Chapter Text
“I thought your place would be a lot messier,” Oikawa muses as he wanders around Hajime’s living room.
Hajime pulls off his jacket, hanging it on the hook by the door as he grumbles, “Why?
Oikawa shrugs. “You just don’t seem like the type who’d care if your place was messy.”
Something catches Oikawa’s attention and he bends down to pick something off the coffee table. Hajime moves closer to see what it is and finds the little black notepad with all his notes on Oikawa in the latter’s hands.
Hajime must have dug it out from where he hid it before, left it out and forgot about it. Dammit.
Well, it doesn’t really matter at this point, though.
“Is this your diary?” Oikawa slips on a playful smirk as he shows off the notepad to Hajime. “I remember this. You said it was important before, when you dropped it.”
“It’s not a diary,” Hajime huffs, taking a step towards Oikawa. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing, huh? I can look then, right?” Oikawa grins, taking a step back from Hajime.
“That’s not- hey!” Hajime warns as Oikawa begins to flip through it.
He moves to grab it, but Oikawa’s taller, holding it above Hajime’s head and laughing as he skims the pages.
“You sure this isn’t a diary? It’s all about me, anyway. It even has my game schedule! It’s a very sweet sentiment, Iwa-chan, but stuff like this is a little creepy. Makes me wonder what you could have been doing with it,” he teases, chuckling a little.
Hajime smacks Oikawa’s arm, knocking the book out of his hands and catching it before it can fall to the floor. Oikawa grins with a mischievous look on his face.
Hajime’s setting the notepad back down on the table when Oikawa dramatically spins around, striking some ridiculous pose.
“Well, since I’m such a popular and important person, I’m gracious enough to look past your weirdly obsessive notes about me and instead thank you that you took the time-”
Hajime wanders into his bedroom, tuning out Oikawa’s dumb speech. He picks out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts he doesn’t wear often and comes back to Oikawa still talking as if he hadn’t walked out.
“-kind enough to not kill me that night, so I will happily-”
Hajime launches the clothes at Oikawa’s face. Oikawa yelps a little gweh! in surprise.
“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep. You can sleep on the couch,” Hajime says flatly.
“That’s not very hospitable, Iwa-chan.”
“It’s my house.”
Oikawa looks down at the bundle of clothes in his hands thoughtfully. Then he slowly brings them up and buries his face in them.
“What are you doing?! Stop it!” Hajime shouts, picking up the notepad from the table just to hurl it at Oikawa, successfully nicking him in the forehead with a grunt.
Oikawa laughs though, folding his chest over as he tries to catch his breath in between laughs.
Hajime thinks his own face might be getting a bit warm, so he whips around and heads towards his bedroom.
“Goodnight, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa calls after him, barely containing his laughter.
Sunlight’s shining in his face. Hajime groans, reaching up to shield his eyes.
He’s usually fairly good about getting up early, but every once in a while he allows himself to sleep in.
Hajime rolls over, on the verge of drifting off again-
and rolls right into a figure on the other side of his bed.
Hajime shoots to sit up and glares down at the man in his clothes, sleeping next to him quietly. The sudden movement from Hajime seems to be stirring him a bit, nose wrinkling as he dozes.
Hajime’s face suddenly feels hot.
He doesn’t think - just shoves Oikawa’s torso as hard as he can. The latter’s head and shoulder thump against the floor as he yelps awake.
“Oww,” Oikawa mumbles as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes from where half of his body lays on the floor, “Show some manners, Iwa-chan.”
“Why the hell are you in my bed?!” Hajime snaps.
Oikawa, unmoving from his position, answers, “You didn’t give me a blanket last night, dummy. Your couch is small and uncomfortable, too. So I only did what I thought was right.”
Hajime closes his fingers over the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes briefly in an attempt to cool down. It doesn’t really help much.
“That’s not an invitation! You wanted to come over, anyway!” he hisses.
Oikawa laughs. “Oh, I didn’t do anything, if that’s what you’re worried about! I am a gentleman, after all.”
Hajime kicks Oikawa’s legs off the bed to join his torso on the floor, earning him a small grunt. Oikawa sits up, crossing his legs and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“Don’t you have classes today? Get going already, dumbass,” Hajime says as he runs a hand through his hair, the heat on his face finally simmering down.
Oikawa doesn’t reply, just puts a hand on his chin, furrows his brow, and purses his lips like he’s in deep thought.
“...What?” Hajime grumbles.
Oikawa grins, setting a fist on his hand like he just thought of an idea. “Well, it’s okay! I can skip every now and then. Let’s hang out longer, Iwa-chan!”
Hajime launches a pillow at him, which Oikawa (impressively) catches before it can smack him in the face.
Hajime chastises, “You have responsibilities! Go to class, idiot!”
Oikawa puts the pillow in his lap and shrugs as he pouts, “I work so hard all the time! Besides! You’re pretty much skipping your work, too, so…”
“Hold still, I can fix that.”
Hajime’s somehow able to convince Oikawa to get going. He sees Oikawa off at the door, but Oikawa whips around before he can close it.
“Hey, Iwa-chan. Let’s hang out after I’m out for the day. I have a big match coming up on Friday, so I’ll be busy with practice for the rest of the week,” Oikawa’s voice is soft, but returns to its usual cheerfulness when he adds, “Don’t want you to miss me too much, after all!”
Hajime scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Just focus on your match. No need to go out of your way just to keep me company.”
Oikawa shrugs with a bit of a sigh as he says, “Let me rephrase, then. I want to spend time with you.”
Hajime feels the same feeling he felt on the train last night. He swallows thickly, snapping his eyes away from Oikawa’s.
“Whatever, fine. I get it already,” he grumbles.
Oikawa chuckles lightly. Seemingly satisfied with that, he turns and leaves.
As soon as the door closes, Hajime groans to himself. Getting flustered is definitely something he’s not used to doing.
At around 4:30 PM, Oikawa texts him that he’s out of his classes.
Hajime sets out to meet him near the alley they met, but Oikawa’s already there, leaning against a street lamp, by the time he arrives.
“Hey, let’s go drinking, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa offers without a greeting when Hajime approaches.
Hajime snaps immediately, “No.”
Oikawa laughs as he slings an arm around Hajime’s shoulders. “We can make better memories this time, though! Ones that don’t involve you trying to kill me.”
“Keep your voice down,” Hajime hisses, “Besides, I’m not really a drinker.”
“Then I’ll do the drinking, you just supervise me!”
“Correction, you want me to babysit you.”
Oikawa grins as he hums, “Sure, sure! Whatever you wanna call it.”
Hajime’s dragged to the bar anyway. It’s not like he plans on trying to kill Oikawa again after last time, after all.
Kuroo spots them as they walk through the door and that hyena smirk reaches his face. Per usual, Kenma sits at the far end of the bar, engrossed with a game console, mumbling to Kuroo.
“Well, well, it’s you two,” Kuroo chirps as they take a seat near Kenma at the end of the bar. “Seems a bit less tense today,” he adds, raising an eyebrow.
“We have an unbreakable bond,” Oikawa answers, dramatically leaning against Hajime. “Nothing can break it.”
Hajime rolls his eyes and pushes Oikawa to sit down properly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mutters.
“What can I get for you? Wanna try to top your ten beers?” Kuroo asks with a grin.
Hajime shoots a glare at Oikawa in warning.
Oikawa waves a dismissive hand quickly, “No, no. I’m taking it easy today. Have to be a responsible student under the watchful eyes of my escort.”
Hajime huffs, “Who are you calling an escort?”
Kuroo shrugs with a sigh, “Aww, really? What about you?” He turns to Hajime, a coaxing smirk on his face.
Hajime shakes his head. “I’m just here to make sure this idiot doesn’t die from alcohol poisoning.”
Oikawa gives him a look like he wants to make a joke about that. Hajime elbows him in the ribs.
“What a shame,” Kuroo says dramatically. “Poor Kenma will just have to entertain himself instead.”
Kenma finally lifts his head and pouts at Kuroo.
“Don’t bring me into that,” he mumbles, “You were the one dying of laughter back then.”
Kuroo puts a hand on his hip, flashing his teeth. “You didn’t stop me or say anything, so I’ll take that as encouragement.”
“It’s not.”
“Sure it is.”
“It’s really not.”
Oikawa only ends up a little tipsy, surprisingly. Hajime didn’t think he had any form of self control.
Of course, he thinks maybe his glares as Oikawa ordered probably contributed.
Hajime finds that no matter what level of drunk Oikawa is, however, he’s clingy either way.
As they’re leaving the bar, Kuroo calling for them to come back soon, Oikawa presses his full weight into Hajime.
Hajime regularly works out as part of his job, but Oikawa is taller and actually quite a bit heavier than he looks.
Hajime pushes against him, hoisting him to stand upright. “Stand on your own, idiot. I’m not walking you all the way to your apartment.”
Oikawa wails, “But you’re the babysitter! You have to take care of me!”
Hajime rolls his eyes. “I don’t have to do shit. You’re not even that drunk.”
Oikawa flops backwards over Hajime’s back, a hand dramatically draped over his forehead.
Hajime snaps, “Cut it out, Shittykawa!”
He slides out from under Oikawa, letting the latter nearly topple to the ground in the middle of the street.
“So rude! And after I was so chivalrous last night!” Oikawa whines.
“What part of you barging into my apartment and being a nuisance was chivalrous of you?!”
Oikawa’s laughing, his face slightly red from the alcohol. Hajime begins to walk away, so Oikawa quickly regains himself and trots to catch up.
They walk together quietly for a moment, until Oikawa murmurs under his breath, “It’s really hot.”
He stops in the middle of the sidewalk, and Hajime turns to watch him lift his hoodie off. The shirt underneath gets caught and a slip of Oikawa’s stomach is exposed.
It’s only a little peek, but Hajime catches a glimpse of the smooth, bare skin. Something rattles in his mind. He quickly crosses the distance between them and yanks Oikawa’s shirt down, choosing to ignore how hot his own face feels.
Oikawa pauses what he’s doing, his hoodie still tangled around his arms.
“Uh, thanks, Iwa-chan,” he says slowly, confused.
Hajime doesn’t say anything back, just keeps holding Oikawa’s shirt down until Oikawa finally pulls his hoodie off and ties it around his waist.
Oikawa stares at him a tick longer, eyes squinting slightly before realization flickers across his eyes.
A smirk plays across his face and he reaches out to take Hajime’s hand.
“...Did you see something interesting, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa teases, “If you ask, I might be inclined to show you more.”
Hajime’s entire face burns up all at once and he turns and speed-walks away, picking up his pace until he’s almost running when Oikawa catches up, all laughs and grins.
Hajime is an idiot for doing this, he knows.
He brought this on himself, of course, but it’s still stupid. He’s sure it’ll be worth it, anyway.
He and a large group of mostly girls find their way to the spectator stands.
Hajime hasn’t been in too many gymnasiums frankly, but this one looks particularly large. Chalk it up to Seijou being a popular college, he supposes.
The front row of the bleachers are filled with girls calling to the players. Well, actually, they’re calling down to Oikawa.
Hajime’s doing his best to keep his head down and move to the seats in the back, but he catches a figure in the corner of his eye turning to wave at the audience.
Hajime risks a glance - he really shouldn’t, he thinks as he does it - and finds Oikawa throwing a peace sign to the girls.
Oikawa’s eyes scan over to Hajime, and his entire stupid face lights up.
It’s a different kind of joy that Hajime doesn’t think he’s ever seen the guy wear, and it’s kind of amusing in an adorable kind of way.
Shit, did he just use the word adorable to describe Oikawa?
But it’s hard to deny that Oikawa’s face isn’t making this whole dumb situation worth it.
Oikawa’s teammates are calling him to continue their warmups already, but Oikawa waves them off with barely a glance and crosses the distance between the court and the bleachers in three huge strides.
The girls to Hajime’s left are squealing, calling Oikawa to look at them, but Oikawa’s looking right at Hajime.
Hajime steps up to the railing of the bleachers with a sigh and looks down at Oikawa’s dumb dazzling face, eyes wide, cheeks lightly flushed.
“You’re- You’re really here!” he stammers excitedly, “That is you, right? I’m not hallucinating? I’m not just talking to some illusion? I have a reputation, you know!”
Hajime can’t help it. He really, really tries to, but he smiles.
He’s still attempting to hold it back even as he does, and it comes out as more of a smirk.
“That notepad isn’t some diary, Idiotkawa,” Hajime huffs.
“You’re really here!” Oikawa repeats, pumping his fist ecstatically.
There’s something so satisfying and precious seeing Oikawa like this; no snarky quips, no flirting, just unadulterated joy.
Hajime catches Oikawa’s teammates watching, and a number of girls in the stands are glancing at him suspiciously. His own amusement begins to fade. He should get Oikawa back on track.
Hajime locks eyes with Oikawa as he says, “Right. I’m watching, so go and win. Show me that valiant and hard work you brag so much about.”
Something flashes across Oikawa’s eyes and his smile melts into a smirk.
He narrows his eyes and replies, “Just keep your eyes on me.”
He gives Hajime a brief wink, a loose wave to the girls, and turns back to his teammates, who seem to crowd him asking about their interaction.
Hajime finds a seat in the back, out of the way of people.
He realizes he’s never seen Oikawa play in person before. During his research on Oikawa prior to… everything, Hajime had watched Oikawa on TV every now and then, but he hardly paid attention.
So when Oikawa tosses the ball up to serve, jumps up, and slams the ball down on the other side of the court, Hajime’s holding his breath.
He’s beautiful when he plays, a thought that Hajime would be embarrassed to admit aloud, but it’s just a fact.
Oikawa could have been teasing when he told Hajime to keep his eyes on him before the match, but that’s exactly what Hajime does.
Seijou wins. Not that it’s really much of a surprise, though.
Hajime doesn’t know the other team, but they seem to take the defeat hard. Hajime would feel a little bad for them, but it seems his general apathy towards human emotions still lingers from his job.
That, or Oikawa’s gleaming grin and his celebratory cheers with his team block out his empathy for the losing team.
Seijou lines up in front of the stands to say their thanks, and he meets eyes with Oikawa.
There’s a softness in his gaze, and it makes his “Thank you very much!” mean something different than the rest of the team.
Hajime flicks his head toward the lobby of the gym as a signal to Oikawa to meet up later and Oikawa grins in response.
Hajime comes out into the lobby among other spectators and finds a bench in the corner of the room. He watches the losing team walk out, eyes red, hands patting backs.
He watches them leave the gym and thinks about how Oikawa’s definitely been one of those losing teams.
Speaking of Oikawa, Hajime catches light blue out of the corner of his eye and turns to see Seijou saunter into the lobby, all grinning and cheerful.
He’s happy for them, but watching them all together like that...
Something in Hajime’s chest clenches. There’s something akin to the feeling he had weeks ago, when he had his hands around Oikawa.
He can’t really tell what the feeling is; it’s like loneliness, but something about it’s more visceral.
Hajime leans back on the bench until his back hits the wall behind it.
He grasps the name of the feeling, only briefly. Guilt.
“Iwa-chan!”
Hajime blinks himself quickly out of his daze, shoving the feeling as far away as he can, and turns to Oikawa.
“Not so loud,” Hajime says softly, glancing around them as Oikawa stops in front of him.
Oikawa grins, stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets, rocks back on his heels.
“Sorry, I got excited. I really am glad you’re here. I was pretty surprised, you know. I didn’t think you had any interest in volleyball, haha.”
Hajime stares at him, absolutely dumbfounded that Oikawa thinks he went out of his way to come to this game because he’s interested in volleyball.
He rolls his eyes and scoffs, “I didn’t come to see a volleyball game, stupid. I came to see you. I wouldn’t have come otherwise.”
Hajime has only ever seen Oikawa’s flustered face once, after they made up the first time. It was dark then, and Hajime could hardly see Oikawa’s red face when he sprinted away.
But now, Oikawa’s standing in broad daylight in a corner of the lobby, and Hajime gets a crystal clear view of his face.
And his face is red. Like, Hajime could have easily second guessed himself before about it due to the darkness, but there’s no way he could miss it now.
It makes Hajime a little embarrassed too, and his own face starts heating up a little.
Oikawa’s using his hand in an attempt to hide his red face, but it’s doing little to cover it up.
“You- That was-” Oikawa sputters through his fingers, “That was so smooth…”
Hajime barks out a laugh. He… hasn’t openly laughed at something like that in forever, and it makes him feel light.
His laugh seems to have surprised Oikawa, too. Oikawa widens his eyes and somehow gets even redder.
“That’s some face you’re making,” Hajime huffs.
“I’m not making a face!” Oikawa protests immediately. “You’re in a good mood,” he adds softly.
Hajime shrugs and leans forward, resting his arms on his knees.
“Guess I am. Wanna hear my thoughts?” he asks, slipping Oikawa a smile.
Oikawa swallows and meets his eyes.
“You played well, and your form was beautiful,” Hajime says plainly.
He doesn’t think he’d ever admit to something as open as Oikawa being beautiful. But, well, he’s already heating up, so what’s the harm?
Besides, Hajime’s a little curious as to whether Oikawa can get redder.
Of course, it’s not a lie, either. Hajime knows Oikawa’s an attractive person, and he’s never denied that.
So he tops it off with, “I couldn’t take my eyes off you, even I wanted.”
The answer to his question is that yes, Oikawa can get redder; he’s sweating with how much he’s blushing.
It’s incredibly amusing, seeing someone so flippant dissolve into a mess.
Maybe Hajime should try this approach more.
“...You really only came for me?” Oikawa mumbles, running a hand over his red face.
Hajime sits back. “Yeah, of course,” he answers, “Before… you mentioned you were going to be busy. You said…”
That he wanted to spend more time together. But Hajime doesn’t finish that sentence.
He clears his throat and continues, “And besides, I thought I’d try to kill some time. Don’t make a joke out of that, I’ll punch you.”
But when Hajime’s eyes flick to Oikawa’s, the latter’s are wide. His blush is fading, but only slightly. He takes a step closer to the bench and smiles.
“That’s pretty thoughtful, Iwa-chan. It’s… it’s the first time you’ve willingly come to see me.”
Now Hajime’s starting to get a little flustered. He involuntarily starts bouncing his knee.
There’s a beep from Oikawa’s phone and he sighs, saying that it’s his team telling him to come celebrate with them. Hajime nods and mumbles a “Talk to you later” as Oikawa whips around.
Before Oikawa can run off, he stops and turns back to Hajime, though.
“Iwa-chan,” he calls, and waits until Hajime meets his eyes to continue, “Your laugh and smile… are really nice. You should do that more.”
Hajime sputters, trying to think of some witty insult, but he can’t quite get one out.
Oikawa grins and adds, “Also, time isn’t the only thing you tried to kill!”
He runs off cackling as Hajime shouts insults at him.
Hajime spends a few more minutes just sitting on the bench after Oikawa leaves.
Your laugh and smile are really nice.
That churning feeling from earlier completely forgotten.
Thump, goes something in his chest.
Shit.