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Only the sound of furious clicking from a keyboard, and the light reflecting against a pair of hands doing the action are apparent on the camera blinking red in the dimly lit gaming room. A defeated chuckle breaks the silence as a large text dictating a loss crosses the screen, with the audience of almost 3000 people spam comments in the chat box to describe their disappointment.
While they can’t see him doing it, Iwaizumi Hajime carefully goes through them while ignoring hate comments that got mixed in. That isn’t his job anyway, leaving it up to his moderators to handle the filters. Kyoutani and Kindaichi are in charge tonight, and Hajime quietly snickers whenever he catches the former coming to his defense while the latter deals with damage control.
Never a peaceful livestream for the faceless gaming youtuber under the moniker of RockR1ver with a following of almost a million subscribers.
“This bastard–” He starts, referring to the main character fighting for his life on the doomed oil platform. “- is so damn lucky. How could he have fallen into the ocean and still survived?”
Hajime reads the comments, letting out a deep chuckle that sends his audience swooning; “I see. This is what it means to be a main character, huh?”
Mattsukawaa_
Chat, he’s doing it again. Acting all cool while being “oblivious” to his fans’ reaction
“Oi.” Hajime snaps, grateful that the camera would never catch him flustered for everyone to see. “Matsukawa, you better be careful before Kyoutani bans you again.”
Mattsukawaa_
Have mercy, Mad Dog-chan!!
This time, when Kyoutani wordlessly bans him, Hajime laughs and shakes his head without even trying to stop him.
“Serves you right.” He says smugly. “You know he finds that nickname a big no-no.”
HanaHana
Issei told me to relay this message;
Fuck you. That guy can’t be the only one allowed to call him that.
Hajime hopes that he isn’t obviously tensed on live. That would be a disaster. He lets out a forceful chuckle, “Since when does he listen to anyone?”
Pointedly ignoring the way his chatbox explodes at the mention of someone they don’t know, Hajime returns to the game and makes a mental note to pay Kindaichi and Kyoutani extra for tonight. While he appreciates his fans, the part where they try to analyze and pry into his privacy not so much.
Fortunately, the irritating prying tapers off deeper into the game. Hajime is enraptured by the monsters and action he sees on the screen, hearing completely blocked by the ambiance of the game that he fails to notice his door opening. It’s not until he feels a tap on his shoulder that he notices his roommate standing next to him.
Oikawa Tooru must have just woken up from his day-long coma, because he seems too disoriented to realize his torso is caught in the frame as he blearily rubs his eyes with his fist. If Hajime isn’t stunned and trying not to panic, he would’ve swatted at his best friend’s action.
He doesn’t even get to stop Tooru from speaking clearly on live; “-Chan, have you eaten?”
Thankfully, Tooru likes to drag out his words when he’s disoriented so he completely messes up with Hajime’s wretched childhood nickname, but unfortunately, the rest of his words are comprehensible.
“No.” He says carefully, waiting for the moment Tooru is properly aware of his surroundings. “Why don’t you wait outside and we’ll get something?”
His best friend blinks, running his fingers through his horrendous bed hair and Hajime catches the very moment Tooru realizes what he’s done. His eyes widen in horror and whatever anger Hajime feels vanish at the sight of guilt immediately replacing the look.
Without another word, Tooru nods sheepishly and hurries out of the door. He accidentally leaves the room with a resonating bang! , which causes Hajime to wince. Yikes. He slowly turns back to the live, and completely ignores the YOU ARE DEAD on his screen.
His attention is instantly drawn to his chatbox.
Hanahana
LMAOOOOOOO
THIS IS GOLD
Hajime frowns, “Uhm.”
Infectedzxmbie
WAS THAT NOT OIKAWA TOORU??
Dejavuuu
HOLY SHIT THAT WAS ACTUALLY OIKAWA TOORU
Rockslefttoe
Who is Oikawa Tooru…?
Kingofthecourt
Oikawa Tooru is one of the most sought out voice actors in Japan. One of his most notable works is the Grand King on Haikyuu.
Rockslefttoe
Holy shit.
Yall can recognize his voice??
“Uhm.” Hajime swallows. “Sorry, that was my roommate— I’ll pick this game up sometime later!”
With that, he ends the livestream.
Hajime hadn’t wanted to be a gaming youtuber, but back then, Oikawa Tooru had watched him play a video game on his PC one random Saturday in their first year of University, and promptly claimed that he should consider a side-career. Hajime had dismissed it, because he was already busy balancing between studies and volleyball, so why should he burden himself more?
Tooru hadn’t taken the hint, and showed up the next day with a whole plan under the name RockR1ver, which entailed all the necessary details to launch a Youtube channel. When Hajime had badgered his best friend why his so-called channel was gonna be called that, Tooru had fessed up and merely said;
“Rock, because Iwa means rock. The 1 in RIver also came from your name Hajime. River is from my name, Kawa, because face it, Iwa-chan, I deserve credit for getting your stubborn ass to do this and planning your early career.”
Back then, Hajime had gone along with it to appease Tooru so he never bothered to change the name, but it had been a year since graduation, and Hajime found a steady job in doing it. In a way, he could begrudgingly acknowledge that Tooru had been a big factor on why he’d reached this far.
The name stuck, and Hajime doesn’t necessarily feel like he wants to change it, even after Tooru had landed a voice acting job as a minor character in a low-budget anime that had surprisingly gotten public attention, which then shot his friend into the world of stardom in their second year.
Since then, Tooru had often featured in mainstream anime in a variety of roles, being as good as he is, and Hajime remained a faceless youtuber doing his own thing.
Maybe, in an act of consideration, Tooru has adamantly kept his private life and public persona separated for him . He goes on interviews and talk shows all the time, but he never really reveals much beyond surface-level information. He doesn’t have to say it for Hajime to know why though– RockR1ver gaining a massive amount of subscribers in the span of three years mean that the public is vying for his real identity.
Tooru and Hajime have grown up together, currently living with each other. If Tooru slips up, who’s to say the public wouldn’t connect RockR1ver’s identity with Oikawa Tooru’s childhood best friend, Iwaizumi Hajime?
It’s a bit far-fetched, but they’re both public personas, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious-borderline-paranoid.
Then the livestream happened, and Hajime knows that it’s a matter of time before his days as a faceless youtuber is over.
Oikawa Tooru fan updates
@OTupdates
Oikawa Tooru is revealed to be closely affiliated with gaming youtuber RockR1ver after he was caught walking in on his recent livestream.
[Attached: A clip of the live where another body comes into the frame before a rough-yet-familiar voice asks, “-chan, have you eaten?”]
Eve
@RocknRiver
Oikawa Tooru is such a public mystery that we didn’t even know he knew the identity of RockR1ver and allegedly even lives with him! Someone please dig into his friend circle!!!
— Nyx @Oikawa1fan
Have you considered that maybe they’re not JUST friends?
— Eve @RocknRiver
Holy shit non-oomf, you’re onto something..
Cha Hyun Soo Supremacy!
@Sweethomeenthusiast
RockR1ver and his roommate are not only friends. I called it!! #IWAOI
— Secret third thing @Jayy032
Wtf is Iwaoi??
— Cha Hyun Soo Supremacy! @ Sweethome enthusiast
Iwa (いわ) is derived from RockR1ver and Oi (おい) is from Oikawa!! I’m smart Ik
Yikes. Hajime winces. That viral tweet about the meshing of his name and Oikawa’s hit a little too close to his real identity. With more digging, Hajime wouldn’t be surprised if they manage to get his full name. He lets out a deep sigh, already feeling a throb in his head.
Secret identity aside, he is not necessarily liking the direction the public is going pertaining to his relationship with Tooru. If they were more than friends, he would be the first person to know, seeing as they’ve been friends their whole life and Hajime lives with the guy.
Plus, it would be really cruel if the public assumes they’re together when they’re not, since Hajime has been in love with his best friend for as long as he can remember.
Speaking of the idiot he’s in love with..
“ Iwa-chan .” Tooru whines, face squished against Hajime’s arm. He’s been stuck to him like this since the live fiasco earlier this week, as if the close proximity would fix the mistake he keeps apologizing for no matter how many times Hajime shot him down and told him it was okay. “I’m so–”
“I told you –” Hajime rolls his eyes, tucking his phone away but doesn’t push Tooru off as he settles more comfortably on their shared sofa. “You just got off a 12 hour filming, slept and you were too exhausted to remember I was streaming. It was an accident. Why would I get mad over an accident, Shittykawa?”
“Still. Ugh, and now they’re getting close to your real name over, what, a ship name ? This is getting ridiculous!”
Despite his heart lurching in realization that Tooru is very much aware of the brewing rumors online, Hajime finds comfort knowing that Tooru isn’t disgusted by it from his tone alone. When he glances at his best friend, he catches a petulant pout on his lips.
“What did your manager say about this?” Hajime asks, instead of addressing the topic his best friend has conveniently brought up.
Tooru appears to notice, but he goes along with Hajime’s change of topic anyway; “Maki wants to capitalize on it. It’d be great for publicity but I want to deny it.”
“Why?” Hajime blurts. He can see why Maki wants to publicize it, since Matsukawa, his own manager, is in agreement, judging from the phone call after the livestream.
“ Because , you brute–” Tooru turns to glare at him, still latching onto Hajime like a leech. “This isn’t just about me. It’s about you, and your whole secret identity gig.”
Hajime blinks. “Woah, for your awful personality, you can be considerate, huh?”
“How dare you! I’m plenty considerate!” Tooru gasps, jumping off him and the sofa all together to whirl around and point an accusing finger in his face.
Hajime laughs, despite missing his best friend’s warmth almost instantly. His best friend stomps his foot, like a child, and that only makes him laugh harder. When he calms down, he notices the silence and tilts his head as he regards Tooru with a look.
As if caught doing something he’s not supposed to do, Tooru flinches and hurriedly spits out a weak excuse before scurrying away into the kitchen. Hajime’s smile freezes, as he turns the look on Tooru’s face over and over again in his head; his widened brown eyes, the small-yet-fond smile on his lips, the overall gentleness on his face..
Huh. Hajime thinks, fighting the hope that rises in his chest.
Ding!
The sound of his phone notification snaps him out of his thoughts as he unlocks his phone and reads the message he’d just received from Matsukawa.
Matsukawa Issei
I don’t think silence will do it this time
What are you going to do?
Hajime raises his head and looks in the direction Tooru has gone. His fingers are typing before he can think too much about it; I have an idea.
Saturday is usually a definite off-day for streaming. It’s common knowledge that RockR1ver will stream twice a week on any day except for Saturday. All of his fans are aware of it, and Hajime has never broken his tradition before.
Today would be an exception.
After setting up the camera, this time on the level where the face of the person sitting down can be seen in the frame, he sets a reminder to start streaming in twenty minutes, which should alert his fans of his sudden change of schedule. Fortunately, he’d timed it when Tooru was busy doing his script reading in his room, so his best friend doesn’t have any electronic device near him to alert him of the surprise livestream.
Hajime’s own phone is ringing with spams of notifications, no doubt his fans befuddled by his change of routine. He puts it on silent before leaving his streaming room to go get his best friend. Predictably, Tooru is on his bed, with a script in hand and a bunch of source materials surrounding him. A quick look around his room tells Hajime that Tooru had left his phone somewhere outside to avoid distraction.
“Oi.” He grunts as a greeting, ignoring how he feels like his heart has jumped to his throat.
Tooru reluctantly looks away from his script. He gives Hajime a silent look. Hajime swallows nervously.
“Go make yourself decent. You have ten minutes.” He says.
He would’ve just dragged Tooru to the streaming room, but knowing his best friend, he would earn a lifetime of whining.
“Why? Are we going out?” Tooru asks, eyeing the clothes on Hajime’s body with distaste. He has always claimed that Hajime’s hoodie and jeans combo is a fashion sin, even if they were only going out to eat.
“Yeah.” Hajime lies, and hopes Tooru is distracted by his reading to notice it.
Fortunately, Tooru doesn’t seem to catch it. He does glance at his script with a pout, as if reluctant to part from his work. Hajime rolls his eyes.
“You better get ready within ten minutes, or I’m going to drag you out of this apartment in your current ugly state.”
That seems to kick his best friend into action as Tooru quickly puts aside his script and reaches for the concealer tube on his bedside table. What kind of narcissistic idiot has a concealer within reach?
Leaving Tooru to get ready, Hajime walks out of the room and releases a shaky breath. Fuck, this is nerve-wrecking. He thinks, hoping that this out-of-character thing he’s pulling off wouldn’t turn for the worse.
Eleven minutes later, Tooru comes out with his hair perfectly styled and concealer hiding the bags under his eyes. He’s even wearing his best jacket, looking like he’d stepped straight out of a magazine.
Hajime snorts. Good thing he knows Tooru would try to be petty and go over the ten minutes he’s given him.
“You’re such a peacock.”
“My cock is not pea-sized, that’s for sure.” Tooru says, giving him a look.
Hajime groans. “You’re insufferable.”
His best friend smirks, “Yet you’re still here, so what does that say about you?”
Pathetically in love. Hajime answers inside his head, grabbing Tooru by the scruff of his jacket when the man turns around to get his phone from wherever it is. He ignores Tooru’s protests as he starts dragging his best friend into the streaming room. Also predictably, Tooru isn’t going to make it easy for him and holds onto the door frame.
“Shit, did you actually snap and are you going to kill me in front of your audience, Iwa-chan!”
The nervous grunt that Tooru lets out is amusing but Hajime can see the light on the camera turning red, signaling that they’re live.
“Can you not be embarrassing ?” Hajime hisses, knowing too well that their conversation can be heard in the video.
Tooru is still holding onto the door frame as he glares venomously at him; “And risk getting murdered before I get married? No thanks!”
Hajime sighs, opens his mouth to scold Tooru but gets caught off by the sound of Tooru’s phone ringing outside the door. That seems to sober Tooru enough for Hajime to tug him again and finally get him into the room.
“Wait– It’s my phone–”
Hajime marches into the backdrop light and deposits Tooru onto the waiting chair and in front of the camera while he stands right next to him. Tooru gapes like a fish as he stares into the camera, no doubt catching the blinking red light and seeing the chat box going crazy on the screen.
He must have noticed he looks absolutely ridiculous gapping in the video, because he quickly straightens up and puts on a media smile. Hajime snorts, earning a glare from his best friend.
“Sorry guys.” Hajime starts, addressing the audience. “The idiot was being an idiot.”
Tooru’s fake smile turns into a sneer before he can stop himself; “You didn’t tell me that you were going to pull this stunt!”
Hajime ignores him and places a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, the rumors are true. This is Oikawa Tooru, my roommate and best friend.”
When he looks down at Tooru, he’s greeted by a look of bewilderment. Hajime swallows, suddenly too nervous to continue looking at his best friend so he turns to the camera, even if the only reaction the audience can see is Tooru.
“We’ve known each other since we were in diapers, and have been by each other’s side since. I thought, if I was going to reveal such an intimate part of my life, I’d go all out. Besides–” Hajime chuckles as he meets Tooru’s eyes. “-- Shittykawa would never forgive me if I did something as mundane as confirming the rumors with a statement on twitter.”
“Iwa-chan, you’re being mean!”
Hajime chuckles, turning fully to Tooru to place both of his hands on his shoulders. Consequently, Tooru twists the chair to face him and remains looking up at him as if the audience watching them has completely disappeared.
“If it wasn’t for Oikawa, I would’ve never started this channel. He was the one who named this channel, and was a steady support throughout. He was my first fan, and likely my last, knowing this stubborn bastard.” Hajime smiles, and he can feel Tooru’s breath hitching.
His best friend is silent, eyes wide as he looks at him without even blinking.
And I love you. Hajime doesn’t say but he knows Tooru gets it. He can see tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.
Hajime clears his throat, pulling away from Tooru to walk up to the camera. Then, he ducks down to the same level, showing his face for everyone in the world to see. He smiles weakly, unused to having his face plastered all over the screen.
“Thank you for watching.” He says, and ends the livestream.
Within a second, Tooru is up in his space with his palms pressed against his cheeks. Hajime barely gets to prepare as his best friend pulls him into a kiss.
I love you too. Tooru says without verbal words.
Hajime smiles against his lips.
Matsukawa Issei
That was sweet and all
but I hate you
this is a PR nightmare.
I tried to calm Maki but I think he’s going to show up
and kill you
Laugh, Love, Live IWAOI
@Iwaoisupremacy
I can’t believe we got an identity AND relationship reveal in one livestream DHBEIVBEVHBEVMECDMS
— IWAOI IS KILLING ME @belovedoikawa
THEY’RE PEAK!!!
taehyun lover
@THlover
Was it casual when you revealed the most important person in your life before yourself?
— Kikidelivery @ kikideliverry
IMAGINE LOVING SOMEONE SO MUCH THAT YOU’D FLEX THEM FIRST THAN YOUR LITERAL IDENTITY!!!
Hajime smiles, caressing his sleeping boyfriend’s hair. He locks his phone, puts it aside before tucking himself in for the night. The movement stirs Tooru awake, which earns him an adorable pout. Unable to resist, Hajime leans in and steals a kiss.
The most important person, indeed.