Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tobio lets out a long sigh, making sure the man towering above him can hear it. He is tired, he is cold and the slice of leftover pizza he’d eaten for breakfast cannot sustain him for much longer.

“One more sigh and I’m throwing you out the window.”, Heartbreaker snaps, his red hair resembling the flushed colour in his face as he half-heartedly tumbles into his chair, pressing a button on the armrest that makes the chair shoot up a rod which then takes him to the balcony above.

“Nice stripper pole.”, Tobio grumbles, straining his neck to look up.

“Always the same terrible comebacks.”, he waves his hand lazily, his purple suit shimmering from above, “I already know what you’re going to say next.”

“How do you know? You can’t even read minds.”, he bites back, shaking his fringe out of his eyes.

It’s heartbreaker’s time to sigh, as he reaches for a sketchpad from his table, hurriedly scribbling something down.

“Here’s my prediction for what you’re going to say next.”, he places the notebook under his arm, “I’ll reveal it after you speak and we’ll see if I can add mind reading to my long list of talents.”

Tobio huffs, wiggling his arms that were tied behind his back.

“Go on, say something.”. he quirks an eyebrow at him, a smug smile on his face.

He looks him in his eyes, “Your villain name sucks ass.”,

“And that’s a point for me!”, he announces loudly, turning the page to show the words ‘Insult to my alias’.

Heartbreaker opens his mouth to continue, but he doesn’t get the chance to continue because a blue clad fist makes contact with the back of his head.

“Oops!”, a smooth voice says and Tobio can’t stop a smile from appearing on his face, “I guess that’s a point for me.”

“There you are, Grand King. I was wondering whether you were going to show up.”, he drawls, rubbing the back of his head with one hand and the other reaching for a large hammer in his belt, “But you’ll always show up for your precious Tobio-chan, won’t you?”

The Grand King’s mint cape flutters in the wind as he hovers across from him mid-air, his arms placed in a fighting stance, “Only I’m allowed to call him that.”

Tobio licks his dry lips, feeling oddly useless in this whole endeavor.

He lands another punch, to his chest this time, expertly dodging a blow from his hammer.

The hammer, in turn, bangs into the railing, shattering it into pieces.

Small fragments of shrapnel land in his dark hair, and he gently shakes his head to get them off.

When he looks up once again, he sees Heartbreaker come tumbling down before his back hits the ground with a loud thud.

The Grand King follows after him except he comes floating down, seemingly unaffected by the fight he just went through.

“Tobio-chan.”, he mutters, his voice a little breathless as he moves to free him.

“Hi.”, he responds, rotating his wrists once they’re free from the rope, “You’re late.”

He scoffs, and Tobio can see him roll his chocolate brown eyes from the little slit in his blue eye mask.

“I could tie you back up, you know?”, he says, but his actions say otherwise as he brushes the bits of what had once been a railing from his hair.

“You would never do that to me.”, he says before he can really think about it and he watches him freeze before a soft blush appears on his cheeks.

He doesn’t address the words though; he simply looks right back until Heartbreaker breaks the trance by screaming, “This isn’t over!”

“He tells me that I’m repetitive when he always says the same thing.”, Tobio mumbles which prompts a chuckle out of him.

“Hypocrite.”

He reaches his arms under his body, gently scooping him up. “I’ll drop you off outside.”

He’s flown with him like this quite a few times before (special thanks to all the villains who have kidnapped him) which is why it feels familiar but it also feels strangely new every time.

Tobio’s hands always wrap around his neck loosely, with his ear always resting against his chest where he can hear the soft thuds of his heart, and his mind always wonders what it’d be like to be able to hold him this close for real.

Then he sets him down on the floor softly, his latex covered hand lingers on his shoulder for a second before he’s gone.

When the reporters crowd around him asking him about the exact nature of his relationship with Miyagi’s beloved superhero, Tobio wishes he could tell them that he knew just as much as them.

“Kageyama!”, Ukai called out loudly, making him snap his head up from his desk, “Grab your camera, there's a showdown between The Grand King and Mercury near Karasuno high!”

Tobio brightened up at the name of his old high school, grabbing his camera bag with vigor as he loops the handle around his neck.

He scurried after him as he said, “Sir, I think you’ve made a mistake. I don’t do superhero shoots.”. As much as he wanted to do this, he still felt a need to let Ukai know that he’s probably not what he's looking for.

“No, I’m sure you’re the right one.”, he said in return, “You went to Karasuno high, didn’t you?”

He nodded a little hesitantly, “Yes, sir.”

“Then you’ll know where I can get good shots from.”, he patted his back, speaking like it was the most obvious thing, “And I don’t think you’re in a position to deny it, I’m the one who writes your paycheck and I’ve seen how much you make.”

The last sentence, while slightly inconsiderate, was completely true. Maybe this could save him from having to do maternity shoots for a while, and maybe that means he could buy the good milk.
All doubts flew out of the window at this thought as he fastened his seatbelt in the passenger seat of Ukai’s van.

When they finally neared the scene, it seemed they were a little late considering the number of news vans on the ground while a silver dragon, which was probably the form Mercury had taken on for this battle, and The Grand King flew above them, looking like blue and silver dots in the cloud covered sky from where they were.

“Quick, kid.”, he said, harshly tapping his shoulder repeatedly, “Do you know if there’s any way we can get a better angle?”

Tobio usually did well under pressure, but it had also been a while since he’d been put on the spot like that so he freezes for a brief second before mumbling, “There’s a stairwell at the back, if you use that you can get to the rooftop of that building under them.”

Ukai broke out in a determined grin, “This is what I brought you here for. Nice job.”

He dashed out of the van with too much energy for his age but luckily Tobio was just as energetic and also young (he apologized to Ukai in his head for that drag).

They managed to sneak away without any of the other journalists spotting them but there was also Ukai who turned around and shushed him every time he made the smallest noise.

Tobio pushed open the door to the staircase, ushering him in while glancing around frantically.

The sound of a thump echoed from above and his heart thudded against his ribcage but he barely felt it.

He pulled open the rooftop door, and for a second, he’s thrown back to lunch breaks spent with secret laughter and affectionate insults before he remembers he has a job to do.

He gripped his camera tight, angling it in the direction of the fight and he zoomed in as much as he can.

Mercury’s silver wings glimmered and Tobio absentmindedly wonders whether he chose to make all his forms silver or whether it was something he couldn’t control.

He zapped past The Grand King with a large bag in his class but he’s not quick enough to avoid a blow to his gut.

He transforms back into his human form and Tobio pressed down on the button at that exact moment, the shutter capturing a still of that split second.

“Did you get it?”, Ukai asked, peering over his shoulder to see the image.

In the photo, Mercury’s face is contorted in pain while The Grand King has a victorious grin on his face as his fist makes contact with his body.

“God, that’s a good one.”, he clapped him on the back, “Sales are going to be through the roof tomorrow.”

Tobio allowed himself a little bit pride as he looked down at the photo; it really was a good one.

His musing was interrupted by someone tumbling down to the ground in a blur of silver and Ukai quickly took a U-turn and ran down the stairs to where he was lying on the football court.

He was about to follow him when he heard a soft noise behind him.

“Hi.”, The Grand King said casually, as though he isn’t one of the most powerful people in the world, “You’re new around here.”

He simply blinked and turned around before saying, “Sorry?”

“I mean.”, he stepped closer and Tobio couldn’t find it in himself to move, “I haven’t seen you around here before.”

A superhero was actually speaking to him. A superhero.

“Uh, yeah. I’m here with Ukai.”

“Did you get a good shot?”, he questioned, his head in his palms while he sat on the ledge of the rooftop.

“I think I did.”, he replied, holding onto his camera like it’s his anchor, “Do you want to see it?”

His eyes lit up in surprise as he nodded and it looked too pure for someone who just overthrew one of Miyagi’s most dangerous villains.

Tobio moved to stand next to him, tilting the camera to show him the screen and he watched his expression nervously.

“Ooh! My hair looks really nice!”, he pointed at his head in the photo where it looks like it’s mid hair flip.

He nodded his head again, silently agreeing.

“You’re pretty good at this!”, he said, quirking his head to the side with a smile.

He just got a compliment from a superhero, oh god.

“Thank you, grand king.”

He scrunched his nose at that, like a cat, and said, “You don’t have to call me that. You can call me Oikawa; just don’t tell any of your reporter friends I said that.”

He nodded, which is all he felt capable of doing, with a dumbfounded expression, “Um, I’m Kageyama Tobio.”

He smiled even wider, “I’ll see you next time then, Tobio-chan?”

“Maybe.”

Tobio wasn’t sure if he had heard him because he was off, flying into the sky with a small wave to the public down below, leaving him with a fast-paced heartbeat and a loose hold on his camera.

Ukai was right, sales of their newspaper did go through the roof with a close-up image of their fight on the front page next to the title, ‘The Grand King foils Mercury’s evil bank heist!’, in large bold letters. But in a smaller font under the photo there were the words, ‘Photo credit: Kageyama Tobio’, and those four words meant the world to him.

And maybe, just maybe, he would ask to be transferred to the superhuman department.

This time he wasn’t even on the job, in fact he was actually taking a break from his job when Hothead pulled him from the shadows, and while Tobio usually is a pretty strong person, he’s strong for a normal person, not someone with superhuman powers.

And so, he ends up in a position he’s fairly acquainted with, strapped to a cold chair with his hands tied behind his back.

“Can you at least put on the movie I was buying? I’m kind of bored.”, he asks, looking up at him and why the fuck do villains always have to be standing on a platform above.

Hothead snaps his fingers, igniting a small flame, “Why the hell were you actually renting CDs though? Can’t you just get Netflix or something?”

“I don’t get paid enough for that. Renting a CD once in a while is much cheaper.”, he says.

His eyes widen slightly and he looks impressed, “That’s actually a pretty good tip. Maybe I should do that.”

“What, villainy isn’t paying the bills anymore?”

“And now I remember why I hate you.”, he throws his hands up in exasperation.

“Thanks.”, he grumbles, “Can you at least get me some water? I promise to not throw it on you, fire boy.”

“Heartbreaker warned me about your cheap shots at his villain name.”, he says, but still walks over to the water dispenser in the corner and fills up a cup. At least Hothead’s warehouse is better equipped that Heartbreaker’s.

“Do I have to feed you?”

“You could just untie me.”, he suggests but is met by a roll of eyes.

“I’m just going to throw some water in your direction so open your mouth wide, I guess.”

Even at the risk of complete humiliation, he complies with his directions.

Luckily not much of the water falls out of his mouth but the front of his shirt still gets slightly wet.

“You know,”, he says, wiping his face on his sleeve, “You should change your name to bowl head, your haircut is awful.”

“Another dig. Cute.”, he replies, “Why isn’t your boyfriend here yet? I’m getting tired of you.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!”, he exclaims but Hothead simply waves him off, “And he has a life out of saving me from villains who don’t understand that maybe I just want to be able to relax a little bit.”

“He’s right.”, a third voice cuts in, “I mean, I don’t have a life out of this but he’s right about the part about you leaving him alone.”

“Grand King!”, he shouts, “Get ready to face my wrath!”

Tobio knows that he shouldn’t be shutting his eyes when two extremely powerful people who shouldn’t logically exist are having a fight but he really doesn’t want to watch them and know that if Oikawa makes one wrong move he could be gone forever.

He thinks that’s the hardest part about being in love with a superhero, the fear that they could be taken away from you any second.

But just like every other time, Oikawa emerges unscathed and pulls his wrists free from the hold.

“Why’re you wet?”, he questions, his brows furrowing in confusion.

“I wanted water but he didn’t want to help me drink it so he just…threw it at me.”, he stretches his back, fanning out the front of his shirt.

He snorts in a way that does not match up with his public persona and Tobio feels privileged to hear it.

“Come on, let’s go.”, he says, propping his hands to slide under his body.

He hums in acknowledgement, letting himself be lifted up.

“How many times have I done this?”, Tobio asks, once he’s safely in his arms.

“Done what?”

“You know, get kidnapped, get saved and get carried by you.”, he wiggles a little so he doesn’t have to hear his heartbeat and he instead tries to gauge his reaction to the question by watching him.

Oikawa’s cheeks go slightly red but maybe that’s the exhaustion from having to fly with another person when he says, “I don’t know, I feel like Heartbreaker alone has got you like fifteen times.”

“Yeah, he’s really intent about abducting me.”

It was meant to be a joke, but he doesn’t laugh. In fact, his expression seems to become grimmer after that.

“There’s a pretty big crowd down.”, Oikawa observes, “Do you want me to drop you home?”

He nods without hesitation; Tobio will take any chance he can to spend time with him.

He speeds up, and the cold air hits him in the face as they zoom past skyscrapers and the soft pink and orange of the sky blurs around them.

“Tobio-chan.”, he speaks up, his voice low but he can still feel it rumble in his chest.

“Yeah?”, he replies and tries not to sound too hopeful. But he really does think he’s finally going to say it. Tobio doesn’t know much about romance but he does know that it’s the perfect scene, flying above the city with wind in their hair and he clenches his fist in anticipation.

He opens his mouth but shuts it immediately, and then the vulnerable expression is gone and replaced with a mischievous smile.

“I’m going to drop you.”, he sings.

“No! Not this again!”, he screams, and tries to hide the disappointment.

He briefly lets go of him but swoops in under him almost immediately after but he still shouts, even when he’s back in his arms.

“C’mon, you know I wouldn’t let you just fall to the ground. I’m a superhero, it would go against my whole moral code.”

And he’s laughing. He’s laughing with his eyes alight and his hair windswept and his cheeks pink and Tobio has never felt more in love.

“We’re here.”, he says, carefully pushing open the window of his small 8th floor apartment and setting him inside.

“Bye.”, Tobio says, leaning his elbows on the windowsill, “I’ll see you next time I get abducted.”

“There might not be a next time, you know?”, Oikawa suggests and he decides to indulge him, even though they both know the truth.

“Yeah. Yeah, maybe.”, he says, “I’m going to go cook some rice.”

“Okay, bye!”. There’s a false cheer to his words but he doesn’t address it and lets him fly away until he’s nothing more than a blue dot faraway.

In a world of people who can fly or produce fire from their palms, the most amazing thing to Tobio is still how someone can always leave him wanting more and more with every interaction.

The first time Tobio met Spike was the first time he realized just how much his life had changed since that meeting on the rooftop.

Ukai had agreed to transfer him and all of a sudden, his life was so much more interesting. But to be fair, his life was probably one of the most boring in the world so it didn’t take much to spice it up.

Oikawa usually did his work alone but in the case of a partnership, it would always be with Spike. They made a fantastic duo, one with the ability to fly and the other able to lift a car off the ground with ease. Whenever they worked together the general public would go wild. Journalists would swarm at the scene, everyone trying to get a good shot of them to sell at an obscenely high price, which is why Tobio had found himself trying even harder than usual to find a good place to take a picture from.

He was alone this time since Ukai was out sick and people actually trusted him to go out alone (That and his co-workers had somehow learnt that he was on friendly terms with Oikawa and wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to tease him about it).

He’d covered a few more superhero encounters since the first time and he had gotten closer to him, so close that he’d even let him take an individual shot.

Tobio would admit it- he liked the attention Oikawa gave him, he liked his gaze when he thought he wasn’t looking, he liked the way he would fly past all of the reporters and head straight to him after a fight and he liked him.

He liked him.

But he had more pressing matters at that moment than thinking about how soft his hair was, considering he was hoisted up in a tree with branches in his own hair.

He adjusted the lens and focused in on the scene where Spike hurled a lamppost towards Laser but he simply cut it in half with his eyes and avoids casualties.

While he was distracted The Grand King swiftly swooped in behind him, and delivered a kick to his head. Spike followed up that movement by flinging a mailbox at him before Laser could react.
He pressed the button repeatedly, attempting to get a series of shots as Oikawa motioned over the cops and let them handcuff him.

Spike watched them take Laser away before running over to where his counterpart was and high-fiving him.

Oikawa laughs at something with him and Tobio presses down the button fiercely, hoping that he’d captured his dazzling smile perfectly.

His gaze searched the crew with a frantic look in his eyes and Tobio tried not to hope that he was looking for him (he failed).

His lips formed into a pout as he looked around and didn’t seem to find what he was looking for and he taps the other hero’s shoulder and whispers something to him.

It was at this moment that Tobio realized that he wasn’t really sure how he could get down from the tree he was watching the events from.

He looked down for a second and wondered how he even got up there, making enough money to pay your rent was an incredible motivator apparently.

When he looked back at the heroes, they were looking right at him and Tobio tentatively raised his hand in an awkward wave.

This was the last straw for Oikawa who burst out laughing at the sight, crouched over and breathless.

He flew over almost immediately after he regained his bearings and sat down next to Tobio, his cheeks flushed from laughter.

“What are you doing up here? I was looking for you, you know?”, he nudged his shoulder with his.

So, it was him he was searching for, he thinks and his heart sped up.

“I wanted a good angle.”, he mumbled and his laughter began again.

“Well, I want to introduce you to someone so get down quick.”, he says.

“Um, about that…”

“What?”, he asked, urging him to continue.

“I’m not particularly sure how to get off this tree.”

God, he felt so embarrassed.

“Oh.”, he said, “Oh, so you need my help.”, his voice turned mocking and Tobio bit the inside of his cheek.

“Actually, I’m going to do this on my own.”. He was not going to let his pride down.

“Mm hmm.”

“Yeah, I don’t need you.”

“Sure.”

“I’m just going to-,”, he placed a leg on the trunk, “climb- woah!”

His foot slipped and before he knew it, he was tumbling down, down and down. He waited for the inevitable moment where he hits the ground but it never came.

Instead, when he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with hazel eyes.

“Be careful.”, Oikawa whispered, gently helping him stand.

For a second, Tobio didn’t say anything. He just stood there, a few centimetres the gap between them. If he could close those centimetres…

“Hey.”, a gruff voice said, and both of them immediately separated.

“Iwa-chan! This is Tobio!”, he gestured towards him.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Iwaizumi.”, he stuck out a hand and Tobio took it with awe.

“Hi.”

He now knew the real name of not one, but two superheroes. He briefly contemplated slapping himself to make sure this was actually happening.

“Crappykawa here talks a lot about you.”, he said, his voice devious as he quirked an eyebrow at Oikawa.

He, in turn, slapped his arm, giving him a withering glare with a tight smile.

“I think the two of us need to go.”, Oikawa said, shooting a more normal grin at Tobio.

“Right. I’ll see you another time?”, he said, holding his camera tight.

“You will definitely see me, but maybe not this hooligan!”, he said, grabbing Iwaizumi away from him.

“Bye, Kageyama.”, he waved as they walked away, “Oh, and he thinks you look cute when you wear blue.”

Oikawa’s face went beet red as he sprinted away from the scene with a cry of, “Iwa-chan!”, once again leaving Tobio behind, as he bit his lips to hold back the grin.

Tobio reaches for a tissue from across the table while Hinata animatedly recounts an encounter with an owl which would’ve been more interesting to him if he hadn’t heard this same story ten times in the past seventeen days.

He wipes off the vanilla ice cream dripping down his fingers, grimacing at the sticky feeling as he rushes to finish the rest of the cone before it completely turns into liquid.

Hinata finishes with a big grin on his face, and Yamaguchi buries his face into his arms in between a fit of giggles.

Even Tsukishima cracks a chuckle which causes Yachi’s eyes to turn mischievous before she teases him about how he has more affection for them than he shows.

(He denies it but they all see him smile when he thinks no one’s looking with a mouthful of strawberry ice cream).

“Anyway, we haven’t even talked about the real important thing here.”, Yamaguchi says, turning his gaze Tobio’s way, “It’s so important, it should be a headline.”

He tries to cover his face with his ice cream cone, but it’s too late, the other three have already caught on.

“And by that, I mean it’s a literal headline.”, he continues, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone that shows an article that reads, ‘Deciphering the Grand King’s relationship with up-and-coming photographer Kageyama Tobio’.

“God, no.”, Tobio grumbles, letting his head slide onto the table.

“You’ve become quite famous, you know?”, Yachi says, patting his head from where she sits across him, “Remember the cute girl in my class I was telling you about?”

They nod, urging her to go on.

“Yeah, she saw the picture of all of us I use as my lock screen and basically interrogated me about you. It kind of hurt my pride but she was talking to me and I’m learning to count the small victories.”, she follows the sentence up with a huge spoonful of her ice cream and Hinata places a hand on her back consolingly.

Tobio isn’t particularly sure how to respond to that statement.

“It’s been all over the news.”, Yamaguchi says, “You’re more famous than Shoyou and Tsukki.”

Hinata slaps his arm in retaliation, “Rude. I’m still more famous than you.”

“That’s hardly an achievement. I am literally an engineer, and you two are professional volleyball players. Not a good comparison.”

In the back of his mind, Tobio wonders how his life would have been if he’d gone the same path as Hinata and Tsukishima. It’s not like he hasn’t wondered this thousands of times before.

While the absence of volleyball in his life isn’t a sore subject anymore, it’s still not something he’s happy about but he has accepted it, as much as it hurt to.

“King.”, Tsukishima calls, “So?”

“What?”, he responds, realizing that he’d missed a part of their conversation.

“I asked what’s going on with you and the Grand King.”

He sighs, lifting his head up from the table to meet their gaze, “I don’t know. We’re just friends.”

“Really? Then why do you keep getting kidnapped by villains?”, Hinata counters.

“He doesn’t get kidnapped, he’s not a child! He gets abducted.”, Yachi corrects, even though the distinction does not matter at all.

“I don’t know.”, he answers, “I really don’t know.”

“Just for the record,”, Yamaguchi contributes, “I don’t like him.”

“How can you not like him? He’s literally a superhero.”, Hinata asks, throwing his hands up in confusion.

“As a citizen of Japan, I like him. But as Tobio’s best friend, I don’t like him because he constantly puts our Tobio’s safety at danger.”, he says.

“That’s a good point.”, Yachi nods, not looking up from her phone.

He gasps, “Excuse me? I’m Bakageyama’s best friend, not you!”

Tsukishima’s face settles into a lazy smile as he watches the two of them, “Maybe the Grand King is his new best friend, considering that they’re just friends.”

He places air quotes around the last two words, quirking an eyebrow at Tobio.

No matter how close they’ve gotten in the years since high school, their dynamic still revolves around teasing each other, except it’s less nefarious and more friendly now.

He resorts with, “I hate you.”

Yamaguchi cackles with delight, “I can’t believe Tobio is the only one out of all of us with an actual love life. Obviously excluding Tsukki because he does not want a love life.”

“My fish is all I need.”, he agrees with the last statement. (Tsukishima had named his fish after Tobio, much to the chagrin of him and the happiness of Hinata.)

“Why can’t you believe it, he’s literally the hottest one here.”, Yachi adds, placing her phone down, “Even I can see it and I’m literally gay.”

“Shut up.”, Tobio grumbles; he’s become more socially adept in recent years but he will never learn how to respond to compliments.
“She has a point.”, Hinata says, his voice muffled through all the ice cream.

“Eat with your mouth closed, dumbass.”

He sticks his chocolate covered tongue out and Yachi balls up a tissue at him to launch at him.

“And I don’t have a love life, because we’re not dating.”

Yamaguchi’s answering hum is tinged with sarcasm and mockery and Tobio briefly considers whether he has enough money to pay for bail if he murders all of them on the spot.

(Spoiler alert: he most definitely does not, he has eaten nothing but instant noodles for the past week.)

“Do you even know anything about him separate from his superhero life?”, she asks, looking genuinely curious.

“I know his last name. And I've seen him out of his superhero clothes.”, he shrugs. It’d been a while since they’d last spoken in a normal context, but they were seeing each other quite often due to the number of times he’d been abducted.

“So, you saw him naked?”, Tsukishima grins in that sarcastic way of his and Tobio might just feel like punching his face in.

“You know that's not what I meant, asshole.”

“What? He told you his name?”, Hinata stands up abruptly, banging his hands on the table and Tsukishima pulls him back down to remind him that they are very much in a public space, “What is it?”

“I can’t tell you that, dumbass!”

“Why?”, he shouts.

“Oh my god, Hinata, he can’t just give away his name like that!”, she says in exasperation.

Yamaguchi interrupts before she punches Hinata, “Do you have his number? Because I need it.”

“Why do you need that? And no, I don’t have it.”, he furrows his eyebrows.

“Reasons.”

“He’s going to threaten The Grand King.”, Tsukishima says calmly.

He slaps a hand over his mouth, “Tobio doesn’t need to know that!”

“Threaten him for what?”

“Just the usual ‘you hurt my friend and I will hurt you’. Nothing to worry about.”

“Is this Tadashi’s villain origin story?”, Hinata eagerly leans over the table, looking at everyone for approval of his joke.

Yachi gives him a thumbs up and he seems satisfied with it.

“I’m not a villain, I-.”

“You’re just overprotective.”, Tsukishima cuts in, crossing his arms over his chest.

He brings a hand up to his chest as he gasps, “I am not overprotective! You take that back, young man or you’re grounded.”

Tobio snorts, coughing immediately after because the ice cream had stuck itself right in his throat.

Tadashi is by his side in a second, patting his back as he grabs a water bottle out of his satchel and forces into his hands.

He chugs the water down, feeling it dislodge and he gratefully hands the water back to him.

When he looks back up at them, slightly teary eyed from all the coughing, he sees the look of concern on their faces melt away as he flashes them an okay sign.

He rushes back to his seat once he ensures that he’s fine, and Tobio thinks that he might not be able to experience tenderness from his biological family but he’s found something just as beautiful as what they could have offered him, if not better.

Tobio was struggling to open his bottle of soy sauce when he heard a knock.

But it didn’t seem to be coming from the door, so he peeked into his living room which was just a small space with a couch between the kitchen and the bedroom.

The window was shut but he could make out a figure outside, and he grabbed the object nearest to him which happened to be a frying pan.

A reasonable part of his brain told him that if it was someone who wanted to kill him, they wouldn’t have knocked, but the fear was too strong to actually let him think normally.

He gripped the pan when the knocks got louder as he slowly approached the window.

Just when he was about to swing open the window, a voice softly asked, “Tobio-chan?”

He loosened his hold, his eyes widening in surprise and he gently pulled the handle of the window back.

“Oikawa?”, he squinted at the sight before him, and he timidly smiled.

He was dressed in a simple blue shirt and white trackpants, leagues away from his tight-fitting mint costume. His eye mask was nowhere to be seen; every part of his face completely exposed to Tobio.

“Hi.”, he said, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.”, he moved aside to let him in, and Oikawa jumped off of the ledge and into his apartment.

He carried the same confidence as he did in the field, his shoulders squared and his gait elegant as he sauntered.

Tobio couldn’t help feeling self-conscious about his small abode, considering Miyagi’s greatest superhero was literally in his house. But he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seemed a little in awe as he plopped down into the couch.

“Why’re you holding a pan?”, he asked, quirking his eyebrows and Tobio looked down at the cooking instrument in his hand in surprise.

“Oh yeah, that.”, he walked over to the kitchen, and set it down, “I was cooking when I heard the noise. And I thought it was someone dangerous, but it was just you.”

Oikawa’s mouth fell open slightly, before he shut it in a sudden movement.

He turned back to his task at hand when he said, “You don’t think I’m dangerous?”

When Tobio looked at him, his eyes were soft, and he thought that the only dangerous thing about Oikawa was how much he made him feel.

“You are to people who deserve it. You would never be like that to me.”

There was a beat of silence prior to him responding with, “Right. I would never hurt you.”

The window was still open and a light breeze blows into the room as the two of them faced each other.

Silence completely overtook them until Tobio feigned a cough and turned back to the kitchen, fighting off his escalating heartbeat.

“Why’re you here at, uh,”, he stopped to look at the clock hanging in the living room, “-ten thirty in the night?”

“Why’re you making food at ten thirty in the night?”, he countered.

“I asked first!”, he said, continuing to struggle with the soy sauce.

“For your information, I was bored.”, he was at Tobio’s side now, “Give me that, you weakling.”

He reached for the bottle and he reluctantly handed it to him.

“You can’t call me a weakling. I’m just not a fucking superhero.”, he said when Oikawa cracks open the bottle with ease.

“Such foul language, Tobio-chan.”, he chided.

“Shut up.”

“Absolutely vulgar.”

“This is my house, you know.”

This shut him up and he mumbled something below his breath, and then he was back to his usual tone, “Anyway, answer my question.”

“I got home late from work and I needed dinner.”

He nodded, seemingly pleased with the answer, “So, what are we making?”

“I’m making fried rice.”, he placed emphasis upon the first word causing Oikawa to scoff and roll his eyes with a small smile.

“How can I help then?”

“You can fluff up the rice.”, he said, pointing in the direction of the rice cooker.

“Oh, okay.”, he sounded strangely hesitant but he ignored it and continued slicing the carrots.

“Uh, quick question.”, he chimed in, “How do you fluff up rice?”

Tobio froze, his knife wielding hand hovering in the air.

“What.”

Oikawa looked nervous then, his eyes darting across the room and his smile quivering, “I asked, what do you mean by fluffing up rice?”

“You don’t-.”, he paused, using his other hand to massage his temples, “You don’t know how to do that?”

He didn’t answer and simply shrugged with that same scared smile on his face.

Tobio grabbed the paddle near him and reached into the rice cooker, “It’s literally just stirring the rice after it’s cooked. That’s it.”

He looked enlightened as he watched him in amazement, “Oh. I feel stupid now.”

“You should.”, he handed the rice paddle to him, still clutching the knife in his right hand.

He extended his hand to reach for the offered object, “Can you put that knife down now? Please?”

Tobio stuck his tongue out, “Are you scared now, Grand King?”

“Yes, actually.”

He went back to chopping the vegetables after directing a frown at him, “I can’t believe you don’t know how to fluff up rice. Have you ever cooked in your life?”

He pouted, “I have cooked! Just, not often.”

“What do you eat then?”, he asked, half of the thought behind the question being concern and the other half mockery.

“I have other people cook for me.”, he tried to sound nonchalant.

“Does that mean, like a roommate or like a cook?”, he slid the carrots off the cutting tray and into a bowl.

“I guess you could call it a cook?”, he said, putting down the rice paddle and looking satisfied with the product of his work.

“Does that person cook for you?”, Tobio asked pointedly.

“Yeah.”

“And do you pay them?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s a cook.”, he said, “And that means you’re rich.”

“I’m not rich!”, he defended himself, waving his hands in an action of denial.

“You have a person that cooks for you, you’ve never fluffed rice in your life; you’re rich.”, he tossed a clove of garlic at him, “Do you at least know how to peel that?”

“You have to peel this?”, he asked, looking genuinely confused.

“I’m going to kill you.”

“That’s cruel, Tobio-chan. You wouldn’t kill Miyagi’s most beloved.”

“You underestimate me.”, he said, taking the garlic back, “Watch.”

He pulled off the skin with his expert fingers, laying it on the chopping board once it’s been peeled; all with Oikawa observing over his shoulder.

“That’s how you peel a damn garlic. Now, do the same thing for four more.”, he pushed more cloves into his hands.

“That’s it? That’s all you have to do?”, he furrowed his eyebrows, “I thought it would be hard.”

“Just peel it.”

“Okay, okay!”, he drawled.

While he had his mind set on the garlic, Tobio opened the shelve above him, reached for the oil and set it down on the counter.

He placed the frying pan on the stove, letting the little droplets of water on the surface evaporate.

“All done!”, Oikawa said, his voice cheerful as he showed him the garlic, “I even cut them into small pieces.”

“Good job.”, he commented taking the cutting tray from him and sliding it into the pan, while his grin grew even wider at the compliment.

The oil sizzled and he stirred it with a wooden paddle, before adding the onion that he’d cut prior to him arriving in his home.

“Step back, the oil might splash.”, Tobio warned and he immediately moved away from the stove.

The ingredients in his pan seemed to have caramelized just the right amount so he poured in some egg yolk that he’d separated earlier.

He then gestured to Oikawa to pass the bowl of chopped vegetables which he did so diligently as he said, “You’re pretty good at this.”

In the back of his mind, he thought back to the words Oikawa had said during their first meeting.

“It’s just fried rice, and it’s not even very traditional or anything.”

Why was it always so hard for him to just accept compliments?

“But you’re still good at it.”

There was something so earnest in his voice that had him feeling flustered. Oikawa was known for being strategic and calculating, but in moments like these, he felt so normal and so within his grasp.

“Thanks.”, he said, looking down at the rice instead to avoid meeting his hazel eyes.

“Did you say thanks?”

“I take it back.”

“No! You can’t do that!”

“It’s my house.”

“You can’t just use that excuse every time.”

“I can.”, Tobio retorted, pouring soy sauce into the rice and turning off the heat, “Can you stir this for a bit? My hand’s tired.”

“How lazy.”, he said, the teasing coming through clear in his voice.

“I’m going to hit you.”, he sat down on the counter, “Don’t burn it.”

“Didn’t you turn it off? How could I burn it?”, he questioned.

“I don’t know. I think you’re perfectly capable of burning it even when there’s no fire.”

He snorted at that, grabbing a spoon on the counter and loading it with rice.

“Here, taste this.”, he blew on the food to cool it down and fed it to him.

Tobio chewed on the rice, “Needs a little bit more salt. But it’s nice.”

He hummed in response, sprinkling a pinch of salt into the pan.

It’s then that the domesticity of the situation set in and he felt his heart pick up pace at the way Oikawa’s hair was tousled (probably from all the flying he did), and the soft tune he was singing under his breath.

It felt so perfect, and Tobio isn’t usually a romantic but he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that this was how it was supposed to be.

“It’s done!”, he said, and the smile on his face was like an attack.

“There are bowls in the drawer there.”, he pointed to his right.

He felt selfish because even though Oikawa was right there in his apartment, making food with him, speaking to him like he does to no one else and Tobio still yearned for more.

He yearned for the situation they were in to be a daily occurrence instead of a one-off occasion, he yearned to hear that voice every day, he yearned to be his.

But when he smiled at him like he was all he saw, Tobio had never loved his dingy apartment as much as he did in that moment.

It’s dark. It’s so dark and Tobio wants to scream at the top of his lungs but when he tries, only a pathetic whimper falls from his lips.

He kicks his leg out from under a large piece of rubble, wincing in pain.

Wreckage surrounds him from all direction and he bangs repeatedly on the part of the cover that’s closest to his arm, causing a small piece to break, allowing a ray of light into the cage that’s been created by the fallen pieces of the building.

He grunts as he sits up, crouching a little bit because the enclosure isn’t big enough, and peeks through the hole.

And all he sees is destruction.

He sees multiple piles of debris, and he can’t imagine how all this dust was once a massive building.

He sees men in uniform being tugged by large German shepherds as they comb the site for survivors.

He sees a woman sobbing with a child held close to her chest.

He sees a man being held back behind the police tape, shouting in anguish.

But he doesn’t see Oikawa.

Tobio turns around in a sharp movement when a large shard behind him begins to shake.

It’s soon thrown out of the way, and he brings up a hand to shield himself from the sudden sunlight.

He blinks multiple times to adjust to the light, and then he sees a pair of light brown eyes looking down at him in astonishment.

“Oikawa.”, he says, his voice cracking.

This snaps him out of his trance, and he immediately jumps to capture him in an embrace.

“Tobio-chan.”, he chokes out next to his ear, “You’re here.”

He tentatively brings his arms up and rests them on his back.

“You shouldn’t have come.”, Oikawa says, pulling away and cupping his face.

“It’s my job, I had to come.”, he says, looking down at his neck to find his camera completely shattered and hanging on with a last bit of perseverance, “Shit, it’s broken.”

“That’s what you’re concerned about?”, he laughs, and Tobio notices the tear tracks on his face for the first time. He stretches his shoulders before picking him up, the same way they’d done so many times before, “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

And then they’re off the ground, and into the sky where Tobio can see just how much damage has been caused.

The building, although large, was abandoned, so at least no one’s home had been destroyed. But unfortunately, that’s where the good luck ends.

“What happened to sinistrous?”, Tobio asks, and Oikawa’s expression turns grim.

“He got away.”, he states, his jaw clenching.

“Oh.”

“That’s not what matters.”, he shakes his head, “How are you?”

“My leg is kind of hurt.”, he says, looking down at his feet.

There were quite a few scratches over his body, but the throbbing of his right ankle hurt more than all of them combined.

“I fucking hate him.”, Oikawa spat out.

He wasn’t one to curse, which is how he knew that he really was upset.

Sinistrous always left the town in annihilation, and the superhero who went against him in guilt.

Tobio had never seen him like this, and quite honestly, he didn’t know what to do.

He was never the best at comforting people, and this wasn’t even a normal situation.

He knew how to help with breakups, courtesy Hinata and his string of failed relationships.

He knew how to help someone when their exams didn’t go well, courtesy Yachi and the fact that anything less than an A+ grade was failure for her.

He did not know how to help someone when they weren’t able to save their city from obliteration and people from dying.

Oikawa slowly descends onto the ground in front of the hospital’s entrance, and a nurse runs to them.

There were people being pushed in gurneys from ambulances, and Tobio felt a wave of nausea overcome him.

“Grand King?”, she asks, out of breath, “How can I help?”

“He’s been injured in the collapse. Can you fix him up?”, his voice is back to his usual tone, but it still sounds slightly strained.

“Of course. Can you walk?”, she says, looking down at him with concerned eyes

“I’m not sure.”

“That’s fine, I’ll get you a wheelchair, don’t worry about it”, she rushes to the side, and he feels slightly uncomfortable at the fact that he probably wouldn’t be getting this treatment if he wasn’t being carried by the Grand King.

Oikawa lowers him into the chair and his touch is so delicate, it leaves a dull ache in his chest.

And when the nurse rolls him in, talking about the procedures that he’ll have to follow, all Tobio feels is the pair of eyes burning holes into the back of his head.

“Why’re we watching this?”, Tobio grumbled, burying himself deeper into the blanket.

“Because I want to see if it’s realistic. Who better to judge a superhero movie than a superhero?”, Oikawa retorted from the other edge of the couch, as images flashed on the laptop rested in front on them.

“Just don’t complain to me about inaccuracies.”, he said.

“Why did they think just glasses would be a good disguise? There’s no way no one has recognized him.”, he shouted at the screen, putting down his mug of green tea to facepalm, “Do you know how much I have to do to make sure no one knows who I am?”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t complain.”

“I never said that.”, he raised one finger, “You told me to, and I didn’t listen. But like how can you ignore this?”

“It’s a movie, that’s how.”, Tobio countered.

“Well then, it’s a shitty movie.”, he crossed his arms over his chest, “I have to wear that stupid itchy mask around my eyes and I can’t give interviews and still, I get people asking me, ‘hey you look like that superhero’ and I need to just laugh it off.”, he waved his arms animatedly as he spoke, his displeasure clear.

“Wait, people recognize you?”

Shrugging, he said, “Only a few. And they usually forget about it, or they’re just joking. Mercury has recognized me though.”

Tobio’s eyes widened as he froze in place, “A villain knows who you are?”

“Yeah, we live in the same neighbourhood.”, he sipped his tea, “I see him at the café once in a while.”

“How did you know it was him?”, he asked, “And how has he not killed you yet?”

“First, even though he shapeshifts, I have seen his face enough times, and that silver hair is really hard to ignore.”, he said, “Second, we agreed to keep our superhuman life and our normal life separate.”

“I can’t believe this.”, he shook his head, his voice coloured with incredulity.

“What’s so hard to believe?”, he asked, throwing his hands up.

“The fact that one day you both are fighting each other to death and the next day you’re getting coffee together?”

“I never said we get coffee together!”, he defended himself, “I just said that we go to the same café! There’s a huge difference.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding or something.”, he buried his face in his knees, “It’s obvious that you know Spike in real life, but now you’re telling me that you know Mercury?”

“I don’t get why you’re so bothered about this, honestly.”, he pouted, though his lips seemed to be holding back a smile.

“I’m not bothered! I’m just confused.”, he said, pulling up the blanket to cover the lower half of his face.

“What’s so confusing about it? If you have a rival at work, you’re not shitty to them out of work, right?”

“You can’t compare my job to yours! I take photos, you save the world from destruction. Not the same thing.”

“Not the whole world!”, he said, “Just a small part of it.”

A stray curl hung in front of his eyes and Tobio had to hold back the urge to brush it away.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“No, you.”

“You.”

“Nope! It’s you!”

“You are so ridiculous.”

“You are even more ridiculous.”

“No, you are.”

“Are we really doing this?”

“You’re the one who started this.”

“My, my, Tobio-chan. That’s so immature.”, he chided.

He scoffed, kicking Oikawa’s feet with his own, “As though you’re not.”

“Who’s the one resorting to physical violence, huh?”, he lifted his leg up and pointed to it like it was some sort of evidence.

“Can we just watch the movie for fuck’s sake?”, he used a hand to push his leg back down.

“Okay, but as long as you let me provide commentary.”

“Will you listen to me if I tell you to stop?”, he asked, reaching over to press play.

He answered, his voice chipper, “No.”

“Exactly.”

The images on the screen started moving, and so did Oikawa who was now close enough to him that he could hear his breath, soft and uniform. Suddenly, Tobio could barely keep his focus on the movie.

“This wasn’t on the list.”, Tobio grumbles, holding a singular orange in his hand.

“Yeah, and I still bought it because there wasn’t a single fucking fruit on the list.”, Tsukishima responds, opening the fridge with his feet to stuff an armful of vegetables into it.

“I don’t need fruits.”

He throws another orange at him where Tobio is sitting on the couch, “You made me buy three different types of instant noodles, but not a fucking banana. Trust me, you need fruits.”

“I broke a bone, milk will help more.”, he protests.

“Just eat a fruit, for fuck’s sake.”, he sighs loudly, “Do you want me to throw another orange at you?”

“Okay, fine! I’ll eat the damn orange.”, he digs a nail into the skin, pulling it away slowly, making sure to keep the juice from spraying into his eyes.

“Good. How’s your leg?”

“It’s okay.”, he looks down at his bandaged foot, “But it’s boring to just sit around every day.”

He hums, pouring a glass of water for himself, “What about the grand king? How is he?”

Tobio’s grip on the orange tightens considerably, causing some juice to squirt out.

“I don’t know.”, he tries to sound nonchalant but judging by Tsukishima’s narrowed gaze, his front is more see-through than he thought it was.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,”, he separates a piece of the orange, handing it to him as he sits down across him on the couch, “I haven’t seen him since then.”

“Oh.”, he says, clearly shocked by this piece of information, “Not even once?”

“Nope.”, he chews on the fruit, it’s sour but pleasantly so and he feels a twinge of gratefulness towards his friend, “Not after the hospital.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a shitty thing to do.”, he spits out, “Maybe Tadashi was right.”

“About what?”, he asks.

“About him not being right for you.”, he says this tentatively, like he’s tiptoeing on a zipline.

The sentence hits him in the gut, and he swallows thickly.

When Tsukishima sees no sign of him replying, he continues, “He puts you in danger constantly, and he isn’t even here right now to compensate for that.”

“But this- “, he points to his injured foot, “-isn’t because of him! It was my job to be there.”

“That’s the thing! Your job is dangerous enough already, you don’t need villains kidnapping you left and right.”, he counters, an exasperated sigh leaving his lips.

“He shows up though, he always does.”, Tobio’s voice drops to a whisper, and he takes a deep breath in.

“Tobio, I’m sorry.”, he rests a hand on his shoulder, “I overstepped. But I do think you should have a real discussion with him about this.”

“It’s fine.”, he pops another fruit segment into his mouth, “It’s just that…”, he trails off causing Tsukishima to raise an eyebrow.

“That?”

“That I don’t think I’ll ever feel this way about someone again.”, he looks away to avoid meeting his gaze, thoroughly embarrassed by the situation.

His mouth drops open, and a small snicker escapes.

“Seriously? You’re laughing?”, he launches a pillow at him, but he dodges expertly.

“I just never expected to see you like this.”, he gestured to Tobio’s form.

“Like what?”

“Like a lovesick fool.”, he answers simply.

“Someday, I am going to snap and murder you.”, he says, his voice a false calm.

“I’ll be waiting. Maybe your boyfriend will help you out.”, his signature taunting grin is back, and he barely escapes another cushion.

“Are you really going to be a dick when I’m injured?”, he lifts his leg up slightly to draw attention to it, and Tsukishima senses the challenge in his voice.

“I went and bought your groceries for you, that’s all the sympathy you’re getting from me.”

Tobio sticks out his tongue and looks out the window, hoping to see a familiar face. But instead, he’s met by the reddish orange sunset which, while beautiful, is nothing compared to him.

The artificial light from the LEDs casted an angelic glow over Oikawa and Tobio forced himself to look away.

His back was bended slightly with his arms on his knees, leaning over to look at his bookshelf which was mostly filled with books Tsukishima had urged him to read but he never had.

“Is that you?”, he pointed to a photo frame, looking expectantly at him.

Tobio popped his head out from behind the laptop screen, “No, that’s just some random dude.”

Oikawa looked taken aback for a second, before the realization hit him, causing a pout to form on his face, “Mean.”

He hummed softly, shifting on the couch.

“Who are the people in the photo with you then?”, he asked after a few beats of silence.

“My volleyball team.”, he answered as he put down his device on the coffee table and walked over.

“You played volleyball?”, his eyes held a distinct sparkle as he spoke and Tobio found himself wondering how that’s even possible, “Me too!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”, he nodded eagerly, “But not for long.”

They stood right next to each other, and he could feel Oikawa’s shoulder rub slightly against his, so he swallowed thickly.

“Why not?”

“My dad made me stop after I accidentally flew once.”, his face fell faintly before he continued, “I was going to serve, but I was so into it, I didn’t notice that I was, you know, flying.”

“Oh.”, he muttered, mainly just because he wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Yeah.”, he took a deep breath, “Luckily I was just practicing in the park and the only people around were my dad and some old lady with a Chihuahua-,”, he paused to snort, “-but obviously my dad wasn’t pleased, and then I was banned from playing ever again.”

“That’s… unfortunate.”, he said and cringed at himself almost immediately.

Oikawa spared him a side glance full of fondness and it took everything Tobio had in him to not proclaim his love right then and there.

“Anyway!”, he said, taking the reins of the conversation back, “What about you? What’s your volleyball story?”

He bit his lips, and focused his gaze on the picture that started the whole conversation.

It was a slightly shaky photo of the whole Karasuno team, everyone with large smiles on their faces, even Tsukishima and Kageyama himself.

Daichi stood with one arm around Suga and the other around Asahi, sweat drenching all of their jerseys.

Nishinoya and Tanaka were pictured mid-air, with Ennoshita tugging the latter down by the hem of his shirt.

Kinoshita held up a peace sign, and Narita did the same with a hand on the other’s shoulder; while Yamguchi sat down on the floor, his weight resting on his elbows which touch the ground behind him.

Hinata was in the center of the image, both of his hands clinging to Kageyama’s arm, his grin as blinding as ever. Yachi and Kiyoko were standing relatively passively in the corner but happiness had been evident on their faces too.

Hinata’s mother had been behind the camera, telling all of them to smile, and for a second, Tobio was taken back to the memory and the feeling of fulfillment he had.

“Volleyball was everything to me.”, he muttered, his voice dropping, “I loved it more than anything.”

Oikawa turned to him completely, his eyes betraying concern and worry.

“Everything I did was connected to volleyball.”, he traced his finger on the edge of the frame, “And then, one day, one mistake, and it was gone.”

His finger dropped, hitting the hardwood of the shelf.

“It was my knee.”, he reflexively reached for it, rubbing his palms against it, “The doctors said I could never play competitively again.”

He felt a hand on his bicep and turned to look at a face etched with love.

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you.”, he said softly.

Tobio had always hesitated in telling people about his injury, their pity filled gazes were too much to bear, but with Oikawa, it wasn’t pity.

It was sympathy, and that made all the difference.

“Thank you.”, he whispered, bringing up his eyes to meet his.

“Where’s this picture from?”, he asked, observing the photo once more.

“From when we qualified for nationals.”, he responded, the memory still fresh in his mind.

“Nationals? That’s really impressive.”, his eyes widened, and Tobio felt a surge of pride, “What position did you play?”

“Setter.”

“No way.”, he slapped his arm slightly, “Me too!’

Oikawa laughed and the sound was so full of genuine cheer, it caused a warm feeling to spread through his heart.

“Maybe if I continued playing, we might have met earlier.”, he chirped, and Tobio chuckled.

“Yeah, and we would have been rivals.”, he added.

His eyes narrow, clearly pleased at him playing along, “And I would have won.”

“You wish.”, he snapped back, “I would have destroyed you.”

“I guess we’ll never know then.”, he said, taking long strides to reach the window and rests his forearms on the sill.

Even if they had met earlier, even if they had lived in a completely different world, Tobio thinks that he would have still always been in love with him.

A small knock resounds through Tobio’s quiet apartment, and he feels his heart beat speed up as he tentatively walks to the window, taking deep breaths all the way.

When he pulls open the window, he sees windswept hair, a baggy shirt and a nervous expression against the night sky.

But that nervousness melts away when he notices Tobio and is replaced by relief.

“Tobio-chan.”, he gasps out, his fingers clinging to the frame.

He doesn’t respond; he has too much to say and simultaneously too less.

“Tobio-chan, I’m sorry.”, he’s breathless, and he’s in his apartment, and he’s calling out his name with so much desperation, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”, he says, looking into his eyes.

“For everything.”, he doesn’t tear his gaze away, “For approaching you in the first place, for leaving you after you were hurt, for coming back now. But-.”

He pauses, and Tobio feels an impulse to touch his fingers just to make sure he’s real.

“I couldn’t go any longer without seeing you.”, his voice breaks in the middle.

Tobio takes a shaky breath before he says, “I missed you.”

Oikawa’s eyes soften, and he hesitantly brings up a hand to cup his face, “I’m sure I missed you more.”

His fingers are cold, borderline freezing, but the touch itself feels so warm.

“Why didn’t you come to see me?”, he goes straight for the kill, and watches as regret pools in his expressive eyes.

“I was scared.”, he whispers, “That someday someone would get your hands on you, and you’d be gone. And it’d be because of me.”

Tobio brings up his palm to cover the hand that engulfs his cheek, trying to provide some semblance of comfort.

“It’s just that the first time I saw you- do you remember?”

“Of course.”

“Right, I saw you and I, I knew I had to speak to you.”, he’s still sitting in the window, but Tobio doesn’t feel like interrupting him to invite him in, “And I even gave away my family name. I’ve never done that before.”

He stops and brushes his thumb on his cheek gently.

“You make me want to do things I’ve never done before, and I want to experience everything with you. But I don’t want to put you in harm’s way.”, he says.

“But all I want is you.”, Tobio protests, bringing his face closer to his, “Plus, I can take care of myself. I’m not as delicate as you think I am.”

“Can you really blame me for being worried about you, Tobio?”, he doesn’t move back, “You’ve seen what my life is like.”

“I’ve seen it”, he says, “And I don’t care. Every relationship has its cons.”

“Not every relationship has getting kidnapped as a part of its daily routine.”

“Okay, so? We’ll figure it out.”, he objects and stares at the smile that breaks out on Oikawa’s face.

“You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“Not unless you want me to.”, he replies, “Do you want me to?"

Oikawa breaks their eye contact, looking to his side before he looks back at him, “No, no I don’t. But-.”, he lifts up a finger, “I want to introduce myself.”

“What do you mean?”, he asks, confusion settling on his face.

“I want you to meet the real me, not The Grand King.”, he explains, and when Tobio nods, he continues, “My name is Oikawa Tooru and I’m 25 years old.”

He gasps, a small barely noticeable sound, before he says, “You’re elder than me?”

“Yep. I also have a job.”

“A job? A real one?”

“Yes, a real one.”, he snickers, “I work at my dad’s marketing firm.”

Tobio’s mouth drops open, “So, I was right. You are rich.”

“Shush, we are not doing this again.”, he says, a look of disbelief on his face, “Anyway, will you let me finish now?”

“Go ahead.”

“Okay, thanks. My birthday is on July twentieth. My favourite food is milk bread-."

“I already knew that.”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to interrupt.”, he sends a sharp glare his way, “And-.”

He pauses, a soft smile on his face.

“I like you.”

His warm breath ghosts over his face and Tobio can’t take it anymore.

He moves in even closer and whispers, “Well, it’s a good thing I like you too.”

Their lips are now a hair’s width away from each other and Tobio stops to imply that he’s asking for permission.

He nods, and in an instant, his lips are on Oikawa’s and it’s everything he’s ever imagined it would be.

It’s soft, like the way his lips feel against his.

It’s warm, like the way his palm is on his cheek.

It sends a shiver down his spine, like the cold breeze that blows through the window.

And it’s full of love, like their feelings towards each other.

When they pull apart, Oikawa’s genuine smile feels blinding and Tobio decides that it doesn’t matter what he has to go though, it will always be worth it if he gets to see him every day.

“Kuguri-san?”, Tobio called, looking behind him to make sure he was still following.

“I’m coming.”, he responded, his tone deadpan as he walked over, “Did you get it?”

“Yeah.”, Tobio said, tilting the camera so he can see the image.

He hummed in reply, a much more toned-down response compared to Ukai, who usually accompanied him to the scene.

“Tobio-chan?”, a voice called and Tobio looked up to find Oikawa who was slowly nearing him with his hands behind his back.

“Hey.”, he greeted, looking to his partner for any sign of emotion but he, to his credit, looked entirely unaffected.

“Who’s this?”, he asked, tilting his towards Kuguri.

“Naoyasu Kuguri. He’s a journalist.”

He nodded in greeting and Oikawa shot him one of his dazzling smiles in return.

“It's nice to meet you, Nao-chan!”, he chirped, waving one hand, the other still hidden.

His lips tugged down into a frown, clearly unamused by the name, “Kageyama, we have to get going.”

“Wait, can you stay a few minutes?”, Oikawa interrupted, a frantic look on his face.

Kuguri looked between the two of them for a second, before he nodded, “I’ll be waiting for you in the van then.”

Tobio muttered a, “thanks.”, at him, turning back to look at Oikawa’s (blushing?) face.

He clasped his eyes shut for a brief moment and pulled out the hand he was hiding their entire conversation to reveal a bouquet of purple flowers.

“They’re wisteria.”, he stammered out, “I just- saw them when I was flying and thought I should get some for you.”

Tobio stared at them, awestricken, for a solid thirty seconds before he reached out for them, their skin touching as he took hold of the flowers.

“Thank you.”, he said, letting one hand graze the soft petals, “They’re beautiful.”

A small smile blossomed on his face, and it seemed to make Oikawa happy because his anxious expression morphed into one of genuine happiness and Tobio had a hard time deciding which was more beautiful, The bouquet or the man in front of him.

(It was Oikawa, it always is.)

“It’s not a big deal.”, he shrugged, “But, I think you have to leave now.”

He looked back to see Kuguri leaning against their van, and he nodded, “Bye, Oikawa.”

“Bye, Tobio-chan!”, he said, lifting his feet off the ground and before he knew it up, he was high up in the air.

He walked back to the van, still in disbelief over what had happened when his companion raised an eyebrow at him, prompting a, “Shut up.”, from him.

(He still has those flowers, their dry petals pressed between the pages of a book he’s never read, and sometimes, if he holds them long enough, he can feel his soft skin and bright smile.)

“Are you ready?”, Oikawa asks, tightening his grip around his hand.

“Yeah.”, Tobio lets out a deep breath, “Just a little nervous.”

He looks through the glass doors at the front desk and pushes open them open with his hand that’s not engaged.

His boyfriend takes the lead, smiling his dazzling grin at the receptionist as he asks, “I’m Oikawa Tooru. I was told to be here at 3?”

The woman adjusts her glasses, typing something before she smiles back, “Yeah, I’ve got your name right here. Just go through that hallway there.”, she points to her right.

“Thank you!”, he calls cheerfully, waving at her as he pulls Tobio along in the direction.

The nervousness dissipates from his body when Tooru turns to look at him, pure happiness more than evident on his face, and excitement takes its place.

“I can’t believe this is finally happening.”, he says, skidding to a stop to wrap his hands around his neck in the middle of the hallway, “We’re actually getting a dog.”

They’d been preparing for this for over three years, starting off with numerous houseplants that required extensive care and eventually progressing to taking care of Iwaizumi’s dog whenever they could.

Today marks one month since they’d started visiting the shelter, looking for their perfect fit, as in an animal who would not hate Tobio with a burning passion and Toro had been exactly that.
He hadn’t been very friendly at first, he’d cowered from everyone’s touch, whimpering at the sight of a person.

But he’d eventually warmed up, getting so comfortable that he’d frequently fall asleep on either of their laps (Tobio had cried the first time that had happened, earning him very questionable looks from everyone else in the shelter).

So here they are, ready to officially invite Toro into their home.

“We are.”, he responds, his arms loosely curled across his waist.

He pulls away, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek before grasping his hand and pulling him along once again.

As soon as they open the door, a small Shiba inu rushes to them, rubbing his head against Tooru’s calf.

“Hey Toro!”, he coos, reaching down to rub him behind his ear.

Narumi jogs to them, waving, “Hey! Are you excited?”

“Of course!”, Tooru says, returning her cheerful smile, “Is everything ready?”

“Yep!”, she stuffs her hands into her pockets, pulling out a long string, “Here’s his leash.”

Tobio accepts it, bowing in thanks and bends down to hook it onto his collar, “Let’s go.”

“Thank you for everything, Narumi-chan!”, he says, standing up.

“No problem! I’m sure you’ll take really good care of him.”, she pats him on the back.

Tooru pulls open the door, and Tobio spots his finger bouncing up and down at his side, an excited habit of his that he’d picked up on early in their relationship.

“He’s ours.”, he mutters when they’re walking out, “He’s actually ours.”

Tobio hums in response, picking Toro up once they near their car and he gets into the passenger seat.

He straps himself in, making sure to be careful with the small dog on his lap.

“Ready?”, he asks, his hands on the steering wheel.

“Yeah.”, he responds, holding Toro close to him, “Can I open the window?”

“No.”, he says immediately, “It’s way too cold.”

“No, it’s not!”, the car begins to move, “You just get cold too easily.”

Toro’s tongue hangs out from his mouth, and he jumps up slightly at the sudden movement.

“Or maybe you get hot too easily. Have you considered that?”, he says, turning his head for a short second to make a face at him.

“Are you really going to do this in front of Toro?”, Tobio points at the bundle of fur in his lap.

“He’s living with us from now on, he’s going to see much more than this.”, he takes a soft turn, and groans when he’s met with the sight of numerous cars blocking the road.

“We’re going to be here a while.”, Tooru says, and reaches over to pet him with one hand, “I hope he doesn’t get hungry.”

“I’ve got that covered.”, he sticks his arm into the pocket of his coat to brandish a few treats and his boyfriend laughs when he sees it.

“We are going to be such good dog parents.”, he bends over and presses a kiss to the corner of Tobio’s mouth.

“What do you mean ‘we’? I’m the one who brought these.”, he counters, feeding one to Toro.

“Yeah, and I know how to drive.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because without me, you would have to walk him to his vet appointments.”

“You know I could have learned to drive, right?”

“Your three failed driving tests beg to differ.”

“You’re such an asshole.”, Tobio complains, throwing a dog treat at him.

“Maybe so.”, it lands in his lap, and he simply tosses it to Toro who catches it with his mouth, “But you love this asshole so what does that say about you.”

“That I’m an idiot?”, he stops petting him to reach for Tooru’s hand which rests between their seats.

Holding hands has always been Tobio's favourite form of affection. Once he had caught onto this, he’d been more than willing to facilitate it, not without a fair amount of teasing though.

“I didn’t say it, you did.”, he sings, gently interlocking his fingers with his.

Tooru’s hands are slightly larger than his, and much rougher, with callouses and scars all over, a product of his years spent lifting up trucks and fighting.

But in moments like these, it’s easy to forget that. It’s easy to think that the only concern in their life is whether their new dog will like the bed they bought for him or not, and not the looming threat of death.

Yet Tobio would choose this life every time, no matter the consequences and repercussions.

Tooru brings up their intertwined hands to press a kiss to his hand, his eyes still on the road, and everything but soft fur and soft lips melt away.