The Accident - Part X
Atsumu x fem Reader
Warnings: None
Words: ~ 2,5 k
About: Dinner at Onigiri Miya <3
Part I II -> Next Part
"So, that's my favorite food. Samu just makes the best Onigiri, I'm not gonna lie about that."
Atsumu grins and gestures towards the plates on the table. "But everything's good, don't worry. I helped Samu with the menu back then after we finished high school. He even added some dishes with extra protein, just for me. Said he couldn't stand how I ate chicken and protein powder all the time."
You frown at the thought of combining chicken and protein shakes, but he just shrugs when he notices your reaction. "Don't look at me like that; I was young then. Well, younger than today. I didn't know better." You laugh when he embarrassedly rubs the back of his neck.
"It's fine! I'm sure you had to watch your protein intake and your vitamin levels. I mean, you started playing a lot more intensely after school, right?"
He nods and takes the carafe of water to fill your empty glass. "A lot has changed since I started as a professional. My schedule's quite tight; I train basically every day, and I have to go abroad every other month for promotions or plays. It's kinda hard to always keep track of my eating habits. I'm just glad that Samu's keepin' an eye on me. Always grumblin' about how it's a drag to do all that extra stuff, but he still has a plate ready whenever I come." You nod and take the glass he's offering you and take a sip of the water. It has a fresh taste with all the herbs that have been added to it; you can even smell a bit of mint and lemon after you place the glass back on the wooden table.
"He sounds like a really good brother. Who's older, him or you?" You ask and look at the raven-haired copy of the man in front of you, who is now behind the counter making Onigiri. He looks good in the Onigiri Miya shirt, the logo cute and simple, fitting the whole ambiance of the restaurant. There isn't much space inside; you're just glad that Atsumu took care of reserving the table because there are quite a lot of customers inside. Yet, it has such a cozy and homey feeling that you relaxed instantly when you took a seat.
"What do you think? Be honest." He looks at you expectantly, and you debate your choices on the inside. On the one hand, Osamu seems like someone who is used to taking care of others, which makes him seem like the older one. On the other hand, you can't deny that Atsumu has a certain sense of dominance that seems like a spoiled firstborn—but you're still clueless.
"Hmm. I think that you're the older twin?" His eyes widen in surprise, and a wide grin suddenly spreads on his whole face. His eyes shine when he bursts out in laughter. "Samu! Samu, y/n thinks that I'm the older twin. Did ya hear that?" He calls for his brother, and Osamu raises his head with a scowl when he realizes that Atsumu just disturbed his peace. "Don't get cocky. She's the first to say that."
"Yeah, but her opinion actually matters. Thank you, y/n." He is still beaming when he turns back to you, the short innuendo with his brother seeming so normal to both of them that you try not to think too hard about it. "You're welcome, I guess?" You nervously laugh, hoping that you made neither Atsumu nor Osamu mad with your words. "You did well. You're my wife after all. So it's only fair that you're on my side." You almost choke on your water when he says that and nervously laugh.
"Oh, okay. Well then. Uhm, I'll start eating? I'm kind of hungry, and the food looks amazing." You still find your heart skipping a beat whenever he calls you 'his wife'—which you noticed that he does quite frequently. He definitely likes to tease you, and you have no idea how you should respond to that. Just the thought of calling him 'husband' makes you feel butterflies in your stomach—you couldn't possibly do that.
You have already snapped a picture of the food to Yachi, who insisted on regular updates of your day. She responded with a salivating emoji and an 'enjoy!' to which you sent a thumbs up, so you're more than ready to eat. "Oh, of course. Just take what ya want. Samu can make us another portion if yer finished with it."
"Thank you." You smile and take a spoon to try the fried rice. The flavor is rich and good; you can't help but let out a delighted huff through your nose while you take another spoonful. "It's really good. Osamu is great at cooking!"
Atsumu has also started eating, an onigiri in both of his hands that now looks ridiculously small. You only now notice how big his hands actually are—probably an advantage when he's playing volleyball. "Told ya. Samu makes the best food." He takes another bite and then a sip of his water. "Let's eat and then we'll talk about the appointment."
You nod and swallow your bite heavily—and you also try to swallow the nervousness while you finish your meal. The atmosphere suddenly had shifted a little after he had mentioned the appointment, the reasoning of your meet-up now apparent. You're both rather quick to finish your food, and you place your napkin on your table and look at him expectantly when you're done.
"So, do you want a dessert already, or do you need a break? Samu has a mean strawberry tiramisu in the fridge. It's not on the menu, but I know it's there." He looks at you and winks, and you laugh while you rub your tummy and lean back in your seat. "I need a short break. But after that maybe? Tiramisu sounds great." You give him a thumbs up, and he nods in response.
"So... let's talk about the visit then. About our options. Wait. Singular. We have one option." He looks at you with a neutral expression, and you find yourself nodding almost robotically. "Yes. We have to wait until the year is over until we can get a divorce."
You both sit there in silence, unsure of how you should continue the conversation.
"I mean, it could have been worse. We're lucky that there were no other grave conditions on the contract. One year will pass really quickly. And then you're free again. I'm also not forcing you to make this public; it wouldn't be good for neither your volleyball career nor my privacy. We could just keep going like this."
He intently watches you while you talk, his chin now resting on one of his palms when he slightly leans forward. "I also think it's smarter to keep it to ourselves for a while. The last name thing, though, is going to be difficult." A groan leaves your lips, and you close your eyes for a second.
"I can't believe that I have to change my last name. This is going to be a lot of paperwork." You groan again at the thought of going to the town hall and contacting your bank—and everything else. You thankfully already had the past few days to get used to the thought of changing your name to 'Miya', but it still makes the whole marriage thing feel so real. This would have a very big impact on your life at this point. All formal letters will be addressed to y/n Miya—which would definitely cause questions that you're not prepared for. But that is a problem for your future self, something you're trying to reassure yourself of to not feel overwhelmed. It will be fine. The lawyers had reassured you that it would only need a few signatures and a small fee, and then you could get divorced after the year is over—and that definitely made you feel a bit better.
"Yeah, sorry for that." He sheepishly rubs the back of his head, probably feeling guilty that only you have to do that, and you're quick to shake your head. "Don't be. I voluntarily agreed to this; this part is definitely not your fault."
He nods and takes the last bite of his rice ball and quickly wipes his hands with his tissue. Noticing that you have finished your meal too, he is quick to wave for the waitress. "I'll ask for the tiramisu. Are you fine with sharing? He said he'll only leave one portion. Greedy bastard," he groans playfully, and you giggle at his comment.
"Yes, we can share."
xxx
The car ride home feels tense.
The evening was great; you had a good time with Atsumu, and the prospect of having to part soon makes you feel uneasy, especially at the prospect of not knowing if you will ever see him again. For all you know, he could simply send you the paperwork via post and never talk to you again.
You get thrown out of your thoughts when he parks the car in front of your house, and you both sit there for a second in silence.
"Uhm... here we are." He finally says, turning off the engine, much to your surprise. That means he intends to stay a bit longer.
"Yes." You awkwardly scratch the back of your head and look at him through the darkness. Only a street lantern provides a bit of light, just enough for you to faintly see his face. He also seems to feel somewhat nervous, his eyes avoiding yours at all costs and looking at the dark screen of the radio.
"So, uhm. I meant to ask. How do you want things to go in the future? We can either keep in touch or meet exactly one year from now to finalize the divorce. What would you prefer?" You can see how his knee bounces up and down, a clear indicator of his nervousness. The words seem somewhat practiced, and you're pretty much convinced that he's been thinking about this moment during the whole car ride. You feel a lump in your throat and somewhat have a hard time coming up with an answer. What if he wants to cut ties with you but is too polite to say it out loud? You definitely don't want to put him in an uncomfortable situation by forcing him to keep in touch with you. It's bad enough already that you have to take his last name, which would probably lead to some questions. What were you supposed to say now?
"I... I don't know. What would you prefer?" You know that it's lame to answer with a question, but you only intend to offer him a way out. Much to your surprise, his eyes flicker to your face, and his knee stops bouncing.
"I would prefer for you to be happy, whatever you decide to go with." He seems so earnest and serious when he says that, that you find yourself flushing—thankful for the darkness to conceal your facial expression. Hopefully.
"Keep in touch, like eating at Onigiri Miya, for example? And texting and calling?"
"Hmm." He hums and suddenly watches you like a hawk, analyzing every single one of your expressions. "We could make that a regular thing. Samu changes the menu often; he could even put your favorite food on it, if ya ask him nicely."
You are stunned at his words. He probably knows fully well that it sounds like a cheap excuse to keep seeing you, yet he still said it.
So you decide to be brave too.
"Sounds great."
xxx
"What the heck was that?"
"What do you mean?" Atsumu rolls his eyes at the car speaker, somewhat annoyed because he knows exactly what Osamu will say.
"I saw you makin' heart eyes at her. And that phone call last week? I didn't say anything back then, but what are you trying to do? Flirting with her and breaking her heart when ya get divorced and you stop talkin' to her? She's too nice for that. Don't do that to her; she's been through enough already."
"I'm not leading her on!" Atsumu almost yells, finding himself wounded at the accusation of not being honest with you. "It's just—I don't know. Easy to talk to her. I just... I dunno. I'm not doing it on purpose; it just comes naturally. Everything comes naturally when it comes to her. Wonder if that's why I married her. Love at first sight, ya know?"
Osamu lets out a heavy and deep sigh, full of frustration. "It's fine. Just take things slow. If you wanna date her, I mean. You both skipped a few steps; I don't know if ya really have a chance."
"I'm not trying to date her. I'm just... I enjoy talking to her and spending time with her. And it's cute to see her flustered. We only got one spoon for the tiramisu, and I offered to feed her—ya should have seen her face, she almost fainted." Atsumu grins at the memory, but Osamu only sighs again.
"You're always causing me trouble. Just—be careful with her, 'kay? We still don't know if she's some kind of stalker trying to get with ya. Remember the last time a fan tried to get close to ya? Didn't end well."
Atsumu's grin slowly fades at the memory, and a deep frown replaces the happy expression.
"I know, I know. But she knows that manager from Karasuno. And Shoyo-kun. She could have met me earlier if she was a stalker. We only decided on the club last week, remember? No way she could have known. She got her hotel room booked a few weeks ago, Shoyo-kun told me that. That's too many coincidences for her to be a stalker."
"If you say so. Dunno, you just always get in trouble."
"Not this time. Not with her."
"Sure. Let me know if ya need somethin'. See ya."
Atsumu hangs up the call, his hands now holding the steering wheel tighter. There is an inner turmoil inside of him, almost the need to see you again, and that's when he forms a plan in his head.
A few minutes later, and he has safely parked the car and fished his phone out of his pocket. His fingers fly over the keyboard, and he doesn't think twice before he hits the "send" button.
Are you free this weekend, Mrs. Miya?
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some fun facts for the @tournament-of-x voters
The oldest contestants currently in the match (and by oldest, I mean “the date of their first appearance”, not their actual ages) are Magneto, Jean Grey, Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Scott Summers/Cyclops. All four of them first appear in X-Men #1 in 1963.
The youngest contestant currently in the match (again, in terms of the dates of their first appearance, not actual age) is Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool, who first debuted in Howard the Duck #1 in 2015.
Of the contestants, only Laura Kinney/Wolverine appeared first on screen -- her first ever appearance was in Season 3, Episode 10 of X-Men: Evolution in August of 2003. This would be later followed by her first comic appearance in NYX #3, in December of 2003.
As far as classic teams go: the 33 characters remaining include three of the original five X-Men (Jean, Bobby, Scott), four of the classic nine New Mutants (Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, Dani Moonstar/Mirage, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, and Illyana Rasputin/Magik -- Dani, Xuân, and Roberto are also founding members), and two people who have two first appearances (both Illyana and Nathan Summers/Cable appear in canon continuity as babies/toddlers prior to appearing later under their aliases -- Illyana appears in Giant-Sized X-Men #1 in 1975 and Nathan appears in Uncanny X-Men #201 in 1985). Two contestants are also part of the iconic Giant-Sized X-Men team created in 1975 -- Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler and Ororo Munroe/Storm. Two members of the original Generation X remain (Monet St. Croix/M/Penance and Jubilation Lee/Jubilee), as well as two from the Academy X era (David Alleyne and Megan Gwynn, from the New Mutants second generation team and the Paragons, respectively), three if you choose to count Laura Kinney/Wolverine, who joined the remaining students of New X-Men vol. 2 just after M-Day.
All the contestants save nine made their first appearances in X-books (X-Men, Giant-Sized X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, X-Men: Evolution and New X-Men). The ones who do not first appear in X-books are Mystique (Ms. Marvel #18 in 1978, though she technically had a cameo appearance two issues prior), Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma (Marvel Team-Up #100 in 1980), Anna Marie Lebeau/Rogue (Avengers Annual #10, 1981), Dani Moonstar/Mirage and Roberto da Costa/Sunspot (both in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 in 1983), Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan (Young Avengers #1, 2005), Tommy Shepherd/Speed (Young Avengers #10, 2006), Eden Fesi/Manifold (Secret Warriors #4, 2009), and Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool (Howard the Duck #1, 2015).
Demographically speaking, four characters in the tournament are canonically Jewish -- Magneto, Kate Pryde, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan, and Bobby Drake/Iceman (thanks for the reminder, @/ant-ifascottlang!) Though it hasn’t been confirmed, one might assume that Tommy Shepherd/Speed and Lorna Dane/Polaris are also Jewish, being related to them.
The 70s and the 80s are proving themselves to be the most popular -- 8 candidates that were created in the 70s are still in the tournament (Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Ororo Munroe/Storm, Illyana Rasputin/Magik, Mystique, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier/Aurora, Kitty/Kate Pryde, and Emma Frost/White Queen), and 8 characters created in the 80s are still in the tournament as well (Irene Adler/Destiny, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, Anna Marie Lebeau/Rogue, Dani Moonstar/Mirage, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Nathan Summers/Cable, Julio Richter/Rictor, and Jubilation Lee/Jubilee).
Of the other decades: seven characters were introduced in the 2000s (Eloise Phimister/Negasonic Teenage Warhead, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Laura Kinney/Wolverine, Megan Gwynn/Pixie, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, and Eden Fesi/Manifold), five were introduced in the 60s (Magneto, Jean Grey, Bobby Drake/Iceman, Scott Summers/Cyclops, and Lorna Dane/Polaris), and four were introduced in the 90s (Remy Lebeau/Gambit, Lucas Bishop, Neena Thurman/Domino, and Monet St. Croix/M/Penance). Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool is the only character remaining in the tournament to be introduced after 2010.
One character is canonically Muslim -- Monet St. Croix/M/Penance.
Eleven characters are canonically LGBTQ+: Bobby Drake/Iceman, Mystique, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Kitty/Kate Pryde, Irene Adler/Destiny, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, Julio Richter/Rictor, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, and Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool.
Laura Kinney/Wolverine, Remy Lebeau/Gambit (thanks for the reminder, @/souldagger!) and Megan Gwynn/Pixie have been confirmed by writers to be queer, but there has been no on-panel confirmation for any of them beyond Pixie’s appearance/alternate dimension self in Secret Wars.
Without counting the upcoming Uncanny Avengers, at least three characters have been recurring Avengers -- Anna Marie Lebeau/Rogue, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, and Eden Fesi/Manifold. Rogue and Sunspot also notably led teams of Avengers. Several other candidates have been Young Avengers -- David Alleyne/Prodigy, Billy Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan (who was a founding member), and Tommy Shepherd/Speed.
Ten characters are mutants of color -- Ororo Munroe/Storm is Kenyan-American and grew up in Cairo, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma is Vietnamese, Dani Moonstar/Mirage is Indigenous American, specifically Cheyenne, Roberto da Costa is Afrolatino and from Brazil, Julio Richter/Rictor is Mexican, Jubilation Lee/Jubilee is Chinese-American, Lucas Bishop is Aboriginal Australian/Black American (according to Chris Claremont, who confirmed that Bishop is indeed descended from Aboriginal Australian mutant Gateway), Monet St. Croix/M/Penance is Monacan-Algerian, David Alleyne/Prodigy is a Black American, and Eden Fesi/Manifold is Aboriginal Australian.
While Laura Kinney/Wolverine first appeared as a visibly brown girl in X-Men: Evolution, her design has since been lightened and she does not have a confirmed ethnicity.
Only eight of the remaining contestants have never appeared in live-action adaptations -- Irene Adler/Destiny, Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma (though her name is shown on a computer screen in X2: X-Men United), Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier/Aurora, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Megan Gwynn/Pixie, Eden Fesi/Manifold, and Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool. Of these, only Karma, Penance, Prodigy, Manifold, and Gwenpool have no on-screen appearances at all -- the others appear in the various animated series (Destiny has a recurring appearance in X-Men: Evolution, Pixie pops up in Wolverine and the X-Men, and the Beaubier twins appear in the X-Men cartoon of the 90s). While Penance is listed on Wikipedia as being in Wolverine and the X-Men, it does not cite an episode, though her twin younger sisters appear in Season 1 Episode 10 “Greetings from Genosha.” **this post has been corrected -- Monet St. Croix/M/Penance appears in the direct to TV Generation X movie (thanks for the reminder, @/cranechel!)
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Posts like these are really getting to me because they confidently state things without actually knowing what any of this means. This is not helping to parse through criticism and feedback, nor is it helping anyone to understand how writing for video games work.
Specifically for this post, this is a posting for a new position. Bungie is not firing anyone and writers aren't leaving in droves; Bungie is simply in the position to open many new positions (Sony money helped) and they've been hiring new people for months now, in all departments. They are currently hiring more people for the narrative team.
A narrative design document is not a one and done thing. This franchise is 8 years old and story and lore are being developed over time. This is how storytelling works, especially for big live service game franchises. A narrative design document is also being developed over time, it can be added to and it can change with the changing mechanics, gameplay, direction and player population.
This listing specifies that the job requires you to aid in that development. It doesn't mean that the narrative design document doesn't exist. And it certainly doesn't mean that a narrative design document changing or being added to is wrong or strange. It also probably doesn't mean what you think "narrative design" means. I'll get to that later.
This particular listing is also a smaller role, as per the intro:
In this role you will work closely with the various small teams within systems to write strings for rewards and collaborate on narrative context for features. This includes being an advocate for Franchise narrative goals and collaborating with the Expansion and Seasonal teams to help support their creative goals through your content.
This isn't a big writing position. First example of what the job is:
Work with the Systems team to write compelling strings for gear and features
Only occasionally write actual dialogue:
Occasionally create captivating activity dialogue and cinematic content that remain on tone with the established style of the franchise and the product
Improvements should definitely be made and Bungie at this point needs a much more solid narrative design document due to the incredible amount of accumulated lore and gameplay mechanics over the past 8 years. Which is the point of looking for more people to help in that section. This is a good thing.
All writing will always develop over time, but especially the writing for live service games. A narrative design document is an ongoing project. It is literally impossible to develop something like that once and never touch it again. Perhaps for one-shot singleplayer games, but even then narrative changes throughout development in ways we don't even see.
Also, as I said earlier, "narrative design" is not what people think it is. Especially not for video games. A really in-depth article about narrative design, how it works and how to do it. Incredibly relevant bit:
In an MMO, we see a lot more emergent storytelling, or rather stories that emerge over time from the interaction between players and the world. It’s a call and response where fan theories emerge, and the MMO responds to them.
Narrative design itself is not just "people writing a story." Narrative design can often be done without any writing:
Simply put, narrative design is the use of story to make sense of gameplay in a video game. Like a novelist, the narrative designer focuses on elements such as structure, character, and setting, but the key difference is that the hero in the story is the player and their experience is interactive.
And:
The narrative designer’s role on a team is much more than just being a good writer and storyteller. The narrative designer works with her team to build a world, inventing characters and events, and reconciling mechanics or rules. The job is part writing and part championing the importance of story throughout the process of making a game.
And more:
Narrative design is all about the intentional use of story and the flow of the game, either linear or nonlinear. More than merely story building, narrative design is about world-building. It’s an evolving art form, and with the development of AI and virtual reality, it’s becoming much more immersive.
On top of that, narrative design is still a new concept in video games:
Narrative designers are still quite a new concept in game creation. Hiring professional writers might seem like an obvious thing to do, but for years developers and producers have been writing storyline and dialogue. There are some old attitudes about the role that can make it difficult for a narrative designer to integrate well into a team. But integrate you must.
More stuff about what narrative design is and what it does (sorry this one is in French for the most part).
There's always feedback and criticism to give Bungie when it comes to lore. Them hiring more people for narrative design is not it. Like, Bungie being interested in fixing and mitigating these issues to combat things we have problems with is a direct opposite of criticism. They're actively hiring for narrative design. That's a good sign.
A lot of criticism often comes from the fundamental misunderstanding of how video game writing works, and especially how live service writing works. Over 8 years, there will be new information and even contradictory information to what was said previously. This isn't always a retcon. And even if it is, it's not always a bad retcon. Retcons are not inherently negative.
Most importantly, over 8 years, gameplay will change. And narrative design is about merging and making sense of the story and gameplay combined with the player involvement.
A lot of people complain because some aspect of the story is no longer the same as it was described when D1 launched. This is normal. New information being revealed is a good thing. Stories are not static, worlds are not static and characters are not static. Sometimes characters are mistaken or they lie. Sometimes things seem one way but they are another way. This is instrumental in creating a world that feels real. Because that's what happenes in reality. People are sometimes wrong in how they interpret the world around them.
Sometimes this will fall flat on some players or even all players (when it falls flat for the majority, that's usually when the game dies or is struggling; this happened to D1 Y1 and D2 Y1). In live service and ongoing projects, there will always be people who just don't vibe with the new direction or new information. New reveals can be off-putting to some and that's completely normal. It doesn't mean there's an objective fault with the writing though.
This is all a part of the narrative design, including how to tie all of these things into gameplay and player experience. This is a forever ongoing project in MMOs.
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