A Cluster of Butterflies

                                    

                                          



You took in a breath and called out "Ushijima-kun!", more out of surprise than to get his attention. It was the first time you had ever seen him distracted, he turned towards your voice and smiled, just in time for a ball to collide with his head. 
                          
You winced and the sound of impact, but he just ran over to you. "I wasn't aware that you would be attending this University as well." Ushijima stated, plain as ever. 
                          
"That's nice, but you really should be getting back to practice." You said rather curtly. You turned to walk away, this was a bit much to process. All of that "letting go" crap was seeming really redundant now that Ushijima was standing before you. 
                          
"Wait for me," he boomed, you turned your head around to see him, "after practice, wait for me like you used to." With that, he jogged back to the court, probably to get lectured. This whole breaking focus on the court. He was lucky he was such a good volleyball player. Still, you cursed him. That dumbass is even more sly than you thought he was capable of.
                          
---
                          
"Wait for me after practice like you used to." You mocked, in your head, of course. You leaned against the exterior wall next to the men's locker room. "Oh, kiss my a-." The door swung open and all of the volleyball team seemed to rush out at once. A couple of them gave you glances, some were neutral, others were straight up rude. You paid no attention. Back in highschool, nobody outwardly knew you and Ushijima were fooling around. He never denied nor did he agree to anything thrown at him. So the volleyball team knew you were seeing each other, but didn't know the bounds of your relationship. Frankly, they should have been grateful, without you to help him relieve some stress, Ushijima might have been a real monster.  Still, it was a bit odd to not be worried about people seeing the two of you together. Nobody in college cared. Part of you still felt paranoid.
                          
The door opened once more, Ushijima exited, freshly washed and in clean joggers and a tee-shirt. You straightened up from where you were leaning against the building, but you didn't move from your spot. He had his gym bag thrown over his shoulder, and he stopped when he stood directly in front of you. He looked at you, the massive beast of a man, and he cupped your cheeks. Arms still crossed, you didn't move as he ran a thumb over the apples of your cheeks. He blinked slowly, his eyes taking all the features of your face. He looked the same as before, maybe a bit older, but that could be just the change in scenery talking. He made no moves to kiss you, surely, you thought he would. You figured he wanted the same thing the two of you had before. 
                          
Oh boy, were you wrong. The two months you were apart from Ushijima must have opened his eyes or something, because now, unlike before. He knew exactly what he wanted from you. "Last time," he said, saying the first word, "our relationship..." He seemed to be looking for the correct way to describe just what it was. "We did not do things the way other people do." 
                          
You snorted, pushing his hands away from your face. "Of course we didn't, it was a mutually beneficial agreement." 
                          
"I do not want that." He said, serious as a heart attack. 
                          
You grinned at him. "Well I guess that's good, considering we don't do that anymore." You laughed a bit at him. 
                          
"I found out why I was sick." He stated, unmoved by your amusement. 
                          
You wiggled a brow. "Oh did you now?"
                          
"I love you." Was love the word you expected? No. You thought he was going to say "like, naturally. Knowing Ushijima, he was a type of 'all or nothing' guy. It caught you off guard, made you recoil just a little bit. Suddenly, it wasn't funny anymore. 
                          
"Ushijima," you said in a low growl, warning him. He did not heed your warning and continued. 
                          
"Please go out with me." After two months, you still hadn't sorted out how you felt about him. During the time you broke things off, you were certain. However, the more you saw him after you had broken things off, the more your mind wandered. You shook your head.