STONE HEARTS ❨ ushijima wakatoshi ❩

「 THIRTEEN 」

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"HARAAAAAA!"

The girl closed her eyes in frustration, hearing her name being called so loudly as she was on her way to the gym. Just hearing that voice annoys her, and the speaker sure does know of it. He probably does it on purpose, highly likely.

"What do you need, Tendou?!" Hara asked, making Tendou snicker to himself. "Do you like annoying me or something? It's still so early for you to be so loud."

"Come on. Ushiwaka's being a brat about Tsutomu staying late jogging last night with you," Tendou said, so the raven haired girl's brows shot up in surprise.

"How did you know I was with Goshiki last night?" She asked, but the red haired middle blocker just raised his brows up and down before giving out an answer.

"I don't know, ask Ushijima and Goshiki," Tendou replied, smirking and then pushing the girl towards their own gyms.

A number of students were watching the duo with amusement in their eyes, but both just shrugged it off. After all, they were quite used to it since Shiratorizawa had a reputation across different schools because of their volleyball club. Even the girls who were also on their way to the gym furrowed their brows at the sight. Tendou and Hara was definitely one odd pair.

Seeing Sai walking, Hara called her name and then threw the keys at her. Sai nodded after catching the said keys, already knowing that it was a signal for her to take lead in the team for a few minutes. She found it pleasant how easily she could connect with Sai, appreciating that.

When they finally arrived at the boys' gym, everyone fell silent at the sight of Watanabe Hara being pushed inside by Tendou Satori. What was Tendou's business with the girls' captain? Since when did they become so close for Hara to allow the said redhead push her inside their own gyms?

"What?" she asked, so most of the boys turned away as if they weren't staring at all just a few moments ago.

She looked around the gym, her eyes finally landing on Ushijima Wakatoshi who was standing in front of Goshiki who sat nervously by the bench. Sighing, she started walking towards the two. When Tsutomu finally laid his eyes on his female senior, he smiled and then waved at her which made Hara nod and then pat his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Ushijima asked, eyes staring deep into hers.

"What do you mean?" Hara asked sitting next to Tsutomu. If she could, she'd adopt him. Of course, that was a joke which passed her thoughts.

Closing his eyes, Ushijima turned to his side and then breathed in and out deeply. The other boys who were secretly watching the scene snickered to themselves quietly, finding it amusing that Ushijima Wakatoshi, one who appears as stone hearted, actually looks like he was about to squeeze the life out of their first year member.

"Since when did you become so close with Goshiki?" The male captain asked, making Tsutomu look away slightly.

In Tendou's eyes, however, it was as if he was watching a married couple and their son fighting over who spends the most time with each other. Still, he didn't spit it out. Yet.

"Last night. I found him training, he's working hard to be the next ace. At least feel a little-"

"Why were you still here last night? I told you not to overwork yourself. The match is in a few days. Do you realize how badly it will affect your team if you injure yourself again?" Ushijima asked, turning everyone silent. He was right, but he sounded so worried for her despite his almost blank and monotonous voice.

"It wasn't so late," Hara muttered, furrowing her brows and then looking away. "Why would you care?"

"You should be asking why I wouldn't care," Ushijima replied, and then turned his eyes to Tsutomu's direction. "You, too. If you're thinking of being the next ace, you should know it's not good if you overwork yourself too much."

The girl stood up abruptly, turning away to hide her cheeks which were heating up. Tendou, however, still saw it. Ushijima sure did act like a father of some sort.

"Whatever, I'm going," Hara said, running off.

When the girl finally disappeared from the boys' gym, Tsutomu scratched his head and then went to Shirabu who was eyeing him from the side.

"Do you think Ushijima likes Watahara?" the first year with the bowl cut asked, his brows furrowing in confusion which caused the other members who overheard to snicker quietly to themselves.

"Stop talking about that, train during training hours. You heard our captain," Shirabu said, "If you're gonna be the ace."

"What the hell, Yamamoto Sai?" Hara exclaimed, as she found the team eating instead of training.

It was visible to them, she was surprised and a bit upset. Never did they ever see her react like this unless it involved Ushijima Wakatoshi appearing in front of her from before. But now that they've made up, why did she suddenly come back with her cheeks reddened?

"What?" Sai asked, approaching Hara.

"We're supposed to train, not eat. What are you doing?" The captain asked, making Sai sigh.

"Who pissed in your cereal-?"

"Tendou Satori and Ushijima Wakatoshi, who else?" she answered, rolling her eyes and then sitting on the bench while just letting the team eat while sitting on the floor.

It has been days, yet Coach Washijo was focusing on the boys' team. He was spending more of his time with the boys, that was the usual, but he rarely visits the girls these days.

To say that it stressed out Hara was an understatement, especially since their other coach had been on a leave since a couple of weeks ago. Like the boys, she felt like pointing out that her team needed attention on their training as well.

"What happened, captain? Share," Akari asked, making her sigh and then close her eyes.

"Their worrywart of a captain got mad because I was training last night. With Goshiki, that first year regular from his team," she explained, which made the girls look at each other knowingly. "He says I'm overworking myself and told the first year that he also shouldn't overwork himself."

"Well, you really shouldn't overwork yourself, captain," said Sai, shrugging. "Wait... why were you with the kid?!"

"I just saw him training by his own, okay? I just... I felt like I needed to look after him. Maybe I saw myself in him when I was younger," Hara said, her voice decreasing in volume as her lips formed into a pout.

The girls then all giggled to themselves. It was a known fact among themselves that they were all soft for their captain, especially thinking that she was a tsundere and that she was cute. Hara, however, disagreed immediately to the accusation.

"Or maybe Ushijima's jealous. Isn't that the case, Watahara? Do you have a secret relationship-"

"NO! CAN YOU ALL JUST EAT YOUR FOOD? I'M GONNA TAKE THAT SPOON AND HIT YOUR HEAD WITH IT."

"Pfff, hahaha!"

"I don't like him and he doesn't like me. We're just friends. You're all imagining things,"

"Or, are we?"

"Sai, why did you raise such stubborn brats?"

"HAHAHAHA. Our captain's cute when she's pissed."

"Shut up and eat your food before I spike a volleyball to your head."