Indecisive (Miya Atsumu x OC x Ushijima Wakatoshi)

12. Interhigh

After a stop by the changing rooms Hoshikin finally enters the grand hall where the matches are gonna be held. There is a crowd already watching their moves carefully, reporters and cameramen are making sure to capture these moments. He meets the team at their benches, finally getting the time to put away his things and warm up.

Just when he was about to slide his phone in the backpack he bought here, a small buzz signals that he's got a message. The teen opens it quickly since it's his father's name that popped up on the screen. And the whole sky fell on him. Maybe he should've waited till after the match. Maybe he should just disappear in the ground.

The message is very simple. Just one question followed by a pic from the tabloids. All he can see is black. Shirabu comes to tell him they're gonna start and he has to hurry, but he just can't hear it. The worst case scenario happened. Anything could've been better than this. He really didn't expect his father to follow the Japanese local news. And he didn't expect that picture to be sold to such an important magazine.

Hoshi is dragged in the starting line, moving almost like a robot and bowing to their opponents, but the thoughts in his mind are far, far away. He plays the two games they had today but he's completely out of it. He missed hits, tosses, receives, fortunately he is still a world class player and it didn't show as badly but for people who already played against him they could see that he is not in his best form. The news already started rolling: "Top player distracted at his national debut in Japan! Is he really a volleyball prodigy?"

After those two games that they thankfully won, he doesn't stay with the teams and rushes to the company's headquarters. Hoshi barely stops to tell Ushijima what happened and that he needs to leave and sort it with his father, kissing him goodbye, but his senpai didn't give it up.

"Let me come with you! You shouldn't deal with this alone." he says as he catches the brunette's wrist, panic written all over his face.

They finally leave together to the company, a very formal greeting waiting for them when they enter the front doors. Hoshikin bows his head slightly but doesn't stop to greet the employees back, he instead steps forward to the elevators. He swipes the card and quick enough the door opens, Ushijima taken aback by all of these things. He never quite realized how different Hoshi's life is from his own. They go up to the last floor where the biggest conference rooms seem to be.

"XA please set up a video meet with my father." the brunette suddenly says in English, leaving Wakatoshi wondering who he was talking to, but he gets the answer soon enough as a pale blue light shines around the transparent panel on the table.

"Yes, Sir. Problem detected, from the schedule we received this morning the CEO should be in a meeting with the Pr department now. Should I send a message instead?" a voice that sounded computer-generated but not necessarily robotic rings through the room, making the teen sigh.

"Please do that. And mention that I want to talk to him as soon as he can. Thank you, XA." Hoshi answers back, feeling a bit defeated. If his father doesn't want to talk to him then he knows very well that it's pointless to wait for him all day.

"Would you like something to eat or drink? We came here right after the match and you must be exhausted." the younger teen comes to Wakatoshi's arms, seeking comfort after a really hard day, which can yet get way worse.

This time he doesn't hesitate, Ushijima wraps his arms around him, taking advantage of the slight height difference to kiss the top of his head. He is experiencing so many new things lately, it all feels like it's a movie at double speed and in another language.

"It's going to be okay. There is a way to solve these things and we're still here to win the nationals. Maybe let's grab some food while we wait for your father to be available?" at times like this Hoshi really is grateful for his boyfriend being so blunt and not thinking too much between the lines.