Tutor (Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader)

Chapter 26

"The question is; how do you feel?"

You were still processing everything Tendou had just thrown at you and stammered a bit before you were able to formulate some sort of reply.

"I... I don't know." 

Tendou's silence and the look that he gave you invited you to elaborate. "As I said, it's a bit difficult to get conversation going. It's... different from when we talk online."

"I see... So you don't know, is that your final answer?" He asked and you slowly nodded, which made him grin.

"Are you willing to find out?" He asked, still grinning and you immediately started thinking about elaborate schemes Tendou might be coming up with in his mind right now.

"I'm not sure if I'm willing to go along with what you have in mind, but yes I am." Your reply made him laugh.

"Then... Are you willing to stay until the end of the tournament? I don't know if you realize this, but this is kind of a unique opportunity for the two of you to see each other. After the tournament ends, we're all off to our own ends of the world; and who knows when you'll see each other again?"

You had realized already that this was something that was not likely to happen again, not by coincidence in any case. You had indeed thought about staying longer, but there were some practicalities your would need to figure out and you felt a bit bad for Michael, without whom you wouldn't be here in the first place.

"I would like to stay for a while longer, yes, but I'll have to see if it is possible to find cheap lodging and I'll have to be able to afford to go home on my own." You said to him, already thinking about how you would be able to arrange this.

"Great! And don't worry about the conversation thing, I'll help get the ball rolling on that front." He said and gave you a playful wink, making you doubt if him helping you out would be a good or a bad thing.

Tendou stood up from the bench and you were about to follow suit when he spoke up.

"Oh yeah, if you decide you're unable to return Wakatoshi-kun's feelings just tell him. Or if you find that too difficult, tell me. I really would hate for you to lead him on." His tone didn't hold that much gravity, but the look in his eyes betrayed that he was very serious and you guessed he would not let you off the hook easily should you choose to hurt his friend.

"Of course." You quickly said and you jogged a few paces to catch up with him as he had started making his way back towards the restaurant.

"Say, how do you feel about learning how to play volleyball?" He asked you suddenly right before the both of you were about to enter the building.

"Um, sure, I'm not very athletic though..." His question came out of the blue and you did not have a lot of time to think about your answer.

With that Tendou pushed open the door and swiftly made his way back to where Wakatoshi was sitting. You hurried to keep up with him.

"Wakatoshi-kun~! Look, I brought Chibi back alive." You did not know a lot of Japanese, but you had seen enough anime to know what 'chibi' means.

"Hey don't call me that! It's not my fault you guys are all so fudging tall." You complained as you sat back down on your seat, opposite of Wakatoshi and next to Nishinoya. The latter patted you on the head. "Yoshi yoshi, don't mind them, you'll get used to it." He grinned and you were glad you were not the only one here that was not a giant.

You spent the rest of the evening getting to know Noya and a few other members of the team a bit better, speaking of giants, one of them was two meters tall!

All the distractions could not completely take your mind of your conversation with Tendou from before however and every time you locked eyes or talked with Wakatoshi you could feel your face heating up. It was still difficult for you to believe that he actually liked you, his face never giving anything away, but you decided to believe Tendou for now. They did seem to have a real friendship between the two of them.

After dinner you were escorted to your bus stop by six members of the team and Tendou. When you arrived back at the hotel the first thing you did was text Michael to apologize and tell him you would probably not go home with them. Then you started looking for a place to stay for the next seven nights and when you could get a cheap flight home.

You'd have to stay two days after the tournament had ended to get a cheaper price and as luck would have it you found a hostel that still had a room available at last-minute rates. From the pictures it was obvious that it was old and in much need of a renovation, but it was perfect for your budget and the best thing of all was that it was much closer to Wakatoshi's hotel than your current accommodation.

You made the reservation for both the hostel as your flight online and replied to Michael's message that he had sent five minutes ago.

'Don't worry about it! You should take this opportunity while you have it! Good luck!!' You were not entirely sure what he was wishing you good luck on.

'My hostel and flight have been booked. Thank you for being so understanding, see you tomorrow!'

You went to bed after that, trying to get some much needed rest. That was easier said than done after this evening and after tossing and turning for a little while you found yourself staring at your smartphone.

You had opened Wakatoshi's chat window and were debating if you should send him something. It was getting really late and you didn't want to interrupt his sleep, since he had a match tomorrow. In the end you couldn't help yourself and typed a short message.

'Good luck tomorrow.'

You put your phone down, not expecting an answer, when it buzzed.

'Thank you. Will you be watching?'

'Of course! I hope I didn't wake you...'

'That's alright. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight!'

This time your phone stayed quiet as you put it away and you sighed. Why was it so much easier to talk with him through messaging? You fell asleep not much later finally able to stop thinking so much.

Then Sunday rolled around and you had to check out of your current hotel. You packed your bag and took it with you to the stadium where you would meet up with Michael and the rest for your last day together at the tournament.

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A/N: 

This turned out to be more of an 'in between' chapter again, but I hope you liked it! (・・。)ゞ

Thanks for reading, voting and commenting!! I'll see you next chapter! (≧∇≦)/