Work Text:
Hajime glances between the signs hanging on the end of the bookshelves and the scrap of paper in his hand. A librarian wrote down the section the book he needs is in and gave directions, but he’s starting to wonder if he’s lost. Again. Having a large library seemed appealing when selecting universities, but now Hajime would give anything for a broom closet.
He’s about to admit defeat and ask for more help from the librarian, but he hears a voice he’s pretty sure he recognizes. He pauses and listens more carefully.
“Suga, do me a favor?”
Oikawa’s nearby, though Hajime can’t see him quite yet, and he’s with Sugawara. Hajime tries to not be annoyed that he had no idea they’re hanging out today, but he can’t stop the heavy feeling in his chest.
“What is it?”
“Stay still.”
Hajime spots them, seated at one of the tables hidden in a corner, just as Oikawa gently lifts Sugawara’s chin up. Sugawara blinks, confused, and Oikawa kisses him.
He watches for a few seconds, feeling like an intruder. It was inevitable, Hajime thinks. Oikawa has been making excuses to spend time with Sugawara for months now, and Hajime sees the way Sugawara smiles when Oikawa’s around. He knew it was only a matter of time before they got together.
Sugawara closes his eyes. Hajime turns and walks away, the scrap of paper crumpled in his fist. He can get the book later, his project can wait. He needs to move right now, maybe take a run around campus, or maybe hit the gym. And maybe during that time he can figure out if he’s more jealous of Sugawara or Oikawa.
-
Hajime comes back to the apartment he’s renting with Oikawa later than usual, but he’s still the first one back. He can’t say he’s surprised. Of course Oikawa is going to want to be with his new boyfriend as long as possible. He takes off his shoes, drops his bag by the door, and sends as a quick text to his project partners, apologizing for being behind. He then takes out his laptop and throws himself into doing homework.
At every sound from the hallway Hajime freezes. He expects Oikawa to come home any minute, flop into Hajime’s lap and start dreamily talking about how wonderful Sugawara is. The hours slowly tick by and Hajime finishes his homework with no sign of Oikawa. He eats dinner on his own and starts the readings for his classes next week, eyes darting to the door every five minutes.
Eventually it hits midnight, and Hajime has trouble keeping his eyes open. He drags himself to his room and collapses on his bed. Thankfully he’s too tired to think about what it means for Oikawa to be with Sugawara this late on a school night, and falls asleep quickly.
At six his alarm goes off as usual. Hajime groans. He normally gets more sleep than this. He pulls himself out of bed and into the bathroom for a quick shower to wake up. On his way to the kitchen he stops at Oikawa’s door and pounds on it. It’s only after he calls, “Hey, Oikawa, wake up!” that he remembers how late he was out. “Are you even in there?” he asks, mainly to himself.
There’s a loud groan from the other side of the door. “I’m awake, you brute,” Oikawa grumbles. He sounds awful, and Hajime can’t bring himself to feel bad about how little sleep he must have gotten.
Then he realizes Oikawa may not be alone in his room.
“Get your ass out of bed or I’m dumping all the coffee down the drain,” he threatens like usual, though his heart isn’t into it. He walks away from Oikawa’s door without waiting to hear him walking around like he sometimes does.
Breakfast this morning is leftovers, and Hajime notes that they need to buy more coffee soon. Oikawa stumbles into the kitchen when Hajime is nearly done with his food. Hajime sneaks a look into Oikawa’s open bedroom. No Sugawara. He can’t believe he let his imagination run away from him.
Oikawa heaves a heavy sigh, dumps way more sugar than necessary into his coffee, and collapses into a chair. His eyes look puffy, which is weird. He glances around the kitchen listlessly.
Worst of all, Hajime is having trouble remembering how to act normal around him. “You have class at nine,” he reminds him.
“Mmhm,” Oikawa responds, sipping his coffee.
“Don’t fall asleep again, because I am not going to call you to wake you up this time.”
“I got it Iwa, I got it.”
Hajime still can’t figure out why Oikawa signed up for morning classes when he’s always had a hard time waking up in the mornings. He puts his plate in the sink and picks up his bag from where he left it last night. He pauses before leaving, staring at Oikawa. There are so many things Hajime could ask him. Then he walks out the door, because he doesn’t want to think about this any longer.
-
Hajime’s classes are over early in the afternoon, and his mind is spinning over all the work he needs to do this evening. It’s comfortable and familiar to worry about schoolwork. When his phone chimes he doesn’t even think twice about checking his text messages.
From: Sugawara
Do you have time right now? I’m near K building.
His peaceful mood comes crashing down. Hajime thinks over how to answer Sugawara. People start to walk around him, glancing back at the weirdo just standing in the middle of the path.
To: Sugawara
I’ll be right over
It’s not far from where he is, and it’s unfair to Sugawara to ignore him when he has no idea Hajime feels this way, so he sets off, cutting through a different building as a shortcut. Sugawara is standing near one of the outdoor seating areas. He keeps bouncing on his heels.
“Hey,” Hajime says when he’s near enough for Sugawara to see him. “Did you need something?”
Sugawara opens his mouth, then he reconsiders and looks to the side. “Maybe it’s nothing, maybe I’m overthinking things again.” He bites his lip and fidgets. “But I’m worried! I don’t know what I did wrong and I’m not even sure what happened and—”
“Sugawara, slow down!” Hajime takes him by the arm and steers him to one of the benches, sitting him down. He withdraws his hand quickly. “Just tell me what happened.”
Sugawara takes a deep breath and says, “I think Oikawa’s avoiding me. He hasn’t answered any of my texts and he skipped Modern Lit today. The professor asked me where he was and I couldn’t answer.”
Hajime rubs his face with his hand and sighs. “I’m going to kick his ass.”
“No, that’s not what—” Sugawara frowns. “Iwaizumi, in the library yesterday...” He cuts himself off again and stares at the ground, his face flushing pink.
“I saw,” Hajime says, because there’s no point in lying. “Don’t worry. You two are good for each other. He’s probably just got himself worked up over nothing.”
Sugawara stares at him, long enough for Hajime to shift uncomfortably in his seat. “How much did you see yesterday?”
“Just you kissing,” Hajime says, starting to feel embarrassed himself. “I left afterwards. It’s not my business.”
Sugawara looks out into the quad and smiles. It looks like a sad smile, and Hajime’s heart clenches. “Maybe you should have stayed a little longer,” he says softly. “Afterwards he said he wanted to kiss me before you did.”
“...What?”
“He said—he said that he wanted to do it before he lost us both forever. Then he left and I haven’t been able to talk to him since.”
Hajime’s head is spinning. “I don’t understand.”
Sugawara glances back up at him, and Hajime sees the same look on his face that was on Oikawa’s that morning. He chalked it up to a lack of sleep then, but now it’s obvious that Oikawa was feeling lost. “Iwaizumi, he thinks we’re going to start dating and leave him behind.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Hajime says, though as soon as the words leave his mouth he realizes he stupid that is. Isn’t that how he feels about Oikawa and Sugawara?
Sugawara just shrugs. “What should we do?”
Hajime’s heart thumps at the word we, but the thought of action unclogs his mind. “I’ll go back to our apartment,” he says, “see if he’s there. If not, he went to class, and I’ll ambush him there.”
“And then?”
“Uh,” Hajime rubs the back of his neck. “We’ll talk about it, I guess.”
Sugawara nods, somewhat absently. “Alright. But there’s just one thing I’d like to change.”
“What is it?”
“I’m going with you.”
-
Oikawa isn’t at their apartment, so Sugawara and Hajime walk back to campus and loiter near Oikawa’s classroom, taking care so they can’t be seen through the window of the door. Eventually class ends and students start filing out one by one. Oikawa is one of the last through the door. He looks even more exhausted and miserable than he did that morning. Sugawara and Hajime exchange glances.
Hajime marches up to Oikawa before he can notice them and grabs him by the arm. He jumps. “What the heck, Iwa?” Oikawa tries to pry off Hajime’s fingers, but then he sees Sugawara and freezes.
“You’re coming with me,” Hajime says, and he hauls Oikawa along. Sugawara walks at Oikawa’s other side, but somewhere between leaving the classroom building and reaching the dorms he lags behind. Oikawa doesn’t seem too happy about being dragged away from his classroom, judging by his constant frown, but he doesn’t pull away. The strangest part is how quiet he is. Sugawara has to walk past him to open the dorm building for them, and Oikawa stiffens.
It’s not until they get to Sugawara’s hall that Oikawa finally balks. “You know what? I have a lot of homework, it must have slipped my mind.” Oikawa shakes his head and affects one of his fake smiles. “I’m sure whatever it is you want you can do without me, so I’ll be on my way.” Oikawa attempts to twist his arm out of Hajime’s grip and turn down the hallway, but Hajime holds fast.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Hajime says, yanking him back.
Oikawa sets his mouth into a thin line. His eyes narrow. Before he can say anything, Sugawara steps forward and lightly touches his other arm. “We just want to talk to you, Oikawa.” Oikawa stares at him, then he deflates with a small sigh, and Hajime doesn’t have to pull him much in order to get him into Sugawara’s dorm.
Sugawara switches on the lights and closes the door behind them. His roommate is gone like he said he’d be. Oikawa tugs out of Hajime’s hold again, but this time he lets him go. Oikawa then sinks to the floor and hides his face in his hands. For lack of any better ideas, Hajime sits near him, followed by Sugawara, completing their little circle. They then all sit in perfectly awkward silence.
The sun starts to set and the room gets dimmer. Sugawara is the first one to speak. “Oikawa, can you tell us what happened yesterday?”
Oikawa buries his face further into his arms and whines wordlessly. “I messed up,” he says.
“No you didn’t,” Sugawara says. He’s gentle, and his voice soothing. “Why do you think Iwaizumi and I are going to stop being your friends?”
“Because.” Hajime thinks Oikawa is going to stop there, but then he continues. “Because I’ve seen the way you look at him and Iwa never smiles like that at me and you two are happy and gross and don’t need me.”
“That’s bullshit,” Hajime blurts out. “You’re the ones always who are always together, why would Sugawara—” He glances at Sugawara, who is staring at him intently, and his face feels hot.
“But you are the ones who are...” Sugawara trails off, eyes widening. “Oh.” He then falls silent, pressing his hand to his chin and staring at the ground.
Hajime knows he’s thought of something, but when he doesn’t explain he prompts, “What is it?”
Sugawara jumps at Hajime’s voice, like he was so lost in his own thoughts he forgot he was there. “W-well, I was just thinking that—” He shakes his head. “No, it’s nothing, I’m probably wrong.”
“You have good instincts,” Hajime says, because it’s true and he doesn’t know why Sugawara ever doubts himself. “I’ve never seen you be wrong.”
“Disgusting,” Oikawa says, voice slightly muffled by his hands. “Stop dragging this out and date already and leave me to die alone in peace.”
Hajime has had it with Oikawa’s dramatics. He is just about to snap at him, but stops himself when he notices Sugawara studying Oikawa. “You thought Iwaizumi and I would start dating,” he says, quietly, so quiet Hajime almost can’t hear him. Sugawara glances at Hajime. “You thought Oikawa and I would start dating.” He then looks down and bites his lip. “And I thought, you two are so close, know each other so well, if you weren’t dating already... you would be soon.” He shrugs, then grins, and after years of being Oikawa’s friend Hajime can recognize it as forced. “I didn’t see much point in hoping if i’d just be a third wheel, honestly.”
Sugawara continues to look at neither one of them. Oddly, Oikawa peeks out from behind his hands.
“So we’ve proved we’re all huge idiots,” Hajime says. He’s not sure he’s following what’s going on, but he knows he would never ignore Sugawara if he somehow started dating Oikawa.
Oikawa leans forward. Apparently he gave up on hiding himself. “Suga, are you saying we’re all in the same boat?”
“Y-yeah. I think so.”
“Oh.” Oikawa sits back. He puffs his cheeks out in thought, a habit he’s had since they were kids.
Hajime looks at them, but still no one explains anything. “Alright, I missed something.”
Sugawara takes a deep breath. “Well, um, let’s put it this way. You like me and Oikawa, right?” Hajime shrinks back. He nods numbly, sure he’s blushing. That’s not how he wanted that information to come to light. Sugawara smiles lightly at him and moves on. “And Oikawa likes you and me.” Oikawa pulls a face and looks away. For once Hajime understands how he feels completely. “And I, um—I like the two of you.”
Hajime sucks in a breath. “Oh,” he says, because he can’t think of anything else. It shouldn’t be possible. There’s no way this is happening.
“Suga.” Oikawa’s eyes are intense. “You’re getting my hopes up.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’s never going to happen.”
“You don’t want to?”
“That’s not it...” Oikawa glances over at Hajime, and after a few seconds Suga does the same.
Hajime’s face grows hot under their sharp scrutiny, but he straightens his spine and stares right back at them. “You are going to have to stop having half a conversation and explain this to me.”
Sugawara looks to Oikawa, but once it becomes obvious he’s not going to say anything, he answers. “One thing we can try is, uh—we could all date. All three of us. Together.”
“Oh...” Hajime says again. He swallows. “I didn’t know it was a thing.”
Oikawa snickers, though it sounds half-fake. He must still be nervous and trying to hide it. “Iwa is old fashioned, Suga, don’t pay him any mind.”
Instead Sugawara ignores Oikawa. “Do you want to try it?”
“Y-yeah,” Hajime stammers out. He does. The more he thinks about it, the more his brain reminds him how difficult Oikawa and Sugawara are to handle on their own, the more he wants it. “Do you?”
Sugawara glances at Oikawa, then he slides over to Hajime. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t expect it, but Hajime is surprised when Sugawara tugs him closer and kisses him. His hands are light on Hajime’s neck, fingers curling into his hair, and Sugawara’s lips are soft and patient. Hajime’s brain needs a few second to restart, but as soon as it does he tilts his head for a better angle, lightly touching Sugawara’s elbow to let him know he’s alright. Sugawara pulls back first. When he blinks and smiles at Hajime, he thinks that he very much likes kissing him.
“That’s not fair,” Oikawa says, voice too close to a whine for comfort. Sometime during the kiss he moved forward, so now he’s right in their faces. “You said it was a three way thing! So why do you two get to kiss first?”
“We were the last two to kiss, I thought.” Sugawara looks between Oikawa and Hajime. “Or... was I wrong, and you haven’t kissed before?”
“Yes!”
“No,” Hajime corrects. “We kissed when we were younger. A lot. You said it was kissing practice.”
“But that was years ago!” Oikawa insists. “it doesn’t count.” He frowns. Hajime is about to argue, but he notices how Oikawa’s hands keep fidgeting. He realizes how Sugawara kissing him may have looked to Oikawa, who was convinced he was going to lose the two of them only twenty minutes ago.
Hajime groans. “Fine,” he says, “fine, you picky bastard, you win.” He grabs Oikawa by the front of his shirt, pulls him in, and kisses him with no trace of the gentleness he used with Sugawara. His irritation only grows when Oikawa lazily hooks his thumbs through the belt loops on Hajime’s pants. He growls into the kiss, and when Oikawa’s mouth starts to curl into a smile he bites down on his bottom lip. Oikawa flinches, but ultimately is only encouraged to kiss with more force. He inhales sharply when Hajime finally pulls back, releasing Oikawa’s lip from his teeth last.
He expects Oikawa will need time to recover, but almost immediately he turns his sights to Sugawara. His expression is hopeful and expectant.
“We just kissed yesterday,” Sugawara teases.
“That was yesterday.” All traces of Oikawa’s previous nervousness have disappeared. He shifts so he’s no longer facing Hajime and smiles. Sugawara raises his eyebrows. “Holding kisses that happened pre-relationship above my head is a little unfair, don’t you think?”
“I’m not convinced.”
Oikawa pouts. “Sugaaaaa,” he whines, “you’re so mean to me.”
Sugawara grins and holds out his arms. “Come here,” he says, and Oikawa eagerly leans in to kiss him.
Hajime wonders if this is what it felt like to watch the two kisses he just had. He felt like an intruder the day before, but now he feels only slightly awkward. That will go away with time, he’s sure. He watches as Sugawara traces small circles on Oikawa’s cheeks with his thumbs, watches him be gentle with Oikawa’s bruised lip, watches Oikawa pull Sugawara into his lap. Sugawara giggles when he does, and Hajime knows with absolute certainty that he wants to make Sugawara giggle while kissing him next.
It’s only after they stop that Hajime realizes how close the three of them are now. Sugawara is comfortable in Oikawa’s lap aside, and Oikawa didn’t move at all from Hajime’s side. Their thighs are nearly touching. It’s a drastic change from earlier, when they were sitting a respectful distance apart. Sugawara smiles at him, and Oikawa says, “Come on, Iwa, don’t be a spoilsport!” Hajime sighs, but he still allows himself to be folded into a three way hug. It’s comfortable, he has to admit. He rests his head on Oikawa’s shoulder and closes his eyes.
“What now?” Oikawa asks, his voice quiet. It’s a good question, Hajime thinks.
“We should probably get out of here,” Sugawara says. This is an answer neither Oikawa nor Hajime expect. They both give him equally confused looks. Sugawara laughs. “Before Yaku gets back, I mean. He’s been stressed over coursework all week, and if he comes back and finds us like this he’ll kill us.” Sugawara pauses. “And I don’t really want to find out if that’s an exaggeration or not.”
“We could go get dinner,” Hajime suggests. He doesn’t know what time it is, but he can imagine it’s late evening already. Now that he isn’t overcome with worry he’s ravenous.
“Let’s go someplace that serves coffee.” Oikawa smiles brightly, but at the mention of coffee Hajime looks at the dark circles under his eyes. “Espresso shots, actually. Or both. Both may be better.”
Sugawara and Hajime exchange glances. No coffee, they silently agree. Sugawara breaks their circle first, masterfully untangling Oikawa’s arms from around him and standing up. “Come on you two,” he says, grinning. “Let’s go have our first dinner date.”
Oikawa flushes pink at the word date. Hajime takes him by the arm and pulls him up with him as he stands. “You’re paying,” he tells him. Then Hajime drops his arm, if only to put his own around Sugawara’s shoulders and turn to the door.
“What?” Oikawa is spurned into moving, gesturing widely. “Why am I paying?”
“Because you started this, I guess?” Sugawara says.
Hajime nods. “Exactly.”
“But that’s not fair!” Oikawa says, and he’s all frustration and complaints as they leave Sugawara’s dorm room and start their trek to get dinner.