where heaven lies

LIES

"study hard at school."

your dad said before you left the house to go to school. you exited the hellhole with a smile on your face, the thoughts of you meeting with your boyfriend had lightened up the mood.

the walk to school was short. you didn't live too far away from school. you were grateful you could walk to school so you didn't need to hitch a ride from your parents. you shivered at the thought of being in the same car as them every school morning until you graduated, that would be torture.

when you entered inarizaki high, you spotted your boyfriend being cornered by fangirls confessing their crushes to him. you laughed as your boyfriend rejected them in the rudest way possible. it was mean, yes, but his replies were too humorous.

"go on a date with you? i'll tell ya somethin'. ya know where you should go? away. now shoo, squealing pigs."

as soon as atsumu's eyes landed on you, his mood made a complete 180°, "n/n! good morning, little sponge."

atsumu engulfed you in a hug, squeezing away all the sadness from yesterday. you felt light, like a burden had been lifted off your shoulders, like the sun finally shined on you. atsumu's hugs were always filled with only warmth and love, something your parents couldn't provide you with.

you were a sponge, as atsumu liked to call you. when you were with your parents, you filled up with all their stress, rage and burdens. you tried to wash up after their mistakes but it wouldn't work as you were too full of their bull and atsumu was there to clean up after them, squeezing away all your negative emotions and taking good care of you.

atsumu was a good brand of soap and a good dishwasher and your parents were the complete opposite. it was a weird analogy but it was somehow accurate.

"good morning, 'tsu." you greeted, eyes filled with light and lips curved into a smile—a complete contrast from the previous night when your eyes were filled with tears and you choked out sobs.

school was unbearable. you had close to zero close friends, you were doing badly in your academics and you had a burning hatred for your club activity. you also hated the food and the hierarchy in your school but all of that seemed to go away whenever you had atsumu by your side.

he was your rainbow after the storm, the reason behind most of your smiles, the warm sun after a cold night, an easy kanji character to read after figuring out the meaning of the scary-looking one before it. he was your other half and he was so, so bright. he was so bright, he was the sparkle in your eyes.

but rainbows go away, smiles drop, the sun sets, difficult kanji characters will be encountered again.

time had passed by and your school day ended. the rainbow of hair that belonged to the inarizaki volleyball team became smaller and smaller until you saw a single colour; yellow. you could feel your cheerful expression slowly change into a pained one as the sun set and a new, upsetting text from your mother.

atsumu had a big grin on his face when he came up to you. his fingers intertwined with yours as he rambled on about his practice to you. he spoke very highly of the sport he loved and the team he had been blessed to play with. the burning passion in his eyes was contagious as you soon found yourself talking about your own passion too, coaching volleyball.

you loved teaching others and you were quite great at the sport but your parents didn't let you sign up for the team in fear it would affect your studies even further. atsumu loved the way your voice sounded as you began to talk about how much you missed coaching him. you had taught atsumu almost everything he knew about volleyball. you were the one who had motivated him to pursue the sport beyond a gym lesson syllabus.

you sounded so happy, like you had no worries in the world and you were at peace. and you were at the most peace you've ever felt since your grandmother left and it was because of the pisshead next to you.

your feet stopped moving and you let go of atsumu's hand, turning to your side and wrapping your arms around atsumu's neck, burying your face in his chest. you breathed in his scent, never wanting to let go because even though atsumu was walking you back to your house, you didn't want to go...

because he was your home.