Chapter Text
“It’s hard dating people who don’t speak Japanese, you know? I love speaking Portuguese and English, but sometimes I just want to stop thinking and talk freely, without any vocabulary restrictions.” Shouyou complains. “No offence, talking to you is fun nonetheless. I don’t mind us talking in Portuguese—we’re in Brazil, after all—but… it’s different with a significant other, if you know what I mean?”
He’s sitting at a bar, talking to Ezequiel, an Argentinian player who recently moved to Brazil. They met a few weeks ago at an amator beach volleyball tournament and immediately clicked, so they kept in contact, and here they were. Ezequiel is a very nice guy—nice enough to lend Shouyou some money on the first day they met so that he could get home—and he has made no comment about Shouyou’s height or the way he talks. All in all, he fits Shouyou’s admittedly short, but still existing, friendship requirements list.
Ezequiel hums. “Yeah, I get that. I’m glad that my girlfriend is Spanish, because I don’t think I could handle talking in Portuguese at work and at home. I just need some time for my brain to relax.” He takes a sip of his Caipirinha, seemingly contemplating something, a glazed look in his eyes.
Shouyou doesn’t want to interrupt his friend’s train of thoughts, so he doesn’t reply, just nods, before bringing his own glass to his lips. It’s still half full. He’s not a big fan of alcohol, the liquid burns his throat and it often makes him forget half of what happened during the night the next day. He’d rather know what he was up to and remember what he and whoever was with him talked about. It’d be rude to forget anything important that might have come up in the conversation. But he didn’t want to decline Ezequiel’s invitation when he was so nice to him, so here he was.
He’s still staring at his cocktail, jiggling the glass in his hand in small rounds, when Ezequiel speaks up again, breaking the silence between them. “Shouyou, would you consider being in a long-distance relationship?”
Shouyou tilts his head and scratches his chin, confused. “Er, I guess so. If I really like someone, I guess I could deal with not seeing them often. Having a partner whom you love and being happy with them is all about compromises. And it’s not like I have a lot of free time I could spend with them anyways. Why?”
Ezequiel smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Well, I had a Japanese teammate in Argentina when I played for San Juan. He’s gay, single, and I think you’re his type. He’s in Brazil for a few weeks.”
Shouyou blinks. He’s starting to understand where this is going. He takes another swig. “Oh?”
His friend continues “Yeah. It’s his off season and he told me he needed some time to himself. He knows I’m in Brazil, so he offered to spend some time together the other day.”
“That’s nice. Did you agree?” Shouyou is almost done with his cocktail by now, and he’s starting to feel a bit lightheaded.
“I did. We’re meeting up tomorrow in the afternoon.” Ezequiel affirms, his eyes sparkling and his smile soft. “He’s an awesome setter, and a great friend, it’ll be good to see him.”
Shouyou smiles wistfully at that. Hanging out with old teammates is always a nice thing, but pretty bittersweet too. Seeing someone who you used to practice with almost everyday, and with whom you shared exhilarating wins and devastating losses is very nostalgic. Shouyou always ends those days with a smile on his face and a pinch in his heart. He misses the people he used to play with, and he’ll miss his current teammates when they eventually go their separate ways. It’s easier when he stays friends with them, even though it’s not the same. He wonders if Ezequiel feels like that too.
The man in question runs his fingers through his short hair, dyed blonde with brown roots that Shouyou can only see if he really looks, and sighs. “Sorry, I got a bit off topic.”
Shouyou waves him off. “It’s fine, happens to me often.”
Ezequiel looks at him, thankful, and clicks his tongue. “Anyways. I wanted to ask if, you know, you’d consider going on a date with him? I think it’d be good. For the both of you.”. He seemingly realizes what he said could be taken badly because his cheeks turns red and he scrambles for an explanation, waving his hands in front of him. “Not that I think you can’t get a date on you own, or that you need a partner to be happy, or whatever! And this is just a suggestion, you don’t need to agree to make me or him happy, and—“
He’s cut off by Shouyou giggling. “I know, Ezequiel, you just want the best for your friends. It’s fine.”
The man breathes out, and his shoulders which had raised because of his nervousness drop. He looks back at Shouyou, a more confident look and a smile on his face. “So, what do you say? You don’t even have to plan anything, I can organize the whole date for you guys.”
Before Shouyou can even reply, Ezequiel perks up, his eyes practically sparkling, and exclaims “I could set you up on a blind date! It’s even more fun that way!”
Shouyou raises an eyebrow suspiciously. “Are you sure about that? I doubt many people would agree with that statement.” He leans over the counter to ask the bartender for another drink. He’ll need it if he wants to accept Ezequiel’s—frankly, kind of ridiculous—offer. A bit more alcohol can’t be that bad, right?
When he turns back towards his friend, Ezequiel is already looking at him, and he goes right back to trying to convince Shouyou. “I promise you’ll like him!”. He pouts (and what a sight it is, a six feet and height inches man pouting because his friend might not accept a blind date with his former teammate). “Hey, you know what? If you don’t enjoy your time together, I’ll stop talking to you about Estrella for two entire weeks. Deal?”
Shouyou laughs, a light sound. He takes a sip from the drink the bartender gave him. What did she say it was again? Shouyou can’t remember. “Ezequiel, we met like three weeks ago and I already know that you won’t stop talking about your girlfriend for anything. She seems very nice, by the way, you’ll have to introduce me someday.”
He sighs contentedly and sets his head on his hands, his gaze turning soft and longing. “Gosh, you don’t even know a fraction of how amazing she is. She’s so beautiful, and she always knows what to say to make people feel better, and she’s so smart. Did I tell you that the other day, she—”. He raises his head and furrows his eyebrows, interrupting himself.
Damn. Shouyou really thought his friend would go on a rant and leave his idea to rest. “Ezequiel?”
“Shouyou. You weren’t trying to avoid this conversation, were you?” Ezequiel shakes his head slightly, his eyes soften, and he rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, maybe I was too pushy. I swear I don’t want you to feel obliged to go or anything. It was genuinely just a proposition.”. He grimaces, his face distorting in an unfamiliar expression.
Well, Shouyou feels bad now. He doesn’t want his friend to blame himself for something he didn’t do. He pats the other’s shoulder in what he hopes is a reassuring motion and offers him a small smile. “Dude, you didn’t do anything wrong, no worries.” Shouyou looks away for a second, before speaking again. “I guess I just kind of freaked out because he’s a pro, you know? Do you think he’d be willing to play with me? I wonder what his sets feel like. Which club did you say he plays in? Maybe I could look him up—”
“No!”. Ezequiel puts his hands on Shouyou’s shoulders and shakes him lightly before pulling away. “Well, no, you can’t look him up, Shouyou, or it wouldn’t be a blind date.”
Shouyou visibly deflates at the realization, his shoulders dropping. “Oh, right.”
“But I think he’d be willing to play with you. He’s always liked pushing spikers to be better and stuff. I think he’s as obsessed with volleyball as you are.” Ezequiel chuckles.
“Really? I’m excited to meet him, then!” Shouyou beams and goes to drink again, before realising he doesn’t have any cocktail left. Uh. This one was gone faster than the first, maybe he should get a third glass.
Ezequiel seems just as happy as Shouyou feels, a large grin spreading across his face. “So, you’ll go? Can I ask him if he’d like to go on a blind date with you?”
Shouyou’s head is spinning a bit, and he feels warm, but it’s nice. He can’t remember why he doesn’t like drinking. Maybe he has been missing out. “Sure, yeah. Text me the details. If he says yes.”
His friend gives him a thumbs up. He’s smiling so wide that Shouyou wonders how his cheeks don’t hurt. “Will do! Thanks for trusting me with this, man.”
Shouyou just giggles. “Thanks for setting up this date for me.” His eyes flicker between his friend and the bartender for a second, and he asks “Do you want another drink to celebrate your matchmaking skills?”
Ezequiel laughs. “Sure. Let’s celebrate your future relationship, too.”
Shouyou blushes. Hopefully, his friend isn’t spoiling anything by saying this so soon. He feels optimistic tonight, though, so he just rolls his eyes good-naturedly and turns towards the bartender.
The next day, Shouyou is woken up by the sun’s rays warming up his face and getting into his eyes. He groans and throws his arm over them. « Just five more minutes… » His head hurts and he doesn’t know if it’s from the light dazzling him or because of yesterday night. What time did he get home again? He can’t remember if it was at midnight or at four in the morning. If he’s being honest, he can’t recall much of what happened, except that he was at a bar with Ezequiel. He hopes they didn’t talk about anything too important.
He sighs. This is the exact reason why he doesn’t like drinking. He should have trusted his gut and ordered a soda instead of getting drunk. Thankfully, today is his day off. Shouyou can hardly imagine himself working while hungover. It’s already hard enough most days with the heat slowing him down.
His stomach rumbles, and with another moan, he rolls over to check his alarm clock for what time it is. Two in the afternoon. No wonder he’s hungry, the last time he ate anything—drinks don’t count—was almost twenty hours ago. And anyone who knows Shouyou is well aware that he could eat two meals every hour and still not feel full enough.
He sits up, not without difficulty, and realizes that he slept with his clothes on. He blinks. Maybe he was more drunk last night than he had thought, because ever since he has moved to Brazil, Shouyou has slept with nothing more than his underwear. With anything more, he feels excruciatingly hot and stays awake wiggling all night long.
He gets up when his stomach starts acting up again, determined not to die of hunger in his bed. He’ll change clothes later. After taking a sniff at his armpits and having to pull back out of disgust, he decides on taking a shower too.
Shouyou makes his way to the kitchen, his slippers squeaking on the ground, and he tries not to stumble too much—but fails miserably. He’s still too dazed to cook himself a proper—breakfast? lunch?—meal so he decides on some cereals. He can betray his diet every once in a while, it’s not like anyone can ground him for it anyways. Even if Pedro wanted to (and he really doesn’t care), he’s in class right now, so Shouyou has the appartement all to himself.
While devouring his bowl, Shouyou still has the presence of mind to check if anyone wanted to reach him during his slump, but when he tries to turn on his phone, its screen stays black. It’s out of battery. Of course. He finds the plug hidden behind the toaster and charges his phone. Oh well, he doesn’t think he was waiting for any important calls anyways. He shrugs and serves himself another cereal bowl, before making his way to the couch, spilling some milk on the ground. He’ll clean it up later, he tells himself. Right now, he wants to watch some ridiculous TV drama until his headache retreats.
A couple of hours later, while Shouyou is lying on the couch, his hair still wet from his shower, a manga in his hands and his mind somewhere on a volleyball court, he is taken out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone dinging multiple times in a row. He wonders who could be texting him. Did he forget about some extra practice today? Heitor would probably just call him, though. He considers just not answering, but maybe it’s important and Shouyou has just forgotten because of yesterday’s… events.
With a sigh, he stands up and stretches his arms over his head, his back cracking in the process. He was in such a comfortable position, it’s really too bad that he had to move.
He slowly shuffles towards the kitchen counter where he left his phone to charge, still brainstorming what the texts could be about. His boss had no reason to call him as far as Shouyou knew, but maybe someone was sick and needed a replacement?
He takes his phone, unplugs it and presses the button on its side, lighting up the screen. A dozen notifications sit there, and Shouyou recognises Ezequiel’s name on top of the boxes. He typed in all caps, with a number of spelling mistakes and emoticons thrown in the mix. It takes Shouyou’s brain a minute to adapt to Portuguese and another to decipher what his friend wrote. But when he finally understands exactly what is said, he short-circuits.
Oh. Oh, no.
Shouyou knew he shouldn’t drink alcohol. It made him sick for a few days, he forgot entire conversations, and most of all, it led him to make bad decisions. Bad decisions like agreeing to go on a blind date with Ezequiel’s former teammate and present-day friend. Ezequiel’s former teammate who he was meeting with today. And who also agreed to the blind date. Why did he say yes? Shouyou wonders. Maybe he’s weak to Ezequiel’s puppy eyes and sweet talk. Or maybe his friend spoke well of Shouyou.
Anyways, the point is, Shouyou has a blind date—when? He looks back down at his phone and bluescreens yet again.
Shouyou has a blind date tomorrow. Tomorrow at five thirty in the evening to be precise. What had he gotten himself into? He’s not good with casual dates and he knows it. He might also very well fanboy over the man and make him uncomfortable. But, to be fair, his date is a professional player! How could Shouyou not be a bit excited? If Shouyou is lucky, maybe the guy isn’t all that famous or won't be interesting. He can only hope so, because rambling like a kid meeting his idol would be embarrassing.
It’s not like Shouyou can even cancel or just stand him up, because that would be really rude and Shouyou doesn’t want any bad blood with his friend’s friend (his step-friend? his friend-in-law?).
He groans, even louder than this morning, and flops down on the couch, reflecting on whether he should text all of his worries to Ezequiel now, or if he should wait until when he’s sure that Ezequiel’s friend—Shouyou’s date, damn, that’s weird—won’t see them by accident.
After a quick deliberation, he decides on just sending a quick message to confirm that he’s available and that he’s seen the texts. He also asks where they are gonna be meeting.
When Ezequiel doesn’t reply immediately, Shouyou just throws the phone a few inches away from his side and picks up his manga that he left open on the couch minutes earlier.
He passes his fingers through his tangled hair, still a bit humid, and forces himself to smile. He wanted to try dating, didn’t he? And who knows, maybe he’ll have fun and they’ll see each other again. In any case, if he’s Ezequiel’s friend, the guy really can’t be that bad.
Shouyou takes a few deep breaths, and he feels a bit better. He has no reason not to enjoy his date, and the food in the restaurant they’re going to is delicious, so in any case, he gains something, maybe just food, maybe a friend, or maybe even something more. He finds himself smiling more genuinely at that.
Yeah, everything will be just fine.
Everything won’t be just fine. Shouyou spent the entire day yesterday panicking, and today was just as bad. First off, he realized he doesn’t have any formal clothes or anything. He just has his usual casual work clothes and his volleyball gear, he didn’t bring suits to Brazil, sure that the weather wouldn’t allow for him to wear them—and he was right, but he hadn’t considered that he might need them for something else. And sure, the restaurant isn’t anything fancy, but this is still a date. Well, a blind date. Wait, are dress codes different for blind dates? Shouyou has no idea.
So, Shouyou needs to be there in an hour and he still isn’t dressed. He needs to find a solution, and fast. He mentally goes through the list of people whom he could call for this fashion emergency—Yachi, his mom, Asahi-san, Natsu. And then remembers that these people are in Japan and that it’s four in the morning for them. He doesn’t want to risk waking them up.
He sits on his bed and takes his head in his hands “What am I supposed to do now?” he mumbles, his voice cracking with the emotion and his lips wobbling. Ezequiel was going to pay for this.
Wait— Ezequiel! Maybe he can tell him what Shouyou should do. Didn’t he mention his girlfriend being into designing once? Shouyou hopes they aren’t busy.
He extends his arm to grab his phone, eliciting a small pop in his shoulder. Wow, he feels stiff, he really should have done his daily stretches. But he just wasn’t in the right state of mind to even recall he had to do them earlier, too busy with imagining every way tonight could go wrong.
Shouyou shakes his thoughts off, this really isn’t the time to go on a tangent—ooh, fancy word! He clicks on Ezequiel’s contact and it pops up in his mind that Shouyou should maybe text him first to make sure he isn’t busy. His finger hovers over the “call” button for a second and then he just shrugs. Ezequiel was the one who put him in this situation after all, so it was his responsibility to deal with the consequences.
Content with his reasoning, Shouyou presses the button and the ringing of his phone fills the silence in his room. He hums along to the tune, trying to relax a bit and shuffles to sit cross legged, his phone on speaker right in front of him.
His eyes snap open when he hears Ezequiel’s deep voice coming out of the phone. “Hey, Shouyou. What’s up?”
“Hi! Hm, say, do you happen to know how I should dress for tonight? I’m a bit stuck at the moment, I’m not good with fashion, and it’s four in the morning in Japan, so.” Shouyou replies, a bit sheepish. « I hope I’m not bothering you. If I am, I can call someone else! » he adds quickly.
“Dude, you’re fine. I’m with Estrella right now, we were just watching TV and it was getting a bit boring, so we’d be happy to help!” Ezequiel reassures him cheerily. Shouyou can hear a faint voice in the background agreeing. “Wait, let me put you on speaker.” Cloth rustling and the sound of the phone being put down on a hard surface, and then a calm, feminine voice. “Hi, Shouyou, right? It’s nice to meet you, I’m Estrella.”
Her tone of voice is soothing and Shouyou releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Hello! Nice to meet you too, Ezequiel talks about you a lot. Just yesterday, he—”
Estrella giggles, and her boyfriend huffs. “Yeah, she knows. Anyways, Shouyou, as much as I would love to list my girlfriend’s qualities, I think you called for something else. May I remind you that you have a date in— 45 minutes?”
Shouyou straightens up and clears his throat. “Right. So, what do you think I should wear? Wait, what does your friend likes for guys to wear?”
“Do you have all your clothes near you?” Estrella asks. Shouyou nods, until he realizes that she can’t see him, and agrees verbally. “Yeah.”
“Great. Can you turn on your camera? It’ll be easier if we know what we’re dealing with.” she suggests. “Careful, love, his sense of style might just give you a heart attack.” Ezequiel teases, and Shouyou can almost see the playful smirk on his face.
When the words register, he definitely doesn’t squeak. Definitely not. “What’s that supposed to mean? Anyways.” He has more urgent matters to attend to, so he chooses to ignore his friend’s taunts and presses the camera button.
At five twenty-nine, Shouyou is standing right in front of Em casa da Maria’s.
He’s wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with the first two buttons open, showing off his arms and the slightest bit of his chest, just enough to be appealing, but not enough to be indecent. His pants are wide-legged and a dark green, pretty basic, but Estrella said it made his hair pop more. He trusts her judgement. He also has a few accessories: a silver necklace, some rings and a black banana bag he almost forgot about until Ezequiel pointed out it’d be better to have one to carry his things without having weird bumps in his pockets. He’s ready.
He takes a deep breath, and pushes open the door, the bell ringing to alert the staff of his arrival. Shouyou doesn’t wait for a waiter to arrive though, Ezequiel told him that his date would be there ten minutes before him, to avoid any awkward meeting in the parking lot.
Apparently, the guy is wearing a blue shirt, and has a pin with a volleyball on it.
Shouyou scans over the people seated, his gaze quickly moving on from the people in a group and the elderly sitting there alone. On any other day, he might have felt bad for them, but today, he is a little too anxious to linger on them.
When he sees blue, he quickly backtracks and his stare stops on a man wearing a blue shirt with a round pin proudly adorned it. Shouyou’s heart starts to beat faster. When he looks up from his presumed date’s torso, he sees a face. A very familiar one. He freezes in his steps. He blinks and rubs his eyes with his fists, once, twice, three times but the sight before him still doesn’t change.
There’s no fucking way.
Shouyou doesn’t curse often, but right now, he feels justified to do so. Because sitting right in front of him is Oikawa Tooru. Shouyou’s rival in high school, Kageyama’s former teammate, Seijoh’s former setter and captain, the Grand King. The setter for San Juan. How did Shouyou not make the connection earlier? The identity of his date was right in front of his nose this whole time. He should have just ignored Ezequiel and looked up San Juan’s team members.
What should he do now? Oikawa might not be happy to see him, but he’ll be even less happy if he gets stood up. And even if his date is the Grand King, he’s also Ezequiel’s friend, and has been for longer than Shouyou. Ezequiel will be upset with Shouyou if he makes his friend sad, and Shouyou doesn’t want that.
Before Shouyou can convince himself to just move to Antarctica or some other far away country, Oikawa looks up from his phone and makes eye contact with Shouyou.
His eyes widen so much that Shouyou thinks his eyeballs might pop out of their orbit, and he glances back down at his phone, before looking up again, his deep brown eyes still wide and his mouth open in shock. At the very least, Shouyou now has the confirmation that he isn’t the only one to be surprised by his date’s identity.
He braces himself, inhales, exhales, and walks over to Oikawa’s—Oikawa! Kageyama will never believe him—table. The journey is both excruciatingly long and way too short for Shouyou’s taste.
Shouyou stops right in front of Oikawa, gulps and extends his trembling hand towards the other man, who hesitantly takes it, and shakes it firmly. Oikawa’s hand is surprisingly soft. He is a setter, so maybe it shouldn’t be that astonishing of a realization, but it is. Shouyou wonders how much time he spends taking care of his hands.
It’s silent for a moment, the background noise from the restaurant around them fading to nothingness. After a few seconds longer than what a handshake usually requires, they let go of the other’s hand. Shouyou sits down and finally speaks up.
“Grand King.”
“Chibi-chan. Didn’t expect to see you there.” he replies without missing a beat, seemingly already over the surprise from a few minutes ago.
Shouyou grimaces at the nickname and tries to huff, but it comes out as something of a strangled sigh. Good job Shouyou, 5 minutes in and already embarrassing yourself. “Yeah, me neither.”
Oikawa clears his throat. “So, Brazil, uh? How is that going for you?”
“It’s going about as well as I hoped for. I had a hard time the first few months, but it’s easier now. The cultural shock was a lot. But I guess you know that, considering you moved to Argentina and all.” Shouyou tries to continue the conversation, stumbling on his words and waving his hands around awkwardly. He’s still not completely feeling normal after the shock of seeing Oikawa Tooru, of all people, in Brazil. As Shouyou’s date, no less.
Oikawa hums, staring intently at the wine glass in his hand, the liquid swaying in its recipient. “I did a lot of research on Argentina before moving, but I have to admit that the real thing was something else. It was weird at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly, I think. It’s been a while now, and I feel at home there.” He places his head on his hand, his elbow resting on the table.
Just then, the waitress stops at their table and asks if they have chosen what they want to drink. Oikawa gestures for Shouyou to order first, so he asks for plain water. He learnt his lesson two days ago, thank you very much.
While Oikawa asks for the same wine he was drinking earlier, Shouyou’s gaze passes across his date’s eyes and his breath hitches. The light hits them at the perfect angle and they look beautiful. Shouyou isn’t much of a poet, but at this moment, he thinks he could write entire books about them. They aren’t eyes as much as they are gems rimmed with black and spotted with lighter areas, sparkling in the sunlight, and so, so enchanting. They aren’t eyes as much as they are a maze Shouyou could get lost in without ever getting tired of it.
Lost in his reverie, Shouyou doesn’t notice Oikawa’s grin until he talks again. “Did you lose your tongue, or is my beauty too much for you, Shouyou?” he teases.
The use of his given name makes butterflies and gentle heat pool in Shouyou’s stomach. It might be a normal thing here, in South America, but in Japan…
When what Oikawa says finally makes its way to Shouyou’s brain, he sputters, his face more colored than his hair. He can’t muster up a proper response so he just rolls his eyes and mutters. “You wish.” After a few seconds of reflection, with a wink, he adds “Isn’t my beauty too much for you? I would have thought so, given your staring earlier.”
This time, it’s Oikawa’s turn to blush, but he composes himself much faster than Shouyou did. Bummer. “Please, don’t act like you weren’t surprised too.”
Shouyou snorts, an unattractive sound that almost makes him turn red again, but Oikawa doesn’t seem to mind, still looking at Shouyou. “Surprised is an understatement.”
Oikawa laughs, and it’s a light, airy sound, almost musical. “Yeah, it was really unexpected. I mean, it’s a crazy coincidence! Both of us, Japanese men, in South America, both single and friends with Ezequiel, the guy who thinks of himself as a modern day Cupid ever since he has met the love of his life. What were the odds?”
Shouyou is lucky that he doesn’t have his glass yet, because he doesn’t think it would have survived him bursting out laughing at that.
Just as he thinks it, the waitress places their drinks on the table along with some aperitive biscuits. When Shouyou thanks her, his voice is mixed with another. He looks at Oikawa and smiles at him. Politeness is definitely a quality he can appreciate, and considering that he has learnt some Portuguese just for this, Shouyou is pretty sure that Oikawa thinks it’s important too.
“You know, that might just be the most accurate description of Ezequiel I’ve heard just yet.” he says, grabbing a pretzel. Those are his favorites.
“Of course it is! I’ll have you know I’m great at describing people.” Oikawa replies, puffing out his chest. He takes a sip of his wine before carrying on. “Also, I’m pretty sure he was only ever described to you by himself, and he isn’t exactly the most objective man in existence.”
Shouyou raises an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching. «And you are?”
“Mean, Chibi-chan!”
He smiles. “You can stop calling me that, you know. Nobody else has in a long time, ever since second year, I think.”
Oikawa scratches his chin, humming in thought, before finally answering. “Fine. But only under one condition.”
Shouyou can’t say Oikawa’s grin and the glint in his eyes are very reassuring, but he still rises to the bait. “And what would that condition be?”
The man leans in, wiggling his index finger around. “Call me Tooru. Grand King is too formal. ”
Shouyou furrows his brows. “I can’t call you Tooru, that’d be disrespectful.” He’s never been too good with bienseance, but even he knows that.
Oikawa pouts and grabs Shouyou’s hands in his. They’re warm, and as soft as Shouyou remembers them from earlier. Before he can lose focus, Oikawa argues, petulant as ever. “It’s not disrespectful for a number of reasons! First, I’m allowing you. Second, we aren’t in Japan anymore, it’s normal here. You can just think of it as an immersion exercise or something.” He licks his lips and grins. “Third, it’s only fair if I call you Shouyou.”
It’s the second time today, so he really shouldn’t be surprised, but hearing his given name in a Japanese conversation with someone who isn’t his family or close to him still makes Shouyou flustered. He takes a swig of water to calm himself down, Tooru (wow, Tooru) still waiting for his response. “Fine.” Shouyou is feeling bold, so he whispers “But only because you’re pretty.”
As soon as the words come out of his mouth, he realizes how stupid they are, but there are no take backs now. Embarrassed more than ever in his life, he looks away, covering his burning scarlet face with his hand.
He waits for a slap, an insult maybe, if Oi— no, Tooru—is Shouyou still allowed to call him that?— is feeling generous. When it doesn’t come, he tentatively looks back towards his former rival. Said man isn’t wearing the angry expression Shouyou thought he would be. He’s staring at Shouyou, pupils blown wide and pink dusting his cheeks, a faint smile pulling at his lips.
He twirls his hair with his finger as he speaks. “Aw, you think I’m pretty, Shou-chan?” His tone is confident on the surface, but Shouyou can discern some genuineness in the way Tooru’s voice cracks when he calls Shouyou by this new-found nickname. “And here I was thinking this was nothing more than a pity rendezvous.” He muses.
Shouyou blinks. Once. Twice. When he finally finds his voice (where it was hidden, he doesn’t know), he inquires “Why would you think that?”
“Oh well, I figured Ezequiel told you I was in a bit of a slump and all of that stuff, and that you didn’t have it in you to break my poor old heart even more, or something like that.” Tooru waves his hand in an universal motion; it’s not a big deal.
“Now that I think about it, he did tell me you had been less motivated lately, but that’s it.” Shouyou rubs the back of his neck. “And I drank a bit too much that day,” a bit was a total lie, but Tooru doesn’t exactly need to know that, so Shouyou will keep that tidbit of information to himself. “So I didn’t even remember what he said until now. If I’m being honest, I was only reminded that I had agreed to this date when Ezequiel texted me that you said yes.”
Tooru clicks his tongue. “Tss. Forgetting such important things is rude, Shou-chan.” He pauses. “Even if it was out of obligation, I’m glad you came.”
Shouyou feels a grin pulling at his lips, but he tries not to let it show, just in case he’s wrong. “Really? You aren’t disappointed that your date—that you were probably looking forward to—is with me?”
“If I’m being honest, no, I’m quite enjoying this. And I always thought you were cute. I love your outfit by the way.” Even as he tries not to show any emotion other than smugness, mouth in a smirk and eyes half-lidded, Tooru’s cheeks betray him and blush, a pretty shade of pink. Shouyou thinks it complements his outfit pretty well.
He’s about to say so, when the waitress from earlier arrives, a polite smile plastered on her face. “Can I take your orders, gentlemen?”
Only then does Shouyou realize that they are still in a restaurant. Such details seem unimportant when he is in company of the man in front of him, but it seems that both of them are now at a loss for what they should order.
The waitress seems to notice their distress, so she skilfully suggests a number of meals in perfect English.
“Or, we have a surprise meal for two people to share. There’s a ten percent discount for couples just for tonight because it’s the owner and her wife’s anniversary.” She winks at them.
They make eye contact, both of their faces redder than a second ago, and seeing they’re both on the same page, Shouyou turns towards her and accepts readily, with a wide and genuine smile. “We’ll take that then! Please, wish them a happy anniversary from both of us.”
“I will, gladly! Do you have any allergies or dietary restrictions we should know of?”
Shouyou shakes his head. “I don’t. Tooru?” He turns his head towards the man.
“Isn’t that something you should know about your boyfriend, Shou-chan? I’m hurt.” He teases, an eyebrow raised, before answering the waitress’s inquiry. “I’m allergic to strawberries, but I don’t believe that will be much of an issue.”
She chuckles. “Indeed, it won’t. Thank you, gentlemen, I’ll leave you both to your conversation.”
As soon as she’s out of earshot, Shouyou whines. “Why did you have to embarrass me like that? Now she’s going to think I’m a bad boyfriend to you!” When he registers what he just said, he gets even redder, flapping his hands panickedly. “Not that we are boyfriends, but hum, you know what I mean.” He feels so hot he might melt into a puddle, so he just hits his head on the table. “Just… Forget it.” he mumbles.
Tooru laughs. “Don’t be like that, Shouyou. It would have been suspicious if I didn’t say anything about you not knowing my allergies if we’re a “couple”. I’m pretty sure she knows we aren’t, though.” He remarks.
Shouyou tilts his head, deep in thought. “Uh. Probably, if she saw my reaction earlier. I hope we still get the discount.”
“Yeah. And you aren’t exactly a great liar. You looked at me before saying yes.” Tooru chuckles. “You still have a lot to learn, Chibi-chan.”
“Hey! I said you needed to stop calling me that, we had a deal!” Shouyou crosses his arms over his chest, offended by Tooru’s comment. “Also, may I remind you that you stared right back at me, Grand King?”
He pouts. “I thought you’d stopped with that name. But since I called you Chibi, I’ll let it slide this time.” He tilts his head back slightly and leans against the back of his chair, and it shouldn’t be this attractive to Shouyou, but it is. “Do you want to know why I was staring at you, Shou-chan?” He sighs. “I thought you were very pretty, with your cheeks red from embarrassment and your smile—that has no reason being this blinding, by the way.”
Oh. Shouyou’s jaw drops, and he gapes, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of the water. If Tooru thought he was cute earlier, he definitely doesn’t, now that Shouyou is little more than a burning tomato. A burning tomato with orange hair, an interesting combination. Tooru is still leaning back in his chair nonchalantly, but Shouyou can tell from the clench of his jaw and the bounce of the part of his leg which isn’t hidden under the table that he’s a bit nervous.
Shouyou’s lips feel dry, and when the tip of his tongue goes out to wet them, he feels Tooru’s eyes moving towards it. “See something you like?” He teases.
Tooru scoffs. “Please, I already told you so just seconds ago.” His gaze moves towards the window. “And you didn’t even reply. Mean.”
His cheeks still feel hot enough to cook an egg on them, but Shouyou giggles, bringing his hand right in front of his mouth. “I told you that you were pretty earlier. Don’t be too greedy with the compliments, or I won’t have enough of a voice for the ones I’ll tell you next time.”
Tooru’s eyes broaden the slightest bit, and he smirks. “Next time, Shou-chan? Seems to me like you are the one being greedy, talking about a second date not even—” he checks his watch. “ —halfway through the first one.” the setter sing-songs.
Shouyou thinks he might spontaneously combust, this man was really going to be the death of him. He manages to stammer a response. “Well— I wasn’t— Only if you…would like to? Because, you know, I’m having a lot of fun and I thought that, er, maybe you were too.”
The cause of Shouyou’s possibly imminent death smiles and leans towards him, broad arms in full view and brown eyes reading right through him. Shouyou gulps and wonders if, this close, Tooru can feel the heat radiating from Shouyou’s body.
A smile spreads across Tooru’s face, and it might just be the softest, most beautiful thing Shouyou has ever seen. The heat from his cheeks moves to become a comfortable warmth in his heart, like sun rays peeking through the clouds on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Japan. “I am. Having fun, that is. So, if we keep enjoying today, even though it was a mess at first, I’d like to go out with you a second time.
Before Shouyou can think better of it, he babbles “Kageyama will never believe me when I tell him this happened.” He fears that he has said the wrong thing until Tooru cracks up and dissolves into laughter.
“Oh- Oh my god, Tobio-chan is going to be so mad!” He cuts himself off, still cackling. “Wow— this— this is hilarious. I can already see the face he’ll make.”
Shouyou can, too, and just the thought is enough to make him shake with laughter as well. He barely manages to ask “Oh, Tooru, do you think he’ll make his constipated face again?” before his sniggers drown out his voice.
The comment apparently doesn’t help Tooru’s predicament, because his roar of laughter gets even louder. Their table starts getting looks from other customers, but none of them seem ill-intended, so Shouyou doesn’t mind.
Both men are doubled up with laughter for a bit longer after that, occasionally stopping to breathe and make another friendly jab at Kageyama and then dying with laughter all over again.
Eventually, the guffaws turn to snickers and then stop, just their heavy breathing to be heard. Tooru wipes a tear from his eyes with his knuckle and with a delighted expression on his face, he points out “I haven’t laughed this much in a long time. I didn’t realize how much I missed having a conversation with someone who knows Japan and my acquaintances.”
Shouyou nods vehemently. “Yeah, the same goes for me. You know, this is actually why Ezequiel offered to set us up on a date.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Two days ago, we were at this bar near the beach—I should take you there someday, it’s great—and I was complaining about wanting a significant other that spoke Japanese, for practicality reasons or something. I think I also missed home, even if it’s easier than it used to be.” Remembering something, he perks up. “Oh! Before I forget, Tooru, we should take a selfie.”
“Uh? What for?” he questions, confusion swirling in his eyes.
“For proof! If I don’t have any, Kageyama won’t believe me, but I desperately want to see his face when he can’t deny it. Maybe I should show it to him on video call… So, what do you say?”
Tooru smirks. “As if I would ever miss an opportunity to tease Tobio. Count me in, but you’ll have to show me a screenshot of his reaction.”
With a toothy grin, Shouyou pulls out his phone and scooches his chair over next to Tooru. He opens the camera app, and in a fit of confidence, throws his arm over the other man’s shoulders. He doesn’t seem bothered, so Shouyou doesn’t pull away.
“Ready?”
They both flash matching smirks at the camera, and just as Shouyou’s finger presses the red circle on screen, he feels a pair of lips landing on his cheek. The flash goes off before he can react, and when the light is gone, the soft mouth leaves Shouyou’s face.
Face red, he glances towards Tooru, who shrugs. “If we want to annoy Tobio-chan, we need to do it right.” It’s not exactly very convincing, but Shouyou supposes he’ll let it slide. He just huffs amusedly.
The waitress arrives, a huge plate in her hands, and Shouyou moves his chair back to its original spot, face to face with Tooru.
“There you go! I hope you have a nice meal.” she says, disposing of the plate, putting it on their table carefully.
Shouyou turns towards her and beams. “Thank you! I’m sure we will.” She smiles back at him and turns on her heels.
He looks back to his table and starts inspecting the aforementioned meal. In the huge plate is an assortment of grilled meat; from pork and beef to what Shouyou thinks is boar, accompanied by pão de queijo (hopefully stuffed with cheese) and a variety of vegetables. The smell makes Shouyou salivate. Really, the plate looks divine.
“Well, that looks delicious. Itadakimasu.” Without further ado, Tooru grabs his cutlery and digs in.
The phrase makes Shouyou feel weirdly happy. He hasn’t heard it in quite some time. “Itadakimasu!”
The rest of the evening is pleasant and relaxing. It’s punctuated by blissful sighs, giggles, “He did what? No way!”, red cheeks, high school reminiscences and volleyball rambling. Time flies by, and before either of them notices it, it’s almost eleven and the restaurant is closing.
They thank the waitress profusely and ask her to transmit their compliments to the chef, and make their way to the exit with blinding smiles and sparkling eyes.
Tooru opens the door for him, and Shouyou walks through it swiftly, giggling. “What a gentleman! Thank you for your help opening this door.”
Tooru takes it in stride and tsks. “Have I not been a gentleman throughout this entire evening? I suppose it’s not a bother though.”
“I’m not sure Iwaizumi-san would agree with that if I told him what you said today.” Shouyou retorts, arms crossed and a smug look on his face.
His date gasps dramatically and puts his hand on his chest, reeling back. “No, you wouldn’t dare!”
“Want to bet?”
“If you do, I’ll delete our selfie before you can send it to our dear Tobio-chan.” Tooru clicks his tongue, proud of his blackmail.
Shouyou startles at that. “What? No! Come on, you want to see him react as much as I do.”
“Hey, if you don’t try to contact Iwa-chan, nothing will happen.” Tooru shrugs, trying for nonchalant but the shark grin on his face betrays him.
Shouyou points his finger at him, his other hand on his hip. “You are an evil, evil man, Oikawa Tooru.”
“Hey, you started it!”
Shouyou can’t stop a smile to make its place on his face. “This is nice.” he hums.
Tooru’s eyes soften. “It is.”
And he knows that neither of them are lying. They hadn’t had a proper conversation before tonight, much less considered anything friendly, let alone romantic, with one another. Nonetheless… Shouyou doesn’t know what Tooru thinks, but for him, it was one of the best evenings of his life, and he thinks he could get used to this friendly banter and poorly hidden flirting.
After a beat, Tooru requests “Let’s sit down, my legs are tired.”
“Aren’t professional players supposed to have all that muscle for something? Or is it just for show?” Shouyou teases, bumping his shoulder against the other man’s. He still grabs Tooru’s hand and guides him towards the bench a few meters away.
“Shou-chan, you’ve been looking at my muscles all this time? I feel so indecent now, and it’s all your fault.” Tooru answers, bringing the back of his hand to his forehead in a fakely emotional gesture.
Shouyou just rolls his eyes and sits down. “Stop being such a drama queen.”
“Rude! You sound just like Iwa-chan right now, and that’s far from a good thing, trust my word for it.”
“Aw, would you rather I call you gorgeous, Too-ru?” he articulates exaggeratedly the man’s name.
Tooru turns to look right into his eyes and he talks so softly that if there was any wind, it would have stolen his words. “What if I do, Shou-you?”
The man in question pretends to meditate on his answer for a few seconds, the only sound around them that of the nocturnal birds waking up and of the faraway cars driving into the night. “Maybe you could invite me on another date, and then, I might think about it.”
“That seems fair.” Oikawa’s voice is a bit raspy, probably because they’ve talked a lot tonight, but it is still a sweet melody to Shouyou’s ears.
He clears his throat, and takes Shouyou’s hand back into his. “Shouyou, would you do me the honor of going out with me a second time?” He adds “I will be wounded if you say no.”
Shouyou giggles at his antics. “Sure.”
“Great. It’s a date then!” Tooru grins. “Now, where is my reward?”
“I never knew that the Grand King was so impatient. Do you think Ezequiel will believe me when I tell him you said that?” Shouyou pokes fun at his date.
“If you do that, I’ll tell him you criticized Estrella and they’ll never find your body.” Tooru retaliates.
“I didn’t! I would never!” Shouyou cries out.
“Yeah, I know that. But he doesn’t.” And that shark-like smirk is back onto his face.
Shouyou sighs and raises his hands in defeat. “Okay, fine, I give up, I learned my lesson.”
The other man smiles and crosses his legs. “Awesome. I’m still waiting though. I could cancel the date…”
“You wouldn’t! But you know what, sure, let’s pretend you will.” Shouyou smiles fondly. “I admire how conscientious you are, and I aspire to be half as much of it as you are.”
Tooru blinks, disconcerted, and color rises to his cheeks. “What—that’s not—“ he stutters.
The shorter of the two just bats his eyelashes at him. “What is it not? You wanted a compliment, I gave you one. It’s honest, I promise.”
Oikawa buries his face into his hands and groans. He mutters “You’re so sappy.”
“You like it.” Shouyou cackles. “Oh! By the way, before I forget, can I have your phone number? I don’t want to ask Ezequiel for it, and annoy him more than I already have.”
“Yeah, sure.” The setter quickly composes himself and starts to pat his pockets, presumably looking for something. After a few seconds of an unfructuous search, he takes out his phone, but when he tries to turn it on, the screen stays black. “No battery. I have a charger and a plug in my car, though, so I’ll be fine.”
“You have a car?” Shouyou didn’t peg him as the type of guy who had his license, but evidently he was.
“Yeah, how else do you think I would have gotten here?” Tooru looks at him like it was obvious, and yeah, maybe it was, but hey, Shouyou isn’t much of a thinker.
He shrugs and then snaps his fingers, almost forgetting what he had asked for earlier. “So, the phone number. Do you know yours by heart?”
Tooru shakes his head. “No. I don’t like numbers much.”
Shouyou snorts. “Fair. Me neither.” He perks up, an idea forming in his mind. “Do you have a pen?”
“Shou-chan, you’re a genius!” Tooru exclaims, seemingly having understood. “I keep one in my pocket for autographs and stuff.” He hands it to Shouyou. “There.”
“Thanks!”. Shouyou grabs the other’s wrist, and carefully scribbles the series of number on the back of his hand. When he’s done, he adds a small heart and pulls back, proud of his handiwork. “Okay, I’m done.”
“Took you long enough.” Despite the tease, Tooru looks at his hand and smiles. When he shivers, he adds “We should get going. It’s getting late.”
Despite his slight disappointment, Shouyou nods. He doesn’t want to ruin this nice evening by spending too much time together. He gets up, brushing his shirt to straighten it. Tooru stands too and stretches his arms, the streetlight making his watch shine.
The conversation had been smooth all throughout the evening, but now they stood in awkward silence, neither of them really wanting to leave just yet. Shouyou deliberates on whether what he’s about to do is a good idea or not, and ultimately decides that he doesn’t care.
He takes a deep breath, smiles, and standing up on his tippy-toes, presses a soft kiss to Tooru’s cheek. “Goodnight Tooru. I look forward to next time.”
The other man blushes, and before Shouyou can run away, Tooru grabs his arm, pulls it towards him, and presses an equally sweet kiss on Shouyou’s cheek. “Goodnight, Shouyou.”
He flashes Tooru a last toothy smile and turns around. He takes quick steps, his giddiness fueling him, and when he glances back towards where they were standing a few seconds ago, Tooru is still standing there, waving at him with one hand, the other hidden in his pocket. Shouyou waves back, and then reluctantly starts walking again.
Shouyou wishes tonight had never ended. It was more than nice. He lets out a content sigh. Maybe he should thank Ezequiel for organizing it, and encouraging Shouyou to go.
He plans on doing it immediately, but changes his mind when he sees the time on his homescreen. Almost midnight. Ezequiel is probably asleep right now, and Shouyou should be too. He has practice tomorrow! He whines, already aware of the hassle of running in the sand when tired.
Oh well. Worth it.
The next day, Shouyou receives a text from an unknown number, which he immediately saves, and he adds a heart right beside the name after a few minutes of mental deliberation. It’s not like anyone but him will see it anyways. Right?