↳ 𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖒𝖆║(ᶜᴼᴾ! ᵁˢᴴᴵᴶᴵᴹᴬ ˣ ᴿᴱᴬᴰᴱᴿ)

𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗

it didn't feel real.

seeing ushijima in front of your eyes once again, instead of hiding yourself, you were seated across from him.

it's not that you hadn't seen him in the past 5 years. every single year, you'd return to miyagi for a day to pay respects to tendo and you'd see him sitting in front of tendo's grave. some years he simply placed flowers on the grave and left, but other times he'd be there for hours just talking to tendo and you'd have to wait until he left to visit tendo.

each time you visited tendo, you'd end up crying at his grave about everything that went wrong in your life. it felt different, you felt as if you really were speaking to tendo. even if you couldn't hear him respond to you, you knew that all he wanted for you was happiness.

"what do you want to eat?" ushijima asked, snapping you out of your thoughts."

every year, he somehow seemed more attractive than the last, which you didn't even know what humanely possible for someone as good looking as ushijima. this year was no different, there was something about him that made it hard to look away.

"uh, (f/n)?"

"huh?"

"what would you like to eat?" he repeated softly.

"why're you acting like nothing happened?"

"what do you mean?"

"i left. i left you at the worst possible time without much of an explanation, i never reached out to you in 5 whole years, i'm the reason you got stabbed back then. shouldn't you at least be angry at me? even just for a while?" you demanded.

"do you want me to be?"

"that's not what i meant." you sighed. "you're being too nice to me, and i definitely don't deserve it."

"that's up to me to decide." he shrugged. "and i think you're worth it."

"damn it, wakatoshi. at least be a little disappointed in me. you're letting me off the hook too easily."

"you look like you could use a distraction." he admitted.

"what?"

"you looked stressed out and tired so i wanted to help. am i distracting?" he asked you.

you smiled to yourself before mumbling, "you're distractingly good looking." under your breath.

this time, unlike when you first said it to him at that cafe when you were just a teenager, he heard you.

"and you're not?"

your eyes widened at his remark. "wakatoshi, when on earth did you learn to flirt?"

"i didn't, i was just being honest."

ushijima wasn't lying, you realised. he'd hardly changed from when he was in high school. apart from somehow growing more attractive, which, in your opinion, should've have been allowed, but ushijima really hadn't changed much. he still cared for you just as much as he did back then.

the two of you finally placed your orders and as you waited on the food to arrive, you caught up with each other in what had happened lately.

"ah, you're here because of a promotion? nice." you commented. "you've only been in the police force for 3 years, getting a promotion isn't common for newbies, what did you do?"

"there was a series of drug busts but the leader was never caught. officers spent years chasing her, but they never caught her. the case got handed to my team, and we got lucky with a lead and managed to get her behind bars." he explained.

"woah, you and your team actually got a drug lord behind bars? i'm impressed but slightly worried, wont the rest of their gang or whatever come for you?"

he shrugged. "i can't not arrest someone out of worry for my own safety."

you nodded. "i suppose that's fair."

"how'd you end up working at the hospital?" he asked.

"i'm a doctor in training, so i need to do two years of interning. this is still my first year, and next year i'll need to do my medical examination. if i pass, i'm a doctor, if i don't, im a failure." you told him.

the next 5 minutes was spent on him lecturing you and listing reasons as to why you most certainly were not a failure, at least, not in his eyes, and you swore you could melt.

the food was brought to your table and a wide smile spread across your face, delighted to have a proper meal again. you split your chopsticks into two, and skilfully twisted it, collecting some noodles and brought it to your mouth.

you blew on it gently so you wouldn't burn your tongue, but soon realised it wasn't too hot and ate quickly. ushijima looked amused by you, and you had another bite of the noodles before you asked him what he was looking at.

"you learned how to use them."

"use what?"

"chopsticks."

you glanced at your hand and grinned. "i did." you said happily.

"what happened to being loyal to your fork?"

"i still use forks!" you objected. "i've just been practicing using chopsticks for a while."

ushijima had a proud smile plastered across his face as he ate, and it was probably due to the fact that he knew you'd learnt how to use chopsticks because of him.

you wanted oh so badly to wipe that smug look off his face, but at the same time you couldn't bring yourself to ruin this moment, so instead you cherished what you had in front of you ; a happy ushijima. and he was happy because of you.

ushijima payed for dinner that night, and you were eternally grateful since you were too broke to spend any money at the moment. the only thing he asked for in return was to exchange numbers since you'd changed yours after you entered university. you happily complied and added ushijima as a contact in your phone, smiling at the screen with a goofy grin on your face.

ushijima insisted on dropping you home too, but it turned out that was because he'd picked up that he was being followed. he managed to shake off the people on his tail while driving and got you to your dorm safe and sound.

"call me if anything strange happens." he told you.

"can i call you even if nothing strange happens?" you asked cheekily.

he was slightly taken aback at first, but nodded. "stay safe." he said before turning around to leave.

"wait!"

he faced you when you called out to him, and suddenly you regretted stopping him but there was no turning back now.

"can i get a hug?"

ushijima didn't hesitate before pulling you into his strong arms, and you leaned your head against his chest. you could hear his heart pounding against his chest— a sign of nervousness— and you knew it was a sound you'd never get tired of hearing.

"sleep well, (f/n)." his whispered, his lips brushing against your forehead, so lightly you almost thought you were imagining it. next thing you knew, ushijima was out of your grasp and heading to his own home.

your hand reached to where his lips had been only moments ago, and felt yet another goofy smile spread across your face for umpteenth time that day. "you're an idiot if you think i can fall asleep after you pulled something like that, wakatoshi."

~•~

okok so this was just like a little,, reunion?? type chapter with a little fluff thrown here and there but hahahahahhaha

next chapter will have some crackhead chaos,, and after that some angsty chaos will start too hhhh you'll see :))

stay safe &&thank you for reading!!
mwahs <33