Archive of Our Own ^beta

If anyone knew how it felt like to be overshadowed, it was Atsumu. He was practically non-existent to people out there. Getting compared to his twin was a very unfair thing to do, but somehow people didn’t see any issues with that.

He knew he could never be like Osamu.

How could anyone even compete with the Avatar anyway?

When it was clear that Osamu was the Avatar, all attention fell onto him. They were still kids when they found out. Atsumu was happy for his twin but also a bit envious. It was hard enough to prove yourself when there was a copy of you, and now that person was way better than you at everything?

The twins grew up at the southern water tribe. Born as two waterbenders, from young age on they made it their goal to become the best. Lots of hours were spent on practicing with each other and learning new tricks from one another. There always had been a certain strength that came with Osamu that no one really questioned. Especially Atsumu got to know of that strength, being the one getting hit with it as they were practicing.

By the time they found out Osamu was the Avatar, he had become a great waterbender and didn’t need much practice on that part anymore. The white lotus took him away to the other nations to teach him the other elements.

And Atsumu was left behind.

It was hard, he had never been separated from his twin before. It didn’t get easier for the first few years either. Atsumu was very happy for his brother, but no one cared about Atsumu anymore. People forgot that he existed; that he was the other half of the Avatar. Osamu suddenly had all the responsibilities in the world while Atsumu didn’t know what to do with his life.

That’s when he decided to move to Republic City. He needed to get away from the water tribe and everything that reminded him of his twin.

In Republic City he had lots of free time on his hands. The city was big and had lots to offer for a loner like Atsumu. Therefore, getting involved with shady people and doing shady stuff was Atsumu’s only form of entertainment.

He didn’t do hardcore criminal stuff, just delivered a package here and there at times. He only did that to pass some time and because he was good at it. Atsumu didn’t even know the contents of the packages or the people getting them and it wasn’t like he cared about that anyway, since he had never gotten caught. Until recently.

Atsumu was sitting on the only chair in an interrogation room. There was a single small window pretty high up, only making it possible to look out and see the sky. He shook his head and thought to himself how not even interrogation rooms had evolved.

“Didn’t think I’d ever have to interrogate the Avatar,” the chief of police entered the room.

Sakusa Kiyoomi. Atsumu expected literally any officer to come in, but not the chief. He had seen Kiyoomi in newspapers and heard lots about him on the radio. Safe to say, Kiyoomi was a well-respected chief of police, which was rare. He was screaming authority with the way he was standing across from Atsumu, hands behind his back and straight posture.

“Didn’t think the chief of police wouldn’t know who he was interrogating.”

The small room was dark, nothing more than the light of the little window coming in. Atsumu couldn’t even tell if the room had a lamp but that didn’t matter anyway. Kiyoomi broke his posture, pulling his hand out from behind his back and lit up the room with fire.

‘Ah great. A firebender,’ Atsumu was thinking.

“My apologies. You’re Miya Atsumu then?” Kiyoomi corrected his mistake after seeing Atsumu, noticing the hair color immediately.

“Very obviously.” Atsumu crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back into his chair. “Say, weren’t ya gonna let me off the hook if I was the Avatar?”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“Ya don’t have to lie to me, Sakusa-kun.”

Atsumu saw Kiyoomi’s eye twitch. “The Avatar doesn’t get special treatment. I would’ve treated him just like every other criminal.”

This was the first time Atsumu heard a person of authority say something like that. Treat Osamu just like everyone else? He couldn’t even remember the last time that happened. Did that ever happen even?

“Hm, okay. So, what now? Am I goin’ to jail or somethin’?” Atsumu asked.

“Not necessarily.” Kiyoomi then walked behind Atsumu. “I’m wondering though. What is the brother of the Avatar doing, delivering sketchy packages?”

Atsumu had seen this question coming from miles away. It was always the same with everyone he met that knew who he was. Why would the brother of the Avatar do this and that. He was so sick of it.

“Why not?” Atsumu leaned his head back and looked at Kiyoomi behind him upside down. “Just because Samu’s the Avatar doesn’t mean I have to be a saint.”

“Also doesn’t mean you have to be the exact opposite of what he is,” Kiyoomi countered.

Atsumu just sighed. “Can ya just gimme my punishment so I can leave? Yer wastin’ my time.”

Atsumu had to answer a whole lot more questions until Kiyoomi let him off the hook. He got away easily by snitching on the people he worked for. Telling Kiyoomi a few names was enough to let him go with a warning.

“I hope this was a one-time thing,” Kiyoomi told Atsumu after being done with all the questions. “You should be careful of the things you do.”

Kiyoomi gave Atsumu a paper to sign.

“Why? So Samu doesn’t get any backlash?”

“So that you don’t end up in jail.”

Atsumu was about to sign the paper and stopped. He stared at the tip of the pen for a moment, then signed the paper.

“What I do and where I end up is none of yer business,” Atsumu made clear, sliding the paper towards Kiyoomi. “Was this all?”

“Yeah, you can leave.”

“Great.”

And so he left. Hands in his pockets and gaze lowered he walked home. He wouldn’t admit it in front of anyone, but he was lost in thought. He just couldn’t stop thinking about Kiyoomi. Did he mean what he said? Would he actually have treated Osamu like everyone else? Or did he just say that in front of Atsumu to not sound biased? But then again, why should he believe him? Kiyoomi was a serious and stoic man, and didn’t look like the type of person to just let anyone go.

Atsumu shook that thought off. He got home and celebrated not getting put behind bars this time.

A few days later he was walking through the city. He couldn’t allow himself to get caught by the police by doing something shady again and tried looking for a new activity to keep himself busy. He was just minding his business as he noticed a crowd of people outside city hall. Atsumu walked closer and saw the president giving some kind of speech.

Immediately his eyes moved over to Kiyoomi who was standing close by the president. Just after a few minutes of being there, an ear deafening explosion hit the crowd. He couldn’t see the spot of the explosion but everyone immediately switched to panic mode and Atsumu could see Kiyoomi disappear in an alley.

He didn’t know what led him, but he followed Kiyoomi. Call it curiosity, but Atsumu didn’t have anything else to do anyway. It looked like Kiyoomi was chasing someone, throwing fire at him, followed by lightning.

Atsumu froze in his tracks for a moment, the light and sound of the sudden lightning startling him. When he reopened his eyes, Kiyoomi and the guy were gone. He lost all kinds of orientation for a few seconds until he heard lightning hitting something. Picking up on speed again he ran towards that direction.

And there he saw Kiyoomi getting incapacitated by a chi-blocker. The chief of police just fell to the ground. He was out of action. Atsumu just witnessed that.

The chi-blocker gave Kiyoomi another hit, making sure he was incapacitated before pulling out two of those short electro sabers. Atsumu had seen some shady people use those before and couldn’t let the chi-blocker use them on Kiyoomi. Atsumu sucked all the live out of all the closest plants and used the water as a whip to hit the chi-blocker. Atsumu was of advantage, having the moment of surprise on his side.

Atsumu didn’t waste any time and turned the water to ice, hitting the electro sabers out of the guy’s hands. He couldn’t risk getting electro-shocked, since he was using water to fight. That could end ugly.

The guy attempted a few hits at Atsumu, trying to block his chi, but Atsumu was faster. He used the ice, hit the guy in the stomach and smashed his head against the wall to knock him out. Completely breathless, Atsumu reached for Kiyoomi’s cuffs and cuffed the chi-blockers hands. Still out of breath he kneeled in front of Kiyoomi and turned him around.

“Looks like I just saved yer life, huh, Sakusa-kun?” Atsumu smugly said.

“What are you even doing here?”

“No ‘thank you’?” Atsumu rolled his eyes. “I just happened to be here, oh how lucky ya are.”

Kiyoomi looked like he wanted to strangle Atsumu for some reason, but obviously he couldn’t do that. Before he could even think of saying something, Atsumu had picked him up and thrown him over his shoulder.

“What- Put me down, right now,” Kiyoomi demanded.

“And then what? Yer gonna walk back yerself?” Atsumu laughed. “Ya would rather lie here than being carried back by me?”

“Actually, yeah.”

“Too bad.”

Atsumu used waterbending to hold the chi-blocker and drag him along. Kiyoomi just frustratingly watched the chi-blocker, being a bit embarrassed with the whole situation. He was the chief of police and nobody should be seeing him in this vulnerable position.

Even though it would have been everything for Atsumu to carry Kiyoomi back to where everyone could see him, he chose to go inside a building that was nearby. He sat Kiyoomi down on the stairs in the hallways and cuffed the chi-blocker to the stair railing.

“Why’d you bring us here?” Kiyoomi asked, slowly getting some feeling back in his limbs.

“Walking into the crowd with ya on my shoulder and the bastard behind me woulda scared lots of people. Didn’t need that attention. Also, there could be more of those guys out there and I’m not risking anything.”

Kiyoomi nodded understandingly. “And what were you doing out here, Miya?”

“Minding my own business until I saw ya fighting.” Kiyoomi raised his eyebrows. “What? Don’t believe me?”

“Last time you were out on these streets you ended up in my interrogation room.”

“Okay, so I can’t go out anymore without ya thinking I’m doing something criminal? Wow, that’s so low of ya, Sakusa-kun.”

Kiyoomi just stayed silent which made the whole situation even worse.

“I swear I wasn’t out here for criminal intentions. Just tried to keep myself occupied.”

“You don’t have to tell me what you were doing.”

“But I do. Because if I don’t, then yer gonna think I was out to do something shady again. Which I wasn’t,” Atsumu continued to explain himself.

“Yeah, I got that, Miya.”

“Great.”

Atsumu leaned against the wall, looking down at his hands. He didn’t know why he justified his reasoning of being out. Truth was, he only got onto the streets of this neighbourhood because he was following Kiyoomi.

“I think I’m getting feeling in my arms back,” Kiyoomi broke the silence.

Atsumu lifted his head and watched Kiyoomi slowly move his fingers, then his arms. Suddenly Kiyoomi hissed.

“What’s wrong?” Atsumu asked.

“Nothing.” He clearly was lying.

Kiyoomi continued to move his arms, holding his right shoulder and moving it back. Another hiss.

“Shut up, yer injured.”

“I’m not.”

Atsumu rolled his eyes “Yer not a hero if ya pretend to be okay. Lemme have a look.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s nothing serious,” Kiyoomi waved off.

Atsumu pushed himself off the wall and kneeled in front of Kiyoomi. “Just let me have a look. I know one or two things about injuries.”

“You don’t say.”

“No need to be so judgy.” Atsumu reached his hand out for Kiyoomi’s shoulder, which made him hiss again. He immediately felt the swelling.

“Careful, Miya!”

“Nothing serious, huh?” Atsumu reached for Kiyoomi’s uniform at the neck. “May I?”

“Kiyoomi just looked away as Atsumu slowly moved the shirt down and exposed Kiyoomi’s shoulder. He froze for a moment, seeing all the beauty marks on there, wondering if his whole body looked like that.

“And?”

“Hm?” Atsumu felt around the shoulder a bit.

“Ow! Miya, what the fuck???”

“Sorry, had to see where exactly the injury is.” He grinned to himself, having said the truth, but also wanting Kiyoomi to be in pain for just a moment.

“Is this a joke to you? Just get away from me, I’ll take care of it myself,” Kiyoomi groaned annoyed when Atsumu kept feeling around the injury.

“Oh yeah? And how, mister firebender?” Kiyoomi huffed at that and looked away again. “Just trust me for a moment, geez.”

“Don’t know why I should.”

“Because I’m a criminal?”

“To be honest, yes.”

“Boo hoo. Now shush.” He rolled his eyes.

Atsumu took some of the water he used to fight the chi-blocker with, covered his whole hand with it and then held it onto Kiyoomi’s injury. Kiyoomi turned his head and then watched the water glow as the pain maxed for a moment and then went away completely.

“You’re a healer?” Kiyoomi asked genuinely surprised.

“My brother and I would get injured a lot, practicing together. Heh, especially since he got a few more elements to bend than I do,” Atsumu told Kiyoomi, keeping focus on the injury.

This definitely wasn’t what Kiyoomi had expected when Atsumu wanted to take a look at the injury. He really expected anything but this.

“Found out I could heal during an accident. It’s unusual for men to heal so I never really tell anyone.”

Kiyoomi was still very much surprised. Now that he thought about it, he had never met a male healer before. In books everyone always talked about female healers only. The healers at hospitals were all female as well. And Atsumu seemed to be really good at healing. Kiyoomi had dealt with healers that weren’t really good at their jobs before, which made his surprise grow even more.

“I’d say ya restrain yer shoulder for a while, just to make sure.”

Atsumu was done and the glowing of the water stopped. Kiyoomi pulled his shirt back in place and slowly moved his shoulder. It didn’t hurt, at all. Atsumu was a magician.

As Kiyoomi was about to say something, the door to the hallway opened wide and a police officer was standing there. He immediately cuffed Atsumu’s hands with metal bending and pulled him away from Kiyoomi.

“Chief! We’ve been looking all over for you,” the officer exclaimed, keeping Atsumu’s wrists in a tight grip.

“Yeah, something came up,” Kiyoomi just said.

“Excuse me?” Atsumu stared at Kiyoomi. “I’m in cuffs.”

“No shit, sherlock,” the officer behind Atsumu hissed.

“Akaashi,” Kiyoomi sighed. “You got the wrong guy.”

“Yeah, Akaashi-kun, ya got the wrong guy,” Atsumu chimed in. “The real criminal very obviously is cuffed to the railing, if ya haven’t noticed.”

The officer’s gaze fell to the guy that was cuffed to the railing, then back up to Atsumu who was grinning. Akaashi took the cuffs off Atsumu and took a step back.

“I’m sorry, there was a misunderstanding.”

Atsumu rubbed his wrists and kept on grinning. “Yer officers really are of no use, Sakusa-kun. One dumber than the other.”

Akaashi was about to teach Atsumu a lesson when Kiyoomi stepped up. “Take the one on the ground, Akaashi. Be careful, he’s a chi-blocker.”

“Yes of course, chief!” Akaashi immediately backed away from Atsumu and took the chi-blocker away.

“Aw c’mon, I was so excited to fight him,” Atsumu pouted.

“You sure? He’s my best officer.” Kiyoomi straightened his clothes and walked out. “Be careful what you wish for, Miya.”

“He ain’t a detective though. I’m sure I woulda been able to take him in a fight,” Atsumu followed Kiyoomi out.

Kiyoomi chuckled. “Mhm. Anyways, you have to come with me.”

“What? Why? I helped ya, ya can’t put me behind bars for helping ya,” Atsumu rambled.

“I’m not putting you behind bars. There are protocols we need to follow and since you became part of this, we have to take your statement as well.”

“Oh.” Atsumu looked at Kiyoomi. “Do I get some kind of medal for rescuing the chief of police? And catching the guy that caused an explosion during the president’s speech?”

“Possibly.”

“Wait, really???” Atsumu walked ahead of Kiyoomi, turned around and then walked backwards. “Don’t fuck with me, Sakusa-kun.”

“It’s possible, Miya. It’s up to the president though.”

Back at the precinct, Atsumu had to tell Akaashi everything that had happened. Kiyoomi did the same thing in a different room with a different officer, just to make sure their statements checked out.

“Say, are you related to the Avatar?” Akaashi asked after being done writing down everything Atsumu had just told him.

“Does no one in this god forsaken city know what the Avatar looks like?” Atsumu leaned back in his chair. “He’s my twin.”

“Oh.” Akaashi pulled all the paper sheets together. “I didn’t know he had a twin.”

“Yeah, why would ya,” Atsumu rolled his eyes. “We done? Can I leave?”

Akaashi nodded and both got up at the same time. He let Atsumu leave the room first.

“Sorry again for the misunderstanding earlier. I couldn’t see the chief and thought you were doing something to him.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. Not the first time police thought I was doing somethin’ criminal.” Atsumu winked at Akaashi. “See ya around, Akaashi-kun!”

-

Some time had passed since the explosion incident. Atsumu went back to his normal life, but his thoughts went back to that day every now and then. It had been a while since he had taken part in a good fight and rescuing the chief of police made him feel kind of accomplished as well.

“Stupid chief didn’t even thank me for healing his stupid shoulder,” Atsumu spoke to himself as he was walking around the city.

While taking a shortcut through an alley to get home, he noticed someone following him. He just kept on walking as usual to not make the stranger suspicious of him knowing. When he walked around a corner, he climbed up the wall and waited for the stranger. The stranger took the same turn, then stopped and looked around, as if he was wondering where Atsumu had gotten that fast.

“Who are ya?” Atsumu asked, jumping down and landing right behind the stranger. “For fucks sake.” Atsumu’s whole body relaxed when he realised he knew who the stranger was.

“You’re some hard man to find, Miya.”

“What are ya doin’, following me all around town? Have nothing better to do?” Atsumu crossed his arms.

“You just vanished from the precinct. I’ve been coming to your house but you’re never there for some reason.”

Atsumu looked at Kiyoomi confused. “Okay? Leave a letter next time.”

Kiyoomi felt a bit embarrassed because he hadn’t even thought about leaving a letter. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

“What do ya want?” Atsumu then asked, walking towards his home again. “Did I do somethin’?”

“Nothing that I know of,” Kiyoomi followed Atsumu.

“Oh so judgy, Sakusa-kun.“

“I’ve been looking for you in the name of the president.” Atsumu stopped in his tracks. “He personally wants to thank you for helping with catching the bad guy.”

“Hold up.” Atsumu closed his eyes for a moment. “Yer saying, the president wants to thank me. Personally? Like, face to face?”

Kiyoomi sighed. “Yes, that’s what I said.”

They continued walking after Atsumu had his moment to process the things said.

“Okay, how does this go? Do I go to him?” Atsumu asked.

“He’s holding a press conference this weekend. He’ll thank you publicly.”

Atsumu hummed. “Even better.”

When they arrived at Atsumu’s apartment building, they just stopped and awkwardly looked at each other.

“Dress accordingly for the conference,” Kiyoomi added, to not allow awkward silence to take over. “Don’t say anything dumb. Someone will come pick you up on Saturday, so be ready. Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah, have ya always had a stick up yer ass?”

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes. “Please don’t say stuff like that at the conference.”

“Who do ya think I am? A neanderthal? I know how to behave.” Kiyoomi just raised his eyebrows. “What, just because ya caught me doing something criminal doesn’t mean I don’t know how to behave.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“Yer eyes said everything.”

“Whatever.” Kiyoomi was about to leave but stopped again. “Miya, you don’t have a job. Where are you all day?”

“None of yer business.”

Kiyoomi sighed. “Good night, Miya.”

Atsumu went up to his place and threw himself on his couch. He grabbed the newspaper from that morning that was on his couch table and stared at the first page.

‘Avatar saves Earth Kingdom village from erupting volcano’

Every day there was a new article about Osamu in the newspaper. Every. Damn. Day. How could it be that there still were so many issues nowadays? The world had gotten modernised, but the issues stayed the same.

Atsumu stared at the picture of his twin.

Would he be on the starting page after the press conference? Would Osamu then see the newspaper and see what Atsumu was up to? Or would he be too busy fulfilling his Avatar duties again?

Atsumu got this nervous feeling in his stomach thinking about Saturday. He thought about how it finally was his time to shine, how everyone would finally get to know that he existed. He would finally be seen.

The day of the press conference Atsumu’s nervosity just increased to the max. He was all dressed up, clean and had put together some words in his head in case he needed to talk more than necessary.

“Akaashi-kun, what a pleasure,” Atsumu greeted his driver. “Ya also work as a chauffeur?”

“No, Miya-san. I’m just escorting you to the conference safely.”

Atsumu grinned at Akaashi through the rear mirror. Somehow, annoying Akaashi was very amusing to him. He could tell how much Akaashi wanted to counterattack, but probably couldn’t because of Kiyoomi’s orders. It was amazing.

But Atsumu didn’t talk during the ride. He tried to keep his mind clean to not fuck up at the conference. The press was going to be there. One mistake and he was done for. It was pretty risky of him to step out into the public like that, but he had no other choice. He would have been stupid to say no to seeing the president and getting thanked for by him.

“If it isn’t the chief of police,” Atsumu greeted Kiyoomi. “What do ya say? Do I look good?”

Wearing a suit was the complete opposite of what Atsumu would usually wear. He was more of a casual guy, wearing clothes that allowed him to move more freely and not look snobby.

“You look… acceptable.”

“Aw, that’s the nicest thing ya ever said to me, Sakusa-kun.”

“You’re not going to act stupid out there, right?” Kiyoomi asked Atsumu. “Because if so-“

“Can ya just trust me for a moment? I wouldn’t dress up like this, just to be stupid. Expect better of me, Sakusa-kun.”

“Then give me a reason for it.”

In that moment the president walked up on the little stage. Atsumu was still at the back with Kiyoomi but could very clearly see the camera flash rain fall on the president. Everything was so bright, and he wondered if they would take tons of pictures of him as well.

The president talked about how some terror group had initially wanted to take down the president and that with the chi-blocker they caught they got lots of information on that.

“And with that I want to thank the chief of police, Sakusa Kiyoomi and a brave civilian, Miya Atsumu, for catching the bad guy and saving the city!” The president gestured to the side where Kiyoomi walked up, followed by Atsumu.

The cameras were flashing and the crowd was mumbling.

“And to reward these two heroes, I want to honor both with a medal of valor.”

Atsumu’s eyes widened. He was actually getting a medal of valor. Atsumu watched Kiyoomi lower his head for the president to put the medal on him and then shake his hand. Atsumu immediately lowered his head as well.

“Thank you, for helping and catching the bad guy, Atsumu,” the president said as he shook Atsumu’s hand. “If you don’t mind, I’m sure the public has a few questions for you.”

“No, of course not. Thank ya for the honor, president Meian.”

Suddenly Atsumu was in the spotlight. He had gotten a microphone and could feel how everyone was dying to ask questions.

“Miya-san, you saved the city, how do you feel?”

“I… I feel great. It’s a really great feeling.” He genuinely smiled, feeling good to be seen.

“What made you help?”

“I just happened to be there at the right time. I saw someone in trouble and couldn’t look away,” he answered honestly. “I also did know that it was the chief of police.”

“Miya-san, as the Avatar’s brother, did you feel like it was your duty to help out in honor of your twin?”

Atsumu hesitated. “No… I just-“

“Do you feel the need to help others? Like some kind of Avatar sense?” More questions followed.

“What? I’m not the Avatar, why would I-“

“Where have you been all this time? You’ve never been seen with the Avatar!”

Atsumu fake smiled. “I would appreciate it if I could finish my sentences before moving on to another question. My brother is travelling around the world, fulfilling his duty while I am here.”

“Why won’t you go with him?”

“I feel like we’ve slid away from the actual topic here.” Atsumu glanced over at Kiyoomi, kind of searching for a way to get out of there.

Kiyoomi noticed and cleared his throat. “The conference is over,” he said through the microphone he took from Atsumu.

Atsumu and the president were getting escorted away from the crowd. Atsumu could hear the confusion of the reporters and how they were yelling more questions.

“Atsumu,” the president said, stopping Atsumu in his tracks. “You seem like a skilled guy. Ever thought of joining the force?”

Atsumu smiled a little. “No, president.”

“Well, think about it. The city could benefit from you. Let Kiyoomi know if you happen to change your mind.”

“Thank you, president.”

The president left and Atsumu sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and then locked eyes with Kiyoomi.

“What?” Atsumu asked when Kiyoomi didn’t intend to look away.

“Nothing.”

“Is Akaashi taking me home? I don’t feel like talking to any more reporters.”

“Atsumu-“

“Please just say yes or no. I wanna go home.”

Kiyoomi nodded. He had Akaashi take Atsumu back home while he went with the president. He was feeling bad for Atsumu. He saw how uncomfortable he had gotten on stage, being questioned by the reporters. For some reason he regretted not stopping the whole thing sooner.

“Is Atsumu a friend of yours, Kiyoomi?” the president asked him in the car.

“No, we don’t have that kind of relationship, president.”

“Too bad. I thought that maybe you could convince him to join the force. We could really need someone like him.”

Even though Atsumu had done some shady things in the past, didn’t mean he wasn’t a good guy. After all, Atsumu risked his own life and helped Kiyoomi out. He even healed him.

Meanwhile Atsumu took off his jacket at his apartment, opened the buttons of his shirt and poured himself a drink. He sat on his balcony, watching over the city and just sipped on his drink. Just this one time he had hoped to be the focus of attention, without having to share that spot with his twin.

He was done with everything here. He felt like he needed a new place to go to. Republic City just ended up sucking as well as both the water tribes. Maybe he could go to the fire nation and live there, or even better, go to Ba Sing Se. That city was huge, he could easily fit in there.

But then again, he was tired of moving.

That night he decided to visit one of his close friends on the island of the airbenders. He sneaked onto the island as usual and climbed up on his friend’s roof.

“I knew I heard someone up here.”

Atsumu jolted and turned around. “Kita-san! Don’t scare me like that, we’re on a roof!”

“Then don’t climb up here,” Kita simply said, sitting down at the edge. “I listened to the press conference today.”

“I really don’t wanna talk about it, Kita-san,” Atsumu said, joining Kita by sitting next to him.

“But that’s why yer here.”

Atsumu sighed. “I just didn’t wanna be alone is all. Also, I’ve missed ya. I haven’t snuck on here in so long.”

“Which ya don’t have to. The guards know ya, ya can just come here like every other normal person.” Kita looked at Atsumu. “Do ya really not want to talk about it?”

Atsumu laid back and stared up at the sky. “President Meian offered me a job as an officer.”

“Why didn’t ya take it?”

“How do ya know I didn’t?” Atsumu asked, tilting his head to look at Kita.

“I know ya very well, Atsumu. Aren’t ya taking it because of Osamu?”

“What does he have to do with this?”

“Atsumu,” Kita sighed. “All yer life you’ve been going around doing whatever ya want, as long as it’s not similar to what Osamu is doing. As an officer you’d be helping out, just like how Osamu is.”

Kita has known the twins for a long time already. Kita’s father was Osamu’s airbending master and Kita tagged along with his dad for the practice sessions. He definitely was closer to Atsumu since they both weren’t needed for the training and hung out together instead during the time Atsumu had visited the practice sessions.

“Ya know, helping out because ya want to and helping out because it’s yer responsibility are two different things. And I got a criminal record, so that wouldn’t work out anyway.”

“You got a what now?” Kita asked, eyebrows raised.

“Hm?” Atsumu remembered that no one knew about his criminal record and immediately sat up. “Nothin’! Was great seeing ya, Kita-san. Bye!” Suddenly he got up, climbed down and disappeared in the water.

Kita just sighed and thought about when Atsumu would ever find his place in the world. Atsumu had been kind of a rebel since his childhood, but he was no bad guy. That’s what Kita knew for sure. He just hoped for him to find his purpose and not focus on the grudge he was holding against his brother for so long now.

-

Kiyoomi thought a lot about what the president had told him; how he wanted Atsumu on the force. Kiyoomi had to admit that Atsumu would really be a good addition to his team, but he couldn’t tell if he was reliable.

Also, apparently Atsumu didn’t even want to become an officer.

“Chief?” Akaashi knocked on the door of Kiyoomi’s office, then opened it. “We brought someone in you might want to talk to.”

“Who?” Kiyoomi asked, being busy with some paperwork.

“Miya Atsumu.”

Kiyoomi lifted his head. “You brought him in? Why?”

He was hoping for all of this to just be a misunderstanding. It couldn’t be that Atsumu did something criminal again. Especially after he did something heroic just recently.

“Apparently he stole dozens of newspapers and destroyed them at several newspaper stands,” Akaashi told Kiyoomi.

“Huh?” Kiyoomi got up and followed Akaashi to the interrogation room they had put Atsumu in. “I got this from here, Akaashi.”

He entered the room and looked at Atsumu, who was staring at his hands on the table.

“Didn’t know ya had nice interrogation rooms as well, Sakusa-kun,” Atsumu said, remembering how little and shabby the other one looked like. “Also wasn’t really necessary of yer officers to handcuff me to the table.”

Kiyoomi walked up to the table and freed Atsumu’s wrists from the handcuffs, then sat down across of him.

“I heard you went on a newspaper destroying rampage.” Kiyoomi grabbed the file that was on the table and opened it. “Why, Miya?”

“Because I felt like it.”

There was a newspaper inside the file. Kiyoomi read the cover page’s title article and could take a guess on why Atsumu did what he did.

“Twin of the Avatar rescues the president and chief of police,” Kiyoomi read the title out loud. “The surprising appearance of Avatar Osamu’s twin shocked the whole city. He appeared at the right place at the right time and caught the terrorist that was responsible for the explosion at city hall. If he is that great of a bender, where has he been all this time? Avatar Osamu is on duty in the Earth Kingdom, what is his twin doing in Republic City? Is he-“

“Ya can stop now,” Atsumu interrupted Kiyoomi. “I know what they said.”

“You’ve been stealing and destroying newspapers because of this article?”

“Why don’t ya read the next pages?”

Kiyoomi skipped to the next page and the page after. There were a bunch of different articles on Atsumu, but none really talked about his heroism. The first two sentences always were about Atsumu, but the rest was about Osamu. Everyone was wondering what Atsumu had been up to and why he wasn’t travelling with his twin.

Every other Avatar before Osamu had a group of people by their sides. Osamu has Suna with him, but not his twin? His twin who was very strong and could be of use? Lots of people didn’t even know Atsumu existed up to this point.

“You still shouldn’t have destroyed every-“

“Why not?” Atsumu spoke up, finally also looking at Kiyoomi. “Am I supposed to sit in my apartment and let everyone think of me as the guy that doesn’t support his twin? Do ya see my name in any of those articles? All I am to them is ‘Osamu’s twin’ or ‘the Avatars brother’. I’m not Atsumu, I’m just related to Osamu. And not that anybody cares, but I’m the older twin.”

“Miya, that doesn’t give you the right to destroy something that doesn’t belong to you,” Kiyoomi stood his ground.

Atsumu stared at his hands, being close to tears but not wanting Kiyoomi to notice. He nervously fiddled with his fingers, feeling like his heart just got stabbed. He didn’t know why he felt that way. Maybe he had expected some kind of support from Kiyoomi. He thought he was different.

“’Kay, what’s my punishment?” Atsumu just asked quietly.

Kiyoomi was a bit caught off guard by that. He had expected Atsumu to argue more, to lash out and get loud, definitely not to give in that easily.

“Look, Miya-“

“I don’t wanna hear it. Just tell me my punishment so we can get this over with.”

Kiyoomi cleared his throat. “You have to pay for every single newspaper.”

“Cool. I’ll do that.”

They went ahead and processed everything, getting all the paperwork done and finally being done with it. If Kiyoomi hated anything in life, it was the paperwork at work.

“Hey Miya?” Kiyoomi stopped Atsumu from leaving immediately. “We could really use you on our team.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I wouldn’t be of any use, so don’t waste yer time. I already told the president no, why would ya change my mind?”

For some reason Kiyoomi was hurt by that. He just nodded and took a step back.

“Right. I’m sorry for bothering you, Miya.”

Atsumu just nodded and then left. Kiyoomi didn’t know why it all made him feel kind of sad. He actually wanted Atsumu on his team. He really was an immaculate waterbender and Kiyoomi felt like he was wasting his talent.

That night Kiyoomi decided to do something out of the ordinary for him. After his shift he went over to where Atsumu lived and stood outside the building for a while. He knew Atsumu was home, since he could see his apartment light being on, but was afraid to actually go up there.

Well, not afraid. He just didn’t want to bother Atsumu anymore, but he also felt like he needed to talk to him. Not as a cop for once. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the building and all the way up to Atsumu’s apartment, stood there for a moment and then knocked. He could hear steps approaching the door and then Atsumu opening it a tiny bit.

“What are ya doing here?” he asked, still not opening the door any further.

“I came here to talk to you.”

“No, thank ya.”

“I came here as a civilian, not as a cop,” Kiyoomi added, hoping Atsumu would give him a chance to talk.

Atsumu gripped onto the door handle, thought about it for a second, then opened it wider and made space for Kiyoomi to enter. Kiyoomi nodded as a thank you and walked into the apartment.

As Kiyoomi walked further in, he took in all the pictures he was seeing. He saw a few pictures of Atsumu and Osamu together, with Osamu’s companion Suna and a picture of Atsumu and Kita together. Kiyoomi was surprised that they were somewhat close.

“So, what did ya wanna talk about?” Atsumu asked.

Kiyoomi took a seat on Atsumu’s couch, eyeing the half full glass of alcohol on the table and then clearing his throat. “I wanted to apologize.”

Atsumu furrowed his eyebrows as he sat down on his couch. “Apologize? For what?”

“For being all police-y today.”

“That’s yer job though,” Atsumu pointed out. “Ya gotta be more specific, because I can’t follow.”

Kiyoomi sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t show any empathy. I could’ve taken your feelings into consideration and not be so… judgy.”

The blonde was staring at the chief of police, sitting on his couch, apologizing for being too much of a cop. He couldn’t believe this was happening right now.

“Ya- Wait, why should ya have?”

“I…” Kiyoomi couldn’t believe that he was really talking to Atsumu about this. “I also don’t think it was right of the newspapers to talk about you like that. If it hadn’t been for you, I could’ve been dead, who knows. And we would’ve never gotten all that info on that terror group.”

Atsumu was staring at Kiyoomi. He couldn’t believe that he just heard him actually say those things. There was an outsider that appreciated what he did. There was someone that saw him and didn’t care about Osamu. Kiyoomi was there and he cared about Atsumu’s feelings.

“Miya? You okay?” Kiyoomi asked after a while.

Atsumu realised that his cheeks were getting wet because of tears coming out his eyes. He immediately looked away and wiped his face.

“Yeah, ‘m just tearbending- I mean! I’m a bit drunk! Shut up!” Atsumu rambled, feeling very clearly how his face was heating up. He hated that Kiyoomi was making him feel this way, but he also enjoyed it.

“Can I have a drink?” Kiyoomi switched topics.

“You, uh, what?” Atsumu asked confused. “You? A drink?”

“It’s what gets me to calm down after a long day. And it’s nicer with company,” Kiyoomi shrugged, noticing how Atsumu was looking at him in disbelief. “If you want to be alone, I’ll-“

“No! I’ll get ya a drink!” Atsumu jumped out of his seat to get another glass from his kitchen.

Kiyoomi didn’t know why he just asked that. He was having a moment with Atsumu, he saw the drink on the table and thought why not. He was off duty and deserved to drink with some company for once.

“To think I’d ever be drinkin’ with the chief of police in my apartment,” Atsumu was saying, coming back with a glass in his hand. “Crazy how life surprises ya.”

“Very crazy how life surprises you,” Kiyoomi mumbled, more talking to himself. He definitely surprised himself with this one.

“So, uhm, Kiyoomi-kun, what else do ya like to do off duty?” Atsumu asked, pouring Kiyoomi a glass and refilling his own. “I now know ya like to drink.”

“I enjoy reading books.”

Atsumu put the bottle down and handed Kiyoomi his drink. “Are ya one of those people, sitting on their couch with a glass of wine while reading a book?”

The way Kiyoomi silently sipped on his drink and avoided eye contact with Atsumu gave him away.

“Omg, ya totally are!” Atsumu chuckled. “There’s nothin’ bad about that, sounds very relaxing.”

“I also work out a lot.”

Oh, Atsumu could tell. He had seen that shoulder. He had seen Kiyoomi’s arms flex in his uniform. He had seen his uniform tighten around his thighs when he sat down. It was absolutely no secret that Kiyoomi was extremely handsome. Coincidentally he also was exactly Atsumu’s type.

After a few more drinks and some more getting to know each other, both were laying against the backrest, being too tired to do anything. They had talked for hours and for some reason, it wasn’t bad.

“Ya know, I tried to dislike ya,” Atsumu said out of nowhere, staring up at the ceiling.

“Tried?”

The blonde hummed. “Yer a firebender.” Atsumu turned his head to face Kiyoomi. “Fire scares me.”

Kiyoomi blinked. Once. Twice. Atsumu was still there looking at him. “You’re scared of fire?”

“Well, more of lightning but that’s a sub element of fire. But yeah, that’s why I tried to dislike ya. Was tryna hide my fear by bein’ all annoying.”

“So you’re not just naturally annoying?”

Atsumu laughed. It sounded like the most genuine laugh Kiyoomi had ever heard and he wanted to hear it more.

“No, I am. Was just bein’ extra annoying towards ya.”

“Why are you scared of lighting, Atsumu?”

The fact that Kiyoomi said Atsumu’s first name didn’t even register in his mind until the next day. But anyways.

“While Samu and I were practicing, we were teenagers, Samu found out he could use lightning. It literally happened while we were practicing so none of us knew.” Atsumu was fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Imagine the shock when he suddenly used lightning while I was waterbending.”

Atsumu lifted his head and met eyes with Kiyoomi. “It went through the water and basically electrocuted my whole body. Have ya never noticed this?”

Kiyoomi looked down at Atsumu’s hand. It was the first time he looked at it this clearly, and right now he was very much tipsy. There was scarring that obviously looked like getting struck by lightning.

“It goes all the way up to my shoulder,” Atsumu added, pulling his sleeve up a bit. “Coulda been a cool tattoo if it wasn’t so traumatic,” he chuckled.

“What happened afterwards?” Kiyoomi asked, still looking at the scar. It seemed to be huge, since he couldn’t see the end of it.

“I was unconscious for a while, basically in a coma. The best healers from our tribe gathered to reduce the scarring as much as possible. So, it coulda been worse. Not too long after that Samu left for Avatar duties.”

“I’ve never heard about the Avatar doing lightning before.”

Atsumu shrugged. “I guess he doesn’t use it anymore.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you Atsumu.” The blonde just nodded and looked at the scarring on his hand. “I promise to not hurt you with fire.”

“Don’t make promises ya might not be able to keep, Kiyoomi-kun,” Atsumu chuckled. “If ya do hurt me, I’ll hold it over yer head all yer life.”

“But I won’t.”

Blame the alcohol, but when Atsumu looked back at Kiyoomi, their faces were so close. In the back of their minds, they knew they were drunk and probably should just go to sleep. But that was in the back of their minds. Here and now all they could think of were how their lips were so close to each other.

“We…” Kiyoomi managed to say, but never finish. Atsumu closed the gap in between them and pressed his lips onto Kiyoomi’s. When nothing was happening, Atsumu pulled back and stared at Kiyoomi, mortified. Now before he could blabber out an apology, Kiyoomi had cupped his cheeks and pulled him back into a hungry kiss.

That went on for a while, both only stopping in between to catch their breaths but dive back into kisses and groans immediately. Atsumu could feel Kiyoomi’s hands all over his body, but his touch was so different from the kiss. The kiss was hungry and desperate while his touches were soft and careful. It just felt too good to be true.

And he never wanted it to stop.

When Atsumu woke up the next day, his head was killing him. His apartment was way too bright, and he needed to blink a few times to register where he was. He was still on his couch, fully clothed. He rubbed his head and looked around the room.

Empty glasses on the table, a knocked over chair on the ground and the pillows on the couch rearranged. What he didn’t see was Kiyoomi. He could remember that he was there last night and that they were drinking together. And he could also remember…

“Fuck,” Atsumu mumbled, staying put on his couch, looking like a lost puppy. “Fuuuuck.”

While Atsumu got up to do something about the headache he was having, Kiyoomi was at work, feeling just as miserable. He sat at his desk, trying to focus on his paperwork but just couldn’t.

He didn’t know what led to him staying at Atsumu’s place and having drinks with him. He should have just gone home after he had talked to Atsumu and then call it a night. But did it feel nice? To drink in company? To talk so casually? Yes. And the thing that came afterwards?

“Ugh,” Kiyoomi exclaimed, slumping his head on his desk, closing his eyes.

Why did he kiss Atsumu back? Why didn’t he leave after Atsumu had pulled away? Why did he have to keep going and going and going? As if one kiss wasn’t bad enough already, he turned it into a whole make-out session.

Kiyoomi had to get up and get some files from the open office area, which he really didn’t want to. The open office area was loud and all he wanted right now was for it to be quiet.

“Chief’s so hungover today!”

Kiyoomi’s head turned towards to where that just came from. It was Kuroo sitting at his desk, talking to Akaashi.

“When he walked past me this morning, he was slumping! Can you believe it???” Kuroo was telling. “And he hasn’t come out of his office ever since!”

This was a first. Kiyoomi had never heard or caught anyone on his team talk about him like that. He knew what image he had, and he was more than happy with that. But the satisfaction of towering behind Kuroo and waiting for him to notice him, made his day.

“Uhm, Kuroo-san-“ Akaashi attempted to warn him but got interrupted instead.

“I really didn’t know that chief had a private life. Guess there isn’t a stick stuck up his ass after all,” Kuroo chuckled. “Anyways, I’m-“ Kuroo turned around in his chair and froze at the sight of Kiyoomi. “Ch-chief.”

“Where’s the file of yesterday’s robbery?” Kiyoomi asked unbothered.

“I- It’s right here!” Kiyoomi watched Kuroo trip over a bottle of water and push around a bunch of papers until he found the file on his desk. “Here, chief!”

Kiyoomi took the file out of Kuroo’s hands, whose face had turned into a deep shade of red. He glanced at Akaashi then looked down at Kuroo.

“This was supposed to be on my desk this morning,” Kiyoomi said, then looked around the office. “Advice for you, Tetsurou. Less talking, more working. Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Great. Then get back to work,” Kiyoomi said before seeing a blonde head in his vision. He looked over at the entrance and met eyes with Atsumu.

“There he is!” Atsumu exclaimed, taking up the attention of the room as he approached Kiyoomi. “Didn’t expect ya to be all good for work today!”

“Can you be any louder, Miya?” Kiyoomi asked sarcastically, fighting the urge to rub his forehead and confirm any assumptions of him being hungover.

“Oh damn, I got degraded to just ‘Miya’ again?” Atsumu pouted.

“What do you want?” Kiyoomi then asked, very obviously feeling the daggers of eyes all over him and Atsumu. “Here to confess another one of your crimes?”

Atsumu grinned. “Quite the opposite actually. I’m here to accept the offer to be on yer team.” Atsumu glanced at Akaashi, and he could tell immediately how displeased he was.

“Then we should talk in my office.”

“Oh yeah, I know. Just really needed to see Akaashi-kun’s reaction.” Atsumu chuckled.

After they headed into Kiyoomi’s office, Kiyoomi couldn’t other than feel a little bit nervous, being alone with Atsumu. Meanwhile Atsumu took a look around the office, taking in all the newspaper articles on the wall and Kiyoomi’s medal of valor.

“What changed your mind?” Kiyoomi suddenly asked from his desk.

Atsumu kept standing in the middle of the room, looking at the achievements on the wall. “Just did. No reason.”

“And what if I don’t want you anymore?”

“What? Just because we made out and ya left in the morning?” Atsumu looked over at Kiyoomi.

“That has nothing to do with this,” Kiyoomi explained. “Maybe I just don’t need you anymore.”

“Then…” Atsumu stretched out the word and sat down across from Kiyoomi. “I’ll just tell the president. He was the one to offer me the job, no? And just yesterday ya still wanted me.”

There was a touch of suggestiveness to his words. Was Atsumu pissed that Kiyoomi just left in the morning without saying anything? Even if, Kiyoomi didn’t think there was a reason for him to be pissed. They only made out, nothing more. Kiyoomi had to get to work and simply didn’t want to wake Atsumu. Was that so bad?

“So? When can I start?”

Kiyoomi looked at Atsumu, who had leaned back comfortably in his seat and waited for an answer.

“You know, as an officer you need to know certain things. Laws and stuff like that. How to write a report. It’s not only about catching bad guys.”

“Well, then teach me, Kiyoomi-kun.”

“And no more first name base talking with me,” Kiyoomi added.

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah. I can learn all that stuff, I took that into consideration before accepting.”

“Okay then. You can come back Monday morning. I’ll get a uniform ready for you.”

“Perfect. Thanks, Kiyoomi-kun.” Kiyoomi raised his eyebrows at the first name. “What? I’m not working yet.”

As Atsumu was leaving the office, Kiyoomi could hear him tell Akaashi that they would see each other on Monday. Kiyoomi got up, since Atsumu didn’t close his door and got a glimpse of Atsumu leaving.

“You can’t be serious!” Akaashi exclaimed loudly all of a sudden. “Him? On our team?”

“Akaashi,” Kiyoomi simply said.

“Chief, come on.” Akaashi almost sounded whiny.

“It’s what the president wants, if that helps,” Kiyoomi explained. “I’m going to need you to teach him about our filing system first thing on Monday. So please prepare.”

Akaashi looked like he wanted to contradict, then ended up nodding and went back to his desk. Kiyoomi knew that Akaashi was one of his strongest benders who also had brains, that’s also why he was the perfect person to teach Atsumu about filing and all the other paperwork stuff.

Kiyoomi just went back into his office, locked the door and laid back on one of the chairs. He could feel a killer headache creeping up from the very back of his head and he had a hunch that Atsumu was the cause.

-

To everyone’s surprise, Atsumu got to work on time. He was carefully listening to everything that was being told to him after he had changed into his new uniform. Kiyoomi almost choked on his tea when Atsumu walked out wearing the uniform, looking even better than before.

The first week was all about paperwork and learning basic laws, how to treat criminals and how to handle certain situations. And to Kiyoomi’s surprise, Atsumu didn’t complain about any of it. He didn’t whine or anything about wanting to go out and catch some bad guys. He just obeyed and really was learning something.

For the second week Kiyoomi had told Atsumu to bring gym clothes. Did Kiyoomi expect Atsumu to wear a tank top with shorts? Maybe. Did he hope for the long sleeve Atsumu was wearing to come off? Very much so.

“What now? Do I have to jog or something?” Atsumu asked as he was following Kiyoomi to the gym, rearranging the bandages around his wrists and hands.

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

When they stepped into the gym, there were two people standing, talking. Atsumu had never seen them around before.

“It’s up to them,” Kiyoomi then said, pointing at the two buff guys. He called them over and even though Atsumu was taller than both, he couldn’t other than feel intimidated by them. “These are Iwaizumi and Daichi. They’re going to be your training partners for a while now.”

“What? I don’t need training,” Atsumu said. “I’m good, thanks.”

“You better not get on their bad sides, Miya. They have no mercy.”

“Is this supposed to scare me?”

“Oh, you should be scared,” Iwaizumi said. “What element do you bend?”

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “Water.”

“Great,” Iwaizumi grinned, hitting his fist into his hand. “So do I.”

“And what about him?” Atsumu asked, nodding towards Daichi.

“Earth. But we’ll be training next week.”

“Why not today?”

“Oh, you’re gonna need the extra training before you can train with Daichi,” Iwaizumi said. “Chief, I’ve got this from here.”

“Are you sure?” Kiyoomi asked.

“Yeah, he reminds me of Tooru.”

Atsumu just stood there clueless, not knowing who Tooru was and if it was a compliment that he reminded Iwaizumi of him or not.

“Alright then. He’s in your hands now, Iwaizumi.”

Kiyoomi and Daichi stayed at the sidelines near the entrance from where they still had a pretty good view of the gym while Iwaizumi led Atsumu further to the middle.

“You’ve trained with the Avatar before,” Iwaizumi noted. “Means I won’t be holding back.”

“I didn’t expect ya to,” Atsumu snarked. He got into position just like Iwaizumi and waited for him to make the first move. Atsumu was really good at reading people and their first moves in fights showed Atsumu just what kind of people they were.

Now, he thought Iwaizumi was someone that wouldn’t go straight for the head. Which was Iwaizumi’s mistake. Or so Atsumu thought. Iwaizumi started off with a move to the stomach from the right, stopped right before hitting Atsumu and then went for the head from the left. Instant knockout.

“What the hell???” Atsumu moved some wet strands of hair out of his face. “Who just does that???”

“What? Can’t handle it? Aren’t you from the southern water tribe? Didn’t know you people down there were all wusses.”

Atsumu got back up on his feet. He could feel his blood boiling and the fact that Kiyoomi was watching, didn’t make it any better. All week he did his best at following Akaashi around and filing boring ass reports, just to get knocked out by the first waterbender that crossed his path?

“Oh, so yer from the north? Shoulda thought so, considering yer height’s below average.”

As said, Atsumu was good at reading people. Sometimes he miscalculates but definitely not right now. By the look on Iwaizumi’s face, he could tell he hit a nerve.

“Iwaizumi’s going to eat him alive,” Daichi commented from the sidelines after hearing Atsumu’s comment.

Kiyoomi didn’t intervene. He trusted Iwaizumi to not go overboard with the hits.

“Heh, you just signed your death contract, kid.”

Who did this guy think he was? He was at most one year older than Atsumu, maybe even two. Before Atsumu could react and counter comment, a wave of water hit him. He almost didn’t get out of it.

Breathing heavily a bit further in the back of the gym, Atsumu was trying to think of a counterattack. But there was no time. Iwaizumi was throwing icicles at Atsumu, which he luckily dodged. He just couldn’t find time to attack Iwaizumi. So far, he was just taking and dodging.

“Where’s that big mouth of yours now?” Iwaizumi asked loudly as Atsumu was hiding behind a huge rock. “All bark no bite.”

Atsumu was trying to think, which Iwaizumi could tell and hich was the reason why Iwaizumi wouldn’t hold back on his attacks. Atsumu had no time to think, just to react and dodge. This was so below his dignity.

Atsumu was hiding again and this time he had some time to think. Iwaizumi was nowhere to be found and the whole gym went silent. That finally gave Atsumu time to think. Wait, Iwaizumi nowhere to be found? That should have been a pro, but now Atsumu was panicking. His thoughts were all over the place and in the blink of an eye, Iwaizumi stood right in front of Atsumu, a hoard of icicles aimed at him.

The blonde closed his eyes, being ready to get hit, but nothing happened. He slowly peeked an eye open and was faced with Iwaizumi only a few inches away, icicles stopped and floating right in front of his face.

“This is why you need practice,” Iwaizumi said, dropping the icicles, turning them back into liquid. “You have no strategy at all. What’s usually your go-to attack?”

“I…” Atsumu stared down at the melted icicles. Usually, Atsumu never had to deal with anyone as strong as Iwaizumi, but he didn’t want to admit that. “I was just getting warm.”

Iwaizumi’s mouth turned into a grin. “Oi, chief, I like this one!”

“So you’ll go easy on him from now on?” Kiyoomi asked amused.

“Of course not.” Iwaizumi wrapped his arm around Atsumu’s shoulder. “My favorites get the full package. I’ll have him ready for practice with Daichi by the end of the week, trust me.”

Atsumu was so very confused. So Iwaizumi liked him, but he wasn’t going to hold back? He would have to deal with his heavy attacks all week?

“Never doubted you, Iwaizumi,” Kiyoomi said.

Iwaizumi had led Atsumu back towards Kiyoomi. “Sorry for the scratches on your arm,” Iwaizumi apologised to Atsumu, whose right arm sleeve had gotten ripped open during their practice fight. “Happens when I get carried away,” he chuckled.

“Ah, it’s no problem.” Atsumu covered his hand with water and put it on the scratches on his arm. Iwaizumi’s icicles were pretty sharp and left tiny cuts all over his arm. Iwaizumi and Daichi were just watching confused when the water around Atsumu’s hand started glowing and the cuts disappeared.

“Woah, you’re a healer.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement. Iwaizumi sounded impressed. “Got any more surprises up your sleeve?”

“Why don’t ya try and find out?”

-

Atsumu just spent a whole week with Iwaizumi, practice fighting with him, showing him the moves he could do and learning new ones from him. As harsh as Iwaizumi got off in the very beginning, that all went away just after a few more hours of training with him.

They got along well and Atsumu felt lucky to be learning new things from Iwaizumi. Thinking about Osamu, Atsumu was wondering who would win a fight: Osamu or Iwaizumi. Osamu was self-trained, never trained by a waterbender master. It has been a while since Atsumu last seen Osamu fight, but he was almost certain that Iwaizumi could take Osamu in a fight.

Now moving on to Daichi, Atsumu didn’t know what to expect. Their training ground was somewhere outside, a bit further away from Republic City in the middle of nowhere. If Kiyoomi wasn’t there with them, Atsumu would’ve thought he was taken there to die or something.

“So, do we have a practice fight as well or do ya work differently?” Atsumu asked Daichi.

“You’re not ready to fight Daichi,” Kiyoomi said.

“Hah??? And what was that whole week with Iwa-sensei for???”

“Let us fight, chief,” Daichi intervened. “I’ll be careful.”

Kiyoomi seemed to be trusting Daichi a lot, hence why he agreed. He removed himself from the scene by far and left the two alone.

“Don’t think I can handle a few of yer rocks?” Atsumu asked amused. “Don’t worry, Samu used to throw them at me all the time.”

Daichi just cracked his knuckles and immediately began with a ground attack, throwing Atsumu in the air and using the advantage to prepare for his next attack. There was a lake right by where they were for Atsumu to use for bending water. He swirled a bunch of water up before gravity pulled him back to earth. He created an ice slide and slid back down on the ground.

“Why are ya all like this!!!” Atsumu yelled annoyed. “Who goes all in like that at the very beginning, for fucks sake!”

Kiyoomi smiled to himself, being amused by this whole situation. There was a reason for why he picked Iwaizumi and Daichi to train with Atsumu, except their immaculate skill. Both were very different fighters, not particularly fitting the role of their elements.

“This wasn’t all in,” Daichi commented, already aiming for his next attack.

It felt like Daichi held back a little with his next attacks, proving Atsumu right that he already went all in at the beginning, which was his mistake. Atsumu was glad he had the chance to even think about how to attack Daichi, but never actually landed a hit.

Kiyoomi just shook his head from afar. Daichi wasn’t giving his all because he was just tiring Atsumu out. He was saving his energy for something else and Kiyoomi couldn’t wait to catch Atsumu’s reaction to it.

To take a breath, Atsumu hid behind a rock. He had used the moment of dust fog to hide in a place where Daichi couldn’t see him. He was just hoping that Daichi wasn’t one of those earthbenders that could feel the vibrations off the ground and make out where he was hiding.

Suddenly the ground was shaking and Atsumu leaned more into the rock to keep his ground. When suddenly the ground around him opened up and he was hit with the temperature of a thousand suns.

“Are ya fucking kidding me?” Atsumu yelled out.

Daichi was a lavabender. Atsumu was trapped and suddenly his wrists and torso were earth-chained to the rock.

“Told you I didn’t go all in yet.”

Atsumu looked up just to see Daichi standing on top of the rock, looking down at him. Daichi didn’t sound one bit smug, just very honest. The lava suddenly turned into black stone and created a steady ground to walk on again.

“Sakusa-kuuuun! Where the hell do ya find these people???”

Kiyoomi furrowed his brows as he walked closer to the scene. “Why? Can’t keep up, Miya?”

“I kept up with Iwa-sensei, I’ll be able to keep up with volcano-sensei as well.”

“Uh huh, and how are you going to do that?” Kiyoomi now stood right in front of Atsumu, who was still earth chained to the rock. “A little advice, Miya. You didn’t train with Iwaizumi for a whole week for nothing. Use that knowledge and start creating your own strategy. Having a calm, quiet opponent is more difficult than having a loud one.”

Daichi jumped down. “Iwaizumi didn’t hide any of his strengths and went all in immediately. But in a real fight, you can never know what kind of person you’re going to go up against.”

Kiyoomi nodded. “Daichi kept his secret until the very end, when he knew he had you.”

Atsumu couldn’t believe he was getting an actual lesson about how to behave in a fight. He had fought with a lot of people before and never needed any strategy.

“So ya say I have to build a strategy that allows me to fight against loud people like Iwa-sensei, but also quiet ones like Daichi-sensei?” Atsumu spoke out his thoughts.

Kiyoomi hummed. “Looks like, if you want to learn, then you can.”

That whole week Atsumu tried his all to keep up with Daichi. At home he thought hard about a good strategy for himself and also because he wanted to impress Kiyoomi. He wanted to prove that he wasn’t just some criminal who was lucky to win any fights.

The week after on Monday, both Iwaizumi and Daichi evaluated Atsumu. Kiyoomi hadn’t been there for all the gym sessions and therefore didn’t know how well Atsumu was keeping up.

Atsumu was nervously waiting for his evaluation. Kiyoomi wanted to talk to the two senseis alone before they would give their final opinion.

“Atsumu,” Iwaizumi began as they had gotten back to him. “You’re very hot-headed. You think too much during fights and aren’t really good at close combat.”

This was it. Atsumu had been so confident that he did well, but Iwaizumi only pointed out his flaws. He thought he got along with Iwaizumi, why did he sell him out like this?

“But, you’re an immaculate waterbender. You have a strength that I haven’t seen with anyone before. God knows I would’ve been in the hospital if any of your ice blocks actually hit me,” Iwaizumi added.

“Those ice attacks are dangerous,” Daichi chimed in. “But I’m agreeing with Iwaizumi, you really have an immense strength. To be honest, I wouldn’t want you as my opponent during a full moon.”

“You’re lucky that Suga isn’t a waterbender,” Iwaizumi laughed.

“If Koushi was a waterbender, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“YOU ARE SUGA-SANS BOYFRIEND?”, Atsumu yelled out suddenly, startling the two senseis in front of him. “He has kicked my ass so many times whenever I sneak onto the island of the airbenders! I can’t believe yer the boyfriend he’s keeping in his place!”

Daichi’s whole face turned red. “How do you know him?”

“I’m good friends with Kita-san,” Atsumu explained.

“No way!” Iwaizumi chimed in. “He scares the shit outta me!”

They were about to continue their conversation when Kiyoomi very obviously cleared his throat to get the attention. “You done?”

All three went silent and just nodded. Atsumu wasn’t nearly as embarrassed as Iwaizumi and Daichi. They had been on Kiyoomi’s side for a while now, knowing how to behave and always stay professional.

“You passed,” Kiyoomi then just announced, looking at Atsumu. “But we’re going to have to practice close combat.”

Atsumu’s eyes lit up when Kiyoomi told him that he passed. He kind of expected more words from Kiyoomi, maybe even a compliment, but this was okay too.

“Great! Who’s gonna be my teacher? Iwa-san? Oh, oh, or maybe someone new?”

“Me.”

Atsumu stared at Kiyoomi. “You?”

“Got a problem with that?”

“No… No, not at all. I’m just surprised. Aren’t ya super busy?”

“I can’t use you out of the precinct if you can’t fight close combat. Now stretch while I go change.”

Kiyoomi didn’t even wait for a response, he just turned around and went back to the changing room. Atsumu looked over at Iwaizumi and Daichi, as if he was asking if Kiyoomi was for real.

“Damn, chief is gonna be your personal trainer? Usually Bokuto or Kuroo take care of that,” Iwaizumi said. “Oh, you’re done for, Atsumu.”

“Wait, where are ya two going?” Atsumu asked a bit panicked when both turned around to leave.

“We are going to have lunch while you get wrecked. Bye!”

Atsumu got left behind like a lost puppy. He was nervous to train with Kiyoomi alone. And close combat? Kiyoomi was the chief of police, Atsumu didn’t know if he could keep up with that at all.

To not get scolded by Kiyoomi, Atsumu began stretching. In the past two weeks no one had told him he sucked at close combat. He had no strategy ready for that and he wasn’t sure if he could take the humiliation of getting tackled by Kiyoomi.

When Atsumu heard steps approaching him, he turned to look at Kiyoomi walk in, wearing a tight black compression shirt and shorts, his hair put up in a little bun. And we aren’t talking about knee-long shorts, these are the kind of shorts that expose enough thigh to get distracted.

Atsumu took in all the beauty marks on Kiyoomi’s body. He could remember wondering if his whole body was covered in them after seeing his shoulder.

“This is going to be non-bending training,” Kiyoomi said. “If you use water, I’ll kick your ass.”

“Since when do ya talk like that?”

“What do you mean?” Kiyoomi asked, putting on gloves that don’t cover his fingers completely.

“I mean, that even when yer drunk, ya still talk all highly. And just right now ya talked like Iwa-sensei,” Atsumu pointed out.

Kiyoomi ignored the fact that Atsumu basically brought up the night they drank together and just cleared his throat. “Just don’t use water,” Kiyoomi said.

“Okay, chief.”

“Trying to butter me up so I keep it light?” Kiyoomi asked amused, raising his eyebrows.

“Does it work?” Atsumu asked, getting ready to not get tackled by Kiyoomi immediately.

“Nope.”

Right after saying that, Kiyoomi swiped Atsumu’s feet off the ground and looked down at him.

Atsumu groaned. “What the fuck???”

“I’m not pausing for little conversations in between.” And with that Atsumu saw Kiyoomi lift his foot, about to land on his stomach. Atsumu rolled to the side and got up as fast as he could.

“Hello? Beginner here. How can ya just attempt a drop kick on me???”

Kiyoomi didn’t say anything and just kept on attacking Atsumu. It was a bit frustrating for Atsumu to just keep on getting attacked by all his trainers. He knew himself that he was bad at close combat, so how should he keep up with a professional like Kiyoomi.

Just when Atsumu had a moment to counterattack, Kiyoomi stopped his hand mid-air, grabbed his wrist, turned Atsumu around and held him in a chokehold. Atsumu’s hand was at his back being held by Kiyoomi as Kiyoomi’s other arm was wrapped around Atsumu’s neck.

“This was way too easy,” Kiyoomi commented, still keeping Atsumu in a chokehold.

“Yeah, because I’m a beginner.”

Atsumu didn’t entirely hate this situation. Sure, it was humiliating, but being held like this by Kiyoomi made his stomach do flips.

“Kind of expected you to surprise me with something. Guess we really need to start from zero.”

Kiyoomi’s grip was tight and Atsumu didn’t even feel like resisting. If this was how training was going to go all week, then he was doomed. They have been pretty good at avoiding the fact there was a certain kind of tension in the air between them. Maybe because Atsumu barely saw Kiyoomi since he started working at the precinct.

“I think ya have to let go of me to start from zero,” Atsumu mentioned, since it didn’t seem like Kiyoomi was going to let go any time soon.

“Hm?” Kiyoomi realised his tight grip around Atsumu and let go immediately. “Sorry. Now let’s do the basics.”

The next few days Kiyoomi taught Atsumu how to properly fight one on one and how to block certain hits and protect your head and stomach. Atsumu was a fast learner and despite the tension between them, they were working really well together.

“Can I ask ya something?” Atsumu asked during a short break they were taking.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Could we practice a fight with bending our elements?” Atsumu asked a bit shy.

“Oh?” Kiyoomi looked surprised.

Atsumu sighed. “Forget about it.”

“Sure, we can train with bending.” Kiyoomi took off his gloves. “Just didn’t think you’d need that anymore.”

“It’s just…” Atsumu nervously played with the bandages around his wrists. “I’ve been avoiding firebenders as good as I could but now I could encounter a criminal firebender at any time and I just want to be prepared.”

Kiyoomi almost forgot about Atsumu’s lightning scar. He was wearing long sleeves and bandages the whole time that he couldn’t even see it anymore. He didn’t even think about a situation where Atsumu would have to fight a firebender.

“Ya can use lightning as well. I’d be useless if I couldn’t handle that out in the field.”

“If you’re sure, Atsumu.”

Kiyoomi bit down on his lip for letting the name slip. Atsumu just smiled a little as he tightened the bandages around his hands.

“I am. I trust ya.”

If anything caught Kiyoomi off guard, it was that one small sentence. Kiyoomi didn’t want to use that trust and make Atsumu suffer in any way. Actually, Atsumu trusting Kiyoomi was a huge deal. Having anyone’s trust meant a lot of responsibility.

And Kiyoomi felt ready to handle that responsibility.

“Okay then. Let’s go outside.”

They went to the training grounds outside and Atsumu couldn’t other than feel being watched. There were a lot of windows facing the training grounds and Atsumu knew for sure Akaashi would be watching from one of them, hoping for Kiyoomi to take it all out on Atsumu.

It made him grin.

Atsumu started by surprising Kiyoomi with sharp icicles flying his way. Kiyoomi blocked them with fire and chuckled.

“If only you were this good at close combat.”

“Sorry, I have no time for small convos in between.”

Atsumu had no mercy and wouldn’t even let Kiyoomi attack him with fire. Maybe it was the fact that Atsumu was afraid that had him use all his power on attacking Kiyoomi non-stop, but this wasn’t the way for him to get over his fear.

Kiyoomi was holding back a bit to not overwhelm Atsumu in any way. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt him and had to be careful. He found a moment to breathe, hiding behind a wall. He had seen that the windows to the offices got opened by now, everyone watching curiously.

With a fire boost, Kiyoomi basically flew for a moment and used the advantage of being up in the air to attack Atsumu. It took Atsumu a moment to realise Kiyoomi was actually up there, the sun blending his vision not being very helpful. Atsumu barely dodged that attack and laid on the ground, watching Kiyoomi come down right at him.

He caused a wave of water to protect him and then froze it when Kiyoomi came in touch with the water. His foot was stuck in the ice as Atsumu got back up on his feet and prepare another wave of water to be aimed at Kiyoomi.

Call it a survival instinct, but Kiyoomi’s fire turned blue and therefore more dangerous to block Atsumu’s attack. It made Atsumu froze for a moment and when he realized he was getting close to getting lightnings out of Kiyoomi, he defrosted the ice on Kiyoomi’s foot.

Atsumu could feel all the pairs of eyes on him as he hastily tried to handle the situation and not get struck by lightning. The use of water suddenly got limited to just throwing icicles. Kiyoomi still just blocked every attack; no lightning in sight.

He had seen the fear in Atsumu’s eyes when his fire turned blue. The way Atsumu immediately built distance between them and stuck to throwing icicles at Kiyoomi made it even clearer. He definitely wasn’t ready for lightning.

“Why aren’t ya throwing lightning at me?” Atsumu asked.

Kiyoomi wanted to answer, but there were still so many eyes watching them. He took a deep breath, then threw harmless fire in the air at the windows.

“You all should be working!” And suddenly the windows were closed and empty. Kiyoomi walked closer to Atsumu, who was still in defence mode. “You’re not ready for my lightning, Atsumu.”

“What? No, I am. I specifically asked ya to use it,” he said out of breath.

“And I’m telling you, you aren’t ready.”

Atsumu looked like he wanted to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t let him. He just sighed disappointed and went back inside, his defence icicles all forgotten and melting on the ground now. Kiyoomi followed and caught up to him in the changing room.

The blonde just silently took off his shirt and that was when Kiyoomi caught a glance on the full scar for the first time. It was huge. It covered his whole left arm, shoulder and some of his upper back. Then Atsumu changed into another shirt and the scar disappeared.

“Ya held back to not scare me,” Atsumu suddenly said, his back still facing Kiyoomi. “I coulda handled it.”

“But I couldn’t have,” Kiyoomi said, watching Atsumu look back at him confused. “Lightning is very powerful, Atsumu. I’m still not able to control it as I wish.”

“What?”

“I’ve been trying to get control over it, but that’s not easy. It comes naturally to me when I’m in danger but not in practice fights. And I really don’t know why.” Kiyoomi sighed. “Sure, it would’ve happened eventually if you kept on throwing icicles at me, but I couldn’t risk accidentally hurting you, when I told you that I wouldn’t.”

Golden eyes were staring at Kiyoomi. All this time Atsumu thought Kiyoomi was this skilled bender that could just easily bend fire and one of its sub elements. To know that Kiyoomi couldn’t control the use of lightning was something big. He was the chief of police. Atsumu always thought he would have to be the perfect bender but turns out he had his flaws as well.

“Thanks for telling me,” Atsumu spoke. “Why didn’t ya just tell me before?”

Kiyoomi shrugged. “Nobody knows. I know that’s kind of irresponsible since I’m the chief, but I’ve been working on learning to control it.”

“How is it irresponsible? Yer a great firebender, everyone has their issues with bending. And yer issue is with a sub element, which is just an extra. Being chief isn’t just about bending but also responsibility, keeping your team in check and being a good leader. Yer too hard on yerself.”

“Thank you, Atsumu. And also thank you for saving me that day. I was lucky that you were around.”

Atsumu smiled a little. “Always a pleasure, chief. See ya tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Miya.”

“Prepare to get yer ass kicked.” He took his bag and left through the door.

The atmosphere between Atsumu and Kiyoomi was different the next day. Someone like Kiyoomi who wasn’t too fond of opening up about anything told Atsumu about his own biggest personal flaw. All jokes of their banter aside, they were serious and honest with each other and that changed a lot.

Atsumu was like a different person today. He was wearing a tank top, exposing his scar and embracing it.

“Did you cheat on me with a different trainer?” Kiyoomi asked, dodging Atsumu’s fists.

“Pft, as if there was someone better than ya.”

“Ass kissing won’t make me take it easy on you.”

“Was worth a shot.”

So far Atsumu hadn’t gotten the hang of how to escape Kiyoomi’s chokehold, which he always ended up in at least once each session. Just like right now.

“Will you ever figure out how to escape?” Kiyoomi asked amused.

This time Atsumu took a moment to actually think. He had one free hand which he always gripped onto Kiyoomi’s arm with that was wrapped around his neck. He let go and rammed his elbow into Kiyoomi’s side. Kiyoomi let go of Atsumu’s other hand, which he used to his advantage. Atsumu hold onto Kiyoomi’s arm with both hands, bend down, then forward and flipped Kiyoomi onto the mat.

“Enjoy the view from down there?” Atsumu asked smugly.

Kiyoomi’s whole face was red, staring up at Atsumu. And the view? Being towered by Atsumu and his thick thighs and big chest wasn’t something to complain about. But Kiyoomi wasn’t going to take this as defeat. He grabbed Atsumu’s ankle and swiped his foot of the ground, causing for him to fall on the mat.

“I celebrated too soon, huh?” Atsumu admitted, lying next to Kiyoomi.

“Should’ve knocked me out,” Kiyoomi said.

Lying side by side they were looking at each other. Their fingers touched and Atsumu was slowly getting closer. It was like as if he waited for permission to close the gap and when Kiyoomi didn’t back away, Atsumu went all in. He pushed himself a bit up on his elbow and then crashed his lips onto Kiyoomi’s.

Kiyoomi let it happen and cupped Atsumu’s cheeks. This was so much better sober. He was longing for this ever since that one drunk night they spent together. Atsumu tasted like mint and the smell of his shampoo took Kiyoomi all in. His lips were soft against his own and so were the cheeks in his hands. Atsumu’s touch felt hot on each spot his hands were exploring Kiyoomi’s body.

The kiss felt like eternity. None of them dared to pull away and break the moment they were having, until Kiyoomi heard people approaching the gym. He opened his eyes just to be faced with Atsumu’s closed eyes and instinctively pushed him off himself. He got up on his feet and before Atsumu could complain, Bokuto and Kuroo entered the gym.

“Oh, chief- Sorry, we thought you left already,” Bokuto apologised for just intruding.

“We can leave-“ Kuroo began to talk, but got interrupted by Kiyoomi.

“It’s okay. We just finished. The gym is yours.” Kiyoomi didn’t look back at Atsumu before basically sprinting out of the gym.

Meanwhile Atsumu was still on the ground, Bokuto and Kuroo just confusedly looking down at him.

“Damn, he really has no mercy on you, huh?” Kuroo commented, helping Atsumu back up on his feet by offering his hands.

“Mhm, if only ya knew,” Atsumu grumbled.

When he walked into the changing room, Kiyoomi was nowhere to be found. Atsumu just sighed to himself and went home without checking in on the office. He was used to being walked all over by people, but it hurt whenever Kiyoomi did it. Atsumu understood why he got pushed away and why Kiyoomi ended their session right there, but he could have waited for Atsumu in the changing room at least.

Atsumu was done for today and was kind of happy to have the weekend off. That way he didn’t have to worry about seeing Kiyoomi at work the next day.

Kiyoomi on the other hand felt terrible for just leaving like that. Later on, he realised that he should have waited for Atsumu instead of disappearing on him. Coincidentally he had the weekend off as well and decided to visit Atsumu the next day.

There was a fifty-fifty chance of Atsumu being home. Kiyoomi remembered the time he tried to get a hold of him and never catching him being home. Now thinking about that, Kiyoomi didn’t know what Atsumu ever did in his free time. He could imagine him visiting Kita on their island but that was about it.

“What are ya doing here?”

Kiyoomi was just standing outside the building when Atsumu walked out the front door. He was dressed casually, and his hair was messy.

“I came here for you.”

“Why?”

Atsumu looked hurt and didn’t look like wanting to talk. His hands were buried in the pockets of his jacket and there were faint dark circles under his eyes.

“I wanted to apologise for yesterday. I shouldn’t have disappeared.”

“Yeah, ya shouldn’t’ve. Was a very asshole move of ya,” Atsumu said honestly. “Is that all?”

“I… I’m really sorry. I panicked when Bokuto and Kuroo came in and-“

“Hit and run is what I call that. Wasn’t the first time, as ya know.”

Kiyoomi sighed frustratedly. “Atsumu, please. I regret just leaving.”

Atsumu chewed on the inside of his cheek. “I’m going grocery shopping.”

He just started walking and Kiyoomi didn’t know if he should follow. Atsumu telling him where he was going, felt like an invitation to Kiyoomi. Maybe this was his chance to make up for his hit and run situation. He jogged after Atsumu until he caught up to him and then just walked by his side.

No one was speaking. Kiyoomi was just glad Atsumu didn’t complain about him following, which meant that he had wanted him around. At the grocery store it wasn’t awkward or anything either. Both were enjoying a comfortable silence as Kiyoomi just followed Atsumu around like a chick followed their mother duck.

Kiyoomi helped Atsumu carry one of the two bags back to his apartment. Atsumu still wasn’t talking but he let Kiyoomi into his home. That still wasn’t bad, right? Kiyoomi silently helped Atsumu getting the groceries out of the bag and in their rightful spots in Atsumu’s kitchen.

“That’s for ya,” Atsumu suddenly spoke as Kiyoomi was holding a jar of umeboshi towards him.

“Wha…” How did Atsumu know?

“Ya were craving umeboshi when ya spent the night. Told me they were yer favorite.” Atsumu shrugged, not facing Kiyoomi and instead storing the rest of the groceries in the cabinets.

Atsumu remembered that? Kiyoomi didn’t even remember telling him about that.

“You didn’t have to, Atsumu.”

“But I wanted to.”

Kiyoomi smiled a bit. “Thank you, Atsumu.”

“Ya’ve been using my first name more lately,” Atsumu pointed out. “I thought ya were a strict last name kinda person.”

“First name base is for people I’m close with,” Kiyoomi explained.

“Who said we’re close?” Atsumu closed the cabinet and turned to look at Kiyoomi with raised eyebrows. “Because ya’ve been giving me the feeling of not wanting to be close with me.”

Kiyoomi put the jar down on the counter and took a step closer to Atsumu. “I’m sorry I’ve been giving you that feeling. I just…” Kiyoomi sighed.

“You just what? Finish yer sentence, Kiyoomi.”

“I just don’t know how to act around you! I think about you all the time and now you’re also around me all the time. I don’t know what to do with my thoughts and and and- And your presence makes me so nervous!”

Silence filled the room. Kiyoomi could feel his heart pumping in his chest as he stared at Atsumu who just stared back with his golden eyes. Kiyoomi had been dying to let out his ever so confusing thoughts and hoped for the best. Atsumu could also just laugh in Kiyoomi’s face, which probably was his worst-case scenario.

“I make you nervous?” Atsumu asked, still not believing what he just heard.

“Yeah. You’re… you’re funny and charismatic. I’m used to my stupid employees, but they never dare talking back at me. But you… you don’t just see me as the chief. At least that’s the feeling you’ve given me.”

“Woah, I’m- And that’s the reason ya keep running away from me?”

“Well, after everything I still always end up wherever you are, no?”

Atsumu snorted. “So what? Yer a boomerang now?”

Kiyoomi shook his head. “I’m an idiot. And it’s okay if you say no but can I invite you to dinner?”

“Ya mean, as in, a date?”

“Yes. A date.”

“Okay.”

-

“So this is how ya live,” Atsumu commented, walking around the living room of Kiyoomi’s apartment.

“Why? What did you expect?” Kiyoomi asked from the kitchen.

“I dunno. Plain walls, a bed, a kitchen and a toilet or something.”

Kiyoomi came back to the living room with a bottle of wine and two glasses. “You’re describing a prison cell.”

“Guess I am.”

The apartment really looked nothing like Atsumu’s imagination. It looked cozy and warm and even had a fireplace. He could have expected that maybe. Then there was lots of traditional fire nation decoration around. It decorated Kiyoomi’s walls and shelves. There was a huge bookshelf in the corner of the room as well. Atsumu imagined Kiyoomi reading a book by the fireplace while enjoying a glass of wine and couldn’t other than smile.

“Are both yer parents from the fire nation?” Atsumu asked.

“Mhm, both also firebenders. Everything I know today, they taught me.” Kiyoomi poured wine into the glasses and gestured for Atsumu to have a seat at the dining table by the window. “I also got an older brother and sister. My brother’s the general of the United Forces.”

“Oh my god, that’s yer brother???” Atsumu sat down at the dining table, remembering meeting the general once at the northern water tribe. “And what does yer sister do?”

“She works at Future Industries as an engineer. She’s the one with the brains,” Kiyoomi chuckled.

Atsumu felt very lucky to be sitting at the table with Kiyoomi and just casually talking with him. He couldn’t remember the last time he was excited to get to know someone new.

“Sounds like an amazing family ya have,” Atsumu smiled, taking a sip of his wine. “Do ya see them often?”

“Well, we’re all busy adults. My sister’s in the city so I see here every now and then. But we all try to meet up for the Fire Days Festival every year and spend at least a few days together.”

“That sounds lovely.” Atsumu was thinking back to the last time he had been at a Glacier Spirits Festival at the water tribe. It used to be his favorite time of the year as a child, but since he moved away, he hadn’t gone back for it.

“What brought you to the city, Atsumu?” Kiyoomi asked genuinely curious. He could see that Atsumu was hesitating to answer. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

The blonde shook his head. “It’s okay. We’re tryna get to know each other after all.” He cleared his throat. “As ya know, I’m from the southern water tribe. My parents are… difficult people so when I was around sixteen, I left to live at the northern tribe for a while. That didn’t work out either, so I came to Republic City.”

Kiyoomi nodded, being impressed that Atsumu moved out at that age already. He was wondering what led to that, even though he had a hunch already.

“In the south everything was about Samu, and I couldn’t deal with that anymore. Well, and in the north everyone knew who I was very well, and I don’t wanna sound discriminating or anything, but the northern water tribe people think they’re so much better than us from the south.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard about that rivalry between the tribes. Must have been fun training with Iwaizumi then, huh?” Kiyoomi tried to lighten the mood, since he knew that Atsumu actually kind of got along with Iwaizumi.

He chuckled. “I wish I met Iwa-san back when I lived in the north. He would’ve kicked my ass but at least it woulda been fun.”

They continued talking about this and that while Kiyoomi served the food he made. He would have wanted to take Atsumu out to a restaurant, but he felt like having dinner at his place as their first date was more personal. Also, since both were pretty known to the public, he didn’t want to be the headline for next day’s newspaper.

“Sooo, when will ya use me outside of the precinct?” Atsumu asked halfway through dinner.

“Work talk during our date?” Kiyoomi raised his eyebrows. “You know as someone who rejected the offer from the president you seem very eager to get out there,” Kiyoomi teased.

“That was just me playing hard to get.”

Kiyoomi chuckled. “Well, it definitely worked.”

Their eyes met and both smiled at each other. The date was going so perfectly, none of them wanted the night to end. Kiyoomi, who usually didn’t talk much, wished to be talking with Atsumu forever. He could already tell that this was one of his favorite things ever.

“Only took ya two hit and run situations,” Atsumu added smugly.

“You’re never going to let me live those down, huh?”

“Yer right.”

Their night was going amazing but also coming to an end. Kiyoomi didn’t want to take things too far and ruin a possibly great relationship. (As if he hadn’t made out with Atsumu for hours already).

“Well, I guess it’s late. I should go home,” Atsumu said before Kiyoomi could initiate anything. “I know ya want me to stay the night, but I don’t wanna mess up with a wrong start.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Kiyoomi joked.

“Oh please. I, for a fact, also know that ya wanna kiss me.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“Yer eyes told me,” Atsumu said, catching Kiyoomi glance at his lips once again. “They’re pretty much glued to my lips.”

“They know how soft your lips are,” Kiyoomi breathed out, moving closer to Atsumu. “Know how they feel against mine.”

Atsumu’s breath hitched when Kiyoomi came closer to close the gap between them. This kiss was different than the ones before. This time both knew how the other felt and that it wasn’t going to be a one-time thing. There were more emotions in this kiss as it wasn’t led by lust and hunger but true affection. It was the perfect way to end their night.

“Good night, Kiyoomi,” Atsumu breathed out after their lips parted.

“Good night, Atsumu.”

They smiled at each other when Atsumu walked out through the door. Kiyoomi went to watch Atsumu walk down the street from his window and already missed having him around.

-

Monday at work Kiyoomi was a bit nervous. He didn’t talk with Atsumu about how to act at work. When he saw Atsumu walk into the open office, Kiyoomi’s heart stopped beating for a while, not only because Atsumu looked so good, but because he was nervous about what’s to come.

“Morning, chief!” Atsumu greeted him, walking past and getting to his desk.

He figured it out himself. Kiyoomi felt relieved and smiled to himself. Just this proved to Kiyoomi that going out with Atsumu wasn’t a waste. He had his doubts about dating someone from work, which he had never taken into consideration. No one at work really spoke to him like that, until Atsumu walked into his life.

It was pretty calm at the precinct today, having Kiyoomi hang out in the open office space more than usual. He took it as his opportunity to see Atsumu but kept it low-key. Then at lunch time Atsumu sneaked into Kiyoomi’s office.

“And??? How did I do?” Atsumu asked first thing walking in.

“I’m impressed you could keep your big mouth shut,” Kiyoomi teased.

“Mhm. And ya couldn’t keep yer ass inside yer office. Everyone’s so suspicious of ya being out there with us.” Atsumu sat across from Kiyoomi and crossed his legs. “They think they’re being tested or something.”

“Better than being suspicious of us.” Kiyoomi froze for a moment and looked up from his paperwork. “I didn’t mean-“

“I know what ya meant, chill. I don’t want them to know either. They’ll think yer gonna be biased and I don’t want that. Yet.”

Kiyoomi raised his eyebrows. “So you want them to think that eventually?”

“Yeah, but now’s too early.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I know.”

The whole atmosphere at work changed. It didn’t turn weird or anything, just more harmonised. Kiyoomi was still the serious stoic chief, but every now and then he would crack a joke or two. Every now and then he would get food for everyone. Every now and then he wouldn’t mind if a file was handed in on time or not.

“Is chief buttering us up for bad news or something?” Atsumu heard Kuroo talk. “He’s been so nice lately.”

“Maybe chief’s in love,” Bokuto said, suspiciously glancing over at Akaashi, which made him blush. There definitely was something going on there.

“Uh huh, as if. Chief only likes justice, or something, I’m assuming. He’s here practically all the time, he has no time for love.”

Atsumu wanted to interfere so badly but held himself back to not make anyone be suspicious of him. He just pretended to not be listening in on his colleagues and tried to get his paperwork right.

Using his finished paperwork as an excuse he went into Kiyoomi’s office to hand it over.

“Wanna know what yer team’s talking ‘bout?” Atsumu asked, grinning as he set the paperwork down at Kiyoomi’s desk.

“I don’t think so.”

“They think yer buttering them up for bad news,” Atsumu just told him, taking a seat, making himself comfortable by putting his feet on the other seat right across of him.

“You’ve made me soft.”

“Don’t blame me now.” The blonde checked out his nails like a teenage girl. “Bokuto said ya might be in love and that’s why yer so nice.” He glanced at Kiyoomi, catching him freeze and his cheeks blush.

Kiyoomi cleared his throat. “Why would he think that?”

“Because he’s all over Akaashi-kun.”

“Huh???”

“Oh please!” Atsumu sat up and leaned on Kiyoomi’s desk. “They’re so in love, it’s crazy how no one’s noticing.”

Kiyoomi thought back, trying to find signs for whatever there is going on between Akaashi and Bokuto, but he couldn’t recall anything. Maybe it was Atsumu’s ability to read people that had him figure it out.

“Anyways, I should go back. There’s another report I gotta finish.” The blonde stood up and looked back at Kiyoomi.

“Wait.” Kiyoomi also got up and walked around his desk to meet Atsumu. He gently took his hands and looked into those golden eyes, feeling the heat crawl onto his own cheeks.

“Yes?” Atsumu asked innocently, tilting his head a bit, smiling at Kiyoomi.

“You’ve been doing a great job. I’m fascinated by how fast you picked up on the routine here. And uhm…” Kiyoomi squeezed Atsumu’s hands and kept looking into his eyes. “I wanted to ask, if you want to be my boyfriend?”

Atsumu blinked. The surprise was very visible on his face as he stared at Kiyoomi, who nervously waited for an answer. Kiyoomi felt like a teenager, asking Atsumu to officially be his boyfriend, but they have been acting like a couple in secret for a while now. He wanted it to be official, even when they would still keep it a secret until the time was right to tell others.

“Are ya serious?” Atsumu asked a bit loudly.

Kiyoomi squeezed his hands again. “Yes. Don’t make this any more embarrassing for me as it already is and give me an answer?”

He sounded self-conscious and Atsumu thought it was the cutest thing ever. Atsumu already knew that Kiyoomi had a soft side, but he didn’t know he was this cheesy. It was adorable and how could he say no to that face?

“Yes, ya idiot. Of course I wanna be yer boyfriend,” Atsumu responded to the question a bit quietly, just in case anyone could be hearing them.

Now Kiyoomi was the one to look surprised. “Okay, great. You can get back to work now.”

“Excuse me? At least gimme a kiss so I feel somewhat special around here.”

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes, gently cupped Atsumu’s cheeks and gave him a sweet kiss. Atsumu tasted like candy, and it made him smile into the kiss.

“Did you snack again?”

“I need the sugar to not fall asleep during the boring paperwork!”

Kiyoomi chuckled and gave Atsumu another kiss on the cheek. “Now get back to work.”

In the next few weeks Atsumu would find bags of candy on his desk, finally go out on duty and basically spend almost every night with Kiyoomi. As much as they can recall, no one knew about their relationship, and they were happy like that.

On quiet days Kiyoomi would sometimes help Atsumu improve his close combat skills, just like today. They were in the gym, practicing a new move Kiyoomi taught Atsumu when Akaashi hastily walked in.

“Chief, can I speak to you for a moment?” he asked. “It’s urgent.”

Kiyoomi looked at Atsumu for a moment before he told him to take a break and then walked out in the hall with Akaashi.

“What happened?” Kiyoomi asked curious.

“A man just came in to report a bloodbender.”

Kiyoomi’s alarm sirens in his head went off when he heard that. Bloodbending was highly illegal and would get punished with taking away that person’s bending abilities. Catching one was a huge deal and shouldn’t be treated lightly.

“And? Does he have a name?”

Akaashi nodded hesitantly. “He claims it’s Miya.”

“What?”

“Look, apparently it happened a year ago and the old man saw Miya in the newspaper and identified him.”

“But Ats- Miya isn’t a bloodbender, Akaashi. This must be a misunderstanding.” Kiyoomi couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I didn’t want to jump into conclusions either, that’s why I came to see you first. According to protocol we have to interrogate Miya. If he isn’t a bloodbender-“

“He isn’t.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

Kiyoomi was chewing on the inside of his cheek. He needed a moment to think on how he would approach Atsumu the calmest about this. He didn’t want to spook him. After taking a deep breath, he went back into the gym and called Atsumu over.

“Yes, chief?”

“There’s something we need to talk about. Can you follow me?”

“Uhm, yeah. Is everything okay.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.”

Kiyoomi had Atsumu take a seat in an interrogation room and had him wait there alone for a moment. He told Akaashi to bring the old man in when Kiyoomi told him so. He then walked into the interrogation room and sat across from Atsumu.

“Omi, yer scarin’ me,” Atsumu said.

“I’m going to ask you a question and I need you to answer it honestly,” Kiyoomi said calmly, being nervous on the inside.

“Okay.”

“Are you a bloodbender, Atsumu?”

Kiyoomi’s gaze never left Atsumu. He watched him closely, not trying to miss any slight reaction he could get from him. He didn’t want to be cruel and believe what Akaashi had told him, but this was Kiyoomi trying to stay unbiased in his workplace.

“No. I’m not. Where’s that question coming from?” Atsumu asked and Kiyoomi couldn’t really tell if his confusion was genuine or not.

“There’s an old man from the earth kingdom claiming to have seen you bloodbend sometime last year. Since bloodbending is highly illegal-“

“Ya have to interrogate any suspect. I know,” Atsumu finished Kiyoomi’s sentence. “But I’m not a bloodbender, Omi.”

“I believe you, Atsu. We’re just following protocol here.” Kiyoomi cleared his throat and then looked at the door. “Akaashi.”

The door opened and Akaashi entered the room with an old man. He was small and could have been anyone’s grandfather there. Kiyoomi kept his gaze on Atsumu as the old man entered. But no reaction.

Kiyoomi got up and offered his seat to the old man. He sat down and glared at Atsumu. There was a sudden tension filling up the whole room and it was making Kiyoomi nervous.

“This is the guy! I’ve been telling you, blue eyes! This is the bloodbender!” The man seemed very certain of his statement and the tension just increased.

“Sir, are you sure this is the right guy?” Kiyoomi asked the old man.

“A hundred percent. I saw him bend the blood of five grown men just with his mind! He knocked them all out and then fled! It’s him!” The old man was persistent.

Atsumu just stayed silent. He looked like he had a lot to say but no words would come out of his mouth. Kiyoomi didn’t know how to interpret his behavior. They listened to the old man rant about the bloodbending incident for a while and still no sound from Atsumu.

“Do ya have any proof?” Atsumu suddenly asked.

“Why don’t you ask the men you bloodbended, you monster?”

Atsumu gritted his teeth. Holding himself back from saying something stupid was hard.

“Do you happen to know where those men are?” Akaashi asked.

Turns out the men were in jail in the old man’s hometown where the bloodbending allegedly happened. The men were in for theft and several violations. After hours of interrogating, Kiyoomi was alone with Atsumu once again.

“Yer not actually gonna ask some criminals to testify against me, are ya? I’m a cop, they will confirm what the old hag’s been saying!”

“Atsumu, we have to do this. I know it’s going to be annoying, but it’ll be worth it in the end. There’s nothing else we can do about this.”

“But ya believe me, right? Omi, I need ya to believe me or I won’t survive this,” Atsumu pleaded.

“I do believe you, Atsu. That’s why we just have to go through this process. You’ll be announced innocent and everything’s going back to normal.”

In that moment Akaashi came back into the room. “Our colleagues in the earth kingdom are informed and will try to find out who those men are.”

“Perfect.” Kiyoomi straightened his back. “Now would you please cuff Miya and bring him to an empty cell downstairs.”

Even Akaashi looked surprised by that order. He looked back and forth between Kiyoomi and Atsumu, trying to figure out what was going on. Atsumu stared at Kiyoomi for a moment, then closed his eyes and sighed.

“Come on, Aka-kun. Just do what he says.” Atsumu held his hands towards Akaashi, allowing him to cuff him very easily. He didn’t even look back at Kiyoomi when Akaashi led him out of the room.

When Atsumu was locked in his cell, Akaashi took off his cuffs.

“Why do ya look so down?” Atsumu asked Akaashi as he sat down on the metal bench. “I bet ya’ve been waiting ages to lock me up,” he joked.

“I don’t like how cold chief is acting again,” Akaashi said honestly. “We all know this is protocol, he didn’t have to order me to do this as if you were some stranger.”

Atsumu was genuinely surprised. “It’s okay, it’s just how he is.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“You two get along really well, right?”

Atsumu smiled. He knew Akaashi wasn’t dumb, he was Kiyoomi’s smartest officer by far. And even though Atsumu and Kiyoomi had been playing it all cool at work, Atsumu wasn’t surprised that someone would come to find out about them.

“Let’s say, we get along as good as you and Bokuto-san do.”

Akaashi’s cheeks turned red, and he attempted to say something but didn’t. He smiled a little, accepting that Atsumu knew about him and Bokuto. This was also a confirmation to his assumptions, and he wasn’t mad about any of this. Moreover, he was kind of relieved that he wasn’t the only one mingling with a co-worker.

“I’ll bring you food later,” Akaashi said, not further going into what he had just found out. When he was gone, Atsumu was left alone with his thoughts. But not for too long.

“Atsumu.”

He stayed put on the bench, looking down at his hands. “Well, this sucks.”

“I’m sorry, Atsumu,” Kiyoomi apologised. “This is-“

“Protocol, I know. It still sucks, Omi.” He lifted his head and looked at Kiyoomi. “There’s no way I’ll be found innocent and ya know it.”

“Can you just trust me on this, Atsumu?” Kiyoomi reached his hand inside the cell.

Atsumu sighed as he stood up and took the two steps to meet Kiyoomi’s hand. “I’m just scared.”

“I know, but as I said, everything’s going to turn out just fine.”

“If ya say so.”

They couldn’t stay like that for too long since Kiyoomi still had to be professional and unbiased. It never was a good idea to mix work and love. But he had known that way before falling for Atsumu.

The next day, the witnesses still haven’t been found. Atsumu cursed the earth kingdom officers for being so slow. The old man literally told them where they were from and where to find them. What was so hard about that?

Atsumu was dying of boredom in his stupid cell. He was the only one down there. A guard came in every now and then to check up on him and Akaashi made it his mission to be the one that brings Atsumu his food. Kiyoomi came to see him in the morning and tell him the updates and then leave again.

Now Atsumu expected anything, but not a real visitor from outside the precinct. When he saw his other half on the other side of the bars, he couldn’t even be happy about it.

“Why are ya here?” Atsumu asked, not liking being in this situation and seen by his twin.

“The Avatar has to be there for bloodbender trials.”

“Great.”

“I didn’t know ya wanted to be a cop,” Osamu pointed out.

“Ya don’t know lots of things about me, Samu. When’s the last time we saw each other? Five years ago? Many things have changed since then.”

Osamu sighed. “I told ya to come with me.”

“No, thank you.”

“I’ve heard ya’ve been helping out the city. Ya even got a medal of valor from the president. Congrats, Tsumu.”

Atsumu couldn’t take any of this serious. He got up from his seat and walked up to the grid. “Do ya believe them, Samu? Do ya think I’m a bloodbender?”

“Of course I don’t.”

“Can’t ya just get me outta here then?” Atsumu asked. “No one else’s gonna believe me at the trial, Samu. How can I even prove that I’m innocent? I can’t, can I?”

“Tsumu, ya have to calm down. I’ve talked to the chief and he told me he had it all under control.”

Atsumu paused. “Ya talked to Kiyoomi?”

Osamu raised his eyebrows. “Kiyoomi, huh?”

“He’s my boyfriend, please don’t make a big deal out of this,” Atsumu said nonchalantly, his red cheeks exposing him though.

“Then why are ya so scared?”

Atsumu had no response to that question, and he kept thinking about it after Osamu had left. That evening he got the message that the witnesses were found and that the trial would take place the next day.

Apparently Akaashi and Kiyoomi were escorting Atsumu to court, followed by Osamu in another car. They had cuffed Atsumu’s hands but would have to cuff his feet as well as soon as they got there. Usually that would have to be done from the beginning, but since everyone knew Atsumu, they let him stay comfortable for a little longer.

“Damn, this is all the manpower y’all need to keep me in my tracks?” Atsumu joked.

“Protocol actually requires way more,” Akaashi said, glancing at Atsumu through the rear mirror.

“Hm. Too bad.” Atsumu rearranged himself in his seat. Kiyoomi had noticed how nervous he has been all morning, but who wouldn’t have been in his situation? “I’m very sorry guys.”

Before any of the two could react, Atsumu bended water out of a little bottle he kept on himself at all times, having it hanging from the hem of his pants like a keychain. Everyone had gotten so easy around him to not make him feel like an actual criminal, that they didn’t even take away his belongings.

It wasn’t a lot of water, but enough to freeze Akaashi’s hands to the steering wheel and for Atsumu to abruptly turn the wheel around and crash into a parked moving truck. Atsumu froze the cuffs on his wrists and broke them apart. He froze the seatbelt outlets of Kiyoomi and Akaashi and then fled the car.

He ran through the streets he knew by heart already and tried to get as far away as fast as possible. This was a one chance thing. If he got caught, then he would have to go to jail for sure. Atsumu really tried to stay positive and believe Kiyoomi for taking care of everything, but he couldn’t risk it.

Atsumu could hear steps behind him, but he had no time to look back and check who it was. Suddenly lightning struck right by his foot and made him trip. There were only two people that knew about his fear of lightning.

“What the fuck are ya doing???”

Atsumu looked at his twin who was clearly puzzled because of the whole situation. The blonde stayed on the ground for a moment, still startled from the lightning that could have hit him.

“Ya use lightning again?” Atsumu asked a bit out of breath. He wasn’t exhausted from running; he really just was shaken up from the sudden lightning.

“Don’t even dare to change the topic, Tsumu. Why are ya fleeing?” Osamu asked, looking down at his twin. He could see the obvious fear in Atsumu’s eyes and for a moment he felt bad for using lightning.

Atsumu didn’t answer, he suddenly got back up on his feet and got possession of any source of water around him. When Osamu realized Atsumu was really going to fight him, he got into position. He knew his brother’s speciality was anything ice related, and he also knew how to handle it during a fight.

In those five years apart, both had grown to be even better benders than before. Osamu obviously was the master of the four elements and one sub element of fire. His brother definitely was putting up a good fight, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Avatar.

As his brother, Osamu didn’t want to go all out on Atsumu, but as the Avatar it was his duty to keep the world  balanced. He knew Atsumu’s biggest weakness and had to use it to his advantage. He was about to direct lightning at Atsumu when his movement stopped. He stared at Atsumu, who was holding his hands up to protect his face.

“What… I can’t move,” Osamu said panicked. “Tsumu, I can’t move!”

The moment Atsumu put his hands down in realization, Osamu got control of his limbs again. The silence between them was loud. Was Atsumu really…? Did he just…?

“Yer a bloodbender,” Osamu breathed out. “Ya really are.”

“No! No I’m not!” Atsumu yelled.

“Ya just bloodbended me, Tsumu! Ya-“ Suddenly Osamu’s eyes started glowing. He restricted Atsumu by earth bending and keeping him where he was and stepped up to him. The glowing eyes were directly staring at Atsumu, who was on the ground on his knees, not able to move.

“Samu, no. Please don’t. Let me explain, please.”

“You’re a bloodbender. That is unacceptable,” Osamu spoke in a deep voice that didn’t sound like him. “You’re a danger to humanity. I have to restore the balance of the world.”

Osamu put his right hand on Atsumu’s forehead and his left hand on his chest, pressing both his thumbs onto his skin. Atsumu knew exactly what was about to happen and he couldn’t do anything against it. Osamu was about to take away his bending, just how the law said what needed to be done with bloodbenders.

But Atsumu’s spirit was strong. All of him was fighting against Osamu and the feeling of getting his bending taken away. Suddenly the Avatar state stopped, and Osamu’s eyes went back to normal again. Before he could say anything, he was thrown back, feeling all of his insides not fight with him but against him.

Atsumu freed himself and slowly stood up on wobbly feet. “I am so sorry, Samu. I… I didn’t want to do this.”

“Ya… yer bloodbending me… with yer mind,” Osamu realised. “I can’t go into Avatar state. What the fuck did ya do???”

“I don’t know, I swear I don’t.”

Atsumu stopped the bloodbending and left Osamu laying limp on the ground. He was about to run away when he heard steps approaching.

“Atsumu.”

As much as Atsumu just wanted to run away, he couldn’t right now. He turned around and met Kiyoomi’s eyes. They were widened in shock, just staring at him.

“Kiyoomi, I’m so sorry,” Atsumu apologised. “Please let me go.”

“I just saw what you did, Atsumu,” Kiyoomi breathed out. “I believed you, Atsumu and you lied.”

“I don’t want this, Omi. I… I have to leave. Just let me go.”

As Kiyoomi was looking into Atsumu’s eyes, all he could see was despair. Frustration. Atsumu looked so troubled, his usually tan skin suddenly so pale. He looked terrified and Kiyoomi couldn’t tell the reason for it.

“I’m so sorry,” Atsumu said before turning around and running away.

Kiyoomi wanted to stay where he was and just let Atsumu go, but his responsibilities as a chief made him run after him. But he was too late. He caught a glimpse of Atsumu jumping into water and when he stood there looking down into the water, Atsumu was long gone.

Everything changed after that. The whole city was on alert because of a bloodbender on the loose. Authorities of all the nations got alarmed and it was all over the news. Kiyoomi’s precinct was chaos, and he hadn’t gotten any sleep in days.

Osamu needed a few days to recover from Atsumu’s attack. The way he explained it, everything inside him turned against him while Atsumu was bloodbending him. Just the thought of someone out there being stronger than the Avatar worried the people.

Kiyoomi stayed up day and night to figure out where Atsumu could have gone, without any progress. His apartment was left untouched, and he hadn’t made an appearance on the island of the airbenders either.

There was one last chance to find Atsumu which led Kiyoomi to his cousin Motoya. He was doing his own thing, being a bounty hunter. Kiyoomi knew where to find him and had never been that happy before to meet him.

“Oh my, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Motoya asked his cousin.

“I need your help.” Kiyoomi looked at the large animal by Motoya’s side. “I need your shirshu’s help.”

“What do I get out of it?” Motoya asked.

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes. “How much do you want?”

Motoya grinned and told Kiyoomi his price. Despite being cousins, they had nothing to do with each other. If they didn’t happen to be cousins, they probably wouldn’t even talk.

“Okay, you know the drill. My baby needs something to smell of the missing person.” Motoya lovingly patted his shirshu’s head.

Kiyoomi could have taken literally anything he had of Atsumu. Anything. And he pulled out one of the bandages Atsumu last used for practice. Motoya raised his eyebrows as Kiyoomi held it towards the animal for it to sniff.

“That’s kind of disgusting, Kiyo,” Motoya said.

“It’s the first thing I found.”

Wrong. Kiyoomi had several things that belonged to Atsumu, and he didn’t want the shirshu to ruin any of them. He watched the animal walk around a bit, then in a circle until it just laid down and put its paws on its nose.

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” Kiyoomi asked.

“Your guy doesn’t exist,” Motoya simply said, giving his pet a treat.

“What? You mean he’s dead?” Kiyoomi asked, a bit of worry in his voice.

“No, as in, he doesn’t exist on earth.”

“Huh?” Kiyoomi just blanky stared at his cousin. What did he just say? Atsumu doesn’t exist? That makes no sense. As he thought more about it, he got an idea. “Thanks anyways, Motoya.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Kiyoomi watched his cousin leave on his pet and then rushed back into the city. He knew exactly where to find Atsumu. Looking at the gate to the spirit world that emerged from the heart of Republic City Kiyoomi swallowed hard. Everyone could just walk through and go to the spirit world as they liked. Atsumu not existing in this world could only mean he was in a different world.

Kiyoomi had never been to the spirit world; he never felt the need to go there. But if Atsumu was there, he just had to go in. He needed to find him and get all his questions answered. So he took the risk and stepped into the eternal world; the spirit world.

-

This wasn’t Atsumu’s first time in the spirit world. God knows how many times he had entered that world. It was the only place he could go to for answers without getting judged or thrown to jail.

He tried to find a spirit that could explain why he was a bloodbender since Atsumu never trained to get that power. Being a bloodbender that bends blood during a full moon was one thing, but being one that could bend blood any day of the year with his mind? That couldn’t just be a coincidence, there had to be more behind that.

Atsumu had spent days, sometimes even weeks in the spirit world without success. No spirit was able to help him and most ignored him. They weren’t too fond of humans.

He let out a scream of despair.

“Can you be any louder!” he got yelled at.

Atsumu hastily turned around and faced a hedgehog spirit. “Sorry.”

“Why are you still here?” the hedgehog asked. “I’ve seen you wander around for days now.”

“I’m trying to find a spirit that can explain to me why I can bend blood,” Atsumu told the hedgehog, as if this was the most normal interaction he ever had. “Do ya happen to know someone that could tell me?”

“Do I look like I do?”

“Didn’t know there were sassy hedgehogs in this world,” Atsumu rolled his eyes. “A simple ‘no’ woulda been enough. Goodbye.”

As Atsumu turned around to leave, the hedgehog kept speaking. “You have an immense presence. Someone important, that could help you, probably already knows you’re here.”

“What do ya mean?” But when Atsumu turned back around again, the hedgehog was gone. Atsumu was left with confusion and no answers yet again, so he kept on wandering around the spirit world.

He hit another point of frustration and just laid in the grass, watching all kinds of spirits float around in the sky. If he wasn’t so damn frustrated and driven to find out what was wrong with him, he could have enjoyed being in the spirit world.

“Oh my, are you the Avatar?” suddenly someone asked Atsumu. He turned his head to the right and faced someone that looked human but was floating.

“No, I am not.” Atsumu sat up, thinking about his last interaction with the Avatar and how terrible he felt. He pulled his knees up to his chest and looked at the grass. “And who are ya?”

“I once was like you, but I settled down in this world after my death.”

Atsumu once again looked at the person speaking with him. He wasn’t too tall and had a baby face. His tangerine hair being a mess on his head and a few freckles decorating his child-like face. Atsumu felt like he had heard a myth about this person before but couldn’t make out which.

“I’m trying to find my lover, but your presence pulled me to you like a magnet.”

Atsumu sighed. “What is it with my presence that everyone keeps mentioning?”

The ginger stopped floating. His feet touched ground and he sat in the grass right next to Atsumu. “Your presence is as strong as the Avatar’s. There’s this blue light around you that you probably can’t see.”

“Okay, and?”

“Have you not noticed yourself? Your presence is so strong, look at all the spirits gathered close to you.” The ginger gestured to their surroundings. Dozens of spirits were gathered, either in the air, on trees or in the grass.

“What does that mean though?”

The person smiled. “What brings you to our world?”

“I’m trying to find the reason to why I am able to bend blood without ever training it. I want to get rid of that power, I don’t want it,” Atsumu explained frustratingly.

“But why?”

Atsumu looked at the spirit. “Why? Because it only causes problems and is highly illegal in the human world. I can’t go back without finding a solution or I’ll get thrown into jail and get my bending taken away.”

The spirit nodded, looking very intensely at Atsumu. “Are you sure you’re not the Avatar?”

“For god’s sake, I’m not! I’m only his twin, nothing more.”

A sudden light appeared in the ginger’s eyes. “Oh, I don’t think that it’s nothing.” The spirit moved to kneel in front of Atsumu and cupped his face. “I can’t believe I’m witnessing this.”

“Wha… What?” Atsumu asked confused.

The spirit moved one hand down to Atsumu’s shoulder and then exposed the lightning scar. He let his fingers gently trace the scar and Atsumu didn’t feel like intervening. He wanted to know what this spirit was on about. He very much was aware that this could also be one of those spirits that just trick him, but he couldn’t care less.

“Do you know the story of the moon?” The ginger asked, keeping his eyes on the scar.

“A girl gives her life to save the moon spirit’s life by giving back the life he had given her as a baby to save her. Everyone knows this story.”

The spirit hummed. “And I think you’ve been saved by your twin. Some of his life lives within you, that’s why your presence resembles the Avatar.”

This was unbelievable. Atsumu just stared at the spirit as he kept on tracing the scar. His hands moved up to Atsumu’s head again and he pressed his thumbs onto Atsumu’s forehead. He could see a glow and suddenly he was taken aback.

He looked around confused. He was at the southern water tribe, in his old room. His body was see-through, and he hasn’t been this confused ever in his whole life. Suddenly the door to his room opened and Osamu stepped in. That was when he noticed his own unconscious self lie in bed.

Wait a minute. Was this the time he got struck by lightning and was in a coma for days?

He watched Osamu walk up to the bed and take a seat in the chair right by it. Osamu’s hair was a mess. He looked so pale and restless, as if he hadn’t slept in days. But there was this blue-ish light all around him. Was that the light the ginger had spoken about?

“Tsumu…” His voice sounded hoarse. “I’m so sorry, Tsumu. I… I didn’t know I had that power. I wish I didn’t have it so I wouldn’t have hurt ya. Yer here because of me, I’m so sorry.”

There were tears running down Osamu’s face as he looked down at his unconscious twin. Atsumu never knew that Osamu had felt this guilty about what had happened. They lost contact after Atsumu had woken up and Osamu had left for his duties.

“Please wake up, Tsumu. Wake up and throw some of yer icicles at me, say something dumb, literally do anything. I wish I had healing abilities like you.” Osamu held Atsumu’s hand and pressed his forehead against Atsumu’s arm. “I don’t wanna lose ya. Yer my better half, Tsumu.”

Atsumu’s scar started glowing, but Osamu’s forehead kept pressing against Atsumu’s arm. Suddenly Atsumu saw a blue light around his unconscious body. Osamu didn’t seem to notice what he had done in that moment.

Atsumu could feel himself disappear and opened his eyes just to face the ginger again. He was still holding him and Atsumu could feel that his cheeks were wet. He immediately wiped off the tears and looked back at the ginger.

“Samu saved me back then…” Atsumu whispered. “He gave me part of his life so I could live.”

“Mhm,” the spirit hummed.

“But… What about the bloodbending? I still don’t know why I have that power.”

“It could be a power given to you along with the Avatar’s spirit. Just like how we got to rebuild the whole airbender civilization after the third gate emerged. This could be a side effect.”

Atsumu sighed. “No one’s ever gonna believe me if I tell them. I’ll get punished the moment I step back into the human world.”

“There’ll be the right person to believe you,” the ginger said, sounding so convinced that Atsumu couldn’t other than believe him. “It’s time for me to leave, but it was nice to talk with you...”

The ginger looked at Atsumu, expecting him to end the sentence.

“I’m Atsumu.”

The spirit got up and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Atsumu.”

“Wait, before ya leave. Who are ya?” Atsumu hastily asked, getting up and not looking away even a second to not miss the spirit leaving.

“Hinata Shoyo. Goodbye, Atsumu.”

And then he disappeared. Atsumu widened his eyes when he realized who he had just talked to. There was this myth about two lovers, forbidden to love each other. Kageyama Tobio was killed by Hinata Shoyo’s people to end the romance once and for all. The myth says that Hinata burned down both villages and killed himself to go and spend eternity in the spirit world with his lover. They had promised each other to find one another in the spirit world after death.

This kind person burned down two villages, killing hundreds of people, just for his lover? And then he hadn’t found his lover yet? It was a tragic story, but Atsumu couldn’t think about that anymore.

“Atsumu.”

The blonde flinched at the sound of Kiyoomi’s voice and immediately turned around to face him. “Kiyoomi?” he asked quietly, wondering how he had found him.

“So this is where you come whenever you’re nowhere to be found?” Kiyoomi asked.

“Only because I needed answers,” Atsumu explained.

“About your bloodbending?” Kiyoomi sounded betrayed. He looked at who he thought was his lover but turned out to be a liar. But he didn’t know what to do now.

“Look, Kiyoomi-“

“You lied to me, Atsumu. I had put in a good word with the judge. You would’ve been announced not guilty, and I could’ve lost my job because of that lie.” He took a threatening step towards Atsumu. “I trusted you.”

“Ya don’t understand. I couldn’t have let Samu take away my bending. I needed more time to find a solution!”

Kiyoomi shook his head. “I saw you bend blood. You’re a danger to society, Atsumu!”

And suddenly Kiyoomi attacked Atsumu with fire. Atsumu reacted fast and dodged the attack, trying to build distance between himself and Kiyoomi.

“Kiyoomi, please listen to me!”

“You betrayed me!” Kiyoomi knew that it wasn’t just the need to fulfil his duty guiding him to attack Atsumu. This was a personal matter as well, which just made it so much harder for him. “Just surrender before I hurt you.”

Atsumu shook his head. “I need ya to lis-“ A row of fire balls were thrown at Atsumu. All he did was dodge attacks and keep distance, but not fight back. But Atsumu had an advantage here. He knew this place in and out by now and could trick Kiyoomi very easily.

In a moment, where Kiyoomi lost track of Atsumu, Atsumu surprise attacked him, threw Kiyoomi to the ground and restrained his wrists to the ground with ice. Atsumu straddled Kiyoomi, keeping his arms where they were by holding them and bending down to look at him more closely.

“I am sorry for betraying ya, Omi! I really am! Ya mean so much to me, I felt horrible lying to ya. But the look on yer face when ya saw me bend blood told me I did the right thing by keeping that to myself.” Their faces were just inches apart. “I knew the day would come and I was so scared of it because I love ya so damn much!”

Atsumu was breathlessly staring into Kiyoomi’s eyes. Those obsidian eyes of Kiyoomi, that stared back into Atsumu’s honey eyes.

“You… love me?” Kiyoomi breathed out.

“I do,” Atsumu admitted quietly, melting the ice on Kiyoomi’s wrists and getting off him. He got up and took a few steps away from Kiyoomi. They basically still were in the middle of a fight and Atsumu just turned his back on his opponent. Was he insane?

Kiyoomi sat up, rubbing his wrists and watching Atsumu’s back. He got up on his feet and stayed where he was. “You’re turning your back on me? In this situation?”

“If ya really wanted to hurt me, ya woulda used lightning by now,” Atsumu commented, then facing Kiyoomi again. “Which ya didn’t.”

“I…”

“Kiyoomi.” Atsumu looked very serious all of a sudden. “I need to tell ya something and ya don’t even have to believe me. Just… I think I’ve found the answers I’ve been looking for.”

Atsumu sat on a rock and waited for Kiyoomi to join him. Now he was torn. He really wanted to hear Atsumu out, but this was also the perfect opportunity to overpower Atsumu and arrest him. But he really wanted to hear these answers Atsumu had found. So he sat down right next to Atsumu and listened to him.

He listened to him talk about the countless times he had visited the spirit world. He listened when Atsumu told him about Hinata and the memory he was taken aback to. He listened when Atsumu explained that he couldn’t control the bloodbending. Now all there was left for him was to believe Atsumu.

“Ya have every right to not believe me. I… I just thought I’d try and tell ya anyway.” Atsumu nervously looked down at his fingers. He couldn’t tell what Kiyoomi’s next move would be, and he was ready to face any.

“I…” Kiyoomi hesitated. There was a long moment of silence and Atsumu was ready to get cuffed and taken back to the material world to get sentenced. He was thinking about what Hinata had said.

There’ll be the right person to believe you.

Atsumu really hoped for that person to be Kiyoomi. He almost was a hundred person sure that it was Kiyoomi, but he was still silent, making Atsumu sweat. He probably needed a moment to process everything. Atsumu knew that he wronged him by lying and that he could have his doubts in trusting what Atsumu just told him. But he was his only chance on getting out and explaining himself to the outside world.

“I believe you, Atsumu,” Kiyoomi suddenly said, quietly, looking down at his hands. “I trust you to tell me the truth this time.”

“Omi…” Atsumu couldn’t believe what Kiyoomi just said. Even though he really wanted Kiyoomi to believe him, he couldn’t believe it himself. “Why? How do ya trust me after I lied to ya?”

He probably just should have left it at that. Kiyoomi believed him, why did he have to know the reason for it? What if his question makes Kiyoomi doubt him again?

“Because I know you, Atsumu. Yes, you lied to me before, but I get why you did. I can see that you don’t want to possess that power and…” Atsumu watched Kiyoomi chew on his lip and his cheeks blush.

Kiyoomi’s next words were said so quietly, Atsumu almost missed them.

“I love you too.”

He blinked, Kiyoomi still not looking at Atsumu. The chief that everyone knew as blank, stoic and strict hadn’t existed for Atsumu for a while now. But seeing Kiyoomi like this was so much more different than all the other times he was being soft. He just confessed his love and was too ashamed to even face Atsumu, as if he was the one to lie to his lover.

Atsumu didn’t want to make this moment any uncomfortable for Kiyoomi, so he just hugged him. He rested his head against Kiyoomi’s shoulder and just smiled, enjoying this peaceful moment between them before going back to reality and dealing with the problems he had left behind.

It took them a while to get their shit together and get up to go back. There was this comfortable silence surrounding them as they walked back to the gate through which they had entered the spirit world. A bunch of spirits had followed them, being drawn in by Atsumu’s presence and maybe even the power of love.

“Cuff me,” Atsumu told Kiyoomi.

“What?”

“Ya need to cuff me, Omi. I don’t want them to think yer biased by just letting me walk freely with ya.”

Kiyoomi looked at Atsumu for a moment, noticing that he was being serious. It pained him to cuff him just to seem professional and to not get attacked. He would have rather walked out hand in hand with Atsumu but couldn’t risk him getting attacked by officers for not being cuffed at least. Even though those shouldn’t hinder Atsumu from bloodbending.

“It’s okay Omi. Don’t worry,” Atsumu said, looking back at Kiyoomi who had just cuffed him.

“Just feels so wrong,” Kiyoomi said, chewing on his lip. “Are you sure this’ll work out?”

Atsumu shrugged. “Honestly, I’m just hoping for the best.”

“Atsumu…”

“I doubt anyone’s gonna go easy on me after the stunt I pulled. Having you on my side is my only hope.” Atsumu smiled a little. “If it doesn’t work out, then that’s okay too. Bloodbending is awful and I should be behind bars for it.”

“But it’s not under your control. You-“

“That’s even worse, Omi.” Atsumu turned his hand and looked at the gate back to the material world. “We should go, Omi.”

With a heavy heart, Kiyoomi guided Atsumu out of the spirit world. There were no people around the gate to the spirit world, which made everything a bit easier. Kiyoomi had parked his car not too far from there and walked Atsumu towards it. Before stepping into busy people zones, Kiyoomi took off his jacket and covered Atsumu with it. He didn’t want people to recognize him and cause a commotion in the busy streets of Republic City.

The car ride was quiet. Atsumu sat still on the backseat as Kiyoomi nervously tapped on the steering wheel, on their way to the precinct. When Kiyoomi brought Atsumu into the precinct, the whole open office space went silent. Everyone was staring as Kiyoomi walked Atsumu through, to get to the cells downstairs.

“Will you be okay?” Kiyoomi asked when they were alone. Atsumu was in the cell, his hands still cuffed, looking at Kiyoomi through the bars.

Atsumu nodded. “Don’t worry ‘bout me. You just please go talk to the judge and president so we can get this all sorted out. I trust you.” There it was again. That smile that hurt Kiyoomi’s soul because it didn’t reach Atsumu’s eyes. He could tell that Atsumu was afraid of the outcome but also took a bad outcome into consideration. He didn’t put all his hope into this working out, and it hurt Kiyoomi.

“None of your hard work will go to waste. I promise.” Kiyoomi wasn’t sure if he wanted to make that promise, but he wanted Atsumu to look more hopeful. Kiyoomi knew that he may not be able to keep his promise, but he sure would do anything to keep it.

“Ya should probably leave before anyone gets suspicious,” Atsumu advised Kiyoomi. “I’ll be waiting here for yer news.”

Atsumu chuckled, thinking that he had no place to go to anyway. Kiyoomi took one last look at Atsumu before he went back upstairs, expecting to get bombarded with questions by his officers. He just told everyone to stay away from the cell and not go anywhere near Atsumu. He didn’t want anyone asking Atsumu too many questions; that anyone being mostly Akaashi.

Kiyoomi had noticed how distraught Akaashi was after the accident Atsumu caused by flipping over the steering wheel and crashing the car. No one got injured, but the damage was done elsewhere. Akaashi had come to like Atsumu, and he also trusted him. Getting played by someone like that sucked and not getting any answers sucked even more. And as much as Akaashi wanted to stomp downstairs, he respected his boss and stayed put at his desk.

While Kiyoomi was getting a hold of the president and the judge that was responsible for this case, Atsumu played out many scenarios going through his head. And in none of those was he ready to face his twin.

“Where did he find ya?”

Atsumu froze when he heard the voice of his twin but couldn’t see him. Was he hallucinating now?

“Where were ya that he could find ya, but I couldn’t?” Osamu asked.

The locked-up twin got up and walked to the bars, trying to peek outside and see where the voice of his twin was coming from.

“Samu, I’m not gonna bend yer blood,” Atsumu said, pained that he even had to clarify that for his twin to step up and show himself. “I promise.”

It was silent for a moment, but then steps approached and Atsumu could see his twin brother. He looked miserable and Atsumu could feel pain in his heart, knowing he must have been the reason to have him look like that.

“Where were you?” Osamu now asked sterner.

“The spirit world,” Atsumu responded a bit quietly, still shocked by the way his twin looked like.

“I shoulda known.”

Osamu stood right across from Atsumu, staring at him through the bars. The Avatar looked dark and scary, not kind and light as usual. The anger was all over his face and Atsumu couldn’t even blame him, but he still wasn’t ready to face him just yet.

“Samu, lemme explain, pl-“

“What’s there to explain?” Osamu was fuming. “Why’s yer boyfriend walking around, trying to get ya out of this situation? The damage is done, there were witnesses. Yer a bloodbender.”

Atsumu held onto the bars as he tried to get through to his twin; trying to explain everything and tell him how sorry he was for what he had done.

“Samu please, ya have to listen to me,” Atsumu was begging at this point. He couldn’t risk his twin lashing out and doing something he might regret later on.

Osamu held onto the bars as well and suddenly they heated up, getting burning hot, causing Atsumu to pull his hands back and yelp in pain. He stumbled backwards and looked up at his twin, who looked like he was about to explode. Suddenly the bars got lose, Osamu pulled them out and threw them aside.

“What you did… You… Everything inside me feels wrong.” The cell was open; enough space for Osamu to walk in and look down at his brother. “I couldn’t do anything for days and it still feels awful. This power of yours… I have to get rid of it.”

Osamu was about to initiate the process of taking away Atsumu’s bending and for a moment Atsumu was okay with it. If this was the only way of his twin to feel at peace, then so be it. But every vein in his body screamed the opposite. It wasn’t wrong, Atsumu never chose to have this power. He wanted everyone to know that and not be remembered as the bloodbender that used his power on his brother.

Before Osamu could touch Atsumu, the latter kicked Osamu’s feet off the ground. Atsumu got up, jumped over his twin and ran out of the cell. He didn’t want to flee, but he couldn’t let his twin do this. Osamu was quick to get up and throw fire at Atsumu, who just barely managed to get away on time.

Osamu was chasing Atsumu, who knew the precinct in and out. But the only way away from the cells was upstairs, through the open office space. Osamu didn’t shy away, throwing fire at him even in the office space, trying to pull him in with air as everyone tried to understand what was going on.

Akaashi caught a glimpse of Atsumu looking at him before Atsumu jumped through a window, shattering it into thousands of pieces. Osamu immediately followed and everyone was drawn to the windows, trying to see what was about to happen.

They landed in the same space where Kiyoomi refused to throw lightning at Atsumu during practice. The brothers were standing several feet apart from each other, Atsumu’s hands still being cuffed and Osamu still fuming.

The Avatar had no mercy and attacked Atsumu, who dodged every single attack. When he got the chance to finally use water, he froze his cuffs and broke them apart to be able to move more freely. He was hiding behind a huge rock, breathless.

“Samu, ceasefire! Let’s talk and afterwards ya still can destroy me!” Atsumu yelled.

The scene down there was chaotic, not allowing any officer to get through and arrest Atsumu. Osamu always was keeping at least one element intact, using all his power to knock Atsumu out.

There was no answer and as Atsumu peeked out from behind the rock, he got met with fire. His shirt basically dissolved and went into nonexistence as he tried to hide again. But Osamu was out of control. His eyes were glowing and Atsumu couldn’t believe his twin just went into Avatar mode.

Everyone was watching and Akaashi couldn’t other than feel bad for Atsumu. He felt helpless and somehow wished to help him out. He wanted Osamu to listen to what Atsumu had to say because he was so damn curious himself. But his body wasn’t moving, he could just stare and watch the Avatar destroy his twin.

The twins still were several feet apart, Atsumu at the end of his nerves, even though he didn’t fight. Dodging the Avatar’s attacks wasn’t easy in the Avatar state. Suddenly Osamu took a deep breath, moving his hands in practiced motions. His hands, pulled into fists, except his index and middle finger. If Atsumu knew anything about bending, he knew what was about to hit him.

Osamu was building up lightning.

Everything inside Atsumu was on alarm mode. He wanted to run, to bend water, do anything. But knowing what was about to come, he was too afraid. He just froze in place and couldn’t do anything about it, even when Akaashi yelled for him to run. Even when Akaashi kept yelling. It was like his voice was so far away in the mountains.

Atsumu had never seen this much lightning before, and he felt like his eyes were about to burn just from watching. And this time he accepted his fate. He didn’t want his body to fight, even though he was more than afraid. He didn’t want to suddenly bend blood as a survival reaction. He hurt his brother with it once already and didn’t want to do that ever again.

And just before the lightning could hit him, a silhouette jumped into his vision. All he saw were black curls and lightning going up to the sky.

Akaashi was staring at the scene in front of him, even though Bokuto had told him to close his eyes to not damage them. Kiyoomi had jumped in front of Atsumu, redirecting the lightning to the sky. And he was asking himself how Kiyoomi’s body was able to withstand all this power coming from Osamu in the Avatar state.

The scene went quiet after the lightning was gone. Osamu fell to his knees, Atsumu was still frozen in his place and Kiyoomi fell to the side. It started to rain and that was when Atsumu got control over his body again. He fell to his knees right by Kiyoomi’s side, who was unconscious. After all he didn’t withstand the power of the Avatar.

His shirt had burned off in the whole process, exposing a lightning scar moving from his right hand, up his arm, over his chest, down his left arm and ending at his left hand. The two spots that let the lightning in and out.

Atsumu still couldn’t speak, but he took all his power, gathered a good amount of water that was falling from the sky and covered Kiyoomi with it. He had never healed any big wounds or let alone scarring, but he had no other choice. He needed to do this for Kiyoomi. The water started glowing and Atsumu watched the scarring go away.

He could feel Kiyoomi’s heartbeat under his hand and let out a sigh of relief when he opened his eyes just a tiny bit. He couldn’t speak, but tears were running down his face. Atsumu could tell it wasn’t rain and tears instead.

A few officers had run down to check on Kiyoomi, after they made sure there was no danger of getting hit by any element anymore. Atsumu got up and let the officers help their chief as he walked up to his twin. Atsumu kneeled in front of him, staring directly into his eyes, now only seeing pain and despair in the eyes of his twin.

He remembered what Hinata had done to him and pressed his thumbs to Osamu’s temple. Osamu’s eyes started glowing and Atsumu’s scar did the same. This was the first time of that happening except the one time when Osamu gave some of his life to Atsumu. He closed his eyes and walked Osamu through the memory of them at Atsumu’s bed.

“What is this?” Osamu asked.

“The day ya saved me,” Atsumu responded, watching his scar glow in the memory as Osamu gave some of his life to save Atsumu. “Some of yer spirit lives within me, Samu.”

Osamu just kept watching, not processing any of the things he was seeing and hearing right now.

“A spirit told me that’s most likely the reason why I can bend blood. I’ve never trained to have that power and I can’t control it either.” Atsumu looked at his twin. “I’m so incredibly sorry that I bended yer blood, Samu. I didn’t want to, but I had no control over that.”

The Avatar watched the scene that happened many years ago while Atsumu watched his twin. He could tell how shocked Osamu was and let him process the new information. If Atsumu knew his twin, he must be feeling bad by now for not hearing Atsumu out when he wanted to explain himself.

“Tsumu, I’m so sorry for attacking ya,” Osamu said, facing Atsumu with teary eyes.

The memory faded and they were back in Republic City. The glowing of Osamu’s eyes and Atsumu’s scar stopped, and both just looked at each other. Osamu collapsed into Atsumu’s arms and gripped onto his twin, pressing his face into his chest. Atsumu reassuringly put one hand on Osamu’s back and the back of his head.

“It’s okay, Samu,” Atsumu cooed at his brother, trying his best to comfort him. This wasn’t the right place to do so, but his twin needed him right now. It was still raining, Atsumu’s leftover clothes and Osamu’s clothes being soaked in rainwater.

Osamu shook his head. “Everything went over my head. I… I couldn’t differentiate right and wrong anymore,” he sobbed.

Atsumu buried his face in Osamu’s damped hair, trying to take away his twin’s pain. It hurt Atsumu to see his twin this way. It was such an unusual sight; one that he wasn’t able to bear ever since their childhood.

No matter how long they hadn’t been talking, they were never disconnected. Osamu has always been with Atsumu without the latter knowing. Now it was Atsumu’s time to be there for his twin.

Everything that was left now, was to handle what was going to happen to Atsumu.

-

It wasn’t easy to convince the officers to let Atsumu stay with Osamu. It took a moment of Osamu calming down and telling them to let him stay uncuffed. Atsumu, Osamu and Kiyoomi had been treated at the hospital for a few days, to recover from the heavy fight that occurred.

When it was time to head to the president’s office for Atsumu’s final sentence, he still was nervous, but not as nervous as the first time. He had his twin and boyfriend on his side to support him.

This time it was a private trial, with just the president, the judge, a truth seer, Osamu and Kiyoomi around. Atsumu had put on his best suit and sat in between Osamu and Kiyoomi, across from the president and to the side of the judge. A lot of talking was done, which led to Atsumu finally being able to explain himself to the higher-ups.

It was a process of many hours, hearing out everyone very thoroughly, not wanting to miss any important detail. But their stories lined up. There was no way they wouldn’t have mercy on Atsumu, but he wasn’t trying to get his hopes up.

The judge called a break to discuss everything with the president. Atsumu, Osamu and Kiyoomi waited in the hallway, Atsumu being a nervous wreck.

“Tsumu, calm down before I kick yer ass,” Samu told him. “Yer makin’ me dizzy with all yer walking up and down.”

“I’m too nervous to stay still, ya scrub. What if they don’t believe anything we told them? Like hello? Some spirit from a myth is involved. Who the fuck believes that?”

Kiyoomi grabbed Atsumu’s wrist. “We believe it.”

The blonde chewed on his lip, looking at his lover. Kiyoomi had recovered pretty well after getting hit my Osamu’s intense lightning, but he wasn’t fit enough to go out in the field yet. But that was okay, since he was fine and there weren’t any aftereffects of getting injured like that. Kiyoomi even felt like he had more control over lightning now.

“You know we won’t let them do you injustice, right?” Kiyoomi added when Atsumu didn’t say anything.

“I can imagine what you two are willing to do if this doesn’t work out.” Atsumu looked down at the hand that was still holding his wrist. “And I’m scared of the outcome of that.”

“Ya seriously can’t be worrying about that right now,” Osamu scoffed. “Have some faith, ya idiot. No need to be so negative all the time.”

Atsumu was about to fire back at his twin when Kiyoomi pulled him closer. “He is right.”

“Omi,” Atsumu whined.

“Just shut up for once and let us be here for you,” Kiyoomi demanded, now pulling Atsumu into a hug. “I love you, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Atsumu was just about to enjoy the hug when his twin made gagging sounds at the sight of the couple. There was bickering about to unleash between the twins when the door to the office opened. The three walked back in and got into their seats, Atsumu yet again being a nervous wreck.

“After a lot of thinking and talking, we came to a conclusion,” the judge said. “Miya Atsumu is found guilty for being a bloodbender. But considering the new information, he has to work off his offense. And as we got another testimony, the best way to work off his offense is continuing working as a police officer and protecting our city.”

The shock and relief were written all over Atsumu’s face. He wasn’t sure if he was hearing right, but he didn’t have to go to jail. He could continue working his job and not worry about being exposed as a bloodbender.

“The bloodbending is still worrying us, so we assigned you an officer to keep an eye on you,” the president added. “Akaashi Keiji will now be your superior as I promoted him to detective.”

Atsumu couldn’t even express his joy right there and then, but the moment they stepped out of the building, he jumped into Kiyoomi’s arms. He took a step back immediately after realising Kiyoomi still had to restrain himself but got pulled back into a hug immediately.

“You’re a free man,” Kiyoomi whispered into his ear.

“I am a free man,” Atsumu repeated, just to seal it in. “Thank ya so much for staying with me, Omi.”

Kiyoomi kissed Atsumu’s cheek and smiled fondly. “Always and forever, Atsumu.”

“God damnit, just let me congratulate him and then continue yer lovey dovey shit when I’m out of sight,” Osamu chimed in.

Atsumu laughed as he separated from Kiyoomi and hugged his twin. It was a tight hug, lifting off so many worries of both their shoulders. After getting treated at the hospital, they had a long talk about everything. They had talked about the past, about their feelings when they weren’t talking and about what’s to come. They let everything off their chests and the last thing missing was this moment right here: Atsumu’s acquittal.

“Yer gonna be the best officer. Republic City can be lucky to have ya,” Osamu mumbled into Atsumu’s shoulder. “Even though I woulda wanted ya to join me, I know this is where ya belong.”

“Thank you, Samu. For everything.”

Osamu smiled. “Yer in good hands here. I can go back to my duties with a clear conscience.”

Atsumu glanced at Kiyoomi, who was smiling at the sight in front of him. Seeing the twins in harmony made him feel so full of joy. He could see a different spark in Atsumu’s eyes with his twin around, and he wanted him to be happy like this, always. All those years of being away from his twin must have taken a toll on him, but it felt good to see that they figured it all out now.

And even if Akaashi joked around with Atsumu a lot at work, taking advantage of his higher rank and power over Atsumu. Even when some people still were sceptical about the blonde being a bloodbender. Even when a perp got away from him. Even when Iwaizumi kicked his ass every now and then.

At the end of the day, he had a boyfriend to come home to. A boyfriend that lifted him up during a bad day at work. A boyfriend that didn’t shy away of showing people that he was in fact his boyfriend.

“I can’t wait to meet yer parents,” Atsumu exclaimed as they were walking through the streets of the fire nation, hand in hand. He never would have thought for his first trip to the fire nation to be to meet his boyfriend’s family.

“And I can’t wait to introduce you to them.”

“I’m so gonna make ya blush in front of them,” Atsumu laughed.

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Guess this is the right time to tell ya then.” Atsumu cleared his throat. “Ya know, whenever we kissed and I held yer face and yer cheeks got hot. That was me circulating blood into yer cheeks.”

Kiyoomi stopped walking and blinked. “You bent my blood to make me blush?”

“Not on purpose!” Atsumu immediately added. “I think.”

“You think?” Kiyoomi raised an eyebrow.

“Ya look cute when yer blushing.”

“You manipulated me into thinking my body reacted that way to you,” Kiyoomi pointed out, thinking about all the times Atsumu’s touch had felt hot on his skin. “I can’t believe you.”

Atsumu rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, as if I needed to do so while we were kissing already.”

“You-“

“Look.” Atsumu pulled Kiyoomi closer, not caring that they were in the middle of the street. “I was under yer skin way before we kissed. And like I said, I have no control over the bloodbending still.”

Kiyoomi looked at Atsumu suspiciously. “I can’t believe you creeped around through my veins.”

“And I can’t believe it took ya this long to notice.”

Atsumu laughed as Kiyoomi gently pushed his lover away from him and continued walking. Their banter went on and on, but both knew it wasn’t a fight. Kiyoomi couldn’t care less that Atsumu had done that out of control. Maybe it was even good it happened because it brought them together.

Even though that probably wasn’t even needed.