Behind a strong man [Ushiwaka /Oc]

Chapter 41 - A progress

my birthday is coming up in September and I wanted to do a chapter where you guys can choose what it will be about!

0- Tamiko's past with Oikawa (Kitagawa Daiichi story)

0- Tamiko's past with her parents divorce

0- Tamiko' s first time at Kitagawa Daiichi

PLEASE VOTE :)

"One more," it echoed through the gym.

Tamiko, who sat on the bench, snapped back to reality. Or rather, she woke up. She had been up all night last night, studying as much as she could. Now she was sitting in the gym during training and almost falling asleep. Not to fall into the dreamworld again she decided to refill the water bottles. But even then her eyes fell shut a couple of times. So annoying. When the boys took a short break to drink, she let out a long yawn.

"You look very exhausted, Tamiko-chan," Tendou noted.

She didn't give much of a response and sat back down on the bench along with Ushijima and Semi.

"All nighter?" Semi asked and Tamiko nodded. "There must be a lot of things bothering you."

Ushijima took another sip of water when he noticed Tamiko leaned against the wall, napping again. She appeared peaceful yet exhausted. He knew why. And yet he didn't know how to help her. Coach Washijo called the boys back to train but Seitou stop Ushijima before he could stand.

"Have you decided on a team you want to join?" he asked.

He has been asked this a couple of times now. Since the finals were over he had gotten a lot of offers from different teams around Japan. Many had stated in their letters that they were looking past his recent loss and wanted him on their team anyway. He had spent a lot of his free time looking through the invitations, checking out the teams, their history, their reputation. This was his future he was deciding on after all.

"Tokyo," was all he said.

Seitou nodded understandably. Then his eyes fell on Tamiko.

"Is everything alright with her? I'd hate to have a student who is succumbing to fatigue. This school pressures students a bit too much sometimes."

Ushijima understood what he meant. He himself wasn't feeling that pressure since he was used to it. But Tamiko was different. She got into the school through sheer learning and good grades. She had to keep that up no matter what. Kicking students from the school did happen.

"A lot of personal things are piling up," he explained.

"I see," Seitou nodded.

Ushijima glanced over his shoulder at Tamiko's sleeping expression. At least she had a few minutes of peace at this moment. That's when he remembered a big problem that had been haunting her for while. What to do after the graduation. She had received the possibility of continuing to be this team's manager. It was something he would like for her. And he would know that the team was in good hands. But he hadn't heard any news regarding that matter.

"Seitou-sensei," he started. "Kageyama had expressed an interest in continuing to be the team's manager. How does that decision stand?"

"She is still interested?" Seitou wondered. "I believed that she had found something else. In that case I will get it back on the table."

"Thank you, sensei." Ushijima bowed his head in thanks.

Seitou nodded with a smile and headed back to coach Washijo. Ushijima watched them exchange a few words before he saw the coach nod. Silently he was glad that he had mentioned this. Now he had some good news for her. He stayed on the bench for the rest of the training session and the coach didn't say a word. The old man understood. He pushed his team to the limit but exceeding it was a no-go, even for him. Overworked team members were as good as none. And the captain has done his part. When training was over Tamiko was awake and more alert. The nap had done its part and while the boys all went to shower, she gathered her thing and waited. Ushijima was quickly done with his shower and joined her.