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Oikawa Tooru walked into the Aobajosai gym, late, for their practice match with Karasuno. He didn’t originally plan to be late, not really, he wanted to see his old kouhai in action, but he’d been caught by the school counselor who had grilled him for twenty minutes about his future academic prospects. His prospects were just fine, thank you very much. If volleyball didn’t work out, which it absolutely would, he told himself, he was still an admirable student, and he could attend pretty much any University in the country.
When he entered the gym he didn’t look at the opposing team. He needed to make his entrance first, and his plan did not include gawking at Kageyama’s annoyingly perfect sets. He strode across the wood floor with his head high and his eyes straight ahead. He could feel eyes on him and that was exactly what he wanted. A good entrance could have as much of an effect on morale as a rousing speech and morale control was one of Oikawa’s talents.
Only once he spoke with his coach and was told to warm up did he look at Karasuno. His eyes first found Kageyama. He was taller than the last time Oikawa had seen him in middle school, and he looked angrier, too. Good, he thought, he should be angry. His sets did still seem technically perfect, routine, slightly better than ordinary but not quite anything special. The rest of the team seemed adequate. There was a tall, blonde middle blocker who he didn’t recognize but he pegged for a first year by his poor receiving skills, and the other middle blocker… wait.
Oikawa stared. The boy was short, the shortest person on the court by quite a few centimeters but that isn’t what stood out. It was Hinata. Hinata, the hyperactive boy Oikawa had grown up with. They had spent their early childhood climbing trees and making mud pies together and Oikawa hadn’t seen him in about 10 years. He knew it was him, though, with every fiber of his being. That was definitely Shouyou.
He watched the boy jump, higher than he had any right to be able to, and then the ball was there, against his palm and smacking to the floor for a point. He tried not to let the shock show on his face. Hinata’s eyes had been closed.
When he was warmed up and entered the game it wasn’t enough to catch up and the set ended 25 to 23, Karasuno’s victory. He caught up with Shouyou on the way to their bus.
“Hinata!” He called, half jogging towards him. He turned and his eyes lit up. Hinata had obviously seen him on the court, but he seemed surprised Oikawa would seek him out, if the look on his face was any indication. Kageyama was next to him, glaring forcefully in Oikawa’s direction.
“Hello, Tobio-chan, can I speak to Shouyou alone, please?” He smiled in the face of Kageyama’s glare until he turned and stalked towards the bus with the rest of the team. Hinata stayed.
“Oikawa-san! It’s been so long!” Hinata chirped, bouncing on his heels.
“-san? We’re still friends, aren’t we? I was always Tooru before, Shouyou.” He kept up his smile, despite the wrenching feeling in his chest upon hearing the formal way he had been addressed.
“Oh! Yeah, of course, I was just… surprised, I guess! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Hinata was still smiling, completely guilelessly, in a way that only Hinata could. He was.... handsome, Oikawa noticed. His wild hair had calmed some since he was a kid, he was still short but not too short, and his smile- Oikawa nearly shivered under the scrutiny of that smile.
He realized they’d been standing in silence while Oikawa watched him.
“So, you know Tobio-chan, do you?” He offered.
“Kageyama? Er, yeah, I guess.” He looked grumpy suddenly and Oikawa wondered if his former classmate had been mean to Hinata. His fists clenched at his sides. “Wait, how do you know him?”
“Same middle school. He’s my old kouhai. My charming personality didn’t rub off on him, unfortunately.” They both laughed. Oikawa hadn’t been around someone who genuinely laughed at his overly cocky jests in years. Iwaizumi was a good friend, but he wasn’t a particularly humorous person.
“Hinata!” They both heard a voice call. It was his captain, leaning his head out of a bus window. “We’re leaving!”
“Sorry! Tooru, it was really good to see you but I have to go!” He turned and began to run towards the bus.
“Wait, Shouyou, what’s your phone number?” Oikawa called after him. He knew it sounded desperate and not cute at all but he couldn’t lose Hinata again so quickly. Shouyou turned his head, still jogging towards the bus, and yelled out his number. Oikawa frantically grabbed his phone and typed it in, praying that he heard everything right.
That night as he crawled into bed he pulled out his phone and started a new message.
[Hello, Shouyou? It’s Oikawa, hopefully I heard your number right or this will be awkward.]
It wasn’t too late, just after 9PM, even so he was slightly worried he wouldn’t get a response. A minute later his phone dinged with a new message.
[Tooru! I was afraid you wouldn’t text!]
Oikawa’s stomach flipped. He was afraid that he wouldn’t text. He wanted to talk to him. He felt himself smile as he read the message again.
[Of course I texted.]
He sent it without adding more. He wasn’t sure what he really wanted to say to Hinata except that he wanted to talk to him desperately. Hinata replied.
[Do you want to get lunch this weekend? I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind driving me, or you could come here, either way, we should catch up!]
Oikawa hugged his phone to his chest and kicked his feet excitedly. Hinata wanted to see him! He couldn’t believe his luck. When he caught his breath he finally texted back.
[Yes! I can come there! Saturday? We have morning practice but afterwards I’ll text you?]
He knew he sounded too excited but he couldn’t help it. Each time he retyped the text it ended up sounding more and more ridiculous. Hinata replied and they finalized their plans in a few more texts.
[Goodnight, Tooru. See you Saturday.]
[Goodnight, Shouyou.]
Oikawa didn’t calm down enough to get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning.
The rest of the week passed much the same as normal: practice and school and more practice. He ate his lunches with Iwaizumi, he made pleasant small talk with the few girls who confessed to him, and he thought, a lot, about Shouyou.
Saturday’s morning practice was a mess. He got smacked in the head at least a dozen times by Iwaizumi for not focusing, and another half dozen by balls that he missed while trying to receive. Half way through Iwaizumi pulled him to the side of the gym.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He grumbled. Oikawa was surprised at how concerned he sounded.
“Nothing, Iwa-chan, I’m fine, just haven’t been sleeping well.” He lied.
“Don’t lie to me, Assikawa, you’re distracted. And you never sleep so that’s not anything new. Is this about Karasuno beating us? You know that was just a stupid practice game.”
“It’s not about that. We would have won if I had played. Really, I’m fine. I promise, Iwa-chan. I’m happy. Everything is right with the world. Absolutely fabulous.” He was only half joking. He had been distracted, it was true, but it was supreme happiness that was distracting him. Iwaizumi didn’t know how close he was to the mark when he mentioned Karasuno.
“Okay, well, I don’t believe you, but please focus for the rest of practice?” Iwaizumi let go of his arm and walked back into the center of the gym.
Oikawa tried his best to stay focused, for Iwaizumi and the team’s sake. He still missed a few receives that were well within his ability to get, but at least he didn’t get hit in the head any more.
The moment their coach released them he was out the door in a flash. He threw a wave to Iwaizumi as he passed and yelled “Gotta go!” before running out of sight. He wanted to get home and take a shower before heading to Karasuno to meet Hinata.
A few hours and 20 minutes mussing his hair in the mirror later he was outside a small ramen shop in Karasuno, waiting for Hinata.
“Tooru!” He heard a voice call and he turned to see Hinata jumping up and down, having just stepped out of a car. When Oikawa saw him he turned back and waved to the woman in the car, presumably his mother, before running full speed towards where Oikawa stood.
“Shouyou, you’re late!” Oikawa scolded gently.
Hinata laughed. “I know! Mom had to go to the grocery store and then pick up Natsu from a friend’s house before she could bring me here! I tried to rush I promise!”
“Natsu?” It sounded like Hinata had a sibling, or a very social pet.
“Oh yeah! You don’t know Natsu. She’s my sister, she’s 6 and really annoying but she’s really great too.” He smiled and Oikawa could see how good of a big brother he must be. “Kageyama met her and she ran away from him. Took her two hours to come back and give him another chance, it was hilarious.”
“Tobio-chan has been known to scare children with that scowl of his.” Oikawa laughed softly. He tried frantically to suppress the niggling jealousy in his gut. Kageyama had been to Hinata’s house, had met his sister, was there for more than two hours. He tried to tell himself it was a team function. Yes, some reason the whole team was there. Something platonic and friendly and normal.
They entered the restaurant and took a seat near the front. Hinata’s hair glowed in the sunlight that filtered through the windows. They talked about many things: their childhood together, middle school, high school, all their time apart. Oikawa told him about how grumpy Iwaizumi had gotten and about his cat that still brought him dead mice at least once a week, despite being 12 years old.
In turn Hinata told him everything about his life. He talked for ages about Natsu, every cute and annoying thing she did. To Oikawa’s ears she sounded just like a clone of Hinata at her age: hyper and bright and funny. He talked about getting into volleyball, and his years of trying to put a team together in middle school. Oikawa could hear how determined he was to be the best he could at volleyball. He knew that feeling, intimately, the struggle to overcome the odds, to be the best.
He talked about Karasuno, too. He seemed to love the whole team. He talked about a couple members with irritation, Tsukishima, who Oikawa figured out was the tall middle blocker, and Kageyama, who he spoke of as a rival. He spoke more about Kageyama, detailing every annoying or mean thing he did, but, when pressed, he also talked about how it felt to spike a toss from him.
Oikawa watched his eyes light up with a mixture of awe and revulsion. He wanted to make Hinata feel that way, to see that look in his eyes, and he did not want Kageyama to have that pleasure. Kageyama didn’t deserve Hinata, he told himself. And he tried to silence the thoughts that told him that geniuses deserve other geniuses and Oikawa could never compete.
Hinata didn’t notice the change in Oikawa’s mood. He continued his upbeat chatter until they’d both finished their meals and stepped outside again.
It was getting later in the afternoon now and the sun was hot on his skin.
“So,” Hinata started, pushing his hair off his forehead to wipe away quickly accumulated sweat, “this was really fun.”
“Yeah it was, we should do it again sometime.” Oikawa was trying to focus, to not be distracted by the heat-flush on Hinata’s cheeks. Something was welling up inside him that he didn’t think he would be able to suppress for much longer.
When Hinata opened his mouth to speak Oikawa lunged forward suddenly and pressed his lips against Hinata’s. His mouth clamped shut in surprise but his lips were soft and his shoulder under Oikawa’s hand was hard and slightly damp through his tshirt. Too quickly Hinata pulled away.
“Tooru-- um, I--” Hinata sputtered. Oikawa now recognized the look on his face, he was surprised, which was expected, but he also wasn’t as happy as he’d been seconds before.
“Oh, my god, Shouyou I’m sorry.” He said, stepping farther away and running his hands through his hair. “I didn’t mean it. Well, shit, I did mean it but I’m still sorry. I read the situation wrong.” He continued quietly cursing under his breath, facing away from Hinata.
“It’s okay.” Hinata said quietly and Oikawa turned to face him, his eyes wide with hope. “I mean, it was, unexpected but I’m not mad at you. I just--”
Oikawa’s expression dropped and he felt his stomach tie in knots. Here it was.
“I just--” Hinata continued, “don’t like you in that way, Tooru. And, um, it’s not because you’re a boy, it’s just because we’re friends and thats all I feel. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Hinata was still speaking quietly, looking down and not meeting Oikawa’s eyes.
He wanted to hold him. He looked so sad and Oikawa knew it was some level of compassion for him that made Hinata feel that way. He wanted to hold him but he couldn’t let himself. His intentions weren’t entirely pure.
“Stop apologizing, Shouyou, this isn’t… This isn’t your fault. It’s my problem, and I’ll,” he hesitated, what would he do? “I’ll get over it. Can we be friends? Actual friends with no ulterior motives?” He tried to keep the desperation from his voice, masking it with hopefulness.
When Hinata nodded he wanted to jump for joy. He hadn’t ruined everything, they could be friends. They would be friends, again, like they were when they were kids.
“It was good to see you, Shouyou, I’m sorry again, I have to get back home.” He turned and walked a few paces away before turning back again. Hinata still stood in the same place, eyes on the sidewalk, his hands twisted together in worry. “Good bye.” Oikawa called out, before walking away towards the bus stop. Goodbye, he thought again, to himself this time.