Work Text:
Spring 2010
Kita Shinsuke's life always revolved about self dependency. Do what you feel is right, not for anyone but for yourself. Wake up, have a proper stretch. Open the windows to let the morning dusk engulf the place in a soft glow, as the sun stirs up from his slumber. Have a nice and healthy breakfast with his grandmother and head to morning practice. Everything needs to fall in place perfectly. A puzzle must be completed with diligence and care. If you properly take care of yourself, you’ll know how to take care of others. If you are true with yourself, someone will see it. Someone will know how much you cared.
The first time someone noticed it, he got admitted to Inarizaki. It rained on his way to his first day of school. When Kita Shinsuke takes a new, fresh turn it always feels like this, like the smell of the morning rain on his way to school. However, It didn’t change anything for him. Whatever he needs to do to adapt, he will. That was his first thought as he stepped into the gymnasium, on an early Monday morning. Setting up the net, wiping the wooden floors clean, setting the balls to the side to prepare for practice as each and everyone of his new teammates arrived and helped him. Soon enough, the captain of the team along with the coach gathered everyone.
“Alright, we got a lot of new people this year, that’s very exciting to see! We can do a round of introductions to get to know each other better, we’re gonna spend a lot of time together after all!” The captain said, clapping his hands. He seemed like a reliable and well grounded senior. Each of the first years introduced themselves, stating their full name, their class and an objective of theirs they wanted to reach during those three years.
Ren Omimi, Michinari Akagi and Aran Ojiro. Accounting today, Kita Shinsuke had found reliable teammates.
When his turn to introduce himself came, Kita took a step forward, his hands behind his back, and posture straight.
“I’m Kita Shinsuke from class two. I’ll be doing my best during my time here, thank you for having me.” His voice echoes in the gymnasium entangling with the sound of the pouring rain hitting the windows. There were no unnecessary words, no ambitious goals. Kita Shinsuke only set for a path he knows how to build and that will come up sturdy and strong.
When you walk in the forest, sometimes you come across unexpected pathways. Those pathways were created by each step taken towards it. Most of them lead to the same end, but with each of these steps you build a reliable and more secure path for someone who might get lost.
Kita Shinsuke rarely gets lost. But who knows, the path he decided to follow would eventually come handy to somebody.
Another steady routine settled. Waking up, morning talks with his grandmother, volleyball practice, homework. Kita is confident. The team he was in was strong, he witnesses it everyday. His little “rituals” as Omimi likes to call them are what shape his life and help him to build his confidence as a teenager. End results are just consequences of his every day activities. As long as he does it with care and respect, the result will follow as such. So it didn’t matter much to him.
He didn’t mind not being a regular in the team. He was used to being just a normal player invited to a monster’s feast. He didn’t mind stepping on the court just for a minute if it meant he gets to put all the hard work he puts into practice, on an official match. He does what feels right.
…
April 2011
On the first day of his second year of high school, Kita walked to class under the morning rain, just like last year. The rain seemed to be the preacher of change in Kita’s Shinsuke life that averts him and notices him of new days to come. He gets to bask under the smell of raindrops and flowers just a little longer than usual during those days.
“I’m Miya Atsumu, I’d like to play as a setter and win the nationals! Thank ya for having me!”
That was one of the first major changes in his life. New players were not surprising per se but someone as outstanding as the Miya Twins surely was something that you get to witness once in a lifetime. They were good players, loud, had way too much pride and always bickered with one another. It definitely shook Kita Shinsuke routine but nothing he couldn’t handle. He just had to add more loops in his everyday activities and that was to take care of the younger ones.
That’s how his role whenever he stepped on the court had rather shifted in purpose. His presence on the court is reliable, connecting everyone to the present so they don’t get drowned by the adrenaline of the match. That’s the kind of player that Kita Shinsuke is. Sure, he doesn’t score as many points as people expect when he first enters the court but his play is always conscientious. It doesn’t need to be outstanding as long as the monsters enjoying their feast on this court can shine brighter.
He makes sure to stay around and take care of the team as much as he can. Since the first years have joined, it’s a lot more lively and chaotic. At first it was new and probably a little troublesome. But it slowly took part in Kita’s routine, making sure Atsumu wasn’t overworking himself, helping Suna tape his fingers for blocks or making sure Gin was stretching properly after practice.
He finished writing his note, putting it on the plastic bag filled with lemonade and pickled plums. He walked out of the locker room, ready to tell Atsumu to go home since he looked like he wasn’t feeling well since he came to school this morning.
Like a new gear added to a watch so that the hands could move properly. Kita was the main gear that made the team work with such efficiency.
So it didn’t really come as a shock to anyone to give him the position of captain in his third year.
Except maybe for Kita himself.
He sat back on the floor, looking at the jersey in his hands, tears flowing up in his eyes. they fell slowly, one by one, on the shirt that arbored the proud number one on the back. At this moment he was reminded of what his grandmother had told him once.
Someone is always watching Shin-chan.
He was silent most of his way home, pondering the previous events. He felt Aran fidget beside him, probably worried by his sudden outburst today. He even heard Gin and Suna come up to Aran to ask if their new captain was doing okay.
That’s probably why he decided to take another route, so they could have more time together.
“Grown-ups often say that results aren’t necessarily everything, and we fail to understand that.”
“Everything I did those past three years, I did them because those everyday tasks are what shapes my life. I didn’t do that for recognition or rewards. I’ll stop volleyball after high school anyway. But…”
He took out the jersey of his bag, looking at it while he thought carefully of his next word.
“But can I take this as a result of everything I’ve done so far?”
Aran watched him, pondering on the words he just said. He titled his head in confusion when he suddenly stood in front of Kita, stopping him in his tracks.
“Who cares about such trivial matters like that?! You don’t need a reason to feel proud or happy! Feelings aren’t the result of anything, they're here just because!”
Kita looks back at him like a deer caught in headlights before bursting out laughing in front of a very shocked Aran who wasn’t used to this display of emotions from Kita.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
…
January 2013
The whistle echoed in the entire gymnasium, loud cheers resonated in his ears as Kita watched the ball roll in the back of the court. A ball they didn’t manage to save.
A ball that cost them a victory. A place further into the nationals.
Kita didn’t care much about losing or winning. But he couldn’t ignore the pinch in his heart as he watched the ball fall on the ground.
He couldn’t ignore the sting in his eyes as he watched his teammates fall on the ground from exhaustion and disappointment of their loss.
They thanked the opposite team, and the coaches as well. No matter the outcome, this was still an amazing match. At least that’s what he came to think.
As they gathered everything to leave, Kita could feel the twins fidget behind him, which made him smile softly. He could already tell what they were about to say.
“Kita-san…”
“There’s no point in apologizing if ya don’t mean it. Would that make ya feel better about yerselves?”
“..!” Kita let out a small chuckle at their lack of response.
“It’s okay, I get it.”
“R-Really..?”
“Yeah. Although I’m not the biggest fan of you two pulling off new moves in the middle of an important match, I don’t think it was the wrong decision here.”
“But we don’t come around matches like this one often. I’m glad I was able to be a part of it.” He smiled, walking down the stairs, ignoring the disbelief on the twins’ faces.
“He smiled… didn’t he?” Said Atsumu, not quite believing it, maybe that was just his imagination.
“Y-Yeah…” Added Osamu.
“He smiled a lot during the match, you know!” Added Reisuke, which really shocked the rest of the team who was mostly playing on the court.
“Ah, but it’s still frustrating.” Continued Kita, stopping in his tracks, in the middle of the staircase.
“All I’ve been doing without fail for the past three years has led me to this moment. I still think that winning or losing is just a result of all the things we did or didn’t, and that he shouldn’t matter as much as the effort everyone and myself put into this match. But…” He paused, and let out a small exhale before looking back at his teammates with a gentle smile.
“I wish I could’ve said ‘Aren’t my teammates amazing?’ just for a little longer.”
A long silence echoed after that. That soon filled with tears and sobs that no one allowed themselves to shed on the court. Those tears were just another proof of the trust and respect they had for their captain. A proof that they were always watching him, awaiting the right moment to make him proud.
Which has all led them to this moment.
“Say it then.” Replied Osamu, wiping his tears with his forearm, soon followed by his brother.
“Yeah. Ya can say it for as long as ya want. We will be so amazing that ya can even brag about it to yer grandchildren.”
Kita laughed wholeheartedly.
“I’ll be looking forward to that.”
…
Summer 2021
Kita Shinsuke’s days pretty much start all the same, around 5am. He always wakes up a little before his alarm, when the sun peeks through his curtains during summer. In colder seasons, the moon keeps him company for a while during his morning activities and he gets to see the sunrise shine on his fields.
He wakes up, rubs the tiredness off his eyes and stretches for a few minutes. He puts his futon away, neatly tuck in its designed cupboard before going into his kitchen. He starts the kettle to make some tea and cuts two slices of freshly baked bread to eat with some homemade strawberry jam he got at the farmer market earlier this week. A weekly stroll he does with his grandmother.
He puts his hand together, thanking the Gods for the delicious foods he gets to have at his table and eats in the company of birds singing in the branches of the trees.
He steps in the rice fields around 6:30. Today was harvest day, so he rolled up his pants, put his hat on his head and started working patiently on each row, his basket holding on against his waist and his arm. That’s how his mornings usually go by.
Hours go by and after a water break, it’s around 12:37pm that he hears the horn from Osamu’s truck. He walks toward his barn, where the rice bags are stored, and opens the doors. Osamu stops the truck right in front of it and goes out to hug Kita warmly.
“It’s good to see ya Kita-san.”
“I’m happy to see ya too. Even if yer late.” Osamu embarrassingly rubbed his hand on his neck while Kita just chuckled.
“Sorry, there was a bit of traffic.”
“It’s okay. Let’s get to work so we can meet up with the others for the game.”
“Ya bet!”
Osamu’s restaurant was working well, he comes by two to three times a month to get his supplies from Kita’s farm. In exchange, Kita is also the first one to test out Osamu’s new recipes, helping him decide which ones he should put on his menu. They put the rice bags in the truck and they drove back together to the restaurant. While Osamu prepares lunch for his old teammates and friends, Kita sets the table and turns on the TV.
“Seems like they started warming up.” He says looking at the players in red jerseys jumping around and running.
“And seems like we arrived at the perfect time!” Said Omimi, followed by Akagi and Gin. Osamu gets out of the kitchen, with plates full of warm Onigiris that he sets on the table.
He looks up at the TV. “Oh is it starting already? Wait.”
Osamu gets rid of his cap and Onigiri Miya shirt, showing proudly the red jersey with the number 11 and Miya written on it. That’s at the exact moment that the cameraman takes a shot of Atsumu setting the ball at Shoyo, matching his twin’s jersey.
“No one’s allowed to tell him I’m wearing it. He won’t stop bugging me with this if ya do.” The comment made everyone laugh. It was warm, it smelled like home.
Kita Shinsuke didn’t care about the end results. All the things he did was what shaped him as a person and what brought him to this moment.
But there was a small part of him, more childlike, more innocent, that continued to work so diligently that wished that all his hard work would be rewarded just like that. With warm food, friends to laugh with and dreams achieved.
Kita smiled, looking back at his friends on the TV ready to start the match, proudness filling his heart.
“Well what do ya think? Aren’t my old teammates amazing?”