The Little and the Giant (Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader)

🦅 LXXXI: Fly (3)

Hinata Shoyo knows more than anyone else. 

And that was good. 

"Is that a problem?" He looks at you with a tone, dreadfully silent and serious at the same time.

You broke out in a grin. 

"No."

"Foundation isn't that important anyway." You say as you say it to him.

There were late bloomers even among  professional athletes. There were players who only get results at the oddest timing. There are athletes who only started playing a little later but still went pro. And there were even players who only excelled when their shelf lives as an athlete was almost over. 

It was all a testament— that contrary to popular belief, your beginnings do not always matter in sports. 

"What matters is the endpoint." You say.

"But you probably got a lot of good volleyball experience in the entire time you were on highschool, no?" You ask and he nods.

You could only imagine. It must have been painful. "Most of the top players your age have practically started playing even at junior high and your only shot was probably when you were a first year." You say and he looks at you as if you have just told him something he had been brooding about for so long.

You could imagine the anxiety he must have felt, the frustration of starting out late, the crippling anxiety of hearing the footsteps of your teammates who keep going higher and higher while you remain the same. 

"But you still reached nationals, right?" His eyes widened when you made him remember and he nods. 

Look at him being so tame and this focused. You ruffle his hair as you say it for him to hear. 

"That's a feat you should be proud of for your experience." 

"Those are teammates you should be proud of." You add. And that was a fact. You couldn't deny him that.

But you still had to say it.