Tutor (Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader)

Chapter 64

In the week that followed February rolled around and everything went back to normal. You both adapted more to each other's lifestyle and if you disagreed you tried to find some sort of compromise. 

Wakatoshi explained to you that in the last two weeks his form, that he had spent a long time to improve, had been gradually crumbling down and he had no idea why. His coach had told him that it was normal to experience regression after a while and that he should just keep at it and it would come back soon enough.

You remembered when you hadn't known him for very long yet that he had been trying to explain to you something about a new swing and form. It had been one of the first times you had noticed how excited and passionate he became when talking about volleyball, even though he had trouble expressing himself in the little English that he knew back then.

If he had been working on it for that long, you could only begin to imagine how frustrating it had to be to notice that everything was falling apart again. You had asked him if you living with him was to blame for it, but he had assured you that that was not the case. He hadn't been slacking on his working out or anything since you had come along, so you had nothing to worry about.

After catching up at work, Marie also had more time to call you and you felt less alone, albeit more embarrassed since she naturally wanted to know ALL the details.

The first weekend of February Wakatoshi had the match against Japan Railway Warriors in Sendai. You went to watch and met up with Selena at the arena.

Hyakuzawa had only recently joined the team, so you were not surprised to find him on the bench when the game got underway. You kept a close eye on Wakatoshi and noticed that he, indeed, seemed to be doing worse than he had been in the EJP Raijin match or the U21.

During the time-outs and when he was benched for a while you saw that the coach seemed to be talking to him quite a bit. You hoped Wakatoshi would be able to get out of his slump soon and wished there was something you could do to help.

Somewhere in the middle of the third set Hyakuzawa got to play for a while and you made sure to record some of it to show Marie later. While she hadn't actually told you straight, you were pretty sure she at least had a big soft spot for the guy and if she had been able to stay longer as well you estimated the chances of them getting together very high. 

Alas, that's not how it had gone down, but you were determined to do the little things you could to try and make it work out anyway. 

When the match ended with Schweiden Adlers taking the win three sets to two, you made your way down to the court with the other fans. You went to the Railway Warrior's side however and called Hyakuzawa over.

Since he was a new player he didn't really have anyone asking for his autograph, but the fact that you did, made some of the other girls look at the both of you curiously. 

"I'm glad I got to see you play again! Was it your first match?" You asked him as you gave him a postcard to sign. 

"Yeah, well, the first one I got to play in at least." He replied while signing the card. "How's it going for you? Getting used to living here?"

You nodded at his question. "It was getting a bit difficult a week ago, but now it's become sort of... normal?"

He chuckled. "I understand what you mean. Do you go to all his matches?"

"No! I went to one when I was still in Tokyo with Marie, and I saw a practice match two weeks ago. This is only the second official match I've been to." You continued your conversation, and noticed that some girls were starting to make their way towards the two of you. "Hey, I got a question."

"Shoot."

"I don't know if you can tell, but Wakatoshi has been in kind of a slump recently and I was wondering if you knew anything that could help him get out of it." You asked as the girls got in line behind you.

"Hmm... I don't think the 'relax' one is going to work for Ushijima..." Hyakuzawa mused. 

"Or maybe something I can do to help him?" You prodded as no answer seemed to be coming.

"Oh!" Hyakuzawa seemed to have a sudden idea. "Do you remember at the Under 21? You played with him?"

You couldn't but blink. "You knew about that?" You said and made him laugh.

"I'm pretty sure everyone knew about that. In any case, he was in very high spirits when he returned afterward. Maybe you can do that again?" He proposed and you thought it might not be such a bad idea, even though you had sworn to kill Tendou after suggesting the same last time.

"That might be a good idea, thanks! I'll be going now, I seem to have caused people to be curious about you." You told him, glancing at the girls that were still waiting patiently in line behind you. "I'll have to apologize to Marie for that later! See you!"

And before he could say anything to that you made way for the people behind you.

You had already said your goodbyes to Selena before, and decided to wander towards the exit to wait for Wakatoshi there.

On your way out you passed by the little storefronts again, the volleyball one opened and with some customers inside. You noticed that they had some new items compared to last time.

When you browsed them you were reminded of the fact that Valentine's was approaching since they had some limited edition Valentine's stuff.

The ones that caught your eye were couples t-shirts. You had seen various 'couples' things appear in other stores recently as well. From couples bracelets and other jewelry to couples chopsticks and bowls, it seemed everything had a 'couples' variety.

You had already thought about what you could get Wakatoshi for Valentine, but nothing had really sparked your interest. That is until you saw the couples t-shirts they had for sale here.

The shirts in question were on one hand, Vabo-chan ready to serve, but instead of the volleyball he was holding in the non-Valentine related merchandise, he was holding a heart instead.

On the other hand, was another Vabo-chan receiving the same heart the other one had served. Thanks to your previous studying of hiragana and katakana you could read the words 'Nice serve' and 'Nice receive' on both of the shirts.

It was so cheesy and corny and just perfect, so you decided to get them, choosing the black versions over the white ones.

You continued towards the exit where, by now, Wakatoshi was waiting for you. You had made sure to put your new purchase safely away in your bag so he wouldn't ask you any questions about it.

You took the hand he had already extended to you and together you walked out of the stadium, deciding what you would be eating when you got home.

-----

A/N:

So, I randomly got the t-shirt idea when I was looking at the Vabo-chan stickers on Line and I thought it would be so perfectly cheesy to include it in the story (*>ω<*)

I hope you liked today's chapter as well and see you all on Wednesday!! (* ﾟ ∀ﾟ)ﾉｼ