Behind a strong man [Ushiwaka /Oc]

Chapter 33 - A fear

"This place is huge."

The young couple was standing in the dense crowd in the stadium and Tamiko squeezed his hand, making sure she wouldn't lose him. She had never been to a stadium this large before and Ushijima was giving her some sense of security. After the incident at the train station she had grown more cautious. He half smiled at her as she curiously looked around, her eyes big with amazement.

"Do you want to look around first?" Ushijima asked.

This question pulled her out of her trance and she thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I would feel more comfortable if we go find our seats."

He only nodded and guided her through the crowd. She really was glad he was here. Being shorter than the average height gave her a disadvantage in crowded places when it came to navigating. But Ushijima had a great view above the heads of passing spectators. Following the gentle pull of his hand, they reached the spectator seats. There were many people with mouth masks. The season still gave many a sniffling nose. After a while it dawned on her that nobody seemed to recognize him, probably because he was in casual clothes and not in his jersey or tracksuit. It was a relief for her. When they finally found a row to sit in, there were only two people who recognised them when they looked for their seats.

"Looks like Ushiwaka-chan earned himself a price," a brunet noted.

Tamiko's jaw dropped. Before them sat Oikawa and Iwaizumi, both strangely calm with seeing them together. Especially Iwaizumi since he had never seen them together. She grew a little nervous, even more so when Ushijima casually greeted them. Oikawa's attention quickly turned back to her, including Iwaizumi's.

"Why did you drag him here, Tamiko?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Because I can." she grumbled, indicating clearly that she didn't want to elaborate.

"Tami-chan has a lot of leverage on him."Oikawa smirked.

The couple ignored the setter and sat down. Tamiko was torn between letting Ushijima sit next to Oikawa or sitting between the two before things would escalate. Iwaizumi had already told her a while ago that Oikawa wasn't very fond of Ushijima, which she did witness once. In the end, she became a barrier between them and sat down next to Oikawa. He, however, saw something different in that action.

"Looks like we will be sitting together." Oikawa grinned.

He cocked his head towards her, his head almost resting on her shoulder. She twitched at the sudden closeness and her shoulders tensed.

"Could you please get out of my personal space?" she grumbled.

"What? Why?"

She pointed at Ushijima who was frowning, his nose scrunched, his eyes dark. Tamiko herself was a little surprised to see Ushijima look in a way jealous, something she had never seen before. It was very clear to her that he didn't like the way Oikawa was so friendly with her. I shouldn't have sat between them, she immediately regretted. Although she did feel a little touched by his reaction. Oikawa wasn't in any way intimidated. Instead he saw fun in it.

"Ushiwaka-chan, you look like an overprotective boyfriend." he teased.

"That's because he is." Tamiko told him, unamused.

"Overprotective?" he asked.

"An overprotective boyfriend." she elaborated for him.

Behind him Iwaizumi burst into laughter. Some of the people around them threw him concerned glances but chose to ignore it. Oikawa, on the other hand, was speechless. She could see the horror, disappointment and disbelief in his eyes.