Chapter Text
Tobio would never admit this out loud, but he doesn’t actually think Oikawa is that bad. Sure, there was that time in middle school when he thought Oikawa was about to beat his ass, but after that he was. Well, not nice, exactly. But he didn’t go out of his way to make Tobio’s life miserable, which was more than some people (Tsukishima) ever did for him.
Oikawa has always filled at least the bare minimum of the duties of an upperclassman to Tobio. So, when Oikawa passes by him after their match and asks to meet up later, Tobio’s suspicious, but not alarmed. He’s curious as to what Oikawa wants, most of all.
“I want to help you practice,” Oikawa says, taking a sip of his boba. Tobio feels the straw of his own drink fall out of his mouth and realizes he must be gaping. He makes a sound he hopes accurately conveys his confusion, suspicion, and surprise.
Apparently it does, or maybe Oikawa is just really good at reading people, because the upperclassman sighs and sets down his drink.
“Look,” he says, leaning forward. The look in his eyes warns Tobio that he’s serious. It also, strangely, makes him both want to keep looking and also look away. “You may be some kind of genius savant, but even you could still use more practice. Not to mention, there’s a few things I know that could help you, if you learned them.”
Tobio suddenly remembers to blink. “What- why would you want to help me? Us? We beat you.”
Oikawa leans back and lets out another sigh.
“Listen. That’s why I want to help. If you losers go up against Ushikawa and lose, It makes our team look even worse. I still have my pride, you know, and since it comes down to this, I’d rather have your team win than his.”
Tobio begins to nod. Yeah, he can see where Oikawa is coming from. And though he hates to think it, even he acknowledges Oikawa has valuable skills that he doesn’t.
“Yeah, okay,” he says. It's not like he can lose in this situation.
That’s how Tobio finds himself at Aoba Johsai, marveling at the school that was almost his. Oikawa told him to meet him late in the afternoon, so there’s less students around, but there are still some after school clubs about. He spots Oikawa waving him down from the gym entrance, and heads over, resolving to ignore the would-have-been and concentrate on his present.
“Hey,” Oikawa opens the door for him and ushers him inside the empty gym.
“Are you sure it’s okay for us to be here?” Even though it’s to play volleyball, Tobio still feels a little weird being almost alone in another team’s gym.
“It’s fine,” Oikawa waves his hand and heads to grab a ball. It looks like he already set up the net before Tobio got here. “The coach loves me! And I’m the captain, so I have the gym keys. We shouldn’t stay too long, though.” He tosses the ball without warning to Tobio, who catches it reflexively. “Here, set for me.”
“Set for you?”
Oikawa rolls his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I said, peabrain. I want to see first hand what I’m working with.”
Tobio obliges, and promptly sends the ball into the air for Oikawa to spike over the net. The ball sails perfectly through the air and lands definitively out-of-bounds.
“Okay,” Oikawa hums and crosses his arms, “I’ll admit, that was a little bit my fault. But you see how you sent that set just a little too low?”
Oikawa critiques Tobio’s every single move, from his sets to his stance to his facial expressions (“People will be watching, Tobio, so at least try to look like you aren’t about to rip the net apart with your bare hands”). Tobio, though vaguely annoyed by Oikawa’s general personality, throws himself into it, makes sure to listen to every single word Oikawa says, committing it to memory in case it’s ever useful to him.
Oikawa sets a few times for him, both as an example and to, as he puts it, “get a real feel for what it’s like”. Tobio’s spikes are expectedly unremarkable, but with Oikawa setting for him, he starts to get a glimpse of what makes Hinata so damn excited to just make contact with the ball.
“Oh crap, it’s late,” Oikawa says, and Tobio takes stock of his surroundings for the first time since starting to practice. It’s dark outside, really dark, and Oikawa starts frantically cleaning up. He stops to point an accusatory finger at Tobio. “I told you we couldn’t stay too long!”
Tobio opens his mouth to retort that he doesn’t recall being told to keep track of their time, but Oikawa just lobs a ball at his head and yells at him to start cleaning too. Apparently cleaning is a part of Oikawa’s skillset too, because by the time Tobio finishes collecting the balls the rest of the gym is done. Oikawa hurries to usher Tobio out and lock the door.
“Alright Tobio, where’s your place?” Oikawa asks, leading them to the school entrance.
“Oh, uh,” Tobio points in what he assumes is the general direction of his house. He came here straight from Karasuno and is actually not certain of exactly how to get home. “That way? Don’t worry, I’ll make it home by myself.”
Oikawa scoffs and pulls out his phone. “I bet you don’t know where we are at all, do you?”
Tobio swears Oikawa must be psychic or something, but he still protests anyway.
“Yes I do, we’re-” Oikawa cuts him off by shoving his phone in Tobio’s face. He makes Tobio (begrudgingly) put in his address, and sets off towards his house.
“Wait- but, don’t you live around here?” Tobio asks. Oikawa is moving fast but Tobio’s longer legs let him keep up, at least for now.
“Of course I don’t, dumbass,” Oikawa has his eyes locked on the map on the screen but Tobio can hear the eye roll in his voice. “I was specially assigned to this school, not zoned for it. We went to the same middle school, remember? I more or less live in the same area as you.”
Tobio hadn’t made that connection until just now, but he still resents the insult. He broods quietly to himself, still trying to keep up with Oikawa’s break-neck pace.
“Why are we walking so fast?” Tobio asks, wondering why Oikawa doesn’t seem fazed.
“I was supposed to be at dinner with my sister’s family like half an hour ago,” Oikawa responds, still not looking up, and dammit now Tobio feels bad Oikawa is walking him home. He broods some more.
The two of them walk in silence for a good while before Oikawa nearly kills him by asking, “So, you have a crush on anyone?” Which of course makes Tobio trip over nothing and nearly faceplant into the sidewalk. He catches himself just in time to save his face, and Oikawa stops his speed walking to stand over Tobio and laugh, though he does offer a hand to help him up.
“Why would you do that?” Tobio accepts the hand but drops it the instant he’s stable and pushes the other boy instead, which only makes him laugh harder. “You almost killed me!”
Oikawa calms himself to a giggle. “Boy, I was expecting a good reaction, but that? You really do go above and beyond, huh Tobio?”
Tobio responds by shoving him again, which unfortunately makes Oikawa start laughing out right again.
“It’s not that funny,” he sulks.
“Sorry, I’m-” Oikawa collects himself again. “I’m sorry.” He takes a breath and Tobio sees the evil glint in his eye one second before the words come out of his mouth. “So is that a yes?”
“It’s none of your business, is what it is,” Tobio huffs and stalks up the street. He makes it halfway before remembering that Oikawa is the one with the map. He turns around to see Oikawa still in the same spot, smirking.
“You shouldn’t run from your feelings, Tobio,” Oikawa smiles at him once Tobio makes the humiliating walk back to him.
“Just take me home,” Tobio grumbles, now regretting ever having met him.
Oikawa giggles once more and starts up the grueling pace again, and this time Tobio is beyond grateful for the silence. They eventually make it to Tobio’s house, and Tobio wonders how his walk home ended up more of a workout than actual practice.
“Make sure you let your mom know your upperclassman delivered you home safe and sound,” Oikawa coos, and Tobio resolves then and there to never let the name Oikawa Toru be spoken in his house ever again for eternity. “Give me your phone.”
Tobio follows the command before he consciously registers it, and dutifully unlocks it when Oikawa hums and jabs his side with it.
“Here’s my number,” he hands the phone back to Tobio. There’s a little bird emoji next to his name, and Tobio stares dumbly at the screen. “There’s a court near here, right? Let’s meet up there next time. Text me when you’re free.” Oikawa pauses then huffs out a little laugh. “I’ll probably have tons of free time, now.”
Tobio looks at him to see an expression he can’t quite place but definitely doesn’t like on Oikawa’s face.
“Don’t you have to study for exams?” Tobio says the first thing that comes to mind. It works, at least the sense that Oikawa looks up at him and smiles his usual smile instead of looking -well, whatever that was.
“That’s right,” Oikawa says, and to Tobio’s immense displeasure he takes Tobio’s face in his hands and starts baby talking to him. “Make sure you gets a goodnight’s rest and drink lots of water so you do your best tomorrow, okay?”
Tobio retches internally and yanks his face away from Oikawa. He doesn’t bother saying goodbye, just reaches for the door handle to get inside his house and away from Oikawa’s cackling as soon as possible.
“Goodnight, Tobio!” Oikawa calls through the door, and then mercifully Tobio is rid of him.
He greets his family and then neatly excuses himself to his room. It really is late - too late, he reasons, to bother thinking about why he can still feel the ghost of Oikawa’s hands on his face, or why he isn’t more weirded out about that. He opts to take a shower and then go to bed instead.
*******
Among the chaos and the emotions and the overall weight of everything following their victory over Ushiwaka, Tobio forgets his strange outing with Oikawa happened at all. He showers, goes home, and climbs into bed, knowing full well he’s way too keyed up to sleep for what feels like maybe a decade.
He is reminded, though, when his phone lights up with a message as he lays awake.
Oikawa:
hey
nice game out there today
congrats!
Tobio squints at his screen, trying to process what and why he’s seeing what he’s seeing. He can remember, hazy in the background of his concentration on the game, that Oikawa was there, so it reasons that he also knows they won.
Tobio:
thnx
i had fun
Tobio has no idea why he added that last message. He blames it on the late hour and the post-game high.
Oikawa:
lol glad to hear it
looked like it :)
you really did prove us wrong, huh?
Tobio blames his next message on the post-game high, too, and not on the way he suddenly remembers the unreadable on Oikawa’s face the other night and the warmth of his hands on his face.
Tobio:
yea
but i cn alwys b betetr
u still gud to practice?
It must, in actuality, be hardly a minute before Oikawa responds, but for some reason the seconds seem to stretch out as he waits.
Oikawa:
Of course!
There are some courts near your place, I think?
Wanna meet there?
Tobio:
i kno them
yea tht works
Oikawa:
*thumbs up emoji*
Just give me a time and a place ;)
Tobio finally feels the exhaustion roll over him as he reads Oikawa’s last message. His eyelids start to flutter close as he types a promise to let Oikawa know when he’s free tomorrow morning, and resolves to merely feel his emotions without thinking any deeper on them as he slowly drifts to sleep.
**********************
It’s a Sunday morning when Tobio sees Oikawa again, and to his complete and utter dismay, the first thing Tobio notices upon arriving at the court is Oikawa’s legs. The older boy is wearing a long, dark blue shirt, but what must be the world's shortest pair of shorts, because all that he sees past the hem is a long expanse of pale skin, interrupted only by bruised knees. Tobio stares dumbly for a minute.
“Hello?” Oikawa’s tone conveys the underlying question, “Why are you staring at me like a weirdo?”. “You leave your brain at home or something?”
“Where are your shorts?” Tour blurts, then immediately tries to figure out how to put the words back in his brain before Oikawa can hear them. For his part, Oikawa gives him a strange look before smiling mischievously and lifting his arms.
For precious seconds Tobio fears the worst before he sees faded gray fabric and calms down.
“Why are you wearing that?” Tobio asks. They are, in fact, the world’s shortest pair of shorts.
Oikawa stares at him with a look of complete disdain and partial confusion.
“Why the hell do you care what I’m wearing? Since when are you the fashion police?” Oikawa puts his hands on his hips. “What, are my gorgeous legs gonna distract you and make you an even worse setter?”
This insult snaps Tobio out of whatever state he’s in, and he snatches up the volleyball from where it’s resting by Oikawa’s feet. He opts to stomp over to the net rather than attempt to figure out a response that makes sense, and is grateful when Oikawa, though he furrows his brow, decides to let the matter go and start in on their practice.
They play long and hard, both boys losing track of time, letting old grudges and competitiveness take over. Tobio finds himself enjoying the experience; he’s getting to see the qualities that make Oikawa both a great player and leader, only this time there’s less anger around it. Though Tobio is taking this as seriously as anything else involving volleyball, he’s starting to feel like he’s having fun, too. It’s good, the way Oikawa pushes him. Good, the way his muscles strain pleasantly, asphalt under his feet, sun on his back, breeze against his skin. The feel of the ball stinging against his hands. Tobio thinks of nothing else.
It’s mid-afternoon when Oikawa calls for a break, flopping himself on a patch of grass. Tobio lies next to him, the grass cool under his back. Now that they are no longer playing, thoughts of other things come back into Tobio’s head. Again, he remembers the ghost feeling of Oikawa’s hands on his face, and now the sight of Oikawa’s legs, frustratingly burned into his mind. In the present, too, added to the list of things he’d rather not be noticing about Oikawa, is the gentle sound of his still slightly labored breath, and the way the scent of sweat wafts off the other boy. Humiliating, horrifyingly, Tobio realizes he doesn’t mind it.
Oikawa breaks the silence after a while, likely knowing full well Tobio was never going to do it.
“Do you wanna go get a coffee or something?”
Actually, Tobio is thinking that he should probably go home, taking his dangerous thoughts with him and hiding them away from the probably telepathic Oikawa. His traitorous mouth, however, says “yes” and he finds himself being hauled up by an impressively and alarmingly strong Oikawa. Oikawa’s hand also holds onto Tobio’s wrist for a bit as he leads the way out of the park, jabbering about some cafe he knows. Tobio laments the addition of more things to think about.
Life would be simpler, Tobio sighs internally, rubbing his skin where Oikawa had just been holding him, if he could just think less.
The cafe is crowded, but Oikawa manages to hunt down an occupied booth while Tobio is still trying to pull his thoughts somewhere normal and safe. The third year ushers him into the seat and pushes a menu before him before attempting to flag down a server in the bustling restaurant.
The menu has pictures of the drinks the cafe offers, which Tobio appreciates, but they are all aggressively vibrant. Worse, each rainbow colored drink has a description Tobio is utterly unable to decipher; things like: ‘pineapple puree with hints of the floral notes of hibiscus with citrus and mint essence and served with julienned coconut’. Tobio thinks this just means the drink is fruity, but isn’t confident enough to commit to taking the chance.
“Welcome to Cafe Bien”, a voice chirps, and Tobio looks up to find that Oikawa has successfully summoned a waitress, who is beaming at them. “Have you decided what you’ll be having?”
Tobio panics, frantically searching the menu for anything that looks familiar enough to order. Oikawa, however, has evidently had his order picked out in advance, because without missing a beat he says, “I’ll have the Strawberry Fields, with an extra lemon slice, please.” He throws a glance at Tobio, who opens his mouth to ask for another moment, but then he continues, “And my friend will have the Creamy and Dreamy.”
“Of course, I’ll have that right out for you,” the waitress snatches up the offending menus and sends them another blinding smile and swishes away to the next table, leaving Tobio with his mouth still open and staring across the table at his companion.
“Can you read?” Oikawa asks, and Tobio immediately snaps his jaw shut and furrows his brow.
“Of course I can,” Tobio grumbles, turning to look out the window. Unfortunately, he finds it is painted on, so instead he busies himself with examining the fake panes of glass in an effort to look at Not Oikawa. “I don’t normally come to places with such complicated drinks like these. How was I supposed to pick something out in just seconds? How did you do that, anyway?”
Oikawa frowns at him. “I told you, I’ve been hearing about this place from the girls in my class all week, and I looked up the menu. Weren't you listening on the way here?”
Tobio feels a guilty flush creep up the back of his neck, knowing that he was, in fact, not listening, instead remembering kinda sorta not really wishing Oikawa was still holding his wrist while he followed the jabbering Oikawa to their destination. “You were walking too fast,” he mumbles, knowing it’s a weak excuse.
Oikawa scoffs, leaning forward and folding his arms across the table, which Tobio just now notices is covered with a soft yellow tablecloth with light blue flowers. “What, you have trouble making those long legs of yours work? No wonder your blocks are so slow.”
Tobio doesn’t have a chance to come up with a rebuke before Oikawa is barreling on, “Anyway, the drink I ordered you is something like a milk tea with like, caramel and chocolate. I know you like milk, so. That’s why I ordered it.” He hunches over a bit, shrugging his shoulders, and Tobio darts a glance over at him to find that Oikawa is also looking at Not Tobio. “If you don’t think you’d like that, I can try and catch the waitress again. I don’t think it’s been made yet.”
“It’s fine,” Tobio allows himself to turn back to face Oikawa, mirroring the other’s pose and hunching over as well. “I’ll drink it.”
Oikawa squints at him. “You sure? There’s no need to ‘suffer in silence’ or whatever.”
“It’s fine,” Tobio repeats, trying to make it sound more certain, because it really is fine, and he thinks that maybe the other boy is starting to look a little unsure of himself. Hesitantly, adds, “Thank you. For ordering for me.”
“Don’t mention it,” Oikawa places his hand behind his head. “So what places do you go to, if not ones like these?”
Tobio begins to tell him about Coach Ukai’s store, which leads him into explaining how they got the coach to agree to come out of retirement, and then into recounting some of the stupid things he and the rest of the team get into there that, now that he thinks about it, is suspicious that the coach lets them get away with.
This has Oikawa reciprocating with some of the antics the members of the Aoba Johsai got into at their regular haunts, and Oikawa’s knack for storytelling has Tobio in the middle of a snicker fit when the waitress returns with their elaborate drinks, deftly arranged in their glasses in a way that makes Tobio unsure if they are actually meant to be consumed or if they should just be taking pictures and admiring the craftsmanship.
Oikawa’s drink has a gradient going from dark red at the bottom to pale yellow in the middle, and finally a blue-ish green at the top. There are slices of strawberries floating throughout it. A sprig of mint and two candied lemons slices are placed on the rim.
Tobio’s drink makes Oikawa’s look like a glass of juice in a plastic cup. It’s presented in a retro style milkshake glass, with caramel and chocolate drizzles visible inside the glass. The actual drink itself is pink and looks thick, not quite like a milkshake. Maybe more yogurt like? The main feature, however, is a huge, cloud shaped pile of whipped cream balanced on top, and loaded with stars, planets, and other spaced themed trinkets in a rainbow of colors.
Oikawa takes several pictures of their orders, presumably to brag about to his classmates later, and Tobio uses the time to form a plan of attack. There is one of those long, curly straws that is neon pink, but graciously, the waitress has left a spoon, as well. Tobio picks it up and uses it to hesitantly prod at the foamy layer on top, taking a small scoop and tasting the concoction.
Oikawa is sipping his drink across from him quietly, but Tobio can tell from the way his eyes are scrunched up at the corners that he finds Tobio’s caution amusing.
“Is it good?” He asks, lifting his eyebrows.
Now that he’s taken a bite of his drink, Tobio realizes that the fluff on top is not actually whipped cream but instead whipped yogurt, which he finds to be a pleasant surprise. He takes a bigger bite, this time wanting to try more of the drink proper, and finds it to be cherry blossom flavored, which surprisingly tastes pretty good with the caramel and chocolate drizzles.
“Yeah,” Tobio answers finally, digging into his drink for real now that he knows it is actually delicious. “Did you know that it was cherry blossom?”
Oikawa nods and points at the decorations on top.
“Those are dark chocolates,” he says, and Tobio goes to pop an orange star shaped one into his mouth. The rich and sharp flavor bursts on his tongue as the candy melts on it, and he lets out a hum of appreciation.
“Let me try one,” Oikawa asks, and Tobio obliges, plucking a blue planet shaped piece and holding it out across the table. Instead of grabbing it with his hands like a normal person, though, Oikawa leans further across the table and takes the candy out of Tobio’s waiting fingers directly with his mouth.
Predictably, Tobio.exe stops working, his hand frozen where it is stretched across the table while his brain frantically tries to reboot. It unfortunately stalls and crashes all over again each time it tries to process the feeling of Oikawa Tooru's lips against his fingertips. This means that Tobio is still non-functioning when a voice next to their table addresses him directly.
“Kageyama?” Tobio manages to get his head to turn so he can face Narita, who is staring at the combination of boys in front of them like he’s been told something he really doesn’t want to believe. Tobio can relate. He also doesn’t want to believe what’s going on right now. “And… Oikawa-San?”
Narita squeaks out this last part, and Tobio notices for the first time the girl that’s with him, holding Narita’s hand and also looking at Oikawa and Tobio but with an expression of mostly mild curiosity. She seems maybe familiar, but honestly he can’t really remember if he’s seen her before or not. He also doesn’t recall Narita saying anything about dating a girl or having a date, but it’s not like Tobio would have retained that information if he had.
“Oh hi,” Oikawa says, voice normal and even as if he is seen in public hanging out with rival volleyball players all the time. “You’re number 8, right? On the Karasuno team?”
“Right,” Narita replies, sounding more appropriately less composed. “Narita Kazuhito,” he introduces himself, then belatedly gestures to the girl and says, “This is Sawamura Akane.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hasegawa says, smiling at them before tugging on Narita’s hand a bit. “Look, a table just opened up over there. We should get it before someone else does.” She throws them another smile before dragging Narita away without any further conversation, and it’s only when his upperclassman breaks eye contact that Tobio finally registers that his arm is still hovering in midair across the table.
“He seems nice,” Oikawa muses as Tobio snatches his arm back and sits on his hand, hoping that it will keep it from suffering any further traumas. “And that girl was cute. I haven’t gotten to see him play, though. Is he any good?”
The question is like a lifesaver to Tobio, who jumps on the chance to escape whatever the hell was the last 2 minutes of his life and return to the sanctity and security of volleyball. He starts unloading all the notes coach Ukai has given each member of the team, adding in his own observations. Oikawa adds in some of his thoughts as well, and the conversation lulls Tobio into briefly forgetting that he’s done anything today besides have a nice time, even when the topic shifts and they end up talking about movies and shows they’ve seen
Eventually, though, they finish their drinks (Tobio much faster than Oikawa, despite the other having a substantially smaller one), and Oikawa mentions that they should clear out to allow guests to have a spot, and Tobio agrees. Oikawa pays for both drinks, giving Tobio a look that shuts him up the moment he tries to argue. As they make their way to the exit, Oikawa giving the waitress a wink, Tobio looks around for Narita, both hoping to see him and also not be seen. He spots him at a table with his back facing Tobio. Hasegawa catches his eye and gives a little wave, so Tobio shoves Oikawa, who is now chatting up the hostess, out the door before Narita can turn around and see them.
Oikawa takes it in stride, simply walking up the street and continuing their conversation. This time, he makes sure to pay attention. It’s grueling work, considering the fact that on top of now worrying about how much, exactly, Narita saw, Tobio’s brain has gifted him with a new sickening obsession; Oikawa’s hair looks soft. It looks soft, and he wants to touch it.
“And this is you,” Oikawa stops in front of a house that Tobio belatedly realizes is his own, and hurriedly thanks Oikawa for walking him back.
“Well, I don’t want to be responsible for getting you lost,” Oikawa grins, then places his hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet and pausing a moment. Tobio looks at him expectantly, and sure enough, he continues. “You know, they’re showing that movie we were talking about earlier at a theater near here this week. I know you’re probably still busy with practice, but if you think you might have a free moment…”
Oikawa trails off there, looking uncharacteristically unsure of himself, and Tobio finds he does not enjoy it, although he can’t think of why Oikawa would hesitate to ask him anything. Maybe he’s worried about throwing off his training regime?
“I think I can find time,” Tobio hears himself say. “I’d like to go see it, with you.”
Oikawa eases up, and gives Tobio another one of his easy grins.
“Nice,” he says, “Text me later, then.”
Oikawa makes a move like he’s going to head off, and Tobio’s brain decides that he cannot allow Oikawa to leave without getting in one last thing to keep himself up at night with, so before Oikawa can turn around, Tobio’s hand (the other one! the one that was pure!) reaches up and sets itself down in the middle of Oikawa’s head. His hair is, decidedly, as soft as it looks.
“Goodnight,” Tobio says, unsure if this makes things more or less awkward.
Oikawa freezes, and simply stares at Tobio for a long moment. Tobio, fully committing to his act of headassery, stares back.
“Ooooookay then,” Oikawa says, reaching up and patting Tobio’s hand before removing it from his person and taking a deliberate step back. “Uh, Goodnight?”
Tobio nods sharply, and hopes he doesn’t make that face Hinata is always telling him makes it look like he’s eaten 40 lemons and washed it down with curdled milk, which is sort of what he felt like when Oikawa gave him his hand back.
“Bye!” Oikawa calls as he walks off down the street, and Tobio thinks that means he’s not angry or disgusted, so he feels a little relief. He gloweres at his hands, wondering how they can be so good at volleyball but the vessels of chaos itself at all other times.
As expected, Tobio is kept up that night by flashes of the events of today. The warmth of the sun as they played, the searing heat of Oikawa’s hand around his wrist. The gentle pressure of Oikawa’s lips against his fingertips, and the softness of Oikawa’s hair under the palm of his hand.
Tobio might be dumb, but he isn’t stupid. While he doesn’t always understand what other people are feeling, he does know his own emotions, and he’s overheard enough conversations from his classmates to realize that he is, or already has, developed a crush on Oikawa. The revelation still makes his heart race and his mouth go dry.
What is he supposed to do about that? Tell Oikawa? He can already see the nightmare that will end up, Oikawa bursting into laughter and mocking him, likely forever. Keep it to himself? Oikawa seems content to continue inviting him to hang out, and if today’s showing is any indication of Tobio’s ability to appear normal in front of the other boy, he’ll end up blurting something embarrassing sooner rather than later.
Ask for advice? Tobio thinks carefully on that one. The upperclassmen seem to know what they’re doing. Well, at least some of them. Some of them are absolutely out of the question, but maybe he could ask Sawamura? He thinks, as captain, Sawamura might be obligated to not be cruel with Tobio’s feelings. At least, he hopes so.
Feeling better now that he has a plan, Tobio resolves to put Oikawa and the emotions surrounding him out of his mind so he can finally get a rest from this frankly exhausting day. They can be a problem for Tomorrow Tobio.