Archive of Our Own ^beta

Emi hummed along to the music playing in the restaurant, munching on her salad. Everyone chatted around her, Bokuto lauding Atsumu for his sets, Meian and Inunaki cheerily bickering with Sakusa, and Atsumu there in the middle, soaking up the attention like a sponge. After all, the MSBY Black Jackals had just won their third game in a row, and the season wasn’t even halfway over yet.

Everything was going perfectly. She was wearing a little black dress and wedges, and for once since becoming pregnant, she actually felt sexy . Not cute. Sexy. 

(“Emi, you’re always sexy,” argued Atsumu while they sat in the car, waiting for the rest of MSBY to show up at the restaurant.

Emi scoffed, looking over herself in her compact mirror. “Says the one that got me pregnant in the first place! Besides, you’re my husband. You’re supposed to think I’m cute, Atsu. I’m the one that’s supposed to say that I’m not cute, but I actually feel cute for once!”

Atsumu snorted fondly and kissed her on the cheek. “Well, I’ll say it again. I am married to the prettiest person out of everyone on the team, and that means--”

“That means we’ll have the prettiest babies.” Emi smiled and kissed her husband again. “You mentioned that, babe,”)

So yes, Emiko would argue that everything was going perfectly, and nothing tonight would be going wrong. Today had started off great. She had managed to close on a few deals for her growing fashion business and Atsumu had won his third game in a row. Nothing will give me trouble tonight.

Or so she thought.

Because that was exactly when the trouble began for the pregnant twenty-two-year old. Her belly rumbled unpleasantly and Emi rubbed it, feeling the feather-light kicks of her twins nestled safely inside. “Shh,” she whispered. “Stop kicking so much.”

Unfortunately, the kicks only grew faster and Emi grew more uncomfortable with the intense movements from her belly. Now she didn’t even have the appetite to stomach water. All she wanted to do was throw up. But why? The babies weren’t usually this active, Emi couldn’t think of any time before this where they’d been so set on kicking her.

“Um…” she mumbled, tapping Atsumu on the shoulder. “I-I need to talk to you, Atsu,”

Atsumu looked at his wife quizzically. “Is it the babies?”

Emi nodded shakily. “Y-Yeah...th-they’re kicking a lot. I-It should be nothing though.” I hope. Please stay inside, babies.

“All right, but let me know if something else happens, Emi.” he said, gently squeezing her hand across the table.

Emi squeezed back, greatly reassured by the physical contact. She needed to not think about her body right now, just focus on the present, or that’s what all the pregnancy books told her to do whenever she would get pains. 

She took deep breaths, gently running her hands over her belly. 

Her stomach seemed to settle now, and she took an experimental bite of her salad. Nothing. The babies seemed to be calm now.

Emi sighed in relief. Good.

But all good things must come to an end. Nothing good would ever last, Emi knew that. But she could hope that she would make it through dinner unscathed instead of winding up in the emergency room at the nearest hospital, delivering her twin sons twenty minutes apart.

If you had told Fujiwara Emiko that her twins would arrive seven weeks early, she would have laughed at you and then called you completely crazy. Her boys wouldn’t do that to Mommy, no they loved her too much. And yet, that was exactly what was happening right now. The boys were coming and she was pushing and there was screaming and running and panicking and emi just wanted to be sleeping, but the doctors wouldn’t let her do that.

She had to get the babies out first, make sure that they were healthy and safe and okay and alive. That was what was most important. Emi could wait to sleep once they came out, she would do no good to her little ones if she passed out right now.

But let’s take a step back, shall we? 

See what Emi did to end up in this exact scenario that threatened not only her life, but those of her precious sons. Her appetite had disappeared again, and the kicks grew stronger. Rubbing her stomach proved to be an ineffective method of soothing the pain, so she stood up and began to walk slowly around.

Atsumu eyed her warily, most of the team did. They knew how much Emi meant to her husband, so if she was ever hurt, they’d all have her back (and have to hold Atsumu back, the man would foam at the mouth anytime anyone hurt his wife). Akaashi gave a wary glance at her over the rim of his teacup and she shakily smiled back. 

“I-I’m okay, don’t worry about me,” she said gently, rubbing her belly.

Akaashi smiled serenely. “I’m not worried, just keeping an eye on you,”

“All right...thank you.”

“Of course,”

Her breathing was shaky and she took small steps, trying not to aggravate anything. With each passing lap, the rest of the team gave her occasional wary looks, but she smiled through the stabbing pains and reassured everyone that she was okay, it was just the babies kicking their Mommy and generally not being very nice to her, as babies who do not know right from wrong are wont to do. 

So she didn’t stop her slow laps around the table, she knew that it would make her feel better. Or at least that it should make her feel better, that was what her doctor had said. Emi was willing to do anything at this point, the pain was incredibly annoying to deal with.

Unfortunately, as previously established, Fujiwara Emiko did not necessarily have luck on her side that night (but did she ever, really?)

Something started to gush from underneath her and she squeaked in alarm. “O-Oh, God...Atsumu! A-Atsu, something’s wrong!”

She felt faint, the rush from under her dress wouldn't stop. Atsumu rounded the table, holding her flush against his chest. There was commotion on all sides, Emi couldn’t stop and take stock of what was going on around her. She knew in the back of her mind that someone must have been calling an ambulance because Atsumu and Akaashi both gently lowered her to sit and then lay on a mat that some worried restaurant staff had gotten for her.

Emi sniffled, squeezing her husband’s hand. “Th-They’re not supposed to be here yet, Atsumu...th-they’re not supposed to,”

“I-I know, Emi. I-I know.” said Atsumu, squeezing Emi’s hand right back.

Meian Shuugo, their captain, led Atsumu away to get the ambulance. Emi and Akaashi stayed next to each other on the floor. 

“Does it hurt?” Akaashi asked gently. 

Emi shook her head. “N-Not yet...b-but my water shouldn’t have broken at all…”

“I know, Emi. I-I’m so sorry…”

“It’s okay...s’not your fault.”

Emi looked up at the black ceiling, blinking back tears. “I know Kaito was late...b-but did this ever happen with Yukie-san?”

Akaashi hummed mildly, squeezing Emi’s hand. “No, not really…”

Emi hummed and sighed. “All right.”

Akaashi smiled gently, humming a lullaby. Emi started to drift off when she was being picked up by the EMTs. 

“Don’t fall asleep,” said one of them gently. “We’ll have to see if you need to push,”

Emi blinked blearily. “R-Really? B-But the babies shouldn’t be c-coming...”

The EMT hummed, “Well, we still need to make sure that if you begin active labor, you’ll be awake for it.”

“Oh. Th-That makes sense, I guess.”

“Indeed, I suppose so. Oh, and I believe your husband is coming with you?”

The EMT looked at Akaashi and the male flushed, deeply embarrassed. “Ah, um. No, I’m not her husband,” he said, fiddling with his fingers. “Her husband should be arriving soon, though, along with mine.”

“Oh, my apologies,” said the EMT. “I didn’t realize,”

Emi hummed, rubbing her belly. “It’s fine...um, is Atsu here yet?”

He rushed over, finally free of Meian’s worries. “I-I’m here, Emi. I’m here,”

“Oh, hi, Atsu,” smiled Emi. “I love you,”

“I love you too,” he said softly. “Just stay calm,”

Emi hummed, “I know,” and passed out cold.

Atsumu looked down at his wife, a pit of dread swirling in his stomach. “E-Emi? Emi, th-this isn’t funny...this isn’t funny, pl-please wake up,”

“Sir,” said the other EMT gently, “Your wife will be in the best care we can give her.”

Atsumu nodded shakily. “O-Okay. I-I’ll be right back, I need to make a phone call.”

“Of course, we’ll get her comfortable in the meantime,”

Atsumu flicked open his phone with his thumb, calling Emi’s younger twin brother. “Moshi moshi, it’s Atsumu,” he said shakily.

On the other line, Daisuke yawned. “Moshi moshi,” he said sleepily. “What’s up, shitty hair?”

Atsumu blew a shaky breath out, laughing a bit at the fond nickname. Better than piss-head at least.

 “Um...a lot. It’s...It’s a lot and I’m scared and fuck, the babies aren’t supposed to be here yet, Daisuke! A-And her water broke and everything an-and the babies are gonna come and fuck , I’m scared, I’m scared they’ll die, they’re here too early! A-And one of the babies is way smaller than the other one, s-so it’s extra horrible and I don’t know what I’m gonna do about all this a-and—“

“ATSUMU!” shouted Daisuke on the other line. “I’ve been calling your name for the last minute or so. You need to slow down so I can actually understand what you’re saying,”

Atsumu shuddered. “S-Sorry, Dai. C-Could you just get ‘Samu?”

“Eh? Sure I guess. Gimme a sec,”

“‘Kay…”

Daisuke sighed and got off his chair. Atsumu had interrupted his late dinner, but he couldn’t help feel bad for his brother-in-law. After all, it wasn’t his idea for Emi’s babies to come this early. At the same time, he also understood Atsumu’s panic. The girls were barely two months old themselves, and Atsumu’s twins were months early. It was October 24th, and the twins weren’t due until Christmas at least.

“Osa! C’mere, Atsumu needs to talk to you!” he shouted.

Osamu yawned. “Comin’, Dai…” he said. Daisuke handed him the phone without another word and scuttled off to get his keys. 

“Hey, ‘Tsumu, whats up?” asked Osamu, taking a sip of the tea Dai had left on the table.

“Uh, the sky? My heart rate? My anxiety levels?”

“Woah, chill, edgelord. What’s the problem?”

“Um...is ‘Emi’s in labor’ a good answer?”

Osamu spat out the tea, sputtering, “‘Tsumu, that better not be a joke.”

Atsumu laughed emptily. “I wish it was a joke, cuz it’s not...the-they're taking Emi to the hospital and everything, the babies aren’t supposed to be here yet.”

“Shit...that sucks,”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Well...uh, Dai’s coming soon, so that should help, I think.”

“Thanks, ‘Samu,”

“‘Course, ‘Tsumu,”

Atsumu hung up and sighed. Bokuto came over, offering to drive Atsumu to the hospital, but he politely declined. Surely he’d want to be with his own son. 

“Don’t worry, I’m going with Emi,” he said, smiling gently. “But thanks for the offer Bokkun. Seriously, i-it means a lot,”

Bokuto smiled back. “Of course, it’s totally fine! Now go worry about Emi!”

“All right, all right. Maybe I will.”

He hopped into the ambulance next to Emi. She had woken up by now and was crying softly. “Why’d you boys want to come out so early? A-At least couldn’t you have waited another month?”

But the twins didn’t answer her. Instead Atsumu did, gently carding his fingers through her hair. “Maybe they wanted to see how good Daddy is at volleyball?” he quipped.

Emi snorted, swatting Atsumu fondly. “Well, they could’ve stayed inside for that. I was narrating the whole game for them,”

Atsumu had to hold back an “Aww,” when she said that. “That’s real cute,” he said instead.

He rubbed her belly, "And h-hey, just take it easy on your mom, little guys," he said.

Clearly, the babies didn’t listen. Furious little kicks assaulted his hands and Emi whimpered. “B-Boys, please stop,”

They kept ignoring her and Emi continued to cry softly all the way to the hospital. She was so stressed. The twins would kick wherever Atsumu put his hands until Emi had finally had enough and had to ask Atsumu to stop rubbing her belly. 

“Th-Then they shouldn’t kick anymore,” she said. “A-At least they shouldn’t,”

Atsumu sighed. “Well, that was a bit rude of them.”

“They’re babies.”

“Still rude.”

“Babies!”

“Rude!”

Emi laughed through her tears before another sharp pain overtook her. The EMT looked down, humming approvingly. “You’re dilating rather well. If this keeps up, we’ll be able to get them right out of your belly when we arrive,”

“Oh...oh, okay,” said Emi. “There’s probably not much to do to keep them in, right?”

“With how much you’ve dilated, that’s not likely,”

Atsumu looked down nervously. “An-And that means they’ll be born early, right?”

“Right,”

He sighed.

She sighed. 

Now that they had arrived at the hospital and Emi was resting comfortably, the contractions had seemed to slow again. So too did the dilation. She just had about another centimeter to go, but it seemed like neither baby wanted to put in the effort. 

She flopped against the pillows with a frustrated groan. “If you wanna pop, then pop! Don’t do this to me, not right now. We could be eating Mochi ice cream...or smoothies, or Mochi ice cream smoothies...b-but I can’t! Come out already!”

Neither baby seemed interested in complying. Emi resigned herself to looking at the ceiling in boredom. She wanted her phone, but Atsumu had taken it, saying it would only make her more stressed. 

“Please come out,” she said softly, rubbing her belly absently. “Please. I want to meet you, your Daddy wants to meet you. Your Baba and Jiji and your uncles too. We’re all so excited, so please come out,”

As if her pleas were answered, another flurry of kicks began. Emi gasped sharply. She felt something move. The nurse next to her looked over and smiled. “Let’s see if you’re ready now.”

She peeked over and gave a small sound of satisfaction. “Excellent. I’ll get the doctor and your husband, it’s time to push.”

“ Finally ,” mumbled Emi. “Maybe I can get some sushi after this.”

Atsumu and her doctor came in just as the nurse had said and Atsumu gently squeezed his wife’s hand. Emi smiled at him. “I want sushi when this is over,” she said plainly. “Tuna and salmon.”

Atsumu chuckled. “Already on it, babe. Texted ‘Samu to bring us some once we’re done here.”

“Goo—ack!”

The babies were coming. They were coming. 

“Fuck.” Emi said. “Fuck, it doesn’t even hurt that bad…”

“Probably the adrenaline,” said one nurse. “Same thing happened with my own baby,”

Emi nodded, “Ah. Twins?”

“No, single one, I’m afraid. Rather slow though. Just breathe through it,”

Emi nodded again. But she was getting bored. It hurt and it hurt a lot, but not so much that she couldn’t think clearly. In fact, she knew exactly what she was thinking of. 

“You,” she said, addressing Atsumu. “Are an idiot.”

Atsumu turned pink. “Emi, what’d I do now?” 

She huffed. Atsumu continued to stare confusedly. “Seriously, what did I do wrong? I-I’m sorry if that helps?”

Emi just groaned and dropped it. 

Ah. Hormones. 

The realization was somewhat comforting, Emi wasn’t actually mad at him. Just tired. So Atsumu smiled and gently said, “You got this,”

And she did. 

The first baby was out. Finally out. 

But he wasn’t doing well and that was when the fear came roaring back. 

Miya Hiroaki, born 1:37am on the 25th of October only weighed 2-pounds and 8-ounces. He looked small enough to fit in the palm of Atsumu’s hand, but he didn’t get to test that theory as the nurses took away his baby to get him set up in his NICU incubator. 

They didn’t get to see Hiro before he was taken away, Emi needed to prepare for his brother. There wouldn’t be much to see though, their tiny baby wasn’t crying when he exited the womb like the other babies did on all of Dai’s shitty medical dramas. No sound was heard when the nurses left with him, and that scared Atsumu. 

No baby of his should be that quiet. Absolutely not. If you asked anyone that knew him as a child, not once would they describe him as quiet. 

But he couldn’t dwell on that right now. Emi needed him and so did their other son. Haru. 

Taking much less time than his brother, Haru was out exactly twenty minutes and fifteen seconds after Hiro at 1:57 am. He was a bit bigger, and would probably fit perfectly in Atsumu’s palm, as he weighed 3 pounds and 4 ounces. 

Neither of them were at ideal weights. They were seven entire weeks early, though. Almost two months to the day.

But they were alive. They were alive. Even Hiro’s scare, of not breathing and forcing Atsumu to give him CPR, hadn’t been enough to truly hurt them. 

Emi was exhausted after the ordeal, though. As soon as the nurses and doctors left, she fell fast asleep, holding Atsumu’s hand gently. 

When she woke up hours later, Emi wanted only two things. Her babies and sushi. 

Preferably in that order. 

While she ordered some from Daisuke and Osamu, the nurses wheeled in the twins’ incubators. Emi perked up and stared at the babies in wonder. Those two tiny humans had come out of her . 

“Hi boys,” she said softly. 

She nudged Atsumu awake and he beamed at the boys. “Welcome to the world, little guys,”

And since that night, Emi finally felt okay. No, better than okay. She had her perfect husband, their even more perfect babies, and “My fucking sushi!”