the knot. [ushijima wakatoshi x reader]
» There's a knot under your throat that you can't seem to get rid of when he's around. It turns out he's the only one who knows how to untie it. «
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TAGS: childhood friends to lovers, one-sided enemies (?) to lovers, stoic ushijima x constantly confused reader, Alders!Ushijima x PR!reader, penetrative sex, semi-public sex, side friendship yachi x kageyama is my favorite thing ever
a/n: when i tell you guys that before writing this i was not an ushijima girl,,,, and now i have my eyes WIDE OPEN,,,,, everyone please thank @sweetberrypies for this commission!!!!
[commission honee here!]
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Ushijima Wakatoshi is the embodiment of confusion.
He's three, and you're three, too. At that age, he shouldn't confuse you, but he does. He should just be the boy next door with the ball that he keeps rolling around and picking up and setting down, but he's not. He frowns at it, like he's very upset — you don't know it yet, but you'll come to understand over the years that that's what he looks like when he's concentrating on something that matters to him — and when you try to join him, crawling through the hole in the fence to play with him, he frowns at you, too.
In twenty years, he'll confuse you just the same. Frown just the same, stare just the same.
But you don't know that, either. For now, he's just the little boy who always seems upset, and you're just the little girl who wonders if he's mad at you.
Confused.
—
"Y/n… that boy is staring again…"
You turn over your shoulder, following your friend's concerned gaze to the school gates. He's there, just like he always is, eyes trained on you.
He's ten, and you're ten, too.
"Ah," you say, adjusting your bag on your shoulders. "I should go."
Your pig-tailed friend tugs on your sleeve. "Aren't you weirded out by him?"
Yes.
"No," you sigh. "That's just how he is."
When you approach him at the gates, it's with raised eyebrows. "What is it, Toshi?"
He's stern as ever, brows furrowed. "School ended seven minutes ago."
You frown. "I was talking to my friends…" When he doesn't seem to understand, you look away. "You can leave on your own, y'know. You don't have to wait for me every day."
He shakes his head. "Mom says we're too young to be walking home alone. I'm supposed to stay with you."
You turn away so he doesn't see how you roll your eyes. "Okay, fine." You start to walk away, but he sticks his hand out in front of you.
"We're supposed to hold hands."
Your face burns, because there's a group of boys walking past laughing at you. Their teasing 'ooh's are impossible to miss, and one of them even says 'yeah, Y/n, hold Toshi's hand'. You grit your teeth, eyes flying up to Ushijima's.
"That was just something our moms said. We don't actually have to."
He shakes his head again. He loves doing that to you. "I have to keep you safe. You could get taken when I'm not looking." When you only glare at him, he tilts his head. "What's the problem? We did it yesterday."
"I thought that-"
"And the day before-"
"No, I know. I thought-"
"And the day before-"
"I know. I'm just sayi-"
"And the day before-"
"Stop!" You stomp your foot, snatching his hand out of mid-air and dragging him through the gates. "Let's just go!"
He doesn't say anything else, quiet as you lead him down the familiar neighborhood streets. At an intersection, you start to cross, still angry, and then you're yanked back to the sidewalk.
A car speeds past right at the moment that you would have been in the road.
"See?" Ushijima says. "This is why we hold hands, too. I have to keep you safe."
You throw his hand down roughly. "Stop mocking me! I was only about to cross because I was distracted by how angry I was-"
He just takes your hand again. "I know. More reason to hold hands."
You're silent, letting him lead the way as you try to process how someone can be so stubborn.
"You don't have to take everything so seriously," you finally say, quiet and contemplative. "The kids at school are teasing us because you're always so serious about me."
He turns his head slightly but doesn't fully look at you. "What's wrong with being serious about you?"
You try not to let your blush show. "Nothing. Nevermind."
The rest of the walk home is silent, your head rattled with thoughts of confusion and the inability to understand him.
When you get to your neighboring homes, he lets you go. But before you enter your gates, he clears his throat.
"Y/n."
You stop, turning back to him. Tired, because this feeling of frustration is common around him.
He's staring right at you. "I have practice tomorrow. Wait for me."
You scoff. "I'm not waiting two extra hours, Toshi. I'll just-"
"Wait for me. Please."
You frown, your mouth twisting up and your pout emerging. Because you know you will, no matter how much you gripe about it.
He takes your silence exactly as it is, nodding and starting to walk away.
"Wakatoshi."
It stresses you out when he stares at you like that. It always feels like he's mad at you, even if you know he's not.
You swallow. "Thank you. For earlier."
He just blinks. "I told you. I have to keep you safe."
"You don't, Toshi-"
"I do." He holds out. "I do."
You stare at each other. There's a feeling in your chest that you always get with him. A knot that you can't untie, no matter how hard you try.
You get the feeling that only he can.
—
High school isn't any better.
He becomes something of a legend in the world of high-school volleyball, and you become something of an Ushijima Whisperer to anyone who wishes to understand him. Despite how many times you say that he's a lost cause even to you.
Your time in middle school spent waiting around for his practices to be over carries on to high school, your disgruntled presence lingering on the sidelines until Washijo finally points a wrinkled finger in your face and declares you manager.
You tend to just fall into roles whenever it concerns Ushijima Wakatoshi. Tend to fall into place, wherever he makes room for you.
The dating rumors are both expected and baffling, because you can't possibly fathom how someone could see your dynamic with him and assume it's anything but hopeless.
He's already grown into a boy of few words, his teammates learning his limited communication like a mystical code. But with you, he's worse.
Where Semi will comfortably offer help setting up the nets, easy conversation flowing between you, Ushijima prefers taking the poles from you wordlessly, barely a glance spared in your direction while he talks to someone else. You always end up snatching them back, ignoring the single, dark brow he raises in response.
Where Goshiki will bow deep and thank you repeatedly for things that are objectively your job, Ushijima tends to take the towel and water bottle from your hand with only an examining stare, one that feels far too much like a glare. You're quick to glare back.
Where Satori is playful and teasing when he begs for help with his finger wraps, Ushijima only barks your name from across the room, the request unsaid. He only holds out his hand and the tape when you stomp up to him, and you feel when he just stares down at the top of your head while you wrap his fingers, grumbling the whole time. He always manages to find something to silently critique when it happens, his free hand tugging on strands of your hair and fixing them, as though there was anything wrong to begin with.
There is no world in which you can understand how people think you're dating him.
Except for the instances, more common than you're comfortable admitting, when he says or does something that leaves you confused without fail.
Where Semi can get a bit heated, kicking things over when he messes up and not realizing that it's you who has to pick it up, Ushijima is almost always the one to do it, his sharp eyes finding Semi's so fast that you barely have time to be upset about the mess before the boy is at your side with an apology.
Where Goshiki can be a bit zealous, overshooting his spikes and sending the ball spinning right at your head, Ushijima always appears at the very last moment, his hand or back in your face as he takes the full force of the hit with no more than a quiet grunt. It's always over before you even register that you should've been afraid, and he's always gone before you can think to thank him.
Where Satori can overstep your boundaries — a joke taken too far, a playful squeeze of your cheeks or ruffle of your hair on a day that you're really not in the mood — Ushijima is a towering shadow, an unseen glare sending Satori away whistling or a hand wrapped tight around the boy's wrist, dislodging it without a word. You're never able to figure out how Ushijima had noticed your mood before anyone else.
Unsurprisingly, he drops one last confusing moment in your hands the night that you graduate — the night before he leaves the country for college in America.
—
The walk home is silent, just like almost every walk home before it. You turn your diploma over and over in your hands, not really examining it at all. Just listening to the silence, his footsteps matching the rhythm of yours.
You feel strange. You've been feeling it for months, ever since he'd announced he'd be leaving. It's exactly the same now as it had been then. Satori had joked at the time that you must be excited to have your shadow gone, but that excitement had never come. You'd only felt the tug of that knot, the one that had sat in your chest from the moment you'd realized Ushijima Wakatoshi was permanent.
The knot hurts now. It hurts a lot, so much that you can't find your voice. Silenced, same as the part of your brain that wants to celebrate the freedom.
Your gate looms ahead, and you realize that this is it. He leaves at three in the morning, so this really is it. You're not sure where you'll be — who you'll be — when he comes home in four years. If he comes home.
You stop in front of your gate, staring down at the metal and feeling the creak of the neighboring gate as he pushes it open. Feel the creak in your throat, right under that knot.
But then it stops.
When you look up, he's looking back at you. Waiting. He doesn't ask what's wrong, but you hear the question deep in the pit of your stomach — in the way he blinks down at you, in the way his hand slides off of his own gate. In the way he says your name, only ever that. Nothing else.
"Y/n."
Your eyes burn. It's too late to be realizing that you might feel lost without him, after so long of wishing for exactly that.
"Wakatoshi."
He tilts his head. You only say his name like that —
"Cut it out, Toshi!"
"Jesus, you scared the fuck out of me, Toshi."
"I'm serious, Toshi, you're pissin' me off!"
"Thank you, Wakatoshi. For earlier."
— when something doesn't feel right. When you don't feel right.
"Will you come back?"
He doesn't know where the question comes from. You know that, because you're unsure, too.
"Yes," he says plainly. "I have to."
You lift your brows. "You have to? I'm sure any country would kill to have you-"
"But you won't be in 'any country'," he cuts you off. "You'll be here."
You have no idea what that means. "So?"
He doesn't answer you, asking his own question instead. "What will you do at Tokyo? Communications?"
You'd certainly considered it. "I think so. They have a strong department."
"What will you do with it?"
You warm, not wanting to answer. You'd had the feeling for a while, but you hadn't said it aloud.
As usual, he waits you out. Eventually, you sigh.
"I was thinking about PR."
The only signal he gives that he's surprised is the shift of his weight, the slight widening of his eyes before they fall flat again. "For volleyball."
It's not a question.
"For volleyball," you echo anyway. "But, you never answered-"
"I go where you go," he says. Like it's a fact. Not a possibility, a fact.
"What-" you laugh. "What're you saying? That you'll be back just to work with me?" When he only nods, you laugh again. "How are you going to make that happen, Toshi? You don't know what team I'll be working for. What if they're not the right fit-"
"I go where you go." He puts his hand back on the gate. This conversation is over. "Always."
You furrow your brow, frustration growing when you realize that this is really it. He pushes the gate open, and you stumble forward, suddenly upset beyond comprehension.
He's eighteen, and you're eighteen, too. You might never see him again.
"Wakatoshi."
He turns, surprise flying across his face and a grunt leaving him, because you're throwing your weight against his, arms tight around his neck.
There's something you want to say — but it's trapped under the knot. You can't get it out.
He's unmoving for a moment, and you think that's it, so you start to pull away.
His palms press against your back, pulling you back to him. They drop to your waist, his diploma clattering to the ground as he hoists you up and belts his arms tight around you. You wrap your legs around his waist, and he keeps you there. Keeps you safe.
The knot loosens slightly.
You suck in a breath, taking the chance.
"You don't have to come back. You shouldn't, if it's not what's right for you," you choke out. "But if you do, I'll be-"
The knot tightens.
-here.
-waiting.
You swallow around it, eyes pricking with tears.
Your shadow's hard to get rid of, it seems.
"Okay."
He lowers you to the ground gently, arms sliding away from you as he steps back. There's a look in his eye that you can't place, but that frown is familiar. You cling to it, remembering yourself.
"Okay," you whisper. "Be safe."
He watches you a moment and then nods, turning on his heel and disappearing into his house.
Something taps against your foot. His diploma. You pick it up, examining the tube that matches yours, his name etched along the side.
You carry it inside, laying it on your desk beside yours.
—
You don't speak to him for four years.
When your PR classes use examples of news coverage from volleyball, professors gravitate to Ushijima Wakatoshi. You keep tabs on him through a screen. Learn about him, through the eyes of someone who doesn't know him the way you know him.
The boy next door. Your shadow, up until the day he left.
You graduate, twenty-two now. His diploma still sits next to yours in a box, remembering when he was eighteen.
You interview for and are hired by the Schweiden Adlers as a general PR agent. You train with them for six months, awaiting the day that comes at the end of it when they assign you to a specific player as their personal representative.
—
"Are you excited?" Yachi asks, chewing on the end of a pocky stick. She'd been hired at the same time as you and had quickly become a close friend, but she'd been assigned to Kageyama Tobio the moment he'd been signed on, because he'd requested her. It apparently had been their plan, their friendship strong from high school and the trust between them quite high.
You nod, a warm grin flashing across your face as you take one of the snacks from the box on her desk. "I've been waiting for this day for forever. I'm nervous, though."
"Why?" she whines dramatically. "This is a momentous day!"
"I know," you whine back, her energy infectious as ever. "But what if I don't get along with him?"
"Of course you will!" she argues. "I have the best time ever!"
You roll your eyes. "That's because it's Kageyama. He's, like, your closest friend."
She leans forward, her eyes sparkling. "Exactly. It's Kageyama. I know you know what a pain in the ass he is with public matters." She's not wrong, you think. "If I can do it, then you can, too."
Your computer lets out a soft ding, your email refreshing and reloading with a new message. You both lean forward, seeing the words 'player assignment' and 'conference room' in the preview.
Yachi smacks your arm. "It's go time!"
You stand, straightening your pencil skirt and blouse wih a nervous sigh. "Wish me luck," you say, squeezing her arm as you pass.
"You got this!" she calls. "You can do anything!"
"You can do anything, you can do anything, you can do anything," you mumble, repeating it the entire walk to the conference room.
When you push the door open, you plaster a PR-approved smile on your face.
It falls.
He's twenty-two now, too. It's the first thing you notice.
Bigger, taller, broader. Older.
His frown is the same, though.
"Y/n!" your manager says, standing from the table, where he'd been sitting beside Ushijima. The man beams down at you, grabbing you by the shoulders and leading you to where Wakatoshi's sitting. "Say hello to our newest recruit, the one and only Ushijima Wakatoshi! Isn't this amazing?"
Ushijima's got his eyes trained on the spot where your manager grabs you. You know he'll figure out soon that the man is too touchy, too close to the female PR agents all the time. But he doesn't need to know it now, especially because you can see his jaw shifting.
He's annoyed.
You can still read him.
"H-Hi."
His eyes fly up to yours, his expression relaxing. He stands from his seat, and you feel your head tip back as he towers over you. It's been so long that you'd forgotten.
He's twenty-two now, too.
"Y/n."
Your name, nothing else.
Your eyes water. His smile is almost unnoticeable, in his eyes more than anything else.
"Hi," you whisper back, just as dumb as before.
Your manager glances between you. "Oh, you know each other!" The man examines you closer, in a way he never has before. "I didn't realize that." He examines Ushijima now. "I see why you requested her."
You don't say what he's actually thinking.
I see why you chose us, even though you had six other teams fighting for you.
"Well," your manager says, clapping his hands together. "Shall we get to the details of the assignment?"
You sit beside Ushijima, flustered by every movement he makes. Flustered by the way he sips his water, listening plainly while your manager explains your role in his career. Flustered by the way his body heat radiates off of him and washes over you. Flustered by the way he shifts in his seat every so often, his knee bumping against yours.
"Y/n, you are expected to remain available for Ushijima 24/7. This means leaving your phone on at all times and answering calls and texts in a timely manner." The list of responsibilities is being read to you off a script, but you know exactly what this assignment entails.
Be with Ushijima at all times, except when he's at practice.
Answer all of Ushijima's calls, even in the middle of the night.
Making Ushijima look as good as possible, tracking fan opinions online and negotiating with news outlets on his behalf.
Maintain a professional relationship with Ushijima, at all costs.
For some reason, that last part doesn't feel possible.
"Any questions?"
You blink, meeting your manager's eyes and then Ushijima's. He's shaking his head, and you know that's all you'll get from him.
"No," you say quietly. "I understand."
"Okay, then," your manager says, standing and shaking Ushijima's hand. You stay seated, staring at the table like an idiot. "Welcome to the team. I'll leave you two to get acquainte-er… re-acquainted."
The moment he's gone, you're being yanked out of your seat by a hand wrapped around your bicep.
He feels the same, arms belting around your waist and hoisting you up.
You don't wrap your legs around his waist this time, but you refuse to admit it's only because your pencil skirt won't let you.
You bury your face against his throat, breathing him in.
He feels the same.
"Hi," he says, his voice bass-y and echoing through your bones.
The knot hasn't felt this tight since that night.
"Put me down," you croak. "This is unprofessional."
"I don't care." He talks a little differently now.
You don't. "I do. Put me down."
He sets you on your feet gently, hands on your waist gentler.
"I wasn't expecting you," you admit. "I thought you'd choose a different team."
He tilts his head. You miss reading him like this.
"I thought I was clear that night."
He was. You just hadn't let yourself hold onto it.
"Was this the right fit for you?"
His eyes flick between yours. "Yes." He nods. "Yes."
You don't know if you believe him, but you don't ask again.
"When did you get back?"
"Two days ago."
You laugh and shake your head. Of course he did. "Where are you living?" When he tells you the address, you stare up into his face, deadpan. "Are you stalking me?" He blinks, confused. You sigh. "That's next door to me."
He stares. And then he laughs, a scoff pressed against his fist as he turns away.
You've never heard him laugh before.
"That was an accident. I promise."
You just sigh, trying not to laugh yourself. "Are you all moved in? Do you need anything?"
"… Lunch?"
"We can't," you say, pursing your lips. "We can't be seen together like that. It's too casual."
He frowns. "Kageyama and his PR agent get lunch together all the time."
You don't know how to tell him it's different. This is different. "I dunno, Toshi…"
"You have to accommodate all of my requests, right?"
The roll of your eyes makes him smile, almost unnoticeable again. "Whatever," you grumble. "Let's just go."
—
It's easy to fall back into line with him, wherever he makes room for you.
You help him finish moving into his place, providing paparrazzi with the professional answers you'd concocted so that you're allowed to be this close to him. This close to him, even though players and their agents typically aren't.
"Ushijima has just returned to Japan from the United States. He is adjusting to home life, and as his agent, I am assisting in that process."
"No, we did not plan to live next door to one another. Yes, it is indeed a happy coincidence — I believe this will allow me to perform efficiently in this role, as I will be able to better assist him in his transition to the Adlers."
"Yes, we have known each other since childhood. No, it did not in any way impact his decision to join us, nor did it influence my employment with the Schweiden Adlers. Life is funny like that, wouldn't you agree?"
Ushijima always watches, eyes trained on the side of your face while you talk to the press that lingers outside his house.
His apartment is a carbon copy of yours, and you find yourself accidentally arranging furniture and decorations the same way. He simply lets you, adding his own touches in the spaces you leave — where you make room for him.
He trains incessantly, just as he had in high school, so you find yourself at the office a lot, your phone propped up so you can see the moment he texts or calls.
[1:07 PM]
Toshi: PT at 2
You: okay. need me?
Toshi: no.
[10:27 AM]
Toshi: scrimmage at 4
You: where?
Toshi: [location attached]
You: okay. need me?
Toshi: no.
[4:49 PM]
Toshi: paparazzi wont let me get to my car
You: omw
Toshi: no.
You: ????
Toshi: handled it. just lyk.
You: why am i getting back to back calls from different magazines, wakatoshi.
Toshi: handled it.
You: you broke a camera???
Toshi: yes.
You: dont do it again.
Toshi: okay.
[5:19 AM]
Toshi: why didn't you pick up my call.
You: IM SLEEPING YOU FREAK.
You: WHAT DO YOU WANT.
Toshi: going to the corner store. out of protein powder.
You: OKAY. DO YOU NEED ME.
Toshi: no.
You: im gonna kill u.
There's a large part of you that wants to hate it. Hate him. Because your days consist of this, of the constant messaging and the constant calling and the constant contact, despite never needing anything from you. But there's another part of you — three, and then ten, and then eighteen — that knows this back and forth very well. Missed it, even. And it grows as the weeks go on, the chaos evening out and your days melting into something akin to normal.
And then he ruins it, about six weeks into this new routine.
—
You groan, rolling over in your bed and reaching for the bedside table. Your phone is ringing — not just vibrating, because you have to keep your phone on at all times — and you know exactly who it is.
"What?" you grumble, eyes still closed.
"Were you sleeping?"
You pull your phone from your ear, checking the time. "It's three in the morning, Toshi." When he doesn't respond, you bite out an answer to his question. "Yes. I was sleeping."
"Oh. Okay. Goodnight."
"Wh-"
He hangs up.
You stare at the ceiling, wondering if the world would know it was you if he happens to be dead in the morning.
You call him back. He picks up after two rings.
"Hello?"
"What do you want?"
"Oh. Nothing."
You take a deep breath. "Then why did you call me?"
"You called me."
You could kill him. They wouldn't know. You'd find a way. "Wakatoshi."
It's silent on the other end for a moment. "I can't sleep."
He doesn't say anything else. You know what he's asking, but it feels strange, because he's never asked this particular question before.
You don't know what to do about the nervous flip of your stomach, the shiver that flies down your spine.
You swallow around the knot. "If I get caught coming over there, there's going to be a scandal."
"… Okay. That's okay." He hangs up.
That should be it. That should be the end of it.
So then why are you already out of bed and shoving on a pair of slippers? Why are you wrapping a robe around yourself and grabbing your keys?
It's easy to avoid the streetlights, easy to snake around the side and approach the back door instead of the front. Too easy, in fact. Easy to do, easy to repeat.
He's already at the door when you arrive, almost like he'd known you would come anyway, despite the risk.
You want to hate him. You used to.
For now, you just push past him and pad silently to his bedroom, your shoes and robe left at the door. You sit at the edge of his bed, bouncing your knee anxiously, and look around, making sure the curtains are closed and there's no way to see into the room. Ushijima presses the door closed quietly with his back, leaning against it and peering down at you.
You should ask why he's requesting this of you. You've never been this way — never done this kind of thing together. You wonder if anyone else could have read what he needed, the way that you did. If anyone else could be in this situation, locked in a lifelong game of confusion and understanding, silent all the way to the end.
You're not sure anyone else could do the things you're willing to do for Ushijima Wakatoshi.
He watches you carefully, eyes tracing your face and examining your expression. You stare back, knee bouncing and ears ringing and nerves flipping over and over in the pit of your stomach, because you know you should ask but you don't want to. You know you should question this, question him about why he thinks he's allowed to ask this of you.
You know you should hate him. You used to.
But you don't question it. And he doesn't explain.
He just crosses the room in two steps and then pulls you to your feet. Hoists you up. Belts his arms around your waist. Says nothing of the fact that you're trembling in his arms, that your legs are trembling when they wrap around him.
He lowers you to the mattress carefully, laying you down and laying himself over you. Adjusting so he doesn't crush you, but laying himself over you nonetheless.
The sigh he lets out when he finds a spot that works for him is audible, but only because of the spot he'd chosen — body half-covering yours, one hand gripping your waist, the other sliding up your spine and palm pressing between your shoulder blades. Face buried in your neck, breath grazing the shell of your ear, hair fanning out over your cheek and lips. Heart racing, felt through his chest and against yours.
He doesn't ask if this is okay, but the twitch of his fingers on your body tells you he's nervous.
You hate being able to read him this well. Part of you wishes you could go back to not understanding. To confusion.
But you do. You do understand him. And maybe that's because you've spent so long around him. Or maybe it's because you feel the same way.
Maybe that's why you finally wrap your arms around him, too. One hand pressed between his shoulder blades, admitting silently that it's okay to hold each other like this. The other curled into the hair at the base of his neck, nails scratching lightly against his scalp. Admitting that it's okay for him to shiver and sigh against your throat, because you say nothing when he does exactly that.
He falls asleep within minutes. Part of you wonders if he ever had any sleeping issues at all, but the rest of you knows that he wouldn't lie, not to you. That there's something happening here that he can't name and that you choose not to.
His alarm goes off at 5am.
You groan quietly but let your hands fall away from him, because you know it's time for him to go on his morning run. When he rolls over to turn the alarm off, you start to rise, disheveled and exhausted but ready to go back to your apartment.
You're not ready for the hand, large and sleep-warm, to flatten against your chest and press you back into the mattress gently. You blink once, twice, and then turn to look at him. He's already wrapping himself around you again, the rest of him just as sleep-warm.
"Toshi?" you mumble, confused but your arms circling him again, anyway.
He just grunts, pulling you close. Your nerves jump, because his lips are skimming your throat when he whispers "comfortable" in response.
"Don't you have to go?" When he shakes his head, you swallow. "Why?"
"You won't be here when I get back."
You wonder if he can feel the way your heart races.
He nudges his nose against your pulse point.
He can definitely feel it.
You turn your head away, trying to put some distance between you, but he just slides his palm against your jaw and brings you back to him.
You feel like you're suffocating. The knot is too tight again.
"Just one more hour," he mumbles. "Just one."
You blink rapidly up at the ceiling, streaks of sunlight bleeding across your vision. You don't understand. You never understand. And yet, you're still here.
It hurts to realize that life with Ushijima will continue to be this. Confusion and understanding, an endless cycle.
It hurts to realize that you want it this badly.
—
"I don't know," you groan, walking beside Yachi at a snail's pace. She grabs you by the arm, dragging you along the hall of the Adlers' gym. You're on your way to a press meeting, where you and the other agents will stand along the side of the room and step in if necessary.
"I know you don't know," she giggles, lowering her voice and making sure none of your co-workers can hear. "But he asked you to sleep in his bed and then broke his own discipline to stay in bed." She grips you tighter. "And you let him." When your face warms, she beams at you. "He likes you. And you're not innocent, either."
"I thoroughly reject that idea," you argue. "I can't afford to have that thought floating around in my head. That's the fastest way to get fired. I need my job-"
"Oh, fuck the job," she whispers fervently. "You can figure out how to sneak around." When you glare at her, she grows more excited. "You've been friends for twenty years. Your relationship comes first."
You don't answer her, just letting yourself be dragged into the press room and against the wall.
When the Adlers enter the room, their coach leading, your eyes scan for him. He's next to Kageyama, who's equally stoic and disinterested as they take their seats. The younger man glances at the line of agents, and you watch him find Yachi. She drags her thumb across her throat in an obvious threat, and he has to cover his mouth with a hand to hide his grin. When you give her a wild look, she shrugs.
"He's been running into trouble with etiquette and tact recently. I told him to be nice today or he'd catch a knife when he's not looking."
You huff out a laugh, turning back to the players.
Ushijima's eyes are already on you.
The memory of his body heat isn't even a week old.
You don't have time to wonder if you have feelings for him. You don't have time to think about this at all. So you turn away, keeping your attention on the introduction that the coach is making.
The press conference lasts an hour, the team's overall strategy discussed and then different players asked about their private marketing and sponsorship responsibilities.
A reporter from a small paper stands when he's called on. "For Ushijima Wakatoshi, please." You straighten, your PR mode locked onto the interaction. Ushijima's eyes flick to you and then back, and he nods once. "We hear that you've been selected for the next cover of Japan's Hottest."
You're both familiar with it. His photoshoot for next month's issue is in two hours. Ushijima leans into the mic.
"That's correct." He glances at you, so you gesture that he should say more. "It's an honor."
You bite back a laugh. You highly doubt he cares about any of it.
The reporter nods. "Are you excited about what doors it could open for you?"
Doors? It's a thirst trap magazine to showcase Japan's sexiest athletes, and no one's exactly surprised that Ushijima's next on the list, especially given his recent return.
You meet his eyes again. It's clear he's thinking the same thing. Still, you nod encouragingly, and he echoes the nod in the reporter's direction.
"Yes."
You sigh and write 'work on media presence' on your ipad, in the margin next to his schedule for the day.
The reporter glances back at you, as do several others, because he hasn't been subtle in any way about needing your help.
"Er, one last question," the reporter says. Ushijima just nods. "How has adjusting to life with the Adlers been? Are you and your PR agent getting on alright?"
Your eyes widen, and you're suddenly panicking about what he could possibly say.
He leans into the mic, blinking emptily. "Y/n is my best friend. Always has been. Life with the Adlers is good."
You stare at him, frozen in place and only able to recover before the cameras start flashing because Yachi's elbowing you hard.
The reporters all try to ask follow-up questions, but you're shaking your head aggressively at Ushijima, so he just leans back in his seat and looks to his coach. The older man manages to corral them after a few moments, and the conference continues without incident.
Only when you get in the back of a car with Ushijima does he finally speak to you.
"Did I say something wrong?"
You just stare straight ahead, your own reflection clear in the divider between the driver and yourselves. "No, Toshi. That was fine."
"The reporters reacted strongly."
"The rumors will start," you say, sighing. "That's all."
"What rumors?"
When you turn to him, you find that he's actually confused, looking to you for answers because he's never been good at this. At people.
"The dating rumors, Toshi."
You watch in real time as he understands, dissociates, and then flushes — his face starts to burn, heat flooding his cheeks and ears, and all he does is stare right through you.
"Oh," he finally says, turning away.
The drive to his photoshoot is completely silent.
—
The stylists at Japan's Hottest have gotten wind of how things went at the press conference. You'd known it would get out quickly, but you're unprepared for the playful side glances from the hair stylist and the meaningful lift of the makeup artist's eyebrows.
You sit in the corner while Ushijima is dragged through the ringer — outfit changes, photoshoot, hair and makeup changes, photoshoot, more outfit changes, more photoshoot.
You're in the corner for three hours, working silently on your laptop and watching him get pulled this way and that.
Until, in what can only be an intentional maneuver, the shoot director enters the makeup room and claps his hands a few times.
"Okay, everyone," he says. "Great work so far — only one more concept!"
You frown at your ipad. There's still time left for one concept shoot, but you only have four shoots on the schedule, not five.
He doesn't look at you, but you feel that this is targeted. "Ushijima, let's get you in something a little more revealing. I'd like to do a lipstick montage."
You stare at the director, putting his words together slowly. A what?
Ushijima just looks at you, almost like he's checking if this is right. You clear your throat, standing and smoothing out your slacks while you approach. "Excuse me. How revealing are we talking here? I'm not sure Ushijima would be comfortable with anything below the belt."
The director looks you over, a smile spreading across your face. "Did Ushijima tell you that?"
You don't know how to tell him that speaking isn't necessary between the two of you. "I know my player well."
If Ushijima didn't want you to see how he shifts in his seat when you say 'my player', he fails.
The director only beams down at you. "Okay, then. Nothing below the belt. But since you know him so well…"
Uh, oh.
"Why don't you do the lipstick stains for him?"
"What?" you say right away, blinking and looking around. "Why me? Can't the makeup artis-"
That woman is conveniently needed in another room at precisely this moment, just smiling at you in a way that is way too guilty.
In fact, everyone is conveniently needed elsewhere, the room emptying suspiciously fast.
The director's the last one left. He smiles down at you, far too pleased for your liking. "That's that, then! Choose a nice, deep red, okay?" He starts to leave, turning on his heel at the door. "Don't forget the lips!"
The slam of the door echoes off the walls.
You stare at it, barely noticing when Ushijima gets up and crosses the room.
"I think these are the clothes."
You turn, ears ringing and face burning. He's holding a white button-down and a pair of jeans.
"Okay," you say hollowly. "Get changed, I guess."
You try not to focus on the sound of him stripping behind the privacy screen, staring down at the many tubes of lipstick on the vanity. You stare so long that you don't even notice when he finishes, only rebooting your brain when his arm reaches past you.
"I like this one," he says quietly, the bass of his voice shaking your nerves. He plucks a dark red lipstick from the set, placing it gently in your palm.
You take a shaky breath. "Okay." Then you turn.
He's too close.
You jump, bumping against the vanity in your unconscious scramble to put space between you. He takes a step back, examining you.
His shirt is buttoned to the top and his jeans are high on his hips. You lament the fact that you're going to have to fix this.
"You have to leave it open," you say, gesturing for him to unbutton his shirt while you turn to the mirror and start to smooth the red tint over your lips. You watch him undo it, forcing your eyes not to linger on the broad expanse of his chest and the lines of his abdomen, the ones that speak of discipline and a very serious excercise regimen.
You try especially hard not to stare at the two lines that converge under the band of his jeans — the lines that are shaped like a V and accented by the strip of dark hair that runs between them.
You press your lips together to spread the lipstick around, refusing to admit that your mouth is watering.
When you straighten, breathing shakily, he's already watching you in the mirror. You turn, trying to look as aloof as possible when you examine him.
Unfortunately, you know what the director wants. What people will want to see when next month's cover drops.
You sigh, stepping toward him. "These need to be lower," you mumble, hooking your fingers through his belt loops and ignoring when the muscles of his abdomen jump in surprise. You tug on his jeans, tug until the band of his underwear sits just under his hip bones and the jeans sit even lower.
When you glance at his face, there's a light blush sitting comfortably there.
"Now what?" he asks, his voice huskier than before.
You try your damn hardest to seem completely normal when you say—
"Now I kiss you."
Ushijima says nothing, just swallowing hard and looking away, his nod almost shy.
"Uhm," you start, looking around. "Okay. Sit here." You guide him to the vanity, forcing him to lean down onto it. "You're too tall."
He's still tall when he sits like this, and his legs are spread wide enough for you to step between them in a way that makes you feel funny.
"Okay," you breathe, more to yourself than to him. "Ready?"
He just nods again.
You place your hands on his chest and lean in, pressing your lips to his cheek.
He inhales hard, body shifting.
The next goes to his nose, and the next to his jaw.
When you press your lips to his throat, right over his pulse, he huffs out weakly. You feel a tug, realizing with a racing heart that he's hooked his fingers into the loops of your slacks, anchoring himself to you.
You keep going, mouth on each of his collarbones, over his heart, and down the planes of his chest. He's starting to breathe hard, his muscles twitching sporadically and his fingers holding tight to you.
When you drop to your knees to be able to get to his torso, his body jerks suddenly, and a sound falls past his lips.
Your brain goes blank, because Ushijima Wakatoshi's just moaned under his breath at the sight of you on your knees.
You stare at his stomach for a moment, watching it rise and fall sharply, and then your eyes flick up.
His face is burning red, and his eyes are glazed over, and he's looking down his nose at you like he's never looked at you before.
"Toshi?" you whisper. He curls his hands into tight fists, nails scratching on his jeans, and shuts his eyes.
"'m okay."
You can't catch your breath. "I don't think you are-"
"Keep going," he bites out, voice tense and strained. "Please."
Your hands find his thighs and you're sitting high on your knees before you even realize it's happening.
When your lips touch his abs, his fingers find your head, curling into your hair tight. Your heart pounds in your chest, your ears, your throat — everywhere.
The knot urges you to keep going. Tugs you down, down, down.
Your fingers curl into the band of his underwear, pulling it just low enough that a lipstick mark would peek out, right about—
You press your lips under his navel, just next to that patch of dark hair that's been on your mind this whole time.
"Ah, fuck-" He grips your hair tighter and keeps your mouth against his skin.
A shock of electricity washes over the crown of your head, turning your brain to static before flying down your spine. He's never sworn like that before. He's never sworn at all, actually.
When you pull away — when he lets you pull away — your face is burning and your ears are ringing and you can't feel your feet or your hands. And he looks exactly the same.
His chest heaves while he catches his breath, and he can only look down at you for a few seconds before his eyes are closing again and his head is leaning back against the mirror.
You stand, limbs numb and skin tingling.
"I-I have to-" You can't get it out. You can't say it.
He cracks his eyes open, gazing at you with a glazed-over expression, cheeks burning the most beautiful shade of pink.
He drops his eyes to your lips. "Okay."
The sound of his voice makes you shiver.
You step a little closer, tugging him by the open flaps of his shirt until he sits up, face right in front of yours.
"Stay still," you whisper. He just nods, eyelashes fluttering.
You cup his cheeks and lean in.
His lips are softer than you'd expected.
He listens to direction, staying perfectly still while you press the lipstick to his mouth. But he's breathing hard and his nails are scratching on his jeans again, and you're becoming lightheaded by the realization that this is happening.
This is happening.
You pull back, refusing to meet his eyes and just staring down at his mouth. A perfect imprint of your lips is plastered there, right on his.
It affects you more than you thought it would.
You take a single step back, panting. "Okay. I think you're-"
He wraps a hand around your wrist, yanking you back in.
The knot loosens.
Falls.
You melt into him, letting him do as he pleases. He tangles his fingers in your hair, holding you steady and pressing his lips hard against yours. His other hand finds your waist, dragging you close until you're draped over him.
You cling uselessly to him, tilting your head however he wants and pressing your body to his like he wants and opening your mouth when his tongue swipes along your lips, just like he wants. When his tongue slides across yours, you whimper his name and dig your nails into his thighs, overcome with desire.
With the need for more of him, because nothing has ever been enough for you. Not once in twenty years.
He grunts when your nails hurt, and suddenly you're being lifted and turned, your butt dropped on the vanity and your legs pried open by his. He towers over you, hands on the table on either side of you, and you can do nothing but wrap your arms around his neck and pull him closer.
He grabs your thighs, his hands big and warm and strong, and pulls them around his waist, stepping right up to you and lining his hips up flush with yours.
He's hard. You moan into his mouth, and he knows why.
The roll of his hips into yours makes you tremble, your breath choked out into his mouth when you whimper his name.
"Toshi," you try, nerves flipping over and over in your stomach. "We have to stop-" He jerks his hips forward, and you're embarrassed at the moan that falls out. "Please, Toshi. We can't do this here-"
"Need you," he breathes, and you're reminded of all the times, over all these weeks, that you've asked if he needed you and he's said no. He's said no, even though you know sometimes he really could have used your help.
He says it now. It scares you, because he must really mean it this time.
"Not-nngh-" He's pulling you closer, the bulge of jeans hitting that special spot you've been trying to avoid. "Not here, Toshi. Please."
There's a knock at the door.
Your blood freezes in your body.
You shove him back, watching as he barely moves, just staring down at you with heated eyes.
"Everything okay in there?" the director calls, and you can hear the smug edge in his voice.
Ushijima Wakatoshi has lipstick smeared all over his mouth.
You scramble off the vanity, searching for the tube of lipstick. "Y-Yes! He's almost done!" You snatch it off of the ground and turn to him, scrubbing your thumb across his mouth until the smudges are gone. And then you rush to put more lipstick on, your fingers trembling.
He stares down at you the entire time, eyes trained on your lips.
You pinch his arm, whispering "get it together" when he just lifts his brows, still distracted. And then you rise onto your tiptoes, pressing your lips hard against his.
It's still just as hard to pull away, even with someone waiting outside.
"Go," you urge, untangling yourself from the tight grip he has on you. "Go, Wakatoshi."
He listens this time, if only because you'd used his full name, and turns to leave.
You slump into the nearest chair once he's gone, staring down at nothing.
—
You avoid him.
You're not ashamed to admit that.
You avoid him, even though he calls and texts and knocks on your door at two in the morning. When the paparazzi ask if you've fought, he says no and that you're just not feeling well and he's worried. You feel relief, because he understands. Despite how confusing he is, he understands that this is important.
That this is between you and him and no one else.
Still, you avoid him.
For a week, you avoid him.
And then the Adlers win a game, and the coach calls for celebration and invites everyone to a new club that's just opened in town.
You have to go. It's your job.
—
"You can't stick by me the whole time!" Yachi yells in your ear.
"Yes, I can!" you yell back.
"I agree with Yachi!"
You turn, glaring up at Kageyama. He sips on his fruity cocktail, pleased with himself.
"Go away!"
"No!"
You bare your teeth at him, growling like a trapped animal. He just laughs in your face.
Yachi groans, tugging you close. "You have to talk to him! You guys humped in a dressing room like teenagers with ten years of pent up sexual energy. You can't avoid him!"
Your face burns, and you glance up at Kageyama. He looks just as embarrassed as you.
"Shut up, Kageyama."
His eyes are wide, offended. "I didn't even say anything!"
Yachi pushes his arm. "Go away, it's girl time!"
He narrows a glare at her, leaning down to match her height. "Fine," he says, his tone evil. "But I'm going to stand with Ushijima."
He's gone before you can pounce on him in a rage.
"Oh, my god," you whine, face buried in your hands. "I'm so done for. The world is gonna find out, and I'm gonna lose my job, and all his fans are going to send me death threats and egg my car-"
"Stop," Yachi says, shaking you. "You need to stop worrying about what the world has to say. None of them matter."
"I need a job! I need a career, and no one is going to hire me when they find out what I've done!"
"What have you done, Y/n?" she argues, lifting a single brow. "Fallen in love with the boy next door? Who just happens to be a celebrity athlete?"
You stare. "I'm not in love."
"Yes, you are."
You know you are. You know.
"Y/n, listen to me," she starts, grabbing you by the arms and holding you steady. "You can worry about the press and the fans and your job. But you're going to lose him." She turns you in the direction Kageyama's just gone.
He's standing with Ushijima, their heads bent together as they talk. Ushijima is saying something with a stoic face, but you can tell. You can see it in ways that no one else in this room can. You can tell by how fast his mouth is moving and how he's shifting his weight and how he keeps crossing and uncrossing his arms.
He's stressed. He's stressed and worried and anxious and everything you are, too.
"You're going to lose that boy next door," Yachi says in your ear. "And I don't care how much you complain about him. I know you won't be able to survive that."
Kageyama says something back.
Ushijima's face floods with heat, visible to you even from here. And then his eyes flick across the room, right to yours.
Only you can see how much he doesn't want to lose you, too.
Fuck.
"Okay," you mumble. "Okay."
She squeezes you. "Go get him." And then she giggles. "And try not to get caught."
You get the feeling she's not talking about holding hands.
Things haven't been that simple since you were ten.
Your feet carry you across the room, but you don't move toward him. You drift off to the side, toward a long hallway that can only lead somewhere more private than this crowded club.
When you meet his eyes, halfway there, you can see he understands. Nothing about his face changes, but you just know.
You should have figured this out years ago.
You shut yourself inside a single-user bathroom, pacing the small room and shaking your hands out. The club music pounds all around you, and you can barely hear yourself think.
He doesn't knock. He just pushes the door open with his shoulder and shoves it closed, leaning back against it and staring down at you, like that night in his bedroom.
The space between you is completely silent. Just muted club music and your breathing, harsh and sharp.
You cross the room in two steps, like he had that night. Push up onto your toes and wrap your hands around his neck, yank him close. Just like he'd done to you less than a week ago.
He tastes like Kageyama's fruity cocktail.
Your back hits the opposite wall, and you're lifted right off your feet, Ushijima's hips pinning you in place.
"I'm sorry," you pant. He just shakes his head. "I shouldn't have avoided you." His hands are everywhere, on your waist and your thighs and the skirt of your dress, shoving it up and out of his way. "Toshi, please-"
"I know," he bites, strained and hoarse. "I know. Just-" He groans when you arch your chest into him and spread your legs wider so he can fit better. "Please."
You shiver, nodding. "Okay," you breathe. "Okay."
When he slips his hand between your legs and tugs your panties to the side, your heart slams against your chest and throat.
Your throat, which hasn't felt the knot tighten in a week.
The press of his tip past your entrance empties you of everything but him and makes you realize you might never feel the knot again.
He'd untied it.
The stretch of your walls around him makes him moan, low and deep into your mouth, and you can only pant out ragged breaths. Your eyes roll back in your head, and your brain fills with static, and the sound of your name falling past his lips yanks you close to the edge, all too fast. When he throbs inside of you, you realize he's right there with you.
All too fast, because this moment is twenty years in the making.
"I'm sorry," he grunts. "I'm close, I'm sorry."
"Me, too," you pant. "Please, Toshi."
He seems embarrassed, because it hasn't even been a minute. It hasn't even been a minute.
He drives his hips up against yours, frantically trying to hold you closer and last longer and show you that this means something to him. But you can't lie, the fact that he's like this is only yanking you closer to the edge, because it means he's desperate, and you've never seen Ushijima Wakatoshi feel desperate about a single thing in his life.
The pieces fall into place.
"What's wrong with being serious about you?"
"I go where you go."
"I thought I was clear that night."
"I can't sleep."
"You won't be here when I get back."
"Y/n is my best friend. Always has been."
"Keep going. Please."
Oh.
Oh.
"I love you, Toshi," you whimper, burying your face in his neck. A sob falls out, and you cling tighter. "I love you."
He shudders, gripping you tighter. "What?"
"I love you," you cry, lifting up to grab him by the face and press your mouth to his. "Wakatoshi."
He gasps, and his hips still, and you feel warm.
Warm around him, warm with him.
The edge feels warm when you fall.
"Y/n."
Your name, nothing more.
You know what he means.


















