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Rice farmer Kita Shinsuke loads the last of Miya Atsumu's bags into the back of the Forester, checking with satisfaction that each one is properly and neatly labeled with Atsumu's name and return address to the MSBY athletes' dorm in Osaka. The bags' owner is right along with him, hauling a box filled with vegetables, some late summer fruits, and of course, Chanto shinmai rice, the product of Shinsuke's everyday efforts and toil. This box Atsumu slides into the boot of the vehicle with near-reverence, earning a small, lopsided smile from his ashen-haired boyfriend.
"You're taking way too much care into loading that onto Fozzy," Kita says. Atsumu, not surprisingly, still manages a neck-deep blush at this observation, even while trying to maintain a semblance of composure.
"Of course, Kita-san!" he blustered, pushing the button on Fozzy's tailgate. "It's your hard work in that box, and I am making sure absolutely nothing is wasted."
Kita chuckles. "Alright, alright. Remember to share them with the rest of the team, okay? There's also a bit of the nukazuke pickles we made, so have Thomas try them," he said.
The sun's deep amber glow was faintly breaking through the deep blue dawn as the two men got into the car. Kita turns on the engine and slowly backs out of the gate, and into the mountain road heading down from Kita Farm. Atsumu lets him navigate the winding trail in relative silence, knowing well to leave Kita alone for a few minutes to get his bearings and ease into a driving rhythm before covering the hand on the gearshift with his own.
"Kita-san, do you mind if I turn on the radio?" he asks, earning a nod from the other, whose eyes were fixed on the road ahead of him. Atsumu turns on the radio, automatically set to a local oldies station. A familiar song starts playing, something he recalls from an album his mum used to love playing while she cleaned the house on Sunday mornings.
駅の改札口見送る君に
I walk you to the ticket gate to the train station,
「次の土曜日までまた会えないね」
"We won't see each other again until next Saturday", I say.
"I haven't heard this song in a while," Kita muses, a small smile finally breaking through the look of concentration on his face. Atsumu keeps his hand on his even as he shifts gears. Even as he enjoyed it, something still bothered Atsumu.
"Kita-san."
"Hm?"
"Don't I distract you when I hold your hand while you drive? I know you haven't really complained, but somehow I feel like it bothers you," the younger man says.
"Then why do you do it?" Kita asks flatly, and Atsumu could feel his heart crack in a few places.
"Well, uh, ah... I guess I like holdin' yer hand, and we don't get enough time to ourselves nowadays and I want to keep touchin' ya every chance I can," Atsumu stammers.
Kita turns to him for a few seconds and smiles, and Atsumu feels like he’s hit with the full warmth of morning sun. “Well, what d’ya know?” the young farmer says, turning his attention back to the road. “You and I have the same reasons, then.” He laughs and rubs Atsumu’s knuckles with the pad of his thumb for a few seconds encouragingly before shifting down as they approach the exit onto the freeway. He loves teasing Atsumu from time to time, if only to hear his Kansai accent thicken as he flusters.
あいかわらずに小幅合わせちゃうなんて
As usual, our footsteps fall in sync
今日もやっぱり君は素敵でした。
And today too, you are as wonderful as I expected.
“You know, I do love you, Atsumu.”
“KI-KITA-SAN! DON’T SPRING THAT ON ME ALL OF A SUDDEN!”
Kita could almost hear his boyfriend’s full-body blush (if that was even imaginable) in his voice and smiles. The songs continue playing as they settle into the next few minutes. Atsumu knew the routine: They’d ease onto the big service area off the Hanshin Expressway, a few minutes before Kobe, and have coffee and breakfast. It was part of their small habits, something the setter, whose life had been defined by constant change, surprisingly enjoyed. Kita was his anchor, his reset --and rest point.
大切な事はそうここにある
Yeah, the important things in my life are right here, with you.
世界で一番今君を愛してる。
In the whole world, it is you I love best.
Fozzy soon pulls into the service station’s parking area, and they head into the Doutor cafe, where Kita gets coffees for both of them: black for Atsumu, and a latte for himself. They confirm schedules, go over some last-minute errands, and some gossip. Kita finds himself wanting the days to pass by quicker until Atsumu is at the train station again, arms outstretched and waiting. The taller man casually slings an arm around him as they walk back to the car, using the cold autumn morning as an excuse to pull Kita in a little closer.
“Good luck this new season,” Kita says, leaning subtly but firmly into Atsumu’s arm. “You don’t need it, though. I know your hard work will pay off, and that new setter feint will rack the points in. Bokuto and the others are also doing their best.”
“Mhm,” Atsumu says, pressing his nose into the crown of Kita’s head before he lets go to board the car again. As always, Kita smells like peaches and sakura, and petrichor. “I’ll miss this smell so much.”
“We’ll see each other again in two weeks, Atsumu. And there’s always video calls.”
“Still, even if they make video smell-a-call it wouldn’t be the same.”
耳が痛いくらい電話をしてる
We talk to each other on the phone until our ears hurt,
君の声聞くたび優しくなれる。
Hearing your voice makes me feel soft and tender.
目を覚したらいつも楽しい毎日、
Everyday I wake up to enjoyable days,
胸が破裂するほど愛しいかな
Loving you so much that my heart bursts.
They make it into Amagasaki shortly, and Atsumu knows it is only an hour or so until they get to Osaka, to MSBY, and the V-League season opening. He is pumped: their lineup is stronger than ever, and they would be playing the Tachibana Red Falcons for the first game. Kita would be busy too, with the harvest for late summer squash and the koshihikari rice, and preparing the new family of aigamo ducks, who would help Kita Farm produce next year’s Chanto rice and spring vegetables.
Still...
Atsumu keeps his hand on Kita’s as the drive goes on, until they reach the parking lot of the MSBY headquarters. The sun has barely risen, and the morning’s early workers have started to come in. Some of them recognise the pro volleyballer and wave at him, and he waves back as they start carrying the bags and boxes up to Atsumu’s apartment.
As they move the last of the bags inside, Kita lingers a little inside the apartment, as if pondering something. Atsumu takes this as his cue to wrap his arms around his former captain, burying his face in the crook of Kita’s neck as he does so.
“... Atsumu.”
“Hm?”
“I want you to stop calling me Kita-san.”
Kita feels Atsumu stiffen slightly around him, not in fear, but in vibrant anticipation.
“... Shinsuke, then?”
“Mhm,” Kita says, turning around in Atsumu’s embrace to face him. He cups the taller man’s face in both his hands. Wispy blond bangs tickle Kita’s nose as he presses his lips to Atsumu’s forehead, feeling it radiate warmth. “I think it’s about time you called me by my first name.”
Atsumu’s face grew pensive.
“Then… if I call you by your first name, will you take my last?”
It was Kita’s turn to be surprised. Atsumu suddenly gets down on one knee, in the quiet calm of the apartment, and pulls out a small, maroon velvet box, and pops it open in front of Kita. Inside was a sculpted kitsune ring, a diamond in its platinum paws.
“Shinsuke,” Atsumu says, for the first time, “We don’t need memories.The important things in my life are right here, from now, with you. In the whole world, it is you I love best. Will you marry me?”
Shinsuke rarely sheds tears, but this time, Atsumu sees the tear-filled face he first saw in high school, the one that grabbed his heart seven years ago.
答え１つだけ今伝えたい
There's only one answer that I want to give you,
これからもずっとねえ君を愛してる。
From now, until forever, it is you I love best.
“You know I will, Atsumu. In this whole world, it is you I love best.”
Atsumu gets up and places the ring on Shinsuke’s finger, and kisses him gently, passionately. They stay locked in an embrace as the sun filters in through the slats of the blinds, and Shinsuke swears he could hear the song on this morning’s radio playing through the apartment, and in his heart.
2人だけの写真色褪せたって
Even if the colours in our pictures fade,
きっと心だけは永遠だよね
Surely our hearts themselves will last forever.
遠回りして君と出会えた奇跡に
The detour of meeting you was a miracle in itself,
恋が加速度つけてはじけたなら
for it made this slow love speed up and break out of my shell.
変わらない思いただそれだけで涙あふれ出す
Just the thought of your unchanging love is enough,
it makes me cry.
ねえ君を愛してる。
Yeah, it is you I love best.