The man before you was... stoic, to say the least. You had found yourself at a late night cafe your friends dragged you to on this fine Friday night. They had set up a mixer with some boys from a nearby school, but it had to be a later time so they could finish up their practice first. Either way, you didn't really want to be there, you were just there to fend off the one weird one that was always in the group.
So that's how you found yourself seated in front of a very large, stoic male. He hadn't even introduced himself, his red haired friend-who you think said his name was Tendō-had to introduce him as Ushiwaka. What a weird name. The third male was the most normal, and he seemed polite enough too. You liked him for your friend, and they seemed to be hitting it off. His name was Reon, if you recalled correctly.
Clearly though, you weren't the only one that didn't want to be there. The big guy across the table turned to Tendō and said something about this being a waste of his evening.
"Well, nobody is stopping you from leaving then," you said bluntly. You really hadn't meant to speak up, but it just sort of slipped out.
"I will take my leave then."
His friends tried to stop him, but he got up from the table and moved to get his coat and gym bag. Wait- if he was leaving, does that mean you could too? Nothing was keeping you there...
"WAIT UP," you jumped up and grabbed your bag, running after him, "DONT LEAVE ME HERE WITH THEM!"
He turned ever so slightly to acknowledge your presence at his side. You had to catch your breath slightly, knowing you had just caused a scene in that cafe. Oh well, not your problem anymore.
"So, is Ushiwaka really your name?"
"No. Ushijima."
"What practice did you come from before meeting at the cafe?"
"Volleyball."
"Nice."
He grunted in response.
Ok... this was somewhat similar to talking to a brick wall. Not that that was a bad thing per se, you weren't really one for small talk either. You continued walking alongside him in silence, not sure where you were heading.
.
.
.
The two of you came across an open clearing when he stopped.
"I am staying here. Don't get in my way."
"K," was all you responded with, not even flinching at how brash his words were. You watched as he pulled a volleyball from his gym bag and rolled it between his hands.
"Need a setter?"
He looked at you with a slightly cocked eyebrow, the first emotion you'd seen on his face the whole time.
"You play?"
"I dabble, I won't be as good as the setters I'm sure you're used to," you nodded. He tossed you the ball after a moment of thinking.
You set the ball for him at a height you thought would work for him-and that it did. He spiked the ball down and it bounced perfectly against a tree he was evidently aiming for.
The first thing he said was, "You put too much spin on the ball."
You just shrugged your shoulders in response and jogged to retrieve the ball. At least you thought it was a decent set. Somehow his words just didn't affect you like they did to others, which is something he took note of.
Once you had returned, you got ready to set again when he strode over and put his palm on the ball to stop you. You just looked up at him and waited, knowing he was going to explain his actions eventually anyways.
"Do I offend you?"
There was an almost visible question mark above your head. Offend you? When?
"Offend me? When?"
"Don't know. Usually people get offended when talking to me."
"I guess I could see it, but no, you don't offend me. You're just honest about your opinions, which is refreshing honestly."
Clearly he had never been told that based on his wide-eyed expression. He remained frozen, his palm still holding the ball in place in your hands.
Noticing he may have been looking for more of an explanation, you continued.
"Usually people skate around their opinions or sugarcoat then to not upset anyone, and it can be pretty fake sometimes. So I like that you say what's on your mind without any extra crap."
"You don't seem to mince words either," he nodded as if affirming himself on the spot.
"I don't like to, it's a waste of time really."
"You don't have many friends then," he more stated than asked.
"Yeah, but I've never really needed many anyways," you shrugged again.
Ushijima thought for a while before speaking again. "I've never met another person with the same views as me. It's.. strange."
"Yeah, I've never had someone understand before. Kinda nice, honestly. Are we just gonna stand here though, or are we going to play?"
"For the first time in my life I'd rather talk to someone than play volleyball."
You let out a brief chuckle before motioning to a patch of grass lit up by the moonlight. You both sat in silence for a while before he started a conversation about deeper topics. He didn't strike you as someone who normally did that, so you went along with it. You were intrigued by him, to say the least. You talked for a good while about personal beliefs and upbringings and how you got to where you were present day.
The conversation started to wind down, and you had to stifle a yawn.
"You're tired." Again, he stared more than asked, so you nodded, so he added, "I'll take you home." He stood up and offered you his hand, which you took and pulled yourself up.
He looked at your joined hands briefly, and pointed at them. "Can I hold this while we walk?"
"Sure."
The two of you walked hand in hand, enjoying each other's presence as you guided him to your home. Unfortunately it was only a short walk away, so you were there in no time.
You turned to face him, standing on your doorstep.
"It was nice to meet you, I'm sure we'll cross paths in the future," you nodded at him, sure of yourself.
He looked at the ground, which seemed odd to you as he had looked you in the eyes the whole night prior.
"Thanks for.. understanding me," he said in a quiet voice. Well that was unexpected.
He looked up when you didn't respond to see you offering him a small smile and a paper with your number on it.
"We can help our paths cross a lot more often this way," you explained when he took the paper. He gave you a small smile in return, which was probably the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen.
"I look forward to it, (Y/N)."
You could tell he didn't know how to leave off the conversation, so he put his hand on your head and slightly ruffled your hair before turning to walk off. The only thing you could do was internally thank your friends for dragging you out that night and think about the next time you'd see him.
Ok so I think I want to do a part 2 to this about Ushi and (Y/N) meeting up again?? Not sure?? Thoughts?? Sorry if this wasn't great, it's my first one shot getting back into writing again!