take a chance with me | ushijima wakatoshi

chapter eighteen - apology

Dinner at the cafe

Sana's POV

"Yoshi-chan, you should eat more. Have my chicken, here." Tendo shoved his remaining leftover katsu chicken onto my tray.

"Hey, hey. That's way too much!" I was obviously way too late to avoid the incoming chicken.

"Give them to me then, Yoshida." Kobayashi, the new member of the table, ready to take the chicken from my tray with chopsticks in her hand.

"Kobayashi, can you sit properly? You look ridiculous and you're drooling, it's disgusting." Nishimura, another new member of the table, shook her head, feeling the second hand embarrassment due to her friend being all over the place at the table.

"I'm so sorry for my friend's behavior! She's usually not like this! Ummm, actually, scratch that. She is always like this. Please forgive us for the intrusion!" Nishimura bowed her head endlessly as a sign of apology to the other people at our dinner table.

"I mean, the more, the merrier, right? This is fun!" Yamagata, the third year libero tried to comfort Nishimura as her face started to redden more because of Yoshida's embarrassing antics.

"Huh, you were, saying what, huh?" Kobayashi was still chewing and swallowing her food, not listening.

"Kobayashi, you should chew slowly. You'll choke if you swallow too quickly." I patted her back, concerned of the speed of her eating, offering a cup of water.

"Thanks, Yoshida." she took the cup and chugged it one sip.

"She just told you to slow down." Nishimura warned Kobayashi again.

"So, how was the girls' practice?" Ohira Reon, another third year managed to switch the topic by asking me and the girls a question.

"Everyone seems to have improved their plays greatly! I'm honestly amazed by everyone!" I replied excitedly, talking about my teammates' overall improvement.

"That's great, maybe we can play another practice match then." Ohira made a suggestion that got both Kobaysahi and Nishimura choke on their food.

"Uhuh, is that even allowed? I thought the girls don't like the b... Auwww, why did you kick me, Nishimura?" she hissed in pain while checking her pained foot.

"Maybe a mosquito kicked you but you're so small that you could feel the pain." Nishimura retorted, gaslighting Kobayashi who looked confused while making weird eye contact at me. Was that a signal? I understood her signal immediately and tried to answer Ohira quickly.

"That depends on the captain, of course. We're first years so we don't get a say in that."

"Maybe Ushijima can talk to Shima-san if you guys don't mind?"

Nishimura looked back at me as I widened my eyes, not knowing what to say.

"I mean, they're the captains. It's up to them, I guess?" I hesitantly replied again.

Ushijima's facial expression was unreadable. Does he know about the girls' team not liking his team? The word 'not liking' is quite an understatement to be honest. Getting my first year's teammates to hang out with them was not a good idea since the second years and the third years of our teammates gave us this sinister look but I ignored it as the boys seemed to have no clue about this one-sided beef.

"I'll talk to Shima-san." Ushijima said shortly. I swore I could feel his gaze on me as I focused at the person in front of me, talking which was Semi.

On the way to the girls' dormitory

Sana's POV

"Do the boys know about the girls loathing them?" Nishimura spoke up first after a few moments of silence while walking back to our dormitory.

"I'm not sure though. What do you think, Yoshida?" Kobayashi and Nishimura both turned to look at me.

"Hmmm, I feel like they have some clues but maybe they don't know the reason? I mean, how would I know?" I answered.

"You're buddy buddy with the boys' captain, you could ask him?" Nishimura suggested.

"I don't know, he helped too much already. I don't want to burden him more with that knowledge though."

"Keeping secrets is bad for a relationship! You should tell him the truth! Then, everyone can heal and hang out with each other! We're a powerhouse school! Us boys and girls should bond with each other! That bond would be unbreakable and no one can mess with us anymore!" Kobayashi gave a long speech about unity? Who is she? George Washington?

"The smartest thing you've said today! A bit much but she's right, you know?" Nishimura said while clapping a little and nodding her head, as a sign of agreement.

"Thank you, thank you! Wait, what do you mean by that?" Kobayashi who just understood Nishimura's insult after a few seconds.

"I mean, both of you are right, both teams need to talk and bond more. I'll talk to Ushijima tomorrow but for now, I have something to do. See you guys tomorrow?" I dashed after we greeted each other goodnight.

'Ding!' I received a text from the person that I've avoided all day.

Hey, Yoshida? Can we talk?

tsutomu, what's up? sure! are you free now?

I'll stop by your room in 5 then

sure, i'll wait for you. see you soon :)

Suddenly my stomach felt weird. Was this because of the all of katsu chicken that Tendo forced me to eat? I felt nauseous thinking about what to say to Tsutomu. I can't believe that I'm nervous to talk to him after what happened last night. Am I supposed to feel angry at him? Somehow, I felt no hatred against him for lashing out the way he did. If I were in shoes, I'd probably act the same way.

Sana's room

Sana's POV

A couple of knocks can be heard on my door meaning that he arrived. I gulped my saliva, coming to the door.

"Tsutomu?"

"Yoshida, hey..."

"Come inside, please. It's cold outside." I invited him in.

He walked inside awkwardly. Well, can't blame him for that.

"So, uhh. I..."

"I'm.."

We spoke at the same time and the atmosphere got more awkward.

"You can go first, Yoshida."

"Are you sure? Umm, alright then." I breathed in before speaking.

"I'm sorry for trying to force you to speak last night. I understand that you're mad at me for taking Ushijima's attention from you. I mean, he's your captain and you're the next ace. I should have known what you were feeling at that time but I didn't notice. For that, I'm sorry. You've treated me kindly since the moment I arrived here but I have been unkind to you. Again, for that, I'm sorry."

"Yoshida, I'm the one who should apologize. I had a crush on you and then I became envious of you. You're my friend and as a friend, I'm supposed to support you but I think my jealousy got the best of me. You're kind and everyone can sense it. That's why Ushijima-san likes you and hangs out with you instead of me. I'm sorry for hurting you last night, I don't know what came over me. I should have known better than taking it out on you. Again, I really am sorry for what I did, Yoshida."

"That's kind of cheesy." I laughed, trying to hold in my tears but it was too late since tears already started streaming out of my eyes.

"Your face kind of looked like the opposite of what you just said." his eyes also started watering as he looked away, trying to hide his tears.

"I really missed you today, you know?" I tiptoed to hug him as my voiced cracked through my sore throat.

"I missed you too, Yoshida." Tsutomu rested his chin on my shoulder as he rubbed my back to comfort me.