Lemon Tea

Training Camp

As much as you tried to ignore it, you'd been thinking about Ukai a lot more than before. 

You told yourself it's because the harder you tried not to think about something, subconsciously you thought about it more. Like how if someone says not to think of an elephant you immediately think of an elephant. However, it was getting harder and harder for you to ignore your budding crush on him. 

You obviously found him attractive and had since meeting him, however you thought you could be satisfied just being friends with him. Especially because you were sort of coworkers in a way, you didn't want to make it complicated. 

But as you thought more about it, you began to worry for the trip. What if you weren't able to play it cool anymore and accidentally made it obvious? That would be so embarrassing. You'd seen him a couple days ago to prepare for the trip and were already beginning to fluster around him more and more. You tried to put it out of your mind over the next few days leading up to the training camp. 

Day of, you left in the middle of the night so you could arrive early in the morning. You and Ukai would be taking turns driving. You arrived at the school, greeting the students and Ukai. 

He was wearing a red t-shirt and gray sweats, and was obviously a little groggy. He must've taken a nap before arriving at the school just like you had. 

He gave the team a rundown of the schedule, then turned to tell you he'd start driving then you'd switch after two hours. He popped open an energy drink, yawning. "Cute," you thought to yourself. He made it so hard to play it cool. 

~Ukai POV~

Ukai looked down to see a text from Takeda. 

"Great news! I found someone who can be at the training camp for the first couple of days!" 

A couple of days later, Ukai went to meet Takeda and the sub at the gym so they could go over the schedule together. Ukai had gone to the gym first and was flipping through the schedule when he was interrupted by Takeda's voice. 

"Oh Ukai! Hi!" 

Ukai turned to see Takeda, and next to him was Y/n. 

Huh? 

"L/n offered to go to the camp for a few days! Isn't that nice Ukai?" 

"-Yeah. Really nice." Ukai uttered, playing off his shock. 

Takeda grinned at him, raising his eyebrows. Ukai realized Takeda had intentionally kept it a secret that it would be Y/n taking his place. 

"Takeda has been a big help to me, so I owe it to him!" Y/n said, her smile practically blinding him. 

"Thank you, it'll.. be a big help." 

The three of you proceeded to go over the schedule and what responsibilities everyone will be over. 

"I was planning on mostly helping in the kitchen, making sure everyone is present, enforcing curfews, and whatever Ukai needs help with so that's what you'll be doing too!" Takeda said. 

"Ok! Sounds good," Y/n said. "Make sure to tell me what you need, Coach" she said, looking over to Ukai with a nervous smile. 

He only nodded in return. 

Now the night before the training camp, Y/n stood before Ukai. She had an oversized gray hoodie on with black joggers and sneakers, a backpack slung over her shoulder, and didn't have on any makeup (although no one could tell in the dark.) Seeing her in casual clothes gave her such a different vibe than usual, one Ukai could get used to. They all loaded onto the bus, Y/n taking the seat closest to the driver's seat. 

"Try to get some sleep before we switch," he suggested. 

"I usually can't sleep in the car, but I'll try. Oh. But if I do fall asleep just yell or shove me when it's time to switch," she said with a shy laugh. 

Ukai hadn't thought about that. Now he was already dreading having to be the mean guy and shake her awake. 

She put on a pair of headphones and looked out the window. She nodded off for a while, Ukai couldn't help notice, but luckily for him she woke up before it was time for them to switch. 

"Let me know if you need a break," Ukai said leaning closer to her, so as to not wake anyone. She simply nodded quickly. 

They arrived at Shinzen high without a hitch. Getting off the bus, everyone stretched, still trying to wake up after the drive. Some were already more awake and excited than others. 

"Wowww it's a lot cooler up here, but it's still warm," she said, taking off her hoodie and tying it around her waist, revealing a boxy t-shirt. Now that he could see her in the light, Ukai was surprised that she looked as good as she did despite the long drive. He was sure he looked like shit. 

"Hm?" she said after catching Ukai looking at her. "Oh, I don't have on makeup huh. Should I put some on? Will the other coaches think that-"

 "Nononono," Ukai panicked. His silent admiration had instead made her self conscious. 

"You look great." Ukai admitted dropping his head in defeat. 

"Thanks," she said blankly, eyes wide with confusion. "Although you," she said starting to giggle. "Your hair is a bit messed up," she said, gesturing for him to smooth it. 

"Is it?" he said, fixing it in the reflection of the bus window. 

Little did he know it had taken all her self control to not fix it herself.