The smell of Darjeeling filled the room, and you inhaled it in deeply into your lung as you put two spoonfuls of dried tea inside your teacup.
You yawned without even bothering to cover your mouth with your hand, pouring the hot water from the kettle as you brew a cup of tea. Your hand mindlessly grabbed the teaspoon on top of the counter, still drowsy after a long night wrestling with your husband.
Kita Shinsuke was someone full of surprises, even after years in a relationship with him, every day you could find a new thing to uncover. His usual stoic, emotionless visage was just a front. Under all of that was a man who could express lots of things without a filter.
You stirred the tea to make sure the sugar dissolved completely, focusing yourself to the sound of the clinking cup. Your mind was already preoccupied with breakfast, thinking about what would be the easiest to cook and yet be something that he'd enjoy.
Thus the reason why you couldn't hear his voice greeting you for the last couple of seconds.
"Good morning."
You jolted when his breath fanning your soft skin at your nape, voice penetrating right in your eardrum. Somehow the gesture made you feel so bare as if he could see right through you with the closeness that you shared.
A low chuckle slipped from his lips, loving the surprised expression that he thought looked cute on you.
"Morning, Shin." You answered softly before getting a sweet kiss pressed on your lips. It was just a second, but enough to linger for the rest of your days. Your orbs scrutinized his figure, pouting when you realised he'd already freshened up. "It's not fair how you look so beautiful without even trying."
You always envied how he constantly looked so tidy almost all the time (maybe indeed all the time). He was only up for maybe five minutes, but his hair was already combed neatly — even the wrinkles on his clothes seemed to be gone.
"Says you." A low chuckle followed his words. "Maybe if you combed your hair when you woke up, you wouldn't get this—" His fingers tried to untangle some of the knots on your hair, "—massacre on top of your head."
His lips tugged into a smirk, making you pout in an instant realising that you fell for his cheekiness once again. A boisterous laugh came from his lips and rang throughout the kitchen before it was muffled by him pulling your head on his face, leaving a small kiss on your temple.
"Come on, you know I am saying the truth." He still let out another chuckle. He couldn't help it, he just loved to tease you and see your lips pursed into a pout. "But the previous words are the truth too."
"Huh?" You finally glanced towards him, finding his brown orbs glimmering as he looked at you. "What previous words? I could only hear you being a sharp tongue like you always are."
"I said, says you." His palm went up to cup one of your cheeks, thumb grazing on your skin to feel the warmth that your body radiated. "You always look so beautiful, and you don't even have to try. You did it effortlessly."
Something about Kita Shinsuke — was the fact that he always said everything with honesty. People thought that living with him would be hard, knowing how sharp his tongue could be when he saw something that was lacking and just not right in his dictionary. He was dominant, to say the least, on every little thing that he did even without him trying to.
But the fact that he was always honest; soothed you. Because you knew that every time he scolded you it was because he knew you needed to be reminded, that every time you received his warning glare it was because he knew you could do better than that.
And because you knew — that every time he said all of those compliments and pretty words, it was true from his heart.
"Fuck, I love you so much."
"Language." He sent you a glare, though it was immediately replaced by a small smile as he looked into your eyes, filled with love and adoration. "Guess I love you too."
"Just guess?!" You pulled away from him, putting one hand in front of your chest as you fake gasped. "I can't believe that you vowed in front of everyone only to doubt your feelings in the middle of this journey!"
He really wanted to roll his eyes right now. At a time like this, he knew for real why you seemed so inseparable from one of the twins back in high school. The two of you being dramatic underclassmen, pain in the ass, if he remembered correctly was what Akagi labelled you and the setter.
His hand immediately gripped your wrist. Not too hard, yet enough to pull you back closer to him. He ignored the yelp that slipped from your lips as your head fell on his chest. "Shinsu—"
"It's time."
You straightened your posture, looking deep inside his brown eyes as you understood well what was the meaning behind his words. Your fingers played with his hair, smiling softly before snatching a kiss from his lips.
"Go ahead first then, I am going to grab the necessities."
»»————- ♔ ————-««
It was at moments like this when time seemed to stop. When the world felt like it rotated just around the two of you. With his hands resting on your waist, thumb grazing your white camisole. He hummed a little tone to break the silence, one that somehow helped you to stay focused.
"Not yet." You said softly, breath fanning his eyelashes. "Don't open your eyes yet, Shin."
And he did exactly what you told him to. He was patient, always when it came to you. To feel your heat, sitting on his lap, so still as the only thing that could be heard was the sound of snip snip snip was oddly comforting for him as it filled his eardrums.
It flowed like a rhythm, on every snip you gently picked up the end of his hair that still stuck on his skin, the strands that the wind couldn't pick up. He never knew what kind of style you were going to choose or how short his hair would be after you were done.
He believed in you, one hundred percent. That no matter how weird it would be, he knew he wouldn't hide it from anyone. It was satisfying for him, kinda like a trophy that he loved to show off. Not that everyone knew who trimmed his hair all this time, but he loves it when people compliment his hair and he could say,
"Thank you. My wife did it for me."
It was satisfying for him, to say that out loud with a small smile on his face. Bonus points if he received another comment about how great you were or how you had done such a great job with only scissors and your hand.
You were a trophy — no. You were more than just a trophy in his life. A trophy was something that he achieved when he finished a task. You were not, you were someone who was there when he tried to reach the finish line, someone that was there on every step of his way.
"What's with the smile?" You grazed your thumb on his cheek, keeping his head still as the snip of the blade followed after.
"Thinking about how much I love you."
There he goes again — saying things like that so easily. He wanted to chuckle when he could feel how you tensed up all of a sudden, but he held it back, knowing that he would receive a not-so-good haircut at the end if he laughed at you right now.
Even with his eyes closed, he could see how you bite your lips, a tendency that occurred every time you felt embarrassed. He noticed that ever since he knew you during the second year of high school, and he never forgot about that even after all this time.
"If you want to laugh, just laugh."
But he was not the one who remembered about the lover's habit. "You think you are so sly sometimes, Shin." He chuckled, right at the same time as you trim the last strands of his hair. "You can open up your eyes now."
His eyelashes fluttered slowly, pupils trying to adjust with the light that blinded his vision. You always chose the backyard every time you were going to trim his hair; saying things about how you love cutting his hair with the help of the sun, or how the birds chirping outside and the gentle breeze accompanied you.
You looked like an angel to him, at least that was how he saw you right now. With the rays shone in the background, creating a halo around you like you were a blessing by God — he knew he wouldn't complain about the choice of place. Ever.
Your existence alone was enough to make his heart flutter, filling up his empty heart with your warmth by just being there with him. And to share a small moment like this with you, was something that he wouldn't trade for anything in this world.
"Can I see the mirror?" He asked softly, tucking the strands of your hair behind your ear. He didn't have to ask twice as you grabbed the pouch that was filled with all the haircut necessities, took only a second to grab the pocket mirror from there.
"Tada!"
He raised one of his eyebrows as he met the man in the mirror. Blinking twice when he realised that his bangs right now was different than usual. He couldn't see the dominant bang that usually fell right in the middle of his forehead. Instead, now there were lots of small bangs lining up tidily.
You frowned a little when he didn't react at all, now afraid that he wouldn't like it. Though his hand squeezed your waist gently, as if reassuring you about something, as if he knew what was inside your mind. He turned to look at you with his gentle smile, and that was actually enough for you to know.
"I love it."
There it was. Just a simple three words of affirmation that could bring you to cloud nine. You always seek for that from him, the words being spoken about how he loved or approved things that you did. "You never surprise me. What's with the sudden change of style now? This is so different from the usual."
You put down the mirror back on the table beside you, resting both of your hands on his shoulder.
"I just wanted to test a theory that I had in mind." He hummed, telling you to go on since he knew you still had more to say. "I wanted to know if you still look handsome with another style of hair."
He snorted hearing your response, cheeks immediately reddened when he realised that he made such a noise. Kita Shinsuke never snorted like that, usually just let out a small chuckle, but never this one — because he thought it was just not proper.
Well, at least he did that in front of you, so he knew you would never judge him or anything like that since you were someone who snorts a lot.
"Did you just—"
Yet he gave you a glare when you wanted to bring that up, resulting in you blowing a raspberry. "Meanie."
He chuckled and just rubbed your side, so delicate as if you were some kind of fragile glass that could shatter if you received too much force. He didn't have to say anything this time, knowing well that you could never really get angry at him.
It was at moments like this when time seemed to stop. As if the two of you were the only people on earth, like this world belonged to just you and him to explore.
And maybe with how his hand roamed to your arms, shoulders, then ran to your back — it was enough exploration for him. To just know that you were here, sitting on his lap with your arms circled around his neck. To know that he had your heart the same way as he had yours,
For him, having you as his love was enough.
You didn't have to go a thousand miles to find happiness. Ever since high school, he was just always — there. Brown orbs caught yours every time you snuck into the gymnasium to support your best friends.
Who would have really known that you ended up with him?
You remembered how Atsumu always teased you about this little crush that you had for the captain of Inarizaki Volleyball Club, actually one of the biggest factors why you snuck into their practice from time to time.
When you first saw him, you saw love. And the first time you made contact with him — even though it was just from a little bump with his pinky finger — you felt love. And ever since then, even years went by you met lots of interesting people,
He was still the only one that you love.
"You are daydreaming again." His voice tickled your ear, lips planted at the side of your face. "What is it now?"
"Thinking about how much I love you."
He didn't expect you to copy his words from before, letting it roll down from your tongue so softly as it went straight to his heart. Now he knew exactly what you felt when he said those words for you. Knew why you acted so shy even though you must know that fact already.
It was fulfilling, not in the way that it sent butterflies on his stomach. But it was how your soft voice lingered, how the words and the reminder that you were indeed in love with him — moulded into one and creating a beautiful impact once it was being spoken.
"Oh my, Shin. Are you crying?" He shook his head, didn't want you to freak out. Though of course with the evidence of the tears streaming down his cheek by now, was enough for you to try to calm him down. "Oh, baby..."
You cooed at him, wiping the tears that never seemed to stop with your thumb. Your touch was so delicate, and it made it harder for him to hold down his emotion. "Aww, Shin. Come here now."
There was no use at this moment. He needed to pour it all out. Ever since he was an adult expressing his emotion was something that he loved to do, but never once at the point he bawled his eyes out like this.
Then again, maybe with how you pulled him in your embrace or the fact that now he could hear your heart beating — maybe crying in front of you wasn't so bad at all.
Times changed. So did people. And so did their conditions. Yet your arrival changed his life. And bit by bit, he drowned in the thoughts of you. He drowned in the feelings that were shared between you and him. The bond that was created in the name of love.
And it was at moments like this when time seemed to stop. Just you and him, in each other's arms.
In love, and so much more — loved.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
Watch me die on Episode 19