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It’s an unassuming Tuesday afternoon when Kageyama finds a love note in his locker.
He holds the note up to Hinata’s face as they change into their practice clothes in the clubroom.
“Do you know what this is?” he asks.
Hinata snatches it out of his hands and gives it a once over. “Bakayama, it’s OBVIOUSLY a love note! From the girl in our class who always stares at you during our literature lessons!” he shouts, loud enough to alert the whole club and also the entirety of Miyagi.
A love note? he thinks. He’s so lost in thought that he almost doesn’t catch Tsukkishima’s and Yamaguchi’s twin shit-eating grins and Sugawara’s curious glances. Almost.
“Well, w-... What am I supposed to do with this, dumbass?!” he stammers out at equal volume.
“You take her on a date! Or something. I dunno, I’ve only seen this happen on TV…”
Kageyama thinks about it for the rest of practice.
A date. He stretches.
With a girl. He practices his receives.
But I don’t know anything about dates. He serves into the net.
And I’m sure none of the senpais know much either. His set goes short.
I’ve never seen them talk to any girls except for Kiyoko-san and Yachi. He nearly trips over a stray ball.
The only person I know who has for sure had a girlfriend is--
“Kageyama!”
A ball slams into the back of his head. He should really stop focusing so much on the love note issue.
-
Kageyama idles over his phone later that evening, typing and deleting the same message over and over without sending it.
Me
Hi Oikawa-san. I need help.
Kageyama feels vulnerable and anxious, but finally pushes send anyway.
The response comes a few moments later.
Oikawa-san
who is this?
He stares at his phone, stunned for a second. He’s not sure he actually expected him to answer.
Me
Kageyama Tobio
From Kitagawa Daiichi
Oikawa-san
ew. i know who you are from just your name. no need to remind me of our middle school
how did you get my number???
Me
From Iwaizumi-san. Will you please help me?
Oikawa-san
no
Me
Please.
Oikawa-san
fine. only because you begged ^v^
Me
I did not beg!
Oikawa-san
do you want my help or not?
Me
Fine.
A girl put a love note in my locker today. I’m going to take her on a date, but I don’t know how a date works. None of my senpais have ever had girlfriends but I know you have so I am asking you for help.
Oikawa-san
WHAT
Kageyama’s phone starts vibrating in his hands. He blinks, takes a beat, and finally realizes Oikawa is calling him.
“Uh, hello Oikawa-san?” His voice cracks the slightest bit.
“Someone confessed to you?” Oikawa sounds incredulous, and Kageyama has half a mind to be offended.
“Yes?”
“Stop answering me with questions, brat. I don’t even understand how someone would find you attractive with how annoying you are. Now, you messaged me because you want advice on… taking girls on dates?”
“Y-Yes? Y..es.”
“Hm… are you free on Saturday?”
“I have practice in the morning but it ends before noon.” Kageyama says his words slowly, unsure of where this conversation is going.
“I’m going to send you an address. Meet me there at 1pm and do not eat beforehand.”
“Uhm. Oikawa-san? Why are you doing this? Can’t you just tell me the advice right now, on the phone?” Kageyama furrows his eyebrows together.
“I’ve learned the hard way that you’re a visual learner, Tobio-chan. It would be easier for me to show you how to do everything in person. It’ll be a practice date, okay?”
All things considered, he supposes Oikawa is extremely correct. He had learned an entire jump serve technique almost entirely through visual analysis.
Oikawa blabbers into his ear, emphasizing how he shouldn’t dare be late, and how “you better show up in something nice! No sweatpants or gym shorts!”
-
After practice, Kageyama tries to convince himself that he’s going on a real date. He takes a shower, blow dries his hair, and combes it neatly with the fine tooth comb Miwa had given him.
It looks the same as it always does. He huffs and scowls his way out of the bathroom.
For clothes, he realizes he does not have many options. Taking Oikawa’s demands into note, almost the entirety of his wardrobe is out of the question. He settles with the blue button up shirt his mom had purchased for some company dinner he had been forced to attend and the nearest pair of jeans he owns.
He takes a look in the mirror.
Right. This’ll be fine.
The address Oikawa had sent him was for some café on a busy street in downtown Miyagi, filled with shops and frequented often by the students in the area. He’s never really been there before, and the amount of activities there is overwhelming.
Bakeries and fancy restaurants, arcades and stationary stores. It’s no wonder this place is busy, especially on a Saturday.
Kageyama spots a small cart selling flowers, and it reminds him of how this is supposed to be just like a real date. He doesn’t know a lot about romance, but he’s pretty sure that flowers on a date is common practice.
The selection is surprisingly vast, and he surveys the blooms with an untrained eye. He’s sure there’s symbolism in each different flower, but he really doesn’t know what else to do except pick the first one he sees.
They’re lavender in color, with many buds clustered together. “Purple lilacs,” the sign under them reads. He pays the vendor and goes on with his walk. Kageyama is sure being late to a date is not ideal.
Oikawa is waiting in front of the café, looking down at his phone and holding, surprisingly, flowers as well.
“Tobio-chan!” he croons when he looks up. He seems to be scrutinizing him from head down. “You clean up nicely. The shirt is a good choice, it brings out your eyes. I’m sure your classmate dreams about what beautiful eyes you have.”
Kageyama feels his face get warmer for some unknown reason. It sure is hot for a spring day, he thinks.
He shoves the flowers into Oikawa’s hands before the other gets the chance to speak again. “I got these for you! I don’t know? Sorry? I saw that on TV they give each other flowers! So I bought some?” Kageyama’s words rush out of his mouth at breakneck speed.
Oikawa simply laughs at him, and Kageyama suddenly thinks maybe Oikawa was the worst person to practice liking.
“I got you flowers, too. They’re forget-me-nots, because I’m going to make sure you remember our first date! I chose the blue ones like your stupid eyes,” Oikawa sticks his tongue out and hands them over.
“Now, Tobio-chan, when you’re taking a girl on a date, you usually take them out to eat. Because I’m just feeling like the kindest person on Earth today, I’ll treat you,” Oikawa claims as he grabs his hand and leads him into the restaurant.
Kageyama takes mental notes. Flowers, a place with food, pay for the meal, hold her hand.
They sit down and browse the menu, and a waiter comes by to take their order.
“While we wait for the food, it’s very polite to make small talk. I’m assuming you don’t know her that well?”
Kageyama shakes his head, “I asked her for English homework once?”
“Tch. I pity this girl who fell for you…” Oikawa wads up the paper wrapper of his plastic straw and flicks it at him. “Ask her about hobbies, her favorite foods, classes she enjoys. Normal things.
“Since we already know each other painfully well, let’s just talk about something else. I’m sure your answers haven’t changed from volleyball, curry, and none.”
Kageyama nods his head. He knows equally well that the answers are volleyball, milk bread, and literature.
He tries starting the conversation. “So, Oikawa-san, how are college exams?”
Oikawa lights up and compliments him on choosing a good topic. They chat for a while about that, and about the classes he will take, until the conversation eventually drifts back to Kageyama.
“What’s the name of the girl that confessed to you?” Oikawa asks just as his food arrives.
In between bites, Kageyama responds with, “Okamura Kazumi. Do you think I should call her Kazumi-chan?”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s gross.” Oikawa scorns.
Noted. Small talk, no talking with the mouth full.
“Kazumi-chan sounds fine. Is she pretty?”
Kageyama considers it for a bit. Her hair and eyes are brown, similar to Oikawa’s own, but a little too dark. Oikawa is pretty, he decides. “Yes,” he answers.
“I see. Do you like her?”
He remembers seeing her eat lunch once, and he vaguely recalls that she holds her chopsticks similar to how Oikawa is holding his now. The way she holds herself has the same subtle grace as the man in front of him.
“I don’t know. I never really noticed her until she left me the note. I think I can grow to like her.”
But Kageyama knows her laugh is far too quiet and she’s much too shy for his taste.
Oikawa hums in affirmation, looking wistful as they finish the rest of their meal in comfortable silence. He pays for the tab, smiles at him, and helps him out of his chair.
Kageyama makes more notes. Smiling, helping, being a gentleman.
And oh , he realizes, people seem to think my smile is scary. Maybe I should practice it?
“Uhm… Oikawa-san? Can you tell me if my smile is okay?” Kageyama attempts a smile, and tries to channel the contentment of good food with good company and the gentleness of blooming flowers.
“You look like a dork, but I don’t mind it. Handsomer than middle school, so it’s an improvement!” Oikawa reaches out to ruffle his hair and Kageyama lets out a squawk.
“Your hair is fluffy, too. Girls like that.”
Noted.
They exit the café and walk a little ways down the street, flowers in their hands.
“If you think the date is going well, and you’re feeling a little confident, you can do this,” Oikawa winks as he takes Kageyama’s hand.
Their fingers are intertwined, the way lovers do. Kageyama swings their hands back and forth, like he’s seen lovers do. They continue their stroll, and secret smiles ghost their faces, as lovers often do.
They pause in front of a small ice cream parlor, painted in faded pastels.
“Why are we here?” Kageyama peers into the windows, and there are people waiting in line and couples sitting at quaint tables.
“Dates are usually more than one activity. Wouldn’t it be boring to just have lunch?” Oikawa’s tone is mocking, laughing down at him as if the answer is obvious.
But, if he’s honest, Kageyama thinks that lunch with any person he likes wouldn’t be boring. After all, he’s not bored yet.
Oikawa pushes the door open and a bell jingles above their heads. They fall in line, and Oikawa still has not let go of his hand.
“This is where you would make more small talk. Like I said, I know you painfully well already, so… What have you learned so far?”
“Uhm…,” Kageyama pauses and sorts through his mental notes. “Flowers, small talk, smile at them, hold their hand, do more fun things?” He’s sure he’s forgetting a few things, but those seem the most important right now.
“Very good,” Oikawa says softly, sending Kageyama keening over the rare bit of praise. “Now, you would only do this stuff with people if you really like them, okay?”
Kageyama nods and Oikawa squeezes his hand. Hm.
They get to the front of the line and Kageyama is finally able to survey all the flavors in front of him. Not like it matters, because he chooses the uncomplicated classic of a single scoop of vanilla in a cup.
“Simple minded, simple mannered,” Oikawa comments to him as the older orders lavender flavored ice cream in a cone “just because.” The purple flowers in his left hand say otherwise.
Oikawa finally lets go of his hand to reach for his wallet, and Kageyama may be acting a fool, but his hand suddenly feels colder. He chalks it up to the ice cream he’s now holding and nothing more. What else could it be?
They eat their ice cream on the sidewalk in front of the store, basking in late afternoon sunlight and the cold sweetness of their ice cream. They spend their time people watching, ice cream melting towards Oikawa’s fingers.
“Tobio-chan, want to taste? Lavender isn’t a flavor you see often,” Oikawa says as he holds his cone to Kageyama’s mouth.
It’s light and flowery, almost perfume-tasting as it lingers in his mouth. The flavor isn’t too bad, and it reminds him of the tea his mother drinks after dinner.
Oikawa licks his ice cream in the spot Kageyama just put his mouth on, trying frantically to stop the melted parts from dripping any more.
Kageyama quickly takes in a large spoon of his vanilla, despite the rom-com highlight reel in his head screaming “indirect kiss!” and the impending brain freeze.
He devours the rest of his ice cream as quickly as possible, trying to chase the thought away and avoid freezing his head off.
Oikawa looks over at him as he pops the end of his cone in his mouth and he’s laughing lightly. His hand reaches out to cup his face, pulling Kageyama in closer.
“You got ice cream right here, stupid klutz,” he says softly, wiping his thumb against the corner of Kageyama’s mouth. He licks his finger afterwards, chasing the taste of vanilla ice cream.
The rom-com reel is playing at double speed and at triple volume.
“Usually, I would be walking you home right now. But we live on opposite sides of the town, and it’s too much of a hassle for me to walk extra kilometers for silly little Tobio-chan,” he teases softly. “Presumably you and Kazu-chan live near each other, so walk her home, okay?”
Kageyama utters quiet confirmation and jots down more notes onto his mental notepad.
“And also, if dates go exceptionally well,” Oikawa whispers as he moves closer to Kageyama, “they might end with a kiss.” He pauses for a moment, breathing Kageyama’s air and eyes flitting up and down his face.
“Personally, I think this one went great, so, what do you say, Tobio-chan?”
Oikawa’s face is centimeters away from his own, brown eyes glittering before him. This will be his first kiss, and Kageyama acknowledges that this should be good practice for his date. He nods stiffly, barely moving, and closes his eyes.
Their lips touch for mere seconds, but Kageyama imprints the memory in his mind. To study for later , he thinks. His knees feel like jelly and his shoulders begin shaking.
Oikawa bids him a swift and sly goodbye, gold glinting in his eyes, and a request to “text me how it goes!” as he turns in the other direction.
Watching his back, Kageyama clutches the forget-me-nots in his hands, the fleeting feeling of the kiss already attempting to escape him.
He feels warm and content, like he’s been wrapped in a fuzzy blanket after being left out in the rain. He hopes that if he kisses Kazumi, he can achieve the same over-the-moon feeling that Oikawa had just given him.