Chapter Text
It has been five years since their promise.
The button—Kita’s precious second button—is in a velvet box in Atsumu’s bedside table. Beside this is another velvet box, with a simple gold band inside it.
He’ll win the tournament, make it as a player in the olympics, then head home to marry the love of his life, he had decided.
But until then, he makes do with messaging Kita everyday. He sends pictures of his teammates, sends pictures of his food to show he’s been taking care of himself, sends links to songs he likes so that Kita can also listen to them. Every once in a while, he would send a picture of his face, and ask for one in return.
Kita does not reply as often, but everytime he does, his message is akin to poetry. And every once in a while, he would send a picture of his fields—send a picture of home. Every once in a while, he would humor Atsumu and send a picture of his face. Kita’s selfie angle was the same every single time, but Atsumu saved each photo anyway.
And while Atsumu had not yet said the words “I love you” directly to Kita, there are some things that are felt and known without being said.
—
Morning practice is the same as usual; Bokuto and Hinata are charged full of energy, Sakusa is as withdrawn as ever. During their break, Bokuto bounces over to them, all excited.
“I have big news! Akaashi said that he heard Ushijima-san is getting married next month!”
That catches the attention of the other Black Jackals players.
“Never took him for the marrying type,” Sakusa remarks.
Bokuto pauses for a moment, to read the rest of Akaashi’s message. “They’re childhood best friends! So their grandmas planned an omiai, and it worked out!” Bokuto practically squeals.
“He has a childhood best friend?!”
“How does Akaashi even know this?”
“So who's the unlucky bride?”
The other three ask Bokuto simultaneously. Atsumu and Hinata scoot closer to Bokuto to read Akaashi’s message, while Sakusa maintains his distance.
Bokuto scrolls through the text message. “Let’s see...someone named Kita Shinsuke? Oh, he’s from Inarizaki! He played volleyball too! D’you know him Tsum-tsum?”
Atsumu visibly pales.
“What? WHAT?”
He makes a grab for Bokuto’s phone, and reads the message himself.
The message reads that Akaashi heard the news from Tatsuki, who heard it from Suna, who in turn heard the news from Aran, who heard it from Ginjima, who overheard Kita’s grandmother on the phone with Ushijima’s grandmother.
The wedding was going to be held back in Hyogo in the following month, the message read. It was going to be a small wedding, with only relatives invited.
Atsumu scrolls back up, and rereads the message, having not fully understood its contents the first time he read through it, as his mind was completely in shock.
Kita marrying someone else? Okay, so maybe they didn’t explicitly say they were dating, but wasn’t that implied? He hasn’t said I love you to Kita, but that’s because he’s saving it for when he’s down on his knee and proposing!
Did Kita forget his promise to wait for Atsumu?
But then, this is Kita he was talking about. Kita would never forget or break his promise, unless there was something amiss.
Atsumu removes his knee pads in 30 seconds flat, and sprints for the door.
“Tsum-tsum, where are you going?!” Bokuto calls out after him. “Practice isn’t over yet!”
“I needta save the love of my life from marryin’ the wrong man!”
—
While waiting for the train to get to his apartment, he opens his phone and calls Aran.
“Hello?” Aran says upon picking up the call.
“Aran, is Kita-san gettin’ married?”
“Hm? Oh, that’s what I’ve heard! And Oikawa here told me that Kita-san and Ushijima are childhood friends.”
“Huh, why does he know that,” Atsumu narrows his eyes, despite the other man not seeing his expression.
“Ushijima-san mentioned it offhandedly apparently, when Oikawa was talking about Iwaizumi-san.”
“So Kita-san has a childhood friend? And he’s marryin’ him?” Atsumu drawls out.
“Apparently?”
“What the fuck,” is Atsumu’s eloquent reply.
—
He swings by his apartment to quickly pack a change of clothes and to retrieve a small velvet box from his bedside drawer, and sprints all the way back to the nearest train station.
He takes the first bullet train to Hyogo.
—
It is the middle of the afternoon by the time he reaches Hyogo. He can feel the fatigue from practice and from the long journey, but he shakes it off and heads over to his house. Upon opening the door and seeing Atsumu, his mom looks like she had seen a ghost.
“Atsumu, what brings you here?” she asks as she gives him a hug. “Dear, Atsumu’s home!” his mother calls out.
Both his mom and dad are shocked to see him home; he rarely goes home, what with the rigorous practice regimen he put himself to. Even during off season, he usually insists on staying in Tokyo to practice, to make it to the best of the best, he had said. And while his parents had sighed at how stubborn their son was, they understood he was hellbent on chasing after his dreams.
Seeing his parents standing in front of him, Atsumu takes a deep breath and says, “Mom, Dad, I’m getting married soon.”
His mom visibly pales. His dad’s fists are clenched.
“Did you knock someone up?!”
“What exactly have you been keepin’ from us, Atsumu?”
“That’s not it, it ain't a shotgun marriage I swear!” he puts his hands up in defense. “It’s something I promised the love of my life years ago! But now he’s gonna be married off to someone else, so I need ta save him from an arranged marriage!”
His mom blinks in reply, completely overwhelmed. His dad relaxes his fist.
“As long as it’s somethin’ you’ve thought about carefully,” his dad says after a long silence.
“If this’ll make you happy, Atsumu, we’ll support you,” his mom says, though she can’t hide the worry in her smile.
—
With his parents’ (unwitting) blessing, he heads over to Kita’s house on his bicycle; it takes half an hour of cycling through the countryside before he reaches Kita’s house. It is dusk by the time he reaches Kita’s fields. Even as his heart pounds from the physical exertion of cycling all the way and from the emotional fatigue bearing down at the thought of Kita marrying another, he can’t help but admire the beauty of the scenery in front of him. Endless rows of grain are stained gold by the setting sun.
After taking a deep breath, he knocks on the door, and Kita answers in a few minutes.
“Atsumu?” Confusion shows on Kita’s face. Regardless, he steps aside and lets Atsumu in.
He gestures for Atsumu to sit by the dining table, and Atsumu complies. Kita goes to the kitchen, and soon returns with a teapot and a couple of cups.
Kita pours them both some tea, before breaking the silence with, “Atsumu, is everything okay? What brings you here?”
Atsumu takes the teacup in his hands, and glances down at it. After taking a deep sigh, he turns to look at Kita directly.
“Kita-san, I’ve been earnestly chasin’ after my dreams.”
Kita nods. “Yes, you have.”
“And while I haven’t reached the peak yet, I’m slowly but surely makin’ my way to the top,” Atsumu continues.
“Yes, that’s true.” Kita’s mind remains befuddled. “What exactly are you getting at, Atsumu?”
“Please don’t marry someone else, Kita-san. Even if it’s Ushijima-san, I won’t back down!” Atsumu spits out.
Kita blinks in response, and Atsumu continues with, “If for some reason you need ta marry someone within this month, please marry me instead!”
He retrieves the velvet box from his pocket, and kneels down on one knee in front of Kita.
Kita turns to look at Atsumu, at the gold band in his hands, and laughs.
“So that’s what this is about? This is all a misunderstanding, Atsumu. What exactly did you hear?”
“You’re in an omiai with Ushijima Wakatoshi since your grandparents promised you ta each other, and you guys are childhood friends?” Atsumu looks up at Kita, a huge question mark evident on his face.
Kita shakes his head and chuckles. “Ushijima-san and I met maybe once or twice as kids, I don’t think that counts as being childhood friends. And granny did offer to set-up an omiai for me and Ushijima-san, but I declined.”
Kita moves closer to Atsumu, holds his hands.
“I have you, after all.”
After wiping Atsumu’s tears away, Kita takes the gold band and puts it on his ring finger.
“If I wear this, you won’t worry anymore, Atsumu?” Kita asks, looking fondly at Atsumu. The other man grins widely and hugs Kita tightly in reply. After Atsumu lets him go from his hug, Kita pulls down Atsumu’s head and kisses him.
He kisses Atsumu a few more times for good measure.
Atsumu is still dazed as Kita takes his hand and leads him to the veranda. There’s a full moon in the sky.
“The moon is beautiful tonight,” Kita says, as he turns to look at Atsumu.
Atsumu turns to look at Kita in turn. “Yeah. The moon is beautiful tonight.”
—
Osamu picks up his phone and looks at the caller ID. As usual, it was his twin calling right at the peak of lunchtime rush. With a sigh, he picks up the call.
“So ‘Samu,” Atsumu drawls out, “You taking bulk orders?”
“What’s this for, ‘Tsumu? Catering for the Black Jackals?” Osamu asks. “If it’s somethin’ with good publicity, I can give a discount for ya.”
“Nah, it’s for my wedding.”
Osamu promptly hangs up.
—
In the end, Osamu agrees to be Atsumu’s best man (and caterer) for his wedding to Kita. The two are married a year from when Atsumu had proposed, and it is a simple yet joyous affair— surrounded by their family and closest friends, and devoid of any media crew since Kita insisted on a quiet and private wedding.
Kita cries exactly once during the ceremony, just as they exchanged rings. Atsumu cries twice. And Suna has photographic evidence of it all.