Smart Girl | Ushijima x OC

Chapter 41: Dinner with the Watanabes

"-but then, the lab sent it back and told me it was a fake!" Hayate Watanabe chortled in his chair, filling the room with snorts of his own laughter. Hana huffed with her arms crossed, remembering back to just an hour ago when she had foretold this exact happening.

"Oh yes, never heard that one before dad. Super funny. Very hilarious. You've got Toshi folding down over there. Complete and utter stitches." Hana retorted.

Ushijima just went with their little trifles throughout the course of the night. After actually meeting the man, he understood Hana's relationship with her father a little better than before- something he wanted to know more about.

At first. He thought Hana mainly looked up to him, took him as her inspiration and drive, but after the short time he'd seen them together, he could tell it was different.

It was as if they were the best of friends. Even the way Hana acted was affected by her dad's presence. Her usual bored and laid back manner was now replaced with this bubbly, upbeat energised Hana- one that Ushijima had one rarely dealt with.

"I'll have you know old man, Toshi can vouch for me now that I have made many more friends these days. As well as the three girls, I'm friends with the volleyball team." Hana announced smugly.

"Ah yes, the manager position. I almost forgot about that. How's it going?"
"Pretty good. At first I was only doing it for participation credit on my Tokyo application, but I actually enjoyed having something to fill my days. The guys are good fun too." She told them.

"Well I'm glad it's not just all about school for once. You need to enjoy yourself, you robot. Don't be wasting all your younger days away, make sure you have enough fun too. Ushijima, can I count on you to make Hana here relax every now and then?"

In all truth Ushijima has disassociated a little while their conversation had been flowing, and quickly brought himself back to the floor.

"Of course sir. Hana always makes sure the team is in order, as well as keeping track of our matches, and staying on top of school work. I'll ensure she gets time to enjoy herself." Ushijima vowed.

Hayate just smiled and nodded, before sliding over to his a daughter a little.

"He's definitely a good guy, but is he always this uptight? It's as if he's asking for your hand in marriage or something" he whispered to her.

"Nah that's his default. He's just a serious guy. You're right though he's great." She murmured back.

"Funny enough," Hana started to bring the group back. Ushijima could already tell what topic was coming up and Instantly dreaded it.

"I'm pretty sure it was like the second thing you'd ever said to me, but I totally flipped out at Toshi when we first met. I'm too lazy to work harder than necessary for my grades and it confused him, cuz he's a total work-machine. Looking back on it, it was pretty funny."

Ushijima sat quiet for a second, waiting on the verdict from Hana's dad. Was he going to be upset with him for speaking out against his daughter? About being so accusatory?

He looked up at Hayate, confusion replacing the tension that hung over him as Hana's father crossed his arms and scrunched his face up at his daughter.

"Hana, what did I tell you about freaking out like that. Just because you make the decision to have a terrible sleep schedule doesn't mean you can flip out at people who give solid advice." He drilled at her.