A Thousand Cranes for a Wish (USHIJIMA X OC)

It's Fate

Ushijima blinked a few times stunned. This girl had just fallen into his arms. Not just any girl either, the girl who had run into him, multiple times. "Ushijima Wakatoshi." He very carefully placed her down and let go of her when she regained her bearings. "I don't think you should continue climbing trees, it doesn't seem to be your strength. Get a ladder or ask someone for help next time."

Umeko nodded, the cat still in her arms. "Alright. I was just very keen on helping this adorable little fur baby." Umeko snuggled the cat and caused it to mewl in return.

"That is a cat." Ushijima deadpanned to correct her, not quite grasping that 'adorable little fur baby' was referring to the cat in her arms. "It seems to be unhurt."

"Yep!" Umeko quipped happily then looked back up at Ushijima. "You saved both of us! Thank you!" no sooner than Umeko had finished thanking him did the cat jump out of her arms and disappear back into the bushes.

The pair watched as the cat left without so much as a glance back. "You're welcome. Be more careful next time, I can't always catch you."

Before Umeko could respond to Ushijima's cautionary words she heard another approaching voice from behind him. It was the same guy who was at lunch. As he approached, she stiffened, she grew a little more anxious. She just felt so uncomfortable talking to more than one person -unless she knew them both very well, but that's a whole different story. Umeko was well aware that if she suddenly left now that would be incredibly rude. "Ah, your friend is back."

Ushijima nodded; his stoic expression never left his face. "It is volleyball time. Goodbye, Akiyama." He gave her a brief goodbye before he briskly walked to his tall friend meeting him halfway to the gym.

Umeko was grateful that Ushijima had decided to meet his friend rather than have the red-haired boy come closer to them. She had nothing against his friend, but she just wasn't good socializing, she would become either a rambling mess or just overwhelmingly awkward.

At the very least she could put a name to a face. Ushijima Wakatoshi. Where had she heard that name before and why was it so familiar? The realization dawned on her. On the outside she managed to remain cool and collected, but on the inside, she was panicking. She was just saved by Ushijima, the captain and ace of the volleyball team.

Once Ushijima was out of view, Umeko crouched down and hid her face in her hands. He was arguably one of the most popular students in the school. How could I forget who he was? Ushijima has an enormous hardcore fanbase. Eventually Umeko took a deep breath and recomposed herself; she definitely wasn't going to forget him now. She patted down her grey sweater trying to get the remaining fur off her clothing. Umeko sighed and accepted that this moment would probably be the last time they came in contact. It was a real shame; she would have liked to draw him.

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Tendou waved as Ushijima got closer. "Was that the girl again?"

Ushijima nodded and entered the gym beside Tendou. "Akiyama was in a tree and fell into my arms, she was holding a cat. That was the third time I've run into her today."

The wheels started turning in Tendou's head. "It's fate!" He held both hands in the air out of sheer excitement. Ushijima gave him a face to indicate that he really didn't believe in fate but wasn't about to argue for his case.

- ----FOURTY FIVE MINUTES LATER-----

Akiyama had piqued Tendou's interest. He had seen the undeniable connection between the two. Be it that his own imagination had fabricated the entire thing or that there was actually a spark, Tendou made it his personal mission to be the greatest wingman he could be. The real question was, how was he going to create more opportunities for the pair to interact? Tendou didn't even know much about her. Sure, the name Akiyama seemed sort of familiar, but he couldn't place why. Throughout volleyball practice, he had been brainstorming ways to be friends with the girl or at least give her a reason to enter the gym. Practice wasn't even over when he was practically handed the first opportunity. From the gym windows he saw the girl in question walk closer.

"Yes, yes, yes, this is it, this is fate!" He practically shouted his words as she hastily went to grab a volleyball.

The rest of the Shiratorizawa team -coach included- looked at Tendou, perplexed over his actions, though there was nothing new there.

Tendou paid no mind to the questioning looks his teammates were sending him, he had more pressing matters to deal with. When Akiyama was a mere few meters away, Tendou ever so carefully rolled a volleyball out the door. His plan was to have her pick up the ball and bring it inside the gym, from there he could find out more about her.

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Umeko hummed along with the music blasting from her wireless earphones. She made her way to the gym, it was a very, very hard building to miss. It was huge. Unlike other school gyms, Shiratorizawa's gym was at least twice the size and had a plethora of windows. The gym was very geometrical which followed the rest of the school structure, of course barring the cylindrical portion which sat on the left side of the building. Umeko wasn't sure why that was there or what it was for, but she had to admit, it was a nice touch. Very aesthetically pleasing.

Umeko was about to walk past the side door when a red, green and white ball rolled out and stopped in front of her. She too stopped in front of it. Upon closer inspection she determined that it was a volleyball. Umeko looked left then right suspiciously, before she picked up the ball and spun it around in her hand a few times. She had only gotten to play with a volleyball a few times when she was a kid. Two of her friends were almost obsessed with the sport. They had even gone out a few times to watch a big game together. It's been a while since we've actually all hung out together now that I think about it. Umeko made sure no one had come out before throwing the ball back inside through the door and scampering away.

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Tendou watched the ball get thrown back in. "What!? No, she was supposed to come in! How could this be?! Maybe it wasn't fate after all. But that's impossible!" Tendou swung his arms around in exaggerated gestures. How could his genius plan fail? He began to pace back and forth; he wasn't expecting her to just throw the ball back in through the open door. I mean, who does that? Akiyama does apparently.

A boy with thick triangular eyebrows and black hair was the first to ask. He originally planned to reel Tendou back in, but he wanted to know what he was talking about. "Who was supposed to come in?"

"Akiyama was supposed to come in. She was going to come in and bring the ball back. It was supposed to be fate." Tendou fell to his knees in a highly over dramatic way. "Was it not fate but mere coincidence instead? Oohira! Why is the world so cruel?"

Oohira wasn't really sure how to respond at first. He just looked around at his other teammates with a shrug. "Does anyone know this Akiyama?"

Everyone shook their heads. With the exception of Ushijima who was so engrossed in practice that he didn't notice the rest of the team were crowded around Tendou.

"His crush!?" An overly enthusiastic first year called out.

A boy with thick messy ash blonde hair shook his head. "No way, Goshiki. More like top of a hit list."

"I agree with Semi. Goshiki is an idiot." Another boy scoffed as he joined in the conversation.

"Shirabu..." Oohira groaned and rubbed his forehead. Instead of speculating it was just better to ask Tendou himself. "Who is this Akiyama and why did you want her to come in?"

"She is in my class and Wakato-" Tendou paused mid-sentence to interrupt himself. "Akiyama is in my class!" He cackled like a mad genius at his realization, how could he forget? Well to be fair she was a little forgettable. She kept to herself and showed a severe lack in personality when compared to Tendou himself. "This is fate!" He punched the air with both hands and gave a rather unsettling grin to his teammates. "Operation friendship is ready to go."