— satori went to support the girls’ team and accidentally found the love of his life performing volleyball exorcisms on the court.
tendō satori x middle blocker!f!reader | fluff | request
i’ll be changing my layout soon, just because :P
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
there were many things tendō expected from a casual thursday. a nice cafeteria pudding. maybe a good serve or two during morning practice. definitely another round of teasing goshiki until the first year dramatically threatened to “show him what he’s made of” (never actually did).
what he didn’t expect was to fall in love at approximately 3:27 p.m., somewhere between a flawless quick set and a perfectly timed block that sent the opposing team’s ace crying into her towel.
because holy shit, you were terrifying.
“she’s like me,” tendō whispered, eyes wide, clutching the edge of the bleachers like he’d just seen a miracle.
semi snorted. “you mean loud and a little scary?”
“no,” tendō breathed, grinning so wide it almost hurt. “i mean perfect.”
ushijima hummed beside him, arms crossed, expression unbothered. “her technique is strong. she reads the attacker well.”
“reads? she saw into that girl’s soul!” tendō said, voice pitching high. “i swear she knew exactly where she was going to spike before she even breathed. it’s like— it’s like watching a psychic battle but with kneepads!”
shirabu sighed, flipping through his phone. “you’re being dramatic again.”
but tendō wasn’t listening. his entire body leaned forward, red hair catching the gym lights, eyes never leaving you. every time you jumped—every time your hand met the ball with that snap that echoed through the gym—his heart stuttered like a poorly timed set.
he was gone. fully, entirely, tragically gone.
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
you were chaos incarnate on court. laughing after blocks, making little hand gestures to your setter like some secret code, and celebrating every point like you’d just won olympic gold. but then—then you’d go all serious when you read the opposing team’s formation, eyes narrowing, body loose and ready. tendō recognized it instantly: that sharp, unpredictable focus. that thrill of the game.
and maybe, deep down, he recognized a piece of himself too.
when the whistle blew, announcing your team’s victory, tendō clapped like a maniac. the rest of the boys followed, though goshiki did it mostly because semi elbowed him into it.
“we’re going to meet her,” tendō said suddenly, standing.
“we are?” semi asked, eyebrow raised.
“yes. i’m gonna get her number.”
“you don’t even know her name.”
“minor detail!” tendō waved, already hopping down the bleachers like a redheaded cartoon character fueled by unfiltered adrenaline.
ushijima followed at a steady pace (“someone should supervise”), goshiki trailed behind whispering “senpai’s got game, right?” like a mantra, and shirabu trudged along with the face of a man who regretted every decision leading to this moment.
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
you were toweling sweat from your face when you heard the footsteps—then saw them. the boys’ volleyball team. the tall, terrifying legends of shiratorizawa. and in the middle of them, one bright-eyed redhead who looked like he’d just discovered religion.
“hi!” he chirped, too loudly. “you’re amazing! like, freakishly amazing. are you human? i mean, you play like a divine cryptid.”
you blinked. “uh. thanks?”
ushijima nodded solemnly. “you performed well.”
“yeah,” semi added with a grin. “i think our middle blocker just fell in love.”
tendō didn’t even deny it. “i did. hi. i’m tendō satori. full-time middle blocker, part-time psychic. i think we’re soulmates.”
goshiki gasped audibly. shirabu groaned audibly.
“uhh,” you said, face hot, still clutching your towel like a shield. “that’s… fast.”
“so was your reaction time on that quick set!” tendō countered. “see? we already have something in common.”
semi choked on his laughter. goshiki looked at tendō like he was witnessing the birth of a new species.
but tendō didn’t waver. his grin softened a little, voice dropping into something a bit less manic, a bit more real. “seriously though, you’re incredible. you read players like a storybook. i’ve never seen someone so in sync with the court.”
you blinked again, surprised by the sincerity tucked beneath the chaos. “thank you, really. that means a lot coming from—” you glanced up, eyes flicking to his jersey. “—from the famous tendō satori.”
his brain short-circuited. “you know who i am.”
“everyone knows you,” you teased lightly. “you’re kind of impossible to miss.”
semi muttered, “he’s going to explode.”
he almost did. tendō clasped his hands dramatically. “then it’s destiny. we have to hang out sometime. for science. to test the psychic connection between two middle blockers who are clearly meant to block out the sun together.”
ushijima nodded, because to him, that sounded perfectly reasonable. “that seems logical.”
shirabu pinched the bridge of his nose. “you’re all insane.”
you laughed—an honest, full laugh—and tendō swore the gym lights flickered for a moment, like the universe itself couldn’t handle how pretty it sounded.
“fine,” you said, smiling. “you can have my number. but only if you promise not to use it for weird experiments.”
“no promises!” he said immediately, but his hands trembled a little as you took his phone. he was trying to play it cool—keyword trying—but his heart was doing backflips, and he could feel semi watching with the smuggest grin known to man.
you typed your number, saved it under your name with a little volleyball emoji, and handed it back.
“so… text me?”
“i’m gonna text you so hard,” tendō blurted before realizing how that sounded. “wait—no—uh, not like that! i mean—like, consistently! with enthusiasm! not in a weird way, just a totally normal, maybe slightly romantic but definitely respectful way—”
“you’re cute,” you said simply, and he froze.
he blinked. then blinked again. then looked at semi as if to confirm he hadn’t hallucinated it.
“she said i’m cute,” he whispered.
semi nodded. “she did.”
“she said i’m cute.”
“yes.”
“holy shit.”
ushijima patted his shoulder like a proud father. “good job.”
goshiki was already vibrating. “senpai! you did it! teach me your ways!”
“step one: be born weird,” tendō said dreamily. “step two: fall in love with a volleyball goddess.”
you laughed again, shaking your head. “i’ll see you around, tendō.”
“you will! i’ll make sure of it. not in a creepy way, just in a fate-has-already-written-this-in-the-stars kind of way!”
and somehow, the ridiculousness only made you smile wider.
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
that night, he couldn’t stop thinking about you. the way you grinned after every point, the way your hair caught the light, the way your laugh made something warm and reckless bloom in his chest.
he texted you at exactly 9:03 p.m.
tendō 🧠: hey hey hey! psychic experiment #1: can you feel me smiling right now?
paradise: i can feel the chaos through my screen
tendō 🧠: success!! you are the one!
semi, visiting his dorm to read some of his manga, groaned into his book. “you’ve known her for five hours.”
“five hours of eternal devotion,” tendō murmured, eyes soft, thumbs tapping another message.
tendō 🧠: i can’t wait to see you block someone again. it was like art. violent, beautiful art.
you replied with a heart emoji and a lol, and he nearly combusted.
he spent the rest of the night staring at your contact name, rereading your single heart emoji like it was scripture.
somewhere outside, the campus lights flickered. maybe it was nothing. or maybe it was the world shifting a little, just enough to make room for something new.
tendō didn’t know. he just knew that the next time he saw you, he was bringing flowers. probably purple ones. maybe a stuffed volleyball with googly eyes.
whatever it took to make you smile again.
and if his heart beat a little too fast every time he thought of your laugh—well, that was just part of the experiment.
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
♡‧₊˚✧ ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა ✧˚₊‧♡
a: a ton of followers have been sending me oikawa and gojo edits on tiktok 🤑
wc: 1.1k
content warning: post-timeskip, established relationship, smut, boyfffiee tendou x reader, he a bit whiny :3 , bring back fingers in mouths, not proofread, NNN cummin 2 an endd
° ˚ ° ◦ . ♪
"can't believe you actually put up with it this month" you laughed, sitting on tendou's bulge.
mid makeout sesh with your boyfriend, you can't help but pull back to see the little predicament you've put tendou in with his slightly swollen lips and fingers burying themselves into your waist.
"w-well, i have have to beat semi..." tendou's voice rasps, "...heck, he probably already lost nnn and lies about keeping his streak."
yuuup... tendou just had to have a little friendly competition with one of his highschool pals, semi—and it just so happens to be the most inconvenient time for you to have a driest of the dry drought spell cast upon you.
even though you two have been making out and doing all that like tendou fingering you and eating you out, it terribly made you feral for cock. you're not just talking like a dildo or anything, but tendou's cock.
it was like you were counting the days till new year waiting for november to be over so this stupid challenge could end, better yet if semi could confess to jacking off and losing so you could get tendou to fuck you like the horndog you were.
"he prolly—already, f-fucked—his girl," tendou hot lips glued kissed between your words as you panted them out one by one.
"okay.. me next s-satorii" you sinfully whispered before pulling him for a teasing peck on the lips.
gosh, he couldn't wait any longer. afterall he's damn near the finishline, november 30.. just a few hours before the clock strikes midnight. as long as you two keep it under wraps from semi, right?
"...just don't tell semi, babe" tendou breathes on your neck before charging in, littering his faint but reddish marks all over.
head back as he submits into your primal urges, you can't help but rock your hips into his hard erection. working off your shirt, tendou's filled with impatience seeing the way your tits are so perked up and pretty in their lacy cups—exactly how you planned to end off november with your boyfriend.
it was like the moment his eyes landed on how gorgeous you looked in the moment made his dick twitch from underneath. Obviously, you two weren't getting enough action this whole month down there. at this point you already knew what to do.
drawing a hand down, you unclothed his cock to reveal his fully erected length that glistened with precum. your mouth practically drooled from the corners of your lips while you dragged his length up and down with your palm. the wetness of his precum made it easy to manage, followed by the subtle lewd sounds escaping from within your two simmering bodies.
"ah.. shit. i might just cum in that—p-pretty lil hand of yours" he murmured with his head tilted back, "wanna fuck you so bad."
"save it for when you're in me" lustfully you snickered, stopping right in your tracks leaving him heaving for air.
quickly, you ripped your pants off your lower body and got right back into his lap with your fingers pulling your panties to the side. guiding the head of his cock, you slid it between your sopping folds to feel the slight relief knowing that you were about to enter pound town—just preparing him for a smooth entrance.
"gooood, i can't take it anymore" tendou whined, laying a firm slap on your asscheek, impatiently watching you coat his rod in your essence, "should i just cum right now to make it easier for you?"
"satori, hold o-o—on, hngh..!" you rolled your eyes the minute you got the taste of his tip entering and stretching out your aching hole.
or maybe you just entered the lord's pearly gates of heaven because damn.. it was like he was splitting you in half, or at least in the best way possible cause he got you arching like you have never arched before. whatever dry spell drought thing you were on was basically oozing and drenched now that you've got him.
desperate for more, tendou's got a bruising grip holding onto that waist of yours, pushing you all the way down to the base of his cock where both of your trimmed hairs meet. jeez, he'd cum right on the spot if it weren't for his dignity the moment.
"f-fuuck!" screaming at the top of your lungs while you cried joyous tears, slowly move up, "y'feel so—g-good."
if you wanted to snap his cock in half, you really would've if it weren't for his tight grip on your waist that held you. could've been from all the waiting, but your walls were quite literally sucking him in like never before as your plush grip molded to his size.
lord this shit was so much better than his just fingers—yet his tongue that would do everything to ruin your clit. his cock was like shredding you down to your bear parts as you bounced up and down with your tits jiggling to the movement.
the slapping noises? yeah, they was loudd like the way you two was fucking. that sopping cunt of yours left him speechless and heaving for air as he still held in his orgasm to cum with you. all tendou could do was whine and hold onto your waist, failing to support the frequency you fucked him at.
your moans were no match for the lewd wet noises your cunt made whenever you rutted onto him. your voices echoed in the room, mixing into the heat and smell of sex that waved in the air as you held onto his broad shoulders for more support.
"ss—shi-t, babe.. i c-can't aanymore," tendou groaned between raggedy breaths, feeling his balls get rapidly heavy and swell.
"cuum i-inside, satori" hand caressing his face, slipping your thumb between his lips as his tongue played with your finger.
four, five, six—six.. no, seven bounces in before you felt his fiery hot tip shoot his hot milky cum inside you. aanddd, nope. you didn't stop, but rather kept going till you milked all of his cum out of him. and yes, he kept it cumming till he was all out.
"nngh.. satori, i wa—want more" whimpering as you continue to fiddle with his tongue, watching his eyes roll to the back of his head.
all of that anticipation stored up in his balls was now able to finally be released, filling you to the absolute brim like a turkey getting filled with stuffing.
and let's just say, you lasted till midnight... and technically he didn't expose the fact that he didn't last throughout nnn because all of his cum was inside you till the clock struck december 1st.
content. 508 wc | teasing | secret relationships | making out | quickie in a closet | shy!reader | goshiki appearance | dirty little secret, light manipulation | golden retriever x black cat trope | lightly smutty fluff
Tendou didn't even need to sprint to the gym. He was already ten minutes late. Another minute or so of meandering back wouldn't change how royally fucked he was or had brutal the afternoon would be.
The team was in the last stage of warm-ups when he walked in, grin plastered on his guilty face.
Your scrunchy around his wrist stood as incriminating evidence. It rendered zero need for a verbal excuse.
The scariest part about Coach Washijo's reaction was that he didn't yell.
"Lu-cky girl..." Coach sang as Tendou slammed his body into the gym floor-- six laps of diving drills later. The sweat was helping him slide better, at this point.
"Was she..." --S l a m !! "Worth it?"
All he could do was laugh through it. In his head- even he wasn't crazy enough to laugh out loud at his Coach.
"Mmnh!" He swallowed, shoes squeaking as he went for another but was stopped. He looked down at an expectant face.
"O-h," A moment of hesitation, catching his breath to deliver a strong, smiley, "Yessir-!"
"Wrong!"
Coach tsked at his dumbfounded expression and just shook his head. If Tendou wasn't going to regret his lack of discipline, the only thing left to do was waste the rest of his practice time by sending him across the court, line to line.
"Again!"
It was a long afternoon. Tendou stumbled home wobbly and weak, but not empty-handed.
When you heard about the treatment- more like torture- that he endured at practice, you felt like you could sink right to the floor in heavy puddle shame.
"Oh my god..." You groaned, hugging your pillow.
Goshiki, deep in his recollection of Tendou's one-on-one conditioning, snickered on the other side of the phone.
"I just wanna know..." He bit his nails, leaning, with baited breath, "What were you doing?"
Your head bolted up, brows furrowed tight.
"Nothing!" You felt your face grow hot.
Stolen, messy, tongue-forward kisses behind the barely open door of a supply closet were certainly not nothing. His chilled fingertips, making you squeal and squirm closer into his shirt kept you up late that night. Grumbly crackles of laughter tingling against your hot skin, giving way into moans that stopped short of soft lips, the same ones sucking dark marks into your shaky thighs-- oh, that was certainly something.
How you had to go home with your hair a legitimate mess and missing your favorite pair of panties? Yeah, it wasn't nothing, but... it had to be. For the time being.
Guys from your school's volleyball team, specifically starters, were notoriously not allowed to date. Tendou faced being kicked from the lineup if you ever went public.
"C'mon, (Y/n)..." He groans, always and forever one for hot gossip. You knew better; anything you say would be grounds for the entire Shiratorizawa team's common knowledge.
You insist, sitting up, breath hot through your nostrils, face contorted strangely by your bold lies, "Literally nothing, Goshi."
"No dude pulls up smiling to Coach Washijo's Wednesday practices!"
"Well-- he's not a dude. He's-," You search around with your hands, hopelessly trying to find descriptors, but you end up shrugging, and settling on, "He's Tendou."
Restless quiet in the receiver supports your point. Yeah, he'd pull up to a losing match grinning ear-to-ear, provided he saw his favorite beetle outside on the pavement.
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Ი𐑼 postnote. this WAS part of a request, but a buffed it out to be a short little thing and a little nastier. :P
Tendou Satori x fem!archer! reader
Words: 12.7K
Summary: You are completely and utterly enarmored with Shiratorizawa's middle blocker. However he doesn't seem to accept this.
A/N: I tried to make the reader "neutral looking" however some features snuck in e.g. wears make up, some muscles or is smaller than Tendou. I think at some point I wrote that she blushed and that her cheeks were red. Also pretty sure, he's got a bit OOC but I don't care, I'm a sucker for soft!Tendou.
Don't like it, don't read it, you've been warned.
When your friend asked you if you wanted to watch the game with her, you wanted to say no. You had nothing against the sport itself and understood the basic rules, but volleyball had never particularly appealed to you, at least not enough to voluntarily spend your Saturday afternoon in a stuffy, hot gym surrounded by sweaty men smashing balls at each other's heads.
However, you had always been bad at saying ‘no’ to Sonoko's wishes, which is why you were now sitting squeezed between people you didn't know, dressed in white and purple clothes, feeling a little out of place in your green jumper, as this was the colour of the opposing team. "You should have said something," you muttered to Sonoko, tugging at the hem of your top, but it was too loud and your friend was too busy ogling the captain of your school team to listen to your complaint.
At that very moment, she let out a jubilant cheer when the captain once again sank a serve into the opponent's court – a “service ace”, as you had learned, and now the fourth in a row. You joined in her cheering, albeit with slightly less enthusiasm, because even though you couldn't understand her fondness for the rigid guy, you had to admit that the power and precision behind his shot were impressive, even in your eyes.
It was now 10:03 for Shiratorizawa after just a few minutes, so you didn't complain any further about your stay; you probably wouldn't be sitting here much longer anyway. You could therefore make the most of this afternoon and cheer on your school team.
Ushijima stood behind the service line again, took a short breath before tossing the ball into the air and catapulting it over the net with such force that your arms ached just watching.
But suddenly something else demanded your attention, something you hadn't expected. You had entered the gym today with the expectation of watching Ushijima Wakatoshi out of solidarity with your friend Sonoko.
You had been prepared to watch Ushiwaka.
But then he moved.
The opposing attacker jumped into the air and swung his arm to strike the ball quickly and powerfully into an open corner of the court. A gasp went through the hall and even you held your breath. The ball should have gone through. But at that very moment, in a fraction of a second and much faster than you could see, faster than it should be possible to move, a red shadow rushed along the net and a large figure jumped up at the net, right where the ball should have crossed.
Hands up.
Perfect timing.
Impact.
There was a sharp crack as the ball bounced off the young man's hands and fell vertically to the ground in the opponent's court, faster than anyone could have reacted. The crowd fell silent in surprise before erupting into cheers. But you were blind and deaf to everything around you. All you could hear was the blood rushing through your ears from your wildly beating heart. All you could see? Him.
He landed light-footedly on the ground, arms still raised and a grin so large on his face that it would have looked grotesque on anyone else, whereas on him it simply suited him. His red hair stuck slightly damp to his forehead as his teammates patted him approvingly on the shoulder and back.
He threw his head back and laughed triumphantly, and for a brief moment, despite the distance, you thought you could see the expression in his eyes – mischievous, alert. Alive. A tingling sensation settled deep in your stomach, and you had the feeling that the warmth radiating from your cheeks could be felt all the way down to the court.
“Who's that?” Your voice was abnormally hoarse, but Sonoko didn't seem to notice, as she was still far too focused on Ushijima.
“Huh?”
“Him.” You pointed to the red-haired blocker, who was now standing in front of the net again, waiting for his teammate to deliver another hard serve over the net.
“Oh, that? That's Tendou Satori. He's kind of creepy, but he's a monster on the court.” She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “He's also known as the “Guess Monster” to many. Apparently, he blocks based on instinct, not on a system or knowledge. And he's almost always right.”
You only listened with half an ear, as you couldn't take your eyes off him for a second. It was as if he magnetically attracted your gaze. While Ushiwaka drew attention to himself with loud bangs, Tendou managed to steal your attention with ease – without even trying.
You watched as he patted one of the younger players on the back after a misstep, eliciting a timid smile, and how he leaned on Ushiwaka as if he didn't have a single bone in his body, saying something that made the stone-faced guy at least twitch the corner of his mouth. And then, when the whistle blew and the team captain prepared to serve, his entire body assumed a different posture – still relaxed, but alert, sharp and calculating beneath the chaos he displayed, his gaze focused on nothing but the ball.
He didn't just guess where the ball was going – he read, learned and moved before anyone else could even think about it.
It was safe to say that you were completely and utterly smitten with him.
“He's not creepy,” you whispered as you leaned closer to the barrier separating you from the field. “He's beautiful.” This caught Sonoko's attention. She slowly turned around and stared at you as if you had just told her that you wanted to move to Peru to work as a nun in the mountains.
‘'Eh?’’ She stared at you as if you had lost your mind, but you didn’t care. Your focus was on Tendou, who at that very moment slammed another ball to the ground. The hall vibrated with the voices of the crowd and you felt like your heart was about to jump out of your chest. He wasn't just good – you had never seen anyone in your life move like that. Fluid, accurate, sharp – fast and unpredictable.
‘'Sonoko. I think I'm in love.”
“EHHH-?!”
~**~
‘‘You were fantastic!’’ Tendou paused, the bottle at his mouth, and slowly turned to the side where you appeared. A big smile on your face, cheeks red with excitement, hands clenched into fists as if to support your enthusiasm.
‘‘Hi?” Tendou blinked and lowered the bottle, somewhat confused. He knew who you were, you were the captain of the girl’s archery club; he had seen you often enough on the school grounds, completely unaware of his existence, always surrounded by a crowd of other students. What he didn't know was why you were standing in front of him and talking to him. "It was really breathtaking! I've never seen anything so impressive!” You seemed so excited that he wondered if you were about to take off. “'Your blocks? I've never seen anyone move so fast and so precisely! Often, I didn't even notice you were there until the ball had already hit the ground! Wow!”'
To hide his lingering confusion, he ran his fingers through his hair and lifted his chin.
“Of course I was fantastic. I'm always fantastic. Especially when our opponents are such incredibly bad players, they were really—”'
‘'Do you have a girlfriend?’’ Tendou choked on nothing and had to cough and pound his chest to catch his breath. ‘'What?!’’ You, however, showed no reaction, but continued to look up at him, eyes wide open, cheeks now even redder than before. ‘'I asked if you have a girlfriend?’’ For a few moments, he just stared at her, not even blinking. She couldn’t be serious! ... Or could she?
His thoughts raced at a thousand miles an hour until he came up with an explanation that had to be the only logical one. His expression darkened, he narrowed his eyes and looked down at you with almost contempt. ‘“Ushiwaka has no interest in relationships."
You blinked. Your smile slipped from your face and you slowly lowered your fists. “What?”
“Ushiwaka doesn’t want anything from anyone, neither his fans nor you. So it’s best to just leave it at that, okay?” He pulled a face, laughed sneeringly and turned his back on you to stow his bottle in his bag.
"I've been through this enough times, I really don't feel like it right now. Really. So could you please not ruin my mood after the game and get lost?" Tendou gave you a dismissive look over his shoulder that intimidated most people, but it didn't deter you. On the contrary, you took a step closer, your mouth drawn into a straight line in indignation.
“I don't want anything from him. Really, I don't! Why would I do that? Otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you, would I?” Tendou rolled his eyes again at your “confusion” – he admitted you were a good actress, but he really didn't have the patience for this.
“Oh, please,” he snorted. “I know people, girls like you. Pretty little princesses who try to get to the 'star player'Ushijima Wakatoshi through me, hoping that he'll notice you and fall madly in love with you. I know how it works, enough have tried it, I'm not falling for it again.” He leaned down so that you were at eye level and stared deep into your eyes. You held his gaze.
“You're all the same. Using me as a stepping stone, as a means to an end, to get to Ushiwaka?” He laughed mirthlessly. Of course, that had to be it. How typical. “Well, sorry to hurt your feelings, princess, but you're so not his type.” Now it was your turn to narrow your eyes.
“I don't know how many times I have to say it for you to believe me, but I want nothing from Ushijima Wakatoshi! I came because my friend wanted to see the game, not because I wanted to ogle your stoic captain.”
You moved closer to him, so close that there were barely a few centimetres between you, so close that he could have counted your eyelashes and seen the blush deepening on your cheeks. “I came to talk to you. You impressed me. I wanted to get to know you better. Nothing more, nothing less.”
For a few moments, he just stared at you, watching every little movement on your face, hoping to find signs that you were lying – in vain. Nevertheless, he laughed and straightened up to his full height. “Of course you did.” He turned away, fully intending to finally leave.
But you didn't let up. ‘‘I’ll convince you! You’ll see!” Your voice echoed after him, but he had nothing more than another joyless laugh for you. ‘‘Good luck with that, princess.”
~**~
Under most circumstances, Tendou would probably have dismissed this meeting or made fun of it with Ushiwaka. However, he hadn't expected you to be so incredibly driven. For one thing, there were the little notes he found on his locker, his seat, sometimes even in his bag. They were just everywhere. At first, they were just little things, nothing specific, so Tendou wasn't sure if they had accidentally ended up with him and were actually meant for the desk or locker next to his.
‘Have a nice day.’
‘Remember to drink enough.’
‘You look very good.’
‘Your smile brightens my day.’
The last one made his ears burn, but he didn't think much of it, still clinging to the idea that they weren't meant for him. Over the next two weeks, however, these notes became more and more specific, and Tendou could no longer deny that they were written with him in mind.
‘Whenever you're on the court, I can't focus on anything else but your fantastic blocks and your stunning looks. (Seriously, how can anyone look that good?)’
‘I think number 5 is my new favourite number.’
‘I've never laughed as much as I do at your jokes. You're incredible.’
‘You're the reason red is my favourite colour. But how could I not love it with hair like that? I could spend hours running my hands through it.’
‘You have an absolutely lovable and kind heart and a beautiful smile when you think no one is looking.’
Under other circumstances, he would have found this extremely unpleasant and strange, but it quickly became clear to him who these little notes were from, not only because you had spoken to him before, but also because you were anything but inconspicuous. He had often noticed you standing near his locker when another note was stuck in the slot, watching him closely as he read it and put it away. Every time, he could see a satisfied smile on your lips.
Once, he even caught you red-handed sticking a note on his locker.
“Well, look who we have here,” he purred, strolling over to you, delighted by the blush that rose to your cheeks. “Our little secret courier has been exposed.” But instead of wincing and searching for excuses, you lifted your chin, still blushing. “So? Is that a problem?” You took the note from the locker and pressed it against his chest with your flat hand.
Tendou hadn’t expected this and staggered back a little. “I wanted to know that you were appreciated until you believed it yourself. And because you avoid me like the plague, this was my only option.” With that, you turned around, books pressed to your chest, and disappeared down the corridor.
Tendou was too surprised by your sudden outburst and just stared after you, forgetting all his usual quick-witted comments. His fingers wrapped around the crumpled paper, making it crackle. He carefully unfolded the sheet.
You're a wonderful person, Tendou. I'm very grateful that you exist because you're fantastic just the way you are. Besides, you look really cute.’
Tendou felt the warmth rising to his face and, before anyone could notice, he quickly stuffed the note into his trouser pocket, as if he could forget what he had read and pretend that it had never happened.
However, he knew full well that this note, like all the others, would end up in his bedside table drawer. Because even though Tendou would rather be the libero of the opposing team during Ushijima's attacks than admit it in any way, he had started to look forward to these little notes you left behind.
Although they may have been written with the intention of mocking him, the words seemed too specific and – honest.
Tendou tried not to think about it too much, otherwise he would be digging his own grave.
~**~
But even if it hadn't been for those little notes, you made it impossible for Tendou to forget you with all the compliments you showered him with. The first time, you caught him at the drinks machine, where, after a test match, he had randomly chosen the first drink he saw – orange juice – and stuck his straw into the carton when you suddenly appeared next to him.
"Orange juice? Is that your drink of choice for victory?" You had your arms crossed behind your back and smiled at him with your head tilted in a way that Tendou reluctantly had to classify as nothing less than “cute”. Which bothered him.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. ‘It's refreshing. Are you going to make fun of me now, princess?’
He sounded harsher than usual – normally he tried to cover up his irritation with humour, but this didn't seem to work nearly as well with you as it did with everyone else.
You just smiled and leaned forward to look at the selection in the machine and started rummaging through your skirt pocket for coins.
“Oh no.” One by one, the coins fell into the designated slot after you pressed a number to select a drink. “I could never make fun of my favourite player.” Tendou choked on his drink – the second time he had done so in your presence!
"Favourite..."
You smiled in agreement and knelt down next to him in front of the machine to get your drink from the vending machine. “Mmm,” you hummed as you stuck the straw into a small packet of orange juice, identical to his. “But don't tell Ushiwaka. Might hurt his feelings.” You took a sip of the orange juice.
“Oh, you're right. Very refreshing. Thanks for the tip.” You gave him your brightest smile before skipping down the corridor where, as Tendou could now see, your friends were waiting for you.
Another time, you accidentally bump into him while you were walking in opposite directions down the corridor to get to your classrooms.
“Oh, sorry.” You looked genuinely apologetic until a smile spread across your lips. “I didn't see you. You really blend in well with the crowd—"
Tendou snorted. “Thanks a lot. Your compliments have never been better, princess.”
Your smile widened and you took a step closer to him. “Calm down, Tendou-kun. I meant to say, “until you smile.” Then you’re kind of... pretty impossible to miss.“
Tendou stared at you, excited and probably for a moment too long, before snorting with bright red ears and smiling down at you mockingly. “You're strange, you know that?”
Instead of being indignant or offended, however, you smiled at him as if he had paid you the most beautiful compliment you had ever heard. “I guess I have a type.” Then, as if you weren't already flirtatious enough, you winked at him and began walking towards the classroom, leaving a very agitated Tendou standing in the middle of the corridor.
“If I were you, I'd hurry up. Class starts in two minutes and you still have to go up two floors to the other end of the school.” Tendou no longer questioned why you knew his timetable.
~**~
You didn't mean to hurt his feelings. Really, you didn't. Your only intention was to compliment him, hoping to see either a broad smile or his ears turn red. So when he stepped out of the hall after the game, you put on your brightest smile as you tried to stroll towards him looking as calm as possible. “And the Guess Monster has struck again. The game was fantastic!”
It was barely noticeable; if you had been a little less attentive, you wouldn't have noticed it. But since you could hardly take your eyes off Tendou, you noticed how his eyebrows furrowed for a brief moment and something flashed in his eyes that you had never seen before: hurt. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished again. “Well, you know how it is, princess,” he waved it off and gave you a broad, smug smile.
“I just can't help being amazing.” But your smile had disappeared and there was no flirtatious remark to follow, which, you noticed, surprised Tendou. You, however, had other things on your mind.
“I'm sorry.” Your voice was quiet, your gaze lowered, and if Tendou hadn't known better, he would have thought you were ashamed. "I didn't know it bothered you. I should have known, though. It won't happen again." But before Tendou could ask what exactly the problem was, you had already bowed apologetically in front of him and disappeared behind the nearest pillar.
Tendou had almost forgotten about the incident the next morning when he suddenly overheard a conversation in one of the school corridors. It wasn't his intention, but as he was about to turn the corner into the next corridor, he heard voices coming from it that were so loud that it was impossible for him to ignore them.
“Yes, yes, I understand, the game was great.” It was clearly your friend's voice, and she sounded a little annoyed. What was her name again? Satsuki? Saika? Tendou couldn't remember, and he didn't really care.
“Don't act like I was the only one who wanted to go there.” Your giggle was singular, and Tendou caught himself grinning.
“Maybe.” Your friend laughed too now. “But I'm not the one with the crush on the ‘Guess Monster’.”
Tendou‘s smile slipped slightly off his lips, but was replaced by a slight frown when he heard, that your laugh died along with it.
“Do not say that, Sonoko.“ All warmth and kindness he had grown accustomed to had disappeared from your voice - Tendou wasn’t sure if he had ever heard you that serious.
“He’s not a monster of any kind. He’s actually quite nice and funny when you put in the effort of talking to him not just about him, “ you corrected your friend sternly with an edge to you that he hadn’t expected. Your lecture continued, however Tendou slipped away silently, before getting noticed. He had heard enough. This changed nothing, didn’t prove that you were actually interested in him.
No.
Maybe you just found this nickname to be ridiculous as well. Yet, when Semi commented on his red ear, he couldn’t find a good, honest response to why they were that way, only barely joking himself out of the situation.
~**~
Several weeks had passed since Tendou first encountered you, and the hot late summer had given way to autumn. And while the sun disappeared behind the clouds more and more often, the leaves turned colourful and the nights grew longer, your motivation to compliment him and flirt with him surprisingly did not wane.
Tendou had expected you to give up teasing him after two weeks at the latest if he didn't show the reaction you had most likely hoped for, but you seemed even more motivated to continue, so he decided to put an end to it. Even if he didn't react, he didn't want to give you any more opportunities to mock him, therefore the whole thing had to end. Preferably as soon as possible.
So when you approached him that morning as he sat in the library tackling the mountain of homework he had been putting off for days, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get rid of this problem – and you along with it. Surprisingly, this thought tugged at his heart, but Tendou tried to ignore the feeling as he watched out of the corner of his eye as you walked towards him with a spring in your step, your books tucked under your arm.
“Hey, Tendou,” you said with a slightly shy smile as you slid into the chair opposite him, brushing a strand of hair that had fallen across your face behind your ear. "Could I borrow your maths notes, perhaps? I wasn't really paying attention this morning, but I saw you taking notes, so..."
Tendou raised his eyebrow and looked up from the book he had been engrossed in – or at least pretending to be. So that was the catch. Did you think that just because you had been sweet-talking him for a few weeks, you could now take advantage of him for school? Was that your plan?
Nonsense, his inner voice scolded him. Everyone knew he didn't pay enough attention in class for that to be worthwhile. Today's maths lesson had been an exception.
“Maths? You?” he tried instead, resorting to his favourite weapon when he didn't know how else to respond: humour and sarcasm. “Pretty sure you've never asked anyone for maths notes in your entire life.” And there it was again: that confident, cocky, sweet smile you gave him every time before you complimented him or tried to flirt with him. “Maybe I just hadn't found anyone cute enough to ask before.”
“Wha-?” Even though he was prepared for it, Tendou still dropped his pen. He tried to catch it, but it slipped through his fingers. “Hey, stop saying things like that,” he protested weakly, but your grin only grew wider and you leaned further forward on the table, towards him. “Why?” You tilted your head, your voice sweet as honey. “It's the truth.“
Tendou narrowed his eyes and stared at her before bending down under the table to pick up the pen. “You're persistent.” The rustling of your clothes told him that you had moved. “Only if it's worth it.” Tendou felt the heat rising to his head, but he tried to convince himself that it was only because his head was upside down as he searched for the pen.
When he reappeared, he was surprised to see that you had placed your hand on the edge of the table to prevent him from potentially injuring himself, but he didn't have time to think about it. He just wanted to get it over with.
“You know, there's no one here but the two of us. You don't have to keep pretending, princess.” He turned to his book and didn't notice the confused look on your face.
“Pretend?”
“Yes,” he snorted. He was slowly getting fed up. “I know, I know, the game “who can flirt with the monster the longest and make him think I'm interested” must be quite a fun game, but I don't have the desire or the nerves for it right now. So stop it.”
He looked up to emphasise his statement with a serious look – unusual for him – but he faltered when his eyes met yours.
Hurt, shock and sadness were reflected in your features, the sparkle in your eyes completely extinguished. “You think I'm playing with you? That I'm not serious?”
If the sight of you hadn't broken his heart, your voice – calm, cracked – would have finished him off. He didn't know why, but he was overcome by the urge to wrap his arms around you, stroke your hair and assure you that he hadn't meant it, that it wasn't meant that way, and please, please stop looking so sad, he couldn't bear it. Instead, he raised his eyebrow. “Why shouldn't I? It wouldn't be the first time.”
For a few moments, you just looked at him and... were those tears in your eyes?!
“I'm sorry.” You stood up, walked around the table until you were close enough to him that he only had to raise his hand and he could touch you – but neither of you moved. “I'm sorry for whatever you went through to make you think I'm not serious, that I'm using you for fun. I would never do that. I couldn't.”
A sad smile crept onto your lips. “How could I? You're wonderful. I don't expect you to ever like me, but I really hope that one day you'll realise how fantastic you are.”
Your gaze turned to the floor, you took a deep breath in and out before raising your eyes. Sadness and compassion had disappeared, only seriousness remained. “But as you wish. I will no longer compliment you. I will not flirt with you. The only interaction between us will be that which is absolutely necessary.”
Your hand twitched as if to reach for him, but you held back, bowed slightly and left. Tendou stared after you, mouth open, eyes wide. Yes, it had been his plan, but now that he had carried it out... he hadn't expected you to give in, thought you would continue.
He was overcome by the urge to jump up, grab you by the hand and pull you back, but he immediately shook his head to get rid of the thought. Tendou had what he wanted. You would leave him alone and he would finally be able to concentrate on the important things in life again. Volleyball, for example, or Shounen Jump.
Everything would be as it was before, and he could carry on living as if you had never existed.
~**~
Only that he couldn‘t.
Tendou had expected to feel relieved once he got rid of you. No notes on his locker, no compliments when he entered a room, and no cheering and waving from the stands when he made a fantastic block. What he hadn't counted on was that these little interjections from you had become such an integral part of his everyday life that he had subconsciously begun to expect them, to look forward to them.
Every time he entered his classroom, his eyes darted to his seat and the area around it, searching for the little yellow sticky notes with his positive message of the day.
Every time he managed a particularly good block that made the gym buzz, his gaze would fly with a broad grin to the seat where you usually sat, only to notice immediately that it was empty.
Every time he stepped out of the hall or walked down the school corridors, he expected you to appear around the next corner, a smile on your face and a quick flirtatious comment on the tip of your tongue.
But you weren't there.
On the rare occasions when your paths did cross, you smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgement of his presence, but it was nothing compared to what he was used to from you.
Tendou should have felt wonderful; he had what he wanted. Instead, he felt miserable. His jokes became less frequent, his broad smile more cynical, and his comments more pointed and mean. It had gotten so bad that even his team members began to worry.
But every time Tendou was asked about his mood, he waved it off with a comment like, “Just slept badly, Wakatoshi snores like a bear.” He knew that no one really believed him, but he himself couldn’t explain why the whole situation was affecting him so much. So how could anyone expect him to be able to explain it to someone else?
Tendou shook his head and slammed his locker shut with a little more force than necessary, the bang echoing down the entire corridor, but he didn't care. For heaven's sake, he really had to stop thinking about you. It was getting ridiculous. Ushiwaka stared at him. “You're upset.”
Oh, really, Tendou thought. His friend was truly masterful at stating the obvious. “Oh, come on, not me,” he laughed it off. “I'm a ray of sunshine, my dear, that's how people know me.”
He smiled broadly at him, but he didn't need to look to see that Ushiwaka wasn't convinced. But before he could point out that Tendou was no ray of sunshine, he poked him in the cheek and started running down the hallway. “Come on, we don't want to be late, Coach will kill us.”
Ushiwaka followed him with steady steps and stepped out of the school building with him. ‘Coach doesn't have permission for that.’ Tendou sighed, but couldn't deny that this kind of normality improved his mood immensely. ‘You know, Ushiwaka, sometimes I wonder how you've made it this far in life without a shred of humour.’
But before he could tease his friend any further, a sharp voice cut through the air.
"Say that again, you scumbag."
Tendou's head jerked towards the voice. He knew that voice, he knew it only too well. He had heard it millions of times, but never, ever so sharp, so angry.
Without paying any further attention to Ushiwaka, he followed the voice at a brisk pace until he turned the corner of the building and was met with a sight he never would have expected.
You stood, accompanied by your friend Sonoko, opposite a boy from your year who, surrounded by two of his friends, smiled down at you mockingly. Tendou – and Ushiwaka, who had followed him – remained slightly hidden by the corner of the wall, but they were close enough to the action that Tendou couldn't miss the angry, almost murderous spark in your face.
“I said,” the boy in front of you sneered, speaking deliberately slowly, as if you were too stupid to understand him otherwise, “that now that you're finally free from your obsession with that red-haired freak of a volleyball clown, you could finally occupy yourself with better things.”
His smile was so leering and belittling that Tendou himself felt the anger simmering inside him – not because of the comment about him, but because of the way he looked down on you, as if you were a piece of meat and he were starving.
But before Tendou could even think about intervening, you had already grabbed the boy by the tie with an angry shout and pushed him against the wall, causing his friends to flinch.
"Now listen to me carefully, you arrogant piece of shit, because I'm not going to say it a second time. Just so that it's clear once and for all to every person in this school: Tendou Satori is one of the most lovable, kindest, funniest, most passionate, attractive, intelligent and talented people I have ever met, and none of you possess even a fraction of his greatness. He is respectful, and the mere thought of comparing him to any of you is disgusting and unworthy of him.”
For a moment, a hint of sadness flitted across your features before it vanished and was replaced by anger. "And just so you finally get it through your thick skull, I'd rather spend the rest of my life unhappy and in love with that boy than ever even think about going out with you. The mere thought of touching you makes me want to set myself on fire."
You pulled on his tie, causing him to stumble forward and almost fall to the ground. His friends rushed to his side. “And just so we're clear,” your voice was cold, your gaze deadly. “If I hear any of you talking badly about Tendou again, I'll pin you to my target for the next training session. And without wanting to brag, I rarely miss.“
Tendou swallowed hard as he watched the boys take to their heels and run away, your words still echoing in his head.
I'd rather spend the rest of my life unhappy in love with this boy than ever even think about going out with you.
In love with this boy...
In love? You? With him of all people? That couldn't be true. It was all just a joke, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!
He quickly pulled his head back so that it was hidden behind the wall again, to avoid being discovered. His heart was pounding wildly and loudly in his chest, and the blood rushing in his ears was so loud that at first he could hardly hear Ushiwaka, who was still standing next to him – and whom Tendou had successfully forgotten.
“Tendou.”
He startled, his eyes wide open, his face and ears surely as red as his eyes. “Huh?” Ushiwaka's expression was calm and stoic as always, but there was a strange gentleness in his eyes that only someone who knew Ushiwaka well could recognise. “I think you owe her an apology.”
Tendou could not help but nod, as he did not dare to speak for fear that his voice would break. Ushiwaka was right. He owed you an apology. He owed you more than that.
Though…an apology would be a start, right?
~**~
The library was quiet as you brooded over your homework. You didn't know why your teacher had decided to give you a long essay to write about the book you had last read just before the exam period, but you were almost finished by now. All that was left was your final summary and a quick skim through the entire work, and you would be done.
However, just as you put your pen to paper to add the last few words, a shadow fell over you, blocking the yellowish light of the old lamps.
Confused, you looked up, only to see the face of the boy who had been living rent-free in your head for months. Tendou grinned down at you, but it seemed gentler and more cautious than you were used to, which did nothing to change the fact that your pulse instantly shot up and your heart was beating so hard that you were sure he must be able to hear it.
“Hey,” he softly said, tilting his head as he always did when he had teased you. It was just a small detail, but given the radio silence between the two of you over the past few weeks, you felt like it was the most wonderful thing he had ever done.
“Hi.” Your reply came out high-pitched and breathless, and you cleared your throat, hoping to regain control of yourself. One word shouldn't be enough to put you in such a state. “How are you?” Okay, that sounded better, more relaxed.
Tendou hummed softly and pushed himself away from the bookshelf he had been leaning against to stroll over to the chair next to you and sit down. “Pretty good. Could be better. Could be worse. You know how it is.”
Oh yes, you knew. The last few weeks had been torture, seeing him but not being able to talk to him, but you had given him your word and you would keep it. “What—" Your voice broke and you had to clear your throat. “What brings you here? I haven't really seen you here very often.”
Tendou grinned slightly and put his arm around the back of his chair. “Well, you can't really play volleyball in the library, so...” You couldn't help smiling yourself, and when Tendou saw that, his smile grew even wider. “But,” he continued, his smile becoming a little sheepish, “one of the reasons I came was because I need your help? With the English essay?” He scratched his neck awkwardly. “I may have... not read the book and, um... might need some good notes? Some very good notes?”
Seeing him sitting there on the chair, smiling sheepishly and apologetically, made you unable to resist teasing him a little bit. For old times' sake.
“English? You? I'm pretty sure you've never asked anyone for English notes before.” If possible, his smile became even more sheepish, but it regained some confidence when you winked at him. He grinned broadly and leaned forward a little, so that he was suddenly quite close to your face and you felt rather warm. “Well, I just haven't found anyone cute enough yet.”
You knew that answer was coming, and yet you weren't prepared for it. The heat rose to your face and you had to look away because you felt like you were about to explode on the spot.
“Give me a moment, will you? I'll just finish writing this, then I can give you my notes and you'll be rid of me.” You looked back at him – your face now cooler – to give him an apologetic smile, only to see that his had slipped from his lips and been replaced by a surprisingly serious frown. Tendou hesitated briefly, took a deep breath in and out, and looked you in the eyes, sincerity written all over his face.
“Okay, to be honest... I'm not just here for the notes.” He scratched his neck, a nervous tic of his, as you had learned by now. “Last time in the library, I said a few things to you – unpleasant, mean things that you didn't deserve. Things I didn't mean.”
He paused briefly. “Okay, so, I meant it back then, but—" he paused and looked at you out of the corner of his eye with such openness and connection that your heart ached. “I don't anymore. I was wrong. I'm sorry.”
When you got up this morning, you had expected many things. But you hadn't expected Tendou Satori to apologise to you. “To be honest... I didn't think I'd notice, but you're kind of... missing. I mean, who else is going to cheer me on from the stands?” It was a joke to save face, but your heart was beating faster and you thought you were going to collapse at any moment.
He misses you.
Knowing full well that an overly dramatic reaction would probably only scare him off and send him running, you reined in your smile and gently placed your hand on his, giving him enough time to pull away. He stared at you with wide eyes.
“It's okay, Tendou. I forgive you. You were right, I did overreact a little. At least sometimes.” Slowly, a broad grin crept back onto his face and he squeezed your hand briefly – firmly and warmly, with calluses from playing on his fingers – before dramatically exhaling.
“Phew, and I thought I'd have to beg on my knees and bribe you with chocolate, princess.” Your heart fluttered again at the nickname. If this continued, Tendou would send you straight to the nearest hospital.
You laughed softly. “Don't worry, you don't have to resort to such drastic measures. As if I could refuse my favourite player any request.” It was subtle, you were slowly feeling your way back, but Tendou just grinned broadly at you. “Sooo,” he blurted out, drawing out the “o”. “Does that mean you'll come back to my games?”
He tried to play it down, but you could see the honest excitement and nervousness in his eyes, making you laugh again, this time a little louder, more honestly. “How about this: first you do English, then I'll come back to your games. Deal?”
You held out your hand to him (which was definitely not an excuse to touch him again – no, wait, that sounded wrong).
Tendou sighed and closed his eyes dramatically. “You're a hard bargainer, Princess, but fine. Deal.” He shook your hand, and you didn't know if you were imagining it, but it felt like he held your hand a moment longer than necessary.
~**~
It was late when Tendou stepped out of the gym.
The wind whistled through his still slightly damp hair and the cold bit mercilessly into the skin that was not protected by his clothing. A shiver ran through him and he breathed out shakily, small white clouds floating up from his mouth into the night sky.
The training had been particularly brutal, and his hands and arms burned from all the blocks he had had to perform against Ushijima's attacks.
Tendou wanted nothing more than to finally crawl into bed and fall into a coma. Preferably for the next three days, so that he could not only catch up on his sleep, but also avoid the massive muscle soreness that would await him when he woke up tomorrow morning.
To protect them from the cold, he stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets, buried his face in the collar of his jacket and strode down the gravel path with long strides to escape the cold as quickly as possible. Halfway there, however, a faint but regular thunk...thunk... caught his attention.
He turned his head and realised that he had arrived at the archery range..
A few lamps provided minimal lighting for the area, the light barely reaching the targets at the other end, but it was enough to see that you were standing there. White puffs of breath rose from your mouth as you panted exhaustedly. But despite the biting cold, you had taken off your jacket and stood on the shooting range wearing nothing but a tight-fitting tank top and mid-length shorts, arrow drawn, muscles tense and face sweaty but focused.
It’s been a while since he actually spoke to you, since you both hadn’t had much time for flirty and teasing conversations due to exams, but he has seen you around, though now seemed…different.
Tendou froze on the spot, half-hidden in the darkness behind the fence.
It hadn't been his intention to stare, but something seemed to draw him in, something about you that made it impossible for him to move on, his gaze fixed on you. Your grip loosened and the arrow shot towards the furthest target with a soft hiss – narrowly missing the centre.
“Damn,” you hissed, running your hand through your hair and, gritting your teeth, reaching for the next one.
Tendou swallowed as his eyes travelled up and down your body, trying to take everything in as quickly and greedily as possible.
It was as if he was seeing you for the first time and wondering how he could have failed to detect it before. The shoulder muscles that bulged when you pulled your arm back, the arms trembling with tension, the grim, concentrated expression on your face – your entire posture. There was a kind of fierceness in the way you refused to stop, no matter how cold it got and how much you were already shivering – both from exertion and cold.
You were the very picture of determination, stubbornness and ambition.
A stubbornness he knew all too well himself. It was the same kind that drove him to his limits and enabled him to push hundreds of blocks one after the other until his hands and arms burned and ached and he felt like they would fall off if he had to stop another one of Ushijima's attacks. And yet, at the same time, he knew he could keep going for hours more.
Thunk.
Missed again, by a hair's breadth.
“Come on,” you growled, reaching for the next one and the next, firing them off one after the other. Tendou shuddered at the sound of your voice, rough and raw from the cold and the fact that you probably hadn't used it in the last few hours.
Tendou knew he should just keep walking. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep going, looking straight ahead, away from you.
But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
As if hypnotised, his gaze was fixed on you, on how your muscles tensed and bulged in the dim light with every draw of the bow, on how your face became more pinched and your eyebrows furrowed in a way that made Tendou's first thought “cute”. His heartbeat quickened and he could feel his cheeks heating up despite the biting cold that pierced him.
“What the hell...” he whispered. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to notice you like this, neither your focus nor your strength nor the way you carried yourself, full of elegance and force. He was supposed to smile at you, maybe jokingly flirt with you and watching in utter delight how those cheeks of yours turned dark in embarrassment. And yet, no matter how loudly his head screamed at him, he couldn't move.
He simply could not not notice you.
You words from earlier this month struck him like lightning again. In love with this boy…
You were in love with him. He knew that now. But now standing here, watching you shoot one arrow after another he was beginning to wonder…what about him?
Tendou didn't know how long he had been standing there, but it was long enough to see one of your arrows pierce the heart of the target with a dull thud – just as sharp as your laughter into his, which rang out after your victory. It wasn't the usual laughter he heard from you, no.
This one was quiet, gentle, breathless – sincere.
If the sight of you hadn't already warmed him, it would have been over for him now, the sound making his chest ache.
He forced himself to take a step back and disappear further into the shadows. He really shouldn't be here. Really.
Tendou gave you one last look before turning away, his heart pounding. He didn't want you to see him in the end. Didn't want to explain why he had stood there like an idiot, staring at you as if you hadn't just shattered his worldview.
Because you had.
With his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets, he hurried down the path, as if he could escape the feelings that had seized him from behind and knocked him out. And yet the image – your concentration, your ambition, your strained muscles, your smile – was burned into his memory, and Tendou knew that it would keep him awake that night.
~**~
When Tendou stepped out of the hall, he was hit by a biting cold and grimaced as he pulled up the zip of his much too thin jacket to protect his face. He hated autumn. However, it wasn't just the cold that dampened his good mood, but also the heavy patter of rain, which he hadn't been able to hear during training because the atmosphere and the exhilaration of playing had made him block out everything else – including the pouring rain outside.
“Great,” he grumbled, shivering inwardly. Of course it had to rain now. And of course he didn't have an umbrella with him.
He sighed resignedly and pulled his collar up as high as it would go, protecting his head with his bag. He was going to catch his death of the cold, sweaty as he was, but what else could he do? The dark clouds above him did not look as if they would stop pouring down any time soon. Tendou exhaled irritably once more before setting off.
The cold rain hit him like a wall in the face and his quick steps turned into a brisk jog, accompanied by quiet cursing. As the rain wet his face and pierced his skin like needles, he felt the gel wash out of his hair and his hairstyle dissolve until long wet strands fell into his forehead.
“Oh, great,“ he growled, his good mood washed away by the rain.
He had only covered a third of the distance when a voice stopped him. “Tendou?” The gravel sprayed through the air as his shoes skidded to a halt, yet it did not hit you.
You stood less than two steps away from him, a large black umbrella in your hand, your cheeks reddened by the cold, and a rather large rucksack on your shoulders. Instantly, images of tense arms, drawn bowstrings and free shoulder muscles arched through his mind, and Tendou was only pulled out of his rigidity and his world of thoughts when you took him by the hand and pulled him under your umbrella.
“Are you mad?” You looked up at him angrily and tried to take one of his hands in yours. It was warm and soothing, and Tendou felt a pleasant shiver run through him. “You've just been training and I know you're too lazy to shower at the gym. Admittedly, the shower is pretty disgusting, but you can't walk through the rain in such thin clothes when you're soaked with sweat! You'll get sick, and what will your team do without you?”
You continued talking and raged that he should take better care of himself, but Tendou felt as if you were speaking through cotton wool, while his pulse beat all the louder in his ears.
You were standing close together, much closer than ever before. He didn't even have to reach out to touch you, but that wasn't necessary because you were still holding his hand. His eyes flickered over your face and he noticed things he had never noticed before.
Had your eyes always been so sincere, so friendly, so unique? Had your hair always fallen across your forehead like that? Had his lips always been that shape? A drop of water fell from his hair onto your cheek and, as if enchanted, he followed it with his eyes as it rolled down your cheek, over your jaw and neck, until it disappeared into your cleavage beneath your jacket.
Despite the rain, he felt hot and had to swallow, even though his throat was parched. How easy it would be to brush a strand of hair behind your ear, place his hand on your cheek, pull you closer to him and—
"Tendou? Are you even listening to me?" You looked up at him with concern as he shook his head to lose his train of thought. He didn't need a mirror to know that his cheeks were bright red. Where did these thoughts come from?
You know where, whispered that mean little voice deep inside his head, but Tendou grabbed it and shoved it into the nearest drawer. He really didn't have time for this.
“You know me, Princess, I always listen to you,” he tried to distract, but he sounded far too weak and not as if he believed a word he was saying.
You tilted your head – God, have you always been this cute?
Shut up, brain, Tendou muttered silently, but any trace of grumpiness vanished when you leaned forward and released your hand from his. For a few moments, he mourned the loss of contact until you pressed the back of your hand against his forehead.
Tendou's breath caught and he was glad that you were too focused to notice the embarrassingly high-pitched sound that escaped him. You looked up with a frown.
“Your forehead is hot. You're not coming down with a fever, are you?”
Were you concerned about his health? He didn't know why, but he felt like he was about to faint. Maybe he really did have a fever?
“You know me, I'm always fine. I don't get sick that easily. I wouldn't want my number one fan to worry.” His voice was calmer and more honest than he had intended, and he couldn't help but smile down at you, more gently than he had in a long time. His change of tone seemed to surprise not only him.
Your eyes looked up at him wide, your lips slightly parted in surprise. His eyes remained fixed on them.
He could just lean down, just close the small gap between you. Just like that. Would you stop him? Or would you let him? Would you pull him closer, push him away, would you—
“Oh fuck, my bus is about to leave.” And the moment was gone. You frantically began patting down your jacket pocket until you found what you were looking for and pulled out a ticket. “I'm going home for the weekend, and if I miss the bus, I'll have to wait here in the rain for another hour.”
Stay here with me, the little voice cried again, but Tendou managed to ignore it.
“Sure, all right, have fun, princess. I have to go too. Otherwise I'll really get sick, like you said.” It was probably best if he left now, before he could do something stupid and reckless. He took a few steps back, but you didn't let him get far. „Wait.“
Once again, you had grabbed his hand, and Tendou's heart began to beat wildly again. “Here.” You pressed your umbrella into his hand and immediately stepped back so that he couldn't give it back to you, leaving you standing in the rain, the hard drops pelting down on you mercilessly.
“Your accommodation is further away than the bus stop and you'll get sick otherwise.”
“What? No, that's nonsense, take the umbrella back,” he protested, but when he stepped towards you, you just backed away, so you remained in the rain.
“Please, Tendou. Let me do this. Please.” Tendou hated himself for not being able to say no when you looked up at him like that. He knew you well enough by now to know that you were too stubborn to listen to him, and the longer he argued with you, the longer you would get wet.
The rain had already soaked your hair and clothes, and the little mascara you were wearing ran down your face in black tears.
It was messy and by no means perfect, but Tendou couldn't remember the last time you looked so beautiful. “Okay,” was all he could say before you smiled and ran off into the rain.
And if Tendou had thought he was in trouble after seeing you at archery, he now knew he was in deep.
Tendou had never thought about anyone as much as he had thought about you over the entire weekend. He was sure he was about to go mad. He thought he could see you around every corner of the school building, if only he would walk into the next corridor.
He imagined he could hear you, see you, when a skirt fluttered around the corner and he could see a head of hair the colour of yours from behind. Even in his sleep, you wouldn't leave him alone. As soon as he closed his eyes, you were there. Smiling, laughing, blushing, stealing his breath away at the archery range.
Tendou couldn't concentrate on anything else but the way you had looked at him under that umbrella, how your lips had parted, rosy and perfect, and he only had to bend down a little to –
“Argh!” Tendou threw himself onto his bed, buried his face in his pillow and punched his mattress in frustration. It was Monday evening and he really, really needed to finish this essay, otherwise he would be in serious trouble with his geography teacher, but you had taken up all the space in his head. Why? How could that be? What was wrong with him?
Before he could dwell any further on what exactly was wrong with him, there was a knock at his door. It couldn't be Ushiwaka, as he had special spike training at that time, as Tendou liked to call it, but he didn't care and jumped up. He would accept anyone as long as it meant he could have a distraction from you.
He swung the door open quickly, only to immediately feel like closing it again when he saw the dark eyes of your friend Sonoko staring at him. So much for ‘not thinking about you anymore’. Excellent.
Still curious, he tilted his head. “Well, I could be wrong, of course, but I'm pretty sure girls aren't allowed in the boys' dormitories.” She just huffed and pushed past him. “Believe me, if I had a choice, I wouldn't be here.”
“Welcome, come in, make yourself comfortable. May I offer you some tea,” Tendou muttered sarcastically, but loud enough for her to hear, which made her gaze darken even further. "Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush, so listen. I'm not here because I want to be here, but because I want you to stop taking advantage of my best friend.” All traces of sarcasm immediately faded from his face when he heard your name.
“What?” He closed the door behind him with a little more force than necessary. “What are you talking about? I've never taken advantage of her.”
“Don't be so hypocritical, it doesn't work on me,” she hissed and stepped up to him to jab a finger in his chest. "She's been fluttering around you for months, like a moth around a light. She compliments you, brings you snacks, cheers you on during your games and defends you in front of other students, which often puts her in the firing line of idiots. I don't mind her making a fool of herself for you, but you're shamelessly taking advantage of her, and that's going too far.”
Tendou tried to intervene, but she had worked herself up into such a rage that it was no longer possible. “You play along, you let her do it, and you give her hope. Hope she can't afford."
By now, the anger had disappeared from her face and been replaced by a kind of desperation and pleading. "It's not easy for me to beg, but please, Tendou, don't play with her. She'll kill me for telling you this, but she loves you. And no matter how many times I tell her not to, every time you respond to her compliments and comments, she starts to get her hopes up again. She doesn't deserve that. Damn it, she's lying in bed, deathly ill, because she had to give you her umbrella and walked home soaking wet herself."
Tendou had to swallow. Didn't you say your way home was shorter than his? That you wouldn't really get wet, let alone sick? “So stop giving her hope. If you have to, tell her straight up that you don't feel anything for her, but stop playing with her just because you don't love her. Because honestly, that's pretty shitty, don't you think? Besides—"
“Who says I don't have feelings for her?”
Tendou didn't know who was more surprised by his words: him or Sonoko. She looked at him as if he had just told her that the sun revolved around the Earth, which, by the way, was flat. If he hadn't known that those words had come out of his mouth, he would have reacted the same way. ‘Excuse me?’
“I—" Tendou tried to bluff his way out of it, to say that he had only been joking, but the lie would not come out of his mouth. Because that was what it was: a lie that he felt nothing for you.
The past few weeks flashed before his eyes at the speed of light: every time you had smiled at him and his heart had almost leapt out of his chest, every time you had complimented him and the tips of his ears had turned as red as his hair, and every time you had defended him, treated him like everyone else and a warm feeling had spread through his chest.
He thought back to the moment under the umbrella a few days earlier, when you had been so close that he could feel your warmth through the bitter cold, how he had wanted to lean in… and had to come to a conclusion:
Tendou Satori had developed feelings for you over the past weeks of flirting. And he had no idea how to deal with it
“I have no idea what I'm doing here either.” His voice was quiet, defeated, and he could see that Sonoko hadn't expected that. Nevertheless, she lifted her chin and walked to the door. Before leaving the room, however, she paused and looked at him over her shoulder.
“Then you should start figuring it out. She won't be able to take this much longer without you hurting her. And then you'll have trouble with me.”
She stormed out, leaving Tendou with more questions than answers and even more confused than before.
~**~
You managed to suppress the sneeze that was building up and buried your face even deeper in your thick scarf as you watched the raindrops hit the concrete and splash back into the air in smaller splashes. You should have just stayed in bed, snuggled up in your blanket and slept. You were able to go back to school, but you were still exhausted and sneezing continuously.
You belonged in bed.
And yet you had dragged yourself out of bed this morning, while Sonoko shook her head and watched you, to go and see today's volleyball match. It was the last one to be played at your school this year, and you didn't want to have to wait until after New Year to see him play again.
You couldn't resist the slight smile and the warmth on your cheek as your thoughts began to revolve around Tendou again. As you expected, he had played fantastically again today, even if he was a little distracted when it came to team meetings during timeouts.
You were also pretty sure that his gaze had flitted over to you a few times, but you could have been mistaken. It was probably nothing more than wishful thinking. Your gaze wandered back to the dark clouds above you. Just as it was wishful thinking that it would stop raining within the next few minutes.
Unfortunately, you had forgotten your umbrella today of all days, and your mobile phone was dead, so you couldn't call Sonoko to pick you up.
Although it wasn't far to walk to your room, maybe five minutes, you were pretty sure that if you got wet again in this weather, in your condition, you would be ill for more than three days.
But just as you had resigned yourself to spending the next few hours under the canopy of the gym, you heard footsteps behind you and a familiar voice calling your name.
“Princess, I don't mean to sound rude, but you look pretty shitty.”
Your gaze fell on Tendou, who was strolling over to you with a cocky grin on his face, his sports bag slung over his shoulder. As your heart began to beat faster, you groaned outwardly, but couldn't fight the smile that spread across your face. “Charming as ever, Tendou.”
Mockingly shocked, he clutched his chest as he came to a halt in front of you. “Have you ever doubted my gallantry? Oh, you hurt me. A dagger straight through the heart.“ A laugh escaped you and Tendou's smile widened before he furrowed his brow slightly and tilted his head.
“No, but really, you still look ill. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?” You pursed your lips and looked down at the tips of your shoes. “It was your last game here this year,” you muttered, slightly embarrassed. “I didn't want to miss it.” Tendou's grin softened a little before he sighed dramatically.
“You know, it's very sweet that you take your role as my number one fan so seriously, but I'd like to live. Sonoko-chan recently gave me a telling-off because you were sick in bed and I stole your umbrella.”
"You didn't steal it, I gave it to you,” you corrected him, trying not to blush because he had called you sweet, whereupon Tendou shrugged. “She's not entirely wrong. That's why...”
He drew out the last syllable to maintain the suspense and pulled out your umbrella, which he hadn't given back to you yet. “Tadaa!”
You smiled and took it from him to open it. “Thanks, Tendou.” You hesitated for a moment before looking at him sheepishly. ‘‘Walk with me?” Tendou paused before nodding. “But,” he grabbed the umbrella handle, “I’ll take this. At the height you're holding it, I'll bang my head against the wires."
“All right, if you insist,” you gave in, feigning disappointment, and he rolled his eyes amusedly before offering you his arm.
“Come on, if you stand so far away from me, you'll get wet even with an umbrella.” It was said casually, but you could see his eyes darting nervously back and forth. You smiled and put your hand in the crook of his arm and snuggled up close to him, but not so close that he couldn't pull away. “How charming you are, thank you, handsome.”
Tendou stiffened briefly and you could see the blush on his face before he turned his head with a cough. „Always, princess.“ He sounded surprisingly hoarse.
You walked side by side in pleasant silence, and you couldn't help thinking about the last time you stood together under an umbrella. He had been out of breath and had panted softly in your ear when he had to duck his head to avoid bumping it, sending shivers down your spine. The rain had ruined his hairstyle and strands of wet hair had fallen into his face, and at that moment you were sure you had never seen anyone more beautiful than Tendou Satori.
And the way he looked at you... as if you were the best thing that had ever happened to him. Of course, you knew it was all just wishful thinking, but you were allowed to dream, weren't you?
You were so deep in thought that you had to suppress a flinch when Tendou broke the silence between you.
“You know, Sonoko-chan told me a few other very interesting things.” The way he said it made you stop in your tracks. Tendou did the same and looked down at you, a smile on his lips that made you shudder. You nervously moistened your lips – did his eyes follow the movement? – before you could answer. “Oh... really?”
Your voice still sounded shaky, but you could only hope he didn't hear it.
“Mmm,” Tendou hummed in agreement and stepped even closer, even though you didn't know that was possible. He reached out with his hand and gently brushed a strand of your hair behind your ear.
A shiver ran through you, especially when Tendou didn't stop and gently ran his knuckles over your cheek before pulling them back. “Something along the lines of “Just because my friend is in love with you doesn’t mean you can accept her compliments” and something about if I plan to hurt you, she’ll kill me”
He frowned. “Which is strange, because I'm not going to hurt you, and she can't do anything to me. I mean, she comes up to where? My chest? What is she going to do, bite my ankle?” Tendou paused briefly and tilted his head. “Although, now that I think about it, that could really hurt. Mhhh.“
You stopped listening to him, frozen in shock after he uttered the word “in love”. You couldn't even laugh at the fake voice he had used to imitate Sonoko.
He knew. He fucking knew! And not only had he found out, he had found out because Sonoko had told him. You would kill her.
Your eyes wandered anxiously up to him, but Tendou was still thinking aloud about what Sonoko could do to hurt him. But if he knew, what was he doing here with you? Did he want to let you down gently? To spare your feelings? You narrowed your eyes and clenched your teeth. If he was going to reject you, he should do it properly and directly. You didn't need or want his pity.
‘I'm sorry. She shouldn't have told you that.’
“Yes, I know.” Tendou rolled his eyes. “She can bite my ankles for all I care, but I'm not going to be afraid of her. But if she tried that on Ushiwaka...”
“Not that!” You were slowly getting frustrated. “The other thing.”
“Oh.” For the first time since she had seen him today, he became really quiet.
“She shouldn't have told you. She had no right to, but it's too late to change that now.” Your gaze was fixed on the floor. The thought of having to look him in the face while he rejected you was simply too much for you to bear.
“Yes, I'm in love with you. Yes, I think you're wonderful and the greatest person I know. But I also know that this will be quite uncomfortable for you. So I'll leave you alone if you want me to. I know you don't feel the same way about me, so I totally understand if you-“
Tendou interrupted you before you could finish, clicking his tongue disapprovingly.
“Really, what is it with you girls and trying to know my feelings?” Without another word, he dropped his bag, put his hand under your chin and pulled you gently towards him as he bent down until his lips were on yours.
For a moment, you were frozen. Were you imagining this? Were you dreaming? Could it really be happening? But the warmth emanating from his mouth and his hand on your cheek was real, as was his body pressed against yours.
You were kissing Tendou Satori. Really.
As soon as this thought entered your mind and was processed, your heart began to pound wildly, and before you could stop yourself, you closed your eyes, placed your hands on his cheeks and kissed him back.
The kiss was tentative, cautious, as if Tendou wanted to make sure that you wouldn't pull away, that you really wanted this, and by God, you did. That and more. You had waited so long for this moment, had dreamed of what it might be like, and now there was no turning back for you.
You greedily pulled him closer to you until there was barely a centimetre between you, burying your hands in his hair in an attempt to pull him even closer. Visibly startled by your eagerness, Tendou dropped the umbrella, only to immediately place his hand on your hip and press himself even closer to you.
Without the umbrella, the cold rain pelted down on you mercilessly, but you hardly noticed. All that mattered at that moment was Tendou Satori in your arms, his lips on yours, and the certainty that your hopes had not been in vain.
And as much as you wished you could hold on and just keep kissing him, after a while you had to let go. Your nose was still blocked from your cold, and unfortunately your body needed oxygen.
With glassy eyes and puffy lips, you looked up at him. He was no better off than you, his hair tousled and his lips slightly swollen. Seeing him made you want to kiss him even more, but Tendou apparently had other plans, because he laughed breathlessly and ran his fingers through his hair.
‘Wow. I wanted to make it romantic for you, with an umbrella and rain and everything, but oh dear.’ He looked down at you with a cheeky smile on his lips. ‘Looks like someone was a bit pent up.’ It was so absurd that you had to laugh. ‘You could say that.’
The rain – and admittedly your hands as well – had completely ruined his hairstyle, so that the long strands fell into his face again. This time, however, you were able to do what you had to refrain from doing last time.
You reached out carefully and gently brushed a strand of hair from his face. Tendou's eyes followed your every movement with an intensity that took your breath away.
“Tendou—"
“Satori,” he interrupted, sounding just as breathless as you did. “Call me Satori, princess. Let me hear you say my name.” The corners of your mouth lifted slightly, tentatively, lovingly.
“Satori.” He closed his eyes, and you could clearly see a pleasant shiver run through him. “You are so beautiful.”
“You're crazy.”
“For you.”
He let out a sound that could only be described as a whimper and let his head sink onto your shoulder. "It's not fair. I wanted to be cool and casual so you'd think, 'Wow, what a guy, I want to be with him. But all you do is make me melt inside."
You chuckled softly and, as he had done to you earlier, placed your hand under his chin to lift his head so he could see you, look into your eyes and see all the love and affection you felt for him.
“You're chaotic and loud and crazy and absolutely perfect just the way you are. I don't want a cool, casual guy.” You lovingly stroked his cheek and he immediately nestled into your hand. “I want you. Just the way you are. If you want me too?”
He laughed softly. “You sneaked up behind my block cleverly and secretly, and now you're asking me if I want you?” He flicked your forehead with his finger.
“Silly princess.”
“Your princess,” you replied teasingly, and Tendou grinned broadly. “Can you say that again? Preferably in front of my whole team. For my ego, please?“
„We’ll see.“
Tendou sulked for a moment before sighing, nodding, and bending down to pick up the umbrella. “It won't do any good now, because we're already soaked to the bone, but at least Sonoko can't say we didn't try.”
You couldn't help but grin. “Are you sure you're not afraid of her?”
“Nah.” Tendou pulled you close to him. “I'll just hide behind you, princess. You'll protect me from the evil Sonoko.”
“You're crazy.” He grinned proudly down at you and pressed a kiss against your temple, which made your heart beat faster.
“But you love me for it, princess.”
Your gaze softened. “How could I not?” He stopped too and looked down at you, allowing you to see in his eyes the feelings you sensed within yourself for him.
He gently lifted his hand to your cheek. “What do you say?” he murmured. “We're already wet. What difference will five more minutes make?”
You smiled cheekily and grabbed his collar to pull him a little closer to you. “I think we'll survive.”
Tendou grinned. “And that's exactly why I love you.” That was all he could say until you pulled him close and pressed your lips to his again.
You had waited long enough. No one would blame you if you took advantage of the situation a little more. Least of all Tendou.
Summary: Shiratorizawa is doubting the very existence of Tendou's girlfriend—you.
Warnings: fluff, Tendou x female!reader, crack, somewhat artsy reader and lots of fluff.
Characters: Tendou Satōri.
A/N: Thank you for the request dear. I tried, but I suck at writing Mad Dog-chan ;(. Miracle Girl 2.0 (similar).
Tendou liked to think of himself as an open book.
Or, well, maybe a pop-up book—the kind that makes people jump, laugh, and sometimes scream a little.
So it wasn’t really his fault that no one noticed he’d been keeping a tiny secret.
“Oi, Tendou,” Semi called from across the court, snapping a towel at him. “Stop zoning out and help clean up the floor, man.”
Tendou blinked, halfway lost in thought, mop in hand.
Right. Practice had just ended. The gym still smelled like sweat. Ushijima was methodically stacking chairs, Reon was gathering stray balls, and Goshiki was pacing around in his usual “I must impress Ushiwaka-san” aura.
“Coming, coming,” Tendou sang, twirling the mop like a sword. “I was just thinking about how I’m in love.”
The entire gym froze.
Reon glanced over with a soft chuckle. “In love, huh? With whom this time?”
Tendou smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know~?”
Semi rolled his eyes. “Let me guess—some anime character again?”
“Ha! I wish,” Tendou grinned, tossing the broom aside. “Nope. Real person. Real heartbeat. Real smile. She even laughs at my jokes, if you can believe it.”
“Impossible,” Shirabu muttered under his breath.
Tendou gasped dramatically. “Ouch! That’s cold, Shirabu-chan! You wound me!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Semi waved him off. “Next you’ll say she goes to this school.”
“She does, actually,” Tendou replied, tilting his head. “She’s in Class 2-B. You’ve probably seen her.”
That earned him a pause. A long one.
Goshiki spun around, wide-eyed. “Wait—seriously?! You’re dating someone here?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Ushijima looked up from the chairs. “Congratulations.”
“See, Ushiwaka believes in love!” Tendou exclaimed, skipping over to him. “Unlike the rest of you doubting owls.”
Reon smiled, patient as always. “You’ll have to forgive them, Tendou. It’s just...unexpected.”
“Unexpected?! What do you mean!? I’m irresistible!”
Semi snorted. “You’re something, that’s for sure.”
Tendou waved a hand, laughing it off, but inside, there was a little spark of satisfaction.
They didn’t believe him—not yet. But he didn’t mind. In fact, that made it more fun.
Because the truth was, you were real.
And he liked that you were his little secret— the soft, quiet corner of his loud world.
You’d been there after hard practices, like one time he missed a block for thinking too much or lost a match; you’d smiled like it didn’t matter, like he was still your favorite no matter how the game ended.
Yeah. He liked keeping that to himself a little longer.
“Alright, alright,” Semi said finally. “Sure, you have a girlfriend. We believe you, Temdou.”
Tendou smirked. “Good. Because you’ll believe it even more tomorrow.”
Semi frowned. “Tomorrow?”
Tendou’s grin widened. “Oh, you’ll see~.”
And just like that, he strutted out of the gym with his duffel bag swinging—after dropping the mop, much to Semi's irritation—already plotting how to make the reveal as dramatic as possible.
If someone had asked Tendou how he met you, he’d probably answer with something like:
“Destiny! Fate! Or maybe I just scared her so bad she decided to stick around.”
And honestly?
That wasn’t far from the truth.
It all started a few months ago, right after midterms. The volleyball team had been dismissed early, and Tendou, in all his restless glory, had decided to wander the school halls in search of snacks—or trouble, whichever came first.
That’s when he heard you.
Your voice floated down the empty corridor outside the art room—soft, quiet, and humming a tune he couldn’t name. He peeked inside out of sheer curiosity and found you standing by the window, sleeves rolled up, carefully painting something on a huge canvas.
The afternoon sun hit the glass just right, turning dust particles into sparkles around you.
You didn’t notice him at first. But Tendou noticed everything.
The little smudge of paint on your cheek.
The way your brow furrowed in concentration.
The way your mouth curved when you stepped back to admire your artwork—or more like a mess, sighing.
He leaned in a bit too far—and accidentally hit the doorframe with his elbow.
Thud.
You jumped, spinning around with wide eyes, brush still in hand. “Oh my god—!”
Tendou grinned. “Hi there~! Don’t mind me, just admiring....hmm...the colours on the canvas.”
You blinked. “…You mean my art?”
“Who else’s?” He tilted his head, crimson hair matching his eyes. “You’re really good spreading colours but next time try to actually draw something.”
Your jaw dropped, face heating up. “It's not that bad ok!? Do you even paint?”
“I dabble,” he said airily, pretending to flick imaginary paint off his fingers. “But enough about me—what’s your name, Picasso?”
That was the start.
He came back the next day. Then the next. Sometimes with snacks, sometimes with weird doodles of monsters he claimed were “inspired” by your art. He talked too much, joked too often, but you didn’t seem to mind. You’d laugh at his nonsense, shake your head, and tell him to stop scaring the underclassmen on his way there.
You were…nice.
Not fake-nice, not polite-nice—just genuinely warm in a way Tendou wasn’t used to.
And when you told him, quietly one evening, that you liked how he didn’t pretend to be someone else—
Well. That was it.
He didn’t even realize how fast he’d fallen until he caught himself doodling your initials on a page—which he claimed is “the wedding card”—with a grin like an idiot.
Now, weeks later, you were officially his girlfriend. Nobody believed it, of course, because who would believe that Tendou Satori had a soft, secret relationship with a sweet girl who somehow saw through all his chaos?
But tomorrow, that was going to change.
He could already picture their faces—the disbelief, the horror, the awe.
And the best part?
You’d agreed to it.
“Are you sure?” you’d asked, trying not to laugh when he told you his plan. “You really want to tell them like that?”
“Obviously,” he said. “It’ll be iconic.”
You had just sighed fondly, tapping his forehead with your brush. “Fine. But if teammates get a cardiac arrest, it’s your fault.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
By the time the team finished practice, Tendou was practically vibrating with excitement.
His grin was too wide, his movements too bouncy, and even Ushijima had given him a lingering, mildly concerned look.
“You seem…energetic today,” Reon said carefully, tossing him a towel.
“Energetic? Me? Always,” Tendou sang, mopping sweat off his forehead. “But today’s special, Reon-san.”
Semi groaned. “Please tell me this isn’t another one of your pranks.”
“Oh no, no, no. This one’s real,” Tendou said, eyes glinting mischievously. “You guys are gonna love this.”
The door to the gym slid open just in time.
Heads turned.
And there you were—standing in the doorway, wearing your school uniform, a shy little smile tugging at your lips as you waved.
“Um…hi,” you said, voice soft but steady.
Every single person in the gym froze.
Even the ball Goshiki had been holding slipped from his hands and hit the floor with a thunk.
Tendou, ever the performer, threw his arms wide like he’d just unveiled the eighth wonder of the world.
“Ta-daaa! Everyone, meet my fabulous-cute-beautiful-pretty girlfriend~!”
Reon’s eyes widened, then softened with genuine surprise. “So it’s true…”
Ushijima nodded gravely. “I believed you.”
Shirabu just stared at you, processing. “You actually—you’re dating him?”
You laughed nervously. “Uh…yeah. I guess I am.”
Goshiki looked personally betrayed. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US, TENDOU-SAN?! I WOULD HAVE—I DON’T KNOW—BROUGHT FLOWERS OR SOMETHING!”
Tendou snorted, slinging an arm around your shoulders proudly. “Where’s the fun in that, Goshiki-kun? Surprise reveals are my specialty.”
Semi blinked, still trying to compute the scene before him. “Hold on. She actually exists. You weren’t—”
“Making it up?” Tendou finished for him with a grin. “Nope. She’s real. She even lets me hold her hand sometimes. Isn’t that crazy?”
You covered your face, trying not to laugh. “You make it sound like I’m a mythical creature.”
“Because you are,” he said, poking your cheek. “Mythical, magical, miraculous. My miracle girl.”
Reon smiled warmly. “It’s nice to finally meet you. We were beginning to think he had an imaginary girlfriend.”
You smiled back. “Yeah, he told me that’s what you’d think.”
“Of course he did,” Semi muttered. “He probably rehearsed this entire scene.”
Tendou gasped dramatically. “How dare you imply that I—”
“You totally did,” Shirabu cut in.
“...Okay, maybe a little,” Tendou admitted with a wicked grin. “But it was worth it for your faces. Priceless.”
Goshiki was still clutching his chest like he’d witnessed a miracle. “I can’t believe Tendou-san beat me to it. He’s the first one on the team to have a girlfriend!”
Ushijima blinked. “Does that matter?”
“Of course it matters, Ushiwaka-san!” Goshiki wailed. “He’s the weirdest one of us all!”
Tendou smirked, squeezing you gently. “And yet, I’m winning at life. Take notes, kids.”
You looked up at him with that fond, slightly exasperated smile—the one that made everything around him blur a little.
Once the shock wore off, chaos bloomed in the gym like wildflowers after a storm.
Reon was smiling politely, Semi was groaning, Shirabu had taken a seat because apparently his brain needed to reboot, and Goshiki—well, Goshiki was pacing like a wind-up toy that had gone rogue.
“Okay, okay, okay—” Goshiki said for the fifth time, hands flailing. “You’re actually dating Tendou-san?! Like, romantically?! Like, you hold hands and—”
“Goshiki,” Semi interrupted, voice sharp. “Please stop before you combust.”
Ushijima, ever calm, stood beside you with a thoughtful expression. “You must have strong patience,” he said solemnly. “Tendou requires it.”
You laughed, covering your mouth politely. “He does, but I don’t mind. He’s…fun.”
Semi muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, ‘someone has to.’
But Tendou didn’t mind. He was too busy watching how easily you fit in—even amid the teasing, the noise, the gawking. You didn’t shrink away or get flustered. You laughed with them, joked back, and even helped Goshiki when he nearly tripped over a water bottle.
You were perfect.
And they were finally seeing it.
“Tendou-san,” Goshiki said suddenly, eyes huge. “What’s your secret?! How did you convince her to like you?!”
Tendou tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm. Maybe she fell for my impeccable charm?”
You snorted. “You tripped over a door the first time we met.”
The team burst out laughing. Even Shirabu cracked a smile.
“You two are ridiculous,” Semi said, shaking his head—but there was no edge to his voice now, just amusement. “We’re never gonna hear the end of this, are we?”
“Never,” Tendou said, positively glowing. “You guys doubted me. This is my victory arc.”
Reon chuckled. “I think you’ve earned it.”
Tendou turned to you, grin softening just a bit. “See? They love you already.”
“I think they love teasing you,” you whispered back, eyes twinkling.
“Same thing.”
Reon clapped his hands. “Alright, everyone, let’s finish cleaning before the coach walks in and thinks we’ve lost our minds.”
But as the team moved around the gym, laughter still echoing, Tendou couldn’t stop smiling. You stood beside him, brushing dust off your skirt, your shoulder warm against his arm.
“Hey,” he whispered, leaning close. “Thanks for coming today. You didn’t have to, you know—just because I said.”
You smiled. “I wanted to. Plus, it was fun watching everyone’s reactions.”
“Mm. Goshiki’s face alone deserves an award.”
You giggled. “It really does.”
Tendou tilted his head, voice dropping to a playful whisper. “So…you’re not embarrassed that I basically announced you to the whole team like a magician revealing his final trick?”
You raised a brow. “Embarrassed? Not at all.”
“Really?”
You smiled sweetly. “But you are buying me lunch for a week.”
He groaned dramatically. “Cruel! My muse is cruel!”
“Your muse,” you said with a laugh, “is doing you a favor.”
Ushijima passed by just then, dead serious as always. “Tendou, you should take care of your girlfriend properly.”
Tendou froze mid-whine. “...Wait, what?”
“You complain too much,” Ushijima added. “She deserves someone who listens.”
You covered your mouth to hide your laugh while Tendou stared in mock horror. “Et tu, Ushiwaka?!”
“Just advice,” Ushijima said simply, walking away.
That set Semi and Reon off laughing again, and Goshiki looked like he’d witnessed a divine moment.
“Even Ushijima-san teases you now!” he said gleefully.
Tendou sighed dramatically, tossing his hands in the air. “I bring one amazing girl into your lives, and this is my reward? Betrayal?!”
You leaned in close, smiling. “Admit it—you love it.”
He blinked, grinning despite himself. “...Okay, maybe I do.”
And as the gym lights dimmed and the laughter faded into the clatter of cleaning, Tendou couldn’t help but feel a rare kind of warmth spreading through his chest.
He’d never been the type to care what people thought—but having them see you, know you, accept you—
That felt better than any win on the court.
Even if he’d never admit it out loud.
Instead, he just threw an arm around your shoulders again, turned toward the others, and yelled:
“Alright, guys! Team dinner to celebrate my romantic success!”
Semi groaned. “You’re paying.”
“Oh! What a curse it is to be a lover boy!” Tendou called, dragging you toward the exit with a grin.
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