Behind a strong man [Ushiwaka /Oc]

Chapter 7 - A Strange Occurrence

Behind every strong man
s

tands a woman with concerns

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The summer holidays came and went. The day after she had spent the day at Semi's house it was Ushijima's 18th birthday. She had taken the liberty of baking a cake for their little party which they had planned but she didn't bother to stay. Goshiki's birthday was also blessed with one of her cakes. Otherwise she spent the weekdays working or helping the volleyball club while Tobio went to train. In the evenings she knitted a lot. Since the boys had already planned a little christmas party of the volleyball team, to which she had also been invited, she had decided to knit each of them a scarf. It was one of the things her mother taught her. It was at least one thing she was glad to have learned from her. At the end of the school holidays, she had already finished three of the fourteen scarves.

In September school started again but never did she expect that the first day back would be so eventful. A few announcements were made about events and occurrences of the clubs and general school activities. Like always, the volleyball club was praised for their excellent play and the students praised Ushijima and Yamagata. Tamiko ignored the crowd that had gathered in the lunch break. Most of them were girls and crowded behind her, since the new seating the teacher had fabricated required Ushijima to sit behind Tamiko who had been moved to the front window. The squeals and compliments seething with lust made her cringe to the bone. How could girls her age and younger be so focused on boys when there were better things to do? She was sure that some only went to this Academy because their parents were rich enough to bribe the teachers. A few were smart but others seemed to be at the wrong place.

"I like you, Wakatoshi-kun!" one girl squealed. "Please go out with me."

Tamiko's eyes met with Yamagata's and he silently laughed when he saw her roll her eyes. It had been a long time since a girl had asked him this and the two knew the answer was always 'okay'. For a reason that she couldn't think of he always agreed to it. The record lay by 3 days for the longest relationship. He never pays attention to me, one girl had complained. It's always volleyball. Since this happened all the time she was surprised that some girls still tried. The statistics spoke against a long lasting relationship. However, she was still convinced that Ushijima just needed the right person. If he would ever fall in love, volleyball might slip down to priority #2 but that was unthinkable.

"I'm sorry." she heard him say. "But I have to refuse."

It was so polite yet blunt that it hit like a brick. Everyone in the room grew silent and they all looked to the ace in wonder and confusion. Especially the girls.

"Why?" she asked quietly and confused.

Tamiko recognised her as Hiyori, a musically talented girl, rather shy. A rejection like that wouldn't do her heart any good.

"There is someone else who I like." he explained.

Wow, what? This was a world first. Yamagata and Tamiko exchanged worried glances and both headed out through the door. They didn't exchange any words but both ran to the gym where the rest of the team had already gathered for practise. While Tamiko was out of breath from the run, Yamagata told the others what they had just heard.

"What?" Tendou's eyes widened in surprise. "Wakatoshi-kun likes someone?"

"Shhhh." she hissed.

The coach still hadn't arrived in the gym so it was nice and empty. Great for quiet discussions, like this one. The boys huddled even closer.