Chapter Text
Inside of Oikawa Tooru’s mind, there was chaos.
He was supposed to be paying attention in class, especially with finals testing week coming up, but he couldn’t. In his head, the whole week had already passed by, and it was a Friday instead of a Tuesday. He had gotten a nice rest yesterday since there wasn’t any practice on Monday, but it only made him more restless.
Instead, he twisted his tie in between his fingers, staring blankly at the teacher in front. His leg bounced, his knee occasionally brushing the top of the desk. The classmates around him were in similar stages of boredom, some sleeping as their heads were hidden behind a propped-up textbook.
His hands itched to play, feel the cool skin of a volleyball pressed against the tips of his fingers, even for a second. Standing on the court and staring down the net. The satisfaction of a service ace. Tossing a successful pass to Iwa-chan and seeing the achieved look cast on his face.
Iwa-chan.
Oikawa didn’t understand why he was on his mind so often. They were going to graduate soon, and Iwaizumi was going to a different university than Oikawa, so they would be apart.
Just the thought of him being apart from his best friend made his stomach churn and heart beat faster. They had been together since early childhood, and they had practically done everything together. He would miss him more than he would ever know.
But it was something else about Iwa-chan. Not just him as his best friend and partner, but different. How his eyes beamed after a kill, the spiky yet fluffy mess of hair atop his head, and his small smile that could go unnoticed if you didn’t pay enough attention.
And Oikawa learned that he definitely had been paying more attention to him, so much so that he got scolded for not being aware of the rest of the world around him.
The class around him stirred to life as the teacher dismissed them, and he snapped out of his trance. In a hurry to run to the club room, he gathered his belongings quickly, knocking a notebook onto the ground.
A girl from his class bent over to grab it, her fingers brushing over Oikawa’s. This resulted in a faint blush from the girl, picking up the notebook and holding it out at arm’s length to Oikawa.
“Here!” she said.
Before he had taken an interest in Iwaizumi, Oikawa would’ve flashed his megawatt smile and strike up a conversation with the girl, eventually leading to escorting her out of the room. Today, though, he said a simple thank you and dashed out of the door and into the hallway without another word. He weaved between groups of people and apologized when he would bump into someone.
He took two steps at a time on the stairs and twisted the key in the club room’s lock. Once inside, he dropped his bag from his shoulder and plopped onto the floor, retrieving his phone from his pocket with a tired sigh. Oikawa flipped it open and saw two new texts from Kuroo, received five minutes ago.
Kuroo >> I’m bored
Kuroo >> I get that ur in class but talk to meee
With a huff, he dialed his number and brought it to his ear. “Ey, Oikawa!” Kuroo shouted, and Oikawa yelped at how loud he was.
“I have a problem,” Oikawa said, once he regained his composure.
“Oh ho ho, a problem,” he drawled, “Bet you’re sad about another ex-girlfriend.”
Oikawa’s face twisted in disgust, but he had to admit that Kuroo had a point. “No, it’s not that!” he shot back, rather defensively.
“Alrighty, whatever you say. Then what is it?”
He paused, hesitant in what to tell the other man over the phone. Finally, he sighed and said, “It’s about Iwaizumi.”
The silence over the phone made Oikawa uncomfortable, and he squirmed around. “Uh, Kuroo? You still there?”
Kuroo cleared his throat and replied, “Yeah, I’m still here. So.”
“So what?”
“What exactly about Iwaizumi is the problem?”
The tone that Kuroo was using sounded like he was trying to coax an answer out of a five-year-old child yet ridicule him at the same time.
Oikawa slapped his hand across his face, and closed his eyes, not wanting to say it. He didn’t understand why it was so hard to admit it because with the girls he’s been with, it’s never been this complicated.
“I-I just see him differently, I guess.”
He didn’t like how his voice wavered when he talked about it. His confidence just seemed to run and hide, and Oikawa hated it.
Kuroo clicked his tongue. “You guess? Make up your mind.”
“Ok, fine. It’s just everything and,” he tugged at his hair, grasping at straws before giving up, “and I don’t know.”
“Are you gay?”
He turned red, and he felt his heart leap up into his throat. Oikawa stuttered for an answer, but nothing came up.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” Kuroo laughed, bordering the line that was completely making fun of Oikawa.
The brunet jumped to his feet. “Stop making fun of me!” he whined and when the other wouldn’t stop laughing, he paced the club room holding his finger against his temple. His eyes scanned over the clock, knowing that the other’s wouldn’t arrive for another five minutes.
Oikawa could imagine Kuroo’s expression over the phone, practically wiping fake tears from the corners of his eyes as he doubled over in laughter.
“Kuroo?”
“Yeah?”
“I like Iwaizumi.”
A faint rustling was heard on the opposite end of the phone, and Oikawa assumed that he shifted the phone to press against his shoulder. Kuroo started clapping, the sound somewhat muffled.
“Congratulations, you nerd!” he cheered, sing-songy and almost mockingly.
“The whole point of me calling you was for you to help me with this dilemma, not tease me.”
Kuroo hummed, “I’m pretty sure I did both of the above. And hey, I’m always this kind.”
“Uh-huh. Sure you are,” he muttered before ending the call and tossing the closed phone into his backpack. Oikawa changed into clothes suitable for practice and headed to the gym to stretch.
Practice went by relatively quickly. The team went through one of those days where they fell into a rut and worked to get over it. Kindaichi and Makki commented on his sets, giving criticisms for each play.
Like usual, Iwaizumi and Oikawa walked home together after practice. The sun had already set an hour ago, remnants of bursts of color still remaining in the sky. Stars had come out, the moon hidden by clouds.
“Look at the stars, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi commented, head tilted upwards to gaze at the sky.
Oikawa followed suit and smiled as he looked up at the twinkling orbs, some covered by opaque clouds. When he brought his head down, he found himself turning to look at Iwaizumi.
Surprisingly, Iwa wasn’t looking at the stars, but at him. Their gazes met, and Iwaizumi looked away quickly, choosing to look down at the pavement instead.
“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said, getting his attention, “there’s supposed to be a meteor shower, this Saturday.”
“Ah, that sounds interesting,” Iwaizumi commented.
Oikawa was about to propose something, but the two of them turned the corner and onto Iwaizumi’s street, and he pushed the gate open to his house.
“Night, Oikawa.”
He headed into the house, the door slowly shutting behind him. Oikawa stood, feet seemingly plastered to the sidewalk underneath him, and watched as Iwaizumi disappeared. He tucked his hands into his pockets and turned.
“Yeah, goodnight.”
-
As he flopped into his bed that night and pulled the comforter up to his chin, Oikawa had an idea. It seemed so elaborate that it made his head spin just at the thought of it. One thing was for sure though, he was going to put way more effort into this than he ever has with anyone else.
He was going to tell Iwaizumi that he liked him.
It was going to be at the meteor shower, and they would lay in the field that they had always played in as kids. He would bring a picnic blanket along with some of the snacks Iwaizumi loved, and as the stars shot overhead, he would confess.
Oikawa knew that there was a large possibility that Iwa-chan didn’t reciprocate the same feelings for him, or even worse, be straight. He buried his head into his pillow, not wanting to accept that possibility.
His phone buzzed repeatedly on the table next to him, and he peeked out to stare at it. Oikawa pulled his arm out from under the sheets and snatched it off of the nightstand, turning it on silent.
Oikawa turned onto his side, breathing becoming steady as sleep got the best of him, the glow from the hallway the last thing he saw.