Behind a strong man [Ushiwaka /Oc]

Chapter 19 - An ill Wakatoshi

It had been a long time since Tamiko had walked to school. Since she had the car she had been driving to school every time but if there was a dry day after it had been raining, she preferred to walk. Yesterday she had been sitting indoors watching the drops slowly glide down the window glass. A window seat really was a great seat on rainy days. She was glad that it was finally the weekend. On Monday Izumi had bombarded her with questions regarding the 'date'. She was disappointed when Tamiko told her the details but didn't probe. She was still convinced that Tamiko was the one. The brunette wasn't deterred with having met up with Ushijima although she was a little smitten when she sensed him sit down behind her in the lessons. That feeling died down after two days and everything returned to its normality. And then she watched the rain, drowned in thought. Ushijima was still thinking of playing with her curls and only Yamagata observed this, how Ushijima was glancing at the back of her head. The libero didn't say anything though. He stayed quiet. Smiled.

The rain had been falling all week, and on that Saturday the sun was finally shining again. She loved those days. She loved the smell of rain, dodging puddles and the clear sky after it had been so dark and grey. Why was she walking to school on a Saturday? She was bored and had nothing to do. Izumi was at her boyfriend's house, Tobio was training and Semi had asked if she wanted to help since coach Washijo was ill. At first she didn't want to but it was watching the boys or watching boring TV shows. The decision was clear. When she arrived at the gym she sneaked in so she didn't disturb their training but she was spotted. Semi and Jin walked up to her with concerned faces.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You two look very worried."

"That's because we are." Jin confirmed.

"We have a problem." Semi told her.

"What is it?" she asked, now slightly concerned herself.

"That." Jin pointed over to one of the boys.

Her eyes wandered when she saw Ushijima. He was practicing jump serves.

"Ushijima?" she asked.

"Yeah. Look at him." Jin said and looked over to the captain.

Again she observed. Something was off. Even from a distance she could tell his cheeks were flushed. His body looked heavy and he was unsteady on his feet. That was very unusual.

"He doesn't look good." she noted.

"We think he has a fever." Semi told her. "We have told him to go and rest but he wouldn't listen."

"That idiot went for a jog in the pouring rain yesterday." Jin informed her.

"Geez." she sighed.

"Could you try to get him to rest? He will most likely listen to you." Semi asked.

"I'll try my luck." she said.

The rest of the boys had all stopped whatever they were doing, afraid that Ushijima would fall over with every jump he did. When they saw Tamiko approach their captain, they got even more nervous. Her anger was already feared, even amongst the first years, but it was usually directed at Tendou. Would she shout at Ushijima? When she reached him she crossed her arms.

"Ushijima." she said with a commanding tone. "Go and rest."

He paused briefly, but then picked up another ball. A short side glance landed on her.

"I'm fine." he panted.

He did another jump serve, landing wobbly on his feet. She sighed and dropped her arms. The boys behind her all braced themselves for her shouting but to their surprise, she didn't clench her fists, she didn't tense up. She stayed relaxed and calm.