Work Text:
No one really knows that the person Oikawa sings about in his only acoustic guitar driven song is the one who is always sitting next to him when he performs it.
" And then I asked, come with me; Come with me, to see the world we've never seen; But you looked at me, and said, the world- The world's in front of me," Oikawa's eyes move to Iwaizumi and linger on his fingers pressing the strings of his guitar before he faces the audience again, before he goes over the posters with 'WE LOVE OIKAWA" written in bright colours, over the lighters that slowly move right and left in tune of the song, over the calm and faintly smiling faces of his fans.
It's his favourite part of the concert.
He smiles to himself during the pause in the song and closes his eyes, letting his thoughts wander freely. He doesn't need to think about the lyrics, he doesn't need the small device in his ear playing his own song in case he forgets a word or a line. It's a song about Hajime, and he could sing it even if someone woke him up in the middle of the night. He doesn't need to remember the lyrics because every single word of the song is engraved inside him, every word is hidden in Iwaizumi's eyes when they look at each other.
The song is them from the very beginning to the very end, and when Oikawa opens his mouth to sing another line, he can't withhold a smile.
It's their song, but no one knows it. It's fascinating.
-
"Are you going to play that song with Iwaizumi again? It's really nice," Kuroo says while he's styling Oikawa's hair before the concert. Oikawa hums, pleased, and gives Kuroo a look.
"It is, right? I always sing that one."
"What's so special about it? I mean, it's not really that popular. Compared to your usual catchy songs," Kuroo shrugs, then steps back to look at his work and nods to himself. Oikawa sends him a wink.
"It lets me catch my breath and relax a bit, and it's easy to sing, and..." he hums again, thinking. In his head he finishes the sentence with Iwaizumi being right next to him, but he doesn't say that aloud. "It's just nice to sit on a tall stool and let it all... flow, you know?" He smiles to himself, then looks up to meet Kuroo's eyes. The dark haired man is smirking at him as if he gets exactly what feeling Oikawa is talking about, and he sighs.
"Is Iwaizumi always the one playing it with you?"
Oikawa nods, letting out a snort.
"Yeah, we've known each other from childhood," he laughs to himself, not caring to cover his mouth, "He started playing guitar and I started to love singing because of that. And he's the best guitarist I know," he stands up and Kuroo comes closer again to straighten the collar of his shirt, "The feel of the song changes if someone else plays the guitar."
"Then make sure Iwaizumi is not late today." Kuroo rolls his eyes, laughing. "You look perfect," he comments and checks the time on his watch. "You still have fifteen minutes left."
"I'll call Iwa-chan, so be ready to make him fabulous, too, okay?"
Kuroo chuckles at that.
"Okay."
-
Oikawa didn't lie when he said the song lets him relax. He sits down on a stool, talking a bit with his fans while he waits for Iwaizumi to join him. He doesn't even need to turn his head to check if it isn't one of staff members when he hears the silent footsteps behind him, and his smile widens, a content feeling settling in his chest. Iwaizumi stops next to him and turns his head to whisper into Oikawa's ear.
"Don't grin like an idiot, you will mess it up."
"I won't and you know that," Oikawa says back with a hum, and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes.
It's wondrous how he can feel so calm with Iwaizumi beside him, how it seems like it's only two of them and the whole audience somehow ceases to exist for a while. It's amazing how far they've come together, how much of the world they've actually seen, and how still - just like in the song - the world they like the best is always mirrored in each other's eyes.
"Let's slow down a little, alright?" Oikawa says in the microphone, a dreamy smile softening his features. The crowd rustles a bit, then hundreds of faintly mint coloured lighters rise up and start slowly swinging right and left.
Oikawa takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. Iwaizumi's knee touches his thigh and he hears a first note.
Sometimes it makes him want to cry.
-
"Are you okay?" Iwaizumi places his hand on Oikawa's back and rubs gently. "Your eyes were teary again."
Oikawa leans back into the touch and hums.
"Yeah, I just got a bit emotional," the laughter escapes his lips, carefree and genuine, and Iwaizumi lets out a snort, his hand reaching for Oikawa's hair and messing it up. "Performing that song on the stage together with you just makes me really happy. Sometimes it seems like I'm going to explode from all the feelings inside." He sighs, but it's not a weary sigh. It sounds relieved, and Iwaizumi chuckles silently.
"You're so dramatic," he says, but then after a moment asks, "Do you want me to stay for the meeting, too?"
There's no teasing in Iwaizumi's voice, it sounds caring, and Oikawa nods.
"It'd be nice."
-
Even if Oikawa ever cries, it's tears of happiness.
It's always happiness with Iwaizumi right beside him.
-
Oikawa wakes up from his nap with the sound of music coming from the other room. He smiles to himself and rolls in the bed, trying to blink the drowsiness away. He lets himself enjoy the lazy guitar playing, covering his face as the wide smile makes its' way to his face when Iwaizumi's voice reaches his ears.
It's husky, more of whispers and mutters instead of singing, and Oikawa rubs his face as his cheeks start hurting from smiling.
Iwaizumi's not really good at singing, he's never been and never tried to become better, but when Oikawa hears him sing, somehow nothing else matters. It's like one of those things - something that doesn't have to be perfect for you to like it. It's not even that good, but somehow it touches you, somehow even with all the flaws you like it, and you like it more than the perfections around.
Iwaizumi's singing is not really good, but for Oikawa it's the best.
He hears the beginning of an old song he likes and decides that it's time to get up.
Iwaizumi is sitting on the floor, his eyes closed, but he slightly turns his head to Oikawa when the other comes to the room.
"You're really good at playing guitar," Oikawa says when he plops down in front of Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi opens his eyes, but doesn't say anything. "But Iwa-chan, your singing voice-" Oikawa breaks into laughter and lowers his head, his shoulders shaking for a while until he calms down.
"At least it's not as annoying as your sweet chirping," Iwaizumi says and grins at Oikawa when the other looks up again. "Don't ruin the song," he says just to tease Oikawa who opens his mouth to sing the next verse. Iwaizumi laughs when Oikawa ignores his words, and he knows that soon they will fall into a familiar scene of Oikawa singing and himself playing guitar with a bit more silent voice joining Oikawa.
"And all the roads we have to walk are winding," Oikawa starts, his voice still a bit drowsy, but it sounds amazing as always; a lot better than the last time they played this song back in school's festival, " And all the lights that lead us there are blinding; There are many things that I would like to say to you," he leans closer to Iwaizumi, his heart getting wrapped in nostalgia, "But I don't know how," Oikawa smiles, putting his hands on Iwaizumi's knees as he looks him into the eyes, " Because maybe."
"Maybe," Iwaizumi joins, fighting his smile as he rolls his eyes.
"You're gonna be the one that saves me."
"Saves me."
"And after all," Oikawa's voice gets too high pitched when he fails to withhold a wide smile, "You're my wonderwall."
Iwaizumi has to sing a few next lines instead of Oikawa who can't stop laughing, but soon he starts singing again, and everything gets to its' places.
If someone ever asks him what it means to be happy, Oikawa thinks that he knows the answer.
Iwaizumi doesn't stop playing the guitar even after they finish the song. He just goes on with anything that comes to his mind and teases Oikawa, changing the song when the other remembers the lyrics to the one Iwaizumi's playing.
"You're so mean," Oikawa pouts, his fingers reaching for the guitar and brushing against the strings, but his eyes are smiling, and Iwaizumi knows that Oikawa enjoys this.
"Am I?" He raises his eyebrows, a grin on his face. "I even played that old song you like so much and let you sing it," he shrugs and puts the guitar away, leaning back against the wall. Oikawa smirks and crawls next to Iwaizumi, getting comfortable at his side when Iwaizumi moves his arm allowing Oikawa to cuddle him.
"Once in one of the first interviews they asked me what's my favourite song," Oikawa takes a deep breath, letting his head rest on Iwaizumi's shoulder, "They were so surprised when I said it's 'Wonderwall'. They expected something more... More fun, I guess? Catchy banal pop song?" He frowns to himself.
"Maybe it's just your face that doesn't go with this song," Iwaizumi mutters and starts laughing when Oikawa elbows him in the ribs.
"Very funny," he rolls his eyes, and Iwaizumi gives him a look. "What? I really liked it! It was the first song we played together and it always re-"
"Because it was the easiest to play on guitar?" Iwaizumi sighs, but a smile curls at the corners of his mouth. "No, okay, but seriously, it's 'Wonderwall'. No one actually expected it to be your favourite song," he shrugs, "I bet you just said it because you were too nervous and couldn't think of anything better." He laughs to himself again, and Oikawa groans, trying to bury his face in Iwaizumi's neck.
"I meant it! Though I kind of wish I didn't tell it back then," he sighs, "They never published that part of the interview, but still. I feel like they didn't understand me."
"What did they have to understand?" Iwaizumi asks when he stops laughing, and gently pulls Oikawa even closer. Oikawa stays silent for a while, smiling to himself. Then,he takes a deep breath and says,
"That it reminds me of you."
-
Oikawa knows it's a bit silly and Iwaizumi always tells him he's so cheesy for all this sweet stuff he likes to do, but Oikawa still loves Iwaizumi coming to his concerts. The best part is their song together, but the other thing is simply knowing that Iwaizumi's waiting for him when he gets off the stage, that his strong arms will hold him and his husky voice will tell him he did great.
Yet sometimes things don't go the way Oikawa wants them to, and sometimes Iwaizumi stays out of his concert, instead helping someone else. Oikawa pouts. It's normal and it's not Iwaizumi's fault, but it's still not fair.
He sits down with a heavy sigh, and Kuroo quirks an eyebrow at him.
"Something's a problem?" he asks, putting Oikawa's hair up with pins so it wouldn't be in a way while doing makeup.
"We're going with the "flashy" concept for today's concert," he mutters and Kuroo nods.
"I know that, but what's wrong with it?"
"No acoustic guitar song, no time to rest and relax," he whines, an image of Iwaizumi playing guitar with his friend in some gig coming to his mind. It's just happened so that he doesn't need to play with Oikawa today, and Iwaizumi's friend who was having a performance in one of the bars has asked for help. Oikawa sighs, furrowing his eyebrows. Kuroo puts his finger between them.
"Don't do this," he says, a bitter smile on his face. "You can still take a short break, you'll manage. It's not the first time," his smile softens and Oikawa rolls his eyes, making him laugh. Kuroo takes out the makeup he needs and holds up a palette of eyeshadows, "Purple or metallics?"
"Purple," Oikawa mutters back and Kuroo grins.
"Good choice," he says and Oikawa tries to smile. Iwaizumi always says that metallic colours make his eyes glister and stand out more, and it makes it harder to look away, but Iwaizumi's not here now. Purple shades make him look a bit more devilish, Oikawa knows that, and that's exactly what he wants to go with for today.
-
The concert takes more time because of double encore, and as Oikawa's manager wants him to stay afterwards for dinner with everyone, he gets back home well after midnight. His eyes are reddish from fatigue and his head slightly hurts from loud music and everyone's voices around him.
It feels good to be back to his apartment where nothing bothers him, where Iwaizumi, who is sprawled on the floor watching some movie on TV, greets him with a sleepy "Welcome back."
"Are you hungry?" he asks and Oikawa shakes his head, slowly stumbling to Iwaizumi and sitting down next to him. He closes his eyes, wounding his arms around Iwaizumi and pressing his face close to him. Oikawa feels how Iwaizumi takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through Oikawa's hair. He doesn't say anything about the makeup leaving marks on his white T-shirt or about spray in Oikawa's hair; instead, he simply scoops him closer, and plants a soft kiss on top of his head.
The heavy layers of shadows and glitter on his eyelids make Oikawa want to rub it all away with his hands, and the faintest smell of the spray in his hair suddenly is making him sick, and everything just weights him down as if somehow all the troubles from previous weeks have finally caught up with him.
He wonders, has it always been this difficult without Iwaizumi by his side.
He lifts his head to look Iwaizumi into the eyes, feeling the heat in his cheeks from both warmth of Iwaizumi and a few drinks during dinner. The faint blush is not visible under his makeup, but Iwaizumi smiles gently at him as he knows it's there. It's not the first and perhaps not the last time something like this happens, and Oikawa hums to himself as his body relaxes.
"Hajime, can you play for me?" he asks silently, barely a whisper, and he wants to smile, but his mouth doesn't want to move after hours of smiling widely and laughing, so he gives up, dropping any leftovers of a mask on his face, leaving it bare. Iwaizumi stirs to get his guitar that's against the wall as usual. Oikawa moves a bit to give Iwaizumi more space, but doesn't let go of him.
Oikawa hears the first note of their song, and the lyrics come to his mind, however, he's not the one singing now. Iwaizumi's voice reaches his ears, and Oikawa feels like crying again. He squeezes Iwaizumi tighter, pressing himself against him again, and Iwaizumi's fingers slip, messing up the melody, yet he doesn't say anything about it.
It's not really comfortable like this and Oikawa knows it makes it difficult to play the guitar when he clings so much to Iwaizumi, but he can't make himself let go. And still, he knows that at such moments Iwaizumi doesn't mind.
"You took my hand, we're on the road; And yours eyes would say, let's go," Iwaizumi turns his head and touches Oikawa's cheek with his nose, " Come with me, to see the world we've never seen; But you look at me, and I see the world in front of me."
Iwaizumi keeps his fingers moving over the strings, the soft melody filling the room, but he stops singing. He looks at Oikawa, at his eyes, and a faint smile makes its way to his lips.
"Tooru," he says, just because he wants to see that little sparkle in the brown of Oikawa's eyes and the way Oikawa's lips part slightly as he's about to ask 'what is it?'. The words don't leave Oikawa's mouth though, as Iwaizumi leans a bit forward and presses his lips against Oikawa's in a gentle kiss.
When he pulls away, Oikawa smiles softly. It's not one of those fake smiles that appear on his face just because it's supposed to appear. This one comes on its own, and Iwaizumi smiles back.
"It's a wonder how you don't mess up the melody even when you kiss me while playing it," Oikawa murmurs, and Iwaizumi shrugs.
"Practice makes perfect," he says and they both laugh at that. It's amazing how easy everything is with Iwaizumi by his side, Oikawa thinks as he leans against the other even more and places a chaste kiss on the corner of Iwaizumi's mouth.
"You know," Oikawa says, "If anyone asked me what is happiness, I think I know the answer."
Iwaizumi looks him into the eyes.
"I've known it all along," he says, letting out a snort, "Though I never thought that the answer could be some silly idol," Iwaizumi frowns, then laughs, "It sounds even worse said out loud."
"Iwa-chan, don't worry, I know you're my biggest fan," Oikawa chirps and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue, instead starting to sing again. Oikawa chuckles, then stars humming along.
He wonders how is it that barely a couple of minutes with Iwaizumi makes up for all the hours without him, how everything gets better the moment he hears Iwaizumi's laugh, how with every touch it seems like he gets all the energy he needs back, and how by singing this song everything else ceases to exist.
Oikawa remembers how they came up with the song, how it started with silent whispers in the middle of the night, with memories of tears and finally deciding to leave Miyagi together. It doesn't appear in any lists of Oikawa's best songs, but it's not what matters to them. The song is one part Iwaizumi and one part Oikawa, and even though it might not be perfect, it's complete. Whenever he is singing the song in the concerts it is not only about having Iwaizumi by his side, and not about getting some rest, but about letting himself know that they're here, they're together and they're everlasting.
It's silly and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes when Oikawa says it aloud, but they came up with it together, and Oikawa knows that Iwaizumi feels the same. And now, just like every other time they sing the song, Oikawa thinks how fascinating it is that the song is telling their story, but no one really knows it.
He rests his head on Iwaizumi's shoulder and closes his eyes in content.
"Hey, Iwa-chan?" he whispers and hums to himself, pleased, "You're the best world I could have asked for."
He can hear the smile in Iwaizumi's singing voice, and he feels Iwaizumi's head tilt against his.
"You too," Iwaizumi says when he finishes singing, and Oikawa whines silently asking for more. Iwaizumi chuckles, then starts the song from the very beginning again and when Oikawa opens his mouth to sing along, he can't withhold a smile.
It's his favourite song, and it makes him want to cry.