Chapter Text
Tooru’s tired.
He’s expressed this multiple times in the car ride, but his friends just turned the radio up louder.
Bokuto’s cheering is drowning out all of Tooru’s complaints, anyway.
A nice night alone, watching a documentary on the Bermuda Triangle. That was Tooru’s plans for the night after a long, rough day of practice.
Instead, he’s being driven to a noisy, bright bar to reluctantly participate in some silly mixer that Mattsun and Bokuto keep insisting on.
Tooru told them at least ten times that he wasn’t really in the mood for socializing today, but they goaded him on incessantly.
“You’re super handsome, so we’ll all look alright next to you!” they told him, “You’ll end up having fun anyway!”, “You can watch your alien shows anytime!”, “We already have it planned, the other three will be waiting for us!”, “We just want you to have some fun and meet some people!”
The list of excuses goes on.
Of course, Tooru’s single and he’s been single for the past two years.
At 27, he can count the number of people he’s actually dated on one hand, which is kind of embarrassing, considering his popularity all throughout highschool and college.
He’s been told he’s a handsome guy (he’s not going to disagree), and being a professional athlete, he has a number of fans.
But the more he goes to mixers with his friends, or uses dating apps to try to find people to hook up with, the more he’s burnt out on just hooking up.
Tooru may have been on a couple flings back in college, though he’s not sure if he’s really ever been in anything deeper than just that.
He’s hooked up with countless people; flirting with strangers he knows nothing about on an app, going to mixers and making out in the bathroom, et cetera.
It was fun for a while, but he’s kind of sick of it at this point.
His friends are persistent though, especially with Mattsun being his roommate, and they seem to frequently drag him off to parties and blind dates more often than Tooru cares for anymore.
Mattsun and Bokuto are avid party-goers and the kings of socializing with complete strangers.
Frankly, Tooru doesn’t know too much about Bokuto despite hanging out with him for a number of years now; he’s Mattsun’s friend from college and is much more outgoing and loud than both Mattsun and Tooru put together.
Bokuto’s a “life of the party” kind of guy, the kind of guy everyone knows and likes, the type that ends up being famous in friend groups for just being himself.
He can be a bit much at times and is far too excitable and eager for his own good, not to mention the guy’s mood can flip at the drop of a hat, but he’s got a heart of pure gold.
Mattsun has been Tooru’s friend since highschool, and is pretty mellow for how often he parties.
He’s always insisting Tooru have more of a life outside of volleyball and try to loosen up more.
Mattsun likes putting on a cool and mildly uncaring facade, but he’s extremely observant and practically mothers Tooru when the latter gets sick or hurt.
He can be a bit pushy and can be annoyingly persistent when he wants to be (see: Tooru’s current situation), but he’s an excellent housemate.
It’s hard to find a roommate that’s as adamant about washing the damn dishes as Tooru is, after all.
And then there’s Tooru.
Athletic, charming, handsome, charismatic, smart, all while still somehow being a bit of a social shut-in who watches alien theory documentaries in his free time.
He likes to think he’s the whole package.
Tooru’s still groaning when they pull up to the bar.
Bokuto’s bouncing in the passenger seat excitedly, chattering with Mattsun about what kind of people they’re about to meet.
Mattsun’s telling Bokuto to calm down a bit as he pulls the keys out of the ignition, but Tooru notices the way he drums his fingers against the steering wheel.
Mattsun throws a glance to Tooru in the backseat from the rearview mirror and quirks his eyebrows.
“Oikawa, not to be rude, but you’re, like…” he trails off, as if Tooru should already know what he wants to say.
Tooru frowns. “What?”
Mattsun glances at Bokuto as if to nudge him to say something too, but Bokuto’s too busy checking himself in the mirror under the dim visor light.
Without the rumble of the car or the hum of the radio, the silence of the car is increasingly awkward.
“What?” Tooru presses.
Mattsun sighs and says, “You look like you just slid outta bed, man.”
Tooru scoffs incredulously, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
“That’s because you forced me to come here as soon as I got home! And besides, I don’t look that bad!”
He’s wearing a pair of comfortable athletic pants and a track jacket over his white graphic t-shirt.
It’s not what he’d wear to, like, a wedding or anything, but he fully planned on sitting on his ass for the rest of his night with a bowl of nachos.
“It’ll be fine!” Bokuto urges them impatiently, having finished preening himself in the mirror and is now bouncing his leg noisily. “C’mon, c’mon, let’s go!”
Mattsun grunts in agreement, “Alright, alright, Bo. We’re going.”
Tooru grumbles as he slides out of the car and winces at the bright flashing lights of the bar’s LED sign advertising that it’s open and has some new fancy cocktail.
Each step towards the door counts for ten notches on Tooru’s “I’m too tired for this and am seriously considering just walking back home” meter.
And when they open the door and the immediate roar of laughter and chatter and glasses clinking erupts in Tooru’s ears, it counts for about fifty of those notches.
Tooru’s not a grumpy person - on the contrary, he’s a fairly playful and cheerful person naturally.
He enjoys being active and having some fun every now and then; in college, he was the champion of his dorm’s one-time “how many slices of pizza can you eat in ten minutes” challenge.
His record was one whole pizza and two slices.
It’s incredible that their dorm was even able to get away with it the one time, as their RA was absolutely appalled at them, Tooru vehemently threw up afterwards, and his coach worked him to the bone for the next three weeks.
He was something of a hero in their dorm for a couple weeks after, though.
The point is, Tooru considers himself pretty easygoing and friendly.
Tonight, however, Tooru is exhausted from the day’s practice and the last thing he wants to spend the night doing is socializing with a bunch of strangers who are only looking for a quick hook-up.
So he trudges as he follows Mattsun and Bokuto to a booth in the middle of the room.
Bokuto squeezes against the partition of the booth, Mattsun slides in next to him, and Tooru sits at the end of the booth.
Tooru tries to make himself look friendly when the trio of strangers show up and slide into the booth opposite of them.
As much as he’s not excited about being here, he knows better than to be straight up rude.
Though admittedly, he’s not quite smiling. He’s just sitting up properly and glancing around the table.
“It’s really nice to meet you! I’m Koutarou Bokuto!” Bokuto eagerly gestures with his hands at the strangers.
Mattsun grins as he introduces, “Issei Matsukawa. Annnnd this is Tooru Oikawa.”
He loosely slings an arm around Tooru’s neck.
Before Tooru can protest about how he can introduce himself, the stranger by the partition - opposite of Bokuto - introduces himself.
“Keiji Akaashi, nice to meet you,” he says politely.
He’s not the kind of person who looks like he’d go to mixers, honestly. He seems withdrawn and polite, not at all rambunctious like Bokuto.
Though, Tooru supposes he’s not in a place to judge.
Akaashi’s kind of pretty, actually. He’s got black hair that curls at the ends and sharp blue eyes.
Bokuto’s squirming in his seat, a sign that he’s interested.
The stranger opposite of Mattsun has faded pink-brown hair and a lazy grin that matches Mattsun’s perfectly.
Just from one glance, Tooru can already tell he and Mattsun are hitting it off before they’ve even spoken properly.
“I’m Takahiro Hanamaki. Pleasure to meet you,” he says at Mattsun.
It sounds like he’s introducing himself to the group, but his eyes are on Mattsun.
“The pleasure’s all mine,” Mattsun comments with a smirk, which earns him a snicker from Hanamaki.
The man next to Hanamaki - in front of Tooru - clears his throat slightly, elbowing his friend with a chuckle.
Tooru steals a glance at him and - oh shit, he’s actually pretty cute.
Short, dark brown, slightly spiked hair, narrow green eyes, a smile that flashes his teeth.
Tooru’s heart may have just jumped.
He catches Tooru staring, and Tooru quickly averts his eyes and focuses on the gloss finish of the table.
“I’m Hajime Iwaizumi,” the stranger greets.
He’s got a deep voice, slightly gruff, but warm and friendly.
It’d be a lie to say Tooru isn’t attracted to him, but Tooru thinks he can probably be attracted to anyone who looks pretty.
Everyone jumps into conversation with ease, Bokuto asking Iwaizumi and Akaashi what they do, where they went to school, how old are they, and Mattsun and Hanamaki making eyes at each other while not-so-subtly flirting.
Tooru can’t really keep up with the conversations, so he stays out of it, lets his friends mingle.
When the waitress comes to take their order, Mattsun’s insisting that Tooru get some hard liquor to ease him up, but Tooru settles on a fruity margarita to sip on instead.
They don’t order meals, only small appetizers to snack on while they talk.
Tooru doesn’t really eat, though. Partially because he’s not actually all that hungry, but partially in mild protest at his friends for his distaste for being here.
Despite that, though, he keeps stealing glances at Iwaizumi. He doesn’t let his eyes linger for more than a second, and he’s careful not to get caught staring again.
Iwaizumi keeps up in conversation easily, answering Bokuto’s barrage of questions and making jokes at Hanamaki and Mattsun’s flirting.
Talking with strangers seems to come easy to him, and Tooru wonders if he’s used to meeting people. Tooru’s almost tempted to try to join the conversation, if only to grab Iwaizumi’s attention.
Almost.
But Tooru brings himself back down.
The only reason he and his friends are even here is because everyone at this table is looking to hook up with someone.
Their plan is to end the night with a number, or if they’re bold enough, maybe even more.
Tooru’s just along for the ride.
So Tooru sits in silence and gets slightly tipsy while the group around him prattles on.
The more he sits in this pool of noise, both from his table and the lively tables around him, the more he wants to move somewhere quiet.
He’s not buzzed yet, but he’s sure he’ll get there with enough time.
There’s a mild throb in the back of his head that’s likely the result of exhaustion paired with being a bit of a lightweight.
He begins seriously considering just waiting out the night in the bathroom.
It’s not the most eloquent escape, but the bathroom would be a hell of a lot quieter than the bar.
It wouldn’t be the first time Tooru’s hung around in a bathroom for the night to end, though his friends would be a bit disappointed in him.
But Tooru’s especially nonsocial tonight, so he thinks he can justify it this time. It’s not like he didn’t tell his friends repeatedly about how he’s tired.
Tooru glances around the table, sliding his fingers along the edge of his glass.
Bokuto’s getting drunker by the minute, becoming louder and friendlier and more blunt in calling Akaashi attractive and Iwaizumi “buff as hell”, despite Bokuto himself easily being the strongest person at the table.
Mattsun and Hanamaki are still enthralled by each other in the middle seats of the booth.
Being the only responsible person (and also the designated driver of the night), Mattsun’s sipping on a soda, describing some of his best stories from being a waiter in college.
Iwaizumi’s laughing off Bokuto’s remarks about him and watching Bokuto gesture wildly as he’s explaining something that happened in highschool.
Tooru decides it’ll be fine to slip off about now.
When he slides out of the booth, he still catches Mattsun’s attention, who grabs the hem of his sleeve with a quirk of his eyebrows.
“I’m just heading to the bathroom,” Tooru reassures with a snort, patting Mattsun on the shoulder.
That seems to quell his friend, if a little hesitantly, but he’s right back to chatting Hanamaki up by the time Tooru reaches the dim hall to the bathroom and glances back at the table.
Letting the bathroom door swing shut and close off all the sounds of the bar is like a breath of fresh air to Tooru.
The bathroom isn’t as gross as Tooru would expect from a bathroom in a bar, but there’s still graffiti scribbled on the walls that looks like it hasn’t been touched in years.
It’s completely empty, surprisingly, but Tooru figures everyone’s out in the bar right now. Sooner or later someone will walk in either to piss or throw up.
Tooru wonders if he’d get in trouble for locking the door.
He walks the length of the small empty bathroom, tracking himself in the mirror before he stops at the end of the counter of sinks and locks eyes with himself.
He pulls lightly at the collar of his t-shirt pressed against his neck and readjusts his jacket.
He really doesn’t look that bad, he thinks. It’s not like he came in his pajamas or anything.
His hair’s a little messy, but he was dragged off from the apartment almost as soon as he came home from practice.
Embarrassingly, Tooru wonders if he smells of sweat. He didn’t get the chance to shower when he got home, only to spray deodorant on before Mattsun shoved him out the door.
After glancing around the bathroom one more time to make sure it’s empty, he lifts his arm and sniffs his armpit, and is immediately relieved to find that his deodorant is holding up.
Of course, Mattsun took the time himself to shower and dress up before Tooru got home.
Mattsun’s particular about stuff like this, though. He likes making a good first impression and all.
And it’s not like Tooru’s looking to impress anyone anyway. He’s not here to hook up with anyone, and he’s not here to look for a quick one-week relationship.
When Tooru first started going to mixers and parties to meet people, he definitely took care in looking nice and making an impression.
Judging by the number of flings he’s had in the past couple years, he guesses it worked a couple times, too.
Tooru pulls out his phone to check the time briefly.
9:45 PM.
He wonders if he could slip out of the bar and walk the streets for a while, but he figures that’s not something he should do alone so late into the night.
He sighs to himself, turning and leaning against the counter, reading the graffiti on the bathroom stalls.
“Call for a good time!” says one of them with a number scribbled under it.
Tooru will pass, thanks.
Another reads, “Call me back, Wakatoshi! -Tendou” with another number attached.
Tooru safely assumes Tendou never got a call back from Wakatoshi, but probably got plenty of strangers calling him as the result of writing his number on a public bathroom stall.
On the bottom of the door of one of the stalls, someone’s just drawn a cartoonish picture of a dick with the words “SUCK IT” in all caps next to it.
Very funny. The height of humor, really.
Tooru impatiently checks his phone again.
9:50 PM.
This is going to be a long night.
He practically jumps out of his skin when the bathroom door rattles as it opens.
He’s even more shocked to find Iwaizumi standing in the entrance.
For a good couple of seconds, Tooru keeps his eyes on Iwaizumi, who lets the door softly shut behind him.
Tooru waits for him to go into one of the stalls or something, but he instead stares right back at him.
So Tooru awkwardly shuffles to the side, thinking maybe he’s just weirdly particular about the stall he wants to go in and Tooru’s just… standing in front of it?
Iwaizumi shifts his weight from where he stands and puts a hand on his hip.
“Quite the party in here,” he jokes with a half-smile, glancing around the empty bathroom.
Oh, Tooru realizes a little too slowly, Iwaizumi’s here to talk to him. Go figure.
Tooru scoffs lightly, “You’re right. I should’ve brought my drink in.”
“Not too late to go grab it.”
Tooru chuckles as he turns to lean back against the counter.
“If you came to check on me, I’m fine, thanks. You can go back.”
Iwaizumi takes a couple steps closer before turning and hopping up to sit on the counter, his legs dangling off the side.
“And miss this party? Nah.”
Tooru raises an eyebrow skeptically.
From past experiences, most people who have met Tooru alone in the bathroom jumped right into making out. Tooru can’t tell if Iwaizumi is just stalling or something.
He crosses his arms as he replies, “I appreciate it, Iwaizumi, but I’m really alright.”
Surprise flashes across Iwaizumi’s eyes as he pulls his right leg up and comfortably lays it over his left thigh.
“You remember my name,” he observes with only the slightest drop of a question.
Tooru snorts. “You introduced yourself like, fifteen minutes ago.”
Iwaizumi blinks and scratches the back of his neck slightly as he shrugs.
“You weren’t in much of the conversations. Honestly, I couldn’t really tell if you were paying attention.”
“I wasn’t really,” Tooru admits with an unashamed shrug, taking a few steps closer to where Iwaizumi sits.
“So, are you not a party person?” Iwaizumi asks with the quirk of his eyebrow.
Tooru’s beginning to think maybe Iwaizumi does just want to hang out.
Maybe Tooru’s giving him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s a little hopeful because of how handsome Iwaizumi is.
Either way, Tooru figures it won’t hurt to chat with him for a bit.
He answers, “I got dragged here by my friends. I was planning on staying home tonight and watching a movie.”
“Not a bad plan.”
A small, lazy grin plays across Iwaizumi’s face. It’s fairly subtle, but Tooru still catches it.
That smile… does something to Tooru’s heart. He tries to ignore it and turns his attention back to the scribbles on the bathroom stalls.
There’s a heart with some initials scribbled in at the top corner of the door of one of the stalls.
The initials read S.H + T.K.
Tooru thinks a public bathroom is literally the least romantic place to put something like that, but people do weird things, he supposes.
Iwaizumi continues when Tooru doesn’t add anything to the conversation, “I’m guessing by the sound of it, you get dragged to things like this often?”
“Only sometimes. My friends love meeting people. They’re much better at hitting it off with strangers than me,” Tooru shrugs.
“You seem to be doing a pretty good job right now.”
Oh, he’s such a charmer.
Tooru almost wants to fall in love with the stranger.
“I don’t really mind parties or mixers usually, I’m just really tired tonight.”
“Oh?” Iwaizumi pries, leaning to the left, towards Tooru slightly.
Tooru wonders if he should stop talking, but a bigger part of him is curious where they’ll end up.
Iwaizumi hasn’t asked anything big of him yet, and Tooru’s easing up a bit.
Iwaizumi just has a face that makes Tooru want to talk. That’s not Tooru’s fault.
“I play professional volleyball. Had a long day of practice and had just planned on spending the night alone. I’m not really up for meeting people today,” Tooru gestures with his hands as he speaks.
Iwaizumi makes a low, impressed whistle.
“An athlete, huh? Not too bad.”
“‘Not too bad’?” Tooru echoes with a snort. “I feel like I should take offence to that.”
Iwaizumi thrums his fingers against the ceramic countertop absently as he chuckles.
“You’re handsome, and you’re built like an athlete, that’s all.”
Tooru swallows, reaching up to pretend like he’s picking at his lip in an attempt to hide the smile that’s tugging at the corners of his mouth.
A small part of him is convinced that Iwaizumi is just easing him up so that he can eventually somehow end the night with his tongue in Tooru’s mouth.
(Though, maybe it’s kind of working and Tooru wouldn’t actually mind that anymore… )
But Tooru is slightly tipsy and maybe, maybe, he’s catching some slightly tipsy feelings.
Tooru mumbles through his fingers, “You don’t look too bad, either.”
He means to say it softly, but the empty bathroom catches everything he says and amplifies it.
He winces slightly at the echo, and Iwaizumi raises his eyebrow with a lopsided grin.
“What an incredibly generous compliment.”
Tooru runs his hands over his warm face, a weak smile finding its way to his mouth.
“I’m just a generous person…” he mutters with a pathetic chuckle.
“Hey,” Iwaizumi says as he lets his leg dangle again. “Tell me your name.”
Tooru blinks, then scoffs, rolling his eyes.
“Now who’s not paying attention? I’m pretty sure Mattsun introduced me.”
“He did. And I remember it. But I wanted to hear it from you,” Iwaizumi flashes a toothy smile.
There’s that smile again.
Tooru hops down from the counter to stretch as he replies, “It’s pointless for me to tell you again if you remember.”
Iwaizumi watches him stretch his arms over his head.
“You just didn’t get a chance to introduce yourself.”
Tooru snorts. “You sure you didn’t just forget?”
“Of course not, Tooru Oikawa.” Iwaizumi pointedly enunciates Tooru’s name with a half-chuckle as he jumps down from the counter.
He continues, “Do you want to go grab some ramen with me down the street?”
Tooru wonders if this is where Iwaizumi makes his big move. They’ll get ramen together, and he’ll ask for Tooru’s number, or if Tooru will go home with him.
Though, his face looks genuine and his tone of voice is relaxed and casual.
Iwaizumi waves his hand as he explains, “We’ll tell our friends, of course. I don’t want anyone worrying about us or anything. I just figured ramen is better than sitting in the loud bar.”
For all Tooru’s adamant complaining that he was tired of flings and hook-ups, he has to hold himself back from immediately agreeing to think about the offer.
Tooru’s not even drunk, he knows, but he’s still trying to blame his persistent urge to say yes to the offer on the alcohol.
Because after his determined promise to himself not to fall for a stranger anymore, his only other alternate reason to go is that he has feelings for Iwaizumi.
Which… maybe he does.
He doesn’t want to admit that, though.
He doesn’t want to admit he caught feelings for a stranger in the bathroom of a bar simply because the stranger chatted with him and smiled at him.
It’s easier to just blame the drink.
Either way, a “sure” slips out of his mouth before he can stop it.
Maybe he didn’t actually try to stop it, whatever.
His reward is Iwaizumi’s grin and the small chuckle that follows it, and he thinks maybe that’s worth it.
They drop by the booth that their friends are at to let them know that they’re going down the street (Mattsun and Bokuto give Tooru looks that he knows he’ll have to answer to later) before they leave the bar.
As they’re walking down the street, Iwaizumi chuckles lightly.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hanamaki so distracted by another person. He doesn’t meet people too often.”
Tooru snorts, loosening up. (Was he nervous? He hadn’t noticed.)
“Mattsun’s a pro at mixers, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so blatantly interested in someone else, either. He’s usually a bit more subtle.”
“Something will end up happening between them, no doubt,” Iwaizumi agrees. “Though, I’m not sure about Akaashi. He’s not too much of a party person, either.”
“I’m sure I’d get along with him,” Tooru jokes, but he catches the mild look on Iwaizumi’s face as he says it.
Damn, that’s really cute, actually.
Tooru continues a little quickly, “But I think Bo has his sights set on him. And he’s pretty persistent.”
Iwaizumi holds the door of the ramen shop open for Tooru.
“If Akaashi is interested, he doesn’t need much persisting.”
The ramen shop is significantly less crowded than the bar, but there’s still a handful of people sitting in it.
It’s not enough to bother Tooru as much as the bar did, and the low hum of chatter is calming rather than overwhelming.
They sit opposite of each other as they slide into a booth near the back of the restaurant.
After ordering, Iwaizumi sits up like he wants to talk.
“So…” Iwaizumi begins slowly, and Tooru’s stomach sinks.
Maybe his face falls too, because Iwaizumi chuckles lightly.
“I can tell you’re expecting me to ask you out or something.”
That’s… not what Tooru was expecting.
Iwaizumi picks at a stray thread from the sleeve of his jacket as he continues, “After you left, Bokuto talked about you a little.”
“Bokuto doesn’t talk about people that aren’t there unless someone asks.”
A smile sneaks onto Iwaizumi’s face.
“Alright, so maybe I asked about you.”
Tooru shoves how charming the smile is into the back of his mind and instead sits back in his booth, crosses his arms.
“Uh-huh?” he presses when Iwaizumi pauses.
“Well, he mentioned that you weren’t really looking to hook up with anyone.”
Iwaizumi speaks carefully, and it’s putting Tooru a little on edge about what he’s trying to get at.
Part of Tooru’s mind is already doubting everything.
Iwaizumi will spout some nonsense about how he’ll be different, that he promises to keep in contact, that he’s not just gonna be some one-week fling, and Tooru will curse himself for even thinking Iwaizumi was cute in the first place.
“I don’t really want a hook-up either, so I wasn’t planning on asking you or anything. I’m only telling you all this so you’re not too put off when I tell you that I want to get to know you,” Iwaizumi explains calmly.
The words take a moment to register in Tooru’s head.
So what, he just wants to be friends?
Well… that’s better than what Tooru had feared, he supposes, but he also kind of feels like he just got friendzoned by a stranger.
“What a long-winded way of asking to be friends,” Tooru scoffs.
Iwaizumi shrugs. “I figured the disclaimer was needed.”
“Sure, it’s appreciated. You might need to do a bit more to be my best friend than accompany me to ramen, though.”
“I’m paying.”
“Oh, well, in that case…” Tooru jokes sarcastically.
Iwaizumi barks a laugh.
“We can take it slow.”
They pause their conversation when their food is brought to them.
Tooru has a lingering question on his mind, but he wonders if it would be too blunt for him to ask it.
They eat in relative silence, with some bits of small talk thrown in.
Iwaizumi leaves the topic there, doesn’t bring it up as they’re eating.
So Tooru makes idle chatter, trying to find a chance to start asking questions.
They don’t properly talk until they’re leaving the restaurant and are hanging out on the sidewalk outside, waiting for their friends’ mixer to end.
Tooru decides, fuck it, start asking and if things go south, he’ll likely never see Iwaizumi again after tonight.
“Are you really just looking to be friends, Iwaizumi?” Tooru asks, crossing his arms.
Iwaizumi perks up from where he’s leaning against the wall of a brick building next to the ramen place.
“Hm? Yeah, of course I want to be friends.”
“Is that all you want?”
Iwaizumi breathes a laugh.
“What do you mean?”
Tooru take a deep breath and holds it as he replies, “Do you have feelings for me?”
For some reason, that question makes him more nervous to ask than it should.
Iwaizumi blinks, then cracks into a grin as he chuckles.
“Do you?”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I,” Iwaizumi nods. “And I still am when I tell you that I do want to get to know you. If something else happens, we’ll just take it from there, I guess.”
Tooru frowns, furrows his eyebrows, and pouts his lip; Iwaizumi is dodging the question, and Tooru’s frustrated.
Iwaizumi laughs again when Tooru’s face falls.
“I’ll rephrase my question, then. Do you want me to have feelings for you, Oikawa?”
Tooru refuses to let his brain find an answer to that question.
“I just have my doubts that you’re actually interested in becoming friends first.”
“What do you want me to do to convince you, then?”
Tooru wonders how much this guy even wants to be friends. He can’t be that interested. They only just met tonight, after all.
And if he was interested enough that he’d be willing to ask Tooru for some kind of test, surely that means his interest is deeper than just being friends, right?
But he already said he wasn’t interested in a hook-up.
So… he wants a relationship thing. (Dating?) (Is that the word he’s looking for?)
“Relationship thing” sounds better. Less committal.
Which is probably what Iwaizumi wants. Something noncommittal.
Maybe Tooru’s thinking too hard about this.
There’s a high chance Tooru will never see Iwaizumi again, anyway.
As much as he kind of wants to try out this whole friend thing with him, Tooru’s ready to give him up if they never meet again.
That doesn’t mean Tooru won’t give him an answer, though.
“There’s a big shopping plaza on the other side of town. Meet me there in exactly three weeks at 4 PM. If you care that much, you’ll show up.”
He’s mostly joking, really. He doesn’t actually expect Iwaizumi to follow up on such a specific request.
Iwaizumi seems to think it over though, as if seriously considering.
Then he looks up and nods. “Okay, sure.”
Tooru can’t help the huff of a laugh that leaves his lips.
But Iwaizumi doesn’t waver, and Tooru thinks wait, is he serious?
Because Tooru was definitely not that serious.
“Oikawa!” a voice from down the street calls.
Tooru glances over to see Bokuto waving at him from down the street, in front of the bar.
Mattsun steps out of the bar behind him and waves at him as well, jerking his head up as a sign that they’re ready to go.
Iwaizumi’s eyes flick over to them before turning back to Tooru.
“So, uh, I actually was gonna ask for your number, but not for the reason you think. I just want to keep in contact with you,” he says sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.
Tooru eyes Iwaizumi up and down. He’s fairly certain that Iwaizumi is being genuine, but he’s being so genuine that it’s starting to bother Tooru.
Iwaizumi’s already a good-looking person, how and why is he just an overall good person on top of that?
He won’t give in that easily, though.
Tooru slips a smirk on his face and hums, “We can take it slow. If you follow through, I’ll think about giving you my number.”
He tops it with a wink and spins around to walk back to his friends.
Admittedly, there’s a part of him that’s bummed that he likely won’t see Iwaizumi again, especially after that silly tease, but he decides to shrug it off and get over it.
It’s not like Iwaizumi is the only attractive person he’s ever seen, it’s not that big of a deal.
“So,” Mattsun raises his eyebrows with a grin, “You two hit it off?”
Bokuto laughs as he nudges Mattsun. “Did you see the way Iwaizumi looked when Oikawa walked away? The hell did you say to him, dude?”
Mattsun adds with a chuckle, “The very definition of longing in his eyes. Guess you’re still quite the player, even off the court, huh?”
Tooru rolls his eyes, pushing down his blush as best he can.
“I’m tired and mildly tipsy. Let’s get going.”
Bokuto and Mattsun spend the entire goddamn car ride back home rambling about their night.
Apparently, Mattsun and Hanamaki officially hooked up and Bokuto got Akaashi’s number pretty easily. Bokuto complains that he wanted Iwaizumi’s number too, but happily relinquishes him to Tooru.
Tooru protests, “I don’t even want him!” despite… well.
When his friends aren’t chattering about their night, they’re grilling Tooru about what happened with Iwaizumi.
Tooru eventually caves and explains as little about his night as he can. He mentions his request to Iwaizumi, though, and Bokuto’s eyes light up.
“Do you think he’ll actually come meet you?!” he asks with a wide grin.
Tooru waves a hand dismissively. “Nah, no way. I wasn’t even really that serious. He’s not gonna remember some off-hand proposal like that.”
Mattsun glances at Tooru in the rearview mirror, quirking his eyebrows.
“So what, you’re gonna stand him up?”
“I’m not standing him up if he doesn’t show. Which he won’t.”
Mattsun scoffs. “Famous last words, Oikawa. Famous last words.”
Mattsun heads off to his own room for the night as soon as they get home, but he’s hardly looking at Tooru as he says goodnight; he’s got his eyes trained on his phone, subtle smile, rapidly typing as his phone beeps with each new message.
Tooru spends the rest of the night watching Ancient Aliens and decidedly not thinking about his unofficial arrangement with Iwaizumi.
(Though Tooru did kind of lead him on. Iwaizumi agreed to it initially, anyway. Doesn’t that make it official? It’s not like Tooru… doesn’t want to meet him again…)
He falls asleep on the couch under a bag of chips, still in his clothes, Netflix asking him if he’s still watching.