Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Iwaizumi-san, would you please help the newbie in training? His first shift should be today, in about an hour or so. I'm sorry to put this on you so suddenly, my kid is feeling really ill and I need to take them from school. As a senior barista, I think you would be the best for the role." He looked Iwaizumi in the eye. "Would you be okay with that? Of course, not for free." 

Iwaizumi's manager, who also owned the coffee shop, rushed around the desk in their small office, backing a small backpack and only ever occasionally looking up. 

"Yeah, I should be able to. Anything specific I should go over?" 

“Just how to deal with customers, use the coffee machine, all the main bits and bobs. He is going to be a barista just like you, so you probably know all the responsibilities and intricacies better than I do.'' The manager finished packing his bag, scribbled something on a small piece of paper, and rushed with a bag in one hand to the opposite side of the room where Iwaizumi stood. He held out the piece of paper with a name written on it. "The new person's name is Oikawa, you are going to know who I am talking about as soon as you see him.” He nodded. “I need to rush, I’m so sorry! When closing you leave the keys in the mailbox, I have spares if anything. Thank you so much again." 

"No problem. Good luck.” Iwaizumi followed the manager with his gaze as the latter ran towards the door and went outside. He then read what the paper said and hummed. "Oikawa Tooru. Interesting." 

Not having much time to dwell on that, he left the paper on the counter where he knew he would see it later and continued serving as the new customers arrived.

That was, until he saw a particularly out of place red-haired person among the crowd. He tilted his head as he looked at him, idly noticing his hair looked like it was dyed. The man looked confident as he stared intensely over the counter, despite the fact he was standing in a very awkward spot.

Something told Iwaizumi it was going to be an interesting person, to say the least.

After serving the last customer in the queue—which luckily didn't take long—he moved past the counter towards the person with (bright, dyed) red hair, leaving the note with the name on it behind. What did it even say? Ai, Oi... Oiyama?

"Hello, my name is Oikawa Tooru,” the stranger said, “I was told to come to work today and to receive my training. " He smiled.

"Yes, hi, yes. The manager needed to run away, some urgent stuff, so I am the one that’s gonna give you training." Iwaizumi nodded, recounting everything in his head. "It might be a bit haphazard because I will need to serve the customers for some more time as well, but you know this happens in a place this small. All good?” Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa and smiled softly. “I really like your hair, by the way." 

"Thank you. Understood, senpai-san...?" Oikawa smiled back and then changed his expression to more of a concern, calling out to Iwaizumi as he followed along, trying to catch more of his attention. 

"Ah right, my bad. Iwaizumi Hajime.” He pointed towards the side with his chin. “Follow me, I will give you the uniform, you can change in this common room of sorts.” 

"Of sorts?" Oikawa's words had a lot of genuineness but there was some sort of skepticism to it that could easily be brushed off as a joke, if not for the suspicion with which he followed Iwaizumi inside the room.

"Yeah. There isn’t a lot of stuff because of how small we are, so we don't really need to meet up in this place.” He shrugged. “We mainly have meetings in the owner's office, but this is the area where we go to change, or to put stuff away, or to rest when we have a break. You can assign yourself an unoccupied locker and—" Iwaizumi took out the new clean uniform from a big box, with a sticky note that said 'Oikawa' on it, and from a smaller box nearby he took a badge with a blank piece of paper— "here you go. You can change in here, write what you would like to be called on the badge and come back to the counter. I will show the rest. I really need to see if there is anybody else to serve, so see you in a moment." 

And Iwaizumi evaporated from there so fast he barely heard Oikawa shout, "thank you!" in return. Not avoiding the newbie, but just not wanting to keep people waiting on a particularly busy day, he returned to his post and actually did find a customer moving to the counter. He took the orders and as he filled it up, Oikawa popped out of the STAFF ONLY room.

"All good? Now. Let's go with the basics. Most of the drink recipes are here—" Iwaizumi pointed at the counter, just where the customers couldn't see— "in case you ever forget any. The coffee machine here is where we get most of the caffeinated or any other coffee-related drinks. We can mix espresso to milk and water by non-standard properties but only if asked by the customers. The buttons are self-explanatory really but if you restart it make sure that the sugar and milk are zero. It is easier to add than to remove. Moving on to the other parts, the tea bags are in the boxes, every one of them has its own spoon or tea bag, do not mix them up. The ice is always next to the sink in case of anything, divided by different sizes. If you are running out of any you should—" 

"Errr, Iwaizumi-senpai...?" Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow, locking his eyes on Oikawa. Heinterrupted Iwaizumi, with each letter making himself just a little louder - "I think something is wrong with the coffee machine." 

"What about it?" Iwaizumi's eyes went to the machine, which flared red once and turned off. "Right... Did you do anything to it?" He frowned.

"No, not to the best of my knowledge." Oikawa sheepishly stood behind Iwaizumi, hiding either from him or the coffee machine, with none of his previous confidence left. 

"Okay. Interesting... "

Iwaizumi went to the machine, checking if the plug was in the socket. He took out the grinded and used part of the coffee (and trashed it, because he might as well). Then, he checked the section with unused coffee, which, again, was doing perfectly fine and had enough grains in it. He shook his head and looked around again. 

As the next customer arrived, he started getting more anxious and with a short, "my apologies, we will serve you in a moment," he looked at the table again in case there were any spills that could have gone inside. When he moved the machine, he noticed that the cable was not plugged in properly and slipped out. Exhaling in relief, he slipped it back in and the machine happily beeped. Iwaizumi, though still stressed, went to the customer. 

"Sorry for the wait. What can I get you?" he said, the standard procedure of greeting, with a small apologetic smile on his face. 

"Err, yes, no problem. Can I have some Caramel Chocolate Wonder, with double chocolate? Large cup." The customer smiled back. 

"Of course. With or without coffee?" Iwaizumi replied, writing details on the cup and eyeing Oikawa to make sure that he listened, which, to his credit, he did, attentively.

"Without, please.”

"Gotcha. Will be with you in a moment. It will be 2.50. Here you go." Iwaizumi pinned the numbers to the ATM and raised it to the customer. "You can wait at the tables or at the dispense side of the counter." 

"Thank you."

"Now. Look at what I do, alright?” he said, looking back at Oikawa as he went back from the counter. “Next time, I want you to try to make the drink yourself. I don’t expect you to know it, so look at the recipes and I will tell you what to do if anything.’’

"Understood."

"Good.’’ Iwaizumi nodded, clasping his hands together. “So. Caramel Chocolate Wonder. From the recipe, the first thing would be small-sized ice, which is normally on this side..." 

Iwaizumi led Oikawa back again to the side where he had been interrupted, explaining the whole procedure while Oikawa followed him around and nodded along. Iwaizumi could swear that it felt like Oikawa was noting everything in a tiny, invisible book. 

" ... All crystal clear?" Iwaizumi asked Oikawa after finishing and serving the customer their drink." 

"Yes, amorphous clear.” He nodded with a smirk.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. 

"Then the next drink is on you. Normally we also clean the counter when we don't have customers, good hygiene and stuff. Alright?" Iwaizumi looked at him expectantly.

"Oki doki, I think I can manage it."

…

For the next two days, Iwaizumi ended up catching Oikawa almost misplacing a spoon or almost dropping the cup far too often—thankfully an empty one at that. He did apologise for it and Iwaizumi didn’t take those mistakes too seriously, given how anxious and serious he looked, trying to do everything right. 

On the third day, however, Iwaizumi sensed more progress; he didn't feel like he corrected Oikawa as much. In fact, he was almost able to do most of the recipes and drinks by himself, with some minor comments on more specialised drinks that required more attention from Iwaizumi. 

***

“Hey, I’ve noticed you’ve been working with books sometimes during the shifts.” Iwaizumi said, which made Oikawa jump and turn towards him. Iwaizumi leaned to the counter where just a second ago Oikawa was half-standing with some big books, highlighting things with pencil and doing some notes on the stickers. “Don’t worry, I am not going to tell on you.”

“Yeah, I… yeah. I have a lot of stuff to get on to, the uni assigned way too many projects and group works and, yeah.” Oikawa fully straightened and sighed, before he looked at the ceiling with a smirk. “Sometimes I wish a day was longer than 24 hours. What would you like to order?” Oikawa switched from their conversation to the customer in a heartbeat, so abruptly that Iwaizumi didn’t realise what happened for a second or two. As soon as he did, though, he rushed to help, taking the cup from Oikawa and filling it with the respective drink.

After about 8 drinks and attending 5 customers, the queue was empty again and Iwaizumi spotted Oikawa with the book again, this time writing notes much faster and in an even more uncomfortable position, crouching over it.

“So, you are a uni student? How come you work at a coffee shop?” Iwaizumi tried to spark conversation again since it didn't look like any customer would come soon.

“Yeah, I am. I just—’’ Oikawa paused his scribbling in the middle of the word and looked down, before he shook his head, finished the word, and straightened up. “I needed some extra money, I guess. Not a big special case, really. My parents usually were able to fund me, but I don't want to rely on them so much anymore because I will need to be independent one day and stuff, so I thought a small side job might be useful. Plus, this is a really nice place and location.”

“Yeah, I get you. I chose to work here for a similar reason, really. Started working in my first year and since most people either start side-job hunting later or graduate, I kinda became a senior. But honestly, besides just working here for 3 years I am not sure I deserve the title.” Iwaizumi smirked and leaned on one of his legs.

Oikawa turned his shocked gaze to Iwaizumi, looking from his face to his badge and to and fro, obviously wanting to speak up with the way his eyes were rounder than the cups they served tea in and his mouth was shut, air barely able to come out. Because, for some reason, Iwaizumi being a uni student never occurred to Oikawa, as obvious as it was.

Oikawa cleared his throat. “You are a uni student too?” he finally managed to say.

“Yep. 4th year and all that jazz. I guess I forgot to properly introduce myself, sorry about that. Let me try again. My name is Iwaizumi Hajime, 23 years old, I am a 4th year of my education in,’’ Iwaizumi gestured at the general direction where the main campus was, “our university and I’m currently in my master’s course and really, really heavily struggling to choose my research project topic because I can’t decide on one.’’

He halted, thinking he had been rambling. He took a look at Oikawa, who was looking at him attentively. It made him want to keep talking.

“Uh… My grades are not the best, so don’t expect me to recite everything on my course, but I’m not bad either, since, you know, I am studying for my masters.’’ He chuckled. “I’m working here because I was working at home before and it was more like continuing a habit, plus the income which is always nice. Nice to meet you.” Iwaizumi did a small bow of introduction, smirking. 

“Oh.” Oikawa first stood a little bit shocked, but then he laughed a little and smiled back. “So I guess you are my senpai in everything. My name is Tooru Oikawa, 22 years old, a 3rd year, and a student rep. I’m not sure if I‘m the best in the class but I definitely can tell you which of my coursemates are struggling with presentations and which would rather write three 10,000 word essays than one exam and I consider myself one of the latter.’’ 

Oikawa waggled his eyebrows as he looked at him. It made Iwaizumi snort. 

“I’m technically right now, or was, doing some research for my project but it just happened to be a related topic to one of the group work things we are doing—two orders at the same time, if there is such a thing as barista slang. I’m not currently in a masters’ program but I think I would like to do a Ph.D. one day. Dr. Oikawa has a nice ring to it.” Oikawa said the last part dreamingly, as if savouring the words on his tongue and looking visibly happy with himself. 

“I really don't think there is such slang in the barista world, at least not that I’ve heard of.” Iwaizumi laughed at Oikawa’s new idiom. “How come you would rather write 10,000-word essays instead of an exam? I don’t really like either of them but not to this extent.” A chuckle left his mouth.

“Because, like. I mean, I might have exaggerated with 3 essays but definitely 1 or 2. Because like…’’ Oikawa clicked his tongue. “When you write an essay, you can always come back to it, there is always an infinite amount of drafts and the infinite amount of times you can go back to it, polish it, find some bits that stick out too much or that are misplaced or change the structure, or add some important information. There’s always a structure to it, you start with the introduction, do the main part, do the conclusion and bibliography, if it's a research project.’’ 

Oikawa stood up and gestured around. Iwaizumi nodded along, which made Oikawa take a deep breath and keep talking.

“With an exam, you go there, you have about 2 hours, sometimes less than that, and you can never come back, you can never revise enough for it. If you make a mistake, that's it. You can’t change it anymore…'' Oikawa’s voice became a little bit quieter as the last sentence escaped his mouth, and he stood there looking but not really seeing in front of him for a second or two, but snapped back on with a head shake and looked back at Iwaizumi after a second with a short smile. “So yeah, exams are not my favourite thing. Plus, come on, it's not like when we are going to work in real life they are going to stop us from looking stuff up. I think they will actively want us to look the stuff up because if a person says that they remember all the information they tell you, you would be cautious around them.”

“I know right! I never really understood the system like this but I guess it's not really something I can improve on.'' Iwaizumi shrugged. “Gotta deal with what we have I guess. I know for sure that I would not like to write many more 10,000 word essays than is necessary. They are just kinda… a big thing, a lot of stuff to think about.”

“Said you, a person who decided to do a masters.’’ Oikawa arched his brow. “That's literally doing at least two 10,000 words essays and most likely on different topics too.”

“Yeaaah, I know, yeah. I don’t have an excuse.” Iwaizumi lifted up his hands, as if in defeat and shrugged. “I was suggested to do a master’s because why not? So I applied and got in and now I’m studying. I guess.” 

“Okay. You do you, I guess. To be fair, I can’t really judge you, because I managed to get stuck in way too many essays and reports to write, but still, you are a very interesting person, aren’t you?” Oikawa smirked at Iwaizumi before noticing some people arriving at the counter. He quickly took over to serve them under Iwaizumi’s jurisdiction.

“Indeed I am interested,” Iwaizumi whispered to Oikawa so that the customer wouldn’t hear while they served the other customer and prepared their drink. Luckily, this line was over soon, because at this time of the day most of the people either already got their drink, didn’t want their drink, or were not out of lectures yet. Iwaizumi and Oikawa’s lectures just luckily and coincidentally ended early on that day.

“I swear to god, whenever I’m trying to find that caramel it is always not in the right place and it is not my fault!” Oikawa exclaimed after he served his drink with a delay and intervention from Iwaizumi, who actually found said caramel bottle. 

“I really don’t know why you are struggling with it so much, it’s literally always either on the customer counter or on the other side.” Iwaizumi shrugged as he put the caramel on the other counter next to the hazelnut syrup and looked down at his hand watch. “By the way, it is your break time right now. You can take your book and go rest a little in the common room. I feel like you might need it. We will switch at some point and I will have my break after you, alright?”

“Thanks, senpaaai.” Oikawa, puffing his cheeks and pressing his fingers in a v-shape to his cheeks. He then grabbed the book and rushed through the STAFF ONLY door. “See you soon!”

“Yeah yeah. Just don't forget to actually take a break and not only just read,” Iwaizumi said in pursuit, but then ended up shaking his head with a smirk. 

This guy . 

…

Looking at how there were no customers, Iwaizumi let his thoughts wander off and he wondered if that guy would actually try to rest. Thinking about himself and how it was for him (in his last year) and how weird it was, to say the least, to decide on a project and start writing it. Also, it all cost so many credits and was so nerve-wracking, he didn’t have the time of his life for at least the first few months until it started snowing. And with the snow came the home tradition of hot chocolate and home-cooking, and that memory brought back the warmth in his hands despite how cold his cheeks and his legs feel, and the laughter outside, the lights, and all those smells that surround you. It made Iwaizumi smile to himself. 

He went off his duty and started making the drink that was never ordered by anybody but that he thought—hoped—would be a good idea anyway. Eyeing the room again, he only saw the sitting customers and about nobody nearby the building, as far as he looked out of the windows. He kept moving and he didn’t really realise when he entered the common room—

“Hey. I made you a drink. I don’t know if you like hot chocolate, but here.’’ He offered Tooru a cup. “Have some and try to rest a little. Sometimes doing that is more productive than working.” 

Oikawa jerked from the book, snapping out of his deep concentration and nodding as Iwaizumi spoke. He looked around to see if there was anything to grab the cup with, in case it was too hot (despite being possible to take the cup using the bottom plate). Not finding a better option, he put his sleeves over his hands and cupped the cup- He put it on the table, thanking Iwaizumi for it.

Iwaizumi sat opposite Oikawa, holding his own cup of hot chocolate, first blowing on it to cool down, and then carefully sipping it with eyes closed.

Oikawa looked at him, then looked at the book and the cup, before he finally brought the cup to his lips. The drink had already managed to cool down a little (or maybe it wasn't burning hot in the first place), he noticed as he tasted it. Oikawa always liked hot chocolate, it was after all a sign of a celebration, or a happy drink they made in his family, during the New Year, or birthday, or when he got accepted to his school and then his uni of choice, when he received his grades, and very, very rarely, when the days were very sad. But this hot chocolate… The chocolate Iwaizumi prepared for him tasted a lot better than any he ever tried. 

“What? Is it that bad?” Iwaizumi laughed a little. Oikawa just made a really confused and concerned face at him and carefully shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’m teasing you. Your face looked really serious when you tasted it, so I wondered if it’s not to your liking.” 

“Oh no, not at all. It's actually one of the best ones I ever tried. It's just—’’ Oikawa’s gaze went a little more down to the floor and his voice went somewhere there too. “I didn’t really drink any good, or any non-instant hot chocolate at all since I came here. This reminded me of family and now I feel a little nostalgic. Just in case, I do blame you for this.”

Oikawa’s voice went higher at the end, seeming more energetic, as he pointed fingers at Iwaizumi. It made Iwaizumi laugh. 

“To be fair, that's a good thing to take the blame for, so I guess I don't really mind.“ Iwaizumi leaned forward against the table and Oikawa looked down on his cup and stirred the spoon in it. “My family does special food events too. Like, every Christmas, or at birthdays, or any special days in general, really, we have some sort of special food that we don't really eat on any other occasion and hot chocolate is one of those, at least this one. Nothing can really stop you from going to the store and buying some hot chocolate powder or getting one at the vending machine, but it really isn’t the same drink and we weren’t taught how to do this until mum deemed us responsible enough for this. Us is me and my sister.” 

“Responsible enough,’’ Oikawa hummed, “You sound like she only taught you how to make it last year.”

“Thanks,’’ Iwaizumi chuckled, “But no, she taught me that before uni, somewhere in the middle of my college when I was struggling a lot with all the assignments and coursework and stuff. I think it did manage to set my mind on the studies, which was nice for a change.” 

“Sounds good. I wouldn’t think that the process of making hot chocolate is a very complicated one. To be fair, I came here, as in, this coffee shop, in the first place because I thought it wouldn't be too complicated to make the drinks and it doesn’t require too much physical labour. So kinda, like a place where the brain can more or less rest. I did fail a little bit on that one, but it has nothing to do with the job, just like, my things.”

“That happens.’’ Iwaizumi nodded. “Something similar happened to me too. I was not a bad student, but not the best either, and that inability to get better despite all I could do just made me think that I wasn’t trying hard enough and that definitely led to too many sleepless nights, especially in the library. I think there was not a single minute of my day that I didn't spend either studying or feeling guilty from not studying.” Iwaizumi paused for a moment, and then gulped his drink almost entirely before continuing talking. “I no longer do that. I never managed to get to the top and I don’t think studying or getting closer there made me any happier. I still get in that rabbit hole sometimes, but more rarely. But, you know, you’re not always gonna be able to be in control of the situation. Sometimes no matter what you do and how hard you try to prevent it, the things will fail and go askew.’’ He sighed. “However horrible it sounds, it’s a shitty part of life that we live.”

Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa, who was nodding and staring at him, and then Iwaizumi smiled, finished his drink, and stood up, aiming for the exit. 

“I will go to the counter, because I think the manager went back to their office at this point and we should check in from time to time, even if there are not too many people around. See you soon. Enjoy.” 

Iwaizumi left the room and the last thing he saw when exiting was Oikawa leaning back on the sofa and taking a sip.

*** 

"Hypocrite," Iwaizumi said to himself out loud.

He remembered the conversation he had not a while ago, after spending 4 hours in front of the books, notebooks, laptop, and Wikipedia (great place for sources no matter who says what). Out of those 4 hours, he definitely spent at least 2 just rereading his books and trying to clock in what happened and figuring out what the words that he read mean. 

Iwaizumi didn't know why he was doing that. He didn't know at which point checking the class group chat and seeing the exam statistics from last year made him feel like that again: like he didn't do enough and wasn't enough. He didn’t know at which point he decided to go on the study binge to make up for everything, to do everything and to finish the coursework. Deadlines were looming closer and darkening his mind. He wanted to understand and remember everything, and do everything, and do his hobbies and enjoy his student life and—

That spiral hadn’t happened for a while now. And now, since it was triggered again, he was just helplessly sitting in front of his desk way past his sleep time, way past any healthy limit.

1 AM.

2 AM. 

3 AM.

At this point, he decided to take a break, given that no progress was made at all. He stood up, pacing around the room. The words no longer made sense. His eyes hurt a lot. He finally listened to his own advice, drank some water, turned off the lights, and, with a mind full of guilt, he went to sleep.

*** 

The next day, Oikawa wasn't there. 

The manager later called him in the office and congratulated him on a successful training, after which he informed Iwaizumi that now they were mostly going to work at different times since he had done such a good job. At some point, Iwaizumi’s processing unit stopped and only went back on when he was already out of the room, with the bonus he got from the training. He shook it off, hoping that the sudden change wouldn't affect him too much (and that he wouldn't feel too much hypocrisy and guilt over it, mainly). He put the bonus money in his backpack in the common room and went back to the main counter, ready to serve customers.

Iwaizumi managed to actually clock in when he overdid with the ice in the drink and some of it went on his hand. Soon after finishing and giving the caramelised drink to the customer, he was again left alone with his thoughts on the counter. And thoughts did deliver. He felt almost guilty for telling Oikawa to chill and relax while he was never fully able to do so. 

A part-time job was surely a great way to earn additional money and it was definitely the reason he did it and went on with it even before graduation. And it surely had nothing to do with trying to escape pressure or wanting perfectionism and wanting to be the best, and realising how futile it all was, or going through these cycles again and again, some longer than the others. Not at all, Iwaizumi was telling himself. Not even trying to convince himself at this point, he already knew it was a big, big lie.

It sure felt like all of what he said the day before was a lie.

He decided that he was overthinking everything when at some point he even thought he heard Oikawa’s cheery voice, only to look around and see he was alone at the counter as per usual. 

The thoughts became haphazard and not helpful at all, so he decided to ignore them. The thought of what it would feel like to see Oikawa next time, including all the talking they might do, and the thought of the impending essay deadline, were hushed into the background. He was just glad that the deadline was on Monday and he at least had 2 and a half-ish days to get it done. 

***

Somewhere in the middle of the workday, where he technically was supposed to have a break, the flood broke loose and Iwaizumi could swear there never were as many customers. All of the tables in the front room, the side room, and even the tables on the outside that they shared with a neighbouring restaurant were busy. At that point, the manager and owner, stood on post as well and worked along with Iwaizumi. 

When the flow of customers was finally closer to the end, Iwaizumi was just exhausted. The manager went back after it became less stressful and now the only things that were warming Iwaizumi up were the thoughts that there were just about 30 minutes left until the end of his work day, and the hot water for the drinks.

Finally done with the queue of customers, Iwaizumi was cleaning the last cups as the people slowly left. Only three people were left in the seating areas as well. After Iwaizumi finished cleaning the cup in his hand, he looked up again and saw two of the customers had already left, leaving only one figure with a hood on in the shop, actively working on their laptop and with what looked like an empty cup by their side. 

Thinking that the person might be busy with work or university, and that they might need that scarce moment of concentration, Iwaizumi decided to leave them alone until closing time because he still had a few things to finish. He wiped off the surfaces, including some tables, and put the chairs upon them. The person was still typing what seemed like the most intense write-down in the world and single-handedly made the coffee shop sound like a library instead. Iwaizumi was impressed. He didn’t want to disturb the person (although at that point the fact that he could not see the person’s face or hair or any recognisable features was scary).

After everything (and he meant everything , besides that customer's cup) was done and dusted, Iwaizumi stared at a clock which said that it was already like 15 minutes past the closing time and really wanted to go home. 

“Hello, err, excuse me, Mx,” Iwaizumi started, making the person flinch. Iwaizumi was not sure if he should or should not persist but went on. “I am really sorry to bother you, but we are past the closing time and I really need to lock this place.” 

The stranger, still not facing Iwaizumi, stretched his hands forward and leaned his head to the side. He then took off the hood to reveal a bright red coloured hair. 

“Sorry, Iwaizumi-senpai, I got carried away and didn’t notice the time,” he said and pressed a v-sign to his forehead, sticking his tongue out a little. 

Iwaizumi stared at Oikawa. With his eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide open. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Oikawa pressed his hands together and lowered his head with one eye closed. “I have an assignment due soon and I couldn’t concentrate, and this place is normally not too busy so I came here.” 

“So you can’t even focus without me around, since there are so many places around and you chose here!”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Iwaizumi-senpai, we both know that I am the irresistible one here and came to brighten your day with my company.” Oikawa leaned his head down a little, putting it on the dorsal part of his hand and blinking a few times. 

“Oh yes, of course you are irresistible. My foot just can’t resist smacking your ass, Oikawa, what were you thinking about?!” Iwaizumi rushed the last words, crossing his arms. “You, out of all of the people, you… You should know when this place closes and how annoying it is when people stay for too long. I have an assignment due Monday and I was really hoping on at least finding the references for it today!”

“I know, I know, But we both know that you forgive me, Iwaizumi-chan is too nice not to forgive.” Oikawa smiled and leaned his head down a little. 

Iwaizumi just rolled his eyes and took the cup away to the sink.

“Thank you!” Oikawa said cheeringly and started packing up his stuff. 

He then went to the kitchen and grabbed a sponge to wipe the table he was sitting at, after which he put the chair on the table just as Iwaizumi did. 

They finished at about the same time and met again at the entrance. Iwaizumi turned off the lights and closed the door.

“Which way are you going?” Iwaizumi asked as they exited the place. Oikawa pointed a finger somewhere away from the main part of the town. “Same here. Might as well walk together.”

“Do you live far from here?” Oikawa asked as they were walking down the street, many small shops and bushes and already lit lamp posts around.

“Wouldn’t say far away, but a bit of walking yeah. About 20-25 minutes by foot. What about you?”

“Mmmm, I’d say about 5-10 minutes really, so close. My department is on this side of the town and most of the events I visit are nearby too, so it’s a good location for me. A problem could appear if one of my societies does an event on the other side of the campus, but they rarely do so. And if anything, I can just bike.”

“That’s convenient.’’ Iwaizumi hummed. “I would say I’m about the same, although it does take me longer to get here. On the other hand, it's easier to convince myself to get shopping done if I already need to get here.”

“Oh, that is true. I actually might follow your example… Oh no.” Oikawa suddenly stopped and looked up. “Oh noooo!”

“What, what happened?” Iwaizumi looked at Oikawa and then looked around to see what could have caused his reaction.

“Did you feel that? It's starting to rain?”

“Eh?” Iwaizumi stretched out his hand and indeed a droplet or two hit his palm, “It should be okay, it's a small rain. We should hurry, though.”

“Good idea.”

They started to walk faster before the little rain could either significantly and inconveniently wet them or become a big rain and soak them entirely. Unfortunately for them, the latter was becoming true and a lot faster than they thought. They hurried but just as they reached the wall of hedges and bushes that lay on both sides of the road, they felt that it was going to downpour. 

“Is there anywhere we can hide around until it stops?” Iwaizumi almost shouted, trying to reach through the sounds of rain and wind.

“Only at a bus stop, but it’s too small!” Oikawa shouted back, pointing to the bus stop at the corner, the roof of which would barely be able to cover even one person. “My place is nearby, though, let’s wait there. Follow me!”

Without Iwaizumi needing to reply, they both ran to the end of the hedge wall and then immediately to the left and forward again, then turning around the corner again, they finally saw a building that Oikawa ran straight towards. He toggled the keys for a little bit, the only thing preventing him from dropping them being the keychain holding them. At least there was a yawning of some kind, so they only got exposed to the rain sideways. 

“Sorry, it's gonna be dark there. We have regular electrical maintenance and they did not like something in the corridor so they took off the lights, for now,” Oikawa said before he opened the door. 

They entered a small dark hallway, with literally no windows. Iwaizumi saw some green carpets, and some small bookshelves with plants in them, albeit those could be fake, with some fire notices and plants of building evacuation, and a noticeboard crowded with newsletters and posters and other letters. 

When he closed the door behind them it became a lot darker. He struggled to navigate and follow Oikawa from there and was turtling behind until he felt a hand on his that pulled him and he obeyed. After doing another turn, he heard Oikawa say, “stairs” after which he took more caution, but still managed to climb up where there was more light and he could finally see. Iwaizumi took his time to look around, the corridors felt narrow but when he stretched his hand to touch one (on impulse), he couldn't reach it. 

The floors were covered in a mix of blue-ish and green-ish carpets and light-grey walls. Some real plants were placed on the window seals, some drawn plants crawled on the walls. In the far away corridor behind a fire safety door there were another set of stairs. Before he could take it all in, Oikawa pulled him again inside of another door, which led to a smaller corridor. 

“This is my flat. There are 7 doors here, a kitchen and six dorms. My room is, “ Oikawa stretched his hand, pointing to the far right corner of the corridor,” There, the furthest one away. This is the kitchen. Wait for me there, for now. I'll be right back!”

Oikawa finished talking and rushed away to the room he was pointing to just right now, leaving Iwaizumi to go in there and look around. There were massive windows, a counter almost in the middle of the room, two big fridges, and a table on the other side of the cooking part. On the walls, blue tagged anime posters, periodic table poster below which was a whiteboard with magnetic markers attached to it, with the usual “bin rota, shag, burnt food, chunder, puns, birthdays” on the top line and vertically 6 names, including Oikawa’s. Iwaizumi took note of the latter. He couldn’t help but notice that on the chart next to Oikawa’s name the only line that was relatively full was the “puns” chart, compared to 2 marks under “chunder” and not a single “shag”, which was even more pronounced given how for everybody else it was significantly more lined.

At some point, Oikawa clapped him on the back a little and gave him a small towel, removing him from distant thoughts. 

“Here, dry your hair. If your coat or hoodie got wet, you can put them on the radiator.” Oikawa, with a towel on his head, pointed to a place near the big table, just behind the counter-like table. He then pointed to the tall chairs near the tall counter-table. “You can sit here or next to the other table, whichever you prefer.”

“Thanks,” Iwaizumi said, and did as told.

“I can’t really make the hot chocolate like you can, but I can make some decent drinks. So would you like some tea, or coffee, or anything else?”

“Tea, please. And honestly, my hot chocolate is not the ultimate hot chocolate in the world,“ Iwaizumi smiled, slightly shaking his head and looking down and then again out of the window and at Oikawa, “but it is good. Mainly because of the connections and that you have it during special times.”

“If you believe so. I still think that it's the best hot chocolate I ever had so there’s that. Black, green tea?”

“Black. I don't know how many hot chocolates you have tried though, maybe there is another one a lot more special than this one.”

“One moment. Sugar, milk, lemon?” Oikawa asked as he stirred around the cupboard and put the kettle to boil. “Maybe there is indeed a better hot chocolate, but why look for the one perfect one which might not even exist, when there is one that I would be happy to drink my entire life and am happy with right now.”

“Lemon, please. Are you sure you are talking about hot chocolate and not a relationship partner?” Iwaizumi lowered his head and raised an eyebrow with a small smile on his face. 

Oikawa nodded and opened the fridge, taking out coconut milk and lemon, which he sliced and placed on a small dish in front of Iwaizumi. He also took out two cups, one big and round with a blue-white pattern on the outside and the other with a rubber duck figure on top of the hoop of the cup.

“Maybe I am. But maybe I’m not. Who knows. I do think that there is no point in chasing a perfect instrument because there is no such. You know that they will always have that one annoying trait until the end of your life together and you are okay with it, it is not something that bothers you that much.” Oikawa sat at the table, facing Iwaizumi, placing both cups in front of them.

Iwaizumi stared at the cup with the ducky for a moment before replying. “Cute cup. Glad it's still in one piece, considering your skills of misplacing and almost dropping stuff.”

Oikawa pouted and then stuck his tongue out.

“You are just jealous, Iwaizumi-chan.” 

“I see. Is that how you are going to deal with the special person that annoys you a lot?” Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow and squeezed out some lemon in his tea, after which he took a sip.

“Well, I wouldn’t date a person who annoys me a lot in the first place,” Oikawa said dreamily, stretching the words while mixing sugar in his tea. “Taking into account all of that theoretical talking, I assume you are single."

"I mean, yeah.’’ He scratched his neck. “I was dating in my first year, but our ambitions lead in different directions and he wasn't invested into it as much in education while I was too invested and we ended up breaking up. It’s cool between us though, but since then, I never really tried dating again." 

"Interesting," Oikawa sipped the tea, "I had a similar issue. In high school, I dated a girl who broke up with me because I didn’t pay her enough attention and last year a guy broke up with me for the same reason. The difference is that he didn't like my dating strategies, let's call it like that. I personally say that working together somewhere is a great date."

Iwaizumi hmphed, giving a half-smile and slightly shaking his head.

"No wonder he broke up with you,’’ he rolled his eyes, “but it does sound like a great date if you and your partner have a lot of work to do and can't focus on yourself." 

"I know, right! You can talk and help each other, and you get your work done. It’s not like I don’t like other types of dates, but different times call to different things. Would you like more tea?”

Iwaizumi nodded and they kept on talking about the perfect date for a bit. Afterwards, Oikawa turned on the kettle and left the room with the towels. Iwaizumi finished his tea and sat there watching the rain become stronger and tapping his fingers against the table. 

When Oikawa came back a moment later, they continued talking, discussing anything that came to mind, finally mentioning their course. Iwaizumi did not realise how they did not find that out almost immediately after meeting, but also it was interesting to find out that Oikawa was doing psychology, taking into account that he was doing neuroscience. From there the conversation shifted again in different directions. 

At some point, Oikawa offered biscuits given how the rain didn't seem to stop and they had another cup of tea together. When they finished eating the snack, they boiled the kettle again, sitting in silence while it got ready, because neither of them had the energy to talk more. 

“Hey, Iwaizumi-senpai." Iwaizumi looked up from the cup of tea he was about to drink and found Oikawa leaning his head on his palm in front of him, half laying on the small kitchen table. "Teach me how to make your special hot chocolate."

"Huh? No?" Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow and leaned his head to the side. 

“But why noooot? Don’t I deserve to know the sacred secret?” Oikawa made puppy eyes and looked at Iwaizumi while still resting on his hand. 

"It’s a family thing, and it’s special to not take it for granted, so only for family members." Iwaizumi replied after he took a gulp and put the tea on the table, still holding the cup.

"For family members you say..." Oikawa stretched the words, sliding down on his hand, his face getting closer and closer to the table. He then grinned and sat up properly. "Then become my family. Date me, please." 

Iwaizumi froze.

"What, no, why?" Iwaizumi’s brows furrowed. 

"Aww, come on, pleeease! Just go on a date with me, just one time. You have nothing to lose, and I’m a cool, interesting person." Oikawa leaned towards Iwaizumi across the table, relying heavily on his arms while Iwaizumi tactically tried to lean back. "We are in the correct orientation set for each other, and we have similar places and topics of interest, and like a lot of similar stuff. Come on, even if it fails it could be just a nice day." He smirked at him.

"Isn't it too fast to go on a date like that?" 

"People sometimes go on a blind date without knowing a person at all!"

"But we don’t know if we like each other in this way?"

"Great opportunity to find out, then. Come on. Worst case scenario, we will find out that we don't like each other and stop talking.’’ He shrugged, as if it was simple. “Give me a chance. If anything, you will get some work done."

Iwaizumi hummed, thinking about it for a second, before he sighed and relented.

"Okay okay, convinced. Let's go on a date." 

"Yessss.” Oikawa raised his face and both of his fists up, prolonging the ‘yes’ and his triumph, after he immediately switched back to his precious facial expression, albeit his eyes glowed with excitement. “How about tomorrow? There is a small sushi place I always wanted to visit but my assignments kept me busy. What do you think?" 

"You sure are a fast person, aren't you? I’m not sure about tomorrow, I have a project due Monday."

"Then we can do one of the study dates. Food and drinks and stuff, and we can concentrate on assignments, and if we get tired we can talk to each other. I can text you the details.” 

"Sure. I assume you want my phone number." 

"Yes, pleeease." He nodded eagerly.

"Sure." Iwaizumi took Oikawa's phone and put his number there, after which Oikawa quickly looked for something in his contacts, and Iwaizumi’s phone blipped. "You sure go to drastic measures for hot chocolate." He chuckled.

"I texted you so you should have my phone number now, and also, no. You are definitely my type, and you are quite interesting to talk to.’’ Oikawa’s smile was warm and genuine, and something inside him told Iwaizumi not to question it. “I care about you, don’t know if it is care-care right now, but I definitely care where this relationship will take me so why not? The hot chocolate was a lovely bonus.”
 

“Thanks.’’ Iwaizumi cleared his throat, fighting the redness taking over his cheeks. “Fair enough, we can give it a go. Sorry if we don’t fall in love with each other though.” Iwaizumi checked his phone and saw the new message with a V sign, which he added to his contacts as Oikawa. 

Oikawa petted the air as if he was petting Iwaizumi with his head slightly, leaning to one side. “Ah, my dear, dear Iwaizumi-chan, it's not just about falling in love, it's about connections you g—” He was cut in the middle of the sentence.

“Shoot, it's late!” Iwaizumi exclaimed as he finally saw the time on his phone. “ Sorry to interrupt you, didn’t mean to. It's already 9, I really need to get home.”

“It’s still raining, you can stay here if you would like,” Oikawa offered as they both stood up and looked out of the window.

“If I do that I wouldn’t be able to prepare for the date tomorrow so I can’t.” He shook his head. “Which means I need to run under the rain…” Iwaizumi mouthed the last word so that Oikawa couldn’t hear it.

Oikawa’s mouth opened slightly. “I can lend you an umbrella.”

“Yes, thank you, please.” Iwaizumi fidgeted around the place, not knowing if he should first go to the radiator and collect his stuff or follow Oikawa or something else entirely. He managed to settle on the first option after Oikawa left the room and he yelled in pursuit. “I will give it back to you tomorrow, thank you. ”

Oikawa nodded at that and went out of the room, Iwaizumi following him a moment after. In a minute both of them were in the corridor, Oikawa in a jacket too.

“Here you go. I will walk you out.”

Iwaizumi nodded and he followed Oikawa through the dark corridor and out of the building, with Oikawa leading him by hand again. Iwaizumi was acutely aware of it now. As he followed Oikawa to the exit, Iwaizumi was very aware of the hand on his, and how warm it was, and just how lightly Tooru was holding him, and how he was slightly squeezing it when they were about to go around the corner. And how cold the hand felt when Oikawa let it out when they got in the light. They exchanged a few words under the yawning, and Oikawa partially led Iwaizumi out of the small section his place was hidden in. He told him where to turn, pecked him on the cheek, and ran away under the rain with a, “see you tomorrow!’’

Iwaizumi was left standing there with the umbrella, watching Oikawa’s back as he walked away, somehow feeling really warm inside and really not noticing the rain at all. He clocked back in and hurried home, too happy for such a late time, trying not to get too wet on the way there.

…

Oikawa :

Hiiiii. I hope you got home safe!! <3
I was thinking abt going here 

*Location attachment* 

It has a really nice sushi place and there are sittings inside and outside, so I don’t think we will bother anybody if we will work there hehe
A lot of people do that anyway, as far as I am aware. Since we want to work together, how does meeting at 11 sound to you? What do you think?

Iwaizumi :

Hi, yes, sorry for the delay, I just got home. Looks alright to me. I am not sure I really understand how to get there from the map though… I hope your hair-dye didn’t dissolve out on your clothes

Oikawa :
Aww confused little puppy, that's not a problem, dw

We can meet where you know and I will lead you there <333 

My hair is oki too, thank you 

Iwaizumi :

Just so you know, I rolled my eyes. And yes that would be helpful. I think the 100-year old oak is nearby, right?

Oikawa : 

Don’t develop strabismus ;P
But yeah it is nearby, we can meet there

Iwaizumi :

Sure. Thanks 

Don’t bite your tongue with all that talking ;) 

(Although Iwaizumi didn’t know, Oikawa yelped at that message.)

***

“Hi, Iwa-chan! Sorry to make you wait.” Oikawa tapped Iwaizumi’s shoulders, who was checking his phone to make sure of the details and the time.

“Iwa-chan?” Iwaizumi squinted his eyes at him, checking out how Oikawa looked since it was different from their regular uniform apron and purple shirt.

“Well,’’ Oikawa chuckled, catching his breath, “since we are on a date I thought having nicknames would only be appropriate. Nice hoodie, by the way. White definitely suits you. You like Godzilla, huh?” Oikawa chuckled. 

“Thanks. You look nice too,” Iwaizumi said. He really wasn’t trying to be nice, Oikawa really looked good with black jeans, a chequered shirt, and a black backpack dotted with small triangular patterns and shapes, which contrasted really well with the bright red head he had. “Should I have a nickname for you too? Also, yes, I do. I watched the movie at least 9 times. Always good.”

“Well, if you think that it would be appropriate,” Oikawa replied with a meaningful gaze that made Iwaizumi roll his eyes. “It is a great movie. I do, however, think that realistically we are more likely to have an alien invasion.”

“Right, Bakakawa,” Iwaizumi said, the nickname, like Oikawa implied on wanting, ringing across the room. He felt protective over the movie, going on about the different types of invasion that could happen and talking about the sci-fi that lied within both of those. 

Oikawa pouted at first a little, but was still happy about the situation and went on chirping about the movie, about alien movies too and scientific details, the Mariana trench, and the probability of both. At some point, they both managed to actually get into the food place and made their orders while still discussing the details of different types of invasions. In the end, they concluded that Godzilla might be an alien as well, which would make both of them right. 

Their conversation went on; they talked about movies, and their other hobbies for a little while. After their meal arrived, the conversation shifted to the food, and with a quick comment from Oikawa about how, “wasabi in sushi sucks, it should be separate” and Iwaizumi calling him a child, they went into a bickering about the most sensible way to eat sushi and the best way to hold a cup, which, of course, ended with them spilling the green tea and needing to jump up so as not to get burned. 

After profoundly apologising to the waiter and getting enough tissues to remove that misunderstanding, they continued talking, but less vigorously. From sushi, they started talking about rice and best methods of cooking it (with rice cooker, 1.15:1 water:rice and salt and rice vinegar after, duh), and Iwaizumi mentioned how he misses Agedashi tōfu. Oikawa picked that up and they ended up discussing other food and their favourite types, what they didn’t like and everything in between (in passing mentioned milk bread and the way Oikawa looked when mentioning it made it look like it was important, so Iwaizumi made a mental note of it, not entirely sure why he did it). 

When the meal was about halfway over, Oikawa took out his laptop to show something to Iwaizumi related to his major. They both discussed it for a bit, afterwards Iwaizumi took his laptop out too and showed Oikawa something else. 

The conversation drifted again as they ordered more green tea, both exchanging their research topics and offering some valuable research articles and Youtube videos. Their table went quiet after, both watching and reading the suggested topics before summarising the contents if they found them useful. And sitting like this for a while, sometimes exchanging information, and sending each other something they thought could be interesting or important to the other. After focusing on one research paper for far too long and not understanding a single bit of it, Oikawa rage-closed the laptop, said he quitted, and ordered another portion of food. Iwaizumi followed his steps, albeit being more gentle with his own laptop, and they both kept talking about different topics: their research, movies, and everything they liked. Soon their food arrived and they talked some more. 

After taking a decent break, Iwaizumi went back to his research and Oikawa looked at what he was doing, giving some suggestions and insisting that his introduction absolutely must have a hook and thesis statement, before going back to his own project.

Neither of them noticed when closing time came, enjoying each other’s company a lot. The time went by too fast and after they left the restaurant, they strolled around the streets, seeing a pretty library place neither of them knew about, both separately deciding to pay it a visit at some point. 

On their way home, they went through a park with some bulges, Oikawa attracting the attention of some of them with his hair colour. Iwaizumi laughed at it, because the one that Oikawa really wanted to take a picture of would not come closer. Oikawa stuck out his tongue and instead took a picture of them, half-hugging Iwaizumi. In the rays of the setting sun, Oikawa looked really wonderful—which Hajime admitted to himself, because Tooru was really very beautiful.  Absentmindedly he stared at the hair and almost touched it, but pulled his hand away and instead asked why did Oikawa choose red. With a sad smile, Oikawa replied that he just wanted a change, and they changed the topic again and went on with their walk. 

(Oikawa later said in passing that he did it the day before his first workday and the red was really an accident, his hair just looked so horrible home-bleached that he needed to cover it up with anything). 

When they parted ways, it was already late. Oikawa pecked Iwaizumi on the cheek as a goodbye, and tried to run away immediately after. Iwaizumi grabbed his hand before he could go very far, half-seriously scolded him for running away, and pecked his cheek in return. More on impulse than anything else, but it was refreshing to see Oikawa become a similar colour to his hair. 

They properly hugged after, commenting on each other’s stupidity, and left.

 …

As soon as he arrived home, Iwaizumi plugged his laptop in, running his eyes through the lines of text and copy-paste from references he did. Then, he went to take a shower. Under the water, his thoughts kept coming back and back again to the little peck Oikawa gave him and, ah, he did not realise how touch-deprived he was until now. 

He unconsciously touched his cheek and smiled to himself, happy that he gave this date a go. It was a relief that he had advanced some of his projects too. If anything, he was happy with the amount of work he had done, because now it was only some writing up and referencing that he needed to finish, already lifting a lot of weight off his shoulders. 

Once he got out of the shower he immediately went to sleep, knowing he was too tired to do more work even though his brain was still pumped up. It was the first time in a long time he fell asleep before 1 AM, which he rendered as a success.

*** 

He only felt the pressure fully lifted from his shoulders a few minutes past the deadline, even though he managed to submit work the day before. But now that the impending thoughts of it did not burden him, he finally had some time to reflect on what was actually happening, about work and university, all the stress, and Oikawa. And he enjoyed spending time with Oikawa a lot, albeit how much like an idiot he acted sometimes. 

Iwaizumi went to get a drink and his thoughts drifted to the possibility of teaching Oikawa how to make them, about how he made him hot chocolate and Oikawa made him tea. Looking through the books he caught himself thinking, Ah, Oikawa might like this one multiple times, and then stopping immediately for a second. It reached its peak when Iwaizumi decided to watch an alien invasion movie to prove a point and then realised he had had enough, so he did the most logical thing. 

He fished out his phone and went to type a message.

Iwa-chan:  

Hey. Would you like to go on another date with me? This time a proper date, without university stuff

Bakakawa :
!!!!
Yes!! <3