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When Oikawa enters and scans the gym, there's a moment where his eyes fall on a boy across the court. There are numerous other people in the gym; a game is in motion; there’s shouting from the court; and yet he feels everything tune out when he catches sight of silver that reminds him of the stars.
He doesn't dwell, however.
Just as Oikawa had noticed the other boy, his attention is immediately torn away the moment he hears his name be called. He's not sure of what to think about the feeling in his chest — it's heavy yet fluttering — but he opts to ignore it in favour of giving Coach Irihata his full attention.
"Perfectly fine!" Oikawa reports when asked about his knee. He then waves his hands, as if to dismiss whatever concern had been present. "I can already attend normal practices since it's just a light sprain after all." Sure, there's also a bit of a lecture afterwards but considering the circumstances of this practice match to meet his demands, it's a given.
He's then dismissed to warm up.
Oikawa takes advantage of his time away from the court, making little mental notes of the game before him as he stretches on the sidelines. Seems like they were on the third set, and the crows across the net had made themselves quite a lead, 24-21. Well, he couldn't let them get too comfortable, now could he?
Despite the numerous eyes on him when he switches with Kunimi, there's only one pair that Oikawa takes notice of. He steals a glance across the net, eyes meeting silver again. He wants to keep looking but doesn't. There isn't room to indulge in curiosities.
Instead, he wipes the boy clean from his mind as he takes a deep breath before making a serve.
When Aoba Johsai and Karasuno face one another, Oikawa finds his eyes settled on the same silver-haired boy from before. This time, he has a role and a number — setter and Karasuno's Number Two. The feeling in his heart returns but, once again, he ignores it. After all, they had a game to play.
He hasn't picked up a name — not that he cared to before — but he settles that "Mr. Refreshing" was fitting enough. Aside from the other's attitude and overall presence, Oikawa believed that he would simply be a break away from his protégé. He may not be too sure of Refreshing's abilities; however, he was aware they aren’t on the same level as Tobio's. Of course, this only comes to bite him. Number Two is not “refreshing” in the way he expects; he keeps Oikawa on his toes which both annoys and invigorates him.
“‘We’ll break their streak in one go,’ huh?” Oikawa echoes Refreshing's words quietly as Shrimpy’s C-Quick shoots past Iwa’s grasp, earning Karasuno a point as it slams into the floor. He takes a deep breath. Fine then.
“Their streak ends here!” Oikawa declares. His team roars in agreement. He'd be damned to let Karasuno win.
Even when they take the first set, Karasuno shows no signs of backing down. Oikawa can feel his blood pumping. He finds he really enjoys the challenge posed by Karasuno’s Number Two. The silver-haired boy keeps him thinking, wanting to unravel whatever’s up the other’s sleeve. A part of him is excited to see Refreshing still in their lineup at the start of the second set. He’s looking forward to this.
As expected, the second is just as eventful as the first. Refreshing stayed for more than half the set before they switched Tobio back in, and Karasuno made quite the comeback. Despite losing the set, Oikawa finds he's gained quite a bit. While watching his protégé play, he's come to realize Tobio is not the same as before. Rather than rule with an iron fist, the king now wanted to strive for righteousness.
In other words, Tobio was learning, and Oikawa had a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Refreshing is the one behind his growth.
He finds himself grinning.
Oikawa is worn out as hell and yet he still feels like he can keep trucking like there's no tomorrow. They're down to the last set. Both teams know the cost of losing this round. Of course, there's no way either of them would be willing to give the other that chance to move on.
The lineups are decided. The whistle blows. Set Three begins.
The ball drops and finally ends a long, drawn out third set; 33-31 with Aoba Johsai coming out victorious. Oikawa's mind is buzzing as cheers rang throughout the gym. A lot is going on; his team is chatting among themselves and to him; the cheer squad is celebrating; and teams are moving between courts. Unfortunately, there isn't any time to really rest yet. After all, they still had one more game before they could call it over for the day.
He catches a glimpse of silver, but it's for a brief moment. One second, it's there; the next second, it's gone. Oikawa feels something cold hit his chest and immediately grabs it to drink.
Ah, that's right. They weren't finished yet.
Amidst the exhausted players snoozing on the bus ride back, Oikawa is one of the few that stays up the entire way. Today in particular had especially worn him and his teammates thin — hell, even Iwa was knocked out in the seat in front of him.
Normally during times like this, he replays all their matches of that day, taking little mental notes of what to improve and making plans of whichever tapes he could get his hands on for the next day; however, no, that’s not what happens. Instead, his mind drifts and decides that of all the matches, it was going to replay the match with Karasuno like a broken record the entire way.
When they return to the school, there’s a brief meeting in the gym. Plans are discussed. Oikawa gets his hands on the tapes he needs. And, finally, everyone is dismissed to go home and rest.
While he and Iwa walked, it’s quiet — maybe a bit too quiet for his liking. Before, the other boy had been a bit drowsy after having been woken up from his bus nap but now he seemed more alert as ever.
If his best friend wanted to say something, he chose not to. Instead, he just gives Oikawa a light punch on the arm before they go their separate ways. Even without saying anything, he understands what Iwa's trying to convey from his actions alone.
As soon Oikawa returns home, he settles in his room and flips through the Interhigh pamphlet searching for a name. It takes several pages but eventually, he finds what (read: who) he’s looking for: Sugawara Koushi.
For whatever reason, this is enough to satisfy this itch at the back of his brain that had been persisting since the Karasuno game. This is kinda like a closure of sorts.
He was aware of the other setter before, but now it seemed that Oikawa couldn't stop thinking of him.
While he doesn't consider the Sugawara on the same level of threat as Tobio, he was still something else entirely. He may be textbook but he's a solid as hell setter and has his entire team's trust undoubtedly. Not only that, it seems he's got quite the influence on little Tobio as well. He's a quick thinker; an indomitable setter; and a fresh breath of air.
Mr. Refreshing.
Oikawa closes the pamphlet and tosses it on top of his growing collection of game tapes. In his gut, he doesn't doubt that there will be a time that he and Re– Sugawara will face off again. Until their next match, perhaps he should already prepare.
"Takeru!"
"Takuma!"
Whatever pace that Oikawa and his nephew had been going at before seemed to have accelerated as the younger boy started dragging him by the arm. This doesn't last too long as — after deciding his dear uncle was just a total deadweight — Takeru eventually lets go and makes off to meet the other boy himself.
Being as responsible as he was, of course Oikawa runs after his nephew because that's just what a good uncle does.
Takuma was a friend of Takeru’s at Lil’ Tykes. Whenever he stays to coach, of course he can't help but notice whenever his nephew is laughing away with the other boy. Without getting too sappy, Oikawa was more than appreciative towards little Takkun — even if he was a smartmouth with him at times.
"Geez, Takeru,” Oikawa huffs dramatically when he catches up with his nephew, who had already been engaged in an animated conversation with his club friend. Smirking, he quickly pulls the younger Oikawa and gives him an affectionate noogie.“Why can’t you be more considerate about your poor uncle, hm?”
Despite himself, Takeru laughs as he tries to pull himself out of his uncle's grasp. “Sorry, Tooru. I forgot that you're an old man now.”
“Rude!” He finally lets go of Takeru with one last noogie before turning to greet Takuma and– Oh. He sees silver again.
"Hello, Oikawa-san."
Because the world probably enjoys whenever things don't go his way, the supposed (ideal) reunion happens much sooner than later. Oikawa doesn't catch the refreshing setter at another official or practice match where the two of them could face off in skill and wits. Instead, he encounters him here, on the way to Lil’ Tykes Volleyball Classroom, only a few weeks after Interhigh Preliminaries.
It was then that he concluded: the world was stupidly small; Japan was smaller; and Miyagi was probably the smallest place in existence.