Greetings my little balls of sunshine,

It's been a while. After a year of a pandemic I have to say I've never been so disappointed in my countries politics than now. Work is stressful and worrisome, one close friend got sick so far and there is no end in sight. But I don't want to get politicial here, that's not why we are here.

I hope you're all staying safe and healthy. Where ever you are, I hope that this new chapter cheers you up a little during these hard times. And just so you know, as all things do even this story is slowly coming to end. I am writing on the sequel every now and then but what I recently started is a gaming YouTube channel of all things. If you want to check it out feel free to subscribe. I want to beat my friend in subscriber numbers. And you also get to see my face and laugh at my antics, cause I'm not very good at games xD. I might do some anime content at some point as well but I'm still learning, evolving and finding my content. If you want to follow me, feel free to look for Nightowl Ivy on youtube.

Chapter 60 - A trip beyond

Ushijima stretched when he finally had the opportunity to do so. He had never flown before and this had been a long and tiring 10 hour flight. It was an experience he would remember for a lifetime, especially the way his body was pressed into the seat when the plane took off. The endless ocean beneath him. The landing that shook the whole plane. As adventurous as it had been, this was only the beginning. He has landed and now he is in a different country. He followed the steady stream of passengers through the airport. There were mainly japanese travelers walking along with him and only a few Americans returning home.

His good grades in English were showing as he followed the signs through the airport. At the luggage return he had to wait for a while to get his belongings. Trying to pass time he checked his phone and scrolled through his photos. His new phone was like a little treasure chest of memories that he could take with him everywhere. It was already filled with images of Tamiko doing random things, smiling into the camera or selfies with them together. After Christmas both had played around with their new phones and taken so many photos. As he scrolled through the pictures a deep sigh escaped him. He glanced up to check if his luggage had arrived. He spotted his bags, took them and went on his way. Now all he had to do was to find his host.

"Wakatoshi," came a call.

Ushijima looked around the cloud until he spotted his father. Takashi was holding up a sign saying "welcome to the USA" and he wasn't alone. There were a few others holding up signs with names or well-wishes. He approached him and received a big bear hug.

"How was the flight?" his father asked, taking some of his luggage.

"Long," he answered.

Takashi laughed, telling him of the time he first came here. While he spoke he led his son to the carpark. There was a lot to see during the car ride. Everything looked so different. The people, the cars, the buildings, the street signs. It was also very warm. When they reached their destination and got out of the car, Ushijima glanced up to the sky. It felt strange being in a foreign country. This was a first for him so far. It wouldn't be that last though, since he wanted to gain enough strength to play for the national team. And then he would travel around the world.

Takashi's home was how nearly all the houses from the American movies looked. The spacious rooms and high ceilings were the first thing that made Ushijima pause. His father laughed and stated he had the same reaction when he bought the house. Then he showed him around. There were many rooms and a few were not in use. One room was a dedicated gym with training equipment and the lot. The living room was grand but Ushijima was drawn to a section of the wall which was covered with photographs. There were many pictures of Ushijima when he was little and the school photos as well. However, there were a few recent ones that stuck out.

"Shiyori sent this one to me for my wall," Takashi told him. "My son's first girlfriend."

Ushijima smiled. That photo really was something special and he liked it as well. But it wasn't the only one. There were a few others where the whole Kageyama family could be seen. Even the big family photo from Christmas was here. Now dwelling in the memories Ushijima showed him a few pictures he had taken with his new phone. While they did this Takashi showed his son the room where he would be staying. After telling him the WiFi password he left his son to settle in. The first thing he did was check the time difference. Then he wrote her a message. A reply came instantly and so he turned on his laptop and started a call. When her face popped up on the screen he felt lighter.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked immediately.

"Tired," he admitted. "My father told me to go to bed early and get a lot of sleep so that my body adjusts to the time difference."

"Wow, that is a big difference. I'm having breakfast right now."

Tamiko held up her bowl of rice and behind her Shiyori waved into the camera. Tobio also took a little peek at the camera before heading out. Ushijima himself still had a few hours until dinner and was fighting hard to stay awake. Tamiko had a free day so she tried to help by making him talk a lot. He told her about the flight, about the country, about the place he was staying at and more. It was only when his father knocked at his door that the call came to an end. Shiyori and Takashi briefly said hello to each other and then father and son went to eat dinner.

"I know we could eat at home but I wanted to invite you to my favourite restaurant."

They went to eat Pizza, something Ushijima had never tried before. He had seen Pizza restaurants in Japan before but had never visited them. He had stayed clear of western restaurants because of the unknown. Now he was confronted with a whole new taste which gave him a new sub-goal. He would try all sorts of western food with Tamiko when she visited him again in Tokyo. It was about an hour later that Ushijima was back in his room and in his bed. He checked his phone for messages in case he had missed something.

From: Tamiko

To: Wakatoshi

Is it sleep time yet?

Love you

Good night! And sleep well

Ushijima smiled and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep after a deep sigh. It felt strange being so far away from everything that was familiar. But he wanted to embrace it. He was already playing on the international stage, yet all the matches had been on home turf so far. This was the first step to seeing the world and getting used to this feeling. He began to dream of flying to foreign countries for big matches with Tamiko tagging along.

The screech of his alarm ripped him out of his sleep yet he felt very refreshed. He decided to skip his morning jog, since he didn't know the area well and did some morning training in his room. After a cold shower he had breakfast with his father. It was a strange breakfast. Muesli with milk, bread with spreadables, cooked eggs. He was a bit sceptical but tried it anyway. It wasn't the best breakfast but he tried to fill his belly. All of this made him miss Tamiko's cooking even more, or rather the Japanese breakfast. But he had to make due while he was here.

"Let's go meet the team," his father said when they headed out.

The Irvine Polar Bears weren't the biggest team in the country but the biggest team in California. Takashi was their coach and he had already told the men about his son who was visiting. The team had even gathered beforehand to welcome him. All of the men were tall, very tall. And all the men were curious, very curious.

"So you play for the national team?" one asked.

"You still growing?" another asked.

Ushijima stayed silent letting his father do the talking. It wasn't that his English wasn't good enough; they just talked too quickly and all at once. Tamiko had practiced with him a little before he had gone on his trip but this was different. Not only that but all these tall men had swarmed around him like prey among lions. He was used to being among the tallest but this genepool was ridiculous. Only when his father put on the coach demeanour did they all retreat. At first Ushijima just watched them train. The next day he joined in as well. He was rather surprised that he was able to keep up and even do a little better than some of the players. It stocked his motivation even more.

The days passed by. Soon the weekend came around and Takashi took his son out to show him California a little. They went to restaurants, watched a movie and even visited Yosemite national park for a nice long hike. He knew he had to tell Tamiko about this later that evening. Sadly the call had to be cut a little shorter, since Tamiko had to go to university on that day. She promised that tomorrow she would have enough time to listen to everything.

The next day came quickly and training went on as it had always been. It was during lunch time that Ushijima headed out by himself to get some fresh air when he spotted a young Japanese man looking around the premises. At first he didn't take much notice of him but as he got closer he started to look familiar.

"Iwaizumi," he said.

The young man flinched and turned around, his eyes wide open. It really was Iwaizumi Hajime. With a backpack he was lightly packed but there had to be a reason why he was here. Before Ushijima could speak Iwaizumi was already ahead.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah," he said. "This has to be a joke, right?"

"This is a surprise," Ushijima noted.

"Really?" he said. "You don't sound very surprised. What are you doing here?"

"I plan on working for a foreign team some day," he explained. "My father has been living here for years, so I was invited to watch his team play."

"Really?" Iwaizumi wondered. In turn he revealed why he was in California. "There's a Japanese trainer here who I want to intern with after I'm done with college. I've been reading his books and following his training regimes since high school."

He flipped his backpack to his front and pulled out a Japanese book. When he held it up for him Ushijima could read the title clearly. "Volleyball physical training: I had a lot of injuries. I don't want you to have them too". Ushijima didn't recognise the book at all but he knew the author.

"His name is Takashi Utsui," Iwaizumi told him. "Have you heard of him?"

"Yes," Ushijima said.

"I've always wanted a chance to talk with him in person. When I asked I was told he could fit me in today, so here I am."

"Takashi Utsui is my father," Ushijima said.

"Ah," Iwaizumi said when the words reached him. "What, but wait! You're last name!"

"Ushijima is my mother's name," he explained.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Wakatoshi," came a call from behind him. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you."

Ushijima turned around to see his father walk towards him. Not to seem rude, he took it upon himself to introduce Iwaizumi to him.

"I've run into someone who wants to meet you." Ushijima told him.

Iwaizumi straightened himself. Takashi approached them and looked at the former ace.

"Hello, sir," Iwaizumi said.

"This is Iwaizumi Hajime," Ushijima said. "We've been playing against each other throughout middle and high school."

"Ah, you're the young man who wanted to have a chat with me," Takashi remembered.

"Yes, that's me," Iwaizumi grinned.

"Welcome to California, I'm glad you could make it," he welcomed him.

"Glad to be here."

"Let's head to the gym," Takashi said and walked ahead.

Both Ushijima and Iwaizumi followed him and the latter quickly noted that there certainly were similarities between father and son, which Ushijima said was a usual thing between family members. Iwaizumi laughed and both of them soon joined in on the training. Iwaizumi was more interested in the warm ups and exercises Takashi gave his team. He took notes nearly every second and Ushijima was rather surprised that he was drifting more towards being a trainer than a player. When he told him this, Iwaizumi grinned and told him that he would rather push a team as a trainer than as a fellow player.

"So, how's Tamiko doing?" Iwaizumi asked after the training was over.

"She's studying Psychology at university," he told him.

"Psychology?" he wondered. "I never thought she was interested in that."

"She is still not sure what to do," he revealed to him. "She wants to teach but doesnt know which age group. Until then she is working for shiratorizawa volleyball club as the full time manager. But to do that she was told to apply to a university course. So she chose Psychology. But the wife of my coach gave her the opportunity to start a teacher's career, so she is very excited to start that soon."

"Weird. I remember back in middle school she always knew what she wanted to do. She was one of the first who knew which high school she wanted to go to."

"You've known her since middle school," Ushijima noted.

"We were in the same class throughout the three years," he told him. "But we only really spoke in the third year since her little brother joined our team back then. Before that we only had to work together twice for group projects. Other than that our friend groups never mixed. Volleyball kinda connected us with her brother and all."

"I see," Ushijima nodded.

"Yeah, it was a little terrifying to meet another volleyball prodigy," he admitted. "One is already enough but two crazy volleyball nerds, that's too much."

Ushijima chuckled which caught Iwaizumi off guard. But then he smiled as well, basking in the memories.

"Kageyama Tobio is planning to join my team once he graduates," Ushijima told him.

"He's chasing you," Iwaizumi grinned. "Now you have two Kageyama swooning over you."

"I doubt that Tamiko's brother has any romantic interests in me."

"I didn't mean...," Iwaizumi began but then sighed. "Never mind. By the way, how did you guys become a thing anyway? She never played volleyball herself and her brother goes to a different school, so how did you guys run into each other?"

"It's a long story," Ushijima said.

And so Ushijima told him all about the fateful accident in first year, the meeting at the beginning of the second year at the library, the shared childhood with Semi that got her connected to the team and the constant interactions between the two of them. Iwaizumi had known Tamiko well enough to know about the family trouble so he was glad to hear how the Shiratorizawa team had tried to support her through those times. It was still a mystery to him how his feelings towards her grew but Ushijima was very open to tell Iwaizumi about that Christmas party at Semi's place where he asked her out. He even shared his exact words.

"You really are head over heels for her," Iwaizumi laughed. "But I'm glad it's a guy like you. I hope I get invited to your wedding."

"I haven't proposed yet," Ushijima said.

"Are you planning to?" Iwaizumi asked with one raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her."

Iwaizumi grinned. Now this was some very big thing and Tamiko doesn't even know.

"Then why haven't you proposed yet?"

"I'm still looking for an engagement ring," Ushijima told him.

"And when will you give it to her?" Iwaizumi asked.

"When the time is right."

"So I might see a wedding invitation in my mailbox in the next few months?" he asked with a grin.

"We shall see."

"Hell yeah," Iwaizumigrinned and then paused. "I just realized I haven't seen Tamiko for a long time."

"I do video calls with her every day," Ushijima revealed. "You could say hello if you want."

"Really?"

"I don't mind," he said. "You are her friend."

To that Iwaizumi had to smile. This school rivalry they had over the years really was in the past for both. But that's all it has been; a school rivalry. He didn't have anything against Ushijima as a person, although sometimes he could be very irritating with his boldness. But in general, he wasn't a bad guy. And so Ushijima pulled out his phone and started the call.

"Hello," Iwaizumi said when Tamiko's face popped up on the screen.

"Oh my goodness, Iwa-kun," she gasped. "What, how, just how?"

"Yeah, what are the chances right?" Iwaizumi laughed. "I never thought I would bump into him of all people."

"And what are you doing in California?"

"I got an opportunity to chat with Takashi Utsui, since I've been following his training regimes since high school. I get to intern with him as well."

"Takashi-san has written training regimes?" she wondered.

"Yeah, he got an injury during a match and wrote a book about the right recovery method."

"Oh yeah, he did say that he quit playing because of a knee injury," she remembered.

"Wait, you know him too?" Iwaizumi asked.

"I'm sure you've heard about the court thing with my mum?" she asked back.

"Yeah? She found a guy in America and wanted you to move there with her."

"Yeah well, Takashi-san is the dude she is engaged to. Although he didn't know about his luck."

"No way," Iwaizumi shrieked. "This can't be real. Your mum is engaged to his dad? How the hell does that work?"

"It is a little complicated," Ushijima agreed.

"A little?" Iwaizumi gawked. "I think you're downplaying it a little too much, Ushijima. But then again, it's none of my business."

Tamiko laughed. They talked a little more and Ushijima ended the call after Tamiko mentioned she had a few things to do. Ushijima and Iwaizumi also parted ways an hour later but not before taking a selfie and sending it to Oikawa. The setter was in Argentina, trying out his luck with a team there. It was a bold move but since his other talent was languages it was easier for him than most to go to a different country. But Oikawa wasn't the only one doing such a bold move.

Hinata was going to Brasil next year in spring and unlike Oikawa he wasn't that talented in learning new languages. It was only a month ago that Hinata had taken his goal even more seriously and had asked Tamiko to tutor him in English. She had happily agreed and Tobio had joined the lessons too, so that he could improve. Shiyori took over when Tamiko had no time and gradually the tutoring was done entirely by Shiyori. People, their future, their goals and their paths began to intertwine more and more.

When it was time for Ushijima to return to Japan his eyes were set on improving his spike. Watching his father's team and Iwaizumi's input through volleyball videos he felt that he was ready to evolve his technique even more. On the first day back at training he felt his progress. The ball's bounce seemed a little higher than before. Even his coach noticed the difference. Filled with pride and joy he returned home to continue his house search. Tamiko would have to move to Tokyo next spring so that she could start the education she always wanted. For that they had talked about moving in together. He wanted it to be the perfect home too and so he searched every evening after he came home. Before bed he would share his findings with her. This continued for weeks until they both agreed on a one in a million find.