Double U | Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader

→chapter 3.

Long chapter ahead! I've spent days thinking about this match and it's probably the whole reason I wrote this story. TW: blood!

Shiratorizawa's boys' volleyball team reaches the tribunes and claims their seats in the first row. Though, almost none of them actually sit down, but close to the border so they can see everything better. Their coach is here as well, a gesture that's so uncharacteristic for him since he was never interested in female players. 

This is new to Ushijima as well. He never came to any of your matches before. Your team never made it so far in a tournament and he was always playing at the same time as you. Of course, you didn't want him to see your team being defeated or crying after another lost. You never cried though, you stood tall and emotionless, but deep down, you blamed yourself for all the balls that you could've blocked, but didn't. You compared yourself to him and fell deeper into despair. But nobody knew this. 

"I still can't believe that you were teammates, Shimizu," Sugawara speaks as he and the other 3rd years from his team sit down. He looks to his right and screams as he makes eye contact with their rivals from the previous day. "What are you doing here?!"

"We're here to support our girls," Reon answers calmly. 

"O-Oh, right, that makes sense" the grey-haired setter rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

"What do you mean by 'teammates'?" Ushijima's deep voice echoes through the stadium, his eyes fixated on Kiyoko's small form. She tries to search for an excuse, but Shirabu saves her.

"It's alright, he knows already," the girl nods and gains more confidence to speak to the ace.

"I was on the track and field team together with her and Nari-chan in middle school," is her simple explanation. Ushijima doesn't need more than that. 

Someone hums behind them. "I can't believe they're not here already. What's taking (Name) so much to assemble her team?" They all turn to see who joined them and are meet with the figure of the 3rd year setter from your team, Minako, dressed in civil clothes. 

"Oi, oi, oi, what happened to you?" Semi asks, noticing the cast on her left arm. 

"Ah, this?" She says in a cheerful tone, like she was talking about food. "I made a bet with Nari that I can handstand more than her, but I lost my balance and then this happened," she lifts her arm to show them her cast better. "I am not the starting setter anyway, so it's not like they're going to need me," the smile she uses to try to hide away her pain is so forced.

"But you are one of their best pinch servers," Kiyoko tells her just as the big door opens and your team steps inside. While the majority of them seem confident or in good-spirits, you look like someone dragged you out of the grave. Your hair is all over your face and you have a harsh scowl like you want to murder someone. 

Well, the cause of your sleepless night was Ushijima's determination to come. Saying that you are nervous is an understatement. 

"Oh, no..." Minako whispers. "Oh, no, no, no, this is bad" 

And indeed, things go from bad to worse.

At the spiking warm-up, you don't sync up with the ball tossed by your setter, no matter how hard you try. Niiyama's girls, the so called 'Queens', watch in amusement as you pathetically step out of the court and sit down on the bench. Nari stares at you for a few seconds, before returning to receiving. The thing that she feared the most has become reality. 

"Oh? I thought that the girls didn't have a coach," Tendou comments as the team gathers around an older woman. She was smiling sweetly at them. After a moment, you get up and say something to the players as well, but in the same cold and distant manner.