Ace of Hearts - Haikyuu || Short Stories || One Shots || Creative Rambles

I Believe in Who You'll Be || Takeda Ittetsu

In a lot of ways, Namie was fooling herself when she thought that married life would be simple and quiet. After all, her life with Ittetsu had been just that up until that point - why wouldn't the future be as well?

They had met in the university library on one of those days where it feels like the light drizzle might just stay around forever. It was warm inside the library and when their hands met over a book on child development, they would both blame the hues on their cheeks on the power of central heating. Takeda Ittetsu had always been a nervous wreck when it came to anything other than helping people and Namie came to love his duality.

She liked to joke that he begged her to date him, but they both know she did most of the begging. She begged him to put his book down for one moment and look her in the eyes. She begged him to take a break and join her for coffee. She begged him to kiss her that night they walked home from the movies, both still unsure of what they even were. Their love story had been so simple and quiet and utterly beautiful. So, when he asked her to marry him on the day of their graduation, in the same library where they had first met, she said yes without hesitation.

It took them longer than they thought to get on their feet, as they saved for their perfect small, traditional ceremony with just their families. Ittetsu sunk into his job as a teacher with ease as Namie pushed her way through her Psy.D program while interning at the local hospital. Their lives had become far less simple but it didn't stop them from having their quiet wedding in March, just before her graduation - because despite the accumulated stress of a dissertation and a wedding, Namie was going to be damned if her diploma had her maiden name on it when she was so excite to take Ittetsu's.

Looking back, Namie almost missed those days. Though they may have been hectic, they were still simple and quiet compared to their lives just two years later. Now, her dear husband was up to his ears in responsibilities at the high school - the newest of which was advising the male volleyball team.

She could still see his nervous face over the dinner table as he announced that he was now charged with overseeing the team, since the previous coach had collapsed. The image of him fidgeting with his chopsticks as he tried his best to keep a smile on his face still burned in her mind.

"But what do you even know about volleyball," she had asked him, incredulous about the decision.

"Nothing at all," he had replied with a smile. "But isn't that exciting? It's a chance to grow."

There had been so many nights after that, where Namie brushed her hands through her husband's hair as he agonized over how little he'd done for the team, about how he wasn't what they needed to succeed and that he had so much more to do. There were so many mornings she woke him up with a light kiss to the forehead, reminding him that he had young minds to mould, and a wife who believed in him. And she watched him come into his own as he struggled to make himself be more than he was yesterday. She watched him grow as he took those skills he'd always had and used them to the benefit of the team.

There was nothing quite like the look on his face when he came racing home, later than he ever had, and told her he finally, FINALLY got the team a coach - and not just any coach. He got the team a Ukai. She'd grabbed both his hands the moment the words were out of his mouth and jumped up and down with him in celebration. There wasn't a woman out there more proud of her husband than Namie was in that moment.

After that, though, the nights started getting longer and the quiet moments with her husband decreased. Sure, things were starting to go Karasuno's way, but her Tetsu was coming home more and more tired and more determined to make everything go right for those boys. Their wins were his wins and their losses were his to bear as well - and it was still okay, even if things weren't simple and quiet.