Chapter Text
The first time they met, unsurprisingly, was at Tendou’s first Inter-High at Shiratorizawa.
He had heard of the other, of course. Who hadn’t? Oikawa Tooru and Iwaizumi Hajime were a package deal, the nightmare that once ruled over middle school volleyball tournaments. He had always associated the duo with the dark blue of Kitagawa Dai-ichi’s uniform, that it felt strange seeing them in the turquoise of Aoba Johsai for the first time. Nevertheless, they had still looked, and been, as powerful as ever.
Not that it mattered to Shiratorizawa, of course.
Powerful as they may be, no one, and he really believed that no one, would be able to beat his Shiratorizawa, his Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Thinking back to that time, that first match against Aoba Johsai, he could only remember the start of his infatuation with the dark-haired boy, how his every move took Tendou’s breath away, how the beautiful form that would haunt Tendou’s dreams for months on end looked in the stadium’s light. He could never forget how much desperation and longing he felt in that moment, wanting nothing more than to run into the court and stand alongside the wonderful, miracle boy, Wakatoshi.
He could also remember the sound of his heart shattering when he saw the way Ushijima had looked at Oikawa, and the way the setter had looked back at him, almost screaming to the world that they, and only they alone, deserved each other.
(He didn’t notice a certain spiky-haired boy with helpless eyes and disappointment written upon his every feature, as if he had lost something that he could never get back.)
Shiratorizawa had won, but Tendou Satori had lost, long before he even set foot into the game.
Unsurprisingly, Tendou was made a regular before the Spring Tournament. Unsurprisingly, his infatuation did not go away.
Unsurprisingly, the two unsurprising facts above were closely related.
Tendou Satori spent the remaining days before Nationals perfecting his blocks, his serves, his receives. He had to be perfect to make it to the regulars, to stand beside Ushijima. Even if the boy’s affection will never be his, Tendou is satisfied with being Ushijima’s best friend and close teammate. With each successful block that sent the ball crashing onto the opposing court, receives that arched beautifully above Semi’s head for him to make another flawless toss, and serves that, while never as powerful as those of his senpais and teammates (read: Ushijima Wakatoshi), still sent the opposing team into a disarray, earning them a sweet chance ball; with each practice matches and days, Tendou Satori silently told himself to stop falling in love with Ushijima Wakatoshi, and ultimately fell even deeper.
Oh, I really AM fucked this time was all he could think when each and every time Tendou tried to focus on volleyball, Ushijima was doing the exact same thing, but better than him in every sense of the word.
(Well, except blocking, of course. He is not giving that title away to anyone, even if that someone is Wakatoshi-kun.)
Tendou Satori had greatly miscalculated his grand plan of “Get better at volleyball and stop falling in love with Wakatoshi-kun”. He had forgotten to consider that getting better meant practice, and practice meant that Ushiwaka would be there. He could only have one or the other, because Wakatoshi and volleyball is quite literally a package deal. So really, the only options that he had was:
- Get out of the volleyball club and never have to look at Ushijima Wakatoshi’s stupidly handsome face ever again and eventually move on from this crush.
Or,
- Suck it up and deal with this the Tendou way, which is short for “bottle up those feelings and never tell anyone about them to make it to and keep the regular spot on the Shiratorizawa’s volleyball team in order to be as close as possible with Ushijima Wakatoshi.”
If Tendou Satori were known for one thing and one thing only, it would be his quick decision-making.
“Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou, in a moment of weakness, had decided that keeping up with Ushijima during the team’s morning run was a good idea. After about ten minutes, drenched in sweat and feeling like he could have a stroke at any time and have his eternal resting place be a dirty sidewalk, he was starting to regret the decision.
At least he got to be alone with the love of his life, so it was worth it, right?
Well yes, but actually, no.
“Slow down a little, Wakatoshi-kun! Don’t leave me alone here!” Tendou’s legs were about to give out under him. He really thought that he would die, and mused darkly at the thought of Ushijima having to carry his corpse back to school and eventually to his parents. Maybe that will be the only intimacy I’ll ever get from him, he grinned, impressed with his own imagination. I wonder what he would say at my funeral. Would he even show up at all? Huh, would he be sad if I died? Probably not as sad as when Oikawa die, though-
“Tendou, are you quite alright?”
Tendou blinked back to reality, pushing the morbid thoughts into the back of his mind. He was greeted with the face he both love and dread, the face of one Ushijima Wakatoshi staring at him with concern, flushed red from the morning run. Tendou felt his own face heated up, and he knew exactly why, but if anyone asked, he would absolutely blame it on the weather.
“Everything’s a-okay Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou said with his normal cheery tone. He folded his arms behind his head, smiling as casual as he could while catching his breath. Whether it was because of the run or because of something else entirely was nobody’s business but his own. “Sorry for interrupting your run, Wakatoshi. I really thought I could catch up to you this time.”
Lies.
“In fact, you could go on ahead! I know my way back to the school. I will be fine without you.”
Physically? Yes. Mentally? No, absolutely not.
Oh god, please don’t let me go back alone.
Ushijima blinked. Once, twice. Tendou watched as a droplet of sweat ran down the ace’s temple and forced himself not to swallow audibly.
“It is fine. I will walk with you back to the gym.” Ushijima said, deep voice soft and gentle. Tendou whipped his head, eyes meeting the other’s in surprise. He had expected Ushijima to give a short confirmation and went on with his run or give him tips on how to preserve his strength in a long run and all that. This was a bit too good to be true.
Tendou was right.
“What’s gotten into you?” Tendou exclaimed incredulously as they walked side by side, heading back. He searched his head for a reason, and almost came up blank.
Almost.
“I want to preserve my strength for the practice match, that is all.” Ushijima blankly stated, and all of a sudden, Tendou wanted nothing more than to die right then and there on the sidewalk.
They were having a practice match with Seijoh that afternoon.
Tendou flopped onto his bed and screamed into his pillow for a full minute.
At least Semi isn’t back yet, he thought, pitifully, chalking up a small win among a shitload of losses. It’s not even 9am yet. He really was going to die today, at the age of seventeen, because of a stupid crush. The team would have to make do without the Guess Monster from now on.
His thoughts drifted back to Ushijima and Oikawa, because his mind is a traitorous bitch, and felt even worse than before. He remembered the looks they exchanged, the taunts they threw at each other before, during, and after every practice and official match. The teasing in locker rooms that consisted of “Ushijima and Oikawa sitting in a tree- “, and literally everything that his friend, his secret love, his Wakatoshi ever said and felt towards the opposing setter, that would never ever be directed towards him.
He screamed into his pillow until his throat hurt and fell asleep in jealousy and bitter annoyance.
Semi woke him up at around lunchtime, scowling at him for skipping class. He laughed it off, blaming the tiredness on his attempt at catching up with Ushijima that morning. Semi didn’t seem to buy his bullshit, but he didn’t press, and Tendou was eternally grateful that god had somehow given him something as good as a friend like Semi Eita.
“You gotta eat, you little shit.” Semi huffed, dragging Tendou out of the bunk bed. “Seijoh’s gonna win without you, and I am not looking forward to the hundred serves if we did lose.”
“Do I have to?” Tendou whined, not noticing the bewildered look on his friend’s face. “I’m a second year. Ito-senpai should be better than me. Seijoh won’t stand a chance against us anyway, with or without me.”
“Tendou, what’s wrong?” Semi stopped trying to pull the red-haired boy out of bed and instead pulled him up to a sitting position. The two sat side by side for a while in a comfortable silence, the setter waiting patiently for Tendou to start the conversation.
“I-, it’s just- “Tendou signed, running his hand through unruly red hair, “This is stupid, Semisemi, I really don’t want to talk about this”
“Try me, I’ve been hearing Kawanishi and Shirabu bitching all day. There’s literally nothing I can’t handle.”
Despite himself, Tendou let out a laugh and Semi softened at the sight of his friend. Sadness did not suit the eccentric redhead at all. Annoying as he may be, Tendou had always been the one to lift the team’s spirit up best.
“Thank you, Eita-kun.” Tendou smiled softly, even though his throat hurt like hell from all the screaming, the gentle tone of his scratchy voice was enough to ease Semi a little bit. The second-year let out a soft sigh and stood up from the bed, extending a hand for Tendou to take.
“Come on, whether you plan to play or not, you still have to eat. Everyone’s waiting for you”
Tendou took the offered hand without much thought and was quite literally dragged to the cafeteria. He wondered when Semi had gotten so strong.
The afternoon passed by in a blur of apologizing for his absence and pointless lessons. Before he knew it, he was already dressing up for practice, and getting scolded for skipping classes by the coach (something about how Shiratorizawa’s athletes need to have a perfect record). Before he knew it, it was almost time for his least favorite activity in the club.
“Everyone! Gather ‘round!”
Tendou dropped the ball he was going to serve back into the cart, getting more and more sick by the minute. He went over the speech in his head: He was unwell, he was sick, he hadn’t got enough sleep last night, Ito-senpai would be a much better choice, et cetera.
A warm hand slipped onto his shoulders, and every word evaporated from his brain.
“Tendou,” The source of his angsty episodes spoke, “Are you unwell?”
Tendou was sure he could hear his neck cracking as he whipped his head back, faster than light. A smile bloomed on his lips as it always did in the presence of one Ushijima Wakatoshi, and he hated himself for saying, rather loudly, that “Why, I’m perfectly fine, Wakatoshi-kun! I could go for a 5-set match against Seijoh right now!”
Tendou had never hated himself more as the coach put him in the starting line-up to “test his words” as he put it. If looks could kill, Tendou would be dead under a thousand knives sent to him by Ito-senpai’s deadly stare. Honestly? He would have preferred that over this goddamn bullshit of a situation.
Had the Seijoh uniform always been that tacky?
The white was giving him a headache even from ten meters away. Tendou didn’t think he could make it through the 3-set match with that bright ass color standing in the opposite court. He wouldn’t be able to guess block for shit while keeping the aching pain at bay.
The match was horrible from the start, and he hadn’t even taken into account his fucking ace’s crush yet.
This was gonna be just great.
He glanced over the Seijoh team, searching specifically for a brown-haired pain-in-the-ass. He, very deliberately, ignored how Ushijima was doing the exact same thing. His eyes landed on the setter soon enough, Aoba Johsai did not bring many players to the practice match. Tendou gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to just come up to the pretty boy and punch his face in out of pent-up frustration.
He wasn’t able to hold in the small laugh that escaped his gritted teeth when a shorter player decked Oikawa’s head with a volleyball, earning him a few confused looks from his teammates. He paid them no mind, concentrating instead on his spiky-haired hero.
Chuckling to himself, Tendou relaxed a bit. This would not be so bad, after all. Not with Iwaizumi Hajime here to contain that pain-in-the-ass Oikawa-kun.
Although their interactions on the court were anything but pleasant, he knew he and the boy shared a mutual respect for each other. In volleyball, and in understanding of those that were left behind.
He wasn’t blind. The pining that radiated from the budding ace of Seijoh was anything but subtle, and he doubted his pining was any better. Sometimes, during official Seijoh vs Shiratorizawa matches, when Oikawa and Ushijima got lost in their own world, Tendou would often try to pull his eyes away from the scene and met the wing spiker’s eye halfway across the net. They would let out a sigh at the same time, a small camaraderie moment in an otherwise antagonistic relationship, then, just like how Ushiwaka and Oikawa returned to the mortal’s world, they would be back to being enemies before anyone noticed a thing.
Tendou Satori and Iwaizumi Hajime had never talked outside of shit-talking each other on the court and small unspoken moments of mutual understanding, and yet, Tendou had considered the other boy as a friend. He was about 60% sure the other boy thought the same.
“Tendou.”
Man, why hadn’t he thought of Iwaizumi being there? His crush on Ushijima really damaged his intelligent. Hey, maybe he could play a 5 set-match after all.
“Tendou.”
Sure, that would mean seeing his Ushiwaka and Iwaizumi’s pretty boy eye-fucking for about an hour, but that would also mean he get to do that understanding-look-and-sigh-thing with Iwaizumi again. Maybe if they did that often enough, one of them would finally approach the other and they would form a weird-ass friendship over unrequited love.
“Tendou!”
The red-haired boy snapped out of his pretty illusions of him and Seijoh’s ace fictional friendship to an annoyed(?) Wakatoshi. The Shiratorizawa’s ace brows were furrowed, though Tendou had no idea why.
“Oh, Wakatoshi-kun.” He deadpanned, “What’s up?”
“…It’s time for line-up, Tendou.”
“Oh? I see, I see. Sorry for spacing out!” He patted lightly on Ushijima’s shoulder, “We’re counting on you today again, Wakatoshi-kun!”
He turned and walked away, leaving behind a surprised team and Ushijima Wakatoshi. They wondered what had turned the dejected middle blocker into the usual spunky gremlin in such a short time. For the first time in his life, Ushijima felt something in his chest that he could not decipher at the sight of Tendou brightening up because of someone else.
He blamed it on anticipation for the upcoming match.
“Hmm? Did something happen to Satori-chan?”
Oikawa wondered out loud at his best friend. Iwaizumi made a face.
“How the hell would I know? Also, knock it off with the ‘Satori-chan’ thing, it’s creepy.”
The small laugh that Tendou had failed to hold attracted much more attention than he would have guessed. It was a good-natured laugh, so much so that it unsettled Seijoh immensely. Aoba Johsai was familiar with the cunning smiles and cruel laughs of the Guess Monster, not the soft, gentle laughter of Tendou Satori. The fact that he had looked straight at the second-year duo with a content and relaxed smile had only unnerved them even more.
Iwaizumi hadn’t even batted an eye at the redhead’s behavior.
“So mean, Iwa-chan! I was only worried about our dear Guess Monster!” Oikawa fake pouted, whining out the words to be even more annoying. “Aren’t you his friend? Aren’t you worried?”
“Haah? Who told you I was his friend?” Iwaizumi snapped, glaring at his annoying childhood friend. “Did you not see how much he taunted me? I hate him! Everyone on our team does!”
It was not exactly the truth, but he was not planning on telling the truth to Oikawa, ever, so this was fine.
“You don’t need to hide it, Iwa-chan! Everyone knows how the two of you look at each other sometimes!” Oikawa dramatically gasped, “No way…Is he your secret boyfriend? Iwa-chan, answer me, did you get a boyfriend before- “
His words were cut short by a precise kick on the back.
From the other end of the court, Tendou Satori barely managed to hold his hysterical laughter at the setter’s demise.
“Captains!”
Oikawa and Ushijima gripped each other’s hands in sync with their teams’ captains like they were the true captains, and Tendou Satori rolled his eyes. He looked over to the other side of the net and caught Iwaizumi Hajime doing the same thing.
Their eyes met for a second, Tendou grinned and got a small smile in return. He held out his hand and took the other boy’s hand in his own with a firm grip, small grin turning into a mocking smile, slipping back into the Guess Monster persona. Iwaizumi seemed to have gotten the memo, smile morphing into a challenging quirk of the lips.
“I’m gonna break through your blocks today.”
“I’d like to see you try, Iwaizumi-chan~”