To be perfectly fair, Osamu wasn't much better as a kid. Always looking for the tankiest monsters, trading for the hardest hitting cards. He played a slightly more defensive game than Atusmu - but only barely.
Osamu brings the pan over, contents still sizzling, and sets it on the hot pad. Takes his seat opposite Kita's, and joins him in the polite 'Thanks for the food.'
Then he grabs the spoon to serve them both the tofu dish.
"I really hope you like it. Be honest, though."
Especially after the talk he just had with his twin, and the resulting argument, he really needs to know whether he can hack it as a chef.
The thing is, he already likes this. Sitting with just one other person, not having to divide his attention. There's no chores, no tasks. Only this result.
He takes a bite.
Sighs with deep satisfaction.
"Ha - I see why this is your favorite part. That's amazing."
It's that moment for him. The way the look of satisfaction and pleasure spreads on Kita's face as soon as the food hits his tongue. The way his whole body shifts, responding to the texture and taste. It makes pride fill every millimeter of Osamu, and he sits up a little straighter, holds his head higher. Thinks, 'I want to do that for the whole world.'
"You really think so? I mean, ah, it's nothin'. Really simple dish, it's just about dressin' it up right."
Osamu is stunned for a moment, not used to this side of his normally very stoic upperclassman, but then he beams in spite of himself, puffed up with pride again.
"Well, if that's how you feel, then who needs modesty anyways?" He says with a toothy grin. "Dig in, Kita-san."
Kita's own shoulders lift, seeing that smile. Like everything's gone a bit lighter.
He sets to work. Progressing steadily through the food, instead of sending it up in a typhoon. (Like certain members of Inarizaki...) Each bite is as good as the last. Texture and taste working together.
While lacking words to explain, Kita knows this much - It feels right, eating Osamu's food.
Osamu follows Kita's lead, eating at his pace but with notable gusto. Osamu is certainly one of those people who lives to eat, rather than eating to live; he takes obvious joy in food, and the smile never fades from his face as he relishes in every flavorful bite.
He clears his bowls first, and then excuses himself and gets to his feet. "I can get started on those dishes while you finish up."
"There are tools next to the sink," Kita responds.
There are, in fact, three different sizes of gloves, polishing cloths, and new scrub brushes. Also the the good kind of cleaner. The one that smells of lilacs and bubbles just enough.
Kita makes sure to finish every bite. Then ferries in the rest of the dishes. He does not interfere with the washing, just begins to pack up leftovers. Because there's always another chore to do.
Osamu is impressed but not at all surprised by the spread of cleaning tools next to Kita's sink - it's to be expected from their captain, after all. He grabs the biggest pair of gloves and one of the brushes, and then gets to work on the plates, bowls, spoons, and chopsticks.
He's settled into the groove of scrubbing when Kita comes in and reminds him of the elephant in the room. Osamu sighs.
"Not much to tell. Told him I wasn't gonna keep playing volleyball after high school, and he acted like I killed his firstborn or something. Went off talking about our dream and how I was giving it up and betraying everything we'd been working for. Had to tell him off for being selfish and pushin' his dream onto me. Reminded him we're not an 'us'."
He rustles through a cabinet. Pulling out plastic containers and lining them up by size. Each with a matched lid.
The next words are thoughtful.
"I wonder... Is bein' selfish such a bad thing? Really, all it means is puttin' yourself first. Reachin' for the best version of your life. No matter what anyone says."
Osamu's still frowning, his body angry as he's reliving the fight with his twin.
"I don't care if Tsumu wants to be selfish with his life; playin' sports is pretty selfish in general, I think. Especially when you're an adult and you wanna go pro. But he doesn't get to be selfish with my life too. Thinkin' of me as just a part of him, instead of as my own person."
"Maybe it's more scared than selfish. The rules just changed to the game he thought he was playin'. Can't outrun it, hit it, jump over it..."
Methodically he divides the leftovers. Filling each container to just under the lid, so the contents won't spill out. Each presses shut with a satisfying snap.
"Scared?" Osamu repeats dubiously, turning to Kita with his eyebrows furrowed. "Scared of what? He's a shoo in for a pro career already, and he ain't even done with high school yet. They'd be stupid not to recruit him to their college teams or whatever. Even with his grades bein' what they are."
"He grows best with you. Wish it didn't involve so much yellin', but there it is.”
Pulling open a drawer, Kita sorts through pieces of fabric.
"And you won't be there. Not in the same way. I think everyone in high school has to deal with that, sooner or later. The fixed things shiftin'. The people you're so used to goin' off on their own lives."
The way Kita's talking is a stark reminder of their difference in maturity levels. Osamu wants to be angry and heated, but in the face of Kita's cool compassion, his logic and grown up way of looking at things, Osamu falters. Feels a bit small and silly, that Kita is being nicer to his own twin than Osamu is capable of right now.
"Is that what you're seein' now that you're a third year? That the end's in sight?"
Kita has the benefit of an outside view. He doesn't take that lightly. So there's no scolding in any of this, no stern advice. The warmth of the kitchen wrapping around them both.
Osamu sighs, shoulders slumping with the weight of his frustration and disappointment. Even though Kita isn't judging him, he's still not taking sides in all this. Still trying to make Osamu into the bigger person who can see how his twin is feeling.
"'Tsumu should be the one you tell all this too. About people bein' allowed to live their own lives."
"No, it ain't," Osamu agrees. "I dunno why I thought he could handle hearin' it in the first place. It was obvious he was gonna react badly." He sighs. "Maybe I was just annoyed hearin' him go on and on about that camp."
Which is not news to Osamu. No use beating the point to death.
"It must have been hard. Your brother thinkin' everything was fine when it wasn't. You've been keepin' it down for weeks? Months? All that pressure buildin' and buildin', and you didn't have your best vent."
Osamu came to Kita looking for sympathy, but ironically now that he's getting it, it's making him uncomfortable. "Well, you know, it wasn't that big of a deal. I mean sure, 'Tsumu can never see what's happenin' right in front of him unless you spell it out. But it's not like I wasn't invited to the camp. I just couldn't go because of my own stupidity."
Shaking his head, Kita tucks the bento boxes away.
"You aren't stupid, and I don't mean the camp. I mean the entire amount of time you didn't talk to Atsumu. Spendin' all that time together like things were normal. That wasn't fair to you or him."
"It's not like he made it easy to tell him I had other stuff on my mind," Osamu counters irritably. "He was the one who always went on and on about volleyball, volleyball, volleyball. Anyone with eyes could see that he thought we'd be in it together for the rest of our lives."
Osamu purses his lips, trying hard not to frown or show just how bothered that always made him. But he's much more transparent than he thinks he is.
"I thought he'd grow out of it eventually but with 'Tsumu I just gotta grow up myself and then drag him along."
"It's not like I was tryin' to keep it a secret," Osamu mumbles, suddenly feeling wary. How could he have expected Atsumu to just get it when even someone as perceptive as Kita didn't know that he had other dreams?
Then again, Kita isn't Osamu's twin. Atsumu's always understood him before, even if he needed a bit of prodding to help him get there. Osamu's just... well, hurt. Hurt that Atsumu isn't willing to put aside his own wants to see what's best for Osamu.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-12-24 10:37 pm (UTC)Osamu brings the pan over, contents still sizzling, and sets it on the hot pad. Takes his seat opposite Kita's, and joins him in the polite 'Thanks for the food.'
Then he grabs the spoon to serve them both the tofu dish.
"I really hope you like it. Be honest, though."
Especially after the talk he just had with his twin, and the resulting argument, he really needs to know whether he can hack it as a chef.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-24 11:52 pm (UTC)The thing is, he already likes this. Sitting with just one other person, not having to divide his attention. There's no chores, no tasks. Only this result.
He takes a bite.
Sighs with deep satisfaction.
"Ha - I see why this is your favorite part. That's amazing."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-25 02:41 am (UTC)"You really think so? I mean, ah, it's nothin'. Really simple dish, it's just about dressin' it up right."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-25 10:36 pm (UTC)"Don't start bein' modest now. No one would believe it."
There's a warmth in there. In fact, from anyone else? It would be full-on teasing.
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Date: 2022-12-26 12:46 am (UTC)"Well, if that's how you feel, then who needs modesty anyways?" He says with a toothy grin. "Dig in, Kita-san."
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Date: 2022-12-26 01:02 am (UTC)He sets to work. Progressing steadily through the food, instead of sending it up in a typhoon. (Like certain members of Inarizaki...) Each bite is as good as the last. Texture and taste working together.
While lacking words to explain, Kita knows this much - It feels right, eating Osamu's food.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-26 02:40 am (UTC)He clears his bowls first, and then excuses himself and gets to his feet. "I can get started on those dishes while you finish up."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-27 12:41 am (UTC)There are, in fact, three different sizes of gloves, polishing cloths, and new scrub brushes. Also the the good kind of cleaner. The one that smells of lilacs and bubbles just enough.
Kita makes sure to finish every bite. Then ferries in the rest of the dishes. He does not interfere with the washing, just begins to pack up leftovers. Because there's always another chore to do.
"So: What happened?"
no subject
Date: 2022-12-27 01:02 am (UTC)He's settled into the groove of scrubbing when Kita comes in and reminds him of the elephant in the room. Osamu sighs.
"Not much to tell. Told him I wasn't gonna keep playing volleyball after high school, and he acted like I killed his firstborn or something. Went off talking about our dream and how I was giving it up and betraying everything we'd been working for. Had to tell him off for being selfish and pushin' his dream onto me. Reminded him we're not an 'us'."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-27 08:39 pm (UTC)He rustles through a cabinet. Pulling out plastic containers and lining them up by size. Each with a matched lid.
The next words are thoughtful.
"I wonder... Is bein' selfish such a bad thing? Really, all it means is puttin' yourself first. Reachin' for the best version of your life. No matter what anyone says."
Like Osamu's doing now.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-27 09:22 pm (UTC)"I don't care if Tsumu wants to be selfish with his life; playin' sports is pretty selfish in general, I think. Especially when you're an adult and you wanna go pro. But he doesn't get to be selfish with my life too. Thinkin' of me as just a part of him, instead of as my own person."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-28 12:29 am (UTC)"Maybe it's more scared than selfish. The rules just changed to the game he thought he was playin'. Can't outrun it, hit it, jump over it..."
Methodically he divides the leftovers. Filling each container to just under the lid, so the contents won't spill out. Each presses shut with a satisfying snap.
"Doesn't mean he should take it out on you."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-28 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-28 12:33 pm (UTC)Pulling open a drawer, Kita sorts through pieces of fabric.
"And you won't be there. Not in the same way. I think everyone in high school has to deal with that, sooner or later. The fixed things shiftin'. The people you're so used to goin' off on their own lives."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-28 09:01 pm (UTC)"Is that what you're seein' now that you're a third year? That the end's in sight?"
no subject
Date: 2022-12-29 12:03 am (UTC)Kita has the benefit of an outside view. He doesn't take that lightly. So there's no scolding in any of this, no stern advice. The warmth of the kitchen wrapping around them both.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-29 01:23 am (UTC)"'Tsumu should be the one you tell all this too. About people bein' allowed to live their own lives."
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Date: 2022-12-29 01:47 am (UTC)Kita looks up from the fabric, which he's tying around the boxes. Meeting Osamu's eyes.
"Right now? I just want to talk to you. I'm not sayin' all this because you shouldn't be hurt, or angry. You are. That ain't gettin' fixed tonight."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-29 02:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-29 11:39 am (UTC)Which is not news to Osamu. No use beating the point to death.
"It must have been hard. Your brother thinkin' everything was fine when it wasn't. You've been keepin' it down for weeks? Months? All that pressure buildin' and buildin', and you didn't have your best vent."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-30 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-30 12:08 pm (UTC)Shaking his head, Kita tucks the bento boxes away.
"You aren't stupid, and I don't mean the camp. I mean the entire amount of time you didn't talk to Atsumu. Spendin' all that time together like things were normal. That wasn't fair to you or him."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-31 12:03 am (UTC)Osamu purses his lips, trying hard not to frown or show just how bothered that always made him. But he's much more transparent than he thinks he is.
"I thought he'd grow out of it eventually but with 'Tsumu I just gotta grow up myself and then drag him along."
no subject
Date: 2022-12-31 12:21 am (UTC)"Obviously he did. I thought you both did, until you brought me the meat bun."
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Date: 2022-12-31 12:30 am (UTC)Then again, Kita isn't Osamu's twin. Atsumu's always understood him before, even if he needed a bit of prodding to help him get there. Osamu's just... well, hurt. Hurt that Atsumu isn't willing to put aside his own wants to see what's best for Osamu.
"Do you have any siblings, Kita-san?"
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