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Something was wrong with Oikawa.
No, no. That’s an understatement just saying that. Something was definitely wrong with Oikawa.
Years of dealing with him made Iwaizumi aware of the little quirks and habits of his best friend. He knew when he was happy, and he knew when he was sad.
His flippant attitude was more subdued compared to the usual days, and he wasn’t as talkative. Iwaizumi brought it up to him casually earlier, but he waved it off with a wide grin and a laugh.
But still, Iwaizumi didn’t believe him.
Throughout the whole day at school, Oikawa was still surrounded by his large group of girls and admirers. They all presented pastries and gifts to him, which he accepted and thanked them for.
During classes, he had simply stared at the worksheets in front of him like they were written in a foreign language. When someone approached him to talk or with a question, the conversation was brief and cut to the point, then he would return to staring at his desk.
He was mainly quiet. There was still the pestering “Iwa-chan!”, but nothing else. The day went by slowly because he knew that if he wanted an answer from Oikawa, it would be after school.
Iwaizumi knew him well enough to know that the boisterous teen wouldn’t let his facade crack at school, especially at volleyball practice. His sets were nothing less than great, still bringing out the best of his whole team.
They wrapped up the practice, all working together to wrap the nets and clean up. As per usual, they finished with stretches.
“Alright, we’re going ahead,” Iwaizumi called. He waved to the remaining first and second years before sticking his hands back into his jacket pocket.
Oikawa trailed behind him, brown hair bobbing as he walked. He shouldered his bulky gym bag, a tacky alien keychain swinging from its zipper. Overhead, street lamps flickered to life, lighting the streets.
Iwaizumi’s eye caught on the bauble and an idea popped into his head.
“Wanna sleepover? I have a huge stack of alien movies,” Iwaizumi added, “with Japanese subs.”
The other seemed to perk up at that, quickening his pace to meet the strides of Iwa. “That would be great, Iwa-chan!” he said, exclaiming loudly with a grand flourish of his arms.
He fumbled around his bag and retrieved a set of house keys, twisting them in the lock before propping the door open with his foot.
“I’m home!” Iwaizumi shouted down the hallway as the two of them bent over to kick their shoes off.
They entered the Iwaizumi’s home, the two of them greeting the family sitting around the table. They made their way to Iwaizumi’s room, Oikawa knowing his way around like the back of his hand since this could count as his second home. Oikawa tossed his bag to the floor and flopped onto Iwaizumi’s bed, sighing loudly.
Iwa tsked and kicked at Oikawa’s leg hanging off the bed. “Don’t sit on my bed with your sweaty clothes.”
“Aw,” Oikawa whined, “but I’m tired and Coach was tougher on us today at practice.”
He looked at Oikawa, a grimace on his face, and pointed towards the bathroom. “And you’re also very gross. Go shower or something. I’ll grab the extra futon.”
“Iwa-chan, so thoughtful,” he commented before rummaging around his gym bag and retrieving a set of clothes. He padded softly to the bathroom and shut the door behind him with a click.
With a grunt, Iwaizumi pulled the futon and frame from the storage closet, pulling it to his room. He set up the mattress and stood back with a sigh. And pulled his phone from his pocket, turning to lean against the wall while waiting.
Oikawa emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later, lightly dusting at his hair with a towel. Iwaizumi couldn’t help but smell his shampoo and body wash on the other, and it made his heart jump unknowingly.
When Iwaizumi came back after his shower, he found Oikawa on the extra futon, scrolling through his phone. His shirt was lifted to show a peek of skin, and his eyes met Iwaizumi’s.
His face flushed pink and distracted himself. He bent over a stack of movies that he kept in the corner of his room, sorting out the alien movies. “There’s E.T. Independence Day, Avatar, and the Back to the Future movies,” he held up a disc for each on the list.
Oikawa’s nose scrunched up at Back to the Future, and he sat up, tossing his phone to the side.
“Why’d you add that one?”
“Because I want to watch it, so it’s on the list.”
“Hm. Fair enough.”
After debating, the two had decided on Avatar because Iwaizumi reasoned that you couldn’t go wrong with that movie. Oikawa pouted that it wasn’t really an alien movie, but he watched Iwa put the disc in any way.
Iwaizumi stood to flick the lights off. Old and luminescent stars plastered onto the ceiling started glowing.
“Ah,” Oikawa hummed, turning his head towards the ceiling to look at the stickers, “You still have those?”
Recently, the two went to hang out at Oikawa’s house, so Iwaizumi wasn’t too surprised when he didn’t know that they were still there. It had been a while, after all.
“Yeah, obviously,” he laid back, propping his arms under his head to still have height.
He waved his arm at them. “Remember when I convinced you to get those so we could have matching ceilings?”
Iwaizumi tsked, “I don’t think I could forget. The minute you saw them in the shop, your eyes lit up and you begged me to get them.”
Oikawa chuckled, voice lifting over high notes before he settled. They stayed quiet for a few, the both of them staring up at the glowing stars.
“Iwa-chan, I’m cold,” Oikawa whined, breaking the silence as he rubbed his forearms.
“So pushy, trashy-kawa,” Iwaizumi chided, tossing an extra blanket that was at the foot of his bed at his face.
“Iwa-chan!” he said, a mock frown on his face, “I’m not trash.”
Iwaizumi just hummed in response and sat back to play the movie. Throughout the whole film, Oikawa kept making comments about everything, and Iwaizumi felt like yelling at him to shut up so he could watch.
Something popped up in his brain, though. The whole reason why he invited Oikawa over in the first place. Grappling around blindly for the remote, he pointed it at the TV receiver and paused the film.
Protests were heard from Oikawa about how he paused it at the best part and “Iwa-chan, give me the remote”, but Iwa didn’t pay attention to them. He propped himself onto his elbows and looked at Oikawa, the glow from the TV dim.
“Why did you seem so off at school today?” Iwaizumi asked, focusing his gaze onto Oikawa.
“Nothing was up, really!” Oikawa insisted.
Lie.
“Don’t act like I don’t know you well enough, Oikawa.”
“Iwa-chan, it’s nothing!”
Lie.
It was almost unfair at how well Iwa-chan knew him. He could be as dense as a brick sometimes, but his perceptiveness when it came to Oikawa increased ten-fold.
“Ok, fine. My knee was feeling bad,” Oikawa groaned.
Lie.
“Oikawa,” he started, and looked at him intently. His gaze softened when Oikawa faced him with his large, chocolate brown eyes full of sadness.
“I know you, okay? I’m here.”
Oikawa wanted nothing more to either melt into the futon underneath him to escape Iwa’s intense gaze or hug him so tight and never let go. He preferred the latter option, but his friend probably wouldn’t agree with that.
“We’re graduating soon, y’ know? I mean, what if you leave me?”
Iwaizumi slumped and rolled over to sit up. His heart clenched at the sight before him, the gaudy and happy Oikawa cracking before his eyes.
He extended his arms, “Come here.”
Oikawa crawled off of his futon and sat next to Iwaizumi. The teen pulled Oikawa into his lap and he was startled by his sudden affection, but sunk into Iwa’s grasp anyways, burrowing his head into his chest. For his self-indulgence, he inhaled Iwa’s scent and let out a shaky breath.
“I wouldn’t leave you, stupid. Takes a lot to get rid of me, if you couldn’t tell already.”
Even though he couldn’t see Iwa’s face, he could practically feel the smug smirk beaming down at him.
Tears spilled over his porcelain cheeks and he wiped them with Iwaizumi’s shirt sleeve. Iwa noticed but didn’t care. Oikawa felt his thoughts slipping away before his body was wracked with sobs, vision going hazy with tears.
Oikawa twisted his fingers in Iwaizumi’s shirt, his body shaking.
Iwaizumi petted his head, combing his fingers through the soft locks. With his other hand, he rubbed comforting circles over Oikawa’s back. They sat quietly, Oikawa’s small cries the only sound in the room. He coaxed him to stop crying, that everything was going to be fine.
On a normal day, if someone approached Iwaizumi with a dilemma, he would try his best to comfort them. On most occasions, he would end up somewhat pushing them away. But with Oikawa, there just was a special way to make him feel better.
Oikawa let out a strained laugh and tore his sight away from Iwaizumi. “It’s funny because every time I think about a memory, you’re always there.”
“From the volleyball tournament as kids, watching bad movies, injuring my knee, even Kitagawa Daichi, dammit. Just everything,” he continued, hiccuping at least once or twice as he rattled on about so many of their childhood memories.
Iwaizumi placed a finger underneath Oikawa’s chin and tilted up, cutting him off from his speech. His gaze met Oikawa’s glassy eyes. Iwaizumi was about to say something, and Oikawa took this as an opportunity to lock their lips together. Iwaizumi’s eyes widened in surprise before he melted into the kiss.
Oikawa allowed his emotions to flood into the gesture, the desire for Iwa-chan to keep him by his side and never leave. He leaned into it, pulling at his bottom lip until Iwaizumi parted his mouth.
He tangled his hands in Iwa’s short hair at the same time that the other slid his hand over the small of Oikawa’s back, making him arch into the kiss. They twisted together, Oikawa humming into Iwaizumi’s mouth.
They separated for breath, Iwaizumi’s hands at Oikawa’s hips, and they rested their foreheads together.
Iwaizumi smiled at this and held Oikawa closer to him. The Oikawa Tooru that he knew and loved was back to normal. In Iwaizumi’s arms, Oikawa felt the worry slip away from his body, and he rested against his chest.
“I’m always here if you need me.”
Oikawa looked up at Iwaizumi.
He stared into Iwa’s eyes, and he knew. Since the moment that Iwaizumi took him into his arms, everything was going to be okay. He had his best friend by his side, and things could only look up from here.
“I believe you, Iwa-chan.”