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Suna beat Kita to the locker room. It was twenty minutes before practice—odd considering his captain was always the first to arrive no matter how early he got there. Figuring Kita was held back for a few minutes by a teacher, probably to praise his work on a test or project where he’d internally wonder why his efforts elicited extra praise outside the form of his near perfect grades, Suna rolled his eyes and shrugged.
As the minutes ticked by, more of his teammates trickled into the locker room, each noting their captain’s absence. Texts and calls went unanswered as Atsumu frantically wondered if he got kidnapped on the way to the gym to which Osamu responded by calling his counterpart an idiot.
Momentarily distracted by a Miya brawl, Suna just barely missed Kita ambling into the locker room, seven minutes before practice. Inspecting him from head to toe while he aimed his camera at the twins, Suna’s eyes zeroed into the corner of Kita’s mouth.
Pink. Pink and sparkly.
For the first time in a long time—hell, maybe the first time ever. Suna found one potential avenue of flustering Kita. One unaccounted and surprising variable that hinted at a sliver of disorder in Kita’s life.
Processing this new information in seconds without shifting his facial expression, Suna whipped his phone towards Kita, making everyone pause.
Stepping towards his captain who was currently double knotting his court shoes, Suna zoomed in on Kita’s face.
“Why’re ya’ late?” Suna questioned, ignoring Aran’s sigh.
“Yeah! Though ya’ were kidnapped or somethin’,” chimed Atsumu, jumping to Suna’s side.
Slowly getting up from the floor where he was previously pinned down by his brother, Osamu brushed off his pants and said, “’S not like ya’. Yer always here ages early.”
Now fully dressed and ready for practice, Kita shrugged.
“Sorry. There was a slight change in schedule—didn’t think this deviation would throw ya’ all into a panic though,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
Eyes sharp with the opening, seeing it clearer than when he’s up against a three man block, Suna grinned.
“And who’s the lucky deviation, Kita-san?” Suna grilled, using two fingers to zoom into his captain’s face. “Didn’t know ya’ were into lipgloss—the color’s pretty, but I think ya’ missed your mouth.”
Kita froze for a millisecond before swiping a thumb across his mouth.
“Wrong side,” Suna snickered.
Inspecting the evidence on his thumb, Kita watched the iridescent sparkles wink at him under the locker room lights. Remnants of a temporary farewell and a preview of tomorrow. Around him, Atsumu was yelling, Osamu had his mouth open in quiet surprise, and the rest of the team stared unbelievingly at the pink streak he smeared across his face.
Calmly getting a tissue and wetting it with water, Kita stared directly into Suna’s camera, making him internally wince at the intensity.
“My girlfriend.”
At those two simple words, the rest of the team seemed to snap out of their stupor and joined Atsumu in his screaming. Aran jumped up and down, eyes mysteriously misty. Akagi shook Kita’s shoulders and screamed incomprehensibly, face red with the effort. Inarizaki’s Boys’ Volleyball Club had lost their minds.
Internally counting to three and drawing in a grounding breath, Kita closed his eyes for a beat and opened them. Staring intently at each of his team members, each froze and immediately composed himself while Suna sat on the changing bench, recording everything.
“Stop screamin’ you’ll get us in trouble,” Kita said evenly, looking specifically at Atsumu who blanched and threw him a shaky salute. “And is it so hard ta’ believe I’ve got a girlfriend?” Looking at the clock and frowning, he motioned for them to get going before quickly leaving the locker room.
If Suna wasn’t on the lookout for any slips of composure he would have missed Kita’s slight pout at his teammates’ surprise and the pink tinge of his ears as he walked out. Thankfully, Suna thought to himself, he’d be able to endlessly relive the memory on his phone—and so could the rest of the team.
.
He hadn’t meant to be so late. Kita liked schedules—thrived off of them. Having a daily routine gave him order and security. Small acts of daily diligence compounded to steadfast reliability and Kita thought he knew what the upper limits of his mind and body were capable of.
They were capable of landing a serve wherever he wanted on the court. Even if he didn’t have a particularly powerful serve, accuracy finds a way to slip through weak defenses. They were also capable of staying actively engaged and alert throughout games whether or not he was on the sidelines. But, for the first time, a lifetime of routine wasn’t able to prepare him.
He was wholly unprepared for the intense warmth in his chest when she took his hand in hers and rubbed a thumb across his skin. His mental and physical reliability failed him when his knees went weak when he saw her out of her school uniform when he picked her up on their first date and his mind went blank when she stood on her tiptoes and held his cheek as she pulled him into a kiss.
Although his relationship with her had progressed to the point where all those firsts were now integrated into part of his routine, he found that those everyday actions still had the ability to make his mouth dry and cause his heartbeat to quicken.
It was illogical really. At a random whiff of her shampoo, his arms would break out in goosebumps. When the long line of her neck would be exposed as she tied her hair back, his shoulders softened in adoration. No matter how much time they spent together, no matter how many times he catches the multitudes of unexceptional actions, he found himself entranced.
Maybe his Baasan was right and the Gods were always watching. Perhaps they drew her into his plans to see how he’d react to an unknown variable, to see if he’d falter every step of the way in unknown territory. Maybe a lifetime wouldn’t be enough for him to be able to anticipate the different obstacles the Gods could write into his destiny, but he figured he didn’t mind. He’s a quick learner and he’s found out he quite likes the taste of strawberry lip gloss.