Kat's Ultimate MUST READ All time Favorite Ushiten Fic Rec Extravaganza
I don't know what it is about these two that has me in a chokehold, but I'm so in love with their relationship. I love a good weirdo x weirdo dynamic, and Ushiten checks off all the boxes for me. I feel as though I've read every single Ushiten fic on Ao3, and so I figured I'd put all of my favorites together in one list for easy access. I've read all the fics below multiple times, and yet they continuously haunt me because of how well written they are.
Canon High School Fics:
1. An Unremarkable Proposal
It's a completely unremarkable Thursday afternoon, and Tendou would have been happy passing the day making out with his boyfriend and never remembering a single thing about it. You know, if Ushijima hadn't suddenly declared that he wanted to marry him.
2. For Luck
the squeeze of a shoulder before a match becomes the brush of hands becomes the soft whisper of lips on a cheek becomes the wet warmth of lips sliding against lips.
âFor luck.â
Or, the lie that the kisses are for luck can only last so long.
3. Tending to a Wounded Heart
"Now, Iwaizumi-san, while I am flattered by your interest and must admit youâre very attractive, I must inform you my heart belongs to another, and Iâm not sure your dear captain Oikaw-â Satori wasnât even able to finish his jest, as a fuming Iwaizumi interrupted him. A blush blooming from his hairline down to his neck.
âIâM NOT HITTING ON YOU, DUMBASS!â
...
After being discovered in the midst of breakdown in the bathroom of Seijoh, Tendou Satori strikes up an unusual friendship with Iwaizumi who seems keen on helping Tendou navigate his own unrequited feelings, despite ignoring his own.
All the while Tendou's teammates are becoming more and more concerned with their blocker's new behavior and mysterious texting buddy.
4. Unforgivable Acts
All Ushijima has to do is apologize for punching a rival school kid in the face, and everything will clear up. Unfortunately, that would require him to admit that defending Tendou was wrong, and he will not do that.
5. Monster
First year Tendou has braces and a lisp. Ushijima is very gay.
6. rainwater
If rain brings Tendou joy, then Ushijimaâs happy for him. Itâs not something heâll ever come to personally understand, and heâs certain that heâll never share the same enthusiasm for water falling from the sky. Rainwater serves a few good purposes, namely helping plants grow and offering moisture to dry land. But Ushijima doesnât need to be watered. Maybe Tendou does, though that wouldnât necessarily make sense to Ushijima.
Unsurprising, because not much about Tendou makes sense to Ushijima in the first place. He supposes it doesnât have to; he appreciates his friendship regardless, but he does wonder sometimes what it must be like to occupy the same headspace as him.
7. Imperfect Facial Symmetry
Tendou Satori has learned to live with the fact that he doesn't have what anyone would consider an attractive face. This wouldn't normally bother him, except now detail-oriented, perfect Ushijima is analyzing his face and producing every overly apparent, crooked flaw in precise graphite strokes.
Ushijima has learned to live with the fact that he doesn't have the ability to read faces, attractive or not. But there's something about Tendou's that he can't put his finger on. He simply cannot get the drawing right.
8. You're really pushing it (but you're going much too slowly)
"Ow, my fingers." Tendou's face contorts into a mock expression of anguish, but there's too much amusement in his brows for Wakatoshi to be fooled. He doesn't let go and instead half-drags the blocker off to the side. But Tendou is not so easily thwarted.
"Wakatoshi-kun! Ow! That hurts!" he squawks evilly, playing dirty by getting Coach Washijou's attention.
"Ushijima! What are you doin' over there?"
Wakatoshi lets go like Tendou's hands are on fire. "Nothing. Sorry."
Post - Canon:
1. bonjour, notre paradis
âYouâre telling me,â Tendou says, once Wakatoshi finally gets him on a video call, âthat you got drunk as hell, asked Hinata Shouyouâof all people!âif you should go to Paris immediately after announcing that you used to hate him, somehow managed to correctly book a flight despite your clearly impaired decision-making, and then shut your damn phone off after texting me?â
Wakatoshi nods. âThat about sums it up.â
//
Japan loses to Argentina in the Olympics. Ushijima Wakatoshi losesâand findsâhis way forward.
2. Just Wanna Get A Little Bit Closer
When Ushijima agreed to the photoshoot for a sportswear brand he favors, he didn't think he'd be modeling with his ex. They haven't seen each other in years, not since he broke up with Tendou in an airport and sent the other man back to France, both nursing broken hearts.
(He also didn't think he'd end the day fucking his ex in a bathroom, but no one ever called Ushijima a prophet.)
3. The Elusive Blush of Ushijima Wakatoshi
The first time that Tendou made Ushijima blush was before they started dating.
The second time that Tendou made Ushijima blush was two years after his unplanned confession.
The third time that Tendou made Ushijima blush was on accident, half a decade after his previous success.
.........................................................................
In the entire time that he had known him, Tendou Satori had only managed to make one Ushijima Wakatoshi blush a total of 5 times.
A story of the 5 times that Tendou made Ushijima blush + 1 time that he didn't need to.
4. All For the Love of An Energetic Redhead
Hinata is in Brazil. Tendou is in France.
Kageyama and Ushijima get drunk and make bad decisions about it.
5. polaroids & proposals
Wakatoshi pauses with the huge gift in his lap, hand hovering above its crudely tied bow.
âWanna guess what it is first?â Satori rocks in place, cross-legged on the floor.
âHmm,â Wakatoshi looks down at Satori from his spot on the chair, then back at the gift. His eyes are narrow in deep thought, âis it the set of luggage we saw at the store last week? I believe I mentioned needing a new set.â
âOooh, maybe~â Satori bites his lip, anticipation giving him a slight stomach ache, âguess youâll find out!â
Itâs definitely not a set of luggage. Not even close.
6. the language of belonging
After the camera crew and interviewer bids them goodbye, Satori takes them back to his apartment.
âWhy do you feel bad?â Wakatoshiâs hand settles against Satoriâs thigh. Jesus. Fucking. Christ. âYou have many friends, Satori. To you, our friendship is likely not as important. To me, you were the first person who wanted to know me, save for, perhaps, Sakusa. You made me feel âŚâ He seems to struggle with his words for a moment, before he dips his head a little. Satori marvels at the clear sign of embarrassment. âYou made me feel less weird. I never had many friends, and I still donât. You were my first best friend.â
Suffice to say, Satori is speechless.
Outsider Pov:
1. The Mystery of Ushijima Wakatoshiâs Chocolate-Making, Paris-Living Boyfriend
Ushijima having a boyfriend who lives in Paris and makes chocolates isnât impossible.
But it is a little unbelievable.
Or, five times someone asked about Ushijimaâs love life, and one time no one needed to.
2. The years shall run like rabbits
Ushijimaâs mother is not sure what to make of the man her son brings home: heâs too loud, too particular, too fond of her son in a way she thinks is rather inappropriate.
Or, Ushijima Akemi watches her sonâs relationship with Tendou change over the years and finds herself changing with it.
Alternate Universes:
1. a lesson in vulcan mineralogy
Tendou is sitting in the captainâs chair.
2. died in my dreams
If anyone asked Ushijima how it came to this, he wouldnât be able to formulate a proper answer
Or, Ushijima likes his quiet, his order, and his solitude.
That is, until a loud, talkative and a little chaotic cyber tech convinces him that that's just plain boring.
3. Executive Excursion
Tendou is fun, quirky, and interesting.Ushijima is none of the above.
It's no surprise that Ushijima is drawn to Tendou's magnetic personality. What's surprising is that Tendou seems to like Ushijima, too.
With a little support from his coworkers, Ushijima decides to take a chance and ask Tendou on a date. The results are better than expected.
4. Tendou's Bakery for Wayward Soulmates
According to common knowledgeâand quite a few highly reputable textbooksâthere exist in the universe three kinds of soulbonds: those that manifest spontaneously, those that people are born with, and those that stay hidden until their potential is revealed.
Some soulmates connect easily and instantaneously. But other soulbonds prove to be more stubborn. These bonds require a bit more effortâŚa certain amount of coaxing before they finally appear.
For those unruly, obstinate souls, there is Tendouâs Bakery for Wayward Soulmates.
5. say what you mean (I wanna be with you)
Good morning, Wakatoshi-kun! Isnât it such a beautiful autumn day today?
They chatted every day before class; Tendou vivid and excitable, Ushijima muted, but still enjoying himself. Except today, when Tendou had sprinted into class just moments before the lecture began, his cheeks flushed with exertion. He flashed Ushijima a bright smile as he slid into his seat, opened his mouth to say something, and was promptly cut off by the start of the lecture.
Not to be deterred, Tendou had written a note instead.
Ushijima feels silly. It takes him a while to decide on a response that doesnât make him feel even sillier.
Yes, it is a nice day.
Or: 5 times Ushijima couldnât make sense of the notes Tendou wrote to him in class + 1 time when it finally clicked.
6. The Tendou Incidents
âWhere...have you come from?â Ushijima manages.
âParis.â
Itâs not the answer he expects. Though, somehow Paris seems to fit his expectations of the man standing in front of him. âMm. That is very â â
â â Exciting? Glamorous?â the redhead prompts, obviously proud of his globetrotting accomplishment.
â â Far.â
The man falters for the first time, like he finds Ushijimaâs answer odd â despite being even odder himself â and laughs, infectious and hearty, like Ushijima has made some sort of joke.
One fateful day, a colorful, painfully extroverted young man named Tendou Satori moves into the unit above Ushijima's apartment. He's odd, presumptuous, and â most egregious of all â he's shockingly noisy. And the quiet, scheduled routine Ushijima Wakatoshi lives is forever altered.
7. Consecutive Failures
The moment Tendou presents as an omega he knows Ushijima is the one for him, he just has a few issues telling Ushijima that.
Or
The five times Tendou fails to confess and the one time Ushijima does.
8. everything was red
Ushijima brings it up to his mother exactly once, the strange boy who appears in his room at night.
She tells him that it sounds like he has an imaginary friend, and that at nine years old isnât he a little bit old for this kind of thing?
He doesnât bring it up again, though later that night he tells Tendou and Tendouâs eyes go bright, his smile sharp and pointed like a shark.
âDo you think Iâm imaginary, Wakatoshi-kun?â
9. Don't bother checking my work (i've never cared for math anyway)
It isnât until Shirabuâs back at LOCCENT that it really sinks in. Forty-eight wins? An impressive number, true, and a definite sign of Ushijimaâs strength, especially compared to Tendou. But in anyone else, an unbalanced score like that would indicate a depressingly low chance of drift compatibility.
Drifting with Ushijima was simple statistically, but potentially deadly realistically. And drifting with Tendou? A veritable nightmare. If not for Washijouâs insistence, Shirabu would have dropped him long ago.
Still, something is calling to him. Something beyond numbers and data projections.
Because Ushijima may have knocked Tendou down forty-eight times. But that means there were forty-nine times he got back up.
10. Day Shift (Night Shift)
Every day, Ushijima Wakatoshi sits down at his nondescript, generic grey cubicle, ready to do sports education work for the JVA.
Every day, there is a letter waiting for him from someone who works on the night shift.
Ushijima doesnât know who it is. But he always writes back.
11. ENDINGS/BEGINNINGS
New beginnings come only at the cost of other endings. The two cannot survive together. It is not a symbiotic relationship; it is a mutually destructive one.
On the cusp of achieving all of his dreams, professional volleyball player and one time Olympic medalist Ushijima Wakatoshi goes down. One wrong landing, one torn ACL.
In the blink of an eye, his future collapses. His volleyball career ends.
His coach tells him: itâs all over.
His father tells him: Nothing is meant to last forever. Once you learn to let one door close, another will open.
Now Ushijima, aged 24, has to somehow learn how to begin again. He doesnât know where to start, or if he even wants to. That's where Tendou Satori comes in.
If you've reached this point, I am very impressed lol!
