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“What the fuck.”
Hanamaki Takahiro forgets, sometimes, how relatively short a time that Iwaizumi has been in Oikawa’s life for. Sometimes, it seems like they’ve always been together. But other times, times like now, he’s reminded that there are huge parts of Oikawa’s life that Iwaizumi knows almost nothing about.
“What are you even doing Tobio-chan?” Oikawa calls out and then starts laughing, loud and shrill. He’s watching the setter from Karasuno warm up and is calling out mean comments every three or four minutes.
Beside Takahiro, Iwaizumi looks mildly horrified. Takahiro gets it. After all, Iwaizumi is witnessing the Kageyama Tobio effect for the first time.
“What the hell is he even doing?”
Takahiro glances over at Oikawa and is unsurprised to see him sticking his tongue at Kageyama.
“Yeah…”
The thing is, Oikawa is usually mature when volleyball is concerned. But his (admittedly tenuous) level of maturity takes a nosedive wherever anything related to geniuses are concerned. There was a weird time in junior high, back in the weeks after Oikawa had punched him, when Oikawa had been strangely nice to Kageyama. But that evaporated within a few weeks. And now…
“Good luck beating me,Tobio-chan~” Oikawa is grinning at him, wide and mean.
As soon as Oikawa comes close enough to the stands, Iwaizumi reaches out and punches him in the head.
“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa whines, rubbing the side of his head. “Don’t be so mean to your cute boyfriend!”
“You’re not cute, you’re awful.” Iwaizumi huffs, despite the fact that he’s tomato-colored thanks to the word boyfriend. “Stop picking on first-years!”
“I’m not picking on him…” Oikawa glowers. “Tobio-chan deserves more disappointment in his life!”
“Tob...wait.” Iwaizumi glowers right back. “Isn’t he the one that you punched that one time?”
Oikawa turns betrayed eyes on Takahiro. “Maki!” He gasps. “You told him? How could you?”
“Oikawa, you punched a first-year.” Takahiro says tiredly. “You are always going to be the one in the wrong here.”
“But you told Iwa-chan.” Oikawa protests. “He’s my boyfriend, Maki! How would you like it if I told Mattsun about all the embarrassing things you’ve done?”
“First, stop saying boyfriend.” Takahiro says. “I’m worried Iwaizumi is going to pass out.”
A red-faced Iwaizumi lets out a distressed choking noise.
Takahiro ignores him. “Second,” He holds up a finger. “I have have never done anything embarrassing in my entire life. I am actually perfect. A literal angel.”
“Maki-chan is such a liar.” Oikawa huffs.
Takahiro crosses himself.
“This is stupid.” Iwaizumi says, jamming his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to go sit with Matsukawa.”
“Don’t miss me too much, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa cups his hands around his mouth and yells the words. Most of the gym turns to look at him.
“Ugh.”
“Give Matsukawa a kiss for me.” Takahiro calls.
Iwaizumi stalks away, his shoulders up by his ears. Takahiro sniggers and Oikawa coos. “Aw, he’s so awkward. How cute.”
“You have weird as fuck taste, Captain.” Takahiro says absently as they turn away from the bleachers.
“You’re just jealous.” Oikawa sniffs. “I’m sorry, but Iwa-chan is out of your league, Maki~”
“Ouch.” Takahiro pretends to wince. “My pride.”
“Can’t hurt what doesn’t exist, Maki.” Oikawa says brightly.
They linger of the edge of the court, waiting for the rest of the team to gather around them. Once they’re all there, Oikawa speaks. “I’ll be counting on all of you.” His voice is quiet and his eyes are narrow.
“Scary.” One of the first years whispers.
Takahiro bites back a smile. He loves it when Oikawa accidentally freaks out the first years.
“You ready, Captain?” Takahiro bumps his shoulder against Oikawa’s.
Oikawa grins sidelong at him and Takahiro is reminded of a shark.
“Obviously.”
~~~~
Hajime can’t decide if he’s annoyed with Oikawa or proud of him. He did manage to lead his team to victory over Karasuno during their practice match. But now…
“Hahaha! I guess you’re still not good enough to beat me, huh, Tobio-chan?”
“O-Oikawa-san…”
“It’s okay! I am the best setter in the prefecture after all…”
“Oikawa-san, I…”
“Maybe if you practice really hard for the next hundred years you can win!”
Hajime quickly decides that annoyance is the thing he is feeling. He glances at Hanamaki and the volleyball that he’s holding. “Can I use that for a sec?” He asks. Hanamaki just shrugs and hands it over. Hajime tosses it, testing the weight, and then serves it straight at Oikawa’s head.
Oikawa keels over with a shriek.
Hajime is vaguely pleased that he hasn’t lost all of his volleyball skill.
“Be nicer to your boyfriend!” Oikawa complains loudly and Hajime thought they were trying to be discrete about this, but apparently that’s too much for him to ask.
“Sorry about him.” He says the the first year from Karasuno that Oikawa was taunting.
He looks bewildered. “I...yes! Thank you!” He bows abruptly.
“Kageyama-kun!” A tiny boy with violently orange hair starts pulling on Kageyama’s shirt. “Quick, let’s go before the Grand King comes back!”
“Grand King?” Hajime echoes.
“Grand King?” Both Hanamaki and Matsukawa echo a second later.
Hajime would really like to ask the tiny Karasuno player what exactly he means by that, but he and Kageyama are already fleeing like Oikawa might pop back up and attack them at any second.
Hajime glances over to where Oikawa is lying on the floor, moaning about Hajime’s cruelty. “The Grand King? Really?”
Oikawa, pain apparently forgotten, pops up with an unpleasant glint in his eyes. “Ah yes. It seems that I, the great Oikawa-san, am fearsome enough for other schools to give me an intimidating nickname.” He grins at Hajime.
“He’s enjoying this way too much.” Hanamaki says dryly.
“The Grand King.” Oikawa hums, getting to his feet. “I think it suits me.”
“King of trash, more like.” Hajime mutters.
“It’s okay!” Oikawa slings an arm over Hajime’s shoulders. “I know you’re super impressed by me, Iwa-chan!”
“Nice game, Trash-sama.” Hanamaki says flatly.
“Good win, my lord.” Matsukawa bows.
“Mean, mean, mean!” Oikawa whines. “Why do you have to ruin everything good that happens to me?”
Despite his complaining, Oikawa leaves the gym in a good mood. He convinces Hajime to go with him to get ice cream, despite the fact that it’s freezing outside. They sit by the window together, with Oikawa stealing bites of Hajime’s ice cream even though he has plenty of his own left.
“Did you see, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa pokes Hajime’s cheek to be sure he’s paying attention. “During that second set when Tobio-chan and his chibi-chan totally messed up their spike?” He laughs out loud. “I think I scared them with my majorly impressive serves.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Hajime rolls his eyes, but smiles at Oikawa. It’s rare to see Oikawa smiling like this, without pretense. “You scared a first year, I’m so proud.”
“Iwa-chan complimented me!” Oikawa pretends to gasp in shock. He puts a hand to Hajime’s forehead, “Is Iwa-chan feeling okay?”
“Stop that.” Hajime reaches up to grab Oikawa’s hand and threads their slightly sticky fingers together. “I compliment you when you deserve it.”
“Mmmmm.” Oikawa sets his chin on Hajime’s shoulder. “What can I do to deserve more compliments, Iwa-chan?” His voice drops, going low and intimate, and Hajime’s stomach swoops.
“I can...ah...I can think of a few things.” Hajime mumbles back, feeling incredibly stupid. He’s honestly kind of terrible at flirting, but Oikawa is more than good enough for both of them.
Oikawa laughs softly. “So can I.” His lips are close to Hajime’s ear and Hajime is ready to turn and capture them with his own, when...
“You two are so gross.”
Hanamaki’s flat voice kind of kills the mood.
He and Matsukawa are sitting across from them, still picking at a massive chocolate sundae and looking at Hajime and Oikawa with matching expressions of disgust. Honestly, Hajime sort of forgot that they were there.
“Oh, hush.” Oikawa waves his free hand, not moving away from Hajime. “You two aren’t any better.”
“First of all, no.” Matsukawa points a spoon at them. “You two are a hundred times worse than we ever were. You’ve been together for, like, two weeks and the whole school knows."
Hajime splutters. “They do not!”
“You’re just jealous.” Oikawa sniffs, but he does lean back from Hajime a bit.
“Sure, sure.” Matsukawa waves a hand.
To be honest, the whole school probably does know by now. Oikawa isn’t good at subtle and, if he’s being honest, Hajime will admit that he isn’t much better.
“So, the new Aliens vs. Robots movie comes out soon.” Oikawa looks from the the sticky napkins he’s started stacking into a little pyramid in front of him.
“Oh yeah?” Hajime has become well acquainted with Oikawa’s alien movie obsession. Most of their dates consist of hanging out in Hajime’s apartment and watching increasingly terrible sci-fi movies. “When?”
“Next weekend?” Oikawa hums. “I thought we could all go.”
“Sure.” Hajime shrugs. “Sounds fun.”
“I’m in.” Hanamaki says. “How about you. Issei?”
“Fraid I can’t.” Matsukawa yawns. “The drama club is starting on the musical, you know. I’ll be busy with that.”
“I didn’t know you could sing.” Oikawa says curiously.
Hajime laughs. “He can’t.” There had been a particularly awful week in their first year when Matsukawa had tried to teach himself to sing through sheer determination. It had not worked.
“Shhhh.” Matsukawa waves a hand. “That’s why I’ll be busy.”
“Learning to sing?” Hajime hazards a guess.
“No.” Matsukawa says. “Getting them to change it from a musical.”
“Um…”
“Don’t worry about it.” Matsukawa says, his expression dark. “I have a plan.”
“Should we be concerned?” Hajime asks Hanamaki under his breath.
“Are you the president of the drama club?” Hanamaki answers.
“Um...no.” Hajime says.
“Then you’ll be fine.”
“Is the drama club president not going to be fine?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Hajime trades a glance with Oikawa. “I feel like we should be worried about it.” He hisses.
“Plausible deniability, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa responds. “Don’t ask questions.”
Hajime sighs. “I need new friends.”
“I like musicals.” Oikawa says brightly, feigning deafness to Hajime’s complaints. “You have no respect from the dramatic arts, Matsun.”
“Don’t even start with that.” Matsukawa yawns. “You and Iwaizumi talked through my play.”
“Maki~” Oikawa whines. “Why did you tell him about that?”
“Because he’s my boyfriend.” Hanamaki says with a shrug. “Also, you talked really loud. He probably heard you.”
“I did.” Matsukawa says.
“Well, we didn’t the second time.” Oikawa sniffs.
“Because I made you sit in different rows.” Hanamaki reminds him.
Oikawa waves a hand. “I wouldn’t have talked anyway. I have an appreciation for the arts.” He glances at Hajime. “And besides, that first time was...special.”
Hajime bites back a smile, remembering the way that Oikawa had tackled him beneath some sakura trees. Other than the nasty bruise Hajime got in his tailbone from landing hard on the dirt, it had been like something out of a shoujo manga.
Oikawa, probably thinking about the same thing, slides his hand under the table to hold Hajime’s. Hajime takes it, feeling the volleyball callouses that are slowly but surely becoming familiar.
“You guys are so disgusting.”
“Jealousy is so unbecoming, Matsun.” Oikawa smirks.
Matsukawa throws a spoon at Oikawa’s head and Oikawa shrieks in distress, snatching his hand from Hajime back to untangle the spoon from his chocolate curls.
Hajime watches in exasperation for a while before pulling out a notebook and starting to doodle. Oikawa is chattering at Matsukawa and Hanamaki, complaining about the spoon he is still struggling to free from his hair. Iwaizumi lets their voices wash over him, comforting and familiar, as he draws.
He decided a few days after confessing to Oikawa that it’s about time for Our Love Story to end. When he started writing it, he was a lonely preteen trying to figure out how exactly relationships worked. Now that he’s actually in one, he’s feels like he’s kind of outgrown his manga. He’s coming up on the end of his high school career and he’s starting to think that it’s time to give his characters a happily ever after.
“Ah ha!” Oikawa cries in triumph as he frees the spoon and chucks it back at Matsukawa.
Hajime wants to try writing about something else, now. He glances at Oikawa out of the corner of his eye, the way that he’s smiling and the way that his hair curls at the ends. He wants to write about something new.
“What are you drawing, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asks, looking down at the notebook open in front of Hajime.
Hajime shrugs and flips to a new page. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Hmmm.” Oikawa hums. “Let me know when you decide.”
“Yeah.” Hajime says. “Okay.”
He forgets sometimes that he and Oikawa met because of Oikawa’s passion for his manga. He’ll have to talk to his boyfriend before he starts on the final few chapters. Hopefully, Oikawa won’t be too upset that he’s moving on to something else.
Oikawa is laughing at something Hanamaki said, cheeks dimpling. Hajime absently draws tiny figures; one with flippy hair and one with big eyebrows and one with a flat expression and one with spiky hair.
He may be starting something new, but the important things will stay.
~~~~
It’s Monday and, as usual, Iwaizumi and Tooru are spending it working on manga.
They’re taking a break from Iwaizumi’s apartment and are instead drawing inside the gym that’s usually used for volleyball. It’s darker than usual, light coming in from the high windows. Outside, students are walking past, their talk and laughter muffled. The gym itself is empty save for Iwaizumi and Tooru.
Tooru is leaning against Iwa-chan’s side, watching the way that he gets a little wrinkle between his eyebrows when he’s concentrating extra hard on what he’s drawing. It’s super cute.
“Oikawa.” Iwaizumi doesn’t look up from the notebook balanced in his lap. “Quit staring at me.”
“I’m not staring.” Tooru hums. “I’m gazing. Longingly.” He reaches over to poke Iwaizumi’s cheek. “It’s super romantic.”
“It’s actually super creepy.” Iwaizumi still doesn’t look up. “Who just stares at the person they like?”
“Ah-hahaha.” Tooru forces a laugh. He does not need Iwa-chan to know about the borderline stalking that used to happen pretty regularly. “A cool guy like me would never do something like that, you know that Iwa-chan!”
Iwaizumi looks up, lips quirked. “Is there something you need to tell me, Trashkawa?”
“Um. No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes?”
“Really sure?”
“Yes!”
Iwaizumi stares at him through narrowed eyes for a moment before shrugging and going back to his drawing. For a moment, he draws queitly and Tooru relaxes a little bit. Then, he breaks the silence. “So, I needed to…”
“Ah! What! I wasn’t stalking you!” Tooru yells over the last part of his sentence.
“You did what?” Iwaizumi stares at him in complete bemusement.
“Nothing!”
For a beat, they just stare at each other.
“Whatever.” Iwaizumi just shakes his head, seemingly giving up. “Look, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Is everything okay, Iwa-chan?” Tooru asks with a frown. Iwaizumi’s usual absent frown is deeper than usual, more real. He touches Iwaizumi’s arm with a tentative hand. “You look upset.”
“Yeah, no, I just…” He cuts himself off with a frustrated sound. “This is dumb.”
“Iwa-chan…” Tooru grabs one of Iwaizumi’s hands with both of his and turns to face him, straddling the bench they’re sitting on. “Tell me what’s wrong, okay?”
He sighs and scrubs a hand through his hair. “I’m just going to come out and say it.”
Tooru’s stomach drops. Is Iwa-chan breaking up with him? Is this about all the stuff he tells his fan club? Or that joke about Iwa-chan’s eyebrows in front of his class? Or that time he put makeup on Iwa-chan when he was sleeping? Or maybe...
“I’m sorry!” Tooru blurts. “I’ll stop telling my fan club about the way you cry during rom-coms, I promise!”
“You told them about that?” Iwaizumi hisses. “Oikawa!”
“I think that it’s funny and cute, Iwa-chan!” Tooru waves his hands. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way!”
“Is this why Satski keeps giving me tissues and winking at me?”
Tooru laughs sheepishly. “I, ah, maybe?”
“Ugh.” Iwaizumi groans. “Oikawa.”
“Was...was that not what you wanted to talk about?”
Iwaizumi sighs. “No, Oikawa. It wasn’t.” He glares a bit. “I kinda want to talk about it now, though.”
“Um. I’ll stop?”
“Yes, you will.”
“So, uh...what did you want to talk to me about?” Tooru fidgets, grabbing one of the many pens strewn next to Iwaizumi and flipping it between his fingers.
“It’s, uh, it’s about my manga.”
“Our Love Story?” Tooru is so surprised me drops his pen.
“Yeah.” Iwaizumi picks up the pen Tooru dropped and examines it. “I know you really like it and everything, but...Oikawa.” He looks up at Tooru with eyes that are nervous. “I’m thinking about ending it soon.”
“Oh.”
“I just wanted to ask if you’d...be okay with that.”
Tooru sighs. This is awkward. He likes Our Love Story, he really does, but it’s mostly because of how happy it makes Iwaizumi. Not, like, because Tooru is actually all that invested in the characters or that sort of thing. He never actually wanted to tell Iwaizumi about this. He was prepared to live for the rest of his life pretending that he was super passionate about shoujo manga.
But Iwaizumi looks so worried and Tooru feels like a dick for making him worry about something that he doesn’t actually need to be worrying about. Besides, maybe being honest with his boyfriend is something that he should try. Not about the stalking thing, probably, but maybe about this manga debacle
It’s not a big deal.
Iwaizumi probably won’t even be that mad.
“Yeah, no, of course.” Tooru stumbles. “You should do what you feel is best, Iwa-chan!”
“But aren’t you going to be upset about Our Love Story ending?”
“Yes, but...well.” Tooru decides that the best way to do this is all at once. Like pulling off a band-aid. Or something. “I do like it, you know! But, uh, I wasn’t actually a fan before I met you? I hadn’t, um, actually read them.”
“What are you talking about?” Iwaizumi doesn’t look mad, just confused.
“I met you and then I found out about the manga thing.” Tooru blurts out. “I sort of lied about being a fan before we met? I read them right away when I found out, though!”
“You hadn’t read any of them? Are you serious?” Iwaizumi’s voice is rising, getting louder.
Tooru just nods.
“Oikawa!” Iwaizumi snaps, pulling away from Tooru. “You lied to me! You just...to my face! For fucking months, you just lied! Do you realize how messed up that is?”
“I fucked up, I know I did. but...Iwa-chan!” Tooru is frantically trying to backpedal. Iwaizumi looks so angry. Not the typical sort-of-annoyed that is his default when talking to Tooru, but well and truly pissed. “I do like your manga now, I really do! I just...I liked you first.”
“Wait.” Iwaizumi holds up a hand, still glaring at Tooru. “What was that about when we first met, then? When you yelled at me about how cool I was...If you didn’t even know about my manga, what was that about?”
“Um...that was supposed to be a, ah, a confession.” Tooru admits, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.
“But you didn’t even know me.” Iwaizumi’s frown is less angry now and more confused.
“Well, no.” Tooru shrugs uncomfortably. “But I...I’d seen you around.” He omits the fact that it was less like seeing him around and more following him around. “I just...I liked you. I wanted to know you more, so I confessed.”
“And I…” Iwaizumi’s eyes are slowly going wide and horrified.
“You gave me your autograph, yeah.” Tooru bites his lip, trying to hold back the panicked laughter that is bubbling up in his chest.
“Oh god.” Iwaizumi whispers, staring wide eyed at Tooru.
“I was pretty confused, you know.” A high pitched giggle slips out.
“Oh my god, I’m so stupid.” Iwaizumi ignores him in favor of looking absolutely mortified.
“No! I should have been, erm, clearer?” Tooru bites his lip. “I’m pretty bad at confessions, I guess!” Iwaizumi is just staring at him, seemingly without words. “I learned a whole bunch about them reading your manga, though.” He meets Iwaizumi’s eyes. “I like it, Iwa-chan, I promise.”
“I’m not upset about whether or not you like my manga, Oikawa.” Iwaizumi snaps. “I’m mad that you fucking lied to me. And even after everything we went through, you kept on lying.”
“I didn’t mean to!” Tooru snaps right back. “But I didn’t know how I was supposed to tell you!”
“If you really liked me, you would have told me the truth!” Iwaizumi snarls, getting to his feet. His notebook falls to the floor and he doesn’t move to pick it up.
“I do, though!” Tooru feels tears pricking at his eyes and, horrified, does his best to hold them back. “I like you so much, Iwa-chan, so just listen to me!”
“Forget it.” Iwaizumi huffs, grabbing yhis pens and shoving them in the pockets if his jacket.
“No, Iwa-chan…!” Tooru stands, tries to catch Iwaizumi’s arm before he starts walking, but his fingers hit empty air.
“I’m going home.”
“Please, Hajime, don’t leave.” Tooru says quietly, his voice wavering a bit of Iwa-chan’s first name.
Iwaizumi’s shoulders go rigid for a moment, but he doesn’t look back.
“I need to go.”
“Wait…!”
But Iwaizumi is already crossing the gym and stepping out the door.
~~~~
Hajime feels like such an idiot.
He’s walking too fast, drawing glances from other high schoolers on their way home, but he doesn’t care. He’s just so mad at himself. How did he not see something like this coming?
“God.” He mutters with feeling, curling his fingers around the pens in his pockets.
How could he be so stupid? He always thought Oikawa proclaiming a love for his manga was weird. His fans were preteen girls, not popular high school jocks.
He was just too into Oikawa and his stupid, horrible personality to think about it too hard. Hajime shuts his eyes and shakes his head, trying to clear it. It doesn’t help.
Oikawa was probably laughing at him the whole time.
He’s close to tears by the time he reaches his parents house. He didn’t even mean to come here. It was like his feet led him without any input from his brain.
“Hajime!” His mother cries in surprise when she opens the door. “This is rare. You never visit your poor mother.”
“Hi mom.” He sighs. “I’m home.”
She looks closer at his face, probably sees the unshed tears in his eyes, and sighs.“Come on.” She grabs him by the wrist and pulls him through the front door and into the kitchen. “I’ll make you tea.”
“I don’t want tea.” Hajime mutters mutinously.
“What was that?” She turns to glare at him.
“I’d love some tea.” He quails, pulling his hand from her grip and taking a seat at the table.
“That’s what I thought you said.” She hums as she starts to fix him a cup of tea. “So, tell me what’s wrong.”
“I got into a fight with Oikawa.” He sighs, folding his arms on the table and propping his chin on them. He doesn’t spend much time in the house since he moved out and got his own apartment, but there’s still something incredibly comforting about it. His apartment is nice, yeah, but it isn’t home.
“Hmm.” His mother glances back at him. “Oikawa...he’s the volleyball player, right?”
“That’s him.” Hajime confirms, watching as she pours tea into two cups. “He’s such a moron.”
“You’ve been mentioning him a lot lately.” She keeps her voice deliberately light. Hajime doesn’t say anything, just lets out a resigned sigh. He should have known better than to keep the fact that he’s dating a secret from his mom. She knows everything.
“What did he do?” She walks over and sets a cup of tea in front of him.
“Thanks.” He takes it, relishing the way it warms his hands.
“Hajime?” His mother prompts, sitting down across from him with her own tea.
Hajime sighs. “He lied to me.” He takes a sip of his tea, mostly for something to do. “It was about something stupid,” He winces a little. The tea is still too hot. “But still. He lied and I…” He trails off, staring down at the flat surface of his tea.
“Hmmm.” His mother hums. “Did you talk to your...friend about this?”
He rolls his eyes at the emphasis she puts on the word friend, but answers anyway. “I tried, but he was being stupid. I got mad and I yelled.” He sighs. “I sort of ran away, in the end.”
“So you didn’t get to hear his side of things?” She raises an eyebrow at him.
“He lied, mom.” Hajime glowers. “There’s no side to listen to. He’s been lying to me for months now.” He props his head up on his hand, watching the way steam curls from their cups of tea. “I feel like such an idiot.”
Hajime feels a gentle hand on his shoulder. He glances up at his mom. Her face is drawn into a sad smile. “People aren’t perfect, Hajime.” She says. “Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”
“Yeah, I know, but…”
She cuts him off with a shake of her head. “No buts. If you want a...friendship to work, then you both need to learn to forgive each other.”
“This is stupid.” Hajime sighs and looks away from her. “You can just call him my boyfriend, mom.”
“Oh, good.” She smiles.”That makes things easier.”
He fights the urge to hide his face. He can feel his cheeks going red as she smiles knowingly at him. “I don’t know how much longer it’ll last though, if he’s going to pull stupid shit like this…”
“You like this boy, don’t you?”
Hajime nods mutely.
“Then go and talk to him. I'm sure you both can work through this.” She meets his eyes. “Do you understand?”
“Yeah.” He sighs. “I do.”
“Good.” She smiles. “I expect you and your boyfriend to come for dinner some day soon.” She get up and walks over to hug him, smelling like tea and familiar perfume. “Understand me?”
“I...yeah.” Hajime hugs her back tight before letting go. “I’ll bring him over.”
“Good.” She pats his cheek and smiles. “I’m glad you’ve found someone to care about, Hajime.”
“He’s an idiot.” He says automatically.
His mother laughs. “I'm sure he's lovely, Hajime. You've got good taste just like your mother.” She winks at him and his whole face goes scarlet.
“I've...I've got to…” He stammers.
She laughs. “Go on, then.” She takes away his half-full cup. “I'll see you both for dinner soon.”
He manages another hug and a mumbled thanks before heading back out.
He winces as soon as he walks out the door. It’s cold, bitterly so, and he half-considers going back inside and staying at his parents house for the night. But, he’s never been the sort of person who puts things off. He needs to go home, grab a warmer jacket and then go find Oikawa.
He needs to...no. They need to figure this out. Oikawa is a lot of things, but what’s really important is that he’s someone Hajime cares about. A lot.
He’s still mad, but he’s willing to listen now. Running away like he did before was selfish and stupid. Nothing gets solved by running away.
By the time he’s walking up to his apartment, he’s feeling calmer. He’s willing to admit now that he maybe overracted. Oikawa did tell him the truth. It was a couple of months late, but still. Oikawa didn’t have to tell him the truth and he did. That feels important.
He’s almost at his door before he notices the boy huddled by his apartment door.
“Oikawa?” He says blankly, completely nonplussed.
“Iwa-chan…” Oikawa looks horrible. His eyes are bloodshot from crying and his nose is bright red from the cold. He’s hunched under his volleyball jacket, shivering and sniffling like a little kid. “It’s about time.”
“You moron!” Hajime hisses. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
“I was waiting for you.” Oikawa is pouting, stubbornly not looking at Hajime. “Obviously.”
“Why didn’t you just call me?” Hajime says, exasperated.
Oikawa clambers to his feet and Hajime sees the way even his legs are trembling with cold. “Because that’s not romantic, of course.” Oikawa rolls his eyes at him. “You are the worst shoujo manga author ever, I swear.”
Hajime flinches and Oikawa’s eyes go wide. “Wait, I didn’t…”
“Nevermind.” Hajime says brusquely. He shoulders past Oikawa to unlock his door. “You should get inside. You look like a hypothermia patient.”
“That’s rude.” Oikawa folds his arms.
“Just come inside.” Hajime sighs.He grabs Oikawa’s wrist and pulls him into the apartment. “You need tea. And something warmer than your volleyball jacket.”
“Iwa-chan is being too nice.” Oikawa looks at him suspiciously and tugs his jacket tighter.
“Look, you’re still my boyfriend and I still like you.” The words make Hajime blush, but he says them anyway. “I’m mad at you right now, yeah, but that doesn’t change anything.”
“Iwa-chan!” He looks back to see Oikawa’s cheeks turning pink. “Stop saying such cool things!” He throws a hand over his face, peeking through the fingers. “It isn’t fair!”
“Shut up, you idiot.” Hajime shoves Oikawa towards the couch and tosses one of his many spare blankets towards him. Oikawa catches it with an ease born of practice and hunkers down under it, staring at Hajime with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Iwa-chan, I…”
“I’m making tea.” Hajime cuts Oikawa off and stalks to the kitchen, throwing open the cupboard and pulling out a box of tea. “You stay there and get warm.”
“Okay.” Oikawa says, strangely docile. Usually, he would insult both Hajime’s tea-making skills and whatever brand of tea he was using.
There’s few minutes where Hajime makes tea and Oikawa sits silently on the couch. It’s not exactly awkward, but it's not their usual comfortable silence either. Hajime glances at Oikawa every few seconds, watching as he flexes his hands and massages his wrists, apparently getting back the feeling that was stolen by the cold.
He finishes the tea, pouring two cups. He dumps honey in one and leaves the other plain. He walks over and puts the one with honey in Oikawa’s hands.
“Here.”
That apparently breaks Oikawa’s temporary muteness.
“Please don’t break up with me.” He blurts before the tea is even out of Hajime’s hands.
Hajime blinks. “I...wasn't going to.” He says, honest. He was mad, still is a little mad if he’s being honest, but the thought of breaking up with Oikawa is something that didn’t actually occur to him.
“Oh.” Oikawa looks dumbstruck, like he expected to have to fight Hajime on that point. Hajime remembers abruptly that he’s had six different girlfriends who all left him. “Good, then.” Oikawa’s voice is a bit strangled.
Hajime feels himself soften at the intensely relieved expression on Oikawa’s face. He sets his tea down and puts a hand on Oikawa’s. “Just...no more lying.”
“Okay.” Oikawa says immediately, looking up at Hajime with wide eyes.
“You can’t just say it, Oikawa. I’m serious.”
“And I’m serious too.” Oikawa’s face is set and unsmiling. Hajime has never seen Oikawa make a face like that before, not in all of the time he’s known him. “I care about you, Iwa-chan. I’ll do better. I really will.”
“I…” Hajime coughs. “Uh, well. Good.”
Oikawa is still staring at him with wide eyes.
“So.” Hajime settles beside Oikawa, picking his tea back up. “Before we were friends...you just, what, decided you liked me? Without knowing anything about me?”
Oikawa’s cheeks go pink. “I...well.” He stammers. “You were...and I just...you know.”
“No, I don’t.” Hajime sips his tea. “That’s why I asked.”
Oikawa huffs, clearly annoyed and embarrassed. “I don’t know, Iwa-chan! I just...you were so different from the girls who confessed to me.”
“So you liked me because I wasn’t a girl?” Hajime says flatly.
“No!” His cheeks go scarlet. “I liked you because you were you!” He sips his tea nosily. “You were kind to underclassmen and you were interesting and stuff and, I don’t know, good looking and all that.”
“Oh?” Hajime rasies an eyebrow. “Good looking and all that?”
“Oh, please.” Oikawa sniffs. “You know you’re good looking. Everybody knows that.”
Hajime bites back his laughter. “So are you saying I’m out of your league?”
Oikawa laughs. “Iwa-chan, please. You're good looking, but I’m gorgeous.” He winks. “No one’s out of my league.”
“You’re horrible.” Hajime can’t help it. "Honestly terrible." He laughs.
Oikawa grabs his shoulders and tugs him closer. “Yeah, yeah.” He hums, eyes flicking to Hajime’s lips. “You know you like it.”
“Trash king.” Hajime mutters, leaning closer to Oikawa all the while.
Oikawa smirks. “That’s Grand King to you.” His lips brush Hajime’s.
They don’t talk after that.
~~~~
Tooru and Iwaizumi have tried to take their relationship slow, have tried not to move too fast. Tooru knows that Iwaizumi wants to put the same sort of constraints on their relationship that most other high schoolers have.
But, well. They’re two teenaged boys with a completely empty apartment.
Sometimes the temptation is a little too much.
Tooru has found that his favorite way to wake up on a Sunday morning is curled around Iwa-chan, their bodies tucked together.
“Mmmm, Iwa-chan.” Tooru cards his fingers through Iwaizumi’s short hair. “Good morning.”
“What time is it?” Iwaizumi squints his eyes against the light, flipping over to peer at Tooru. His voice is rough and Tooru likes it.
“Close to ten, I think.” Tooru says with a smile.
“I should be…” Iwaizumi stops to yawn, lips brushing Tooru’s collarbone in a pleasantly distracting way. “I should be drawing.”
“Shhhh, Iwa-chan.” Tooru’s fingers slide down his bare back, tracing the curve of his spine. “Laaaater.”
“I have a whole chapter to finish today.” Iwaizumi mutters, but closes his eyes and leans his forehead against Tooru’s chest.
“How many more until it’s over?” Tooru asks, snuggling a bit closer to Iwa-chan.
“Five, I think.” Iwaizumi mumbles. “Maybe six. I haven’t decided yet.” Tooru hums softly, still running his fingers over Iwaizumi’s back. “It’ll be weird once it’s done.”
“Will you write something else?”
Iwaizumi cracks open an eye to look at Tooru. “Of course.”
“Good.” Tooru smiles and scooches closes enough to press a quick kiss against Iwaizumi’s lips. “I like having a famous manga author for a boyfriend, after all.”
“You’re such an idiot.” Iwaizumi says, but he’s smiling.
Tooru smirks. “But you like me anyway.”
“Nah.”
“Iwa-chan!” Tooru pokes his cheek.
Iwaizumi grumbles and pulls away before sitting up, muscles flexing as he stretches.
“You know,” Tooru props himself up on an elbow, watching Iwaizumi, “Iwa-chan is unfairly in shape for someone who sits inside and draws all day.”
Iwaizumi’s cheeks go pink. “Shut up, you.” He shoves Tooru and Tooru lets himself fall into the sheets with a bounce. “You don’t get call other people unfairly in shape.”
“Oh ho?” Tooru smirks up at him. “Is Iwa-chan distracted by the great Oikawa-san?”
“You’re so trashy.” Iwaizumi says, leaning over to look down at Tooru.
“Mmmm.” Tooru grins, reaching up to touch Iwaizumi’s face. “Iwa-chan likes my muscles, don’t you Iwa-chan?”
“Shut up.” Iwaizumi’s cheeks are rapidly darkening from pink to scarlet.
“It’s okay.” Tooru hums, propping himself on his elbows so he can whisper in Iwaizumi’s ear. “I like your muscles too.”
Iwaizumi looks like he’s going to pass out. Tooru snickers and sits up, using his height to lean over Iwaizumi and press him back against the bed. “Aw, is Iwa-chan embarrassed?” He says, pinning Iwaizumi at the wrists.
“Shut up.”
“So yes.”
“Still shut up.”
Tooru grins.
They haven’t had sex yet. Tooru knows that Iwaizumi hasn’t ever dated anyone before and Tooru, for all of his girlfriends, has only ever had sex two times. Neither time was particularly good. Or...lengthy. With Iwa-chan, he wants to do it right. They’ve only been dating for a few weeks. Sex, Tooru feels, is something that they need to work their way up to.
He can wait until Iwa-chan is ready. Until they’re both ready, actually.
Still, there’s nothing to stop him from pinning Iwa-chan to the bed and kissing him until both of their lips are swollen and Iwa-chan has some very nice looking hickies blooming on his neck.
“You shit.” Iwaizumi hisses, presses his fingers against them once Tooru finally releases the grip on his wrists. “I told you to stop giving me hickies!”
“I think they look good on you.” Tooru grins, unabashed. “And besides, you can’t give me any! All the guys on the volleyball team would see.”
“Oh, yeah?” Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow. “You think you can stop me?”
“I’m an athlete, Iwa-chan.” Tooru says. “I train every day. Some soft artist type isn’t going to be able to…”
Iwaizumi starts tickling him. Mercilessly.
“Ah, no, please!” Tooru writhes on the bed, laughing uncontrollably, trying in vain to get away from Iwaizumi terrible fingers.
“What were you saying about soft artist types, huh?”
“You-ahahaha-you’re so manly!” Tooru chokes out. “Ahahaha, oh fuck, aha, let me go, Iwa-chan!”
“Nah.”
“So-ahahahaha-rude!”
It takes the better part of five minutes, but eventually Tooru manages to catch Iwaizumi’s hands. “Truce?” He says, still panting.
Iwaizumi grins at him. “I guess so.” He says. “But no more talking about soft artists types. And no more giving me hickies!”
“Of course, Iwa-chan!” Tooru agrees. “Just no more tickling, please!”
They slump together, still giggling, and talk absently about school and Iwaizumi’s manga for a little while. It’s nice. Tooru is still pleasantly drowsy. He lets Iwaizumi do most of the talking, eyes half-closed.
“So, ah…” Iwaizumi says. “I was thinking about something.”
“Oh, Iwa-chan is thinking?” Tooru snickers, playing with Iwaizumi’s fingers, feeling the callouses formed from hours of drawing. “How rare.”
“Moron.” Iwaizumi snatches back a hand to hit Tooru lightly upside the head.
“Mean.” Tooru pouts. Predictably, Iwaizumi ignores him.
“Shut up and listen for a second.” Tooru grudgingly does, steepling his hands under his chin and gazing at Iwaizumi. “So, I..ah...shit.” Iwaizumi huffs in frustration. “Why is this so hard.”
Tooru snickers. “If you want something hard, Iwa-chan…”
Iwaizumi hits him again. Tooru will admit he kind of deserved that one.
“C’mon, Iwa-chan.” Tooru says once he’s done whining about Iwa-chan’s brutality and about how he, a perfect and beautiful human, does not deserve such harsh treatment. “What is it?”
Iwaizumi’s face twists into a pained expression. “My parents.” He forces the words out. “I told them...that I was dating someone and,” He drags a hand through his hair. “They want to meet you.”
Tooru blinks, nonplussed. “Do they know…”
“That you’re a boy?” Iwaizumi finishes for him and nods. “Yeah, they know.”
“Oh.” Tooru blinks again. He’s had six girlfriends during his time in high school. He’s never dated any of them long enough to meet their parents. He’d liked them all but volleyball had always taken priority and so the relationships were always fun for couple weeks and them over. He and Iwa-chan have only been officially dating for a few weeks, true, but they’ve been hanging out for about three months now and Tooru supposes that it’s not that strange that Iwa-chan would want to introduce them and…
“Hey, Oikawa.” Iwaizumi’s voice interrupts his increasingly panicked thoughts.
“Hm?”
“Breathe, okay?”
Tooru breathes. “Okay.”
There’s a beat where they’re both quiet, wrapped up in their own thoughts.
“You don’t have to meet them.” Iwaizumi says finally. Tooru looks over at sees that Iwa-chan is staring at the wall. “Not if it freaks you out this much. I haven’t really dated anyone before and they’re just really curious, okay? It isn’t a big deal or anything.”
“I want to meet them, Iwa-chan!” Tooru blurts out and it’s only half a lie. He’s terrified of meeting the rest of the Iwaizumi family. But Iwa-chan told his parents about Tooru. Iwa-chan told them and he wants them to meet and that...it’s important.
It means something.
It makes it clear to Tooru that this relationship is real and it means something.
“Oikawa, you don’t have to…” Iwaizumi looks back at him, eyes flicking to Oikawa’s in concern. Oikawa cuts him off before he can finish his sentence.
“How about this Monday?” He says before reaching out to hold Iwa-chan’s hand again. He squeezes it and tells himself to be brave. “Can I come over for dinner?”
“I...yeah.” Iwaizumi squeezes back. “Sure, Oikawa. You can come for dinner.”
“Good.” Tooru smiles at him and it’s only a little bit fake. “Great. I can’t wait!”
~~~~
“This house is so nice, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa says brightly, taking in Hajime’s parent’s house with it’s gently swaying trees and yard full of bright yellow flowers. He turns to Hajime with a doubtful look. “How did someone so gloomy come from a house so nice?”
“I’m gonna hit you.”
“Sorry, sorry!” Oikawa waves his hands, not looking the least bit sorry. “So, are your parents home right now?”
Hajime sighs. He is not looking forward to this meeting. Either his parents will hate Oikawa and never want to see Hajime ever again or they’ll decide they like Oikawa and Hajime will have to answer questions about him all the time. Either way, it’s a lot of trouble he doesn’t feel like dealing with.
“My mom’s probably home.” He answers at last. “Come on.” He holds out a hand to Oikawa. Oikawa blinks at it in surprise for a moment before taking it. His grip is tight and his palm is slightly damp.
“Let’s go meet the family, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa smiles at him, dazzling and bright, and Hajime feels his chest constrict annoyingly at the fear and worry he sees behind that smile. “They’ll love me, you’ll see.”
“Just be you.” Hajime says, tugging Oikawa towards the door so he doesn’t have to look him in the eyes. “And it’ll be fine.”
“If you say so, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa’s voice is softer than usual.
Hajime squeezes his hand. Oikawa squeezes back.
Hajime knocks on the door and his mother pulls it open almost instantly. Hajime is willing to bet that she was standing right there waiting for them.
“You must be Tooru!” She says brightly, completely ignoring Hajime to beam at his boyfriend. “It’s so good to finally meet you.”
Hajime watches at he treats her to one of his bright, blinding smiles, the sort that leaves all the girls at school weak-kneed. “It’s a pleasure, Iwaizumi-san.” He bows. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Likewise.” She smiles. “I’m so glad to meet the boy who makes my Hajime smile so much.”
Hajime splutters and Oikawa grins like it’s Christmas. “Oh, really?” He glances over at Hajime. “Tell me more, Iwaizumi-san! Does Hajime talk about me all the time?”
Hajime is torn between being enraged at the shit-eating grin Oikawa’s wearing or mortified at the casual way Oikawa just said his first name. “I’ll kill you.” He hisses, hoping his mother won’t hear, and Oikawa’s grin gets even wider.
“I can’t imagine how someone as lovely as you had a son as grumpy as Hajime.” Oikawa says brightly, clearly thinking that Hajime won’t hit him in front of his mother.
“Shut up, you.” Hajime snaps. Oikawa is unfortunately correct.
His mother giggles, unsuccessfully hiding it behind a hand.
“Whaaaat, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa grins. “I’m just complimenting your lovely mother.”
“I swear to god…” Hajime hisses.
“Come on, boys.” Hajime’s mother tuts. “Take off your shoes and come in! Hajime’s father will be home soon and then we can eat dinner!”
“Hajime tells me you’re a fantastic cook, Iwaizumi-san.” Oikawa says, toeing off his shoes. “I’m looking forward to dinner.”
“Oh, I’m nothing special.” She waves a hand.
“I’m sure you’re amazing, Iwaizumi-san.” Oikawa smiles warmly, his real smile, and Hajime lets himself be just a little bit charmed.
From the way she blushes, Hajime imagines his mother feels the same way. She blusters past her embarrassment, leading them inside and telling them to sit while she works on dinner.
“So, Hajime tells me you’re on the volleyball team?” She says, ushering them towards the couch.
“Mmhmm.” Oikawa hums, looking around curiously at the family pictures on the walls. “I’m actually the captain.” Hajime grabs his wrist and drags him away away from a photo of his family from when Hajime was nine. He would be the opposite of surprised if Oikawa started snapchatting his most embarrassing family photos to Hanamaki and Matsukawa.
“Oh, really?” She says brightly. “That must take up a lot of your time.”
Oikawa laughs, finally letting Hajime steer him to the couch. “Don’t worry, I still have time to see Hajime.”
Hajime colors at the shameless way Oikawa grins at him and he reaches to flick him on the ear. “Too much time, more like.” He mutters.
“Hajime!” Oikawa whines. “Be nicer to your boyfriend!”
They bicker on the couch, comfortable and almost lazy, as Hajime’s mother shoots them questions from the kitchen. Once Hajime’s father gets home, Tooru stands to shake his hand and introduce himself.
“Oikawa Tooru, sir.” He says, smile firmly in place. “It’s good to finally meet you.”
“Likewise.” Hajime’s father says. “It’s good to put a face to the name.”
Oikawa’s smile gets a bit more real. “Nice to know Hajime talks about me at home.”
“Yes, of course.” Hajime’s father nods. “You play volleyball, right?”
Hajime goes to help his mother with dinner while Oikawa chats about volleyball with his father in the living room. Hajime sticks his head in every few minutes, worried that Oikawa will managed to annoy his taciturn father, but everything seems to be going more or less fine.
“It’s a shame Hajime doesn’t have time for volleyball.” Oikawa’s voice floats into the kitchen. “His manga is excellent, of course, but I wish I had someone like him on my team~”
“You’ve never even seen me play, Oikawa.” He calls, not turning away from the onigiri he’s making.
“Come on, Hajime!” Oikawa pokes his head into the kitchen and grins. “Someone with such a bad temper has got to be good at hitting things!"
His father lets out an amused grunt and his mother hides her giggles behind her hand. Hajime pretends to be annoyed at the way Oikawa is turning his family against him, but he’s incredibly relieved that everyone seems to be getting along. Oikawa has a big personality. Hajime’s used to it, actually likes it if he’s being honest, but he’s seen it rub countless people the wrong way.
Oikawa has an incredible talent for pissing people off, both deliberately and on accident.
But both of Hajime’s parents seem to think that Oikawa’s chirpy comments and sharp wit are amusing instead of acerbic.
As the sit down to eat, Oikawa has started quizzing Hajime’s mother about the rest of his family. “So Iwa-chan, ah, Hajime is an only child, right?”
“That’s right.” She says. “Do you have any siblings, Tooru-kun?”
He nods. “An older sister and a brother!” He says brightly. “My older sister lives in the city with her husband and her son, but my brother is still at home with me and my parents.”
“Ah.” She sighs in mock dismay. “It must be so nice to have a child who still lives with their parents.”
“Why did you move away from home, Hajime?” Oikawa asks curiously. “You never said.”
Hajime shrugs. “I had the money and I didn’t feel like always having to take the train to school.” His move away from home had never been a big deal to either him or his parents. He still visited them a few times a week and they did they same to him. People always expected dramatic reasons, but the lack of a train ride was really the deciding factor.
Oikawa nods his acceptance without trying to pry further and Hajime is glad for it. People always insisted that he must have another reason, but it really was just the train ride.
The rest of the conversation is easy and light. Oikawa tells silly stories about his nephew and his volleyball teammates and Hajime finds himself laughing alongside his parents. Oikawa is in rare form tonight. He’s rarely seen his boyfriend so polite or so funny.
Dinner is over almost too soon. Hajime is bewildered by the fact that he actually enjoyed himself.
“Thank you so much for coming, Tooru-kun.” Hajime’s mother gives Oikawa a tight hug at the door and Hajime’s father shakes his hand firmly.
“Thank you so much for having me.” Again, Oikawa flashes his most radiant smile. “I see where Hajime got his cooking skills from. You really are amazing, Iwaizumi-san.”
Hajime’s mother titters disbelievingly, but looks pleased. “Make sure you come around again for dinner soon.” She pats his cheek fondly and then glances at her son. “I suppose you can come too, Hajime.”
Oikawa laughs, delighted and genuine, and Hajime feels his stomach swoop. He wants to kiss Oikawa so bad right now; for coming to dinner, for talking respectfully to his father, for making his mother smile like that. Oikawa is acting like this all matters to him, like Hajime matters to him, and it’s such a good feeling.
“I’ll walk you out.” Hajime offers.
“Such a gentleman.” Oikawa hums, giving Hajime’s parents a last wave before following Hajime out the door. The night is cool, growing cooler every day now, and Hajime can see stars appearing in the dark sky above them.
“So…” Hajime stops a few steps from his door.
“So?”
“I...just. Thanks.” Hajime rubs the back of his neck, not meeting Oikawa’s eyes. “This was...just. Thanks, Oikawa.”
“I had fun, Iwa-chan.” Hajime’s eyes flick to Oikawa’s and he sees that he’s wearing his genuine smile. “Your parents are nice.” He shrugs. “I like them.”
Hajime reaches out and takes Oikawa’s hand. “Good. I’m glad.”
For a minute, they just stand there, fingers tangled. Then, Hajime grabs the collar of Oikawa’s jacket and pulls him down so close that their lips almost touch.
“Oh ho.” Oikawa smirks against his lips and Hajime is still waiting for the day when that starts being annoying like it should be instead of hot. “What happened to discrete, Iwa-chan?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Hajime mutters and kisses him.
It’s soft and close-mouthed, mostly chaste, but it sends a ripple of warmth through Hajime’s whole body. Oikawa is wearing his citrusy cologne and it’s for Hajime and it makes him light-headed because he likes this ridiculous boy so much and...
“Your parents are probably watching.” Oikawa giggles against his lips and that’s all it takes for Hajime to shove him away. His giggles turn into a full-blown laugh, coloring his cheeks and leaving him breathless.
“Why do you have to ruin everything?” Hajime laments, jamming his hands into his jacket pockets.
Oikawa grins at him, rocking back on his heels. “It’s a gift.”
“Stay safe on the walk home.” Hajime mutters. “Don’t get mugged.”
“You’re so sweet to me, Iwa-chan.”
“So it’s Iwa-chan again?” Hajime raises an eyebrow. He won’t lie, he kind of liked Oikawa calling him by his first name.
“Mmmhmm.” Oikawa grins and then winks. “I figure I’ll save the first name for special occasions.” He spins on his heel, starts walking away. “Goodnight, Iwa-chan~”
Hajime just shakes his head, watching as Oikawa lopes away.
He takes a minutes to breath and will the blush from his cheeks before heading back inside to say goodnight to his parents.
His mother is standing in the doorway, a smirk on her lips. “So.” She reaches out to fix the collar of his shirt. “Glad to see you two got in a goodnight kiss.”
He blushes so hard he feels lightheaded. “I didn’t…” He stammers.
She laughs, patting his shoulder. “It’s okay, we didn’t watch.”
“She did.” His father call from the kitchen. “Had her nose pressed to the window and everything.”
“Oh, hush, you.” She says. “You were right beside me!”
“We didn’t…” He splutters. “That is...we wouldn’t have…”
“It’s fine, dear.” She looks like she’s holding back laughter. “You two were very proper during dinner.” She winks at him. “I was so proud. You’ll have to bring him around again soon.”
“So...you like him?”
“Yes, Hajime.” She laughs and pulls him into a hug. “I like him. I can see he makes you happy.”
“We both can.” His father adds, peering out of the kitchen and wiping his hands on a towel.
Hajime has to laugh at that. Oikawa makes him a lot of things. Annoyed, irritated, inspired, homicidal with rage… But, yeah. Happy is in there too.
“That’s all I ever wanted, you know.” His mother is bustling around, heading back to the kitchen and cleaning up the couple of dishes left out from dinner. “I worried when you first...when you told us about, well, wanting to date boys. But Tooru is lovely. Such a charming boy.” She grins at him. “Quite handsome.”
“Shut up.” Hajime mumbles, following behind her and picking up the dishes she can’t carry. He kind of forgets, sometimes, just how striking Oikawa is. He appreciates Oikawa’s looks and will readily admit that they’re part of what drew him to Oikawa at first. But his looks, well, they’re far from Hajime’s favorite thing about Oikawa.
His mother is still laughing at him and, despite the way his face is burning, Hajime is happy.
~~~~
It’s a Monday.
They’re all in Hajime’s apartment. Oikawa is lounging on the couch, watching a grainy documentary on the TV. Hajime is sitting up against the couch, humming absently when Oikawa drags a hand through his hair. Hanamaki and Matsukawa are huddled over a copy of Macbeth, drawing little ghosts in the margins and...nope. Hajime feels like he’s better off not knowing what exactly is going on with them.
“You’ve got Spring Highs soon.” Hajime says softly.
“Mmmhmm.” Oikawa hums. “We’ll win this time and go to nationals.”
“I know you will.” Hajime leans into his touch as Oikawa continues to play with his hair.
“Make sure you come and cheer for me, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa says. “I always play better when Iwa-chan is watching.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll see if I can manage it.” Hajime teases. “I might be too busy with my new manga, though.”
“Oh?” Oikawa leans closer. “You have an idea, then?”
“Yeah, I…”
“You two are gross.” Hanamaki says archly.
“Oh, shut up and go back to Macbeth.” Hajime waves a hand.
“Macbeth the Musical.” Matsukawa corrects.
“...seriously?”
“Macbeth doesn’t sing through.”
“How...no. You know what? No. I don’t want to know.”
“It’s a grand tale of true love…”
“No.”
“Epic sword fights…”
“No.”
“And fair maidens swooning at my feet.”
“Matsun the only person you have ever made swoon is Maki.” Oikawa says.
“To be fair, I was in a dress at the time.” Hanamaki says helpfully.
“I feel like your escapades are always way more exciting than ours.” Oikawa complains. “Iwa-chan, we need better escapades!”
“I’ll get right on that.” Hajime rolls his eyes.
They lapse into silence for a few minutes while Oikawa watches his documentary and Hajime draws.
“So what was your idea?” Oikawa asks after a little while. Hajime looks up and see that Oikawa is sitting up and leaning over him. “For your manga?”
“Hmm?” Hanamaki peers over. “Iwaizumi has a new idea?”
“Whatever it is, it’s not as good as Macbeth the Musical.”
“Hush, Matsun!” Oikawa chides before hugging Hajime in a way that is fairly reminiscent of a choke hold. “Your idea, Iwa-chan! Tell us!”
“Volleyball, I think.” Hajime says. He’s been tossing around the idea for a few weeks now, ever since he saw Oikawa’s first practice match. He knows most of the rules already and for what he doesn’t know, he has Oikawa and Hanamaki. Besides, he’s ready for something besides shoujo.
“Volleyball, huh?” Hanamaki says. “You really think that anyone will read something about volleyball?”
“If I make sure the characters are interesting.” Hajime shrugs. “Sports manga can be popular.”
“But won’t you miss shoujo?” Matsukawa teases. “There’s not much room for romance between volleyball teammates.”
Hajime rolls his eyes. “There can be romance if I want.”
“Between volleyball teammates?” Hanamaki raises an eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“So you wanna write a gay volleyball manga?”
“I mean, I wouldn’t phrase it like that, but...”
“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa grins at him and it’s blinding. “I think it’s a great idea.”
“I do too.” Hanamaki says. “I love both volleyball and gays.”
“Sames.” Matsukawa says. “Let’s do this.”
Hajime probably shouldn’t be as touched as he is since Matsukawa and Hanamaki are definitely being sarcastic, but he can’t help smiling at the three of them.
“Okay then.” He sits up straighter and looks over at the table spread with blank pages and endless possibilities. “Let’s get started.”