“ 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 !”
.
𝟏
Friday, Kotei arrived at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium to cheer on her brother. Miwa thought it would be a fun experience and decided to permit her stay with the Karasuno team at their hotel while she drove back to her work. Her grand entrance was not paid much attention which seemed to bring down her mood. But her face lit up when something interesting popped up.
“ Ah, help me !” Hinata’s voice boomed throughout the hallways as abrupt footsteps stopped near the third years’ room and the door slid open with a slam.
“ What happened, Hinata ?”
Kotei who was sitting on Kageyama's lap, messing with his phone, looked up excited as she witnessed a hyperactive boy jump upon Sugawara who happened to be nearest to the door.
“ There's a cockroach !” He pointed fearfully behind him and on cue a tiny, black mass charged at them at immense speed.
“ AHHH ! IT'S COMING HERE !”
Asahi ‘ eeped ’ and shrunk back into a corner of the room.
Kotei, in between the commotion, stood before Hinata and Suga in a lax motion and with grave curiosity picked the insect with her bare fingers and held it up before her face.
“ Is this it ?” She asked showing it to Hinata who yelped.
“ Ah ! Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross !”
“ It's just a cockroach,” she said with a nonchalant smile, walking closer to them.
“ Kotei, you baka, stay away from me ! Your face makes me sick !”
“ Don't come closer ! Ahhhh !”
Thank the lords Kiyoko was there to save the day as she disposed of the small creature, expertly. Hinata had lost his breath by then and lay collapsed on the floor, his face pale and blue.
“ But Kotei just wanted to have fun~”
The child whined as Daichi flicked her forehead and lectured her to reflect on her actions.
So, yes. The evening was pretty much uneventful.
Untill the next day.....
“ It's Nekoma vs Karasuno. I wonder who's gonna win ?” Said a sandy brown haired boy, with an average height sitting beside another dark-brown haired boy with middle parted bangs. His grey eyes scanned the arena as his gaze finally landed on a hyperactive ginger head.“ And there goes Karasuno’s #10.”
“ Hn.” His partner's monotonous reply didn't satisfy the former. He faced him to see his greyish yellow eyes stuck to his phone screen which played a video; the black earphones peeked from above his earlobes, seemingly invested in whatever's going on in the clip.
“ What're you watching, Suna ?” Ginjima asked leaning towards him, their shoulders brushing together.
“ Shintaro Romeo of 1-b got into a fight with some delinquents. He got beat up pretty bad. Look,” Rintaro held up the phone near his face to show the clip.“ We used to go to middle school together.”
“ Ah, so that's why you look so sad.”
“ No.” He withdrew in his seat and brought his focus back to the small device.“ I'm sad I was not there to record it.”
“ You know that makes you sound like a crappy guy, right ? Wasn't he your friend?”
“ My classmate. Who also pushed me down the stairs once,” he stated nonchalantly scratching behind his ears, feeling itchy since morning.
“ Wow,” Ginjima responded bluntly earning a dirty look from the latter. Clearing his throat his gaze swept across the almost packed audience in the lower deck, below them.
Karasuno’s support system was lined up before the front row, the blonde extremely good with her taiko drum leading them. Just beside them stood Nekoma’s cheering squad, a thirteen year old as the leader and a tall, model-like girl with long silver hair reaching below her shoulders. Many other orange and red clothed supporters filled up the seats, getting ready to cheer the contenders on. Battle at the garbage dump ? More like battle between the cheer squads.“Hey, Suna, I'm gonna go get us something to eat.”
“ Hn.”
The Inarizaki team has stayed back deciding to watch all the matches till the end and analyse them accordingly. Moreover, the juniors were disappointed to realise the third years were gonna graduate and there's not really a ‘next time’ for them. Maybe that's why they wanted to spend some time together, just the team, to make some good memories.
“ These idiots....,” the dark haired boy muttered before pulling out his earphones. A sucking noise entered his ears which was disturbing. Not to mention, disgusting. He turned to whoever was (or were) making the noise to give them a piece of his mind but choked back his insults when a small girl, around five or six, an orange haori round her shoulder, greeted him with a blank stare, continuing to suck on the lollipop.
Their staring contest came to a close when Suna ignored her completely and went back to typing something on the phone (probably texting his friends to get all the juicy details of the fight).
“....”
He got uncomfortable when the girl continued staring at his side profile, making that horrible sucking noises. He clicked his tongue and sat a bit diagonally to shield himself from her viewpoint.
A few seconds later his gaze flickered towards her only to see her waving happily at the blonde in the distance. Tanaka Saeko. But he didn't know that. Must be related to someone on the Karasuno team, he thought finding some resemblance in her and Karasuno #9’s Kageyama.
Kotei sneaked another glance at the older male. She let out a small ‘oh’ finally discovering his identity. Last time she watched the last half of the Karasuno vs Inarizaki’s match on Oikawa’s phone, this guy played as the middle blocker on the team. His features intrigued her and contemplated whether to make a conversation first.
“ Tsk.”
She faltered when the boy got up and leaving three seats between them, sat down on the other end of the row. He glanced at her, quick to look away when they made eye contact. The guy looked desperate to maintain distance from her. Why ? Kotei's gonna found out.
Suna expressed his displeasure with a pointed look at the child who sat beside him, again. This might be the umpteenth time she's done this and he's pretty sure by now they've rotated all the seats in the upper deck.“ What do you want, kid ?” He asked in a low voice, which exuded weariness. Yet, his calm demeanor said otherwise.
Her face lit up when he turned out to be the first one to approach her (not really).“ I'm Kotei. What's yer name ?”
“ Do I have to say ?” He grumbled.
She nodded rapidly.
“ Suna Rintarō. Happy ? Now get off my back.” He dipped his head to shut out his surroundings and engaged himself fully into his device.
“ Suna is from Inari-chan, right ? The team that lost to Karasuno ?”
“...”
“ Suna ?”
“...”
“ Neee, Suna ?”
“...”
“ Suna, Suna, Suna~” She poked his arms and the latter grunted pocketing his phone. Done with her interrogations, he finally gave in.
“ What ?”
“ Ah !” She grinned to get his entire attention on her.“ Suna is from Inari-chan? The team of Osamu-kun and Atsumu-kun?”
Rintaro raised his brows at her use of their first names so casually.“ It's Inarizaki. Do you know the Miya twins ?”
“ Who ?”
“ Miya Osamu and Atsumu....,” he said.
“ Yes. Kotei and them are good friends.” She sucked on her lollipop again and stared up at Suna, amused. With a ‘plop’ sound, she took it out to comment,“ Suna looks like a lazy fox ! Owiee~”
His immediate reflex was to pull her cheeks till it turned red.
“ Sowwy~”
He let her go. That's when Kotei got to take a good look at his lock screen and gasped, loudly.“ Ereh !”
“ Hm ?”
“ Suna watches Aot ?”
“ I do.” He hesitated but curiosity got the best of him. With a little bit more interest than earlier he inquired,“ you watch that too ?”
“ Mhm ! It's the best !”
“ It is,” he agreed with a thoughtful look on his face.
“ I'm back, honey~did you miss me ?”
Ginjima yelled loudly sticking his tongue out to shoot a cute pose at Suna but stopped when the latter didn't seem pleased at all.“ Dude, chill out.” He grinned before setting down a huge brown pack on the empty seat on Suna’s right.“ There were lots of food stalls—who’s that ?”
“ Hm ?” Suna’s big arms which were holding the mobile, shielded the sleeping child on his lap. Her lips slightly parted, the lollipop was hanging dangerously out of her mouth but the ball remained stuck between her teeth. Her one hand clutched tightly Suna’s red trousers while soft snores left her mouth.“Some kid,” he shrugged.
“ Yes, I'm not blind.” Ginjima smiled ear to ear, sitting down beside Kotei, at her foot, putting her in between the two males. He adored kids and that's a known fact.“ Do you know her ?”
“ She seems to have already tamed the twins.”
‘ What does that mean ?’ The grey haired boy narrowed his eyes at the statement. Suna always had the habit of not giving straight answers. And that grew on their nerves. He's like a child sometimes, but smarter.“ You mean she knows Atsumu and Osamu ?”
“ Bingo !”
The latter sighed. His head titled back to observe her sleeping face. An endearing little grin stretched across his lips as he bent over the girl.
With one outstretched hand he poked her cheeks. Soft ! The only thing he envies a child for is their soft and smooth skin because once puberty hits, it's sometimes too painful to meet eyes in the mirror.
“ Eeeek, I woke her up !” He winced as Kotei fidgeted around in her sleep. Patting her head he tried to put her back to sleep.“ Go to sleep, little one~the sun is not out yet~”
“....,” Suna cringed at his friend who ignored him.
“ Mhm..,” Kotei sat up and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Her brother's match was yet to start and she was getting bored. With pursed lips, she saw a face hovering over her, a grin on his face as he waved at her.
“ Hello ! I'm Ginjima Hitoshi ! Nice to meet you !”
“ Woah !” His name was an element of awe for her, for some reason.“ I'm Kotei !”
“ Wanna be friends with me ?”
“ Oh, yes, let's go !”
“ Yay !”
What's this friendly environment ? The other boy thought as he swore he saw literal flowers surrounding them, a lovely sphere of youth and friendship yet to blossom in its entirety.
“ What's happening here ?” A mechanical voice spoke up pulling all their attention to the newcomer.
A boy of average height, in the Inarizaki red wear, his grey hair ending in black tips, looked down at them, his dull brown eyes surveying the situation in brief. Holding the title of the captain, Kita Shinsuke, peered at Kotei with a scrutinizing gaze.
“ Look at this cute kid, Kita-san. Isn't she adorable ?” Ginjima gushed.
“ She's cute,” he agreed although his words didn't match his expression.“The match will begin shortly. Can you text the others to get here fast ?”
Receiving a nod from Suna he gazed back at Kotei who smiled up at him. He noticed her shoelaces coming undone. Being the tidy person he is, the captain bent down to tie them properly.“ This is how you tie them.”
“ Kotei ties her own shoes. Because Kotei's a big girl,” she chimed in.
“ Woah, that's so great !” Ginjima cheered, clapping his hands to praise her.
“ Stop encouraging her, Gin. You can trip if it's not properly tied,” Shinsuke said in a monotonous voice, giving his teammate a look of intimidation.“ It's better to let someone else do it if you cannot.” His handiwork surprised the other who stared in awe at the perfect knot.
“ Thanks, mister,” she said grateful.
“ Kita Shinsuke. Nice to meet you.” He got up and sat back beside Suna, his eyes fixed on the court before them. ‘Not much of a talker’ is what Kotei's face read but she didn't mind the silent type, too.
“ Thank you, Kita~”
Shinsuke’s gaze momentarily flickered towards her and nodded in reply.
𝟐
“ One of them has a good thing in it. If you choose correctly, I'll give it to you as a reward,” Suna said calmly extending two closed fists towards Kotei who looked between the two with a thoughtful gaze.
“ It's probably the r—”
“ I did not ask you.”
Ginjima glared at his friend and turned his attention back on Kotei.“Little Kageyama, you have to win this for me. Give it your best !”
She nodded. The time has come to use her telepathic powers that she had acquired from Osamu earlier. Closing her eyes, she signalled her brain waves towards his hands and focused on receiving the reflected tremors.‘Now !’ She opened her eyes and stared intensely at them apparently trying to see better.
What's she doing ? Suna saw the kid literally glaring at his hands. He could almost feel the burn.
“ This one.” She held his right fist with her little fingers and attempted to pry it open.
“ Are you sure ? This is your final choice?”
“Mhm,” she hummed, still observing his closed fist.
“ Then look for yourself.”
This time he didn't resist Kotei's hands which forced opened his long fingers one by one. Her frown deepened when an empty palm greeted him. She looked up at him with a disappointed look.
“ Too bad, Kotei. You lost. There's nothing.” Kotei shook her head. She can't be wrong, more like her brain signals can't be wrong. She refused to believe that she lost. Does Suna have some kind of power too to trick her eyes ? No way her answer can be wrong.“ See ? There's nothing.”
Her face scrunched up, a look of distaste visible upon it and her sour tone surprised the former.“ Suna lies !”
Ginjima chuckled at her resolute nature and ruffled her hair to calm the annoyed girl.
“ I'm not lying. You chose wrong. So you get nothing,” the middle blocker relaxed back into his seat and put his closed left fist in his pocket when Kotei got a hold of it.“ Hey. You can't cheat. The game is over. You won't get anything,” he grumbled.
“ Kotei wanna see what's in the other hand,” she said climbing over his lap as he raised his arm up, out of Kotei's reach. But that didn't stop the girl from climbing further up his shoulder.“ Show, Kotei ! Show!”
“ Get down, Kageyama !” Ginjima’s voice trembled as the child climbed higher up his arm and wrapped her limbs around Suna’s forlimbs like a Koala to support herself. Streching her hand out she finally caught hold of his fingers and pulled them apart to reveal the object.
“ Are you trying to break my fingers ?” Suna grunted leaning further back determined not to give Kotei whatever there was in it.
Unfortunately, in the middle of the tug of war, his grip grew loose and the thing in his hand dropped behind the seat.
“ It fell !” Kotei whined bending over the row to get them.
All of a sudden, the girl felt hands picking her up by her armpits and she landed on someone's lap the next second. Looking up she came face to face with Kita’s calm and collected but somehow intimidating face.“ Sit quietly. You're disturbing the others.” He scolded her and rested his arms around her to keep her from creating more commotion.
Kotei, afraid he'd scold her, sat quietly, her back resting against his front and stealing frequent glances to check whether the angry tides had receded. However, she couldn't identify it from his poker face.
Kita-san disciplining a child ? How elegant ! Ginjima fangirled on the insides observing the heart warming scene with flushed cheeks.
Rintaro found it interesting too for he quickly pulled out his phone and took a picture of the duo. Now he's gonna show it to the rest of the team (maybe the entire school). Maybe he could sell the picture to his worshippers ? Well, their captain was pretty popular in school not for his looks but for his personality, among boys girls alike (even some of the teachers).
“ It's rude to take someone's picture without their consent,” Shinsuke muttered without glancing at him.
“ Oh, sorry.” No matter what you say, this picture will not get deleted from my galary.
Suna seemed pleased with himself. Remembering something he pushed back, twisting his body to lean over the row of seats and picked up the fallen object. Sitting straight again he took Kotei's little hand who stared up at him in confusion. He placed the thing in her palm and closed her fist.“Here.”
Kita who was acting like a temporary guardian peered down at her hand to see the mysterious thing.
A lemon toffee, wrapped in a transparent wrapper.
She grinned down at it and did not falter once before tearing it and plopping it into her mouth.“ Thanks Suna.” She savoured the taste letting out a satisfied moan before handing the wrapper to Rintaro.
“ Uh...thanks ?” He said unsure raising the wrapper.
“ Welcome~”
What am I supposed to do with this ? Suna looked Ginjima with a baffled look showing him the wrapper.
Dude, I think she wants you to discard of it, the latter motioned back.
So now I am a garbage collector ?
Seems so.
The strangest thing was that they managed to pull off a perfect mind-to-mind conversation. It's almost like they are professional telepaths.
“....that bastard Shintaro deserved it ! He stole my candy in grade school ! Stupid!”
Kotei perked up at the new voice that wafted through the air. She turned to stand on Shinsuke’s thighs and peeked behind his shoulder.
A small group of red clothed guys, Atsumu at the very front of the group, his cheeks puffed out from the meatball stuffed in his right cheek, grumbled to his friends in an animated manner. Kotei giggled at his accent. It has become one of her favourites, especially when he cursed.
“ He punched my eye once,” Osamu added.
“ He instigated my own classmates against me,” Akagi said.
“ He kicked me down to the floor saying I was too tall and needed me to get to his eye level,” Ojiro stated nonchalantly.
“ You guys have got it pretty bad,” Oomimi shared his concern.“ Well except Atsumu, that is.”
“ Stealing someone's candy is a big crime ! It's against the law. I could sue him ! But being the benevolent person I am—”
“ Kita-san, hello !” The rest chorused to greet their captain as Atsumu stared at their backs with a betrayed look.
“ Hey ! Don't ignore me !”
Ojiro sat beside Kita and immediately his eyes landed upon the child in his lap who was busy staring at the back as the remaining members grabbed the row above them.
“ Hey !” Kotei brightly greeted Osamu who looked surprised for a moment.
“ Ah ! It's Tobio-kun’s brat !” Atsumu pointed out.
“ Who's Tobio and what is his child doing here ?” Akagi asked perplexed.
“ You've got it wrong. It's Karasuno’s #9’s sister.”
“ Yo !” She waved at Akagi and Oomimi. The former waved back equally enthusiastic while Oomimi stared at her blankly, not the least bit interested.“ I'm Kotei. And Atsumu-kun is big meanie.”
“ Hah ! This is why I don't like you !”
“ But Atsumu-kun called Kotei brat. So it's fair. Bleh !” She stuck her tongue out.
“ You rat ! I really need to beat some sense into you !” Atsumu yelled gaining a few perplexed glances and clutched Kotei's hands with both of his to pull her towards him.“ C’mere ! I will teach you a good lesson !”
“ Aahh ! Atsumu, you stupid ! Let Kotei go!” She felt herself being pulled away when two hands grabbed her waist.“ Kita ! Save Kotei !”
“ Sumu,” Shinsuke said sparing the blonde a pointed look who shrunk back, letting her go. He was going to protest but got cut off.“ Harassing children is bad. Don't you know that ?”
“ Kita-san~she called me meanie !” Atsumu whined shaking the older by his shoulder.
“ Kotei, you shouldn't call people names. It's very rude to insult someone,” Kita said to Kotei. She saw Atsumu giving her a triumphant huff and she pouted. ‘ Kita-san is on my side !’ is what his gaze said.
“ But, Atsumu called Kotei brat,” she pressed further.
“ Both of you are at fault. So it's better if you apologise to each other.”
Kotei frowned when her attempt at pulling Kita to her side failed and she gasped when Atsumu grinned back at her. Puffing out her cheeks like a chipmunk, she looked the other way before muttering,“ sorry....stupid Tsumu..”
“ Hey ! I heard that ! Who're you showing attitude to ! Kita-san, did you see that ! She called me stupid ! Please, scold her! You have to !”
Aran sweatdropped beside them as the rest paid them no mind, except Ginjima who thought he was witnessing two five year olds going full on attack on Titan mode with Kita as the father.
Eventually both the parties quelled the urge to throw some fists with little help from the bystanders, which happened to be the Inarizaki team. Suna, very courteously, recorded the entire thing on his phone. Osamu held back his brother while Kotei leaned back into Kita’s warmth, knowing as long as she's with him, Atsumu can't bully her.
𝟑
Atsumu went back to finishing his meatballs only to see Kotei eyeing him with drool running down her mouth. Disgusting. He felt so uncomfortable under her gaze that he finally had to give in.“ Ugh, you ! Here ! Eat this !” He yelled bringing one near her small face which peeked above Kita’s shoulder.
Kotei's eyes lit up at the voluntary offer and opened her mouth only to be fed by the blonde who pushed it in, aggressively.
“ Mhm, it's good,” she showed a thumbs up.
“ Like hell I need you to tell me that !”
What's this strange love-hate relationship ? Akagi and Oomimi sweatdropped as Osamu smacked his brother on the head before stealing the remaining meatballs, leaving Atsumu with none.
“ You guys are so mean !” Atsumu teared up feeding Kotei another one who readily gulped it down.
Well, you are the one feeding her !
“ It's starting,” Ojiro said out loud.
Kotei glanced lazily at the speaker but her breath hitched when she got a good look at his face.
“ Kopon !” She yelled pointing at Oijiro who flinched at the sudden attention on him.
“ Kopon ?” Ojiro spluttered pointing at himself.
“ Mhm,” she nodded, smiling.
“ It's rude to point at others.” Kita pulled down her hand, discreetly returning her attention back to the game.
( Aot character Onyankopon )
“ Hand please ?” She motioned for him to put his hand forward which the boy did, hesitantly. She shook his hand, smiling and nodding before introducing herself in a formal manner,“ hello, I'm Kageyama Kotei.” Next, she looked at her hand with literal stars twinkling in her eyes. Kotei shook hands with celebrity ! And she just might be never washing them again.
“ Hello to you...too ?”
She grinned. In a flash, she transferred over to Ojiro’s lap and hugged him tightly like a teddy bear, refusing to let go.
The poor boy sat there awkwardly not knowing how to approach the situation and lightly patted her head. It brought him relief when the child leaned into his touch and he felt like patting a homeless puppy hungry for love.
“ Go, Go, Karasuno !”
A loud whistle blew throughout the stadium signifying the beginning of the match and in an instant Kotei left Ojiro’s comfortable hug to climb on top of the seat in front of her and cheering loudly,“ Karasuno, fight !”
Kotei cheering mode on.
Ginjima extended his arms towards her, hesitantly, scared she'd tumble down down the seat and let out a small shriek when his thoughts turned to reality.
“ Uff-”
Kotei squealed as she fell down the step on the floor, her face colliding with the ground.
“ Ah ! Are you okay ?” Ojiro yelled out leaning over the front row to check upon the child.
Kotei slowly got up, looked left and right before climbing back on the seat and continuing,“ Go, go, Karasuno ! Fight, fight Karasuno ! Ah, Kotei has to cheer Nekoma too ! Go, go, Nekoma ! Push it, push it, Nekoma ! Go go—”
‘ She seems to have a lot on her plate,’ the entire Inarizaki team (minus Kita) sweatdropped as the kid tried to pull off a stunt. Shinsuke took the lead and grabbed Kotei to sit her on his lap, again.
“ This is why I told you to sit quietly.” Kita mumbled before rubbing the sore spot on her head soothing her pain.
S-so cute ! Atsumu, Osamu, Akagi and Ginjima fangirled silently at the rare display of Kita’s attention. They would kill for their cool Captain’s pampering. Alas, this was his last year. It made them emotional knowing what would befall them.
“ You act like a father,” Ojiro commented with a smile.
Kita looked up in confusion.“ Isn't this normal ?”
By the time the match ended and Yamada proceeded to call Kotei back, he found her sleeping peacefully on a stranger’s lap. Well, not any stranger. But Inarizaki’s calm and collected Captain. He apologized before picking the girl up while Kita reassured him, repeatedly.
They parted ways.
Kotei earned more friends.
______________________________________
“ 𝑇𝒉𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔.”
*formally bows*