ᴄʜᴇʀʀʏ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ~ ᴜꜱʜɪᴛᴇɴ

19. Information

Tendou smiled, feeling Ushijima shift in his arms. "You waking up there Bub?"

"Mhmm." Ushijima yawned before burrowing into Tendou's chest. 

"Aw your nap wasn't even that long. You okay?"

Ushijima nodded, taking a deep breath. He looked up at Tendou. "What time is it?"

"Like one thirty. Usually you sleep until two and then you get something to eat." Tendou turned off his phone. He rubbed Ushijima's hair before sitting up a bit more. "Do you want to eat early?"

"That's okay." Ushijima rubbed his eyes.

"Aw you're still so sleepy." Tendou got up. "Come on, let's get you going."

Ushijima got up, following Tendou to the kitchen. Tendou started pulling things from the cabinets but Ushijima wrapped his arms around Tendou's waist, stopping him from moving very much. 

"Eh. What're you doing?"

"Being affectionate."

Tendou nearly whined at the little huff right after. When Ushijima was tired he got a lot more affectionate and felt the constant need to love on Tendou, whether it be trapping him in hug like now or pulling him away from stretching in the living room and cuddling up with him. "Aw Bub... do you need more cuddles?"

"Mhmm."

Tendou backed up to the living room, plopping on the couch. "Ya big baby."

"Mm." Ushijima whined at him. He nuzzled his neck, content with Tendou's warmth. Eventually he did get up, even if he was reluctant to do so. Tendou gave him a bowl of ramen, blaming his lack of knowing how to cook anything but sweets on why he'd make this for Ushijima instead of something that would be a bit better.

Ushijima didn't mind though, sitting next to Tendou on his bed with his legs draped over Tendou's lap. Tendou had his own bowl, laughing as Ushijima stared at him in confusion when he would randomly stick his chopsticks into his bowl. 

It was completely playful and Ushijima realized that quickly, going along with it and stealing a noodle or two from Tendou. 

Tendou just stuck his tongue out and kept eating, watching Ushijima's head bob slightly. Another stim? Probably. 

"So. Suga said he wants kids."

"He's a male?"

"Adoption is a thing."

"Of course it's a thing. Is he planning on adopting a child?"

"Probably." Tendou tipped his bowl back, taking the soup into his mouth and swallowing it. "You like manga?"

"I only read the ads in them. The stories don't make sense to me."

"Ah." Tendou tapped his chin.

"I do like books though." Ushijima yawned. "Like the book  "The Year I Didn't Eat". It was very telling about the mental process of males with eating disorders."

"Oh?"

Ushijima nodded. "I don't have one and I've never had one. But it was educational."

"Ah. Okay." Tendou got up carefully. He put their bowls away before hurrying to Ushijima and sitting in his lap. "Can we do something today? You wanna go to the park or to get ice cream?"

Ushijima hummed. "The park sounds nice."

"Cool." Tendou bumped their heads together. "I swear you're so cute."

Ushijima shook his head, trying to hold back from yelping. It would scare the shit out of Tendou if he yelped.

Tendou just sat in his lap, humming as he messed with Ushijima's hair. "You okay Bub?"

Ushijima tensed before yelping.

Tendou smiled. "There we go. No need to stop yourself."

Ushijima kept going until he stopped and took a deep breath. "I hate doing that."

"It's okay." Tendou reassured. "Let's go."

Ushijima clung to Tendou as they left the apartment, going quiet. He wanted to people watch. He loved people watching. Everyone seemed so different and complex so he wanted to see everything.

"Let's see. You ate a bowl of cereal this morning. A bit of a shocker since I thought you hated it. Then a thing of those chip things that taste kinda good. And ramen."

"Mhmm."

"That's good! You're remembering to eat." Tendou grabbed his hand.

Ushijima looked down and then at Tendou.

They were holding hands.

Ushijima started shaking his head, smiling and tightening his grip.

Tendou chuckled softly. "You okay Bub?"

Ushijima nodded, or attempted to nod the best he could.

"Aw it makes you happy holding my hand." Tendou smiled up at Ushijima. Ushijima started bobbing his head, slower this time. Tendou didn't know what that meant but Ushijima might need just a little physical output to stay calm. That was probably it. 

Ushijima stayed quiet, looking around. There were kids everywhere on the playsets, just being kids and screaming and having fun. 

How come every kid when he was younger was able to do that?

Sure he had anxiety about going up to people a lot of the time but it didn't make sense. He'd wanted friends. 

"Ooh I have a fun piece of information!"

"Mm?"

"I used to play volleyball."

Ushijima stopped for a moment. He hummed again. 

"Cool, right? That's how I met Semi Semi and Goshiki and Shirabu. Semi and I were in the same year at Shiratorizawa."

Ushijima's eyes widened. He went there once. He'd played there. Did that mean...?

"What's up? You're fidgeting with my hand. Which is fine but why?"

Ushijima's brows furrowed. "Um..."

Tendou glanced at him. "Did my information shock you?"

"Slightly."

"Oh nice. You or Daichi said you played a lot of volleyball. Why'd you stop?"

"I had a meltdown." Ushijima whispered. 

"Oh I'm sorry."

Ushijima kept his look of slight confusion. They'd played at the same school?

"Where'd you play at?"

"Shiratorizawa."

"Woah. Really?! That's so cool. That means we were on the same team." Tendou paused. "Wait. Same school same team. We knew each other?!"

"Apparently."

"Oh my God wait then... it was you."

"What?"

"You were the one who had to leave the team. But we weren't allowed to know why. Who gave you the necklace?"

"Someone named... Semi. You lived with Semi."

"Woah!"

"I didn't recognize him."

"He is very tall now so I get that." Tendou chuckled. "Wow. Wow we used to know each other. I blocked those memories out..."

"Why?"

"Well, we kept losing games and it sucked. So bad. Semi and I were practically the only good ones."

Ushijima gave him a look of "go on".

"Eh. We lost against an underdog."

"Who?"

"Karasuno…" He whispered.

"Sugawara's school."

"Yep. Suga came up to me after and gave me his number. So I texted him and…" He held up their linked hands. "Now we're here."