Archive of Our Own

It takes them both by surprise, the day Hajime first earthbends, and accidently at that. They’re fourteen years old, standing at a lakeside nearby their houses with scabby knees and sunburnt freckled noses telltale of summer-spent days out in the sun. Oikawa’s the only teenager around who still gets excited over things like skipping stones, and Hajime as per usual, follows him to the lakeside yet again to test out a new technique “that will definitely work this time Iwa-chan, I swear!”

 The last one flops about half a foot away from them and Hajime can’t help but let out a scoff as the water splashes over their ankles and as Oikawa stomps his foot in a frustrated huff.

 “Fine, then. You try it if you think it’s so easy,” Oikawa says, and he picks up a decent looking stone before shoving it into Hajime’s hands.

Hajime looks at it, kind of surprised at the smoothness of the stone and at how comfortable the weight of it feels in his hands. He becomes very conscious of Oikawa’s gaze on him, waiting impatiently, before he shrugs and kind of just tries to copy the same form he has basically memorised from watching.

For a moment it looks like it’ll flop just like Oikawa’s had, except before it hits the water, it just hovers for a while – an unnaturally long time. “Uh,” Hajime says, and blinks towards Oikawa’s direction.

Oikawa is staring at him with wide eyes, and it’s a moment of strained, confused silence between them before he speaks. “Iwa-chan,” he finally breathes out. “You’re a bender.”

His parents throw a party. A lot of relatives Hajime had never met before come over to congratulate him. Hajime’s father braces his shoulder and tells him about his great-grandfather being an earthbender, and how he would’ve been proud. His mother fusses over his hair and hugs him twelve times, all watery-smiles as she tells him they’re enrolling him to best bender academy there is.

 Hajime finally finds Oikawa out by garden, near the bird feeder and ironically, shooing away any birds that are in his vicinity. He looks away when Hajime catches his gaze, but such things don’t really discourage Hajime.

“Oi,” he says, when Oikawa refuses to look at him even when Hajime’s standing right in front of him. He shoves at Oikawa’s shoulder a little, and at least that gets him to look up, but Hajime immediately regrets it when he sees Oikawa’s face, eyes watery like his mother’s, but in a different way.

Hajime crosses his arms and looks away, because like any other fourteen year old, he’s not really great at dealing with feelings, let alone a crying best friend. “Why’re you out here all alone?”

“This party is stupid,” Oikawa says, and his voice his all croaky, like he sounded the first time they watched the Lion King years ago and it was the scene where Simba was trying to wake his dad, this movie is stupid, he’d croaked and blubbered.

Hajime kind of smiles at the memory, and of course, Oikawa takes it the wrong way. He points an accusing finger at Hajime, his face all scrunched up indignantly. “You’re not supposed to laugh at people who are crying!”

“I’m not laughing, stupid!” Hajime replies, just as indignant, before calming down and remembering why he’s there. “Why are you crying anyway?”

“N-no reason,” Oikawa says, and rubs his face. When he looks up, all traces of tears have disappeared and he’s plastered on a bright smile that is 100% not real. “See? I’m fine.”

“If it’s about me going to the academy…” Hajime says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s not!”

“Okay,” Hajime agrees easily, and sits on the ground with his legs crossed. It’s only a half a minute later until Oikawa joins him, crouching beside him and picking at the grass near their feet.

“Do you really have to go?” He finally asks, voice small but determined in his tone. Hajime takes a moment to look at the side of Oikawa’s face, eyes downcast and mouth slightly frowned.

“I don’t know. They can’t force me to go if I don’t want to,” Hajime shrugs, looking away.

“Well, do you want to?”

Hajime doesn’t reply, and Oikawa takes that as an answer. He stands up so abruptly, the force of it nearly knocks over Hajime’s balance while crouching.

“Fine…Leave then!” He says, and when Hajime looks up at his looming friend standing over him, he can’t really see his face properly because the sun is directly behind him and it makes Oikawa’s face all shadowy, like a silhouette. “You’ll make enough special little bender friends there anyway, so soon enough you can forget about me and I’ll forget about you.”

He’s storming away before Hajime can even register what’s going on, and is promptly ignored when he yells out “Wait, Oikawa!”

But what is he supposed to say exactly? Sorry, but I want to go to this bender school, and I really wish you could come with me – except you’re not a bender so you wouldn’t be allowed in. Saying that would be too cruel, even Hajime knows.

So he gets up and follows Oikawa, weaving through crowds of chattering adults, until Hajime catches his wrist and tugs at it before Oikawa can run away again.

“Don’t be stupid,” he says, hoping his voice is loud and stern enough to carry into that thick head. “Of course I won’t forget you. Me being an earthbender doesn’t mean we’re not friends anymore.”

Oikawa pulls his hand away and turns around, he’s crying again, just a little. Oikawa’s always been an ugly crier.

“But you’ll be gone for so long, who knows what’ll happen.”

“Dumb, Oikawa.” Hajime sighs, and reaches over to flick him on the forehead, who squawks in outrage and promptly rubs at his head exaggeratedly. “You’re so mean Iwa-chan.”

Hajime looks away this time, reddening slightly. Because yeah, he knows sometimes he’s harsh but he doesn’t actually mean half the things he says and Oikawa should know that by now.

It’s silent for a while, save for the muffled commotion of the party in the background, a lulling sound until Oikawa breaks it.

“Wait for me,” he says, and Hajime doesn’t understand at first, until he does.

“Oikawa…” he hesitates.

“Wait, for me at the academy. Give me a year or so, I’ll be there.”

No one can force themselves to bend out of sheer will. Everyone knows that, but one look at Oikawa’s stormy expression, Hajime knows there’s no point in bringing it up.

“Okay,” Hajime relents, and then smiles a small smile.

Oikawa nods and sticks out his hand, all business-like. Hajime shakes his head, but takes the hand anyway.

“I’ll be the greatest bender the world has ever seen!”

Hajime sighs, “Don’t push it Asskawa.”

Bending is not as easy as the people in those books and shows make it out to be. Especially earthbending apparently, because it requires a lot of sweat, a lot of effort and stubbornness and patience. Being best friends with Oikawa Tooru was probably the best pre-training he could’ve asked for, before being thrown into the world of Aoba Johsai Academy for benders of all ages. The first month is gruelling, Hajime’s master is as strict as they come – well, probably not as strict as the firebending master but he’s certainly strict in a way that’ll force you to do better. On the first weekend back home, he’s good enough to start moulding the rocks into certain shapes, and he shows his parents his progress before skipping out on dinner to head over to Oikawa’s, ignoring his mother’s exasperated head shakes and his father’s amused chuckle.

“Oh,” Oikawa says, when he sees that it’s Hajime behind the door.

Hajime glares, crossing his arms. His heart’s still on overdrive – a result of his rapid running on his way over to the Oikawa household. “Oh? I ran over here as fast as I could!”

“No one asked you to do that,” Oikawa says, turning his back and walking away, but he keeps the door open as an obvious invitation for Hajime to follow.

“Oi, what’s with the rude welcome? I haven’t seen you in like a month!” He all but shouts at Oikawa’s retreating back. Hajime sighs for a moment, weighing his options, before rubbing the bridge of his nose and stepping inside. He closes the door behind him and mutters about excusing his intrusion while taking his shoes off, all out of habit.

He doesn’t know if Oikawa’s parents are home, but at this point he really doesn’t have time for formalities anyway, so he dashes past the dining room and up the stairs to his bedroom, where, just as predicted, Oikawa is sitting by his desk fiddling with a pen and acting like he’s busy as ever.

“Iwa-chan, you must’ve really missed me to come running after me like this,” Oikawa says, eyes downcast on a paper he’s apparently just scribbling onto. And his voice has a strange lilt to it; sounding like Hajime had never heard it. The words are airy, but underneath that he sounds sad and bitter, and it frustrates Hajime to no end.

Of course I missed you, stupid. “I ran after you because you’re being obtuse.”

There’s a pause, until Oikawa speaks again and his voice is even more honeyed than it had been earlier. “Obtuse? My, my do they teach fancy words out there in that bender academy as well? It’s not all just playing with pebbles?”

For a moment, Hajime doesn’t know what to say out either shock or anger, he’s silent, until he balls up his fists and feels his face heat up. “What the hell has gotten into you, Oikawa?”

“Don’t shout so much Iwa-chan,” Oikawa chides, like it’s second nature to him. “And to answer your question: I’m just as I’ve always been.”

Hajime shakes his head, “No. You’re not. Come find me when you’re not acting like an entitled brat but until then I hope you figure your shit out.”

Hajime doesn’t give Oikawa a chance to reply and leaves the house in a hurry, thankful that Oikawa’s parents are nowhere in sight.

He waits around the house all of Sunday, but Oikawa never comes.

Hajime ends up joining a pro-bender group. His master advised him that his skills seem to be more in the athletic side than creative or practical, so it’s not like he’ll be constructing buildings anytime soon, but he knows he can definitely pack a mean boulder kick. And it’s not like he particularly dislikes pro-bending. His teammates are easy to get along with, though they’re a makeshift team with people always coming and leaving so they’re not exactly teammates in the pure sense of the word. He doesn’t compete in an official game until about six months after he’s been enrolled, and they lose within the first two minutes all three rounds.

Hajime still likes it though, he loves using his reflexes to know when to jump before a flame reaches him or a gust of wind knocks him out. It’s exhilarating and fun, and he’s pretty good at it, compared to everyone else in the team at least. 

On his fifteenth birthday, he’s back home and his parents want to throw him a party again, but he insists against it this time. He tries calling Oikawa’s place instead of going there, and when his mother picks up instead, Hajime asks for him as casually as he can manage, like it hasn’t been months since they had last spoken.

Hajime waits nervously as the phone gets passed between hands, and he hears Oikawa’s voice saying something but can’t really make out what. His stupid heart is on overdrive again but this time it’s definitely not because of any running.

“Happy birthday, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa’s voice says on the other line and Hajime closes his eyes for a moment, a weird mixture of relief and frustration washing over him.

“Don’t give me that, Shittykawa. Not after you’ve been ignoring me for so long!”

Oikawa lets out a light chuckle, and Hajime’s chest does this strange clench-thing when he hears it. “Oh, how I’ve missed you roaring at me,” he says, and he sounds…almost wistful? What the hell.

“You’re the one who’s ignoring me, so no point saying you missed me.”

“I’m not ignoring you,” Oikawa says, and quickly continues before Hajime gets to interrupt him like he really, really wants to. “Okay, yes, maybe it seems like I’m ignoring you. But in reality I’m just trying to block out all distractions.”

“Distractions?” Hajime repeats, and ignores the way his stomach kind of aches at being called a distraction by his best friend.

“I told you to wait for me,” Oikawa says, so quietly, his voice is slightly tinny across the line. “I don’t want you to wait any longer than you need to.”

Hajime takes a moment to respond, before he closes his eyes and just exhales out deeply. “Oikawa…you can’t mean what I think you’re meaning.”

"It’s –,” Oikawa begins, but this time Hajime doesn’t let him finish.

“You can’t force yourself to bend, Tooru! It’s impossible.”

There’s a pause for moment, and Hajime realises belatedly that somehow he’d reverted back to using first names – a thing he’d insisted they’d grown out of when they hit twelve. Now, ironically enough Hajime is the first to slip-up, probably in his desperation to make his stubborn childhood friend to simply understand.

The pause doesn’t last for very long though, and Hajime can almost hear Oikawa composing himself to respond. “I’ll catch up to you soon enough,” he responds, apparently not giving much thought to Hajime’s words. “You’ll see.”

The line goes dead after that, and Hajime listens to the beep of the dial tone for longer than he cares to admit.

That summer is one of the quietest he’s had in his entire life. Hajime spends most of it indoors, despite the pull of the earth asking him to go outside and do something. His parents are concerned of course, over his lack of motivation, over the lack of Oikawa Tooru too, probably. But he has no solid explanation to give them, so he doesn’t even try and explain it. Admittedly, everything about his life is pretty damn pathetic.

Schoolwork hits Hajime like a freight train, with a rush of final earthbending exams as well as normal exams like maths and literature, and he has to worry about his shitty pro-bending team to boot – months pass in a blur and before he knows it, it’s December and it’s the last day of classes before winter break. Hajime’s not really a big fan of winter, or the snow for that matter. Sure, he’d always had fun building snowmen and having snowball fights like any other kid, and he’s not a bad snowboarder when it comes down to it. But after a while, the novelty of it kind of wears off and he quickly gets sick of everything being damp and having to wear a ridiculous amount of layers just to step outside.

The waterbenders love it of course, they’re having a literal field day out there with their elaborate ice sculptures and snowball fights. Even the firebenders and airbenders are loving it, because apparently melting the snow is just as fun as creating it, and making the snowflakes whirlwind in certain patterns can be entertaining for some people.

For Hajime, snowy days remind him of trotting off to Oikawa’s to build makeshift forts for their infamous snowball fights, and then afterwards, they’d stay in and watch movies while cupping a warm mug of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows because Oikawa’s mother loved to spoil Hajime, much to Oikawa’s indignation. It’s stupid, but watching the younger kids build a snowman from the window of his third-floor dorm room kind of tugs at his heartstrings a little, and he’s embarrassed to think about how much he misses that dumb Oikawa.

And he really is stupid, that Oikawa. Because everyone knows that bending is just something some people are born with and some people aren’t, it’s nothing to be ashamed of if you can’t bend – or to be proud of if you can, for that matter. It’s the way some people are born, you can’t change –

Hajime pauses in his thoughts as he spots a familiar tuft of brown hair while he’d been absently gazing out his window. It almost looks like…

Except, he looks a little taller than Hajime remembers him. He leans in closer to the window, and squints, trying to make out the details. The figure is dressed in a fashionable blue coat, and is wearing fluffy cream-coloured earmuffs. He’s talking to one of the kids building the snow sculpture of a cat. Hajime can make out a wide smile as the guy crouches near the little girl and pets the cat as if it were a real one, and laughs all the while.

The laugh is loud enough to be heard over the chattering of the kids and it’s so damn familiar, Hajime’s heart stops for a minute.

“Shit,” he mutters to himself, before getting up to grab his coat.

He makes it down in record time, and has to bring himself to a halt when he sees Oikawa in the flesh. He looks kind of unreal to Hajime, with his fluffy hair and dusty red cheeks, a common reaction he’d always get to the cold. After so long without seeing him – while being deliberately avoided, and missing the hell out of this guy and being in a world of hurt at the same time – it’s hard to imagine that he’s actually standing there in front of Hajime, not a pigment of his imagination.

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa speaks first, and his voice has familiar lilt to it, an excited and hopeful tone to it. “I want to show you something.”

Hajime doesn’t know what to say – his mind still going a million miles a second, wondering things like is it really him? Is he really here? but it’s not like Oikawa really gives him a chance to answer either. Instead, he reaches out for Hajime’s hand and tugs at it so his palm is facing up. Hajime doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but allows the motion anyway.

Oikawa places a little snowball onto his bare palm, and the ice of it almost shocks Hajime into pulling his hand away. “What the –”

“Shhh,” Oikawa says, and his smile is damn wide and blinding, it shuts Hajime up straight away. “Just watch.” So he does watch, and he almost can’t believe his eyes when he sees it.

The snow begins to melt, at a really, really rapid pace. But it doesn’t spill all over Hajime’s cupped palm, and instead starts to rise, little by little, until a small ball of clear liquid is floating and quivering mid-air. Then the ball starts to freeze over again, this time looking clear as glass, and it floats back down to Hajime’s open palm and lands there with a small thud.

It’s true that Hajime’s never been big with words, but he’s hardly ever at a loss for words. He curls his fingers and until they gently close over the ball of glass-looking ice.

“Well?” Oikawa says, and he puts his hands on his hips like they’re eight again and Oikawa had made quite an impressive bubble with his bubble gum.

“I-I can’t believe you actually did it…” Hajime hears himself say, and Oikawa’s smile grows even bigger as he throws his arms out in a grand form.

“Told you I could do it,” he says. “Don’t tell me that you ever doubted me, Iwa-chan?”

Something about his familiar tone makes Hajime feel so damn happy and angry at the same time, it’s frustrating and his heart rate jumps as he steps close enough to wack his obnoxious best friend over the head.

“Stupid, Oikawa.”

“Ouch! Don’t be so rough,” Oikawa pouts, petting at his hair. Hajime usually doesn’t find Oikawa’s antics endearing, but after months of not seeing him it kind of takes his breath away so he in a moment of weakness he puts an arm around Oikawa’s shoulder and the other hand musses up his hair.

Oikawa kind of freezes in his arms, and for split-second Hajime thinks he’s made a wrong move. Maybe he’s being too easy-going, maybe their dynamics have changed, they haven’t seen each other in so long and Oikawa’s a waterbender now –

“Aww, you missed me, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa says, his voice is sickly sweet and teasing, but the smile buried in Hajime’s neck feels genuine enough.

“Shut the hell up.”

Oikawa invites himself over on Christmas Eve, and much to Hajime’s surprise (and his parents) declares that he’s sleeping over. He spends a lot of the time complaining about being stood up by a mysterious date and eating most of the cake. He’s so damn annoying that Hajime kicks him out of the house before he can settle into the spare futon, but Oikawa comes back anyway the next day, and the next, and then again on New Year’s eve. He even convinces Hajime to visit the shrine with him, and it’s a wonder how easily things fall back into place with them, like the last few excruciating months never actually happened. Hajime knows that Oikawa is probably trying to make up for time so instead of apologising or talking it out like a normal person, he instead clings to Hajime all throughout the break. At times he reminds Hajime of the first time they’d tried flying a kite and Oikawa had been so afraid of the kite blowing away that he’d held on tight until his knuckles had turned white. The thought is so stupid and slightly charming and so Oikawa, Hajime can’t really bring himself to find the clinging annoying at all.

Oikawa takes it upon himself to fill out his own transfer papers, and when Hajime gets up from his stack of mangas to get them both a glass of juice or something, he glances over Oikawa’s shoulder at the papers. His heart kind of constricts when sees the ‘type of bender’ question and the neatly written waterbender in Oikawa’s cursive. For a second, he’s sort of overcome with exasperation and pride and wonders how this boy sitting near him can be so damn ridiculous that he basically fucking willed himself into waterbending… It’s unheard of, but still Oikawa Tooru had managed it. Of course he did.

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that Oikawa is a perfectionist when it comes to his waterbending. He’s outraged at first to be placed in the same class as the little waterbending kids, and Hajime laughs when he watches them practice sometimes, because Oikawa is such a kid himself with his competitive streak and creative name-calling, he gets along with them just fine.

And he’s getting good too. Well, Hajime guesses with the amount of extra practice Oikawa has been putting into it, it’s not surprising, but the fact remains that a line has to be drawn somewhere. Hajime realises this at 2 a.m about a week after Oikawa had been enrolled to Aoba Johsai officially. He groggily takes the few flight of stairs down to the common room, where he’d left a sandwich in the mini-fridge. He’s in the process of taking a hearty bite when he suddenly hears some commotion coming from the direction of the practice pool. Usually he wouldn’t think much of it, since waterbenders are pretty much always training in there. Except, it’s 2 a.m, which is really way too late to be training.

Hajime goes there on a hunch, and swears he can feel the vein on his forehead start to throb when he finds Oikawa’s long-limbed form sitting with his legs dangling and below him, a constant push and pull of little waves of turquoise blue as his hands follow the movement gently.

“Seriously?” Hajime asks loudly from the doorway, and represses an amused scoff when Oikawa jumps at the noise and almost falls into the pool.

“Iwa-chan! Don’t scare me like that,” Oikawa turns to look at him, his cheeks are red and Hajime hopes it’s from embarrassment rather than overexertion. “You broke my concentration!” 

“Good,” Hajime emphasises, and walks over to pull his arms under Oikawa’s and haul him up, despite his protests. 

“Hey! Iwa-chan, I know you like any excuse to put your hands on me but I can stand on my own you know,” Oikawa says, and Hajime lets him go quickly, his own cheeks burning this time. 

“Shut up! I had to make sure you’d actually get out of the pool. Why the hell are you training so much?” 

Oikawa laughs, light and airy, as he rolls down the folded ends of his sweatpants. “I thought it’d be obvious! Iwa-chan, you can be so dense sometimes.” He shakes his head and then walks barefoot back towards the dorms, leading the way back with an air about him like he knows Hajime will follow him. Which is stupid, because of course Hajime will follow him, he’s not hanging out at the practice pool at 2-something a.m all by himself. 

Later that night, while Hajime is trying his best to ignore his roommate’s snoring, he thinks about what Oikawa had said. Maybe Hajime is dense, because the reason behind all the training doesn’t seem very obvious to him but maybe that’s just one of those Oikawa things. Who the hell knows at this point? *

It’s a few days into Golden Week, when Oikawa finally deems himself worthy enough to join Hajime’s pro-bending team.

They’re out by the river under the sun, both of them sweating profusely after a makeshift duel, which ended in Oikawa cheating and lobbing ice-cubes at Hajime’s face and Hajime using his earthbending to trip Oikawa countless times. 

“Now I’m finally catching up to Iwa-chan!” he says, and Hajime rolls his eyes. 

“I’ve told you before, you were good enough to join us months ago. You’re literally ten-times better than anyone else on the team already, and it’s not like I’m complimenting you here, everyone else just lacks motivation and sucks really bad. They’ve all been dropping out anyways.”

“That’s the whole point Iwa-chan! I wanted to be good enough to inspire people! So we can better our team, so we’re the best in the prefecture!”

Hajime shakes his head at his tone, and lies down on the ground beside where Oikawa’s sitting, despite it all being kind of muddy, it feels kind of nice as he rests his head on back of his arms and with his eyes closed against the heat of the sun.  “You know there’s only a few other bending schools nearby, right? So it’s not exactly hard to gain that title.” 

“Is that over-confidence I hear, Iwa-chan?” He hears Oikawa’s voice looming over him and Hajime opens one eye to see his silhouette. “From what I know, your team gets knocked out at least 3 minutes into the game, and at this rate with Karasuno, being one of the best teams in the country, they’ll claim the title for years to come.” 

Hajime blinks his eyes open and stares at Oikawa for a moment, and Oikawa just shrugs, maybe a little self-consciously. “What? If I’m serious about something, I study up on it. I now know all about pro-bending, ask me anything. I probably more know more than you.” 

Hajime huffs out a laugh and closes his eyes again. “I’ll take your word for it, Trashkawa.”

When they get back to school, Oikawa loses no time and gets into action, with the first day back starting with Oikawa and Hajime standing at the gates, handing out flyers that read “LET’S BE THE BEST! JOIN OUR SCHOOL’S PRO-BENDING TEAM AND MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR YOUTH! 

Oikawa is all smiles, handing them sweetly and explaining the rules of pro-bending to people who don’t already know. Hajime kind of feels out of place, but at the same time he kind of doesn’t, because the spring breeze is pretty soothing and Hajime can keep his own talking to a minimum because Oikawa’s there with his charm turned up a few notches, wooing the boys and girls alike into taking the flyers “At least, consider it, maybe? We can take our team to nationals!” It earns them a few sceptical looks, but it doesn’t discourage Oikawa from sweetly calling out to anyone who’ll listen. “Though the admittedly best spots of waterbending and earthbending have been taken, airbenders and firebenders are welcome to try out!” 

By the end of the day, only about three people end up seeking them out for tryouts. Most people are already in clubs after all, and it is an odd time of year to be recruiting. Besides, students usually choose clubs that’ll utilise their bending to benefit careers in the future – like sailing or pottery or something. Pro-bending is a little out-dated, but it’s still fun goddamn it. Hajime thinks that most people don’t know that they’re missing out. 

The three people (two girls, one guy) turn out to be just victims of Oikawa’s charm with mediocre duelling skills and the type of people who spend most of the try-out ogling at Oikawa anyway. By the end of it, Hajime smacks Oikawa over the head and Oikawa exclaims something about how it’s not his fault that he’s gorgeous and popular. 

By the end of the month, their team still consists of a grand total of two members and Hajime’s the first to give in. 

“Maybe we should just drop it for now? It’s not like we’re in a rush or anything. We should start preparing for mid-terms anyways.” 

Oikawa looks up from where he’d been resting his head on his knees. He’d been watching Hajime practice this time, pointing out a few errors and areas with room for improvement now and then. He uses terms and expressions like he’s a goddamn expert at the game, which is pretty ridiculous in itself considering Oikawa’s never actually played in an official pro-bending match. He must be itching to play, Hajime thinks. 

“Don’t worry, I’m working on an angle.” 

“You mean with your room mate? You can’t force Matsukawa to play if he doesn’t want to, Asskawa.” 

“Stupid Iwa-chan, I’m not forcing him. He told me he duels with that airbender friend of his sometimes. If anything I’ll be saving them from a lifetime of lighting up air balloons or something like that.” 

“They’re good?” 

Oikawa shrugs, “I can make them better.”

It turns out that Oikawa’s standards for their potential teammates are set fairly high, but Matsukawa and his friend Hanamaki exceed expectations because they seem to be pretty damn good at the game, considering they only play casually. But even then, they lose their first practice match. It’s not even against a proper team, but Oikawa blames himself for hesitating on how to react to the gust of wind heading his way and is the first to get knocked out in the second round. There’s a lot of room for improvement for everyone, yet Oikawa still shoulders most of the responsibility. 

His seriousness is both eerie and kind of inspiring in a way, and after the first practice match both Matsukawa and Hanamaki join them for extra training, though not without a few sarcastic and dry remarks here and there. Overall, Hajime’s proud of their makeshift team, even though they haven’t tried at an official match yet, he can see their team’s potential clear as day. 

Hajime’s birthday falls on a Wednesday, and he doesn’t even realise it’s his birthday until Oikawa sneaks into his room at 5 past 12 a.m, waking up both Hajime and his room mate to whisper-yell “Happy sweet sixteenth, Iwa-chan!” 

Luckily, Hajime’s roommate is a pretty laidback guy, and agrees to keep his complaints to a minimum in exchange for a bite of the cupcake Oikawa had brought with him. Hajime just gives him the whole thing, much to Oikawa’s chagrin, and he has to pester an outraged Oikawa out of his room before any of the teachers can catch on to the commotion. 

The actual school day is quite eventless, save for a phone call from his parents and a joint birthday present from Matsukawa and Hanamaki that turns out to be a pretty cool solid metal bracelet (“It’s for if you ever wanna take your bending to the next level” Hanamaki explains). He doesn’t see Oikawa much during the day, until about eight in the evening when he storms into the common room where Hajime’s attempting his English homework for the seventh time in a row. 

“C’mon,” Oikawa says, hand already tugging at Hajime’s elbow without even a proper hello. 

“What do you mean ‘c’mon’? You can see I’m in the middle of something right, Asskawa?” 

Oikawa waves a hand, “You can do that later, Iwa-chan. Just follow me.” He heads straight for the door without another word, not even checking behind him to see whether Hajime is actually following. Oikawa has a glint in his eyes that will probably land them both in trouble. Hajime only groans before standing up and following him out the door.

What Oikawa has in mind will definitely land them in trouble if they get caught. For one, they’re sneaking out of the grounds at nighttime and two, Oikawa had somehow attained a bottle of sake for them both. 

“Don’t be dumb, Oikawa. You really think we can drink this?” Hajime whispers when he spots the bottle peeking out from a bag of mysterious things while they’re speed walking to god knows where. The night is quiet save for the occasional chirp of a cicada or the gust of cool, beginning-of-summer breezes. 

“Let’s just try a few sips!” Oikawa says, and then grabs onto Hajime’s hand to better direct him to wherever he’s taking him. It’s kind of embarrassing when neither of them makes a move to let the other go, but Hajime tries to not to dwell on the fact. 

When Oikawa finally comes to a halt, they’re standing by a river. The stream itself is decently wide and although it’s pretty dark out, Hajime can make out the array of reeds and pebbles. He takes his phone out of his pocket and puts it on torch mode before shining it purposely right in Oikawa’s eyes, who protests with an indignant “Rude!” 

“What the hell are we doing here?” Hajime asks, he waves the phone around a little more to reveal that, yep, there’s only more nature. “If you’re brining me out here to murder me, let’s make it a double suicide.” 

“Oooh, that’s dark Iwa-chan,” Oikawa snickers. He crouches down and reaches into the bag he’d brought along to reveal an old-fashioned lantern. When he turns it on, the area surrounding them lights up into a glow of yellow, and it almost looks dreamlike – like something out of a painting. Hajime can’t help but take a moment to stare in wonderment, and when he catches Oikawa smiling at him from the corner of his eye, he has to look away quickly. 

“You can put your phone away now…actually it’s probably best if you just leave it out here.” 

“What…” Hajime begins, but his question is pretty much answered when Oikawa pulls out the next few items from his big bag of things. Two pairs of ice-skating shoes.

In hindsight, it’d been pretty wise of them to try the ice-skating before trying the sake. Because not only can they hardly see where the other is –hence a lot of bumping into each other and slipping up on the ice, but Oikawa also has to keep freezing more and more of the stream the further they move up and surely it must take lot of effort, but he doesn’t complain at all for once and neither does Hajime. 

In fact, it’s probably the most fun he’s had in a long, long time because it’s funny watching Oikawa demand his lanky long legs to return back to their former graceful selves, and it’s fun chasing Oikawa up and down the stream and trying to guess where the ice ends and the water begins, watching it turn into ice right before his eyes and trusting Oikawa to do it before he takes the next step. It’s also a little surreal, ice-skating outdoors in the summer. He says as much out loud to Oikawa, who only laughs and says, “The perks of having such a perfect and impeccable waterbending best friend.” 

When they finally tire themselves out, Oikawa unfreezes everything and leads them back to where they’d left their lantern and Oikawa’s bag. A bag that seems to have an endless capacity for things, because next he’s pulling out a picnic blanket, a box of snacks and the infamous bottle of sake. 

Hajime only manages a few gutsy sips before he scrunches his face up and says he’s had enough, and Oikawa tries a few more before putting it away and joining in on laying down beside Hajime on the picnic blanket. Surprisingly, the alcohol has made him kind of sleepy and he says as much before closing his eyes and allowing the warmth of the night and of the boy beside him to lull him into a peaceful nap. 

That is, until said boy shakes him awake a few minutes later. “Iwa-chan, we can’t fall asleep here. It’s outside.” 

Hajime only grunts in reply and shuffles a little closer to the warmth emitting from his right side. 

“Oh -Um – what if…what if starts to rain?” He hears Oikawa ask the question, and it sounds a little muffled and from far away, but Hajime still finds it in him to answer. 

“You’re a waterbender, you can just bend it away right?” 

“Oh really, hmm? So you’re telling me to bend in my sleep is what you’re asking.” 

Hajime huffs and wakes himself up just enough to quickly earthbend them a makeshift tent made out of cliff-looking walls. The swiftness of it warrants a surprised yelp from Oikawa and Hajime chuckles out a sadistic laugh. 

“There, happy now?” 

“Ah, Iwa-chan. I think you forgot to make a door.” 

Hajime feels his face heat up because, yes, he did in fact forget that small detail. He sits up again and lets the light of the dying lantern to guide him into making a door. 

Oikawa hums when he’s finally done and settles down like a content cat beside Hajime, who’s had enough of getting his sleep interrupted for one night. 

“I’m impressed Iwa-chan,” Oikawa whispers, though he doesn’t actually need to. 

“Ugh, just go to sleep Oikawa, before I make you.” 

“So rude! Aren’t you at least going to thank me?” 

Hajime wakes up a little at that, and slowly turns around until he’s facing Oikawa, whose smile and eyes are soft in the yellow light, despite his tone from earlier. The sight tugs at Hajime’s chest a little. 

“Thank you,” he tells Oikawa, slowly and sincerely. 

Oikawa’s smile grows a little sadder, and Hajime frowns at that but before he can ask what’s wrong, there’s a gentle hand on his forehead and Oikawa is smoothing out the creases soothingly. “Sorry I ignored you last year,” he whispers and then he leans in. 

For a moment, time kind stands still for Hajime, because it looks like Oikawa is about to kiss him. And he does kiss him, except it’s on the edge of his jawline and it’s a peck reminiscent of the ones Hajime used to give Oikawa himself back when they were five year olds and Oikawa used to think that kisses would heal even the smallest of scratches. 

“Happy birthday, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa says, and closes his eyes like he’s ready to fall asleep. Hajime wills his heartbeat to slow down and swallows the lump in his throat.

“Long night, huh?” Matsukawa asks, which is probably a question warranted by Hajime’s fifth consecutive yawn. 

“Uh, you could say that.” Hajime answers, while scratching the back of his neck distractedly. They’re in the practice room and Oikawa had left them temporarily to retrieve a notebook with intel he’d gathered on their upcoming opponents for the match in two weeks. 

“So the birthday date with Oikawa was a big success?” Hanamaki quips and Hajime turns around to glare at him. 

Hanamaki only puts his hands up in defence, “Don’t worry, he didn’t tell me anything. I kinda just added things up for myself when I saw the two of you yawning and stretching your bodies constantly. It sure must’ve been a looong night,” he smirks widely as Matsukawa snickers in the background. Hajime is ready to stab someone. 

“It-It’s not like that! We fell asleep in the forest so our backs hurt.” 

“Uh-huh,” Hanamaki smirks some more, and before Hajime literally pops a vein, he’s interrupted by Oikawa walking in and demanding they get into formation. 

The practice is long and gruelling, but Hajime definitely improves his dodging form and powers up the succession of earth discs he can throw within the first minute. Overall, it’s a pretty rewarding practice, and by the end of it Hajime forgets to be mad at Hanamaki and Matsukawa, and also forgets to be stupidly nervous around a certain someone like he had been all morning.

They win their first match of the tournament, followed closely by another win and then another. It’s enough to garner them attention, for other teams to sit up straight and for people to start asking around about when exactly Aoba Johsai became such a strong pro-bender opponent. Even the media takes an interest in them, although their main appeal is most likely Oikawa’s charm. In all honesty, Hajime doesn’t really pay much mind to such details, and for the past few weeks the only thing he really focuses on is pro-bending and becoming a better, more efficient earthbender for his team. 

The last match is a close call, close enough that Hajime had thought they almost wouldn’t make it to the finals. Their opponents were strong, with years of bending under their belts. Only, Aoba Johsai’s formation is too solid to break and when the bell rings at the end of the third round, Oikawa throws an arm around Hajime and musses up his hair. “We did it, Iwa-chan! We’re almost in nationals!” Oikawa says, smiling wide enough that it must hurt. 

In that moment, something jolts in Hajime and he realises like a strike of lightening that he kind of really, really wants to kiss Oikawa on that mouth. But it’s a fleeting, stupid thought and both Hajime and Oikawa have better things to do anyways, like worrying about their upcoming big match against the legendary Karasuno. He shelves the thought away while they’re in the arena, except it comes back to bite Hajime on the ass by the time it’s dinner. 

They’ve gone out on to eat on Matsukawa’s treat and everyone’s kind of subdued post-match, probably reflecting on errors that were made and areas of improvements. Except, sitting across Oikawa who’s quietly eating noodles with one hand and checking something on his phone with the other, Hajime realises that it’s fruitless trying to shelve away thoughts of the guy. Because Hajime’s constantly around him lately which is nothing new considering they’ve been best friends for years. But lately they’re practically living together, because not only do they spend extra training sessions and most of their classes together, but on their time off Hajime sometimes finds himself studying in Oikawa’s room, where it’s quiet and the sunlight filters in nicely, or Oikawa hangs around Hajime’s dorm for entire days; squeezing next to him on the single bed and booting up Hajime’s laptop to marathon movies all day.  He’s literally always there, and it’s become hard to ignore the collection of emotions Hajime keeps encountering whenever he’s around Oikawa. 

First and foremost, it’s surprising him just how endearing he’s finding Oikawa lately – it’s gotten to the point where  even with things that usually tick him off, Hajime finds himself feeling low-key fond of Oikawa and thinking things like oh, he’s being cute again and not in way that’s remotely ironic. Hajime isn’t sure when exactly his annoyance transformed into fondness, but it becomes obvious when Oikawa tries to take a selfie with Hajime when he falls asleep in literature class, and instead of getting frustrated like he usually would, Hajime pretends to be asleep and lets him take it. He then also tries to ignore it when the photo gets over a 200 likes on Instagram, hashtagged #sleepingbeast and then an array of hearts and kissy faces that Hajime really has no idea what to make of. 

Also, he’s starting to notice things. Hajime has always kind of acknowledged that Oikawa is an attractive person, frankly it’s hard not to notice with people fawning over him constantly. But lately, Hajime keeps catching onto things about Oikawa that make his throat go dry and his heartbeat speed up. And it’s always subtle things too, like noticing the paleness of the skin where Oikawa’s neck meets his shoulder and wondering how it would feel to put his fingertips there, or catching a glimpse of the hard lines of Oikawa’s stomach whenever he has to do a complex waterbending move – which is a whole other problem on its own because lately watching Oikawa’s fluid and meticulous movements whenever he practices waterbending has been one of the best and worst things to happen to Hajime. Best, because sometimes he’s so transfixed and proud and in-awe that this crazy, determined boy is his best friend, and Worst because sometimes he finds himself mildly turned on watching Oikawa move like that; his limbs moving in rhythm with his body, almost like he’s dancing. It’s gotten to the point where he sees images of Oikawa flash in his mind whenever Hajime’s jerking-off in the shower. Oikawa dancing, Oikawa smiling, Oikawa coming close to his face, close enough to count his eyelashes, close enough to kiss him… 

Hajime’s jolted out of his thoughts when he gets a text message, and he scowls when he sees it’s from Oikawa himself. It’s not nice to stare Iwa-chan ~  

Hajime feels his face heat up, but is quick to throw an empty plastic bottle at Oikawa’s head, who catches it easily and is smirking at him all knowingly. 

Shit, this guy really is the fucking worst.

When it’s the day of the finals, Hajime feels ready. They’ve trained rigorously, and not only have they improved their skills individually but they’ve also become a solid team, one that Hajime knows Oikawa’s insanely proud of. 

They’re in the locker room before the game, and it feels kind of huge with just the four of them there since it’s usually used for basketball teams or something, but Hajime feels anything but small. He’s maybe a little nervous, but mostly he’s excited to finally go up against Karasuno and have the chance to get into nationals. By the time Oikawa gathers the team up for one last briefing, Hajime’s feeling more pumped than ever. 

 “Okay, let’s go over it again. Matsukawa, tell me everything you know about their waterbender.” 

Matsukawa takes a moment to answer, apparently not expecting to be called out like that. “Uhhh, their waterbender is Sugawara Koshi, he’s the one with all the flow-y movements. And he strikes really accurately, so be careful everyone. He’s good at dodging movements but his speed is a little lacking. Also, the guy has a nice smile from what I hear. But don’t be fooled, he’s still a threat.” 

“Good job Mattsun,” Oikawa nods, and writes something down on his notepad before looking up again. “Hanamaki, your turn. Tell me about their earthbender.” 

“Sawamura Daichi. He’s the captain of their team. Really solid with his discs, he’s got strength and power but dodging isn’t his forte. It’s best to aim for breaking his stance rather than trying to break his discs.” 

Oikawa nods again, “Remember that everyone. No point breaking those discs if they feel like they’re made of iron. Now, Iwa-chan, tell me what you know about their airbender.”

Hajime looks down at his notes before quickly looking back up again, trying to remember every detail before he speaks. “Hinata Shoyou. His strongest aspect is his ability raise himself up enough to get a decent vantage point. He’s also pretty fast but his ability to guide hits and misses is lacking. Overall, he’s an efficient player.” 

“As they all are, Iwa-chan. Pointing out the obvious, like always,” Oikawa smiles all condescending-like and Hajime has to remind himself that they’re about to start a match so it would be pretty inconvenient if he knocked out their own captain. “Lastly, I’ll recap on their firebender. His name is Kageyama Tobio and he’s annoyingly great at everything he does. He has refined his technique enough to evaporate any waterbending shots that come his way, and he utilises wind attacks as an advantage. He’s largely a defender, but his attack isn’t too bad either. I’d say the biggest fault of his is that he’s not too big on teamwork and his haircut is a mess.” 

Both Hanamaki and Matsukawa chuckle at that, and Hajime just shakes his head. 

“You’ve got the stupidest hair here, Oikawa. So shut up.” 

“Oh my, Iwa-chan, you’ve gotten much better at lying it seems. I know you love my gorgeous hair, there’s no need to hide it,” Oikawa smiles sweetly, running a hand through said gorgeous hair. It bothers Hajime how much he wants to do the same. 

He clenches his fists and ignores the way his face heats up. “Whatever, Trashkawa. Let’s just win this match and we’ll talk about your stupid hair later.” 

Oikawa smiles again, this time it’s wide and genuine, and much more breathtaking. “Deal.”

About half way into the first round, Hajime realises that they’ve grossly underestimated just how high Karosuno’s airbender can rise. Because he’s practically flying up there, without an airglider or anything, and all the intel in the world probably wouldn’t have prepared him for the feeling of your opponent looming over you the entire game. Hajime would be fairly impressed if he wasn’t so desperate trying to dodge the attacks of his own discs flying back at him. 

This guy’s too much, he thinks, and decides that lobbing discs at their airbender only makes things worse since they come flying back at him anyway. He looks around and sees Hanamaki struggling to break the earthbender’s posture so Hajime decides to change stance and aim a few discs at Sawamura’s legs instead. But the guy easily jumps over them and lands exactly where he’d been standing earlier, which is frustrating as hell, until he sees Oikawa’s blast enough water to trip him the second time he tries jumping a disc. It’s chaos, really. None of the players are playing their matched opponents, and they lose the first round spectacularly, with all four of them on the outer ring by the end of it. 

They only have a minute to regroup before starting the second round, so Hajime thinks that it’s time for them to huddle close and to go over tactics, just like they had every other game. Except, Oikawa doesn’t say anything like he usually does. No “Just switch gears guys!”, or “Their waterbender has a right shoulder injury, use it to your advantage”. Oikawa is unusually, eerily quiet and so are the other two boys. Hajime sighs, and signals them, who look about as devastated as Hajime is feeling. He walks up to where Oikawa is standing and puts a hand on the back of his neck to get his attention. 

“Hey,” Hajime says, and keeps his voice as steady as possible. Oikawa only looks at him with a blank face, and it prompts Hajime to squeeze his hold and graze his fingers through Oikawa’s hair a little. “Hey, relax.” 

The touch seems to help, because Oikawa snaps out of his blank look and nods at Hajime, before turning into the rest of their team, who place their arms around each other for a huddle. Hajime takes a deep breath before speaking. 

“Ok, so they’re a good team. But Karasuno is not unbreakable. There’s a reason why our rookie team has made it this far, and it’s because we’re fucking good at this game. Not just good, we’re determined. We’ve got guts and solidarity and we’ve got a captain who has enough game sense to change the flow of the match so we can beat these guys. It might seem like they’re impossible to beat, but remember this: no one’s invincible, not even Karasuno. Let’s knock ‘em down.” There’s a collection of shouts from their team, and Hajime knows that they’re back on track. 

The others leave to get into formation, but Oikawa lingers for a second beside Hajime. He takes Hajime’s hand, which had been hanging loosely by his side after dropping from Oikawa’s shoulders, and he squeezes it gently. “Thank you, Iwa-chan,” he says. Which is stupid, because Hajime’s the vice-captain and is Oikawa’s best friend, so of course he’ll be here for Oikawa whenever he’s needed. He almost says as much to Oikawa, but Hajime’s heart just about leaps out of his chest when Oikawa brings Hajime’s hand to his lips and kisses it softly, on the skin just where the thumb meets the forefinger. “For good luck,” he smiles, and then turns to leave without another word. 

Hajime is left on his side of the arena, feeling kind of floored and charmed at the same time. He shakes himself out of it and gets into stance.

It’s a close game, that’s for sure. Afterwards, a journalist for a sports magazine comes by their locker room for an interview, which Oikawa politely declines. It’s kind of insensitive to ask the losing team for an interview, but Hajime suspects it’s because everyone’s kind of curious, wondering if this rookie team will disappear just as fast as they appeared. 

Hajime clenches his fists and looks up at his teammates, “Next year,” he says. All three of them turn to look at him, probably surprised that Hajime’s the first to break their silence. Hajime glares at them, “It’s not the end yet. We’ll get our revenge next year.” 

Hanamaki is the first to nod. “It’s our last year for competing, right? Of course we’ll be back, and we’ll win.” 

“We’ll win,” Oikawa repeats, and stands up abruptly. “Maybe I’ll go do that interview after all. We’ll let them know to watch their backs,” he smiles, bright and defiant, before leaving for the door.

It feels weird to Hajime that life and school are resuming just as normal after their season has ended. When they return to the grounds after the game, Hajime’s surprised to see a banner congratulating them for getting into the finals. The principal comes down to shake their hands, and Hajime’s a little startled to hear that they’ve got quite a following now – a group of fans who have been attending their games and supporting from the sidelines. Unlike Oikawa, he doesn’t really take notice of these things. So that’s why it takes him completely off-guard when he’s approached by a firebender girl after Literature class. 

He recognises her as Aoki Miho, a quiet student with long dark hair almost down to her waist and a noticeable soft-spoken voice whenever she answers a question or reads aloud from the textbook. Hajime never really paid much mind to her, but he assumed she was the timid-type, right up until she had approached him. Hajime had been listening to Oikawa chatter mindlessly about their plans for the weekend, when he’d suddenly felt a presence beside them. When he saw her, his mind automatically assumed that it was a confession for Oikawa, who gets quite a lot of them. Hajime doesn’t really know how to feel about it, but he does know that girls don’t like confessing in front of others, so he quickly packs his bag and mutters a goodbye to Oikawa. 

The last thing he expects is a firm grip on his wrist keeping him in place, and when he looks up, he sees Aoki Miho smiling at him reassuringly. “Actually, I wanted to speak with you, Iwaizumi-kun.” 

Hajime is taken aback, and stammers a little as Aoki removes her hand gently. She smiles again, before reaching for something in her bag. Hajime is vaguely aware of Oikawa’s motionless presence behind them, and thinks that maybe girls actually don’t mind confessing in front of other people. Well, this girl at least. 

She hands him an envelope with a slight bow. “I’ve been to a couple of your games and I really admire your style. Please consider my letter, and hopefully we’ll get to know each other better.” 

Hajime takes the envelope and returns the bow instinctively, not knowing what else to do. “Uh, th-thank you,” he manages to stammer out, and Aoki smiles again in return, her eyes soft as she tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear. 

“I hope to hear from you soon,” she says, her voice gentle but poised. Hajime only nods, and before he knows it, she turns to leave towards the classroom door. 

For a moment, Hajime’s kind of stuck standing still, envelope still in his hands, until Oikawa breaks him out of his thoughts. 

“Wow, Iwa-chan. I didn’t realise you were so popular.” 

There’s an edge to Oikawa’s voice, but when Hajime turns towards him, he’s wearing his usual obnoxious smile. 

“Uh, actually I’m not.”

“Don’t tell me that was your first confession?” Oikawa says, mockingly putting a hand over his heart as he finishes packing his books. 

Hajime shoves him a little with his shoulder as they begin walking side-by-side. “Not everyone can be such a suck-up towards girls and approachable as you, Trashkawa.” 

“You’re right, Iwa-chan, I’m certainly one of a kind,” Oikawa says, probably trying to bait Hajime. Except, Hajime’s a little distracted thinking about what had just happened. 

“So, uh. Is that how it usually goes? Confessions, I mean? Like… what…” Hajime trails off, his face heating up because he’s so obviously new at these things and it’s not like he really ever cared about not getting confessed to, but his inexperience must be really showing and Oikawa’s probably gonna say that he’s pathetic or something. 

Only, Oikawa doesn’t tease him like Hajime expects. Instead, he’s quiet for a while, almost like he’s deciding the words to use. 

“Well, that depends, doesn’t it?” Oikawa finally says, and his voice has a steely edge to it now, guarded and careful. 

Hajime’s feels himself frown, not only at the tone of Oikawa’s voice, but at his words. “Depends on what?” 

“On you, obviously. How you feel. Do you like her?” 

Hajime shakes his head, “I don’t even know her.” 

“Okay,” Oikawa says, and takes out his phone all of sudden with an air of being busy, tapping away at the screen. Hajime thinks it’s the end of their conversation, until Oikawa speaks again. “Well, do you want to like her?” 

Hajime frowns again, and hesitates before answering, because, well…does he want to like her? It’s a strange question, especially considering it’s coming from Oikawa, who’s been the centre of Hajime’s thoughts when it comes to things like liking. Hajime knows he has feelings for his best friend, at this point it’s kind of hard to ignore that he does. Except… he doesn’t think Oikawa feels the same way. 

Despite all the flirting and random cuddling, or whatever, it’s still difficult to gauge anything from Oikawa because he’s always had such a huge wall up to hide his true emotions, even from Hajime. Hajime knows that Oikawa can sometimes get a bit touchy-feeling or affectionate, to the point that for an outsider, the things they do are deemed as not particularly normal between two teenage boys. Sometimes Hajime can feel people subtly staring at them when Oikawa casually wraps his leg around Hajime’s while they’re studying in the common room, and Hajime attempts to shove him away half out of annoyance and half out of embarrassment, but in the end he always give in. Their odd relationship becomes more obvious to Hajime at times when they’re alone and walked-in on, like that time when they’d been lazing on Oikawa’s bed, lying on their stomachs while Hajime played a game on his phone. Oikawa had fitted his chin perfectly over Hajime’s shoulder to get a better look at the screen, so that meant that half his body was kind of covering Hajime’s and their legs were tangled together. It must’ve been quite a sight for Matsukawa, who walked in on them and had simply shaken his head, muttering about getting their own room. Hajime still remembers how his face had heated up, but he was feeling particularly docile at that time and he was content and happy to have Oikawa so close to him, it made him feel guilty, but he let it happen despite their proximity meaning more to him than it did for Oikawa. 

The thing is, Hajime knows that he is Oikawa’s crutch. He’s the person Oikawa had always come to when he’d get hurt or something made him sad, even before his own mother, he’d come rushing up to Hajime like he was Oikawa’s saviour or something. And the feeling probably lingers even now, he’s Oikawa’s safety blanket, and so it’s no wonder it feels so comfortable for Oikawa to do such things with Hajime without thinking too much into it. Even if the flirting and the touching mean something much deeper to Hajime, for Oikawa these acts are most likely purely platonic. And it’s not like Hajime has a huge problem with that, he can live with a little unrequited touching as long as they remain friends and he never has to go through the hell of not having Oikawa right beside him again. 

So, even though Hajime’s immediate answer to the question do you want to like her? is in all honesty no, I like someone else, it’s probably better for himself and to Oikawa if he tries to ignore his own feelings and move past them. 

So he shrugs and tells Oikawa, “Yeah, maybe I do.” 

It takes about a week for Hajime to psych himself up enough to call Aoki, who’d left her phone number on the letter she’d given to him. The week itself had been uneventful, more of the same classes and training, although both Hajime and Oikawa have decided that it’s best to work on their bending technique itself rather than honing their duelling skills like they have been. Seeing as the practice pool and the earthbending field are on other sides of the school, it meant no more practising alongside Oikawa. It’s stupid, but throughout the week, Hajime becomes very conscious of the loss, not only considering that Oikawa has sharp eyes and was great at pointing out flaws in his technique, but during a lot of his practice sessions, Oikawa had just been a steady presence beside him, one as solid as the rocks and boulders Hajime works with every day. 

Aoki agrees to go into the nearby town with him on Saturday, when they both have no classes or extracurricular activities. He doesn’t really think much about it until the morning of the date, when he’s eating breakfast in the cafeteria and Matsukawa starts talking about their plans for the day and whether they want to go to the arcade or watch a movie. 

“Sorry, I probably won’t be coming,” Hajime says, before shoving a lump of rice into his mouth. He sees the curious looks both Hanamaki and Matsukawa send him, so he swallows and reluctantly mutters. “I’ve got a date.” 

“Oh really, now?” Hanamaki’s eyebrows rise, and he nudges Hajime with his elbow. “Guess we can count Oikawa out too, then?” 

Hajime frowns, “Oikawa? What does he have to do with it?” 

Hanamaki laughs at that, “Oh c’mon, don’t give us that.” 

“Does Oikawa have plans too?” Hajime asks, suddenly realising he might not be the only one with a date. His heart kind of clenches at the image of Oikawa walking hand-in-hand with some faceless girl, but he shakes the picture away before he can dwell on it. 

There’s a moment of silence when the two simply stare at him, and Hajime wonders if there’s something on his face. 

“Uh…” He begins saying, a little freaked out. 

But Matsukawa interrupts him quickly. “Your date is Oikawa, right?” 

For a moment Hajime thinks that he’s joking, if only because Matsukawa’s humour can be dry and deadpan serious. But the look on both their faces show that there’s a hint of concern of all things, so Hajime decides to answer them honestly. 

“What? No, it’s with Aoki Miho from my literature class,” Hajime hears himself say, but his mind is still reeling from the thought of Oikawa and him dating. “So wait, all this time… you both thought…” 

“Uh, I guess we just assumed things,” Hanamaki shrugs and looks away carefully. “Besides, you both never denied anything.” 

Hajime doesn’t respond to that, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. He vaguely catches Matsukawa quietly muttering to Hanamaki; something about how it explains why both Hajime and Oikawa have been off-kilter all week. At the sound of his name, Hajime looks up and asks the first thing that comes to mind.  “Does Oikawa know?” 

“Know what?” Matsukawa raises his eyebrows, probably at the wild-eyed look in Hajime’s eyes. 

“That you both think we’re…together.” What would he have said? Hajime wonders. Would he laugh about it? Be disgusted, embarrassed? Would he call them stupid or would he look hopeful, maybe even wistful… Shit, Hajime needs to stop trying to project his own feelings onto Oikawa. 

“Um…” Hanamaki begins, but Hajime doesn’t let him finish, standing up so abruptly the two of them jump a little in their seats. 

“I’ve got to go…uh, get ready for the date.” 

He leaves before they can answer, and tries not to think about how everything feels like it’s shifted all of a sudden.

Aoki looks nice in her peach-coloured dress and her long hair tied up into an elegant knot, and Hajime tells her so when he sees her by gate of the school. They catch the bus into town and it’s a little awkward when Hajime forgets to sit next to her and sits in front of her instead, all out of habit of sparing a seat for Oikawa. He clears his throat and quickly fixes his mistake, and she smiles at him eloquently, which somehow makes the whole ordeal even worse.

They head for the mall first, which Hajime has no problem with, though he’s in no need for anything himself. Aoki takes him by the art store, where she stocks up on feather brushes and x-acto knives. She seems like a quiet person to Hajime, although not shy, she seems definitely reserved. Hajime wonders what a girl like Aoki Miho saw in him enough to confess to him. Do you want to like her? 

Hajime tries to talk to her, but he’s a little at loss on what to talk about. She had tried bringing up the pro-bending tournament but had quickly stopped asking once she probably sensed that Hajime wasn’t really comfortable thinking about their loss against Karasuno yet. After an awkward few minutes of silence, Hajime decides to push forward, if he wants to like Aoki the least he can do is strike up a conversation, right? 

“So, uh… What kind of art do you do, Aoki-san?” Hajime asks, and nods at the bag of supplies she had bought. 

“Oh, it’s a bit different I guess not every one’s familiar with it,” Aoki begins. “I firebend and use the soot to brush it into artwork. Sometimes I use stencils that I’ve made myself, sometimes I just make patterns. There’s a few of my pieces up in display on the hallway walls at school if you’d like to see them.” She smiles up at him, and Hajime nods, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Oh yeah, sure. It sounds interesting.” 

They lapse into a silence again, and although it’s not especially uncomfortable, there’s no denying that Hajime has rifled through his mind for at least one topic that they haven’t discussed yet. Shit, he really is bad at this dating thing. 

They decide to eat lunch at a burger joint, which is probably not very date-like, but Aoki is the one who suggests it and Hajime isn’t one to deny a burger. 

They sit quietly across from each other and Hajime wonders if first-dates are supposed to be like this, and if they are, he can understand why people always make such a big deal about them. Because it takes a lot of effort to continuously push away the awkwardness that keeps creeping up on them. 

When it’s time to head back to school, Hajime offers to hold Aoki’s shopping bags since it turns out that she really had a lot to buy. They pause by an ice-cream stand near the bus stop because Hajime thinks that it’ll probably ease the tension and silence between them if they have something in their hands while they wait for the bus. 

It’s while Aoki is trying to decide on the flavour, when Hajime sees them. Or, more like he feels a pair of eyes on him and turns around to see Oikawa, Matsukawa and Hanamaki walking towards the bus stop. 

Oh right, they were going to the arcade or something, Hajime thinks to himself and wonders why his heartbeat seems to speed up after just one glance at Oikawa, looking immaculate in a pair of beige chinos and a navy blue sweater that Hajime can see shows off his collarbones even from a distance. He stares at them for a while as they approach, and is only broken out of it when he hears Aoki call his name. 

“Iwaizumi-kun?” 

“Oh- huh?” Hajime turns to look at her, distracted. 

She stares at him for a moment before answering, “I was asking you what flavour you would like. I’ve chosen pomegranate sorbet.” 

“Ah, that sounds good,” Hajime says, although he doesn’t really think so. She only looks at him for a moment longer, before her gaze shifts over Hajime’s shoulder. 

“Oh,” she says, and then bows slightly. “Hello, Oikawa-san.” 

Hajime turns around to see that, yes, Oikawa is indeed standing right behind them, with the other two lingering a little behind. 

“Hello, Aoki-san. You’re looking exceptionally lovely in that dress today,” Oikawa says, his voice glazed with honey. Hajime frowns at the tone, but is at a loss of what exactly to say. 

“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Aoki replies, though her smile looks stiff, even to Hajime. 

“I hope Iwa-chan has taken good care of you today,” Oikawa says, and Hajime doesn’t put much mind to it as Oikawa throws an arm over his shoulder. “He can be a real brute sometimes you know, so I’d like to apologise on his behalf.” Oikawa gives a slight mocking bow, and Hajime tries to shove him off with an angry, “Oi!” but Oikawa only smiles at him, his expression still sardonic and his eyes hard to decipher. 

Hajime feels Aoki’s eyes on them as she watches for a moment before clearing her throat to answer Oikawa. “Thank you for your concern, but it’s unnecessary. Iwaizumi-kun has been the perfect gentleman,” She smile firmly at Oikawa and Hajime feels his face heat up, because he definitely hasn’t been the perfect gentleman considering how much he stumbled over finding the right conversation. 

“Really, now? I’m relieved,” Oikawa removes his arm from Hajime’s shoulder and gives them a little wave. “Hope you two enjoy the ice-cream.” 

He leaves without a glance back and Hajime finds himself both frustrated at Oikawa and himself, because now he’s only thinking of how Oikawa’s expression had been more fake than ever, and how even still, his arm had felt like a warm presence over Hajime’s shoulder. And those kind of thoughts are definitely not welcome when he’s out on a date. 

“Ah, sorry about that,” Hajime says, rubbing the back of his neck. He doesn’t know what to make of the exchange between Aoki and Oikawa, but all he knows is that it felt unnerving having them both talk to each other. “He’s the type of guy that can be a little overbearing sometimes, but you get used to it eventually.” 

Aoki takes a delicate spoonful of her sorbet before answering. “You two seem very close,” She observes, not looking at Hajime but instead down at her cup. “Even in the arena, anyone can tell that you’re very in-sync with each other. It’s uncanny.” 

For some reason, the comment makes Hajime nervous. Like he’s been caught doing something red-handed. It also makes him slightly defensive, because Aoki is basically a stranger and something doesn’t fit right with her calling their relationship uncanny, like she can even begin to understand the depths and complexities of what they’ve been through together and without each other. 

“Well, we’re childhood friends. I’ve known him forever, so I guess it’s not so strange,” Hajime shrugs.  He ends the conversation quickly by finally ordering his own salted-caramel ice-cream. It’s a good excuse since the old man at the ice-cream stand seemed like he was hardly amused at being kept waiting. 

The bus ride back to the school grounds is uncomfortable to say the least. Luckily, Hajime had quickly sat next to Aoki before he repeated the earlier mistake, but soon after sitting down, the reason for the mistake came strutting onto the bus and he had taken a seat directly in-line within their sight. 

Oikawa hadn’t been doing anything particularly interesting, just browsing on his phone and looking out the window with headphones on while Matsukawa and Hanamaki talked amongst themselves. Oikawa was being 100% normal, but Hajime couldn’t stop glancing at him, couldn’t stop fidgeting in his spot because he kept expecting Oikawa to suddenly get up and walk towards them, or turn his head back to at least smile that obnoxious smile or something. But he didn’t look back, not even once.

Hajime doesn’t know much about dates, but from what he’s gathered from movies he knows that you usually walk the girl back home, and if you both had a good time, you kiss. In Hajime’s case though, he would simply be walking Aoki towards her dorm, which isn’t so far from his own. And honestly, he doesn’t think the date went particularly well, so a kiss probably isn’t warranted. 

That’s why he’s surprised when Aoki takes both his hands in hers while he’s mumbling out a goodbye and thank you. 

“Uh,” Hajime says, and looks down at their joined hands in confusion. 

Aoki takes a deep breath before continuing. “Listen, I had a good time. I really did, it was nice and peaceful, and you weren’t pushy or overbearing like guys in some dates I’ve been on.” 

Hajime waits as she composes herself some more, he can tell that she has more to say, but at this point he really doesn’t know what direction she’s going towards. Her hand feels small over his. 

“But, Iwaizumi-kun, I think I should tell you.” 

The pause is too long this time, and Hajime looks down at their hands once again, before glancing up at a sincere-faced Aoki. 

“Tell me what?” 

Aoki releases their hands, before wrapping it around herself. She looks very small all of a sudden. “I don’t think you should be going on dates. At least not when your heart is with someone else.” 

It takes a moment Hajime to process the meaning of her words, and when he does, he shakes his head and feels his heart-rate pick up. “I don’t know what –,” 

“You do,” Aoki interrupts, her voice gentle but as firm as ever. “You’re in love with Oikawa-san, aren’t you?” 

For a moment the world stills and Hajime freezes alongside it. 

He debates his course of action, whether he should laugh it off, tell her she’s being ridiculous. But in the end, he decides to give in to the feeling of just blurting out the truth. He’d accepted his feelings for Oikawa a while back, but it’s different when someone says it out loud. 

“Is it…is it that obvious?” Hajime asks, mostly to himself. Aoki doesn’t reply and her silence is telling enough. He looks up at her. “I’m sorry. I really am.” 

Aoki shakes her head, “It’s nothing to apologise over. It’s not like people can control the way they feel,” she hesitates before continuing. “I’m just wondering why you agreed to go on a date with me. I thought I wouldn’t get a chance for sure, but like I said, people can’t control how they feel. I thought I’d confess to you because my mother always taught me to never give in without trying something once.” 

Hajime is taken aback by her words, not only because of the way she is so sure and confident in herself, which is rare to find in most people, let alone a teenage girl, but because her tone is frank, almost accepting. 

“I guess I asked you out because… well I guess I’m afraid?” 

Aoki’s eyebrows come together at that. “Afraid of your feelings for Oikawa-san?” 

Again, Hajime is taken aback by her frankness, and feels embarrassed to say the least. He looks away, hardly believing that he’s talking about this with the girl he just went on a date with. Aoki Miho is so mature and composed, she’s probably too good for a sucker like him anyway. 

“Uh, I guess that’s partly it. But there’s more to it,” Hajime begins, and then pauses to think it through before speaking again. “Like anyone, I guess I’m afraid of rejection, that he’ll laugh at me or take it as a joke. But more than that, I’m afraid that he’ll accept my feelings, but only out of obligation, only because I’m his best friend and he still thinks he owes me or something stupid like that.”  He clenches his fists, not looking up to meet Aoki’s eyes as he goes on. “If it ends like that, our friendship will never be the same, and I value the way we are now more than the possibility of getting with Oikawa just to fulfil my own selfish wishes. I need him in more ways than just as a boyfriend or whatever.” 

Hajime feels embarrassed again, but the feeling is overwhelmed by the whirlwind of his own thoughts. He hadn’t realised until now that that’s where his biggest fear lies. Damn, he really is pathetic.

He’s broken out of his thoughts when he hears Aoki sigh, long and exasperated. “Iwaizumi-kun.” 

Hajime looks up, taken off-guard by her tone and the slight anger he hears in it. “Yes?”

“You really think Oikawa-san is the type of person to date you out of pity?” 

“Uh –,”

“And,” Aoki interrupts, before Hajime can even finish his response. “Do you have such little faith in your friendship that you won’t even try? Look at me. Even from afar I could tell that there might be something going on with you and Oikawa-san, but even still I pursued my own feelings because I value them. I had already accepted the possibility that you would decline because you were most likely in a relationship with Oikawa-san, but I couldn’t have been sure unless I tried. And I’m still glad I did, despite everything,” she gives him small smile then, slightly sad but her eyes still seem perceptive, and Hajime once again wonders why such a poised person would take an interest in him. 

“So you’re saying…I should tell him how I feel?” Just the thought of it makes Hajime’s palms sweat up, and he clenches them again to compose himself. 

“That’s right,” Aoki smiles, and finally turns around. Hajime thinks that she might be trying to hide her true expression, but her voice is steady as ever when she speaks again. “I hope it works out. Goodbye, Iwaizumi-kun.” She leaves with a brisk walk before Hajime can even say goodbye or thank her. But he guesses a thank you is probably the last thing she wants to hear. 

He takes a deep breath and turns towards his own dorms.

Despite the bravado he’d felt earlier, by the time Hajime reaches his room, his will to abruptly confess his feelings to Oikawa deflates, until he can barely muster enough courage to pick up his phone. He decides on doing his homework in the meantime, and after about two and half hours of unprecedented productiveness, Hajime finally musters up the courage again. 

He tries working himself through it, but it’s not the easiest feat to achieve. He and Oikawa hardly ever talk to each other on the phone, if only because they’re together most of the time anyway, so there’s never any need to. And on top of that, Oikawa is more of the texting-type, he’s the kind of person who sometimes texts Hajime good morning or goodnight, despite having seen each other only a about an hour ago in the common room or something. Hajime’s stomach kind of drops when he realises that he hasn’t received one of those texts in a while, not since their match with Karasuno, at least. They were kind of annoying and assuring at the same time, because Oikawa would always include an unnecessary amount of emojis to piss Hajime off. But they were still a comfort, and they made Hajime smile sometimes, despite being woken up by them on occasion. Why had they stopped? And on top of that, it feels like right now that Hajime had taken them for granted, and even though it’s something so small and it may even seem stupid to some people, Hajime suddenly regrets the fact that he never once texted goodnight first. 

He taps Oikawa’s name on his phone and hears it ring four times, until it goes to voice message. Hajime frowns. Maybe Oikawa’s busy at the practice pool? He knows that Oikawa has learnt from experience that even after bending the water out of a phone, it still remains damaged. It’s why phones and waterbending are never a good combination. 

He decides to go down towards the pool. It’s about an hour past curfew, but it’s not like that’s ever stopped Oikawa before. Besides, the teachers are lenient if the students are practising their bending rather than messing about. 

Oikawa’s not there, though. And he’s not in the common room or the empty school cafeteria either. He’s not even in his room when Hajime tries it, and Matsukawa just tells him he has no idea where Oikawa’s gone off to. It’s almost 10 by the time Hajime’s about to give in and go back to his own room, but his phone buzzes and his heart almost stops when he sees Oikawa’s name flash on the screen.

He picks it up after letting it ring once. “Oikawa?” Hajime answers, but there’s silence on the other end save for a soft rhythm of inhale-and-exhale on both their ends. 

“Hey,” Oikawa finally says, and his voice sounds different, softer than Hajime’s ever heard it. “I need to talk to you.” 

“Okay,” Hajime agrees quickly. Maybe it is uncanny that they’re always on the same wavelength, because Hajime was just about to say the same thing. “Where are you?” 

“On the school rooftop,” Oikawa answers, and Hajime grimaces. 

“Trashkawa, what’re you doing outside at this time? You’re not immune to catching colds y’know.” 

Oikawa’s laugh is quiet and airy on the other end, and Hajime holds his breath because he didn’t realise until now how much he’d missed that laugh. “Worried about me Iwa-chan?” 

“Shut up,” Hajime shakes his head, and hangs up before Oikawa can reply. He doesn’t know what Oikawa wants to talk to him about, but with what Hajime has to say, he knows that he’d rather do it in person anyway. 

It takes him a couple of minutes to get to the main building and go up the few flights of stairs leading towards the rooftop. He sees Oikawa right away, leaning on the edge of the railing with his back to the entrance. 

Hajime freezes at the sight after opening the door. The moonlight is pale, but he can still see the slant of Oikawa’s neck and the soft breeze tussling his hair. He’s still wearing the blue sweater from earlier and Hajime feels oddly underdressed in his black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. Not that it really matters. 

He almost doesn’t take a step forward, suddenly struck by the reality of it all. He’s actually…actually going to do this. He is finally going to tell Oikawa. Shit. 

It’s a little too dark out on the rooftop, so Hajime does what any logical person would do and turns on the torch light option on his phone. He’s reminded of the memory on his birthday not too long ago, when he’d had to do the same thing. And he remembers the soft press of Oikawa’s lips that night, waking up with his nose buried in Oikawa’s neck and feeling the phantom warmth of Oikawa’s presence even hours after they’d left their makeshift tent. The thought has his heart beat ramping up and Hajime has to close his eyes for a moment to steady himself. He’s really doing this. 

“Iwa-chan, you shouldn’t wave that thing around if you don’t want to get caught by the teachers,” Oikawa points at his phone, but Hajime almost doesn’t hear him, with his voice nearly being overridden by the sudden gust of wind that takes them both by surprise. 

Oikawa wraps his arms around himself and Hajime instinctively steps closer. He belatedly realises that he doesn’t have his jacket on him or anything to offer, so he just lingers beside Oikawa, his hands hanging limply by his sides, kind of resisting the urge to pull him closer. Hajime isn’t sure if it’s the epiphany he’d had earlier or the unexpected determination to tell Oikawa how he feels, but suddenly, those subconscious thoughts of touching Oikawa, of holding him and wrapping his arms around him, those thoughts have pushed their way into the forefront of his mind and now all Hajime can do is resist the temptation of acting on it. 

Oikawa catches the slight movement, and he laughs lightly, but it’s different from earlier on the phone. It has an edge of something to it, almost like sadness or bitterness. “You’re the one in the t-shirt, Iwa-chan.” He says it like he’s so sure that Hajime was worried for him, and it’s not like he was wrong, but again Hajime is struck by the way they read off of each other’s body language without words.

“Again, what the hell are you doing up here, Oikawa? Let’s go inside before it starts raining or something.”

Oikawa waves a hand, “Stupid Iwa-chan. I could just bend it away from us, you know.” 

“Yeah, but still…” 

There’s a silence then, so heavy with something, Hajime doesn’t know his way around it. So it’s not surprising that Oikawa speaks first. 

“Remember when you and your family went on vacation to Okinawa?” 

Hajime frowns, because of all the things he was expecting, it wasn’t a mention of a family vacation from his childhood. 

“Yeah, of course,” Hajime smiles slightly. “I remember giving you that mango jelly I bought with my allowance and you took one taste of it and told me it was disgusting like the brat you are.” 

Oikawa laughs and buries his head in his arms, which are resting on the railing beside Hajime’s own arms. They’re standing close to each other, and it’s nothing new at all, but at the same time it feels different. Like in the space left between them there’s a crackling energy quivering in the air. 

“I sure was a brat, especially considering the jelly was actually delicious,” Oikawa says, his voice a little muffled through his arms. “I didn’t know you spent your own money on it,” he adds quietly, like an afterthought to himself. 

Hajime bumps Oikawa lightly with his shoulder, “And it was expensive too,” he huffs lightheartedly. 

Oikawa peeks up at him and smiles, although Hajime can only tell he’s smiling because of his eyes since his mouth is still covered by his arms. It’s one of his favourite Oikawa-smiles, those one that reaches his eyes so completely that they crinkle a little in the corners. It’s one of those rare, genuine ones that most people that know Oikawa are not familiar with. 

“You know, it’s embarrassing to say this now. I even made my mum promise to never tell you, but that time you went to Okinawa I packed my bags and was ready to leave about twenty minutes after I said bye to you. I even got into a fight with my dad when he told me he won’t take me and I threatened to swim there instead.” 

Hajime is taken aback by the sudden admission, but honestly, it’s not hard to imagine Oikawa at seven years old, packing his bag and determined to swim the ocean.

“I didn’t know that,” Hajime says, not knowing how else to respond. 

“I guess the promise worked out then,” Oikawa says, before standing up straight and turning to face Hajime. On closer inspection, his eyes look a little puffy and Hajime’s heart clenches for a moment. “I guess my point is, that even back then, I was ready to follow you anywhere. You know that, you must know…”  Oikawa takes a deep breath, like he’s steeling himself to say the next few words. “You know how much I want to be beside you, even finding out you were an earthbender did little to change that. I just worked even harder, until I felt like I was where I belong.”

Hajime’s mind takes a moment to process everything Oikawa had said, but in that time, Oikawa starts speaking again, not letting him respond anyway. “And I want to let you know that I’ll stop now. It’s not fair to you or Aoki-san, or anyone else you want to have a relationship with if I’m always in sight, if I’m always trying to catch up with you or if I’m always beside you when that place belongs to someone you love. I know I was rude to Aoki earlier today and I don’t want a repeat of that ever again. I guess… I guess I just want you to be happy Iwa-chan, even if it’s not with me.” 

The words are almost too much for Hajime, who’s stuck in place trying to comprehend everything. Is this…Is this Oikawa confessing? It almost sounds like one, but it isn’t at the same time. No, it’s an apology, it’s Oikawa saying he’ll step back, even when the one thing Hajime wants is for them to step forward together, towards each other... 

“Oikawa –,” 

He’s interrupted when Oikawa brusquely turns around, facing towards the door. “I’d rather not hear any words that come out of pity, so it’s probably best if you don’t say anything right now,” He turns once more, and on his face is a smile almost opposite to the one he’d worn earlier. This one is wide, and plastered on very obviously fake. “I’ll see you around, Iwa-chan,” he waves a little, before heading towards the door. 

Hajime wants to rush after him, take his hand and make him understand the truth of his emotions. To tell him exactly how he feels like the way he’d planned earlier. 

But something stops him, and his feet don’t take another step after the first halting one. Maybe it’s the shock of hearing those words from Oikawa, maybe it’s the fact that telling Oikawa how he truly feels right now will be interpreted as words of pity. But either way, the one thing Hajime is sure of is that he never wants to see that plastered expression and those puffy eyes on Oikawa ever again.

Hajime’s not surprised that Oikawa starts avoiding him after the incident on the rooftop. Honestly, it’s a hard feat to achieve since they have a couple of classes together and they still have training with the rest of the team. It’s more Oikawa keeping his distance than anything, and Hajime feels a prominent change in the air when Oikawa doesn’t throw an arm around Hajime after a particularly good move and when he deliberately evades walking beside Hajime in the hallways. It’s not surprising, but it still hurts. And it’s killing Hajime so much that he almost gives in and pulls Oikawa aside, to explain to him that even Aoki agreed they belong together, hell, probably most of the school thinks they’re together already.

But he wills himself some patience, and being around Oikawa all his life means he’s got patience in abundance. 

If he’s going to tell Oikawa how he feels, he wants to do it right and not in some half-assed way. He wants to make it absolutely obvious that he’s not saying things for the hell of it to humour him, or out of pity or whatever. He wants Oikawa to know that he really means it, and so that means a little preparation will probably go a long way.

It takes a bit of time, but Hajime persists. After about three days of sneaking out during lunch break and using half of his Saturday, he’s almost done and he’s got the dirt on his face and the earth under his fingernails to show for it. He’d even asked Matsukawa and Hanamaki for help, at least for the layout and stuff since those kind of things have never been Hajime’s strong points. By Sunday evening, he deems it finally ready and he leaves towards the school without hesitation, forgetting to change his dirt-covered clothes in his earnestness. 

It’s easy to find Oikawa this time. He’s sitting by the pool with legs crossed and a look of concentration that Hajime’s become familiar with. He watches as Oikawa bends the waves into a kind of twisted tornado in mid-air and then transforms it into a shape of an arch, freezing it slightly to create intricate details, before it whirls back into the water again. The moves look simple, but Hajime knows the hours of practice Oikawa has put in to achieve the complexities behind them. 

Oikawa is obviously very engrossed in his practice, because he doesn’t notice Hajime’s presence, even when he walks to stand right behind him. It’s only until Hajime crouches down to sit beside Oikawa that he kind of jumps a little, obviously surprised. 

This time Hajime smiles widely at the startled look on Oikawa’s face. It’s hard to contain the smile since he’s so ready, so determined to tell Oikawa that he’s almost giddy. Oikawa looks taken off-guard by the smile, blinking a few times at Hajime before finally opening his mouth to speak. 

“Oh,” he says, and his voice is almost inaudible with the splashes of other waterbenders echoing in the room. 

“Oh?” Hajime repeats and grins again before standing up and offering a hand. “Come with me, I need to show you something.” 

Oikawa stares at his hand for a moment, before raising his gaze to meet Hajime’s. His eyes are confused, but that’s okay for now. Hajime can be patient. He doesn’t say anything, but keeps his hand extended as he watches Oikawa visibly debate with himself over whether he should take it. 

It’s a relief unlike any other when Hajime feels Oikawa’s long fingers slide across his palm. His hand is soft, and surprisingly not wet from the water, although it probably makes sense for a waterbender to have dry hands. Hajime hauls Oikawa up until he’s standing, and he doesn’t let go of Oikawa’s hand as he starts walking. 

“W-wait, Iwa-chan! Where are we going?” Oikawa says, but he makes no move to take his hand out of Hajime’s. Hajime squeezes Oikawa’s hand before answering. 

“You’ll see.” 

Hajime leads them through the now familiar route through the forest until he hears the sound of the river current. It’s a nice day out, with the air tranquil and the sky a pale blue with a tinge of pink, just before sunset. It’s Hajime’s favourite time of day, and it’s not like he planned for a sunset because he’s not too big on clichés, but Hajime’s not complaining either. Oikawa has been uncharacteristically silent throughout their walk. He hasn’t pulled his grasp out of Hajime’s though, which is encouragement unlike any other. 

When they reach the clearing and Hajime coms to a halt, he hears Oikawa gasp audibly behind him. It’s a quiet gasp, a small oh. Hajime smiles and turns towards Oikawa. “It took me a few days, but it’s finally finished,” he says, and seeing Oikawa’s expression, all wide-eyed wonderment makes him a little embarrassed. But more than that, he’s feeling a little proud of his own work. 

The tent from his birthday had still been there, even after months of wear. Hajime had walked to the river the morning after the night on the roof top and when he’d seen the tent, he’d been overwhelmed with his feelings for Oikawa, remembering all the effort he’d put in that night just for Hajime’s birthday. 

It’s not a special occasion, but they’re here again. And this time, Hajime has turned the tent to a small cottage, complete with windows and doors, and even a fireplace on the inside. He’d debated over whether planting flowers and placing pebbles in the front would be a bad idea, but being an earthbender all the gardening and the building came naturally to him. The only help he’d needed was figuring out where to put things, and he’d had Matsukawa and Hanamaki for that. Hajime had decided that he could endure a little teasing about how Hajime’s actually a big romantic at heart, especially if it makes Oikawa happy. 

“It’s a little cheesy, I know. And if anyone finds out, I’ll probably have to earthbend the entire thing away. But I built this for us, for you.” 

“It’s…it’s so pretty,” Oikawa says, his voice soft as he steps forward towards the house. “I can’t believe you did this.” 

Hajime shrugs, a little embarrassed as he rubs the back of his neck. “Well, I had those two idiots help me I guess.” Watching Oikawa walk into the cottage, with his eyes clear and a soft smile on his face, Hajime can’t help but think that Oikawa’s the pretty one here. 

Inside, it’s a little dark but Hajime had found a lantern similar to the one Oikawa had used earlier, and he’d placed it in the middle of the room, where the same picnic blanket they’d slept on that night is laid out on the floor. Obviously, Hajime could’ve earthbended them some furniture, but anything that he made would’ve been uncomfortable to say the least, and probably not too aesthetically pleasing either. 

Once Oikawa’s standing in the middle of the room, the sun has almost completely set and the dim glow of the lantern spills through the darkness casting their faces in a hazy glow. Hajime steps forward towards Oikawa, until he’s close, close enough to feel the warmth from his body. 

“You know, the other night on the roof…” Hajime begins, and Oikawa almost interrupts him, but this time Hajime takes another step forward, which effectively brings his words to a halt. Hajime takes a deep breath before starting again. “You said that you want me to be happy. You told me that…that the place beside me belongs to someone I love.”

Hajime pauses for a moment, drinking in the sight of Oikawa’s face in front of him, which is almost too close to see. His eyes are bright and a little widened, and his cheekbones are slanted as his mouth is open slightly in an intake of breath. Hajime’s eyes travel down to those lips. They look so soft, and slightly pink. He knows how they feel on his skin, the feel of them against his jaw has been branded into his mind. Now, he closes the gap and presses his own to them, in a soft kiss he’s unknowingly waited years for. 

It’s almost as chaste as the kisses from their childhood, expect this time there is a weight behind it that pushes them both forward, an undeniable intensity that has Oikawa’s hand traveling from Hajime’s shoulder, until it rests on the side of his neck. 

When they break apart, they both sigh a little, and it’s almost like everything that’s been off-kilter lately has suddenly fallen back into place. Hajime leans his forehead on Oikawa’s. 

“I don’t ever want you to doubt that that person is you. The person who I want beside me, the person who makes me happy,” Hajime smiles. “Even if he is an obnoxious brat sometimes.” 

Oikawa laughs haltingly. His voice sounds a little watery so Hajime steps back to see that, yes, Oikawa is definitely teary eyed. 

“You were always such an ugly crier,” Hajime huffs out, feeling embarrassed again. 

Oikawa only pushes him slightly on the shoulder, his cheeks dusted a pinkish-red. 

“You’re so rude, Iwa-chan,” he sniffles, before wrapping Hajime in a proper embrace and burying his face in his neck. For a moment, Hajime is overwhelmed by the familiarity of it all, of Oikawa’s unique scent, of the feel of his soft hair tickling under Hajime’s chin. 

It only feels natural as he pulls Oikawa closer, as he kisses the top of Oikawa’s head and his cheek, and then his lips once again.