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“It’s mine!” Volleyball may be a team sport, but there are only 6 spots on the court, only so many times players can be subbed in or out, so on big teams like that of Aoba Johsai, many players were benched. Which meant practice was the only time benched players got to go all out.
“No! Let Oika-” Over eager players lead to disaster, and disaster leads to injury.
Both players hit the floor with a sickening thud. Aoba Johsai’s Captain and another third year had collided mid air going for a stray ball.
(Y/n) stared in horror as his teammates crowded around the collapsed Toru Oikawa, body completely numb and head ringing despite not being the one who hit his head. He hadn’t even thought of moving from where he had fallen onto his shoulder, the second their bodies had connected (Y/n) was watching in slow motion as Oikawa fell back, slamming the back of his head into the gym floor.
Oikawa sat up, holding the back of his head, right as the coach crouched next to him.
“Let me see your eyes, you could have a concussion.” With the coach pushing the rest of the team back, their attention turned to (Y/n). He didn’t expect a helping hand, it wasn’t like he was really friends with any of them, but the anger in their faces made him lurch back from where he had slowly started to sit up. “Well, you look all right to me, but you should head over to the nurse either way. Both of you.” Oikawa was already standing behind the coach, who moved to pull (Y/n) to his feet.
(Y/n) almost puked at the unnatural shift in his collarbone as the coach pulled him to his feet, but said nothing, just nodded and shuffled to the door.
(Y/n) could barely register that Oikawa was following behind him, even with his incessant complaining about the lump forming on the back of his head, just struggling to put one shaky foot in front of the other.
“Oh my goodness! Are you alright?” The school nurse was on (Y/n) the moment they laid eyes on his pallid, sweaty face.
“‘M’aright, you can check him out first.” (Y/n) stepped away from the nurse, nodding towards Oikawa, who continued to gripe near the door. The nurse hesitated, trying to reach out and grab the hand that clutched over his shoulder, but relented when (Y/n) stepped away again.
“You can sit down there while I check him out then.” They pointed to one of the stiff chairs near the door. “Oikawa, let me come get a look at you.”
“You’re all set, now go home and rest please.” The door across from (Y/n) opened, the nurse practically pushing Oikawa out the door. They quickly moved to crouch in front of (Y/n), who looked even worse than when he had first entered. “Let me look.” The nurse watched his eyes flash to Oikawa before shaking his head ‘no’, forcing an exasperated sigh. “Oikawa. Go home please.”
Oikawa’s mouth twisted into a pout, looking as if he wanted to argue, but a glance at the sweaty, shaky form in the chair made him stop. Giving a quick bow before leaving, sparing one last glance through the glass door, seeing the nurse freeze when they finally got the hand off his teammate's shoulder.
“Sorry to hear that, I hope you feel better soon.” (Y/n) nodded blankly to the advisor, shuffling the sling his sling into a more comfortable position despite the twinge of pain it caused. “You should head to class now, bells are about to ring.” Another nod.
He hated the stares he had been getting ever since the collision. Sure, the pitiful looks he got from some of his classmates sucked, but worse was the sneers he got. News had traveled fast around the school, the crowd that volleyball practice drew and Oikawa’s hordes of fans saw to that easily. His, now former, teammates seemed to avoid him like the plague, and he could hear the whispers from the girls who tailed Oikawa like some sort of armed security force.
“I can’t believe it.” One would start.
“I know! What if something really bad had happened to Oikawa!” Another would continue.
“And in his third year, too! What if Oikawa had to sit out the rest of his last year!” Was normally around when (Y/n) would try to turn his attention to anything else. But they sure made it difficult, especially when the shrill greetings called out as Oikawa entered the classroom. Why was he here, he wasn’t even in this class. Though he was quick to make his intentions clear, pulling the chair from the desk in front of (Y/n), plopping down and resting his crossed arms onto his desk.
(Y/n) glared at where Oikawa’s arms covered his paper, planting a hand in the middle of the page to pull it free.
“Geez, what’s with that nasty look!” Oikawa’s voice was playful as he tilted his head down to try and meet (Y/n)’s glare. (Y/n) attempted to ignore him, picking up his pencil with his nondominant hand to try and continue his classwork. “Hey, come on! I just wanna talk.”
(Y/n)’s eyebrow twitched when he heard the whispers start up again, gripping the pencil so tight he worried it might break. But the bell rang, forcing a startled jump from Oikawa, bringing a pout to his lips as he stood to leave, wading through the girls who crowded him the moment he stood. (Y/n) chewed the inside of his lip listening to his lilting apologies as he tried to make his way out of the room to get to his own class on time.
Oikawa tried again at lunch, the shrill shouts let (Y/n) know he was coming, giving him time to slip out the other door, ducking into the hallway leaving Oikawa to find his empty desk. Meanwhile, (Y/n) found a quiet spot behind one of the gyms, sliding down the wall to wait out his lunch, thinking miserably about his abandoned lunch box in his bag. He tilted his head back to rest against the wall, trying to ignore the dull throb in his collarbone.
“Man! You’re hard to find!” Oikawa’s voice jolted him to attention, his glare quickly falling on the setter.
“Can’t you get a hint?”
“Ouch! Still nasty then?” Oikawa laughed, resting a hand on his hip. “Y’know, when you’re running away, you should probably remember your lunch.” He smugly held the familiar lunch box in front of his chest, swinging it slightly.
“First you’re following me around, now you’re going through my bag? What do you want?” (Y/n) struggled to his feet with his one hand, twinging at the painful shift of his collarbone.
“I just wanna talk! Is that so much to ask?” Oikawa cringed back when (Y/n) took a step forward.
“Yes. Leave me alone.” (Y/n) reached out to snatch his lunch out of Oikawa’s hands, succeeding but almost tipping over in the process.
“Why were you so weird in the nurse's office? You were clearly hurt, but you were trying to hide it, all strong and stoic like, it’s weird!” Oikawa ignored the dismissal, shaking his hands out like he burned them, pout taking back its residence on his soft looking lips.
“None of your business.” (Y/n) slid his way down the wall again, opening his lunchbox to start eating.
“I’m your captain, it is my business!” Oikawa stomped his foot childishly.
“Not anymore, I’m out for the season.” (Y/n) picked through the food, trying not to let the bitterness seep into his voice.
“Doesn’t change anything, we’re teammates still, whether you like it or not!” Oikawa sat against the wall beside (Y/n), crossing his arms over his chest for emphasis.
“Whatever.”
“Why are you so grumpy? You’re acting like I broke your collarbone!” (Y/n) snapped the lunchbox closed with a snarl.
“Maybe it’s because everyone’s acting like I tried to cut your head off! It’s ‘Poor Oikawa this’ and ‘What if he had gotten seriously hurt!’ that. ‘It would be just awful if he had to stop playing in his third year because of some nobody!’ I can’t walk down the hallway without hearing it!” He pushed himself to his feet, stumbling for balance before setting off back towards the main building.
“Hey wait! Why are you acting like it’s my fault!” Oikawa was quick to follow.
“Because it is! Everything is always about you. It’s Oikawa this and Oikawa that. Do you know how many people have asked me how I’m doing? Nobody! Nobody has asked because nobody gives a shit about anyone on the team that isn’t perfect, pretty boy Oikawa!”
“That’s not true! We’re a team! I care-”
“Horse shit! And you wanna know how I know? Because you didn’t ask either!”
“Not like you gave me a chance!”
“Because I want you to leave me alone!”
“Well do you want to be left alone or do you wanna have people give a shit about you? Make up your mind!” Oikawa grabbed his sleeve to pull him back.
“I-!” (Y/n) began, faltering when his eyes met Oikawa’s. He bit his lip, pulling his arm free but not moving away. “I don’t know.” He finished, pulling his gaze from Oikawa’s to the floor between them. “Maybe it’d just be nice to be more than an afterthought.”
“See! Was that so hard to admit?”
“Stop acting so smug.” He tried to keep the anger in his voice, but there was a laugh at the end, pulling the smile on Oikawa’s face wider.
“See! I knew that the whole stoic serious thing was just a facade!” Oikawa started laughing as well, (Y/n) only scoffed. “Are you doing alright though?” Oikawa was suddenly serious.
“.. Hurts like hell. And it’s hard to write. But mostly.” He paused, twisting his hand into his uniform shirt. “I’m sad I don’t get to play anymore. It’s stupid, huh? I barely get to play as it is, I’m not even a bench warmer. But. I at least had the chance before. Now what? It’s why it hurts so bad when everyone brings you up. That you could have gotten really hurt, that you might have had to sit out the rest of your last year.” He let out a shaking breath, tears threatening to drip down his face. “Because I’m not even an afterthought.”
(Y/n) gave a pathetic sniffle, turning his back to Oikawa to try and hide the tears that he was desperately trying to scrub from his eyes.
“And now look at me. I’m crying my eyes out in front of you.” The emphasis on ‘you’ was pointed and edging on cruel, but (Y/n) couldn’t find it in him to care anymore.
“What’s so bad about that? You know you’re allowed to be upset about this.” Oikawa tried to soothe.
“It’s because you’re getting my hopes up! I don’t have friends and I’m fine with that, but now you’re here, giving a shit about me, but eventually you’re gonna move on and stop caring. And I’ll be alone again, but it won’t be by choice.”
“Says who!”
“Maybe the fact that you’re captain of the volleyball club and I’m just some loser who broke his collarbone and had to quit. Or how about how we have nothing in common. Or that we’ve never talked outside of passing comments during practice.”
“Maybe I was just waiting for an excuse to talk to you.”
“Yeah right. You’re Toru Oikawa, you don’t need to find an excuse to talk to anyone.”
“You’re different.”
“Oh gee, thanks.” (Y/n) tried to start walking again but Oikawa grabbed his wrist again.
“Would you stop that? You aren’t letting me talk.” Oikawa pulled his wrist until (Y/n) was forced to look at him, shocked to see a blush creeping onto his cheeks. “You’re different because you make me nervous. Because I want you to like me how I like you.” His cheeks burned brighter, tightening his grip on (Y/n)’s wrist, but he never broke eye contact. His intense stare freezing (Y/n) in his tracks.
“O-oh yeah?” (Y/n) was finally able to stutter out, ripping his gaze away to rest on where Oikawa’s warm, slightly sweaty, hand clasped around his wrist. “Well how’s that?”
“Are you gonna make me say it?” Oikawa was met with a hesitant nod, (Y/n)’s eyes flashing nervously around, looking anywhere but Oikawa’s face as a blush took up residence on his own cheeks. For once in his life Toru Oikawa was unable to find the words he wanted to use, like they were stuck on the tip of his tongue. But actions speak louder than words.
Oikawa pulled on (Y/n)’s wrist, sending them stumbling and off-balance towards him, reaching his other hand up to catch the side of his face and pull him in closer.
When their lips met, (Y/n)’s eyes went wide, finally focusing in on Oikawa’s flushed face. (Y/n) stood stock still, cheeks burning, until Oikawa started to pull away.
(Y/n) lurched forward before Oikawa could get barely a centimeter away, pulling his wrist from Oikawa’s grasp to catch the back of his head, pressing Oikawa deeper into the kiss as he finally closed his own eyes.
They both stumbled back until Oikawa’s back hit the wall, causing (Y/n) to finally pull away with a gasp of pain at the jolt caused by his body colliding with Oikawa’s chest. But it quickly turned into a laugh as (Y/n) tucked his face into the crook of Oikawa’s neck, hand pushed back through his soft brown hair.
“Hey, what’re you laughing about! It better not be at me!” Despite his whining, Oikawa wrapped one arm around (Y/n)’s good shoulder, the other coming to rest carefully around his waist.
“Was this your plan all along? Get the guy by breaking his collarbone?” (Y/n) laughed harder, wincing more as it shook his body.
“Well I’ll take this as a yes to my confession, but do you have to be so mean to me?” Oikawa pouted, starting to play with the collar of (Y/n)’s uniform.
“Confession? Thought we decided that you had to say it?” (Y/n) finally pulled his face from Oikawa’s neck, nearly blinding him with his smile.
“So mean!” Oikawa scoffed, but he couldn’t hide the giddy smile that followed it. “Well if you insist, wi-“
The bell rang, interrupting him and signaling the end of lunch, Oikawa childishly shouting in response. (Y/n) laughed again, pressing his nose to the setter's cheek, leaving a small peck to his jawline.
“Come find me after class and I’ll give you my phone number. You owe me lunch!” He pressed another kiss to the corner of Oikawa’s mouth before stepping back, swinging the still full lunch box in Oikawa’s face, laughing again as he turned to get to class, a stuttering and blushing Oikawa following close behind him.
“What’s with that stupid look on your face?” Oikawa scoffed at Iwaizumi’s comment, continuing with his warm up stretch without sparing him a glance.
“I’ll have you know that I have a date.”
“Oh so you finally manned up and asked him? I see it only took breaking his collarbone.” Iwaizumi laughed back, the other third years joining in as Oikawa sputtered in embarrassment.
“What’d I do to deserve everyone being so mean to me?”