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Its summer’s morning and sun is already burning bright, it shines right inside the window, illuminating the room. It’s really hot and unfortunately there aren’t any clouds or prognoses that a rain might come anytime soon, but they aren’t always right so there are still little hopes for everyone that maybe they could take a little break from this heat.
Inside the room, specifically bedroom, Iwaizumi was packing his bags. Apparently, the Midsummer’s day is coming and Daichi has a party over at Sugawara’s country. That couple asked him if he wanted to join since they always have friends and families over. It’s more like a gathering of old and new people where everyone can just enjoy their time till sunrise, got to sleep and then suffer from hangover in the morning. He takes some extra socks, and a jumper if it gets too cold at night. Iwaizumi doesn’t really minds sleeping in the same clothes for the night, it seems too troublesome to take pajama, he probably won’t be even sober enough to put them on. He walks out of bedroom and goes into the storage room. He takes out the tent and sleeping bag. After some breakfast, he washes the dishes, puts on shoes, takes the bags, steps outside and locks the apartment.
The train ride took 4 hours, but it’s always been relaxing to stare out of the window and see the different parts of the country. In the train there weren’t many people, more like it was almost empty. There was a guy sitting 2 rows in front of Iwaizumi. His bag was taking all the space next to him and he was in an open position where legs go each way and arms are all around. He was smiling soundly in his sleep. On the left there was an old lady with a beach bag. She was wearing sunglasses and reading some book. That reminded Iwaizumi that he forgot his sunglasses. There was a little boy too who was asking his mom all kinds of questions, seems like it was his first time in train.
“What’s a ‘station’?” the boy asked.
“Well, it’s a stop, like a bus stop, where the train stops and people can get in the train.” mother smiled.
“Why is that lady asking for their papers? Is she gonna ask us too? What is she doing with them?” the boy was pointing at the ticket collector, full of curiosity.
“Well, it’s a ticket. We need to buy a ticket to ride a train, the lady over there, checks if we paid for the ride. She is putting a stamp on them so she knows that she has checked your ticket. Do you want to give her our tickets? ” mother asked.
“Yes, yes, yes!” boy eagerly answers. Iwaizumi sighs staring out the window.
He hops off the train and walks towards Sugawara who is waving at him.
“You made it,” says Sugawara in relief.
“Hey, Suga. Thank you for having me.”
“No worries, it’s a long way from here to my place so I thought I could drive here and pick you up,” says Suga, pointing at his car.
Iwaizumi meets Sugawara rarely because he goes to a different university. But it didn’t take much time to become good friends. The first time he met him was when he came to the volleyball practice to give Daichi something he forgot from home. That is when he was introduced to him as Daichi’s boyfriend. Sugawara is very kind, caring, optimistic and helpful, but of course he ain’t a pure saint. Especially, when he gets drunk he lets it loose and starts to throw dirty jokes everywhere, laughing at everything and anything. He can become reckless and think of the most random and dangerous ideas and if nobody is there to stop him then…well…it could end badly.
“Did you take a tent with you? If you forgot we can always offer a place inside the house, I think we have an extra futon.” Koushi wonders.
“Yes, yes, I took the tent, thanks for the offer tho.” Iwaizumi calmly reassures. He has always liked this side of him. Caring like a mother, no wonder Sawamura says Suga is the mom in their relationship. Iwaizumi smirks.
“By the way, the place isn’t quite ready yet, so we will need your help with preparing, if that’s not a problem.”
“Yea, sure, it’s not like I have a choice, do I?” Iwaizumi giggles. In the remaining time, Sugawara explains briefly about the place.
Iwaizumi steps out of the car and stretches. The place doesn’t look bad at all. It’s quite refreshing for Iwaizumi to be away from the city, in the nature. On left there was the house. Inside there are four beds and two cabinets .2 people came out of there. One had strawberry blond hair + ridiculous hairstyle while the other had bushy eyebrows and dark messy hair. The building next to the house must be the storage place for food and beer, beer and beer since the couple always brews it themselves for this event as they claim. In front of it was a built shelter. Under it there was a huge table and chairs all around it. A loud person with a guitar was sitting on one of the chairs. Suga explained Iwaizumi that Tanaka will be the one who will be responsible for the music. The boy next to him looked very nervous and familiar. After few seconds Hajime remembers that that is Hinata, Suga’s cousin. Iwaizumi has met Hinata once before. On the left was the bonfire place. A little bit further there is a track way which leads down to the river.
“You can build your tent behind the house, next to the rowan, I will go now, I have to drive to the market, seems like I forgot to buy few stuff, if you still have some questions, find Daichi. I think he is next to the grill. ’’ Suga steps back into the car and leaves.
Iwaizumi drops his bag inside the house, next to the doors, because it’s too early to start building the tent. He takes a walk and gets acquainted with the place. Since the property is huge, there is a forest on one side and on the other - meadow, full of flowers. The view is very beautiful and peaceful, there are bees flying over the flowers and few butterflies. Nature really puts me at ease. That reminds me…wasn’t there a tradition to make wreath out of flowers and wear it when the day changes? On the way back, Iwaizumi found the outside toilet, which is the only toilet there is.
“Iwaizumi!” Daichi called out.
“Daichi!” Iwaizumi turned and saw him standing next to the grill. Next to him was a tall man with a bun which looked quite good on him. He slowly walked over, happy that he doesn’t have to go look for his friend, not that he was a lazy-bones, but he was eager to finally start preparing this place.
“Hey, looks like you already met the place. What do you think?”
“It’s great. Feels really re-freshing to be back in the wild.’’ Iwaizumi says as he takes on last look around.
“I never knew you were the nature child type.” Daichi smiled.
“Well, one knows how to appreciate the nature.” Iwaizumi laughed. He has always loved nature. It always brings him back to life; it’s like nature puts him at ease and gives him energy. Since the university he goes to happen to be in centre, the closest he can get to is the park.
The table was set with all kinds of food – there was cooked fish, chicken, 2 types of salad, random fruits, sandwiches, cakes and drinks. Iwaizumi chopped wood for the fire. Sugawara bought marshmallows, curd and bug sprays. Asahi, who Iwaizumi met at the grill, with Hinata prepared chairs around bonfire, Tanaka searched and picked books with songs to sing at night. Daichi mowed the lawn. Iwaizumi finally set his tent and got to meet Hanamaki and Matsukawa who had their tent set next to him. They seemed like really great guys. People set projectors and lamps so it wouldn’t be so dark. By the time, they all were finished, it was already evening. Everyone stood around the table with having their drinks up.
“Thank you for the help. Well, time to enjoy ourselves. Cheers!” Sugawara grinned.
Everyone cheered.
By the night, there were a lot of people. There were tents all around and even cars, guessing a lot of them will have a very comfortable sleep. Most of them even the owners didn’t know since there were friend’s friend’s friends over. The table was full of people, mostly grownups, drinking and talking about silly stuff that they found very serious when being drunk, then there were groups of people, mostly teenagers, who were just laying down on grass and playing cards, some were just giggling with drinks in their hands and picking up wild strawberries. Daichi was grilling shish kebab since everyone demanded it so much. Sugawara was nowhere to be found. The bonfire place was the loudest. People were sitting around, some were standing next to the fire to heat marshmallows, and were singing songs. The more awry it sounded the more it made people laugh and enjoy their time. Some were just sitting and warming up, telling secrets of their past. Iwaizumi was sitting on timber with beer in his hands and watching the fire, the way it illuminated the place and how the sparks contracted to the dark sky. The more he looked at the fire, the more he started to remember his regrets. Iwaizumi knows that he definitely isn’t in the mood for that, that’s why he stands up and walks over to the table. He puts the bottle of alcohol down and takes a carrot. He eats it while walking down the hill to clear his head and appreciate the night.
By the riverside there was a boy standing. He was tall, his skin was milky white, it looked as soft as a feather. He was wearing shorts and a plain t-shirt, but still he managed to stand out of the picture. His hair was brown and in a perfect shape, it looked as if it’s untouchable. He had a wreath made out of flowers on his head. It was so beautiful. Iwaizumi walked over to the boy, hoping to keep himself company while staring at the peaceful river.
“Hey” said Iwaizumi, standing next to the boy who was still looking at the river.
“Mm..hi.” The boy turned to his right and smiled at the boy. His cheeks were a little bit rosy and smile full of stars.
“Beautiful view, right?” he asked.
“Yea..,” said Iwaizumi, stunned by the beauty in front of him.
“Iwaizumi Hajime, and you?”
“Oikawa Tooru, pleased to meet you.” The boy answered smiling softly.
“Do you live around here?” Iwaizumi couldn’t help but to ask.
“Ah, no. Makki suggested that I come here this year. He wouldn’t shut up about how it would be good for my health to be here in the nature, away from the city”. Oikawa grinned, but couldn’t deny that this was really something he needed. I pause from his life even if it’s just one night, he can forget about the studies and relax, enjoy the moment.
“Hanamaki? I met him earlier.”
“And you? I saw you talking to Daichi, are you his friend?” Oikawa asked, wanting to calm down his curiosity about this Iwaizumi that piked his interest.
“Ah, we go to the same university, he is my old friend and a teammate. And no, I don’t live here either.” Iwaizumi said, a little bit surprised that Oikawa had noticed him before.
“Teammate? You play some sport? I mean, look at you, you are all ripped.” Oikawa smirked.
“Ah..well, I play volleyball in college, I got to the gym too. ” Iwaizumi scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes to river. Oikawa didn’t say anything, he just looked at Iwaizumi. Hajime turned his head back to Oikawa and stared back. He felt like Oikawa’s gaze is piercing right through him. His eyes were in such soft color and he had long lashes. Iwaizumi kept staring at his face, noticing how moonlight was shining on him and his hair was casting small shadows. At that moment, Iwaizumi understood, he is drunk. He knows that he is drunk because the only thing he focuses on is just Oikawa and only him. No matter what is around them, he is sure that it would never compare to the beauty in front of him. A huge urge comes over Iwaizumi, he doesn’t care anymore, he doesn’t want to care, and the irrationality takes over him.
Iwaizumi steps forward and puts his hands on the side of Oikawa’s face and pulls him fast for a soft kiss. It is short and lasts few seconds, but it was enough to make Hajime’s heart flutter. He pulls back, hands still over Oikawa’s cheeks, and both of them open their eyes. The silence between them isn’t awkward at all. They just stare at each other eyes, sharing the gaze.
“You are so beautiful...Can I meet you again?” Iwaizumi asked. A little bit desperate, a little bit dazed.
“Are you asking me on a date, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa chuckled, "Ask me again, when you are sober." Iwaizumi is a little bit stunned by the answer and Oikawa softly breaks away from the hold and starts walking up the hill. He looks back at Iwaizumi and gives him a loving smile.
Iwaizumi slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he felt was sharp pain in the head. Ugh, I guess I drank too much. Iwaizumi gets out of the tent, puts his shoes on and walks over to the shelter. There already seemed to be people sitting there. Tanaka was wrapped in a blanket slowly munching his sandwich. He doesn’t look that happy, must have made some regretful decisions yesterday, Iwaizumi smirks to himself. There were others that were having a small talk over breakfast. He noticed Hinata talking to some tall, handsome man., he had some carrots on his plate.
“Good morning,” Iwaizumi says to everyone as he scratches his head and yawns.
“Good morning,” the beautiful man answers and then smiles at Iwaizumi.