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Night time has come, the day was chased away quicker than Oikawa could keep up with but alas, you can’t turn back time. Already snuggled into bed before everyone else, Oikawa peeks his head up to see Iwaizumi entering the room looking like he just came out of the bath. The shorter male doesn’t say anything and is well aware of Oikawa’s strange antics because of his insecurities, so he only grunts at the sight and puts his towel to the side. “You want me to check up on the first years?”
“Yes please, Iwa-chan”. Honestly, Iwaizumi groans to himself, no one’s gonna say anything about your pyjamas. After making sure that the first years weren’t mucking about and were getting straight to bed, he returns with a sigh, slipping into his own futon and staring at the back of Oikawa’s head.
It’s dark, obviously, but it still is really dark and Oikawa hasn’t gotten a wink of sleep for some reason he doesn’t know about. Or maybe he has but he can’t tell, if anything, it sure doesn’t feel like it. And he’s pretty sure he isn’t the only one having trouble. It could just be due to the lack of sleep or his own imagination but the floor boards have been creaking for quite some time now and it’s getting on Oikawa’s nerves.
But who could it be? Or rather, (Oikawa hates how his mind does this to him) what could it be? He wouldn’t be bothered if it were aliens, ready to show him their home planet, but then again, the way the creaking is hardly audible, it could just be the wind doing something. Oikawa desperately wants to find out, to end his misery of not being able to sleep but to also satisfy his curiosity, and badly scold whoever it is up if it is anyone, but he can’t risk revealing the sight of his pyjamas. His reputation is on the line. Opting to forget about it, Oikawa turns over and successfully this time, falls to sleep.
Today must be his lucky day, Oikawa thinks as he rubs his hands together like an evil villain. Since when does Kageyama miss so many tosses in one match? He must be having a bad day but Oikawa is too busy readying himself to thrash his kouhai in a match to notice or ask. Iwaizumi, who isn’t so occupied with such trivial thoughts, has the time to ask ‘what’s up?’ but Kageyama’s answer is as stoic as ever and Iwaizumi has a hard time believing the kid is in his first year with how mature he seems. “You can take a break you know, if you’re not doing so good”, Kageyama shakes his head almost instantly, before bowing and running over to Kindaichi for some practice.
It’s at dinner time when more than one person notices the strange behaviour of their genius first year, that includes Iwaizumi, Kunimi and now Oikawa. They eye each other as Kageyama attempts to go for seconds with Kindaichi’s bowl, as he scrunches his eyebrows when he can’t remember where he put his chopsticks even though they’re right in his hand. If Oikawa wasn’t cracking up so much, he would be able to put the pieces together, but he is and Iwaizumi smacks him around the head before rushing over to stop Kageyama from putting his dishes in the bin.
Oikawa basically flops onto his pillow, sighing at his aching legs and shoulders, but the pain is satisfying: it means he did a good job, unlike someone else. He has to stop laughing out loud as the memory of Kageyama setting the ball to Kunimi’s face pops up in his brain, yep, he’s definitely satisfied. Now if only he could sleep, that would complete him.
But it’s as if he jinxed it by asking for a good night sleep, it’s the exact opposite that Oikawa gets. There’s that weird creaking, and this time Oikawa focuses on where it’s coming from rather than what’s making it because it wouldn’t matter once he’s through with it.
The creaking seems to come from the first years’ room, which is to the left of the third years’ room, and Oikawa sets about to begin his journey. The first step is to cover up his pyjamas somehow, he thinks pulling blanket over should do the job, as long as he doesn’t let go it should be OK. The second step is to leave the room without waking up anyone. Iwaizumi is a bit of a heavy sleeper so at least that’s one less person to worry about.
He tip-toes out of the room and shivers at the cold air in the building, pulling his blanket closer to his chest, and then goes to put an ear to the first year’s door. And sure enough, the shuffling is much louder, but only for a moment before it completely dies away. Must they have heard Oikawa outside the door? Now he’s positive it’s not aliens and rather a first year that’s being surprisingly active at this time of the night.
Pushing the door open enough to peep his head in, Oikawa surveys the room for anyone who’s awake, trying to pick out any movement, but he comes up with nought. Strange. And kind of freaky.
Kageyama is even worse than he was the previous day. All of his movements are sloppy, drained of the energy they’re supposed to have and Iwaizumi forces him on the bench. Oikawa tells Iwaizumi that Kageyama looks like he’s about to cry but the other only grunts and says he’ll have to suck it in. Oikawa was lying, he just wanted to see Iwaizumi’s reaction and is very impressed with it, for once he’s not getting the cold treatment.
But that doesn’t mean Kageyama was OK with being put on the bench, his mouth hangs open slightly, his eyes are devoid of any shine they had in them before and Oikawa wouldn’t be joking if he said he looked like a dead fish.
It’s finally time to properly investigate the strange noises that keep Oikawa awake and the captain is determined to find the source of the noise, not accepting the wind as an answer. He readies himself for bed, just like normal, but instead of falling asleep, he lays awake until the whole building is filled with slumbering bodies. He checks his phone to see that the time is half an hour past midnight and is confident that by now, everyone but that person should be asleep.
Oikawa sets off. He’s learnt his from his last expedition not to give himself away but to properly conceal his presence and then catch the person with a surprise attack. He’s situated himself outside of the first years’ room, as silent as he’s ever been in his entire life and he knows how much Iwaizumi would kill to see him like this during the day.
After squatting for around ten minutes, Oikawa’s realised that the creaking has started up again, but this time, it’s not coming from the other side of the door that he’s pressed against, it’s coming from the kitchen.
He’s ready to rip his own hear out when it turns out his plan wasn’t fool-proof after all. Oh well, at least they can’t pretend to be sleeping if they’re caught so Oikawa drops the stealth act and literally goes to pounce on whoever it is still up. It turns out, that wasn’t a very good idea since there’s milk, glass shards and Kageyama all over the floor and the boy is close to tears over his spilt milk.
“Tobio-chan, what are you doing?!” The younger boy gets up from the floor, pyjamas dripping with milk and he gives a look to Oikawa as a way of returning the question. “Oh my God, look at this mess…” It’s the last thing Oikawa wants to be doing right now but he has no choice as he goes for the mop, clutching onto his blanket in an attempt to still hide his pj’s from Kageyama. He knows his kouhai is probably the bluntest out of the first years so he wants to avoid the boy at all costs.
Still, he has his duties as a senpai and as a captain so making sure that Kageyama isn’t hurt is his first priority. He turns back only for him to come face-to-face with the idiot who’s still staring at the milk on the floor like the hopeless case he is.
Oikawa chooses to ignore the obvious distress the boy is in and asks if he’s hurt anywhere, continuing with the clean up when he gets a nod. “You can at least take off that milk-drenched top and put it in the wash”, he huffs at how irritatingly dense the kid can be sometimes and whips the mop over his legs to get his attention. Kageyama flinches disturbingly, finally snapping out of his daze and snatches the mop out of Oikawa’s hands wordlessly.
“Hey, I’ll do it, just sort yourself out first”, small fingers tighten their grip around the mop and Kageyama locks his bloodshot with Oikawa,
“I can do it”
“yes, I know you can, but your pyjama’s are soaking wet and there’s milk dripping all over the floor, so there’s no point mopping when you’re just gonna make more mess along the way, OK? Besides, it was my fault anyway so hand it over”. Kageyama reluctantly resigns, fidgeting while Oikawa finally cleans the place up. “There”, he says, putting the mop away and brushing the hair out of his face with his free hand, a smile of accomplishment on his face that quickly turns into a frown when there’s another puddle of milk beneath Kageyama’s feet.
“Tobio-chan, can you take that off already!” Oikawa’s extremely vexed when the younger setter shakes his head and Oikawa feels like ditching him there in the cold night to get back to bed, he knows who the idiot is now, so at least he can rest easy.
“Fine!” he snaps indignantly, flipping his hands up in defeat, “it’s not like I’m your senpai or anything that you should show me some respect, you know, I didn’t just clean up your mess for no reason, oh no, I just felt like doing it”. Kageyama’s mouth twists into some form of an uneasy grimace but Oikawa hardly cares and the bite rolls off his tongue easily, “I’ll be telling Iwa-chan about this, how you’ve been staying up late doing God-knows-what”, he begins his march back to his bedroom, swallowing down any guilt that rises up.
“Iwa-chan, did you know Tobio-chan eats during the night?”
“What?” Oikawa nods his head furiously, but Iwaizumi doesn’t believe him, doesn’t even know where the topic came from.
“It’s true, like midnight snacking, I saw him and that’s why he’s been acting funny”, the shorter male speculates the idea for a moment, and it actually seems plausible, seeing as how Kageyama drags himself into the gym. Of course, before he can even look at a volleyball, Iwaizumi pulls him aside, glaring at his wrecked state. The boy can hardly keep his bag-covered eyes open; his skin is pale and his eyes water from the strain of having to stay awake. Iwaizumi is more than concerned.
“Kageyama, are you OK?” It was a good thing that Iwaizumi was standing firmly in front of him because when the setter collapses, he’s able to catch him quickly. “Kageyama!” The commotion in the corner of the gym brings the coach and Oikawa over, and they swiftly set about laying Kageyama down, Iwaizumi sweating at the situation like the mum he is.
“What happened?” The coach asks while checking Kageyama’s temperature,
“I don’t know, he just fainted”, Oikawa, and now Kunimi and Kindaichi who’ve also come over explain how they’ve noticed the strange behaviour from previous days. The coach frowns, moving to throw some water on Kageyama’s face in hopes to wake him up but Oikawa disagrees with the idea.
“He’s fatigued, I think this his body’s way of recovering”, the coach hesitates briefly, but decides to set the water bottle down when he looks into Oikawa’s troubled gaze.
Oikawa’s been assigned to go check up on Kageyama, and even though he is just a teeny weeny bit worried, he still whines about it to Iwaizumi, complaining about his aching legs and messed up hair from the practice match, “if you don’t check up on him, you won’t just be complaining about your legs and hair”.
So that’s how Oikawa’s made his way over to watch over a knocked-out Kageyama, who’s surprisingly very inelegant in his sleep and is sprawled all over the cover. In fact, even while Oikawa enters the room, he’s already shuffling under the covers, tossing and turning restlessly like he’s got ants in his pants. After a while, he settles down again and Oikawa is very tempted to feel sorry for Kageyama who still has his eyebrows scrunched up.
He’s obviously having a nightmare, so the brunette shakes him around until he wakes up and is met with big sapphire eyes, glossy and still coated with sleepiness. “Hey”, he greets, plopping himself next to Kageyama’s futon, “how do you feel?”
The younger boy looks spooked, his face is shiny and his chest rises and falls quickly, “what happened?” Oikawa snorts at the question, laughter bubbling up inside of him.
“What do you mean ‘what happened’? I should be asking you that”, Kageyama rubs his eyes and yawns, causing Oikawa to yawn too and it’s only then does he realise how little sleep he’s gotten during the past couple of nights.
“What time is it?” And when Oikawa answers with ‘half-past one’, Kageyama’s eyes pop out of his head, “what happened to morning practice?”
“You passed out, that’s what happened”, the younger boy’s face contorts into a mixture of shock and disgust before he tries scrambling out of the covers, “I don’t think so, Tobio-chan”, and he yanks Kageyama by his top, making him fall back on his bottom.
“But I feel better now, I can go”
“you don’t look better, and I would know about that, so you’re staying here to get some rest”
“but—“
“No”. Oikawa doesn’t do it much, but he can if he wants to so he glares at Kageyama to stay put and the boy immediately complies. “Not only have you not fully recovered, but you’ll continue to lose sleep if you don’t come to terms with those nightmares”, Kageyama’s fingers twitch by his side and the older knows he hit home, “so?”
“….” Oikawa rolls his eyes impatiently, and grabs another handful of his kouhai’s clothes to stop him running away again and waits, staring at Kageyama’s pale nape.
“Well?”
“I don’t remember any of my nightmares”
“liar” and the gulp that Kageyama takes only confirms that. It’s another while later until the blue eyed setter gives in, attempting to look angry about having to do so but then he yawns again and Oikawa yawns too.
“They’re about home”
“home?” Oikawa echoes, but as he plays with the idea, it begins to make sense in his head, “Tobio-chan, are you homesick?” The younger boy flushes red from embarrassment, and he’s glad that he has his back to Oikawa so that he can’t make of him for it. Despite the lack of answer on Kageyama’s part, Oikawa already knows the gist of it and sighs, releasing his hold on the boy and pulling the covers back.
“What are you doing, Oikawa-san?”
“Well”, he starts with a yawn, laying his head on the pillow, “you’ve been keeping me up all night so I’m just gonna catch up on some well-deserved beauty sleep. Don’t tell Iwa-chan, the futon is warm from when Kageyama had been sleeping in it but he doesn’t mind, and it actually helps him to relax more. There was more of that annoying, familiar creaking sound and the brunette didn’t even need to open his heavy eyes to know that his stupid kouhai was attempting another escape and all he had to do was say his name to get the message across that he wasn’t done yet.
“Yes, Oikawa-san?” His voice was a lot closer than Oikawa was expecting and the smell of soap was faintly present,
“you’re sleeping too, get in”, he practically heard how Kageyama cringed the command and the task of convincing Kageyama was oddly similar to making a toddler take a nap.
“I’m not tired anymore, really, I can—“ the older male grinned delightedly when his words were cut off by a yawn,
“not tired, huh?” the spluttering in the room only assured Oikawa of his victory and to not prolong the inevitable, he latched onto the first year’s wrist and pulled him down so the boy could follow behind. He got the boy down, but, you could say, not in the way Oikawa intended and he found his lips a mere centimetre away from Kageyama’s. Not that that was an entirely bad move, and just to tease, he puckered his lips out to meet Kageyama’s briefly.
“Oikawa-san!” The boy jerked his burning face away, but couldn’t do any more than that seeing as how Oikawa still held his wrist, forcing him to lay beside him, “now I’m definitely not sleeping with you”, he huffed as his head rolled onto the same pillow.
“Tobio-chan, don’t be an idiot. Iwa-chan will kill you if you step outside this room”
“better than staying in here with a perverted senpai”, he mumbled, but it was loud enough for Oikawa and he squawked indignantly in response.
Eventually, Oikawa emerged triumphantly from their mini battle, sticking his tongue out to Kageyama who scrunches his nose, shuffling away from Oikawa as much he can whilst still remaining on the pillow. “Why do I have to sleep with you? You smell of sweat”,
“rude! And I’m trying to help, in case you haven’t noticed”, Kageyama blinked a couple of times, and Oikawa watched his long eyelashes flutter up and down,
“I haven’t noticed”
“you’re going to be a real turd about this, aren’t you?” He sighs tiredly before closing his eyes, ignoring the fact that the blueberry beside him was studying his face and snuggles deeper into the covers, the smell of soap re-emerging. “I have a theory that if you sleep with something, like an object, or a person”, he pauses, opening one eye to look at Kageyama, “then you don’t get dreams or nightmares because your body has a constant reminder of your reality”. It’s honestly amusing how the boy next to him seems so puzzled, lips pursed into a cute pout, if only he was just as cute when he opens that mouth of his.
“That’s stupid, Oikawa-san. You’ve been hanging around girls for too long”, the brunette snorted at the comment, and let the smile on his face remain as a head of dark hair was buried into the crook of his neck, meaning Kageyama was willing to test his theory regardless of what he thought.
“I thought I smelled like sweat?”
“I know about your pyjamas, Oikawa-san” and that shut him up, leaving the two of them sleeping in each other’s warmth.