hello!!!
my name is kayu, and i write things that intrigue me and or fascinate me. i also write things that i like, which happens to be fictional and historical. so you'll see me here and there, asoiaf or jjk or something else. i'm still trying to get a hang on using the writing format here, and about many other things in life. let's learn from each other!!!
get to know ?
kayu is a twenty - four year old stressed out because they decided to return to uni for another educational course.
kayu is a non - binary person who is flexible with their pronouns. she/her, he/him and they/them apply!!!
kayu is a big fan of music, which often becomes used for themes and chapter titles in their work. especially the band bts.
kayu rambles a lot about historical stuff from time to time, lately in comparison to medieval women and asoiaf ladies!!!
kayu works better when they're sad, so they listen to a lot of sad music.
kayu has a written a lot of stuff before, but fanfics somehow is where it all comes back to. its better than uni work!!!
how it goes !
kayu writes a lot about many things, but at times they can be unpleasant and unseemly and so, kayu implores people to be mindful if they consume kayu's content!!! especially those who are minors and or are too young, please do not interact with kayu or their content!!!
kayu takes kindly to criticism and in depth interactions, as long as they are respectful and done with care. kayu would like to ensure that the interactions with others on this blog and elsewhere are done in good spirits!!! kayu implores respect and kindness above all!!!
kayu takes in suggestions for what to write and adores getting a flow of stories in her head that can make a symphony. kayu thinks that as long as you are kind and have something good and interesting, they'll write it up!!!
places in my house ?
the jujutsu kaisen masterlist
kayu's comms corner;
ao3
ko-fi
straw.page
kayu's rambling essays
[ of patriarchy, of female rule, and defense of rhaenyra targaryen ]
[ ancient, medieval and the dance of the dragons ]
[ on envoys, its history and death in storm's end ]
[ legitimacy of the velaryon boys and history ]
[ aemma arryn's horrible death ]
[ the incident in driftmark in the f&b ]
[ the fitzempress boys and the velaryon boys ]
[ rhaenyra targaryen, the male gaze and how hbo undermined the dance ]
[ robert's rebellion was not justified, an essay;]
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i think i injured my other leg bc i was stretching in my room bc my feet hurt and slippes bc my floor is very slippery and nearly hit my head on the tiled floor,,,,,my head is fine, im still not sure about my other leg but i am very embarrased. the kayu ao3 author adventure situation continues 😭😭😭
by the time you finally made it home, the sky outside had already turned into a magnificent dark spiral. you could barely register the change from the harsh fluorescent lights of the university to the warm yellow glow of your own living room.
you let out a small yawn as your bag slipped from your shoulder somewhere near the entryway, your shoes were abandoned without their usual place beside the door, and you stood there for a moment with one hand still resting against the wall as though you had forgotten what you were supposed to do next.
you were often more energetic than usual, and you were more energetic than your husband. but even a happy pill can end up in this position too. you were after all human. and you had to admit that today was a lot and today, you were tired.
you were quite certain that it was not the ordinary kind of tired that a long stay in the shower and eight hours of sleep could fix. instead, you knew it was the sort of tired that had settled into the depths of your bones. you felt it all day but gradually sometime around lunchtime, it had gotten to a point where you couldn't shake it off and by the end of the work day, it had only gotten heavier as the day went on.
being a history professor had sounded romantic when you were younger. but to be honest, adulthood would be to a child who knew nothing of the world. you would teach students about civilizations, wars, revolutions, old governments, dead kings and emperors and the decisions that had shaped entire states and nations and peoples. even as a child, you had imagined yourself standing in front of a lecture hall, enthusiastically explaining some obscure historical event while students scribbled notes and asked thoughtful questions.
you had not, however, imagined the endless paperwork. you weren't prepared for the grading. you weren't in it for the the attendance sheets.nor the administrative reports. not the emails.
and most certainly not for the never ending the committee meetings. there were also the students who emailed you at eleven at night to ask whether the paper due tomorrow was, in fact, due tomorrow, despite a lengthy explanation about it.
today had been particularly brutal.
you had spent the morning teaching two lectures, held office hours during lunch, attended a department meeting that should have taken thirty minutes but somehow lasted two hours, and then returned to your office to discover that several students had apparently decided that the deadlines you had set were merely suggestions.
and tomorrow, you had to do it all over again. and the day after that, and the day after that. which particularly turned you gloomy by the time you stepped into the elevator to get out of the building.
you dragged yourself into the living room.
then stopped. your dining table, which you had left in a state of complete disaster that morning, was almost unrecognizable. the piles of papers had been sorted into neat stacks. your laptop was sitting at the center of the table instead of underneath three folders. the pens you had scattered across the surface were gathered neatly inside a cup. your attendance sheets were clipped together, your students' reflection papers had been separated from the administrative forms, and someone had even cleared away the coffee mug you had apparently forgotten there.
someone was sitting in the middle of the entire operation.
former volleyball player turned househusband nanami kento looked up from one of your students' papers still wearing his "kiss the cook" apron. still, he looked handsome and well-kept. he was dressed comfortably, wearing an old white button-down with the sleeves rolled neatly to his forearms. his well-fitted glasses sat low on his nose, his sandy blond hair was slightly messier than usual, and his sweat was all over the place.
he had retired from professional volleyball years ago, after he decided that the acl tear on his leg he told no one about couldnt be sustsined anymore. there had been interviews about it, endless articles talking about it, endless panel conversations on sports networks, and most of all, endless speculation about why someone at the height of his career would walk away.
but the thing is, even with his torn acl, he would have continued on for something else within the sport. he could have been a coach, he could have been a manager, he could have been in those lofty panels on television talking about all these sorts of things. and that is if he didn't have you in his life. yet he does have you and taking care of you, loving you, being there for you, was all far more important than all the jobs he seems to be raking in from everyone.
nanami kento had simply told the press that he was tired and wanted a quieter life. you had laughed when you first heard that from him, because you knew exactly what he had traded professional volleyball for, that life he had so adored for. but you heard nothing else from him about it. he enjoyed your life, hes told you many times and he's done so many things to show you.
you, your marriage, the house, the grocery shopping, picking up your nieces and nephews from school, cooking all your meals, picking you up, doing the laundry, he does it all as a house-husband. and, apparently, reorganizing your academic paperwork is part of that too.
he looked up at you now, studying your face for a moment before glancing toward the clock. "you're later than you said you would be. its dinner time."
you dropped your gaze toward the floor. "i know that."
"i expected you half an hour ago."
"i know that too, nanami-senshu."
"i'm no longer a volleyball player." he frowns at you. "im just a sick and worried house-husband now, sweetheart. you didn't answer my messages."
"i know." you say, the tone of your voice morose with guilt. "i'm sorry."
his expression softened. "it's okay. i know you're probably just exhausted."
you let out a long breath. "i don't even have the energy to argue with you about that, honestly."
"then don't." he pulled out the chair beside him. "come here, sweetheart."
you looked at the chair, then at him. "kento, what are you doing?"
"helping you with things."
"with what?"
he gestured toward the table. "your paperwork."
you stared at the organized stacks. your eyes widened. "you went through all of this? when?"
"i sorted it when you left this morning."
"you sorted it?" you didn't even notice it had already been cleaned out and sorted to the side. "what the...."
"yes. it was rather easy. the categorization by title method comes in handy."
you blinked. "how come i didn't notice? and you know you're not actually supposed to be doing my work for me."
"i'm aware of that, yes." he says as he goes through the kitchen to plate the dishes he left to rest. "but its better that way, no? less work for you, table is clear so we can eat dinner."
"you're not a professor."
"i'm also aware."
"you're a retired volleyball player."
"former professional volleyball player." he corrects you. "who has a big fancy degree on economics from the university of tokyo."
you looked at him. "that's the distinction you want to make?"
"yes." he looks at you. "what, you hsve arguments with that.
you smiled despite yourself, shaking your head. "no, certainly not."
he adjusted his glasses. "well good to hear. and before you say anything else, i did not grade your students' work."
you immediately looked suspicious. "you read them? the one in the living room?"
"hm, though only some fully." he whispers back in response. "your kids are rather creative in the essay portion on one of the summative tests."
"nanami kento."
"only enough to organize them." he raises his hands up in surrender. "its not that much. so call me dear instead of my name, please."
"that's still reading them."
"i did not assess their academic performance completely to be fair." he went to the living room and took a few to show you. he turned one of the papers around. "i simply determined which were complete and which were not."
you sighed and pulled out the chair. "fine, fine. as long as its arranged."
you sat down heavily. kento disappeared to the living before coming back and finishing the plating of your dinner. you tried to zone out in the meantime, resting your head against the cushioned back. you hadn't noticed your husband put the food on your area. but you do notice how kento immediately pushed the cup of tea toward you, knocking you out of the trance.
"drink, so that you can reset your body before eating a hearty dinner."
you took it without protest. the first sip was warm and sweet, exactly the way you liked it. you looked at him over the rim. "you made this from scratch, dearest?"
"yes, i did." he nodded. "remember how i talked about those tea leaves i found during our hike? i dried them and grinded them to your liking."
"you remembered how i take it?"
"sweetheart, of course i do." he gave you an almost offended look. "i have been making your tea for years."
you smiled faintly. "i know. im just always surprised each time."
"well, i sure do hope you enjoy it each time." he whispered as he leaned forward and kissed your temple. "your poor dear husband always craves for your approval."
you laughed as you took another sip. "well you have it, my dearest."
kento smiled at that, and for a moment, the tiredness in your body seemed to loosen just enough for you to breathe properly. "good to hear i haven't loss my touch." he murmured. "okay then, i think we should go ahead and eat."
you glanced down at your plate. you could feel yourself salivating from the sight of the food right in front of you. you cleared your throat. "you know, you're very commanding for someone wearing a kiss the cook apron."
"i'm a retired professional athlete, sweetheart. commanding people is practically in the job description."
"you were a volleyball player, kento." you say as you wag your spoon at him playfully.
he hums as he lets his fork fall onto his food. "hm, yes i was. for nearly eleven, twelve years. you were there."
"yes i was." you nodded. "which is why i'm confused, cause you weren't the coach."
"hm, but that seems irrelevant when i have to scream at the kids to hit the block in command."
you laughed softly, the sound barely louder than the clink of your spoon against the plate. that seemed to satisfy him. he took the seat beside you rather than across from you, close enough that his knee brushed yours beneath the table. he didn't say anything about the way you were still staring at your food without actually eating it. he simply reached over, picked up your fork, and placed it properly into your hand.
"come on, sweetheart."
you looked at him. "dearest, i can't help it. i'm tired."
"i know that, sweetheart." he kissed your cheek. "but you have to. you hsve a sensitive stomach and it will hurt if you forget."
"i don't want to."
"i know that too."
"then why are you making me?"
his expression softened. "because you're tired, sweetheart. not because you're not hungry. because you need it. and you love food. i know you get busy and you forget. but its time to eat. so, dont let it take your love for meals away."
you looked down. he was right. of course he was.
you had spent the entire day moving from one obligation to another, drinking coffee instead of eating properly and answering emails instead of taking breaks. by the time you got home, your body had apparently decided that even chewing was an unreasonable demand. kento seemed to understand that without you having to explain it.
"i'd be content with just a few bites, you know?" he said gently. "then you can decide whether you want the rest."
you sighed, but you finally lifted your fork. "you're annoying."
"hm, so i've been told." he laughs softly.
"by me." you snickered as you cut your steak. "quite a bit in these many years."
"frequently and ive enjoyed it. at times it's turned me on—"
"okay, okay. lets not get frisky." you took another bite of your food, a slight blush on your cheek.
he watched you for a moment before finally beginning his own dinner. the house was quiet around you. there was only the soft hum of the refrigerator, the occasional sound of utensils against ceramic, and the faint traffic outside the windows. it was such an ordinary evening that you almost felt embarrassed by how close you were to tears.
you swallowed and stared at your plate. "my dearest."
"hm? what is it?"
"do you ever regret it?"
he paused. "regret what?"
"retiring from volleyball." you looked at him earnestly. "do you?"
his hand stilled around his fork. you hadn't intended to ask. the question had simply slipped out, dragged into the open by exhaustion and the strange vulnerability that came with being cared for. he leaned back slightly in his chair. for a few seconds, he didn't answer. you knew that silence.
you had heard it before whenever journalists asked him about his career after his retirement as well, trying to check in about his new life and whatever is there to enjoy about it. you knew the carefully measured expression that appeared on his face when someone mentioned the sport he had spent most of his adult life playing.
"i mean, it would be quite stupid if i didn't admit to missing it." he finally admitted. "because i do. i do miss volleyball."
your heart sank littly by little, noticing his tone and then his somber look. "oh."
"im quite sure its not because i want to go back, though. those days are behind me, especially with my torn acl." you looked at him again. he adjusted his glasses, his thumb briefly brushing the edge of the frame. "i miss playing with my friends. there's a difference."
you listened quietly. you take his hand which causes him to smile. "i miss the court. the noise. the routine. the feeling of knowing exactly what my body was supposed to do." he smiled faintly. "i miss winning with my team, obviously."
"obviously, that's a given." you copied him, causing him to snicker.
"and of course, i can admit miss losing too."
you raised an eyebrow. "you miss losing? you hate losing. didn't you cuss out hibara because he caused your team a loss?"
"it was educational for all of us."
"that's the most nanami kento answer you could have given, but also the most bullshit one you've ever had."
he smiled. "thank you, i aim to please."
you shake your head. "i suppose. but you're my house-husband now."
he slices his meat, laughing. "that i am. and truthfully, i don't miss what came with it. i was often gone for training camp, for overseas games. i was playing even when i was injured or exhausted. and most of the time i was often away from you. that i hated most."
you reached across the table and placed your hand over his. his fingers immediately curled around yours. "well you don't have to be away a lot." you whispered. "we'll be together all the time."
he gave you a small smile. "that's why im taking in all of our days together. i like being here, i like taking care of you."
you couldnt help but be so overwhelmed by your love for him. its as if every bit of your weariness and exhaustion left your body and all that's left is ease. "oh dearest."
"so don't be sorry for me, hm?" he whispers to you, lifting your entangled hands and kissing your fingers. "i can play volleyball whenever i want now. but im happiest when i'm with you."
"you really are...."
his caramel eyes returned to you. "this is everything to me. coming home to you. cooking dinner. doing the laundry. arguing with you about your filing system."
"my filing system is perfectly reasonable."
"your filing system is a crime, sweetheart. lets be honest, even suguru's horrified."
you gave him an offended look. he continued as though he hadn't noticed. "picking up your nieces and nephews from school and going to eat ice cream after. grocery shopping and ignoring the list. making you all the tea you want. waiting for you to come home."
"don't you get bored?"
"no, because i keep me busy being your husband." his thumb brushed over the back of your hand. "i like having a life that isn't constantly moving away from you. this dear man is a well kept man, only orbiting around you."
you swallowed. "and you don't feel like you're wasting your degree either?"
"my economics degree?"
"yeah, that degree." you pursed your lips. "i know you'd be able to use it well if you want to—"
"but i don't want to." he whispers to you, kissing your enjoined hands again. "i prefer using it to sort out your spreadsheets."
you shook your head, smiling. "you're ridiculous, aren't you?"
"hm, and yet you married me."
"unfortunately."
"it seems you continue to renew the marriage every morning." he leans in, kissing you on your neck. "want me to propose again so we can get married again?"
"dearest, that's ridiculous—" he leans in and kisses you a bunch more, making you laughed again, this time a little more genuinely. "dearest!"
kento took in the sight of you so happy, so beaming with joy, and without worry. he could feel his heart skip a beat. he falls for you every single time you laugh, you smile, every time you breathe. and each and every time, that also reminds him, how lucky he is.
"i love you. i love you very much sweetheart." he says, leaning against your neck.
after dinner, you insisted on helping with the dishes. kento immediately refused. "absolutely not."
"i can wash dishes."
"i know you can, but this is my job." he insisted.
"why? i'm fully capable—"
"because you spent the entire day working."
"and you've spent the entire day doing everything else." you argue back.
he shakes his head as he cleans up. "still a no, sweetheart."
"at least let me dry the dishes—"
"nanami kento, let me do something—"
"no, you are going to sit down and drink the rest of the tea and rest"
"i'm not a child."
"i'm aware of that, sweetheart."
"then stop ordering me around."
"i'm not ordering you around." he gently took the plate from your hands. "i'm taking care of my wife."
something about the way he said it made you stop. there was no teasing in his voice now. no smugness. it wasn't even a playful argument. it was just plain old certainty. he carried the plate toward the sink and began rinsing it. you remained standing behind him.
"you don't have to do everything for me." you pout. "im a big girl too."
"i know that."
"then why do you?"
he glanced over his shoulder. "because i want to."
you looked down. "but what if i don't want you to?"
"then i'll stop." his answer came so easily that you almost laughed.
"you'd really stop?"
"yes i would."
"even if i'm being stubborn?"
"especially then."
"even if i tell you i'm fine?"
he dried his hands and walked toward you. "if you tell me you're fine, i'll believe you." he reached up and gently brushed a strand of hair away from your face. "but if you're clearly not fine, i'm going to worry."
your eyes stung. you hated that.
you hated being this tired.
you hated feeling fragile.
most of all, you hated how easily he could see through you.
"kento, dearest..."
"hm? what is it, sweetheart?"
"i don't know what's wrong with me."
his expression immediately softened. "nothing is wrong with you."
"i'm just so tired."
"then you're tired."
"i feel like i'm failing at everything."
"you're not." he shakes his head. "thats not true."
"i can't keep up with my students. i have reports due, grades to finish, meetings tomorrow, and i still haven't prepared my lecture for friday. i have three emails from students asking questions that are literally answered in the syllabus and—"
"stop." you blinked. he took both your hands. "look at me, sweetheart."
you did and all you could do was stare at him, his gentle face that was akin to an angel. an angel so full of love for you. "sweetheart, you are not required to solve tomorrow tonight."
your lips parted. "but—"
"no." he gave your hands a gentle squeeze. "tomorrow will still be there in the morning. your students will still be there. the paperwork will still be there. the emails will still be there." he leaned closer. "you don't have to carry all of it right now, okay? you already did so well."
your eyes watered. you looked away. "i don't like feeling like this."
"i know you don't."
"i usually have everything under control."
"i know, you are good at anything you put your mind to."
"and today i just..."
your voice broke. kento didn't ask you to finish. he simply pulled you into his arms. you went willingly. your forehead pressed against his chest, your arms wrapping loosely around his waist. he held you securely, one hand resting against the back of your head while the other moved slowly along your back. you stayed there, for a long time.
"i'm sorry." you whispered, sniffling.
"for what?" his soft voice threads through. "you don't have to be sorry for anything. you don't have to apologize for needing me, okay? that's what im here for."
you started to cry more, his clothes started to be stained with your tears. he continues to hold you, unfaltering. he hums a soothing melody. "you did so well today, my sweetheart. you've worked hard. i'm so proud of you."
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if yall are not hearing from me, its because ive been ao3-authored again because my house is flooding due to typhoons here!!! please stay safe in this time if you're also in the philippines!!! 🤗✨️
"let me protect you too, let me protect your heart" — ryomen sukuna.
imagining that time when high school volleyball captain ryomen sukuna decided that a day before finals exam was the day you should meet the cat he had been raving about so much. you had told him that it could wait till the weekend.
but your boyfriend had his tradition and he was superstitious. you didn't find it odd, of course. you put a metal coin on your feet to avoid feeling the nerves. but you had wanted to spend the last day cramming while cuddling in his arms. still, who are you to deny your boyfriend of getting his own nerves calm by visiting his old aged cat back at his grandpa's house.
the bus on the way to his grandpa's house rattled softly as it made its way out of the city, the buildings gradually giving way to stretches of quiet neighborhoods and small fields dotted with old houses. you could feel the warmth of the afternoon sunlight as it spilled through the windows, painting lazy rectangles of gold across the worn blue seats. beside you, ryomen sukuna had been unusually quiet. which, frankly, was unsettling.
everyone can tell that your boyfriend was very rowdy and loud. but many dont see that there are some days he does get quiet. and perhaps this is one of those days. you had known your boyfriend long enough to recognize the different kinds of silence he was capable of. there was the silence he wore during volleyball matches, sharp and focused as he watched the opposing team's formation.
there was the comfortable silence the two of you shared after school, when you would walk home together and neither of you felt pressured to fill the air with conversation. this silence, however, was different and new.
you quickly learn that it was the silence of someone pretending very hard that he wasn't anxious. his thumb had been tapping absentmindedly against the edge of his phone for nearly ten minutes now. every now and then, he'd unlock the screen where his favorite picture of you lay in the screen, then open the messenger box before closing it again.
but your boyfriend does get angsty about it. he would then open it again and then use some of his time to spend it quietly staring at the same message from his grandfather, lock it again, and shove the phone back into his pocket as if catching himself in the act. you feel like your heart was going to burst by how cute he was being.
you couldn't stop smiling to yourself from beside him. you slowly leaned in before you were near his jaw. "you've checked that text three times in the last minute."
"i have not." he gets argumentative as he closes his phone. but he gets cute like this to you. he pouts. "it just lights up on its on."
you raised a brow. "you absolutely have. flip phones don't open on their own, my love."
"well sure. but even then....i was looking at the time."
"sure, my love but the time hasn't changed enough to justify checking it every forty seconds." you teased as your eyes meet his.
"it could've." he mumbles under his breath.
you laughed quietly, resting your cheek against your palm. "you know, you're not very convincing when you're nervous."
"i'm not nervous."
"oh?" you raised a teasing brow. "you sure about that."
"one hundred percent, babe." he responds too quickly.
"you've been fidgeting since we got on the bus." you poked his arm. "we're just going to your grandpa's house, you know?"
"i'm bored."
"you've never been bored a day in your life....well, especially with me in it."
he clicked his tongue, looking stubbornly out the window. he blushes. he still gets flustered like this when you flirt. "i don't fidget."
"you've been bouncing your knee."
"i always bounce my knee."
"you've sighed four times."
"i breathe."
"and you've read your grandpa's text enough times to memorize the punctuation." silence passes through in that moment. "earth to you, my love?"
"shut up." he says as he lays his head against your own, as it leans on his shoulder. he looks utterly ashamed. ".....sorry for telling you to shut up."
there it was, you think to yourself.
you smiled triumphantly.
he pouts even deeper.
"i knew it."
"babe, please."
"you didn't deny it."
he let out a dramatic groan before leaning his head back against the seat, one large hand dragging lazily down his face. "i don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this."
"you tell me, you're letting me meet your sister."
"kida is not my sister.....she's my child." he glanced at you from the corner of his scarlet eye before looking away again. "besides, this isn"t the first time you've met people in my life. you've met my teammates."
"i have, i have."
"you've met my parents."
"i survived that too. well, that was short but still!"
"you've practically moved into my bedroom whenever you come over."
"you have a television." you pointed out. "and it records things!"
"i know why you come over."
"the television." you repeated mischievously.
"babe, you are an awful liar." he says, placing a kiss on your head. "you're too good at being honest."
"so i've been told." you say in a sing-song manner. "that's why i have a hard time winning our games."
his lips twitched despite himself, though the teasing expression never quite settled on his face. instead, it faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. he looked back out the window, watching the scenery blur past while his thumb continued tracing absent circles over the edge of his phone.
for a while, neither of you spoke. the silence wasn't uncomfortable. it rarely ever was between the two of you. if anything, silence was part of the currency of your love. still, there was something weighing on him. when he finally broke it, his voice came out much quieter than before.
"...you've never met kida."
you blinked. "the cat?"
"yeah." he nodded once. "she's........she's important to me." he paused, as if trying to figure out how to explain something that had always simply existed. "i can't explain it but....she's everything."
your eyes soften. "you've had her since when?"
"she's been around since i was a kid. maybr when i was three or four? i don't remember. grandpa found her when she was just this tiny thing that fit in one hand." the corners of his mouth lifted faintly at the memory. "i used to sneak her into my room because i wanted her to sleep with me every night. grandpa would pretend he didn't notice, even though she'd leave fur all over my blankets."
you smiled, quietly imagining a much smaller sukuna carrying around an orange kitten with absolute seriousness. "ah, i can't wait to see pictures of this."
"my grandpa will show you pictures, i'm sure of it." he says, flustered. "but she's kind of......." he rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost embarrassed by his own words. "...she was my best friend. she grew up with me."
the admission lingered between you. but he doesn't give you enough time to respond. he doesn't think his already mushy feelings can take more thinking about it.
"and then there's my grandpa." he sighed, shoulders rising and falling. "you haven't really spent much time with him either."
you studied him for a moment before turning your body a little more toward his. "...so that's what this is, my love. you're worried."
he didn't answer immediately.
instead, he stared at your joined hands resting between the two of you. "...maybe."
it was barely louder than a whisper. another long breath escaped him before he admitted, almost sheepishly, "i really don't know."
you look at him tenderly, tapping his hand lightly. "its okay, take your time, my love."
he gave a quiet, self-conscious laugh. "i just......." his fingers tightened ever so slightly around yours. "i just want the people i love to love you too."
the confession settled warmly in your chest. it was such a ryomen sukuna thing to say. so awkwardly put together, a little clumsy, almost reluctant but impossibly sincere. your expression softened. "...you've been worrying about whether they'll like me?"
he shrugged one shoulder, refusing to look at you. "is it a lot?"
"didn't your grandpa already like me the first time we met?" you asked gently. "i'm pretty sure he adopted me before we'd even finished tea."
"that's different." he insisted.
"how?" you questioned with a raised brow.
"......that was just him."
you laughed quietly. "i didn't say anything."
"you didn't have to." he let out another sigh before rubbing at the back of his neck again.
"my grandpa's..." he searched for the right word. "...old."
you nodded solemnly. "that does tend to happen, yes."
he shot you an unimpressed look. "babe, don't."
"i'm listening to you attentively, my love."
"well for one, he's stubborn."
"mm, old people can be like that, yes."
"doesn't like most people." he continued but that made you tilted your head.
"hm, that sounds familiar." you hummed teasingly.
his eyebrows knitted together immediately. "i like people."
"you tolerate approximately six."
"that's not true." he denies it.
"isn't it?"
he frowned as though genuinely considering it as he counts it silently in his head. he lowers his gaze. "...i tolerate at least eight."
you gasped dramatically. "my apologies. i've underestimated your generosity."
he rolled his scarlet eyes, though a reluctant smile finally tugged at the corner of his mouth. "you're impossible."
"and yet here you are."
he shook his head before growing serious again.
"my point is babe..." he murmured, looking down at your intertwined hands. "...if grandpa really likes yo more today and id kida likes you just as much......." he hesitated for a moment. "then it would be good. and that matters to me.....because...
because they're home."
"they're all i have everyday, babe." his voice was so quiet you almost missed it. "and they've always been home."
the words were simple, there was no grand speech.
no elaborate explanation. just the honest truth.
from the man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
well, at the very least, to you, his loving girlfriend.
"...and if they love you too..." he smiled to himself as he continued almost shyly. "...then i think it'd feel like you're part of it."
for a second, all you could do was look at him.
for someone who always seemed to have an answer, who argued with referees, teachers, classmates, and practically anyone willing to challenge him, he had somehow managed to confess something so vulnerable with the uncertainty of a boy hoping he wasn't asking for too much.
you reached over and squeezed his hand. "my love."
"what is it, babe?"
"if your grandfather managed to raise someone as unbelievably insufferable as you..."
"i'm breaking up with you."
you seemed unfazed. "......then i'm pretty confident i'll fit in just fine."
he snorted, unable to stop himself. "well, im sure you will."
"also you don't mean that. if you break up with me, you'll be miserable forever."
"...you're annoying." he shakes his head.
"you adore me. and you adore me speaking the truth." your grinned, looking up to him.
"i tolerate you."
"liar, liar pants on fire." you say in a singing tone, before giggling. "i'm your all end be all, my love."
he sighs, knowing he's been defeated by you. he feels his heart pounding, feeling that same feeling when he fell for you then. he was falling in love with you all over again. "...yeah, yeah."
"i love you, my love."
his thumb absentmindedly brushed over your knuckles before he finally looked at you again. there wasn't even the slightest trace of embarrassment anymore. only quiet certainty. "i love you too, babe."
"aren't you being sappy today?"
".....what, babe? you got a problem with that?"
"no, i just wanted to enjoy it and tease."
"you're annoying."
"i know, but you love it!"
".....now stop rubbing it in my face."
you arrived at the bus station near his parents's house and his grandfather's house. you walked there together, your arms linked to his, his free arm carrying your bag and the other goodies you got for this visit. you always liked his grandpa's house better even though his family home was more modern. everything at his grandpa's house looked like it had been lifted out of an old photograph.
the wooden fence leaned just enough to show its age without ever seeming neglected. flower beds lined the stone pathway leading to the entrance, bursting with hydrangeas, camellias, and bright clusters of marigolds. a massive persimmon tree shaded nearly half the yard, its branches swaying lazily in the afternoon breeze.
the place didn't merely look lived in. it looked loved. just as much as your boyfriend looks so loved.
every inch of it carried decades of careful hands.
the porch had been polished smooth from years upon years of footsteps. tiny scratches marked the wooden pillars where furniture had been moved in and out over the seasons, while potted flowers crowded the edges of the veranda as though no one in the house had ever found the heart to throw a healthy plant away.
the tender swing of the wind chimes as it clinked softly overhead, dancing with every passing breeze, and somewhere beyond the backyard came the rhythmic chorus of cicadas humming through the heavy summer afternoon.
you think about how your boyfriend grew up in this place. that bright scarlet eyed boy with that buzzcut of a fuschia tone, running about here making the noise that brought this quiet place to life. you can tell that this was the kind of home that can nurture and nourish because it had been loved for so long that it had become impossible to imagine it any other way other than good things.
you had barely stepped onto the first stone when the front door slid open. "there you are, you insolent child!"
an elderly man emerged with surprising speed, pointing an accusing finger at his grandson before either of you could even greet him. "took you long enough to get here!" he huffed. "why are you late, boy?"
both you and sukuna froze. then, almost instinctively, you looked at each other. oh no.
there was absolutely no way either of you could tell his grandfather the truth the way it was.....not like this. you could not spit out that the two of you had planned to leave on time. you truly did and you really did try. but then somehow before you could think sanely, it was "one more race" in mario kart which had suddenly turned into seven.
the entire thing then turned into laughing over blue shells between little jokes here and there. and rather temptingly just a bit after the jokes settled in, your boyfriend ryomen sukuna insisting he could beat you with one hand, lost. you laughed at him, your quiet competitiveness taking over. he asked for another round, vowing to beat you once again.
and he proved you right.....by cheating. before long, he'd leaned over to kiss you. you melted into that one, immediately forgetting about the game. your eyes tethered to his, your hands all over his chest, gripping onto his clothes. that one kiss had become another. and then another.
young love blossoming into restless breaths, coming from the overwhelming feeling of that devotion until you were both lying across his bedroom floor like little fools, laughing breathlessly over absolutely nothing, swollen lips restless. everything your boyfriend had meticulously planned completely forgotten, especially when you made out with him like you wanted to etch into his skin.
it took more than twenty minutes before all the feelings long sat in, after you had talked about going to a card convention in shibuya on your next date, that there had been a bus to catch. you looked at each other before looking at the ground. he rushed and scream in panic, trying to pack up everything by the door way while you try and make sure that your lips was not too swollen. you try everything, but it was for naught.
you were sure his grandfather could see it.
you weren't dense with the way he criticized you.
he was a young man too, at one point.
he knew how to kiss people.
and he knew what swollen lips from kissing looks like.
sukuna coughed awkwardly into his fist. "traffic."
you turned to look at him. "...we took the bus, grandpa."
"the bus was in traffic." sukuna nodded, clearing his throat. "that's what happened, old man."
you stared. "yeah....we did get in traffic."
his grandfather stared. "that's the excuse you're going with? between your brain cells? i was not born yesterday. you think i'm stupid?"
"i panicked." your boyfriend rubbed the back of his head, flustered.
you bit your lip so hard it almost hurt. "grandpa—"
his grandfather let out a long, theatrical sigh. "hopeless children." he declared, pinching the bridge of his nose. "both of you. especially you, sukuna. i expected more from you. at least lie better to protect her dignity."
sukuna looked personally wounded. "i was protecting her dignity."
"with 'the bus was in traffic?'"
"...it sounded smarter in my head."
"it rarely does."
you couldn't hold it in anymore. a laugh escaped you, quickly followed by another as sukuna shot you a look that clearly said don't you dare. "i'm sorry, grandpa." you managed between laughs. sukuna looks at you. "what? it is funny!"
"no, you're not. and it is not funny."
"it is. that's why i'm trying to be sorry." but you still giggled anyway. he rolls his eyes.
"you're failing."
"i know." you agreed, giggling again.
his grandfather waved a dismissive hand.
"oh, don't apologize, girl. it's refreshing."
your eyes shined. "really? thank you, grandpa."
"my foolish grandson however....."
"oi, old man, i'm not doing anything—"
"ah, you really have lost respect for me, haven't you?"
"what does that even mean?" sukuna scowls like a child which made you laugh and that made him turn to you. "babe, quit it. it's not funny!"
"then why is it funny?"
he looked between the two of you, eyes twinkling with amusement. "i haven't seen two teenagers look guiltier since sukuna tried convincing me the vase broke itself."
sukuna immediately frowned. "i was eight, old man."
"you looked me dead in the eye and said, 'gravity became aggressive today.' all the while the evidence was in the room."
you burst into loud laughter as sukuna makes a disgruntled sound as he turns to his grandpa again. "it was a good argument."
"it was an insane argument, with the evidence in there in the room."
"it almost worked."
"boy, i'll be honest with you....it absolutely did not."
"you laughed." he argues like a five year old.
"i laughed because you were ridiculous."
sukuna folded his arms with all the indignation of someone who believed history had been unfairly rewritten. "i still think it was a reasonable defense."
his grandfather scoffed. "reasonable? boy, you had muddy footprints leading directly from the broken vase to your bedroom."
"i was creating reasonable doubt."
"you were creating evidence."
"again old man, i was eight."
the grey man lets out a grunt. "you were an eight year old dramatic."
"i am dramatic."
his grandfather snickers loudly. "well to admit that outloud."
sukuna's eyes went wide. "wait, i mean—"
"no, you already said that out loud."
you watched the two of them bicker with a smile that seemed to settle onto your face all on its own. it felt exactly as it had the first time you'd met his grandfather, so warm and so at east. every bit of that moment carried the same the sort of warmth that didn't come from words alone, but from years of saying them to the same person.
there was an unmistakable rhythm to their conversation. neither of them hesitated before interrupting the other, correcting the other, or arguing over details that didn't matter.
they spoke over one another with practiced ease, finishing each other's stories only to disagree about how they'd happened in the first place. somewhere beneath every sarcastic remark and every exaggerated complaint was the quiet certainty that the other would always answer back.
it reminded you so much of your own grandmother that your chest ached pleasantly. the two of you had been exactly the same. you would insist she'd forgotten where she'd put her glasses. she'd insist you'd moved them.
an hour later, the glasses would turn up exactly where she'd left them, and somehow she'd still claim she'd been right all along. you'd argue anyway. of course, not because either of you wanted to win. but because the conversation itself was familiar. every single tme, it was comforting. and it makes her pleased, even when she doesn't say it out loud. it was enjoyable, just another ordinary afternoon spent with someone you loved.
watching sukuna and his grandfather now felt much the same. sukuna argued with his grandfather exactly the way he argued with referees after volleyball games. it was almost too confidently, passionately enough that anyone watching might think he genuinely expected to overturn the decision if he explained himself well enough.
he gestured with his hands, frowned dramatically whenever his grandfather interrupted him, and defended even the weakest arguments with the unwavering confidence of someone who had never once considered admitting defeat. even when he was very obviously wrong. and most especially then.
his grandfather, meanwhile, accepted every challenge with the ease of someone who had been winning these arguments since sukuna was small enough to fit under one arm. he never raised his voice and he never seemed frustrated.
instead, he matches his grandson. he snickers and laughs, and gets gruff and careful. he was willing to wait for his grandson to finish making his elaborate case, and dismantled it piece by piece with the effortless patience of a man who already knew every trick waiting to be played. you found yourself wondering how many afternoons had looked exactly like this.
you wonder how many summers had been spent with a much younger sukuna stomping around this very porch after losing an argument or how many dinners had ended with him insisting he was right while his grandfather laughed into his tea.
you even wonder about the many times these same wooden floors had echoed with his reckless, running footsteps as a rowdy little boy chased after an orange kitten or a volleyball that had accidentally been kicked through the hallway.
it wasn't difficult to picture. in fact, it was almost impossible not to. this beautiful house still carried him. and perhaps that's how he is loved. if you love him in one way, his grandpa and kida do the same. his three favorite beings, his three favorite spaces to breathe home.
he belonged here.
he always would.
your heart swelled quietly.
you'd always known sukuna to be fiercely independent. he hated asking for help, insisted on carrying everything himself, and acted as though accepting kindness somehow meant he'd failed at doing something on his own.
but standing here, it was easy to see where he'd learned it. his grandfather possessed the very same stubborn pride beneath all his teasing. the same refusal to fuss over himself. the same dry humor. the same habit of pretending everything was perfectly fine before anyone else could worry. and even the way they folded their arms when they thought they were making an excellent point was identical.
it made you smile to yourself. sukuna had spent years trying so hard to become his own person. and somehow, without realizing it to himself, the young fuschia haired man had himself become someone who looked so much like the man that raised him.
you were almost certain he'd deny it if you ever told him, most vehemently, you were sure of it. you can imagine that he'd argue for at least twenty minutes. he would probably insist there wasn't a single similarity between them.
in that moment, you watched as his grandfather laughed again, the sound rich and familiar as he shook his head at whatever impossible defense sukuna had decided was worth committing to. "that doesn't even make sense, boy."
"it makes perfect sense." your boyfriend said with a deadpan look.
"to who?"
"me. who else, old man?" sukuna answered with complete seriousness, as though the explanation was entirely sufficient. he folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin a fraction higher. "because i said so."
his grandfather stared at him for a long beat before letting out another sigh that sounded as though he'd been sighing like this for nearly two decades. "you just keep proving my exact point, boy."
"what point?"
"that you think confidence is enough to replace common sense."
"it usually is." his grandson whispers back at him. "it works in the court...."
"well, i doubt it has ever worked in real life. unless you're a con-man, which you aren't."
"but i just told you! it has."
"oh? then will you be willing to give me an instance where it happened and not in the court? go on and do it. give it to me. when?"
ryomen sukuna opened his mouth but he glared as he closed it again. ".......that's not important, let's move on."
his grandfather's smile only grew wider. "there. you did it again, boy."
sukuna groans. "can we please stop this already?"
"then explain why you're standing here arguing with an old man instead of greeting him properly, huh? you're going back to your punk days or something, boy?"
"because you're wrong about that argument earlier."
"i have more wisdom to give. i'm older than you."
"so? is this a philosphy class, old man?"
"so that makes me right."
your boyfriend glares at him. "that's not how age works."
"well it does in this house."
sukuna clicked his tongue dramatically before looking away, very obviously pouting. "you're impossible, old man."
his grandfather snickers. "hah, and you still come and visit me like this?"
"i came because you would've called me twelve times if i didn't. even though, i live a block away. and then you'll force uncle jin and aunt kaori to text you. i'll not risk that, no thank you."
"and besides, this is good." he continued, gesturing toward the house with exaggerated confidence. "i'm here to see kida. you already know that kida's precious to me. of course i'd come visit her."
his grandfather nodded thoughtfully. "thirteen."
sukuna frowned "...hah? what does that mean?"
"i said that i would've called thirteen times."
"what does that even mean?" your boyfriend asks, perplexed.
"it means i know my grandson."
"i would've answered on the third, you know....like i usually do?"
"you would've answered on the thirteenth." his grandpa shakes his head. "you can't even trust kids to go and pick up then."
sukuna groans as he hides his face in his arms. "grandpa, i did pick up!"
"well, if you did, i didn't see it!"
you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing. "keep going, grandpa. this is fun!"
"oi, [name], stop encouraging him."
"but she's right, boy." his grandpa nodded with mischief that matches yours. "it is fun to see you like this."
the young fuschia haired volleyball captain quickly drew in a breath, undoubtedly preparing another passionate rebuttal. but he never got the chance. he could feel it. something soft brushed against the back of his leg. before long, his words caught in his throat.
"...huh?" he barely had enough time to glance downward before tiny teeth latched. at least not painfully, but very deliberately. he could feel it onto the cuff of his pants. "what the—fuck!"
you let out a loud gasp as you got near him, but he stops you. he jerked instinctively, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he whipped around. "oi, you—kida! stop it!"
the elderly orange cat looked up at him without the slightest hint of remorse. she released his pant leg of her own accord, blinked once with infuriating calm, and sat neatly on the wooden porch.
a little bit later, as if biting him had simply been another item on her afternoon schedule, she lifted one paw and began washing her face clean. you stare at her and then at your poor boyfriend regaining his calm and then at grandpa, who seems to be laughing behind his haori's sleeve.
the silence that followed lasted only a heartbeat. before long, your boyfriend's grandpa had all but lost it. a moment passes with a loud, wholehearted laugh burst from him, echoing through the garden as he doubled over, one hand gripping the porch railing for support.
"hah, she's still that strong! i knew she'd do that!"
sukuna stared at him in disbelief. "i thought you told her to knock it off! what if it was someone else?"
"i barely go outside, grandson." his grandpa reminds him. "there is barely anyone else to bite but you when you're home."
"she attacked me!"
"attack?" his grandfather wiped at the corners of his eyes as he scoffs. "boy, she barely nipped you."
"no, no. you didn't see her eyes. she was on the hunt for me. me! her literal blood relative."
"i think we're going too far with that motif, my love."
"no, i grew up with this girl. she's my child! and she nipped me!"
"no, no. not what happened." the old man pointed toward kida, who hadn't even acknowledged the conversation. "she corrected you. as she should. she's a grown girl now."
"corrected me?" sukuna says in a daze, before snickering in disbelief. "me, me of all people?"
"she was agreeing with grandpa. you were arguing and put a stop to it, like i do." he smiles at kida who purrs back at him contently. "it seems she knows she's right."
"i always argue. but kida didn't do it that much then. what did you teach her in all that time?"
"i didn't teach her anything, grandson. we're just....like-minded nowadays, you know?" his grandfather nodded sagely, as though the explanation spoke for itself. "kida's gotten old like me. she prefers peace and quiet nowadays."
sukuna looked down at the orange cat, who was still diligently cleaning between her toes. "...did you just discipline me? you copying the old man now, huh?"
kida didn't even bother looking up. she simply continued grooming herself with the absolute confidence of someone who knew she'd been right. sukuna sighs exasperated. "fucking....you're so lucky you're cute. and that you're precious to me."
you finally gave up trying to hold back your laughter. before long, a small snort that turned louder and obnoxious escaped before you could stop it, followed by another, until you had to cover your mouth with one hand. "i'm sorry......"
sukuna looked at you. he shakes his head. "no, you're not."
"well I'm trying to be. believe me, my love!"
"you've got tears in your eyes. and the way you laugh at me sometimes, i know how those laughing tears fall, babe."
"w-well, it's...it's obvious that i'm....i'm failing." you choke in between your laughters. "ah, ah...i can't."
"you are." he sighed, but he knew he can't get mad at you too. or even look at you with a glare for longer than three seconds. he looked back down at kida again, utterly betrayed. "have you forgotten how i bottle-fed you when you first came home? and for a long time? i was the one who was taking care of you, not this old man."
the cat licked one paw. grandpa snickers. "she's bounded to grandpa now."
"i carried you around everywhere, you remember that?" sukuna continued, watching in quiet disbelief as kida meticulously cleaned behind one ear instead of acknowledging a single word he'd said. he let out a long, wounded sigh, the kind that only came from someone who genuinely believed he'd been wronged. "unbelievable...."
"one of my favorite beings in this world, one of the very few!" he muttered, pointing accusingly at the elderly orange cat. "this little one whom i let sleep in my bed. whom drained my allowance buying cat food. i even showered you."
kida yawned, sowly. and even without so much as opening her eyes. sukuna couldn't help but feel more offended. "...just insane. like, wow. and in the end, you bite me?" he looked genuinely heartbroken now. "kida, i was only gone a few months. you can't just—"
only after he'd finished did kida finally pause. she lifted her head and looked directly at him. for one fleeting, hopeful second, sukuna straightened. ".....yeah? you're picking and choosing when to acknowledge me, now?"
the old cat blinked. once and then twice. a moment's pulse thumps into the world. with breathtaking indifference, she turned her entire body away from him. you watched his mouth goes agape. she presented him with nothing but the cold reflection of her fluffy orange back and the slow, lazy swish of her tail.
grandpa completely lost whatever composure he'd managed to recover. he laughed so hard he had to catch himself against the doorframe, one hand pressed against his stomach while tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "my poor grandson!"
"i've been replaced by my own cat, my own child. this is insanely the worst day of my life."
your eyes knitted into a confusion. "i thought our near break up was the worst day of your life."
".....okay, babe, it can tie."
"no, no, boy. this is something else. she's just reminding you." his grandfather managed between laughs, waving one hand dismissively. "after all, you've simply been reminded whose house this is by the owner."
"i paid for half her food since i was a boy, with all the money i saved up being a good boy for the tooth fairy."
"i paid for the other half." his grandpa reminded him.
"i changed her litter."
"and i changed yours." his grandpa snapped back cleverly. "you had quite a lot of those boys, sticky ones too."
".....you mean my diapers?"
"yeah, i did those."
"well, that doesn't mean she'll not act like that never happened." his grandpa snickers and shakes his head. "you've grown up to do the same things as her. you've ignored how i changed your diapers and speak like this, boy."
sukuna rests his arms on his hips, ignoring his grandpa's words about that. "this is fucking crazy. i took my girlfriend home to hang out and rest before our final exams. so far, this is not a relaxing hang out."
you turned away before sukuna could see your face. you really did try. you pressed your lips together and properly covered your mouth with one hand. you tried to looked out toward the garden and enjoy the movement of the wind chimes or the swaying of the flowers. absolutely anything. but the tiny snort that escaped you gave everything away.
sukuna's voice came immediately. "...are you laughing again?"
"n-no. why are you asking?" you try to say as you fail miserably to keep things down. "i'm definitely not...i'm...i'm not laughi....i swear!"
"that wasn't even convincing, babe." he shakes his head. "you did plays in middle school. where did the composure go?"
"look, my love. i'm trying. but this is really really funny. that's why there's no composure." you explained to him. "when it's you and its funny, the compusure is gone!"
"you're shaking from all that laughter." he sighs. "don't blame me when you piss yourself from that later, babe."
you squeezed your eyes shut. "i'm really trying."
but the more you tried, the more the urge to laugh got stronger. a short while later, a another tiny laugh slipped out despite yourself. when you finally turned back around, sukuna was already looking at you with the most pitiful expression imaginable. "man......." his voice came out much quieter this time.
you immediately felt guilty. "oh..." your smile softened. "my love..."
before he could say anything else, you walked the few steps separating the two of you and reached for both of his hands. his fingers were warm, fittingly larger than yours. he looked down automatically as you intertwined them. "i'm so sorry for laughing and teasing, my love."
"it's okay." your boyfriend quickly replies, looking at kida as she went around the grass, looking lazily at a growing patch on the empty side of the small garden line up in the corner. "it was funny. i would have laughed too....i just....i'm so upset about her biting me like that and just giving me a cold shoulder."
"kida's old, you know? i'm sure it's just that she's not used to seeing you around again." you said gently. " you've been busy and maybe she just got used to it. in that time, i'm sure she's just decided to go on her merry way and do her own thing, you know?"
"she remembered enough to bite me." your boyfriend mumbles under his breath. he turns to you, a little bit upset. "i don't want her to forget about me, babe. she's part of me. she's part of home....she's family. and i want to play with her, without her biting me like that."
his words made your smile falter almost immediately. you were certain with how silent it is here, the loud echo of your shattering heart at his words grew and thundered. it wasn't because he sounded angry. you know it's not that. if anything, you can tell he sounded so small in that moment. and he felt like it too.
ryomen sukuna had never looked small a day in his life. he still stood there with broad shoulders, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket as he watched kida lazily sniff around the edge of the little garden.
from where the three of you stood on the porch, the old orange cat looked completely content investigating a patch of grass she'd probably inspected a thousand times before.
she wasn't even paying attention to the conversation anymore. you take his hands from his jacket pocket and squeeze it. you just needed to do that. you know you did. and just as much, you know that somehow, reflecting how all of these things have come to this, you can tell that it seemed to hurt him more.
especially as you realized more and more each moment you stood there with him, holding him as to why he took you here, knowing that you both had exams to deal with tomorrow. it wasn't just his traditions or his superstitions. you squeezed his hands a little tighter. "my love......"
he sighed through his nose before looking back toward the garden. "...i know i'm being dramatic about all of this....."
you shake your head at him, empathetic. "you aren't being dramatic about this. this is understandable, my love."
he shrugged one shoulder. "i don't want her forgetting me, babe. i don't want her to ignore me or escape from my attention or my grasp. i don't want her to just....be away from me. not when...."
he looks away, and stops for a moment. you stayed quiet. he'd always been someone who spoke more when nobody interrupted him. and you knew he needed to say all of these things.
he's the type of person that can only feel better when he says it out loud, even when it gets uncomfortable. so you let him. you let him speak his heart out as he squeezed your hand tighter.
"i know she's old." he smiled to himself, though there wasn't much happiness behind it. "thirteen's...old for a cat. a dog at this age is equivalent to my grandpa's age. i know that."
his scarlet eyes never left kida. "i know she sleeps more now and that she probably doesn't play like she used to. i also know she spends her time all day lying somewhere warm while grandpa drinks tea, instead of trying to do as much mischief as she used to."
you could tell the glassy echoes of his eyes were forming into tears but he blinks them away. another quiet breath escaped him. "...i know that and yet....it's just so hard to accept it. because....because....she used to." he laughed softly through his nose. "god, she used to follow me everywhere, babe. she was such a strident and stubborn cat. she would lead the way all the time."
his grandfather, who had thankfully stopped teasing him, lets a small smile fall to his lips as he fixes his hakama and stands beside his much taller grandson. "she did. she loved following that boy around, you know? such a small runt but she ran this household on her whims."
"i couldn't even go to the bathroom without seeing her little face outside the door." sukuna laughs quietly, before shaking his head. "she would always notice."
his grandpa hummed. "she'd cry if you closed it."
"she scratched the paint off the bottom once." sukuna nodded, before letting out a shrug. "you had to keep putting up shoji too, because she'd rip through it when she heard my voice in the garden."
"she did that more than twice, if i remember correctly." his grandfather reminisces, before letting out a snicker. "i used to lecture her the way i lectured you."
".......gods, i remember that." sukuna says after a while, silent in the memories of his past flashing through his mind. he couldn't help smiling at the memory. "she'd wait outside my room every morning too. after changing the shoji too."
"hm, that's why you both had to kneel in front of me after that."
"i didn't miss that part, actually. your floors are too hard to kneel on without a pillow."
"ha, then rebuild the floors."
"fine, fine, i'll help you do it over the summer."
"tch, why wait over the summer when you could do it now, boy?"
sukuna does not respond for a bit. instead, he watches as kida slowly stands up and moves away from where she is. she walks over to the shade of where the old aged tree sits and quietly lays there, enjoying the breeze that rustle the edges of the leaves on the vines.
"if i slept in too long, she'd start pawing at my face." sukuna says all the sudden, reminiscing. "if i came home from practice, she'd be waiting by the door too. then sometimes....sometimes, she'd sleep on my chest when i got sick." his voice had become quieter without him seeming to notice. "but she.....each time, she wouldn't leave."
"...do you want to sit with her for a bit?" you asked softly, careful not to disturb the quiet that had settled over the afternoon.
for the first time in several minutes, he looked away from kida. his scarlet eyes finally met yours once again. the sadness was still there. but so was something gentler. something grateful. you were holding his hand, you were letting him have the tenderness of your warmth and most of all, you were not leaving him. just like kida, back then.
he gives you a small, beautiful heartfelt smile. so beautiful and yet the same smile that's breaking your heart. "...only if you'd sit with me."
you smiled back without even realizing you were doing it. "i'd be honored to, my love."
for a moment, neither of you moved. you simply stood there looking at one another while the breeze drifted lazily through the garden. then sukuna gave your intertwined fingers a small squeeze. "you know, she'll probably bite me again."
you laughed quietly. "probably, yeah."
"well, i suppose i'll accept my fate." he says as he slowly takes you with him, towards the shade of the tree.
you looked up to him as you followed in his footsteps. "my love, you don't have to worry."
"hah, i'm not afraid, though?"
"no, i know that." you tell him with a nod. "but if she attacks you again, i'm going to take the bite. i'll defend and protect you."
"babe, she just murked me." he whispers almost too fast. "i'm fine if she murks me, but i don't want you to get a bite too. you're too precious to have that on you."
"my love, i had experienced chemical burns at the lab before. i'm pretty sure i can handle your senior citizen cat biting me." you shake your head, squeezing his hand. "i told you already, i'm ready to be bitten, if it means it makes you feel better. so just take it, okay? take my protection let me protect you too, let me protect your heart."
you don't know if your face was just too serious with your eyebrows furrowed like that or the way you said with conviction was too dramatic and made it seem more an anime cliche than anything serious. your beloved boyfriend, someone who was upset just now, who was near tears, was now laughing his ass off.
you looked at him, far too confused for your own good. "what? why are you laughing?"
within seconds, he was laughing so hard that he had to bend forward, one hand flying instinctively to his stomach while the other stubbornly refused to let go of yours.
the sound came from somewhere deep in his chest, warm and completely unrestrained, echoing across the quiet little garden until even the cicadas seemed to pause around it. "oh my—"
he tried to speak, but another fit of laughter cut him off before he could finish. he shook his head, drew in a breath, only for another laugh to escape him anyway. this only made you stop and look at him a little bit more confused.
"...what..." he looked up at you, tears beginning to gather at the corners of his crimson eyes. "...what is wrong with you?"
you blinked at him, genuinely confused. "...what?"
he pointed at you with the hand that wasn't still intertwined with yours, wearing the most incredulous expression you'd ever seen on his face. "you...babe...." another laugh interrupted him. "...you just volunteered to take a cat bite like you're sacrificing yourself in battle."
"i was being serious."
"i know!" he said immediately, which only made him laugh harder. he bent over again, shoulders shaking uncontrollably as he tried, and failedto collect himself. "that's why it's so funny!"
you frowned, utterly unconvinced. "i am serious about all this, my love."
"i can tell. you looked me dead in the eyes, babe." he continued, trying to imitate your solemn expression. "you really chose to say 'take my protection. let me protect your heart' like that out loud?"
he buried his face in one hand for a moment before peeking at you through his fingers, another laugh escaping despite himself. you could feel your cheeks turn red, your entire body flustered. "...babe."
you only looked at him earnestly, red in the face with embarrassment. "what?"
he stared at you for a long second before gesturing helplessly toward the old orange cat sleeping beneath the tree. "...kida is thirteen."
"i know."
"she now sleeps eighteen hours a day."
"i know that too, i can tell she loves to sleep. what about it?"
"she has, like...a few tooth left."
"okay, i didn't know that. but knowing she's thirteen, very obvious."
"and somehow you've decided she's the final boss we're supposed to defeat."
you puffed your cheeks out in mild protest. "she bit you. with said few teeth. still sharp enough, by the way, for you to go 'ah, out, fuck—'"
he frowns for a bit. "language—"
"oh, please, i can curse." you glare at him lightly.
"she nibbled me." he says to you. "she was being genuine about it. i just got sad and overreacted about the pain in the bite."
"she murked you. as you said."
he shakes his head, laughing again. "she did, but i was more sad about her getting old."
"so why are we even talking about you getting murked by the bite if you said it didn't feel too bad?"
that finally earned a loud snort from his grandfather, who had been quietly listening from the porch with his arms folded across his chest. the old man laughed to himself, shaking his head with unmistakable amusement. "there it is."
sukuna turned toward him immediately. "oi, old man, don't encourage her. she's already being ridiculous."
you gasp, hitting his arm with your free arm. "i am not ridiculous!"
"i'm not encouraging her." his grandfather wiped at the corner of one eye where laughter had gathered. "i'm admiring her spirit."
"i have spirit too."
"you've got theatrics." his grandfather waves his hand. "just like you're father."
"well, then that means i get them from you." sukuna narrows his scarlet eyes. he points to his grandpa. "you're my grandpa."
his grandpa shrugs. "i don't know, i feel like grandma was more the drama queen. i feel like you got it more from her."
you looked back and forth between them, shaking your head.
sukuna started laughing again laughing. but not as hard as before. still, it was enough that every few seconds another quiet chuckle escaped him. you honestly couldn't understand what was so funny.
".......why are you laughing this time, huh?"
the question finally seemed to settle him. his laughter gradually dissolved into softer chuckles as he looked back at you, and when your eyes met, the teasing melted into something so impossibly fond that it made your heart skip. he reached over with surprising gentleness and pinched your cheek between his fingers.
"i'm happy."
you raised a brow. "okay, you were sad, but now you're happy."
"those feelings can co-exist, babe." his smile lingered, warm and helpless all at once. he squeezes your hand. "you make me happy babe, even when i'm at my lowest."
you shake your head. "uhuh."
"no, no. i mean it. because....only you would look at a retired old cat with arthritis..." another small laugh escaped him as he shook his head. "...and decide the hypothetical and most correct response in that situation is to throw yourself in front of her for me."
"i wasn't technically planning on throwing myself, per se....."
"you literally volunteered." he laughs once again. "the image in my head is just...you're just too cute in my head, babe. i can't imagine it."
"i was gonna do well at protecting you, though."
"hm, that's it. you made it sound like a knight swearing an oath before marching into war." he shakes his head, trying to get a bit more air. he looks at you, with shining eyes. this time, happily so. "ah, you're so....you're just everything, babe."
"i meant it like one." you mumbled under your breath as he starts leading you to the tree once again. "in my head, i sounded so cool...."
"i know." he says to you so lovingly. "that's why i love you more for it."
there wasn't an ounce of teasing in those words. if anything, they were impossibly soft. he looked at you for another long moment, his smile slowly relaxing into something quieter, something that made his entire face gentler than it had been only minutes ago.
"don't worry, babe. even if i laugh, i took it to heart, you words." he stepped closer until there was barely any distance left between the two of you before resting his forehead lightly against yours. "i know you meant every word.....i know you'd protect me."
"and i appreciate it." his thumb brushed absentmindedly over your knuckles before he let out one last amused breath. "but that's exactly why i don't want you getting bitten either."
he leaned down just enough to press a lingering kiss against your forehead. "besides, babe...." he murmured, glancing toward the old orange cat who had long since settled herself beneath the tree, blissfully asleep and entirely unaware of the emotional turmoil she'd caused. "...if anyone's getting bullied by the old lady.....it's going to stay me."
from the porch, his grandfather nodded with all the solemnity of someone witnessing a great declaration. "a true man."
sukuna didn't even lift his head. "...old man, you really are...."
"what? i was being truthful about that."
"you're unbelievably unhelpful." he points to the two of you. "we just had a romantic moment."
"i've lived a long life, boy." the old man replied, entirely unapologetic. "i've learned it's best to enjoy the moment, even when its at my grandson's expense."
"i really...." he shakes his head.
you giggled. "i love your grandpa so much."
his grandfather's expression softened immediately. "well, aren't you just the sweetest thing." he looks to his grandson. "im sure you could learn a thing or two from her, boy."
sukuna clicked his tongue. "don't encourage this either."
"why not?"
"my grandpa's ego's already big enough." sukuna huffs to you as his grandpa laughed, as if he knows what sukuna's saying in his low tone. "it's a lot. let's not encourage it more."
"you're one to talk." you snickers, nudging him teasingly.
"i'm humble."
you gave him a look. "hm, i don't think so."
"oi, don't copy him too."
you laugh to yourself as sukuna led you across the garden. grandpa seemingly goes inside, for sure to make some cold drinks. this leaves you and your boyfriend so very close under the tree's massive arms.
the afternoon breeze had cooled beneath the shade of the old tree, ever so slowly, and so gently carrying the earthy scent of grass and warm soil. somewhere overhead, its leaves once again rustled together softly, scattering little patches of sunlight across the ground where kida lay curled into herself.
up close, you think that you understand why sukuna feels heartbroken everytime he sees her. from every angle, you can tell she's lived a life. every bit of her was aged and old. the orange in her fur had faded over the years into softer shades of honey and cream.
there were those little tiny white hairs dusted the bridge of her nose and around her whiskers, and one ear folded ever so slightly where some forgotten adventure from years ago had left its mark. she looked peaceful, almost like she belonged to this garden as much as the old tree itself.
sukuna slowed until the two of you stood only a few feet away. without thinking, his voice dropped. almost instinctively. it was as though speaking too loudly might disturb her afternoon nap. he lets his hand brush against her fur carefully.
with some luck, this time, she does not bite him or even move to scratch him. instead, she remains there at peace. she allows him to brush his fingers with care against her aged old furs. you can tell that was a lot of weight off your boyfriend's chest, almost instantenously.
"hey little kida." one of her ears twitched. "did you miss me, little old lady>"
the cat didn't open her eyes. instead, her tail flicked once, albeit a little slowly. sukuna smiled. he looks up to you. "i think she heard me."
you smiled at him. "yes, she does. she does hear you, my love."
he seems bolstered by that reassurance. a moment passes before he rests one elbow against his knee and crutches lower. he looked at the elderly cat with an affection so open that it made your chest ache.
"my dearest [name], this is kida." he glanced up at you. "she's been with me since i was a young boy who couldn't swing a baseball bat straight." his smile grew a little. "i found her hiding underneath one of grandpa's flower pots after a storm and she was soooo tiny."
"she hissed at everyone, except me." he continues. his eyes returned to the cat lazily lounging in front of him. "and that made me feel lucky. because she chose me."
you pat his back softly. "that she did, my love. like i did. she chose you too."
"and that made me the luckiest man in the world." he whispers softly. "to have the love of two ladies."
kida lets out a purr at those words. sukuna feels his heart jumping out his chest in joy. but he tries to calm himself. he didn't want to disturb kida's sleep. so his voice had become almost impossibly gentle as he starts to speak once again.
he looked back at you, smiling in a way that only you ever seemed to bring out of him. so, kida." he gestured toward you with quiet pride. "...this is the girl i've been telling you about you for a long, long time now."
you watched him speak so animatedly about you for a good fifteen minutes as his fingers stroke through bits of her fur. before long, sukuna's hand had found its way to kida's back.
it happened almost absentmindedly. his fingers moved with the kind of familiarity that only came from years of repetition, gently stroking through her faded orange fur from between her ears down to the middle of her back.
every movement was slow, careful, mindful of her age. he no longer tried to coax her into playing or called for her attention. instead, he remained still and continued on steady. and somehow, that seemed enough. kida didn't open her eyes. she didn't lift her head.
but after a few quiet strokes, she leaned, and only slightly, it was certainly notenough for anyone else to notice. shhe would lean slowly but surely into the warmth of his palm over and over again, so subtly. you saw it. so did he. his shoulders loosened ever so slightly.
you watched him in silence. the corners of his mouth had softened into the smallest smile. there was no disappointment left there now. there was this great sense of relief, the only feeling that was left. and it sustained him through the turbelence of all this grievances.
you felt your own chest grow warm. tomorrow. the word floated into your mind before you could stop it. tomorrow there would be final exams. and you were sure that the reviewers just waiting to be flipped over again.
there were many notes to memorize. there were too number problems to solve. there were many chemicals and properties to remember. under any other circumstance, you would've been worrying. you would be continually counting the hours. you would be thinking about everything left undone.
instead, it's different here. it will always be different when its ryomen sukuna. rather than being locked up in your room, you found yourself watching your boyfriend pet the old cat he'd grown up beside. and you couldn't have been happier.
even if it meant losing another hour of studying. even if tomorrow ended up a little harder because of it. you knew in your heart and soul that this...this was more important than any sheet of paper waiting inside your school bag.
there would always be another exam and there would be another assignment. there will always be another grade to surpass and achieve. but afternoons like this, watching the people your boyfriend loved most gather quietly beneath the same tree, none of these can be scheduled. they simply happened. and you were grateful beyond words that you were here for one of them.
the feeling of your determined fingers remained intertwined with sukuna's free hand. you gave it a gentle squeeze before looking down at the elderly cat curled peacefully against his leg. you couldn't help but smile as she seemed to lean in slightly against the palm of your hand.
"you know, kida..." your voice came out almost as quietly as the breeze moving through the branches above. "i hope you know that i love your dad very much......so i'll be here, okay? i'll be here for him. just like you."
your eyes drifted toward sukuna. he'd looked up at the sound of your voice, watching you with quiet curiosity. when your eyes met his, you smiled. everything in that moment just felt so certain. there was nothing else there but the thought of love and forever.
"i'll be here." you looked back down at kida, who remained content beneath sukuna's hand. "i'll take care of him." your thumb absentmindedly brushed across the back of sukuna's hand as though to quietly underline the promise.
"i'll be good to him..." your smile trembled just enough for the emotion behind it to show. "the same way you've been good to him all these years. so....so..." you laughed softly to yourself. "you don't have to worry so much anymore."
for a long moment, nothing happened with your words. everything was the same. the garden remained quiet. the wind chimes swayed gently. leaves whispered overhead with nothing.
but then, you felt your lips open agaped as a gasp releases from your lips. kida's sleepy eyes slowly opened. the old cat looked at you. then at sukuna. with all the dignity of an old queen making an official decision, she pushed herself onto unsteady paws.
you instinctively worried she'd wander away again. instead, she took two slow steps forward. with a tiny, gravelly purr, she rested her head against your knee, even just for a moment.
you looked at your boyfriend and he looked back at you. you break contact as your free hand rests on your chest. your heart was beating too fast. she leans against your knee once again, as though accepting what you'd said. beside you, sukuna's breath caught almost imperceptibly.
"well....i think she likes you." he whispered, his voice torn between gentle and joyful. "that's a sign, babe. i'm keeping you forever."
you reached down carefully, stroking the top of kida's head with one hand while never letting go of sukuna's with the other. you smiled at him. "well, i should hope so."
"it's certain, babe. you and i, we are forever." he murmured, smiling as he watched the old cat lean into your touch before returning to his hand just as naturally. his fingers intertwined with yours a little tighter. "after all, i think she's trusting you with me."
your heart swells at those words.
you leaned close and kissed your boyfriend.
he kisses back, just as lovingly.
"i love you." he says as you both break apart from the kiss. "a thousand times, i love you."
you smiled, resting your nose against his. "i know. that's why i love you a thousand times more."
its been a while again but im here to tell you about the background of this little story!!! its been in the vault for a few months and i thought about sharing it a while ago. but with releasing schedules and all that other misfortunes and more, kayu couldn't. so here we are, now that its been released!!!
sukuna and reader live in the provinces and only moved to tokyo for college. grandpa followed sukuna to tokyo because as much as he is a grumpy old man who loves his grandson, he quietly followed him to tokyo with kida!!! kida lived in grandpa's home in tokyo too, but when they lived in their hometown, kida lived with grandpa because grandpa has a bigger backyard than sukuna's family home, which was only a block away in any case.
kida wasn't originally brought into the story until i thought about childhood pets, because i too had childhood pets and they were very dear to me, so in homage to them, i wanted to write something about it. marin is one of them too, although, my marin was not a golden. kida is based off my cat thomas!!! thomas was given to me by my grandfather, a bit similarly to sukuna who found kida and was allowed to keep kida after his grandpa agreed. he named her kida since since she reminded him of a dragon. kida is orangey red and my thomas was blondish-grey!!!
since sukuna was still a boy and can get lonely, his grandpa thought this would be good for his grandson. besides being so hyper independent, sukuna does learn how to care for things and people through kida. he considers kida his own child, and he will always do. some of his first salary at the car shop was spent on buying kida clothes. he even holds birthdays for her. kida was a well loved and spoiled little one.
i didn't get my happy ending with thomas and watch him grow old and have lots of memories with him. my mom is notorious for not liking cats, so she gave him away while i was at school. i was heartbroken to say the least, but in my own way, this is thomas's happy ending with me, through kida. kida gets to get really really old. kida lives long and happy. and isn't that all we want for our pets???
reader is excited to meet kida because she comes from a dog only family, since her mom is allergic to cats. they have poodles, since that's the only dog that her mom didn't seem allergic to. reader's family had a poodle named alexandra whom sukuna also grows fond of later on and shes the dog that made him want to have dogs too, since he was a cat person. alexandra also met sukumi, though only in the belly. we'll see her in a future chapter. she's also inspired by my friend's poodle dogs, and she also has allergies and can only own poodles. her poodles are so cute, im so obsessed with them!!!
also sukuna does have so many pictures of reader that he has to use multiple mediums like cameras when they were in middle school and high school because his flip phone couldn't keep up. he often uses reader's pictures as his screensaver. when he gets a new phone nowadays, he always gets the biggest storage because his phone blows up with so many photos of kida, marin, reader and sukumi. he also has a folder of pictures of grandpa and grandma. he only has a few with his parents. quite a fair bit with reader's parents and brother, though more of her dad and brother because they go on a fishing trip often in off season!!!
this is his screensaver of reader. if you want to improve on it, please do so!!! no ai, though. i sketched this by hand at work. human drawn, please. that's all i ask!!!
anyway, i will see you tomorrow (hopefully) with another fic!!! i love you all!!! 🥰🥰🥰
"let me protect you too, let me protect your heart" — ryomen sukuna.
imagining that time when high school volleyball captain ryomen sukuna decided that a day before finals exam was the day you should meet the cat he had been raving about so much. you had told him that it could wait till the weekend.
but your boyfriend had his tradition and he was superstitious. you didn't find it odd, of course. you put a metal coin on your feet to avoid feeling the nerves. but you had wanted to spend the last day cramming while cuddling in his arms. still, who are you to deny your boyfriend of getting his own nerves calm by visiting his old aged cat back at his grandpa's house.
the bus on the way to his grandpa's house rattled softly as it made its way out of the city, the buildings gradually giving way to stretches of quiet neighborhoods and small fields dotted with old houses. you could feel the warmth of the afternoon sunlight as it spilled through the windows, painting lazy rectangles of gold across the worn blue seats. beside you, ryomen sukuna had been unusually quiet. which, frankly, was unsettling.
everyone can tell that your boyfriend was very rowdy and loud. but many dont see that there are some days he does get quiet. and perhaps this is one of those days. you had known your boyfriend long enough to recognize the different kinds of silence he was capable of. there was the silence he wore during volleyball matches, sharp and focused as he watched the opposing team's formation.
there was the comfortable silence the two of you shared after school, when you would walk home together and neither of you felt pressured to fill the air with conversation. this silence, however, was different and new.
you quickly learn that it was the silence of someone pretending very hard that he wasn't anxious. his thumb had been tapping absentmindedly against the edge of his phone for nearly ten minutes now. every now and then, he'd unlock the screen where his favorite picture of you lay in the screen, then open the messenger box before closing it again.
but your boyfriend does get angsty about it. he would then open it again and then use some of his time to spend it quietly staring at the same message from his grandfather, lock it again, and shove the phone back into his pocket as if catching himself in the act. you feel like your heart was going to burst by how cute he was being.
you couldn't stop smiling to yourself from beside him. you slowly leaned in before you were near his jaw. "you've checked that text three times in the last minute."
"i have not." he gets argumentative as he closes his phone. but he gets cute like this to you. he pouts. "it just lights up on its on."
you raised a brow. "you absolutely have. flip phones don't open on their own, my love."
"well sure. but even then....i was looking at the time."
"sure, my love but the time hasn't changed enough to justify checking it every forty seconds." you teased as your eyes meet his.
"it could've." he mumbles under his breath.
you laughed quietly, resting your cheek against your palm. "you know, you're not very convincing when you're nervous."
"i'm not nervous."
"oh?" you raised a teasing brow. "you sure about that."
"one hundred percent, babe." he responds too quickly.
"you've been fidgeting since we got on the bus." you poked his arm. "we're just going to your grandpa's house, you know?"
"i'm bored."
"you've never been bored a day in your life....well, especially with me in it."
he clicked his tongue, looking stubbornly out the window. he blushes. he still gets flustered like this when you flirt. "i don't fidget."
"you've been bouncing your knee."
"i always bounce my knee."
"you've sighed four times."
"i breathe."
"and you've read your grandpa's text enough times to memorize the punctuation." silence passes through in that moment. "earth to you, my love?"
"shut up." he says as he lays his head against your own, as it leans on his shoulder. he looks utterly ashamed. ".....sorry for telling you to shut up."
there it was, you think to yourself.
you smiled triumphantly.
he pouts even deeper.
"i knew it."
"babe, please."
"you didn't deny it."
he let out a dramatic groan before leaning his head back against the seat, one large hand dragging lazily down his face. "i don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this."
"you tell me, you're letting me meet your sister."
"kida is not my sister.....she's my child." he glanced at you from the corner of his scarlet eye before looking away again. "besides, this isn"t the first time you've met people in my life. you've met my teammates."
"i have, i have."
"you've met my parents."
"i survived that too. well, that was short but still!"
"you've practically moved into my bedroom whenever you come over."
"you have a television." you pointed out. "and it records things!"
"i know why you come over."
"the television." you repeated mischievously.
"babe, you are an awful liar." he says, placing a kiss on your head. "you're too good at being honest."
"so i've been told." you say in a sing-song manner. "that's why i have a hard time winning our games."
his lips twitched despite himself, though the teasing expression never quite settled on his face. instead, it faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. he looked back out the window, watching the scenery blur past while his thumb continued tracing absent circles over the edge of his phone.
for a while, neither of you spoke. the silence wasn't uncomfortable. it rarely ever was between the two of you. if anything, silence was part of the currency of your love. still, there was something weighing on him. when he finally broke it, his voice came out much quieter than before.
"...you've never met kida."
you blinked. "the cat?"
"yeah." he nodded once. "she's........she's important to me." he paused, as if trying to figure out how to explain something that had always simply existed. "i can't explain it but....she's everything."
your eyes soften. "you've had her since when?"
"she's been around since i was a kid. maybr when i was three or four? i don't remember. grandpa found her when she was just this tiny thing that fit in one hand." the corners of his mouth lifted faintly at the memory. "i used to sneak her into my room because i wanted her to sleep with me every night. grandpa would pretend he didn't notice, even though she'd leave fur all over my blankets."
you smiled, quietly imagining a much smaller sukuna carrying around an orange kitten with absolute seriousness. "ah, i can't wait to see pictures of this."
"my grandpa will show you pictures, i'm sure of it." he says, flustered. "but she's kind of......." he rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost embarrassed by his own words. "...she was my best friend. she grew up with me."
the admission lingered between you. but he doesn't give you enough time to respond. he doesn't think his already mushy feelings can take more thinking about it.
"and then there's my grandpa." he sighed, shoulders rising and falling. "you haven't really spent much time with him either."
you studied him for a moment before turning your body a little more toward his. "...so that's what this is, my love. you're worried."
he didn't answer immediately.
instead, he stared at your joined hands resting between the two of you. "...maybe."
it was barely louder than a whisper. another long breath escaped him before he admitted, almost sheepishly, "i really don't know."
you look at him tenderly, tapping his hand lightly. "its okay, take your time, my love."
he gave a quiet, self-conscious laugh. "i just......." his fingers tightened ever so slightly around yours. "i just want the people i love to love you too."
the confession settled warmly in your chest. it was such a ryomen sukuna thing to say. so awkwardly put together, a little clumsy, almost reluctant but impossibly sincere. your expression softened. "...you've been worrying about whether they'll like me?"
he shrugged one shoulder, refusing to look at you. "is it a lot?"
"didn't your grandpa already like me the first time we met?" you asked gently. "i'm pretty sure he adopted me before we'd even finished tea."
"that's different." he insisted.
"how?" you questioned with a raised brow.
"......that was just him."
you laughed quietly. "i didn't say anything."
"you didn't have to." he let out another sigh before rubbing at the back of his neck again.
"my grandpa's..." he searched for the right word. "...old."
you nodded solemnly. "that does tend to happen, yes."
he shot you an unimpressed look. "babe, don't."
"i'm listening to you attentively, my love."
"well for one, he's stubborn."
"mm, old people can be like that, yes."
"doesn't like most people." he continued but that made you tilted your head.
"hm, that sounds familiar." you hummed teasingly.
his eyebrows knitted together immediately. "i like people."
"you tolerate approximately six."
"that's not true." he denies it.
"isn't it?"
he frowned as though genuinely considering it as he counts it silently in his head. he lowers his gaze. "...i tolerate at least eight."
you gasped dramatically. "my apologies. i've underestimated your generosity."
he rolled his scarlet eyes, though a reluctant smile finally tugged at the corner of his mouth. "you're impossible."
"and yet here you are."
he shook his head before growing serious again.
"my point is babe..." he murmured, looking down at your intertwined hands. "...if grandpa really likes yo more today and id kida likes you just as much......." he hesitated for a moment. "then it would be good. and that matters to me.....because...
because they're home."
"they're all i have everyday, babe." his voice was so quiet you almost missed it. "and they've always been home."
the words were simple, there was no grand speech.
no elaborate explanation. just the honest truth.
from the man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
well, at the very least, to you, his loving girlfriend.
"...and if they love you too..." he smiled to himself as he continued almost shyly. "...then i think it'd feel like you're part of it."
for a second, all you could do was look at him.
for someone who always seemed to have an answer, who argued with referees, teachers, classmates, and practically anyone willing to challenge him, he had somehow managed to confess something so vulnerable with the uncertainty of a boy hoping he wasn't asking for too much.
you reached over and squeezed his hand. "my love."
"what is it, babe?"
"if your grandfather managed to raise someone as unbelievably insufferable as you..."
"i'm breaking up with you."
you seemed unfazed. "......then i'm pretty confident i'll fit in just fine."
he snorted, unable to stop himself. "well, im sure you will."
"also you don't mean that. if you break up with me, you'll be miserable forever."
"...you're annoying." he shakes his head.
"you adore me. and you adore me speaking the truth." your grinned, looking up to him.
"i tolerate you."
"liar, liar pants on fire." you say in a singing tone, before giggling. "i'm your all end be all, my love."
he sighs, knowing he's been defeated by you. he feels his heart pounding, feeling that same feeling when he fell for you then. he was falling in love with you all over again. "...yeah, yeah."
"i love you, my love."
his thumb absentmindedly brushed over your knuckles before he finally looked at you again. there wasn't even the slightest trace of embarrassment anymore. only quiet certainty. "i love you too, babe."
"aren't you being sappy today?"
".....what, babe? you got a problem with that?"
"no, i just wanted to enjoy it and tease."
"you're annoying."
"i know, but you love it!"
".....now stop rubbing it in my face."
you arrived at the bus station near his parents's house and his grandfather's house. you walked there together, your arms linked to his, his free arm carrying your bag and the other goodies you got for this visit. you always liked his grandpa's house better even though his family home was more modern. everything at his grandpa's house looked like it had been lifted out of an old photograph.
the wooden fence leaned just enough to show its age without ever seeming neglected. flower beds lined the stone pathway leading to the entrance, bursting with hydrangeas, camellias, and bright clusters of marigolds. a massive persimmon tree shaded nearly half the yard, its branches swaying lazily in the afternoon breeze.
the place didn't merely look lived in. it looked loved. just as much as your boyfriend looks so loved.
every inch of it carried decades of careful hands.
the porch had been polished smooth from years upon years of footsteps. tiny scratches marked the wooden pillars where furniture had been moved in and out over the seasons, while potted flowers crowded the edges of the veranda as though no one in the house had ever found the heart to throw a healthy plant away.
the tender swing of the wind chimes as it clinked softly overhead, dancing with every passing breeze, and somewhere beyond the backyard came the rhythmic chorus of cicadas humming through the heavy summer afternoon.
you think about how your boyfriend grew up in this place. that bright scarlet eyed boy with that buzzcut of a fuschia tone, running about here making the noise that brought this quiet place to life. you can tell that this was the kind of home that can nurture and nourish because it had been loved for so long that it had become impossible to imagine it any other way other than good things.
you had barely stepped onto the first stone when the front door slid open. "there you are, you insolent child!"
an elderly man emerged with surprising speed, pointing an accusing finger at his grandson before either of you could even greet him. "took you long enough to get here!" he huffed. "why are you late, boy?"
both you and sukuna froze. then, almost instinctively, you looked at each other. oh no.
there was absolutely no way either of you could tell his grandfather the truth the way it was.....not like this. you could not spit out that the two of you had planned to leave on time. you truly did and you really did try. but then somehow before you could think sanely, it was "one more race" in mario kart which had suddenly turned into seven.
the entire thing then turned into laughing over blue shells between little jokes here and there. and rather temptingly just a bit after the jokes settled in, your boyfriend ryomen sukuna insisting he could beat you with one hand, lost. you laughed at him, your quiet competitiveness taking over. he asked for another round, vowing to beat you once again.
and he proved you right.....by cheating. before long, he'd leaned over to kiss you. you melted into that one, immediately forgetting about the game. your eyes tethered to his, your hands all over his chest, gripping onto his clothes. that one kiss had become another. and then another.
young love blossoming into restless breaths, coming from the overwhelming feeling of that devotion until you were both lying across his bedroom floor like little fools, laughing breathlessly over absolutely nothing, swollen lips restless. everything your boyfriend had meticulously planned completely forgotten, especially when you made out with him like you wanted to etch into his skin.
it took more than twenty minutes before all the feelings long sat in, after you had talked about going to a card convention in shibuya on your next date, that there had been a bus to catch. you looked at each other before looking at the ground. he rushed and scream in panic, trying to pack up everything by the door way while you try and make sure that your lips was not too swollen. you try everything, but it was for naught.
you were sure his grandfather could see it.
you weren't dense with the way he criticized you.
he was a young man too, at one point.
he knew how to kiss people.
and he knew what swollen lips from kissing looks like.
sukuna coughed awkwardly into his fist. "traffic."
you turned to look at him. "...we took the bus, grandpa."
"the bus was in traffic." sukuna nodded, clearing his throat. "that's what happened, old man."
you stared. "yeah....we did get in traffic."
his grandfather stared. "that's the excuse you're going with? between your brain cells? i was not born yesterday. you think i'm stupid?"
"i panicked." your boyfriend rubbed the back of his head, flustered.
you bit your lip so hard it almost hurt. "grandpa—"
his grandfather let out a long, theatrical sigh. "hopeless children." he declared, pinching the bridge of his nose. "both of you. especially you, sukuna. i expected more from you. at least lie better to protect her dignity."
sukuna looked personally wounded. "i was protecting her dignity."
"with 'the bus was in traffic?'"
"...it sounded smarter in my head."
"it rarely does."
you couldn't hold it in anymore. a laugh escaped you, quickly followed by another as sukuna shot you a look that clearly said don't you dare. "i'm sorry, grandpa." you managed between laughs. sukuna looks at you. "what? it is funny!"
"no, you're not. and it is not funny."
"it is. that's why i'm trying to be sorry." but you still giggled anyway. he rolls his eyes.
"you're failing."
"i know." you agreed, giggling again.
his grandfather waved a dismissive hand.
"oh, don't apologize, girl. it's refreshing."
your eyes shined. "really? thank you, grandpa."
"my foolish grandson however....."
"oi, old man, i'm not doing anything—"
"ah, you really have lost respect for me, haven't you?"
"what does that even mean?" sukuna scowls like a child which made you laugh and that made him turn to you. "babe, quit it. it's not funny!"
"then why is it funny?"
he looked between the two of you, eyes twinkling with amusement. "i haven't seen two teenagers look guiltier since sukuna tried convincing me the vase broke itself."
sukuna immediately frowned. "i was eight, old man."
"you looked me dead in the eye and said, 'gravity became aggressive today.' all the while the evidence was in the room."
you burst into loud laughter as sukuna makes a disgruntled sound as he turns to his grandpa again. "it was a good argument."
"it was an insane argument, with the evidence in there in the room."
"it almost worked."
"boy, i'll be honest with you....it absolutely did not."
"you laughed." he argues like a five year old.
"i laughed because you were ridiculous."
sukuna folded his arms with all the indignation of someone who believed history had been unfairly rewritten. "i still think it was a reasonable defense."
his grandfather scoffed. "reasonable? boy, you had muddy footprints leading directly from the broken vase to your bedroom."
"i was creating reasonable doubt."
"you were creating evidence."
"again old man, i was eight."
the grey man lets out a grunt. "you were an eight year old dramatic."
"i am dramatic."
his grandfather snickers loudly. "well to admit that outloud."
sukuna's eyes went wide. "wait, i mean—"
"no, you already said that out loud."
you watched the two of them bicker with a smile that seemed to settle onto your face all on its own. it felt exactly as it had the first time you'd met his grandfather, so warm and so at east. every bit of that moment carried the same the sort of warmth that didn't come from words alone, but from years of saying them to the same person.
there was an unmistakable rhythm to their conversation. neither of them hesitated before interrupting the other, correcting the other, or arguing over details that didn't matter.
they spoke over one another with practiced ease, finishing each other's stories only to disagree about how they'd happened in the first place. somewhere beneath every sarcastic remark and every exaggerated complaint was the quiet certainty that the other would always answer back.
it reminded you so much of your own grandmother that your chest ached pleasantly. the two of you had been exactly the same. you would insist she'd forgotten where she'd put her glasses. she'd insist you'd moved them.
an hour later, the glasses would turn up exactly where she'd left them, and somehow she'd still claim she'd been right all along. you'd argue anyway. of course, not because either of you wanted to win. but because the conversation itself was familiar. every single tme, it was comforting. and it makes her pleased, even when she doesn't say it out loud. it was enjoyable, just another ordinary afternoon spent with someone you loved.
watching sukuna and his grandfather now felt much the same. sukuna argued with his grandfather exactly the way he argued with referees after volleyball games. it was almost too confidently, passionately enough that anyone watching might think he genuinely expected to overturn the decision if he explained himself well enough.
he gestured with his hands, frowned dramatically whenever his grandfather interrupted him, and defended even the weakest arguments with the unwavering confidence of someone who had never once considered admitting defeat. even when he was very obviously wrong. and most especially then.
his grandfather, meanwhile, accepted every challenge with the ease of someone who had been winning these arguments since sukuna was small enough to fit under one arm. he never raised his voice and he never seemed frustrated.
instead, he matches his grandson. he snickers and laughs, and gets gruff and careful. he was willing to wait for his grandson to finish making his elaborate case, and dismantled it piece by piece with the effortless patience of a man who already knew every trick waiting to be played. you found yourself wondering how many afternoons had looked exactly like this.
you wonder how many summers had been spent with a much younger sukuna stomping around this very porch after losing an argument or how many dinners had ended with him insisting he was right while his grandfather laughed into his tea.
you even wonder about the many times these same wooden floors had echoed with his reckless, running footsteps as a rowdy little boy chased after an orange kitten or a volleyball that had accidentally been kicked through the hallway.
it wasn't difficult to picture. in fact, it was almost impossible not to. this beautiful house still carried him. and perhaps that's how he is loved. if you love him in one way, his grandpa and kida do the same. his three favorite beings, his three favorite spaces to breathe home.
he belonged here.
he always would.
your heart swelled quietly.
you'd always known sukuna to be fiercely independent. he hated asking for help, insisted on carrying everything himself, and acted as though accepting kindness somehow meant he'd failed at doing something on his own.
but standing here, it was easy to see where he'd learned it. his grandfather possessed the very same stubborn pride beneath all his teasing. the same refusal to fuss over himself. the same dry humor. the same habit of pretending everything was perfectly fine before anyone else could worry. and even the way they folded their arms when they thought they were making an excellent point was identical.
it made you smile to yourself. sukuna had spent years trying so hard to become his own person. and somehow, without realizing it to himself, the young fuschia haired man had himself become someone who looked so much like the man that raised him.
you were almost certain he'd deny it if you ever told him, most vehemently, you were sure of it. you can imagine that he'd argue for at least twenty minutes. he would probably insist there wasn't a single similarity between them.
in that moment, you watched as his grandfather laughed again, the sound rich and familiar as he shook his head at whatever impossible defense sukuna had decided was worth committing to. "that doesn't even make sense, boy."
"it makes perfect sense." your boyfriend said with a deadpan look.
"to who?"
"me. who else, old man?" sukuna answered with complete seriousness, as though the explanation was entirely sufficient. he folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin a fraction higher. "because i said so."
his grandfather stared at him for a long beat before letting out another sigh that sounded as though he'd been sighing like this for nearly two decades. "you just keep proving my exact point, boy."
"what point?"
"that you think confidence is enough to replace common sense."
"it usually is." his grandson whispers back at him. "it works in the court...."
"well, i doubt it has ever worked in real life. unless you're a con-man, which you aren't."
"but i just told you! it has."
"oh? then will you be willing to give me an instance where it happened and not in the court? go on and do it. give it to me. when?"
ryomen sukuna opened his mouth but he glared as he closed it again. ".......that's not important, let's move on."
his grandfather's smile only grew wider. "there. you did it again, boy."
sukuna groans. "can we please stop this already?"
"then explain why you're standing here arguing with an old man instead of greeting him properly, huh? you're going back to your punk days or something, boy?"
"because you're wrong about that argument earlier."
"i have more wisdom to give. i'm older than you."
"so? is this a philosphy class, old man?"
"so that makes me right."
your boyfriend glares at him. "that's not how age works."
"well it does in this house."
sukuna clicked his tongue dramatically before looking away, very obviously pouting. "you're impossible, old man."
his grandfather snickers. "hah, and you still come and visit me like this?"
"i came because you would've called me twelve times if i didn't. even though, i live a block away. and then you'll force uncle jin and aunt kaori to text you. i'll not risk that, no thank you."
"and besides, this is good." he continued, gesturing toward the house with exaggerated confidence. "i'm here to see kida. you already know that kida's precious to me. of course i'd come visit her."
his grandfather nodded thoughtfully. "thirteen."
sukuna frowned "...hah? what does that mean?"
"i said that i would've called thirteen times."
"what does that even mean?" your boyfriend asks, perplexed.
"it means i know my grandson."
"i would've answered on the third, you know....like i usually do?"
"you would've answered on the thirteenth." his grandpa shakes his head. "you can't even trust kids to go and pick up then."
sukuna groans as he hides his face in his arms. "grandpa, i did pick up!"
"well, if you did, i didn't see it!"
you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing. "keep going, grandpa. this is fun!"
"oi, [name], stop encouraging him."
"but she's right, boy." his grandpa nodded with mischief that matches yours. "it is fun to see you like this."
the young fuschia haired volleyball captain quickly drew in a breath, undoubtedly preparing another passionate rebuttal. but he never got the chance. he could feel it. something soft brushed against the back of his leg. before long, his words caught in his throat.
"...huh?" he barely had enough time to glance downward before tiny teeth latched. at least not painfully, but very deliberately. he could feel it onto the cuff of his pants. "what the—fuck!"
you let out a loud gasp as you got near him, but he stops you. he jerked instinctively, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he whipped around. "oi, you—kida! stop it!"
the elderly orange cat looked up at him without the slightest hint of remorse. she released his pant leg of her own accord, blinked once with infuriating calm, and sat neatly on the wooden porch.
a little bit later, as if biting him had simply been another item on her afternoon schedule, she lifted one paw and began washing her face clean. you stare at her and then at your poor boyfriend regaining his calm and then at grandpa, who seems to be laughing behind his haori's sleeve.
the silence that followed lasted only a heartbeat. before long, your boyfriend's grandpa had all but lost it. a moment passes with a loud, wholehearted laugh burst from him, echoing through the garden as he doubled over, one hand gripping the porch railing for support.
"hah, she's still that strong! i knew she'd do that!"
sukuna stared at him in disbelief. "i thought you told her to knock it off! what if it was someone else?"
"i barely go outside, grandson." his grandpa reminds him. "there is barely anyone else to bite but you when you're home."
"she attacked me!"
"attack?" his grandfather wiped at the corners of his eyes as he scoffs. "boy, she barely nipped you."
"no, no. you didn't see her eyes. she was on the hunt for me. me! her literal blood relative."
"i think we're going too far with that motif, my love."
"no, i grew up with this girl. she's my child! and she nipped me!"
"no, no. not what happened." the old man pointed toward kida, who hadn't even acknowledged the conversation. "she corrected you. as she should. she's a grown girl now."
"corrected me?" sukuna says in a daze, before snickering in disbelief. "me, me of all people?"
"she was agreeing with grandpa. you were arguing and put a stop to it, like i do." he smiles at kida who purrs back at him contently. "it seems she knows she's right."
"i always argue. but kida didn't do it that much then. what did you teach her in all that time?"
"i didn't teach her anything, grandson. we're just....like-minded nowadays, you know?" his grandfather nodded sagely, as though the explanation spoke for itself. "kida's gotten old like me. she prefers peace and quiet nowadays."
sukuna looked down at the orange cat, who was still diligently cleaning between her toes. "...did you just discipline me? you copying the old man now, huh?"
kida didn't even bother looking up. she simply continued grooming herself with the absolute confidence of someone who knew she'd been right. sukuna sighs exasperated. "fucking....you're so lucky you're cute. and that you're precious to me."
you finally gave up trying to hold back your laughter. before long, a small snort that turned louder and obnoxious escaped before you could stop it, followed by another, until you had to cover your mouth with one hand. "i'm sorry......"
sukuna looked at you. he shakes his head. "no, you're not."
"well I'm trying to be. believe me, my love!"
"you've got tears in your eyes. and the way you laugh at me sometimes, i know how those laughing tears fall, babe."
"w-well, it's...it's obvious that i'm....i'm failing." you choke in between your laughters. "ah, ah...i can't."
"you are." he sighed, but he knew he can't get mad at you too. or even look at you with a glare for longer than three seconds. he looked back down at kida again, utterly betrayed. "have you forgotten how i bottle-fed you when you first came home? and for a long time? i was the one who was taking care of you, not this old man."
the cat licked one paw. grandpa snickers. "she's bounded to grandpa now."
"i carried you around everywhere, you remember that?" sukuna continued, watching in quiet disbelief as kida meticulously cleaned behind one ear instead of acknowledging a single word he'd said. he let out a long, wounded sigh, the kind that only came from someone who genuinely believed he'd been wronged. "unbelievable...."
"one of my favorite beings in this world, one of the very few!" he muttered, pointing accusingly at the elderly orange cat. "this little one whom i let sleep in my bed. whom drained my allowance buying cat food. i even showered you."
kida yawned, sowly. and even without so much as opening her eyes. sukuna couldn't help but feel more offended. "...just insane. like, wow. and in the end, you bite me?" he looked genuinely heartbroken now. "kida, i was only gone a few months. you can't just—"
only after he'd finished did kida finally pause. she lifted her head and looked directly at him. for one fleeting, hopeful second, sukuna straightened. ".....yeah? you're picking and choosing when to acknowledge me, now?"
the old cat blinked. once and then twice. a moment's pulse thumps into the world. with breathtaking indifference, she turned her entire body away from him. you watched his mouth goes agape. she presented him with nothing but the cold reflection of her fluffy orange back and the slow, lazy swish of her tail.
grandpa completely lost whatever composure he'd managed to recover. he laughed so hard he had to catch himself against the doorframe, one hand pressed against his stomach while tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "my poor grandson!"
"i've been replaced by my own cat, my own child. this is insanely the worst day of my life."
your eyes knitted into a confusion. "i thought our near break up was the worst day of your life."
".....okay, babe, it can tie."
"no, no, boy. this is something else. she's just reminding you." his grandfather managed between laughs, waving one hand dismissively. "after all, you've simply been reminded whose house this is by the owner."
"i paid for half her food since i was a boy, with all the money i saved up being a good boy for the tooth fairy."
"i paid for the other half." his grandpa reminded him.
"i changed her litter."
"and i changed yours." his grandpa snapped back cleverly. "you had quite a lot of those boys, sticky ones too."
".....you mean my diapers?"
"yeah, i did those."
"well, that doesn't mean she'll not act like that never happened." his grandpa snickers and shakes his head. "you've grown up to do the same things as her. you've ignored how i changed your diapers and speak like this, boy."
sukuna rests his arms on his hips, ignoring his grandpa's words about that. "this is fucking crazy. i took my girlfriend home to hang out and rest before our final exams. so far, this is not a relaxing hang out."
you turned away before sukuna could see your face. you really did try. you pressed your lips together and properly covered your mouth with one hand. you tried to looked out toward the garden and enjoy the movement of the wind chimes or the swaying of the flowers. absolutely anything. but the tiny snort that escaped you gave everything away.
sukuna's voice came immediately. "...are you laughing again?"
"n-no. why are you asking?" you try to say as you fail miserably to keep things down. "i'm definitely not...i'm...i'm not laughi....i swear!"
"that wasn't even convincing, babe." he shakes his head. "you did plays in middle school. where did the composure go?"
"look, my love. i'm trying. but this is really really funny. that's why there's no composure." you explained to him. "when it's you and its funny, the compusure is gone!"
"you're shaking from all that laughter." he sighs. "don't blame me when you piss yourself from that later, babe."
you squeezed your eyes shut. "i'm really trying."
but the more you tried, the more the urge to laugh got stronger. a short while later, a another tiny laugh slipped out despite yourself. when you finally turned back around, sukuna was already looking at you with the most pitiful expression imaginable. "man......." his voice came out much quieter this time.
you immediately felt guilty. "oh..." your smile softened. "my love..."
before he could say anything else, you walked the few steps separating the two of you and reached for both of his hands. his fingers were warm, fittingly larger than yours. he looked down automatically as you intertwined them. "i'm so sorry for laughing and teasing, my love."
"it's okay." your boyfriend quickly replies, looking at kida as she went around the grass, looking lazily at a growing patch on the empty side of the small garden line up in the corner. "it was funny. i would have laughed too....i just....i'm so upset about her biting me like that and just giving me a cold shoulder."
"kida's old, you know? i'm sure it's just that she's not used to seeing you around again." you said gently. " you've been busy and maybe she just got used to it. in that time, i'm sure she's just decided to go on her merry way and do her own thing, you know?"
"she remembered enough to bite me." your boyfriend mumbles under his breath. he turns to you, a little bit upset. "i don't want her to forget about me, babe. she's part of me. she's part of home....she's family. and i want to play with her, without her biting me like that."
his words made your smile falter almost immediately. you were certain with how silent it is here, the loud echo of your shattering heart at his words grew and thundered. it wasn't because he sounded angry. you know it's not that. if anything, you can tell he sounded so small in that moment. and he felt like it too.
ryomen sukuna had never looked small a day in his life. he still stood there with broad shoulders, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket as he watched kida lazily sniff around the edge of the little garden.
from where the three of you stood on the porch, the old orange cat looked completely content investigating a patch of grass she'd probably inspected a thousand times before.
she wasn't even paying attention to the conversation anymore. you take his hands from his jacket pocket and squeeze it. you just needed to do that. you know you did. and just as much, you know that somehow, reflecting how all of these things have come to this, you can tell that it seemed to hurt him more.
especially as you realized more and more each moment you stood there with him, holding him as to why he took you here, knowing that you both had exams to deal with tomorrow. it wasn't just his traditions or his superstitions. you squeezed his hands a little tighter. "my love......"
he sighed through his nose before looking back toward the garden. "...i know i'm being dramatic about all of this....."
you shake your head at him, empathetic. "you aren't being dramatic about this. this is understandable, my love."
he shrugged one shoulder. "i don't want her forgetting me, babe. i don't want her to ignore me or escape from my attention or my grasp. i don't want her to just....be away from me. not when...."
he looks away, and stops for a moment. you stayed quiet. he'd always been someone who spoke more when nobody interrupted him. and you knew he needed to say all of these things.
he's the type of person that can only feel better when he says it out loud, even when it gets uncomfortable. so you let him. you let him speak his heart out as he squeezed your hand tighter.
"i know she's old." he smiled to himself, though there wasn't much happiness behind it. "thirteen's...old for a cat. a dog at this age is equivalent to my grandpa's age. i know that."
his scarlet eyes never left kida. "i know she sleeps more now and that she probably doesn't play like she used to. i also know she spends her time all day lying somewhere warm while grandpa drinks tea, instead of trying to do as much mischief as she used to."
you could tell the glassy echoes of his eyes were forming into tears but he blinks them away. another quiet breath escaped him. "...i know that and yet....it's just so hard to accept it. because....because....she used to." he laughed softly through his nose. "god, she used to follow me everywhere, babe. she was such a strident and stubborn cat. she would lead the way all the time."
his grandfather, who had thankfully stopped teasing him, lets a small smile fall to his lips as he fixes his hakama and stands beside his much taller grandson. "she did. she loved following that boy around, you know? such a small runt but she ran this household on her whims."
"i couldn't even go to the bathroom without seeing her little face outside the door." sukuna laughs quietly, before shaking his head. "she would always notice."
his grandpa hummed. "she'd cry if you closed it."
"she scratched the paint off the bottom once." sukuna nodded, before letting out a shrug. "you had to keep putting up shoji too, because she'd rip through it when she heard my voice in the garden."
"she did that more than twice, if i remember correctly." his grandfather reminisces, before letting out a snicker. "i used to lecture her the way i lectured you."
".......gods, i remember that." sukuna says after a while, silent in the memories of his past flashing through his mind. he couldn't help smiling at the memory. "she'd wait outside my room every morning too. after changing the shoji too."
"hm, that's why you both had to kneel in front of me after that."
"i didn't miss that part, actually. your floors are too hard to kneel on without a pillow."
"ha, then rebuild the floors."
"fine, fine, i'll help you do it over the summer."
"tch, why wait over the summer when you could do it now, boy?"
sukuna does not respond for a bit. instead, he watches as kida slowly stands up and moves away from where she is. she walks over to the shade of where the old aged tree sits and quietly lays there, enjoying the breeze that rustle the edges of the leaves on the vines.
"if i slept in too long, she'd start pawing at my face." sukuna says all the sudden, reminiscing. "if i came home from practice, she'd be waiting by the door too. then sometimes....sometimes, she'd sleep on my chest when i got sick." his voice had become quieter without him seeming to notice. "but she.....each time, she wouldn't leave."
"...do you want to sit with her for a bit?" you asked softly, careful not to disturb the quiet that had settled over the afternoon.
for the first time in several minutes, he looked away from kida. his scarlet eyes finally met yours once again. the sadness was still there. but so was something gentler. something grateful. you were holding his hand, you were letting him have the tenderness of your warmth and most of all, you were not leaving him. just like kida, back then.
he gives you a small, beautiful heartfelt smile. so beautiful and yet the same smile that's breaking your heart. "...only if you'd sit with me."
you smiled back without even realizing you were doing it. "i'd be honored to, my love."
for a moment, neither of you moved. you simply stood there looking at one another while the breeze drifted lazily through the garden. then sukuna gave your intertwined fingers a small squeeze. "you know, she'll probably bite me again."
you laughed quietly. "probably, yeah."
"well, i suppose i'll accept my fate." he says as he slowly takes you with him, towards the shade of the tree.
you looked up to him as you followed in his footsteps. "my love, you don't have to worry."
"hah, i'm not afraid, though?"
"no, i know that." you tell him with a nod. "but if she attacks you again, i'm going to take the bite. i'll defend and protect you."
"babe, she just murked me." he whispers almost too fast. "i'm fine if she murks me, but i don't want you to get a bite too. you're too precious to have that on you."
"my love, i had experienced chemical burns at the lab before. i'm pretty sure i can handle your senior citizen cat biting me." you shake your head, squeezing his hand. "i told you already, i'm ready to be bitten, if it means it makes you feel better. so just take it, okay? take my protection let me protect you too, let me protect your heart."
you don't know if your face was just too serious with your eyebrows furrowed like that or the way you said with conviction was too dramatic and made it seem more an anime cliche than anything serious. your beloved boyfriend, someone who was upset just now, who was near tears, was now laughing his ass off.
you looked at him, far too confused for your own good. "what? why are you laughing?"
within seconds, he was laughing so hard that he had to bend forward, one hand flying instinctively to his stomach while the other stubbornly refused to let go of yours.
the sound came from somewhere deep in his chest, warm and completely unrestrained, echoing across the quiet little garden until even the cicadas seemed to pause around it. "oh my—"
he tried to speak, but another fit of laughter cut him off before he could finish. he shook his head, drew in a breath, only for another laugh to escape him anyway. this only made you stop and look at him a little bit more confused.
"...what..." he looked up at you, tears beginning to gather at the corners of his crimson eyes. "...what is wrong with you?"
you blinked at him, genuinely confused. "...what?"
he pointed at you with the hand that wasn't still intertwined with yours, wearing the most incredulous expression you'd ever seen on his face. "you...babe...." another laugh interrupted him. "...you just volunteered to take a cat bite like you're sacrificing yourself in battle."
"i was being serious."
"i know!" he said immediately, which only made him laugh harder. he bent over again, shoulders shaking uncontrollably as he tried, and failedto collect himself. "that's why it's so funny!"
you frowned, utterly unconvinced. "i am serious about all this, my love."
"i can tell. you looked me dead in the eyes, babe." he continued, trying to imitate your solemn expression. "you really chose to say 'take my protection. let me protect your heart' like that out loud?"
he buried his face in one hand for a moment before peeking at you through his fingers, another laugh escaping despite himself. you could feel your cheeks turn red, your entire body flustered. "...babe."
you only looked at him earnestly, red in the face with embarrassment. "what?"
he stared at you for a long second before gesturing helplessly toward the old orange cat sleeping beneath the tree. "...kida is thirteen."
"i know."
"she now sleeps eighteen hours a day."
"i know that too, i can tell she loves to sleep. what about it?"
"she has, like...a few tooth left."
"okay, i didn't know that. but knowing she's thirteen, very obvious."
"and somehow you've decided she's the final boss we're supposed to defeat."
you puffed your cheeks out in mild protest. "she bit you. with said few teeth. still sharp enough, by the way, for you to go 'ah, out, fuck—'"
he frowns for a bit. "language—"
"oh, please, i can curse." you glare at him lightly.
"she nibbled me." he says to you. "she was being genuine about it. i just got sad and overreacted about the pain in the bite."
"she murked you. as you said."
he shakes his head, laughing again. "she did, but i was more sad about her getting old."
"so why are we even talking about you getting murked by the bite if you said it didn't feel too bad?"
that finally earned a loud snort from his grandfather, who had been quietly listening from the porch with his arms folded across his chest. the old man laughed to himself, shaking his head with unmistakable amusement. "there it is."
sukuna turned toward him immediately. "oi, old man, don't encourage her. she's already being ridiculous."
you gasp, hitting his arm with your free arm. "i am not ridiculous!"
"i'm not encouraging her." his grandfather wiped at the corner of one eye where laughter had gathered. "i'm admiring her spirit."
"i have spirit too."
"you've got theatrics." his grandfather waves his hand. "just like you're father."
"well, then that means i get them from you." sukuna narrows his scarlet eyes. he points to his grandpa. "you're my grandpa."
his grandpa shrugs. "i don't know, i feel like grandma was more the drama queen. i feel like you got it more from her."
you looked back and forth between them, shaking your head.
sukuna started laughing again laughing. but not as hard as before. still, it was enough that every few seconds another quiet chuckle escaped him. you honestly couldn't understand what was so funny.
".......why are you laughing this time, huh?"
the question finally seemed to settle him. his laughter gradually dissolved into softer chuckles as he looked back at you, and when your eyes met, the teasing melted into something so impossibly fond that it made your heart skip. he reached over with surprising gentleness and pinched your cheek between his fingers.
"i'm happy."
you raised a brow. "okay, you were sad, but now you're happy."
"those feelings can co-exist, babe." his smile lingered, warm and helpless all at once. he squeezes your hand. "you make me happy babe, even when i'm at my lowest."
you shake your head. "uhuh."
"no, no. i mean it. because....only you would look at a retired old cat with arthritis..." another small laugh escaped him as he shook his head. "...and decide the hypothetical and most correct response in that situation is to throw yourself in front of her for me."
"i wasn't technically planning on throwing myself, per se....."
"you literally volunteered." he laughs once again. "the image in my head is just...you're just too cute in my head, babe. i can't imagine it."
"i was gonna do well at protecting you, though."
"hm, that's it. you made it sound like a knight swearing an oath before marching into war." he shakes his head, trying to get a bit more air. he looks at you, with shining eyes. this time, happily so. "ah, you're so....you're just everything, babe."
"i meant it like one." you mumbled under your breath as he starts leading you to the tree once again. "in my head, i sounded so cool...."
"i know." he says to you so lovingly. "that's why i love you more for it."
there wasn't an ounce of teasing in those words. if anything, they were impossibly soft. he looked at you for another long moment, his smile slowly relaxing into something quieter, something that made his entire face gentler than it had been only minutes ago.
"don't worry, babe. even if i laugh, i took it to heart, you words." he stepped closer until there was barely any distance left between the two of you before resting his forehead lightly against yours. "i know you meant every word.....i know you'd protect me."
"and i appreciate it." his thumb brushed absentmindedly over your knuckles before he let out one last amused breath. "but that's exactly why i don't want you getting bitten either."
he leaned down just enough to press a lingering kiss against your forehead. "besides, babe...." he murmured, glancing toward the old orange cat who had long since settled herself beneath the tree, blissfully asleep and entirely unaware of the emotional turmoil she'd caused. "...if anyone's getting bullied by the old lady.....it's going to stay me."
from the porch, his grandfather nodded with all the solemnity of someone witnessing a great declaration. "a true man."
sukuna didn't even lift his head. "...old man, you really are...."
"what? i was being truthful about that."
"you're unbelievably unhelpful." he points to the two of you. "we just had a romantic moment."
"i've lived a long life, boy." the old man replied, entirely unapologetic. "i've learned it's best to enjoy the moment, even when its at my grandson's expense."
"i really...." he shakes his head.
you giggled. "i love your grandpa so much."
his grandfather's expression softened immediately. "well, aren't you just the sweetest thing." he looks to his grandson. "im sure you could learn a thing or two from her, boy."
sukuna clicked his tongue. "don't encourage this either."
"why not?"
"my grandpa's ego's already big enough." sukuna huffs to you as his grandpa laughed, as if he knows what sukuna's saying in his low tone. "it's a lot. let's not encourage it more."
"you're one to talk." you snickers, nudging him teasingly.
"i'm humble."
you gave him a look. "hm, i don't think so."
"oi, don't copy him too."
you laugh to yourself as sukuna led you across the garden. grandpa seemingly goes inside, for sure to make some cold drinks. this leaves you and your boyfriend so very close under the tree's massive arms.
the afternoon breeze had cooled beneath the shade of the old tree, ever so slowly, and so gently carrying the earthy scent of grass and warm soil. somewhere overhead, its leaves once again rustled together softly, scattering little patches of sunlight across the ground where kida lay curled into herself.
up close, you think that you understand why sukuna feels heartbroken everytime he sees her. from every angle, you can tell she's lived a life. every bit of her was aged and old. the orange in her fur had faded over the years into softer shades of honey and cream.
there were those little tiny white hairs dusted the bridge of her nose and around her whiskers, and one ear folded ever so slightly where some forgotten adventure from years ago had left its mark. she looked peaceful, almost like she belonged to this garden as much as the old tree itself.
sukuna slowed until the two of you stood only a few feet away. without thinking, his voice dropped. almost instinctively. it was as though speaking too loudly might disturb her afternoon nap. he lets his hand brush against her fur carefully.
with some luck, this time, she does not bite him or even move to scratch him. instead, she remains there at peace. she allows him to brush his fingers with care against her aged old furs. you can tell that was a lot of weight off your boyfriend's chest, almost instantenously.
"hey little kida." one of her ears twitched. "did you miss me, little old lady>"
the cat didn't open her eyes. instead, her tail flicked once, albeit a little slowly. sukuna smiled. he looks up to you. "i think she heard me."
you smiled at him. "yes, she does. she does hear you, my love."
he seems bolstered by that reassurance. a moment passes before he rests one elbow against his knee and crutches lower. he looked at the elderly cat with an affection so open that it made your chest ache.
"my dearest [name], this is kida." he glanced up at you. "she's been with me since i was a young boy who couldn't swing a baseball bat straight." his smile grew a little. "i found her hiding underneath one of grandpa's flower pots after a storm and she was soooo tiny."
"she hissed at everyone, except me." he continues. his eyes returned to the cat lazily lounging in front of him. "and that made me feel lucky. because she chose me."
you pat his back softly. "that she did, my love. like i did. she chose you too."
"and that made me the luckiest man in the world." he whispers softly. "to have the love of two ladies."
kida lets out a purr at those words. sukuna feels his heart jumping out his chest in joy. but he tries to calm himself. he didn't want to disturb kida's sleep. so his voice had become almost impossibly gentle as he starts to speak once again.
he looked back at you, smiling in a way that only you ever seemed to bring out of him. so, kida." he gestured toward you with quiet pride. "...this is the girl i've been telling you about you for a long, long time now."
you watched him speak so animatedly about you for a good fifteen minutes as his fingers stroke through bits of her fur. before long, sukuna's hand had found its way to kida's back.
it happened almost absentmindedly. his fingers moved with the kind of familiarity that only came from years of repetition, gently stroking through her faded orange fur from between her ears down to the middle of her back.
every movement was slow, careful, mindful of her age. he no longer tried to coax her into playing or called for her attention. instead, he remained still and continued on steady. and somehow, that seemed enough. kida didn't open her eyes. she didn't lift her head.
but after a few quiet strokes, she leaned, and only slightly, it was certainly notenough for anyone else to notice. shhe would lean slowly but surely into the warmth of his palm over and over again, so subtly. you saw it. so did he. his shoulders loosened ever so slightly.
you watched him in silence. the corners of his mouth had softened into the smallest smile. there was no disappointment left there now. there was this great sense of relief, the only feeling that was left. and it sustained him through the turbelence of all this grievances.
you felt your own chest grow warm. tomorrow. the word floated into your mind before you could stop it. tomorrow there would be final exams. and you were sure that the reviewers just waiting to be flipped over again.
there were many notes to memorize. there were too number problems to solve. there were many chemicals and properties to remember. under any other circumstance, you would've been worrying. you would be continually counting the hours. you would be thinking about everything left undone.
instead, it's different here. it will always be different when its ryomen sukuna. rather than being locked up in your room, you found yourself watching your boyfriend pet the old cat he'd grown up beside. and you couldn't have been happier.
even if it meant losing another hour of studying. even if tomorrow ended up a little harder because of it. you knew in your heart and soul that this...this was more important than any sheet of paper waiting inside your school bag.
there would always be another exam and there would be another assignment. there will always be another grade to surpass and achieve. but afternoons like this, watching the people your boyfriend loved most gather quietly beneath the same tree, none of these can be scheduled. they simply happened. and you were grateful beyond words that you were here for one of them.
the feeling of your determined fingers remained intertwined with sukuna's free hand. you gave it a gentle squeeze before looking down at the elderly cat curled peacefully against his leg. you couldn't help but smile as she seemed to lean in slightly against the palm of your hand.
"you know, kida..." your voice came out almost as quietly as the breeze moving through the branches above. "i hope you know that i love your dad very much......so i'll be here, okay? i'll be here for him. just like you."
your eyes drifted toward sukuna. he'd looked up at the sound of your voice, watching you with quiet curiosity. when your eyes met his, you smiled. everything in that moment just felt so certain. there was nothing else there but the thought of love and forever.
"i'll be here." you looked back down at kida, who remained content beneath sukuna's hand. "i'll take care of him." your thumb absentmindedly brushed across the back of sukuna's hand as though to quietly underline the promise.
"i'll be good to him..." your smile trembled just enough for the emotion behind it to show. "the same way you've been good to him all these years. so....so..." you laughed softly to yourself. "you don't have to worry so much anymore."
for a long moment, nothing happened with your words. everything was the same. the garden remained quiet. the wind chimes swayed gently. leaves whispered overhead with nothing.
but then, you felt your lips open agaped as a gasp releases from your lips. kida's sleepy eyes slowly opened. the old cat looked at you. then at sukuna. with all the dignity of an old queen making an official decision, she pushed herself onto unsteady paws.
you instinctively worried she'd wander away again. instead, she took two slow steps forward. with a tiny, gravelly purr, she rested her head against your knee, even just for a moment.
you looked at your boyfriend and he looked back at you. you break contact as your free hand rests on your chest. your heart was beating too fast. she leans against your knee once again, as though accepting what you'd said. beside you, sukuna's breath caught almost imperceptibly.
"well....i think she likes you." he whispered, his voice torn between gentle and joyful. "that's a sign, babe. i'm keeping you forever."
you reached down carefully, stroking the top of kida's head with one hand while never letting go of sukuna's with the other. you smiled at him. "well, i should hope so."
"it's certain, babe. you and i, we are forever." he murmured, smiling as he watched the old cat lean into your touch before returning to his hand just as naturally. his fingers intertwined with yours a little tighter. "after all, i think she's trusting you with me."
your heart swells at those words.
you leaned close and kissed your boyfriend.
he kisses back, just as lovingly.
"i love you." he says as you both break apart from the kiss. "a thousand times, i love you."
you smiled, resting your nose against his. "i know. that's why i love you a thousand times more."
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"let me protect you too, let me protect your heart" — ryomen sukuna.
imagining that time when high school volleyball captain ryomen sukuna decided that a day before finals exam was the day you should meet the cat he had been raving about so much. you had told him that it could wait till the weekend.
but your boyfriend had his tradition and he was superstitious. you didn't find it odd, of course. you put a metal coin on your feet to avoid feeling the nerves. but you had wanted to spend the last day cramming while cuddling in his arms. still, who are you to deny your boyfriend of getting his own nerves calm by visiting his old aged cat back at his grandpa's house.
the bus on the way to his grandpa's house rattled softly as it made its way out of the city, the buildings gradually giving way to stretches of quiet neighborhoods and small fields dotted with old houses. you could feel the warmth of the afternoon sunlight as it spilled through the windows, painting lazy rectangles of gold across the worn blue seats. beside you, ryomen sukuna had been unusually quiet. which, frankly, was unsettling.
everyone can tell that your boyfriend was very rowdy and loud. but many dont see that there are some days he does get quiet. and perhaps this is one of those days. you had known your boyfriend long enough to recognize the different kinds of silence he was capable of. there was the silence he wore during volleyball matches, sharp and focused as he watched the opposing team's formation.
there was the comfortable silence the two of you shared after school, when you would walk home together and neither of you felt pressured to fill the air with conversation. this silence, however, was different and new.
you quickly learn that it was the silence of someone pretending very hard that he wasn't anxious. his thumb had been tapping absentmindedly against the edge of his phone for nearly ten minutes now. every now and then, he'd unlock the screen where his favorite picture of you lay in the screen, then open the messenger box before closing it again.
but your boyfriend does get angsty about it. he would then open it again and then use some of his time to spend it quietly staring at the same message from his grandfather, lock it again, and shove the phone back into his pocket as if catching himself in the act. you feel like your heart was going to burst by how cute he was being.
you couldn't stop smiling to yourself from beside him. you slowly leaned in before you were near his jaw. "you've checked that text three times in the last minute."
"i have not." he gets argumentative as he closes his phone. but he gets cute like this to you. he pouts. "it just lights up on its on."
you raised a brow. "you absolutely have. flip phones don't open on their own, my love."
"well sure. but even then....i was looking at the time."
"sure, my love but the time hasn't changed enough to justify checking it every forty seconds." you teased as your eyes meet his.
"it could've." he mumbles under his breath.
you laughed quietly, resting your cheek against your palm. "you know, you're not very convincing when you're nervous."
"i'm not nervous."
"oh?" you raised a teasing brow. "you sure about that."
"one hundred percent, babe." he responds too quickly.
"you've been fidgeting since we got on the bus." you poked his arm. "we're just going to your grandpa's house, you know?"
"i'm bored."
"you've never been bored a day in your life....well, especially with me in it."
he clicked his tongue, looking stubbornly out the window. he blushes. he still gets flustered like this when you flirt. "i don't fidget."
"you've been bouncing your knee."
"i always bounce my knee."
"you've sighed four times."
"i breathe."
"and you've read your grandpa's text enough times to memorize the punctuation." silence passes through in that moment. "earth to you, my love?"
"shut up." he says as he lays his head against your own, as it leans on his shoulder. he looks utterly ashamed. ".....sorry for telling you to shut up."
there it was, you think to yourself.
you smiled triumphantly.
he pouts even deeper.
"i knew it."
"babe, please."
"you didn't deny it."
he let out a dramatic groan before leaning his head back against the seat, one large hand dragging lazily down his face. "i don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this."
"you tell me, you're letting me meet your sister."
"kida is not my sister.....she's my child." he glanced at you from the corner of his scarlet eye before looking away again. "besides, this isn"t the first time you've met people in my life. you've met my teammates."
"i have, i have."
"you've met my parents."
"i survived that too. well, that was short but still!"
"you've practically moved into my bedroom whenever you come over."
"you have a television." you pointed out. "and it records things!"
"i know why you come over."
"the television." you repeated mischievously.
"babe, you are an awful liar." he says, placing a kiss on your head. "you're too good at being honest."
"so i've been told." you say in a sing-song manner. "that's why i have a hard time winning our games."
his lips twitched despite himself, though the teasing expression never quite settled on his face. instead, it faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. he looked back out the window, watching the scenery blur past while his thumb continued tracing absent circles over the edge of his phone.
for a while, neither of you spoke. the silence wasn't uncomfortable. it rarely ever was between the two of you. if anything, silence was part of the currency of your love. still, there was something weighing on him. when he finally broke it, his voice came out much quieter than before.
"...you've never met kida."
you blinked. "the cat?"
"yeah." he nodded once. "she's........she's important to me." he paused, as if trying to figure out how to explain something that had always simply existed. "i can't explain it but....she's everything."
your eyes soften. "you've had her since when?"
"she's been around since i was a kid. maybr when i was three or four? i don't remember. grandpa found her when she was just this tiny thing that fit in one hand." the corners of his mouth lifted faintly at the memory. "i used to sneak her into my room because i wanted her to sleep with me every night. grandpa would pretend he didn't notice, even though she'd leave fur all over my blankets."
you smiled, quietly imagining a much smaller sukuna carrying around an orange kitten with absolute seriousness. "ah, i can't wait to see pictures of this."
"my grandpa will show you pictures, i'm sure of it." he says, flustered. "but she's kind of......." he rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost embarrassed by his own words. "...she was my best friend. she grew up with me."
the admission lingered between you. but he doesn't give you enough time to respond. he doesn't think his already mushy feelings can take more thinking about it.
"and then there's my grandpa." he sighed, shoulders rising and falling. "you haven't really spent much time with him either."
you studied him for a moment before turning your body a little more toward his. "...so that's what this is, my love. you're worried."
he didn't answer immediately.
instead, he stared at your joined hands resting between the two of you. "...maybe."
it was barely louder than a whisper. another long breath escaped him before he admitted, almost sheepishly, "i really don't know."
you look at him tenderly, tapping his hand lightly. "its okay, take your time, my love."
he gave a quiet, self-conscious laugh. "i just......." his fingers tightened ever so slightly around yours. "i just want the people i love to love you too."
the confession settled warmly in your chest. it was such a ryomen sukuna thing to say. so awkwardly put together, a little clumsy, almost reluctant but impossibly sincere. your expression softened. "...you've been worrying about whether they'll like me?"
he shrugged one shoulder, refusing to look at you. "is it a lot?"
"didn't your grandpa already like me the first time we met?" you asked gently. "i'm pretty sure he adopted me before we'd even finished tea."
"that's different." he insisted.
"how?" you questioned with a raised brow.
"......that was just him."
you laughed quietly. "i didn't say anything."
"you didn't have to." he let out another sigh before rubbing at the back of his neck again.
"my grandpa's..." he searched for the right word. "...old."
you nodded solemnly. "that does tend to happen, yes."
he shot you an unimpressed look. "babe, don't."
"i'm listening to you attentively, my love."
"well for one, he's stubborn."
"mm, old people can be like that, yes."
"doesn't like most people." he continued but that made you tilted your head.
"hm, that sounds familiar." you hummed teasingly.
his eyebrows knitted together immediately. "i like people."
"you tolerate approximately six."
"that's not true." he denies it.
"isn't it?"
he frowned as though genuinely considering it as he counts it silently in his head. he lowers his gaze. "...i tolerate at least eight."
you gasped dramatically. "my apologies. i've underestimated your generosity."
he rolled his scarlet eyes, though a reluctant smile finally tugged at the corner of his mouth. "you're impossible."
"and yet here you are."
he shook his head before growing serious again.
"my point is babe..." he murmured, looking down at your intertwined hands. "...if grandpa really likes yo more today and id kida likes you just as much......." he hesitated for a moment. "then it would be good. and that matters to me.....because...
because they're home."
"they're all i have everyday, babe." his voice was so quiet you almost missed it. "and they've always been home."
the words were simple, there was no grand speech.
no elaborate explanation. just the honest truth.
from the man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
well, at the very least, to you, his loving girlfriend.
"...and if they love you too..." he smiled to himself as he continued almost shyly. "...then i think it'd feel like you're part of it."
for a second, all you could do was look at him.
for someone who always seemed to have an answer, who argued with referees, teachers, classmates, and practically anyone willing to challenge him, he had somehow managed to confess something so vulnerable with the uncertainty of a boy hoping he wasn't asking for too much.
you reached over and squeezed his hand. "my love."
"what is it, babe?"
"if your grandfather managed to raise someone as unbelievably insufferable as you..."
"i'm breaking up with you."
you seemed unfazed. "......then i'm pretty confident i'll fit in just fine."
he snorted, unable to stop himself. "well, im sure you will."
"also you don't mean that. if you break up with me, you'll be miserable forever."
"...you're annoying." he shakes his head.
"you adore me. and you adore me speaking the truth." your grinned, looking up to him.
"i tolerate you."
"liar, liar pants on fire." you say in a singing tone, before giggling. "i'm your all end be all, my love."
he sighs, knowing he's been defeated by you. he feels his heart pounding, feeling that same feeling when he fell for you then. he was falling in love with you all over again. "...yeah, yeah."
"i love you, my love."
his thumb absentmindedly brushed over your knuckles before he finally looked at you again. there wasn't even the slightest trace of embarrassment anymore. only quiet certainty. "i love you too, babe."
"aren't you being sappy today?"
".....what, babe? you got a problem with that?"
"no, i just wanted to enjoy it and tease."
"you're annoying."
"i know, but you love it!"
".....now stop rubbing it in my face."
you arrived at the bus station near his parents's house and his grandfather's house. you walked there together, your arms linked to his, his free arm carrying your bag and the other goodies you got for this visit. you always liked his grandpa's house better even though his family home was more modern. everything at his grandpa's house looked like it had been lifted out of an old photograph.
the wooden fence leaned just enough to show its age without ever seeming neglected. flower beds lined the stone pathway leading to the entrance, bursting with hydrangeas, camellias, and bright clusters of marigolds. a massive persimmon tree shaded nearly half the yard, its branches swaying lazily in the afternoon breeze.
the place didn't merely look lived in. it looked loved. just as much as your boyfriend looks so loved.
every inch of it carried decades of careful hands.
the porch had been polished smooth from years upon years of footsteps. tiny scratches marked the wooden pillars where furniture had been moved in and out over the seasons, while potted flowers crowded the edges of the veranda as though no one in the house had ever found the heart to throw a healthy plant away.
the tender swing of the wind chimes as it clinked softly overhead, dancing with every passing breeze, and somewhere beyond the backyard came the rhythmic chorus of cicadas humming through the heavy summer afternoon.
you think about how your boyfriend grew up in this place. that bright scarlet eyed boy with that buzzcut of a fuschia tone, running about here making the noise that brought this quiet place to life. you can tell that this was the kind of home that can nurture and nourish because it had been loved for so long that it had become impossible to imagine it any other way other than good things.
you had barely stepped onto the first stone when the front door slid open. "there you are, you insolent child!"
an elderly man emerged with surprising speed, pointing an accusing finger at his grandson before either of you could even greet him. "took you long enough to get here!" he huffed. "why are you late, boy?"
both you and sukuna froze. then, almost instinctively, you looked at each other. oh no.
there was absolutely no way either of you could tell his grandfather the truth the way it was.....not like this. you could not spit out that the two of you had planned to leave on time. you truly did and you really did try. but then somehow before you could think sanely, it was "one more race" in mario kart which had suddenly turned into seven.
the entire thing then turned into laughing over blue shells between little jokes here and there. and rather temptingly just a bit after the jokes settled in, your boyfriend ryomen sukuna insisting he could beat you with one hand, lost. you laughed at him, your quiet competitiveness taking over. he asked for another round, vowing to beat you once again.
and he proved you right.....by cheating. before long, he'd leaned over to kiss you. you melted into that one, immediately forgetting about the game. your eyes tethered to his, your hands all over his chest, gripping onto his clothes. that one kiss had become another. and then another.
young love blossoming into restless breaths, coming from the overwhelming feeling of that devotion until you were both lying across his bedroom floor like little fools, laughing breathlessly over absolutely nothing, swollen lips restless. everything your boyfriend had meticulously planned completely forgotten, especially when you made out with him like you wanted to etch into his skin.
it took more than twenty minutes before all the feelings long sat in, after you had talked about going to a card convention in shibuya on your next date, that there had been a bus to catch. you looked at each other before looking at the ground. he rushed and scream in panic, trying to pack up everything by the door way while you try and make sure that your lips was not too swollen. you try everything, but it was for naught.
you were sure his grandfather could see it.
you weren't dense with the way he criticized you.
he was a young man too, at one point.
he knew how to kiss people.
and he knew what swollen lips from kissing looks like.
sukuna coughed awkwardly into his fist. "traffic."
you turned to look at him. "...we took the bus, grandpa."
"the bus was in traffic." sukuna nodded, clearing his throat. "that's what happened, old man."
you stared. "yeah....we did get in traffic."
his grandfather stared. "that's the excuse you're going with? between your brain cells? i was not born yesterday. you think i'm stupid?"
"i panicked." your boyfriend rubbed the back of his head, flustered.
you bit your lip so hard it almost hurt. "grandpa—"
his grandfather let out a long, theatrical sigh. "hopeless children." he declared, pinching the bridge of his nose. "both of you. especially you, sukuna. i expected more from you. at least lie better to protect her dignity."
sukuna looked personally wounded. "i was protecting her dignity."
"with 'the bus was in traffic?'"
"...it sounded smarter in my head."
"it rarely does."
you couldn't hold it in anymore. a laugh escaped you, quickly followed by another as sukuna shot you a look that clearly said don't you dare. "i'm sorry, grandpa." you managed between laughs. sukuna looks at you. "what? it is funny!"
"no, you're not. and it is not funny."
"it is. that's why i'm trying to be sorry." but you still giggled anyway. he rolls his eyes.
"you're failing."
"i know." you agreed, giggling again.
his grandfather waved a dismissive hand.
"oh, don't apologize, girl. it's refreshing."
your eyes shined. "really? thank you, grandpa."
"my foolish grandson however....."
"oi, old man, i'm not doing anything—"
"ah, you really have lost respect for me, haven't you?"
"what does that even mean?" sukuna scowls like a child which made you laugh and that made him turn to you. "babe, quit it. it's not funny!"
"then why is it funny?"
he looked between the two of you, eyes twinkling with amusement. "i haven't seen two teenagers look guiltier since sukuna tried convincing me the vase broke itself."
sukuna immediately frowned. "i was eight, old man."
"you looked me dead in the eye and said, 'gravity became aggressive today.' all the while the evidence was in the room."
you burst into loud laughter as sukuna makes a disgruntled sound as he turns to his grandpa again. "it was a good argument."
"it was an insane argument, with the evidence in there in the room."
"it almost worked."
"boy, i'll be honest with you....it absolutely did not."
"you laughed." he argues like a five year old.
"i laughed because you were ridiculous."
sukuna folded his arms with all the indignation of someone who believed history had been unfairly rewritten. "i still think it was a reasonable defense."
his grandfather scoffed. "reasonable? boy, you had muddy footprints leading directly from the broken vase to your bedroom."
"i was creating reasonable doubt."
"you were creating evidence."
"again old man, i was eight."
the grey man lets out a grunt. "you were an eight year old dramatic."
"i am dramatic."
his grandfather snickers loudly. "well to admit that outloud."
sukuna's eyes went wide. "wait, i mean—"
"no, you already said that out loud."
you watched the two of them bicker with a smile that seemed to settle onto your face all on its own. it felt exactly as it had the first time you'd met his grandfather, so warm and so at east. every bit of that moment carried the same the sort of warmth that didn't come from words alone, but from years of saying them to the same person.
there was an unmistakable rhythm to their conversation. neither of them hesitated before interrupting the other, correcting the other, or arguing over details that didn't matter.
they spoke over one another with practiced ease, finishing each other's stories only to disagree about how they'd happened in the first place. somewhere beneath every sarcastic remark and every exaggerated complaint was the quiet certainty that the other would always answer back.
it reminded you so much of your own grandmother that your chest ached pleasantly. the two of you had been exactly the same. you would insist she'd forgotten where she'd put her glasses. she'd insist you'd moved them.
an hour later, the glasses would turn up exactly where she'd left them, and somehow she'd still claim she'd been right all along. you'd argue anyway. of course, not because either of you wanted to win. but because the conversation itself was familiar. every single tme, it was comforting. and it makes her pleased, even when she doesn't say it out loud. it was enjoyable, just another ordinary afternoon spent with someone you loved.
watching sukuna and his grandfather now felt much the same. sukuna argued with his grandfather exactly the way he argued with referees after volleyball games. it was almost too confidently, passionately enough that anyone watching might think he genuinely expected to overturn the decision if he explained himself well enough.
he gestured with his hands, frowned dramatically whenever his grandfather interrupted him, and defended even the weakest arguments with the unwavering confidence of someone who had never once considered admitting defeat. even when he was very obviously wrong. and most especially then.
his grandfather, meanwhile, accepted every challenge with the ease of someone who had been winning these arguments since sukuna was small enough to fit under one arm. he never raised his voice and he never seemed frustrated.
instead, he matches his grandson. he snickers and laughs, and gets gruff and careful. he was willing to wait for his grandson to finish making his elaborate case, and dismantled it piece by piece with the effortless patience of a man who already knew every trick waiting to be played. you found yourself wondering how many afternoons had looked exactly like this.
you wonder how many summers had been spent with a much younger sukuna stomping around this very porch after losing an argument or how many dinners had ended with him insisting he was right while his grandfather laughed into his tea.
you even wonder about the many times these same wooden floors had echoed with his reckless, running footsteps as a rowdy little boy chased after an orange kitten or a volleyball that had accidentally been kicked through the hallway.
it wasn't difficult to picture. in fact, it was almost impossible not to. this beautiful house still carried him. and perhaps that's how he is loved. if you love him in one way, his grandpa and kida do the same. his three favorite beings, his three favorite spaces to breathe home.
he belonged here.
he always would.
your heart swelled quietly.
you'd always known sukuna to be fiercely independent. he hated asking for help, insisted on carrying everything himself, and acted as though accepting kindness somehow meant he'd failed at doing something on his own.
but standing here, it was easy to see where he'd learned it. his grandfather possessed the very same stubborn pride beneath all his teasing. the same refusal to fuss over himself. the same dry humor. the same habit of pretending everything was perfectly fine before anyone else could worry. and even the way they folded their arms when they thought they were making an excellent point was identical.
it made you smile to yourself. sukuna had spent years trying so hard to become his own person. and somehow, without realizing it to himself, the young fuschia haired man had himself become someone who looked so much like the man that raised him.
you were almost certain he'd deny it if you ever told him, most vehemently, you were sure of it. you can imagine that he'd argue for at least twenty minutes. he would probably insist there wasn't a single similarity between them.
in that moment, you watched as his grandfather laughed again, the sound rich and familiar as he shook his head at whatever impossible defense sukuna had decided was worth committing to. "that doesn't even make sense, boy."
"it makes perfect sense." your boyfriend said with a deadpan look.
"to who?"
"me. who else, old man?" sukuna answered with complete seriousness, as though the explanation was entirely sufficient. he folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin a fraction higher. "because i said so."
his grandfather stared at him for a long beat before letting out another sigh that sounded as though he'd been sighing like this for nearly two decades. "you just keep proving my exact point, boy."
"what point?"
"that you think confidence is enough to replace common sense."
"it usually is." his grandson whispers back at him. "it works in the court...."
"well, i doubt it has ever worked in real life. unless you're a con-man, which you aren't."
"but i just told you! it has."
"oh? then will you be willing to give me an instance where it happened and not in the court? go on and do it. give it to me. when?"
ryomen sukuna opened his mouth but he glared as he closed it again. ".......that's not important, let's move on."
his grandfather's smile only grew wider. "there. you did it again, boy."
sukuna groans. "can we please stop this already?"
"then explain why you're standing here arguing with an old man instead of greeting him properly, huh? you're going back to your punk days or something, boy?"
"because you're wrong about that argument earlier."
"i have more wisdom to give. i'm older than you."
"so? is this a philosphy class, old man?"
"so that makes me right."
your boyfriend glares at him. "that's not how age works."
"well it does in this house."
sukuna clicked his tongue dramatically before looking away, very obviously pouting. "you're impossible, old man."
his grandfather snickers. "hah, and you still come and visit me like this?"
"i came because you would've called me twelve times if i didn't. even though, i live a block away. and then you'll force uncle jin and aunt kaori to text you. i'll not risk that, no thank you."
"and besides, this is good." he continued, gesturing toward the house with exaggerated confidence. "i'm here to see kida. you already know that kida's precious to me. of course i'd come visit her."
his grandfather nodded thoughtfully. "thirteen."
sukuna frowned "...hah? what does that mean?"
"i said that i would've called thirteen times."
"what does that even mean?" your boyfriend asks, perplexed.
"it means i know my grandson."
"i would've answered on the third, you know....like i usually do?"
"you would've answered on the thirteenth." his grandpa shakes his head. "you can't even trust kids to go and pick up then."
sukuna groans as he hides his face in his arms. "grandpa, i did pick up!"
"well, if you did, i didn't see it!"
you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing. "keep going, grandpa. this is fun!"
"oi, [name], stop encouraging him."
"but she's right, boy." his grandpa nodded with mischief that matches yours. "it is fun to see you like this."
the young fuschia haired volleyball captain quickly drew in a breath, undoubtedly preparing another passionate rebuttal. but he never got the chance. he could feel it. something soft brushed against the back of his leg. before long, his words caught in his throat.
"...huh?" he barely had enough time to glance downward before tiny teeth latched. at least not painfully, but very deliberately. he could feel it onto the cuff of his pants. "what the—fuck!"
you let out a loud gasp as you got near him, but he stops you. he jerked instinctively, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he whipped around. "oi, you—kida! stop it!"
the elderly orange cat looked up at him without the slightest hint of remorse. she released his pant leg of her own accord, blinked once with infuriating calm, and sat neatly on the wooden porch.
a little bit later, as if biting him had simply been another item on her afternoon schedule, she lifted one paw and began washing her face clean. you stare at her and then at your poor boyfriend regaining his calm and then at grandpa, who seems to be laughing behind his haori's sleeve.
the silence that followed lasted only a heartbeat. before long, your boyfriend's grandpa had all but lost it. a moment passes with a loud, wholehearted laugh burst from him, echoing through the garden as he doubled over, one hand gripping the porch railing for support.
"hah, she's still that strong! i knew she'd do that!"
sukuna stared at him in disbelief. "i thought you told her to knock it off! what if it was someone else?"
"i barely go outside, grandson." his grandpa reminds him. "there is barely anyone else to bite but you when you're home."
"she attacked me!"
"attack?" his grandfather wiped at the corners of his eyes as he scoffs. "boy, she barely nipped you."
"no, no. you didn't see her eyes. she was on the hunt for me. me! her literal blood relative."
"i think we're going too far with that motif, my love."
"no, i grew up with this girl. she's my child! and she nipped me!"
"no, no. not what happened." the old man pointed toward kida, who hadn't even acknowledged the conversation. "she corrected you. as she should. she's a grown girl now."
"corrected me?" sukuna says in a daze, before snickering in disbelief. "me, me of all people?"
"she was agreeing with grandpa. you were arguing and put a stop to it, like i do." he smiles at kida who purrs back at him contently. "it seems she knows she's right."
"i always argue. but kida didn't do it that much then. what did you teach her in all that time?"
"i didn't teach her anything, grandson. we're just....like-minded nowadays, you know?" his grandfather nodded sagely, as though the explanation spoke for itself. "kida's gotten old like me. she prefers peace and quiet nowadays."
sukuna looked down at the orange cat, who was still diligently cleaning between her toes. "...did you just discipline me? you copying the old man now, huh?"
kida didn't even bother looking up. she simply continued grooming herself with the absolute confidence of someone who knew she'd been right. sukuna sighs exasperated. "fucking....you're so lucky you're cute. and that you're precious to me."
you finally gave up trying to hold back your laughter. before long, a small snort that turned louder and obnoxious escaped before you could stop it, followed by another, until you had to cover your mouth with one hand. "i'm sorry......"
sukuna looked at you. he shakes his head. "no, you're not."
"well I'm trying to be. believe me, my love!"
"you've got tears in your eyes. and the way you laugh at me sometimes, i know how those laughing tears fall, babe."
"w-well, it's...it's obvious that i'm....i'm failing." you choke in between your laughters. "ah, ah...i can't."
"you are." he sighed, but he knew he can't get mad at you too. or even look at you with a glare for longer than three seconds. he looked back down at kida again, utterly betrayed. "have you forgotten how i bottle-fed you when you first came home? and for a long time? i was the one who was taking care of you, not this old man."
the cat licked one paw. grandpa snickers. "she's bounded to grandpa now."
"i carried you around everywhere, you remember that?" sukuna continued, watching in quiet disbelief as kida meticulously cleaned behind one ear instead of acknowledging a single word he'd said. he let out a long, wounded sigh, the kind that only came from someone who genuinely believed he'd been wronged. "unbelievable...."
"one of my favorite beings in this world, one of the very few!" he muttered, pointing accusingly at the elderly orange cat. "this little one whom i let sleep in my bed. whom drained my allowance buying cat food. i even showered you."
kida yawned, sowly. and even without so much as opening her eyes. sukuna couldn't help but feel more offended. "...just insane. like, wow. and in the end, you bite me?" he looked genuinely heartbroken now. "kida, i was only gone a few months. you can't just—"
only after he'd finished did kida finally pause. she lifted her head and looked directly at him. for one fleeting, hopeful second, sukuna straightened. ".....yeah? you're picking and choosing when to acknowledge me, now?"
the old cat blinked. once and then twice. a moment's pulse thumps into the world. with breathtaking indifference, she turned her entire body away from him. you watched his mouth goes agape. she presented him with nothing but the cold reflection of her fluffy orange back and the slow, lazy swish of her tail.
grandpa completely lost whatever composure he'd managed to recover. he laughed so hard he had to catch himself against the doorframe, one hand pressed against his stomach while tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "my poor grandson!"
"i've been replaced by my own cat, my own child. this is insanely the worst day of my life."
your eyes knitted into a confusion. "i thought our near break up was the worst day of your life."
".....okay, babe, it can tie."
"no, no, boy. this is something else. she's just reminding you." his grandfather managed between laughs, waving one hand dismissively. "after all, you've simply been reminded whose house this is by the owner."
"i paid for half her food since i was a boy, with all the money i saved up being a good boy for the tooth fairy."
"i paid for the other half." his grandpa reminded him.
"i changed her litter."
"and i changed yours." his grandpa snapped back cleverly. "you had quite a lot of those boys, sticky ones too."
".....you mean my diapers?"
"yeah, i did those."
"well, that doesn't mean she'll not act like that never happened." his grandpa snickers and shakes his head. "you've grown up to do the same things as her. you've ignored how i changed your diapers and speak like this, boy."
sukuna rests his arms on his hips, ignoring his grandpa's words about that. "this is fucking crazy. i took my girlfriend home to hang out and rest before our final exams. so far, this is not a relaxing hang out."
you turned away before sukuna could see your face. you really did try. you pressed your lips together and properly covered your mouth with one hand. you tried to looked out toward the garden and enjoy the movement of the wind chimes or the swaying of the flowers. absolutely anything. but the tiny snort that escaped you gave everything away.
sukuna's voice came immediately. "...are you laughing again?"
"n-no. why are you asking?" you try to say as you fail miserably to keep things down. "i'm definitely not...i'm...i'm not laughi....i swear!"
"that wasn't even convincing, babe." he shakes his head. "you did plays in middle school. where did the composure go?"
"look, my love. i'm trying. but this is really really funny. that's why there's no composure." you explained to him. "when it's you and its funny, the compusure is gone!"
"you're shaking from all that laughter." he sighs. "don't blame me when you piss yourself from that later, babe."
you squeezed your eyes shut. "i'm really trying."
but the more you tried, the more the urge to laugh got stronger. a short while later, a another tiny laugh slipped out despite yourself. when you finally turned back around, sukuna was already looking at you with the most pitiful expression imaginable. "man......." his voice came out much quieter this time.
you immediately felt guilty. "oh..." your smile softened. "my love..."
before he could say anything else, you walked the few steps separating the two of you and reached for both of his hands. his fingers were warm, fittingly larger than yours. he looked down automatically as you intertwined them. "i'm so sorry for laughing and teasing, my love."
"it's okay." your boyfriend quickly replies, looking at kida as she went around the grass, looking lazily at a growing patch on the empty side of the small garden line up in the corner. "it was funny. i would have laughed too....i just....i'm so upset about her biting me like that and just giving me a cold shoulder."
"kida's old, you know? i'm sure it's just that she's not used to seeing you around again." you said gently. " you've been busy and maybe she just got used to it. in that time, i'm sure she's just decided to go on her merry way and do her own thing, you know?"
"she remembered enough to bite me." your boyfriend mumbles under his breath. he turns to you, a little bit upset. "i don't want her to forget about me, babe. she's part of me. she's part of home....she's family. and i want to play with her, without her biting me like that."
his words made your smile falter almost immediately. you were certain with how silent it is here, the loud echo of your shattering heart at his words grew and thundered. it wasn't because he sounded angry. you know it's not that. if anything, you can tell he sounded so small in that moment. and he felt like it too.
ryomen sukuna had never looked small a day in his life. he still stood there with broad shoulders, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket as he watched kida lazily sniff around the edge of the little garden.
from where the three of you stood on the porch, the old orange cat looked completely content investigating a patch of grass she'd probably inspected a thousand times before.
she wasn't even paying attention to the conversation anymore. you take his hands from his jacket pocket and squeeze it. you just needed to do that. you know you did. and just as much, you know that somehow, reflecting how all of these things have come to this, you can tell that it seemed to hurt him more.
especially as you realized more and more each moment you stood there with him, holding him as to why he took you here, knowing that you both had exams to deal with tomorrow. it wasn't just his traditions or his superstitions. you squeezed his hands a little tighter. "my love......"
he sighed through his nose before looking back toward the garden. "...i know i'm being dramatic about all of this....."
you shake your head at him, empathetic. "you aren't being dramatic about this. this is understandable, my love."
he shrugged one shoulder. "i don't want her forgetting me, babe. i don't want her to ignore me or escape from my attention or my grasp. i don't want her to just....be away from me. not when...."
he looks away, and stops for a moment. you stayed quiet. he'd always been someone who spoke more when nobody interrupted him. and you knew he needed to say all of these things.
he's the type of person that can only feel better when he says it out loud, even when it gets uncomfortable. so you let him. you let him speak his heart out as he squeezed your hand tighter.
"i know she's old." he smiled to himself, though there wasn't much happiness behind it. "thirteen's...old for a cat. a dog at this age is equivalent to my grandpa's age. i know that."
his scarlet eyes never left kida. "i know she sleeps more now and that she probably doesn't play like she used to. i also know she spends her time all day lying somewhere warm while grandpa drinks tea, instead of trying to do as much mischief as she used to."
you could tell the glassy echoes of his eyes were forming into tears but he blinks them away. another quiet breath escaped him. "...i know that and yet....it's just so hard to accept it. because....because....she used to." he laughed softly through his nose. "god, she used to follow me everywhere, babe. she was such a strident and stubborn cat. she would lead the way all the time."
his grandfather, who had thankfully stopped teasing him, lets a small smile fall to his lips as he fixes his hakama and stands beside his much taller grandson. "she did. she loved following that boy around, you know? such a small runt but she ran this household on her whims."
"i couldn't even go to the bathroom without seeing her little face outside the door." sukuna laughs quietly, before shaking his head. "she would always notice."
his grandpa hummed. "she'd cry if you closed it."
"she scratched the paint off the bottom once." sukuna nodded, before letting out a shrug. "you had to keep putting up shoji too, because she'd rip through it when she heard my voice in the garden."
"she did that more than twice, if i remember correctly." his grandfather reminisces, before letting out a snicker. "i used to lecture her the way i lectured you."
".......gods, i remember that." sukuna says after a while, silent in the memories of his past flashing through his mind. he couldn't help smiling at the memory. "she'd wait outside my room every morning too. after changing the shoji too."
"hm, that's why you both had to kneel in front of me after that."
"i didn't miss that part, actually. your floors are too hard to kneel on without a pillow."
"ha, then rebuild the floors."
"fine, fine, i'll help you do it over the summer."
"tch, why wait over the summer when you could do it now, boy?"
sukuna does not respond for a bit. instead, he watches as kida slowly stands up and moves away from where she is. she walks over to the shade of where the old aged tree sits and quietly lays there, enjoying the breeze that rustle the edges of the leaves on the vines.
"if i slept in too long, she'd start pawing at my face." sukuna says all the sudden, reminiscing. "if i came home from practice, she'd be waiting by the door too. then sometimes....sometimes, she'd sleep on my chest when i got sick." his voice had become quieter without him seeming to notice. "but she.....each time, she wouldn't leave."
"...do you want to sit with her for a bit?" you asked softly, careful not to disturb the quiet that had settled over the afternoon.
for the first time in several minutes, he looked away from kida. his scarlet eyes finally met yours once again. the sadness was still there. but so was something gentler. something grateful. you were holding his hand, you were letting him have the tenderness of your warmth and most of all, you were not leaving him. just like kida, back then.
he gives you a small, beautiful heartfelt smile. so beautiful and yet the same smile that's breaking your heart. "...only if you'd sit with me."
you smiled back without even realizing you were doing it. "i'd be honored to, my love."
for a moment, neither of you moved. you simply stood there looking at one another while the breeze drifted lazily through the garden. then sukuna gave your intertwined fingers a small squeeze. "you know, she'll probably bite me again."
you laughed quietly. "probably, yeah."
"well, i suppose i'll accept my fate." he says as he slowly takes you with him, towards the shade of the tree.
you looked up to him as you followed in his footsteps. "my love, you don't have to worry."
"hah, i'm not afraid, though?"
"no, i know that." you tell him with a nod. "but if she attacks you again, i'm going to take the bite. i'll defend and protect you."
"babe, she just murked me." he whispers almost too fast. "i'm fine if she murks me, but i don't want you to get a bite too. you're too precious to have that on you."
"my love, i had experienced chemical burns at the lab before. i'm pretty sure i can handle your senior citizen cat biting me." you shake your head, squeezing his hand. "i told you already, i'm ready to be bitten, if it means it makes you feel better. so just take it, okay? take my protection let me protect you too, let me protect your heart."
you don't know if your face was just too serious with your eyebrows furrowed like that or the way you said with conviction was too dramatic and made it seem more an anime cliche than anything serious. your beloved boyfriend, someone who was upset just now, who was near tears, was now laughing his ass off.
you looked at him, far too confused for your own good. "what? why are you laughing?"
within seconds, he was laughing so hard that he had to bend forward, one hand flying instinctively to his stomach while the other stubbornly refused to let go of yours.
the sound came from somewhere deep in his chest, warm and completely unrestrained, echoing across the quiet little garden until even the cicadas seemed to pause around it. "oh my—"
he tried to speak, but another fit of laughter cut him off before he could finish. he shook his head, drew in a breath, only for another laugh to escape him anyway. this only made you stop and look at him a little bit more confused.
"...what..." he looked up at you, tears beginning to gather at the corners of his crimson eyes. "...what is wrong with you?"
you blinked at him, genuinely confused. "...what?"
he pointed at you with the hand that wasn't still intertwined with yours, wearing the most incredulous expression you'd ever seen on his face. "you...babe...." another laugh interrupted him. "...you just volunteered to take a cat bite like you're sacrificing yourself in battle."
"i was being serious."
"i know!" he said immediately, which only made him laugh harder. he bent over again, shoulders shaking uncontrollably as he tried, and failedto collect himself. "that's why it's so funny!"
you frowned, utterly unconvinced. "i am serious about all this, my love."
"i can tell. you looked me dead in the eyes, babe." he continued, trying to imitate your solemn expression. "you really chose to say 'take my protection. let me protect your heart' like that out loud?"
he buried his face in one hand for a moment before peeking at you through his fingers, another laugh escaping despite himself. you could feel your cheeks turn red, your entire body flustered. "...babe."
you only looked at him earnestly, red in the face with embarrassment. "what?"
he stared at you for a long second before gesturing helplessly toward the old orange cat sleeping beneath the tree. "...kida is thirteen."
"i know."
"she now sleeps eighteen hours a day."
"i know that too, i can tell she loves to sleep. what about it?"
"she has, like...a few tooth left."
"okay, i didn't know that. but knowing she's thirteen, very obvious."
"and somehow you've decided she's the final boss we're supposed to defeat."
you puffed your cheeks out in mild protest. "she bit you. with said few teeth. still sharp enough, by the way, for you to go 'ah, out, fuck—'"
he frowns for a bit. "language—"
"oh, please, i can curse." you glare at him lightly.
"she nibbled me." he says to you. "she was being genuine about it. i just got sad and overreacted about the pain in the bite."
"she murked you. as you said."
he shakes his head, laughing again. "she did, but i was more sad about her getting old."
"so why are we even talking about you getting murked by the bite if you said it didn't feel too bad?"
that finally earned a loud snort from his grandfather, who had been quietly listening from the porch with his arms folded across his chest. the old man laughed to himself, shaking his head with unmistakable amusement. "there it is."
sukuna turned toward him immediately. "oi, old man, don't encourage her. she's already being ridiculous."
you gasp, hitting his arm with your free arm. "i am not ridiculous!"
"i'm not encouraging her." his grandfather wiped at the corner of one eye where laughter had gathered. "i'm admiring her spirit."
"i have spirit too."
"you've got theatrics." his grandfather waves his hand. "just like you're father."
"well, then that means i get them from you." sukuna narrows his scarlet eyes. he points to his grandpa. "you're my grandpa."
his grandpa shrugs. "i don't know, i feel like grandma was more the drama queen. i feel like you got it more from her."
you looked back and forth between them, shaking your head.
sukuna started laughing again laughing. but not as hard as before. still, it was enough that every few seconds another quiet chuckle escaped him. you honestly couldn't understand what was so funny.
".......why are you laughing this time, huh?"
the question finally seemed to settle him. his laughter gradually dissolved into softer chuckles as he looked back at you, and when your eyes met, the teasing melted into something so impossibly fond that it made your heart skip. he reached over with surprising gentleness and pinched your cheek between his fingers.
"i'm happy."
you raised a brow. "okay, you were sad, but now you're happy."
"those feelings can co-exist, babe." his smile lingered, warm and helpless all at once. he squeezes your hand. "you make me happy babe, even when i'm at my lowest."
you shake your head. "uhuh."
"no, no. i mean it. because....only you would look at a retired old cat with arthritis..." another small laugh escaped him as he shook his head. "...and decide the hypothetical and most correct response in that situation is to throw yourself in front of her for me."
"i wasn't technically planning on throwing myself, per se....."
"you literally volunteered." he laughs once again. "the image in my head is just...you're just too cute in my head, babe. i can't imagine it."
"i was gonna do well at protecting you, though."
"hm, that's it. you made it sound like a knight swearing an oath before marching into war." he shakes his head, trying to get a bit more air. he looks at you, with shining eyes. this time, happily so. "ah, you're so....you're just everything, babe."
"i meant it like one." you mumbled under your breath as he starts leading you to the tree once again. "in my head, i sounded so cool...."
"i know." he says to you so lovingly. "that's why i love you more for it."
there wasn't an ounce of teasing in those words. if anything, they were impossibly soft. he looked at you for another long moment, his smile slowly relaxing into something quieter, something that made his entire face gentler than it had been only minutes ago.
"don't worry, babe. even if i laugh, i took it to heart, you words." he stepped closer until there was barely any distance left between the two of you before resting his forehead lightly against yours. "i know you meant every word.....i know you'd protect me."
"and i appreciate it." his thumb brushed absentmindedly over your knuckles before he let out one last amused breath. "but that's exactly why i don't want you getting bitten either."
he leaned down just enough to press a lingering kiss against your forehead. "besides, babe...." he murmured, glancing toward the old orange cat who had long since settled herself beneath the tree, blissfully asleep and entirely unaware of the emotional turmoil she'd caused. "...if anyone's getting bullied by the old lady.....it's going to stay me."
from the porch, his grandfather nodded with all the solemnity of someone witnessing a great declaration. "a true man."
sukuna didn't even lift his head. "...old man, you really are...."
"what? i was being truthful about that."
"you're unbelievably unhelpful." he points to the two of you. "we just had a romantic moment."
"i've lived a long life, boy." the old man replied, entirely unapologetic. "i've learned it's best to enjoy the moment, even when its at my grandson's expense."
"i really...." he shakes his head.
you giggled. "i love your grandpa so much."
his grandfather's expression softened immediately. "well, aren't you just the sweetest thing." he looks to his grandson. "im sure you could learn a thing or two from her, boy."
sukuna clicked his tongue. "don't encourage this either."
"why not?"
"my grandpa's ego's already big enough." sukuna huffs to you as his grandpa laughed, as if he knows what sukuna's saying in his low tone. "it's a lot. let's not encourage it more."
"you're one to talk." you snickers, nudging him teasingly.
"i'm humble."
you gave him a look. "hm, i don't think so."
"oi, don't copy him too."
you laugh to yourself as sukuna led you across the garden. grandpa seemingly goes inside, for sure to make some cold drinks. this leaves you and your boyfriend so very close under the tree's massive arms.
the afternoon breeze had cooled beneath the shade of the old tree, ever so slowly, and so gently carrying the earthy scent of grass and warm soil. somewhere overhead, its leaves once again rustled together softly, scattering little patches of sunlight across the ground where kida lay curled into herself.
up close, you think that you understand why sukuna feels heartbroken everytime he sees her. from every angle, you can tell she's lived a life. every bit of her was aged and old. the orange in her fur had faded over the years into softer shades of honey and cream.
there were those little tiny white hairs dusted the bridge of her nose and around her whiskers, and one ear folded ever so slightly where some forgotten adventure from years ago had left its mark. she looked peaceful, almost like she belonged to this garden as much as the old tree itself.
sukuna slowed until the two of you stood only a few feet away. without thinking, his voice dropped. almost instinctively. it was as though speaking too loudly might disturb her afternoon nap. he lets his hand brush against her fur carefully.
with some luck, this time, she does not bite him or even move to scratch him. instead, she remains there at peace. she allows him to brush his fingers with care against her aged old furs. you can tell that was a lot of weight off your boyfriend's chest, almost instantenously.
"hey little kida." one of her ears twitched. "did you miss me, little old lady>"
the cat didn't open her eyes. instead, her tail flicked once, albeit a little slowly. sukuna smiled. he looks up to you. "i think she heard me."
you smiled at him. "yes, she does. she does hear you, my love."
he seems bolstered by that reassurance. a moment passes before he rests one elbow against his knee and crutches lower. he looked at the elderly cat with an affection so open that it made your chest ache.
"my dearest [name], this is kida." he glanced up at you. "she's been with me since i was a young boy who couldn't swing a baseball bat straight." his smile grew a little. "i found her hiding underneath one of grandpa's flower pots after a storm and she was soooo tiny."
"she hissed at everyone, except me." he continues. his eyes returned to the cat lazily lounging in front of him. "and that made me feel lucky. because she chose me."
you pat his back softly. "that she did, my love. like i did. she chose you too."
"and that made me the luckiest man in the world." he whispers softly. "to have the love of two ladies."
kida lets out a purr at those words. sukuna feels his heart jumping out his chest in joy. but he tries to calm himself. he didn't want to disturb kida's sleep. so his voice had become almost impossibly gentle as he starts to speak once again.
he looked back at you, smiling in a way that only you ever seemed to bring out of him. so, kida." he gestured toward you with quiet pride. "...this is the girl i've been telling you about you for a long, long time now."
you watched him speak so animatedly about you for a good fifteen minutes as his fingers stroke through bits of her fur. before long, sukuna's hand had found its way to kida's back.
it happened almost absentmindedly. his fingers moved with the kind of familiarity that only came from years of repetition, gently stroking through her faded orange fur from between her ears down to the middle of her back.
every movement was slow, careful, mindful of her age. he no longer tried to coax her into playing or called for her attention. instead, he remained still and continued on steady. and somehow, that seemed enough. kida didn't open her eyes. she didn't lift her head.
but after a few quiet strokes, she leaned, and only slightly, it was certainly notenough for anyone else to notice. shhe would lean slowly but surely into the warmth of his palm over and over again, so subtly. you saw it. so did he. his shoulders loosened ever so slightly.
you watched him in silence. the corners of his mouth had softened into the smallest smile. there was no disappointment left there now. there was this great sense of relief, the only feeling that was left. and it sustained him through the turbelence of all this grievances.
you felt your own chest grow warm. tomorrow. the word floated into your mind before you could stop it. tomorrow there would be final exams. and you were sure that the reviewers just waiting to be flipped over again.
there were many notes to memorize. there were too number problems to solve. there were many chemicals and properties to remember. under any other circumstance, you would've been worrying. you would be continually counting the hours. you would be thinking about everything left undone.
instead, it's different here. it will always be different when its ryomen sukuna. rather than being locked up in your room, you found yourself watching your boyfriend pet the old cat he'd grown up beside. and you couldn't have been happier.
even if it meant losing another hour of studying. even if tomorrow ended up a little harder because of it. you knew in your heart and soul that this...this was more important than any sheet of paper waiting inside your school bag.
there would always be another exam and there would be another assignment. there will always be another grade to surpass and achieve. but afternoons like this, watching the people your boyfriend loved most gather quietly beneath the same tree, none of these can be scheduled. they simply happened. and you were grateful beyond words that you were here for one of them.
the feeling of your determined fingers remained intertwined with sukuna's free hand. you gave it a gentle squeeze before looking down at the elderly cat curled peacefully against his leg. you couldn't help but smile as she seemed to lean in slightly against the palm of your hand.
"you know, kida..." your voice came out almost as quietly as the breeze moving through the branches above. "i hope you know that i love your dad very much......so i'll be here, okay? i'll be here for him. just like you."
your eyes drifted toward sukuna. he'd looked up at the sound of your voice, watching you with quiet curiosity. when your eyes met his, you smiled. everything in that moment just felt so certain. there was nothing else there but the thought of love and forever.
"i'll be here." you looked back down at kida, who remained content beneath sukuna's hand. "i'll take care of him." your thumb absentmindedly brushed across the back of sukuna's hand as though to quietly underline the promise.
"i'll be good to him..." your smile trembled just enough for the emotion behind it to show. "the same way you've been good to him all these years. so....so..." you laughed softly to yourself. "you don't have to worry so much anymore."
for a long moment, nothing happened with your words. everything was the same. the garden remained quiet. the wind chimes swayed gently. leaves whispered overhead with nothing.
but then, you felt your lips open agaped as a gasp releases from your lips. kida's sleepy eyes slowly opened. the old cat looked at you. then at sukuna. with all the dignity of an old queen making an official decision, she pushed herself onto unsteady paws.
you instinctively worried she'd wander away again. instead, she took two slow steps forward. with a tiny, gravelly purr, she rested her head against your knee, even just for a moment.
you looked at your boyfriend and he looked back at you. you break contact as your free hand rests on your chest. your heart was beating too fast. she leans against your knee once again, as though accepting what you'd said. beside you, sukuna's breath caught almost imperceptibly.
"well....i think she likes you." he whispered, his voice torn between gentle and joyful. "that's a sign, babe. i'm keeping you forever."
you reached down carefully, stroking the top of kida's head with one hand while never letting go of sukuna's with the other. you smiled at him. "well, i should hope so."
"it's certain, babe. you and i, we are forever." he murmured, smiling as he watched the old cat lean into your touch before returning to his hand just as naturally. his fingers intertwined with yours a little tighter. "after all, i think she's trusting you with me."
your heart swells at those words.
you leaned close and kissed your boyfriend.
he kisses back, just as lovingly.
"i love you." he says as you both break apart from the kiss. "a thousand times, i love you."
you smiled, resting your nose against his. "i know. that's why i love you a thousand times more."
imagining that time in college when the up and coming economics major nanami kento realized that he wanted to marry you, his history major girlfriend as he soon as he landed from that spectacular block in that specific volleyball game in that specific season of his volleyball career.
everything was hot in the arena. his vision was a bit hazy as he got down on the wooden floors. if he was being honest, he doesn't remember much about the game anymore. he only remembers what happened in the end, because he thinks he blacked out in the midst of it. but he supposed that didn't matter. what matters is he remembers everything else after.
the championship point ended exactly the way everyone expected it would, as he expected. with nanami kento at the net. the opposing setter had committed to the outside hitter after noticing university of tokyo's backcourt shift toward the line. if one was being fair, it was a good read as much as it was a smart read.
unfortunately for them, they had forgotten one inconvenient fact and that was the university of tokyo's blond haired middle blocker had spent the entire season studying hitters the way other students studied textbooks.
kento's eyes drifted. three steps. then one glance at the attacker's shoulder. he had slightly shifted of the wrist. okay, good. he took a deep breath. that was all he needed. it wasn't long till kenro moved before the set even hit its apex. he couldn't be more proud. his jump was clean, his hands pressed over the tape with that same textbook precision he had been trying to mastee.
he could see the look on his opposition's face. he couldn't help but grin at him as he spike met his palms with a resounding crack before being driven straight back into the opponent's court. there was no touch, there was no recovery. it was just the loudest, thunderous tenor from the ball that droppedon the hardwood.
the whistle came a heartbeat later from the referee. "match, tokyo!"
for a second, the packed university arena stood frozen. but just half a heartbeat later, twenty thousand people erupted. blue and white confetti burst from the rafters while the university of tokyo pep band nearly drowned beneath the deafening cheers. almost all the students leapt over rows of seats.
the former senpais and the other alumni who came all this way to support their team all but embraced complete strangers, cheering with pride. somewhere in the stands, someone had already begun waving an enormous banner with all the team members's names plastered on dark black ink.
"NANAMI KENTO!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT? HE BLOCKED IT!"
"MVP! GOLDEN HAND!"
"NUMBER SEVEN!"
"YO YUUJI'S CRYING!"
"I CANT BELIEVE MEGUMI'S SMILING!"
"CAPTAIN SUKUNA, LETS GO!"
"YO IS GOJO CRYING?"
"GETO'S WIPING HIS FACE, WAH! SO HANDSOME!"
"HAHAHAHA HAIBARA NEARLY FELL!"
his teammates were on him before his feet had fully landed. he couldn't breathe in the force of masculine muscle and flesh, feeling their sweat, tears and joys all over him. rowdy voices piping back and forth, cheering shakily, sobbing joyously. he wanted to speak up and tell them that it was nothing special, to get off him. but even he knew how special, how momentous this moment was for them. so in the end, mind, heart and soul, he just took it. like any other one of them would.
"yo, kento!" yu haibara laughed as he practically yanked his head as he pats it. "you actually did it!"
"we actually did it, its a team match." nanami kento pipes up and corrects, steadying him despite nearly being knocked over. "it was just a block at the end."
"ah, what are you talking about, senpai?" yuuji pipes up, grinning ear to ear as he pats his senior's back. "your efforts are the ones that made us get this win! give yourself some credit!"
megumi nodded, sweat dripping sown his face. he looks like hes catching his breath as he taps kento on his shoulder. "your block saved the match, senpai. accept the praise, already."
vice captain gojo satoru laughs, as he annoyingly and playfully pats kento's back. "i doubt this scrooge will actually accept any praise! he didn't even react when he got an academic award from the economics faculty!"
"i don't appreciate you patting me that way, gojo-senpai." the blond could only grumble.
satoru all but laughs. "come on, have an exception! you did a great job today, so live a little!"
"i can try if you aren't being annoying."
"The reporters are already lining up!" haibara noted as he looked to his right. "i guess they're excited to talk to kento."
"no kidding there." suguru snorted. " but then again, half the people in suits down there aren't even pretending they're not scouts."
suguru wasn't lying. kento looked at where they sat. the men in suits were awfully bad at blending in. the tunnel leading beneath the arena had become crowded with executives from nearly every club in v.league. some of the team managers, their agents, their sponsors, photographers, broadcasters. they had all descended upon the court before the medal ceremony had even begun.
kento was certain that many of his friends were going to be plucked. satoru and sukuna especially. satoru might be tempted, though. he's been itching to play in the bigger leagues. sukuna's holding off till graduation. he says that his girlfriend's dad expects him to have a degree to stay with his daughter, so he'll probably delay his graduation for another year and say no. kento knew he would be asked too.
technically, though...they were a too late. he'd already said yes. he's one of them now. months before the championship, he'd quietly signed a professional contract with one of the strongest v.league clubs in the country. he was sure once the announcement comes out, it will cause weeks of headlines. after all, he's the first to make the decision to go pro. even before his senpais.
he still has to finish college, of course. he promised that to his parents when he talked to them about this. he only this one year left, anyway. and he'd talked with the varsity team and the university itself. they've given him an exception, so long as he doesn't forget his responsibilties to the team. and he readily agreed with that.
if he was being honest, he had no idea how any of it was supposed to work. he knew that the reporters would only keep asking about his professional debut as though it were the only thing waiting for him after each and every day.
they'll speak about contracts, preseason training, expectations, sponsorships, the future of japanese volleyball, as if his life could be divided neatly into the aftermath of this championship and the future that comes with becoming a pro.
that's why all he could think in his mind is that it couldn't.
it wouldn't be possible to do it without any sacrifices.
let alone be able to cope with while keeping his condition.
there was still a thesis sitting half-finished on his laptop that his adviser expected before graduation. there were seminars he couldn't afford to miss, meetings with his research group, paperwork that came with completing a degree, and the inevitable stack of administrative forms that every graduating student seemed destined to drown beneath.
and then there was volleyball.
training camps would begin almost immediately after the university season ended. team orientations. medical examinations. sponsor appearances. tactical meetings with coaches he'd only spoken to over video calls. learning an entirely new system, earning the trust of veterans who had spent years in the league, proving that he deserved the contract with every jump, every block, every swing.
the schedule in his head was already beginning to overlap until there hardly seemed to be enough hours left in a day. objectively, it sounded exhausting. objectively, it probably was.
for a brief moment, he wondered if people ever regretted reaching the dreams they had chased for so long. not because the dream itself disappointed them, but because no one ever mentioned how heavy it became once it finally rested in your hands. then, almost as quickly as the thought arrived, it disappeared.
because if there was one thing nanami kento had never been, it was someone who retreated simply because the path ahead looked difficult. he had spent years waking before sunrise for practice, dragging himself into lectures with sore shoulders and bruised knees, catching trains between away games and exams, memorizing offensive rotations one hour and academic citations the next.
every season had demanded something impossible until, somehow, it became ordinary. he had learned long ago that there was rarely a perfect balance. and ever since you had come into his life, you simply made one. and somehow...he always followed through with the harmony of that balance.
perhaps not gracefully. perhaps not without sacrificing sleep, free weekends, and whatever little remained of a normal college life. but he would make it work. he always found a way. especially now. especially because, for the first time in years, he wasn't carrying those ambitions alone.
every impossible schedule, every anxious night before examinations, every difficult decision about his future somehow felt...everything felt lighter whenever he thought about you. you had become the person he unconsciously searched for after every match.
the first person he wanted to tell whenever something good happened. the quiet place his thoughts wandered back to whenever the noise around him became too loud. you were the person who kept him ont he earth. you were his anchor in his tumulteous seas. the one constant that remained steady while everything else in his life seemed determined to move faster with each passing day.
the person he loved more than anyone else in the world.
without realizing it, kento's attention drifted away from the cameras still flashing in front of him. his warm caramel eyes wandered across the sea of faces filling the arena's upper stands, just above where he is. he finds himself skimming over rows of cheering students, waving school banners, parents embracing one another, teammates' families wiping tears from their eyes.
the blue and white confetti still floated lazily through the rafters, catching the arena lights like falling stars, making it almost impossible to distinguish one face from another. still, he searched. he was not one to give up just yet. not when it came to you. so patiently, following his instincts, in this room full of people, he'll look for you.
all the sudden, a microphone appeared in front of him. "nanami-senshu! is there a few words you can lend to our ears about that final block?"
"it was the right read." he says, still distracted as he's looking for you.
"how does it feel winning another collegiate championship?"
"we prepared well.....thanks to ryomen-senshu and everyone else, we were able to, uh....to pull through."
"were you expecting to be named tournament mvp?"
"if i am, then it's because the team played well enough to make my job easier and not the other way around." the reporter blinked.
"...could you elaborate?"
"no." he says as he leans to the side, eyes narrowing.
"...i....i see." the reporter tried to gather their composure. "uh, one final thing, nanami-senshu. is there anything you'd like to say to your supporters?"
he was about to say something, until his eyes landed on someone standing near the university section. his caramel colored eyes start to shine as the sight of you comes alive before him. you were so beautiful before him, almost like the star in the sky that brings one out of the darkness.
it wasn't long before he notices that he has been staring at you too long. the reporter seemed to be both flustered and intrigued. kento clears his throat, feeling heat echo through his cheeks. "uh, last word to our fans....yes...thank you for everyone supporting us. please continue to support us in all of our endeavours!"
after kento made that bow with his final word, he quickly thanked the reporter and left, trying to get close you, like a rock on the space wanting to get closer to your orbit. you were still wearing your history department cardigan over your clothes after rushing from an afternoon seminar.
you must have had a class before this, he thinks. your leather satchel hung over one shoulder, several books protruding from the top. he could only make out some of them. medieval legal systems, japanese historiography, and a notebook filled with lecture notes you'd been annotating before the match started.
the moment he saw you closer, something softened. most people wouldn't have noticed, of course. but you would. you would notice everything. from the way his exhaustion eased, to the way his eyes shone when he was close to you, to the way the corners of his mouth lifted just slightly.
it wasn't long before several cameras abruptly swung in his direction. someone inside the broadcasting booth most definitely laughed when they realized what had stolen the university famed blocker attention away from the reporters surrounding him.
the lenses followed his line of sight almost instinctively, panning away from the championship celebration to search the crowded bleachers for whoever had managed to distract nanami kento only moments after winning the biggest match of his collegiate career.
he didn't notice. or perhaps he did, and simply couldn't bring himself to care. the interviews could wait. the cameras could wait. every congratulatory handshake, every microphone, every question about his future in professional volleyball could wait. all of it could wait. but not you. never you.
his gaze remained fixed on the stands until it finally landed on you. you were halfway through congratulating one of your friends when they noticed where he was looking. they blinked, glanced toward the court, and immediately nudged your shoulder with a grin. confused, you turned to follow their gaze.
the moment your eyes met his, the noise of the arena seemed to disappear. his tired smile softened into something quieter, something infinitely more genuine than anything he had offered the cameras all afternoon.
your own expression mirrored his before you could stop it. your face lit up with a smile so bright that it almost rivaled the championship lights hanging from the rafters.
without another thought, you hurried toward the railing separating the lower stands from the court, weaving through rows of cheering students until you were standing as close to him as security would allow.
back in the commentary booth, one of the broadcasters chuckled into his headset. "i don't think we've lost him to the media now, have we?"
his co-commentator laughed softly before shaking his head. "no, i don't think so. it's a different kind of loss." there was something almost fond in his voice as the cameras zoomed closer. "the better kind, if you ask me. because no amount of interviews or championships is ever going to compete with the person he loves most."
standing beneath the glaring arena lights, kento looked nothing like the polished promotional photos that would appear in tomorrow's newspapers. his sandy blond hair had long since escaped whatever order it had started the match with, damp strands sticking to his forehead from nearly three relentless hours on the court.
his large university jersey clung to him, darkened with sweat across his shoulders and back, while athletic tape wrapped securely around the fingers of his right hand after months of wear and tear that came with being one of japan's best middle blockers.
a faint scrape stained one knee where he'd thrown himself across the hardwood midway through the third set to keep an impossible ball alive with a desperate pancake save. intense exhaustion lingered in every part of him, from the slight rise and fall of his chest to the sheen of perspiration catching beneath the arena lights.
he looked like someone who desperately needed a shower. he looked like someone whose muscles would ache tomorrow. he looked utterly spent. and yet, to you, to the person who loved him more than anyone else ever could, he had never looked more beautiful.
this was the face of every early morning practice, every missed holiday, every lecture attended on aching legs, every bruise hidden beneath knee pads, every sacrifice that had quietly accumulated over years until they became this single moment.
he looked victorious.
he looked extraordinary.
he also looked like home.
you couldn't help the smile that spread across your face. "congratulations, dearest love of my life." you said softly, your voice carrying just enough for him to hear through the lingering cheers. "you did it!"
his own smile widened almost imperceptibly. "you came."
there was no surprise in the words, only quiet relief. "you asked me to. and i had the time window so, of course i'll come! who wouldn't come and support their lover, hm?"
"I know you would do anything to be here."
"of course i would." you whispered, loud enough for only him to hear. "i love you the most."
for a moment, neither of you said anything else. he simply looked at you, committing your face to memory amidst the confetti, the roaring crowd, and the flashing cameras. then, with the same quiet certainty he approached nearly everything in his life, he opened his arms.
you didn't care about the barriers separating you both and ran towards him, before stepped into his arms without the slightest hesitation. his embrace wrapped around you with familiar strength, warm despite the cool air-conditioning flooding the arena.
for a brief second the championship celebration disappeared entirely. it was just the two of you standing at the edge of the court while thousands of people celebrated around you. you couldn't help but laugh. your cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and his jersey was absolutely drenched.
"kento, dear."
"hm?"
"you're absolutely soaked."
his answer came without missing a beat. "i've been playing volleyball."
you pulled back just enough to look at him, amusement dancing in your eyes. "i had noticed."
his lips curved upward. "you don't seem to mind."
you smiled, tightening your arms around him anyway. "i'll survive."
a quiet laugh escaped him, low enough that it was almost lost beneath the arena's celebration. it wasn't the polite laugh he offered reporters or the restrained chuckle teammates occasionally earned after practice. this one was softer, gentler, the kind of laugh that belonged only to the moments he shared with you.
"i missed you."
you raised an eyebrow. "you've only been on the court for three hours."
"it was a long three hours."
"you saw me every time you rotated to the service line."
"I know."
"and yet?"
"and yet....."
you shook your head fondly before reaching up to brush several damp strands of blond hair away from his forehead. they immediately threatened to fall back into place. "you played beautifully, though. as expected of my dearest boyfriend."
he gave a small shake of his head. "i made mistakes."
"you also won."
"we won."
you smiled. "you blocked the final spike."
"my job was to block."
"you keep making your job sound terribly unremarkable."
"it usually is."
"it really isn't."
his eyes lingered on yours, quiet and unwavering, while the celebration continued around the two of you. somewhere behind him, his teammates had already begun gathering near the championship podium.
officials arranged medals in neat rows while arena staff hurried into position, and over the loudspeakers the announcer once again called for the university of tokyo's captain to report for the presentation ceremony.
but nanami kento didn't move. instead, he simply continued looking at you as though there wasn't another soul inside the arena. then, in the same calm, matter-of-fact tone he might have used to ask whether you wanted coffee after class or if you'd remembered to bring an umbrella, he asked,
"[name], would you marry me?"
you stared at him. your mind went completely blank in that moment. "...what?"
"i was wondering, my beloved human in this entire world, if you would have the honor of...." he stops himself before he continued, as though he were asking whether you wanted coffee after class instead of altering the course of both your lives, "being my one and only wife."
you could only blink at him. "........nanami kento."
"yes?"
"you've just won the biggest championship of your career thus far."
"that i have, yes."
"you're extremely dehydrated."
"possibly."
"you've been hit in the face with a volleyball twice today."
he frowned ever so slightly. "only once. i counted."
you stared. "that is the detail you decided to correct?"
"accuracy is important, sweetheart. that's what we need for economics. otherwise the numbers will be awful."
you let out a disbelieving laugh before gesturing helplessly toward him. "you're exhausted. and delirious."
"i've been more tired and delirious than this, sweetheart. i mean what i say."
"you've played nearly three hours of volleyball."
he nodded. "that is correct, yes."
"your adrenaline is still through the roof, i'm pretty sure." you pointed out, narrow eyed. "incredibly full of adrenaline."
"more than likely. i mean, im no science major, but that's how the body works, yes."
you narrowed your eyes more. "yeah, i think you are definitely concussed."
"i've already completed the concussion protocol."
"you completed—"
"the medical staff cleared me, already sweetheart. don't be tense." he says, kissing the top of your head. "i'm alright."
"dearest, that really doesn't excuse the fact that you need rest."
he considered that for exactly half a second before nodding. "that can wait until we get home together."
your heart skipped. "home?"
"and married." he nodded back at you.
you opened your mouth, then closed it. you found yourself feeing it opened it again. "okay, i'm tryingto calm down. this is real...........you are proposing to me. this is real. oh fuck. you're proposing to me in your sweaty uniform and your sweaty hair and your possibly concussed head."
"i am." he nodded seriously.
"here, in this arena, full of dirty sweat on the floor that's making the confetti stick."
"yes."
"still covered in sweat."
"unfortunately."
"in front of several thousand people."
he glanced around for the first time since finding you in the crowd, as though only now remembering that the arena was still packed with spectators, cameras, teammates, reporters, and tournament officials. "...i hadn't intended for there to be quite this many witnesses."
you simply looked at him. he looked back with complete sincerity, not a trace of embarrassment crossing his face. "there isn't even a ring."
"i know. but that can be dealt with, it's in my bag."
"you didn't kneel."
his eyes drifted toward the hardwood court beneath his shoes. "you already pointed it out, sweetheart. the floor is rather dirty."
"nanami kento."
"yes?"
"this is possibly the least conventional proposal anyone has ever received."
he nodded thoughtfully. "i suspected as much. but i've decided. this was just the perfect moment. i thought about it when i landed the final block."
"you what?"
"that's the truth, that's how it clicked for me that i've gotta marry you today."
despite yourself, laughter escaped you. you pressed a hand against your forehead, shaking your head as tears of amusement began gathering in the corners of your eyes.
"when exactly did you decide this?"
"a few months ago."
your head snapped up. "...a few months?"
"i wanted to wait until after the season, but i could never find the right time when we weren't busy and again, i thought about it during the final block." he says to you, smiling. "i thought to myself, there's not a great day coming. it's only now."
"so this isn't because you won."
"no, not at all."
"if you'd lost today?"
there wasn't even a moment's hesitation when he replied. "i still would've asked."
your expression softened. "you would've?"
his answer was so matter-of-fact that it almost made you laugh again. "i've been carrying the paperwork in my satchel for the past two weeks. i got it when i came back from my night shift at work."
"...paperwork?" your eyes widened.
he took you to where the university of tokyo benches were. when you got there, you looked at him fiddling about for his satchel bag. before long, you watched him bend down toward the sports bag resting beside his feet.
after unzipping one of the inner compartments, he carefully withdrew a slim document folder, its edges perfectly aligned despite having traveled with him to practices, matches, and away games. he handed it to you.
inside was exactly what he had said. it was the printed requirements for a civil marriage application. there were photocopies of identification documents. the application forms. tucked neatly into the front sleeve, a handwritten checklist organized in his impossibly tidy handwriting. he goes to the side pocket and he pulls out a small box. he opens it, and smiles.
"i can't wear mine a lot, since i play a lot. but i'll wear it as a chain on my neck."
you slowly looked up at him. it wasn't a question._ "you made a checklist for this."
"i find them useful. you know how i am, sweetheart."
of course he did. on the list, there were boxes carefully labeled. the first was obtain required documents. then bring identification. below it was verify witnesses. then there was confirm office hours.
your lips twitched. "kento."
"yes?"
"......you made us a marriage checklist."
"yes." he nodded back at you. "i took care of everything, it's just the matter of going."
".......and who are our witnessses?"
he points to the document. "your dad and my mom. they'll be there, but they already signed the documents for us to submit."
you feel touched. "you asked my dad?"
"i did." he nodded, smiling softly. "he was so happy to know that i want to ask for his permission, even though i didn't have to. he wants me to take good care of you."
you felt tears forming on your eyes. "he didn't tell me."
"well, sweetheart, i was going to be a surprise."
you wiped the tears away. "that's stupid."
he laughs slightly. "not when its making you happy."
"how can you tell?"
"because the love in your eyes is real, just as its real on mine." he whispers to you. "i love you. and i wanna spend the rest of my life with you."
you sigh contently, looking at him and kissing his cheek. "you're a lot, aren't you?"
"i know i am."
"i love you." you whispered to him. "i love you so much."
he kisses your temple, his free hand patting your hair. "i love you so much too, sweetheart."
"......what time does the city hall close?"
"five p.m. sharp." almost on instinct, you glanced at your watch. it was 4:15 p.m. when you looked back up, he was already doing the math in his head. "don't worry too much."
"we have to catch a cab—"
"...there's enough time, sweetheart, don't worry." he said with complete confidence. "provided we leave within the next ten minutes. i have my car on campus too. no need for a cab."
"you....i can't believe this." you stared at him for another long moment. "you planned the route too, didn't you?"
"i accounted for traffic."
".........you accounted for traffic. every bit of it?"
"i mean, yes. it does seemed prudent if i do."
this time, you couldn't stop yourself. laughter burst out of you so suddenly that you had to grip the railing for balance. your shoulders shook as you looked at the man standing in front of you. this man, the newly crowned collegiate champion, tournament mvp, future player in the v.league and somehow the most impressive thing he'd accomplished all day wasn't winning a national championship.
to you, in that moment, it was the fact that he loved you so much that he was planning a marriage application with military precision and planning it as a surprise for you. it was so unmistakably him.
there were no fireworks, there was no hidden violinists. there was no dramatic speeches about fate or destiny. there was no elaborate surprises. it was just the quiet, tenderness that comes with loving someone, with this careful preparation, practical considerations, color-coded documents......but also, with genuine love, full of absolute certainty.
he reached for your hand with the same quiet confidence he'd shown every time he stepped onto a volleyball court. his fingers slipped between yours naturally, as though they'd always belonged there. "i've already signed my contract to go pro soon."
you nodded. "i know. we talked about it."
"my salary is sufficient from my current job to keep us afloat."
"i know that."
"you'll finish your history degree soon."
"yes, that's coming too."
"i'll finish mine soon too."
"you will."
"we both already have employment."
another nod comes from you. "i know. you at a marketing place, me at a museum."
his thumb brushed gently across your knuckles. "our schedules will become more complicated."
"they will." you whisper back at him.
"there will be days when we hardly see each other."
"i know that. we talked about that too."
"i've thought about all of that with you. only you." there was no fear in his voice. only quiet conviction. "but none of it changed my answer. i want to be your husband. i want this to be forever."
your vision blurred all the sudden. he gave your hand the gentlest squeeze. "...so..." his voice softened just enough that only you could hear it over the cheering crowd. "if you would allow me the honor...would you like to get married before city office closes?"
a watery laugh escaped you before you could answer. tears threatened to spill over at the same time. "you are unbelievable."
he tilted his head slightly. "i've been told that a lot of times, yes."
"you won a championship..." your voice cracked into another laugh. "...and somehow this isn't the biggest thing you want to get done today."
a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "i was hoping it wouldn't be."
you looked at him. you looked at the man who had spent years balancing lectures with practices, sleepless nights with impossible expectations, and dreams with discipline. the man who still had time to cook you your breakfast and pack you lunch.
this gentle, loving man who had time to care for you when you were sick when he himself was tired. the man who had the time to listen to you speak when you were excited about the historical facts you find out about.
the same man who was a quiet middle blocker who studied opposing hitters with the same care he'd apparently devoted to researching civil marriage requirements. the man who had planned every practical detail, but whose voice still carried the smallest hint of uncertainty.
because, for all his preparation, there was one thing he could never organize into certainty. and that was your answer. so he waited, ever so patiently. he was simply holding your hand while the entire arena continued celebrating around the two of you.
you smiled through your tears. "yes. of course. of course i'll marry you."
his expression changed so subtly that anyone else might have missed it. the tension disappeared from his shoulders. the careful composure he'd maintained throughout the entire match finally cracked, giving way to one of those rare, brilliant smiles that only ever belonged to you.
".......so, that's a yes? we're getting married?"
"yes. that's a yes." you confirmed to him. "one hundred percent, yes."
he released the quietest breath, almost imperceptible. as though he'd been holding it for weeks. before either of you could say another word, the announcer's voice echoed through the arena once more. "nanami kento-senshu! the medal ceremony is about to begin!"
kento glanced toward center court, where his teammates were already assembling. then he looked back at you. "......would you mind waiting approximately seven minutes?"
you laughed through the tears still clinging to your lashes. "for what?"
"i should probably collect the my medal and carry the trophy first."
"probably, you should. they're waiting for you."
"and then we'll go there."
"where?"
he intertwined your fingers with his once more. "city hall, silly."
"and your interviews?"
"they can wait."
"the press?"
"they'll survive without me." he snickers. "im sure the rowdy boys can be rowdy without me."
"the celebration banquet?"
"we'll make the end of it." he whispers to you. "and happily married then."
you searched his face, half expecting him to be joking. he wasn't. "you really intend to disappear from your own championship celebration......to get married?"
he looked at you as though there had never been any other possibility. "i've waited long enough."
and somehow, standing beneath drifting gold confetti while thousands of people celebrated around you, you realized he was right. the trophy could wait seven minutes. the rest of your lives didn't have to.
the medal ceremony ultimately lasted closer to nine. not because the organizers had intended it to, but because every official involved seemed to sense that the university of tokyo's middle blocker mvp had somewhere infinitely more important to be.
sukuna accepted the his trophy with both hands, bowing respectfully to each presenter. he grins looking at his girlfriend, before turning and giving it to kento. he pats kento's back, telling him to go and lift it.
kento nodded and hyped up the moment before lifting it alongside his teammates for the obligatory photographs. that seemed to please his teammates enough, seeing him be the one to lead the celebration.
it was a bit later when he accepted the tournament mvp plaque with the same composed humility he had shown throughout the season, smiled politely through exactly three interview questions, and then excused himself with an apologetic bow.
"you aren't staying for the press conference?" one reporter called after him.
"i'm afraid not. i've already sent my apologies to the team and staff for that."
"may we ask why?"
kento paused only long enough to glance toward the tunnel, where you stood waiting with both of your bags slung over one shoulder, still smiling through eyes that hadn't quite stopped watering.
his own smile returned. "because my fiancée is waiting."
the single word spread through the arena faster than any spike he'd hit all season. "...fiancée?"
"what?"
"since when?"
"did he just—"
"wait...did nanami kento get engaged during the championship ceremony?"
by the time the reporters recovered enough to chase after him with microphones raised, he was already gone, disappearing beneath the stands with his hand firmly intertwined with yours, leaving behind a championship celebration that, somehow, had just become his second happiest memory of the day.
by the time the two of you arrived at the ward office, the afternoon had already begun settling into the gentle lull that came just before the office started to completely close. the championship arena felt impossibly distant now.
less than thirty minutes ago, confetti had been raining from the rafters while thousands of voices echoed through the stadium. reporters had been calling kento's name from every direction, teammates had been lifting him onto their shoulders, and cameras had captured every second of university of tokyo's historic victory.
now, the loudest sound was the quiet hum of the automatic doors sliding open for residents coming and going. the parking lot was nearly empty.
the evening sun cast long shadows across the concrete as kento eased the car into one of the vacant spaces nearest the entrance. he shifted the gear into park before glancing toward the digital clock mounted beside the building.
4:41 p.m.
you followed his gaze. "...you actually calculated the drive correctly."
he switched off the engine with the same calm expression he'd worn throughout the afternoon. "well what did i tell you, sweetheart? i'm prepared. i even accounted for post-match traffic."
"of course you did." your laughter came easily now. "did you also account for traffic lights?"
"yes." he answers you, almost too honestly.
"pedestrian crossings?"
"i did think of that too, yes."
"unexpected construction?"
"there wasn't any reported."
"there's no way." you couldn't believe this. "within the game?"
"there was breaks in between, i was on my phone checking."
you eyes widened. "that's why you were on your phone? i thought you were texting your mom! that's what you told me!"
"well, i mean....this was a surprise, so i wasn't keen about it leaking out." he smiles at you sheepishly. "forgive the white lie, sweetheart."
you covered your face with one hand. "i'm marrying someone impossible."
"presumably."
despite the answer, there was the faintest upward curve at the corner of his mouth. for a moment, neither of you moved. the silence wasn't awkward. it was simply....you don't know how to put it. but all youcould think about was the word full. this day, this moment, this want to have commitment to each other. it just felt full.
today was full of so many things to be grateful for. so many things to have smiles and happy tears for. kento's career taking off, his proposal, your love. everything about makes you feel so satisfied. it wasn't just your heart that was full, but your soul too.
the fact that, somehow, after years of quietly building a future together one ordinary day at a time, you had reached the point where the next step was waiting just beyond the windshield.
"...i still can't believe you planned this."
he rested one hand atop the steering wheel. "i planned the paperwork."
"you planned considerably more than the paperwork, dear. you're just underselling yourself just now."
he thought about correcting you. instead, he admitted. "...okay, perhaps i did do more than that."
you turned in your seat to face him fully. "you planned everything, my dearest. the roads, the traffic, the time, the documents, hell even our parents being our witnesses on the document. tell me, kento, dear....what didn't you plan?"
that finally made him pause. his warm caramel-tinted gaze drifted toward your intertwined reflections in the windshield before settling back on you. his answer came quietly.
"...,,,you." your smile faltered at his response."i couldn't plan your answer. so i was just hoping for the best. sweetheart, you could love me and still not be prepared to marry me. and that would be fine, sweetheart. but i was just hoping, that maybe, this would be the moment. and you would choose me, like i choose you."
everything inside your chest seemed to tighten all at once. because he was right. for all the meticulous preparation, all the schedules and checklists and carefully organized folders sitting in the back seat... there had always been one thing completely beyond his control. and it was whether you would choose him.
he had prepared for marriage with the same diligence he prepared for championship matches, but unlike volleyball, there had been no strategy capable of guaranteeing victory. there was only hope in him. there was only hopeful wishing that you would choose him the way he chooses you.
slowly, you reached across the center console until your fingers found his. he immediately turned his hand over so your fingers could intertwine naturally with his. the two of you look at each other's interwtined fingers, before looking at each other's eyes.
"...you know, dearest...." you murmured, tracing absent circles across the back of his hand with your thumb, "that might actually be the most romantic thing you've ever said."
he looked genuinely surprised. "...is it really?"
"by quite a lot." you nodded at him. "no men would be like that, no men would be like you. like this."
"......i've had practice."
"not nearly enough."
he considered that with complete seriousness. "...probably."
you laughed again. "don't sound so disappointed in yourself."
"i wasn't."
"then why do you sound like you're reviewing constructive criticism?"
"......because i am." he admits to you.
you shook your head affectionately "you're unbelievable, aren't you? you're fine the way you are."
"that's what you said ten minutes ago."
"and i'm saying it again." you tell him. "but focus on the last part. you're fine the way you are, kento. i love you, like you love me. i choose you, like you choose me. this is for forever, okay? you and you, you're my favorite prayer."
this time, he smiled without trying to hide it, warm and small. it was almost so boyishily sheepish. "and now who's acting romantic all the sudden?"
you laugh softly. "only with you."
it was astonishing how different that smile looked from the composed expression he'd worn while accepting a national championship trophy only an hour earlier. the cameras had captured the middle blocker. but this smile belonged only to you.
together, you stepped out of the car. his volleyball shoes clicked softly against the pavement as he walked around to your side, waiting without saying a word until you joined him. he still hadn't changed. he thinks there simply hadn't been time.
his university jersey remained damp from nearly three hours on the court, the fabric wrinkled where sweat had dried against it. athletic tape still wrapped around the fingers of his right hand, and the scrape across his knee had darkened slightly beneath the arena dust.
around his neck hung the championship medal. gold caught the late afternoon sunlight each time it shifted against his chest. you looked at it for a moment before looking at him.
"...you're really getting married in your volleyball uniform, hm?"
he glanced down at himself. "...i suppose i am. you're still wearing your university department jacket."
"it's certainly memorable for the two of us to stare at in the future." you grinned at him. "we're both fine the way we are though."
"i hadn't packed a suit."
"well, i hadn't packed a dress." you tell him, kissing his cheek to calm him. "it's okay. we look amazing."
"......we'll do a big wedding in the future, okay?"
you shake your head at him. you reached over and brushed invisible lint from the shoulder of his jersey anyway. "we don't need to. i like this. this is our wedding. it's you and me. this is best. and besides, i happen to think you're very handsome this way."
a faint flush appeared across the bridge of his nose. "...thank you., sweetheart."
"you're welcome, husband."
his ears turned slightly pink. "...not quite yet."
"give it five minutes. you'll soak into it."
the automatic doors parted with a soft mechanical chime as the two of you entered. inside, the ward office was exactly what every ward office in japan always seemed to be. it was exuberantly bright and immaculately clean. it was completely, comfortably ordinary.
fluorescent lights reflected softly against polished floors while electronic queue numbers chimed quietly overhead. residents sat patiently in orderly rows of chairs, waiting to renew residence records, submit family registry documents, register births, or collect certificates before closing time.
an elderly man carefully folded today's newspaper. there was a university student on the side hurriedly filled out paperwork while checking answers on her phone. a young couple stood near one counter with a sleeping baby nestled against the father's shoulder.
life continued at its own gentle rhythm. there were no flowers. no music. no decorated aisle waiting for the two of you. it was only the quiet heartbeat of everyday japan that lingered. and somehow... it felt exactly right.
because marriage, your father had once told you, wasn't the wedding. it was everything that came after. and this is why, this is why everything else doesn't matter. as long as you live a happily fulfilled life with kento, then that's what's going to make a marriage.
when your number was called, the two of you approached the family registry counter together. the clerk greeted you with a practiced smile and a polite bow. "good afternoon. how may i help you today?"
kento returned the bow before carefully placing the document folder onto the counter with both hands. "we'd like to submit our marriage registration."
the clerk accepted it with the same professionalism she'd shown hundreds of applicants before you. then she opened it. her eyebrows lifted almost immediately. it was extremely prestine and neatly tucked.
every required document was present. the marriage registration form had been completed without a single correction mark. identification documents had already been photocopied. all the family registry records were current.
on the corner, the witness signatures had been neatly completed weeks earlier by two close friends who had simply trusted kento when he'd asked them for a favor. every page rested inside its own transparent sleeve. small adhesive tabs labeled each section. there was even an extra set of photocopies.
the clerk looked up. "...you've prepared everything, it would seem, sir."
kento inclined his head slightly. "i wanted to avoid causing unnecessary inconvenience."
she smiled. "well, i can see that, sir. well done."
"thank you, i pride myself in what i did."
the woman nodded. "yes, i'm sure you do."
as she carefully reviewed the documents, another employee happened to pass behind the counter. her eyes drifted toward the gold medal resting against kento's chest. her movements slowed. she looked again. "...excuse me, sir."
kento turned politely. "yes?"
"...are you nanami kento?"
"i am."
"from the university of tokyo? the ones who just won the varsity league championships?"
"yes, uh, the very same one."
the employee looked from the medal then the marriage registration and then back again. she looks even more perplexed. "...didn't you just win?"
"this afternoon." kento nodded. "well, a few minutes ago, but yeah. we just won."
"...and you came straight here?"
kento answered without hesitation. "yes. my fiancee and i just wanted to get married as soon as possible. so here we are."
the employee laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "...i don't think i've ever seen someone come directly from a national championship to submit a marriage registration."
kento considered that. "...neither have i. but there's always going to be someone who does it first, don't you think?"
the employee smiled. "...well. i suppose that's true." she bowed her head. "congratulations."
there was no distinction made between the medal around his neck and the documents resting on the counter. somehow, both achievements seemed equally worthy of celebration. a few minutes later, the clerk carefully aligned the paperwork one final time before reaching for the official seal. the room fell strangely quiet. then, the sound hits. thunk.
the sound was almost disappointingly ordinary. it was just ink meeting paper. it was just one deliberate stamp, like all the others. nothing more. the clerk looked up with a gentle smile. you and kento looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear.
"your marriage registration has been accepted." she says to you both. "congratulations on your marriage."
the word accepted, it was always such a small administrative word. it was thrown around in all the offices here and there. and yet, with it, your family register changed forever. so did your future.
the two of you bowed instinctively to the clerk. "thank you very much."
when you stepped back outside, the evening breeze carried away the lingering warmth of the day. for several moments neither of you spoke. there was no need.
your hands found each other naturally. your footsteps fell into the same rhythm they always had. except now, there were rings on your left hand's fourth finger. and the person walking beside you wasn't simply nanami kento. he was more than that. he was everything. he was your husband.
after a while, he glanced sideways."...so, mrs. nanami."
you looked up at him, unable to hide the smile already forming on your lips. "...you're trying it already?"
"i wanted to know how it sounded."
"and?" you asked, your fingers tightening ever so slightly around his. "how does it make you feel?"
he didn't answer immediately. instead, he looked ahead at the road stretching before the two of you, the city drifting by outside the windows in familiar scenes that somehow looked entirely different now. pedestrians waited patiently at crosswalks.
the abdundance of office workers hurried toward the station before the evening trains filled. somewhere in the distance, the golden glow of sunset reflected off rows of glass buildings. it was so ordinary. everything around you remained wonderfully, beautifully ordinary. and yet neither of you would ever be quite the same again.
"...it sounds right, sweetheart." he finally said. "finally, my beautiful, intelligent girlfriend, no more. only my beautiful, intelligent wife."
his voice was quiet and certain. everything in its tenor held the same certainty that had carried him through championship matches, difficult examinations, and every decision that had led him here. and perhaps even more certain. because there was nothing more certain in his life than you.
"...if anything, it feels..." he searched for the word with unusual care before a small smile settled onto his lips. "...great. no, no, magnificent."
you couldn't help laughing softly. "that's a very kento way of describing one of the happiest moments of your life."
"...is it?" he smiles softly.
"it is." you nodded.
he accepted the observation with a small nod before continuing. "i know you'll continue using your family name professionally."
"i will."
your degree. your circle of historical research. the papers you hoped to publish one day. your name had become part of that future long before today, and neither of you had ever seen a reason to change it. he had never asked. you had never needed to explain.
he understood, he always has. and he would never ask for you to change anything. you earned it on your own. your achievements maybe shared in happiness, but they will always be yours. he had no right to them. and you were grateful for that.
"but..." he continued, his thumb absentmindedly brushing over your knuckles. "i know that for everything else..." his smile softened into something almost impossibly tender. "mrs. kento that rings quite lovely..."
"does it really?" you question him, bright eyed.
he shook his head almost imperceptibly, as though the words themselves still felt too precious to say too loudly. "yes, sweetheart .it sounds beautiful. as beautiful as you."
your heart swelled until it almost hurt. you turned toward him fully, studying the quiet happiness resting so naturally on his face. "...i love you so much."
"i love you too, wife."
"ah, the way you call me that." your voice barely rose above a whisper. "it sounds so tender....." you laughed softly, wiping at the tears threatening the corners of your eyes once again with your free hand. "...it sounds gorgeous coming from you."
"then i'll keep saying it." he says to you, smiling wide. "forever and ever."
"then keep your promise, okay?" your gaze drifted down to where your hands rested together between the two seats. "i'll keep mine too. i'll continue being with you too...." you intertwined your fingers more firmly against his arm. "being with my husband forever."
the word lingered on your tongue. husband. you'd said it only moments ago. it still felt wonderfully unreal. kento could feel his heart swell from those words. "you really make me feel happy, wife."
"i hope you know you do the same thing, husband."
he smiled. when you both were crossing the street, you pulled at him with the hand wrapped on his arm. he couldn't help but look down as he stared at his wedding finger, then at your own. his caramel eyes couldn't help be glued to them.
there was that shining, shimmering silver ring you had slipped on, the one he had so eagerly bought. it was so simple and yet they were the most beautiful thing you both owned. kento gently turned his hand, watching the silver catch the fading sunlight filtering through.
his thumb brushed across it almost absentmindedly. "...this is beautiful."
not the ring. at least not really. you knew exactly what he meant. this moment. this eagerness to get back into the car and drive home. to a house you will share together. the silence between conversations. the warmth of your hand resting in his. the knowledge that there was no longer any distance between the future he'd imagined and the life he was now living.
you smiled, unable to stop yourself. "...we're married, so happily so, dearest kento."
he looked at you again. this time, there was no hesitation. "...we're married and happily so too, sweetheart."
you laughed quietly. "i keep expecting someone to tell us we forgot another form."
"we didn't. don't worry, i made sure of it."
"i know, i know, my husband is thorough."
he snickers. "of course i am. i'm not letting anyone ruin this for us."
you smiled wider. "did you check twice?"
".....of course i did."
"i know you checked twice." you giggled. "i know who you are."
"...three times." his brows furrowed. "actually, i think even more than that."
that earned him another laugh from you. "of course you did."
his shoulders rose in the smallest shrug. "it seemed responsible. i wanted to start out our marriage like that. i didn't want to fail my wife."
"it was." you leaned your head gently against his shoulder. "you'll never fail me, husband. i know you won't."
he sighed happily, content as you said those words. he leans down slightly and kisses the top of your head. "i love you so much."
"i love you too." you tell him as you stopped by where your car is. "and really, thank you."
he blinked. "for what, sweetheart?"
"for choosing me, silly." you whispered to him. "for all our lives."
he looked genuinely puzzled. he sighs and shakes his head, smiling. "there was never anyone else. and there will be no one else. only you. you and you only."
your breath caught. he said it so simply, without spectacle, without trying too hard to be romantic. he said it as though it were the most obvious fact in the world. but you knew that to him, it simply was. loving you was the most truthful fact in the world to him.
you smiled to yourself. "...i'm very lucky."
his fingers intertwined with yours, as he frees his arms from your touch. he lifts your hand, where the ring lays and smiles. "no, sweetheart. i'm the lucky one."
outside, tokyo continued toward another ordinary evening.
inside the quiet car, two university students drove home as husband and wife for the very first time. they were both skipping the victory banquet. they were heading to enjoy the bliss, enjoy the quiet happiness of being married.
but neither of them realized it then. years later, when people inevitably asked about their wedding, neither of them would begin with the championship. they would begin with the drive home.
because that was the first time they had truly understood that there would be countless more drives like this one. there would be more drives after long days at work, after grocery shopping, after holidays, after arguments, after celebrations, after children had fallen asleep in the back seat.
imagining that time in college when the up and coming economics major nanami kento realized that he wanted to marry you, his history major girlfriend as he soon as he landed from that spectacular block in that specific volleyball game in that specific season of his volleyball career.
everything was hot in the arena. his vision was a bit hazy as he got down on the wooden floors. if he was being honest, he doesn't remember much about the game anymore. he only remembers what happened in the end, because he thinks he blacked out in the midst of it. but he supposed that didn't matter. what matters is he remembers everything else after.
the championship point ended exactly the way everyone expected it would, as he expected. with nanami kento at the net. the opposing setter had committed to the outside hitter after noticing university of tokyo's backcourt shift toward the line. if one was being fair, it was a good read as much as it was a smart read.
unfortunately for them, they had forgotten one inconvenient fact and that was the university of tokyo's blond haired middle blocker had spent the entire season studying hitters the way other students studied textbooks.
kento's eyes drifted. three steps. then one glance at the attacker's shoulder. he had slightly shifted of the wrist. okay, good. he took a deep breath. that was all he needed. it wasn't long till kenro moved before the set even hit its apex. he couldn't be more proud. his jump was clean, his hands pressed over the tape with that same textbook precision he had been trying to mastee.
he could see the look on his opposition's face. he couldn't help but grin at him as he spike met his palms with a resounding crack before being driven straight back into the opponent's court. there was no touch, there was no recovery. it was just the loudest, thunderous tenor from the ball that droppedon the hardwood.
the whistle came a heartbeat later from the referee. "match, tokyo!"
for a second, the packed university arena stood frozen. but just half a heartbeat later, twenty thousand people erupted. blue and white confetti burst from the rafters while the university of tokyo pep band nearly drowned beneath the deafening cheers. almost all the students leapt over rows of seats.
the former senpais and the other alumni who came all this way to support their team all but embraced complete strangers, cheering with pride. somewhere in the stands, someone had already begun waving an enormous banner with all the team members's names plastered on dark black ink.
"NANAMI KENTO!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT? HE BLOCKED IT!"
"MVP! GOLDEN HAND!"
"NUMBER SEVEN!"
"YO YUUJI'S CRYING!"
"I CANT BELIEVE MEGUMI'S SMILING!"
"CAPTAIN SUKUNA, LETS GO!"
"YO IS GOJO CRYING?"
"GETO'S WIPING HIS FACE, WAH! SO HANDSOME!"
"HAHAHAHA HAIBARA NEARLY FELL!"
his teammates were on him before his feet had fully landed. he couldn't breathe in the force of masculine muscle and flesh, feeling their sweat, tears and joys all over him. rowdy voices piping back and forth, cheering shakily, sobbing joyously. he wanted to speak up and tell them that it was nothing special, to get off him. but even he knew how special, how momentous this moment was for them. so in the end, mind, heart and soul, he just took it. like any other one of them would.
"yo, kento!" yu haibara laughed as he practically yanked his head as he pats it. "you actually did it!"
"we actually did it, its a team match." nanami kento pipes up and corrects, steadying him despite nearly being knocked over. "it was just a block at the end."
"ah, what are you talking about, senpai?" yuuji pipes up, grinning ear to ear as he pats his senior's back. "your efforts are the ones that made us get this win! give yourself some credit!"
megumi nodded, sweat dripping sown his face. he looks like hes catching his breath as he taps kento on his shoulder. "your block saved the match, senpai. accept the praise, already."
vice captain gojo satoru laughs, as he annoyingly and playfully pats kento's back. "i doubt this scrooge will actually accept any praise! he didn't even react when he got an academic award from the economics faculty!"
"i don't appreciate you patting me that way, gojo-senpai." the blond could only grumble.
satoru all but laughs. "come on, have an exception! you did a great job today, so live a little!"
"i can try if you aren't being annoying."
"The reporters are already lining up!" haibara noted as he looked to his right. "i guess they're excited to talk to kento."
"no kidding there." suguru snorted. " but then again, half the people in suits down there aren't even pretending they're not scouts."
suguru wasn't lying. kento looked at where they sat. the men in suits were awfully bad at blending in. the tunnel leading beneath the arena had become crowded with executives from nearly every club in v.league. some of the team managers, their agents, their sponsors, photographers, broadcasters. they had all descended upon the court before the medal ceremony had even begun.
kento was certain that many of his friends were going to be plucked. satoru and sukuna especially. satoru might be tempted, though. he's been itching to play in the bigger leagues. sukuna's holding off till graduation. he says that his girlfriend's dad expects him to have a degree to stay with his daughter, so he'll probably delay his graduation for another year and say no. kento knew he would be asked too.
technically, though...they were a too late. he'd already said yes. he's one of them now. months before the championship, he'd quietly signed a professional contract with one of the strongest v.league clubs in the country. he was sure once the announcement comes out, it will cause weeks of headlines. after all, he's the first to make the decision to go pro. even before his senpais.
he still has to finish college, of course. he promised that to his parents when he talked to them about this. he only this one year left, anyway. and he'd talked with the varsity team and the university itself. they've given him an exception, so long as he doesn't forget his responsibilties to the team. and he readily agreed with that.
if he was being honest, he had no idea how any of it was supposed to work. he knew that the reporters would only keep asking about his professional debut as though it were the only thing waiting for him after each and every day.
they'll speak about contracts, preseason training, expectations, sponsorships, the future of japanese volleyball, as if his life could be divided neatly into the aftermath of this championship and the future that comes with becoming a pro.
that's why all he could think in his mind is that it couldn't.
it wouldn't be possible to do it without any sacrifices.
let alone be able to cope with while keeping his condition.
there was still a thesis sitting half-finished on his laptop that his adviser expected before graduation. there were seminars he couldn't afford to miss, meetings with his research group, paperwork that came with completing a degree, and the inevitable stack of administrative forms that every graduating student seemed destined to drown beneath.
and then there was volleyball.
training camps would begin almost immediately after the university season ended. team orientations. medical examinations. sponsor appearances. tactical meetings with coaches he'd only spoken to over video calls. learning an entirely new system, earning the trust of veterans who had spent years in the league, proving that he deserved the contract with every jump, every block, every swing.
the schedule in his head was already beginning to overlap until there hardly seemed to be enough hours left in a day. objectively, it sounded exhausting. objectively, it probably was.
for a brief moment, he wondered if people ever regretted reaching the dreams they had chased for so long. not because the dream itself disappointed them, but because no one ever mentioned how heavy it became once it finally rested in your hands. then, almost as quickly as the thought arrived, it disappeared.
because if there was one thing nanami kento had never been, it was someone who retreated simply because the path ahead looked difficult. he had spent years waking before sunrise for practice, dragging himself into lectures with sore shoulders and bruised knees, catching trains between away games and exams, memorizing offensive rotations one hour and academic citations the next.
every season had demanded something impossible until, somehow, it became ordinary. he had learned long ago that there was rarely a perfect balance. and ever since you had come into his life, you simply made one. and somehow...he always followed through with the harmony of that balance.
perhaps not gracefully. perhaps not without sacrificing sleep, free weekends, and whatever little remained of a normal college life. but he would make it work. he always found a way. especially now. especially because, for the first time in years, he wasn't carrying those ambitions alone.
every impossible schedule, every anxious night before examinations, every difficult decision about his future somehow felt...everything felt lighter whenever he thought about you. you had become the person he unconsciously searched for after every match.
the first person he wanted to tell whenever something good happened. the quiet place his thoughts wandered back to whenever the noise around him became too loud. you were the person who kept him ont he earth. you were his anchor in his tumulteous seas. the one constant that remained steady while everything else in his life seemed determined to move faster with each passing day.
the person he loved more than anyone else in the world.
without realizing it, kento's attention drifted away from the cameras still flashing in front of him. his warm caramel eyes wandered across the sea of faces filling the arena's upper stands, just above where he is. he finds himself skimming over rows of cheering students, waving school banners, parents embracing one another, teammates' families wiping tears from their eyes.
the blue and white confetti still floated lazily through the rafters, catching the arena lights like falling stars, making it almost impossible to distinguish one face from another. still, he searched. he was not one to give up just yet. not when it came to you. so patiently, following his instincts, in this room full of people, he'll look for you.
all the sudden, a microphone appeared in front of him. "nanami-senshu! is there a few words you can lend to our ears about that final block?"
"it was the right read." he says, still distracted as he's looking for you.
"how does it feel winning another collegiate championship?"
"we prepared well.....thanks to ryomen-senshu and everyone else, we were able to, uh....to pull through."
"were you expecting to be named tournament mvp?"
"if i am, then it's because the team played well enough to make my job easier and not the other way around." the reporter blinked.
"...could you elaborate?"
"no." he says as he leans to the side, eyes narrowing.
"...i....i see." the reporter tried to gather their composure. "uh, one final thing, nanami-senshu. is there anything you'd like to say to your supporters?"
he was about to say something, until his eyes landed on someone standing near the university section. his caramel colored eyes start to shine as the sight of you comes alive before him. you were so beautiful before him, almost like the star in the sky that brings one out of the darkness.
it wasn't long before he notices that he has been staring at you too long. the reporter seemed to be both flustered and intrigued. kento clears his throat, feeling heat echo through his cheeks. "uh, last word to our fans....yes...thank you for everyone supporting us. please continue to support us in all of our endeavours!"
after kento made that bow with his final word, he quickly thanked the reporter and left, trying to get close you, like a rock on the space wanting to get closer to your orbit. you were still wearing your history department cardigan over your clothes after rushing from an afternoon seminar.
you must have had a class before this, he thinks. your leather satchel hung over one shoulder, several books protruding from the top. he could only make out some of them. medieval legal systems, japanese historiography, and a notebook filled with lecture notes you'd been annotating before the match started.
the moment he saw you closer, something softened. most people wouldn't have noticed, of course. but you would. you would notice everything. from the way his exhaustion eased, to the way his eyes shone when he was close to you, to the way the corners of his mouth lifted just slightly.
it wasn't long before several cameras abruptly swung in his direction. someone inside the broadcasting booth most definitely laughed when they realized what had stolen the university famed blocker attention away from the reporters surrounding him.
the lenses followed his line of sight almost instinctively, panning away from the championship celebration to search the crowded bleachers for whoever had managed to distract nanami kento only moments after winning the biggest match of his collegiate career.
he didn't notice. or perhaps he did, and simply couldn't bring himself to care. the interviews could wait. the cameras could wait. every congratulatory handshake, every microphone, every question about his future in professional volleyball could wait. all of it could wait. but not you. never you.
his gaze remained fixed on the stands until it finally landed on you. you were halfway through congratulating one of your friends when they noticed where he was looking. they blinked, glanced toward the court, and immediately nudged your shoulder with a grin. confused, you turned to follow their gaze.
the moment your eyes met his, the noise of the arena seemed to disappear. his tired smile softened into something quieter, something infinitely more genuine than anything he had offered the cameras all afternoon.
your own expression mirrored his before you could stop it. your face lit up with a smile so bright that it almost rivaled the championship lights hanging from the rafters.
without another thought, you hurried toward the railing separating the lower stands from the court, weaving through rows of cheering students until you were standing as close to him as security would allow.
back in the commentary booth, one of the broadcasters chuckled into his headset. "i don't think we've lost him to the media now, have we?"
his co-commentator laughed softly before shaking his head. "no, i don't think so. it's a different kind of loss." there was something almost fond in his voice as the cameras zoomed closer. "the better kind, if you ask me. because no amount of interviews or championships is ever going to compete with the person he loves most."
standing beneath the glaring arena lights, kento looked nothing like the polished promotional photos that would appear in tomorrow's newspapers. his sandy blond hair had long since escaped whatever order it had started the match with, damp strands sticking to his forehead from nearly three relentless hours on the court.
his large university jersey clung to him, darkened with sweat across his shoulders and back, while athletic tape wrapped securely around the fingers of his right hand after months of wear and tear that came with being one of japan's best middle blockers.
a faint scrape stained one knee where he'd thrown himself across the hardwood midway through the third set to keep an impossible ball alive with a desperate pancake save. intense exhaustion lingered in every part of him, from the slight rise and fall of his chest to the sheen of perspiration catching beneath the arena lights.
he looked like someone who desperately needed a shower. he looked like someone whose muscles would ache tomorrow. he looked utterly spent. and yet, to you, to the person who loved him more than anyone else ever could, he had never looked more beautiful.
this was the face of every early morning practice, every missed holiday, every lecture attended on aching legs, every bruise hidden beneath knee pads, every sacrifice that had quietly accumulated over years until they became this single moment.
he looked victorious.
he looked extraordinary.
he also looked like home.
you couldn't help the smile that spread across your face. "congratulations, dearest love of my life." you said softly, your voice carrying just enough for him to hear through the lingering cheers. "you did it!"
his own smile widened almost imperceptibly. "you came."
there was no surprise in the words, only quiet relief. "you asked me to. and i had the time window so, of course i'll come! who wouldn't come and support their lover, hm?"
"I know you would do anything to be here."
"of course i would." you whispered, loud enough for only him to hear. "i love you the most."
for a moment, neither of you said anything else. he simply looked at you, committing your face to memory amidst the confetti, the roaring crowd, and the flashing cameras. then, with the same quiet certainty he approached nearly everything in his life, he opened his arms.
you didn't care about the barriers separating you both and ran towards him, before stepped into his arms without the slightest hesitation. his embrace wrapped around you with familiar strength, warm despite the cool air-conditioning flooding the arena.
for a brief second the championship celebration disappeared entirely. it was just the two of you standing at the edge of the court while thousands of people celebrated around you. you couldn't help but laugh. your cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and his jersey was absolutely drenched.
"kento, dear."
"hm?"
"you're absolutely soaked."
his answer came without missing a beat. "i've been playing volleyball."
you pulled back just enough to look at him, amusement dancing in your eyes. "i had noticed."
his lips curved upward. "you don't seem to mind."
you smiled, tightening your arms around him anyway. "i'll survive."
a quiet laugh escaped him, low enough that it was almost lost beneath the arena's celebration. it wasn't the polite laugh he offered reporters or the restrained chuckle teammates occasionally earned after practice. this one was softer, gentler, the kind of laugh that belonged only to the moments he shared with you.
"i missed you."
you raised an eyebrow. "you've only been on the court for three hours."
"it was a long three hours."
"you saw me every time you rotated to the service line."
"I know."
"and yet?"
"and yet....."
you shook your head fondly before reaching up to brush several damp strands of blond hair away from his forehead. they immediately threatened to fall back into place. "you played beautifully, though. as expected of my dearest boyfriend."
he gave a small shake of his head. "i made mistakes."
"you also won."
"we won."
you smiled. "you blocked the final spike."
"my job was to block."
"you keep making your job sound terribly unremarkable."
"it usually is."
"it really isn't."
his eyes lingered on yours, quiet and unwavering, while the celebration continued around the two of you. somewhere behind him, his teammates had already begun gathering near the championship podium.
officials arranged medals in neat rows while arena staff hurried into position, and over the loudspeakers the announcer once again called for the university of tokyo's captain to report for the presentation ceremony.
but nanami kento didn't move. instead, he simply continued looking at you as though there wasn't another soul inside the arena. then, in the same calm, matter-of-fact tone he might have used to ask whether you wanted coffee after class or if you'd remembered to bring an umbrella, he asked,
"[name], would you marry me?"
you stared at him. your mind went completely blank in that moment. "...what?"
"i was wondering, my beloved human in this entire world, if you would have the honor of...." he stops himself before he continued, as though he were asking whether you wanted coffee after class instead of altering the course of both your lives, "being my one and only wife."
you could only blink at him. "........nanami kento."
"yes?"
"you've just won the biggest championship of your career thus far."
"that i have, yes."
"you're extremely dehydrated."
"possibly."
"you've been hit in the face with a volleyball twice today."
he frowned ever so slightly. "only once. i counted."
you stared. "that is the detail you decided to correct?"
"accuracy is important, sweetheart. that's what we need for economics. otherwise the numbers will be awful."
you let out a disbelieving laugh before gesturing helplessly toward him. "you're exhausted. and delirious."
"i've been more tired and delirious than this, sweetheart. i mean what i say."
"you've played nearly three hours of volleyball."
he nodded. "that is correct, yes."
"your adrenaline is still through the roof, i'm pretty sure." you pointed out, narrow eyed. "incredibly full of adrenaline."
"more than likely. i mean, im no science major, but that's how the body works, yes."
you narrowed your eyes more. "yeah, i think you are definitely concussed."
"i've already completed the concussion protocol."
"you completed—"
"the medical staff cleared me, already sweetheart. don't be tense." he says, kissing the top of your head. "i'm alright."
"dearest, that really doesn't excuse the fact that you need rest."
he considered that for exactly half a second before nodding. "that can wait until we get home together."
your heart skipped. "home?"
"and married." he nodded back at you.
you opened your mouth, then closed it. you found yourself feeing it opened it again. "okay, i'm tryingto calm down. this is real...........you are proposing to me. this is real. oh fuck. you're proposing to me in your sweaty uniform and your sweaty hair and your possibly concussed head."
"i am." he nodded seriously.
"here, in this arena, full of dirty sweat on the floor that's making the confetti stick."
"yes."
"still covered in sweat."
"unfortunately."
"in front of several thousand people."
he glanced around for the first time since finding you in the crowd, as though only now remembering that the arena was still packed with spectators, cameras, teammates, reporters, and tournament officials. "...i hadn't intended for there to be quite this many witnesses."
you simply looked at him. he looked back with complete sincerity, not a trace of embarrassment crossing his face. "there isn't even a ring."
"i know. but that can be dealt with, it's in my bag."
"you didn't kneel."
his eyes drifted toward the hardwood court beneath his shoes. "you already pointed it out, sweetheart. the floor is rather dirty."
"nanami kento."
"yes?"
"this is possibly the least conventional proposal anyone has ever received."
he nodded thoughtfully. "i suspected as much. but i've decided. this was just the perfect moment. i thought about it when i landed the final block."
"you what?"
"that's the truth, that's how it clicked for me that i've gotta marry you today."
despite yourself, laughter escaped you. you pressed a hand against your forehead, shaking your head as tears of amusement began gathering in the corners of your eyes.
"when exactly did you decide this?"
"a few months ago."
your head snapped up. "...a few months?"
"i wanted to wait until after the season, but i could never find the right time when we weren't busy and again, i thought about it during the final block." he says to you, smiling. "i thought to myself, there's not a great day coming. it's only now."
"so this isn't because you won."
"no, not at all."
"if you'd lost today?"
there wasn't even a moment's hesitation when he replied. "i still would've asked."
your expression softened. "you would've?"
his answer was so matter-of-fact that it almost made you laugh again. "i've been carrying the paperwork in my satchel for the past two weeks. i got it when i came back from my night shift at work."
"...paperwork?" your eyes widened.
he took you to where the university of tokyo benches were. when you got there, you looked at him fiddling about for his satchel bag. before long, you watched him bend down toward the sports bag resting beside his feet.
after unzipping one of the inner compartments, he carefully withdrew a slim document folder, its edges perfectly aligned despite having traveled with him to practices, matches, and away games. he handed it to you.
inside was exactly what he had said. it was the printed requirements for a civil marriage application. there were photocopies of identification documents. the application forms. tucked neatly into the front sleeve, a handwritten checklist organized in his impossibly tidy handwriting. he goes to the side pocket and he pulls out a small box. he opens it, and smiles.
"i can't wear mine a lot, since i play a lot. but i'll wear it as a chain on my neck."
you slowly looked up at him. it wasn't a question._ "you made a checklist for this."
"i find them useful. you know how i am, sweetheart."
of course he did. on the list, there were boxes carefully labeled. the first was obtain required documents. then bring identification. below it was verify witnesses. then there was confirm office hours.
your lips twitched. "kento."
"yes?"
"......you made us a marriage checklist."
"yes." he nodded back at you. "i took care of everything, it's just the matter of going."
".......and who are our witnessses?"
he points to the document. "your dad and my mom. they'll be there, but they already signed the documents for us to submit."
you feel touched. "you asked my dad?"
"i did." he nodded, smiling softly. "he was so happy to know that i want to ask for his permission, even though i didn't have to. he wants me to take good care of you."
you felt tears forming on your eyes. "he didn't tell me."
"well, sweetheart, i was going to be a surprise."
you wiped the tears away. "that's stupid."
he laughs slightly. "not when its making you happy."
"how can you tell?"
"because the love in your eyes is real, just as its real on mine." he whispers to you. "i love you. and i wanna spend the rest of my life with you."
you sigh contently, looking at him and kissing his cheek. "you're a lot, aren't you?"
"i know i am."
"i love you." you whispered to him. "i love you so much."
he kisses your temple, his free hand patting your hair. "i love you so much too, sweetheart."
"......what time does the city hall close?"
"five p.m. sharp." almost on instinct, you glanced at your watch. it was 4:15 p.m. when you looked back up, he was already doing the math in his head. "don't worry too much."
"we have to catch a cab—"
"...there's enough time, sweetheart, don't worry." he said with complete confidence. "provided we leave within the next ten minutes. i have my car on campus too. no need for a cab."
"you....i can't believe this." you stared at him for another long moment. "you planned the route too, didn't you?"
"i accounted for traffic."
".........you accounted for traffic. every bit of it?"
"i mean, yes. it does seemed prudent if i do."
this time, you couldn't stop yourself. laughter burst out of you so suddenly that you had to grip the railing for balance. your shoulders shook as you looked at the man standing in front of you. this man, the newly crowned collegiate champion, tournament mvp, future player in the v.league and somehow the most impressive thing he'd accomplished all day wasn't winning a national championship.
to you, in that moment, it was the fact that he loved you so much that he was planning a marriage application with military precision and planning it as a surprise for you. it was so unmistakably him.
there were no fireworks, there was no hidden violinists. there was no dramatic speeches about fate or destiny. there was no elaborate surprises. it was just the quiet, tenderness that comes with loving someone, with this careful preparation, practical considerations, color-coded documents......but also, with genuine love, full of absolute certainty.
he reached for your hand with the same quiet confidence he'd shown every time he stepped onto a volleyball court. his fingers slipped between yours naturally, as though they'd always belonged there. "i've already signed my contract to go pro soon."
you nodded. "i know. we talked about it."
"my salary is sufficient from my current job to keep us afloat."
"i know that."
"you'll finish your history degree soon."
"yes, that's coming too."
"i'll finish mine soon too."
"you will."
"we both already have employment."
another nod comes from you. "i know. you at a marketing place, me at a museum."
his thumb brushed gently across your knuckles. "our schedules will become more complicated."
"they will." you whisper back at him.
"there will be days when we hardly see each other."
"i know that. we talked about that too."
"i've thought about all of that with you. only you." there was no fear in his voice. only quiet conviction. "but none of it changed my answer. i want to be your husband. i want this to be forever."
your vision blurred all the sudden. he gave your hand the gentlest squeeze. "...so..." his voice softened just enough that only you could hear it over the cheering crowd. "if you would allow me the honor...would you like to get married before city office closes?"
a watery laugh escaped you before you could answer. tears threatened to spill over at the same time. "you are unbelievable."
he tilted his head slightly. "i've been told that a lot of times, yes."
"you won a championship..." your voice cracked into another laugh. "...and somehow this isn't the biggest thing you want to get done today."
a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "i was hoping it wouldn't be."
you looked at him. you looked at the man who had spent years balancing lectures with practices, sleepless nights with impossible expectations, and dreams with discipline. the man who still had time to cook you your breakfast and pack you lunch.
this gentle, loving man who had time to care for you when you were sick when he himself was tired. the man who had the time to listen to you speak when you were excited about the historical facts you find out about.
the same man who was a quiet middle blocker who studied opposing hitters with the same care he'd apparently devoted to researching civil marriage requirements. the man who had planned every practical detail, but whose voice still carried the smallest hint of uncertainty.
because, for all his preparation, there was one thing he could never organize into certainty. and that was your answer. so he waited, ever so patiently. he was simply holding your hand while the entire arena continued celebrating around the two of you.
you smiled through your tears. "yes. of course. of course i'll marry you."
his expression changed so subtly that anyone else might have missed it. the tension disappeared from his shoulders. the careful composure he'd maintained throughout the entire match finally cracked, giving way to one of those rare, brilliant smiles that only ever belonged to you.
".......so, that's a yes? we're getting married?"
"yes. that's a yes." you confirmed to him. "one hundred percent, yes."
he released the quietest breath, almost imperceptible. as though he'd been holding it for weeks. before either of you could say another word, the announcer's voice echoed through the arena once more. "nanami kento-senshu! the medal ceremony is about to begin!"
kento glanced toward center court, where his teammates were already assembling. then he looked back at you. "......would you mind waiting approximately seven minutes?"
you laughed through the tears still clinging to your lashes. "for what?"
"i should probably collect the my medal and carry the trophy first."
"probably, you should. they're waiting for you."
"and then we'll go there."
"where?"
he intertwined your fingers with his once more. "city hall, silly."
"and your interviews?"
"they can wait."
"the press?"
"they'll survive without me." he snickers. "im sure the rowdy boys can be rowdy without me."
"the celebration banquet?"
"we'll make the end of it." he whispers to you. "and happily married then."
you searched his face, half expecting him to be joking. he wasn't. "you really intend to disappear from your own championship celebration......to get married?"
he looked at you as though there had never been any other possibility. "i've waited long enough."
and somehow, standing beneath drifting gold confetti while thousands of people celebrated around you, you realized he was right. the trophy could wait seven minutes. the rest of your lives didn't have to.
the medal ceremony ultimately lasted closer to nine. not because the organizers had intended it to, but because every official involved seemed to sense that the university of tokyo's middle blocker mvp had somewhere infinitely more important to be.
sukuna accepted the his trophy with both hands, bowing respectfully to each presenter. he grins looking at his girlfriend, before turning and giving it to kento. he pats kento's back, telling him to go and lift it.
kento nodded and hyped up the moment before lifting it alongside his teammates for the obligatory photographs. that seemed to please his teammates enough, seeing him be the one to lead the celebration.
it was a bit later when he accepted the tournament mvp plaque with the same composed humility he had shown throughout the season, smiled politely through exactly three interview questions, and then excused himself with an apologetic bow.
"you aren't staying for the press conference?" one reporter called after him.
"i'm afraid not. i've already sent my apologies to the team and staff for that."
"may we ask why?"
kento paused only long enough to glance toward the tunnel, where you stood waiting with both of your bags slung over one shoulder, still smiling through eyes that hadn't quite stopped watering.
his own smile returned. "because my fiancée is waiting."
the single word spread through the arena faster than any spike he'd hit all season. "...fiancée?"
"what?"
"since when?"
"did he just—"
"wait...did nanami kento get engaged during the championship ceremony?"
by the time the reporters recovered enough to chase after him with microphones raised, he was already gone, disappearing beneath the stands with his hand firmly intertwined with yours, leaving behind a championship celebration that, somehow, had just become his second happiest memory of the day.
by the time the two of you arrived at the ward office, the afternoon had already begun settling into the gentle lull that came just before the office started to completely close. the championship arena felt impossibly distant now.
less than thirty minutes ago, confetti had been raining from the rafters while thousands of voices echoed through the stadium. reporters had been calling kento's name from every direction, teammates had been lifting him onto their shoulders, and cameras had captured every second of university of tokyo's historic victory.
now, the loudest sound was the quiet hum of the automatic doors sliding open for residents coming and going. the parking lot was nearly empty.
the evening sun cast long shadows across the concrete as kento eased the car into one of the vacant spaces nearest the entrance. he shifted the gear into park before glancing toward the digital clock mounted beside the building.
4:41 p.m.
you followed his gaze. "...you actually calculated the drive correctly."
he switched off the engine with the same calm expression he'd worn throughout the afternoon. "well what did i tell you, sweetheart? i'm prepared. i even accounted for post-match traffic."
"of course you did." your laughter came easily now. "did you also account for traffic lights?"
"yes." he answers you, almost too honestly.
"pedestrian crossings?"
"i did think of that too, yes."
"unexpected construction?"
"there wasn't any reported."
"there's no way." you couldn't believe this. "within the game?"
"there was breaks in between, i was on my phone checking."
you eyes widened. "that's why you were on your phone? i thought you were texting your mom! that's what you told me!"
"well, i mean....this was a surprise, so i wasn't keen about it leaking out." he smiles at you sheepishly. "forgive the white lie, sweetheart."
you covered your face with one hand. "i'm marrying someone impossible."
"presumably."
despite the answer, there was the faintest upward curve at the corner of his mouth. for a moment, neither of you moved. the silence wasn't awkward. it was simply....you don't know how to put it. but all youcould think about was the word full. this day, this moment, this want to have commitment to each other. it just felt full.
today was full of so many things to be grateful for. so many things to have smiles and happy tears for. kento's career taking off, his proposal, your love. everything about makes you feel so satisfied. it wasn't just your heart that was full, but your soul too.
the fact that, somehow, after years of quietly building a future together one ordinary day at a time, you had reached the point where the next step was waiting just beyond the windshield.
"...i still can't believe you planned this."
he rested one hand atop the steering wheel. "i planned the paperwork."
"you planned considerably more than the paperwork, dear. you're just underselling yourself just now."
he thought about correcting you. instead, he admitted. "...okay, perhaps i did do more than that."
you turned in your seat to face him fully. "you planned everything, my dearest. the roads, the traffic, the time, the documents, hell even our parents being our witnesses on the document. tell me, kento, dear....what didn't you plan?"
that finally made him pause. his warm caramel-tinted gaze drifted toward your intertwined reflections in the windshield before settling back on you. his answer came quietly.
"...,,,you." your smile faltered at his response."i couldn't plan your answer. so i was just hoping for the best. sweetheart, you could love me and still not be prepared to marry me. and that would be fine, sweetheart. but i was just hoping, that maybe, this would be the moment. and you would choose me, like i choose you."
everything inside your chest seemed to tighten all at once. because he was right. for all the meticulous preparation, all the schedules and checklists and carefully organized folders sitting in the back seat... there had always been one thing completely beyond his control. and it was whether you would choose him.
he had prepared for marriage with the same diligence he prepared for championship matches, but unlike volleyball, there had been no strategy capable of guaranteeing victory. there was only hope in him. there was only hopeful wishing that you would choose him the way he chooses you.
slowly, you reached across the center console until your fingers found his. he immediately turned his hand over so your fingers could intertwine naturally with his. the two of you look at each other's interwtined fingers, before looking at each other's eyes.
"...you know, dearest...." you murmured, tracing absent circles across the back of his hand with your thumb, "that might actually be the most romantic thing you've ever said."
he looked genuinely surprised. "...is it really?"
"by quite a lot." you nodded at him. "no men would be like that, no men would be like you. like this."
"......i've had practice."
"not nearly enough."
he considered that with complete seriousness. "...probably."
you laughed again. "don't sound so disappointed in yourself."
"i wasn't."
"then why do you sound like you're reviewing constructive criticism?"
"......because i am." he admits to you.
you shook your head affectionately "you're unbelievable, aren't you? you're fine the way you are."
"that's what you said ten minutes ago."
"and i'm saying it again." you tell him. "but focus on the last part. you're fine the way you are, kento. i love you, like you love me. i choose you, like you choose me. this is for forever, okay? you and you, you're my favorite prayer."
this time, he smiled without trying to hide it, warm and small. it was almost so boyishily sheepish. "and now who's acting romantic all the sudden?"
you laugh softly. "only with you."
it was astonishing how different that smile looked from the composed expression he'd worn while accepting a national championship trophy only an hour earlier. the cameras had captured the middle blocker. but this smile belonged only to you.
together, you stepped out of the car. his volleyball shoes clicked softly against the pavement as he walked around to your side, waiting without saying a word until you joined him. he still hadn't changed. he thinks there simply hadn't been time.
his university jersey remained damp from nearly three hours on the court, the fabric wrinkled where sweat had dried against it. athletic tape still wrapped around the fingers of his right hand, and the scrape across his knee had darkened slightly beneath the arena dust.
around his neck hung the championship medal. gold caught the late afternoon sunlight each time it shifted against his chest. you looked at it for a moment before looking at him.
"...you're really getting married in your volleyball uniform, hm?"
he glanced down at himself. "...i suppose i am. you're still wearing your university department jacket."
"it's certainly memorable for the two of us to stare at in the future." you grinned at him. "we're both fine the way we are though."
"i hadn't packed a suit."
"well, i hadn't packed a dress." you tell him, kissing his cheek to calm him. "it's okay. we look amazing."
"......we'll do a big wedding in the future, okay?"
you shake your head at him. you reached over and brushed invisible lint from the shoulder of his jersey anyway. "we don't need to. i like this. this is our wedding. it's you and me. this is best. and besides, i happen to think you're very handsome this way."
a faint flush appeared across the bridge of his nose. "...thank you., sweetheart."
"you're welcome, husband."
his ears turned slightly pink. "...not quite yet."
"give it five minutes. you'll soak into it."
the automatic doors parted with a soft mechanical chime as the two of you entered. inside, the ward office was exactly what every ward office in japan always seemed to be. it was exuberantly bright and immaculately clean. it was completely, comfortably ordinary.
fluorescent lights reflected softly against polished floors while electronic queue numbers chimed quietly overhead. residents sat patiently in orderly rows of chairs, waiting to renew residence records, submit family registry documents, register births, or collect certificates before closing time.
an elderly man carefully folded today's newspaper. there was a university student on the side hurriedly filled out paperwork while checking answers on her phone. a young couple stood near one counter with a sleeping baby nestled against the father's shoulder.
life continued at its own gentle rhythm. there were no flowers. no music. no decorated aisle waiting for the two of you. it was only the quiet heartbeat of everyday japan that lingered. and somehow... it felt exactly right.
because marriage, your father had once told you, wasn't the wedding. it was everything that came after. and this is why, this is why everything else doesn't matter. as long as you live a happily fulfilled life with kento, then that's what's going to make a marriage.
when your number was called, the two of you approached the family registry counter together. the clerk greeted you with a practiced smile and a polite bow. "good afternoon. how may i help you today?"
kento returned the bow before carefully placing the document folder onto the counter with both hands. "we'd like to submit our marriage registration."
the clerk accepted it with the same professionalism she'd shown hundreds of applicants before you. then she opened it. her eyebrows lifted almost immediately. it was extremely prestine and neatly tucked.
every required document was present. the marriage registration form had been completed without a single correction mark. identification documents had already been photocopied. all the family registry records were current.
on the corner, the witness signatures had been neatly completed weeks earlier by two close friends who had simply trusted kento when he'd asked them for a favor. every page rested inside its own transparent sleeve. small adhesive tabs labeled each section. there was even an extra set of photocopies.
the clerk looked up. "...you've prepared everything, it would seem, sir."
kento inclined his head slightly. "i wanted to avoid causing unnecessary inconvenience."
she smiled. "well, i can see that, sir. well done."
"thank you, i pride myself in what i did."
the woman nodded. "yes, i'm sure you do."
as she carefully reviewed the documents, another employee happened to pass behind the counter. her eyes drifted toward the gold medal resting against kento's chest. her movements slowed. she looked again. "...excuse me, sir."
kento turned politely. "yes?"
"...are you nanami kento?"
"i am."
"from the university of tokyo? the ones who just won the varsity league championships?"
"yes, uh, the very same one."
the employee looked from the medal then the marriage registration and then back again. she looks even more perplexed. "...didn't you just win?"
"this afternoon." kento nodded. "well, a few minutes ago, but yeah. we just won."
"...and you came straight here?"
kento answered without hesitation. "yes. my fiancee and i just wanted to get married as soon as possible. so here we are."
the employee laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "...i don't think i've ever seen someone come directly from a national championship to submit a marriage registration."
kento considered that. "...neither have i. but there's always going to be someone who does it first, don't you think?"
the employee smiled. "...well. i suppose that's true." she bowed her head. "congratulations."
there was no distinction made between the medal around his neck and the documents resting on the counter. somehow, both achievements seemed equally worthy of celebration. a few minutes later, the clerk carefully aligned the paperwork one final time before reaching for the official seal. the room fell strangely quiet. then, the sound hits. thunk.
the sound was almost disappointingly ordinary. it was just ink meeting paper. it was just one deliberate stamp, like all the others. nothing more. the clerk looked up with a gentle smile. you and kento looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear.
"your marriage registration has been accepted." she says to you both. "congratulations on your marriage."
the word accepted, it was always such a small administrative word. it was thrown around in all the offices here and there. and yet, with it, your family register changed forever. so did your future.
the two of you bowed instinctively to the clerk. "thank you very much."
when you stepped back outside, the evening breeze carried away the lingering warmth of the day. for several moments neither of you spoke. there was no need.
your hands found each other naturally. your footsteps fell into the same rhythm they always had. except now, there were rings on your left hand's fourth finger. and the person walking beside you wasn't simply nanami kento. he was more than that. he was everything. he was your husband.
after a while, he glanced sideways."...so, mrs. nanami."
you looked up at him, unable to hide the smile already forming on your lips. "...you're trying it already?"
"i wanted to know how it sounded."
"and?" you asked, your fingers tightening ever so slightly around his. "how does it make you feel?"
he didn't answer immediately. instead, he looked ahead at the road stretching before the two of you, the city drifting by outside the windows in familiar scenes that somehow looked entirely different now. pedestrians waited patiently at crosswalks.
the abdundance of office workers hurried toward the station before the evening trains filled. somewhere in the distance, the golden glow of sunset reflected off rows of glass buildings. it was so ordinary. everything around you remained wonderfully, beautifully ordinary. and yet neither of you would ever be quite the same again.
"...it sounds right, sweetheart." he finally said. "finally, my beautiful, intelligent girlfriend, no more. only my beautiful, intelligent wife."
his voice was quiet and certain. everything in its tenor held the same certainty that had carried him through championship matches, difficult examinations, and every decision that had led him here. and perhaps even more certain. because there was nothing more certain in his life than you.
"...if anything, it feels..." he searched for the word with unusual care before a small smile settled onto his lips. "...great. no, no, magnificent."
you couldn't help laughing softly. "that's a very kento way of describing one of the happiest moments of your life."
"...is it?" he smiles softly.
"it is." you nodded.
he accepted the observation with a small nod before continuing. "i know you'll continue using your family name professionally."
"i will."
your degree. your circle of historical research. the papers you hoped to publish one day. your name had become part of that future long before today, and neither of you had ever seen a reason to change it. he had never asked. you had never needed to explain.
he understood, he always has. and he would never ask for you to change anything. you earned it on your own. your achievements maybe shared in happiness, but they will always be yours. he had no right to them. and you were grateful for that.
"but..." he continued, his thumb absentmindedly brushing over your knuckles. "i know that for everything else..." his smile softened into something almost impossibly tender. "mrs. kento that rings quite lovely..."
"does it really?" you question him, bright eyed.
he shook his head almost imperceptibly, as though the words themselves still felt too precious to say too loudly. "yes, sweetheart .it sounds beautiful. as beautiful as you."
your heart swelled until it almost hurt. you turned toward him fully, studying the quiet happiness resting so naturally on his face. "...i love you so much."
"i love you too, wife."
"ah, the way you call me that." your voice barely rose above a whisper. "it sounds so tender....." you laughed softly, wiping at the tears threatening the corners of your eyes once again with your free hand. "...it sounds gorgeous coming from you."
"then i'll keep saying it." he says to you, smiling wide. "forever and ever."
"then keep your promise, okay?" your gaze drifted down to where your hands rested together between the two seats. "i'll keep mine too. i'll continue being with you too...." you intertwined your fingers more firmly against his arm. "being with my husband forever."
the word lingered on your tongue. husband. you'd said it only moments ago. it still felt wonderfully unreal. kento could feel his heart swell from those words. "you really make me feel happy, wife."
"i hope you know you do the same thing, husband."
he smiled. when you both were crossing the street, you pulled at him with the hand wrapped on his arm. he couldn't help but look down as he stared at his wedding finger, then at your own. his caramel eyes couldn't help be glued to them.
there was that shining, shimmering silver ring you had slipped on, the one he had so eagerly bought. it was so simple and yet they were the most beautiful thing you both owned. kento gently turned his hand, watching the silver catch the fading sunlight filtering through.
his thumb brushed across it almost absentmindedly. "...this is beautiful."
not the ring. at least not really. you knew exactly what he meant. this moment. this eagerness to get back into the car and drive home. to a house you will share together. the silence between conversations. the warmth of your hand resting in his. the knowledge that there was no longer any distance between the future he'd imagined and the life he was now living.
you smiled, unable to stop yourself. "...we're married, so happily so, dearest kento."
he looked at you again. this time, there was no hesitation. "...we're married and happily so too, sweetheart."
you laughed quietly. "i keep expecting someone to tell us we forgot another form."
"we didn't. don't worry, i made sure of it."
"i know, i know, my husband is thorough."
he snickers. "of course i am. i'm not letting anyone ruin this for us."
you smiled wider. "did you check twice?"
".....of course i did."
"i know you checked twice." you giggled. "i know who you are."
"...three times." his brows furrowed. "actually, i think even more than that."
that earned him another laugh from you. "of course you did."
his shoulders rose in the smallest shrug. "it seemed responsible. i wanted to start out our marriage like that. i didn't want to fail my wife."
"it was." you leaned your head gently against his shoulder. "you'll never fail me, husband. i know you won't."
he sighed happily, content as you said those words. he leans down slightly and kisses the top of your head. "i love you so much."
"i love you too." you tell him as you stopped by where your car is. "and really, thank you."
he blinked. "for what, sweetheart?"
"for choosing me, silly." you whispered to him. "for all our lives."
he looked genuinely puzzled. he sighs and shakes his head, smiling. "there was never anyone else. and there will be no one else. only you. you and you only."
your breath caught. he said it so simply, without spectacle, without trying too hard to be romantic. he said it as though it were the most obvious fact in the world. but you knew that to him, it simply was. loving you was the most truthful fact in the world to him.
you smiled to yourself. "...i'm very lucky."
his fingers intertwined with yours, as he frees his arms from your touch. he lifts your hand, where the ring lays and smiles. "no, sweetheart. i'm the lucky one."
outside, tokyo continued toward another ordinary evening.
inside the quiet car, two university students drove home as husband and wife for the very first time. they were both skipping the victory banquet. they were heading to enjoy the bliss, enjoy the quiet happiness of being married.
but neither of them realized it then. years later, when people inevitably asked about their wedding, neither of them would begin with the championship. they would begin with the drive home.
because that was the first time they had truly understood that there would be countless more drives like this one. there would be more drives after long days at work, after grocery shopping, after holidays, after arguments, after celebrations, after children had fallen asleep in the back seat.
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thank you so much for your love, nonnie!!! im a bit drowsy from the inhaler huffs and my other meds so the writing has to be put off. my mom physically took my computer or else i wont rest so,,,,,ill see you guys some time else 😔😔😔
