haikyuu sickfics

13: [ushiten] overworking

sick: ushijima - caretaker: tendou (and the rest of the team)

3rd pov:

ushijima wakatoshi, star of shiratorizawa academy. he was from the powerhouse school and he was the ace. the star. the one everyone could count on. but, even with all that, he was still human. he was still human and was able to get sick. he wasn't prone to getting sick but it happened every now and then. this time, it wasn't his fault at all. actually..it was all his fault. he wasn't even sick with a cold or the flu. no, he had just stretched himself way too thin.

ushijima was 'perfect' at everything. or so people thought. he wasn't though. and his teachers knew that. the third year excelled at math, science, all those kinds of courses. but when he was asked to learn english? that's where the ace was bound to fail. but, if he failed, he would be kicked off the volleyball team. no matter how good of a player he was, the rules still applied to him. so, when he got news that a huge english exam was coming up, he knew he had to do well. he started studying every moment he could. had a free second at lunch? studying. late night and restless? study. finished all his work in math? study. he was constantly studying for the english test. but, he also had to keep up with volleyball. so, he had to also dedicate a portion of his time to practice and working out. he was working out to stay in shape for his volleyball games but he was studying to stay sharp for his test.

friday marked the second day of no sleep for ushijima wakatoshi. he had stayed up two nights in row, cramming the information into his brain. on friday, he passed. he did it. he passed with flying colors. but, that was the only thing  flying. he wasn't. he couldn't jump for shit during practice, he was trying to jump like normal but he couldn't. he couldn't reach those high sets. that wasn't the only thing that was off. his receives were suffering, blocks too, his serves as well. so much so that coach washijo noticed and called the ace over.

"what was that? the ball was right there- you have legs- get it!" the small coach screamed at the ace. "i-" ushijima started but didn't get a word out before he was cut off again.  "i don't care about your excuses! get your act together!" he screamed at the third year. this was still one of the first times he had gotten scolded by washijo so he had almost dazed look on his face. "stop staring with that stupid look and go do one hundred serves!" he demanded, walking away with his hands clutched behind his back as usual. ushijima wasn't one to not listen to rules so he did it, he walked over and grabbed the ball, starting to do his serves. he only got twenty done before he his arms felt like they were going to fall off. he stopped and leaned down, resting his hands on his knees and trying to catch his breath.

"ushijima-" washijo started to say as he walked over to the ace. but before he could get to the ace, one tall middle blocker stood in the way. tendou. he slowly straightened up and stood up to his full height, challenging even ushijimas height. he towered over the smaller coach, staring down at him. the six one middle blocker against the five six coach. "he's obviously tired." the middle blocker spoke, no hint of playfulness in his voice. he was serious. he could see wakatoshi was struggling. he had been watching him for weeks so he knew what was happening. he wasn't going to let coach yell at him and boss him around. "do you want serves too, tendou?" the coach asked, his gaze intensifying as he stared up as the looming red head. "no. but i don't want you pushing him around when he's already down. give it up." he glared. "that's it, you can do laps or be benched." the coach threatened. tendous expression dropped for a second before he returned to his threatening stare.

"fine." he finally backed down. "ushijima, go home. you are off your game." the coach finally spoke once the middle blocker stepped away. "tendou! go with him, you'll do your laps tomorrow." the coach said, sighing in defeat. if tendou was anything, he was stubborn and tenacious.

when they got the go ahead, both third years left, heading back to ushijimas dorm. "thank you." the ace muttered, already feeling like he could pass out at any moment. "don't mention it, wakkun." tendou spoke, walking into the dorm, holding his boyfriends arm. he knew best what exhaustion could do to a person. he had stayed up nights in a row so he knew well what it could do to a persons mind set. tendou got his partner into the shower and got him clean before they both changed into comfy clothing. "satori, i'm so tired." ushijima mumbled to him, he wasn't annunciating his words and his tone wasn't that deadpan tone. he really was exhausted. satori got the taller male into the bed, sitting against the pillows with ushijimas head in his lap. the middle blocker rested one hand on his boyfriends head, gently playing with his hair while the ace soon fell asleep on him. the middle blocker reached over, grabbing on of the shonen mangas he had lent his boyfriend. he started to read it quietly, his usually spiky hair down in his face as he sat there quietly, letting ushijima finally rest.

while it was nice and peaceful in the dorm room, in the dorm kitchen it was hell. after practice, the team had decided to make their ace some soup to feel better. but, they were all high school kids who sucked ass at cooking. so, what ended up happening was a disaster. all specs of team work that they had on the court had evaporated. "what are you doing with the carrots!?" semi gasped, watching as taichi attempted to cut them up. "what does it look like? it's called cutting carrots. you wouldn't know what that is because you are standing there doing jack shit." taichi rebuttaled as he cut the carrots. shirabu was trying to cut celery, taichi was in charge of carrots, yamagata was in charge of chicken, and goshiki was in charge of potatoes. they kept bumping into each other in the cramped kitchen, cursing could be heard left and right. semi was mediating it because he knew if he didn't, someone was going to get hurt. the only person who remotely knew how to cook was off at the store getting spices for the soup. of course they had elected reon to get the ingredients. it was a disaster. they attempted to put all the ingredients together, trying to make a good gesture. but when reon got back, he saw that there was in fact no soup in the pot. "how the fuck did you guys fuck up soup this bad?! there is no soup! it's evaporated! oh my god- you guys are gonna die in the real world!" reon scolded, staring down at the pot filled with slightly burned vegetables and the thinnest layer of broth..if they could even call it that.

reon put the bag on the counter and let out a sigh. "you guys are lucky i know you well enough." he said, pulling out all the ingredients that they needed for the soup, even the ones they previously had. he had a sneaking suspicion that they would in fact need to start over. "oh my god- you are like a psychic!" goshiki exclaimed. "no, he just knows eita is a horrible chef leader." shirabu whispered under his breath, getting a chuckle from taichi. "i heard that!" semi snapped at the two second years. "calm down, eita." hayato spoke up, laughing quietly as he walked over to the firey setter.

once reon finally directed them on what to do, the soup was done and it was pretty good. good enough coming from a group of teenagers who had no cooking experience. they slowly poured bowls for everyone before they made their way to the aces dorm room, knocking gently on the door. wakatoshi had already woken up from his nap, he was just cuddling his boyfriend when he heard the knock. he sat there for a moment, both teens laid out next to each other. satori's hand rested on the side of waskatoshis head, his thumb slowly rubbing up and down the bridge of ushijimas nose. it almost put him to sleep again but they were interrupted by the team. "come in~" tendou called out in a sing songy voice. reon opened the door and walked in, followed by the rest of the team following him like lost puppies.

both ushijima and tendou sat up in the bed as they were each handed a bowl of soup. every team member found a place to sit, all of them sitting on the floor so they could share the meal as a team. ushijima had grown up in a broken home, but right now solidified in his mind that this was his family. one loud and charismatic middle blocker that he called his boyfriend.  one short tempered third year setter and pinch server, eita semi. one powerful yet friendly and gentle opposite hitter, reon ohira. one loud and enthusiastic first year with..interesting bangs, tsutomu goshiki. one amazing setter that has a bit of an attitude problem, kenjiro shirabu. one quiet but passive aggressive middle blocker, kawanishi taichi. and one smart and perceptive libero, yamagata hayato. these were the people that cared. this was his team, shiratorizawa.

((word count: 1647))