I kind of went crazy with it but hopefully the
length makes up for how long it took me to get it done. I really hope you like
it! It’s a blend of awkward, funny and fluff (at least I hope it is). I
listened to Dashboard Confessional’s “Stolen” on repeat while writing this in
case you’d like a tune to set the mood.
Wakatoshi Ushijima – Fortune Favors the Blunt
Nobody is more surprised when Ushijima asks you out
than him. Normally one to avoid anything or anyone that gives him a feeling of
not knowing what he’s going to do, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to you.
It starts off subtle, as these things often do, with his eyes consistently
shifting to you in class. Every time he catches himself staring at you, he whisks
his attention back to the front of the room but even then, he’s distracted just
by the thought of you.
Eventually he gives into the inevitable; he may be
stubborn but he’s not stupid.
“______-san,” his deep voice rumbles one day after
school. He’s on his way to the gym when you cross his path. Inevitability or
not, there’s no way he’d be late for practice looking for you but he’ll take
fortune where he can find it.
You almost drop your books in surprise at being addressed
directly by the huge volleyball player. Turning around and craning your neck
upwards you ask, “Yes?”
“I really like you, go out with me,” he says. It’s
not a question, it’s a statement.
Beside him, Tendo doubles over with laughter. “Wakatoshi,
that’s not how you get a girl to go out with you!” he exclaims throwing an arm
around his blunt friend. “You have to ask
her,” he mock whispers to him, casting a side wink in your direction.
The attention this whole scene is garnering is
making you rather uncomfortable so to avoid further embarrassment you say, “Ok,
Ushijima-san, um,” you pause ripping a piece of paper from your notebook.
Scribbling your number down you hand it to him, Tendo’s mouth falling open as
you say, “Call me.” Then you scurry away, completely convinced the past five
minutes had to be a figment of your imagination.
Behind you, Tendo, still slack jawed, looks at his
friend in awe. “Then again, maybe it is
how you get a girl to go out with you.” Ushijima is unaffected, turning on his
heel to head to practice.
Later that evening, your phone rings, a number you
don’t recognize flashing on the display.
“Hello?” you answer
“______-chan,” comes the reply. “It’s Ushijima,” he
adds completely unnecessarily.
“Oh…hel…hello,” you stammer, clearly shocked he
actually called.
There’s a moment of silence, which really shouldn’t
surprise you considering who you’re “talking” to; maybe you should have
suggested texting. Clearing your throat, you try to get the conversation going.
“So, um, thanks for calling. I…I didn’t really think you would.”
“Why wouldn’t I call? You gave me your number in
order to,” he asks confused.
“I know! I…it’s just that usually when guys say they’re
going to call, they don’t.”
“That’s stupid,” he says simply and you can’t help
but laugh.
“Yeah, you’re right it is. Um, anyway, did you…did
you have an idea of where you wanted to go for a date?”
There’s another pause. “A date?” he asks.
Now you’re the one confused. “Well, yeah, you asked,
er, um, told me to go out with you, so…did you have anything in mind?”
“You misunderstood, when I said go out with me, I
meant be my girlfriend. Isn’t that what that usually means?”
The phone slips from your hands, shock rendering
your limbs temporarily paralyzed. From the ground, you hear his voice calling
for you, but you can’t move. With no warning, no indication of ever liking you at all, he just…wants you to be his
girlfriend?
“______-chan?” Wakatoshi tries again, bordering
between irritation and concern; is the idea of exclusively dating him that bad?
Finally, you come back on the line, voice shaking a
bit. “Um…Ushijima-san, why…why do you want me to be your girlfriend?”
He doesn’t have to think long on his answer. “I don’t
know, I just know I want to be with you.”
An incredulous laugh escapes your lips; this is all
just too surreal. Shaking your head, you’re just about to tell him you don’t
think that’s the best foundation to base a relationship
on when you stop. When is the last time you’ve taken a risk? And what better
time than now? It’s your third year and you’ve only ever dated one other guy,
one who told you all the reasons he loved you only to end up breaking your
heart in the end by cheating on you. At least with Ushijima-san you’ll have
full disclosure.
“Ok,” you say before you can convince yourself not
to. “Ok,” you repeat, “I’ll consider
being your girlfriend, but on one condition.”
“And that is?” he asks.
You have no idea where this sudden bout of
confidence is coming from but you’re determined to ride the wave as long as
possible. “You have to take me on a proper date first, then we’ll see.”
For a moment, Ushijima is at a loss. Why didn’t
anyone ever tell him dating would be this difficult? Granted, he’s never asked anyone about it before but still. But
he knows, without understanding why, that he wants you to be his, so he’ll do
what it takes to make that happen.
“Alright, I’ll take you out Saturday night,” he replies.
“Sounds great,” you say smiling. After another pause
you add, “Well, I better get going. Homework to do and all that, but I’ll see
you tomorrow at school…Wakatoshi-kun.”
He’s not sure why it is that you saying his first
name makes him blush, but Ushijima can feel his cheeks heating up and is
eternally grateful you’re not having this conversation in person.
The rest of the week passes uneventfully, no one (save
Tendo) the wiser of the change in your relationship status since, technically,
nothing has changed between the two
of you except the fact that you’re going on a date this weekend.
“Sooooo,” Tendo says Friday afternoon in the locker
room, “where are you taking _____-chan tomorrow?”
“Dinner and a movie,” comes the quick reply.
Tendo yawns dramatically. “Boooorrrringgg!”
Wakatoshi looks at his grinning face. “Well then,
what would you suggest?”
Slamming his locker door, the red head then leans
against it. “Look, she said this date is conditional of her becoming your
girlfriend. If you’re serious about this you’re going to have to up your game.”
A sudden feeling of doubt overcomes the ace; what the
hell was he thinking?
“Don’t panic, your best buddy is here to rescue you
from dating ineptitude,” Tendo says following him out of the locker room.
“But you’ve never had a girlfriend,” Wakatoshi says.
“Tch, doesn’t mean I don’t know what to do,” he says
wiggling his eyebrows.
The next day you are bouncing around the house, completely
excited, nervous, anxious and…hopeful. For the whole week, you’ve struggled
with whether to call this whole thing off, but your girlfriends insisted you at
least go on the date; the guy deserves that much they reminded you.
In the afternoon, you receive a text from Wakatoshi
advising you to dress nicely but warm. After going through your entire closet,
you decide upon a knee length grey skirt with blue leggings, black ankle boots
and long sleeved white shirt, a black vest over it. Finishing your hair and
makeup, you take one last look in the mirror; well, it’s as good as it’s going
to get.
A knock at the front door has your heart racing.
Rushing from the back of your house, you open it to reveal Wakatoshi with a
bouquet of daisies which he thrusts a little abruptly at you.
“Thank you,” you say, placing them in a vase of
water. Now that the flowers are out of your field of vision you see he’s clad
in dark jeans, a black long sleeve shirt and maroon jacket.
“Ready to go?” he asks and you nod, following him
out the door.
You walk down the street in silence, heading to a
bus stop. When it arrives, you climb on and take seats next to one another. The
silence is slightly awkward but you know Wakatoshi enough to not be surprised
by his lack of conversation skills; he doesn’t speak that much and when he does
it’s often in quick, concise sentences.
When you arrive to your destination, he stands and
you follow him. Surprise registers on your face when you see you’re at a large
park, a gigantic lake spread in the center. Wakatoshi is walking slightly ahead
of you, his long legs and quick strides making it hard for you to keep up. To his
credit, he does notice and slows down, coming to a stop and looking at you. In silence,
he reaches out his hand to you. After a moment’s hesitation, you take it, your
hand being swallowed into his. You can feel the callouses built up over years
of hitting a volleyball, you’re sure, hundreds of thousands of times.
Walking a bit slower, the two of you make your way
to a dock and his intention becomes clear; you’re going in a paddle boat. Paying
for the rental, Wakatoshi gets in first, turning to assist you. Both of you blush
slightly when he has need to touch your waist to make sure you don’t fall over.
Once you’re seated, he settles next to you and you both begin pushing on the
peddles, the boat coasting out towards the center of the lake.
It’s lovely here, sakura trees releasing their
petals which float through the air and land silently on the glass like surface
of the water. Above you, the stars are starting to wink and twinkle, the moon a
half crescent but bright.
After peddling for a while, you decide to stop,
looking up to enjoy the night sky. Glancing at him from the corner of your eye,
you smile; he may not say much, but his efforts thus far have impressed you.
Deciding you should put in a little more effort too,
you say, “You know, we don’t really know that much about each other. So how
about we play twenty questions? Answer one, ask one?”
“I don’t think I’ll come up with very good
questions,” he says.
“Nothing says they have to be clever,” you say lightly, “Just ask things you want to know about
me.”
Thinking it over, he realizes you’re right and nods
his agreement to your suggestion.
By the end of the game he’s properly fallen for you,
learning about your love of animals and dream to be a veterinarian, the fact
that you’re a pretty good cook and enjoy comedy movies over any other genre.
You learn about his family, his ambition to play professional volleyball (not surprising
at all but you are surprised by the
level of detail he went into once he really got going) and that he enjoys
reading mysteries when he has the time.
“This was a really great idea,” you say with a soft
smile.
He wants to confess it wasn’t really his, that Tendo
was the one who found out about this place but thinks it better not to; you
look so happy.
“I’m glad you like it,” he says instead.
When the temperature shifts downward a few degrees
and you shiver Wakatoshi takes off his jacket, draping it over your shoulders.
“We should probably head back,” you say and he nods.
You get the boat turned around and return to the dock. Wakatoshi gets out first
after it’s secure, leaning down and extending his hand to you to help you out.
You grasp his hand, but as you step you slip, careening forward. Were he not
there, you’d probably have banged your knee up pretty bad but his strong arms
and quick reflexes are more than enough to pull you to safety; which means you’re
clasped in a full Wakatoshi embrace.
Looking up at his face, you smile and say, “Thanks.”
He swallows, his blush returning due to the
proximity of your face to his. Unthinkingly, he leans down further, lips
hovering over yours, eyes almost closed. Deciding to risk it, he continues
downward, kissing you very gently. When he pulls away, your eyes are shining,
your own cheeks sporting a beautiful, natural rouge.
“So, does this mean you’ll be my girlfriend?” he
asks.
“Yes,” you breathe, “yes, Wakatoshi-kun, I’ll be
your girlfriend.”
When he smiles, you think your heart is going stop
but don’t have time for further consideration of your impending cardiac arrest
since he’s kissing you again, a bit firmer, a bit longer and oh my, you now
know that while his mouth may not expel many words, it is exceptionally
talented in communicating passion.
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