Alright guys.
Some time has passed and I have sprouted idea upon idea. A Haikyuu Quest story with Tamiko, and Medieval Japan AU with Ushijima as a Shogun and Tamiko as a servant.
Oh guys, I have started writing them as well. Chapter 1 of the Medieval Japan AU is done soon and I might post it.
Tell me what you think of the idea of those AU!
I also recommend you guys to give Flor from LonesomePenguine a go. I love her writing style and she is 8 years younger than me but full of potential. A new author with a big heart. Check it out please :) Also with Ushijima and an OC that I love!
ArchimedesAckermann: Kyaaaaa! Thank you! He is isn't he? So kawaii.
LilweenGalatrass: Why hold in the squeals when you can let them out, again xD Oh Tobio? You will see. Wedding bells are far off my dear xD
PandaHee: I can't believe the hug is so popular xD Reactions will come soon, very soon.
ShioriShuu: Do I? Thank you, I'm gonna cry. Just follow me on Tumblr, thats enough of a Grammy for me :,)
curlystruggle: I dunno xD It is just a hug but that is a big progress. That's what a relationship should be. So many start kissing on the first day and break up a week later. Where is the slow burn?
Chapter 29 - A date
From: Tamiko
To: Ushijima
I need your help planting the bulbs! Can you come to my house tomorrow? I'll cook you something as well. (*´∀`*)
Ushijima read the message when he came out of the shower after practice. He nearly dropped his towel at the realisation. Tomorrow he could go and see her. His heart raced a little when he typed a reply. It has been three days since the confession, only three days since they had established their new relationship, only three days since he had had her as a girlfriend. And he was itching to see her. Two days had passed since he saw her, not unusually long but it felt agonising. He had asked Tendou and Ohira about this, this strange feeling.
"You just miss her, Wakatoshi-kun." Tendou had told him.
"It's normal to feel that way." Ohira had said. "You will feel very happy when you see her."
Just the thought alone made him excited. The thought of going to her home, to see her smile, he couldn't wait. Like the nights before, he had trouble falling asleep, but it didn't bother him. It has only been on the first day that the lack of sleep had left him with exhaustion. The following nights he lay awake in bed for longer than usual, thinking about what she could be doing right now. Was she also sleeping? Was she reading in bed? Those thoughts kept him awake for a few more minutes until he fell asleep. A 'good night' message was always sent before he decided to call it a day. Those became routine. The other team members noticed that he was on his phone a lot more than usual. When the others asked the witnesses of that evening kept quiet. Over time Tendou caved in and formed a pact with them, telling them the truth. They were all shocked beyond belief but promised to stay quiet about it. They didn't want to risk destroying this newly blossomed relationship. And they were all strangely glad to see their stoic, blunt and hard-to-approach captain smile. It lightened up everyone's day.
That night, he had trouble sleeping. He kept wondering what her home could look like. Was it tidy, was it modern or like Semi's home? Did she have a nice garden? Was there a little volleyball court? His fantasy began to sprout. It also pulled him into sleep and in his dreams he was sitting in her living room, sitting in her kitchen, passing a ball to her in the garden. The next morning, Ushijima took his regular morning jog and took a nice long shower when he returned. Then he checked his phone again and the little piece of paper with Tamiko's address. A quick glance at the time and he left the dorm. On the way off the school grounds he crossed paths with the other third years.
"Good morning." Soekawa greeted him, along with the others.
Ushijima nodded at them. Since it were still holidays they were taking and out in their tracksuits. Seeing their captain in regular clothes surprised them.
"Where are you going, Wakatoshi?" Ohira asked.
"Tamiko asked me to help her plant the bulbs." Ushijima answered.
Tendou suppressed a laugh and even Yamagata had to chuckle. Semi shushed them, telling them to stop being childish and that Ushijima didn't understand the ambiguity of what he just said. They all knew that he had meant the freesia bulbs he had given her for christmas. They wished him a good day and Ushijima departed from the school grounds. They walk to Tamiko's house wasn't that far. She lived at the border of the Shiratorizawa area and the Aoba Jousai area. It was a neighbourhood he had jogged through before but never had he paid attention to the houses and family names indicating their residences. It didn't take him long to find the house with the name 'Kageyama' chiseled into a rectangular piece of stone. He viewed the house for a moment. The outside looked similar to Semi's house. There was a front yard with a washing line, one storey and white walls. It was so ordinary. He opened the gate and took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell. The chime could faintly be heard through the door and for a while nobody opened. He was about to press the doorbell again when the door suddenly opened.
"Hey," Tamiko huffed.
Ushijima looked at her, a little confused as to why she was out of breath. Then he saw why. She had readied herself to go outside with shoes and jacket.
"Are you going somewhere?" he asked.
"We are going to the store." she told him. "If I want to plant the bulbs I need a pot and soil, right?"
He nodded and followed her to the car. It was the first time he had sat next to her in her car and he was a bit nervous, not knowing how her driving was. He knew from Semi that at the beginning it was terrifying but for months, Semi hadn't commented on her driving. He just hoped for the best. As they drove through the streets, he started to relax. She was a calm and careful driver and they soon reached the shop for gardening material.
"Okay, a pot and soil." she mumbled to herself with a determined expression.
He followed her as she walked into the big store. There were a lot of people. Many were trading in coupons they had received for christmas to buy ornaments of all shapes and sizes. Tamiko looked around and found the compartment with the pots and soil. Tamiko looked at everything curiously. She had never been to this kind of store before a looked like a child in a candy shop. Then the questions came which Ushijima calmly answered. And she had a lot of questions. In the end she chose the soil that Ushijima suggested was the best for freesia.
"That pot up there should be enough," he suggested and pointed at a shallow pot at the top of the shelf.
Tamiko was more than eager to get her hands on it and went on her toes, trying to reach the shelf. Ushijima covered his mouth with his hand as he watched her struggle in the cutest way possible. Frustrated, she pouted and looked at him.
"Could you get it?" she asked him.
He nodded and gave her the pot she desired, hiding his suppressed smile a little. She took it and placed it on a trolley she had been pushing along with them. Happily humming to herself, she pushed the trolley to the cashier and paid for the pot and soil. Then he helped her heave them into her car and they drove back to her home. By the time they reached the house, both of them had warmed up to one another. Tamiko told him how she had spent the last two days with her friend Izumi, whom she had told about their relationship. She had to giggle when she told him that for a first date, it was a lot of fun. Ushijima looked away, flustered at the remark and she unlocked the door.
"Welcome to my humble home." she said as she stepped inside.
She was the first to take off her shoes and carry the bought items into the kitchen. Ushijima paused in the porch. This was her home, the place where she lived. It felt strange finally setting foot into her domain. It was warm in the house, the air clear and a slight hint of lavender in the air. He took off his shoes and neatly placed them next to hers. Then he took his first steps into a new territory. Despite his stoic appearance, he could be very curious. He took a peek into what appeared to be the living room. It was all neat and tidy with a very modern aesthetic. The sofa and couch were a sleek black, the walls white and the furniture matched the black and white look. That same look was present in the entire house. Black and white. On a dresser in the hall were 7 framed images, black sleek frames. They were of Tamiko and her brother, one photo for each school they had visited. Their elementary and junior high uniforms were the same but then came Tamiko's white uniform from Shiratorizawa and her brothers raven black Karasuno uniform. Black and white. The seventh photo caught his interest. There were Tamiko and her brother, a little younger with serious expression with a woman standing behind them. Her face was stern, her hair raven black, her eyes blue. She had a hand resting on each of their shoulders. A very serious family photo. That had to be their mother. Now Ushijima finally had a face for the woman that had made Tamiko cry so often, who had made her life so difficult. The woman he would probably encounter one day. He had thought about it often enough, how he would confront that woman, telling her to start loving her daughter and to be there for her. The urge to do so grew even more.
"Toshi-kun, did you get lost?" Tamiko called and he made his way to the kitchen.
The kitchen was also black and white and very tidy. It was still a little unbelievable that her mother hadn't been home for months. Tamiko had placed the pot and bag of soil on the kitchen table, along with the small bag with the bulbs.
"Okay," she said, rubbing her hands together and placing them on her hips. She looked at him and he approached her. "How does this work, Mr Gardener?"
Ushijima went to work straight away. He explained every step first, as if trying to teach her and she listened closely. Then he showed her. He laid out a newspaper to cover the table and filled the pot with the soil. She helped him as best as she could. They had just filled the pot when someone opened the door.
"I'm home." someone called.
"Welcome home, Tobio-kun," Tamiko called back. "You're early."
"Daichi-san said to go home and rest." he answered.
The sound of shuffling fabric indicated that he was taking off his jacket and Ushijima tensed up. Tamiko walked to the doorway and peeked into the corridor.
"Who's shoes are those?" Tobio asked when he saw the unfamiliar pair.
"Ushijima's." she told him. "He's helping me plant the flowers I got from him for Christmas."
Ushijima tensed up even more when he didn't hear his response. Did her brother even know about their relationship yet? Lots of questions shot through his mind. Then Tamiko walked back into the kitchen, followed by her brother.
"Ushijima-san," he greeted him with a slight bow.
Ushijima stiffly nodded into his direction and returned his attention to the pot, at least he tried to. Tamiko joined him again while Tobio took a carton of milk and withdrew upstairs into his room. Tamiko sighed when she heard his bedroom door close.
"It's good that Sawamura send him home." Tamiko said after while. "He tends to overdo it."
Ushijima hummed and continued to bore holes into the soil. Tamiko watched him quietly. Despite his strong stature and his powerful physique, he was very careful and gentle with the bulbs. He knew what he was doing. It was intriguing to see him work with this. A crazy thought that he had a green thumb. She watched him, her head resting in her hands.
"You and Tobio-kun are very alike." she noted.
Ushijima looked up, generally confused.
"He is a setter, I am a wing spiker. He is shorter."
He was about to list more differences when Tamiko smiled and shook her head.
"I meant your personalities." she told him. "You both have the same passion for volleyball and the same stubbornness when it comes to training."
She giggled and smiled tilting her head to the side. Ushijima looked away and at the pot, his cheeks a little flushed. Now she started to see it more often, him blushing. For her it was the most adorable thing he could do and only she could make him do this. It made her feel proud and special. One after the other he buried the bulbs in the soil. When he was done he carried the pot into the living room.
"They need to be in the sun." he told her and placed the pot by one of the windows.
Then he helped her clean up. The spilled soil was easily collected with the newspaper they had dropped on and Tamiko stored the opened bag in the basement.
"Thank you so much for your help." she smiled at him when they had finished clearing up everything.
He smiled back at her and patted her head.
"So, do you want to stay for dinner?" She asked.
"Yeah," he nodded.
Tamiko's eyes began to sparkle with excitement.
"Then I'll make us dinner." she grinned and walked back into the kitchen.
He watched her while she started to cook. It was always enjoyable to watch her work. If there is one thing she was, then it was independant. He tried to help as well, following simple instructions she gave him. While he dominated in gardening, she ruled the kitchen. Soon the kitchen was filled with a scent that made stomachs rumble.
"Tobio-kun! Dinner is ready!" Tamiko called.
"I'm coming." came an immediate reply.
She returned to the kitchen while Ushijima helped her set the table for three. A rare sight in this house. Even Tobio was taken aback by the sight of three plates. The boys didn't speak to each other, although they sat opposite to one another. Tamiko talked with both equally and after a while, Tobio started to warm up to the grand ace. He looked at him and listened while Ushijima spoke with his sister about casual things, gardening and school. It confused Tobio to some extend. He had only seen Ushijima in athletic clothing and he had only heard him talk about volleyball and had never seen him converse with his sister. Now he was witnessing all three things. He also saw him smile on more than one occasion. It was all very alien. But he warned up, saw him in a different light, saw Ushijima how he really was as a person and not as a rival. And he knew that he would see the grand ace a lot more now. An opportunity he didn't want to miss. When they were finished with dinner and they had helped her clear the table, Tobio approached Ushijima.
"Ushijima-san," Tobio started and nervously pressed his lips together.
Ushijima looked at him, confused as to why the young setter wore such a facial expression.
"Could you teach me that powerful serve of yours?" he managed to ask.
Tamiko's guts somersaulted when she heard that question even when Ushijima answered him. Finally those two were talking with each other and volleyball was their bridge. Why did I expect anything else, she asked herself and smiled. They didn't talk for long and Ushijima mainly asked about the camp Tobio had been to, Tobio telling him about new prodigies that he had met. Then came the time for Ushijima to go back to the dorms before the school gates were locked.
"Thank you again for your help. It was fun." she smiled.
"I enjoyed it as well." Ushijima replied, smiling himself.
"Remember, you can come anytime you want." she reminded him.
He nodded and said goodbye to Tobio when he wanted to go. Tamiko cleared her throat and he turned around, confused. She frowned and pouted, opening her arms, indicating the need for a hug. Ushijima complied willingly and wrapped his arms around her. But there was a difference. Or at least no height difference. Tamiko stood on the step while Ushijima stood on the floor of the poarch. It made her as tall as him and it are the hug feel different as well. This time she had her head on his shoulder and so did he. She gave him a short squeeze before pulling away.
"Be careful on your way home. It's already dark." she told him.
He nodded, patted her head and opened the door. After he had closed it, Tamiko smiled to herself and shighed. She could still hear Tobio behind her. She had forgotten that he was still there, now blushing like crazy because he had seen the hug. He didn't say anything about it though.
"I hope he can show me his powerful serve again." he mumbled.
"He will. I'm sure he wants to do a lot with you as well." she encouraged him.
She turned around and was about to go upstairs when Tobio spoke.
"You look very happy." he said and she stopped.
She turned around and looked at him, his face neutral, his eyes big. Did she really? She certainly felt that way.
"Yeah." she nodded with a red cheeked smile.
"Good." he grinned at her.
The siblings grinned at each other, feeling a euphoria they hadn't felt in a long time. From then on Tamiko believed that everything was only going to get better.
