to the scent rolling off their teammate. In fact, he kept the second most level head. Meian had the most level head, since he was mated with children. He scooped up Hinata into his arms and carried him to a hotel room. In fact, when one of the second-string blockers tried to step closer to Hinata, Atsumu growled at him. Everyone else took it as a “He’s mine” growl, but Sakusa thought it seemed oddly protective , not possessive . Despite Atsumu being the closest, he never made any advance on Hinata.
The last observation wasn’t something new; but no one was allowed at Atsumu’s apartment. He was one of the most socially outgoing people on the team, but he never let people into his home. It was strange and it got Sakusa thinking.
Back to his experiment, Sakusa peeled off his scent blockers in the safety of his own home and grabbed an old t-shirt. It wasn’t one that he didn’t wear, but it was one that he could give up without much hesitation. It was soft and worn, but one of many. He very methodically scented the shirt, making extra sure to get around the collar, then wore it around for most of the night to make sure it reeked of his alpha scent. Then he carefully folded it up and tucked it into a plastic bag. Then he tucked it into his gym bag.
The next day, it sat in his bag all throughout practice and his shower. “Miya, wait,” he called, getting the other’s attention just as he was finishing lacing up his shoes.
“Yeah, Omi?” He asked, straightening up and grabbing his own gym bag from the floor. “What’s up? I gotta pack for Tokyo.”
Sakusa hummed. “Just… wait a minute,” he said. They stood there, looking at each other waiting for the last few people to file out of the locker room. Atsumu grinned and waved goodbye to a few of them, but mostly he was confused and he made it very known. Finally, once they were the last two, Sakusa dug the plastic bag out of his gym bag and handed it to Atsumu, who blinked down at it. It was double bagged to seal in the scent.
“What’s this?”
“A shirt.”
“… Okay?”
Sakusa pursed his lips. “It’s your heat , isn’t it?”
Atsumu’s gaze snapped up to him so fast that Sakusa was mildly worried he had given Atsumu whiplash. “ What? ” Atsumu snapped, shoving the bag into his gym bag like he was hiding the evidence before stepping into Sakusa’s space, backing him up against the lockers. “ Who told you? ”
Whatever reaction he had been expecting, this wasn’t it. “No one told me. It was an educated guess. And I won’t go around telling other people either,” he said, trying not to make it obvious how much he was enjoying the fact that Atsumu’s smokey, woody, scent was filling the locker room, even with the sour note of distress. “That’s why I waited until everyone was gone.”
Atsumu took a quick step back and ran his hands through his hair. “Oh my God, what if other people figure it out? No one outside of my family and the doctors know.”
“They all think you have a secret Omega lover. They assume the regular vacations are their heat, not yours.”
Atsumu poked at the plastic bag, still half hanging out of his gym bag. “Well, how’d ya figure it out?”
Sakusa shrugged, moving to get his shoes on and finish packing up his stuff. “You were off your game last time, just before your vacation, but you waited a day where you usually don't. You said that it was because you didn’t have to travel to Tokyo, but that didn’t make much sense to me, unless you had to be there for specific dates for a specific reason. Then, well, it really was your brother waiting for you.”
“We aren’t fuckin’,” Atsumu said, looking mortified that he had even said it.
Sakusa blinked. “I uh, I hadn’t assumed so,” he said, giving Atsumu a weird look. “Though now…”
Atsumu groaned, plopping down on the bench and putting his face in his hands, a flush crawling its way down his neck. “No it’s just… When I presented different than ‘Samu and we were sharin’ a room, Ma always worried that ‘Samu would lose it durin’ my heat and attack me or somethin’. I know it’s gross, he’s my brother, but that’s why I went there first,” He admitted, thoroughly embarrassed.
“Oh,” Sakusa mumbled. “I mean, I kind of just assumed he was there to make sure you ate and stuff,” he said. “I do the same thing for Motoya. Or well, I used to. Now he’s an adult and much more likely to just find a heat partner or take suppressants.”
Atsumu nodded. “Yeah. That’s… yeah that’s pretty much it.” He laughed. He stood up slowly. “Uh, thanks for the shirt I guess. I’m assumin’ it’s got yer scent on it?”
Sakusa nodded. “Yeah, sorry if that’s weird, but it’s the only scent I have, and I assumed you don’t have stuff other than things your brother has given you.” He slid his mask over his nose as they walked towards the exit.
“Hm. I’m just now realizing that I don’t know what ya smell like.”
“Well, you’ll find out when you open the bag.”
“Bet it’s something weird,” Atsumu mused, “Like disinfectant and dryer sheets.”
Sakusa rolled his eyes. “See you in a week, Miya.”