Chapter Text
Hinata creeps his way through the front door. He peeks around as he toes his shoes off for anyone in the living room. It looks…empty.
Where are Kenma and Atsumu?
Hinata frowns as he moves further into the house. He doesn’t think that they left. Sakusa would have known something about Atsumu having plans, and he hadn’t let onto that when Hinata had left with Kageyama. Kageyama bumps into Hinata’s back.
“What are you doing?” Kageyama asks rather loudly. Hinata shushes him, clamping a hand over Kageyama’s mouth. Kageyama wrenches himself away from Hinata. “What the hell?!”
“The baby!” Hinata looks around for any signs of an upset baby. He doesn’t hear or see anything, so he continues further into the house. “Kenma and Eikou are here right now.”
Kageyama rolls his eyes. “We aren’t going to wake the baby up by coming in the house.” Kageyama pushes past Hinata and heads straight for the kitchen. “You want anything?”
Hinata shakes his head. “No. I’m gonna go look for Kenma and say hi.” Hinata heads down the hall that leads to the nursery. Maybe he’s in there right now? He could be getting things together for Eikou to sleep there. Hinata slowly opens the door to the nursery and pokes his head in. He smiles widely at the sight of Kenma, Akaashi, and Atsumu sitting on the ground. They’re all eating onigiri and sorting clothes. “Hey, guys!”
“Oh. Is it that late already?” Akaashi glances at his phone for the time. He sighs heavily before standing up. “I should get back to work.” Atsumu and Kenma both frown. Akaashi grimaces. “Don’t make those faces.”
“You work too hard,” Kenma says.
Atsumu nods in agreement. “And too much. Yer boss is takin’ advantage of ya.” Akaashi sighs again.
“Well, there isn’t much I can do. It’s not like Japan is bursting at the seams with qualified manga editors to take over our department.” Akaashi snags another onigiri from the plate in front of them all. Hinata takes a seat between Atsumu and Kenma.
“You are.” Hinata helps himself to the snack, taking a huge first bite. Maybe he should have taken Kageyama up on that offer of food. Oh, well. He’ll just eat this. “You should apply for the position.”
“Oh, no.” Akaashi’s face goes red. “No, I can’t do that. I don’t have anywhere near enough experience.”
Atsumu rolls his eyes. “Ya say that, but yer boss gave ya all the responsibilities of a department head with none o’ the benefits. Ya might as well be doin’ half yer job fer free!” Akaashi frowns at that. “Ya should apply.”
Akaashi purses his lips as he heads for the door. “I’ll…I’ll think about it.”
Akaashi closes the door behind him, leaving Hinata, Atsumu, and Kenma in the room. Kenma blows out a breath, making the loose strands of hair in his face fly up for a moment. “We’re going to have to get Koutarou to apply for him again.”
“Again?” Hinata looks at Atsumu and Kenma, confused. “What do you mean again?”
“Bokkun secretly applied at Akaashi-kun’s current company fer him.” Atsumu places a hand on his stomach and pats it gently. “’Kaashi-kun got cold feet when it came ta goin’ ta the interview, but Bokkun pushed him ta go, and now he’s got his dream job.”
Hinata nods. “Hmm, I never would have thought that.” Kenma shrugs. Hinata finally notices the bundle resting in the crib behind Kenma. He gasps. “Is that…?”
“Hm?” Kenma turns around as well to see what Hinata is looking at. “Oh, yeah. This is Eikou.”
Hinata shoots up from his seat to get a better look at him. He coos down at his adorable and squished face. He’s swaddled tightly, but a single hand has managed to escape. He smiles softly as he presses a finger into Eikou’s palm. “Nice to meet you,” Hinata whispers. He looks back to Kenma. “He’s adorable.”
Kenma smiles, looking proud. “Thanks. Where’s your shadow?”
“In the kitchen.” As Hinata says that, Kageyama enters the room. He looks hesitant, but Kenma welcomes him into the room. Kageyama stops short of the group of omegas still, so Hinata meets him halfway. “What’s up?”
“Is that the baby?” Kageyama looks apprehensive as he looks at the crib. Hinata nods. Kageyama hands over the plate of food he had brought with him. “I made this for you.”
“Oh, thanks.” Hinata happily takes it and retakes a seat on the ground. “You don’t have to be so nervous.” Hinata tugs on Kageyama’s hand to get him to sit as well. “It’s just a baby.”
“But what if I make him upset?” Kageyama sounds and looks genuinely worried. “Aren’t babies more sensitive around alphas that aren’t their parent?”
Kenma chuckles at Kageyama and Hinata narrows his eyes at him. Kenma quickly sobers up, realizing that now isn’t the time to be laughing at Kageyama’s expense. He takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” Kenma apologizes. Kageyama nods once. “It’s just that if I thought you being in here would be a problem, I would have said something by now.”
Kageyama nods again. “I think I’ll still stay over here. It looks like he’s sleeping.” Kageyama sees the piles of clothes strewn about the floor. “Can I help?”
“Yeah, help me up off this floor.” Atsumu holds his hands out. “My hips’re killin’ me.” Kageyama rushes up and helps Atsumu stand. Atsumu pats Kageyama on the shoulder. “See? Yer not like those other knot head alphas that make babies cry.”
“Huh?” Kageyama whips around. “So, I could make him cry?”
“You’re not going to.” Hinata pats Kageyama’s leg in an effort to calm him down. “You have great control over your scent and you’re not domineering unless you feel like you have to be. You’re not going to do anything to upset Eikou.” Kageyama sits down near the clothes and begins neatly folding them.
“If you guys are sure…” Kageyama trails off.
“We are.” Kenma stretches and stands up to check on Eikou. He adjusts his blanket before checking the time. He curses under his breath. “I have a phone conference I have to get on in 15 minutes. Can you keep an eye on him? He should sleep through the whole thing.”
Hinata nods and gives Kenma a thumbs up. “Yeah, we’ll just fold this stuff up for you.” Atsumu moves the rocking chair closer and sits down in it. He makes grabby hands and Hinata passes over some of the shirts and onesies.
“We’ll come get ya if we need ta, don’t worry. Eikou is safe with us.” Atsumu sounds the most genuine Kenma’s ever heard him. He hesitates for another second before finally leaving the room. He needs to get himself presentable for the zoom call.
////
“I’m back!”
Bokuto kicks the door shut behind him. He balances all of the pizza and sides that he went out to buy in both arms as he toes his shoes off. Akaashi comes to help him bring everything in. Bokuto frowns at the tired look on Akaashi’s face. “Keiji, what’s wrong?”
“Hm?” Akaashi yawns as they make it to the dining room and sets the food down on the table. “Oh, nothing. Just tired from work.”
Bokuto sets the pizza down and places his hands on Akaashi’s shoulders. He begins to massage them, trying to get the tension out of them. Akaashi sighs and leans back into Bokuto. “Was it a rough day?”
“Still no new supervisor.” Akaashi closes his eyes and Bokuto holds him against his chest. “So, I just have extra work. It’s no big deal.”
“Uh huh,” Bokuto says. He doesn’t believe Akaashi at all. “Where is everyone else?”
Akaashi pushes off of Bokuto and grabs the paper plates he had already set out. “In the theater room. They wanted to watch a movie altogether. Except Kuroo is with Eikou getting him ready for bed right now.” Akaashi plates himself up some food and turns around to face Bokuto. “Do you wanna join them?”
“Do you?” Bokuto can see just how exhausted Akaashi is from the day he’s already had. Akaashi smiles softly and nods. “Okay, then. Let’s go.” Bokuto quickly grabs a couple slices of pizza and follows Akaashi down the hall to the theater room. When they make it to the theater room, Bokuto kind of wishes he had just brought the pizza boxes down the hall for everyone. They’re all settled in under blankets and chatting quietly.
“Oh, hey, Bokuto-san!” Hinata is the first to notice Bokuto’s entrance. “Is the food in the kitchen?”
“Dining room,” Bokuto answers. Hinata nods and hops up, dragging Kageyama along with him. The youngest pair of their pack are out of the room in a flash of quiet bickering. Bokuto blinks as he takes his seat. “Did I take too long?”
“Huh?” Atsumu starts up out of his seat slightly. Sakusa shushes him and guides him back to laying against Sakusa’s chest. “Mm, no. Just waitin’ fer dinner ta start the movie.” Atsumu yawns. Bokuto holds back a smile at the sight of Atsumu so obviously wiped out from a day of sitting around the house. Pregnancy has really changed the night owl.
“I hope they bring it in here,” Osamu mumbles. He winces as Suna digs a thumb into the bottom of his foot. “My legs are killin’ me.”
“Really?” Bokuto asks him. Osamu nods, wincing again as Suna continues his massage. Bokuto frowns. “Did you get new shoes or something?”
“New floorin’.” Osamu sinks back into the couch in an effort to relax. He breathes deeply as Suna’s hands move further up and begin working out tension. “And I spent the whole day runnin’ back and forth from the front and the kitchen ‘cause one o’ my workers called in sick.”
“You should’ve just made it to-go only,” Suna chides. Osamu doesn’t answer, but Bokuto can see the same annoyed twitch of his brow that Atsumu gets. “Your feet and legs agree with me.”
“It’s just gonna take some gettin’ used ta, that’s all.” Osamu pulls his leg away and lays the other one in Suna’s lap. “Anyway, ‘s not like ‘m gonna be doin’ this all the time.”
“Well,” Kenma speaks up, “you said the new flooring was supposed to help with this, right?” Osamu nods in answer to Kenma’s question. “Then, it’s probably just your body adjusting. Everything will be fine.”
“See?” Osamu gestures at Kenma. “Ya should listen ta Kenma, Rin. He knows what’s up.” Suna rolls his eyes, earning a light kick to his chest. He grunts, narrowing his eyes at his mate. Osamu looks around the room. “Who did that?”
The rest of the pack falls into a fit of laughter as Kageyama and Hinata reenter the room. Their arms are filled tot eh brim with pizza, plates, and napkins for everyone to eat and use. Hinata sets it all on the floor at the front of the room and turns around with a large smile. “Great! Now, let’s watch a horror movie!”
Groans fill the room and Hinata pouts. “Aww! Why not?!”
“Because you’re the biggest wimp in here,” Kageyama gripes, but Bokuto can tell that he’s feels nothing but endearment towards Hinata. “Besides, it’s supposed to be a relaxing night.”
“An action movie?” Akaashi suggests. That earns a few murmurs of agreement. “Something that we don’t have to think too much about.”
“Sounds good to me.” Kenma throws himself into Akaashi’s side, picking at his pizza toppings. Akaashi wraps an arm around his shoulders. “Who would have thought that being a part-time CEO would be so exhausting?”
Sakusa starts scrolling through their options. “Atsumu’s mostly asleep anyways. He won’t care.”
“I am not!” Atsumu says petulantly, but it’s clear as day he’s forcing himself awake. “And I do care!”
“Alright, my love,” Sakusa says placatingly. He drops a kiss on the top of Atsumu’s head and goes to a movie that Bokuto had seen some ads about online. “This one?” Everyone takes a moment to read it over before agreeing with Sakusa’s choice. He presses play and then slides out from under Atsumu to grab dinner for the both of them.
Bokuto makes a noise of surprise when Akaashi leans against him. He lifts his arm and sets it down, hand resting on Kenma’s shoulder as well. “Keiji?”
“Koutarou…” Akaashi murmurs. Bokuto leans down to hear what Akaashi is thinking. A hand fists in Bokuto’s shirt, and he frowns at the tight grip Akaashi has. “Do you…think…” Akaashi trails off and Bokuto waits for him to voice his thoughts. “Am I doing enough?”
Bokuto’s brows furrow. “With what? If you mean in our relationship, I love everything you do, big or small! You know that.” Bokuto feels Kenma sit up and moves his hand away. He wraps his arm more firmly around Akaashi and holds him tightly. “What’s wrong?”
“I think we should talk about it later. In private.” Akaashi whispers. Bokuto hums and kisses Akaashi’s forehead. “Thank you.”
Bokuto smiles and holds up Akaashi’s pizza for him to eat. “Anytime. I mean it.”