#the oomimi's

[atticraccoon]

Looks like March 30th (03.30) was Oomimi day! Here goes Renren and his little siblings doing some ear cleaning.

[cantobear]

[cottonlemonade]

Thinking about your countryside boyfriend from Miyagi or Hyogo teaching you how to ride a bike.

You’d just moved from Tokyo and are used to the hustle and bustle of city traffic and the endless opportunities of public transport. It was anxiety inducing enough to see the bike messengers zipping through the steady stream of cars to put you off ever wanting to get onto one of those flimsy looking two wheeled contraptions.

But life is slower in the rural parts of Japan and if you miss your bus to school, well, have fun waiting an hour for the next one. So one day, when you talk to your boyfriend about the inconvenience of it all, he suggests to get a bike like most other students. You can even ride together, he suggests. He’d gladly pick you up in the mornings and bring you home after school, too.

It all sounds very romantic and cute and you’re very excited - for about a minute - and then remember that you’ve never learned how to ride a bike because there was no need for it before. Your boyfriend blinks, then chuckles and offers to teach you, no problem.

And now you’re on an empty open road on a Sunday morning in the sleepy village you live in, wobbling over the very stony dirt. Your boyfriend got you a helmet matching his own and was holding tight to the rear rack.

“You’re doing great! - Keep peddling! - You’re doing it!”, he praised and let go just for you to immediately lose control and roll gently down a very grassy slope, only bruising your ego. He laughs as he helps you back up, brushing blades of grass from your back, maybe giving your squishy love handles some more attention then necessary until you giggle. He rightens your helmet again, giving it a teasing rap with his knuckles. “Good thing you had this on. Come on, one more time.”

When you finally do manage to stay steady he jumps and cheers as if his team just won a game and runs over to you.

“Did you see?!”, you squeak excitedly.

“I did! Look at you! You’re becoming one of us after all.”

You beam at him when he gives you a kiss. Then he jogs back to grab his own bike leaning against a boulder for your first official run to the convenience store with your bikes.

Daichi, Sugawara, Asahi, Noya, Hinata, Kageyama, Tsukishima (although far less enthusiastically), Yamaguchi, Ennoshita, Kita, Aran, Atsumu, Osamu, Suna, Oomimi, your rural fave

[aizeuna]

(11/02/22)

Have some old Haikyuu art I found in my drive! ft. Some of my favourite middle blockers!

If i recall I tried to be very stylized. Not my best but I enjoyed it :))

[obamousse]

Kita used to go to school by an old bike his grandma rode when he was a little kid. When he reached middle school, he walked to school alone. His home was far from Inarizaki, but he's used to waking up early.

Miya Twins walk (or run, because they're always late) to school for 15 minutes. Aran is even closer - his home is only 5 minutes away from Inarizaki. He usually meets the twins and Oomimi walking on his way to school.

Suna uses the metro. He either checks his phone when he's on there or take a quick nap.

Ginjima and Akagi ride bikes.

[hinata-boke]

Drawing a randomly generated Haikyuu character (almost) every day until I give up

73. Oomimi Ren

[kimbapisnotsushi]

ojiro aran headcanons bc @luminouschaotic asked me if i had thoughts (which was. a while back) but i'm out of town for two weeks in a couple days and won't be on much so i wanted to get this done before then so LET'S GO!!

aran has like spidey-sense Chaos Instincts™️ honed by years of taking care of the miyas so much so that on his first day at inarizaki he feels a tingle down his spine and turns around just in time to catch akagi michinari falling out of a tree

aran, being the kind soul that he is, goes over to help. because if there's anything the miyas have taught him it's that if you don't intervene early on there WILL be even more severe consequences down the line than if you'd just helped them in the first place

it basically goes "hi i'm ojiro what do you need me to do and how much plausible deniability can i get from this"

don't worry akagi had just been get a paper airplane bc he might be a little shit but he's a little shit with morals who cares about the environment

he didn't get the airplane the branch broke before he could

akagi tells aran that he's going to try one more time and asks aran to stand under the tree so that aran can catch him if he falls again and aran's dreading the day akagi and the twins will finally meet

i actually think it WOULD be funny if kita and akagi had been childhood friends or something previously bc a) SOMEONE had to have been akagi's handle before high school and b) it just makes sense in my head

also i think a fundamental aspect of the shiratorizawa and inarizaki rivalry that we're overlooking is reon and aran bonding

like. they get it. they know what it's like. loving a place that does not always loves you back. having a home that does not always feel like a home. it can be hard, sometimes. but if there's one thing they agree on it's that their teams ALWAYS have their backs

(lev and liam my lovelies i have NOT forgotten about you)

also this just makes the whole "aran's irrational fear is tendou satori" a thousand times funnier

since it's established that aran references older pieces of media i like to think that means he sits down with like idk his grandparents probably and they watch all kinds of things together

sometimes the only other people who get aran's references are people who ALSO sit down and watch things with their grandparents (kuroo, kageyama, kita. . . )

the haikyuu club of good grandchildren . . .

anyways so that's how kita and aran become friends!!

oh my god . . . do you guys think his sister had those small kid puppy crushes on any of his friends . . . .

my vote is akagi or the miyas do you know how funny that would be

i think a bit that akagi does with aran is saying "oh my god this is just like [insert fictional media here]" when something (usually an Event™️ involving the miyas) happens and aran going "STOP SAYING THIS IS JUST LIKE [??] AND HELP ME"

when the third years graduate aran gives gin a gift and tells him not to open it until he gets home

when gin does open it he finds a booklet titled "how to survive the miyas: a comprehensive guide by ojiro aran" and it's at least a hundred pages long

the first page is an emergency contact list with the numbers of the miyas' parents, aran's parents, and every hospital/clinic within a fifteen-mile radius

definitely prefers a real newspaper to a digital one

i think the whole of the inarizaki third years are tech-averse tbh if you took them to one of those restaurants with the little robot servers with screens for faces they'd slow blink at it like really confused cats

this sucks especially for suna bc every time he gives his phone to one of them when he wants pictures of himself with someone or something they always come out blurry or too much exposure or some shit

i think aran and oomimi go hiking with each other on the weekends and are always pestering everyone else to go with them

they win when they promise everyone, yes, we can go out for brunch and boba after

(do the twins fall into a stream while trying to cross it? yes. did they still go to brunch afterwards, sopping wet? also yes. aran doesn't think he's ever laughed harder in his life.)

[incorrectquotesinarizaki]

Aran: Everybody, shut up for a bit. [picks up phone] Hey mum.

Akagi: HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!

Oomimi: Come back to bed.

Suna: [various sex noises]

Kita: Tell her I said hi.

Atsumu: Aye! Pass the weed, Aran-kun!

Osamu: [blasting out curse words]

Ginjima: PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON.

[esshee]

𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐊𝐈 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 CHAPTER 08. OF LOCKERS, TRINKETS, AND ROACHES

「 In which the Inarizaki Boys' Volleyball Team sometimes test your patience and make you proud of them. 」

✩ pairing. inarizaki & f!manager!reader (platonic)

✩ genre. slice of life, fluff, humour, friendship

✩ warnings. cockroaches

✩ wc. 4.7k

← previous ⋮ masterlist ⋮ next →

“Yakisoba… Croquette… Curry… Yakisoba…” you murmured under your breath, rummaging through the plastic bag full of chouripan your fellow second years requested for after you lost three rounds of Janken.

The twins definitely cheated, you insisted when you thought back to their knowing tells.

“Are those for the others?”

You fumbled with the bag in your arms, almost losing your grip from being startled, and slowly raised your head to meet the concerned expression on Kita's face.

“Oh… Kita-san,” you sighed in relief, “ya scared me.”

“Ya startle pretty easily,” Kita noted with downturned lips. “You tend to get absorbed in your tasks, but ya should pay attention to your surroundings more.”

You let out a nervous chuckle and readjusted your grip on the bag. “I’ll try to. Anyway, what’s up, Kita-san? It’s not like you to leave yer classroom for lunch.”

Kita glanced around. “I wanted to discuss something with you,” he soon replied.

“O…kay…?”

You shifted closer to the windows so that you didn't block the halls. A couple of your classmates waved at you from afar, and you returned the greetings before raising your brow at the captain.

Kita uncharacteristically hesitated as he opened his mouth, and he seemed…almost…apologetic?

“What…" You cleared your throat, "what is it?”

“[Surname], we need to clean the lockers.”

You blinked. That’s…it?

“[Surname]?”

“What's the issue with cleaning the lockers?”

“[Surname],” Kita shook his head in exasperation. “This is no simple matter. There’s been a very strange smell coming from one of the lockers. No one seems to have noticed except for me.”

You scrunched your nose at the phantom smell you imagined, “Ugh, gross.”

“It concerns me that no one else has mentioned the stench, so I thought it would be best to discuss this with ya.” Kita explained, "I would have cleaned it myself, but…that locker appears to be more of a hassle than I thought."

“We’ll hafta have a chat with the coaches,” you mentioned as you shifted the plastic bag in your arms.

“Let’s talk with them at the start of practice,” he suggested. “We’re always the first ones there.”

You hummed in agreement, giving a thumbs up while holding the bag of chouripan.

“Have a good rest of the day,” Kita raised his hand to bid you farewell.

“You too!” You smiled at him and then watched as he turned around to make his way back to his classroom.

If only everyone else can be like Kita-san, you internally groaned, dreading the mess ahead of you. I’ve never seen him look so…spooked like that.

With that thought, you turned on your heel and trudged over to the classroom where your fellow second years were waiting for their lunch.

"What took ya so long? We're hungry!” Osamu demanded as soon as you stepped foot into Atsumu and Ginjima’s homeroom.

“Patience, children, patience,” you clicked your tongue and pulled out the chouripan from the bag.

Osamu practically lunged for his croquette bread as you took a clever step back. Suna flinched from beside the ravenous beast before thanking you for his curry bread.

“Thanks, [Surname],” Ginjima burped out around a mouthful of yakisoba bread.

You grimaced at the food being sprayed and shifted away from Ginjima. “We still have plenty of time to eat. There's no need to scarf it down." You carefully opened the plastic for your melonpan.

“What do people say? You will get three mon when you wake up early?” Atsumu mused.

“Wow, are ya complimenting me?” you huffed, knowing full well that wasn’t the blonde’s intention.

“Huh?”

“You’re basically sayin’ that you only got to enjoy this delicious food because of me,” you quipped.

“Really?”

“Did you just say that to sound smart?” Suna rolled his eyes.

Atsumu only chomped down on his lunch and avoided eye contact with you and Suna.

Normally, you would have continued to tease your friend, but you chose to hold your tongue at that moment.

Kita-san’ll probably rip them a new one for making the lockers into a mess. Though you weren't sure they were the culprits of the smell, you had an inkling feeling that the cleanup was not going to be limited to that one locker.

After you and Kita explained the state of the locker rooms to Coach Kurosu and Coach Oomi, the two eagerly permitted you to use the coming practice as a time to clean the lockers. The assistant coach even mouthed you two a 'good luck' before turning to his paperwork with gusto you’ve never seen from him before.

“That was surprisingly easy,” you muttered as you and Kita left their office and walked to the gym.

“I believe Coach Kurosu has seen his fair share of grime,” he responded with a slight shrug.

“Probably,” you agreed as Kita pulled open the gym door and motioned for you to enter first.

“Yer late!” Atsumu pointed at the two of you with narrowed eyes. “Ya know the drill for—”

“Too bad for you; we’re in charge,” you interrupted, wanting to get this cleanup over and done with. Truthfully, you were afraid of rifling through their lockers and stumbling upon something gross.

Confused whispers broke out as soon as those words left your lips.

“Did we do something wrong?”

“Is Coach sick or somethin’?”

“But I saw him earlier today!”

“Does he want us to die!?”

The corner of your lip quirked up at that. You knew that you and Kita could make a frightening duo when dealing with the rowdy team; you could only hope that you could instill the fear of God in the boys to take the cleanup with the proper attention it deserved.

Kita glanced at you, prompting you to stride forward and face the team.

“Boys,” you started pointedly. “Yer gonna clean up the mess you created.”

To get them all to settle down, you purposefully omitted that you were going to help because they wouldn't take the cleaning seriously if they knew you were going to clean up their mess for them.

The noise died down into silence.

“Mess…?” Akagi echoed in uncertainty.

“But we always clean up after ourselves,” Oomimi piped in.

“Clearly, your 'clean up' is not enough,” Kita finally cut in with an edge to his voice.

Everyone waited for the captain to say more, but he simply stared them down, silently willing them to subjugation.

Aran shifted his weight to his right foot and wrung his hands together. “So…what are we cleanin’?”

You and Kita exchanged a knowing glance with one another before focusing back on the team.

“The lockers.”

“...”

“Oh, shit.”

“Don’tcha think Kita-san’d love to be reborn as a Roomba?” Atsumu whispered to you, monitoring the captain swiftly take out the junk from the lockers and put them in the trash pile.

You shot him an unimpressed frown in return. “And you’d love to be reborn as trash, wouldn’t ya? Just…take a look at the mess you’ve made!”

“Oh, c’mon! It’s not that bad!”

You did not deign to respond to your childhood friend and crouched down beside Kita to help. The locker was practically a garbage bin, cluttered with loose and crumpled papers, barely readable receipts, unfolded plastic bags, and wrappers of all sorts.

“Which one's the recycling bag?” you asked.

“This one here,” Kita pulled the large bag from behind him and handed it over to you. “Put on your gloves and mask.”

You reached for the one-time-use rubber gloves and gingerly slipped them on. They were a little too big on you, but they would work to protect you from the deep cleaning you were about to perform. Then, you carefully put on the surgical mask and immediately got to work.

After a few moments of surgically sorting through the trash and tossing the recyclables inside the bag, you noticed the team just crowding around the doorway.

“Whatcha doin’ just standin' there?” you ground out in ire, Kansai-ben coming out thick. “Get. Cleanin’.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

You studied the team as they scrambled to put on their gloves and masks.

When Oomimi and Akagi opened their lockers and started clearing away trash that accumulated over the past few months (…dare I think since the last cleanin', you sighed), Suna and Ginjima followed suit.

Aran offered to take your place, knowing that you wanted to survey the team and make sure they were cleaning properly, so you thanked him under your breath and beelined straight to the twins.

“Yer comin’ with me,” you grasped their arms in an iron grip and dragged the two behind you.

Unlike the others, you chose to open the empty lockers. The team didn't have permission to use them, but you had a feeling your boys didn't care about whether they had permission or not. And to prove that the empty lockers weren't actually empty, you peered into the locker, then robotically turned your head to the twins.

“Which…idiot…made slime and put it in here? Which one of you did it?”

The twins were quick to put the blame on the other.

“‘Tsumu.” “‘Samu.”

The rest of the team gathered around upon hearing the ruckus.

“Yer brotherly love is truly movin’ me to tears,” Aran deadpanned.

“‘Fess up,” you scowled.

Your best friends flinched, and only then did Osamu raise his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine. I’m the one who used that locker, but…I didn’t make slime! I only put the snacks we got from New Year’s.”

“So the snacks amalgamated into slime,” you concluded doubtfully. What kinda snacks morph into slime of all things?

“Well…there was cafeteria bread, milk, mochi, and other snacks!”

“No wonder it became slime,” Kita sighed, then turned to open the adjacent locker, leaving you to deal with the twins.

“Well?” You arched a brow and crossed your arms over your chest.

“I-I’m sorry,” Osamu bowed his head.

“I’m not looking for an apology here, Osamu.”

“Right…” he readjusted his mask and gloves, then started to peel off the slime from the locker.

“Atsumu.”

“I didn’t do anythin’!” The blonde twin cried defensively.

You ignored his comment, already tired from the cleaning you had done. “Go get some wet rags,” you paused as you eyed the locker room. “Actually, fill a bucket with water and grab the pile of rags on the shelf. They're the smaller ones in white—remember not to grab the maroon ones. Those towels are the ones you guys use.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He saluted before scurrying out of the locker room.

You watched Osamu miserably peel bits and pieces of the sticky slime off the bottom of the locker. These bits, however, clung to his gloves for dear life. He had to rub his gloves against the inside of the bag to get most of it off.

These gloves won’t last, you determined, feeling a bit nauseous from witnessing him handle the sticky yet clumpy slime.

Just as you were about to turn and get him a new pair of gloves, you caught sight of Osamu reeling back and nearly falling on his rear.

“What happened?” You rushed over in alarm, nausea forgotten in place of concern, “What is it?”

Osamu wordlessly pointed at the bottom of the locker, turning a little green in the face. Your eyes swivelled over to the area he was pointing at, and a harsh gasp escaped your lips.

To your absolute horror, beneath the slime lay a small pool of yellowish-brown liquid.

“Oh God…”

“Is that…garbage juice?”

“It looks like shit water.”

“For fuck’s sake, shut up, Gin.”

You nearly bumped into Kita when you took a step back.

“Careful,” he murmured before stopping a couple feet away from the unknown liquid.

“K-Kita-san?” Osamu jerked his head up in surprise.

The third year only scrutinized the puddle for a few seconds longer, then finally nodded once and turned to you. “I’ll take care of this, but we’re gonna have to wait until Atsumu comes back. I’ll wipe it down with a couple of rags, then throw them out since we don’t know what this liquid is. It shouldn’t be hazardous, but it’s better to just trash it.”

A stunned silence followed until you broke it.

“Kita-san…”

“Our hero!”

“You’re so brave…and kind, Shinsuke!”

“Hurray for Kita-san!”

Osamu gawked up at his captain with suspiciously glassy eyes, “Kita-san, a-are you sure…?”

“It’s fine,” Kita brushed off everyone’s praise. “But this won’t be happening again.”

“Yes, of course!” Osamu bobbed his head enthusiastically.

“Go clean out the other lockers. We still have a lot to do.”

Everyone immediately scampered away from the locker and resumed their cleaning, touched by Kita’s sacrifice and wanting to lessen his workload.

And so, when Atsumu finally re-emerged with a bucket in one fist and rags hooked under his arm, no one bothered to explain what had transpired in his absence. Even when he’d cried out, “What the fuck is that?” no one bothered to explain. Kita merely sauntered up to him, took a few rags, and let them soak up the liquid without a single word.

Thankfully, all of the lockers following the slime and liquid-filled one were rather simple and easy to clean—pulling out wrappers, forgotten t-shirts, papers, and other harmless miscellaneous items.

You peeked into the next locker and, to your pleasant surprise, saw some familiar trinkets inside.

“Who put losing tickets, sweets, and knick-knacks in here?” Kita frowned.

“Oh, that’s us,” Atsumu freely offered as the other second years gathered closer to take a look at the things Kita had pulled out and dumped into a pile.

“Man, I remember ya got these back in April,” Ginjima crowed in laughter.

“Not by choice!” Atsumu protested.

“It's cuz you lost Janken,” Osamu reminisced, undoubtedly fondly recalling his twin’s frustration at having lost the game.

You gingerly pulled out the knick-knacks and organized them into a separate pile, knowing that the boys would likely sift through them and fight over who would take them home after the deep cleaning.

Suna watched from above, “So why are there three of the same keychain?”

“Ah, Osamu bought a bunch that time ‘cause he didn’t get the one he wanted, 'member? He left the ones he didn’t want.” Ginjima replied, scratching the back of his ear.

“From the gachapon?”

“Yeah? I think so.”

“How nostalgic,” Suna chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m startin’ to remember that day,” Ginjima agreed with a goofy grin.

“Yeah…” Osamu smiled.

“Aw, now we can’t throw ‘em out! They’re our memories, Kita-san,” Atsumu attempted to appeal as he hovered over the crouched captain.

“I see,” Kita nodded once before indiscriminately reaching for the pile of trash beside him, “so it's trash then.”

“Are ya sayin’ our memories are trash!?”

“Think of our banner,” Kita stated frankly. “‘We don’t need memories’.”

“That’s not what it means!” Osamu denied.

“It means you should always try new things—not throw away yer memories!” Atsumu elaborated.

“Now, now,” you pacified your fellow second years by gesturing to the trinkets next to you, “I put the keychains in another pile, so ya can take ‘em home after a thorough wash.”

Suna immediately bent down to the pile of keychains you had set aside and rifled through them. He pulled one out of the pile and dangled it over your line of sight. “I’m gonna take this one.”

“By all means,” you shrugged. “Oh, but clean it before you take it home with ya.”

“Yes, mom.”

“No fair!” Atsumu dropped into a crouch beside you. “Ya got a head start, Suna!”

“Sucks to be you,” the middle blocker stuck his tongue out.

The blonde retaliated before examining the keychains as well. “Hey, I have an idea!”

“What?” you sighed. Outside of volleyball, Atsumu’s ideas were hardly ever good.

“Let’s have matching keychains!” Atsumu plucked the three same keychains off the pile and held them out to you and Suna.

“Why me? Why not your twin?” The latter questioned but accepted it nonetheless.

“I don’t wanna share with ‘Samu. It’s bad enough that I hafta share a birthday with him!”

“And a face,” Ginjima piped in as he and Osamu joined the others.

Atsumu harrumphed and turned to you and Suna with an arched brow, “Well?”

“Sure, I guess,” you took the keychain he offered. It was rather cute: a sleeping chibi nine-tailed fox. Oh, well, ‘Samu’s loss.

“...What are these textbooks?” Kita frowned for the nth time.

Atsumu crossed his arms over his chest and belted out in laughter. “Which idiot left their textbook and forgot about it!?”

The captain flipped open the cover and read out the messily-scrawled name, “This one says Miya Atsumu.”

“Study properly!” Osamu rebuked his twin, whose eye twitched in chagrin.

Kita put Atsumu’s textbook down on the bench and grabbed the other one. “And this one says Miya Osamu.”

You wanted to strangle the twins.

The number of times they had begged you to borrow your textbook the night before a test had caused you greater grief than they could ever understand.

“You guys left it for so long that you forgot it was yours,” Aran shook his head in disappointment.

No one was surprised, though.

You stood in front of the last locker and pursed your lips. Turning to Kita, you asked, “Is this the one?”

He nodded gravely in response.

“The one?” Aran echoed in confusion.

You ignored the questioning gazes from the team and took one stride back. How did they not smell it? It stank of dirty socks, rotten food, and an unidentifiable odour.

Suna braved a step forward, and a look of understanding flashed across his face.

“Oh, you mean this one.”

“Which one?” Ginjima inquired.

The middle blocker scooted away from the locker in question before shoving his hands into the pockets of his jersey jacket.

“The trash one.”

“The trash one?” you echoed in disbelief, sharing a horrified look with the captain.

“Uh,” Suna backtracked, seeming to realize that he had given the team away. “What I meant was—”

“I’m scared,” you admitted, not wanting to hear your friend’s excuses. You were tired, physically and mentally; you did not have the patience to tolerate the usual tomfoolery.

“Scared? Why?” Oomimi tilted his head to the side in evident confusion.

“Listen, the slime locker didn’t even smell this bad.”

Akagi shook his head vehemently, “I swear we don’t put food in this one! …That I know of.”

At the libero’s words, everyone turned to Osamu in sync.

He fervently waved his hands around to deny the silent accusations, “I-I didn’t! I only put ‘em in my locker and that other one!”

Usually, you took Osamu’s words at face value. He was usually more honest than his twin, so you didn’t have a reason to not believe him.

However, the horrific visual of the slime locker had an iron-clad hold on your mind’s eye. You had known that the twins weren’t the most organized of the bunch, but Osamu had gone beyond your admittedly low expectations.

That was all to say, you didn’t know if you could hold him to his words.

Taking a deep breath and holding it, you peered into the last locker.

To your surprise, nothing suspicious was in the lockers. It seemed like someone or perhaps most of the team had chucked their sweaty t-shirts, socks, and other belongings into the locker. It surprised you that clothes of all things could smell like rotten food.

Are high school boys gross enough to stink of mouldy food? you wondered, nose scrunching in both confusion and disgust. Should I throw these out or put them in the laundry?

Just then, out of the corner of your peripherals, you saw it.

Shrieking, you used all your strength to kick yourself away from the locker and scrambled onto the bench nearby.

“W-what! What is it!?”

“[Surname]!?”

You ignored the surprised calls of your team and stared Kita down.

“Kita-san.”

“Yes?” he blinked up at you.

“I think the coaches would understand if we burned the place down to the ground.”

“[Surname],” he sighed. “Arson is never the answer.”

“What is it, though?” Ginjima boldly poked his head into the locker. He seemed to scan it for a few moments until he, too, tensed.

Ginjima was the first of the team to join you up on the bench. You suspected that the others would soon join you after discovering the horror you two had seen.

“Oh God…” he groaned, face taking on a slightly green hue as he covered his eyes with his arms.

The rest of the team exchanged fearful looks with one another, likely wondering what got both their responsible manager and boisterous second year practically flying away from the suspicious locker.

Akagi bravely stepped in front of the herd and carefully examined the locker.

Then, he saw.

“Goki!” he yelped, throwing himself back and clambered to join you and Ginjima on your perch.

Everyone, except for Kita, all joined the libero and watched in bug-eyed terror as the biggest roach they had ever seen crawled out of the locker and make itself known to everyone and everything in the room.

“Shinsuke, save yerself!” Aran frantically cried as he backed up against the wall far away from the locker.

“I-it’s huge!” Oomimi burst out uncharacteristically.

Suna shuddered and scooted further down on the bench, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that big.”

“It certainly is big,” Kita agreed in an even tone. He didn't even appear disgusted or afraid. He merely studied it like a scientist peering into a microscope with a detached sort of curiosity.

“[Surname] is right,” Akagi said. “We should just burn this place. Just look at—”

“No, that will not be necessary,” Kita cut in with a decisive shake of his head. “I have thought of a solution. Osamu, do ya plan to use this textbook?”

Kita-san, you stared at the captain in awe and admiration. You are such a great man! If only the others were like ya!

Oblivious to the awe he had inspired in all of them, Kita rolled the paper textbook in his hand after Osamu urged him to hurry with the murder.

Taking a few slow and soft gaits forward, Kita carefully poised himself a foot away from the monster, following its path with an intent gaze. His back coiled like a leopard about to charge at its prey, then he slammed the textbook down with a resonant thwack!

You held your breath in anticipation as you regarded the textbook. For a brief second, your shoulders relaxed, assuming that you were no longer in imminent danger. It made its appearance, however, by crawling out from under the sheets to face the bench where you and the team (minus Aran, who was hiding behind the doorway) were all on.

You swore it appeared like it was readying itself to charge forward. Please don't be the type to fly, you clasped your hands against your mask.

To your dismay, its half-broken wings spread in preparation for flight.

Oh no…it’s all over, you thought miserably. Flying cockroaches were incredibly difficult to dispose of. A failure to one-shot kill the pesky thing often led to a wild goose chase with an angry roach buzzing around the room. It’s like they need to assert their dominance as the stronger species.

Kita swiftly chased away your dark thoughts as he moved with lightning speed. He seized a rogue slipper off the floor and shoved his gloved hand through it.

Finally, he ruthlessly slammed the slipper down, squishing the roach and twisting it until a disgustingly familiar crunch echoed throughout the room, signalling to all of you that Kita had successfully slain the beast.

The captain gave the slipper another twist before flipping it over to examine the damage he had done.

“It’s done,” he announced.

All was still.

“Kita-san, you’re truly amazin’!” you gushed, jumping down from the bench and offering the captain a garbage bag to trash the murder weapon.

The rest of the team immediately broke out into triumphant cheers.

“Hail, Shinsuke!”

“Our hero!”

“You’re the star of the day, Kita-san! So brave! So—” Ginjima broke off, voice cracking with emotion.

“It was nothing,” Kita intervened as he trashed both the slipper and the one-time rubber glove into the bag before snatching a rag from another bench.

After you handed the captain a new glove, you carefully lifted Osamu’s textbook off the floor and hastily tossed it into the recycling bag. You recognized it as a first year workbook, so you deemed that Osamu wouldn’t want it back, especially after all it had gone through.

Kita wiped the floor with the rag before addressing the team, “Settle down, now. Resume with the cleanin’, please.”

No one complained as they held out their arms for the various articles of clothing you fished out of the trash locker. They all stank, and you feared that you'd lose your sense of smell as your nose seemed to no longer recognize the stench wafting from the locker.

Maybe everyone’s noses are broken, you considered, realization dawning on you as to why they had not been able to notice the smell. The use of the locker and the exposure to the stench must have ruined their noses forever.

With most of the clothes cleared, your eyes zeroed in on a brown paper bag sitting at the bottom of the locker.

You took hold of its handles and carefully lifted it, double-checking to make sure there wasn’t any garbage juice at the bottom of this locker. You squinted as you brought it out of its dark dwelling. Under the bright lights, you could clearly see the label plastered on the middle of the paper bag.

“McDonald’s,” you deadpanned before sucking in a deep breath and slowly turning to the twin who’d been giving you the most grief in this cleanup session. You could even reasonably pin the blame on him for the roach as well.

“I…” Osamu trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words. He, too, likely came to the same conclusion as you and knew he had no grounds to defend himself.

“Osamu.”

“Y-yes?”

“Didja do it?”

“…”

You didn’t back down and continued to glare up at the prime suspect of the crime in question.

“I…am very sorry.”

Extra: Osamu’s Rotten Luck

If you had to pick which of the twins gave you more grief, you’d choose Atsumu without a doubt. He could be a downright intolerable git at times: loud, rude, impulsive, and stubborn.

Osamu, on the other hand, tended to be more mellow and lowkey than his twin. That was to say, even though he tended to be less of a hassle, he, too, could be a downright intolerable git as well.

You watched with Ginjima and Suna flanking your sides as said twin hovered over the gachapon with laser-focused eyes. Atsumu was by his side, half-absorbed in the process and half-amused by Osamu’s failure to get the keychain he wanted.

“Dammit!” the grey-haired twin yelled after cracking open another capsule.

Atsumu chortled and snatched the keychain from his twin’s hands. “Wouldja look at that! It’s the same one!”

You glanced down at the numerous keychains Osamu had wasted his money on in one of your plastic bags.

“At this point, I think ‘Samu mighta got most of the keychains this machine's got to offer,” you grumbled.

“Except for the one he wants,” Suna added with a snicker.

Ginjima ran a hand through his hair. “He might drain his money before that happens.”

You all fell silent, simply observing Osamu’s nth attempt at getting his desired keychain. He aggressively shoved in another 100 yen to the gachapon, cranked the handle, and waited as the machine dispensed a capsule out for him to take.

Osamu glared down at it before grabbing the capsule and twisting it open.

Atsumu burst out into another round of laughter, alerting you to yet another failure from Osamu.

“Should we stop him?” Ginjima queried with furrowed brows.

“What do you think?” Suna asked you instead, an amused twinkle in his eye as he continued to record the downfall of Osamu's wallet.

“...Let’s just leave him to it,” you decided. “I ain’t getting involved in that. He’ll learn his lesson.”

© 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞. all rights reserved. do not plagiarize, share, repost, or translate my works.

[crazyyanderefangirlfan]

Juliette Chevalier

"Live with no regrets."

---+---

BASIC   

Name: Juliette Reine Chevalier

Nickname(s): Jules, Julie (by close friends). Love, Baby, My pretty girl, Princess (all by Ren), My Melody.

Alias(es): Bubbly, Barbie, Fox Princess (in Inarizaki) Nutcracker (in St. Trinians).

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Bisexual

Ethnicity: French

Blood Type: A

Age: 17

Birthday: September 24

---+---

APPEARANCE  

Hair: Curly shoulder length platinum blonde hair.

Eyes:  Azure blue eyes with black eyeliner and mascara.

Height: 175cm.

Skin: Vanilla pale

Body: Hourglass

Tattoo(s): None

Piercing(s): Only on her hears, wearing pink butterfly wing dangle earrings.

Scar(s):  A fading burn on her left side and stab wound on her right stomach.

Other: She usually wears cherry red lipstick.

---+---

SCHOOL  

Occupation: Manager

School: Inarizaki High

Year: 2

Class: 6 

Club(s): Boy's VBC

Number: None

Role/Position: None

Attendance Record: Good

Average Grade: B

---+---

STATISTICS (out of 5)

Power: 5/5  

Jumping: 5/5  

Stamina: 5/5  

Game Sense (ability to 'predict' or 'sense' the opponents next move): 1/5  

Technique: 2/5  

Speed: 5/5  

Overall (total): 23/30

---+---

CHARACTER  

Personality: Juliette is portrayed as a social butterfly and outgoing, easily making friends, as she is a loyal, friendly, generous, and tries her hardest not to upset them. Juliette is a very passionate, bubbly, kind-hearted lady and never has any bad intentions or will. She's often mistaken for an air-head due to this, but she uses this for her advantage.

When Irene is not present or lost her temper, she's the mediator of the team and often gets the twins to behave. She often keeps the peace as she sees each side of the argument and always has the party meet in the middle.

Juliette is a fashion enthusiast, she's gifted in sewing, and usually prepared in case of a fashion emergency or disaster. Though, she can be a little too enthusiastic when it comes to shopping and faints when she sees a 'fashion calamity', Juliette is still wise with money and will help the person with their fashion problem. She loves expressing herself through her outfits and accessories. She has a keen eye for style and enjoys sharing her fashion tips with her friends. She's also has fondness of cosplaying and gets really into character.

She has an optimistic outlook on life, always looking for the silver lining in any situation. This optimism helps her to overcome challenges and support her friends and team. Juliette is deeply caring and compassionate. She is sensitive to the needs and feelings of others and goes out of her way to help those in need, showing genuine concern for their well-being.

Juliette, along with Irene, are the most intelligent of the second years on the team, particularly in math and chemistry. In contrast of her appearance, she's both a skilled mechanic and soap maker. She often watches DIY videos on how to fix cars and everyday appliances, even fixing the team's bus when they were on they're way to a game. In terms of soap making, she loves to experimenting on different scents and often gifts them to family and friends. She despises being seen as a 'dumb blonde' due to stereotypes, buts loves the shocked looks on their faces when she proves them wrong.

Despite being seen as 'Princess' to Irene's 'Witch', Juliette is extremely skilled, efficient, and ruthless. Contrary to her slim frame, Juliette possesses monstrously superhuman physical abilities and she switches into a cold and calculating demeanor when danger is present, showcasing her lethal combat abilities and precision.

Having to met Oomimi during a cosplay convention during her first overseas trip, she developed a crush on him and kept in touch ever since. Her feelings deepen during her first year in Inarizaki and spending time with him again. Though she always flirts with him, she gets shy when he flirts back, covering her face with her hands or burying her face on his chest. She loves and cares deeply for him and rarely gets jealous, but sometimes she's insecure if her personality can be too much for him.

Likes: Family and friends, Ren, fashion, cute stationeries, ballet, music, surprising others with her intelligence, maroilles cheese tart, chainsaws, slime, shopping.

Dislikes: Being called a 'dumb blonde' or 'bimbo', the twins being too rowdy, entitled and toxic fangirls, entitled people, her height being emphasized, people thinking she'll be rude or a gold digger, cheating of any kind, dramas where they take back the toxic ex, cilantro, stereotypes, low quality shoes.

Hobbies: Ballet, soap making, cooking, taekwondo, kickboxing, fencing, pilates, ice skating, roller skating, cosplaying, puzzles, reading, mechanical tinkering, sewing.

Goal(s): Finding out what she wants in life, and marrying Ren.

Current concerns: Ren finding out all the shirtless pictures she took of him.

---+---

SOCIAL  

Mother(s): Martine Chevalier

Father(s):  Gérard Chevalier (deceased).

Sibling(s): Charlotte Chevalier (twin sister, deceased).

Relative(s): Maurice Fontaine (uncle), Coralie Fontaine (aunt), Elise Fontaine (cousin).

Friend(s): Boys VBC, Shoyo Hinata, Yukie Shirofuku, Kaori Suzumeda, Gloria Lewiston, Gwen Baldwin, Amicia Allard ,Ichika Kamisato, Emi Takagi, Mio Nakano.

Best Friend(s): Irene Song, Teresa Diamandis, Bridget Fortuné, Heather O'Cleary, Skyla Barretto, Cat Tamami.

Love Interest(s): Ren Oomimi

Rival(s): None

Pet(s): None

[incorrect-highkyuu]

Ennoshita: With the third years from last year gone, Inarizaki has the collective intelligence of a pineapple. We gotta use that to win. Hinata: Ennoshita-san is right! Kageyama: What do you know? You weren't even paying attention! Hinata: I was! I said Ennoshita-san was right! Nishinoya: Yeah, but there's like a 90% chance of Chikara being right most of the time, so that's not proof you were listening. That's just a good guess.

[atticraccoon]

February 2nd (02.02) is WashiMimi day! Today we have Washio meeting the Oomimi's.

Oomimi has shown Washio to his family via video call before, but it's the first time they're meeting in person.

I like how bat eared foxes cluster together

[cottonlemonade]

Hello again it's me. I may I please have a menu B with strawberry milk and purin and I'll sit next to Ren Oomimi please

The Wrath Of Oomimi Ren

word count: 818 || avg. reading time: 3 mins.

pairing: Oomimi x chubby!Reader (feat. Atsumu)

genre: fluff

warnings: none

request: fluffy jealous upperclassman Oomimi, as manager

It was never a good sign to see the twins huddled together with Suna in an obviously plotting manner. Whispers and giggles, a short screech of approval here or there - it was all rather disconcerting.

Oomimi frowned and went back to his conversation with the other two third years. However, he didn’t let the chaotic trio out of his sight. Kita wasn‘t here yet, being stuck in a meeting of the class presidents, so it fell upon him, Michinari and Aran to keep the younger members of the team in check until the training began (certainly a three person job). The gym door opened and their trainer along with their manager came in, the cute kohai holding a water carrier in each hand. Almost automatically he made a move to hurry over and take them off your hands but one side glance towards the menaces from year two stopped him in his tracks. He had already been too obvious about his crush on their curvy manager, having gushed about you one too many times to his classmates in the locker room. Even though, “gushed“ might have been the wrong word. He talked about you. Too often.

Thinking out loud if the team should invite you along for an after training snack run to the nearby convenience store or wondering if you‘d maybe be interested in joining them for a (not really) friendly game of Mario Kart that weekend. Or invite you to a movie with them. Or suggesting to have you join their study group. Or sit with them at lunch. Or if they should bring you a bun when they went by a bakery on their way to school.

Everyone knew about his crush, even the trainer. Except, of course, you.

To you, Oomimi was a thoughtful, albeit quiet player who was an important component to Inarizaki‘s defense along with Suna. To you, he was simply being polite and tried to include you as often as possible. And, to be honest, he was the reason why you joined the team as the manager.

Whenever you called for the team’s attention for the coach, Oomimi was the first to come running but always stopped himself a few meters before reaching you, slowing his steps and suddenly becoming very interested in retying his shoes or straightening his jersey as to not make it seem like he was too eager to get to you. He knew he had an intimidating aura and the last thing he wanted was to scare you by towering over you.

And today was no exception.

Once Kita arrived the team gathered in a half circle around you and the trainer - Oomimi stole glances at you throughout the coach’s game plan. When it was time for the warm up drills, he paused in his movements when he saw that instead of dispersing like the rest of the team, the chaotic trio stayed behind to talk to you while Coach Kurosu went outside to take a phone call.

“How about it, y/n-chan?”, he heard Atsumu say loudly, “This friday night. We can go to the arcade or see a movie.“ The setter shuddered, feeling a sudden icy chill on the back of his neck but soldiered on, “Why aren’t ya sayin’ anythin’? Don’t wanna go on a date with me?”

He was sure when he turned around he would come face to face with Kita but instead he stared at the chest of the middle blocker, slowly raising terrified eyes to look at him.

“H-hey, Oomimi-san.”, he stuttered, “I was just askin’ our manager to go out with me.”

“I know, the whole gym could hear ya.”, Oomimi replied calmly.

“O-okay then. Uhm… would ya give us a bit of space so she can answer me?”

Oomimi looked at you - your face telling a detailed story of confusion and reluctance.

“No.”, he said, glaring down at Atsumu.

“And why is that?”, Atsumu asked, hoping his knees wouldn’t give out. He hated Osamu and Suna for this. Sure, the sacrifice for their cause was chosen via rock, paper, scissors but now that The Wrath of Oomimi Ren was upon him, he really badly wanted to reconsider, even if that would give his friends the right to his lunch desserts for the next month.

“Well…” Oomimi hadn’t thought that far. “Because…-“

“Because I’d actually much rather go out with Oomimi-san.”, you said, cheeks as red as tomatoes, “Sorry, Tsumu. You’re … okay and all but I’m not interested.”

Osamu and Suna doubled over with laughter - the latter still holding up his phone to capture the moment for all eternity.

Atsumu would have been extremely offended if he wasn’t so relieved that the giant third year was too distracted by your confession to hurt him and grabbing his brother and friend by the sleeves dragged them off to leave you and Oomimi to blush at each other in private.

a/n: thank you so much for your request! I hope you enjoyed it ^^ 🌟

[aizeuna]

1AM Doodle

It's me! After SO LONG I'm posting again and it's simply a doodle.

You'll never guess who my favorite character(s) are. (Less than 3-2 mins of screentime and barely any dialogue).

I want to create more..

College is a tough patch for me and here's to hoping I'm making it out! My capstone project is draining the life out of me at the moment, and I am very sleep deprived. Thank you for understanding.

[ranaiki]

Split Apart | Chapter 12 - In Stride

wc: 3k

warnings: swearing, hurt/comfort; kita being the best man ever, basically (i love him sm).

a/n: to prevent any confusion - from here on out, there may be sections written in italics that represent the “past”. They will be labelled based on how long ago it took place, and separated clearly from the parts that are placed in the present. Thought I would give my readers fair warning since it’s a new aspect that may end up confusing. And here is my usual apology for the time it took to get out the new chapter. Been struggling with school, as per usual. It’ll probably be slow updates for the next little while too. I have a break in the middle of november, and again in december, so during those times I’ll probably be able to pick up the pace again.

s.masterlist | prev | next

Over 1 year ago

“Where am I from?”

The words dangled from your tongue as you stared straight ahead, meeting the  gazes of a rather large crowd of curious students. They waited, excitement and impatience oozing from their features.

“Well, uh.” You continued, swallowing thickly as their eye contact remained intact, searing through you with each passing second. The eager silence screamed loudly over your pattering heart, stifling your words, but it was clear that only your voice was capable of filling the gap.

Perhaps you should have expected this - a small country town with only a single high school within. Plenty to do and see, but nothing new. The same people and families have lived here for years. Someone moving away, or someone moving in, was a big deal.

So of course the students of Inarizaki had already heard of you. Of course they would be able to pick you out in the crowd the instant you stepped foot in the building.

You were a fresh face, you were new, an entirely unknown entity in a world where familiarity reigned supreme.

“I’m from Tokyo.” You finished, a chorus of oohs and aahs echoing your statement.

“Did ya grow up there?” Someone asked, leaning forward just a little too far. You subtly stepped back, finding your back pressing up against the locker you’d been trying to open before you’d been ambushed.

The accent here was far beyond anything you were used to. It was thick, nasally. Even after practice with some of the local shop owners the last few weeks, you still had difficulty deciphering what exactly they were saying most of the time.

You gave a slow nod, watching the group in front of you warily. “Born and bred.” A little awkward chuckle escaped your lips, though any discomfort you were exhibiting was lost to the crowd.

“I heard that Tokyo is dangerous, is that true?”

You blinked, frowning a little. “Well I mean, I guess?” You shrugged, pressing back impossibly further as the crowd seemed to descend upon you. “There are dangers just like everywhere...”

“Why’d you move here?” “Why’d you leave Tokyo?”

“Well I uh...”

“What’s it like there?” “Can you take me sometime?” “Did your parents go bankrupt or something?”

Questions overlapped each other in waves, your ears ringing beneath their noisy chatter, each person trying to speak over the next. You felt suffocated, drowning in the curiosity of the students and their overbearing inquiries.

“Hey now hey now.” A voice disrupted the chatter, breaking off the many sentences, and luring quiet to the crowded hallway. “What’s goin’ on over here?”

Immediately, you felt a shift in attention, the inward press of the crowd dissipating, at least partly.

You glanced up, ready to get on your knees to thank your savior, but your gratitude sat heavy in your mouth, swallowed back bit by bit.

A young man stood before you, his smile charming, bordering on arrogant, and his gaze lazy and smug. You frowned, staying put against the lockers as the boy stepped close to the crowd, gazing down and basking in the sudden adoration of the students who had previously contained undivided attention towards you.

“Miya-san!” A girl near the back of the crowd, now closest to the brunet, cheered, leaning forward and just a little too close into him - did the people at Inarizaki have no sense of personal space?

“Ah... hello!” The boy said with a smile, waving at the girl who addressed him. It was obvious he didn’t know her name, or even recognize her, perhaps, but she still giggled and blushed, cheeks an attractive shade of pink.

The boy turned away from her, gazing over the crowd to stare directly into your face. There was something there, something that hid behind his conceited expression you couldn’t quite place - and it made you uneasy.

You straightened your back instinctively, finding it hard to meet him head on, and to not turn away from his scrutinizing gaze.

“So, what is all this?” The boy finally asked, and he turned to look at the other students rather than directing his question to you yourself. Irritation tugged at your gut, fingers twitching where they rested at your sides.

“We all just wanted ta meet the new student.” A different girl piped up this time, eyes sparkling as she looked up at the boy, as if she was patiently waiting for her turn within his attention.

And he gave it - offering a brief glance down at her in recognition, before turning back up to stare at you.

“New girl, huh?” His gaze flickered up and down your figure, lingering just a little too long at the hem of your uniform skirt. Your hands drifted towards it subconsciously, fingers picking at the fabric and tugging it just a little farther down. “What’s yer name?”

“It’s-”

“I can answer that question myself.” You didn’t mean to snap, but even you cringed at the harsher edge your tone adopted once another student tried to answer in your stead.

The student flinched, glancing back at you with wide eyes, before giving a slow, feeble nod, inching back just a pace.

“It’s L/n Y/n.” You set your jaw, gaze boring into those of the brunet boy.

You watched as his eyes began to twinkle, a little sparkle lighting up his features, and the corner of his smirk tugging up just a little further on one side.

“Y/n-kun, then?”

You flinched, fighting the heat that began to rise up your neck.

“I- no! No, it’s L/n to you.”

The boy frowned a little, but nodded. “L/n-kun it is then.” You couldn’t help the roll of your eyes. “I’m Atsumu, Miya Atsumu.”

“Okay...” You mumbled, and the boy stared back at you with an expression nothing short of flabbergasted. “Can I get to my classes now?”

You pushed off the lockers with one hand, fingers splayed over the cold metal. Your bag swung onto your shoulder as you stepped forward, lifting it from the ground and away from the onlookers. The crowd parted reluctantly as you pushed your way through, shoulders bumping into those that stood just a little too close.

You side eyed one of the crowding boys as you walked past, catching the nasty glare he was sending you.

Was everyone obsessed with this guy?

The boy, Atsumu, watched you as you shouldered past, not making a move in pursuit, but you could feel his and the others’s lingering gazes, puzzling over your behavior.

Great, what a way to start the next 3 years...

⠀

Present Day

You weren’t equipped to be handling this sort of thing. You knew that.

You were quick to figure it out and understand - the onset of crippling dismay settling at the pit of your stomach within the first seconds of the earthquake.

Ever since, you’d feel queasy and unsettled, like that feeling you get when something isn’t quite right but you have no idea what. A lingering feeling of doom followed you at your every step and every turn.

And you had ignored it, at first, for a little while. As long as you could, really.

But the feeling only stacked, each day feeling a little heavier than the last, that discomfort growing from the size of a grain of sand, to a seed, to a pit, and beyond. By the time your fear and distress sat in the size of an orange in your stomach, you’d begun to wonder how long you could possibly hold out for - how long you could bottle and compartmentalize everything you saw, felt, and experienced so that you could focus on the here and the now.

You wanted nothing more to provide the support you knew the others needed, to be as steadfast as a mountain in a storm, but your will began to crumble to dust, and you felt every muscle weakening the more the time stretched.

And this right now must be the answer to your question - just how long you could stay collected had come to a grand total of a week and a half.

You could feel shudders rolling through your body, and though you knew the source was the biting cold and chill settling into your bones, you could no longer feel it - not the dull aches, nor the way your fingers had gone numb from exposure.

You still stared at the clear water of the lake, leaned away from the edge so you didn’t have to look into your dead, terrified eyes. You didn’t like the person who was blinking back at you from the surface.

Your eyes pinched closed as another shiver rolled up your spine.

What the hell were you supposed to do?

How could you come back from this?

You weren’t like Kita. You weren’t able to stand tall and proud, a reassuring and calm expression on at the worst of times. You weren’t a pillar of dependability that the others could rely on.

You weren’t like the others, either. You weren’t like Aran, comforting and steadfast, supporting Kita from the sidelines. You weren’t like Oomimi, silent, selfless, and compassionate. You weren’t like Akagi, with crucial knowledge in the arts of healing. You weren’t like Atsumu and Osamu, a relief in the shrouding darkness, providing a sense of normalcy. You weren’t like Suna either, versatile and handy.

And you weren’t even like Ginjima, who, admittedly, was the most fearful of all of them, the most timid, but even he pushed forward. He broke down every few days, for a few hours at least, but he was able to spring back up and forge on ahead as soon as the tears dried from his cheeks.

Were you able to do that?

It certainly didn’t seem like it.

Your tears had long since dried, and yet you still sat with your knees against your chest, hoping and praying that all of this would just go away, that you’d return to your bed in the morning and realize you just had a long, fucked up dream.

You felt helpless.

You pressed your face down, hiding it between your legs, where it was slightly warmer. An exhausted sigh slipped past your lips, fanning onto your inner thighs. The gravel crunched behind you. You hid your flinch, only burying deeper, wishing, like you did with all things, that the person would just go away.

They stayed silent, even as their feet stopped only a pace or two away from your shivering figure.

“If you’ve come here to scold me, there’s no use.” You muttered, just loud enough for the person to hear you. You heard him sigh a little, though again, he said nothing. “I don’t need someone else telling me to suck it up.”

“Why would I tell ya somethin’ like that?” Your eyes widened. A familiar voice echoed through the air, his words barely above a whisper, soft and reassuring. For the first time, you hated that. It was just a reminder of everything that you weren’t.

The pillar among the group.

You let out a heavy sigh, eyes fluttering closed once more. “Kita...” You mumbled, lips pressed thin. Slowly, you lifted your head from the confines of your legs, though your forehead remained pressed against the tops of your knees. “Sorry, didn’t know it was you.”

“But ya still said it anyways.” You flinched, turning your face away from him. He didn’t move, still standing in place, feet buried in the pebbles of the shore. It was quiet for a heartbeat, before he was speaking again. “So... scold ya, huh?” His footsteps crunched again as he moved forward, just a little closer, coming to a stop at your side. “Is that what ya think ya deserve?”

You didn’t answer, a little click of your tongue all you offered in the way of a response. You could feel his gaze on your neck, hot in contrast to the biting cold.

“I can’t even imagine what I would scold ya for...”

“For losing my cool? For always creating extra burdens for you and the others? For acting out just an hour ago? For not being able to walk by your side? For not being strong enough to handle it all?” You hissed bitterly, tugging your knees impossibly closer.

“And that deserves a scoldin’?” His question didn’t sound rhetorical. It didn’t sound as it had before, like he was trying to coax out your inner thoughts. No. He sounded... bewildered. Truly bewildered, like the concept of scolding you for such things was entirely foreign, horrifying, even.

You only huffed, turning your head just slightly so you could peek at him from the corner of your eye - eyelids heavy, circles dark beneath them.

He was staring down at you with round eyes, lips in the shape of an ‘o’, though they weren’t parted. You turned away again quickly, shrinking in on yourself. An unwelcome feeling like you’d done something wrong creeped up your spine.

Kita seemed to notice. His mouth pursed as he plopped down on the pebbles right next to you, his hands folding over bent knees as he too cast his focus on the glassy lake stretching before you.

“None of those things deserve scoldin’.” He murmured, letting his chin come to a rest on his forearms. “Half of them aren’t even true, but for those that are.. they’re entirely normal. They’re human. Honestly I’d be more concerned if ya hadn’t lost yer cool. Nobody in their right mind would be able to take all this in stride.”

“You have.” Your voice was shorter than you had intended, clipped and irritated. Kita only chuckled dryly, brushing past the remark without so much as a word.

“You’ve handled this all almost perfectly for tha last several weeks.” He commented, turning to face you. “It makes sense that ya can’t keep that up forever, not without someone there ta help ya carry the burden.”

You frowned a little, once again peeking from the corner of your eye to glance at him. His eyes burned in the low light, glowing like warm amber. Right now, you really hated it - you hated the way they stared deep into your soul, searching for words left unspoken, looking to soothe and console.

You didn’t want him to see the worst parts of you. You didn’t want him to see the way you were cracking under the pressure.

You didn’t want him to realize that you weren’t fit to stand at his side.

“But you can do it. You continue on with nobody helping you, nobody there to support you.” You didn’t mention that you were able to see the tolls of it on his body and face - it didn’t change the fact that he was still standing, still strong.

It was then that Kita gave you a small, nervous chuckle, cheeks rouged.

“Well, I haven’t been alone.” He said sheepishly.

“You mean the other third years?”

“No, not them.” The pink deepened a little. “You.”

You blinked in surprise, lifting your head to look at him better. “Me?”

“Yes, you. It may not seem huge to you, but all the little things ya do make a huge difference.” He turned away from you, unable to meet your gaze any longer. “Like when ya bring Atsumu back under control, or when ya stay up with me into tha late hours of the night, keepin’ me company or helpin’ me prep. Like the calm energy you exude - it influences the others, I’ve seen it. They’re all a lot calmer because of ya, more collected. If ya hadn’t been here, they all would have fallen apart by now.”

You stared at him in shock.

He... saw all of that?

Kita turned away even further, the pink beginning to tint the tops of his ears. “Yer a crucial element to the team. Yer important. That’s why I could never be mad about somethin’ as simple as expressin’ yer emotions. Even if all this hadn’t happened, I could never, and would never, be mad about that.”

“I.. I just... Is it not hard for you? To handle something else on top of everything?”

Kita shrugged, looking back down at you, finally. “Not really. Like I said before, yer just bein’ human. How could I blame ya for that? How could I expect ya to keep it all in? For my sake? No no no. There’s no harm in takin’ breaks or breathers. There’s no harm in needin’ a little extra support now and again. Because yer human. And humans aren’t expected to take on the weight of the world.”

You could feel your eyes watering, a warm feeling blossoming through your chest, replacing the bitter cold that had rooted there.

His eyes, though they themselves hadn’t changed, looked warmer to you, more welcoming. The anger you had been harboring melted away piece by piece, and you started to wonder how you’d been able to look at his concern and chalk it up to pity.

He lived up to his role.

Even though you’d blown up and rushed off, even though you refused to seek help even when you needed it, he continued to stand still, and supported you from behind.

You’d been so worried about him, worried you weren’t enough help to him that it ended up creating more of a burden, but even then, he looked at you with the same, kind eyes, and offered you the same patience and understanding.

Kita gave you a shy smile, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “So.... take all the time ya need. And I’ll be here to support ya. I’ll wait for ya, for as long as it takes. And once yer ready, we’ll go back to tacklin’ the world.”

Taglist:

@sadcrxissant @meri-soni-meri-tamanna @deathfreak45 @kotarousproperty @ochakosprettybunny @bebetiny @itsmeaudrieee @pressuredtreasure @alatuskaleidos @ketterdam-kunoichi @cherrybeomgyu

let me know if you’d like to be added or removed <3

[kimbapisnotsushi]

happy birthday aran!!! have some inarizaki hcs let's go

back when they first played shiratorizawa aran didn't know what to do bc tendou kept yelling weird shit at him and aran was, quite honestly, frightened for his life

tendou: "watch this i'm going to intimidate their ace so hard he won't be able to play properly and we'll win!" semi: "okay, what are you going to - " tendou, putting his hands around his mouth for the whole stadium to hear: "HEY NUMBER EIGHT, GET READY FOR ME TO PISS IN YOUR PANTS" semi: "dude what the fuck"

the twins are SO ready to fight and they probably would have if kita hadn't stepped in

kita didn't even have to do much he just stared down tendou with all the energy of "your most respected/favorite teacher is disappointed in you and you're going to cry bc of it" and tendou backed off

(for all of five minutes. then he started dumping on akagi but akagi gives what he gets so what the hell, kita let it slide)

this might be considered bad sportmanship tbh but it's funny as fuck so whatever

LMAO WAIT SORRY LOSING MY SHIT AT THE THOUGHT OF SHIRABU AND ATSUMU ON THE COURT AT THE SAME TIME THE IMPLICATIONS ARE SO FUCKED OH MY GOD

okay sorry back to the normal schedule

i think bc aran's the ace and court captain people try to follow his lead at school or ask him to make the final decision on things and such and he HATES it. it's soooooo much pressure and he really doesn't want to disappoint anyone!!

like no he does NOT want to be the tiebreaker for what their class should do during the school festival he just wants to walk around and eat a crepe. no he does NOT want to choose what paint color looks best for remodeling the garden fence why the fuck are you even asking him he's part of the volleyball club!!!! he always texts kita for help when this happens LMAO

and even if he DOES mess up the other students are always like, "ah, of course ojiro-san would do that!! he totally did that on purpose!! of course it's because [insert farfetched excuse here]!! why didn't we think of that either!!!"

if anyone's ever seen or read handa-kun (light-hearted prequel/spin-off to barakamon <33) it's basically that LMAO

kita's surprisingly good at telling scary stories

not just that but he tells normal stories in such a way that most people think he's telling a scary story first and then he says some totally mundane shit like "and that's why we no longer store our towels under the bed" and people are like. damn guess i'm not doing that either!!!

every day suna texts his sister one funny zero-context quote from practice. his sister has collected all of these and set up a twitter account for them.

gin thinks atsumu is going to get his ass kicked for not knowing when to shut the fuck up. atsumu thinks he's going to get his ass kicked because osamu paid someone to do it

osamu insists he wouldn't tho bc then he'd just do it himself for free

akagi, aran, and kita tease oomimi for being younger than them and make a running joke of ruffling his hair like a little kid which oomimi actually finds really comforting bc people usually shy away from being tactile with him. like guys come on oomimi is a sweetheart i love him so much