It was cold today, the early spring always made you crave for some extra warm. And for the past few months, you were grateful to have him here by your side. He may be lean and not really muscular, but the fact that he's taller than you, feels like he engulfed you every time he became the big spoon.
"You sure Ushi didn't mind us cuddling here again?" The two of you were longing for each other's warmth since the break after the school year began, "He once caught us making out and trust me, I could never forget the look that he gave to us."
You chuckled when you remember that particular time. Teenagers being teenagers, making out in a place that everyone could come in any time. And for the two of you, it was none other than the blunt ace, Ushijima Wakatoshi.
"I already told him that I am going to borrow the dorm," His long finger grazed on your cheek, gently caressing it as you leaned to the touch, "Well, if he forgot about that then he just have to face us being lovey dovey~" You turned your body so you were now facing him, "Why you look at me like that?"
You didn't answer as your eyes looked at how smooth his hair was when he didn't use hair gel. Your fingers playing with his red strands of hair, and he purred like a cat every time your finger grazed his scalp. To the world, he was a terrifying man, someone that you didn't want to be closed with.
But to you, he was just a man who's afraid to be close with someone else. The world was the terrifying one, not him. If only they just waited patiently while approaching him, they would unravel a heavenly creature behind his dangerous facade.
You were grateful not to hear what the others thought about your lovers. You were grateful to never judge someone with how they looked outside. You were grateful to approach him that day when he tripped while everyone was too afraid to help him. Because if you're not, you would never lay here with him, comforting each other with just being present.
Tendou Satori always looked at you like you were some kind of angel. He's not a fan favourite, no matter how good he was in volleyball. It was always Ushijima this, Ushijima that, Semi this, Semi that, no one ever want to even talk to him if it's not necessary. So when you crouched down in front of him at the spring of his second year, it was the first time he felt like a normal human being.
He has noticed you since a long time ago, way before you helped him that day. You were one of the high school sweetheart; kind, patience, overall didn't even have a bad trait. He always wondered why someone like you wanted to be with him, a monster, or anything that people always called him.
"What's in your mind, Satori?" Your voice woke him up from the wild thought, "You looked... lost for a second there." Worried coated your eyes as you gazed at him. Your fingers never stopped fondling on his red hair, "Mind telling me?"
But he only shook his head, decided to just put his head on the crook of your neck. You were like a safe haven for him, the place where he could just be himself without people looking at him and judging him. Even though you were ticklish over there, you let him be. After all, you knew what always crept in the back of his mind.
So you let him be, until he could open up to you completely.
»»----- ♔ -----««
The red-haired man was pouting the whole day, wondering why you were out of his grasp these past few days. He decided to check your classroom, maybe you were busy with homeworks already. Every time he walked in the hallway, everyone always made way for him.
It was convenient, since he didn't have to collide with the others. But at the same time, he felt like he never belonged there. Like no one wanted him to breath the same air as him as they stole some glances at him, looking at him like he was some kind of satanic creature.
And it made him sick.
So he strides towards your classroom faster, wanting to see you so his mind wouldn't go wilder than now. He peeked inside your classroom, but he didn't find the figure that he wanted to see so much.
"You were looking for someone?" He blinked when he heard someone's voice talking to him, "I am sorry, are you looking for someone?" The student in front of him becomes a little bit worried when he doesn't answer their question. After all, maybe it was the first time someone talked to him without stuttering.
"O-Oh, yes!" He was now back to himself, smiling giddily as he looked at the student, "Do you happen saw (Y/n)-chan?" He really wished that they knew your whereabouts. He's been craving for your touch since Monday, but now it's Thursday and he didn't feel your fingers on his hair, not even once.
"Oh, (L/n)-san?" His eyes lit up with the mention of your name. He nodded enthusiastically when they looked like they knew the answer to his question, "I saw her today! Ushijima-san came here earlier and picked her up." There was confusion on his face,
Wakatoshi? Why would he even pick you up at lunch time?
"They were just really cute isn't it?" The question that was emitted from their lips hit the sore spot inside his heart, "Ushijima-san has been quite a gentleman, picking her up every lunchtime." He felt so small all of the sudden, he just wanted to run away from that spot, "I wonder, are they dating? You are his teammates, right?"
The student kept rambling about how cute you looked with the ace, and it felt too much for him. So before they could say anything else, he ran. He didn't know where his legs brought him. Somehow when he ran, there were a lot of voices attacking him with the information.
He was too focused to block everyone's whispers before, knowing for sure that people talked about him. Shamefully gossiping and mentioning his name while he walked in front of them. But now, he heard everything.
"Ushijima-san and (L/n)-san looks so good together!"
"They were so perfect, I envy them!"
"But doesn't (L/n)-san in a relationship already?"
"Oh, with that middle blocker, huh?"
"Pfft, as if someone will choose that freak over Ushiwaka."
It was too much for him to handle. He needed you, he wanted to see you or he was going to be insane. He needed you to reassure him that you will stay with him, like you always did every time he fell again to the deep of hell called insecurity.
He kept running, searching for your figure in this gigantic school. His eyes scan the crowd, looking for you, the only one who dares enough to approach him. The only one who dares enough to love a monster like him.
After running around like a mad man, he finally found you. It was easy once you were in his eyesight. You are the only one he saw no matter how many people were there. Maybe it was how the wind blew your hair, or maybe it's just the angelic smile that you gave toward someone beside you.
That's when he realised you were not alone. The unfamiliar scene unfurled in front of him like a movie. Beautiful woman standing with the perfect man at her side, making the heroine smile like she was the only woman in the world. He never suited that, he could never suit that scenario.
Maybe it was the best thing to let the story roll. But he really wished that it was him as the main character instead of the ace.
»»----- ♔ -----««
"Something happened?" Ohira gulped down the mineral water while eyeing the middle blocker, "You seem on edge since Thursday." But the red-haired didn't answer his friend's question, and it made the wing spiker raise one of his eyebrows.
Tendou was usually loud since he was the clown of the team. Practice always consists of him joking around and annoying them. So it was strange that practice suddenly became so quiet, like there's no warmth in it anymore.
Practice has been done for an hour now. But here they are right now, helping the middle blocker to let out his frustration. Even if it's only Semi, Ohira, Yamagata, and him, it was enough to practice his block. They didn't know what caused the change of behaviour, but as long as they could help, they would be there for him.
"I will go back to the dorm now." The voice was so emotionless like he was some kind of robot as he still kept his mouth shut, he didn't want to answer his friend's question.
"Come on, you said you need to let out your frustration, right?" Semi shared a mysterious look toward the wing spiker and the libero. But it didn't go unnoticed by the red-haired man, "Reon needs to practice his spike more too."
Tendou squinted his eyes a little, looking at how nervous Reon was.
"What is it that you hide from me?" All of them looked frantic once the question was out of his lips, "You thought I wouldn't notice how you want me to prolong the extra practice?"
The two look fidgety, and Semi just lets out a long sigh.
"We're so stupid to ever think we could hide it from you, huh?" It was scary, he didn't know what they had been hiding from him. The three of them looked so guilty, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what was hiding on their mind.
Then something snapped at him when he realised one particular person was missing from the extra practice today,
"Where is Wakatoshi?" Reon widened his eyes at the question, and that was enough to make the middle blocker bolted from the gymnasium.
"Why did we stay here and didn't stop him?" Yamagata questioned their action as they just stood there with frustration in their eyes. Semi grabbed his bag and groaned,
"Come on, let's just hope they were done doing it."
Tendou ran towards the dorm building, trying to erase the worst scenario that might happen right now. He didn't even change his clothes, he just ran to search for his teammates. His perfect teammates.
He was panting now when he stood in front of his dorm that he shared with the said man. He let out a long sigh and tried to calm himself down before grabbing for his key. His hand was ready to insert the metal timber when he heard the familiar voice from his room.
It's like life has been drained from his body when he heard your voice inside the dorm. He's not there with you, so why would you be there. It's not possible, right? You said you only loved him, you said the only one in your heart was him. So why now were you all alone in the dorm room with none other than Ushijima Wakatoshi?
"Ushi, we need to be fast!" He could hear you whine from outside, "Satori will be here any minute...!"
"It's alright," He clenched his hand when he heard his friend's voice, "He may have noticed it, you know."
Silence deafening his ears. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it. There's only one possible scenario that happened inside his room. The room where you usually cuddle with him, the room where you always calmed him down after he had a bad day.
He knew what might happen if he opened up the door. The sight will craze his mind, haunting him since the first person that ever loved him, falling for someone that was better than him. But he did it, he inserted the key and twisted it. Once he opened up the door, he knew he wouldn't forget the sight that was unraveling in front of him.
"S-Satori!" You widen your eyes when your gaze falls to your boyfriend's figure. He wasn't supposed to be here right now, he was supposed to practise with the others. Not here, not when you were not ready yet.
There you were, sitting at the carpeted floor with a guide book in your hand. The floor was full with plastic pieces that he recognized as model kits. Ushijima was holding two pieces of it with confusion plastered on his face.
You were frantic, didn't know what to do since the plan was horribly gone wrong. So you just snatch the cover of the model kits and put it on the box. There's a wide grin on your face as you stood up and approached him,
"You were not supposed to be here now, but," You cleared your throat as you showed the box to the middle blocker, "Happy birthday, Satori!"
He was standing there and his body was tense. You blinked when you saw the unreadable expression from his face. But then his eyes went glossy, following with tears streaming down his face.
"S-Satori," You put down the model kits that you bought from the internet the other day and focused on your boyfriend, "Baby, what is it? I am sorry for neglecting you these past few days! Oh my god, please don't cry!" You were now a crying mess too. Every time someone that you care about cry in front of you, you couldn't help but do the same.
You wrapped your arms around his head, pulling him to your embrace as the two of you fell down to the ground. His arms wrapped around your waist immediately. You never saw him like this, crying uncontrollably like a child that just dropped his ice cream.
"Not fair!" He screamed between the sob, "I thought you left me or something," It broke your heart to see him like this, "I thought you were tired of me and decided to love someone else, (Y/n)." You bit your lips, it was all your fault to make him feel like this.
You kissed the crown of his head, soothing him as you try to calm him down,
"I am so sorry," You whispered out, "I love you, Satori. I love you so much, I promise I wouldn't leave you." He didn't let go of you and just positioned himself comfortably in your embrace. You wiped the remaining tears from his cheek with your thumb. He started to lean on your touch and just snuggled you there.
"I hate chu~!" He pouted, making you giggle as he looked so cute every time he acted like this, "Why couldn't you just give me a wonderful birthday surprise without giving me a heart attack beforehand?" He kept whining and pouting like a child.
"Well, I am sorry." You cupped his face and pampered him with kisses, he giggled at this and pampered you back. He pushed so your back was now lay on the carpeted floor, "Satori..." Your voice was sweet, and he had to throw his gaze away for a second to control himself.
"Let's get you to bed," He hoisted your body up and tucked you gently to the bed. He positioned himself beside you, snuggling below the warm blanket. Now, this is where he belongs to, with you by his side.
He didn't need anybody else in this world, as long as you were there loving him completely. He didn't need a perfect scenario, he just needed you to be the heroine in his own movie, where he was the one who got the most beautiful girl.
"What's in your mind, Satori?" He looked at you with adoration twinkling in his eyes, "You looked... that you were thinking about something." You always asked him that every time he got lost in his own mind. Maybe it's time, maybe it's time for him to pour everything in his mind to you, trusting you completely.
"You know, sometimes I will think that I am not good enough for you," You wanted to retort, but he shushed you with a peck on your lips, "But, I trust you." Your eyes were now glossed with a little happy tears that were trying to spill already, "I trust every word you said that you will never leave me." You nodded, reassuring him along the way that you meant everything that you have ever said to him.
"I love you, Satori." He grinned when he heard the three words that always brightened up his day, "I love everything about you."
"Hehe~ I know!" He pecked your lips again and nuzzled at the crook of your neck, "I love you too, (Y/n)." His voice was calmed since he was in the right place. He closed his eyes, listening to your heartbeat, "Thank you, for even loving the monster inside me."
He was always the main character in this scenario, and you will always be the heroine who falls in love with the said character. This is where the two of you belong after all, submerging in each other's company. Loved, and appreciated.