Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

My mother tells me that I have a terrible habit. It's not my fault... not really... I can't help it if my favorite place to read is under the tree in our backyard... it's so comfy... I can't help it if I tend to fall asleep there... it's not like I go there to take a nap.

My eyes fluttered open slowly. On the ground just in front of me laid the book of been reading. Probably lost my page again. As I moved to stretch and sit back up, I stopped. Something was curled up next to me.

Now, I knew there was a stray cat in the area that was rather friendly... but this wasn't a cat. It's a fox. Naturally, my first instinct is panic, but I do my best to stay calm. If I scared it, there was a good chance that it would turn aggressive.

The best thing I can think of is to stay still. After a minute, it lazily opened its eyes, staring straight at me. It gives a bit of a stretch and a yawn before sitting up. Its ears give a little twitch and then it runs off.

If it had only been that one time, I would have simply brushed it off and believed it to simply be a dream. That wasn't the only time though. He came around every day after that... and I knew it was a he simply because of the way he'd shamelessly slept on his back, legs spread and quite clearly showing off a pair of balls between his legs the third time he'd appeared. If he were a human and not a fox, that would be rather concerning.

He'd quickly become my napping buddy. Soon though, he started coming earlier, appearing before I would fall asleep.

We'd spend hours together under the tree. I'd talk to him about anything and everything... including my current boyfriend and how things had seemed off lately. For a minute, I even entertained the idea of breaking up with him. I'd probably never do it though.

The fox always seemed content to listen and simply be petted. Of course, that didn't mean he acted like a perfect little angel. Oh hell no. He had quite the tendency to act out in strange ways.

Like there were times he'd steal my cup of pudding. I didn't even think a fox would like pudding.

Or that time he tried sticking his nose up and under my skirt. "You can't do that," I'd told him, pushing him back and using a hand to hold my skirt down. As if he could actually understand what I was saying... he sure understood the little smack on the nose though.

That wasn't the worst though. Oh no... One of the times I'd woken from my sudden nap, I found him sitting a few feet away from me, a piece of cloth in his jaws. It only takes a few seconds to realize that it's a pair of panties... one of mine actually... Wait, wasn't that the same pair that I put just this morning? One quick check with my hand and I confirm that yes, those had in fact been the ones that I was wearing... or rather, had been wearing. Little bastard stole my underwear... while I was wearing them...

I never did get them back... he ran off with them to whole knows where...

This fox... he certainly was something else. If nothing else, he sure knew how to be memorable... In no time, I'd gotten so used to him showing up that I started to actually wait for him.

Today, I'd ended up falling asleep while waiting for him to show. When I woke, I didn't feel him beside me like I usually would. For a minute, I worried that he'd gone and stolen my panties again. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

I sat up, frowning when spotted my phone laying on the grass. Now I was sure I didn't leave it there. As I picked it up, my face fell when I saw the message on the screen.

I never really liked you anyway

The hell? One look at the name and the number said that it was my boyfriend. Or I guess it's about to be ex... Scrolling up through the messages, I was horrified.

It started with a text from me. I think we should break up. Only... I'd never sent such a message. His response seemed normal enough, simply asking why. The response that came from my side... that was unexpected... It claimed that he was cheating.

He didn't even try to deny it... instead opting to ask who had told me. Shockingly, a name was given. Atsumu.

That made me scowl. The only Atsumu I knew of was Atsumu Miya, who went to the same school as me. I was at least a thousand percent sure that I'd never once spoken to him in my life.

Sure, he was hot. There was no denying that. He was kind of a jerk though. Not to mention more than a bit stuck up. In no way was he remotely my type... neither in a romantic way nor in a purely friendly way.

That wasn't the problem at hand though. The problem was that I sure as hell wasn't the one who had sent those messages. Of course, no one was around... except for the fox who was sitting quietly only a few feet away.

There was no way that it was him. Sure, he'd gotten away with stealing my panties, but I refused to believe he'd been able to take my phone and break up with my boyfriend for me over some texts.

Just thinking that sounded insane... then again, it sounded just as weird to say that a fox had stolen my panties...

My gaze locked on him and I saw his ears pin back. No. Absolutely not. He slowly crawled his way over, stopping to sit just in front of me. I knew what shame looked like, and this was certainly it. It couldn't be physically possible... right?

In a mere blink, the fox in front of me is gone and in his place is a boy my age. One look at that blonde hair and I know.

"You... you wanted to do it..."

It wasn't his place to do it for me.

Many emotions surged within me. Pain... Betrayal... Sadness... but the strongest of all? Anger.

I was absolutely pissed. Him being a pervert? I could have overlooked that. Stealing my pudding all the time? It was good pudding, so how could I blame him? Stealing my panties was a bit fucked up, but that I could have forgiven...

But this? No... No, I couldn't forgive that. He had absolutely no right to do something like that. Cheating boyfriend or not, it had nothing to do with him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shoved him away and stormed inside. His face was the absolute last thing that I wanted to see right now.

Chapter Text

After I'd shoved him, Atsumu seemed to have gotten the hint that I didn't want to see him. He left without a fuss... which I was grateful for. I wasn't in the right mind to hold a conversation with him.

The next day though, I didn't sit under the tree. Of course, I was still very upset with him. Unfortunately, Atsumu still showed up in his fox form, as if nothing had happened.

I didn't go out to meet him though. He ended up sitting at the back door, simply staring inside with sad eyes. No doubt he wanted to make me feel sorry for him and just forget what he did. That wasn't going to happen.

For a while, I managed to push him out of my mind. My mother had questioned why I hadn't wanted to spend time with my napping buddy when she saw him staring in, but I simply told her to ignore him. She didn't ask after that and I assumed that he had gone home after a while.

It's not until after dinner when I'm finishing up with washing the dishes that I think of him again. There's the pattering of rain on the roof. It's been raining for a couple of hours now...

For a moment, I wonder if he actually did go home... or if he was still there waiting by the door. The thought alone pains my heart. Surely he wasn't that stupid... but as much as I want to think that, I can't help but check.

No more than a minute later, I'm wrapping that soaking wet idiot fox in a towel and carrying him inside.

"I can't believe you..." I sighed, setting him on the couch, still wrapped up in the towel. He's shivering so much... but that's what he gets for sitting out there in the rain for hours. "Why couldn't you just go home?"

Atsumu didn't answer, only stared at me weakly as I tried to dry him off. One towel definitely wasn't going to be enough... "You're really lucky that I'm not a heartless bitch... and even luckier that I even thought about checking on you.  Would you have sat there all night if I didn't?"

Again, he didn't say a word and just looked up at me. His eyes remind me of a sad puppy... with just a glimmer of something else. Hope, maybe? Hope that maybe, just maybe, I'll forgive him. Forgiveness doesn't come that easily.

As I tried to dry more of his fur, he crawled forward. His paws creeping up to my shoulders as he pressed himself to my chest. Some sort of weird hug, I guess?

The sound of the doorbell catches my attention and I go to stand, but Atsumu won't let go. With a sigh, I simply pick him up and carry him with me to the door. My shirt is going to be all wet after this, but it's better than having to pry this guy off me.

When I open the door, it's not much of a surprise that Osamu is there. From the look on his face, he'd come here solely to get Atsumu. Maybe he'd assumed he'd be here when Atsumu hadn't come home.

"The hell ya doing botherin' her?" Osamu reaches for the fox in my arms. Atsumu only clung to me, his paws hooking over my shoulders in an attempt to hold on. His face buried itself in my neck. A silent plea to not let Osamu take him.

Osamu removed his hands and instead crossed his arms. "Haven't ya done enough? Let her be already."

Atsumu only clung tighter. He's still shaking, but this time I'm not sure if it's from being cold and wet or just fear... fear that if he lets go, he'll lose what little chance he has.

It's enough to tug at my heartstrings... and I can't help but bring a hand up to gently pet his head. I should still be mad at him... but he's making that really difficult. "I... it's okay if he stays for a little bit... I think... I think there are a few things that we need to talk about..."

Talking to him is the last thing I want to do right now and I'm pretty sure that Osamu can tell that, but he doesn't mention it. Instead, his words are aimed at his twin that was in my arms. "Don't go and fuck this up too. I won't help ya fix it. This is yer only chance."

It's not until Osamu had left and I'm sitting back on the couch that Atsumu relaxed. He let me finally pry him off and set him on the towel that I'd been using to dry him.

Those pitiful puppy eyes are still staring at me. "You can't just guilt me into forgiving you." It's far too soon to forgive him, but he really is making it hard to stay mad. "Cheater or not, it wasn't your decision to make." Sure, I would have broken up with the guy if I'd found out he was cheating, but that wasn't the point here. "What were you thinking? Better yet, why did you even care in this first place?"

Atsumu placed a paw on my knee but still didn't say anything. "Atsumu, this is the point where you really need to start talking," I sighed. Clearly, he wasn't going to apologize... or even explain himself. "Forget it. I'm going to bed."

As I moved to stand, he grabbed hold of my shirt. Another silent plea. "Atsumu, you never shut up any other time. Now start talking or I'm going to call Osamu and have him take you."

It's a bluff and he knows it. He knows that I don't have his number... and I certainly don't know where he lives either. Even knowing that, it's still enough to get him to talk. "I'm not sorry," he said, letting go. "I'll never be sorry for breaking ya up. He was a jerk and I know ya would be better off without him."

Well... at least he was being honest about it. He backed up, sitting down before looking at me. "And I'm not sorry for the other stuff either. I'd do it all again just to get ya to notice me."

I can't help the way that a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Ever the shameless one... but I suppose that was Atsumu for you. "Atsumu, I'm not mad about the other things. Well, maybe a little about the underwear. I liked that pair... but that's beside the point." I tried to ignore the way he pinned his ears back. "Why did you do it? It's not like there was anything between us..."

His ears seemed to drop even further. "So I didn't have a chance at all?"

"Atsumu, until yesterday you were just some random fox who kept taking naps with me." It's a harsh fact for him, but it needed to be said. "This is the first time we've ever even talked." I wasn't counting yesterday, because that wasn't really much of a talk. More like I yelled at him.

"I tried to." He laid down, chin on my knee. "Every time I could get near ya, you would leave or someone else would get in the way... or ya would fall asleep..." He gave a small sigh. "I... I saw him, ya know? With that other girl... It pissed me off... How could he do that to ya? Ya don't deserve that... When I found ya sleeping again, I just kinda did it. I'm not sorry I did it... I'm just sorry that it made ya mad..."

The way he said it, it seemed like he wanted to play it off as being for my sake, but really, it was for his own selfish reasons. I let out a sigh and looked away from him. "That still doesn't make it any better."

A hand touched my cheek, turning me back to face him before lips met mine. The kiss is soft and a lot sweeter than I would have expected of Atsumu. I don't push him away, but I also don't kiss him back. No, I let him have his moment and don't react.

"Atsumu, I'm not going to date you." He frowned at my words. "I literally broke up with my boyfriend yesterday... I'm not just going to jump right into a relationship... so not yet, okay?"

I swear I could see his ears perk up. "Yet? You mean I've still got a shot?"

"You would have had more of a chance if you just told me instead of breaking up with him for me, but yes. You still have a chance... but you do have to give back my underwear that you stole."

"No. They're mine now."

"Pervert. If you don't give them back, then you can't steal my heart."

"I'll do it anyway."

Chapter Text

Life after high school settled into a rather simple routine. While everyone was running off to college and to chase their dreams, I stayed behind in my old hometown and took a job in a little flower shop that my grandmother had.

As I arranged a few of the flowers that I was currently working with, something furry brushed up against my leg. I looked down just in time to see a furry tail disappear under the table and a few seconds later, a fox head poke out and stare up at me.

I set down the flowers in my hands and gave the fox a little scratch behind the ear. It reminded me of years ago when the happiest times I had were the moments I shared with a certain kitsune... one who would constantly steal my pudding and once even stole a pair of my underwear.

Atsumu... We never did end up dating. By the time that I'd started to come around to the idea and felt ready to take on a new relationship, he's started to seem like he'd lost any interest in me. It's not like I could blame him though; I'd kept him waiting for so long that he must have figured that it wasn't whether the hassle.

This fox at my feet is probably a kitsune like Atsumu. The area was surprisingly full of them. Before getting to know the blonde Miya, I would have probably never known.

Many took a liking to living as foxes... or so Atsumu had told me once. Not all kitsune lived that way. Many liked living among humans. Most of the towns surrounding our hometown were mainly populated by kitsune... and some werefoxes too. Atsumu had gotten mad when I'd thought that the two were the same thing.

I crouched down, putting myself closer to the fox's level. As I scratched its ears, I smiled softly. "You remind me of Atsumu..." I said softly, thinking about the kitsune I had known. "You couldn't be him though...  he's off living his dream in who knows where..."

Actually, Kita had told me that he was playing for a team based out of Osaka, so that was at least a clue. Still, I hadn't talked to the blonde in so long... it had been a few years at least.

The fox tilted his head at me. It felt like he was asking "Who's Atsumu?" I doubt that he was, but it was comforting to think about it.

"I miss him... I doubt he even remembers me though..." Sighing, I stood back up and brushed myself off. "You're not supposed to be back here. If you're here for some flowers, you'll have to go back into the shop. Otherwise, I have to get back to work."

The fox stared at me for a moment before turning and running off into the front room that was the main part of the shop. It's not the first time a kitsune has wandered in... and I doubt it will be the last.

I turned my attention back to the flowers of been arranging before the interruption. I finish it up quickly and put it in its place before returning to the shop. As I entered the room, a young couple was coming in.

It takes no time at all to help them find exactly what they're looking for. Something about the male seemed very familiar though... like I've seen him somewhere.

"Have... have we met before?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

The male shrugged. "If you're from around here, then probably... or you've probably met my brother." The woman was quiet, thankfully not bothered by the fact that I was staring at her boyfriend. "Osamu Miya," he said when I failed to put the clues together.

"Wait, seriously?" Without his hair dyed, I almost didn't recognize him. "I never would have guessed was it was you..."

We chatted a bit, catching up on the past few years. Osamu was still living with Atsumu, for now. The formerly grey-haired twin was currently the owner of Onigiri Miya, while his blonde brother was the setter for the MSBY Black Jackals. Hearing that, I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Osamu?" The male hummed in response. "Do me a favor and tell Atsumu that I said he's still a stupid panty-thieving fox."

"It was one time!"

At the sound of the voice, I froze. I'd know his voice anywhere... Glancing in that direction, I saw him. Well, more accurately, it was the fox from earlier. I'm not sure why I didn't recognize him... well, maybe I did know... It's been years since I've seen him and to be fair, a lot of kitsune look alike when they're in fox form.

His fox form seemed bigger than I remembered. It's been years though, so for all I knew, he was the same.

"Atsumu..." As my attention became focused on my fox friend, Osamu and his girl slipped out of the shop, turning the sign to say Closed and making the door lock behind them.

He looked everywhere but right at me as he gave a half-smile. "It's been a while... Ya seem like you're doing alright..."

"Not as well as you, from what I hear..." This felt awkward. It's been so long since the last time we talked... the last time I'd seen him was back when we'd graduated. We texted a little bit here there at first, but by the end of a year, we'd simply grown apart and stopped talking. He got busy with college and volleyball... and I had my job.

Atsumu looked at his paws. "'Samu's planning to propose to his girl tonight... I know she'll say yes... They're pretty perfect for each other..." He's stalling, it seemed. I'm not about to interrupt him though. "Human marriage doesn't mean much of anything to us kitsune, but we... we mate for life, ya know? It may take us a while to find who we want for our mate, but even Osamu was able to find his... Well, I technically found her for him, but that's besides the point..."

He finally looked up at me. "I... I thought that I found mine... but I didn't realize that there were so many things in the way of getting her..." I'm not sure why he's telling me about this. "First it was a boyfriend... and I was prepared to just move on, but then I learned that she wasn't all that into him anymore. Then I saw him screwing around with someone else and took matters into my own hands and split them up... but that only made her mad at me... She hated that I didn't come to her first... but even when I tried to go about things the normal way, she was still just out of reach..."

It was pretty clear at this point that he had been talking about me. The fact that he'd thought that I might end up being his mate was sweet, even if it was a bit weird.

It's then that he shifts from fox to human... and the effect that it has on me is quite startling.

I took a step back, only to hit the edge of the counter. There was no way that this was fair... absolutely not. He had been pretty hot back when we were in high school... so how in the hell did he manage to get hotter? Life is cruel...

Atsumu moved a little closer, but still kept some distance between us. "When we stopped talking, I tried to forget about you... Tried going out with other women... but could never seem to get over you." He moved a little closer, bringing a hand up to my cheek. "Kita told me that you weren't seeing anyone, so I thought that maybe I'd give it just one last shot... if you'll even give me a chance."

"You're really stupid, Atsumu," I said as I closed my eyes. His thumb brushed over my cheek. "You left me right when I was finally ready to give you a chance..."

I felt him move a little, trapping me in place. "I still have them, you know... They don't smell like you anymore, but just knowing that they're yours... and that it meant that I would always be able to use it as some kind of excuse to see you again... it was enough."

"Atsumu... you..." I opened my eyes and looked up at him. The words caught in my throat. Had he always been this tall?

He can see it, I'm sure. Atsumu can tell that I'm flustered. It's not just because of his more matured appearance... I'm being reminded of the way I'd started to feel for him... and of all those times we'd shared, both before and after I'd discovered that my fox napping buddy was one of the famous Miya twins.

His lips quickly found my own. I didn't hesitate to kiss him back. It lasted only a moment. "Been wanting to do that for so long..."

"You've kissed me before though..."

"Doesn't count. You wouldn't kiss me back, remember?" I do remember... That had just so happened to be the day after he'd broken up with my boyfriend. "You were really mad at me... but you still were willing to let me have a chance to win you over... You really didn't have to do that."

No, I really didn't. Honestly, it would have been a lot smarter to have ended things back then, but I didn't... I couldn't bring myself to shut him out then... just like I can't tell him no right now.

Atsumu leaned in again. "If you don't tell me no, then I'm not going to stop..." He started to lean in further, only for his expression to fall when I put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Not here." Immediately he perked up. It wasn't a rejection. "My place is just upstairs..."

Atsumu didn't need to be told twice... he took my hand and led the way, eager to get the girl he'd waited so long for...