Work Text:
I.
Tendou knew Ushijima since their first year but he still knew next to nothing about him besides he loved volleyball and was very blunt. Tendou enjoyed finding out things about Ushijima, it wasn’t easy but that made it better. He loved knowing things about him that nobody else knew. Like his favorite food was Hayashi rice and he enjoyed being outdoors. That was it.
Ushijima never changed his routine and rarely even showed emotions which made it hard for Tendou's searching. He woke up at five am and was in bed by ten pm. He took the same route on his morning jog every day. His meals were always nutritious and protein-filled and his showers were exactly ten minutes long.
But, as of late, Ushijima was different.
The first weird thing that Tendou noticed is when he showed up to morning practice late. They all assumed Ushijima was sick, as he has never once missed practice in his three years of high school. Tendou made a mental tab to check in on him after school was over. They continued practice as usual though Tendou was quieter.
Halfway through practice, the gym doors open quickly. The sound of balls hitting the ground stopped as they looked over at their guest. It was Ushijima who awkwardly stood there, a bit of sweat on his forehead probably from rushing to the gym. His brown hair was slightly askew and his eyes were still glassy from sleep. His volleyball uniform was on, though his knee pads were absent.
He walked over to Couch Washijo and bowed deeply to him. The team couldn't hear but they still stood silently, hoping to hear something. Washijo replied to him, looking almost worried for Ushijima.
Tendou watched as Ushijima made his way over to the team, "Ooo, coming late to practice, Miracle Boy? Scandalous!" Tendou smiled at him, taking in his sluggish appearance.
"It won't happen again," He muttered as he grabbed a ball from the basket. "Now time to practice serves and receives,"
II.
While the incident was weird, the team eventually forgot about it and practices went back to normal. Though Tendou had scruffy Ushijima imprinted in his mind, that wasn’t too unusual though.
They were currently stretching before beginning their after-school practice. Tendou and Ushijima sat next to each other, a little aways from the rest of the team, with their hands reaching for one of their feet. Tendou chatted about a new anime he planned to start watching with Ushijima that weekend. Every so often, Ushijima would nod his head. He was never bothered by the brunet’s lack of response, he knew Ushijima was listening even without words.
Tendou paused for a moment and moved his hands to his other foot and leaned. He noticed a low sound coming from beside him. He quickly glanced over to his friend, thinking he pulled something and was in pain. But instead, he heard the sound continuing in a melody.
He was humming.
He never heard Ushijima sing or even hum. He didn’t seem to care for music and didn’t even know the top ten songs at the moment. Tendou stayed quiet as he listened to the sound. He didn’t recognize the song at all. It was high-pitched (or at least high-pitched for Ushijima, his voice was deep) and it sounded almost childish and sharp. Definitely not what he imagined Ushijima to listen to.
Ushijima looked over at him and his humming stopped. HIs eyebrows furrowed at him, confused as to why Tendou stopped talking, “What else happens in the anime?” He asked, not acknowledging his humming.
Tendou looked at him, “Umm well, the main character..”
III.
“Some large male mammoths could weigh up to thirteen tons,” Ushijima said as he sat on Tendou's bed, homework in hand. They met up often after volleyball practice to study or do homework together. Neither of them was the smartest so it sometimes took hours though Tendou didn’t complain.
“So they were thick?” Tendou smirked.
“Yes, very thick.” He paused for a moment, “Their fur was thick too,”
He laughed at his bluntness, “Got any other mammoth facts you’ve hidden from me,”
“Not about mammoths but about other animals,” He replied.
Tendou smiled widely and sat next to Ushijima, homework left abandoned. There wasn’t much that Ushijima was interested in besides volleyball so Tendou always got excited seeing him excited. “Tell me all of them,” He leaned in.
Ushijima stared back at him, “A moon jellyfish has stinging cells that kill fish that float by,” He lightly smiled when he finished the sentence, proud of himself. “A Madagascan sunset moth isn’t nocturnal like other moths, they fly during the day,”
Tendou glanced down at his lips, “Where did you get all of these?”
Ushijima shrugged and twirled his pencil in his fingers.
“You’re pretty smart. You’re my miracle boy for a reason!”
He looked down at his homework, a hint of red on his tanned cheeks, “Thank you, Tendou. You are too,”
“Such a flirt, Waka-chan,” He leaned back on his hands. “Whenever you get new facts, you better tell me,”
“Of course,”
IV.
During summer break, all the Shiratorizawa students returned home for that two-week period. Tendou tried to keep in touch with Ushijima but he wasn’t the most enthusiastic texter and he lived in the countryside, far from Tendou’s small house in the middle of town.
Still, Tendou tried to text him often, trying to get him out of his home. He liked sending pictures of the stray cats in the neighborhood or his expanding manga collection. He knew Ushijima was busy, he lived on a farm with his mom and grandmother so he often did the manual labor around the farm. He always texted back at the end of the day though.
[11:38pm]
Miracle Boy: I caught a tarantula.
Tendou looked over at the time. He knew Ushijima was strict about his sleep schedule and liked to have a full seven hours of sleep. Once they stayed up until eleven together to do a project and Ushijima was yawning every few seconds and rubbed his eyes often.
Tendou then looked back to look at the message, the weirder thing about this all.
Me: Wakatoshi!! What the heck! How? Why? (＞人＜;)
Miracle Boy: I used a net. I’m going to donate him.
Me: Youre badass, Waka! Send pics!
Miracle Boy: I don’t know how. Sorry.
To say Tendou was confused was an understatement. He read through their texts again, unsure what to text back.
Miracle Boy: I also got a blue rose. My garden looks good.
Me: Congrats!! You should give me some flowers ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ﾉ"
Miracle Boy: I will. I want to show you my garden.
Tendou felt his cheeks go hot and his heart started to pound in his ears. Ushijima was blunt, yes, but he rarely talked about his own wants and emotions. He oddly felt special knowing that Ushijima wanted him specifically to see his garden at his home.
Me: Yes! I wanna see your pretty garden
Miracle Boy: My family is going to the farmer’s market next Thursday. Would you like to come over then?
Me: yes! I’ll get ready for you ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
+1
Tendou stood in front of Ushijima’s home. He wiped his sweaty hands on his sweats and breathed deeply. He biked all the way to his home which was thirty minutes from his home in the middle of nowhere. It was a big traditional home with many plants around the home, almost hiding the house. The cicadas were loud in this part of town. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.
He bounced on the heels of his feet as he waited. He heard some rustling behind the door and soon enough he saw Ushijima standing in front of him. He didn’t see him out of either his volleyball or school uniform, so it was nice seeing him in his casual clothes. It wasn’t much, a plain navy t-shirt with grey sweatpants, but Tendou swooned in his mind.
“Long time no see!” Tendou loudly said as he walked forward to wrap his arms around him.
Ushijima awkwardly patted Tendou’s back, “It’s barely been two weeks,” He muttered. It was weird hearing his deep voice so close to his ear.
“I’m used to seeing you every day though, I missed you!” He backed up and smiled brightly at him.
“I missed you too,” He replied, adjusting himself on his feet.
The brunet started to walk towards his kitchen, Tendou not far behind him. Ushijima grabbed something and turned around to him, Tendou almost stumbling into him.
“I cut some of my flowers for you,” He pushed the bouquet to him.
Tendou looked down at the flowers he cradled with wide eyes. He wasn’t an expert in flowers but he recognized daisies and lavender. They were freshly cut and he could still smell the earth on them. They were wrapped together with a tiny rope.
“Awww, Wakatoshi!” He leaned in and smelled them, “They look and smell pretty! They’ll look great by my manga bookshelf,”
“Thank you, we fertilized them with cow manure,”
“Makes them even better,” He laughed at his own joke. “I’m excited to see your garden,”
“Me too, let me show you my room,” He said and started to go across his home to his bedroom.
Once he opened the door, Tendou immediately stuck his head in, looking side to side. The bedroom is definitely what he expected: a desk, a bed, and a dresser, all very organized. His dresser has a few succulents on it, laying in the sunlight. He had a few volleyballs in the dark corner of his bedroom.
He quickly flopped on Ushijima’s bed, expecting a firm bed but instead greeted with a soft squishy bed. “You got a nice bed,” He rolled over to look at Ushijima.
Ushijima was currently rummaging in his nightstand and pulled out a… black Switch Lite? He never expected Ushijima to like games. He didn’t enjoy the games that Tendou forces him to play.
He watched Ushijima turn on the device and click a few buttons. Tendou scooted closer and rested his chin on his shoulder. He noticed a cute screen with a small island in the corner. The game booted up and Tendou saw that it was Animal Crossing.
He never played but he was familiar. He glanced at Ushijima who had a serious look etched on his face.
“This is my island,” Ushijima said as his character exited his home.
“Wait, so...!” He yelled as he shot his head from the brunet’s shoulder, “This is the garden you’ve been talking about,”
Ushijima looked at him as if he was stupid, “Yes, it’s rainbow,”
Tendou burst out laughing, imagining the big stern man color coordinating his flowers in a game. His laughter died down after seeing Ushijima staring at him. “And this is where your blue roses are at?”
“Blue roses can not exist in nature,”
“And where you caught that tarantula?”
“I wouldn’t catch one in real life,”
“Wakatoshi, I really thought you were crazy!” He laughed, "How long have you been playing it?"
"A few months,"
Tendou thought back to a few months ago, notably to the time Ushijima was late to practice. He also thought back at the song he hummed a while back. He didn't know the song but in retrospect, it sounded like a song that was on Tiktok often, a song from Animal Crossing.
"Did you stay up late to play this and that's why you were late that one time?"
"I wanted to catch some nocturnal animals,"
"And that song you were humming?"
He faintly blushed at this, "It's a KK Slider song," He looked over at Tendou, "It's catchy,"
Tendou laughed, holding onto his gut. "Sorry, Ushi, I just didn't expect you to play a game like this,"
Ushijima looked down at the Switch as his thumbs ghosted over the joysticks, “It’s relaxing,”
His laughter came to a halt as he looked at Ushijima's soft face, “I’m happy you like it,” Tendou smiled, “It’s cute,”
Ushijima shot his head up and looked at him quizzically, “I haven’t shown you my island yet,” Ushijima deadpanned.
Tendou’s chin returned to his spot of his shoulder, a smile spread across his face, “Then show me your island,”