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“Baby can’t you see… I’m calling. A guy like you should wear a warning-“
There it is. There it fucking is.
Every day, this damned song plays at 6am. Iwaizumi groans and covers his head with his pillow. The song continues on, the person who the alarm was supposed to wake up clearly hasn’t. It’s still night out, as it’s usual during the winter at 6am. Iwaizumi sighs with relief as the song reaches the halfway mark and suddenly halts. The owner is probably awake now.
“Fucking finally” Iwaizumi mouths against his pillow. He quickly goes over what he has to do that day. His only class of the day is at 2pm. More than enough time to still get some good sleep. He eventually falls asleep, as it is routine now with his neighbour’s alarm taking a few minutes away from his rest at 6 am. This issue comes up later in the day when a concerned Hanamaki asks him if he’s getting enough sleep.
“I’ve already told you about my neighbour right? It just splits my sleep time right in half. Other than that I sleep enough, so don’t worry about me” Iwaizumi reassures him. Hanamaki had looked at Matsukawa who also didn’t seem so certain the neighbour condition was alright.
“Are you really sure it’s okay?” Matsukawa asks. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.
“It’s fine. It’s bearable” he insists.
It’s bearable, he repeats to himself. The song rarely plays more than halfway through, and I have no problem falling asleep right after. It’s bearable.
Until it isn’t anymore. Until it’s been 2 months since Iwaizumi slept an entire night without having to listen to Toxic by Britney Spears at the ass crack of dawn.
There’s no particular reason he cracked that day. The song still played only halfway through, and he was still sleepy when it stopped. But he cracked. He jumped out of bed, put some slippers on, and walked to his door. He was enraged, and felt like punching a wall. Who the hell does this person even think they are, he thought. I’m probably not the only one bothered. They’re being an inconvenience towards everyone around them and I can’t take it anymore. I’m gonna give them a piece of my goddamned mind. He walks down the stairs until he reaches the floor below his, and knocks on the door of the guy who lives right under him. Oikawa, says the plate beside the door. “Oikawa” Iwaizumi whispers with a snarl. He hears a “Coming…?” that sounds way too chirpy for someone who just woke up at 6am, yet still confused. Iwaizumi is staring at the number on the door when it opens slowly. Iwaizumi is taken aback. An adult man is the owner of the Toxic alarm. And not just any adult man. He’s tall, wearing only booty shorts and a plain white t-shirt. Iwaizumi looks him in the eyes. They’re brown, the colour of chocolate, just like his curly and messy hair. “Can I help you?” he asks. His voice is smooth and sort of high-pitched for such a tall guy. I can’t falter now, Iwaizumi decides.
“Yes. Yes you can.” He says. Before he can say anything else, Oikawa interrupts.
“Who are you?” he asked as he took a step towards Iwaizumi, so he could slightly close his door.
“I’m Iwaizumi. Hajime. I live on the flat over yours” he answers, slightly annoyed.
“Ah yes, Iwaizumi, what can I help you with?” he grins. A nice, although worried smile.
“Look, Mr. Oikawa” Iwaizumi starts “I am speaking for myself and probably everyone who lives in your vicinity. Your goddamned alarm” he almost shouts this part, clearly expressing his anger. “Has woken me up every day for the past months. And I mean literally every day.” Oikawa’s eyes widen. He leans against his door frame.
“Honestly, I never meant to be a bother. I just have very deep sleep-“
“I could tell. You let the song play halfway through before turning it off” Iwaizumi interrupts. Oikawa looks down a little, probably feeling bad for being so bothersome.
“I apologize- Here, come on in, I’ll make you some tea” he says. Iwaizumi is startled. He just lashed out on this guy, and he invites him in for tea? At 6am in the morning no less. He walks in anyway, and decides to give this guy a chance to make up for it.
“Is green tea alright?” Oikawa asks him as he walks in the direction of the kitchen. It’s pretty clean as far as he can see, not much decoration on the hall, apart from a few posters of some geeky films. He turns the lights on, illuminating the room. The kitchen is all in tones of orange, pretty much the same as his. A different microwave, and unique mugs next to a coffee machine. Iwaizumi never considered buying one, since he drank coffee in the café nearby his school. Oikawa also had a bag with milk bread on his counter. “Sit down if you want” he pointed at a small, two people table next to the wall. There were actually three chairs, and Iwaizumi chose the one next to the wall and closest to the door, where he previously stood. Oikawa’s slim fingers grabbed a kettle and filled it with tap water. As it was heating up, he grabbed two mugs from his small display. He had one on his hand that said Celebri-tea and the design of a pair of shades, the other one said Hot-tea. Iwaizumi snorted at the puns. Oikawa looked back and grinned for real this time “Glad to see someone appreciates my humour. My friends always say they’re tacky and that I should throw them away”.
“You should throw them away they’re terrible” he answers, smiling. Oikawa fakes a gasp and turns around, sulking. He opens a cabinet and takes out a small box with plenty of tea bags. He takes two out and offers one to Iwaizumi, leaving the other in front of his chair, on top of the table. He chose the chair in front of Iwaizumi’s. He sat down while they waited for the water to boil.
“So, besides thinking my mugs are awful and my taste in music abysmal, are there any other complaints?” Oikawa asks, grinning. Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.
“Well for starters, who opens their front door to someone they don’t know? While wearing booty shorts no less” Iwaizumi says jokingly. Oikawa looks down to his legs and chuckles.
“Well, what better first impression than that? I mean, not to brag, but I’ve got some hot legs. And ass.” Iwaizumi looks at the kettle as it starts to whistle. Oikawa brings it back to the table just as Iwaizumi says
“How is that not bragging?” Oikawa fills Iwaizumi’s mug before sitting down. He fills his own, and they start to dip the teabag in and out of the hot water.
“People have told me I’ve got the right to brag” he answers. He starts to slowly sip his tea, blowing on it sometimes to cool it down. Iwaizumi waits a little bit, preferring to drink it when it has cooled down. Iwaizumi notices he got the Hot-tea mug. He smiles, wondering if it happened on purpose. “So, about the alarm thing” Oikawa interrupts Iwaizumi’s thoughts. “I’m really sorry. I’m a very heavy sleeper, so it has to be on the maximum volume, and even then I take so long to wake up the song is already halfway through when I do turn it off… I’m really sorry. Is there any way I can make it up to you?” he sets the mug down and looks Iwaizumi in the eye. Iwaizumi is startled. Make up to me? I didn’t think so far into this. I just wanted to complain, I never expected compensation.
“Uh” he starts. “I… I don’t know?” Oikawa raises an eyebrow.
“What do you mean you don’t know? You had nothing in mind?” he asks. Iwaizumi looks at his mug.
“I don’t know what to do in this situation. Is there even anything we can do? I mean, you can’t change your alarm or else you won’t wake up. And what could you possibly do to make it up to me?” Iwaizumi feels slightly embarrassed. First he complains, then he can’t come up with a solution… What was even the point of bothering this guy then?
“Well is there anything you need help with?” Oikawa asks. “I could – I don’t know – cook for you? Do you make your own meals?” Iwaizumi looks into Oikawa’s eyes, and squints.
“Wait. Cooking for me? Have you been listening to my phone calls with my mom,” Iwaizumi remembers the multiple times his mom calls him and he insists that no, mom, I don’t need anyone to cook my meals I’m an adult and I can do it myself. Oikawa stops looking him in the eye and coughs. “What else can you hear?” Iwaizumi asks.
“So, how’s that tea?” Oikawa laughs awkwardly, sipping his tea. Iwaizumi starts thinking about every loud thing he does on a daily basis. First he wonders if Oikawa can hear when he watches TV, because all he watches are reality shows and he doesn’t want this hot guy to know that. Then he remembers how he sings musical’s songs super loud on the shower. Or how much he snores. Or when he talks to himself. Did he hear him when he brings people home as well? Iwaizumi’s brain is on red alert. This guy might have heard him do all of these. Which means perhaps his other neighbours might have as well.
“Oikawa please tell me I’m not that loud and that you can’t hear everything I do” he begs. Oikawa looks at the cupboard.
“Would you like some cookies? I have Oreos” he gets up and opens it, trying to choose what to eat. Iwaizumi puts his elbows on the table and his face on his hands.
“I can’t believe you’ve listened to me sing ‘Show me how you Burlesque’... I can’t believe you could listen to me watching Teen Mom” he groans. Oikawa looks at him and smiles sympathetically.
“It’s not that bad. I just usually sit in silence and hear you. I bet the others couldn’t hear your Big Brother marathon” he laughs as Iwaizumi drops his head on the table. “Don’t worry, your embarrassing hobbies are safe with me” he finally settles on some chocolate chip cookies and sits back down.
“This isn’t fair. I feel like you know my entire being and I don’t even know your first name” Iwaizumi says as he takes a cookie. Oikawa smiles once again. Iwaizumi still can’t understand how an adult man can be this pretty.
“It’s Tooru. Feel free to call me it if you want” he says. Iwaizumi drinks more of his tea and they just sit in silence. They smile at each other, drinking tea and eating cookies. They’re quiet as the sun rises, making the lights obsolete. Iwaizumi ends up turning it off, letting the room become even more orange as the rising sun shines through the window. He feels nice and warm, with this random stranger sitting in front of him.
“So… about the meals” Oikawa grins. Iwaizumi throws a cookie at his face just as he says “You’re so mean, Iwa!”