AtsuKita

AtsuKita is the slash ship between Atsumu Miya and Kita Shinsuke from the Haikyu!! fandom.

Canon
Atsumu and Kita are both members of the Inarizaki High School volleyball team. Kita is one year older and was the team captain during his third year while Atsumu was the team starting setter.

When Atsumu once got sick and tried to do volleyball practice as usual, Kita told him to go home. Atsumu got mad at first but when he arrived at the club room, there is a "care package" containing hot lemon drink, cough drops, and pickled plums, with a handwritten note by Kita addressed to him. Atsumu was touched and almost cried.

Karasuno vs Inarizaki
When Kita first entered to sub Aran out, Atsumu along with the other second years tensed up. They yelled, "Nice serve!" when Kita does his serve.

When Yamaguchi entered as a relief server for Karasuno in the second set, Kita was able to receive the ball with ease. Atsumu was seen smiling at the act.

In Kita's analysis of the second years, he sees Atsumu as someone aggressive and hates losing.

Before the start of the third set, Kita called out Atsumu for secretly wanting to shift to a jump serve instead of jump floater in the middle of the game. Atsumu stiffened up as Kita read his mind but obediently followed what Kita said anyway. Later on when Kita talked to Oomimi, he admitted that both of Atsumu's serves are powerful and he would most likely succeed in doing either anyway. But thinking of Atsumu's personality, he thought that it would be better for Atsumu's motivation to stick with jump floaters.

During the third set, Kita delivered what is arguably one of the most important speeches in Haikyuu - the "Monster speech" - when an Inarizaki teammate talked about Atsumu being a genius. Kita explained how people like Atsumu put everything into volleyball and thought that it is rude to think that they are just good from the get-go.

After the match, the Miya twins apologized to Kita but Kita said that he thinks that they did nothing wrong. They were taken aback when they see Kita smiled as he said that the match was good. Kita then later said that despite having no regrets and that results are just a byproduct, he wished to have had more chances to brag about how amazing his teammates are. The Miya twins then promised that they would be juniors that Kita can be proud of even to his grandchildren. Kita then answered that he's looking forward to that.

Karasuno vs Kamomedai
The Miya twins were watching the match then Kita came later and proceeded to watch too, standing beside Atsumu. Atsumu likened Kamomedai to Kita, calling him Mr. No Gaps Kita Shinsuke. After the match, Kita said that the things they do everyday is what builds their muscles and that he isn't afraid of anything in the future. Osamu answered that they'd still be afraid of Kita in the future, to which Atsumu nods deeply.

Final Arc
Kita was seen smiling and clapping in the audience when Inarizaki defeated Karasuno at the following Spring Tournament where Atsumu was then a third year and the team captain.

In the MSBY vs Adlers match, Atsumu remembered Kita in the middle of the game, calling him "our captain (ウチの大将)" and how Kita didn't like their team motto. Atsumu nailed a service ace right after while thinking, "All I need are my muscles!" The Atsumu-centric chapter then ended with a double page spread of Kita in the fields where he was revealed to be a rice farmer and the supplier of Onigiri Miya's rice.

In the final chapter, Kita is seen watching the Olympics at Onigiri Miya. When Atsumu and Aran were seen on screen, Kita brags about how amazing his old teammates are.

CMs for BD/DVD
In one CM for the Vol.4 Blu-ray/DVD, Atsumu was worried that Kita might see him doing the promotion and fighting with Osamu. When Osamu calls Kita's name, Atsumu immediately apologizes and blames Osamu, but it turns out Osamu was just lying and Kita wasn't there.

In a second CM for the Vol.4 Blu-ray/DVD, Atsumu was again worried that Kita might see him doing the promotion and fighting with Osamu. When Osamu greets Kita, Atsumu says that he would not be fooled by the same trick again, but this time it turns out that the real Kita is there and has been watching from the beginning.

Drama CD
In one of the drama CDs, Atsumu was so eager to find out Kita's weakness and convinces Osamu and Suna to work with him. He called Kita a perfect human and badly wanted to see his startled expression, which he deemed precious, that he tries different ways to catch Kita off-guard.

Stage Play
In the Karasuno vs Inarizaki stage play adaptation, Atsumu drops to the floor after Kita scolds him.

In the Karasuno vs Kamomedai stage play adaptation, when Atsumu was getting late in going back to the Inarizaki team (because he was watching the game), he was called through the PA system: "Attention all audience members. Will Miya Atsumu please come to the main office. I repeat, will Miya Atsumu please proceed to the main office. Kita Shinsuke is here for you."

In the MSBY vs Adlers stage play adaptation, Osamu reminisces how Kita wanted to say "Aren't my teammates amazing?" more, as Atsumu gets introduced before the game starts. He then smiles as he looks at his brother and says, "Kita-san, he's come a long way." A video of farmer Kita Shinsuke then appears on the background.

V.league Collab Game
In the Haikyuu x V.league collaboration character voice recordings, Atsumu was ecstatic when Oikawa praised Onigiri Miya's rice. "Oh! So you also noticed how good the rice is?! The rice is grown by my senpai! Inarizaki's former captain, Kita-san!" He then ran to report to Aran that the world-famous Oikawa-senshu is praising Kita's rice. Hinata comments how Atsumu looked so happy.

In an interview with the sponsors for the V.league match, when Kita was asked to describe what Atsumu was like in high school, he replied, "Atsumu... I guess he was a little more impatient and reckless back then. Even so, his being the living embodiment of ambition hasn't changed at all."

Haikyuubu
In chapter 4, the Miya twins challenged themselves to make Kita laugh but both miserably failed.

In chapter 14 where the Miya twins and Aran exchanged bodies, Kita comforts Atsumu- who is in Aran's body and came to hug him- saying "Don't bully Atsumu too much. Look, he's crying."

In chapter 32, Inarizaki went together to the shrine for New Year's. Atsumu got a "super bad luck" fortune strip and Kita assured him that he shouldn't mind it.

In chapter 72, Kita scolded the twin fans who shouted during Atsumu's serve in the Inarizaki vs Karasuno match. After seeing how the twin fans got scared of Kita, Atsumu said that he would just impersonate Kita next time. Osamu followed up that Atsumu would be "Shin" and Osamu would be "Suke".

In chapter 82, a lazy Kita appears and Atsumu names him "Minami-chan" because his personality is the total opposite of the real Kita's ("Kita" literally means "North" in Japanese, while "Minami" is "South").

In chapter 91, Kita scolded the Miya twins for being loud at the library saying, "Don't interrupt everyone's studies, you noisy twins," in reference to Atsumu's pose and line during matches ("Don't interrupt my serves, you noisy pigs").

In chapter 101, Inarizaki went on a sleepover in the Miya twins' room. A cleaning youkai that looks like Kita appeared and cleaned their dirty room. After the youkai left, the real Kita then arrived and noticed how the room is not yet spotless so he started cleaning.

In chapter 117, Atsumu introduced Kita to Sakusa because Sakusa needed a good rice for making sweets. Sakusa was impressed at how proper and respectable Kita is- something he did not expect from someone who came from the same school as Atsumu. He then told Kita that he should have been wise in selecting his juniors. Kita answers that if he had the choice, he really would have wanted to do so. Atsumu protests, saying, "Kita-saan??!! Didn't you say that you're gonna be proud of us even to your grandchildren?!" Kita says that he was just joking but Atsumu didn't want to believe and screamed, "Really? REALLY??!"

Fanon
Based on the number of fan works in pixiv, in Japan AtsuKita is considered the most popular Kita ship and the second most popular Atsumu ship (close second to AtsuHina).

However, AtsuKita is considered a rarepair in the English fandom, having only around 1k fanfics in AO3. The ship also has a good following in South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia fandoms.

Although Atsumu and Kita may seem to have opposite personalities, they complement each other by making each other more human - Kita making the monster Atsumu human and Atsumu making the robot Kita human. They are also seen as each other's weakness.

A popular headcanon is that Atsumu started to get more interested in Kita after the "care package" incident, as he realized how much their captain cares about his teammates. While Atsumu's pining starts, the Inarizaki members especially his twin Osamu suffer through the process, while it takes some time for Atsumu to realize his own feelings.

A common theme is that Atsumu finally confesses on the day of Kita's graduation. This leads to two possibilities: (1) Kita says yes as it is revealed that he has long been drawn to Atsumu too especially with how he puts everything into volleyball, or (2) Kita rejects as he considers Atsumu's future as a professional volleyball player. In the second one, either Atsumu continues to woo Kita for years until he gives in, or they would not meet for a few years then reunite again realizing that they still have feelings for each other.

AtsuKita is a ship rich in fluff and a common trope is that they are each other's first love and last love.

In canon, Atsumu easily calls people by their first names, even people he meets for the first time (which is not common and in many cases considered rude for Japanese people). The English fandom seems to like Atsumu calling Kita as "Shinsuke" or "Shin" once they start dating. However, in Japanese fandom it is not common as most fans believe that even if they start dating it would take years before Atsumu can get used to calling Kita by his first name, because of how much he holds his former senpai and captain in high regard.

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Trivia

 * July 1 is considered AtsuKita Day, in reference to their jersey numbers (7/1).
 * In a seiyuu event, Miyano Mamoru (Atsumu VA) is quoted to have said that Kita is the "best captain" (最高の部長).
 * One of the promotional photos for the Kita Shinsuke nendoroid was Kita directly giving the care package to Atsumu, with a face plate that the official blog describes as Kita looking like he's trying to hide his embarrassed expression.
 * Based on Kita's pre-timeskip height and Atsumu's post-timeskip height, AtsuKita have a 12 cm height difference, which Japanese fans have fondly pointed out because 12 cm is known in Japan as the perfect height difference for kissing.
 * In the V.league collab game, professional volleyball player Tehara Shin, a setter, cosplayed Miya Atsumu (even dying his hair gold) and imitated Atsumu's famous serve routine. Coincidentally, his real first name is "Shin" which was written on the back of his Haikyuu jersey.
 * In Haikyuubu Chapter 117, which is a timeskip chapter, Atsumu's way of speaking to Kita was a mix of casual and polite Japanese. Some fans have taken it as a hint that the two have gotten much closer than before, as Atsumu used to speak to Kita in polite Japanese only.
 * With regard to Kita's interview for the V.league match, Kita was quick to answer when asked about Aran, but for Atsumu he had to pause for a bit (written as "..."). This moment of silence he needed to think about Atsumu was interpreted by some fans as Kita possibly having some sentimental feelings and the like when it comes to Atsumu.