Work Text:
Throw the ball.
One.
Two.
Jump.
Hit.
Bam!
Land.
Another serve that was nearly perfect. Only nearly, because its aim was a bit off. But nearly perfect wasn’t enough for Oikawa. He wanted it to be perfect or better than that. Any worse than perfect won’t be enough for beating Ushiwaka, he knew that well. So, he needed more practice.
He took another ball.
Throw.
One.
Two.
Jump.
Hit.
Bam!
Land.
Tch. Still off. Again!
Throw – Jump – Hit – Bam!
Again!
Throw – Jump – Hit – Bam!
Again!
Again!
Again!
Again!
AGAIN!
Throw – Ju… - Bam… - “TCH!”
Oikawa was sitting on the floor massaging his bad knee. It didn’t last long that day either. He didn’t even make thirty serves when the constant dull ache turned into hot, burning pain. This kind of performance was so poor that being ashamed of himself wasn’t even enough for him.
He waited for a few minutes and stood up again to continue.
Throw.
One.
Two.
Tch!
Jump.
Hit.
Land.
Tch!
And it was even more off. Then again.
And again.
And again.
And…
“Trashykawa!” an upset voice cut through the gym as Oikawa prepared for the next serve. The brown-haired boy sighed; he recognized the voice at once. Of course, he would. Who would confuse his own boyfriend’s voice wit other’s?
“Iwa-chaaan! You’re in the way! I don’t wanna hit you!” Oikawa pointed out that the other boy was standing on the exact same spot where he aimed.
“Then stop it.” Iwaizumi said. “It’s still early but you’re already barely standing on your two feet.”
“You’re imagining things, Iwa-chan. My knee is perfectly fine, but my serve isn’t, so I need to perfect it.” he said casually then chose another spot to aim. He threw the ball, jumped, hit it, and landed. Landed and his right knee buckled, then he immediately fell down.
“You idiot!” Iwaizumi shouted and ran to Oikawa, to help him up, but the brown-haired teen pushed the other’s hand away. He didn’t want to hear I told you so.
“I said it’s fine!” Oikawa said stubbornly and slowly got up putting as little pressure on his right leg as he can. His knee was burning, but he would never have admitted it. Not then. Not to Iwaizumi.
“Really? Then why aren’t you putting pressure on it?” Iwaizumi asked. “You’ve done it again. Like yesterday and the day before! Don’t think that I didn’t notice it. The tournament is upon us and you’re desperately trying to fuck up your knee before that! Don’t you think that I will watch it without saying a word.”
“THEN DON’T WATCH IT!”
The other didn’t even have the time to answer, because suddenly everything began to shake. Everything was shaking so hard, that both of them lost balance, and even the building began to collapse: the walls were trembling, and parts of the ceiling began to fall as well. The earthquake caught them off-guard. They were so focused on fighting with each other, they didn’t notice the warning they got.
The first one to do anything was Iwaizumi. He stood up and tried to get Oikawa, to get out of the open place together. Hajime knew well that his boyfriend’s knee wasn’t really up for running for their lives, especially after spending the evening with those jump serves.
“Come on, we need to get somewhere safer, there is nothing here to hide under!” Iwaizumi shouted while reaching towards the setter so that he could lean on him. But Oikawa just pushed him away again.
“Just leave me alone!” his pride seemed to be more hurt than his knee, seeing that even in this situation he did not accept the help which he obviously needed. Though deep down even Oikawa knew that his boyfriend was right. His knee was protesting hardly as he tried to stand up, while the ground was shaking violently. Still, he didn’t accept the help, just took a wobbly step, while covering his head with his hands, bending his torso a bit.
“Idiot…” Iwaizumi hissed angrily, but then followed the other boy, in the same stance, from one step distance, in case he would need any assistance. They didn’t really have time for fighting.
The building was trembling too much, and Hajime knew that they needed to get out or get to cover as soon as possible. The gym was quite old already, waiting for renovation, especially since it was deemed not fit to handle an earthquake anymore. It seems the earthquake was faster in this case, putting the two boys in the situation they were in. Cracks were running up the walls while smaller and bigger debris were continuously falling from the ceiling.
Iwaizumi was really doubting that it would be the building that lasts longer than the quake. On the top of that seeing Oikawa walking before him did not ease on his worries either. His boyfriend was limping hard, and the shaking ground did not make the setter’s job easier. The brown-haired boy was tripping then almost falling again and again. Just let us get out of here before the whole gym collapses Iwaizumi thought while keeping his eyes on the other boy. However as soon as he finished his thought, he saw the next piece of brick falling right over Oikawa. The ace of Aoba Jousai didn’t really have time to think.
“Watch out!” he shouted frantically then launched forward and pushed the other boy as hard as he could. He fortunately managed to push Oikawa out of the way, but he did not have enough time to move away himself, the falling brick hit him hard on his right shoulder which made him yelp in pain and he fell down smacking his head on the ground. He hit it so hard he felt his consciousness fading away.
Oikawa heard Iwaizumi shouting and turned his head around, but his boyfriend was already pushing him away. He lost his balance and fell on the ground, while he saw the other boy being hit by the debris almost in slow motion. Cold anguish seeped into his heart as Iwaizumi fell on the ground and lost consciousness.
“Iwa-chan!” he shouted and pulled himself up from the ground not caring about the burning agony in his bad knee at all. The adrenaline was pushing his body forward as he was watching his boyfriend lying on the ground, while the whole building was shaking badly. It seemed like this earthquake would never end. “Iwa-chan! You need to wake up!” Oikawa was shaking his boyfriend hard, but he did not show any signs of coming to.
Cracks of paint, bricks, ceiling lamps were still falling, and the boys had to get somewhere safer, they were still too much in the open. The setter grabbed the other teen’s waist with his right arm and threw the other’s left arm around his own shoulder. However, standing up did not work as he planned to, his knee was protesting too hard. He could only do it on his second try, but then he looked up. They had about 3 meters to go until they could reach the nearest wall. Oikawa knew by heart that that wall was not an outer one and though it was not the best choice, they could crouch down at the bottom of it.
The extra weight on Oikawa’s shoulder and the falling debris weren’t really helpful, but the adrenaline kept him up and they somehow reached the wall avoiding everything. He dropped themselves to the ground then tried to cover Iwaizumi as well as himself from anything else still falling, while still praying for the quake to stop.
The trembling and shaking ended a few minutes later and after still waiting for another few minutes for apparent aftershocks he let Iwaizumi go and sat on the ground leaning to the wall. The setter looked around. The gym was a total mess. pieces of bricks and paint covered the ground, the equipment was smashed to shreds, lamps were hanging from the ceiling with light still flickering in some of them. The door was blocked, quite a big piece of debris fell just before it. They had to be grateful for their luck, that they did not try for it.
His knee was now complaining heavily for everything he had done to it recently. Hot pain was pulsing upwards, making itself loud and clear. Other than that, it was also covered in dust and scratches he must’ve gotten from his stumbles and the fall when Iwaizumi shoved him away from under the falling brick.
Iwa-chan! the thought shot through his mind, and he turned to his boyfriend. Iwaizumi was still unconscious, he must have hit his head really hard when he fell, at least the thin streak of blood already dried on his forehead suggested. Iwaizumi’s right arm was also just hanging aimlessly, it must have been the one being hit the hardest, Oikawa figured. Still the most concerning part was that he was still not waking up.
“Hey! Iwa-chan!” the setter shook his boyfriend. “You need to get yourself together! Hey!” but it seemed like it was rather futile.
The uneasiness filled Oikawa’s heart. He did not know what he could do. He did not know how bad his friend hit his head. What if it was really serious? What if he would need immediate medical attention? They really had no way to escape the gym soon… He didn’t know what he should do… Of course, in a reverse situation Iwaizumi would know. He always knew what to do. He always paid attention to Oikawa. Heck, if it wasn’t for Iwaizumi, Oikawa would be the one lying here, probably in a worse state. Yet it is Iwaizumi, just because he was putting Oikawa before himself. Even though Oikawa was so cold and rejective with him, just because of his damn pride, even when his boyfriend was just worried and wanted him to take more care of himself more. The brown-haired setter was so ashamed of himself.
“Hajime… please just wake up.” he muttered burying his face into the other teen’s shoulder. “I’m begging you… just please wake up”. Oikawa was almost crying when he heard a muffled grunt after which he immediately raised his head. Iwaizumi was fighting hard to regain his consciousness.
“Oh god…” the boy with the darker hair mumbled. “My head…What… the hell happened?” he asked while blinking and grabbing his forehead. The realization then hit him hard. “The earthquake!” he swiftly turned his head around, looking for Oikawa, but he just got the world run a lap around him.
“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa did not seem to care about his boyfriend still trying to get himself together, he swiftly hugged him, as if he hadn’t seen him for years. Iwaizumi just grunted in pain, as the other boy squeezed his right shoulder. “Oh, sorry!” Oikawa immediately let him go.
“It’s okay… more importantly, are you alright?! The brick…” the ace of Aoba Jousai seemed to remember everything, or almost everything that happened up until he lost consciousness.
“I’m alright… you… you pushed me away… and got hit instead.” Oikawa cast his eyes down. “You hurt your shoulder and hit your head pretty badly as well. I was so worried when you did not wake up.”
“It’s alright.” Iwaizumi said as he rested his head against the wall. It seemed the best way to spot the spinning of the world. He might really have hit it badly. “I think I have a minor concussion. As for my shoulder…” The boy tried to move it, but icy pain flashed through it, which had him squeeze his eyes, before the pain eased to a dull ache. “I had worse. It will probably be alright in a few weeks.”
“But the tournament...”
“I do not think that the tournament will be held right after such a big earthquake.” Iwaizumi cut in, massaging his shoulder and grimacing in pain from time to time. “And I think you have your own knee to be worried about if we are going there. I doubt that this whole situation with the earthquake made it better.” Iwaizumi looked at his boyfriend’s right knee on which the white knee brace was now pretty dusty.
“You might be right…” Oikawa also looked down and paused for a bit. “I’m sorry… Sorry for lashing out on you earlier when you were only looking out for me. You were right at that time as well.” he looked into his boyfriend’s eyes with an apologizing gaze. Iwaizumi showed a faint smile.
“I know you, Trashykawa and I know that you weren’t serious at that time.” he said quietly. “You were just hurt and lost, but I know you can fight through it. And if you fall, I will be there to help you up.” Iwaizumi’s smile now was brighter, and Oikawa really had the urge to kiss him as hard as he can… would his boyfriend not turn away and look around the gym. “But now let’s focus on how to get out of here. There can be aftershocks, and this is not exactly the safest place where we can be.” The disappointment was written all over Oikawa’s face, but he had to agree with the other teen.
“The door is blocked; we cannot get out unless somebody comes to help.” He pointed at the debris blocking the door. A very explicit kind of swearing left Iwaizumi’s mouth that got even Oikawa by surprise.
“Then we need to call for help. God knows when does anyone think of somebody being in this building at this hour.” The ace said, and reached for his pockets, but he did not find his phone there. “Damn, I left my phone in my bag… which I guess I dropped next to my outdoor shoes in front of the gym door.” he said, then turned to Oikawa. “What about yours? Did you leave it in the changing room?” he asked his boyfriend once the world gave up on spinning.
“No… I think… I left it on the bench” Oikawa answered after some thinking and looked over to the other side of the gym, where the benches were supposed to be. Of course, now I was just a pile of ruins.
“Then let’s hope it was not crushed under a brick.” Iwaizumi added and tried to stand up, but his head was protesting too much. The world was spinning to every possible and impossible directions and even a wave of nausea hit him. He pushed his back to the wall which was the only stable point in his world and was waiting for the for the world to finally stop whirling.
“No, no, no, no!” Oikawa pushed his boyfriend back to a sitting position. “You just stay here, sitting still, you are in no condition to walk over there.” the brown-haired boy said frowning.
“Not that you were…” Iwaizumi retorted taking an eloquent look to the other’s knee which was now shaking hard, as the setter was standing over him.
“Still, I am in a much better state than you are.” Oikawa pointed out and even if it wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have let Iwaizumi once more be in such a danger. “Also, I have a better chance of finding the phone than you.”
Oikawa didn’t even wait for the answer, he just turned around to cross the gym. The distance which was about 15 meters, felt longer than ever. His knee was rebelling against each step taken and he also had to continuously avoid the debris on the floor. Still, he managed to get over and started to search for his phone among the ruins of the bench. It took a few minutes, but he found it and though the screen was cracked it was still functioning. He swiftly turned around and help the phone up, while flashing a bright smile.
“I found it and it works!” he shouted to Iwaizumi who sighed in relief, then Oikawa took a step the to return to his boyfriend.
And then the aftershock hit them. It felt even harder than the actual earthquake. Oikawa lost his balance and hit his bad knee to a piece of brick lying around, which had him see stars.
“Watch out!” Iwaizumi’s frightened voice shot through the gym but not soon enough. The light which was hanging just by one cable before was already falling right towards the boy who was still trying to get up. He couldn’t. The metal device literally nailed him to the ground by his waist. “Tooru!” Iwaizumi cried out frantically, but he was too far to do anything.
The aftershock was a short one, it stopped a few moments after the light fell on Oikawa. Once the shaking stopped Iwaizumi didn’t really care for other aftershocks, he just stood up, leaning on the wall and walked to his boyfriend terrified. The world was still endlessly spinning, he tripped over and over, which resulted in more and more scratches and bruises. Yet he stood up fighting the nausea again and again, the adrenaline kept him going until the moment he reached his boyfriend. Then he dropped on his knees and reached for Oikawa’s face.
The brown-haired boy was not unconscious, but his eyes were cloudy, he did not seem far from losing consciousness.
“Iwa-chan…” the setter muttered with a rusty voice. “Here… the phone” he raised his hand in which he was still gripping the phone, but Iwaizumi couldn’t really bother.
The darker haired teen looked at the big lamp weighing his boyfriend down and couldn’t really think straight. They had to get it off - that was the only though going back and forth in his mind. He grabbed it but as soon as he put his weight in it sharp pain shot through his injured shoulder. It was impossible, he was not able to do it in his state. He needed help, immediately. Then he took the phone from his boyfriend, stroking his face again in his process.
“Everything will be alright…” he said as reassuringly as he could – maybe more to calm himself rather than Oikawa down – while he dialed.
“Iwa-chan…” Oikawa’s voice was frightened “I think… I… I cannot feel my toes.” Iwaizumi’s heart sank as he turned to his boyfriend not even hearing the buzzing in the phone. Oikawa was now starting to panic then as he fall deeper, the remaining light was also fading from his eyes. “Oi! Trashykawa! Hey!” Iwaizumi started to shake the other boy who was now rapidly losing consciousness. “Oi! Stay with me! Don’t fall asleep! Oi! Tooru!” Oikawa’s name came off Iwaizumi’s mouth filled with uttermost despair, fear, and worry. He didn’t want to lose his most loved one, yet the brown-haired playboy’s eyelids refused to open again…
When Oikawa woke up, he found himself lying in a bed. He sighed in relief. It was just a bad dream… he thought but then somehow, he found the room he was lying in too unfamiliar to be his own.
Something wasn’t right.
He looked around and saw Iwaizumi sleeping in a chair next to his bed. His boyfriend’s forehead was covered by bandage and his right arm was resting in a sling. At the same time, pain flashed through Oikawa’s body, except for his legs. Waist down he didn’t feel anything… not even the constant dull pain in his knee that he was so accustomed to… and he finally realized.
They were in a hospital… and it wasn’t just a bad dream…