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Y/n really was lost when it came to setting up the tent she and Ushijima had to use. It was an unfortunate situation, really. As often as Shiratorizawa gave their students weeks off school, they also often did week long camping trips according to clubs and team sports. Y/n wasn’t meant to share a tent with Ushijima, the captain of the boys’ volleyball team. Seeing as all the other girls in the Shiratorizawa journalism club had already been paired up and had their tents Y/n was shoved off to the Shiratorizawa boys’ volleyball club to ask if they had an extra tent she could use.
After clearing her throat several times, she asked Coach Washijō if he had an extra tent. “Excuse me, Coach Washijō but do you have an extra tent? The Journalism club forgot to pack an extra one.” She rubbed the back of her neck as the old Coach gave her a sour look but called Ushijima over.
“Ushijima-san, you were planning on having your own tent correct?” Coach Washijō asked, his back hunched over to make him look like the villain of a kids’ fairytale. Ushijima gave a nod. Coach Washijō raised his eyebrows and clapped his hands together. “Okay then, L/n-san, you can share with Ushijima-san.”
When she went to disagree, the coach just gave her a warning glare. “I do not have time to deal with this situation any longer.” As he walked away, Y/n couldn’t help but mimic him.
“I do not have time to deal with this situation any longer.” She imitated, lowering her voice and puckering her face up so that it was comparable to his tart expression. Then she dropped what she was doing and turned to Ushijima, she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Please don’t say anything.”
To her surprise, Ushijima chuckled, “You do a much better impression than Tendou can.” When Ushijima started walking away to the bus where all the camping materials were stored, he looked behind him and motioned for Y/n to follow him. Although she felt like a small puppy trailing after a giant, she still went along.
When Ushijima was able to pull the tent out of the back of the bus single handedly, Y/n swallowed thickly before carrying two sleeping bags and waddling after Ushijima since the bags were much larger than expected and hid her line of sight. When Ushijima set down the tent on a dry spot underneath a large evergreen tree, Y/n set down the sleeping bags against the trunk of the tree.
“Do you know how to set the tent up?” She questioned.
“No.” Ushijima admitted. If he was being honest, this was not an ample situation to be in for himself. Even though he prided himself on being reliable and giving a stong feeling of security to others, he always wanted to be the one to solely provide that to Y/n. So, he felt his confidence weaken at the fact that he didn’t know how to set up something so simple as a tent.
Even though they acted awkward around each other, the two had known each other longer than most Shiratorizawa students. Growing up on the same street, Ushijima often spent his time outside practicing volleyball against the brick wall of a small candy shop. The same candy shop that Y/n’s grandmother owned. She would sit outside on the bench with a notebook, asking Ushijima random questions and then writing down his answers.
And then the next day, she would share the miniature article that she had written, featuring what she liked to call “The Rising Volleyball Star Ushiwaka” while Ushijima continued to bounce the volleyball against the wall.
That was how they spent their summers, alone, but at the same time, together.
When Ushijima got accepted to Shiratorizawa, he raced to the candy shop, where Y/n was inevitably sitting and writing things down. “What Junior High do you plan on attending?” He asked, intent on her answer.
“Shiratorizawa accepted me based on the Journalism stuff they saw I had written.” She said while swinging her legs back and forth, since she wasn’t tall enough to have her feet reach the ground from the bench. It was at that moment, Ushijima felt true relief.
“I don’t know how to set up a tent either, but I'm sure we can figure it out.” She said, dusting off her hands and then putting them on her hips in a confident stance.
“Together?” Ushijima asked for a small affirmation.
“Of course!”
Soon, the pair was sitting on the grass, Ushijima was trying to put two metal rods together as Y/n flipped through an instruction manual rapidly. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth before setting down the booket and crawling over to Ushijima. Putting her hands over his, she twisted one of the rods and eventually it clicked against the other one.
When she let out a small laugh and pumped her fists excitedly, Ushijima wanted to do whatever he could just to see her act like that again. Eventually, after spending the rest of the day figuring out how to set the tent up, Ushijima and Y/n took a step back to admire their handiwork.
A large purple tent, suitable for perhaps one person to sleep comfortably laid under the tree. To Tendou Satori, a camping pro, it was probably the worst made tent he had ever seen. But seeing his best friend celebrate with the only girl he would actually talk about for longer than a passing comment, Tendou felt satisfied in the accomplishment before him.
“High five!” Y/n eagerly remarked. Ushijima held back a smile as he lifted his hand up above his head. Y/n rolled her eyes but tried her best to give him a high five despite the height difference of their hands. Y/n started jumping up and down to try and reach Ushijima’s hand.
“Aw, c’mon!” She complained. Ushijima lowered his hand and Y/n happily gave him a high five, when she looked up to him with a scrunched-up face due to her blinding smile, the corners of her eyes winkled and her cheeks mushed up, Ushijima ruffled her hair. Leaving Y/n to purse her lips and shake her head at him.
Later that night, the temperature dropped way below what was assumed to be the normal temperature for a summer night. Y/n only had her sleeping bag, and one blanket tucked around her legs. Her breath came out in white mists, and she could hardly even see it through the cover of inky dark nightime.
Her fingers felt bitten by the cold, and her ears were freezing, she wholly believed that her face would not last the entire night in this cold.
It just so happened that the heating pads for this particular tent had been detached by none other than Tendou Satori earlier that day, claiming he needed extra warmth if he was going to be sharing a tent with an emotionally cold Shirabu. Only, Ushijima had neglected to pay attention to Tendou's antic because he was been too busy watching Y/N mess around with her fellow journalism club members by shoving each other into the lake.
Her body felt chill to the bone. Icy and cold she tried to warm her hands up by rubbing them together. Shuffling around in her sleeping bag she cuddled into herself to conserve any form of warmth. Ushijima rubs his eyes, before mumbling an incomprehensible statement and pulling her into him. Ushijima stuck his arm out of his sleeping bag and pulled his blanket over Y/n as well. Y/n just stiffened her whole body at all the sudden touch.
“Um, Ushijima.” She whispered. When he didn’t respond, she realized that he was asleep. Soft snores and the feeling of his chest moving up and down against her back helped to slowly drift Y/n off to her own slumber.
They woke up, their limbs were entangled and their hearts were entwined.