Haikyuu!! x Reader

Admiration {Ushijima Wakatoshi} (Request)

He had never seen anyone who'd made him feel like this before. He was normally very calm and indifferent to what was going on around him in the classroom, focusing only on what the teacher was saying. With his studies and being the ace of an unstoppable volleyball team, he didn't have any time to do or pursue anything else. School came first.

But that was before he saw you. You, who quietly sat in the back of the classroom, not uttering a single word, had caught the attention of a boy with such a huge and ominous presence. Only when you had raised your hand in class to ask a question that Ushijima had had in mind did he turn to look and see for the first time the beauty who sat a few rows back.

When he saw your face, he had experienced an unsettling feeling brewing in his stomach and chest. His heart had beat just a bit faster and his stomach had constricted with nervousness. He had never felt this way before. He was always so confident and self-assured, but you unknowingly brought uncertainty into his life.

The more he glanced at you while he was doing his work, the more familiar you started to seem to him. He might've seen you walking around school from time to time, but he was sure he'd seen you at a few of his volleyball games. How could he have ignored you before, with that beautiful face framed by (h/l) (h/c) locks and that (e/c) gaze that you directed anywhere but at him? As his feelings for you developed, he became annoyed with the way you never seemed to give him any attention at all.

He would spot you in the hallways between classes or during lunch and his heart would race slightly. The way you talked and laughed with that wonderful voice of yours was music to his ears. He would have a strange desire to sit down in the empty desk next to you during class so that he could be closer to you when you had free time to do work. He wondered how he was ever going to get close to you when you were so damn oblivious.

When the teacher split the class into groups for a project, Ushijima's heart nearly burst with joy when the teacher called out your name after his and announced that the two of you were in a group together. He used that opportunity to get to know you a bit better. He also got your phone number out of it, but he felt that texting you about anything other than schoolwork would be inappropriate, so your conversations never left the topic of the project at hand, much to his disappointment.

One day, the teacher decided to let the class have another work day, so he decided to finally execute his plan to sit next to you. He saw the way that other boys in the class were eyeing you, and the ones who were sitting next to you and fawning over you were pissing him off. Losing was never an option for him, and he definitely wasn't going to let any other guy capture your attention first.

He got up from his desk and walked over to the back of the classroom, notebook and pencil in hand with his bag slung over his shoulder. There were whispers when he approached you, but he didn't care what people were saying. He was used to the stares anyway. Once he'd arrived at your seat, he looked down at the boys surrounding you with a stoic look on his face as he towered over all of you.

"Excuse me, but I would like to sit with (f/n)," he spoke with his usual forwardness.

Your eyes widened as you looked up at him, and the guys who had been sitting around you cleared out of the seats, taking all their things with them. Ushijima then sat down at the desk closest to you and set his work down.

"Hello, Ushijima-san," you greeted him politely despite the nervous fluttering of your heart.

"I told you that you could call me by my first name," was his brisk reply.

You swallowed your fear and brushed your hair out of your face. "O-Okay. Why do you want to work with me, Wakatoshi?" you asked, following his order.

He shrugged. "Should there be a reason?" he questioned, looking over at you with his olive and brown colored eyes.

You shook your head quickly and laughed nervously. "Of course not! I was just wondering..."

"What answer did you get for number 4?" he asked, glancing over at your notebook.

"Umm...!" You covered the messy page in front of you in hopes that he wouldn't see your nonsensical scribbles and unfinished work. Honestly, this subject wasn't your strong suit, and you were struggling. You'd looked at the problems and attempted them but to no avail. It was embarrassing and you didn't want the smartest person in your class—and your crush—looking at your work and judging you.

"What's the matter?"

As he gazed at you with a hard to gauge expression on his face, you found yourself avoiding eye contact. "I... uh... I've been struggling in this class, and I don't really get what we're doing right now..." Your voice trailed off as you played with a strand of hair and looked down at your work with shame.

Ushijima grabbed your notebook and turned it to face him, leaning over onto your desk so that he could reach the paper with his left hand to write. "Your work could get you somewhere if you tried," he told you, hoping to cheer you up.

You blushed at his closeness to you, but tried to hide it when you turned to look at your work. "None of it made sense to me..."

"I can help you if you want me to," he offered, trying to fight off the blush he felt creeping up his own neck.

You couldn't help but beam at his offer. "I would like that. Thank you," you told him happily.

As the two of you looked at each other for a few moments, Ushijima thought about how pretty you were, and you had the opportunity of witnessing a rare sight: a genuine smile of his own.

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A request for @IROIHSCHU
I hope you like it!
A/n: you covered Ushijima's heart with fertile soil and planted the seeds of love that will soon develop into the wonderful fruit of romance lmao I can't get over the farmer Ushiwaka thing hahah