Alright, I have some bad news for you guys.

I have injured my hand and it has been hurting for 2 weeks now. There is a possibility that it's something bad.

Typing is still slightly possible but I want my hand to get better very soon because of school.

There wouldn't be an update until my hand is better and I can't say when that is. So this might be the last chapter of this year.

BUT I'LL BE BACK! I PROMISE!

Anyway, I wish you guys all a great Christmas and a loud new year!

And thank you all again for reading and enjoying this story so far. Tamiko is thanking you as well :)

And thank you to all those who reviewed :) you guys made my day

LilweenGalatrass: There will be, don't worry. And all your questions will be answered in this chapter :)

PandaHee: Triple Update ;O Puberty is a crazy thing indeed.

kalmaegi: You will love Tendou soon don't worry. And don't worry about Semi :)

Tamani: Brooooooooooooooo. Thank you :) I'm glad you're not regretting it :D makes me very happy to hear that

BTW, visit me on tumblr under Kageyama-Tamiko for some Art :)


Chapter 18 - A date?

"You wouldn't believe what I did." Tamiko gasped and dropped onto her bed.

After the movie she had fled into her room and dialed the number of her trust. She rolled herself up in her blanket and pressed her phone against her ear. This was an urgent matter and had to be disgust thoroughly.

"Is it good or bad?" Izumi asked through the phone.

"I don't know." Tamiko said.

"What did you even do?" Izumi asked.

"I asked Ushiwaka to meet up with me tomorrow?" she said nervously through her teeth.

There was silence. Long deathly silence.

"Izumi?" Tamiko asked to make sure she was still there.

"You did what?" there was a lot of disbelief in her voice.

"I asked him to meet up with me tomorrow." she repeated.

"Why? What are you two gonna do? You do realise that that is a date right? God, I have so many questions!" Izumi squealed.

"It's not a date!" she defended herself. "I'm just gonna meet up with him."

"May I know what the occasion is? Why did you ask him?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I was in town today and Tobio and I bumped into Tendou and Ushijima. We had a coffee and talked a lot but Ushijima didn't say a word." she told her.

"And that was bothering you?" Izumi wondered.

"Yeah." Tamiko nodded.

Izumi was glad that they weren't face to face, otherwise Tamiko would have seen the big grin creeping over her face. This is great, she thought. Tamiko will hold the deal. She wasn't even sure is Tamiko remembered the deal, but Izumi sure did. I will not let you graduate high school without having gone on at least one date, kissed at least one guy and had at least one boyfriend. She remembered them very well. And now she needed help.

"Okay. What are you planning to do with him?" she asked, getting down to business.

"I don't know." Tamiko confessed.

"Seriously? You're meeting up with him without a plan?" Izumi was surprised.

"I didn't think that far ahead." Tamiko sheepishly sank into her blanket.

Izumi made some thinking noises. This was a first the Tamiko didn't think ahead. She always planned things out to a ridiculous extend. This time her heart was faster than her brain.

"Well, I got an idea, but you wouldn't like it." Izumi said after a while.

"And what?" Tamiko asked curiously.

"Why don't you give him our tickets? As a late birthday present." Izumi said with a hard seriousness.

"No!" Tamiko gasped.

"Tamiko." Izumi's voice was serious. "Give him the tickets. Just do it. You wouldn't regret it. I promise."


"Wakatoshi-kun, let's go and have dinner." Tendou urged.

He was standing in the door frame of Ushijima's dorm room, slouching against the frame. Ushijima was sitting at his desk, looking at his phone. They had just returned from short walk when his phone had chimed. Now he was reading.

"Hold on. I need to reply first." Ushijima said and began to type.

"Who are you writing to?" Tendou asked.

"Tamiko." he replied.

"I guess writing with her is allowed." Tendou grinned.

Curiously, Tendou looked over Ushijima's shoulder and saw the message.

From: Tamiko

To: Ushijima Wakatoshi

Tomorrow, 13:00 at the park. Don't leave me hanging! (;O´)o

Then he saw the reply that Ushijima was typing. I don't have time. Tendou was shocked, so shocked that he pulled the phone out of Ushijima's hand and deleted the message. His captain tried to get it back when Tendou hid it behind his back.

"Oh no! You are not rejecting that! You are going!" Tendou announced.

"But I have to train." Ushijima insisted.

"No, you don't! We have the weekend off! Wakatoshi-kun, this is your chance to find out if you really do like her or not. Don't you dare throw that chance away." Tendou told him.

"I'm not allowed to talk to her." Ushijima reminded him.

"Screw Semi!" Tendou waved his hand. "He just wants Tamiko for himself. You can fight on the court but you should fight for a girl as well."

Ushijima looked up at him. Fight for a girl. That was something he had heard before. Or at least he had read about that. One of the books Tendou made him borrow from the library was a love story where the guy saved the girl from evil. But he was no stranger of fairytales either. He had been raised to respect and be helpful towards women. Behind a strong man stands a strong woman, his mother had told him before. Find a strong woman. He never really understood what was meant by a strong woman but now that he was in such an emotional confusion, he slowly started to understand. Screw Semi. Ushijima looked up at Tendou. He wasn't one for deceiving and Tendou knew this.

"If you don't do, you will never find out your true feelings." then he placed a hand on his chest. "I wouldn't tell a soul. You go and enjoy your date tomorrow. And don't be late! Girls hate it when you make them wait."

Ushijima just nodded and Tendou gave him back his phone. He waited until Ushijima had typed an 'okay, I'll be there' and walked to the door.

"Come on, I'm starving." Tendou complained and Ushijima followed.


The next morning was quiet. Tobio was up before Tamiko. The excitement of the day had kept her up all night especially since Ushijima replied that he will be there. Usually her pulse was like that during sports but that message just sparked her heart to go ballistic. She had never felt like that before but she calmed herself down. He's just a friend. This is not a date. Tobio had prepared breakfast that she greatly appreciated and both enjoyed it. They talked a little, did the dishes together and then disappeared into their rooms. A while later, Tobio knocked on her door.

"I'm going to school." Tobio said when he opened the door to her room.

"Okay, have fun. And don't be too late." she told him.

Tobio watched that as she was packing her handbag.

"Are you doing anything today, sis?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with a friend." she informed him.

There was no way she would tell him that she was meeting Ushijima, no way.

"Okay." he nodded and closed the door.

Tamiko went through her handbag again. Present, keys, phone and wallet. That was all she needed. She put on her warm jacket and scarf and headed for the park. The park was closer to Karasuno than to Shiratorizawa Academy. This came with the advantage that there was a low chance of any fellow students seeing them together. If there was one thing she hates, it was false rumours. It's not a date. I'm just meeting him, she repeated to herself over and reached the park 5 minutes before 13:00. She didn't have to wait long.

Ushijima soon arrived and greeted her in his formal way. He seemed relaxed and clueless as always, but he was looking at her and talking. That was a relief. Now that she thought about it, they hadn't talked with each other face to face in a long time. They took a small stroll through the park, walking around the small lake where a few people were feeding the ducks. The trees were starting to lose their colourful leaves and leaving behind a bare frame. It was a relaxing moment. Ushijima told her how impressed he was of Tobio's skills but that he still had a long way to go to reach Oikawa's level. She had to admit, Oikawa had talent. When he became serious in a game he was a whole different person. Then, their conversation topic drifted to the finals. To that, Tamiko pulled something out of her bag.

"Here. For you." she said and gave him a paper envelope with his name on it.

He gave her a confused glance.

"A late birthday present for you." she added.

It had been 3 months since his 18th birthday so it really was late. He paused in his step and opened the envelope in his hands. He pulled out a piece of paper with the writing 'Spring Tournament Boys Ticket'. He blinked a few times. Those tickets had the original purpose of being a new year's present for Izumi. The two girls wanted to see the finals since Karasuno won and had bought them just in time as well. Now, they were in Ushijima's hands.

"A ticket?" he asked.

"Two." she said and pulled one out of his hand.

He looked at her, still a little confused. She looked away sheepishly and twisted the ticket in her hands nervously.

"I'm not trying to be mean." she said. "I want you to see the games with me."

He looked at the ticket again, read the writing again and then looked back at her.

"Thank you." he said with a small nod of his head.

"Will you come?" she asked.

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Good." she smiled. "I'll buy the food as well."

And they continued their walk. A few more words were exchanged when they nearly reached the place where they had started.

"Thank you." she said after while.

"For what?" he asked.

"For coming." she answered, her cheeks tinted slightly red.

"Tendou told me to come." he told her.

"That's something you shouldn't say to someone you meet up with." she laughed. "Makes me believe you didn't want to come."

"I did believed that training would be better." he replied.

"Are you regretting it?" she asked.

"No." he shook his head with a faint trace of a smile.

"That's good." Tamiko smiled to herself.

They walked a few more steps in silence until Ushijima asked.

"Can we do it again?"

"Of course." she smiled at him. "I enjoyed myself. Maybe we can get a coffee next time."

"Gladly." he smiled a little.

They both smiled at each other when she went on her tiptoes and patted his head. His eyes widened a little and his lips parted when he looked down at her smile. It was strange. He felt strange. That little gesture made him feel strange. Wanted. Appreciated. Small. They walked for a little longer until they parted ways. Ushijima thanked her again for the ticket and patted her head again before leaving. For a while, Tamiko just stood there. She had witnessed Ushijima in many different situations before but this was new. She knew he was gentle but this was new. Whatever it was, it was new. There was such an unfamiliar twinkle in his eyes now. It had been a minute since he had left but now she felt how warm her face felt.

That evening, Ushijima sat in his room by his desk and looked at the ticket lying before him. He wasn't really thinking about the finals themselves, although he had never gone that far in the tournaments. No, he was thinking about sitting amongst the spectators with Tamiko next to her. He covered his mouth with his hand, blushing at the thought. His eyes wandered to the photo that was still face down on the table and placed it upright. The team photo with Tamiko. A knock on the door pulled him or of his thoughts and Tendou walked in. He immediately asked how the date was and Ushijima told him about the tickets. The rest of the are story he kept to himself. Tendou congratulated him and and if Ushijima now knew. The ace didn't say anything but in his mind he made his decision.

The next morning was a slow Monday and classes were going slowly. Ushijima didn't really pay attention to the teachers jabbering. Instead, he was tempted to play with Tamiko's locks that dangled within his reach. For the first time, he really looked at her. He started to memorise every wave and twist her hair made from her scalp to the tips. What he also note noticed was that her hair wasn't just brown. There were lighter strands hidden amongst the curls. Hazel, he thought. When lessons were over he walked with Yamagata to the gym. The changing room was already occupied by most of the team members but there was one that Ushijima was urged to talk to.

"Semi." Ushijima said as he approached the setter.

Semi pulled his t-shirt over his head and turned to his captain.

"What is it, Wakatoshi?" he asked.

"I thought about my indication of liking Tamiko." Ushijima started.

Semi's eyes widened in surprise and then raised an eyebrow.

"Okay?"

The others had already noticed how Ushijima stood before Semi and curiously came closer.

"I like her more than volleyball." they heard Ushijima say.

There was a brief silence and only Semi spoke.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Ushijima nodded. The others, especially Jin, felt proud to hear that Ushijima had figured everything out and liked a girl for the first time. Then they looked at Semi. He scratched his head in thought. Then he sighed and folded his arms.

"If you ever hurt her, in any way, I will never forgive you." he informed him.

Ushijima nodded in agreement. Everyone sighed with relief. They had honestly believed that Semi would lash out at their captain or even argue with him, but this was a pleasant result. Many patted Ushijima's shoulder to congratulate him. Semi half-smiled.

"Why are so protective of her anyway?" Yamagata asked him.

"Semisemi has a crush on her too." Tendou grinned.

"What? No, I don't. Who gave you that idea?" Semi looked at them with disgust. "And don't call me Semisemi."

For once, Tendou was speechless. He blinked a few times and processed the information slowly to make sure he didn't mishear.

"You're not crushing on her?" he asked.

"Of course not. I never was. She is like a little sister to me." Semi said. "Would you date your own sister?"

They all shook their heads. Semi was right. Incest was an unspoken thing.

"Little sister." Jin giggled. "She is half a year older than you."

"Still." Semi pouted but then grinned.

They all got changed and walked into the gym when Tendou elbowed Ushijima's rips.

"Well then, go get her, tiger." Tendou winked.

Ushijima looked at Tendou when Ohira came and patted his shoulder.

"It's a figure of speech, Wakatoshi." Ohira smiled and the boys returned to their training.

He's got this...probably, they all thought.