"Ushijima-senpai..."
"You..."
Ushijima softened his gaze as he turned around to face you, his eyes still locked with yours. You felt your face grow pale but you couldn't bring yourself to look away. You bite down on your lower lip, trying to hurt yourself wishing that it would bring you out of this trance you keep getting yourself into whenever he was around. It actually worked, surprising you for a split-second and finally you were able to look away, although hesitantly. Your masochistic lip-biting was put all in vain as you begrudgingly looked right back at him when you heard him take a step forward. With each step he took you made sure to back away, your palms sweating even more than they already were. His stride was slow and taunting; you couldn't help but feel smaller and smaller under his gaze as he continues to draw closer to you. Being the clumsy person you are, you tripped over your other foot as you tried to take one more step back but you never felt the impact of your butt meeting the ground to say 'hello, I missed you.'
Your gaze was directed on the ground and you began to tense, feeling his grip on your arm. But that vicelike grip was nothing compared to the way you were feeling with the arm he had snaked around your waist, gently supporting you so as to keep you from falling. Your eyes widened in horror and you felt your heart leap out of your mouth "No. Freaking. Way!" you screamed in your thoughts. Finally being able to process the situation you were in, you panicked and started screaming, forcefully trying to pry away from his grip. "Wait!" That growl was the last thing you heard before you finally fell down allowing your butt and the ground another reunion. Your eyes glued shut as the pain of hitting the rough pavement circulate throughout your backside and arms reverberate throughout your body.
You whimpered as you feel a bit of blood starting to drip out of the small bruise you acquired on your elbow. Gingerly, you opened your eyes while letting out a breath, only for it to be inhaled almost instantaneously because of the sight before you. No wonder you thought you smelled something familiar, Ushijima was directly on top of you, both of his hands supporting his weight so as not to squish you from under him, one of his legs is in between both of yours while his head rested on your shoulder. Your hands were pressed against his chest, gripping on the cloth of his shirt. You felt him exhale sharply feeling his hot breath tickle the skin on your neck, the hairs on your neck standing at the feeling. You bit down on your lower lip trying your best not to elicit a sound.
You felt his head move away from you, hearing him let out a deep groan as he did so. "Crap, crap, CRAP!" you mentally screamed, feeling your heart rate speed up. Your face beet-red as you trembled from under him. Not so much because he scared you but that being put in such a position was just way too embarrassing for you. You inhaled sharply when his gaze met yours. He blinked a few times, the stoic expression he always had was momentarily replaced with a shocked expression, but was over in an instant. He constantly opened and closed his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words would come out as he was too taken aback with the situation you were both in, although you had doubts that maybe you just suddenly became deaf from all the pressure your face is feeling right now.
The scary thought that you had gone deaf aside, you felt something inside go haywire for real. Your vision suddenly became a bit blurry and now you see two Ushijimas. One was already a handful for you and two would be pushing you over the edge of your mind. You tried to shake the cobwebs off to no avail - stress, embarrassment and fear all dominate your already aching body. His intoxicating scent is not helping as well, with every breath you take you start to lose your grip on your willpower. As you struggle internally, with your eyes still locked with his, you finally heard his deep voice resonate from his mouth to your ears, "I'm sorry."
And that was it. The final strand keeping you sane was cut off. And you fainted.
***
"I'M SORRY!" you screamed as you sat up. You flinched when you realized you were inside your room. The lower half of your body was covered with your blanket and your school uniform replaced with your favorite pyjamas. Beside you was your school uniform neatly hung and your bag by your study table. Letting out a nervous chuckle, you immediately face palmed yourself. "It was all a dream?!" you whined feeling yourself heat up in embarrassment. You squeaked when your door was slammed open with your brother standing by the door, his breathing laboured and his hand tightly gripping his smartphone, and you seem to see the word 'worry' etched in his facial features "What the f***! I thought something happened to you!" (br/n) yelled at you.
"Seriously, don't scream like that so early in the morning. You're going to give me a heart attack" he groaned, holding the bridge of his nose. You just stared at him; it wasn't like your brother to freak out like that considering his usually calm demeanour. This also wasn't the first time you screamed hysterically.
"Sorry" you mumbled.
"Just get back to bed, you're not going to school today especially after yesterday" He left closing the door behind him. "Also, don't worry about our meals, Oba-san already cooked for us" He yelled from outside, his footsteps audible as he went down the stairs.
Ever since that day your parents decided to expand their company, you've been living alone with your workaholic brother for the better part of 5 years. Your parents would handle, facilitate, and manage new company branch offices in different parts of Japan especially Tokyo whereas your brother was left in charge with the company here in Miyagi. They handled a design company and were great business dealers but despite the talents your parents and brother had with their line of work, you apparently had none.
You were often left alone in the house but you didn't exactly felt lonely considering how your brother would often make an effort to arrive home early or as always bring his work at home just so you could have someone to eat with during dinner. You being the one to cook of course, as the last time he cooked it took you about a week to clean up the mess he made and that was just from cooking rice. Let's just say that you had to buy a new rice cooker that time, after paying your respects and burying the old one. And if neither of you were free, he would often buy take out or call over the nanny who used to look after you both.
You were confused as to why he suddenly decided to let you take a day off but if he said so then you weren't one to complain. "More sleep!" you chimed, letting out a sigh of content as you lied back down, snuggling under the covers. You shifted to your side and felt something at your elbows. You caressed the area around your elbow and felt numerous band aids covering what you guessed were bruises, feeling a stinging sensation whenever your fingers would lightly press against them.
***
(br/n) took a sip of his coffee, his eyes fixated on his laptop and the tapping of his fingers on the keyboard echoed in the huge house. Placing his drink down, he continued his work, talking to the person at the other end of the call through his earpiece all the while constantly listening to the news on the television. Papers and folders were scattered across the coffee table with his laptop being the one closest to him, his tablet at his left and a few of his phones on the right, the screens constantly lighting up as he received texts after texts along with dozens of emails and calls. He was the epitome of a typical multitasking workaholic.
The sound of keyboard tapping was soon replaced by rushed thuds coming from the staircase. His gaze never left the computer screen as he took another sip of his coffee "I thought you were going back to sleep" he deadpanned, placing his coffee mug down. You trudged over to him, slamming your hands on the coffee table causing a few papers to fall down "What happened yesterday?!" you asked somewhat desperate, your breathing a little ragged because of how you rushed down the stairs "curse my un-athletic body" you whined in your thoughts.
"You mean you don't remember? And your senpai was nice enough to carry you too..." He said glancing at you for a brief second before returning his gaze back on the computer screen, oblivious to your change in expression. "Huh?! What?! I'm not talking to you I'm talking to my sister. I'll get back to you later" He said through his earpiece before detaching the device you loathe so much from his ear. Your face bore an expression of horror; you went around the coffee table and sat next to your brother. Your expression unchanging as you gripped at the collar of his dress shirt
"Nii-chan, what happened yesterday?!" He placed his hands on yours as he gently set your hands back on your lap.
"I'll tell you so just calm down, okay?" you frantically nodded, your facial expression unchanging.
He told you all the events that transpired from you fainting until the moment you came back home. He told you that it was the house attendant Hana who changed your clothes, helped you put on your pyjamas as well as the one who cleaned your school uniform. With every word he spoke you felt your stomach churn, your eyes widening in disbelief as you processed how screwed you were going to be if by chance or by fate you'd ever run into Ushijima again. "And that's what happened" (br/n) finished, placing back the earpiece on his ear and continued on with his work. You sat there for a few minutes, your hands still on your lap as your brother continued to type away on his computer, occasionally speaking through the earpiece as he received call after call. "Ah~ I'm dead" you thought feeling your soul leave you. "(f/n)! Again?!" that was the last thing you heard before losing consciousness once again, fading away into your world of dreams as you forcefully escape your harsh reality despite knowing full well that there was no escape.
----- Last Night -----
Ushijima stared at your collapsed figure, he tried to nudge you a couple of times but you remained unresponsive. For now he had fixed your body into a sitting position with your back against the wall. He let out a breath, just realizing how long he had held his breath earlier when his eyes met yours. Not to mention having his head rested on your shoulder. He didn't mean to but when he got to inhale your scent it drew him in. It was taking his everything just to remain calm. But now what was he to do? You were unconscious and he knew it well enough not to just leave you there, it was late at night and who knows what might happen to you if he did. He let out an exasperated sigh, there was only one thing left to do and he did not like it one bit, knowing full well the effects you had on him.
Carefully, he lifted your body off of the ground, carrying you princess-style as he walked towards the general direction of your house. Repeatedly he let out deep regulating breaths so as to calm his speeding heart but try as he might, it did not work. His heart beat continued to accelerate, feeling his face heat up in the process, as he willed himself not to touch you in awkward places. Mentally noting how light you were and how it seems that your body perfectly fits in his embrace. The latter thought however, he tried to push away with gusto. He reached the intersection from where he met you earlier. He looked towards the left from where he stood, he knew enough that that was where you lived but he doesn't know which house exactly.
As much as Ushijima didn't want to pry, the only choice left was to search your bag for your student ID. How else would he know which house you lived in. "Oh! (f/n)-chan!" he heard someone call out when he was just about to place you down to check your bag. He turned a full 180 degrees to see who it was and he was met with an old lady, who looked like she was in her 60s. His face remained impassive even as she walked closer; carefully examining the face of the girl he was carrying. "Oh it is! What happened to her?" she asked worriedly, dropping the bag which Ushijima guessed contained groceries and scanned your features to see if you were in any pain.
"She fainted" Ushijima replied monotonously, carefully explaining what happened to which she responded with a gasp. "Is that so?! Oh dear! Poor girl must be so exhausted. Then if it's alright with you can you continue to carry her? I know where she lives. I'm actually her family's house attendant, Hana" She said while bending down slightly to pick up the bag she dropped. Ushijima nodded and she started walking, with him following beside her. The whole trip to your house she would bombard Ushijima with dozens of questions, some about school but mostly personal. Ushijima didn't really mind answering the part about school but when she got personal; he couldn't help but feel a little bothered especially when she asked if he was dating you. He never thought that there'd come a time wherein he'd be flustered to answer such a mundane question. But it was somehow worth the agony considering how he got to know a little more about you although he'd prefer to hear it from you instead.
He found out your name was (l/n) (f/n) and he couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat. You were so aptly named that he couldn't think of any better name to suit you. He didn't even notice how interested he was until Hana gave him a teasing grin, commenting on how despite Ushijima's unchanging expression, his ears would perk up whenever she would mention (f/n) and how despite his eyes looked distant, there was a glint of interest behind it. Ushijima stayed silent, afraid that if he were to comment any further he'd be going deeper into his own grave.
"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before, do you happen to play volleyball?" She asked before pausing in front of a huge gate. When Ushijima responded with a nod she gave him a warm smile before clicking on the door bell and talking through the transceiver.
"I knew it! I thought I remember seeing you in a magazine before. Did you know (f/n)-chan is a big, big fan of volleyball. Poor girl's not good at the sport, or any sport, though. If I recall her favorite player is..." She happily went on but Ushijima didn't get to hear the rest as his mind went blank upon hearing how you were a fan of volleyball. It was proving harder and harder for him to hate you and find your faults, even as he heard your many quirks and habits as well as the past mistakes you made, he couldn't help but still find you perfect. "Definitely a bother" he muttered under his breath despite the butterflies he was beginning to feel in his stomach, which he dismissed yet again with the feeling of hunger, as it was late and he is missing out on dinner.
The gates opened automatically and Ushijima saw a tall man standing by the doorstep. He guessed that he was your brother though you didn't look that much alike; he looked too young to be your dad after all. The man's eyes glanced at Ushijima briefly before dropping his phone and the few papers he was holding unto the porch. He rushed towards Ushijima, worry and anger evident in his features. "What the f*** happened to my sister?!" he asked frantically eyeing your passed out form. His face grew paler when he saw the bruises at the back of your arm and the dirt on your uniform. "Poor (f/n)-chan fainted, her senpai was nice enough to carry her" Hana said in an attempt to calm down your brother. "You didn't do anything to her did you?" (br/n) growled, clenching his hands into fists as they hang on his side. Ushijima shook his head and calmly explained to him what happened, your brother's face softening in the process.
He let out a deep sigh "I'll take it from here, Oba-san can you take (f/n)'s bag" Ushijima passed you unto your brother and your bag to Hana. Your brother then carried you on his shoulder as if you were a sack of potatoes, making your arms dangle on his back, making Ushijima doubt if your brother really cared for you or not. The impression of your brother being kind hearted immediately vanished. "Thanks for going out of your way. Sorry for me misunderstanding" (br/n) said as Ushijima gave him a quick nod and watched as the gates to your house closed earning him one last look at your sleeping face before finally walking away.
-------------------------
A/N: I feel happy writing this, no matter how cliché the situation might seem...
I was also this close to making the situation a little bit ummm... you know... perv... nevermind hahahaha (I don't plan on making this book mature anyway since I can't write those stuff Xb)
I also hope the quick change in scenes wasn't confusing (I'm sorry if it is O_O)
Anyways, thank you for reading and I hoped you liked this chapter. ^^