Perfectionist ✺ Sakusa Kiyoomi

Prologue

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Two: He was, in fact, not a germaphobe.

The first conversation Chiharu ever had with Sakusa occurred in the showers in the Ajinomoto training center, after the first day of All-Japan. Chiharu would be lying if he said he didn't find that fact hilarious. Here was an athlete he admired greatly, and they were both half-naked.

The shower room was presumed to be empty at the time that Chiharu strolled in with a only towel around his waist, swinging around a pouch carrying his travel-sized shower essentials. He'd wolfed down his dinner and ditched his friends to shower with some alone time and wind-down before bed.

He was reaching to turn on the shower-head in one stall before he heard a loud sigh behind him. Chiharu jumped and whipped his head around. "Shit, you scared me!" He complained to the stranger before recognizing the dark curls. "Sakusa?" Chiharu tilted his head. The ace was was seated on the tiny bench attached to his shower stall with a hunched back and a pitiful look on his face. His shower was off, and he was completely dry, bundled in several white towels and looking like a pretty convincing snowman.

"You scared me," Chiharu said again, this time with a chuckle to lighten the mood, "I didn't think anyone was in here."

Sakusa, head hung low, spared Chiharu only a glance under furrowed eyebrows before returning to his active moping. "Hey, what's wrong?" Chiharu asked. Truly, he was worried. He found himself quite fond of Sakusa, despite never having spoken to him before now. "Come on, maybe I can help." He prodded when the first-year gave him no answer.

Just as Chiharu was about to give up and leave him alone, Sakusa grumbled a quiet, "I left my shampoo at home." And he wouldn't be able to return home for another week.

In any other scenario, Chiharu would've laughed at him. But seeing as Sakusa seemed genuinely upset at himself, Chiharu spared him further embarrassment. "Well, that's an easy solution," the libero reached into his own bag for a tiny clear bottle and offered it, "You can use mine. I brought extra."

Sakusa threw a skeptical glare at the bottle in Chiharu's extended hand, then looked him up and down. Admittedly, this made Chiharu a little nervous to realize he had but a towel and was otherwise without any cover. "What brand?" Sakusa asked with obvious suspicion in his voice, doubting that Chiharu even knew what kind of shampoo he'd been putting in his hair.

Chiharu, happy that he was able to subvert Sakusa's expectations, proudly stated, "It's Aveda's rosemary mint." In fact he could elaborate on, "My favorite, actually. Not to nerd-out about shampoo, but I like to experiment with different kinds. I find that this one cleans your hair really well. It smells good too. A bit on the pricier side but totally worth it."

The younger raised an eyebrow.

Immediately, Chiharu was nervous again. "Sorry. All I'm saying is: it's great, trust me." He cringed a little at his own words.

Just as Chiharu thought he'd completely weirded him out, Sakusa let out a tiny chuckle. "I really appreciate it, Konishi-san." He reached to accept the shampoo from Chiharu's hand, fingers grazing slightly against Chiharu's.

Chiharu was just surprised Sakusa knew him at all. "You know my name?" He blurted.

"Of course I do. I watched your team's match against Itachiyama at last year's Interhigh." Sakusa stated easily.

"We destroyed you guys." Chiharu smirked. "Well, I guess not you because you were in Junior High." He corrected.

"That was what made me go to Itachiyama, actually. I was confident that if I'd been there, they would've won." The ace threw out the claim nonchalantly, finally getting out of his snowman state to turn on his shower.