Miracle Boy

1???

A loud 'WHAM' as deafening as the silence echoed around the stadium as everyone froze. It took him to land on the ground and his best friend to tackle him in a hug before all other movements resumed.

"WHOO!! MIRACLE BOY WAKATOSHI DOES IT AGAIN!!"

As Ushijima straightens up, a ball of red slams into him, knocking both of them to the ground as the crowd screams, going wild and 4 others join in the group tackle with shouts of joy.

A whistle sounds twice as the scoreboard shows a 21 : 19. It's the Adlers' win.

"You're amazing, Wakatoshi-kun! The other team didn't even have time to react!"
Ushijima's team floods him with praises as Tendou simply drapes an arm around him, smiling proudly. The chatter ceases as their coach calls for them to thank the crowd for their support.

As Ushijima gets up and walks to where his teammates are already standing, a dull throbbing in his left ankle slowly seeps in, like those annoying aches. He stops and stares at it, then rolls his ankle, and the feeling goes away.

Weird...I didn't injure myself, did I?

"Wakatoshi? Something wrong with your leg?"
He looks up to see Tendou looking at him with slight concern.
"No, nothing wrong."
He walks over to his team and bows with them, thanking their supporters.

The pain in his ankle was soon forgotten about, until two months later, when he found himself barely able to hold a volleyball.

The sound of the ball thumping on the ground could be heard as Tendou walked over to him.
"Wakatoshi, are you okay?"
Tendou asked, finding it understandably weird that Ushijima would drop a ball with no reason. He clenched and unclenched his hand, looking at it as if the hand would grow a mouth and tell him what the cause of the pain was. After a few clenches, the pain had slowly subsided to a dull irritation and he bent down to pick the ball up, all the while being watched curiously by Tendou.

"I must be lacking in sleep."
He says, turning to Tendou.
"Ehh? That's unlike you. Don't you go to sleep at 10 every night?"
"I must have lost a few hours somewhere."
"Did you lose it in your car?"
"No, I meant that I may have slept later than my usual time."
"It was a joke..."
Ushijima blinks at him.
"Nevermind, let's get back to practice."

This time, the pain was not forgotten. More like, it would constantly appear especially when he was practicing, in the same two places it absolutely should not be appearing in.

The sound of air being knocked out of a volleyball as it landed on the ground was music to Ushijima's ears. What came after that however, was not pleasant. As he landed on the ground, a sharp pain cut through his ankle. He grunted softly, wincing, but quickly straightened up as he saw Tendou walking towards him. He thanked the gods that everyone else had already gone home.

"Hey, Wakatoshi, are you alright? Did you land wrongly?"
"Ah, I think so. I'm fine, don't worry. I'm done practicing anyway, I'm going to pack up."
Tendou eyed him suspiciously as Ushijima walked away as normally as he could.

He's definitely not alright, something's off.

Tendou decided that his hunch about Ushijima not being alright was something he had to confront. He shouldn't ignore it or else he would definitely regret it.

"Wakatoshi, wanna get dinner together? There's this really good ramen place that I found."
"Sure."

Dinner was silent for the most part, which was weird because Tendou was always talking to Ushijima about anything and everything. This time however, though Tendou would have loved to talk about his new favourite dessert, or the latest issue of shonen jump, there was something else he had to talk about, something that if wasn't said now, would never be able to be brought up again unless it was Ushijima who brought it up.

"The ramen is good right?"
Tendou looks at Ushijima, giving his usual lighthearted smile. Ushijima looks up at Tendou and his face softens into a similar smile.
"Yeah, it is."
He looks back down and continues eating. Tendou watches him, observing his actions.

Nothing seems to be wrong, but there's this gut feeling that I just can't get rid of...

Gathering his nerves, Tendou finally speaks.
"Wakatoshi, did you...injure yourself in one of our practices or tournaments?"
Ushijima looks up and tilts his head slightly, confused.
"No, why?"
"Because you were clearly in pain when you landed after that last spike earlier."
"No I wasn't."
"Are you forgetting who you're talking to? I'm your best friend, I've known you for more than 5 years now."
Ushijima looks at Tendou, looking conflicted.
"Please tell me, I'd hate it if the pain gets worse and there's nothing I could do because I wouldn't even know about it."

Finally, taking a small breath, Ushijima speaks.
"Yes, I did feel pain when I landed. But it's probably because I've been training so much, I've overworked myself."
Tendou let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Has this happened before?"
More hesitation.
"Wakatoshi, please."
"Yes."
"How long?"
"About a month now."

Tendou felt his heart sink a little. This has been going on for a whole month?!
"Did you get it checked?"
"No, because it would come, then go after a few seconds. It's probably overwork, don't worry about it."
A thought blooms in Tendou's head.
"That day, when you dropped the ball. That was the first time, wasn't it?"
Ushijima looks at his food.
"...Yeah."

That doesn't make sense though...

After a few minutes, Tendou, seeming to have regained his usual enthusiastic personality stands up abruptly, causing the looks of a few other customers.
"No practice for you tomorrow! We're going to get you checked!"
"Tendou, I can't do that, we have another tournament coming up."
Tendou turns around and points his finger at Ushijima.
"If you don't get yourself checked, you won't be able to even play in the tournament if the pain gets worse! Do you want that?"
Ushijima sighs softly, knowing that Tendou won't drop the subject, having gotten used to his best friend's antics.
"No."
"Then it's settled! We're taking a day off tomorrow to get you looked at! I'll go for a checkup as well with you, how's that?"

Without waiting for an answer, Tendou grabs Ushijima's hand and pulls him out the ramen shop.
As they walk home, Tendou feels his heart lift just a little at the fact that he managed to get his friend to agree to get a checkup.

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fanart by aekrn0 on twitter

ok I hope there weren't any grammatical errors, if there are, I'll yeet myself bye-