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Oikawa can see the Red String of Fate. He realised this very young but never told anyone, thinking it was normal and that everyone could do it. He saw how his parent’s strings were attached and how people in the streets had strings that stretched on further than he could see.
Seeing the strings got infuriating sometimes, as they were usually tangled in a massive mess of red and distracted him from where he was going. Sometimes he liked to follow the strings that stretched on, but never got very far. That was when he met Iwaizumi.
He noticed that his and Iwaizumi’s strings were connected, but he didn’t know what it meant. Being the young and innocent child that he was, he just assumed that it meant that they were going to be friends forever.
When he got a bit older, he noticed that people, who were together, didn’t have their strings attached. This confused him, because most people he saw together, had their strings attached.
Oikawa kept on being distracted by seeing the strings tied to the little fingers of everyone he met, so he decided to try and take his mind off of it and joined the volleyball club once he stared junior high. He came to love volleyball and became very good at it. He never once thought about the strings when playing.
When Kageyama joined, Oikawa was threatened by his talents and hated Kageyama for it. Though he couldn’t help but notice Kageyama’s string. This annoyed him as he started volleyball so that the strings wouldn’t distract him. Out of a fit of rage, he pulled on Kageyama’s string and snapped it. That was when he realised that he could break and re-tie people’s strings.
When Oikawa started High School, he saw many people’s strings and it became difficult to concentrate on his work, especially because he didn’t know what they were. When he entered his second year, Oikawa had had enough of not knowing. So when he got home one night, he decided to ask his mother about it.
“Hey mum,” He started, watching his mum prepare dinner. “What are all of these red strings? And why does yours and dads connect?” He asked innocently.
As soon as his mother heard the question, she froze everything she was doing, almost dropping a plate in the process, and stared at her son. She stood for a moment, mouth opening and closing, trying to form the words she wanted to say.
“You can see the strings of fate?” She started to wonder if her son was playing a trick on her.
“Strings of fate?” Oikawa asked, tilting his head to the side slightly, eyes blinking up at his mother.
It was then that his mother knew he wasn’t joking. She had heard of people with the ability to see the strings, but never thought she’d know someone with that ability, let alone her own son.
“Tooru.” She breathed out. “I… You have an amazing gift.” She started, still a bit shocked. “The red string you can see is called the Red String of Fate, it’s what connects you to your soul mate.”
Oikawa blinked at his mother, looking at her through heavy lashes. “Soul mate?” He repeated. His mother nodded at him, smiling softly. “Wait, an amazing gift? So not many people can see the strings?” He asked, surprised. His mother nodded again, turning to carry on with the preparations.
Later that night, after the initial shock had faded, he decided to do some research. He opened his laptop and started browsing the Internet for answers. Almost every site he visited told him that the people connected by the string were destined lovers.
He felt his face heat up when reading what the Internet had to say. He knew that his string was connected to Iwaizumi, but he didn’t know that this was what it meant! He had to admit, Iwaizumi was beautiful. He had a nice face and strong arms and Oikawa may have a small crush in him. Oikawa blushed even hard at the though of him and Iwa-chan being lovers.
When he saw Iwaizumi the next day at school, he felt his ears begin to heat up. He didn’t want to tell Iwaizumi. He would probably get hit for it. “Hey Trashykawa.”
Oikawa all but jumped out of his skin at the sound of Iwaizumi so close next to him. When did he get there?! “H-hey Iwa-chan!” Oikawa squeaked out, going red from embarrassment at how he sounded. Get yourself together Tooru. Breathe. It’s just Iwa-chan!
“What’s up with you? You didn’t stay up all night again reviewing our last match did you?” Iwaizumi asked, a concerned looking flashing across his face for a brief moment, before he hardened his face again. “Dumbass.” He muttered.
“Uh, yeah, yeah that’s it. Didn’t sleep much.” Oikawa replied, though it wasn’t completely true. He did stay up too late, not reviewing the last match, but thinking about Iwaizumi. His cheeks turned a light shade of red at the thought.
“You’ll make yourself sick doing that.” Iwaizumi grumbled out, shoving Oikawa lightly, eyebrows knit together.
“Sorry Iwa-chan.” Oikawa laughed, sticking his tongue out a bit, slowly returning to his usual self. It’s okay. Nothing’s changed. Iwa-chan is still your best friend. So what if we end up being lovers? Oikawa tried to reason with himself.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you yesterday,” Iwaizumi spoke up suddenly. “I have a girlfriend.” Oikawa felt his heart drop to his stomach when he heard Iwaizumi say this.
A girlfriend? Oikawa remembered reading somewhere that a lot of people don’t usually end up with their soul mates. He felt his chest become tight and tears well up in his eyes. He took a deep breath before asking his next question.
“Who?” Oikawa stuttered out, feeling a bit sick.
“Kaneko Asami-chan.” Iwaizumi smiled. Oikawa’s heart shattered. Kaneko-chan… she’s so beautiful and exactly Iwa-chan’s type. Oikawa hated this. He wanted to run away. He felt jealousy build up and tears threaten to fall.
He faced forwards as him and Iwaizumi started to walk to their classes. “She’s not your soul mate. The string doesn’t connect you.” Oikawa spat out, before realizing what he said. Iwaizumi stood still and stared at Oikawa, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop too.
Oikawa didn’t turn around, but didn’t walk away either. Iwaizumi kept his hand wrapped around Oikawa’s wrist. “What?” He asked. “How would you know?” He demanded.
By this time, Oikawa realized that Iwaizumi must know what the Red String of Fate is. He sighed, blinking back any tears and turned to face Iwaizumi. “I can see it.” He said bluntly.
Iwaizumi almost laughed, but once he looked into Oikawa’s eyes and saw the seriousness there, he knew he couldn’t be lying. Oikawa was a horrible liar. Iwaizumi had of course heard of people being able to see the strings, but he never believed it until now.
“I don’t care.” He said firmly, his hand tightening around Oikawa’s wrist, before dropping back to his side. The bell signaling the start of class rang and Iwaizumi excused himself, leaving Oikawa behind.
“I didn’t think you would.” Oikawa whispered when Iwaizumi left.
Oikawa skipped his classes and didn’t turn up to volleyball practice either. Instead, he went straight home, relieved that his parents had already left for work. Oikawa cried himself to sleep that night.
A whole week passed since Iwaizumi announced that he had a girlfriend and he and Oikawa had barely spoken a word to each other. It stayed like this for a couple more weeks until Iwaizumi had finally had enough.
“Hey! Oikawa!” Iwaizumi shouted to Oikawa across the sports hall. It was just the two of them left to clean up and he decided that now was the best chance he had to talk to Oikawa.
Oikawa jumped at Iwaizumi’s sudden out burst and hesitantly turned to face him. Not talking to Iwaizumi for so long hurt. He hated this; he hated being jealous and not being able to be happy for Iwa-chan.
Iwaizumi crossed the sports hall to stand next to Oikawa. “Why are you so upset with me lately?” He all but demanded. “You’ve been like this since I told you about Kaneko-chan.”
“I-I don’t know…” Oikawa mumbled, not meeting Iwaizumi’s eyes. “I guess it’s because I don’t like the thought of you being with someone other than your soul mate.” He lied. He couldn’t tell Iwaizumi the real reason; he just hoped that Iwaizumi believed him.
He heard Iwaizumi let out a long sigh and decided to finally look at him. Iwaizumi looked tired and exasperated. “If that’s why then why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, locking his gaze with Oikawa’s.
“It sounds selfish and stupid.” Oikawa replied, not able to look away.
“Yeah. It does.” Iwaizumi chuckled a bit. “Just don’t ignore me again Shittykawa.” He smiled a bit and punched Oikawa in the arm lightly.
Oikawa smiled at this. Iwaizumi was still the same. They’re still best friends and that wont change.
A couple of years passed and during that time and Oikawa noticed that Kageyama’s string was attached to a new person, that being Hinata. He and Iwaizumi graduated from high school as best friends and Iwaizumi and Kaneko were still together and Oikawa had told Iwaizumi more about the Red String of Fate and how he could cut and re-tie it.
Iwaizumi and Kaneko had been together for a long time now and Iwaizumi had decided that it was time to take the next step. He proposed to Kaneko in the most romantic way possible and they told Oikawa all about it the next day.
“So, now to the real question.” Iwaizumi started, grasping Kaneko’s hand in his own. “Can you cut mine and Asami’s strings and attach them together?”
Oikawa gasped lightly when Iwaizumi asked this. Oikawa was still very much in love with Iwaizumi, but he couldn’t deny his best friend what he wanted.
Iwaizumi and Kaneko were looking at him expectantly and just seeing Iwaizumi so happy with this girl was the only reason he agreed. He reached out and grasped Kaneko’s first, snapping it in half. When he finished, he nodded to her and smiled. Now it was his turn.
He took a deep breath and picked up the string connecting him to Iwaizumi. He looked at it for a moment, breathing a bit heavily. He felt tears sting his eyes as he stared. With one last deep breath, he closed his eyes and snapped it in half before quickly tying it to Kaneko’s.
He felt is breath shudder as he inhaled, opening his eyes to see Iwaizumi’s string connect to Kaneko’s. He let out a sad smile, which disappeared when he saw the concern on their faces. I was then that he felt a tear slide down his cheek.
Oikawa gasped and quickly wiped it from his face, rubbing his eyes furiously. “Oikawa?” Iwaizumi asked, concern evident in his voice. “What’s wrong?”
Oikawa tried to smile and shook his head lightly, not trusting his voice to work. He unconsciously rubbed his little finger, where the string just dangled loosely. Something seemed to click in Iwaizumi as his face morphed into realization.
“Asami, can I talk to Oikawa alone for a sec?” He asked, kissing her on the cheek. Kaneko nodded and stood up, leaving them alone. “We were connected weren’t we…” Iwaizumi asked gently.
Oikawa nodded, burying his head in his hands. Iwaizumi breathed out heavily. “I’m so sorry Tooru.” He said softly, Oikawa looked at Iwaizumi after hearing him use his firs name. Iwaizumi didn’t do that often. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, looking at Oikawa intently.
Oikawa sighed. “By the time I found out what the string was, you were telling me that you had a girlfriend. I couldn’t ruin that for you. I’m sorry.” Oikawa stumbled through a few words, but he was glad he finally got it out.
“So am I.” Iwaizumi breathed, standing and pulling Oikawa into hug, letting him cry into his chest.
Oikawa went home, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, but at the same time, his heart felt like it weighed a ton. He glanced down at the string on his little finger and sighed. At least Iwaizumi’s happy.