Brat

Chapter 1: Love Letter

The unfamiliar tapping of school shoes against the hardwood gym floor caused heads to turn and vollyballs to hit the ground. Whistles and quiet catcalls fell on deaf ears. This person was focused.

The steps didn't stop until the owner met their intended target: Ushijima Wakatoshi. The giant 3rd year didn't actually notice until a folded paper was shoved into his face.

His hazel colored eyes slowly followed the arm to find who was being oh so bold in the middle of practice. He found himself staring into the dark blue eyes of a girl, one much smaller than himself.

Her mid length, black hair framed her face in a messy manner, as if she barely styled it that morning. Or maybe the wind outside had messed it up on her way here. A smug smirk was stretched across her face, like she knew she was being stared at and she enjoyed it. Her eyes narrowed as he took in her appearance. He didn't say anything, so she took the initiative.

"My name is Natsua Leiko. This is my confession. Take it" her voice was filled with confidence and vigor. There was no embarrassment, no hesitation. Something Ushijima wasn't used to in the slightest. Every girl before this had been a flustered mess, and they all ran crying when they were rejected.

The whispers of his teammates brought him out of his emotionless surprise, causing him to actually formulate a response. Everyone's eyes were on them, wanting to see what their giant of an ace had to say.

"You interrupted my practice for this?" His tone was gruff, but bored, something his team expected.

"And if I did? Your coach ain't here yet, so I figured it was the best time. Not like you were doin anything" she continued to wave the letter in his face with that smirk on hers. "Just take it. I haven't got all day~."

The entire team stood in shock. She had an attitude, and she directed it towards the most intimidating man at their school.

Ushijima took the letter, taking a deep breath to compose himself. He had been a little surprised to be talked to in such a way...this girl had guts. He had a bit of respect for that, but he wasn't going to let her off easy.

"If you're serious about this...then you'll wait till we're done with practice. Then I'll read it. I'll read it in front of you if you wish, even" He shoved the letter into the pocket of his shorts and walked right past her, his sneakers squeaking just slightly on the court.

He heard a few of the teammates try to speak to her, varying phrases of "If he says no, I'll accept your feelings~" and "maybe go for me instead~", all of which seemed to be ignored as her shoes tapped to the other side of the gym.

It wasn't until practice was almost over that Ushijima even noticed her in the far corner of the gym. She had changed into a pair of vollyball shorts and a hoodie, and she was boredly receiving a volleyball against the wall. Was she apart of a girl's team? Or just a fellow enthusiast?

"Seems like she stuck around, aye, Ushiwaka~ she might be serious~ hehe" Tendo's voice broke the ace's focus, causing him to turn towards the slightly shorter male. "What are you gonna do, Hm?"

"I don't know...I don't even know anything about her" Ushijima responded, only resuming his practice and conversation when he realized she had earbuds in.

"Natsua-san is a little difficult to discribe" Eita suddenly joined in the conversation, serving the ball across the court to another teammate. "She's been in my class since our second year. She's considered an...how did sensei put it...an 'Educated delinquent'" he put air quotes around the title.

"So she's a troublemaker?" Reon asked, causing Ushijima to realize that most of the team was now paying attention to the conversation. Great.

"She's definitely gotten in trouble a few times...she's not allowed to play with the girls' team because she caused a fight on the court. In the middle of a game no less" Eita replied, smiling nervously.

The olive haired male turned his harsh gaze towards the girl across the gym. The new information he was given wasn't a complete shock; she did give off an aggressive energy. He could practically picture her tackling some girl to the ground in rage. Maybe a ref on a bad call he supposed...

"ALRIGHT. Thats enough for today boys. Obviously you guys are done for the day. Go ahead and clean up" their coach suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He quickly got moving with the rest of the team.

Once everything was cleaned up, everyone seemed to linger, wanting to see the results of Ushijima's newest confession incident. They pretended to converse while watching their captain head over to the Leiko, who was picking up her stuff herself.

The short female didn't even notice the giant until he was practically standing over her. She smiled and pulled her earbuds out, giving him her full attention. "So the prodigal ace finally finishes practice~ I'm guessing you wanna get this over with?"

He nodded and pulled the letter from his pocket, quietly opening it and scanning its contents

'To: Ushijima Wakatoshi,

I'm gonna try and shoot my shot, seeing as its our last year of highschool. I've liked you for awhile, since 2nd year when I first watched you play. I haven't been to EVERY game, but I've cheered you on when I could. You're a hardass, but you're entertaining to watch play, and pretty cute to say the least.

I honestly don't know exactly how to word something like this. But I want you to know that it won't break my heart or anything if you reject me, tell me what you've told every girl before me. Just thought I'd put this all out in the air before i lose my chance.

Love,
Natsua Leiko

His eyes slowly moved from the paper in his hands to the girl who was now hoisting her sports bag onto her shoulder. He was a little surprised due to the fact that this wasn't much of a love letter: No cutesy shit. No fluffy words or hearts decorating it.

"I know I probably could've just said that shit out right, but I figured I'd go classic mode and write a confession" she admitted with a shrug, answering his unspoken question.

He watched her for a moment, trying to figure her out and formulate how to respond. It took a solid two minutes, but he finally figured out how to reply.

"...I'm taking you out tonight"

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Author's note: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and hopefully the rest of the story.

This story is inspired in part by the Ushijima Yagami Yato audio. I've always thought Ushijima would be interesting with a bratty individual.