Behind a strong man [Ushiwaka /Oc]

Chapter 29 - A date

From: Tamiko

To: Ushijima

I need your help planting the bulbs! Can you come to my house tomorrow? I'll cook you something as well. (*'∀'*)

Ushijima read the message when he came out of the shower after practice. He nearly dropped his towel at the realisation. Tomorrow he could go and see her. His heart raced a little when he typed a reply. It has been three days since the confession, only three days since they had established their new relationship, only three days since he had had her as a girlfriend. And he was itching to see her. Two days had passed since he saw her, not unusually long but it felt agonising. He had asked Tendou and Ohira about this, this strange feeling.

"You just miss her, Wakatoshi-kun." Tendou had told him.

"It's normal to feel that way." Ohira had said. "You will feel very happy when you see her."

Just the thought alone made him excited. The thought of going to her home, to see her smile, he couldn't wait. Like the nights before, he had trouble falling asleep, but it didn't bother him. It has only been on the first day that the lack of sleep had left him with exhaustion. The following nights he lay awake in bed for longer than usual, thinking about what she could be doing right now. Was she also sleeping? Was she reading in bed? Those thoughts kept him awake for a few more minutes until he fell asleep. A 'good night' message was always sent before he decided to call it a day. Those became routine. The other team members noticed that he was on his phone a lot more than usual. When the others asked the witnesses of that evening kept quiet. Over time Tendou caved in and formed a pact with them, telling them the truth. They were all shocked beyond belief but promised to stay quiet about it. They didn't want to risk destroying this newly blossomed relationship. And they were all strangely glad to see their stoic, blunt and hard-to-approach captain smile. It lightened up everyone's day.

That night, he had trouble sleeping. He kept wondering what her home could look like. Was it tidy, was it modern or like Semi's home? Did she have a nice garden? Was there a little volleyball court? His fantasy began to sprout. It also pulled him into sleep and in his dreams he was sitting in her living room, sitting in her kitchen, passing a ball to her in the garden. The next morning, Ushijima took his regular morning jog and took a nice long shower when he returned. Then he checked his phone again and the little piece of paper with Tamiko's address. A quick glance at the time and he left the dorm. On the way off the school grounds he crossed paths with the other third years.

"Good morning." Soekawa greeted him, along with the others.

Ushijima nodded at them. Since it were still holidays they were taking and out in their tracksuits. Seeing their captain in regular clothes surprised them.

"Where are you going, Wakatoshi?" Ohira asked.

"Tamiko asked me to help her plant the bulbs." Ushijima answered.

Tendou suppressed a laugh and even Yamagata had to chuckle. Semi shushed them, telling them to stop being childish and that Ushijima didn't understand the ambiguity of what he just said. They all knew that he had meant the freesia bulbs he had given her for christmas. They wished him a good day and Ushijima departed from the school grounds. They walk to Tamiko's house wasn't that far. She lived at the border of the Shiratorizawa area and the Aoba Jousai area. It was a neighbourhood he had jogged through before but never had he paid attention to the houses and family names indicating their residences. It didn't take him long to find the house with the name 'Kageyama' chiseled into a rectangular piece of stone. He viewed the house for a moment. The outside looked similar to Semi's house. There was a front yard with a washing line, one storey and white walls. It was so ordinary. He opened the gate and took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell. The chime could faintly be heard through the door and for a while nobody opened. He was about to press the doorbell again when the door suddenly opened.