Chapter 26

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After getting quite the lecture from your parents about not wasting time and money on something that you would be forgotten in a few years, you were told that they would get rid of all the magazines they had found and you were, again, forbidden from buying new ones.

All in all, it left you mostly unaffected. The only reason you had indulged in so many magazines was to spite your parents anyway, so it wasn't like you were that attached to them in the first place.

The thing that bothered you most about the whole thing was that you could now also no longer buy Shounen Jump and that meant that you wouldn't be able to talk about it with Tendou.

You spent the remaining days your parents had off from work helping them with painting the living room and hallways. Once they went back to work the magic of your recent vacation quickly wore off and you soon were used to your old routine of being on your own for the larger part of the day again.

There were a few times when you were able to make plans with some of your friends, but most of them also went on vacation or had other things they were doing in their free time.

You were also able to meet up with Tendou a few more times when he didn't have volleyball practice or matches, and as soon as he heard about the 'manga incident' he offered to borrow you his Jump magazines. You readily agreed and the next time you met, he had brought all the issues you had missed up until then.

That day you had spent at the riverside again. You had sat there reading, since taking the magazines home wasn't an option. Next to you, Tendou lay on his back, reading some light novel on his phone.

You had almost not said anything to each other that day, but neither you nor he seemed to mind in the least. You had told him goodbye with a hug, something that was becoming a habit, after he had seen you to your bus stop.

Another thing that happened during summer vacation was that Tendou kept bringing you a gachapon every time he came to your house. After he got you the toy poodle, however, he told you that he could not find the food dogs anywhere anymore.

Instead, he brought you hamsters that seemed to be having some sort of tea party. The first one you got was a hamster in a teapot anyway. While the hamsters were really cute and you loved them, you couldn't help but feel bummed that you hadn't been able to obtain the last hot dog.

You got in the habit of checking every gachapon machine you came across to check if they didn't have the food dogs.

Summer vacation seemed to have passed by even more quickly than it had last year and before you knew it you were back at school. On the first day of lessons your homeroom teacher had said that everyone could find a new seat for the remainder of the year.

It had taken only a look between the two of you to decide that you and Tendou would be sitting exactly where you had been up until now.

The school year progressed much as it had before summer vacation, you resumed your club activities and Tendou his, you regularly met up in your dorm room Sunday evening so he could bring you his Jump magazines and you would often sit with him during lunch. Sometimes some of your other friends would join you, sometimes they were guys from the volleyball club.

When Yamagata and Semi were the only ones at your table it was always lively and there was a lot of laughter and messing around.

However, whenever Ushijima joined, the atmosphere was always serious and you noticed everyone minded what they said a lot more.

You could totally understand why. To say Ushijima was an intimidating person was a bit of an understatement. It wasn't only his size, apart from Yamagata all the guys were taller than average, it was also in the way he carried himself.

He never really insulted anyone, but still, he gave off this 'I'm better than you vibe'. You noticed Tendou would sometimes try to pull Ushijima into the conversation, but unless it was about volleyball it never really worked.

Then there were also Oohira and Soekawa, who seemed calm and collected whether Ushijima was present or not.

All in all, you generally had a good time with them and you resolved to go to try and watch their practice again, now fully aware of how lively Tendou was around his teammates.

Once you did, you were very glad you made that step. First of all, you learned that the third year who was the manager was also the girlfriend of one of the third-year players. So while you didn't really expect Tendou to have feelings for her, especially after he had admitted himself that it was too soon to be thinking about dating, it was a comfort that they just got along as members of the same club and nothing else.

Second of all, while the first-year players other than Ushijima didn't spend as much time in the actual practice, you did get the chance to see Tendou in action. It was a completely different sight as you regularly didn't get to see him jumping and running around, but that didn't mean it was bad.

After that first time, you went to witness practice a few more times, but you didn't have the time to do it often.

You had asked the guys about going to a game once, but they had told you not to bother because, other than Ushijima, none of them really got to play in matches yet.

So time went by, the days got colder and the skies were grey more and more often until winter arrived and it was almost time for winter break, which also meant Christmas was just around the corner.

Not that many families really celebrated Christmas, but yours did. It was a day that your parents tried to spend at home and they made sure that they were there to eat dinner together.

This year, Christmas Eve fell on a Friday, while the last day of school was Wednesday. Your father had already said that he would have to go into work for the morning at least, but your mother had been able to take the whole day off.

You went to a fancy restaurant as was your tradition, your parents weren't that fond of the whole Christmas KFC trend, and ate a delicious meal. It was nearing midnight when you arrived back at home and you sent Tendou a message.

'Merry Christmas!!!! ᒄ₍⁽ˆ⁰ˆ⁾₎ᒃ♪♬'



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A/N:

Hi guys!! I'm so sorry for the shorter chapter today!! m(._.)m I knew I had to do a big time skip, I just wasn't sure until when I should skip...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless and I hope to see you all next week!!ヾ(・ω・ )

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