From the Concrete (Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader)

Chapter 11: In the Zone

"Hey (L/N)-san!" Goshiki called out to you. Since you were appointed to the manager position, there was a lot of work to be done.

"What's up Goshiki-san? I'm just looking over some new plays, let me finish up real quick."

"Sounds good, the team was wondering if you wanted to play some games with us after dinner?"

Games?

"What kind of games?" you asked, "If it was anything like the intensity of volleyball, you would gladly opt out. Hurting your wrist or arms would hinder your ability to play the viola and possibly stop you from competing altogether.

"Don't worry, it'll probably be something like 'never have I ever' or 'truth or dare'." That seemed reasonable and you nodded your head.

"Sure, that sounds like fun! I'll see you later then!" You waved to Goshiki and went your separate ways.

Before practice started, you still had to work with Seiya on the new piece. You were glad that one of the first years was interested in improving because it meant that once you graduated, the section would still be strong. 

The two of you met in your favorite practice room and did rhythm exercises for about an hour. 

"Very good Seiya-san! I am proud of how much you have improved lately. Keep up the good work!"

A flush of pink tinted her cheeks, "Ah, thank you (L/N)-san. I hope I can be as good as you some day!"

Now it was your turn to blush. Similar to how Goshiki felt about Ushijima, you had someone who looked up to you. While others might have found that intimidating, it only motivated you to work harder. 

You packed up your things and said goodbye to Seiya, having a girl friend was nice for a change. The amount of testosterone that the team radiated made your head hurt, but they were still fun to hang with.

When you got to the gym the boys weren't there. Coach Saitō explained that they go on runs occasionally to keep their stamina up, "You can just leave your instrument and bag in the club room (L/N)-san, they'll be back soon."

"Okay, thank you." Walking over to the side room in the gym, you were expecting a musty storage space filled with sports equipment. However, you were pleasantly surprised to find an organized room that had a large table surrounded by chairs. Placing your things in the corner of the room, you headed back to the court with the practice notebook. 

Ushijima was the first to return after the warm up run. He made his way to where you were standing before nodding in acknowledgement.

"(L/N)-san, thank you for the music recommendations."

"Oh, um, no problem. Just let me know if you need more pieces to listen to." His comment was surprising, Ushijima rarely initiated conversation with you.

You handed him a water bottle and a cool towel to wipe off with. He was a bit strange, but you could definitely feel the walls between you two coming down. 

Ushijima put down his water, "I also enjoyed 'The Swan' by Saint Saëns."

"Me too!" Even though it wasn't one of the pieces you had suggested, you had learned it years ago. "I haven't played it in a while, but it's one of my favorites."

He gave you a half smile. The rest of the team just got back and Ushijima helped pass the bottles out. 

"What new strategies have you planned for today (L/N)-san?" Tendou turned his attention to you.

Opening up the notebook in hand, you turned to the third page. There were a few different plays you had been working on, but some were incomplete. Tendou peeked over your shoulder and pointed to the first one.

"Say, that looks interesting, we should try it!" The attack consisted of using Ushijima has a decoy and having the other wing spiker hit the ball. Most of the time, the opposing team was focused on the ace, so it would take them by surprise if he wasn't the one to go for the point. 

Soon enough, the boys had taken their positions on the court. The coaches were leading the exercise and they were impressed with your work. For someone who knew little about volleyball, you had learned a lot in such a short time.

"Okay guys get ready!" you heard Goshiki shout. On the other side of the net, Semi had served the ball. Yamagata made a clean pass after receiving, giving Shirabu the time to position himself appropriately. Part of the technique in this drill was making the posing team think that Ushijima was going to make the attack. In order to pull that off, the setter made no indication that he was going to toss the ball to the ace and instead set it in the opposite direction to Ohira. 

The boys on the other team weren't aware of the attack so it caught them off guard when their blockers couldn't stop Ohira. Kawanishi furrowed his eyebrows and groaned. He didn't have the same instincts as the Guess Monster, but even Tendou might have slipped up this time. The attack was flawless and you were happy to see that your ideas were successful.

"(L/N)-san, good work. I expect to see similar results with future attacks." Coach Washijō praised your strategizing. You bowed to him slightly and took a seat on the sidelines. The rest of practice was intense, the team was definitely gearing up for official matches. It would be interesting to see them in a real game and you'd have the chance to watch them soon enough.

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As promised, you were going to play games with the team after dinner. It was normal for you to eat meals with them and all of you had gotten closer together. Occasionally, Semi and Makoto would sneak off but that was none of your business.

"Where are we going guys?" You called after Tendou, who was in the front of the group.

"We're going to the common area in the boys dorms, since it's not one of our personal rooms, you'll be allowed to hang out with us there."

That made sense, there was a similar area in the girls dorms, but it would be odd to have the entire boys volleyball team in there. Not to mention, the other girls would probably fawn over Ushijima the entire time. You gagged a little at the thought.

"Oh okay, but won't there be other people there?" 

Shirabu shook his head, "No, we reserved the area for our team tonight so it'll just be us."

"Hurry up (L/N)-san!" Goshiki was practically dragging you at this point, "Let's play truth or dare first!"

When you entered the common room, you took note of the clean couches and recliner chairs. It seemed more organized than the girls area since there weren't magazines all over the place. The team adjusted to the space, you were all sitting in a circle.

Goshiki was to your right with Tendou on the other side. Across from you was Semi and Shirabu, who surprisingly hadn't started arguing yet, and Yamagata was next  to them on a recliner chair. Ohira preferred the carpet, similar to Kawanishi so they were both on the floor and Ushijima had found a spot next to Tendou. 

The red head rubbed his hands together and smirked deviously, "Alright, so I'll ask someone first and then that person will ask someone else. We can keep it going until we're bored."

Everyone agreed and Tendou looked to his right, he had found his first victim.

"So (L/N)-chan, truth or dare?"

A/N: I thought I'd add something funny with the team instead of just continuing the plot. It's going to get crazy next chapter, and even though I keep saying that, this time it's for real. This group is chaotic and we all know it.