Chapter Text
“Ushijima!” The redhead cried as he sauntered through the open door. “I thought we were going to get ice cream?”
“I’m studying right now.” It had shocked you when Ushijima approached you that morning asking if you could help with a problem he was having in English, but you were willing to help all the same. “Y/N is helping me.”
You waved from your seat, he was still standing and you felt so small compared to his towering form. But, you didn’t feel that way for too long as Satori dropped into the chair beside you and bent farther to match your eyes. “I didn’t realize you two were hanging out without me.”
A sigh came from across the table. “I asked her to help me with schoolwork.”
“Why didn’tcha ask me to help?”
“Because you do not talk about school work when you’re helping me study.”
There was a look on Satori’s face that made you a little uneasy, like he was thinking too hard about something negative and the energy was swimming around his entire body. Ushijima sighed again. “Looks like we’re done here today Y/N,” Nodding, you began packing up your things. “Would you like to come get ice cream with us? My treat, as a thank you.”
“Oh,” You could feel Satori watching your reaction. “No, I don’t want to intrude. Besides, you don’t need to thank me for helping you study.”
“I insist.” With a nod, Ushijima made the decision final. “Especially since my friend here cut the time short.”
He just smiled up at the captain. “Let’s go.”
The next time Satori found you alone with his best friend was after the practice match they’d just played and he walked out of the gym to find you already deep in conversation with Ushijima.
“Tori!” You smiled widely as you watched him walk towards the two of you, a look on his face that you couldn’t quite place. “You did so well today, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
“Is that right?” Your smile dropped and for a moment he felt guilty, hoping to make it up to you he scratched his cheek. “Wanna go watch a movie?”
Saying goodnight to Ushijima you let Satori lead the way in silence back to the dorms and up to his room. “I still can’t believe you got that block in the second set.” Once you were both situated on his bed comfortably you started going on about the game again. “It really was amazing.”
“Just my gut telling me I needed to go the other way.” He shrugged it off like it was nothing, and to him it was. “Let’s talk about something else.”
Silence between you grew, the only sound coming from the indie movie Satori had started playing on his laptop, and you started to feel as though you were unwelcome.
About halfway through the movie you started to fidget and stood from the bed finally grabbing your boyfriend’s attention. “I’m gonna go.”
“Ok.”
He didn’t even fight it, just said goodnight and went back to watching the movie.
You didn’t let him see the tears gathering at the corner of your eyes.
Usually, Satori walked with you to class in the morning since he wouldn’t see you until lunch and then not until after practice, but today you were nowhere to be found. Pulling out his phone he finally noticed the text for him to go without you.
Is everything ok?
He watched the three little dots appear at the bottom before your response popped up on the screen.
Fine.
Satori trudged from the dorms to the third years building wondering if you’d picked up on his negativity the night before.
He wished he could explain it at least, to tell you how so many others had used him to get to the ace, and how they would sneer and tell Satori that he was the Guess Monster and no one would like him over Ushiwaka. You knew about his childhood, how he enjoyed playing volleyball but was never invited to play on teams because the other kids thought he was weird, how he had a hard time making friends until he met a certain Wakatoshi Ushijima.
He could talk to you about it and explain how it felt like you were pushing him out of your life to make way for Ushijima, but it sounded ridiculous even to him.
So, he just walked by himself to class.
At lunch, he found you sitting alone at the usual table, one of the mangas you’d bought recently open in front of you while you ate.
“Oh that’s a good one.” He sat across from you and barely noticed the lack of smile you had. “Did you want to borrow the next one when you’re finished?”
But you shook your head. “Actually, I figured I would stop by later and drop off all the ones I’ve already borrowed.”
Satori’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
You didn’t answer, thankful for the arrival of the other volleyball players who ate lunch with you. It wasn’t unusual for Tori to keep his eyes locked on you, but it was different seeing you just stare at your food and push it around.
“Y/N,” Ushi took the seat next to Satori. “I aced my quiz thanks to your help.”
“That’s great!” The first time he’d seen you smile today and it wasn’t even directed at him. Satori gripped the edge of the table to keep his emotions in check. “I’m glad it worked out for you Wakatoshi.”
Excusing yourself only a few moments later, you felt a warm hand wrap around your wrist in the empty hallway. “I need you to be honest with me.”
“I’ve always been honest with you, Satori.”
“What’s going on with you and Ushiwaka?” Your jaw dropped. Was he serious? “Just...I’ve noticed the two of you hanging out a lot more and talking without me, and I want to know if there’s something going on there. Is that why you want to give me my mangas back?”
You pulled your wrist out of his grasp. “Is this why you’ve been acting so distant? Because you think I’m cheating on you?”
“Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you’re not with me to try and get closer to him?”
“Asshole.” A few tears escaped and ran down your cheeks, Satori moved to wipe them away but you just stumbled backwards trying to get away from him. “You don’t get to make me cry and then want to comfort me. I cannot believe you right now Satori. If you honestly thought I was like one of those girls do you think I would have become your girlfriend for a year and a half? You look me in the eye and tell me whether you actually think that.”
He was frowning deeply, a sight you very rarely saw.
“I know that you have trust issues because of that, you didn’t even have to tell me for me to figure it out. But I became friends with Wakatoshi because he is your friend, not the other way around. You are my boyfriend and I think it’s important to be able to get along with your friends. But he is not you. ”
Not wanting anyone else to come along and witness your crying, you turned on your heel and stormed towards the girls bathroom. He was fast enough that Satori could have caught up to you easily, but he let you go knowing that he didn’t deserve to ask for your forgiveness.
“Hey Wakatoshi,” You gave him a pitiful smile as you opened the door to your dorm room. “What’s up?”
“Have you seen Tendo? He ran off after practice so I figured he was here.”
Shaking your head you tried not to look too upset. “Haven’t seen him since lunch.”
“Is anything the matter?”
“We had a fight, he has it in his head that I’m using him to get close to you since we’ve become friends.”
Ushijima frowned. “But we’re friends because of him?”
“I know, I told him as much. But, there have been enough people do this that Tori just assumes that’s what’s happening.”
He said goodbye and you closed the door going back to your homework and trying to keep your mind off what felt like your inevitable breakup.
Almost two hours later there was frantic knocking at your door and you opened it to find Satori standing in the doorway with a plate in front of him and a look that broke your heart.
“Can I come in?” Moving aside you let him into your room, standing by your desk quietly. “I’m so sorry. I know that doesn’t make up for it, I know that doesn’t explain it, but I messed up and I know it. I knew it before Wakatoshi came and tore me a new one.”
“Tori…”
He held up a hand and you quieted again. “Please, just let me talk because if I don’t get it all out at once I’ll have to stand here for another fifteen minutes like I did outside your door.”
He was out there for fifteen minutes?
“You know how I was bullied as a kid, and how Wakatoshi is the first real friend I had. So many people want to get close to him and they use me to do it, I’ve lost count of how many people have flirted with me or tried to get me to take them out just so they can meet him or get close to him. When I met you I knew it was different, I mean I use my instinct everyday and nothing was telling me this was what you were doing, but even after this long I saw the two of you together and felt the tug that this was your goal. Even when you looked at me like you do when I appear and knowing that you weren’t looking at him like that, even though I was the one who wanted you two to be friends, and even though I have no claim over you or who you’re friends with. I can’t apologize enough and tell you how sorry I am that I let my insecurities get the best of me.”
Answering the unasked question, you held your arms out and Satori set the plate down before running across the room towards you. His long arms pulled you close and you scratched the back of his head with one hand while the other fisted in his hoodie keeping your bodies molded to each other. “So you’re not breaking up with me?”
He stood up straight with a horrified look on his face. “ Me breakup with you ?!”
“Well it kind of seemed that way last night.”
“I don’t think I could ever do something like that, you’re stuck with me.” he kissed you gently before pressing his forehead against yours. “Oh! Before I forget, I made these as an apology gift.”
He grabbed the plate and shoved it in your face, his own face holding a look of worry. “Are these...did you make chocolates for me Tori?”
“Mhmm! I thought that just buying you some was a cheap way out so I wanted to prove to you that I was serious.” He picked up a piece and popped it on your tongue watching as you chewed slowly. “Well?”
“Tori, this is so good!” Picking up another piece you bit into it before giving him the other half. “I can’t believe you made these for me.”
He kissed you again, and you melted into him. “I will make you as much chocolate as you want babe.”