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“Mom, I already told you, he can’t come for the Holidays this year. He has his own family.” Kageyama groaned into his phone. His mom was once again bugging him about his boyfriend coming over for Christmas, even though Kageyama had already told his mother that the man couldn’t come.
That was true, his boyfriend couldn’t come. But not because he had other plans for the holidays, but because he had no boyfriend.
Kageyama knew it was wrong to lie to his family, but he just couldn’t handle all of the pressure his mother put on him about having someone to rely on, having a partner.
That’s where the lie began.
In the beginning, he made it simple: tall, funny, charming. Then as time went on, the lie became more elaborate, beautiful and large brown eyes, curly hair, and a devilish smile. Soon it became, he plays volleyball, loves coming to the bookstore, and so forth. Until he created an entire persona. It had gotten to the point where Kageyama was certain that if he ever brought someone home, his parents would be wholly confused. Especially since he had been lying about it for just over two years.
“Tobio, I must meet this boy. He’s all you talk about nowadays and for him to have you so ensnared, he must be wonderful.”
This was one of the few times that Kageyama was happy that he lived in a different city than his parents. After high school, he found himself attending a college in Tokyo, then with a few strokes of good luck, he found himself owning a bookstore.
“You’ll meet him eventually mom.” Well as soon as I meet him, Tobio added to himself.
“Alright honey, I hope so.”
He heard the door chime to his store, and with that, he found his exit from the conversation. “Looks like someone is here, mom. I have to go, I will talk to you soon.”
“Alright, Tobio, love you.”
“Love you too.”
With that, Kageyama hung up the phone and said to the customer, who was browsing the fantasy section, “Welcome to Kitagawa. The first bookstore for all your needs.”
********************************************************
Luck must’ve not been on his side, since later that week, unbeknownst to him, his sister showed up at the bookstore. Apparently, his mother was supposed to tell him about this meaning but simply forgot. Kageyama was certain that this was a ploy from his family to meet his boyfriend. After all, no one had visited him before, and it wasn’t like they weren’t going to see each other soon. The holidays were only three weeks away.
That led him to his current situation; trying to come up with an explanation as to why his boyfriend wouldn’t be visiting the shop.
“Come on Tobio, please tell him to come down! Surely, he can take a short break from whatever he is doing to meet your sister.”
“Miwa, he is very busy.”
“Just message him for me, please?”
Kageyama internally groaned. His sister was perhaps the pushiest person he knew. There would be no getting out of his. So, he pulled out his phone and decided to pretend to message his boyfriend.
Kageyama opened his messages to find 143 missed messages from his old high school friends. It amazed them that even though it had been four years, their group, consisting of Himself, Hinata, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi, had stayed together.
He opened the chat. Amused by its name that no one had bothered to change since its creation.
Karasuno High School Literature Club-1st Years!!!!
Orange Boke!
Do you guys wanna go to the convention next month? Apparently, a ton of big authors are gonna be there!
Yamaguchi
Sure, that sounds fun!
Tsukishima
Yeah.
Yachi
Of course, it sounds lovely.
Orange Boke!
How about you Kageyama?
Kageyama!
Kageyama!
KAGEYAMA!!!!
ANSWER ME!
Kageyama
You’re insufferable, do you know that?
Yes, I will go. Now please shut up.
Miwa is here right now, and I am trying to ward her off
She is wondering about my boyfriend.
Tsukishima
Ah, yes. The fake Mr. Right.
Have fun.
Orange Boke!
Have fun! Tell Miwa I said hi!!!
Kageyama turned off his phone, and just as he was about to give his sister some excuse, the door chimed to his store. He looked over to welcome his newest customer. His mouth went dry when he saw the man.
He was an angel. He had the largest brown eyes and gorgeous chocolate hair. His face looked like it was porcelain, etched to be perfect. His clothes did nothing but reinforce the idea this man descended from some land above. He was wearing a beautiful seafoam green button-up that worked perfectly with his white ripped jeans.
Kageyama was so caught up in ogling his dream man, that he entirely forgot about his sister. His stare only broke when he saw his sister run up to the man, a random stranger, and hug him. He felt his breath leave his lungs.
As his sister squealed, “It’s so nice to finally meet Tobio’s boyfriend,” Tobio knew he was dead.
Tobio was tongue-tied, and as he tried to mull over a response. Frankly, though, he had no clue how to respond to the man. The man got to a response before he could, however, “The pleasure is all mine. You must be his sister, he has told me so much about you,” The man then looked over at Kageyama, and said, “Tobio-chan, why didn’t you tell me she was coming into town?”
Kageyama was now confused. He had never seen this man before. He had never come into his shop before today and Kageyama also never really traveled anywhere, so it was unlikely they had ever even been near each other before this day. That then begged the question; why was this man lying for him?
He only was brought back, by a hand touching his, which was sitting on the counter, and the smooth tones of, “Tobio-chan,” leaving the other’s mouth.
It drew him in. His name sounded so right upon the other man’s tongue.
Kageyama then noticed that they were waiting for him to speak, so he coughed, and then said, “Sorry, I didn’t warn you. I actually didn’t know until she showed up at my shop earlier today.”
“No worries, anyways, it’s wonderful to finally meet you Kageyama-san, I’m Oikawa Tooru.” For a moment, Kageyama was confused about how this other man, Oikawa, knew his name. That is until he remembered, he had a nametag. This man was smart.
“Just call me Miwa, please. You’ve been dating my dear baby brother for over two years, you’re basically family.”
The two met eyes and Oikawa’s magnetic smile drew him in even more. He then heard him speak, “Those two years have been some of my best. I can’t believe it has taken me two years to meet my dear Tobio-chan’s older sister.”
“Yeah, Tobio tells us how busy you are, with school and volleyball.”
Kageyama scrunched his face, cursing himself for being so particular with his description. He saw Oikawa turn back towards him with wide eyes and a confused face. He then watched that morph into a grin. “Yeah, volleyball’s my favorite. I actually plan to go pro after college. Currently, I am the starting setter at Tokyo University.”
“Pro?! Tobio, why did you never tell us that your boyfriend was going to be famous?”
“Uhh—“
Before Tobio could get out a reply, Oikawa filled in for him, “I just told him about it. I mean it was always my dream, but I planned to continue on my astrophysics degree. That was until the EJP Raijin’s offered me a contract starting after graduation.”
Kageyama couldn’t believe his luck. This man actually played volleyball. Some higher power must’ve been for or against him.
“Wow! That is so impressive!” Miwa turned towards her brother with wide eyes, then said, “Tobio, he’s an absolute gem. I can’t believe you haven’t found a way for him to meet mom and dad yet. They’ll love him.”
“He never has any time Miwa. I’ve told you this.” Kageyama quickly snapped back. This man had already done more than enough for him. He just wanted this to end as soon as possible. Then his life could go back to normal, and he could stop being such an inconvenience.
Apparently, this couldn’t satisfy his sister, because she quickly looked over at Oikawa and said, “Are you sure there is nothing you can do to make it to Christmas?”
“I always celebrate with my family and my best friend, I am sorry,” Oikawa replied smoothly.
His sister seemed to think for a moment, then her eyes lit up, “Why don’t you come over for the New Year's Party! That would be wonderful. Oh, you must come.”
“Sis, he has plans already.”
“This is his boyfriend’s family, Tobio. Come on, Oikawa. Are you really going to not meet your boyfriend’s family?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Oikawa replied, scratching his head.
“Great! Let me tell mom and dad.”
“Why don’t you leave it as a surprise?” Kageyama said. He was pulling at straws, he could deal with upsetting Miwa, but not his whole family. That would be bad.
“Great idea, Tobio! Now, Oik—“ His sister got a call and when she looked down at her phone, she furrowed his brow, then stuck up her finger, signaling for them to be quiet.
His sister then moved a bit further away from the counter, which she had slowly migrated to, and continued her hushed conversation.
Kageyama then looked over at Oikawa, who was watching him in a manner that could only be expressed as endearing.
Kageyama took this time to mouth to Oikawa, ‘thanks.’
Oikawa smiled back, then mouthed, ‘no worries, Tobio-chan.’
By the end of this short exchange, Miwa was back, and she looked annoyed.
“What’s wrong, Miwa?” Kageyama asked.
“I have to leave, I have a client. Sorry, little brother.”
Kageyama had a hard time looking sad because he was extremely relieved.
“No worries. I’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah, and I’ll see Oikawa at the party as well, right?”
“Of course!” Oikawa’s voice cheerily replied.
Miwa then walked behind the counter and gave Kageyama a hug. Then, she went to Oikawa and did the same, before walking out the front of his store.
As soon as she was gone, Kageyama let out a breath of air, he didn’t know he had been holding onto. Then quickly spoke to Oikawa, “Thank you so much for that. I am so sorry.”
“No worries Tobio-chan. Who knew I would get such a cute boyfriend.”
Kageyama’s cheeks turned pink. How was he supposed to respond to that? No one had ever called him cute before.
“Aww, are you flustered?” The man teased.
“Yes— I mean no, Oikawa-san.” Then trying to change the subject. Kageyama added, “What did you come in here looking for?”
“A book about aliens.”
“Aliens?”
“Why yes, they’re so fascinating, aren’t they, Tobio-chan? Also, you can call me Tooru.”
“They’re not real?”
Oikawa gasped audibly and looked extremely offended. “How dare you say that? How can a boyfriend of mine not believe in aliens?”
“B—boyfriend?” Kageyama stuttered back.
Oikawa’s devilish smile came back as he replied, “Why of course, I am no liar Tobio-chan. Now back to you not believing in aliens. That simply won’t do. You have to come over to my apartment and watch a few documentaries about them with me this weekend. That will change your mind.”
Kageyama furrowed his brow, “I am sorry, what? How can you be okay with this, we just met?”
“Every person dates someone who they have met. This really isn’t all that strange. Anyways, Saturday at 5:30 works for you?”
“B—but.” Oikawa continued to look at him, until he nodded his head weakly, and replied, “Yeah, I’m free.”
“Perfect, Tobio-chan! Now, can you tell me your number so I can message you the address?”
Tobio nodded his head, before replying with a string of digits, still confused about what was happening.
“Great, well I’ll talk to you soon, Tobio-chan!”
Oikawa waved cheerily, and instead of walking immediately away, as most sane people would, Oikawa leaned over the counter and gave Kageyama a peck on the lips. Only then to turn around and exit the store. Leaving a flustered and dumbfounded Kageyama motionless.
His phone buzzed a minute later, and he picked it up to see an unknown number.
Unknown
Here’s my address, Tobio-chan. And remember, 5:30 Saturday, don’t be late!!!
He thought dumbly about how to reply, settling on a simple, okay. Then, he changed the contact name to, Oikawa Tooru- fake (real???) boyfriend. Somehow, he found himself with a boyfriend, a handsome, athletic, seemingly intelligent man, who was willing to lie for him. Even from that short interaction, Kageyama was certain; Oikawa Tooru was going to be a part of his life for a long time. And, he would have it no other way.