Thread by @pettykawas

#ushioi

Ushijima’s face gives him a lot of trouble working as a pediatrician. Children generally don’t respond well to his stern features. He reminds them of a parent, perhaps a strict teacher, someone they might expect to be scolded by.

Patient, polite, and perceptive, Ushijima is among the best pediatricians in their town. But kids don’t care about that when you look the way Ushijima does.

Some are neutral about him, neither pleased, nor fearful, and that’s about as good as he could hope for.

He doesn’t mind being unpopular with children. He manages, regardless. The work is still fulfilling, even if it takes his patients some time to warm up to him, and they usually do.

There is one child, however, who had greeted him so warmly during their initial consultation that it startled Ushijima somewhat.

“You’re like the Terminator!” were the first words Sato Takeru had said to him, and it would set the tone and dynamic of their future appointments.

Takeru is the rambunctious child of Mrs. Sato, a woman in her 30s working at a nearby law firm. Ushijima does not have favorites among his patients, but he pretends not to notice when Takeru grabs a handful of candies from the bowl rather than just one piece.

Then, on what was supposed to be a routine checkup, something unexpected happens.

Ushijima had just returned from his lunch break when he heard it.

“Takeru, I told you to stop wandering off!” an unfamiliar voice hisses. “Dr. Ushiwaka will be here any—”

“Ushiwaka!” Takeru says from somewhere just outside Ushijima’s field of view. The boy rushes to where Ushijima is standing so he could give the doctor a hug. That is, embracing the doctor by his knees.

Dazed, Ushijima misses twice when he attempts to give the boy his customary head pats.

“Ushiwaka?” Ushijima repeats, before realizing it’s a portmanteau of his name.

“Shi—I mean, shoot, sorry. It’s what my nephew calls you, it kind of rubbed off on me. Uhm.” The handsome stranger flushes prettily. “Oikawa Tooru. Takeru’s uncle. My sister couldn’t be here so she sent me in her stead.”

Oikawa Tooru has beautiful brown eyes and voluminous hair in the very same shade. He stands nearly as tall as Ushijima, and his build is lean but noticeably athletic. He must be the uncle that Takeru idolizes, the one who is in professional volleyball.

He bears no physical resemblance to his sister or nephew, but Ushijima can tell that they share a similar playful spirit.

He offers a hand that Ushijima takes. Oikawa’s hand is soft where it doesn’t have calluses, warm even in the cold waiting area of his practice.

Ushijima wonders what it might have been like to meet Oikawa under different circumstances.

The curious twinkle in Oikawa’s eyes makes Ushijima wonder if he’s thinking the same thing.

“That’s alright,” he says after clearing his throat. “Allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Ushijima Wakatoshi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The hand in Ushijima’s squeezes his, and there is a smile spreading on Oikawa’s lips. It’s friendly, just flirtatious enough to be taken as a reciprocation of something felt but not spoken.

Ushijima feels his own mouth curve into the beginnings of a smile.

Oikawa’s smile widens.

“Trust me, Doc,” Oikawa says. “The pleasure is all mine.”

Later:

“Tooru, you’re red.”

“I am /not/.” He definitely is. “And what did I tell you about respecting your elders?”

The child hums, before pointing at Ushijima, to Oikawa’s horror.

“Ushiwaka, you’re a little red, too!” Takeru frowns. “Are both of you sick?”

Silence.

“Tooru, you’ve turned even more—!”

“Takeru, be quiet!”

/ Some wholesome Ushioi to help us through this week! 🥰 I just couldn’t get the image of pedia!Ushi out of my head.

Thank you to my dearest bestie @cherryottoke for answering the questions I had <3